All right, so we're going to talk about life after death. I think there will be two parts.
Life after death. The first part is life after death here on earth, and the second part will
hopefully be life after death when there's a new heaven on earth. Today we will be talking
about life after death here on earth, meaning the Bible actually says, I have been crucified
with Christ, I no longer live. So there is eternal life that we get to taste here, and
then there is a life after we physically die. What does heaven and what does the rest of
eternity look like? We'll probably touch on that next week. But today we're going
to first start with what has been put to death. What has been put to death. And then
we'll talk about what has been brought to life. And today though, we'll be looking
at it more in terms of, have you been to your funeral yet? Have you been to your funeral
yet? So if this was an altar, there are certain things that have been put to death that we
can't continue raising back to life. It's just wrong. I want to put an end to the things
that I give life back to and Jesus actually put them to death. And I'm praying that we'll
all be able to settle some things that's dead. You know, in India, I read this story long
ago, there was a man who in the India Pakistan war was taken as a prisoner of war. And so
for years he was in prison in Pakistan and then Pakistan released him and he came back
to India. When he came back to India, his older brother had taken all his property and
he had bribed the city officials and had bribed them and rendered the younger brother dead.
So now the younger brother comes back and he wants his property back. But he can't take
his property back because he is dead. So he goes to the city council and he says, but
I'm alive. And they say, but I record show you're dead. And they refuse to give him the land.
But he said, I'm alive. But they said, no, you're dead. Because they had been bribed and they
wouldn't accept it. So when the premier of the province came to the city one day, he called
four of his friends and he told his friends to carry him on their shoulders like a dead body.
So it was like a funeral, like a coffin. And he was in the coffin and the premier's preaching.
And these four would keep taking him up and down when the premier's preaching. And every time the
cameras were on him, he would sit up from the coffin and said, I'm not dead. I'm alive. I'm not
dead. I'm alive. And he kept doing this about five, six times to the point where the television
people got interested, the media got interested. Finally, the city began to take note of the
premier stopped his preaching. They called him, they asked him what was wrong. He explained it to
them. And then he finally got his land back. Why this story? It has absolutely no connection with
what we're going to talk about. It was just something that occurred to me. So there is no
moral there. So Tony was waiting for the punch line. Yeah, there's no punch line. So here's the
thing. There are certain things that sit up from the coffin and keep saying, I'm alive. And we've
got to make sure it's dead forever. We can't give life to it. So what is the first, one of the things
that has been put to death is strangely you. Your old self has been put to death. If you have received
Christ, your old self has been put to death. I know you know this from Christ's life, so I won't
label the point too much, but it says that if you have received Christ who died on the cross in your
place, then it is like you dying. Your old self, your old man, the sinful self dying. Galatians 2 20.
I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live. Vivek, I'm going to use you as an example
because you're wearing a bright red hoodie. Oh yeah, yeah.
Vivek will spend most of this teaching here dead. Yeah. Don't try this at home.
Oh no, dead. Oh dead. I've also done this before.
Don't snore and stuff like that. Yeah. So one of the things is that you have been put to death.
When you say your old self has been put to death, what you're saying is every desire you have to live
a life contrary to the life of Christ is actually dead. It does not exist. This is not
some kind of positional thing that will happen in the future. It is our present reality. Galatians
2 20. He has been crucified with Christ. He no longer lives.
He no longer lives. If you want to find the old Vivek, you'll have to go
start scrounging at the garbage heap in Jerusalem
called Gehenna where the bodies of people that were crucified were thrown.
And you will find him there. You will find him there. You will find the old self, the Vivek that
his mum gave birth to. That old man, you will find him in Gehenna, in Jerusalem if you go and look
for the garbage heap there. That's where you'll find him. He does not exist. This Vivek
only has one life in him and that is the life of Christ. No other life.
It is not normal for him, natural for him to get angry, to feel jealousy, to feel bitterness,
to feel envy. It is not natural. It is abnormal for him.
We must receive this as our present reality. These are things that you have to decide. You're
going to lay on the altar and you will not have him come up and suddenly say, I'm alive. I'm alive.
No, he's dead. At some point today, please decide that you're not going to fuel this.
You can read as many books as you want that tell you otherwise, but Christ said otherwise.
Do you have any questions about that?
Any questions about that? Is the old man really dead?
If you want to question that, this is a good time to question this.
Is the old man really dead? Is the old Jacob really dead? Does he exist?
Because here's the crazy thing. If he exists, then Christ's death does not have the power
that he says it does. That's impossible. I have been, I was crucified with Christ.
She's been baptized before, so why is she getting baptized again? Because when she got baptized the
first time, it was just for the sake of baptism. She did not believe as such. She's getting into
that place of belief where this is exactly what she will portray in baptism, where she's saying
the old Yesuri is dead. Christ lives in Yesuri. Therefore, as I go into the water, the old Yesuri
is buried. The one that comes out is new and that new Yesuri only has the life of Christ.
The old Yesuri is done.
So if you have no questions, can I pray that this is settled once and for all,
somewhere deep inside our psyche? Let's pray that. Jesus, we right now believe
that the old Don, the old Iris, the old Jacob, the old Jillian, the old Yesuri, the old Sheldon
no longer exist because the moment we received Jesus Christ as the one who died to save us,
the Bible says when he died on the cross as a payment for our sins, we also died with him.
And when he rose again from the grave, we also rose up.
So, I believe this. I am not going to say that I'm just human. No.
We all sin. None of us are perfect. No. Those kind of words are going to end.
All of it may be true, but the real truth is this. Christ alone lives in me and I have the
ability to live out his life, which is how we change. People here are changed because they are
living the life of Christ more and more. So we give you thanks, Abba, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Vivek, you can sit up here front in case I need you to die again.
The next thing that was destroyed, the first one was you. The second one is the power of death.
We touched on it last week, so I'll just read you the scripture. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14 and 15.
Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14 and 15. So many things went into Jesus Christ coming down to the earth
in flesh. Here's one of the things he did in coming down to the earth in flesh. Hebrews chapter 2,
verse 14 and 15. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity
so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the devil,
and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. What is he trying
to say there? Listen, guys, do not be afraid of dying. Do not be afraid of dying. Do not be
afraid of death. Do not be afraid of Satan who used to use the power of death upon people and
still does. And do not be afraid of death anymore. The story that I often share at funerals is about
this boy who is driving with his dad and a bee comes into the car and the boy panics and says,
the bee is going to sting me. And the dad goes, grabs the bee and the bee stings his hand. And
then the dad releases the bee and says to the boy, don't worry, it won't harm you anymore. But
the boy says, you let the bee go, you should have killed it. And the dad says, once it stings,
it cannot sting again because the sting now is embedded in the dad's hand and it doesn't have
the power to do you any harm. And so death might be around on the earth. Of course it is. But it has
absolutely no sting for us. The message puts it this way.
Who are you anymore? Death? Why be afraid of you? Because you have been swallowed up in triumphant
life. If you are afraid of dying in this room, if the fear of death occasionally comes,
and we'll pray for it right now,
that we'll never be afraid of dying. Death is an enemy. Do not look at death as a friend.
Do not say stuff like, oh, we all have to die because if we didn't die, we would not be able
to go to heaven. That's costuming death. There's nothing about death that is friendly. It was not
supposed to be part of the equation of the earth and it will not be part of the new heaven and new
earth. It's an enemy. It's one of the worst enemies which will be dealt with in the end. In the end,
death and Hades were dealt with. It is prevalent right till the end. It is evil.
So don't dress it up. That's like playing Halloween with Bible verses.
So let's pray. Jesus, I don't know if there are people here who are afraid of dying.
I don't know if there are people here that are born again, that have Jesus living in them,
but are afraid of the event of death. Today, by the power of the Spirit of God present here,
I pray that death be dealt a death blow so that the fear of death in this congregation will be
broken. And we will not fear death. And many nightmares of death will be broken.
And we will not fear death. And many nightmares will end. Many nightmares in this room will end.
Many dreams about people dying will end today. I thank you, Holy Spirit, for the connections
you are making. And I thank you and give you praise of God. We thank you that we are not
afraid of death. One of the reasons we are not afraid of death is because Jesus Christ has a
book and the book is called the Lamb's Book of Life, Revelation 13 verse 8. And my name,
your name is written there. We are not afraid of death. And today, both nightmares and dreams of
other people dying, of things happening in our families, death dreams are going to end.
They will not continue in Jesus' name. Amen. The third thing that was put to death was
appeasement. Appeasement. Christianity is the only religion where we don't have to appease God.
Appeasing is to pacify someone's anger. Most religions have methods of appeasing God, pacifying
God. Christianity is not an appeasement religion. We think it's appeasement. Atonement is not
appeasement. Many times when people come from other religions into Christianity, one of the
things that happens is they think that this God also has to be appeased. You might say,
but didn't Jesus have to be sacrificed to appease God? Really? Hebrew says that he loved me and
decided that he would lay down my life for me while I was still an enemy of his.
That is atonement. It is not appeasement.
Appeasement goes back a long way. Jacob is sending his herds and his cattle ahead of him,
sending treasures. Why? Because he is scared that Esau is going to do him harm. What does Esau do?
A man who was in a sense wicked according to Hebrews. Esau grabs him, kisses him, embraces him.
Jacob wanted to appease. Esau showed love and grace. The same thing happens in Luke 15 verse 9
where you have a father who sees his son coming at a distance and the son has plans of appeasement.
I don't even want to be a son. I just want to be a servant. What does the father do? He does exactly
what Esau does. Goes running to him, grabs him, kisses him seven times, embraces him.
You must not appease this God. Put appeasement to death.
Even when you make mistakes and sin, appeasement reeks of legalism.
Do not appease this God. You can please him, but do not appease him.
That is why this idea of penance, of doing things to
show God how serious we are about him. Any child that has to do that to appease his father is a child that is not loved.
At the end of the day, things that were put to death were things that were put to death so that we would no longer be devotees,
worshipers, believers, disciples, but that we would first be sons. A lot of things that are put to death is because of that.
Because God does not want anything but sonship first. Everything else is after.
Sons don't appease their fathers. Sons please their fathers.
Fathers don't demand appeasement. Fathers atone or cover their children.
So can we pray that?
Jesus once again,
we bring to the altar this sense somewhere deep inside that you are angry and now we need to do something
to blunt or pacify or promise you something that will mitigate your anger. We are very sorry.
Very sorry.
I am sorry every time I've thought that I need to do something.
I am sorry every time I've thought that I need to do something
to spare myself.
I am so sorry he who did not spare his son.
Romans chapter 8. I am so sorry father.
Across this room, would you please see a repentant mumbling, we don't even know how to phrase it,
but would you accept it as an offering and set us free from appeasement forever.
In Jesus' mighty name. Amen.
The next thing that he put to death is enmity.
He destroyed enmity between us and him.
We were rebellious, independent orphans
that he now makes sons and highly favored.
It's a huge transfer from rebellious, independent orphan Jacob
to highly favored Jacob and my son Jacob.
He destroys enmity.
And therefore make sure that today we put to an end
condemnation or a sense of abandonment in our lives.
It's one of the most powerful instruments used in Christianity.
It is used by our own guilt, it is used by Satan,
it is used by pastors with the church,
it is used by authors, it is used by parents.
Condemnation has become such a part of who we are
that it worms its way into everything
and Christ goes so far to remove it.
Condemnation is the work of the accuser of the brethren.
Today we've got to decide that condemnation and abandonment
is something that we will not cause to rise again saying,
I'm alive, I'm alive.
It must end today.
Because I've moved from being independent, rebellious and an orphan
to highly favored Jacob and my son Jacob
and what I have with God is a face-to-face relationship
with a face that does not condemn.
The truth is till today the face of God has not been creased
with condemnation towards me
regardless of the 40 or 42 years of sin and righteousness
that I have weaved my way into.
It has never been the case.
Any person here that has the ability not to be condemned
is a person that has finally absolutely received
the benefits of his death.
Do you realize that almost everybody in this room
has not received the full benefits of Christ's death?
We know the scriptures, therefore there is no condemnation
for those who are in Christ.
For the spirit of life in Christ has set us free.
And yet there's not a single person in this room right now
who today probably did not feel condemned about.
Get back on the altar.
We've got to put condemnation to death man.
We've got to put this to death.
This part of Vivek that condemns him,
this part of Vivek that makes him feel condemned
is a part of condemnation.
This is a part of condemnation.
This part of condemnation condemns him.
This part of Vivek that makes him feel like
he's an orphan again who's scared to go to his father.
This part of Vivek that makes Vivek run from the face of God
instead of running towards the face of God,
that Vivek should not exist.
It's wrong.
It is one of the most wicked,
most successful plots of the devil.
As a pastor, I must stop doing it to you.
As a parent, you must stop doing it to your children.
As a teacher, the same thing.
Please, displease, discipline.
Can we even imagine discipline without condemnation?
We don't know how to.
We get a chance to do that, right?
Eliakim doesn't have to go through it.
Joey doesn't have to go through it.
Timothy doesn't have to go through it.
Thea doesn't have to go through it.
They get a brand new start if you can get this right.
So, Father, as much as this seems a little funny to put Vivek here,
it is important that we have a visual, O God,
of what we are putting to death.
By the power of the Spirit, you said that you would accomplish this
in the life of this church.
And so right now, O God, I ask you to do this.
So right now, O God, I come, as I pray,
I pray on behalf of everybody because we share the same situations, Father.
Father, there are so many times in a week
where I struggle with condemnation.
I've talked about you, I've told everybody you're a father,
I tell everybody how loving you are,
and then when I mess up, when I sin,
more often than not, it's condemnation that comes in first
before I run to you.
I don't want it anymore.
And so I pray on behalf of everybody here.
I put to death this weapon.
It has been used successfully against me.
I remove the warhead.
It will not affect me anymore.
I am not a condemned one.
I am a forgiven, restored one.
Right, Church?
We are forgiven and restored.
We are not condemned ones.
Spirit of God, would you help us seal this forever
so that this Church will suddenly begin to change?
I don't know what else to pray.
So as I look at Vivek, I look at my condemnation
lying dead.
And I bury it, and I will not let it come back to life
and be used against me anymore.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Thanks Vivek.
The power of sin.
Scriptures for this, the power, animity is Colossians,
animity, Colossians 1,
21 to 22.
Let's just read it.
Colossians 1, 21 to 22.
And you who were once alienated and hostile in mind
doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body
of flesh by his death in order to present you
holy and blameless and above reproached in him.
Look at the words he is using, eh?
That, hey, you Vivek, Vivek, you, you, you,
you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you,
Vivek, you have been
reconciled as in like an accountant who does the debit
and credit columns and sees that the ledger balances.
Everything within, between you and God is balanced.
You are ready to be presented to God.
You are holy.
You are blameless.
And you are above reproach.
And all this is achieved by Jesus' death.
Look at all that happens, guys.
We've got to put it to rest.
We can't keep going back here.
Next thing that was broken.
Was the power of sin.
Power of sin.
You see that in Romans 6,
16,
14,
11.
Go back that way.
Romans 6,
16.
Do you not know that if you present yourself to anyone as
obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey,
either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience,
which leads to righteousness?
Verse 14, for sin will have no dominion over you,
since you are not under the law, but under grace.
And then verse 11, so you must consider yourself dead to sin
and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
For the sake of the recording, I'm going to repeat the stories
because others will be listening to this in the future.
Two examples.
Last week we talked about how John was my slave.
And as a slave, one day he doesn't turn up in time to serve me.
I take a whip and I go to whip him.
I find him on the ground.
I whip him.
He does not respond.
I grab him by the throat and I recognize suddenly that he does not have a pulse.
Last night John died.
In his death, it doesn't matter how much I whip him now,
he will not respond.
In his death, he has escaped my mastery.
In my dying with Christ, in Christ dying for me,
I have escaped the mastery or the power of sin.
It no longer has a hold over me.
Another example.
John has been drinking a lot of water.
He goes to the doctor and says,
Doctor, I've been drinking 10 liters of water.
The doctor puts him on an x-ray machine and finds out
that John has been eating the sponge in his mattress every night.
And so every time he drinks water, the sponge absorbs the water.
So the doctor comes out and he looks at John
and John says, there's something wrong with me, right?
And the doctor says, there's nothing wrong with you
but there's something wrong in you.
And so he opens John up, takes out the sponge, sews him up,
John is back to normal, he now drinks two glasses of water a day.
Or maybe that's not the right bit.
Whatever is the right standard.
He begins to drink the right amount of water a day.
What happened?
Someone took something out from within you.
Christ did not die just for our sin actions.
Christ died for our sin being.
He crucified the old man.
There is nothing in me.
I do not have an engine of sin anymore.
Every child knows how to do evil.
No parent teaches.
But for me, that engine of sin has been taken out forever.
It has been laid to rest.
It cannot be revived again.
No more does any sin have power over me.
It cannot.
You feel my pulse?
Sin cannot get me.
It doesn't have mastery over me.
I can choose to submit to it, but it can never subdue me.
Sin can never subdue me.
There is no temptation on earth that can take me.
And should there be temptations that come my way,
Jesus Christ will provide a way for me through that temptation.
And one of the ways he provides a way for me through the temptation
is by reminding me that it has no mastery over you.
This is not some kind of mountain splitting path that he creates.
What he does is brings the word to remembrance saying,
Remember, you are no longer a slave to sin.
The next thing that was put to death
is the law.
The law.
This one is very prevalent in our lives, guys.
How, you ask?
Think of it like this.
So you've got three stages that have happened on the earth.
There was a time when there were no laws.
So let's call it lawless,
and then we call the next stage lawful,
and then we call the next stage grace.
The Bible talks about this.
In Romans 5, 14, the Bible says,
between Adam and Moses, there was no law.
Adam had a law, do not eat of the tree.
But between Adam and Moses, there was no law.
But was sin prevalent?
Yes, Romans 5, 14.
So during the time when there was no law, there was still sin.
But because there was no law, it was not counted against you.
Just like you can drive in Germany,
and you can drive at 120 yards, not counted against you.
Why? Because there's no speed limit on the Autobahn.
But were people still separated from God?
Yes.
Were they aware of God?
No, they were quite unaware of God,
because there was no law that showed a holy, righteous God.
How did they live?
They lived by their own righteousness.
Or they lived by no righteousness.
There was no standard of righteousness.
This is still the way the world lives, guys.
This is still the way the world lives.
Even though they know what is right and wrong,
they do not live by the law.
It's called a lawless world.
And so, are your sins...
Yeah, next one, lawful.
That's when the law came in.
When the law came in, sin was still present?
Was it counted against them?
Yes!
Every time they broke the law, it was counted against them.
So what did they have to do?
They had to make sure that their guilt
had to be born and absolved.
And that brought in the need for sacrifice.
What else did they realize?
They became aware of a very holy God.
And what was their righteousness like?
They had an inferior righteousness
that was brought about by sacrifices.
And you read about that in Philippians 3.9.
In Philippians 3.9, it actually says,
if I read the message, it says,
I didn't want some petty inferior brand of righteousness
that comes from keeping a list of rules
that I could get the...
I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ,
God's righteousness,
which brings us into the place of grace.
Grace.
Does sin exist?
Yes, it still exists.
Is it counted against you?
No!
It's not counted against you.
Where does that say it?
1 Corinthians 5.19.
What else happens?
Did I have guilt? Yes.
But what happens to my guilt?
It was born away.
By who? By Christ.
So what happens now?
There is no condemnation.
There is no separation.
There is oneness with God.
And there is the righteousness of God.
So, where do you live?
Where are you living?
Where do we normally live?
We don't live in the first one,
but we are always caught between the second and the third.
We still think our sins are counted against us.
And the Bible says,
if you are a sinner,
you are not counted against.
You are counted against.
And the Bible says,
in 1 Corinthians 5.19,
that Christ does not count your sins against you.
If he counted your sins against you,
then you should feel condemned.
Guys, this is such a mind shift
that some of us are struggling
to wrap our intellect around it
and we won't be able to.
Sorry?
Second?
Sorry?
Second Corinthians 5.19, sorry.
All things have passed away, the new has come.
There is no separation.
Actually, this brings us into oneness with God.
And what kind of righteousness do we have?
The very righteousness of God.
Come on, man, we don't even think like this.
We don't live like this.
I want to think and live like this.
Do you know in Romans chapter 7 what it says?
It says that if
a woman is married to a man,
she is bound by that law.
But if
she goes and marries another,
she commits adultery.
But if her husband dies,
she is now free to marry another.
You know what it's trying to say there?
Jacob, you can't live in both.
If you are married to the law,
then you cannot marry Grace.
That it will be an adulterous, incomplete,
unsatisfying relationship.
And I would like to say to all of us here
that we get caught between these two.
But what if Christ
has put to death the law?
Now you are free to marry
that other woman and that other woman
is called Grace.
And under Grace, look what it says here.
Guys, I'm in the same boat as you.
I'm not trying to teach you.
I'm trying to ask us to live like this.
God wants to see a forgiven, restored
people on earth and he hardly finds it.
He finds a forgiven, restored
people that walk in condemnation
and sorrow
and guilt.
Look at what it says.
During the time of Grace,
is there sin? Yes.
But is it counted against you?
No. 2 Corinthians 5 19.
Is it borne away? Yes.
What does that do for you?
There is no condemnation.
And there is no separation between God and you.
And you have the right to sister of God.
Any questions guys?
How do you relate condemnation and consequences?
Yeah.
How do you relate condemnation
and consequences?
My cousin
who was here last week,
she and her sister went to
Victoria some years ago when they visited
me. And
they needed a phone.
I went and borrowed a phone
from a friend. It was a high end phone
where you can
in those days where you can type and all this stuff.
I gave them the phone. They took the
phone and they went to Victoria.
They had a great day in Victoria.
And on the way back when they boarded
the ferry, they lost the phone.
And the weight of losing
a phone that
belonged to somebody else that I would now have
to compensate for was so immense
that they decided they would not come back
to Victoria. I'm thinking to myself when they told me
where would you have gone?
But they refused to take the ferry.
They don't want to come home.
Because that's the sense of condemnation
they were feeling.
And then somehow one of them
gathered the ability
to say
after searching
everywhere they finally called me from a phone
booth and they said we just want
you to know that we lost the phone.
I said okay, what time is the ferry
arriving? And they said the time
and I went and picked them up
and I didn't say a word about the phone.
And
they were surprised.
They said aren't you worried? I said so you lost
the phone and it's a friend's phone. I'll take care of it.
So here's the thing. One
there was under severe condemnation.
Two, I did not condemn them.
Three, I took the consequences.
What we sometimes
forget is that
God just does not
not condemn. He also
took the consequences.
We think that
sure he has said no condemnation but
surely we have to bear the consequences.
Let's assume they went a second time to Victoria
a third time to Victoria, fourth time to Victoria.
And each time they lost the phone that
belongs to Don and
George and everyone else who has a Samsung.
Now praise the Lord.
There'll be fewer Samsungs in the world but
the fact is by the fourth time
when you begin
you also have a Samsung?
You can sit here. So by the
fourth time when you start losing
phones now
I may not pay for it every time.
But don't for a second thing that God
is not continuously
intervening to mitigate our consequences.
If God allowed me to take
on the consequences of my sin
if he stuck to I won't condemn you
but you got to bear the consequences
guys I'd be dead by now.
Like physically dead.
I'd be there
and Vivek would be preaching.
So I'm saying to you
that he takes away condemnation
and he takes the consequences.
He took it on the cross and he still does.
If I reaped
all the fruit of the
bad seed I have sown
in the last one year
I'd be dismantled.
And then a point comes
where he begins to see that these
consequences that he's taking
on is making me lawless
and cold and
callous. And what does he do?
It's still no condemnation.
He still mitigates the bad seed
but he begins the process
of anger free
discipline. Anger free discipline
which we cannot even imagine.
You know when you can imagine
anger free discipline? Only with babies.
Only with babies.
That child
ruins your day
and then decides to ruin your night.
And yet look at her
she looks like an
angel holding a lycan.
Point being once a lycan
grows up then we'll see. But right
now anger free
discipline.
It's crazy how ridiculously different
the god I'm talking about is from
the god we believe.
But you're not saying that we have to have
violent benefits of
our relationship with God
with people all the time.
That's still our choice.
Because if you did not say
I would mean
Christians would say
we don't need judges
anymore.
We could just let them
go on the street
because they're not condemned.
Yeah.
So Mr.
Butler's
statement was we can't
then begin to live
like that in civil society today
because there are judges and there are
yeah it's an imperfect
system but it might still
be the best system based
on some of the Judeo-Christian values
that exist. But a time is
coming when the thief
who steals from you
will be judged on the basis not just
of stealing but whether he was
someone who was hungry
whether he wanted to feed his child
whether it's a disease that he has that he
cannot stop stealing or whether he was nasty
and malicious and wanted to do you
harm. And every time we see
the justice of God in heaven we
will fall on the floor and worship
him saying oh my God how
can you be so faithful and just.
The motives of the
heart can never be measured by any
system of the earth even if it is
based on Judeo-Christian values.
That only Christ
can.
Yeah.
When Christ says I've not come to abolish
the law but to fulfill it
how does this work?
He does something so
not helpful for us
before he does something helpful.
He says
you have heard it say
do not murder but I say to you
any man who
even thinks
angrily of someone else
has already committed murder.
Instead of not only
is he not abolishing the law he's raising
the standards. Then he says
you have heard it said
that do not commit adultery but I say to
you that if you as much as look
at a woman with lust you have already committed
adultery. And what is he doing?
He's saying this was the standard I
set you but my real standards
are here.
And I've not come to abolish the law. I've
come to show you that these
are my real standards and I can help you live
it. He lives like that
and then he comes and lives in me
and in living in me he has completed
every requirement of the law
without abolishing anything but increasing the
standard.
It's crazy what he's done.
It was not
enough that you don't commit murder. I mean
yeah I can't see any
murderers in this room.
That's not enough but
my god if I would have
used New Testament Jesus standards
I only see murderers in this room
because if you have been angry with your brother or sister
you have already committed murder.
And then after
doing that he then says
I will fulfill this law
and then he comes and lives you and
now he says Nidhi
I live in you
and by living in you I have fulfilled
the law. I have not abolished
it. Go ahead Emily.
I have a question with the righteousness.
Pardon?
I have a question with the righteousness.
In terms of like the private side
I want to learn about
righteousness and I don't know how to make
sense of that because I was talking
in a James News interview
and it says that he was righteous from what he did
as a law enforcement officer.
So you're talking about Abraham.
Yeah. So
if righteousness is defined
as right standing with
God then every
time you trust God
it is credited to you
as right standing
with God.
The simplest
definition of righteousness
is right standing with God where
it's like Manchester City
has lost multiple times and I'm
a Liverpool fan and then I say everything
ok between us and
it is this place where we come back into
right standing.
And right standing is when
you and God have a oneness
that is so perfect. It's
the same oneness
that the Father, Son and the Spirit have. Only
now there's a fourth person. It's you.
It's just nuts.
Right standing with God
is what the triune God has. The Father,
Son and Holy Spirit have right standing
with each other included in the
triune God is a small
handsome looking guy called?
Huh?
I want some other dead person now.
So it's fascinating how
God has so included
us guys. The inclusion of God
and it's very logical
he had to. It's like math.
It's like math.
I mean when you realize that he took on
human flesh and blood so that he could
now face death.
Like I said last week if God did not
come down as man God could not die.
And if he did not die
there would be no sacrifice. That would be sufficient
to remit our sins.
But because without the shedding of blood there is
no remission of sins. Therefore the
word had to become flesh.
It's very mathematical.
We'll just do one more and then
we'll take the rest later so we might have
life after death 1, 1a and life
after death 2 when we talk about heaven.
So what I want to talk about
is just something
that we can deal with today before
we go. And that is
guys when it comes
to the law
if we don't live in the place of
grace we will keep slipping
in and out of legalism.
Yeah we will keep slipping
in and out of legalism.
And legalism
put Christ to death.
One of the ways you find legalism
in your life is to find out whether
there is anything that
happens
in your heart with regard
to Christ and his body.
Yeah because you can't separate Christ
and his body.
The head is connected to the body.
One of the ways you find that out is
is there anything that I'm doing
that comes from a place
that banishes love and banishes
love and banishes death.
It banishes love and banishes
joy.
Legalism will always
banish love as
the motive or the root reason
and it will always banish
joy as the expression.
It's a good litmus test.
Is it possible to have love
and joy as part of the equation?
Because if you don't have love and joy as part of the equation
you will need something besides
Jesus.
Legalism is Jesus plus.
Jesus plus don't run
in the church. Jesus plus
don't laugh in the church. Jesus plus
don't put Vivek out there in the
front like that. Jesus plus.
It's always some other measure
because you can't bear
the thought of joy
and love and you get
used to it.
I'm not saying
ha ha ha laughter. I'm talking about joy and love.
Whenever that is
low always remember
something about Christ is missing and
you'll have to make up for it by putting in
some rule.
Avoid it at all costs.
When I was 27
I remember
telling the Lord
and I think I've stuck with it most of my life
I said Jesus
I will not do anything for you
except for one reason
that I like you.
That I refuse
to do anything for you that is Christian
other than
for one reason that I like you.
Any other
reason is
Law
really
which means I have to learn
to receive grace and
live out of grace.
If Vivek does anything for
Vidisha that does not come
from a place of I love you
Vidisha therefore I will.
Then at some point
it will begin to grate. Sometimes he'll do it
just because he's a nice guy.
Sometimes he'll do it just because
she's had a rough day
and he didn't have that rough a day.
Those are reasons that are okay.
But any time
it gets to a place where Vivek does things
for Vidisha that don't come from
the simple root of love.
And then
when love begins to take over you will find
a strange thing happening. Even when
he has to do something difficult for Vidisha
there's a certain joy that comes in
because he's doing it for the one he loves.
This is one of the most beautiful religions
on the face of the earth.
Everything is so pristine, so simple
so pure, so relational
so father son daughter.
Cherish it.
Because what I'm going to say next is about
how legalism and
living under anything but grace
brings into our life dullness.
Hebrews
almost every chapter brings it up
and we'll end with that.
There are many other things to
put to death.
So Vivek do come back next Sunday.
After this sermon you'll be as famous
as Diana.
Everybody knows Diana
and Dilna.
So legalism brings in
not living
legalism is such a big term
it's hard to understand. Not living
in and out
of grace
brings a lack
of understanding
and a lack
of understanding
of God and his word.
You find that in Deuteronomy
29 verse 4
a spirit of heaviness
you find that in Isaiah
61 verse 3
a spirit of
slumber or
stupor
you find that in Isaiah
29 verse 10
a spirit of dullness
which you find in
Lamentations 3
65
and a spirit of
confusion
and lethargy
which you find in Romans
11 8
which borrows from all the verses above
and it affects
pastors
and in the context of these
verses prophets and
people all the same.
So no one should think that
they are
some special category that doesn't
go through this.
We will pray before we leave
that this ends
that this dullness where
doesn't matter how much we read
doesn't seem to
go in doesn't matter how
intellectual we are and how many books
we read still confused
that joy seems so
impossible
that with certain topics there's a dullness
that cannot be penetrated
that is confusion
and lethargy
or sluggishness or
hope glimmers on a
Sunday evening and by Monday it's evaporated
nothing can happen. I'm here
to say to you that the spirit of God
is willing to end this in my
life today.
Not only will he end this he will then
begin to give you hope tomorrow saying
I'm going to work with
you and get you to a place where
this won't be the case anymore.
Let's look at some scriptures.
Whoever wrote Hebrew
I'm just going to assume it's Paul.
Hebrews
chapter 2
he brings up this topic so often
Hebrews chapter 2 verse 1
Hebrews 2 verse 1
he says
we must pay
more careful attention therefore
to what we have heard so that
we do not drift away.
Seemed like the people that he was
writing to seem to have the struggle
so it's not new. You'll find
it in your life. Guys it's hard
for you to spot but it is easy for other
people to spot.
It might be difficult
for me to think
maybe there's an area like this in my life
but for you it will be easy to
spot that this is this area
Jacob seems dense he doesn't
seem to get it.
And I'm saying to you
that it is a spiritual condition
and I'm saying to you that the
Holy Spirit is here.
For all the things we talk about today
just remember this.
Yeah? You know what this is right?
Mustard seed.
And I really believe that we have that
in this room. It'll be enough
to break through.
Trusting the Holy Spirit to do a work
that will set me free from this forever.
Only he can do forever
things nobody else can.
So Hebrews chapter 2
verse 1
it says
they were drifting away by not
paying attention. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 3
How shall we escape if we
ignore such a great salvation?
The salvation that was first announced
by the Lord was confirmed to us by
those who heard him as in ignoring
this huge gift that we've been talking
about. Such a precious pure simple
relational gift.
Not to ignore it
not to be
dull to it.
To come alive.
Hebrews chapter 3
verse 6
Hebrews 3
verse 6
It says
But Christ is faithful as a
son over God's house and we are his house
if we hold on to our courage
and hope of which we boast. And then
it goes on to say so as
the Holy Spirit says. Today if you
hear his voice do not harden
your hearts. I pray God that the
sclerosis of the heart, the spiritual
sclerosis of the heart
really just gets cleaned up.
Someone talked about surgery earlier
on in Richmond.
Let it begin here.
The plaque that
has collected. All we
need is a willingness.
This is a surrender. Who here
has tried to help
a heart surgeon during a triple
bypass?
You won't be here
you'll be dead.
You are sedated, you surrender.
And he goes
to work.
And he accomplishes. That's what's going to happen here today.
What do we hold up?
Hebrews chapter
3 verse 12
See to it brothers that none of you
has a sinful unbelieving
heart that turns away from the
living God.
Or they
believe that an unbelieving heart is a sinful heart.
An unbelieving heart is a sinful heart.
A sinful unbelieving heart
that turns away from God.
You'll repent of that and ask him to fix it.
Next one. Hebrews 4 1
Hebrews 4 1
Therefore since the promise of entering
his rest still stands
let us be careful that none of you
be found to having fallen
short of it.
That we won't try to use our intellect.
Guys, one of the curses
of
postmodern
postmodernism and enlightenment
especially in the west
is the curse
of trying to understand
the living God
intellectually.
It is a curse.
It was offered first in the Garden of Eden.
You can become as knowledgeable
as God.
I hate it.
You know Eastern mysticism
is more experiential?
If you are one of those intellectual types
say oh God
yeah
My friend Roland used to say
just stick a cabbage there.
Yeah
Instead of your head just stick a cabbage.
Yeah.
That'll solve it but
I found that very helpful.
Chapter 5 verse 11
We have so much to say about this
but it is hard to explain
because you are slow to learn.
In fact though by this time
you ought to be teachers
you need someone to teach you elementary truths
of God's word all over again.
You need milk not solid food.
Anyone who lives on milk
being still an infant
is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness
but solid food is for the mature
so we pray that our days of infancy
and all this the Holy Spirit will do
and he'll do it separately for each one of us
but together as a body.
Next one.
Hebrews 6 1
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings
about Christ and go on to maturity
not laying again the foundation of repentance
from acts that lead to death
and of faith in God instruction about baptisms
the laying on of hands the resurrection of the dead
eternal judgment and God permitting we will
be in the midst of the resurrection
of the dead
eternal judgment and God permitting we will do so
what's Paul trying to say there
hey don't stay at this elementary level
don't stay there
come awaken my people that's what the song said
come come let's not stay there
it's good that we learn that
but come on there's so much more
next one
Hebrews 10 35
do not throw away your confidence
many of you were confident
and now you're beginning to flag in your confidence
because of things that haven't happened
because of disappointments because of set backs
do not throw away your confidence
verse 39 do not shrink back
do not shrink back now is not the time to shrink back
do not shrink back
verse 39
you�� used to be something
That was nothing.
Don't keep looking back.
You know, one of the things I always
notice about people that are not progressing,
they always talk about their past.
If Steve Jobs was sitting here, he
wouldn't be talking to us about iPhone 3.
That's why old people, have you noticed how their jokes?
I mean, anyone over 55?
They always tell you jokes that they've already repeated
so many times in the past.
I don't like your smirk, Rebecca.
The joke was on me, guys.
Please don't email me saying you said something about old people.
I was talking about me.
Hebrews 12, 12.
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
Make level paths for your feet so that the lame may not
be disabled, but rather healed.
I pray God that that happens today.
Therefore, it's time for us to pray.
Let's pray.
It's time for us to strengthen our weak knees and feeble arms
so that we won't have our joints dislocated,
but we'll get stronger.
And one last scripture.
And this one I felt was specifically for people here.
Zephaniah 1, 12.
It has nothing to do with Hebrews, but Zephaniah 1, 12.
And it is for people here.
It's like a Rhema word.
I want you to take note of this.
It is both describes present condition
and it describes the warning from God.
Zephaniah 1, 12.
If this is our condition, we'll take some time
to repent of these things before God begins to heal us.
Zephaniah 1, 12.
At that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps.
And I will punish the men who are complacent,
those who say in their hearts, the Lord will not do good,
nor will he do evil.
That stinks before God.
When people look at him as some kind of neutral being
and say, eh, he won't do good.
Matt, eh, he won't do bad either.
That is a horrible thing to say about God.
That's like saying he's a nice God.
Whenever when you go out on a date and someone tells you
you're nice, you know it's not going to work.
Just be sure of that.
It is very nice.
You know you're not getting a call back.
Just remember that.
For all the single people, yeah?
So just remember that.
So let's pray.
And then we'll ask the Spirit of God to change all this.
When you go home, you can read the other scriptures
that I gave you.
All these scriptures show us that there's
a spirit that is active, that brings about.
Let's just go with them.
Deuteronomy 29, 4.
When you read the Old Testament scriptures,
they come from the understanding that they had of God,
which attributes to God everything good and evil,
till Jesus comes and shows us that he does not work like that.
So read it with that understanding.
Deuteronomy 29, verse 10.
All you are standing today in the presence of the Lord,
your God, your leaders.
Sorry.
Verse 4.
Deuteronomy 29, verse 4.
But to this day, the Lord has not
given you a mind that understands, or eyes that see,
or ears that hear.
Next one.
Isaiah 61, verse 3.
That one we know.
Verse 3.
And God will provide for those who grieve in Zion
and bestow on them a crown of beauty,
instead of ashes, the oil of gladness,
instead of mourning, a garment of praise,
and instead of a spirit of heaviness or despair,
he'll give you a garment of praise.
Next one.
Isaiah 29, 10.
The Lord has brought over you a deep sleep.
He has sealed your eyes, the prophets.
He has covered your heads, the seers.
Where it's a spirit of deep sleep,
a spirit of stupor in some versions,
depending on which version you read.
Lamentations, 365.
Lamentations is after Jeremiah, before Ezekiel.
Lamentations, 365.
This is an appeal to God.
But it says, pay them back what they deserve a lot
and what their hands have done.
Put a veil over their hearts, and may your curse be on them.
Put a veil over their hearts, where your heart suddenly
becomes dull to things.
And then the last one, Romans 11, 8.
Romans 11, 8.
Romans 11, 8 borrows from all these and puts it together.
Romans 11, 8.
Let's start at verse seven.
Romans 11, 7.
What then?
What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain,
but the elect did.
The others were hardened, as it's written.
God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes so that they could not see,
ears so that they could not hear to this very day.
So let's just ask the Lord to help us
lay down some of the things we spoke,
and then we'll pray that God ends these things
in our lives or in this church.
Lack of understanding, spirit of despair or heaviness,
spirit of stupor, spirit of dullness,
spirit of confusion and lethargy.
Let's just ask the Lord to end this in our lives.
It'll increase our understanding of the word.
It'll increase our love for God.
It'll increase the movement of our body
and the expression that we have.
It'll increase the joy.
It'll increase the way we worship.
It'll change everything as we now surrender
to the spiritual surgeon who can change things
in heart and mind, yeah?
So just a minute or two quietly first.
Father, we humble ourselves.
I humble myself by refusing to say that I am beyond help.
That is not humility.
That is putrid pride.
When a man comes before God and says I am beyond help,
I'm useless, you can do nothing for me,
that is not humility, it is absolute pride.
So we come to humble ourselves.
Father, some of us are hopeless.
We feel like we are in a waterless pit
and you want to quote from Zechariah 12.
You're saying I bring you out of the waterless pit
and I call you a prisoner of hope.
Jesus, could you take those people
and put handcuffs on them saying I'm taking you
into a prison called hope, prisoners of hope.
Prisoners of hope.
Father, there are others here
who came from legalistic backgrounds.
You are saying to them that just as I set many
who were legalistic free in Israel,
I'll set you free today.
Father, there are some of us who are frustrated
that we can't understand the word freedom.
Doesn't matter how much we read it,
it doesn't interest us.
It's a pain, it's a chore, it's not fun.
And even when we do get occasionally interested,
it doesn't bring life, it just remains like a book.
Jesus, today will be a breakthrough.
Father, some of us think there's nothing wrong with us.
We have all this together.
How we come on our knees and say,
oh God, it is not enough.
I apologize for being satisfied.
I want more, I want to be hungry.
Father, we are not alone.
We are not alone.
Father, some of us are just plain, sometimes lazy.
And as it said in Hebrews 2, verse one,
we have been neglecting this great gift of salvation
and are drifting away.
We just repent of it.
I repent of it Abba, I repent of it.
As a person's output increases, the input must increase.
One can't survive on the diet from years ago.
Many of us repent of it.
Many leaders in this church, including me,
we repent of it, I repent of it, oh God, sorry.
Father, some of us came from traditional churches
where things were done a certain way, and we still insist on that.
This is how we do it.
Father, we are very sorry, very sorry for this is how we do it.
This is not how we do it. You do it your way, we will follow.
Father, some of us have occupied our lives with busy things that are not important.
Busy things that are not important.
It's become a robber.
May, can you come up and pray?
Before I ask May to pray, I just want to rebuke the spirit of stupa from over all of us.
So in the name of Jesus Christ, we pray.
May, come up and pray.
I rebuke the spirit of stupa from over all of us.
So in the name of Jesus Christ right now,
I rebuke the spirit of slumber, of stupa,
of that which makes us sleepy literally physically and spiritually
when we begin to deal with the word.
That which brings confusion and dullness,
that which makes the heart unable to receive,
mind completely unable to hear what God is saying.
In the name of Jesus Christ, it is a spiritual condition that is not mine,
not ours from Christ.
And so it does not have to be received anymore.
So in the name of Jesus Christ, this church resists it.
You said, oh God, that if we submit to you and resist the devil,
he will flee from us.
So we actively resist this dullness upon our lives, hearts and minds.
We resist it in Jesus Christ's name.
And now that we as a church are resisting it,
I rebuke the spirit of confusion.
I rebuke the spirit of dullness.
I rebuke the spirit of hard-heartedness.
I rebuke the legalistic spirit of deafness and muteness
that brings the dullness to the heart and mind.
I rebuke the spirit and have the mustard seed faith to command it to leave our lives,
to be dismissed from our lives, driven out from our lives,
from every person sitting here.
In the name of Jesus Christ, who is light, life, wisdom, understanding, counsel,
and the living word, in the name of that Jesus Christ,
I drive out the spirit.
We submit our minds to you, oh God.
We submit our minds to you.
Holy Spirit, we submit our minds to you.
Thank you for what will transpire in this church starting today.
Go ahead, May.
Christ, you came to give us life in the fullest.
And so these things that hold us back, Father,
stupor, lack of understanding, heaviness, dullness, confusion, Father,
they stop us from living that life of fullness that you have already paid on the cross, Father.
And so we refuse to do things half-measured because you didn't sacrifice half-measurably.
You gave your full life for us, Father.
And so whatever holds us back from walking that full life, Father,
we lay it down at the cross before you now.
We leave it there not to pick it up again,
not to play with it, not to examine it, but we leave it there because you already took care of it.
And so thank you for completely healing these parts,
completely taking these things away, Father,
and so that we can walk in the fullness that you have called us to.
Yeah.
Muster seed grows into a fantastic, beautiful tree, Father,
and that is what we want to grow into with you.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Amen.