Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful
that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either
by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for
us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself?
The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really,
I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible,
they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will
do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a
non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't
hesitate to send us questions. It helps me, actually, to know, as I'm preaching, how to
deal with the types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless.
Let's just bow our heads in prayer. Father, we give you thanks and praise for Jesus. We give
you thanks and praise that He died on the cross as our substitute to be our Savior. We give you thanks
and praise that there is no human being so far from you, no human being who has done anything so evil
that your Son's death upon the cross is not sufficient to save them. That you have and can and will forgive
even the worst when they come to you, asking for your forgiveness and for Jesus to be their Savior and
their Lord. So Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would bring these precious truths home to us in a
very powerful way as we look at your Word. May they form our heart and how we live. And we ask these
things in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated.
Amen.
I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I think I
guilty person or stop the bad thing from happening.
And most of the more popular books in that genre
have a bit of a semi-tortured hero.
Somebody who in fact is struggling
because they've done some horrible things
and they're a bit uncomfortable with their conscience,
so to speak, as they try to deal with that other issue.
And so it's just, I think it's now viewed as a very
common place of contemporary wisdom that people need
to learn how to forgive themselves.
But the problem is, like why is it that this is going on
in the culture?
And you know, the problem is, and many of us are probably
living with this right now, some of us have seasons
in our lives and sometimes those seasons of our lives
can last a very, very, very long time.
When we have a conscience that accuses us constantly.
Our conscience isn't quiet and it isn't settled.
But it's as if there's something inside of our head
with a loud voice that accuses us over and over and over again.
And it affects how we relate to other people.
And it affects our sleep.
It just deeply affects us.
And on top of that, some of us maybe live with,
it's not just a voice inside of our head which is accusing us
very shrilly.
But we actually might live or see regularly somebody who accuses us.
And that is how a lot of us live.
And I think it's in that context that our cultural wisdom
is that we have to learn to forgive ourselves.
It's an attempt to quieten that conscience which accuses us,
which says you are no good.
You are terrible.
You always do terrible things.
Did you see what you just did?
That just shows how bad you are.
I am bad.
You are bad.
It's just over and over and over in our head.
So how do we live with that?
Well, actually, believe it or not,
the Bible text that was just read by Josiah,
on one hand, probably some of you find the text very, very boring.
And in some ways, it is a bit of a boring text for a lot of us Canadians.
It might not be boring for lawyers
because of the two legal arguments summarized in it.
And I don't know if you picked up that actually within that,
there's not only something which is in the midst of that story,
which some of us would have found boring.
It's actually a thing that if you understood what he just said,
you'd go, whoa, whoa, he just said that?
Because he touches on something which for many people in our culture,
we find, they find is a problem with Christianity.
But it's actually in this story,
if you actually enter into what's going on in the story,
there's a key building block of solving the problem of accusing conscience.
And the key building block is vastly better
than the futile attempt to forgive yourself.
So open your Bibles.
Let's have a look and see what it says.
And we're looking at Acts chapter 24.
And if you're watching or you're here
and you haven't been to our church before,
we preach through books of the Bible.
We're going through the book of Acts.
It's an...
And we've started chapter one.
We're going to go right till the end.
And we're looking at chapter 24.
And what has just sort of happened here
is that Paul, who's an apostle,
he's in Roman custody.
He's been accused of things that he hadn't done.
There's been a mob that tried to kill him.
There's been a plot to try to kill him
and to save him from the plot.
The Romans, when they discover he's also a Roman citizen,
they've brought him into still not protective custody.
It's still criminal custody, not protective custody.
It's criminal custody.
And they've brought him to the capital of the whole region
before the governor of the whole region
so that there could be a type of trial
about what should be done about Paul.
And that's where we are in the story.
And so let's begin at chapter 24, verse one.
And here's how it goes.
And after five days...
So the five days is the plot to murder Paul.
So five days after the plot to murder Paul,
the high priest Ananias came down with some of the elders.
They're sort of...
Elders is a good translation,
but what you should understand,
it's a bit of a formal title for the nobility.
Okay, so Ananias, who's the high priest,
has come down with some other people of the priestly elite,
and he's also brought some of the secular elite,
so to speak, down for this trial.
So they're very invested in finding Paul guilty
so that he will be killed.
That's...
If you don't understand that it's all about Paul being killed,
you won't understand the drama of the text.
By the way, I planned it exactly
that there'd be kids coming in at a dramatic moment like that.
It takes lots of extra planning to do that.
So verse 21 again.
And after five days,
the high priest Ananias came down with some of the elders,
or the lay nobility,
and a spokesman, one Tertullus,
basically a lawyer,
because it's going to be a trial.
And they laid before the governor
their case against Paul.
And when he had been summoned,
Tertullus began to accuse Paul,
saying...
Now, just before we go any more into it,
just a bit of an aside,
in terms of the historical accuracy of the book,
Ananias, the high priest,
is...
They know a lot about him
because a Jewish historian wrote about him.
And at the end of this,
we're going to discover that it's Felix,
who was the Roman governor,
and they know a lot about Felix
because the Roman historian Tacitus
talked about him.
And if you're very curious,
you can go into some academic commentaries,
and they'll talk about how Tacitus lived
and Ananias lived
and their conflicts
and all of that other stuff.
There's this whole other subtext going on
in the bottom of it.
But the bottom line is
that if you know the historical record
about these two men,
you'll understand that what happens in this story
is completely plausible and reasonable.
There's no reason historically to doubt
that this actually happened
and that this is an accurate state of affairs.
So what's their argument
as to why Felix should put Paul to death?
This is life and death.
It begins then in verse 2, halfway through.
Tertullus says,
Since through you we enjoy peace,
much peace,
and since by your foresight,
most excellent Felix,
reforms are being made for this nation.
In every way and everywhere,
we accept this with all gratitude.
So basically, this is just a summary.
Like in real life,
he spent 20 minutes, 25 minutes,
shameless flattery.
That's what he would have done.
And by the way,
we know that flattery works.
Otherwise, people would stop using flattery.
But it's just shameless flattery.
They just summarized it very briefly.
And then it continues, verse 4,
But to detain you no further,
I beg you in your kindness
to hear us briefly.
For we found this man a plague,
one who stirs up riots.
Sorry, that's verse 5.
For we have found this man a plague,
one who stirs up riots
among all the Jewish people
throughout the world,
and is a ringleader of the sect
of the Nazarenes.
Now, just pause here.
The word translated is plague.
It's a very good word,
but it's actually a technical legal term.
And so what the charge is,
is they've said,
the word for plague
could also be translated
as public enemy.
And so the charge that they're going,
they're not going after anything
religious with Paul.
Paul knows that it's,
for religious reasons,
that they're after him.
But they don't use that.
They don't use anything spiritual.
They go after a very, very,
very serious crime,
and it's the crime of sedition.
That Paul is a well-traveled public enemy.
That's what the word plague is.
And so you can get it.
It's a plague.
He's a public enemy
that's just going to spread
and spread and spread
unless you put him to death.
And even when they say
that he's a ringleader
of the sect of the Nazarenes,
that's furthering their claim
that he is a public menace.
Why?
Because they say you follow Jesus.
And who's Jesus?
Well, Jesus was executed
20-some years earlier
for being the king of the Jews.
He's been accused of sedition.
Verse 6,
he even tried to profane the temple.
So now they're sort of
giving him some arguments.
He even tried to profane the temple, right?
He's a troublemaker.
But we seized him.
We're the good guys.
We seized him.
Verse 8,
By examining him yourself,
you will be able to find out from him
about everything of which we accuse him.
The Jews also joined the charge
affirming that all these things
were so offering of our evidence.
And the thing to remember
in all of this
is that in Roman trials,
you are not innocent
until proven guilty.
That's why Paul is still
not in protective custody,
but in criminal custody.
He is not innocent.
They've made this accusation against him.
In Canada,
at least,
I think still primarily,
I don't have to say a single word
in my defense
if I'm accused of that.
They have to prove the case.
Not there.
Paul has to prove his innocence.
It's a very, very clever legal ploy.
So what's Paul going to do about it?
Well, verse 10,
And when the governor
had nodded to him to speak,
Paul replied.
Paul has trained in rhetoric.
He's going to defend himself.
And he says this,
Knowing that for many years
you have been a judge
over this nation,
I cheerfully make my defense.
Now, by the way,
we don't know if when he says cheerfully
he's, like most of us,
his knees are going like this
and there's sweat pouring down,
you know,
but he said at least cheerfully.
That's, I guess,
maybe his aspiration
rather than what he's actually
really feeling right then.
We'll say that again.
I cheerfully make my defense.
You can verify
that it is not more than 12 days
since I went up to worship
in Jerusalem
and that they did not find me
disputing with anyone
or stirring up a crowd
either in the temple
or in the synagogues
or in the city.
And what Paul's going to do
is he's going to try
to ignore the sedition thing.
He's going to just say
there's no evidence of this
and he's going to try
to bring it back
to a type of religious issue.
But here's the point.
Unless you're a lawyer
and you're really interested
in the strategy,
we're coming to the part
which is that
we just read over
but actually
we should understand
that that's like a woe moment.
Okay?
Verse 13.
Neither can they prove to you
what they now bring up against me.
But this I confess to you
that according to the way,
it's an early way
of describing Christianity
as the way,
which they call a sect,
I worship the God
of our fathers,
believing everything
laid down by the law
and written by the prophets.
That's why Christians,
I sometimes shock
some of my Jewish friends
or acquaintances,
they don't,
there's a lot of Jewish people
who don't understand
that Christians believe
the Old Testament
is part of their Bible.
I mean,
I say that to some
and they go,
like,
they make a bit of a surprise
to me.
But it's,
Christians believe
the Old Testament
is part of the Bible.
Verse 15.
Having a hope in God,
now here's the hope,
which these men accept,
okay,
what's Paul's hope?
which these men themselves
accept,
the Jews,
that there will be
a resurrection
of both the just
and the unjust.
Now,
pause here.
That's,
this is a woe moment.
Woe.
This is the language.
Paul
is a nobody.
Paul's a nobody.
I mean,
it's sort of one of those
ironies of history
that today,
unless you happen
to go to a church
and they happen
to preach on Acts,
or unless you're
into ancient Roman society,
you have no idea
who Felix is
or Ananias.
Paul has schools
named after him,
cities are named after him,
but back then,
he's a nobody,
complete and utter nobody,
surrounded by all
of the powerful people
in criminal custody,
and he's looking,
the governor,
whose nation
has conquered
the Jewish people,
and he's saying,
this is my hope.
My hope is
that there will one day
be a true
and greater court,
and every human being,
the implication,
you too,
are going to stand
before the triune God
and be judged,
and not everybody
is going to be found
innocent,
and by him saying
it's a hope,
his belief
is that when
that final,
true,
and greater court
comes,
called by the triune God,
every single person
who's ever lived
is going to appear
before it,
some will be found
guilty,
and this leads into
the whole doctrine
of eternal punishment,
but my hope is
that I will stand
in that judgment,
and he says that
to the Roman governor.
That's a woe moment.
I bet the Jewish people
went,
woe,
and then they probably
chuckled,
now we got him.
He's just insulted
Felix.
He's just called
into question
everything that
Felix is doing.
He's implying
that there's a chance
that Felix,
when he appears
before the triune God,
will be found guilty
and judged by God.
They're chuckling
to themselves,
and who knows,
maybe some of Paul's
friends are thinking,
Paul,
that's not a smart move.
Paul is playing
for bigger stakes.
In a sense,
what's going through
Paul's heart
is what does it
profit me
to stand justified
before God
on the judgment day
when I didn't give
Felix an opportunity
to also stand
and be found
justified
on the last day
of judgment.
What's far more
important?
In Felix's mind,
he's probably going,
hmm,
this is interesting.
I'm a Roman.
You're a Jew
under my thumb.
I'm a governor.
You're a nobody.
I'm rich.
You're a nobody.
I'm powerful.
You're a nobody.
My brother
personally knows
the emperor.
Da-da-da-da.
You're a nobody.
You're in my court.
You're a nobody.
I get to decide
your fate.
You're a nobody.
That's probably
what's going through
his mind.
But Paul makes
this very,
very bold claim.
And as we're going
to see for a moment,
it's going to be
something that he
doubles down on
in a couple of minutes.
Let's look what happens.
Verse 16.
So,
this is what he says.
And here's where
it touches in
with what I said.
It's actually something
which is important
to understand
the issue
of a severely
accusing conscience.
Look what he says
in verse 16.
So,
he has this hope
that every single
human being
will appear
before the judgment
seat of the triune God.
This,
by the way,
is not a popular
doctrine in Canada,
in case you're not
aware of that.
And my hope is
that when that happens,
I will be declared
innocent.
And then,
look,
he directly connects
this to his conscience.
Look at verse 16.
So,
I always take pains
to have a clear conscience
before both God
and human beings.
Continues.
Now,
after several years,
I came to bring alms
to my nation.
In other words,
rather than coming
to bring trouble,
I brought money
to help the poor
and to present offerings.
While I was doing this,
they found me purified
in the temple
without any crowd
or tumult.
It's a religious question,
not political.
But some Jewish people
from Western Turkey,
they ought to be here
before you
and make an accusation
should they have
anything against me.
In other words,
none of these people
actually witnessed
the thing
that got me into custody.
All of their testimony
is completely
and utterly valid.
The lawyers amongst
will say that it's hearsay
and hence doesn't have
any place in the court.
Verse 20,
or else let these men
themselves say
what wrongdoing
they found
when I stood
before the council.
Other than this one thing
that I cried out
while standing among them,
it is respect.
Look at this again.
To the resurrection
of the dead
that I am in trial
to you this day.
He returns to it,
although obviously
in a bit of a different tenor,
hinting at why
he has a conscience
before him.
Now, how does it all
play out?
Well, I'm going to get
into this whole issue
of the judgment,
but we need to see
the rest of the story
because it's going to
come up a third time
in the text.
Look at verse 22.
But Felix,
having a rather
accurate knowledge
of the way,
put them off,
that's the Ananias
and the Jewish elite,
by saying,
when Lysias,
the tribune,
comes down,
I will decide
your case.
Then he gave orders
to the centurion
that Paul should be
kept in custody
but have some liberty
that none of his friends
should be prevented
from attending
to his needs.
Paul is still going
to remain
in criminal custody.
Verse 24,
after some days,
Felix came with
his wife Drusilia,
who was Jewish,
and Felix sent
for Paul
and heard him speak.
Now, what does
Paul speak about?
Third time,
he talks about
faith in Christ Jesus
and as Paul reasoned
about righteousness
and self-control
and the coming judgment.
Felix was alarmed
and said,
go away for the present.
When I get an opportunity,
I will summon you.
At the same time,
Felix was hoping
that money would be given
to him by Paul.
In other words,
he's hoping for a bribe.
So he sent for Paul
often and conversed
with him.
For two years,
when two years had elapsed,
Felix was succeeded
by Porcius Festus
and desiring to do
the Jewish elites
a favor,
Felix left Paul
in prison.
So,
what's going on?
Well,
on one hand,
what's going on here
in this story
is,
here's the problem.
So,
on one hand,
how you can read this story.
This is a story
that,
on one hand,
probably none of us
have been in
this exact situation,
but many of us
have been in situations
which are similar,
which is that
you're innocent,
you have the evidence
on your side,
but your enemies
are powerful,
they are insistent
upon your defeat,
they will not listen
to reason,
and the ones
who can judge it
are corrupt.
Or,
in other words,
what,
they're corrupt,
that's maybe a strong word.
Sometimes we've all been,
and maybe it's been
in a church,
maybe it's been
in school,
maybe it's been
a place of our employment,
where the person
who makes the decision,
rather than looking
at the facts of the case,
does this,
and sees which way
is the wind blowing
from the powerful.
And that's what's
going on in the story.
So,
on one hand,
it's a very,
very human story.
We've all probably
been in some situations
similar to this.
But the big issue
is,
what does this have to do
with accusing conscience,
and how on earth
can this idea
that human beings
are going to appear
before the judgment seat
of God,
and be judged by Him,
every single human being,
how can this actually
be helpful to anything?
In fact,
I think if you'd ask,
and it wouldn't matter
if you were in
the most trendy coffee house,
it wouldn't matter
if you were in a Tim Hortons,
or everything in between,
it wouldn't matter
if you went into
an elite cocktail bar,
or like a low-level pub,
many people would say
that they could never
believe in a God
who judges.
That's one of the problems
I have with Christianity,
George.
You believe there's going
to be a final judgment,
some people are going
to go to eternal punishment,
others are going
to be saved,
I could never believe
in a God
or a religion
that talks about
stuff like that.
Paul is tripled down
on this particular topic.
So how can this actually
be part of the help?
Well, here's the first thing
to think about,
and this might be something
you might want to say.
Maybe if you're thinking
these very things yourself,
this is something here
you'd consider.
Or if it comes up
in conversation,
it's come up in conversation
with me, by the way.
Sometimes people,
after I've talked to them
about Christianity
for a while,
have brought this issue
up to me,
and in a second way,
because they'll also say,
okay, by the way, George,
you actually think,
you think you're going
to stand in the judgment day
and I won't?
And you can sort of
see them smirk,
like, really?
You think you're
that much better than me?
Like, really?
And the implication is
that I'm very deluded.
But here's some things
we could say.
The first one is this.
Everybody wants to live
in a moral universe.
We want to live
in a moral universe
at a very fundamental level.
If you watch
the Netflix series,
it's very, very dark.
I'm not recommending it.
It's called
American Primeval.
But one of the things
which makes that series
so dark
is it's a fundamentally
amoral place.
And when it's
an amoral world,
all that matters
is who has the gun,
who will kill
to get what they want.
We want to live
in a moral universe
at a very fundamental level.
But here's the question.
How on earth
can we live
in a moral universe
if there's not
a final judgment?
You can't have
a moral universe
without a final judgment.
If there's no final judgment,
even if there's morality,
it's not a moral universe.
I'm not going to give you
any spoiler alerts,
but occasionally,
there'll be movies
that you can watch.
And, you know,
in hindsight,
I'll go back and think,
oh, it's one of those movies
that had like a 96%
critics liked it
and 4% viewers liked it.
And that should tell you
something right off the bat
if you have a movie
that's reviewed like that.
And it's a movie
where at the end of the movie,
the victims die,
the persecutors live,
the oppressors live,
those oppressing die.
The people who do
horrendous things,
they live,
and the people
who've been trying
to do the good thing,
they all die.
And you end up
watching a movie like that
and you think,
this is not like
a moral movie.
Like, I think to myself,
I've wasted my time
watching a movie like this.
If there's no type
of final judgment
in the world,
and all you have
is this life,
even if you have a sense
that there is right and wrong,
it's not a moral universe
unless there's
a final judgment.
People don't think about that.
And then the second thing
about it is about,
and it goes without
being a moral universe,
is you can't have
a moral universe
if there's no guilt,
if there's nothing
like conscience
which is built into you.
And here's a problem
for our culture.
You know,
the most successful species
are like ants
and cockroaches
and they have no conscience.
Conscience doesn't do anything
to increase your chance
of your species surviving,
but we have consciences
and we actually really
need to have a conscience
and we need to have guilt.
I've told some of you
this story before.
I haven't used it
for a couple of years,
but a couple of years ago
there was an interview
with a well-known actress
and they said
if there's one thing
you could change about life,
what would you change?
And she said
if I could change anything
in the world,
it would be to get rid of guilt,
that I have no sense
of guilt whatsoever.
And the interviewer
sort of nodded.
I mean, obviously,
I'm reading it,
but you could tell
they were nodding
with approval,
but she just said
she wanted to be
a sociopath.
I don't know
if it's a sociopath
or a psychopath.
Whatever one it is
that has no guilt.
She just said,
I want to be a psychopath.
And the other person
nodded as if,
like, this is a really good idea.
It's not a good idea
to be a psychopath.
Psychopaths don't have
that experience of guilt.
You see,
part of our rejection,
the human rejection
of the idea
that there is
a final judgment
is the sense
that if there is,
you won't pass.
Only the raging narcissist
think,
oh yeah, that's good.
I'm looking forward to it.
Look at my dimple.
Dimple?
I don't know if I have dimples,
you know.
You know, look at my scars.
God, I'm in for sure, right?
And especially, you know,
for those of us
who have accusing consciences,
this whole idea
that we will appear
before the judgment seat of God
just seems to
even be more depressing
and create even more despair.
But is Paul a narcissist?
Like, as I said,
when I've talked
to some people occasionally,
it hasn't happened
in a couple of years,
they directly asked me,
do you think I'm going
to go to hell
if I don't believe in Jesus?
I wasn't expecting
that question.
And I started
to give an answer.
And the person said,
so you think you won't?
You'll pass the judgment,
but I won't?
And that's when
they just looked.
like there's something
hopeless about me
if I think that's
what's going to happen to me.
Well,
the Bible is wise.
I mean, I've already
pointed out to you,
you can't live
in a moral universe.
You want to live
in a moral universe,
but you can't live in one
if there is no final judgment.
Then by death,
it is not going to be
a moral universe.
And you need to have conscience.
If there's no type of conscience,
then you want to live
in a world filled
with psychopaths.
And if there's in fact
something in your conscience
that knows that
if you actually stood
before the God
as described in the Bible,
you wouldn't pass.
Well,
you see,
here's how Canadians
think a little bit
about this whole question,
about whether I would stand
or not,
or they would.
The average Canadian
thinks something like this.
We sort of think
a little bit
as if God
is going to rank people
sort of the way
he ranked stadiums.
If you go to a hockey game,
how the stadium is ranked.
And so the rich people
can afford the seats
really close to the ice.
And the poor people
get the seats
in the nosebleed section.
And so how God's
final judgment
is going to be
is that
at the end of the day,
everybody's seated
in the stadium.
And the line goes
horizontally across
all human beings
and those human beings
which are below this line
in the expensive seats,
the good seats,
they pass.
The people in the
not good seats,
well,
they're the ones
who are going to fail.
But the Bible
says something
which is in fact
why our conscience,
only the Bible
actually explains
how that type of thinking
is not accurate thinking.
It doesn't even fit
with human experience.
You see,
because the Bible
actually says
that the line
between good and evil
goes right down
every human being.
It's not
a horizontal line.
It's a vertical line.
And you see,
the Bible doesn't say
that human beings
never do anything good,
but it does say
that we can never
only do things
which are good
because there is
this line down
the center
of every human being.
And so I would have
to say to that person
who said to me,
you need to understand
something about Christianity.
I know that in and of myself
I could never stand
before the judgment seat
of God.
And in fact,
actually,
if I have ever acted
in such a way
that I
looked like I thought
that somehow
just because of who I am
I would stand
before that,
I apologize to you.
Because that's not true.
It goes right down me.
And it goes right down you.
See, the other type of thing
which makes this doctrine
a little bit hard
is that
is the whole idea
of presumption.
You see,
as the average Canadian,
even if they think
about this as a topic,
what they tend to think of
is that it's sort of
like university students
at the beginning
of a term.
And if a university student
at the beginning
of a term said,
I already know
that I got an A plus,
you'd go, what?
Like, you're still
having to do the papers.
You haven't done the exams.
The final mark
isn't in yet.
But once again,
the fact that we are
troubled about
standing before God
in fact is a hint
that what the Bible
says is true.
And the Bible says
is that for every one
of you,
both in Christ
and out of Christ,
the final mark
has already been given.
Paul says to the church
in Rome,
for all have sinned
and fall short
of the glory of God.
The final mark
has been given.
My hope of not failing
is not based
on my performance.
See, what is the biblical...
The biblical hope
is this.
That unworthy
and as undeserving
that I am.
I don't know
who first said this,
but somebody said
that mercy
is not getting
what you deserve.
So, you get shown mercy
when you deserve something,
but you don't get
what you deserve.
But grace
is even greater.
It tops up mercy.
You get
what you don't deserve.
You get
what you don't deserve.
And my only hope
in life and death
is that I have one
who's taken my place
and died in my place,
who lived the life
that I should live,
but wasn't able to live,
who died the death
that I deserve,
but he taps me
on the shoulder.
And if you're here
outside of Christ
and if you have
a visual imagination,
as you hear me,
I am now speaking
as his ambassador,
his representative,
and I want to tell you
that he is tapping you
on the shoulder
right now
and saying,
Bob, Sue,
I'm willing
to take your place.
let me stand for you.
I will take the doom
that you deserve
and I will offer you
the destiny
that I deserve.
And I will do it
because I love you.
Because I love you.
And you might say to God,
Jesus,
do you realize
what I've done?
Do you realize
how terrible
a person I am?
I don't want to say
this to other people.
To other people,
I say that I'm a good person,
but do you realize
in my heart
I know that I have done
horrendous things?
Do you realize
that I have a conscience
that screams at me
every night
so that I cannot sleep?
Sometimes I can hardly
hear you
because my conscience
is screaming at me
so loud.
Do you realize
what I have done?
Do you realize
what I have failed to do?
And I can only speak now
as the herald of Christ
and say that Christ
will say to you
as he taps you
on the shoulder,
yes,
I know.
Yes,
I know.
And he'll show you
his hands
with the nail print
and maybe he'll show you
the side
where the spear went in
and he say,
I did these for you.
I will take your place
if you will but let me.
If you will but let me.
You see,
the thing is about
the whole story
of Christianity
is it fits this riddle
of our existence
that on one hand,
yeah,
that God himself
who sees all things
that only he
can truly forgive
and it's not just
a matter of forgiveness
of the bad things
having been dealt with
in Christ
as he takes our place,
but it's also a matter
of him clothing us
with his accomplishment.
Paul might have had
in the back of his mind
is one of those times
when he spoke
to Felix.
Felix,
I'm sorry I didn't have it
put up on the screen,
but if you have your Bibles,
it's a very famous text.
It's Isaiah chapter 53.
I'll just read part of it.
It's verses 1 to 6.
Who has believed
what he has heard from us
and to whom
has the arm of the Lord
been revealed?
This is a prophecy
600 years before Christ
and Isaiah prophetically saying
for Jesus,
for he grew up before him
like a young plant
and like a root
out of dry ground.
Speaking of Jesus,
he had no former majesty
that we should look at him
and no beauty,
humanly speaking,
that we should desire him.
Jesus was a nobody
from Nazareth,
which is nowhereville.
And Jesus was despised
and rejected by human beings.
He was a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief.
He would have buried his father.
And in those days,
who knows how many brothers
or sisters that Mary bore
that died in childhood
that Jesus would have helped
to bury
as the oldest son.
He was despised
and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief.
And as one
from whom men hide their faces,
that's what they did
on the cross,
he was despised
and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows.
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God and afflicted.
But he was wounded
for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
Upon him was the chastisement
that brought us peace.
And with his stripes,
we are healed.
You are healed.
If you put your faith in him,
you are healed.
All like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way.
And the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Brothers and sisters,
this is the Christian hope.
You will appear
before the judgment seat of God.
There is no hope other than this.
There is no moral universe
without a last judgment.
There is no explanation
of your conscience
unless it is part of God's good gift
to call you to himself.
And there is no savior
and no salvation
other than him taking your place
there is none.
But he offers it for you.
There is no sin so bad
that he did not die to cover it.
None.
And that is why
it is the beginning
of the quietening of our conscience
to know this.
A couple of things in closing.
If you struggle
with a conscience
that screams at you,
there is the body of Christ
who can pray for you.
Share that burden
and ask people to pray for you.
Sometimes this problem
is a truly spiritual problem.
there is a devil.
There is a devil.
And one of the names
of the devil
and all of the evil spirits
is the accuser.
The accuser.
Once again,
you have your own authority.
You can say,
in the name of Jesus,
evil spirit,
be gone from me.
In the name of Jesus,
be silenced.
In the name of Jesus,
don't speak.
And if that does not help,
you have brothers and sisters
in Christ
who can pray for you.
There is freedom.
And a third thing you can do
is to meditate upon
the finished work of Christ.
Meditate upon texts
like Romans 8.
There is no condemnation now
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Meditate upon the end
of Romans 8.
Will this separate me
from the love of God
or this or this or this or this?
No, nothing will.
Meditate upon it.
Claim that as your promise.
Ask people to pray
that you will take that heart
as it brings the gospel home to you.
What Christ has done for you.
And a fourth thing
that you can do
is very,
it's a thing we can do today.
It's the wonderful thing
about celebrating
the Lord's Supper.
The Lord's Supper
is a reminder to us
of what Jesus did
for us on the cross.
And that when we put
our faith and trust in Him,
it's like you enter
into a new covenant with Him,
one where He will never let you go.
And it's not,
I'm not going to get up
and say,
by the way,
only the people
in the expensive seats
can come forward
for communion.
All you losers
in the nosebleed section,
you have to stay back.
I don't say,
by the way,
all of you really,
you know,
scummy people
who haven't had
a very good week,
like you have to stay
in your seats.
No.
The Lord's Supper
is this visual reminder
of what Christ has done
for us on the cross.
It's an opportunity
for us to reflect again
upon what the gospel
has accomplished for you.
And it is an invitation
for you to come and say,
you know what,
that person probably
isn't any better than me
and they're receiving communion
and that person
isn't any better than me
and George isn't any better than me
and they're all receiving communion.
And Jesus is,
George is being Christ's herald
and say,
come.
And I will come
and I will feed on Christ.
And it reminds me
that it's,
his blood has covered me
and entered me.
His body has entered me.
I can feed on him spiritually
and I can remember
with the invitation
that the words of the accuser
is wrong.
That Christ welcomes me.
One final piece of advice.
I mean,
you know,
part of the whole problem
with accusing conscience
is we can't go back
in time to fix things.
And one of the things,
upon all those other four things
which I've told you
is that one of the things
that we can just do
is pray.
If there's some other thing
of amendment of life
that we can do,
then the Holy Spirit
should lead you into it.
You see,
the wonderful thing
about the gospel
is that once it becomes
more real to your heart,
it doesn't become an excuse
for you to do more
bad things.
It becomes a secure,
emotional,
and intellectual place
to stand
where you can ask
the Holy Spirit,
you can ask Christ
to make clear to you
what you did
and what you did not do wrong
and ask for his help
to make things right
and to walk towards it.
And if there's nothing
you can do,
well then,
just to at least pray
into the situation.
You see,
the gospel doesn't give you
a license to sin.
It provides this strong
emotional and intellectual place
and communal place
because we are a congregation
of the cross
to support each other.
So sinners,
if you're in Christ,
you are redeemed.
And when it comes time
for communion,
come on up
and remember Christ.
I invite you to stand.
Let's pray.
Father,
your Son is a wonderful
and beautiful Savior.
We give you thanks
and praise
that though evil
runs through the center
of every single human being
and will be there
to some extent
until we see you
face to face
and are glorified
to be like Christ
and to see you
face to face
unashamed,
basking in your beauty,
the beauty of your smile
and of your goodness
and of your love
and beauty
and all of that,
Father.
We give you thanks
and praise
that your Son
died to save us,
that he died
to take away
that sin
and that shame
that he dealt
with it on the cross
and that he clothes us
when we put our faith
and trust in him,
that not just him,
he doesn't just take away
the sin
and the punishment
our sin deserves,
but that he clothes us
in his righteousness,
he clothes us
in his beauty,
he clothes us
in his goodness
and that he calls us
to be part of his people
in a covenant
with him forever.
Father,
we are not worthy
of anything like this.
We are dependent
completely upon
your goodness,
completely dependent
upon your goodness
and we ask,
we are so thankful,
Father,
that you do not
have us walk alone
but that we can be part
of a community
centered around the cross
in Christ
and that week by week
we are invited
to remember
what he did
for us on the cross.
We are reminded
to meet other people
that we can ask
to pray for us
and we can come
and receive
and feed spiritually
upon Christ
Sunday after Sunday.
Father,
we thank you
for the grace
in Christ
and the means
of grace
in Sunday services
and Holy Communion
and we ask,
that you bring
the gospel home
more and more deeply
to us
so that,
Father,
out of that,
we might deal
with the crap
in our lives
knowing what
the final judgment
is.
And we ask all
these things
in the name
of Jesus,
your Son
and our Savior
and all God's
people said,
Amen.