The All Powerful Reign of Grace pt 4

SPEAKER A You once to every time in the sight of the good or evil sky don't break on you that I choice of life forever with that darkness. And. SPEAKER B The Bible assures us in Ephesians two, verses eight to ten, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Welcome to faith to faith Here are your hosts, Ettienne McClintock and Braedan Entermann. SPEAKER C Dear listener, welcome to the program. We are glad that you've joined us again, and although we decided to end it at part three of the series of programs, we actually feel that there is more to it, more beautiful truths that we can unpack from scripture. And we're doing part four of the all powerful reign of grace. And just as we start our program again today, we invite you to bow your heads for a word of prayer. Gracious Father in heaven, we thank you for your love, your grace and your mercy. We thank you for the word of God, we thank you that we can study it, and we thank you for the promise of your Holy Spirit that will lead us into all truth. May you bless us, bless our dear listener, Father, through the indwelling of your spirit and the teaching of your spirit, as we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, and the grace that we receive through him is our prayer in his name. Amen. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER C Okay, so in our previous program, we were looking about that great cloud of witnesses. And we looked at that from the perspective that these cloud of witnesses are the stories of faithful people in the Bible who had a relationship with the Lord and who by faith overcame. They were conquerors. And we can actually access these stories and see how the Lord worked in their life and how they, through weakness were made strong. We can look at those by spending time in the Word, but ultimately they are simply representing attributes of Christ in their lives. Yeah, they are claiming the victory of Christ. So the first thing we suggested that people can do to be intentional about being victorious for Jesus Christ and victorious by faith is spend time in the Word. Now, the Bible tells us the apostle Paul, another great witness for Jesus Christ, says that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. So as we hear the word of God through the faithful witnesses, faithful testimony of these people of faith, we also be encouraged, we'll be surrounded by that great cloud. The second one is also to not forsake assembling together with like minded believers that we spend time together. We are social creatures. God created Adam and then he created Eve. After Adam recognized his need of a companion, we are created social creatures and we are to encourage and uplift one another. The third thing we mentioned there that we can do intentionally as well in our walk with the Lord and claiming his victory, is spend time in conversation, in prayer. God obviously speaks to us through his spirit and through his word. As we read the Word of God, the Holy Spirit impresses our mind. God speaks to us through his love letter, but we are to speak back to God in prayer as well. And as we become aware of God's will in our lives, as we spend time in the Word, our prayer life becomes more effective as well. Not only that, we are told in Romans chapter eight, that the Holy Spirit actually speaks and ministers on our behalf in prayer to God with moanings and groanings that cannot be uttered. So we don't even sometimes know what to pray. But the Holy Spirit needs, knows our needs and he prays on our behalf, which is wonderful. And then the last one, of course is also when we do these things, we spend time in the Word. We surround ourselves by this great cloud of witnesses. We amongst living witnesses. We ourselves can become a witness as well, that we can strengthen the hands that hang down and the feet that are feeble. And we can encourage other people. And we ourselves can also become a witness for Christ. Not us ourselves, by our own natural tendencies and habits, but because we've given our lives to the Lord, we can also say we crucified with Christ nevertheless, yet not we, but Christ lives in us. And then Christ can use us as a witness for Him. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C So those are the four things. Now there are also some pitfalls that we just got to make people aware of. There can be at times people who will try to distract us. It's so easy when you're in the world and you are worldly minded, that you also want to have a little bit of companionship and company. And the devil can use people who are worldly minded to distract us. And this way it becomes important for us to have that living connection with Christ so that we can stand faithful and not be distracted because we found something better. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C Now this finding something better is really important. We got to taste and see that the Lord is good. And there are some wonderful examples. In Hebrews chapter eleven, those witnesses, that great cloud of witnesses. And we can think of the life of Moses. Moses had it all, didn't he? SPEAKER D Absolutely. He's one of those members, one of those witnesses who is bearing witness to the faithfulness of God that we have here. And in Hebrews chapter eleven and verse 24, it says by faith, Moses when he became of age, refused to be called the Son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. SPEAKER C Wow. SPEAKER D Esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. SPEAKER C Well, that is incredible, man. How many people do we know of, and they even sometimes now, openly state this, that they've sold their soul to the devil for fame and fortune. We see that amongst many music artists. We see that amongst many movie stars who for the fame and fortune and the riches of the earth, the riches of Egypt, if we are so to say, would sell their soul to the devil for temporary fame and fortune. And they think it's worth it. But surely at the end, when they count the cost, they would think, have they made a wise choice? But many people, those who lack fame, those who lack fortune and who desire fame and fortune. So money, I think money is the root of love, of money is the root of all kinds of evil. But those who desire to be wealthy, because with wealth comes power. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C And more choices would be prepared to forsake eternal life simply for what they can get for the here and now. But that's a short term view, isn't it? Now, we're here, we have this great cloud of witnesses, and we have the witness of Moses that when he became of age, now, becoming of age, what do we say, about 18 years now, 18 or 21, depending on the culture. He refused to be called the sons of Pharaoh's daughter. In other words, he was a prince. He was, as a prince, living in a palace with all the wealth and the riches of the greatest empire in the world at that time and destined. SPEAKER D To be the Pharaoh. SPEAKER C Yeah, he wasn't desiring something there. He had it all. He already had it, and for some reason, he chose to walk away from it. Now, what would cause Moses, who had it all, to walk away when there's many people who desire what Moses had, like, in modern terms, who would want to walk away from what they have now and go down that path of what the world offers them? SPEAKER D And so the interesting thing is here is that Moses wasn't born in the palace. Moses actually grew up under the instruction of his mother and father, and his mother especially, taught him in the ways of God. She told him the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She told him the stories that had been passed down about creation, the flood, and how God had been faithful to his promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He grew up with these stories of faith, this cloud of witnesses as it was surrounding him, and, of course, the. SPEAKER C Prophecies that had been given through Abraham that they'd be in Egypt for 400 years. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C And that was now coming to a close so they knew that something great was about to happen. SPEAKER D That's right. And so he grows up and he gets this religious instruction. He's surrounded with this cloud of witnesses, with a good mum and dad. So he has the witnesses in his parents, he has the witnesses in the story of God's word that had been handed down. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D And now he goes into the palace. Everything is at his fingertips. But he sees the Pharaoh not as the greatest being in the universe. He sees God as the greatest being. He sees the favor of Pharaoh as paling insignificance to the favor of God. And he was under so many temptations and inducements to sin. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D With one decision, he could have cast it all away, ignored his people who are in bondage, and just lived it up, had everything he wanted. You name it, he could have had it. But in his mind, he had this deep sense of conviction that there is someone greater than Pharaoh and there is a riches there's riches that are greater than the riches of Egypt, because he knew the story of Jacob and Esau. What did Esau want? All he wanted was material gain. But then there was Jacob, and he longed for the spiritual blessing. And he knew that the story of Abraham, who the greatest thing that he ever had was a friendship with God. And so here we have Moses. He views the treasures of Egypt, power, position, all that kind of stuff. He views it as nothing compared to a relationship with God, and he chooses to cast his lot with the people of Is. But was this a good experience? Was it a good one? Absolutely. Was it easy? Far from it. After trying to do something for Know, he thought he'd be able to get the people out of Egypt by military means. So he killed someone. He actually took things into his own hands. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D God had a few things to teach him. He fled from there, went into Midian, far from that place, for 40 years. And it's in that place that God molded him and grew him through the rigors and challenges of being a shepherd, the discipline of being a shepherd, preparing him to lead the people of God. So it's very interesting, he viewed following God as being the greatest thing, but when we look at it as it rolls out, in reality it's being a shepherd. SPEAKER C Yeah. SPEAKER D And it's leading a bunch of complaining people to the promised land. But he said, that's worth it for me. Having a friendship with God is far greater. Yeah. SPEAKER C It's incredible how he made that choice, because this is not just wishful thinking. He'd been handed the silver spoon, so to speak. He's been handled a crown. He would have been the next Pharaoh. He was adopted. He was the only child, as far as we understand, but it says that he chose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Now, the word passing pleasures there means temporary pleasures. So the passing pleasures means this is only temporary. And there's a text in the Bible, it comes from two Corinthians, chapter four, verse 18, where it talks about the things that we see and then the things that we don't see. So they were looking for something that they couldn't see physically, but with the spiritual eye, with the eye of faith, they could see it, which was the heavenly, the heavenly kingdom, which was the heavenly city, whose builder and maker is God, the Bible says. But two Corinthians, chapter four, verse 18, it says, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. So Moses looked beyond what he could see. He looked beyond the things which were temporary, which is the passing pleasures of sin. And it says there in verse 26 of Hebrews eleven that he esteemed the reproach of Christ. He had a knowledge of his Savior. Now Jesus hadn't been incarnate yet. Now the Son of God was still not he was still God, not yet in the flesh. But it says he esteemed approach of Christ greater riches. So there's something rich in this connection with Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. He could have had all the treasures of Egypt. For he looked to the reward. Now what is the reward? A connection with Christ here and now a relationship with your Maker, and then also ultimately the reward of the saints in heaven and then on the new. SPEAKER D Earth that is so beautiful, what you shared there, the reproach of Christ reproach is like scorn and ridicule and humiliation. It's the reproach that comes from following Christ, from doing what is right and seeking after God and making Him the first priority. And he viewed following Jesus that he'd rather have, as the song says, he'd rather have Jesus than anything that this world affords. SPEAKER C That's right. Rather than silver and gold. That's right. SPEAKER D And it's very interesting. I'm so grateful that this story is here, that he's one of the cloud of witnesses because it was very, very important for the audience that Paul was writing to, because we actually find out in Hebrews twelve that this particular group of believers had been going through some hard times. They'd been enduring the reproach of Christ. They'd decided to follow Jesus, but it was hard. They were being mocked and they were being ridiculed. They were just getting exhausted and they were just getting discouraged. And the temptation was to give up. That's why he says in verse three for consider Him that's Jesus who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls, you have not yet resisted to bloodshed striving against sin. So this group of people that Paul's writing to were in that position of temptation, just like Moses. Imagine that when it's so hard, he's leading the people, they're complaining. It's just hard, it's exhausting, it's dusty. And the temptation is to go, I just want to go back to Egypt where it was easy and just a temptation to go back, to be pulled back into the ways of sin. And here we have a transition in the Book of Hebrews, chapter twelve, where Paul explains a very, very important part of the Christian life that we forget. We've explained so far that Jesus, when we take his yoke upon us, his yoke is easy and his burden is light. The way of the transgressor is hard. But we need to have a realistic biblical view of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. It's not all roses and red carpet. It involves dusty pathways and challenging times like Moses had. And so what he goes on to say is in verse five, and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons. And then he quotes from the book of Proverbs my son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him for whom the Lord loves. He chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. SPEAKER C That is beautiful. So it demonstrates God's care and his love for us, because through the process there's actually an improvement in regards to our character. We understand some things that we perhaps haven't seen before. Our relationship with the Lord can deepen through the process, we learn to rely on Him more and less on ourselves. But it says that we are not to be discouraged because, I mean, I know in my walk at times sometimes I have fallen and I felt really discouraged. But here God, through his prophet, through an apostle, he tells us to not be discouraged when there isn't a rebuke from the Lord. He's rebuking us not in the way that we may think a human being would rebuke someone to tell them off because we want to just let them have it. The rebuke of the Lord is different. His rebuke, there is look, there's a better way to do this. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C Don't go down that path. If you go down that path, there's only misery and despair. And what's down that path is temporary. You'll lose eternal life. Come this way, walk in this direction, there's a better way for you to connect with me. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C And that's basically how the Lord's rebuke works. But sometimes because of your stubbornness, it comes across as a little bit difficult. But we are not to despise the chastening of the Lord. And it says that the Lord loves whom he loves. He chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. But it says if you endure chastening, because it tells us here that Moses rather wanted to endure the suffering and the affliction of the people of God, rather than enjoy the passing, says, but if you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? So the chastening there is to actually discipline, to correct, to instruct. So we can learn from these things. But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are not legitimate sons. You're actually illegitimate sons. SPEAKER D This is very interesting. What do we want? Naturally, as Christians, we don't want discipline and we don't want chastening, which is that's painful. SPEAKER C We want an easy path. SPEAKER D But it's interesting. It says, if you do not have that chastening, you're illegitimate children. So part and parcel of becoming a child of God is being enrolled in this school, as it were, of Christ, where he takes us and he molds and fashions us through trials and challenges to make us more and more into his image. And so if we are struggling in our Christian life and it's just hard, and we're struggling to lift up our head each day, sometimes we go, this is crazy. What's going on? Something's wrong. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER D We forget, and we do not discern in it that this is part of the program. God is developing our characters through trials. It goes on to say in verse nine, furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live for they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but he for our prophet that we may be partakers of his holiness. SPEAKER C Wow. So God can actually make us partakers of his holiness. Through this whole process, we can more reflect what Jesus is like and his love and devotion. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C Wow. SPEAKER D And then verse eleven, no chastening seems to be joyful for the present. I can testify to that. SPEAKER C Likewise. SPEAKER D Yeah. No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful nevertheless. Afterward, it yields or produces the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. When you're in the thick of it, when you're enduring the affliction, just like Moses did, when you're enduring the affliction, you just almost just want to throw in the towel. But if we could peel back the curtains, we could actually see what God is trying to accomplish in our lives. He's wanting to transform us so that we can become like Him. He's wanting to give us brand new hearts. But that's always great when you come out the other end. But the dangerous place is when you're in the thick of it and it hurts. Life is hurting in the Christian walk. We're hurting. We're doing the best that we possibly know. We're doing everything that God has called us to, and it still hurts. In that moment, the Devil comes whispering. In that moment, the devil says, go back to Egypt. It was much better there. Remember the leaks and the onions? SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER D That's where the children of Israel oh, the flesh pots. SPEAKER C I'm so sick of this manner. SPEAKER D They start complaining. They start to moan and to groan, and they're just like, Why? Why did you bring us this way? They start to challenge God. They're like, Why did you bring me this way? Why did you bring me this way? The story of the children of Israel tells us just how fragile we are and how vulnerable we are when it's hard. But it also shows us how much character can be produced when it's hard. Now, how about we go over briefly to the book of second. Peter and Etienne, would you be able to read for us? Verse 18? This is a time when false teachers are trying to pull people away, when it's hard. So in those moments where you're like, is it worth it to serve the Lord? I'm doing everything right and everything's going so hard in my life. In that moment, the devil comes whispering and we need to be aware of it. SPEAKER C And we've got to keep in mind also that these things are only for a season. They don't endure. SPEAKER D That's right, yeah. SPEAKER C God has got something so much better in store for us, and this too shall pass. It says there in two Peter, chapter two, and verse 18, for when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lust of the flesh. So this is now the things that attract us by nature, naturally. So it could be wealth, it could be riches. The things that Moses was prepared to give up, they will actually use these allurements, just like the devil tried with Jesus in his temptations, he offered him the world. He showed him the empires of the world. He said, I will give this to you if you would but bow down and worship me. And how many people are prepared to do that, bowing down and worshipping for a temporary fix? Especially when you're hurting, especially when you're down. That's right. Yes, that's true. It says and they allure them through the lust of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. So these are people that have escaped. They might be going through a difficult time, and for some reason, these false teachers, through appealing to the flesh and the carnal heart, now tries to revive what they had moved on from. Right? They've escaped these errors. They no longer live in error. But then it says, these people promised them liberty. Verse 19, while they promised them liberty. So freedom, right? This is what everybody wants, freedom. They themselves are slaves of corruption. So these people are not free themselves at all. It's a facade. They act like they free, but they are enslaved to sin and misery. SPEAKER D It's the passing pleasures of sin. SPEAKER C That's right. And so they themselves are enslaved slaves of corruption. For by whom a person is overcome by him also, he is brought into bondage. And as Jesus says that he who sins is a slave to sin, then it says, for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, so these people have escaped. If you can escape it once, you can escape it twice and three times. These are people have escaped the pollutions of the world. How did they do it? The Bible is very clear here in verse 20. Through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER C It was by looking to Jesus, by gaining a knowledge from him, by walking with him yoked together and learning of. SPEAKER D Him, surrounded by the witnesses who is. SPEAKER C Meek and known in heart, who promised that we will find rest for our souls because his yoke is easy and his burden is light through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If they are again entangled in them and overcome, so they've become overcomers through Jesus Christ and through a knowledge of Him, they now are overcome themselves, entangled again. The latter end is worse for them than the beginning. So what happens is these people offer them freedoms. They say, freedom, liberty, but themselves are entangled slaves of corruption. Now these people think, oh, maybe it was better in Egypt, so they end up going back to Egypt. What is the outcome? It says that the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. So what is offered is a total lie in deceit. You had it good. Although it was a little bit of a difficult experience to go through at the time, through the discipline of being a faithful disciple of Jesus. SPEAKER D That's so interesting. You had it good. How often have people in human history thrown away the cause of Christ, thrown away the yoke? They had it good. Even it was hurting, but they didn't realize that they had it so good. Moses discerned in all of the challenging circumstances, the riches of serving God, the riches of knowing God, the riches of living a life in harmony with God's kingdom. He discerned in that far greater riches than the treasures in Egypt because he looked to the reward. SPEAKER C That's right. And it says that it was because of the reproach of Christ that he forsook all the riches of Egypt. Why? Because his upbringing, his mum had raised him and told him about the riches of Christ. SPEAKER D The cloud of witnesses. SPEAKER C The cloud of witnesses. That's right. So he then, through this process, realized that if he stayed in Egypt, it wasn't better than what he was raised up on and what he was looking forward to through Christ. What he had in the past and what he would have in the future was better than what Egypt offered him at that time. SPEAKER D And let's think about Moses. He got to go up into the mountain and see the glory of God. The Bible actually says that Moses was the friend of God and that he got to speak face to face. SPEAKER C God, wow. Incredible. SPEAKER D It makes being a child of the Pharaoh pretty small. Insignificant, very insignificant, when you can be in the very presence of the Almighty God as a friend. SPEAKER C So what we're saying is, if there's somebody that's alluring you, the devil will be doing it. He could be using people, he can be using your old life to entice you the flesh pots of Egypt, the leeks and the onions and the cucumbers. Right? If you walk away from the manner the Bible tells you, and I can tell you by experience, this has happened to me when I walked away from the Lord as well, it says that the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. Verse 21. So two Peter, chapter two, verse 21. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered to them. And then there's that proverb it refers to in verse 22, it said that a dog returns to its own vomit. That's pretty strong language, isn't it? But that's what if a dog throws up quite often? He'll eat it again, won't he? So that's really returning to Egypt, returning to the world and the worldly things. Why would you want to eat vomit? And then the second one is after a pig has been washed, a sow having washed, she goes and wallows in the mire, in the dirt and the dust and the mud again. SPEAKER D The message Paul gives to the Church is don't give up. Don't give up. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Surround yourself with the Scriptures and the lives of people who've gone before the living witnesses in prayer and laboring to be a witness for others. And don't give up when you go through those hard times, because God is shaping and fashioning your character to reflect. SPEAKER C His own amen and be faithful to Jesus. Keep on looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of faith. By beholding Him, we will become changed and ultimately remember that God's grace is sufficient for us because we sin abounded. So there's a lot of sin there. Sin abounded grace always much more abounds. May God bless you with those thoughts. Until we meet again. God be with you. SPEAKER B Thank you for joining us on Faith. To Faith. If you would like more information about today's program or if you have any questions, please contact 3ABN Australia Radio by Phoning. 02 4973 3456. 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