WEBVTT 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:07.040 This is the power of a good biblical theology when it comes to salvation. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.560 Not because of our works. 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:12.240 And so the question isn't what did I do, but what is God doing? 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:14.320 How is God calling me? 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:22.640 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:27.519 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandParkway.org. 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:32.079 Let's pray together. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:41.280 Lord, we wait for you, not because uh we don't have anything else to do, but because we wait for you because we don't trust anybody or anything as much as we trust you. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:45.600 Uh the Bible tells us that those who wait for the Lord will mount up with wings as eagles. 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.399 They'll run and not be weary, and they'll walk and not faint. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:49.759 That's why we wait for you. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:52.320 We also wait for you because we believe you're true. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:56.719 You're real, you're valid, you're everything the Bible says you you are. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:58.399 Uh, and we come to experience that. 00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:06.719 And so I pray for anybody today that's never experienced that, God, that they would be reminded that you would call, let them hear your voice calling them, God. 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:09.280 Uh, Holy Spirit, illuminate the scriptures today. 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:18.480 And we open it up, give us understanding, inspiration, uh, and a sense of compression in our spirit as a byproduct of what we understand today. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:22.159 And so, Lord, lead us into the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:23.280 So help us, God. 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:24.159 This is our prayer. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:25.680 We ask it in Jesus' name. 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:27.599 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:28.480 You can have a seed. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:32.480 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to 2 Timothy chapter 1. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:34.560 2 Timothy chapter 1. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:38.000 And I want to talk to you this morning about what the gospel does. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:39.200 What the gospel does. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:42.799 If you're our guest, let me just say we're typically preaching through a book of the Bible. 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:45.599 We spend about two and a half years going through the book of John. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:48.239 And so I'd like to give my people a little bit of a break. 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:50.799 Uh, the next book we're going to preach through is the book of Daniel. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:55.920 We do New Testament, Old Testament, New Testament, Old Testament, but we're not going to get to Daniel until later in the year. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:00.159 We're going to spend most of the spring just talking about different things we want you to further understand. 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:02.879 But every time we preach, it's going to come from the Bible. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:05.200 It's not our ideas, it's God's word. 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:12.800 And so, 2 Timothy chapter 1, I'll start reading in verse 1, and I'll read to verse 14 uh what the gospel does. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:19.360 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:25.680 To Timothy, my beloved child, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:37.199 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly, my prayers, night and day, as I remember your tears, I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:45.120 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells in you as well. 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:51.039 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:56.719 For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:23.199 Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:28.479 For which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:35.840 But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:41.759 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:47.840 By the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:54.240 Now, I read the whole, starting in verse one, because I want you to give the context, but really I want to focus in on verses eight to fourteen. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:04:00.960 But before I get to verses eight and fourteen, there's two things that bear noting on our way to the passage of our focus this morning. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:07.919 Uh and the first one is simply this, and they're both in verse one, where he says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God. 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:09.360 Now, let me just say this. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:14.080 He says, by the will of God, the call to ministry is God's idea, not your idea. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:15.840 And you're like, hey, why do we say that, dude? 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:16.639 That's your thing. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:23.920 Because we want to be a church that's always putting before people, not just students, but adults, the reality that God calls people to ministry. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:26.800 And it's not just, hey, I didn't know what I was gonna do. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.600 I graduated college, I thought I'll just go work for the church. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:31.519 My grandma said it was a good idea. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:35.040 No, the call to ministry is by the will of God. 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:36.800 And here's the second thing I want to point to. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:45.519 He says, he says that I'm an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and then hear this phrase according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:52.319 According to the promise, it doesn't say, uh of a life, he says the life that is in Christ Jesus. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:54.560 He's referring to a specific way of being. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:58.959 If you were with us in the Gospel of John, you heard me talk a lot about Zoe versus Bios. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:00.480 Two Greek words for life. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:02.639 Bios is biological existence. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:08.879 I eat, I sleep, I go to work, I pay bills, I fight with my wife, we make up, we raise our kids, blah, blah, blah. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:09.920 I said in traffic. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:11.439 That's biological existence. 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:17.759 When the Bible talks about life in relation to Jesus or salvation or what it means to be a Christian, it's the word Zoe. 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:19.199 I'll put the definition up here. 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:20.639 It'll sound familiar to you. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:24.720 Uh, but if you're visiting today, I want you to understand this, and I'll tell you why in just a second. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:40.160 Zoe life is real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed in the portion, even in this world, of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new ascensions, among them a more perfect body and to last forever. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:48.240 This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, the Bible says, if if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we're to be pitied above all men. 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:58.319 So this Zoe life that is only available in Christ and by a relationship with Him, it's a little foretaste of glory divine. 00:05:58.480 --> 00:05:59.839 We'll talk about that in just a minute. 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:04.399 And so Paul says that my ministry is according to the promise of the life that is in Jesus. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:15.439 If you're thinking you're processing a call to ministry, or you're or you're watching this on the internet and you're processing a call to ministry, unless you're demonstrating Zoe life, please do not go into ministry. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:24.319 We don't need more lifeless people who buy the sermon kit from some marketing company and get up and just spew out religious nonsense. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:25.920 No one is helped by that. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.759 Paul says, in my life, the little and the Greek is down from. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:37.360 This ministry will be out of a representation and reminder of this life that is found only in a relationship with Jesus. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:39.199 Now, here's why I tell you that, okay? 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:42.560 Too often we talk about Christianity in terms of heaven and hell. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:44.079 And a lot of people get turned off. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:47.839 You try to share the gospel, they say, hey, I respect that, but I'm not interested. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:51.279 And your response is something along the lines of, well, then you're going to hell. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:52.639 Thank you for telling me that. 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:54.720 I got up today and wish someone would tell me. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:55.920 Now, let me be clear. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:58.560 We believe those are real and literal, okay? 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:02.480 But we also believe maybe that's not the best place to start the conversation. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:07.839 So if you're in the room right now and you could you you you think you would say, hey, I'm not a Christian. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:09.920 I do not believe the claims of Christianity. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:12.720 Here's the way I want you to think about Christianity today. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:19.519 In terms of this life that's real and genuine, that's not phony and religious, okay? 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:21.199 Because this is the life that Jesus. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:24.079 That's why John 1 opens up and says, In him was life. 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:26.560 And this life was the light of all men. 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:32.079 This is the radiating reality that people cannot get away from, and they're just drawn to, okay? 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:33.759 This is what Christianity is. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:40.160 And so I just want to point to those two things on the way to verse 8, because I read all that so you get the context. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:42.800 And so let's talk about what the gospel does, okay? 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:44.160 What does the gospel do? 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:46.079 Here's why I want to talk to you about this today. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:52.319 So that you'll hear some things that are spiritual or spirituality or self-help, but they're not the gospel. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:54.959 Because only the gospel has the capacity. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:00.319 When I say gospel, the good news of Christianity has the capacity to do these things. 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:04.079 The first one is simply this: the gospel empowers us to suffer well. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:05.040 It's verse 8. 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:06.959 The gospel empowers us to suffer well. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:18.160 He says, Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:21.120 Now, you have to understand the context of what is happening. 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:22.879 Why would Paul say this to Timothy? 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:25.040 Paul is an older, more mature believer. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:28.480 He's writing to a young man in ministry, and he says these things to him. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:31.839 And what he's saying is the gospel empowers us to suffer well. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:32.720 What was going on? 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:35.919 Well, first of all, the message of the cross was scandalous. 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:38.879 I mean, it was like crazy talk to people of that day. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:46.480 Jews, religious people, and Gentiles, people that weren't religious, but they trusted in themselves and their good deeds and their good works. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:48.320 They would say, I mean, no one would say this. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:52.559 They would say, My good is more than my bad, so I'm gonna get in. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:54.960 Nobody would say that, right? 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:57.840 Happens all the time right here in Fort Bend County. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:08.799 And so the message of the cross that Paul was preaching, saying, hey, Christ died in your place, and apart from him, you have no hope of forgiveness, heaven, or this life that he brings to bear on our culture. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:10.240 And they were like, What? 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:12.879 You're just being hateful and judgmental. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:16.000 Second thing that was going on, Paul's message was out of style. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:17.679 His message was out of style. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:26.480 Something I relate to very well because my kids said to me over the Christmas break, they always buy me clothes at Christmas because they say, hey, all your clothes are dad clothes. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:28.399 You wear dad shoes. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:31.519 And I'm like, what do you think I am, losers? 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:33.120 I'm your dad. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.600 It's like, oh dad, well, what's in fashion now? 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:39.840 Is everybody wearing like stretched denim with this gathered elastic at the ankle? 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:44.480 And I'm like, if you buy me anything like that, I'll take you out in the country and just drop you off. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:47.759 And they're like, oh, Dad, you wouldn't wear that? 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:48.320 No. 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:49.600 I'm 55 years old. 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:52.240 I'm not wearing stretched denim, anything. 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:56.480 They're like, even if we bought it for you, you'd be wasting your money. 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:00.399 I would take it back and get my get that money and just put it in my pocket. 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:04.000 Paul was like that because Paul's message was out of style. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:08.000 It wasn't as popular as the more spiritual gospel that was preached by these false teachers. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:13.440 Here's a third thing going on that would make him say to Timothy, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:14.000 Why? 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:21.039 Because the testimony, just preaching the gospel, not spirituality, saying, People, your only hope is in a relationship with God. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:23.039 This is the life you were created for. 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:26.879 It wasn't sexy back then, and it's not gotten more sexy now. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:28.559 Here's a third thing that's going on. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:32.159 Paul's circumstances kind of cast a shadow of doubt on his message. 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:33.759 What do you mean by circumstances? 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:35.120 He's in prison. 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:39.360 And people were looking at him and Timothy kind of going, hey, you guys believe all this? 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:44.559 If this is so great and your God so good and so powerful, why are you in prison? 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:46.799 Here's what it sounds like nowadays. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:50.879 Hey, you guys go to church every Sunday, but your kids are still a hot mess. 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:52.240 What's going on there? 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:54.879 Yes, that's the way people come at us. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:11:00.240 Like one of our neighbors found out that my oldest daughter got a tattoo, and he's like, Hey, are you gonna get in trouble? 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:01.679 And I'm like, What? 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:02.000 What? 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:03.679 Yes, my kid has a tattoo. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:06.320 And I said, it's a little Celtic cross on her wrist. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:08.240 And he goes, Oh, so it's a religious tattoo. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:12.159 I said, Yeah, because tattoos that are not religious, they send you to hell. 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:14.879 And he's like, Yeah, yeah. 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:18.240 I said, No, no, that's not true. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:20.639 Getting a tattoo doesn't make you a bad person. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:22.720 Okay, he said, Well, I mean, I mean you're like a preacher and everything. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:28.720 Are you gonna get because he grew up in a very legalistic, fundamentalist, mean spirited church where they believe the Bible and they're mad about it. 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:34.320 He said, if you did something wrong and the church found out, you had to go, you had to appear before the council. 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:35.840 I went, the council? 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:37.440 He's like, Do you have a council? 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:43.440 No, we got some elders and we laugh and cry and pray in our elder meetings and have a good time, but we don't bring people in. 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:45.919 He goes, Yeah, man, if you went to the council, that was bad news. 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:47.600 And I said, Well, can I tell you something else? 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:53.279 My kid went to Chicago to see her old roommate from Baylor, and they both got the tattoos on their ribcage. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:54.720 And she goes, She's got two tattoos? 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:55.200 Yeah. 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:58.240 I said, it's the Hebrew word for daughter. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.120 I thought it was for me, but no, it was for God. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:03.759 And I was like, oh, baby, I appreciate you doing that. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:06.000 She goes, Dad, now this is about my relationship with God. 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:08.399 And I said, Lift your shirt up, I want to see your tattoo. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:10.320 And she said, Dad, I said, it's your ribcage. 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:10.960 I don't care. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:12.639 And so she lifts her shirt up and showed me. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:13.840 And I said, Oh, that's beautiful. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:14.960 And she's like, Thanks. 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:16.000 My friends were kind of weird. 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:18.000 They're like, hey, is your dad gonna get mad? 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:21.679 Now, boys and girls, I'm not advocating getting a tattoo. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:25.679 Don't leave here and go, oh, Pastor Neil's kid got a tattoo. 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:28.000 She's 22. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:29.600 I don't have tattoos. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:31.200 Tattoos don't go on this body. 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:35.759 Because if I got a tattoo when I was 22, right here, right now it'd be about right here on my back. 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:38.879 That thing is migrated, okay? 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:40.080 So I don't care. 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.600 So, hey, here's the thing: it's not about tattoo, not tattoo. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:50.480 Is that people are gonna come at us and say, hey, you go to church, but yet you and your wife kind of get sideways every once in a while. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:51.919 Absolutely. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:54.240 Hey, your kids are not perfect. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:55.679 Absolutely not. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:57.360 Tell me something I don't know. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:07.279 And so people are coming to him and saying, hey, this gospel thing you're so passionate about, if your God's so big and he's powerful, why are you in prison? 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:08.320 Here's why. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:17.279 Because the power of God is what allows us to experience suffering, not be crushed by it, have our minds changed by it, or our testimony altered because of it. 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:21.120 The power that is within us is greater than the power that comes against us. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:27.679 And so Paul can be in prison and say to Timothy, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me his prisoner. 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:32.080 Because the hipsters were coming along and saying to Timothy, you better get away from Paul. 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:34.240 He ain't very cool right now. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:37.279 He is trending down on social media. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:42.799 And Paul says, Hey, don't be don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me his prisoner. 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:43.120 Why? 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:45.759 Because the gospel prepares us to suffer well. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:48.240 Now, I want you to notice two prepositional phrases. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:50.240 The first one is for the gospel. 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:51.519 For the gospel. 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:54.879 We suffer for the gospel, not because of the gospel. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:55.360 Okay? 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:56.960 And he said, What's the big deal? 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:58.559 One of them is about punishment. 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:01.919 If you think, oh, if you become a Christian, you're just gonna suffer the rest of your life. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:09.279 I mean, you Christians, you poor, ignorant religious people, you just don't know any better than just to punish yourself for whatever reason, but go ahead. 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:10.879 Not true. 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.879 No, we suffer for the gospel, not because of the gospel. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:17.840 One of those suffering because of the gospel is punishment. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:18.559 Not true. 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:21.919 Suffering for the gospel, look at me, is value. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:28.399 Is it we we we believe the god the gospel has ultimate value, and so we don't compromise. 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:42.000 Uh we don't back up and kind of go, well, uh, okay, I'm 26 and I hadn't met anybody, and I want to marry a godly man, and you're you're just a dude, and I'm lonely, so I guess no, no, no, no. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:50.559 I suffer for the gospel because I don't want to compromise because then I got to live with the compromise and the consequence of the compromise for years to come. 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:54.080 Now, we suffer for the gospel, not because we're obnoxious. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:56.159 Paul is in prison for the gospel. 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:59.440 Here's the second prepositional phrase by the power of God. 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:06.720 We suffer for the gospel and by the power of God, which means my capacity is greater than my natural ability. 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:13.679 The manner in which we respond to suffering expresses to everyone around us the beautiful sufficiency of the gospel. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:17.519 And so the gospel empowers us to suffer well. 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:20.559 Secondly, the gospel magnifies what God has done. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:23.120 The gospel magnifies what God has done. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:25.519 It's just one verse in the Bible, it's verse 9. 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:26.159 Look at it. 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:27.279 I want to read it. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:48.399 He's just simply after verse 8, he picks up in verse 9 and he says, This he says, for uh uh who God for the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:49.440 Now stop there. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:51.519 I've told you before, but let me say it again. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:55.919 The Bible speaks with such uh amazing peace and loud authority. 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:59.600 It says more in one sentence than we could say in a month. 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:01.759 And this is one of those situations. 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:05.360 You say, what do you mean when you say the gospel magnifies what God has done? 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:08.159 Verse 9 points out five things that God has done. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:09.279 Let me just list them for you. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:11.200 He says, first of all, that he saved us. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:12.399 He saved us. 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:16.000 Now, by the way, he did this before he ever consulted you. 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:20.080 You say, how do you know? 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:21.039 Look at the next phrase. 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:23.440 He said, He saved us and then he called us. 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:25.360 He saved us and he called us. 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:30.720 Now, hey, by the way, I established a relationship with you a long time ago before the ages began. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.759 Now, when I say he called us, let me give you two theological words. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:37.679 The first one is regeneration, the second one is repentance. 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:42.000 Regeneration is what happens first, which allows us to repent. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:45.759 Regeneration means that something dead has been made alive again. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:51.759 So Christianity is not going from bad to good, it's going from being dead to being alive. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:53.519 You're regenerated. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:56.720 And this is what allows you and empowers you and I to repent. 00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:58.720 He says he saved us and he called us. 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:01.279 By the way, he does this in a myriad of ways. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:04.880 Uh He calls us, he uses creation. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:14.799 Uh, I was speaking at a youth camp in Alabama out by the water, and I told him one night in the service, I said, I want y'all to just go somewhere outside and sit alone for 30 minutes. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:19.279 And one teenage boy, 16, went and sat on the beach and just stared out there. 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:23.359 And he came back and he said, I want to know the God that created all that. 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:25.119 And that's how it came to faith. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:26.720 And someone said to me, Good job. 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:27.519 I said, Good job. 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:28.559 I didn't do anything. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:31.359 They said, Oh, that you just knew to shut up and told him to go out there. 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:32.079 I said, Well, thank you. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:33.200 I'll shut up more. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:38.799 Uh but God uses creation uh to call us, he uses preaching to call us. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:41.599 Here's another thing he uses, he uses your kids. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:42.960 Yeah. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:49.519 Uh when you were your kids were little and they got sick and you got down your knees and you said, God, please give me whatever they've got. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:50.559 I'll take it. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:52.319 I don't want my kid to suffer like that. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:59.279 I don't care if it was everything from a cold to cancer, you would beg God to give it to you and take it from your kids, would you not? 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:00.880 Of course you would. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:01.920 Of course you would. 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:03.759 And you make these little deals with God. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:13.680 You gotta be careful because when I was 18, because of some destructive choices that I was making in my life, I wound up on the bathroom floor at my mom's house, and I said to God, because I thought, I'm dying here. 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:15.279 This is there's too much in my system. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:16.160 It's gonna get me. 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:20.640 And in a moment of sheer panic, I said to God, if you'll get me out of this, I'll do anything. 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:22.559 I'll even become a preacher. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:26.559 Now, let me say this. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:30.799 Let me say, I'm not here because I almost killed myself with destructive, sinful choices. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:32.160 I'm here by the will of God. 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:34.880 But I'm just saying, in that moment, you'll do anything. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:40.000 It's just kind of, but a couple days later, I was like, that was weird. 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:42.799 I was saying things I didn't even mean. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:45.680 And a week later I came to faith. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:51.200 And I would say to you that God said all that emotion just to wean me off of myself. 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:54.160 And that's what he used to call me to himself. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:19:01.680 And so he saved us, he called us, and then the third phrase is this not because of our works, not because of our works. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:03.440 Now, there's a lot of ways you could go with that. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:06.319 I want to go this way this morning, and let me just say it like this. 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:15.039 He didn't leave it up to us because if he did, we would be plagued by uncertainty the rest of our lives as to whether or not we did what we were supposed to do in order for it to stick. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:16.240 Did I say the right thing? 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:17.200 Was I earnest? 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:18.240 Was I sincere? 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:19.680 God doesn't do that. 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:22.400 He I've met so many people who are like, you know what? 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:28.799 I became a Christian when I was 10, but I barely remember, and I don't know if I did it right because it hadn't been working. 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:37.359 And one of the problems is that the church in America takes on ourselves to make converts when we really should be making disciples. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:41.680 And when we take on our desire to make converts, what we end up doing is confusing people. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:53.920 It's why Jesus said if you don't trust the efficacy of the Holy Spirit that God saved you and he called you, and it's not because of our works, if you don't trust that, you'll be like the Pharisees who are very zealous and very eager. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:56.720 And we would say today they're very evangelistic. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:03.200 Jesus said to these evangelistic people, he said, Hey, you guys travel across land and sea to make one convert. 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:06.720 And when you do, you make him twice a son of hell as you are. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:18.559 In other words, you prey on people's fear about heaven and hell, and you get them to say some magic phrases, and they walk away as unconverted as when they walk to you. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:23.119 See, this is why he says he saved us, he's called us. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:27.200 This is the power of a good biblical theology when it comes to salvation. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:28.640 Not because of our works. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:32.400 And so the question isn't what did I do, but what is God doing? 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:34.240 How is God calling me? 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:37.839 Here's the fourth thing he says, because of his own purpose and grace. 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:44.319 Because of his own purpose and grace, you were purposed into existence so God could show you grace. 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:46.319 Let me say that again. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:48.480 You were purposed into existence. 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:51.039 If you're in this room this morning and you're like, you know what? 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:53.119 I don't believe in God, I'm mad at God. 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:55.759 This happened, I lost this person, I lost that person. 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:57.680 I'm just I'm just done. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:05.359 I just want to say God purposed you into existence, not just to rub your nose in it, not just to punish you your whole life, but so he could show grace to you. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:08.480 The last thing is he says, in Christ Jesus. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:13.039 Because in Jesus we see the greatest expression of God's grace we can ever know. 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:18.400 Which is why the next thing the gospel does, the third thing the gospel does is it illuminates what Jesus has done. 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:21.839 He's the greatest expression of God's grace we can ever know. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:25.599 And so the gospel illuminates what he has done. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:28.640 Now ask yourself, look at verse 10, the very next verse. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:29.839 We're just going verse by verse. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:47.279 Verse 10 it says, and which now, after he says, Hey, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, verse 10, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:49.759 To light through the gospel. 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:58.640 Ask yourself Do you bring more light or heat to conversations, circumstances, and situations you're involved in? 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:01.279 Do you bring more Light or heat. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:13.200 Hey dad, if you always get mad, if you're if your wife kind of parents the kids until it boils over and you go stomping upstairs, slamming doors, hey, get in here, and you're always yelling, you're always bringing heat. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:14.480 And guess what? 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:16.480 Your kids are fireproof. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.240 After a while, it doesn't scare them as much as it used to. 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:22.160 When they were five, they're like, ugh. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:26.000 When they're 15, they're like, what do you want, loser? 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:28.640 Which is, look at me. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:34.559 The hardest but most necessary thing for you to do is to not always bring heat, bring light. 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:36.160 Jesus brings light. 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:40.160 He says these things are brought to light through the gospel. 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:41.519 So what is it? 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:43.519 The gospel illuminates what Jesus has done. 00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:44.640 Okay, so what has he done? 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:45.279 Three things. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:47.359 Number one, he abolished death. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:48.799 He abolished death. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:50.559 He does this by his resurrection. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:53.920 His life, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:58.880 Which is why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, oh death, it says death is swallowed up in victory. 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:00.559 Oh death, where's your sting? 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:02.799 Oh death, where where's your victory? 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:05.359 I was in Louisiana for a funeral. 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:07.200 Drove over Friday afternoon. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:08.400 The funeral was yesterday. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:09.039 Drove back. 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:10.319 So I stayed at the hotel. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:15.599 I stayed at the Holiday and Express because they had these delicious little cinnamon rolls on the breakfast buffet. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:17.200 That's how vain I am, okay? 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:19.119 They said you got three hotel options. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:20.720 Ooh, they have cinnamon rolls here. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:21.599 So I go there. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:22.319 Get up. 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:23.759 I'm old, so I get up early. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:24.240 I go down there. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:29.039 It's just me and a bunch of old people eating breakfast at like 7 or 6.07 when it first opens. 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:30.880 And they're like, oh, are you in town? 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:32.240 I'm here for a funeral. 00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:33.119 Oh, we're sorry. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:34.400 I said, Oh, no, don't be sorry. 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:36.559 It's a very joyful occasion. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:39.680 And they're like, okay, you're kind of morbid. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:42.960 I said, Yeah, this woman lived to be like 85 years old. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:50.079 She was married for 65 years, tried for 18 years to have a baby, and had multiple miscarriages, and finally had a son. 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:52.720 And she loved him and he loved her. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:57.599 And so today's a home going, so it's a very joyful occasion while I'm scooping up my oatmeal. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:02.640 And people are just like, What kind of a sicko are you, dude? 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:06.559 And I said, Yeah, as a Christian, for the Christian, death has lost its sting. 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:10.079 We don't live in fear or uncertainty about what happens when we die. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:15.519 We don't get close to death and kind of go, oh, well, uh, I hope I've done enough. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:18.079 Because it doesn't depend on us. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:21.279