[Music]
grab your bibles and here we go the last
chapter of second corinthians chapter 13
and this morning we'll be looking at
verses one through 8 and by god's grace
next week we will complete the book
and we're looking at a message entitled
today is jesus christ in you
is jesus christ
in you and that's the thrust of the
apostle
as he begins now very very directly very
poignantly
he is ending the epistle
very different than how he started it
the upfront chapters the first 10
chapters
of this epistle are very very
warm-hearted in the sense that he's
reaching out to them as a loving father
he's warning them he's giving them
instruction and he is kindly but firmly
uh
sharing with them and now from chapters
10 to 13
he is more like taking his gloves off as
it were or as a father figure uh he is
sitting them down and he's got his
finger in their nose and he's giving
them some strong exhortation
some very vital information because why
he is soon to visit them
he is soon to physically arrive
and he wants the issues of their lives
that they've been
disobedient in dealing with handled
before he gets there because he wants
his visit to be a joyous visit a happy
time
when he arrives
but the title
is the thrust of this teaching of the
apostle is jesus christ in you now don't
raise your hand when i ask that question
is he in you
it's easy for us to assume
that if we grew up in a religious
setting or we had a bible in our living
room that we must be a christian and
that jesus christ must be in us
you can be a theologian this morning and
you can be able to quote bible verses
and teach perfectly
studies on all the books of the bible
but it doesn't mean that jesus christ is
in you
you can talk to somebody all about
know what it what it is like in a
certain city or a certain place or a
certain location
they may be able to give you all of the
stats and give you a briefing on the
elevation and topography and population
of a certain place or whatever and yet
they've never been there
studying listen studying something
doesn't necessarily mean you have it
quoting bible doesn't necessarily mean
it's at work in your life
knowing who jesus christ is
doesn't necessarily mean you have him in
you
you can be theologically brilliant
but completely miss the indwelling
of the lordship of jesus christ the very
person of jesus christ i'm reminded you
know the cults listen the ancient cults
and religions
had gods or a god that they worshipped
and
they did everything they could to get
that god to be a bigger part of their
lives so much so listen church they
would wear those gods or a god around
their neck
they had trinkets i've been to the
greek world i've been to corinth i've
been to athens i've been to other greek
cities and if you've been there they
still like
of old they have vendors on the streets
and they would sell you and they do it
today you can go to greece and they will
sell you idols of
atlantis or
titan or
diana
or zeus you can you can buy
idols and wear them around your neck
of athena
all of these different gods
why why do they do that because they
would go around and they would announce
to the world i identify with this god
they would look they would hold it up
they would kiss it did you know that
this is ancient practice of the cults
and of the religions of the world
they couldn't get any closer than tying
an idol around their neck
jesus says the bible says that god
desires to dwell
in you
christianity is no religion don't let
anybody say that to you well you know
all religions are the same no they're
not they may be but not christianity
it's not a religion religion is man's
attempt to kiss an idol it's man's
attempt to reach out to something it's
man's attempt to tie themselves with a
leather strap around their god
christianity comes down out of heaven
christianity is god's visitation to
mankind it's god saying to us i want to
live in your life i want to dwell within
you i want to make you the temple of my
holy spirit think of it
it's absolutely radical nobody can say
this but the christian
growing up my mom it's funny you talk
about idols now this may offend some of
you i don't mean to i mean it in love
but growing up i remembered as a kid i
grew up in a very non-religious home but
i
remembered this morning that my mom on
the dashboard of her car my mom had a
statue of the virgin mary
on the dashboard
is that what it's called dashboard when
i was little was called the dashboard
what's it called today i have no idea
and
i always thought it was funny because
she would sometimes talk to it like you
know keep us safe or whatever i didn't
get that part okay whatever
but listen
as we're driving
i remember at some point in time her
announcing well that's there for our
protection
there's a big problem with that
number one it's plastic
she eventually broke off by the way at
the ankles
that's not a good sign
another thing is this
the car is going this way but she was
facing us
how could she possibly see where we're
going
if she's there to protect us then she's
looking the wrong way
on the ancient ships they would put
an icon an image on the bow of an
ancient ship of the gods of which the
captain dedicated the ship to did you
know that
uh this is by the way this is recorded
in the book of acts there's scripture
that tells us in the book of acts that
paul was on a ship
that had the twin sons of zeus
as a figurehead why they were to be
looking ahead so the ship wouldn't crash
or that it would find its way into ports
ladies and gentlemen church family you
do not have that kind of god
you have a god who dwells in you
and it makes all the difference in the
entire world this is the amazing
glorious thing about christianity
our god has come to reside in us by way
of introduction jesus said in john 16
verse 7
nevertheless i tell you the truth it is
to your advantage that i go away for
number one if i do not go away the
helper that is the holy spirit will not
come to you but if i depart i will send
him to you listen to this john 14 16 and
i will pray to the father and he will
give you another helper that he may
abide with you forever listen to this
the spirit of truth whom the world
cannot receive because it neither sees
him nor knows him but you know him for
he dwells with you and shall be in you
amazing isn't it i will not leave you
orphaned i will come to you
jesus resides in us by the person of the
holy spirit today
so second corinthians 13 1 announces to
us there
this is the third time coming or that
third time that i am coming to you and
now he quotes out of deuteronomy
by the mouth of two or three witnesses
every word shall be established that is
a
biblical law it is a truth and it's a
mild rebuke to the corinthians he warns
them verse two
i have told you before and foretell as
if i were present the second time
i tell you this is what he's saying and
now being absent i write to those who
have sinned before
and to all the rest that if i come again
i will not spare since you seek proof of
christ speaking in me
who is not weak toward you but mighty in
you verse 4
for though he was crucified in weakness
yet he lives by the power of god
for we also are weak in him but we shall
live
with him by the power of god toward you
verse 5 examine yourselves he says to
the corinthians as to whether you are in
the faith test yourselves
do you not know yourselves that christ
is what church
in you
unless indeed you are disqualified but i
trust that you will know that we are not
disqualified you can see paul
point to himself into his ministry
companions now i pray to god that you do
no evil
not that we should appear
approved but that you should do what is
honorable though we may seem
disqualified
for we can do nothing against the truth
but for the truth church
jot this down as we get into this we're
going to go fast we have to go fast
because we must land at the punch line
of christ dwelling in you and when he
says examine yourself it means this you
are too as a christian don't raise your
hand but if this morning you say i'm a
christian jack i'm a christian
then you should be able with the same
understanding and boldness of effect
reach into yourself as it were and pull
up
proof
that christ is in you rather than
kissing the trinket the icon around your
neck that is tied to you the fact of the
matter is that you are in fact are tied
to christ and there's evidence that's
overwhelming that christ owns you that
you belong to him so don't let that
escape you today
this message today could literally
determine
your eternal destination
because you don't want to assume that
christ is in you the bible commands you
are to know that christ is in you is
jesus christ in you number one if that's
true then his power is in you his power
will be in you verses one through four
and the first thing we see is that it's
a power to engage
verses 1 and 2 there he says that he's
going to come to them and he says by the
mouth of two or three witnesses every
word shall be established he's quoting
deuteronomy 19 15. he goes to the old
testament
and there in deuteronomy 19 15 the bible
says one witness shall not rise up
against the man concerning any iniquity
or any sin
that he commits but rather meaning this
by the mouth of two or three witnesses
the matter shall be
established a very very a judicial
beautiful declaration boy do we need
this today people will accuse somebody
on the internet
and say something about someone's
character or whatever and there's no
recourse there's no defense and people
love to believe a lie more than the
truth
and so the bible announces you can't do
that christian you got to
listen to eyewitnesses and numerous
uh eyewitnesses at that so he's saying
first of all that as he comes to them
watch this he's setting them up i am
coming to you corinthians you have
criticized me you have attacked me
you've undermined the ministry that i
presented to you and you doubt my
calling in god well i got news when i
come i'm going to go directly to the
word of god from deuteronomy and i will
produce overwhelming witnesses to prove
the calling that is upon my life he
warns them the amazing thing is the
church at corinth was compromised by
their own choosing and i'm going to give
this to you up front are you guys all
with me
they were compromised by their actions
that was their choice the funny thing
was
do you remember how they became
christians in the first place they were
criticizing paul's ministry and and
wondering if he was for real
but
they came to christ through paul
they met jesus through paul
years earlier he had shared with them
the gospel
now they turn on him
he's going to use this against them or i
should say
for them
the very one who led them to christ now
builds a case against the one that
led them to salvation in the first place
think of that think of the
callousness of heart regarding that
the bible tells us in first timothy 5 19
do not receive an accusation against an
elder a leader of the church except from
two or three witnesses there you go
based on deuteronomy those who are
sinning among you rebuke them in the
presence of all that the rest also may
fear jesus said in matthew 18 15
regarding our engagements regarding the
health of the church god's power is in
us to engage
paul engages the corinthians
jesus tells us as christians matthew 18
5
18 15
moreover if your brother sins against
you don't raise your hand but have you
ever had a christian sin against you
watch what jesus says to do this is
mandated
go to him and tell him his fault between
you and him alone did you see that alone
don't tell anybody about it
don't facebook it
don't tweet it you're sinning
go to him alone did somebody hurt your
feelings that a christian brother or
sister upset you go to them alone tell
no one if he hears you you have gained
your brother
issue over no more talking about it
forgiven forgotten forgive it forget it
verse 16. but if he will not hear
take with you one or two more that by
the mouth of two or three witnesses
every word may be established
deuteronomy 19. and if he refuses to
hear them
tell it to the church the word means
don't blab it or post it the me the word
means take it to the church leadership
but if he refuses even to hear the
church
let him be to you listen he's speaking
to a christian who's sinning
let him that christian be likened unto
you as a heathen or a tax collector it
doesn't mean they are heathens it
doesn't mean they are working for the
irs it means that you're to treat them
like they work for the irs or that
they're heathens and what does that mean
he says for where there are two or three
verse 20 says where there are two or
three gathered together in my name
i am there in the midst of them now we
often misquote that verse by the way did
you know that oh where two or three are
gathered together let's pray it's sweet
that you say that we've all used that
verse that's not what the verse means
the verse is a verse used in church
discipline jesus says when you're going
to exercise church discipline
and you do it biblically you can be rest
assured of this thing i will be in the
midst of the activities regarding this
church discipline meaning jesus is
pastor
did you love this jesus is the pastor of
this church
i thought you were pastor jack no no no
read the fine print i'm the sheep dog
he is the shepherd
big difference jesus says regarding
church operations i'm in the midst
and as christians we are to be engaging
one another in love and that love
sometimes means a big hug it sometimes
means a handshake and it sometimes means
you know what brother or sister you
ought not to be talking like that or
doing those things or living like that
and i'm coming to you in love because
jesus says that we should engage one
another and and i want to issue this
because i love you and i haven't told
anybody about it and i'll pray for you
but man i'm just telling you because man
these are the last days the world's gone
nuts jesus could come back today and so
get right with the lord if that person
says you're an idiot stay out of my live
you an income poop
then you go get a godly brother or
sister and you deal with it he has given
us the power to engage the apostle is
now engaging the corinthians are you
with me
he is a holy godly man we need to be
holy and godly not only in the fun stuff
not on the stuff that's uh that's
favorable
but with humility
carefully and prayerfully we also need
to engage
in the things that are not so pleasant
we need this more
than ever
very serious thing secondly under this
point the power has been given to us
to convince
he says in verses three and four since
you seek a proof you had a circle of the
word proof evidence
if you seek um
confirmation of christ speaking in me
you guys want to
get some evidence that christ has been
speaking in me says the apostle
who by the way is not weak toward you
but mighty in you
that is god is at work in you
corinthians so think for a moment
for though he was crucified in weakness
that's jesus
yet he lives by the power of god what is
paul saying he's saying this don't be
fooled by judging things by human
understanding by the way you humanly
perceive things why did not jesus church
listen did not jesus look weak
the bible says in the book of isaiah
that he had no beauty or no form of
comeliness
that we should even desire him did you
know that does that kind of shock you
the isaiah the prophet prophesied that
the messiah would have no
physically attractive attributes when he
would come
that he was a very common looking person
if jesus were to walk by today
and board shorts and a t-shirt going to
the beach you would never know that he
was somebody special out of hollywood or
madison avenue by his beautiful
appearance
he was a very common looking person
not only was a common look common
looking person
the bible announces to us
that
in his life in his lifestyle
in his beatings
in his torture
in his crucifixion
jesus looked extremely weak
i want you to let that i want you to let
that settle in right now in your mind
for a second
consider what's going on in the world
right now
fear
intimidation
terror
loud
boisterous evil
the power of god
appears to humans as the exact opposite
quiet
obedient the bible says jesus was to the
point
of death
the death of the cross
he looked weak to an unbelieving world
when you look at jesus in your heart in
your mind's eye on the cross do you see
him as weak
as a believer i don't see him as weak
i see god on the cross
and all of his splendor
in all of his glory
i expect god to be seated upon his
throne that's wonderful
i don't expect god to be upon the throne
of his cross
crushing death
destroying my sins
god enthroned on the cross to the
unbeliever the preaching of the cross is
foolishness it's silly it's ignorant
it's a display of weakness why they're
unbelievers
but to the christian
there on that hill in calvary
god was paying my debt in all of his
glory and power a debt that i could
never pay
he was doing for me what not only i
could not do for me but not one bit of
all humanity put together could not do
for me
an angel couldn't die for me
a good man couldn't have died for me
it was god almighty dying for me at his
cross
and the decision for us today do we
embrace that weakness understanding that
it's just a veil that's just a veil
because beyond the veil of that apparent
weakness is the greatest glorious power
of god and i'm convinced
listen i would have to die at the stake
i would have to be beheaded i would have
to be mutilated i could not deny that i
may lie if i did it in a moment of
weakness like peter if i deny jesus it
would be that i would be sinning let me
say that now
if i were to ever be tortured to the
point of caving in and i say no no i i
give up i give up just know this in
advance on this day for on this pulpit
on this sunday i announced that i would
be sinning
against the truth because
even if i deny him he's faithful still
he is still god
he is still the lord he has still saved
me at the cross
and he died for me i'm convinced of it
i didn't talk myself into it
he has shown it to me to be true
he was crucified in weakness
looking weak but yet he lives by the
power of god the bible says that god the
holy spirit raised jesus
from the dead the bible says in john 10
17 therefore my father loves me because
i laid down my life that i may take it
up again
no one takes it from me jesus said i lay
my i lay it down of myself and i have
the power to lay it down and i have the
power to raise it up again this command
i received from my father
that is an awesome
declaration and and in light of this by
the way i want to just cut to the chase
on here there's nothing
like the bible in all of the world you
know that there's nothing like it there
there's no other
historically accurate book there's no
other scientifically consistent book
there's no
culturally relevant book there's no
archaeologically dependable book humanly
there's no more beneficial book than the
bible but let's be honest as accurate as
it is in all those areas you remove the
resurrection from jesus christ out of
the bible you disprove that and you've
destroyed the bible
everything that is perfect about the
bible hinges on one thing
did jesus christ rise from the dead
if he didn't rise from the dead then the
bible is over you can burn it you can
use it for a
an anchor to your
boat it's done
as accurate as is in all of those areas
it's human genius
but if jesus did rise from the dead as
it said he would and as it says he did
then everything changes
in romans 1 16 the bible says for i am
not ashamed of the gospel of christ says
paul to the romans it is the power of
god to salvation
for everyone who believes for the jew
first and also for the greek or for the
chinohilians
really
he was crucified in weakness but he
lives jesus rose again from the dead
thirdly unto this point that jesus
christ is in you that means his power is
in you and that power is in us to endure
he says there verse 4 for we
also are weak in him
think of it but we shall live with him
by the power of god toward you
this is an awesome statement church look
at us look at you turn to the person
next to you just look at them for a
second go ahead they won't bite look
you didn't know they were sitting there
did you
look at them the bible here paul says
and i agree with them paul says look at
us are we not weak
you want to talk about jesus he looked
weak on the cross but he was raised by
the power of god from the grave well why
don't you look at yourselves he says
corinthians look at you
corinthians look at me
genohilians look at us
in all of your glory and splendor this
morning in beauty you look fantastic you
look marvelous
the truth is you're weak
i see some weight lifters out here this
morning
and that's okay the bible says that
physical exercise profits a little
that's okay
it's true it does say that
but spiritual strengths the the greats
thing to have but uh
look as strong as you i don't care you
bench 500 pounds you're weak
well yeah well how much can you bench
prep i wouldn't even attempt it because
i don't want to make you feel bad
feel bad for me as you're trying to get
the bar off my neck um
no listen it doesn't matter how strong
you are you're weak
you're weak because when it comes from
being raised from the dead and forgiven
of your sins you're weak
i'm weak
but
as a believer in christ oh everything
changes now i'm i'm strong you see
you're strong
oh i can bench 500 pounds yeah really
you're still a sinner
you may be a little 98 pound weekly but
your sins being forgiven you are mighty
in god
listen be careful how you judge things
and appear
to look at things and conclude
god's given us the power to endure
romans 8 11 says but if the spirit of
him who raised jesus from the dead
listen to this
dwells in you
is jesus christ in you and is the holy
spirit in you he who raised christ from
the dead will also give life to your
mortal bodies through his spirit who
dwells in you he's speaking about the
moment of resurrection
that is awesome
do you know that the holy spirit lives
in you
first corinthians 1 18
for the message of the cross is
foolishness to those who are perishing
but to us who are being saved it is the
power of god point two we look at this
verses five to six is that is jesus
christ in you then his faith let me
explain this
then his faith is in you
obviously what i do not mean
is
faith that jesus had faith jesus didn't
have to necessarily exercise faith like
we do
okay even in his humanity
think of this he did and he didn't it's
a complicated question and arguments
when i say his faith i'm talking about
the faith look i'm talking about the
faith that is found from genesis to
revelation in his word to us
this is what
he has given
psalm 40 hebrews
tells us as well that
in the volume of the book it is written
of me
the bible is about the messiah
the christ who is the christ
jesus of nazareth
jesus
and so
when we
talk about
his faith we're talking about the faith
that he requires of us
to believe
and this is very serious what he
announces here church don't miss this
this is a tremendous
tremendous argument look at verse five
we're talking about real faith
real faith church market is experiential
please write this down
experiential now look you guys
um i might get some flack from people
who are not listening
to what i'm about to say
i personally believe
i i have a tendency i want to be
doctrinally accurate in all ways
but we can make a mistake by being so
careful about it about being doctrinally
accurate that we become
in a sense so careful
that we
what's the old saying you become so
right that you become dead right now let
me explain that
when i use this term experiential i
believe listen if jesus christ is in you
then his faith that his requires of you
to be a believer is a doctrinally
accurate faith someone say amen that's
true
not false doctrine true doctrine if
that's true then you're gonna have real
faith operating in your life
i believe because my god lives he rose
again from the grave and those who were
there that sunday morning experienced
the joys of his resurrection
they experienced the angelic
manifestations taking place they
experienced on the day of pentecost the
coming of the holy spirit are you with
me
i do not believe that you can be a
christian and not have an experiential
relationship with god i don't believe
that's possible how can the god of the
universe be indwelling in your life and
you don't know it
are you kidding me
no it's experiential now pastor be
careful now because you can get into
strange and goofy areas i'm not talking
about being goofy and strange
i'm talking about the fact of the
reality that the bible says that those
who have salvation know it
the bible says these things and we'll
read it in a moment first john these
things have been written that you might
know you have eternal life
if i listen church if i didn't know for
sure
regarding my eternal salvation i would
resign this post today i'd go back into
the world to make money
literally
if i'm up here because i'm trying to
sell something or it makes me feel good
or i have some perverse hunger to stand
in front of people then i'm a lunatic at
best
but if jesus christ rose again from the
grave and if he changed my life these
last 37 and a half years
then i would proclaim today that neither
death nor life nor any principality or
power things created things from heaven
or earth could
take that away from me
if you can't experience god in your life
and be able to say that the christian
faith
is experiential if you can't say that
then i suggest you leave today while you
still have time to get to the bars
before they close
and drink yourself into oblivion and
maybe i'll be right next to you if this
ain't true
we would definitely proclaim eat drink
and be merry for tomorrow we die
but if it's true
you see
it changes everything
and so have you experienced him
the word examine yourself here is
exactly based on that word examine
yourself as to whether you are in the
faith this word means this the acid test
it's what the assayer does at the gold
office where they pour acid on precious
metals to see if it can take the test
the acid test we would use it the word
means to
have the desire to endeavor or to
continue on it means to be scrutinized
and to go about it means to look up
one side and down the other that's what
the corinthians were doing to paul by
the way they were criticizing him by
examining him paul's not afraid of it it
means to confirm the reality of a
statement church everyone you know
everyone i know should be able to look
at me look at you up one side and down
the other and still conclude we're
christians
there's no escaping this
the bible says examine yourselves
paul is telling them look you've been
examining me you've been criticizing me
you've been attacking me hey corinthians
i have a wild concept
you examine yourself you hear him do you
hear him
you're pointing your finger at me stop
the one who led you to christ you
discredited my ministry and my
apostleship
why don't you examine yourself
look in the mirror get alone with god
open the bible look inside yourself ask
yourself some questions are you for real
that's what he's saying have you
experienced christ
in psalm 139 the psalmist king david
mentions the same thing from psalm 139
23
he says search me oh god you ever hear
that of course he's inviting god in and
know my heart he's saying to god look
inside of me try me that's his word of
saying i'm asking you to discover or to
uncover anything in me and know my
anxieties is the word in hebrew it means
where am i not trusting you god things
that i worry about and i'm not
committing to you know my anxieties lord
and see if there's any wicked way in me
anything unpleasing that i'm tolerated
in my life and lead me in the way
everlasting amen oh man that's the
christian's life please listen you guys
listening i'm pumped up because you know
what this is serious stuff this is not
church today this is life
if today you're sitting and you go yeah
yeah whatever i'll catch you next week
look here's the thing you've got to know
if you're a christian or not well my
wife's a christian she's going and
you're not
well my grandmother's a christian god
bless her i'll see her in heaven i'll
send her your regards but are you going
to go
don't look to somebody else as i've said
before i say it again god has children
he has no grandchildren
no one comes in on your coattails
do you know him have you experienced him
examine yourself i can't do it for you
you cannot do it for me
the real christian with real faith gets
alone asks god questions am i for real
how am i doing god
can you send me a report card a progress
report
on our relationship jesus ladies and
gentlemen church family if you forget
everything i say
don't forget this
ask him
get alone
turn off the phone
throw out the ipad turn off the tv
get away from family and friends and
enemies in-laws and outlaws alike
get alone
and say oh god in heaven how are we
doing
if you are not doing that
then you are quite possibly being
deceived by the busyness of life
and the noise
see c.s lewis writes in screwtape
letters
keep it noisy
satan's the author of noise
the verse makes a grand assumption
number one you can know that you're
saved and going to heaven number two
you can at any time check your spiritual
progress number three you can make any
corrections necessary as needed god will
speak to you that's what that verse
implies
and he says as to whether you are in the
faith
three verses very quickly
here's proof to confirm
your relationship with god are you guys
ready
romans 8 9
but you are not in the flesh but in the
spirit if indeed the spirit of god
dwells in you
now if anyone does not have the spirit
of christ he is not his
romans 8 16 the spirit himself holy
spirit bears witness with our human
spirit the born again us
that we are
children of god
did you hear that
the holy spirit will speak to you and
say you're my child
this news is getting more important as
the days get worse ladies and
gentlemen if the ground opens up and
swallows up people if there's a war if
there's a biological attack if there's a
heart attack know this now
that the holy spirit has been speaking
to you saying you're my girl
or you're my boy
know it
first john 5 13 this is the verse i
paraphrased earlier i love this verse
first john 5 13. these things john says
i have written who believe in the name
of the son of god that you may know that
you have eternal
life don't let any religion or anyone
tell you you can't know until you're
dead that is a demonic satanic statement
the bible says you must know before you
die
if you have eternal life can you imagine
oh i'm dead uh now i need to find out
too late at the moment of death you
enter your new house
wherever it may be
the decision is to be made now and the
bible says you're to know it and that
you may continue to believe in the name
of the son of god
secondly under this point real faith is
transformative
circle the word test
test yourselves this is a command test
yourself corinthians test yourself
californians test yourself chinohilians
the word means to expose yourself to
allow yourself to be reviewed it's like
a to be reviewed on parade or a military
inspection
it means to present yourself for
examination
why would you do that you do that in
confidence because you've experienced a
transformation church i'm not going to
belabor this i'm going to give you one
verse and we're going to move on this is
an awesome verse though i must admit
second corinthians 5 17 says therefore
you can hear listen you can hear paul
therefore you can see little paul with
his little arms you can see him go like
this therefore
i'm telling you the truth if anyone is
in christ he's a new creation all things
have passed away
behold all things have become new
you can see that little bony body of his
in victory
saying therefore
therefore what everything about our
lives bc you know bc
yeah before christ
has been done away
god removes it
and he makes all things new in your life
you say yeah but i still have memories
about my horrific past good i'm glad me
too
the cool thing is now they don't control
me i use them
i use them to thank god i used them to
keep me on the straight and narrow
reminding me of how ridiculous it used
to be
don't be afraid of the past like that
put it where it belongs
don't let it be out front of your life
and still cloud your decisions no look
at the past and say hey i'm a new
creation in christ
everything has become new in jesus
and i take this memory and now it no
longer rules me i rule it and i say lord
you're awesome you deliver me from this
all these things that cause me pain
abuse rejection whatever it is thank you
god that all of those things exact
opposite of who you are
you've accepted me you have forgiven me
you want me you've taken good care of me
thank you god use them what the enemy
hands you turn it around
and
in christ shove it in his face
for sure
thirdly under this point
real faith is quantitative
that means you can measure it you can
touch it you can record it he says do
you not know yourselves
oh this is strong
come on corinthians don't you know
that jesus christ is in you
do you hear that
he's so strong this little man of great
faith
unless indeed you are disqualified see
they were accusing him they were
suggesting that he was disqualified
he's turning it on them
you little fault finder you
you little sin sniffer
i tell you what
why don't you look at yourself
and why don't you figure something out
don't you know
that christ is in you
unless uh
you're disqualified
unless you're not saved at all
he's not saying they lost their
salvation he's suggesting to them you
better know it because if you don't know
you ain't got it
you don't lose it
you never had it to begin with
oh man he's laying it down
verse six he's so kind to them but i
trust that you will know
that we are not disqualified this isn't
very i wish we had time see verse six
that part of verse six i could spend
forever on this this probably doesn't
surprise you but
he's so sweet even in his rebuke he's
saying but i trust that you will know
that we are not disqualified meaning
this you guys have been trying to
discredit my ministry and that i'm not
of god the fact of the matter is i led
you to christ so for your own comfort
hello be happy that i'm not disqualified
because if i'm disqualified then you
were never saved in the first place
isn't that great
this guy you could have been an attorney
this guy
so he says it's uh it's pretty evident
by your argument that
i'm not disqualified because that would
make you disqualified
brilliant
touch and feel
look and see this is for real
third and final point verses seven
through eight
is jesus christ in you my friend
listening today
if that's true then his work is in you
his work
is in you
verse 7 we learn this that his work is
at work to liberate
this is kind of amazing in light of
what's happened this week in the world
he says in verse seven now i pray to god
that you do know evil
not that we should appear
approved
he's making this statement listen
don't do evil corinthians
we on this end don't want to come off as
being correct
because we're wondering about your
salvation as you criticize us
if you live a life of evil doing evil
that's a sad thing don't do that
rather
let the work of god continue to liberate
your life don't say anything don't raise
your hand can you remember when god
began a work in your life
can you be do you remember a time listen
maybe you're here but maybe there's
people right now listening in or driving
somewhere or listening podcast or
whatever
and you can say today i remember when
jesus was at work in my life
and now he's not
why not
why not when he's the great liberator
he's the one that sets
us free
why are you back in the weeds
or in the weed
why are you
no longer drunk on the holy spirit but
drunk at the bar why are you no longer
in the arms of jesus but in the arms of
some other woman or some other man
what's going on with you
no matter where you're at this morning
can you say that god once did a work in
your life i suggest you run to him now
and be liberated
and be set free
because god is at work his work is at
work within you this week have you seen
what's going on you know thank god for
technology
i thank god for technology
it's how we deal with it and we had a
good report this week
there were people in britain british
citizens and there were americans
working for samaritan's purse for
franklin graham
who by technology god gave
they were injected with
the what antibodies or the
the serum to fight
ebola right
while others in the in africa are dying
or others who have gone back to their
countries that are poor
listen poor
poor countries cannot have technology
short life spans they don't have the
technology they don't have the money
they're dying because of ebola
but the wealthy nations with
ability to invest in technology develop
these amazing cures
and
what happened they were injected with
this
answer
to the
pollution to the poison yeah
and it defeated
the poison within them
and not only did they live but they are
now being introduced back to their
families back into the culture they get
to be normal people
what on earth happened they were
liberated
i can say today we are s i n
positive
and god
injects the gospel to a willing heart
and it goes through your system and it
begins to attack that poisonous evil
that is killing you there's no cure but
through god's technology that comes from
the blood of christ
the serum is injected and you are
forgiven
he liberates he liberates
secondly his work is at work to empower
us he says but that you should do what
is honorable though we may seem
disqualified you guys may look at us and
mock us and all but the bottom line is
this do the right thing corinthians i
love this statement church
paul is saying what i'm telling you is
so true you don't think we're right with
god so leave us alone do the right
thing see listen the fault finders can
never do that kind of stuff people fault
finders are picking on people picking on
people listen i'm going to let you in on
a secret you know any people in your
life that's legalistic they're telling
you how to live your christian life i
got news for you they'll never tell you
this you'll find out eventually i'll
tell you right now
there they tell you how to live your
life
and in secret they are the most filthy
they'll tell you you need to be more
like me and like us guys
and they are they are filthy in their
private life
it's inseparable
why
well because first of all there's a
level of arrogance with
self-justification
it breeds pride and legalism
that is manifested publicly by looking
down their nose at you and i
and it has a very very poisonous feature
it begins to get into the thinking of
i'm good i'm okay
i'm right with god
and but oh and obviously god knows that
we're all sinners but we're forgiven
and so i'll tell people how to live
their lives
and
i'll live mine
and what they do in secret
god knows
and one of the things that's manifested
is a life that is not honorable
to god
and for those who are walking in the
spirit
it's not honorable to them either
because they can see right through it
and we end here verse eight his work is
at work
in you
because christ is in you
to persuade
i'm sad that 51 minutes has gone by
because verse 8
is worthy to stand on its own for we can
do nothing
against the truth oh listen i couldn't
wait to get here
but for the
truth what does it mean
are you sitting down
paul says here's the bottom line
forget about me paul forget about you
corinthians forget about it all
here's the bottom line
bottom line is you can attack the truth
all you want it ain't going anywhere
you want to look at my life paul says to
them
i'm not the standard
oh and i'm gonna look at your life
corinthians you're not the standard
here's the truth if you like it or not
you can't do anything against the truth
it's god's eternal listen friends the
truth is eternal because it's from god
and you hear people
you hear learned educated people
spouting off their silliness do you know
how smart you are listen to you listen i
mean listen to me talk about you do you
know how smart you are
listen i encourage you go to youtube
and type in for example christopher
hitchens
or richard dawkins
listen to them
these are the guys that all the
unbelieving brains rally behind
they are the there's they are the
spokesperson
people of the intelligence of the world
they speak for us
as a christian i go and i'm dumb and
i'll go there and i'll click on and i'll
listen to them talk
and because you and i have bible truth
we listen to them you saw dawkins maybe
you saw richard dawkins this week talk
about how all
babies people who have are pregnant with
down syndrome babies
and and babies that aren't going to be
perfect need to abort those babies
this is this one of the smartest guys in
the world
and i read that i just go poor poor
silly man
do you know what i'm talking about they
make statements
and you the hundreds and billions and
quadzillion trillions of years ago
i laugh at that
laugh
and i'm not the only one the bible says
that he who sits in the heavens shall
laugh
because i want to shout back at dawkins
and say were you there
how do you know well a scientist told me
but i thought you're the smartest guy in
the world
how can you learn anything when you're
the smartest guy in the world
no you know what
you're so smart
as a christian because the holy spirit
is in you
if jesus christ is in you
the holy spirit listen is in you by
orders of jesus himself jesus said
you can close your bibles just please
let this wash over you like a wave
jesus said
my dear
dear disciples i must leave you now
i have to go
because if i do not go the holy spirit
cannot come
but if i go i will send him to you
for up until now he has been with you
and shall be in you
i go now but i will not leave you
orphaned
listen to the words
i
will
come
to you
wait i'm confused jack is jesus
in me or the holy spirit in me
he said that he was going to leave but
send the holy spirit the holy spirit
would be in me then he says i won't
leave you orphaned i'll be in you what's
the answer are you ready the answer is
yes
go home
and figure that one out
father thank you lord as a church
we want to say thank you hey church on
the count of three say thank you one two
three
thank you
lord for all you have done for us
in jesus name we pray
amen
[Music]
you