Regular readers of my blog will know that I published some posts last week on the events in Lakeland, Florida. Terry Virgo has now made available online a talk on the subject that he gave on the events at the recent Newfrontiers Prayer and Fasting leaders meeting. You can download it or listen to it here.

Here are notes from a sermon I preached on the 27^th April at Jubilee Church. The mp3 is available to download here or listen to using the following embedded player-

“You shall not murder.” (Ex 20:13)

Ok, right at the outset, do we have any murderers here? No? Anyone planning on committing a murder? No? Good, so then we can all go home, yes? We got it straight, since we live in a Christian country means its Chicken for dinner tonight rather than human. Lets go get some coffee.

Actually there is some more to this commandment than first meets the eye.

No careless killing ESV footnote "also causing human death through carelessness or negligence" so see for example Ex 21:28-29 “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.”

Deuteronomy 22:8: “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring blood-guilt on your house if anyone falls from it.”

Risk assessment is biblical! “[The Jew] was to do everything humanly possible not to cause the death of another person” -The Master's Seminary, Master's Seminary Journal Volume 11, 11:206 (Master's Seminary, 2000; 2003).

- Therefore, human life is precious we should take good care of it. Every human is made in Gods image and therefore worth looking after. It is the Christian faith that teaches us we are not just the outcome of millions of years of chance reactions. We don't kill because life itself is a gift of God. We should also support initiatives that reduce the risk of death or serious injury.

eg car and road safety - 1 in 200 risk of dying on the roads! So driving at no more than 30 mph in built up areas is a good idea due to the dramatic risk of death if hit faster. 95% live if hit at 20mph, 90% die at 40mph. Also wear seat belts, pay for proper maintenance, and buy the safest car you can afford.

-also health measures, smoking in public bans is good as it will lead to less premature death. Form of Russian Roulette – 50% will die prematurely loosing ave of 16 years of precious God-given life. In country after country smoking bans have led to dramatic drops in the rates of heart attacks – 17% in Scotland for example in one year. Christians should support the provision of good health care and also simple social changes that can make massive impact by saving lives. Especially in developing world eg lack of clean water.

However, although this commandment applies to careless killing, there were clear distinctions made in the punishment depending on the intent “(1) the weapon used, (2) the enmity of the killer toward his victim, and (3) premeditation” (Numbers 35. 16–24) -The Master's Seminary, Master's Seminary Journal Volume 11, 11:205 (Master's Seminary, 2000; 2003).

Similar rules are still used today.

What other things that might be called murder?

-We have seen that negligence such as careless fighting or driving, is surely potential murder by the broader hebraic definition. But what of some areas that may be less clear to some. Lets be very clear here -

-Euthanasia or so-called “mercy killing”- so far even the unbelievers cannot bring themselves to legalize this in the UK. How could we know someone really understood what they were asking for and weren't coerced or depressed? Bible simply says "no killing". This surely even applies to some of the grey areas being discussed such as removing food and drink via tubes from brain damaged.

-Assisting Suicide remains illegal, but what about neglecting to prevent it?. Psychiatric services should be used appropriately... sadly the quality of our services vary. But people have a right to be treated against their will when they pose a danger to themselves and are not in their right minds.

-Abortion? We all agree that life exists after birth. We believe it is wrong to murder a newborn baby. So surely life exists just before. When then does it start? There is no logic to our current term limits for abortion- loosely based on when a child might survive "independently" outside the womb. But when technology improves will that mean the date changes? And, since a baby is not truly "independent" are they less fully human?

Our question should simply be is this a human? Does he or she have the image of God? If so we must protect, not kill. John the Baptist leapt for joy in his mothers womb whom when he met Jesus (Luke 1:44) and Psalm 139 makes plain God saw us and knew us there as he knit us together.

-Contraception? Pre conception fine, anything that definitely acts post conception is clearly not. Some methods are controversial as to their mode of action (eg oral contraceptive pill, coil etc). Christians should examine the evidence for themselves, pray, seek advice if needed then make the decision their conscience is happy with.

-IVF? Christians undergoing this procedure may wish to speak with their doctors about the fate of so-called "spare" embryos. Although they are routinely discarded, this need not be the case.

-War? The police? Romans 13.1-4 "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.”

In the end this boils down to a simple question. If you were holding an armed gun, and had a chance to kill someone who was definitely about to kill another, would you be wrong to pull that trigger? The balance of the bible strongly suggests that you would not be wrong to do that.

So far, though, for the vast majority of us, none of this will have touched us. Perhaps there are some in the room who have had an abortion, if so, please bear with me as there is forgiveness for you as we will explain later.

But for the rest of us there is a danger that we will feel morally superior and proud of ourselves. So we haven't murdered... Big deal! If we think that makes us worthy of praise by God we are deluded!

Jesus punctures that bubble by saying “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5.21-24

Words can kill!

“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” 1 Jn 3:15

“It is not only the act, but also the sentiment underlying the act, which is evil” - Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Map on lining papers., 2044 (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1988).

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning” Jn 8:44

Actual murder is just the extension of anger and bitterness. Billy Grahams wife was once asked if she had ever considered divorce during their long marriage her answer- "divorce, NO! Murder, YES!"

If murder is sometimes the ultimate punishment for some imagined harm done by its victim, forgiveness is the opposite. Far from merely not murdering our enemies, God calls us to love them and forgive them.

We are told to forgive as we have been forgiven and warned that he will not forgive us if we do not forgive others.

Christians should be recognized as those who practice the reverse of murder. If murder is treating someone as sub-human and a less valuable object then the opposite is surely thinking of others as more important than you and selflessly loving them expecting nothing in return.

You can't murder someone you love. Jesus said love fulfills the law - love God covers the first few commandments, love your neighbor covers the rest.

God is the ultimate forgiver. We see this in the sad story of King David. We see the king who is described as the man after Gods own heart that the smallest sin can grow to become a major one. Most murders happen as a result of an argument between for example husband and wife. It is even possible that by causing us to stop and realize how dangerous anger is that this sermon might prevent a future murder.

Owen once said “be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

In Davids case, laziness led to a roaming eye. In our day he'd have visited certain websites or the top shelf at the news-agent. Then, he went on the roof to catch a glance at a woman bathing. That led to adultery. That led to deception and trickery. That led to murder.

Sin is sin. We stand before God bankrupt. When you are bankrupt it doesn't really matter if you owe a few thousands or a few million. You simply can never pay. An eternity in hell facing the wrath of God wont wipe away our sins.

The scandal of the cross is that on it, a man was murdered. Without removing the moral responsibility for that act, and the fact that we are all guilty of killing the son of God....ultimately there was something else going on.

The cross was a judicial killing. God the Almighty poured out his righteous wrath and punishment on his son. Jesus paid our debt. Not only did he cancel our debts, he credited our account with his righteousness. If you are a christian this morning he is as pleased with you not just as if you never sinned but just as if you were always righteous or put another way he is as thrilled with you as he is with Jesus!

Murderers are Invited to become Christians. Why? Because God can even forgive murderers, So he can forgive you.

My blogging buddy, Dave Bish, of The Bluefish Project yesterday hijacked my ipod recorder and turned the tables on me. He felt it was time somebody interviewed me. You can pop over to his site to listen.

It was a thrill to be able to interview Nathan Fellingham today as my final New Word Alive interview. You can download the audio here.

Nathan is married to Lou Fellingham, who will soon release her new solo album. They, together with Nathan's brother, Luke, and Mike Sanderman form the fantastic Christian band, Phatfish.



Phatfish have written a number of great Christian songs. These include There is a Day, Holy, and O God of Love. You can legally download music, lyrics, and MP3s from the Fellingham family at the Kingsway website.

UPDATE
The full text of this interview can be read at the following posts:

• Bishop Wallace Benn at New Word Alive
  
• Wallace Benn on Penal Substitutionary Atonement
  
• Wallace Benn on Handing Over to Hugh Palmer
  
  
  Here is another interview which you can download here. The name, Bishop Wallace Benn, has been synonymous with Word Alive for years. Although, with the formation of New Word Alive, he has taken the opportunity to hand over the reigns to Hugh Palmer, he is here this week and still very much in the background supporting this event.
  
  Bishop Benn kindly agreed to sit with me over lunch. He was passionate in his declaration of support for penal substitution, and is committed to continue working with those who also hold to that doctrine.
  

UPDATE
The full text of this interview can be read here.

One of the busiest men on site is Hugh Palmer, who is the host this week and the chair of New Word Alive. I was able to grab him for just a few minutes walking from one part of the site to another.

Hugh is the minister of All Souls Langham Place where John Stott was based. Hugh shares his vision for this conference, and speaks about what will happen next year. You can download the audio here.

I spent a few minutes this morning roaming around the exhibition center, speaking to some of the Christian organizations who are attending this event, asking them what they do. You can download the audio here and visit the following websites:

1. UCCF—THE CHRISTIAN UNIONS
   http://www.uccf.org.uk/
   
   
2. THE PROCLAMATION TRUST
   http://www.proctrust.org.uk/
   
   
3. WYCLIFFE BIBLE TRANSLATORS
   http://www.wycliffe.org/
   http://www.sil.org/
   
   
4. RADSTOCK MINISTRIES
   http://www.radstock.org/
   
   
5. OAK HILL COLLEGE
   http://www.oakhill.ac.uk/
   
   
6. 9:38
   http://www.ninethirtyeight.org/
   
   
7. CAREFORCE
   http://www.careforce.co.uk/
   
   
8. INTERNATIONAL NEPAL FELLOWSHIP
   http://www.inf.org/
   
   
9. PEOPLE INTERNATIONAL
   http://www.peopleintl.org/
   
   
10. CROSSLINKS
    http://www.crosslinks.org/
    
    
11. SERVING IN MISSION (SIM)
    http://www.sim.co.uk/
    
    
12. PRECEPT MINISTRIES UNITED KINGDOM
    http://www.precept.org.uk/
    
    
13. RELEASE INTERNATIONAL
    http://www.releaseinternational.org/
    
    
14. LOVEWISE
    http://www.lovewise.org.uk/
    
    
15. NEW WORD ALIVE
    http://www.newwordalive.org/
    
    
16. CHRISTIAN VOCATIONS
    http://www.christianvocations.org/
    
    
17. EURASIAN MISSIONARY COLLEGE
    http://www.eurasian-ministries.org/
    
    
18. FRIENDS INTERNATIONAL
    http://www.friends-international.org/
    
    
19. TEARFUND
    http://www.tearfund.org/
    
    
20. THE GOOD BOOK COMPANY
    http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/
    
    
21. KESWICK MINISTRIES
    http://www.keswickministries.org/
    
    
22. OM INTERNATIONAL
    http://www.om.org/
    
    
23. BARNABAS FUND
    http://www.barnabasfund.org/
    
    
24. AFFINITY
    http://www.affinity.org.uk/
    
    
25. GO TEACH
    http://www.goteach.org.uk/
    
    
26. MECO INTERNATIONAL (Middle East Christian Outreach)
    http://www.aboutmeco.org/
    
    
27. LONDON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
    http://www.ltslondon.org/
    
    
28. WALES EVANGELICAL SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY WEST
    http://www.west.org.uk/
    
    
29. OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship)
    http://www.omf.org/uk/
    
    
30. FESTIVE
    http://www.festive.org.uk/

Last night I went to the student celebration rather than the adult one. I found a small group of students afterwards and captured their response. You can download it here.

Here are some interviews I recorded with people around the site here in North Wales to gauge the response to John Piper's sermon on suffering. I end the clip with some of my own thoughts this morning after having slept on it overnight.

This MP3 is of two brief conversations I had with ordinary attenders of the event after the first meeting of the conference. We speak about the different streams of activity and their feelings about the conference so far. The best way to get the audio is to subscribe to my new podcast, or you can download it here.

I have just been listening to a message by my pastor, Tope Koleoso, who was recorded at a recent conference on building a multicultural church. I have become so used to what God has been doing these past couple of years at Jubilee that I sometimes need to remind myself that genuinely racially integrated churches are actually far from common. We truly have a lot to be grateful for. I really think you may well enjoy listening to Tope on this subject. The message can be downloaded or you can listen to it right here:



Other talks from the same conference are also available, as is a series of talks on 'gracism' preached at another multicultural church in South London.

Tope is a dynamic speaker, and most of the time does not focus on racial issues, preferring to simply get on with preaching the Bible to a church which happens to have different nationalities attending. If you want to hear more of him, you can visit the website of the church I attend where you will also find sermons by others, including myself. Tope has also preached at a number of other churches, and some of them have put his messages online:

• Tope Koleoso at City Hope Church, Bermondsey—"Celebrating Diversity: Move on From Integrating Multiculture to Love and Acceptance," 10th February 2008.
  
  
• Tope Koleoso at Christ Church, London—"Regaining Refreshing (Acts 3)," 15th April 2007.
  
  
• Tope Koleoso at Church of Christ the King, Brighton—"Godliness is Profitable For All Time" and "Pursuing the Wonderful God," December 2006.

In one of those God-incidences, just as I am exploring the Holy Spirit more deeply here on the blog, Newfrontiers USA have redesigned their website and made the audio of the Newfrontiers USA Church Leadership Conference available even before it has finished. There are also a number of older messages there which include a whole series on the Holy Spirit. This is a great site for you if you are intrigued and want to find out more about the Holy Spirit and/or leadership in Reformed Charismatic churches.

Other helpful websites from Newfrontiers include Terry Virgo's other messages, and the Brighton Conference Audio, all of which give you ample opportunities to listen online or download some talks and burn a few CDs. Technology is a wonderful thing.

No. 15 on the list of most-read posts on this blog appeared on August 22, 2007, and announced a major gift from Sovereign Grace Ministries to the global Church. Their vast collection of audio messages are now available online for free. If you have not already taken time to explore this treasure trove, shame on you! In order to encourage you to check out this fantastic collection, the post is reprinted here in its entirety:

Carolyn McCulley just alerted us to the fact that the entire collection of Sovereign Grace Ministries mp3 messages have been made completely free to download. Carolyn was too modest to mention that her own talks are included, as well as a number of other ladies. Get browsing, and if you have an iPod, you might need to consider getting a bigger one! This is a phenomenal resource, as you can see by the following list of speakers with messages available:

Randy Alcorn, Mark Altrogge, Christine Bass, Ken Boer, Robin Boisvert, Gary Bowers, Mike Bradshaw, Mike Bullmore, John Butler, Craig Cabaniss, Solomon Campbell, Kristin Chesemore, Nancy Chouinard, Mickey Connolly, Steve Cook, Vikki Cook, Brent Detwiler, Jenny Detwiler, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, Bob Donohue, Jim Donohue, Andy Farmer, Rick Gamache, Pete Greasley, Wayne Grudem, Joshua Harris, Dave Harvey, Kimm Harvey, Eric Hughes, Danny Jones, Bob Kauflin, Bill Kittrell Grant Layman, John Loftness, Marty Machowski, Carolyn Mahaney, C. J. Mahaney, Janelle Mahaney-Bradshaw, John MacArthur, Kenneth Maresco, Carolyn McCulley, Mark Mitchell, Albert Mohler, Mark Mullery, Aron Osborne, Jon Payne, John Piper, David Powlison, Mark Prater, Jeff Purswell, Michael Ramsden, Charlotte Richardson, Trey Richardson, Ken Sande, Phil Sasser, Pat Sczebel, Janis Shank, Steve Shank, Chris Silard, Eric Simmons, R. C. Sproul, Carl Taylor, Justin Taylor, Stuart Townend, Eric Turbedsky, Todd Twining, Terry Virgo, Bruce Ware, Darryl Wenger, Nicole Whitacre, Dave Wilcox

UPDATE The Audio of this talk is now available to download.

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Tonight's event took place in an ex-cinema, so I felt at home! It is the home of Destiny Church, Edinburgh. Destiny is a family of churches across Scotland, and they have some churches elsewhere in the world as well. The audience that gathered was a young one, and following an energetic time of worship, Mark Driscoll came to the platform to share with us. Here is a short video clip from the message. Following this, I will share my notes with you.

Mark spoke about the person of Jesus and his work on the cross. He said that he believed that it was important for preachers of the gospel from time to time to sit and hear the gospel.

He began in 1 Corinthians 2 — “... I resolved to know nothing when I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified ....” The only thing that must be preached is Jesus and him crucified. Apart from Jesus and his death, we have nothing to offer anyone.

It takes three generations to lose the gospel. One generation believes, the next assumes too much, and the third forgets it or denies it. We cannot assume anything. If we say Jesus, Bible, God, cross, sin—we must not assume that anyone has any idea what we are talking about!

Martin Luther said that in our preaching of the cross, we should “ ... beat it into their heads continually!”

Many traditions love one side of the jewel of Jesus' death. Mark believes we must appreciate eleven sides of the cross. We must also think of it in the context of Jesus' whole life—his incarnation, holy life, death, resurrection, and ascension. We need to emotionally encounter the significance of the crucifixion and all that it has accomplished for us. The Jews couldn't understand how God himself could be cursed by hanging on a tree.

It is perhaps the most amazing thing that has ever happened—that the cross should become the most popular symbol in human history. To call the day Jesus died “Good Friday” is also astonishing. We must understand the theological aspects of the cross.

ELEVEN ASPECTS OF THE ATONEMENT

1. The Central Theme—Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA)
   
   We cannot assume anything. A war is brewing over this issue. This is the issue we must be willing to fight over. If we lose this, we lose the gospel. Mark said that if you deny this, you have essentially lost the Christian faith. Isaiah 53:5 — “ ... FOR our transgressions.” Romans 5:8 — “Christ died FOR us.” 1 Corinthians 15:3 — “Christ died FOR our sins.” Sin results in death. In the Garden of Eden, our first parents sinned in our place. They substituted themselves for God—they made their own rules and lived as though they were God.
   
   As we substituted ourselves for God, God substituted himself for us to fix this. Sin is only atoned for in substitution — e.g. in the sacrifices of atonement.
   
   What does this mean practically? I MURDERED GOD! He died for MY sin! He paid MY penalty of death. As MY substitute he endured what I deserve in order to give me what I don't deserve. If you lose substitution, you lose all sense of gratitude.
   
   
2. Jesus is Our Victor
   
   Jesus conquered Satan and demons. We don't like demons, so this is a good thing! Colossians 2:13-15 — “ ... disarmed the rulers and authorities ...” It looks as if Jesus is defeated on the cross. Isaiah 45:15 — “God hides.” He hid victory in defeat because God is humble. Those who are proud (like Satan) don't see it! We aligned ourselves with Satan. Being "spiritual" is not good if it's not the Holy Spirit. Satan is real. There is a real war. Revelation 12:10 — Demons accuse people: “You are a loser; you are not a real Christian ...” The devil condemns people and haunts them with past sin. He loves death and wants to kill. Jesus cancelled the rights that Satan and demons have towards the children of God. He has been defeated and disarmed. There is victory over Satan and demons for the people of God.
   
   
3. Jesus is Our Redemption
   
   Don't teach this from the pagan slave market. Rather, speak about God redeeming his people from the slavery of Pharaoh—in slavery to sin. We can't stop. We are not free. We can't escape. But just like the people of Israel, we have been set free to worship God! We are liberated to live new lives. To have joy. To worship God together as his people.
   
   
4. Jesus is the New Covenant Sacrifice
   
   1 Peter —“... precious blood of Christ like that of a lamb.” Blood disgusts us. We must identify the horror of blood and death as sin. God is as disgusted with sin as we are with blood. God is horrified by sin. We should be as horrified by sin as we are by blood. God was the first person to shed blood in the Bible—to cover the sin of Adam. The Bible is a bloody book. The first thing Noah did after the flood was to sacrifice. Noah was not "a good guy." Noah found GRACE. He found unmerited grace, and then he became righteous. After the flood, it was as though Noah said, “God should have killed me, too”—that was why he had to offer a sacrifice. “I deserved to die.” He, of course, promptly went on to demonstrate why— by getting naked and drunk.
   
   Hebrews is clear on this. We don't need a temple or a priest or a lamb because we have Jesus. His blood was shed for our sins. When sinned against we often say, “I want blood!” Well, you already have it. The gospel is the good news that we should have died, but instead we are loved. So we must show love to others!
   
   
5. Jesus is Our Justification
   
   No one will be justified by works of the law. God would not be good if he let everyone into heaven. If he did that, when we got there it would be like earth, full of hatred and sin and evil. God's heart is gracious mercy and forgiveness. But because of his justice, he has to deal with our sin. God's standard is perfection. No one can say they are perfect. Lust counts as adultery and anger counts as murder. People want righteousness, which is why hard firm religions attract people. When you go to the bathroom, that's about how impressed I am with your righteousness. Our righteousness is described by the Bible as human excrement and menstrual rags. God hates religion. He despises it. You must call sinners to repentance, and also call "righteous" people to repent of their religious righteousness. Righteousness is GIFT righteousness. It is the righteousness of God. “Jesus was the most despised thing in all creation on the cross” (Luther). Righteousness only comes from faith in Christ. When we stand before God it will be imputed righteousness—that is what will appear on our resume. I trust Jesus.
   
   It doesn't end with imputed righteousness. He gives us a new heart and a new nature. This gives us a desire to do right things. He gives us new power through the Holy Spirit to live life. He gives us a fulfilling life. We are regenerated. We change.
   
   
6. Jesus is Our Propitiation
   
   Four times in the Greek New Testament. 1 John 4:10 — This is love—not that we have loved God. It's not because you are a good person that God loves you. You don't obey so God will love you; you obey because God already does love you!
   
   Propitiation is how God demonstrates his love. God hates sinners. You have been told that God loves sinners, but hates sin. No, Gandhi said that! God often says he hates people. We are by nature sinners. “I hate the essence sum and total of what you are, but I really love you.” We have a sinful nature and commit sins. “God hates all who do evil.” God hates a lot of people. God's wrath is mentioned more than 600 times in the Bible. More verses talk about the wrath of God than those which state that he loves us. The gospel starts with “God hates you and it's going to go really really bad forever and ever!” Jesus suffered the wrath of God, and it is thereby taken away from sinners who are in Jesus. The question is not, "How can a loving God send anyone to hell?" The real question is, "Why does a holy God take anyone to heaven?" The passover demonstrates the wrath of God passing over the ones covered by the blood of Jesus. Jesus is our passover Lamb.
   
   
7. Jesus is Our Expiation
   
   This is different from propitiation. Propitiation takes away our wrath. Expiation deals with our defilement. This is often overlooked. Sins have also been committed against us. In 1 John it says that Jesus' blood purifies us from all unrighteousness. Expiation deals with the feeling of being dirty, a feeling that is experienced by both sinners and those sinned against. “Dirty people do dirty things.” Our identity is sometimes about what people have done against us rather than what Jesus has done for us. Feeling defiled, feeling dirty, is a huge issue. The scapegoat was set free. Sin was laid on Jesus and it was taken away. The blood of Jesus CLEANSES us. We are clean. We are clothed in white by Jesus. We should see ourselves and others that way. We can be clean. We don't need to manage, shift blame, or excuse sin; rather we need to face it and deal with it.
   
   
8. Jesus is Our Ransom
   
   There is only one mediator. Music, Bible translations, etc. don't mediate. If the music changes, we can still worship God. We owe a debt to God. Every sin or omission is a debt. We have a mountain of debt. We cannot possibly pay it to God. Doing good for awhile doesn't reduce our debt, it just doesn't increase the amount of our debt! A mediator pays the debt on our behalf.
   
   
9. Jesus is Our Example
   
   1 Peter 2:21 and Philippians 2 — “Christus exemplar.” Jesus has always been God. He came into human history as man. How did Jesus live his life? It wasn't a fake—like Superman and Clark Kent— i.e. God can't be tempted. Jesus DOES sympathize with our weaknesses because he was tempted. Jesus did not cease to be God. He set aside the use of his divine attributes. God knows everything, but Jesus had to learn. How did he do it? It was by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit filled Jesus. He was the Anointed One. All was done by the power of the Spirit. We can now also live Spirit-filled lives. Being spirit-filled means living the life of Jesus. We do what Jesus did. The Spirit led Jesus into temptation, into suffering. We suffer too (Philippians 1). We will be led into difficult times. We are perfected by our suffering, when we suffer like Jesus did, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Don't waste your pain or your suffering. Use it for a witness, use it for the gospel. Christians are like nails—the harder you hit us, the deeper we go.
   
   
10. Jesus is Our Reconciliation
    
    Sin separates us from God and each other. The cross brings us together. “... be kind ... forgiving one another as God forgave you ...” We are sinned against and either become bitter or become like Jesus. That is the choice we have. We often have two standards. When we sin, we want mercy; when others sin, we want hell. Bitterness is often caused by the person we love the most sinning in a little way against us. There are only two problems in a marriage—the man and the woman. We can either learn to forgive or let sin destroy our relationships. We can only be true community and reconciled in the cross. We need the Prince of Peace to know true peace.
    
    
11. Jesus is Our Revelation
    
    Who is God? Where do we begin? Start at the cross. Jesus reveals God to us. The centerpiece of Jesus' life is the cross. Look at the cross to see what God is like. Love and justice. Holiness and mercy. No other religion has a concept of God like that. Our God is not a god who asks for blood; instead, he offers his own. You can talk about the attributes of God all day; it is only in the cross that it all makes sense. The revelation of God comes together at the cross.

Mark closed with a few comments on 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 — the gospel must be reiterated to us, and we must remind our people of it. We must not assume it. If we do, they will deny it. It must be continually proclaimed and declared—not offered as a helpful suggestion! Jesus must be magnified. It must be RECEIVED. It is personal. We must be changed by it. We must go on believing it. It is central in every way. You can't teach marriage, parenting, work, or for that matter, anything, without the cross. It precedes everything else. The gospel gets passed on. Paul received it and passed it on. If anyone changes it, they are a demon. They are sent from Satan and they are going to hell. We don't change what we received!

It's all about Jesus!

• It is penal—Christ died.
  
• FOR our sins—it is substitutional.
  
• It is eschatological—Jesus didn't remain dead, but was raised. Forever is a really long time!

UPDATE
This sermon clip is making a stir in the blogosphere for all the right reasons—a great example of the typical reaction comes from Josh Harris.

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The influence of C. J. Mahaney on Mark Driscoll is becoming ever more plain. In this clip Mark 'steals' an outline of practical advice on how to be humble from the man who he calls his dear friend. He also confesses to not having always demonstrated these traits himself. Interestingly he urges us to ask others about the appropriateness of our tone. (HT Justin)

In the beginning of the full sermon he extends this confession and repentance for his own pride.

So he begins the sermon by stating he is not qualified to preach on the subject, and that he felt his lack of humility had been a major failure of his time at Mars Hill. This is an amazing way to start a sermon!

He speaks of a time in his life last December when a season of great opposition led to a phone call from C. J. to encourage him to see it as an opportunity to exercise and grow in humility. I found the whole message very convicting.






The whole sermon is available in video and audio download or to listen here:


For more information, see Mahaney on Humility. You can also influence what Mark will preach on in January by voting on his "Ask Anything" page. You have ten votes per day. Use them wisely.