0:10 Over the past few weeks, you and I have been learning and been reminded of glorious encouragements to remain on the course of holiness, to be strong in our devotion to the Lord, and to not think less or little of anything that God has ordained for you to do for his glory, whether it is recognized by men or not. And such motivations that we've been receiving really only holds true value for the person who has endeavored to give their lives as a living sacrifice unto God. And I hope that's all of us today. Because this morning, we will be receiving another stimulus. We will be receiving another source of encouragement, and it's probably not a very top tier thought for a lot of believers, but it was to this man, Paul.
0:58 I'm just gonna ask you a very simple question today. If I were to ask you, as a Christian, why do you endure for the sake of Christ? How would you answer that? If I were to be more specific and inquire and say, why is it that you give so much of your time and your resources and your energies to serving your local church? Why is it that you choose to adore him and represent him and speak of him while God is silent in your suffering?
1:32 Why is it that you choose to block out certain time every day for private private prayer and to intercede unwaveringly. Why do you do that? How would you answer? And there is more than one justifiable ambition that can be shared. But my question after those questions is this.
1:56 Can we agree with the apostle Paul in what he said in verse 10? Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect. For the sake of the elect that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Now you might hear those words and you might say, I I know what this man is saying, but if I'm honest before God, I'm not sure if I can fully and wholeheartedly say that that's true of myself. I'm not sure if I can actually say, you know, I'm willing to endure for the sake of people coming to know Christ.
2:38 Paul loved the Lord Jesus Christ. He adored him. But Paul also loved souls. And if you were to ask the questions that I just asked you, Paul the apostle would look in your eyes, I'm sure with blazing fire, and he would confidently be able to say with full conviction and confidence, I endure everything that I endure because I wanna see people saved. I really wanna see people come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
3:12 Now it would be very difficult for me to continue by expressing and trying to explain the ultimate value that is found in the human soul. It would be very, very hard for me to press on by challenging all of us today to see if Christ's compassion really reflects in our hearts relating to the eternal fate of all men. All of that will be difficult without first facing this matter that Paul brings up, this controversial thing in our day and it has been for centuries, concerning the elect. The elect. Put on your seat belts this morning.
3:50 The Calvinistic interpretation of the word elect would simply be defined as a category of people who have been sovereignly selected for salvation from eternity past. In reformed circles, this teaching moment now, the word elect is generally con connected to the doctrine of unconditional election, which simply means that in God's mind, there was no foreseen condition, basis, response from the part of man that would have provoked him or influenced him to save them. Rather, it has nothing to do with man might do with the gospel in the future and seeing it from the past, but it has everything to do with God's good pleasure to simply save those whom he desires to save. And man has no influence on that. And to the Calvinist, God's redemptive work is important in light of unconditional election because it is a pillar that strongly supports the sovereign authority that he possesses that no person can challenge or try to thwart.
5:12 But not only that, it also, as a as a secondary consequences, eliminates any boasting from man to say that they have anything to do with them being redeemed. Because in the deadness of their sin, there is no capability of being able to respond to the gospel apart from a preliminary work of the Holy Spirit that would make you want to respond to the gospel. And many questions might arise with the school of thought, and one of them might be, well, then why preach the gospel? Why preach the gospel? Why why pray?
5:53 Why evangelize? Why send missionaries? Why establish institutions? Why strive? And why contend?
6:00 Why do all of that? And again, from the reform standpoint, many would actually come to this verse and use this scripture to help understand why it is that we, as reformed, would continue to preach even though God has sovereignly decreed already from eternity past. Paul here is that model. He's the model through this verse to show how it is that we can, in this time and in this sphere outside of eternity, how we should serve a sovereign God. And again, he here is showing an example, and the example is simply this, that God, although he has decreed who would be saved, uses men and uses the gospel as the means to extend that call to those who do not understand the gospel.
6:54 And though we may not understand who the elect are, God does, and it doesn't change the fact that as ambassadors of Christ, we are to extend that call through our efforts so that those who are elect may experience what they have been ordained to experience, namely salvation. They would even say that the understanding of election is more encouraging than anything else. Because if you're outside of that conviction, you would say, why preach the gospel if people already elect onto salvation? Whereas the Calvinist would say, we have all the more to preach the gospel because we have guaranteed success. We have guaranteed success.
7:36 Why go out? Because God has determined and it is our duty to simply be faithful and obey the great commission. And in God's perfect timing and his perfect way, he will reveal those who were deemed to be saved. Much more can be said. Makes a great conversation for lunch.
7:58 And I'm not gonna stand here today and try to solve what centuries of theologians haven't been able been able to agree on. Okay? Because there's a different point of this verse, but I I don't want to ignore it nonetheless. If you're wondering where I stand, I do not hold to the Calvinistic interpretation of this specific verse for various reasons and for this main reason is that the word elect does not have to only mean those who have been predestined to be saved from eternity past, And I hope to prove that from the scriptures. Hopefully, when you hear the word adopted, what comes to mind?
8:35 Don't answer. What comes to mind when you hear the word adopted when it relates to our faith? I'm sharing your mind in a very simple definition. To be adopted is just a strong metaphor that the Bible uses to define your status in God's kingdom through the new birth experience as you are translated by faith from enemy of God to child of God. To be adopted is to describe the glorious state we inherit in God's kingdom when we say yes to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
9:10 Now I'm sure all of us would agree with that general understanding. I'm sure all of us would know that the word adopted has been reserved as a gospel term. It is an acknowledgment of an experience and again the status that we have through the finished work of Jesus Christ. There's no debate about that I'm sure. Nonetheless, if that is the understanding generally of the word adopted, what do you do with a verse like this?
9:37 Go to Romans chapter nine with me, please. Romans nine verse four. Paul says, they are Israelites and to them belong what? The adoption. The adoption.
10:01 The glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. Now, here we see the word adoption being used by the same theologian, who in various epistles defines for us what adoption means. And that is again, something that we know in relation to a new covenant established by Christ through the finished work on the cross. Now if that is true and we limit the term adoption to that narrow definition, then we have more theological issues to deal with per example by this verse. Why?
10:39 Because Paul now uses the word adoption concerning the ethnic people of Israel. Because in this context, he's about to explain to these gentile Romans, why it is that Israel has rejected their Messiah. And so interestingly enough, as he's about to explain why Israel rejected their Messiah, at the same time he says that they are adopted. They are adopted. And this is not to say that they will be adopted.
11:18 This is not to say that what he says in Romans 11 that one day all Israel shall be saved. He's speaking of a past experience that Israel has been adopted. And God made that very clear as early as the book of Exodus. When he says to Moses what he should say to Pharaoh in Exodus four twenty two, then you shall say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord Israel my firstborn son. And the prophets, namely Hosea in chapter 11 verse one, which states, when Israel was a child, I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son.
12:02 But but how can Hold on. How can Israel be adopted when Israel rejected the means of adoption? How can Israel be a son when Israel has rejected the Son of God? Well, the simple answer is that Israel's adoption means something else. The adoption that the Lord speaks of here concerning Israel is a selection made by God of this nation from all people groups, so that they would hold a unique and special witness and service for the rest of the world while experiencing certain blessings and protections as a means of their covenant with God.
12:53 Israel's selection, Israel's adoption was not unto salvation, it was unto service. Israel's adoption was not unto salvation, it was unto service. And you might be wondering why are you speaking about adoption when you're supposed to be unpacking election, preacher? Well, if we can agree I hope that adoption can mean something more than just your status as a result of responding to the finished work of Jesus Christ, then can we open our minds to the possibility that words such as chosen and election can have more than one definition? And if so, does that not open the possibility in second Timothy two ten, for a different non contradictory, non heretical understanding of the word elect presented before us today.
13:52 Because the same way that adoption is used for Israel in a non salvific sense, be careful now and listen, the words election and chosen do as well. Isaiah 45 verse four. In the ESV, it will read my chosen, and the King James, it will read mine elect. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect. I have even called thee by thy name.
14:27 I have surnamed thee though thou has not known me. Isaiah forty five four. Deuteronomy chapter seven verse six in the ESV, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you. Has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
14:50 Now be reminded, when God chose Israel, that doesn't mean that he saved every individual Israelite. When he chose them, it was an election towards them that would reserve them to play a vital role in ushering in the Messiah and to being the nation that would be the launching pad that would send forth the glorious gospel to the four corners of the earth. That's what the choosing was. That's what the election was. Because if we limit again election and chosen to God has predetermined who will be saved from eternity past, then all Israel should be saved, when in fact Paul says that's gonna happen in the tribulation period.
15:31 This is an election onto service. This is a choosing onto service, and now that that has been established to some degree, let's re examine the possibilities. The possibilities of what Paul could be saying, if we take off our Calvinistic lenses. In second Timothy two ten, therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect Now look at this, there's an interesting phrase, that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Did you notice that phrase?
16:02 That they may also obtain the salvation. Now hold on, that's an important phrase. That shouldn't be there if we limit election again to Calvin's understanding of election. Why? Because by the classic interpretation, if you're elect, there's no salvation to obtain.
16:25 It's yours. The elect by the classic interpretation is that salvation belongs to you. It's yours. The elect are those who are saved. They are believers.
16:41 They are children of God. So what salvation is there to be attained that the elect speaks of those destined to obtain it by God's unchangeable degree, decree? Some might say, well listen look, it's not that they're not saved, it's that they have not realized it yet. And it's by Paul's ministry and through our ministry today that people who are elect would be awakened to their election as they as they respond to the gospel. But another issue to deal with is then again the words, they also.
17:15 That they may also obtain. They also. Why is Paul speaking about this category of people as though they were outside? Why does he speak of them as though he is not with them or part of them necessarily? Why is he speaking of the elect as though there is a possibility that they may not obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus?
17:45 That they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus? If we handle the grammar honestly, salvation that is in Christ Jesus, which Paul was willing to suffer for them to know. So, let's breathe. If you're saying the elect, not only is the classic interpretation of the elect, but you're even now you're even suggesting that this elect are not even those who are saved. I can't grasp.
18:34 But how can you actually say that? The same way I can say that Israel as an adopted people are not really adopted in view of the gospel. They're adopted in a different sense. They're adopted in the sense for service and they need to respond to the gospel by their personal responsibility, lest they be damned themselves. And so we can say that the elect are not necessarily those who are saved the same way you can say Israel's adopted and they still need the gospel as adopted people.
19:11 So then what is the elect? Just get to the point. Who do you think the elect are? Well, there are a couple of options. There's that classic interpretation and my Calvinist brothers, I I know would hold to that.
19:27 Adam Clark, the great commentator wrote this, for the elect's sake, for the sake This is what Adam Clark said, for the sake of the Gentiles, elected by God's goodness to enjoy every privilege formally possessed by the Jews. And in addition to these, all the blessings of the gospel, the salvation of Christ here and eternal glory hereafter. So here's what Paul, here's what Adam is saying about Paul. The elect here, Paul's referring to is the Gentile people. He's using an Old Testament term that was once reserved for the Jews, and now because of the gospel has been open and made possible for all nations.
20:10 And so as a missionary, as an apostle to the Gentiles, what he's saying here is that I long to go to the elect. And in Paul's mind, because his mind has been opened through the new covenant, the elect are not just the people of Israel, they are all people now. Everyone is open to being chosen and a and a treasured possession and a priesthood, a royal priesthood, temple of the Holy Spirit. In fact, because I'm sure in many minds here hold to the classic interpretation, in the mind right now there are a lot of verses in different epistles that are that are being shot through your mind and one of them might be the whole chapter of Ephesians one. Right?
20:53 Where you see that that run on sentence of how in Christ we are chosen, predestined, adopted, all those wonderful things. And again, some might say that that again holds true to the TULIP understanding of how saving work happens. Elected, predestined, all those wonderful things. And and we zoom in and make it an individualistic experience, But from my understanding, it's a zoomed out thing where Paul is speaking to Who's he speaking to? Is he speaking to Jews in Ephesians or is he speaking to Gentiles?
21:30 He's speaking to Gentiles. And as he's speaking to Gentiles, you know what he's doing there? What he's doing there? He is showering them with titles and privileges and terms that were only reserved for the nation of Israel before Christ. You're chosen now.
21:48 You're the elect now. And he's speaking to the gentile world, and if you have difficulty believing that, well well, Paul explains how that can be after he comes with a thunderous introduction that must have shocked the hearts of these Gentile readers. He goes on to masterfully explain why it is that you can know these things and these things belong to you in Ephesians two verse 12. Remember He's speaking to Gentiles now. That you were at the time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of who?
22:24 Israel. Alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. See, Gentiles couldn't know what it was like to be chosen. The Old Testament is riddled with that being again for the nation of Israel. And now all of a sudden this apostle named Paul, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, a master theologian of the Old Testament comes to these Gentiles and he says, you were once alienated, but now you are sharing.
22:57 You're no longer strangers because look at verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. So then the wall of hostility has been brought down and we're all even at the foot of the cross. So now, the descendants of Abraham are not the only ones that can say, We're the elect. We're as a nation the sons of God. We are the adopted ones.
23:34 We have been chosen. Paul says, no. Because of the blood of Christ, Gentiles can say the same thing that you're saying now. Gentiles can say, I'm chosen. I'm the elect.
23:46 I am a royal priesthood. I don't have to be a descendant of Aaron. And so Paul uses these terms and this is why you need to have the Old Testament to understand the New Testament. People who want to focus on the New Testament, and you have even people who they they say, why are we going to the Old Testament? That's just history.
24:05 Are you are you serious? You need both. You need both. And and Paul uses again the language from the Old Testament to to bulldoze over all the things that once were set up as barriers between Israel and the rest of the world, and he he says, you can share in this now. This belongs to you.
24:32 Now, some might say, Paul speaking about the Gentiles. When he says, I will endure suffering for the sake of the elect, who I have been called a missionary and an apostle to. Others might suggest something else. So let's come back to the verse. Does the immediate context in second Timothy perhaps present a different possibility?
24:53 Remember the elect that we heard of earlier, the elect in the old testament sense, the chosen were the descendants of Abraham. And now when you come to second Timothy verse 10 of chapter two, people make the connection with verse eight, that there's a hint there and this is what it is. You heard it. Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, the offspring of David. Now when you were there, you remember that we use this term to illustrate the point that we must remember that Jesus was the offspring of David, meaning that he is human.
25:26 He was human and he's a glorified human today, though truly and fully God still. But out of all the ways to illustrate that and to describe that, he used a very Jewish phrase, the offspring of David. Meaning what? Yet Jesus was and still is human, but Jesus was a Jewish man. Born from the tribe of Judah, one of the tribes and the sons of Jacob who became Israel.
25:54 The offspring of David. And not just the offspring of David that means Jesus was a Jewish man, but he was the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the coming descendant of David who would occupy the throne in Jerusalem forever and ever and ever. So Paul's being very strategic here when he's saying the offspring of David. He could have said it in so many different ways, but he chooses to use a very Jewish highlight concerning Christ. Perhaps making some kind of connection with that emphasis to the elect people of Israel who have not yet obtained the salvation that is in him.
26:40 So then, what are you saying? I'm saying that although Paul here was a missionary to the Gentiles, you know this about Paul, don't you? Although he was called to reach out to the nations, Paul had a burning passion for his brethren in the flesh. And the wider context the wider context when you read certain verses might give you the understanding of the tone that might help interpret this verse. So let me give you an example.
27:10 In Romans nine, not four, but verse three. Paul says, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. There's a lot of things I could say, lord, do that in me. Lord, I want that in my heart. I want that in my life.
27:32 This is one of the verses that make it very difficult for me to pray to be a reality in my life. I wish myself to be accursed, cut off so that my my brethren in the flesh can know the salvation that was promised to them. I kinda read through that verse quickly, like, and I just kinda move on. It's challenging. It's hard.
27:59 But then in the same context, in Romans 11 verse 13, now I am speaking to you Gentiles in as much then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, there there it is. There's his resume. I magnify my ministry, verse 14, in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous and thus save some of them. So he had a passion for the Gentiles, but underneath that all, he had a heartbeat for the Jews. He had a desire for his own kinsmen to come to the saving work of Jesus Christ.
28:35 Could it be that when Paul says the elect, that they may also this elect, the old testament understanding of the elect, they may also understand that this offspring of David is the Christ? I'm willing to endure everything. The suffering that they bring to me, all the false accusations and the beating, I'm willing to do all of that for the sake of the elect that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. Be interesting lunchtime this morning. Here's the thing.
29:13 I bring that up, but when I read this verse and study this verse, I don't think the heartbeat behind it is to determine who the elect are. Because we can spend this entire message trying to prove the elect, whether it's Calvin's understanding, whether it's an Armenian understanding, whether it's something in between's understanding, and totally miss the passion that Paul demonstrates through this verse, which I believe is the main point of the Holy Spirit instilling it in our scriptures. Imagine wasting your whole Christian life sitting at a table debating who the elect are. It's important. We should have this in house debate, but not to the point in which we fail to see.
30:05 Because, look, we see that and we love to argue and we wanna be found right, and some people have very strong conviction about it. I'm not denying that. But then they miss the surrounding the surrounding truths. So whoever the elect are to you this morning, whether whether they are the predestined that God is determined to be saved from eternity past, whether they are the Gentiles that are now sharing in that same experience that was once for the Jews, or whether they are the Jews themselves, are you willing to suffer for their salvation? That's the point.
30:39 That's the point of this entire verse that no matter who the elect are, Paul is saying, I am willing to endure. I'm willing to move forward, to press on, to be imprisoned, to be falsely accused, to be sent to court for the sake of this people called the elect that they may obtain the salvation that I know has changed me. Very simple title for this message today. And it's a question not towards you because the scriptures is a double edged sword, and that means many things. And one of the things it means that it will cut the preacher before it cuts the congregant.
31:19 Do I love souls? Not do I love Jesus. Do I love souls? That's the question. I have to admit this morning.
31:30 I have to admit. There are many messages that I prepare, that I get excited to preach. Sometimes because it's an insight. Sometimes because I know that it will help certain people. Sometimes because it proves the wisdom of God, and it it shows the beauty of Jesus Christ.
31:47 But there are some moments where there are messages that even in the place of preparation challenge me so much. Challenge me to the degree that I'm not saying this because I don't love you, but it's as though everybody disappears and it's as though Christ is challenging me directly. And before I even get to preach the message, I'm already responding to it in my own and asking God to deal with me. You know, I can come up here this morning, take my bible, hammer it, and tell you, you better love love souls more. You're lukewarm.
32:21 You're apathetic. Wake up. We have to reach the lost. I could that's not hard to do. But guilt tripping can only take you so far.
32:34 You feeling uncomfortable in the sanctuary because you're being told you're not preaching enough and you're not praying enough and you're not talking to your coworkers enough, that that can only last probably till next week. I think there's a there's a deeper work that needs to be done, and that's what I was being challenged with this verse. This man had had a heart change. This man was possessed by something so deep. And we'll get to that in a moment because it wasn't just the apostle Paul.
33:04 It was the early church as a whole. And I would encourage you to turn to the book of Acts chapter four very quickly in verse 20 verse 29. After these disciples were freshly filled with the Holy Spirit of God, it didn't take too long before they received threats and persecutions about the message that they were declaring. And they were told, if you continue to teach in the name of Jesus, you're in trouble. And these disciples gathered their friends, and they came to do what you should always do when you're in trouble, pray.
33:44 Pray. And they prayed. And it's amazing. It reveals so much about a man whether they pray or not. It reveals a lot whether a woman prays or not.
33:55 It really shows what you believe about God, about yourself, about the world based on the fact of whether or not you pray or not. But more importantly, once you deal with that, what you pray for reveals so much more. How you pray reveals so much more. And so I this verse came to me because here they are, their livelihood is in danger, their lives are in danger, they can spend much time in prison, they can be tortured, they can be humiliated publicly, they can be declared in all of Jerusalem and across the nation of Israel that this is a cult. And and notice how they pray in acts four twenty nine.
34:29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. That's how you pray in response to immediate threat and danger? How many of us, if we're honest, would get together and pray, say, God, get rid of these politicians and these officials. We don't wanna be beaten. We don't wanna go to jail.
34:58 We don't wanna cause trouble. We don't want, we don't want our, we don't wanna lose our jobs. We don't wanna lose our jobs. We don't want to be on on CNN. We don't wanna be found as, Trump support, whatever.
35:11 As evangelicals, we don't want this, we don't want any associations. How many of those would pray for the sake of self preservation? They didn't pray like that. They said, embolden us. Embolden us.
35:30 And stretch out your hands so that you can perform miracles, because we're going in. Why? Because there was a love so great that it it eliminated their issues and their problems. See, they they had a a magnifying view, I believe of heaven. They they felt the shrieks in their soul because of the horrors of the revelation of hell.
36:05 They they had a captivating understanding of the beauty of Jesus Christ and those things were so magnified. Those things were so wonderful that it minimized their own personal issues and it literally changed the priorities in their prayers. So you can love souls, you can love people to the degree where it makes the little petty things in life, even great things in life, seems insignificant. Because there's a there's an understanding that you know him, you're you're secure, you're saved. So what happens if your life is a little uncomfortable?
36:41 Who cares if they take your possessions? Who cares if they smear your name? There's a world that is headed towards an eternal eternal hell. Don't don't they have greater issues than than you? See, we miss that.
36:56 I gotta be honest, there are some days in my heart where I'm more ambitious than others. You get caught up in routine, you get caught up in needs in life, bills and future for your children, and your own issues in in your body, in your mind, and people. I mean, Christians bothering you and annoying you and and causing issues in your life, all these things and then we kinda we kinda lose sight that there's a greater issue here. There's a greater problem at hand here. And again, I'm not here to hammer you with this.
37:29 We're sharing in this together. And I think from time to time, we need to be sobered by the word of God to remember what this is really all about. I'm not interested. And the leadership is not interested in building a ministry where all we do is put out small fires because people haven't grown up from high school drama. It's amazing to know how people can can grow years.
37:51 They can they can even be very old and they're still they're still acting like they're in grade nine. I really don't wanna do that. I don't. I don't wanna look back at my life and realize that in the pastorate, all I did was put out small fires because Christians didn't have a view of eternal souls and all they were doing is annoying each other for decades. And they couldn't even get along amongst themselves.
38:13 I really don't want that. I'm sure you don't want that. What are we here for? What what what is this? Like what is what why am I why did God leave me on the earth?
38:29 To just listen to lovely messages and and be stirred and know that I'm in a safe place. Is that really it? It's so possible to be aware of the joys of salvation that you can't keep it to yourself. And again, some days are better than others, But I wanna be like this man, Paul. It was like his driving force.
38:55 It was it was the thing that kept him up at night. It was the thing that made him weather storms and literal storms and all these horrific things. Like, he had such a love for Christ that you couldn't beat it out of him. You couldn't whip it out of him. You couldn't starve it out of him.
39:13 I was reading the book of Daniel this week. I I I find myself in the book of Daniel as I go through the word of God these past few days, in a very known story. You know, Daniel in the lion's den. And as I was reading Daniel in the lion's den, it's as though I read it in a different way for the first time. I saw Jesus.
39:32 I didn't I didn't just see Daniel in the lion's den. I saw Jesus in the lion's den. And there are a lot of types and shadows in the Old Testament. For me, personally, maybe you've arrived there, but I didn't I didn't see Jesus in Daniel in that story. Think about it.
39:46 Here was Daniel, an innocent man who was a descendant of the royal line, who was falsely accused and he was thrown into a pit of death. And his enemies thought that they would have gotten rid of him from the face of the earth and that they have satisfied their envy like the Pharisees who were jealous of our Lord and savior, who attempted to use the legal system to accomplish their devilish scheme. And here's Daniel in the lion's den, and as he is surrounded by lions, we might think of the imagery that was so beautifully used by that famous twenty second Psalm in verse 13 that describes the agonizing death of Christ. And we are told in verse 13, they opened their wide their mouth wide at me like a ravening and roaring what? Lion.
40:38 Daniel had his lions and and Christ had to deal metaphorically with lions at his own death. But after that dreadful night, that to the human understanding might have sealed the fate of this man, an anxious king runs towards the sealed, the sealed tomb, so to speak. And to his surprise, he is not met with a dead Daniel, but a living Daniel who escaped death. And this man shares with this king, this gentile king, Darius, of how it was because of his blameless life that he receive a favor that shut the mouths of these lions. I was blameless and God honored my blameless state and he rescued me from the mouth of the lion.
41:31 Do you see it? Like blameless Daniel who received divine favor that shut the mouths of lions, our Lord Jesus Christ through his sinless life fastened the mouth of the grave, providing a triumphant escape from the den of death. And those enemies that thought that they have triumphed over Daniel, instead were thrown into the same pit and we are told that their bones were crushed while Daniel was untouched. So, wow, Lord, you're there. You're even there.
42:10 And that was refreshing. But I kept reading and I realized I don't just see something of Christ, I see conviction for my Christian life and not through Daniel, but actually through that king that loved Daniel so much. Because when he heard and he realized that Daniel was placed in that horrid place, that hellish of a place, we are told in Daniel six eighteen of how he responded. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting, No diversions were brought to him and sleep fled from him. And I read that and I've read the stories, I can't even count them, I can almost say it by heart.
42:51 But when I read this verse, something came to my mind. You may not agree with this meditation, but I read this and I thought, if sleep fled from Darius knowing that his friend Daniel was jailed behind the lion's den for a night, how much more should I be disturbed knowing that there are people that will be swallowed into the belly of an inescapable hell? We don't like that. I know. It's like, don't don't say that.
43:22 I don't wanna hear that. No. No. No. No.
43:23 No. No. Please, don't say that stuff. It's uncomfortable, isn't it? Disturbs us.
43:29 Good. From time to time, we need a jolt. The doctrine of hell has not only been lost, it has been replaced with fake understandings of God's divine wrath. Annihilationism. Yeah.
43:42 You're gonna cease to exist because that's what the bible describes hell as. And I said, if Darius lost a night of sleep, if Darius was disturbed, if Darius was not distracted, I said, Lord, where am I at? Where am I at if I know that people are gonna be sealed with a much much worse destination than Daniel did? I'm not speaking to you. I'm speaking about me.
44:17 And I'll be honest, there are a few times, a handful of times in my life, it doesn't matter, my experience doesn't matter, but there are a handful of times where I've laid in bed and I just meditated on eternity. And sometimes it's like you reach a point in your thinking and meditation that it just jolts you awake and you can't even sleep. I played a lot of basketball in high school. And so, I mean, I don't as much now, I don't watch it at all or anything. But when I heard about Kobe Bryant's death, it shocked the world.
44:51 And what was it? Two years ago, I think? Yeah. And just the other day, I was sitting with my brother in his living room. And unannounced, I just said, hey Peter, do you realize Kobe Bryant is somewhere right now?
45:05 He's somewhere right now. He has been for the past two years. Kobe Bryant is somewhere right now as we're talking and having Sunday morning church. We don't like that. Don't say that.
45:20 It's it's it's there. We have to face it. We have to face it. And I bring this point up about Darius not to promote this self torturing kind of discipline where there is a there is a way in which you are led to an extreme application and you become unwise and ineffective thinking that if you just run around with your with your zeal that things will be done. I don't think that's the answer either.
45:47 Because just a few weeks ago, you heard. Right? Remember? The the farmer, when he plants the seed, that that his his disposition, he should go back and rest. He should be able to go to sleep and wake up and trust in the sovereign working of God.
45:59 That God will take care of it. That you and I can only do so much. But here's the point I wanna make. Although we can't control what happens to the seed, we should have enough love in our hearts to plant it. Right?
46:13 At least plant it, and not say that you have to fast all the time and not sleep all the time. That's not what I'm trying to say. I hope that's not being communicated. But from time to time, I check my pulse and I say, do I actually, you know, love souls? Do I love them?
46:33 Or do I do I look at people who are not Christians and I see a business potential business partner? I see a networking possibility. Or do I see a soul that doesn't know Jesus? You know? You know what I'm trying to say?
46:45 Sometimes we lose vision of that. What I am saying is that, like this man, Paul, am I willing to experience discomfort in my life for the sake of of lost souls? I'm willing to suffer. I'm willing to endure everything. That's what he's saying.
47:02 Would I joyfully accept the invitation to sacrifice something of my self preservation, even my self pleasure, for the potential exposure of the gospel in somebody's life? That's the simple question to answer. And so sometimes that will look like you meeting somebody and they're interested in going to church, but you have to drive thirty minutes out to get them, to bring them to service. If you ask Paul what he would do, I'm sure Paul would say, never mind a car, I'm willing to go with my feet and put them on my back and bring them to church. Am I worried that I'm gonna be embarrassed as I'm standing in the gym and this muscular person who swears and speaks about women inappropriately, am I nervous that if he asks me what I'm doing for this weekend, I'm gonna say, you know, I go to church.
48:05 Am I willing to leave that detail out? Because I don't wanna suffer embarrassment because this guy is cool. So how do I get there? Because, again, we can do this one of two ways. I can come up and say, you're a bunch of lazy Christians, lukewarm, we need to wake up, we need to go, I can do that.
48:28 It'll last till next week. So I just sat before the Lord saying, Lord, there has to be something you have to do in my heart. Because Paul said, the love of Christ compels me. My love for Jesus compels me. Not guilt.
48:46 Not so that pastor doesn't breathe down my neck. Not so that if he asked me when's the last time I shared my faith, I could say, oh, I did it three days ago. You need to do a work in my heart. Lord, I can't do I'm so selfish. I am selfish.
49:02 I am scared sometimes. I'm embarrassed sometimes to my shame. But can you change that, please? I wanna be able to endure everything for the sake of the elect. I really want to have such a burning passion that I'm willing to sacrifice whatever you ask me to sacrifice so that I can at least give somebody the gospel.
49:23 Just go before the Lord. Go before the Lord and say, Lord, here's my heart. And I'm telling you, when he works in your heart, not only is it a power to endure, there's a joy with it. And there's a lightness with it. Let let me put it this way.
49:43 You you have somebody in your life that you love dearly. Right? I'm sure you do. Does it take much effort? Sometimes you have to restrain yourself from talking about that person to others.
49:55 Right? And I think it's as simple as that. I think one solution is, as I come to him and I see how glorious he is, and majestic he is and how merciful he is, and I spend time with him, and that fellowship rubs off on me and he heals me and he reveals himself to me. I wanna tell somebody about him. I wanna tell somebody about him.
50:22 And that's why, when we're first saved, we can all say that we were like the greatest evangelists at that time. Right? Oh, I can remember when I first got saved. I can remember going to school and not out of guilt, not because I needed to do this, but I didn't live too far. Between my apartment and school, I would feel compelled to even just stop somebody randomly and say, Jesus loves you.
50:52 And I would, in the faces that I got. But I could care less. I would stop random. It didn't matter who you were. Stop.
51:01 Listen, I have to go to class, but I need to just tell you something. The Lord Jesus Christ really loves you and he died for you. People look at me like, okay, and just walk off. And you know what? I walked away feeling like George Whitfield.
51:25 I didn't think of myself as this person that I just I had a love relationship. I have a rel love relationship with Christ. And I think from time to time, it's totally healthy to not just ask, do I love Jesus? But like Paul, do I love souls? And God is so merciful and kind that when our hearts get crusty and cold, He will find a way to warm it again.
51:53 He will find a way to warm it again. And that's what I found myself asking the Lord. Burn my heart again. Really, Lord. I don't wanna just give sermons.
52:05 There's a verse that's coming up in second Timothy that's been in my mind, and I'm excited to unpack it. He's told by Paul as a pastor, do the work of an evangelist. Pastor Tim, don't forget, do the work of an evangelist. And that's been echoing in the corridors of my mind, if I'm just being transparent with you. Don't forget about souls.
52:36 Let's pray. Lord, we're humbled this morning in your presence. We can all admit that perhaps we have not had the same ambition that this great apostle had, But we thank you that the motivation the motivation for him should be ours as well, and that's to be compelled by the love of Christ. And so, Lord, we just come with our hearts, whether they are soft or they are icy cold. And perhaps even bewildered because we we do know we should do this, but we have no idea how to do this.
53:38 I don't have a platform. I don't have a great following online. How do I do this? But, Lord, you see you see our desires and our aches. But, Father, this morning, we present ourselves to you, and we admit many days in the week, if not, maybe even every day of the week, perhaps in these past few months, we have not thought of a soul.
54:03 We have not thought of one soul that doesn't know you. And, Lord, all we're asking is that you would do something in our hearts, a real work, a deep work, a work that makes your commands light and not a burden, a work that reminds us of who you are and that you are too good to keep to ourselves. Lord, if you don't help us do this by the spirit, it will be done in the flesh, and it will not be effective nor will it be pleasing unto you. Help us as Christians. Help us as a church.
54:46 Think of those who don't know you. That's all we ask today. It's a great, great, great petition knowing that if you answer, you'll have great results. And so, Lord, even as we after this service, we will discuss about the elect and who they are. We pray that in that conversation, we would not lose the heartbeat of this verse about willing to endure everything for them.
55:22 We wanna worship you, Lord, because you have saved us, and that you will do a work in us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Can we stand as we worship the Lord together?
