WEBVTT 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:09.439 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:14.480 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:21.199 Father, when we say my one defense, what we're saying is we don't have a leg to stand on. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:28.160 Because left to ourselves, we will eat too much, drink too much, spin too much, talk too much. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:29.600 Just fill in the blank. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:30.800 We'll do it too much. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:33.200 So we confess today that we need you. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:36.640 You're our one defense, but you're also our righteousness. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:39.840 In other words, when we got it wrong, you got it right. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:42.479 Where we were faithless, you were faithful. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:44.640 And you're going to be faithful today. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:51.600 Just illuminate the Bible, make it come alive in our head and in our heart so it finds expression in our hands this week. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:59.039 And so, God, I pray for people in this room that have close to given up on themselves spiritually that you just nudge them today and say, Hey, I hadn't given up on you. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:02.079 By the way, talking to you today, that's got your name on it. 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:02.880 Let's think about that. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:05.200 We're driving to work tomorrow. 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:15.599 And so, Holy Spirit, just kind of brood over the text today, just as you did in the very beginning in creation, where the Spirit of God was just hovering over what was uncreated and unformed. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:18.000 Make some stuff today, God. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:21.040 Shape some thoughts in our head. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:25.760 We ask all this in Jesus' name, and everyone said Amen. 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:29.200 And then you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to John chapter 1. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:32.879 If you're a guest today, we're going through the Gospel of John, preaching to the Gospel of John. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:34.640 We're not giving religious lectures. 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:40.400 We believe the Bible is the word of God, it's it's truth, it's authoritative, uh, it has consequence in our lives. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:44.959 And so we're gonna read 144 words, starting in John chapter 1, verse 29. 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:49.760 We're gonna read down to verse 34, and I want to talk to you this morning about embracing the possibilities. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:57.519 Embracing the possibilities, because every time the Bible, uh every time the Bible says something, it says it with great reason, okay? 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:01.200 And so there's a great reason in what John records in this gospel. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:06.319 Now, when I say John records, the Bible teaches that that the Bible was written, was inspired. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:08.080 It was it's the breathed-out word of God. 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:10.719 It was inspired by God, it was recorded by men. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:14.000 And so you may be here today kind of going, oh, the Bible's written by a bunch of people. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:14.719 No, no, no. 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:18.879 The Bible teaches of itself that the Bible was written by God, recorded by people. 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:21.360 And so it has authority in our lives today. 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:23.759 And it it makes sense. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:27.759 That's what we believe, that's our experience, and that's what we want you to experience today. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:31.599 So let me read in John chapter 1, uh, starting in verse 29. 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:40.240 It says, The next day he, John the Baptist, saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:46.319 This is he of whom I said, After After Me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:52.560 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came, baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel. 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:53.919 And John bore witness. 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:57.840 I saw the spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:07.520 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, He on whom you see the spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:12.080 And I have seen and we have borne witness that this is the Son of God. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.120 Now, you you say, What do you mean, embrace the possibilities? 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:27.280 Every time the Bible says something, every time we read something in the Bible, because the Bible says of itself in the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament, God says, My word never goes out and comes back to me void, but it accomplishes the purpose for which I sent it. 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:30.560 So every time you hear the Bible, it is pregnant with purpose. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:35.759 It's an invitation to us to think about our lives in relation to this objective truth. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:41.199 And there's four things in here that the Bible says to us, and they're so subtle, if you're not careful, you miss them. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:42.639 Let me point to these four things. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:46.800 And then what we'd like to do, if you're visiting today, I just want to lay all the cards on the table. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:50.000 I want to teach the Bible, and then to end, I'll be quiet. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:51.439 Miracle of miracles. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:57.439 Uh, and we'll give you some time and space to think about it and just kind of say, hey, what did you hear God say into you today, okay? 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:01.120 And then we'll speak a blessing over you, and you'll be you'll be dismissed this morning. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:05.039 The first thing the Bible says to us is that God has done something about our sin. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:06.719 God has done something about our sin. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:15.680 And it's in that statement right there in verse 29, or excuse me, yeah, verse 29, where John the Baptist says, Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:17.920 Now, there's two things in that sentence I want to point to. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:19.600 The first one is the word behold. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:22.160 If you notice, no one says behold anymore. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:24.319 And so here's your assignment this week. 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.360 I want you to use the word behold as often as possible. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:31.759 Like none of you women are gonna cook supper tonight and walk out and go, behold. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:36.639 You're gonna say, Hey, you ungrateful weasels, get in here and eat this food I've made, or something like that. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:37.759 No one says behold. 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:43.759 And so, because we don't use the word behold, we don't have a frame of reference for it and what it means and its implications. 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:48.480 Like I walked out the other day, my wife and I were going out to dinner, I walked out and I said, Behold. 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:50.399 And she said, Let's go, get in the truck. 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:51.439 Come on, I'm hungry. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:53.120 And I was like, You're not beholden. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:54.480 She goes, I know what you mean by that. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:55.360 Let's go, I'm hungry. 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:59.519 And I was like, I need to use this word more so she has a frame of reference for it. 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:03.519 And so my mission this week is to say, behold every chance I get. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:07.680 Every time I do something, like I load the dishwasher, behold. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:11.759 She's like, You're gonna behold something else if you don't stop saying behold. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:20.399 But he says this: he says, Behold the Lamb of God, and here's the other part that is radically consequential for first century uh Judaism and people that were listening. 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:24.160 He says, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:27.600 Now, what he's really saying there is, hey, by the way, do not miss. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:32.319 Here's the person that's gonna do something that's never been done before in relation to your sin. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:36.319 That's what he's saying when he says, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:37.199 You're like, what? 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:38.160 That's what they heard. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:41.199 And it was like people could be working, people could be doing whatever. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:43.519 They hear that phrase and they're like, What? 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:45.759 What did you just say? 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:50.879 It's subtle and it's nuanced, but it's radically provocative for them. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:51.439 Why? 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:53.759 Because you say, Well, haven't they been doing something about their sin? 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:55.839 I mean, who sins and doesn't do anything about that? 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:00.959 At least feels bad, tells God they're gonna try harder and do gooder and do better and blah, blah, blah. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:02.000 That's what they've been doing. 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:04.160 You say, I don't know what you mean. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:05.839 See, here's the thing. 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:08.240 John says, hey, here's what he's gonna do. 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:14.240 When I say God has done something about our sin, it's easy to go roll your eyes and go, really, that's all you came up with? 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:15.839 That's the best you got. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:20.399 Hey, we've got to hear it through the lens of people who for thousands of years. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:23.439 Now, in the Old Testament, here's the difference. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:37.040 What they've been doing, they've been engaged in religious duties because in the Old Testament, under the law, and you'd go to the you'd sin, you'd go to the priest or you or to the temple, and you take an animal and you'd sacrifice that animal for your sin, and your sins were covered. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:38.560 They were covered. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:40.959 That's why there's a guy in the Old Testament named David. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:43.439 He was a king, he was a great guy, did a lot of great things. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:45.519 The Bible says he was a man after God's own heart. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:49.680 David did a lot of great things, but David also did some not so great things. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:51.360 Uh, David had an affair. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:53.600 He, the woman he had an affair with, he got her pregnant. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:57.920 They had a baby, the baby was, uh the Lord took the baby's life as a consequence for their sin. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:02.240 David not only had an affair with the woman and got her knocked up, but he also had her husband killed. 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:04.399 And God said, Hey, that ain't good, man. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:09.439 And so there's two, David's confronted with his sins, and he repents and he's broken over that. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:21.519 And there's two, what's called Psalms of Confession in the Old Testament, Psalm 51 and Psalm 32, where David is just trying to say, as a broken man, oh my gosh, when I try to keep silent, my bones waxed old, okay? 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.879 When I try to keep everything on the down low, I was miserable. 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:28.959 I started off drinking jack and coke and it went to just straight up Jack out of the bottle. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:31.199 This wasn't getting any better, David says. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:32.319 But he says, What? 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:34.959 When I confess my sins, God was faithful. 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:43.439 But one of the things he says in Psalm 32, verse 1, he says, this he says, Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:46.319 Now, by the way, that's the best I could hope for in the Old Testament. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:47.839 Their sin was covered. 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:50.800 But here's the thing: what's covered is still there. 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:52.079 It doesn't go away. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:53.360 Let me say that again. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:55.600 What's covered is still there. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:56.399 It's like this. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:13.439 Imagine you and your wife were having people over for dinner at 7 o'clock, and at 6 45, you get a little tiff because your husband's in the kitchen, ladies, giving you tips and pointers on how to do what you're trying to do, and you're in a hurry, and he's in the way, and finally he you just say, Could you just shut up and get out of my kitchen and leave me alone? 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:14.399 And he's like, Oh, really? 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:15.759 Well, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:17.519 About that time the doorbell rings. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:19.839 Your dinner guest got there 10 minutes early. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:23.759 And you look at each other, you're like, just, just, I tell you what, if you want to do something, answer the door. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:27.759 And he's like, All right, we'll come back this because you disrespect me this way in my house. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:28.720 And you answer the door. 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:29.920 Hey, good to see you. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:30.560 Come on in. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:35.039 And you go in there, and the whole time it's going on, you're looking at your wife like. 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:40.720 And your wife's got a spatula in her hand, and she's like, You think I'm afraid of you? 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:43.279 You wait to the people that want to beat you about the head and neck with a spatula. 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:45.120 Hi, would you like some bread with that salad? 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:46.080 Come on in. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:48.080 It's covered up. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:49.120 They don't know you. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:53.840 You that you're fighting, or your kids walk in and you're like, hey, mom and dad, are y'all fighting? 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:54.879 No, we're not fighting. 00:08:55.039 --> 00:09:01.440 Your mom's just acting like her mother, and I pray to God that you don't act like your mom when you're this age, because that's called generational sin. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:06.480 By the way, if you're thinking of saying that, don't. 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:08.559 Yes. 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:14.159 You need to be the chainbreaker, honey, who breaks this generational sin because your mother is just like her mother. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:16.000 That's never funny. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:18.799 It's an awkward dinner. 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:19.919 Hey, you can cover it up. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.159 You can act like, hey, it's good to see you guys. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:23.039 But it's still there. 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:25.039 That's what sin was like in the Old Testament. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:28.960 They did all these religious duties to cover it up, but it was still there. 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:33.919 That's why it's such a radical thing when John says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:37.039 When people heard takes away, they were like, What? 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:38.720 What did you say? 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:40.159 Here's the way the Bible says it. 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:43.759 Now, before we read from the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, let me just say this. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.000 The law can never do what only God can do. 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:50.000 The law kind of points to what God is going to do one day. 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:59.519 The law, the Old Testament, the law, the rules and regulations, by keeping the rules and regulations, you can never get there on your own religious efforts. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:13.279 Hebrews chapter 10 says it like this, verse 1, for since the law was but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:15.840 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:20.960 Since the worshippers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:29.840 But in these sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:32.639 Now, this is Hebrews chapter 10, verses 1 to 4. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:34.399 Now let me draw your attention to four things. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:44.720 Now, when the Bible points out and kind of says, hey, by the way, uh the law, anytime scripture says the law cannot, what the law cannot do, really the point it's making is only God can do this. 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:55.200 When he says, hey, the law is powerless to do this, what he's really saying is only, it's building a case for the sufficiency and the solidarity of Jesus. 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:56.240 You say, what do you mean? 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:59.120 There's four things the Bible tells us right here that the law can't do. 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:01.600 Number one, the law can never make perfect. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:04.159 The law can never make by perfect. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:06.879 I don't mean perfect in a way, I mean complete. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:08.799 Okay, the law can never make perfect. 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:12.720 Secondly, under the law, sacrifices never cease to be offered. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:14.720 They never cease to be offered. 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:17.679 Thirdly, under the law, people never felt cleansed. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:19.360 What I mean, never felt cleansed? 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:21.120 That's another word we don't use very often. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:26.720 People lived under the law, under just keep trying to keep the rules and measure up to the to the rules. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:34.240 People live with this constant feeling that God is somehow disappointed with me and I'm gonna get it one day. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:38.639 Because it's this sense of I'm never quite right with God. 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:42.240 The fourth thing the law does is it reminds people of their sins. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:49.360 And they're like, hey man, if I'm really such a good person, why do I have to keep coming here and making sacrifice for my sin? 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:51.440 Because I keep doing the wrong thing. 00:11:51.679 --> 00:12:07.679 And so when John the Baptist shows up on the scene and says, it's a radical shift in thinking, when John shows up and says, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, what he's really saying is this, wouldn't you love to forget your sins and be in a relationship with someone who's forgotten your sins as well? 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:14.879 Let me say that, because nobody in this room, just by sheer fact, matter of fact, that you're breathing has ever experienced that. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:15.919 But let me ask it again. 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:22.480 Wouldn't you love to be in a relationship with someone who has no record of your past wrongs that you've done? 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:25.600 Just this past week, my wife and I had a little discussion. 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:27.919 We don't fight at my house because I'm the pastor. 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:29.759 We have spirited discussions. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:36.000 We were having a spirited discussion where we were discussing an area of growth in my wife's life. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:38.639 And in the middle of that, she said, Well, don't you have some flaws? 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:42.320 And I said, Not that I can think of right now, so let's stay focused on yours. 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:45.759 That too was not funny, beloved. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:48.240 Now you say, What do you mean? 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:49.840 Go back to the question. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:13:00.399 Wouldn't you love to be in a relationship with someone who had no, I mean, if someone came up to you after the service and said, Hey, is your husband ever done anything that's just absolutely goofy? 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:02.159 And you look, ladies, and say, you know what? 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:04.799 No, I can't think of anything he's ever done like that. 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:10.639 Yes, there's a person there who's been married a long time. 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:14.240 No, I can't, no, but that's what John is saying. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:25.840 When John says, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, he is inviting them to think about God in a way they've never thought about God, and he's inviting them to think about themselves in a way they never thought about themselves. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:33.200 You say, Well, what why do you say, wouldn't you love to be in a relationship with someone who has no frame of reference for your past sins? 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:39.279 Because this is how God, this is how the Bible teaches us that God thinks about us once we become Christians. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:42.960 The Bible says like this in Romans chapter 8, verses 1 to 4. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:45.759 There is therefore now, key word. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:47.360 There is therefore now. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:51.360 Now means something exists now that didn't exist back then. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:53.200 This whole new reality. 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:57.840 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:13:58.399 Why? 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:03.840 Because the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:11.200 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:20.559 He condemns sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:21.840 What does that mean? 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:23.200 It means four things. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:25.200 Just the exact opposite of the other four. 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:27.440 It means number one, in Christ I'm perfect. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:28.960 In other words, I'm complete. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:30.080 I'm not lacking. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:33.840 There's not something, oh, I gotta kind of add to what God has done. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:34.799 No, no, no, no. 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:40.799 I can stand in the sufficiency of what Jesus has done in my place for my sin. 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:43.600 So that's what I mean when I say in Christ I'm perfect. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:46.399 Secondly, I don't have to make sacrifices for my sin. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:48.879 I don't have to make sacrifices for my sin. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:49.440 What does that mean? 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:51.440 That doesn't mean I don't have to acknowledge my sin. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:53.039 I don't have to make sacrifices. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:57.759 In other words, I the good that I do, here's what I mean by don't have to make sacrifices. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:14:58.639 Listen carefully. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:02.879 The good that I do is not to compensate for the bad that I've done. 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:04.080 That's karma. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:05.360 That's not grace. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:11.679 That just puts you on a treadmill of religious determination and spiritual bookkeeping, trying to balance it all out. 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:15.279 Oh thirdly, in Christ I'm clean. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:20.559 Just let that just kind of land on you a little bit. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:22.960 In Christ, I'm clean. 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:25.679 I've been I've been cleansed. 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:30.240 Remember, think back to the Last Supper where Jesus washes the disciples' feet. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:35.679 He's going around, he gets to Peter, this one that's very zealous, he's very eager, and he says, Oh Lord, you're not gonna wash my feet. 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:38.720 And Jesus says, If I don't wash your feet, you have no part with me. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:44.240 And Peter says, Oh, then don't just wash my feet, wash my head and my hands, and just give me a sponge bath, Jesus. 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:44.879 Come on. 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:46.399 Remember what Jesus said? 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:48.000 He said, That's not necessary. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:51.039 He said, You're already clean because of the word I've spoken to you. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:52.559 Can you imagine? 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:55.039 Do you ever think of yourself as clean before God? 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:58.960 You ever think of yourself knowing everything you've done? 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:00.559 And just think that you know what? 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:04.639 When God looks down on me, he's just like, man, that cat is clean in my eyes. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:09.039 Fourth thing is that sin is no longer necessary. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:11.200 Sin is no longer why? 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:12.879 Because it's been taken away. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:15.759 It's been taken away, it's been removed. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:18.159 It's what what do you mean? 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:21.759 I'll talk about this more in my class, my apologetics class on Wednesday night. 00:16:21.919 --> 00:16:32.960 Uh but but about our sinful nature has been removed because a lot of time, here's why I will talk about this in my class, is because a lot of times you start trying to have a spiritual conversation with somebody and they'll throw up in your face, well, who are you? 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:34.080 You think you're better than me? 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:36.639 And you could just smile and go, Oh, absolutely not. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:42.559 I know what an egregious, horrible sinner I used to be, but I'm not that person anymore. 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:47.039 I just think that you could, I want you, this hope has so changed my life. 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:53.840 I want you to experience the hope I have because of my relationship with Christ and what Christ has done for me and my sin. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:55.919 He'd do the same thing for you and your sin. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:00.000 I've never met a person that said, you know what, I don't want to, I don't want to struggle with my sin anymore. 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:02.159 I I mean, I I'd I don't want to be forgiven. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:04.559 I want to struggle with it all my life. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:06.720 Absolutely not. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:14.319 That's why when I get in spiritual conversations with people, I don't ask them, hey, if you come to a point in your life, you know for sure if you die tonight, you'd go to heaven. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:16.240 I ask them questions like this. 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:18.880 Hey, can you imagine not sinning anymore? 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:20.799 You think that's possible? 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:23.119 And they're like, yeah, fat chance. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:26.480 And I said, What if the Bible says that it's possible? 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.640 What if the Bible just kind of says, you know what? 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:31.839 If you take this out, here's a question you should ask yourself today. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:36.480 If you took sin out of the equation, on what basis would you relate to God? 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:39.119 What would you and God talk about? 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:45.119 It's kind of like being in a marriage where all you do is fight. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:48.480 Here's the reason those marriages don't last. 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:53.920 It's not because all you do is fight, it's because if you stop fighting, then what do you talk about? 00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:57.279 You look at the other person and you're like, oh. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:02.960 Because you're so conditioned for conflict. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:08.960 And when conflict goes away, it's like, hi, I'm Bob, what's your name? 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:10.079 I'm Susie. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:12.079 We've been married 28 years. 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:14.880 It's the same way with sin. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:20.559 If you took sin out of the equation, on what basis would you relate to God? 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:24.480 See, the first thing John tells us is, hey, God's done something about our sin. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:27.519 Second thing he tells us from the text is that God allows for progress. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:28.799 God allows for progress. 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:29.920 Look at verse 31. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:36.960 John the Baptist says, I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptized him with water that he might be revealed to Israel. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:39.920 Now, you say, What do you mean, I myself did not know him? 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:42.319 John the Baptist and Jesus were related. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:43.200 Did you know that? 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:44.240 Yeah. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:47.039 Don't you have family members you wish you didn't know? 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:51.680 You got that drunk uncle that comes to the family reunion every year and makes a fool of himself? 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:53.839 You're like, I wish that sucker wouldn't show up. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:57.279 No, what John, he's not saying, he's not disown, like, I don't know who Jesus is. 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:02.720 What he's saying is, I didn't understand that Jesus was the Messiah until I saw him baptize. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:14.160 Because if you read on, and we read it just a minute ago, where John says, hey, uh in in the next verse, he says, verse 32, and John bore witness, I saw the spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:25.359 And he repeats, I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, He on whom you see the spirit descend to remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:34.559 And I have seen, in other words, hey, God, God told me this was gonna happen, it happened, I saw it, and now I bear witness that this is the Son of God. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:36.000 Now, what what am I saying? 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:46.960 I'm saying God allows for progress because John the Baptist, who Jesus said was the greatest man ever born of a woman, John the Baptist said, you know, I didn't understand that Jesus was the Messiah until I said I'm baptized. 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:50.319 And so now I live with an understanding I didn't have before. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:51.279 What does that mean? 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:52.160 It means two things. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:55.440 It means something for these people, and it means something for us people. 00:19:55.599 --> 00:20:02.640 First of all, for the people in the Bible times, remember, John is the pal, the guy that wrote the Gospel of John, he's a Palestinian Jew. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:07.759 He is writing to these Jewish people, very religious people, they're scattered all over, and they don't believe in Jesus. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:11.759 They say, hey, good guy, moral teacher, not the son of God. 00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:20.400 And what he's doing is he's just kind of laying the case out there, and he's kind of because he realizes they're not gonna go from zero to sixty in four seconds like a sports car. 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:27.279 These people are gonna have to hear the truth, they're gonna have to think about it, they're gonna have to ask some questions, they're gonna have to say, Can I get back to you on that? 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:28.720 Hey, could you clarify that? 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:29.519 What about this? 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:31.680 What is if this is true, then what does it mean about this? 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:32.640 Blah, blah, blah. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:34.240 It's all over the place. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:38.880 And so you realize they got to hear the truth, they gotta think about the truth, and then they're gonna come to the truth. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:41.200 So for them, it's it's a process. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:45.200 And so when I say that God allows for progress, let me let me be clear. 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:48.559 Progress is not perfection, it's participation. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:53.920 Progress is not God saying you better hurry up and get your act together, the clock is ticking. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:56.079 It's participation. 00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:58.079 Now, that's what it means for them. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:20:59.119 What does it mean for us? 00:20:59.279 --> 00:20:59.759 Look at me. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:04.720 What it means for us is if in this room right here, there are people that are all across the spectrum. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:05.759 All across. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:10.559 Some of you are like, hey, I I don't I don't believe in Christianity, I do not consider myself a Christian. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:11.359 That's okay. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:12.720 You're welcome here, okay? 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:13.359 Relax. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:16.720 No one's gonna corner you and give you a Jesus pop quiz. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:24.079 I would just say this: you keep coming, you keep listening, because we believe what you really want is the truth, because that's what God created you for. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:30.480 So the more you hear the truth and you think about it and you process that, you might inch a little bit closer and a little bit closer. 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:34.799 On a scale of one to ten, you may be sitting here right now and you maybe think, hey, I'm about a two. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:35.599 That's okay. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:37.039 Just keep coming. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:41.440 Maybe six months from now, you'll be a three or a five or a seven. 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:55.039 But we believe this that you would do well, as the Bible says in in 2 Peter, you would do well to pay attention to the gospel, to the word as a light shining in a dark place until the morning start dawns and it rises in your heart. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:22:01.359 Because the Bible allows, God allows for people to kind of make this progression, just kind of, hey, Hey, I'm making progress. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:02.240 I'm not there yet. 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:06.319 I have many people in my life who I I've gotten to know, and they look at me and they go, hey, you know what? 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:08.559 Now I don't believe like you believe. 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:09.839 I'm not there yet. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.920 And I don't say to them, hurry. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:13.279 No. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:16.319 I say to them, hey, describe to me where you are. 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:17.839 And it's fascinating. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:21.279 They say things like, I pray to a guy I don't really even believe in. 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:25.519 I'm like, wow, that's gotta be difficult. 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:30.480 And so here's the thing: because God allows for progress, we allow for progress. 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:31.680 And by the way, look at me. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:35.680 Sometimes progress is two steps forward and one step back. 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:40.720 John the Baptist, this same guy in Matthew chapter 11, he's at the end of his life. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:41.279 He's in prison. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:42.480 He's fixing to get killed. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:47.119 And he sends his disciples to ask Jesus, Are you the one to come or should we expect somebody else? 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:55.839 And he wasn't doubting, he was like, This, I just, if I'm fixing to get killed because I believe you're the son of God, I want to just double check, you are the son of God, right? 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:01.039 And Jesus didn't send his disciples to go, you tell that ungrateful locust eater to shut up. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:02.319 Take one for the team. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:02.720 No. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:07.039 Jesus smiles and goes, Hey, you tell John what you hear and what you see. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:13.039 The blind can see, the deaf can hear, the dead are raised, the good news is preached to the poor. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:18.559 In other words, I am doing everything that was foretold about me as the Messiah. 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:23.440 And John dies with this right belief that Jesus is the Son of God. 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:24.640 And so don't beat yourself up. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:28.079 Sometimes it's five steps forward and two steps back. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:30.400 It's the same thing in your marriage relationship. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:38.240 Now, some of you, every once in a while, you all come up to me and say, Hey, when you talk about you and your wife and stuff, are you just making that up so we'll think you have problems too? 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:38.799 No. 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:39.839 No, I'm not making it. 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:45.039 We had a disagreement last week, and my wife did say to me in the midst of it, hey, do you do you have any faults? 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:46.480 And not that I can think of right now. 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:48.160 Let's stay focused on yours. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:54.000 And she looked at me and she's like, and I went, My faults have nothing to do with what we're talking about right now. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:55.680 She said, You're right. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:56.880 This is painful. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:23:58.000 I hate this. 00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:00.880 And I said, It's tough not being perfect. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:04.000 Because I'm full of compassion. 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:08.880 That's why, ladies, aren't you sad I'm not available for you? 00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:13.920 My wife just looked at me and she's like, Oh. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:19.839 I tell my kids, hey, you're not perfect. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:21.440 I'm such a bad parent. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:24.400 I tell my overachieved achieving children, hey, make a C. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:25.920 It's liberating. 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:32.160 Yes, I am banned from going on the high school campus across the street. 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:33.359