Victorious
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Lies that kill and Truths that save
What is so important about the Easter story? Why is the resurrection of Jesus so important? Why does it matter anyway? There are many people who don’t feel they need religion, or faith, or even contemplation about life & death. But I tell you this morning that it is important, and if you don’t know why, I pray that you would learn some truths today and believe in Jesus Christ for your salvation, because we are all in need of salvation.
This morning I will lay out a case to you about your need for salvation. I am going to begin with some common lies we hear. They are lies leading to death. These lies will be exposed by scripture this morning. I will prove to you that these are indeed lies, and as I do so I pray that if you are not a believer, God’s Holy Spirit, through His Holy Word, the Bible, will make you very uncomfortable, and you would squirm and sweat and feel terrible. I want everyone here who is not a believer in Jesus to sense their awful predicament in light of a Holy God who will someday judge us all. Yes, if you are not a believer I want you to be miserable as you consider these lies and how you may have believed them, and how you are in dire need of help.
But ultimately, you will have the decision to make: What are you going to do with Jesus? Will you respond by putting your faith in Him as Lord and Savior, or will you reject Him? It is one or the other. You cannot ignore Jesus. It is an impossibility. You either accept or reject Him; deciding to do nothing is rejecting him. Think of a young lady who has just been proposed to: Her answer is yes or no. A maybe is a no, an “I’ll think about it” is a no.
So yes, I hope that any unbelievers here become uncomfortable. If you do get uncomfortable, please hang on. Please stay to hear me out. You see, as uncomfortable as it is to realize what a terrible dilemma you are in, the ending is going to be pretty great. In fact, it may just change your life. Some of you this morning will hear more scripture in one sitting than you have at any other time in your life. As much as the scripture can bring you to sense of desperation about where you stand before the Holy God, it also gives you all the hope you need. So I’ve got some good news and some bad news, and you are going to get the bad news first.
Big Idea: John 8:31–32
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
The Lies:
1) People are good
2) God accepts us the way we are/We don’t need to change a thing
3) People don’t need to hear about sin & Hell
The first Lie: People are by nature good, or there is good in everyone if we find it.
Romans 3:9–10
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?
Scripture does not say that people are good by nature. Going back to the first man and woman, sin entered the world. After sin entered the world, every one of us, as their descendants, are born with a sin nature. Just as we know that certain traits can be traced backwards down the family tree through DNA, sin is traced back to Adam and Eve. We are all born with this sin nature. It is in our DNA, so to speak. Before God we all stand guilty of our sin.
Not only does the Bible clearly teach that every person is born with a sin nature, we know it to be true from experience. Take for instance, an infant, who sees their grandmothers pretty necklace and grabs for it. Their hand is gently pushed aside. They frown, and grab again. Perhaps after a few times, they get a gentle slap, and then comes the fury! How dare you deny me this! And would it not be that that infant, if they had the strength of an adult, would not do all in their power to have that necklace? MY Precious!
And then that baby becomes a toddler. Have you ever seen them? I remember being appalled the first time I heard my oldest say the word “Mine!”. I certainly didn’t use that word, nor did Jenelle. Where did she learn it? In the church nursery. The toddler does not need to be taught to lie, to hit, to steal. It comes naturally.
However, the best evidence we each have for our sinfulness is not what others see, but what is unseen: Our thoughts. Imagine for a moment that I announced that I had you dead to rights. I had obtained a device that took all of your thoughts and put them in visual form, and I was going to put them on the projector. I was going to give the sound booth the cue to roll the tape. Which one of you would not consider killing the sound man to keep those thoughts private, or at least tackle him or smash the computer? Who among you, not being able to stop the projection, would not consider murder to keep those thoughts private, or sadly, suicide?
Some years ago, a website that was used for people to find an adulterous relationship was hacked, and thousands of the guilty found that their names were online for anyone to find out. Do you know there were several suicides because of this? And many divorces as well. You see, if the world really knew everything we thought or did in private, we would not be able to bear the shame. No, no one is good. No one can say, “I am clean from sin” as the proverb says. That is lie #1.
Lie #2) God accepts us the way we are/We don’t need to change a thing
For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
If you do not put your faith in Jesus Christ, God’s wrath is upon you! He does not accept you just the way you are! Oh, how many times I have heard false teachers teach that God accepts you just the way you are. He absolutely does not accept you the way you are, he will not accept you the way you are. He cannot.
He is a Holy God, he cannot have anything to do with sin, and mankind is sinful. God is also just, and cannot allow sin to go without punishment. There is going to be an end to this world as we know it, and as much as people say they look forward to the Day of the Lord, the way I see it in scripture is that that will be a horrible, terrible day for an untold number of sinners who never came to Christ. It will be a day when God’s wrath is revealed. We may see hints of it from time to time, but when that day comes, His wrath will be so horrible that people will beg to have the very mountains come down on top of them. Why? They imagine that buried under there they will be shielded by the rocks, but even the rocks cannot protect you from His wrath. The grave cannot protect you, nothing can! If you do not put faith in Jesus when you have the chance, you will not only be witness to that terrible day, but the very object of that holy wrath.
No, God does not accept you the way you are, nor can one say they will come to him so long as they don’t have to change anything, and therein lies the corollary to that lie, that you don’t need to change. So many false prophets are guilty of preaching this lie as well. They will tell people that you can come to Christ on your own terms, that He accepts you as you are and you can remain comfortable living just the way you have been and still have insurance from God’s wrath, but that is not so either!
There are certain moral laws that God expects us to obey, and if we want to be accepted by Him, we need to repent of our sin. That word, repent, is an offensive word to many, even some in the church, but it is really a wonderful word, because it is a word that gets you to a saving faith in Jesus! Repent means to turn, and what are you turning from, and what are you turning to? You are turning from your old ways, the sinful ways that you didn't need to be taught, because you come by them naturally, even from infancy. You must turn towards God, Towards Jesus Christ, towards a life of righteousness. This you do not come to naturally, and so it is the job of the faithful both to teach and to be taught how to live out this faith.
Finally, lie #3, and bear with me, we will be to the good news soon. You have to hear the bad news first.
Lie # 3) People don’t need to hear about sin & hell
It is hard for me to understand how anyone who knows the bible, much less people who claim to be pastors and preachers of God’s word, come to this conclusion. They say ridiculous things like “we need to love people into the kingdom” “they don’t care what you know until they know how much you care” and let’s not forget the quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, who never said this, and would not have said this, but people say he did and he isn't around to defend himself, “Preach the gospel. Use words if necessary”. NOT BIBLICAL!
Preaching, WITH WORDS, is necessary for the salvation of people. You see, St. Francis worked on relationships, he showed people God’s love, he cared for the poor, but he also PREACHED AND TAUGHT the Word of God! He did not wait until he had warmed up the community with his good deeds for 10-15 years, and then subtly slip God into everyday conversation. He preached to the people, and also taught them how God would have them live. He never would have said that awful quote that people attribute to him.
How do we know that people need to hear about sin & hell? Well, do you know who, in all of scripture, spoke the most about hell? Jesus. Jesus spoke of sin or hell quite often. He clearly believed it to be a reality, not a theory, not some kind of metaphor. He believed in a real hell, and he spoke of it often, and when he spoke of it, it was in warning to people. He was concerned. But do you hear much being said about hell from TV preachers, or on the radio? There aren’t many best sellers with a pretty preacher on the cover with a big grin titled “You deserve hell”
Jesus said there would be a resurrection for everyone, for some a resurrection of life, and for the rest, a resurrection of judgment. He said that once someone was sent to hell, there was no way for them to come out. So if you believe in some kind of purgatory or the like, Jesus taught otherwise. By the way, he also said no one escapes heaven, so be careful believing in many of these popular stories about people who supposedly died and went to heaven and then came back. According to Jesus, when you are in heaven, you are there to stay, and when you are in hell, you are there to stay. This is why it is so urgent for me to preach these things to you. Your opportunity to choose Christ may not come again.
3 Lies:
1) People are good
2) God accepts us the way we are/We don’t need to change a thing
3) People don’t need to hear about sin & Hell
Now, I’m sure at this point, we would all like to hear the good news. We had to hear the bad news first. You cannot properly come to Christ without first understanding who you are and the danger you are in. Now we have seen who we are on our own. We are definitely not good, we are definitely not acceptable to God, and we do need to hear about sin and hell. But let me tell you something about Jesus.
Today we celebrate that he rose from the grave, and that is good news. But before he rose from the grave, he died on the cross, which is also good news. You see, we were sinful, really bad. Because of that sin, we deserved death. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. We have earned death just as much as we earn our wages at work. Our sin needed to be paid for, and death was the price. It should be our death, but it doesn't need to be.
God so loved the world he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him should NOT perish, but have eternal life. Jesus died on the cross, and when he breathed his last, he said, “It is finished. This was not an admission of defeat or surrender. When he died on the cross, the Romans that put him there did not win. The Jews who convinced the Romans to put him there did not win. Certainly Satan did not win. Who was the winner? Jesus! And what did he win? All of those who would put their faith in Him!
The prize for Jesus was the gift God gave Him, which is all of the believers. He wins! And he wins those who believe! The death on the cross means those who accept that death in faith as the payment and penalty for their own sin are safely removed out of the wrath of God. They no longer have to suffer for an eternity of conscious torment, which the bible tells us is in store for all sinners who fail to put their faith in Jesus. Think about it for a moment: If that was the end of it, there on the cross, when Jesus said “It is finished”, that would have been enough. If Jesus’ death on the cross simply meant that when we die on this earth, that was the end of it, and we would die at peace with God instead of at enmity with him, that would have been enough!
It would still be good news, Euangelion! (explain) BUT THAT IS NOT THE END OF IT! He Rose AGAIN! And because he rose again, we who believe in Him also will be raised with him. And we will be given a brand new body, we will leave our weak body and have strength! Thank God the eternal life of the believer is not some kind of spirit life, where you float around, but we will have an actual, physical body!
If you decide to follow Jesus, as I hope you do, it is a commitment much like marriage. As I counsel couples to be married, I take it very seriously because the bible uses marriage as a picture of our relationship to God, the ideal. You see, Jesus has proposed to be your everything. Lord, Savior, Companion, Leader. His proposal comes to us through the Word of God, taught through preaching and through the reading of the Bible. When the young lady is proposed to, if she loves the man proposing, she will not be concerned with who is watching, the moment becomes hers and her beloved alone. And so it is with Jesus. At the moment we finally decide to put our trust in Him, the crowd fades away and all we want is Him, our moment is private, even if a crowd were watching.
This passage is for believers. It is not for you if you are not a believer. I want to be clear on this. But I have hope that hearing this, you will put your faith in Jesus, and share in this hope with His church.
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.
It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
So here is the good news, and if you put faith in Jesus, the good news cancels out the bad news:
1) People are not good, but Jesus is good
2) God does not accept us the way we are, but He accepts His son, Jesus, and will accept you on His account if you put your faith in Him
3) Our sin has earned us death and hell, but the gift of God is eternal life!
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
One popular Resurrection hymn is “Crown him with many crowns” This is a picture of When believers surround the throne of God, and you can read about tit in the Revelation. The original song had 12 verse, I think our hymnal has only 4. The picture is of Jesus receiving his crowns of glory, and here are the crowns mentioned in the original 12 verses:
Crown Him the Virgin’s Son, the God incarnate born
Crown Him the Lord of Love, Behold his hands and side
Crown Him the Lord of peace, Whose power a scepter sways
Crown Him the Lord of years! The Potentate of time
Crown Him the Lord of Heaven, One with the Father known
Crown Him with crowns of gold, all nations great and small,
crown Him, ye martyred saints of old, the Lamb once slain for all
Crown Him the Son of God, Before the Worlds began
Crown Him the Lord of light
Crown Him the Lord of Life, who triumphed over the grave
Crown Him lords the Lord, who over all doth reign
Crown Him the Lord of Heaven, enthroned in worlds above
