Relapsed

INTRODUCTION

OPENING STORY: WELCH’S GRAPE JUICE. IN THE 1800S THE UMC FOUND THEMSELVES IN THE MIDST OF AN EPIC DILEMMA. THERE WERE MANY PEOPLE WHO WERE COMING TO THEIR CHURCHES WHO STRUGGLED WITH ALCOHOLISM. SOME HAD EVEN CLEANED THEMSELVES UP. BUT THE PROBLEM WAS THE COMMUNION THE UMC PROVIDED WAS ALCOHOLIC. SO HERE YOU WOULD HAVE ALCOHOLICS TRYING TO DO GOOD, YET COMMUNION WAS CAUSING THEM TO RELAPSE. ENTER THOMAS WELCH. HE FIGURED OUT A WAY TO MAKE LONG LASTING UNFERMENTED GRAPE JUICE FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF PROVIDING A SAFE ALTERNATIVE FOR THOSE WHO STRUGGLED WITH ALCOHOL YET WANTED TO TAKE COMMUNION IN THE LORDS CHURCH. THUS THE WELCH’S GRAPE JUICE EMPIRE WAS BIRTHED. ALL BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT ANYONE TO RELAPSE.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: AS PAUL SITS DOWN TO WRITE HE’S GOT A MAJOR CONCERN. ORIGINALLY WERE WORKS DRIVEN…GAVE THEM UNFERMENTED “JUICE” OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST CALLED GRACE…DRANK IT…JUDAIZER’S COME IN AND NOW GIVE THEM THE ALCOHOL OF WORKS, CAUSING THEM TO RELAPSE BACK INTO WORKS....THIS IS WHY PAUL WRITES. CHRIST + ANYTHING = NOTHING. CHRIST + NOTHING = EVERYTHING. THEY’VE RELAPSED.

CREATING THE NEED:

THE CHURCH IS FILLED WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE RELAPSED. BEFORE CHRIST MORALIST’S AND WORKS, BUILDING IDENTITY ON PERFORMANCE. THEN UNFERMENTED JUICE OF THE GOSPEL CALLED GRACE. YET THERE’S AN UNCANNY HABIT OF RELAPSING BACK INTO WORKS. GIVE EXAMPLES…IT’S WHAT LARRY OSBORNE CALLS, “ACCIDENTAL PHARISEES”. NO ONE EVER INTENTIONALLY SAYS THEY WANT TO BE A LEGALISTIC, WORKS ORIENTED, PERFORMANCE DRIVEN PERSON, YET WE END UP THERE…WE RELAPSE FROM GRACE BACK INTO WORKS. POINT: GOD WANTS YOU TO BE FREE THIS MORNING. FREE FROM WORKS, FREE FROM PERFORMANCE, FREE FROM EVERY INKLING OF STRIVING FOR HIS OR OTHER’S APPROVAL…AND NOT JUST MOMENTARILY FREE, BUT PERMANENTLY FREE! SO HOW DO WE GET THERE? WE HAVE TO TAKE ANOTHER SWALLOW OF THE GOSPEL…LEARN THREE THINGS.

GOSPEL IS FREEING-

EXPLANATION: THEIR RELAPSE. DESERTING MEANS A CHANGE OF PLACE. USED OF SOLDIERS WHO LEFT THE BATTLEFIELD, A CRIME PUNISHABLE BY DEATH. THE GALATIANS WERE DESERTING THE FIELD OF GRACE FOR LAW.

“When law- even God’s own law- is added to His grace, His grace ceases to be grace”- John MacArthur. the moment we revise the gospel we reverse it- TK.

EXPLANATION CONTINUED: THEY BOUGHT INTO THE JUDAIZER’S MESSAGE BECAUSE THEY HAD ATTACKED THE CREDENTIALS OF PAUL, THEY HAD ATTACKED HIS IDENTITY. PAUL NOW SPENDS THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS DEALING WITH THE NEW IDENTITY HE’S BEEN GIVEN BY GOD THROUGH THE GOSPEL, AND THE FIRST THING WE SEE IS HE IS TOTALLY FREE FROM THE TYRANNY OF SEEKING MAN’S APPROVAL- VERSE 10. WORD APPROVAL MEANS VALIDATION AND ACCEPTANCE. PAUL IS SAYING HE’S NOT PURSUING THE VALIDATION AND ACCEPTANCE OF PEOPLE. .

ILLUSTRATION: WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY PREDICATED ON APPROVAL. WE ARE IN BONDAGE TO THE PERCEPTIONS OF OTHERS MORE THAN WE KNOW. APPLYING FOR CAR LOAN…HOME LOAN…SCHOOLS. THEY’RE DOING ALL KINDS OF CHECKS, AND BASED ON YOUR PERFORMANCE WILL DETERMINE IF THEY APPROVE YOU.

ILLUSTRATION: FRESH PRINCE WHEN WILLS BIOLOGICAL DAD COMES HOME THEN DITCHES HIM. I’LL SHOW HIM. GET MARRIED WITHOUT HIM…IRONIC HE IS SAYING HE’LL SPEND HIS LIFE PERFORMING WELL TO GAIN HIS APPROVAL…WHY DOESN’T HE WANT ME…MANY OF YOU KNOW THAT PAIN. YOUR DRIVE FOR SUCCESS IS BIRTHED OUT OF A DEEP WOUND IN YOU THAT YOU WERE NEVER ACCEPTED...

POINT: PAUL IS SAYING IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO BE STAY IN THE EMBRACE OF GOD AND IN THE EMBRACE OF OTHERS AT THE SAME TIME…CAN’T DO BOTH. TO DO THIS WE MUST BREAK AWAY FROM THE LESSER IDENTITIES AND REST IN THE ONLY IDENTITY OF GOD’S EMBRACE. PAUL DOES THIS…IF HIS IDENTITY WAS IN HIS POSITION OF APOSTLE, WHEN THE JUDAIZER’S ATTACKED HIM IT WOULD HAVE DEVASTATED HIM.

KING DAVID ILLUSTRATION: MOST SCHOLARS BELIEVE HE WAS AN ILLEGITIMATE CHILD. ; . BUT HE’S EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY, ENJOYING RICH RELATIONSHIPS, NOT TIED INTO POSITION…WHY- HE RESTED IN THE EMBRACE OF GOD.

THE GOSPEL IS NOT RELIGION-

EXPLANATION: ONE OF THE THINGS THAT KEEPS US IN BONDAGE TO THE OPINIONS, EMBRACE AND APPROVAL OF OTHERS IS OUR PERFORMANCE, YOU KNOW THIS WHOLE NOTION OF WORKS. THERE’S ANOTHER NAME FOR WORKS AS A BASIC OPERATING SYSTEM OF LIFE, AND THAT IS RELIGION. BUT THE OPERATING SYSTEM OF RELIGIONS IS DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE OPERATING SYSTEM OF THE GOSPEL. PAUL SHOWS THIS IN VERSES 14-16. SEE IT? HE WAS DEEPLY RELIGIOUS, YET UNSAVED. IT IS POSSIBLE TO BE RELIGIOUS AND HEADED TO HELL.

BIBLICAL EXAMPLE: MATTHEW’S GOSPEL. MATTHEW CHAPTER 7. . NICODEMUS. JESUS SAYS HE MUST BE BORN AGAIN…TO A RELIGIOUS PERSON! YOU CAN BE PHILANTHROPIC, GENEROUS, MORALLY UPRIGHT, NEVER CHEATED ON YOUR WIFE, FULL OF INTEGRITY, AND UNSAVED AT THE SAME TIME. HARD FOR US, I KNOW.

GANDHI VS. DAHMER ANALOGY.

APPLICATION: PRACTICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE GOSPEL. FROM TIM KELLER:

Religion says, “I obey; therefore I’m accepted.”

The Gospel says, “I’m accepted; therefore, I obey.”

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Religion: Motivation is based on fear and insecurity.

Gospel: Motivation is based on grateful joy.

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Religion: I obey God in order to get things from God.

Gospel: I obey to get God–to delight in and resemble him.

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Religion: When the circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or myself, since I believe that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life.

Gospel: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle, but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while God may allow this for my training, he will exercise his Fatherly love within my trial.

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Religion: When I am criticized, I am furious or devastated, because it is critical that I think of myself as a “good person.” Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs.

Gospel: When I am criticized, I struggle, but it is not essential for me to think of myself as a “good person.” My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ.

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Religion: My prayer life consists largely of petition, and it only heats up when I am in a time of need. My main purpose in prayer is control of the environment.

Gospel: My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose is fellowship with God.

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Religion: My self-view swings between two poles. If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel humble but not confident–I feel like a failure.

Gospel: My self-view is not based on my moral achievement. In Christ I am simul iustus et peccator–simultaneously sinful and lost, yet accepted in Christ. I am so bad that he had to die for me, and I am so loved that he was glad to die for me. This leads me to deep humility and confidence at the same time.

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Religion: My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work, or how moral I am–and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral.

Gospel: My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for me. I am saved by sheer grace, so I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different than me. Only by grace am I what I am.

ILLUSTRATION: WHITEFIELD CONVERSION AT OXFORD. HOLY CLUB WITH JW AND CW. EXAMINED THEIR SINS, CHALLENGED EACH OTHER, FASTED AND PRAYED. AND YET WHITEFIELD SAID HE WAS NOT SAVED. HE FELT THIS HEAVY BURDEN, THIS YOKE OF RELIGION. READ A BOOK CALLED THE LIFE OF GOD IN THE SOUL OF MAN GIVEN TO HIM BY CW. HE REALIZED HE WAS NOT SAVED. FINALLY GOD BROKE IN, AND THE YOKE WAS REMOVED! RELIGION DOES NOT SAVE YOU, IT IS INEPT BECAUSE WHILE IT CAN DEAL MOMENTARILY WITH BEHAVIORS, IT CAN NEVER, AND I MEAN NEVER GET TO THE HEART…BUT THE GOSPEL CAN. GOD WILL GIVE US A NEW HEART WHICH IS THE PROMISE OF THE NEW COVENANT!

THE GOSPEL IS TRANSFORMING-

EXPLANATION: LOOK AT THE LAST TWO VERSES IN OUR TEXT. HE WAS CHANGED, IN AN ASTOUNDING WAY. IN , HIS CONVERSION, GOD SHOWS UP TO A MAN NAMED ANANIAS AND TELLS HIM TO MEET SAUL LATER TO BE CALLED PAUL. ANANIAS BALKS AT THIS SAYING NO LORD I’VE HEARD HOW EVIL AND AWFUL THIS MAN IS! HE’S CHANGED. ONCE A FANATIC FOR THE LAW, NOW A FANATIC FOR GRACE. ONE PERSECUTED OTHERS, NOW WILL BE PERSECUTED AND ULTIMATELY GIVE HIS LIFE. ONCE TRIED TO DESTROY THE CHURCH, NOW HE BUILDS THE CHURCH. HE WAS COMPLETELY CHANGED FROM THE INSIDE OUT!

POINT: THE ONLY REAL WAY TO KNOW THE GOSPEL IS IN YOU IS BY CHANGE. - RECOGNIZE BY FRUIT. “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am”. CAN ANYONE RELATE TO THAT! IS ANYONE GRATEFUL FOR THAT!

JOHN NEWTON ILLUSTRATION WITH QUOTES.