WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.160 Enough is enough. I have been patient with you. You have had more than enough chances 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:19.140 to turn around to change your behaviour. I'm sure we've all heard or even said something like that 00:00:19.140 --> 00:00:24.760 in the past. You know, when we've not listened to our parents and they've needed to discipline us, 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:31.480 or we've been the school student up the back of the class and the teachers, you know, trying to get 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:36.719 our attention and trying to call us back to pay attention, but we don't listen. And so they 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:42.520 finally send us to the principal. I know of some people who are trying to get their house built. 00:00:43.760 --> 00:00:49.200 It's nearly ready. They're hoping to move in very soon, but there's one person working on the house 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:54.560 who is just slowing everything down and trying to be understanding of the season. They've been 00:00:54.560 --> 00:01:01.960 generous. They've been patient. But just recently they've said, enough is enough. We need this house 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:10.320 built. We need to move in. I think we can understand this mood when it is us trying to be patient for a 00:01:10.320 --> 00:01:18.180 long time. We can also understand it when somebody else is being fed up with us, when we are the child 00:01:18.180 --> 00:01:26.080 or the naughty child, the school child. This statement, enough is enough, it's only really 00:01:26.080 --> 00:01:33.400 relevant inside a relationship. It's only relevant for a parent to say to a child when they know each 00:01:33.400 --> 00:01:37.500 other, which hopefully parents do know their children. It's relevant for a teacher to say to 00:01:37.500 --> 00:01:42.100 kids because in the classroom the teacher wants the kids to pay attention so that he can teach them, 00:01:42.099 --> 00:01:47.419 so that she can see these children learn this information. She's not sending them off to the 00:01:47.419 --> 00:01:53.599 principal just because they're annoying necessarily, but because the teacher wants them to come back in 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:58.879 relationship in the classroom to learn. These people trying to get their house built, they need their 00:01:58.879 --> 00:02:06.179 house built. They need this builder to build the house. Enough is enough comes in relationship. 00:02:06.180 --> 00:02:17.020 But how do we respond when God is saying those words? Enough is enough. When God has had patience 00:02:17.020 --> 00:02:26.260 for generations, when he has called for repentance but no one has listened. What about when God finally 00:02:26.260 --> 00:02:35.300 says that this sin, this rebellion, enough is enough and God brings swift justice. 00:02:36.180 --> 00:02:46.659 How do we respond to seeing God act from anger and wrath? The book of Lamentations is poetry 00:02:46.659 --> 00:02:55.420 expressing the pain and grief at the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, the capital of God's people 00:02:55.420 --> 00:03:02.300 in Judah. Chapter 2, as Josh has just read to us, shows us a picture of what happens when God finally 00:03:02.300 --> 00:03:12.820 says enough is enough. And he pours out his righteous anger on those who have rebelled. It is a hard 00:03:12.820 --> 00:03:21.660 chapter of the Bible to read. Today we'll see what happens when God is grieved by sin into action. 00:03:22.540 --> 00:03:31.280 Despite the pain and horror of this chapter, it only comes because of the relationship that God has with us. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:39.780 And so we'll see that anger is deserved. That the anger and the wrath that he brings also grieves him. 00:03:40.300 --> 00:03:47.360 But that this anger is absorbed by Jesus. Let me encourage you to take out the St. Paul's app, 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:53.479 be making notes. In the St. Paul's app, there are three points. I've cut the third one mostly, 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:59.979 so we're mainly just going to be using those first two. Please have your Bibles open in Lamentations 2. 00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:08.599 As we see God pour out his wrath, it will remind us just how amazing it is that God has poured out his 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:15.759 wrath on his Son, Jesus, so that we can be in relationship with him. As we look at this chapter 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:23.500 of the Bible, let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, we thank you for who you are. As we've already 00:04:23.500 --> 00:04:31.759 reflected on today, Lord, you are good and you are steadfast and you are holy. But Lord, you are also 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:39.379 a God who gets angry. Lord, we thank you that we can meditate on this part of who you are today. Help us 00:04:39.379 --> 00:04:45.639 to understand who you are and how you have showed your love to us in Jesus, Lord. Amen. 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:54.860 So please have your Bibles open. Lamentations 2, as first we see the anger of God. In the first 10 00:04:54.860 --> 00:05:03.779 verses, there are two repeated themes about what this God does. God, as Josh has mentioned before, 00:05:03.779 --> 00:05:12.139 is slow to anger, but it has built up over generations. And so God brings out his anger 00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:20.619 and he tears down. God is the one who has built up Jerusalem. He is the one who made them great. He 00:05:20.619 --> 00:05:29.219 has built up the temple. He has made them beautiful, but now enough is enough. All of these things that he 00:05:29.220 --> 00:05:35.660 is brought up, he is going to bring down because of their sin and their rebellion. The northern kingdom 00:05:35.660 --> 00:05:42.240 were judged. They were taken into captivity by Assyria. Prophet after prophet, God would send 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:49.200 warnings. Don't be like them. Repent. Stop chasing other things, other gods, thinking that they will 00:05:49.200 --> 00:05:55.860 satisfy, that they will keep you safe, that they will protect you. God sent warnings for generations. 00:05:55.860 --> 00:06:03.060 But God's beloved people, Judah, with Jerusalem at the capital, did not listen. And so God has had 00:06:03.060 --> 00:06:11.160 enough. His wrath and anger is deserved. Have a look with me on the screen as we see that God 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:19.939 brings these things down. So verse 1, he has hurled down the splendor of Israel. Next one, he has, 00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:27.819 in his wrath, he's torn down the strongholds of daughter Judah. He has brought the kingdom, 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:35.180 the next one, the kingdom and the princes down to the ground in dishonor. Next one, the Lord determined 00:06:35.180 --> 00:06:44.920 to tear down the wall around daughter Zion. It's just this picture of God bringing everything down. 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:50.420 It's almost as if the people were thinking that we have these walls, we've got these protections, 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:55.319 we're going to be fine. But God reveals that it's not the walls that were protecting them. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:04.439 It was God all along. And God does so without pity. He's full of anger. We can't just think that it's 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:08.879 Babylon, the enemy that actually came in and destroyed Jerusalem, that they were acting alone. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:17.600 God is the strong fist in the glove to bring destruction here. And we get verbs full of 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:26.939 destruction. And so it starts in verse 1, the Lord has covered over with a cloud of his anger. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:35.360 Next one, he has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob. In his wrath, he is torn down. Next one, 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:43.439 in his fierce anger, he has cut off. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire. 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:53.759 Like, verse 4, like an enemy, he has strung his bow. His right hand is ready. Like a foe, he has slain. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:01.420 As we read these first 10 verses, it is this destructive picture. And it's all summed up in verse 5. 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:12.000 The Lord is like an enemy. The Lord is like an enemy. God, who used his strong right arm to build up and to 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:18.259 protect his people, his right arm now pulls back the string on the bow to fire it at his people. 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:24.280 The God who brought a pillar of fire to lead his people into the promised land, now turns that pillar 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:32.379 of fire to burn his people. The temple is gone. The people can't go and offer sacrifices. They can't 00:08:32.379 --> 00:08:42.480 go and seek forgiveness in the usual way. This is a series of poetic statements about what it means 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:51.759 to face God's direct, purposeful, and unflinching judgment. It's terrible. It should shock us. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:09:00.220 God is the one who has brought Babylon in like a sledgehammer here because he has become their 00:09:00.220 --> 00:09:08.519 enemy. It might feel strange to see God acting in this way. Isn't he the God of love and compassion? 00:09:09.659 --> 00:09:18.799 Why hasn't he forgiven them? Why does he need to bring destruction? How do we respond to an angry God? 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:27.879 Do you find it uncomfortable to see God have very human emotions like anger? Maybe it's just easier 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:32.519 if we forget this part of the Bible. Lamentations 2, it's particularly hard. God is angry. We see some 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:37.279 horrible things happen. Maybe it's just easier if we just don't think about this part of the Bible. 00:09:38.740 --> 00:09:47.500 But one of the issues is we can put our human emotions on God and not understand what it means 00:09:47.500 --> 00:09:55.100 for God to have godly emotions. So I wonder if we can see emotions as good or bad. We think there's 00:09:55.100 --> 00:10:04.379 good emotions, happiness, joy, mercy. And then there's those bad emotions, anger, wrath. They're bad. So we can 00:10:04.379 --> 00:10:09.679 have good emotions or bad emotions. And so when we see God having anger, we feel uncomfortable. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:18.339 But I can be happy about the wrong things. And I can sin. And I can be angry about the right things. 00:10:18.959 --> 00:10:25.379 Let me share part of my sinful heart to you. I encourage my kids to put Lego away. Our kids have 00:10:25.379 --> 00:10:32.000 been playing with a lot of Lego in lockdown. It's been great. But like Lego is, it's small. It escapes. 00:10:32.479 --> 00:10:37.179 And it goes everywhere. And so I encourage them to pick it up. And sometimes when they forget, 00:10:37.179 --> 00:10:42.539 recently, one of the kids stepped on it, and they're in a lot of pain. And my sinful heart was happy. 00:10:43.659 --> 00:10:47.819 I need to confess this, because I was happy that they'd stepped on it, because I'd said, 00:10:47.899 --> 00:10:53.239 oh, you should have picked it up. Now that happiness is not good. My heart is sinful. 00:10:55.299 --> 00:10:59.479 And so just because we think happiness is good, happiness is not a good emotion. 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:08.899 Emotions are neutral. And anger, in the same way, we should actually get angry. Anger can be good. 00:11:09.220 --> 00:11:17.220 When there are murders, when there is theft, we should be angry that that little girl in WA is lost. 00:11:19.019 --> 00:11:25.340 We should be angry. There's a whole series of movies that I love, the John Wick movies and the 00:11:25.340 --> 00:11:32.740 Taken series of movies. We see these people who have license to be angry and to cause destruction, 00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:39.920 because they have been wronged. And so they're able to have righteous anger. Because I think we all have 00:11:39.920 --> 00:11:48.139 a desire for righteous anger within us. We want to see those who have sinned against us judged. We want 00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:55.040 to see those who are doing horrible things brought to judgment. So emotions in and of themselves are neither 00:11:55.039 --> 00:12:04.159 good or bad. It really is the heart behind them. And so, coming back to God, it is good for God to get 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:15.299 angry. The sins of his people should make our God angry. When God is angry and he brings about 00:12:15.299 --> 00:12:23.319 destruction, it is also controlled. God is not having a temper tantrum like a child. He's not like you or me 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:32.280 where we can go from anger to rage. God's anger is carefully controlled. Verse 8 says that God 00:12:32.280 --> 00:12:40.400 stretched out a measuring line to destroy. It's an echo of earlier parts in the Bible where God 00:12:40.400 --> 00:12:46.860 stretched out the line for the temple. This is how you will build it. This is how we will be as a 00:12:46.860 --> 00:12:52.040 people. But now God is doing the very opposite. He is stretching out a line to destroy. It is very 00:12:52.039 --> 00:12:58.599 careful destruction. It is very deliberate destruction. And he's done it because God takes 00:12:58.599 --> 00:13:07.659 sin personally. He's in close relationship with his people. Their sin grieves him. He's had mercy 00:13:07.659 --> 00:13:15.779 and compassion for generations. But the people have continued to sin and follow other gods and go to 00:13:15.779 --> 00:13:23.139 other nations and think other nations will save them. God has said enough is enough. 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:29.879 So when we say that we don't like the wrathful Old Testament God, you know, I just want a God who 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:36.659 has no anger. He's just a God of love. We're actually trying to separate two parts of God. 00:13:37.779 --> 00:13:43.399 If he was a God who had no anger, well, there'd be no wrath. There'd be no consequence for sin. 00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:46.799 There'd be no hell. It would make no sense that Jesus died on the cross. 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:52.720 If God doesn't get angry, well, there's no need for forgiveness. There's no need for his love. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:14:01.939 You would just end up with an apathetic, uncaring God who was distant. But he's not. He's personal. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:10.879 He's close. The sin of his people grieves him. If he isn't a God capable of both anger and love 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:16.139 towards us of wrath and compassion, well, there really is no need for Jesus to die. 00:14:17.539 --> 00:14:26.379 Jesus's death is a costly death. He takes God's anger and wrath. He turns it aside from you and from 00:14:26.379 --> 00:14:37.059 me to himself. If we get rid of God's anger, we actually get rid of a full picture of God's love for us. 00:14:37.059 --> 00:14:44.559 God's wrath and anger for our sin shows how much he loves us in sending Jesus. 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:53.659 It is good news for us today that our God cares for it because of our sin, but he also cares enough 00:14:53.659 --> 00:15:01.779 to deal with it. God was grieved into action by our sin. He has brought destruction. 00:15:01.779 --> 00:15:10.439 He is a God capable of anger and wrath, but that is not the only picture of God in Lamentations 2. 00:15:10.939 --> 00:15:18.839 We also see our second point today that God is grieved because of his great love for his people, 00:15:19.579 --> 00:15:26.679 their destruction grieves him. Jeremiah sees the destruction and has a physical response 00:15:26.679 --> 00:15:35.879 in verse 11. Have a look with me. My eyes fail from weeping. I am in torment within. My heart 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:42.799 is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:50.719 streets of the city. There is overwhelming grief at what has happened in Jerusalem. The language here 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:58.379 changes from third person to first person. And the question here is, is it the voice of Jeremiah 00:15:58.379 --> 00:16:08.399 grieving what has happened? Or is Jeremiah speaking on behalf of God? He's a prophet. He speaks on behalf 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:14.139 of God. And so here, is this what he's doing? And I think that is what is happening. I believe that 00:16:14.139 --> 00:16:23.539 Jeremiah here is grieving on behalf of God. It's an unforgettable part of Lamentations. God's anger 00:16:23.539 --> 00:16:34.419 is saturated with God's tears, soaked in human and divine tears. God weeps because his people are 00:16:34.419 --> 00:16:41.399 destroyed. Even the littlest of them are faint in the streets. Children can't even feed in their mother's 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:48.919 arms. God doesn't regret his actions. It was right of him to pour out his wrath and to bring judgment. 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:59.539 But it still grieves him. Grieves him in his inmost being. God is not oblivious to the pain he has brought. 00:17:00.539 --> 00:17:07.759 It is as if he is sitting in the street with those who are weakest, crying with them. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:20.279 He mourned until he was worn out with mourning. Against the tragedy of children lying in the streets, 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:26.059 death and destruction all around, there is nothing to do except cry at this point. 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:35.859 God has been forced to say enough is enough. But that's not his usual way of operating. He has been 00:17:35.859 --> 00:17:44.339 compassionate and merciful. He only now comes and says enough is enough and brings judgment. 00:17:45.459 --> 00:17:54.439 But it's over swiftly. Psalm chapter 30 says that God's anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a 00:17:54.439 --> 00:18:03.539 lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. God brings swift judgment, 00:18:03.539 --> 00:18:13.000 but he still weeps and grieves because he loves his people. Jesus is described as the suffering servant. 00:18:13.379 --> 00:18:23.200 He knew pain and grief. And on his way to Jerusalem, this same city, he weeps over it. And so in Luke, 00:18:23.259 --> 00:18:28.159 turn with me to Luke chapter 19 verse 42, Jesus on his way to this city says, 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:37.000 If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:42.540 your eyes. Verse 44, they will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:49.380 They will not leave one stone on another because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you. 00:18:49.779 --> 00:18:54.440 And in Matthew 23, when Jesus is coming to Jerusalem, he weeps, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 00:18:54.440 --> 00:19:02.580 you who killed the prophets and stoned those God sent to you. How often I longed to gather you 00:19:02.580 --> 00:19:08.660 as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and yet you were not willing. 00:19:10.820 --> 00:19:18.700 Jesus grieves because Jerusalem would not listen. Unfortunately, God said enough is enough. He destroyed 00:19:18.700 --> 00:19:25.620 Jerusalem. Eventually, they come back in from exile, but they still do not learn. They continue to sin. 00:19:26.759 --> 00:19:34.759 Jesus comes to this city and says, I just want you to be with me. I want to gather you like the little 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:42.819 children you are, but you continue to rebel. And so Jesus deals with this himself by heading to the 00:19:42.819 --> 00:19:52.720 cross to take God's wrath for us. God's anger towards Jerusalem was warranted. It's controlled, 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:59.279 but it still grieves him. Ephesians 4 says that our sin grieves the Holy Spirit. 00:20:01.460 --> 00:20:09.339 Jesus came and saw this same city in this same peril. They hadn't learned the lesson. And so Jesus 00:20:09.339 --> 00:20:17.919 is the one who needs to die in their place. How amazing is it that we have a God who is so generous 00:20:17.919 --> 00:20:27.939 and patient and good, who would end pain and injustice, that he will bring his anger and his wrath 00:20:27.939 --> 00:20:37.459 on Jesus, but that is not his usual way of operating. Steve said last week that lamenting, 00:20:37.460 --> 00:20:42.680 it's not just an emotional outburst. It's not just when we wake or just when we cry or when we're 00:20:42.680 --> 00:20:53.299 upset. Lamenting connects our heart to God's heart. And so in that last part of Lamentations 2 that 00:20:53.299 --> 00:20:59.000 we're not going to spend a lot of time looking at this morning, God, through Jeremiah, calls the people 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:07.039 to cry out, turn to God with your hearts, to look at the sin that has caused the downfall of the city 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:18.799 and grieve. Connect their heart to the heart of God. Our sin has grieved God into action so that his people 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:25.200 would know him. And we can respond in two different ways that are unhelpful at this point. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:34.940 We can see this incident of God bringing out his wrath and think that that's how God works with us. 00:21:35.059 --> 00:21:41.940 So we can swing one way too far and think that God is going to be angry at me when I sin and he will 00:21:41.940 --> 00:21:47.740 punish me just like Jerusalem. Or we can swing the other way thinking that, oh, Jesus has died on the 00:21:47.740 --> 00:21:53.980 cross for me. He's taken God's anger and wrath. It doesn't matter what I do because I'm forgiven. 00:21:53.980 --> 00:22:00.759 I can just say sorry and move on. Both of these are unhelpful ways to swing. 00:22:01.740 --> 00:22:06.440 Thinking that God is going to punish me each and every time, oh, bad things happen to me today. 00:22:06.539 --> 00:22:12.599 That's God bringing his wrath on me. The good news of the gospel is a third way. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:21.360 The good news of the gospel is that God has poured out all his wrath and anger on Jesus at the cross. 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:25.859 Jesus has absorbed all of God's wrath. 00:22:27.419 --> 00:22:35.919 But seeing God pour out his wrath helps us to understand that God is still grieved by our sin. 00:22:36.379 --> 00:22:42.599 And so instead of just flippantly thinking that our sin is okay, it calls us back to have our hearts 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:50.339 connected to God, to lament over our sin, to grieve that we would grieve God with our sin and calls us to follow him. 00:22:53.219 --> 00:22:59.179 Seeing God pour out his wrath in Lamentations 2 helps us to understand how amazing the cross is. 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:06.099 On the cross, not just a cloud covers the sky, but the whole sky is darkened. 00:23:06.099 --> 00:23:11.539 God brings his fierce anger on Jesus. 00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:17.919 He strung his bow and pointed it not at us, but at Jesus. 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:28.459 God doesn't slay the ones who are sinful and awful, but the one pleasing to his eye, his own son. 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:32.019 God in Jerusalem destroyed the temple. 00:23:32.219 --> 00:23:33.839 Here, Jesus is the temple. 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:37.699 He is God dwelling with us and he is destroyed. 00:23:39.139 --> 00:23:42.980 Verse 17, God has done what he planned to do. 00:23:43.639 --> 00:23:45.500 He has fulfilled his word. 00:23:46.359 --> 00:23:49.279 He brought his servant Jesus to die on the cross. 00:23:49.659 --> 00:23:51.559 He poured out his wrath on Jesus. 00:23:51.559 --> 00:24:05.119 The full destructive power of God to destroy a nation, a country, to bring out his wrath against generations of sinful people is exhausted at the cross. 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:14.500 All of God's anger and frustration and wrath against us is absorbed at the cross. 00:24:14.579 --> 00:24:17.939 It is soaked up in the blood of Jesus. 00:24:17.940 --> 00:24:25.480 So that there is no more anger left for you and for me. 00:24:26.940 --> 00:24:38.660 To lose this aspect of God, to lose his anger at our sin and rebellion is to lose the beauty and need for Jesus to die in our place at the cross. 00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:46.100 The good news of the gospel is that we don't need to be worried or fearful of our God. 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:51.860 We can draw close to him because he has made the way possible. 00:24:52.560 --> 00:24:56.060 He is a father who will never raise his hand against us. 00:24:56.059 --> 00:25:01.779 Because of that, we should still care about our sin. 00:25:03.419 --> 00:25:08.919 God's anger and wrath are exhausted at the cross, but it does still grieve him. 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:13.299 He has no more anger for us, but he is still grieved. 00:25:14.179 --> 00:25:22.179 When we today continue to choose to chase other things that we think will make us happy, it grieves God. 00:25:22.180 --> 00:25:30.480 Just like when Judah chased other countries to bring them comfort and support, it grieved God and brought his wrath. 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:35.200 It still grieves God today, even though his anger was poured out on Jesus. 00:25:38.500 --> 00:25:43.600 I wonder if you've ever shared some advice with someone. 00:25:44.259 --> 00:25:46.340 They haven't taken it and it's grieved you. 00:25:46.339 --> 00:25:53.759 I've heard of doctors who have met with people and said, look, I've got your blood work back. 00:25:54.299 --> 00:25:56.939 It suggests that you're pre-diabetic. 00:25:57.699 --> 00:25:59.419 You know, you need to change your diet. 00:25:59.740 --> 00:26:01.919 You need to change what you're doing with your body. 00:26:01.980 --> 00:26:05.819 You need to be exercising more or you are going to go down a bad path. 00:26:06.059 --> 00:26:08.159 You're going to end up with diabetes, needing insulin. 00:26:08.899 --> 00:26:10.199 Don't go down this path. 00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:21.519 And then on the way home, you know, the doctor is grabbing a coffee at Macca's and sees this patient with a large meal in front of them. 00:26:22.360 --> 00:26:25.480 And just thinks, you didn't take my advice. 00:26:26.600 --> 00:26:32.019 I said, if you go down this path, it's going to end up badly and grieves. 00:26:32.019 --> 00:26:38.039 I wonder if we have had that feeling. 00:26:38.279 --> 00:26:41.539 Now, we don't know the best direction for anyone to go down. 00:26:41.779 --> 00:26:44.379 We only give advice from our own wisdom. 00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:48.339 But God, in his goodness, knows what is best for all of us. 00:26:49.660 --> 00:26:54.059 But we continue to choose things that we think will satisfy. 00:26:54.900 --> 00:27:01.359 We continue to choose sexual temptation outside of what God has said is best for us. 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:08.539 We continue to chase other things that will satisfy, thinking that houses will actually bring us joy. 00:27:08.839 --> 00:27:13.199 We continue to store up money for ourself instead of storing up treasures in heaven. 00:27:14.199 --> 00:27:17.159 And God sees the way we're going and grieves. 00:27:18.199 --> 00:27:19.919 If only you followed me. 00:27:21.519 --> 00:27:24.539 Our sin still grieves God. 00:27:25.439 --> 00:27:28.519 But all of his anger is exhausted at the cross. 00:27:28.519 --> 00:27:38.240 When we see our sin and grieve over it, it connects our heart to God's heart. 00:27:39.139 --> 00:27:46.200 And it can wake us up from apathy at our sin to live lives following him wholeheartedly. 00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:51.880 So, brothers and sisters, let me encourage you. 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:55.039 Go and have a look at the end of Ephesians 4. 00:27:55.120 --> 00:27:57.360 There's a list of sin there that grieves God. 00:27:58.259 --> 00:27:59.779 Lament over your sin. 00:28:01.340 --> 00:28:05.200 Not that God is going to be angry with you. 00:28:05.299 --> 00:28:06.160 He is not. 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:14.720 If you are trusting that Jesus died for you on that cross, all of God's anger that you and I deserve is poured out on that cross. 00:28:15.800 --> 00:28:17.960 But we should lament over our sin. 00:28:18.460 --> 00:28:22.840 We should lament that it needed God to pour out his wrath on Jesus. 00:28:23.980 --> 00:28:31.580 But praise be to God that he would love us so much that he would indeed pour out his anger on Jesus. 00:28:32.340 --> 00:28:34.360 Out of his love for us. 00:28:35.060 --> 00:28:35.740 Let me pray. 00:28:35.740 --> 00:28:42.539 Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for your goodness and your love for us. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:46.180 That, Lord, we have made you angry. 00:28:46.460 --> 00:28:49.759 That our sin has caused you to grieve. 00:28:49.859 --> 00:28:55.120 But, Lord, you have poured out all of your anger on Jesus at the cross. 00:28:55.220 --> 00:29:00.140 We thank and praise you that that is absorbed, that it is taken. 00:29:00.140 --> 00:29:08.280 Lord and Heavenly Father, we ask that we would see our sin, that we would praise you. 00:29:08.279 --> 00:29:16.619 As we're about to sing, help us to praise you that you don't bring your anger and your wrath towards us. 00:29:16.619 --> 00:29:21.000 But, Lord, connect our heart to yours. 00:29:21.099 --> 00:29:23.799 Help us to grieve over our sin. 00:29:25.539 --> 00:29:29.599 Help change us to trust in you more each day. 00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:32.240 We ask this in your Son's name and for your glory. 00:29:32.759 --> 00:29:33.099 Amen.