WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.599 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.480 ! It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:25.679 either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for us 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:32.159 that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:37.359 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:42.159 we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:48.799 Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will do 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:55.120 what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a non-Christian 00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:00.320 checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't hesitate to send us 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:05.280 questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the types of things 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.759 that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:18.719 Let's just please bow our heads in prayer. Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would continue to fall 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:26.799 with gentle but deep power. Father, we ask that you would do something miraculous in our lives this 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:34.319 morning, that you would bring to our attention and to our mind the idols whom we enthrone in our hearts. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:42.960 And you would help us, Father, to also see the beauty of the gospel and how it is that you see us 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:52.000 and how you work to deliver us from slavery to our idols. So we ask that your Holy Spirit would move 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:58.399 in our lives deeply, bringing the gospel home. And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our 00:01:58.399 --> 00:02:01.359 Savior. Amen. Please be seated. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:12.400 We have a complicated relationship with being seen. We sort of don't necessarily recognize that we have a 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:19.680 complicated relationship with it, but we do have a complicated relationship with it. On one hand, 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:26.319 we wish that we had a boss that saw what we were doing and appreciated it. And many of us work in 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:31.919 situations where our boss doesn't seem to see what we're doing and appreciate it. And that's very, 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:37.519 very frustrating. Some of us have bosses or have had bosses that look and watch very closely what 00:02:37.519 --> 00:02:42.719 we're doing, but it's only to belittle us, to make fun of us, or to find more evidence against us. 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:51.280 For two years, I saw Louise, the woman who's now my wife, I saw her in different places in 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:59.120 the university, and I hoped that she would see me. And maybe when she saw me, maybe think, 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:04.080 maybe I should get to know that fellow. I saw her and I wished that she would see me. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:10.639 You know, one of the problems that many people have is maybe they're, as they age, 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:17.599 maybe if they have handicaps, is that people don't really see them. They just see the gray hair or they 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:22.879 just see the handicap, but they don't see through that to see the real person who's there. Or maybe 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:27.919 they just see the color of our skin, but don't see through that to see the real person who's there. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:36.879 And we can go on and on and on. We have complicated relationships to being seen. And in fact, if we 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:41.280 were honest, in seeing others as they really are. The Bible texts that we're going to look at today, 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.240 you know, like a lot of Bible, like a lot of narratives, especially in the book of Joshua, 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:51.520 it seems to be about this and this and this and this. And one of the reasons we're doing Joshua is that 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:56.480 even though it is like ground zero of a place where people will attack the Christian faith and say, 00:03:56.480 --> 00:04:01.360 that's why you shouldn't be a Christian and you shouldn't believe the Bible. But if you deal with those 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:09.040 objections, because of those objections, we don't want to read the book and they frighten us. But the book 00:04:09.040 --> 00:04:14.960 regularly has these profound truths to tell us, which are really, really valuable. And so on one level, 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:19.840 the book seems to be about this. But if you meditate with it and sit upon it, sit with it, 00:04:19.840 --> 00:04:23.840 you realize that it has some very profound things to talk about how the Lord sees people, 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:31.040 how he sees you, and in particular, how he sees you in a way that is filled with grace. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:38.319 And it's beautiful. And if it starts to grip your heart, you'd wish it was true for you, 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:43.759 you. We're more true for you. So we're looking at Joshua chapter 9. We're preaching through the book 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:49.599 of Joshua, not everything verse by verse. And during the announcements, I'll tell a little bit 00:04:49.599 --> 00:04:54.560 about how we're going to... The last three sermons, obviously, there's a lot of books left, the things 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:59.600 that we're going to look at. But we're looking at Joshua 9, because it's a very important story to 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:05.920 understand the book of Joshua. And what's basically about the book of Joshua is about how 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:12.640 the Jewish people come into the promised land, how God fights for them, and so on. There's two 00:05:12.640 --> 00:05:18.240 things going on in the book of Joshua. One is that there's a punishment of the inhabitants there. And 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:25.040 next Sunday, I'm going to bring together all of those threads about that, to have one sort of sermon 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:32.640 finishing that whole thing about the hard parts in the book and God's judgment on the people who are 00:05:32.640 --> 00:05:36.879 already there. So on one hand, it's a judgment on the people who are there. And on the other hand, 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:42.400 it is Israel entering the promised land. And depending on how you date it, whether it's dated around the 00:05:42.400 --> 00:05:50.080 year 1400, around the year 1200 BC, there's been a Jewish presence in the promised land from that date 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:56.159 till today. Not always obviously ruling it, but there's been a Jewish presence. And the book of 00:05:56.159 --> 00:06:01.839 Joshua is about how the Jewish people come into what we, what they would call, what the Bible calls, 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:07.199 the promised land. And well, we'll start reading, and I'll go back and fill in a little bit more 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:12.879 of the context. And let's look at chapter, at verses one and two. And at chapter nine, it goes like this. 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:19.279 As soon as all the kings who are beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, and in the lowland, 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:24.480 all along the coast of the great sea toward Lebanon, now we're going to get a list of names, 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:29.199 which for most of us will start to blur and fall asleep like this, but I'm going to read them anyway. 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:36.719 The Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:44.400 When all of them heard of this, they gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and all 00:06:44.400 --> 00:06:50.160 Israel. Now just sort of pause before we go any further. In some ways, what these first two verses 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:57.040 are, it would be a little bit as if you heard a voiceover on a Netflix or a Prime or a Disney series, 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:04.480 and the voiceover describes what's going to happen in the next four episodes, 9, 10, 11, and 12. 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:09.040 And that's what they do. The countries and the people groups that are mentioned, if you had a map, 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:13.040 you'll see that they're scattered. They're a representative scattering of the entire promised 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:19.120 land. And so what it's saying is that what's going to happen from this point on, and we're 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:24.480 going to return to it, but the line here, when they heard of this, at the very end of verse one, 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:30.319 when they heard of this, that's important, which we'll return to, they basically decide they're 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.400 going to stop, because normally what would happen is they would have been spending their 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:38.079 time fighting each other and killing each other, right? That's what they normally would do. 00:07:38.719 --> 00:07:44.639 Their kingdoms would get bigger and smaller as they fought, invaded, defended against being invaded, 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:48.719 and they decided, we're going to stop fighting each other, and we're going to all unite, and we're 00:07:48.719 --> 00:07:53.599 going to attack Israel, and we're going to defeat Israel. And that's sort of the big theme 00:07:53.600 --> 00:08:01.120 of chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12. But then there's one of, I keep joking, someday I'm going to write a book 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:07.920 called The Big Butts of the Bible, or Why the Bible Likes Big Butts. And I think just with that title, 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:14.240 it would be a huge seller, by the way. But there's one of the Bible's big butts to start verse three. 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:22.879 But, it's a big but, when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:29.600 they, on their part, now just before we go any further, you're going to discover later on that 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:37.680 Gibeon is one of the people, a part of the Hivite people group. So they're part of that group. Everybody 00:08:37.680 --> 00:08:43.039 else is uniting, and they're going to fight Israel. But there's a group that's going to do something 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:48.399 different, a subgroup of one of the groups that's going to do something different. Verse three again, 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:55.039 but when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard that Joshua, what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 00:08:55.679 --> 00:09:03.279 they, on their part, acted with cunning, and went and made ready provisions, and took worn-out sacks 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:09.279 for their donkeys and wineskins, worn-out and torn and mended with worn-out patched sandals on their feet, 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:14.799 and worn-out clothes, and all their provisions were dry and crumbly. This is all part of them being 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:19.600 cunning. They're going to lie, and they're going to deceive. That's what they're going to do. Their 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:27.839 solution is not to fight, but to lie and deceive. And verse six, and they went to Joshua in the camp at 00:09:27.839 --> 00:09:34.159 Gilgal, and said to him, and to the men of Israel, and just, just, sorry, this is just to help you read. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:41.919 Men of Israel is almost always a euphemism for their army. So that's, that's the armed forces. Okay, 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:47.679 that's what it means. So the, that's why it would be wrong to translate it men and women of Israel, 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:54.719 because it's a euphemism for their army. And to the men of Israel, by the way, I think they should just 00:09:54.719 --> 00:09:59.860 translate it army. I don't know why they translated men of Israel, but that's a separate issue. We have 00:09:59.860 --> 00:10:06.419 come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us. But the men of Israel, the army, said to 00:10:06.419 --> 00:10:12.419 the Hivites, perhaps you live among us. Then how can we make a covenant with you? Because they'd known 00:10:12.419 --> 00:10:16.419 that the Lord said, you can't make any covenants with the people in the promised land. You can make 00:10:16.419 --> 00:10:21.240 covenants and treaties with people outside the covenant, the promised land, but you can't with those 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:27.460 within the promised land. And that's because they're under the Lord's judgment, and other reasons 00:10:27.460 --> 00:10:33.300 as well, which we'll talk about next Sunday. They said to Joshua, we are your servants, which is a 00:10:33.300 --> 00:10:38.180 bit of a surprising thing if you want to make a covenant and a treaty. And Joshua said to them, who 00:10:38.180 --> 00:10:44.220 are you, and where do you come from? And they said to him, from a very, very distant country your servants 00:10:44.220 --> 00:10:50.360 have come because of the name of the Lord your God, for we have heard a report of him and all that he did 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:56.200 in Egypt. And here's another one of their lies. They don't want to say, we heard what happened at the 00:10:56.200 --> 00:11:01.700 Jordan River. We heard what happened to Jericho. They don't want to say that, but they have heard 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:06.020 these things, because if they said that, the people of Israel would know that they lived nearby. 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:11.620 So they go back to Egypt. And by the way, this is, some of you might remember a couple of weeks ago, 00:11:11.680 --> 00:11:16.740 I said that one of the things about the whole book of Joshua is chapter one and chapter two of Joshua 00:11:16.740 --> 00:11:22.540 are very important. The story of Rahab shows that it's possible for these pagan Canaanites 00:11:22.539 --> 00:11:27.860 to convert, to cast themselves on the Lord for their mercy, and they would be accepted. 00:11:28.539 --> 00:11:32.779 And so Rahab and her family are suggested, and the last time I preached, two Sundays ago, 00:11:33.179 --> 00:11:38.519 there's these interesting other people now who've also become part of the Jewish people, 00:11:38.699 --> 00:11:44.899 and they're not Jewish. And it's sort of interesting here, because it's now revealing that 00:11:44.899 --> 00:11:50.360 somehow or another, the message of what God had done in the book of Exodus was known to the people 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:56.200 there. It's never explained how it was, but this reveals that there's actually some knowledge of 00:11:56.200 --> 00:12:03.120 what happened in Egypt, and the Exodus, and the law, what we now call the law, or the Pentateuch, 00:12:03.220 --> 00:12:07.240 is actually known to them. Actually, I'll continue reading at the top of verse 10. 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:12.419 And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon, 00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:21.199 the king of Hezhon, and to Og, the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. So our elders, 00:12:21.539 --> 00:12:26.339 verse 11, and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, take provisions in your hand for the 00:12:26.339 --> 00:12:31.719 journey, and go to meet them and say to them, we are your servants, come now make a covenant with us. 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:37.219 Now just sort of pause here, there's going to be a long pause to catch up on some of these things and 00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:44.540 what's going on. So the first thing is, if you read most commentaries on Joshua, or if you read 00:12:44.540 --> 00:12:49.759 most Bible study guides in the book of Joshua, what's about to happen is what they spend all of 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:55.240 their time talking about. Because what's going to happen after this is, you'll get between, we're 00:12:55.240 --> 00:13:00.680 going to keep reading it like about 12 verses down the road or so, but in the next verses, Joshua and 00:13:00.680 --> 00:13:06.320 the people of Israel, they look at all the ratty sandals, and they look at all the moldy bread, 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:12.440 and they look at the erect wine skins, and I'm sure the people of Gibeah have made sure they're all 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:16.480 dusty and don't look like they've washed very much, and they're walking like this, like they're tired 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:21.879 from a long walk. And so most of the sermons, and so the people of Israel do make a covenant with 00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:26.700 these guys, and then they're going to find out that in fact they only live like 20 kilometers away. 00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:31.140 They don't live very far away, and they shouldn't have done it. They discover that they've lied and 00:13:31.140 --> 00:13:35.940 lied and lied and lied, and they showed cunning and deception. And it's going to be that 00:13:35.940 --> 00:13:41.080 the army now is really mad at Joshua and the leaders, and they want to kill all the Gibeonites, 00:13:41.280 --> 00:13:45.240 and Joshua is going to say, we can't do it because we've made a covenant with them for the Lord. 00:13:45.660 --> 00:13:50.820 And so most talks on this are going to emphasize the fact that they made a decision, 00:13:51.920 --> 00:13:56.740 Joshua and the people of Israel made a decision using their common sense, but no prayer. 00:13:58.280 --> 00:14:01.740 And that's going to be the main thing that most commentaries will talk about, 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:06.580 and most devotional works will talk about that. And it's a good lesson, by the way. It's not, 00:14:06.740 --> 00:14:13.340 I think, the main point of the whole chapter, but it's a good lesson that we can just go through life 00:14:13.340 --> 00:14:17.159 and say, yeah, I have this, I have this. Oh yeah, I know that. I can figure that out myself. And then 00:14:17.159 --> 00:14:20.820 we don't actually try to hear what the Bible says, and we don't pray for God's direction. 00:14:21.539 --> 00:14:26.779 And so it's sort of obvious when people have failed to pray and read the God's Word, when they're 00:14:26.779 --> 00:14:32.879 doing something which is just manifestly bad, right? Like, you don't have to, you don't have 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:38.740 to read the Bible and pray to get the Lord's direction as to whether you should lie and slander, 00:14:39.220 --> 00:14:44.659 lie and slander somebody, okay? You don't have to pray about that. You should, don't do it, right? 00:14:44.959 --> 00:14:48.839 But for common sense, and that's normally what the sermons are about, that you always need to be 00:14:48.839 --> 00:14:53.199 seeking the Lord's will and formed by His Word and praying to Him, and that's a good lesson. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:58.560 But that's not what I think is at the heart of what's going on at this book. And what's really 00:14:58.560 --> 00:15:03.240 going on in this book, and the other thing about it is the Bible is not saying it's all right to 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:09.160 show cunning and lie and lie and lie and lie and deceive people. That's not, that's, it's, the Bible's 00:15:09.160 --> 00:15:15.220 not saying that's a good thing to do. It's definitely not saying anything like that. But what is going on 00:15:15.220 --> 00:15:25.379 is really something about idols and about God's grace, and in between that idols and what is in 00:15:25.379 --> 00:15:32.160 our heart in terms of how we live and about God's grace and how He sees us. So if you remember, 00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:38.940 actually if you have, if, Claire, could you put back up on the screen verse 1, and at the end of verse 1, 00:15:38.940 --> 00:15:45.520 they say this. Remember all of the kings, all of the people groups are going to unite in chapter 9, 00:15:45.620 --> 00:15:52.640 10, 11, and 12, but mainly 10, 11, and 12, and fight against the Israelites. And they heard of this. 00:15:52.920 --> 00:15:58.300 That's what causes them to unite. And that's actually one of those little phrases which is really important. 00:15:59.300 --> 00:16:07.760 You see, here's the basic truth. You and I fight really hard to keep our idols enthroned. 00:16:08.940 --> 00:16:16.580 You don't believe me? Try having a person who has an idol of money to give away 10% of their money. 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:25.440 How easy do you think that would be? People who have made an idol of their race, 00:16:25.880 --> 00:16:34.280 how hard will they fight to maintain their racism? People who have made an idol of sex, 00:16:34.280 --> 00:16:38.560 how hard will they fight to keep their pornography addiction hit? 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:47.960 So what's just happened is, on one hand, there has been a gobsmacking miracle, set of miracles, 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:52.880 of the waters of the Jordan River stopping so the people of Israel could cross. 00:16:53.560 --> 00:17:00.600 And then there was another gobsmacking miracle of the walls of Jericho falling down. 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:05.680 And this, you know, as I've said before, it should really cause people to think, 00:17:05.779 --> 00:17:10.519 why on earth are we worshipping these little puny little wooden idols who can't do that? 00:17:11.380 --> 00:17:12.860 Obviously, the Lord is the Lord. 00:17:13.360 --> 00:17:15.279 Like, why is that not happening? 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.620 Why is that? That's part of the whole mystery of the book of Joshua, 00:17:18.620 --> 00:17:20.360 and it's the mystery in the Christian life. 00:17:20.700 --> 00:17:23.240 Why is it when people hear the fine-tuning argument, 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:25.740 why is it then when they hear the argument from design, 00:17:26.099 --> 00:17:30.839 why is it if they start to understand a little bit about how beauty and love and math and truth 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:32.120 point to the existence of God, 00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:37.019 why is it that when they hear about the resurrection of Jesus and the remarkable evidence for it, 00:17:37.299 --> 00:17:38.839 that people's response is to say, 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:40.779 no amount of evidence will ever convince me. 00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:42.380 Like, there's a mystery there. 00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:45.259 But there's something else which is going on here in this text, 00:17:45.259 --> 00:17:48.779 because it's not only that all of these people groups have heard of these things, 00:17:48.779 --> 00:17:52.960 what happens immediately before this, which is what they hear of, 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:56.279 is a covenant renewal ceremony. 00:17:56.519 --> 00:17:59.680 And if you go back later on and read Deuteronomy chapter 27, 00:18:00.139 --> 00:18:04.119 and you'll get what Moses said you're to do when you come into the promised land, 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:05.220 and you're to renew the covenant. 00:18:05.379 --> 00:18:07.420 And in that covenant renewal ceremony, 00:18:07.819 --> 00:18:10.180 what the peoples would have heard is this. 00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:17.079 The complete, massive, thoroughgoing rejection of every idol 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:21.960 and everything connected to an idol formed life. 00:18:22.859 --> 00:18:25.919 A complete repudiation of it. 00:18:26.179 --> 00:18:27.500 Complete repudiation. 00:18:27.819 --> 00:18:29.980 Every idol is to be dismissed. 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:34.019 And if you go back and look at some of the behavior things which are rejected, 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:37.879 it means how idols form you to understand sex, 00:18:37.879 --> 00:18:41.519 how idols form you to understand political power, 00:18:41.980 --> 00:18:45.059 how idols form you to understand how government should work, 00:18:45.059 --> 00:18:50.099 how idols work to understand the whole idea of a family structure, 00:18:50.639 --> 00:18:52.879 and on and on and on and on. 00:18:52.940 --> 00:18:54.879 Whether you can own people, like all of that. 00:18:55.159 --> 00:18:58.039 Every single thing connected to these idols 00:18:58.039 --> 00:19:02.500 and the formation of culture and how you live your daily life 00:19:02.500 --> 00:19:04.059 is completely rejected. 00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:06.220 And now they're worried. 00:19:06.220 --> 00:19:10.819 Now they're worried. 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:14.120 You see, to the pagan mindset, let's say there, 00:19:14.299 --> 00:19:17.120 if you look at that table where it's set for the Lord's Supper, 00:19:17.740 --> 00:19:19.600 and in a sense, the pagan mindset, 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:22.279 which, by the way, is increasingly the Canadian mindset. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:27.019 In fact, secular Canadians are fundamentally pagan in many ways. 00:19:27.380 --> 00:19:31.880 Formed by Christianity, that's a whole other topic of conversation. 00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:38.340 But in the pagan mindset, you can think of the table containing the idols that you worship. 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:44.160 And in a pagan world, you'd want to make sure that there's no spot on the table that doesn't have an idol. 00:19:44.620 --> 00:19:47.900 And what happens is when they meet another idol, which they hadn't thought of before, 00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:51.400 which is more powerful, they'll knock one idol off and they'll add that idol. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:55.840 And so it might very well be that some of them had been wondering up until this thing, 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:56.720 you know, they might be saying, 00:19:56.780 --> 00:19:58.820 well, you know what, the Lord's like a really powerful God. 00:19:58.819 --> 00:20:02.079 God, like maybe we should add him to our table of idols. 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:04.539 And then they might even be thinking, 00:20:04.659 --> 00:20:07.740 well, maybe we'll knock off, you know, this little idol and this little idol, 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:09.319 because maybe the Lord, you know, good grief. 00:20:09.419 --> 00:20:12.899 I mean, he stopped the waters of the Jordan and he knocked down the walls of Jericho. 00:20:12.980 --> 00:20:15.299 He's like, he's not like just a little teeny idol. 00:20:15.379 --> 00:20:18.039 Like maybe he's an idol almost as big as George, you know, 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:22.240 so we have to make a bit of space to put George on the table with all the other idols. 00:20:22.339 --> 00:20:23.639 But all the other idols can stay. 00:20:25.099 --> 00:20:27.399 And we just add the Lord idol. 00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:30.560 And then they hear this covenant renewal ceremony. 00:20:31.360 --> 00:20:32.700 All idols gone. 00:20:33.380 --> 00:20:36.880 There's going to be a table with not a single idol on it, only the Lord. 00:20:38.019 --> 00:20:44.620 And human beings will fight very hard to keep their idols enthroned. 00:20:46.620 --> 00:20:53.240 In 1400 BC and in 2026, urban Ottawa. 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:57.200 We will fight very hard to keep our idols enthroned. 00:21:00.099 --> 00:21:02.519 And so they decide that they're going to fight. 00:21:04.259 --> 00:21:05.180 What is an idol? 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:09.440 Well, of course, in the ancient world, at the time of this, it's very easy. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:19.500 If I want to make an idol around sex or power or money or myself or the king or my family or my cause, 00:21:19.600 --> 00:21:25.100 you actually go and you pay somebody to make something that is aesthetically pleasing 00:21:25.100 --> 00:21:30.680 or seems to serve that purpose, maybe with a great leer or something angry looking, 00:21:30.820 --> 00:21:32.160 and you just get it made. 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:36.480 In our day and age, our idols are fundamentally invisible to us. 00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:37.900 But what is an idol? 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:40.700 An idol is something you can't live without. 00:21:41.779 --> 00:21:44.000 An idol is something that you serve. 00:21:44.860 --> 00:21:47.019 An idol is something that gives your life meaning. 00:21:47.840 --> 00:21:50.220 An idol is what forms your identity. 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:55.519 An idol is what forms your telos, like where you're headed in life. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:22:01.220 An idol is connected to what is the good life, how you evaluate yourself and others, 00:22:01.379 --> 00:22:04.539 what defines the good life, what you put your faith and trust in. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:07.379 And those are what idols are. 00:22:07.879 --> 00:22:12.960 And the Bible reveals that, in fact, most of the things that we make idols of, 00:22:13.019 --> 00:22:15.859 not all of them, but many of the things that we make idols of, 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:18.099 are good in and of themselves. 00:22:18.099 --> 00:22:25.819 But when they become that which forms us and to which we are going to serve, 00:22:26.199 --> 00:22:28.000 it becomes an idol. 00:22:28.859 --> 00:22:30.439 There's nothing wrong with money. 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:33.599 Nothing wrong with money. 00:22:33.899 --> 00:22:37.579 The Bible does not say that the people with the most money are the most evil. 00:22:37.939 --> 00:22:39.199 We are not communists. 00:22:40.699 --> 00:22:44.039 In fact, you could not possibly be a communist and be a Christian, 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:47.279 and amongst other things is whenever communists get in power, 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:49.480 they like to kill Christians, 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:52.799 just to make it so it's not that hard to understand, 00:22:52.980 --> 00:22:56.420 although, of course, in the West, that's very hard for many people to understand. 00:22:57.740 --> 00:23:01.920 And we should be concerned that there's an increasing number of people under 30 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:03.619 who think communism's a good thing. 00:23:04.899 --> 00:23:09.779 I have a person who's quite woke that we're in a good friendship with, 00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:11.359 despite the fact that I'm a Christian. 00:23:11.980 --> 00:23:15.160 And one day we were talking, and I just said jokingly to her, 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:18.600 listen, the way I try to live my life is that when people like you get in power, 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:20.820 I'm the first one you want to put against the wall to shoot. 00:23:22.620 --> 00:23:23.660 Nobody laughed at that. 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:25.180 Well, anyway, it's a bit of a... 00:23:25.180 --> 00:23:28.259 She chuckled at it and knew that I was just joking, 00:23:28.660 --> 00:23:31.279 but not entirely. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:39.000 But anyway, the thing about modern idols is they stay invisible to you, 00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:44.039 and they also make you think you can see idols in others. 00:23:45.779 --> 00:23:50.119 So I can sure tell the people who have their idols, 00:23:50.259 --> 00:23:51.460 or maybe about how they look, 00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:53.259 or their idols are about money, 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:54.720 or their idols are about power, 00:23:54.839 --> 00:23:56.920 or their idols are about their political cause, 00:23:56.980 --> 00:23:58.660 or their idols are about their children, 00:23:58.839 --> 00:24:00.779 or their idols are about this or that. 00:24:00.779 --> 00:24:02.240 I think I can identify them. 00:24:02.899 --> 00:24:04.119 And my idols say, 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:07.039 I can help you identify those types of idols. 00:24:07.460 --> 00:24:10.539 And we never take for a moment to think that that other person, 00:24:10.700 --> 00:24:12.200 that I'm in my mind thinking, 00:24:12.299 --> 00:24:13.399 I can figure out your idols. 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:15.299 They're saying that about me. 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:18.339 And they're saying that about you. 00:24:19.660 --> 00:24:21.599 I know what George's idols are. 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:23.980 Because having idols is a human problem. 00:24:24.879 --> 00:24:27.299 It's not an outsider problem, but a human problem. 00:24:27.299 --> 00:24:32.119 And the other thing about it, of course, 00:24:32.119 --> 00:24:36.339 is that we think that if we serve our idols, 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:38.919 no, if we have an idol, 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:42.180 so nobody ever takes an idol to serve, per se. 00:24:42.539 --> 00:24:46.000 Everybody picks an idol thinking they can use the idol 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:47.559 to attain the good life, 00:24:48.099 --> 00:24:52.000 not realizing that you never use an idol. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:55.259 Idol. Idols only use you. 00:24:57.460 --> 00:24:59.099 You never use an idol. 00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:01.279 Idols only use you. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:06.680 So, most of the people, 00:25:07.059 --> 00:25:10.099 they decide that they're going to fight 00:25:10.099 --> 00:25:13.059 because their idols are threatened, 00:25:13.059 --> 00:25:16.319 and the Lord seems to be very serious about it. 00:25:16.659 --> 00:25:18.700 Gibeonites choose a different response. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:21.159 So, what is it about the Gibeonites? 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:23.039 Is it just that they're maybe very better 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:24.399 at recognizing their idols 00:25:24.399 --> 00:25:26.700 and they're sort of somehow more virtuous? 00:25:26.919 --> 00:25:28.240 Well, we know they're not more virtuous. 00:25:28.460 --> 00:25:29.720 Why do we know they're not more virtuous? 00:25:29.899 --> 00:25:31.379 Well, because they lie, and then they lie, 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:33.240 and then they lie, and then heck, what the heck? 00:25:33.379 --> 00:25:35.460 Let's lie again, and then deceive. 00:25:35.980 --> 00:25:39.079 And so we know that they're not more virtuous. 00:25:39.079 --> 00:25:42.119 Well, the end of the story here 00:25:42.119 --> 00:25:44.179 will help us to understand what else is going on. 00:25:44.259 --> 00:25:47.559 So, if you skip down to verse 22, 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:51.059 we'll read the last little bit of this story 00:25:51.059 --> 00:25:51.980 of the Gibeonites. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:55.699 And Joshua summoned them, and he said to them, 00:25:55.799 --> 00:25:58.480 Why did you deceive us, saying we are very far from you 00:25:58.480 --> 00:25:59.599 when you dwell among us? 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:01.279 Verse 23, 00:26:02.299 --> 00:26:03.919 Now therefore you are cursed. 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:06.899 We're going to return to what that means. 00:26:06.900 --> 00:26:09.019 Now therefore you are cursed. 00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:13.660 And some of you shall never be anything but servants, 00:26:14.560 --> 00:26:17.019 cutters of wood and drawers of water 00:26:17.019 --> 00:26:19.259 for the house of my God. 00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:21.740 They answered Joshua, 00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:24.880 Because it was told to us, your servants, 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:26.660 for a certainty that the Lord your God 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:28.120 had commanded his servant Moses 00:26:28.120 --> 00:26:29.519 to give you all the land 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:31.820 and destroy all the inhabitants of the land 00:26:31.820 --> 00:26:32.720 from before you, 00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:35.519 so we feared greatly for our lives 00:26:35.519 --> 00:26:37.299 because of you and did this thing. 00:26:38.180 --> 00:26:39.240 Now I've skipped some other things 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:40.000 that they said earlier, 00:26:40.220 --> 00:26:42.180 but just, anyway, keep moving. 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:44.220 And now behold, we are in your hand. 00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:46.180 Whatever seems good and right 00:26:46.180 --> 00:26:48.019 in your sight to do to us, do it. 00:26:48.900 --> 00:26:52.200 Now Moses delivered them 00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:54.319 out of the hand of the people of Israel, 00:26:54.700 --> 00:26:56.740 and he didn't allow the people of Israel 00:26:56.740 --> 00:26:57.420 from killing them. 00:26:57.500 --> 00:26:59.639 That's a summary of a wooden translation 00:26:59.640 --> 00:27:00.700 of verse 26. 00:27:01.259 --> 00:27:02.020 Verse 27, 00:27:02.100 --> 00:27:03.580 But Joshua made them that day 00:27:03.580 --> 00:27:05.240 cutters of wood and drawers of water 00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:06.500 for the congregation 00:27:06.500 --> 00:27:08.200 and for the altar of the Lord 00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:10.680 to this day in that place 00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:11.840 that he should choose. 00:27:12.120 --> 00:27:12.980 So he did that. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:15.020 So what's going on in here? 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:20.180 Well, when I was in the Diocese of Ottawa, 00:27:20.500 --> 00:27:22.380 I was a, from the point of view 00:27:22.380 --> 00:27:24.100 of the culture of the Diocese of Ottawa, 00:27:24.100 --> 00:27:26.280 because I was an Orthodox evangelical, 00:27:26.279 --> 00:27:28.720 I was considered to be a bit 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:30.440 of a problematic priest, 00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:33.319 because I didn't fit in with the culture. 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:35.559 And so one of the things that they did, 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:37.079 there are several things that they did 00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:38.279 for problematic priests. 00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:40.500 The first one, I was just too thick, 00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:43.500 not holy, but just too thick to notice it. 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:46.000 They kept me off of all the committees 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:48.299 where I could meet the great poobahs, 00:27:48.819 --> 00:27:51.279 and I just, I didn't care about the poobahs, 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:52.920 and I thought the idea of going to a, 00:27:52.980 --> 00:27:54.539 sitting around a day-long meeting, 00:27:54.660 --> 00:27:56.000 talking about nothing accomplishing, 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:57.900 nothing with poobahs was like a punishment. 00:27:58.420 --> 00:27:59.279 But for many people, 00:27:59.380 --> 00:28:00.660 they thought it was like a reward. 00:28:01.180 --> 00:28:02.140 So I didn't notice it. 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:03.440 And then it wasn't until later, 00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:05.299 I realized that the second thing they did 00:28:05.299 --> 00:28:06.779 to punish me, so to speak, 00:28:06.819 --> 00:28:08.200 was to send me to Eganville, 00:28:08.420 --> 00:28:10.480 and a very, very rural parish. 00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:12.299 And once again, it was only later, 00:28:12.380 --> 00:28:14.019 I realized that that was a type of punishment, 00:28:14.019 --> 00:28:15.240 because the people they liked, 00:28:15.319 --> 00:28:18.119 they sent something close to the city, 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:19.859 or like somewhere which was like cool, 00:28:20.099 --> 00:28:22.019 like, or interesting, like Perth. 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:24.559 But to send people far away to a huge parish, 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:26.599 which was very rural and lower working class, 00:28:26.639 --> 00:28:27.220 was a punishment. 00:28:27.339 --> 00:28:29.179 They didn't realize that Louise and I were hoping 00:28:29.179 --> 00:28:31.039 we would go to a place like Eganville. 00:28:31.419 --> 00:28:33.039 That's why we were too thick to realize 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:34.220 they were trying to punish us. 00:28:34.599 --> 00:28:35.759 But here's the thing. 00:28:36.460 --> 00:28:37.700 For most people, 00:28:38.379 --> 00:28:39.759 we would rather 00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:43.559 rule in hell, 00:28:43.559 --> 00:28:46.379 no matter how tiny hell was, 00:28:46.859 --> 00:28:47.919 than serve in heaven. 00:28:49.579 --> 00:28:50.279 That line, 00:28:50.399 --> 00:28:51.980 to rule in hell rather than to serve in heaven, 00:28:52.099 --> 00:28:53.839 comes from Milton's Paradise Lost, 00:28:53.940 --> 00:28:56.679 a great poem of the 1600s, 00:28:57.059 --> 00:28:57.940 describing the devil. 00:28:58.740 --> 00:28:59.200 That you, 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:00.399 most human beings, 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:02.379 would rather rule in hell, 00:29:02.500 --> 00:29:04.480 even if it's really tiny and shrinking, 00:29:04.899 --> 00:29:06.539 than to serve the Lord 00:29:06.539 --> 00:29:10.480 in the vast expanses of beauty 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:12.259 and glory of heaven. 00:29:13.099 --> 00:29:15.579 And if your heart says, 00:29:15.980 --> 00:29:20.200 I would rather rule in a tiny shrinking corner of hell 00:29:20.200 --> 00:29:21.460 than serve in heaven, 00:29:21.980 --> 00:29:24.639 no punishment could be greater 00:29:24.639 --> 00:29:26.480 than to be told 00:29:26.480 --> 00:29:28.879 you had to serve the Lord. 00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:35.580 But if 00:29:35.580 --> 00:29:38.420 you have thrown yourself 00:29:38.420 --> 00:29:40.100 upon the mercy of the Lord, 00:29:40.940 --> 00:29:42.840 you will view this 00:29:42.840 --> 00:29:44.520 as on one level a punishment, 00:29:45.060 --> 00:29:47.100 but as a mercy and a grace. 00:29:49.180 --> 00:29:50.520 So this text, 00:29:50.700 --> 00:29:53.140 in our emotional reaction to the punishment, 00:29:53.560 --> 00:29:55.400 tells us something about our hearts. 00:29:56.440 --> 00:29:57.240 Our hearts, 00:29:57.240 --> 00:29:59.000 not only do our hearts worship idols, 00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:00.380 but in our hearts, 00:30:00.539 --> 00:30:01.839 we would rather rule in hell 00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:03.180 than serve in heaven, 00:30:03.579 --> 00:30:05.620 even if that heaven is shrinking. 00:30:07.019 --> 00:30:10.420 And the whole lie that idols 00:30:10.420 --> 00:30:13.000 and our fallen heart tell us 00:30:13.000 --> 00:30:15.539 about serving the Lord 00:30:15.539 --> 00:30:16.500 rather than rule, 00:30:17.019 --> 00:30:19.579 that we had better to rule in hell 00:30:19.579 --> 00:30:20.579 than to serve in heaven, 00:30:20.680 --> 00:30:22.579 there's a bit of a quarter truth there, 00:30:22.700 --> 00:30:23.859 a quarter truth. 00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:26.200 And when you have a quarter truth 00:30:26.200 --> 00:30:30.059 buried surrounding the deeper lie, 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:32.400 we swallow it very easily. 00:30:33.080 --> 00:30:34.279 Because as I gave up 00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:35.819 in my earlier examples 00:30:35.819 --> 00:30:38.640 about having had at some time 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:40.240 a boss that just looked at me 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:41.860 to get me in trouble, 00:30:42.900 --> 00:30:44.519 in the final years 00:30:44.519 --> 00:30:45.640 in the Diocese of Ottawa, 00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:47.220 I knew that I was being watched 00:30:47.220 --> 00:30:48.140 very closely 00:30:48.140 --> 00:30:49.259 because they wanted 00:30:49.259 --> 00:30:50.340 to get me in trouble. 00:30:50.339 --> 00:30:52.339 And because of that, 00:30:52.399 --> 00:30:53.500 we are very leery 00:30:53.500 --> 00:30:54.539 about serving. 00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:56.679 But, you know, 00:30:57.039 --> 00:30:58.599 the fact of the matter is 00:30:58.599 --> 00:30:59.980 it's only a quarter truth. 00:31:00.099 --> 00:31:00.859 We should be worried 00:31:00.859 --> 00:31:02.139 about serving tyrants. 00:31:03.439 --> 00:31:05.159 That's a valid type of fear. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:06.139 We should be worried 00:31:06.139 --> 00:31:07.159 about serving people 00:31:07.159 --> 00:31:07.839 that hate us. 00:31:07.879 --> 00:31:09.000 That's a valid fear. 00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:12.139 But there is a greater truth. 00:31:13.619 --> 00:31:15.459 There's this very profound story 00:31:15.459 --> 00:31:16.220 that is at the heart 00:31:16.220 --> 00:31:16.759 of the Bible 00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:17.379 that God, 00:31:17.500 --> 00:31:18.379 the Son of God, 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:20.319 fully and truly divine, 00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:22.019 set aside His divine nature 00:31:22.019 --> 00:31:22.700 and splendor 00:31:22.700 --> 00:31:23.480 and prerogatives. 00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:25.579 And in complete love, 00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:26.619 eternal love 00:31:26.619 --> 00:31:27.720 between the Father 00:31:27.720 --> 00:31:28.220 and the Son 00:31:28.220 --> 00:31:29.680 and the Holy Spirit, 00:31:29.819 --> 00:31:31.019 out of the abundance 00:31:31.019 --> 00:31:32.019 of the love 00:31:32.019 --> 00:31:34.000 of the eternal triune God, 00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:35.779 God, the Son of God, 00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:37.099 set aside His glory 00:31:37.099 --> 00:31:37.759 and divine prerogatives 00:31:38.339 --> 00:31:39.259 and splendors, 00:31:39.599 --> 00:31:40.500 all of the worship 00:31:40.500 --> 00:31:42.079 which is properly due to Him, 00:31:42.379 --> 00:31:43.799 He set that all aside 00:31:43.799 --> 00:31:45.319 but remaining by Himself, 00:31:45.460 --> 00:31:46.400 being truly God 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:47.460 and His essential nature, 00:31:47.600 --> 00:31:48.420 took into Himself 00:31:48.420 --> 00:31:49.360 our human nature 00:31:49.360 --> 00:31:51.680 and humbled Himself 00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:52.640 to the point 00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:53.600 of being born, 00:31:54.280 --> 00:31:55.759 put in the womb 00:31:55.759 --> 00:31:56.759 of the Virgin Mary 00:31:56.759 --> 00:31:59.240 and walking amongst us 00:31:59.240 --> 00:32:01.519 in a lower working class life 00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:02.560 under an oppressed 00:32:02.560 --> 00:32:04.320 and captive people. 00:32:05.340 --> 00:32:06.320 And there's a time 00:32:06.320 --> 00:32:07.320 shortly before 00:32:07.320 --> 00:32:09.019 His crucifixion 00:32:09.019 --> 00:32:10.680 where James and John 00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:12.000 are arguing about 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:13.759 why they should be sitting, 00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:14.980 they want to be the ones 00:32:14.980 --> 00:32:16.240 to sit beside Jesus 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:17.500 when He comes in His kingdom. 00:32:17.620 --> 00:32:18.039 They're thinking 00:32:18.039 --> 00:32:18.700 He's going to come 00:32:18.700 --> 00:32:20.039 and kill all the Romans 00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:21.380 and their Jewish people 00:32:21.380 --> 00:32:22.039 are going to rule 00:32:22.039 --> 00:32:23.900 and they want to be the ones 00:32:23.900 --> 00:32:25.299 sitting at Jesus' right hand 00:32:25.299 --> 00:32:25.759 and left. 00:32:25.980 --> 00:32:27.120 And the other disciples 00:32:27.120 --> 00:32:28.960 were all upset about that 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:29.900 because they'd like 00:32:29.900 --> 00:32:30.880 to have those positions 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:31.920 and they talked to Jesus 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:32.460 about it. 00:32:32.620 --> 00:32:33.720 And if you go back 00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:34.200 and look it up 00:32:34.200 --> 00:32:35.339 in Mark chapter 10 00:32:35.339 --> 00:32:36.799 verses 45, 00:32:36.920 --> 00:32:37.860 Mark 10, 45, 00:32:37.980 --> 00:32:38.799 you can go and look it up. 00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:39.819 And it said, 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:40.960 I did not come 00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:41.940 to be served 00:32:41.940 --> 00:32:43.799 but to serve 00:32:43.799 --> 00:32:45.740 and to give my life 00:32:45.740 --> 00:32:47.500 as a ransom for many. 00:32:48.539 --> 00:32:50.019 I did not come 00:32:50.019 --> 00:32:50.940 to be served 00:32:50.940 --> 00:32:52.680 but to serve 00:32:52.680 --> 00:32:54.359 and to give my life 00:32:54.359 --> 00:32:55.480 as a ransom for many. 00:32:55.879 --> 00:32:57.159 And the word ransom 00:32:57.159 --> 00:32:58.799 is a slave word. 00:32:59.639 --> 00:33:01.639 It's delivering a person 00:33:01.639 --> 00:33:02.480 from slavery. 00:33:02.779 --> 00:33:03.559 And Jesus saw 00:33:03.559 --> 00:33:04.700 that we were enslaved 00:33:04.700 --> 00:33:06.200 to idols. 00:33:06.440 --> 00:33:07.240 We were enslaved 00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:08.380 to our appetites. 00:33:08.500 --> 00:33:09.259 We were enslaved 00:33:09.259 --> 00:33:10.680 to our fear of death. 00:33:11.160 --> 00:33:12.059 We were enslaved 00:33:12.059 --> 00:33:12.880 to demons 00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:14.579 and evil spirits. 00:33:14.579 --> 00:33:15.380 And he saw 00:33:15.380 --> 00:33:16.700 our great slavery 00:33:16.700 --> 00:33:17.880 and he came 00:33:17.880 --> 00:33:19.640 and walked amongst us. 00:33:20.500 --> 00:33:22.160 And on the cross, 00:33:22.460 --> 00:33:23.599 he in a sense, 00:33:23.700 --> 00:33:24.880 a very real sense, 00:33:24.980 --> 00:33:26.859 a mystical but true sense, 00:33:27.400 --> 00:33:28.339 a transcendent 00:33:28.339 --> 00:33:29.000 and eternal 00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:30.240 yet imminent sense 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:31.180 that can be made real 00:33:31.180 --> 00:33:31.980 in your life, 00:33:32.900 --> 00:33:34.700 he offered to have you 00:33:34.700 --> 00:33:35.960 come into him 00:33:35.960 --> 00:33:37.460 so that he would 00:33:37.460 --> 00:33:38.799 enter into the slavery 00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:40.140 that you were already in 00:33:40.140 --> 00:33:41.840 and he would pay the price 00:33:41.840 --> 00:33:43.000 so that you could be 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:44.299 delivered from slavery 00:33:44.299 --> 00:33:45.940 into freedom, 00:33:46.440 --> 00:33:47.220 his freedom 00:33:47.220 --> 00:33:48.160 and union with him. 00:33:48.680 --> 00:33:49.420 And that is 00:33:49.420 --> 00:33:50.539 the new true story. 00:33:52.319 --> 00:33:53.940 And so as that story 00:33:53.940 --> 00:33:55.200 forms us, 00:33:55.819 --> 00:33:56.720 it forms us 00:33:56.720 --> 00:33:57.700 to understand 00:33:57.700 --> 00:33:59.160 on one hand, 00:33:59.779 --> 00:34:00.779 there are times 00:34:00.779 --> 00:34:02.259 when that gospel story 00:34:02.259 --> 00:34:02.900 of God, 00:34:02.980 --> 00:34:03.720 the Son of God, 00:34:03.819 --> 00:34:05.200 taking on our human nature 00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:06.360 and dying 00:34:06.360 --> 00:34:07.220 as a, 00:34:07.360 --> 00:34:08.559 to serve us, 00:34:08.659 --> 00:34:09.199 to die 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:10.300 so that we would be 00:34:10.300 --> 00:34:11.679 delivered from slavery 00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:12.840 into his freedom. 00:34:13.260 --> 00:34:14.360 And as that truth 00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:15.400 brings, 00:34:15.740 --> 00:34:16.820 gets home to us, 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:18.019 our sense of identity 00:34:18.019 --> 00:34:19.500 in that becomes stronger. 00:34:20.139 --> 00:34:20.599 And like, 00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:21.320 we have a good, 00:34:21.699 --> 00:34:22.659 proper sense of identity 00:34:22.659 --> 00:34:24.199 and it creates within us 00:34:24.199 --> 00:34:26.340 when it properly happens 00:34:26.340 --> 00:34:27.460 that we do not 00:34:27.460 --> 00:34:29.139 kowtow to tyrants 00:34:29.139 --> 00:34:30.380 and to injustice 00:34:30.380 --> 00:34:31.820 and to evil, 00:34:31.820 --> 00:34:33.420 but we stand 00:34:33.420 --> 00:34:35.000 against injustice 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:36.000 and tyrants 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:36.720 and evil 00:34:36.720 --> 00:34:38.500 and do not serve them. 00:34:39.980 --> 00:34:40.900 We choose 00:34:40.900 --> 00:34:42.000 the firing wall 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:43.720 in a communist utopia 00:34:43.720 --> 00:34:45.380 which kills 00:34:45.380 --> 00:34:46.460 tens of millions 00:34:46.460 --> 00:34:47.840 of people gladly 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:49.780 than to join 00:34:49.780 --> 00:34:50.320 the party. 00:34:52.860 --> 00:34:54.160 We stand 00:34:54.160 --> 00:34:55.140 against tyrants, 00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:57.039 but we serve 00:34:57.039 --> 00:34:58.260 children 00:34:58.260 --> 00:34:59.300 and widows 00:34:59.300 --> 00:35:00.440 and orphans. 00:35:00.820 --> 00:35:01.360 We serve 00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:01.980 truth 00:35:01.980 --> 00:35:02.820 and goodness 00:35:02.820 --> 00:35:03.580 and beauty. 00:35:03.800 --> 00:35:04.500 We serve 00:35:04.500 --> 00:35:05.539 justice. 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:06.760 Husbands 00:35:06.760 --> 00:35:07.420 are learning 00:35:07.420 --> 00:35:08.140 to serve 00:35:08.140 --> 00:35:08.880 their wives 00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:09.480 and wives 00:35:09.480 --> 00:35:09.940 are learning 00:35:09.940 --> 00:35:10.480 to serve 00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:11.240 their husbands 00:35:11.240 --> 00:35:12.440 and parents 00:35:12.440 --> 00:35:12.920 are learning 00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:13.600 to serve 00:35:13.600 --> 00:35:14.280 their children 00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:15.060 by helping them 00:35:15.060 --> 00:35:15.519 to walk 00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:16.100 in the truth. 00:35:16.460 --> 00:35:17.140 And we learn 00:35:17.140 --> 00:35:17.780 to serve 00:35:17.780 --> 00:35:18.320 each other 00:35:18.320 --> 00:35:19.039 in the church 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:19.980 and we learn 00:35:19.980 --> 00:35:20.660 to serve 00:35:20.660 --> 00:35:21.420 our companies 00:35:21.420 --> 00:35:22.160 for the true 00:35:22.160 --> 00:35:22.640 thriving 00:35:22.640 --> 00:35:23.580 of the public good 00:35:23.579 --> 00:35:24.639 and the Lord 00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:25.920 comes and reorders 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:27.719 our disordered 00:35:27.719 --> 00:35:28.659 affections 00:35:28.659 --> 00:35:30.539 and whole way 00:35:30.539 --> 00:35:31.579 of seeing the world 00:35:31.579 --> 00:35:32.500 from the perspective 00:35:32.500 --> 00:35:33.179 of idols 00:35:33.179 --> 00:35:34.299 and often idols 00:35:34.299 --> 00:35:35.119 of class 00:35:35.119 --> 00:35:36.319 and of race 00:35:36.319 --> 00:35:37.500 and of the other 00:35:37.500 --> 00:35:38.980 and of skin color 00:35:38.980 --> 00:35:40.739 and of language groups 00:35:40.739 --> 00:35:41.639 and we're learning 00:35:41.639 --> 00:35:42.759 to die to these 00:35:42.759 --> 00:35:43.340 distinctions 00:35:43.340 --> 00:35:44.659 to serve the Lord 00:35:44.659 --> 00:35:45.400 who is the Lord 00:35:45.400 --> 00:35:46.199 of all 00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:47.460 and to be formed 00:35:47.460 --> 00:35:47.860 in a way 00:35:47.860 --> 00:35:49.199 to stand against evil 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:49.940 and to serve 00:35:49.940 --> 00:35:50.819 that which is good. 00:35:53.579 --> 00:35:55.139 That is how 00:35:55.139 --> 00:35:56.400 the gospel forms us. 00:35:57.360 --> 00:35:58.219 So how about 00:35:58.219 --> 00:35:59.039 the Gibeonites? 00:36:00.179 --> 00:36:01.139 The main part 00:36:01.139 --> 00:36:01.719 of the story 00:36:01.719 --> 00:36:02.619 is the division 00:36:02.619 --> 00:36:03.319 of that word 00:36:03.319 --> 00:36:03.699 but. 00:36:04.599 --> 00:36:05.840 Will we choose 00:36:05.840 --> 00:36:07.960 to keep our idols 00:36:07.960 --> 00:36:08.679 enthroned 00:36:08.679 --> 00:36:09.880 and fight against 00:36:09.880 --> 00:36:10.239 the good, 00:36:10.360 --> 00:36:10.579 the true, 00:36:10.639 --> 00:36:11.079 and the beautiful 00:36:11.079 --> 00:36:11.719 and fight against 00:36:11.719 --> 00:36:12.119 the Lord? 00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:13.299 Or will we be 00:36:13.299 --> 00:36:14.119 like the Gibeonites? 00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:14.920 The fact of the matter 00:36:14.920 --> 00:36:15.279 is, 00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:16.139 if you want to know 00:36:16.139 --> 00:36:17.139 who the Gibeonites are, 00:36:17.799 --> 00:36:18.880 if I had all the true 00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:19.639 Christians in the room 00:36:19.639 --> 00:36:20.159 stand, 00:36:21.159 --> 00:36:22.719 we are the Gibeonites. 00:36:23.579 --> 00:36:25.219 Our conversion 00:36:25.219 --> 00:36:27.619 or our accepting 00:36:27.619 --> 00:36:28.840 of our conversion 00:36:28.840 --> 00:36:30.739 is with mixed motives 00:36:30.739 --> 00:36:31.920 and impure 00:36:31.920 --> 00:36:34.340 and bad knowledge. 00:36:35.699 --> 00:36:37.380 The Gibeonites 00:36:37.380 --> 00:36:38.779 did something wrong. 00:36:39.659 --> 00:36:40.779 They lied 00:36:40.779 --> 00:36:41.739 and deceived. 00:36:42.819 --> 00:36:44.119 But their desire 00:36:44.119 --> 00:36:45.719 to be the Lord's 00:36:45.719 --> 00:36:46.679 was sincere. 00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:48.659 And this is how 00:36:48.659 --> 00:36:49.539 the Lord sees us 00:36:49.539 --> 00:36:50.159 through the eyes 00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:50.779 of grace. 00:36:51.319 --> 00:36:51.960 He doesn't look 00:36:51.960 --> 00:36:52.719 at George and say, 00:36:52.719 --> 00:36:53.459 oh, George couldn't 00:36:53.459 --> 00:36:54.239 have become a Christian 00:36:54.239 --> 00:36:54.899 in grade 12. 00:36:55.019 --> 00:36:55.439 Good grief. 00:36:55.579 --> 00:36:55.759 I mean, 00:36:55.799 --> 00:36:56.199 he didn't even 00:36:56.199 --> 00:36:57.000 really want me. 00:36:57.099 --> 00:36:57.579 He just wanted 00:36:57.579 --> 00:36:58.199 a feeling. 00:36:58.699 --> 00:36:59.039 And he didn't 00:36:59.039 --> 00:36:59.819 really want me. 00:36:59.939 --> 00:37:00.339 He just wanted 00:37:00.339 --> 00:37:00.599 to be able 00:37:00.599 --> 00:37:01.219 to hang around 00:37:01.219 --> 00:37:01.959 certain people. 00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:02.619 And he didn't 00:37:02.619 --> 00:37:02.980 really know 00:37:02.980 --> 00:37:03.719 anything proper 00:37:03.719 --> 00:37:04.500 about me. 00:37:04.639 --> 00:37:05.159 He just had 00:37:05.159 --> 00:37:06.019 a few little things 00:37:06.019 --> 00:37:06.519 about me 00:37:06.519 --> 00:37:07.199 that he liked. 00:37:07.579 --> 00:37:08.259 And even when 00:37:08.259 --> 00:37:08.839 I would reveal 00:37:08.839 --> 00:37:09.359 some things 00:37:09.359 --> 00:37:09.939 to him about 00:37:09.939 --> 00:37:10.539 my will, 00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:11.339 he didn't like 00:37:11.339 --> 00:37:12.159 that and rejected 00:37:12.159 --> 00:37:12.379 it. 00:37:12.419 --> 00:37:12.859 So I'm not 00:37:12.859 --> 00:37:13.379 going to accept 00:37:13.379 --> 00:37:14.279 George because 00:37:14.279 --> 00:37:15.500 he has too many 00:37:15.500 --> 00:37:16.359 different issues 00:37:16.359 --> 00:37:17.139 going on in his 00:37:17.139 --> 00:37:17.459 life. 00:37:17.579 --> 00:37:18.039 And it's not, 00:37:18.119 --> 00:37:18.759 his conversion 00:37:18.759 --> 00:37:20.379 isn't astute enough. 00:37:20.380 --> 00:37:20.860 And it's not 00:37:20.860 --> 00:37:21.480 deep enough. 00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:21.920 And it's not 00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:22.360 pure enough. 00:37:22.460 --> 00:37:23.260 No, no, no, no, 00:37:23.260 --> 00:37:23.920 no, no, no, no. 00:37:23.960 --> 00:37:24.539 That's not how 00:37:24.539 --> 00:37:25.660 grace looks at you. 00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:28.000 God left heaven 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:29.440 to come and ransom me. 00:37:30.160 --> 00:37:31.059 And if I had to 00:37:31.059 --> 00:37:31.880 wait for perfection, 00:37:32.039 --> 00:37:32.519 I would still 00:37:32.519 --> 00:37:33.260 not be a Christian. 00:37:33.380 --> 00:37:34.099 Neither would you. 00:37:34.840 --> 00:37:35.380 Don't matter how 00:37:35.380 --> 00:37:35.940 good you are, 00:37:36.019 --> 00:37:36.820 you wouldn't be either. 00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:38.660 But how does 00:37:38.660 --> 00:37:39.640 the Lord see you? 00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:41.019 He looks and 00:37:41.019 --> 00:37:42.000 sees George. 00:37:42.039 --> 00:37:43.140 And he sees George. 00:37:43.220 --> 00:37:43.460 And yeah, 00:37:43.500 --> 00:37:44.200 this is wrong. 00:37:44.260 --> 00:37:45.019 And this is a half 00:37:45.019 --> 00:37:45.340 truth. 00:37:45.340 --> 00:37:45.980 And this is going 00:37:45.980 --> 00:37:46.940 in the wrong direction. 00:37:47.079 --> 00:37:47.900 This is all wrong. 00:37:48.160 --> 00:37:48.740 And he looks 00:37:48.740 --> 00:37:49.400 and he sees you. 00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:49.940 And it isn't that he 00:37:49.940 --> 00:37:50.760 sees something good 00:37:50.760 --> 00:37:51.240 in you. 00:37:52.320 --> 00:37:53.240 But he sees 00:37:53.240 --> 00:37:54.700 some tiny little 00:37:54.700 --> 00:37:56.519 sliver of true 00:37:56.519 --> 00:37:57.760 desire for him. 00:37:58.000 --> 00:37:58.840 And he goes, 00:37:59.440 --> 00:37:59.840 Ah, 00:38:00.220 --> 00:38:02.139 I will take him 00:38:02.139 --> 00:38:02.880 for myself. 00:38:05.579 --> 00:38:07.160 I will save him. 00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:09.340 I will ransom him. 00:38:09.920 --> 00:38:10.800 I will give him 00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:11.480 a new identity. 00:38:11.940 --> 00:38:12.860 I will give him 00:38:12.860 --> 00:38:13.519 a new future. 00:38:14.119 --> 00:38:15.160 I will give him 00:38:15.160 --> 00:38:15.860 my righteousness 00:38:15.860 --> 00:38:16.619 and I will take 00:38:16.619 --> 00:38:18.079 upon myself his sin. 00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:19.519 I see 00:38:19.519 --> 00:38:21.000 the sliver 00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:22.219 of faith 00:38:22.219 --> 00:38:23.539 in George. 00:38:24.960 --> 00:38:26.059 The Gibeonites 00:38:26.059 --> 00:38:27.099 had a sliver 00:38:27.099 --> 00:38:28.360 of true faith. 00:38:28.940 --> 00:38:29.579 How do you know? 00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:32.159 The conquest 00:38:32.159 --> 00:38:33.039 of Israel 00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:34.039 would take, 00:38:34.119 --> 00:38:35.079 of the promised land 00:38:35.079 --> 00:38:35.579 would take about 00:38:35.579 --> 00:38:36.480 another ten years. 00:38:36.719 --> 00:38:37.519 And at no point 00:38:37.519 --> 00:38:37.920 in time 00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:38.920 in those ten years 00:38:38.920 --> 00:38:39.860 did the Gibeonites 00:38:39.860 --> 00:38:40.659 ever join 00:38:40.659 --> 00:38:41.460 the numerically 00:38:41.460 --> 00:38:42.119 superior 00:38:42.119 --> 00:38:43.460 and technologically 00:38:43.460 --> 00:38:44.619 superior people 00:38:44.619 --> 00:38:45.619 attacking Israel. 00:38:45.619 --> 00:38:48.079 and even 00:38:48.079 --> 00:38:49.679 this punishment 00:38:49.679 --> 00:38:50.900 is filled 00:38:50.900 --> 00:38:51.639 with grace. 00:38:52.599 --> 00:38:53.279 What does 00:38:53.279 --> 00:38:55.000 Joshua do? 00:38:55.799 --> 00:38:57.139 He assigns 00:38:57.139 --> 00:38:57.980 the place 00:38:57.980 --> 00:38:59.319 where the priests, 00:38:59.900 --> 00:39:00.380 the ones 00:39:00.380 --> 00:39:01.319 responsible for 00:39:01.319 --> 00:39:02.199 teaching people 00:39:02.199 --> 00:39:02.719 about what it 00:39:02.719 --> 00:39:03.619 means to be Jewish, 00:39:04.279 --> 00:39:05.440 he assigns, 00:39:05.859 --> 00:39:06.559 he says, 00:39:06.719 --> 00:39:07.319 the priests 00:39:07.319 --> 00:39:08.199 are going to live 00:39:08.199 --> 00:39:08.519 where? 00:39:09.519 --> 00:39:10.519 In Gibeon. 00:39:10.519 --> 00:39:13.619 They get an 00:39:13.619 --> 00:39:14.199 opportunity 00:39:14.199 --> 00:39:15.139 to spend 00:39:15.139 --> 00:39:16.480 their years 00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:17.679 with the priests 00:39:17.679 --> 00:39:18.500 responsible 00:39:18.500 --> 00:39:19.320 for teaching 00:39:19.320 --> 00:39:19.840 the law 00:39:19.840 --> 00:39:20.559 so they can 00:39:20.559 --> 00:39:21.179 learn what it 00:39:21.179 --> 00:39:21.639 means to 00:39:21.639 --> 00:39:22.219 follow the Lord 00:39:22.219 --> 00:39:22.619 truly. 00:39:23.880 --> 00:39:24.519 And is it 00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:25.039 sincere? 00:39:25.900 --> 00:39:26.699 It's very 00:39:26.699 --> 00:39:27.340 sincere. 00:39:28.039 --> 00:39:28.500 Depending on 00:39:28.500 --> 00:39:28.960 when you date 00:39:28.960 --> 00:39:29.420 the book, 00:39:29.579 --> 00:39:30.460 you move forward 00:39:30.460 --> 00:39:31.300 to around the year 00:39:31.300 --> 00:39:32.259 some 500 00:39:32.259 --> 00:39:32.759 or something 00:39:32.759 --> 00:39:33.179 like that 00:39:33.179 --> 00:39:34.099 in the 500s, 00:39:34.320 --> 00:39:34.539 early, 00:39:34.820 --> 00:39:36.119 late 400s. 00:39:36.460 --> 00:39:37.280 When they tell 00:39:37.280 --> 00:39:37.800 the story 00:39:37.800 --> 00:39:38.179 in the book 00:39:38.179 --> 00:39:39.059 of Nehemiah 00:39:39.059 --> 00:39:40.340 about the 00:39:40.340 --> 00:39:40.880 Israelites 00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:42.340 coming back 00:39:42.340 --> 00:39:43.860 to reclaim, 00:39:44.679 --> 00:39:44.900 I mean, 00:39:44.960 --> 00:39:45.239 there's been 00:39:45.239 --> 00:39:45.900 Jewish people 00:39:45.900 --> 00:39:46.440 there in the 00:39:46.440 --> 00:39:46.960 Promised Land 00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:47.699 that whole time, 00:39:47.759 --> 00:39:48.099 but they've 00:39:48.099 --> 00:39:48.579 come back 00:39:48.579 --> 00:39:49.119 to rebuild 00:39:49.119 --> 00:39:49.599 the city, 00:39:49.739 --> 00:39:50.159 to rebuild 00:39:50.159 --> 00:39:50.779 the temple, 00:39:51.279 --> 00:39:51.739 to rebuild 00:39:51.739 --> 00:39:52.519 their culture. 00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:53.420 If you go 00:39:53.420 --> 00:39:54.079 back and you 00:39:54.079 --> 00:39:55.000 read Nehemiah 00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:55.739 chapter 3 00:39:55.739 --> 00:39:56.440 and Nehemiah 00:39:56.440 --> 00:39:57.259 chapter 7, 00:39:57.699 --> 00:39:58.500 Gibeonites 00:39:58.500 --> 00:39:59.179 helped to 00:39:59.179 --> 00:39:59.820 rebuild the 00:39:59.820 --> 00:40:00.259 wall. 00:40:02.900 --> 00:40:03.639 Over a 00:40:03.639 --> 00:40:04.279 thousand years 00:40:04.279 --> 00:40:04.739 later, 00:40:05.259 --> 00:40:06.719 they lied, 00:40:07.320 --> 00:40:07.799 but their 00:40:07.799 --> 00:40:08.380 loyalty 00:40:08.380 --> 00:40:09.980 was there 00:40:09.980 --> 00:40:11.119 and he 00:40:11.119 --> 00:40:11.840 saves them. 00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:13.920 Brothers 00:40:13.920 --> 00:40:14.559 and sisters, 00:40:15.019 --> 00:40:15.640 you and I 00:40:15.640 --> 00:40:17.079 are Gibeonites. 00:40:18.160 --> 00:40:18.800 Amen? 00:40:19.640 --> 00:40:20.320 Hallelujah! 00:40:21.019 --> 00:40:22.440 We're Gibeonites. 00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:23.340 He takes 00:40:23.340 --> 00:40:23.880 that tiny 00:40:23.880 --> 00:40:24.559 sliver of 00:40:24.559 --> 00:40:24.940 faith 00:40:24.940 --> 00:40:26.039 and builds 00:40:26.039 --> 00:40:26.860 us into 00:40:26.860 --> 00:40:27.140 him. 00:40:27.380 --> 00:40:27.860 Just two 00:40:27.860 --> 00:40:28.380 things in 00:40:28.380 --> 00:40:28.780 closing. 00:40:32.140 --> 00:40:33.000 You know, 00:40:33.440 --> 00:40:34.740 here's the 00:40:34.740 --> 00:40:35.000 thing. 00:40:35.160 --> 00:40:35.480 One of the 00:40:35.480 --> 00:40:35.640 things, 00:40:35.800 --> 00:40:36.180 one of the 00:40:36.180 --> 00:40:36.599 hymns, 00:40:36.680 --> 00:40:37.579 I so love 00:40:37.579 --> 00:40:38.099 this line 00:40:38.099 --> 00:40:38.460 in a hymn, 00:40:38.500 --> 00:40:38.819 and maybe 00:40:38.819 --> 00:40:39.139 it just 00:40:39.139 --> 00:40:39.599 says a lot 00:40:39.599 --> 00:40:40.039 about my 00:40:40.039 --> 00:40:40.460 spiritual 00:40:40.460 --> 00:40:40.860 life. 00:40:41.579 --> 00:40:41.960 I love 00:40:41.960 --> 00:40:42.380 the line 00:40:42.380 --> 00:40:42.659 of that 00:40:42.659 --> 00:40:42.880 hymn, 00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:43.500 when Satan 00:40:43.500 --> 00:40:44.219 tempts me 00:40:44.219 --> 00:40:45.019 to despair 00:40:45.019 --> 00:40:46.199 and tells 00:40:46.199 --> 00:40:46.719 me of the 00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:47.319 guilt within. 00:40:48.659 --> 00:40:49.059 And then it 00:40:49.059 --> 00:40:49.400 goes on to 00:40:49.400 --> 00:40:49.699 talk about 00:40:49.699 --> 00:40:50.000 how we're 00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:50.699 faultless in 00:40:50.699 --> 00:40:51.059 Christ. 00:40:51.799 --> 00:40:52.219 The devil 00:40:52.219 --> 00:40:52.659 will say, 00:40:52.719 --> 00:40:53.019 George, 00:40:53.179 --> 00:40:53.559 look at 00:40:53.559 --> 00:40:53.699 your 00:40:53.699 --> 00:40:54.779 Gibeonite. 00:40:55.039 --> 00:40:55.340 Look at 00:40:55.340 --> 00:40:56.739 these idols 00:40:56.739 --> 00:40:57.420 you're struggling 00:40:57.420 --> 00:40:57.659 with. 00:40:57.739 --> 00:40:57.960 Look at 00:40:57.960 --> 00:40:58.139 these 00:40:58.139 --> 00:40:58.900 imperfections 00:40:58.900 --> 00:40:59.219 in you. 00:40:59.679 --> 00:41:00.259 This story 00:41:00.259 --> 00:41:00.559 says, 00:41:00.659 --> 00:41:00.860 yes, 00:41:00.900 --> 00:41:01.219 that's 00:41:01.219 --> 00:41:01.539 true, 00:41:01.739 --> 00:41:02.059 Satan. 00:41:02.059 --> 00:41:04.779 All those 00:41:04.779 --> 00:41:05.219 things are 00:41:05.219 --> 00:41:05.519 true. 00:41:06.119 --> 00:41:06.699 I am a 00:41:06.699 --> 00:41:07.320 Gibeonite, 00:41:07.679 --> 00:41:08.820 and I am 00:41:08.820 --> 00:41:09.279 redeemed by 00:41:09.279 --> 00:41:09.739 the Lord. 00:41:10.679 --> 00:41:10.900 In fact, 00:41:10.920 --> 00:41:11.440 I'm way worse 00:41:11.440 --> 00:41:11.659 than you 00:41:11.659 --> 00:41:12.199 ever accused 00:41:12.199 --> 00:41:12.539 me of, 00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:12.840 devil. 00:41:13.679 --> 00:41:14.380 We can 00:41:14.380 --> 00:41:15.380 rest in 00:41:15.380 --> 00:41:15.860 what Christ 00:41:15.860 --> 00:41:16.259 has done 00:41:16.259 --> 00:41:16.699 for us 00:41:16.699 --> 00:41:17.440 on the 00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:17.840 cross. 00:41:18.840 --> 00:41:19.059 And it 00:41:19.059 --> 00:41:19.940 also means 00:41:19.940 --> 00:41:20.440 that we 00:41:20.440 --> 00:41:20.920 should be, 00:41:21.219 --> 00:41:21.619 if this 00:41:21.619 --> 00:41:22.460 story forms 00:41:22.460 --> 00:41:22.840 us, 00:41:23.139 --> 00:41:23.719 and Mark 00:41:23.719 --> 00:41:24.340 chapter 10 00:41:24.340 --> 00:41:25.019 verse 45, 00:41:25.259 --> 00:41:25.719 how Jesus 00:41:25.719 --> 00:41:26.299 came not 00:41:26.299 --> 00:41:26.980 to serve, 00:41:27.519 --> 00:41:28.000 not to be 00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:28.279 served, 00:41:28.340 --> 00:41:28.920 but to serve, 00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:29.259 and to give 00:41:29.259 --> 00:41:29.799 his life as a 00:41:29.799 --> 00:41:30.519 ransom for many, 00:41:30.519 --> 00:41:31.400 as this story 00:41:31.400 --> 00:41:32.099 forms us, 00:41:32.179 --> 00:41:32.460 it should 00:41:32.460 --> 00:41:32.880 make us 00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:33.460 more gentle 00:41:33.460 --> 00:41:33.960 with each 00:41:33.960 --> 00:41:34.239 other. 00:41:36.360 --> 00:41:37.139 Because I 00:41:37.139 --> 00:41:38.019 struggle with 00:41:38.019 --> 00:41:38.780 idolatry as 00:41:38.780 --> 00:41:38.960 well, 00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:39.239 and we 00:41:39.239 --> 00:41:39.639 should be 00:41:39.639 --> 00:41:40.880 gentle with 00:41:40.880 --> 00:41:42.360 others as 00:41:42.360 --> 00:41:42.900 they grow in 00:41:42.900 --> 00:41:43.280 Christ. 00:41:43.639 --> 00:41:44.099 I invite you 00:41:44.099 --> 00:41:44.619 to stand. 00:41:51.500 --> 00:41:52.019 Bow our 00:41:52.019 --> 00:41:52.380 heads in 00:41:52.380 --> 00:41:52.619 prayer. 00:41:54.960 --> 00:41:55.400 Father, 00:41:55.480 --> 00:41:55.920 we give you 00:41:55.920 --> 00:41:56.480 thanks and 00:41:56.480 --> 00:41:57.139 praise that you 00:41:57.139 --> 00:41:57.900 see us with 00:41:57.900 --> 00:41:58.500 the eyes of 00:41:58.500 --> 00:41:58.960 grace. 00:41:59.679 --> 00:42:00.139 You're not 00:42:00.139 --> 00:42:01.119 there seeing 00:42:01.119 --> 00:42:01.900 us just 00:42:01.900 --> 00:42:02.379 weighing all 00:42:02.379 --> 00:42:02.699 the things. 00:42:02.839 --> 00:42:02.940 Father, 00:42:03.000 --> 00:42:03.480 we know that 00:42:03.480 --> 00:42:04.480 if we end 00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:05.079 up rejecting 00:42:05.079 --> 00:42:05.359 you, 00:42:05.440 --> 00:42:05.920 we will have 00:42:05.920 --> 00:42:06.319 to give an 00:42:06.319 --> 00:42:06.679 account, 00:42:06.819 --> 00:42:07.460 and no one 00:42:07.460 --> 00:42:08.299 apart from 00:42:08.299 --> 00:42:08.779 Christ will 00:42:08.779 --> 00:42:09.259 be able to 00:42:09.259 --> 00:42:09.799 stand in 00:42:09.799 --> 00:42:10.339 that final 00:42:10.339 --> 00:42:10.759 judgment. 00:42:11.420 --> 00:42:11.699 Father, 00:42:11.940 --> 00:42:12.539 our only 00:42:12.539 --> 00:42:13.179 ability to 00:42:13.179 --> 00:42:13.539 stand in 00:42:13.539 --> 00:42:14.039 that final 00:42:14.039 --> 00:42:14.719 judgment is 00:42:14.719 --> 00:42:15.239 to cast 00:42:15.239 --> 00:42:16.039 ourselves upon 00:42:16.039 --> 00:42:16.619 your mercy, 00:42:16.759 --> 00:42:17.159 to cast 00:42:17.159 --> 00:42:17.940 ourselves upon 00:42:17.940 --> 00:42:18.400 Christ. 00:42:18.779 --> 00:42:19.079 And we 00:42:19.079 --> 00:42:19.400 give you 00:42:19.400 --> 00:42:19.960 thanks and 00:42:19.960 --> 00:42:20.259 praise, 00:42:20.579 --> 00:42:20.639 Father, 00:42:20.659 --> 00:42:20.980 that you 00:42:20.980 --> 00:42:21.440 don't wait 00:42:21.440 --> 00:42:21.859 for us to 00:42:21.859 --> 00:42:22.659 be theologically 00:42:22.659 --> 00:42:23.239 perfect, 00:42:23.559 --> 00:42:24.480 to be pure 00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:25.119 in all of 00:42:25.119 --> 00:42:25.579 our motives 00:42:25.579 --> 00:42:26.379 and desires, 00:42:26.559 --> 00:42:27.139 that you, 00:42:27.379 --> 00:42:27.460 Father, 00:42:27.599 --> 00:42:28.420 see us 00:42:28.420 --> 00:42:29.420 deeply and 00:42:29.420 --> 00:42:30.119 see that 00:42:30.119 --> 00:42:30.940 tiniest 00:42:30.940 --> 00:42:32.079 splinter 00:42:32.079 --> 00:42:33.659 of true 00:42:33.659 --> 00:42:34.700 desire for 00:42:34.700 --> 00:42:35.139 you and 00:42:35.139 --> 00:42:35.720 your mercy, 00:42:35.720 --> 00:42:36.200 and you 00:42:36.200 --> 00:42:36.940 take that 00:42:36.940 --> 00:42:37.639 and save 00:42:37.639 --> 00:42:37.960 us. 00:42:38.559 --> 00:42:38.920 Father, 00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:39.460 we give you 00:42:39.460 --> 00:42:40.059 thanks and 00:42:40.059 --> 00:42:40.539 praise for 00:42:40.539 --> 00:42:41.039 the wonder 00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:41.420 of what 00:42:41.420 --> 00:42:42.000 Christ has 00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:42.440 done for 00:42:42.440 --> 00:42:42.559 us, 00:42:42.619 --> 00:42:43.079 the wonder 00:42:43.079 --> 00:42:43.460 of your 00:42:43.460 --> 00:42:43.940 grace, 00:42:44.460 --> 00:42:45.099 the beauty 00:42:45.099 --> 00:42:45.680 by which 00:42:45.680 --> 00:42:46.159 you see 00:42:46.159 --> 00:42:46.519 us, 00:42:46.780 --> 00:42:47.260 and we 00:42:47.260 --> 00:42:47.579 give you 00:42:47.579 --> 00:42:48.139 thanks and 00:42:48.139 --> 00:42:48.720 praise that 00:42:48.720 --> 00:42:49.440 as we are 00:42:49.440 --> 00:42:50.119 formed by 00:42:50.119 --> 00:42:50.740 the gospel, 00:42:50.900 --> 00:42:51.400 who Jesus 00:42:51.400 --> 00:42:51.960 is in your 00:42:51.960 --> 00:42:52.280 word, 00:42:52.780 --> 00:42:53.180 that you 00:42:53.180 --> 00:42:53.880 begin to 00:42:53.880 --> 00:42:54.460 reveal to 00:42:54.460 --> 00:42:55.180 us time and 00:42:55.180 --> 00:42:55.599 time and 00:42:55.599 --> 00:42:56.300 time again 00:42:56.300 --> 00:42:58.000 the idols 00:42:58.000 --> 00:42:58.360 that we 00:42:58.360 --> 00:42:58.860 serve, 00:42:59.480 --> 00:42:59.840 and we 00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:00.120 ask, 00:43:00.340 --> 00:43:00.500 Lord, 00:43:00.620 --> 00:43:01.140 that as we 00:43:01.140 --> 00:43:01.640 look to 00:43:01.640 --> 00:43:01.980 Jesus, 00:43:02.200 --> 00:43:02.460 you will 00:43:02.460 --> 00:43:03.140 reveal the 00:43:03.140 --> 00:43:04.200 idols and 00:43:04.200 --> 00:43:04.780 help us to 00:43:04.780 --> 00:43:05.320 turn from 00:43:05.320 --> 00:43:05.640 them, 00:43:06.039 --> 00:43:06.500 that Jesus 00:43:06.500 --> 00:43:07.120 will be our 00:43:07.120 --> 00:43:07.760 all in all, 00:43:08.440 --> 00:43:08.760 and we 00:43:08.760 --> 00:43:09.380 ask this in 00:43:09.380 --> 00:43:09.820 the name of 00:43:09.820 --> 00:43:10.120 Jesus, 00:43:10.260 --> 00:43:10.680 your Son 00:43:10.680 --> 00:43:11.100 and our 00:43:11.100 --> 00:43:11.400 Savior. 00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:12.720 Amen. 00:43:26.300 --> 00:43:27.300 Amen.