WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.219 Now, do you remember, I'm sure you do, the American Watergate scandal, right? 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:12.339 The Watergate scandal, famous scandal, went all the way to the top in my home country. 00:00:12.339 --> 00:00:18.420 And in 1976, there was a famous docudrama about this scandal called All the Men's, or 00:00:18.420 --> 00:00:20.300 All the President's Men. 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:23.539 And it made a phrase famous, follow the money. 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:25.580 Do you remember that? 00:00:25.580 --> 00:00:26.580 Follow the money. 00:00:26.579 --> 00:00:30.820 They wanted to find out where the corruption was at. 00:00:30.820 --> 00:00:32.839 They wanted to get to the heart of the matter. 00:00:32.839 --> 00:00:35.259 They said, follow the money. 00:00:35.259 --> 00:00:40.739 Now, a couple of thousand years before that, a Jewish rabbi said something kind of similar 00:00:40.739 --> 00:00:46.920 when he said, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:50.700 If you want to know where someone's heart is at, you follow the money. 00:00:50.700 --> 00:00:56.480 Quick caveat, I promise this has nothing to do with an offering for safe families. 00:00:56.479 --> 00:01:01.219 The second chronicles, 16, which is where we're going to focus for the rest of the morning, 00:01:01.219 --> 00:01:07.539 is a story, and it is, it's a narrative, it's a story in the Bible, a true story that invites 00:01:07.539 --> 00:01:10.700 us to follow the money. 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:15.219 God is inviting us today to follow the money, to see where our hearts are, and follow the 00:01:15.219 --> 00:01:19.019 money to see where his heart is, too. 00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:23.379 So a little background information, so this story makes some sense. 00:01:23.379 --> 00:01:25.500 It's really a story about two kingdoms. 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:27.980 There's a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:33.739 If you'll remember after King David, his son Solomon took over the throne, and his son 00:01:33.739 --> 00:01:38.739 Rehoboam took over the throne, and at that time the kingdom of Israel split into two, 00:01:38.739 --> 00:01:45.099 the northern kingdom called Israel, and the southern kingdom called Judah. 00:01:45.099 --> 00:01:50.659 And in this story, Judah is kind of the good guy, and Israel, the northern kingdom, is 00:01:50.659 --> 00:01:51.780 like the bad guy. 00:01:51.780 --> 00:01:55.980 And the main character of the story is a guy called King Asa. 00:01:55.980 --> 00:02:01.420 King Asa, I think he's the fourth or fifth king since David. 00:02:01.420 --> 00:02:05.740 So King Asa is the king of Judah, the good guy, so to speak. 00:02:05.740 --> 00:02:11.500 Now in chapter 14, he's at war, and he's at war with Ethiopia. 00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:17.860 And in chapter 14 is this great story about how he relies on God. 00:02:17.860 --> 00:02:19.819 He puts all of his trust in God. 00:02:19.819 --> 00:02:23.340 He relies on God for victory, and God gives him this victory. 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:31.659 And for that faithfulness, God rewards him with 25 years of peace in his reign. 00:02:31.659 --> 00:02:39.180 And chapter 15, verse 17 tells us that Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord. 00:02:39.180 --> 00:02:41.459 His heart was all in with God. 00:02:41.459 --> 00:02:46.579 He said, I'm yours, you're my God, I'm your king, you put me here, what do you want me 00:02:46.579 --> 00:02:47.859 to do? 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:52.140 And in that 25 years of peace, he rooted out idolatry from the land. 00:02:52.140 --> 00:02:55.580 He instituted all sorts of national and religious reform. 00:02:55.580 --> 00:02:59.220 He did a lot of really good things. 00:02:59.220 --> 00:03:03.860 And from that, the war that he'd fought with Ethiopia, he'd collected a ton of treasure, 00:03:03.860 --> 00:03:05.020 a lot of plunder. 00:03:05.020 --> 00:03:11.780 And he took all this treasure, and he put it into the house of the Lord. 00:03:11.780 --> 00:03:13.820 He put all that treasure in the temple. 00:03:13.820 --> 00:03:17.700 Remember, we're following the money. 00:03:17.699 --> 00:03:20.859 So the money's in the temple now. 00:03:20.859 --> 00:03:24.819 Then after the 25 years of peace, King Asa of Judah goes to war again. 00:03:24.819 --> 00:03:31.500 And this time it's with Bashar, king of Israel, the northern kingdom. 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:35.899 And we should think, okay, Asa relied on God in the war with Ethiopia. 00:03:35.899 --> 00:03:38.339 This is going to go really well, right? 00:03:38.339 --> 00:03:39.339 God's on his side. 00:03:39.339 --> 00:03:42.259 This is God's king. 00:03:42.259 --> 00:03:44.099 But he doesn't. 00:03:44.099 --> 00:03:45.259 Who does he rely on? 00:03:45.259 --> 00:03:51.019 Well, let's read 2 Chronicles 16, just the first couple of verses again, 2 and 3. 00:03:51.019 --> 00:03:57.299 Then Asa took silver and gold from the treasures of the house of the Lord and the king's house, 00:03:57.299 --> 00:04:02.139 and he sent them to Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus. 00:04:02.139 --> 00:04:07.019 This is a foreign country, saying, there's a covenant between me and you, as there was 00:04:07.019 --> 00:04:08.859 between my father and your father. 00:04:08.859 --> 00:04:11.819 Behold, I'm sending to you silver and gold. 00:04:11.819 --> 00:04:18.420 So break your covenant with Bashar, king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me. 00:04:18.420 --> 00:04:19.939 So follow the money. 00:04:19.939 --> 00:04:24.699 Asa takes the silver and the gold out of the house of the Lord and gives it to a foreign 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:28.459 king for help. 00:04:28.459 --> 00:04:35.100 The prophet Hanani comes and confronts Asa, and he says essentially, look, you should 00:04:35.100 --> 00:04:37.539 have relied on God. 00:04:37.539 --> 00:04:38.539 Don't you remember? 00:04:38.539 --> 00:04:40.139 He's for you. 00:04:40.139 --> 00:04:41.579 This is your God. 00:04:41.579 --> 00:04:49.379 And instead of relying on God, you relied on this foreign king from Syria. 00:04:49.379 --> 00:04:52.019 So I'll continue reading verses 7 to 9. 00:04:52.019 --> 00:04:56.419 At that time, Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah, and said to him, because you 00:04:56.419 --> 00:05:01.979 relied on the king of Syria and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king 00:05:01.979 --> 00:05:04.500 of Syria has escaped you. 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:09.219 We're not the Ethiopians and the Libyans, a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen. 00:05:09.220 --> 00:05:13.020 In other words, he's saying God delivered you from a massive army back here. 00:05:13.020 --> 00:05:14.980 Why wouldn't he do that again? 00:05:14.980 --> 00:05:16.660 Why do you doubt him? 00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:22.380 Yet, because you relied on the Lord back then, he gave them into your hand. 00:05:22.380 --> 00:05:24.460 This is our verse that we're going to focus on now. 00:05:24.460 --> 00:05:31.540 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to 00:05:31.540 --> 00:05:37.180 those whose heart is blameless toward him. 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:42.579 You've done foolishly in this from now on, you will have wars. 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:46.579 Where your heart is, there your treasure is. 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:49.180 Where your treasure is, there your heart is. 00:05:49.180 --> 00:05:53.420 When Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord, all that money was in the treasury in 00:05:53.420 --> 00:05:54.819 the house of the Lord. 00:05:54.819 --> 00:05:59.100 And when Asa's heart faltered, he put his trust in foreign kings instead and the treasure 00:05:59.100 --> 00:06:02.139 went to their house. 00:06:02.139 --> 00:06:04.460 So that's the story in a nutshell. 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:08.899 Now we're going to focus on verse nine in three parts. 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:15.699 The eyes of the Lord, the strong support of the Lord, and the blameless heart. 00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:18.259 So number one, the eyes of the Lord. 00:06:18.259 --> 00:06:25.539 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. 00:06:25.539 --> 00:06:32.899 God is not passively sitting back, waiting for someone to climb to the top and earn 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:36.219 his attention. 00:06:36.219 --> 00:06:39.139 That's not who God is. 00:06:39.139 --> 00:06:46.179 It's so common to see God as this kind of distant figure, this disconnected remote person, 00:06:46.179 --> 00:06:48.379 you know, outside of our universe. 00:06:48.379 --> 00:06:51.699 You know, he creates everything, he sets the world to spinning, and then he steps back 00:06:51.699 --> 00:06:54.339 to watch and see how all goes. 00:06:54.339 --> 00:07:00.019 Just a cosmic experiment anyway, isn't it? 00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:05.899 That may be common, but what a small, small, impersonal view of God. 00:07:05.899 --> 00:07:10.379 And it's not what the Bible teaches us about who God is. 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:16.659 When our sins and sorrows overwhelm us, and they will, and they do, when they overwhelm 00:07:16.659 --> 00:07:20.060 us, we don't need a God who's passive. 00:07:20.060 --> 00:07:26.500 We don't need a God waiting for us to get our act together or to earn his attention. 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:31.459 We need a God whose eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth. 00:07:31.459 --> 00:07:41.899 A God actively engaged in our world, in our lives, actively seeking, looking, searching. 00:07:41.899 --> 00:07:48.819 No need and no sorrow can escape the searching gaze of the real God. 00:07:48.819 --> 00:07:53.339 King Asa fell into that trap, that way of thinking that we just talked about, that remote, distant 00:07:53.339 --> 00:07:59.819 God who just sets the world to spinning, that same small view of God that's so common today. 00:07:59.819 --> 00:08:04.819 King Asa, when Israel threatened war and the Northern Kingdom threatened him, he thought, 00:08:04.819 --> 00:08:07.939 God doesn't see my need. 00:08:07.939 --> 00:08:09.979 God's not watching. 00:08:09.979 --> 00:08:12.739 He's not actively engaged. 00:08:12.739 --> 00:08:18.459 So instead of relying on the God who is engaged, the God who's looking, the God who's searching, 00:08:18.459 --> 00:08:23.939 he called up Ben Haydad, king of Syria from Damascus, for help. 00:08:23.939 --> 00:08:24.939 This is true about us. 00:08:24.939 --> 00:08:31.740 If we don't believe that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, 00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:37.059 then we'll start to put our trust into whatever seems most real to us, whatever seems most 00:08:37.059 --> 00:08:43.179 immediate to us. 00:08:43.179 --> 00:08:47.980 In the message Eugene Peterson puts it this way when he translates this verse, he says, 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:54.340 God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout. 00:08:54.340 --> 00:09:00.300 So imagine a sailor far out at sea, and he's been at sea for weeks maybe, and as he stands 00:09:00.300 --> 00:09:09.060 on the ship's deck, he's constantly scanning the horizon for the first sign of land. 00:09:09.060 --> 00:09:13.659 His eyes are just constantly back and forth on the horizon line, and at the first sign 00:09:13.659 --> 00:09:18.779 of a distant shore, he puts all that ship's power to moving toward that point, no matter 00:09:18.779 --> 00:09:21.980 how small, no matter how distant. 00:09:21.980 --> 00:09:23.059 God is like that. 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:24.659 He's alert. 00:09:24.659 --> 00:09:32.339 He's constantly on the lookout, constantly scanning the horizon. 00:09:32.339 --> 00:09:36.779 So that raises the question, what is God looking for, or what is God looking to do? 00:09:36.779 --> 00:09:37.779 Right? 00:09:37.779 --> 00:09:39.779 He's looking, but to what end? 00:09:39.779 --> 00:09:43.579 So that's point number two, the strong support of the Lord. 00:09:43.580 --> 00:09:51.100 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support. 00:09:51.100 --> 00:09:56.460 A couple weeks ago, me and my family were on holiday, an Aberdeenshire, and we took a 00:09:56.460 --> 00:09:58.860 long walk along the coastline. 00:09:58.860 --> 00:10:03.460 This is just south of Peterhead, if you know it, and the cliffs there are incredible. 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:09.540 It's just beautiful, these stunning walks, but it's kind of terrifying because the paths 00:10:09.540 --> 00:10:13.020 go really, really close to the cliff's edge. 00:10:13.019 --> 00:10:18.379 And if you go on those walks, I'm pretty sure any time of day, any day of the week, you'll 00:10:18.379 --> 00:10:21.299 see something out over the water. 00:10:21.299 --> 00:10:25.699 You'll see helicopters flying back and forth, back and forth. 00:10:25.699 --> 00:10:29.299 They are rescue helicopters. 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:31.299 What were they doing? 00:10:31.299 --> 00:10:40.480 They were constantly searching for any sign of someone in need of rescue. 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:44.779 And who needed strong support? 00:10:44.779 --> 00:10:50.259 God is not on the lookout to give good advice. 00:10:50.259 --> 00:10:52.060 That's not what he's about. 00:10:52.060 --> 00:10:55.899 Imagine if that rescue helicopter saw someone drowning, right, who'd fallen off the cliff 00:10:55.899 --> 00:10:59.700 and they shouted down, have you tried swimming? 00:10:59.700 --> 00:11:02.019 You don't need good advice when you're drowning. 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:04.899 You need help. 00:11:04.899 --> 00:11:09.720 God is not on the lookout to point out our failings. 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:14.100 He doesn't want to point a finger at you and say, I told you so. 00:11:14.100 --> 00:11:17.460 Walking too close to the cliff, that was your mistake. 00:11:17.460 --> 00:11:20.180 It's not what he's doing. 00:11:20.180 --> 00:11:24.340 He's on the lookout to give strong support. 00:11:24.340 --> 00:11:28.100 His eyes are not running to and fro throughout the whole earth for the people who have it 00:11:28.100 --> 00:11:33.200 all figured out, because they don't need strong support. 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:41.980 God is eagerly looking for who, for the weak, for the needy. 00:11:41.980 --> 00:11:47.460 Which means that when you're floundering in your own sins and you say, God help me, I 00:11:47.460 --> 00:11:54.259 can't seem to get my head above water, that's a prayer that God loves to answer. 00:11:54.259 --> 00:11:55.259 He loves it. 00:11:55.259 --> 00:11:58.020 That's who he is. 00:11:58.020 --> 00:11:59.700 It's what he's looking for. 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:07.580 God does not scoff at the honesty which says, I can't do this on my own. 00:12:07.580 --> 00:12:09.300 He delights in that kind of honesty. 00:12:09.300 --> 00:12:10.460 He calls that humility. 00:12:10.460 --> 00:12:14.500 He honors it. 00:12:14.500 --> 00:12:18.700 So here's a God we can run to with all of our sins and sorrows. 00:12:18.700 --> 00:12:21.300 We can trust Him with it all. 00:12:21.300 --> 00:12:27.540 If He really is the God whose eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong 00:12:27.539 --> 00:12:33.259 support, what couldn't we take to Him? 00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:40.980 What sin or sorrow or misery or anxiety or failing or question couldn't we take to that 00:12:40.980 --> 00:12:45.899 God? 00:12:45.899 --> 00:12:50.899 Verse 9 says one more thing about the kind of person that God is looking to give strong 00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:52.659 support to. 00:12:52.659 --> 00:12:56.539 You probably noticed that when I said that He likes to support the needy and the weak. 00:12:56.539 --> 00:12:58.699 You may have been thinking, well, it says who He likes to support. 00:12:58.699 --> 00:13:01.179 It's the blameless. 00:13:01.179 --> 00:13:04.899 So point number three, the blameless heart. 00:13:04.899 --> 00:13:08.539 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to 00:13:08.539 --> 00:13:14.539 those whose heart is blameless toward Him. 00:13:14.539 --> 00:13:18.959 Now who here could possibly say my heart is blameless toward God? 00:13:18.959 --> 00:13:20.339 Which one of us would dare? 00:13:20.339 --> 00:13:22.740 I mean, I couldn't say that. 00:13:22.740 --> 00:13:27.379 What if what we mean by that is I haven't done anything wrong, I'm pure and morally 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:29.539 perfect before God? 00:13:29.539 --> 00:13:33.220 If that's what we mean, count us all out. 00:13:33.220 --> 00:13:41.259 Then this verse is no help and no comfort to us because we don't fit into it, do we? 00:13:41.259 --> 00:13:43.220 But that's not what this means. 00:13:43.220 --> 00:13:49.139 For instance, in chapter 15, verse 17, it says, but the high places were not taken out 00:13:49.139 --> 00:13:50.139 of Israel. 00:13:50.139 --> 00:13:54.179 Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. 00:13:54.179 --> 00:13:59.899 The word wholly true in Hebrew is the same word as blameless in this verse. 00:13:59.899 --> 00:14:08.740 My point is this, blameless in this context can't mean morally perfect because Asa didn't 00:14:08.740 --> 00:14:13.299 destroy the idolatry that he was supposed to destroy. 00:14:13.299 --> 00:14:22.819 Asa had moral failure and the Bible says was blameless toward God. 00:14:22.819 --> 00:14:27.539 So I want to teach you two Hebrew words briefly. 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:29.219 Two Hebrew words are short. 00:14:29.219 --> 00:14:33.939 The first is levav and the second is shalim. 00:14:33.939 --> 00:14:40.019 So levav, levav is the word for heart, the Hebrew word for heart. 00:14:40.019 --> 00:14:44.740 And the Hebrew, the Israelites had a special kind of a different view. 00:14:44.740 --> 00:14:46.819 When we say heart, we just mean emotion usually, right? 00:14:46.819 --> 00:14:49.579 You're breaking my heart means I'm feeling sad. 00:14:49.579 --> 00:14:52.019 You're making me feel sad. 00:14:52.019 --> 00:14:54.819 In the Old Testament, the idea of the heart was so much more. 00:14:54.819 --> 00:15:01.539 It was the center of our physical life and our inner life, the center of it. 00:15:01.539 --> 00:15:09.059 So the heart is the seat of our thoughts, our desires, our emotions, our affections, 00:15:09.059 --> 00:15:13.379 our will and our wisdom. 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:17.939 And that's what God wants to be blameless toward him. 00:15:17.939 --> 00:15:22.579 Thoughts, desires, emotions, affections, will and wisdom. 00:15:22.579 --> 00:15:24.939 The heart. 00:15:24.939 --> 00:15:27.299 Now what does it mean to be blameless? 00:15:27.299 --> 00:15:32.019 It's this word shalim. 00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:33.299 Shalim. 00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:39.539 It comes from, it's connected to the word shalom, which you may know, which is peace, 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:40.659 right? 00:15:40.659 --> 00:15:47.659 And shalim means to be whole, to be completed, to be unified, united. 00:15:47.659 --> 00:15:54.139 So for instance, in Joshua chapter 8, they talk about building an altar of uncut or shalim 00:15:54.139 --> 00:15:56.139 stones. 00:15:56.139 --> 00:15:59.419 The stones haven't been split apart, they're whole. 00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:03.779 Or in 2 Chronicles 8, they talk about the house of the Lord being built and then it 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:05.379 was shalim. 00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:08.779 The building is done, it's now shalim, it's complete. 00:16:08.779 --> 00:16:11.139 It's been finished. 00:16:11.139 --> 00:16:12.299 It's whole. 00:16:12.299 --> 00:16:18.339 In other words, the eyes of the Lord are looking for someone who directs all their thoughts, 00:16:18.339 --> 00:16:27.899 desires, emotions, affections, will and wisdom to God, your whole self, Godward. 00:16:27.899 --> 00:16:33.299 When we put it more simply, to have a heart blameless toward God is to wholly rely on 00:16:33.299 --> 00:16:38.980 God, but your whole self in His hands. 00:16:38.980 --> 00:16:42.019 That's what it means to be blameless toward God. 00:16:42.019 --> 00:16:43.740 The New Testament speaks in a similar way. 00:16:43.740 --> 00:16:48.100 Paul says that we're made blameless and righteous, not when we get our acts together and stop 00:16:48.100 --> 00:16:52.379 doing wrong things and only do right things, but when we put all of our trust in the saving 00:16:52.379 --> 00:16:54.779 power of Jesus. 00:16:54.779 --> 00:16:58.019 That's what it means to be blameless. 00:16:58.019 --> 00:17:02.779 It's all about relying on God. 00:17:02.779 --> 00:17:07.619 The key is we'll never have hearts that are blameless toward God like that until we see 00:17:07.619 --> 00:17:12.819 that He's actively and eagerly looking to give us strength. 00:17:12.819 --> 00:17:18.259 We have to believe that God is actually as good as He says He is, that He really desires 00:17:18.259 --> 00:17:22.460 to do us good, that He's eager to support us. 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:27.460 When we see Him for who He is like that, our hearts are moved toward Him, our hearts are 00:17:27.460 --> 00:17:30.860 inclined toward Him. 00:17:30.860 --> 00:17:35.420 Then we can really fully commit our hearts to Him. 00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:37.779 That's faith, isn't it? 00:17:37.779 --> 00:17:38.779 A.W. 00:17:38.779 --> 00:17:40.779 Tozer has a great quote about faith. 00:17:40.779 --> 00:17:44.299 He says, pseudo-faith, fake faith, right? 00:17:44.299 --> 00:17:49.940 Pseudo-faith always arranges a way out to serve in case God fails it. 00:17:49.940 --> 00:17:54.420 Real faith knows only one way and gladly allows itself to be stripped of any second 00:17:54.420 --> 00:17:57.740 way or makeshift substitutes. 00:17:57.740 --> 00:18:03.460 For true faith, it's either God or total collapse. 00:18:03.460 --> 00:18:08.299 Not since Adam first stood up on the earth has God failed a single man or woman who has 00:18:08.299 --> 00:18:12.380 trusted him. 00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:15.180 I'm sure you're all familiar or many of you are familiar with George Mueller. 00:18:15.180 --> 00:18:22.420 He was a 19th century missionary and minister of the gospel. 00:18:22.420 --> 00:18:25.420 He founded giant orphanages. 00:18:25.420 --> 00:18:27.299 His story is incredible. 00:18:27.299 --> 00:18:32.380 He loved and served and ministered to thousands and thousands and thousands of orphans. 00:18:32.380 --> 00:18:39.940 He did so in a way that demonstrated what the faith-filled life can look like and it 00:18:39.940 --> 00:18:42.100 glorified Christ. 00:18:42.099 --> 00:18:47.459 You may know the story, but one morning he had about 300 orphans in his care and there 00:18:47.459 --> 00:18:48.579 was no food. 00:18:48.579 --> 00:18:51.299 There was not a scrap, nothing. 00:18:51.299 --> 00:18:57.099 So he called the children for breakfast and the housekeeper came and said, Mr. Mueller, 00:18:57.099 --> 00:18:59.179 we don't have any food. 00:18:59.179 --> 00:19:02.379 There's nothing to serve the children, I'm sorry. 00:19:02.379 --> 00:19:03.939 And so he said, it's all right. 00:19:03.939 --> 00:19:11.219 Come on kids, come sit down at this giant 300-person table apparently and we'll trust the Lord. 00:19:11.220 --> 00:19:13.019 Weird, right? 00:19:13.019 --> 00:19:14.940 No food yet the kids are sitting down to breakfast. 00:19:14.940 --> 00:19:19.900 Well, they heard a knock at the door and it was the town's baker and he said, I couldn't 00:19:19.900 --> 00:19:24.860 sleep last night and I kind of felt like God maybe wanted me to bake twice as much bread 00:19:24.860 --> 00:19:27.579 today and give you the extras. 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:31.380 And he delivered bread for about 300 people. 00:19:31.380 --> 00:19:34.940 So they were just about to break bread and give thanks to the Lord when there was another 00:19:34.940 --> 00:19:37.579 knock at the door and it was the town's milkman. 00:19:37.579 --> 00:19:42.460 And he said, I'm sorry, my truck broke down, my cart broke down just in front of your house 00:19:42.460 --> 00:19:45.980 here and if I don't get this milk drunk it's all going to spoil. 00:19:45.980 --> 00:19:48.899 And he gave him milk for about 300 people. 00:19:48.899 --> 00:19:51.220 It's not amazing. 00:19:51.220 --> 00:19:53.859 That's what it can look like to rely on God. 00:19:53.859 --> 00:19:55.740 I mean, it's a big example. 00:19:55.740 --> 00:20:00.259 But he put all of his eggs in God's basket, didn't he? 00:20:00.259 --> 00:20:04.259 Not since Adam first stood up on the earth as God failed a single man or woman who trusted 00:20:04.259 --> 00:20:06.339 him. 00:20:06.339 --> 00:20:10.579 I want to think briefly about just kind of three little examples about what it can look 00:20:10.579 --> 00:20:14.779 like because not many of us are feeding 300 orphans. 00:20:14.779 --> 00:20:20.220 What can it look like to actually rely on God to put that kind of faith in practice, 00:20:20.220 --> 00:20:24.339 to treat God like he is who he says he is? 00:20:24.339 --> 00:20:28.899 So let's talk about sin, anxiety and dullness. 00:20:28.899 --> 00:20:35.939 So if you've sinned and you feel ashamed, what do you do with that? 00:20:35.940 --> 00:20:42.500 Relying on God for strong support is taking that sin to the cross. 00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:47.820 And it's going to the cross and it's appealing to God for a clean conscience. 00:20:47.820 --> 00:20:53.500 Not on the basis of, you know, I feel really, really, really bad so isn't that enough already? 00:20:53.500 --> 00:20:57.980 Please give me a clean conscience because I just felt guilty enough. 00:20:57.980 --> 00:21:03.460 Not because you do good things to make up for the bad things that you've done but because 00:21:03.460 --> 00:21:10.259 Jesus died for you because Jesus died for that sin that you feel ashamed of. 00:21:10.259 --> 00:21:14.700 So you don't need to feel unclean anymore. 00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:19.720 That's what it looks like to rely on God for strong support when you sinned. 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:24.779 You appeal to God for a clean conscience on the basis of the death of Jesus, his perfect 00:21:24.779 --> 00:21:26.900 son. 00:21:26.900 --> 00:21:29.019 What if you're feeling a weight of anxiety? 00:21:29.019 --> 00:21:33.859 What do you do with anxiety? 00:21:33.859 --> 00:21:39.579 Well of course we take our concerns to God and we look to the resurrected Jesus. 00:21:39.579 --> 00:21:43.660 So often with sin we need to take it to the crucified Savior. 00:21:43.660 --> 00:21:48.420 With our anxieties we need to follow the cross further to a resurrected Savior because we 00:21:48.420 --> 00:21:57.379 need to know deep down that God gives strong support to those whose hearts are blameless 00:21:57.379 --> 00:21:58.379 toward him. 00:21:58.380 --> 00:22:02.780 You will not see that demonstrated anywhere more clearly than the resurrection of Jesus 00:22:02.780 --> 00:22:05.060 from the cross, from the grave. 00:22:05.060 --> 00:22:11.860 When he defeated death and stepped out of that tomb for the last time, history knows 00:22:11.860 --> 00:22:18.020 now for certain God gives strong support to the blameless. 00:22:18.020 --> 00:22:19.580 God is for us. 00:22:19.580 --> 00:22:25.300 If God took the worst evil that could possibly happen, the murder of the Son of God and turn 00:22:25.299 --> 00:22:34.899 it to the greatest good that could possibly happen, life eternal for people like us, that 00:22:34.899 --> 00:22:42.379 truth can start to gnaw away at the foundations of our anxiety. 00:22:42.379 --> 00:22:48.619 That God is for us and he's in control and we don't have to be. 00:22:48.619 --> 00:22:55.019 So relying on God with anxiety can look like taking our worries to the resurrected Christ. 00:22:55.019 --> 00:22:56.859 What about spiritual dullness? 00:22:56.859 --> 00:22:59.740 Do you know what I mean? 00:22:59.740 --> 00:23:02.259 Spiritual dullness. 00:23:02.259 --> 00:23:05.379 You just kind of feel apathetic about your Christian life. 00:23:05.379 --> 00:23:08.139 Doesn't seem or feel real to you. 00:23:08.139 --> 00:23:11.660 What do you know to be true about God? 00:23:11.660 --> 00:23:17.700 What are you encountering in the Bible that's teaching you something about God? 00:23:17.700 --> 00:23:22.980 And you take that truth about God and then you ask yourself, what would it look like? 00:23:22.980 --> 00:23:29.420 If right now I really believed this, what would I do? 00:23:29.420 --> 00:23:32.620 What would be different? 00:23:32.620 --> 00:23:34.620 God help me. 00:23:34.620 --> 00:23:36.059 God help me to believe this. 00:23:36.059 --> 00:23:37.620 I believe, help my unbelief. 00:23:37.620 --> 00:23:39.460 What a good prayer. 00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:45.620 When we feel spiritually dull, we rely on God by going to what he says about himself 00:23:45.619 --> 00:23:53.379 and asking him to help us believe it and to live like it's true. 00:23:53.379 --> 00:23:57.179 Now let's return to our idea of following the money. 00:23:57.179 --> 00:24:03.859 We could see where Ace's heart was by seeing where he put his treasure, right? 00:24:03.859 --> 00:24:10.699 You can see where God's heart is by looking at where God puts his treasure too. 00:24:10.700 --> 00:24:17.580 God looked out and he saw that we were drowning in our sins and we couldn't get our heads 00:24:17.580 --> 00:24:20.140 above water. 00:24:20.140 --> 00:24:27.500 We needed strong support and he sent heaven's treasure into our house. 00:24:27.500 --> 00:24:38.500 He sent Jesus, the glorious, the eternal Son of God to die in our place. 00:24:38.500 --> 00:24:44.700 He didn't just send us treasure. 00:24:44.700 --> 00:24:52.700 He gave us the life of the person most precious in the whole universe. 00:24:52.700 --> 00:24:59.099 So we cannot look at the cross and then look at God and accuse him of being a holdout or 00:24:59.099 --> 00:25:01.019 cheap. 00:25:01.019 --> 00:25:08.980 We cannot accuse God of not going eagerly to any lengths necessary to give us strength 00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:10.539 and strong support. 00:25:10.539 --> 00:25:17.420 If we are ever to have hearts fully committed to God, blameless toward God, we must let 00:25:17.420 --> 00:25:27.539 him transform us by seeing his heart fully committed to us. 00:25:27.539 --> 00:25:33.420 It's God's for usness demonstrated at the cross that can transform our hearts to be 00:25:33.420 --> 00:25:36.700 blameless toward him. 00:25:36.700 --> 00:25:41.339 John 3.16 that we read earlier, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son 00:25:41.339 --> 00:25:45.899 that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 00:25:45.899 --> 00:25:50.859 For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the 00:25:50.859 --> 00:25:54.420 world might be saved through him. 00:25:54.420 --> 00:25:56.579 Strong support. 00:25:56.579 --> 00:26:00.099 Let you love and trust him for it. 00:26:00.099 --> 00:26:04.819 Let's pray. 00:26:04.819 --> 00:26:12.619 Lord Jesus, heaven's treasure, we look to you on the cross, not just as the crucified 00:26:12.619 --> 00:26:17.500 Savior but as the risen Savior, not just as the crucified risen Savior but the crucified 00:26:17.500 --> 00:26:20.539 risen reigning Savior. 00:26:20.539 --> 00:26:23.379 You're our King. 00:26:23.380 --> 00:26:29.100 And we believe not only are you mighty to save but you're eager to save. 00:26:29.100 --> 00:26:42.380 Lord, if any hear or any hearing your word this morning haven't relied on you, haven't 00:26:42.380 --> 00:26:50.100 yet followed you and submitted their hearts to you, would you save them? 00:26:50.099 --> 00:26:56.099 Would you help them to admit now that they're drowning in need of rescue? 00:26:56.099 --> 00:27:01.659 And Lord, we're all still thrashing about in the water sometimes. 00:27:01.659 --> 00:27:07.099 We ask for your sake, for the glory of your name that you will this day, this moment, 00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:13.819 send your spirit to outpour on us such a sense of the glory of God, such a sense of the fore 00:27:13.819 --> 00:27:20.659 dustiness of God that our hearts are compelled to you, that are inclined to you, that you 00:27:20.659 --> 00:27:25.819 just crack open to your love and that we will respond to your love with love. 00:27:25.819 --> 00:27:44.819 Amen.