1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,440 Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located 2 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,680 in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship 3 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:21,920 Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism, 4 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:27,300 discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church 5 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:31,880 and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bigford and I will be your 6 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:36,420 host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing 7 00:00:36,420 --> 00:00:40,320 to you and bring you closer to God. 8 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:51,920 Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. My name is David Bigford. 9 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:57,600 I am the pastor of the Potter's House Church here in Salmon Arm. Today's message that I 10 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:04,600 put together is called God's Grace. It is about sin, separation, substitution and ultimately 11 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:10,840 what everything is always about is salvation. As we go ahead and get into this message, 12 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:16,680 the text is very short today. It is going to be Titus 2.11. You can turn there in your 13 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:22,640 Bible if you are following along as we go ahead and get started. As we jump in, we are 14 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:29,120 going to look at God's grace this morning. I want to talk about what that means, God's 15 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:35,160 grace. To fully understand grace we need to consider who we were without Christ and who 16 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:40,680 we become with Christ. We were born into sin as we can see throughout the scripture, Psalm 17 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:47,800 51.5. We are guilty of breaking God's holy laws which is very well laid out in Romans 18 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:56,800 3, 9-20 and verse 23 as well as in 1 John 1, 8-10. We are enemies of God. You can see 19 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:02,520 that in Romans and in the collage as well. We are deserving of death. We were unrighteous 20 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:11,360 and without some means of justifying ourselves, spiritually we are destitute, blind, unclean 21 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:18,520 and dead and our souls are in peril of everlasting punishment. But then came grace. God extended 22 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:24,280 his favor to us. Grace is what saves us. That is what we see when we read Ephesians verses 23 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:31,740 2-8. Grace is the essence of the gospel. Grace gives us victory over sin. Grace gives us 24 00:02:31,740 --> 00:02:37,200 eternal encouragement and a good hope. Paul repeatedly identified grace as the basis of 25 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:44,560 his calling as an apostle and Jesus Christ is the embodiment of that grace coupled with 26 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:49,640 the truth. So let's look at a story that I came across and how this relates to us and 27 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:56,280 both the grace we have received and our call to share that gospel of grace with others. 28 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:01,040 This is a story from a military commander who had the unfortunate duty to oversee one 29 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:06,080 of his officers as they were charged and found guilty of a serious crime. As we walk through 30 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:11,680 this story, I want to draw your attention to the pain that it caused everyone around 31 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:17,680 the situation. The family, friends, the co-workers were all affected and it would have been easy 32 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:23,400 to become bitter dealing with this situation. But remember this message is about grace and 33 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:30,120 not retribution. So as we jump into this illustration, I first 34 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:36,680 want to go ahead and share the message or the text this morning again which is Titus 35 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:41,800 2-11. So the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people because that really 36 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:47,800 hinge pins exactly what we're going to be talking about is that it is for the salvation 37 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:56,640 of all people that we have the ability to tap into grace in Jesus Christ. So this story 38 00:03:56,640 --> 00:04:02,600 is called A Prison Called Leavenworth and it's from this commanding officer who had 39 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:08,700 to deal with one of his other officers who had committed a crime and now he's having 40 00:04:08,700 --> 00:04:16,640 to deal with the aftermath or the reckoning that is coming because of this crime. 41 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:21,880 So if we begin, I've held three commands in my career and each one was completely different. 42 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,980 There were a lot of high points along the way. There was at least as many low points 43 00:04:25,980 --> 00:04:31,320 after the after three commands. I knew I'd had enough. It was time to do something else 44 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:36,120 and there wasn't much point in looking back. One of the low points in my final command 45 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:42,060 was having to escort a fellow officer under guard to Fort Leavenworth Military Prison. 46 00:04:42,060 --> 00:04:46,720 I was commanding a flying squadron and was at my desk late in the afternoon when the 47 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:53,720 phone rang. A voice said firmly, this is Agent Baylor from the Office of Special Investigations 48 00:04:53,720 --> 00:05:00,200 OSD. I'd like to meet you tomorrow at the Wing Commander's office. Can you be there? 49 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:05,480 I nodded my head and then realized I was on the phone. I managed to barely audible, yes, 50 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:10,160 I'll be there. I hung up the phone and tried to figure out what this was all about. Even 51 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:14,800 as a squadron commander, I'd only been to the Wing Commander's office once and very 52 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:20,600 briefly. Finally, I got a little mad and called the agent back. Is this about me or one of 53 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:26,240 my people who works for me? He was embarrassed and said, oh, no, sir, it's about one of your 54 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:31,480 people, but I can't talk about it until tomorrow. Somewhat relieved, somewhat troubled, I hung 55 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,740 up the phone. The next morning as I neared the door of the Wing Commander's office, two 56 00:05:35,740 --> 00:05:41,200 men in suits stepped out. One introduced himself without extending his hand. Hi, I'm Agent 57 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:48,040 Willis. I'm with the FBI. Right then and there, I think I started going into shock. 58 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:55,880 This brings me to my first point, which is sin and separation. As we're going through 59 00:05:55,880 --> 00:06:05,640 this illustration and as we're putting it into the framework of the messages of grace, 60 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:11,920 we reflect back on Titus 2.11, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to 61 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:17,320 all people. We're getting into this story. We recognize something very traumatic has 62 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:23,800 happened. We don't know what that is yet, but we can understand that a crime has been 63 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:30,280 committed or a sin has been committed. And now somebody has been separated and it's all 64 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:36,720 about to come to light. And that's often how the devil will work is through the mechanisms 65 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:43,120 of temptation. They'll draw away people into sin and they don't even realize that they're 66 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:50,120 being separated until it's too late because that's the goal of sin is separation. So let's 67 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:56,600 continue on with the story. And then we'll find out a little bit more about the crime. 68 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:01,680 I sat in the chair in front of the Wing Commander with my boss, an FBI agent and an OSI agent. 69 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:06,200 The agent started by swearing us to secrecy, declaring a lapse in confidentiality was a 70 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:12,080 felony and punishable by well, you get the picture. It's interesting how even at the 71 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:18,240 beginning of this, they warn our commanding officer that we're talking, that's telling 72 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:24,160 the story that, hey, this is serious enough that if you even talk about it, you will be 73 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:33,080 punished as well. And that's often what it looks like happens in life and in society 74 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:39,520 is that when sin comes into our lives or comes into the lives of those we care about, if 75 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:45,440 we are mumbling about sin, if we're sharing it openly, it'll cause more damage than the 76 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:53,680 dealing with it with careful consideration. And just as a side has popped into my head 77 00:07:53,680 --> 00:08:02,400 as I'm talking, this is a reason why you should be very careful about airing your dirty laundry 78 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:07,200 or somebody else's dirty laundry to the world. You have to work through the sin. You have 79 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:15,840 to do so with a meaningful manner. But oftentimes, by just like, you know, gossiping about something, 80 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:22,120 you can make the situation far worse. And you can also damage the any opportunity for 81 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:27,600 somebody to be able to be restored after the fact. 82 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:32,160 So the FBI agent pulled out a stack of photographs indicating an officer of mine, Joe Canty, 83 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:37,160 had been caught in the commission of a serious felony. When they passed the photos to me 84 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:42,600 I looked swiftly at only the first photo and my stomach churned. I passed them to my boss 85 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:47,680 sitting beside me. I tried to assess the impact of this situation. It could only conclude 86 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:52,280 it was going to be bad. Joe was a popular among his peers and had served many years 87 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:58,160 in the service. I knew the FBI would arrest him soon. His life would be ruined. The morale 88 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:04,400 of the squadron would plummet. The man's wife and children would suffer as well. So when 89 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:09,120 we think of in scriptural terms, we think of sin entering in the world with Adam and 90 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:15,000 Eve. And we know that it was the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This 91 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,320 is nothing new to anyone who has even the smallest amount of biblical knowledge. But 92 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:22,320 for the sake of clarity, let's look at that story again. In Genesis 3, 1 through 7, we 93 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:26,840 read about the fall. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that 94 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:31,440 the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, did God actually say, you shall not eat of 95 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:36,320 any of the trees in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit 96 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:40,120 of the trees in the garden. But God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree 97 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:45,480 that is in the midst of the garden. Neither shall you touch it lest you die. But the serpent 98 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:50,400 said to the woman, you will surely not die. For God knows that when the serpent said to 99 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:55,320 the woman, you surely not die or sorry, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes 100 00:09:55,320 --> 00:10:01,240 will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that 101 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:05,880 the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes that the tree was to 102 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:11,000 be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her 103 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:15,800 husband who was with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both were open and they knew they 104 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:21,320 were naked and that they and they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 105 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:26,600 The story of the fall shows that our willingness to sin is what separates us from God. And 106 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:32,680 I find it very, very interesting too, because typically with sin, you know, they they've 107 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:37,000 been told not to do this thing. Then they got convinced that this thing that they were 108 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:42,620 going to do was OK. But it's always it's always really remarkable because oftentimes we know 109 00:10:42,620 --> 00:10:47,200 in our heart, you know, when something is sinful, because there's like an immediate 110 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:53,000 reaction of blue, I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have done that. And the and the 111 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:58,360 right reaction is to turn and repent at that moment. But oftentimes we we instead try to 112 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:04,360 cover it. We sow fig leaves in our lives and to cover our sin rather than just saying, 113 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:10,720 Lord, I know I'm messed up and I need you and I need your help so that I can repent 114 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:17,200 from my sin, turn from my sin, but then also just move forward. And deal with the damage 115 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:22,320 that's been done. So it's a really simple picture here. Think of being in a trailhead 116 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:26,720 and one direction leads to a better, stronger relationship with God, the father and the 117 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:31,640 other path leads to the lusts of the heart and the mind. Now, God's path is obscured 118 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:36,860 a bit. It looks a little less traveled and a tad overgrown. The other path is wide open 119 00:11:36,860 --> 00:11:41,920 and well traveled. You might even see large groups of people headed down the wide path, 120 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:48,040 but only a few head out on the goat trail, which is the path to God. This is the allure 121 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:54,040 of the world, a fallen world that hides the sin and pain and set and the separation and 122 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:59,080 loneliness with a veil of pleasures, fun and excitement. This is why so many head down 123 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:03,720 that path and often they don't see their mistake until it's too late for them to head back. 124 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:11,560 They are too far down the road to find the other trail unless there's grace. God's trail 125 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:16,600 is true. It might be hard to distinguish at times, but it's but that's on purpose. We 126 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:22,040 are meant to seek the father and to build a relationship with him. His path is not as 127 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:29,000 easy. His path is not easy at times. It can be, you know, if you're into hiking, if you're 128 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,840 into skiing or anything like that, you can think of it as like a double black diamond 129 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:38,640 trail, but it is the right trail. You know, the difficulty of the trail, the testing of 130 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:44,680 the trail doesn't mean that it isn't the right trail through the ups and downs of life, the 131 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:49,720 vistas in the valleys. God is there with us as we blaze a trail growing closer to him 132 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:56,200 with every step by getting stronger in our feet. You know, being challenged through the 133 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:01,320 testing and the trials of life, we gain strength, which I kind of touched on last week is the 134 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:07,400 idea that like if all you do is train on a flat, even easy trail, you actually don't 135 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:13,320 gain strength and you could you either have to increase your duration or increase your 136 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:17,080 difficulty to gain strength. So if you're on like a super easy, smooth trail, maybe 137 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:23,080 even slightly downhill because your head is through to hell, right? It would be, yeah, 138 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:27,760 that's a that's a perfect picture of what, you know, the path of the world is. It's such 139 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:34,380 an easy downhill slope, not so easy that you notice you're going downhill, but just a nice 140 00:13:34,380 --> 00:13:39,980 easy downhill grade where it doesn't take much energy or strength to head in the direction 141 00:13:39,980 --> 00:13:45,680 that separates you from God. But God's trail is a challenging trail that's going to lead 142 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:50,920 you to the top of the mountain to be as close to the father as you possibly can. And that 143 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:57,400 takes work. That takes sweat. That takes energy. The biggest problem with the world's trail 144 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:04,040 is that it only leads to destruction. Yeah, it's easy. It's a stroll. But before you know 145 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:08,320 long, it's like walking down a dark alley in Chicago or New York. And like I said, with 146 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:15,040 that idea of a downhill slope, the second you recognize that you've been heading in 147 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:21,000 the wrong direction, you've still got to climb your way back out of it. Now, with God's grace, 148 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:27,160 you're going to be able to do that. That doesn't mean that there isn't going to be a hike ahead 149 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:32,240 of you. So let's get back to our illustration in the store. We'll pick it up again. A week 150 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:36,720 later, the FBI had gathered all the evidence that they believe they needed and knocked 151 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:41,560 on his door. The news spread like wildfire when the newspapers reported the arrest, the 152 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:46,440 phone began to ring off the hook with questions. However, as a commander, I had to respect 153 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:50,480 the privacy of the individual. I called my squadron together and told them of the news 154 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:56,080 of Joe's arrests and the publicly releasable facts. Unfortunately, the facts didn't fill 155 00:14:56,080 --> 00:15:00,880 in any gaps and the speculation ruled the day. A number of people surmised that I had 156 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:05,440 a vendetta against him or had set him up. I couldn't answer those charges because to 157 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:11,440 do so would have violated his legal privacy rights. The process of criminal justice had 158 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,920 been described as a grinding wheel that moves slowly and surely. Along the way, there's 159 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:21,920 a lot of pain. It took nearly a year before Joe came to trial and during that time, the 160 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:28,400 squadron suffered through the under the surface tension I expected. Nevertheless, we had an 161 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:32,840 important mission to accomplish and we did it. When the trial ended, he was found guilty 162 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:39,020 and sentenced to serve time at Fort Leavenworth Military Prison in Kansas. Over the months 163 00:15:39,020 --> 00:15:43,400 between arrest and trial, I had spent a lot of time with him and managed to guide him 164 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:52,920 into counseling with various sources. Now we see Joe Canty here has been separated, 165 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:58,760 which is what our life looks like when we're actively sinning and we're not turning to 166 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:04,480 Christ when we're not giving our life to Christ and we're living in the world. We might not 167 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:09,920 always understand it, but we're living far from the Father. We're living a life of loneliness 168 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:18,320 and separation. That's why in this day and age, so oftentimes, people are filling themselves 169 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:24,160 with entertainment and it's only going to get worse as AI becomes more prevalent because 170 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:30,880 people aren't going to need to talk to real people in order to get just enough, you know, 171 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:36,000 just enough affection from a fake source where there's not good. They're not going to turn 172 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:40,100 to Christ. They're not going to turn to God. They're going to be separated and not even 173 00:16:40,100 --> 00:16:46,080 know it. And so we have to actively work against that. If we're Christian, we're working with 174 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,440 people to say, Hey, no, this is why you do not forsake the gathering of the brethren. 175 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:54,820 If you do not forsake the body of the church, because you need to be around real people, 176 00:16:54,820 --> 00:17:00,040 you need to be around people who are going to tell you and help you to continue to focus 177 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:04,160 on the gospel of Jesus Christ, because otherwise you're just going to be heading into a nice 178 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:11,100 comfy prison of solitude until you don't until you don't realize that there's no way out 179 00:17:11,100 --> 00:17:17,000 for you. When we pick back up the story of the fall in Genesis, we can see a similar 180 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:22,200 parallel to Joe Canty story. The choice that Joe made in his life have now separated him 181 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:27,160 from his family, his friends and his life in them as a military officer. Joe will have 182 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:32,080 to find something else to cling to now that he will be, you know, be feeling that cold 183 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:40,320 separation from his life before this punishment. And Genesis three 22 through 24, it says, 184 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:46,060 then the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like one of us knowing good and evil. 185 00:17:46,060 --> 00:17:51,760 Now lest he reaches out his hand and takes also the tree of life and eat and live forever. 186 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,840 Therefore the Lord God had sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from 187 00:17:55,840 --> 00:18:00,800 which he has taken. He drove out the man at the east of the Garden of Eden. He placed 188 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:05,560 a chair of him in a flaming sword that would turn every way to guard the way to the tree 189 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:15,400 of life. So you see this immediate separation and God still wanted a relationship with mankind, 190 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:22,000 but it couldn't be the same kind of relationship that he had intended for mankind. They have 191 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:27,240 been separated. Their sin has separated them. Springs of my next point, which is sacrifice 192 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:32,240 and substitution. Sacrifice is something we see quite a bit in Levitical law. The Old 193 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:37,480 Testament is full of sacrifices. You have a sacrifice for every kind of sin. And that 194 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:44,120 is because before Christ, this was the only way to cover sin, a constant sacrifice that 195 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:51,760 was very time consuming and ultimately proves to be ineffective. And Hebrews 10 verses one 196 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:59,280 through four, we find we talk or we read about how Christ's the sacrifice for once and all. 197 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:04,440 So verse one, for since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead 198 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:09,360 of the true form of these realities, it can never by the same sacrifice that are continually 199 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:15,520 offered every year make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have 200 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:20,860 ceased to be offered since the worshipers have once been cleansed, would no longer have 201 00:19:20,860 --> 00:19:25,960 had any consciousness of sin. But in these sacrifices, there is a reminder of the sin 202 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:32,880 every year, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. So what 203 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:38,200 is, what does this lead us to is that as we move into Christianity, as we see, you know, 204 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:43,960 read the gospel of Jesus Christ, we see that the fulfillment of Jesus Christ is the substitution 205 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:50,320 of the sacrifice. A substitution was needed, a perfect sacrifice was needed. We have all 206 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:54,840 sinned and fallen short of the glory of the Lord. We sin too much and too often for the 207 00:19:54,840 --> 00:20:00,560 blood of animals to cover it. We needed a Messiah, a perfect unblemished sacrifice. And 208 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:05,680 that is why Jesus was sent. And Hebrews 10 five through 12, it says, Consequently, when 209 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:10,400 Christ came into the world, he said, sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a 210 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:16,360 body have you prepared for me and burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 211 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:21,800 Then I said, behold, I have come to do your will. Oh, God, as it is written of me in the 212 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:26,480 scroll of the book, when he said above, you have neither desired nor taken pleasure in 213 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:31,540 sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings. These are offered according 214 00:20:31,540 --> 00:20:36,640 to the law. Then he added, behold, I have come to do your will. He does away with the 215 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:42,960 first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through 216 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:48,320 the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. And every priest stands daily 217 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:53,840 at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sin. 218 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:59,920 But when Christ had been offered for all time, a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at 219 00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:07,320 the right hand of God. So this brings me to my third point, which is punishment, discipline 220 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:13,840 and chastisement. And we go back into our illustration because we have to understand 221 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:22,120 that separation is a natural out, you know, the natural occurrence of sin. And if it weren't 222 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:29,840 for the sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice that is Jesus Christ, we would have no way to be 223 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:35,880 able to come back into relationship with God. So let's pick up our story again. The day 224 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:40,960 after he was sentenced, I was asked to provide an escort to take him to prison. It had been 225 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:45,200 some it had to be someone of equal or higher rank and I could have sent someone else, but 226 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:52,800 I didn't. I felt it was was a responsibility I had to bear. The church started out in somewhat 227 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:58,440 lighthearted way. Joe, now a former officer, was was a convict. Yet he told jokes and made 228 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:02,440 funny remarks through the first half of the trip. I couldn't figure out how he could be 229 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:06,720 so lighthearted when his wife and children were home crying and his career had ended 230 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:11,920 in disgrace. I had to give this former comrade an arms credit for trying to keep up a brave 231 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:17,680 front. But as we drew closer to Kansas, and then to the small town of Fort Leavenworth, 232 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:26,960 the conversation came to a halt altogether. As we approached the prison, its massive structure 233 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:32,720 was visible even from a distance. I was overcome by the historic nature of the brick and stone 234 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:39,240 fortress. The building was nearly 200 years old. And even the prison cells were opened 235 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:45,320 with skeleton keys artifacts of another era. The main prison fortress was about eight stories 236 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:51,200 in all three stories of which were below ground. It was octagonal in shape, made of brick and 237 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:57,280 stone, was both dark and formidable. We pulled into the parking lot. We walked into the reception 238 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:02,360 area and reported to the guard at the entrance with the prisoner who was in handcuffs. He 239 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:07,380 ushered Joe into an alcove where he ordered him to strip. After the first of what would 240 00:23:07,380 --> 00:23:12,580 be three strip searches was completed, we walked with the prison guard and the prisoner 241 00:23:12,580 --> 00:23:16,920 into the inner prison. Joe was taken to the deepest bowels of the prison where he was 242 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:23,360 in processed. Though it got hotter and hotter as we descended, no cool breeze or air conditioning 243 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:29,080 made the journey more comfortable. In the 1800s, there was no air conditioning and things 244 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:33,680 hadn't improved much since then. Finally, we reached the area of his cell block and my 245 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:39,900 responsibility ended. I signed over the prisoner to the guard and said goodbye. I promised 246 00:23:39,900 --> 00:23:45,200 to return to visit when the first visiting day came and later kept my promise. The trip 247 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:50,680 home was long and silent. It's so easy and enjoyable to rejoice with those who rejoice. 248 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:55,280 As a commander, I'd enjoyed the promotion parties and visiting new parents and their 249 00:23:55,280 --> 00:24:01,320 babies in the hospital. Yet sometimes we are asked to suffer with those who suffer and 250 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:07,960 weep with those who weep. Genesis 3, 16 through 19 says to the woman, he said, I will surely 251 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:13,020 multiply your pain and childbearing and pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire 252 00:24:13,020 --> 00:24:18,900 shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you. And to Adam, he said, 253 00:24:18,900 --> 00:24:22,200 because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree which 254 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:27,600 I commanded you, you shall not eat of. Cursed is the ground because of you and in pain you 255 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:31,780 shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for 256 00:24:31,780 --> 00:24:36,880 you and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread 257 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:41,760 till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken. For you are dust and to 258 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:47,360 dust you shall return. It's in this place with this illustration, with this verse of 259 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:54,080 scripture that we have to decide how we're going to react. Just like Joe Canty, the punishment 260 00:24:54,080 --> 00:25:02,600 is just. The crime was committed. Now we're faced with a choice. Do we accept the punishment? 261 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:08,480 The discipline, the chastisement of the Lord? Or do we continue to rebel against him? As 262 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:13,780 Christians we also have a choice. Do we look down arrogantly at those who have fallen knowing 263 00:25:13,780 --> 00:25:19,360 that they deserve the punishment? Or do we take a different approach? In James 4.6 it 264 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:26,960 says, but he gives more grace. Therefore it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace 265 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:32,740 to the humble. So this brings me to the final point of my closing, which is where we take 266 00:25:32,740 --> 00:25:38,800 a turn now and we look at repentance and salvation. In Acts 20.24 it says, but I do not account 267 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:46,420 for my life, or but I do not account my life of any value, nor is it precious to myself. 268 00:25:46,420 --> 00:25:51,280 If only I may finish my course and my ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify 269 00:25:51,280 --> 00:26:00,140 to the gospel of the grace of God. As Christians the whole point of what we're here to do is 270 00:26:00,140 --> 00:26:06,720 spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, this message of grace. And that doesn't stop when someone 271 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:13,380 falls. No, the message of grace continues on. Because when we look at the patriarchs, 272 00:26:13,380 --> 00:26:18,660 we look at all of the heroes of the faith in the Old Testament, we look at how the ones 273 00:26:18,660 --> 00:26:24,380 that were esteemed to be godly are the ones that were able to humble themselves and repent. 274 00:26:24,380 --> 00:26:30,900 Whether it was King David, whether it was Moses himself, or whether it was Hezekiah, 275 00:26:30,900 --> 00:26:37,340 or any of the good kings of Judah. The ones that were attributed to being good were the 276 00:26:37,340 --> 00:26:45,380 ones that were able to humble themselves and admit their wrongdoing. So let's look at the 277 00:26:45,380 --> 00:26:51,640 last part of our illustration, which as we close, too often Christians have a tendency 278 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:58,240 to abandon the wounded rather than the minister to them. I think we grow in ways not easily 279 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:03,420 seen when we touch the face of pain and do not draw back. When I think of Joe, I can't 280 00:27:03,420 --> 00:27:09,380 bring myself to feel better or more righteous than he. I wouldn't try to excuse what he 281 00:27:09,380 --> 00:27:15,780 did, but I also know I've made my share of mistakes. While I'm convinced he was treated 282 00:27:15,780 --> 00:27:21,820 nicely, I'm also convinced that except for God's grace, I would be no better off. Maybe 283 00:27:21,820 --> 00:27:26,620 that's why I walk a little more carefully during each new day God gives me. The morning 284 00:27:26,620 --> 00:27:32,340 sky and the evening sunset are as precious to me as the grace he poured out freely at 285 00:27:32,340 --> 00:27:38,280 Calvary. I really like the way that this commanding officer ends this, with this self-reflection 286 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:43,560 and understanding that if it were not for the grace that we have in Christ, we would 287 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:52,580 all be just as lost. And in our society today, we see that. We see this society that's losing 288 00:27:52,580 --> 00:28:03,380 itself to every form of perversion, the acceptance of the injustice that they deem to be right 289 00:28:03,380 --> 00:28:10,420 in the face of it being clearly wrong. Just this last week, there was the State of the 290 00:28:10,420 --> 00:28:21,820 Union address in the United States where the President of the United States, Joseph Biden, 291 00:28:21,820 --> 00:28:29,580 was surprisingly energetic, but he was very angry. At least that's the way it came across 292 00:28:29,580 --> 00:28:38,220 to me. He was very much like an old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn. And there was 293 00:28:38,220 --> 00:28:43,700 a very troubling times in the Western world, whether it's Canada, whether it's the United 294 00:28:43,700 --> 00:28:48,560 States, there's a lot of anger. And a lot of that anger comes from the wrong conclusions 295 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:56,700 people are pulling to. The idea that government is going to save you. The idea that government 296 00:28:56,700 --> 00:29:03,020 is going to save you is a flawed argument because our savior is Jesus. I don't need 297 00:29:03,020 --> 00:29:09,620 another savior. I have one in Christ. But what I like about this story is that we have 298 00:29:09,620 --> 00:29:16,900 to be careful not to judge people so harshly. But at the same time, it's not that we're 299 00:29:16,900 --> 00:29:24,340 not judging sin. It's that we're recognizing that we are recipients of grace, ourself. 300 00:29:24,340 --> 00:29:27,240 And so when I say we're not judging people so harshly, it's not that we're not judging 301 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:34,940 the sin. It's that we're allowing space so that they can be redeemed. In Titus 2, 11 302 00:29:34,940 --> 00:29:41,260 through 15, it says, but the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 303 00:29:41,260 --> 00:29:52,940 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, to live self-controlled, upright 304 00:29:52,940 --> 00:29:59,140 and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope and appearing to the 305 00:29:59,140 --> 00:30:07,500 glory of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to be redeemed, to 306 00:30:07,500 --> 00:30:13,380 redeem us from all lawlessness, to purify for himself a people for his own possession 307 00:30:13,380 --> 00:30:20,340 who are zealous for good works. Declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. 308 00:30:20,340 --> 00:30:26,020 Let no one disregard you. So you can see from this scripture, we're called to rebuke, we're 309 00:30:26,020 --> 00:30:35,580 called to exhort with all authority, but it's with the purpose of restoration because we're 310 00:30:35,580 --> 00:30:43,460 looking for people to be redeemed, to be purified. We proclaim the gospel of grace. This grace 311 00:30:43,460 --> 00:30:49,140 covers a multitude of sins and we share this message with boldness because those whom we 312 00:30:49,140 --> 00:30:56,340 seek are lost. They are the criminals against the laws of God and they need to be confronted 313 00:30:56,340 --> 00:31:07,000 with this message, not with anger or bitterness or hate, but with a deep love and a true compassion. 314 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:13,800 We are all lost, but in Christ we have been found and redeemed. There's enough grace for 315 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:19,840 all of those who turn from their sin and accept Christ's gift of grace and his salvation. 316 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:26,460 The message of the cross is one of grace and when we think back of the message of the cross, 317 00:31:26,460 --> 00:31:35,100 you have to remember the two thieves next to Jesus. One was incapable of humbling himself 318 00:31:35,100 --> 00:31:44,620 in the face of his judgment and he died in his sin. The other humbled himself on the 319 00:31:44,620 --> 00:31:52,460 cross and we know from the words of Jesus himself that he entered into heaven that day 320 00:31:52,460 --> 00:32:00,780 with Jesus. He entered into paradise. So that is exactly what we need to focus on when we're 321 00:32:00,780 --> 00:32:06,220 thinking of grace, when we're dealing with the downtrodden, the homeless among us, or 322 00:32:06,220 --> 00:32:16,340 those that are addicted to any kind of sin, whether it be drugs or drinking or any of 323 00:32:16,340 --> 00:32:22,820 the other multitudes of sin. Maybe it's lust in their heart. When we see people who have 324 00:32:22,820 --> 00:32:29,560 been separated from God by their sin, who have been lied to by this world and now they're 325 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:35,620 reaping the harvest of those choices, we have to remember that if it wasn't for God's grace, 326 00:32:35,620 --> 00:32:42,800 we would be there with them. And we have to recognize that it is because of God's grace 327 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:47,460 that we need to be reaching out to them so that they can see that they don't need to 328 00:32:47,460 --> 00:32:53,660 be separated. And that even though the trail is lightly walked on, if it's less traveled 329 00:32:53,660 --> 00:32:58,860 than the trail that they've gone down, it is still doable. It's still something they 330 00:32:58,860 --> 00:33:03,400 can do because they can give their lives to Christ, they can be strengthened by Christ, 331 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:15,660 and they can start to work their way down the right path and leave the wide path behind. 332 00:33:15,660 --> 00:33:19,820 So with that being said, if I could have every head bowed, every eye closed, if you're listening 333 00:33:19,820 --> 00:33:26,900 along, if you're driving, obviously keep driving safely. But I want to take this to a close 334 00:33:26,900 --> 00:33:32,980 and with an invitation. Every time I do this is the simple thing that if this message has 335 00:33:32,980 --> 00:33:38,500 impacted you and you recognize you're going down the wrong path, it's not too late. You 336 00:33:38,500 --> 00:33:45,520 can turn back to the right path. And it's very simple. You can repent of your sin and 337 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:51,060 accept Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, and He will help you. His grace will help 338 00:33:51,060 --> 00:33:56,020 you. And it's simple to do that. It's a simple prayer. Repeat after me, Dear Lord God, I 339 00:33:56,020 --> 00:34:00,740 know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you sent your son Jesus and that he died for my 340 00:34:00,740 --> 00:34:06,140 sin. I repent of my sin. I turned from my sin and I accept Jesus to be my Savior. I 341 00:34:06,140 --> 00:34:12,940 accept him in my heart and I thank you for the grace of God in Jesus name. Amen. Simple 342 00:34:12,940 --> 00:34:18,620 prayer and it's it's not formulaic. All it is really, I guess in a way it could be a 343 00:34:18,620 --> 00:34:22,660 little bit construed as formulaic, but it's the it's the simple admission of your own 344 00:34:22,660 --> 00:34:27,540 sin, your own fallen nature and the acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Savior while turning 345 00:34:27,540 --> 00:34:33,740 from your sin and sin. Because that's that's the that's the formula, if you will, that 346 00:34:33,740 --> 00:34:41,940 Jesus gave us himself when he would heal someone and say, Go and sin no more. And he would 347 00:34:41,940 --> 00:34:45,780 tell people that all the time. It's always very interesting to me in our society today, 348 00:34:45,780 --> 00:34:49,320 how they always say, Oh, you can't judge people. I was reading a thread about that yesterday 349 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:53,620 about how, Oh, well, Christians aren't supposed to judge. Well, then why did Jesus constantly 350 00:34:53,620 --> 00:35:01,540 show us that sin is bad? Stop sinning? Is that judgmental to say that? Now we can't 351 00:35:01,540 --> 00:35:07,020 always we can't continue to stop sinning and entirely entirely because we're fallen creatures. 352 00:35:07,020 --> 00:35:11,420 But that's where grace comes in, right? But the reality is, is that Jesus constantly to 353 00:35:11,420 --> 00:35:19,740 tell people, All right, stop sinning and follow me. Simple as that. So I want to thank you 354 00:35:19,740 --> 00:35:24,020 for listening to this message today. I want to also ask that if you did finish all the 355 00:35:24,020 --> 00:35:29,060 way through the end here, that you you know, you like you and you share and you subscribe 356 00:35:29,060 --> 00:35:34,380 to this podcast to help me get it out there. I want to thank you. We saw an uptick in subscribers 357 00:35:34,380 --> 00:35:39,860 in the last week and I'm you know, I really want to thank those who decided to subscribe. 358 00:35:39,860 --> 00:35:44,420 We appreciate it because the goal is to get the goss of this message out as far as we 359 00:35:44,420 --> 00:35:50,820 can. Now our church is located in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. So if if you're if you pray 360 00:35:50,820 --> 00:35:53,940 that prayer and you're looking for a church or if you're new to the town, you're looking 361 00:35:53,940 --> 00:35:59,900 for church, reach out to us. The information is in the show notes and I'd love to see you 362 00:35:59,900 --> 00:36:05,820 come to our church on Sunday morning. If you're not nearby but you're looking for a church 363 00:36:05,820 --> 00:36:12,340 body, then reach out as well because we have 3500 plus churches globally and I'm sure I 364 00:36:12,340 --> 00:36:18,140 could find a good Bible leading church within our fellowship that you could go to. But the 365 00:36:18,140 --> 00:36:22,940 goal is obviously if you've if you've given your life to Christ today is that you need 366 00:36:22,940 --> 00:36:27,820 to pick up a Bible, start reading a Bible. You can do it even on apps on your phone. 367 00:36:27,820 --> 00:36:33,660 Shouldn't cost you anything. Read the word, start praying to God, cry out to God with 368 00:36:33,660 --> 00:36:39,940 your problems, your troubles, and find a church body to lock into and participate in because 369 00:36:39,940 --> 00:36:46,220 that's really what the church is for. So again, I want to thank you. Remember to like, share 370 00:36:46,220 --> 00:36:51,340 and subscribe. It really does help us to get this message out further and I can't wait 371 00:36:51,340 --> 00:37:12,540 for you to come back next time. God bless.