©1999 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship

11/7/99 A Little Sidetrack ...

11/7/99 A Little Sidetrack

I made some comments
      during our discussion time
            following our teaching last week,
comments that prompted some excellent questions from several of you.

I really do love it
      when I see us asking questions.

I consider it a tremendous confirmation
      of both our growth
            and our hope of increasing health as Christians.

One of the many tragic things
      that has happened within the Christian world since the time of Christ
            is the way in which so much of our Christian world
                  discourages honest questions.

Whenever and wherever we deprive God's people of the freedom to ask questions
      we also eventually deprive them
            of the freedom to think,
                  and to grow.

I know that I told you last week
      that this week we were going to spend our time
            talking about the way in which
                  our Lord has freed us from the Law.

I know, too, that it is just possible
      some of you were so fascinated by that topic
            that you pried yourselves out of bed this morning
                  for no other reason than because
                        you wanted to be in on that discussion.

If that is the case
      please accept my apologies      
            and my assurance that I really do think we will get back to that topic next week.

But for the remaining time we have together this morning
      I want us to spend our time
            looking at five questions I received this past week,
            all of which came out of some of the things we've been talking about the past few weeks,
                  and all of which I believe will help to build a more solid foundation
                        for our continuation in this study on our freedom in Christ.

I'll start by reading all five of them,
      and then we'll go back and look at each one individually.

#1. How do we build our trust in Jesus? What makes a person able even in the darkest hour to trust that Jesus is in it and that He works everything our for their good?

#2. Is it possible to abide in Christ even when we are not obeying the moral law of God?

#3. What is freedom in Christ? Freedom for what?

4. Do I believe that blessings are not based on obedience?

5. Does God bless people who are not walking with Him - believers, but not walking with Him at this time?

Now obviously, by the very nature of what we're going to be doing here
      we'll be jumping around a bit more
            than we normally do,
but I hope the questions themselves
      will give us as much structure as we need.

OK, #1. How do we build our trust in Jesus? What makes a person able even in the darkest hour to trust that Jesus is in it and that He works everything our for their good?

This question, of course,
      comes right out of some of the things
            we were looking at last week.
If you were with us
      you may remember that we spent the morning
            talking about the way in which
                  our growth in the freedom Christ seeks to bring into our lives
                        always ultimately comes back to our trust in the Person of Christ Himself.

I mentioned last week
      that there will be points in the lives
            of every growing child of God
                  when we will find our Lord pointing us in a direction
      that both our minds
            and our emotions rebel against.

Given where we've come from,
      we will find ourselves certain
            that trusting what our Lord is saying to us
                  will place us into a situation in which we are convinced our needs can never be met.

Now, we'll talk a lot more about this lie
      and where it comes from
            and how to break its power in our lives in a few weeks,
but right now I want to offer a few more comments
      about this whole process of building trust in Christ.

The only way in which we can correctly understand
      the true nature of building
            a growing trust relationship with Christ
                  is by beginning first of all
                        with an honest perspective
                              on where we start that process
                                    and where we need to go.

There are a lot of terms and phrases
      commonly batted around
            within the church community
                  that are less than accurate statements of the truth.

One of those phrases
      is the way in which we talk about
            our having "given our life to Jesus"
or having "trusted Christ with our life".

I didn't dare look back over my own notes
      to find out how many times
            I've used phrases like that
                   in my own teaching.

You see, the truth is
      it is impossible for me to literally
            trust Jesus with my entire life.

We begin our Father/child relationship with our Creator
      at that point where we choose
            to trust Him with our sins,
recognizing that there is nothing we can do on our own
      to make ourselves morally acceptable to God,
            understanding that when Christ
                  allowed Himself to be nailed to that cross
      He was doing so in order to literally
            offer His death as payment for our sins.

At the time
      we recognize Him
            as our Lord and our King.

But having done that
      it doesn't take long for us to discover
            that trusting Christ with our sins
and even acknowledging His rightful Lordship in our lives
      is not the same thing
            as trusting Him with every aspect of our lives.

The truth is,
      even if we have been raised in a wonderful Christian home,
            and attended the best Christian schools from kindergarten through college,
because every one of us
      entered this world
            with our spirit in rebellion against our Creator,
      when we come to Him
            we bring with us a total outlook on life
                  that we have carefully structured
                        to function without God's involvement.

The way in which we reason through issues in our lives,
      the emotional responses we feel in any given situation,
            our perceptions of what we need
                  and what we don't need for our happiness -
all these things were carefully designed by that rebellious spirit within us
      in a way that excludes practical trust in
            and submission to God.

For example,
      in our discussion time a couple of weeks ago
            I happened to mention a statement Paul makes in Romans. 8:28
      where he says:
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

OK, that is one of the many eternal commitments our God makes
      to each of us who come to Him.

He pledges Himself to actively cause
      everything that enters into our lives
            to work for our greater good as His children.

So, why don't we live our lives on a daily basis
      as if that were true?
When something that causes pain,
      or disappointment,
            or frustration,
                  confusion enters our lives,
why don't we just relax,
      and rest in the assurance
            that our God can and will do what He said He would do?

Because all the natural responses within us tell us to do otherwise.
They tell us to lash back,
      or to run away,
            or to fear,
                  or to get angry.

And reversing those responses
      takes conscious, active, determined effort to choose trust in Christ
            in the face of all the forces within us
                  pushing us the other direction.

And I'll tell you honestly
      that most of the progress we make
            in building trust in Christ
                  comes as a result of His allowing us
                        to enter into situations in which
                              we have no other alternative.

In my own life
      I have found that it is actually the darkest hours
            that draw me most deeply and desperately to my God.

The truth is,
      if I can find a workable alternative to trust
            my initial response is to take it.
Only when all my options have failed me
      do I find myself clinging to the hope
            and the knowledge that only my God can bring me through,
                  and bring good from the evil I see intruding into my world.

I believe most of the trust we build in our Lord
      is built when necessity drives us to it.

And I'll make one other observation here
      before we move on to the next question,
and it concerns that issue in your life
      you have been churning over forever,
            that weak place you have been praying about, pleading with God to remove.

Have you wondered why God has not yet removed it from your life?

I think the answer to that
      is directly related
            to the skill with which our God
                  is using that issue
                        to reshape you as His child.

Have you noticed the way in which
      that churning point
             has driven you to wrestle with issues
                  between yourself and your God
                        that you would never have faced otherwise?

Have you noticed the desperate dependance upon Him
      that it has created in your life?

If you are determined to grow in your walk with God,
      I believe you will find
            at least one place in your life
                  where you know that your only hope of strength,
      or of healing,
            or of victory,
                  or of change depends upon the daily reality of God in your life.

How do we build trust?
      By finding ourselves in situations
            where we desperately need answers
                  that only our God can give us.

#2. Is it possible to abide in Christ even when we are not obeying the moral law of God?

No, it is not.
      
If you were not involved in our discussion two weeks ago
      about developing an abiding relationship with Christ this may be a little confusing to you,
            but the very heart of the abiding relationship
                  is our choosing to trust our Lord.
No Christian who is refusing to trust His Lord in the area of moral purity
      can be in an abiding relationship with Christ.

In fact, I see submission to the moral will of God
      as being the first essential point of trust
            that moves us into that abiding relationship.

In the passage we were studying in John 8:31-32
      Jesus was actually presenting His alternative to moral disobedience.

Moral disobedience always brings bondage into our lives.

That was the heart of the truth Jesus was stating in that passage:
John 8:34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

His call to "abide in His words"
      was His call to trust what He says to us about morality,
            and as a result experience the freedom that comes with it.

Which takes us to the third question:
#3. What is freedom in Christ? Freedom for what?

The freedom God seeks to bring into our lives
      is the freedom to be the people God designed us to be
            without the bondage
                  or the self-destruction
that always result from both immorality
      and man-made religious systems.

It is those two forces -
      immorality and religion
            that twist our personalities
                  into distorted caricatures
                        of the people God designed us to be.

And I can never get near this truth
      without marveling once again
            at the masterful job satan has done
                  in coating God's truth with his hideous lie.

I believe most people who have not yet met Christ
      really think submission to Christ
            would deprive them of freedom.
They see themselves
      being crammed into a restrictive little legalistic box
             of meaningless religious rules and regulations.

To counter that lie
      I can do no better than to quote once again the truth spoken to us by God Himself:
John 8:36 "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

#4. Do I believe that blessings are not based on obedience?

This question came out of a comment I made last week
      in the middle of a discussion
            about how we can tell the difference between those who are giving us truth
                  and those who are giving us error within the Christian world.

One of the tests I suggested
      was that if the person we are listening to is telling us that
            we can earn God's blessing through our obedience,
                  and we can loose His blessing through our disobedience,
      what we are listening to is NOT the Christian message.

In fact, I believe I even made some rather bold affirmation
      that such a message was a satanic religious counterfeit to the truth.

This one question,
      perhaps more than any of the others we will look at today
            goes to the very heart of the truth
                  God is seeking to offer us through Christ.

I know that when I say that we cannot earn God's blessing through obedience to Him
      it goes against that deep religious nature within us,
            and it even makes some of you wonder
                  if you should really be allowing your children...or yourself
                        to be exposed to such teaching.

It sounds like I am yanking out
      the greatest single motivational force
            for our obedience to God.

The two foundation pillars
      of all man-made religious systems are these:
1. Obey God and He will bless you.
2. Disobey God and He will punish you.

I mean really!
      If those two great pillars are removed,
            what possible leverage could we find
                  to prod ourselves or others into obedience,
                        or to drive us away from disobedience?

In fact, much of what is marketed in the world today as Christianity
      is simply a modified version of this message.

Through Christ we are invited to come to God and have our past sins forgiven
      so that we can now enter into new relationship with our Creator,
            a relationship in which He will now bless us when we obey
                  and punish us when we disobey.

There IS such an agreement presented in Scripture between God and man.

It does not include the offer of forgiveness for past sins through Christ,
      but it very clearly presents
            the two elements of blessings for obedience
                  and judgment for disobedience.

We now call it the "Old Covenant"
      or the "Old Testament".
It is spelled out by God
      in clear, careful language,
even naming the exact blessings
      and the exact punishments that would result from obedience
            and disobedience.

If you'd like to read it on your own,      
      you'll find it recorded among other places
            in Leviticus chapter 26.
In fact, there is just a little summery statement of this agreement
      in Deuteronomy 11:26-28 where God says to the Israelites:
Deut. 11:26 ¶ "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:
Deut. 11:27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today;
Deut. 11:28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.

It was an agreement that rested upon
      man's fleshly ability to perform for God,
            and it was a hideous, horrible disaster.

Those who lived under that covenant
      found themselves incapable of generating
            the kind of performance they needed
                  to bring about the blessings they wanted.

So why did God make such an agreement?

If you want the detailed answer to that question
      I would encourage you to read
            the first two and a half chapters
                  of the book of Romans.
In those first two and a half chapters
      Paul presents a picture of our world
            attempting to live under the law agreement.

For the purposes of our study this morning
      I will simply say that God gave the world the Law Covenant
            in order to make us desperately hungry for Jesus Christ.

Any human being who faces honestly
      the consequences of a relationship with God
            that rests upon earning His blessing through our obedience
                  will find within himself a desperate longing for some alternative.

Those first few chapters of the book of Romans bring us to the place where we are forced to admit
      that there is none righteous, not even one,
            and in the end
                  our very best performance
                  gives us no hope of ever knowing the kindness of our God.

And then, after bringing any honest thinking person
      to the point of despair,
            Paul says in effect, "But wait! There is an alternative."
Rom. 3:21 ¶ But now apart from the Law...
He goes on to present God's alternative to
      man-made righteous.
Throughout the rest of the book
      Paul then talks to us about how
            we can now live forevermore
                  within the kindness of our God                         simply through faith in Christ.
Rom. 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

There are lots of reasons offered to the Christian by God for pursuing obedience to our Lord.
      
We're involved in an extended study
      of just one of those reasons -
obedience brings a kind of freedom into our lives
      unlike anything we could ever know
            any other way.

But never does God offer the Christian
      an agreement in which
            if we obey
                  God will then bless us
and if we disobey
      He will then curse us.

In fact, in Romans chapter 5 Paul tells us
      that through Christ we have been removed forever from the wrath of God,
      and for obvious reasons -
            God's wrath for our sins
                  has already been poured out onto Jesus Christ.

God is kind to me and good to me for one reason only,
      because He is absolute KINDNESS and GOODNESS.
            It is who He is.
I never have,
      and never will,
            and never could earn his blessing.
It is freely given to us,
      just as Christ was freely given to us.

It is true that I can avoid the negative consequences of sin in my life through obedience,
      but that is not a blessing earned,
            it is simply avoiding pain
                  by choosing not to touch the hot burner.

God is kind and good to us
      simply because He chooses to be kind and good to us
            because He is who He is.

And then, just to squeeze in that final question,
5. Does God bless people who are not walking with Him - believers, but not walking with Him at this time?

Yes. Sometimes the most powerful tool God has for drawing us back to Himself
      is His showing us His kindness
            and His compassion
                  at times when we know we do not deserve it.