To Sigma or Not to Sigma

December 27, 2024

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Scripture referenced 11 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Luke 2:14 the angels' message of glory to God and peace on earth, goodwill toward men, the central text of the sermon

14 “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”

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Galatians 4:4-5

called a favorite Christmas verse, used to illustrate God acting so that we might receive adoption as sons

4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,

5 that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.

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2 Corinthians 8:9

Christ became poor so that through his poverty we might become rich

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.

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John 3:16

pastor's own translation used to illustrate the henna clause, God gave his son so that whoever believes might not perish but have eternal life

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

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John 1:12

to those who believed he gave the right to be called children of God

12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name:

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Philippians 1

some preach Christ out of envy and strife, others out of goodwill and love

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ; To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and servants:

2 Grace to you, and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 I thank my God whenever I remember you,

4 always in every request of mine on behalf of you all, making my requests with joy,

5 for your partnership in furtherance of the Good News from the first day until now;

6 being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

7 It is even right for me to think this way on behalf of all of you, because I have you in my heart, because, both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the Good News, you all are partakers with me of grace.

8 For God is my witness, how I long after all of you in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus.

9 This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment;

10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ;

11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

12 Now I desire to have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the Good News;

13 so that it became evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my bonds are in Christ;

14 and that most of the brothers in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear.

15 Some indeed preach Christ even out of envy and strife, and some also out of good will.

16 The former insincerely preach Christ from selfish ambition, thinking that they add affliction to my chains;

17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Good News.

18 What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. I rejoice in this, yes, and will rejoice.

19 For I know that this will turn out to my salvation, through your prayers and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be disappointed, but with all boldness, as always, now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death.

21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will bring fruit from my work; yet I don’t know what I will choose.

23 But I am in a dilemma between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

24 Yet, to remain in the flesh is more needful for your sake.

25 Having this confidence, I know that I will remain, yes, and remain with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,

26 that your rejoicing may abound in Christ Jesus in me through my presence with you again.

27 Only let your way of life be worthy of the Good News of Christ, that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your state, that you stand firm in one spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the Good News;

28 and in nothing frightened by the adversaries, which is for them a proof of destruction, but to you of salvation, and that from God.

29 Because it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer on his behalf,

30 having the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear is in me.

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Philippians 2:13

it is God who works in you both to desire and to work for his own good pleasure

13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.

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Romans 10:1

Paul's heart's desire and prayer for his own people to be saved

1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved.

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2 Thessalonians 1:11

prayer that God would fulfill every one of his good pleasures and the work of faith with power

11 To this end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith, with power;

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Matthew 11

this way was well pleasing in the sight of God, revealing things to the simple

1 When Jesus had finished directing his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2 Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples

3 and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?”

4 Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:

5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

6 Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.”

7 As these went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

8 But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.

9 But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.

10 For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

11 Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

12 From the days of John the Baptizer until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.

13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

14 If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come.

15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call to their companions

17 and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned for you, and you didn’t lament.’

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’

19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”

20 Then he began to denounce the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they didn’t repent.

21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

22 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

23 You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will go down to Hades. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained until today.

24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, on the day of judgment, than for you.”

25 At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.

26 Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.

27 All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.

28 “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

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2 Peter 3:9

God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance

9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

Pastor Mark opened with a Greek grammar question that turned out to matter quite a bit for how we read the angels' announcement at the first Christmas. The sermon worked through what the word "eudokia" means and what it tells us about God's disposition toward people, landing on the tension between God's sovereignty and human responsibility as the heart of the Christmas message.

What was said

The sermon started with the Greek letter sigma, which middle schoolers apparently use to describe someone who is independent, bold, and leads outside the normal social hierarchy. That same letter shows up at the end of a word in Luke 2:14, the angels' announcement of "peace on earth, goodwill toward men," and whether it is there or not has been a long-running debate in ancient manuscripts. Pastor Mark was clear he did not want to shake anyone's confidence in Scripture, and said both readings are true, but the difference in that one letter changes the grammatical form of the sentence in a way worth thinking through.

The word at stake is "eudokia," which carries the meanings of goodwill, delight, pleasure, benevolence, and desire. Pastor Mark walked through how the word is used across the New Testament, in passages from Matthew, Luke, Romans, Philippians, and Thessalonians, to show that it consistently points to God being favorably disposed toward people. The various English translations of Luke 2:14 were read side by side, some rendering it as universal goodwill pushed outward toward all men, others as peace belonging specifically to those on whom God's favor rests. Both things, Pastor Mark said, are true at once.

That tension leads directly into what he called the Calvinism and Arminianism question, which he and his wife ran into in a Bible study before they left for the mission field, before they even had names for those positions. He quoted a former seminary president, Robertson McQuilkin, who said it is easier to go to a consistent logical extreme than to remain in the center of biblical tension. The sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man are both held in Scripture, and Pastor Mark said the goal is not to pick a side but to stay in that tension together.

To help hold both sides at once, he introduced what he called the "hina clause," a Greek construction that shows purpose, the "so that" in a sentence. He carried a thirty-foot scroll into the room on previous Sundays listing every instance of this construction in the Bible, and he returned to it here because it shows God stating his own reasons for acting. In Galatians 4:4-5 and 2 Corinthians 8:9 he pointed out the pattern: God acted in indicative mood, something definite happened in time and space, and then comes the hina clause with a verb in the subjunctive mood, describing what God intended that action to make possible.

The subjunctive mood is the key. In English it is fading out, but in Greek and in Spanish it carries the sense of more than one will being involved. A coach trains a kicker so that the kicker might make the field goal, but the kicker still has to actually make it. God acts, and he acts with a clear purpose, but whether that purpose is received depends on a second will. That is not a limitation on God, Pastor Mark said. It is simply how the offer works.

John 3:16 was then read in a translation Pastor Mark rendered himself, keeping that structure visible. God loved, God gave, those are indicative. Then comes the hina clause: so that whoever is putting their trust in him might not perish but might have eternal life. He quoted C. S. Lewis saying that the Son of God became a son of man so that the sons of men might become the sons of God. Second Peter 3:9 was added to show that God is not slack but long-suffering, not willing that anyone should perish, and that the responsibility for receiving or rejecting the message falls on the hearer.

Pastor Mark closed by saying his job is to proclaim the message as faithfully as he can: God's sovereign goodness and grace are available in Jesus Christ to whoever will receive him. God has done everything necessary. The goodwill announced at the first Christmas is a real offer, extended to real people, and what each person does with it is what matters.

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.

Pastor Joel spent time on the word 'eudokia' and what it tells us about how God is disposed toward people. How does that picture of God compare with the one you have picked up from the culture around you?
Several translations of Luke 2:14 were read, ranging from 'goodwill toward men' to 'peace to those on whom his favor rests.' Which wording hits you differently, and what does that difference stir up for you?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Find in this transcript

0:00 Speaker 1To sigma or not to sigma. Do you all know what this means? Sigma, do you know what it means? Middle school slang, nobody's up on it. Okay.

0:08 Sigma, it's the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. Yes. That is the truth. I heard of somebody that got a note from a kid this week, that at the end of the note, signed off, fifth grader said to the teacher, you're so sigma. That's a good thing, okay?

0:26 It's a good thing, but it's in Greek, it's the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. It has two forms in lower case, one looks like this, one looks like this, and it has one in upper case. You probably see that on fraternity houses or sorority houses, and that's the only place you ever see it. Unless you're an accountant where it means to sum up. Right?

0:43 There are lots of meanings with sigma. In middle school slang though, this is it. It refers to a person who is independent, self reliant, and prefers to operate outside of traditional social hierarchies. They're not terribly concerned with peer pressure. It doesn't seem to get after them or bother them, but they make bold moves, and often times they're leaders that think outside of the box.

1:10 And it's cool and they inspire other people to be able to do the same thing. It is definitely a good thing if you hear it, it's definitely a good thing. Can I get an amen from a schooler? So I hate to break the code for you. I thought about doing the whole sermon in middle school slang.

1:24 I am not that cheugy, I just can't do that. So this is Greek. This is Greek to me. This is Greek to y'all. These are the sigmas in this sentence, right, they're highlighted, and it's an interesting one.

1:39 I mentioned it last week because we talked about the message that the angels brought. The message that the angels were bringing, glory to God in the highest. This literally says, glory in the highest to God and upon the earth peace in anthropois. Two men are towards people, peace, and then Eudochaea, or is it Eudochaeus? And this is something that has been an ongoing debate for a long long time.

2:09 There are ancient manuscripts where the sigma was erased. There are others where it never appeared in the first place. Anyway, I don't want to erode your confidence in the Bible. I think both of them are great, and both of them are true and I don't want to erode anybody's faith. The Texas receptus, King James, New King James, that variety tends to have one and the newer traditions tend to have the other.

2:33 Both of them are true, I don't want to erode anything for you, but this is an interesting point. Okay? So, Utopia, this is all capital letters by the way, and there's another little sigma that's called a lunar sigma, where this is normally the form that'd be in the middle of the word, but it's at the end of the word, but it's just little bitty and up high. Eudocheus. Which one is it?

2:55 To sigma or not to sigma, that is the question. What does eudocheia mean? And and if it has an s on it, or doesn't have an s on it, a sigma on it, or doesn't have a sigma on it, it doesn't change the overall meaning of the word, it just I'll show you in a minute. It changes just the grammatical form and kind of what the sentence means. So, Utopia means will, goodwill, right?

3:21 That's the goodwill. Will or choice, in particular goodwill, kindly intent, benevolence, it's prompted by goodwill, it's out of a full heart. If you hear the way that God described himself in the old testament, he says that he's slow to anger and he's rich in mercy and he is favorably disposed toward people. Okay? So that God is there.

3:49 Delight or pleasure or satisfaction with the genitive blah blah blah grammar stuff of the thing that pleases. God's good pleasure comes up a lot. In certain circles, it comes up more, but his delight in people. His pleasure or his satisfaction with people. Desire.

4:10 For if something, it's delight in any absent thing easily begets a longing for it. That's a weird sentence. But if you would delight in something that just is not here, there's a desire to see that happen. And so, Udokia, God has goodwill for people. He takes delight and pleasure when people accept the plan that he has for them, the goodwill, the good plan he has for them, and there is a desire in God's heart and in the hearts of his people to see others come to know him.

4:42 Does that make sense? Could you hear desire in Joel's heart that the whole of the Western Eastern world would come to know Jesus? Yeah. There's desire primarily. It conveys a sense of goodwill or favor or pleasure.

4:56 It's often used to describe God's benevolent intention, his delight towards humanity, and I think if we listen to the world and we listen to them rail about the problem of evil and lots of other stuff, we start to pick up from our surroundings that God must be mean or God must be either not all powerful or not all good, but that's not true. That's not the biblical picture of God at all. Okay? He is favorably disposed towards us. His intention and his delight towards humanity.

5:30 In the New Testament, it reflects the divine favor and the gracious will of God. Grace is unmerited favor and God is full of grace. As well as the pleasure desire of individuals in alignment with God's purposes. When you come to know Him, you want for other people to know Him. It is all consuming.

5:50 Okay. So, there you go. It's used nine times in the New Testament. If you want to know where they are, Matthew 11, this way was well pleasing in the sight of God. It's God's plan.

6:01 It was well pleasing. Luke, parallel passage. Yes, father, for doing so, revealing things to the simple and not to the learned was well pleasing in your sight. You didn't want to make it so hard. You just wanted to be taken by faith like a child, that's God's plan.

6:21 Brothers and sisters, Paul says to the Romans, he had never met. My heart's desire, my good pleasure is, and my prayer is for God, for my own people to be saved, that's what he's saying. Good pleasure in Romans one here twice. Philippians. Oh, I love this passage.

6:42 So this is great for when you just get aggravated with other churches. Okay? When you get aggravated with other people and you see this, Paul in Philippians one is so positive and so great. He says, some you ought to be sure they're preaching Christ out of envy and strife and they're aggravating to deal with and they're doing it for the wrong reasons, but there are some who do it by eudokia, goodwill. Good goodwill, an earnest desire to have people come to know God.

7:10 The latter do it out of love, that's great. Goodwill is motivated by love. Yes, God is love, that's wonderful. Eudokia, knowing that I'm appointed for the defense of the gospel. He goes on to say, either way the gospel is being preached.

7:24 Right? If the content is there, God can use it. Here we go. It's again in Philippians, it is God who works in you both to desire and to work for his own good pleasure. He knows what he's doing.

7:40 Thessalonians. To this end also, Paul says, we're praying for you that our God will call you worthy of your calling and fulfill every one of his good pleasures, his desire for goodness and for the work of faith with power. God wants to not just save you, but he wants to use you to save others. Okay. So here it is.

8:00 Back to the back to the Udokia at the end of this sentence. Udokia right there is nominative right here. It's genitive for you to grammar nerd, you're like, yes, finally. For everybody else, who cares? Nominative, genitive.

8:14 These are the translations. So, I like the King James translation on this verse a lot because I love the Christmas songs that sing this translation. Right? Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill towards men, and it is directional. It is saying God has goodwill and He's pushing it towards mankind.

8:35 New King James, exactly the same verse. Oh, the King James purple edition, where the names of God are in purple. Why? I don't know, but that's it. Goodwill toward men.

8:46 Here's one, the Young's Living translation. If you ever get confused and you say, I wanna know what that literally means. Young's Living is an old, old translation, but it is literal. If you wanna know, you know, where it says heart and it really says gut, you know, use Young Living. Young's Living translation.

9:03 Glory in the highest to God and upon earth peace. Among men, and he chooses not to enter into the debate really, goodwill. Okay. Goodwill towards men. Among men, there's goodwill from God.

9:18 Okay? Goodwill among men, new testament of our Lord Jesus, savior, Jesus Christ by the American Bible Union 1865, weird translation. But the parallelism here is that glory to God in heaven and on earth towards people, peace. It's transmitted. God has the peace that passes understanding and He can share it, and that's what He's trying to do.

9:42 The genitive, and we sing a song in this service a lot. We sung it a couple of times recently, and it's hard to get all the words in there because it's longer. This translation, glory to God in the highest in heaven and on earth, peace to those on whom his favor rests. Okay. That feels like it's not nearly as universal a thing.

10:05 Right? It's not as spread out as towards all men. It is peace belongs to those on whom God's favor rests, and that's true. That is true and it's good. Let's keep going.

10:17 New Living Translation. Glory to God in the highest heaven, peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased. Do you do you hear the Eudokia in there? Pleasure, goodwill, favor. Glory to God in the highest among those with whom He is pleased.

10:31 Glory to God in the highest on earth, peace among men upon whom His favor, on whom His favor rests. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased. Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on earth to people He favors. Now that one bothers people. It feels like there are no favorites with God.

10:51 James tells us that that's true. There shouldn't be any favoritism with us. Right? But does the favor of God rest on a people? Yes.

11:00 The ones who have received him, his favor resides with them. Now, does that mean it's gonna be happy, happy, happy, joy, joy, prosperity till you die? No. But you can be a martyr that's experiencing the favor of God because you believe Him. Glory to God in the highest heaven.

11:19 Peace on earth to those he favors. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased. Wow. He is well pleased with people. He is well pleased with people.

11:30 At Jesus' baptism, yeah, it makes sense that Jesus But he is well pleased whenever anybody takes him at his word. ERV, ISR, the Institute for Scripture Research. Esteem to Elohim in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth among those whom he favors. That one catches me a little bit.

11:56 It feels like it's exclusive. Well, gospel is exclusive. It is the way. There are some who have accepted it and do experience, and actually the last one says, glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to people who enjoy his favor. Ain't that great?

12:14 That's a place of peace. When you recognize the gift of God and you accept, oh my goodness, it's Christmas. What better example is that? There are plenty of gifts. Plenty of gifts came in for the angel tree.

12:25 Plenty of gifts are coming probably in the next few days. You know. Staff love gift. Praise God. Amazing.

12:31 Thank you. Wonderful. But if you don't receive it, this it doesn't mean anything to you to people who enjoy his favor. So parallelism in this would be glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to the ones that God's favor rest upon or the one whom God favors. So this one seems more open and more universal, and then this one seems more kind of smaller group.

12:59 Right? Not all will accept him. That's the truth. If you let your brain get locked up with, wow, it's a universal call, but not all will take him. Okay.

13:14 You're going to come to this, and always comes to this. I we were part of a Bible study before we moved to the mission field, and we didn't know the terms, Calvinism and Armenianism. We didn't know all those terms, hadn't hadn't run into those, but we could. There was one faction kinda among us. We loved each other and we kept on pulling through it, but there was one fact ion that talked about the plan.

13:37 It's the plan. It's God's plan. It's gonna come out just like he said, the plan. And the other one was like, no. No.

13:43 God's plan is that we would receive them and we can. We really do have a choice. And so, that's Calvinism and Armenians. It's the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man and those things are held in the Bible in tension. They both are absolutely true.

13:58 How can that be? I don't know. It's a mind blow. It just is. This was one of the He's one of the presidents at seminary I went to, but a good friend, he has now passed.

14:09 His name's Robertson McQuilkin. He said, it's easier to go to a consistent logical extreme than to remain in the center of biblical tension. Amen. Amen. And we tend to spend time.

14:24 Some of y'all, I know you're leaning towards one side, and some of y'all, I know, are leaning towards the other. I say get to be friends with one another. Get to be friends with one another and serve other people. And you won't be heading outward, you'll be heading inward to the center of biblical tension. So there we are.

14:45 Now that, I open up and I'm gonna hopefully illustrate some of this. I think that this helps to resolve this. It helps us to get this because if you lock it up and say, wow, if God if the whole elect and predestination, I can't quite get it, it feels like God has made some people just to burn. That is heartbreaking and it is really really hard to deal with. There are some who will not accept his gift, and they will suffer for it.

15:17 Galatians four four and five is a great Christmas verse, we're gonna get there in a second. Second Corinthians eight nine is also, and there's one more familiar verse. So this is something that I help, I think helps resolve the plan versus the choice, and it's this, a henna clause. Y'all remember I have carried a scroll out here a couple of times. It's about 30 feet long and I just Those are all the times in the Bible where there's a henna clause where it says, so that.

15:48 And it gives us, me as the pastor, preacher, proclaimer, it gives me the place where I can say, this is why God did it because he says, this is why I did it. So here it is. The henna clause plus a subjunctive mood. A lot of stuff for grammar, nerds, and middle schoolers today. It generally shows purpose for an action or the result of an action.

16:14 So so that can be the purpose intended or it can be the result. Does that make sense? If a henna clause, if I start off a clause with, oh, did that so that you would blah blah blah. Or I did that in order that the police would not come after me. Right?

16:34 Whatever it is. I did something definite so that I have a purpose, and then what comes after that? So here we go. Galatians four four and five. One of my favorite Christmas verses is this, but when the fullness of time had come, at exactly the right time, God who is outside of time introduced himself into the mix, the incarnate son of God, God with us.

17:03 God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. That's a great, great Christmas verse. Now, the henna is right there. So that, this is telling what God's good pleasure is. This is what telling what God's goodwill is.

17:26 It's telling what God's desire is. He did this at exactly the right time so that what? We might receive adoption as sons. Second person plural subjunctive. That we might receive.

17:40 He did this so that we had the opportunity to take it, to accept it, to believe it, to receive it, and to receive adoption as son. Sorry, ladies, but at this time, adoption as a son was was a greater thing than being adopted as a daughter, it just was. So, what this communicates to people that would have understood it, is it offers all of the same privileges as being a child, or as John one would say, to those who believed he gave them the right to be called children of God. Second Corinthians, next verse. For you know the grace, the unmerited favor of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, think about this,

18:27 Speaker 2he was in heaven.

18:31 Speaker 1Second person of the Godhead, in heaven, he was rich. Yet, for your sake he became poor. If we were to go to Philippians, it says he came and he was in every way just as we are frail, human, weakened. He emptied himself of his divine rights. For your sake, he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich.

18:58 The so that is right there, the henna clause is right there. So that through his poverty you might become rich. So that's second Corinthians eight nine. Now that so that you might become rich is the henna, so that, plus a subjunctive, so that you might become rich in him. So so that you might be enriched.

19:22 So note the similar structure, the two verses, it has that God acted. That's an indicative mood. It is an absolute thing that happened in time and space. God acted and he did so with a purpose. The first part is indicative.

19:38 God did something so that purpose, and I have to say this. So if if I don't use football analogies very much, but if a coach trains and trains and trains and trains somebody so that they'll be able to kick a field goal when they need to. Right? He might not kick that field goal when he needs to, but the coach is acting so that he can. Right?

20:08 He's trying to make that possible. God acted so that what? A verb in the subjunctive mood. In the first one, God acted so that you might receive adoption, adoption as sons. God acted so that you might be enriched in the second example.

20:26 So that's subjunctive mood. So here we go. So that you might receive, so that you might be enriched, so you might receive a specific gift since it's Christmas. God acted so that you would receive something. So the hentaclaus tells the purpose in his act and I've already made that abundantly clear.

20:43 He wants this. His goodwill is towards you. So Luke two fourteen is saying goodwill towards men. It's out there. Now, what are you gonna do with it?

20:58 That's the specific gift right there. So does the mic bother you? I mean, we speak English, we don't speak this other stuff, and a lot of us don't use the subjunctive at all, middle schoolers. No. Just kidding.

21:09 We don't use it much in English anymore. It's dying. If you're studying another language, probably the hardest thing to learn in Spanish is the subjective mood. So let me get into that. Quick note on the subjective mood.

21:23 Is there an English teacher in here who would love to tell this story? No. The subjective mood, in English it would be like, would that it were so. That's contrary to reality. What did it were so that everybody who's ever been a part of this church in the time that I've been here still was here, but they move away.

21:40 It's not true. It's not, but what did it were so? It's I can longingly say that, but the truth of the matter is, it's contrary to reality. Now that's one of the rules for subjective, they're like 30. For the purposes of this sermon, I wanna talk about the main thing that the subjunctive is used for is when more than one will is involved.

22:02 If you're husband and wife, you might illustrate this during the Christmas season. One of you might think that that's enough Christmas lights. The other one might think that's not enough Christmas lights. Right? Never enough Christmas lights.

22:24 The two wills involved, like, I did that so that, but that doesn't mean you're gonna do like I said. Right? If there are two wills involved, there's a sort of a contingency there that both of them have to agree in order for it to come to pass. Right? So the subjunctive mood, it would be presumptuous for me to to believe that I said it and so you do it.

22:51 Right? I mean, even as a preacher, even as a pastor, this is one of the dangers I think of preaching and pastoring is that is that God has said and I am attempting to say exactly what God has said, and then you ought to do it. But that doesn't mean you're gonna do it. Right? So for me, every week, all the time, if if I'm trying to process through what I'm gonna deliver to you, I have to make sure that I've received whatever it is from God's word.

23:25 Open my heart to confess my shortfall and frailty and sin and everything else, and ask God with a humble heart to show me what that means, and then let me align up with his will before I ever get up here and lay it out in your lap. Right? That's that's what I hope to do. I hope to do. But the subjunctive mood for this sermon is basically when there are two wills involved.

23:54 If you train up your kids so that they'll be able to be good people when they're adults and making their own decisions. You can do everything you can in indicative mood, absolutely, but it's up to them whether they're going to put that into effect or not. Does that make sense? Okay. So that's the note.

24:12 So this is a familiar verse. I actually translated it myself to just confuse you a little bit. It's not exactly like you've heard it before, but indeed, indeed, God loved the world. Can I get an amen? He loved it in such a way as this, God loved.

24:30 He acted in a very specific way, indicative, no doubt about it. He did this. He acted. He loved in in such a way as this, that He gave. He gave His one and only Son.

24:45 He acted. He acted in the context that we understand in, in time and space. He was born of a woman, born at exactly the right time under the law to redeem those that were under the law. The introduction of God into our sphere just as we are. He loved, so he gave, and those are in the indicative mood.

25:10 God acted, and he acted for a reason, so that. It's a big deal. The henna clause tells us exactly why God did what he did. He acted so that whoever's putting their trust in him might not perish, but might have eternal life. Now the might still in English is a little bit, oh I might.

25:31 Oh gracious in Jackson, really. Like you wanna go skiing tomorrow? Oh, might. Are you going skiing with that person tomorrow? Probably not.

25:39 But in this case, the might only introduces the possibility so that we might. He tells what his goodwill is. He tells what his good pleasure is. He tells what his desire is. All you have to do is accept it, receive it, believe it as this verse says.

25:59 So that all who are putting their trust in him are believing in him. So C. S. Lewis says it this way, that the son of God, Christ Jesus, became a son of man in order that or so that the sons of men might become the sons of God. To all who have believed, he's given them the right to be called children of God.

26:20 That's amazing. That is a great gift. It's really really amazing. And since God is absolutely sovereign, you can spend all your time thinking about that, But consider that we are absolutely responsible too. And what are we responsible for?

26:38 We're responsible for the message that we have heard. Now, I'm going share one verse from second Peter. Second Peter three nine says that the Lord is not slack concerning his promise or his desire. He's not slack as some men count slackness. They look at him and say, well God.

26:54 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some count slackness, but he is as he described himself, long suffering towards us. He's patient towards us in the same way. Right? That his goodwill is coming towards us and he is not willing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance and it's not on him if we don't accept it. He's done everything necessary so that we might receive it.

27:29 So my job is to proclaim the message as faithfully as I can. God's sovereign goodness and grace are available in Jesus Christ to whoever will receive him. That's as close as I can get the gospel truth. God's sovereign goodness and grace are available in Jesus Christ to whoever will believe him. The whosoever's in there, right?

27:49 It's in there, and that really means it. It's a very real offer. So I just have to ask what your response will be. God is absolutely sovereign. Yep.

28:01 Don't get locked up about it. And you're absolutely responsible for

28:05 Speaker 2what you do with this message.

28:10 Speaker 1You're absolutely responsible for what you do with his goodwill and I can say it extends beyond salvation because his goodwill is that you would keep on carrying that message forward that you'd keep on helping people. So what we do with the message of peace on earth and goodwill towards us makes all of the difference. I'm just gonna ask you if you will allow. Come on up, band. Come on back up.

28:37 Will you allow God's favor to rest upon you? He's doing all he can. He's doing all he can. He's done all he needed to do. Lord God Almighty, would you allow for humble hearts, for a softness of heart?

28:56 Would you allow for deep deep introspection? Would you allow us to see ourselves as we are? So that we may come into seeing us the way that you see us. Useful, helpful, light bearers, grace carriers, those who carry peace that passes understanding. In Jesus name, that's what we ask for, Lord.

29:29 In all of the hubbub and anxiety of the season, we pray that we come to a place of absolute peace and rest. In Jesus name, amen. The altar is open but the song is peppy. I'm here all week. Would you stand?

29:51 We're going to sing to go tell it on the mountain.

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Free Will Vs Predestination God'S Favor Goodwill Toward Men Peace On Earth Receiving Salvation

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