1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,880 And we've been looking at the Lord's Prayer 2 00:00:01,880 --> 00:00:04,760 the last few weeks and really trying to dissect it 3 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:06,480 and really understand what Jesus was trying 4 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:11,480 to teach his disciples when he said, pray this way. 5 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:14,160 And what we found is that it's a pattern 6 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,680 that he's laying out for us, a model for prayer, 7 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,120 not just a performance, not just words to say, 8 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:25,040 but attitudes of the heart that he wants shaped in us 9 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,840 when we approach God, when we come to God. 10 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:30,440 And so as part of our message series each week, 11 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:32,720 we've recited the Lord's Prayer together, 12 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:34,760 so we're gonna go ahead and put that up on the board. 13 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:39,760 And let's say this together as we learn from God's word, 14 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:41,560 what it means to pray. 15 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:47,440 Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. 16 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,320 Your kingdom come, your will be done, 17 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,880 on earth as it is in heaven. 18 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:59,880 Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts 19 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:03,960 as we also have forgiven our debtors. 20 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,120 And do not lead us into temptation, 21 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,440 but deliver us from the evil one. 22 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:12,520 This is God's word. 23 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,040 Well today at Village we have the privilege and honor 24 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,280 and joy of welcoming a guest speaker today. 25 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:22,080 Pastor Greg Kaiser has been most recently pastor 26 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:24,160 over at Foundation Christian Church 27 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:27,240 for six, seven years, something like that. 28 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,200 And we go ahead and welcome him. 29 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,720 He's gonna come and bring the word this morning. 30 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:32,720 Welcome Pastor Greg. 31 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:33,720 Hey everybody. 32 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,320 So I'll have you know, I'm very excited, 33 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:44,080 just in case you think I am young, hip, 34 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,880 starting a skater ministry or am still a youth pastor. 35 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,200 I have never preached in my entire life before 36 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,720 with a hat on, let alone backwards. 37 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:54,280 That has never happened. 38 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:56,960 My Southern Baptist mother is in Oklahoma right now 39 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:58,840 and I am afraid that her fingers at some point 40 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:00,640 will find my ear during this sermon. 41 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:04,680 Okay, but let me tell you what happened. 42 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:06,200 I just learned in the first service 43 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,120 how denominations get started. 44 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:11,480 It's not always evil, it's not always 45 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:12,880 that we fought each other. 46 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,680 It's that sometimes we solve the exact same problem 47 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:16,640 two different ways. 48 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:18,640 Anybody, you ever had a spousal fight? 49 00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:21,120 You both had a very good idea on how to solve the problem. 50 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,440 Okay, Pastor John and I were both wearing hats 51 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:26,680 in the first service. 52 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,920 Somebody let us know that the angle of these lights 53 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:31,280 puts a shadow all over our, 54 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:33,640 I've been speaking professionally for 20 years, 55 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:36,640 don't know why I did not think of that, but whatever. 56 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:39,360 And having eye contact with the people listening to you 57 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:41,000 is hugely important. 58 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,800 I could be selling Amway or starting a cult or something. 59 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,200 I mean, who knows? 60 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:48,680 Who knows what might happen? 61 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:50,600 I always told Foundation, you know for sure 62 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:52,400 that I had started a cult when the first tenant 63 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:55,120 of the cult is we're all gonna enjoy chocolate on Tuesdays. 64 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,320 In less amounts of chocolate and we're gonna preach 65 00:02:57,320 --> 00:02:58,960 that it doesn't make you fatter. 66 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,360 When you hear Greg saying that, you know he started a cult. 67 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:06,120 Anyway, John, we both heard the same feedback 68 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,080 and both agreed with the feedback 69 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,200 and he decided to run a comb through his hair. 70 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,800 My haircut is so short that it just is abysmal 71 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:15,080 and my wife's here and she's gonna be ashamed 72 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:16,600 and hide under a rock and die. 73 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,520 So I'm like the best I can do is to turn this around 74 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:21,680 like the cool kids did when I was in high school. 75 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:23,560 That is the best I have to offer you. 76 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:28,560 Hopefully, that when I bring the beautiful words 77 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,960 of Christ to you and hopefully just allow them to shine 78 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:36,160 as beautiful as they are, we'll be able to move past. 79 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:37,960 Greg, did you go to Bodega Bay recently? 80 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:40,600 Like hopefully none of this matters. 81 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:42,600 Hopefully none of this matters very soon. 82 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,480 So like a good millennial, my sermon is on my phone. 83 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:46,960 Let's open up Google Docs. 84 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:48,440 We're talking about forgiveness today, 85 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,240 which I know can sound like a root canal, 86 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,880 but let me tell you something in advance. 87 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,640 A root canal, let me tell you what we already know. 88 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,920 If you need a root canal in the 20th or 21st century, 89 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,840 that same problem 200 years ago would kill you. 90 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:09,000 Does that make sense? 91 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,480 Okay, I forget who said it first, 92 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,200 but somebody very wise said that unforgiveness 93 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:19,480 is drinking poison expecting the other person to die. 94 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:24,720 Okay, so we got a two point sermon today. 95 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:26,520 First, we're gonna do some deconstruction. 96 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:28,320 We're gonna talk a little bit about unforgiveness 97 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:30,680 and the weight of it, and then we're gonna talk 98 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:32,320 about forgiveness, the beauty of it, 99 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,240 and all of this cannot be separated, of course, 100 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:36,120 from the cross of Christ. 101 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:38,880 Can I start preaching now? 102 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,720 If I don't need forgiveness, because I'm pretty awesome, 103 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,720 what is the cross? 104 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:48,040 What is the cross? 105 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:51,320 I heard a preacher, even almost 20 years ago, 106 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,960 I heard a preacher say, we Christians keep saying 107 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:56,400 to the world, are you saved? 108 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,920 And the world increasingly is going, saved from what? 109 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,680 If there's no absolute moral right and wrong outside of me, 110 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:08,360 how could I be guilty? 111 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,080 If I'm not guilty, what do I need to be saved from, right? 112 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:12,800 Are you with me so far? 113 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:17,120 Okay, let's start with, turn with me, 114 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,720 this is the first text we're gonna be in, John chapter eight. 115 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:23,440 John chapter eight is where we're gonna start. 116 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:30,320 Anybody grow up with a wanna? 117 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,200 I can't turn from one gospel to the next 118 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:33,880 without the song in my head. 119 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,920 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, okay. 120 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:41,200 John eight, and we're gonna start at verse two. 121 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:48,160 Actually, I'll give you the principle first, 122 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:49,200 those of you guys who have the slides, 123 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:50,160 you can throw it up there. 124 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:51,880 Unforgiveness, this is what it is, 125 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,880 is us pretending to have God's right to judge. 126 00:05:57,760 --> 00:05:58,600 Pretending. 127 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,080 The rapper Lecrae put out an album in 2011 128 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,040 called Who's the King? 129 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,320 And he says, human beings going around 130 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:12,520 calling themselves the king, it's kinda like this. 131 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:16,320 Little kids playing in their daddy's clothes. 132 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,040 The clothes don't fit and daddy's coming back home. 133 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:28,320 We wage war inside ourselves against God and in culture, 134 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,520 constantly trying to grab hold of God's rights. 135 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:38,520 We don't want him to exist. 136 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:40,800 His existence is inconvenient to us 137 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:44,360 because he holds all of the biggest rights. 138 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:46,840 All of them. 139 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:50,600 Sin, one way you could define it, 140 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,960 is all the stuff that I do say, think, and feel 141 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:58,800 when I've put my fingerprints all over one of God's rights 142 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:01,320 pretending that it was mine, that's sin. 143 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:02,640 Hey, you were sitting on your throne, 144 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:04,920 but it's really shiny and pretty and it looks pretty awesome. 145 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:06,240 Jesus, could you scoot? 146 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,400 I think I would look pretty good up there. 147 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:11,240 Okay? 148 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:13,360 Unforgiveness is just one of the ways 149 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,520 that we push Jesus off his throne. 150 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:17,680 Try to, we're pretending, right? 151 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:18,520 It's fake. 152 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:22,760 Anybody here think you can push the King of Kings around? 153 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:25,040 We're about to read a text here 154 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,480 where people did think they could push him around. 155 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:29,120 But we're not gonna do that. 156 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:31,720 People did think they could push him around. 157 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:33,720 Unforgiveness is us pretending 158 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:35,360 to have God's right to judge. 159 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,840 So let's go into this beautiful, powerful story 160 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:41,400 and see, ask yourself this question before you go in. 161 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:45,320 We usually go into the story of the woman caught in adultery 162 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,240 and we usually just come out talking about the mercy of God 163 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,920 and that is an incredible way to approach the text. 164 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:52,760 But how many of you guys know, 165 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,280 you don't know how God's big, God's mercy is 166 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:59,280 until you know how hosed you were. 167 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,400 Isaiah says, any young ears here? 168 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:05,400 Okay, some of you guys know this from Isaiah. 169 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:07,880 Isaiah says that Israel has taken 170 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:12,200 what amounts to a dirty tampon, filthy menstrual rags, 171 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:14,680 and that is our greatest righteousness. 172 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,320 The very best of our behavior is ceremonially unclean 173 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:19,800 and we didn't just have it, we took it 174 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,600 and put it up on the altar like it was a beautiful offering. 175 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,520 The greater the gap that we can embrace 176 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,720 between the holiness, worthiness, and beauty of Christ 177 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:30,960 and my own personal filth, all of a sudden, 178 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:32,320 what is this huge gap? 179 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:36,120 That's what Jesus did for me when he went to the cross. 180 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,640 But if I have a high view of self and a low view of God, 181 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:40,560 the cross gets smaller and smaller. 182 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:43,840 Smaller and smaller. 183 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,000 Let's read together starting at verse two. 184 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:49,760 At dawn, he, meaning Jesus, went to the temple area 185 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:51,600 and all the people gathered around him 186 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,480 and all the people were coming to him. 187 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,480 He sat down and began to teach them. 188 00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,720 Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman 189 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:03,080 caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. 190 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:04,760 That's gotta be fun. 191 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,400 So my kids who grew up in Sunday school, help me out. 192 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:10,640 Do we have any problems yet? 193 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:12,080 We're only a couple verses in. 194 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,240 Any problems here with the way justice is being executed 195 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,760 inside what God has ordained? 196 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,400 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 197 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,440 Are we following the Bible yet on how we deal with sin? 198 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:25,840 Is it going well, is it going poorly, mixed bag? 199 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,080 She's totally cheating. 200 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:32,200 You double dipper. 201 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:37,880 Levitical law is very, you know, 202 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:39,920 when a Christian gets really excited 203 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,880 and pastor preaches a rousing sermon right after Christmas 204 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:45,360 of you're gonna do your Bible reading in a peer plan, 205 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:46,640 we're all gonna do it, it's gonna be awesome, 206 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:48,840 and everybody's gung ho on January 1st. 207 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,240 It's around the second or third week of January, 208 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:53,240 you end up in Leviticus and you're just, 209 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:57,200 I don't know if I can make it. 210 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:00,560 But let me ask you something. 211 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:02,800 What if I told you that it's these sections 212 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,440 of endless rules where we can kinda get bogged down, 213 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:11,880 where it tells us, hey, don't harvest the corners 214 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:14,320 of your field, leave that for the poor together. 215 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,240 That's in the middle of the boring part. 216 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:19,800 How does horizontal justice work? 217 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:21,440 God was telling us, but we were like, 218 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:23,840 needed a second cup of coffee or something. 219 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:27,400 It is the same passages, the same areas of scripture 220 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:29,880 that said, someone's caught in adultery, 221 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:32,760 bring them, the man and the woman, 222 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,880 are brought before the leaders of Israel. 223 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:41,600 I grew up the way they said it, it takes two to tango. 224 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:44,000 We're in such a perverse situation. 225 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:44,840 We're in such a perverse culture, 226 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:46,600 now it takes three or four to tango. 227 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:50,760 But the man and the woman are supposed 228 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:52,360 to be held accountable. 229 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:56,800 Hey, you guys took sex outside of its marital context, 230 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,000 the beautiful context that God created 231 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:01,880 so that you guys would be a community like I am, 232 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:03,680 that you'd be creative, literally creating life 233 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:04,960 out of your bodies. 234 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:08,000 Like, you took sex out of its context. 235 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:09,160 This is wrong. 236 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,120 Today's culture, we would look at it and go, 237 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:12,400 you need to leave this girl alone 238 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:14,120 because she's allowed to do whatever she wants 239 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:16,560 with her body and God is like, I made you 240 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:20,840 and I love you more than you love you 241 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:25,200 and I'm wiser than you. 242 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:29,960 Disobedience is just, I don't trust God, 243 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:31,680 I don't trust God, I don't trust God. 244 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:33,280 I could do this better than him, right? 245 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:35,480 So today, we would look at this story and go, 246 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,880 how horrible that they brought a woman in front of Jesus 247 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,600 and they're telling her that she was sinful. 248 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,400 No, the Bible's very clear that she had sinned. 249 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:47,080 Very clear. 250 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,080 And that's really important later when he says, 251 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:52,720 neither do I condemn you, that's the weight of that. 252 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:56,880 He's not saying you do you, boo. 253 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:58,600 You know, what's right for your sexual ethic 254 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:00,320 is right for yours and what's right for me is what's right. 255 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:02,120 No, no, no, no, that's not how Jesus sounds. 256 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:06,360 He never, ever says anything of the sort, right? 257 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:07,600 But I get ahead of myself. 258 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,160 The Pharisees, the religious elites 259 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:11,280 are already doing the wrong thing. 260 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:13,680 Verse four, teacher they said to him, 261 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:16,840 this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery 262 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:18,880 and the law of Moses commanded us, 263 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:22,120 in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. 264 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:22,960 So what do you say? 265 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,640 Hey Californians, they're not handing her a joint, okay? 266 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:29,040 They're talking about throwing rocks at her. 267 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:32,000 So what do you say? 268 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,160 They asked this to trap him in order 269 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,600 that they might have evidence to accuse him, okay? 270 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:41,760 And just to be clear, this is not a, 271 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,160 just in case he gives the wrong answer, 272 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:46,480 they have purposefully set up this situation 273 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,200 so that there is no correct answer. 274 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,320 Rome did not allow other groups that they had subjugated 275 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:55,440 to do the death penalty under any circumstances. 276 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:57,520 So if he agrees with the law of Moses and says, 277 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:01,920 yes, stoner to death, he's in trouble with Caesar, right? 278 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,320 If he says, to avoid Caesar's punishment, 279 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,520 he says, oh, you know what, I've made some mistakes. 280 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:10,680 Like, who am I to judge? 281 00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:12,080 We can't take it, and this is by the way, 282 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:14,440 this is what the Sadducees would have said. 283 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:16,960 They were the theological liberals of their day. 284 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:18,040 And when I say theological liberal, 285 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:19,760 I'm not talking politics, I'm saying, 286 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:21,200 a theological liberal is somebody you ask him, 287 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:22,040 hey, is the Bible true? 288 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:25,120 And they go, well, you know, there are a lot of opinions 289 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,120 and a lot of feelings, oh God. 290 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,720 The theological conservative is not a Republican, 291 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:31,240 they're just a person who says, 292 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:33,720 yeah, the Bible's true, period, full stop. 293 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,720 No excuses, no, I don't apologize for my Savior, 294 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:42,800 because when he tells you something that offends you, 295 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,600 you're not realizing he loves you more than you love you. 296 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:48,520 So I don't apologize for any of the words 297 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:49,720 of teachings of Scripture. 298 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:52,520 You ready for a big one? 299 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:53,600 This is an aside. 300 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:57,280 I'm not ashamed of the conquest of Canaan. 301 00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:59,640 Joshua goes, everybody loves to go, 302 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,200 oh, he wholesale slaughtered a bunch of people. 303 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:06,320 And I'm like, a holy, righteous God judged him, 304 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,120 judged these people groups, 305 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:09,840 and gave them 400 years to repent. 306 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:11,200 Have you read Genesis 15? 307 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:12,880 The sins of the Amalekites are not yet full. 308 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,720 God not only had the rights to kill a bunch of people 309 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:17,200 and throw them into hell, 310 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:19,800 he gave them 400 more years than they deserved, 311 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,520 but he gave them 400 more years than they deserved. 312 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,920 He gave them 400 more years than they deserved to repent. 313 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,200 Please do not come at me anymore, like nonsense. 314 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,320 All 66 books, this God loves you more than you love you. 315 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:35,760 He's more patient than you would be 316 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:37,480 if you were on his seat judging. 317 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:42,200 Gonna tell God he doesn't have the right 318 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,320 to throw somebody into hell, are you kidding me? 319 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:45,840 Wait until your daughter is raped, 320 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:52,840 and then you can go to hell, and then you can go to hell. 321 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:56,720 So he's supposed to be in a lose-lose situation here. 322 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,960 Get in trouble with Rome, get in trouble with the Sanhedrin. 323 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:02,760 But how many of you guys know 324 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:04,680 you can't trap the Almighty God? 325 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:10,320 Try to corner him, silly Pharisees. 326 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,120 Jesus stooped down and started riding 327 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:13,160 on the ground with his finger. 328 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:14,360 I heard a preacher years ago, 329 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:15,920 I heard a preacher years ago say, 330 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:18,840 I wonder which finger he was using. 331 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,840 Verse seven, when they persisted in questioning him, 332 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:25,640 he stood up and said to them, 333 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,320 the one without sin among you 334 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:31,640 should be the first to throw a stone at her, 335 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:35,320 one of the most misquoted pieces of scripture 336 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:36,760 in the entire book. 337 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,600 And I'll tell you why in a second. 338 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:41,800 Then he stooped down again 339 00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:44,400 and continued riding on the ground. 340 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:46,280 When they heard this, they left, 341 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:49,120 one by one, starting with the older men. 342 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:53,720 Only he was left with the woman in the center. 343 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:57,440 Huh. 344 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:01,440 It sounds like there's some, 345 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,120 is it the Proverbs or the Psalms? 346 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,800 One of those two talks about gray hair 347 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:10,120 being this sign of wisdom, this crown of wisdom. 348 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,520 It sounds like there's some built-in blessing 349 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:14,720 to being older, 350 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:15,760 because these guys, 351 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,640 the minute the Almighty God holds up the mirror, 352 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,040 whoever, you know what? 353 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:23,880 I agree with Moses, great idea. 354 00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:26,240 It's just that the right to judge 355 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:28,040 belongs to the Holy One of Israel. 356 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:33,480 He didn't say it like that, but he did say it. 357 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,960 Let me ask you a physical question. 358 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:37,280 Is Jesus still standing there 359 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:38,880 for the second half of the conversation, 360 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:40,280 or did Jesus walk away? 361 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:45,200 Ha ha ha, oh my goodness. 362 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,080 And your philosophy professor in college 363 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:48,920 really wanted to say, 364 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:50,920 well, Jesus never claimed deity. 365 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:57,480 He just said, sinless ones out, and he stayed. 366 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:03,880 That's why he has the right to say, 367 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,400 neither do I condemn you. 368 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:08,880 He has the right to condemn or not to condemn. 369 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:09,840 That's my point. 370 00:17:12,120 --> 00:17:14,600 And he chooses not to. 371 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:19,560 Something that we did not know, 372 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,320 with all our Bible knowledge, 2,000 years ago, 373 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:24,360 we studied and we looked and we studied and we looked, 374 00:17:24,360 --> 00:17:25,920 and we were waiting for Messiah, 375 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,520 and then something happened, are you ready? 376 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:30,000 That nobody saw coming. 377 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,160 The suffering servant of Isaiah 378 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:37,920 and the conquering king of Isaiah, 379 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:39,800 we always thought those were two separate people. 380 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,280 There was no room in our theology 381 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:45,400 for the Messiah to suffer. 382 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:47,720 A worm of a man scorned. 383 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,800 Like Psalm 22, my God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 384 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:53,880 I can see all of my bones. 385 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:55,560 They've pierced my hands and my feet. 386 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,400 There's no room in our theology 2,000 years ago 387 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,160 that Messiah would suffer. 388 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:02,840 He was going to come, grab Caesar, 389 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,840 kick him in his man parts, and end it. 390 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,280 Messiah was supposed to be a military leader, 391 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,400 and when you read the Messianic literature 392 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,960 of the Old Testament, it's very clear why we thought that. 393 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:20,440 How are you gonna tell me that Jerusalem 394 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:22,640 is at the center of everything, 395 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:24,120 and that God himself is on his throne 396 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:26,200 and life just flows out and all the nations come 397 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,000 and worship him, how could that possibly happen 398 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,360 under Caesar, right? 399 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,560 So we were all mistaken in our theology. 400 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,800 We didn't think, we had no idea really 401 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:37,400 who the suffering servant was gonna be. 402 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,880 We had no clue that the same Messiah was gonna come 403 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:44,400 once to suffer and then later to judge. 404 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:49,400 It's the same person, our Lord Jesus Christ. 405 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,280 And if he had come 2,000 years ago to destroy Rome, 406 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:56,440 we wouldn't be here. 407 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:59,680 He would have sorted everybody to his right 408 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,200 and to his left, the sheep from the goats. 409 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,720 I promise you, you and I don't want justice 410 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:07,080 as much as we think we do. 411 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,040 What we want is mercy. 412 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,640 Unforgiveness comes when we need to forgive somebody else 413 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:16,760 and God is the one dealing with that sin 414 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:19,600 and we just don't think he's dealing with it the right way. 415 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:24,360 God, you're doing it wrong. 416 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:27,800 That's where all sin comes from, God, 417 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:29,760 you're doing it wrong. 418 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:34,760 I'm smart enough though, so I'm gonna share some opinions. 419 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:38,440 I'm wise enough. 420 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:41,440 I'm loving enough. 421 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:46,320 My notes disappeared. 422 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:47,840 I have to refresh my screen. 423 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:52,760 Okay. 424 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:55,360 Finger on the ground. 425 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:56,200 Verse 10. 426 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,600 When Jesus stood up, he said to her, 427 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:03,800 now I didn't say this in the first service, 428 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:04,840 but this is important. 429 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:10,600 The disciples are right there hearing all of this. 430 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:12,680 They're the ones that wrote the gospels, right? 431 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:14,680 So they're right there for all of this. 432 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,760 Jesus is never just honoring God, but he is. 433 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:19,520 He's never just serving the person 434 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:20,880 who's gonna be serving him. 435 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,080 He's never just serving the person in front of him, 436 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:24,200 which he is. 437 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:25,560 He's discipling the folks. 438 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:27,120 Like you're gonna take the kingdom 439 00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:28,160 by the Holy Spirit's power. 440 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,080 I'm gonna, I'm gonna, Jetsons. 441 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,040 Do, do, do, do, do, do. 442 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:35,400 I'm gonna go up to the right hand of the Father. 443 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:37,840 That would scare the bejesus out of them 444 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:39,120 had he told them earlier, 445 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:40,400 but I'm gonna fill you with my Holy Spirit. 446 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:41,760 You're gonna do greater things than this, right? 447 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:43,520 He is discipling. 448 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:44,520 This is a word to all of us. 449 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:46,360 When we're ministering, we're never just ministering. 450 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:47,400 Somebody's watching. 451 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:48,960 He stood up, he said to her, 452 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:51,600 woman, where are they? 453 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,840 Has no one condemned you? 454 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:56,880 No one, Lord, she answered. 455 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:00,280 Neither do I condemn you, said Jesus. 456 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,720 Go, and from now on, do not sin anymore. 457 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:08,920 He has the right, it seems, 458 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,680 to tell a human being to not sin. 459 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,680 Can I think of anything more offensive in 2024? 460 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:19,360 I'll pull this away from my face a little bit. 461 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,560 Not just to say there's right and wrong, 462 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,000 not just to say it's a really big deal, 463 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,640 like friend of God, enemy of God. 464 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:34,120 He says, I have the right to judge. 465 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:36,080 I do not condemn you. 466 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:39,920 I have the right to judge. 467 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:44,920 I do not condemn you, go and sin no more. 468 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,440 And because we love the worship of self, 469 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:49,320 and for those of us who are Christians, 470 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:51,560 we sometimes operate out of the flesh, 471 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:53,000 we're operating out of the old self. 472 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,120 We think that last part is the bad news. 473 00:21:57,440 --> 00:21:59,480 We think go and sin no more is like, 474 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:00,960 oh, I knew this whole Christianity thing 475 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,400 was gonna cost me at some point. 476 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:05,360 I can't sleep with my girlfriend like I wanted to. 477 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:07,440 I can't smoke whatever, I can't do whatever, 478 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,560 I can't rebel against authority, I can't cheat on my tags, 479 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,000 I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, 480 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:16,600 because I still don't trust God to run his universe. 481 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,680 Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm in the Bible, 482 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:24,120 and do you know it's only really about one thing? 483 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,760 God's commands to me are sweeter 484 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:30,240 than honey from the honeycomb. 485 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:32,160 That's what Psalm 119 is about. 486 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,680 There is no blessing like the mouth of my creator 487 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:38,360 telling me what's true. 488 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:40,560 The flesh hates that. 489 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,040 The spirit loves it. 490 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,760 If you love Jesus, your spirit-born self loves it 491 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,000 when your creator speaks to you. 492 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,600 That's why you're here instead of playing golf. 493 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,040 The community of saints, not just the sermon, by the way, 494 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:56,760 the music and the community of saints, 495 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:00,320 where we teach each other what is true from the scriptures. 496 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,040 You love it because the Holy Spirit gave you a new heart. 497 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,640 That's the only reason for you to love what God says. 498 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,800 There's no logical reason for the flesh to love it. 499 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,280 No, the flesh is nailed to the cross of Christ, 500 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:15,800 kicking and screaming and fighting. 501 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:17,880 And what does Paul say about that? 502 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,080 Oh, what a wretch of a man that I am. 503 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:22,800 I do that which I don't wanna do, 504 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:24,880 and I don't do that which I do want to do. 505 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,800 I'm so tired of being at war inside myself 506 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:31,400 of a spirit-born self and the old dead self, 507 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:33,440 fighting and fighting and fighting and fighting and fighting 508 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:35,440 and fighting and fighting and fighting and fighting 509 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:36,280 and fighting and fighting. 510 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:39,280 So you see this last part, go and sin no more. 511 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,280 That's a little piece of your kingdom come, 512 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:42,880 your will be done on earth. 513 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:45,800 That we would finally agree with you 514 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,720 and do life the way you have told us to do life. 515 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:51,440 That's the good news. 516 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,440 He just told her, and I know this is weird 517 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:56,000 because he hasn't died on the cross yet, 518 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,800 he just told her she's no longer a slave to sin. 519 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:02,240 He criticized the religious elite saying, 520 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:04,200 you heap all these burdens onto people, 521 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,320 you won't lift a pinky to ease the burden. 522 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:09,600 So there's no way Jesus is gonna say to us, 523 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,320 go and sin no more and then not equip us. 524 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:15,560 Philippians says the Holy Spirit gives the desire 525 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:17,840 and the power to do what pleases God. 526 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,480 Helps me to want holiness and then the power to pursue it. 527 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:23,480 So Jesus is speaking prophetically, 528 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:25,080 which he does his entire ministry. 529 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:28,840 He knows the Holy Spirit is coming to fill his church. 530 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:33,120 He would never tell her, don't sin anymore. 531 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:35,640 Unless he was gonna empower her against sin, 532 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:39,240 unless sin was going to have its victory lost 533 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:40,800 on a bloodied cross. 534 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:50,440 Second, let's talk about the compulsion to forgive now 535 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:53,600 if we are in Christ. 536 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:55,600 Since God has forgiven the Christian, 537 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:57,960 who are we to fail to forgive? 538 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,000 Who do we think we are? 539 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:05,400 Since God has forgiven the Christian, 540 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,800 who are we to fail to forgive? 541 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,160 Turn with me to Matthew chapter 18. 542 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,640 Matthew chapter 18, unless you guys have one. 543 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:19,640 Matthew chapter 18, unless you guys have one. 544 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:30,040 Starting in verse 21. 545 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,320 And Peter approached him, meaning Jesus, and asked, 546 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,120 Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister 547 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:38,840 who sins against me? 548 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:40,520 As many as seven times? 549 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:43,720 I tell you, not as many as seven, Jesus replied, 550 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:45,720 but 70 times seven. 551 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:48,520 For this reason, the kingdom of heaven 552 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:50,720 can be compared to a king 553 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:53,720 who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 554 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:55,920 When he began to settle accounts, one who owed him 555 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,120 10,000 talents was brought before him. 556 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,120 A talent was about one year's wage. 557 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:02,120 Anybody here ever been in enough debt 558 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:05,320 that you owed somebody 10,000 years of your wages? 559 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:08,320 No, anybody, 10,000 years? 560 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:13,120 No, anybody, 10,000 years of your wages? 561 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:15,520 The point is that it's astronomical 562 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,720 and you couldn't possibly pay it back, that's the point. 563 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:20,320 Okay? 564 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:21,320 Could not possibly. 565 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:28,120 And then, verse 25. 566 00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:29,920 Since he did not have the money to pay it back, 567 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:32,320 his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, 568 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:35,920 and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. 569 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:37,520 And as horrifying as this is to us, 570 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,520 this is normal in first century Rome. 571 00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:42,720 If I'm hugely in debt and I have nothing to give, 572 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:44,720 all I can give you is my future labor. 573 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,520 So my family, we will move on to your property, 574 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:49,320 and I will serve you the rest of my life. 575 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:51,520 That's the best I can do, right? 576 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:55,120 And Roman law, that's Roman law, signed off on that. 577 00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:56,520 That is the law. 578 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,920 At this, the servant fell face down before him and said, 579 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,120 be patient with me and I will pay you everything. 580 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:07,120 Is that logical, illogical, 50-50? 581 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:10,920 I have one vote for illogical. 582 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:16,920 Can you pay back 10,000 years of your wages? 583 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:22,720 So you asserting to God, I can make it up to you, God. 584 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:29,320 All that is, is being afraid of hell. 585 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:34,920 You don't actually love God. Heaven is not for people 586 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:36,920 who are afraid of hell. 587 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:39,120 Heaven is for those who love God. 588 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,320 The master of the servant had compassion, 589 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,320 released him and forgave him the loan. 590 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:51,520 What? 591 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:53,120 Could we agree it would have been really merciful 592 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:54,120 if everyone would just say, 593 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:56,320 hey, I'm gonna put you on a little payment plan. 594 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,920 Give me 10% of your wages for the rest of your life. 595 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:02,920 I know we'll never come anywhere near actually paying it off, 596 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:06,120 but that would have been really merciful, right? 597 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:10,920 God is not a little bit merciful. 598 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:14,120 God is not a lot a bit merciful. 599 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:16,520 He is breathtaking merciful. 600 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,520 That huge gap between his holiness and my filth, 601 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:24,120 that is my sin debt, 602 00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:26,320 to an almighty God. 603 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,920 He forgave something unbelievable. 604 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:35,520 Verse 28, that servant went out 605 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:36,920 and found one of his fellow servants 606 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,520 who owed him 100 denarii. 607 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:41,320 Does it matter how much a denarii is? 608 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,520 No, it's a lot, lot less than how much he just got forgiven. 609 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:45,920 That's the only thing we need to know. 610 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,520 He grabbed him, started choking him and said, 611 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:50,320 pay what you owe. 612 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:52,520 At this, his fellow servant fell down 613 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,320 and began begging him, 614 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:57,120 be patient with me and I will pay you back. 615 00:28:57,120 --> 00:28:58,520 Have we heard this before? 616 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:03,720 I think I just heard a story 617 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:07,120 about somebody who used those exact same words. 618 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:10,720 Oh wait, that's right, it was me. 619 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:12,120 God forgave me a whole bunch 620 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,120 and now I don't wanna forgive my brother. 621 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:16,720 Yikes. 622 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:20,320 Verse 30, but he wasn't willing. 623 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:22,520 Instead, he went and threw him into prison 624 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:24,320 until he could pay what he owed. 625 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:27,720 When the other servants saw what had taken place, 626 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:29,120 they were deeply distressed 627 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:30,520 and went and reported to their master 628 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:32,120 everything that had happened. 629 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:35,920 Then after he had summoned him, his master said to him, 630 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:40,920 you wicked servant, is God mincing his words? 631 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,320 Not like you 70% wicked, 632 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:50,520 you, you know, your dad didn't hug you enough 633 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:51,920 when you were a kid, 634 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,520 culture had some bad ideas swirling around, 635 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:56,920 you fell in with the wrong crowd in high school. 636 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:57,720 No. 637 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,320 Context or not, by the way, every context is wicked. 638 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:07,920 Context or not, what you have done is unbelievably evil. 639 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,120 And listen to his rhetorical question. 640 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:15,320 I forgave you all that debt because you begged me, 641 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,120 shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant 642 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:20,120 as I had mercy on you? 643 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:21,520 It's rhetorical, there's no question. 644 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,120 There's no response he gives, you know, notice? 645 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:25,120 Because he can't. 646 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:27,520 There's no answer. 647 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,120 And because he was angry, his master handed him over 648 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:32,520 to the jailers to be tortured 649 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,920 until he could pay everything that was owed. 650 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:37,920 Question, while you're being tortured, 651 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:39,920 how much money are you earning per hour? 652 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:44,520 So if you're not earning anything, 653 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:47,120 how are you gonna be paying back something? 654 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:53,120 C.S. Lewis surmised related to the eternality of hell, 655 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:57,320 if God will not manifestly be present, and he is not, 656 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:01,320 he's present as judge, Christ as judge over hell, 657 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,320 you guys need to know that Satan's not in charge of hell, 658 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:04,520 he was created for him. 659 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:08,720 If Jesus Christ is pouring out his wrath on Satan 660 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,120 and fallen angels, and we by our rebellion 661 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:12,920 decide to join that rebellion, 662 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:16,120 God is not choosing to reign in hell with his love 663 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:17,720 and his mercy and his patience, 664 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,720 he's reigning with his justice. 665 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:25,720 And I lost my train of thought. 666 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,120 Oh, C.S. Lewis said this. 667 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:31,520 If God is no longer, as the Holy Spirit is holding back 668 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:33,720 wickedness to some degree right now, 669 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:35,520 if God is no longer holding back wickedness 670 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:37,920 and hell is allowed to go on forever, 671 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,720 what goes on in the heart and mind of somebody in hell? 672 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,520 They are only ever continually blaspheming God 673 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,720 more and more and more, so you can't pay off the debt, 674 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:47,920 you're racking up the debt 675 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:49,720 farther and farther into eternity. 676 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:54,720 You think somebody in hell is gonna hold their tongue 677 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:56,720 and speak respectfully about the Lord? 678 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:00,520 You think they're gonna think respectful, 679 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:02,720 submissive thoughts about the Lord? 680 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:04,920 Are they gonna serve one another, 681 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:06,720 love one another, bear one another's burdens? 682 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:08,720 You think the one another's burdens are gonna be 683 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:10,720 the one another's burdens, you think the one another's 684 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:12,920 of scripture are happening in hell? 685 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:15,320 No, and there is no neutral ground. 686 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,720 We are honoring God or we are dishonoring him. 687 00:32:20,420 --> 00:32:21,360 Crazy. 688 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:26,720 Verse 35, so also my heavenly Father will do to you 689 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:30,020 unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister 690 00:32:30,020 --> 00:32:31,320 from your heart. 691 00:32:35,020 --> 00:32:36,920 Does this sound like Jesus was trying to win friends 692 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:38,920 and influence people? 693 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:43,320 Did Jesus stutter? 694 00:32:45,220 --> 00:32:47,720 Did Jesus ever apologize for these words? 695 00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:53,120 No, because warning hellbound people about hell 696 00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:54,720 is the most loving thing he can do 697 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,120 and doing it in sternest of tone. 698 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:04,320 There was a man at the Loma Prieta Quake in 1989 699 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,120 who was able to slow down because he saw 700 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:07,420 that the bridge had fallen out in front of him 701 00:33:07,420 --> 00:33:09,720 and over and over again he's standing waving his arms 702 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,520 and car after car after car people presumably 703 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:15,420 were afraid of looters or whatever sped right past him 704 00:33:15,420 --> 00:33:17,120 and dropped 80 feet to their death. 705 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:20,920 It happened over and over and over and he looks up 706 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,020 and he finally sees a school bus and he's like, 707 00:33:23,020 --> 00:33:25,420 I can't do this. 708 00:33:25,420 --> 00:33:29,920 And so this bus full of kids, drivers honking his horn 709 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:31,220 thinking he's dealing with some crazy guy, 710 00:33:31,220 --> 00:33:32,920 maybe that guy's got a gun, who knows what. 711 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:37,120 He stood in front of the bus at tremendous risk 712 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:40,720 to his own life, he would not get out of the way 713 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:42,520 and once the bus had stopped he's able to say, 714 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:44,120 the bridge is out ahead. 715 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:55,320 Jesus loves us when he tells us there's danger ahead. 716 00:33:55,320 --> 00:34:00,320 We are so drunk on individualism in our culture 717 00:34:03,420 --> 00:34:07,220 that we think that it's bad parenting to not allow 718 00:34:07,220 --> 00:34:12,220 a tiny human to just sovereignly reign over their universe. 719 00:34:12,620 --> 00:34:16,220 We would think how evil, how rude if mom reaches out 720 00:34:16,220 --> 00:34:19,920 and grabs my arm and yanks me, we would go, 721 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:23,120 oh she violated my sovereignty. 722 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:27,720 She violated my free will, she took away my rights. 723 00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:30,520 Well what if mama saw a car barreling down the street 724 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:32,220 and you're three so you're oblivious 725 00:34:32,220 --> 00:34:33,720 and she just saved your life. 726 00:34:38,020 --> 00:34:41,420 God is the only one, when he comes incarnate, 727 00:34:41,420 --> 00:34:45,920 2,000 years ago, the first two thirds of redemptive history, 728 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:49,420 he's the only one who really understands, 729 00:34:49,420 --> 00:34:52,020 David understands it by the Holy Spirit, 730 00:34:52,020 --> 00:34:55,720 the blood of rams and goats don't satisfy this God. 731 00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,320 The entire sacrificial system is not good enough on its own, 732 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:01,420 it's just pointing forward to a Messiah 733 00:35:01,420 --> 00:35:03,920 who's gonna go to his cross, behold the lamb of God 734 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:05,720 who takes away the sins of the world. 735 00:35:08,820 --> 00:35:12,520 He knows that nothing in the sacrificial system was enough. 736 00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:16,520 He knows that we could not possibly be good enough. 737 00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:21,020 Romans 3, 19 and 20 says the more we know God's law, 738 00:35:21,020 --> 00:35:23,220 the clearer it becomes we're not obeying it. 739 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:31,420 Your Bible knowledge damns you. 740 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:37,220 Now I know what God expects of me 741 00:35:37,220 --> 00:35:38,920 and I don't live up to any of it. 742 00:35:41,820 --> 00:35:44,220 And by God's grace, the flow of Romans 3 743 00:35:44,220 --> 00:35:48,420 tells that the whole apex is praise God what a savior, 744 00:35:48,420 --> 00:35:51,120 I don't have to live by the law, I couldn't do it, 745 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:53,920 Jesus fulfilled the law for me. 746 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:57,920 He was morally perfect for me 747 00:35:57,920 --> 00:35:59,920 and when he goes to his cross, 748 00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:01,320 he doesn't just do something amazing 749 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:03,720 and take Greg Kaiser's guilt and stamping it onto himself, 750 00:36:03,720 --> 00:36:06,020 that would be amazing enough. 751 00:36:06,020 --> 00:36:09,120 He took his morally perfect life and he stamped it onto me. 752 00:36:10,620 --> 00:36:13,820 Maybe some confused angels at heaven, 753 00:36:13,820 --> 00:36:15,720 Greg's walking up like he's sinless, 754 00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:18,820 do do do do, everything's great. 755 00:36:18,820 --> 00:36:22,120 This schmuck, he sinned a thousand times a day, 756 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:25,220 what's he doing with a skip in his step on the way into heaven? 757 00:36:29,220 --> 00:36:34,220 Jesus paid for my sins, oh, come on in. 758 00:36:37,020 --> 00:36:39,620 And that's the only answer that works at those gates. 759 00:36:39,620 --> 00:36:42,320 There's nothing more loving than your God 760 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:45,520 who can see so clearly that the bridge is out ahead. 761 00:36:47,020 --> 00:36:49,420 Scripture says it this way, for the wages of sin is death, 762 00:36:49,420 --> 00:36:51,520 what naturally occurs at the end of two hard weeks 763 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:54,320 of working on sin, what is the wage that you are rightly owed? 764 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:55,720 The wages of sin is death. 765 00:36:57,720 --> 00:37:00,320 And if God was an angry jerk in the sky, 766 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:02,420 he would have told us that we were toast 767 00:37:02,420 --> 00:37:04,520 and then that would have been the end of the Bible. 768 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:08,320 God makes it, in Genesis three we rebel, 769 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:12,820 and then chapter four, ooh, you guys blew it, the end. 770 00:37:12,820 --> 00:37:17,820 Do you guys know all the scary stuff 771 00:37:17,820 --> 00:37:19,220 of God's wrath and revelation? 772 00:37:19,220 --> 00:37:21,320 That could have come at Genesis four. 773 00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:22,820 God had every right. 774 00:37:24,220 --> 00:37:26,320 And the Bible is not four chapters long 775 00:37:27,820 --> 00:37:30,320 because he loves the Bible. 776 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:35,320 The Bible is not four chapters long because he loves us, 777 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:39,620 not because of us, but in spite of our rebellion. 778 00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:44,220 He loves us because of who he is. 779 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:49,020 Anybody ever hear, you had a baby or a grandbaby, 780 00:37:49,020 --> 00:37:51,220 or you're just like, I kinda wanna kill him, 781 00:37:51,220 --> 00:37:52,820 but I would take a bullet for him. 782 00:37:56,820 --> 00:37:59,920 You love your child because of what's in your heart, 783 00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:03,220 because of the behavior of the child in the moment. 784 00:38:03,220 --> 00:38:05,120 That's insanity. 785 00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:08,120 And yet Satan whispers in your ear every single day, 786 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:10,620 you blew it, you screwed up, 787 00:38:10,620 --> 00:38:12,320 God couldn't possibly love you now. 788 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:14,120 You're not a real Christian. 789 00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:16,120 If you were a real Christian, you wouldn't have thought that. 790 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:16,960 If you were a real Christian, 791 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:18,920 that wouldn't have been your reaction. 792 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:20,120 And what is Satan doing? 793 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:23,020 He's trying to take your eyes off of your Savior 794 00:38:23,020 --> 00:38:26,020 and down into the waters on which you walk. 795 00:38:26,020 --> 00:38:27,920 The entire Christian life is a miracle, guys. 796 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:30,120 You're walking on water with Jesus. 797 00:38:31,420 --> 00:38:33,520 And what happens when we take our eyes off of Jesus? 798 00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:34,620 We start to sink. 799 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:36,360 Yeah. 800 00:38:37,620 --> 00:38:39,720 Jesus is sustaining this whole thing, 801 00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:43,420 not just history, not just the church, 802 00:38:43,420 --> 00:38:45,220 he's sustaining your walk with him. 803 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,720 It was Spurgeon who said, I'm quite confident 804 00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:52,820 that when I woke up this morning, 805 00:38:52,820 --> 00:38:55,320 I only love Jesus because Jesus afresh 806 00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:57,920 decided this morning that I should love him. 807 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:01,120 The Holy Spirit is deciding every day 808 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:03,020 to hold and sustain Christ. 809 00:39:03,020 --> 00:39:05,920 Christ said, I have not lost one that you've given to me. 810 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:10,320 I still love him because he set his heart on me, 811 00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:12,020 not because I set my heart on him. 812 00:39:13,620 --> 00:39:14,920 It's because of who he is. 813 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:16,320 I'm gonna start patting myself on the back. 814 00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:18,020 Greg's really awesome, Greg's faith is strong, 815 00:39:18,020 --> 00:39:19,920 Greg loves God, you know. 816 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:21,720 How perverse when we could take the love of God 817 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:22,620 and turn that into a work. 818 00:39:22,620 --> 00:39:25,720 I loved God, therefore I deserve something. 819 00:39:25,720 --> 00:39:26,560 Pfft. 820 00:39:28,820 --> 00:39:30,220 I put money in the plate, therefore I, 821 00:39:30,220 --> 00:39:32,220 pfft, I went on a mission trip, therefore I deserve, 822 00:39:32,220 --> 00:39:33,060 pfft. 823 00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:35,560 Oh. 824 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:38,520 No, no, no, no. 825 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:40,220 I'm gonna tell you one story and then 826 00:39:40,220 --> 00:39:42,520 we're gonna transition to our communion time. 827 00:39:43,620 --> 00:39:46,120 Some of you guys might remember that in 2006, 828 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:50,620 a 31-year-old man who was very wounded indeed. 829 00:39:50,620 --> 00:39:54,120 Came into a Pennsylvania schoolhouse 830 00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:55,720 in an Amish community. 831 00:39:56,520 --> 00:39:58,320 Kicked out the teacher and the little boys, 832 00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:00,720 locked the door, barricaded himself in, 833 00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:05,720 tied up 10 girls, and then began lecturing them. 834 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:09,520 He said, my little girl was sick, 835 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:12,520 and I asked God to save her, and he didn't. 836 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,520 And so now some other Christian girls are gonna suffer 837 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:18,620 because of this. 838 00:40:18,620 --> 00:40:19,620 Because of this. 839 00:40:21,620 --> 00:40:22,920 And he shot all 10 of them 840 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:25,720 before turning the gun on himself. 841 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:29,920 Five of them lived, five of them didn't. 842 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:33,720 And what do we see in this? 843 00:40:35,620 --> 00:40:39,920 This man had his own definition of what was just 844 00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:41,920 and what was right about how God was supposed 845 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:43,720 to run his universe. 846 00:40:43,720 --> 00:40:47,020 And he took things into his own hands. 847 00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:53,020 Anybody remember what the Amish community did in response? 848 00:40:55,020 --> 00:40:58,020 Five hours after the shooting, 849 00:40:59,020 --> 00:41:00,520 a communal response had been written, 850 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:05,020 and an Amish man was reading into news cameras, 851 00:41:05,020 --> 00:41:07,020 something he'd probably never done before. 852 00:41:09,020 --> 00:41:11,520 Saying, we forgive this man for what he did. 853 00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:13,320 We do not hold onto the right to judge, 854 00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:14,520 that is God's alone. 855 00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:21,720 We are going to work for the blessing and care 856 00:41:21,720 --> 00:41:23,720 of his widow, who is here, 857 00:41:23,720 --> 00:41:26,520 and who's in desperate need of love and care. 858 00:41:29,720 --> 00:41:33,520 Who shows up to the funeral of a murderer, I wonder? 859 00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:37,520 All the news reporters said the same thing. 860 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:39,520 They said, God, we're gonna do this. 861 00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:41,520 All the news reporters said the same thing. 862 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:44,720 They said there are more Amish people at this funeral, 863 00:41:44,720 --> 00:41:46,520 paying their respects and caring for the widow 864 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:47,920 than there are non-Amish. 865 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:52,120 Five days after your daughter is murdered, 866 00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:54,520 you go to the funeral of the murderer, 867 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:57,420 and pray for God to bless his widow, 868 00:41:57,420 --> 00:41:59,720 and they take a collection and care for her? 869 00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:06,720 Are you kidding me? 870 00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:25,720 Holy Spirit, we need you to fill.