Well, you know where to turn in your bible if you haven’t already turned there.

Right? Our scripture reading today. And I do want to say a welcome to each one of you. So good to have you with us, Those that are here in person, those tuning in online, we welcome you to the service. Matthew chapter 25 is where we’re looking today.

We’ve been working through a series of messages, encouraging us to do something. Fact that God has redeemed us by his grace through faith so that we could be bumps on a log. I’m sorry, bumps on a pew. No. He’s created us unto Christ Jesus for good works.

Last week, we were in Exodus chapter 3 and looked at the account of Moses on the backside of the wilderness and God lights a bush on fire and God calls us to do some I find that passage of scripture fascinating when you consider that God says to Moses that I have seen the affliction of my people and I have come down. And then he says, now you go. Just a reminder that God’s calling in our lives is that we are called to go. We are called to do something. And as we go, it’s Christ in us and through us.

It is God at work in us, through us, in the in us through us. In the world. This morning, I want to talk to us from Matthew’s gospel chapter 25 of what is the result of our doing? What is the result of our doing? If I were to ask you this morning, how important are good works, what would be your response?

Would you view good works as a good idea, something that is encouraged for us to do? Would you view good works as, something that is optional to do if I feel like it? If the opportunity arises, maybe I’ll engage in it. Do you view good works as instrumental to your faith? Do you find good works as a necessity, as an imperative to your faith.

How do you view good works? In Matthew’s account of chapter 25, Jesus gives us some pretty significant words. In fact, to me are some of the most challenging words in scripture. I’m gonna invite us to stand as we read these together. It’s a familiar passage of scripture, I’m sure.

When the and before and he shall separate them 1 from another as a shepherd divideth his and so the kinks say unto them on his right and here at the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. Naked and you and so the righteous answer him saying clothed stranger and took the inn or naked and or in prison and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, in as much as ye did ye have done it unto one of the least of these my And to and he gave me no mead. I was thirsty. And he gave me no drink.

I was a then they also answer him and so we the in hunger or athirst or a stranger or naked or sick or in. And These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Let’s pray together. This morning, we have rejoiced in your presence that we sense that is here. Guides us and directs us hearts, Lord, may, may this truth convict our hearts as we consider the reality of our eternity, as we consider the reality of our doing in this present life.

I pray it in Jesus name. Amen. Your may be seated. View. It, Matthew chapter 25, you would discover that there are 3 parables that Jesus tells in this chapter.

He begins by the familiar parable that we all know of the 10 virgins, 5 wise, 5 foolish. He tells of these virgins that have come for this wedding ceremony celebration and that 5 were prepared and 5 were not. Shot out. J. A.

S. Moves from that parable to tell the parable of the talents, the master who goes away for a season of time and gives to his servants and upon the master’s return asks for The man with 5 talents says, master, I have gone out, taken what you’ve given me, and I’ve doubled it. And here is 10 talents. The one with shows the 2 talents that he is profited. The final So his master, I knew you to be a man harvest where he is not.

And so I buried your talent and here’s your talent. And Jesus says of that man, you’re a wicked and a lazy. Parable that takes place of the final judgment. Me. And he will separate them 1 from an as a shepherd divides his sheep from his generations together and he begins to sort through, the sheep and the goats as or through the people as a shepherd would sheeps.

And someone his right, someone his some on his right, some on his left. It’s a picture of Christ bringing about some form of judgment. Now, I will be honest with you. If we are to interpret this passage of scripture in its context, it’s a little difficult. Some people would say, what judgment is this?

White throne judgment that takes place in Revelation chapter 20? What is the picture before us? And depending on your view of eschatology and end times, you might interpret this passage just a little bit differently. Hold on for just a second. Don’t get caught up in the weeds and miss the point.

All right? It would seem you, after the battle of Armageddon, Christ is preparing to set up debate on depending on your view of escapot. That’s not as important as what is taking place. The point. The point that Jesus is making with this passage of scripture the she the sheep and the goo based on what they the a scene of judgment that is taking place.

A time where Jesus is dividing out those who have done something from those who have not done something. Here’s, here’s the big picture. Here’s, here’s the big picture. Here’s, here’s the big picture. There is coming a point of judge where all of the nations will be brought together and where you and I will stand before Christ and each person and a So make no mistake here.

The overarching theme in this passage is a passage of judgment based on our. Within this judgment scene, there’s only 2 classes of Many of you probably know the name George Vernon, right? If you don’t know George, you know his brother Steve. George Vernon oftentimes would tell people, he says, Well, I have friends on both sides of the fence and I stand with my friends. Other words, he likes to straddle the fence.

In this particular scene, Jesus makes it clear there is no straddling the fence. Your 1 or the Look at verse 30. Then the king will say to those on his right hand, come you blessed of my 4. And here at the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. What is Jesus saying?

He to throated of Revelation. Jeezus equates heaven as the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the into the everlasting for the devil. Making a very clear statement in this judgment scene. There is no middle a part of the kingdom of God and welcomed into eternal life, or you are part of the kingdom of Satan that is doomed for destruction. It’s one of the 2.

Doomed for destruction. It’s one of the this. From Now, I want it to be very clear here. We have taken a passage of scripture, made a proof text, something that has to be put in the full context of scripture. How are we saved?

And we can’t just take this passage of scripture and just say, well, this is all that there is to say about salvation. No, no, no. Paul was very clear saved by grace through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. And we all say what? Amen, right?

Not all about our trying and our striving and all about our work that saves us. Jesus was clear that salvation comes from repentance from Both Jesus and salvation, our salvation that comes by faith must produce some. Jaws was plain that yes, we’re saved by repenting of our sins. Something different from what we were doing before. Repentance literally means turning from So Jesus tells us that when we have been saved, it produces produce.

Salvation produces produce in a person’s life. And Now, we ground? Now, we live in a little bit of a different day. I thought of this illustrator. If you don’t know what kind of tree you have growing in your yard by looking at its bark and its leaves, what do you do?

I know that because the other week, brother Austin was over at my house, and I’d bought my wife a gardenia or not a gardenia, a hydrangea bush. Took a picture of it and pulled it up. And if you want to know what kind of tree you have, one of the ways you can tell is wait until it starts dropping its produce, right? If you have acorns that drop, what do you have? If it drops one of those 2, what do you have?

Well, it depends. You may have a pecan tree or you have a pecan tree. Right? If it starts dropping oranges, what do you have? You have an orange tree.

You know what kind of a tree it is based on the fruit that drops from that. Jisas says the way in which he is going to be able to identify in this judgment scene, what kind of a tree you were, draw. JESUS says, I will know the root that you were tapped into and the fruit that you produce in your life. And then, Barclay said, this is one of the most vivid parables which Jesus ever spoke. And the lesson of it is crystal.

He says the lie. It’s the God will judge us in accordance with our reaction to human point of this particular It’s the point that Jesus is trying to get across in this passagestra. If you want to boil it down to anything, what Jesus is going to look at is Did you live out the commandments of God? Did you love me with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength? And what is the second commandment?

The second commandment To love your neighbor as yourself. Life, Vine and not produce without producing acts of or connected to the source of the vine, then you live out the life of that vine. Don’t you live out the life of that vine, don’t you? You live out the life of that vine. The life of that vine.

Don’t you live out the nutrients that flow through that trunk that come from the root and feed the branch. And if you are connected to that vine, then you will, you will live out. Jesus says you will bear much I understand when we or personal holiness. And when I say personal, I mean by that the separation from the world and its broadest, of those acts of piety are essential expressions of our faith, but they’re not the most important acts that we do. But they’re not the most important acts that we do.

And they’re not the most important acts that we do.

And they’re not the most important acts that we do. And act. And just say to us this morning, I believe in the importance of daily scripture reading and living out all of those But when we get to heaven, Jesus is not going to ask us. When we get to heaven, Jesus is not going to ask Did you your bible everyday Did you go to church every time the door was open? Now, everybody hears me clearly this morning, don’t you?

I’m not saying that prayer and Bible reading and church attendance is not important. Everybody hear me? Say amen. But according to this passage of scripture, what Jesus is going to look at is All of that stuff do anything internally to produce fruit in your life. And all of that stuff do anything internally to produce fruit in your life.

And your. And just say for the yesterday, today, and acts of piety. They go through all of the acts of piety.

They go through all of the of piety. They go through all of the things that they’re supposed to do. But they failed in the most important and God judges them for it. Can I give you 2 examples? Maybe you want to turn to Micah Chapter 4.

You may want to turn as well to Isaiah chapter Lord says. Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and you strong foundations of the earth for the Lord has a complaint contention with Israel. Oh, my people, the Lord says. For I brought you up from the land of Egypt. I redeemed you from the house of bondage and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

Oh, my people remember now. Balaam, the son of Beor, answered from Acacia Grove to Gilgal that you may know the righteousness of the gal that you may know the righteousness of the -Shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the most Shall I come before him with burn offerings, with calves, a year? Will the Lord be pleased with 1,000 of rams, 10000 rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my. Or arods, did commanded Israel to do.

Absolutely. They were God had told Israel, you need to bring a sacrifice, and you need to bring a participate into the in the festivities, in the festivals of Israel, to participate into the in the festivities, in the festivals of Israel, reminding themselves of what God had done for them. Those would be the equivalent in our day of things like our daily our coming to church, our giving of our ties and our church, our giving of our ties and offer. All of those things. They’re so many say amen.

They’re important. But if you keep reading in Mica’s account, this is what the Lord’s. And what does the Lord require But to do just to love mercy and to walk humbly with your sacrifices and worship the Lord and do all of those things. The Lord says, you have failed to do something of even greater importance. He says, cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet.

Tell my people their transgression in the house of Jacob their sins, forsake the ordinance of their god. They ask of me the ordinances of justice. They take delight in approaching, you find pleasure and exploit all your labors. Indeed, you find pleasure and exploit all your labors. Indeed, you fast for strife and debate and to strike with the fist of wicked.

Right. Is it a fast that I have chosen the voice of the Lord speaking to his and you’ve done all of these things. You’ve gone through all of the motions and you’re doing this fast and you’re going through all of this stuff. Is this really what I desire? It’s just not the fast that I have chosen.

It’s just a reward speaking. Is this not the fast that I’ve chosen to lose the bonds of wickedness and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out? When you see the naked that you cover him and not hide yourself from your own flesh, then your light shall break forth like the morning. Your healing shall spring forth speedily and your righteousness shall go before you. Rear guard.

Then you shall call and the Lord will answer. You shall cry and he will say, here I am. If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of your finger, the speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry Lord will guide you continually Those from among you shall build the old waste places. You shall raise up the foundations of many generations. You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets, streets to dwell in.

If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honor and shall honor him not doing your own ways nor finding your own pleasure nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the. And I will cause you to ride on the high heels of the earth and feed you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, the mouth of the Lord. What your the mouth of the Lord has spoken. What is Isaiah saying to us? And yes, all of those things are important.

You’re fast. You’re going through all of those things. But all of those and Is this not the fast that the Lord has strivenced to clothe the naked, to care for the afflict I’m saying that Jesus is telling us this morning from Matthew chapter 20 5 in a broader sense from his entire connection between our relationship with God and what we do. There’s a direct correlation between our relationship with God and our care for humanity. And can I just tell us from this passage of scripture, Jesus, it And can I just tell us from this passage of scripture, Jesus says, it will be identified by where you spend eternity?

I just tell you if that doesn’t sober us this morning, it should. Fellow neighbor, how I treat the people around me, ultimately reveal where I spend eternity. Makes clear a couple of things about the nature of these works that he’s calling us to. Let me give just 2 of them real quick to you.

And real quick to you. And real quick to you. And real quick to you. And real quick to you. And real quick to you.

And real quick to you. And real quick to you. And real quick to you. And real quick to you. And real quick to you.

And real quick to you. And scenes that Jesus acknowledges in Matthew chapter 25 are a source. It doesn’t take great wealth. It doesn’t take great fame. It doesn’t take a lot of money.

It’s something that all of us can do. Look at it. I was hungry. It’s getting about lunchtime. It It’s Getting About Lunch.

JESUS says I was hungry and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.

What’s Jesus saying? Listen. The things that you and I do don’t have to be some sort of earth shattering event that draws great fanfare or attention. It’s simple things that Jesus says, if you are connected to me, you will do a if you are connected to me, you will do what I did. And it’s the simple acts of how we treat one another.

None of what Jesus mentioned requires any great gifts. Or any great wealth. Second one. All of these events were not calculated. All of these events were not calculated.

None of them were calculated. In fact, whenever he says this to the sheep, the sheep look at Jesus and say, what are you talking about? When did we feed you? When did we see when did we give you something to drink? I never saw you naked and gave you something to clothe yourself.

I never saw you in prison. I didn’t know you were even sick, Lord. What are you talking about? And jesus, when you did it unto the least of these, my brother. You did it unto me.

Can I just say to us this morning, you and I have no idea? The people that we encounter on a daily basis that just need a cup of cold water, or need a hamburger, or need a shirt, and visit with them. You and I have no idea, jeez. For the righteous, they thought they had done nothing special. And on the flip side, the wicked and lazy it was you, sure, we’d have given if we had known that it was you, sure, we’d have given you something to drink.

We’d have given you something to eat. But because it was just humanity, it’s not a big deal. Do you catch that from this passage of scripture? Do you see that? In essence, they If only they would have that homeless person prison.

Oh, they would have gone in. And just tell us this morning what Jesus is trying to communicate to and if you’re not even able to do something like that, you’re connecting them with places that can give them a place. And I just tell us there are some homeless ministries around here, miracle. There’s a place down here in Pickens that you can connect people with. It may be as simple as buying somebody a sleeping bag so that they have something to sleep in.

And you may not realize it, but that fella that’s bearded and smells bad. And you say, no, it’s not Jesus. Now, I have, I’ve met Jesus, the homeless man. At least that’s what he told me. It’s a year ago.

I met this fellow, And what you and I may be doing is walking away. And that a guy he had sung called What if Jesus comes back like that? What if Jesus comes back as a hobo. Hobo? What if Jesus comes back as a hobo?

What if Jesus comes back as a hobo?

What if Jesus comes back as a hobo? A kid who was born to a mother who was hooked on And now it’s easy for us to say, what, Jesus isn’t coming back like that. You and I know that. But can I remind us from this passage of scripture?

What Jesus is trying to communicate And the way that you and I treat those people is really how we treat Did I, did I present the gospel to somebody today? It’s not all about did I do something evangelistic. Sometimes it’s just a cup of cold water and Jesus’ name. Sometimes it’s just looking at a homeless person. Want you to know that God loves you and I want you to know that God loves you.

I care about your life. Sometimes it’s as simple as looking to a drug addicted person and you understand that. You understand there’s something inside of me that says, the Lord give me a the way you treat. Someday I’ll stand before and the roots of my soul have been producing fruit, and it will determine where I spend eternity. It may be as simple as helping an unwed murderer.

And unwed and stored and aborting that child. Go in to -Right. -to help house somebody. It may be as simple as helping underprivileged children in this You and I have no idea. The people that we touch, the God would not ask you at your and at the last day how much you have left in your where you have given so and so much to say to you, I was, and you gave me no food.

I was naked and you did not take these words to heart. The important thing is whether you have given to your neighbor and treated your neighbor given to your neighbor and treated him well. The story is told of Martin of Tours. Devoted Christian 4th century did not want to serve in the Roman army but was eventually conscripted into service. While he was in service, the story is told that one day he was traveling, had nothing with him other than he was dressed in his room and draw.

And he came across a poor beggar. In his room and came across the poor beggar. And he dismounted from his horse it was chivalry. It was and I don’t have anything to give to you. I have no idea what I have, I will, and he took off his cloak, his Roman cloak, and he cut it in to and he wrapped it in to and he’s told The story is told that that night, Martin of Tours had a dream, had a vision of Jesus walking through heaven, Wrapped in that half a cloak.

And as he walked, the angels asked him, Jesus, where did you get that cloak? And he said, and by, what is inside what we are tapped into, where our roots are grounded, and my rares, degree that, yes, we love you with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. But help us to love our neighbor. And to do to those who are hurting and broken. And were connected to the let’s stand together as we close this morning.

Father, this morning, I confess that it is so easy to look at a broken world around us and see ruined lives, wrecked lives, And turn our nose and walk away. Lord, would you somehow, through the help of your spirit, would you illuminate our hearts to the reality that the way in which we treat the hurting and the broken and the wounded around us, That’s the way that we treat you. And Lord, someday we’re going to stand before you, and we’re going to give an account of what we have done. And I pray this morning that you would stir our hearts to see that when we have been redeemed by your grace, you have created us under Christ Jesus for good works in your to do something. Lord, would you help us to be faithful just in the simple acts of life, in the simple things as we go about our daily activity.

Give us eyes to see, Lord, humanity as you see them. And then, father, give us hearts that would respond the ways in which you see in our own hearts. There’s callousness to the hurting world around us. I pray holy spirit that you would take the file of your grace and begin to shave all of those calluses off of our heart. Give us hearts that are tender.

Give us hearts that are broken with what breaks your heart. I pray these things in Jesus name. Father, as we go from here, keep your hand upon us. Bring us back safely to worship you again tonight. We ask it in Jesus name.

Amen. Amen. The Lord bless you. You are dismissed.

I’m inviting you this morning to turn in your bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3 last week.

Again, a series of messages entitled do something. And we looked particularly at Ephesians chapter 2 and the idea that God has created us in Christ Jesus for something. What were we created for? Somebody help me out. To do good works.

So god has redeemed us for more than just us to sit and say, what a blessing. I my sins are forgiven. That’s a wonderful thing, isn’t it? Amen? We rejoice in that.

But he has redeemed us to do something. He’s created us in Christ Jesus for good works. There is a tight correlation between our salvation by grace through faith and our good works. You cannot separate faith and good works. I should have asked you.

I think I mentioned to you, brother Austin, last week that, he gave me a phrase. I believe it was your sister. Is that correct? Gave to you. And I think I got it right.

I wrote it down. But I liked it so well, I thought I need to share that. This is what she said. Faith without works is like spirit without a body. That’s a ghost.

And works without faith is like a body without a spirit, that’s a corpse, but faith with works is life. And so I think it’s essential for us to understand when we have been redeemed, when we have been made new creatures nothing, then we may be just a corpse or we may just be a ghost. We’ve got to put those together. Now, I didn’t tell you last week what good works you’re to do, did I? I just simply ended it by saying that we’re called to do good works.

We may touch a little bit on that this week, but we’ll probably touch more on it next week. What are we called to do? This morning in particular, as we look at Exodus chapter 3, I want for us to look at this idea that, yes, we’re called to do something, but it’s more than just that we are created to do something, but we are also called to do something. Yes. God has created us in Christ Jesus to do something, but then he calls us to do something.

Gonna invite you to stand with me as we read Exodus chapter 3, a very familiar passage of scripture, I’m sure, to all of us. Exodus chapter 3 beginning in verse 1. If you’re there, say amen. Amen. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of god even to Horeb.

Now that would also be understood as Mount Sinai. This is the place that Israel would eventually go back to and worship the lord when the lord brought them out of Egypt. Verse 2. And the angel of the lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight why the bush is not burnt. Sure you would. I would too. If I saw a bush on fire but it wasn’t being consumed, I think I’d stop and take notice too. Verse 4.

And when the lord saw that he turned aside to see, god called unto him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I. And he said, draw not hither or draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off of thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the god of Abraham, the god of Isaac, and the god of Jacob.

And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon god. And the lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry to reason of their by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land, unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is coming to me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth thy people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

And Moses said unto the lord god, who am I that I should go unto pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, certainly, I will be with thee. And this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee. When thou has brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve god or worship god upon this mountain. Let’s bow our heads together.

Father, this morning, we need your help as we allow your spirit to speak truth to our hearts. Would you open our ears, not just our physical ears, but, lord, our spiritual ears. Give us ears to hear your voice today. And I pray, Lord, that you would give us hearts that would be receptive to respond to your voice as you speak to us. Lord, I believe that even in this day, you are calling us to do something.

So give us ears to hear your voice this morning by the help of your spirit. I pray in Christ’s name. Amen. You may be seated. I have a special love for this particular passage of scripture, and one of those reasons is because the second message I ever preached was from Exodus chapter 3.

I assure you that’s not the message that I’m preaching this morning. I can’t even tell you where that message is. Well, I probably could tell you. It’s somewhere consumed by, a landfill somewhere, I’m sure. I don’t know that I still have the notes, to that sermon.

And if I did, I’d probably be embarrassed to look back and read them. This particular passage of scripture fascinates me. We’re stepping into the middle of an account in scripture of god’s work in human history, his work in Israel’s history. I would suggest or say that probably for all of us this morning, we know the background of this particular account. Moses is born in a time of Israel’s history when Israel’s in captivity.

You know the backstory to that. If you go back into the book of Genesis, you discover that a famine sweeps across Canaan. And so, as a result of that, Joseph had been sold into slavery before this. As a result of the famine that took place, the sons of Jacob have come down to Israel to find food, and they encounter who? Joseph.

And through the course of time, Israel moves down to Egypt. They’re, established in Goshen. But as you read the opening verses of Exodus, you discover that pharaoh passes on, Joseph passes on, time lapses, Israel grows in prosperity as far as people. The nation of Israel grows and they become a mighty force. And then it’s recorded that there rose up a king in Egypt who knew not Joseph, began to conspire with the leadership and said, you know, it’s not a good thing that Israel has advanced like they have.

Should we be attacked, they’ll turn on us. They’re mightier than we are. And so they’re forced into captivity, and in that period of time, God places Joseph or I’m sorry. Places Moses right in the middle of that time frame, right in a time frame when pharaoh has said to the midwives of Egypt, every male child born to an Israelite woman, a Hebrew woman, you destroy. If you’ve read the account, if you know the account, you know that the midwives, they struggle with that whole idea of aborting these Hebrew children.

And when Jochebed gives birth to Moses, she looks at him and finds that he’s a very beautiful child and so she hides him. And then to protect him, places him in a basket, takes him down to the Nile, puts him in the Nile River. I want for us to just capture some of what’s going on through all of this. God has raised up Moses in this time period. Then he puts Moses in a basket in the Nile at a time that pharaoh’s daughter comes to the river to bathe.

What a coincidence. Stroke of good luck. Right? No. No.

It is the sovereignty of God that has put Moses where he’s at for his divine purpose. It’s not by chance that pharaoh’s daughter finds Joseph, knows that he’s a Hebrew. In fact, if you go back, you can go back and read the first part of Exodus. And when she opens the basket, she recognizes this is a Hebrew child. You know what’s to happen to the Hebrew boys?

They’re to be destroyed. Who are we talking about? Pharoah’s daughter. Pharoah’s the one who has asked that all of the Hebrew male children be destroyed. And now here comes Pharoah’s daughter, finds 1 and says, oh, no no no no no no.

No. This one will be mine. And here is Miriam waiting in the wings to say, hey. I know somebody that can nurse this child, takes Moses back to Jochebed, raises him up. Joe or, Moses ends up, after he’s been weaned, in the house of pharaoh to be educated, trained by the greatest, at that time, in the greatest realm of learning.

Wow. What a coincidence. Stroke of good luck. Right? No.

Can I just remind us this morning as I read Acts chapter 17 when Paul’s on Mars Hill and he is presenting the gospel to those who have gathered in the Areopagus, he says, god has appointed the times and the habitation of all men? Do you know what that says to me today? It’s not by chance that you were born in this time. You are here on purpose. God designed and created you purposefully for this very moment.

He’s put you where you live for a purpose. He has redeemed you for a purpose. Maybe I could just tie this back in with what we looked at last week. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which god prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. I need to remind us this morning that God knew where you would be, when you would be born, where you would live, and he’s put you here intentionally.

Amen? The same way that he had placed Moses right where he placed him, put him in the place to receive the best of education. You and I know the conclusion to that story. As a young man, somewhere around 40 years old, Moses goes out. He knows he’s a Hebrew.

He observes the way the Egyptian is treating this Hebrew. He kills him, buries him in the sand. The next day when he finds 2 Hebrews fighting amongst themselves and he goes to stop them, they say, what? You’re gonna kill us like you did the Egyptian? You’re gonna treat us the same way?

And Moses becomes keenly aware, oh, no. I’ve been found out. And he runs. And for the next 40 years, Moses has been on the run. Now he’s on the backside of the desert.

He’s tending his father in law’s sheep on the backside of the desert. And right in the middle of the backside of the desert, guess who comes calling? Moses wasn’t out looking for God but God was out looking for Moses. God knew that he had purpose and design and a plan for Moses’ life and so he goes to the backside of the desert and he lights a bush on fire that doesn’t burn. And I can only imagine as I mean, just try to picture this if you have any sense of imagination.

Try to picture yourself on the backside of a barren desert, a bunch of sheep, and all of a sudden there is a bush burning and it’s not burning. I mean, it’s not being consumed. Tell me you wouldn’t respond as Moses did. Woah. Look at the butane bush.

Check it out. It it’s burning, but it’s not being consumed. And god gets his attention. God lights a bush in the backside of a desert where nothing is happening, it would seem, but god is there. And god lights a bush on fire.

And Moses says, I gotta stop and see what’s going on. And as soon as he turns, god begins to speak to Moses. Can I tell you this morning that god’s still burning bushes? Maybe not in a literal sense unless you’re the neighbor of my in laws. A couple months ago, we pulled into their house and I looked over and the side of their house, all of the vinyl siding was just melted down.

And the bush that was right there was burnt. It was a crisp. I don’t know that God spoke from that burning bush. He might have. He might have said, if you wanna use your, your homeowner’s insurance policy, just do that again.

K. I don’t know the ways that god may be calling in your life, but I need for us to know this morning that god is still lighting bushes on the backside of deserts trying to get people’s attention to say, I’ve got something for you. Look at verse 7 if you have your bible still open. When God gets Moses’ attention, when he when he’s got his full attention, He says, Moses, don’t come any closer. Take off your sandals.

The ground that you’re on is holy ground. And then god begins to talk to Moses, and this is what he says. And the lord said, I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. Now I want you to keep in mind these are God’s people that God is talking about. God’s talking about these are the children of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

This is my promised people. I have seen the oppression and the affliction of my people. But the reality is that the Israelites are very far from where god wants them to be. If you begin to read the rest of the old testament, you discover that the Hebrews are not the Israelites, they’re not, well, they’re not actively just engaged in full on bible study and, you know, just serving Yahweh as they ought to. In fact, you read and they’ve picked up all of the trappings of Egypt.

They’re worshiping their idols. In fact, they take some of them with them when they leave Egypt. But god says I see the affliction of my people. And again, if I can just remind us this morning, church, god still sees the affliction of his people. God sees the affliction of those that he’s created in his image that he loved so desperately, loved enough for the purpose why we just celebrated Easter, loves them so much.

He sees the suffering of those that he sent his son to bleed and die for, to pay the penalty of their sin. He still sees the suffering of his people. God notices the burden that they’re under. In this particular case, he sees the slave drivers, the taskmasters that are forcing labor upon them. He sees their affliction.

He says, I’ve seen it and I’ve also heard it. I’ve heard their groanings. And, church, if somehow this morning, you and I can have eyes to see and ears to hear this morning. You and I would see a world that is broken and suffering. We would hear the cries of people saying, I need deliverance.

I’m caught. I need something. I need someone. So many of those ones, the something is drugs or alcohol or illicit sexual relationships or all forms of trying to fill that void. And if you and I could hear the cry of the world around us, we would hear people groaning under travail.

We’d also hear the voice of the Lord saying, I see and I hear. God sees their suffering. Look at verse 8. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from the land to a good and a large land. Now bear with me for just a moment.

I imagine at this point, Moses says, yes, lord. Yes. I’m glad you see and you hear. And then whenever the lord says, I have come down, I’m sure, Moses is saying, come on down, lord. Just come on down.

Go get them. They’re bad people. Just wipe the Egyptians out. They’re terrible. You see what they’re doing.

You know all about it. Go do something about it. I have to imagine that Moses is probably getting a little excited at this point. He knows that he’s a Hebrew. He knows that that’s his people.

And he hears the voice of the lord saying, I’ve seen their suffering. I’ve heard their cries, and I’m gonna come down and do something about it. And I imagine Moses saying, oh, yes, lord. This is great. This is wonderful.

It’s gonna be a great thing. Oh, my people are gonna be delivered from their taskmasters. Their cries are gonna be relieved. And I’m sure Moses is excited. And then God says the strangest thing in the world.

I’ve heard their cry. I’ve seen their affliction. I’ve come down, and then verse 10. Come now, therefore, and I will send you. And at that mo at that point, Moses says, woah.

Wait a second, lord. I was with you until that point. Like the idea that you hear their cry? Like the idea that you see their suffering? Like the idea that you’re coming down?

Don’t like the idea that I’m to do something. Let’s go back just a little bit, lord. Strike them. Come on. You see it.

You’re coming down. Do something. And the lord says I will. I will. I want you to go.

Therefore, I will send you to pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. And I have to imagine at that moment, Moses says, oh, lord. That’s not what I thought you were gonna say. I thought surely, you saw the affliction, you heard their cry, and you said you were coming down. I thought surely you were gonna do something.

Maybe something like you did in the day of Noah. Maybe you’d come in and you’d wipe out all of the Egyptians, but you want me, lord? Can I just tell us this morning, church, that god’s plan to come down and to deliver Israel was through the person of Moses The same way that God hears the cry and sees the oppression of his people today and desires to come down, he does it through people? It’s through you and it’s through me. Here’s the valuable principle.

When God chooses to work in the world, he’s chosen to do it through the means of human personalities. He’s chosen to do it through you and through me. There is a song. It’s a newer song. It came out a number of years ago that if I could just give you kind of the concept of the song, the songwriter talks about seeing the oppression of the world around suffering in poverty, and he sees people who are being trafficked, and he sees people that are being afflicted.

And the song says that he turns towards heaven and says, God, why don’t you do something? And it goes on a little farther and the songwriter says that he sees all of these things that are going on and he finally looks to heaven and says, God, why don’t you do something? And the chorus says, I did. I created you. If not you, then who?

If not now, then when? Church, can I remind us this morning that God still hears the cry of his people? And he wants to come down, but he is calling you and I to be the hands and the feet that do, caught in addiction, ministering to those that are just like the ones that will come through the doors down here at crisis pregnancy. He’s using an alert right like that. All right.

Right there is the burning bush. Don’t know whose bush is burning, but the Lord’s calling. Speaking to us today to say, I see and I hear and I know, but I’m calling you to go. And I think that have kept reading her. If we would have continued to read in this passage of scripture, you find that Moses has a lot of we read the first one.

Who am I? Who am I that should go to pharaoh? What’s he saying? God, I’m just me. Furthermore, Lord, you know exactly why I left there.

God says, don’t let your past hinder you. Maybe I need to just stop here for a moment. In of what God has called us to. Now, does the past sometimes impact what we’re able to do? Sure, it does.

Sure, it does. Moses felt inadequate. Moses felt like this is out of my comfort zone. How many of you have ever felt out of your comfort zone? How many like to live out of their comfort zone?

Nobody wants to live out of their comfort zone. Nobody wants to live out of their comfort zone, do they? No. We all like that comfortable place but there are times that the voice of the Lord says, I want you to go. You’re my hands.

You’re my feet. You’re the one that’s going to respond to the cries of my people. Is God calling you this morning out of your comfort zone? I can’t. Who am I?

Versus 13. What will I say? I don’t know what to say. Chapter 4, verse 1. What if they don’t believe Verse 10 of chapter 4, I don’t talk well, Lord.

I I I I I stuttered. Lord Lord Lord, how you know, literally, that’s more than likely what Moses struggled with. He had a stutter, was not able to talk well. Moses was a good excuser. And many times, you and I are good excusers too, aren’t we?

The Lord says, I see and I hear and I’ve come down. Now go. And we say, but Lord but Lord, here’s a reason why I can’t that’s a reason why I can’t No. God asks Moses a very interesting question. When he says, I want you to go, and Moses has all the excuses, God has just one question for him.

Chapter 4, you may want to look at it. Verses 2 and 3. So the Lord said to him, Moses, what’s that in your hand? Staff? Sheepstick?

I got a rod. What am I to do with the rod, Lord? Down and immediately becomes a world class sprinter. The rod becomes a snake and Moses says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I think Moses must have this had this must have had the same feelings about snakes that I have.

I know black snakes are good snakes. The only good snake is a dead snake. All right. Moses ran and the Lord said, Moses, come back. Pick up the stick.

And Moses picks it up and it becomes a rod. I’m sorry, pick up the snake. He picks it up. It becomes a rod. Moses, put your hand in your coat.

He puts it in. Bring it out. Bring it back out, Lord, it’s whole. The Lord says, Moses, what you have in your hand is enough because I’m enough. If I’ve called you, I will go with you.

Church, I believe this is the reason why last Sunday night, we looked at Exodus chapter 30 3 and Moses’ plea to be able to I’m sorry, this was on Wednesday night. Moses’ going to go up with you anymore in Exodus chapter 33. The reason Moses says, if you don’t go up, I’m not going is because Moses understands, Lord, you’re my only. Comes through you and me. We are called to do something.

I don’t know what that may be in your life. I don’t know what that good work is necessarily in your life. Spirit of God may be putting on you. Maybe there are some that the Holy Spirit is saying, you know what? You have a real heart make sure that you’re help have a heart for people that are in poverty.

It might mean that the Lord has you go to places that you would you wouldn’t feel comfortable with, but the Lord says, That’s where I want you. They need to hear. I’m hearing and I’m seeing and I’m trying to get your attention to go and to do something. Many of you may be aware of the story of Dave Wellkerson. Anybody heard the story of Dave Wilkerson?

There’s several of you. Dave Wilkerson was a pastor in Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania 1950 8, there was a Time Magazine article that came out. Front cover was a picture of 7 teenagers that were on trial for the death, a murder that they committed. These 7 guys were a part of a gang in the city of New York City. That Time Magazine became a burning bush for Dave Wilkerson.

He saw all those young men and he was so moved. He drove all the way to New York City. He went into the courtroom where the trial was ongoing for these 7 boys. He went to the judge and he stopped the court proceedings, and he asked the judge, can I speak to these 7 boys? The judge denied his request.

On his way out, Dave Wilkerson was photographed As the man who stopped the trial for these 7 boys. And God began to stir Dave Wilkerson’s heart. Team challenge, began to work in the inner cities, build up a global ministry, moved eventually back to moved to, Texas, moved the ministries to Texas, was there for a number of years. And then in the seventies, I’m sorry, the mid 60s, 1986, Dave Wilkerson was back in New York City. He was walking down through Times Square.

At that particular time, Times Square, Manhattan was notorious as a place of filth. There were strip clubs all along there. There were bars, x rated, places that you could stop. Absolute debauchery. As he was making his way down 42nd Street, he began to cry out to the Lord, God, you gotta do something here.

You’ve gotta do something right here walking by people that were tripping on drugs. Can I just tell us today, If you and I were to walk down the streets in the suburb of Kensington, outside of Philadelphia, or a part of Philadelphia, you know what you would see? Anybody ever seen the pictures? People that literally look like zombies standing there frozen, Why are they there? Because they’re in captivity.

And can I tell you this morning that God sees and he hears that? And he says, I’ve come down. You say, but I don’t live in Kensington. No, you don’t. You live in Easley or wherever it is that you live if your knows exactly where you’re at and he’s put you there on purpose and this morning I believe he’s wanting to light some bushes on fire and say Wilkerson, that night felt the call of God as he walked down saying, God, you got to do something.

Lord said, I did. He created you. Dave Wilkerson went back, founded and pastored Times Square Church for years. Was killed in a car accident back 2011, I believe it was. The ministries that he started, Global Ministries now, are still going on.

Now I know, probably a lot of us say, I’m not a Dave Wilkerson. Guess what? I’m not either. I’m Jonathan Slagan White Kendrick Milton, and you’re Maryland French, and you’re Bob Ravenscraft. Number of years ago, a day.

And they told me an account. He was Moved to Dayton, Ohio. The church was smaller and, he started a side business, a lawn business to supplement his income. And the church had grown over a number of years and he was finally at a point where he said, it was time to get rid of the business. I just I need to let it go.

But there was a guy that he had been ministering to for several years or a period of time anyways, older fella, mid to late fifties as I recall, didn’t have a job. And John said, I was praying 1 morning business. Got a lawn business? So the Lord said, want you to hire that guy you’ve been ministering to. Hire him to work your lawn business.

That’s what you’ve got in your hand. Use it. John hired that guy, became the guy that ran his business on that side, gave him a job, provided an opportunity for him, provided opportunity for further mentoring discipleship. That brings it a little closer to home for us. It’s not just people that have worldwide names that God has put something in their hands.

It’s you and it’s me. And the Lord says, I want you to do something. I’m calling you to do something. I’m calling you to respond to the brokenness of the world around us, inviting us to stand this morning as we close. I’d like for brother Parker to come and lead us in the song that we sang just a moment ago, your love compels me, Lord.

Do something. You may not even know what it is that the Lord wants you to do. Or maybe you’re just simply saying, Lord, I’m gonna make myself available whatever you want me to do. Teach a Sunday school class. Work in this ministry.

Do whatever. Lord, I’m available. I want to hear and I want to see as you hear and see and I want to respond when your voice says, just want to gather around the front. You don’t even have to kneel. You just Those that are willing to say, Lord, as you call me, as your love compels me, I will respond.

And I’m stepping out to say, Lord, here am I. Use me. Those that are willing to say that, if you want to just come and let’s stand together and we’re going to close in prayer in just a moment. But as we hear the voice of God as he says, I see and I hear one to draw. Are you willing to respond to that?

Lord, let your love compel us. Let’s sing this together as we close. 11. Your love compels me, Father, this morning, your love is compelling us. I pray that through the power of your spirit, you would speak to us today.

Light a bush on fire before us. Help us, lord, to see what you see. And then, father, give us a will to cooperate as your spirit says, now go, now do, serve, give. Lord, would you give us hearts that just say, Lord, here am I. Use me.

We give our lives to you today. We surrender our future to you. Whatever your desire is for us, Lord, give us hearts that are ready and obedient to respond to your call. I pray it in Jesus name. Father, go with us.

May your spirit continue to work in us. May it not just be a matter that we hear a truth and we respond in the moment, but Lord, may this truth stir us to do more than just hear, but help us to respond, I pray. In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen. The Lord bless you.

You are dismissed.

I’m going to invite you to turn in your bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 2. While you’re turning there, I want to say welcome to each one that’s here. And, we have several guests that are with us today. And, we’re glad that you have joined us. I’m not gonna take the time because if I started trying to name the names, I’d miss somebody and I’m afraid you wouldn’t shake my hand on the way out and then I’d feel bad.

So please know you’re welcome and we’re glad that you’re here And trusting the Lord will bless you today. 2 weeks ago, we, we ended our series on the one another passages of scripture. The particular purpose of that series, was to stretch our hearts as a church, to stretch our hearts and our minds. I appreciated that song, by the way, the emphasis on our minds, our brain. Nobody said amen there.

We need our minds stretched, don’t we? We need our brains stretched, don’t we? The purpose of that series was to stretch our thinking to the importance of a body that is strong, functioning as it properly, the importance of a body that is strong, a body that is functioning as it properly, the importance of our need for each other and the power of the body working together is of great significance to the kingdom of God. A healthy body when I talk about body, I’m talking about church body, is significant to the kingdom of God. We need each other because of what we’re up against.

Paul reminds us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but our struggle is against rulers and against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness that are in heavenly places. That’s why we need each other. Yes, we need the help of the spirit at work in us, but we need the encouragement of one another as we wrestle against these forces of darkness. Because we still live in a fallen world, we need the strength that comes in our relationship one from another to accomplish our spiritual walk with the Lord. So let me help you understand the need for a strong community of believers.

The first thing that I see is that if we’re to grow, to become the men and the women that God has redeemed us to be, then we need fellowship. Then we need fellowship. Stimulate our faith, don’t we? Whether that comes through Bible study, whether that comes through the through accountability, whether that comes through the fellowship of one another, we need to be able to like minded believers to help to stimulate our faith, don’t we? Whether that comes through Bible study, whether that comes through accountability, whether that comes through the fellowship of one another, we need that iron sharpening iron to refine us, so that you and I can be who God wants us to be.

And 2, when a person gets saved, they need a healthy body to be able to connect into, don’t they? Anybody who knows what they’re doing, body a person needs a heart transplant, but they’re physically not healthy to receive it. They don’t do the surgery. Brother Austin works in horticultural work. If you were to ask him, if you were to draw a branch off of 1 tree into a trunk of an unhealthy and his answer to you know, why you draw a branch into an unhealthy tree.

Or that branch will die because it is not able to receive the proper nutrients. Impact in the world around us, to make impact in the world or around, there are those who are redeemed by the grace of God, they need to have a place to come to be nurtured into spiritual health. One of the places that that happens is right here in the body of and that’s part of the reason why it’s so important that God wants for us. When I say us, I’m talking about in so that you and I are able to accomplish the purpose for which he has placed us right here. So this morning, we’re looking at Ephesians chapter 2.

Jad has given the church. That is the body of Christ. You and I, God has that is the body of Christ. You and I, God, has given us the purpose that you and I would exist so that we could reach the world around us. Could reach the world around us.

There’s a purpose for why you exist. Purpose is or maybe you’re still saying, Lord, I don’t know what my purpose is. Young people, they’re at that phase in life. God, what am I here for? And you’re still saying, Lord, what am I here for?

And read this passage of scripture, I hope it will become clear what our purpose of our creation, particularly our recreation, our spiritual creation is. I’m inviting you to stand with me as we read this passage together, Ephesians chapter 2. We’re going to begin reading in verse 1. Paul, We’re going to begin reading in verse 1. Paul writes these words, and he hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our the desires of the flesh and of the mind.

And we’re by nature, the children of wrath, even as God, who is rich and for his great love wherewith he loved us. Even us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with grace, by grace, you are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ’s jee, for by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God to or his workman created in and which God have for or did, in your presence that is here with us today. Thank you that your spirit has come to meet with us and to speak to us speak to us.

And to speak to us. And to open your word in these next few moments. We’re asking you to help us to do what the last song encouraged us, to engage our brain, make our brain ready. Would you help us to do what the last song encouraged us? To engage our brain, make our brain ready?

Would you help us to engage our minds to hear your word? Would you also open our hearts to receive the word of God? Hear your word and understand it in the intellect. So help us to hear the voice of God through your word that would transform our innermost being for your glory. We pray it in Jesus name.

Amen. You may be seated. If you were to ask me this morning what the greatest challenge the church is facing today, I suppose I would probably ask you to define what do you mean the church. Do you mean this local church, this fellowship right here? A marriage?

Do you mean the global church of God? Greatest challenge that the American church is facing, I would have to say the greatest challenge to the American church is the balance of the gospel, the balance of the gospel. You say, Pastor, what do you mean by the balance of the gospel? If you look across the church world, it seems that one of the challenges that we have is to keep the gospel in that want to promote the grace of and saves us and we are free to go about Slogan. Anybody flown on Southwest recently?

At least it used to be their slogan. You are now free to move about dream. God’s grace gives you freedom to just move on. Then there are some that struggle with keeping the balance that God saves us, but we’ve got to do So we wrestle with this challenge of I’ve got to be doing this, and I’ve got to do that, and I’ve got to keep all of the laws and the rules and the And so we wrestle with this challenge of I’ve got to be doing this, and I’ve got to do that, and I’ve got to keep all of the laws and the rules and the And so we lose the tension on that side. Gaustral and keeping in mind that what Paul has told us in this passage of scripture.

You are saved by of scripture, you are saved by grace, hallelujah. Amen? None of your works. Strike against me. Boy, the weight is tipping in the wrong direction.

Strike against where the weight is tipping in the wrong direction. Oh, but I did something really good. I read my Bible. I prayed today. Word, the service person at Walmart that you probably won’t find.

But it was nice to them. I think I’m one of the good wasn’t very nice and I slowed down because they were being rude. Was right on their bumper trying to give them a message. Maybe I ought to settle down there for a second. So thankful this morning that we don’t have to carry around a ledger to determine, am I in or out?

Saved us for purpose. I believe the greatest challenge that we’re facing in the church in America is keeping that, that And the divorce score has become an either or. So what I read in the Bible, what I read in scripture is And what it does, and then they warn you that whenever you live out a balanced view of the gospel, it’s not easy. So I thought it was supposed to be. Ephesians chapter 2 helps us to bring into the next several weeks is we’re leading up to and the next several weeks is we’re leading up to Over the next several weeks, as we’re leading up to our missions convention, I want to do a series of messages warning I want to talk to us about that you were created for something.

In the passage of scripture that we read, Paul shares with us the first part. You were. And here’s what you did. And then we came to verse 4, and I love verse 4. What’s the first two words of verse 4?

Somebody help me out. And then Paul says, now here’s who you are, and here’s what you did, but God. The first thing that Paul reminds his readers and ultimately is reminding us this morning is to remember who we were. I wish we could understand the way in which Paul does this. If you were to read this in its Greek text, Paul does it by using he starts out with a participle through the first three verses.

In other words, it’s he leaves us dangling. Here’s who you were and in your trespasses in sin. This means that not only were you dead because of what you did, but you were dead because you were born naturally. You remember when David was praying his prayer of confession in Psalm 51? He comes down in Psalm 51.

I believe it’s in verse 10. And David says that in sin did my mother conceive me. Now, he was not saying that my mother’s conception or my conception, By nature, I was a sinful person. When I got older, I engaged in sinful activity. Why?

Because I was spiritually dead. Why? Because I was spiritually dead. That’s the first thing that Paul reminds us of. Not only were you dead, but you walked according to the course of this present world.

Part of the kingdom of the world. You loved this present world. You desired the things of this present world. You lived for this present world. Because you were dead in your trespasses and sinned.

And so you engaged in the things of this present world. Your life was marked by a worldly mindset, a desire for the things of this present In other words, you indulged what your body desired. You lived for the personal pleasure of the flesh for the here and the now. That’s who you were, and that’s what you did. As a result of who you were, Paul says, this is what you did.

You were children of disobedience. And that’s just a wonderful thing to come to church to find out this morning. Can I just say to us this morning, Apart from the grace of God, you are dead in your trespasses and sin? You are dead in your trespasses and children of disobedient. Disobedience, of disobedience, first 2.

Not only did you live in the accordance of the lust of the flesh, but you indulged in those. And so, you indulged in those. And so, you indulged in those. And so, you indulged in those. And so, you indulged in those.

And so, you indulged in those. And so, you indulged in those. And so, you know, you’re not but you indulged in those lusts. You relished those lusts. And I would remind us this morning that apart from the grace of God, if you’re here this morning sin and indulging in the lust of the flesh, separated from nature, children of wrath.

Now, there’s 2 ways that we could understand. Rage. It also could be interpreted that Paul is saying and is that you will receive as a result of your disobedience. I love how Paul puts it in verse 2. It helps to give us the understanding of why do we live this way?

Before the but God, why do we live this way? If have your Bible still open, look at this, for a score, in which you formally walked according to the course of this If I energizing the sons of disobedience. That means the reason that you are dead in your trespasses and sin and you live in the lust of your flesh is because the spirit of this present age, satan himself, is energizing. But Paul is talking to a group of Christians and he says, this is who you were. And he says, this is who you were.

And he says, this is who you were. This is who you were. Now look at verse 4. But God, Look at verse 4 again with me. But God, who is rich and even when we were dead in trespass, even when we were dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ.

By grace, you have been saved and has raised us up together and made us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace, you have been saved through faith And in your dead estate, has quickened you by his grace and has raised you up. Because the reality is there is nothing Paul is saying that you can do Christ, there was nothing you could do to earn your salvation apart from the power of the grace of you can do nothing to impact your spiritual condition. Even science teaches us a little something about this. Non living things cannot produce life.

You could pick up that song book in the rack behind you and hold it for a 1000000 years. Well, you wouldn’t hold it for a 1000000 years. But in a 1000000 years, that songbook would never produce anything, because it has no life. But God, the giver of life pastes. His grace has redeemed us.

Listen to what Paul writes to in Titus chapter 3 versus 3 through 3, For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one and our So it’s a little bit about what he just said in Ephesians, doesn’t it? Pretty Ramenis. And renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our savior. That having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. It is by grace, Paul says, that you have been saved, not of works.

Aren’t you glad this morning for the fact that that ledger book is gone? You Now we need to consider who you are and what you do. I think it’s important for us to somehow capture an element quickened us and made us alive with Christi. And I need to be reminded of the fact that we still live in a fallen world where there are plenty of people that are still under the spirit who is energizing their spiritual death. Right?

World that and Paul is writing to us who have become believers. Those of us who have but and but God has raised us We’re no longer caught, caught in a death trap. We’re no longer living in a grave. We’ve been raised to do life. God doesn’t raise the dead by the hang out in the graveyard.

Somebody say amen. To give us meaning and purpose in life to employ us into the kingdom, the bible in 4 words. Maybe in 3. I like to break it out into 4. If you were to take the full scripture, genesis to revelation, the four words that break the bible apart is creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration.

That’s the full scope of scripture. God created. Sin entered the world and the fall of man happened. God created a plan of redemption to restore humanity. And at the end of all age, God will restore all things.

Jourd, when he left this world. John chapter 17, prays for his disciples. Praise the Lord. I ask that you not take my disciples out of the world. Why?

Because God redeems us for purpose right here and right now in this present age. So here and right now in this present age. So Jesus goes on to pray, Lord, don’t take them out of this present world, but keep them from the evil one. The work of redemption and restoration is the renewal of all And Ephesians chapter 2 in verse 10 is where I want for us to look for just a little bit in these next few moments. For we are his work.

Are his workmanship. Let me tie that back in. Paul’s not just saying that you’re his workmanship in the sense of he created you, brain, new life in you. You are spiritually alive, not because of anything that you have done, but because he has redeemed you by his grace he has redeemed you by his grace. And by grace through faith, you have been saved.

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. Now, this is where it gets really sticky for good works. The reason that God has redeemed your life the reason that God has redeemed my life is not just because he wants us to have fire insurance. Let me just pause there for a moment. I remember in my college years struggling it’s kind of the I didn’t want to go to hell, and so that’s why I wanted to follow the be saved, because I didn’t want to go to hell.

Now, that’s a good reason. And so I don’t want to receive the wrath of the restoration of all of creation, the redemption of all of humanity. For by grace, he has saved us. And we become his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand. So You’ve not been saved by good works.

Listen to this. You’ve not been saved by good works. You have been saved for good works. Did in them. God has redeemed us for the purpose so that you and I, through our redemption, are being created anew, being saved with then engaging kingdom activity, God didn’t redeem you by his grace just to save you from hell.

He has given you new life so that you and I would do something. I’m just going to pause here for a moment. I think we need to let that sink in. One of the challenges that I think that we’ve run into in the Protestant church today, is we’re heavy on the side that we’re saved by grace. We’re is we’re heavy on the side that we’re saved by grace.

And that relieves us from any responsibility that we have to do anything. It is nonsense. You’re right, brother Parker. We want this grace that does everything for us, and we don’t have to do anything. Commands.

We don’t have to worry about any commands. We don’t have to worry about doing any. Do. We just want the benefit of being raised to new. And grace that does not take us out of the graveyard and employ us is, is destructive grace.

Let me just, is destructive grace. Let me just say to us this morning. Grace that makes you comfortable to be a church attender and a pew warmer is nothing short of a vaccine against eternal life. You can claim the grace of God that brings you to church every Sunday. And I’ll even one up you.

Brings you to Sunday school. And I’ll even add on top of that brings you to Wednesday night church. You’re going to have that kind of a grace that’ll still lead you to hell. That’ll still lead you to hell. As not popular in the church world today, that grace is just about what God does inside of me, and happy lujah, it’s all about me.

Woo hoo. I’m all good. Church. Well, the world goes to hell and we sit back and do nothing, A William Wilberforce once defined Christian, Christianitie, this is a scheme for making the fruits of holiness the root. Listen, if you and I have been truly redeemed by the grace of God, but it doesn’t bear out by the fact that we do something, if your grace does not change you to do something, a heart.

Unto Christ Jesus. Thor, good, Paul says this, and these things I want you to affirm. Those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. Do you know what it means to be constant in something? Paul was warning us Paul was cautioning the grace of God that has saved us by faith has done so for the purpose of employing us into the service of the k to do to do.

And for you and I to simply come to church warm fuzzy feeling and feel good about the fact that God has saved us. And then sit back and watch the world that is broken by the effects of sin, to watch a world that is being raptured in its lost estate and is being destroyed to simply sit back and say, well, it’s their own. They’re in that predicament because of their own doing, and their predicament because of their own. God looked at us in our helpless estate when we could do nothing. And by his grace, God redeemed us.

And now he says to you and I, and created anew, made new in Christ Jesus, you’re his work. And created in Christ Jesus for good. Good. And I are to be careful to maintain doing these good works. Let me ask you to be living out the purpose of God’s recreation in your and I think you and I need to be willing to stop for just a moment and be honest enough with our own introspection of our lives to say, Lord, have I been inoculated to the true measure of the gospel, So the true measure of the gods, the grace of God that has redeemed me, not because of what I’ve done.

You have made me new in Christ Jesus to do I shared this 2 weeks ago when we were looking at the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Understand. I’m just preaching at us as a church. I’m preaching at myself. But when I read the words that jesus as he came over mouth of all of them is coming into Jerusalem for the triumphal entry and he looked across the landscape of Jerusalem.

And as he saw the people, he began to weep. And I have to ask myself, and we have to ask ourselves, And my heart broken by the world that’s lost around me. When I see the world, do I see the world as Jesus sees the world? You see, Jesus had a kingdom agenda. State, new, he wants to create within us a heart that sees the world as he sees the those that are lost and broken.

We don’t just simply say, well, they got there on their own account. It’s their fault that they’re on their own account. It’s their fault. They’re there. And we say, Lord, there’s a spirit of disobedience.

They’re energized by the satin, in that place because of the enemy. And you’ve redeemed me to do so. Now, Lord, what do you want me to do? Or the next couple weeks as we look at this. You’ve redeemed me for what?

What do you want me to be engaged in? Every one of us who have been saved by the grace of God have been created in Christ Jesus according to our purpose. Let’s stand together as we close. Father, this morning, my heart is burdened by the reality of this text. Burden for myself to think that how easy it is for me to get caught up, how easy I get caught up, and all of the affairs that are necessary in this present world.

Bills to pay, things to be kept up, responsibilities to be tended to. And yet, Lord, there’s a world that’s lost all around me. Recreated us as a church, easy for me to get caught up in the affairs of this world. And so, father, this morning, I repent that purpose. We’re here for the purpose of the redemption of the world that is lost around.

I pray this morning that you would help to open our eyes, to see the world, as you see the world, help to in a world that desperately and all around this there are people that are bound by and all around this and all that are bound by and all that To reach out to those who are lost. A minister of reconciliation in the world around. Amen. The Lord bless you. You are dismissed.

I’m inviting you this morning to turn in your bible to do, 2 different passages of scripture. I had thought this morning I’ll tell you where to turn. That way, you can start. Turn with me to Luke chapter 19, and then also to Galatians chapter 6.

I thought this morning I was grateful that my homiletics professor and that my hermeneutics professor was not gonna be here this morning. They wouldn’t be here. And then I walked into Sunday school class and saw my hermeneutics professor. Earlier this week and he didn’t stop me on it. And so I’m gonna try to do something.

I hope I’m not doing hermeneutics, gymnastics, and homiletical gymnastics to try to fit this together. But today’s Palm Sunday. Final day in our series, small But it’s also the final day in our series, small group series on one another. And as I was making preparation for our series, today, we’re gonna be looking at the subject of bearing one another’s burdens. And I thought, how fitting on, Palm Sunday that we would deal with that.

And so this morning, we’re gonna try to blend the idea of Christ burden bearing for us and our burden bearing for one another. Anybody ready to hang on to the end of the rope as we get swung around this morning? You alright with that? Inviting you to stand as we look at these passages of scripture together. I’m trusting.

By the end of our time together, you’ll see the correlation between these two, the correlation between these 2, Christ our burden bearer, as well as our call to bear one another’s burdens. We’re looking at Luke chapter 19 beginning in verse 28, and then we’ll be turning over to Galatians chapter 6. This morning just so that you’re aware of this out of the New King James version. This is what Luke records. When he had said this, he went on ahead going up to Jerusalem.

And it came to pass when he drew near to Bethpage in Bethany at the mountain called all of that cult tied on which no one has ever sat. Loose it and bring it here. And if anyone asks you, why are you losing it? Thus, you shall say to him, because the Lord has need of it. So those who were sent went their way and found it just as he had said to them.

But as they were losing the colt, the owners, that said to them, why are you loosing the cult? And they said, the Lord has made a Then they brought him, brought him to Jesus and they threw their own clothes on the court and they sat Jesus on him. And as they went, many spread their clothes on the road. Then as he was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice they had seen, saying, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory.

From the crowd, teacher, rebuke your disciples. But he answered and said to them, I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out. Now, as he drew near, he saw the city and he wept over it saying, you, especially in this, your day, the things which make for your peace, but now, they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies are embarkment around you, surround you, and close you in on every side, and level you and your children within you to the ground. And they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not know the time of your visitation.

Now turn with me over to Galatians chapter 6 looking at verses 1 through 5. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you, who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted, bear one another’s burdens Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. For each one shall bear his own load. And then he will have rejoicing in himself alone.

And not in a For each one shall bear his own load. The subject that I really want to speak to us on this morning is the irony of burden bearing. Let’s bow our heads together. This morning, as we reflect today on the triumphal entry of our savior coming into Jerusalem purposefully, intentionally, knowing that his entry in Jerusalem would mean his death. But it was for us.

To look into these passages of scripture and begin to understand the great blessing that has come by your bearing our sin, help of the spirit, your the gospel accounts of Jesus’ entry into jurors, the first irony, is the fact that here comes the burden bearer, riding on what? A beast of burden, right? In fact, some of the newer translations, particularly in Matthew’s gospel, translate it that Christ came riding on a beast of burden. And I find it interesting, this concept that here comes the one who is bearing, the burdens, the sin of all of humanity comes in on a beast of burden. Kind of reminds me a little bit of number of years ago, I was I saw a fella who was riding a motorcycle.

And the motorcycle was rather, rather small motorcycle. And as I observed this happening, I thought, I think it should be the other way around. That fella probably should be carrying that motorcycle rather than that motorcycle trying to carry that. And when I think about the irony of the great burden bearer, Christ, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, a beast of burden, I think that’s a little bit ironic. The one who has come to bear all of humanity’s weight comes riding in on a beast of burden.

I comes riding in on a beast. Right, this morning to somehow link to and the implications that it has for us. Not a random Jesus is intentionally making his presentation of himself as the king of Israel. If you were to turn back in our your Bible this morning to Luke’s Gospel, chapter 9, you will notice Luke references in chapter 9 in verse 51, that Jesus is setting his sights on Israel. In fact, Luke specifically records it in verse 51 of chapter 9, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

To come. This is Pash This would be the week for the sins, for the fulfill the will of his father. He knows that what will glorify his father, John records, is his death. And so he has set his sights to go into Jerusalem to fulfill the will of his father. He hadn’t come to do his own will.

That’s going to be recorded a little later in Luke’s gospel as Jesus praise in the garden of Gethsemane with such passion that he sweats drops of blood. Father, let this bitter cup pass for me. This isn’t the will that Jesus has come. But this is the will of his father. And so Jesus has set his sights on Jerusalem to fulfill what his father has called him to do.

So he’s intentionally going into Israel or going into Jerusalem for the purpose for. And that I think is a tragedy in our separating old testament from New Testament is that there are times that we lose the grand scheme of what God is seeking to accomplish. And I want to say, no, that is God’s revelation of himself. Now I understand Old Testament, you know, the Old Covenant versus New Covenant. I get all of that.

Please don’t throw me out for the But what I do want to say is, God is in the process of revealing himself. Creation, the fall of man, redemption, the restoration of all things, and so Jesus has come into Jerusalem on a kingdom mission. He’s come for the purpose of fulfilling what God wants to do to fulfill the kingdom of God on earth. We lose the full scope of what God is doing. And to draw that God is work, all things, for their and to draw that God is sovereign in the universe today, and so Jesus has set his sights on this kingdom, that is it, the kingdom of God.

Inaudurated. And it’s implications for us today. The first thing that I want you to take note of is that the burden, the brain, the principle, is Burden bearing is kingdom activity. Jesus is coming into Jerusalem for the sole purpose that he would take your sins and my sins and bear them to the cross. He’s come for the purpose of offering himself as the guilt offering, and he does that through coming riding on a donkey, a beast of burden.

Jesus was making his way into Jerusalem to fulfill an eternal activity that had pertained to God’s kingdom agenda, something that God had set into motion 1000 of years before. Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t start something and then stop half way? In fact, scripture says that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. And God, who had started his purpose of redeeming mankind after the fall, sets into motion the establishment of his kingdom, raises up David to be a leader, and says that there will be one who will come, who will sit on the throne of David forever. Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.

What are they doing? They’re looking at what God had promised 1000 of years before, that there would be one who would come. They’re looking at the one who has come to take the seat of the kingship in Israel. Now, yes, they’ve misjudged what’s going on. What do they think is about to happen?

Jesus is coming into Jerusalem. He’s gonna throw out the Roman rule. He’s gonna establish his rule. He’s gonna deliver Israel from Roman oppression. The they’re crying out.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. They hail him as the son of David. They begin to sing, praises to Hosanna. They, they shout Hosanna. Now, we use that word, Hosanna, as a word of praise.

It’s actually a word of begging. It’s a word of pleading. The word Hosanna literally means please save. And the people are calling out to Jesus as he’s making his way in. Jesus, save us, set us free, deliver us.

That’s their Deliver us. That’s their and Jesus is making preparation to do just that, to set us free from the bondage of sin. The purpose of Christ triumphal entry into Jerusalem was to bear the sin of all of the world. To take the weight of the sin of all of humanity, to place it on his shoulders, our sin. He took our sorrow.

He took our shame. He took our guilt. And he took our guilt. And he took our sorrow. He took our shame.

He took our guilt, and he bore all of it to the cross. We sing the song, my savior’s love. The second verse of that song says, he took my sins and my sorrow. He made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died for me.

Oh, how marvelous. Oh, how wonderful. It’s COURTIN: It’s COURTIN: It’s COURTIN: It’s COURTIN: It’s COURTIN: It’s COURTIN: It’s COURTIN: It’s COURTIN: It’s a COURTIN: was kingdom activity to take our sins, our burden and bear it to the cross. This is where the second irony of the burden bearing comes in. When you and I are united to Christ, we become an ambassador of the kingdom of God.

So when you and I have had our sins born to the cross through Christ, and we have been redeemed, you and I become ambassadors of Christ to do what he has done in the world around us. It means that you and I are called to participate in the official business of the king. Hallelujah. You and I are called to do what he has done. So the burden bearing is not only kingdom activity, but it’s also kingdom responsibility.

Do you realize that because Christ has set us free, we now become ministers of reconciliation in the world? Well, it’s awful quiet this morning. And then he calls you and I to be a own For Christ to fulfill the will of his father, he had to take up our sins and bear them to the cross. There is no way that Christ could get around this. That Christ could get around this.

You remember back in Matthew’s gospel chapter 4, and to engage your minds a little bit this morning? And to engage your minds a little bit this morning. And to engage your minds a little bit this Trying to engage your minds a little bit this morning. Satan comes in to tempt Jesus.

And what does he do? He says, hey, here’s a stone. Turn into bread. Hey, let me take you to the temple. Throw yourself off of the temple.

Let the angels rescue you. You want to make a splash in the world? To a mountaintop and he says, now look at all of the kingdoms of this world. If you will bow to me, I’ll give them to you. And Jesus says, you have no rightful claim or legitimacy to the kingdoms of this world.

I do. And I won’t submit myself to your lies to bow before you. The only way to purchase humanity is the cross. Jesus didn’t circumnavigate the cross, but he ran to the cross to bear our sins, our shame, our guilt to set us free. It was his responsibility and his alone to take the weight of our guilt and our sin to bear it to the cross.

While the blood of the lambs of the Old Testament sacrifice was sufficient to atone, it had to be replicated over and over and over. It was only the blood of Christ that could really satisfy once for all, the Hebrew writer said, to set us free. Paul writes of it in Romans chapter 6 that Christ died once for sin. You and I have access to that freedom through Christ Jesus and his sacrifice. His blood sets us free.

Once for all, Christ bore our sins to the cross. But here’s the irony. For you and I to live out our kingdom ambassadorship, You and I have to engage in kingdom responsibilities. And what are those kingdom responsibilities? Paul writes in Galatians that you and I are supposed to bear the burdens of one another.

Because Christ has born our burdens, our sin, then you and I have been united with him and called to be ministers of reconciliation in the world. Those who know that Christ loved them by bearing the burden of their sin also know to love 1 and other Christ. So the admonition for us to bear the burden of one another is not just a suggestion. You realize it’s not just a good idea for you to bear one another’s burdens. I wish somehow we could capture really what Paul is saying to us.

And maybe the way for us to do that is understand the forcefulness in which Paul writes this. If you were to read this in its Greek text, you would understand that it’s written in three tenses. It’s written in the active, and it’s written in the imperative mood, which means that it is your responsibility ongoing activity of doing this. And it’s not a suggestion, but it’s a command. You are called to bear one another’s burdens.

Paul’s admonition for us this morning is that we are called to bear the burdens of each other. If you don’t come away from anything from this series that we’ve been going through, I want you to take this away. The church needs one another to work together for the sake of the. We’re called to one another. You were called to one another.

You and I have responsibility to each other to love, to stir up, to serve, but also to bear the burdens of one another. When I read this particular passage of scripture, it’s fascinating to me the context in which Paul writes Galatians. Did anybody pay attention to the context? Did anybody pay attention to the context? How does Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1 start out?

If any among you is taken in sin. That’s the context to which we bear one another’s burdens. Now, let me just link this back into the triumphal entry, Palm Sunday. What did Jesus come into Israel for? For the purpose of taking our sin, our guilt, our shame, bearing it to the cross.

And now, as we engage in kingdom activity, as you and I engage in our kingdom responsibility, it plays out in our kingdom building. It plays out in our kingdom building. You and I are called as ambassadors of Christ, ministers of reconciliation, to come alongside and bear the burdens of one another. And this is given in the context of one who has been taken in sin. Paul’s command to bear one another’s burdens is found in that context, that if a brother or sister is taken into sin, that we’re called to do what?

Restore such a one. Maybe I could help us understand, as this relates to our kingdom building, the burden that is placed upon us to bear for one another is restoration. College, I was playing softball. Kendall, you may remember this. I don’t know.

I used to play left field. And there a lot. I used to play a lot. There was a particular game that we were playing, and a ball was hit into left field, and I went running for the just outside of my reach and so I dove for the ball and when I dove hand, my free hand, the hand that was and the landed in that sand and got finger and yanked it to the fellow that was the umpire. I said to him, I said, I don’t know.

I did something to my finger. I He said, hold your hand out. It’s going to hurt, but just hold steady. And I held my hand out, and I was prepared. He And I held my hand out, and I was prepared.

He took a hold of that finger. He jerked it and shoved it. And a strivenly. I thought I can’t play outfield anymore. More.

I can’t I couldn’t I moved to the infield, and I’d I moved to 1st base. I’d catch the ball, and then I’d drop my glove, and I’d take the ball out, throw it with my left hand. By the time the game was over, you couldn’t even see my It was so swollen. It just, it was like you couldn’t see knuckles or any. The problem was, is I had dislocated my finger and it needed to be set back into place.

That’s exactly what Paul is communicating in Galatians chapter 6. A person who has been dislocated needs to be relocated. A person who has been caught in sin or taken in sin needs to be restored. And Paul is saying that is the responsibility that the church is called to bear. 1 and To restore another brother or sister into or brother or sister in Christ into the body.

The only way that you and I can be built up into this royal priesthood was through Christ, the great burden bearer, who has redeemed us. The order, look like? And the first question that we have to ask is, is how do you respond? What do you do when a brother or sister in Christ has been taken in sin? The Jerusalem Post and say, let me just tell the world what you did.

Christ didn’t go gabbing about the way in which we sinned. What did he do? He took that sin upon himself for it to the cross. Now let me just say, responsibility for the bearing the guilt and the weight of that individual in restoration back to the kingdom of God. Too many times, it seems like when we find a brother or sister who’s been taken in sin, And whispering about it.

And whispering about it. And whispering about it. And whispering about it. And whispering about it. And whispering about it.

And whispering about it. And whispering about it. And whispering about it. And I will help to shoulder and bear that load. Sadly, it seems like and I’m not talking about our church.

I’m talking about the church at large. All right? We understand that. And I’m not talking about our church. I’m talking about the church at large.

All right? We understand that. And I’m not talking about our church. I’m talking about the church at large. All right?

We understand that. And I’m not talking about the church at large I’m talking about the church at large. All right? We understand. It seems like sadly the church at large has not always done a very good job of binding up the wounded and bringing them back to health.

I’m sure that I’ve I know that I’ve told you the story of good friend of mine who had been caught with an addiction to pornography. He was a pastor. Ended up having to resign his church. And told me what was going on. In the process of his restoration, he got connected with a guy that became a mentor to him.

That fella had been a pastor in a denomination. He had had a moral failing himself. The denomination’s response was they kicked him out, pulled his license, and kicked him out. Instead of saying we’re coming alongside of you to help bind you up, heal what has been wounded. Kastim.

And can I just say to us today, church, No, we are not the ones who forgive them of their sin? And then, we are not the ones who forgive them of their sin, but you and I have a responsibility when their sin has been confessed, to help bear the burden that they care. When you clothe yourself with Christ likeness, you see the kingdom of God as he does. One of the things that I love about you have your Bible still open, go back to Luke chapter 19. If you have your bible still open, go back to Luke chapter 19.

When Jesus comes through this crowd of believers, it says that he’s making his descent off the Mount of Olives. And I picture this in my mind that as he rounds the corner and he begins to make his descent, he pauses it looks down into the city of it’s the city as it’s all laid out, city, there are tents that are set up. People who have come to worship at the passover. There’s tents that are all gathered around in Jesus pauses, and he looks down into the city. He sees this throng of and instead of cast tears begin to well up in our saviors eyes.

Appear. Chirrs begin to well up in our saviors. And he looks upon the people, and he sees them for what they are. The enemy has come in and has robbed and stolen has destroyed, people who are bound by the sin of this world. And Jisus begins to weep.

With Christ likeness, sob. And, What does it mean to bear one another’s burdens when Paul suggests, What does it mean to bear one another’s burdens? When Paul suggests, suggests that burden bearing fulfills the law of Christ, he makes it clear that the whole law, moral law, is in view. Every act of compassion and self sacrifice on behalf of another person is a means of displaying the love of Christ and thereby fulfilling the law of If you know the book of Galatians, There’s some almost as if as Paul comes down to the end here, he says, you want to observe a law you want to be bound to a law. Let it be the law of Christ.

If you want to have a burden imposed upon you, Take upon you the burden of one another. Load of this present world. They feel. Do you know what they do? Lot.

Lot of you need somebody to hold you accountable. I’m sure. You want somebody that you can meet with I’m here. Paul, have to bear alone. Verse 5 says, for each one will bear his own load, but the ways in which we can bear one another’s loads, we do it.

Let me give you an example of that. I drive a Ford truck. Look at it, brother David. I was expecting some sort of comment and I didn’t get it. Which means I keep a tow rope in the back of my Ford truck.

Don’t laugh. That Ford truck just pulled out a 4 wheel drive GMC. Thank you very much. I have pictures to prove it. Right, brother Paul?

I carry that so that I can pull out stuck dodges, and stuck GMC’s, and Chevy’s. Alright? If my truck breaks down and I’m not able to get my kids, say, to school or wherever they need to go, I can call a neighbor or somebody else to do that, right? Create Grant’s shaking his head, no. No.

Stranger danger, can’t do that. I can, but you know what, I can’t do. I can, but you know what I can’t do? I can’t turn over my responsibility of being their father. This morning, yes, there are certain things that you and I must shoulder, but there are also things that you and I can help to shoulder for others.

The beauty of this idea is when you and I are in union when with Christ, when we have been made alive in Christ Jesus, and we put on Christlikeness, you and I are then called, just as Christ bore our sin to the cross, bore our burden to the cross to set us for you and I are called now to bear the burdens of one another. No, we can’t carry their sin, but we sure can come alongside to take the weight. Side to take the that a fallen world places on their shoulders and say, let me bear We’re being tasked with the responsibility to shoulder the heavy weight that another brother or sister may be, so that they can make it through. You know, there are times, so that they can make it through. You know, there are times that if you’ve carried a weight, you know what it’s like for that weight to crush you to the point that you can’t move.

Couple years ago, when Tanya and I were moving, we had an armoire that was up in the upstairs of our house. And I had the bright idea that I was gonna move that myself. And come down the last two steps. And I got that armoire all the way down until my back was against the wall and the armoire was locked against a step, and I couldn’t move. That’s a terrible position to be in.

There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t stop. And all of a sudden I realized I need somebody to help me bear this load. You know, in your life there are going to be moments, whether it’s through failure and sin in your life or the cares because we live in a sin cursed fallen world. You and I need one another to bear our burdens together.

Tonight, as we come back to our small groups, we’re going to talk about what does this look like? How do we do this? How do we bear one another’s loads? But now he’s given us a ministry to do. For a kingdom, Lord help us to do it.

Let’s stand together as a close and prayer. Father, thank you for your word that we have looked at today. We rejoice. Knowing that whom the sun is set free is free indeed. And we rejoice in the we also know that you have brought us together in union with you for the purpose.

We would live out the Christ life in a part of that. It’s that we then come alongside fellow brothers and sisters. And we bear their burdens. And we bear their burdens. And we they’re they come alongside to help to shoulder the to restore them.

To reset them into the kingdom of God. To do. It’s we to together in relationship with you. And I pray that you would help us to take seriously the reality that you, our burden bearer, have put upon us the responsibility of bearing one another’s. And so to fulfill the law of Christ, Help us to do that.

I pray father that you’d watch over us as we go from here. May your hand of protection take us home and bring us back safely tonight. May you be glorified through our lives, and we’ll praise you for it in Jesus name. Amen. The Lord bless you.

You are dismissed.