A Season of Restoration V, Restoring the Power of the Cross

This is North Way tape number 378. This message on restoration in the cross was delivered by Pastor Jay Passavant of North Way Christian community on March 16, 1986. And the Lord particularly today is calling to those who've had a difficult time getting established in God. And he's calling to a number of you today that if your life has been characterized by some measure of excitement and then wandering off, some well, I think I need this and then you're not sure. Lord today would want you to know that he's calling for you to be established in him today. Remember, I was a young person, took me a long time. I was about 16 years old to really believe that I knew God. How many of you identify with that? You weren't sure for a while. I mean, I think I know him, but I think I have salvation, but I'm not sure. And that can be a terrible place to be in, you know that? Always wondering if you get in the car, well, if I was hit today, would I go to be with God or not? The Lord was speaking to those of you today whose relationship with God, maybe you think you know him, but you're not sure. And as I share this message today, he specifically will be speaking to you to be sure today. How many of you want to be sure? You want to know that you know that you know that you're God's person? Okay, it's the most fantastic assurance in all the earth, isn't it, church? To know that no matter what happens, you're God's child. Never to be separated from him. Now, I always love God's timing. I usually can't fit into it, but I love it. And I always get up here, and I know I don't have enough time to say what I've prepared to say, and I don't need any amens for that, but as you're turning to Galatians chapter 3, I'm going to try to be sensitive to the spirits leading here and weave in what I can. And I'd also like you to find that chapter 3 of Galatians, beginning in verse 1. And at the same time, why don't you find that, mark it, and turn to Exodus chapter 15, beginning in verse 22. Beginning in Galatians 3, You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish, after beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing, if it really was for nothing? Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Now, consider Abraham. He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. And understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the Gospel in advance to Abraham. All nations will be blessed through you. And so those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Now listen carefully. All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law. Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith. The law is not based on faith. On the contrary, the man who does these things will live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Now that will be our main text for this morning, but I want you to read an account that is similar in tone to what we just read. Exodus 15.22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went into the desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. Probably getting pretty thirsty by that point, wouldn't you say? When they came to Merah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. That is why the place is called Merah. So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, What are we to drink? Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood, and he threw it into the water. And the water became sweet. Two separate accounts of the children of God who at one point are making progress, and then because of circumstances, because of situations and obstacles around them, found themselves veering off from what God wanted for them. I don't know about you, but when I read the account of the Israelites three days after crossing through the Red Sea. Three days. The greatest miracle of deliverance of all time. It seems incredible to me that just three days later, there they are, doubting God again. Coming against the leader of the people. Wondering, well, this is it then, I guess. Out here to die. I heard someone say once that this is the biblical justification of having midweek services. Because no matter how glorious it is on Sunday, by Wednesday night you're bound to need something else. And I think likewise, as we consider the believers at Galatia. They too had started out with a great release of the Holy Spirit. Many of them had come to salvation. And Paul said, who tricked you? That's what that word means. Who bewitched you? Who caused you, having started out in the Spirit, to veer off now into the flesh? Now please understand, this is so important as we start this teaching. We are not talking about people outside of the covenants of God. We are talking about believers. And it shouldn't be all that incredible to us to think that it would never happen to us. I mean, we certainly wouldn't find ourselves moving out in the Spirit and then slipping off into the flesh, would we? For obviously, for many of us, it is a struggle, isn't it? To find ourselves consistently walking in the provision and the goodness of God. How many would say today, honestly, if you are really evaluating your life, it just seems that there are things that happen that keep you down under. It seems just like these believers at Galatia. You started off with this vision of the Lord and what it meant to be a believer, but somehow you're way down now. And you can't seem to break forth. And though all of us will suffer from one day to the next with different kinds of ups and downs, I'm not talking about that kind of thing necessarily. I'm talking about the kind of life that was born in Christ, but then began to find it being oriented to struggle. If your testimony was written, it would always be one of, I just don't know for sure what God wants of me. If you'll permit me, I just want to read an excerpt of a letter that I got this week that really is typical, it's an anonymous thing, and I'm not going to reveal anything about the person involved. But it's so typical, and I want you to listen and see if this describes you today. This person said, One main problem I have had for several years, and this problem has held me in bondage, and I've prayed to God for years. Many Sunday mornings I've given the problem to the Lord. I've never given up and always keep the hope that the Lord will show or open the way for me. Maybe He has, and I didn't listen to Him. I've not been His faithful servant, and I know I've hurt the Lord many, many times. They go on to describe a little bit more about their struggle, and then they say, Listen now, I feel He has not done for me what I truly desire in my life. I've asked Him. I've begged Him to help me in my problem for a very long time. I desperately need Him to help me. I never ask for anything else. I've been going through this problem, in secret I might add, for 15 years. Right now I've had it. I've been ignoring God because I guess my faith is not where it should be. I want it to be. I want to love and serve the Lord. I want to be happy with Him and He with me. But right now, I'm down in the dumps. No one would ever know it though. I hide my feelings as I always have. Many people feel I'm so blessed when deep down being successful and so on is not what I care about. My problem has kept me from having the life I really want. Beloved, This morning, in a brief period of time, 15 or 20 minutes at the most, I want to talk to you about what it is that keeps us down, out of the will of God. I want to talk to you about what prevents you from rising into the fullness and the joy of knowing Jesus Christ and walking in the center of His will and purposes. As we have studied now for five weeks the restoration of our hearts, I've been impressed by the Lord that a number of people are here today whose life I just described in a generic kind of a way with this letter. And it may not be your whole life, it may not be as radical as this person, but it may be for you a point of great struggle. It may be for you something specific in your life. And I believe, listen, that what the Lord showed me was the reason that many people do not rise above that is because your life is under a curse. Look at Galatians chapter 3 with me, would you? Your life is under a curse. You see, Paul says here that all who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written. You see, the Bible uses this word. The Bible uses this word. It's not a word that I like. It's an abrasive word to me. How about you? We don't like it. And in fact, for me to even say that this morning, I'm sure there are some who are here thinking, well, this is 1986, what are we going to talk about, objects flying across the room and stuff like that? But you see, there is a very real sense in which a curse lies over the lives of those who walk out of the will of God. I thought it was fascinating that when Jean-Claude Duvalier was thrown out of Haiti, you all read about that? Do you know what happened when that took place? The voodoo doctors, which are very prevalent in the nation of Haiti, rose up and said, well, they were going to start their implications all over the island and they were going to bring down curses all over the people and the leaders. And I don't know if you caught this in the news reports, but even all the professional people, the doctors and highly paid people and so on, the corporate leaders and so forth, along with many clergymen, were seen putting the symbol to keep the curse away from them on their houses and doors. You see, I don't believe in curses until someone puts one on me. Maybe I ought to think about it. But I'm talking about what the Bible says here, church. And I want you to see something. That the Lord showed me that there are a number of us who are struggling mentally and emotionally and financially and spiritually and socially to rise up into what God wants for you and you can't seem to do it. And the reason is you're under a curse. But the Lord also showed me that today by His grace, He was going to break many, many curses over people. Now this is a strong word and I recognize that. But I want you to see that it's a Biblical concept and I want you to see how it is that we can be set free from a curse and find ourselves rising into what God wants for us. Let me explain first of all the curse. The curse explained, we have an outline for this I think else. Remember back in the book of Genesis when Adam and Eve transgressed the law of God and they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? What did God say to Adam at that time? Remember? What did God say was the penalty of their disobedience? He said, Cursed is the ground because of you. And He said to the serpent, Cursed are you serpent, and because of this you will crawl on your belly. And it's a picture of course of Satan and his deceiving ways. Church, God began His created order in a fashion that when man stepped out of His will by the very nature of that act they brought down God's judgment on sin. And really if you want to define a curse it simply is that. It's God's judgment on sin. That's what a curse is. It's the wrath of God against anything that's out of His will. Now we don't, again I want to say, we don't like to think that. We don't like to think, but bear with me and understand that I'm not saying that God is going around cursing people. I'm not saying that. I'm saying rather that God has ordained a will. He's ordained a dominion. He's ordained a rulership. And anyone that would walk out of that in defiance, in rebellion, in ignorance or whatever is walking out of the covering and protection of God. Basically church, listen, the judgment of God is simply what man, when man gets what man wants outside of God's will. Are you with me on that? Hell is just an extrapolation of what you created for yourself. Separation from God. And so you see, what I'm telling you is not that God is saying, well you messed up Scott, so now you're going to get a curse in your life. What I'm saying to you is every time you step out of God's will, you open yourself to the curse that's on all of creation that's outside of God's will. And it won't be until the end of time that God will restore all things to Himself. And I was so blessed in my study when I read this scripture in Revelation chapter 22. Listen. Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. And on each side of the river stood the tree of life bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Now listen to verse 3. No longer will there be any curse. You see? In the end, God restores everything to its perfect order. And there won't be any curse. And you won't come under a curse when you walk in any direction because God will have removed it. There will no longer be any curse. And you say, well, what is a curse? What happens? Well, as I read the scriptures, I see basically four characteristics. I think they might be on the overhead there. One of them is sickness. Sickness is a curse. Another one is poverty. It's a curse. Now, you can read these in Deuteronomy. If I don't have the scripture up there, let me give them to you. Alright? Poverty is in Deuteronomy 28, 15 through 17. Sickness is all through Deuteronomy 28. The third one is death. Death. The end result of living in the curse is spiritual death. Deuteronomy 21, 23. And finally, fourth, barrenness. If you're under a curse, there's barrenness in your life. You do not produce fruit. You produce thorns and thistles. Hebrews 6, verse 8. Now, beloved, please hear me. These things don't come at you by some mystery that, you know, fire starter or some weird thing out there where you're, you know, if you didn't see that movie, I read a review about, you know, it was just one of the sick things that comes out of Hollywood, you know. A curse on this little gal. This is what she did. She went out and started fires with her eyes. We're not talking about that. We're not talking about strange happenings. We're talking about things that seem very natural. I want you to know that curses get worked out through very natural means. The Lord used Nebuchadnezzar to judge, bring judgment, a curse upon the children of Israel in Jeremiah 25. You know, curses come in very, very common kinds of ways. You can find things happening around you and you can't explain them. So why is it always like that? God might be using some... because the thing is set that way. It appears to be a natural occurrence, but it's used of God to bring a judgment upon the sin that's in our lives. Now, not everything is a curse, by the way. Let me say that, alright? Not everything negative that happens to you is a curse. I used to think I was cursed when I went down McKnight Road between the potholes and the traffic lights. Did you ever think that? There was something that was there waiting for me. When I got to the point of no return, it always turned yellow, right? It was then red and then I hit a pothole and you show up at the Red Bull restaurant. Glory to God, I had quite a trip down here. How many of you think you're with me on this? Alright, I need to know that because I labored over this quite some time. You see, we're talking about those who don't find progress happening in their Christian life. We're talking about those who continually are struggling with growth. We're talking about those who don't see anything happening through them, any fruitfulness. We're talking about those who have depression and not joy. Discouragement would characterize your life much more than hope and defeat much more than victory. You say, well, okay, it says here in Galatians 3 that anyone who tries to keep the law in order to please God is under a curse. I'm not really trying to keep the law. Well, let me clarify that for you. Look at verse 3 of Galatians, would you? 3.3 Are you so foolish, after beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? You see, beloved, there is a place in your Christian walk where no matter what you do in terms of human effort, it will not break through this limitation in your life. It will not bring resolution to the struggle that you're facing, much like this person in the letter. And let me just give you some illustrations of human efforts. Some people look to other individuals for counsel and that's the only place they go. They figure, if I go to the counseling ministry, I'll find my answer. And they look to the counselors. Other people simply, they turn on the TV and say, well, if I watch all the Christian programming, something will happen to get my life in order. And some people say, well, I'm going to fast. And I know if I fast for 21 days, something's bound to happen. Someone else says, well, I'm going to go to all the meetings I can go to. And so they find a church they can go every night. And beloved, there never is a deliverance. There never is a breaking free. There never is a restoration of the heart. Because God has ordained that there is only one way to be free from the penalty of sin. And that curse has exploded only one way and it's through the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross of Christ is God's provision for us. You see, the Father looked down and saw us laboring. He saw us falling and failing. There are so many people that have a failure mentality. You know, it's never going to get better for me. My life is just never going to amount to anything. And Father saw that we were continually under this burden of the curse. And I said to you earlier, you know, it's hard for us to use that term, but church, listen to me. Not only did God use it, but look at Galatians 3. I want you to see this, would you please? I want you to see the hope that's in this verse right now. The Father saw the judgment that was necessary against sin. Verse 13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. You see, beloved, all the judgment that was due for sin, all of the failure that man was destined for because of sin, all of the poverty and the sickness and the barrenness that occurs because of rebellion outside the will of God upon which God's judgment falls, God put it all on Jesus Christ. He put it all on Him. You see, how I yearn today that you wouldn't see that cross only as a place where a hungry soul comes to find that initial drink of water. That you wouldn't see the cross only as a place where you start a relationship in God for forgiveness of sins. But the cross is the fountainhead of all life. It's the place where we come back to again and again and again and again. It's the place of all life, dear church, where you will alone find the provision of God to lift you through the failure and sin and struggle in your life. What is the answer to a person who labors with a problem for 15 years? What is it? It's the cross. The same cross that brought her into life can free her from the problems of life. When you travel overseas, lots of unusual things happen. One thing I was told about recently, in communist China right now, many Americans are given entry into that nation by the government in order to teach English and some of the western economic principles and cultural things and so on. And if you're an American, you can gain access into that land. But one brother was recounting to me one of the stories that happened. They got access because they were Americans. And then when they began to share the gospel, they got into a little bit of trouble about that. And when the authorities came to call into question their activity, they didn't say to them, Hey, we're really nice people. You shouldn't hassle us. They didn't say, Well, I'll try a whole lot harder to be good. You shouldn't put us in jail for that. You know what they told those authorities? Why they told them they should be released? Why? We're Americans. We're Americans. And even though what they were doing was wrong in light of the government, they let them go because they were Americans. If they had been Chinese, you know what would have happened to them? Now, what am I saying? I'm saying the same thing that brought entry into the kingdom of God, citizenship, if you will, is also the same power that brings release as you walk in Christ. And no matter what it is that you're struggling with today, beloved, I don't care if it's a bondage to a sexual impurity, if it's a disease that perhaps somehow you feel that there's no answer for, if there is a bondage in a relationship that just keeps coming back and back again, there is freedom in the cross of Christ. You see, the Lord said to us, He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, will he not give us all things along with him? When God gave us Christ and put him on the cross, he gave us everything. And it was finished when he did that. Now, what we need to do now simply is to take that to ourselves. You say, well, how do I do that, Jay? What does that mean to me? How can I make what happened on that cross relevant for me now? Here's the answer. The same brokenness with which you came to Christ initially must mark your heart when you say to God now, Lord, I cannot overcome this. I cannot get through this. I cannot satisfy this thirst I have. I feel like I'm laboring under something and I just can't get out from underneath. Would you rescue me? And the Lord says, the cross of Christ is sufficient. Remember the Israelites back in Exodus 15? The bitter water. Did your life feel bitter a lot? What did God give Moses to cure that problem? A piece of wood, the Bible says. And what do you think that wood stands for, church? It stands for the cross. In Exodus 15, there's a picture there of people struggling. Their life has turned bitter for them. Bitter water. And instead of lashing out at Moses, the Lord says, Moses, take this piece of wood, throw it into the water. And what happened to the bitter water, church? It became sweet. And I want to say to you, anything in your life that's producing bitterness now, anything in your life that's producing bondage now, take the cross of Christ. Apply it by faith. You say, well, what does that mean? Well, in just a moment, I'm going to give you a chance, an opportunity, if you will, to apply faith to that area of your life where you're struggling. And the Lord showed me clearly that today many people who felt that their life was under a bondage are going to be set free. You're going to come, as it were, back under the umbrella of God's protection from the curse of the law. How many of you want that? I don't want to labor under a curse. I don't want to move in futility, frustration, barrenness, poverty. I want to move under the blessing of Abraham. And let's look at this, if we could, y'all. The blessings of Abraham. Look at it. Galatians 3, 14 says that He redeemed us in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles. What is the blessing of Abraham? Let's just run those down. Could we, Paula? All right. First of all, He said that, number one, that God would give him the bread and wine of Melchizedek. That's a symbol of communing with the Father. These are things that as you move under the provision of God by His cross, this is what you are able to receive. Communing with God. Number two, the blessing of material prosperity. The Bible says that God blessed Abraham in all things, Genesis 24, 1. He was rich in cattle and goats and sheep and the things of the land. Number three, the blessing of Abraham included physical well-being. You can read about that in Romans 4. Number four, the blessing of Abraham included the blessing of others. In other words, other people favored him, gave him things, supplied for him. He was favored in their eyes. And number five, the blessing of a great name. How many of you want to have a great name, a name of character and a reputation? God gave Abraham a blessing of a great name. In fact, the Bible says in Genesis 12, 2, that His name would be known among all the nations. And finally, the blessing of Abraham was of a great progeny. I will make your offspring like the stars of the sky and the sand of the sea. How many of you would like that basic outline there to characterize your life? Now, beloved, am I reading this incorrectly? Or does it say there that that's what God has given to us through the cross? And I say, hallelujah. Why don't you say it? Hallelujah. So where do we come right now? Well, I say, let's come to the cross. Let's come to the cross together. Jesus, keep me near the cross. They're a flowing fountain. I'm going to ask us to close our Bibles now. And I'm going to trust the Holy Spirit to fulfill His word to me, that He would set many free today. Let's pray together. Let's just allow the Spirit of God to bring hope in many lives right now. Many who have struggled with besetting problems. Listen, the Lord also just shows me right now that there are some who have just started to create a pattern of frustration and failure. And how you respond to that right now will determine whether or not that will become a habitual problem or if you'll be free from it, free to move on in blessing. In other words, your response is the key to it all. Could we sing just that hymn once again together? Jesus, keep me near the cross. Let's just sing that and allow the Spirit of the Lord to minister to us. Jesus, keep me near the cross. There a blessed fountain Free to all a yielding stream Flows from Calvary's mountain In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul Rests beyond the river Let's stand together. We're going to sing the third verse. Near the cross, O Lamb of God Bring me safe reform Hold me, Lord, from pain Bring me, Savior, home In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever Till my raptured soul Rests beyond the river Let's bow our heads, beloved. I believe the power of God is here today. And in response to what the Holy Spirit showed me this week, I want to ask this morning, if there's anybody here who feels that, as I was describing, this life lived under a curse. You said, that really, that describes me. And I've tried a lot of things to get free. To find God's real design and purpose for my life. I could have written that letter. And I want to be free today. I want to come back under the provision of God in the cross of Jesus. I want to see that entire thing broken over my life. And I want to see the provision of God for all of my needs, supplied through the blood of His Son. If I'm describing you right now, everyone has their head bowed. You just slip your hand up. Let me see your hand. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Scores, hundreds of hands. Okay, hallelujah. Now listen, the Lord showed me that church. But the good news today is the Lord also showed me that many of you would be set free today. That He's going to break that and that word will become a long forgotten word in your life. Because of the power of the cross. It's sufficient today to set you free. Oh, God. Right where you are right now, those of you who raised your hand, right where you are. God is going to minister right now to you. Would you right now tell Him, Lord, I've tried everything. Lord, I just sense this futility in my life and I come right now and confess my need for Jesus to take the penalty of all my sin in this area. And I see it on Him. Beloved, I want you to know something. Those of you who just raised your hand, do you know that the crown of thorns that was plated together and put upon the head of the Lord Jesus Christ, that that very crown of thorns is representative of what God did to Jesus in breaking the curse. For in the Bible, thorns always represent the curse. And so when God allowed that crown of thorns to be put on the head of Jesus and the blood streamed down over His face, that was the curse being born for you. And because of that, you now are free. And I speak freedom now to all those of you who by faith will receive it. In the name of Jesus, that's broken over your life. In the name of Jesus, receive your deliverance right now. Hallelujah. Oh Lord God, I pray now that you'd be honoring Your Word, Father. Taking desires away, Lord. Breaking bondages, Father God. Setting free the captives in Jesus' name, Lord. Restoring relationships, Father. Releasing provisions, Father. Bringing healing now in Jesus' name, Lord. Fruitfulness, Father God, in Jesus' name. To all those who would raise their hand to You and say, God, that's me, Lord. I want that today. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. I want our ministering teams to come forward right now. Come on, elders, coordinators, ministering teams. Come forward, would you? Praise the Lord. Now, beloved, the power of the Lord is present to move. These people don't stand up here today as someone who, as someone who have no problems. These are simply ones who have come to understand that in the cross, there's release and deliverance. And I want to say to you this morning, as we dismiss in a moment, these are going to be up here for you to receive ministry. We're going to sing another verse of that hymn. And as we do that, that'll be the time for you to do something. Take a step of faith. You say, well, how do I get that, how do I bring that power of the cross to my life? You take a step of faith. You'll never receive it if you just sit back and say, well, God, you've got to do, you've got to come out and say, God, I want that. I want it today. There's not one person here that will judge you. Because every one of us through here understand that we're here because of the cross of Christ. I want you to bow your heads one more time, please. Have I spoken to anyone today that perhaps for the first time in your life, you recognize that you have a need to be established in Jesus Christ, to find forgiveness of sin. You need that entry point of the cross. You need to come into the kingdom of God today. I just want to ask a question. Are you sure that you have eternal life? This is not a day in which you should risk waiting. It's a day of decision. And if you need the Lord this morning, you know you need Him. The question is, do you want Him? I'll just ask you one thing. Be honest with God. If you honestly want the love of God in your life today, then you can receive Him right now. Let's bow our heads. Is there someone here today that would say, Jay, I want to know the love of God in Christ Jesus. If that's you, I want to pray for you right now. I want to be sure of my relationship. I'm not sure that I know the Lord. Put your hand up. I just want to pray with you right where you are. Yes, sir. All right. Yes, sir. Right there. Okay, I see. Anyone else? I just want to pray with you. I'm not going to embarrass you. I just want to pray with you. Just put your hand up and say, pray with me. I want to know my relationship with God is right today. Anyone else? Yes. Yes, okay. Pray with me, would you? I'd like everyone in the church to pray. Father God, I come to you in Jesus' name. And because of your Son, and the sacrifice of His life, I now know that I can be accepted in you. Jesus, I receive you in my life. I ask you to forgive my sin. I submit myself to your will. I want to be born again. I want to live I want to live in the power of the cross. Now, listen. Beloved, I just want you to listen. in the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever, till my wretched soul shall find peace beyond the river. Let's do that first verse once more. Jesus, lead me near the cross where a righteous Father brings to all a healing stream. Close the Calvary's fountain in the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever, till my wretched