WEBINAR 340 - The Astounding Gospel

what i want to do this morning is to simply  continue where i left off last week and so   that is in acts in chapter 9 and you uh  remember i don't have to tell you i'm sure   the the light that arrested saul or as  he was to become known paul and i said   last week i might get the the names mixed up and  call him paul sometimes and saw another but um   it's um saul of tarsus at this point that was  arrested on the road to damascus and i want   you to get a clear picture of what was happening  there because that's really the center of it all   and i don't think too many believers these  days realize that what saul of tarsus saw   on the road to damascus was a light and you could  say without being poetic it was a light greater   than ten thousand suns he said it was brighter  than the noonday sun a light which all through   the old testament has been introduced to us as  the radiance of the presence of god uh sometimes   in in hebrew it's called the shekinah glory which  was inside the holy of holies uh it would be if   i could say a gentle light it was not a harsh  light for it is the radiance the the reality of   god's love is so real that it appears as a light  such a brilliant light but it's the light of love   it is the light of wholeness and health it is the  that is holiness it is it's the gentle light the   kind light it is god himself embracing soul  in the light and in the middle of that light   almost radiating from him was the light stood  jesus and that is what creates the new testament   right there that you have the man the man dare  i say the human being the man jesus and he is   standing in the middle of the light and in fact  the word would indicate the light was coming from   him he was the source of the light and so  in the minds of a jewish person of that day   that you are in utter confusion but what you  would know the light is the presence of god   and here inside the presence of god and the  presence of god inside him stands a human being   and that is absolute contradiction how can you  have a created human being standing in the light   who is god and that is what arrested saul of  tarsus on the road to damascus and i say again   that is the essence of the new covenant and out  from that light the person jesus spoke and said   the words that we've been looking at soul saul  which is is beautiful it's the personal name of   of saul it will be the name that his mother called  him when he was playing stickball in the street   because saul makes a note he said he spoke to  me in hebrew which means the private language   of this particular family they didn't  speak the street language aramaic or any   they spoke the pure hebrew tongue very few people  did and he said he spoke to me in hebrew i say   that's the way his mother called him and she  would call him in hebrew to come and get dinner   and here he names he hears his name in hebrew  being called out of the light his personal name   and then the question which arrested me and i hope  it's got into your heart and head to saul saul why   do you persecute me why and it was that  why why do you persecute me um the the   very question was a confusion because saul  thought he was doing the great work of god   he saw himself as a reformer somebody who was  rescuing israel from this traitor this heretic   jesus but the question begins with why and that is  is the big question to me you see why it's a good   question to ask you know a lot why see it cuts  behind all behavior if i say what are you doing   then i'm addressing your immediate behavior  but why that goes behind the behavior   and behind the behavior it takes us down to our  emotions what what is the emotion that drives   me to do this what am i feeling right now as i  do this why why you're not interested in what   your hands are doing or even what your speech  is at this point i'm getting down to the engine   that drives it why why are you doing this what is  going on inside of you to cause you to do this why   why it gets down to my attitude which is as i've  said many times you don't say a word with attitude   it's it's totally an energy that comes out of you  well where's it come from why you could say that   of the person that you know who has an attitude  and just you remember i you know your teenagers   sitting there saying nothing but with an attitude  well the real question though it's hard to get   through at that time but why why i know what you i  can see what you're thinking i can see what you're   wishing you could say i can see a lot of things  but why now that that goes down that's that's put   on your diving suit you you're getting down into  the very heart of the human being to our motives   which means our heart beliefs in fact it is  getting right down there to my basic belief   about who is god and who is myself and it  will amaze you that many things that we do   which seem to be nothing but you start asking  why and it comes back to who i believe god is   and who i see myself and that was the question oh  jesus is brilliant brilliant so so you've seen me   and that could be the end of the road well do  you have any questions left i mean here i am   no it doesn't go that way because if so jesus  appearing to saul would have been just sort of   the cherry on top of the cake we've got to  tear this cake apart and we've got to have   saul of tarsus confront himself and realize who he  is what he's been doing why he's been doing it and   how what he's now seeing is the total answer  to it all even though it will destroy him um   did you see the point um why why do you do this  um why well why see saul of tarsus was a pharisee   which as i believe you know was a cult within  judaism today we would call it the denomination   it was a very very rigid law keeping group of  people pharisee we believe comes from a word   meaning separated which means we are the separated  ones we have separated ourselves to keep the law   and they were arrogant and rude in their  beholding themselves as the ultimate law   keepers and therefore they were um fanatical about  the basic beliefs that lord our god is one god   and the pharisees were the ones that  interacted with jesus negatively so many times   and we have no evidence that saul was in jerusalem  for those interactions but he would certainly have   heard about it and i just don't mean by rumor  he would have had it blow by blow he said this   he said that would you believe he said that and  we said this saul had heard it all and there's   good reason in the latter part of that last  year saul well might have been in jerusalem   so why well he said this jesus said that  he was god he said he was the son of god   which to any understanding person in those days  meant same as of one being with the same as your   children are of one being with you and so  he's the son of god then he's of one being   with god he claims to be god and he's  a human being a peasant from nazareth   that's blasphemy and if it's blasphemy then  everything he's doing must be of the devil   and you probably read that in the gospels that  he accused jesus of being a witch a wizard   they accused him of casting out demons by the  power of the demons but it was one great big   charade really all that he said and all that  he did was straight out of the pit of hell   he was a demon in disguise that's what they  said and that's why they wanted to crucify him   because they said we crucify people like that we  crucify demonized people and when they're hanging   on the cross god endorses what we've done and  he curses the people and abandons them to hell   so that's why they desperately wanted jesus  crucified because he had claimed to be god   you see the jews could have gotten rid of jesus  in many ways but no they went to rome and they   said you've got to do this why because rome only  had the power to crucify they said that we've got   to have that you see and and so why you ask me  why why because he claimed to be god that's why   and we had to it was my bounded duty as a leader  of the people of god to rid them of this demon   possessed person who dares to say their god  that's the motive that drove saul of tarsus or is it well yes it was but keep talking  saul i want to get why why why well   you see what we know saul did know for sure  and he knew a lot by hearsay he knew that jesus   was supposed to have risen from the  dead he knew that his body disappeared   and he knew what the official statement of the  temple was that his disciples came in the night   and stole the body but really in seoul's mind that  that's all he's gone you see we killed him he was   crucified he's buried somewhere i don't know but  he's dead and gone but they rose up this company   of people who called themselves the people of the  way and they said he was alive and they said it so   powerfully they says we know he's alive some  said we met him we talked to him we even had   supper with him he's alive and because he's  alive he is the one who has dealt with sin   and the law of moses is no more he has dealt with  sin and the way to knowing god is him not the law   of moses that much saul had heard firsthand that's  when he went into the houses in the synagogues and   dragged out anybody that named the name of jesus  and he interrogated them with terrible torture   to blaspheme the name of jesus and they didn't  they wouldn't instead they said he's alive   instead they said the law is over he is now the  way instead they said there's no more temple   there's no more sacrifices it's over because he  is the end in that our sins and iniquities are   remembered no more he heard that firsthand again  and again and again which is anger rose within him   because you see it's more than being a great  leader and saying we can never ever allow a man   who claims to be god who claims the law is over  the temple's finished he wasn't just a crusader   he was saul of tarsus why why do you pray what  are you persecuting anas caiaphas the men who   crucified him they're not persecuting  they just want the whole thing to go   away in fact there's nobody else of all  the pharisees and of all the sanhedrin   why you why you saw you've taken it  on yourself you're the lone crusader you're you're going to clean out  all of these believers why why you   yeah that's now we're getting somewhere it's you  saul all the other pharisees know what you know   all the temple know what you know  but they're not doing anything   they're just in fact the professor that taught you  in seminary saul the most famous he comes down to   us outside of the bible his famous teacher  gamaliel and saul boasted he was my teacher   in the acts of the apostles gamaliel said quiet  down he said if god is with them we can't stop it   and if he isn't with them they'll go away said  georgia forget it kamil said that sword of justice   he's foaming at the mouth he's red is a beetroot  he said no why because well he said he was a   pharisee of the pharisees remember he said  that in philippians he was he was not just a   pharisee he was he was the poster child for  the pharisee it was his very life the law   was everything they called the law of moses  which first five books of the bible essentially   they called it the light it's interesting  they called it the way that's interesting   they called it the shepherd they called it  the great teacher they called it the guide   just about everything jesus ever said was true of  him they called the law that and saul of tarsus you you realize a pharisee would begin  memorizing the law at four years old   at four years old they began memorizing leviticus   by the age of 12 they knew the first five books  of the bible so totally that you could pick any   text and they could refer it here and there  and everywhere and make a discussion of the   and then at 13 they began to memorize the rest of  the old testament that was a pharisee jesus said   to them do you remember he said you searched the  scriptures well they bet you they did they were   you want to be a bible student you want to  get all the hanging chains in sunday school   for memorization be a pharisee they were dedicated  that was saul but a pharisee of the pharisees he   said you want to see someone who completely  saturated his mind in the scripture to me   his time he didn't own his time the law did  the days every day especially the sabbath   of course every week but days were holy days  feast days months of the year his whole life   he didn't need a day book he his whole life was  organized rigidly by the law his time he got up   in the morning in his first prayer and jesus  quoted it but it he wasn't making fun this was   their first prayer a pharisee woke in the morning  raised his right hand and said i thank you o god   that i am a man another woman i thank you i am  a man and not a dog i thank you o god i am not   as other men i am a pharisee that's a great way to  start your day and um from then on every hour had   its hours of prayer which they always made sure  came around when they were in the marketplace   and so they would stand in the marketplace and  give long prayers to show how holy they were   and he was a pharisee of the pharisees they fasted  every week when without food in order to pray   even their possessions were not their own the law  took it that 30 percent of their income was tithes   no don't be i mean the evangelicals say tithing is  10 that's just because they won't slide in under   the door but no in the old testament it was 30  percent uh 20 and then a third one that was spaced   out over a bit but but not not only so the first  of anything you grow in your garden belong to   the temple belong to the law and that was called  the first fruits and and they pharisee the   pharisees do you know they even went in the garden  where they were growing onions and garlic and they   would count them one two three and the tenth  one that belongs to god uh tomatoes one potato   number ten belong pharisee pharisee and of course  his attitude to the world wreaked that's why they   hated the pharisees even though they respected  them at the same time because they thought   they're so holy and they thought god was like  them they hated women they would despise women   um i i'll just leave it at that illustrations  could go until noon it did they just despised   women they despised anyone that was not like  themselves they argued for years on who is my   neighbor because the bible says or their law said  love your neighbor as yourself well it obviously   didn't mean everybody who is my neighbor that one  person that may be qualified that i have to love   them they decided it was the pharisees but of  course not all pharisees are as good as me so   maybe it doesn't mean all pharisees it just means  those like me the rest i can hate happily um that   was a pharisee and he was a pharisee of the fair  he's the poster child of keeping the law rigidly   in fact i told you before they added 2 000 laws  to the ones in the bible there's about 600 plus   in in the law and they made it 2 600.  and they called them fence laws they said   they're laws that stop you even getting close to  breaking the law we will keep you way back here   he believed he believed it was his life since  a child it was his life that keeping that   law is the favor of god to my salvation and  not to keep it is to be damned and punished   he lived by comparison i'm better than you  that was saul of tarsus can you understand   that when he heard these people that he had  arrested say that jesus was the end of the law that means the end of my life please do you  understand that that's the law was not a hobby   the law was his very life blood and to take away  the law he wouldn't know what to do with his day   just for starters his life i say it again  just would crumble disappear the law   was his life if i don't have the law how could  i please god i wouldn't know how to please god it's strange the law was given and it was paul  who told us this later he really got it but the   law was given not to be kept did you know that  the law was given not to be kept the law was   given in order that sin might abound romans 5.  he said the law the law was given to throw light   and say see you can't keep it why did god give  them the law to show them they couldn't keep it   they wanted it they wanted their independence  they wanted to show god we can be as good as god   god says you want a law i'll give  you the law and they couldn't keep it   you know saul said he kept it blamelessly  in terms of the outward appearance of it   but when the law gets down into how you think how  you want your attitudes i might say i love you and   hate you in my heart you know what i mean the the  law goes much deeper they didn't bother with that   nor did they ever realize the law was given to  show up sin so that man would finally say i need   the salvation of god why saul of tarsus  why you are persecuting jesus because he   of all men pharisee of the  pharisees he of all men knew   that jesus was taking away from  him his control of his salvation   can you get that as far as saul of tarsus was  concerned he was in control of his salvation   if i do this then god will have to do that if i do  this then god will have to favor me i'm in charge   i thank you o god that i am who i am i thank  you i'm not like the riffraff i you know he's   in control of his own salvation to understand that  because i know a lot of people think the same way   that you take away all the do's and don'ts and  they fall apart because that was their salvation   what they do what they don't do then god must  respond to that that was saul of tarsus and   i suppose you could say it all came down  to saul of tarsus saying i have done and jesus smiling his smile of love  and saying i have done it is finished   that's the clash that came between saul or you could say saul lived by one phrase if then   if i do this then god will do that  that's the law again let this sink in it's this is this is the gospel we're getting  to it this is but saul had to face this   his whole gospel was if i do then god will do god  responds to me whereas jesus was saying because   therefore because i have done and finished the  work therefore you are free accepted included he's in control you make the response do  you realize it's absolutely upside down   the law says you do and if you do god will  respond jesus said i have done therefore   because i have done therefore you are free  and you are included into the family of god why are you persecuting why why are you doing  because you're taking away my life you're   taking away everything i know of salvation and  distinguishment taking it away from me and you're   saying i can't do anything because you've done  everything i'm gonna kill you before you kill me   because if i believe what this jesus believed  about himself and what you believe about if   i believed that it would destroy my  life i'd have nothing left so i'll   shut your mouths forever away with him begin to  understand saul of tarsus a little bit better   that man laying on his face on the  damascus road is scared spitless   he's losing everything he's got nothing left he  believed himself on the surface to be a crusader   who was saving israel from this blasphemer jesus  it could be that when he first saw the light his   immediate thought was god is endorsing me  i'm another moses this is my burning bush   and then the strange words why are you  persecuting me persecuting i have been   working for god i have been doing god's work  whatever who who are you who are you who are you   and in his head because he's a brilliant man he's  putting the light the glory of god the shahina   and and the man standing in it  who are you what is going on i love it he could have said i'm the son  of god and soul of tarsus would have been   somewhat confused but he could handle it he could  have he could have even said i'm the messiah   ooh that'd have been good that would  mean the messiah is endorsing me i am okay that's the name of god i am jesus that's when his world fell apart jesus the  one he was convinced was dead and buried somewhere was everything he said he was only a trillion  times more he's inside the glory of god he is   everything all those that i have been beating  to death that's what they said and he is   because i am jesus i won't let you get away with  messiah you can conclude that yourself i am jesus but then he said of nazareth i don't know if we get too religious  sometimes i am jesus of nazareth i mean jesus was a very common name in  those days to us it's the unique name   but as a name among men it  was very common do you realize you're seeing the glory of god and out from  the glory of god it says i am jesus of nazareth   it's it's equivalent and i'm not being stupid  i want to try and have you see this it's as if   you you saw the glory of god i am fred from san  antonio um yeah i got a smile it's you know jesus   gave his earthly name you could say the name  of god's humiliation when he became a creature   jesus but then he gave his street address and there's people going around well they've been  not afraid and they talk about the christ and   they never attach jesus to that they just say the  christ and the christ sort of has shown up all   through history wherever anything happened  the christ you know floating something um   this kills it he is the christ which is the greek  word for messiah but not a floating nice idea   since the stone age that i am jesus of nazareth you know the one you  are persecuting you got me right is this doing to you what it did to me i  mean jesus is saying i have not shucked off   my humanity i still associate  myself with my street address he is human he is absolutely organically  one of us i am jesus the one from nazareth   the one you thought died and stayed dead that  no i am that one you're that's the one your   percy could it isn't the one you thought was  dead it pulls every string together here i am now what am i going to do with  this and this is this is the gospel that i i have to say multitudes of believers have  not e they've never had that why that brings them   crashing down and see their entire  life fall apart and left with jesus   standing in the glory that's the  gospel but what what does it mean can you get it it it means it they see  i don't say if this is true obviously   this was the biggest reality soul of thomas has  ever been confronted with there's no question   he's not going to debate it it's here but  how could how can i ever explain this to me a man and from him is the kind of glory the glory  of god how can a man be god how can god be a man i'm not gonna answer that question i don't know but i do say it is so which means that  god is inside wrapped up one with human that's what it meant i'm trying to  what does it mean to saul of tarsus   when it when he faces hit the why then is this the one i'm trying to destroy  is this the one i want it's a question god   has become and he is because it wasn't he  was just born in bethlehem and then ascended   and well that's the end of that isn't it no  he's still this is long after the ascension this is still i am jesus of nazareth he's inside this is not a ghost this is not a  phantom this is a conversation going on he's locked into our time space  history locked into our physical   and at the self same simultaneous  moment seamless moment he is god unbegun glorious okay take taking another step for  soul of tasis it's getting worse   i mean if he is this this this this human jesus  of nazareth who walked on the streets of nazareth   who had a shop with joseph and son outside  who was registered with the city you know   he's got a birth certificate uh he didn't suddenly  appear walking down the street god's arrived this human has a history he was born he  was born into our race just like all of us   your mother's birth canal is  your passport into the human race   he had a mother he was birthed he had a  nine months in the womb of that mother he didn't he didn't just  suddenly show up next door   he started as a little tiny baby which means  what it means he intentionally joined us   this wasn't some pop and god is here because  he has something to say and he's gone no   he actually birthed into the human race that's  the intention god said i joined this people   the human became one of us you know one of the  greatest verses in the bible to declare this   is in luke 2 and verse 11   i mean when jesus was born we've lost that in  all the idiocy of what we call christmas but   i'll never forget when i i took a tour to israel  and um we avoided you know what they called the   place where jesus was born because that's all made  up but um i said let's just go and do it properly   and so at night actually very late at night i  took them out into the fields outside of bethlehem   and there was jerusalem way back there  and bethlehem and i said now you're a   shepherd you've got your sheep here and you know  you're kind of sleepy it's nearly midnight and   i said that sky over there suddenly lights up with  the same the shekinah glory of god and there's ten   thousand angels and then the one appears  right there in front of you while we're   sitting here in the field and says fear not  it's okay it's okay relax fear not i bring you   good tidings of a great joy which i've always  translated as the goodest news you've ever heard   you know the most joyous news  that the unbelievable news and it is to everybody everywhere for unto you this day in the city of  david bethlehem there is born a savior   um in the passion translation from the aramaic he  is his rescuer i like that and to you this day is   born the rescuer come the rescuer but then in  our bibles it says unto you is born as a savior   who is christ the lord we've totally lost it  we just sing that away in well if we ever do   sing carols anymore and but it's just it's along  with rudolph the red nosed reindeer you know it's   come on come on come on come on listen a  rescuer who is christ that's messiah the lord   we've been around each other long enough  you know what that is the lord is i   am yahweh the name of god given to moses that  baby wrapped up in blanket strips of cloth is   the rescuer who is none other than the messiah  who is none other than i am god himself you want your mind long if  you just think about it we   these people were facing it for the first  time and so where do you go with this from before time before time father  son and holy spirit and they determine   that we shall be created we shall become  one in fellowship with the holy trinity   plan and then creation and the promise to eve and  the promise to abraham and the promises promises   on the great decades of millennia promises and  now it's going to happen and when it happens   what do you hear a baby screaming it's gynecology  do you realize everything from before time ends   with gynecology in a truck stop in bethlehem  where they had their camels and everything   else the 18 wheelers kate brought along and  he's a baby who cries the first cry of life and he is i am it means there's no one and no place where he  does not know and feel it means that i am knows   what it's like to spend nine months in the womb  it means he relates to every baby which means he   relates to every aborted child he relates to every  stillborn child he relates to every miscarriage   god creator upholder of the universe has been  inside a womb and knows baby before birth he has lived a five-year-old god has entered into the mind of a year old  he's been a 10 year old and 11 year old and   knows by experience what such go through the 14  16 18 25 did you get what i'm saying this is god   who joined us intentionally and became absolutely  and utterly one others and john puts it verbally   as he became flesh and flesh is is this it's it's  finding my um reality within the limits of my   mortality that this is this is life this is  where it's all but it's more than that flesh   how can i put it flat fleshy is that it's the  poisonous sap that comes up from the roots of   the human race into every branch of the tree  flesh is the broken distorted twisted lies   the pour out the great lie of the garden of eden  the system of the lie the doing of life by the lie   and god came into that and felt every lie and  looked at every distortion and saw life as adam   saw it and simply said no he refused to believe  what adam believed and instead within human   he believed the father and trusted the father  and so converted the human to the mind of god but just a minute if god becomes human he can't  just become one i mean he did   he had a street address he was jesus of  nazareth to make sure you don't think   of another jesus from bethlehem or something  this is jesus you know the one from nazareth   he was an individual but he is god who has  gotten inside our humanity but god created all   and therefore if god is inside our humanity  then this human is more than an individual   this human includes everybody every human has to  and that i'm not preaching that's logic if god   who made all there is becomes one of all that  is then that one equals the rest of all that is i'm trying to get inside saul's head as he saw  god became a human a human a human i'm used to   prophets prophets you got close enough to god  to hear what god was saying and then came back   and said you what i heard but they only heard  a bit and i say well what does he say next i   don't know why i came to tell you that i didn't  know what he said next so i have a bit half a   sentence that's how hebrews 1 puts it bits and  pieces jigsaw puzzle bits the prophets came a holy man who here's god  numbers god uh-uh that's exterior   they're there i'm here i listen i come and i  tell them it's good it's good profit's good but this one is not a prophet he's inside the glory  of god which means he comes out from god god from   god not from beside god or over there listening no  this is god from god to tell us what god is like but he had to come on the inside of us because  if he just told us it would go in one ear and   out the other or it would go into the sieve of  the lies and be twisted and distorted before   i even heard it that's why people get so many  different opinions about the old testament because   just here here god says i'm coming inside  you and i'm going to thank god inside of you   i'm going to break that flesh and you'll see and  you'll hear inside human what god is really like   and he didn't do that   uh by chance that's intentional he intentionally  was born he intentionally lived that life   and this is where saul really came into it he  intentionally let us torture him and crucify him if you've heard one percent of what  i've said you don't torture god   he could flick you away with a little finger  did you follow me are we so materialistic in   america we don't think about that you  know that torture god how do you use it shall a mouse take over a herd of elephants i  mean what are you talking about torturing god well   he kind of anticipated that didn't he when they  came and they brought 600 men to arrest him that's   a joke isn't it i mean they're going through the  trees of the garden all their torches flickering   and their swords in there they're coming over  we rest this man the gentle jesus from nazareth   and he steps out remember who are you looking for  jesus of nazareth i am bam 600 men fall on their   backs swords flying torches in the underbrush and  things stuff i started and everybody one yeah and   he stands in looks at him and then kind of let him  help you up but you can arrest me don't come on he   made it plain right from the start the very first  act of the torture process he made it plain i'm   in charge here i'm letting you do this i'm playing  into your hands this is necessary it's intentional and we've seen it i'm not going back there it was  in that that he forged a relationship with us at   our worst so that we gave him our sin we gave  him curse we said crucify him and he took it   for i am has laid on him the iniquity of us  all he took it and he became but he here it is how can i say this holy spirit give me words jesus was not doing something for you it it isn't that jesus sat down with  the father and said now let's make   a deal about these people you do something  to me i'll i'll take it and and we will then   have a contract of salvation i can go and give  them and i did this for you you get salvation   that is if they say the right words  because that's very important um this is where that's not the gospel i  don't know what it is i wouldn't bother   to go there but it's not the gospel the  gospel is god became human which included   in every human for he is the god who made us  and holds us together the glue of our atoms   when he becomes one of us then  all of us are involved i mean   if he's the creator and we're what he created if  he ceases to be what happens to us we cease to be together one nail that god has become one of us my my existence is tied up in him my my hope my being it's all tied  up what happens to him happens to me and he now is intentionally  stepping in to my shoes and he intentionally the cross tells us this  intentionally he said give to me your guilt   give it to me and when you give it and  call it mine i i won't contradict you   i'll accept it never saying a word give me  your pain give me give me all the abuse that   you've had in your life give me all of your  shame that you've kept in secret come on   give it to me and i become it go and you  can sit down over there because i now   am you what happens to me is happening to  you i have taken your history you are in me can you see that right there then my guilt is no  longer mine i see my face in the face of jesus   he is guilty with my guilt but  he is guilty he has the history   of my twisted corrupt life he's got it  and he tells me to sit down and watch though actually what we did was keep on  giving him more but this is the gospel   so when he is receiving our sin which  caused the shedding of his blood he sets the tone and says father forgive them  they know not what they do we've been there too but when he i mean think about this this is you when he you died and he really did die  didn't pretend didn't just take a breath he   remained in the grave for three  days he says i'm really dead but just a minute it means that you  in everything that you are and that   poisonous sap and everything you've done and  every motive you've had he was you and he died and if he died well that's it that's all that  eden ever threatened in the day you eat thereof   you shall surely die whereas the hebrew there says  in dying you will die it's going to be horrific   and the mercy of god held that back because  that was never a threat it was a warning of love and it was jesus that stepped into adam  and said i'm going to die that death   eden's death was fulfilled in jesus in dying  he died but with it it's over death is over it's not coming back out it's over and it was in  death that he throws it off he is revealed to be   what they never thought even the devil  never thought it he is the original life   what happens to death as paul said later if they had known  they never would have done this he is love in the place of fear and fear  is swallowed up in love he's light in the   place of darkness and the father in his place as a  supreme judge of all creation says you are my son   and you've carried the human race into death  and it's done it is finished and you my son   are justified you my son are redeemed you  are reconciled to me you are brought back   from the dead and he rose from the dead  but just jesus didn't need to be justified   but he was he was you he stood for you he see  he didn't do something for you he did it as you   your salvation isn't that you said this  piece of prayer that is not going to   connect you to something jesus did for you  2000 years ago no jesus said i became you i   carried you to death i carried your sin  your guilt your shame your grief your abuse   i became that and i threw it off and the father  raised me from the dead but in so doing he said   that you had come to an end in a new beginning  and for you to live now is christ himself   did that make sense so your history  your history is that you one with him   you have died it's a great feeling i don't  have to go back and do 20 years of counseling   to try and find out what happened to  me when i was 12. um because i died   and i could i i can think about what  happened to a lot more clearly now   um because i know the effects of that all went  into the grave i know that i have been rescued in jesus jesus became me and i was buried  with him and i was raised i was exalted   with him and now i because in him and he in  me we sit at the right hand of the father so it isn't this poor pathetic thing where  they say that you you believe and you'll die   and go to heaven whatever heaven is i don't  know golden streets for some art and nonsense   that's not the gospel i don't know  what it is but it's not the gospel the gospel is a person a person who  put his arms around you and said i   am taking your place and you're taking mine   so here we go and he carried you through death  through resurrection into the heavens is exalted but just he's still human when saul saw him  he was still human with a street address   that's right because you can't live without  him now god as human is living our human lives   it didn't just fade off and  say well you're on your own now no it became our life period  that's it became our life   so i don't only share his history of dying  and burying and rising i am now sharing his   history and he is now sharing my life he is  now here in this room in you in me and we now   live because he lives his human life god is living  his human life in us that's that that's the gospel just do it don't we do anything i'm beginning to  feel like soul of tarsus i've got to do something   uh no um no don't don't don't turn me off yet   but we contribute nothing to this except  all our screwed up-ness and our sin and   our brokenness and our distorted twisted ideas  about the one who's saving us it's a work of god   god did god did for us when we couldn't do  anything for ourselves couldn't do a jolly thing and he gave himself to have an  organic relationship to me he   became one of the sons of adam so  i can't contribute anything except to realize is a good word to wake up to realize  that he has done all to which i can add nothing you say well you've got to believe haven't  you got to repent you know do the whole   catholic thing of repentance um no no what are  you going to believe oh you've got to believe   i've had this out this is not a caricature  i've had this out with pastors and preachers   on tv you've got to believe you're going to  believe believe what we're going to believe the fact is can you believe can you believe what jesus believed   he believed that if he took your sin and went into  your death and absolutely drowned in your hell   the father so loved him and so loved you he'd  bring him out can you believe that go try it jesus exercised the face of god and by his faith he carried us to  justification he carried us to redemption i believe sure i believe but i believe his  belief i rest in his rest i trust in his   trust and as i do so i am caught up into it and  i know that i know that i know that i believe but believe me believe me your faith your faith  is a response to his faith your faith is not in   control of making things happen your faith  is a response to him who is the happening   who is the salvation who has done it who is the  life my my faith is a response to that not not   you're right saul of tarsus you're absolutely  right old chap you're out of control you've lost   the driver's seat you are not in charge of your  salvation you're absolutely right and yes your   whole life is gonna fall apart because it's not  by law see that's the other thing it's not by law huh not by law utterly different to law because law says if you  do this and you do that and the other you'll get   there if you say this after me you'll arrive there  jesus said i'm already there and you're in me do you see the difference law is always delay always not for now when  you do this oh god said revival when oh you've   got to get your act together you've got to  be i was raised among the pentecostals and   said you had to have a big clean out of your  whole being to allow the holy spirit to come   because he couldn't look on sin he was disgusted  with you but when you you you're in control here   get your act together you stop doing this stop  doing that stop going there stop thinking that   then god says i think you've got it clean enough  for me at least i could be in the living room   that's the law that is the law that saul of tarsus  tried to kill jesus for in the followers of jesus   because it took everything away from him you mean  god no he saw he's very good you remember what he   wrote after this he said while we were yet sinners  christ died for us he loved us at our worst   joined us at our worst and  carried us with him through death so there's there's no do this and get there but  wake up i'm there how did i get here because he   loved me and gave himself for me and carried me in  himself that's how i got there i will get sinners   and that's why the gospel begins  with the words open their eyes   see what is see what's real see  jesus the god who has become   human who has then put his arms around  every one of us and carried us with him   you say sort of a great organic blob of people  he carried well i suppose you could say that   but it's not like that he loved me and how can  he take everybody in the human race with him and   still just love me i don't know it's a fantastic  thought though isn't it so he saul was just one   of the race for whom he died but when  he comes he said saul saul he knew saul   knew him where his mother talked to him it's  all soul he comes to you you know jean gene   malcolm malcolm jaden jaden he knows my name so he loved  me what i've been describing   though it has to be for all because it's god who's  doing it but it's so intimate it's as if i'm the   only one and that's why i can look at the face  of jesus and see my own face and where he is i am   and he totally identifies with me so that where i  am he is or as paul was yet to say but he got it   pretty much already in embryo he says for me to  live is christ come on you've said that so many   times think about it for me to live be alive  do my day walk through my times eat my meals   go through my possessions used to be  the law of the law the law of the law   am i doing it right is god please with me  should i do this oh god is it your will   where am i gonna the law of the law always  brings confusion anxiety of course it's gone gone   for me to live is christ for me to be blessed  is christ not because i did this gave that   worked in this way but because i'm in him and as  he is the beloved of the father i am so in him   the father and the son and the spirit  now dwell within the compounds of my life   i live paul wrestles with this in all his epistles  to say he said i live i live but i've been more   alive than i've ever been i live yet it's not  i it's not it's christ messiah who lives in me i could keep going couldn't i actually in galatians 1 he describes his  what we're talking about in a different way   he's he's mulling it and he said it pleased god  it's a pleasure of god the delight of god the   smile bigger than the cosmos god he please  god who separated me from my mother's womb   so this was happening before i was born you mean  this was happening before i knew your name and   knew who you were yeah yeah i know you didn't  know but i separated you from your mother's room   i i was there at your birth i organized your birth i didn't show up later and say now who are you   no i've been with you since  actually before you were born like it pleased god who separated  me from my mother's womb to reveal his son in me just a minute paul you must you got  that wrong surely reveal his son to me   no no no the word is very plain in the original  language it pleased god to reveal you know what   reveal means it means to take the covers off you  know you were in bed this morning and then they   took the covers off and revealed you were  there you were there the covers hide you the bark of the tree around the tree you  can't see the trunks of the bark and when   you take off the bark you have revealed that's  the word is take off the cover remove the veil so so paul says in galatians 1 that he  please god who have been working in my   life since before i was born and they're  on the damascus roads he revealed his son   the covers fell off and i discovered who i was  always intended to be i discovered i discovered   saul of tarsus in the face of jesus i discovered  i don't have an identity apart from him everything   else i was groping in the dark to try and find who  i was i found myself in the face of jesus christ   it was a revelation of who i am it revealed  the intense darkness in which i'd been   this you can't really say you know saul decided  for jesus on the damascus road i really don't   think so i i think he woke up to realize  that god had decided for him before creation   and now he's bringing his decision into line  with god's decision he didn't accept jesus   don't be daft look what go over and read that a  thousand times he didn't accept jesus he accepted   his acceptance jesus had prior to saul even  knowing jesus was alive jesus had accepted soul   of tarsus it included him into his life and saul  of tarsus surrendered and accepted his acceptance into his inclusion i i heard a pastor god  bless him and i mean that god bless him   but he was trying to get people to you  know raise your hand come on forward   come on forward it was the 200th verse  of just as i am and his his finale was   come on it's election time let's give a vote  for jesus oh good grief a vote for jesus you really believe that it's all about his intentional choices about us  it's about his intentional coming it's about his   intentional taking our place and carrying us  in our death into his resurrection it says i   i my eyes are open i see that and having seen  it if you please understand me i don't need to   make a decision i i i've rested into his decision  i've rested into his acceptance i've woken up oh the reason i know this was about where he was  thinking and i'm i'm done now i've gone over   but i had to say what i said but three  days later three days when he was blind   talked to no one sat in a room i believe  what i've been trying to say to you this   morning is what was going on in his head  and when ananias jesus comes to underneath and says now go here's the address you'll  find saul of tarsus it's okay he's praying   that's interesting saul thought  he'd been praying all his life   jesus said he's just begun to pray he just  started all that religious stuff forget it   and he said i've got a lot of work for him to  do so i just want you to go lay hands on him   get him healed and um let's start so you know the  story ananias goes he calls him brother saw wow   it's like a believer in arabia going to  somehow been larger than saying brother   you know that's about what it was  the arch persecutor my brother   the lord jesus who appeared to you in the way has  sent me he said he got a lot of work for you to do   so i just want to get rid of your blindness and  put my hands on you the scales fell off his eyes   i think it almost clanged on the floor but then  it says he was baptized baptism in those days   meant a lot more than most of what people do  today you know we're having a baptismal service   on thursday anybody want to be baptized together  i know you baptized before but yeah there's a good   day for baptism like a barbecue come on let's be  baptized hear that over and over again it's not   that that's just a washing away when we're  in israel people said i want to be baptized   in river jordan i said why they said well i  just want to die in the river jordan you know sorry find someone else to do it no if  you've been baptized that is something so   enormous you can't repeat that it's  enormous it's a work of the spirit of god   in fact baptism is what i've taken  an hour to say i i just said it   baptism is waking up to realize  i was crucified with christ okay baptism is physical faith faith is not here well it is but it isn't  faith is not here it is but it isn't faith   must encompass your whole spirit mind emotions  body it's the opening of your entire being   i see and therefore you have physical faith  it's i i do it i don't sit and i believe that   i go through the process and  they stepped into the water   and they declared their eyes were opened and  they're done with where they've been and then   they are put under the water to say i really  was crucified with christ goodbye world i bury   you i was buried with i really was and i bring  you out of the water i really rose with christ and then in the early church they guided you  out to the water and they took a flagon of   oil and poured it over you and they said the  holy spirit is now your guide your teacher   your company your strengths who's gonna open  your eyes even more to jesus and the father and you wouldn't be baptized until you understood  that they weren't daft you didn't you weren't   joining a church by being half drowned i mean  no we do stupid things today don't we you know   baptized to join the church baptize because well  it's baptizing time and baptize whether you need   it or not do you really need no no no there's a  baptism service into something there's always okay   no no no the early church understood this is  physical faith you've seen it you've got it   then come and let's do it together the act  of true remembrance and they poured that oil   and as you stood there they said you have  entered the eighth day well there is no aids   day i know i know but fun you standing in this  day have entered into the eternal day of god they did that to paul three days  after the that meant in the three days   he saw what i've tried to explain to you  this morning and the same one who caused   him to see it is the same one who teach you  to see it because otherwise i don't see it and from there he went  straight and started preaching   good grief he'd seen something that  he couldn't keep his mouth shut   or was it now i've got four spiritual laws here  um could would you mind if i mind if i shared you   no have you heard the news give  me a pulpit i gotta tell you on that note we quit okay and the blessing  of god who is almighty love intentional love   the father the son and the holy spirit open the  eyes of our understanding flood us with light   and that's the way it is through  jesus christ our lord amen and amen

Channel: MalcolmSmithWebinars

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Length: 80min 56sec (4856 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 28 2020