1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:01,540 while the whole of our service today 2 00:00:01,540 –> 00:00:03,480 is centered around the declaration 3 00:00:03,480 –> 00:00:07,180 that Jesus Christ died and that he rose again. 4 00:00:07,180 –> 00:00:08,640 Of course the important question is 5 00:00:08,640 –> 00:00:11,580 what difference does that make for our lives today? 6 00:00:12,600 –> 00:00:14,720 To look for some answers to that, 7 00:00:14,720 –> 00:00:18,240 I want to turn to 1 Corinthians and chapter one. 8 00:00:18,240 –> 00:00:20,520 This is a letter that was written by the Apostle Paul 9 00:00:20,520 –> 00:00:22,959 to one of the earliest Christian communities. 10 00:00:22,959 –> 00:00:24,780 And it was a community of people 11 00:00:24,780 –> 00:00:27,879 facing many many different problems. 12 00:00:27,879 –> 00:00:29,320 In fact, if you read through this letter, 13 00:00:29,440 –> 00:00:30,440 as we saw last time, 14 00:00:30,440 –> 00:00:33,639 you’ll find people facing financial issues, 15 00:00:33,639 –> 00:00:35,279 you’ll find in this community 16 00:00:35,279 –> 00:00:38,480 that there were people facing difficult marital issues, 17 00:00:38,480 –> 00:00:41,320 people who were struggling with loneliness issues. 18 00:00:41,320 –> 00:00:43,139 Just about every kind of issue 19 00:00:43,139 –> 00:00:46,759 that you could imagine in life is represented here. 20 00:00:47,680 –> 00:00:50,919 The fascinating thing is that Paul’s starting point 21 00:00:50,919 –> 00:00:55,560 in addressing the whole range of these problems 22 00:00:55,580 –> 00:00:59,759 is to say that the path that you need to pursue 23 00:00:59,759 –> 00:01:02,860 begins with the Easter story. 24 00:01:02,860 –> 00:01:05,519 It begins with the death and the resurrection 25 00:01:05,519 –> 00:01:06,839 of the Lord Jesus Christ. 26 00:01:06,839 –> 00:01:08,199 It begins right here 27 00:01:08,199 –> 00:01:11,760 that Jesus Christ died for your sins 28 00:01:11,760 –> 00:01:15,320 and on the third day, he rose again. 29 00:01:15,320 –> 00:01:18,300 He calls this the Message of the Cross 30 00:01:18,300 –> 00:01:21,080 and you’ll see that in chapter one in verse 18 31 00:01:21,080 –> 00:01:23,559 where he begins to speak about it. 32 00:01:23,599 –> 00:01:25,580 And I want us to see today how the dying 33 00:01:25,580 –> 00:01:29,419 and the rising of Jesus can touch and change our lives, 34 00:01:29,419 –> 00:01:34,139 putting us in an entirely different position today. 35 00:01:35,400 –> 00:01:37,839 Now, I want us to begin with where we are. 36 00:01:37,839 –> 00:01:38,760 That makes sense, 37 00:01:38,760 –> 00:01:40,860 and that’s what the apostle Paul does here. 38 00:01:40,860 –> 00:01:41,760 And I want you to notice 39 00:01:41,760 –> 00:01:45,860 that Paul identifies two conditions, 40 00:01:45,860 –> 00:01:50,500 two processes really that are going on in a person’s life. 41 00:01:50,500 –> 00:01:52,180 He has this in verse 18. 42 00:01:52,180 –> 00:01:56,339 First he speaks about those who are perishing, 43 00:01:56,339 –> 00:02:01,040 and then second, he speaks about those who are being saved. 44 00:02:01,040 –> 00:02:02,660 The point that he’s making 45 00:02:02,660 –> 00:02:05,180 is that for every one of us, 46 00:02:05,180 –> 00:02:09,059 one of these two things is happening in you right now. 47 00:02:10,279 –> 00:02:12,779 Either you are in the process of perishing 48 00:02:13,740 –> 00:02:17,039 or you are in the process of being saved. 49 00:02:17,039 –> 00:02:19,360 It’s important to know where we are. 50 00:02:20,460 –> 00:02:21,660 Let’s look at these together. 51 00:02:22,020 –> 00:02:24,179 The first perishing for the message of the cross, 52 00:02:24,179 –> 00:02:25,539 he says, verse 18, 53 00:02:25,539 –> 00:02:30,539 is foolishness to those who are perishing. 54 00:02:30,699 –> 00:02:32,619 Now, what does he mean by perishing? 55 00:02:32,619 –> 00:02:34,100 What does that look like? 56 00:02:35,619 –> 00:02:36,619 Just yesterday morning, 57 00:02:36,619 –> 00:02:40,059 I popped in to McDonald’s to grab some breakfast. 58 00:02:40,059 –> 00:02:42,160 I got my coffee, you know the routine, 59 00:02:42,160 –> 00:02:45,339 went over to fix it up with cream and sugar, 60 00:02:45,339 –> 00:02:50,339 and found the canister with lots of pots of cream inside, 61 00:02:50,639 –> 00:02:53,339 and on the front of the canister was a sticker. 62 00:02:53,339 –> 00:02:55,320 I must say I’d not noticed this before. 63 00:02:55,320 –> 00:02:58,460 It said Cream on Ice. 64 00:02:59,639 –> 00:03:04,320 Used by 9 o six A.M.. 65 00:03:04,320 –> 00:03:06,539 Now, I’m used to seeing sell-by dates as all of us are, 66 00:03:06,539 –> 00:03:09,160 but this was a sell-by minute. 67 00:03:09,160 –> 00:03:11,320 I had not noticed this before. 68 00:03:11,320 –> 00:03:13,100 So I looked at my watch. 69 00:03:13,100 –> 00:03:15,979 It was already well past eight o’clock, 70 00:03:15,979 –> 00:03:18,779 and I thought to myself, you poor little pots, 71 00:03:18,779 –> 00:03:23,279 you guys have less than one hour of life left, 72 00:03:24,380 –> 00:03:27,380 and then you are going to be unceremoniously 73 00:03:27,380 –> 00:03:30,759 thrown into the dumpster at the back of McDonald’s, 74 00:03:30,759 –> 00:03:33,539 taken out to some kind of a landfill site 75 00:03:33,539 –> 00:03:34,979 where you’ll be lost forever, 76 00:03:34,979 –> 00:03:38,220 no longer able to fulfill the purpose 77 00:03:38,220 –> 00:03:39,979 for which you were made. 78 00:03:41,080 –> 00:03:44,399 Well, these little pots of cream were perishing! 79 00:03:45,199 –> 00:03:47,979 They had a limited lifespan, 80 00:03:47,979 –> 00:03:52,979 and in them was a process of decay. 81 00:03:54,220 –> 00:03:55,820 Now, that’s what perishing means. 82 00:03:55,820 –> 00:04:00,820 And the apostle Paul says, this is true of us. 83 00:04:01,020 –> 00:04:05,020 He said, that both spiritually and physically, 84 00:04:05,020 –> 00:04:07,940 there is a process at work within us 85 00:04:07,940 –> 00:04:11,020 that causes our nature to decay. 86 00:04:11,020 –> 00:04:13,100 We realize, though we try to avoid this 87 00:04:13,419 –> 00:04:14,899 in the physical realm, 88 00:04:14,899 –> 00:04:17,660 but it is also true, by the way, in the spiritual realm, 89 00:04:17,660 –> 00:04:20,799 which is one reason why, just statistically, 90 00:04:20,799 –> 00:04:23,739 you find more young people who come to faith in Jesus 91 00:04:23,739 –> 00:04:24,720 than older people. 92 00:04:25,660 –> 00:04:27,179 You ever wondered why that is? 93 00:04:29,079 –> 00:04:32,059 What does perishing look like? 94 00:04:32,059 –> 00:04:34,679 Here’s a profile of what it looks like 95 00:04:34,679 –> 00:04:36,420 so that you can ask the question, 96 00:04:36,420 –> 00:04:39,160 is this a process that is at work in me? 97 00:04:40,119 –> 00:04:44,380 Perishing is becoming more and more 98 00:04:44,380 –> 00:04:46,540 interested in material things 99 00:04:46,540 –> 00:04:48,799 as you have less and less time to enjoy them. 100 00:04:50,040 –> 00:04:52,059 Perishing is becoming more and more 101 00:04:52,059 –> 00:04:54,359 preoccupied with yourself. 102 00:04:56,160 –> 00:04:58,600 Perishing involves becoming more cynical 103 00:04:58,600 –> 00:04:59,779 and less trusting, 104 00:05:00,799 –> 00:05:04,059 more resentful and less loving as the years go by. 105 00:05:05,059 –> 00:05:07,380 It is becoming increasingly content 106 00:05:07,380 –> 00:05:10,239 to live at a distance from God, 107 00:05:11,779 –> 00:05:12,679 that’s perishing. 108 00:05:14,779 –> 00:05:17,980 If you’re seeing these things in yourself right now, 109 00:05:17,980 –> 00:05:19,600 let me tell you this good news, 110 00:05:19,600 –> 00:05:22,480 that is not where God wants you to be. 111 00:05:23,899 –> 00:05:27,179 The Bible says he is not willing that any should perish. 112 00:05:28,299 –> 00:05:30,299 In fact, it tells us that God loved the world 113 00:05:30,299 –> 00:05:32,299 so much that he gave his only son 114 00:05:32,299 –> 00:05:35,220 that whoever believes in him should not perish 115 00:05:36,140 –> 00:05:38,640 but have everlasting life. 116 00:05:40,299 –> 00:05:42,059 Now the alternative to perishing 117 00:05:42,059 –> 00:05:45,500 is what Paul describes here as being saved. 118 00:05:45,500 –> 00:05:46,940 Two conditions, remember, 119 00:05:46,940 –> 00:05:49,700 one or other of these things going on within you, 120 00:05:49,700 –> 00:05:52,420 either perishing or being saved. 121 00:05:52,420 –> 00:05:54,040 Look at what he says, verse 18. 122 00:05:54,040 –> 00:05:55,980 The message of the cross is foolishness 123 00:05:55,980 –> 00:05:58,100 to those who are perishing, 124 00:05:58,100 –> 00:06:01,940 but now he says to us, who are being saved, 125 00:06:01,940 –> 00:06:04,019 it is the power of God. 126 00:06:04,059 –> 00:06:05,399 Now notice the present tense. 127 00:06:05,399 –> 00:06:07,339 Isn’t that interesting? 128 00:06:07,339 –> 00:06:10,839 He’s talking about a dynamic process 129 00:06:10,839 –> 00:06:12,679 just as perishing is a process 130 00:06:12,679 –> 00:06:15,220 that goes on in a person’s experience, 131 00:06:15,220 –> 00:06:19,980 so being saved is an ongoing process 132 00:06:19,980 –> 00:06:22,579 in the life of one who believes. 133 00:06:22,579 –> 00:06:25,380 Being saved. 134 00:06:25,380 –> 00:06:27,339 I find that very interesting 135 00:06:27,339 –> 00:06:30,239 because the word saved, or salvation, 136 00:06:30,239 –> 00:06:33,820 really has become rather cheapened in our time. 137 00:06:33,820 –> 00:06:36,779 It’s easy to parody the evangelist, you know, 138 00:06:36,779 –> 00:06:38,320 who stands up and invites people 139 00:06:38,320 –> 00:06:39,459 to raise their hands, 140 00:06:39,459 –> 00:06:43,079 make a decision so that they can be saved, 141 00:06:43,079 –> 00:06:45,019 and so you have the scenario 142 00:06:45,019 –> 00:06:47,459 that I think exists in some people’s minds. 143 00:06:47,459 –> 00:06:48,980 Mr. and Mrs. Jones 144 00:06:48,980 –> 00:06:51,619 are sitting listening to the preacher, 145 00:06:51,619 –> 00:06:53,760 and Mrs. Jones believes the message, 146 00:06:53,760 –> 00:06:55,700 so she goes forward at the invitation. 147 00:06:55,700 –> 00:06:56,559 She says the prayer, 148 00:06:56,559 –> 00:06:59,660 and she’s told that she is saved. 149 00:06:59,660 –> 00:07:01,399 Mr. Jones is not so convinced, 150 00:07:01,399 –> 00:07:02,899 so he does not go forward, 151 00:07:02,899 –> 00:07:04,959 and now everybody is praying for Mr. Jones 152 00:07:04,959 –> 00:07:07,399 because he has not saved. 153 00:07:08,420 –> 00:07:09,260 Problem, of course, 154 00:07:09,260 –> 00:07:11,459 is that Mrs. Jones has a rather sharp tongue, 155 00:07:11,459 –> 00:07:13,119 and when she gets going, 156 00:07:13,119 –> 00:07:14,559 people say that they really wish 157 00:07:14,559 –> 00:07:16,059 she was more like Mr. Jones 158 00:07:16,059 –> 00:07:17,940 because he’s a very nice person. 159 00:07:19,459 –> 00:07:20,679 Now, any reasonable person 160 00:07:20,679 –> 00:07:21,619 looks at this and says, 161 00:07:21,619 –> 00:07:23,140 This doesn’t make any sense. 162 00:07:24,899 –> 00:07:26,820 There’s something missing here, 163 00:07:26,820 –> 00:07:28,200 and indeed there is. 164 00:07:29,619 –> 00:07:30,739 Now some of us, you see, 165 00:07:31,559 –> 00:07:34,600 have been fed on this truncated gospel, 166 00:07:36,100 –> 00:07:39,859 and because we’ve been fed a truncated gospel, 167 00:07:39,859 –> 00:07:41,140 we’ve rejected it. 168 00:07:41,140 –> 00:07:41,980 I don’t blame you. 169 00:07:41,980 –> 00:07:42,799 I’d reject it too, 170 00:07:45,239 –> 00:07:46,799 but if you’ve been brought up 171 00:07:46,799 –> 00:07:49,459 with this emasculated gospel, 172 00:07:50,760 –> 00:07:53,239 then I think you will be very interested 173 00:07:53,239 –> 00:07:55,480 in what the apostle Paul has to say here 174 00:07:55,480 –> 00:07:59,739 about a process of being saved. 175 00:08:01,700 –> 00:08:03,739 See, the truncated gospel is all 176 00:08:03,739 –> 00:08:06,720 about a future destiny based on a past decision 177 00:08:06,720 –> 00:08:08,619 without any present discipleship, 178 00:08:10,899 –> 00:08:12,859 and if you struggled with that, 179 00:08:13,820 –> 00:08:15,720 then look at what Paul is saying here. 180 00:08:17,000 –> 00:08:20,760 You see, salvation in the Bible is both 181 00:08:20,760 –> 00:08:24,959 a completed act and a continuing process, 182 00:08:24,959 –> 00:08:25,940 and we need both. 183 00:08:26,859 –> 00:08:29,220 Remember Paul says in Ephesians 2.8 184 00:08:29,220 –> 00:08:30,540 that it’s a completed process. 185 00:08:30,820 –> 00:08:33,159 By grace, you have been saved, 186 00:08:33,159 –> 00:08:34,919 definitive, completed act. 187 00:08:34,919 –> 00:08:35,760 I need that. 188 00:08:35,760 –> 00:08:36,700 We need that. 189 00:08:36,700 –> 00:08:37,539 Why? 190 00:08:37,539 –> 00:08:42,380 Because love only thrives in an environment of security. 191 00:08:43,780 –> 00:08:46,739 And if you are hired to love God deeply, 192 00:08:46,739 –> 00:08:48,500 we need the security of knowing that 193 00:08:48,500 –> 00:08:51,239 our lives and our eternity is safe in his hand, 194 00:08:52,880 –> 00:08:53,979 completed act. 195 00:08:55,020 –> 00:08:57,679 But salvation is also a continuing process, 196 00:08:57,679 –> 00:08:58,979 and that’s what we have here. 197 00:08:59,280 –> 00:09:02,840 We are in the process of being saved. 198 00:09:02,840 –> 00:09:05,320 That is, our salvation is begun, 199 00:09:05,320 –> 00:09:07,679 but it is not yet complete. 200 00:09:07,679 –> 00:09:10,179 Believers in Jesus Christ are fully forgiven, 201 00:09:10,179 –> 00:09:11,940 but not yet fully restored. 202 00:09:12,799 –> 00:09:16,140 Christians struggle with many problems. 203 00:09:17,039 –> 00:09:19,940 We are not yet what we one day will be. 204 00:09:21,020 –> 00:09:22,760 So if you’ve come across a Christian 205 00:09:22,760 –> 00:09:25,239 who said or did a foolish thing, 206 00:09:25,239 –> 00:09:27,080 don’t be too surprised. 207 00:09:27,080 –> 00:09:28,140 It’s kind of what you’d expect 208 00:09:28,159 –> 00:09:30,140 for someone who’s not there yet. 209 00:09:31,260 –> 00:09:35,000 We are forgiven sinners in the process of recovery. 210 00:09:36,099 –> 00:09:38,280 We are those who belong to Christ 211 00:09:38,280 –> 00:09:41,099 who are in the business of facing many struggles 212 00:09:41,099 –> 00:09:42,799 and battles in our lives. 213 00:09:43,859 –> 00:09:46,619 Every Christian could appropriately wear that sign 214 00:09:46,619 –> 00:09:49,099 that says, please be patient 215 00:09:49,099 –> 00:09:52,719 because God has not finished with me yet. 216 00:09:53,900 –> 00:09:55,380 Okay, you say, we’re in a process. 217 00:09:55,380 –> 00:09:57,880 What does the process of being saved 218 00:09:57,880 –> 00:09:58,859 look like? 219 00:09:59,880 –> 00:10:01,940 Well, it looks like this. 220 00:10:01,940 –> 00:10:04,719 That God is gradually, increasingly and progressively 221 00:10:04,719 –> 00:10:07,000 straightening out what is twisted in you. 222 00:10:08,400 –> 00:10:10,200 That you’re in the process of facing up 223 00:10:10,200 –> 00:10:13,179 to the battle with sin and increasingly overcoming. 224 00:10:14,119 –> 00:10:17,359 You are growing in your hunger and in your thirst 225 00:10:17,359 –> 00:10:18,520 for God. 226 00:10:18,520 –> 00:10:21,840 And God is in the process of forming within you 227 00:10:21,840 –> 00:10:24,799 what the Bible calls the fruit of the spirit. 228 00:10:25,719 –> 00:10:30,719 Love, joy, peace. 229 00:10:32,080 –> 00:10:37,080 Patience, kindness, goodness 230 00:10:38,000 –> 00:10:43,000 faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 231 00:10:44,280 –> 00:10:45,700 Now because we’re in the process, 232 00:10:45,700 –> 00:10:49,219 none of these things are complete in any of us 233 00:10:49,219 –> 00:10:53,599 but all of them are begun in every Christian believer. 234 00:10:55,140 –> 00:10:56,679 So then both of these dimensions 235 00:10:56,679 –> 00:10:57,960 are essential to the gospel. 236 00:10:57,960 –> 00:10:59,599 There is this completed act, 237 00:10:59,599 –> 00:11:01,539 there is this continuing process 238 00:11:01,539 –> 00:11:06,539 and, get this, the evidence of the completed act 239 00:11:06,760 –> 00:11:11,559 is seen in the continuing process. 240 00:11:11,559 –> 00:11:14,599 That’s Christian salvation. 241 00:11:14,599 –> 00:11:16,640 So here are two conditions then. 242 00:11:16,640 –> 00:11:20,640 One or other of these things is going on in you right now. 243 00:11:20,640 –> 00:11:25,640 Either you are perishing or you are being saved. 244 00:11:27,500 –> 00:11:30,960 Either you are sliding through your life in this world, 245 00:11:30,960 –> 00:11:32,359 this limited time span 246 00:11:32,359 –> 00:11:35,000 without finding the purpose for which you were made, 247 00:11:36,080 –> 00:11:37,640 living at a distance from God 248 00:11:37,640 –> 00:11:40,520 and content to be without relationship with him. 249 00:11:41,640 –> 00:11:44,739 Or God is bringing you into that purpose. 250 00:11:46,039 –> 00:11:49,179 He’s creating you and you to be 251 00:11:49,179 –> 00:11:50,840 the person He wants you to be 252 00:11:51,919 –> 00:11:55,059 through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. 253 00:11:55,059 –> 00:11:56,260 So two conditions. 254 00:11:57,820 –> 00:11:59,539 Second, two initiatives. 255 00:11:59,539 –> 00:12:00,780 I want you to see this here 256 00:12:00,780 –> 00:12:02,460 that the apostle Paul points out 257 00:12:02,460 –> 00:12:04,099 that there are two attempts 258 00:12:04,099 –> 00:12:06,440 to change things that go on. 259 00:12:06,440 –> 00:12:09,739 One is our initiative to reach God 260 00:12:09,739 –> 00:12:13,500 and the other is God’s initiative to reach us. 261 00:12:13,500 –> 00:12:15,320 And it’s very important for us to understand 262 00:12:15,320 –> 00:12:16,739 that these two things are going on 263 00:12:16,840 –> 00:12:19,219 and to grasp that one works and one doesn’t. 264 00:12:20,900 –> 00:12:23,140 Notice what he says first about our initiative. 265 00:12:23,140 –> 00:12:25,219 There are two words that characterize 266 00:12:25,219 –> 00:12:27,900 all human attempts to reach God. 267 00:12:27,900 –> 00:12:30,359 The first is the word demanding 268 00:12:30,359 –> 00:12:32,659 and the second is the word seeking 269 00:12:32,659 –> 00:12:35,359 and you find them both in verse 22. 270 00:12:35,359 –> 00:12:38,500 Jews demand miraculous signs 271 00:12:38,500 –> 00:12:42,340 and Greeks look for or seek wisdom. 272 00:12:42,340 –> 00:12:43,859 Of course, the interesting thing here 273 00:12:43,940 –> 00:12:47,020 is not so much the identity of Jews and Greeks 274 00:12:47,020 –> 00:12:50,619 but rather the profile that both represent here 275 00:12:50,619 –> 00:12:54,539 that are found in every culture and in every generation. 276 00:12:54,539 –> 00:12:57,140 Let’s look first at demanding. 277 00:12:57,140 –> 00:13:00,340 Jews demand signs. 278 00:13:00,340 –> 00:13:03,140 Now that is where many people are today, isn’t it? 279 00:13:04,820 –> 00:13:08,719 We lay out our conditions for God. 280 00:13:10,099 –> 00:13:11,919 Okay God, I will believe in you 281 00:13:11,919 –> 00:13:14,479 if you solve this problem in my family. 282 00:13:17,219 –> 00:13:19,539 Okay, Lord Jesus Christ, I’ll follow you 283 00:13:19,539 –> 00:13:21,640 if you deal with this illness. 284 00:13:23,080 –> 00:13:25,940 I will live for you as long as I find it fulfilling 285 00:13:25,940 –> 00:13:28,580 and as long as I find it satisfying, 286 00:13:28,580 –> 00:13:30,760 as long as you keep me on the path 287 00:13:30,760 –> 00:13:32,580 of health and wealth and prosperity. 288 00:13:34,159 –> 00:13:35,799 So we lay out our criteria. 289 00:13:37,080 –> 00:13:38,559 We set out our conditions. 290 00:13:38,559 –> 00:13:40,679 These are the demands. 291 00:13:42,919 –> 00:13:45,599 And listen, you cannot come to know God that way. 292 00:13:47,340 –> 00:13:52,340 You will not make himself known to those who demand. 293 00:13:55,119 –> 00:13:57,260 Then there’s the way of seeking. 294 00:13:57,260 –> 00:13:59,380 Greeks seek wisdom. 295 00:13:59,380 –> 00:14:02,000 Now, this is where many people are today also, 296 00:14:02,000 –> 00:14:05,559 immersed in questions in which I see it as 297 00:14:05,559 –> 00:14:08,400 my job to work out the answer. 298 00:14:09,679 –> 00:14:11,679 Why do bad things happen to good people? 299 00:14:12,299 –> 00:14:15,280 And we began to engage ourselves in all matter 300 00:14:15,280 –> 00:14:18,679 of philosophy, and of speculation, and of spirituality 301 00:14:18,679 –> 00:14:23,239 in this great exploration that is to try and apprehend God. 302 00:14:24,520 –> 00:14:26,760 And you know, you can launch out in your spiritual journey, 303 00:14:26,760 –> 00:14:29,979 you can plunge the depths of human psychology, 304 00:14:29,979 –> 00:14:32,799 and sociology, and anthropology. 305 00:14:32,799 –> 00:14:35,520 You can travel the world, you can sample the worlds 306 00:14:35,520 –> 00:14:38,960 of mystical experience, of spiritual experience. 307 00:14:38,960 –> 00:14:40,799 You know what the Bible says to you? 308 00:14:41,419 –> 00:14:43,359 For all you might experience, 309 00:14:43,359 –> 00:14:47,400 you will not come to know God this way. 310 00:14:48,760 –> 00:14:51,760 Can a man find God by searching? 311 00:14:53,440 –> 00:14:55,440 Answer, no. 312 00:14:56,760 –> 00:14:59,140 Now look at how Paul puts it in verse 21. 313 00:14:59,140 –> 00:15:03,979 The world through its wisdom did not know him. 314 00:15:05,400 –> 00:15:08,200 The human initiative, in other words, to reach out to God, 315 00:15:08,219 –> 00:15:12,140 either by demanding or by my intellectual seeking 316 00:15:12,140 –> 00:15:14,900 will always end in frustration. 317 00:15:16,940 –> 00:15:20,640 God will not make himself known to me that way. 318 00:15:21,820 –> 00:15:23,840 And there are two very obvious reasons for this of course. 319 00:15:23,840 –> 00:15:28,020 One is that we are finite and God is infinite. 320 00:15:28,020 –> 00:15:31,900 How can I the finite hope to know the infinite 321 00:15:31,900 –> 00:15:35,760 unless he makes himself known to me, on his terms? 322 00:15:36,760 –> 00:15:40,719 And of course, we are sinners and God is holy. 323 00:15:41,940 –> 00:15:45,500 So what kind of demands can the debtors 324 00:15:45,500 –> 00:15:46,900 make of the creditor? 325 00:15:48,479 –> 00:15:53,179 The bank loans you money and you can’t pay the bank. 326 00:15:54,580 –> 00:15:55,840 Well, the bank can make demands on you 327 00:15:55,840 –> 00:15:59,840 but you’re not gonna be able to make demands on the bank. 328 00:16:00,940 –> 00:16:02,159 Best thing you can do with a bank 329 00:16:02,159 –> 00:16:04,080 is try and avoid them, right? 330 00:16:04,799 –> 00:16:07,739 So the human initiative, the finite 331 00:16:07,739 –> 00:16:09,700 trying to reach the infinite, the sinner 332 00:16:09,700 –> 00:16:11,520 trying to reach the holy is doomed 333 00:16:11,520 –> 00:16:14,179 to failure and to frustration. 334 00:16:15,780 –> 00:16:17,440 The human initiative to find God 335 00:16:17,440 –> 00:16:20,820 and to enlist God on our side in our service 336 00:16:20,820 –> 00:16:22,299 is bound to fail. 337 00:16:23,580 –> 00:16:25,640 God is not obliged by our demands. 338 00:16:25,640 –> 00:16:27,580 He will not be found by our search. 339 00:16:27,580 –> 00:16:30,419 There is a great gulf between us and God 340 00:16:30,419 –> 00:16:33,500 and it cannot be crossed from our side. 341 00:16:35,000 –> 00:16:37,599 But it could be crossed from his. 342 00:16:39,440 –> 00:16:41,239 And that’s why Paul focuses our attention 343 00:16:41,239 –> 00:16:44,359 on the second initiative, not our attempt 344 00:16:44,359 –> 00:16:48,119 to reach God, but God’s initiative 345 00:16:48,119 –> 00:16:51,479 to reach us in Jesus Christ. 346 00:16:51,479 –> 00:16:53,299 Look at what he says in verse 23. 347 00:16:53,299 –> 00:16:56,239 Jews demand miraculous signs. 348 00:16:56,239 –> 00:16:58,719 The Greeks are looking for wisdom. 349 00:16:58,719 –> 00:17:03,000 But we preach Christ crucified. 350 00:17:04,300 –> 00:17:07,319 Here is God’s initiative to reach out to us in Jesus. 351 00:17:07,319 –> 00:17:09,839 Here is the very center of the Christian faith 352 00:17:09,839 –> 00:17:14,140 in these two words, Christ crucified. 353 00:17:15,560 –> 00:17:18,339 Christ, of course, is simply the Greek rendering 354 00:17:18,339 –> 00:17:20,660 of the word Messiah. 355 00:17:20,660 –> 00:17:24,719 When the apostles spoke about Jesus Christ 356 00:17:24,719 –> 00:17:29,060 they were confessing that Jesus is the Promised Messiah. 357 00:17:29,060 –> 00:17:31,380 He is the Christ, the son of the living God. 358 00:17:31,459 –> 00:17:34,579 He is the one promised from the beginning of time. 359 00:17:34,579 –> 00:17:39,160 To confess Jesus Christ is to say that Jesus we believe 360 00:17:39,160 –> 00:17:40,979 is the one who will deliver the world 361 00:17:40,979 –> 00:17:42,599 from dark and evil powers. 362 00:17:42,599 –> 00:17:45,219 That he will reign on a renewed Earth 363 00:17:45,219 –> 00:17:47,780 that will be the home of righteousness and peace 364 00:17:47,780 –> 00:17:50,020 and that the hope of the world is in him. 365 00:17:51,020 –> 00:17:55,140 So Paul says we preach Christ, nothing surprising in that. 366 00:17:56,219 –> 00:17:59,300 But then he says something absolutely astonishing. 367 00:17:59,339 –> 00:18:03,760 We preach Christ crucified. 368 00:18:05,479 –> 00:18:07,140 Now that sounds like an oxymoron. 369 00:18:08,739 –> 00:18:10,140 Professor Don Carson, I think, 370 00:18:10,140 –> 00:18:12,060 catches the scandal of this well. 371 00:18:12,060 –> 00:18:16,040 He says, this is an astonishingly odd message. 372 00:18:16,040 –> 00:18:18,060 In the first century, it must’ve sounded 373 00:18:18,060 –> 00:18:22,579 like a contradiction in terms like frozen steam 374 00:18:22,579 –> 00:18:26,859 or hateful love or upward decline 375 00:18:27,119 –> 00:18:31,239 or godly rapist only much more shocking. 376 00:18:32,479 –> 00:18:34,680 Crucified messiah. 377 00:18:35,780 –> 00:18:37,459 Putting these two words together 378 00:18:37,459 –> 00:18:39,400 must’ve sounded like blasphemy 379 00:18:40,579 –> 00:18:43,500 because every Jew, knowing his Old Testament, 380 00:18:43,500 –> 00:18:45,699 understood well that it says 381 00:18:45,699 –> 00:18:48,939 that anyone who hangs on a tree 382 00:18:48,939 –> 00:18:51,500 is under God’s curse. 383 00:18:52,540 –> 00:18:55,500 And Paul was a Jew well schooled in the Old Testament 384 00:18:55,560 –> 00:18:58,739 and he says, our message is Christ crucified. 385 00:18:58,739 –> 00:19:03,739 Think of it, God’s messiah under God’s curse. 386 00:19:06,160 –> 00:19:08,060 And that is the message of the cross. 387 00:19:09,939 –> 00:19:13,339 That is how God reaches out to us. 388 00:19:14,920 –> 00:19:16,819 The God who has created this world 389 00:19:16,819 –> 00:19:20,099 has entered it in the person of Jesus. 390 00:19:20,560 –> 00:19:25,560 This Jesus has laid down his life for you, 391 00:19:27,079 –> 00:19:32,079 bearing your sin and absorbing the curse. 392 00:19:33,619 –> 00:19:35,920 On the third day, he rose from the dead 393 00:19:35,920 –> 00:19:37,520 and ascended into heaven, 394 00:19:37,520 –> 00:19:41,180 and calls upon you to repent by turning towards him 395 00:19:41,180 –> 00:19:42,900 and to put your trust in him, 396 00:19:42,900 –> 00:19:44,219 believing in his name. 397 00:19:44,219 –> 00:19:46,020 He says, if you will do this, 398 00:19:46,020 –> 00:19:48,979 he will give you the gift of his Spirit 399 00:19:49,459 –> 00:19:53,079 in whose power you will be able to begin a new life. 400 00:19:53,079 –> 00:19:55,819 You will no longer be on the path of the perishing, 401 00:19:56,660 –> 00:19:57,579 but he’ll pick you up 402 00:19:57,579 –> 00:20:00,239 and he’ll place you on the path of those 403 00:20:00,239 –> 00:20:02,819 who are being saved, 404 00:20:03,699 –> 00:20:05,439 and he will lead you, as you follow him, 405 00:20:05,439 –> 00:20:07,660 into everlasting life. 406 00:20:09,439 –> 00:20:11,459 So you see, the way in which you come to know God, 407 00:20:11,459 –> 00:20:12,540 the apostle Paul is saying, 408 00:20:12,540 –> 00:20:15,959 is not with the frustration of laying out your demands, 409 00:20:16,959 –> 00:20:19,500 nor with the futility of some kind 410 00:20:19,500 –> 00:20:22,900 of self-started search in which you will find 411 00:20:22,900 –> 00:20:24,619 the answer to all things. 412 00:20:26,040 –> 00:20:28,300 You may find out many things about God 413 00:20:28,300 –> 00:20:31,199 and about religion and about spirituality that way, 414 00:20:31,199 –> 00:20:33,300 but the way in which God will make 415 00:20:33,300 –> 00:20:37,579 himself known to you is in Jesus Christ. 416 00:20:38,520 –> 00:20:41,219 Crucified and risen. 417 00:20:42,079 –> 00:20:47,599 So two conditions, perishing or being saved. 418 00:20:50,140 –> 00:20:52,160 One or the other of these two processes 419 00:20:52,160 –> 00:20:54,040 going on in every one of us right now. 420 00:20:55,359 –> 00:20:57,239 Two initiatives. 421 00:20:57,239 –> 00:21:00,839 Our attempt to reach God, God’s initiative to reach us. 422 00:21:01,959 –> 00:21:05,060 One that cannot succeed, the apostle Paul says. 423 00:21:06,020 –> 00:21:08,060 The other on which you can utterly rely. 424 00:21:08,920 –> 00:21:12,319 And then here’s the last thing, two outcomes. 425 00:21:13,819 –> 00:21:17,420 One that he describes as stumbling. 426 00:21:17,420 –> 00:21:21,119 The other he describes as believing. 427 00:21:21,119 –> 00:21:22,500 Look at this in verse 23. 428 00:21:22,500 –> 00:21:25,380 We preach, he says, Christ crucified, 429 00:21:25,380 –> 00:21:29,719 a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles. 430 00:21:29,719 –> 00:21:33,180 So he knows, as every Christian knows, 431 00:21:34,160 –> 00:21:36,359 that there will be some 432 00:21:37,380 –> 00:21:42,380 who will never respond to the good news of Jesus Christ. 433 00:21:43,439 –> 00:21:47,819 There will be some who will stumble over this message. 434 00:21:47,819 –> 00:21:50,260 Indeed, if you are on the path 435 00:21:50,260 –> 00:21:52,599 of trying to come to God on your own terms, 436 00:21:52,599 –> 00:21:54,760 you will never find a place 437 00:21:55,780 –> 00:21:58,739 for Jesus, crucified and risen. 438 00:21:58,739 –> 00:22:01,199 You will dismiss this as foolishness. 439 00:22:02,040 –> 00:22:06,560 And it may be that that has been your position 440 00:22:06,560 –> 00:22:08,939 and the truth is that you’re perishing in it. 441 00:22:10,579 –> 00:22:13,859 But listen, God does not want you to perish. 442 00:22:15,339 –> 00:22:18,219 The good shepherd has come looking for the sheep. 443 00:22:19,300 –> 00:22:22,140 It’s hard for the sheep to find the shepherd, 444 00:22:22,140 –> 00:22:24,800 but it’s not hard for the shepherd to find the sheep. 445 00:22:26,719 –> 00:22:28,540 And the good news of the Easter story 446 00:22:28,640 –> 00:22:32,380 is that God has come looking for you in Jesus Christ. 447 00:22:32,380 –> 00:22:35,339 He is reaching out to you in Jesus Christ 448 00:22:35,339 –> 00:22:38,540 right now through the preaching of his gospel. 449 00:22:40,180 –> 00:22:42,680 You can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ 450 00:22:42,680 –> 00:22:44,699 and begin a relationship of trust 451 00:22:44,699 –> 00:22:46,819 and walking with him that will put you 452 00:22:46,819 –> 00:22:49,859 in a different position and on a different track 453 00:22:49,859 –> 00:22:52,599 and with a different ultimate destiny for your life. 454 00:22:55,260 –> 00:22:57,500 Don’t stay on the path of stumbling, 455 00:22:58,819 –> 00:23:01,020 when you could walk on the path of believing. 456 00:23:02,500 –> 00:23:03,979 Look at what he says, verse 21. 457 00:23:03,979 –> 00:23:06,160 God was pleased through the foolishness 458 00:23:06,160 –> 00:23:09,900 of what was preached to save those who believe. 459 00:23:09,900 –> 00:23:10,939 And again, it’s very interesting. 460 00:23:10,939 –> 00:23:12,800 This is present tense. 461 00:23:12,800 –> 00:23:15,900 Believe and go on believing. 462 00:23:15,900 –> 00:23:17,339 In other words, he’s not talking 463 00:23:17,339 –> 00:23:18,739 about some momentary decision 464 00:23:18,739 –> 00:23:20,380 that you would make at the end of the service 465 00:23:20,380 –> 00:23:23,180 and then go away essentially, unchanged. 466 00:23:23,180 –> 00:23:25,339 He is talking about the beginning 467 00:23:25,359 –> 00:23:30,359 of a relationship of trust between you and Jesus. 468 00:23:32,020 –> 00:23:34,979 That’s why the resurrection is so central. 469 00:23:34,979 –> 00:23:38,160 We’re not talking here about embracing a creed 470 00:23:38,160 –> 00:23:39,979 or a community or a culture. 471 00:23:41,260 –> 00:23:44,540 We’re talking about a relationship with a person. 472 00:23:44,540 –> 00:23:46,699 This Jesus who died for you 473 00:23:46,699 –> 00:23:49,439 and absorbed the curse is alive 474 00:23:49,439 –> 00:23:51,979 and invites you to a relationship 475 00:23:52,060 –> 00:23:56,300 which is forged on the basis of trust. 476 00:23:57,180 –> 00:24:02,180 To walk with him on the path of those who are being saved. 477 00:24:04,819 –> 00:24:08,859 You see, suppose I begin that relationship of trust 478 00:24:10,060 –> 00:24:11,819 with Jesus today, what’s gonna happen? 479 00:24:11,819 –> 00:24:13,400 You’ll discover two things. 480 00:24:14,859 –> 00:24:19,859 First, you will experience God’s power through the cross. 481 00:24:20,099 –> 00:24:24,180 Notice how Paul puts it, the Christ, he says, 482 00:24:24,180 –> 00:24:29,119 is the power of God and the wisdom of God, verse 24. 483 00:24:30,099 –> 00:24:31,880 He’s the power of God. 484 00:24:33,680 –> 00:24:36,680 You say, how is the cross powerful? 485 00:24:38,359 –> 00:24:40,239 Well, think about what God has to accomplish 486 00:24:40,239 –> 00:24:42,300 in order to reconcile us to himself. 487 00:24:43,579 –> 00:24:46,400 He has to win the hearts and minds of men and women 488 00:24:46,439 –> 00:24:49,280 in a way that will leave the greatest intellect 489 00:24:49,280 –> 00:24:51,380 in history gasping. 490 00:24:53,739 –> 00:24:56,660 And yet will be assessable to the simplest child, 491 00:24:58,260 –> 00:25:01,459 and he does that through the cross. 492 00:25:03,319 –> 00:25:06,040 He needs to speak to us in a way that convinces us 493 00:25:06,040 –> 00:25:08,880 of our sin and humbles us in our pride, 494 00:25:08,880 –> 00:25:11,959 and yet at the same time draws us towards him 495 00:25:11,959 –> 00:25:14,319 rather than alienating us from him, 496 00:25:14,319 –> 00:25:15,640 and he does that 497 00:25:16,959 –> 00:25:18,280 through the cross, 498 00:25:19,479 –> 00:25:21,880 He needs to reach through our distrust, 499 00:25:21,880 –> 00:25:24,060 our fear, and win our confidence 500 00:25:24,060 –> 00:25:26,300 to create a new hunger within us, 501 00:25:26,300 –> 00:25:27,680 a new thirst to know him, 502 00:25:27,680 –> 00:25:29,400 a new desire to follow him, 503 00:25:29,400 –> 00:25:32,920 and he does that through the cross. 504 00:25:34,180 –> 00:25:37,140 And then he needs to give us a new nature, 505 00:25:37,140 –> 00:25:39,479 a power to overcome the pool of sin, 506 00:25:39,479 –> 00:25:41,479 a new hope and a new destiny, 507 00:25:41,479 –> 00:25:45,780 and he does that through the cross, 508 00:25:46,719 –> 00:25:51,719 you put your trust in this Jesus crucified and risen 509 00:25:51,719 –> 00:25:55,060 and you will discover the power of a new life. 510 00:25:56,800 –> 00:25:59,640 Then Paul says you’ll make another discovery, 511 00:25:59,640 –> 00:26:01,880 not only Christ, the power of God, 512 00:26:02,839 –> 00:26:06,000 but Christ, the wisdom of God, 513 00:26:07,020 –> 00:26:08,719 it’s not just that you’ll experience 514 00:26:08,719 –> 00:26:10,319 God’s power through the cross, 515 00:26:10,319 –> 00:26:12,199 it is that you will experience 516 00:26:12,199 –> 00:26:15,660 and appreciate His wisdom in the cross. 517 00:26:17,339 –> 00:26:21,859 See, the great dilemma, the dilemma of all human history 518 00:26:23,239 –> 00:26:27,839 is how God should at the same time display His love 519 00:26:28,880 –> 00:26:31,359 and uphold His law. 520 00:26:33,140 –> 00:26:35,079 I find myself thinking about this again, 521 00:26:35,079 –> 00:26:37,699 strangely, just reading an article 522 00:26:37,699 –> 00:26:40,119 in this month’s Comcast magazine, 523 00:26:40,119 –> 00:26:42,839 telling us what’s coming up on the television 524 00:26:42,839 –> 00:26:44,119 and on the inside back cover, 525 00:26:44,219 –> 00:26:46,400 there’s this article here that tells us 526 00:26:46,400 –> 00:26:49,560 that there is a remake coming up next month 527 00:26:49,560 –> 00:26:52,859 of the detective series Kojak, 528 00:26:52,859 –> 00:26:55,319 I guess I watched this a bit in the 1970s 529 00:26:55,319 –> 00:26:57,239 and so it caught my eye, 530 00:26:57,239 –> 00:27:01,560 memories of Tully Suvallus sucking his lollipop. 531 00:27:01,560 –> 00:27:03,439 Do you remember all that good stuff? 532 00:27:03,439 –> 00:27:07,560 And being an excellent advert for all barbers 533 00:27:07,560 –> 00:27:10,959 and saying, who loves you, a baby, in a very deep voice 534 00:27:11,000 –> 00:27:14,479 and at the same time solving all manner of crimes. 535 00:27:14,479 –> 00:27:18,739 Well, they have a new actor for this role. 536 00:27:18,739 –> 00:27:21,140 His name is Ving Rhames 537 00:27:21,140 –> 00:27:23,359 and he has just about the same amount of hair 538 00:27:23,359 –> 00:27:26,020 as Tully Suvallus, looks suitably mean 539 00:27:26,020 –> 00:27:28,560 and of course will be appearing with the lollipop 540 00:27:28,560 –> 00:27:31,800 for the new series, he’s just perfect for the part. 541 00:27:31,800 –> 00:27:34,239 Now in the write-up advertising the new series, 542 00:27:34,239 –> 00:27:37,459 it says, one thing that could be helpful 543 00:27:37,459 –> 00:27:40,760 in allowing the character, that’s the Kojak character, 544 00:27:40,780 –> 00:27:45,420 to live through Rhames is the fact that his wife 545 00:27:45,420 –> 00:27:48,000 used to be a homicide detective. 546 00:27:48,000 –> 00:27:49,339 Very helpful if you’re an actor 547 00:27:49,339 –> 00:27:51,520 trying to take on this role. 548 00:27:51,520 –> 00:27:55,520 Ving says, what my wife has given me 549 00:27:55,520 –> 00:27:58,619 is really the struggle that she wen through 550 00:27:58,619 –> 00:28:01,319 as a homicide detective in the law. 551 00:28:01,319 –> 00:28:06,040 If a guy robbed a store because his wife is pregnant 552 00:28:06,040 –> 00:28:08,640 and he doesn’t have food for her 553 00:28:08,680 –> 00:28:11,959 and he steals a loaf of bread and some milk, 554 00:28:11,959 –> 00:28:15,979 how do we balance the law with the human side? 555 00:28:17,719 –> 00:28:19,459 That’s a great question, isn’t it? 556 00:28:21,800 –> 00:28:26,040 How do you, at the same time, uphold the law 557 00:28:27,619 –> 00:28:32,199 without becoming a society that lacks compassion 558 00:28:32,199 –> 00:28:34,839 and care for someone in desperate need? 559 00:28:36,760 –> 00:28:37,819 We need the law. 560 00:28:39,160 –> 00:28:40,760 We know that without the law 561 00:28:40,760 –> 00:28:42,839 and without it being properly honored, 562 00:28:42,839 –> 00:28:45,439 we would soon be plunged into a world of chaos, 563 00:28:45,439 –> 00:28:47,000 the survival of the fittest, 564 00:28:47,000 –> 00:28:49,500 and anarchy, and violence on the streets. 565 00:28:51,719 –> 00:28:53,060 But we need love. 566 00:28:54,760 –> 00:28:57,599 And without it we’re plunged into a world of darkness 567 00:28:57,599 –> 00:29:00,280 where a vulnerable person’s life 568 00:29:01,180 –> 00:29:04,900 becomes like a pawn in the battle between lawyers. 569 00:29:05,640 –> 00:29:09,760 How do you bring law and love together? 570 00:29:11,819 –> 00:29:15,479 God does it through the cross. 571 00:29:17,859 –> 00:29:21,060 On the cross, Jesus Christ bore 572 00:29:21,060 –> 00:29:26,060 the full consequences of the law for you and for me 573 00:29:26,579 –> 00:29:29,300 so that the full extent of God’s love 574 00:29:29,300 –> 00:29:33,260 could reach to you and to me. 575 00:29:35,739 –> 00:29:40,739 And that is the staggering, awe inspiring wisdom of God. 576 00:29:44,339 –> 00:29:47,900 We worship at your feet where love and justice meet 577 00:29:49,380 –> 00:29:52,939 and a guilty world is washed in love’s pure stream. 578 00:29:54,339 –> 00:29:56,060 For us, you were made sin. 579 00:29:56,060 –> 00:29:59,660 Oh, help me take this in the deep wounds of love. 580 00:29:59,660 –> 00:30:02,160 Cry out, Father, forgive. 581 00:30:03,020 –> 00:30:08,020 We worship, we worship the lamb who was slain. 582 00:30:10,599 –> 00:30:11,839 And you know, it might just be, 583 00:30:11,839 –> 00:30:14,939 as we come to the last few moments of this Easter service, 584 00:30:14,939 –> 00:30:17,479 that a window is opening in your mind, 585 00:30:17,479 –> 00:30:19,420 maybe for the very first time. 586 00:30:20,300 –> 00:30:21,099 And you’re saying, 587 00:30:21,099 –> 00:30:22,540 you know, that’s not so foolish. 588 00:30:23,660 –> 00:30:25,599 That just begins to make sense. 589 00:30:27,020 –> 00:30:29,420 I can see that I could be forgiven 590 00:30:29,420 –> 00:30:30,800 through the love and mercy of God, 591 00:30:30,800 –> 00:30:31,979 but I can also see 592 00:30:32,420 –> 00:30:34,579 that it would only come at an awesome price. 593 00:30:35,680 –> 00:30:40,020 I can see that the living, risen Christ’s presence 594 00:30:40,020 –> 00:30:43,260 in me would put me in an entirely different position 595 00:30:43,260 –> 00:30:45,219 to face the problems of my life, 596 00:30:45,219 –> 00:30:47,540 that it would move me from one position to another, 597 00:30:47,540 –> 00:30:48,739 it would put me on a track 598 00:30:48,739 –> 00:30:51,260 in which he could lead me into everlasting life. 599 00:30:51,260 –> 00:30:53,540 I could see that it’s all there with him, 600 00:30:53,540 –> 00:30:55,300 and none of it is there without him. 601 00:30:56,319 –> 00:30:57,959 And I can sense him doing something 602 00:30:57,959 –> 00:30:59,239 in my own soul right now 603 00:30:59,239 –> 00:31:01,619 that I do not even fully understand. 604 00:31:01,619 –> 00:31:06,020 Listen, this Christ who was crucified for you is risen, 605 00:31:07,060 –> 00:31:08,939 and he offers himself to you. 606 00:31:10,040 –> 00:31:11,839 He invites you to follow him. 607 00:31:13,319 –> 00:31:17,540 He is ready to invade your life by the power of his Spirit, 608 00:31:17,540 –> 00:31:20,319 to take you from the path of the perishing, 609 00:31:20,319 –> 00:31:23,500 and to put you on the path of those who are being saved, 610 00:31:23,500 –> 00:31:28,500 and to lead you all the way into everlasting life. 611 00:31:29,380 –> 00:31:31,000 Let’s pray together, shall we? 612 00:31:33,680 –> 00:31:38,000 Father, this is overwhelmingly good news, 613 00:31:39,780 –> 00:31:41,040 and we rejoice in it. 614 00:31:43,319 –> 00:31:45,239 I want to invite you, just in this moment, 615 00:31:45,239 –> 00:31:49,079 will you take all the demands and all the conditions 616 00:31:50,439 –> 00:31:52,939 and lay them down at the foot of the cross 617 00:31:54,819 –> 00:31:57,780 as you’re telling God that you put your trust in you 618 00:31:57,819 –> 00:31:59,540 and put your trust in Jesus 619 00:32:01,540 –> 00:32:05,540 to be your Savior, to lead you on the path 620 00:32:05,540 –> 00:32:07,040 of those who are being saved 621 00:32:07,040 –> 00:32:08,819 all the way into everlasting life. 622 00:32:12,219 –> 00:32:14,579 All of us have huge unanswered questions, 623 00:32:14,579 –> 00:32:17,099 things we don’t know, we can’t understand. 624 00:32:18,599 –> 00:32:20,699 Some point too we’ve got to lay them down 625 00:32:20,699 –> 00:32:25,579 and to embrace Jesus as He invites us to follow Him 626 00:32:26,380 –> 00:32:28,699 and put our trust in Him with what we don’t 627 00:32:28,699 –> 00:32:31,339 yet understand but one day will 628 00:32:31,339 –> 00:32:33,800 when our eyes are fully open in His presence. 629 00:32:36,459 –> 00:32:38,939 Father, deliver many from the path of perishing 630 00:32:38,939 –> 00:32:43,939 even in this hour, and place us in the company 631 00:32:44,160 –> 00:32:47,140 of those who are being saved following Jesus Christ, 632 00:32:48,040 –> 00:32:49,619 our risen Lord and Master. 633 00:32:51,540 –> 00:32:55,180 Receive our thanks that when our hopeless initiative 634 00:32:55,219 –> 00:32:58,300 to reach you has obviously failed, 635 00:32:59,579 –> 00:33:04,579 we discover with joy your amazing initiative 636 00:33:05,780 –> 00:33:08,300 to reach and to gather us the shepherd coming 637 00:33:08,300 –> 00:33:11,719 for the sheep and to bring us home. 638 00:33:12,739 –> 00:33:16,619 No longer would we stumble at the good news of Jesus. 639 00:33:18,380 –> 00:33:22,739 Today we believe that our relationship of trust 640 00:33:22,739 –> 00:33:26,319 may be formed and continued from now into all eternity. 641 00:33:27,780 –> 00:33:29,140 And for this awesome privilege, 642 00:33:29,140 –> 00:33:31,140 we give you thanks and our praise 643 00:33:32,660 –> 00:33:35,420 through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 644 00:33:37,420 –> 00:33:38,260 Amen.