Scripture referenced 8 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Galatians 2:20-21 the main text of the sermon, worked through word by word in translation
20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.
21 I don’t reject the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”
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Keep this verse
Habakkuk 2:4
referenced as the righteous shall live by faith, connected to the sermon series
4 Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith.
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Galatians 3:11
mentioned as the destination the series is working toward
11 Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.”
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Romans 6:4-6
buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life, connected to baptism
4 We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.
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Colossians 2:11-14
when we were dead in our sin he raised us and made us alive
11 in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
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Romans 6:23
the wages of sin is death, paid at the cross
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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John 5:25
faith in him raised him from the death of sin and made him eternally alive
25 Most certainly, I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live.
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Ephesians 2:1-10
read aloud in full, covering being dead in trespasses, made alive by grace, and created for good works
1 You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience;
3 among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus;
8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, that no one would boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message came from Galatians 2:20-21 and was the second in a series running from Habakkuk through Galatians 3:11. Pastor Mark walked the congregation through a close reading of the Greek text and landed on one central claim: union with Christ in his death is what makes a life of faith possible. The gospel, he argued, is not only for people who do not yet know Jesus. It is still good news for those who do.
What was said
Pastor Mark opened by slowing down the grammar of Galatians 2:20 in a way that a casual reading tends to skip past. The verse begins with Christ, he said, and the first verb is a perfect tense, "I have been crucified." That tense matters. It describes something that happened once in the past and carries effects that extend permanently forward. The ego Paul uses, the self-motivated, self-righteous self, is what was crucified. That is the starting point, and there is no moving past it without going through it.
The second observation concerned the present tense that follows. "Christ is living in me" is not a static description. In Greek, Pastor Mark said, it is progressive and continual. Christ is actively, presently living in the believer, and because of that, the faith by which Paul says he lives is not simply Paul's own faith. It is also the faithfulness of the Son of God who loves him and gave himself for him. Where the believer doubts, Christ does not. That is what is on offer.
Verse 21 then closes off any middle ground. If righteousness could come through the law, Christ died for nothing. Pastor Mark said the Judaizers Paul was addressing would have had to concede the logic immediately. You cannot add anything to the gospel and still call it good news.
The three-part structure of the sermon moved through realizing your position, relying on his power, and resting in his provision. On position: before anything else, a person has to understand that they were sinful and separated from God. For the believer, that separation was dealt with at the cross, and that is where eternal life begins, not at some later point.
On power: because Christ rose from the dead and now lives within the believer through the Holy Spirit, the resurrection is not just a historical event. It is the source of present empowerment. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and convinces of righteousness. That is how the power works itself out.
On provision: faith has to rest in something that can hold it. Pastor Mark used the 1982 Tylenol poisonings to make the point. Those seven people trusted completely in what the bottle said, and they died, not because their trust was weak but because what they trusted was not what it claimed to be. God, by contrast, is able to do what he says he will do. The changed life is the proof, and Paul's own road-to-Damascus reversal is the clearest example in the text.
Pastor Mark closed by reading a passage from A.W. Tozer, written in 1946, arguing that every generation of preaching that has carried real power has kept the cross at its center. Sinclair Ferguson's observation followed: Galatians 2:20 is the Christian life in one verse. Crucified with Christ, and yet alive.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The pastor read a translation of Galatians 2:20 that emphasizes the word 'with' in 'crucified with Christ,' describing it as being joined in tandem. What does it mean to you personally that your crucifixion with Christ happened in the past but carries effects into the future?
- The pastor pointed out that Paul did not need to use the word 'ego' in the Greek but chose to, making a deliberate point about the self-righteous, self-motivated part of us. Where do you see your own ego getting in the way of Christ living his life through you?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 5,964 words
0:01
Alright. Everybody here? I actually, I'm calling an audible. I've got
0:07
a message and I will preach it but this song has been pursuing me all week so I wanna sing it. I was going to sing it in the second service anyway. It might not be as contemporary as the service but praise God, it's still true.
0:21
When the harvest has been gathered and all my work is done when the last mile's been traveled and I've sung my final song when I'm called to give an answer at heaven's judgment seat then let the blood of Calvary speak for me May it ride me down as righteous where no righteousness has been. Shielding me from wrath and judgment as it covers all my sins. There's no work that I've accomplished nor my goodness would I plead. Just let the blood of Calvary speak for me. There may be some friends who'd witness and speak great great day to us to blood of Calvary speak for me lamb
2:29
just let the blood blood of
2:31
of Calvary and speak for me Amen.
3:00
Can you hear me now? No. No, still no. Alright. So, I've been contemplating Galatians two twenty and twenty one and I've been all over it.
3:13
Upside, downside, everything about this verse. Turn it inside out. Y'all know I'm a grammar nut. So, I've been really concentrating on precise translation of the words, thinking about things, and there are some things that just jump out when you look at it that way that don't jump out as you're reading through Galatians and just kinda passing over it. So, I wanna go through that but the proposition this morning for the sermon is that union with Christ and his death is what allows us to be living the life of faith.
3:43
When I was speaking a few weeks ago in Habakkuk, we hit the righteous shall live by faith, and I had been shooting forward to try to get to Galatians three eleven. And I told you last week that when I started trying to do that and get to that place, I ran into three sermons between here and there. So, this is the second in that series. Last week was about legalism. This week will be about the gospel.
4:07
These two verses and then next week, we'll talk about license, and hopefully, kind of what the gospel frees us up to do, not just talking about licentious behavior or whatever, but getting further than that. So union with Christ and his death is what allows us to be living a life of faith. I will get to the three points and a prayer part, but you all know me, I like to tell a story first or do something else first. So I'll get to it. How can we walk by faith?
4:37
By realizing our position, position, by relying on his power, and by resting in his provision. I'll get to those three points in a bit, but we are gonna go through this verse to begin with. The main idea kind of this sermon is that the gospel itself is not just for the lost. The gospel, the euangelion, the good news is not just good news for people who don't know Jesus. It's still good news for those of us who do.
5:05
So, this is what this is about. You can go to the next slide there, Dan. I'm going to read this translation that I know is not a conventional translation of the verse but it points out things that are obvious in the Greek, but they don't flow so well in English. So, I know it's gonna sound a little bit unusual, but I've got in my notes, I have bold print, so I'm gonna scream at you a little bit. With Christ is the first word.
5:39
With Christ. It starts off just like that. Actually, in the Greek it is Christ. And a little bitty mark right here means with. With Christ.
5:49
So that sets you up to know what he's talking about. The next thing says, it's one word. I have been crucified in tandem. Have any of you all ever done a tandem paragliding, parachuting parachuting little deal where you are Yeah. See people waving.
6:07
Yes. I have done that. The feeling of being attached to that person. That's what this is talking about. Crucified along with, crucified at the same time, in the same place, in the same manner.
6:20
Crucified with, and I'll point out that that is a perfect tense verb. I have been crucified in tandem. Have been crucified is different than I am crucified or I am being crucified. Have been is in the past. It happened once and for all, and it has long lasting effects that go into eternity future.
6:42
So I have been crucified with Christ right there and then forevermore that matters. Now no longer am I, I living. The word for I right there is ego in Greek, from which we get our word, ego. The self righteous, self motivated, selfish part of us is our ego. The proud part of us, according to Sigmund Freud, is our ego.
7:13
And Paul uses that ego right there. You don't have to use it. The verb is implicit that it's he's speaking in the first person. There's no reason for him to use it except for he's making a point. The point is, now no longer am I living, but Christ, again, because of placement in the sentence where it is, but Christ, and the tense of the verb here is present, which is active and continual.
7:40
Y'all remember when I threw my shoulder out of joint here? Was that in this service or the second service? I was doing this. I was talking about the progressive nature of Greek present tense verbs, and I popped my shoulder out of joint here one time. That tells you how excited I can get about grammar.
7:57
It's only when it really matters that I pointed out to you, I will say that. It says, it's no longer I who am living, but Christ is living in me. It's not lives in me. It's is living in me. That's a progressive thing.
8:12
Continually Christ is living in me. That which I am living in the flesh, not even the flesh. I slipped it in there. Lots of Bible translations put it in there. It's that which I am living in flesh.
8:25
To point out this, a lot of times when Paul says, the spirit and the flesh, he is talking about the war which is at going on inside of each of us as Christians. We have this walking around man, this physical body that that we are inside of and that is flesh. But when he's talking about the flesh, he's talking about all of the desires that were formerly part of our life, and the spirit is the new way, the new life. So old man, new man. But in this particular instance, he's saying, the life that I'm living in flesh, meaning, this physical body, what I'm doing now here.
9:00
Yes, I'm still alive. I just said I was crucified, but yes, I'm still alive. How am I alive and how am I living? Present tense. I am living by faith.
9:10
I am living by faith in the son of God. That's a very interesting constructionist next slide there. Am living by faith in the son of God. I'll get back to this in a little bit, but y'all remember a few weeks ago when I was talking about the faith and faithfulness issue. It is my faith, but it is God's faithfulness.
9:29
Those are two sides of the same coin. Both of them are true. In this particular instance, it it is, I am living by faith in the son of God, but it's also of the son of God. I am living by the faith of Jesus. Because he's living his life in me, I'm living by his faith.
9:48
So that's momentous. That's huge. Where we may fail, where we may doubt, he does not. He doesn't need to. He has been eternally present with the father and knows his character and understands and knows what the future holds for us.
10:02
So, he does not need to doubt and he is the one that is living in us. He is the one that is exercising that faith and as we yield and trust him, it will increase our conscious level of faith. And it doesn't stop at the son of God. It starts modifying at that point. When it modifies, it does so with participles for you English majors.
10:23
Who loves me, present tense, and gave himself for me, past tense. He did that once. He gave himself and he need not do it again. When Jesus said it is finished, he meant it. It was finished right there.
10:36
He gave himself for me, but he loves me. You know, Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so. We hear that and where does it say though that Jesus loves us in the Bible? Where does it say Jesus loves me? There are only a few places.
10:51
It's it's implicit all throughout but there are only a few places where one of the disciples, one of the writers of scripture has the has the I don't know, chutzpah to say, Jesus loves me. This is one of them. Paul says, the son of God loves me. It's very personal, very, very personally. Speaking in the first person all the time.
11:15
It is an extension to all of those who believe, no doubt, but this is very very personal and he says, I am living by faith in the son of God who loves me and gave himself for me. The next verse then is the last coffin nail in any notion that we might be able to do it on our own. I am not nullifying the grace of God. For if righteousness is through law, then Christ died for no purpose. He's speaking to the Jews and the Judaizers, former Jews, and he's saying that the ladder that you have built, this moral ladder that you're trying to build to reach up to God.
11:51
If you really think that that is possible, then you have completely nullified the cross and all that it means. And that's incontrovertible. There's no doubt about it. None of them would have said, they would have said, you know, Paul, you're right about that. It's either one or the other.
12:05
It can't be both. Anything added to the gospel, then it's not good news. So, alright. That's my little grammar lesson for the day. It did me good.
12:13
I don't know about y'all. I want to read it one more time straight through out of the amplified Bible and the amplified Bible used to always scared me because I thought, oh, anybody who adds the words of scripture, that's that's strong condemnation there but the amplified Bible does not add anything that's not in the text. What it does is clarify some of what's there in a stream and it really does help sometimes and in this particular verse, I think it's very helpful. So, I'll read that then we'll pray and I'll get on to the three Rs, the prayer, the poem. The amplified Bible puts it this way, I have been crucified with Christ.
12:50
In him, I have shared his crucifixion. It is no longer I who live, but Christ the Messiah lives in me. And the life I now live in the body, I live by faith then, by adherence to, reliance on, and complete trust in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me. Therefore, I do not treat God's gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose. I do not set aside and in that validate and frustrate and nullify the grace, unmerited favor of God.
13:19
For if just comes through observing the ritual of the law, then Christ, the Messiah, died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain, his death was then wholly superfluous. God, I pray that you would open our eyes to you see what it is that you have to say to us this morning, lord. I praise you for this week that I have spent contemplating the cross, lord. That there is nothing that I have done that makes me any more valuable to you than anyone else. That at the foot of the cross, we are all equals, lord.
13:54
God, I thank you that you loved us all and that you have made that provision available for those who would accept it, lord. Thank you for revealing it to us. I pray that there would be a clear exposition of it here this and that those who have not yet trusted in you lord would hear clear presentation and trust you and for those that would would see that you are how they are able to live by faith. It's in Jesus name we pray lord. Amen.
14:23
This past week, we had an excellent meeting with the small group leaders. I just thought of this and it's good to get together with everybody. We talked about the one another commands in scripture and I imagine that start coming to the surface out of the pulpit. That'll be something I'll be preaching on here coming soon but I just like to encourage. Next week, we'll have sign up sheets out front and Eric Waka, would you stand up for a second?
14:46
Eric is the elder in charge of small groups and if you have a small group that meets at your house, you're a host for them. Would you stand up for a second? Please. I didn't tell anybody I was
14:55
gonna do
14:55
this. There are probably more of them that are not standing up, but see these people, if you'd like to get involved in a group, not necessarily their group, but if you would like to get involved in a group, please be ready to sign up and and come next week. It'll be starting in September towards the end of September. So, anticipation. Alright.
15:18
Last week, we saw that seeking to be justified before God by works was legalism. It was an opposition to the Christ centered life and next week, we'll be talking about licentious behavior. It's actually in opposition to to the Christ centered life, but on the other side of the cross. Legalism plagues everyone before they come to know Jesus. It can still plague some people after that and it can continue for a long time, but licentious behavior tends to be the opposite side.
15:51
I talked about a ditch on this side of the road, then the road, and then the ditch on this side of the road. Well, gospel is that road. So first of all, point one, after ten minutes of introduction. The state of your position in Christ. That's what you need to realize.
16:10
First of all, we must realize our past position. Every method of expressing to outsiders the gospel, of evangelizing the lost or outsiders. Every method has to get them one place before they can get them somewhere else. Now, there may be other kinds of ways to sneak into it, but first, you've got to get people to understand that they are in need, that they are separated from God by their sin. Man is sinful and separated from God.
16:38
Now, in often times, we have started off with a little bit more appealing. God loves you and have a wonderful plan for your life. That's the first of the spiritual four spiritual laws from Campus Crusade. Ray Comfort and I can't remember his name right now. Ray Comfort, we'll say.
16:57
Kirk Kirk Cameron, there we go. I thought Michael J Fox, but I knew that wasn't right. Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron have the master's way of doing evangelism where they go through the 10 commandments with someone and have them admit basically that they have broken at least one of them, and if they are, you know, the Bible says that you're guilty of the whole law. So it's getting people lost before you can get them found, is the way that we'd say it. The problem since the fall for everyone, since the Garden of Eden, that man is separated from God by his own sin.
17:35
We either need to realize that first and foremost, we're sinful and hence separated from God or that we were at one time sinful and separated from God. That was true for everybody in this room, Christian or non Christian. Again, that perfect tense verb. I have been crucified with Christ. That's what Paul was saying.
18:03
That was the way that I was. All of my legalistic, struggling, and everything that I had done when he he used to say when people would ask him about are you a Jew? He would say, I was circumcised. That's a past tense deal too. I was circumcised on the eighth day or I have been circumcised since the eighth day.
18:23
I am a Jew. That's the way he would identify himself. But up to that point, he counts all of that for nothing except that it pointed him towards Jesus and when Jesus appeared and when he saw who he was, that was the instant. Where all of that changed and became rubbish, scubula. It became like dung for him, he says later on.
18:45
Galatians is an early letter. It's a sketch for a lot of what else he wrote later on. I have been crucified is that point. So, your past position, either you are sinful and separated from God or you have been crucified. Those are the only two options.
19:04
What does it mean for you? If you're a Christian, then when Jesus died on the cross, you died with him in tandem like I said before. Romans six four through six, we talked about when we were speaking on baptism last couple weeks ago and it was buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life. Colossians two eleven through 14 said, when we were dead in our sin, he raised us and made us alive. Romans six twenty three, the wages of sin is death.
19:33
This is where that was paid at the cross. One time in the past, continuing results into the future for those who will accept it. That's why the believer never needs to fear death. We've already experienced it with Jesus and it retains no power over us. So, that's our past.
19:50
Realize our past position. Now, we must realize our present reality. Not only does Paul tell us that he is dead because he has been crucified with Christ but he tells us that he's also alive. Now, pointed I out the intricacies of the Ego and the stating that for effect but the phrase, I am living in the present tense. He died with Jesus but faith in him raised him from the death of sin and made him eternally alive.
20:21
John five twenty five says that. So, on the surface, it seems like a paradox and if you're going by exactly what it says, it says, I have been crucified. You know that means death and I am living. Sounds like, wait a minute, that can't be true. Obviously, he is speaking in a figurative manner in some way.
20:37
But if you think about this, when is it that eternal life begins? At what point does eternal life begin? Getting a lot of blank stares. I've been studying too much. Your eternal life in Christ begins at that crucifixion.
20:58
The resurrection of Christ is where you are resurrected into eternal life. So, we're dead to sins but allowed to Jesus. Rely on his power. Because of his resurrection, we're empowered. Paul says, but Christ is living in me.
21:16
That statement reminds us that Jesus did only die on the cross for our sins but he arose. He died in humility. He suffered the cross although he was he was and is God. He lowered himself, took on the nature of a servant, and died a death on a cross. It was out of humility that he did that.
21:38
He rose in great power and glory. Jesus rose from the grave different than he was buried and because of his resurrection power, he can do that within us and will do that within us. The resurrected Christ shares his life with everyone who comes to him by faith. When a person is saved, death ceases to work in them, marking them as sinners and life is now working itself out within them, marking them as children of God, Ephesians would say. So, Ephesians two, let's flip there.
22:12
Two, Ephesians two one through three. Ephesians two one through three says, and you, he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind, and were by nature, children of wrath, just as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he has loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, By grace, you have been saved and raised us up together and made us all, made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, and his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace, you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
23:21
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So, life now works itself out within the mark of them as children of God. I'm not just alive but he is alive within me. Because of his residence within us, we're empowered. Empowered.
23:39
Christ Christ gave gave to to us us at at the the moment moment of of our our conversion, conversion. The Holy Spirit, and he lives within us. He has written his law on our hearts. The Bible said, this is fulfillment of prophecy. Prophecy.
23:51
Christ on the cross. His sacrifice was a once for all time event. Jesus doesn't light on a sinner like a bird on a wire. When Jesus comes into a life, he moves in. He makes his dwelling within us.
24:06
He saves us, changes us forever, and since he also moves into the person's hearts, he gives them the power to live like him or live through the spirit like him. That was his promise. The Holy Spirit, Donna, I know did a series on this a while back but the Holy Spirit does primarily about five or six things. One of them is he leads us, he teaches us, he empowers us, he comforts us, corrects us. That's what he does.
24:35
I can say it in two. He convicts of sin and convinces of righteousness. He convicts us of sin and he convinces us how we should live. That's what he does. So we've talked about realizing your position, position, relying relying on on his his power, power, the last is resting only in his provision.
24:53
The life I now live in the flesh, live by the faith of the son of God or by faith in the son of God. Paul makes the strong statement that faith given to him by Jesus is what makes his living possible and he extends that to us. I talked a few weeks ago and you seem to hit several issues. I seem to hit them all the time. Pride and humility and faith comes back over and over and over again.
25:18
It's not that we need to learn a lot more about the Christian life. It's that we need to learn the things that we know to be true in a deeper manner and make them and let them overtake us, master us instead of mastering it, it masters us. After I got through a couple weeks ago talking about faith and misplaced faith in particular, I had chosen at random almost. I don't I don't follow sports. So I chose the New Orleans Saints when I was talking about place in your faith in something.
25:46
Turns out they're actually pretty good, so I should have chosen a really bad team. Then I chose the Cleveland Indians about something, and I saw two people, hey, hey, kinda speak up. I'm going to avoid the sports analogies from now on. Maybe a grammar analogy would be more appropriate. Now, I want to go back to something.
26:05
Bob Lucas actually stopped me at the back door and said, for misplaced faith, this is a good one. In 1982 in Chicago, there were seven people, seven different folks that at some point had a headache or body ache of some description, and they took a pill to help them with whatever it was that was ailing them. Just a So they took an extra strength Tylenol. Usually, you do, you take one of those, maybe two, and your headache goes away, or you forget about it in a little while. But those seven people took that Tylenol trusting, putting their faith in this thing that was supposed to help their headache, help their condition, they put the pill in their mouth, and hours later, they were dead.
26:48
Because instead of Tylenol, they had been laced by some terrorist with sodium cyanide. That's misplaced faith. It's not that they believed wrongly, they did believe that Tylenol should be able to help them, but that wasn't Tylenol. Does that make sense? They believed what the box said, but it was to no avail because what they actually took was cyanide.
27:17
So, what I'm saying here is, for faith to work, it cannot just be faith for faith's sake. It's got to be faith in something that can stand it. God is able to stand, withstand our faith. God is able to do what he says he'll do and what he says he will do is save us if we come call to him. So, he's able if we place our faith in him, he is able to do the saving.
27:42
He says that he is and he is and there's no argument with the changed life. How many of you have seen lives that were absolutely wrecked and destitute and then they were saved and everything changed. I've seen it. I've been that. How many I see smiles out there that you're saying, yeah, I've seen that.
28:03
I've seen it from the inside. There's no way to argue with a changed life. This is Paul's life. When he was saying, you know, he was on the road to Damascus and Jesus blinded him. He was going there to kill Christians.
28:18
And God changed him and he changed him and Paul realizes the moment at which he changed him. He changed him on the cross. AW Tozer, I have read up I've read to y'all before. He's a pretty deep thinker. He wrote this in 1946 and he he talks about how if we water things down, we don't do ourselves any favors.
28:42
So we don't want to water down the cross. You don't hear a lot of teaching about blood, you don't hear a lot of teaching about the cross these days, but I want to just read this. It's a fairly lengthy paragraph, but I want to read it. God offers life but not an improved life. The life he offers is life out of death.
28:58
It stands always on the far side of the cross. Do you remember when I survey the wondrous cross? He bids me come and die to find that I may truly live. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod.
29:13
He must repudiate himself, concur God's just sentence against him. What does this mean to the individual? The condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus. How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe.
29:27
He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing, let him not seek to make terms with God. God has made the terms already. He's made the terms. The created has no right to say to the creator what he will allow.
29:46
God has made the terms once and for all, and they are take it or leave it. Let me get back to a w tusser. That was my own interjection there. Let him not speak to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die. Having done this, let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen savior and from him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power.
30:10
The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner, and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ. To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say, God has set his hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have all put their emphasis here and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the holy ghost have given witness to God's approval. Dare we, the errors of such a legacy of power tamper with the truth.
30:54
No. The cross is what it is all about. The center of the gospel, the fulcrum upon which the Christian life rest. Sinclair Ferguson says that this verse is the Christian life in one verse. It's crucified with Christ and yet I live.
31:11
So, you may be sitting here today thinking, okay, if I'm realizing my position, I'm realizing that I had never done that. I haven't ever put my trust in him. I haven't ever, I haven't ever done that. Well, it's good that you realize that because the offer stands. Whosoever means just that, whosoever will come.
31:33
So, if you'll call out to Jesus, he will save you. Now, for those of you who are sitting here and thinking, I actually have done that. I know that I have done that but I'm not living a life of power. You've heard this word you're thinking, I'd like to become more like Jesus. I'd really like for him to live his life through me but I've tried it and I've come up short.
31:53
Well, let me invite you to call out to Jesus. He listens to the prayer of faith. If you will place your faith in him, you will have his faithfulness to rely upon. If he is living in your life, you'll be living out of his faith. Let me invite you to confess him, confess to him that your failure was yours.
32:17
That's something that's unpopular in our society. Nobody wants to take responsibility for anything. But if we take responsibility for our sins and admit them, he's faithful and just to forgive them. And help us pick us up and help us to walk in newness of life. Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to your cross I'll cling.
32:39
Others of you may be in the amen corner and just saying, I love it. Paul's message is my message. I'm living for Christ because what else would I do? Woe be unto me if I don't preach the gospel, if I don't train guys to live this life, if I don't do the ministry that God for me. Praise God.
32:58
Let's do what we can to help others. So, I'm gonna ask musicians to come forward and I'm also gonna ask the elders if you would come forward and Roseanne and Judy. It's gonna be a full dais up here. If God is speaking to you this morning about that where you're not living in the power because you've identified and you have union, that mystical union with Christ available because of the cross. If you would, one of us know.
33:26
Anybody that's sitting up here would be glad to hear it. Musicians are gonna play, then we're gonna pray for Roseanne and Judy as their commission in prayer. They're going out tomorrow morning headed to Africa, and then we'll have the benediction. Thank you, Prince.
33:40
Please stand with me. Christ is risen from the dead, Christ is risen from the dead, trampling over death by death. Come awake, come awake, come and rise up from the grave. Christ is risen from the dead. Yeah.
37:21
With him again. Come awake. Come awake. Come and rise up from the grave. Christ is risen
38:01
Amen. Boy, I don't know about you. Whoo. Amen. Thank you, Jesus.
38:06
These two young ladies are heading out to Kenya, Togoni Baptist Academy. They're gonna be teaching. They're gonna be doing, crafts. They're gonna be doing a lot of things, and, that's why they're going to do it. Amen.
38:20
These dear folks have a heart for other people to be made alive. So we're gonna pray for them. Guys, let's give them grace. Our father, we thank you for the great salvation we have in Jesus Christ. We thank you for going before us and going behind us and surrounding us.
38:37
We thank you for Roseanne and Judy, and We thank you for their answering your call to go. It's been a challenge and it's been fun to watch you work. Thank you for bringing the passport in on time. Thank you for the 900 plus pounds of luggage that's being ready to go. Thank you lord mostly for their hearts.
38:55
Amen. Lord that are humble and dedicated to you because of this great love. You have taken dead people and you make them alive and lord as they go, may they encourage Kapow. Kamal, excuse me and may you may they encourage those young people who do know you and lord, those young people who are there who don't. Lord, may this be the season that they will come to know their great God and savior Jesus Christ.
39:19
Amen.
39:19
Lord, will you watch over them and orchestrate all of the small details that have to happen and all of the big details. Lord, we look forward to your miracles that and that they will they will praise you for and we just thank you and praise you and bless them lord as they go. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. Amen.
39:40
Thank you. Alright. Praise God. Alright. Crucified with Christ your savior, you are dead to sin and shame.
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Now, his life rules your behavior to the glory of his name. Amen.
40:03
Thank you.
40:03
Thank you.
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