‌SCRIPTURE: Romans 11:25-36 (ESV)

‌DATE: 1-19-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend. And — we’re at a pivotal point in Paul’s letter — as we’re nearing the end of the first eleven chapters which are theologically focused. Since chapter nine — we’ve been going through Paul’s defense of God’s sovereign right to be merciful towards whomever he chooses. Meaning no one deserves mercy — because of our sin and rebellion against God — yet God graciously bestows his mercy on those he has chosen.

And this was a challenging idea for Paul’s original audience as much as it is for us today. For Paul’s audience — many who were Jews — couldn’t understand why so many of their friends and family members had rejected Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s promised Messiah — a word that means Savior. For the Messiah was a promise God had given to the Jews — yet — when Jesus came — the vast majority of the Jews rejected him — ultimately having him murdered on a cross.

‌And we’re finishing up Paul’s answer as to why this happened — why did the Jews — overall as a people — reject Jesus? Now the thrust of Paul’s argument has been that God had made a promise to keep for himself a remnant — an Israel within the nation of Israel — to be his faithful people. But this faithfulness was never a guarantee to the entire nation of Israel. Yet — Paul himself was a Jew — an example of God’s promise to Israel being fulfilled — for Paul believed in Jesus. But now — Pauls says — the people whom Jesus came to save — are people of all nations. Jews — yes — but gentiles — or non-Jews — as well. For believers — whether Jewish or not — have all been united to Jesus through faith. Thus he’s the root of this spiritual tree that has branches — or believers — that are of Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds.

‌Which leads us to our text for today. If you have your Bible — please turn with me to Romans chapter eleven. We’ll be in Romans chapter eleven — beginning in verse twenty-five. There we read…

‌Romans 11:25–36 (ESV)

‌²⁵ Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; ²⁷ “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” ²⁸ As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. ³² For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. ³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” ³⁵ “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” ³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

‌We’re going to briefly look at this mystery that Paul refers to. Then we’ll consider God’s wisdom and knowledge. But the majority of this sermon — will focus on Paul’s conclusion of — not only our verses — but of the first eleven chapters of his letter.

THE MYSTERY OF HARDENING, ELECTION, AND SALVATION

First — let’s look at this mystery that Paul refers to. A mystery of hardening, election, and salvation. We’re in verse twenty-five.

‌Romans 11:25–32 (ESV)

‌²⁵ Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; ²⁷ “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” ²⁸ As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. ³² For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.

‌Paul begins with a good reminder: “Lest you be wise in your own sight.” That’s another way of saying, “Because I don’t want you to be conceited, or proud, or arrogant…I want to make sure you’re not ignorant of this mystery.” What mystery, Paul? 

Mystery is one of Paul’s favorite ways of referring to the gospel — the message of salvation. And — if you remember from last week — Paul’s concern was that gentile believers in Jesus might become arrogant in hearing that the Jewish people had been cut off from Christ. Not every single Jew was cut off — for Paul himself was a Jewish believer in Jesus — but — overall as a group — the Jews had rejected Jesus as God’s promised Messiah. And their rejection of Jesus resulted in the gentiles believing in Jesus and being united to him and welcomed into the family of God. The outsiders are outsiders no more. Those people once called “not God’s people” are now called “the people of God.”

‌Yet even with new hearts — hearts made alive to God by the Spirit — we can still revert to the desires of our flesh and allow a wonderful mystery — our salvation — to become a point of sinful pride and arrogance. Thus Paul begins with this warning as a reminder. A partial hardening has come upon Israel. Partial because there are some — like Paul — who are Israelites — and yet they believe. And this hardening will continue until the full number of gentiles believe in Jesus. Which tells us that there’s a set number — determined by God — of people who will come to faith. And this is meant to stir great hope in the people of God — yet I find that this truth often disturbs God’s people.

‌For we view this as God having limited who will believe in Jesus — versus — seeing it as sweet grace — undeserved mercy — in that God has ensured that many will believe in his Son. For we must remember what Paul’s already told us: If it weren’t for God preserving — or keeping — for himself a people who are faithful to him — none of us would remain faithful. A humbling truth — yes — but what an assuring truth. God will keep you. He will preserve you. You don’t have to keep or preserve yourself — though — knowing that you’re so loved by God that nothing can separate you from his love — your life will be a response of gratitude and thankful obedience to the God who loves you in this preserving way.

‌Paul then goes on to say, “And in this way all Israel will be saved.” A phrase that’s stirred up much debate in church history. Is Paul saying that all — many every single Jewish person — will ultimately be saved? He can’t be. For he’s already pointed out that ethnicity means nothing in regards to salvation. And he’s already pointed out that — in the past — all Israelites believed they were right with God when only a remnant — or the true Israel — was actually right with God. And there’s no indication that Paul’s suddenly changed his mind. Thus we must keep in mind — and not take out of context — what Paul is saying here. Especially when we remember the question of his original audience: If the Messiah was promised to Israel — why did the vast majority of the Jews not believe in Jesus?

‌So it’d be quite odd for Paul to argue for two and half chapters that the reason why not every single Jew believed in Jesus is because the promise of the Messiah was given only to the Israel within Israel — the remnant — only to do a one eighty turn with no theological clutch and say, “Just kidding. Every single Jew is gonna be saved.” So here’s the promise: every true Israelite — every individual who God has chosen to be part of his remnant — including every Jewish person chosen to be part of the remnant — will be saved. For the gifts to the true Israel — and God’s calling upon them — are irrevocable — they won’t ever be taken away.

‌Those gifts that Paul reminded us of way back in the beginning of chapter nine. The gifts of adoption and the covenants. The law, the patriarchs, and the Messiah. These are the gifts that are irrevocable — gifts that God will never take back or rescind. And — through these gifts — God will draw his people to himself through his mercy. 

GOD’S WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE

And — in response to this now revealed mystery — Paul says…

‌Romans 11:33–35 (ESV)

‌³³ Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ³⁴ “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” ³⁵ “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”‌

I appreciate how another translation of the Bible expresses verse thirty-three.

‌Romans 11:33 (NLT)

‌³³ Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

‌Though we can understand many things about God and his ways — we’d be fools to think that there’s not a severe limitation in our understanding. Yet even our limited understanding of him is quite amazing. Which is all the more reason for us to praise and worship God and to live for him alone.

‌Pastor James Boice rightly points out, “No people ever rise higher than their idea of God.” As one Bible scholar explains, “The gods of the Assyrians were cruel, and the Assyrians were cruel. The patron deity of Rome was Jupiter. He gave laws and social order, and the Romans loved law and order. But since the Lord is just, merciful, and faithful, his followers admire those traits and strive to embody them, and this enables disciples to rise higher than those who follow lesser deities.” (Daniel Doriani, Romans, 406).

‌The principle is this: You and I will never rise higher than what we believe about God. How great is the wisdom and knowledge of the God you believe in? Is the wisdom and knowledge of your God based on what’s been communicated to us in the Bible or is it based on some other source? To ask these questions another way: How great is your God? And how do you know that he’s that great? And — if your answer doesn’t come from this book — then — I hate to tell you, but do so in love — your god is quite puny.

‌The lesser gods of our day are not what the Assyrians and Romans worshipped — but the world of our day hasn’t abandoned the worship of false gods. For people — especially in our country — are still trying to “rise to the height” of the gods they worship. Gods like self-autonomy — my body, my choice — whether the choice be to abort a baby or to live together before marriage. This is sanctity of life Sunday after all — so let’s depart from Romans for a minute to see how the worship of self-autonomy leaves no room to worship and obey the God who is rich in wisdom and knowledge. For divine wisdom and knowledge tells us that the unborn child is a person made in the image of God.

‌Luke 1:41–44 (NLT)

‌⁴¹ At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. ⁴³ Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? ⁴⁴ When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy.

‌Now the same Greek word — translated as the child in Elizabeth’s womb — is the same Greek word used in this familiar Christmas passage.

‌Luke 2:12 (NLT)

‌¹² And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

‌Whether in or out of the womb — Luke — a medical doctor by the way — uses the same word to describe a child. Something the secular religion of “my body my choice” doesn’t do. Will we submit to God’s wisdom and knowledge — as revealed in his Word — or submit ourselves to the wisdom and knowledge of a false religion? And not just — will we — but will you?

‌Again — it’s sanctity of life Sunday — the word sanctity means “holy, sacred, saintly.” And the holy living that we — God’s holy people — have been called to isn’t limited to the topic of abortion. For God’s wisdom and knowledge also defines for us what marriage is, what it isn’t, and why living together before being married is a sinful act. We Christians have been bombarded with new definitions of marriage that are contrary to what God — who is rich in wisdom and knowledge — has defined marriage to be.

• This would include so called same-sex marriage — which is not marriage as defined by God.
• This would also include unbiblical divorce — which is a much more personal issue of obedience to God’s Word for the majority of Christians in the US — than is being married to someone of the same sex.
• As is living like you’re a married couple before you’re married — living together, sleeping together — all of those married couple things. Our culture has so watered down what a relationship is — that I now hear people calling their live-in partner their husband or wife. And when asked, “Are you married?” They reply, “No. But he’s still my husband. Or she’s still my wife.” And I’m like, “Huh?” Do you just go around pointing at random kids and say, “That’s my son or she’s my daughter?” You don’t. Why? Because that’s not what the words mean. 

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Seriously folks — to believe in Christ means we forgo the arrogance all around us of claiming to be all wise and all knowing and — instead — recognize the incomparable wisdom and knowledge of God and listen and obey him as he’s spoken to us in his Word. And these are just two issues in our day — life and marriage — and I hope this is obvious — but God’s infinitely rich wisdom and knowledge isn’t limited to these two topics but is far greater than any other wisdom and knowledge of all topics. He is God after all.

‌To paraphrase Paul — he basically asks, “Tell me. When’s the last time God had to ask you for advice?” Ever had God call you up on the phone or send you a DM saying, “Hey, God here. I’m stuck and need some advice. What do you think I should do?” I’ll tell you when that last happened — never! But when’s the last time you didn’t know what to do? When’s the last time you needed God’s advice? Did you seek his rich wisdom and knowledge or settle for the wisdom and knowledge of someone far less in the know than the One who knows all things?

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Speaking of God’s rich knowledge and wisdom — in response to writing about God’s incomparable wisdom and knowledge — Paul can’t help but burst forth in praise with the words…

‌Romans 11:36 (ESV)

‌³⁶ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

‌Paul ends this lengthy section of his letter with a statement of praise. All things — Paul says — are from God and through him. Nothing happens that he isn’t aware of. This is what it means for him to be sovereign — to be God — and for us to be part of his creation. For even our actions and decisions and free will are from him and through him and subject to his sovereign authority.

‌Yet Paul’s statement of praise isn’t simply based on the few verses we’ve looked at today — his praise is a response to all that he’s written up to this point in his letter. Statements like…

‌Romans 1:16–17 (NLT)

‌¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — the Jew first and also the Gentile. ¹⁷ This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

‌Paul praises God because of how he — God — makes us right — or righteous. And — after reminding his readers of who they are in their sin and rebellion against God — he says…

‌Romans 2:28–29 (NLT)

‌²⁸ For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. ²⁹ No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

‌As we’ve been learning — ethnicity means nothing when it comes to a person being right with God. What matters is the spiritual condition of your heart. And — because of sin — we’re all born with hearts in need of a radical change. A change of our heart done by the Holy Spirit. A change which results in a new way of living for those given this new spiritually alive heart. More reasons for Paul — and us — to praise God.

‌Paul writes statements about God like…

‌Romans 3:3–4 (NLT)

‌³ True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? ⁴ Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him, “You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.”

‌God is always faithful. He only speaks words of truth. And he will be proved right in the end. Reasons for us to praise God. Just as the hope-giving words of…

‌Romans 4:7–8 (NLT)

‌⁷ “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. ⁸ Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”

‌What joy — what blessing — it is to be forgiven. What joy — what blessing — to have God declare you clear of all sin charges against you because of what Christ has done. What reason to worship your forgiving God. Or the fact that…

‌Romans 5:1 (NLT)

‌¹ Since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

‌God — who makes us righteous by our faith in Jesus — who gifts us with the faith that is the means of our righteousness — declares that we’re now at peace with him. Enemies no longer — now friends — adopted children — at peace with God because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. More reasons for us to praise and worship our great God. Or how about this soul-lifting truth?

‌Romans 5:8–11 (NLT)

‌⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ¹¹ So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

‌Do you need proof that God loves you? He sent Jesus to die for you while you were his enemy. As I said a moment ago — enemies no longer — through faith in Christ you’re now called a friend of God. Praise God from whom all of these blessings flow! And there are even more blessings such as…

‌Romans 8:1 (ESV)

‌¹ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

‌And…

‌Romans 8:28 (NLT)

‌²⁸ …we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

‌Why? Because…

‌Romans 8:29–39 (NLT)

‌²⁹ God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. ³¹ What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? ³² Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? ³³ Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one — for God himself has given us right standing with himself. ³⁴ Who then will condemn us? No one — for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. ³⁵ Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) ³⁷ No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. ³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

‌Think of all of the reasons we have to worship and praise our great God! The God who is sovereign — who reigns and rules over all of his creation. Our great God who ensures that he always has a faithful remnant of people who worship and follow him. Our great God who says to those who were once not his people — “now — you are my people — now — I call you my beloved.” Our great God who guarantees his promise that…

‌Romans 10:9–13 (ESV)

‌⁹ If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

‌And those who call on the name of the Lord — in true faith — those who will never be put to shame — will never be rejected — will never be turned away. For they’ve been united to Christ — who’s the root of a glorious tree of spiritual life. And all who are united to him — who are a branch connected to him — Jew or Gentile — will flourish now and for all eternity.

‌CONCLUSION

‌What reasons we have to praise and worship our great God. For to him be the glory forever — and ever. Amen. 

Do you realize that this is the reason why you exist — to give God glory? You exist to make God look glorious — that’s what it means to glorify God? If you’re a Christian this is why he’s saved you — to make him look glorious to the world. And — not only you — but all of creation exists to make God look glorious. This isn’t because God has a big ego or is self-centered — remember he’s holy and without sin — which tells us his motivation is not like ours. For — in being God — everything else in all of creation must be meant to make him look glorious. For — if not him — who or what else would deserve glory?

‌And do you want to know something awesome? This is where history is headed — the eternal glory of God. Where God’s rescued people will praise him forever and ever. Never ceasing to give him the glory that he alone deserves. Does this excite you — I hope it does. I hope that you see what Paul’s been showing us for eleven chapters — that Jesus came to restore what had been lost due to our sin and rebellion against God: Our ability to give God glory. So often we think of our salvation in terms of what it means for us — “I’m saved — I’m going to heaven” — but Paul ends by showing us what our salvation means for God: It means that he receives our glory. That he receives our worship. That he receives our devotion and praise. Not some day in the future — not only in eternity — but now. Today. For this day — and every day of your life — is meant to bring glory to God.

• So when you leave here today — go with the purpose of living a life that gives glory to God. 
• And when you wake up tomorrow — wake up with the purpose of bringing glory to God. 
• When you sin — because we all will — repent and do so because you know that it brings glory to your God. 
• Parent your kids for the glory of God. 
• Love your spouse for the glory of God. 
• Respect your parents and others who are in authority over you — for the glory of God. 
• If you’re not married — glorify God in your relationships. 
• Fight for the lives of the unborn for the glory of God. 
• Foster children in need of care and — do so — for God’s glory.
• For — as Paul says — “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10.31b)

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Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, our God who is rich in mercy and kindness — who’s rich in wisdom and knowledge — how impossible it is for us to fully understand who you are and your ways. We want to understand — but we’re in way over our heads. Thank you for stooping down to our level and giving us a glimpse understanding who you are and your mystery of salvation.

‌Spirit of God, increase our glimpses and do so by your Word. For we want to know the true God — who you are, what you’re like, how you work — and not settle for some false, powerless, unable to give hope or joy — puny, poor substitute for you. So many worship these false gods of our day to their eternal demise. So awaken our hearts to your love for us and the truth of who you are as you’ve revealed in your Word.

‌And — Jesus — you came to earth to show us what our God is like — for you are God in the flesh. In you we see the mercy of God, the kindness of God, the truthfulness of God, the justice of God, and the joy that can be experienced in knowing the true God. Jesus you know how those listening to me have come here with such numerous and diverse needs and desires — coming here thinking they know what they need most. Maybe they’re right — maybe they’re not — but may you open all of our hearts so that — no matter what we came here hoping to get — what we leave here with is a deeper, more intimate, more life-giving, hope-fueling, joy-inducing relationship with you. For some this will be a new relationship with you. For many — this will be a renewing of their relationship with you. Regardless — all of our lives have room to grow in bringing you glory.

‌So Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — that’s our prayer — that you will be glorified in each of our lives. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

As you go — may all that you say and do be done for the glory of God. Amen.

‌God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

Release Date: July 21, 2020

Questions

Should pastors on occasion address (from the pulpit) American social sins? (e.g. racism, abortion, etc…) Why don’t you ever preach on the rapture? (3:25)

I came across this passage in Genesis that’s kind of gotten under my skin. It’s chapter 29:1-8. Jacob is running away from Esau and on his way to Laban’s house, he comes across some shepherds. The shepherds are gathering their flocks by a well that’s covered by a stone. Jacob tells them to water their sheep but they say, “We can’t until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.” But after this Jacob rolls away the stone to water Rachel’s sheep. So, my question is… what does this mean? Is it a shadow of Jesus? Am I reading too much into it? (15:20)

As I was reading through 1 Corinthians 5, I got to thinking about the concept of a little leaven leavening the whole lump. Paul is specifically addressing an issue in the church at Corinth about a sexually immoral person and how they need to be removed from the church. The idea is to purge the evil so that we can avoid the appearance of approving sinful conduct and affect the rest of the church body. What would that look like today? Should we read this as a recommendation from Paul to this specific church? Or should this be a universal practice for churches today assuming that if Paul said it, it’s probably best that we follow it? (19:05)

In Hosea 6:1, the Israelites are ready to return to the Lord.  And in verse 2, it seems like they want everything back to the way it was supposed to be in 2-3 days.  Do you think it’s fair to interpret these verses as the Israelites looking for a quick fix to their problems? (37:35)

Date: 01/20/2021

Questions

1. On recent podcast episodes, we’ve heard from Gateway staff who had initially begun careers in the business world before coming to Gateway. Pastor Josh has talked in brief snippets of his time in the military. Could you share this story of how you went from serving in the military to pastoring a church?
   1. Grew up in a Christian home.
   2. Saved in my early teens at a youth camp.
   3. Felt the call to the ministry then, but didn’t want to do it.
   4. Studied jazz, joined the Army, taught music in an elementary school.
   5. First Baptist Temple Terrace 
   6. Into ministry.

2. I really enjoyed the sermons on handling disagreement and appreciate the timeliness of those messages. I completely understand that we must have agreement on the foundations of our faith and there is room for disagreement on issues that aren’t related to salvation. I have been thinking about the issue of abortion and wondering if that is an area where disagreement is allowable. I am passionately pro-life, and I have seen many Christian friends over the last few years/ months claim to be pro choice. I don’t understand how abortion is an area where there can be room allowed for disagreement in the church. Should this be the case? And how could I go about sharing with my Christian friends who don’t see eye to eye with me on this, about the importance of legislation on abortion in our current political climate without idolizing one political party? To be clear – I definitely don’t think the government is any type of savior. I think abortion, like all other injustices plaguing our society right now is a sin issue, and the gospel is the primary answer. But abortion is one injustice that is actually legal right now and I do believe that is worth fighting.
   1. I think my sermon on being “for life” made it clear that believers in Christ must be against abortion. 
   2. Where things get sticky, I think, is when someone says, “If you’re pro-life you can’t ever vote for someone’s who’s a Democrat or who’s pro-choice.”
      1. At the local government level, abortion decisions aren’t being made. Our mayor isn’t making decisions on abortion. So I think we have to take in the authority or power of the position we’re voting for instead of making dogmatic sweeping statements.
      2. Additionally — at higher levels of government — I think there’s more room than some want to give when it comes to voting. For example, voting for a Republican candidate doesn’t mean you agree with everything the person has said, or how they’ll vote, etc…I know many of our local and state level Republicans showed support for legalizing gambling on sports. My point isn’t whether or not gambling compares to abortion. The point is that you may disagree on their position on gambling and yet still vote for them.
      3. The issue of abortion is both simple and complex.
         1. Simple = Christians are against abortion.
         2. Complex = Having a Republican president, house, senate, and conservative SCOTUS does not mean that abortion will be overturned.
            1. This was the situation for both Trump and George W. Bush.
         3. So, given all of this, might someone look at a pro-life and pro-choice candidate — and though they are pro-life — they don’t believe anything will be accomplished during the term of the candidate in regards to abortion? I think that’s possible. So might they then ask, “What’s the next important issue or issues that I want to consider as I vote” and vote for a candidate — maybe from a different party — because that candidate has a better plan in regards to the issues that now matter most and have a likelihood of being changed? Again, I think we have to make room for someone voting this way even though we may not use the same filter as them.  

3. I notice that some authors capitalize pronouns that refer to God and other authors don’t. Why is this and is there a reason to capitalize or not?
   1. Someone asked me this question and I thought it’d be a good one for the podcast. This is about capitalizing you/your/he when the words refer to God.
   2. Here are the reasons why I don’t capitalize pronouns that refer to God.
      1. The original languages don’t capitalize them. The tradition of capitalizing pronouns for God in English began in the 19th century. So it’s a manmade tradition; not a biblical deal.
      2. A few English Bible translations do capitalize pronouns (NASB; NKJV; HCSB), but many don’t. 
      3. Which means you can end up with inconsistency if you capitalize pronouns in your sermon, blog post, other writings and then quote from a Bible translation that doesn’t. It can be confusing to the reader. (Images and Idols has this issue; they capitalize pronouns but use a Bible translation that doesn’t.)
      4. Also, you have verses in the Bible where someone — who didn’t believe that Jesus was God — is talking to him. If you capitalize all pronouns referring to God, you have to capitalize their pronouns even though it goes against what the speaker was meaning to communicate.
      5. Finally, I often find mistakes (typos?) when authors capitalize pronouns for God. Inevitably they miss a pronoun or (worse?) they capitalize a pronoun that isn’t referring to God.
   3. Two articles to check out for more on this subject:
      1. Why We Should Stop Capitalizing Pronouns Referring to God
      2. Should All Pronouns Referring to God be Capitalized?

4. I’ve been asked a couple times now about the end times around COVID quarantining/government overreach and some variation of the vaccine being the mark of the beast or desensitizing us to get it when it comes. If I’ve had to answer those questions a few times now, perhaps others in our congregation have wondered the same. “Could you please speak to the COVID vaccine and any connection it might have with the mark of the beast?  What is the balance between trusting God to take care of us in the future vs. using God-given wisdom to prepare for the difficult days of the end times scripture speaks of?”
   1. Two blog articles I’d recommend and are the basis for my reply
      1. COVID-19 and the Mark of the Beast
      2. THe COVID Vaccine has 666 Written All Over It…And Why that Doesn’t Matter According to Revelation
   2. First, things NOT to do:
      1. Amen and a-woman from last week.
      2. “Mask” is only one letter away from “mark”. Stop playing around with English words to find fulfillments of Revelation. At least use Koine Greek! And “mask” in the Greek (really there’s not a word for a physical “mask” — the word means hypocrite in Greek — but “veil” is close enough) but the Greek words for “veil” and “mark” are not similar in their spelling. Especially not “one letter away from” each other.
      3. Pointing to this or that thing or person as being the fulfillment of 666. C-O-R-O-N-A (3+15+18+15+14+1 = 6 66)
      4. Tidbit of Christian history. Some Christians thought that Ronald Reagan was the antiChrist. Why? Because his middle name is Wilson and Ronald Wilson Reagan — each of his names — have six letters. 666 equaled Reagan! 
      5. When I was overseas, a Christian from the country I was in, was telling me about the mark of the beast that’s already being used here in the US. He was telling me that we Americans have all had computer chips embedded under our skin. Thus we’ve all taken the mark of the beast. I tried to convince him that what he was saying wasn’t true. But I couldn’t convince him. He’d read something online about this all starting in the state of Texas — Texas of all places! — and that we’re all blind to our worship and allegiance to the beast. 
   3. Revelation 13:16-18 (NLT) — He required everyone — small and great, rich and poor, free and slave — to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. 17 And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name. 18 Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.
      1. According to these verses, the “mark” is either the name of the beast or a number representing his name. I don’t know how believing the mark is a vaccine fits with what Scripture is telling us.
      2. Additionally, there’s another type of “mark” in Revelation. The mark of the seal of God upon his people (Revelation 7:1-4; 14:1). If the mark of the beast is the COVID-19 vaccine, then what’s the “mark of the seal of God” upon his people? Another vaccine? I don’t know the justification in interpreting one mark as a vaccine and not interpreting the other mark as a vaccine. To interpret them differently is to be inconsistent.
   4. The second article, mentioned earlier, will help you understand the context in which Revelation was written. And, particularly, the connection to Caesar that John may have had in mind when writing his letter to the seven churches.

SCRIPTURE: Genesis 1:26-27, 31 (ESV)

DATE: 1-21-18

It’s good to be with all of you at Gateway Church this weekend. And one thing I want you to know — and it doesn’t matter if it’s your first time with us or if you’re worshiping at our North Main campus — one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and I love you too. 

SERIES INTRODUCTION

We are in week three of our series titled “Under God?” Our nation’s pledge of allegiance ends with “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” But something obvious — from recent news headlines — is that our country isn’t living up to its pledge. We’re not indivisible — we’re a nation divided. 

Though I do want to point out a more positive headline from The Courier this past week. The headline reads “Large Findlay Crowd Turns Out for King Unity Walk and Tribute.” A couple hundred of you showed up on Monday to show love and support to our brothers and sisters of other races. 

And I know things were said at the meeting that were uncomfortable for some of you. But we’re commanded to love all people — even those whose politics we disagree with. So thank you — thank you for demonstrating that racial reconciliation is a gospel issue because all races are created by our holy God. 

But positive headlines are a rare occurrence these days as we divide ourselves every way imaginable — you name it — we divide over it — we’re a nation divided. And though we say we want liberty and justice for all — not everyone in our nation experiences liberty and justice. 

And my goal — in this series — is to bring to our attention God’s view on these topics. Because all followers of Jesus must have a stronger allegiance to Him than to a political party — and what God has said on any issue should be what you say on the issue. Not only when God agrees with your political party — but even more so when He disagrees with your political party. 

Two weeks ago, we began by looking at who God is and why His view on these topics should matter most to us. So if you’re just joining us, know that I won’t be taking time to defend why beginning with God is the best place to start when addressing these issues. If you disagree with me I’d encourage you to go watch the first sermon in this series on our website or app so you better understand where I’m coming from.

Last week, we looked at God’s view of race and why God’s view of race should shape our view of race.

Next week, we’ll look at God’s view of marriage. How does God define marriage and why should His definition matter most to us?

But today, we’re going to look at God’s view of life — what does God say about the dignity and value of life? Whose life matters to Him? 

SERMON INTRODUCTION

I remember a conversation I had with a man when I was living in West Virginia. He knew that I was a pastor and he was pretty heated about something going on in the political world — even though we weren’t talking politics — as I tend to try and avoid the topic — but he wanted to talk politics — and this is what he said to me. He said, “I don’t know how any self-respecting Christian can be a…Republican. That party is always trying to take away the resources for the children in our nation whose parents aren’t able to care for them. How can you say you love God when you don’t love the little children who are in need?”

And I bring up this conversation for a few reasons. The first is this — and it’s pretty obvious — the counter argument. Someone could say, “I don’t know how any self-respecting Christian can be a Democrat. That party is always trying to take away the rights of the unborn children in our nation. How can you say you love God when you don’t love the little children who are in the womb?”

Which leads to the second reason why I bring up the conversation. The man was blind. To use an illustration of Jesus — He was seeing the speck in the eye of one political party and ignoring the plank of wood sticking out of the eye of his political party. But — if we’re honest — we all do this. We see the problems in the other political party, but fail to see — or we gloss over — or excuse — the problems in our own political party.

So there’s a blindness. But, third, though he’s blind he can see. This may be hard, but if you’re a Republican can you hear his concern? Can you sympathize with what he’s saying? Can you do something he’s not doing — which is — to not so demonize the other party that you idolize your own party? 

You see that’s what happens in politics. If the other party — whichever party that is for you — if the other party can do no right — if everything the other party does is evil — if they can do no good — what you’ve done is demonize them. And there’s no way to demonize one political party without idolizing the other. And what’s an idol? 

It’s something you worship. It’s something you’ve bowed down to — submitted yourself to — something that can do no wrong — everything it does is right — none of its positions are bad — it’s a god — and you’ve made an idol out of your political party when you demonize the other party. And — in case you’re wondering — God’s got an issue when we give our hearts over to idols — even when the idol is a political party.

And this is why we have division in our nation over whose life matters. Every political party has said, “These people matter and these people don’t.” Now they don’t say it that bluntly, but the policies they promote, the laws they try to get passed, and the rhetoric they use — if we’re honest — and if we have eyes to see the plank in our own political party’s eye — we see that every political party has divided people into two groups:  one group whose lives matter and another group whose lives don’t matter.

But what about God? Whose life matters to Him? 

ANNOUNCE THE TEXT

If you have your Bible please turn with me to Genesis chapter one. We’ll be looking at verses twenty-six through thirty-one.  

And, if you’re a guest with us, something we like to do at Gateway is let you ask questions. So if you have a question during the sermon, you can text your question to the number on the handout you were given on your way in or you can submit it on the Gateway app.

PROPOSITION

Here’s the big idea — this is God’s view of life. All human life is holy because all human life is given by a holy God. All human life is holy because all human life is given by a holy God. 

Look with me in Genesis chapter one — beginning in verse twenty-six. “Then God said, “Let us (the “us” refers to the Father, Son, and Spirit…let us…) make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them…(And in verse thirty-one we read…) And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:26-27, 31 ESV)

So before I explain this passage, let me share with you why I’m being so specific about “human life.” A recent article in our paper was titled “Nonprofit seeks personhood freedom for 3 elephants at zoo.” The Nonhuman Rights Project filed a petition claiming that three elephants were being unlawfully detained and argued that the elephants should be able to stand before a judge and asked to be released. The elephants were going to ask the judge to release them — I wish I was making this up. Earlier this year, the group fought for two adult male chimps to be considered legal people — however — they lost the case. 

So that’s why I’m emphasizing the word “human” — we’re talking about human life — there’s something unique about humans — as we see in Genesis chapter one. What’s unique about us? We’re made in the image of God.

So what does it mean to be made in the image of God? 

First, in the Bible, the phrase “image of God” is only applied to humans. So it shows that we’re unique — there’s something that differentiates us from elephants and chimps.

Second, the image of God is gender neutral. It’s applied to both men and women in our verses. 

Third, being created in the image of God implies that we don’t grow into this image — we don’t develop into this image — from our very beginning we are full image bearers. 

Fourth — even after Adam and Eve’s rebellion — mankind is still said to be image bearers of God. In Genesis chapter nine we read, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:6 ESV)

And — fifth — the image of God gives dignity and worth to all people. Every single human being is made in the image of God and thus we should fight for liberty and justice for all people. Because everyone — every single person — is an image bearer and that should influence the way we view and value them. 

Now I want to look at four groups of people that matter to God. And I want to highlight these four groups because no political party advocates for all of these people. And since all human life matters to God — since every single person is made in His image — all people should matter to us too. 

MAIN POINT 1

Here’s one group that matters to God. The unborn matter to God. The unborn matter to God. 

One way we know that the unborn matter to God is by looking at an Old Testament penalty for harming the life of an unborn child.

In the book of Exodus we read, “When men strive together (when they fight) and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if there is harm (harm to who? The unborn child…), then you shall pay life for life…” (Exodus 21:22-23 ESV)

This passage shows us that the unborn is a human life — the phrase “pay life for life” makes clear that the unborn child is a human life — and their life matters to God — thus the severe penalty.

Additionally, the prophet Isaiah says this about an unborn child. He writes, “Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. 3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.” 5 And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him — for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength — 6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” 7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” (Isaiah 49:1-7 ESV)

This unborn child is going to be the One who brings the people back to God. And before being born this calling and purpose was on the child.

In the gospel of Luke we read, “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”” (Luke 1:39-45 ESV)

Elizabeth recognizes that the child in Mary’s womb is her Lord. You see, the unborn are not potential human life — they are human life. And their lives matter to God because the unborn are made in the image of God — unborn children are image bearers.

In December, CNN.com ran an article titled “Frozen Embryo Conceived is Just a Year Younger than the Mother Who Birthed Her.” The parents adopted the embryo in early 2017 and later found out that the embryo was frozen on October 14, 1992. 

And though the article called the embryo a “potential human” I think the proof is in the pudding. The embryo was full of life — full of human — made in the image of God — life. And all unborn children — from frozen embryos to first, second, and third trimester babies — all matter to God. And this is why we partner with organizations like Women’s Resource Center through the baby bottle program and in other ways. They’ve got info in the lobby — at all of our campuses — so you can find out how you can get involved in showing that the unborn matter.

Political debates over the life of the unborn will continue in our nation until we submit our views to God’s view of life. And as our nation has refused to be “under God” the life of the unborn has not been valued. 

And I want to be sensitive to the guilt and shame men and women among us may have because you made the choice — or you forced a woman — to have an abortion. You didn’t know what you were doing then — or maybe you did — but know that Jesus is willing to forgive you and cleanse you of the sin of abortion. 

God forgives murderers…did you know that? Paul was a murderer and God forgave him. Don’t believe the lie that God won’t forgive you. And don’t hold on to the guilt of choices you’ve made in the past. Jesus took your guilt and shame on Himself when He hung on the cross for you.

So though abortion is the taking of life — though it is sin — it’s not unforgivable. It’s only unforgivable if you don’t ask God for forgiveness. But know that if you come to Him seeking forgiveness, He will shower you with His mercy and grace. The pain won’t go away — I won’t pretend it will — but the pain of eternal guilt can be taken off your shoulders.

So we are to value the life of the unborn because the unborn matter to God.

MAIN POINT 2

Second. The born matter to God. The born matter to God. 

In the gospel of Matthew we read, “Then children were brought to him (Jesus) that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.” (Matthew 19:13-15 ESV)

Jesus loves the little children — just like the song says. The born matter to Him.

In John’s gospel — a verse you’re probably familiar with — “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV)

Does God love the born? You bet He does. He sent Jesus — that’s all the proof you need.

Jesus’ younger brother James writes, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27 ESV)

God cares for the born — little children, orphans, widows — God cares for all people because all people are made in His image. Yet we live in a world where not everyone born matters equally. 

Some quick examples — all from recent articles in our local newspaper. 

• “France Eyes Setting Age for Sexual Consent; 13 Suggested” — currently France doesn’t have a minimum age for sexual consent. You may be wondering, “What happened that made France question not having a minimum age of consent?” Well in November of 2017 a jury set free a 30 year old man who was accused of raping an 11 year old girl. The jury acknowledged that there was a sexual relationship, but considered it to be consensual. That’s a pro-life issue — 11 year old girls matter to God.
• Other headlines include: “Soaring Overdose Deaths Bog Down Life Expectancy for 2nd Year” and “Hancock Overdose Deaths Set Record.” Ohio has the nation’s second highest death rate per 100,000 people due to drug overdoses. The drug epidemic — in our state — in our county — in our town — is a life issue. Do addicts lives matter to God? Yes they do.
• Or this headline from December 22nd. “Foster Care Strained — Advocates Say.” Why is the foster care strained? The article states “The opioid crisis is overwhelming Ohio’s foster care system as record numbers of children are removed from the homes of drug-addicted parents.” And there’s not enough funding — or foster parents — to care for these children. These children matter to God.
• And these kind of articles go on and on and on. 

Do the born matter to God? Yes. Why? Because they are made in the image of God. But do the born matter to us? 

As a church, something we want to do a better job at is partnering with our foster and adoptive families. These are families who’ve gone “all in” in saying the born matter. We’ve fought to give these kids a chance to be born — and these families are saying “We want to give these kids a chance to live.”

So we want to support them. And it can be lonely being a foster or adoptive family. And one foster mom wants to start a support group for foster and adoptive families. And I love this idea, so if you’re a foster or adoptive family and would like to be part of this group, please contact the church office — if you haven’t done so already — so we can get you connected to this group. And if you’re not a foster or adoptive family, but would like to know how you can support them, contact the church office as well.

Whose life matters to God? We’ve seen that both the unborn and the born matter to Him.

MAIN POINT 3

The third group. The sick and dying matter to God. The sick and dying matter to God — yes — this group could be included with the “born” — but this is a particular group I want to bring to our attention. 

In Matthew’s gospel Jesus says, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory (Jesus is talking about His return to Earth…), and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.‘ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.‘ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46 ESV)

Jesus so cares for the sick that to serve those who are sick — Jesus says — is to serve Him. One way we serve those who are sick is found in the letter of James. “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” (James 5:13-15 ESV)

God cares about you if you are sick — if you have an illness, an ailment, a chronic disease — know that you matter to God. And He wants the church to care for you by praying for you. It’s why we have prayer teams at both of our campuses. It’s good — it’s biblical — to let the church pray for you when you’re sick. Because you matter to God — and you matter to us.

Throughout Jesus’ life we see Him heal the sick and even raise the dead. This concern for the sick and dying continues in the book of Acts and throughout the New Testament. And if you watch for it, you find this concern in the Old Testament. The sick and dying matter to God and they should matter to us too.

Yet I recently came across this headline. “Nursing Homes are Pushing out Poor and Disabled Patients.” In states like California and Illinois — there’s been a rise in complaints about Medicaid cutting off payment for elderly and sick patients who need care. The article says the complaints have risen by 70% in five years in California alone. The patients are left completely on their own even though they have significant health needs. 

This is just one example of how the sick and dying do not matter in our country. We’re kicking elderly and sick people out of nursing homes and cutting off their only source of help. But these people matter to God and they must matter to us.

In December, a number of families from Gateway went to an assisted living facility to sing Christmas carols. The kids also gave out ornaments to the folks living there. These people matter to God. And because they matter to God — they must matter to us.

Though states may be arguing about the value of someone’s life who is sick or dying — we’re not going to debate such nonsense — their lives matter because they are made in the image of God.

MAIN POINT 4

And finally. The spiritually dead matter to God. The spiritually dead matter to God. 

The apostle Paul writes, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…” (Ephesians 2:1-5 ESV)

God loves the spiritually dead — don’t forget that at one time you were spiritually dead — but God, being rich in mercy towards you — because of the great love with which He loved you — even when you were dead in your trespasses — He made you alive together with Christ — and it was all by grace. 

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved — there’s no better news than that — God loves spiritually dead people. So what does this mean for us who follow Jesus?

It means this. “How then will they (the lost) call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:14-17 ESV)

God so loves the spiritually dead that He sent His Son Jesus to live, die, and defeat Satan, sin, death, and Hell for you and for them. And He’s saved you, so you can go and tell them about God’s love — that He values them — that they matter to Him.

The spiritually dead matter to God and they must matter to us.

CHRIST CONNECTION

And this is what God’s view of life means for us — those of us who follow Jesus. We live not for ourselves, but for the One who has given us life. We live not for ourselves, but for the One who has given us life.

“For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” (Romans 14:7-9 ESV)

To believe in Jesus is to give up your life. You now live for Him — not for yourself. And Jesus lived His life — and gave His life — for all people — and now you’re to do the same. Because all people matter to Him.

CONCLUSION

So to follow Jesus is to give up your right to live for yourself. You no longer have claim on your life — Jesus does. And He’s said, “Here’s how I want you to live. Live for God’s glory and for the sake of others.” So when you see another person know that you see someone who matters to God — whom God loves — whom Jesus died for. So show them that they matter.

And — man church — if we get this — if you get this — if I get this — if we love all people — if we demonstrate that all lives matter — if we’d see every person as an image bearer — our nation would get a taste of something that was so easy to write in a pledge of allegiance — but something that’s been impossible for our nation to produce. 

Our nation would get a taste of liberty and justice for all people. And that’s something they wouldn’t be able to ignore. But it won’t happen — unless we stop choosing whose life matters and start allowing God’s view of life be our view of life.

Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for having an all inclusive view of life — everyone matters to You — because You’ve made every person in Your image. Help us — those who follow Jesus — to have Your view of life. To have a concern for all human life. The unborn matter to You and they should matter to us. The born matter You and they should matter to us. The sick and dying matter to You and they should matter to us. The spiritually dead matter to You and they should matter to us.   

And this will not be true for us — God we will not have Your view of life — until we live not for ourselves, but for You — the One who has given us life. Help us Father, Son, and Spirit. Help us to live for Your glory and for the good of all people. So that all may experience your liberty and justice.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION

Every single person matters to God. So every single person must matter to us. Let’s go be a pro-life church — a church who values all people. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SCRIPTURE: Exodus 20:13 (ESV)

DATE: 2-12-23

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or are joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

INTRODUCTION

If you have your Bible, please turn with me to Exodus chapter twenty. We’ll be looking at one verse today — verse thirteen. And — as we continue in our series on the Ten Commandments — we’re going to see that the commandments get shorter and shorter. Last week’s commandment didn’t give me a lot to work with. And — if you thought it was scarce on material — just wait until you hear the sixth commandment — which is our commandment for today. 

And — speaking of today’s commandment — preaching through the Ten Commandments forces me to preach on topics that are a bit uncomfortable. For example, our topic in two week’s wouldn’t make my “go to” list of things to preach on. And this is because I have two problems. 

One is — if I’m honest — preaching a topic like ours today or in two week’s — which is adultery, by the way — so parents — you may want to check your kids in to Kidway if you don’t want to have an interesting conversation after church. But preaching on topics like murder and adultery isn’t a great way to attract people to church. I don’t imagine that any of you have ever thought, “Adultery, what a great topic to invite my friend to come hear pastor Josh preach on.” 

My second problem is that if I did pick topics to preach on I know I’d be tempted to pick topics that would either be easy for me — topics I don’t need to study up on — or I’d be tempted to pick topics that would address your greatest struggles based on what I know about you. And I don’t want our relationship to turn into topics for my sermons.

So — instead of picking topics — I preach through long sections of the Bible. Sometimes we go through entire books of the Bible. Other times we go through a few chapters. Or — like in this series — we’re looking at a few verses over the course of ten weeks. And I do this so the Bible — not me — I do this so that God — who Authored the Bible — is the One picking the topics for us each week. And my hope — in sharing this with you — is that each week when you come to Gateway Church — you don’t come to hear what Josh has to say. But that you come to hear what God has to say — for the Bible is God’s Word and we should come each week anticipating that we’re going to hear from him through Scripture — no matter the topic.

And — with that — here are the words found in Exodus chapter twenty — verse thirteen.

“You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13 ESV)

Like I said — not a lot to go on — and not a topic many of us would pick for a sermon. But we’re trusting that this is the topic God wants us to hear him speak on today. 

“No murder” is essentially what this commandment states in the original language of Hebrew. And — it’s just two words in Hebrew — though our English translations stretch it out to a whopping four. It’s a command telling us what not to do. And what it tells us — what it commands us not to do is “no murder.”

Now — as we’ve done in previous weeks — we’re going to begin by looking at what this commandment is teaching us. Then we’ll look at how we’re to obey it — we’ll do this by looking at some of the most blatant ways we’ve disobeyed this commandment. And then we’ll see why we’re to obey this commandment.

What does this commandment teach? How are we to obey it — intertwined with how we’ve disobeyed it? And why should we obey this commandment?

WHAT IS AND ISN’T MURDER?

First…what does this sixth commandment teach us? Again, the sixth commandment says, “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13 ESV)  

We’re told to not murder. Which leads to an interesting question: What does this commandment mean by the word murder? 

If you grew up reading the King James Version of the Bible, you may remember that this commandment had the word “kill” in place of “murder.” “Thou shall not kill,” is what many of us memorized if we grew up in church. But notice how our Bible translation uses the word “murder” instead of “kill.” And there’s a reason for this — an important one, in fact. One that brings clarity and helps to answer many of our questions as to what this commandment is and isn’t teaching us. 

In the Hebrew language, there are many words used to describe the act of killing someone or something. The word in our verse appears less than fifty times in the Old Testament — much less than some of the other words used to describe the act of killing. And — if any of the Hebrew words for killing meant “murder” — this is the word. 

So — of all of the words that mean “to kill” — in the Hebrew language — this is the word that we’d understand as the act of murder.

Now why is this important? Well if this word in our commandment means the specific act of murder — and not killing in general — then we can better understand the limitations that this command has on our life. 

• For instance, this sixth commandment cannot be used to justify pacifism. 
• It can’t be used to argue against the death penalty. 
• It can’t be used to argue against whether a person should be able to defend themselves — including self-defense that requires taking the life of another person. 
• For the killing that happens in war or when a criminal is sentenced to death or in self-defense would not fall under this commandment — which means “to murder.”

In fact — last week — we saw that — in the next chapter of Exodus — God tells the Israelites to enact the death penalty on any child who strikes or curses their mother or father. Which would be a blatant contradiction if this sixth commandment was meant to eliminate all types of killing.

All that to say — if you want to argue in favor of pacifism or against the death penalty or things like that — this is not the verse to use. You’d have to see if there are other places in the Bible that defend your beliefs if you’re making such claims from a biblical viewpoint.

So — right away — here’s what we’ve learned: the word “murder” — in our verse — does not mean “all killing.” It has a very specific meaning: the act of murdering another human being.

HOW WE’VE DISOBEYED

Now let’s move on to how we’re to obey this commandment and look at two ways we’re disobeying this commandment in our country. And — as a warning — this is where things are going to get pretty divisive. 

I’m going to speak on things that are hot button issues in our country. Two topics that are labeled political, but that’s because we’ve allowed politics to hijack important beliefs of our Christian faith. So let’s all put on our big boy and big girl pants.

No murder — that’s our command — how are we supposed to obey this commandment?  

The majority of the people in our country would agree that murder is bad. Very few people would say we’d be worse off — as a nation — if we eliminated murder altogether. Christian, not a Christian, religious, non-religious — it doesn’t really matter — the vast majority of people in our country believe that murder is wrong. It’s bad. It’s evil. That’s why we have laws against murdering other people.

But Jesus — as he often does — gets to the heart of the matter — meaning — he gets to the point of our commandment — the practicality of it. 

One time — Jesus wanted to make sure his listeners understood that it’s not just the physical act of murder that’s our problem — there’s a deeper heart issue at play. So in one of his sermons Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…” (Matthew 5:21-22a ESV)

And angry — here — means — well it means angry — to be furious — even the polite anger we like to call “being irritated.” And Jesus says that to be angry with someone is comparable to murdering them in your heart. And this is something that all of us are guilty of — Christian or not. 

Irritated — our polite spin on being angry — think about how often you’re irritated with others. 

• That person who’s too slow for your taste at the stop light — “It’s been green for like half a second — can we start moving?!” 
• The irritation of there being a line at Walmart and “Why can’t all of these idiots figure out how to use the self-checkout?”
• The irritation of a baby crying near you in church.
• Or — what we consider to be more civilized irritations in our lives — like the other political party.

Now — let’s all pause — and consider how seriously Jesus takes this commandment — to not murder — by connecting it to being angry with others. It seems like a pretty radical connection, right? “To be angry or irritated with someone is the same as murdering them — come on — really Jesus?” Yet this is how different God’s people are to live. We’re not even to be irritated with people — not even angry with them. Why? Because we’re to be like Christ who’s set us free from our enslavement to anger, hate, and irritability with others. 

Anger — irritation — these are characteristics of our slavery to sin — anger is not a characteristic of the freedom we’ve been given through our faith in Christ.

Now — at this point — some of you may be thinking, “Well Josh. You didn’t really do your homework because Jesus got angry. Don’t you remember when he got angry and got a whip out and started going all Indiana Jones on people in the Temple?” I remember — and you’re right — Jesus got angry. But — he did so — without sinning. And what was the cause of his anger? God was being dishonored.

So if you want to claim that you’ve got that down to perfection — that you can be angry without sinning all of the time — because your anger only happens due to God being dishonored and is never due to anything else — well then you feel free to take a timeout for a minute. But — for the rest of us mere mortals — we’re not perfect like Jesus, are we? In fact — we’re all so imperfect that — the Bible tells us Jesus lived as our perfect substitute. So — yes — though we’re commanded to “be angry, but do not sin,” — the problem is we can’t always do that — we’re not perfect. So Jesus did for us what we could not do ourselves. He got angry — without sinning — as our substitute. 

My point is that we’re all guilty of breaking this commandment. For — as Jesus’ younger brother — James — writes, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as (what? The person who keeps 99.9% of God’s law, but not 100% of the law is what? They’re as…) guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. 11 For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.” (James 2:10-11 NLT)

If you’ve broken one of God’s commandments — you’ve broken them all. So all of us are guilty of breaking all of God’s Law. I bring this up because — too often — we Christians say we believe that all people are equally guilty of breaking God’s Law — but then we speak and act as if we’re actually better than murderers. Or adulterers. Or LGBTQ+ folks. Or Muslims. Or Democrats. Or Michigan fans. 

And we Christians need to take a look in a mirror and admit that we’re guilty of breaking this commandment — at least according to Jesus. Because if you’ve ever been angry or irritated with someone — you’re a murderer — again — according to Jesus. And — if you break one commandment — you’ve broken them all — putting you on the same equal playing field as everyone else who’s broken God’s commandments.

And now that many of you are offended — let’s offend the rest of you so no one’s left out. For just as there are many Christians — who are in denial of how they break this commandment — many in our nation have been in denial of how we’ve been breaking this commandment for nearly fifty years. And this is where some of you are going to think I’m getting political — but my goal isn’t to be political. My goal is to make this commandment real to us — to show us that these “political” topics are actually theological and biblical.

So let’s do this. Abortion has been a blatant way our nation has disobeyed this sixth commandment — for abortion is the murder of unborn human beings. And abortion is practiced because children are seen as an irritation in our culture.

Now I know there are all kinds of arguments for abortion. Some will mention rape or incest while ignoring the fact that less than one percent of all abortions are performed due to rape or incest. Let me say that again — less than one percent of all abortions are performed due to rape or incest. So — for argument’s sake — let’s take that less than one percent out of the discussion — not to ignore these tragic situations — but because I want us to consider the other ninety-nine plus percent. 

If we take rape and incest cases off the table we’re left with roughly sixty-two million babies who we’ve murdered during Roe v Wade. Not due to rape. Not due to incest. But due to convenience. Because that’s what abortion is — it’s murder for convenience. “Really, Josh? Abortion is murder?” Now — if you’re not a Christian — I know there are all sorts of reasons for wanting women to have their choice. 

Honestly — though — I’m baffled by people who get excited about whether we’ve found life on Mars while ignoring life inside the womb. 

Science is used to confirm one and to deny the other — which is simply a sign of the depravity of our minds and hearts. 

But if you’re a person of faith — a Christian — there’s no way you can be pro-abortion and say you’re following Jesus. For to be a Christian means God’s Word has authority over you. You allow what it says to be true — and for what it says to be true — to be true for you. You allow it to shape what you believe. And when you come to something in the Bible — that contradicts your beliefs — you have a choice. You either submit to the Bible or you make the Bible submit to you. 

But make no mistake — if you make the Bible submit to you — willfully ignoring, disobeying, or rewriting what the Bible says — you’re not following Jesus. You’re your own god and authority. You’re the author of truth for yourself. You’re attempting to be your own savior. And — in love — I’m warning you that you’re walking down a path that leads straight to eternal judgment — and not just when the topic is abortion but any time we make ourselves our final authority and not God’s Word.

And the Bible says that Jesus is the Lord of life. Which means — if you call yourself a Christian — you’re a follower of the Lord of life — he’s not the Lord of death. So to say you follow Jesus — and to be pro-abortion — is to supposedly make Jesus out to pro-murder. While also claiming that Jesus was murdered so that the sin of murder would be defeated. Can you see the hypocrisy?

But let’s keep pressing in on this topic. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke — there’s an account where Jesus is approached by a rich young man who wants to know how he can receive eternal life. He wants to know how he can make sure he goes to Heaven when he dies — not a bad question to ask Jesus — if I do say so myself. And — in response to the young man’s question — Jesus quotes from the Ten Commandments — and he specifically refers to our “Do not murder” command. 

I bring up this story because of its context — meaning — do you know what happens just before this man asks Jesus how he can be sure he’ll go to Heaven? 

In Matthew and Mark’s gospels — just before the young man comes to Jesus, “Children were brought to him (that’s Jesus) that he might lay his hands on them and pray.” (Matthew 19:13 ESV)

But — in Luke’s gospel — something caught my eye. Luke records, “Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them.”  (Luke 18:15 ESV)

And I asked myself, “Why do Matthew and Mark use the word ‘children’ while Luke uses the word ‘infants’?” So I looked up what the Greek word for infant — used by Luke — who was a medical doctor by the way — I looked up what the word meant. And the word “infant” — used in Luke’s gospel — the word used by a medical doctor to describe who was being brought to Jesus to be blessed by him — is a word that means a child — born or unborn. This word can mean an embryo, a fetus, an unborn child, or a newly born infant. 

It’s the same word Luke uses when he writes about Mary — Jesus’ mother — approaching her cousin Elizabeth — who was pregnant. As Mary approached — the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy. 

And the word Luke — the medical doctor — uses to describe the unborn baby inside Elizabeth’s womb — is the same word he uses to describe the little ones that were being brought to Jesus. These little ones — whom Jesus said — the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to. These little ones — whom Jesus said don’t stop them from coming to me. These little ones — that Jesus loves — are the little ones our nation has been murdering.

But — as I said earlier — I know not all of us will take the Bible as our authority on this issue — so how about we connect abortion to another topic hijacked by politics — racism. You didn’t know it was going to be such a juicy sermon today did you? 

Did you know that abortion is the biggest race issue in our nation that’s rarely discussed? According to the most recent data I could find online, if you take the current population in our country of Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics — abortion has taken the lives equivalent to 14% of the current White population in the US and it’s taken the equivalent of 15% of the current Hispanic lives in the US. 

Now — I’m already losing some of you who aren’t “math people” — so let’s pause — and I’ll explain what that means. If there were only 100 White people and 100 Hispanics in the US today — there’d be 14 murdered Whites and 15 murdered Hispanics because of abortion. So — instead of there being 100 each — there’d be 86 and 85 respectively.

Now — those are tragedies for sure — but that’s nothing compared to what abortion has done to Blacks in our nation. For abortion has taken the equivalent lives of 42% of the current Black population in the US today. So — out of 100 Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks — due to abortion — we’d be left with — as I said — 86 Whites and 85 Hispanics — but there’d only be 58 Blacks alive. Our nation has murdered Black babies at a much larger percentage than other races. So — all I’m asking — is if we care about blacks outside of the womb — shouldn’t we also care about them when they’re inside the womb?  

And the opposite question is just as powerful. If we care about Black babies — or any baby — inside the womb — will we care about them once they’re born? 

Now I know the majority of us will say we do care — but this is one of the consistent accusations against us Christians. It usually goes something like this. “You Christians care about the unborn, but once they’re born you’re willing to let them grow up in poverty and you want to take away their government assistance because you don’t like people taking advantage of the system.”  

Now as soon as I said that some of you got defensive — but here’s a surprising truth. We Christians can easily put a stop to this criticism. And the solution is quite simple — actually. Simple — but costly. 

In our country there’s somewhere around 113,000 kids that are adoptable right now. Also in our country are 380,000 or so churches. What does the number of churches have to do with the number of kids up for adoption? Well we could silence our critics — literally end the conversation about whether we Christians care about the born as well as the unborn — by simply having one family in every three congregations adopt a child that’s in the system. 

If we Christians did this — we’d force our critics to have to come up with some other criticism of our pro-life position. 

What an opportunity we have — the opportunity to demonstrate that we really do care both about the unborn and the born. Just one family in every third church and every adoptable child would be part of a Christian family. 

Yet here we are. And there the children are. 

Now — I am so thankful — for the many families in our congregation — who — because they worship the Lord of Life — have adopted children into their families. I’m also thankful for the families who foster children who aren’t up for adoption — but are in need of a safe place to live. You families help Gateway to be a pro-life church in the fullest sense. If that’s you — if you’re an adoptive or foster family — if you provide respite care — would you stand up right now so we can thank you for demonstrating what it means to follow the Lord of Life?

Now — let’s make this personal for the rest of us: What is the Lord of Life asking of you — right now — when it comes to being a pro-life follower of Jesus? Pro-life in the womb. Pro-life out of the womb. Pro all of life. 

• Maybe God is nudging you to adopt a child — to put your life, your home, your time, your money, your family where your convictions are. 
• Maybe he’s urging you to become a foster parent.
• Maybe he’s telling you to support a family that’s adopted a child or is fostering kids. It’s not easy. I speak from experience and I rank fostering and adoption at the top of the most difficult and challenging things one can do to show they worship the Lord of Life.
• Maybe he’s telling you to grab an empty baby bottle and put a generous check in it to support our partners at the Women’s Resource Center. 

Let’s never forget that Jesus welcomed the little children. He told his disciples — who were a bit irritated by all of the kids trying to get to Jesus — he told them to let the little ones come to him. Because just as he loves you and me — Jesus loves the little children. 

And our belief in Jesus doesn’t only affect our actions — although that would be a huge impact in and of itself — our belief in Jesus should affect our thoughts about others as well. 

No murder — Jesus said — also means no fury or hate — no irritation — no anger towards others. A drastically different way of living, interacting, and viewing other people. Even the hard and difficult people. People like you and people like me.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER? / CONCLUSION

And now we turn to the why question — why are we to obey this commandment when what seems like an easy one — don’t murder — check, never murdered anyone — has now taken on a whole different, life changing, comfort crushing, getting our skin in the game — kind of meaning. Why should we obey this commandment?

The rich young man — that I mentioned earlier — walked away from Jesus feeling pretty depressed. You see — after Jesus quoted from the Ten Commandments — the guy felt smug because — like some of us at the beginning of this sermon— he thought, “I don’t have a murder problem.” But because Jesus loved this man — he revealed to him his heart issue. 

He tells the man to go and sell everything he has and give it all away and then he can follow Jesus and discover the gift of eternal life. And the young man walks away depressed and dejected because the cost of eternal life was too much for him — for it’d cost him everything — including his life.

And then Jesus’ disciples came up to him and “The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked. 26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” (Matthew 19:25-26 NLT)

• Humanly speaking — it’s impossible for any of us to be saved. 
• Humanly speaking — it’s impossible for any of us to gain eternal life. 
• Humanly speaking — it’s impossible for any of us to go to Heaven. 
• Humanly speaking — it’s impossible for any of us to get past the guilt and shame of an abortion that’s part of our story. 
• Humanly speaking — it’s impossible for any of us to not be prejudiced, hateful, irritable, and angry with others.

But thank God that what’s impossible for us is not impossible for him. 

As we’ve seen — everyone who’s broken God’s Law is going to be judged — and all of us have broken the law. So we find ourselves in a dilemma. We’re all guilty and deserving of judgment. And the judgment we deserve is not eternal life — but eternal death. 

But God had a plan and it’s a glorious one! 

To make eternal life possible for us — God judged Jesus in our place as our substitute. And the crazy thing is that our eternal life is possible because this sixth commandment was broken. For it’s through the murder of Jesus that eternal life is possible for you and me. Christ was murdered on a cross where he was judged by God for our sins. 

• Our sins of anger and being irritated with others. 
• Christ was judged for our thoughts towards others that he said were like murdering them in our hearts — including the stain of sin due to racism in our hearts and in our nation’s heart. 
• And Christ died to be judged by God for every baby that’s been — and will be — aborted in our country. 
• If you’ve had an abortion — know that Christ died for your sin. 
• If you’ve ever forced a woman to have an abortion — he died for your sin too. 
• And he died for every time we’ve fought for a child in the womb to live — only to ignore them — or even worse — complain about them abusing the system — once we got what we fought for — their life.

You see — the beauty and hope and shame lifting power of the gospel is that Christ was murdered so your sins could be forgiven. So let’s stop thinking of sin generally — but make what Christ did on the cross more personal than maybe it’s ever been. Jesus died for your sin of breaking this commandment — whether your sin is abortion, hate, irritation, anger, or actual murder. 

And — by believing in him — what’s impossible is now possible: You’re given eternal life. And Heaven is your reward. And guilt and shame — because of an abortion or racism and hate in your past — or even the sin of murder — is clothed in the forgiveness and mercy of God.

But like the rich young man — there’s a cost — and it’s a bit of a twist in the story. For what the rich young man was asked to give up was one the thing he loved the most — his wealth. Because — for him — his wealth was his life. Which tells us that what each of us must give up — to receive eternal life — is the thing we love most. Ourselves — our life.

• To follow Christ means you die to being your own authority. 
• You die to being in charge of your life. 
• You die to defining what is and is not acceptable anger. 

You see — there is one thing that we are to murder — the sin in our lives — and we do so by the power of the cross. And we’re to murder the sin in our lives so we live for God’s glory and his alone. 

Many people claim to be a Christian — yet they haven’t died to themselves. They still live as if they’re in charge of their life. But Christ says to all of us, “I’ve lived for you and I’ve died for you. Will you die for me — so you can live for me?” That’s the call of the Christian faith. A call to die — so that you may live for the Lord of life. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, remind us often that Christ was murdered and judged for our sins, so that what is impossible for man, has been made possible by you. Help us all to believe that eternal life is found by dying to ourselves and living for you. And this is possible because Christ first died for us, so we could be set free to live for you. This is the message of the gospel. 

Spirit we ask you to reveal to us how our thoughts betray the love we’re to have for all people. Reveal to us how our actions can demonstrate to the world that we’re really pro-life people. Pro all of life. Life in the womb — life out of the womb. May we fight for the rights of the unborn and may we demonstrate our love for the children whose lives we’ve fought for in the womb — through adoption and supporting families who adopt and foster your children. 

And — Jesus — I ask you to be gracious — as you always are — to anyone here who may be carrying guilt and shame because of their past. Whether their past includes an abortion or being irritated by others — justifying their short angry temper or being a racist. 

Oftentimes, we’re unwilling to allow you to forgive us of our sins — so I pray for anyone listening — who feels unforgivable — Jesus show them the beauty of your grace and mercy and forgiveness. Wash them clean — Jesus — so they find joy and hope and eternal life in you. In your name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

Having died to yourself — may you go living for the Lord of Life. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

‌SCRIPTURE: Daniel 1:1-21 (NLT)

‌DATE: 4-7-24

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend here at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time, if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus, or are with our friends at First Presbyterian Church in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

‌Sometimes I’m asked why I always say God loves you and I love you too. Years ago, I was reading a book written by a retired pastor. And in the book he said, “No one hears the words God loves you or I love you enough.” And — from that moment on — I decided that I’d always tell people that God loves them. And that I do too. So — if you forget everything else from today’s sermon — remember that God loves you. And that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re beginning a new series today. We’re going to spend time in the book of Daniel from now through most of the summer. Last year I asked the elders if there was a book of the Bible or a biblical theme that they felt I should preach on this year. And the consensus was the book of Daniel along with the theme of living in exile. But — before we turn to the book of Daniel — let’s first talk about this idea of living in exile. 

There are two ways we can interpret the spiritual state of our country. One interpretation is to view the US to that of Israel in the Old Testament. Many who hold this view consider the US to have a special relationship with God like Israel had in the Old Testament. Where it’s like God has established a special covenant with the United States — though this isn’t a covenant found in the Bible. This interpretation has given rise to ideas like Christian nationalism and making America godly again. 

But we must remember that even Israel failed at being a godly nation — as did Judah. And it would be the pinnacle of arrogance and pride to think that we — the US — is somehow able to overcome what the nations of Israel and Judah failed to accomplish.

‌Another way to interpret the spiritual state of our country is through the lens of exile. Where we — those who follow Jesus — are living in a land whose values, beliefs, and morals are like that of a foreign nation when compared to the values, beliefs, and morals of our faith. 

‌Now — if Israel is your interpretive lens of the US — I hope it’s obvious to you that we’re not living in the times of King David or Josiah — but are living in a time similar to that of Ahab or Manasseh. And this is no recent situation — there has always been biblical unfaithfulness in our country. Abortion for the past 60 or so years — the murder of unborn image bearers — and racism and slavery prior to abortion — the ungodly treatment and ownership of people made in the image of God. Our biblical unfaithfulness as a nation — like Israel — can be traced all throughout our history. 

And it’s insincere to compare us to Israel and not remember the many times when the nation distrusted God, failed to obey him, delighted in idolatry, practiced child sacrifice, and abandoned worshiping God alone. We don’t get to compare ourselves to their spiritual highlight years — without acknowledging how we’re also like Israel in her unfaithful years. Yes, there’s much good in both Israel’s and the US’s history but — we can’t forget that — in the end — Israel wasn’t saved because of her good works — she was destroyed because of her unfaithfulness.

‌Yet this same caution also applies for those who interpret the US as a land of exile. God’s people were just as faithful — and unfaithful — in exile as they were when they lived in the Promised Land. They worshiped other gods while living in exile and while living in the land God had promised to them. 

You see — ultimately it matters very little which lens you prefer to use to interpret the spiritual condition of our country. And this is why — regardless if your view is Israel or exile — I know you feel the pressure to value what our culture tells us to value — to chase after what everyone else is chasing after — to submit yourself to the idols and religion of the land. 

In our nation — politics is now a religion. Political parties demand that we submit to and worship its idols. This is why there’s just as much fighting — within the parties — as there is between the parties. For religions demand your absolute allegiance and we see this demand in our nation’s political parties.

But politics isn’t the only religion of this land in which we live.

‌Think honestly about how and why sports have taken over the lives of our children and families. Sports are demanding more of your child’s life — there is no offseason — and more of your money. We don’t want pastors talking about money in church — that’s a no no. I wonder if this is because the religion of sports has a tighter grip on us — and our wallets — than we realize. 

There’s the religion of sexual identity. The religion of pornography. Greed and materialism are other religions of our culture. And what’s scary is how many of us will be offended by me naming these religions. For these religions — and their idols — demand our allegiance — they require us to defend them — and to get angry — when they’re called out for what they are.

‌And — now that our idols are all offended and — though I’m sure it’s obvious due to this sermon series title — know that I lean towards this moment in our nation’s history being similar to that of God’s people living in exile. Why exile? Because I don’t see any political leader uniting our country towards biblical repentance and worship of God — that’s not the role of the government in our nation anyway. 

Unlike Israel in the Old Testament — the call for and leading towards biblical repentance and worship of God doesn’t come from a political leader in our country — it comes from God’s people — not from a political king or president — but from God’s Word proclaimed and obeyed by his people. 

This is how a nation like the US is ultimately made godly. Not through politics — though — as we’ll see — living faithfully in exile has many political implications — but by God’s people taking him and his Word seriously as we live in a nation that bombards us with the values of its many religions.

LIVING IN EXILE

So let’s begin our time in Daniel and start this exploration of what it means to be faithful in exile. We’re in Daniel chapter one — and we’ll be reading the entire chapter — so be prepared for lengthy readings of Scripture during this series. In fact — consider reading long sections of the Bible as an act of faithfulness as we live in exile — where we resolve to not compromise the reading, studying, listening to, hearing preached, and being men and women of God’s Word — because we’re told to abandon God’s Word in this land of exile — so let’s be people who delight in hearing from our God.

‌‌‌Our journey in Daniel will begin by exploring what it means to live holy lives in exile. For God calls and commands his people to be holy — to be different and set apart — because of the values, beliefs, and morals he’s called us to live by. 

We see an example of this in the key verse of the first chapter of Daniel — which is verse eight.

Daniel 1:8 (NLT)

‌⁸ But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods.

‌Daniel — and his friends — refuse to defile themselves. They’re determined to not make themselves unholy by eating and drinking what was provided by the king. God had given his people laws and regulations that they were to follow in order to be his holy — set apart — people. I find that the food regulations — of the Old Testament — often cause confusion for people who are trying to understand God’s Word. Jesus brings some helpful clarity to food defilement when — one day — he said to his disciples…

Matthew 15:17–20 (NLT)

¹⁷ “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. ¹⁸ But the words you speak come from the heart — that’s what defiles you. ¹⁹ For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. ²⁰ These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”

‌Here Jesus tells us that defilement isn’t something that only happens to us — it’s something that’s also part of us. Thus — the caution for all of us who are living in exile — is to know that our hearts are naturally prone to following the values, beliefs, and morals of our culture. It’s only when we’re given new hearts — what’s called the new birth or being born again — that we now have the supernatural help we need to live holy lives in an unholy culture. 

Yet — even then — having been set free to live holy lives — the temptation to defile ourselves is still within us. So we must be wise — cunning — not spiritually sleep walking our way through life — for the lure of unholiness is always trying to pull us away from faithfulness to our God.

GOD’S JUDGMENT

We’ll return to Daniel’s diet — but before we do so — let’s look at how Daniel’s story begins. We’re in verse one.

Daniel 1:1–5 (NLT)

‌¹ During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. ² The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God. So Nebuchadnezzar took them back to the land of Babylonia and placed them in the treasure-house of his god. ³ Then the king ordered Aush-pen-oz, his chief of staff, to bring to the palace some of the young men of Judah’s royal family and other noble families, who had been brought to Babylon as captives. ⁴ “Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men,” he said. “Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal palace. Train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon.” 

⁵ The king assigned them a daily ration of food and wine from his own kitchens. They were to be trained for three years, and then they would enter the royal service.

‌To catch us all up with where we are in the history of God’s people — after the people of God had entered and conquered the Promised Land — they quickly commit what is theologically called apostasy. They turn their backs on God. They no longer worship and serve him alone. They stop trusting in his faithfulness. And God — rightfully so — gives them over to the consequences of their sin. 

They suffer defeat by other nations. They explore depths of their depravity that God’s regulations and laws were meant to protect them from experiencing — like child sacrifice. Yet God — because of his great love and commitment to his people — God raised up men and women who acted as rescuers for his people — they’re called the judges. These judges call the people to repent, turn back to God, and live holy lives.

‌And here’s the next few hundred years of the people’s history in a nutshell. They’re faithful for a period of time — usually a brief period of time. Then they abandon God and turn their backs on him. Next, they experience the consequences of their sin and rebellion. God sends his messengers to call the people to repentance and faith. The people respond. They’re faithful for a brief period of time. Rinse and repeat — over and over and over and over again.

‌In fact, the book of Daniel begins by reminding us of a warning that God had graciously given his people years earlier: “A time of exile — seventy years — of living in a foreign land will be your experience if you don’t repent and turn back to me in faith.” Spoiler alert — they don’t repent and turn back to him in faith. Thus our book opens with this warning coming true.

‌Babylon — led by Nebuchadnezzar — conquers Jerusalem and the nation of Judah — Israel was conquered about a hundred years earlier. And did you notice that God is behind Babylon’s victory over his people? That’s what we see in verse two! 

This doesn’t mean that God approves of everything the king and the nation of Babylon will do in their defeat of God’s people — just that God takes sin seriously — especially the sin of his people — and will use whatever means he deems necessary to draw his people back to him.

‌Now put yourself in the sandals of the people being forced to live in a foreign land. What do you think it was like for them to live in exile? Foreign language. Foreign food. Foreign religions. Everything is unfamiliar to you. 

You’ve got no money. How are you going to find work? Or a place to live? You’re the lowest in society. The locals look down on you because you’re the conquered people — they’re the conquerors. Maybe they treat you like you’re less than human — because you’re a foreigner.

‌With so much shock and change in such an unsettling situation — what kind of priority is your faith going to have? What values are you going to hold fast to? What’s going to happen to your identity as this new land — with its beliefs, values, and morals — starts to assimilate you into it?

‌Two quick ideas to consider.

‌First, this is the experience of the immigrant — of the outsider. Followers of Jesus have freedom to differ in their views regarding immigration policies in our country — but what Christians do not have freedom to differ on is in our view of immigrants themselves. They are people made in the image of God who are to be loved, cared for, treated with the dignity that all image bearers are to be given — and — they need to hear the gospel. 

‌Second — and admittedly if you’re older you’ll probably relate to this more — but can you see how — for the follower of Jesus — living in the US is like being an immigrant in a foreign land? Regardless of your view of our nation’s Christian roots — most people call the age in which we live — post-Christendom. Meaning we’re now living in a culture that’s moved on from Christian beliefs, morals, and values. 

This transition has been going on for decades — if not longer. 

And — though this shift includes views regarding human sexuality and identity — topics conservative Christians rightfully see as incongruent with our faith — post-Christendom has brought subtle shifts to the culture in which we live that conservative Christians have assimilated to at the cost of their holiness — those religions I mentioned earlier.

‌God’s Spirit — who lives in all who follow Jesus — is sounding the holiness alarm. The Spirit is warning us of all these different paths of defilement. But are we listening to God’s Spirit? Or are we accommodating to the culture of this land of exile? As we’ll see — Daniel refuses to accommodate — he refuses to defile himself.

GOD GIVEN IDENTITY

Let’s return to the text — we’re in verse six.

Daniel 1:6–16 (NLT)

‌⁶ Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were four of the young men chosen, all from the tribe of Judah. ⁷ The chief of staff renamed them with these Babylonian names: Daniel was called Belt-e-shazzar. Hananiah was called Shadrach. Mishael was called Meshach. Azariah was called Abednego. ⁸ But Daniel was determined not to defile himself by eating the food and wine given to them by the king. He asked the chief of staff for permission not to eat these unacceptable foods. ⁹ Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel. ¹⁰ But he responded, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has ordered that you eat this food and wine. If you become pale and thin compared to the other youths your age, I am afraid the king will have me beheaded.” ¹¹ Daniel spoke with the attendant who had been appointed by the chief of staff to look after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. ¹² “Please test us for ten days on a diet of vegetables and water,” Daniel said. ¹³ “At the end of the ten days, see how we look compared to the other young men who are eating the king’s food. Then make your decision in light of what you see.” ¹⁴ The attendant agreed to Daniel’s suggestion and tested them for ten days. 

¹⁵ At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier and better nourished than the young men who had been eating the food assigned by the king. ¹⁶ So after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables instead of the food and wine provided for the others.

‌It’s easy to miss an important idea — in these verses — in regards to a challenge we face living in exile: the challenge of language.

‌Language is powerful. And — in this land of exile — culture is constantly using language and redefining words to shape our beliefs, values, and morals. And there’s a cultural pressure to conform to the language of exile. Thus — as God’s people — we must not only be aware of this use of language — but allow God’s Word to be what defines the language we use and what our words mean. 

What’s been redefined in recent times in our nation? 

Marriage. Evangelical. Tolerance and intolerance. What it means to be civil and respectful. Or — as I recently learned — someone in Findlay called our city office and referred to a group of people in our community as cockroaches. What an appalling word to call people who are made in God’s image.

‌But here’s something I found convicting as I studied Daniel. It’s how we refer to Daniel as Daniel — his Hebrew name — but refer to his friends as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — not by their Hebrew names — but by their Babylonian names. And here’s why this convicted me.

‌Their original Hebrew names have deeply religious meaning. Daniel means “God is my judge.” Hananiah means “Yahweh is gracious.” Mishael means “Who is like God?” Azariah means “Yahweh has helped.” And one of the first things to happen to them — in exile — is the chief of staff renaming them. And their new names — by the way — have deeply religious meaning in their land of exile. 

Daniel is renamed Belt-e-shazzar which means “Bel’s prince.” Bel refers to the Babylonian false god Marduk. Thus we see that to rename is to impose a new identity. From “God is my judge” to “Marduk’s prince.”

‌Hananiah is renamed Shadrach which means “Friend of the king.”  Imagine the disgust you’d have if you — having no choice in the matter — were renamed “Joe Biden’s friend” or “Donald Trump’s friend” — whichever one offends you more — and that’s the name you must now respond to.

‌Mishael is renamed Meshach which means “Guest of the king.” And Azariah is renamed Abednego which means “Servant of Nebo.” Nebo is the son of Marduk — the false god of Babylon. Another deeply religious name.

‌Identity is all the buzz in our culture. We’re told we can create for ourselves whatever identity we want — there are no rules — there are no limitations. 

Fan bases are cultural identities. Whether it be a college team, groups formed around a book or movie series, or those who follow Mr. Beast. These are identity groups full of deep religious meaning. 

Health and beauty is an industry that feeds off of our desire to create an identity. 

Sexual identity, political identity, musical artist followers, and so on are all ways that people are renaming themselves. This is what’s normal in our culture. But is it holy?

‌Not only is this unholy — it’s ungodly — as this is an act of rebellion against God’s authority as our Creator. As Creator — it’s God’s role to give us an identity. Nowhere are we told to create our own identity — instead — we’re told to live out of an identity that’s been given to us — even while we live in exile. We’re still Daniel — God is my judge — and Hananiah — Yahweh is gracious — and Mishael — who is like God — and Azariah — Yahweh has helped — even when this land of exile uses language to rename who we are.

‌What identity has God given his people? There are many aspects to our identity — but the one we’re focusing on today is our call to be holy — to be set apart — no matter the pressures we face to defile ourselves by culture.

‌Finally — my comment you may — or may not — have been waiting for regarding Daniel’s diet. When Daniel is viewed as a moralistic story — we take passages like this and turn it into a fad diet. But — as one author has said — “Ultimately, the story isn’t about giving up bacon and proving vegetables are healthier; the story is about holding onto a covenant identity in a pagan culture.” – (Postcards from Babylon, 58)

‌Daniel’s diet is about identity. Not eating the king’s food is about Daniel and his friends being faithful to their God in exile. Us copying their diet — and not their commitment to holiness in exile — is at best foolishness — even if it results in a few less pounds when we step on the scale.

GOD’S CALL

Finally — with their goal being to live holy lives according to their God-given identity — these four young men now understand what they’ve been called to as they live in exile.

Daniel 1:17–21 (NLT)

‌¹⁷ God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams. ¹⁸ When the training period ordered by the king was completed, the chief of staff brought all the young men to King Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ The king talked with them, and no one impressed him as much as Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. So they entered the royal service. ²⁰ Whenever the king consulted them in any matter requiring wisdom and balanced judgment, he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom. ²¹ Daniel remained in the royal service until the first year of the reign of King Cyrus.

‌With a God given identity, aptitude, and special abilities — these four young men work for the king who had conquered their people. This tells us that removing ourselves from culture — building some sort of isolated community separated from the world — isn’t the answer to holy living in exile. Instead, we see that it’s possible to be holy — and be active citizens — in the land in which we live. 

Which means you can be faithful as you work for the government — even though politics can never be your religion. And you can be a member of a political party — though you can never pledge your sole allegiance to a party or a political leader. You can work as a teacher in a public school or for the police or for the military or — you get the idea — while being faithful to your God — living out of the identity he’s given you in the calling he has for you. It means your kids can play sports and yet — as a family — you refuse to allow sports to be your family’s religion.

‌CONCLUSION

Will there be challenges? Absolutely! Just wait until you see what Daniel and his friends encounter as they continue to live in this land of exile. Yet — we’ll continue to see that holiness is possible. We don’t have to cave. We don’t have to be absorbed by the beliefs, values, and morals of our surrounding culture. And we don’t have to hide — or separate ourselves into some weird Christian commune — in order to be faithful.

And the reason why we don’t have to do either of these is because Christ has come and revealed to us how much God values his people’s holiness. For Jesus came to earth to die as the sacrifice that would wash his people — making them clean and undefiled — making them holy. On the night that he was betrayed, arrested, and — ultimately — murdered as a holy sacrifice for the sins of his people…

‌Matthew 26:36–46 (NLT)

‌³⁶ Jesus went with them (his disciples) to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” 

³⁷ He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. ³⁸ He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” ³⁹ He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” ⁴⁰ Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? ⁴¹ Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” ⁴² Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” ⁴³ When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. ⁴⁴ So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. ⁴⁵ Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look — the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Up, let’s be going. Look, my betrayer is here!”

‌Daniel’s story begins with him and his friends having to trust in God’s judgment upon his people for their sin and rebellion. They’re conquered by the Babylonians and forced to live in exile. 

On the night of his betrayal — just hours before he’d experience the pain and brutality of death on a cross — Jesus too had to trust in God’s judgment. And though he desired to not experience the cup of suffering — the cross — he submitted himself to his Father’s will — that the cross would be how our sin would be judged and paid for.

‌Daniel and his friends — though renamed — remembered who they were and lived out of their God-given identity while in exile. 

Similarly, Jesus never forgot who he was — the Son of God — the Son of man — the Savior of the world. His enemies mocked him — people spit on him — soldiers whipped him — all kinds of false words were said about him — he was even accused of working for the devil — but he knew who he was — and he trusted in his God-given identity.

‌Finally, Daniel and his friends trusted in God’s call on their life as they served the king of Babylon. Working for the one who conquered your people and homeland had to be incredibly difficult — conflicting — challenging. But their confidence was that this was God’s will for their lives. 

And — though inspiring to us — their call doesn’t compare to what Jesus was called to — and what he faithfully accomplished for us in love. For God’s call on his life was to live in perfect obedience while in this land of exile — to live the one true holy life — so that he could die as the perfect substitute and sacrifice for the sins of all who believe in him. Who — in believing in him — are giving the call to follow him by living holy and faithful lives in our land of exile. Let’s pray together.

PRAYER

Father above, life can be hard here on earth — here living in exile. When we think of your holiness and your command that we be a holy people — it’s easy to be discouraged by our failures. This is why we must look to your love and faithfulness for your people throughout history — for this will give us confidence in your love and faithfulness for your people today.

‌Yes, you discipline us when we rebel and sin — but you do so as our loving Father who cares for his children — who will choose to discipline us rather than to let us continue in rebellion. Help us to trust your judgment — for your judgment is always right — your discipline is always for our good.

Spirit of God, remind us of the identity we’ve been given through our faith in Christ. And help us to be wise to the deceptions regarding identity that we’re bombarded with in this land of exile. You give us identity — we don’t create it for ourselves. You give us purpose — revealed to us in your Word — a purpose we’ve been created to fulfill — a purpose that is the very best way for us to live. For obedience to your Word is full of blessings and rewards.

And — Jesus — you’ve called us your own in having fulfilled the calling to which you were called: to be the living, perfect, holy sacrifice for the sins of your people. Thank you for taking our judgment upon yourself on the cross and for giving us a new identity through your obedience and love. And may your love for us be our motivation to live holy lives in this land of exile. And we pray this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

Because of all that Christ has done for you — may you go committed to living a holy life in this land of exile. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.