1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:07,840 OK, before I get started in preaching today, I want to give 2 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:12,080 a heads up. So occasionally when I preach, I 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:18,680 preach what I think of as APG 13 sermon and next week's sermon is 4 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,880 APG 13 sermon. I'm not getting graphic about 5 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:25,520 anything. I'm just dealing with topics 6 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:31,600 that that really young children might have questions about, want 7 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,600 to give you a heads up that they might ask questions afterwards. 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:39,080 If you want more details, then then I'm, I'm happy to give that 9 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,280 to you to you later, but I just want to, you know, reach out to 10 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,760 me, but I just want to give you a heads up about that. 11 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:50,480 So, so we are at the point next week and, and working our way 12 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:53,520 through Genesis where we get to God's destruction of Sodom and 13 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,040 Gomorrah. And so I'm going to preach about 14 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:00,600 that two Sundays and next week is the the focus and the theme 15 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,400 is on the sin of Sodom. Why did God destroy Sodom and 16 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,440 Gomorrah? And the answer to that question 17 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,720 is probably different than you think it is. 18 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:16,520 The Bible gives very, very clear and explicit answer to that 19 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,160 question. Why God destroyed God out of 20 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,880 God's own mouth. This is why I destroyed Sodom. 21 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:28,400 It's probably not why you think and but because of the nature of 22 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,440 what was happening, the nature of the story in that chapter in 23 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:33,840 Genesis about the destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah. 24 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,680 I'm going to be talking about some themes that are are 25 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:42,000 certainly a little more mature, matures. 26 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:43,160 I don't know if that's the right, I don't know. 27 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,200 I don't like any of the language associated with how we talk 28 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:50,360 about this kind of stuff. But but but PG13. 29 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,880 So I'll just stick with that. Just want to give a heads up to 30 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,240 everybody. I, you know, I said that this 31 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,600 morning at Chester and, and Steven said, well, should we put 32 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,480 that on the church sign? And I said, well, yeah, that 33 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,240 might draw a few folks in if we put it on the church sign. 34 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:07,960 If that works, I'll, I can preach an R rated certain. 35 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:12,560 I'm not going to preach an R rated sermon, but just so we 36 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:13,840 know. But I do want to give people a 37 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:18,080 heads up because I, I never want to surprise parents and 38 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:19,840 children. If you want more details, more 39 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:24,240 information, give me a call, shoot me a text or a message and 40 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,520 I'll give you more specifics. But I don't have time to get 41 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,760 into the specifics this morning. Calls, the specifics on that 42 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:31,360 I'll get into next Sunday morning. 43 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:37,160 This week we are, oh, I forgot to pray. 44 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,320 Oh my goodness, I'm all discombobulated. 45 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,440 I was so not wanting to forget my announcement that I forgot to 46 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:43,360 pray. Let's pray. 47 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:45,240 God, thank you so much for today. 48 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:47,320 Thank you for your goodness and for your grace. 49 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:50,160 Thank you for your mercies and your compassion. 50 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:55,600 Lord, we pray for families that are are struggling with the loss 51 00:02:55,640 --> 00:03:00,120 of one that they love, whether it's a children or a parent or a 52 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:04,080 sister or brother or friend. We just, we just pray your grace 53 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:08,520 on those families struggling through grief and, and death. 54 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:13,600 And Lord, we know that our hope is in your resurrection, but we 55 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,400 also know that it still hurts to lose someone we love. 56 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:21,080 We thank you for the hope that we have though we pray for those 57 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,720 families and, and individuals facing illness and surgery and 58 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,000 those kinds of things. Give them grace and courage. 59 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:31,000 Give skill and wisdom to doctors and nurses and technicians that 60 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,640 are caring for them and operating on them. 61 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:37,000 And, and Lord, bring the healing that only you can bring through 62 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,400 the work of of our healthcare professionals, which you have 63 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:42,120 provided. And we thank you for that. 64 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,680 We thank you, Lord, for another week of school and, and the 65 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,280 learning that happens and the teachers that teach and the 66 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:52,920 administrators and aides and all of the folks, lunch people and, 67 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,680 and custodians, everyone who makes those schools possible. 68 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,920 And we pray your grace upon them and keep the school safe and the 69 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:02,240 children and staff safe while they're there. 70 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:07,040 And we thank you, Father, for the joy of gathering with family 71 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,880 and friends and, and for the the fun things we get to do, whether 72 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,440 it's football or, or volleyball or cheer or basketball or 73 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,640 soccer, whatever those band, those fun things we do. 74 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,560 I thank you for the parents and grandparents that take their 75 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,840 kids to, to do those fun things. And I thank you for the kids 76 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:26,480 that are doing them and the teachers and coaches and that 77 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,920 are leading them and with a joy that all of that brings. 78 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,720 And we thank you for all of this, knowing that all of these 79 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:35,680 good things ultimately come from you. 80 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:40,360 And we pray all of this in Jesus name, and we pray together as He 81 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:44,680 taught us when we pray. O Great Spirit, our Father from 82 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,960 above, we honor your name as sacred and holy. 83 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,880 Bring your good road to us, where the beauty of your ways in 84 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,880 the spirit world above is reflected in the earth below. 85 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:03,720 Provide for us day by day, the elk, the Buffalo and the salmon, 86 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:09,000 the corn, the squash and the wild rice, all the things we 87 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,960 need for each day. Release us from the things we 88 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:17,800 have done wrong in the same way we release others for the things 89 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,880 done wrong to us. Guide us away from the things 90 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:26,880 that tempt us to stray from your good road and set us free from 91 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,760 the evil 1 and his worthless ways. 92 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:37,880 A ho May it be so. All right, now we can get here. 93 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,240 I got to get my notes out today. This is a day I can leave them 94 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,680 sit here for the moment. Our Scripture reading today is 95 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,680 selected verses from Genesis chapter 17. 96 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:54,520 And this passage is the passage where God formalizes His 97 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,720 covenant with Abram and Sarai. And we're going to read again. 98 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:00,320 We can't read. I don't want to read the whole 99 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:04,120 passage but we got to get points throughout the chapter here. 100 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,920 When Abram was 99 years old the Lord appeared to him and said, I 101 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:13,200 am God Almighty, walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 102 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:17,120 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will 103 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:21,680 greatly increase your numbers. Abram fell face down and God 104 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,240 said to him, As for me, this is my covenant with you. 105 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:26,680 You will be the father of many nations. 106 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:29,600 No longer will you be called Abram, your name will be 107 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,280 Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 108 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,600 Then God said to Abraham, As for you, you must keep my covenant, 109 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,040 you and your descendants after you, for generations to come. 110 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,560 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you. 111 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:48,440 The covenant you are to keep. Every male among you shall be 112 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,520 circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, 113 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,720 and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 114 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:59,760 God also said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you are no 115 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,000 longer to call her Sarai. Her name will be Sarah. 116 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,160 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. 117 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,480 I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. 118 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,360 Kings of people will come from her. 119 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,160 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those 120 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,680 born in his household or bought with his money every male in his 121 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,280 household and circumcised them as God had told him. 122 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,960 Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised and his son 123 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:38,200 Ishmael was 13. When I was growing up, I, I 124 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:42,720 loved watching professional wrestling and, and I, I enjoy 125 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,120 it, you know, and it's, it's, I'm, I'm more of the old school. 126 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:47,480 I haven't watched much for a while. 127 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:52,120 So it was Hulk Hogan, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Randy the Macho Man 128 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:56,280 Savage and Miss Elizabeth and and all of the great characters 129 00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:01,200 that were, that were wrestling back in the 1980s and 90s, early 130 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:05,480 90s anyway, and, and wrestling, it was very entertaining, very 131 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,720 engaging, big strong guys doing big Andre the giant. 132 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:10,960 Oh man, he was great in Princess Bride too. 133 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,360 They, they did, it was so fun to watch. 134 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:18,280 And, and it's, and it's so simple and this, that the goal 135 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,440 in professional wrestling is to be the last man standing, right? 136 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:24,160 Be the last. And whether that's a one-on-one, 137 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,360 whether it's A tag team or whether it's a cage match, the 138 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,320 goal is to be the last man standing and then you win. 139 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:39,440 The goal that Abraham had was a little bit different, although 140 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:42,760 it kind of looks the same in certain respects. 141 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:46,120 Abraham has been through a lot. He's been through the ringer. 142 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,920 He's left his homeland, he's left most of the folks that he 143 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:50,320 knew. He left the culture he knew he 144 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,160 went to a new land. He's faced trials, he's faced 145 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,040 tribulations. He's he's had his his nephew 146 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:57,480 take the better portion of the land. 147 00:08:57,480 --> 00:08:59,560 He's had to go to war, he's had to fight. 148 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:03,280 He's been fearful of his life, fearful of his wife's life, 149 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:05,760 fearful that God might not keep his covenant. 150 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:08,720 He's been through it. And the sense might be kind of, 151 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,560 you know, just just just keep standing, Abraham, just don't 152 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:14,560 fall down. Don't fall down, just keep 153 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:18,600 standing. But the first thing we see 154 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:24,360 Abraham doing in this passage is falling on his face as God 155 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:31,320 appears before him and and solemnizes this covenant with 156 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,920 him. Covenants are a strange thing. 157 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,040 They're a little bit like contracts, but they're 158 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:38,400 different. Contracts, you probably know is 159 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,520 an agreement between it's, you know, two people or groups of 160 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,600 people. And each party in a contract 161 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:48,680 agrees to do something, whether it's give money in exchange for 162 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:51,880 goods or give money in exchange for services, Give certain 163 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,000 whatever it is, there's, there's a contract. 164 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,480 And one of the things about a contract is if, if, if, if you 165 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,400 and I were into it, into a contract and I fail to live up 166 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,120 to my end of the bargain, then you don't have to keep your end 167 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:07,520 of the contract. Contract just goes away. 168 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,080 No more contract. Covenants are different. 169 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:15,280 They are agreements between individuals, between groups, 170 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:17,120 between an individual and a group. 171 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:22,120 It can involve more multiple parties, but in a covenant, when 172 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:26,280 one party fails to keep the covenant, the other party is 173 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:28,800 still obligated to keep the covenant. 174 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:34,240 So covenants were very serious things not to be entered into 175 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,840 lightly. When you committed yourself to a 176 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,840 covenant, you were committing yourself to a course of action 177 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:45,000 from which there is no honorable backing out, no honorable 178 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:49,480 retreat. There's a cost to a covenant, 179 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:54,280 always a cost to a covenant. We see a lot of covenants in the 180 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:56,560 Bible. We see the covenant that God 181 00:10:56,560 --> 00:11:00,480 made between himself and Adam and Eve, the covenant that God 182 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,240 made between himself and Cain, the covenant that God made with 183 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:06,160 Noah. Then we see the covenant that 184 00:11:06,160 --> 00:11:09,360 God made with Abram, now Abraham and Sarah. 185 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:12,400 There's a covenant that God later made with the children, 186 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:16,040 the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, but with Moses as the 187 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,120 mediator of Mount Sinai, that was made a few 100 years after 188 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:21,440 this. And then the the greatest 189 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,640 covenant of them all that we call the new covenant. 190 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:29,920 It's now 2000 years old, still call it the new covenant that 191 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:34,320 God through his Son Jesus Christ, made with anyone, any 192 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:36,840 human being who was willing to participate. 193 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:40,600 We're not going to look at all of those covenants today. 194 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,120 We don't have time. We're going to look at two of 195 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,560 those covenants, the covenant God made with Abraham and Sarah, 196 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:50,440 and the covenant that God made through Jesus Christ, the new 197 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:52,160 covenant. We're going to compare and 198 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:56,840 contrast those as we go along. The cost of the covenant with 199 00:11:56,840 --> 00:12:03,680 Abraham was circumcision. Now it occurred to me as I was 200 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:06,280 preaching this morning that not everyone might know what 201 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:08,880 circumcision is. I'm not going to tell you 202 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:12,400 because I didn't give APG 13 warning about this sermon in 203 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,520 advance. My thought was to say Google it, 204 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:21,760 don't just say it. Don't ask. 205 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:24,080 Ask someone. Don't Google it. 206 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,160 Trust. Well, never mind. 207 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:29,760 Don't. The cost of the covenant with 208 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:34,720 Abraham was circumcision. Circumcision, and that's a 209 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:39,760 bodily cost. It can't be paid with money. 210 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:42,920 You can't buy your way in this covenant that God made with 211 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:45,960 Abraham. Abraham, you cannot buy your way 212 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:48,760 out of circumcision. There's no donation that can be 213 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:50,680 made. There's no active service that 214 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:53,920 can be performed, that there's no real estate that can be 215 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,680 given, no money that can be given to avoid it. 216 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:01,400 The cost is a bodily cost. You have to have, if you'll 217 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:03,920 pardon the expression, some skin in the game. 218 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:07,600 OK. It's a bodily cost and it's a 219 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,720 bloody cost. It's a bloody cost. 220 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:16,720 There's no way to do this without sacrificing and shedding 221 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,880 blood. It's a bodily cost. 222 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:22,440 It's a bloody cost. It's a permanent and ongoing 223 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,520 cost. Once you've done it, it can't be 224 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:30,920 undone. It is there and it will always 225 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:36,160 be there as long as that man is around, permanent and ongoing, 226 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:43,040 and it evolves a new identity. You are a new person. 227 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:49,280 God changed Abram and Sarai's names as they solemnized this 228 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,720 covenant. Abram was no longer Abram, He 229 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,280 was now Abraham. Sarai was no longer Sarai. 230 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:59,400 She was now Sarah. Abram meant honored father. 231 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:03,040 Abraham means father of May nations. 232 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:10,280 Sarah meant my Princess. Sarah simply means Princess. 233 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:15,680 God expanded their identities. An honored father is great. 234 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:22,600 An honored father is is just one person who has status among a 235 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:29,720 few other people, but a father of nations that has impact for 236 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:34,720 generations and generations and years and much broader reach, 237 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:36,880 much broader impact. The same with Sarai. 238 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:41,840 My Princess is just my Princess, my Princess. 239 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,800 But now Sarai is not just Abram's Princess. 240 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:53,080 Sarai is now Sarah. She is the Princess, the mother 241 00:14:53,080 --> 00:15:00,800 of nations, the mother of kings, not just connected to 1, 242 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:07,840 responsible for many a new identity, an expanded identity, 243 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:11,400 and finally, this cost. This cost. 244 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:17,040 Circumcision could only be paid by males, by male descendants of 245 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,680 Abraham's or male members of their household. 246 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:26,520 Women can't be circumcised. Only men could pay the cost. 247 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:31,680 And so only men in a very real sense could fully participate in 248 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,960 the covenant. And the sign of this covenant 249 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:39,240 was the same as the cost. The sign of the covenant was 250 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,440 circumcision. So that's the covenant God made 251 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:45,680 with Abram. Now we're going to take a look 252 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:49,640 at the New Covenant, the covenant that God offers to all 253 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,440 humanity through his Son, Jesus Christ. 254 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,280 In the new covenant, the cost of the new covenant is death, 255 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:05,800 specifically the death of Jesus. This too was a bodily cost. 256 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,840 There was no money that Jesus could give. 257 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:12,200 There was no donation he can make. 258 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:16,280 There was no act of service that he could perform to avoid paying 259 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:21,120 the cost of death. Without his death, there is no 260 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:25,640 covenant. It was a bodily cost, and it was 261 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:29,440 a bloody cost, far more bloody than circumcision. 262 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,080 It was the pouring out of his life's blood. 263 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,880 When he was whipped, when the crown of thorns was beaten into 264 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:39,280 his head, when he was punched out by the soldiers, when he was 265 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:42,360 nailed to the cross, when the spear was stuck in his side. 266 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:49,920 His blood poured that day as he died to pay the cost of this 267 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,560 covenant with us. And it was a permanent and 268 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,920 ongoing cost. Two ways we can look at that. 269 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,000 One, the Bible is very clear about. 270 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:03,760 In the resurrection, Jesus still bears the scars of his 271 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:09,119 crucifixion. His resurrection body. 272 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:15,200 Jesus bears the scars of his crucifixion, a permanent and 273 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:17,560 ongoing cost. There's another way of looking 274 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:18,800 at that. The Bible doesn't talk 275 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,480 specifically about this. It's a way of looking at it that 276 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,240 comes. It has opened up to us as 277 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,520 science has developed and we begin to have slightly better 278 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,360 understandings of things like time and space, and that Jesus 279 00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:34,040 is eternal. Jesus is God in the flesh. 280 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:39,800 Jesus always has been, He always will be, and an eternal means 281 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,640 more than just living forever. It means, in a very real sense, 282 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:46,800 being outside time and space. We get a picture of this when 283 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:51,080 after his resurrection, 1 moment Jesus is in one place, one city. 284 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:56,000 The very next moment he's in another city, inside a locked 285 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,440 room, without opening the door or the window to get there. 286 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:03,000 Jesus no longer bound by time and space. 287 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,840 Well, Jesus probably never was bound by time and space, except 288 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:13,480 maybe voluntarily. That means that there is a very 289 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:20,120 real sense in which Jesus always is, always has been, always will 290 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:22,960 be, and always is being crucified. 291 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:31,000 That that crucifixion is forever a present reality for Jesus as 292 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,480 someone who is not bound by time and space, A permanent and 293 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,960 ongoing cost. And for Jesus it wasn't a new 294 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:39,840 identity. It was a confirmed identity. 295 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,880 When the sky darkened, when the sun turned dark, when the earth 296 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:47,080 shook, when the curtain of the temple was torn from top to 297 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:52,080 bottom, not bottom to top but top to bottom, that's when the 298 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,600 Roman soldier, the Pagan Roman soldier who may have known 299 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:59,120 nothing of Jesus other than that he was assigned to be crucified 300 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:02,840 that day, looked at Jesus on the cross and said surely that man 301 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:08,440 is the Son of God. It was in Jesus death and then 302 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:13,200 in his resurrection that Jesus follower said, surely this man 303 00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:20,680 is the Son of God, his death and the manner of his death. 304 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:23,720 You know what's interesting? It wasn't Jesus coming down from 305 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,840 the cross like his enemies were taunting him to do. 306 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:31,280 It wasn't him, you know, calling his angels, using his power like 307 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:34,240 the devil was taunting him to do, to wipe out all of his 308 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:37,040 enemies. That led the centurion to say 309 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,520 this man is the Son of God. It was the manner of his dying, 310 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:45,840 dying with grace, dying with compassion, dying with 311 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:48,280 forgiveness on his lips, even for the people that were 312 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:53,880 crucifying him. And in that death, the centurion 313 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:59,440 said, surely this man is the Son of God, is the Son of God, His 314 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:04,200 identity confirmed as he pays the cost of this new covenant. 315 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:07,560 And this cost could only be paid by Jesus. 316 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:10,720 He's the only one that could do it. 317 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:17,600 No other human being, past, present, or future, was good 318 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:22,640 enough, holy enough, righteous enough, powerful enough to have 319 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,600 paid this cost. He did it himself. 320 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:32,080 And one of the signs of this covenant is the cross itself 321 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:37,720 that reminds us every time we see it of the price Jesus paid 322 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,880 for this covenant with us. Now we know the covenant with 323 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:42,600 Abraham, what was promised, the promise. 324 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:45,160 In that covenant God says, you be faithful to me. 325 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,760 I will make your descendants a great nation. 326 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,480 Many nations, many kings will come from you. 327 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:54,760 That was the covenant. That was the promise. 328 00:20:55,000 --> 00:21:03,800 The covenant with us is life. You'll be my I will be your God. 329 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:08,320 You be my people. I will be faithful to you, you 330 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:13,680 will be faithful to me, and I will undo what Adam and Eve did 331 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:15,960 when they ate from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of 332 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:18,720 good and evil. I will take that poison out of 333 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:23,080 you, and you will get to eat from the tree of life. 334 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:29,960 Life everlasting, Life everlasting in the Kingdom of 335 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,200 God, where the love of God and the mercy of God and the grace 336 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,720 of God and the patience of God and the compassion of God are 337 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,200 the rules of the day. Where there's no more 338 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,880 exploitation, there's no more abuse, there's no more 339 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:45,240 destruction of one human being by another. 340 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:51,200 There's no more people, some people living in luxury while 341 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:55,000 others living in abject poverty. All of that is gone, all of 342 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,560 abuse, all of the exploitation. That's the gift, that's the 343 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:02,160 promise, that's the covenant. And Jesus was the only one who 344 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:09,440 could pay the cost, and he paid it when he died on the cross. 345 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:13,960 And that's what the cross will forever symbolize for those who 346 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:15,960 put their faith in their hope in Jesus. 347 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:21,480 All of that is 100% true. It is also true that there is 348 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,200 for us a cost of this new covenant. 349 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,800 There is a cost of this new covenant as well. 350 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:30,600 And it's similar to Jesus, but not identical. 351 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:32,760 It's not our death, it's our life. 352 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,440 It's our life. And this too, is a bodily cost. 353 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,760 There's no donation we can make. There's no act of service that 354 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:44,520 we can perform that there's no gift that we can give that will 355 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,960 pay this cost for us, that will allow us to simply get our get 356 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:53,640 out, get our that will allow us to simply get our get out of 357 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:57,120 hell free card and go about business as usual doing what we 358 00:22:57,120 --> 00:22:59,520 want. That's what Dietrich Bonhoeffer 359 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,680 called cheap grace. Grace that doesn't demand 360 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,000 anything of us. Pray your prayer. 361 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,280 Kneel and kneel and pray your prayer. 362 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:08,880 Get up and go on and live with your life. 363 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,880 God like you, you like to sin, God likes to forgive. 364 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:16,920 Let's just keep it that way. Cheap grace, which doesn't 365 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:22,360 demand anything from us. But this is not cheap grace. 366 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:25,920 This is grace that comes with the cost. 367 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:30,840 CS Lewis has said that that many folks approach God like they're 368 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,240 remodeling their house and God is the contractor. 369 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:36,240 And like God, you know, I just want this room needs cleaned out 370 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,880 and that room needs redone. But over here, everything is 371 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:40,120 fine. We're not going to mess with 372 00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:41,800 that. And God looks at the thing and 373 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:43,240 says, I want the whole thing down. 374 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:51,000 We're starting new. There is a cost to this grace 375 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,120 for us. It's a bodily cost and it's a 376 00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:58,280 bloody cost. It involves sacrifice and it 377 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:03,040 does involve service, not to pay for what Jesus did for us, but 378 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:07,480 to follow in his footsteps. Amy Carmichael as a as a 379 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,840 missionary, I often reference and think of, she was an Irish 380 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:16,080 missionary to India. She she embedded herself in that 381 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,800 culture, adopting the culture and the dress and the way of 382 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:23,240 life and the way of talking and and spent her life rescuing 383 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:27,360 girls from sexual exploitation and giving them homes and 384 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:29,120 freedom and life and opportunity. 385 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,360 And she measured faithfulness in this way, she said in one of her 386 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:38,480 poems. How can anyone claim to have 387 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,120 followed Jesus if they have no scars? 388 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:46,400 If you have no scars on your hands or feet, you cannot have 389 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:52,600 followed Jesus very far. There is pain, there is 390 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,000 suffering. There is cost to following 391 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:59,960 Jesus, and not all of us will pay a literal bloody cost. 392 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:03,720 But everyone who follows Jesus for any length of time really 393 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,120 faithfully following Jesus will have scars, whether on their 394 00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:14,000 body or on their soul, their mind or their heart, as they 395 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,760 experience the same kinds of suffering and betrayals that 396 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:22,960 Jesus experienced. There is a cost to us giving our 397 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:26,720 lives to Jesus, and it's a permanent and ongoing cost. 398 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,840 We don't get to retire from it. Amy is so looking forward to 399 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,760 retiring. We get to retire from jobs. 400 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:39,800 We don't get to retire from following Jesus now and forever. 401 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,320 We are His. We are His servants at His 402 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:48,760 disposal to be sent wherever He pleases to send us. 403 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:53,200 We are His sisters and His brothers, younger sisters and 404 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:56,560 younger brothers under His authority as we are under His 405 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:02,240 protection and at His disposal forever and ever and ever. 406 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:09,080 Thank God He has our goodness in mind, for He has our lives in 407 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,880 His hands and for us it is a new identity. 408 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:19,120 The names that people have called you, the slanders they've 409 00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:23,640 placed upon you, the insults that they've hurled at you, 410 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:27,680 calling you this ugly thing, that awful thing, this nasty 411 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,960 thing, that terrible thing, all of those things gone. 412 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,440 Go away. Jesus says I have a name for 413 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:38,000 you, I have an identity for you. I know you, I see you, I love 414 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,040 you. You are a person of sacred and 415 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:45,800 infinite worth you to me. Jesus says you are worth my life 416 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:49,040 and my blood, and no one else gets to define you. 417 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:54,040 I get to define you. And I have a beautiful, 418 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:56,760 wonderful name and identity for you. 419 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:00,280 And some of us kind of get a glimpse of that. 420 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,280 Now, I think some of us may not get a glimpse of that until we 421 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,200 stand before Jesus on that final judgement day. 422 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,720 And he says, I know you never could really figure it out, but 423 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:12,440 this is who you are. And every single one of us, when 424 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:14,760 we see it, we'll go, Oh my God, thank you. 425 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:21,480 This is who I am and who you've made me to be. 426 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:24,920 A new identity. And this price can only be paid 427 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:28,080 by you. No one else can pay it. 428 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,400 I don't know who said this. I thought it was cool. 429 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,280 I heard it years ago. God does not have grandchildren. 430 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:39,240 No one belongs to Jesus because their parents do. 431 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:43,520 Now our parents can have a great influence in that and lead us to 432 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:47,120 that relationship with Jesus, but our parents can't pay the 433 00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:49,960 price for us. We can't pay the price for our 434 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,480 kids. We can't pay the price for 435 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,120 friends, for siblings, for anyone that we love or anyone 436 00:27:56,120 --> 00:28:01,200 that we hate. This is a decision for every 437 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:05,640 individual to make. Will I pay the price and really 438 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:12,040 give my life to Jesus to be at his disposal at his back end 439 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:16,600 call to go where he says go, to stay when he says stay to to 440 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,880 talk when he says talk and to shut up when he says shut up. 441 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:22,000 That's the one I need to listen to more. 442 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,120 To be busy when he says to be busy and to be still when he 443 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:33,840 says to be still. And every individual has to pay 444 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,800 that price and it's hard to pay sometimes. 445 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,480 I know that song we sang a few minutes ago, Hard fought 446 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:42,120 Hallelujah. I know that one's hard to sing 447 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,720 and there's a little different style than we're used to here. 448 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:50,600 I think it's such a beautiful song and it said so well today. 449 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,720 A lot of what I was trying to communicate in this message 450 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:58,120 because it is hard sometimes to say Hallelujah. 451 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:03,640 It is hard to say praise God. There is a cost to that, and if 452 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:06,240 you're experiencing that and you feel like something's gone 453 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,560 wrong, if it's hard to say Hallelujah, it's probably 454 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:13,560 because things are going right. Not when it gets super easy and 455 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,200 there's never any cost or any pain or any suffering to it. 456 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:18,840 Then there's one to worry about whether something's gone wrong. 457 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:21,720 This price can only be paid by you. 458 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:26,880 And the sign, the other sign of this new covenant is baptism. 459 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:32,080 The beautiful thing about baptism in the cross is anyone 460 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:35,120 can pick up their cross. Anyone can be baptized. 461 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:40,400 Male, female, old, young, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, 462 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:45,320 athletic, unathletic. Even people with hair can pick 463 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:49,760 up their cross and get baptized. It's true. 464 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,560 I know some of y'all been cursed with a full head of hair, but 465 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:59,120 God loves you too. This. 466 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:06,080 It's water. Wherever we can find water, we 467 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,960 can baptize. Wherever we can find someone to 468 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,120 serve in Jesus name, we can pick up our cross. 469 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,480 Wherever we can refrain from a harsh word and unkind statement 470 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:21,760 to judgement, to condemnation, we can pick up our cross. 471 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,120 Wherever we can stand against evil and justice and oppression, 472 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,800 we can pick up our cross. No matter how old or young, how 473 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:36,120 rich, how poor, male, female, whatever, anyone, anyone can 474 00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,040 bear these sides that Jesus has given us. 475 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:40,680 This is the cost of the covenant. 476 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:47,240 Nothing more, nothing less than the death of Jesus and our lives 477 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:54,520 and we can share and and enjoy the blessings of life forever 478 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:59,360 with God and his Kingdom together in Jesus name, Amen. 479 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:00,840 Amen.