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September 19, 2020 1:00 pm

He Came!

Finding Purpose / Russ Andrews

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September 19, 2020 1:00 pm

Jesus came into the world to become one of us, to suffer for our sins, and to give His life as a ransom for many. He understands our temptations and struggles, and He died for us to set us free from sin and guilt. To experience this freedom, we must repent and turn to Jesus, receiving Him into our hearts and turning away from our sins.

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Hello, this is Matt Slick from the Matt Slick Live Podcast, where I defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundations of the truth of God's Word. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network.

This is the Truth Network. Do you feel like you're on a religious treadmill? Do you feel like Christianity is just a system of rules and regulations?

I can do this, but I can't do that. Do you feel like your efforts to reach God, find God, and please God are futile? Do you feel like your faith is dead or alive? Today, Pastor Russ Andrews will walk us through Scripture to answer these questions. Join us on Finding Purpose, a local triangle ministry glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living.

For more information and to connect with Russ Andrews and Finding Purpose, you can visit us online at findingpurpose.net or connect with us on Facebook. Now let's listen to Russ Andrews as he teaches us how to be a Christian without being religious. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, and Lord thank you that you're still on the throne.

Even though we look out at a world that seems to be coming apart at the seams, we know that you're the one who operates behind the scenes and that your unseen hand is guiding our world, our history, toward its culmination. When you will return, Lord Jesus, is our King of kings and Lord of lords, and Lord we long for that day. We pray that it will happen soon, but in the meantime, Lord, help us to be faithful to declare your word, the gospel, to those around us, Lord, who don't know you. And Lord, now I pray that your word will go forth and accomplish the very purpose for which you intend. It's the name of Jesus that I pray.

Amen. I've entitled tonight's message, He Came. We're going to be looking at Mark chapter 10 verse 45. Joseph Damien was a 19th century Catholic priest who ministered to lepers on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. As you can imagine, those lepers have learned to and grew to love Father Damien dearly. Damien once said, I wish to give myself unconditionally to these poor lepers. The harvest appears to be right here.

Pray and ask others to pray both for me and for them. Father Damien cared for these lepers himself. He was right there physically with them in their midst. He dressed their ulcers. He made coffins. He dug graves.

He shared their smoking pipes, and he ate food by hand with them. One morning, he was pouring some hot water to make coffee, and he spilled some on his bare foot. Immediately, he noticed that he did not feel any pain.

So he poured some more hot water right on the same spot, and again, he felt no pain. All of a sudden, all of a sudden, it dawned on him just what had happened. As you probably know, lepers begin to lose their feeling, and that is why their fingers and toes begin to disintegrate. That morning, when Father Damien addressed the group of lepers who had gathered to hear his morning message, he did not greet them with his normal greeting. Normally, he said, my fellow believers, but on this particular morning, he greeted them with my fellow lepers.

Damien came to that leper colony to become one of them, and in a similar manner, Jesus came to this world to become one of us. Over the next two weeks, men, we're going to review Mark chapters 1 through 13 to catch some of you guys up who weren't here with us last year, and then we're going to dig deep into the gospel of Mark in chapters 14, 15, and 16. By the time next April gets here, we will have done all of the gospel of Mark in both the books of Hebrews and Colossians. So we're going to cover a lot of ground, and we're going to go deep into God's Word.

Do you know why we're going to go deep? Because we do need to. Because the Bible is the source of all truth. It's the source of all wisdom, and God has left His Word with us. He's protected the Bible from all the naysayers and critics for the past 2,000 years, and He's left it here for us so that our faith might take root and that we might come to know Him personally.

Paul writes in Romans 10 18, consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. Tonight, I want us to focus on what I believe is the most important verse in the gospel of Mark. In fact, I think you could argue that it is the most important verse in the Bible because this verse summarizes the underlying theme of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

This is the underlying theme. What verse am I talking about? Mark chapter 10 verse 45. In this verse, Jesus says, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. And so from this one single verse, I'd like to explain to you men and everybody that's listening via live stream why Jesus came into our world.

And here's the first reason. Jesus came into our world not only to identify with us, but more importantly, to actually become one of us. Now I want you to notice that this verse begins with Jesus referring to Himself as the Son of Man. Did you know that the Son of Man was Jesus's favorite title for Himself?

It is used about 81 times in all four gospels, which underscores the fact that it's such an important verse in terms of us understanding who Jesus really is. Because most of the world does not have a clue who Jesus is. Now, Jesus could have referred to Himself as the Son of God, which He was. He was God's one and only Son. Jesus lived eternally, surrounded in heavenly glory with His Father. But He chose this title the Son of Man for two reasons. First, Jesus chose this title because it points to the fact that He came into our world to live among us as a real man with blood pumping through His veins just like you and me and to identify with us in our sufferings and also in our temptations.

And He did suffer. You see, Jesus did not come to be served but to serve. He was a humble man.

He did not live a lavish lifestyle. He was the son of a carpenter and He grew up in a very simple town, kind of like Bethel. It was called Nazareth. In fact, the Pharisees used to say, what good has ever come out of Nazareth? He taught His followers to die to self and to serve others and He led by example. He was truly a servant but He also suffered, perhaps more so than anyone who's ever lived. 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote that the coming Messiah, the Savior of the world, would be a suffering servant. And that's why the Jews failed to recognize Him because they were expecting a conquering king.

That's coming one day. Isaiah chapter 53 verse 3 says, He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering, like one from whom men hide their faces. He was despised and we esteemed Him not. You see, Jesus came into this world to suffer for both you and for me and because of this, men...

Listen, I want you to get this. He truly understands when we go through suffering because He suffered and He cares for us and He loves us so much. And secondly, the reason Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man was specifically to address His Jewish audience. When Jesus said, for even the Son of Man has not come, He was pointing His listeners back to Daniel, specifically to Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 and 14, a text that He knew they would be very familiar with because the religious leaders were steeped in the Word of God.

They pretty much had the Old Testament memorized. Daniel writes, In my vision at night I looked and there before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. All peoples, nations, and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. Do you want to be part of that kingdom?

You can be. You see, Jesus was saying to His Jewish audience, and by the way, men, He's saying the same thing to you and me right now. He was saying, I am the Son of Man, the Messiah, and one day you will all see Me coming on the clouds of glory with all power and authority and every man and woman who has ever been born will bow down before Me and declare that I am Lord and God.

Hopefully you've already done that. See, you can go ahead and kneel now or you'll be forced to kneel later. Paul writes in Philippians chapter 2 that Jesus made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Are you ready for this day?

I've got news for you, this day is coming. On the night that Jesus was arrested, remember reading about that in the Gospels? The high priest Caiaphas said to Him, all the Pharisees were gathered around, 70 men, and the high priest looked at Jesus and said, I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus had remained silent up to this moment.

Listen to what He said. Yes, it is as you say, but I say to all of you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven. And with those words, His fate was sealed as He was led off to be crucified and He knew those words would seal His fate. Listen, as you watch the news and you see our world literally falling apart before your eyes, you should understand that Jesus predicted that these very things would happen with increasing frequency and increasing intensity just prior to His return.

And He compared these signs to birth pains, wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, and yes, even pandemics. I personally believe that soon and perhaps very soon the whole world is going to witness the Son of Man returning on clouds of glory. In fact, Revelation chapter 1 verse 7 says, Look, He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him, every eye. So let me ask you, if Jesus was to return tonight, are you prepared to stand before Him and let Him tell you where you will spend eternity?

Now listen, here's a very important question that you really need to understand. Why was it so important for Jesus to become one of us? Well, the answer lies in the second reason He came and that is that Jesus came into our world to do what?

To die for us. Look at Mark 10 45 again, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. I want you to notice that this verse says that Jesus came into our world. He was sent by His heavenly Father. This points to His pre-existence. I read the other day that 70 percent of evangelicals believe that Jesus was created. He was not created because He's always existed. He is God in the flesh. In John chapter 8 verse 42, Jesus says, For I came from God and I am here. Notice the I am.

I am here. So why did Jesus become a man? Here's why. So that He could die in our place. He could die in your place and He could die in my place. You see the Bible explains it like this. We're all sinners. I'm a sinner and guess what? You're a sinner. Romans 3 23 says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. You see we don't measure up to God's perfect standard. All you have to do is take the 10 commandments and hold it up against your life and if you look carefully you'll see that you've broken every single one of them.

I have. The Bible says that there's no one righteous, not even one. There's no one who understands. No one who seeks God. All have turned away.

They have together become worthless. There's no one who does good, not even one. We're all sinners. The Bible also tells us that God is holy and righteous and just and listen He cannot nor will He allow sin to come into His presence. You see sin creates a gulf or a valley between us and God and Jesus is the only one who can bridge this gulf and so think of Jesus as the bridge that leads to God the Father and so if you ever want to see heaven you got to cross over the bridge.

Jesus is the bridge. The Bible also says that there's a penalty for our sin and that penalty is death. Romans 6 23 puts it like this, For the wages of sin is death. But here's the good news. That's what the word gospel means.

It means good news. Jesus died in our place. Jesus became our substitute.

He paid the price that you and I couldn't pay. Look at Mark 10 45 again. This is where I understand that the Greek is very important. Not that I'm a Greek scholar.

Grant is much more of a scholar than I am when it comes to Greek but I'm learning. It says, But even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life. Instead the word for it should be instead of.

The Greek word anti it means instead of. You see the importance of that. He was our substitute. He took our place and so the Bible teaches that God allows for his sacrifice to take our place but guess what? It's got to be a perfect sacrifice. That is what the sacrificial system in the Old Testament is all about and that's why those little one and two year old lambs had to be without what?

Without defect. And this is why Jesus became a man. To live a perfect life in order that he could be that perfect sacrifice and then he will be qualified to take our place and that's what he did. He came to this earth.

He lived a perfect life and then he became an acceptable sacrifice for his heavenly for his heavenly Father to satisfy his justice and his wrath. Romans 5 8 says, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this while we were still sinners Christ died for us. He literally died for you and me.

In fact I believe this. If Terry Michaels had been the only one who would have ever believed in Jesus, Jesus would have died for Terry. He would have died for Wes. He would have died for Jim, for Glenn, for Lee, for Wayne, everybody in here. If you'd been the only one he would have died for you.

Can you fathom that kind of love? I wouldn't have died for you. I would die for my family but I wouldn't y'all not part of my family.

Actually if you're in Christ you are but I'm getting off the subject. The Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom instead of many. This word ransom is a very important word. It refers to the price paid to set a slave free and so when Jesus died on the cross his shared blood became that payment to set us free.

It was the payment for our freedom. Some of you who are listening tonight are still enslaved by sin. Even Christians can still be enslaved.

Shouldn't be but it happens. You may be addicted to pornography or alcohol or perhaps some drug or something else and many of you guys are dealing with guilt and shame and condemnation and that's what Satan does to you. He just beats you up and God does not want you to live your life like that. He wants to set you free and guys I can tell you He set me free.

I've experienced freedom in Christ. When I look at my past there's no way I should be going to sleep at night with peace. I put my head on the pillow.

You can ask my wife. I'm out in about three minutes. She's over there struggling for about two hours and I sleep with peace and joy and I wake up excited about the next day and the only way I can explain that is it's a miracle from God that He has set me free and He's given me this peace and I want you to experience what I've experienced if you've never experienced it. You see all throughout the Bible you see Jesus setting people free from their sin and guilt and shame. The Bible says that Mary Magdalene was possessed by seven demons.

I wonder why. Something must have been really bad in her life but Jesus set her free and did you know that she was the first one He appeared to when He arose from the dead. What an honor. In John chapter 8 one of my favorite stories in the Bible we learn of a woman who was caught in the act of adultery who was brought by the hypocritical religious leaders and thrown down at the feet of Jesus and then these self-righteous Pharisees reminded Jesus that the law called for anyone who was caught in the act of adultery to be what? Stoned. Can y'all see Jesus right now? Restraining His anger as He looked up at them and He said, let He who is without sin cast the first stone.

You could have heard a pin drop. One by one beginning with the oldest they left until it was just Jesus and that woman. And I believe Jesus looked at that woman with the most loving eyes you've ever seen and He said, woman, where are they?

Probably had a smile on His face. Has no one condemned you? No one, sir, she said. Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin. Do you know why God wants us to leave our life of sin?

He said that we can actually have fun. You can't live in sin and have joy and He wants you to have joy and so Jesus came into this world to set the captives free. Do you need to be set free tonight? In Luke chapter 5 verses 31 and 32 Jesus said, it's not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I've not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

This is what I love. Sinners to repentance. This is what I love about Jesus more than anything else. He understands the many temptations that you and I are facing, men. In fact, He says, it's hard for me to believe, that He was tempted in the same way that you and I have been tempted.

Can you believe that? And yet He was without sin. And listen, I believe this, He even understands when we give in in sin.

He doesn't approve of it but He understands it and He does not stand there condemning us when we do sin. He loves us and that's why He died for us. John chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 declares, for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him, that means to trust in Him.

It's not mental assent, it's belief in your heart where you make all your decisions in life. Who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to what? Save the world through Him.

Do you want to be set free? All you have to do is repent and come to Jesus. You don't hear much about repentance anymore but you're going to hear it in this church because it's the most blessed thing that we can do. To repent simply means that you admit to God that you're a sinner and then you confess your sins to Him. Then what you do after you as you're repenting, you turn away from your sins. You have to say God I'm willing and I want to turn away from them and you turn to Jesus and according to John 1 12 you receive them into your heart and the way you receive Him is you say Lord I believe in you and I want to turn my life over to you. Do you know what God likes to see in a man more than anything else? A repentant heart. A broken and contrite heart. Have you ever been broken over your sin? I have. If you haven't been broken over your sin then I would say you haven't truly repented.

You want to see a picture of repentance? And so if you saw the movie Flight Denzel Washington's really great movie plays Captain Whitaker who's a horrible alcoholic. At the beginning of the movie the jet that he's piloting suffers mechanical failure at 30,000 feet and goes into a steep dive if you saw the movie.

There are 102 passengers on board. In spite of being drunk Whitaker somehow manages to roll the jet in flight inverted to slow its airspeed just before crashed into a field and miraculously unbelievably and only because of his incredible skill only six people died. Now immediately following the crash he is held as a hero but an investigation soon follows and questions begin to surface that paint him in a different light. At the end of the movie Captain Whitaker finds himself sitting before an FAA hearing and being investigated. Authorities are trying to determine if he drank too many bottles of alcohol that were discovered in the trash pit on the jet and all Captain Whitaker has to do is tell one more lie and he would get off scot-free. But like happens to so many of us he came to the end of himself and he could not tell another lie. So right there in that courtroom and much to the dismay of his lawyers he confesses that I was drunk on the days leading up to it to this doomed flight. I was even drunk on the morning of the accident. And then while choking with emotion he confesses before everyone at this hearing words that he had never been able to utter. I'm drunk now. I'm drunk right now because I'm an alcoholic. The last scene in the movie finds him in prison sharing his story about his pain and addiction as he sits before some other inmates.

It's one of the most beautiful pictures of repentance I've ever seen in my life. That was it he said. I was finished. I was done. It was as if I had reached my lifelong limit of lies. I could not tell one more lie and maybe I'm a sucker because if I told just one more lie I could have walked away from all that mess and kept my wings.

Kept my false sense of pride. And more importantly I could have avoided being locked up in here with all you nice fellas the last 15 months. But I'm here. And I'll be here for at least the next four or five years and that's fair. I've had a lot of time to think about it all of it.

I've been doing some writing. I wrote letters to each of the families that had lost loved ones. Some of them were able to hear my apology.

Some of them never will. I also apologized to all the people. They tried to help me along the way.

But I couldn't or wouldn't listen. People like my wife, you know, my ex-wife and my son. And my son. Again, like I said, you know, some of them will never forgive me. Some of them will but at least I'm sober. I thank God for that.

I'm grateful for that. And this is going to sound real stupid coming from a man who's locked up in prison. But for the first time in my life I'm free. In John chapter 8 verses 31 and 32 Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, that is if you listen to my word and believe it, then you will know the truth, men, and the truth will set you free. So as you go to bed tonight, I want you to go to bed with this verse and this one thought in your mind. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for you and for me.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son into this world. Lord, people need the Lord so much because everywhere we look, people pass us by and they're often hurting, alone, with no one to turn to.

And yet for those of us who know you, we have something greater than the cure for cancer. We have the greatest treasure in our hearts and that is the gift of eternal life, the gospel message. Lord, help us to be willing to share that with others. And we pray, Lord, that you would bring revival to our country again. We need revival, Heavenly Father. We pray that you would have mercy on our country, that you would forgive us for our sins. Lord, we turn to you. We beseech you as your children. Have mercy on us for we have sinned against you and against you only and we've done what is wrong in your sight and we need your forgiveness, Lord.

Lord Jesus, please have mercy on us. Lord, forgive us for the great sin of abortion and, Lord, the great sin of rebellion and idolatry. Lord, forgive me. Forgive me, Lord. Forgive us all. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. Being a Christian is not about being religious but about having a dynamic, alive relationship with Jesus Christ. You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Pastor Russ Andrews, a local triangle ministry glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living. You can discover more about finding your purpose in life by checking out the resources at findingpurpose.net or connect to Finding Purpose on Facebook. Pastor Russ would also like to extend a special invitation for you to join him and over 300 other local triangle men to study God's Word together every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in downtown Raleigh. Find out more at findingpurpose.net.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-03-10 18:25:55 / 2024-03-10 18:36:26 / 11

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