S1: From being spiritually dead to being made alive in Christ.
S1: That's the topic today on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe.
S2: You want to see God's beautiful museum? Look at a
S2: life that was dead and now is alive unto God
S2: and being transformed. That is God's living artwork. You are it.
S2: Oh man. The art museum downtown. Nothing. Nothing compared to
S2: the beauty of what God can do.
S1: Well, is it religion that changes you and makes you
S1: a better person, or is it something or someone else?
S1: Welcome to the program. Mark is the senior pastor of
S1: New Life Community Church and the president of Moody Bible
S1: Institute in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today's message is one
S1: part of our brand new series called When You Believe
S1: Everything Changes. If you've missed any of the messages in
S1: this series. You can catch up online at Bold steps org.
S1: And then, while you're online, let me invite you to
S1: sign up for Mark's weekly email devotional, The Bold Stepper Weekly.
S1: It's free and automatically delivered to your inbox each Monday morning,
S1: and I know you won't want to miss Mark's timely
S1: and relevant insights. Right now, let's get started with today's
S1: bold steps. Here's our teacher, Mark Jobe.
S2: When you genuinely have the spirit. I don't I don't
S2: worry because I know you're going to be convicted and
S2: empowered and dragged back and taken to the cross and
S2: that God is going to work in you, because once
S2: you have the spirit, you are sealed unto the day
S2: of redemption. You can fight it, but you can't win.
S2: You can resist it, but he'll keep coming back. You
S2: can grieve him, but you cannot overcome him. You can
S2: try to live like you don't have it, but you
S2: have it, and you will never be the same once
S2: you have the Holy Spirit inside of you. Because he's
S2: there to stay, there to change you there, to transform
S2: you there. Sealed unto the day of redemption. It's a
S2: powerful thing to be alive unto God. He says, so
S2: you were dead, but you have been made alive with Christ.
S2: Verse six, And God raised us up with Christ. So
S2: not only were you made alive, but you were raised up.
S2: Jesus was made alive in the grave, but he raised
S2: up and walked again, were made alive spiritually. But now
S2: we're raised up with Christ. We we begin to walk
S2: with Christ, live with Christ. He begins to live inside
S2: of us. Listen. And by the way, you know, people say, well,
S2: Jesus is in me. And technically you're right. I mean,
S2: technically you're wrong, but literally you're right. Because really, who
S2: lives inside of you is the Holy Spirit that carries
S2: with him the essence and the presence of Jesus. Are
S2: you understanding? Technically, who lives inside of you? Really is
S2: the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, which
S2: has the nature of Jesus and the nature of God
S2: right inside. But technically, it's the Holy Spirit that lives
S2: inside of you that's transforming you. The difference between religion
S2: and the message of the gospel is right there. Religion.
S2: Most religions teach you that you have to try to
S2: change your modify your behavior so that you become a
S2: good person. You become a better person than you are
S2: a bad person. It's religious behavior modification. Most religions teach you.
S2: Try to be good. Try to be better. Try to improve.
S2: Try to be nicer to people. Try to cuss less.
S2: Try to give more. Try to be less selfish. And
S2: if you do all these things and you really discipline
S2: yourself to do these things, then ultimately if you look really, really, really,
S2: really hard, then you will be acceptable to God and
S2: you will have made it. That's what religion teaches. The
S2: gospel of Jesus Christ and the Bible does not teach that.
S2: Some of you aren't sure. Well, what are you saying, pastor?
S2: I got to be bad. I mean, I don't understand,
S2: I thought I thought I was here to be good,
S2: and now you're teaching me that God doesn't teach us
S2: to be good. No, no, no, I didn't say that.
S2: I didn't say that. God doesn't teach you to be good.
S2: Religion teaches you to be good so you can be
S2: acceptable to God. The Bible teaches that once the Holy
S2: Spirit is inside of you, you will be good, not
S2: because you're trying to be acceptable unto God, but because
S2: God is in you. You will be good because you're
S2: acceptable to God already. You're working out of the goodness
S2: that is in you, not working towards goodness to be accepted.
S2: Are you understanding that there's a huge difference? That's why
S2: he goes on to say, listen, listen what he says.
S2: Why does he do this? In order that the coming
S2: age is verse seven, he may show the incomparable richness
S2: of his grace, expressing the kindness of Jesus. This is
S2: all so that we can see the goodness of God,
S2: so that people can point to you and say, God
S2: is good. Look at that person, man. If God can
S2: do that in their life, God must be real man.
S2: They were a mess. God delights. I think sometimes in
S2: getting the messed up. You don't always take the just
S2: the good. I think God says, I'm going to. I'm
S2: going to show you what I can do with that person.
S2: See that person? Everybody says, oh no. Oh, then we'll
S2: never see them. God says watch. God gets those people
S2: that are really hard. Turns them around. And people say, wow,
S2: I've had it happen a lot. People walk in and say,
S2: guess that person's in church. I know that person. They
S2: come to church. Well, you knew them. You knew the
S2: old self well, they're a new self now. I remember
S2: one time I had led this guy to Christ. He'd
S2: come out of prison. I'd mentored him. He used to.
S2: He used to lead a prostitution ring and and a gang.
S2: And he was an usher. A guy walked into church
S2: for the first time. He looked at the usher and
S2: he came to me and said, pastor. I said, yeah.
S2: He said, I'm new here. You know that guy that
S2: you have an usher there? I said, yeah, yeah, I
S2: know last time I saw him, he had a sawed
S2: off shotgun pointed at my head. I said, well, you
S2: better take a seat then. You know God can change us.
S2: He delights in transforming us. No matter who we are,
S2: where we've come from, we are not beyond the transforming
S2: power of God. It's for the riches of his kindness
S2: that he manifests his glory. And verse eight, look what
S2: he says. Oh, I wish I could preach this. Listen,
S2: verse eight, for it is by grace. What is grace?
S2: Not your neighbor next door? No, not what you say
S2: before you have a meal. No, grace is the unmerited,
S2: undeserved favor of God. We don't deserve it. We can't
S2: earn it. We can't make it happen to us. It's
S2: just God choosing to be favorable to us because he
S2: chooses to give us favor. That's grace. So listen. It
S2: is because God chooses to show us favor that you
S2: have been saved. What does it mean to be saved?
S2: Saved from the wrath of God. It means to be
S2: changed by the Holy Spirit. Saved from a destiny outside
S2: of him. It is because of God's favor that you
S2: have been saved. And it's through faith. It's God's grace
S2: that saves you. But it comes via believing. You have
S2: to believe for it to come to you. It's through
S2: faith in believing that it comes to you. But it's
S2: God's grace. Listen. And this. Not from yourselves. It is
S2: a gift of God. I love that. If you could
S2: save yourself, it wouldn't be a gift. It would be
S2: a merit. And when you came before God, we'd pin
S2: a medal on your chest and said you made it.
S2: They didn't because you were good and they were bad.
S2: And you would say, praise me. Glory to me. I
S2: made it. When it's a gift, all you can say
S2: is glory to God.
S1: You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. We're pausing
S1: the program for a moment to remind you that if
S1: you would like to take advantage of the tools and
S1: resources we have available to help you grow in your
S1: study of the word, we'd love for you to go
S1: online to our website and explore its bold steps. You'll
S1: find books and past programs, even ask Mark a question,
S1: which I'm going to do right now through a listener. Mark,
S1: if you're ready for this.
S3: I'm ready.
S1: It comes from Karen in South Florida who listens. Pastor Mark,
S1: you were speaking about heaven and hell in your afterlife series,
S1: and you mentioned there was no such thing as soul sleep,
S1: as some people believe. I always believed in soul sleep,
S1: as the Bible said, those who died in Christ will
S1: be raised first, as it says in Thessalonians. Why would
S1: Paul say that the dead in Christ will rise first
S1: when the trumpet blows? If that's not the case, I'm
S1: sure Paul knew exactly what he was saying. So please
S1: clarify your position that you spoke about refuting soul sleep.
S1: Thank you. She says.
S3: Yeah, thank you, Karen, for asking that question. And it's
S3: a common area of confusion. So let me try to
S3: just explain as quickly as I can. So first of all,
S3: let me say that the term soul sleep or soul
S3: death does not occur in the Bible. People holding to
S3: the position of soul sleep or soul death are called mortalist.
S3: The confusion arises around the term that's used in several
S3: parts of the Bible, where death is referred to as sleeping. Uh,
S3: for example, in First Corinthians chapter 15, it says. Then
S3: he appears to more than 500 brothers at one time,
S3: most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen
S3: asleep or in First Corinthians 1129 it says, for those
S3: who eat or drink without discerning the body of Christ,
S3: eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why some
S3: among you are weak and sick, and a number of
S3: them have fallen asleep. In First Thessalonians, for we believe
S3: that Jesus died and rose again. And so we believe
S3: that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen
S3: asleep with him. So people read that and they think, okay, well,
S3: when I die, I go into some sort of unconscious
S3: slumber called soul sleep. However, there are other places in
S3: Scripture that make it very clear that the moment that
S3: we die, we go to the presence of Jesus.
S1: Praise God!
S3: So the term sleep is not referring to what actually happens.
S3: Our soul doesn't fall asleep. It's a way of referring
S3: to death for the believer. Death is just that we're
S3: going to wake up again. Oftentimes in Scripture, instead of
S3: saying death for the believer. It talks about the believer
S3: sleeping because we will wake up again. It's not permanent,
S3: but second Corinthians chapter five. Listen to this. Karen. This
S3: is really good. It tells us that Paul is writing
S3: and it says, therefore, being always of good courage and
S3: knowing that while we are at home in the body,
S3: we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith,
S3: not by sight. We are of good courage, I say,
S3: and prefer rather to be absent from the body and
S3: to be with the Lord. King James says, absent from
S3: the body, present with the Lord. Philippians chapter one, verse
S3: 21 and 22 also says, having the desire to depart
S3: and to be with Christ, for that is much better
S3: than to remain in the flesh. Jesus, when he died
S3: on the cross, said, you will be in Paradise with
S3: me today.
S1: So good one.
S3: Karen. To make a long answer shorter, simply this for
S3: a believer that knows Jesus. When we die, you don't
S3: go into this long slumber. You go directly into the
S3: presence of Jesus.
S1: And isn't it great that we have God's promise? Huh?
S3: Yes. I'm not looking forward to some big long nap
S3: of years. I'm looking forward to go straight into the
S3: presence of Jesus.
S1: I'm with you, Mark, I really am. Okay, let's continue
S1: today's message now. Thank you for that answer, Mark. Mark
S1: is going to tell us now about the biggest lies
S1: about religion.
S2: Glory to his goodness. Glory to his mercy. Because if
S2: I had to try to do it on my own,
S2: I would have failed. Listen, the Bible says all our
S2: good works are as dirty rags before him. Listen, I
S2: believe that sometimes religion has done more damage than good.
S2: Because one of the biggest lies of religion is this.
S2: Hear me. This is really, really important. One of the
S2: biggest lies of religion is this one of the biggest
S2: lies that many religion teaches us is that our good
S2: works will make us right before God. God says it
S2: is by grace that you are saved, not by works,
S2: so that you can't boast. Listen to me well. You
S2: do not become right with God because of your works.
S2: You do works because you're right with God. Let me
S2: say that again. You do not get right with God
S2: because of good works. You do good works because you
S2: are right with God. You get right with God by
S2: simply responding to the gift that he's given you. Not
S2: by working so hard that the scale of the good
S2: works outweighs the scale of the bad works. You will
S2: never be good enough for God. Never. You can never
S2: be holy enough for him. His standard is perfection, and
S2: you and I miserably fail his standard. If there were
S2: a way to get to God through our works, Jesus
S2: would have never come. If there were a way for
S2: us to meet the standard of perfection and earn our
S2: way into glory, Jesus would have never died. Jesus came
S2: and died because there was no other way. Someone had
S2: to pay the price because you and I could not
S2: be good enough. And to try to earn our way
S2: to God through good works is to insult the death
S2: of Jesus Christ on the cross. It's to spit in
S2: the face of God and say, I think I can
S2: pay this price. I think I can pay the debt.
S2: You can't pay the debt. I can't pay the debt.
S2: It was paid for us on the cross of Calvary
S2: through the blood of Jesus Christ. All I can do
S2: is receive it. You say, well, pastor, that seems too easy. Oh, no,
S2: it's not easy. It's free. But it's not cheap. Oh
S2: it's free. God's salvation is a gift. It says it's
S2: not by works so that no one can boast. It's free.
S2: What God requires in exchange for your life. God says
S2: you want it. Give me your life and I'll give
S2: it to you. You want the gift? Then give me
S2: your life. So I'll be Lord of your life. That's
S2: what it means to be Lord, master of your life.
S2: And I will come into your life, and I will
S2: rule your life and run your life, and you will
S2: die to yourself. And you will live unto me, and
S2: I will make you a new person. But the old
S2: person is gone. We had a baptism in our 1015 service.
S2: The old person gone buried new person alive in Jesus.
S2: You can't earn it and you can't deserve it. But
S2: it's not cheap. Oh, never, never, never mistake the freeness
S2: of the gospel for cheapness of the gospel. Never mistake
S2: the two. Some people think it's too easy. It's. I
S2: can pray a prayer. No, no, no, it's not just
S2: a prayer. It's a yielding of your life. It's a
S2: giving of your soul. It's a giving up of ownership
S2: and control and saying, you now manage my life. You
S2: are Lord, come inside of me. Be Lord, change me.
S2: I am your follower. You are my Lord. I die
S2: to myself and I live to you. That, my friends,
S2: is the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
S2: So let me close with this verse ten. The last
S2: verse here. For we are God's workmanship. Now this word
S2: workmanship is an interesting word. It's translated in the ancient
S2: Greek poema, poema which where is. It's where we get
S2: the word poem from. We are God's. Handiwork. We are
S2: God's poem. We are God's. Hey, here's a better one.
S2: We are God's work of art. We, you and I.
S2: We are God's work of art. You want to see
S2: God as it's at its best. Look at a life
S2: that has been changed and redeemed and turned around and
S2: you see the art of God. You want to see
S2: God's beautiful museum? Look at a life that was dead
S2: and now is alive unto God. And being transformed, that
S2: is God's living artwork. You are it. Oh, I look
S2: around this place and it makes me want to bless
S2: the name of God. I look around this place and
S2: I say, God, you are so creative. I look around
S2: this place and I say, whoa, are you powerful? God.
S2: I look around this place and I say, God, you
S2: are amazing. What? What makes me think he's so amazing?
S2: Because I've seen God at work. I've seen what we
S2: were and what we are now. I've seen what God
S2: can do in living people. I've seen the artwork of God.
S2: And it's beautiful. It's amazing. Zien. Oh, man. The art
S2: museum downtown. Nothing. Picasso. Yeah. Nothing compared to the beauty
S2: of what God can do. We are God's artwork. Created
S2: in Christ Jesus. He's taken Jesus to mold and shape
S2: his artwork. And why has he created us? This is
S2: a living walking artwork, and he's created us to do
S2: good works. He just told us before that we can't
S2: earn salvation by good works, but now he's telling us
S2: that he's created us to do good works. Why? Because
S2: he's in us. He lives in us. He's created us.
S2: He's engineered us, designed us to do good. That's part
S2: of how he has engineered and created us via his
S2: Holy Spirit. Listen. Created in Christ Jesus to do good
S2: works which God prepared in advance for us to do.
S2: God has already laid out a plan prepared in advance
S2: the good works that you are to do. He's got
S2: a purpose. I say this all the time. God has
S2: a purpose and a plan for your life, and it's
S2: a good purpose and it's a good plan. You say, well,
S2: I don't know where I'm going. Oh, you don't know,
S2: but God does. Well, I don't know what I'm doing. Hey,
S2: God does though. He's working all things together for his purpose.
S2: God works everything together for the good of those that
S2: love him. Oh, I don't know. My life seems like
S2: a mess. That's right. Love God. Stay focused. God is
S2: putting the pieces together to turn it out to something good.
S2: That's how God works for his good pleasure.
S3: Yeah. So there. You heard it. Working it out for
S3: his good pleasure. Some of you are making a decision
S3: to follow Christ because you've never surrendered. So you're not
S3: aware that God has a plan to put your life together.
S3: I'd like to pray with you. If you've never surrendered
S3: your life to Christ, because I believe that God is
S3: speaking to some people right now. So wherever you're at,
S3: would you just bow with me for a moment? If
S3: you are ready to surrender and pray this prayer. Dear God,
S3: my life's a mess. I don't see a way forward.
S3: But I bring my mess to you. I believe that
S3: you can save me, change me, heal me, restore me.
S3: And so I surrender this mess to you. I ask
S3: that you would wash me. Cleanse me. I turn away
S3: from the way that I've been living. And I turn
S3: to you. And I choose to follow you today with
S3: the limited understanding that I have. But I surrender myself
S3: to you. Thank you, Jesus, that you died on a cross.
S3: Thank you that you can wash me and cleanse me
S3: and make me a new person. I pray this in
S3: Jesus name. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, I would
S3: love to direct you to our website. Bold steps and
S3: click on the link called My Next Step. You have
S3: further explanation about what it means to be a follower
S3: of Jesus, and we'd love to send you a booklet
S3: that helps get you started in your walk with God.
S3: And remember, find a church to plug into that's preaching
S3: the word.
S1: All right, thank you Mark. Again, go to the website
S1: and use the Pull down Connect tab. When you click
S1: my next step in Faith there you'll find a video
S1: that Mark put together that will help you grow in
S1: your faith. And when you sign up to learn more,
S1: We'll also send you a personal letter from Mark and
S1: a New Testament Bible and the latest edition of our newsletter,
S1: today in the Word. Once again, you'll find this and
S1: so much more at Bold Steps on our home page.
S1: You can also check out our brand new Bold Step gift,
S1: a book we really want to send to every parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle,
S1: or mentor of young boys. So let me ask you,
S1: do the boys in your life believe they're too young
S1: to make a difference? Are they convinced that reading the
S1: Bible isn't for them? These are just two of the
S1: dangerous lies tackled in lies. Boys believe the book is
S1: written by parents of four boys. This engaging resource helps
S1: young men separate truth from fiction in a way that
S1: captures their imagination and speaks to their hearts through engaging
S1: story of adventure and discovery. This bold step gift equips
S1: boys to recognize lies and stand firm in God's truth.
S1: So reach out today and request a copy of Lies
S1: Boys believe when you give a gift of any amount
S1: to support bold steps, just call 800 D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639.
S1: Or give online at bird-stamps.org or through the mail by
S1: writing to us at bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago,
S1: Illinois 606 ten. Well, thanks for joining us today. If
S1: you enjoy the teaching of pastor Mark, you'll love his
S1: weekly devotional, The Bold Stepper Weekly. It's a free resource
S1: designed to kick start your week in God's Word with
S1: biblical truth, to help guide your life and deepen your faith.
S1: Sign up for The Bold Stepper weekly at Bold Steps. Well, tomorrow,
S1: Mark explains how we can tear down the walls we've
S1: built and start living a life that's more pleasing to
S1: the Lord. The message comes from our series called When
S1: You Believe Everything Changes. You'll hear it Thursday here on
S1: Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production
S1: of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.