A Sinful Good

INTRODUCTION

OPENING STORY: JET LAG ILLUSTRATION. BEEN STRUGGLING WITH IT ALL WEEK. SPENT TWO WEEKS HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD WHERE THE TIME DIFFERENCE WAS BETWEEN 9-10 HOURS AHEAD. THEN I GET ON A PLANE AND COME BACK HERE QUICKLY…AT ITS CORE, JET LAG SAYS THAT WHILE I MAYBE PHYSICALLY ONE PLACE, INTERNALLY I AM THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY IN A DIFFERENT PLACE.

POINT: THERE’S A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO STRUGGLE DEEPLY WITH WHAT I CALL SPIRITUAL JET LAG. SURE THEY COME TO CHURCH, SING SONGS AND LISTEN TO SERMONS. THEY ARE PHYSICALLY PRESENT. THEY GIVE THEIR MONEY, AT TIMES PRAY AND MAYBE EVEN FAST. THEY DO THESE PHYSICAL DEEDS, AND YET THE PROBLEM IS WHILE THEY ARE PHYSICALLY PRESENT INTERNALLY, THEIR HEARTS ARE SO FAR AWAY. THIS IS EXACTLY THE INDICTMENT THAT GOD LEVIES ON ISRAEL: “And the Lord said: ‘Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me”- . Jesus would go onto quote this same verse in when addressing another religious group the Scribes and Pharisees. IN BOTH INSTANCES GOD AND JESUS ARE ATTACKING THE RELIGIOUS AND ACCUSING THEM OF SPIRITUAL JET LAG. DOING THE THING PHYSICALLY IN ONE PLACE, WHILE YOUR HEART IS SO FAR AWAY IN ANOTHER PLACE!

APPLICATION: MY STORY. SAW A FILM ON HELL AT THE AGE OF FOUR…GET SAVED. GROW UP IN A CHRISTIAN HOME WITH PARENTS IN FULL TIME VOCATIONAL MINISTRY. AT CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY, AND OFTEN TIMES MULTIPLE TIMES THROUGHOUT THE WEEK. WOULD WIN THE SWORD DRILL COMPETITIONS, AT A YOUNG AGE I LOVED TO PRESS MY SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS QUESTIONS BY ASKING THEM HARD QUESTIONS LIKE WHO WERE THE NEPHILIM IN ? I KNOW, RIGHT…I WAS LIKE 9 YEARS OLD. COULD ARGUE FINE POINTS OF THEOLOGY, BUT EVEN AT A YOUNG AGE I SUFFERED FROM SPIRITUAL JET LAG BECAUSE I WOULD SIT IN CHURCH AND REALIZE SOMETHING WAS MISSING…SOMETHING WAS OFF…I HAD TO DESIRE FOR GOD. NO REAL HEART FOR GOD. THERE WAS NO VIBRANCY IN MY PRAYERS, AND I DIDN’T WANT TO SHARE MY FAITH WITH THOSE WHO DIDN’T KNOW JESUS. BIBLE COLLEGE…COULDN’T GO TO THE MOVIE THEATERS, HAD TO GO TO CHURCH AND CHAPELS EVERY DAY…BUT STILL MESSING AROUND WITH GIRLS DOING THINGS I SHOULDN’T DO…SPIRITUAL JET LAG…I HAD TO REACH THE CONCLUSION THAT IT’S POSSIBLE TO BE RELIGIOUS WITHOUT REALLY BEING CHRISTIAN.

AND MAYBE MY STORY RESONATES WITH SOME OF YOU! ELABORATE…AND MAYBE THAT’S WHERE YOU ARE…YOU’RE RELIGIOUS BUT NOT REALLY CHRISTIAN. JESUS IS GOING TO HELP US DISCERN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE GOSPEL…AND I WANT TO WALK YOU THROUGH IT TODAY. HE GIVES US THREE CRITICAL FRAMING TRUTHS TO HELP US TO DISCERN...

DUTY VS. DESIRE

EXPLANATION: SECTION IN JESUS IS TALKING TO HIS DISCIPLES AND WARNING THEM NOT TO BE LIKE THE RELIGIOUS PHARISEES OR WHOM HE CALLS THE HYPOCRITES. WE WILL COME BACK TO THAT TERM LATER. IF YOU READ THROUGH YOU WILL SEE JESUS TALKING ABOUT GIVING, PRAYING AND FASTING. NOW TO THE JEWS THIS WAS THE HOLY TRINITY OF GOOD DEEDS, AND IN ORDER. AND NOWHERE DOES JESUS TELL HIS FOLLOWERS NOT TO GIVE, PRAY OR FAST. WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE HE SAYS WHEN YOU GIVE…WHEN YOU PRAY…WHEN YOU FAST. FOLLOWING JESUS DEMANDS WE DO THESE THINGS. SO WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOSPEL PEOPLE AND RELIGIOUS PEOPLE. RELIGIOUS PEOPLE MERELY DO THE DEEDS. RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE DEEDS ONLY PEOPLE, THERE’S NO HEART THERE. THEY ARE ALL ABOUT BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. JUST DO AND DO AND DO. BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT MERE DUTY ALONE DOES NOT LEAD TO TRANSFORMATION, INNER PEACE OR GOD’S GLORY. IN FACT, RELIGION ACTUALLY LEADS TO A SENSE OF DEEP FRUSTRATION.

MARTIN LUTHER ILLUSTRATION: SUCH WAS THE CASE WITH MARTIN LUTHER, THE FOUNDER OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION. HIS STORY REALLY BEGINS IN A MONASTERY, IN WHICH HE MADE IT HIS AIM TO TO DO ALL THE DEEDS PERFECTLY, EVEN CONFESSION. AND HE DROVE HIMSELF AND EVERYONE AROUND HIM NUTS. SEE LUTHER WAS CONVINCED THAT IF HE EMERGED OUT OF CONFESSION HAVING FORGOTTEN A SIN TO CONFESS, AND THEN HE DIED SOMEHOW LATER THAT DAY, HE’D GO TO HELL. SO HE WAS BEYOND THOROUGH IN HIS TIME OF CONFESSION, ONCE CONFESSING FOR SIX HOURS STRAIGHT! I’M NOT KIDDING. ONE BIOGRAPHER WRITES OF LUTHER, “But for Luther, the more he tried to be holy, the more he saw that he couldn’t be. The more he cleaned, the more furniture he moved, the more dirt he saw”- Eric Metaxas, Martin Luther. NO PEACE

APPLICATION: AND THAT’S SOME OF YOU! YOU USE RELIGION AS A SORT OF HAND SANITIZER FOR THE SOUL. BEEN A PARTICULARLY BAD BOY THIS WEEK, LET ME GET TO CHURCH, GIVE SOME MONEY, SING SOME SONGS, READ THE BIBLE AND I’LL FEEL BETTER. OR I GOT A MAJOR INTERVIEW COMING UP AND I REALLY NEED GOD TO COME THROUGH FOR ME, SO LET ME PUT SOME EXTRA MONEY IN THE PLATE. THE PROBLEM COMES THAT NOTHING IS EVER ENOUGH. YOU NEVER GET TO THE POINT WHERE YOU GO, I’M GOOD. I’VE DONE ENOUGH GOOD. I’VE GIVEN ENOUGH MONEY. I’VE PRAYED ENOUGH. DUTY DRIVEN RELIGION DRIVES YOU MAD. IT DOESN’T LEAD TO PEACE!

GOSPEL EXPLANATION: ON THE FLIP SIDE IS THE GOSPEL. GOSPEL DRIVEN PEOPLE DON’T NEED TO GIVE WITH FANFARE PUBLICLY. THEY CAN DO IT IN SECRET, BECAUSE THEIR DESIRES AND MOTIVES HAVE BEEN CHANGED. LIKE RELIGIOUS PEOPLE WE GIVE AND PRAY AND FAST, BUT UNLIKE THEM, OUR GIVING, PRAYING AND FASTING FLOWS FROM RENEWED HEARTS. IN FACT, GOD SAID THAT WHEN WE GOT SAVED THE FIRST THING HE WOULD DO WOULD BE TO GIVE US A NEW HEART. JONATHAN EDWARDS KNOWN AS AMERICA’S GREATEST THEOLOGIAN ONCE SAID, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections”…what he means is desire. AT ITS CORE, GOOD DEEDS STEM FROM RENEWED HEARTS.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION ANALOGY- QUICK: THE REASON WHY THEY FAIL IS BECAUSE THEY ARE ULTIMATELY A MATTER OF JUST TRYING HARDER, JUST DO BETTER, AND WITHOUT HEARTS THAT REALLY DESIRE THESE THINGS IT WON’T MATTER.

WILLIAM TYNDALE UNDERSTOOD THIS. HE GREW UP HIGHLY RELIGIOUS, LEAD TO THINK THAT GOD WOULD ONLY ACCEPT HIM IF HE DID GOOD THINGS. BUT LATER IN LIFE HE EXPERIENCED THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL AND HERE’S WHAT HE SAID, “…all sinful acts spring from the heart with all the powers, affections, and appetites, wherewith we can but sin. The scripture looketh singularly unto the heart, and unto the root and original fountain of all sin; which is unbelief in the bottom of the heart. Our problem is with our desires, that naturally we have no appetite for God, and we place all our affections elsewhere”- William Tyndale, Delighting in the Trinity.

APPLICATION: SO GOOD BECOMES SINFUL WHEN IT DOES NOT FLOW FROM RENEWED HEARTS. THE FIRST THING WE MUST DO IS TO JOIN DAVID IN ASKING GOD TO CREATE IN US A CLEAN HEART...

MAN’S PRAISE VS. GOD’S PRAISE

EXPLANATION: LET’S REMEMBER THAT JESUS IS TOGGLING BACK AND FORTH IN MATTHEW SIX BETWEEN RELIGIOUS PEOPLE AND GOSPEL PEOPLE, AND IN VERSE 1 JESUS IMPLIES THAT BOTH GROUPS ARE TO PRACTICE OR DO RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE DIFFERENCE IS THE AUDIENCE. GOSPEL PEOPLE DO THEIR GOOD DEEDS IN SECRET, NOT LETTING THE LEFT HAND KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT HAND IS DOING BECAUSE THEY HAVE RENEWED DESIRES ONLY CONCERNED WITH DOING WHAT THEY DO FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. RELIGIOUS PEOPLE DO THEIR DEEDS, JESUS SAYS IN VERSE 1, IN ORDER TO BE SEEN BY THEM. TO BE SEEN IN THE GREEK MEANS TO INVOKE WONDER. RELIGIOUS PEOPLE DO THE SAME DEEDS AS GOSPEL PEOPLE, THEY JUST DO IT FOR A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AUDIENCE AND REASON- TO BLOW PEOPLE’S MINDS. AND WHY DO THEY DO THIS? THEY WANT TO EXTRACT THEIR SENSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM THE APPLAUSE OF OTHERS! INSTEAD OF LOOKING TO GOD FOR THEIR SENSE OF FULFILLMENT AND SATISFACTION, THEY LOOK TO THEIR PERFORMANCE! AND WHAT IS THE RESULT? IT’S FLAT OUT PRIDE!

APPLICATIONS: NOW CS LEWIS SAID SOMETHING VERY INTERESTING (I GUESS HE SAID A LOT OF THINGS THAT WERE INTERESTING), BUT IN ORDER FOR PRIDE TO EXIST THERE MUST BE COMPETITION AND WHAT I DEEM TO BE THE INFERIOR OTHER. AND SHOW THIS WITH THE OLDER BROTHER VS. YOUNGER BROTHER DYNAMIC…THE COMPETITION. VIRGINS NEED PROMISCUOUS TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES. GENEROUS PEOPLE NEED THOSE THEY PERCEIVE TO BE GREEDY TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES. THOSE WHO DON’T SEE RATED R MOVIES NEED THOSE WHO DO SEE RATED R MOVIES…REALLY WORK AND PERSONALIZE THIS, BRYAN!

GOSPEL POINT/APPLICATION: BUT WHEN YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND THE GOSPEL…WHEN YOU REALLY COME TO TERMS WITH YOUR OWN SIN, AND THAT THE BIBLE SAYS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS AS FILTHY RAGS. THAT EVEN IN YOUR BEST MOMENTS…STILL FILTHY. AC GREEN WITHOUT CHRIST, DIES A VIRGIN GOES TO HELL…HARVEY WEINSTEIN WITH CHRIST, IMMORAL RAPIST, COVERED BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS, GOES TO HEAVEN! WHAT’S THE RESULT OF THIS? DEEP HUMILITY! NOT PRIDE.

AUTHENTICITY VS. HYPOCRISY

EXPLANATION: ONE OF THE THINGS THAT GOING THE ROUTE OF RELIGION DOES, WHEN I REFUSE TO TRUST THE GOSPEL AND WHAT CHRIST DID FOR ME, BUT INSTEAD TRUST MY OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THE APPLAUSE OF OTHERS, THE DESTINATION IS HYPOCRISY. LOOK AT VERSE 2. HYPOCRITES WAS A THEATRICAL TERM WHERE OFTEN ONE PERSON WOULD PLAY MULTIPLE CHARACTERS AND WOULD SWITCH MASKS. THE SWITCHING OF THE MASKS IS WHAT WE KNOW AS HYPOCRISY. THEY ARE ONE WAY ON STAGE, AND ANOTHER WAY OFF STAGE. THIS IS HYPOCRISY AT ITS FINEST.

LAMONT SHAZIER ILLUSTRATION…SUMMER I INTERNED WITH HIM…GIRL COMES HOME PREGNANT OUT OF WEDLOCK AND HE REFUSES THE BRIDAL SHOWER ON THE GROUNDS THAT WOULD SUPPORT HER IMMORALITY. WE ARE ALL LIKE WOW. ONLY TO DISCOVER A FEW MONTHS LATER THAT HE HAD BEEN SLEEPING AROUND WITH MULTIPLE WOMEN AT THE SAME TIME. NOW ALL THAT HAPPENED ALMOST THIRTY YEARS AGO AND THE CHURCH HAS NEVER BEEN THE SAME. RELIGIOUS HYPOCRISY RUINED THE CHURCH!

GOSPEL AUTHENTICITY: INSTEAD JESUS INVITES US INTO GOSPEL AUTHENTICITY. WHEN I KNOW THAT MY RIGHTEOUSNESS COMES FROM CHRIST, WHO KNOWS ALL OF MY JUNK, YET STILL DIED FOR ME AND SAYS, I STILL WANT YOU. I SEE THE WORST IN YOU AND STILL WANT YOU…YOU ARE MORE SINFUL THAN YOU WANT TO ADMIT, YET MORE LOVED THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE…THIS FREES ME TO BE AUTHENTIC. I KNOW I’M A FAILURE. I KNOW I’M DEEPLY FLAWED. AND WHERE IS THIS NURTURED…IN SECRET, WHERE MY LEFT HAND DOESN’T KNOW WHAT MY RIGHT HAND IS DOING.

ILLUSTRATION: LUTHER WOULD END UP FATIGUED OVER THE TREADMILL OF RELIGION…IT GOT HIM NOWHERE. SO WORN OUT, HE TURNED TO THE GRACE OF GOD, AND THIS GOT A HOLD OF HIS HEART AND CHANGED HIM. IN A LETTER TO A DEAR FRIEND OF HIS YEARS LATER HE ADVISED HIM, “God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world.” HE’S NOT ADVISING US TO BE FLIPPANT ABOUT SIN, INSTEAD WHAT HE’S SAYING IS THAT WHEN WE REALLY GET GRACE, AND BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT CHRIST DID FOR US ON THE CROSS WE WILL REACH THE CONCLUSION THAT I DIDN’T PERFORM MY WAY INTO THIS, AND I CAN’T PERFORM MY WAY OUT. AND THIS WILL BREED A REFRESHING AUTHENTICITY WHERE WE SAY IF CHRIST ACCEPTS ME, I’M GOOD. PEOPLE PLEASERS, ALWAYS SCRAMBLING FOR THE APPROVAL OF GOD DON’T REALLY GET GRACE AND THE GOSPEL.

CLOSING ILLUSTRATION AND THEN LINK TO MY STORY...