Atonement.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] this in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen. [0:04] All right, go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. If this is your first [0:07] time here, my name’s Steve. I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church and I’m always [0:11] thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. If you have your Bibles, go ahead [0:15] and open them up to Luke chapter 23. We’re going to be starting in verse 33 this morning. [0:20] But before we get into that, this is the week that is leading up to Easter and is often

[0:27] referred to as the Holy Week. So our schedule is a little bit different. We do not have [0:32] village groups the week of Easter. Instead, on this coming Thursday night, we have what [0:38] is called a tenebrae service, which basically means shadows. And what that is, we’re going [0:43] to be reading through the narrative of Scripture from the Old Testament as well as the New [0:49] to take a look at the whole counsel of God in the Gospel of Jesus, specifically leading [0:55] up to the crucifixion of Christ. We’re going to share communion that evening. We’re going

[0:59] to sing songs together, reflecting on the power of the cross of Jesus. This is a wonderful [1:06] time every year for us to worship together as a church to prepare for the excitement [1:11] and the celebration that we’re going to have next Sunday morning as we talk about the resurrection [1:17] of Jesus, sing about the resurrection of Jesus, and proclaim the Gospel. So this Thursday [1:21] at 7 right here, we’re going to be having that tenebrae service. We invite you all, [1:25] encourage you to come out. And then next Sunday morning, of course, is Easter. We’ll be having

[1:30] a 9 and an 11. So we encourage you to come out to celebrate the resurrection as well [1:35] as invite your friends and family as the Gospel from the Scriptures on the resurrection will [1:41] be preached next Sunday morning. But today, we’re going to be having our third Sunday [1:48] on the cross of Christ. Now, over the past few weeks, we’ve been marching towards Easter [1:54] by unpacking the different perspectives on the cross of Jesus. Now, we started with our [1:59] perspective from our standpoint, from the human standpoint. And then last Sunday, we

[2:06] talked about it from God the Father’s standpoint. We talked about the first week, the fact that [2:10] redemption is what we receive from the cross of Christ. Without Jesus, we are dead in our [2:17] sin to live under the curse of condemnation because of our sin for eternity. But it is [2:23] through the work of Jesus on the cross that our penalty has been paid. We owed God a [2:29] debt of sin, and Jesus paid that debt so that we could be forgiven and redeemed out from [2:36] under the curse of sin. And then last week, we talked about the subject of propitiation.

[2:41] That this is the work of God to show both His holiness as well as His justice for sin. [2:48] Our sin is quite literally an offense to the awesome holiness of God. And because of that, [2:55] He cannot just forget our sin or He cannot just sweep our sin under the rug without compromising [3:03] His holiness. And so because of that, He seeks justice for sin. And this is what we see in [3:10] the wrath of God. Throughout all of the scripture, we see that God pronounces His wrath on the [3:17] sin of humans and His just condemnation. But in love, God sought justice through Jesus,

[3:25] God the Son, paying the penalty for that sin on the cross of Christ. And this appeased [3:32] the wrath of God. And it can move us from God’s wrath to God’s favor because Jesus was [3:39] a competent substitute for us. Now today, what I want to do is I want to go kind of from this [3:47] 15,000 foot view of the cross that we’ve been talking about. And I want to kind of focus [3:52] in a little closer on the actual work that Jesus did on the cross. So today, we’re going to be [3:58] looking at the cross from the perspective of Jesus while He was on this earth and while He

[4:04] was suffering on the cross of Christ. So I want to see kind of this morning how propitiation and [4:11] redemption meet to form and fulfill God’s plan of atonement for sin. And this is quite literally [4:19] God’s triumph for our benefit. Jesus delivered the kingdom of God under the righteous reign of Him [4:29] by His victorious sacrifice on the cross. He died to change my identity, yes, but it is so [4:37] much more than that as Jesus secures His reign both now and forever. So look in Luke chapter [4:46] 23. It says, And when they came to the place that is called the skull, where they crucified Him,

[4:53] and the criminals, one on His right, one on His left. And Jesus said,

[5:24] over Him, this is the King of the Jews. One of the criminals who were hanged railed at Him, [5:32] saying, [5:32] Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked Him, saying, [5:38] Do you not fear God? Since you are under the same sentence of condemnation, and we indeed justly, [5:45] for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong. And He said, [5:51] Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And He said to Him, truly I say to you,

[5:58] today you will be with me in paradise. Pray with me.

[6:05] Father, Lord, as we enter into the week in which we reflect specifically on your work on the cross, [6:15] today remembering both your triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but more specifically, [6:21] the pathway that you took to get to the cross. Lord, we pray that you would use your word, [6:29] use the narrative of your work, Lord, to strike us to our core. Lord, that those of us that need [6:36] faith, that you would give us faith, that you would regenerate those who need to be born again. [6:42] And Lord, for us who know you, God, rekindle in us a passion for your holiness, a passion

[6:49] for your gospel. Lord, in the hearts that long to know you, hearts that long to serve you, [6:56] be merciful to me a sinner. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. [7:01] Number one, this morning, Jesus died to give me His identity. Jesus died to give me His identity. [7:09] Now, when we look at this narrative, Luke 23, 33 through 43, contains the march of Jesus both [7:16] towards the cross and then it reflects very concisely as to what took place while [7:23] He was on this cross. And it shows us a few pictures of the atonement of Jesus.

[7:30] Now, it’s been written that the atonement is the work of God in Jesus on the cross, [7:36] in which He completed the work of His perfectly righteous life, canceled the debt of our sin, [7:42] appeased His holy wrath against us, and won for us the benefits of salvation. [7:49] Now, this four pronged definition covers all the bases of what was accomplished through the [7:55] atonement. Now, we have talked about the first three over the past few weeks. Now, today, [8:01] I want to combine them to talk about that final one, the benefits of salvation. In dealing with

[8:09] in light of the holiness of God, we talked about the appeasement of God’s wrath. As Jesus walked [8:16] towards the place of the skull, this imagery that we see in this passage of Him being crucified [8:23] between two criminals tells the story of both redemption as well as perpetuation. [8:30] It was our place that He stood condemned. In John chapter one, verse 29, this shows the beginning [8:37] of Jesus’s earthly ministry, in which John the Baptist prophesies of Jesus taking away the sin [8:44] of the world. And there, as Jesus was placed on the cross, He was fulfilling that same prophecy.

[8:52] He was taking my place. He was taking your place. And this is the first part of what is referred [9:00] to often as the great exchange. Jesus literally took our sin to pay the penalty of it. But there [9:10] was more than that. There was another part of this exchange. Jesus took, but He also gave. [9:17] He exchanged my sin for His righteousness. And this is what 2 Corinthians 5.21 states when it [9:26] shows that Jesus was becoming the substitute. He was doing this to atone for my sin. He took my sin, [9:36] but in that, He gifted to me His righteousness. In Jesus’s substitution, we gain the identity

[9:46] of Jesus. We don’t just lose the debt of our sin. We gain a new identity. If all that took place [9:53] on the cross was that I am forgiven of my sin, and He just simply takes my sin and leaves a [10:00] void where that sin was. We would very quickly fill that void, but not with righteousness.

[10:09] We would fill it again with sin. We would fall back into the default mode that every single one [10:15] of us are born with, this radically corrupt desire to rebel against God, to seek satisfaction [10:24] in things other than God. But instead of leaving a void, the Word tells us that He took our sin so [10:34] that we might become the very righteousness of God. And so Jesus was not just your substitute [10:42] on the cross. He was also your substitute in His life. That’s why the life of Jesus is so vital. [10:50] That’s why the days that Jesus spent on this earth are so important for us to understand.

[10:56] We must look into it because in His perfection, in His complete obedience to the law, [11:03] in His complete submission to the will of the Father, what we have is the righteousness of [11:09] Christ on full display. And when He goes to the cross, when He takes position in between two [11:17] criminals as an undeserving sacrifice, what He’s doing is He’s taking our place so that we can live [11:25] in His place. We live in His righteousness. He gives us His identity. We gain this identity [11:36] because He both lived and died as our substitute. You see, that is why so oftentimes we sing the

[11:44] phrase, in Christ alone my hope is found. See, this is why our hope is fully in Him. We do not [11:53] look to ourselves for righteousness. We will try. We will try to redeem ourselves out of many places [12:01] by holding ourselves up in self-righteousness saying, but I am better than this one. I am [12:05] better than that one. But we are not better than the one that matters, and that is God.

[12:12] We can never take His place. We can never measure up. And so Jesus, the Son of God, [12:18] He measures up for us, and we must look to Him for righteousness. And once we have trusted in Him, [12:29] our identity is changed forever. Our hope is changed forever. When sin rears its ugly head [12:40] at us, when accusation of sin comes our way, and we don’t need it to come from others, [12:50] it comes from within. It comes from me, looking at me saying, Steve, you are a sinner. Steve, [12:57] you do not deserve better. Steve, you are guilty. You should be filled with shame. It can come at

[13:04] us so much so that we will doubt even our very redemption. And in that moment, we must not look [13:12] for good within. We must look to Jesus. Why? Because Jesus alone is my substitute. You see, [13:23] I can follow Jesus because He is not only my forgiveness, but because He has filled my account [13:33] with righteousness. He is my identity. He lived the life I cannot live, and He died the criminal [13:41] death that I deserve to give me the identity of His life. And so in this life, when I am asked, [13:50] when you are asked, why do you now seek to obey Jesus? There is only one answer. I am living out

[14:01] my new identity. This is who I am now. If I am in Christ, what else can I do? What other option [14:11] is there but to live as Christ would live? And so that is why when we look to the cross [14:19] and when we receive that salvation, when we trust in the crucified Savior, and then we continue to [14:28] say, but I don’t need to live for anything now. When we claim this trust and then live like [14:37] everyone else who does not trust in it, you are not faithful. You cannot both claim to be in Christ [14:47] and then live out of Christ. You cannot contradict. And so many of us, we desire forgiveness.

[14:58] We desire a void to be left though, and that’s not the gospel. The gospel is not cheap forgiveness, [15:06] and then walk as a hollow man through the rest of your life, commanding all of your days. [15:11] The command is have your sins forgiven and then be filled with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. [15:18] And then walk as He would walk. Live as He lived under His command because your identity has been [15:29] changed forever. Number two, this morning, the reason that you can have this identity is because [15:35] Jesus’ death won the victory over death. In verses 35 through 38, we see this people standing by,

[15:46] watching, scoffing, mocking. We see that. And it’s to strike us to our core, [15:56] looking to the King of Kings, looking to the one who created all that is and blaspheming His name [16:02] over and over and over. He saved others. Let Him save Himself. Oh, if you are the Messiah, [16:09] if you are the chosen one, why don’t you save yourself from the cross? Because just as we [16:16] often misunderstand the work of Christ, so did they. See, in that moment, in the human understanding, [16:25] we have to understand that Jesus was defeating death through His death. He wasn’t there to save

[16:32] Himself. He didn’t need our vindication. Imagine a colony of ants looking up at one of us saying, [16:42] oh, you think you’re great. Then step on them. They will know our greatness, will they not?

[16:50] That is not even a good enough picture to show what it must have been like the day [16:57] that the creation looked at the Creator and mocked.

[17:07] We trust that God is telling the truth. That is what faith is at its simplest point, [17:14] is that God has said something and we believe that He is no liar. We believe that He is telling [17:20] the truth. We believe that He is who He says He is. And then in Jesus, we believe that that is God [17:28] fulfilling His promises. That is God keeping His word. And when He goes to the cross to accomplish [17:36] the will of the Father, that is how He is delivering on the promises of God. [17:43] As He is dying, He is bringing to us this new identity, but those whom He is seeking to give

[17:50] this identity to are mocking Him in light of the cross. They challenged His claims. [17:59] They even mocked Him with the title that was posted on top of the cross. Here He is. [18:06] The King of the Jews. But in that moment when Jesus looks the weakest, [18:15] and surely He looked weak in that moment, surely to the crowd who is completely physically able, [18:21] who is not suffering at all, the Savior on the cross looks absolutely puny through what He had [18:27] been through. He had been beaten. He had been up for days. He had been beaten with the lashes,

[18:33] had a crown of thorns slammed into His head, then thrown onto a cross that He was forced to [18:41] carry up the hill. Then He had His wrists. Then He had His feet nailed into it. Then it was stood [18:47] upright, slammed into the ground. Jesus there, His flesh torn off, His brow completely pierced, [18:56] bleeding from His hands and His feet, trying with everything that He has to lift Himself up to [19:01] breathe. In that moment human weakness is on full display. But that is no reason to look to God [19:10] and mock. That is a reason to understand the futility of our fight against the eternal God.

[19:17] Look at how frail our bodies are. Look at how weak we are. But in that moment Jesus was taking [19:26] the opportunity to exercise what real power is. He wasn’t there to save Himself. He’s there to [19:34] save me. And to save me, He had to die. Pride is a crazy thing. It will challenge your faith. [19:45] Because pride rebels against the notion of sacrifice. I mean consider what they’re actually [19:51] saying. They’re saying something that makes perfect sense to me. I mean if you are the most powerful,

[20:03] you’re the best, and there’s no one better than me, then I must be out for myself in all things. [20:10] I mean the world teaches us that. And so Jesus, the all-powerful God, on the cross, He is [20:18] challenging my concept of power. You see, for me, if I’m on the cross, if I’m the eternal God who [20:24] spoke and things existed, and people are mocking me, I’m not only going to come off of that cross, [20:31] I’m going to kill every single one of them. In one swoop, they’re all dead.

[20:40] That was their concept of what eternity must look like. [20:44] Oh yeah, you’re the Almighty God. Look at your weakness. Look at your powerlessness. [20:52] And Jesus is hanging there as the substitute, but He’s not showing the weakness of God. He’s showing [20:58] the weakness of man. What one person in that crowd, beaten, hung on a cross, [21:11] could have done any better. But you see, Jesus had to die.

[21:18] Because in challenging this notion, He is also challenging the notion of what salvation was [21:26] to this world. It is not some military leader. It is not some nuclear power. It is not some [21:35] king. It is not some president. You see, Jesus came to show what real power is, and you say, [21:40] how? Well, He came to sacrifice for a glory that was greater than this earth.

[21:46] That glory was only found in sacrificing His life, because there is more than this world has to [21:53] offer. Look, if you will, just bear with me for a moment as we unpack this. In Acts chapter 2, [21:58] verse 23, the apostle Peter is preaching the gospel to thousands, and he says, [22:04] this Jesus, He was delivered up according to what? According to the definite plan and foreknowledge [22:14] of God. This Jesus you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. You see, He says two [22:22] things in here. He says, oh yeah, you’re big and bad. You sent Jesus to that cross. You stood

[22:28] before Him. Many in that crowd right there when Peter’s preaching this message were the same [22:33] people who were in the crowd looking to Jesus and mocking Him, saying, oh, if you are the chosen one, [22:41] save yourself. Just 50 days later, now Peter is telling them, you think you did that? [22:53] You think God didn’t send Him there? He says, no, this was the definite plan of the foreknowledge [23:00] of God. He had planned from before the foundations of the earth that God the Son would die in this [23:11] way. And Jesus endured the ridicule for the greater glory that was on the other side of His death.

[23:18] It was the glory of salvation. It was the glory of the church. It was the glory of who would work [23:29] out all things for good. You see, that was the glory that Jesus was after. See, we’re after the [23:37] glory of the crowd. Don’t mock me. Don’t think I’m odd. Don’t accuse me of powerlessness. That’s [23:46] glory we want. We want you, the masses, to look and say, oh, you’re great. You’re wonderful.

[23:55] See, Jesus, though, He endured the shame of the crowd for the salvation of millions.

[24:02] That is power. That is glory. You see, Jesus defeated death the only possible way to defeat death. [24:14] He endured it. You see, friend, when you live your life by all of the rules that this world [24:21] will hand to you, and make no mistake, this world will hand you many rules, [24:31] many definitions of what glory is, many definitions of what you need, many definitions of what your [24:38] kids need, if you believe what this world says to you about glory, you will be lost. You will [24:47] miss the only real glory that actually exists. You will miss the death of self through the death of

[24:55] Christ. And when you miss that, you miss new life. You miss the atoning death that leads to victorious [25:07] resurrection. See, because Jesus knew something that they did not know. [25:14] Jesus knew something that I am very quick to forget. In His death, He ensured the victory [25:20] of resurrection. Everybody wants resurrection, but nobody wants to die for it.

[25:28] And Jesus up there substitutes Himself because He looks to the crowd and He knows in His mind, [25:36] I will rise, but I do have to die in order to rise. You see, Easter is next week, but if this [25:46] death was the end of Jesus, then yeah, He was a phony. It would be a pity, but Jesus proved the [25:56] entire world wrong in His death by resurrection. In 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 24 through 25, [26:04] it says, He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree. Why? That we might die to sin and [26:11] what? Live to righteousness. Live to righteousness. But you know, what is necessary to live to

[26:19] righteousness? What comes first? The death of your sin. You see, many of us are attempting to live [26:28] righteousness and we’ve never known the humiliation of the death of our sin.

[26:34] You cannot live to righteousness until you have truly by faith died to your sins. And then He says, [26:42] by His wounds, you have been healed. He’s speaking specifically to the wounds of your sin. [26:51] He’s speaking specifically to the penalty that Jesus was paying through His very real death. [26:58] He says, for you were straying like sheep, but now you’ve returned to the shepherd, [27:06] to the overseer of your souls. You see, the shame of the cross was endured because Jesus knew [27:14] that the people of this world know nothing of resurrection. You see, the straying sheep have

[27:22] to be gathered by a sacrificial shepherd. But that shepherd has power that this world cannot [27:33] comprehend because if it’s one thing that this world struggles to understand is a glory that is [27:40] greater than the glory of self. And Jesus came to kill that glory. Jesus came to die for that glory. [27:52] Jesus came to put to death once and for all the glory of self that rules over every single one [28:05] of us like a slave master. Jesus said, no longer shall you be a slave to your sin, but instead [28:15] you shall follow the shepherd and overseer of your soul.

[28:21] And He did it by taking the death that we deserve. But then thirdly, Jesus is alive. [28:30] Jesus is reigning now and forever. See, I think there’s a great theological misunderstanding [28:37] about the reign of Jesus Christ. And that is that this world, well, it’s all going to pot, [28:44] as Willie Nelson said, and that Jesus is just going to let this heap become a pile. [28:52] And then He’s going to come and He’s going to save us out of the gutter. [28:56] He’s going to take us away because this world belongs to evil. This world belongs to sin.

[29:02] Jesus will reign then, but now it’s disgusting. It’s filthy. Jesus isn’t reigning. And I say [29:10] that is a false teaching because resurrected Jesus is on His throne right now. He is ruling. [29:19] He is reigning. How do I know that? Look back at the narrative. We have picture of two criminals, [29:30] and I love the way God orchestrated that. God orchestrates that God the Son will be crucified. [29:38] He will be executed in between two deserving criminals who are being punished for their crimes [29:48] justly. And Jesus hangs in between both of them as one who does not deserve to be there.

[29:55] And we see the death that Jesus is dying is the lowest death that could happen. He’s dying as a

[30:10] Jesus hanging there, one criminal, as if almost a jail cell scene looks to Him and says, [30:16] oh yeah, you’re the King, all right. Oh yeah, you’ve got power, all right. Hey buddy, [30:21] can you bust us out of this joint? If you are the one, please get me out of here because we’re in a [30:30] situation. But then the other criminal under the sovereign power of God,

[30:38] and the Holy Spirit speaking through Him looks to Him in verse 40 and says, do you not fear God?

[30:50] I mean, right there, the picture of the cross should fascinate us

[30:57] because He’s hanging there beside God the Son, looking at the human form of Jesus and all its [31:04] human frailty on display. He looks to the other criminal, He looks past Christ and He looks to [31:10] the other criminal and says, don’t you fear God? Because in that moment it didn’t look like Jesus [31:15] was much to be feared, did it? The crowd didn’t think so. But if you know who He actually is,

[31:25] continues and He says, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation, we deserve this. [31:33] We’re receiving the due reward of our deeds, but this man, he’s done nothing wrong.

[31:42] You see, when you read that, you have to assume something. You have to read beneath what He’s [31:48] saying. You have to understand that this man must have seen Jesus. This man must have heard the [31:54] stories. This man, maybe he was even there on the Mount of Beatitudes when Jesus preaches a sermon [32:00] on the Mount. I don’t know, but He had to have heard Him. He had to have seen Him. He had to have [32:05] at least heard the rumors because sitting there on the cross, nailed to the tree, He knows

[32:13] this man’s done nothing wrong, but we have. And He looks to Jesus and He prays a prayer of faith [32:22] when He says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom?

[32:28] Then Jesus looks back and He preaches the gospel.

[32:33] To a man who’s being executed, this must have been sweet. To a man that knows he’s going to die, [32:39] this must have been the sweetest thing he’d ever heard in his entire life. [32:42] When the King of Kings looks to Him and says, today, you will be with me in paradise. [32:49] You see, friends, in those words, that is the hope of every single one of us. [32:54] But it’s more than that. It’s a testimony to the power and authority of Jesus. You see, [33:01] as people were mocking Him, as the criminals are dying beside Him, Jesus was on a mission

[33:07] to save. And during those moments, when that criminal looks to Him, He makes a pronouncement [33:14] as a King. His pronouncement is, you will be with me in paradise. That’s the pronouncement [33:20] of a King. That is a pardon. That is atonement. He looks to the man who has been condemned [33:27] by the rulers of this world, and Jesus says, I have more authority. He says, you will not suffer [33:37] forever. You will be with me in paradise. You see, it was not a mission of simple [33:44] servitude that Jesus was on. Many within our culture would look at the Jesus meek and mild

[33:51] and see Jesus weak and powerless. But this is not the picture of Jesus on the cross. [33:57] We see Jesus enduring the shame. We see Jesus enduring the suffering. And then we see Jesus [34:03] the powerful. We see Jesus the mighty. We see the Jesus that has more authority than [34:10] any King of this earth has ever had. We see a conquering King who is laying down His life [34:18] so that He could take it up again. But the faith of the thief had to emerge from absolute [34:27] bankruptcy in realization of the power of Jesus. He knew His penance. He knew He had nothing left.

[34:39] Our struggle with faith is often in that we have so much.

[34:46] We look at the faith of the thief and say, well, that’s good for Him. He needed that.

[34:55] But then I look at my life. I’m not in that position. I’m not suffering and dying today. [35:04] I’m not condemned by everyone around me. I don’t have a crowd in front of me just standing there [35:10] waiting to watch me die thinking, He deserves this. No, I’m going to go to my house. I’m going [35:18] to enjoy my air conditioning. I’m going to walk around my neighborhood thinking of how much I have.

[35:27] See, friends, we look at faith as necessary for salvation.

[35:34] But as if Jesus is calling us to leave behind the good stuff to become paupers. [35:42] That is not the Jesus I see in this narrative. We’re not leaving behind the good enough to get [35:49] the religious. We are leaving behind the defeated lies for the truth of a ruling kingdom and [35:58] submission to a good King with great joy. That is what that thief understood. And that is what we [36:05] need to understand. You see, in one way, that thief is in a great position to receive faith in Jesus.

[36:16] He understands His plight. The problem with me and you is we don’t often understand our plight.

[36:23] I believe the lie oftentimes that I have something to offer to God.

[36:28] And I look at some of the things that He calls me to and I say that is too much. [36:32] I cannot give the joy of this world for the joy of your kingdom.

[36:39] You see, but the King who is ruling the good King of great joy, He says, [36:44] this is the good news of Jesus, that this world is lying about what power actually is, [36:51] that I have wasted my life and I don’t need to waste it any longer. [36:59] Unless, of course, you would prefer to bow to the defeated lie that will never satisfy.

[37:08] Jesus isn’t saying, trust in my meek, mild, meager, powerless little thing I’ll call a kingdom.

[37:18] Jesus looks to us and He says, no, trust in triumph. Trust in the ruler of all worlds. [37:26] This is the way Titus, Paul writing to Titus explains our plight in Christ. He says, [37:32] we are waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus [37:38] Christ who gave Himself for us to redeem us from what? From lawlessness, to purify for Himself [37:46] a people of His own possession who are zealous for good works. But then note how He finishes it.

[37:58] You see, we like to stop at the good works and be like, okay, 10 commandments. [38:03] Got to obey. He says, declare these things.

[38:10] Because this is truth. This is power. This is the kingdom. This is the King. He says, [38:17] exhort. In other words, push each other with this. Oh, you’re in sin. You’re not following Jesus. [38:23] He’s the King. Who do you think you are? And then He says, rebuke. We don’t like that.

[38:32] But then He takes it a step further. He says, you’re not asking.

[38:37] He says, you’re telling. Why? With all authority. He says, oh, I don’t know about that.

[38:49] The other parents on the baseball team might think I’m weird. [38:53] The guy at work who’s trying to put forward his agenda and make me look like a fool, [38:58] he may criticize me. The other people on the PTA, they don’t understand. [39:06] My family, we don’t talk about religion. See the fear. What does Paul say about that? [39:13] Look at the last few words. Let no one disregard you.

[39:25] See, we renounce the lives of a weak and dying world for the truth of a triumphant King who [39:32] will ultimately conquer this entire world to fulfill His Kingdom in full. We know it [39:43] in part right now, but we will know it in full upon His victorious return. [39:51] You see, Jesus died to redeem, but Jesus redeems people who will belong to Him. [39:58] He redeems people that are His people. These people are zealous to carry out the instructions [40:05] of a conquering King who owns every inch of the world and all worlds.

[40:16] See, let no one disregard you. Oh, they will. They will try. They will call you a fool. [40:27] They will call us people to be pitied because we believe in a God who will conquer their sin.

[40:38] Oh, but friend, they also disregarded Jesus on the cross, and He rebuked every one of them [40:48] at the moment that He got up and walked out of that grave.

[40:56] We forsake the powerless of this world, and we submit to the King who owns all and conquers all.

[41:12] See, friend, when we look through the Gospel account of Jesus’ life, we see some very [41:16] fascinating things. We see healings. We see demons humiliated. We see resurrections. [41:23] I mean, imagine the day that Lazarus rose from the dead. Jesus stands before a tomb of a man [41:29] who’s been laying in there for four days, and He just says, Hey, Lazarus, come out of there. [41:34] Here He comes hopping. He was all wrapped up. He had to hop. He’s not like Jesus who can just be [41:40] boom, get off me. Then He rises from the dead.

[41:46] Luke 11, just a few chapters before this one, verse 20, Jesus is speaking to a crowd [41:53] after casting out a demon, and people are like, whose power did He do that under?

[41:59] Jesus looks at them, and He says, If this power is by my finger, the finger of God, [42:08] that I’m casting these demons out, then understand the Kingdom of God has come upon you.

[42:19] Was His power gone on the cross? No. Jesus was on a mission to expand His Kingdom. [42:28] Every part of Jesus’ life showed His authority. Even His death does this. He laid His life down. [42:35] No one could possibly have taken it from Him. It was His definite plan. [42:40] And now we march through this world on a mission to make the reign of our King known. [42:49] Do not be as those who march with an attitude that we need the rules of this world to dictate [42:58] how we live by the rule of the risen King. This is His world.

[43:07] Rebuke with that faith. Live to make Him known. Live to reveal His atonement for sin [43:15] and His resurrected life known to absolutely everyone. Friend, I tell you with full assurance [43:25] and certainty, our God reigns, and He will reign forever. Make no mistake, [43:37] the powerless of this world would look to Him and continue to mock, yet Jesus is still risen, [43:43] yet Jesus is still reigning, and yet Jesus will still return again. And the world needs to know [43:51] Him. That the King is still saving. The King is still conquering. And He is our King forever,

[44:03] and there will never be another one. He wins every single time. As the band comes up,

[44:14] friends, so often when we talk about the cross, we talk about defeat. But too often we talk about [44:22] the wrong kind of defeat. We act as though it was the defeat of Christ. No, on the cross it was the [44:29] defeat of sin. It was the defeat of death. It was the defeat and the undoing of every power that [44:37] ever thought it could rise in this world to challenge the Creator God. [44:43] And in the moment of resurrection, Jesus proved that His power reigns, and there is never [44:49] to be any question about that. Friend, if you’re in here and your sin is a taskmaster,

[44:57] friend, this world is ruling you. This world is bossing you around. This world is your Lord. [45:08] Friend, my plea to you is that you would turn away from all of the voices that would lead you away [45:15] from the King, and that you would, by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, return to Him.

[45:23] Come to Him, because in Him is forgiveness, because by His hand was sacrifice. And when [45:31] you return to Jesus, when He saves you, He fills your life with His righteousness, with His glory.

[45:42] Friend, for those of you that know the King, sometimes it is difficult to live like He’s our [45:48] King. But I call you today to exhibit faith, to follow Him with certainty, with loyalty, [45:59] with allegiance, because our God reigns. And as we reflect on the crucifixion of Christ through [46:07] eating the bread, which represents the broken body, drinking the cup that represents His shed [46:12] blood, we eat and drink to a death that was victorious. But only eat and drink if you believe, [46:21] because otherwise you’re just believing the lie. Embrace the truth when you’re ready. Come.