The Great Exchange Video

Here is the video of the message I gave on March 27, 2011. It is about 45 minutes in length, broken into four parts but combined into one player.




For a copy of the transcript, click on this link.

The Great Exchange sermon

Here is the sermon that I preached on Sunday, March 27, 2011:

Good Morning.

I want to talk about what has really been heavy on my heart the past 4 years or more. The church in America is losing focus about what is really important today and that is trickling, or rather gushing, down to our youth. The latest statistic that I have heard is that 88% of the church youth will walk away from God and the church when they leave home. They are so immersed in the things of this world and are not being grounded in the Word of God. That has always been a problem to some degree but it is getting progressively worse. If they are not outright walking away from the church, they are being affected by relativism and humanism even within the church, so that the message of the Gospel is effectively lost.

The message that our youth are hearing today is that God is love and that if you live a relatively good life compared to those around you then you will go to heaven. There are no absolutes - everything is relative. It does not matter what you believe in as long as you believe in something. They believe in reincarnation, they believe that God is simply a God of love that would never send anyone to hell. Premarital sex has become the norm or at the very least it is not something to be concerned about. And these are the kids that go to church. Humanism has invaded the church, making all of us think that the end of all being is the happiness of man rather than the glory of God. If you think I am exaggerating about the youth of today, I would challenge you to get out and go talk to some youth at a concert or the LifeLight festival, and your eyes will be opened. In fact, I will be doing some street evangelism at the LifeLight Festival again this year and I would welcome anyone that wants to join me. Let me know and I will contact Josh Brewer, who is in charge of it.

Youth are growing up in the church with very little understanding of the Bible. Most have never actually read it on their own and that is why camp is so great. We will be having Camp Sunday in a little more than a month and we will have the opportunity to send many youth to Camp Shetek once again. For many it is the first time that they have had devotions on their own, trying to understand what God is saying through His Word. It was that way for me way back in the 70’s and I did not have all the gadgets that occupy kids now. I went to church all my life but never studied theology. I had no understanding of what propitiation, expiation, and substitutionary atonement were, and no realization of what my sin meant to an infinitely holy triune God. I basically just learned that Jesus died for my sins, that I needed to pray a sincere prayer for salvation, and that I would go to heaven when I die. The rest of my life I was on my own, except for the rules that I needed to follow so I would look like a good Christian.

I believe the church in America as a whole has lost the truth of the Gospel. We are afraid to talk about sin and the wrath of God, and thus the message of the cross has become foolishness to those who are perishing. We do not understand the holiness of God and how vile our sin is to Him. "

William Farley tells a story of a British officer captured by the Japanese in WWII. His captors wanted him to confess certain secrets, but they could not break his iron-willed British discipline. So they searched for a personal weakness with which to break him.  Finally, they discovered that he was fastidious. He hated filth. So they dug a pit, lowered him into it, and filled it up to his neck with human excrement. Within several days he became delirious, lost his mind, and told them everything. They broke him by immersing him in the one thing he most hated.  Sin is indescribably more offensive to God than human excrement was to that officer. The Old Covenant makes God's animosity agonizingly clear. To think that God willingly took sin upon himself - that which he hated with all the infinite intensity of omnipotent - is incomprehensible."

That brings me to the topic of this morning’s message. I would like to talk about one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I memorized this verse as a child but never really understood what it meant or even thought about it. Hopefully, through the power of the Holy Spirit, I can do that today. Coincidentally, I have been assisted in this endeavor by another optometrist, Bob Bevington, who has co-written a couple books with Jerry Bridges. My biggest problem was actually reducing it down to one sermon because I could probably make this into a 6 sermon series, but since I have only one day, I had to reduce it down to 3 hours. Just kidding, I hope.

Our text for this morning is a single verse, but it is a very important verse. In fact, Many over the centuries have pointed to it as the key verse of the entire Bible. It is 2 Corinthians 5:21.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) He made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When you look at the verse the first thing we have to do is clear up these personal pronouns. We need to look back to the previous three verses and figure out who the he and the him’s are. Once we do that, we read the context of this verse earlier we see that it reads:

(God) made (Christ) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in (Christ) we might become the righteousness of God.

So now that we have cleared that up, I want to tell you that this verse absolutely changed my life. I desperately wanted to change, to be transformed, thinking it is about a list of things you do and don’t do. But the reality is that because of who Jesus is and what He has done, I am clothed in the very righteousness of Christ. And that will never change, because Jesus Christ never changes. And what He did is a finished work. And once I realized that, everything changed. You can not fathom everything that is there in that verse in a lifetime or even throughout eternity. But I can tell you this, that verse has the power to change your life and the lives of those that God places in your path as you share the Good News.

The next thing that we notice about this verse is that the word SIN appears twice.

Sin For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And the verse itself does not define sin. What is it really? Here’s a quote from God that puts it into perspective. This is God telling us what sin is.

Jeremiah 2:13 GOD: “. . . for MY people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

This is the essence of sin. Two steps: forsaking God and going our own way, digging our holes in the dirt to hold water. But it doesn’t work, it leaks.

What does it mean to “forsake” God? It means you disrepect or disregard him. All other sins are rooted in that. We push Him out of the way so we can do what we want. We get Him out of the picture before we proceed to commit any specific sin. Have you ever done that? I have.

Over the first 43 years of my life I have to admit that I seldom thought about Christ and the sacrifice that he made for my sins. I felt that I somehow deserved God’s favor because I served in the church, and had not committed any of what I thought were more serious sins, not realizing that all sins are an offense against an infinitely holy God. I felt that I was better than those that struggled with certain sins, not understanding that it was only through God’s grace. I would see people around me that I knew were struggling with things and instead of reaching out and sharing the cross of Christ, I would simply look at them as unworthy. These were people that Jesus died for just like me.

Do you know what God thinks about getting treated like this? If we look to the previous verse, He tells us, in verse 12.

Jeremiah 2:12 “Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate” declares the Lord.

He says it is appalling, it is shocking. He says I am appalled that you would act like that, that you would treat me like that. He calls it evil, because that is what it is.

How about you? Maybe you will understand sin better if instead of talking about me we talk about you. Not the person sitting next to you, by the way. Have you ever disregarded God? What do you think about the rest of the week when you leave church, is it watching or playing sports, making money, taking vacations, looking at things you shouldn’t on the computer OR is it the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us upon the cross. Is there a persistent pattern of sin in your life? We all have them. We put God on a shelf, and then go our own way - do our own thing. But it doesn’t satisfy. It is sin. We should be upholding the glory of God at all costs. And instead we fall short of the glory of God. It is cosmic treason. Before the God of the universe we say “NO”. You’re on the shelf. If we have a clue who it is we are disrespecting, we will shudder. Do we have a clue who we’re messing with? King David knew. He wrote: “Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned.”

Charles Spurgeon said this: “We did not know the meaning of our self-righteousness. We used to think, some of us, that we had a righteousness of our own. We had been to church regularly. We were christened; we were confirmed; or perhaps, we rejoiced that we never had either of those things done to us. Thus, we put our confidence in ceremonies or the absence of ceremonies. We said our prayers; we read a chapter in the Bible night and morning; we did--oh, I do not know what we did not do! But there we rested as righteous in our own esteem. We had not any particular sin to confess nor any reason to lie in the dust before the throne of God’s majesty. We were as good as we could be, and we did not know that we were even then perpetuating the highest insult upon Christ. For if we were not sinners, why did Christ die If we had a righteousness of our own that was good enough, why did Christ come here to work out a righteousness for us?”

We have a great dilemma here. It is the greatest dilemma any of us will ever face. Our Great Sin Dilemma is the very reason we are desperate for The Great Exchange

Okay, so let’s go back to our text.
The Great Exchange For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When we look at it, we see the Great Exchange there. We see that there is sin - and there is righteousness. We see that there is Christ -- and there is us. Now when you look at the sin , whose sin is it? We know it is not Christ’s sin, because He knew no sin. It is our sin. Whose righteousness is it? It is not ours. It’s His. So you see the exchange. He gets the sin, we get the righteousness. What a trade.

It’s literally an exchange of my sin for Christ’s righteousness.

If that’s what happens, if my sin is exchanged for Christ’s righteousness, there is nothing more important in all the universe. It changes everything forever. We need to understand this and we need to apply it. So let’s unpack it.

Let’s start by breaking it down into Three Basics:

The Great Exchange Basics: Three Things We Need to Know

1. The Person who makes it possible: Who can make this happen
2. How the exchange works: The mechanics
3. How the exchange works for sinners like us:

Another way to put these three things is:
Who He is
What He did
How we get connected to who He is and what He did

That is what I am hoping you will go away from this message with.


1. Who he is: It takes The Greatest Person to do the Great Exchange and make it possible.

The Incredible Glory of Christ:

Hebrews 1:3-4 tells us what Jesus is like.

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature
and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

And best of all: After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high That is where He is. The most glorious position in the universe, and that is where He is right now, interceding for us as our mediator and advocate. He is the right hand of the majesty on high. It doesn’t get any more valuable than that.

There’s one particular aspect of his greatness we need to understand in order to understand The Great Exchange:

The perfect righteousness of Christ

He never did anything wrong: he was sinless
He always did what was right: he had positive obedience
He is unique- no one else ever came close

The perfect righteousness of Christ is affirmed by all four of the major writers of the New Testament:

2 Corinthians 5:21 “(Christ) knew no sin . . .”
Hebrews 4:15 “(Jesus) in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
1 Peter 2:22a “He committed no sin . . .”
1 John 3:5b “. . . in him there is no sin.”

All four of the major New Testament writers affirm the perfect righteousness of Jesus, but the most astounding statements about it come from His own mouth.

Jesus affirmed his own sinlessness and positive obedience:

He looked His enemies in the eyes and said: “Which one of you convicts me of sin?” and then He said “I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” He always fulfilled righteousness. He was positively obedient. Not just the lack of sin, but all the obedience He fulfilled. He always did that which pleased the Father. You know Jesus didn’t grow up in a vacuum. The Gospel of Matthew even records the names of some of Jesus’ half brothers? When we look at the book of James some people think it was the Apostle James that wrote that. It isn’t. The Apostle James was the first martyr. Most scholars agree that the one that wrote the book of James is the half-brother of Jesus. Now growing up in a family your siblings certainly know whether you are a sinner or not. James would not have written his letter after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ if he did not know that Jesus was without sin. He would have read what John wrote, and if it wasn’t true, he would have pointed it out. “Oh yeah remember that time”. Jesus Christ’s own half-brother affirms it. Why is it important?

The perfect righteousness of Christ is important for two reasons:

It qualifies him to be the perfect sin sacrifice - the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God. for our sins. No animal was like him, no person was like him. He’s unique. He has perfect righteousness that qualifies Him to die for the sin of all who would be redeemed by Him.
The perfect righteousness of Christ is important because that’s the righteousness that we get. That’s the righteousness in 2 Corinthians 5:21. So it is vital that we understand this.

The obedience of Christ goes even further. There’s the ultimate obedience. He did not regard his equality with God a thing to be grasped, but He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient (not just obedient but obedient) to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-6) That’s the ultimate obedience. He obeyed God to death.

There is one more point I would like to make about Christ righteousness and it is a quote from Charles Spurgeon. "If we had been in the Garden of Eden today, we could never have boasted a finished righteousness, since a creature can never finish its obedience. As long as a creature lives, it is bound to obey, and as long as a free agent exists on earth, it would be in danger of violating the vow of its obedience. If Adam had been in paradise from the first day until now, he might fall tomorrow. Left to himself, there would be no reason why the king of nature should not yet be uncrowned. But Christ the Creator, who finished creation, has perfected redemption. God can ask no more. The law has received all its claims. The largest extent of justice cannot demand another hour's obedience. It is done; it is complete. Let us rejoice then in this that the Master meant by his dying cry that his perfect righteousness wherewith He covers us was finished." Do you understand? We do not receive the righteousness that Adam had before the fall, or our own righteousness simply made perfect, but we receive the righteousness of Christ himself.

The Person who makes The Great Exchange possible is absolutely unique. He is the God-man who unites divine nature with human nature in one person. And then He lives the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died because He can.

2. So how does this Great Exchange work? There are 2 parts

The first part is: My sin is charged to Christ
The second part is: His righteousness is credited to me

Charged and credited. Basic accounting terms.

Part One: My sin is charged to Christ.
So what does that mean? 2 Corinthians 5:21a (ESV) . . . he made him to be sin who knew no sin . . .
It means that my sin is transferred to Christ. It means that my sin is imputed to Christ. He became sin. Now notice that he did not become a sinner. He did not start sinning. He became sin. The sin came from us.

Peter put it brilliantly when he wrote
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree . . . (1 Peter 2:24)

He bore our sin - our sin was there, in that body, on the tree, He also bore our guilt, our condemnation, and our punishment. He was our curse bearer. and bore the curse of our sin, that we deserved. He is our wrath bearer - he bore the wrath of God that I deserved.

So often when people talk about the cross of Christ they think about the physical beatings and the suffering through the crucifixion itself. I want to back up for a second. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, “ My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39) A little later at his arrest, He said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” (John 18:11) It is obvious that the cup was very much on Jesus’ mind that night. The question, then, what was in the cup?

We generally associate Jesus’ cup with his crucifixion. We assume that when He prayed that the cup might be taken away, He was asking that, if possible, He might be spared from the horrible and demeaning death on the cross. There is truth in that assumption, and certainly the cup was connected with the crucifixion. But still we have not answered the question: What was in the cup?

In both the Old and New Testament the cup of God is a reference to His Judgment. For example, in Psalm 75:8 we read, “In the hand of the Lord is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs.” Jeremiah 25:15 it says, “Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.” Here the cup is filled with the wrath of God.

So what was in the cup? It was the wrath of of God. It was the cup of wrath that we should have drunk. Jesus as our representative drank the cup of God’s wrath in our place. He tasted the last drops. And He did it for us as our substitute. Scripture tells us that while Jesus hung on the cross, darkness came over the land from noon until three o’clock. During those awful three hours Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath in our place. It was toward the end of that time that He cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.” (Matthew 27:46) in fulfillment of Psalm 22:1.

We do not know all that transpired during those three terrible hours when Jesus endured the wrath of God. Scripture draws a veil over them for the most part. We do know that the physical suffering Jesus endured was only a feeble picture of the suffering of his soul. And part of that suffering was the very real forsakenness by His Father, His utter abandonment by God. The night before, He had been strengthened by divine assistance, but now He was left alone. For our sakes, God turned His back on His own dearly loved Son. I find it interesting that he repeats the words “My God” twice and it makes me think that Jesus Christ was referring to both the Father and the Holy Spirit - how he has separated from the other two-thirds of the Trinity. I could not find any commentary on that but to me it would make sense and it also would be another piece of evidence regarding the Trinity.

That’s Part One. Now let’s look at Part Two:

His righteousness is credited to us - the same way that our sin was charged to him. By transfer, by imputation.

2 Corinthians 5:21b (ESV) . . . we might become the righteousness of God.

We don’t become “righteous” but we become “the righteousness of God” which is in Christ.

Here’s what God said through the prophet Isaiah in 53:11

Isaiah 53:11 . . . The righteous one (whose the righteous one? Christ), my servant, (shall) make many to be accounted righteous . . . They’re not righteous, He is. He makes them to be accounted righteous. This was written 700 years before Jesus was ever born. This was God’s plan from the beginning.

So the Great Exchange involves a transaction that has two parts:

Part One: My sin is charged to Christ
Part Two: His righteousness is credited to me

3. The Great Exchange: How it works for sinners like us

How can you be sure you are included in the Great Exchange?

The key is found in the vital, tiny word “in”

2 Cor 5:21 (ESV) he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that
in him we might become the righteousness of God.

You are included in The Great Exchange IF you are “in Christ”
“In” refers to a union with Him —we are united to Christ, but how?
The text doesn’t say, but Paul shows us in Philippians 3:9

Philippians 3:9  and be found in him (there’s the union and now he is going to show us how the transfer happens), not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ (in who He is and what He did), the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

Faith is the hand that connects us to Christ for righteousness.
But not just any faith, but it is the kind of faith that has two sides. It has a reliance on Christ’s righteousness and a renunciation of our own. I renounce my own righteousness, do you see it in the verse. Not having a righteousness that comes from me performing the Law. That is not the righteousness that connects me. That’s where people get it wrong. They think my good deeds will outweigh my bad deeds. That’s the biggest lie in the universe. No, it is faith in Christ, in who He is and what He did. That’s what connects us to Christ.

By FAITH: We receive: (who he is) and (what he did) on our behalf

Now if you are sitting here today and you have never done that, I would encourage you to do that today. Don’t hesitate. Hebrews 3:15 says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” Now is the day of your salvation. You may not get another chance. None of us knows what tomorrow holds. Why would you not want to part of this Great Exchange?

Again Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers says, “Take heed, I pray you, and be changed this day by grace lest you be changed later by terror, for the heart that will not be bent by the love of Christ shall be broken by the terror of His name. If Jesus upon the cross does not save you, Christ on the throne shall (condemn) you. If Christ dying is not your life, Christ living shall be your death. If Christ on earth is not your heaven, Christ coming from heaven shall be your hell. May God’s grace work a blessed turning of face in each of us, that we may not be turned into hell in the dreadful day of reckoning.” AND

“Either Christ must die for me. or else I must die for myself the second death. If He did not carry the curse for me, then on me must it rest forever and ever.”

If you are already in Christ: if you know that you have done that, you still need The Great Exchange every day

The Great Exchange becomes the basis for gratitude that will transform your life. We do become righteous, gradually, but we don’t do it it to gain merit with God. No, it is out of gratitude that I want to please Him. I love because He first loved me and I understand that this is love. This Great Exchange is love. In every area that you fail, Jesus perfectly obeyed. For you, in your place.

I would encourage each of you to preach the Gospel, the cross of Christ, to yourself every day, every hour of the day. Read about it, meditate on it, and pray that God would open your eyes more and more to the truth of what Christ did for us, not just intellectually but in your soul. I also listed a few books that I would highly recommend on your handout, but even more look for it in the Bible. It is there in virtually every book of the Bible in one fashion or another.

I would like to read a short passage from Jerry Bridges book, “The Gospel for Real Life”. The passage is entitled A Miracle of Grace.

“I believe that human morality, rather than flagrant sin, is the greatest obstacle to the gospel today. If you ask the average law-abiding person why he expects to go to heaven, the answer will be some form of “because I’ve been good.” The rich young ruler (see Matthew 19:16-20), the prodigal son’s older brother (see Luke 15:28-30), and the Pharisee praying in the temple (see Luke 18:9-12) all had this in common: They were confident of their own goodness. Their attitude is replicated throughout our society. And the more religious a person is, the more difficult it is for that person to realize his or her need for the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

I once read a story about two men who happened to be kneeling side by side at the communion rail of an English church. One was a former convict who had served time and was now out of prison. The other was the judge who had sentenced him to prison years before.
After the service the minister asked the judge, “Did you recognize the man kneeling beside you?”
“Yes I did,” replied the judge. “That was a miracle of grace.”

“You mean that a man you sentenced to prison should be kneeling beside you?”

“No, not at all,” said the judge, “The miracle is that I should be kneeling beside him. You see, that man knew clearly he was a sinner in need of a Savior. But I was brought up in a religious home, have lived a decent, moral life, and have served my community. It is much more difficult for someone such as I to recognize his need for a Savior. I am the miracle of grace.”

How do you respond to this story? Do you identify with it in the sense of having come to the place where you have made your own “great exchange”? Have you renounced any confidence in your own religious experience and trusted solely in Christ’s blood and righteousness? Perhaps you are somewhat like the English judge who grew up in a highly moral and religious family. You’ve always been good and essentially blameless in the eyes of other people. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. But if your hope of eternal life is based on that goodness then your “cargo” of religion has actually become dangerous to you. It will keep you from heaven.

Suppose, however, you identify to some degree with the former prisoner. You may think your sin is too great to be forgiven. But the prisoner kneeling beside the judge and the penitent thief hanging on the cross are witnesses to the fact that the blood of Christ can indeed cleanse us from all sin. Whether you identify with the judge or the former prisoner, you too can be a miracle of grace.”

Before I close, let me go back to what I said earlier. Growing up in the church, in this church in fact, I always knew about God and felt I loved God and I did my best to live right before him. But I also felt that I was basically good - that I deserved God’s forgiveness. After all, I did not commit any major sins at least in the eyes of the world. I would never have said this - but I lived as though I was 90% righteous on my own and I just needed Jesus to fill in the other 10%.. It was not until I came to terms with my sin, that I am totally depraved before a holy and just God, that I truly understood the depth of Christ’s sacrifice for me. That is why I believe that we need to do a better job teaching about sin in our churches today. Why do I believe it is so important?
Two reasons:
The Holy Spirit convicts us through the Law or knowledge of sin to bring us to Christ. Galatians 3:24 says “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
When we understand what we have been forgiven, we will love Jesus so much more. Luke 7:47 says “Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that's why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little." This is what I was missing for much of my life. I felt I was forgiven little so I loved little. The older I get the more aware I become of my sin. And the more I become aware of my sin the more precious the cross of Christ becomes for me.

In closing, ask yourself these three questions:

Do I have a right relationship with God based on the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ?
Am I trusting in Jesus Christ alone for my salvation, or am I to some degree relying on my own morality and religious duties?
If I know that I am justified through faith in Christ, do I enjoy the reality of it in my daily experience, or do I look to my own performance for my acceptance with God?

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

NEW LIFE

My Mother died on January 22, 2010 and stayed faithful to her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to the end. Here is one testimony she left behind of her new life in Christ.



It is a real thrill and joy for Sterling and I to once more start a new year with you good people here in Worthington. Ever since we left Worthington, way back deep in our hearts was a desire to come back, but we left it wholly in the Lord’s hands as to what we should do -- and we have seen his leading all the way. Especially it is a thrill to start the new year in your new church that all of you have labored so diligently and faithfully.

When we first came back to Worthington one man remarked, “The Baptists must really have a lot of faith.” If God be with us, who can be against us. This is just like a little boy who stepped out into the dark all alone. He couldn’t see the path ahead and was frightened. He called to his father who heard him and came and put his hand in little Billy’s. All the way home, Billy felt perfectly safe and secure because he knew his father was with him and would watch over him.

You know that is much like God’s plan of salvation. Paul told the Corinthian church, “Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:2-5)

Man, by human nature, is inclined to want to do everything for himself -- the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the house we built -- WE worked hard for them. And you know that is just what many men are doing with God today, trying to work out their own salvation.

I know, because I tried it for many years - at the same trembling for lack of assurance. I went to church. Yes, I tried to live a clean moral life, not realizing that my righteousness is as filthy rags, or that my evil temper and biting tongue were just as much sin as smoking and drinking. All are sin in God’s sight.

But the devil was getting control of my life more everyday and I began to feel a NEED for a new life. In the meantime the Lord had led me into fellowship with born again Christians, people who were happy without partaking in the many things of the world. They didn’t have to preach to me for their lives were a living testimony.

Okoboji ...... So I thought I’d try to live the type of life they did - every Sunday hearing the gospel plan of salvation, but rejecting it. I kept thinking that I would stop dancing for I really felt that it was sinful - but I didn’t. It seemed as though the devil worked overtime during that year, using my old friends as his stooges to tempt me.

I praise God for the night when he, not only convicted me of sin, but also, convinced me I needed to do something about it - that I needed to step out for Christ. He has provided the way, for he has said “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) “With the heart, man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10) “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9) For the Scripture saith, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

“For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) The gift was there all the time, but O had to accept it, believe it, and confess it. First of all, though, there was to be a need for salvation. That need, I am convinced, is what is lacking in the lives of most unbelievers today -- for our people and nation are losing conscientiousness of sins. I have heard many people say, “My folks made me go to church, and how I disliked it. I’m going to leave it up to my children to decide whether they want to go or not.” But you know, I’d rather insist on my child going to church and grow up with a conscience than not to have any conscience at all. There has to first be a need.

With a growing congregation many of you saw a need for a new church building here in Worthington and, although you could not see the end when you launched out on this building program, you did have faith to believe that God would supply all your needs. Only God knows the sacrifice and unceasing effort you have all made and only God can reward you justly. Yes, there is a price we must pay, that of sacrifice. There is an old saying that “anything worth having is worth working for.”

You know we as Christians too often stop to count the cost before stepping out on faith and prayer. There are also many unsaved people today who want the assurance of salvation and the real peace and joy that only Christ can give our sin-sick souls, but who are counting the cost first. As a result they are saying, “not yet, but someday I want to become a Christian” or else they are hardening their hearts toward the things of God saying, “I can’t be as good a Christian as so and so.” I thought I had to give up dancing, shows, etc. in order to become a Christian, not realizing that when Christ come into a life he washes away those things that hinder our testimony for Christ. “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.” That is just what Christ did in my life, for he washed away my old desires and gave me new ones.

Yes, old things do pass away as we seek to serve the Lord in witnessing to others of the great love of God when he sent his only begotten Son. There is no greater joy than to lead some lost soul to Christ and then to see this one reading God’s Word regularly and growing in Christ.

My one prayer is that “I may know Him and power of his resurrection” (Philippians 3:10)so that others may see Christ in me for we are the only Bible many people read. A Spanish woman told Dr. Bias one time “the better I know Him, the better I love Him. The better I love Him, the better I serve Him.” etc. and round it goes.

We need daily fellowship with God as well as other Christians. Isn’t it wonderful that God has permitted the building of this beautiful temple where we can gather together to sing His praises and study God’s Word with other believers? Help us to never loose this new-found joy tonight by neglecting the privilege of regular church attendance and then by supporting our wonderful pastors in prayer.

Give us a real burden for those lost souls round about us as well as in foreign lands so that we might not only sing, “Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save,” but that we might go out into the highways and byways and bring them in.

End of Testimony.

Here are a couple notes in mom's Bible that I thought were interesting and demonstrates the difference that Christ made in her life. It explains why she changed when she surrendered her life to Jesus.

Clipping pasted in front of Bible:

"So often a young believer, or even an older one, will ask if it is wrong to do certain things, such as going to the movies, or smoking, etc. It may not be wrong for a racer to tie a fifty pound weight to his leg, but it certainly would not help him to win the race. Likewise anything that would hinder our winning a prize in the Christian race should be laid aside. It is not our question whether a thing is wrong or not, but simply whether it helps me to bear a testimony for Him in this dark and needy world." A.V.R.

5 tests of determining whether you should partake in worldly pleasures:

1. Does it hurt my testimony?
2. Does it offend your brother?
3. Does it give the devil a chance?
4. Does it crowd your prayer life?
5. Does it waste time?

If you are on Facebook and would like to see a video of her life and read other posts go to "In Memory of Irene Johnson"

Robbery evangelism

Here is a great example of always being ready to share your faith. She talks to a would-be mugger about the truth of the the Gospel and his need for Jesus Christ.

The Law and the Gospel video

Here is the video of the message I gave on August 16, 2009. It is about 40 minutes in length, broken into five parts but combined into one player.




For a copy of the transcript, click on this link.

End Times

I was reading Luke 18:1-8 a couple days ago and this is what it said,
"And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Is Jesus referring to the falling away from the faith, as in the days of Noah, that precedes his Second Coming? We need to not only share the Gospel to unbelievers, but also encourage those in the church to examine their own lives.

The Law and the Gospel

I was supposed to preach the following sermon on May 3rd, but never had the opportunity because of my dad's fall and subsequent death 11 days later. I later gave this message on August 16,2009 with a few changes after filling in for our youth pastor, again as a result of a death in their extended family.

The Law and the Gospel

Good morning. I did not think I would be giving this message this morning. I originally was scheduled for May 2nd on Camp Sunday but then my dad fell the day before and was airlifted over to Sioux Falls. On Thursday evening we moved my mom into the Maple Lawn nursing home in Fulda and then on Friday we were packed and ready to move Kari up to Bethel when we received the call about Melissa’s brother, Terry, and was asked to fill in. I would like to start this morning in prayer for the Knudtson family and for the message today. Dear Father, we come humbly before you this morning and ask that your Holy Spirit would fill this place. Speak to us through your Word, convict us of our sins, and give us the desire to grow in holiness before You. We also lift up the Knudtson family as they grieve for yet another family member taken away unexpectedly. We ask for your peace and your comfort for them as they go through this difficult time. Thank you for the hope that can only be found in and through you. We ask this all in the name of your precious Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

But this morning I want to share what I am most passionate about in life. God has revolutionized my life the past couple years and I will never be the same again. Some of what I share may be difficult to accept. I know it was for me. It took several years for God to penetrate my hardened heart. My prayer is that you would search God’s Word and pray before you immediately dismiss it. I also am not saying I have all the answers or that I have arrived. I am simply a sinner saved by grace who hopes to spend the rest of his life telling others about Christ. So this is basically my life’s story. These are things that God has convicted me about in my own life.

I would like to begin with my testimony - some which is in the letter I put in your box. I first put my trust in Christ at a Good News Club that my mom held in our home. It was a club after school where she shared Bible stories with neighborhood kids. I put my trust in Christ at the age of 7 after one of those meetings. I pretty much led a good life and tried to serve Christ to the best of my abilities. However, I never had confidence in my decision to trust Christ because I fell short so often and never had a passion for the Bible or to share my faith.

I continued serving in churches, doing Bible studies, and all the good things a Christian is supposed to do. But at times I felt listless and sometimes distant from God. I held some bitterness towards God because of the health issues I had to go through. But it is not about my health. I also struggled with some of the things that have happened in the church over the past several years. But again, it is not about this church. A few years ago I reached I crisis of faith. I still believed in God and knew Christ died for me, but I simply lacked a passion for the things of God. I did not read my Bible, my prayer life was dormant, and I did not know what to do other than to ask God to reveal Himself to me. I struggled being involved in youth group, because I saw so many kids claim to come to Christ, only to walk away in high school or college. I felt like I was not making any difference and to be honest, I did not know what difference God made in my life. My trying to be good was just that, me trying to be good. After all, I really had never done anything really bad in my life.

Then about 3 years ago, an acquaintance mentioned a book that he had read by Mark Cahill called “The One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven”. It is referring to the fact that we can not witness in heaven or bring anyone with us. After reading it, the Holy Spirit convicted me about my lack of sharing the Gospel. Then, I heard a message by Ray Comfort on Hell's Best Kept Secret and I realized that I was not the good person I felt I was. I deserved hell because of my sinful nature. I violated every one of God's Law, the 10 Commandments, at least in my heart or thoughts.

If I was judged by God by his Law, I would be found guilty, and would deserve hell. God is loving, but He is also just and Holy. He can not allow sin in His presence. My only hope is Christ - He came to earth to not only die but to endure the wrath of God that I deserve. It says in Isaiah 53:10 that it “It pleased YAHWEH to crush His Son” Can you understand what that means. I did the crime, but Christ paid my fine. Because Christ became sin for us, God the Father could not look at His own Son. That is why He cried out "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" We have been watching “The Gospel Journey Maui” on Wednesday nights in youth group. This week the video was on “Who is Jesus?”, Greg Stier, the preacher, talked about this fact - how when Christ cried out on the cross - for the first time in eternity, the Son was separated from the Father as He bore our sin upon Himself. How that happened, I cannot explain, but it is incredible that God would do that for us.

Christ took the punishment I deserve, defeated death, and rose again. Because of His death, I can live. I Corinthians 5:21 states it this way: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Christ took on my sin, and I received Christ's righteousness. My response to the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit is simply to repent and believe the gospel and keep on repenting and believing. Mark 1:15 quotes Christ’s first words as “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” It is in the present tense which means to keep on repenting and believing.

Since that time my whole goal in life is to share the gospel. That is my passion. I try to tell everyone I can. I read my Bible because I want to hear from God and want to know more how to share with others, not because I feel I have to. I am more excited about Christ that I thought possible. Some say I have the gift of evangelism, but I am not so sure. I am shy and would prefer to sit quietly and not make a scene. But I just know that if Christ means everything to me, I must share the gospel with others. Charles Spurgeon says "Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that." Now that may seem kind of harsh, and I know it struck a nerve in me when I first read that. Obviously, that is not always the case, but it does make you think.

97.4% That is the going rate these days for how many churchgoers in one evangelical denomination will die without once - not once - telling another person how he or she can be saved through Christ Jesus. And yet many, if not most, if not all of the people in those congregations would probably say that their relationship with Jesus is the single greatest priority in their lives. How can this be? Evangelism is the responsibility of everyone. Not just the pastors, not just the full-time missionaries, but everyone. Paul tells Timothy, “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:5)

Bill Fay in his booklet “The Sin of Silence” says, “End all doubt about your salvation. There are many in the church who have never truly bowed their knee to Jesus Christ, repenting of their sins, receiving His forgiveness by faith, and confessing Him as Lord. Believe it or not, that is just the facts. And if the sin of silence regarding sharing your faith is something you never intend to repent of - like any other sin that may have invaded your heart and life - I believe it’s fair to ask why you choose Christ and not care if anyone else does. The painful truth for why many people struggle with the sin of silence - why they don’t share the good news of Jesus with those they know and those they meet - is that a person can’t give away what he doesn’t have.”

Athiest Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller, says this in an YouTube video - “If you believe there is a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell, or not get eternal life, and you think it is not really worth telling them this, because it would make it socially awkward ... how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?

I know that for much of my life my assurance of salvation was based on a decision that I made, not on the finished work of Christ. It was the sincerity of my words. How is that different from those that base their salvation on baptism, on communion, or any other good works? The Sinner’s Prayer has become just another good work. The verse that is usually used to support the sinner’s prayer is Romans 10:9-10, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Yet people do not look at the context. They were not in America, they were in a culture where confessing Jesus as Lord, could get them killed. It also means to make Jesus Lord, not just intellectual assent. Now I realize that many people do come to Christ through just such a prayer, but it is in spite of it not because of it. Pastor Chitwood used to say that many people will be surprised in heaven to find out when they really became born again. I have a sentence in my Bible that summarizes faith for me - “Father, I am going to trust only in what you have done for me in your son Jesus Christ and if that work is not strong enough to save me, then I am going to hell because I refuse to believe in any other thing.”.”

Why is there so little evidence of Christ in the lives of so many so-called Christians? Is it because they are basing their salvation on a decision that they made, on something THEY did, not on Christ and what He did? They think it is all about doing something to earn salvation. Do you think that you are covered because you prayed a prayer as a child or youth, so now you are free to ignore Him and live life for yourself. The evidence of whether you are saved, is if you continue to repent and believe. Do you have to live a sinless life? Of course not. But if you have no desire to live for Christ, then you must examine your life. Question: Do you love the things that God loves and hate the things that God hates?

2 Corinthians 13:5 says to "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" This verse is what really made me examine my life and consider God’s call in my life. 2 Peter 1:10 also says “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure.”

Mark Cahill notes in his book that, when witnessing to the lost,“if there is no desire to walk away from sin, the person is not really making a true heart commitment to the Savior. In John 6:44 Jesus says,‘No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.’ If God is drawing someone to Him, He would also be drawing the person away from his sin.”

So why do so many kids walk away from the faith or why do so many so-called Christians show no evidence in their lives of the transforming power of the gospel. I believe it is because we no longer talk about sin. Growing up in the church, I heard all about Jesus dying on the cross, but it never really registered why I need Christ. After all, I was basically a good person, wasn’t I? But without understanding the depth of my sin, I can not truly understand the sacrifice that Christ made for me. John MacArthur says “Remove the reality of sin and you take away the possibility of repentance. Abolish the doctrine of human depravity and you void the divine plan of salvation. Erase the notion of personal guilt and you eliminate the need for a Savior”

In the early 1970’s Karl Menniger wrote a small book with the provocative title, “ Whatever Became of Sin?” In it he observed that the word “sin” and the concept it represented began to disappear from our culture around the middle of the twentieth century. However, he views sin on an entirely horizontal level, the sin of one person against another or perhaps against oneself. To fully comprehend the nature of sin, though, we must recognize its vertical dimension: sin is primarily an offense toward God.

David recognized this when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed. He says in Psalms 51:4 “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.”

If you are like me, you want to say that you really are not that bad. I don’t do anything seriously wrong. We all tell lies. But consider this. It is not what you do, but WHO you do it to. If I tell a lie to a 5 year old, there is not really much they can do about it. If I tell a lie to my wife, I may end up sleeping on the couch. If I tell a lie to the government I will end up in prison. If I tell a lie to God, and ultimately all lies are against God, then I deserve hell. J.I. Packer says it this way, “There can be no small sins against a great God.”

But what is Sin? Growing up in the church I was taught not to gamble, smoke, drink, dance, or go to movies. While some of those things may not be beneficial to us, they do not reveal the true nature of our sin. I felt if I followed those rules and avoided those things, that I was okay. But sin is transgression of the Law of God. I John 3:4 says “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.”

God Law is found in the 10 Commandments. They have basically been removed from society today, so I am going to quickly review them. I have included a picture and statement about the picture to make it easier to memorize them.

The First Commandment is “You shall have no other Gods before me”. (Exodus 20:2,3) Mark 12:29-30 says: “Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment” Do we truly love Him with our whole being? We say He is lord, but do our lives reveal it?
****God should always be Number One.

The Second Commandment is “You shall not make for yourself any graven image.” (Exodus 20:4-6) Idolatry is perhaps the greatest of all sins because it opens the door to unrestrained evil. It gives sinners license not only to tolerate sin, but to sanction it. If you can make a god in your own image, you can create your own moral standards to go along with him or her. You make a god to suit yourself, one that does not talk about sin, righteousness, and judgment. Just make sure he or she likes the things you like and hates the things you hate. If you like lust, so will your god. If your god doesn’t mind lying and stealing, then you can lie, steal, and lust to your heart’s content. Your god will fill your heart with joy...right up until Judgment Day.
**** Don’t bow to anything but God

The Third Commandment is “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD your God will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). To slur someone’s name is to insult the very person.
****Don’t use your lips to dishonor God.

The Fourth Commandment is “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). The Sabbath was given as a sign to Israel (Exodus 31:13–17); nowhere is it given as a sign to the church. Romans 14:5–10 tells us that one man esteems one day of the week above another; another esteems every day alike. We are not to judge each other regarding the day on which we worship.
****Don’t neglect the things of God.

The Fifth Commandment is “Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God gives you”(Exodus 20:12). To honor our parents is to esteem them, show them respect, and obey them.
****It’s a “5” shaped like a Dad and Mom.

The Sixth Commandment is “You shall not murder”(Exodus 20:13). Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount,“You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say to you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment”(Matthew 5:21,22).
****It’s a bomb shaped like a “6”

The Seventh Commandment is “You shall not commit adultery”(Exodus 20:14). However, Jesus explained that God judges even the thought-life. He said,“You have heard that it was said by them of old time, You shall not commit adultery: But I say to you, that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart”(Matthew 5:27,28)
****Adultery leaves a heart broken.

The Eighth Commandment is “You shall not steal”(Exodus 20:15).
Most people don’t think that God considers theft to be theft until the value of what is taken impresses Him. However, if I open your wallet and take just one dollar, I’m a thief, and the Bible says that thieves will not enter the kingdom of God. Jesus asked,“What does a man profit if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?”(Matthew 16:26).
****The thief’s mask looks like an “8”

The Ninth Commandment is “You shall not lie or bear false witness against your neighbor”(Exodus 20:16). Lying in order to cause harm to another, or to avoid the consequences of our own wrong behavior, is never acceptable to a holy God who knows our motive.
****This number “9” is lying down.

The Tenth Commandment is: “You shall not covet...anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17). Covetousness is the spark that sets off the fuse of sin. It is a sin that lies close to the surface of every human being.
****The door and ring together look like a “10”.

So what does this mean? Why did I go through the Ten Commandments? Am I trying to say that we must keep the Law to be saved or to gain God’s forgiveness. Absolutely not. It is only by the grace of God and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

So what is the purpose of the Law of God?
Galatians 3:24 says “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The Law does doesn’t help us; it just leaves us helpless. It doesn’t justify us; it just leaves us guilty before the judgment bar of a holy God. Psalm 19:1 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.”

If I approach an unrepentant sinner and say, “Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins,”it will be foolishness and offensive to him. It will be foolishness because it won’t make sense. The Bible says that “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness”(1 Corinthians 1:18). And it will be offensive because I’m implying he’s a sinner when he doesn’t think he is. As far as he’s concerned, there are a lot of people far worse than him. But if I take the time to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, it may make more sense. If I open up the divine Law, and show the sinner precisely what he’s done wrong — that he has offended God by violating His Law—then the good news of the fine being paid will not be foolishness. It will not be offensive. It will be “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16).

Romans 3:19 says,“Now we know that whatsoever things the law says, it says to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God.” So one function of God’s Law is to stop the mouth, to keep sinners from justifying themselves by saying,“There are plenty of people worse than me. I’m not a bad person, really. ”No, the law stops the mouth of justification and leaves, not just the Jews, but the whole world guilty before God.

Charles Spurgeon, stated,“I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law. The Law is the needle, and you cannot draw the silken thread of the gospel through a man’s heart unless you first send the needle of the Law to make way for it.”

We can see the work of God’s Law illustrated in civil law. For example, many people often drive over the speed limit, especially in large cities where everyone is going over the speed limit. Apparently each speeder says to himself that the law has forgotten to patrol his part of the freeway. After all he is violating the law by only 15 mph, and besides, he isn’t the only one doing it. However, notice what happens when the law enters with red lights flashing. The speeder’s heart misses a beat. He is no longer secure in the fact that other motorists are also speeding. He knows that he is personally as guilty as the next guy, and he could be the one the law pulls over. The fact that there are other people doing it is irrelevant. Suddenly, his “mere” 15 mph transgression doesn’t seem such a small thing after all; it seems to abound.

Now watch the Law of God enter with red lights flashing. The sinner’s heart skips a beat. He lays his hand upon his mouth. He examines the speedometer of his conscience. Suddenly, it shows him the measure of his guilt in a new light—the light of the Law. His sense of security in the fact that there are multitudes doing the same thing becomes irrelevant, because every man will give an account of himself to God. Sin not only becomes personal, it seems to “abound.” His mere lust becomes adultery of the heart; his white lie, false witness; his own way becomes rebellion; and his hatred, murder.

Charles Spurgeon said, “(Sinners) will never accept grace, until they tremble before a just and holy Law.” The Law makes grace abound, in the same way that darkness makes light shine. John Wesley advised a young evangelist, for effective evangelism, preach 90 percent Law and 10 percent grace.

So where does this leave us? We are not good. Psalm 14:3 says,“They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.” Each of us have broken God’s Law repeatedly. I have thought about this lately in regard to the alleged Craigslist killer, Philip Markoff. Here is a young man, 22 years old, in medical school, engaged to be married, who killed a young model. His fiancee, Megan McAllister, said that he would not hurt a fly. How many times do we hear that about a murderer? We all want to think that we would never do that, but the reality is that we are all capable of that. We have all done that in our heart at some point, by hating our brother.

If we stood before God and He judged us according to His Law we would be found guilty. You and Me. If we are guilty that would mean an eternity in hell. C. S. Lewis summed up all the terrors of hell when he said,“There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than the doctrine of hell, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, especially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by the Christian Church, and it has the support of reason.” We would know very little about hell were it not the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospels.

At this point most people will agree that they are not a good person, but they don’t think a loving God will send them to hell. But what they have done is idolatry. They have made a god to suit themselves, someone they can accept. It is true that God is love, but He is also holy, righteous, and just.

This is a scenario that I often use when witnessing. Suppose that you have committed a horrible crime and the punishment for that crime was $1,000,000 or life in prison. If the judge is a good judge he must punish you for your crime. If someone murdered your parents and then let the killer go free, you would not call the judge good. So the judge must punish you. As you are being led off to jail, someone you don’t know, steps forward, and hands the judge the $1,000,000. He sold everything he had so that your fine could be paid. Now the judge can legally dismiss your case and still be just. That is a what Christ for you and for me upon the cross. Only in this case it was a death sentence that He took in our place, and He is not an unknown person, but the judge Himself.

That is the Good News - the Great News. The Gospel. The Cross of Christ

Once we understand our sinfulness, our depravity, the cross because so precious. That is why we sang about the cross, about His sacrifice, about Christ’s blood shed for us. My mom has said that for years, and I am just finally beginning to get it - to really understand the depth of God’s love for a sinner like me. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Christ took the wrath of God that I deserve upon Himself. In that moment in time, Jesus Christ, was separated from the Father as He became sin on our behalf. There was a cosmic shock wave throughout the universe as the Father turned His back on the Son. Isn’t that amazing! If you understand this in this depth of your heart, it will change you forever.

I would like to read a passage by R.C. Sproul from the book, “Preaching the Cross.” In in he says, “We are not justified by the doctrine of justification by faith. We can believe this doctrine, give intellectual assent to its truth, and even contend for it with our all without ever having the faith that alone will justify us. Our justification is not accomplished by a profession of faith. The evangelical world has never fully grasped that nobody is justified by a simple profession of faith. Professions of faith are good things, and those who believe are supposed to profess what they believe, but it’s the “possession” of faith - not its “profession” - that translates a person from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. For that reason we who are preachers must be very careful how we preach the gospel, to guard against giving people a false sense of security, saying, “If you raise your hand ... if you come to the altar ... if you sign the card ... you’re going to get into the kingdom of God.” We wind up constructing all kinds of distorted theology to account for false professions of faith. We must remember that it is not the doctrine that saves anybody; the doctrine simply describes what brings us into a state of justification. When I became a Christian on September 13, 1957, at 11:00 p.m., I had never heard the word justification. I didn’t know what it was. I had never read the Bible, although I’d heard about Jesus. The night I became a Christian, a man sat me down and told me about Christ. He quoted from the book of Ecclesiastes: If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth, and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.” (Eccl. 11:3) That Scripture verse was illuminated by the Holy Ghost, and I saw myself as that fallen tree in the middle of the forest, lying there and rotting away. I am perhaps the only person in the history of the church who has been converted by that verse. That night I went back to my room overwhelmed by a sense of my sin and by the conviction that my only hope in life and death was the atoning work of my Savior. Beside my bed I fell on my knees. I didn’t recite the catechism; I simply said, “O God, forgive me for my sins.” I arose justified.”

Often we think that the Gospel is only for unbelievers. But it truly it is for all of us. Jerry Bridges says to preach the gospel to yourself daily. Not to save us again, because if we have been truly born again, nothing can snatch us from the Father’s hand. But we must be reminded of Christ’s sacrifice daily. If we begin each morning meditating on the Gospel, we will strive to glorify Christ with our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. We will begin to see what is important in life - sharing the Gospel with others, helping the poor. Not making more money, buying more stuff, or entertaining ourselves to death.

What we must do is repent and put trust in Christ. Repentance is more than just sorrow for sin, it means to confess sin and forsake it - to agree with God that it is wrong and to turn and go in the opposite direction. We must turn from sin to the Savior. This is why Paul preached “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:21)

To be honest, repentance is an issue that I disagreed with for years but recently God has changed my own heart. I have searched Scripture and I can come to no other conclusion. However, I need to clarify one point. Even our ability to repent and put our trust in Christ does not come from us. It is God in His sovereignty that is drawing us to Him. Not only do we as sinners lack any spiritual good in ourselves, but we also lack the ability to come to God in our own strength. Paul says that “those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:8)

The application to our lives is this: If God gives anyone a desire to repent and trust in Christ, he should not delay and should not harden his heart. This ability to repent and desire to trust in God is not naturally ours but is given by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and it will not last forever. “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15)

In closing I ask 4 things:

1. Examine your life - allow God to show you the depth of your sin. If you are not sure you are truly born again, repent and put your trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. Do it today.

As I have read through the Gospels I have found two phrases that seem to sum up what we may hear when we die or Christ returns. The first is found in Matthew 25:21 where the master says “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

The second is at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:21 where Jesus says,"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

2. Preach the cross to yourself daily. Meditate on what Christ did for you and me on the cross, taking our sin upon Himself.

3. Read God’s Word daily. The Bible is God’s love letters to us. How would you feel if your spouse never read 66 letters that you had written to him/her. I have begun reading through the Bible where I read ten chapters a day, from ten different places in the Bible. If you want more information on it, go to my blog - it is on the letter in your box.

4. Share your faith wherever you go - take advantage of every opportunity to share Christ. If you don’t know how, ask me. I would love to talk to you, and if there is enough interest, I would love to do a class on evangelism. But begin somewhere: pass out tracts without saying anything, then get comfortable talking to strangers about everyday events, and finally tell people about the hope that you have in Christ. 1 Corinthians 9:24 says “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.”

As you leave I have about 100 bookmarks to remind you that sharing the Gospel is everyone’s job, not just a select few. I also have some Gospel tracts that are on the back of million dollar bills. I would encourage everyone to take at least one and challenge yourself to give it to someone. Use it as an icebreaker to share the Gospel. You may be surprised at how easy it really is.

Benediction:

Romans 16:25-27
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.