Sermon Transcript

Good morning! Bibles open – Acts  chapter 13. And if you’ve been following along this summer, that’s the first time I’ve asked you to open to the New Testament all summer long! And you’re going to see the significance, the epic significance of that in just a moment. As you’re finding your place, let me ask you: How many of you know what you were doing at around two o’clock on Monday afternoon?  Did you watch the eclipse? How many of you looked something like this around two o’clock? And you’re like staring up into the sky?

I remember the last time we had an eclipse. I was twelve years old, and of course the teachers at school told us, “You cannot look at the sun or you’ll fry a hole in your skull!”—and so that scared us enough. So, she had us make this shoebox thing where you had to poke a hole in one end and, if you’re on a budget and can’t afford four-hundred-dollar sunglasses like these, you know, you can do it, too. And you had to look at the other end of the shoebox and you just kind of saw the silhouette of the eclipse.

How many of you are tracking with me there? And so, I was so excited here, years later, that the technology had been developed where you could actually stare at the sun through these. And so, there I was, and lo and behold, I saw exactly what I saw when I was twelve, on the back of the shoebox.

Did you watch it? Here’s the question: not only did you watch it, but did you worship? Not worship the sun or the moon, but did you worship the Creator of what you were seeing? If you didn’t worship while you watched, you missed the epic significance of what was going on. And you weren’t the only one. That morning, I watched the news, and they had this physicist/futurist dude. I think his name was Michio Kaku—which is a great name for a physicist! And this is what he had to say about the eclipse. Watch this.

Michio Kaku [on video]: “First of all, this should be on everyone’s bucket list. (Newscaster: “Yeah!”) Okay? You just got to see it! Now, I’m a physicist. And this is about as close as a scientist can get to a spiritual experience! You feel like you’re at one with the universe! Cosmic forces – right there in your sunglasses! (Newscaster: I just got goosebumps!) It’s incredible! Well, we are witnessing a cosmic coincidence. The sun is four-hundred times farther away than the moon, but it’s also four-hundred times bigger than the moon, and the two numbers cancel exactly—and that’s why the moon is going to go right in front of the sun. This is a cosmic coincidence. And here we are, to witness something like that in your own backyard!”

Pastor Trent: That is “as close as a scientist can get to having a spiritual experience…” And yet, he didn’t have one! That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard! The Or…“The heavens [are declaring] the glory of God; Day after day [he utters] forth speech; [and] night after night [He] reveals knowledge.” [Psalm 19:1-2] Later on in that passage in Psalm chapter 19 [v. 4-5], it actually says this: “[He] has [made] a tent for the sun [and] it [comes out as] a bridegroom…” Do you remember that—that phenomenon that happens right before and right after totality? What do they call that? The diamond ring? What does a groom give to his bride? A diamond ring! God is disclosing Himself in the heavens. And God discloses Himself in our hearts, and He has disclosed Himself with what we have in our hands.

God wants to be known, and God wants to be worshipped! The only thing worse than a scientist gazing at creation and missing the epic significance that it has a Creator is someone who reads their Bible—especially the stories of the Old Testament—and fails to see Jesus. It’s all pointing to something greater. It’s all pointing us to something that is to come. That’s what we’ve been studying in this series called “Epic,” and today we are wrapping it up.

If you’re here for the first time, you came on a great day! The last part of a ten-part series – and I’m going to preach the whole series right now. Okay! So, buckle your seatbelts. I hope you don’t have lunch plans! Here’s the first point:

 

1. Encouragement comes from knowing the Bible’s one epic story. [12-16]

 

If there was a test at the end of this series, the first question on the test would be this: How many stories does the Bible have? The answer is: One story!  Second question on the test: Who’s the hero of every story? Jesus! You are going to pass this test, I can see. This is going great! Okay?

Now, we’re going to see this from the New Testament now, from a preacher who was a Bible fathead. He knew the stories of the Old Testament better than anybody in this room. He had studied them, he’d immersed himself in them, he had taught them. But he never got the point until Jesus revealed Himself to him. His name was Saul; it had a such an epic impact upon his life, it changed his name. Now we know him as Paul. He’s going to write half the New Testament, explaining the epic significance of the Old Testament, and we’re going to see the transcript of his first sermon right here, in Acts chapter 13.

Let me set it up before we’re going to dive into it right here. This is after the four biographies of Jesus. So, in our New Testament, it opens up with four biographies; Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. The fifth book in the New Testament is the book of Acts. It’s the history book of the New Testament. It tells about the creation and the growth of the early church, and the key figures and the key leaders that were involved in it. And it tells us that they didn’t stay in Jerusalem—they didn’t even stay in Israel. They got the gospel out to the hardest places! And the story we’re about to read doesn’t take place within the boundaries of Israel. We’re going to find out where it takes place.

Let’s begin reading in verse 13, Acts 13: “Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem…” Now, you have to get your characters right in the story, okay? So, this is Paul—whose previous name was Saul—and this is John, but that’s actually referring to John Mark, who wrote the gospel of Mark. And at this point in his life, we believe he was kind of a young believer, a little immature in his faith. We don’t know why he left Paul, but he probably shouldn’t have. Paul actually later says that “he deserted me!” So, maybe he got homesick. Maybe he realized there’s not going to be a fan club waiting for them when they got to the next destination, and so he went home.

Verse 14: “…but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia.” Here’s an interesting note: if you read back up in verse 1 of chapter 13, this whole story starts out in Antioch, and yet it says, “they went to Antioch.” What does that mean?

Here’s what I found out: there were sixteen different cities in the region called Antioch. Apparently there was a guy whose dad’s name was Antiochus. And he just thought every place ought to be named after him. So he named everyplace he went “Antioch.” Aren’t you glad you came to church? You can’t get this stuff on CBS news. I mean, this is stuff you have dig out, alright?

So, this particular Antioch was in Pisidia. It was far away from Jerusalem, but there was a Jewish congregation there and they had a synagogue. So, “On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.” Why did they go into the synagogue and why did they sit down? Answer: Because it was the Sabbath, and if you were Jewish—that’s what you did. Nobody woke up in a Jewish home and said, “You know, it’s the Sabbath; what do you think we ought to do today? Do you want to fix waffles—you want to go to synagogue? You want to go to the ballgame—you want to go to syna[gogue]?” Nobody asked that question.

Just like nobody at Harvest Bible chapel ever asked that question, right? “It’s Sunday; we’re going to church! That’s what we do!” So, if anybody in your home ever asks, “Are we going to church today?—you failed! Alright? It’s just—it’s not a question! “We’re going to do this!” And that’s what they did in that culture. And the reason was, they sincerely were trying to connect with the Lord, but again, they were having a hard time doing it, because they didn’t understand the stories in the Old Testament.

Notice what verse 15 says: “After…reading from the Law and the Prophets…” Now, anytime you see those, that phrase: “the Law and the Prophets,” that’s code language in the Bible for “the Old Testament.”  “The Law,” referring to the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy. And then “the Prophets.” There were major prophets and minor prophets; that’s usually the back half of the Old Testament, and it’s prophets like Daniel and prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah. And we looked a little bit at Malachi last week. All these prophets.

So, I want you to imagine you’re a Jew in first-century Israel—or Antioch—and you go to synagogue and you sit down. And the same thing happens today that happened every Sabbath: some dude stands up, whips out the Old Testament and reads to you the Law – the do’s and the don’ts of the Bible. And you realize pretty quick, “You know what? I do some things it tells me “don’t,” and I “don’t” some things that it tells me to do. And so, I wonder what they’re going to read from next?” So, we have the Law.

Now let’s read from the Prophets. And the prophets are going to tell us what God does in judgment to the people who “do” when they aren’t supposed to and “don’t” when they should. Isn’t that an encouraging place to go to? They did that every Sabbath; they went and they read from the Law and the Prophets. Anybody excited about that? They did that for hundreds of years.

And so, it says, “The rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them [Paul and his companions], saying, ‘Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it…” because we’re looking into their face, and they look pretty discouraged!—because all we’ve been telling them is what they’re not supposed to do, and what they are supposed to do—and they’re not doing it.”

And then, to encourage them further, we read about the judgment they will incur for what they’re doing in breaking God’s law. So he says, “Guys, if you think you can encourage these people, why don’t you get up and say it?” Now, let me just tell you—that is like saying “sic ‘em” to a dog, if you are a preacher. Okay? “If you have any word of encouragement, then say it!”

And “So Paul,” (verse 16), “stood up….” Can’t you just see him taking the pulpit?  “…And motioning with his hand…” I love it when the Bible gives us details! Now, it doesn’t tell us exactly what motion he made with his hands. It might have been this, okay? Or it might…what I think it was, was this, [he makes a blowing sound]. I think he was coming after those guys to let them know: “There is a way to be encouraged if you understand the epic significance of the Law and the epic significance of the Prophets.” These guys didn’t have it! It was like Mr. Physicist dude, looking at the eclipse thinking, “This is almost spiritual—but not! This is a cosmic—it’s almost like connecting with the universe—but there’s a disconnect.”

So Paul’s going to connect them to the One who is the Hero of the story! And so he begins his message. First of all he says, “Men of Israel…” Who is that? The “men of Israel” is simply the descendants of Abraham—the Jewish people, the Hebrew people. And so, there was a collection of Jews there. But then, notice this, there was a second group of people in the synagogue. He identifies them as, men “who fear God…” Who were those people? Those are our people!

Now, I’m looking around the room here, and there’s probably a few here that have some Hebrew heritage and Jewish blood in you. And there may even be somebody here who would say, “I’m a Jew.” But, for the most of us, we’re not descendants of Abraham, but I hope we can say we are “men who fear God.” And why were they there? It’s because they could not deny the epic significance of the history of Israel. The fact that they still exist as a nation, the fact that they still existed as a people group, was an evidence that God was keeping His promise—by keeping Israel alive at this time. And so, they both gathered together. Paul addresses them, “men of Israel, people who fear God.”

And this is what he says, verse 17: “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out…” If you’d like a little summary of the Bible, you can do it in a few words: “God led them out!” What’s he referring to? He’s going way back to the first few pages of the Bible, starting with their father, Father Abraham. And do you remember, when we started this series we started in Genesis chapter 12 with the story of Father Abraham. God called him out of the place he was living, and He told him to go to a very specific place, and He gave him a four-fold promise.

He promised to bless him, He promised to make him a great nation, and He promised to give him a promised land. And He promised that, through him, all the nations of the world would be blessed. That’s how the whole story begins in Genesis chapter 12. As a matter of fact, in the New Testament we’re told that, in that moment, God was giving Abraham the gospel. Notice it says in the Scripture [Galatians 3:8-9, ESV], “…preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” And so, he goes on, going through the Old Testament stories.

And finally he says [v 17], “he led them out…”  We looked at that story. Do you remember The Path of the Promise, when the nation of Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for four-hundred years? And to get them out, what did God do for them? God sent an angel that was going to send judgment on Egypt, but if Abraham’s people—if the people of Israel—would kill a lamb and take the blood of that lamb and put it over the doorpost and on each side, the people could be led out—but only under the blood. And so, in the first few pages of the Bible, we are being introduced to the blood of the Lamb.

I did a little painting yesterday; I painted our front door. And there were times I was painting up here, but after a while I looked down, and I had paint down there. That’s what happens when you paint up here. So, here are these men of Israel dipping their paintbrushes in—or hyssop branches, actually, is what it was—in the blood and putting it up here. Don’t you think they dropped some down here?–and on each side. And what do we see? We see a cross! Do you understand the epic significance of the Old Testament stories? What Paul is doing is taking them back to see what was meant to be “previews of coming attractions” in Jesus!

He finally gets to verse 18 and says, “And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.” He put up with them. How many of you are grateful that God puts up with you? Why does God put up with them? We look at that and it’s like, “Why would He even bother?” Why would He even bother putting up with us? Do you know why He puts up with us? Because He’s a Keeper of His promise. And He sanctifies us, and He uses trials and discipline to get us to a better place. And that’s what He was doing with the nation of Israel, and Paul was explaining this to them.

In verse 19, “After destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.” Now he’s in the book of Joshua. Joshua’s the sixth book of the Bible. And so he’s explaining the book of Joshua to them. Then in verse 20: “All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges…” Judges is the seventh book of the Bible, and “…until [he gave them] Samuel the prophet.” We have 1 and 2 Samuel in our Bibles! Paul is going verse-by-verse, book-by-book through the Old Testament. He’s preaching an epic series!

Now, do you understand that these are just the bulletin notes for that particular service? Okay? He’s probably now into his third hour of motioning with his hand and standing and unpacking the Old Testament promises. And so, what we have here is the outline of his “Epic” sermon series.

Verse 21: “[And] they asked for a king…” That was a bad plan! [Israel:] “We want a king!” [God:] “I’m your King!” [Israel:] “Aww, we want a, we want a king like all the other nations!” [God:] “I’m your King.” [Israel:] “Yeah, but You’re not a king like everybody…we want a K-i-i-i-n-n-g! All of our friends have kings—and we don’t have a king. All of our friends have an iPod and an iPad and an iPhone. I want an iPhone!” [Parent:] “It’ll destroy you!” [Kid:] I want it to destroy me! All of my friends are being destroyed by iPhones and so I want an iPhone!” I’m sorry, did I just regress into fatherhood for a minute? I’m sorry—let me go back to pastor mode here.

“We want a king!” “I’m your King.” “We still want a king!” “Alright, you can have a king.” So, “God gave them Saul…” and that went good for about six months. “…The son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when he had removed [Saul]…” Do you know why He had to remove Saul? Because Saul disobeyed God! And so He rejected Saul from being king and said, “Next!” And now we’re introduced to the next king: “He raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’”

Verse 23: “…[and] of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior…” Next word? That was less than enthusiastic! Do you want me to give you another run at that? “And [from] this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus!” That was the first time these people had heard His Name! Jesus! Paul was pointing to Jesus as their promised Messiah. What are the next three words of the verse? “…as he promised.” God keeps His promise! Jesus is the Promise Keeper, and Paul is helping them to understand: “Everything you’ve been reading for hundreds of years in the synagogue—the Law, the Prophets and everything in-between—is all pointing to Jesus!

 

2. Every epic story of the Bible is the unfolding story of Jesus.

 

Do you remember what God told Abraham to do? He told him to take his son, Isaac, and to slaughter him. Do you remember this? We called this The Price of the Promise. And so Abraham obeys God—and he doesn’t understand—but he goes to the very specific place that God told him to go: Moriah.

And the Bible tells us that Isaac carried the wood that would be the altar of his own execution, and that Abraham bound his son, and Isaac laid on the altar. And I believe he had to do that voluntarily, because I think that Isaac could have run away from a-hundred-and-eleven-year-old Abraham. Or taken him out, for that matter! And so, he voluntarily lays his life down under the knife of his father. And we read this in Genesis 22—twenty-two chapters into the Bible! And we, in our human minds, the Bible is forcing us to grapple with the pain and the injustice of a father watching his son die under his own hand.

The Bible says [Genesis 22:2], ““Take your son, your only son…whom you love…” and sacrifice him! Isaac carries the wood. One day Jesus would carry the wood. Do you know where this whole scene took place? On the exact spot where Jesus carried the wood and laid His life down—on the cross! And Abraham, just as he was about to take the life of his son, God interrupts him and says, “Turn around!” And he turns around, and he sees [v 13], “…a ram, caught in [the] thicket.”  God has provided for Himself the Lamb! Abraham takes the lamb, pushes Isaac out of the way. Instead of killing his son, Isaac, he sacrifices the ram in the place of Isaac.

And, from Genesis chapter 22, we are reading the preview of coming attractions – that one day a Heavenly Father would take His Son, His only Son Whom He loved, and He would allow Him to be the sacrifice in our place, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Another episode in Abraham’s life we looked at. We said, “This is when The Promise Prayed.” Abraham noticed the city of Sodom, and God says, “I’m going to wipe out the city of Sodom.” And Abraham starts to bargain with God—like he’s at a flea market! He’s, “Wait, wait, wait, wait God! God, God, wait, wait! Would you spare the city if I could find fifty righteous men?” And God said, “I would!” “Wait, wait. Fifty. How about forty-five?” [God:] “Okay!” [Abraham:] “Uh…” he’s looking around, he’s like, “I don’t think I can find forty-five. How about forty?” [God:] “Okay.” Thirty, twenty, ten. And God says, “Okay, if you can find ten righteous men, I will pardon the city.” And the story stops, and we’re wondering…what we would expect to see is, why wouldn’t he go, like, “Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two. One.” But he doesn’t, and I think it’s because he knew he couldn’t find one. And so judgment came. But, notice the principle that was laid out for us in Genesis 18 in this conversation with Abraham.

We are seeing the doctrine of imputation. It goes like this: God agrees to pardon the wicked many on behalf of the righteous one. If we could only find one. And all through the Old Testament, we’re forced, like: “Where is He? Where is the righteous One that will be the Savior of the world!” And Paul is saying, “It’s Jesus! He is the Righteous One!”

Even the story of David and Goliath…The armies of Israel were on one side of the valley—on one hillside—on the other hillside were the armies of the Philistines. And the Philistines sent out their best warrior—his name was Goliath. And he curses the armies of the Living God. And what is Saul doing? Saul’s like, “I ain’t fighting him! Looks like a cage match—and I am not Floyd Mayweather; I’m not getting’ in there!” And so, he’s standing back in fear—along with everybody else in the army, and finally this little shepherd boy, David, shows up and says, “I’ll go fight him!”

He walks out there, picks up a rock, slings it, knocks him in the head—the giant falls down—picks up his sword, cuts his head off! And then looks back at everybody like, “What are you all doing on the mountainside?” And what are we forced to grapple with? A representative champion has defeated the only enemy that can kill them. And after that enemy is defeated, they race off the mountainside and chase the rest of their enemies away! Paul is saying, “Don’t you see fellas! The only enemy that can kill us is sin and death, and we have a representative Champion; One who is from the line of David who has gone and fought and won the battle on our behalf! He has fought the war for us, He has fought the war as us,” and as a result, every epic story is the story of Jesus, our representative Champion!

A couple of weeks ago, Andrea and I were with some friends and we were having dinner, and our friends told us that they were inviting some of their friends to have dinner with us. And we didn’t know these people, but they said, “You’ll enjoy them. They’re a lot of fun!” They were an older couple, in their—probably in their seventies at this point—but they told us, “They’re Jewish—and we’ve been sharing the gospel with them for years—so they won’t be intimidated at all by the fact that there’s a pastor at the table.” I’m like, “Well, that’s comforting. I’m sure we’ll have a wonderful conversation – the fact that you’ve revealed my identity, even before I get to stick my foot in my mouth.”

So, but, they were a wonderful couple, and as we began to talk and everything, I was just kind of listening and letting conversation happen, but then, finally, I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I asked them, I said, “Have you ever been to Israel?” Because I just went to Israel in April and it was so life changing, and I wanted to let them know how much that had meant to me. And, of course, they’d been to Israel several times, and then I went on to explain what the impact was of that. And the fact that, I was—you know—taking my church through this Epic series, the unfolding stories of the Hebrew faith and the Hebrew people.

And here I was having this wonderful conversation with some descendants of Abraham, and I just told them that, “As Christians, we read the Bible differently than you guys read the Bible. Because we see Jesus as the hero of every story!” And I told them…I went through the whole Epic series—all nine previous sermons–for fourteen hours! It was wonderful! And…No, not really, but you know, really, what was wonderful is, the woman especially, was spellbound!

I said, “Do you ever go to synagogue?” [in a gravelly voice:] “Oh, synagogue! We go to synagogue all the time! It’s so boring! [Trent;] “What do they do there?” [Lady:] “They open the Law and the Prophets, and they read the Law and the Prophets. Everybody’s got it memorized!” She hated it! Why? Because she didn’t understand; Every epic story in the Bible is the unfolding story of Jesus!

And as I told her those things, I think some things were connecting. I think God may be prying her heart open a little bit. You can pray for this couple. But if you, this morning, have been so familiar—raised in church, hearing these stories—and have never connected the dots, and if you thought that somehow those were moral stories to inspire your obedience, you missed it! And you’re probably bored to tears in church, if that’s the way you read your Bible. Be encouraged by the fact that it’s Jesus who is the hero of the story!

Look down in verse 26—because Paul doesn’t just explain the Scripture—that’s a boring preacher (everybody say, “That’s a boring preacher!”). He applies the Scripture! And so he starts to apply it, and he says, “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God…” So, Jews and Gentiles – “to us has been sent the message of…salvation.” It’s not just about what happened hundreds of years ago; it is about what God wants to do among us. We have the message of salvation!

Verse 27, “For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which [they] read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found…no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.” Do you see that? “All that was written of Him.” What that’s referring to? That is referring to the Law and the Prophets and everything that was written in the Old Testament, that has made up this Epic series. All of those stories were telling us what would happen to Him.

He would carry the wood to the place of His own execution; He would be the Lamb of God who would spill His blood, so we could get out of slavery under the blood. He would be our representative Champion. As David fought and killed Goliath, Jesus would fight and kill sin and death so that our victory is won in Him. All of those were things that were written of Him. And so, verse 29 closes: “They took him [off] the tree and [they] laid him in a tomb.” And that’s all. End of Bible, end of story. Promise dead.

Oh, do you have a verse 30, too? Oh, I do too! Let’s read that. “But God raised him from the dead[!]” We have a living Savior! He’s alive! And they saw Him! (Verse 31) “And for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. [v 32] And we bring you the good news…” The Bible is not a book of good advice to be followed. The Bible is a book of good news to be believed. The good advice is good, if you could actually follow it. But you don’t have the power to follow it until you believe the good news.

And so, he’s offering “the good news that…God promised [there’s our word!] to the fathers, [and] this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus…”  So, not only is every epic story in the Bible the unfolding story of Jesus,

 

3. Every epic story in the Bible is telling my story.

 

Look over at verse 38. He says, “Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.” This is a story about you. This is a story about your sin. This is a story about your forgiveness. Verse 39, “…[that] by him everyone who believes is freed…” If you have the NIV, it says “justified.” That’s a better word. “Everyone who believes is justified [declared righteous] from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”

Do you understand? When you read the story, you’re reading your story. It’s not just for others; it’s for you. When you read the story of Abraham, God is calling you the way that He’s called Abraham by His grace. Even though I’m under a curse, God wants to bless me. Abraham was counted righteous—justified—by faith, and that is exactly what God offers to us. “…In Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit…” How? “[by] faith!” [Galatians 3:14] You are justified by faith, not by obeying the Law. And the Scripture tells us, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” [Galatians 3:29] So, when I read the story of Abraham and Isaac, I see myself in the story. I’m Isaac. I deserve to die! And yet, God provided a Lamb to die so I wouldn’t have to!

When I read the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, I understand—I am a citizen of Sodom. I am worthy of fire and brimstone being poured down on me in judgment. Why? Because I have committed the sins of Sodom. Do you know what the sin of Sodom is? They had a famous sin, didn’t they? Do you know what it was? Ezekiel 16 tells us what the sin of Sodom was. (Of course, you already know what it was, right?) The first thing is this: the Bible says they were arrogant [verse 49]; that was their first sin. You say, “Yeah, but I know that there’s…didn’t they commit like some other sin?”

Yeah. The second sin that’s listed there in Ezekiel is that they had excess of food. “But, that’s not the sin that I was thinking of.” Yeah, the next one was, they had an abundance of idleness—that’s the third sin. And they…“Yeah, but isn’t there like, isn’t there like a really famous sin for Sodom?” Yeah, they had a lack of compassion for the poor, Ezekiel says. And the fifth one was the abomination of unbridled sexuality. So way down the list in priority.

When I read that story, have I been arrogant? Excess of food? Abundance of idleness? And a lack of compassion for the poor? Sure have. I deserve the same judgment. That’s my sin. And without a Man who will be my substitute, to pay the price of the promise, without the forgiveness of sin, I will never have an opportunity to spend an eternity with Christ in Heaven. I need a substitute. I need the Passover Lamb to get me out of slavery, to free me.

The story of the Bible is not just about forgiveness. It’s about freedom! God offers not only forgiveness of sin, but freedom from sin. He wants to change me. He wants to give me a new Master. Freedom is not just doing whatever I want to do. Freedom is doing things that I’d never have the power or desire to do without a Savior! There’s no way that I can obey the law unless God sets me free from the disobedience that enslaves me to the appetites of my flesh. And so, in Christ, all of those promises are available to all who will believe.

Do you remember how I left you hanging last week? Do you remember how we got to the very end of the Old Testament? We were in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. And God used three leaders to get the people to return back to the land. Do you remember, Zerubbabel rebuilt the temple. And Ezra rebuilt the people, by teaching the Word. And Nehemiah rebuilt the wall. And yet, we’re left disappointed because the temple that was rebuilt didn’t have the same glory as the first temple. And the old men saw this second temple, and the Bible says they wept; they were so disappointed!

The book of Haggai even tells a further explanation about how disappointing it was that the manifest presence of God didn’t dwell in the second temple the way it did the first. And so, we’re left just so disappointed at the end of the Old Testament—and we’re waiting for more! Well, about four-hundred years of silence goes by; God doesn’t speak to the people; God doesn’t demonstrate His glory; God doesn’t manifest His presence.

And then…There were some shepherds that were watching over their flocks by night. And they heard a voice of an angel, and the angel says, “Do not fear. Glory to God in the highest!” And they announced that the glory is returning, and they say, “For unto you this day there is born in Bethlehem a Savior!” And they go and they see this little baby.

And John tells us that in that baby, named Jesus, dwelled the glory of God. Do you know what Jesus’s parents did just a few days after He was born? Luke chapter 2 tells us about it. They took baby Jesus to dedicate Him to the Lord. Where did they take Him? They took Him to the temple. And for the first time in 400 years, the manifest presence of God—the glory of God in Jesus Christ!—entered the temple.

And Jesus kept going to the temple as He grew up. And then as an adult He went one day, and He was looking around and He’s like, “You know, you’re not going to need this much longer.” As a matter of fact, He said, it was going to be destroyed—and sure enough, it was. And do you know why they didn’t need that anymore? Because no longer would the meeting place between God and man be a building in Jerusalem. It would be in a Person named Jesus Christ! And if you want to experience the manifest presence of God—the glory of God—you’re not going to get it by looking at the eclipse. You’re going to get it by looking at the face of Jesus Christ—in whom the glory of God dwells bodily. That is the epic significance of the promise. Jesus is the Promise Keeper!

But before you can know Him, you have to see yourself as a citizen of Sodom. Before you can see Him, you must confess: “I am a sinner in need of forgiveness of sin. I need to be set free of the things that are enslaving me.” And the Bible promises, everyone who believes will be freed from everything that has kept you bound in sin.

Did you hear the news coming out of Texas this week? There’s a hurricane—did you see that? Very sad. The mayor of one of the cities in that area, Rockport – he made this statement on Friday. He said, “If you choose not to evacuate, please write your Social Security number on your arm, so that when we recover your body, we’ll be able to identify you.” In other words, “If you choose not to heed the warning, you’re going to die!” That’s the way Paul ends his sermon. Look at verse 40: “Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets [would] come about: ‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your day…a work that you will not believe, even if one tells…you.’” How often have you been told the story of Jesus? Have you heeded the warning? Have you escaped the judgment of God by the Savior who forgives sin?

Let me ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes. For every one of us, whether this is the first time you’ve heard that message—or you’ve heard that message over and over and over—we need a Savior! Every time we hear the gospel, it’s an opportunity for us to repent and believe the gospel—to wrap our lives around Jesus Christ.

Sin deceives us into thinking, “We’re okay!” Sin deceives us into thinking, “We can do this on our own.” Sin deceives us into thinking, “Because I know not to sin, I must not sin. Because I know about forgiveness, I must be forgiven.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. Every time we hear the gospel, it’s an opportunity to respond in faith, to reaffirm that Jesus is Savior, to live my life free from that which enslaves me.

Would you open your heart to the Lord right now? Whatever He said to you, would you respond in faith? You may need to confess sin. You may need to make a public profession of faith. At the end of the service, our pastors will be here to receive you. If you need to come and profess faith in Christ, present yourself as a candidate for baptism. We’re going to sing our response to Christ in just a moment; we’re going to erupt in praise, understanding that He is the Promise Keeper. Before we do that, let me pray for you.

Father, today we are really in awe that You would put up with us. And, God, we’ve been encouraged by Your Word today. Lord, You’ve given us so much revelation that so many people don’t have. I pray that all of that would inspire us to live by faith, to obey, to live a life pleasing to you. And, God, would You receive our worship right now? Set us free from those things that hold us back from being a reflection of Your glory. We pray it in Jesus’ Name, amen!

 

SLW