WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.460 Good evening, guys. Can you hear me? Great. Tonight we're going to be in Colossians chapter 2. 00:00:09.460 --> 00:00:20.420 ! So if you want to open up, if you have a Bible, if you have it on your paper there, I think most of us have it on our papers, but we're going to be in the book of Colossians chapter 2. 00:00:20.420 --> 00:00:28.460 And I'm only going to be reading through, I know in the paper it's printed off 13, but I'm only going to be reading from, all right, it's at 12, it starts. 00:00:28.460 --> 00:00:38.760 I'm only going to be reading at 13 through 15. That's where my text is going to be tonight. So let us stay standing. Thank you for doing that. 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:47.960 For the reading of God's word from Colossians chapter 2, verses 13 through 15. 00:00:50.420 --> 00:01:13.180 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. 00:01:13.180 --> 00:01:23.640 This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. 00:01:24.540 --> 00:01:26.400 May God add a blessing to his word. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:35.480 I'm going to open up with a word of prayer and you guys can go ahead and sit down now, please. 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:48.920 Father, we thank you for gathering us here tonight. 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:57.840 Father, to just celebrate and to glean and to look at the magnificent work of your son, Jesus, on the cross. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:02.480 So Father, keep us here tonight in the shadow of the cross. 00:02:02.620 --> 00:02:03.340 Let us learn. 00:02:07.020 --> 00:02:08.099 Let us know. 00:02:10.060 --> 00:02:16.920 Help us to treasure and to Savior what he has done and live in the good of that. 00:02:17.819 --> 00:02:20.840 Lord, open our eyes and our hearts tonight, we pray. Amen. 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:20.939 Amen. 00:02:20.939 --> 00:02:20.939 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:39.659 In the year 168 BC, Aemilius Paulus defeated Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, in the third and final Macedonian War. 00:02:40.259 --> 00:02:45.219 Aemilius was granted a Roman triumph, a celebration lasting three days. 00:02:45.780 --> 00:02:52.140 It was actually one of the most spectacular and lavish Roman triumphs in Roman history. 00:02:52.139 --> 00:03:00.059 On this three-day celebration, on each day, they paraded around with their riches gained from the war. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:10.759 Spectators lining the streets, cheering with shouts of joy over the open showcase of the Macedonian weapons and symbols of the defeated king. 00:03:12.219 --> 00:03:19.579 And the climax of this event was Perseus, the king of Macedon, was stripped of its kingly attire 00:03:19.580 --> 00:03:26.500 and held captive, showcased for all to see, while Aemilius rode in a magnificent chariot, 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:32.860 wearing a purple and gold robe and a laurel crown, celebrating his victory. 00:03:36.060 --> 00:03:42.320 One of the difficult parts about being a pastor with a text is we're called to embody the text. 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:48.060 We're called to keep the mood, if you might say, of the text. 00:03:48.060 --> 00:03:55.360 So I know tonight is a memorial and a somber kind of quiet moment we have of reflection of the cross. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:59.300 But my text is also, it leans more on the joyous side. 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:01.759 I mean, the title is The Triumphant Christ. 00:04:02.180 --> 00:04:04.620 So triumph is a celebration of victory. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:12.520 So tonight in my text, yes, we will venture through and see the tragedy of the cross, 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:17.620 but we'll also celebrate in the glory of the cross and the triumph of the cross. 00:04:18.960 --> 00:04:25.600 Last week, Andrew so graciously took us through Colossians chapter 1 and unpacked that amazing text 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:30.819 to see the supremacy of Christ and redemption in all of creation. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:35.259 Paul, in this letter to Colossians, does not disappoint. 00:04:35.259 --> 00:04:43.779 He wants to make sure that the church clearly understands the work, the person and the work of Christ Jesus. 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:54.439 So tonight we gather to remember this most divine, most awful, most holy moment in the history of the universe. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:59.959 It is the apex of God's mission to save his people. 00:04:59.959 --> 00:05:07.819 And these few verses about the cross of Christ here in Colossians is seen as central pieces to his whole letter. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:14.180 So it's amazing that even I have the privilege to declare this message to you tonight. 00:05:14.599 --> 00:05:24.419 It really, it baffles me because I stand like you at the foot of the cross and I see my own unworthiness. 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:27.620 And yet I see how loved I am. 00:05:27.679 --> 00:05:29.779 I see how loved we are. 00:05:29.959 --> 00:05:30.620 By God. 00:05:31.699 --> 00:05:34.680 So that's my hope and my prayer for all of us here tonight. 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:42.359 That we will all see, know, and worship in all of how on the cross, 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:46.939 Christ the King was triumphant over sin, death, and Satan. 00:05:47.219 --> 00:05:52.079 So that we can be forgiven, made alive, and be triumphant with him. 00:05:52.620 --> 00:05:58.740 Again, on the cross, Christ the King was triumphant over death, sin, and Satan. 00:05:58.740 --> 00:06:03.439 So that we can be forgiven, made alive, and be triumphant with him. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:08.800 That leads me into my first point this morning. 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:11.379 I'm going to have three points tonight. 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:13.300 Not this morning, tonight. 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:16.639 And the first point is going to be at the cross, we bring nothing. 00:06:17.139 --> 00:06:19.319 The second point is at the cross, we are forgiven. 00:06:19.699 --> 00:06:22.600 And the third point is at the cross, we are triumphant. 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:31.580 So in my first point tonight is at the cross, we bring nothing. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:35.780 So let's look at verse 13 here in chapter 2 of Colossians. 00:06:35.779 --> 00:06:41.819 And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. 00:06:44.599 --> 00:06:50.099 And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. 00:06:50.419 --> 00:06:53.859 Paul here is escalating his case. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:07:01.000 He's already been making throughout this entire letter in order to show the depths of the Colossian 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:02.660 believer's previous state. 00:07:03.220 --> 00:07:09.379 So only so that they can more clearly see how significant and marvelous the work of Christ 00:07:09.379 --> 00:07:11.660 has achieved for them on the cross. 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:16.439 The verse might sound familiar. 00:07:16.939 --> 00:07:21.120 It echoes back to chapter 1 and verse 21. 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:21.920 He says, 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:28.900 So Paul is building his case. 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:30.780 He builds it here saying, 00:07:31.020 --> 00:07:34.620 Not only were you alienated, hostile, and doing evil deeds, 00:07:34.740 --> 00:07:36.100 you were also dead. 00:07:37.700 --> 00:07:40.040 You were spiritually dead. 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:44.759 Dead is as far gone as we can get. 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:47.800 And if you must know the Greek for this word dead, 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:48.900 if you're questioning it at all, 00:07:49.420 --> 00:07:50.160 it means dead. 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:53.920 It means a corpse, a lifeless body. 00:07:55.840 --> 00:08:03.360 Humanity is as dead to any spiritual truth as a human corpse is to feeling anything. 00:08:04.080 --> 00:08:06.960 So essentially, Paul wants them to grasp 00:08:06.960 --> 00:08:09.760 is that in our previous spiritual state, 00:08:10.060 --> 00:08:11.180 it is impossible, 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:17.280 impossible to do anything to see and understand the glory of Christ. 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:20.739 So not only are we spiritually dead, 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:24.059 but there is also a legal nature to our sin. 00:08:25.239 --> 00:08:27.119 Looking at verse 14, he says, 00:08:27.859 --> 00:08:32.139 We had a record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:38.939 Just like someone who has incurred an insurmountable amount of debt that could never be paid back. 00:08:39.259 --> 00:08:41.519 They're bound to declare their debts. 00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:43.679 You cannot hide it. 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:45.580 You cannot hide from it. 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:47.439 You cannot wish it away. 00:08:48.620 --> 00:08:52.179 There would be no hope of you ever being able to discharge them. 00:08:52.179 --> 00:08:57.319 But this was no mere earthly debt, 00:08:57.859 --> 00:09:00.620 but it's a spiritual debt of treason, 00:09:01.219 --> 00:09:04.239 of rebellion on a cosmic scale. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:11.519 So Paul here, when he says that it's your dead and your trespasses and your uncircumcision, 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:14.919 he's saying it doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile. 00:09:15.139 --> 00:09:18.139 All of humanity is spiritually dead. 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:20.580 And all are legally condemned 00:09:20.580 --> 00:09:25.139 by the insurmountable records of sin that stood against us. 00:09:25.539 --> 00:09:27.799 In our own strength, in our own effort, 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:32.459 it is impossible to see or know the glory of Christ. 00:09:34.139 --> 00:09:37.000 All we deserve, though, was his righteous wrath. 00:09:38.740 --> 00:09:42.099 But this impossible task, this seemingly impossible task, 00:09:42.199 --> 00:09:46.519 was made possible by the very one we owed. 00:09:46.959 --> 00:09:48.459 And he acted on our behalf. 00:09:49.979 --> 00:09:52.099 Which leads us to our second point tonight. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:54.319 At the cross, we are forgiven. 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:57.719 We'll be going through verses 13 and 14 here together. 00:09:57.799 --> 00:09:58.620 Back and forth. 00:09:58.979 --> 00:10:02.979 I want to show you that Paul explains that God is the one who acted. 00:10:03.620 --> 00:10:05.459 He is the sole actor in this part. 00:10:05.459 --> 00:10:09.479 He provided a way for us just as he promised he would 00:10:09.479 --> 00:10:13.579 centuries before when he spoke by way of the prophet Isaiah. 00:10:13.939 --> 00:10:17.299 In Isaiah chapter 43, verse 25, God says, 00:10:17.939 --> 00:10:25.379 I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for my own sake. 00:10:25.379 --> 00:10:28.200 And I will not remember your sins. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:32.320 God is the sole actor in our salvation. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:39.779 For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son into this world with one mission. 00:10:40.939 --> 00:10:44.059 Christ knew this was the only way. 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:46.539 He knew this was the only way. 00:10:46.539 --> 00:10:58.159 God took our insurmountable record of debt, placed it into his son's hands, 00:10:58.959 --> 00:11:01.439 and he nailed it to the cross with Christ. 00:11:02.299 --> 00:11:09.679 So Christ became our substitute, standing in our place for the payment of our debt. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:16.319 As the hymn goes, it was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished. 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:20.699 And until what was accomplished? 00:11:21.639 --> 00:11:30.120 The fullness of God's just wrath being poured out onto Christ in his punishment for our sin. 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:36.419 As Paul explicitly here and definitively lays out for us in verse 14, 00:11:37.179 --> 00:11:39.700 thus canceling our record of debt. 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:40.860 It is done. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:43.060 He has canceled our debt. 00:11:43.419 --> 00:11:47.720 Other translations put it, he has erased the record of debt. 00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:50.440 He has plotted out the record of debt. 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:53.799 He has destroyed our record of debt. 00:11:54.460 --> 00:11:55.899 Oh, what good news this is. 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:57.600 But Paul continues here. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:06.279 Paul continues to compound this truth in verse 14 by adding this record of debt he has set aside. 00:12:07.740 --> 00:12:15.100 When one goes into the courtroom, the bailiff is sitting there and has a stack of files, 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.500 a record of cases ready to go for the judge, ready for the day session. 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:23.080 And in the courtroom of heaven, you're standing before God, 00:12:23.080 --> 00:12:27.500 but your file, with all of its lists of sins you have done, 00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:29.019 it's gone. 00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:32.040 Nowhere to be found. 00:12:33.560 --> 00:12:39.540 Paul wants to make it clear to the Christian who sees that it was their sin that held him there. 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:41.980 Christ says to them, 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:43.980 I am wiping your slate clean, 00:12:44.899 --> 00:12:47.300 giving you a new start. 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:52.479 He took that signed acknowledgement of indebtedness, 00:12:52.479 --> 00:12:58.139 which stood as a perpetual witness against us and canceled it by his death. 00:12:58.579 --> 00:13:02.539 The record is completely obliterated in God's reckoning. 00:13:02.539 --> 00:13:09.919 Just as the psalmist makes clear in Psalm 103, verse 12, 00:13:10.419 --> 00:13:14.199 as far as the east is from the west, 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:18.599 so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:22.139 This is good news because guess what? 00:13:22.700 --> 00:13:24.659 The east and the west never meet. 00:13:24.980 --> 00:13:26.060 They never meet. 00:13:26.300 --> 00:13:30.080 So when God forgives, he keeps no record. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:32.460 It is vanquished. 00:13:32.680 --> 00:13:33.460 It is gone. 00:13:33.460 --> 00:13:37.280 And so Paul explicitly states in verse 13, 00:13:37.680 --> 00:13:40.940 God has forgiven us all our sins, 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:43.200 all our trespasses. 00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:49.960 Christ's work on the cross had the effect of reconciling us relationally with God. 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:53.180 As John Piper so wonderfully says, 00:13:53.800 --> 00:13:59.519 God applies to us personally what Christ accomplished perfectly. 00:14:00.540 --> 00:14:01.180 Let me say it again. 00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:08.759 God applies to us personally what Christ accomplished perfectly. 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:13.660 In that courtroom standing before God with your file missing, 00:14:14.379 --> 00:14:15.019 Christ says, 00:14:15.560 --> 00:14:16.040 I took it. 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:17.540 I took it. 00:14:18.379 --> 00:14:19.139 I got this. 00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:26.960 It is through the death of Christ that we are united with Christ by faith. 00:14:27.480 --> 00:14:32.580 And it is through this union that his death becomes our very own death. 00:14:33.500 --> 00:14:36.680 His righteousness becomes our righteousness. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.620 But it doesn't stop there, no. 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:41.580 It does not stop there. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:47.440 Remember that you were spiritually dead apart from the cross of Christ. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:52.060 And so in verse 13, Paul says that we are no longer dead, 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:55.920 but God has made us alive together with Christ. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:15:00.919 Because we have been forgiven at the cross. 00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:03.879 God makes us spiritually and eternally alive with Christ. 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:10.100 You are no longer a corpse unable to respond spiritually. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:15.340 But now we are able to see Christ in all of his glory. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:19.899 Our hearts are now moved to follow him, 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:21.820 to treasure him, 00:15:22.500 --> 00:15:23.700 to love him, 00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:26.940 and to trust Christ above all else. 00:15:28.140 --> 00:15:34.280 This glorious work of Christ on the cross has not only forgiven us and made us alive, 00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:37.860 but it did something incredible to the rulers and authorities. 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:40.840 As we look and see in verse 15, 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:42.460 brings us to our last point, 00:15:42.800 --> 00:15:44.879 at the cross we are triumphant. 00:15:46.180 --> 00:15:47.200 Verse 15 says, 00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:49.740 He disarmed the rulers and authorities 00:15:49.740 --> 00:15:52.460 and put them to open shame 00:15:52.460 --> 00:15:55.320 by triumphing over them in him. 00:15:55.320 --> 00:16:02.160 These rulers and authorities in Ephesians chapter 6, 00:16:02.500 --> 00:16:05.879 Paul says that these rulers and authorities 00:16:05.879 --> 00:16:10.300 include Satan and cosmic powers in the heavenly places. 00:16:11.160 --> 00:16:14.360 So Christ has disarmed them. 00:16:14.640 --> 00:16:16.960 He has disarmed Satan. 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:20.200 Or another word for disarmed here is stripped. 00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:26.860 Christ has stripped them of any authority that these powers have had. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:30.640 The rulers and authorities at play, 00:16:33.700 --> 00:16:35.759 flogging Christ, 00:16:40.140 --> 00:16:43.120 crowning him with a crown of thorns, 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:48.900 leading him in a triumphal procession on the road to Calvary, 00:16:48.899 --> 00:16:52.120 making him carry his own cross, 00:16:53.340 --> 00:16:55.919 stripping him of his clothes, 00:16:57.779 --> 00:17:01.439 nailing him and lifting him high upon the cross in open shame, 00:17:02.079 --> 00:17:02.439 shouting, 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:05.740 Save yourself if you're the Son of God. 00:17:05.859 --> 00:17:06.839 Bring yourself down. 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:11.619 They thought the victory was theirs. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:16.539 These powers, these rulers thought the victory was theirs. 00:17:16.539 --> 00:17:17.539 They thought the victory was theirs. 00:17:17.539 --> 00:17:20.180 Stripping Christ of all his glory. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:22.000 But rather, 00:17:22.579 --> 00:17:25.899 there's been a twist in this paradoxical drama. 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:30.339 Christ was right there where he wanted to be. 00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:32.980 Christ looks over. 00:17:33.399 --> 00:17:33.659 He says, 00:17:33.980 --> 00:17:34.240 Gotcha. 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:37.619 This is my plan all along. 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:40.460 I have you and then me right where I want to be. 00:17:40.460 --> 00:17:48.440 That what was really happening with Satan and his demonic forces were being stripped. 00:17:49.340 --> 00:17:51.340 They were rendered powerless. 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:53.880 They were made captives. 00:17:54.180 --> 00:17:59.600 They were being led in triumphal procession by Christ on his cross. 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:06.279 F.S. Bruce so powerfully says it in this way, 00:18:07.879 --> 00:18:12.039 that the shameful tree has become the victor's triumphal chariot, 00:18:12.500 --> 00:18:16.679 before which his captives are driven in humiliating procession. 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:21.899 The involuntary and impotent confessors of a superior might. 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:23.919 Oh, this is good news. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:32.740 The very instrument of disgrace and death was turned by God into the very instrument of their defeat and disablement. 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:38.060 With his outstretched, pierced, and bloody hands, 00:18:38.980 --> 00:18:47.600 Christ displayed to the universe their helplessness in his own vanquished strength. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:55.299 This, my friends, is the awesome and dramatic scene we remember and we celebrate tonight. 00:18:55.859 --> 00:18:58.259 This is the power of the cross. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:02.599 This is the power of Christ's death on the cross. 00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:06.219 So you might ask, 00:19:06.379 --> 00:19:10.659 why does Paul make this a climactic point in his letter to the Colossians? 00:19:11.959 --> 00:19:14.039 What does this do for the Christian? 00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:21.599 Not only did Christ's work on the cross free us from the guilt of sin, 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:25.940 but it removed its hold over us. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:28.299 As Charles Wesley says in a hymn, 00:19:28.579 --> 00:19:30.599 he breaks the power of canceled sin. 00:19:31.019 --> 00:19:32.480 He sets the prisoner free. 00:19:32.899 --> 00:19:34.819 His blood can make the phallus clean. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:36.700 His blood availed from me. 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:39.879 He breaks the power of canceled sin. 00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:48.580 There are a multitude of ways that this triumphant act on the cross has affected Christians, 00:19:49.520 --> 00:19:50.360 setting us free. 00:19:50.800 --> 00:19:53.740 But tonight, I'm only going to be able to highlight two of those. 00:19:54.280 --> 00:19:56.520 First, we are no longer condemned. 00:19:57.100 --> 00:19:58.760 We are innocent in Christ. 00:19:59.120 --> 00:20:02.680 And secondly, we have no more fear of death. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:05.780 Death has lost its sting. 00:20:05.779 --> 00:20:10.160 We are eternally made alive with Christ. 00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:13.259 In Revelation chapter 12, 00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:18.319 Satan is called the accuser, 00:20:18.539 --> 00:20:20.399 the accuser of God's people. 00:20:21.099 --> 00:20:26.059 The one damning weapon that Satan has is to accuse, 00:20:26.859 --> 00:20:30.059 to accuse us of unforgiven sin. 00:20:30.059 --> 00:20:37.480 But even this most damning weapon has been disarmed, 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:42.240 has been vanquished on the cross, 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:44.079 left powerless. 00:20:44.759 --> 00:20:47.059 Like a snake without its fangs, 00:20:47.379 --> 00:20:52.039 the accuser has been left defanged and rendered powerless. 00:20:52.879 --> 00:20:55.639 He comes to accuse, to lead us away. 00:20:55.640 --> 00:21:01.900 We still get enamored with his accusations to this day, 00:21:02.300 --> 00:21:04.600 but they are powerless before us. 00:21:05.420 --> 00:21:09.160 He speaks lies about us, seeking to destroy our faith. 00:21:09.660 --> 00:21:10.340 Look at you. 00:21:11.020 --> 00:21:12.280 You think you're good enough? 00:21:13.560 --> 00:21:14.420 I see your sin. 00:21:15.660 --> 00:21:17.620 You'll never be free from this sin. 00:21:18.660 --> 00:21:20.720 God doesn't really love you that much. 00:21:21.820 --> 00:21:23.840 You don't fit in here with these people. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:27.039 These whisperings, these murmurings 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:30.179 that Satan sticks his schemes into. 00:21:30.819 --> 00:21:34.099 It reminds me, though, of Zachariah's vision 00:21:34.099 --> 00:21:36.339 of Joshua, the high priest, 00:21:36.919 --> 00:21:40.459 standing before the Lord and Satan by Joshua's side. 00:21:42.659 --> 00:21:44.379 Joshua was being accused by Satan, 00:21:44.879 --> 00:21:47.179 but the Lord rebuked him 00:21:47.179 --> 00:21:50.500 and took Joshua's filthy garment, saying, 00:21:50.500 --> 00:21:53.419 I have taken your iniquity away from you. 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:58.159 And gave him a pure, righteous robe and new turban. 00:21:59.199 --> 00:22:02.059 This is the power of the cross. 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:06.579 Secondly, we no longer need to fear death. 00:22:07.379 --> 00:22:10.720 Satan can no longer hold the penalty of sin, 00:22:11.199 --> 00:22:12.899 death, over us. 00:22:13.799 --> 00:22:16.099 In Hebrews 2, verse 14, 00:22:16.299 --> 00:22:19.359 I believe this is very helpful for us in seeing this. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:20.359 It says, 00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:24.039 since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, 00:22:24.379 --> 00:22:25.259 that is, we are human, 00:22:25.659 --> 00:22:29.019 he himself likewise partook of the same thing. 00:22:29.679 --> 00:22:30.619 He became human. 00:22:31.079 --> 00:22:33.459 That through death, he might destroy, 00:22:34.179 --> 00:22:36.119 nullify, revoke, abolish, 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:38.759 the one who has the power of death, 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:40.059 that is, the devil. 00:22:40.059 --> 00:22:43.700 You see, the Christ's death on the cross 00:22:43.700 --> 00:22:45.960 took the sting out of death. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:51.319 The very next verse in that chapter of Hebrews says, 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:55.440 Satan held us in bondage through fear of death all lifelong. 00:22:57.159 --> 00:22:59.839 But it's no longer, no longer. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:03.339 The accuser can no longer hold us captive 00:23:03.339 --> 00:23:04.659 to this fear of death. 00:23:04.660 --> 00:23:09.019 He has been disarmed, stripped of his powers. 00:23:09.259 --> 00:23:13.420 For now we are united with Christ in his death. 00:23:13.600 --> 00:23:16.519 He died the death that we deserved, 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:21.820 satisfying and paying the record of debt 00:23:21.820 --> 00:23:24.279 that stood against us with its legal demands. 00:23:25.420 --> 00:23:26.620 So Christian, 00:23:27.300 --> 00:23:30.800 what do we do when we forget, 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:35.859 when we're faced with the accusations of the enemy, 00:23:36.460 --> 00:23:38.240 when we struggle spiritually, 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:42.619 when we hear these lies raging against us, 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:47.579 I want to encourage you to simply stand firm. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:51.319 Stand firm in the faith. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:56.619 Fix your gaze upon the risen Christ 00:23:56.619 --> 00:23:58.319 with his pierced body. 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:02.019 We stand firm in this truth. 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:04.279 This is what holds us fast. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:06.779 It's the gospel that Christ, 00:24:06.879 --> 00:24:13.439 and Christ alone triumphed over sin on the cross. 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:17.980 I grew up seeing Good Friday this day 00:24:17.980 --> 00:24:20.960 as a time to often just feel bad. 00:24:21.799 --> 00:24:23.659 To feel bad for Jesus, 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:25.399 to feel bad about myself, 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:28.460 to feel bad about Jesus and his suffering, 00:24:28.560 --> 00:24:31.100 like I was crucifying Jesus all over again. 00:24:32.940 --> 00:24:34.600 Going through these motions, 00:24:35.140 --> 00:24:37.960 and even now that lingers. 00:24:38.259 --> 00:24:41.320 Even now it's tempting to approach this time tonight 00:24:41.320 --> 00:24:44.180 with just mere sadness over Christ's suffering, 00:24:44.800 --> 00:24:47.600 which I think is appropriate on some level, 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:51.240 but may we never lose sight in our grieving 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:56.399 of the triumph that Jesus achieved on the cross on this day, 00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:59.259 which was then confirmed by God 00:24:59.259 --> 00:25:01.859 when he rose from the dead on the third day. 00:25:03.559 --> 00:25:08.000 Greg Morris says this so wonderfully, 00:25:08.659 --> 00:25:09.779 so helpfully. 00:25:09.779 --> 00:25:15.200 We should weep indeed at the foot of the cross, 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:16.879 but not with pity, 00:25:17.740 --> 00:25:18.779 with faith. 00:25:19.879 --> 00:25:21.599 Those tears of faith 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:23.879 don't dry up on Monday after Easter. 00:25:24.740 --> 00:25:27.480 Those tears mourn over the sin 00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:28.899 that nailed him there. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:31.839 Those tears sing over him 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:33.779 as our conquering king. 00:25:35.079 --> 00:25:38.220 Those tears celebrate his death 00:25:38.220 --> 00:25:39.460 until his return. 00:25:40.600 --> 00:25:41.200 Christian, 00:25:41.940 --> 00:25:45.200 here we remain immovable. 00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:49.819 And this is how we advance. 00:25:50.839 --> 00:25:54.259 We advance by what Christ has done. 00:25:54.759 --> 00:25:56.839 It's not but what I can do, 00:25:57.200 --> 00:25:59.140 but treasuring up our union 00:25:59.140 --> 00:26:01.559 with Christ's death on the cross. 00:26:01.740 --> 00:26:03.460 We need nothing else. 00:26:04.460 --> 00:26:06.660 We can add nothing else. 00:26:06.660 --> 00:26:09.680 We need no one else. 00:26:10.700 --> 00:26:13.259 We have nothing to bring, 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:14.180 to offer, 00:26:15.220 --> 00:26:17.720 but it is the triumphant Christ 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:19.100 in Christ alone 00:26:19.100 --> 00:26:20.360 who has done it on our behalf. 00:26:21.600 --> 00:26:23.680 So let us celebrate. 00:26:24.279 --> 00:26:26.880 Let us grieve at our sin, 00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:29.000 but let us celebrate 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:31.900 in the goodness of who Jesus is 00:26:31.900 --> 00:26:32.960 and what he has done. 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:35.440 Let us pray. 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:38.160 Father, thank you. 00:26:38.360 --> 00:26:40.279 Thank you for your word. 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:43.600 Thank you for your gospel. 00:26:46.600 --> 00:26:48.079 Thank you for the cross 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:52.100 that has saved us, 00:26:53.100 --> 00:26:55.860 that has forgiven us, 00:26:56.519 --> 00:26:58.819 that has brought us back to life, 00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:03.159 and that has made us right before you, 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:05.460 paying for our debt. 00:27:07.819 --> 00:27:08.879 Thank you, Lord. 00:27:09.159 --> 00:27:09.799 We pray. 00:27:10.259 --> 00:27:10.559 Amen. 00:27:10.599 --> 00:27:10.799 Amen. 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:10.799 00:27:10.799 --> 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