WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.700 --> 00:00:09.519 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:15.280 redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.280 --> 00:00:22.640 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:30.460 The book of Deuteronomy 7.1 00:00:30.460 --> 00:00:38.980 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you the many nations, 00:00:38.980 --> 00:00:51.960 the, the, the, the, and the, oh one more, and, oh and another one. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.980 Okay, that was seven I think, right? 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:59.160 Seven nations larger and stronger than you. 00:00:59.620 --> 00:01:05.120 And when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.640 then you must destroy them totally. 00:01:08.299 --> 00:01:11.439 Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy. 00:01:12.260 --> 00:01:14.340 Do not intermarry with them. 00:01:14.859 --> 00:01:19.900 Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 00:01:19.900 --> 00:01:24.900 for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:30.160 And the Lord's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:32.980 This is what you are to do to them. 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:39.400 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their, come on help me, 00:01:39.960 --> 00:01:43.260 holes and burn their idols in the fire. 00:01:43.520 --> 00:01:47.280 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:53.719 The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the people on the face of the earth to be his people, 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:55.740 his treasured possession. 00:01:56.420 --> 00:02:02.500 The Lord did not set his affections on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:05.280 for you were the fewest of all peoples. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:10.419 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to you, 00:02:10.419 --> 00:02:17.639 your ancestors, that he brought you out with mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.500 from the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:24.080 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God. 00:02:24.420 --> 00:02:31.740 He is faithful God, keeping his covenant to love to a thousand generations of those who love him 00:02:31.740 --> 00:02:33.360 and keep his commandments. 00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:38.320 But those who hate him, he will repay to their face and destruction. 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:42.980 He will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him. 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:48.600 Therefore, take care to follow the commandments, decrees, and laws I give you today. 00:02:49.420 --> 00:02:52.140 The grass withers and the flowers fade. 00:02:52.139 --> 00:02:55.179 But the word of our God stands forever. 00:02:59.279 --> 00:03:02.699 Thanks, Gail. 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:04.179 We should do that every week, huh? 00:03:05.739 --> 00:03:07.399 This week has been pretty crazy. 00:03:09.299 --> 00:03:14.219 I really resonated with Jonathan's prayer, just that prayer for strength. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:18.439 You know, Jonathan's car broke down on our Presbytery retreat this week, 00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:23.659 and he got stranded out in Mount Hermon, and then my family had a possible COVID exposure, 00:03:23.859 --> 00:03:26.159 but we're all negative, and it's okay. 00:03:26.819 --> 00:03:28.960 And yeah, I think we're just feeling it. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:33.879 We're in October, launching this ministry year, and we're getting winded, 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:36.219 but that's why we depend on God. 00:03:36.919 --> 00:03:38.539 So that's what I want to do. 00:03:38.620 --> 00:03:44.000 I want to go to God and ask for the Spirit to give us what we need this morning. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:59.159 Almighty and merciful Father, you've called us to be your people and have made us one body, 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:02.740 yet we have not lived like we are one body. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.099 We have not loved one another as we ought. 00:04:07.259 --> 00:04:13.379 Selfish ambition has gripped us, and we have failed to look out for others' interests above our own. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:20.339 Conceit has gripped us, and we have failed to associate with and care for those who are different from ourselves. 00:04:21.259 --> 00:04:25.000 We have not treated one another as those in whom Christ dwells. 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:31.680 Forgive us, Lord, and subdue everything in us that is contrary to your purposes. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:41.920 By the power of your Spirit, make us a community that shows forth your acceptance, kindness, and love through Christ our Lord. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:48.520 Lord, we thank you for your words of assurance to us as we confess our sins to you this morning, God. 00:04:49.980 --> 00:04:51.439 Your prophet Isaiah said, 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:53.180 In that day, you will say, 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:55.540 I will praise you, Lord. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:01.500 Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. 00:05:02.540 --> 00:05:04.879 Surely God is my salvation. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:08.079 I will trust and not be afraid. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.779 The Lord, the Lord himself is my strength and my defense. 00:05:13.720 --> 00:05:15.720 He has become my salvation. 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:20.980 With joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 00:05:20.980 --> 00:05:26.040 Lord, we so want to drink from the wells of salvation this morning. 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:34.760 With many of us feeling dry, and like we can't even raise a little cup to our mouths. 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:37.319 So, would your Spirit fall upon us? 00:05:38.099 --> 00:05:39.019 Give us what we need. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:41.659 Fill us in all the ways that you know we are lacking. 00:05:42.899 --> 00:05:47.740 And we pray that you would do so, not just for our good, but for your glory, 00:05:47.860 --> 00:05:53.539 so that your people might praise you for being the kind of God who shows up again and again 00:05:53.539 --> 00:05:57.120 to do beyond what we could ever imagine, 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:01.480 for the good of this world, and for the glory of your name. 00:06:02.200 --> 00:06:04.040 So, be honored in the preaching of your word, we pray. 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:06.720 In the name of Jesus, amen. 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:13.020 Well, Christ Church, we are continuing through our series in the book of Deuteronomy. 00:06:13.500 --> 00:06:16.480 And Deuteronomy, it contains Moses' last words, right? 00:06:16.500 --> 00:06:18.080 I just want to keep reminding you of that. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:21.939 It contains Moses' last words to Israel before his death 00:06:21.939 --> 00:06:25.340 and before the people of Israel's entrance into the promised land. 00:06:25.780 --> 00:06:28.300 And what Moses is doing here in the book of Deuteronomy 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:30.720 is he's reiterating God's law to them. 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:34.020 He's trying to prepare them to answer the very important question, 00:06:34.840 --> 00:06:39.600 what kind of people does God want us to be as we dwell in the promised land? 00:06:39.640 --> 00:06:42.880 What kind of people does God want us to be as we dwell in the promised land? 00:06:43.520 --> 00:06:45.300 And if you haven't been here long, you won't know, 00:06:45.400 --> 00:06:47.600 but I only got ordained just a couple months ago, 00:06:47.700 --> 00:06:50.220 so I'm pretty new as like an official pastor here. 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:53.500 And just thinking about that as an official pastor here, 00:06:53.500 --> 00:06:56.140 and also just thinking about this chapter that we're in, 00:06:56.139 --> 00:06:58.019 in the history of Christ's church, 00:06:58.339 --> 00:07:02.319 I have a very similar question on the forefront of my mind these days. 00:07:02.479 --> 00:07:05.560 It's what kind of church does God want us to be? 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:08.560 What kind of church does God want us to be? 00:07:08.620 --> 00:07:11.599 And I don't normally do this, but I want to get a little bit interactive, okay? 00:07:11.659 --> 00:07:14.740 I prepared our youth to help us maybe answer this question, 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:16.479 but I want to ask, I want to go out on a limb, 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:19.000 and I'm going to ask you just throw out one-word answers, okay? 00:07:19.139 --> 00:07:20.300 Let's hear one-word answers. 00:07:20.300 --> 00:07:22.920 What kind of church do you think God wants us to be? 00:07:23.020 --> 00:07:24.879 John Kim started on our Discord platform. 00:07:24.960 --> 00:07:25.699 He said, inspiring. 00:07:26.060 --> 00:07:26.680 Anyone else? 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:28.400 Loving. 00:07:29.579 --> 00:07:30.020 Faithful. 00:07:30.020 --> 00:07:30.540 Brave. 00:07:31.259 --> 00:07:31.939 Brave. 00:07:32.460 --> 00:07:32.960 Brave. 00:07:34.439 --> 00:07:35.120 Joyful. 00:07:35.319 --> 00:07:35.819 Inclusive. 00:07:37.340 --> 00:07:37.939 Forgiving. 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:39.840 United. 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:46.060 All beautiful, good things that I pray that the Lord does amongst us. 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:51.480 I really pray that God does this amazing thing in our church. 00:07:52.220 --> 00:07:57.040 But you know, in my prayer and in my meditation around preparing the sermon this week, 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:00.220 there was one word that God put on my heart, 00:08:00.340 --> 00:08:02.220 one word I was pretty sure wasn't going to be mentioned, 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:06.300 and one word that I previously wouldn't have chosen myself 00:08:06.300 --> 00:08:10.860 to describe the kind of church I thought God wanted us to be. 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:12.660 And you know what that word is? 00:08:13.340 --> 00:08:14.939 The word is holy. 00:08:16.060 --> 00:08:20.980 I think God wants us to be, most of all, more than anything, 00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:24.800 a holy church, a holy people. 00:08:24.860 --> 00:08:28.540 And I know that sounds awkward and maybe even off-putting for many of us 00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:32.500 because, man, to want to be holy sounds so, like, pharisaical, right? 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:36.100 And legalistic and judgmental and out of touch. 00:08:37.100 --> 00:08:41.919 But what I want to do this morning is I want to interrogate all of our awkward feelings, 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:45.719 all the awkward feelings that we have around the notion of being holy, 00:08:45.839 --> 00:08:48.139 around the notion of pursuing holiness. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.719 And my hope is that as we submit ourselves to God's word, 00:08:52.819 --> 00:08:58.879 we'll actually come to marvel at how the holy God makes a holy people by his holy means. 00:08:58.939 --> 00:09:01.779 That's God's word to us today from Deuteronomy chapter 7, 00:09:01.779 --> 00:09:06.139 that the holy God makes a holy people by his holy means. 00:09:06.139 --> 00:09:08.519 I'm channeling my inner Jonathan St. Clair, right? 00:09:08.699 --> 00:09:11.299 So let's start with the holy God. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:14.960 Now, if you're paying attention to this passage read by Gail, 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:19.059 you might have gotten distracted really, really quickly, right? 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:20.899 Let me read verses 1 and 2 again. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:23.699 This is the prophet Moses speaking on behalf of God, 00:09:23.819 --> 00:09:26.919 expounding and applying their law to them, the people of Israel. 00:09:27.019 --> 00:09:27.439 Verse 1. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:56.280 Did you catch that? 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:58.940 Destroy them totally? 00:09:59.780 --> 00:10:01.680 Show them no mercy? 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:04.960 Does this make anyone else uncomfortable? 00:10:06.580 --> 00:10:11.900 Maybe for some of us, this even seems to, what, disprove the holiness of God. 00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:16.440 Like, how could a holy and just God have his people do such a thing? 00:10:16.860 --> 00:10:19.920 Or maybe for those of us, for others of us, 00:10:19.980 --> 00:10:23.300 this actually proves that the holiness of God is itself the problem. 00:10:23.299 --> 00:10:26.159 Like, oh, see, once you go down that holiness route, 00:10:26.539 --> 00:10:31.339 all you get is this angry God sanctioning the total destruction of other peoples, 00:10:31.459 --> 00:10:32.620 devoid of any mercy. 00:10:33.899 --> 00:10:37.479 Well, what I want to argue in this first point this morning about the holy God 00:10:37.479 --> 00:10:40.519 is that any problem that we have with this passage, 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:45.879 any discomfort we might feel around this command for this total destruction without mercy, 00:10:45.879 --> 00:10:49.200 I want to argue that the tension we feel does not, 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:53.519 it cannot stem from an insufficiency in God or his word. 00:10:54.139 --> 00:10:57.220 The problem is not an inconsistency in the holiness of God, 00:10:57.299 --> 00:10:59.120 nor the holiness of God itself. 00:10:59.220 --> 00:11:01.759 But what I want to say is that our modern, 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:05.279 Western, supposedly enlightened discomfort around this passage 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:11.340 truly stems from flaws and inconsistencies in our own fallible minds. 00:11:11.340 --> 00:11:17.019 And ultimately, our discomfort at God's word comes from our underappreciation 00:11:17.019 --> 00:11:20.000 of God's holiness, of the holiness of God. 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:22.720 And listen, I'm not trying to say, you know, 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:25.500 if you're troubled by this passage, just suck it up and get over it. 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:27.040 No, no. 00:11:27.620 --> 00:11:29.639 We're not going to be insensitive like that here. 00:11:30.300 --> 00:11:31.100 But I want us to linger. 00:11:31.700 --> 00:11:33.300 I want us to linger over this passage. 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:34.399 Spend some time here. 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:37.639 But let's not just interrogate God's word. 00:11:38.060 --> 00:11:38.720 That's not what we do. 00:11:38.759 --> 00:11:39.840 We don't sit above God's word. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:40.960 We sit under God's word. 00:11:41.340 --> 00:11:43.100 So we don't just interrogate God's word. 00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:46.340 We interrogate our feelings about God's word as well. 00:11:46.820 --> 00:11:47.680 Because you know what? 00:11:47.820 --> 00:11:50.480 It's actually when we come to these kinds of texts 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:53.200 that so vex our spirits, 00:11:54.019 --> 00:11:55.120 that the spirit of God, 00:11:55.980 --> 00:11:58.759 honestly, he often uses these kinds of texts 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:01.940 to show us surprisingly profound truths. 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:05.420 So my prayer is that we can discern that together today. 00:12:06.460 --> 00:12:08.080 Now, something that we need to remember 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:09.860 as we're coming to a text like this, 00:12:09.860 --> 00:12:12.899 especially when we come to ancient texts like these, 00:12:13.340 --> 00:12:15.539 is we want to read them on their own terms. 00:12:15.620 --> 00:12:17.539 We want to read them in their own context. 00:12:17.539 --> 00:12:23.200 Rather than simplistically imposing our own modern Western sensibilities upon them 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:25.980 and judging this text in Deuteronomy 00:12:25.980 --> 00:12:28.340 by maybe like the standards of the Geneva Convention, 00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:32.820 we want to address this text on its own terms. 00:12:32.820 --> 00:12:34.840 If we don't read it on its own terms, 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:36.680 then sure, what Moses says here, 00:12:36.740 --> 00:12:38.759 it does just sound like genocide 00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:40.940 and a command to invade another nation. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.920 But if we read this as the scriptures, 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:46.840 as inspired by the Holy Spirit, 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:48.780 in the context of redemptive history, 00:12:48.780 --> 00:12:52.160 if we read the scriptures as a story with the holy God 00:12:52.160 --> 00:12:54.180 as its main and ultimate hero, 00:12:54.179 --> 00:12:55.019 not Israel, 00:12:55.839 --> 00:12:58.579 then this is definitely not just some ancient account 00:12:58.579 --> 00:13:01.459 of some violent, primitive, violent culture. 00:13:02.239 --> 00:13:03.479 Look again with me at verse one. 00:13:04.659 --> 00:13:07.079 When the Lord your God brings you into the land, 00:13:07.419 --> 00:13:10.379 you are entering and drives out before you many nations. 00:13:10.459 --> 00:13:10.799 Verse two, 00:13:10.859 --> 00:13:13.979 and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you 00:13:13.979 --> 00:13:15.519 and you have defeated them, 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:19.699 then you must destroy them totally and show no mercy. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:21.679 See, this is not even about Israel. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:24.239 This is about God and what he's doing. 00:13:24.339 --> 00:13:26.699 He is the subject driving out nations, 00:13:26.959 --> 00:13:28.539 nations out of his land, 00:13:28.699 --> 00:13:30.459 land that belongs to him as God. 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.559 And the nation of Israel is merely invited 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:36.539 to participate in the work of God as an instrument 00:13:36.539 --> 00:13:39.079 in the same way that God would later use nations 00:13:39.079 --> 00:13:41.439 like Babylon and Persia as his instruments 00:13:41.439 --> 00:13:44.979 to judge this same nation of Israel for their wickedness. 00:13:45.599 --> 00:13:48.500 If we have a problem here with Deuteronomy chapter seven, 00:13:48.579 --> 00:13:50.539 it shouldn't primarily be with Israel. 00:13:50.539 --> 00:13:52.919 If we have a problem with Deuteronomy seven, 00:13:53.019 --> 00:13:55.159 our problem has gotta be with the God 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:57.219 who commanded Israel to do these things. 00:13:57.879 --> 00:13:59.980 So that means that the question here is not, 00:14:00.319 --> 00:14:02.000 did Israel have the right and authority 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.299 to exterminate these nations in and of itself? 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:06.519 No, they didn't. 00:14:06.620 --> 00:14:07.319 God's word is clear. 00:14:07.459 --> 00:14:09.579 Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not murder. 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:11.079 But the question really is, 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:15.439 did God have the right and authority in and of himself 00:14:15.439 --> 00:14:18.120 to command these nations to be destroyed 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:19.679 and shown no mercy? 00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:22.879 Now for some of us, our first thought might be, 00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:26.179 well, God could not have truly commanded this 00:14:26.179 --> 00:14:29.560 because God cannot do what is unjust, right? 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:32.320 There's no way God would command the destruction 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:36.279 of the innocent among these listed nations. 00:14:36.860 --> 00:14:39.159 And I wanna applaud you if you have these thoughts. 00:14:39.500 --> 00:14:42.539 I wanna applaud your insistence upon the justice 00:14:42.539 --> 00:14:44.019 and the holiness of God. 00:14:44.459 --> 00:14:44.959 You're right. 00:14:45.179 --> 00:14:48.319 There is no way that God would destroy the innocent. 00:14:48.579 --> 00:14:49.360 He wouldn't do that. 00:14:50.179 --> 00:14:51.779 But the question is, were these nations, 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:54.719 or even a single person in any of these nations, 00:14:55.139 --> 00:14:57.459 were they truly innocent before God 00:14:57.459 --> 00:14:59.779 and undeserving of destruction? 00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:03.199 Was God being unjust in his desire 00:15:03.199 --> 00:15:05.539 to totally destroy these nations 00:15:05.539 --> 00:15:07.000 and show them no mercy? 00:15:07.599 --> 00:15:10.439 Or was he actually being perfectly just, 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.459 perhaps just sooner than we're used to? 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:17.879 Is the problem really that God was violating his holiness 00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:21.379 or is the problem that we have had too low a view 00:15:21.379 --> 00:15:24.679 of his holiness and too trivial a view of sin 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:25.980 and its pervasiveness? 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:28.199 I want us to listen to the psalmist. 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:30.379 The psalmist says, there is no one who does good. 00:15:30.819 --> 00:15:31.740 All have turned away. 00:15:31.839 --> 00:15:32.799 All have become corrupt. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.219 There is no one who does good, not even one. 00:15:35.839 --> 00:15:36.759 The prophet Isaiah said, 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:38.500 we all like sheep have gone astray. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:40.959 Each of us has turned our own way. 00:15:41.819 --> 00:15:44.339 In Ecclesiastes, the Kohelet, the teacher, he says, 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:46.679 indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous. 00:15:47.259 --> 00:15:49.879 No one who does what is right and never sins. 00:15:50.599 --> 00:15:52.799 And the apostle Paul encapsulates all of this 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:54.159 in Romans chapter three when he says, 00:15:54.459 --> 00:15:58.459 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 00:15:59.319 --> 00:16:01.399 And these nations in Deuteronomy chapter seven, 00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:02.819 they are no exception. 00:16:03.740 --> 00:16:05.699 In fact, archeological findings reveal 00:16:05.699 --> 00:16:06.779 that these nations practice 00:16:06.779 --> 00:16:10.600 some pretty abominable things like incest 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:12.579 and like child sacrifice. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:15.100 And as verses four and five indicate, 00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:18.360 they idolatrously worshiped other gods. 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:20.740 And listen, this is not simply the destruction 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:23.699 of other people for picking the wrong religion here. 00:16:23.779 --> 00:16:26.120 It's destruction for turning one's back on 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:28.700 and rejecting the one true God 00:16:28.700 --> 00:16:31.080 who gave them life in the first place. 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:34.039 I want you to also remember all these nations 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:37.919 who God commanded Israel to totally destroy, 00:16:38.060 --> 00:16:39.580 all these nations had heard. 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:41.879 They had heard of what Yahweh had done 00:16:41.879 --> 00:16:44.860 for Israel in Egypt and even in the wilderness. 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:47.460 That's why people like Rahab in Jericho, 00:16:47.580 --> 00:16:49.720 though her whole city trusted in their own strength, 00:16:49.779 --> 00:16:52.299 though her whole city, Jericho, refused to repent, 00:16:52.299 --> 00:16:55.219 she and her family, they sided with 00:16:55.219 --> 00:16:58.979 and they trusted only in the one true God of Israel. 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:00.219 And they were preserved. 00:17:00.959 --> 00:17:03.299 See, God was not commanding the total destruction 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:05.839 of guiltless and innocent nations 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:08.359 or even of guilty people willing to repent. 00:17:09.220 --> 00:17:12.779 He was commanding the total destruction of his enemies, 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:14.619 his enemies who were dead set 00:17:14.619 --> 00:17:18.019 on their own self-destructive and idolatrous ways. 00:17:18.019 --> 00:17:20.639 But now some of us might also wonder, 00:17:20.779 --> 00:17:23.960 oh, but still, okay, I get that God is being just here. 00:17:24.019 --> 00:17:26.039 I get that these nations were sinful 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:27.680 and deserving of destruction, 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:30.119 but why couldn't God show them mercy? 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:33.599 Why couldn't God show these nations mercy? 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:36.039 I mean, clearly God has withheld his wrath before. 00:17:36.440 --> 00:17:38.559 He's been withholding it quite a bit 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:40.879 ever since day one of the fall, right? 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:42.420 He's been withholding his wrath 00:17:42.420 --> 00:17:45.660 from sinful humanity for quite a while. 00:17:45.660 --> 00:17:46.519 Why not here? 00:17:47.540 --> 00:17:49.820 Why not show more of this common grace 00:17:49.820 --> 00:17:52.080 whereby God preserves this world 00:17:52.080 --> 00:17:53.400 and he limits the evil 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:56.180 and he allows life to go on and history to continue? 00:17:57.100 --> 00:17:59.300 Why not also here? 00:18:00.220 --> 00:18:02.160 Why didn't God show mercy or at least restrain 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.980 and delay his judgment upon some of these nations? 00:18:05.940 --> 00:18:07.460 And this is an understandable question 00:18:07.460 --> 00:18:09.620 if we wanna take seriously the compassion 00:18:09.620 --> 00:18:12.320 and the patience and the kindness of God. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:15.939 But the truth is we ultimately don't know. 00:18:17.019 --> 00:18:19.039 God told Moses in Exodus chapter 33, 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:22.899 he said, I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. 00:18:23.439 --> 00:18:26.419 The reason lies completely in his often mysterious will. 00:18:26.579 --> 00:18:28.980 But just because we don't know the reason 00:18:28.980 --> 00:18:32.019 why God chose mercy to some and not to others, 00:18:32.679 --> 00:18:34.639 it does not make him unjust. 00:18:35.439 --> 00:18:37.539 If we would just simply ask the question, 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:40.379 does the creator and the moral governor of the universe, 00:18:40.380 --> 00:18:43.020 does he have the right to judge sin 00:18:43.020 --> 00:18:46.120 in a time and place and manner of his own choosing? 00:18:47.100 --> 00:18:49.040 The only possible answer is yes. 00:18:49.560 --> 00:18:52.020 It's yes if we are to recognize that God is God, 00:18:52.220 --> 00:18:54.060 the one true and holy God. 00:18:54.620 --> 00:18:57.760 In fact, to presume that mercy is something that God owes 00:18:57.760 --> 00:18:59.900 and that he's obligated to show, 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:01.880 it cheapens what mercy is. 00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:05.300 It maybe even dispenses with the whole notion of mercy, 00:19:05.300 --> 00:19:07.860 not to mention God's holiness in the first place. 00:19:07.859 --> 00:19:13.019 See, the point of these commands 00:19:13.019 --> 00:19:16.779 to destroy all these seven nations 00:19:16.779 --> 00:19:19.519 was to communicate to Israel and the world 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:21.599 the absolute holiness of God 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:24.359 and the absolute sinfulness of sin 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:27.059 and the fundamental incompatibility 00:19:27.059 --> 00:19:28.799 between God's holiness 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:32.019 and what we might think to be even just the slightest of sin. 00:19:32.099 --> 00:19:34.059 Sin is not just law-breaking. 00:19:34.059 --> 00:19:35.059 Sin is not just law-breaking. 00:19:35.059 --> 00:19:37.899 It's life-defying because it's God-defying. 00:19:38.259 --> 00:19:39.559 And it's God-denying. 00:19:39.679 --> 00:19:40.379 That's what sin is. 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:43.279 The heinousness of Adam and Eve's original sin 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:45.799 and every derivative sin to follow 00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:50.039 is our basic refusal to acknowledge God as God, 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:53.220 to acknowledge his word and his character as holy, 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:55.139 our basic refusal to trust in his goodness 00:19:55.139 --> 00:19:57.179 and his love and his power 00:19:57.179 --> 00:19:59.440 more than we might trust in anything else. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:02.420 And see, this is the point of these first few verses 00:20:02.420 --> 00:20:04.940 of Deuteronomy chapter seven for us. 00:20:05.100 --> 00:20:07.100 It's not just an interesting factoid 00:20:07.100 --> 00:20:09.019 from the ancient history of Israel. 00:20:09.120 --> 00:20:10.539 It's not just a hard-sounding passage 00:20:10.539 --> 00:20:12.220 that a preacher is supposed to come up here 00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:14.559 and try to smooth out so that you can calm down 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:15.460 when you read your Bibles. 00:20:16.420 --> 00:20:17.480 This is the word of God. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:19.980 This is the word of God confronting us 00:20:19.980 --> 00:20:21.519 with the holiness of God 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:24.240 and our predicament as sinners before him. 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:25.900 It's the word of God putting on display 00:20:25.900 --> 00:20:28.279 a destruction that we all deserve, 00:20:28.380 --> 00:20:30.460 a destruction that awaits all who insist 00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:32.339 upon worshiping other gods 00:20:32.339 --> 00:20:35.700 rather than the one true holy God of Israel. 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:39.299 I love how the author and poet Jackie Hill Perry 00:20:39.299 --> 00:20:40.279 puts it in her new book. 00:20:40.359 --> 00:20:41.920 I highly recommend this book, guys. 00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:43.039 Holier Than Thou, 00:20:43.120 --> 00:20:45.339 How the Holiness of God Helps Us Trust Him. 00:20:46.220 --> 00:20:46.819 She says, 00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:50.120 we are so used to the patience of God 00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:52.679 that we are more stunned by his judgments 00:20:52.679 --> 00:20:55.319 than we are by his forbearance. 00:20:56.479 --> 00:20:57.119 And similarly, 00:20:57.339 --> 00:20:58.759 the pastor-theologian R.C. Sproul, 00:20:58.859 --> 00:20:59.199 he wrote, 00:20:59.879 --> 00:21:01.379 God is indeed long-suffering, 00:21:01.579 --> 00:21:03.239 patient, and slow to anger. 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:05.239 In fact, he is so slow to anger 00:21:05.239 --> 00:21:07.500 that when his anger does erupt, 00:21:08.019 --> 00:21:10.559 we are shocked and offended by it. 00:21:11.500 --> 00:21:13.919 See, the true mystery of Deuteronomy chapter seven 00:21:13.919 --> 00:21:15.819 is meant to communicate to us 00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:18.500 not how could God pursue the destruction 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:19.859 of these nations. 00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:23.099 But why are any of us still here? 00:21:23.579 --> 00:21:25.859 Why is the United States of America still here? 00:21:25.940 --> 00:21:27.779 Why is the San Francisco Bay Area still here? 00:21:27.960 --> 00:21:30.259 Why is Christ Church East Bay still here? 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:33.019 I mean, do we not practice idolatry? 00:21:33.660 --> 00:21:36.420 Do we not practice child or family sacrifice? 00:21:36.619 --> 00:21:39.839 Do we not offer our children or our family members 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:42.220 to the gods of our vocational ambitions 00:21:42.220 --> 00:21:43.779 or of human approval? 00:21:44.839 --> 00:21:46.380 Man, I do this all the time. 00:21:46.380 --> 00:21:50.100 I had to apologize to my three-year-old daughter 00:21:50.100 --> 00:21:51.280 just yesterday 00:21:51.280 --> 00:21:54.020 because I blew up at her so many times 00:21:54.020 --> 00:21:55.680 because the sermon just wasn't coming together 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:57.300 and she kept distracting me 00:21:57.300 --> 00:21:59.780 and all I could see her as was an obstacle 00:21:59.780 --> 00:22:02.720 in my way to write a decent sermon 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:04.900 so that you won't think badly of me. 00:22:04.900 --> 00:22:08.660 Is that not child sacrifice? 00:22:09.800 --> 00:22:13.720 Am I not guilty along with the Perizzites 00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:16.480 and the Canaanites and the Jebusites? 00:22:17.360 --> 00:22:18.920 We're all bound for destruction. 00:22:19.100 --> 00:22:20.800 We're all fully deserving of this. 00:22:20.860 --> 00:22:23.540 And I think we all know this deep down. 00:22:24.220 --> 00:22:25.500 And I think that's the real reason 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:28.560 why passages like this make us uncomfortable. 00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:31.060 Psalm 130 verse three, 00:22:31.059 --> 00:22:33.460 if you, O Lord, should mark our iniquities, 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:35.299 O Lord, who could stand? 00:22:36.259 --> 00:22:36.980 Who could stand? 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.539 The total and merciless destruction of nations 00:22:40.539 --> 00:22:41.639 is a troubling truth 00:22:41.639 --> 00:22:43.579 because the holiness of God 00:22:43.579 --> 00:22:46.859 is a troubling truth for sinners like us. 00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:48.480 He's holy. 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:49.839 God is holy. 00:22:50.700 --> 00:22:53.119 But lest we get distracted here by this command 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:55.759 to totally destroy these nations without mercy, 00:22:56.159 --> 00:22:59.639 I also wanna point you to how God makes a holy people. 00:22:59.640 --> 00:23:01.600 It's important to recognize God's intentions here 00:23:01.600 --> 00:23:04.220 are not simply to showcase his holy character, 00:23:04.360 --> 00:23:06.560 but to safeguard his holy community. 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:09.380 The holy God makes a holy people. 00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:10.100 Verse two says, 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:12.380 make no treaty or covenant with them. 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:13.600 He's saying, don't commit yourself, 00:23:13.720 --> 00:23:14.360 don't bind yourself, 00:23:14.500 --> 00:23:16.640 don't unite yourself with those 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:18.340 who are gonna turn you away from me. 00:23:18.580 --> 00:23:19.140 Like in marriage, 00:23:19.259 --> 00:23:22.360 don't intermarry with people who don't know me. 00:23:23.060 --> 00:23:24.740 Do not give your daughters to their sons 00:23:24.740 --> 00:23:26.420 or take their daughters for your sons. 00:23:26.660 --> 00:23:27.320 And listen to this, 00:23:27.319 --> 00:23:31.000 for, for because if you do that, 00:23:31.240 --> 00:23:31.659 verse four, 00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:34.200 they will turn your children away from following me 00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:36.179 to serve other gods. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:40.460 See, the whole point of this unpalatable command 00:23:40.460 --> 00:23:43.259 to destroy is so that, verse four, 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:45.799 the people will not turn from Yahweh 00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:47.220 and serve other gods. 00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:50.819 This God in Deuteronomy chapter seven, 00:23:50.879 --> 00:23:53.319 he's not interested in ethnic cleansing. 00:23:53.319 --> 00:23:57.579 He's interested in cleansing his beloved holy people 00:23:57.579 --> 00:24:00.419 of the idols that would harm them. 00:24:01.319 --> 00:24:01.759 Verse five, 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:03.139 this is what you are to do to them. 00:24:03.679 --> 00:24:04.659 Break down their altars, 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:06.159 smash their sacred stones, 00:24:06.460 --> 00:24:07.599 cut down their asherah poles, 00:24:07.740 --> 00:24:09.339 and burn their idols in the fire. 00:24:09.379 --> 00:24:12.059 The main point here is not the holy God's anger 00:24:12.059 --> 00:24:13.879 against his idolatrous enemies. 00:24:14.099 --> 00:24:15.859 It's actually the holy God's affection 00:24:15.859 --> 00:24:18.179 for his treasured people, 00:24:18.639 --> 00:24:19.579 his chosen people. 00:24:19.579 --> 00:24:20.980 And we cannot miss this, 00:24:21.019 --> 00:24:22.980 that the holy God is willing to destroy 00:24:22.980 --> 00:24:25.159 and go to battle on behalf of his people. 00:24:26.339 --> 00:24:27.359 We're in a war. 00:24:28.419 --> 00:24:29.399 Now in the new covenant, 00:24:29.539 --> 00:24:30.939 we are not fighting other nations. 00:24:31.059 --> 00:24:32.859 We are fighting not flesh and blood, 00:24:32.980 --> 00:24:35.559 but the powers and the spiritual forces 00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:36.720 of evil and sin. 00:24:37.099 --> 00:24:39.839 That's what Apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter six. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:42.779 Do we have the same combative spirit 00:24:42.779 --> 00:24:45.439 to be this holy people of God? 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:48.279 God, this is what our king wants from us. 00:24:48.360 --> 00:24:50.279 And this is what our king exemplifies for us. 00:24:50.320 --> 00:24:51.720 He is a king who, 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:53.980 when his children are threatened by death, 00:24:54.019 --> 00:24:55.140 he goes to battle. 00:24:55.740 --> 00:24:58.140 It is of the most important thing, 00:24:58.340 --> 00:25:00.440 it is of utmost importance to God 00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:02.700 to preserve his people, 00:25:03.059 --> 00:25:04.600 his holy people, Israel. 00:25:05.340 --> 00:25:06.680 But that begs the question, 00:25:06.860 --> 00:25:08.120 why Israel, right? 00:25:08.600 --> 00:25:09.299 Why Israel? 00:25:09.840 --> 00:25:11.559 Why was Israel in the words of verse six, 00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:13.400 a people holy to the Lord, their God, 00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:16.720 chosen out of all the peoples on the face of the earth 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:19.220 to be his people, his treasured possession? 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:21.980 Why was it them that God chose to use 00:25:21.980 --> 00:25:25.100 as his instruments to destroy other nations? 00:25:26.060 --> 00:25:27.840 What made Israel so special? 00:25:28.740 --> 00:25:30.960 Was it their superior size and strength? 00:25:31.060 --> 00:25:31.259 No. 00:25:31.780 --> 00:25:33.900 Verse one says that the seven nations were larger, 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:35.519 far larger, far stronger. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:39.759 Well then was it their obedience to God's commands 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:41.060 in verses two to five? 00:25:41.059 --> 00:25:44.119 Was it their obedience that made them holy in God's eyes? 00:25:44.500 --> 00:25:47.480 Were they holy because they ended up exterminating 00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:49.639 all God's enemies and made no covenants with them 00:25:49.639 --> 00:25:50.819 and did not intermarry with them 00:25:50.819 --> 00:25:52.940 and tore down all their idolatrous shrines? 00:25:53.539 --> 00:25:56.000 Well no, verse six doesn't say, 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:58.779 do all these things so that you will be a holy people. 00:25:59.639 --> 00:26:00.399 Verse six says, 00:26:00.579 --> 00:26:03.419 do all these things for you are a people, 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:05.759 holy to the Lord, your God. 00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:07.359 The basis for doing all these things 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:10.059 was that they were already holy to God. 00:26:10.939 --> 00:26:11.740 It wasn't their obedience. 00:26:11.859 --> 00:26:13.279 Besides, Judges chapter three says 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:15.099 that they actually didn't obey this commandment. 00:26:15.159 --> 00:26:16.719 They didn't wipe out all the nations. 00:26:16.819 --> 00:26:20.379 They left many nations there to live alongside them. 00:26:20.879 --> 00:26:23.500 In fact, one could argue from the history of Israel 00:26:23.500 --> 00:26:24.619 recorded in the scriptures 00:26:24.619 --> 00:26:28.919 that they were actually more wicked than these nations. 00:26:29.740 --> 00:26:32.500 The people of Israel too engaged in child sacrifice 00:26:32.500 --> 00:26:35.200 and sexual immorality and idol worship 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:37.119 and greed and arrogance and injustice. 00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:39.960 They disobeyed God time and time again 00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:42.000 before they had a king, when they had a king, 00:26:42.059 --> 00:26:44.920 and even when their one true king and Messiah came. 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:46.859 So what was it? 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:50.920 What made Israel holy and set apart to the Lord? 00:26:51.259 --> 00:26:54.299 What made them chosen out of all the peoples on the earth 00:26:54.299 --> 00:26:56.140 as God's treasured possession? 00:26:57.059 --> 00:26:59.079 And this is where we get to the final point. 00:26:59.079 --> 00:27:03.279 The holy God makes a holy people by his holy means. 00:27:04.099 --> 00:27:06.779 By his holy, distinct, set apart means. 00:27:07.079 --> 00:27:10.019 See, Israel's being set apart as holy to the Lord 00:27:10.019 --> 00:27:10.539 and chosen. 00:27:10.839 --> 00:27:13.939 It had nothing to do with Israel herself, 00:27:14.579 --> 00:27:18.439 but everything to do with the gracious will of God. 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:21.899 They were his chosen people, his treasured possession, 00:27:22.199 --> 00:27:25.159 just because he wanted them to be. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:28.539 Completely because of his grace. 00:27:29.079 --> 00:27:33.240 You know, whereas every other God over every other nation 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:35.059 demanded some kind of payment, 00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:37.299 some kind of transaction for people 00:27:37.299 --> 00:27:39.799 to try to win its favor and to win its love, 00:27:39.879 --> 00:27:42.879 this holy God sought to make a holy people, 00:27:42.980 --> 00:27:44.539 not by making them jump through hoops 00:27:44.539 --> 00:27:46.679 or offer more sacrifices of their children 00:27:46.679 --> 00:27:48.740 or whatever it was that they held dear. 00:27:49.319 --> 00:27:50.599 To make a holy people, 00:27:50.699 --> 00:27:53.899 this holy God utilized an absolutely distinct means 00:27:53.899 --> 00:27:55.000 unlike any other God. 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:57.539 This holy God made a holy people 00:27:57.539 --> 00:28:00.480 through the holy means of his grace. 00:28:01.180 --> 00:28:01.980 Of his grace. 00:28:02.119 --> 00:28:02.579 Verse seven, 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:04.960 the Lord did not set his affection on you 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:07.420 and choose you because you were more numerous 00:28:07.420 --> 00:28:08.519 than other peoples, 00:28:09.099 --> 00:28:11.099 for you were the fewest of all peoples. 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:14.420 But it was because the Lord loved you 00:28:14.420 --> 00:28:17.059 and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors 00:28:17.059 --> 00:28:19.559 that he brought you out with a mighty hand 00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:22.019 and redeemed you from the land of slavery, 00:28:22.399 --> 00:28:24.740 from the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:26.419 Did you hear that? 00:28:27.419 --> 00:28:29.619 The Lord did not set his affection on you 00:28:29.619 --> 00:28:32.299 and choose you because of anything in you, Israel, 00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:33.000 but verse eight, 00:28:33.059 --> 00:28:34.659 because the Lord loved you. 00:28:35.639 --> 00:28:36.779 And this is the gospel. 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:39.839 This is the scandal of God's grace. 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:42.039 Two months ago, 00:28:42.179 --> 00:28:45.159 I shared this passage with our middle schoolers 00:28:45.160 --> 00:28:45.980 and I asked, 00:28:46.140 --> 00:28:47.480 so what's the reason God gives 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:49.740 for setting his affection on his people 00:28:49.740 --> 00:28:52.220 and choosing them as his beloved children? 00:28:52.420 --> 00:28:53.620 What does it say here in the text? 00:28:54.120 --> 00:28:54.920 And reading it, 00:28:55.019 --> 00:28:56.019 they got the right answer 00:28:56.019 --> 00:28:57.560 and they said with a question mark, 00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:00.340 he sets his affection on us 00:29:00.340 --> 00:29:03.759 and he chooses us because he loves us? 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:06.160 And one of them cried, 00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:08.560 but that doesn't make any sense. 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:10.380 That doesn't make any sense. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:10.800 And I said, 00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:12.540 and that's exactly the point. 00:29:13.160 --> 00:29:14.360 That's exactly the point. 00:29:14.359 --> 00:29:15.240 I told them, 00:29:15.679 --> 00:29:17.939 this is the beautiful truth of Christianity 00:29:17.939 --> 00:29:20.500 because everywhere you turn in this world, 00:29:21.199 --> 00:29:22.979 you're gonna be offered various kinds 00:29:22.979 --> 00:29:25.359 of demanding conditional deals. 00:29:25.879 --> 00:29:27.599 Do this and I will love you. 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:29.599 Do that and I will value you. 00:29:29.740 --> 00:29:31.419 Do this and I will accept you. 00:29:31.539 --> 00:29:32.879 Do that and you'll be special 00:29:32.879 --> 00:29:34.579 and set apart in my eyes. 00:29:34.679 --> 00:29:36.059 Be smart and I'll respect you. 00:29:36.199 --> 00:29:37.639 Be funny and I will admire you. 00:29:37.699 --> 00:29:40.019 Be attractive and you will have my affection. 00:29:40.919 --> 00:29:41.539 And I said, 00:29:41.539 --> 00:29:43.500 and maybe some of you will achieve 00:29:43.500 --> 00:29:44.519 some of these conditions 00:29:44.519 --> 00:29:46.220 and win the love of some. 00:29:46.500 --> 00:29:48.200 You'll win the approval of some. 00:29:48.619 --> 00:29:51.039 Or maybe you might not. 00:29:51.680 --> 00:29:53.019 Or maybe you might not. 00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:53.519 Who knows? 00:29:53.619 --> 00:29:54.720 Who can guarantee it? 00:29:55.339 --> 00:29:56.460 But what I want you to know, 00:29:56.599 --> 00:29:57.279 middle schoolers, 00:29:57.400 --> 00:29:58.819 is that there is a better love. 00:29:59.420 --> 00:30:00.720 It's an unconditional love, 00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:03.859 a divine love that is always available to you 00:30:03.859 --> 00:30:05.559 from your heavenly father. 00:30:05.559 --> 00:30:09.480 And it's the fundamental need of all of our hearts. 00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:12.039 It's a divine love without conditions 00:30:12.039 --> 00:30:12.819 that simply says, 00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:14.319 I love you because I love you, 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:15.639 because I love you. 00:30:15.659 --> 00:30:18.579 And I know this sounds nonsensical 00:30:18.579 --> 00:30:20.240 and like circular reason. 00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:21.859 Maybe you really want to be special 00:30:21.859 --> 00:30:23.079 on your own merits, 00:30:23.339 --> 00:30:24.879 loved and adored and chosen 00:30:24.879 --> 00:30:26.879 because of your own unique qualities 00:30:26.879 --> 00:30:28.079 and excellencies. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:28.960 But trust me, 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:31.559 you don't want it any other way 00:30:31.559 --> 00:30:32.879 than the way of grace. 00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:35.880 Imagine you're in a romantic relationship 00:30:35.880 --> 00:30:37.560 and you ask your partner, 00:30:37.720 --> 00:30:39.640 honey, why do you love me? 00:30:40.560 --> 00:30:41.820 Sure, you might want to hear them say, 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:43.100 oh, because you're so smart, 00:30:43.360 --> 00:30:44.360 because you're so funny, 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:45.960 because you're so good looking, 00:30:46.260 --> 00:30:48.220 kind, you're so amazing at this or that, 00:30:48.320 --> 00:30:48.980 fill in the blank. 00:30:49.800 --> 00:30:50.960 But what if one day 00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:52.340 you lose some of these qualities? 00:30:53.080 --> 00:30:54.160 Or maybe your partner 00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:56.220 just no longer finds you that smart 00:30:56.220 --> 00:30:57.080 or that funny 00:30:57.080 --> 00:30:58.860 or that good looking anymore. 00:31:00.080 --> 00:31:00.980 On that day, 00:31:00.980 --> 00:31:02.460 will you not realize 00:31:02.460 --> 00:31:04.240 that you weren't loved for you, 00:31:05.180 --> 00:31:06.519 but for all that you once offered 00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:08.400 but can no longer deliver? 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:10.680 See, the love of God 00:31:10.680 --> 00:31:11.579 is so much better. 00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:12.600 The love of God 00:31:12.600 --> 00:31:13.779 is so much better than this. 00:31:13.860 --> 00:31:14.779 The love of God says, 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:16.579 I love you because I love you. 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:19.220 Regardless of what you have to offer me, 00:31:19.299 --> 00:31:20.900 even despite how small 00:31:20.900 --> 00:31:21.940 and insignificant 00:31:21.940 --> 00:31:23.640 the world believes you to be, 00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:24.980 God's love 00:31:24.980 --> 00:31:26.840 is not a self-seeking love that takes. 00:31:26.940 --> 00:31:28.700 It's a self-offering love 00:31:28.700 --> 00:31:29.420 that gives 00:31:29.420 --> 00:31:30.600 because he is a God 00:31:30.599 --> 00:31:31.819 who has no need. 00:31:32.740 --> 00:31:33.299 He is a God 00:31:33.299 --> 00:31:34.019 who has no need 00:31:34.019 --> 00:31:34.740 so he can offer 00:31:34.740 --> 00:31:36.819 this kind of unconditional love. 00:31:37.059 --> 00:31:37.779 John 3, 16, 00:31:37.859 --> 00:31:38.959 for God so loved the world 00:31:38.959 --> 00:31:39.879 that he gave 00:31:39.879 --> 00:31:41.679 his one and only son 00:31:41.679 --> 00:31:43.099 that whosoever believes in him 00:31:43.099 --> 00:31:44.299 should not perish, 00:31:44.639 --> 00:31:46.539 should not be utterly destroyed 00:31:46.539 --> 00:31:48.099 like we all deserve, 00:31:48.779 --> 00:31:50.740 but have everlasting life. 00:31:51.099 --> 00:31:52.879 And this is what Deuteronomy chapter 7 00:31:52.879 --> 00:31:53.480 is about. 00:31:53.719 --> 00:31:54.619 The holy God 00:31:54.619 --> 00:31:55.539 making a holy people 00:31:55.539 --> 00:31:57.599 by his holy means of grace. 00:31:57.679 --> 00:31:59.459 He was saying to Israel back then 00:31:59.460 --> 00:32:01.019 and he's saying to us today, 00:32:01.340 --> 00:32:02.160 totally destroy 00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:03.680 all the idols around you. 00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:05.180 Show no mercy 00:32:05.180 --> 00:32:07.140 to all these creaturely objects 00:32:07.140 --> 00:32:07.840 of worship 00:32:07.840 --> 00:32:08.740 who cannot deliver 00:32:08.740 --> 00:32:09.759 and yet always seek 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:10.380 to enslave 00:32:10.380 --> 00:32:11.340 and subject you 00:32:11.340 --> 00:32:12.480 to their crushing laws 00:32:12.480 --> 00:32:13.299 and demands. 00:32:14.100 --> 00:32:14.920 Destroy them all. 00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:15.640 Show no mercy 00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:17.759 for I am the one true God, 00:32:17.880 --> 00:32:18.880 the one true God 00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:20.019 of grace. 00:32:20.799 --> 00:32:21.340 Grace. 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:23.620 The God who is simultaneously 00:32:23.620 --> 00:32:24.840 so holy 00:32:24.840 --> 00:32:26.600 and so committed 00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:28.159 to making a holy people 00:32:28.159 --> 00:32:29.579 that I sent 00:32:29.579 --> 00:32:30.959 my one and only son, 00:32:31.299 --> 00:32:32.500 the only one 00:32:32.500 --> 00:32:34.240 who is ever truly innocent, 00:32:35.079 --> 00:32:36.319 not at all 00:32:36.319 --> 00:32:37.339 in need of mercy. 00:32:37.799 --> 00:32:38.599 I sent him 00:32:38.599 --> 00:32:41.059 to face total destruction 00:32:41.059 --> 00:32:42.279 on a cross 00:32:42.279 --> 00:32:43.740 for your sins. 00:32:44.639 --> 00:32:45.299 Verse 9. 00:32:46.019 --> 00:32:46.879 Know therefore 00:32:46.879 --> 00:32:48.039 that the Lord 00:32:48.039 --> 00:32:48.679 your God 00:32:48.679 --> 00:32:49.179 is God. 00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:50.480 He is the faithful God 00:32:50.480 --> 00:32:51.980 keeping covenant 00:32:51.980 --> 00:32:54.319 of love, 00:32:54.440 --> 00:32:55.120 keeping his covenant 00:32:55.120 --> 00:32:55.539 of love 00:32:55.539 --> 00:32:56.680 to a thousand generations 00:32:56.680 --> 00:32:57.339 of those 00:32:57.339 --> 00:32:58.019 who love him 00:32:58.019 --> 00:32:59.400 and keep his commandments. 00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:01.099 Christ Church, 00:33:01.180 --> 00:33:02.759 in the light of Christ, 00:33:03.620 --> 00:33:04.720 Deuteronomy chapter 7 00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:05.579 is saying to us, 00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:06.799 you can be 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:07.960 a different kind of people 00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:09.660 because you have 00:33:09.660 --> 00:33:11.480 a different kind of God. 00:33:11.720 --> 00:33:12.360 You can be 00:33:12.360 --> 00:33:13.339 a holy people 00:33:13.339 --> 00:33:14.220 whose distinctiveness 00:33:14.220 --> 00:33:15.660 is based on nothing other 00:33:15.660 --> 00:33:17.279 than your holy God's 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:18.579 completely gracious 00:33:18.579 --> 00:33:19.779 covenantal love 00:33:19.779 --> 00:33:20.599 toward you. 00:33:20.599 --> 00:33:22.019 Christ Church, 00:33:22.179 --> 00:33:23.159 can you imagine, 00:33:23.699 --> 00:33:24.159 can you imagine 00:33:24.159 --> 00:33:25.079 what kind of holy, 00:33:25.539 --> 00:33:26.039 set apart 00:33:26.039 --> 00:33:27.159 and distinctive church 00:33:27.159 --> 00:33:28.419 that would be? 00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:30.699 A church marked out 00:33:30.699 --> 00:33:31.779 by nothing 00:33:31.779 --> 00:33:33.159 other than 00:33:33.159 --> 00:33:34.419 the grace of God. 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:35.419 Right? 00:33:35.539 --> 00:33:36.240 So humbled 00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:37.179 by this God 00:33:37.179 --> 00:33:38.219 who lovingly chose us 00:33:38.219 --> 00:33:39.279 just because he wanted to 00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:40.679 despite our shortcomings, 00:33:40.779 --> 00:33:41.179 so humbled 00:33:41.179 --> 00:33:42.240 that we set our affection 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:43.799 on the humblest amongst us, 00:33:43.859 --> 00:33:44.259 the poorest 00:33:44.259 --> 00:33:45.019 and the weakest 00:33:45.019 --> 00:33:45.759 in our cities. 00:33:46.159 --> 00:33:46.959 So grateful 00:33:46.959 --> 00:33:48.480 for this unmerited 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:49.259 favor of God 00:33:49.259 --> 00:33:50.240 that we live lives 00:33:50.240 --> 00:33:51.940 of self-sacrifice 00:33:51.940 --> 00:33:53.240 amongst those 00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:54.319 who will never be able 00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:55.200 to pay us back. 00:33:56.200 --> 00:33:58.019 It's only the holy grace 00:33:58.019 --> 00:33:59.359 of the holy God 00:33:59.359 --> 00:33:59.900 that can make 00:33:59.900 --> 00:34:01.839 a truly holy people 00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:03.559 for the good of this world 00:34:03.559 --> 00:34:05.279 and for the glory of God. 00:34:06.019 --> 00:34:07.099 Will you pray with me? 00:34:07.099 --> 00:34:11.480 O holy God, 00:34:12.259 --> 00:34:13.599 would you continue 00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:14.460 molding us 00:34:14.460 --> 00:34:15.839 into your holy people 00:34:15.839 --> 00:34:17.639 by your holy means 00:34:17.639 --> 00:34:18.219 of grace 00:34:18.219 --> 00:34:20.099 into the image 00:34:20.099 --> 00:34:20.759 of your Son, 00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:21.699 the one who came 00:34:21.699 --> 00:34:22.739 full of grace 00:34:22.739 --> 00:34:24.079 and truth. 00:34:25.579 --> 00:34:25.900 Lord, 00:34:25.940 --> 00:34:27.059 make the taste 00:34:27.059 --> 00:34:27.400 of grace 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:28.699 so sweet to us, 00:34:29.799 --> 00:34:30.759 especially in light 00:34:30.759 --> 00:34:32.039 of your holiness. 00:34:33.400 --> 00:34:34.420 Help us to hold both 00:34:34.420 --> 00:34:34.960 and marvel 00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:36.900 at the amazing truth 00:34:36.900 --> 00:34:37.860 of the gospel, 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:38.360 we pray. 00:34:39.260 --> 00:34:40.159 In the name of Jesus, 00:34:40.519 --> 00:34:40.800 Amen.