Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Hey, New Life Gillette Church, we are thrilled you decided to listen to our teaching on your favorite podcast app. If you made a decision to follow Christ today, would you let us know by visiting? Yes.newlife gillette.com Here is this week's teaching.
[00:00:24] Good morning. Morning.
[00:00:27] Hey, we have a lot to cover this morning, so we're just going to jump right in. All right. That sound good? Yeah. Sweet. I'm not even going to talk about how Duke is still in the tournament and definitely going to win the whole thing. Like, that's how much of a hurry that we have is. I'm not even going to talk about how Duke is the best team in the nation and number one ranked seed in the tournament and all that stuff. Anyway, Colossians chapter three is where we're going to be. While we're turning there, I want to say good morning to everybody joining us on Church 307, to all our friends over at the prison, wherever you're watching from this morning, we're stoked that you're here. Colossians chapter three. We're going to start reading right in verse one. Here's what it says.
[00:01:04] Since then, you have been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ. In God, when Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will appear with him in glory. Let's pray.
[00:01:31] Jesus, this is your word.
[00:01:34] We ask that you would speak. God, my opinions, we don't need them.
[00:01:39] So if there's any of my opinions in the sermon, let us notice them, point them out so that we can let them go. We can throw them away.
[00:01:45] But if there's anything that's faithful to you and consistent with your character, would you make it stand out that we can embrace it and become like you? Jesus, we love you.
[00:01:57] Amen.
[00:01:59] Have you ever found yourself bargaining with God?
[00:02:05] Yeah. Yeah. The funny thing about this is you don't even have to be a Christian. You could be an atheist. And when you're driving in the snow and there's brake lights in front of you, right, you're like, God, I promise I'll stop everything. I don't know. I don't even know what it is, but I'll stop. You just keep me out of the ditch and I'll stop. Funny thing is what happens, you don't fishtail and you're like, oh, we're good, right?
[00:02:23] Which should tell us, by the way, Just exactly how patient and merciful and kind God is. Because if that were me and people were like, please save my life, and then I did it and they backed out on the deal, I'd be popping their tires, right? I'd be saying, gabriel, go undo the oil plug. Just let them drive without oil. See how that goes. But God's not petty. Thank the Lord.
[00:02:45] Thank him for him not being petty. But I think we have this temptation to do this. At least I do. Maybe this whole sermon is just for me, but I think a lot of us, we're tempted to treat God. To treat our relationship with God like an episode of Shark Tank. You've seen that show where they go in and you make a deal, you try to get an investment from the business, investors. And our perspective is kind of like God, look, I've got a lot going on here.
[00:03:10] I've got a lot of plans in my life. You know, I've got a lot of stuff. You're probably going to want to be part of it. I definitely want to be a part of what you've got going on. So here's the thing. Here's what I need from you. I need heaven. And I need you to, like, float me enough cash to get through the next year. And in exchange for that, I'll give you a 10% share in what I've got going on. I'll make you a silent partner in what I've got going on in my life, right? That's kind of how we imagine our relationship with God is.
[00:03:36] We're making some sort of deal with him, you know, that he gives us heaven, he gives us blessings in exchange for our obedience, and then we obey because we're going to get the outcome right. And then we can leverage what we want to say yes to for more things from God.
[00:03:58] Paul begins this chapter continuing what is the theme of the Book of Colossians? And he starts with a since then statement. You might have noticed that he says, since then you have been raised with Christ. It's an assumption. It's a statement that if you believe this, it puts expectations on your actions. It's a statement that if you align with it, there are expectations put on your actions later. It's kind of like this. I have a wedding ring on. I'm married. And since I'm married, I don't flirt. Is there anything innately sinful about someone who's single? Flirting? No. How are you going to get married Later? But because of the commitment that I made, I'm not going to do that there is an expectation, there is a commitment or a belief that if I hold that belief, it sets expectations now on my actions. So Paul says to the church, since you have been raised with Christ, since you have been united with Christ, now, there's a couple of important things that we have to notice here. When he says, since you have been raised with Christ, what he's saying is, since you believe in Jesus and have put your faith in him for salvation, since you believe that he is God, the creator of the world, that he died to take the full weight and measure of your sins and rose again to give you new life, since you believe that there's now an expectation on your actions. Now, when we say that we believe Jesus died and rose again, here is what we're saying. It's this statement right here.
[00:05:43] Jesus is king.
[00:05:46] That's what we're saying.
[00:05:48] Jesus is king. We see that on T shirts, Christ is king hats on social media. This is something that would have made a lot of sense in the ancient world where there were kings. But it doesn't always make sense in our world where we, you know, we throw the king's tea in the Boston Harbor. Amen. Yeah, Jesus is king. He's God. In scripture, one of the ways of describing what it means for him to be God is they call him King of Kings.
[00:06:17] He is the final authority of which there is no higher authority. He is the one that submits to no one, because there's no one higher than him for him to submit to. He is king, which means he has the authority to command obedience. And he is the king above all kings.
[00:06:37] So Jesus is king. If I have been raised with Christ, then what that means, really, whether I've thought all of this through or not, if I believe Jesus is God, that he died for me and rose again, then what I am saying that I believe is that he is king. He's the final authority. He is the one that we don't negotiate with, that we don't barter with, that he's the one who. No one commands him because he can command everything else.
[00:07:06] Now, Paul was writing this letter assuming that the majority of people that were reading the letter or hearing it were believers here at New Life. On any given week, we've got people from all kinds of backgrounds. It's one of the things I love about this church. We've got people who have been following Jesus for 40 years, 50 years. We've got people who have been following Jesus for a month. We've got people who are curious about faith, but Undecided. We've got people who think all of this is garbage. But you're just here because someone you love told you to come today and you didn't want to make them mad. We've got people from all kinds of backgrounds. So for us here, what we might say instead of since you have been united with Christ, since you have been raised with Christ, since Jesus is king, what we might say is this.
[00:07:52] If Jesus is king.
[00:07:56] Now, as we start this passage, I think this is what Paul is trying to communicate to us. This is what Paul is telling us when he says, since you have been raised with Christ, here's the expectations for your actions. I think he's saying, if Jesus is king, then we either obey or rebel.
[00:08:27] If he's king.
[00:08:29] If I believe he's king of kings, Lord of lords, God of the universe, the only one with final authority who can command all things, who created the very idea of right and wrong. So is the only one who has the authority to establish what's right and wrong, who invented a world in which we could feel that things are fair. So is the only one who can determine whether something is fair or whether fair is even a useful way to look at the world.
[00:08:56] If he is king, there are only two ways that you interact with the commands of a king.
[00:09:05] You obey or you rebel.
[00:09:09] There are only two ways to respond to the commands of a king, to either obey or rebel.
[00:09:17] So what does Paul say?
[00:09:20] Since you've been raised with Christ, if Jesus is king, if you believe this, set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. In other words, orient your life around his kingdom. Your goals should be the goals of the kingdom. Everything else is secondary. Your evaluation of yourself should be in alignment with the kingdom. Everything else is secondary. If what we believe is that everything is different because Jesus actually died and rose again, and forgiveness is the most powerful thing on earth, and love is the only thing that actually changes things, then my mind and my goals and my life are to be oriented, should be oriented. It's only logical for them to be oriented around the things of the kingdom.
[00:10:08] How many of you are parents?
[00:10:09] Have you ever told your kids to do something and then they start turning it into bargaining?
[00:10:15] Yeah, everybody has. Yeah. All the time. Yeah. You say to your kid, I want you to go clean your room. And they say, I'll tell you what, how about if I clean my room right now and I do a really good job, I get 30 more minutes of video game time later, and you think, how about I sell every screen in this house Right?
[00:10:33] Yeah. You misunderstand this relationship because you forgot I made you and I bought everything here. I pay for the house, I pay for the bed you sleep on. I pay for the clothes you got on. I paid for everything here except for the toys your grandparents got you. And I'll box them up and mail them back right now, right? I don't say that to my son because I don't want to crush his dreams, but I think it a lot, right?
[00:10:58] But we do that with God, don't we?
[00:11:03] God says, set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. And we say, yeah, God, I love the idea of orienting my life around your kingdom, but I'm going to need success first, right? God, if you want me to be generous, all right, you're going to have to make me successful. If you're going to want me to evaluate my life based on eternal consequences, then I'm going to need you to make sure I don't fail at anything in this life so that I can actually be comfortable enough to, to do the eternal things.
[00:11:28] Hey, God, God, if you're going to God, I want to obey you, right? I want, I want to my marriage to go your way. But you've got to guarantee me that the other person holds up their end of the bargain. If you want me to treat them based on an eternal evaluation, if you want me to set my mind on things above, that's great. I'm all about it. God, in exchange for that, in exchange for that, I need some guarantees about this life.
[00:11:59] We misunderstand that relationship.
[00:12:02] And I'm not trying to be heavy handed here. This is a passage that, honestly, if I didn't have to preach it, I wouldn't. We started going through the book of Colossians and I was like, man, why didn't, why didn't I give this one to Brooklyn?
[00:12:17] We do this to God, we misunderstand the relationship, right?
[00:12:22] Because he made everything, including us.
[00:12:26] He's the author and sustainer of life. He is in all things and before all things and all things hold together in him. And if he's king.
[00:12:33] If he's king, there's not a negotiation. Now here's the cool thing. Our King wants to hear the desires of his people.
[00:12:41] In fact, he tells us to pray. He tells us to ask for things. Do you want a new car? Ask for it. Do you want a raise? Ask for it. Do you want to get married? Pray about it. Whatever it is in life, whatever those dreams are, pray about them. God loves to hear the prayers and requests of his people. In fact, he loves to respond and bless his people. The thing that we have to understand is our obedience is not dependent on the outcome of the prayer.
[00:13:05] Our obedience to Jesus is based on his kingship, not based on whether we get what we asked for.
[00:13:14] Our obedience to a king is contingent on nothing but his authority.
[00:13:20] I heard a pastor say one time, if Jesus didn't do anything else for me except die and rise again, he would have done more than I ever deserve.
[00:13:30] He did enough.
[00:13:31] Praise the Lord that he wants to do more. Praise the Lord that he's a healer and a provider and that we can trust him.
[00:13:37] But he already proved his authority on the cross and we don't negotiate. Let's keep reading.
[00:13:47] We're going to start in verse five.
[00:13:49] Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
[00:14:01] Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
[00:14:05] You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these. Anger and rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other. Since you have taken off your old self with its practices, you have taken off your old self. If Jesus is king, there are ways that we live within his kingdom and we put those ways on. But then there are the ways of other kingdoms, and we take those ways off. That kingdom has been defeated. So we do not engage in the ways of those kingdoms.
[00:14:39] We have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator. Here there is no gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free. But Christ is all and is in all.
[00:14:59] You remember when you were 19 and you knew everything Wasn't that great.
[00:15:07] As I was working on this sermon, I realized there's a way you can map out all. Like basically every human life.
[00:15:13] Every. Every human does this exact same thing.
[00:15:17] And, and here's how it goes. If we're just going to draw a trajectory of every human's life, you start off, you're born and you don't know anything, right? And it's great. You don't have to know anything. People feed you, people do everything for you, right? You don't have to prove anything because you're two years old. You don't have anything to prove, right? You're just living life. It's awesome. And then you start thinking you know things and you keep going this is about 12.
[00:15:49] And then you peak probably about 25.
[00:15:54] When you think you know everything, people peak in different ways. Anywhere between, like, 19 and 50, but generally it's about 25.
[00:16:02] Uh, a peek right there and you think you know everything, right? You're like, man, I watched a TED Talk and I got half of a college degree. I know how the world works for sure, right? I've got this taken care of. I read this book, and that book told me that everything everyone else said was dumb.
[00:16:18] So that's how it goes. You peak. And then you spend the rest of your life after you peak, slowly realizing how little you actually know about until you die.
[00:16:30] And that's a human life, right? And then somewhere along the way, maybe in here, maybe at, like, I don't know, somewhere in your 30s or 40s, you realize that you don't actually have to know everything.
[00:16:41] And you quit trying to need to prove to the world that you know everything. And then you take advice from other people and you let the Lord teach you and you're willing to, you know, change your ways when you get better input. And that's what we call happiness, right? When you realize that you don't actually have to know everything and you can be a learner and be content for the rest of your life. The funny thing is that as an adult and teenagers, I'm not dogging on you right now. There's no shade being thrown at the teenagers. I can say this because I was a teenager and every single one of us were teenagers, and we all did this exact same thing. But you watch a teenager say, it's not a face.
[00:17:18] And you remember when I said that, right? You watch a teenager say, you don't know him, Mom. He's different. I can change him. And then you remember the guy or girl you dated, right? That you thought you could change, right?
[00:17:32] That's how it goes.
[00:17:33] Every single one of us. We do that. We grow through life and we get convinced that we know pretty much everything and that the world is completely different now. And, mom, they didn't even have cell phones when you were born. Now we've got AI. How are you supposed to tell me about the world today, right?
[00:17:49] Every generation does this, but we do this with God, don't we?
[00:18:00] God? Look, I know you said that sex is for marriage, and marriage is one man and one woman for life and all sexual activities for marriage. In fact, I know that you said, put aside sexual immorality, lust and passion, which is basically Paul's way of saying, quit saying it's. Not technically sex, you know, it still is. Stop it.
[00:18:21] That's basically what Paul's saying here. He's saying, put to death the sexual immorality and the lust and all the stuff that you're trying to justify is not technically quite porn or lust.
[00:18:32] And we're like, God, yeah, I mean, I know you said that and everything, but I just don't think you know how fun it is. And the world was different back then and they didn't have the Internet and they didn't have dating and I mean, you, you actually expect me in this world to get married if I don't know if I'm sexually compatible with someone or not? Like you actually expect me to date someone and to not be sexually active with them and actually find out whether we're compatible or not. And then when we say, God, what? No, I'm not going to do that.
[00:19:01] God, no, no, no. I. I don't think you understand the world that, that we live in today. Every generation does this. God, no, no, you just don't. You just don't get it.
[00:19:11] Oh, God. I know that you said to be generous with my finances and I know you instructed all of your people throughout all generations Old New Testament, to tithe. Um, but God, have you seen the economy?
[00:19:21] I mean, it does not. It might have made sense back then, but in the world today it doesn't make any sense with the war in Iran and the price of gas and it just doesn't make any sense to tithe in this economy. God. So I just. I. Good advice. I don't think I'm going to take it because I don't think you understand. So, no, no, I'm not going to do that.
[00:19:40] God, I know you said. I know you said to forgive. I know you said to forgive your enemies. I know you said to put off all slander and all anger and all rage and all malice, but do you know, do you know what those people did? Go, I mean, come on. Like, it was, it was different back then. They weren't slandering people on social media back then. God, it's. I know you said to not slander, to. To put all filthy talk out of your mouth, but God, I mean, it's just Facebook, okay? What I say on Facebook doesn't really matter.
[00:20:05] What I say online doesn't really count. God. Okay, no, I'm not going to do it.
[00:20:13] God, I know you said that. In, in you, in your people, there's no Jew or gentile slave nor free barbarian, Scythian, none of that Christ is in all and is all but God, they're Iranians.
[00:20:27] God, they're Democrats. God, they're Republicans.
[00:20:32] God.
[00:20:33] You don't know how long the tension between our families goes back.
[00:20:39] You must be talking about a different thing. God, what you said, then, it must not apply here, right? We. We all do this same thing.
[00:20:48] God, no, I'm not going to do it. I've got things figured out once again.
[00:20:56] If he's king, we either obey or we rebel. There's only two ways to interact with a king. And if I am a follower of Jesus, then the basic claim I'm making is Jesus is king.
[00:21:15] He is the highest authority. I've made the claim that I have a king, and I know I don't negotiate with kings, but yet we still go back to him trying to negotiate, trying to reject commands, trying to just flat out say, no, let's keep going.
[00:21:42] Therefore, as God's holy people, chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves. Put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. But, God, gentleness, really? I mean, I've got to be tough if I'm going to make it in this industry. God, I mean, seriously, I gotta. I gotta have some backbone. I can't be looking weak out on the rigs. God, I mean, come on.
[00:22:02] Put on gentleness and patience. Bear with each other. Forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you over all these virtues. Put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Above everything else, beyond everything else. The thing that I have to have in obedience is love.
[00:22:21] Let the peace of Christ rule. Interesting word. It's almost like he's king.
[00:22:26] Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Since as members of one body, you were called to peace. God, how am I supposed to.
[00:22:32] To have peace in this world? Do you know what's going on? I mean, have you seen all of the chaos?
[00:22:38] I let the peace of Christ rule. Why? Because there might be chaos in the kingdom of this world, but I am part of a different kingdom. That doesn't mean I'm unaffected, All right? That doesn't mean gas prices don't affect me. That doesn't mean the things going on in the world don't affect me. But that means it does not affect my ultimate hope or peace. Because my king is the king over all kings, and my trust and hope is in him. So I can let his peace rule over all of the worries and concerns and anxieties of this world.
[00:23:06] Because my allegiance is in a different kingdom. It's not magic. It's not pretending like life isn't hard. It's choosing to let my loyalties be first in the kingdom of God and be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell richly among you as you teach and admonish one another with all hymns through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him and God. It's. I mean, you expect me to prioritize gathering, hearing, teaching, worshiping with other people? God? I mean, do you understand how busy our world is today? Do you understand how much travel? Do you understand all the sports? Do you understand all the things that take up all of our weekends? God, really, can you expect me to prioritize being in teaching, worship? I mean, I don't even like singing. God, why would I prioritize that?
[00:24:02] Once again, if he's king, it's not conditional on on whether it works or not.
[00:24:12] It will work because he invented the whole world.
[00:24:16] He knows what he's doing.
[00:24:17] But my obedience is not conditional on the outcome.
[00:24:22] He goes on going to read through this quickly.
[00:24:26] Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Amen. Fathers, that wasn't in there. I just added that. Fathers, do not embitter your children or they will become discouraged. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything and do it not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.
[00:24:50] Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters.
[00:24:55] Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs and there is no favoritism. And here's the kicker. Masters provide your slaves with what is right and fair because you know that you also have a master in heaven. In other words, you think you are in charge, you're not any more in charge than your slave is.
[00:25:18] Now, I don't have time to unpack all of the tensions in this specific passage of scripture other than to just say that slavery in the ancient world was not chattel based, dehumanizing, ownership based slavery that we have here, that we have in American history and in European history. What they called slavery at this time in history was much more like indentured servitude or maybe working a very bad job that you got paid for, but it was given to you based on your class in society. Still wasn't a good thing. God was never in favor of that.
[00:25:49] But this is why he's giving this direction. But what we have to see here, and sometime, sometime soon, we will unpack all of the instructions about marriages and families and all of that. But here's what you have to see in this passage, it's incredibly important, is that God looks at the person who has power and authority culturally. In the ancient world, husbands could get away with just about whatever they wanted. Women weren't given status in society. They were seen basically as property. What does he say? Husbands, do not be harsh with your wives.
[00:26:19] In a world where a husband could get away with anything, what does he say? Lower your voice.
[00:26:24] Quit screaming.
[00:26:26] If you can't make the point without yelling, it's not a point worth making. Go take a walk and come back when you can calm down.
[00:26:32] Do not be harsh.
[00:26:34] What does he say to parents? Do not embitter your children. In a world where parents could raise their kids however they wanted. They didn't have dfs in Rome.
[00:26:44] He says, do not embitter your children. Christian parents don't discourage their kids. Yes, kids obey.
[00:26:53] Kids are supposed to obey their parents as long as their parents aren't telling them to do something sinful. As long as the parents aren't being abusive. Children are instructed to obey their parents. But where is the responsibility given? It's given to the parents. Do not embitter your children so that they will not become discouraged. Why? Because God leads us with love and compassion and grace and mercy. He encourages us. He does not discourage us. So we, as parents, it is our responsibility to not embitter our children. Yes, we discipline. Yes, we punish. But we raise up encouraged and empowered kids who understand that they are loved, not discouraged. Children who have shame given to them as a motivation.
[00:27:32] Another way of saying that is lower your voice, take a walk. If you can't make that point without screaming, it's not a point worth making.
[00:27:41] He says the same thing. If you've got a horrible boss and boss doesn't treat you well, doesn't pay you enough, you can go get a different job, go apply somewhere else. You can quit that job. But when you work that job, you show up on time and you work as hard as you can. Why? Because you're not working for that boss. You're working for the Lord. You don't need that boss's honor. You need the Lord's honor. And everything we do as followers of Jesus, we work as if we are working for the Lord and for his reward and not for some paycheck that we get. So the boss might be terrible and I don't have to keep working for that boss. But unless I'm going to quit, I still show up on time and I never badmouth my boss. And then what does he say to the boss? He says, you better believe you have a boss too. So you got to tread real lightly because you think you're in charge.
[00:28:23] But there's only one king.
[00:28:29] Now.
[00:28:33] I understand. This feels like Paul just went through an entire chapter and he just poked at everything that hurts, everything that could be tense. And I just need to say, there is no high horse to preach this sermon from. All right. It does not exist. I find myself rebelling against the Lord. I have struggled with this and I still struggle. And the Lord still reveals to me places where I have shaken my fist or am shaking my fist at him and saying, no, there's no high horse. This is. No one's looking down on anyone here. We're just looking at the word and asking what it actually says.
[00:29:09] But the thing that helps us understand this is to see that God calls himself Father.
[00:29:17] The Bible gives us these analogies that are way more helpful than we let them be. Sometimes God calls himself Father.
[00:29:25] I have a nine year old son. A ten year old. Gosh, he's ten now. Crazy man. I'm gonna have to think about that for a while.
[00:29:32] I love him so much.
[00:29:34] So much.
[00:29:37] He could make every mistake possible and I would still love him completely. Because my love for him has absolutely nothing to do with what he does. It has to do with the fact that he's my son and I'm his dad.
[00:29:52] If he winds up in prison and he definitely did it, he. He did it for sure. He deserves to be there. You know who the most common name on his guest list is going to be?
[00:30:02] Mine.
[00:30:04] Because it doesn't matter what happens. He's never getting excommunicated from the family. He's part of the family by blood, not by what he did. There's nothing he could do. I'd still be proud. I'd still go to that prison. Proud to visit my son because he's my son, not because of what he did. He. He could. He could make every mistake possible. He could throw away everything we've tried to do to set him up for success. He could disregard all of our teaching for, for the rest of his life. And you know who would still be bragging about his son? Me.
[00:30:36] Because my love for him is not based on whether he does what I want him to do or not.
[00:30:42] Now look, I still have the responsibility to teach him and correct him and guide him. And there will still be punishment. Love and consequen, not mutually exclusive. Love and punishment are not mutually exclusive. Scripture says that God disciplines those that he loves, just like a parent disciplines the child that they love.
[00:30:57] But the thing is, I will keep loving him no matter what, forever. Because his love, my love for him is unconditional.
[00:31:08] God calls himself our Father.
[00:31:12] That's the crazy thing about the love of a father, the love of a parent. You can rebel and rebel and rebel all you want and your Father still loves you.
[00:31:22] A good father, a godly father, still loves you because God does.
[00:31:27] See, here's the thing. This is what we have to see. Conditional love creates conditional obedience.
[00:31:33] If God loved us because we did what's right, if he loved us because we don't rebel, if he loved us because we obey, then that conditional love would lead to conditional obedience. We would only obey to get his love.
[00:31:47] And it wouldn't be obedience, it wouldn't be obedience to his authority, it wouldn't be obedience to a king. It would be obedience to try to get something from the king. So what does he do? He gives us his love completely unconditionally. Why? Because unconditional love creates the freedom to obey. When you see, my friends, when you see that Jesus loves you no matter what, when you see that Jesus died on the cross knowing every single sin you would commit after you asked his forgiveness, when you see that he died knowing every time you would promise not to do it again and then do it again, and he still died. When you see that, that's what gives you the freedom to actually obey. Because you're not obeying conditionally to try to negotiate or get something from God. You're obeying because he is your king and your king loves you unconditionally. That's what creates the freedom to obey. And what we have to see. And look, what I'm about to say is heavy handed, but I think we have to, we have to see it is that when we are knowingly choosing to sin, God forgives us. He still, he still forgives us.
[00:32:55] Unconditional love never develops conditions later. It's unconditional.
[00:33:02] His love is unconditional. But what we have to see when we choose to knowingly sin. And look, there's a difference between struggling. I'm trying. You're. You're trying to stop and you fall off the wagon. You're trying to quit looking at porn and you give into temptation. There's a big difference between struggling with something that you're trying to overcome versus just saying no. And if I can be honest, one of the things I've noticed as a pastor almost everywhere I've ever lived and here is we have this tendency to just say no about things.
[00:33:35] To just say no. Just say, God, no, you can't have my sexuality. I mean, I'll go to church on Sundays, but I'm not going to stop sleeping with who I want to sleep with because you said so.
[00:33:45] God, no.
[00:33:46] I'm not going to forgive. I'm not going to be kind to people I disagree with politically. I'm still going to say whatever I want on social media. I'm getting the heaven thing. Why would I obey you? I don't.
[00:33:55] We have this tendency to just knowingly just say, nope, God, not interested in obeying you there. What we have to see is you have to see Jesus on the cross, nailed to a piece of wood, crown of thorns pushed down on his head, skin shredded by a cat of nine tails. And when you. When you say, I won't obey, what you have to imagine is you have to look at him and say, you haven't proven enough to obey yet.
[00:34:19] You haven't proven that you love me enough for me to actually obey you yet.
[00:34:24] If you want me to obey you, you got to earn a little bit more Jesus.
[00:34:30] That's what we're doing.
[00:34:32] When we knowingly, intentionally disobey. Once again, there's a big difference between what I struggle with, what I'm actually trying to obey. But. But I'm. But I'm wrestling and I'm having a but. I'm seeking victory. There's a big difference between that and the things where we just say no. When I just say no, that's what I'm doing. I'm looking at him hanging on the cross saying, father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. And I'm saying, God, could you prove it a little more before I obey?
[00:34:59] I don't really think you've earned my loyalty yet.
[00:35:04] If he's king, we either obey or rebel.
[00:35:09] He forgives us. It's crazy. He forgives us every time we rebel.
[00:35:13] That doesn't change the fact that if he's king, there are only two ways to respond Obedience or rebellion.
[00:35:25] So as we continue in our service, we're going to worship. I just want to ask you to consider, as we worship, are you ready to obey?
[00:35:35] Is there something that you're holding back and just saying, no, God, you can't have that? Not interested in you having that.
[00:35:42] Are you ready to surrender it? Maybe as we worship, instead of standing up, you need to sit down or you need to kneel down in your seat. You need to kneel down in the row in front of you or in the aisle, just as a physical embodiment of the fact that Jesus is king and you're done negotiating with him.
[00:35:59] You know, maybe you're here today and when you came in, you've.
[00:36:04] You didn't believe in any of this. Maybe you've been running from God. Maybe you're resistant to God and what you needed to hear today was that in spite of all of your rebellion, your Heavenly Father loves you unconditionally and nothing you could ever do would make him stop loving you. And you're finally ready to surrender to the loving, good, faithful, kind kingship of Jesus and trust that he died to forgive your sins and rose again to give you new life.
[00:36:26] If that's you today, please fill out that Next Steps card. Please go to nextsteps.church307.com Fill out that card.
[00:36:33] Let today be the day where you finally quit running from Jesus and you let your loving, kind, gentle, faithful king save you and lead you.
[00:36:46] Would you stand with me as we pray?
[00:36:50] King Jesus, forgive us for our rebellion.
[00:36:57] Forgive us for all the times we look at you and say no.
[00:37:01] Forgive us for all the times that we look at your cross where you paid the whole price and we say no. Not quite enough to get me to obey. Forgive us for that, God. We know you do. We know you will.
[00:37:18] God, would you give us the courage to just finally do what we said we're going to do when we called you, Lord, and actually try to obey.
[00:37:28] We love you, Jesus.
[00:37:31] Amen.
