1 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:08,360 This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd. 2 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:12,280 Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people 3 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,320 striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:19,560 our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church 5 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,360 at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message in 6 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:27,360 the. Text for today One of the one of 7 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:29,040 the best. Well, I wouldn't call it the 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,600 best, but a key argument that comes against Christianity, 9 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,200 against from those who who doubt and don't believe is man. 10 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,800 If God is really all good and he's all powerful and he's all 11 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:45,240 loving, why does he allow such evil and terrible and and awful 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,200 things to happen in this world? Why do we suffer the way we do 13 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:55,240 if God is good? Now, I will tell you, and 14 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,360 honestly, at first glance, this feels like a devastating 15 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,240 question. Even I, as I asked the question, 16 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:03,520 maybe somebody's asked you that before. 17 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:07,960 Maybe you have friends or family members who they, they don't 18 00:01:07,960 --> 00:01:10,200 believe what you believe, or maybe you're in this room and 19 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:11,600 you don't even believe what I'm saying. 20 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,720 So hear this. I understand that that's a, 21 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,840 that's a tough question. In fact, CS Lewis, fantastic 22 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,080 writer of a lot of different things, CS Lewis actually used 23 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,800 that argument against Christians when he was younger in his life. 24 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:31,360 He used that argument to try and disprove that God existed. 25 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:37,400 Yet ironically enough, it's that very same challenge that 26 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,720 actually brought him to God. And you say, well, how does that 27 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:42,680 work? How can how can that question 28 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:44,960 actually bring him to God? Well, here's the thing. 29 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,960 CS Lewis saw evil for what it was. 30 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,280 He looked at evil. He looked at the the terrible 31 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:53,840 things that happened in this world, and he said, wow, you 32 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,000 know what? I'm realizing that I can't 33 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,200 really call that evil if there's no God. 34 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,440 I can't call that evil. If there's no God, what does he 35 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,280 mean by that? The idea of that is man, if we 36 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:10,120 are just here by chance, by some evolutionary chance, if we're 37 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:13,600 just a bunch of cells that bump together over billions of years 38 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:17,600 and now we're here, there is no inescapable moral law. 39 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,360 It's literally just the strong eating the weak and the strong 40 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,520 eating the weak and over and over again until at some point 41 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,400 we fail to exist and nothing and nobody remembers us, right. 42 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,840 And so if that's the case, that there's no God who creates A 43 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:38,000 moral inescapable law, then man, we're actually going against our 44 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,160 evolutionary biology. If we are not beating down those 45 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,080 that we can beat down and take power from them and therefore 46 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:48,200 push ourselves up. Are we doing that? 47 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:50,680 Man, I hope not. I hope not. 48 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:54,920 That's a bad day. But but here's the thing. 49 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:59,480 Even the most staunch atheist, if you present this idea to them 50 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:04,720 that, hey, you know, with moral law doesn't make sense without 51 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,920 an intelligent designer, here's what's going to happen. 52 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:10,520 Even the most staunch atheist, what's going to happen is 53 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:13,920 something bad is going to happen to them, something unfortunate, 54 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:16,360 maybe intentional, maybe unintentional. 55 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:18,600 And when that happens to them, you know what they're going to 56 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:20,080 do? They're going to say that's not 57 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,000 fair, that shouldn't have happened to me, I need justice, 58 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,360 there should be retribution, there should be payback, 59 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,560 etcetera, etcetera. And all of a sudden their 60 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:33,480 argument is broken because man, there's a moral law that 61 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,280 dictates that something should be done about this and that 62 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,920 moral law has to be anchored in an intelligent designer. 63 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,760 Otherwise it's a moving scale that only exists with those who 64 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:48,800 hold the power, right. So all this to say, when we 65 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,240 logically, when we come to that end, when we logically come to 66 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,400 the end that there is a an intelligent designer who created 67 00:03:55,400 --> 00:04:00,120 a moral law, he also created human beings just like us with 68 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,120 free will and the capability to choose whether to follow that 69 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,480 anchored moral law or not. But here's what's most 70 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,920 interesting about this God and this creator is that he has the 71 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:14,760 power and he has the will and he has the desire that even when we 72 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:19,560 break his moral law, even when we do evil, he can take that and 73 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:21,440 he can use it for his good plans. 74 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,240 That's a remarkable thing. That's a really remarkable 75 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,240 thing. And so this morning I would love 76 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,120 to talk about God's good plans. We're going to do this in three 77 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,600 different ways. We're going to look at Acts 78 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,960 chapter 2, and Peter is preaching a sermon on the day of 79 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:40,120 Pentecost. And so here's what we learn. 80 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:42,920 We're going to learn about God's good plans in at least three 81 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:44,600 ways. First and foremost, we're going 82 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,600 to learn that God's plans do in fact already account for evil. 83 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,800 We need to acknowledge that otherwise we, we tend to get 84 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,440 lost in bitterness and sadness #2 we're going to see that God's 85 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,760 plans are multi generational, that he plays the long game. 86 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:03,400 And then finally #3 we are going to ask and answer how we join 87 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:07,120 God's good multi generational plans. 88 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:09,120 You ready? Yeah. 89 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:10,640 Yeah. OK, OK, OK. 90 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:21,040 Just just, yeah, it's fine. You guys are just very quiet 91 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:22,800 today. You, you seem very subdued. 92 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:29,080 OK, that's fine. The word of the Lord, we're 93 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:32,320 going to be reading Acts chapter 222 through 39. 94 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:33,800 This is not Peter's entire sermon. 95 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,760 We kind of chopped off the front bit a little bit, and you can go 96 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,800 back and read that and yeah, please do that. 97 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:45,040 But for our sake today, it's just 22 through 39, it says 98 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,520 this. Men of Israel hear these words. 99 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:52,840 Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with 100 00:05:52,840 --> 00:05:56,440 mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him 101 00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:01,400 in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up 102 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,680 according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. 103 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,440 You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 104 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:13,280 God raised him up, losing the pangs of death, because it was 105 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:15,880 not possible for him to be held by it. 106 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:21,240 For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, 107 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:24,600 for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 108 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,240 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. 109 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:31,240 My flesh also will dwell in hope. 110 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,440 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One 111 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:37,960 see corruption. You have made known to me the 112 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:40,840 paths of life. You will make me full of 113 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:45,080 gladness with your presence. Brothers, I say to you with 114 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:49,640 confidence about the patriarch David, that he both died and was 115 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,680 buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 116 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:57,680 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn an 117 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,720 oath to him, that he would set one of his descendants on his 118 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,600 throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of 119 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:09,480 Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, for nor did 120 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:14,680 his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of 121 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:19,320 that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the 122 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,080 right hand of God, and having received from the Father the 123 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:26,360 promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you 124 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,880 yourselves are seeing and hearing. 125 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:33,240 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself 126 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:38,360 says, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I 127 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:42,160 make your enemies a footstool. Let all of the House of Israel 128 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,960 therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and 129 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:49,040 Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. 130 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:55,640 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and they 131 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,760 said to Peter in the arrest of the in the rest of the apostles, 132 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:03,200 brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent 133 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,960 and be baptized, everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for 134 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:10,800 the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of 135 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,120 the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and 136 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,120 for your children and for all who are far off. 137 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:23,520 Everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself says the word 138 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:32,320 of the Lord. OK, God's good plans do account 139 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:34,919 for evil. OK, I want us to see something 140 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:38,320 because here's the thing. Peter is putting two thoughts 141 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,480 together that don't actually seem to work. 142 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:42,880 They seem to butt right up against each other because he 143 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,400 says it is the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. 144 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,440 Right? OK, so it sounds like God is 145 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,680 planning Jesus's crucifixion, but then he also says in the 146 00:08:52,680 --> 00:08:56,480 same breath, you crucified and killed him by the hands of 147 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:00,000 lawless men. These two things, at least on 148 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,400 the surface, seem opposed. Let me explain as best as I can. 149 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:10,840 I'll explain it this way. Modern day people, it seems like 150 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:15,280 sometimes we have a difficult time with the concept of evil. 151 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:19,240 And here's what I mean by that. We don't like to just call it 152 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,520 out as what it is, and we don't like to call out people as the 153 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:24,320 ones who do this. Here. 154 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:27,040 Let me give you. Here's what it might sound like. 155 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,160 OK, well, gosh, he only did that. 156 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,760 He's only that way because you know what? 157 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:35,840 Gosh, he had, he had a really rough upbringing. 158 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:37,800 It's not his fault. He's not evil. 159 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:39,240 He did. It's not his fault. 160 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,680 It's not his fault. It's his parents fault. 161 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:45,800 OK? Or it might sound like, you know 162 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,040 what she only had, she only made that choice because she had to, 163 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,400 because the system let her down. The system did not support her 164 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,560 well enough. So therefore it's not her fault. 165 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:01,600 You see what we're getting at and our modern day people, we 166 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:05,160 tend to, what we do is, is we take all of these, all these 167 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,960 societal things and we say, man, if we could just get these 168 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,840 societal things right, then we could actually maybe become the 169 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:14,360 people who we ought to be. So therefore, every evil, every 170 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:18,960 sin, not that, not that secular people call them sins, but every 171 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:23,640 evil that is, that is done in our world is because our system 172 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:25,440 has failed. There's something wrong. 173 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,960 But you know, with enough time in in the right family and the 174 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,560 right education and the right politics and the right this and 175 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:33,880 this and this, we're going to be the people that we're supposed 176 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,200 to be and we're going to eliminate evil. 177 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:39,200 Baloney. You won't. 178 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:44,240 You won't. I hear rumors, and I don't know, 179 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,240 this is very much off the cuff. I hear rumors that, you know, 180 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:51,680 supposedly we're going to start a new, we're going to start life 181 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:54,640 on a new planet at some point in the next 40 or 50 years. 182 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:56,920 That's going to be the utopia, right? 183 00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:59,680 We're finally going to get it right when we exit this planet 184 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:01,840 and we're going to go, we're not going to get it right. 185 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,840 Even if we do that, that is not going to be a utopia. 186 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:12,080 Here's the thing friends, the Bible has 0 issue calling a 187 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:16,440 spade a spade 0 And so the Bible and Peter, who's preaching this 188 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,400 message, he, he doesn't have any hang ups. 189 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:23,120 He, he, he calls evil what it is and God calls evil what it is. 190 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:24,880 And they, they look at it right in the face. 191 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:29,080 And more So what they do is they look at who's projecting the 192 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:31,160 evil, what the source of the evil is and they name it. 193 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:33,640 The Bible names it, Peter names it. 194 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:36,640 Guess what? That's you and me. 195 00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:40,880 Sorry. That's you and me. 196 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:44,240 It's our it's our fault. It's what we do. 197 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:47,880 Now, why? Why are we like this? 198 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:51,160 Well, there is a doctrine called original sin. 199 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:54,240 It's an important doctrine because what it tells us and 200 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:56,760 what the Bible tells us is that from the moment of our 201 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,320 conception, and David says that from the moment of our 202 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,480 conception because of sin and it's, and it's work and it's 203 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:07,840 curse man, God help us. We fail all the time, morally 204 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:10,800 and otherwise. We make selfish decisions. 205 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:15,040 We, we lie to get ahead. I, you can, you can name it all 206 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:16,840 day. I don't really want to do all of 207 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:19,000 that. But what happens is when we sin 208 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,480 against God, we are literally fracturing our own design. 209 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,240 God designed us for a purpose and a plan and those purposes 210 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,040 and plans were good. But every single time we break 211 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,400 his moral law, we are breaking down ourselves. 212 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:35,840 We don't see that always. We think that as we're getting 213 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,880 ahead through whatever means necessary because the world 214 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:43,040 says, hey, get ahead. We think we're building 215 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:45,880 ourselves up, but we're not. We're working against our own 216 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:54,200 design and that that's evil. So what are God's options? 217 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:56,000 Let's think about this from his perspective. 218 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:00,000 I've laid out a case for you that says, well, humans, it is 219 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,320 inevitable that we're going to do evil and terrible things. 220 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,240 OK, So what are God's options? Think about it from his 221 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:08,840 perspective. Well, first and foremost, I 222 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,520 mean, quite frankly, you know what he could do? 223 00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:12,480 He could say, this is ridiculous. 224 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:16,000 This thing is not working and quite it's just not worth it. 225 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,360 It's not worth the effort. Let's just wipe out everything. 226 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:21,880 I'm even going to start over. Let's just wipe it all out and 227 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:26,720 call it a day. God could do that, but that 228 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:30,280 would be against his nature. That would be against His nature 229 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:35,880 as a creator, as the sustainer, as the lover of our souls, as a 230 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,520 nurturer. It would be against his God. 231 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:43,960 He can't do it. He can't do it because of His 232 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:46,680 great and intense and perfect love for us. 233 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:47,920 He. He can't do it. 234 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:52,560 So then what does he have to do? God works with the material that 235 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:55,640 He's got. God works with the material that 236 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,960 he's got, and sometimes that material is downright evil. 237 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,840 But God and his infinite sovereignty and wisdom, he can 238 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,920 work through those evil things to get to his good plans, to get 239 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,800 to salvation, to get to the point where we have freedom. 240 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,960 He can do that. Let me give you a quick example. 241 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:17,920 Gosh, we were, we were in this story of Joseph a little ways 242 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,960 back, Joseph's brothers. I'm going to give you the very 243 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:22,880 quick version. I don't have the emojis up here 244 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:25,480 today for those who remember that, but I'll give you the 245 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,800 really quick version. Joseph's brothers hated him. 246 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:30,840 They despised him. And So what did they do? 247 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,320 They kind of. They ransacked him and they sell 248 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,320 him into slavery. That's an evil thing to do. 249 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:41,240 Well, he goes on through various means, and at some point he 250 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:44,960 finds his way as the second in command in all of Egypt during a 251 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,920 famine. His brothers come back because 252 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,080 they're starving to death. They don't recognize him. 253 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,840 He could have just waylaid them. He he could have given them what 254 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,240 they deserved. But because of grace and mercy, 255 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:01,480 he forgave them. And So what? 256 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,560 Ultimately what he tells his brothers is what you meant for 257 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:09,960 evil, God meant for good. God can turn evil into good. 258 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:12,000 He's fully capable of doing that. 259 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,000 Just because evil exists does not disprove God. 260 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:18,520 He just uses it for His good purposes. 261 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:21,120 Let me give you one more that should be on the forefront of 262 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:23,680 all of our minds, and that is the cross of Jesus Christ. 263 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:28,320 Evil people, As Peter calls out in this text during his sermon, 264 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:34,520 evil people just like you and me put Jesus on the cross. 265 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:42,360 God used that to save us. Friends, I know we're in a 266 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:45,040 church, and so that seems very obvious, that statement I made. 267 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,480 God used the cross to save us. My goodness, let's never get 268 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:49,680 over that. Please. 269 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,960 Let's never get over the fact that God turned the most evil 270 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:55,880 act in all of human history into our salvation. 271 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,680 Let's never get over that fact. It's wildly important, my 272 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:04,640 goodness. So we've laid that out right. 273 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:08,240 God uses even the evil things for his good plans. 274 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:12,400 Let's keep going and see how God's plans are multi 275 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:14,440 generational because that's really important. 276 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:20,080 It is. I love the fact that we have we 277 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:23,160 have writers here. Gosh, you write songs. 278 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:25,680 I love that. I think it's so cool. 279 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:29,680 I really mean that. Sometimes I consider myself a 280 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:33,640 bit of a writer. I wrote a proverb. 281 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:41,200 Would you like to hear it? You know what, friends? 282 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,640 It's fine. No, I'm kidding. 283 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:46,880 No, I wrote a proverb, and whether you want to hear it or 284 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:47,880 not, I'm going to give it to you. 285 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:50,760 My goodness. OK. 286 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,440 It's perfect, by the way, in the sense that 8 syllables on one 287 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:58,040 side to prove a .8 syllables on the other side to prove a point. 288 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:00,240 Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. 289 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:01,560 Right? Here it goes. 290 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,200 That which is good takes forever. 291 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:08,680 That which is bad happens quickly. 292 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:11,040 There's your proverb for the day. 293 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:16,640 Open your fortune cookie. OK, say that which is good takes 294 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,040 forever. That which is bad happens 295 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,440 quickly. At the risk of embarrassing 296 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,400 myself, which I'm usually willing to do at the risk of 297 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,480 embarrassing myself, let me give you an illustration to prove 298 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:34,480 that point. As I get older, the the hair 299 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:37,800 that I want to grow, it doesn't grow that fast and there seems 300 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:42,720 to be less of it and, and, but the hair that I don't want at 301 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:49,160 all, it weirdly comes overnight. Gosh, this is so weird. 302 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:58,040 So this takes forever to grow and I like it and I want it and 303 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:01,200 I think it's good. But I will wake up 1 morning and 304 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,120 like I know it wasn't there the day before but I've got like an 305 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:07,560 inch long hair coming off of my ear and I'm like what? 306 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,560 That is disturbing how fast that bad thing happened. 307 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:17,480 It happened so quickly. I mean that I like, oh man, I 308 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:19,160 am. I'm showing my age a little bit. 309 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,880 But it's true. The good things seem to take 310 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:24,680 forever. The bad things happen so fast. 311 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,960 Oh my gosh, it just getting old is hard. 312 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:32,040 And if you don't understand what I'm saying, you will. 313 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:35,160 You'll get there. But here's the thing, let let me 314 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,160 get to the point. God thinks multi generationally. 315 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:41,160 He thinks really, really big picture. 316 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:44,960 He plays the long game, right. We are told in our society and 317 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,920 and we we have some sense of this that it is my job to live 318 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,080 my best life. Now that has become kind of a 319 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:51,960 catch phrase over the last decade or so. 320 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:56,560 I need to live my best life now. You know, now there is, there is 321 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,800 an extent to where we can do that, right? 322 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:02,640 We can do that and we can honour God, right? 323 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,920 Because maybe living my best life looks like being in 324 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:09,960 community like ERC and spending time with like minded people 325 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,960 and, and even speaking the gospel to people who maybe don't 326 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:15,440 want to hear it. Maybe that's what living my best 327 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,360 life looks like. But The thing is like we are 328 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:21,920 still thinking maybe too small. We're still thinking maybe too 329 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,200 small. And let me explain that by going 330 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,120 back to the the text that I was looking at. 331 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:29,840 Oh, no, too far. My bad. 332 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:32,360 Yeah. So here's a weird thing that 333 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:35,480 David says, not. Let's explore it for a second. 334 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:38,400 I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that 335 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:42,120 he both died and was buried. And his tomb is with us to this 336 00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:44,600 day. In other words, what he's saying 337 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:48,280 is, hey, our great King David, who we all kind of look up to 338 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:50,680 and and we read the Psalms and we read all these things about 339 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:51,920 him. He's dead. 340 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,040 You can go visit his grave right over there. 341 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:58,600 What is the point we're getting to the point that we're getting 342 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:05,840 to is the fact that man David, he saw something David saw 343 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:08,560 something. He saw something beyond himself. 344 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:13,800 Now David understands that his his direct impact for the world 345 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:18,240 was significant, but he also understands, and we get this 346 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:22,160 from the Psalms that he. Knew that God was going to do 347 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:26,160 something way bigger than him, that the indirect impact that he 348 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,960 would have because God is working through generations and 349 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:30,720 generations and generations of people. 350 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,320 That impact would ultimately be the gospel and it would save 351 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:38,920 people like you and me. He knew that God works big 352 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:40,000 plans. He knew that. 353 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:44,160 And so I just want to ask you a question. 354 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:47,000 Let's just cut to the chase. I don't need to over explain 355 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,160 this as I sometimes do, but let's cut to the chase. 356 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:56,080 Have you ever considered the fact that God's plans are bigger 357 00:20:56,080 --> 00:21:02,000 than your lifetime? God's plans for you are bigger 358 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:04,880 than your lifetime. Have you thought about that? 359 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:10,600 Lord willing, we plan for retirement. 360 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:14,280 We plan for all these things that hopefully will happen in 361 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:18,040 our lifetimes. But man, do you think God wants 362 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:21,360 to leave your impact there? Do you think he wants your 363 00:21:21,360 --> 00:21:25,400 impact to just stay right here? Oh man, I hope not. 364 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:26,960 I hope you're not thinking that small. 365 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,840 I hope you're thinking the way God thinks in a multi 366 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:32,680 generational way. Because here's the thing, let's 367 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:38,840 do some simple math. If I in my entire lifetime talk 368 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,320 to 10 people and convince 10 people that Jesus Christ is 369 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,400 their Lord and Savior, and they agree with me and they and they 370 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,840 give their hearts to God, just 10 people in my whole life. 371 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:54,960 Well, what happens when those 10 people each tell 10 people it's 372 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,800 100. And then the next generation, 373 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,200 what happens when those 100 people each tell 10 people 374 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:07,040 that's 1000? Let me tell you something, it 375 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:11,240 will be just fine by me. And I mean this, if in a 376 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,960 generation or two people don't remember my name, I'm OK with 377 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:16,360 that. I really AM. 378 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,040 I'm good with that. As long as I became a 379 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:24,840 multiplier, as long as my life's work, the the things that I'm 380 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,320 passionate about live beyond me. And I'm not talking about 381 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:30,040 investments. I'm not talking about 382 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,520 generational wealth. I am talking about something 383 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,880 that matters so deeply. That is the most important thing 384 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,360 and that is the gospel. That is the eternity changing 385 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,560 gospel of Jesus Christ. Forget about my name. 386 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:47,600 I don't need somebody to put flowers 60 years down the road 387 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:51,040 and say, oh, well, my great, great grandpa father was Chris 388 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:52,280 and I think he was a decent dude. 389 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:55,320 I don't know, like, no, I don't need that. 390 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,360 What I do need is for my great, great, great grandchildren to 391 00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:01,440 know Jesus. That's what I need them to know. 392 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,920 They don't need to know my name. So I'm asking you, have you been 393 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:10,480 thinking about, you've been thinking about your life beyond 394 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:11,720 your life? Have you been thinking about 395 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:15,160 your legacy in that way? Gosh, if you're not talking 396 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:19,440 about multiplying, if you're not talking about pushing yourself 397 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:25,280 to have the conversations that will change generations, I don't 398 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:29,400 know what you're planning for, quite frankly, I'm not sure what 399 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:33,440 your point is. I don't mean that in a mean way, 400 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:35,920 I don't. But I do mean it in a 401 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:42,040 challenging way. Our hope, our goal should be the 402 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:47,800 same as God's multi generational multiplication and impact for 403 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:53,720 the gospel. OK, let's move on to kind of the 404 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,680 last thing here that that we learned from Peter and what we 405 00:23:57,680 --> 00:23:59,680 need to do now that I've given you that. 406 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,440 How do we join this multi generational plan of God? 407 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:06,280 How do we do that? Is there a formula? 408 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,480 Is there a way to do that? OK, there is. 409 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:12,520 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and they 410 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:14,760 said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, brothers, what 411 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,360 shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent 412 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:21,640 and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ 413 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,600 for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the 414 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:26,560 gift of the Holy Spirit. Do you see it? 415 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:30,280 It's not terribly complex. It's not that. 416 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,400 It's not that difficult to understand. 417 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:37,080 Repent and be baptized. This is how we start to join 418 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:41,600 God's multi generational plan. Now I understand I am talking in 419 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,600 a church and so a lot of you have at least checked one of 420 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:51,240 these boxes right? You have you have but let's 421 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:54,160 let's take a moment, just a brief moment to look at each 422 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:55,600 one. Repent. 423 00:24:55,600 --> 00:25:00,840 What does that mean means turning away means running the 424 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,040 opposite direction. Here's the thing. 425 00:25:03,120 --> 00:25:06,720 If I'm living for me and all I'm worried about is my legacy is 426 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,320 maybe generational wealth in this and this man, you know what 427 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:10,800 I need to do. You know what God is calling me 428 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,960 to do when I think long term, He's calling me to turn away. 429 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,960 He's calling me to run away from that selfishness. 430 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:20,640 He's calling me to run away from the selfishness of, hey, it's 431 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:26,240 all about me, right? When God calls us to repent, 432 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:30,080 He's calling us to run towards him, not run towards the things 433 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:34,000 that we suppose are important, the things that give us a name. 434 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,520 That's not the point. And then Peter tells us be 435 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,680 baptized briefly. We had a student chair about 436 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:44,080 this last week. God, God bless her. 437 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:49,240 So good. But briefly, man baptism, 438 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,600 washing away of your sins. God inviting you into his 439 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:55,440 family. What a gift. 440 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,480 I, I, I'm honest, man. Like if you were sitting in this 441 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:04,560 room, you were listening to me and you believe in Jesus Christ, 442 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,440 why aren't you baptized? He commanded it. 443 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,360 He's called you to it. He wants to wash you clean. 444 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:14,640 He wants to give you the Holy Spirit. 445 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,880 And that's the thing. Peter makes it very clear 446 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,960 through baptism, God gives us the Holy Spirit. 447 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,920 I, I want you to notice it. He says you will receive the 448 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,120 gift of the Holy Spirit. Hard stop. 449 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,560 There's no question there. There's there's no, hey, am I 450 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:35,160 going to receive the Holy Spirit? 451 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,320 What does that look like? No, God says you will. 452 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:39,760 Now I understand we're talking about Pentecost. 453 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,080 And so like we think maybe we have to talk some mumbo jumbo in 454 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:44,760 order to have received the Spirit. 455 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:47,200 That's baloney. That is the specific gift that 456 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,160 he gives specific people and especially in this moment for a 457 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,480 specific purpose. No, God giving you the Holy 458 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,880 Spirit is God making his home in you. 459 00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:59,560 He's dwelling in you. He He moves in your heart. 460 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:04,280 Why do you think I'm insane? Why do you think I stand up here 461 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,480 and rant and rave like a lunatic about Jesus? 462 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,600 Because guess what? In my right mind, I would not do 463 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:11,200 that. But Lord, help me. 464 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,440 The Holy Spirit moves in and through me as I've accepted 465 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:18,280 Jesus Christ. And here I am talking to all of 466 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:21,960 you about the Gospel man. God wants to work in your life 467 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:23,640 too. And it doesn't necessarily look 468 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:27,520 like this, but it does look like you having conversations with 469 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:29,520 people. It does look like telling people 470 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,680 about the gospel. It does look like good news in 471 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:34,520 your life. And it looks like freedom. 472 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,880 And so let me close with this. If the band would like to come 473 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,560 up, that would be awesome. But let me let me close with a 474 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:49,680 thought. Even though, even though the 475 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:56,280 most evil act in human history was carried out against Jesus 476 00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:00,440 Christ, the Son of God, it didn't work. 477 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,760 It just didn't work. It didn't work the way people 478 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:07,440 thought it would. And that's really good news for 479 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:11,040 us. This text, it tells us that the 480 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:13,600 pangs of death. Let me tell you something about 481 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:18,240 death. Death fought and labored to keep 482 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,160 Jesus down. But ultimately, as it fought and 483 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,240 it labored, it only delivered him into life. 484 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,520 That's a gift. That's God's good plans for you 485 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,640 and me. And he wants us to to accept and 486 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,520 join in those plans. He wants us to see that even 487 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:40,040 death itself cannot hold us down because Jesus Christ is the 488 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:42,440 Messiah. He's living, He's reigning, He's 489 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:46,160 alive, and he wants us to join him in these good plans. 490 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,680 He wants us to join him in life. Friends, don't miss that. 491 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,920 Again, I know we're in a church and maybe we assume too much 492 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,040 that we all already are there. Don't miss that. 493 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:03,040 And even if you are sitting here and you know Jesus Christ, you 494 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,000 bet you know somebody who doesn't. 495 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:08,440 It might be in your head right now. 496 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:12,760 Don't be afraid. God gives you His Holy Spirit to 497 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:15,760 speak His truth in love. Don't be afraid. 498 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,520 Multiply, multiply, multiply for the gospel. 499 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:21,960 Amen. Amen. 500 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:30,320 Thanks for listening to ERC Sundays. 501 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:32,800 To support the work God is doing at Emmaus Rd. 502 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,720 Church, visit emmausrdonline.org/giving.