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12

Apr, 2020

Near Now

  • Salvation
  • hope
  • resurrection
  • panic
  • sin
  • Easter
  • loud people


Near Now

1 Peter 3:18 | April 12, 2020

Do you have a loud friend?

  • A loud spouse?
  • A loud parent?
  • A loud child?
  • A loud co-worker?

Someone that does not have an inside voice?

Someone that is always the loudest person in the room – even on a Zoom meeting?

About 327 years ago a phrase began to appear that most of us have heard and it goes like this:

Actions speak louder than words.

But we all have that one person that seems to be convinced that loud words are the best actions.

So, what do we do with our loud person?

Well, I came across some advice that says that what folks like that need is a “volume angel”.

A “volume angel” is someone who politely alerts that friend or family member that stepping into the garage is not helping because all the neighbors can still hear every single detail of their phone call.

One of the “volume angel” tips is that if you are in a public place and they are being loud make a silent joke about their volume. 

For instance, you can discreetly imitate reeling in a fish as if to say, “Reel in your volume, please.”

But for every loud person in your life, there is also a quiet person.

Someone that does not have an outside voice.

Someone that you can never get a single thought or answer or opinion out of.

They seem convinced that words are just too loud of an action.

Personally, I tend to lean towards the teaching of philosopher Briscoe Darling who said:

“Eating speaks louder than words.”

So, this Easter, this Resurrection Sunday, what are you eating?

I’m not talking about blue raspberry pop-tarts or having your eggs scrambled, fried, poached, egg whites-only or benedict.

What are you feeding your soul?

Are you feeding your soul the latest news updates and social media articles?

Are you feeding your soul the latest fears of pandemic and economic meltdown?

Are you feeding your soul hours of Nite of Fort or hours of Netflix or hours of the educational, world-peace nutrition of TikTok?

And why does it matter what we are feeding our souls?

Isn’t life just about seizing the moment and making it through the day?

Well, what you feed your soul matters.

Why?

Let’s find out.

18 For Christ also died for sins

On a hill outside of Jerusalem, almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus was crucified on a cross between two criminals. 

Some skeptics say that Jesus was a just a legendary character in history and that his story – including his crucifixion – is nothing more than a well-told fairy tale. 

Thing is, about 80 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, the Roman historian Tacitus who had no personal affiliations with or affections for Christianity was writing an entry regarding the Roman Emperor Nero and recorded this statement:

Tacitus

…the persons commonly called Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius.

Now someone might point out:

“Okay, so one random guy 80 years later wrote something in a history book saying it was true – that doesn’t make it true.”

Interestingly, it has been observed that when Tacitus was not confident in the historical validity of what he was recording he would make a note of that for the reader to see – there was no such note in the account of Jesus.

And Tacitus is just one example – it would take a great leap of faith to ignore the evidence that Jesus died on a cross.

You would have to ignore a consistent line of ancient historians and Christian scholars and atheist scholars who mark the crucifixion of Jesus as indisputable.

But that’s just a little history to stir your mind – our goal is to feed your soul.

So, why was Jesus crucified – why did Jesus die?

Simon Peter was one of just a handful of people who was an eyewitness to almost every moment of Jesus for the last 3 years of his life.

And Peter was trying to encourage people who were suffering and going through things that no one in their family or in their community had ever experienced ever in their lives.

And how does he encourage them?

He tells them this:

18 For Christ also died for sins

Because of the events occurring right now in the world and because extremely intelligent men and women were stirred to create the internet and all its functionality it is highly likely that this morning more people are hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ than at any other moment in the history of the world.

And many of the people that are hearing the gospel today are not Christians – some of you watching and listening right now are not followers of Jesus. 

So, perhaps a fair question would be this:

Why in the world would anyone want to become a Christian?

Peter just gave us an answer to that question:

You should long and desire and pray that you might become a follower of Jesus because the greatest need you have on earth is to have your sins forgiven.

Someone might be thinking…

  • “That just sounds kind of silly to me.”
  • “The whole idea of sin sounds a bit hokey.”
  • “Everyone knows the difference between right and wrong.”

How?

Is that one of the first inoculations you get as a baby – the MMR-2 vaccine – the morals, manners and religion shot?

About 600 years before Jesus was crucified the prophet Isaiah made this declaration:

Isaiah 59:1-2

Behold, the LORD's hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God…

Your sins have made a separation between you and God.

Your sins have made a separation between you and all that is perfectly good and right and happy and holy and satisfying.

Therefore, your greatest enemy is not:

  • Your difficult spouse
  • Your apathetic spouse
  • Your high-strung child
  • Your rebellious child
  • Your cancelled prom
  • Your cancelled sports season
  • Your furloughed job
  • Your family quarantine
  • An unseen virus
  • An unknown economy

Your greatest enemy is not even the Enemy – Satan. 

Your greatest enemy is your sin.

Where does that idea come from?

Because Jesus died for sins – Jesus died for your sin!

The sin that has separated you from God!

Someone might say:

  • “I don’t feel separated from God.”
  • “Sure, I probably need to try and be a better person.”
  • “But I think the clock of eternity is slow and I don’t feel tardy.”

Or someone else might say:

“Here we go – the world is on a dangerous health alert and preachers are trying to scare people out of hell.”

Over the last 10 years, I’ve had a few random health issues.

None of them have been serious, but at the time they felt serious. 

And what did I do?

Well, eventually, I went to the doctor.

And after some tests and some medicine and a follow-up appointment my doctor said, “Okay, you’re good.”

And you know how I felt after leaving those appointments?

I felt like eating speaks louder than words – I immediately wanted to go buy myself a snack.

What I mean is I left there feeling a little more relaxed.

If we are honest, that’s what we all want to hear, right?

“You’re good.”

This is going to feel heavy and it is supposed to.

And after 26 years of working in churches I have been in this heavy moment a number of times. 

It might be when you are old or young or middle-aged, but one day the doctor will say, “I’m so sorry, but things aren’t good.”

And here’s the question of all questions:

In that moment, will you still be able to hear God say…

“You’re good.”

Jesus died for sins to make a way – the only way – to make things right between you and God.

Jesus died for sins so that those words would never leave the ears of your soul…

“You’re good.”

Can you feed that truth to your soul?

Have you repented and turned to Christ and believed that he not only died for sins but that he died for your sins?

Are you clinging to the treasure of knowing Jesus?

And is that enough?

Is believing in Jesus enough?

Peter says it is – listen to what he says next:

18 For Christ also died for sins once for all,

The reason we make such a big deal out of the death of Jesus for sins is that it cannot be repeated.

In the Old Testament of the Bible we have the on-going picture of the sacrifices that were made for sins – but they had to be repeated – one was not enough. 

Isn’t the same true in our lives?

“Dad, can I have two dollars to buy a bag of Zombie Skittles at the concession stand?”

And then 7 minutes later:

“Dad, can I have three dollars to buy a watermelon slushie?”

7 minutes later:

“Dad, can I have five dollars to get some deep-fried nachos?”

It feels like it is never enough. 

Or at school you study for every Algebra test and you go to all the afterschool tutoring sessions and complete all your homework and you do all the extra credit work, but you still barely make a C.

It feels like it is never enough.

Or in your marriage you read every book and watch every video and buy every gift for every holiday including a new tree for Arbor Day or 40 pounds of wings for the first day of college football but your spouse still barely makes any effort toward you.

It feels like it is never enough.

Or you obey every rule for quarantine and the curve stays high.

It feels like it is never enough.

The beauty of the Christian faith is that the confidence and the hope that we can feed our soul every night when we go to bed is that the death of Jesus for sins was enough!

Jesus paid it all!

It was enough to satisfy the penalty of sin once and for all.

It cannot be repeated and will not be repeated because it does not need to be repeated. 

Keith Getty/Stuart Townend

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied

For every sin on Him was laid

Here in the death of Christ I live.

And how is that possible that a person can live in the death of Christ?

What does that mean?

Listen to what Peter says next:

18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust,

The language here is that to be “just” means to be perfect and to be “unjust” means to fall short. 

Jesus is the just and we are the unjust.

No matter how hard we try or how many good deeds we perform or how many online services we watch or how much money we give to charity we cannot make ourselves right with God on our own – we cannot make ourselves just in front of him.

But Jesus died to solve that problem.

Jesus died so that at any given moment our soul can hear:

“You’re good.”

How?

Because the Just died for the unjust.

Living in the death of Christ means that Jesus stood in our place. 

Jesus took our place.

I heard it put kind of like this…

Imagine if a boy had a terminal disease and every treatment was tried and every treatment had failed and the boy’s father goes to the doctor and says, “I want you to take all of those diseased cells out of my child’s body and put them in mine.”

And the doctor says, “That’s not possible because the science doesn’t exist to make that happen and even if it did don’t you realize what would happen? You would surely die.”

And the father would reply, “Yes, and my son would live.”

Friend, Jesus did not die to set a good example – Jesus died so that you could live. 

Jesus died to take our punishment on himself.

He bore our sins in his own body so that we could be made right with God. 

That is the beauty of the gospel!

That is the beauty of Christianity!

Have you surrendered your life to that beauty!

Can you lay your head down tonight in the hope that no power of Hell and no scheme of man can ever cut you off from hearing the one, true God of the universe tuck you in again with those precious words:

"You’re good.”

“Jesus paid it once and for all, so, you’re good.”

But wait…there’s more!

Did Jesus die for sins just so you can sleep better?

No.

Listen to the last thing Peter says:

18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God…

There’s an ancient fable about a simple young woman who had an eagle steal her shoe.

The eagle flew and flew and flew and eventually dropped the shoe and it fell into the lap of a king. 

The king was so taken by the uniqueness of the shoe that he commissioned a search to find the owner and when the young woman was found, he asked her to be his queen.

I know, it sounds a little like Cinderelly – but that tale was written about 2,400 years before Walt Disney was born.

Try and imagine how that story might have played out.

That young woman had no chance of meeting that king.

When it came to her being royal, she was lost and without hope.

  • She was far apart in distance
  • She was far apart in background
  • She was far apart in destiny

But one shoe changed everything.

The king commissioned his bravest soldier to go and find the owner and when he finally found her, he issued the king’s invitation to her and stunned by the grace of the invitation she was compelled to accept, and he escorted her back to the palace.

Under normal circumstances she would have absolutely no access to the king but because of the shoe and the sacrifice of the soldier, she was ultimately brought into the family of the king.

Because of our sin, we had no chance of meeting God.

  • We are far apart in distance
  • We are far apart in background
  • We are far apart in destiny

But one cross changed everything.

God commissioned his Son, the Savior, to go and issue his invitation to the weak and the sick and the homeless and the hungry and the wealthy and the healthy and the stressed out and the anxious and the frustrated and to those lost and afraid.

And once and for all he issued the king’s invitation – the just for the unjust – and stunned by the grace of the invitation men and women and boys and girls are compelled to accept, with the promise that one day they will be escorted in to live forever in the palace of the true King.

And how do we know that promise is for real and not just part of some fairy-tale religion?

Because a dead man can’t invite you or escort you anywhere.

The promise of one day receiving the beauty of all that is good and right and holy and happy and satisfying is defined by one moment in history:

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Claiming to be raised from the dead is one thing, but if Jesus was truly raised from the dead then he is truly the Son of God.

And all those stories and parables and teachings are not just soundbites from a good, moral teacher, they are divine words from heaven that have been and will be fulfilled.

And if those words have been and will be fulfilled, then there are only two options for your life:

  • To reject Jesus
  • To receive Jesus

And if you receive him and follow him then your sins are forgiven and one day because he is alive right now, he will say to you:

“You’re good, welcome home!”

The Resurrection of Jesus changes everything.

Betsy Childs Howard lives in New York City and her baby is due in four weeks.

She wrote a super helpful article this week on being pregnant in a pandemic (see a link on the sermon notes on the website).

Here are a couple of encouraging observations:

Betsy Childs Howard

Somehow, it seems if we can just find enough data, we will be able to set our hearts and minds at rest. False. You may find good news, but you will also find plenty of ominous news.

Betsy Childs Howard

Instead of refreshing news sites and googling medical studies…

Pray a psalm. Read a novel. Cook a meal. Embrace the finitude of your knowledge and do your best to live in the present.

I believe that a big part of her faith right now in her pregnancy is a reflection of something I saw her write six years ago.

Six years ago, her grandmother was dying from cancer but her grandmother’s faith in Jesus was super strong and the family was pulling strength from her faith…except for one night. 

Betsy Childs Howard

…I panicked. I was lying in bed, waiting to fall asleep. This was the first time I had faced the death of someone close…That night, my panic lasted for several minutes until I remembered that simple truth: Jesus died and lived to tell about it.

Betsy Childs Howard

Death is not a total unknown to the human race. Jesus has been there and come back again. I felt enormous relief as the implications of his resurrection rebuked my fearful imagination.

And what does confidence and relief and hope and joy and peace in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ help you do in life?

A few weeks after her night of panic her grandmother died.

At her grandmother’s funeral, Betsy had no panic and she sang the following words with peace and joy and expectation…

Charles Wesley

Soar we now where Christ hath led…

Following our exalted Head…

Made like Him, like Him we rise…

Ours the cross, the grave, the skies…

How can any of those words be true?

Because the Risen Jesus has brought us near to God!

Alleluia!

Message by Dow Welsh |

April 12, 2020 © Holland Avenue Baptist Church

 

more |

Above are pre-sermon manuscript notes, not sermon transcript

Sermon scriptures NASB unless otherwise noted

Lots of help from many pastors and theologians

Weekly help from Bruce Hurt at www.preceptaustin.org

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/there-and-back-again/

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/pregnant-in-pandemic/

 

 



So do you have a loud friend? You got a loud friend, you know, maybe a allowed spouse or allowed parent, maybe a allowed co worker, someone that does not have an inside voice. That person, Someone that is always the loudest person in the room, even on a zoom meeting. You know, they just got to be the loudest. About 327 years ago, a phrase begin to appear. Most of us have heard it by now. The phrase goes like this. Actions speak louder than words. But we all have that one friend, right? That one friend that is convinced that somehow loud words are the best actions. Yeah, we've been there. So So what do we do? What do we do with our loud friend? What do we do with our loud family member? Well, I came across some advice this week that I think is pretty good. Loud people need what's called a volume angel now Volume angel. And what this person is supposed to do is politely talk to the loud person and help them see that's stepping out of the front yard into the garage in no way helps anything because everybody in the neighborhood can still hear every detail of their phone call. That's that's what a Volume angel does. One of the tips given for a volume angel is that if someone's being allowed in public, you find a way to to encourage them with a bit of a joke, kind of a silent, light hearted way to get them to tone it down. You know, a suggestion would be something like imitating your reeling in a fish, right? But you kind of catch their eye, and you kind of do them as if this ahem it really in the volume, right? Tone it down. You know, for every person that we know, that's loud. We also know somebody who is super quiet, right? They don't have an outside voice at all. They're the kind of person that we can't ever get an answer or a thought or an opinion out of. In fact, their estimation is that words are way too loud for action. They they just won't do it now. Me personally, I I tend to lean towards the teaching of philosopher Briscoe Darling Jr. He once said eating speaks louder than words. Yeah, so this Easter this this resurrection Sunday. What are you eating? What are you eating now? I noticed the morning time, so I'm not talking about a blue raspberry pop tart. I'm not talking about whether or not you have your eggs scrambled or poached or egg whites only. Or Benedict? That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about What are you feeding your soul? Are you feeding your soul? The latest updates on the news Are you feeding your soul? The latest articles on social media Are you feeding your soul that the latest fears on the pandemic or or economic fears? What are you feeding your soul? Are you feeding your souls? Hours of of night at Fort? Are you feeding your soul? Hours of of Netflix? Are you feeding your soul? Hours of the educational world? Peace, Nutrition of tic tac. What do you feed on your soul and does it matter? Does it matter what we feed ourselves? I mean, isn't life all about seizing the moment and then just kind of making it through the day, Just kind of making it happen now? Well, life is more than that. And what we feed our souls does matter Why? Well, let's find out. Listen to first Peter. Chapter three, verse 18 for Christ also died for Sins on a hill outside of Jerusalem. Almost 2000 years ago, Jesus was crucified on a cross between two criminals. Now there's some people that will say That's not true there. Skeptics Bill say that that everything about Jesus his whole story, including the crucifixion, is just a very well told fairy tale. Thing is, though, about 80 years after Jesus was crucified, there was a Roman historian named Tacitus, and he was writing something about the Emperor Nero. And this is what he recorded the person's commonly called Christians, who were hated for their enormity. Ese Krista's, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilot Pra, curator of Judea and the reign of Tom Berries. Now someone might say, All right. 80 years later, some historian guy wrote it down that it was true, but that doesn't make it true. Here's the interesting thing, though. Tacitus it has been observed every time he recorded something that he didn't have complete confidence in its historical validity. He made a little note for the reader. One of them to know. Not quite sure about this one. There was no such note in reference to the crucifixion of Christ. That's just one Roman historian. To deny that Jesus died on the cross would take a huge leap of faith. You would have to ignore centuries of historians. You'd have to ignore scholars, both Christian and atheists, who have said that the death of Jesus on the cross is in dispute. But that's just a little history to stir your mind a little bit. What we're here to do is to try toe, feed our souls. So why did Jesus down across? Why did Jesus die? I'm in. Peter was one of the closest friends that Jesus had. He's one of the few people that for the last three years of Jesus's life, Peter saw almost everything that happened in the life of Jesus. And so he's writing this letter to some folks who were suffering. They were experiencing something that nobody in their family had ever experienced. Not them not their parents, not their grand parents, not their great grand parents, nobody in their community. Nobody in their country had experience. What they were going through was the first time. Can we make any connections with that? And so Peter wants to encourage them. And how does he go about doing it? Well, he writes, from this for Christ also died for sins because of the events in the world right now, and because some extremely intelligent men and women created the Internet and all the functionality of the Internet today. Right now, it is highly likely that more people are hearing the gospel about Jesus Christ than in any other moment in history. I just chew on that for a second that right now more people are hearing the gospel than ever before because of the events happening in the world. And many people who are hearing the gospel today are not Christians. Some who are watching and listening right now are not followers of Jesus. And so maybe a fair question would be to ask, Why would anyone want to become a Christian? Why? Well, Peter just gave us the answer, Peter, and making this very simple sentences, saying this you should long and desire and pray that you might become a follower of Jesus because your greatest problem on this earth your greatest need on this Earth is toe have your sins forgiven? That's your greatest need. Someone might be thinking. Well, that just sounds silly to me. I mean, the whole idea of send sounds kind of kind of hokey Look, every everybody knows the difference between right and wrong do that. I mean, is that one of the shots we get more a baby, You know, the M M R two vaccine, the morals, manners and religion shot. Is that what we get so that everybody knows what's going on? About 600 years before Jesus was crucified, Prophet Isaiah said this behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save. Nor is the Lord's ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God. Your sins have made a separation between you and God. Now some people will say, Well, I don't know if I buy the sin thing and here's the reality. De Martin Lloyd Jones said. This none of us will ever own our sin. We won't come to sin on our own because one of the ways that we react to sin is to excuse our sin. We deal with sin by sending more, we say, Oh, there's not really any sin. The only way that we can have any concept of sin is by coming in contact with one true living God and so that God made sure that this message got to us. But our sin has separated us from him. We have been separated from all that is good and holy and beautiful and satisfying. And if that's true, then that means this your greatest enemy on this earth is not your difficult spouse. Your greatest enemy on this Earth is not your apathetic spouse. Your greatest enemy is not your high, strong child. It's not your rebellious child. Your greatest enemy is not the fact that prom got canceled. Your greatest enemy is not the fact that your sports team season got canceled. Your greatest enemy is not a furlough job or a family quarantine. Your greatest enemy is not an unseen virus. Your greatest enemy is not an unknown economy. In fact, someone has even said this. Your greatest enemy is not even the enemy. It's not even Satan. If Jesus died for sins, then your greatest enemy is your sin. Where do we get that idea? Well, Jesus, that percents seems like it would make that a big deal. Jesus did not just four cents. He died for your sins. He died for the sin that has separated you from God against someone might say, Well, I don't feel separated from God. I mean, sure, maybe I need to be a better person, Try to clean up my act a little bit. But But, you know, at the end of the day, I think the the eternal clock is running slow, and I don't feel tardy or someone else might be saying, Okay, here we go. The whole world is on this dangerous health alert. And now all these preachers are going to try to preach everybody out of hell. For the last 10 years or so, there have been a few times where I had some health issues. None of them developed in anything crazy, but But the time they felt a little crazy. So what do I do? Well, eventually, I went to the doctor, and after some tests and some scans and some medicine and and then a return appointment eventually, for those few times the doctor said Okay, you're good. And you know how left those appointments every time I left thinking. You know what? Eating speaks louder than words, man. I left going. Then I'm going to get a snack. Man, I I just was so excited. I was so much more relaxed after the doctor said Okay, you're good. It isn't that what all of us won't? I mean, if we're really honest with our hearts, don't we just kind of want Thio here? Okay, you're good. Isn't that kind of a desire of what we have going through our minds and our hearts in the morning and in the middle of the day and in the afternoon? What I'm about to say is, is heavy and it's supposed to be. And after 26 years of working in churches, I have been in this heavy moment many times and that heavy moment may look like this. You might be old. You might be young, you might be middle aged, but the doctor will say I'm so sorry. Things aren't good. And the question of all questions is this In that moment, will your soul still be able to hear God saying to you, It's okay You're good. You're good. What are you feeding your soul this morning? Can you feed your soul that? Have you repented in and turned to Christ? And you're not just believing that Jesus died four sends. But you are believing that Jesus died for your sins. Are you clinging to in believing in Jesus as your first and greatest and ultimate treasure, Your only hope for salvation? And is that enough? I mean, it's just believing in Jesus enough. Well, Peter seems to point us in the direction of yes. Liquidy says Next for Christ also died for sins once. For all the reason we make such a big deal out of the death of Jesus is because it is an event that cannot be repeated in the Old Testament over and over over again that the sacrifices were having to be made. One sacrifice wasn't enough. There always had to beam or and again and again and again. Seems true in our lives. You're at the Little League ballgame, kid comes over to you. Dad, can I have Ah, $2 so I could go buy me some zombie skittles at the concession stand, Fork out the money. Seven minutes later. Hey, Dad, can I have $3 so I can go buy me a watermelon slushy seven minutes later? Hey, Dad, can I have $5? So I could go bossom deep fried nachos? And it is one of those moments. It's like it just doesn't feel like there's ever enough. Or maybe it's school and you study For every math test you goto all the after school tutoring sessions. You do all the homework, you do all the work. You you take care of all the extra credit, and you still just barely make a see. It just feels like it's never enough. Or maybe it's marriage. You've watched every video you've read, every book you've. You've seen all the articles. You buy gifts for every holiday. You buy your wife chocolate and roses for Valentine's Day. You buy a tree for Arbor Day. You buy your husband £40 of wings for the opening day of college football, man, you just do it all. And still your spouse barely makes an effort. It just it just feels like it's never enough. Or maybe about right now, man, you're washing your hands. You're sanitizing everything. Your your social distancing. You're doing everything that's being asked but the curves not dropping the way you hoped it would. Or maybe even someone close to you has gotten sick. Or maybe you have gotten It just feels like it's never enough. Can I just say that this morning? The reason that there are millions of people around the world worshipping the risen Jesus Christ is because we have become convinced because of Jesus? That the beauty of the Christian faith is that every single night we can lay our head down at night and we can tell and whisper to our souls again? Jesus dying for our sins? Waas enough. It's the one thing that is enough. Jesus paid it all. He paid it all. And it was enough to satisfy the penalty of sin once and for all. Jesus will not and cannot die on the cross again because it is not needed is one song puts it toll on that cross. As Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. He soaked it all up. He absorbed that raft for us for every sin on him with late here in the death of Christ, I live. What does that even mean? How is that even possible for someone to tow live in someone's death? Well, Peter helps us look continued in verse 18 for Christ also died for sins once for all the just for the unjust. The language here is that the just means to be perfect and unjust means to fall short. So Jesus is the Justin and we're the unjust. We we fall short. No matter how many good deeds you do. No matter how many online church service is you want, no matter how much money you give to charity, nothing that we do will ever make us just in front of God. We we cannot justify ourselves. We cannot make ourselves right before God. But Jesus died four sins once for all the just for the unjust. To solve that problem, Jesus died so that at any given moment ah, believer can still have a soul that hears It's okay. You're good, You're good. How is that possible? Because the just died for the unjust. In other words, Jesus took our place. Jesus substituted himself for us. I heard it put something like this. Imagine there's a little boy with a terminal disease and they've tried everything that they know and none of the treatments have ever worked. And the father goes to the doctor and says, Look, this is what I want you to do. I want you to take all of those disease cells out of my son's body and and I want you to put him in mind and the doctor says, Look, I can't do that. I mean, the science doesn't even exist to make that happen. And even if the science existed, do you understand what you're saying? If I were to put those cells in your body, that means you would die and the father would say Yes, but my son will live friend Jesus did not die to set a good example. Jesus died. Four sins. Jesus died so that you, my live. That's what makes the Gospel so beautiful, Jesus for our own sins in his own body, on the cross so that we might find life today life forever. That's the beauty of Christianity. That's the beauty of the Gospel. That's why, on this Easter Sunday on this resurrection Sunday, no matter what's happening in our minds and our hearts, no matter what's happening outside the world. We can still lay her head down at night and with complete hope that no power of hell and no scheme of man can ever cut us off fromthe one true God tucking us in and saying again, It's okay, you're good. Jesus paid it all once and for all, and because he has, it's okay, you're good, but there's more. Jesus died just so that you could sleep good. No, there's there's more. Listen what Peter says Next for Christ also died for sins once for all the just for the unjust so that he might bring us to God. There's an ancient story about a beautiful young woman and an eagle came and stole her shoot, and the eagle flew and flew and flew and flew far, far away from where that young woman waas and eventually the the eagle dropped the shoe and it fell into the lap of a king. And the king was so curious about this unique shoe in the unique moment that that he commissioned a search to find the owner of the shoot. And when the young woman was found, he made her his queen. Now I know that sounds a lot like Cinderelly, I know, but But that's a story that existed 2400 years before what Disney was even born. So let's just kind of take it and try to imagine that the original stories like five sentences, that's all there is. But But let's see if we can just kind of imagine how it might have played out that young woman. She would have had no interaction with the king. No reason for her to ever cross paths with that key. When it comes to royalty, she would have been lost and without hope. When it comes to practical aspect, she was far apart in distance. She was far apart in background. She was far apart in destiny. But one shoe changed everything. Once you that one shoe cause the king, the commission, his greatest warrior. And he told the warrior, Go in and find the owner of the shoot and the warrior women searched the whole world over. And and he found the young woman and he gave the invitation from the King and overwhelmed with the grace of the invitation, she was compelled to accept the invitation, and the warrior escorted her to the king. Under normal circumstances, she would have absolutely no ability to see the King. But because of the shoe and because of the sacrifice of the warrior, she became a part of the Kings family. Because of our sin, we are separated from God. We have no chance of meeting guys. We are far apart and distance in background and in destiny. But one cross changed everything. Just just one cross. Because God commissioned his son the savior to go with an invitation. His invitation and the invitation was to go to the weak and the helpless and the homeless those that are hungry and thirsty without hope. And the invitation was to go to the wealthy and the healthy too. And the invitation was to go to those who were stressed out and anxious those who were frustrated and confused and lost and afraid. And that invitation goes out from the savior. And because of the grace of the invitation men and women and boys and girls, they are compelled to accept the invitation. And they are promised that today is coming that they will be escorted into the palace where they will live with the king forever. someone might ask. Well, how do we know that promises for real. I mean, what if that's just some cute part of, you know, a very good fairy tale. Now here's how we know that promise. Israel. We know the promise. Israel. Because a dead man cannot invite you or escort you anywhere. The reality of the promise of one day receiving the beauty of all that is good and holy and happy and satisfying. That promise is defined and wrapped up in the one moment in history, and that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see, it's one thing to say Hey, I'm I'm risen from the dead. But it's another thing for that to be proved. It's another thing that if Jesus was ways from the dead, that he truly is the son of God and all these parables. All those stories, all of those teachings. They're not just sound bites from a good moral teacher. They are truth. They are divine divine words that have been fulfilled and will be fulfilled. And if those divine words have been fulfilled and will be fulfilled that we are guaranteed that when Jesus says what he says, we can bank on it. And that means that if Jesus is risen, as he said he would be, then that means there is not a single second of our lives. Were the years of our soul. Well, not here. It's okay. You're good, you're good. And one day it won't just be your soul hearing. It's okay. You're good. You'll hear the risen savior say, Welcome home. Welcome home, Betsy Child's Howard lives in New York City. Her baby is due in four weeks. Yeah, do do the math. Pregnant Mom, New York City. She wrote a a super article this week on being pregnant in a pandemic. And I just want to read too quick faults of what she shared their first. She said this. Somehow, it seems, if we could just find enough data, we will be able to set our hearts and minds at rest. False. You may find good news, but you will also find plenty of ominous news, and she says this. Instead of refreshing news sites and Googling medical studies. Prius som, read a novel, cook a meal, embrace the fine itude of your knowledge and do your best to live in the present. That's hard for us, but it's good advice. But you know is she sits and waits for these last four weeks to unfold for pregnancy. I think one of the reasons that her faith is so strong is because of something that I read that Betsy wrote six years ago. Her grandmother was dying of cancer. Her grandmother's faith in Jesus was super crazy, strong, and so she was actually given shrink to her family because of her faith. And everybody was hanging in there except for this one night for Betsy. This is what she said. I panicked. I was lying in bed, waiting to fall asleep. This was the first time I had faced the death of someone close that night. My panic lasted for several minutes until I remembered that simple truth. Jesus died and lived to tell about it. That's a crazy, simple truth, and it is so good for your heart and your mind. Today, she goes on, Death is not a total unknown to the human race. Jesus has been there and come back again. I felt enormous relief as the implications of his resurrection rebuked my fearful imagination, and what does that kind of confidence due to you. What is that kind of confidence and hope and peace and joy in the resurrection of Jesus do in your actual life as you sit at home today. But what does that do to you? Well, this is what it did to Betsy. A few weeks later, her grandmother died and she was standing at the funeral. But she wasn't panicking with joy and eager expectation. She loudly saying these words. So are we now where Christ have led following our exalted head made like him like him, we rise ours. The cross, the grave, the skies How can any of those words be true? But dear Christian, this is why they're true. Because the risen Jesus died for since once for all Just for the unjust to bring you to God The risen Jesus died to bring you to God and nothing no power, no scheme of man can ever plucked you from his hand You have been brought me And that's what today and tomorrow and the next day and next month and any day that God gives us to live on this Earth week to conceding that song And we can say hallelujah, Hallelujah, hallelujah! Hallelujah! I have been brought there he is Risen, He is risen, indeed!


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