WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:03.960 We open our Bibles together to our text today 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:08.900 in Hebrews chapter 2 as we think about the good 00:00:08.900 --> 00:00:15.759 gift of God in deliverance. In recent days drama 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:20.120 on the high seas has been captured on videotape 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:24.699 as nearly 600 passengers and crew of the Greek 00:00:24.699 --> 00:00:29.850 cruise ship Oceania were rescued before the vessel 00:00:29.850 --> 00:00:33.469 went down. As much as I've been able to read 00:00:33.469 --> 00:00:36.789 in the news, apparently there was an explosion 00:00:36.789 --> 00:00:42.729 in the boiler room which ruptured the hull, leaving 00:00:42.729 --> 00:00:46.170 the vessel without power and taking on water 00:00:46.170 --> 00:00:50.609 in waves that were driven by winds up to 80 miles 00:00:50.609 --> 00:00:54.929 an hour. In a matter of a few hours, that majestic 00:00:54.929 --> 00:00:58.469 vessel, which before had been a party, which 00:00:58.469 --> 00:01:03.469 had been full of life, sank beneath the waves. 00:01:03.609 --> 00:01:08.670 But before it did, a miraculous thing happened, 00:01:09.049 --> 00:01:13.370 as some describe it. As boats came that were 00:01:13.370 --> 00:01:18.129 near and far, and helicopters came from offshore 00:01:18.129 --> 00:01:22.409 in South Africa to pluck one or two or three 00:01:22.409 --> 00:01:25.530 at a time from this vessel that was listing badly, 00:01:25.769 --> 00:01:30.049 and sinking into the waves. And before it went 00:01:30.049 --> 00:01:34.769 down, they were all rescued. The drama captured 00:01:34.769 --> 00:01:39.049 the world's attention as we focused on it. Most 00:01:39.049 --> 00:01:43.370 of us cannot but sense the elation of those who 00:01:43.370 --> 00:01:47.349 were rescued because we seemed to share in their 00:01:47.349 --> 00:01:50.689 danger with them as we were aware of it through 00:01:50.689 --> 00:01:56.189 the media. Our interest is naturally captivated 00:01:56.189 --> 00:02:01.250 by suspenseful stories of rescue like that. One 00:02:01.250 --> 00:02:04.170 of the programs that is very popular right now 00:02:04.170 --> 00:02:10.069 on television is Rescue 911. It has spawned a 00:02:10.069 --> 00:02:13.870 number of clones on other networks. We watch 00:02:13.870 --> 00:02:16.150 over the shoulders of paramedics and firemen, 00:02:16.409 --> 00:02:19.430 policemen and others as people are rescued from 00:02:19.430 --> 00:02:23.509 life -threatening situations. If you're like 00:02:23.509 --> 00:02:26.069 I am and you occasionally have the opportunity 00:02:26.069 --> 00:02:29.650 to pick up Reader's Digest and you look down 00:02:29.650 --> 00:02:31.990 the contents on that front cover you probably 00:02:31.990 --> 00:02:36.789 look for drama in real life. You want to turn 00:02:36.789 --> 00:02:40.189 to see what that story is about someone who experienced 00:02:40.189 --> 00:02:45.330 danger and was rescued. With the entrance of 00:02:45.330 --> 00:02:50.479 CNN on cable television We can be literally anywhere 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.280 in the world. Something like that is taking place 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:56.400 and we can watch it from near its beginning until 00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:00.500 its culmination when deliverance is at hand. 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:05.699 Right now our society seems to be hooked on stories 00:03:05.699 --> 00:03:10.360 where danger threatens and courageous people 00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:12.860 intervene. I don't think there's anything wrong 00:03:12.860 --> 00:03:15.939 with that because we certainly need our heroes 00:03:15.939 --> 00:03:22.560 these days. We wake when heroes fail, and we 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:26.620 cheer when they applaud. We love to see people 00:03:26.620 --> 00:03:30.800 delivered and rescued. I want to submit here 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:33.639 this morning that the greatest of all dramas, 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:39.819 a cosmic drama, is unfolding. It is the drama 00:03:39.819 --> 00:03:46.639 of God intervening to spiritually deliver endangered 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:52.099 people who call upon Him. People who are endangered 00:03:52.099 --> 00:03:57.620 by their own sin and the consequent condemnation 00:03:57.620 --> 00:04:02.120 of God. One of God's good gifts to those who 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:06.979 call upon Jesus Christ in faith is deliverance. 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:11.819 The scriptures tell us of several ways in which 00:04:11.819 --> 00:04:16.800 God delivers those who trust. in Him. The text 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:19.439 that we're looking at right now in Hebrews chapter 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:24.540 2 tells us one of those ways in which God delivers 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:29.399 those who believe. And we are told that God delivers 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:36.540 from the fear of death. Through death, He rendered 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:40.699 powerless Him who had the power of death, that 00:04:40.699 --> 00:04:43.759 is the devil. and delivered those who through 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:47.279 fear of death were subject to slavery all their 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:55.879 lives. Fear is enslaving, isn't it? It is a controlling 00:04:55.879 --> 00:05:01.839 emotion. To some extent, all of us know its presence, 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:05.759 at least at some times in our lives. Fear is 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:09.480 a stranger to no one, and when fear comes, It 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:14.000 comes to enslave and capture our minds and our 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:20.540 emotions. The ultimate fear is the fear of death. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:27.939 Job referred to it as the king of terrors. The 00:05:27.939 --> 00:05:32.319 fear of death is a bondage that robs one of the 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:37.939 joy of life. The fear of death is very, very 00:05:37.939 --> 00:05:43.120 common. among those who know not God. Religious 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:47.279 people, without a living faith in Jesus Christ, 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:51.720 had a deep -seated fear of death. This is clear, 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:55.439 for example, in the inscriptions found on tombs 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:59.399 from the first century. And you see it still 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:02.819 today, not necessarily inscribed upon tombs, 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:06.699 but upon the philosophies of people. For today 00:06:06.699 --> 00:06:09.420 there are some who say that there really is no 00:06:09.420 --> 00:06:13.939 death That we merely pass out of this existence 00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:19.699 into another form We are reincarnated as something 00:06:19.699 --> 00:06:25.439 else they say but there really is no death Or 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:30.500 there are others that trivialize death and feel 00:06:30.500 --> 00:06:34.500 it's of such No consequence that we ought to 00:06:34.500 --> 00:06:37.839 help others commit suicide if they feel like 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:42.560 that's the thing they want to do. I submit to 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:45.040 you that behind all of these ideas there is a 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:47.240 deep -seated fear of death in the heart of every 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:53.819 person who knows not God. And Satan employs that 00:06:53.819 --> 00:07:00.720 fear as a chain, really, to hold sinners in slavery 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:05.279 to do His will. In the beginning, Satan lied 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:09.720 to Eve when he said, you shall not surely die 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:15.220 if you disobey God. She believed the lie, she 00:07:15.220 --> 00:07:18.660 disobeyed God, and death entered human experience. 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:22.620 Spiritual death at that instant physical death 00:07:22.620 --> 00:07:25.660 later when Eve and Adam died, and all of us were 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:29.220 their descendants when we died. And now that 00:07:29.220 --> 00:07:31.959 death is here, Satan employs it as a threat. 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:35.879 Initially he denied death, just like some people 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:41.120 today. But now he employs it as a weapon, as 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:47.170 a tool to enslave humanity. The Gospel of Jesus 00:07:47.170 --> 00:07:51.129 Christ liberates and frees people from this inhibiting 00:07:51.129 --> 00:07:54.930 fear. The Bible tells us in this text that the 00:07:54.930 --> 00:08:00.149 Son of God became human, became flesh and blood, 00:08:01.269 --> 00:08:05.310 in order that He might rescue sinners of flesh 00:08:05.310 --> 00:08:09.310 and blood. It is interesting to notice the writer's 00:08:09.310 --> 00:08:16.779 choice of words. He says, in flesh and blood. 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:23.540 He himself also partook of the same. Do you notice 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:26.819 the words share and partook? They're quite different 00:08:26.819 --> 00:08:30.259 in their inference. The difference is captured 00:08:30.259 --> 00:08:33.340 in a comment by John MacArthur in his commentary 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:36.899 when he says, share is from the Greek koinonia, 00:08:37.779 --> 00:08:40.360 meaning to have fellowship, communion, or partnership. 00:08:40.940 --> 00:08:44.360 It involves having something in common with others. 00:08:44.539 --> 00:08:48.320 All human beings have flesh and blood. In this 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:53.720 we are all alike. It is our common nature. But 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:59.059 partook is a very different word, mateco, which 00:08:59.059 --> 00:09:02.139 has to do with taking hold of something that 00:09:02.139 --> 00:09:05.980 is not naturally one's own kind. We by nature 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:10.720 are flesh and blood. Christ was not. Yet he willingly 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:16.480 took hold of something which he did not naturally 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:21.059 belong to him. He added to himself our nature 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:24.440 in order that he might die in our place and that 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:27.340 we might take hold of the divine nature that 00:09:27.340 --> 00:09:31.700 did not belong to us. The point is that the Son 00:09:31.700 --> 00:09:34.600 of God, the eternal Son of God, partook of our 00:09:34.600 --> 00:09:37.580 flesh and blood. something that was not naturally 00:09:37.580 --> 00:09:42.200 his, so he created it. And he became human through 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.960 the incarnation, so that through his death on 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:51.220 behalf of humanity, and his resurrection from 00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:55.799 the dead, he might be able to provide deliverance 00:09:55.799 --> 00:10:00.100 to those who would believe in him. By his death, 00:10:01.379 --> 00:10:06.919 he was thus able to give us life. And as part 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:10.360 of that work, the writer of Scripture tells us 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:16.740 that he also rendered powerless the devil. So 00:10:16.740 --> 00:10:20.159 as to rob the devil of his ability to employ 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:23.460 the fear of death against the people of God. 00:10:25.580 --> 00:10:30.559 For the people of God, Jesus Christ has annulled 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:33.799 the power of Satan to use the fear of death. 00:10:34.659 --> 00:10:41.700 He has rendered that threat impotent by his saving 00:10:41.700 --> 00:10:47.399 work, his death, and his resurrection. Most of 00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:51.440 us would be quite frightened to meet a lion face 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:58.220 to face. But if you go down to the zoo, you can 00:10:58.220 --> 00:11:00.960 be as close to a lion as a few feet and not have 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:04.929 to be afraid. Why is that? Has something about 00:11:04.929 --> 00:11:09.190 the lion changed? Not really. Still the same 00:11:09.190 --> 00:11:11.529 beast. He may be fed beefsteak, which is much 00:11:11.529 --> 00:11:13.570 better, I suppose, than human flesh, and he's 00:11:13.570 --> 00:11:18.629 satisfied, but he's still a beast. And given 00:11:18.629 --> 00:11:20.870 the opportunity, he would attack you. But you 00:11:20.870 --> 00:11:24.870 need not be afraid of the lion. Why? He has been 00:11:24.870 --> 00:11:29.929 rendered impotent. He has been rendered without 00:11:29.929 --> 00:11:35.159 power of threat against you by... bars of a cage 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:39.820 that are put up there. And so the beast is still 00:11:39.820 --> 00:11:42.179 the same beast, but you're able to approach the 00:11:42.179 --> 00:11:44.379 beast and not be afraid of it. You can look at 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:50.759 it. You can talk to it. You need not be afraid 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:55.500 because it has been neutralized in its ability 00:11:55.500 --> 00:12:01.250 to frighten you by those bars. That perhaps is 00:12:01.250 --> 00:12:03.309 something of an illustration of what has happened 00:12:03.309 --> 00:12:08.370 between us and Satan, our former master. Before 00:12:08.370 --> 00:12:12.789 he was able to well utilize the fear of death 00:12:12.789 --> 00:12:16.190 to keep us in bondage to his evil desires and 00:12:16.190 --> 00:12:20.289 ways. But by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 00:12:20.370 --> 00:12:25.789 he has been caged. And now we no longer need 00:12:25.789 --> 00:12:31.639 to be fearful of death. or of Satan, because 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:37.399 of the victory of Jesus Christ over him. Someone 00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:41.340 has pointed out that when your weapon is stronger 00:12:41.340 --> 00:12:44.919 than your enemies, you render him powerless. 00:12:47.980 --> 00:12:52.059 We only need to look back a few months to the 00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:54.679 battle called Desert Storm to understand the 00:12:54.679 --> 00:13:00.679 truth of that. Why were we able to defeat Iraq 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:05.980 in a hundred hours? Because our weapons were 00:13:05.980 --> 00:13:11.879 so vastly superior to theirs. The weapons that 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:14.559 you and I have been given in Jesus Christ are 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:18.100 vastly superior to those of Satan, and because 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:23.419 of that he has been rendered powerless. If this 00:13:23.419 --> 00:13:27.710 ultimate fear has now been dismissed, then why 00:13:27.710 --> 00:13:31.929 should we allow any lesser fear to control our 00:13:31.929 --> 00:13:38.529 lives? You and I have been given victory over 00:13:38.529 --> 00:13:42.029 fear. God has delivered us from the king of terrors, 00:13:42.169 --> 00:13:46.450 the ultimate fear. And if from that fear, why 00:13:46.450 --> 00:13:51.690 not from all fears? The good gift of God is the 00:13:51.690 --> 00:13:55.710 gift of deliverance. He has delivered us from 00:13:55.710 --> 00:13:58.470 the fear of death that does not mean that we 00:13:58.470 --> 00:14:04.250 are therefore anxious to die It doesn't mean 00:14:04.250 --> 00:14:06.490 that we don't go to the doctor to try to stay 00:14:06.490 --> 00:14:12.549 alive It doesn't mean that we're eager to go 00:14:12.549 --> 00:14:16.870 through the experience of dying But it does mean 00:14:16.870 --> 00:14:21.870 that if we belong to Jesus Christ the fear of 00:14:21.870 --> 00:14:26.779 death and its results can no longer be used to 00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:31.460 intimidate us. We have been delivered from the 00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:37.019 fear of death. So much so that strangely, mysteriously, 00:14:37.139 --> 00:14:41.340 the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians that life 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:47.519 and death belong to the Christian, along with 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:50.620 all things. I'm not exactly sure what he means 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:55.340 by that. But there is some sense in which even 00:14:55.340 --> 00:15:00.860 death itself now belongs to us. Perhaps it is 00:15:00.860 --> 00:15:04.259 in the sense that death has been now relegated 00:15:04.259 --> 00:15:09.519 to a doorkeeper. We are not eager to meet death, 00:15:10.100 --> 00:15:12.700 but when we do, all death will be able to do 00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:15.840 is to open the gate to let us through into the 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:20.899 presence of our glorious Lord. We have been delivered 00:15:20.899 --> 00:15:26.549 from the fear of death. Now if you will turn 00:15:26.549 --> 00:15:28.429 with me in the scriptures to another passage 00:15:28.429 --> 00:15:30.450 we'll see another way in which God has delivered 00:15:30.450 --> 00:15:34.490 us as His people as Colossians 1 in verse 13. 00:15:37.769 --> 00:15:43.090 Colossians 1 .13 Not only does God deliver us 00:15:43.090 --> 00:15:45.529 from the fear of death, but God delivers us from 00:15:45.529 --> 00:15:51.190 the domain of darkness. For He delivered us from 00:15:51.190 --> 00:15:54.870 the domain of darkness and transferred us to 00:15:54.870 --> 00:15:57.909 the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom we have 00:15:57.909 --> 00:16:03.210 redemption, the forgiveness of sins. There are 00:16:03.210 --> 00:16:06.970 many political kingdoms in our world, but there 00:16:06.970 --> 00:16:12.750 are only two spiritual kingdoms. And every person 00:16:12.750 --> 00:16:17.690 is a citizen of one or the other by birth and 00:16:17.690 --> 00:16:23.139 relationship. Natural birth brings us into the 00:16:23.139 --> 00:16:28.179 family of humanity. We are related to all people 00:16:28.179 --> 00:16:31.500 who have ever lived through Adam and Eve, our 00:16:31.500 --> 00:16:37.940 grandparents. Our birth naturally brings us into 00:16:37.940 --> 00:16:42.059 this family of man, and we are identified with 00:16:42.059 --> 00:16:49.389 Adam, who by his sin lost his kingship. and delivered 00:16:49.389 --> 00:16:55.669 his domain over to Satan. It is that domain that 00:16:55.669 --> 00:17:00.970 is called here the domain of darkness. Why darkness? 00:17:02.669 --> 00:17:06.289 Well, it refers to moral and spiritual darkness. 00:17:06.569 --> 00:17:10.750 Rebellion against God which was fomented by Satan 00:17:10.750 --> 00:17:17.859 and caught by humanity. The motivation in the 00:17:17.859 --> 00:17:20.960 realm of darkness is hatred of God, and there 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:25.920 is an active energy that works against God and 00:17:25.920 --> 00:17:30.799 His purposes. This domain of darkness is populated 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:35.920 not only by fallen humanity, but by demons, by 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:41.839 spiritual beings that are called demons. You 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:46.299 and I, by the grace of God, have been delivered 00:17:46.299 --> 00:17:51.400 from the domain of darkness. We still live in 00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:54.140 the world, but we are not citizens any longer 00:17:54.140 --> 00:18:00.640 of the domain of darkness. That has never been 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:04.039 dramatized to most of us, like it has been to 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:07.480 one young lady who comes to our church, a young 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:12.619 mother. Before she became a Christian, she was 00:18:12.619 --> 00:18:18.000 involved in drugs and in some occultic things. 00:18:21.319 --> 00:18:29.420 A few years ago, she was deeply depressed. And 00:18:29.420 --> 00:18:36.079 someone gave her a Bible to read. On one particular 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:40.579 evening, she sat down in her room alone with 00:18:40.579 --> 00:18:46.140 her Bible and began to read searching for God. 00:18:47.819 --> 00:18:53.440 And the more she read, the darker the room became. 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:57.440 The light wasn't turned down, but the room began 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:02.720 to grow dark. And she began to hear voices speaking 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:09.220 to her associated with her past occultic practices. 00:19:10.569 --> 00:19:14.809 And they told her, if you believe in God, we 00:19:14.809 --> 00:19:19.470 will kill you. And there were other threats made 00:19:19.470 --> 00:19:26.430 toward her. They began to bark and to yip like 00:19:26.430 --> 00:19:31.710 wild animals at her. This was all very real. 00:19:33.410 --> 00:19:36.250 I do not attribute it to any kind of mental illness. 00:19:36.369 --> 00:19:39.660 We are talking about spiritual powers. that are 00:19:39.660 --> 00:19:45.299 very real. The room got almost dark and her spirit 00:19:45.299 --> 00:19:48.119 was oppressed when suddenly God gave her grace 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:53.200 to simply say in a moment of desperate cry, Oh 00:19:53.200 --> 00:20:00.859 God, help me! And her testimony to me, I heard 00:20:00.859 --> 00:20:04.430 this first hand, she told me this. Her testimony 00:20:04.430 --> 00:20:07.890 to me was that immediately when she prayed and 00:20:07.890 --> 00:20:12.569 cried out to God, the whole room burst with an 00:20:12.569 --> 00:20:18.470 explosion of light. And immediately the voices 00:20:18.470 --> 00:20:24.390 and the barking stopped. And tremendous peace 00:20:24.390 --> 00:20:29.690 filled her soul. Now I don't know about you, 00:20:29.710 --> 00:20:31.410 when I was saved it didn't quite happen like 00:20:31.410 --> 00:20:35.589 that. Most of us have never seen or felt or heard 00:20:35.589 --> 00:20:37.829 it dramatized in that way, but I want you to 00:20:37.829 --> 00:20:41.710 know something. If you're a Christian here today, 00:20:41.910 --> 00:20:46.150 your deliverance was just as real as that young 00:20:46.150 --> 00:20:51.890 woman's. For you were a part of the domain of 00:20:51.890 --> 00:20:58.650 darkness and God delivered you and transferred 00:20:58.650 --> 00:21:02.980 your citizenship into another kingdom. You see, 00:21:02.980 --> 00:21:07.119 by the supernatural birth, we are brought into 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:11.779 the family of God. We are identified with Jesus 00:21:11.779 --> 00:21:16.200 Christ, the last Adam, who by His obedience gained 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:21.599 the right to rule over Adam's lost kingdom. And 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:25.200 right now, our Lord is in the process of claiming 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:30.400 what is His. He is establishing his kingdom and 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:33.279 one day will consummate it in the world. This 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.740 is the kingdom that is called here by Paul, the 00:21:35.740 --> 00:21:40.059 kingdom of his beloved son. It is a kingdom characterized 00:21:40.059 --> 00:21:44.259 by light, according to verse 12, not darkness. 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:48.819 It is moral and spiritual love of God and love 00:21:48.819 --> 00:21:52.859 of good. And it seeks the advance of God's purpose. 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:58.019 This kingdom is populated by redeemed humanity, 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:02.619 but also by spiritual beings that are called 00:22:02.619 --> 00:22:07.039 angels. This kingdom is referred to in Hebrews 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:11.460 12 as a kingdom which cannot be shaken. It is 00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:14.720 called in James 2, the kingdom which God promised. 00:22:16.380 --> 00:22:19.660 In 2 Peter 1, 11 it's called the eternal kingdom 00:22:19.660 --> 00:22:23.730 of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And you 00:22:23.730 --> 00:22:26.470 and I and Jesus Christ have been delivered from 00:22:26.470 --> 00:22:30.430 the domain of darkness and transferred, translated, 00:22:31.170 --> 00:22:34.190 given new identity with the Kingdom of God's 00:22:34.190 --> 00:22:38.769 beloved Son. We've been delivered. And now we 00:22:38.769 --> 00:22:41.789 are looking to a day when the kingdoms of this 00:22:41.789 --> 00:22:46.450 world will become the Kingdom of God's Christ. 00:22:46.970 --> 00:22:52.640 And He will reign forever and forever. One of 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:57.140 the good gifts of God is deliverance from the 00:22:57.140 --> 00:23:01.119 fear of death. Deliverance from the domain of 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:06.319 darkness. Let me briefly just touch upon another 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:09.980 way in which we are delivered. 1 Thessalonians 00:23:09.980 --> 00:23:14.980 1 and verse 10. We see here that God delivers 00:23:14.980 --> 00:23:20.690 us from the wrath that is to come. We have turned 00:23:20.690 --> 00:23:23.509 to God from idols to serve a living and true 00:23:23.509 --> 00:23:28.509 God and to wait for his Son from heaven Whom 00:23:28.509 --> 00:23:32.089 he raised from the dead that is Jesus who delivers 00:23:32.089 --> 00:23:40.170 us from the wrath to come God's wrath is his 00:23:40.170 --> 00:23:45.089 Just response towards sin It is God's only response 00:23:45.089 --> 00:23:52.849 towards sin It is a deep seated anger with sin. 00:23:55.390 --> 00:23:59.150 It is a wrath that is expressed, yes, in hell. 00:24:00.509 --> 00:24:03.450 It is a wrath that is expressed also in this 00:24:03.450 --> 00:24:08.789 world. And it is, I think, in this context, verse 00:24:08.789 --> 00:24:12.230 10, a wrath that is eschatological. That is, 00:24:12.369 --> 00:24:19.210 it is future. He mentions wrath to come. I believe 00:24:19.210 --> 00:24:21.750 he's talking about that time when God will pour 00:24:21.750 --> 00:24:26.650 out His wrath in this world, in what we sometimes 00:24:26.650 --> 00:24:31.230 call the tribulation period. We are told here 00:24:31.230 --> 00:24:34.250 that God delivers us from the wrath that is to 00:24:34.250 --> 00:24:38.569 come, wrath that God will pour out upon a Christ 00:24:38.569 --> 00:24:42.609 -rejecting world. It is a wrath that is imminent, 00:24:42.750 --> 00:24:45.529 that may come at any moment in its fulfillment. 00:24:48.460 --> 00:24:51.799 It is a wrath that is surely coming. There is 00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:56.720 no question about it. Our government, as you 00:24:56.720 --> 00:24:59.859 may have read a few weeks ago, is expending several 00:24:59.859 --> 00:25:05.980 hundred thousand dollars on an astronomical search 00:25:05.980 --> 00:25:10.799 for asteroids. The concern is that there may 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:15.700 be lurking out there in space somewhere an asteroid 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:23.039 large enough to do severe damage were it to strike 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:26.819 the Earth. And so our government is concerned 00:25:26.819 --> 00:25:31.339 that we be able to locate such an asteroid well 00:25:31.339 --> 00:25:36.680 in advance of any potential collision, lest there 00:25:36.680 --> 00:25:39.900 be great loss of life in the world. Now if they 00:25:39.900 --> 00:25:41.940 find one that's coming, I'm not exactly sure 00:25:41.940 --> 00:25:45.930 what they're planning to do about it. But there 00:25:45.930 --> 00:25:49.470 is this search on for that possibility. I want 00:25:49.470 --> 00:25:52.049 you to know that the Bible says that we're already 00:25:52.049 --> 00:25:55.470 on a collision course with the wrath of God. 00:25:57.009 --> 00:25:58.890 I cannot tell you the moment that it's going 00:25:58.890 --> 00:26:05.450 to come, but coming it is. And it will consume 00:26:05.450 --> 00:26:10.970 sinners. Aren't you glad today that in Jesus 00:26:10.970 --> 00:26:15.380 Christ, You, having trusted Him, have been delivered 00:26:15.380 --> 00:26:19.200 from the wrath to come. That will not be your 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:23.779 experience. God has appointed us rather to salvation." 00:26:23.779 --> 00:26:27.859 He says in chapter 5 of this same book. But I 00:26:27.859 --> 00:26:30.119 want to rush ahead just to one more way in which 00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:33.279 we are delivered. It is found in Galatians 1 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:35.900 -4, and it's such an important one. I don't want 00:26:35.900 --> 00:26:39.980 to leave it out before closing. Galatians 1 -4. 00:26:40.619 --> 00:26:43.700 The good gift of God is deliverance and it tells 00:26:43.700 --> 00:26:47.819 us here that God delivers us from the evil now 00:26:47.819 --> 00:26:55.160 present. Who gave Himself for our sins that He 00:26:55.160 --> 00:27:00.799 might deliver us out of this present evil age 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:04.339 according to the will of our God and Father. 00:27:05.660 --> 00:27:11.289 The age in which we live is evil. Time magazine 00:27:11.289 --> 00:27:14.289 gave an essay to the subject of evil a few weeks 00:27:14.289 --> 00:27:19.190 ago, in which the writer did a fair job evaluating 00:27:19.190 --> 00:27:24.069 man's thinking about evil. But he could come 00:27:24.069 --> 00:27:26.650 to no conclusions. He had no authority to come 00:27:26.650 --> 00:27:31.509 to conclusions. The Bible tells us that evil 00:27:31.509 --> 00:27:35.670 is very real. It is a force. It is also personified. 00:27:36.349 --> 00:27:40.880 There is a Satan. There are evil beings in the 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:44.980 spirit realm. There is evil in the heart of man 00:27:44.980 --> 00:27:49.960 by his own sin. And all of this is producing 00:27:49.960 --> 00:27:54.339 evil in our world. I am almost to the point of 00:27:54.339 --> 00:27:59.200 not listening to the news anymore. For not only 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:02.079 am I tired of what I hear, I am tired of the 00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:05.359 explicitness with which it is reported on the 00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:15.509 news. We live in an evil age. God delivers us 00:28:15.509 --> 00:28:19.849 from the evil now present. We must live in this 00:28:19.849 --> 00:28:24.690 world. But Jesus Christ delivered up Himself 00:28:24.690 --> 00:28:29.970 on behalf of our sins so that He might rescue 00:28:29.970 --> 00:28:34.339 us. I like the words of James Montgomery Boyce. 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.299 He says, the deliverance is conceived of here 00:28:37.299 --> 00:28:40.819 not as a deliverance out of the present evil 00:28:40.819 --> 00:28:43.660 world, though that will also be true eventually, 00:28:44.819 --> 00:28:49.799 but as a deliverance from the power of evil and 00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:54.240 the values of the present world system through 00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:57.900 the power of the risen Christ within the Christian. 00:28:59.019 --> 00:29:01.720 The deliverance here you see is not just the 00:29:01.720 --> 00:29:05.859 deliverance eventually from the age, but it's 00:29:05.859 --> 00:29:10.180 deliverance from its values even right now. Why 00:29:10.180 --> 00:29:14.619 has Christ died for our sins? It is that He might 00:29:14.619 --> 00:29:18.779 redeem to Himself a people living differently 00:29:18.779 --> 00:29:22.500 than the people caught up in the evil now present. 00:29:26.119 --> 00:29:29.660 The lifestyle that you and I live ought to be 00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:34.680 a distinctive lifestyle. The things that we choose 00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:37.839 to watch, the things that we choose to participate 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:42.319 in, the values that motivate our lives, those 00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:47.259 ought to be in contradistinction to the world 00:29:47.259 --> 00:29:51.059 around us. That's why Christ has died for us. 00:29:52.360 --> 00:29:55.180 I wonder sometimes if we don't play with evil 00:29:55.180 --> 00:29:57.640 because we don't realize the real threat that 00:29:57.640 --> 00:30:03.880 it is. God is the Deliverer, and He will deliver 00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:08.440 any who calls upon Him. But deliverance is predicated 00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:13.460 upon our being willing to be rescued. Do you 00:30:13.460 --> 00:30:17.059 remember when Mount St. Helens was nearing its 00:30:17.059 --> 00:30:23.619 explosion back in 1980, wasn't it? 1981? They 00:30:23.619 --> 00:30:26.200 were warning people around the base of the mountain 00:30:26.200 --> 00:30:28.779 to get out, and there was a man, an old codger 00:30:28.779 --> 00:30:32.500 by the name of Harry. You remember Harry? He 00:30:32.500 --> 00:30:35.400 had lived in that mountain all of his life, and 00:30:35.400 --> 00:30:39.079 he wasn't about to leave it. He didn't perceive 00:30:39.079 --> 00:30:42.720 the threat as real, and he didn't need deliverance. 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:48.000 It was but hours after they left him for the 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:50.940 last time, pleading with him to leave. that the 00:30:50.940 --> 00:30:54.039 mountain exploded, burying Harry and everything 00:30:54.039 --> 00:31:01.140 that he owned beneath untold tons of ash. He 00:31:01.140 --> 00:31:03.519 wasn't willing to be delivered. He could have 00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:08.779 been. And so it is with sinners who play with 00:31:08.779 --> 00:31:14.559 God, who don't take the threat of evil, the certainty 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:19.980 of wrath, seriously. They've lived in this world 00:31:19.980 --> 00:31:24.700 a long time. They've gotten by so far without 00:31:24.700 --> 00:31:31.660 God, and they don't understand how close judgment 00:31:31.660 --> 00:31:36.640 is. The good gift of God is deliverance, and 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:40.700 God generously gives it, but only to those who 00:31:40.700 --> 00:31:44.420 come to Him for it. If you've never done that, 00:31:44.420 --> 00:31:48.180 I hope you will today. That you will place your 00:31:48.180 --> 00:31:51.579 faith in Jesus Christ is the only possible rescue 00:31:51.579 --> 00:31:56.900 that you will ever have from evil and from judgment. 00:31:58.140 --> 00:32:19.509 Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. 00:32:20.230 --> 00:32:30.349 Thank you, Lord, for giving to me thy great salvation 00:32:30.349 --> 00:32:38.049 so rich and free. Dear Christian friend, I hope 00:32:38.049 --> 00:32:43.650 that's a chorus that It means a lot to you, for 00:32:43.650 --> 00:32:46.970 God has done so much that he might deliver us. 00:32:48.470 --> 00:32:51.930 Let us not toy with the world and play with it. 00:32:53.190 --> 00:32:58.670 Let us not participate in its evil. Let's let 00:32:58.670 --> 00:33:01.509 Jesus Christ have his way in our lives. Let him 00:33:01.509 --> 00:33:05.329 deliver us in every respect from the evil now 00:33:05.329 --> 00:33:10.079 present. even as we thank God that He has delivered 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:15.420 us from the judgment that is coming. My friend 00:33:15.420 --> 00:33:18.240 here without Christ today, if you cannot sing 00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:21.140 that chorus, would you in your heart trust Jesus 00:33:21.140 --> 00:33:24.279 right now, inviting Him in to be your Savior, 00:33:24.819 --> 00:33:30.160 your Deliverer? I hope you would. Let's stand 00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:35.359 together. Father, we give thanks to you today. 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:41.839 that you are the deliverer. We thank you that 00:33:41.839 --> 00:33:48.019 those who call upon the Lord will be saved, will 00:33:48.019 --> 00:33:51.539 be rescued from the danger that is present in 00:33:51.539 --> 00:33:56.180 the evil and the darkness all around us. And 00:33:56.180 --> 00:33:59.039 as we go from here, may our hearts be attuned 00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:02.880 to the danger of friends and loved ones who are 00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:05.400 outside of Christ and have no deliverance yet. 00:34:06.570 --> 00:34:10.869 God, give us courage and give us words, give 00:34:10.869 --> 00:34:15.429 us winsomeness in our witness to them, that they 00:34:15.429 --> 00:34:19.210 also may come to know the Lord Jesus. May we 00:34:19.210 --> 00:34:23.489 be the kind of a church, Father, where deliverance 00:34:23.489 --> 00:34:29.170 is offered and people in the community know that 00:34:29.170 --> 00:34:32.610 they can find the Savior here in this loving 00:34:32.610 --> 00:34:40.239 fellowship. We pray this in the name of our Deliverer, 00:34:40.699 --> 00:34:44.679 our Rock, Jesus Christ. Amen.