...Believes God is a Mountain and There Are Many Ways Up

I Have a Friend Who…Believes God is a Mountain and There are Many Ways Up
Allen R. Hunt 11/12/06 Mount Pisgah (With thanks for thoughts from Lucado)
I. Humor

II. October 1347 – Genoese merchant ship returned from Black Sea
Docked in Messina, Italy – brought with it a death sentence for Europe
Crew covered in black boils and raging fevers – much of crew already dead
As boat ramps opened, flea-infested rats scampered off the deck and into village
Beubonic plague began its brutal reign
The disease followed the trade routes north into France
6 months later – England infected
Within 5 years, 25MM had died, 1/3 of Europe’s population at the time
300 years later – 1665 – one epidemic killed 100K Londoners alone
Until finally a bitter, cold winter killed the fleas

The healthy quarantined the diseased – because there was no cure, no hope
History records that plague as one of deadliest, harshest calamities ever – Black Plague
Bu as bad as that plague was, far from being #1 – there is an ever darker light
A pandemic older, crueler, and still running rampant - the infection of sin
II. The Problem = Sin infection
Can trace the plague back to bacterium
Trace sin back to a believed lie
Adam and Eve heard the hiss of a snake – inviting them to make a god-less decision
God-less decision led to a God-less attitude
Don’t need to consult God, no need to ask God – as if there were no god at all
Attitude of sin – a God-less ambition
Sin = a god-less attitude
And that attitude leads to action
Usually think of sin as deeds and misdeeds – but it is a much deeper infection than that
Sin is a god-less attitude, a god-less view of the world
An outlook that denies the presence or importance of God
Posture of rebellion – outlook fails to include God in day to day decisions and living

And the Bible says every one of us is guilty of it
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. (Isa. 53.6: The Message)
To do so is to be spiritually dead – where presence of God is not, the life of God is not
A life where God is like the substitute teacher in middle school – present but ignored
No one listens, no one cares
That is spiritual death
….separate from Christ…without hope and without God in the world.
(Eph. 2.12: NIV)
III. sIn = obsessed with self
Sinful mind is obsessed with self – reason that sIn – with I in the middle
Central priority of our sinful lives = I, me
Satan was the first sinner – left heaven – to do his own thing – all about me
Sin – lifestyle of self-centered godlessness
All I – denial of God – attitude of unbelief
Sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. (Col. 3.5: Message)
Adam and Eve dismissed God
Not so much self-control as self-indulgence
Sin infection – obsession with self
Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored. (Rom. 8.7-8: Message)
God not pleased with being ignored – we are not made that way

What happens when whole world lives like this?
Infection of individual leads to corruption of society
Corrupt society – chaos, disorder
Everyone does whatever they want – however they want – obsession with self

Defile each other, ignore God, obsess with self
Dictators commit ethnic cleansing, husbands ignore wives, we fall prey to every physical and material seduction, leaders use roles for own gain and pleasure
Infection of individual leads to corruption of society
Extract God from society and expect chaos to result
“O miserable man, what a deformed monster sin has made you.” Joseph A.

And Jesus made it plain – that the dysfunction of the sinner puts us on a destructive path
Direction of sin is hell
Shared with you that Jesus talked a lot about hell- more than anyone else in the Bible
Heaven – no disease – sin may never enter – what makes heaven heaven
Heaven is a sinless society
Hell – where the ultimate prayer of the god-less is answered
Those who choose to live a life without God will eventually get just that
Heaven is never compromised by presence of sin

Eternal spiritual death – god-less life = god-less eternity
Jesus spoke about hell a lot – darkness, fiery, eternal
Stakes of the Church are high – only Church has been entrusted with the message
Because the obvious question is What must I do to be saved?
Same answer – Believe on Jesus Christ and you will be saved
Place entire trust in Master Jesus
IV. The cure for infection = the Jesus inoculation
(John 6.29; 8.24, 42; 12.44; Rom. 6.6; 1John 2.12-14; 3.23)
Jesus is the cure
Why not Moses, Mohammed, Buddha, Lincoln?
Christ’ inoculation is the cure for sin
God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5.21: NIV)
No one else DID this
Jesus is the sin-bearer for sin-full people
He died FOR us
He died FOR us
(Isa. 53.5, 6, 10, 12)
To die in our sins is the most tragic mistake any can make – worst tragedy in heaven
To be placed in our casket still carrying sin
Because there is no place for the infected soul in heaven
Jesus never sinned – but died for sinner to bring us home

Think back to black plague – imagine a miracle worker
Who could receive your disease from you – touch his finger and your disease left your body and entered his
He bears the consequences of your disease

Exactly what Christ did for you
Jesus RECEIVED our disease

There are no unforgiven souls – everyone is already forgiven
Every person – Ted Haggard, Usama bin Laden, runaway bride, Saddam Hussein
Every person is forgiven but some are not saved – have not RECEIVED forgiveness
1 prayer away from a boat load of mercy – if only believe and be saved
Nothing more needs to be done – has been DONE
Disease carrier has done it
Jesus, our substitute, did what we could not do

Did not just die FOR us either – not just taking our place on cross
Takes place in your heart
He lives IN us
(Gal. 2.20; 1 Cor. 3.16-17; 1John 3.24)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Gal. 2.20)
God placing Himself back into the Adams and Eves of His Creation
Retaking His rightful place at the center of our lives
Taking up residence deep in our hearts – mystery
Christ lives in me – not about I
Did Christ sin? No Is He sinless? Yes
Is Christ in you? Yes Is sin in you? NO
He inoculated your system
Christ FOR me, Christ IN me

Great news – you belong to Him
God not waiting with a big eraser to remove you at any moment from book of life
Jesus protects, preserves, and secures us in Him
He inoculates us from the sin infection

Back to England – village of Eyam
Baffled by their resistance to plague
Tailor George Vickers opened cloth – unknowingly released fleas
4 days later, he died and others too
Self-quarantined the village – thinking all would die – not spread disease
Food placed at borders of village by neighbosr
1 year before anyone ventured back into Eyam from outside – expected ghost town
Remarkably, ½ were still alive
Had contacted the plague but not contracted
Even the grave digger alive

Now learned that DNA of descendants – disease blocking gene protected them
Garrisoned their white blood cells
V. The plague solution = Pick the right family
Same thing with sin infection – make God your Father, Christ your brother
Resistance to sin takes over – Christ lives in you
As sin comes y our way, bounces off – affects but not infects you
Not separated from God
Still make mistakes – but do not have to pay penalty
Still temptations but less and less and less
Still stumble – but not held against you, no residence in you
Christ FOR you; Christ IN you

Simple word – trust the work of God FOR you – just trust it
August 19993, mole taken off back – grandmother had had melanoma, and pastured a number of folks who had suffered its cruelty
Doctor a bit concerned – said she would call with lab results
About a week later – the call came – “Melanoma – I need to see you tomorrow.”
Cut a circumference around it for more testing – see if cancer had spread
Labs came back – I went to see her
“You are clear and free. We caught it at earliest stage. Please be screened and have kids screened two times each year. You are healthy but you are at high risk”
I began to weep. Went to lawyer to have will made, funeral arrangements set
Told Anita who I wanted her to marry when I died
You are thinking – Didn’t you hear what doctor said, “You are healthy. Disease free”

So many of us are disease free but lives as if disease plagued
Carrying regrets from past decisions as if we were not forgiven and set free
Carrying labels – alcoholic, divorcee, abortion, - as if past mistakes can never undo
You cannot undo the pasta – but you can receive grace – you are now disease free
Past no longer defines you or me
No longer I who live but Christ who lives in me
I am not diseased

And trust Christ IN you
He is with you – you are not alone
He is for you
You are His

Invitation to decision for Jesus – inoculation
He died FOR you
He lives IN you
Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. (2 Cor. 5.20: Message)