Since last Sunday, I've thought an awful lot
about something I said last Sunday, just to
test it, to see if it's really true.
And I want to start there this morning,
that we, you and I, we're called to
be saints.
And I like the way the word saint
brings that person to your mind.
You know, when you think of a saint,
you think of someone who's humble, gentle, patient,
loving, godly, spiritual, selfless.
And do you realize, we're supposed to be
the saint in everyone's lives.
A husband should be the saint to his
wife.
Wife should be the saint to her husband.
Parents should be the saints to their children.
Grandparents should be the saints to their grandchildren.
If you're an employer, you should be the
saint to your employees.
If you're an employee, you should be the
saint to your employer and to your fellow
workers.
That's what we're called to be.
And actually, we're addressed that way by the
Apostle Paul.
Romans chapter 1 verse 7, 1 Corinthians chapter
1 verse 2, two different groups of Christians.
It was to a church in Corinth, and
just to saints in general in Rome, because
Paul wasn't sure where the particular church was
at that time.
He knew there were believers there.
But it's to those who are called to
be saints, because that's our calling, to be
a saint.
I know that we've allowed certain churches to
designate certain people saints, and they have their
categories and reason for doing so.
But in the New Testament, a Christian was
to be considered a saint, the holy ones.
The word saint is the same word, comes
from the same word as the word holy,
the holy ones.
The basic meaning of that word saint or
holy one means you're set apart.
You're not like the common things.
And what we are set apart unto is
we are set apart unto God.
So that our lives are to have a
direct association as being God's servant, God's people,
God's instrument, those that love him, follow him,
resemble him in this world.
That's our calling.
This is what we're called to be.
We're called to be that different, so unlike
the world, that our lives are remarkable.
Distinct, special, reverent, honorable, all for the purpose
of reflecting who God is in his character,
in his righteousness, in his goodness.
In that sense, we are the light of
the world.
We are to be those who give light
to who our heavenly father is.
Like when Jesus told his disciples, one of
the disciples asked him, I think it was
Thomas, not Thomas the doubter, but the other
Thomas, or it could have been Philip, I
don't remember the specific cycle.
But they said, well, Lord, if you'll just
show us the father and that'll be sufficient.
And Jesus said, I think it was Philip,
have you been with me so long and
you don't know me?
He who has seen me has seen the
father.
Because Jesus only said what the father told
him to say and Jesus only did what
the father showed him to do.
This is basically our calling.
Our lives, our conversation, our conduct, or to
be so guided by the spirit of God
inside of us that the character and nature
of our father is reflected in everything we
do.
Every relationship we have, every job we're given,
every responsibility that we have is all done
in the name of the Lord Jesus.
It's done for the glory and honor of
the father.
That's our high calling.
And that's not just a calling of a
minister or a missionary.
That's the calling of a believer.
That's the calling of every Christian.
So you're called to be saints.
And since you're called to be saints, I
thought it would be good for us to
talk about how in the world you actually
live like a saint when you're surrounded by
sinners.
How do you live like a saint every
single day when you're confronted by things that
are difficult?
Because not everyone in the world is saints.
People without the spirit of God in them
are self-centered, cynical, sarcastic, sinful, selfish.
And as a child of God, in relationship
with other people, we're going to experience difficulty.
You're going to experience pressure.
Actually, you're going to experience suffering.
In the New Testament, there is a word
for endurance, and it's sometimes translated patience.
The Greek word is hupomeno.
It means to remain under.
That's the idea of more endurance.
But there's another word that's sometimes translated patience.
It's macrothymia.
The Greek word is macrothymia.
And that word means to suffer long.
And I've studied this.
Situations can be difficult.
Financial pressures, heavy workload, the situation in society
in general, the prices of gas, inflation, news
around the world, that's difficult.
And it calls for endurance.
But when the difficulty is coming from people,
from relationships, it's always more painful.
The suffering in life usually comes from the
suffering you have in relationships.
Dealing with difficult people.
People that rub you the wrong way.
People that push your buttons.
People that get your goat, get under your
skin.
How are you a saint to them?
What does it take for you to be
the saint, to be Christ minister, a vessel
of mercy, full of grace, full of God's
love for them, regardless of how difficult the
relationship with them is for you?
How do you do that?
Let's start here by remembering that whoever it
is that's causing us difficulty is dealing with
the same thing that you and I deal
with.
What's causing them to do what they do?
Why is the sinner sinning?
What do we know from the scriptures?
As God's people, we're supposed to understand this.
Why do sinners do what they do?
What's going on inside them that's causing this?
There's a law of sin in their members,
right?
Isn't that what Paul discovered in Romans chapter
7?
That if I do the things that I
don't want to do, and if I don't
do the things that I do want to
do, then it's no longer I who do
it, but sin that's dwelling in me.
And I discovered another law that was dwelling
in my members, the law of sin, making
me a prisoner.
Oh, wretched man that I am.
Well, as a believer, we should remember we
dealt with the law of sin and death,
didn't we?
The law of sin and death is in
our members.
So the reason that the person that we're
having difficulty with is making our life difficult
and we're suffering because of what they're doing
or not doing is because they're dealing with
the same law of sin and death that
it has taken the grace of the Lord
Jesus to help us overcome and to deal
with every day.
And as believers, do we still deal with
the law of sin?
Do we still deal with the flesh?
Yes, we do.
And only the power of the law of
the spirit of life in Christ Jesus can
set us free from the law of sin
and death.
Jesus made it very clear.
Everyone who is sinning is a slave of
sin.
So why are the people that are causing
us misery, that are hurting us, that are
so difficult to deal with, why are they
doing what they're doing?
Because they're slaves of sin.
They're captive to the law of sin.
Why does Vladimir Putin do what Vladimir Putin
does?
He's dealing with the same law of sin
that we are.
Why does any world leader that we label
as evil, why do they do what they
do?
Why does any person that we detest in
our mind because of their actions or their
immorality or their brutality, whatever it is, why
do they do what they do?
Because they're slaves of the very same law
of sin that Jesus Christ rescues us from.
Sin entered the world, and death through sin,
and in this way death came to all
men because all sinned.
All sin and fall short of the glory
of God.
Therefore, is any person out there that we're
looking at, are they any more evil than
you or I?
Were we born better than they were?
If you remember that, and you remember the
grace and mercy you were shown in your
condition before Christ, then you'll think twice about
detesting or abusing someone else who is still
acting in their wickedness because they are still
under the control of the law of sin.
And what does God, what was God's heart?
We're supposed to be like our Heavenly Father.
Remember Jesus said, if you just love those
who love you, what do you more than
the tax collectors?
Even sinners greet sinners.
If you only can get along with those
who treat you right, what kind of spiritual
life is that?
If you only get upset and act up
and blow up when someone does you wrong,
there's nothing distinct about that.
There's nothing set apart about that.
There's nothing holy about that.
That's just natural.
Nothing special.
But when you bless those who curse you,
when you do good to those who hate
you, and when you pray for those who
despitefully use you, then you're like your Heavenly
Father because your Heavenly Father is kind to
the wicked and the ungrateful.
He's kind.
So if our Heavenly Father is kind to
the wicked and the ungrateful, what is to
be our response whenever we encounter that suffering
abuse from someone?
Whenever what someone is doing is really making
it difficult, how are we to respond?
We're to be kind, like our Heavenly Father
is kind.
We need to understand that.
He sends His Son upon the just and
the unjust.
He causes the rain to fall on the
righteous and the unrighteous.
And we're to be perfect like our Heavenly
Father is perfect.
And it begins in remembering that we too
at once were under the same slavery to
sin that the person that is hurting us
may still very well be under.
And what did God do when He saw
that the world acting in wickedness, rebellious, disobedient,
pursuing their own desires, ignoring Him, doing what
their own selfish hearts dictated?
What did God in His heart decide to
do about it?
How did God act?
As Paul said in his second letter to
the Church of Corinth in chapter 5, that
God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself.
Now to reconcile someone, we know that reconcile
means you bring two parties together in agreement.
So Paul understood that before we came to
know God the Father through our Lord Jesus
Christ, we were enemies of God because of
our wicked works.
We were under the control of the Spirit
of disobedience, the Son, the Spirit who works
in the Son, the disobedience.
And God had to reconcile us to Himself.
How did He do that?
He said for God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself.
And then follow this, not counting men's trespasses
against them.
There's a difference in not recognizing men's trespasses
and not counting them like an accountant.
That's the word, logitzimai.
He does not keep a record of men's
transgressions and use it against them.
The reason the Father sent His Son, Jesus
made it very clear, for the Father sent
not His Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through Him
might be saved.
God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself, choosing not to keep a record of
man's sin and use it against them.
And that same word for not count men's
sin against them is found in 1 Corinthians
13, the love chapter, where it says love
keeps no record of wrongs.
That's the same Greek word.
When the love of God is there in
our heart, it is not keeping a record
of the wrongs that a person is doing
to us.
And it's certainly not keeping that record in
a way that's trying to use it against
them, so we can throw it back into
their face when we are frustrated with them
by saying, you always do that, you never
do that, you are a this because from
the time I've known you, this and that.
That is using transgressions against someone.
And God, if God, we know this from
the book of Psalms, David said, if thou,
O Lord, kept a record of sins, can
you finish it?
Can you finish that scripture?
Who could stand?
If God kept a record of our sins,
not one of us here could stand before
him.
Not one.
It says, but there is mercy with thee
that thou mayest be feared.
So God's mercy given to us in Christ
triumphs over judgment.
Why is that?
God sees sin.
It doesn't say he does not see sin.
And we'll see that a little bit more
as we continue this morning.
God calls sin, sin.
God calls wicked men, wicked.
But God's purpose and his desire and his
will is to reconcile wicked, sinful, evil men
to himself.
Even in the Old Testament.
Ezekiel chapter 3.
Ezekiel chapter 18.
This is what the Lord spoke to the
prophet.
The people of Israel were almost saying, we
can't help it.
Our life is a result of those who
have gone before us.
There was this common saying, the fathers eat
sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set
on edge.
Or the children have a toothache.
And the Lord told the prophet Ezekiel, no
longer shall this be said.
The soul that sins against me, that soul
shall die.
A father's not going to answer for the
sins of his children, and the children are
not going to answer for the sins of
the father anymore.
And he also said this.
That if there is an unrighteous man who
does all kinds of unrighteous things.
He sleeps with his neighbor's wife.
He charges usury.
He takes advantage of strangers, orphans, and widows.
He sacrifices the idols.
He does all these things if he stops.
And he turns from what he's doing and
takes no usury.
Takes no advantage of orphans and widows.
Treats the stranger properly.
Stops sacrificing to idols.
Follows my commandments and decrees.
He will not die for the things he
did before.
None of the unrighteous deeds he had done
will be remembered against him.
And then the Lord declares, for I do
not purpose the death of the wicked.
But I desire for the wicked to turn
that I might have mercy.
Boy, there's the heart of the father.
It is not, God is not this everything's
okay.
There's no such thing as wrong.
That's not our God.
God hates what's wrong.
But God desires mercy.
That's what he desires.
Will he ultimately judge the person who does
not turn?
Yes.
But he'll take no pleasure.
That's what the Lord said through his prophets.
That the Lord takes no pleasure in the
punishment of the wicked.
He would rather them turn that he might
have mercy.
And we're to learn in the New Testament
that mercy triumphs over judgment.
And we are warned as believers that judgment
without mercy will be shown to anyone who
has not been merciful.
So what should our hearts be when we
encounter someone and we're suffering in the relationship?
Because this person is a strange duck.
And they make me feel weird.
And they kind of give me the creeps.
And they, whatever you want to say.
However ugly they are, however they take advantage
of you, however abusive it is.
And I am not saying that a person
should live in physical abuse.
Don't misunderstand me there.
There's a time to flee, you know, for
whoever's in an abusive situation.
But I'm talking as a Christian.
We are vessels of mercy.
We are to overcome evil with good.
We're not to revile back when we revile.
We're not to repay evil with evil.
We are to respond to evil with good.
We are to overcome evil with good.
We're to be saints.
We're to be saints in our homes, on
the job.
Especially we're to be saints right here to
one another.
Vessels of mercy, full of grace.
And there is a key to this.
If you have your Bibles and you want
to turn and open them, I'm going to
talk to you from Romans chapter 5 about
this.
About how even having to deal with evil
and difficult people who are still under the
control of sin, who are still battling that
law of sin in their nature.
Romans chapter 5 verse 1.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have received the reconciliation, and
we rejoice or we boast in the hope
of the glory of God.
And not only so, we also boast in
our tribulations.
The word tribulation means the things that squeeze
us.
And you know what we tend to do
when we're around someone that we don't like
very much?
We back off.
We increase our space.
Because we don't like being uncomfortable, do we?
And when we back off because what another
person is doing is making us uncomfortable, who
are we looking out for?
Do you think that person can feel it?
Do you think they know when we're avoiding
them?
Do you think they can detect it when
we're just kind of slipping, kind of keeping
our polite little distance?
No, they can't.
But here Paul says we rejoice, not only
in the hope of the glory of God,
we rejoice in our tribulations knowing this.
Tribulation works something.
What does tribulation work?
Endurance, the ability to stay under a difficult
situation and owe to God that there were
more mature believers who can stay in difficult
relationships with people, who don't have to have
their space and only surround themselves with people
who pat them on the back and are
sweet and just make them feel like the
sun is always shining.
Where are the believers who fill with the
love of Christ and fill with the mercy
of God that can make the weirdos feel
like family, can make the people who have
issues feel welcome and safe, like there's hope
for them?
Tribulation is supposed to produce this enduring ability.
And you know what endurance produces, it says?
Endurance produces a proven character.
The proven character is a difficult, they're trying
to translate the Greek word, dakimazo.
Dakimazo is a refining term where you take
an alloy from a pure metal and you
separate it by heat so that you can
make gold even a greater quality.
You can take 14 karat gold, take some
of the alloys out and make it 20
karat.
If you do it even more, you can
make it 24 karat, which is pure gold.
There are some alloys that we have in
this spiritual life.
There's some that are not pure faith and
pure love.
Some of that, and of course the alloys
are us.
A lot of it's our background, our understanding,
our lack of spiritual development, what they are,
whatever they are.
There's a process that dealing with the difficulty
of other people, that being squeezed, the pressure
from dealing with other people producing us an
endurance, an ability to stay in difficult relationships.
And by staying in the difficult relationship, you
keep your feet to the fire.
You're staying near the flame.
You stay where it's hot and you're uncomfortable.
But what that does is it purges your
own life from some of the dross.
Because some of the dross in our life
is just convenience.
We don't want to be troubled.
We want everything to be good.
We want a perfect husband.
We want a perfect wife.
We want perfect kids.
We want perfect parents.
We want perfect brothers and sisters in Christ.
And why do you trouble me by being
who you are?
It's a pitiful form of Christianity left at
that.
Because if God felt that way, he would
have just started a new world and done
away with this one.
And instead, he sent his son into the
world.
And by the way, what's one of the
number one things that Jesus was?
Jesus was a man of?
I don't know who says that.
Come on, you can say it.
Jesus was a man of sorrows.
Well acquainted with grief.
And you know what caused the Lord grief?
People.
People caused the Lord grief.
Surely he bore our sorrows.
He bore our infirmities.
The suffering that Jesus endured in this life
came from dealing with men.
And it's our self-centeredness that is the
dross of spiritual life.
The Holy Spirit is the pure love of
God.
The pure life of Christ in us.
But we still deal with our own desire
for space and convenience.
And for life to go well.
But it's the fire of dealing with difficult
relationships that will purge some of that from
us.
Tribulation will work endurance.
Endurance will produce this refining of character.
And you know what the refining of character
produces?
Hope.
Hmm.
When I start giving up on my convenience.
When I become less concerned about how comfortable
I am.
And how I feel.
And what I want.
And how easy it is for me.
Then I'm just.
I'm fine about dealing with someone who's hard
to be with.
I'm not ready to make my space.
You know why?
I'm more hopeful for them.
I'm more content of my hope for them.
Than my own discomfort.
See that?
I am more concerned for them.
Than me being comfortable.
And that Paul goes on to say that
that hope does not make anyone ashamed.
Because the love of God is being poured
out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
And when the love of God is being
poured out into our hearts.
There is a power that starts to happen.
Because the Bible says love bears all things.
The word bear there is a difficult word
to translate.
It's more like.
The picture is a roof.
Love is like having a roof.
You know what a steep roof does?
If it's built properly.
And if it's in good shape.
What does a steep roof do when there's
a downpour?
Keeps you dry.
It causes the water to run off on
either side.
So you don't get soaked.
When you're filled with the love of God.
You can be in some downpours.
And some crazy storms in relationships.
And you won't get soaked.
It just sheds.
Their attitudes.
What they're doing.
What they're saying.
Just runs off of you.
You can continue doing what you need to
do.
Because the love of God is in you.
It bears all things.
Love hopes all things.
It believes all things.
You know.
Most of us here.
There's some of us here.
That are struggling even with faith for yourself.
That God loves you.
And that God has power to free you.
Some of you are there.
You're still not even sure about that.
For most of us here.
You're convinced that God loves you.
You're convinced that he's patient with you.
But don't we want that to be equaled
by.
He's just as patient with someone else.
That he loves the other person just as
much.
So you have just as much hope for
them.
You're full of hope.
You know.
That is one thing that I have sensed.
And it is one of the most damaging
things.
That can happen for a person.
Who comes into a church.
Or to a situation where there's a group
of people.
And that person has some issues.
Because of their background.
Maybe they're from a broken home.
Maybe they're dealing with.
Something psychologically.
Emotionally.
Physically.
Something that we're not.
We're not experiencing ourselves.
And the issues they come with.
Are a little bit difficult.
And the weak people.
Not being filled with the love of Christ.
The non-spiritual people.
What you start seeing them do.
Is you see them keep their distance.
Because they're living for themselves.
And then you'll see some people.
Filled with the love of Christ.
Reaching out.
And making a difference.
And demonstrating love and kindness.
What that person.
Dealing with the issues.
Feels from some.
Is they feel the lack of hope.
What they feel from others.
Is genuine love.
And mercy.
And grace.
And hope.
And the difference is night.
And day.
When we treat people that way.
When we're genuinely filled with the love of
Christ.
And we have hope for them.
And here's the reason we have hope for
them.
It really doesn't matter.
How bad they are.
I mean they could be.
Pretty bad.
But if hope.
Is based upon.
Well not too bad.
I have more hope for this guy.
But this guy is really bad.
I don't have any hope for him.
Is that hope in God?
Because is anything too difficult for God?
No.
You see.
This is where it's.
Some of that unbelief.
If you were here Wednesday night.
Brother Kelvin talked about the father.
Who was so kind of.
Caught off and upset.
That his son was battling these demons.
That were a hold of him.
He pleaded with Jesus.
Because the disciples weren't able to cast the
demon out.
So now the father is wondering.
If there's any hope at all.
He turns to Jesus and he asks.
If you can help me.
If you can do anything.
Please help me.
Jesus looked at him and said.
If I can.
All things are possible to those who believe.
You see.
If you're looking to Jesus Christ.
And his power.
How can you not have hope for anybody
here?
How can you say in your heart.
They'll never change.
How can you say that?
Not if you're walking in the Lord Jesus.
You can't say that.
Because love hopes all things.
Bears all things.
Believes all things.
Endures all things.
Love never fails.
That's why Paul said.
In his letter to the Colossians.
And in Ephesians.
Both there.
That love is the perfect bond of unity.
Because if love bears all things.
Hopes all things.
Believes all things.
Endures all things.
When love is at the root of the
bond.
It's going to endure.
It's going to be lasting.
But you know people get together.
For more reasons than just love.
You know people join together for a cause.
Political parties join together.
Right?
They rally for a cause.
Because they have the same political view.
People rally for a lot of cause.
Police brutality.
Black Lives Matter.
Protesting war.
Unethical treatment.
Or the ethical treatment of animals.
People can band together.
But when love is not the foundation.
You let people get different views.
Within the same political party.
And what happens?
Just fractions.
You have fractions within.
The party.
But when Christ is center.
And when the foundation is love in Christ.
And every person who is a member in
Christ.
Has the calling to love others as Christ
loved them.
That is a bond.
That will endure.
Love is the perfect bond of unity.
And the church builds itself up in love.
Through that which every joint supplies.
Every one of us here.
Should be supplying the love of Christ.
To another member of this body.
Every one of us here.
Should be supplying the love of Christ.
To another member of this body.
Regardless of how they are.
We should be hoping.
Bearing.
Believing.
Enduring.
All things.
And that.
That way of living.
Will produce a unity.
That will last.
It is a bond.
That is unbreakable.
And so.
I want to make sure we understand something.
Living in this kind of love.
Does not mean there won't be difficulty.
Jesus was sent by the father.
Not to condemn the world.
But to reconcile the world.
To the father.
Through himself.
To reconcile the world.
But there is something strange.
About the person who came.
Not to condemn the world.
But to reconcile the world of the father.
He was quite hated.
Men hated him.
How can you hate someone.
Or why did the world.
I want us to understand this.
Why did the world.
Hate Jesus.
When all he came to do.
Was love them.
He only spoke.
What the father said.
He only did what the father.
Showed him to do.
Why did the world hate him then.
He said.
What was his answer.
Some of you know the scriptures.
Why did the world hate him.
He told the disciples.
Remember when they hate you.
They hated me first.
And they are going to treat you this
way.
Because they do not know the father.
Or me.
So when it happens to you.
I have told you ahead of time.
You are going to be actually hated.
Of all nations.
Do you remember the time his brothers.
Were trying to get him to go up
to the feast.
And he wasn't ready to go yet.
And they told him.
If you want to be a public figure.
Go make yourself known.
My time is not right.
Your time is always right.
The world cannot hate you.
But it hates me because.
You remember the because.
The world hates me.
Because.
I testify of it.
That it's works.
Are evil.
Now why did Jesus testify.
That the world's works.
Were evil.
Because he would only say.
What the father told him to say.
And whatever the father calls evil.
Is evil.
Whatever the father calls bad.
Is bad.
You know you can speak that in love.
You know the father.
In the beginning.
Created man and woman.
He created woman.
To be a help me.
To man.
Male and female.
He created them.
And he designed.
In that beautiful relationship.
That the two.
Would become one.
Isn't that what we believe as Christians.
We believe that he created.
Male and female.
That was his design and intent.
You know any other relationship.
Outside of that intent of design.
To him is unnatural.
That's not what he designed.
That's not what he created.
So he calls it wrong.
I don't have to hate anybody.
To simply speak the truth.
To say that that's wrong.
That's not what God created.
In the beginning.
Now by me saying that.
Or by you saying that.
You know what will happen.
You'll be hated.
But you won't be hated.
You don't have to be hated.
For your attitude.
You can still be kind.
And caring.
But speak the truth.
In love.
God hates divorce.
Does he hate the people.
Who are divorced.
No.
He hates the pain it causes.
He hates the difficulty.
It brings on everybody.
On both partners.
On the children.
On the other family.
He would rather marriage.
Be a blessing.
Two people enjoying.
One another.
That's what he would rather.
And he hates.
What divorce does.
He doesn't hate the people.
Who are divorced.
So when there's situations.
When someone is struggling.
And you're asked.
You're asked what you think.
You can speak the truth in love.
I think God.
It would be better.
If possible.
To work it out.
But it may not always be possible.
God calls us to live in peace.
But you see how you can speak.
The truth.
Without an attitude.
Without it being.
Self-righteous.
You can speak.
The truth.
Like you're simply a paper boy.
You're just delivering.
You're just repeating what.
Someone else has said.
It's not my words.
Whatever my heavenly father.
Has said is wrong.
It's wrong.
It's not about me.
Jesus.
Was so.
In agreement with the father.
That on two different occasions.
The father said.
This is my beloved son.
With whom I am.
Well pleased.
Because Jesus.
Was so.
Focused and single minded.
In obeying.
The will of the father.
Saying what the father.
Gave him to say.
Doing what the father showed him to do.
That's all he did.
But he agreed.
With everything his father ever said.
You think if God said anything.
We have a bible here.
Paul said.
That all scriptures are God breathed.
Breath of God.
Inspired by God.
Profitable for teaching and correcting.
And training in righteousness.
So that the man of God may be
thoroughly.
Equipped for every good work.
You think Jesus would disagree with anything.
God said in the old testament.
No.
And neither do we have to.
And neither do we need to be ashamed
of it.
But we don't have to be arrogant.
Or belligerent.
Speak the truth in love.
And for speaking the truth.
You may encounter difficulty.
But let it not be a difficulty.
That's caused by pride.
Or self righteousness.
Insensitivity.
When Jesus said.
Blessed are you.
When men shall revile you.
And persecute you.
And say.
All manner of evil.
Against you.
Falsely.
Because of me.
Now what kind of situation.
Would he be describing.
If the heavenly father.
Has said.
That.
He created a man and woman.
To be together.
To be one.
And he considers any other relationship.
Outside of that man and wife.
In marriage to be wrong.
And I simply repeat.
What the father has said.
However men react.
Because of.
I'm simply repeating.
What the father said.
They can call me unloving.
Intolerant.
Insensitive.
Bigot.
Homophobic.
All of those things.
When all I have done.
Is faithfully convey.
What God has said.
That would be an example.
Of being.
Hated or.
Treated unjustly.
For his namesake.
That's a.
So we can't.
Being a faithful Christian.
And loving everyone.
Is not going to.
Spare us.
From difficulty in this world.
But one thing.
It will do.
If we walk.
In the Holy Spirit.
And we are filled with.
The love of God.
We will be.
Saints.
Everywhere we are.
We will be saints.
In line at the grocery store.
We will be saints.
In all of our business dealings.
We will be saints.
To our co-workers.
We will be saints in our homes.
We will give people.
A chance to encounter.
The goodness and the mercy.
And the kindness of God.
And we will give.
We will have opportunity.
For men to encounter.
The truth of God.
To know what's right.
And perhaps even.
Then.
If in that situation.
If we.
Have not.
Aggressively.
Or in some wrong way.
Communicated something.
Because.
Even the Bible.
The Bible warns about.
There is a way to speak.
Like a thrusting of a sword.
Sometimes.
We can be so against something.
If we encounter someone.
We can let them have it.
Here is what God says.
We just.
Give it to them.
That felt good.
Didn't it?
Felt good to us.
Not them.
You know the difference?
If we are not doing that.
If we are genuinely.
Just speaking the truth in love.
A timely word.
If we are full of hope.
If even in speaking the truth.
We hope that they will hear it.
Even if their first reaction.
Is antagonistic.
We still hope.
That they will hear it.
You know.
Love hoping all things.
I am going to conclude with this.
It does something.
No one hopes.
For what they already have.
But if they are hoping.
They wait for it.
In 2 Peter.
We are told.
That God is.
Patient.
Here the word is.
He suffers long.
Think about it.
You and I have a difficulty.
Hearing about what news.
We hear of the atrocities.
That happen in our city.
In our nation and around the world.
That is difficult.
Think about how God handles it.
When he is aware of every single.
Crime and atrocity.
That is committed every single day.
Nothing escapes his notice.
Can you see why the Bible says.
That God is long suffering.
He suffers long.
With what he has seen.
God suffers long.
We are not to consider it to be
slow.
He is not like slow.
We are waiting for the return.
Of the Lord Jesus.
To set up his kingdom upon the earth.
And bring in a new heaven and earth.
A home of righteousness.
It has not happened yet.
The reason.
That Peter tells us.
That it has not happened yet.
Is God does not want.
Men to perish.
There are some who have not yet decided.
To be reconciled to God.
They are not reconciled.
They are still enemies of God.
God has created space.
This is what Peter tells us.
We are to consider.
The long suffering of God.
To be salvation.
Because God does not desire.
Anyone to perish.
But for everyone.
He has left room.
In the original language.
He has created space.
For men.
To come to repentance.
You know what that space means?
That they do not.
Have to end their life.
In the same condition.
That they are now.
That some.
That God would rather them turn.
And change.
Before he has to do.
What he will do.
This is where I am going to close.
How does this balance out.
With the judgment that is coming.
I do not think we understand.
Why God is going to judge.
Men and women.
And what the judgment.
Is going to be about.
I do not think we understand it.
I think if we understood it.
It would do two things.
It would clear up some confusion.
On our part.
And it would fill us with hope.
To be more open.
About the good news.
Here is the truth.
That is in my heart and mind.
I want you to understand.
God is not going to judge.
Men.
For the things that they have done wrong.
For their sexual immorality.
Their drug use.
Committing murder.
Rape.
Incest.
And these things.
That is not why they are going to
be judged.
God is trying to reconcile.
Men like that.
Women like that.
To himself.
God is willing to forgive.
Remember what the prophet said.
If a man is doing all these things.
Sleeping with his neighbor's wife.
Taking advantage of the orphan and the widow.
Charging usury.
Sacrificing the idols.
And if he stops.
Doing all those things.
And begins to turn.
And does not sleep with his neighbor's wife.
And stops sacrificing the idols.
And begins to treat the poor.
With kindness and fairness.
And begins to seek me.
And walk in my ways.
He will not die for the things.
He did.
That soul will live.
That is what God wants.
So then why will.
People come to judgment.
What are they going to be judged for.
If God is willing.
To forgive.
And to reconcile men to himself.
What are they going to be judged for.
Refusing.
To be reconciled.
And see if the new testament bears that
out.
When you go to a city.
When he sent out his disciples.
Go and preach the good news.
Heal the sick.
Raise the dead.
Cleanse the lepers.
Preach the gospel to the poor.
And when you enter a city.
Look for a place that is worthy of
your peace.
And let your peace abide there.
And if your peace.
If you find a house that is worthy
of your peace.
Let your peace abide there.
But if any place you go to.
They will not receive you.
Or listen to your words.
What are you to do then.
You are to go outside the city.
Take off your shoes.
Or your sandals.
Shake the dust off your feet.
And then he said this.
Verily I tell you.
It will be more bearable.
For Tyre and Sidon.
And Sodom and Gomorrah.
In the day of judgment.
Than for that city.
In other words.
All the sins and the evil committed.
In Tyre and Sidon.
And Sodom and Gomorrah.
Are not as bad.
As refusing.
The good news.
That God has sent his son.
To reconcile the world to himself.
Do you realize how powerful that is?
The people in our lives.
That are doing what they are doing.
Can be reconciled to God.
There is hope for them.
God is willing to forgive.
Wickedness.
Rebellion.
And sin.
If they will humble themselves.
And through Christ.
Be reconciled to God.
So Paul appeals.
Be reconciled to God.
Do you know who has been given.
The ministry of reconciliation.
In 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
You and I.
Have been given.
The ministry of reconciliation.
We are supposed to be the ones.
Who go out and tell people.
God won't judge you for what you are.
What you have done.
If you will be reconciled to God.
If you will receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
And humble yourself.
God will forgive you.
He will cleanse you of all your sins.
And it will be as if you have
never done anything wrong.
You can become his son or daughter.
And enter his family.
Nothing you have done before.
Prevent that.
That is pretty good news.
That is awesome.
Good news.
And it is also.
It is also the one thing.
We can tell people honestly.
Lovingly.
But if you do not.
Accept the son.
Jesus said.
He who receives you receives me.
And he who receives me.
Receives the one who sent me.
He who receives.
He who does not receive you.
Does not receive me.
And he who does not.
Receive me.
Does not receive the one who sent me.
This is the verdict.
That is what Jesus said.
John chapter 3.
This is the verdict.
Light has come.
Into the world.
But men love darkness.
More than light.
For their deeds were evil.
Everyone.
Who practices evil.
Does not come to the light.
For fear that their deeds would be exposed.
Here is the thing.
God is going to judge.
Men and women.
Not for the things.
That they were practicing.
He is going to judge.
For not coming to the light.
The light that he sent to save them.
For refusing.
The Savior.
This is what Paul said in 2 Thessalonians.
That.
That the coming of the lawless.
One will be in accordance with the work
of Satan.
And all lying signs and wonders.
And every sort of evil.
That deceives those who are perishing.
They perish because.
They did not receive.
The love of the truth.
So as to be saved.
Do you see that?
It did not say they perish because of
the things they are doing wrong.
They were living in a lie.
They were being deceived.
They were under slavery to sin.
That is not why they are perishing.
They are perishing because the gospel.
Of God.
The grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Came to them.
And when they heard the good news.
They received not the love of the truth.
So as to be saved.
So judgment.
Is not for the things they did.
Judgment.
Is for the refusing to be saved.
By the one sent to save.
And that is our ministry.
We are ministers.
Of reconciliation.
We are servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have good news.
That God is willing to forgive.
All the evils that we see in the
world.
As long as men.
Will humble themselves and be reconciled to him.
That is pretty good news.
Now.
The fact that we say.
There is only one name.
Given unto heaven.
Whereby men must be saved.
And we unashamedly.
We say.
Jesus is the way.
The truth and the life.
And no one comes to the father.
Except through him.
That may cause us to be hated.
Because there are nations.
Who don't agree with that.
They have their own gods and their own
cultures.
And their own ways.
But as a Christian.
We are saying there is no other name.
Given unto heaven.
Whereby men must be saved.
We may suffer for that.
But that is the truth we have.
And the good news we have.
This is what we believe.
Let me close with this verse.
Jesus.
Talking about the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit said this.
When he the spirit of truth comes.
He is going to convict the world.
Of three things.
You remember those three things he said.
What the spirit is going to convict the
world of.
He is going to convict the world of
sin.
Of righteousness.
And judgment.
And then he.
He comments on each of those.
He is going to convince.
Convict the world of sin.
Because.
Do you remember the because?
What sin.
Is the Holy Spirit.
Going to convict the world of.
He shall convict the world of sin.
Because.
They do not.
Believe in me.
Not for their drinking.
Not for their drugs.
Not for their adultery.
The law of God will convict men for
that.
But God sent his son.
To save the world.
To reconcile the world to himself.
In refusing.
To receive.
The one that God sent.
To reconcile the world to himself.
That is sin.
That is why.
Jesus said.
Mario and I.
Had a conversation about this.
A while back.
You have heard about the unforgivable sin.
The unforgivable sin is blasphemy.
Against the Holy Spirit.
It should make sense to you.
The Spirit is the one God sends.
To bring the truth.
To save men.
Blasphemy means to speak against.
If you are constantly arguing.
With the Holy Spirit.
And you are speaking against.
What the Holy Spirit is saying to you.
To save you.
There is no forgiveness.
You cannot refuse.
The means that God has sent to save
you.
And expect to be saved.
So your judgment.
Is not for the things you have done.
It is for refusing.
The salvation that God has sent.
You see.
Which.
I don't know for me.
I am so filled with hope.
Because I know my Father.
Does not delight in the punishment.
Of the wicked.
He has left space.
But that space.
Is to give men time.
To be reconciled to himself.
Through Jesus Christ.
To be reconciled to himself.
Through Jesus Christ.
And that is the good news.
That we have for people.
That God will forgive.
He desires to forgive.
That is what he longs to do.
But all that forgiveness.
All of his grace.
All of his kindness.
All of his goodness.
Is in Jesus Christ.
And you and I.
Have that message.
And more than anything else.
If we.
Will live our life.
As saints.
We give the world.
A chance to encounter.
God's goodness.
Mercy.
And love.
And for that.
We have to open their hearts.
To be reconciled to God.