WEBVTT 00:00:01.449 --> 00:00:04.169 Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. 00:00:04.269 --> 00:00:07.410 Have you ever messed up big time? I mean, the 00:00:07.410 --> 00:00:09.990 kind of sin that years later you still cringe 00:00:09.990 --> 00:00:12.210 when you think about it. If that's where you 00:00:12.210 --> 00:00:15.210 are today, I want you to know you can begin again. 00:00:15.269 --> 00:00:18.649 You can be restored. The joy that you once knew 00:00:18.649 --> 00:00:22.670 can be yours. God wants to give it to you. Stay 00:00:22.670 --> 00:00:27.640 with me and find out how. As Christians, our 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:30.519 strongest testimony to the world is rarely about 00:00:30.519 --> 00:00:33.640 our success. It's often our recovery from failure. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:36.979 Today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram elevates 00:00:36.979 --> 00:00:39.859 this scandalous truth. You see, God's dream team 00:00:39.859 --> 00:00:43.539 includes liars, adulterers, and betrayers. Yet 00:00:43.539 --> 00:00:46.600 they became his most beloved servants. But here's 00:00:46.600 --> 00:00:48.899 the challenge. How do we pass this liberating 00:00:48.899 --> 00:00:52.179 truth to the next generation? If our kids have 00:00:52.179 --> 00:00:55.280 ever felt disqualified by their past or trapped 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:58.380 by secret shame, God's grace will set them free. 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:00.960 And then later in the program, we'll explain 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:03.380 how you can take advantage of the December match, 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:06.180 empowering you to double the size and impact 00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:09.000 of your donation to Living on the Edge. But right 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:11.579 now, let's resume our study about leaving a legacy 00:01:11.579 --> 00:01:16.340 that lasts forever. Sometimes stories have a 00:01:16.340 --> 00:01:19.219 tremendous power. I mean, people give us stories 00:01:19.219 --> 00:01:22.579 in movies. If you're a child, sometimes a parent 00:01:22.579 --> 00:01:26.540 will at nighttime read a story. And rather than 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:28.560 me tell you what a story says, I'd like to do 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:30.780 something a little different. I'd like to tell 00:01:30.780 --> 00:01:36.579 an accurate historical story of a fellow who 00:01:36.579 --> 00:01:40.000 is the most powerful man in the world. He had 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.299 very, very humble beginnings. He was of a tribe 00:01:44.299 --> 00:01:47.159 that was sort of of the lower class and he was 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:50.079 the youngest and he went from being a shepherd 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:54.099 boy to being the most powerful king in the world. 00:01:54.219 --> 00:01:57.879 He had everything any man's heart could ever 00:01:57.879 --> 00:02:02.780 desire. He had wealth. He had fame. He was an 00:02:02.780 --> 00:02:06.700 artist. He was a warrior. He had beautiful women. 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:10.580 Everything that God could ever give a person. 00:02:11.289 --> 00:02:14.590 in terms of heart's desire. Probably more than 00:02:14.590 --> 00:02:16.729 one beautiful woman is part of his downfall that 00:02:16.729 --> 00:02:19.370 we'll talk about later. But I want to tell you 00:02:19.370 --> 00:02:23.710 a story of how a very good man who was passionate 00:02:23.710 --> 00:02:26.669 and loved God and who never planned to make a 00:02:26.669 --> 00:02:30.810 mistake in a weak moment destroyed major portions 00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:34.909 of his life. It says in 2 Samuel chapter 11, 00:02:35.189 --> 00:02:37.669 it happened in the spring of the year at the 00:02:37.669 --> 00:02:42.009 time when kings go out to battle. The David sent 00:02:42.009 --> 00:02:45.090 Joab, the servant, and all of Israel, and they 00:02:45.090 --> 00:02:47.530 destroyed the people of Ammon, and they besieged 00:02:47.530 --> 00:02:52.150 Ravob. But David remained in Jerusalem. Every 00:02:52.150 --> 00:02:55.150 other year, he went out to battle. A lot of success. 00:02:56.110 --> 00:02:58.870 Things are going great. I probably don't need 00:02:58.870 --> 00:03:01.629 to go this year. And then it happened. Notice 00:03:01.629 --> 00:03:03.969 it's not planned. And then it happened one evening 00:03:03.969 --> 00:03:07.500 that David arose from his bed. walked out on 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:09.340 the roof of the king's house and from the roof 00:03:09.340 --> 00:03:12.620 he saw a woman bathing. And the woman was very 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:16.139 beautiful to behold. And so David sent and he 00:03:16.139 --> 00:03:19.300 inquired about the woman. And someone said, is 00:03:19.300 --> 00:03:22.099 this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the 00:03:22.099 --> 00:03:24.900 wife of Uriah the Hittite? And then David sent 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:27.900 messengers and he took her and she came to him 00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:30.780 and he lay with her for she was cleansed from 00:03:30.780 --> 00:03:33.479 her impurity and she returned to her house. And 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:36.599 the woman conceived. So she sent and told David 00:03:36.599 --> 00:03:41.360 and said, I am with child. God's man in a weak 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:44.210 moment. Then David sent to Joab saying, send 00:03:44.210 --> 00:03:46.509 me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to 00:03:46.509 --> 00:03:48.830 David from the battlefield. And when Uriah had 00:03:48.830 --> 00:03:51.330 come to him, David asked him how it was going 00:03:51.330 --> 00:03:53.550 and how were the people doing and how's the war 00:03:53.550 --> 00:03:56.270 prospered. And David said to Uriah, well, go 00:03:56.270 --> 00:03:58.509 down to your house and wash your feet. And so 00:03:58.509 --> 00:04:01.110 Uriah departed from the king's house and he got 00:04:01.110 --> 00:04:03.169 a gift of food from the king that followed him. 00:04:03.270 --> 00:04:05.990 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house 00:04:05.990 --> 00:04:08.629 with all the servants of his Lord. And he did 00:04:08.629 --> 00:04:11.509 not go down to his house. So when they told David 00:04:11.509 --> 00:04:14.129 saying, Uriah didn't go down to his house, David 00:04:14.129 --> 00:04:17.029 said to Uriah, did you not come home from a journey? 00:04:17.069 --> 00:04:20.689 And why didn't you go down to your house? And 00:04:20.689 --> 00:04:23.129 he confronts a man with great integrity and loyalty. 00:04:23.410 --> 00:04:27.629 And Uriah said to David, the ark and Israel and 00:04:27.629 --> 00:04:31.769 Judah are dwelling in tents. And my Lord Joab 00:04:31.769 --> 00:04:34.189 and the servants of my Lord are encamped in the 00:04:34.189 --> 00:04:37.230 open fields. Shall I go down to my house and 00:04:37.230 --> 00:04:41.250 eat and drink and lie with my wife? As you live 00:04:41.250 --> 00:04:43.889 and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing. 00:04:44.350 --> 00:04:48.449 The contrast. Commitment, loyalty, integrity. 00:04:48.870 --> 00:04:52.230 What's fair? What's right? As I read this passage, 00:04:52.310 --> 00:04:56.509 I notice the phrases. Then it happened. He saw. 00:04:57.189 --> 00:05:02.889 He inquired. He sent. He lay. She conceived. 00:05:03.790 --> 00:05:07.389 And then begins the cover -up. And Uriah said 00:05:07.389 --> 00:05:12.370 to David, Can't do it. So David tries plan B. 00:05:13.149 --> 00:05:17.310 In verse 12, he gets him drunk, sends him down, 00:05:17.370 --> 00:05:21.149 even in a drunken stupor, his loyalty is intact. 00:05:21.550 --> 00:05:24.649 And then cover -up plan B emerges in verse 14. 00:05:24.769 --> 00:05:26.189 In the morning, it happened that David wrote 00:05:26.189 --> 00:05:28.610 a letter to Joab, that was the head of his army, 00:05:28.670 --> 00:05:31.029 and he sent it by the hand of Uriah. What irony. 00:05:31.810 --> 00:05:34.610 And he wrote in the letter saying, Uriah, put 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:36.410 him in the forefront of the hottest battle and 00:05:36.410 --> 00:05:40.339 retreat from him that he may be struck down and 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:44.199 die. And so it was that Joab besieged the city 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:46.339 and he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew 00:05:46.339 --> 00:05:48.939 valiant men were. And the men of the city came 00:05:48.939 --> 00:05:51.800 out and they fought. And some of the servants 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:55.839 of David fell and Uriah the Hittite died also. 00:05:56.339 --> 00:06:00.000 Cover -up complete. Skip down to the very bottom, 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:04.000 verse 26. When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.019 her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 00:06:07.449 --> 00:06:11.029 And when her mourning was over, David sent and 00:06:11.029 --> 00:06:13.350 brought her to his house, and she became his 00:06:13.350 --> 00:06:17.550 wife and bore him a son. Commentary. But the 00:06:17.550 --> 00:06:21.949 thing that David had done displeased the Lord. 00:06:22.149 --> 00:06:26.589 A great portion of this book that I hold in my 00:06:26.589 --> 00:06:32.189 hands is called the Psalms of the Psalter. It 00:06:32.189 --> 00:06:35.449 was the hymnal of the Jewish people. And the 00:06:35.449 --> 00:06:40.310 great majority of these words from God to believers 00:06:40.310 --> 00:06:43.569 then and now were written by this man. He's a 00:06:43.569 --> 00:06:47.089 man that's passionate for God, loved God, humble. 00:06:47.769 --> 00:06:52.370 God exalted him. He was the deliverer of the 00:06:52.370 --> 00:06:54.629 people from the Philistines and later in greater 00:06:54.629 --> 00:06:57.709 and greater and greater battles. And the trajectory 00:06:57.709 --> 00:07:02.370 of his entire life changes because one night 00:07:02.370 --> 00:07:04.829 he can't sleep. He's not where he's supposed 00:07:04.829 --> 00:07:08.250 to be. But it's not planned. It's not malicious. 00:07:09.089 --> 00:07:12.420 He just can't sleep. And he's made to do something, 00:07:12.500 --> 00:07:14.939 but he's not doing what he's called to do in 00:07:14.939 --> 00:07:17.220 this window. And as he can't sleep and he walks 00:07:17.220 --> 00:07:20.100 out and he looks over and he's a man like any 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:23.439 man on a business trip or away from home in a 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:25.480 different environment and something catches his 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:28.199 eye and there's something very normal and natural 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:30.800 about the magnetic attraction to a very, very 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:33.500 beautiful woman. And then he takes the next step. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:35.319 He probably didn't plan on doing anything. He 00:07:35.319 --> 00:07:38.660 inquired. I wonder who that is. I mean, not that 00:07:38.660 --> 00:07:41.189 I do anything. I just wonder who it is. And then 00:07:41.189 --> 00:07:43.329 he gets the feedback. And during that time, the 00:07:43.329 --> 00:07:46.930 seeds begin to grow. And then he calls for her. 00:07:47.430 --> 00:07:51.629 And still, maybe, you know. And then he lies 00:07:51.629 --> 00:07:55.750 with her. And then there's consequences. And 00:07:55.750 --> 00:07:57.509 then instead of owning his stuff and realizing 00:07:57.509 --> 00:08:00.170 this is a grievous sin. I mean, by the way, you 00:08:00.170 --> 00:08:02.930 know, we read this in our 21st century eyes. 00:08:03.290 --> 00:08:08.009 The penalty for adultery was to be stoned. This 00:08:08.009 --> 00:08:11.480 is serious. And so he. You know, kind of like 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:14.600 the many cover -ups we've seen in the last 20 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:17.579 years. So I'll cover it up. I'll just get the 00:08:17.579 --> 00:08:19.360 husband to come home and he'll sleep with his 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:22.000 wife. He'll think the baby's his. But he chose 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.459 the wrong guy. The guy's got too much integrity. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:29.259 And then in the way sin creeps in is that seed 00:08:29.259 --> 00:08:33.350 of sin, it was just seeing, then inquiring. then 00:08:33.350 --> 00:08:35.450 taking a step, then there's an action, there's 00:08:35.450 --> 00:08:38.149 a consequence, then there's a cover up. And all 00:08:38.149 --> 00:08:39.769 I want to do is get this under the, you know, 00:08:39.769 --> 00:08:41.970 I just want to put this under the rug and it's 00:08:41.970 --> 00:08:43.710 a mistake. God, I'm really, really sorry. I'll 00:08:43.710 --> 00:08:45.370 never do anything like that again. And he'll 00:08:45.370 --> 00:08:47.789 think it's his baby and it'll be over and it 00:08:47.789 --> 00:08:51.590 doesn't work. And so he's, this is how sin works. 00:08:51.710 --> 00:08:54.090 It's like a cancer that multiplies rapidly and 00:08:54.090 --> 00:08:57.049 the cells multiply, multiply, multiply. And he 00:08:57.049 --> 00:08:59.049 starts thinking things that he would never do. 00:08:59.129 --> 00:09:00.789 And then pretty soon he comes up with a plan. 00:09:01.529 --> 00:09:05.389 to kill her husband. And he actually allows other 00:09:05.389 --> 00:09:07.370 people to go to the front where it's too dangerous 00:09:07.370 --> 00:09:11.509 and this man dies and they play the game and 00:09:11.509 --> 00:09:18.350 she mourns. He marries her and thinks, wow. And 00:09:18.350 --> 00:09:20.970 then that famous, famous passage in the New Testament, 00:09:21.250 --> 00:09:25.230 do not be deceived, your sin will find you out. 00:09:25.909 --> 00:09:28.919 And I want to make a couple observations. I don't 00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:30.919 know how you've heard this taught before, but 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:35.860 my first observation is he is a good man, a very 00:09:35.860 --> 00:09:38.580 good man. Sometimes we hear about people who 00:09:38.580 --> 00:09:40.820 make a big mistake and they commit adultery or 00:09:40.820 --> 00:09:43.799 embezzlement or they do something really horrendous 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:46.720 that is so counter to everything we know about 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:48.700 them and we're so quick to say, well, everything 00:09:48.700 --> 00:09:50.840 they ever taught was wrong and, you know, must 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:52.620 have had this super dark heart. You know, the 00:09:52.620 --> 00:09:56.320 fact of the matter, David was a very, very good 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:00.360 man. in a weak moment. And according to scripture, 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:04.779 there's not a person in this room, given the 00:10:04.779 --> 00:10:08.179 right circumstances, at a window of time, when 00:10:08.179 --> 00:10:10.620 you are vulnerable, that you couldn't do the 00:10:10.620 --> 00:10:13.279 same or worse. And by the way, until you come 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:15.580 to that conviction that that could actually happen, 00:10:15.700 --> 00:10:19.960 you're even more vulnerable. Second, he's described 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:22.519 as a mighty warrior, a righteous king, and a 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:24.799 man after God's own heart. And by the way, that 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:27.750 is after this event. That's a New Testament quotation, 00:10:28.149 --> 00:10:33.350 book of Acts. The spirit of God describing King 00:10:33.350 --> 00:10:38.309 David, king, righteous warrior, man after God's 00:10:38.309 --> 00:10:43.830 own heart. We get that after this event. Third, 00:10:44.009 --> 00:10:48.169 the words murderer and adulterer are added to 00:10:48.169 --> 00:10:52.190 the biography of this amazing godly man who is 00:10:52.190 --> 00:10:55.820 used by God in ways beyond. anything probably 00:10:55.820 --> 00:10:58.860 we can imagine. And here's the point I'd like 00:10:58.860 --> 00:11:04.840 to make. We all make big mistakes sometime in 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:08.240 our life. Some of them get found out, some of 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:11.039 them don't, but we know them. The question is, 00:11:11.179 --> 00:11:14.639 how do we recover? We've talked about a number 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:17.460 of things, and some of you, when we talked about 00:11:17.460 --> 00:11:19.759 teaching them to suffer well or working to the 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:22.409 Lord, Some of you, when it's, you know, teaching 00:11:22.409 --> 00:11:25.590 to make wise decisions, some of you have extremely 00:11:25.590 --> 00:11:30.250 deep regrets of that picture of kind of water 00:11:30.250 --> 00:11:35.049 that's gone over the falls and this feeling that 00:11:35.049 --> 00:11:38.409 there's certain things I didn't do or there's 00:11:38.409 --> 00:11:40.850 certain things I did do that I so deeply regret 00:11:40.850 --> 00:11:44.009 when confronted with that truth. And the temptation 00:11:44.009 --> 00:11:47.529 and the enemy's desire is to cover you with condemnation. 00:11:47.549 --> 00:11:51.279 It's too late. You blew it. There is no hope. 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:54.080 And the transferable concept you want to teach 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:57.240 those you disciple, the transferable concept 00:11:57.240 --> 00:12:00.379 we must pass on to our kids and to our grandkids 00:12:00.379 --> 00:12:03.519 and to people that are in our local bodies of 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:08.179 fellowship is this. Teach them to live grace 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:13.240 -filled lives. I want to go over a theology of 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:16.539 grace. It's from the beginning to the end of 00:12:16.539 --> 00:12:18.840 scripture. So I want to give you the high marks 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:22.460 very briefly and quickly and then explain maybe 00:12:22.460 --> 00:12:25.259 grace that we really get our arms around. What's 00:12:25.259 --> 00:12:28.940 it mean to receive grace? What is grace? Grace 00:12:28.940 --> 00:12:32.139 is the unmerited and unconditional love of God 00:12:32.139 --> 00:12:35.639 toward us. Underline the word unmerited, unconditional. 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:38.299 We don't understand either and you'll never get 00:12:38.299 --> 00:12:41.149 it anywhere else from anyone else. At all, like 00:12:41.149 --> 00:12:44.590 this. Unmerited means you can't earn it. Unconditional 00:12:44.590 --> 00:12:47.470 means you have it when you're bad, you have it 00:12:47.470 --> 00:12:49.269 when you're good, you have it when you're up, 00:12:49.409 --> 00:12:52.450 you have it when you're down. Grace is the disposition 00:12:52.450 --> 00:12:56.889 in the eternal God of wanting to give you what 00:12:56.889 --> 00:13:00.269 you do not deserve on the basis of his character 00:13:00.269 --> 00:13:03.230 alone, not on your performance or your activity. 00:13:03.870 --> 00:13:06.570 Second, grace is free to us, but it's costly 00:13:06.570 --> 00:13:11.269 to God. It's absolutely free. Completely removed 00:13:11.269 --> 00:13:15.110 from our performance. But it's very costly to 00:13:15.110 --> 00:13:19.529 God. Third, the cross is God's greatest act of 00:13:19.529 --> 00:13:23.470 grace. We'll develop that. But the greatest act 00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:27.809 of grace is the cross where he allowed his son, 00:13:28.029 --> 00:13:33.850 fully God, fully man, to die in your place and 00:13:33.850 --> 00:13:38.889 my place to pay for, to atone, to be the substitute. 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:43.309 for all the things that you have ever done. or 00:13:43.309 --> 00:13:46.750 ever thought, or ever said that violated a holy 00:13:46.750 --> 00:13:50.149 God. You are responsible for every one of those. 00:13:50.289 --> 00:13:53.230 I'm responsible for every one of mine. And God 00:13:53.230 --> 00:13:55.450 said, since you could never live up to that, 00:13:55.590 --> 00:13:58.690 I will allow my son, who is absolutely perfect, 00:13:58.870 --> 00:14:01.830 to hang between heaven and earth on a wooden 00:14:01.830 --> 00:14:05.269 cross. And I will take my just wrath and my judgment 00:14:05.269 --> 00:14:08.610 for sin, and I will pour it on my son, who is 00:14:08.610 --> 00:14:11.210 an absolutely perfect sacrifice because he is 00:14:11.210 --> 00:14:13.929 God, and he is able. to die because he is man. 00:14:14.070 --> 00:14:17.570 And in this moment of time, I will cover or atone 00:14:17.570 --> 00:14:21.950 for the sins of all men of all times. And whoever 00:14:21.950 --> 00:14:24.190 would choose to, with the empty hands of faith, 00:14:24.269 --> 00:14:28.389 ask for this gift of substitution and grace, 00:14:28.570 --> 00:14:31.549 I will give it to them on the basis of them believing. 00:14:32.129 --> 00:14:37.610 God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten 00:14:37.610 --> 00:14:42.139 son that whosoever would believe. might receive 00:14:42.139 --> 00:14:46.700 eternal life. We'll hear more from Chip Ingram's 00:14:46.700 --> 00:14:49.200 message in just a moment. First, we're inviting 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:52.000 you to multiply your year -end donation through 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:54.740 an exciting match that's active right now. Because 00:14:54.740 --> 00:14:57.299 of the match, your donation will be matched dollar 00:14:57.299 --> 00:14:59.600 for dollar in the month of December. And when 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:02.620 you support this match, you're not funding yesterday's 00:15:02.620 --> 00:15:05.360 methods. You're investing in a discipleship strategy 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:08.500 that actually reaches the smartphone generation 00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:12.460 right where they are. Will you give to the next 00:15:12.460 --> 00:15:15.539 generation? Double the impact of your gift at 00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:19.799 livingontheedge .org. From a series called Leaving 00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:23.399 a Legacy That Lasts Forever. and our Bible teacher, 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:27.879 Chip Ingram. For salvation is a free gift from 00:15:27.879 --> 00:15:33.879 God. It's not of works. Five, grace must be received 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:38.320 by faith. You might jot Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. 00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:44.460 For by grace we are saved through faith. And 00:15:44.460 --> 00:15:47.659 that's not of yourselves. The idea is not of 00:15:47.659 --> 00:15:50.919 your religious or moral attempts of good works. 00:15:52.110 --> 00:15:55.590 It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any 00:15:55.590 --> 00:15:58.610 man should boast. And I would like if you would 00:15:58.610 --> 00:16:01.480 just to stop for a second because... Something 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:03.700 that I think has, at least I grew up this way 00:16:03.700 --> 00:16:05.980 and I've rarely talked without people going, 00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:08.899 oh, and it's so deeply embedded in your psyche. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:11.580 We kind of theologically get to the point where 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:13.860 we understand it. We invite Christ to come into 00:16:13.860 --> 00:16:16.620 our life. His spirit enters us. We begin this 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:19.259 new life. But what's so deeply embedded in our 00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:22.039 minds is a concept that goes something like this. 00:16:22.779 --> 00:16:26.379 God has a big chalkboard in the sky and there's 00:16:26.379 --> 00:16:29.000 a line down the middle. And on one side it says 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:31.419 good deeds, and there's a line, and on the other 00:16:31.419 --> 00:16:34.799 side it says bad deeds. And for many of us, all 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:38.620 of our lives, implied or actually taught to us, 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:42.899 if your good deeds, you know, every good deed 00:16:42.899 --> 00:16:45.179 you get a little mark, and every bad deed you 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:47.559 get a little mark. And the way I grew up thinking 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:49.960 was, you know, when you get to the end of the 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:53.419 game called life, if your bad deeds are more 00:16:53.419 --> 00:16:55.480 than your good deeds, you go to the bad place. 00:16:56.009 --> 00:16:58.889 And if your good deeds are better than your bad 00:16:58.889 --> 00:17:01.350 deeds, you go to the good place. Nothing could 00:17:01.350 --> 00:17:06.670 be farther from the truth. If you had 999 ,099 00:17:06.670 --> 00:17:12.069 good deeds and one bad deed, you would violate 00:17:12.069 --> 00:17:15.930 the holy, perfect perfection of God who can live 00:17:15.930 --> 00:17:19.289 with absolutely no sin. If you put it in a scorecard, 00:17:19.369 --> 00:17:21.430 it would be something like this. In order to 00:17:21.430 --> 00:17:24.190 have a relationship with God the Father, you 00:17:24.190 --> 00:17:27.079 need... your test score in every aspect of life 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:30.299 to be a perfect 100. You either have 100 or you 00:17:30.299 --> 00:17:33.140 fail. Now maybe the Billy Grahams of the world, 00:17:33.220 --> 00:17:35.000 although I'm sure he wouldn't say this, or the 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.480 Mother of the Teresa's or some famous missionaries, 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:40.799 maybe they get 92 or 94 and maybe axe murders 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:43.519 get like threes and fours and serial killers 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:46.359 are a minus five. And most of us see ourselves 00:17:46.359 --> 00:17:49.920 as like maybe 75 or 80s. But unless you're 100, 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:52.980 you can't have a relationship with God. So being 00:17:52.980 --> 00:17:55.380 a good guy, being moral, intellectually believing 00:17:55.380 --> 00:17:58.960 in God is not what it means to be quote saved 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:02.220 or have a relationship or be prepared or allowed 00:18:02.220 --> 00:18:05.380 to go into heaven. It's by grace you're saved 00:18:05.380 --> 00:18:08.680 through faith. Grace, number six, produces gratitude 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:12.900 toward God and love toward others. When you experience 00:18:12.900 --> 00:18:16.589 grace, it activates something. Philippians chapter 00:18:16.589 --> 00:18:19.210 two says, for it is, it's the grace of God. It's 00:18:19.210 --> 00:18:21.970 God who is at work in you, both to will and to 00:18:21.970 --> 00:18:24.609 work for his good pleasure. Grace does something 00:18:24.609 --> 00:18:26.970 where when you turn in the empty hands of faith 00:18:26.970 --> 00:18:29.329 and ask Christ to come into your life, the spirit 00:18:29.329 --> 00:18:32.009 of God enters your physical body. You are literally 00:18:32.009 --> 00:18:34.690 taken out of the kingdom of darkness and into 00:18:34.690 --> 00:18:36.690 the kingdom of light. You're placed into this 00:18:36.690 --> 00:18:38.990 supernatural community called the body of Christ 00:18:38.990 --> 00:18:42.349 or the church. You're deposited a spiritual gift 00:18:42.349 --> 00:18:45.670 to fulfill your Ephesians 2 .10 purpose. Your 00:18:45.670 --> 00:18:49.609 mind begins to be renewed. You are sealed with 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:51.869 the spirit so that no one can take you out of 00:18:51.869 --> 00:18:54.630 his hands. You have a now power. The penalty 00:18:54.630 --> 00:18:56.829 of sin has been broken. The power of sin has 00:18:56.829 --> 00:18:59.029 been broken. The spirit of God lives in you to 00:18:59.029 --> 00:19:01.390 manifest the presence and the power of the very 00:19:01.390 --> 00:19:04.130 life of Christ. And the Christian life, far from 00:19:04.130 --> 00:19:07.289 trying to be a good person, is about abiding 00:19:07.289 --> 00:19:10.470 in Christ so that this new life can be lived 00:19:10.470 --> 00:19:12.829 out through your personality as you depend and 00:19:12.829 --> 00:19:17.660 walk by faith in him. And he transforms you from 00:19:17.660 --> 00:19:21.619 grace to grace. It is Titus, you might jot this 00:19:21.619 --> 00:19:24.359 down, Titus chapter two, 11 and 12. When people 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:26.900 think of grace, one of the fallacies is they 00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:30.500 think the opposite of grace is effort. Nothing 00:19:30.500 --> 00:19:33.480 could be farther from the truth. Ephesians 4 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:37.039 .2 says we are to make every effort. To become 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:39.759 the kind of followers Christ wants us to become. 00:19:39.940 --> 00:19:42.660 It takes effort. It takes energy. Paul say, I 00:19:42.660 --> 00:19:45.680 beat my body. I focus. I discipline myself. It 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:47.839 takes great effort to be a follower of Christ 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:50.759 to allow the grace of God to manifest itself 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:52.759 in every area of your thought, your speech, and 00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:56.180 your relationships. The opposite of grace is 00:19:56.180 --> 00:20:00.359 not effort. The opposite of grace is merit. Merit 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:03.240 has to do with earning something. Put it this 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:06.950 way, a better way. The opposite. of grace is 00:20:06.950 --> 00:20:10.529 a performance mentality. The opposite of grace 00:20:10.529 --> 00:20:12.789 is when I read my Bible and pray, God loves me. 00:20:12.809 --> 00:20:14.349 When I don't read my Bible and pray, he doesn't 00:20:14.349 --> 00:20:16.809 love me. The opposite of grace is when I give 00:20:16.809 --> 00:20:19.170 financially off the top and when I'm doing good 00:20:19.170 --> 00:20:20.869 and I don't have any moral slips, God really 00:20:20.869 --> 00:20:23.029 loves me. And boy, I blew it. I watched something 00:20:23.029 --> 00:20:25.069 last night or I had a bad thought or I lusted 00:20:25.069 --> 00:20:27.269 after that or my money's a mess or now I'm in 00:20:27.269 --> 00:20:30.170 debt. No, God doesn't love me anymore. And when 00:20:30.170 --> 00:20:32.779 you think that way, then I can't really talk 00:20:32.779 --> 00:20:35.380 to God right now. I can't be close to God right 00:20:35.380 --> 00:20:37.099 now, but I'm going to get my finances in order 00:20:37.099 --> 00:20:39.180 and I'm going to kind of try and work my way 00:20:39.180 --> 00:20:41.880 back to being a good boy or a good girl and then 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:45.380 God will accept me again. And that's bad, bad 00:20:45.380 --> 00:20:49.359 theology, but many of you and me think that way 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:53.059 and don't live by faith through grace, even though 00:20:53.059 --> 00:20:56.369 we're saved that way. And we live this performance 00:20:56.369 --> 00:20:59.369 orientation where we live with condemnation and 00:20:59.369 --> 00:21:01.769 guilt and are not tapping into the power of God. 00:21:02.170 --> 00:21:05.809 The theme of the book of Colossians is very simple. 00:21:06.170 --> 00:21:10.849 However you get in relationship with God or saved 00:21:10.849 --> 00:21:15.410 is exactly the same way you grow or are sanctified. 00:21:15.609 --> 00:21:19.210 Does that make sense? You're saved by faith through 00:21:19.210 --> 00:21:23.130 grace. The way you grow is by faith through grace. 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:27.380 So grace produces this gratitude toward God. 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:30.740 It produces a love and a lifestyle and a set 00:21:30.740 --> 00:21:33.420 of good works. Verse 10, right? You're saved 00:21:33.420 --> 00:21:36.660 not by works, but you are his workmanship. You 00:21:36.660 --> 00:21:39.079 are created and there's this new power in life, 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:41.900 this grace that gives you a want to and a will 00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:45.500 to have good works of love and kindness and concern 00:21:45.500 --> 00:21:48.140 for other people. The Old Testament roots are 00:21:48.140 --> 00:21:50.599 all the way in the early part of the Bible. Genesis 00:21:50.599 --> 00:21:54.980 3, verse 21. After the sin of Adam and Eve, we 00:21:54.980 --> 00:21:57.900 have who takes care, who covers, and he introduces 00:21:57.900 --> 00:22:00.299 the concept of the shedding of blood for the 00:22:00.299 --> 00:22:03.259 remission of sins. And it says, also for Adam 00:22:03.259 --> 00:22:07.339 and his wife, the Lord God made tunics of skin 00:22:07.339 --> 00:22:09.559 and he clothed them. It's a picture of what's 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:13.500 gonna come. Something had to die, blood had to 00:22:13.500 --> 00:22:17.140 be spilled, and two people got covered. That's 00:22:17.140 --> 00:22:18.559 a good picture of what happens in salvation. 00:22:19.690 --> 00:22:22.690 The other passage there is Genesis 6, 8, and 00:22:22.690 --> 00:22:26.329 we have this horrendous violence in the world. 00:22:27.369 --> 00:22:30.710 Violence to the point, I mean, it was like back 00:22:30.710 --> 00:22:34.809 in Noah's day, they had CSI. Do you realize how 00:22:34.809 --> 00:22:37.690 obsessed we are with violence? You walk into, 00:22:37.869 --> 00:22:40.150 and I don't recommend you do it long, walk into 00:22:40.150 --> 00:22:42.210 one of those video stores and look at the top 00:22:42.210 --> 00:22:47.390 15 games. And our kids practice killing things 00:22:47.390 --> 00:22:51.640 and blowing up. people. The way we train our 00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:55.799 troops, because it is so viscerally difficult 00:22:55.799 --> 00:22:58.859 to ever get to the point to take a human life. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:02.079 And there are times in war where that happens. 00:23:02.220 --> 00:23:06.220 We train our troops with video games to desensitize 00:23:06.220 --> 00:23:09.180 them to human life. So in the crisis of the moment, 00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:12.240 they will be able to shoot and protect those 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:14.569 that they're with. I mean, just, I would challenge 00:23:14.569 --> 00:23:16.130 you to get a little thing, put it next to your 00:23:16.130 --> 00:23:18.789 TV, and every program that has to do with killing 00:23:18.789 --> 00:23:21.410 or violence or why did they kill it or, I mean, 00:23:21.430 --> 00:23:27.190 it is, it got so bad that God said he was sorry 00:23:27.190 --> 00:23:30.230 that he made mankind. But in the midst of that, 00:23:30.269 --> 00:23:34.890 but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. 00:23:35.049 --> 00:23:38.069 Our biblical profiles are David, the adulterer 00:23:38.069 --> 00:23:42.339 and the murderer, and Peter, the betrayer. Some 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:44.420 of us, you know, really put David in that boy. 00:23:44.579 --> 00:23:46.460 Man, those are really, really terrible. I don't 00:23:46.460 --> 00:23:48.420 know that you can do anything worse than what 00:23:48.420 --> 00:23:51.440 Peter did. Anybody here been betrayed before? 00:23:52.180 --> 00:23:54.240 Anybody here have a mate walk out on you and 00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:56.940 sleep with someone else? Run off with someone 00:23:56.940 --> 00:23:59.980 else? Anyone have a business partner that, man, 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:02.480 you were doing life together and, you know, $300 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:05.200 ,000 you found out later that doesn't exist anymore 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:08.900 and he left town? Anybody start a business, do 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:11.059 a startup, and get a little slow on getting all 00:24:11.059 --> 00:24:13.700 the IP and the patent agreements and have someone 00:24:13.700 --> 00:24:15.920 steal all your stuff that you thought was your 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:18.259 friend? And anyone ever have a close friend that 00:24:18.259 --> 00:24:20.380 you're in a Bible study with, a lady or a guy 00:24:20.380 --> 00:24:22.579 in a men's group, only to find out that the most 00:24:22.579 --> 00:24:24.480 intimate things you've ever shared, they've gone 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:27.259 and spread around to other people? I don't know 00:24:27.259 --> 00:24:31.660 that I've ever been as angry or as hurt as when 00:24:31.660 --> 00:24:34.250 I've been betrayed. Now let's put the shoe on 00:24:34.250 --> 00:24:36.450 the other foot. Anybody here in a moment of weakness 00:24:36.450 --> 00:24:39.430 ever betrayed anybody? Anybody ever talked about 00:24:39.430 --> 00:24:42.009 people and you realize, ooh. And then it actually 00:24:42.009 --> 00:24:46.130 came back around and you got caught. And I know 00:24:46.130 --> 00:24:47.809 my first reaction has always been, oh, I didn't 00:24:47.809 --> 00:24:51.410 say that. So I just added a lie to my other sin, 00:24:51.529 --> 00:24:55.269 right? I'm trying to help you get emotionally 00:24:55.269 --> 00:24:59.390 to where you understand. If you don't go with 00:24:59.390 --> 00:25:02.450 me. to where you have done these things. And 00:25:02.450 --> 00:25:06.269 some it's pretty quick and some it's hard. You'll 00:25:06.269 --> 00:25:10.230 never grasp grace because David was probably 00:25:10.230 --> 00:25:13.309 used by God as much or more than anyone in the 00:25:13.309 --> 00:25:16.950 Old Testament, even after his sin. And Peter 00:25:16.950 --> 00:25:21.529 became the core foundation person for this thing 00:25:21.529 --> 00:25:25.509 called the church after he betrayed Christ. And 00:25:25.509 --> 00:25:29.980 what the big theme about grace is, Failure is 00:25:29.980 --> 00:25:33.160 never, ever final. He's the God of the second 00:25:33.160 --> 00:25:36.720 chance, the seventh chance, the seven times 70th 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:41.019 chance. He, out of his grace, extends mercy. 00:25:41.299 --> 00:25:46.660 That means he withholds the just judgment penalty 00:25:46.660 --> 00:25:51.640 that we deserve. And he is willing and open wherever 00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:55.819 you're at, whatever you've done, to forgive and 00:25:55.819 --> 00:25:59.660 to cleanse, to restore, to renew. The New Testament 00:25:59.660 --> 00:26:03.460 command is in John chapter three, and we so often 00:26:03.460 --> 00:26:05.440 quote or put, you know, at the end of the end 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:08.539 zone, verse 16, you know, for God so loved the 00:26:08.539 --> 00:26:10.440 world, he gave his only begotten son that whoever 00:26:10.440 --> 00:26:13.000 believes in him shouldn't perish, but have everlasting 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:18.299 life. But I love verse 17. For God did not send 00:26:18.299 --> 00:26:20.319 his son into the world to condemn the world, 00:26:20.460 --> 00:26:22.819 but that the world might be saved through him. 00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:26.390 He who believes in him is not condemned. But 00:26:26.390 --> 00:26:28.890 he who doesn't believe is condemned already because 00:26:28.890 --> 00:26:32.190 he doesn't believe in the name of the only begotten 00:26:32.190 --> 00:26:36.609 son of God. People who reject God will be apart 00:26:36.609 --> 00:26:39.809 from him forever, not because they have not been 00:26:39.809 --> 00:26:43.690 forgiven, but because they will refuse the gift 00:26:43.690 --> 00:26:45.930 of the forgiveness that's been purchased for 00:26:45.930 --> 00:26:50.279 them. It's stiff -arming God. Jesus' message 00:26:50.279 --> 00:26:52.700 was not everyone's all messed up, get with the 00:26:52.700 --> 00:26:55.640 program. His message was I didn't come to condemn 00:26:55.640 --> 00:26:59.799 you. I came to help you own and come to grips 00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:03.880 with the failure and the sin and the using of 00:27:03.880 --> 00:27:06.799 people and the abuse and the lying and the deceit 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:09.579 to let you know I will forgive you and cover 00:27:09.579 --> 00:27:11.740 you and I want you to know you can have a relationship 00:27:11.740 --> 00:27:15.039 with my Father. He loves you. And I'm gonna pay 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:18.019 the highest price that could ever be paid. And 00:27:18.019 --> 00:27:20.720 I'm gonna be separated in this moment of historic 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:24.539 time from the Father. The triunity of God for 00:27:24.539 --> 00:27:26.859 the first time ever, he would bear the sins of 00:27:26.859 --> 00:27:29.119 the world and the Father would turn his head 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:31.900 because he can't look upon sin. And Christ would 00:27:31.900 --> 00:27:35.160 bear your sin and my sin in that moment of time, 00:27:35.180 --> 00:27:38.200 in that price tag, to cover or atone for your 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:42.160 sin. And that is grace. That's what grace is. 00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:45.359 And when we tell God, I know you've forgiven 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:48.180 me but I can't forgive myself, that is an insult. 00:27:49.220 --> 00:27:53.380 That is an insult and it is arrogant. Well intended 00:27:53.380 --> 00:27:55.980 though it may be, it is arrogant. I had an abortion 00:27:55.980 --> 00:27:58.359 and I can't ever forgive myself. I've been through 00:27:58.359 --> 00:28:00.640 a divorce, I can't forgive myself. I lied to 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:02.740 so and so, I can't forgive myself. I did this 00:28:02.740 --> 00:28:04.440 when I was young and no one knows about it, I 00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:07.619 can't forgive myself. God has forgiven you and 00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:10.579 he has atoned for it for you to not receive it. 00:28:11.049 --> 00:28:13.390 is to tell God that what he has done for you 00:28:13.390 --> 00:28:17.650 doesn't measure up to your standard. Whoa, I 00:28:17.650 --> 00:28:21.049 didn't realize your standard was higher and better 00:28:21.049 --> 00:28:24.710 than his. Wasn't it pride that kept Peter from 00:28:24.710 --> 00:28:28.250 saying, Lord, not my feet. And it wasn't the 00:28:28.250 --> 00:28:30.490 call to humility where Jesus would say, Peter, 00:28:30.549 --> 00:28:32.829 if I don't wash your feet, you don't have any 00:28:32.829 --> 00:28:35.509 part in me. Well, then Lord, wash all of me. 00:28:35.589 --> 00:28:38.650 Well, what was he saying? It takes huge humility 00:28:38.650 --> 00:28:42.809 to admit I have need and allow another to wash 00:28:42.809 --> 00:28:45.430 our feet, to cleanse us, to meet our need, to 00:28:45.430 --> 00:28:48.410 say that there's dirt here. And it takes great 00:28:48.410 --> 00:28:51.910 humility to allow God to do that. The number 00:28:51.910 --> 00:28:55.309 one reason people miss heaven is at the core 00:28:55.309 --> 00:28:58.509 of it, they are unwilling to humble themselves, 00:28:58.809 --> 00:29:02.950 admit their need, and realize I can't do this 00:29:02.950 --> 00:29:06.920 on my own. Love the passage in 1 Peter where 00:29:06.920 --> 00:29:08.799 he takes it not only from what's done in the 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:11.140 past, but he begins to help us focus toward the 00:29:11.140 --> 00:29:14.460 future and orientation. And in verse 13 he says, 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:18.279 therefore prepare your minds for action. Be self 00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:23.880 -control. Then I love this, set your hope. Set 00:29:23.880 --> 00:29:27.920 your hope fully on the grace to be given you 00:29:27.920 --> 00:29:32.380 when Jesus Christ is revealed. You set your hope 00:29:32.380 --> 00:29:36.819 on grace. Not if I do this and if I do that, 00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:38.920 if I try really hard and if I do this and if 00:29:38.920 --> 00:29:42.400 I do that, I set my hope on God's grace. I love 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:45.960 a quote by Tozer in I think his most classic 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:49.579 book, The Knowledge of the Holy. And just listen 00:29:49.579 --> 00:29:52.180 to this theological perspective. He says, no 00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:55.099 one has ever been saved other than by grace, 00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:57.980 from able to the present moment. Since mankind 00:29:57.980 --> 00:30:00.900 was banished from the eastward garden none has 00:30:00.900 --> 00:30:03.400 ever returned to the divine favor except through 00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:06.000 the sheer goodness of God. And wherever grace 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:09.210 is found In any man, it's always been by Jesus 00:30:09.210 --> 00:30:13.210 Christ. Grace indeed came by Jesus Christ, but 00:30:13.210 --> 00:30:15.150 it did not wait until his birth in the manger 00:30:15.150 --> 00:30:17.470 or his death on the cross before it became operative. 00:30:17.869 --> 00:30:20.230 Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation 00:30:20.230 --> 00:30:22.809 of the world. The first man in human history 00:30:22.809 --> 00:30:25.829 to be reinstated in fellowship with God came 00:30:25.829 --> 00:30:28.970 through faith in Christ. In olden times, men 00:30:28.970 --> 00:30:32.029 look forward to Christ's redeeming work. In latter 00:30:32.029 --> 00:30:35.269 times, they gaze back upon it, but always they 00:30:35.269 --> 00:30:40.539 come. And they come by grace through faith. Let 00:30:40.539 --> 00:30:45.940 me ask you, how do we pass this radical, radical 00:30:45.940 --> 00:30:50.720 concept on in a performance -oriented world to 00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:54.240 those we care about most? I think the first step 00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:57.339 is for you to write in your name. In my notes, 00:30:57.339 --> 00:31:01.079 it says, I, Chip Ingram, choose to believe that 00:31:01.079 --> 00:31:06.390 with God, my failure is never final. I choose 00:31:06.390 --> 00:31:10.609 to believe. That's not an emotion. I choose to 00:31:10.609 --> 00:31:14.289 believe that with God, my failure as a parent 00:31:14.289 --> 00:31:17.750 is never final. My failure as a pastor is never 00:31:17.750 --> 00:31:20.509 final. My failure as a friend is never final. 00:31:20.670 --> 00:31:23.910 My failure morally is never final. My failure 00:31:23.910 --> 00:31:26.490 with regard to neglect in the past is never final. 00:31:26.869 --> 00:31:30.990 It's powerful. It's grace. Now let's talk about 00:31:30.990 --> 00:31:34.259 how do you experience that? Let me give you three 00:31:34.259 --> 00:31:38.019 specific ways. First, encourage them, whether 00:31:38.019 --> 00:31:41.140 it's a fellow you're discipling, a young woman, 00:31:41.339 --> 00:31:44.700 one of your grandkids, encourage them to meditate 00:31:44.700 --> 00:31:50.880 on the lives of David and Peter, murderer, adulterer, 00:31:51.019 --> 00:31:56.099 and betrayer, who are among God's most beloved 00:31:56.099 --> 00:32:01.119 and mightily used servants. Did you ever wonder, 00:32:01.460 --> 00:32:04.970 I mean, I mean, some people wonder, is this really 00:32:04.970 --> 00:32:07.150 God's word? Can you really trust it? Did God 00:32:07.150 --> 00:32:10.230 really write this? And, you know, the many authors 00:32:10.230 --> 00:32:13.250 over 1600 years and all the alignment and all 00:32:13.250 --> 00:32:15.609 the archaeology and all those are great reasons. 00:32:15.789 --> 00:32:19.089 But I got news for you. No man would ever write 00:32:19.089 --> 00:32:23.109 such a self -revealing book and allow the heroes 00:32:23.109 --> 00:32:26.529 of the story to be so messed up. You don't have 00:32:26.529 --> 00:32:29.390 that in any mythology. I mean, think of this. 00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:33.380 The deliverer of Egypt, the one who brings us 00:32:33.380 --> 00:32:36.900 the 10 commands. Oh yeah, murderer. I kind of 00:32:36.900 --> 00:32:40.319 messed up that day. David, the greatest king, 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:44.359 the writer of the Psalms. Oh, adultery, murderer. 00:32:44.680 --> 00:32:49.299 Oh boy. The apostle Paul, greatest mind of a 00:32:49.299 --> 00:32:51.519 century, wrote 13 books in the New Testament. 00:32:51.940 --> 00:32:57.960 Murderer. Why? Rahab, prostitute. James, John. 00:32:58.859 --> 00:33:02.279 Anger management issues. The other Judas, he 00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:04.579 was a terrorist. I mean, we read it in the Bible 00:33:04.579 --> 00:33:07.019 like, you know, he was a terrorist. He was trying 00:33:07.019 --> 00:33:09.380 to overthrow the government, get a band of people 00:33:09.380 --> 00:33:11.940 to take it over physically and kill people and 00:33:11.940 --> 00:33:14.559 take over Rome. He was a terrorist. Matthew, 00:33:14.779 --> 00:33:18.339 crook. He was an embezzler. He was a dirty little 00:33:18.339 --> 00:33:21.859 crook. Wiping people for their money. This is 00:33:21.859 --> 00:33:28.480 God's dream team. And we have the audacity to 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:30.519 say, well, God could never forgive me. I don't 00:33:30.519 --> 00:33:32.660 think he could ever use me. Are you kidding? 00:33:33.339 --> 00:33:36.240 I remember I had not read the Bible growing up 00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:39.480 at all. And I remember, you know, probably after 00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:41.900 a year or so and dealing with all the stuff that, 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:45.140 you know, I had to deal with and just sort of 00:33:45.140 --> 00:33:47.500 a naive thought. I thought, you know, I've not 00:33:47.500 --> 00:33:51.599 killed anybody. I think God could use me. Because 00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:54.099 so far, the people that are used the most, they've 00:33:54.099 --> 00:33:55.779 all at least killed someone, I'm thinking. And 00:33:55.779 --> 00:33:59.500 how much worse could it be than that? And you 00:33:59.500 --> 00:34:03.380 know, with your kids, they're going to fail. 00:34:04.140 --> 00:34:06.059 Now, does it mean that there's not consequences 00:34:06.059 --> 00:34:08.719 for sin? Absolutely not. Does it mean you don't 00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:11.789 discipline? Absolutely not. But I will tell you 00:34:11.789 --> 00:34:15.230 what, we can pass on, oh, Jesus died for you. 00:34:15.329 --> 00:34:17.269 He loves you. He rose from the dead. You need 00:34:17.269 --> 00:34:18.769 to put your faith in him because I want to feel 00:34:18.769 --> 00:34:20.269 really good about us being in heaven and all 00:34:20.269 --> 00:34:23.050 that stuff. And then raise them and your disciples 00:34:23.050 --> 00:34:26.150 in a way that basically your love is conditional. 00:34:26.389 --> 00:34:28.130 You know, they get good marks on the one side 00:34:28.130 --> 00:34:29.829 of the board and bad marks on the other side. 00:34:29.909 --> 00:34:31.690 And when they do good, you're affectionate and 00:34:31.690 --> 00:34:34.590 caring. And when they don't, you back away. And 00:34:34.590 --> 00:34:36.869 part of that is we got to tell stories. We got 00:34:36.869 --> 00:34:38.710 to tell the stories of Peter more than walking 00:34:38.710 --> 00:34:41.989 on the water. and saying you are the Christ and 00:34:41.989 --> 00:34:45.530 talk about what goes in a human heart to betray 00:34:45.530 --> 00:34:49.230 the person who loves you the most. What happens 00:34:49.230 --> 00:34:51.789 in people who really, really are good people 00:34:51.789 --> 00:34:54.170 and love God that they start getting deceived 00:34:54.170 --> 00:34:56.929 and then they lie and then they commit sexual 00:34:56.929 --> 00:34:58.989 acts and then they cover it up and then they 00:34:58.989 --> 00:35:01.469 commit murder and then they go into denial and 00:35:01.469 --> 00:35:04.150 then they lie about it and the web that occurs. 00:35:04.409 --> 00:35:07.289 And how did God treat people who blew it that 00:35:07.289 --> 00:35:11.659 badly? He caused some loving consequences and 00:35:11.659 --> 00:35:19.440 he restored and loved and used them. This is 00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:22.179 Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip is 00:35:22.179 --> 00:35:24.539 presenting a practical teaching series called 00:35:24.539 --> 00:35:28.079 Leaving a Legacy that Lasts Forever. And it's 00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:30.380 a five -part study that concludes on Monday's 00:35:30.380 --> 00:35:33.519 program. Don't rush away because Chip has prepared 00:35:33.519 --> 00:35:36.179 closing comments for you coming up in just a 00:35:36.179 --> 00:35:38.780 moment. But first, if today's message inspired 00:35:38.780 --> 00:35:41.199 you to learn more about guiding your children 00:35:41.199 --> 00:35:43.980 and grandchildren, I'll suggest that you order 00:35:43.980 --> 00:35:46.760 a copy of Chip's practical study guide for families. 00:35:47.059 --> 00:35:49.920 It's called Effective Parenting in a Defective 00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:53.739 World. And you'll find all the details at livingontheedge 00:35:53.739 --> 00:36:01.599 .org. You can also call 888 -333 -6003. Parenting 00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:03.760 is not for the faint of heart. In these days, 00:36:03.780 --> 00:36:06.280 grandparents often find themselves in roles they 00:36:06.280 --> 00:36:09.659 never expected as a guiding light for their grandkids. 00:36:10.190 --> 00:36:12.590 Thanks so much, Dave. You know, I hear from grandparents 00:36:12.590 --> 00:36:15.710 all the time that are actually heartbroken. Their 00:36:15.710 --> 00:36:18.050 grandkids grew up in the church or maybe even 00:36:18.050 --> 00:36:20.869 Christian school. They're now in college or they've 00:36:20.869 --> 00:36:23.469 graduated, starting their careers, and their 00:36:23.469 --> 00:36:25.989 face seems literally fading from the picture. 00:36:26.130 --> 00:36:28.489 Or I hear grandparents all the time who say, 00:36:28.610 --> 00:36:31.030 I don't get it. They grew up in church, but now 00:36:31.030 --> 00:36:32.829 they're living with their boyfriend or girlfriend, 00:36:32.969 --> 00:36:36.199 or they've changed their sexual identity. And 00:36:36.199 --> 00:36:39.019 I feel hopeless. I'm praying, but I don't know 00:36:39.019 --> 00:36:41.519 what to do. I don't know how to have a spiritual 00:36:41.519 --> 00:36:44.500 conversation. And then they meet us at Living 00:36:44.500 --> 00:36:46.840 on the Edge. And at Living on the Edge, we've 00:36:46.840 --> 00:36:49.699 become the bridge. Grandparents are listening. 00:36:50.409 --> 00:36:53.010 And we've been teaching them how to engage around 00:36:53.010 --> 00:36:56.269 today's questions with biblical answers and finding 00:36:56.269 --> 00:36:58.730 ways to really connect, to build a bridge to 00:36:58.730 --> 00:37:01.210 their grandkids, to talk their language, and 00:37:01.210 --> 00:37:03.769 to really listen. When you support this match, 00:37:03.929 --> 00:37:06.949 you're equipping the older generation to pass 00:37:06.949 --> 00:37:09.969 the baton of faith to the younger. And honestly, 00:37:10.090 --> 00:37:13.110 that's how the church survives. Your gift today, 00:37:13.409 --> 00:37:15.849 are you ready? It secures tomorrow's impact. 00:37:16.570 --> 00:37:20.349 Because of this match, whatever you give is instantly 00:37:20.349 --> 00:37:23.630 doubled, but only during this campaign window. 00:37:23.949 --> 00:37:28.010 Will you make the most strategic gift ever? Our 00:37:28.010 --> 00:37:31.429 best days aren't behind us. They're ahead, and 00:37:31.429 --> 00:37:34.070 you're a part of that story. Living on the Edge 00:37:34.070 --> 00:37:36.710 is uniquely postured to help parents, grandparents, 00:37:36.989 --> 00:37:39.650 and their families, not only in North America, 00:37:39.789 --> 00:37:42.920 but around the world as well. All that's standing 00:37:42.920 --> 00:37:45.199 in the way to succeed in this mission are the 00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:48.019 resources to do so. Perhaps you've been hearing 00:37:48.019 --> 00:37:50.940 that we're celebrating 30 years of God's faithfulness 00:37:50.940 --> 00:37:53.400 to Living on the Edge. Remember the first time 00:37:53.400 --> 00:37:55.960 you heard Chip's Bible teaching? Well, that moment 00:37:55.960 --> 00:37:58.199 was sponsored by someone you'll likely never 00:37:58.199 --> 00:38:01.159 meet. It was made possible by someone just like 00:38:01.159 --> 00:38:03.599 yourself who has given generously to support 00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:06.780 the ministry of Living on the Edge. Maybe today's 00:38:06.780 --> 00:38:09.519 the day you'll decide to do for some unsuspecting 00:38:09.519 --> 00:38:12.039 listener what a generous stranger did for you. 00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:15.019 All that to say, as you feel God nudging you 00:38:15.019 --> 00:38:17.900 to respond, please follow his leading. Whatever 00:38:17.900 --> 00:38:20.320 amount he places on your heart will be multiplied 00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:23.760 by two because of the match. To give right now, 00:38:23.820 --> 00:38:27.460 go to livingontheedge .org or call us at 888 00:38:27.460 --> 00:38:32.139 -333 -6003. To send a check in the mail, write 00:38:32.139 --> 00:38:36.380 to Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 3007, Atlanta, 00:38:36.659 --> 00:38:40.940 Georgia, 30024. Because of the match, your gift 00:38:40.940 --> 00:38:44.960 of $100 will become $200. A generous gift of 00:38:44.960 --> 00:38:49.239 $250 becomes $500, double the amount, twice the 00:38:49.239 --> 00:38:52.219 impact, until we reach the goal. And the deadline 00:38:52.219 --> 00:38:55.119 for receiving your match gift is midnight, December 00:38:55.119 --> 00:39:00.340 31st. Again, write P .O. Box 3007. Atlanta, Georgia, 00:39:00.599 --> 00:39:07.559 30024. You can also call 888 -333 -6003 or visit 00:39:07.559 --> 00:39:12.420 livingontheedge .org. Well, I'm Dave Drewy, inviting 00:39:12.420 --> 00:39:14.500 you to hear the final message in Chip Ingram's 00:39:14.500 --> 00:39:17.079 study about leaving a legacy that lasts forever, 00:39:17.320 --> 00:39:19.619 Monday on Living on the Edge.