Ron Dunn Podcast - First John Part One

Episode Date: January 12, 2022

Ron Dunn begins his sermon series from First John

1 John chapter 1, and I'm going to read the first four verses of this first chapter. 1 John chapter 1, verses 1 through 4. 1 John chapter 1, verses 1 through 4. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life. For the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us.

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. It seems to me that one of the characteristics of modern Christian service or perhaps the phrase that would describe it would be service under duress. And there is not a pastor or evangelist or a missionary or any kind of church leader around that I think doesn't know what I'm talking about. Service under duress. And it seems to me that one of the most marked contrasts

between New Testament Christianity and 20th century Christianity lies at this point because as I said in the New Testament and particularly the book of Acts I find that there was spontaneous service I don't find the apostles having to beg the people to get out and witness to you. I don't even find them having to beg the people to give. As a matter of fact, Paul on one occasion had to almost call a halt to the giving because they were giving so much. You see, it seems the basic difference between our Christian living and their Christian living

is that theirs was a spontaneity overflow, and ours is coercion. Theirs was an artesian well, and ours is a broken cistern, a pump that needs priming, and sometimes it's pretty hard to prime some of us to do anything. And yet, in these morning sessions, as we've been talking about God making us usable, I think one of the evidences of God having made us usable is spontaneous service. Spontaneous service. I believe that once we get to the place where God has done his work in us, of weaning us from everything else,

of separating us from those Isaacs in our life, of getting us out of the desert, of getting us rightly related to ourselves, I believe then we're free to be spontaneously obedient to him. And what I want to share with you this morning in this particular message is just that result of being made usable. And I think the best phrase that I've been able to come up with is when a person gets usable and gets right with God

and filled with the Holy Spirit, I believe he will be compelled to tell. And that's the title of the message, if you are looking for a title, Compelled to Tell. And I think that's the theme of these four verses that we have read this morning. I remember my seminary professor, as we were studying 1 John in one particular class, he said these first four verses, this is an excited Jew talking. He said it doesn't come out so much in the English text, but when you read it in the Greek and you see the tenses of the verbs and how they change,

he said there's no doubt about it, you've got an excited Jew on your hands. And these are men who are compelled to tell. And as you study the story of the New Testament witnesses, you have to say those were men who were compelled. They weren't coerced. There was an inner compulsion. On one occasion in Acts chapter 4, you remember they were hauled in before the authorities,

and they said, now you've got to stop this. You've got to stop teaching and preaching in the name of Jesus. And they said, you've got to decide for yourself whether we're going to obey God or men. We've got to obey God. We cannot but speak the things that we've heard. You see, there was a compulsion from within that just prohibited them from being silent. Jeremiah said, I tried not to speak. I got tired of speaking and nobody listening. But he said, I couldn't keep quiet. Your word was like a fire in my bones. Amos said, I can't help but speak.

The lion has roared, and who can but speak? And it just seems to me the characteristic, the lion has roared, and who can but speak?" And it just seems to me the characteristic, the dominant characteristic of these people is that they were men and women who were compelled to tell. You didn't have to give Shetland Pony ride to the fellow that brought the most people to Bible school, and you didn't have to hand out prizes and pack a few and all of that. I don't guess I'm against packing a few. I don't, you know,

if you feel like that's all right, then that's all right. But it just seems kind of funny to imagine Paul the Apostle gathering at Mars Hill trying to have a pack a few nights. I don't think they ever had an attendance goal in the early church. I don't think they ever had an attendance goal in the early church

I don't think it was necessary I don't think they said be one of the bunch sign up and be a banana don't be a black sheep or don't break the link in the chain it seems to me that I'm not quarreling against these things but it just seems to me that they're a substitute for something we've lost and admission that somewhere along the line I'm not quarreling against these things, but it just seems to me that they're a substitute for something we've lost.

And admission that somewhere along the line we've lost something that they had. Well, I'm confident that when you and I get a fresh touch of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives and we've allowed God to make us usable, you won't have to beg and plead and cajole and hold out the carrot in front of the donkey to get him to move. I think we'll be compelled to tell. And John is writing, and he said we're people who are compelled to tell. And I'd like to suggest four reasons why we ought to be compelled, four reasons why this fellow's excited, four reasons we ought to be excited, four reasons why you and I ought to go out today compelled to tell what we know about Jesus.

And they're all right here in this passage. And I think what we'll do, just a little simple Bible study this morning, and trust the Lord to take the word and bless it to our hearts. First of all, we ought to be compelled to tell because of an unveiled life. Because of the unveiled life. What was it that this fellow was so excited about? What was it that these people hazarded their lives for, the book of Acts tells us? They hazarded their lives. They risked their lives. What was it that these people were willing to be stoned for? What was it that Paul, after being stoned in Lystra,

got up and shook himself, and instead of going to the seaside for a vacation to recuperate, he walked back into the place from which he was thrown out? What was it that compelled these men? Well, there was a life that had been unveiled to them. And this is what John is saying. He's saying that which was from the beginning, which we have heard and which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled, are the word of life.

Notice what he says in verse 22, in verse 2, for the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. Now look at those last two phrases. That eternal life, that's what every man needs. Only one thing wrong with a corpse. It just needs life. That's all it needs, and that's all that man needs. And he needs that eternal life, that God quality about him.

And John says that life existed, but it was with the Father, with the Father, out of reach, inaccessible, unavailable, untouchable. It was, we just can't reach that high. There it is. There is life. There is eternal life. There is a new way of living. There is a new dimension of life. There is a new quality of existence, but it's out of reach. Notice what he says, and that life was manifested unto us. That life was unveiled to us. That life was made available to us. That life was made accessible to us. This is the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ made accessible that which was inaccessible. He made visible, that which was invisible, he brought near that which was for all. And John says we are excited about this, for the word of life which was manifested,

which was with the Father has been manifested to us. Now I want you to notice the manifestation demands proclamation. The manifestation demands proclamation. I was thinking this morning about this thought. You know, to a great many people, the life is still veiled. The life is still hidden. And the only way that that unveiled life of the Lord Jesus Christ can become an unveiled and revealed and available life to other people is if that manifestation which we have seen becomes a proclamation which we speak. Did you know that the chariot of redemption runs on two wheels, and if either wheel is

off, it stops? One wheel is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And we'd say that's essential to world redemption, wouldn't we? There can be no world redemption unless Jesus Christ dies on the cross. But do you know what is just as essential? Now listen carefully. I'm weighing my words. I thought about this long before I spoke it. Do you know what is just as essential to world redemption as is the cross? The proclamation of the cross. The proclamation of the cross. This is what the Apostle Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 18, and all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation to which that

God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation now then we are ambassadors for Christ now look at this as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, in Christ's behalf, be you reconciled to God. Notice, God was in Christ reconciling the world. God is in us reconciling the world through the proclamation of the manifestation. Both of those are essential. Let's suppose here is a man that's been found guilty for murder

and he's been sentenced to die by hanging or the electric chair or whatever mode of execution there is available. And let's say the governor decides to pardon him. But somehow between the governor's office and death row, something happens to the message. Something happens to the proclamation. Somehow the word of pardon doesn't get through to the people in charge. I want to ask you something.

Will that man go ahead and die? Will he? Waiting for an answer. Sure he will. Why? I thought the governor had pardoned him. It's there written in black and white. Doesn't make any difference thought the governor had pardoned him. It's there written in black and white. Doesn't make any difference if the governor has pardoned him.

If the word of that pardon does not get through to the condemned man, he'll die anyway. And it may never have occurred to you, but did you know that your proclamation of the cross is just as essential to the salvation of men as is the cross itself? And if Jesus Christ had died and nobody had seen it and nobody knew about it and nobody ever spread the word, the world would still be without a Savior. And so, Paul, John says, the word of of life that word which is life that word which is life that's the only source of life that word which brings life to men it's been unveiled it's been manifested and we have to tell it we have to tell it I think and this is something I constantly need to remind myself of, I think the worst crime that a person can commit is to know that that life has been manifested and not tell anybody about it. What would you think, what would you think of a watchman on the walls who saw the enemy coming

and didn't tell anybody? What would you think of a doctor who discovered a miracle drug to cure all diseases and withheld it? What would you think of a man who discovered a miracle drug to cure all diseases and withheld it? What would you think of a man who had water and he found a man who was dying of thirst and withheld it? What would you think of that man? You'd say he is an arch criminal of all criminals. Well, what do you think of a man or a woman who knows that life is in Jesus Christ

and life can be made anew again and sins can be forgiven and he can erase from that man's heart the fear of life and death and eternity and he doesn't say anything about it we have our own evaluation of sins we say smoking's bad and dancing's bad and drinking's bad and all of these things are bad but i think one day when we stand before the lord jesus christ and he puts our evaluations right i think we'll discover the greatest sin that Christians ever committed is withholding the water of life from dying men.

There is a life that has been unveiled. It was with the Father, inaccessible, unapproachable, untouchable, invisible, but that life has been manifested, manifested to us.

And the manifestation must become a proclamation or it still remains hidden and veiled to men who are lost. So, first reason they were compelled to tell, the first reason you and I ought to be compelled to tell is because of that unveiled life. All right? Second reason is because of an unforgettable experience. Of an unforgettable experience.

Listen to what he says. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, and which we have seen with our eyes, and which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled the word of life. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it.

And look in verse 3. That which we have seen and heard. He's saying, listen, we've experienced this. We've experienced this. We've experienced the life. We've not only had the fact that the life has been manifested, but he said we've experienced it and it's an unforgettable experience. I want you to look at verse 1 and let's dig through a little grammatical rock here to get to the water. Let's have a little Greek lesson, all right? In verse 1, the first two verbs are

what is called perfect tense verbs, and those tenses mean that something happened in the past and the results of it are abiding into the present and into the future uh this is really what he's saying that which was from the beginning which we have heard and we can still hear him and our eyes have seen and the vision is still there you see what he's? He's saying we've had an unforgettable experience. We heard him and listen, his voice still rings in our ears. We've seen him and the vision is still before our eyes. It's an experience that we can't forget. We can't forget it.

That's why we're sharing it. That's why we're sharing it. When I went to MacArthur Boulevard as pastor some nine years ago, the education director was telling me about different people in the church, getting me familiar with the congregation, and he pointed out a man, Liz and Doug Redpath. Liz had been a barmaid, and Doug had been a barfly. Oh, he said they'd lived rough lives. And this was the phrase he used. He said, but you know, one day they got saved and didn't get over it.

I like that. They got saved and didn't get over it. And you know, everywhere they went, they were witnesses. They had no formal education. I guess they finished high school, but they didn't. They didn't have any formal education. And he worked for Ford Motor Company. And he was not a polished, you know, speaker or anything like this.

But I tell you, everywhere he went, everywhere he went, testify and tell him. He had cancer and he was dying. They had taken him down to Temple, Texas at one of the major hospitals there. And so three of us flew down to visit with Doug and Liz. We got off the plane. They drove us to the hospital. And you know, I was thinking all the way over there, now Lord, this is something they didn't teach us in seminary. What do you say to a wife whose husband's dying? You know, you just don't know what to say, and I was apprehensive. I dread those situations, don't you? I hate those confrontations because you're just so helpless, and here you are. You're the preacher, and they're expecting you to say something. Elevator opened. there she said oh brother Dunn I'm glad you're here

there's somebody over here I've been witnessing to and I believe they're just about ready and I want you to go in and talk with them and she said their parents have arrived and I've asked them if it'd be all right if we all got together and let you talk to them. Listen, you know what? Liz had an experience she couldn't forget, and while her husband was in there dying, her grief was not clouding out that unforgettable experience. They said, we heard him, and the voice is still ringing in our ears. We saw it, and we can still see that image before our eyes. I think one thing that's wrong with us is most of us have got saved and got over it. We need an unforgettable experience with Jesus, and the only way I know to keep it unforgettable is to keep it up every day.

Let me just look at two things here. I'll show you this experience. The word, when it goes on, he says, in our hands, and we have looked upon, we have looked upon. That word, to look upon, is a word that means to gaze at something with intense scrutiny, to gaze at it until you come to understand the significance of it. That's a tremendous word. Let me repeat that. The word in verse 1 that says we have looked upon is a word that means to examine something intensely, to gaze at someone or something until you have grasped its meaning or significance. Now listen, the reason more believers aren't compelled to tell about Jesus is they have never looked upon him intensely enough until they have grasped the significance of the Lord Jesus Christ. I tell you, the deeper, the deeper, the deeper your knowledge and association and intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ becomes becomes the more, the more you have to share it. Notice the next word.

And our hands have handled. That's a beautiful word. It's used of a blind man groping in the dark. And that's what everybody is before they're saved. They're blind men groping in the dark. And that word was used to test something by handling it. And here's what John is saying. He's saying we were blind men groping in the dark, lost, not knowing our ways.

And one day we found Jesus. And we touched him. And we handled him. And we put him to the test. And he said, we found what we were looking for. And we want to share it with you. We want to share it with you. We want to share it with you. He uses two words in verse 2. He says, we have seen it and he says, we bear witness

and we show it unto you. The word witness means that you tell it's a, it means you've experienced it. And the word show means that you've been commissioned to tell what you've experienced. Those two words combine to give us authority. One is the authority of experience. The other is authority of commission. And I believe this is what John is saying. He's saying, listen, we've experienced the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we've been commissioned to tell it.

Now, I hear some people say, well, I believe there are two things you ought never to try to talk to people about, personal things, that's politics and religion. You know, when I talk to somebody about their religion, I never have more authority than I have at that moment, because the Lord of lords and king of kings has given me special authority to talk to people about Jesus. You see, the only authority you need, the only commission you need to share is if you've experienced it. That's what John is saying. We saw it, we experienced it, and now we have been commissioned to share with you what we've found. Third thing, and we'll make these brief the third reason we ought to be compelled to tell is because

of an unequal opportunity of an unequal opportunity I believe I mentioned this shared this the other night verse 3 he said that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you in order that you also may have fellowship with us and I think I mentioned at that time Phillips translates it like this we want you to be with us in this we want you to be with us in this oh I tell you John's excited he's found something he's found something he's found something You remember Andrew first findeth his own brother, and he said, We found the Christ. We found him. What everybody's been looking for,

what the world has been longing for, we found it. What did the woman at the well in Samaria say? She left her water pot there. You know, that's interesting. You know, it's funny how there are some things in the New Testament that you just pass over, little phrases that really say a lot more than we think they say. The Bible says she left her water pot there.

She had lugged that thing all the way out to the edge of town. To her, that was the most important part. The Bible indicates she had come out in the heat of the day. And that which was the most important thing to her suddenly became insignificant, unimportant. And she was so excited and caught up in the fact of having met the Messiah, she just forgot about the water pot. She just left it there.

And she ran into town, and the Bible says, she said, come and see a man that told me all that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? We found the Christ. We want you to know about it. We want you to know about it. Andrew wanted his brother to get in on it. The woman at the well wanted the whole town to get in on it. Now, I tell you, the thing that really speaks to me in that passage is this. That woman who had just met Jesus, she went in and evangelized the whole town, including the twelve disciples who were in there trying to find something to eat. The twelve disciples didn't bring

a single person out to see Jesus. They didn't bring a single person out to see Jesus. And when they got back, they had no idea what was going on. And here was this woman just freshly saved, just freshly met Jesus, and she brought out the whole town. And the professionals, all they could think about was meat to eat. We want you to get in with us on this. One final thing.

The reason we ought to be compelled to tell is because of an unfulfilled joy. Of an unfulfilled joy. You notice in verse 4, John says, In these things write we unto you, and the King James reads, that your joy may be full.

But the Greek reads, that our joy may be full. That our joy may be full, but the Greek reads that our joy may be full. That our joy may be full. And what John is simply saying is this. That which we've seen and heard, we're announcing to you. We want you to get in with us on this. Because unless you do, our joy just can't be complete. And we're announcing this to you, and we're passing it on to you in order, our joy just can't be complete. And we're announcing this to you,

and we're passing it on to you in order that our joy, your joy, my joy as well, our joy may be full. Now, I want to tell you something about the joy of the Christian life. The more you give it away, the more you have, the more it increases. I've discovered something, and I'm discovering it afresh just lately. I found that when my joy in the Lord seems to be ebbing a little bit, and I'm not just as happy as I was in the Lord, I have found that sometimes I can get on my knees and pray and ask the Lord to bring that joy back, and it just won't come. But you know what brings that

joy? I want you to try this. It's just to go and share Jesus with somebody. Just to share Jesus with somebody. I found in our own church, I found in our own church that some of the people that were always down in the mouth, you know, and they'd look at the donut and all they'd see is the hole, always quibbling about little things. I want to tell you something. People in the church who are always quibbling about how much you spent for an eraser or a pencil and are always nitpicking at every little thing

are people that don't know the joy of sharing Jesus with anybody. You can put it down. And I've seen these people, I'm thinking now of a particular man, just everything, nothing you did was right, everything, you know, he could find something wrong with everything. I mean, he'd be against his own principle. And yet when that man had the new unforgettable experience with Jesus and began to share the Lord Jesus Christ,

you know, his whole personality changed. There was a joy. Why? Because, friends, I want to tell you, that joy in the believer's life can never be fulfilled, it can never be complete until you begin to share that message with other people. It just can't. It just can't. It just can't.

Let me close with this. I've shared this before, but it comes to mind. I want to share it now. This matter of being compelled to tell. Several years ago, I was in a meeting in Alabama with a pastor in a Bible conference, and he had been invited to speak the following January at the State Evangelism Conference.

And the subject that had been assigned to him was how to learn to love the lost. How to learn to love the lost. And he said, now, while you're here this week, I want you to help me find a text for that. I said, well, that ought to be easy. I mean, you know, I'm sure there are a lot of verses in the Bible that tell us how to learn to love the lost. And so we began to search the Bible. And you know what? I found verses that told me I ought to love the lost, told verses that revealed to me what I would do if I loved the lost. But folks, I couldn't find a single verse that told me how to learn to love the lost. And so the week was over and I couldn't find a text and he couldn't either.

I don't know what he ever preached on, but I went back home and I was concerned about it because, to be honest with you, my evangelistic zeal at that time was at an all-time low. I just wasn't sharing Christ as I knew I ought to be. And you know what I was waiting for? I was waiting for God to somehow just propel me out. I wanted God to coerce me and I was looking for something, you know, that would just make me fall in love with lost people. I'll be very honest with you. I had a hard time loving a lot of lost people. I still do. I meet an old, I meet a cynical, smart aleck, atheistic. I have a hard time loving them, don't you?

Might as well admit it. And I went back and I said, Lord, I really need to learn how to love the lost. I know somewhere in your word there's a, there's a, it'll teach me. Well, I never did find the verse, but I found something else. The Lord took me to the Gospel of John, those last chapters.

You remember where Jesus had breakfast with Simon Peter? And as they were eating breakfast, Jesus asked him a question he said Simon do you love me Simon said yes Lord I love you Jesus said feed my sheep he asked him a second time Simon do you love me Simon said Lord you know I love you Jesus said feed my sheep he asked him a third time he said Simon Simon son of Barjona lovest thou me Simon was exasperated he said Lord you know all things you know I love

you Jesus said feed my sheep and what dawned upon me was this that not a single time did Jesus ask Peter if he loved sheep I'm surprised knowing how impetuous Peter is I'm surprised he didn't say but Lord I don't love sheep I think Jesus would have said I didn't ask if you love sheep

I don't care if you love sheep or not do you love me? yes well then feed my sheep and you know what I saw? I saw I had been sitting around waiting for God to just overwhelm me with a love for lost people to motivate me.

That's not the motivation at all. Jesus said, do you love me? Yes. Well, then get with it. It's not love for lost people that motivates his friend. It's love for Jesus. It's love for Jesus. It's having had an experience with Jesus and updating that experience by daily

fellowship and communion with him. It's that unforgettable experience with the Lord Jesus Christ, that unveiled life. You see what I'm saying? That which compels us to tell is the Lord Jesus. The life has been manifested. We've seen it. We've heard him speak to us. Our hands have touched him. We've experienced Jesus. And we want to share with you what he's done for us. And I'm confident that when God gets us to the place

where we're usable, that there'll not be that coercing from the outside by the pastor, but there'll be that compelling from the inside to tell others about the life that's been revealed to us. Let's pray together. Now, Father, in Jesus' name, we thank you that in your divine plan and providence, the life that was with the Father was manifested to us. As we've said again and again this week, it was manifested to us that it might be manifested through us.

And so, Father, I pray that you'll take the word of God this morning and minister the life of Jesus to us and then through us because we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Do not turn the tape over. The evening sermon starts here. Well, we're making good time. This is Thursday night. It's hard to believe.

It makes me think of the airline pilot who, they were flying through the night and radar went out, radio went out. He came out of the cockpit, said to the passengers, he said, folks, we've got a little problem. He said, our radio is out. We don't know where we are. Our radar isn't working. We don't know where we're going. But I thought you might like to know we're making good time. I confess to you I'm not too certain where we are. I'm talking, you know, about in the scheme of God's things. And I confess to you that I do not know where we're headed immediately. I'm glad to be able to report to you tonight that I do know where we're headed ultimately.

This world is moving in a godly, godwardly direction. And, but as far as this, and I've just been moving a little bit faster than it's moving. But as far as where we are in this week of what God is trying to do, I don't know where we are or where we're going. I don't know what God has, you know, eventually in mind for this week of what God is trying to do. I don't know where we are or where we're going. I don't know what God has, you know, eventually in mind for this week. But that's all right. It's always been interesting to me that when God called Abraham, he said, I want you to

go into a far country which I will show thee. And he didn't tell Abraham where he was going. He used to wonder about that. And then I heard Jack say, he probably doesn't remember saying it. If he doesn't, well, I'll take credit for it. But he said if God had showed Abraham where he was going, Abraham would have kept his eyes on the destination instead of God. That's been a great deal of help to me.

Sometimes God keeps us in the dark as to where we are and where we're going so that we'll have to keep our eyes on him. You see, if he's the only one that knows where we're going, then we have to keep our eyes on him. And so that's what we want to do, is to keep our eyes on him. Just keep our eyes on him, fixed on him. I think that's the theme of the Word of God. I know that's the secret of the Christian life, is keeping your eyes on Jesus. All right, let's open our Bibles tonight to the book of Romans, chapter 8. The book of Romans, chapter 8, a tremendous theological treatise. Probably not a more majestic work in all the Bible. I think probably we reached the high-water mark of revealed truth in the book of Romans. We are going to the eighth chapter, which

is the flood stage of Romans. You are really at the top when you're in the 8th chapter of Romans. And we're going to read three verses, Romans chapter 8, verses 28, 29, and 30. Let's pray. Father, we're thankful tonight for the revelation of thy word that we hold in our hands tonight, the record of divine revelation.

And that there is contained in this book all that we need to know about you, all we need to know about ourselves, all we need to know about anything to be saved and to live a holy and godly life. And so I pray tonight that the Holy Spirit of God who inspired this book may tonight perform his ministry

of illuminating what he has inspired. Lord, illuminate our hearts and minds tonight to understand what we need to understand. We don't expect to understand everything, but you know what we need to understand to be pleasing to thee. And so I confess that I am not able to communicate spiritual truth to anybody, only the Holy Spirit can do that. And so we tonight simply sit at the feet of that great teacher, the Spirit of God, and ask that he will give us supernatural ability.

Minister the life of Jesus tonight through your word. Honor yourself. through your word. Honor yourself. Honor your word. Reveal thyself to us. In Jesus' name, amen. Romans chapter 8, verses 28, 29, and 30. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be

the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Now, this week we've been discussing the Christian life, the life of victory, which, as we mentioned last night, is the Christian life. And in the course of the week, we've talked about victory over sin, victory over self. Yesterday, especially, Brother Jack talked about victory over Satan. Tonight, I want to talk about another realm in which you and I must experience victory

if we are to live a consistent, continual, and complete Christian life. For I am convinced that it is not enough for me to experience victory over sin and self and Satan. There is another area, a very vital area, over which I must experience victory, and that is simply victory over situations. Victory over circumstances. Now, I'm going to speak tonight on victory over circumstances,

and I want you to listen to that title for a moment, because in a few minutes I'm going to change one word in that title. And the changing of that word will make all the difference in our experiencing the victory. It seems to me there are two kinds of circumstances that every believer faces. Number one, there are those circumstances over which I have control. In other words, if I find myself in a situation and I don't particularly care for it, I can do something about it. If I find myself facing a circumstance that is unpleasant, I can do something about it. I can change it. I can get out of it. Now,

those circumstances present little problem to us, but our life is full of those circumstances, but they're not really the problem. We don't really need victory over those circumstances because, you see, we can handle them. We can change them. If you don't like something, there's a circumstance, you can do something about it. You ought to do something about it. But there is another set of circumstances, and these are those circumstances over which we have no control. Now, that's very simple. There are circumstances over which we have control.

If we don't like it, we can change it. Then there are those circumstances that we cannot control, and we would change them if we could, but we can't. Now, I have an idea that everybody here tonight, maybe the exception of one or two, envious people perhaps, or people to be envied is what I mean perhaps, are not bothered tonight by any circumstances that you wouldn't control. I mean, there's not a thing in your life you'd change if you had the chance. I mean, there's no circumstance, there's no situation. I mean, everything is just hunky-dory.

Everything's copacetic. Everything's wonderful. Skies are blue. If God were to say, listen, you name it, I'll change it. And I can't think of a thing, Lord. And I say there may be some of us here tonight, but I don't think that's a lasting situation at all. And I have no doubt that the majority of us have come here tonight

and even as we listen to the preaching, we're trying to thrust out of our consciousness a situation, a circumstance that we wish we could change, but we can't. As a matter of fact, perhaps it's frustrated us because we've been praying for a long time that God would change it, and he hasn't. Now, that's what I want to zero in on tonight.

That's what I want to talk about. And I want to say at the outset that you and I, as a believer, must experience victory in that area. And we can. And we can. There are circumstances that seem to be hindering our progress in the Christian life. And we have an idea if God would just change this situation, we could move on. Here we are making good progress in the Christian life, and suddenly there's an Amalek standing in my way and saying,

you're not going any further. And so we're stopped. And we say, if God would just change this situation, if God would just change this circumstance, if somehow I could get around it or over it, if somehow I could, I could get this thing removed, then everything would be as it ought to be. I could get along and move on with the Lord. And I would imagine everybody here tonight has some interest in knowing how to have victory over your circumstances, right? The Ron Dunn Podcast is available only for personal edification, not to be duplicated, uploaded to the web, or resold without prior written consent. It is managed and operated by Sherwood Baptist Church. If you would like to listen to additional Ron Dunn messages,

visit sherwoodbaptist.net slash bookstore and search Ron Dunn. For more Ron Dunn materials, including sermon outlines, devotions, and scanned pages from a study Bible, please visit rondunn.com.