Show Notes
Rev. Joel Ellis (Guest preacher)
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Episode Transcript
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First Corinthians chapter one. We will
begin the reading today in verse Seventeen.
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We will continue all the way down
through chapter two and then turn to chapter
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fifteen and read the first eleven verses. Here now God's Holy, inspired and
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inherrant word. First Corinthians chapter one, beginning of verse seventeen and going down
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through the entirety of chapter two.
For Christ did not send me to baptize,
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but to preach the Gospel, and
not with words of eloquent wisdom,
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lest the cross of Christ be emptied
of its power. For the word of
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the Cross is folly to those who
are perishing, but to us who are
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being saved, it is the power
of God. For it is written,
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I will destroy the wisdom of the
wise and the discernment of the discerning.
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I will thwart. Where is the
one who is wise? Where is the
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scribe? Where is the debate debater
of this age? Has Not God made
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foolish the wisdom of the world?
For since in the wisdom of God,
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the world did not know God.
Through wisdom it pleased God, through the
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folly of what we preach, to
save those who believe, for Jews demands
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signs and Greeks seek wisdom. But
We preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to
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Jews and folly to gentiles, but
to those who were called, both Jews
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and Greeks, Christ the power of
God and the wisdom of God it for
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the foolishness of God is wiser than
men and the weakness of God is stronger
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than men. For consider your calling, brothers. Not Many of you were
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wise according to worldly standards, not
many were powerful, not many were of
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noble birth. But God shows what
is foolish in the world, to shame
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the wise, God shows what is
weak in the world, to shame the
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strong. God shows what is low
and despised in the world, even things
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that are not to bring to nothing, things that are so that no human
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being might boast in the presence of
God. And because of him, you
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are in Christ, Jesus, who
became to US wisdom from God, righteousness
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and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, let the
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one who boasts boast in the Lord. And I, when I came to
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you, brothers, did not come
proclaiming to you the testimony of God with
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lofty speech or wisdom, for I
decided to know nothing. Among you accept
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Jesus Christ and him crucified. And
I was with you in weakness and in
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fear and in much trembling, and
my speech and my message were not in
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plausible words of wisdom, but in
demonstration of the spirit and of power,
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so that your faith might not rest
in the wisdom of men but in the
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power of God. Yet among the
mature we do impart wisdom, although it
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is not a wisdom of this age
or of the rulers of this age,
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who are doomed to pass away,
but we impart a secret and hidden wisdom
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of God, which God decreed before
the ages for our glory. None of
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the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would
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not have crucified the Lord of Glory. But, as it is written,
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what no eye has seen, nor
ear heard, nor the heart of man
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imagined, what God has prepared for
those who love him. These things God
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has revealed to us through the spirit, for the spirit searches everything, even
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the depths of God. For who
knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of
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that person which is in him?
So also no one comprehends the thoughts of
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God except the spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of
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the world, but the spirit who
is from God, that we might understand
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the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words,
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not taught by human wisdom, but
taught by the spirit, interpreting spiritual truths
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to those who are spiritual. The
natural person does not accept the things of
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the spirit of God, for they
are folly to him and he is not
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able to understand them because they are
spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all
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things, but is himself to be
judged by no one, for who has
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understood the mind of the Lord so
as to instruct him? But we have
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the mind of Christ. Turn now, please, just a few pages to
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chapter fifteen, so we continue to
hear God speak in his word Chapter Fifteen,
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versus one through eleven. Now I
would remind you, Brothers, of
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the Gospel I preach to you,
which you received, in which you stand
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and by which you are being saved
if you hold fast to the word I
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preach to you, unless you believed
in vain. For I delivered to you
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as a first importance what I also
received, that Christ died for our scriptures
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and accordance for excuse me, that
Christ died for our sins, in accordance
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with the scriptures, that he was
buried, that he was raised on the
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third day, in accordance with the
Scriptures, and that he appeared to see
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fast, then to the twelve.
Then he appeared to more than five hundred
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brothers at one time, most of
whom are still alive, though some have
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fallen asleep. Then he appeared to
James, then to all the apostles,
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last of all, as to one
untimely born, he appeared also to me,
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for I am the least of the
apostles, unworthy to be called an
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apostle because I persecuted the Church of
God. But by the grace of God
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I am what I am, and
His grace toward me was not in vain.
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On the contrary, I worked harder
than any of them that it was
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not I, but the grace of
God that is with me, whether then,
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it was I or they. So
we preach and so you believed.
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Thus far as the reading of God's
Word May he add his blessing to it.
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You may be seated. Want to
talk with you this morning for a
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few minutes about the Gospel, the
Gospel that Paul is discussing and extensive reading
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that we just had it. We
could have continued to read because throughout this
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letter Paul is addressing the problems of
the church in Corinth by means of the
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Gospel. The Gospel is the Lens
through which he addresses all of their various
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issues. The Sin, the pride, the divisions, all of the problems
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are to be rectified. There is
to be repentance and reconciliation, of restoration
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in the light of the Gospel.
You've probably heard this quote before, though
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perhaps not in this exact form.
One writer said scripture is like a river,
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again, broad and deep, shallow
enough here for the lamb to go
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waiting, but deep enough there for
the elephant to swim. As a popular
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quote, you've probably heard it in
various forms. You've probably heard it attributed
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to many different people. I've used
that quote in preaching through the Gospel of
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John and it's preserved in several commentaries
on the Fourth Gospel. It is often
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quoted without any attribution or it is
miss attributed to various people from the history
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of the church, but the form
of the quote that I just read to
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you appears to be the earliest version
of it and it appears in the introduction
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to a commentary on the book of
Job Written at the end of the sixth
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century by Gregory the great, which
some church historians or church history nerds like
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mem to recognize. And what Gregory
says here, I think, is very
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profound. He recognizes into statement both
the simplicity of the Gospel and it's sophistication.
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Now he's talking about scripture, but
but what he says about scripture is
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equally true of the Gospel Proclamation.
And when we think about the Bible,
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when we think about the word of
God, we recognize there is a basic
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simplicity to it. And yet there
is several lifetime's worth of truth here that
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we could never explore even if we
had eternity to do so. Indeed,
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we will continue to explore throughout eternity
and at the end, which there won't
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be any end to eternity, we
still will not know at all, because
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we still will not be the Lord
God. Our children begin reading portions of
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the Bible almost as soon as they
are able to learn how to form the
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letters of the alphabet and how to
sound out words. They can understand basic
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sentences and stories and enjoy the truth
of God. That's revealed. When I'm
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working with young people, are not
so young people in learning other languages,
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one of the first things I tell
them is learn how to read it and
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then to get a copy of the
Bible in your target language and an Audio
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Bible and start listening and reading to
scripture. You know, these stories take
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advantage of that. There's a simplicity
there that we can begin to grasp even
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at a very early stage of development. And yet, unlike every other early
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reader book that our small children may
work through as they are learning how to
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read, our children will never outgrow
the Bible, and neither will we.
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If you are fans of c US
Lewis's Narnia series, you will perhaps remember
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in the second volume in the series
that Lucy comes back to Narnia and she
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observes that as LN has grown since
she first arrived, and that is all
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together backwards. We normally return to
familiar places from our childhood and we find
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that the house wasn't quite as big
as we remembered it being, the tree
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that we climbed and then fell out
of, in my case was not quite
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as high as I recalled. But
but in fact here, as Lucia,
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lucy comments on this as land says, every year that you grow, I
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grow too. You could take that
in a grossly on Biblical way, but
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I think Lewis's point is that as
the believer grows in the grace and knowledge
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of the Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, we are able to perceive more
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of the immensity of our God.
I think you can even see this in
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the progress of revelation. Then,
in the earliest chapters of the Bible,
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Adam and eve and particularly came,
their son in Genesis chapter four, are
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downright disrespectful and Sassy when they are
called into the presence of the Holy God
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in the aftermath of their sin.
And yet as God reveals more and more
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of himself through the course of human
history, we find at the end of
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the Bible one of the holiest men
to ever live, the Apostle John,
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falling like a dead man on his
face in the presence of the glorified Christ.
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The further we go, the more
we can see, and the waiting
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pool where we first begin to interact
with the knowledge of God becomes for us
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an ocean that we can journey upon
and plunge into for the rest of our
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lives, and that is how we
are to view not only scripture, as
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we said, but also the gospel
of Jesus itself. The Gospel is so
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simple that a child can understand it. Indeed, we would hope and pray
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that all of our children do understand
and believe it. And yet the Gospel
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has a depth to it that provides
an endless supply of comfort. It is
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an endless source of rich truth for
contemplation, and I believe that there is
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a danger here in these observations that
must be carefully balanced, that we can
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either over simplify the gospel or we
can over complicate it, that we can
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neglect the necessity of both the simplicity
and sophistication of the Gospel. If you
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eliminate either aspect, then my contention
would be that it ceases to be the
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Gospel. So let's think about this
for a few minutes. The Gospel first
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is simple. How much does a
person have to understand in order to be
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saved? Really not much. Basically, they have to understand that they need
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to be saved and they have to
understand who is able to save them.
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That's about all that the thief on
the Cross understood in Luke, Chapter Twenty
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three. The even the Jews assembled
on the day of Pentecost. Though they
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had a strong background in the Old
Testament, they didn't understand much more about
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the gospel except that Jesus is the
Christ crucified and resurrected, that they were
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sinners in need of a savior.
The Bible says whoever believes in the sun
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has eternal life. Right now,
presently, whoever does not obey the sun
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shall not see life, but the
wrath of God remains upon him. John,
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Chapter six, or choose me,
thirty three and verse thirty six,
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believes in that verse is expressing the
idea of trusting Jesus in an ongoing way.
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In fact, it's John's favorite way
of talking about this. In the
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Fourth Gospel it's a participle in Greek, but since we're talking about the simplicity
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of the Gospel, we shouldn't be
talking about Greek participles. A person has
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to have some concept of their sin
and their need for salvation. They cannot
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really trust Christ to save them if
they don't know that they need to be
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saved. But how much beyond that
do they have to understand? Not Very
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much at all. I think most
believed. Unbelievers already feel some sense of
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need in their lives, some some
emptiness, some guilt that nags in the
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back of their minds. They may
not under stand what that is, but
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we, as believers, know that
is an awareness of sin, even if
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they cannot diagnosed it, even if
they cannot identify it, we know that
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God has written his law upon their
hearts, that he has made them to
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be image bearers and they are living
out of sink with their creator. They
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are not fulfilling the purpose for which
they were given life. And even if
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they do not realize that, even
if they explicitly deny that this is the
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case, there is nevertheless a sense
of dissatisfaction, a sense of brokenness that
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can only be satisfied by crying out
to Christ for salvation. Whoever calls on
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the name of the Lord shall be
saved. What is the gospel of first
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critics? Chapter fifteen that we just
read, versus three and four gives,
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I think, a very simple definition
of it. Christ died for our sins.
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According to the scriptures, he was
buried, he rose the third day.
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According to the scriptures, that this
really happened, that it was seen
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by eyewitnesses. It's not a fairy
tale or a myth, it's real history.
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God came to wreck rescue sinful human
beings. He saves them by means
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of his death and resurrection. Death
could not hold him. He was overcome,
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or he was the overcomer, the
ultimate overcomer, the firstborn from the
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dead. And other New Testament passages
give us similar summaries of the Gospel.
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You will recognize all of these,
I'm sure. John Chapter Three, in
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Verse Sixteen, for God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten
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Son that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have everlasting life. Romans
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chapter five, versus six through eight, for while we were still weak,
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at the right time, Christ died
for the ungodly, for one will scarcely
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die for a righteous person, though
perhaps for a good person one would dare
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even to die. But God shows
his love for us in that, while
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we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. refusion chapter two. How
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can we forget that great paragraph of
grace? The first three verses speaking of
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of us being dead in our sins
and trespasses, being by nature the children
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of Wrath, and then the two
sweetest words in the entire Bible. But
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God, but God, being rich
in mercy because of his great love with
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which he loved us, even when
we were dead in our trespasses, made
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us alive, together with Christ,
by grace you of and say that's the
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Gospel. was studying with a man
this past week, sharing the Gospel with
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him in a Personal Bible study.
I asked him what is the Gospel?
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How would you summarize it if you
were to try to do so? And
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he said it is it is an
outline or a plan for following Jesus.
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I said, no, that's not
it, that's not it. The Bible
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does give us an outline for the
Christian life. It does, it does
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give us a plan for following Jesus. It does call us to that very
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thing. But but that is not
what the Gospel is. The Gospel is
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the proclamation that God has saved his
people, accomplishing that by the work of
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his son and his spirit in our
lives. The Gospel is about what God
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has done, what Christ has won, not about what we are to do.
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The basic facts are these. God
is holy and the creator of all
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things, and mankind, by rebellion
against God, fell into sin and died
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spiritually, becoming incapable of improving our
own condition. And then Christ came and
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lived a sinless life. He suffered
and died on the cross, four seins
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and rose the third day so that
everyone who believes in him is and ever
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shall be saved. And our youngest
children can probably all recite that, and
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indeed we would desire that they could
and would. The Gospel is not complicated.
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It's very simple. It's not something
only scholars can understand. You don't
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have to be able to read Greek
or Latin or understand complex theological language.
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You simply have to believe. You
have to trust Christ and in trust yourself
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to him. Paul says, God
has not chosen the wise, the strong,
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the capable, the competent. He's
chosen us. How umbling is that
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some people believe the idea that unconditional
election, the doctrine of unconditional election,
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will puff us up with pride.
Not, if we understand it biblically,
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know God always chooses the weakest,
the least likely, the most unlovable,
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to glorify himself by showing love unto
them, Paul says in our reading,
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I determined to know nothing among you
except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Does
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that mean that Paul never preached on
the rest of what scripture had to declare,
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that he never preached on the meat
of the word, so to speak,
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the more complex truths? Know?
You remember that Paul is the author
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of Romans and Ephesians, which are
arguably the most complex theological treatises in the
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Canon of scripture. Paul understood that
the Church has to be challenged, to
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learn and to grow, but he
was committed to keeping the gospel clear,
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easy to understand and central to his
message and ministry. And so we must
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also continually keep before our minds that, no matter how much we learn,
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no matter how much we grow,
no matter how much we come to know
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and to delight ourselves in the depths
of scripture and the message of Salvation,
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the Gospel must be kept simple.
You don't have to study the Westminster Confession
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of faith or memorize the shorter catechism
to be a Christian, although I do
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believe you will be a better taught
and better equipped Christian if you do those
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very things. But to be a
Christian you simply must know that you are
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a sinner and that Jesus is a
great savior and you must trust in him
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and not in yourself. You must
in trust yourself to him, you must
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receive His grace and not rely on
your own goodness or good works. That
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is the Gospel. The Gospel is
that Christ died for our sins was buried
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in rose the third day so that
whoever believes in him should not perish but
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have everlasting life. But all of
that being said, the True Gospel is
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also a sophisticated proclamation. At this
is where, if you're if you're dozing
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off, you need to wake up
for just a minute. You're going to
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miss something important. I am making
an important distinction today between simplicity and sophistication,
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and if you miss this distinction you're
not going to understand the rest of
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the lesson. The Gospel is not
complicated in the sense of being hard to
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understand. It's very simple to understand. It's basic form has very few moving
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parts. But while that is true, while it is simple, it is
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also sophisticated, and sophisticated doesn't mean
complicated in the sense of hard to understand.
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We mean sophisticated in the sense of
being part of a much larger intricate
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system with interdependent parts. The Basic
Gospel message is straightforward and has very few
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components, but as you begin to
explore it more deeply, you discover that
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this Basic Gospel message has some fascinating
intricacies that are foundational to it and that
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if you alter those foundational truths,
the Simple Gospel ceases to be the Gospel.
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You don't have to understand the underlying
system, you don't have to present
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it every time you share Christ with
an unbeliever, but that underlying system is
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absolutely essential and if you compromise it
you are not proclaiming the good news at
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all. I want to read a
quote here, and I'm always it's a
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bit risky to read quotes like this. I'll explain why in just a moment,
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but listen. Listen To this summary
of the Gospel and think carefully about
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it. Quote. Jesus Christ is
the savior of the world and the son
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of God. He is our redeemer. Each of these titles point to the
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truth that Jesus Christ is the only
way by which we can return to live
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with our heavenly father. Jesus suffered
and was crucified for the sins of the
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world giving, giving each of God's
children the gift of repentance and forgiveness.
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Only by His mercy and grace can
anyone be saved. His subsequent resurrection prepared
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the way for every person to overcome
physical death as well. These events are
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called the atonement. In Short,
Jesus Christ saves us from sin and death.
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For that he is very literally our
Savior and redeemer. In quote that
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I think most people here would probably
say, just on one hearing of that
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paragraph, that that sounds pretty good, pretty solid it. It sounds Orthodox
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right, but that quote is from
Mormon Dot Org, which is a website,
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of course, published by the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints
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to explain and promote their doctrines and
practices. So you read that summary and
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you say, well, what does
that mean? To this mean then,
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that the Mormons believe the Gospel?
I mean the quote does sound fairly consistent
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with scripture and what we ourselves would
say, at least in many respects.
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If the Gospel is simple and if
this is a simple summary, then that
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should we accept that Mormons are Christians
and are saved. And of course I
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would say no, obviously not.
Why is that? Well, if you're
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acquainted with Mormon theology, you would
actually be able to take that paragraph apart
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and find a number of inconsistencies and
errors in it, but you're not likely
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to pick up on them just on
the first hearing of it. Not.
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The problem is that the latter day
saints explicitly reject, among other things,
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the historic doctrine of the trinity.
They use the language of the Trinity,
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they refer to the father, son
and spirit, but they ensist that,
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quote, these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from each other in quote,
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and that the doctrine of the trinity
quote cannot be rationally construed to mean
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that the father, the son and
the Holy Ghost are one in substance,
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in person, in quote. So
the very truth that you and I would
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recite from the shorter catechism they explicitly
reject. In fact, one of their
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apostles describe the trinity in this way. He said it would be difficult to
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conceive of a greater number of inconsistencies
and contradictions expressed in words as few.
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So, just in case you're curious
where the Mormon stand on the doctrine of
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the trinity, there against it.
Furthermore, the notion of salvation in Mormonism
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is very different than what Christians believe. In affirm. They affirm this quote.
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Some degree of salvation will come to
all who have not forfeited their right
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to it. Exaltation is given only
to those who, by righteous effort,
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have won a claim to God's Merciful
Liberality by which it is bestowed. In
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quote. Their view is that Christ's
death and resurrection is a Universal Act of
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atonement that delivers people from death,
that it provides for physical resurrection and that
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all people will be saved, except
those who have committed some egregious act that
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will cause them once again and eternally, to be lost. For instance,
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again another quote from their one of
their apostles. The extent of the a
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tone. It is universal, applying
a like to all descendants of Adam,
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even the unbeliever, the heathen and
the child who dies before reaching the years
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of discretion. All are redeemed by
the save yourself sacrifice from the individual consequences
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of the fall. In quote.
Just so that you're clear, when they
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talk about the atonement, they're not
meaning by that terminology what you and I
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mean, and believe everyone except apostates
from the latter day saints and those who
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lead them into apostacy will be saved
in one way or another, but the
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degree of glory that each of them
enjoy will depend upon their good works.
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Now I'm not I'm not preaching on
mormonism today. I'm using that as an
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illustration, which I think is apropos
given our cultural context, of the sophistication
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that is intrinsic to the Biblical Gospel. My wife and I had several Mormon
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elders in our home for a number
of weeks a couple of years ago and
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as we were discussing these things and
we were studying together, as many of
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you, I'm sure, have done, I asked them I sit down,
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guys, help me to understand what's
going to happen to me. I don't
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believe that Joseph Smith is a true
prophet. I don't believe that the book
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of Mormon or doctrine and covenants or
pearl of great price are of God.
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What's going to happen to me?
Where does this place me? Am I
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going to be cast into outer darkness? And they immediately said, oh no,
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no, no, no, that
that would not happen. That would
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not happen to you. I said. Okay, well, good, that's
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that's a relief for me to know, I said, but here's my problem.
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I said, if what I believe
is correct, you will be you're
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telling me that I'm risking nothing where
I am, but you are risking everything.
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There is a fundamental difference in the
system of truth that undergirds these two
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different expressions of what is called Gospel. Does the Mormon description of the Gospel
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in that first quote sound Orthodox?
Yes, it does for the most part.
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Is it Orthodox? No. Can
anyone be saved by it? No.
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Why not? Because they're preaching about
a different God. They're preaching about
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a God who is not three in
one, but three. And there were
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God's before and there will be God's
after, and the father has a physical
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body and met Joseph Smith in the
forest. The the view of Sein,
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the view of the nature of the
atonement, the hope of salvation that Mormons
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believing is not the same as that
which is taught in the Bible. And
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the Bible says, as we read
a moment ago, that those who do
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not believe in Christ remain under God's
wrath, and that is not the case
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in Mormon Theology. I will not
be lost for rejecting their doctrines, at
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least according to them. I might
be for preaching sermons like this, but
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that's okay. But if they do
not repent, they will be you see,
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the Gospel is simple, but the
gospel is sophisticated as well. Simple
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statements that appear to be true may
not be true based on underlying facts.
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So, for instance, my kirsty
is my wife. Some of you met
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her this morning. Kirsty is my
wife. That's a simple statement. But
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what if I mean a different kirsty
than the one sitting just midway back up
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the auditorium here? What if I
mean some other woman named Kri Kirsty?
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Well that then suddenly that simple statement
is not true. See, simple statements
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are based upon more foundational ideas.
Definitions matter, and if we change the
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way that we define words, if
we re write or reinvent themes relating to
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the Gospel, will end up with
a different gospel. will end up with
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a false Gospel, a Gospel that
is no gospel at all. As Paul
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says in Galatians chafter one, we
not only have to believe the basic truths
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of the Gospel, the basic facts, the the few components that it has.
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We must also have some understanding or
awareness of the larger truths upon which
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these facts are built. Let me
give you an illustration. Let's suppose for
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a moment that an atheist comes to
believe that a man named Jesus really lived
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two thousand years ago, was crucified
and by some biological process, actually was
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resurrected. He resuscitated the third day. That atheist believes the basic historical facts
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of the Gospel. He believes those
facts about Jesus. Is He's saved by
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that? Well, no, obviously
not. James Chapter two, Verse Nineteen.
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Even the demons believe and tremble.
The demons have fewer errors in their
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theology than you and I do.
They don't walk by faith. They know
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the holy one of God, and
yet they do not live in submission to
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him. They do not trust him. They will not be saved by him,
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Jesus himself said in John Chapter Five, Verse Twenty Four. Truly,
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truly, I say to you,
everyone who hears my word and believes him
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who sent me has eternal life.
He does not come into judgment, but
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has passed from death unto life.
It isn't enough to simply throw out facts
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or orthodox sounding platitudes without context.
Why did Jesus have to die? What
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is it that we need to be
saved from? Why was the cross necessary,
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as well as the resurrection? Why
did Jesus have to be both God
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and man? Those are in Portant
questions for getting the Gospel Right now.
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Does a person have to be able
to understand or explain any to detail,
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the answers to those questions in order
to believe in Jesus? No, no,
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absolutely not. Our young children are
older members may not have any idea
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what the hypostatic union is. It's
that whole God man thing. You may
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not be acquainted with that term at
all. You don't have to understand that
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to believe in Jesus and to be
saved. But you cannot be saved if
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you deny it. You cannot reject
the god of the Bible and still be
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saved by him. You cannot deny
your sinful condition and the wrath that you
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deserve and yet hope nevertheless to be
forgiven of it and spared from it.
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You cannot rewrite the doctrine of salvation
and still expect to receive the reward of
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Christ himself. Jesus said I am
the way, the truth and the life.
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No one comes to the father except
by me. That's a simple statement,
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but there's a lot of sophisticated truth
that's implied in it. So let
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me suggest to quick applications for you. First, be careful that you do
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not overcomplicate the Gospel, because there's
a real danger that as we grow in
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our understanding of the Gospel, we
begin to complicate it unnecessarily. We need
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to remember that we are not saved
by having right theology per se. We
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are not saved because we understand in
an affirm orthodox teaching. No one saved
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because they understand the doctrines of grace. You don't have to be a praise
404
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Presbyterian or a Pato baptist or even
a calvinist in order to be a Christian,
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although I recommend that you be all
of those things, but you do
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have to know who the savior is
and you have to know who you are
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apart from him, and you have
to know that crying out to him,
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in trusting yourself to him, is
the only hope that you have, that
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there is no other way of salvation, that Christianity is not one option out
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of many, it is the exclusive
way to come to the father and to
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be saved. You don't have to
understand election and predestination, but you do
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have to know that you cannot save
yourself and that you're dependent, utterly dependent,
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upon him to be saved. You
don't have to be much of a
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theologian, but you have to know
who you're believing in and why you're believing
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in him, and you must trust
him. You must throw yourself entirely upon
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his mercy. Nothing in my hands. I bring simply to thy cross I
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clan. That's the spirit that is
laying hold of a simple gospel. The
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Gospel is that simple, and those
with simple faith, who truly believe it,
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are saved. But secondly, be
careful that you don't dumb down or
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dilute the Gospel in pursuit of its
simplicity. There's a danger that when we
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talk about the simplicity of the Gospel
that we end up compromising the demand that
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the Gospel makes. It's correct to
say that the Gospel is simple, it's
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not correct to say that the Gospel
is easy, that it's easy to be
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saved. It's easy to understand everything
that the Gospel and tells. It's not
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easy, but Jesus said you have
to die. It's hard to deny yourself
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and that's why Jesus said the way
is difficult and few will find it.
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That doesn't mean it's difficult like running
a marathon. It doesn't mean that that
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maybe only some people are physically capable
of doing it. None of us are
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capable of doing it. Not One
of us are capable of being saved on
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our own, and that's the point. Unfortunately, sometimes well intentioned Christians Act
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as if the Gospel is like an
insurance policy against the Day of judgment,
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and that is faulty theology. That
has led to things like the theory of
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the Carnal Christian and no Lordship,
easy believism. That's not the simplicity of
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the Gospel. That's a corruption of
it. That's a pollution of it.
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I grew up in a tradition that
believed that a person is saved by grace
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through faith if, when, and
only if, he or she was baptized.
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That sounds Orthodox to many people.
I know a lot of people would
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say that is the Gospel. It's
the false gospel that Paul anthematizes and Galatians.
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It does make a difference. When
we say that we are saved by
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the word of Christ, when we
do our part, we are corrupting the
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Gospel. When we say that the
Gospel is so simple that all that matters
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is that we agree that Jesus is
the only savior, then we have likewise
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compromised the Gospel. When we say
simply trust in Jesus and you'll be saved,
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that's true, but who is this
Jesus that we're to trust in?
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Is He a created deity? Is
He a Lesser God? Is he a
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guru like Buddha, a holy man
like Gandhi? It matters who Jesus is,
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Paul says in SAC in Corinthians,
chapter one, verses three and four.
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But I am afraid that, as
the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning,
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your thoughts will be led astray from
a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
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For if someone comes and proclaims another
Jesus than the one we proclaimed,
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or if you receive a different spirit
from the one you received, or if
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you accept a different gospel from the
one you accepted, you put up with
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it readily. Enough. If you
change the fundamental principles or theological framework of
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the Gospel, it's no longer the
gospel that you're preaching. If people are
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believing in a different Jesus than the
Jesus of the Bible, it is not
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authentic Christian faith. Let me make
a quick point about this before we close.
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There is a there is a connection, if you will hear, in
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conversation with Islam and Judaism. The
Arabic word for God is a law,
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and so sometimes it's necessary to use
that word in describing the true God in
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the context of evangelism in Arabic.
But Alah, the the Allah described in
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the Quran, is not the god
of the Bible. A similarly, Jews
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accept books that we believe in affirm
are truly scripture. They claim to believe
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in the God of Abraham, whom
we also claim to believe in, and
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yet when they deny the trinity and
when they deny the Lord Jesus as the
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Christ, they are denying the true
God. Theology matters and it's important that
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we recognize that, not that we
complicate things unnecessarily, but that we recognize
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that a simple appeal to a humansicity
based on the simple name of Jesus is
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not sufficient because, as Paul says, we may end up receiving and embracing
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a different Jesus than the savior of
the church. Don't overcomplicate the Gospel,
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but don't dumb it down and thereby
compromise it's essential features. The Gospel is
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the power of God into salvation,
but it must be the true Gospel taught
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in scripture, which we proclaim.
May God give us the grace to do
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so. Let's bow in pray
