WEBVTT 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:11.320 Father, thank you, Father, that you have given men and women wisdom to be able to put very, 00:00:11.460 --> 00:00:17.280 very difficult truths and mysteries into words that can help us to try to get our minds around 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:18.240 them and to form us. 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:25.400 Father, we're going to read a part of your word now that is very, very challenging to 00:00:25.400 --> 00:00:26.560 who we are before you. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:30.079 It will challenge, Father, our love of appearances. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:35.019 And Father, we ask that you would draw us to your word, that you would help us to hear your 00:00:35.019 --> 00:00:43.119 word, that your Holy Spirit would move to take away the barriers within us that push your 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:45.920 word away or think it applies to somebody else other than us. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:48.379 Father, bring your word home to us. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:53.700 And as you bring your word home to us, make us disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the 00:00:53.700 --> 00:00:55.640 gospel, living for your glory. 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:57.780 And this we ask in Jesus's name. 00:00:57.960 --> 00:00:58.320 Amen. 00:01:00.100 --> 00:01:07.099 So the actual text that we're looking at today is Genesis chapter 10, verse 1 to 11, 9. 00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:10.000 But I didn't have Jeremiah read all of chapter 10. 00:01:10.439 --> 00:01:13.120 A part of it is because that's 32 verses on top of 9. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:14.040 That's 41 verses. 00:01:14.240 --> 00:01:15.060 That's a lot of verses. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:19.599 But the other reason is we should maybe have a little bit of a contest sometime in a church. 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:22.359 What is the most boring chapter in the Bible? 00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:23.640 And I don't know. 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:24.719 Maybe we should do something like that. 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:26.539 Christians are allowed to say that. 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:29.879 Some parts of the Bible we actually find very boring to read, if we're honest. 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:31.659 So maybe we should have a little contest. 00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:34.260 What do we think is the most boring chapter of the Bible? 00:01:34.539 --> 00:01:35.060 I don't know. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:36.500 We could have a little vote afterwards. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:40.799 And I bet a lot of people, if they knew about Genesis 10, they would put that as one of the 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:43.420 most boring chapters in the Bible. 00:01:43.420 --> 00:01:47.640 And so just, if you turn up, we're just going to read two or three verses and you'll see 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:49.460 why I didn't have Jeremiah read it. 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:53.340 It's called the table of the nations, by the way. 00:01:53.420 --> 00:01:54.200 It's Genesis 10. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:58.359 Now this is relevant to the rest of the sermon, by the way, but I just, it says something important. 00:01:58.439 --> 00:01:59.040 Let's just look. 00:01:59.099 --> 00:01:59.920 Genesis 10, 1. 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:01.159 Here's how it begins. 00:02:01.700 --> 00:02:06.900 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:08.920 Sons were born to them after the flood. 00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:19.279 The sons of Japheth, Gomer, Magog, Madi, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiraz, the sons of Gomer. 00:02:20.259 --> 00:02:20.659 Ashkenaz. 00:02:21.060 --> 00:02:22.219 Okay, have I put you to sleep yet? 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:23.339 You get my drift. 00:02:23.959 --> 00:02:28.579 For many of us, this passage of scripture is really boring. 00:02:29.659 --> 00:02:31.839 And so why on earth would it be in the Bible? 00:02:31.979 --> 00:02:33.479 Here's something first to keep in mind. 00:02:33.899 --> 00:02:38.739 When I first learned how to read, not just a few weeks ago, I was very young, but when 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:42.800 I was a child and I learned how to read, shortly after I learned how to read, I discovered 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:44.240 Hardy Boy novels. 00:02:44.600 --> 00:02:47.159 People, Hardy Boy and Nancy Drew, do they still read that? 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:49.240 Like, do millennials still know about that? 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:50.740 Sort of maybe, yeah, but so. 00:02:51.060 --> 00:02:53.960 Anyway, there were like young boys and young girls books. 00:02:54.540 --> 00:02:59.200 And I discovered Hardy Boy books and I could not believe how fantastic they were. 00:02:59.580 --> 00:03:05.140 In fact, I became an evangelist to my family as to why my parents should be reading. 00:03:05.379 --> 00:03:07.160 Stop reading those books you're reading. 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:10.680 You should be reading Hardy Boy books because they're just so good. 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:15.020 In fact, I thought, I actually worried when I went into the store and I saw that there 00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:17.599 were only like, I don't know, 40 or 50 of them at the time. 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:20.639 And I thought, how am I going to read these for the rest of my life if there's only 40 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:21.560 or 50 of them? 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:24.500 Because I just, I just love them so much. 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:28.400 At some point in time, I don't know when it was, it just all of a sudden one day I 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:29.900 discovered that I wasn't reading them anymore. 00:03:29.979 --> 00:03:31.460 I wasn't looking for them in the store. 00:03:31.460 --> 00:03:33.340 Or I'd moved on to other stuff. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:38.180 And then, you know, later on, I happened to come across when I was visiting somebody, 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:42.240 I was visiting a cottage or something and I took one down and I tried, I could hardly 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:43.500 read two pages. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:47.340 It was so childish and boring. 00:03:48.060 --> 00:03:49.159 So here's the thing. 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:55.699 God didn't write the Bible just for people who are, who have certain types of literary 00:03:55.699 --> 00:03:57.579 tastes and like certain types of things. 00:03:57.659 --> 00:03:58.840 He wrote the Bible for everybody. 00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:02.840 He wrote the Bible for people in all sorts of different conditions of life. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:10.099 And this long thing of the table of nations, it teaches a very, very simple truth, which 00:04:10.099 --> 00:04:17.220 it's only sort of a something which seems uncontested by many people in Canada because even people 00:04:17.220 --> 00:04:22.520 in Canada who don't know that it's ultimately a Bible idea that's sort of in popular culture 00:04:22.520 --> 00:04:24.260 in Canada, but not all over the world. 00:04:24.900 --> 00:04:27.540 And the simple truth, if you could put the first point up, is this. 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:37.100 The simple point is that the one true and living God created, sustains, and loves one human 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:37.700 race. 00:04:38.620 --> 00:04:41.860 The one true and living God created, sustains, and loves one human race. 00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:46.300 Now, a lot of us, maybe not you, but a lot of us love statements like that. 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:49.220 But for a lot of people, this puts them to sleep. 00:04:50.740 --> 00:04:55.120 I mean, if you're trying to communicate to a very young child, maybe, that God loves people 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.040 from all over the planet, you might say, well, you know what? 00:04:58.079 --> 00:04:59.680 God loves people from North Korea. 00:05:00.100 --> 00:05:03.019 And he loves people from South Africa. 00:05:03.500 --> 00:05:05.800 And he loves people in Algeria. 00:05:06.080 --> 00:05:08.080 And he loves people in China. 00:05:08.439 --> 00:05:10.879 And he loves people in Canada. 00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:15.699 Isn't that one of the ways that you would maybe communicate to some people, to young children, 00:05:15.699 --> 00:05:16.060 maybe? 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:21.860 This truth that God loves all people, that there's ultimately only one human race. 00:05:22.599 --> 00:05:24.599 And that's what the Bible is trying to do here. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:26.579 In fact, it does it also in a very subtle other way. 00:05:26.719 --> 00:05:31.159 Just, I know this is a bit of a geek moment, but there's 70 different people groups mentioned 00:05:31.159 --> 00:05:32.099 if you count them up. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:36.319 And in the Bible, the number seven often represents wholeness and completion. 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:39.219 And the number 10 often represents wholeness and completion. 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:44.800 So for those of you who like number patterns, seven times 10 means completion times completion, 00:05:44.960 --> 00:05:46.800 which means it's very complete. 00:05:47.280 --> 00:05:51.120 And it's not that the Bible writers thought that this was the only, that they were exhaustive 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:53.440 of every single people group that existed. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:55.500 It's sort of dynamic. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:59.639 But it's the Bible's one way for the Bible to try to communicate that. 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:01.579 And this is very, very important, right? 00:06:01.639 --> 00:06:04.439 Because as we all know, I mean, look what's going on. 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:09.160 It's like a lot of times famines in Africa and other parts of the world are caused because 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:14.019 one tribal group or people group don't care for another people group. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.920 And they take the food from them or they keep the food from them. 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:22.220 Or, you know, in our culture, we might think that people who voted for Clinton are way better 00:06:22.220 --> 00:06:25.340 than people who voted for Trump or the opposite way around. 00:06:25.379 --> 00:06:30.160 Or the gay community can feel superior over the heterosexual community or vice versa. 00:06:30.500 --> 00:06:35.000 That we live in a world where often in our people groups, we think that we're privileged 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:37.259 or we're special or we're better than other people. 00:06:37.700 --> 00:06:43.879 And so this Bible text, which on one hand is boring, is a very, very, very important thing 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:48.180 for when we're looking at different people groups, street people, or just people who 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:52.259 are very different than us, that there's ultimately only one human race. 00:06:53.939 --> 00:06:56.980 There's only one human race because there's only one God. 00:06:57.819 --> 00:07:03.860 And the one God who made the one human race has a care and concern for the entire human race 00:07:03.860 --> 00:07:05.600 and all of its different people groups. 00:07:06.519 --> 00:07:13.860 It's a very, very powerful Christian truth, which is why, you know, at the end of the 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:18.259 day, part of the reason why, at the end of the day, we send missionaries to Libya 00:07:18.259 --> 00:07:25.139 and we send missionaries to Angola and we send missionaries to China and we send missionaries 00:07:25.139 --> 00:07:27.699 to other nations of the world. 00:07:27.699 --> 00:07:34.379 Because we have, we should have this basic concern for all people groups. 00:07:34.740 --> 00:07:38.819 In our community, we should have concern for people groups that are very different than us. 00:07:38.819 --> 00:07:44.959 Now, some of you might say, okay, and by the way, I didn't know this up until very recently, 00:07:45.139 --> 00:07:50.319 but Genesis 10 and the part that Jeremiah read, the Tower of Babel, it's actually all 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:51.360 one literary unit. 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:53.620 So here's the very, very interesting thing. 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:56.639 You know, it's a very, it's always, it's an interesting question when you're reading 00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.120 the Bible yourself is to ask, well, what follows from this? 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:04.699 So in Canada, we now have the story of the, okay, we have this table of the nations, God loves 00:08:04.699 --> 00:08:05.500 all the people group. 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:09.319 This is a really good time for us all to stand and hold hands and sing Kumbaya. 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:15.220 Or maybe we will all stand and be like good socialist workers and sing the International 00:08:15.220 --> 00:08:16.860 or We Shall Overcome. 00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:20.100 Or maybe we'll have a bit of a care bear moment or something like that. 00:08:20.139 --> 00:08:22.379 I don't know what, but what's going to follow from this? 00:08:22.459 --> 00:08:26.300 Maybe, in fact, nowadays, there'd actually be a soft drink commercial, which would somehow 00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:31.279 connect that all of this differentness is somehow all just one great marketing moment. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:36.500 So the very interesting thing is, so the Bible uses this very, very, to us boring, but not 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:41.240 to everybody, but to us right now, boring way of trying to communicate a very, very important 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:42.139 spiritual point. 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:44.339 Now the question is, well, what follows from it? 00:08:44.839 --> 00:08:46.039 Well, what's going to happen next? 00:08:47.079 --> 00:08:48.699 Kumbaya, soft drink commercial? 00:08:49.259 --> 00:08:50.399 We Shall Overcome? 00:08:51.500 --> 00:08:52.199 What's going to happen? 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:56.939 Well, the very, very interesting thing is, is that God moves it in a very, very curious 00:08:56.940 --> 00:09:04.180 direction that goes, because on one hand, we know that, so we can understand that one human 00:09:04.180 --> 00:09:09.520 race is not a biological truth, and it's definitely not a sociological truth. 00:09:09.940 --> 00:09:15.220 It's ultimately a biblical truth, a theological truth, but what comes from it in a world where 00:09:15.220 --> 00:09:16.320 there's lots of division? 00:09:17.620 --> 00:09:25.920 Well, how do we sort of put together all the prejudice and hatred and suspicion that's in 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:30.679 the world, and that's where the Bible moves us, and it moves us to the level of the heart. 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:38.539 So let's now look after this, what could be a Kumbaya moment, what is it that God moves 00:09:38.539 --> 00:09:41.379 us in to consider, and it's the story of the Tower of Babel. 00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:44.779 So once again, if you have your Bibles, it'd be really helpful. 00:09:44.899 --> 00:09:48.699 Let's look at chapter 11, verse, actually we'll read chapter 10, verse 32. 00:09:48.700 --> 00:09:55.259 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to the genealogies, in their nations, and from 00:09:55.259 --> 00:10:02.320 these nations spread abroad on earth, and from these, sorry, the nations, or the people groups, 00:10:02.700 --> 00:10:04.820 spread abroad on the earth after the flood. 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:10.540 Now, the whole earth had one language and the same words. 00:10:10.539 --> 00:10:20.559 Now, just sort of pause here for a second. 00:10:20.699 --> 00:10:28.179 This is actually really, really important to the story, and it's actually really important 00:10:28.179 --> 00:10:32.339 for you and me for some of the troubles and problems that we face. 00:10:33.299 --> 00:10:36.399 Now, to understand the problem, turn back in your book. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:41.899 So just look, they're traveling together, verse 2, right, and as a people, as people 00:10:41.899 --> 00:10:46.100 migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:48.259 So, okay, why is that a bit? 00:10:48.379 --> 00:10:51.559 Look, turn back in your Bibles to chapter 9, verse 1. 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:58.740 And in chapter 9, verse 1, God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, be fruitful and 00:10:58.740 --> 00:11:02.480 multiply and fill the earth. 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:08.680 And then there's a bit of an, we talked about this a week ago, other things that are said 00:11:08.680 --> 00:11:09.000 there. 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:10.960 Look at verse 7, it's bracketed. 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:15.519 In other words, it's very important because it's said twice and it brackets the other commands. 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:20.320 All the other commands about the image of God, about murder, about the importance of life, 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:25.500 they're all bracketed, all to be understood within the context of this basic command. 00:11:25.680 --> 00:11:32.000 Verse 7, and you be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:34.379 And increase greatly on the earth. 00:11:34.420 --> 00:11:38.879 In the underlying language, it's the same as verse 7, this idea that you're to increase 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:39.580 and spread. 00:11:40.659 --> 00:11:45.519 So twice God tells them, I want to bless you. 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:47.659 I want to make you fruitful. 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:51.600 I want to have you multiply. 00:11:52.340 --> 00:11:53.759 And I want to have you fill the earth. 00:11:54.680 --> 00:11:56.759 Now look back at chapter 11, verse 2. 00:11:56.759 --> 00:12:02.659 And as people migrated from the east, they found a place in the land of Shinar and settled there. 00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:05.179 Now you might be wondering what's going on. 00:12:05.220 --> 00:12:05.960 Well, here's the point. 00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:06.779 If you could put it up. 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:09.000 Here's the point. 00:12:09.939 --> 00:12:16.980 I can appear to be listening to God and obeying him when in reality I am disobeying him. 00:12:16.980 --> 00:12:26.060 So what could they all be saying? 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:26.960 Well, God, we're moving. 00:12:27.779 --> 00:12:28.620 We're moving. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:30.399 We're walking. 00:12:32.259 --> 00:12:34.539 But they're not filling the earth. 00:12:34.659 --> 00:12:35.300 They're staying together. 00:12:35.299 --> 00:12:44.000 You see, it's really, really, really, really easy. 00:12:44.859 --> 00:12:48.240 It's, you know, probably not much, you know, nowadays, here's one of the things. 00:12:48.319 --> 00:12:50.939 Nowadays, only weird people go to church on a Sunday morning. 00:12:52.219 --> 00:12:53.939 I just insulted you all there, by the way. 00:12:53.959 --> 00:12:55.199 You didn't laugh at it, okay? 00:12:55.419 --> 00:12:58.000 But only weird people go to church on Sunday mornings. 00:12:59.299 --> 00:13:05.279 Because, you know, it probably was in 1957, they might say in the office or at the school, 00:13:05.299 --> 00:13:09.319 you know, they seem like a really normal person, but they never go to church. 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:14.219 And now it would be more likely that people say, you know, he or she seems like a really 00:13:14.219 --> 00:13:16.339 normal person, but, you know, they go to church on Sunday. 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:22.419 So it's a bit of an odd thing here, but it's been a case in many, many places of the world, 00:13:22.479 --> 00:13:26.279 and it still is in some ways, that people come to church because it's a good place to 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:29.500 make connections for your insurance business. 00:13:29.500 --> 00:13:37.179 Or it's a good place to make connections for your real estate business. 00:13:38.299 --> 00:13:42.340 You know, in the United States, which has a very, very different, you know, custom, 00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:44.419 what would Clinton do? 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:45.620 I'm not picking on Clinton. 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:48.179 You can multiply this with president after president. 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:49.460 What would they do when they're in trouble? 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:54.779 They'd go to church carrying a really big black Bible, like two or three times the size of this. 00:13:54.779 --> 00:13:59.159 You see, it can look like you're obeying some, but you're not. 00:13:59.579 --> 00:14:05.159 You know, it can be, it appears if you're listening to God and obeying him, when in reality, 00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:08.980 you're actually disobeying him. 00:14:09.459 --> 00:14:15.559 So they're, in the people, they're moving, but they're not filling the earth. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:18.559 Now, so here's the thing. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:24.679 The Bible's not going to take another bit of a funny turn. 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:27.779 It's going to say, well, why is this sort of going on in their lives? 00:14:29.859 --> 00:14:34.419 You know, we are addicted to the fact that maybe if they just had like a better church, 00:14:34.599 --> 00:14:37.839 if they had a better preacher, if they had better education, 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:44.139 maybe if they had a little bit of therapy to deal with some of the wounds of their family of origin, 00:14:44.139 --> 00:14:48.840 if we just did a few couple of things and maybe they would fix it and they would be better. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:53.500 But the Bible actually points out here that there's something at a far deeper level, 00:14:53.559 --> 00:14:55.659 at a heart level, which is relevant to you and me. 00:14:55.740 --> 00:14:56.840 It's all very interesting. 00:14:57.399 --> 00:15:00.080 See, one of the reasons why in Sunday school and reading the Bible, 00:15:00.179 --> 00:15:02.379 it's so important to know stories like this, 00:15:02.779 --> 00:15:07.980 is that the stories like this in the Bible go along with the different other types of moral teachings 00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:13.200 and stories have an ability at some point in time to start to touch our hearts 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:15.820 and help us to realize something that's going on deep inside. 00:15:16.379 --> 00:15:20.800 Look at verses three and four to see the very funny turn it takes. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:21.840 We'll read verse two again. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:24.019 And as people migrated from the east, 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:27.220 they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 00:15:28.019 --> 00:15:29.580 And they said to one another, 00:15:30.139 --> 00:15:33.740 come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. 00:15:33.740 --> 00:15:38.799 And they had brick for stone and bitumen, which is a type of tar for mortar. 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:46.259 Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:49.080 And let us make a name for ourselves, 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:54.240 lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. 00:15:55.299 --> 00:15:59.279 So remember in chapter nine, twice, God says, 00:15:59.700 --> 00:16:00.460 I want to bless you. 00:16:01.100 --> 00:16:02.519 I want to make you fruitful. 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:04.500 I want to multiply you. 00:16:04.939 --> 00:16:06.399 And I want you to fill the earth. 00:16:08.659 --> 00:16:12.759 And they here, just think about this for a second. 00:16:12.919 --> 00:16:16.319 How many of us would like it if God all of a sudden just appeared before us and said, 00:16:16.699 --> 00:16:17.980 well, I'll use myself as an example. 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:19.679 George, I want to bless you. 00:16:20.500 --> 00:16:21.960 George, I want to make you more fruitful. 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:24.279 George, I want to multiply you. 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:26.199 George, I want you to do this. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:28.259 Now, here's the thing. 00:16:28.319 --> 00:16:31.659 It's a very, very, very important thing for us to understand about ourselves 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:32.679 and how we read the Bible. 00:16:32.740 --> 00:16:34.279 If you could put this next point up here. 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:38.199 I easily hear God's word of blessing as a threat. 00:16:41.199 --> 00:16:43.139 Maybe I'm the most wicked person here, 00:16:43.379 --> 00:16:47.620 but I easily hear God's word of blessing as a threat. 00:16:48.579 --> 00:16:50.659 See, look at this here again in the text. 00:16:50.740 --> 00:16:51.959 Did you notice it in verse four? 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:55.940 Let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:57.740 and let us make a name for ourselves, 00:16:57.920 --> 00:17:00.540 lest we be dispersed over the face of the earth. 00:17:01.340 --> 00:17:04.240 What God tells them he's going to do in terms of blessing them 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:06.700 and making them fruitful and multiply and filling the earth, 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:09.480 they interpret that as a threat. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:14.539 You see, here's the thing. 00:17:14.740 --> 00:17:17.000 This is a constant problem with us, 00:17:17.140 --> 00:17:18.559 not only when we're reading the Bible. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:21.259 It often influences the way we read the Bible 00:17:21.259 --> 00:17:26.339 because we're trying to take things out or blunt it or ignore it or whatever. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:28.379 Like, you know, for very many of us, 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:30.319 it's just, you know, 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:34.839 I was just trying to explain just a little while ago to somebody about the importance. 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:37.179 In fact, I've had several conversations in the last month 00:17:37.179 --> 00:17:38.559 about the importance of forgiveness. 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:41.700 And I know there's lots of, 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:47.240 there's a lot of false info around what the Bible means by forgiveness. 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:51.620 But when the Bible talks so much time and time and time and time again 00:17:51.620 --> 00:17:53.140 about the importance of forgiveness, 00:17:53.940 --> 00:17:56.799 we sort of feel that if we forgive, 00:17:57.779 --> 00:17:59.240 it's going to make us weaker. 00:18:01.700 --> 00:18:02.980 It's going to make us weaker. 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:04.180 It's not going to help us. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:06.960 You know, one of the problems for, 00:18:08.120 --> 00:18:09.460 I'll just use one example, 00:18:09.559 --> 00:18:11.079 but a lot of problems for young women 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:13.859 is they might start to date a young guy 00:18:13.859 --> 00:18:16.939 and they'll feel that if they don't sleep with him, 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:19.319 he won't stay with them. 00:18:20.740 --> 00:18:24.379 And they don't trust that God's word 00:18:24.379 --> 00:18:28.919 about sexual faithfulness is actually for their good. 00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:35.439 You know, we hear the constant biblical teachings on financial generosity 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:40.259 and it's all in the context of how being more financially generous 00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:41.820 will make us feel more free. 00:18:41.900 --> 00:18:44.539 It will help us to take the idol of money off our back. 00:18:44.620 --> 00:18:46.720 How God will provide for us. 00:18:46.740 --> 00:18:48.980 It doesn't say give to me and I'll make you rich, 00:18:49.080 --> 00:18:52.299 but you'll understand and see even more deeply 00:18:52.299 --> 00:18:53.600 how I am your great treasure, 00:18:53.740 --> 00:18:54.960 how I will provide for you. 00:18:55.220 --> 00:18:58.160 But we hear these teachings and we experience them as a threat. 00:18:59.080 --> 00:19:00.200 Many people thought, you know, 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:05.860 just to think that God actually caused the words in the Bible to be written. 00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:08.140 That at the end of the day, not by mechanism, 00:19:08.340 --> 00:19:10.720 but that every word that there is in the Bible 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:13.400 is a word that God ultimately wanted to have there. 00:19:14.120 --> 00:19:15.240 And when we read the Bible, 00:19:15.420 --> 00:19:18.140 we are face to face with God speaking to us. 00:19:18.380 --> 00:19:20.680 But for many people inside the church and out, 00:19:20.779 --> 00:19:21.819 that is a threat. 00:19:23.539 --> 00:19:24.400 Not a blessing. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:32.780 And that's all captured here in this very, very, 00:19:33.120 --> 00:19:34.740 you know, in fact, if you think about it for a second, 00:19:34.860 --> 00:19:36.580 verse four, look at verse four again. 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:39.360 Couldn't verse four be a motto 00:19:39.360 --> 00:19:42.500 for just about every social movement, 00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:44.780 ideology, and country in the planet 00:19:44.780 --> 00:19:46.320 throughout all of history? 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:49.440 Let us build ourselves a city and a tower 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:50.700 with its top in the heavens 00:19:50.700 --> 00:19:52.700 and let us make a name for ourselves 00:19:52.700 --> 00:19:55.980 lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:01.759 You see, here's the other thing. 00:20:02.620 --> 00:20:03.360 You know what that thing, 00:20:03.539 --> 00:20:05.700 what's motivating them to stay together, 00:20:05.860 --> 00:20:08.799 what's motivating them to hear God's word as a threat 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:11.799 is their anxiety and their fear. 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:16.000 If you put up the next point, please, 00:20:16.059 --> 00:20:16.680 as you put it up, 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:17.500 one of the things, 00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:19.700 I don't do much counseling, 00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:22.680 but I do a little bit 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:23.740 and one of the things 00:20:23.740 --> 00:20:25.920 which I constantly come across 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:27.120 as I talk to people 00:20:27.120 --> 00:20:30.720 is how most, 00:20:31.380 --> 00:20:32.940 many, many, many, many people 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:34.420 aren't entirely honest 00:20:34.420 --> 00:20:37.480 or aware of the deep level of stress 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:39.180 and anxiety that's in their life. 00:20:39.180 --> 00:20:46.600 In fact, sometimes what I'll have a person do 00:20:46.600 --> 00:20:47.980 is just sort of try to articulate 00:20:47.980 --> 00:20:49.960 the different things that are going on in their lives 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:51.940 that, in fact, always cause stress. 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:53.940 And a lot of times, 00:20:54.019 --> 00:20:55.480 we're blind to our own stress 00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:57.620 and we're blind to the amount of anxiety 00:20:57.620 --> 00:20:58.980 that we're carrying around with us. 00:20:59.380 --> 00:21:00.779 Where if we're aware of it, 00:21:00.820 --> 00:21:02.299 it's just something we don't want to share 00:21:02.299 --> 00:21:03.700 because Christians somehow or another 00:21:03.700 --> 00:21:04.880 aren't supposed to be anxious. 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:06.920 We're supposed to have the joy of the Lord 00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:07.640 as our strength. 00:21:08.620 --> 00:21:10.160 But what we see here 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:13.500 is that they name it, 00:21:13.660 --> 00:21:14.680 they don't sort of do anything, 00:21:14.779 --> 00:21:15.620 but what they do 00:21:15.620 --> 00:21:17.920 in the face of their anxiety and their fear 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:20.519 is, and this is what we do as well, 00:21:20.620 --> 00:21:22.700 in vain we seek proud dreams, 00:21:23.840 --> 00:21:24.759 fortresses, 00:21:25.380 --> 00:21:26.820 and the scaling of heaven 00:21:26.820 --> 00:21:29.900 as antidotes to our anxiety and fear. 00:21:29.900 --> 00:21:33.080 This is what goes on in many of our lives. 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:35.360 At some time in my life, 00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:36.600 I had some addiction issues 00:21:36.599 --> 00:21:37.779 which I had to deal with. 00:21:38.899 --> 00:21:41.659 And it was hard even to come to the terms 00:21:41.659 --> 00:21:43.579 with the fact that I had some addiction issues 00:21:43.579 --> 00:21:45.039 which I had to deal with. 00:21:46.139 --> 00:21:48.899 And maybe this is just for those of us 00:21:48.899 --> 00:21:50.559 who struggle with 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:52.279 or have struggled with some addiction issues. 00:21:52.339 --> 00:21:53.599 One of the things that goes along 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:56.319 with those of us like that 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:58.399 is that we love proud dreams. 00:21:59.679 --> 00:22:00.919 The strong man, 00:22:01.179 --> 00:22:03.019 the guy or the gal 00:22:03.019 --> 00:22:04.459 who has the right answer, 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:05.740 the competent one. 00:22:05.740 --> 00:22:08.339 And we have proud dreams 00:22:08.339 --> 00:22:09.880 and we retreat to them 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:11.240 in the face of the stress 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:12.740 and anxiety and failures 00:22:12.740 --> 00:22:14.680 that we're surrounded with. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:17.120 And we try to build fortresses, 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:18.640 maybe fortresses of wealth 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:20.700 or fortresses of degrees 00:22:20.700 --> 00:22:24.420 or fortresses in terms of a perfect front. 00:22:25.940 --> 00:22:28.099 And sometimes we try to scale heaven 00:22:28.099 --> 00:22:29.019 by trying to look like 00:22:29.019 --> 00:22:30.599 we're way more righteous than we are. 00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:32.339 And that's just in our personal lives. 00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:35.480 And the fact of the matter is 00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:37.279 is that when I pursue idols, 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:39.359 when I pursue proud dreams, 00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:41.279 when I pursue fortresses, 00:22:41.459 --> 00:22:43.639 all I end up really doing 00:22:43.639 --> 00:22:45.539 is making myself more anxious. 00:22:51.259 --> 00:22:53.659 And countries and cultures, 00:22:53.919 --> 00:22:55.659 the reason I'm using the word fortress here, 00:22:55.699 --> 00:22:56.039 by the way, 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:57.599 is that if you look at verse four again, 00:22:58.159 --> 00:22:58.959 then they said, 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:00.700 come let us build ourselves a city. 00:23:00.779 --> 00:23:01.559 The word for city 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:03.259 is the same word for fortress. 00:23:06.140 --> 00:23:07.660 What they wanted to build 00:23:07.660 --> 00:23:08.740 was a fortress. 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:11.840 They weren't trying to build the Glebe. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:14.240 They weren't trying to build Westboro. 00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:16.079 They weren't trying to build 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:17.900 New Edinburgh or Rockcliffe 00:23:17.900 --> 00:23:18.860 or Manitick. 00:23:18.859 --> 00:23:20.799 They were building a place 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:22.679 with a big, strong, powerful wall 00:23:22.679 --> 00:23:25.939 which would keep them safe. 00:23:27.199 --> 00:23:28.299 In vain, 00:23:28.579 --> 00:23:29.119 in other words, 00:23:29.219 --> 00:23:29.979 it's futile. 00:23:30.099 --> 00:23:31.199 We seek proud dreams. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:32.459 We seek fortresses. 00:23:32.579 --> 00:23:34.979 We seek to scale the heavens 00:23:34.979 --> 00:23:36.459 as antidotes 00:23:36.459 --> 00:23:38.199 to our anxiety and fear, 00:23:38.419 --> 00:23:40.179 but they don't work. 00:23:41.939 --> 00:23:42.240 So, 00:23:42.679 --> 00:23:44.379 now here's the big question. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:47.259 What is God going to do about this? 00:23:47.259 --> 00:23:47.740 Like, 00:23:47.740 --> 00:23:50.539 what's God going to do about this? 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:51.339 The question, 00:23:51.579 --> 00:23:52.980 the thing has been set. 00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:57.259 I don't know. 00:23:57.379 --> 00:23:57.640 I mean, 00:23:57.980 --> 00:23:58.759 a lot of us, 00:23:58.839 --> 00:24:00.220 the type of God that we want 00:24:00.220 --> 00:24:01.059 is a God 00:24:01.059 --> 00:24:01.900 who's very, 00:24:02.019 --> 00:24:02.759 very permissive, 00:24:02.819 --> 00:24:03.859 like our favorite uncle 00:24:03.859 --> 00:24:04.539 who will just 00:24:04.539 --> 00:24:05.779 sort of nod and say, 00:24:05.879 --> 00:24:06.000 well, 00:24:06.019 --> 00:24:06.460 I know you've been 00:24:06.460 --> 00:24:07.180 a little bit naughty, 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:07.980 but off you go. 00:24:08.579 --> 00:24:09.379 And sometimes, 00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:10.720 especially when it's things 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:11.599 which are very close 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:12.539 and dear to us, 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:13.799 we want to have, 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:14.180 you know, 00:24:14.220 --> 00:24:15.460 we want to really punish. 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:16.680 We want to really hurt. 00:24:17.259 --> 00:24:17.960 You know, 00:24:18.059 --> 00:24:19.299 sometimes we want to mock. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:21.119 Sometimes we want to show scorn. 00:24:21.339 --> 00:24:23.119 Sometimes we're afraid 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:23.940 of what's going on. 00:24:24.019 --> 00:24:24.160 So, 00:24:24.440 --> 00:24:25.599 it's always very interesting. 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:26.640 The Bible's now set up 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:27.539 this situation. 00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:29.720 The people are disobeying God. 00:24:29.900 --> 00:24:31.019 They appear as if 00:24:31.019 --> 00:24:32.099 they might be obeying God, 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:33.660 but really they're disobeying God. 00:24:34.379 --> 00:24:35.839 There's fear and anxiety 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:36.960 which is driving them. 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:39.740 They're trying to reach heaven. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:41.379 They're building fortresses. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:42.640 They have proud dreams. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:43.280 So, 00:24:43.340 --> 00:24:44.300 what's God's response 00:24:44.300 --> 00:24:44.920 going to be? 00:24:45.620 --> 00:24:45.860 Like, 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:46.300 in a sense, 00:24:46.360 --> 00:24:47.680 when we see what God's response 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:48.800 is going to be to this, 00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:50.660 it gives us a bit of a clue 00:24:50.660 --> 00:24:51.820 as to how God's response 00:24:51.820 --> 00:24:53.000 is going to be to you and me 00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:56.520 when we do the same types of things. 00:24:56.780 --> 00:24:57.080 So, 00:24:57.160 --> 00:24:58.060 look at verse 5. 00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:00.460 And the Lord God 00:25:00.460 --> 00:25:01.460 and the Lord 00:25:01.460 --> 00:25:02.460 came down 00:25:02.460 --> 00:25:03.920 to see the city 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:05.160 and the tower 00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:06.759 which the children of man 00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:07.259 had built. 00:25:08.259 --> 00:25:08.840 Look at that. 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:09.919 And the Lord came down 00:25:09.919 --> 00:25:10.879 to see the city 00:25:10.879 --> 00:25:11.679 and the tower 00:25:11.679 --> 00:25:13.240 which the children of man 00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:14.079 had built. 00:25:14.839 --> 00:25:15.279 Now, 00:25:15.779 --> 00:25:16.619 it used to be 00:25:16.619 --> 00:25:17.859 for many, many, many years 00:25:17.859 --> 00:25:19.220 when I read this part of the Bible, 00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:20.919 it used to actually frighten me. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:23.379 Maybe it's just because I'm weird. 00:25:24.220 --> 00:25:26.399 But I didn't like this language 00:25:26.399 --> 00:25:27.539 because it made it look 00:25:27.539 --> 00:25:28.259 as if God 00:25:28.259 --> 00:25:30.199 didn't know all things 00:25:30.199 --> 00:25:31.419 and wasn't all powerful. 00:25:32.179 --> 00:25:33.619 That he actually had to come down 00:25:33.619 --> 00:25:34.279 to see it 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:35.299 and to deal with it. 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:37.240 But here's what the text 00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:39.019 is actually trying to communicate to us. 00:25:39.099 --> 00:25:40.220 It's a bit of irony. 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:42.559 Here they think 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:44.059 that 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:46.880 they're using bricks 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:48.400 and they're going to build 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:49.079 a fortress 00:25:49.079 --> 00:25:50.019 and they're going to build 00:25:50.019 --> 00:25:50.740 a tower 00:25:50.740 --> 00:25:52.240 that will take them 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:52.920 all the way up 00:25:52.920 --> 00:25:53.940 to where God is. 00:25:54.859 --> 00:25:56.559 And the very, very subtle irony 00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:57.920 isn't that God is an omniscient. 00:25:58.000 --> 00:25:59.180 He already knows what's going on. 00:25:59.220 --> 00:25:59.680 But he says, 00:25:59.740 --> 00:26:00.140 you know what? 00:26:02.500 --> 00:26:04.700 That thing is so far away 00:26:04.700 --> 00:26:08.039 and so itsy-bitsy, 00:26:08.140 --> 00:26:09.360 teeny-weeny, 00:26:09.559 --> 00:26:09.960 tiny 00:26:09.960 --> 00:26:11.840 that I can't even see it. 00:26:14.120 --> 00:26:14.940 That's what the text, 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:15.700 it's irony. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:17.880 We think, 00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:18.580 whoa, 00:26:18.819 --> 00:26:19.779 look how great we are. 00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:21.460 Look how fantastic things are. 00:26:21.600 --> 00:26:21.799 Look, 00:26:22.059 --> 00:26:23.039 look how much we are 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:24.220 like making heaven on earth. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:25.640 Look how progressive we are. 00:26:26.100 --> 00:26:26.279 Look, 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:27.519 look at our empire. 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:28.920 Look at our philosophy. 00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:29.880 Look at our music. 00:26:30.080 --> 00:26:30.880 Look at our religion. 00:26:31.120 --> 00:26:31.940 Look at our rituals. 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:32.620 Look at our, 00:26:32.619 --> 00:26:34.399 look at our yoga techniques. 00:26:34.599 --> 00:26:35.159 Look at the things 00:26:35.159 --> 00:26:35.679 that we're doing. 00:26:35.799 --> 00:26:36.859 Look how high they are. 00:26:36.979 --> 00:26:38.639 God obviously must be impressed. 00:26:39.059 --> 00:26:39.719 And in this story, 00:26:39.819 --> 00:26:40.219 God's saying, 00:26:40.419 --> 00:26:40.679 wow, 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:41.859 is there something going on 00:26:41.859 --> 00:26:42.419 down there? 00:26:42.859 --> 00:26:44.399 It's so far from me. 00:26:44.719 --> 00:26:46.099 I can hardly see it. 00:26:46.719 --> 00:26:48.039 I guess I better get closer 00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:48.639 to look. 00:26:49.979 --> 00:26:51.399 That's what the text is doing. 00:26:51.419 --> 00:26:52.039 If you could put up 00:26:52.039 --> 00:26:52.799 the next point. 00:26:54.419 --> 00:26:56.000 No human edifice, 00:26:56.379 --> 00:26:57.939 that's something that we create, 00:26:57.939 --> 00:26:59.519 of the body or the soul, 00:27:00.019 --> 00:27:00.839 of the mind, 00:27:00.979 --> 00:27:01.399 the heart, 00:27:01.400 --> 00:27:02.000 or the will, 00:27:02.440 --> 00:27:03.440 can scale heaven. 00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:09.640 You can do yoga 00:27:09.640 --> 00:27:11.160 and become the best yoga person 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:11.519 in the world. 00:27:11.640 --> 00:27:13.340 You can learn meditation techniques. 00:27:13.800 --> 00:27:15.140 You can learn all of the 00:27:15.140 --> 00:27:16.720 Islamic prayer techniques, 00:27:16.820 --> 00:27:17.280 and you can do it 00:27:17.280 --> 00:27:18.259 five times a day, 00:27:18.300 --> 00:27:19.220 and you can do all of those 00:27:19.220 --> 00:27:20.280 other types of things. 00:27:22.320 --> 00:27:23.620 You can learn religion 00:27:23.620 --> 00:27:24.460 and creeds. 00:27:25.060 --> 00:27:26.740 You can learn all about 00:27:26.740 --> 00:27:27.900 gender theory. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:29.380 You can learn about Marxism. 00:27:29.380 --> 00:27:30.620 You can learn about science. 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:31.920 You can learn about technology. 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:34.020 You can be a progressive nation 00:27:34.020 --> 00:27:35.740 and make our military 00:27:35.740 --> 00:27:37.140 20 times stronger 00:27:37.140 --> 00:27:37.660 to make sure 00:27:37.660 --> 00:27:38.780 that progressive values 00:27:38.780 --> 00:27:39.520 triumph throughout 00:27:39.520 --> 00:27:40.620 the entire world. 00:27:42.120 --> 00:27:43.400 But any attempt 00:27:43.400 --> 00:27:44.300 to think that we are 00:27:44.300 --> 00:27:45.540 making heaven on earth, 00:27:45.600 --> 00:27:47.100 that we are scaling heaven, 00:27:47.099 --> 00:27:53.199 it won't work. 00:27:53.699 --> 00:27:54.679 Could you put up the next point? 00:27:54.740 --> 00:27:55.539 It's another way of saying 00:27:55.539 --> 00:27:56.199 the same thing. 00:27:56.639 --> 00:27:59.359 The Lord must come down 00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:00.339 and in. 00:28:01.259 --> 00:28:03.119 By my own power, 00:28:03.959 --> 00:28:06.599 I can never get up 00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:09.240 and out to him. 00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:12.359 I need God to speak. 00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:13.900 Remember, 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:14.539 one of the things 00:28:14.539 --> 00:28:15.740 about the Christian faith, 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:16.519 which is really, 00:28:16.620 --> 00:28:17.319 really important 00:28:17.319 --> 00:28:18.440 for us to understand, 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:20.319 is that we Christians 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:21.740 are not saying 00:28:21.740 --> 00:28:23.480 that our philosophy 00:28:23.480 --> 00:28:24.460 or our religion 00:28:24.460 --> 00:28:25.059 is better. 00:28:25.299 --> 00:28:26.359 We are not saying 00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:27.120 that when you look 00:28:27.120 --> 00:28:27.740 at Genesis 00:28:27.740 --> 00:28:28.859 or you look at Mark 00:28:28.859 --> 00:28:29.380 or Luke, 00:28:29.859 --> 00:28:30.880 that you've never seen 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:31.940 anything which has been 00:28:31.940 --> 00:28:33.059 written better than this, 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:34.380 that you've never seen 00:28:34.380 --> 00:28:36.099 anything from our tribe. 00:28:36.460 --> 00:28:37.299 Our tribe has 00:28:37.299 --> 00:28:38.559 the smartest writers, 00:28:38.740 --> 00:28:39.619 the most profound 00:28:39.619 --> 00:28:40.700 insight to religion, 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:41.639 the most profound 00:28:41.639 --> 00:28:42.500 insight to God. 00:28:42.659 --> 00:28:43.879 That is not 00:28:43.879 --> 00:28:45.180 what Christians are saying. 00:28:46.859 --> 00:28:47.919 Christians are saying 00:28:47.919 --> 00:28:49.399 as all of our attempts 00:28:49.399 --> 00:28:50.319 to scale heaven 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:50.879 will fail. 00:28:52.180 --> 00:28:53.339 God must break in. 00:28:54.919 --> 00:28:56.240 God must speak. 00:28:57.839 --> 00:28:58.879 Our wisdom 00:28:58.879 --> 00:29:01.619 is in being receptive 00:29:01.619 --> 00:29:02.359 and listening, 00:29:03.259 --> 00:29:05.299 not in our assertions. 00:29:06.019 --> 00:29:07.059 At the end of the day, 00:29:07.299 --> 00:29:08.960 the gospel is one beggar 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:10.079 telling another beggar 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:11.299 where free bread 00:29:11.299 --> 00:29:11.940 is available. 00:29:13.059 --> 00:29:14.039 It's not us saying, 00:29:14.139 --> 00:29:14.919 look, I'm the best baker 00:29:14.919 --> 00:29:15.460 in the world. 00:29:16.700 --> 00:29:18.379 I'm the most spectacular baker. 00:29:18.419 --> 00:29:18.899 It's not that. 00:29:18.980 --> 00:29:19.599 It's never that. 00:29:20.419 --> 00:29:21.359 One more point, 00:29:21.480 --> 00:29:22.940 if you could put it up. 00:29:24.159 --> 00:29:25.019 All attempts 00:29:25.019 --> 00:29:25.799 to reach God 00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:26.980 on my own terms 00:29:26.980 --> 00:29:28.440 and by my means 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:29.359 will fail. 00:29:31.799 --> 00:29:32.919 See, their terms 00:29:32.919 --> 00:29:34.059 in the story are, 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:34.799 we're not going to, 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:35.180 you know, 00:29:35.180 --> 00:29:36.740 if we scatter 00:29:36.740 --> 00:29:37.600 and disperse, 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:38.660 we're going to become weak. 00:29:39.019 --> 00:29:39.960 We're afraid of that. 00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:41.100 We don't really trust 00:29:41.100 --> 00:29:41.960 that God really wants 00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:42.400 to bless us. 00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:43.120 I don't know what it is, 00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:44.220 but we just don't trust it. 00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:44.920 So we're going to make 00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:45.480 a fortress. 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:46.660 We're going to try 00:29:46.660 --> 00:29:47.620 to scale heaven. 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:48.320 We're going to bring 00:29:48.320 --> 00:29:48.940 heaven down 00:29:48.940 --> 00:29:49.820 and us to heaven 00:29:49.820 --> 00:29:50.720 and heaven to us. 00:29:51.060 --> 00:29:52.100 We'll have heaven on earth. 00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:53.480 We'll be behind our fortress. 00:29:53.600 --> 00:29:54.580 We'll all be together 00:29:54.580 --> 00:29:55.840 and we're going to bless 00:29:55.840 --> 00:29:57.080 ourselves in our own terms. 00:29:57.440 --> 00:29:58.240 We're not going to listen 00:29:58.240 --> 00:29:59.100 to what God says. 00:29:59.180 --> 00:30:00.259 We want to improve 00:30:00.259 --> 00:30:01.340 upon what God says. 00:30:01.400 --> 00:30:02.220 We want to add to it. 00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:03.460 We want to subtract to it. 00:30:03.460 --> 00:30:04.860 We want to do our things 00:30:04.860 --> 00:30:05.660 in our ways 00:30:05.660 --> 00:30:06.740 with our conditions. 00:30:07.299 --> 00:30:08.340 And the Bible is saying 00:30:08.340 --> 00:30:10.440 it will always fail. 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:13.200 It will always fail. 00:30:17.299 --> 00:30:19.039 Some of you might remember, 00:30:19.160 --> 00:30:20.299 I've shared with you before 00:30:20.299 --> 00:30:23.240 that when I became a Christian, 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:24.880 I was in grade 12. 00:30:25.779 --> 00:30:28.480 And over the next six or seven years, 00:30:28.579 --> 00:30:29.539 I had quite a few 00:30:29.539 --> 00:30:31.299 very major crises of faith 00:30:31.299 --> 00:30:32.240 where I almost left 00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:33.079 the Christian faith. 00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:35.279 And, you know, 00:30:35.299 --> 00:30:37.299 I had a very secular education. 00:30:38.019 --> 00:30:39.619 I went to the public school system, 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:40.440 went to university 00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:41.940 where I majored in sociology 00:30:41.940 --> 00:30:43.359 with a minor in philosophy, 00:30:43.539 --> 00:30:45.240 did graduate work in sociology, 00:30:46.099 --> 00:30:47.839 then went to a very, very, very 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:49.759 liberal secular school 00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:50.759 to study theology 00:30:50.759 --> 00:30:52.480 and to study counseling. 00:30:53.379 --> 00:30:54.500 I've never had, 00:30:54.579 --> 00:30:55.559 for any of my training, 00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:57.339 a professor who was 00:30:57.339 --> 00:30:58.659 an evangelical Christian, 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:00.419 a Bible-believing Christian, 00:31:00.420 --> 00:31:02.120 never had one the entire time. 00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:03.700 And there were lots 00:31:03.700 --> 00:31:04.740 and lots of moments 00:31:04.740 --> 00:31:05.980 and times and seasons 00:31:05.980 --> 00:31:06.740 in my life 00:31:06.740 --> 00:31:08.480 where I almost threw 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:09.080 in the towel 00:31:09.080 --> 00:31:10.860 with everything. 00:31:12.019 --> 00:31:13.539 But one of the things, 00:31:13.620 --> 00:31:14.720 in a very odd way, 00:31:14.820 --> 00:31:15.380 one of the things 00:31:15.380 --> 00:31:16.539 which really helped me 00:31:16.539 --> 00:31:18.240 was something I read, 00:31:19.019 --> 00:31:19.380 I don't know, 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:20.300 I think I was in university 00:31:20.300 --> 00:31:20.920 when I read it, 00:31:20.980 --> 00:31:21.320 and it was, 00:31:21.660 --> 00:31:23.380 I read several books 00:31:23.380 --> 00:31:24.440 by Dostoevsky, 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:26.340 a 19th century Russian writer. 00:31:26.339 --> 00:31:28.019 And one of the things 00:31:28.019 --> 00:31:29.099 which he said, 00:31:29.679 --> 00:31:31.079 I think it's in the, 00:31:31.319 --> 00:31:32.000 I can't remember the, 00:31:32.439 --> 00:31:33.419 I think it's in the devils, 00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:34.299 but I can't remember now 00:31:34.299 --> 00:31:35.599 which one of the novels it was. 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:36.639 He said, 00:31:37.439 --> 00:31:38.099 no, I think it's in 00:31:38.099 --> 00:31:39.240 the Brothers Karamazov. 00:31:39.819 --> 00:31:41.000 If God is dead, 00:31:41.500 --> 00:31:42.759 all things are permissible. 00:31:44.539 --> 00:31:46.119 If God is dead, 00:31:46.899 --> 00:31:48.279 all things are permissible. 00:31:49.139 --> 00:31:51.059 The struggle that I always had 00:31:51.059 --> 00:31:52.019 in my Christian, 00:31:52.299 --> 00:31:53.659 when I was trying to figure out 00:31:53.659 --> 00:31:54.339 whether I was going to leave 00:31:54.339 --> 00:31:55.119 the Christian faith 00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:55.879 or stay a Christian, 00:31:55.980 --> 00:31:57.019 my problem was never 00:31:57.019 --> 00:31:57.799 that I was going to become 00:31:57.799 --> 00:31:58.859 a Hindu or a Buddhist 00:31:58.859 --> 00:32:00.859 or a Jewish or a Muslim, 00:32:01.819 --> 00:32:02.220 because I, 00:32:02.539 --> 00:32:02.919 fundamentally, 00:32:03.079 --> 00:32:04.419 I had no interest in religion. 00:32:06.779 --> 00:32:07.539 For me, 00:32:07.659 --> 00:32:08.799 the great danger 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:11.299 was always atheism and nihilism. 00:32:11.459 --> 00:32:12.139 That's just me. 00:32:12.980 --> 00:32:14.159 People have different things 00:32:14.159 --> 00:32:15.059 which are their tensions. 00:32:16.399 --> 00:32:18.179 And I have always thought 00:32:18.179 --> 00:32:19.139 that that statement 00:32:19.139 --> 00:32:20.480 by Dostoevsky, 00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:21.439 that if God is dead, 00:32:21.500 --> 00:32:22.579 all things are permissible, 00:32:22.779 --> 00:32:24.139 is an unanswerable statement. 00:32:24.339 --> 00:32:27.339 I still think that. 00:32:28.359 --> 00:32:29.319 That if, in fact, 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:30.659 there is no God, 00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:34.359 there is no particular reason 00:32:34.359 --> 00:32:35.879 other than pragmatism 00:32:35.879 --> 00:32:37.319 for me not to do 00:32:37.319 --> 00:32:38.599 whatever I feel like doing, 00:32:39.059 --> 00:32:40.439 whatever I can get away with. 00:32:42.980 --> 00:32:44.220 That basically, 00:32:44.399 --> 00:32:45.980 the entire moral world 00:32:45.980 --> 00:32:47.199 is grounded 00:32:47.199 --> 00:32:48.439 in the reality 00:32:48.439 --> 00:32:50.639 and existence of God. 00:32:51.620 --> 00:32:52.300 It actually, 00:32:53.040 --> 00:32:53.840 thinking of things 00:32:53.840 --> 00:32:54.759 in stark terms, 00:32:54.860 --> 00:32:55.560 helped me to understand 00:32:55.560 --> 00:32:56.259 the cost 00:32:56.259 --> 00:32:57.060 and ultimately, 00:32:57.180 --> 00:32:57.480 actually, 00:32:57.560 --> 00:32:57.900 ultimately, 00:32:58.040 --> 00:32:58.800 the naivety 00:32:58.800 --> 00:33:01.200 and the foolishness 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:02.100 of many of the things 00:33:02.100 --> 00:33:02.840 which were criticized 00:33:02.840 --> 00:33:03.700 in Christianity. 00:33:03.700 --> 00:33:04.780 It ended up helping me 00:33:04.780 --> 00:33:05.660 to see the wisdom 00:33:05.660 --> 00:33:06.180 and the beauty 00:33:06.180 --> 00:33:06.940 of the gospel 00:33:06.940 --> 00:33:08.160 and the Bible. 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:11.700 And in this simple story here, 00:33:13.080 --> 00:33:14.680 a similar statement 00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:16.320 to Dostoevsky 00:33:16.320 --> 00:33:18.180 is actually part 00:33:18.180 --> 00:33:19.759 of how God responds 00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:21.440 to what they're doing. 00:33:22.300 --> 00:33:22.580 It's, 00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:24.060 look at verse 6. 00:33:25.360 --> 00:33:25.860 Actually, 00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:26.820 so we'll verse 5 again. 00:33:26.819 --> 00:33:27.879 And the Lord came down 00:33:27.879 --> 00:33:28.879 to see the city 00:33:28.879 --> 00:33:30.000 and the tower 00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:30.720 which the children 00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:31.559 of man had built. 00:33:32.259 --> 00:33:33.079 And verse 6, 00:33:33.399 --> 00:33:34.279 And the Lord said, 00:33:34.399 --> 00:33:35.000 Behold, 00:33:35.740 --> 00:33:37.659 they are one people 00:33:37.659 --> 00:33:39.200 and they have all 00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:40.159 one language 00:33:40.159 --> 00:33:42.039 and this is only 00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:42.700 the beginning 00:33:42.700 --> 00:33:44.000 of what they will do 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:45.259 and nothing 00:33:45.259 --> 00:33:46.240 that they propose 00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:46.819 to do 00:33:46.819 --> 00:33:48.220 will now be impossible 00:33:48.220 --> 00:33:49.139 for them. 00:33:50.359 --> 00:33:51.879 And I have to confess 00:33:51.879 --> 00:33:53.819 that for many years 00:33:53.819 --> 00:33:55.879 I was puzzled 00:33:55.879 --> 00:33:56.419 by this 00:33:56.419 --> 00:33:57.220 because I thought 00:33:57.220 --> 00:33:57.919 it was telling me 00:33:57.919 --> 00:33:58.779 that somehow or another 00:33:58.779 --> 00:33:59.519 they were going 00:33:59.519 --> 00:34:00.220 to reach heaven 00:34:00.220 --> 00:34:01.399 and they could do 00:34:01.399 --> 00:34:02.339 anything they wanted. 00:34:02.500 --> 00:34:03.599 But God isn't talking 00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:04.079 about that. 00:34:04.200 --> 00:34:04.359 I mean, 00:34:04.899 --> 00:34:05.720 the text actually, 00:34:05.919 --> 00:34:06.179 when I've, 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:07.439 as I read the text 00:34:07.439 --> 00:34:08.279 far more carefully 00:34:08.279 --> 00:34:09.420 and I saw the irony 00:34:09.420 --> 00:34:11.420 that here they think 00:34:11.420 --> 00:34:11.900 they're making 00:34:11.900 --> 00:34:12.960 this huge edifice 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:13.960 and they're making 00:34:13.960 --> 00:34:14.819 this heaven on earth 00:34:14.819 --> 00:34:15.400 and they're reaching 00:34:15.400 --> 00:34:16.219 and scaling heaven 00:34:16.219 --> 00:34:17.159 and God is sort of 00:34:17.159 --> 00:34:18.719 saying there's something 00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:20.239 so teensy-weensy 00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:21.599 and far away from me 00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:22.980 and completely 00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:24.599 and utterly down there 00:34:24.599 --> 00:34:25.360 that I have to come 00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:26.179 down to see it 00:34:26.179 --> 00:34:27.760 that what he's talking 00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:29.659 about isn't that 00:34:29.659 --> 00:34:30.800 they actually reach 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:31.139 heaven 00:34:31.139 --> 00:34:33.440 but they believe 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:34.340 they've reached heaven. 00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:38.099 They believe 00:34:38.099 --> 00:34:38.740 they've reached 00:34:38.740 --> 00:34:40.159 their heaven on earth 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:42.400 and are one 00:34:42.400 --> 00:34:43.199 with the gods 00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:45.260 and with their one 00:34:45.260 --> 00:34:45.800 language 00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:47.059 and this one belief 00:34:47.059 --> 00:34:50.019 nothing that comes 00:34:50.019 --> 00:34:51.039 into their hearts 00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:51.940 that are in rebellion 00:34:51.940 --> 00:34:52.820 against God 00:34:52.820 --> 00:34:53.619 will be seen 00:34:53.619 --> 00:34:54.559 as impossible 00:34:54.559 --> 00:34:55.260 or wrong. 00:34:56.380 --> 00:34:57.500 It's describing 00:34:57.500 --> 00:34:58.440 Nazi Germany. 00:34:59.380 --> 00:35:00.519 It is describing 00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:01.780 the Soviet Union 00:35:01.780 --> 00:35:02.559 under Stalin. 00:35:03.420 --> 00:35:04.700 It is describing 00:35:04.700 --> 00:35:05.780 Cambodia 00:35:05.780 --> 00:35:07.380 under the Khmer Rouge. 00:35:08.420 --> 00:35:09.880 It is describing 00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:11.039 North Korea 00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:12.840 and it is 00:35:12.840 --> 00:35:13.679 potentially 00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:14.440 increasingly 00:35:14.440 --> 00:35:15.200 describing 00:35:15.200 --> 00:35:16.519 our own country 00:35:16.519 --> 00:35:19.159 as our own country 00:35:19.159 --> 00:35:20.019 increasingly 00:35:20.019 --> 00:35:21.320 comes to the awareness 00:35:21.320 --> 00:35:22.539 that there is no God 00:35:22.539 --> 00:35:23.559 and they can do 00:35:23.559 --> 00:35:24.639 whatever they want. 00:35:29.179 --> 00:35:30.280 And when people 00:35:30.280 --> 00:35:30.940 believe 00:35:30.940 --> 00:35:32.519 there is no God 00:35:32.519 --> 00:35:34.559 that they're bringing 00:35:34.559 --> 00:35:35.599 heaven to earth 00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:37.139 that they can do 00:35:37.139 --> 00:35:37.940 whatever they want 00:35:37.940 --> 00:35:39.079 to bring heaven to earth 00:35:39.079 --> 00:35:40.059 and earth to heaven 00:35:40.059 --> 00:35:43.179 ordinary people die. 00:35:43.179 --> 00:35:48.759 ordinary people die 00:35:48.759 --> 00:35:50.259 first individually 00:35:50.259 --> 00:35:52.460 then by the truck load 00:35:52.460 --> 00:35:54.500 then by the train load 00:35:54.500 --> 00:35:56.980 then by the killing fields load 00:35:56.980 --> 00:35:59.859 with the help of bureaucrats 00:35:59.859 --> 00:36:02.639 with the help of technology 00:36:02.639 --> 00:36:06.659 nothing will be impossible to them. 00:36:06.659 --> 00:36:09.159 no 00:36:09.159 --> 00:36:11.079 basic 00:36:11.079 --> 00:36:11.960 decent 00:36:11.960 --> 00:36:13.199 moral 00:36:13.199 --> 00:36:14.099 virtue 00:36:14.099 --> 00:36:16.019 will say to them 00:36:16.019 --> 00:36:17.819 that is a step 00:36:17.819 --> 00:36:18.440 too far. 00:36:21.079 --> 00:36:22.039 When I said 00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:22.719 that verse 4 00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:23.480 could be the motto 00:36:23.480 --> 00:36:24.719 of virtually every nation 00:36:24.719 --> 00:36:25.379 verse 6 00:36:25.379 --> 00:36:26.619 can also increasingly 00:36:26.619 --> 00:36:27.239 be the motto 00:36:27.239 --> 00:36:27.899 for Canada 00:36:27.899 --> 00:36:30.379 and has been the motto 00:36:30.379 --> 00:36:31.379 for many nations 00:36:31.379 --> 00:36:32.199 throughout history. 00:36:32.199 --> 00:36:35.899 So how is God 00:36:35.899 --> 00:36:36.359 going to deal 00:36:36.359 --> 00:36:37.179 with all of this? 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:38.980 How is he going 00:36:38.980 --> 00:36:39.519 to deal with this? 00:36:39.579 --> 00:36:40.279 What will he do? 00:36:41.139 --> 00:36:42.879 Look at verses 7 to 9. 00:36:43.779 --> 00:36:45.159 Come let us go down 00:36:45.159 --> 00:36:46.460 and there confuse 00:36:46.460 --> 00:36:47.339 their language 00:36:47.339 --> 00:36:48.719 so that they may not 00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:49.480 understand 00:36:49.480 --> 00:36:50.699 one another's speech. 00:36:51.519 --> 00:36:52.339 So the Lord 00:36:52.339 --> 00:36:53.199 dispersed them 00:36:53.199 --> 00:36:53.659 from there 00:36:53.659 --> 00:36:54.439 over the face 00:36:54.439 --> 00:36:55.239 of all the earth 00:36:55.239 --> 00:36:56.539 and they left off 00:36:56.539 --> 00:36:57.460 building the city. 00:36:58.279 --> 00:36:59.179 Therefore its name 00:36:59.179 --> 00:36:59.779 was called 00:36:59.779 --> 00:37:00.559 Babel 00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:01.239 or Babel. 00:37:02.199 --> 00:37:02.839 Because 00:37:02.839 --> 00:37:04.379 Babel means confusion. 00:37:05.059 --> 00:37:05.539 Because there 00:37:05.539 --> 00:37:05.980 the Lord 00:37:05.980 --> 00:37:07.099 confused the language 00:37:07.099 --> 00:37:07.879 of all the earth 00:37:07.879 --> 00:37:09.119 and from there 00:37:09.119 --> 00:37:09.579 the Lord 00:37:09.579 --> 00:37:10.539 dispersed them 00:37:10.539 --> 00:37:11.619 over the face 00:37:11.619 --> 00:37:12.899 of all the earth. 00:37:13.559 --> 00:37:14.079 If you could put up 00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:14.599 the point 00:37:14.599 --> 00:37:16.619 in his mercy 00:37:16.619 --> 00:37:17.500 and compassion 00:37:17.500 --> 00:37:19.399 he came down 00:37:19.399 --> 00:37:19.980 to judge 00:37:19.980 --> 00:37:20.539 and bless. 00:37:23.019 --> 00:37:24.039 That's what God 00:37:24.039 --> 00:37:25.179 does in this story. 00:37:25.359 --> 00:37:26.000 In his mercy 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:26.899 and compassion 00:37:26.899 --> 00:37:28.859 he came down 00:37:28.859 --> 00:37:29.960 to judge 00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:30.739 and to bless. 00:37:30.739 --> 00:37:32.299 he judges. 00:37:33.500 --> 00:37:34.539 He does not 00:37:34.539 --> 00:37:35.000 in his 00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:36.239 he blesses them. 00:37:36.359 --> 00:37:36.939 He does not 00:37:36.939 --> 00:37:37.879 want to see 00:37:37.879 --> 00:37:39.500 that anything 00:37:39.500 --> 00:37:40.059 will be 00:37:40.059 --> 00:37:41.059 nothing will be 00:37:41.059 --> 00:37:41.679 impossible 00:37:41.679 --> 00:37:42.319 to whatever 00:37:42.319 --> 00:37:43.279 the imaginations 00:37:43.279 --> 00:37:44.000 of their hearts 00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:44.479 desire 00:37:44.479 --> 00:37:45.119 that nothing 00:37:45.119 --> 00:37:45.939 will stop them 00:37:45.939 --> 00:37:46.419 from doing 00:37:46.419 --> 00:37:47.239 the imaginations 00:37:47.239 --> 00:37:48.119 of their hearts. 00:37:48.859 --> 00:37:49.859 It's a judgment 00:37:49.859 --> 00:37:51.959 but at the same time 00:37:51.959 --> 00:37:52.519 it's a blessing 00:37:52.519 --> 00:37:53.459 because he does not 00:37:53.459 --> 00:37:54.219 want to see that 00:37:54.219 --> 00:37:55.099 because he loves 00:37:55.099 --> 00:37:56.019 all of the nations 00:37:56.019 --> 00:37:56.539 of the earth 00:37:56.539 --> 00:37:57.519 and all of the people 00:37:57.519 --> 00:37:57.880 group 00:37:57.880 --> 00:37:59.300 and his desire 00:37:59.300 --> 00:38:00.000 is that God 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:00.780 takes no delight 00:38:00.780 --> 00:38:01.259 in the death 00:38:01.259 --> 00:38:01.679 of a sinner 00:38:01.679 --> 00:38:02.360 but rather that 00:38:02.360 --> 00:38:03.039 they will turn 00:38:03.039 --> 00:38:03.860 from their wickedness 00:38:03.860 --> 00:38:04.360 and live 00:38:04.360 --> 00:38:05.739 said many many times 00:38:05.739 --> 00:38:06.179 in the book 00:38:06.179 --> 00:38:06.900 of Ezekiel 00:38:06.900 --> 00:38:08.960 and reminded of us 00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:09.860 when we read 00:38:09.860 --> 00:38:10.500 and do morning 00:38:10.500 --> 00:38:11.340 and evening prayer 00:38:11.340 --> 00:38:13.559 and so God 00:38:13.559 --> 00:38:15.239 does an act 00:38:15.239 --> 00:38:15.880 of judgment 00:38:15.880 --> 00:38:16.900 by giving them 00:38:16.900 --> 00:38:17.860 many different 00:38:17.860 --> 00:38:18.360 languages 00:38:18.360 --> 00:38:20.059 and their own 00:38:20.059 --> 00:38:21.679 sinful desires 00:38:21.679 --> 00:38:22.679 to have their own 00:38:22.679 --> 00:38:22.980 way 00:38:22.980 --> 00:38:23.440 and to have 00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:24.139 their rule 00:38:24.139 --> 00:38:24.579 work 00:38:24.579 --> 00:38:25.079 when they can 00:38:25.079 --> 00:38:25.519 no longer 00:38:25.519 --> 00:38:26.539 speak to each other 00:38:26.539 --> 00:38:27.400 means that they 00:38:27.400 --> 00:38:28.099 start to leave 00:38:28.099 --> 00:38:28.559 each other 00:38:28.559 --> 00:38:29.440 and breaks 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:30.359 the whole project 00:38:30.359 --> 00:38:30.980 it has it 00:38:30.980 --> 00:38:31.879 completely and utterly 00:38:31.879 --> 00:38:32.779 fall flat 00:38:32.779 --> 00:38:34.699 but at the same time 00:38:34.699 --> 00:38:35.199 it's an act 00:38:35.199 --> 00:38:35.960 of compassion 00:38:35.960 --> 00:38:36.839 why is it 00:38:36.839 --> 00:38:37.299 well not only 00:38:37.299 --> 00:38:38.239 that he spare them 00:38:38.239 --> 00:38:38.879 from a fate 00:38:38.879 --> 00:38:40.079 of a land 00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:40.879 where people 00:38:40.879 --> 00:38:41.239 will do 00:38:41.239 --> 00:38:42.179 whatever the evil 00:38:42.179 --> 00:38:42.500 is 00:38:42.500 --> 00:38:43.199 whatever comes 00:38:43.199 --> 00:38:44.019 into the inclination 00:38:44.019 --> 00:38:44.859 of their hearts 00:38:44.859 --> 00:38:46.119 but at the same time 00:38:46.119 --> 00:38:47.279 what was it 00:38:47.279 --> 00:38:47.739 that he said 00:38:47.739 --> 00:38:48.599 in chapter 9 00:38:48.599 --> 00:38:49.379 in chapter 9 00:38:49.379 --> 00:38:49.799 he says 00:38:49.799 --> 00:38:50.879 I want to bless you 00:38:50.879 --> 00:38:52.259 I want to make you fruitful 00:38:52.259 --> 00:38:53.879 I want to multiply you 00:38:53.880 --> 00:38:54.880 so go throughout 00:38:54.880 --> 00:38:55.260 the earth 00:38:55.260 --> 00:38:56.119 and fill the earth 00:38:56.119 --> 00:38:57.019 and what happens 00:38:57.019 --> 00:38:57.880 at the end of the story 00:38:57.880 --> 00:39:00.360 God sends them 00:39:00.360 --> 00:39:01.099 throughout the earth 00:39:01.099 --> 00:39:04.140 in other words 00:39:04.140 --> 00:39:04.920 he's saying to them 00:39:04.920 --> 00:39:06.559 my fundamental desire 00:39:06.559 --> 00:39:07.200 to you 00:39:07.200 --> 00:39:09.200 to bless you 00:39:09.200 --> 00:39:10.740 to make you fruitful 00:39:10.740 --> 00:39:12.840 to have you multiply 00:39:12.840 --> 00:39:13.860 as you fill the earth 00:39:13.860 --> 00:39:16.220 that's still my heart 00:39:16.220 --> 00:39:16.660 for you 00:39:16.660 --> 00:39:18.500 that is still 00:39:18.500 --> 00:39:19.059 my heart 00:39:19.059 --> 00:39:19.480 for you 00:39:19.480 --> 00:39:21.980 that is still 00:39:21.980 --> 00:39:22.480 my heart 00:39:22.480 --> 00:39:22.880 for you 00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:26.099 let's just wrap it up 00:39:26.099 --> 00:39:26.619 if you could put up 00:39:26.619 --> 00:39:27.360 the final point 00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:29.700 obviously 00:39:29.700 --> 00:39:30.579 for those of us 00:39:30.579 --> 00:39:31.720 who know the Bible 00:39:31.720 --> 00:39:32.180 a little bit 00:39:32.180 --> 00:39:32.900 there's obvious 00:39:32.900 --> 00:39:33.579 resonances 00:39:33.579 --> 00:39:34.460 in this story 00:39:34.460 --> 00:39:35.539 with what goes on 00:39:35.539 --> 00:39:36.440 in the rest of the Bible 00:39:36.440 --> 00:39:41.260 Jesus invaded 00:39:41.260 --> 00:39:41.900 to die 00:39:41.900 --> 00:39:43.460 he died 00:39:43.460 --> 00:39:44.180 to save 00:39:44.180 --> 00:39:45.539 he saved 00:39:45.539 --> 00:39:46.140 to give 00:39:46.140 --> 00:39:47.220 he gives 00:39:47.220 --> 00:39:48.099 till he returns 00:39:48.099 --> 00:39:48.860 you know 00:39:48.860 --> 00:39:49.559 it's really interesting 00:39:49.559 --> 00:39:50.400 you look over this 00:39:50.400 --> 00:39:54.039 that for Christians 00:39:54.039 --> 00:39:54.940 this is pointing 00:39:54.940 --> 00:39:55.800 this story of Babel 00:39:55.800 --> 00:39:56.340 is pointing 00:39:56.340 --> 00:39:57.019 to when 00:39:57.019 --> 00:39:58.680 God will come down 00:39:58.680 --> 00:39:59.320 and in a sense 00:39:59.320 --> 00:39:59.880 invade 00:39:59.880 --> 00:40:01.519 in a very 00:40:01.519 --> 00:40:02.500 very final 00:40:02.500 --> 00:40:03.220 and divine 00:40:03.220 --> 00:40:03.760 and 00:40:03.760 --> 00:40:06.099 a very 00:40:06.099 --> 00:40:07.019 very final 00:40:07.019 --> 00:40:08.139 way 00:40:08.139 --> 00:40:08.880 that starts 00:40:08.880 --> 00:40:09.440 to bring about 00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:10.420 the end of history 00:40:10.420 --> 00:40:11.940 and if you think about it 00:40:11.940 --> 00:40:12.800 it's just so funny 00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:14.519 that here we have 00:40:14.519 --> 00:40:16.320 the mighty Roman Empire 00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:17.500 the greatest empire 00:40:17.500 --> 00:40:18.820 on the face of the planet, 00:40:18.980 --> 00:40:20.699 the greatest empire the world had seen 00:40:20.699 --> 00:40:21.760 at that point in time, 00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:25.119 so important for law, for art, for culture, 00:40:25.219 --> 00:40:26.380 for a whole pile of things, 00:40:26.599 --> 00:40:27.900 for its military might. 00:40:28.219 --> 00:40:29.360 And how does God invade? 00:40:31.860 --> 00:40:32.739 As a baby. 00:40:35.800 --> 00:40:36.980 But it's an invasion. 00:40:38.239 --> 00:40:39.920 He invades, we would want to invade 00:40:39.920 --> 00:40:42.719 with dragons, monsters, drones, 00:40:42.719 --> 00:40:47.239 X-Men or Avengers, 00:40:47.539 --> 00:40:49.019 huge flying fortresses. 00:40:49.059 --> 00:40:49.839 That's what we want to do. 00:40:49.879 --> 00:40:51.219 But God invades as a baby. 00:40:52.619 --> 00:40:55.059 And he invaded to die. 00:40:56.199 --> 00:40:58.699 The entire, we, when we think of invasion, 00:40:58.939 --> 00:41:00.879 and even when we're thinking of our fortresses, 00:41:00.919 --> 00:41:02.139 when we're thinking of our cities, 00:41:02.699 --> 00:41:05.279 when we're thinking of our proud dreams, 00:41:05.399 --> 00:41:07.019 how we can have these cutting comments, 00:41:07.259 --> 00:41:09.000 how we can be looked up to, 00:41:09.139 --> 00:41:10.639 how we can be seen to be great, 00:41:10.639 --> 00:41:12.699 and we can be putting people down, 00:41:12.719 --> 00:41:15.079 and that's sort of part of the desire 00:41:15.079 --> 00:41:16.379 and the cry of our heart, 00:41:16.519 --> 00:41:18.439 but God invades to die. 00:41:21.779 --> 00:41:23.279 We want to diminish others. 00:41:24.399 --> 00:41:25.839 God came and diminished himself. 00:41:27.279 --> 00:41:28.679 He invaded to die, 00:41:29.439 --> 00:41:31.559 and we understand that his death upon the cross, 00:41:31.659 --> 00:41:32.679 the invasion of God, 00:41:32.759 --> 00:41:34.319 the coming down of God, 00:41:34.639 --> 00:41:36.039 is a coming down to save. 00:41:36.139 --> 00:41:37.819 In fact, when it says in the creed 00:41:37.819 --> 00:41:39.959 that Jesus tastes all there is to taste of death, 00:41:39.959 --> 00:41:41.019 even to the point of hell, 00:41:41.380 --> 00:41:43.860 it's saying that the descent of God, 00:41:43.960 --> 00:41:44.759 the Son of God, 00:41:44.840 --> 00:41:45.759 to save human beings 00:41:45.759 --> 00:41:48.619 goes down and down and down and down and down. 00:41:48.780 --> 00:41:51.079 And there is no human being on the face of the planet. 00:41:51.199 --> 00:41:52.739 There is no human being here today. 00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:54.659 No matter how deep your despair, 00:41:54.800 --> 00:41:56.800 no matter how deep your shame, 00:41:57.119 --> 00:41:58.679 no matter how deep your sin, 00:41:58.759 --> 00:42:00.320 no matter how deep your brokenness, 00:42:00.539 --> 00:42:02.099 no matter how deep your addictions, 00:42:02.460 --> 00:42:04.019 no matter how deep your poverty, 00:42:04.400 --> 00:42:05.659 that God, the Son of God, 00:42:05.699 --> 00:42:07.360 has not gone deeper still 00:42:07.360 --> 00:42:10.380 so that he might take you in his arms and raise you up. 00:42:13.539 --> 00:42:15.079 He invaded to die. 00:42:15.720 --> 00:42:17.120 He died to save. 00:42:17.860 --> 00:42:19.360 He saved to give. 00:42:21.320 --> 00:42:24.980 In the cross, we see not only that Jesus takes upon himself 00:42:24.980 --> 00:42:27.579 that which keeps us far from God, 00:42:27.579 --> 00:42:30.320 we also get his perfect obedience and righteousness, 00:42:30.900 --> 00:42:34.519 but this also points to a second invasion 00:42:34.519 --> 00:42:38.940 that is a fruit of Jesus' death upon the cross, 00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:41.059 which is, of course, the story of Pentecost. 00:42:43.019 --> 00:42:47.019 In a sense, in a new age of the Holy Spirit, 00:42:47.139 --> 00:42:48.659 the invasion of the Holy Spirit, 00:42:49.519 --> 00:42:52.079 and as the Holy Spirit comes, 00:42:53.280 --> 00:42:56.340 the nations of the world are gathered in Jerusalem, 00:42:56.519 --> 00:42:57.940 and now the Holy Spirit comes, 00:42:58.079 --> 00:43:01.340 and the heart of it is that they hear in their own heart languages 00:43:01.340 --> 00:43:05.940 one message of God's mighty acts to save. 00:43:07.720 --> 00:43:09.240 He invaded to die. 00:43:09.780 --> 00:43:11.079 He died to save. 00:43:11.539 --> 00:43:15.800 He saved to give not only his own life but the Holy Spirit, 00:43:15.800 --> 00:43:18.579 and he continues to give this salvation 00:43:18.579 --> 00:43:21.400 and the gift of the Holy Spirit until he returns. 00:43:21.400 --> 00:43:25.880 We live in the already not yet. 00:43:26.340 --> 00:43:30.860 We live between the invasion where he comes down to save 00:43:30.860 --> 00:43:34.880 and the invasion whereby he will bring all things to their proper end 00:43:34.880 --> 00:43:36.780 and make the new heaven and the new earth. 00:43:38.200 --> 00:43:39.119 Please stand. 00:43:46.180 --> 00:43:47.579 Let's bow our heads in prayer. 00:43:47.579 --> 00:43:47.599 Let's bow our heads in prayer. 00:43:51.400 --> 00:43:57.099 Father, we confess before you that there are parts of your word 00:43:57.099 --> 00:44:01.440 that you have only written because you want to bless us, 00:44:01.900 --> 00:44:04.059 because you want us to be fruitful, 00:44:04.500 --> 00:44:06.079 because you want us to multiply, 00:44:06.280 --> 00:44:07.820 because you want us to be free, 00:44:08.360 --> 00:44:09.720 because you want us to be whole, 00:44:10.260 --> 00:44:11.980 and we confess to you, Father, 00:44:12.099 --> 00:44:13.980 that there are parts of your word 00:44:13.980 --> 00:44:15.000 that when we read them, 00:44:15.039 --> 00:44:17.059 it does not make us feel any of these things, 00:44:17.059 --> 00:44:18.059 but we feel threatened. 00:44:18.059 --> 00:44:21.559 And we confess before you, Father, 00:44:21.659 --> 00:44:24.259 that there are many ways that we can put on masks 00:44:24.259 --> 00:44:27.360 and appear to be far more righteous and holy and spiritual 00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:28.400 than we really are. 00:44:29.400 --> 00:44:31.400 And we confess this before you. 00:44:33.500 --> 00:44:35.659 And we confess before you, Father, 00:44:35.880 --> 00:44:39.880 that often when we speak to you, 00:44:40.380 --> 00:44:42.299 we want you to do things 00:44:42.299 --> 00:44:44.840 and make changes in our lives in our own terms, 00:44:44.840 --> 00:44:49.019 because we don't trust you. 00:44:50.120 --> 00:44:52.100 Father, we thank you so much 00:44:52.100 --> 00:44:56.539 that you do not wait for us to be perfect before you love us. 00:44:57.220 --> 00:45:00.920 But, Father, you know the permutations 00:45:00.920 --> 00:45:03.600 and the fears of our hearts, 00:45:03.700 --> 00:45:05.300 and yet you love us. 00:45:05.780 --> 00:45:07.200 And yet you died, 00:45:07.680 --> 00:45:09.840 you had your son die on the cross for us. 00:45:09.840 --> 00:45:10.960 We thank you, Father, 00:45:11.480 --> 00:45:14.519 that his sacrifice is perfect and complete, 00:45:14.640 --> 00:45:16.860 his obedience is perfect and complete, 00:45:17.019 --> 00:45:20.140 that we cannot add to it or subtract to it, 00:45:20.180 --> 00:45:22.720 and that when we put our faith and trust in Jesus, 00:45:23.539 --> 00:45:26.059 his perfect covering of our sin and shame 00:45:26.059 --> 00:45:28.780 and his perfect obedience becomes ours. 00:45:29.559 --> 00:45:31.260 Father, grip us with the gospel. 00:45:31.500 --> 00:45:32.960 Grip us with who Jesus is 00:45:32.960 --> 00:45:34.559 and what he did for us on the cross. 00:45:35.180 --> 00:45:36.380 Grip us with the gospel 00:45:36.380 --> 00:45:38.240 so that as we read your word, 00:45:38.720 --> 00:45:41.340 we're gripped by the gospel, 00:45:41.519 --> 00:45:43.980 we start to lose our fears of your word, 00:45:44.059 --> 00:45:46.500 that we have the courage and the freedom to follow 00:45:46.500 --> 00:45:47.760 and to trust 00:45:47.760 --> 00:45:50.400 that you who sent your son to die, 00:45:50.519 --> 00:45:53.200 whose righteousness is perfect and complete for us, 00:45:53.440 --> 00:45:55.860 is the same one who speaks through these words. 00:45:56.059 --> 00:45:58.039 Father, make us disciples of Jesus, 00:45:58.240 --> 00:45:59.360 gripped by the gospel, 00:46:00.039 --> 00:46:02.380 learning to live in freedom 00:46:03.300 --> 00:46:04.340 for your glory. 00:46:04.340 --> 00:46:06.400 And this we ask in Jesus' name. 00:46:06.720 --> 00:46:07.019 Amen.