1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,600 Day of November, right after service, we will have the info 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:08,520 session until you can sign up or you can just show up that day 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:13,040 and we'll let you know everything that we know about 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:16,360 the trip. Coming up in April May 2026, I 5 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:22,600 want to invite you to open your Bibles to Galatians, Galatians 6 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:33,440 Chapter 1. Have you ever gotten a phone 7 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:40,400 call that changed your life? Have you ever had a call that 8 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:48,880 changed your life? In Galatians we get to read the 9 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:54,280 story and life of the Apostle Paul and how he believed that 10 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,840 the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the call of God that changed 11 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:04,760 his life and there was no looking back beyond that or even 12 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:09,600 forward beyond that without his life being informed and shaped 13 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:14,760 by the resurrection of Jesus. When we read the book of 14 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,840 Galatians, you may feel like, my goodness, this guy had problems 15 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:23,520 I don't have. And it's true, the apostle Paul 16 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:25,680 had problems that you and I don't have. 17 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,960 But we have similar problems. And as we make our way in the 18 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:33,280 coming months through the book of Galatians, you're going to 19 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:42,680 find ways in which the life and story of Paul, the message of 20 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:48,160 Jesus and his writing to this group of churches that were in a 21 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:53,720 region called Galatia, can really touch our lives and 22 00:01:53,720 --> 00:02:00,080 change the way we see ourselves. How we see our church, how we 23 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:06,040 see our campus and our city, how we engage with life and all of 24 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:11,400 our relationships. Paul is convinced that there's 25 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:17,160 no other gospel. And so he starts out this letter 26 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,440 and you're going to start to notice that Paul seems a little 27 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:30,000 spicy, a little fiery as he's working out what is going on 28 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:36,240 with the Jewish and Gentile followers of Jesus in Galatia. 29 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,280 This is how it begins. Paul, an apostle, sent not from 30 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:48,280 men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who 31 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:52,560 raised him from the dead. And all the brothers and sisters 32 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:57,640 with me to the churches in Galatia. 33 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:06,800 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus 34 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:13,000 Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the 35 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:18,680 present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 36 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:23,080 to whom be glory forever and ever. 37 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:29,080 Amen. I am astonished that you are so 38 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:33,040 quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace 39 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:40,320 of Christ and are turning to a different gospel which is really 40 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:46,440 no gospel at all. Evidently some people are 41 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:51,080 throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel 42 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:56,000 of Christ. But even if we or an Angel from 43 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:00,280 heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to 44 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:08,160 you, let them be under God's curse, as we have already said. 45 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:13,760 So now I say again, if anybody is preaching to you a gospel 46 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:20,680 other than what you accepted, let them be under God's curse. 47 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:26,440 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of 48 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:30,280 God? Or am I trying to please people? 49 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:37,320 If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant 50 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:44,520 of Christ. Have you ever had a call that 51 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:53,080 changed your life? In 2002, in May, a man named 52 00:04:53,280 --> 00:04:57,360 Leonardo Diaz was hiking in the Andes. 53 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:02,840 He and a group had decided to do some serious hiking. 54 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:07,640 He was so excited. Their goal was to reach the 55 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:12,880 summit of Nevada del Ruez, a volcano in the Andes. 56 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:17,400 I promise you, the little mountains around Cusco aren't 57 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:23,200 this bad. But on the second day, they were 58 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:28,880 caught up in a Blizzard, and before he knew it, he lost sight 59 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:34,040 of his team of hikers. And he realized, my friends are 60 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,200 gone. I am by myself. 61 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:46,160 And he was lost. He began to run out of rations. 62 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:51,920 He began to suffer in the bitter cold, and although he had a cell 63 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:59,240 phone in his backpack, the prepaid minutes had expired. 64 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:15,370 Who are you going to call? He was out of minutes. 65 00:06:15,410 --> 00:06:22,570 He couldn't call anyone. He figured he didn't have long 66 00:06:23,410 --> 00:06:25,330 and he would die on the mountain. 67 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:33,560 As he's sitting there shivering in the cold, eating his rations 68 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:40,320 that he's now rationing out even more, his phone rang. 69 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:46,840 How many of you have ignored a call when your phone rings and 70 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:54,240 you don't recognize the number? How many of you think if the 71 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:58,320 phone rings, it must be a scammer? 72 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,240 If the phone rings, it's my parents. 73 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:06,600 I'm not going to answer that call. 74 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,040 The phone rang. He was out of minutes. 75 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:24,960 He answered it. This is Belle calling to see if 76 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:27,400 you want more hours on your phone. 77 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:29,480 Would you like a few more minutes? 78 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:33,480 He's like, I'd like a few more minutes in my life. 79 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:39,040 I'm so glad you phoned. Let me tell you where I am. 80 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:44,040 And he described where he was as best he could figure on that 81 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:48,720 mountain and a search team was launched to find him. 82 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:54,840 For the next 7 hours, someone from that company called him 83 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:59,280 every 30 minutes to try to keep him awake and save his life. 84 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:06,360 He answered a call that changed his life. 85 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:16,760 The Apostle Paul answered a call that changed his life, and from 86 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:21,120 his perspective, he was preaching the true gospel of 87 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,400 Jesus. It appears that Paul has been 88 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:32,159 accused of not preaching the true message of Jesus because 89 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:36,840 Paul preaches to both Jews and Gentiles. 90 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:43,440 Paul preaches the sufficiency of Jesus for the salvation of 91 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:49,880 anyone, Paul says. This has been my calling in 92 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:53,560 life. I'm so glad I answered it. 93 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:09,840 Galatia was an area where he had been and helped start multiple 94 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,960 churches through the communities of Galatia. 95 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:20,880 Galatia was a retirement community for Roman soldiers and 96 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:26,920 officials. It had the best roads that led 97 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:29,320 back to Rome. Have you heard it in your 98 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:35,000 history class? All roads lead to and in Galatia 99 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,040 they did. They all LED back to Rome. 100 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:46,840 And so the conservative nature of the Roman officials in this 101 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:53,440 area created pressure. The Jewish people were already 102 00:09:53,440 --> 00:10:00,160 getting a pass as people who didn't worship other gods. 103 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:05,800 They worshipped only one God, the one true God. 104 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:12,080 And so in Galatia, they were already under pressure for not 105 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,240 worshipping the Greek gods or the Roman gods or giving 106 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:23,840 allegiance to Caesar as a God. And now there was a group of 107 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:30,360 people that Paul was leading who were actually Gentiles, some of 108 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:38,160 them Roman, who were now also following Jesus and seem to want 109 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:45,600 that pass that they don't have to worship all the idols. 110 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:53,600 They get a pass, they don't have to swear allegiance to Rome as 111 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:59,520 clearly because Jesus is Lord. What? 112 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:07,240 And so now the Jewish people in this area were also anxious. 113 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:11,080 You're going to ruin our Roman pass. 114 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:16,840 This is a very difficult place. You gentile Christians need to 115 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:23,920 become a little bit more Jewish. You're going to hear this 116 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:27,640 problem all the way through the book of Galatians. 117 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:35,440 Become a little bit more Jewish for men. 118 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:40,680 Change your Physiology. Gets circumcised for men and 119 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:46,640 women change your diet, change the places you go, change the 120 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:54,680 way you serve your food, take up more of the law, the Torah in 121 00:11:54,680 --> 00:12:00,400 your life. And then there were a group of 122 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,920 people appears that came from Jerusalem and also supported 123 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:08,120 that message and said, well, we're from Jerusalem. 124 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:11,360 We've got the real message of Jesus. 125 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:17,360 We don't know about Paul, but Paul's insisting I answered the 126 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:21,400 call of the gospel. It changed my life. 127 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:28,880 Paul recalls that the resurrection is the turning 128 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:36,520 point for all humanity, that it is the defining moment in 129 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:40,080 history. There is no other king, there's 130 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:45,320 no other ruler, there's no other event that has a such a dramatic 131 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:49,880 change in the history of the cosmos. 132 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:59,880 This is the defining event of all history, the resurrection of 133 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:02,720 Jesus. If that were true, would it be 134 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:11,440 taught in your history class, your socials class? 135 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:17,120 See, this is the same Roman problem that we have, is that 136 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:27,280 these religions were actually viewed as story that connects us 137 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:34,320 with spiritual realities, spiritual beings, spiritual 138 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:39,520 powers, but they're not necessarily events. 139 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:46,200 And so the Christian claim that the event of the resurrection of 140 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:52,120 Jesus radically changes life and is God's call to all people. 141 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:58,440 It's historic, it's transformational, It is the 142 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:02,560 ultimate act of God. On behalf of everyone. 143 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:12,360 Paul claims that What defining moment defines your life? 144 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,800 Monday was Thanksgiving, right? Who had a wonderful Thanksgiving 145 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,680 dinner, Friends giving dinner. You had something. 146 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:27,560 We were cooking in the kitchen. Ellen and I actually, she was 147 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,040 doing more cooking. I was just messing around. 148 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:33,200 I decided I wanted some breakfast. 149 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:35,720 I said, can I put this pot back here? 150 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:37,800 And she said I'm a little nervous about that. 151 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,000 I said, oh, it'll be OK, I'll just put it here. 152 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,320 And I turned it on and then I said, oh, I'll, I was trying to 153 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:46,360 do something nice in the moment. I said I'll take the recycling 154 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:51,600 out and the compost. So I took the compost out and on 155 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:59,840 my way back I heard and I was like, that didn't sound good. 156 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:06,000 And by the time I got to the kitchen, Ellen was surrounded by 157 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:13,920 this mess of glass and a Pyrex dish that had been on the stove 158 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:20,800 blew up and the glass went everywhere. 159 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:26,000 There was glass on the floor. There was glass in the other 160 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:31,200 dishes she was making. There was glass in the new thing 161 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:37,880 of Bessel that was opened. I said, what happened? 162 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:43,720 She said there were two eyes on 2 burners on. 163 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,360 I said oh I must have turned on 2 burners. 164 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:52,120 I said what was in that and I lift off the pizza pan that was 165 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:57,000 holding a pie and then underneath I could see the sweet 166 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:02,440 potatoes. I blew up the sweet potatoes. 167 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:05,880 There were sweet potatoes everywhere. 168 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,920 Were you still found sweet potatoes yesterday? 169 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:19,080 And Ellen says they were the most beautiful sweet potatoes 170 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:28,840 I've ever made in my life. I was like, oh, I am really in 171 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:33,400 trouble. I said I'll clean it up. 172 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:40,480 She said OK, I'm going away. She went upstairs. 30 minutes 173 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:48,000 later, I'm still cleaning. She comes down, I said, well, 174 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:52,560 you OK? She says, well, it took 30 175 00:16:52,560 --> 00:17:00,040 minutes, but I think I'm all right now. 176 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:06,760 That moment could have become the defining moment of our 177 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:11,200 Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving could have been 178 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:17,319 ruined by me. Not only did I blow up a Pyrex 179 00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:21,960 dish, not only did I blow up the most beautiful sweet potatoes 180 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:26,079 ever made, but I blew up Thanksgiving. 181 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:38,360 But do you know Ellen has another defining reality in her 182 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:42,800 life? A defining reality where it 183 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:47,200 looked like death had won. A defining reality where it 184 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,160 looked like sin had won. A defining reality where it 185 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:56,160 looked like a tyrant had won. A defining reality where it 186 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:04,560 looked like the the crowds had swayed the opinions of everyone 187 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:12,400 and Jesus was dead. But no, the resurrection of 188 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:18,320 Jesus is the defining moment of her life and of my life. 189 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:23,400 And though in this week I've suffered some setbacks, in this 190 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:29,760 week my family has experienced death as it feels like a 191 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:34,640 defining reality. But no, the resurrection speaks 192 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:41,440 a better word. It speaks the word of Jesus 193 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:48,840 winning, of Jesus, setting things different. 194 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,680 Some of you have blown up sweet potatoes. 195 00:18:55,920 --> 00:19:01,480 I don't mean literally like I did, but some of you, like me, 196 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:06,200 have had events in our life that we think that is the defining 197 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,200 moment of my life. It shattered me. 198 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,160 That's the defining moment of my life. 199 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,480 It messed me up. That's the defining moment of my 200 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:20,680 life. It changed all my relationships. 201 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:27,080 And somehow you act as if that is the defining moment of your 202 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:31,240 life. But Paul says, look, no, it's 203 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:36,680 the resurrection of Jesus that it's the ultimate defining 204 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:42,160 reality of life. Now for Paul, this was huge. 205 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:48,800 In fact, it was the realignment of everything in creation. 206 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:56,480 Let me show you this. Paul is convinced that in the 207 00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:02,360 resurrection of Jesus that God has an inaugurated a rescue of 208 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:07,120 people. That all those who trust in 209 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:13,280 Jesus will now be rescued from this present evil age. 210 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:18,560 Would you say that to your friends, This present evil age? 211 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:23,400 Yeah, Go ahead. This present evil age. 212 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:29,240 Have you been rescued from this present evil age? 213 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,560 This was actually a Jewish mindset. 214 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:37,600 The Jewish mindset was that somehow God would show up and 215 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,800 rescue them from a present evil age. 216 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:44,840 Notice what Paul says here. Grace and peace to you from God 217 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:48,880 our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for our 218 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:58,440 sins to rescue us together from the present evil age according 219 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:02,840 to the will of our God and Father, whom be glory forever 220 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:04,920 and ever. Amen. 221 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:09,920 Rescue. We talked about it last week 222 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,200 with Thanksgiving. That Psalm one O 7 is the story 223 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:18,160 of those who have been rescued over and over and over. 4 224 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:24,360 metaphors for how Israel had been rescued from Babylon But 225 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:28,560 the ultimate rescue in the Jewish mindset had been the 226 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:33,480 rescue that they had experienced when God came and rescued them 227 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:38,320 from captivity in Egypt. How many of you have seen the 10 228 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:43,920 commandments? It's that story of God rescuing 229 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:50,800 Israel from slavery under Pharaoh in Egypt, and God was 230 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:59,320 challenging all of the Egyptian gods to show that he was the one 231 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:04,720 true God. But they were looking forward to 232 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:11,560 an ultimate rescue, an ultimate rescue from this present evil 233 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:13,200 age. That's the little bit of 234 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:17,920 language they they would use to say we need a rescue from our 235 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:23,440 present evil age. Now, Paul says Jesus has done 236 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:25,600 it. Look at the four things he says 237 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:29,240 Jesus has done. Jesus gave himself for your 238 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:34,080 sins. Jesus rescued you from the 239 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:38,760 present evil age. Jesus has done this according to 240 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:43,600 the will of God our Father. He, he uses such an affectionate 241 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:49,600 word of God here to say God is like a Father who cares and 242 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:55,520 who's had a will and a plan for a long time and that this is all 243 00:22:55,520 --> 00:23:02,080 for the glory of God. Now this, this image that we 244 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:05,800 have in our mind of the present evil age, what is it? 245 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:11,040 What is the present evil age? Well, there were three parts to 246 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:15,000 the present evil age. 1 was captivity to idols. 247 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:22,760 Idols were everywhere. The second is that their belief 248 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:28,080 was that if you get attached to an idol, you will get captivated 249 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:35,200 by sin, that every idol elicits a kind of sin in our lives 250 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,640 that's actually against the will of God. 251 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:41,680 You shall have no other gods before me. 252 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:46,000 That's the first commandment. But when you do, it leads to the 253 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,520 breaking of the rest of the commandments. 254 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:55,720 It leads to more sin, which ultimately leads to being 255 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,800 infected by death in all your relationships. 256 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:06,640 And so when they long to be free of this present evil age, they 257 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:10,960 long to say, we want. We're so tired of idolatry. 258 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:18,440 Those who worship idols, it says in Psalm 115, become like them. 259 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:24,520 They can't see, they can't hear, they can't speak, they can't 260 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:30,200 feel, they can't move. They become like an idol. 261 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:44,550 Nothing Notice we we may feel like we have no attachment to 262 00:24:44,550 --> 00:24:48,270 idols, but I love what Tim Keller says. 263 00:24:48,630 --> 00:24:52,750 Follow along as I read an idol is anything more important to 264 00:24:52,750 --> 00:24:55,790 you than God. Anything that absorbs your heart 265 00:24:55,790 --> 00:25:00,830 and imagination more than God. Anything you seek to to give you 266 00:25:00,830 --> 00:25:05,080 what only God can give, that's an idol. 267 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:09,880 A counterfeit God is anything so central and essential to your 268 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:14,480 life that should you lose it, your life would feel hardly 269 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,240 worth living. An idol has such a controlling 270 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:22,200 position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion 271 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:26,400 and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it 272 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,640 without a second thought. It can be family and children, 273 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:35,160 career and making money or achievement and critical acclaim 274 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,480 or saving face and social standing. 275 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:42,080 It can be a romantic relationship, peer approval, 276 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:46,080 competence and skills, secure and comfortable circumstances, 277 00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:51,160 your beauty or your brains, a great political or social cause, 278 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:56,000 your morality and virtue, or even success in Christian 279 00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:01,600 ministry. Is anybody starting to think you 280 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:03,720 might have some idols in your life? 281 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:08,640 The reformers would say of our hearts that our hearts are idol 282 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:11,880 factories. They look at anything and 283 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:16,000 everything that God has made and says, I could make that an 284 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:22,840 ultimate good in my life. When you're meaning Tim Keller 285 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,360 goes on. And life is to fix someone 286 00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:29,000 else's life. We may call it codependency, but 287 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:33,480 it is really idolatry. An idol is whatever you look at 288 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,920 and say in your heart of hearts. If I have that, then I'll feel 289 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:41,440 my life has meaning. Then I know I'll have value. 290 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,400 Then I'll feel significant and secure. 291 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,280 There are many ways to describe that kind of relationship to 292 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:52,480 something, but perhaps the best one is worship. 293 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,440 And This is why idols go with worship. 294 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:04,200 And This is why God says, you shall have no other gods before 295 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:08,640 me. To be rescued from this present 296 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:15,480 captive age is to be delivered from idolatry and the sins that 297 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:22,360 it generates in the Jewish expectation. 298 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:27,000 This is what it looked like. Here's the present evil age. 299 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,040 The Messiah shows up and ushers it in. 300 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:36,080 Then there's the whole age to come, and it's all lived on 301 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:40,480 earth. It's the redemption and the 302 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,760 fulfillment of everything for which creation has been made. 303 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:49,320 It's just a break. Here's the Messiah. 304 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:54,160 In fact, the accusation that Jesus wasn't the Messiah seemed 305 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:58,440 to be because the new age hadn't come and the Romans weren't 306 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:03,920 kicked out of Israel. But here's the Jesus reality. 307 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,960 The present evil age is running on. 308 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:13,240 It's still going, but there's this fundamental break in 309 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:16,920 history. There's a hinge in history now 310 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:22,000 where the Messiah Jesus shows up, He lives, He dies on a 311 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:27,400 cross, He's buried, he ravages she'll, he's raised from the 312 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:31,200 dead, He ascends into heaven and he sends his spirit. 313 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:40,880 Now by his spirit, the age to come has come, and the age to 314 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:46,800 come is running parallel with this present evil age. 315 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:53,040 And, friends, that is a dangerous place to live in. 316 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:59,920 Paul was writing to people in the church who felt like we are 317 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:05,400 living in a time of great danger, where our allegiances 318 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:10,480 are being tested, where we need to find some allies, where we 319 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:15,520 need to find some safe places and some safe people. 320 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:21,880 And Paul's writing into that and saying that might be true. 321 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:29,000 You might think you need that, but don't add to the gospel of 322 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:33,360 Jesus. Jesus is enough. 323 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:41,080 So I wonder for you, as you look at this and as we start this 324 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,680 series, are you convinced that Jesus is for you? 325 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:49,280 Thanks a lot. Have you trusted Jesus for the 326 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:54,160 forgiveness of sin? Are you letting Jesus rescue you 327 00:29:54,160 --> 00:30:01,400 from your idols? Do you know your idols, the 328 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,240 things that you're taking hold of and saying, oh, this is 329 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,920 becoming like an ultimate thing in my life? 330 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:14,640 Do you know the sin that's being generated by those idols? 331 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:20,000 Are you trusting Jesus for deliverance and rescue even 332 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,600 today? You've been rescued once, but He 333 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:29,200 will rescue again and again and again if you will trust Him. 334 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,960 That's why we need grace and power to live with Him now. 335 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:40,880 That's why we remember the cross of Jesus. 336 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:45,600 We're going to come to this table in just a moment, and I 337 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:52,440 want to encourage you. So just begin to reflect on what 338 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,760 has God drawn my attention to today? 339 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:04,200 How is God calling? Are you thinking, OK, God, I 340 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:06,520 heard that, but I think I'll ignore it? 341 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:12,600 Or is there a certain desperation in your heart today 342 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:20,200 and you're like, I'm going to answer that call because I want 343 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:24,040 to respond to God's work in my life. 344 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:30,520 I want to trust that what Jesus has done sets me free.