Revival 2010: Heart To Heart

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Operation Hope International

Randy Skeete

The Great Exchange

Let's go to Genesis chapter 18 reading from verse 23 and if you apply the principle of opposites you'll be amazed at how Bible truth will come alive.

We'll just look at a few examples of opposites in the Bible.

In Genesis 18 verse 13 the Bible says, and Abraham drew near and said, will thou also destroy the righteous with whom?

Abraham divides the world into 2 groups, righteous and wicked.

In Luke chapter 19, reading Verse 10, Jesus said, I am come or the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

In this world, a person is either lost or saved.

You can be lost with hope or you can be lost without hope.

While Noah was building the ark, he preached for 120 years, how many of the people listening to him entered the ark?

Now while he was preaching, they were lost, but they had a chance to enter the ark by accepting what Noah was saying, so they were lost with hope, but when God closed the door of the ark, they were in the same lost condition, but this time without hope.

So Jesus says the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

You're either righteous or you're wicked.

Christ's object lessons page 283 paragraph 3.

LMI tells us there are only 2 classes in the world today and only 2 classes will be recognized in the judgment those who violate God's law and those who obey it and that's it only 2 classes will be recognized in the judgment Those who violate God's law and those who obey it.

I'm saying that because the Bible, a book of opposites, a book of either or.

Let's see this either or principle in a very serious way.

Luke 11 we shall read from verse 24 and our subject is the great exchange.

Jesus says, when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest.

And finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house from whence I came out.

And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

Then goeth he and taketh to him 7 other spirits more wicked than himself and the last state of that man is worse than the first." Why was the last state of that man worse than the first?

When Jesus Christ cast out a demon or demons That space vacated by the demons must be filled by something else.

In the natural world we are told nature abhors a vacuum.

All space is either filled from a moral standpoint by the principles of Satan or by the principles of God.

Now when someone comes to Christ and Christ rebukes the evil spirit, Christ redeems that person, that person must now occupy that space with the things of God.

If that does not happen, Satan comes back with a double vengeance.

The great exchange that's my way of saying when God forgives what does he do?

When, oh someone said forgets that's part of it, when God forgives and I'm sure all of us have at 1 point or another said Lord forgive me.

When you pray that from your heart, if it's not from the heart, God does not respond.

When you and I say from the heart, God, I am sorry, forgive me, what does he do?

When someone comes to Christ, having lived a life of sin, is convicted by the truth, and that person is converted, what does God do?

All right someone says cleanse, all of that is correct.

David prayed, create in me a clean heart.

Why would someone say create in me a clean heart?

The only reason why David would pray that prayer was because his heart was unclean.

Because of his sin with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder and David was in that state of sin for a while until Nathan the prophet came, spoke the words of God, David was painfully and powerfully convicted and repented of his sin.

David's heart was unclean, David's heart was sinful, David's heart was corrupt.

That's why Eloi said he needed to be re-converted.

There's only 1 thing you're converted from and that is sin.

The power of sin, the dominance of sin, the slavery of sin and David prayed create in me A clean heart and renew right spirit within me.

That's David's way of saying I'm sorry, forgive me.

When you and I pray that prayer, God has 2 things to move.

He has to move the sin from you and me and he has to move something into our lives.

The Bible is a fairly simple book if you read it honestly, prayerfully and with dependence on God's Holy Spirit.

When God forgives, the word forgive, aphiemi, is to give for, is to take something away.

When God, in response to our prayer, forgive me, God moves something from me and moves something to me or in me.

What does God move into you when you pray the prayer of forgiveness?

Because righteousness and sin are opposites.

Righteousness is conformity with God's law.

I've told you all week, my purpose for this week was to magnify God's law and make it honorable by connecting it with Jesus Christ and the gospel.

Let me tell you quickly, if the law disappears, the gospel disappears.

If the law vanishes, the gospel vanishes.

The law, the gospel, and Christ are inseparable.

And so when God forgives, He removes the sin.

But what gives God the right to remove the sin?

It's not just your prayer and mine my prayer does not give God the right to do anything it provides an opportunity not the right are you following me it provides God an opportunity to do what he loves to do which is forgive but the basis on which God forgives is not my prayer the basis on which God forgives sin and converts the sinner and renews the heart is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Perfect obedience or the death of the offending person.

That's why the Bible says anyone who keeps the law will live in the law.

No 1 has kept the law for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse for it is written curses everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

The law says to us if you can keep me perfectly fine.

But no 1 can keep God's law perfectly if you sin once.

Even if you repent, you have still broken the law once.

And all your repentance cannot go back and make up for that violation.

If you and I sin just once, No amount of forgiveness, no amount of repentance can make up for that violation.

What the law wants is a perfection that has no flaws.

That's the only way something can be perfect.

The only person who has done that, tell me who he is.

The law has no problem with Christ his life is precisely what the law requires of you and me but we cannot give it now we've got to go to Christ and Christ's perfect perfect life Christ's perfect obedience when we surrender to him is attributed to us but I said there's something else the law wants and accepts that's death you and I sinned all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and the law says somebody has to die.

Not only to satisfy the demands of the law but the life given up must also be a life that not only pays the price of sin but also provides redemption, provides power to allow that person to live above sin.

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