WEBVTT

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 Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would come and help us as we read your word.

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 And Father, we don't want to just read your word as an academic exercise,

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 but we ask, Father, that you would help us to understand who we really are,

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 come to a better self-knowledge of who we are in light of you,

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 and come to a better knowledge of you in light of who we are.

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 And we ask that the Holy Spirit would do this this morning,

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 and we ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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 One of the questions which I have not talked about throughout these five,

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 this is the fifth week, so the four previous weeks, is a big one.

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 Does God punish people today?

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 We've been looking at the Book of Lamentations.

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 Our Jewish friends would say that it's part of the Tanakh or the Torah.

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 We as Christians say that it's part of the Old Testament.

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 And the Book of Lamentations, it's these five linked poems.

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 Each poem, in a sense, is a separate poem or a class group of poems.

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 And now we're coming to the fifth one, and it's all dealing with the fact

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 that it very clearly says that God has punished the people,

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 that he has punished them because, in fact, they deserve to be punished.

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 And the punishment is very harsh.

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 And we've been looking at that, and if you're curious about some of the aspects of that,

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 and this is the first time you're watching, you can look at the other sermons.

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 I will retouch a little bit on some of these issues again, but it will be fresh.

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 But I haven't actually addressed a very important question that many of you probably have,

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 and I've been wondering if I was going to address it.

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 Does God still punish today?

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 Is it just something he did in the past?

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 Is it changed now that, you know, there was the Old Testament, God is very angry,

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 but now we have Jesus, it's very different.

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 Is punishment purely in the future?

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 Does God punish today?

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 So we're going to walk towards that question today as we look through.

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 And the fifth and final poem of the Book of Lamentations will help us to ask that question.

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 So just before we get to it, hopefully there'll be an image.

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 You're going to not see me for a second, and you're going to see an image.

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 And one of the things which is important to understand about reading the Book of Lamentations

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 is the context, so to speak, of it.

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 You know, there's a very, very famous part of the Book of Lamentations,

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 the steadfast love of the Lord never faileth, his mercies never come to an end,

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 they are new every morning, they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.

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 And that's from the Book of Lamentations, it's in Chapter 3,

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 and usually when that quote is seen, you see something very bucolic,

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 you see a beautiful village or a beautiful farm and full fields or a beautiful cottage,

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 and everything looks just very, very, very, very prosperous.

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 But to understand that these five poems were written amidst the ruins of a city,

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 that's the way to understand it.

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 So even in Chapter 3, when you have this very, very powerful thing of, you know,

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 great is your faithfulness, the steadfast love of the Lord never fails,

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 that's in Chapter 3.

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 Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, the person's still wrestling with the devastation in the poems

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 and their pain.

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 Because, and one of the things is, on one level, we might think this is disappointing,

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 that the really good part should be the ending,

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 but it actually is very, very psychologically and emotionally true.

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 Some of you are dealing with very, very hard things.

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 Some of us are dealing with very, very hard things this morning.

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 And it's the ruin of our health, the ruin of our finances,

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 the ruin of our family, the ruin of our business, whatever it is.

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 And having, in a sense, a better sense of who God is doesn't necessarily take away the pain.

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 And that's one of the things which is very rich about this text.

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 So you see in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, there's movement.

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 And at the end here, we're going to see this heartfelt prayer for restoration.

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 But you need to understand that it's almost as if you're sitting amidst the rubble

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 in the ruins of the city

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 and continuing to address these things, pouring out your heart to God.

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 And one of the things which is different about this chapter is this chapter,

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 all the other chapters are, in a sense,

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 poems all grouped together around a poetic structure called an acrostic,

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 which is a geeky type of thing to even say,

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 and I hope I didn't lose you when I said it.

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 This is just a prayer.

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 And it's not an acrostic, but it keeps the same number of verses.

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 And it's just a prayer.

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 And so let's see how this book ends, how, in a sense, they pray at the end,

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 how they pray amidst the ruins.

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 And it begins like this.

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 Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us.

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 Look and see our disgrace.

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 And just sort of going to pause.

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 The way this poem is organized, there's this opening plea, threefold plea.

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 And then there's, from verses 2 to 18, there's just an unpacking of the heart

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 and an unpacking of the concerns that bother them.

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 The looking around, the poet looking around at the city

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 and looking around at the people who are still left in the city

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 and just pouring out what's actually going on.

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 And then verses 19 to 22 are sort of the actual final request.

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 And in the original language, there's these three imperatives.

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 So it's a very, very intense prayer, which is hard to capture in English.

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 It says, you know, remember, look, see.

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 And these are all, it's very, very intense.

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 And so this person is, the poet is asking this intense thing for God

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 to just look at what's going on around them.

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 The poet is going to make his final request at the end,

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 but this initial request is just see what's going on.

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 Just look.

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 We know that these things matter to you,

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 and we know that it's, I know that it's valid and fair

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 for me to bring these to your attention.

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 Just remember is a way, it always implies that God is going to act, by the way,

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 not that he's forgotten.

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 It's sort of a formulaic word in the Tanakh,

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 the Old Testament of calling God to act

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 based on his character, look and see.

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 And it's all about the disgrace.

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 And what does that disgrace mean?

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 Well, verses 2 to 18 are going to sort of,

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 rather than trying to describe it by giving a definition of disgrace,

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 it's going to describe the disgrace within a series of images.

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 Very powerful image after image after image after image.

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 It's like a heart dump.

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 And it goes like this.

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 Verse 2.

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 We have become orphans, fatherless.

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 Our mothers are like widows.

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 We must pay for the water we drink.

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 The wood we get must be bought.

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 Our pursuers are at our necks.

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 We are weary.

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 We are given no rest.

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 At our necks is an image as if there's a,

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 it's as if somebody's unleashed dogs on them.

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 And these are attacked dogs that go for the arms or go for the neck,

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 go for the kill.

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 And they're at our necks.

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 They're on us all the time.

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 The people who are our overlords are very attentive

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 and very attentive to keeping them under,

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 keeping us under their heel.

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 We have given the hand to Egypt and to Assyria to get bread enough.

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 This is all part of the earlier poem,

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 how they've gone to these other powers.

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 And these other powers, which they at first thought would help them,

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 well, on one level they are sort of helping them,

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 but they're not really helping them.

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 They've come in.

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 You know, it would be a little bit as if you're watching a movie

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 and an area has been devastated

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 and some powerful business people come in from, you know,

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 an area that hasn't been afflicted.

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 And they come with their arms.

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 They come with their guards to make sure that nobody can get their bread,

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 the grain, the staples that we need.

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 They charge exorbitant prices.

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 And they use their, they're not so much guards as thugs.

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 And wherever they go, they keep people down

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 and they keep themselves rich.

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 Now, another important thing here, just as a bit of an aside,

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 before we go any further in reading this.

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 And I don't know where you are with the Lord when you're watching this,

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 but this is a very important thing for Christians to notice.

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 And for those of you who are trying to figure out whether,

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 what this Christian thing is, it's important for you to notice

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 that this is something which Christians are called to.

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 Christians aren't called to be an elite.

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 We are not called to be over society.

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 We are not called to be sort of separate

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 from what happens to the community in the city.

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 It's not as if God says, listen, you join the church,

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 you become a Christian, a true Christian,

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 and you're going to sort of enter a little bubble.

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 And bad things will happen to Ottawa,

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 and bad things will happen to Canada,

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 but bad things won't happen to you.

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 The economy of Canada can go down the tubes,

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 but you will still have a good job and be making good money.

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 The safety of the city can deteriorate,

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 but you will be safe.

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 That's not what the Bible says.

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 The person who's praying here,

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 and there's lots of our conservative Jewish friends

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 would say that Jeremiah is the author,

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 a famous prophet of the Old Testament,

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 the weeping prophet.

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 Many Christians would believe,

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 and I think there's actually a good case

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 that Jeremiah is the author of this.

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 But if it is Jeremiah,

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 he himself wasn't a bad,

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 I mean, he didn't do all of these things

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 that brought judgment upon the city,

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 but he shares in the judgment of the city.

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 See, it's part of the way that the Bible

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 slowly but powerfully forms us to understand

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 that we are to have a heart for our city,

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 that we are to have a heart for our nation,

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 that it's a good and proper thing

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 for Christians to seek public office

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 and to seek the good of the city,

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 the good of the province, the good of the land.

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 It's good for a person to enter into the civil service

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 or to enter into business,

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 to seek the good of the city,

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 the good of the country,

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 the good of the province.

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 It is a good thing to do,

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 that we should have a heart for our city.

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 The things in our city which are evil

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 should break our heart.

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 We should speak against it.

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 We should pray against it.

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 The things in our city which are good,

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 we should celebrate.

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 But in all things,

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 we should see that, in a sense,

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 our final and true home is in heaven,

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 the new heaven and the new earth.

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 But our earthly home matters very, very much.

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 There is no holy land for us.

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 There is no place that we should go

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 and let the whole world go to hell, so to speak,

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 that we are to put down roots where we live

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 and seek the good of our city.

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 And it's captured here very powerfully

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 in all of the our praying,

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 the us praying throughout the poem.

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 Verse 7.

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 Now in verse 7 here,

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 all of a sudden it's going to sound a little bit

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 as if it's a very, very Canadian,

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 contemporary Canadian and North American prayer.

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 Because one of the things that's kept,

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 that's very, very true of modern Canada

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 is virtue signaling repentance.

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 And by that I mean, you know,

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 we confess all the terrible things

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 done to First Nations in the past.

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 We confess all the terrible things

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 done to this group or that group

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 or the racism, et cetera,

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 all in the past.

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 And we can look very virtuous.

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 We can look very pious.

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 And if I'm offending some of you,

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 it's the Bible.

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 I'm not going to apologize for it.

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 It's just virtue signaling.

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 There's no real repentance there,

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 no real accepting of any type of responsibility.

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 So look what happens in verse 7.

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 Our fathers sinned and are no more,

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 and we bear their iniquities.

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 And we bear their iniquities.

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 And so this sounds as if

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 it's just talking about this modern,

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 it's as if they're now,

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 has it,

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 if you've been reading all the way through,

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 one of the things which is very telling

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 throughout chapters 1 through 4

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 is that the poet

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 is accepting responsibility

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 for what's happened,

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 that they themselves have done something

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 that means that God's punishment

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 is deserved.

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 But what,

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 well, actually,

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 we're just going to hold this.

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 This isn't virtue signaling.

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 It's actually talking about something

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 very, very important to understand

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 about the nature of being human

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 and when human beings do something wrong.

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 And it's the opposite

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 of what Canadians do

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 with virtue signaling.

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 But we'll come to that

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 when we get to verse 16.

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 Verse 8.

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 Slaves rule over us.

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 There is none to deliver us

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 from their hand.

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 We get our bread

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 at the peril of our lives

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 because of the sword

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 in the wilderness.

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 Our skin is as hot

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 as an oven

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 with the burning heat

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 of famine.

00:13:30.040 --> 00:13:31.560
 Women are raped in Zion,

00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:32.300
 young women

00:13:32.300 --> 00:13:33.440
 in the towns of Judah.

00:13:34.379 --> 00:13:35.500
 Princes are hung up

00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:36.399
 by their hands.

00:13:36.920 --> 00:13:37.639
 No respect

00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:38.940
 is shown to the elders.

00:13:39.700 --> 00:13:41.060
 Young men are compelled

00:13:41.060 --> 00:13:42.259
 to grind at the mill

00:13:42.259 --> 00:13:43.399
 and boys stagger

00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:44.940
 under the loads of wood.

00:13:44.940 --> 00:13:46.860
 The old men have left

00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:47.620
 the city gate,

00:13:47.720 --> 00:13:49.000
 the young men their music.

00:13:49.560 --> 00:13:51.120
 The joy of our hearts

00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:51.720
 has ceased,

00:13:51.880 --> 00:13:52.460
 our dancing

00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:53.680
 has been turned to mourning.

00:13:54.340 --> 00:13:55.580
 The crown has fallen

00:13:55.580 --> 00:13:56.500
 from our head.

00:13:57.000 --> 00:13:57.900
 Woe to us

00:13:57.900 --> 00:13:59.280
 for we have sinned.

00:13:59.980 --> 00:14:02.140
 Now just sort of pause here.

00:14:02.560 --> 00:14:03.780
 You'll see here once again

00:14:03.780 --> 00:14:06.300
 the very, very clear recognition

00:14:06.300 --> 00:14:07.880
 on the poet

00:14:07.880 --> 00:14:10.120
 that they as a people,

00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:11.400
 including himself

00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:12.759
 and him in his own ways,

00:14:13.319 --> 00:14:14.100
 have sinned

00:14:14.100 --> 00:14:15.559
 and God's punishment

00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:16.459
 is just.

00:14:17.860 --> 00:14:19.179
 Now there's two things

00:14:19.179 --> 00:14:19.879
 about here to notice

00:14:19.879 --> 00:14:21.079
 before we go anything further

00:14:21.079 --> 00:14:22.139
 in the psalm.

00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:24.500
 The first thing is this.

00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:29.139
 If I do something

00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:30.299
 which is very wrong,

00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:31.679
 in fact does have

00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:32.419
 repercussions

00:14:32.419 --> 00:14:33.340
 to my children,

00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:35.240
 and it might even have

00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:35.759
 repercussions

00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:36.759
 to my grandchildren

00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:38.159
 or my great-grandchildren,

00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:39.819
 that in fact

00:14:39.819 --> 00:14:41.840
 we often think of sin

00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:43.120
 or doing wrong

00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:44.000
 as a very, very

00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:45.799
 individualistic act.

00:14:46.379 --> 00:14:47.600
 But the fact is

00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:48.879
 that it's never

00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:50.340
 an individualistic act.

00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:51.960
 We, you might

00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:53.019
 or might not accept this,

00:14:53.059 --> 00:14:54.000
 you might not accept this

00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:54.740
 if you're not a Christian,

00:14:55.480 --> 00:14:56.559
 it, everything

00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:57.659
 which we do

00:14:57.659 --> 00:14:58.539
 which is wrong

00:14:58.539 --> 00:14:59.319
 is something

00:14:59.319 --> 00:15:00.639
 which is in a sense

00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:01.419
 an offense

00:15:01.419 --> 00:15:01.980
 or an attack

00:15:01.980 --> 00:15:02.840
 against God.

00:15:03.620 --> 00:15:05.279
 But because we human beings

00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:06.539
 are inextricably

00:15:06.539 --> 00:15:07.759
 part of the created order

00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:09.100
 and inextricably

00:15:09.100 --> 00:15:10.539
 part of a social order,

00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:12.339
 whenever we do wrong,

00:15:12.419 --> 00:15:13.679
 the whole utilitarian,

00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:15.059
 consequentialist,

00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:17.240
 relativistic understanding

00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:18.039
 of doing wrong

00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:19.779
 is just not humanly true

00:15:19.779 --> 00:15:20.559
 and we see that.

00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:22.339
 Many of us struggle

00:15:22.339 --> 00:15:24.059
 with, in fact,

00:15:24.179 --> 00:15:25.019
 the repercussions

00:15:25.019 --> 00:15:27.000
 of what our parents

00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:27.899
 or our grandparents

00:15:27.899 --> 00:15:29.079
 have done.

00:15:29.559 --> 00:15:31.419
 We're dealing with a dad

00:15:31.419 --> 00:15:32.259
 maybe who was

00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:33.339
 a terrible alcoholic

00:15:33.339 --> 00:15:34.100
 or who was

00:15:34.100 --> 00:15:35.220
 exceptionally violent

00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:36.899
 and broke up the family

00:15:36.899 --> 00:15:37.759
 that was violent

00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:38.519
 towards you

00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:39.540
 and you still bear

00:15:39.540 --> 00:15:41.340
 the scars of that.

00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:42.980
 You still hear his voice

00:15:42.980 --> 00:15:43.940
 in your head

00:15:43.940 --> 00:15:44.500
 and it's hard

00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:46.019
 to get over that,

00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:47.180
 to get around that.

00:15:47.580 --> 00:15:48.920
 That there was

00:15:48.920 --> 00:15:49.519
 some type of

00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:50.360
 maybe terrible

00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:51.399
 financial ruin

00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:52.360
 that completely

00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:53.360
 and utterly affected

00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:54.820
 your family

00:15:54.820 --> 00:15:55.759
 and still continues

00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:56.500
 to affect you

00:15:56.500 --> 00:15:57.259
 and your grandchildren.

00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:57.879
 I know that

00:15:57.879 --> 00:15:59.759
 if I was to have

00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:00.259
 an affair

00:16:00.259 --> 00:16:01.940
 and to break up

00:16:01.940 --> 00:16:02.480
 our marriage

00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:03.519
 it would have repercussions

00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:04.899
 not just to myself

00:16:04.899 --> 00:16:05.600
 and my wife

00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:06.759
 but to my kids

00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:07.699
 and to the grandkids.

00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:08.679
 It would be devastating

00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:09.899
 to a large number

00:16:09.899 --> 00:16:10.199
 of people.

00:16:10.319 --> 00:16:10.919
 It would be devastating

00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:11.819
 to the congregation.

00:16:12.620 --> 00:16:13.279
 And so what we see

00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:14.059
 in chapter,

00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:14.939
 in verse 7

00:16:14.939 --> 00:16:16.480
 isn't virtue signaling

00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:16.840
 saying,

00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:17.159
 oh yeah,

00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:17.519
 you know,

00:16:17.980 --> 00:16:19.199
 our parents

00:16:19.199 --> 00:16:20.220
 stole this land

00:16:20.220 --> 00:16:21.740
 and we're really sad

00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:22.079
 for it.

00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:22.980
 We continue to live

00:16:22.980 --> 00:16:23.419
 in the land

00:16:23.419 --> 00:16:24.360
 which is one of the reasons

00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:25.919
 why you will never see

00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:26.879
 in Church of the Messiah

00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:28.460
 us beginning a service

00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:29.980
 about how we're on land

00:16:29.980 --> 00:16:31.139
 that belongs to other people

00:16:31.139 --> 00:16:31.680
 because,

00:16:31.920 --> 00:16:32.879
 and if I offend you,

00:16:33.240 --> 00:16:35.600
 maybe this will cause

00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:36.420
 a Twitter storm.

00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:38.000
 People who say that

00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:38.800
 don't believe it.

00:16:38.860 --> 00:16:39.420
 They don't give up

00:16:39.420 --> 00:16:40.000
 their house.

00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:42.200
 It's virtue signaling.

00:16:44.139 --> 00:16:45.779
 And it's virtue signaling

00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:47.379
 with no type of cost.

00:16:47.940 --> 00:16:48.920
 And what we see here

00:16:48.920 --> 00:16:49.820
 is this very,

00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:50.820
 very powerful

00:16:50.820 --> 00:16:54.279
 empirically true

00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:55.779
 understanding

00:16:55.779 --> 00:16:56.820
 of the consequence

00:16:56.820 --> 00:16:57.440
 of evil.

00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:59.880
 that the wrong done

00:16:59.880 --> 00:17:01.440
 in an earlier generation

00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:02.260
 or generations

00:17:02.260 --> 00:17:04.000
 continues to have

00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:05.380
 a consequence

00:17:05.380 --> 00:17:06.279
 that barrels

00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:08.080
 for several generations

00:17:08.080 --> 00:17:09.620
 and that we often experience.

00:17:09.700 --> 00:17:10.640
 But at the same time,

00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:11.440
 and they're now,

00:17:11.539 --> 00:17:12.880
 and they're living with this.

00:17:13.779 --> 00:17:15.440
 And they're acknowledging this.

00:17:16.299 --> 00:17:17.519
 And at the same time,

00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:17.660
 though,

00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:18.299
 they themselves

00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:19.460
 have done something wrong.

00:17:19.900 --> 00:17:20.640
 And the punishment

00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:21.299
 that they bear

00:17:21.299 --> 00:17:22.240
 is not just part

00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:24.019
 of the consequences

00:17:24.019 --> 00:17:24.779
 of that

00:17:24.779 --> 00:17:25.360
 which was done

00:17:25.360 --> 00:17:26.600
 in an earlier generation

00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:28.599
 by forebearers,

00:17:28.699 --> 00:17:29.379
 but also something

00:17:29.379 --> 00:17:30.179
 which they themselves

00:17:30.179 --> 00:17:32.259
 are responsible for.

00:17:32.959 --> 00:17:33.459
 In fact,

00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:33.779
 actually,

00:17:33.859 --> 00:17:34.299
 one of the things

00:17:34.299 --> 00:17:35.359
 which is very hard

00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:36.379
 in this book,

00:17:37.179 --> 00:17:38.399
 the book of Lamentations,

00:17:38.519 --> 00:17:39.319
 for us as Canadians

00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:40.539
 to get our mind around,

00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:41.759
 and I'm definitely

00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:43.099
 including myself in this,

00:17:43.539 --> 00:17:44.299
 is it's very,

00:17:44.419 --> 00:17:44.879
 very hard

00:17:44.879 --> 00:17:45.939
 for modern Canadians

00:17:45.939 --> 00:17:48.339
 to actually confess

00:17:48.339 --> 00:17:50.819
 wrongdoing.

00:17:50.819 --> 00:17:53.619
 I find this all the time.

00:17:53.779 --> 00:17:55.960
 I get validly called out

00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:56.740
 maybe that I haven't

00:17:56.740 --> 00:17:57.480
 answered an email

00:17:57.480 --> 00:17:58.519
 or something like that.

00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:00.519
 And I start to answer

00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:02.379
 and in my reflex motion,

00:18:02.379 --> 00:18:03.399
 I want to start saying,

00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:04.299
 I want to do this.

00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:05.240
 I want to say,

00:18:05.639 --> 00:18:06.700
 I'm really sorry

00:18:06.700 --> 00:18:07.980
 for not responding

00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:09.079
 to your email

00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:10.339
 that came two weeks ago.

00:18:10.460 --> 00:18:11.819
 I apologize for it.

00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:13.139
 And then as soon as I say

00:18:13.139 --> 00:18:14.439
 I apologize for it,

00:18:14.700 --> 00:18:15.759
 without even having to do it,

00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:16.179
 I can say,

00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:16.359
 you know,

00:18:16.399 --> 00:18:17.099
 but I've been really busy.

00:18:17.099 --> 00:18:18.839
 But I've been really busy.

00:18:19.099 --> 00:18:20.419
 I have lots of emails.

00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:21.480
 I've been dealing

00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:22.919
 with these really important things.

00:18:22.959 --> 00:18:23.779
 There was this crisis.

00:18:24.259 --> 00:18:25.000
 You see what I've done?

00:18:25.139 --> 00:18:26.379
 I haven't actually apologized.

00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:29.879
 And the fact of the matter is,

00:18:29.939 --> 00:18:30.859
 is that one of the things

00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:31.959
 which is so hard for us

00:18:31.959 --> 00:18:32.980
 when we read this book

00:18:32.980 --> 00:18:34.500
 is this,

00:18:36.379 --> 00:18:38.199
 he acknowledges

00:18:38.199 --> 00:18:39.240
 and accepts

00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:41.399
 that he has done wrong.

00:18:42.879 --> 00:18:44.619
 And at no point in time

00:18:44.619 --> 00:18:46.299
 in any of the five chapters

00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:47.559
 is there anything

00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:49.359
 like what you and I do

00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:50.539
 all of the time

00:18:50.539 --> 00:18:51.720
 that's part of the air

00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:52.460
 that we breathe?

00:18:52.940 --> 00:18:54.440
 There's no blame shifting.

00:18:54.919 --> 00:18:57.440
 There's no face-saving stories.

00:18:58.079 --> 00:18:59.319
 There's no excuses.

00:18:59.919 --> 00:19:01.579
 There's no smoke being blown

00:19:01.579 --> 00:19:02.839
 to try to distract you

00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:04.039
 from what the real issue is.

00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:05.019
 There's no distracting.

00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:06.200
 There's no dissembling.

00:19:06.619 --> 00:19:07.559
 There's no cloaking.

00:19:07.980 --> 00:19:08.680
 Cloaking means,

00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:09.359
 well,

00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:10.220
 I was really doing this

00:19:10.220 --> 00:19:10.859
 for this very,

00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:11.839
 very good reason

00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:13.019
 and I'm really sorry

00:19:13.019 --> 00:19:14.200
 that you are upset.

00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:14.819
 Well, once again,

00:19:14.859 --> 00:19:15.180
 one moment,

00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:16.220
 I'm doing this

00:19:16.220 --> 00:19:16.920
 for a good reason.

00:19:17.019 --> 00:19:18.080
 I'm sorry you're upset.

00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:19.700
 That's a very common thing as well.

00:19:20.420 --> 00:19:21.940
 No, no, no,

00:19:22.080 --> 00:19:23.080
 you lied.

00:19:23.860 --> 00:19:25.500
 No, you stole.

00:19:26.060 --> 00:19:28.759
 No, you cheated.

00:19:29.900 --> 00:19:31.360
 Not, I was intending

00:19:31.360 --> 00:19:32.360
 something really good

00:19:32.360 --> 00:19:33.120
 and I really, really,

00:19:33.220 --> 00:19:34.100
 really mean well

00:19:34.100 --> 00:19:35.440
 and I'm sorry you're upset.

00:19:35.580 --> 00:19:37.640
 No, you abused your power.

00:19:37.840 --> 00:19:39.200
 Don't give me this thing

00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:40.519
 that you have good motives

00:19:40.519 --> 00:19:41.759
 that somehow cloaks

00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:42.320
 what you did

00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:43.259
 and you're just bothered

00:19:43.259 --> 00:19:44.480
 that I'm bothered.

00:19:44.980 --> 00:19:47.240
 No, you abused your power.

00:19:48.519 --> 00:19:49.559
 There's no cloaking.

00:19:49.679 --> 00:19:50.559
 There's no whining.

00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:52.339
 There's no virtue signaling.

00:19:55.220 --> 00:19:56.779
 And I would like to suggest,

00:19:56.879 --> 00:19:57.519
 that's one of the reasons

00:19:57.519 --> 00:19:58.279
 we have a hard time

00:19:58.279 --> 00:19:58.819
 reading the book,

00:19:58.899 --> 00:19:59.379
 by the way,

00:19:59.460 --> 00:20:01.039
 is that none of this happens

00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:03.059
 and we're not quite sure

00:20:03.059 --> 00:20:04.259
 what to do with somebody

00:20:04.259 --> 00:20:04.879
 who just says,

00:20:05.059 --> 00:20:05.859
 we did wrong.

00:20:06.460 --> 00:20:07.579
 I did wrong.

00:20:07.579 --> 00:20:08.139
 Stop.

00:20:09.740 --> 00:20:10.480
 I mean, period.

00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:13.399
 No good motives.

00:20:13.819 --> 00:20:14.299
 Well, we're just,

00:20:14.740 --> 00:20:15.319
 yeah, yeah, okay,

00:20:15.379 --> 00:20:17.559
 I know that we were worshipping

00:20:17.559 --> 00:20:18.279
 all these other gods.

00:20:18.359 --> 00:20:20.339
 Yeah, I know that we were

00:20:20.339 --> 00:20:21.500
 sacrificing babies.

00:20:21.659 --> 00:20:23.399
 Yeah, I know that we practiced

00:20:23.399 --> 00:20:24.419
 infanticide.

00:20:24.500 --> 00:20:26.899
 Yeah, I know that we sold

00:20:26.899 --> 00:20:28.259
 our boys and girls

00:20:28.259 --> 00:20:29.799
 to be prostitutes.

00:20:29.859 --> 00:20:32.279
 Yeah, but I was really trying

00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:33.500
 to find myself

00:20:33.500 --> 00:20:34.539
 and find God

00:20:34.539 --> 00:20:35.460
 and I'm really bothered

00:20:35.460 --> 00:20:36.379
 that you're upset.

00:20:36.380 --> 00:20:38.780
 that's what we expect

00:20:38.780 --> 00:20:39.860
 because that's what we do.

00:20:40.500 --> 00:20:40.760
 And you see,

00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:42.460
 it might be one of the reasons

00:20:42.460 --> 00:20:44.700
 why we have so much problems

00:20:44.700 --> 00:20:45.700
 with relationships,

00:20:46.520 --> 00:20:47.960
 that so many marriages

00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:48.700
 end in divorce,

00:20:48.860 --> 00:20:50.840
 that so many common law partnerships

00:20:50.840 --> 00:20:53.000
 end in separation

00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:54.320
 and divorce,

00:20:54.540 --> 00:20:56.420
 that so many friendships end,

00:20:56.920 --> 00:20:57.660
 is you see,

00:20:58.360 --> 00:21:00.800
 we're just so deeply addicted

00:21:00.800 --> 00:21:03.680
 to not accepting responsibility.

00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:03.779
 responsibility.

00:21:04.980 --> 00:21:06.920
 But if you'd actually

00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:08.160
 have a good relation,

00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:09.880
 you can't have a good relationship

00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:11.539
 without accepting responsibility

00:21:11.539 --> 00:21:13.120
 for the bad that you did.

00:21:14.600 --> 00:21:15.180
 You see,

00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:15.940
 the other person

00:21:15.940 --> 00:21:16.840
 will put up for it

00:21:16.840 --> 00:21:17.580
 for a while,

00:21:18.080 --> 00:21:20.060
 but at some point in time

00:21:20.060 --> 00:21:20.840
 they don't.

00:21:21.340 --> 00:21:22.140
 Because you see,

00:21:22.220 --> 00:21:23.680
 when we just use excuses,

00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:25.680
 when we just use blame shifting,

00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:26.820
 when we do this

00:21:26.820 --> 00:21:28.080
 virtue signaling,

00:21:28.320 --> 00:21:30.060
 when we do all of this stuff,

00:21:30.059 --> 00:21:31.839
 we're really just trying

00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:33.460
 to manipulate the other person.

00:21:33.539 --> 00:21:34.759
 And at some point in time,

00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:36.359
 the person being manipulated

00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:36.679
 says,

00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:37.119
 you know what?

00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:39.879
 I don't like being manipulated.

00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:41.259
 I want to have

00:21:41.259 --> 00:21:42.659
 a good relationship with you.

00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:43.500
 And I can have

00:21:43.500 --> 00:21:45.039
 a good relationship with you

00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:47.259
 if you're always manipulating me.

00:21:49.419 --> 00:21:49.960
 You know,

00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:51.599
 you can't actually extend

00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:52.720
 grace or mercy

00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:55.799
 if there's no acknowledgement

00:21:55.799 --> 00:21:56.500
 of wrong.

00:21:56.500 --> 00:22:01.839
 And that is so much

00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:03.200
 a part of what it means

00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:04.759
 to be Canadians today

00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:07.440
 that is part of the problem

00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:08.099
 we have

00:22:08.099 --> 00:22:09.759
 with the Book of Lamentations.

00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:11.480
 See,

00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:12.680
 time and time and time

00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:13.420
 and time again,

00:22:13.500 --> 00:22:14.539
 the problems we have

00:22:14.539 --> 00:22:15.779
 with the Book of Lamentations,

00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:17.160
 if you sit and think about it

00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:17.980
 for a while,

00:22:18.099 --> 00:22:18.900
 actually shows

00:22:18.900 --> 00:22:20.099
 there's a problem in us.

00:22:21.539 --> 00:22:22.400
 We think

00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.000
 that the Book of Lamentations,

00:22:25.579 --> 00:22:26.480
 in a sense,

00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:27.779
 is ammunition

00:22:27.779 --> 00:22:29.119
 against God

00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:29.980
 who's on trial.

00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:32.480
 But if you think about it,

00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:33.500
 if you really think

00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:34.559
 about what's going on,

00:22:35.140 --> 00:22:36.099
 you start to realize

00:22:36.099 --> 00:22:37.500
 that it's revealing us.

00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:39.519
 And

00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:40.859
 if we,

00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:41.460
 if I,

00:22:41.579 --> 00:22:42.559
 if I spend

00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:43.539
 all of my time

00:22:43.539 --> 00:22:44.380
 trying to manipulate

00:22:44.380 --> 00:22:45.140
 my kids,

00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:46.299
 manipulate my wife,

00:22:46.460 --> 00:22:47.720
 manipulate my grandkids,

00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:48.460
 never accepting

00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:49.180
 responsibility,

00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:50.119
 never accepting

00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:51.140
 any type of blame,

00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:53.200
 and it,

00:22:53.220 --> 00:22:54.859
 it wrecks the relationship.

00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:55.400
 And if I,

00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:55.900
 if I do that

00:22:55.900 --> 00:22:56.440
 with my wife,

00:22:56.540 --> 00:22:57.480
 how can that ever,

00:22:57.680 --> 00:22:59.560
 how can I ever possibly do,

00:23:00.180 --> 00:23:01.540
 how can I ever possibly

00:23:01.540 --> 00:23:02.100
 be right

00:23:02.100 --> 00:23:03.640
 if there really is a God

00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:04.640
 that does exist?

00:23:09.019 --> 00:23:09.460
 Now,

00:23:10.180 --> 00:23:12.900
 we've read up until

00:23:12.900 --> 00:23:15.460
 verse 16.

00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:18.480
 the last two verses

00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:19.779
 are very important

00:23:19.779 --> 00:23:20.360
 to bring this,

00:23:20.460 --> 00:23:21.240
 the long list

00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:22.079
 of the disgrace

00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:24.160
 to a completion,

00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:25.920
 the pouring out

00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:26.680
 of their heart

00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:28.059
 to God.

00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:29.720
 And then we see

00:23:29.720 --> 00:23:30.220
 how they pray

00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:31.539
 in light of all of this.

00:23:32.100 --> 00:23:32.759
 Verse 17,

00:23:33.880 --> 00:23:34.620
 for this,

00:23:34.840 --> 00:23:35.059
 okay,

00:23:35.100 --> 00:23:36.100
 look at verse 16 again,

00:23:36.180 --> 00:23:36.960
 the crown has fallen

00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:37.559
 from our head,

00:23:37.700 --> 00:23:38.200
 woe to us,

00:23:38.420 --> 00:23:39.420
 for we have sinned.

00:23:39.420 --> 00:23:40.920
 For this,

00:23:41.560 --> 00:23:43.160
 our heart has become sick.

00:23:43.640 --> 00:23:44.900
 For these things,

00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:47.259
 our eyes have grown dim.

00:23:48.080 --> 00:23:48.560
 In other words,

00:23:48.620 --> 00:23:49.560
 our heart has become sick

00:23:49.560 --> 00:23:50.519
 because of their sin

00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:51.580
 and because of their disgrace.

00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:52.140
 It's both.

00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:53.240
 It's not an either or.

00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:55.460
 It's both the disgrace,

00:23:55.840 --> 00:23:57.600
 which carries its own weight,

00:23:57.700 --> 00:23:58.440
 and the sin,

00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:00.420
 which troubles them.

00:24:00.420 --> 00:24:02.600
 You see,

00:24:03.600 --> 00:24:06.100
 this is a whole other sermon,

00:24:06.259 --> 00:24:07.060
 but it's actually part

00:24:07.060 --> 00:24:08.000
 of the profound wisdom.

00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:09.180
 I think only,

00:24:09.420 --> 00:24:10.940
 no system of thought

00:24:10.940 --> 00:24:12.360
 is as wise as the Bible.

00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:13.640
 If you actually compare it,

00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:14.800
 if you look at the options,

00:24:16.100 --> 00:24:17.660
 because the fact of the matter is,

00:24:18.259 --> 00:24:20.600
 there is something in us.

00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:24.100
 There is something in you,

00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:25.900
 and there is something in me

00:24:25.900 --> 00:24:26.960
 that does wrong.

00:24:30.420 --> 00:24:31.700
 Like,

00:24:32.100 --> 00:24:33.400
 it's just there.

00:24:35.019 --> 00:24:36.000
 Not all the time,

00:24:36.120 --> 00:24:36.660
 obviously.

00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:37.160
 Like,

00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:38.000
 not all the time.

00:24:38.940 --> 00:24:39.060
 But,

00:24:39.160 --> 00:24:39.380
 you know,

00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:40.680
 but why is it that,

00:24:40.800 --> 00:24:40.980
 you know,

00:24:41.019 --> 00:24:41.740
 you have a whole day,

00:24:41.820 --> 00:24:42.039
 maybe,

00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:42.380
 you know,

00:24:42.420 --> 00:24:43.640
 with your best friend

00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:44.279
 or something like that,

00:24:44.300 --> 00:24:45.039
 and they've been really kind,

00:24:45.100 --> 00:24:46.180
 they've been really generous to you,

00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:46.740
 and then at the end,

00:24:46.779 --> 00:24:47.000
 I don't know,

00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:48.120
 maybe it's like washing dishes,

00:24:48.120 --> 00:24:49.060
 or maybe it's doing some

00:24:49.060 --> 00:24:50.120
 of their little simple chore,

00:24:50.320 --> 00:24:51.440
 and you know you should get up

00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:52.000
 and do something,

00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:53.240
 but you just sit and be selfish.

00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:53.500
 Like,

00:24:53.539 --> 00:24:54.400
 why is it you do that?

00:24:54.460 --> 00:24:54.640
 Like,

00:24:54.660 --> 00:24:55.440
 why do I do that?

00:24:57.539 --> 00:24:57.900
 Like,

00:24:57.920 --> 00:24:59.120
 there's a type of mystery

00:24:59.120 --> 00:25:00.220
 to why,

00:25:00.420 --> 00:25:02.120
 anybody ever chooses evil,

00:25:02.259 --> 00:25:03.180
 because it's just,

00:25:03.259 --> 00:25:04.320
 it's just there.

00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:09.220
 And as that becomes clear to us,

00:25:09.380 --> 00:25:10.700
 and that's what's going on here,

00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:11.900
 it's just there.

00:25:14.259 --> 00:25:15.680
 The sin is just there.

00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:16.940
 And you've seen that

00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:17.900
 in the previous weeks,

00:25:17.940 --> 00:25:19.160
 that even after they've been judged,

00:25:19.240 --> 00:25:20.580
 there's still these terrible things

00:25:20.580 --> 00:25:21.380
 that people are doing.

00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:22.120
 It's just there.

00:25:23.120 --> 00:25:23.460
 Well,

00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:24.460
 the Bible describes

00:25:24.460 --> 00:25:25.279
 why that happens

00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:26.100
 very powerfully.

00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:27.420
 It not only describes it

00:25:27.420 --> 00:25:28.420
 in poems like that,

00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:29.140
 but it actually,

00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:29.920
 we'll see in a moment,

00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:30.580
 gives a bit of a,

00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:32.320
 of a way to dealing

00:25:32.320 --> 00:25:32.960
 with the fact

00:25:32.960 --> 00:25:34.340
 that this makes our hearts sick

00:25:34.340 --> 00:25:35.240
 when we realize it.

00:25:36.320 --> 00:25:37.060
 Verse 18,

00:25:37.580 --> 00:25:38.420
 for Mount Zion,

00:25:38.580 --> 00:25:39.600
 which lies desolate,

00:25:39.779 --> 00:25:41.200
 jackals prowl over it.

00:25:41.220 --> 00:25:41.660
 And it's a very,

00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:43.200
 very powerful closing image.

00:25:43.300 --> 00:25:43.700
 Just think,

00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:44.960
 those of you who watch movies,

00:25:45.580 --> 00:25:46.000
 if you,

00:25:46.200 --> 00:25:47.400
 maybe it's an adventure movie

00:25:47.400 --> 00:25:48.460
 or a fantasy movie

00:25:48.460 --> 00:25:49.240
 or something like that,

00:25:49.259 --> 00:25:49.880
 and you have the,

00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:51.740
 the hero or the heroine

00:25:51.740 --> 00:25:52.300
 and,

00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:53.100
 or the group,

00:25:53.180 --> 00:25:53.440
 and they're,

00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:54.320
 they're walking along

00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:55.119
 and off in the distance

00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:56.220
 they see some ruins

00:25:56.220 --> 00:25:56.980
 and in the ruins

00:25:56.980 --> 00:25:58.279
 they see some jackals.

00:25:58.599 --> 00:25:59.759
 What does that always mean?

00:26:02.460 --> 00:26:03.839
 It means that if there are

00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:04.679
 human beings there,

00:26:04.759 --> 00:26:05.299
 they're hiding.

00:26:07.259 --> 00:26:08.619
 It means it's a place

00:26:08.619 --> 00:26:09.720
 of devastation

00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:12.200
 that might once have been great,

00:26:12.299 --> 00:26:13.159
 but now is not.

00:26:13.159 --> 00:26:15.519
 To see the couple of jackals

00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:16.480
 wandering around

00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:17.439
 amidst the ruins

00:26:17.439 --> 00:26:19.119
 creates a very type of

00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:20.859
 emotional type of response,

00:26:20.980 --> 00:26:21.939
 a place of danger,

00:26:21.940 --> 00:26:23.860
 a place of some great evil

00:26:23.860 --> 00:26:25.120
 that had befallen that place

00:26:25.120 --> 00:26:26.460
 and those are the final words

00:26:26.460 --> 00:26:27.120
 of the pouring out

00:26:27.120 --> 00:26:27.740
 of their hearts.

00:26:28.320 --> 00:26:29.180
 It begins with,

00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:30.039
 see our disgrace

00:26:30.039 --> 00:26:31.799
 and from verses 2 to 18

00:26:31.799 --> 00:26:33.720
 the disgrace is loaded

00:26:33.720 --> 00:26:34.620
 with pictures,

00:26:34.779 --> 00:26:35.779
 powerful images

00:26:35.779 --> 00:26:38.039
 and this is the final image

00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:39.259
 of the jackals

00:26:39.259 --> 00:26:40.539
 amidst the ruins,

00:26:40.539 --> 00:26:42.559
 which is where the poet lives.

00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:45.740
 So how does the poet

00:26:45.740 --> 00:26:47.539
 now turn to talk to God?

00:26:49.799 --> 00:26:51.740
 Verse 19 through 22

00:26:51.740 --> 00:26:52.620
 or maybe I'll just,

00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:55.180
 well, I'll read all four verses

00:26:55.180 --> 00:26:56.480
 and I'll sort of loop back

00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:57.279
 and talk about it

00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:58.859
 and then we'll try to unpack

00:26:58.859 --> 00:26:59.539
 a little bit about

00:26:59.539 --> 00:27:01.099
 this particular question

00:27:01.099 --> 00:27:02.120
 which started the whole sermon,

00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:04.640
 does God still punish people today?

00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:06.559
 It goes like this,

00:27:06.620 --> 00:27:07.319
 verse 19,

00:27:08.099 --> 00:27:08.940
 but you, O Lord,

00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:09.640
 reign forever.

00:27:10.380 --> 00:27:11.759
 Your throne endures

00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:12.779
 to all generations.

00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:13.980
 It's very powerful, right?

00:27:14.059 --> 00:27:14.480
 You have the,

00:27:14.539 --> 00:27:15.759
 you go from verse 18,

00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:18.140
 the jackals amidst the ruins,

00:27:18.140 --> 00:27:22.700
 the ruins where the poet lives.

00:27:23.700 --> 00:27:24.880
 Verse 19,

00:27:25.259 --> 00:27:26.460
 the Lord reigns.

00:27:26.720 --> 00:27:28.240
 Despite the circumstances

00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:30.000
 that he sees around him,

00:27:30.060 --> 00:27:31.040
 the Lord reigns.

00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:33.840
 The Lord has reigned in the past.

00:27:34.460 --> 00:27:35.680
 He reigns today.

00:27:35.880 --> 00:27:37.240
 He will reign forever.

00:27:37.700 --> 00:27:38.580
 But you, O Lord,

00:27:38.660 --> 00:27:39.340
 reign forever.

00:27:39.480 --> 00:27:40.900
 Your throne endures

00:27:40.900 --> 00:27:42.700
 to all generations.

00:27:42.700 --> 00:27:45.460
 You know,

00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:45.960
 one of the things

00:27:45.960 --> 00:27:47.100
 which I often pray about

00:27:47.100 --> 00:27:48.299
 in my own personal prayers,

00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:50.100
 especially this last couple of years,

00:27:50.200 --> 00:27:51.400
 it's been a very important thing

00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:52.039
 for me to pray

00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:55.480
 that the Lord continues to reign

00:27:55.480 --> 00:27:56.720
 in our world.

00:27:57.319 --> 00:27:58.920
 That the Lord reigns in Canada.

00:27:59.000 --> 00:27:59.799
 The Lord is sovereign,

00:27:59.960 --> 00:28:01.600
 maybe is a better way to put it.

00:28:01.880 --> 00:28:03.860
 And that he only works on his plan A.

00:28:04.420 --> 00:28:05.620
 He doesn't need plan B,

00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:06.660
 he doesn't need plan C,

00:28:06.740 --> 00:28:07.600
 he doesn't need plan D.

00:28:07.640 --> 00:28:09.559
 Not surprised by what happens

00:28:09.559 --> 00:28:09.900
 and thinks,

00:28:09.940 --> 00:28:10.440
 oh dang,

00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:11.940
 I hadn't taken that into account,

00:28:11.940 --> 00:28:12.600
 I better change.

00:28:13.080 --> 00:28:14.640
 He's always only working on plan A.

00:28:15.640 --> 00:28:17.299
 And so they're often asking,

00:28:17.420 --> 00:28:17.680
 so Lord,

00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:19.039
 hold me in the hollow of your hand

00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:21.080
 and help me to walk with you.

00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:23.039
 But verse 20,

00:28:23.980 --> 00:28:24.819
 and here one of the things

00:28:24.819 --> 00:28:25.799
 you're going to see at the end,

00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:28.000
 and one of the things to notice

00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:29.980
 in verses 19, 20, 21, 22,

00:28:30.080 --> 00:28:31.600
 you're going to see this claim,

00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:32.700
 the doubt,

00:28:32.840 --> 00:28:33.740
 the claim, the doubt.

00:28:35.080 --> 00:28:35.720
 And it's,

00:28:36.980 --> 00:28:38.519
 to be in doubt is,

00:28:38.660 --> 00:28:40.519
 to have doubt is to be in two minds,

00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:42.220
 or at least two minds.

00:28:42.700 --> 00:28:43.400
 In a sense,

00:28:43.460 --> 00:28:44.860
 a mind about who God is

00:28:44.860 --> 00:28:45.700
 and what he's like,

00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:47.120
 and have some other doubts

00:28:47.120 --> 00:28:48.500
 about whether he's really like that,

00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:49.880
 or in this case,

00:28:49.960 --> 00:28:51.319
 the emotions and the images

00:28:51.319 --> 00:28:52.660
 are driving the fact

00:28:52.660 --> 00:28:53.299
 that maybe,

00:28:53.660 --> 00:28:54.380
 just maybe,

00:28:54.500 --> 00:28:55.640
 this time has come

00:28:55.640 --> 00:28:57.920
 that their evil has been so bad

00:28:57.920 --> 00:28:58.559
 that in fact,

00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:00.240
 it's irredeemable.

00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:03.640
 That the evil that they have done,

00:29:03.720 --> 00:29:04.980
 the evil that he has done,

00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:07.660
 is so bad that it is irredeemable.

00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:10.259
 And the Lord is still on his throne,

00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:11.519
 he does show mercy,

00:29:11.779 --> 00:29:12.920
 but they have done something

00:29:12.920 --> 00:29:14.220
 ten steps beyond

00:29:14.220 --> 00:29:15.599
 which mercy can be shown.

00:29:16.839 --> 00:29:18.299
 So you go to verse 19 again,

00:29:18.380 --> 00:29:19.799
 but you, O Lord, reign forever,

00:29:20.259 --> 00:29:22.039
 your throne endures to all generations.

00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:24.059
 Why do you forget us forever?

00:29:24.879 --> 00:29:26.240
 Why do you forsake us

00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:27.519
 for so many days?

00:29:29.819 --> 00:29:31.399
 Restore us to yourself, O Lord,

00:29:31.460 --> 00:29:32.619
 that we may be restored.

00:29:32.980 --> 00:29:34.919
 Renew our days as of old,

00:29:35.359 --> 00:29:37.440
 unless you have utterly rejected us

00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:40.599
 and you remain exceedingly angry with us.

00:29:41.379 --> 00:29:42.179
 You'll notice here

00:29:42.179 --> 00:29:44.159
 that it's restore us not to riches,

00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:45.719
 restore us not to power,

00:29:46.359 --> 00:29:50.059
 restore us not to perfect health,

00:29:50.059 --> 00:29:53.379
 but restore us, O Lord, to yourself.

00:29:54.539 --> 00:29:56.339
 Last week I gave you a bit of an analogy,

00:29:56.779 --> 00:29:57.799
 and this is something

00:29:57.799 --> 00:30:00.099
 which you need to also take into account

00:30:00.099 --> 00:30:01.359
 when you read the book of Lamentations.

00:30:01.939 --> 00:30:04.039
 It's asking a deeply personal question.

00:30:04.199 --> 00:30:05.339
 It would be as if, you know,

00:30:05.399 --> 00:30:08.059
 some evil person came up and said,

00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:09.459
 George, I'm going to give you an option.

00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:11.960
 You can, I'm going to take away your house.

00:30:12.019 --> 00:30:13.019
 I'm going to take away your car.

00:30:13.079 --> 00:30:14.200
 I'm going to take away your job,

00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:15.579
 but your marriage will be intact.

00:30:16.400 --> 00:30:18.880
 Or I'm going to give you a bigger house,

00:30:18.940 --> 00:30:20.519
 a better car, way more money,

00:30:20.600 --> 00:30:22.420
 but you're going to lose your marriage.

00:30:22.460 --> 00:30:23.240
 You're going to lose Louise.

00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:23.980
 What do you choose?

00:30:26.180 --> 00:30:28.000
 And if I even pause about that,

00:30:28.380 --> 00:30:29.440
 then there's a problem.

00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:31.880
 I mean, I know I would choose my wife.

00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:35.180
 I would choose the poverty and have my wife.

00:30:35.180 --> 00:30:40.000
 And we all know that if, in fact,

00:30:40.259 --> 00:30:42.160
 we could listen in on other people's minds,

00:30:42.259 --> 00:30:42.860
 another couple,

00:30:43.120 --> 00:30:44.940
 and, in fact, the woman was thinking,

00:30:45.019 --> 00:30:46.840
 okay, I think I would take the house and the car,

00:30:47.140 --> 00:30:49.640
 while the husband's saying,

00:30:50.039 --> 00:30:51.420
 I think I'd take my wife,

00:30:51.880 --> 00:30:53.460
 and that became public,

00:30:53.519 --> 00:30:54.840
 we'd all be on one person's side

00:30:54.840 --> 00:30:55.700
 and not the other, right?

00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:57.820
 Because we understand the deep importance

00:30:57.820 --> 00:30:58.920
 that human beings have

00:30:58.920 --> 00:31:00.080
 to be with another person,

00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:01.940
 to be with a person in the covenant of love.

00:31:01.940 --> 00:31:06.080
 And throughout the entire bigger story of the Bible,

00:31:06.539 --> 00:31:09.519
 the bigger story of the Bible is a love story,

00:31:09.620 --> 00:31:11.720
 that God, the triune God,

00:31:12.500 --> 00:31:16.680
 made human beings not because he had any particular needs

00:31:16.680 --> 00:31:17.880
 or because he was lonely,

00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:20.759
 because only Christianity accounts for the fact

00:31:20.759 --> 00:31:22.460
 that there's not a lonely God,

00:31:22.660 --> 00:31:27.840
 that we're not a God that's sort of above or below love

00:31:27.840 --> 00:31:28.840
 and good and evil,

00:31:28.840 --> 00:31:31.299
 that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

00:31:31.299 --> 00:31:33.019
 three persons, yet one God,

00:31:33.159 --> 00:31:35.099
 from all eternity there has been love,

00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:35.960
 there's been goodness,

00:31:36.139 --> 00:31:36.839
 there's been beauty,

00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:37.819
 there's been exchange,

00:31:38.019 --> 00:31:38.859
 there's been interactions.

00:31:39.639 --> 00:31:41.599
 And out of the fullness of love,

00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:43.079
 God creates human beings.

00:31:43.220 --> 00:31:45.419
 Out of the fullness of God's being,

00:31:45.899 --> 00:31:48.639
 he creates contingent human beings

00:31:48.639 --> 00:31:49.779
 made in his own image

00:31:49.779 --> 00:31:52.879
 who can not only learn to amongst themselves

00:31:52.879 --> 00:31:54.619
 in some small way model

00:31:54.619 --> 00:31:56.680
 the eternal love of the Father for the Son

00:31:56.680 --> 00:31:57.720
 and the Son for the Father

00:31:57.720 --> 00:31:59.500
 and the Holy Spirit and all,

00:31:59.500 --> 00:32:01.599
 but also be able to love him.

00:32:01.859 --> 00:32:04.079
 And that's how God made the entire world.

00:32:04.220 --> 00:32:06.420
 And then we human beings broke that.

00:32:07.059 --> 00:32:09.519
 We decided that we would be God.

00:32:09.619 --> 00:32:10.920
 We wanted to be like God.

00:32:10.980 --> 00:32:13.099
 We wanted to take God off of his throne

00:32:13.099 --> 00:32:14.799
 and we wanted to be on that throne.

00:32:14.940 --> 00:32:15.759
 And in doing that,

00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:18.380
 we broke our relationship with the source of love,

00:32:18.460 --> 00:32:19.480
 the source of goodness,

00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:20.839
 the source of truth,

00:32:21.099 --> 00:32:22.099
 the source of beauty.

00:32:22.619 --> 00:32:23.759
 And as soon as we did that,

00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:25.559
 not only did we break our relationship with God,

00:32:25.559 --> 00:32:27.240
 but if you go back and you read Genesis 3,

00:32:27.319 --> 00:32:29.599
 we instantly broke our relationship with ourselves,

00:32:30.019 --> 00:32:31.419
 our relationship with others,

00:32:31.500 --> 00:32:33.019
 and our relationship with the creation.

00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:34.480
 And that's, you see,

00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:37.919
 why there's just something within us that does wrong,

00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:40.519
 and yet we are not completely wrong.

00:32:41.159 --> 00:32:42.799
 Because the image of God

00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:44.159
 and God's creation within us

00:32:44.159 --> 00:32:46.759
 was bent but not broken, not effaced.

00:32:46.819 --> 00:32:48.899
 And God never gave up on his created order.

00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:50.580
 And even in that early story,

00:32:50.680 --> 00:32:53.040
 he promises that there will be a day

00:32:53.040 --> 00:32:56.540
 when he will restore human beings to himself.

00:32:56.840 --> 00:32:59.400
 He will renew by bringing a way

00:32:59.400 --> 00:33:02.080
 to have people in him to come back into him,

00:33:02.120 --> 00:33:03.420
 and that that will come in the future.

00:33:03.500 --> 00:33:05.519
 And this book of Lamentations is part of that,

00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:08.380
 setting the riddle, so to speak,

00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:11.320
 of how could human beings who continue to sin

00:33:11.320 --> 00:33:12.740
 possibly be restored?

00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:14.360
 How can God show mercy,

00:33:14.560 --> 00:33:15.660
 which is not just privilege?

00:33:18.900 --> 00:33:20.180
 And the Bible as a whole

00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:21.920
 is part of this larger love story

00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:24.019
 about how God redeems and restores

00:33:24.019 --> 00:33:26.600
 people to himself purely and utterly

00:33:26.600 --> 00:33:28.580
 out of the beauty of grace,

00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:30.040
 the beauty of mercy.

00:33:30.540 --> 00:33:33.820
 The beauty of justice is not broken

00:33:33.820 --> 00:33:37.759
 by the beauty of mercy and of grace,

00:33:38.140 --> 00:33:41.060
 but that the grace of God illuminates his justice,

00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:43.500
 and the justice of God illuminates his grace,

00:33:43.980 --> 00:33:46.160
 and it all becomes real in flesh.

00:33:46.200 --> 00:33:47.740
 Because, you see, here's the question.

00:33:48.900 --> 00:33:49.920
 Which I started with.

00:33:49.940 --> 00:33:51.220
 Does God still punish today?

00:33:52.360 --> 00:33:56.640
 Well, what we see here is an account

00:33:56.640 --> 00:33:58.480
 of God having punished in history.

00:34:00.220 --> 00:34:02.220
 And if you read the New Testament,

00:34:02.380 --> 00:34:04.400
 if you read the story of Ananias and Sapphira,

00:34:04.620 --> 00:34:07.019
 it is obvious that even after the death

00:34:07.019 --> 00:34:08.160
 and resurrection of Jesus,

00:34:08.420 --> 00:34:12.400
 that God still actually does punish in history.

00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:16.579
 So is it possible that what's happening to you

00:34:16.579 --> 00:34:18.639
 might be God's punishment?

00:34:19.420 --> 00:34:22.500
 Well, I think we can't know for certain.

00:34:25.400 --> 00:34:26.320
 It might be.

00:34:28.619 --> 00:34:31.099
 And that's not the answer most of you are wanting to hear.

00:34:31.680 --> 00:34:33.780
 In fact, it probably creates fears within you.

00:34:34.599 --> 00:34:35.500
 But it might be.

00:34:35.500 --> 00:34:38.019
 I mean, I can share with you,

00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:40.300
 when we walked away from our property

00:34:40.300 --> 00:34:42.579
 because we wanted to be loyal to Jesus,

00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:45.719
 and we moved to the Ottawa Little Theatre,

00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:49.480
 we had to leave our denomination

00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:51.599
 because our denomination had left the gospel

00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:54.280
 and was following a false gospel.

00:34:54.280 --> 00:34:59.400
 And so we, to be true to Jesus,

00:34:59.720 --> 00:35:02.200
 had to separate from our denomination,

00:35:02.400 --> 00:35:03.320
 and they came after us,

00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:04.720
 and eventually we settled out of court

00:35:04.720 --> 00:35:06.060
 and we walked away from our property.

00:35:07.160 --> 00:35:08.760
 And for the first two years,

00:35:08.920 --> 00:35:11.960
 the congregation declined almost by,

00:35:12.060 --> 00:35:15.440
 well, declined by 40% over the first two years.

00:35:15.500 --> 00:35:17.000
 Not at first, but over the first two,

00:35:17.080 --> 00:35:18.000
 two and a half years.

00:35:18.720 --> 00:35:21.260
 It was a very, very, very hard time

00:35:21.260 --> 00:35:22.400
 of leadership for me.

00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:24.599
 And I will confess,

00:35:24.680 --> 00:35:26.639
 one of the things I kept pointing out in my heart to God

00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:29.480
 is, God, is it because of some sin in my life

00:35:29.480 --> 00:35:32.579
 or is it because of some sin in the congregation?

00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:37.300
 You know, have I stopped preaching your word?

00:35:37.420 --> 00:35:38.200
 Have I stopped praying?

00:35:38.340 --> 00:35:39.740
 Are there things which I have done

00:35:39.740 --> 00:35:41.180
 for which this is coming?

00:35:41.280 --> 00:35:42.599
 Now, I didn't come to a particular,

00:35:42.740 --> 00:35:43.400
 I mean, you can never,

00:35:44.160 --> 00:35:46.139
 you can't, people who go and say,

00:35:46.220 --> 00:35:47.559
 you know, this is God's judgment,

00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:49.160
 COVID's God's judgment on Canada,

00:35:49.240 --> 00:35:50.380
 you can't make those claims.

00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:51.720
 You're not God, I'm not God.

00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:53.180
 But on the other hand,

00:35:53.260 --> 00:35:55.300
 people who say that it definitely isn't,

00:35:55.500 --> 00:35:56.460
 they're not God either.

00:35:56.920 --> 00:35:57.619
 It might be.

00:35:58.119 --> 00:35:59.940
 And in fact, it's a valid type of thing

00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:01.180
 for a Christian to ask.

00:36:02.860 --> 00:36:04.639
 Is this because of some sin

00:36:04.639 --> 00:36:05.820
 that we have been doing,

00:36:05.880 --> 00:36:06.579
 that I have been doing,

00:36:06.740 --> 00:36:07.920
 that this is happening to me?

00:36:08.039 --> 00:36:08.920
 And if it is, Lord,

00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:11.340
 my cry of my heart was to show me

00:36:11.340 --> 00:36:12.360
 if this was the case,

00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:15.420
 that I might repent

00:36:15.420 --> 00:36:16.660
 and be restored to him.

00:36:16.659 --> 00:36:21.539
 But while this troubles us a little bit,

00:36:21.859 --> 00:36:23.440
 it actually points us to something

00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:25.779
 which is of great hope.

00:36:27.339 --> 00:36:29.519
 You see, if I tell you

00:36:29.519 --> 00:36:31.159
 that there's the,

00:36:31.319 --> 00:36:33.399
 all of the history of the world

00:36:33.399 --> 00:36:35.119
 is captured in the Bible

00:36:35.119 --> 00:36:37.179
 and that it's ultimately a love story,

00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:39.779
 that human beings were made by a God

00:36:39.780 --> 00:36:41.540
 and then we fell

00:36:41.540 --> 00:36:42.640
 and then God promised

00:36:42.640 --> 00:36:43.800
 that he would send a redeemer

00:36:43.800 --> 00:36:44.980
 and he sends a redeemer

00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:46.440
 and he makes us right with himself

00:36:46.440 --> 00:36:47.600
 and we're going to go to a better place

00:36:47.600 --> 00:36:48.940
 when we die if we're in him.

00:36:49.480 --> 00:36:50.080
 And you might say,

00:36:50.120 --> 00:36:51.920
 George, well, that's just a good story,

00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:53.000
 but it's just a story.

00:36:53.100 --> 00:36:54.340
 It's just one of many stories.

00:36:54.460 --> 00:36:55.460
 But the fact of the matter is,

00:36:55.480 --> 00:36:56.480
 is we have no grounds

00:36:56.480 --> 00:36:57.460
 to believe that story

00:36:57.460 --> 00:36:58.500
 or any story.

00:36:58.900 --> 00:37:00.040
 The fact of the matter is,

00:37:00.040 --> 00:37:01.740
 is the hard-headed amongst us say,

00:37:02.200 --> 00:37:03.720
 you try to get as many toys

00:37:03.720 --> 00:37:04.820
 as you can while you live,

00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:05.440
 you get sick

00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:06.120
 and then you die

00:37:06.120 --> 00:37:06.900
 and that sucks,

00:37:07.019 --> 00:37:07.660
 but so be it.

00:37:07.659 --> 00:37:08.980
 At least I'm alive right now

00:37:08.980 --> 00:37:09.920
 and I'm going to eat

00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:10.500
 and I'm going to drink

00:37:10.500 --> 00:37:11.159
 and I'm going to party,

00:37:11.239 --> 00:37:11.920
 I'm going to consume,

00:37:12.019 --> 00:37:13.239
 I'm going to try to get as much as I am,

00:37:13.279 --> 00:37:14.460
 I'm going to forget about the fact

00:37:14.460 --> 00:37:15.299
 that at the end of the day

00:37:15.299 --> 00:37:16.099
 it's just the grave.

00:37:16.460 --> 00:37:17.699
 I'm going to do whatever I can

00:37:17.699 --> 00:37:18.940
 to have a good time right now

00:37:18.940 --> 00:37:19.879
 because, you see,

00:37:19.980 --> 00:37:21.359
 all you are presenting

00:37:21.359 --> 00:37:23.779
 is a story to comfort people,

00:37:24.139 --> 00:37:25.500
 a story of a God

00:37:25.500 --> 00:37:26.859
 that actually isn't there,

00:37:26.859 --> 00:37:28.039
 there really is a world,

00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:30.039
 it's just a story, George,

00:37:30.179 --> 00:37:31.519
 and there's lots of stories.

00:37:31.659 --> 00:37:32.379
 And if you know what, George,

00:37:32.460 --> 00:37:35.000
 if that story gives meaning to your life,

00:37:35.099 --> 00:37:35.619
 that's fine.

00:37:35.619 --> 00:37:37.880
 For me, a trip to a bar,

00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:39.079
 a couple of Jack Daniels

00:37:39.079 --> 00:37:39.859
 with my friends,

00:37:39.980 --> 00:37:41.039
 that gives me the meaning,

00:37:41.480 --> 00:37:43.359
 and why should I pick yours over mine?

00:37:44.900 --> 00:37:45.659
 One of the things

00:37:45.659 --> 00:37:46.559
 which is so powerful

00:37:46.559 --> 00:37:47.980
 about the book of Lamentations,

00:37:48.159 --> 00:37:49.339
 the fact that God's judgment

00:37:49.339 --> 00:37:51.099
 actually happens in history,

00:37:52.099 --> 00:37:53.380
 is it points to

00:37:53.380 --> 00:37:56.380
 the true and greater judgment

00:37:56.380 --> 00:37:59.339
 that will fall to each human being,

00:37:59.500 --> 00:38:00.139
 that if, in fact,

00:38:00.139 --> 00:38:01.679
 God has judged in history,

00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:03.440
 is judging in history,

00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:05.119
 and will judge in history,

00:38:05.420 --> 00:38:06.980
 it points to the true

00:38:06.980 --> 00:38:08.179
 and greater judgment

00:38:08.179 --> 00:38:11.139
 that any human being,

00:38:11.279 --> 00:38:12.019
 every human being,

00:38:12.059 --> 00:38:12.639
 will be under.

00:38:12.799 --> 00:38:14.199
 But it also points

00:38:14.199 --> 00:38:16.980
 to the true and greater

00:38:16.980 --> 00:38:18.799
 restoration and renewal.

00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:22.539
 When the book of Lamentations

00:38:22.539 --> 00:38:23.119
 was written,

00:38:23.339 --> 00:38:24.980
 the person could just look back

00:38:24.980 --> 00:38:26.000
 on the Exodus,

00:38:26.219 --> 00:38:27.400
 he could just look back

00:38:27.400 --> 00:38:29.460
 on how God used Gideon

00:38:29.460 --> 00:38:30.700
 to defeat Midian.

00:38:31.079 --> 00:38:32.400
 He could just look back

00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:33.780
 at these times

00:38:33.780 --> 00:38:35.840
 of great things in the past

00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:36.960
 and wonder if it's going

00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:37.660
 to happen today.

00:38:38.220 --> 00:38:40.539
 But what we Christians understand,

00:38:40.639 --> 00:38:41.660
 and this is why that thing

00:38:41.660 --> 00:38:42.920
 which sounds so odd to people,

00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:44.059
 George, why should you

00:38:44.059 --> 00:38:45.079
 be so concerned

00:38:45.079 --> 00:38:46.079
 about whether you can actually

00:38:46.079 --> 00:38:47.380
 know whether Jesus exists?

00:38:47.519 --> 00:38:49.099
 Why are you so concerned

00:38:49.099 --> 00:38:50.579
 whether he actually died

00:38:50.579 --> 00:38:51.099
 on the cross

00:38:51.099 --> 00:38:52.000
 and rose from the dead?

00:38:52.380 --> 00:38:53.180
 Well, it's because

00:38:53.180 --> 00:38:55.200
 it changes the Christian story

00:38:55.200 --> 00:38:56.820
 from just being one story

00:38:56.820 --> 00:38:57.580
 amongst many,

00:38:57.660 --> 00:38:58.400
 the great pumpkin,

00:38:58.880 --> 00:39:00.019
 the tooth fairy,

00:39:00.600 --> 00:39:02.720
 Santa Claus, and Jesus.

00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:05.039
 And it's just one fanciful story

00:39:05.039 --> 00:39:06.320
 and Santa Claus

00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:07.160
 and the tooth fairy

00:39:07.160 --> 00:39:08.400
 please two-year-olds

00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:10.080
 and for some odd reason

00:39:10.080 --> 00:39:12.880
 Jesus pleases 22-year-olds

00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:13.920
 and 52-year-olds

00:39:13.920 --> 00:39:14.960
 and 62-year-olds.

00:39:15.059 --> 00:39:16.160
 It changes it from being

00:39:16.160 --> 00:39:16.820
 just another story

00:39:17.400 --> 00:39:19.580
 to saying it's not

00:39:19.580 --> 00:39:20.539
 just another story.

00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:25.280
 The mercy of God took flesh.

00:39:25.280 --> 00:39:27.820
 The justice of God

00:39:27.820 --> 00:39:29.140
 took flesh.

00:39:30.540 --> 00:39:32.280
 The judgment of God

00:39:32.280 --> 00:39:33.960
 took flesh.

00:39:36.040 --> 00:39:38.280
 That in my place

00:39:38.280 --> 00:39:39.280
 condemned

00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:41.000
 he stood.

00:39:42.140 --> 00:39:42.740
 That

00:39:42.740 --> 00:39:46.220
 the judgment and lamentations

00:39:46.220 --> 00:39:47.040
 happen in history.

00:39:47.620 --> 00:39:48.620
 The judgment

00:39:48.620 --> 00:39:50.100
 that I deserve

00:39:50.100 --> 00:39:51.700
 which I will only know

00:39:51.700 --> 00:39:52.820
 in the future

00:39:52.820 --> 00:39:54.519
 when I die impure before God.

00:39:54.519 --> 00:39:55.420
 that that judgment

00:39:55.420 --> 00:39:56.800
 was laid on Jesus.

00:39:58.239 --> 00:39:59.400
 And my hope

00:39:59.400 --> 00:40:02.059
 is the real defeat

00:40:02.059 --> 00:40:02.739
 of death

00:40:02.739 --> 00:40:03.659
 by Jesus.

00:40:04.619 --> 00:40:06.280
 This actually happened

00:40:06.280 --> 00:40:07.400
 in history.

00:40:08.259 --> 00:40:08.960
 Santa Claus

00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:09.500
 not in history.

00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:10.059
 Easter Bunny

00:40:10.059 --> 00:40:10.639
 not in history.

00:40:10.759 --> 00:40:11.179
 Tooth Fairy

00:40:11.179 --> 00:40:11.920
 not in history.

00:40:13.019 --> 00:40:14.759
 This happens.

00:40:14.760 --> 00:40:14.860
 Jesus.

00:40:17.860 --> 00:40:18.720
 And it's only

00:40:18.720 --> 00:40:19.620
 from that place

00:40:19.620 --> 00:40:20.380
 to understand

00:40:20.380 --> 00:40:21.100
 that the doom

00:40:21.100 --> 00:40:21.840
 that I deserve

00:40:21.840 --> 00:40:22.780
 fell on him

00:40:22.780 --> 00:40:24.940
 and the grace

00:40:24.940 --> 00:40:25.440
 and the love

00:40:25.440 --> 00:40:25.940
 and the mercy

00:40:25.940 --> 00:40:27.020
 that I do not deserve

00:40:27.020 --> 00:40:28.260
 is offered to me.

00:40:29.020 --> 00:40:29.860
 That the

00:40:29.860 --> 00:40:31.180
 brokenness

00:40:31.180 --> 00:40:32.180
 of my relationship

00:40:32.180 --> 00:40:32.840
 with God

00:40:32.840 --> 00:40:33.940
 was laid on him

00:40:33.940 --> 00:40:35.640
 and the purity

00:40:35.640 --> 00:40:36.700
 of his relationship

00:40:36.700 --> 00:40:37.320
 with God

00:40:37.320 --> 00:40:38.400
 was offered to me.

00:40:38.500 --> 00:40:39.620
 And when I put my hands

00:40:39.620 --> 00:40:40.640
 in the hands of Jesus

00:40:40.640 --> 00:40:42.460
 that's what I receive

00:40:42.460 --> 00:40:44.579
 in this profound exchange

00:40:44.579 --> 00:40:46.880
 that happened in history

00:40:46.880 --> 00:40:47.860
 and is available

00:40:47.860 --> 00:40:50.480
 at every moment

00:40:50.480 --> 00:40:51.500
 in history.

00:40:52.280 --> 00:40:53.440
 And that once you put

00:40:53.440 --> 00:40:53.980
 your hands

00:40:53.980 --> 00:40:55.019
 in the hands of Jesus

00:40:55.019 --> 00:40:56.340
 it is the beginning

00:40:56.340 --> 00:40:57.619
 of a completely

00:40:57.619 --> 00:40:58.440
 different

00:40:58.440 --> 00:40:59.659
 eternal destiny.

00:41:01.599 --> 00:41:02.320
 So you see

00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:03.480
 it is from that point of view

00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:04.480
 that I can begin

00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:05.480
 to try to learn

00:41:05.480 --> 00:41:06.099
 to acknowledge

00:41:06.099 --> 00:41:07.199
 that I have done wrong.

00:41:07.199 --> 00:41:10.139
 Because no amount

00:41:10.139 --> 00:41:11.259
 of recognizing wrong

00:41:11.259 --> 00:41:11.980
 in my life

00:41:11.980 --> 00:41:12.419
 is something

00:41:12.419 --> 00:41:13.779
 that is going to

00:41:13.779 --> 00:41:14.480
 shock Jesus.

00:41:15.279 --> 00:41:16.439
 And it is from that

00:41:16.439 --> 00:41:17.039
 point of view

00:41:17.039 --> 00:41:17.679
 of the cross

00:41:17.679 --> 00:41:18.439
 that I can begin

00:41:18.439 --> 00:41:19.079
 to understand

00:41:19.079 --> 00:41:19.739
 that there is

00:41:19.739 --> 00:41:20.879
 no degree of wrong

00:41:20.879 --> 00:41:21.759
 that I could ever

00:41:21.759 --> 00:41:22.679
 possibly do

00:41:22.679 --> 00:41:23.659
 that was too big

00:41:23.659 --> 00:41:25.019
 for Jesus to deal with

00:41:25.019 --> 00:41:25.779
 when he died

00:41:25.779 --> 00:41:26.559
 upon the cross.

00:41:26.699 --> 00:41:27.539
 And that's true

00:41:27.539 --> 00:41:28.259
 of you as well.

00:41:28.759 --> 00:41:29.759
 And it's from that

00:41:29.759 --> 00:41:30.859
 particular place

00:41:30.859 --> 00:41:31.539
 of security

00:41:31.539 --> 00:41:32.460
 that even if

00:41:32.460 --> 00:41:33.119
 there are things

00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:33.859
 by which we are

00:41:33.859 --> 00:41:34.359
 being punished

00:41:34.359 --> 00:41:35.199
 that we can call

00:41:35.199 --> 00:41:35.759
 out to God

00:41:35.759 --> 00:41:36.599
 that he would restore

00:41:36.599 --> 00:41:37.360
 that relationship

00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:37.920
 to us

00:41:37.920 --> 00:41:38.920
 and calling out

00:41:38.920 --> 00:41:39.179
 to him

00:41:39.179 --> 00:41:40.039
 won't take it away

00:41:40.039 --> 00:41:40.559
 instantly

00:41:40.559 --> 00:41:41.659
 because our emotions

00:41:41.659 --> 00:41:42.259
 don't usually

00:41:42.259 --> 00:41:43.380
 change that quickly

00:41:43.380 --> 00:41:45.099
 but that he in fact

00:41:45.099 --> 00:41:46.380
 will hear our prayer

00:41:46.380 --> 00:41:47.099
 and the longing

00:41:47.099 --> 00:41:47.799
 of his heart

00:41:47.799 --> 00:41:49.339
 that all that he is doing

00:41:49.339 --> 00:41:50.259
 is preparing you

00:41:50.259 --> 00:41:51.059
 and I for an eternal

00:41:51.059 --> 00:41:51.759
 weight of glory

00:41:51.759 --> 00:41:53.000
 and that we can

00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:54.000
 pour out our heart

00:41:54.000 --> 00:41:54.440
 to him

00:41:54.440 --> 00:41:55.819
 that we can pour

00:41:55.819 --> 00:41:56.339
 out our heart

00:41:56.339 --> 00:41:56.679
 to him

00:41:56.679 --> 00:41:57.400
 and that we don't

00:41:57.400 --> 00:41:58.119
 have to worry

00:41:58.119 --> 00:41:58.940
 that you know

00:41:58.940 --> 00:41:59.420
 if anything

00:41:59.420 --> 00:42:00.239
 particular thing

00:42:00.239 --> 00:42:00.940
 has happened to us

00:42:00.940 --> 00:42:01.420
 or it's not

00:42:01.420 --> 00:42:01.799
 it's

00:42:01.799 --> 00:42:04.199
 that the final word

00:42:04.199 --> 00:42:05.099
 about you and me

00:42:05.099 --> 00:42:06.079
 in Christ

00:42:06.079 --> 00:42:11.539
 we already know

00:42:11.539 --> 00:42:12.539
 about the final word

00:42:12.539 --> 00:42:13.319
 for you and me

00:42:13.319 --> 00:42:14.079
 when we are

00:42:14.079 --> 00:42:14.960
 in Christ

00:42:14.960 --> 00:42:17.000
 because

00:42:17.000 --> 00:42:18.199
 in my place

00:42:18.199 --> 00:42:18.599
 condemned

00:42:18.599 --> 00:42:19.139
 he stood

00:42:19.139 --> 00:42:20.679
 from there

00:42:20.679 --> 00:42:21.219
 I can pray

00:42:21.219 --> 00:42:21.579
 for there

00:42:21.579 --> 00:42:22.000
 I can look

00:42:22.000 --> 00:42:22.380
 at the city

00:42:22.380 --> 00:42:23.039
 and bless it

00:42:23.039 --> 00:42:23.960
 from there

00:42:23.960 --> 00:42:24.480
 I can look

00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:24.940
 at the city

00:42:24.940 --> 00:42:25.219
 and know

00:42:25.219 --> 00:42:25.659
 that the city

00:42:25.659 --> 00:42:26.059
 doesn't get

00:42:26.059 --> 00:42:26.779
 the final word

00:42:26.779 --> 00:42:27.239
 about right

00:42:27.239 --> 00:42:27.639
 and wrong

00:42:27.639 --> 00:42:28.440
 the city

00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:28.900
 isn't

00:42:28.900 --> 00:42:29.980
 if the city

00:42:29.980 --> 00:42:30.380
 ends

00:42:30.380 --> 00:42:31.000
 the city

00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:31.480
 of God

00:42:31.480 --> 00:42:32.059
 continues

00:42:32.059 --> 00:42:32.699
 and endures

00:42:32.699 --> 00:42:33.159
 because God

00:42:33.159 --> 00:42:33.500
 is still

00:42:33.500 --> 00:42:33.960
 on his throne

00:42:33.960 --> 00:42:34.500
 I can pray

00:42:34.500 --> 00:42:34.940
 for the city

00:42:34.940 --> 00:42:35.380
 I can pray

00:42:35.380 --> 00:42:35.800
 for myself

00:42:35.800 --> 00:42:36.340
 I can pray

00:42:36.340 --> 00:42:36.760
 for you

00:42:36.760 --> 00:42:37.619
 I can look

00:42:37.619 --> 00:42:38.199
 at my sin

00:42:38.199 --> 00:42:39.240
 I can seek

00:42:39.240 --> 00:42:41.099
 the true good

00:42:41.099 --> 00:42:41.500
 of the city

00:42:41.500 --> 00:42:42.000
 and the true good

00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:42.420
 for you

00:42:42.420 --> 00:42:43.420
 anyway

00:42:43.420 --> 00:42:44.460
 we're coming

00:42:44.460 --> 00:42:45.079
 to a close

00:42:45.079 --> 00:42:46.000
 I just want

00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:46.539
 to encourage you

00:42:46.539 --> 00:42:46.840
 if you have

00:42:46.840 --> 00:42:47.260
 never given

00:42:47.260 --> 00:42:47.599
 your life

00:42:47.599 --> 00:42:48.019
 to Jesus

00:42:48.019 --> 00:42:48.639
 there's no better

00:42:48.639 --> 00:42:49.519
 time than today

00:42:49.519 --> 00:42:50.519
 to call out to him

00:42:50.519 --> 00:42:51.199
 to be your savior

00:42:51.199 --> 00:42:51.760
 and your lord

00:42:51.760 --> 00:42:52.159
 and to know

00:42:52.159 --> 00:42:52.559
 that he will

00:42:52.559 --> 00:42:53.099
 accept it

00:42:53.099 --> 00:42:53.820
 and receive it

00:42:53.820 --> 00:42:56.619
 and for all of us

00:42:56.619 --> 00:42:57.840
 we need to pray

00:42:57.840 --> 00:42:58.519
 for our city

00:42:58.519 --> 00:42:59.380
 we need to pray

00:42:59.380 --> 00:43:00.039
 for our land

00:43:00.039 --> 00:43:00.860
 is God wanting

00:43:00.860 --> 00:43:01.820
 to teach us something

00:43:01.820 --> 00:43:03.300
 and even if it's

00:43:03.300 --> 00:43:04.620
 completely unrecognized

00:43:04.620 --> 00:43:05.500
 and unrepentant of

00:43:05.500 --> 00:43:06.340
 can we at least

00:43:06.340 --> 00:43:07.660
 for those of us

00:43:07.660 --> 00:43:08.160
 who are in church

00:43:08.160 --> 00:43:08.700
 of the Messiah

00:43:08.700 --> 00:43:09.460
 begin to maybe

00:43:09.460 --> 00:43:10.260
 see and understand

00:43:10.260 --> 00:43:11.160
 and pray into it

00:43:11.160 --> 00:43:12.140
 and continue to seek

00:43:12.140 --> 00:43:13.120
 the blessing of our city

00:43:13.120 --> 00:43:14.620
 the blessing of our province

00:43:14.620 --> 00:43:16.000
 and the blessing of our land

00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:16.900
 and the blessing of the earth

00:43:16.900 --> 00:43:17.460
 let's pray

00:43:17.460 --> 00:43:19.680
 Father we thank you

00:43:19.680 --> 00:43:20.760
 for the hard truths

00:43:20.760 --> 00:43:22.539
 that you introduced to us

00:43:22.539 --> 00:43:23.800
 through the book of Lamentations

00:43:23.800 --> 00:43:24.620
 the hard truths

00:43:24.620 --> 00:43:25.420
 about ourselves

00:43:25.420 --> 00:43:26.640
 and Father

00:43:26.640 --> 00:43:27.580
 we give you thanks

00:43:27.580 --> 00:43:28.120
 and praise

00:43:28.120 --> 00:43:29.240
 that not only do you reveal

00:43:29.240 --> 00:43:30.039
 the hard truths

00:43:30.039 --> 00:43:31.240
 about ourselves to us

00:43:31.239 --> 00:43:32.979
 but because this is

00:43:32.979 --> 00:43:33.799
 setting forth

00:43:33.799 --> 00:43:34.659
 or preparing us

00:43:34.659 --> 00:43:35.619
 to know about Jesus

00:43:35.619 --> 00:43:37.119
 it's also preparing us

00:43:37.119 --> 00:43:38.319
 for the beautifully

00:43:38.319 --> 00:43:39.739
 rock hard

00:43:39.739 --> 00:43:41.279
 rock solid truths

00:43:41.279 --> 00:43:42.379
 about your grace

00:43:42.379 --> 00:43:42.979
 your mercy

00:43:42.979 --> 00:43:43.719
 your justice

00:43:43.719 --> 00:43:44.479
 your peace

00:43:44.479 --> 00:43:45.159
 your truth

00:43:45.159 --> 00:43:46.299
 your grace

00:43:46.299 --> 00:43:47.039
 offered to us

00:43:47.039 --> 00:43:48.079
 in the person of your son

00:43:48.079 --> 00:43:49.419
 we ask Father

00:43:49.419 --> 00:43:50.299
 that you would make us

00:43:50.299 --> 00:43:51.739
 disciples of Jesus

00:43:51.739 --> 00:43:52.979
 who are gripped by the gospel

00:43:52.979 --> 00:43:54.659
 learning to live for your glory

00:43:54.659 --> 00:43:55.839
 and this we ask

00:43:55.839 --> 00:43:56.699
 in the name of Jesus

00:43:56.699 --> 00:43:57.359
 Amen