GYC West 2014: I Am The Conflict Continues

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GYC West

The Cross & The Great Controversy

Winston Green

Content With Christ

Father, this life that we live, it's all about you.

So we pray this morning that you would grace us with your presence and bring our minds to the words in your scripture.

And Father, I pray that you'd be lifted up and that you could help me hide behind your cross.

Father, you know that I'm a weak vessel and you know that I'm imperfect, but you are strong and you're perfect.

And so I pray that you would help me convey that this morning.

And I ask this in the name of Jesus, amen.

So just to get a little idea of the book of Hebrews, we wanna look at the background of this sermon letter.

It's always good when you're studying the Bible to look at the background of the book.

It gives you context for what's happening.

And oftentimes you can find applications for your everyday life.

In fact, the main point that I'll be sharing with you this morning, part of it has come from just looking at the background of the book of Hebrews, so it's very valuable.

So this book was written around the time of the Jerusalem Council in 50 AD.

Now you have to understand, in the first century after Pentecost, there was a lot of debates going on about the ceremonial laws of Moses and whether people should be circumcised or not.

And more particularly, the Jewish Christians were the ones who were persecuting the Gentile Christians.

And they're saying, you have to keep the Mosaic laws in order to maintain your identity as a Christian.

And so they had to call this general conference session, you could say.

These issues were distracting them from who Christ was and what he was doing for them in the heavenly sanctuary.

And so what Paul does, as a pastor would do, is tactfully reorient them from what was in the past and shift their focus on the present.

And so we start in Hebrews 1, reading in verse 1 and 2, it says, Long ago and many times and in many ways, I'm reading from the ESV, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by who?

I mean, the Jews back then highly revered these fathers and the prophets who had spoken to the fathers back in the day.

So what he's doing is he's tactfully bringing them back to Christ And he doesn't want to give them the impression that the prophets or the fathers were not relevant because absolutely they were.

They were the ones in whom received the covenant promises, the covenant promises of Israel.

But he's saying that God in these last days, he's doing a bigger and better thing than he ever has, and he needs to convince them of it.

And so he goes on from verse 3 all the way to verse 4, and he, in this flowerly, flower, is that a word, flowerly?

Okay, flowerly language, explains Christ's identity.

And then he'll go on to explain Christ's work and it's beautiful because what Paul does is he pulls out his theological ammunition and he takes all of these texts that apply to the covenant promise made to David in 2nd Samuel 7 you can find that there.

Most of these texts are coming from the kingship Psalms, and you can find that in Psalms 89, Psalms 110, and they're remarkable promises.

What he's saying is they're fulfilled now.

And he needs them to understand that Christ is better than the angels.

I was in San Francisco a couple weeks ago, and I was in a Goodwill store.

And I was looking at these shoes, and this girl was trying these shoes behind me.

And she walked away, and there just so happened to be a board that was leaning up against the wall.

And as soon as she stepped away to try on the shoes, the board fell down.

And she's like, oh, thank you, Michael Archangel.

And I was like, whoa, I didn't expect someone to say that, you know, especially in San Francisco.

And it just hit me that even though this woman may have been religious, but there's a good chance that she wasn't religious.

Because a lot of times people love the idea of some angelic being directing their lives and protecting them every step of the way in their life.

And to the Jews, you'll find this in the Jewish apocryphal literature in the first century, they highly revered the angels.

They seen the angels as being a resemblance of God and they were actually his messengers to communicate his word.

And in chapter 2, he actually alludes to that.

And so he's saying, this son, who has fulfilled the covenant promises of David, he's way better than the angels.

The angels are pretty much helping out those who he wants salvation for.

In Hebrews 2, verse 1, after saying all of that, he sums it up and he says, therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard.

What does that mean if someone has to pay much more closer attention to something?

This isn't new stuff, brothers and sisters.

This was actually the functioning worldview of the Christians back in that day.

That a king would come and restore the kingdom of God, according to the promise made by David.

And everything that came with that, he's saying, Look into this.

Might have had a teacher in the classroom or maybe a boss at work tell you, hey, you're doing a good job with what you're doing, because you're actually studying or you're actually working.

I was a machinist probably 8 years ago up in Canada, Alberta, Canada.

And oftentimes, my mind would be wandering off, and I'd be daydreaming.

That job requires for you to basically cut metal so within a thousandth of an inch.

And so I needed to pay much more closer attention to what I was doing, because if I even went off a hair, I would eventually completely drift off and mess up what I was working on.

And this is what Paul is trying to bring to the attention to these Christians is that they're gonna start slowly and gradually drifting away from the original gospel message.

Kind of like a ship that's on course to his destination.

Do you know if you turn the wheel slightly, a degree or so, that eventually it's gonna veer off.

And you may not even know that it's veering off.

The same thing here, it says, therefore we must pay much more closer attention to this gospel message, to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

Paul then reminds them that this gospel message was proclaimed with power.

He tells them that the Holy Spirit was poured out, that God bore witness by signs and wonders, and this confirmed that what Jesus had done was legit, that this was a legit thing.

Now turn with me to verse 5, Hebrews 2 verse 5.

And this is really where he tells them, or at least makes it clear what he's been talking about.

To angels that God subjected the world to come.

Paul here is talking about the new heavens and the new earth.

He's saying that God didn't bring under control the inheritance of the new world to angels, but to Christ.

And so what he's saying is yes, Christ has done this great, great thing, but none of the angels had ever accomplished anything for you.

And what I want to bring to your attention is this, that in the first century, these Jewish Christians were being distracted.

And they weren't necessarily being distracted from things that were wrong.

They were talking about things that were biblical.

They were talking about what it meant to be a Christian.

But they were making the doctrines and the debate the object of their faith rather than Christ himself.

Paul addresses these issues in the New Testament.

Patrick Dillon

Redemption and Conflict

I really, really like that song because it captures the essence and, I believe, the uniqueness of the message that God has given to us as a people, and that we've gathered here together to understand better so that we can become better equipped to share it with others.

And I'm excited about this morning as well, because over the last couple of years I have been seeking to understand more and more how I can more thoroughly explain and present our message from the Bible And especially from the writings of Paul, I have a personal and particular affinity for Paul's writings.

And Paul is usually perceived as being the complicated New Testament writer.

And so 1 of my joys has been seeking to understand Paul in such a way that I can explain him and that others can understand his message in as simple a way as possible.

So that's what I'm going to attempt to do this morning.

And because that can be a difficult task, even Peter says that, we need the Holy Spirit to guide us in our understanding.

So I'm going to invite you to bow your heads with me as I kneel for prayer.

Father in Heaven, we thank you so much for this great privilege of being the people of the 1 true God.

And it is our prayer that as we put our minds to your word that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit.

God, we pray that you will please exalt our minds so that we can catch a glimpse of the reality that has been introduced through Christ Jesus.

I pray, Lord, for any soul that is struggling and is being defeated, that this message would nourish their minds and hearts and give them the strength they need to overcome.

I pray, Lord, for any soul that is burdened with guilt and who feels as though they cannot approach you because of their error, that you would please show them the mercy and forgiveness that you offer, and the reconciliation, the unity that you want between yourself and us.

And Father, I pray for clarity and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.

And I ask all these things in the name of Jesus.

1 of my favorite New Testament books, period, not just in Paul, is the book of Ephesians.

And 1 of the things that I love about the book of Ephesians is its broad scope.

If you sit down, and I encourage you to do this, perhaps this weekend, maybe sometime on Sabbath, if you sit down and you read through the book of Ephesians in 1 sitting, you'll quickly see that the doctrines and principles that have been so essential to Christianity are presented here but in a magnified light.

The gospel and the mission of the church are Paul's major burdens in the epistle of Ephesians.

But as you read it, you'll begin to see that he sets both of these principles and concepts within the framework of the Great Controversy.

And so as I began to read and understand the Gospel message and the Gospel mission, my perspective on the Church's message and mission have been greatly enhanced through the reading of the book of Ephesians.

Now, with Paul's letters, and this will be important for understanding how we approach the book, because there's only so much that we can actually go into and explain here.

He usually begins the first half or the first major section of his book with a theological explanation of what God has done in Christ.

And then after he establishes that, he moves into the practical component of what that means for us today.

And so there is always this transition between theology and practice.

And I know that the word theology and the idea of theology and trying to understand Paul's theology can oftentimes turn people away and turn people off.

So instead of thinking of it as theology, I want to encourage you to think of it as reality.

Because It is our understanding of reality that affects the way we live and what we do.

So when someone starts talking about theology, don't just think of it as theology.

Think, this person is talking about reality.

Hopefully, if their theology is coming from the Bible.

And our hope is that during this conference, that is where our theology will be coming from.

So what we're going to be dealing with this morning is a crucial passage in Paul's explanation of reality and what God has accomplished for us.

Before he gets to the argument that he lays out in chapter 2 that we'll be dealing with this morning, He first begins the first 14 verses of the book with a bird's eye view of redemption.

From eternity past to what God has done for us in the present and what we are longing for God to complete in the future.

And after that, he goes in to talk about how he's become personally acquainted with the church in Ephesus.

And how now that he's learned that they've been introduced to the gospel, he wants to deepen and further their understanding.

And in his prayer he says there's 2 major things that I am longing for you to understand.

And as we study this morning I ask that you will keep these 2 major things in your prayer and long for an understanding yourselves.

The first is that he wants the church to grasp the glory of the inheritance that he has prepared for them.

Because there's something about knowing what God is going to bring about for all of creation that inspires us with a sense of awe, adoration, worship, and service.

But the second thing that he wants the church to understand is the power that he has made available for each and every 1 of us.

And in fact, he goes to the most powerful event in all of world history to give us an example of what that power looks like.

And he says that God wants to give you the same kind of power that he worked out in Jesus when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand.

Above and beyond all principality and power.

Christ has received an authoritative position that is above any spiritual or secular force.

And that should provide us with encouragement and strength during our times of struggle, be it with spiritual or secular forces.

But then he goes further to say that God has granted Christ as head over all things to the church, which is His body.

So as this cosmic authority, as this cosmic head, you have been gifted with Him.

So that by union with Christ, you actually become an extension of the heavenly kingdom here on earth.

And so in chapter 2, he goes on to explain the essence of what that means.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, Ephesians 2 verse 1, in which you formally walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the children of disobedience." So Paul begins his setting for his gospel proclamation with the stark reality that all of humanity, Jews and Gentiles, have been captured by a spiritual foe.

Indeed, the world has been hijacked by Satan.

And this is important for us to understand for 2 reasons.

Number 1 is that Any gospel that does not contain this spiritual component of God rescuing us from some spiritual cosmic foe is not the New Testament gospel.

Whatever gospel we believe in must be rooted and grounded in this larger setting that there is a controversy taking place that goes beyond and outside of ourselves.

The second reason is that we have to understand that the world in which we live, the direction of the world, its customs, its pride, its fashion, its general direction, is not simply motivated by the psychology of man, is not simply motivated by how man thinks within himself, but is being directed by a force of opposition.

And so humans who are disconnected from God have actually been brought into a satanic confederacy.

And Paul wants them to understand the reality because if we can get our minds wrapped around the true situation that exists, we'll be much better prepared to grasp and understand the glory of the salvation that God is working out for us.

And in verse 3, he goes in now to focus in on how Satan leads us about, how Satan leads us astray.

Among them too, we all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind.

Now the key principle here to understand, and this has been monumental for me in terms of my own spiritual experience and what it means to be victorious and how we can be victorious is that Satan leads us into sin by pulling on our own passions and desires.

And so now immediately there is an internal conflict.

And his desire is that by pulling on our passions and appetites, He can bring our will down into subjection.

And so Satan leads us about through ourselves.

And this is why so many people are enslaved in the world, but actually believe they're free.

Because when you seek to point out to them the nature of the slavery, they can't see it because in their mind they're doing exactly what they want to.

Because he's using their own desires to lead them astray.

But when we understand that, We can then approach God and seek for the power to pull our own appetite and passion into subjection.

And this process is really essential to the renewal that God wants to work out in us.

And because the world is filled with woe and rape and crime and destruction, there's only 1 solution that is suitable.

Because in the judgment, God is going to set this crooked world straight.

The problem, though, for many of us is that we are headed towards that final destruction rather than the final renewal.

And so God looks down on a broken and captive humanity.

And solely motivated, solely motivated by His love, He sends Jesus to rescue us.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions.

Now the thing that you have to notice about the passage is that every phrase is calculated to demonstrate to the people of God that the only thing that moves God to rescue us is his own love, rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in trespasses and sins.

And when we think of death, obviously we have a passive state in mind.

Paul is talking about people who have been actively engaged in rebellion against God.

Yet, God looks past the rebellion and sees the jewels that you and I could become through redemption.

And sends his son to rescue us from the gripping power of the enemy.

Verse 5, even when we were dead in our transgressions, He brought us to life with the Messiah.

Verse 6, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

So notice that He's not only forgiven us, He's not only redeemed us, but He's also exalted us.

Now, 1 of the things that causes, for example, young women to enter into human trafficking or prostitution is a low view that they have of themselves.

And so part of the solution to bringing that salvation to them, if you will, is helping them to redevelop a positive concept about themselves.

Not above what God would have us to think about ourselves, but surely not below it.

Confidence through the Conflict

It's great to see the bright faces this morning.

We have to get through the challenge of being able to display this and charge it at the same time.

You had a good rest so that you could rest today, right?

Well, I have the privilege of sharing with you this morning Hebrews chapter 3 and 4.

This is a continuation of what we have been talking about, or what we had talked about on Thursday.

And what we talked about on Thursday was how to be content in Christ.

We've seen that in the first century that the Jews were encountering a lot of issues within the church, and this was distracting them.

This was distracting them, the various false doctrines and debates were distracting them from what Christ had done and what he was doing for them in the heavenly sanctuary.

And so, as we continue on, we'll see that Hebrews, like I had mentioned before, is a continuation all throughout the book.

Has anyone studied through Hebrews here before?

It's, along with the book of Romans, it's 1 of the most thorough expositions of the gospel.

So if you place Hebrews and Romans side by side, you're getting the big picture.

And although I'm not able to grasp the big picture, I think we have a powerful message because this is something that I've experienced and that I've gone through, and I hope that if you're going through the same thing or you do in the future, that you'll be able to have confidence in Christ.

And that's the title of the sermon this morning.

Let's bow our heads before we get into the word this morning.

Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, we thank you for this Sabbath day that we can enter into your rest.

It's our desire this morning to learn from the book of Hebrews.

We know that there's a special message there for all of us.

We desire to learn from your early movement and learn why they did not enter into that full rest that you had promised them from the beginning.

May your name be glorified and praised today.

Please engage all of our minds in your word, because this is all about you, and help us to consider Jesus this morning.

Please turn with me this morning to Hebrews chapter 3.

We pick up in Hebrews 3 to explore how to consider Jesus.

Actually, before we get to 3, we'll go to chapter 2.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself, that is Jesus, likewise partook of the same things.

That through death he might destroy the 1 who had the power of death, that is who?

The devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Paul here is doing what any brilliant pastor would do.

In chapter 1, He hits on a main point in salvation history, and that was in Eden, and now he's working through the narrative, and he comes to exile, from Eden to exile.

And he's trying to help the early Christians consider Jesus through this salvation history.

And so, In this little section here, it leads in the chapter 3, Paul's explaining how Christ took on human nature to identify with suffering humanity so that he could die the death and destroy the devil to rescue Earth's captive inhabitants.

This then is the basis for which Christ can be considered as apostle and high priest.

Patrick had mentioned yesterday morning that The gospel can only be seen in the context of the great controversy, and isn't that what Paul's doing here?

Series

The Cross & The Great Controversy

Confidence through the Conflict

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

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