WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:06.520 Let's pray. Father, thank you so much that you know our frailties, you know our strengths, 00:00:07.179 --> 00:00:13.320 you know our sin, you know the great virtues that can be accomplished in us, you know our 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:19.839 ugliness, you know our beauty. Thank you, Father, that you know us perfectly, completely, deeply, 00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:25.760 thoroughly from the moment of our conception to what is for us our future, which is our moment 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:30.480 of death. Father, we give you thanks and praise, you know the length and breadth and depth of our lives, 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:36.740 and still you love us, still you loved us, and sent your Son to die upon the cross for us. 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:43.859 Father, grant us a great confidence in your love for us, shown in Jesus in his death for us, 00:00:43.980 --> 00:00:48.780 so that as we hear your words of Scripture, rather than, Father, being off put by them, 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:55.460 it'll help us, Father, to see once again how wonderful and beautiful he is. And we ask this 00:00:55.460 --> 00:01:00.060 in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Saviour. Amen. Please be seated. 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:12.680 So, why is it so hard to change for the better? It doesn't seem to be very hard to change for the 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:19.640 worst. It seems very easy to no longer follow your diet, and I know partially that is because, 00:01:20.240 --> 00:01:25.379 frankly, chocolate and potato chips are very, very tasty, and sitting on a couch is always 00:01:25.379 --> 00:01:32.060 attractive compared to, let's say, going out for a run. But in all sorts of areas of our lives, 00:01:32.099 --> 00:01:38.699 why is it that we keep going back to things that are wrong and things that wreck our lives? 00:01:39.199 --> 00:01:43.959 Like, why is it that if we've been struggling with lack of forgiveness, and we think we've finally 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:49.899 gotten over it, and then we go back to a season of holding on to griefs and hurts, why is it that if 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:56.240 we finally start to try to get some control over our finances that we feel the need to binge and use 00:01:56.240 --> 00:02:02.680 our credit cards and go back into some type of financial distress? Like, why is it that we keep 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:10.439 going back and doing things that are wrong and things that hurt us and ruin us? The Bible text that 00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:16.939 Jono read, and he just read part of it, we're going to look at the bigger part of it, it's not the part 00:02:16.939 --> 00:02:23.520 that Jono read so much, but if you go on down and it talks about God's judgment and people being given 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:29.900 under the hands of their enemies and all of that, it's on one hand, for many people, if they were to 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:35.639 read all of Nehemiah 9, it would be exhibit A as to why Christianity is all screwed up and you 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:41.559 shouldn't have anything to do with it, but actually, if you persist and pay attention, it actually 00:02:41.559 --> 00:02:49.059 opens a window to understand why we keep going back to do the things that are wrong and ruin us, 00:02:49.439 --> 00:03:00.199 and also it points to hope, hope to change, to not always ruin yourself, ruin myself. So it'd be a great 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:07.599 help if you turn in your Bibles, and let's look at the text, it's Nehemiah chapter 9, and we've been 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:12.419 preaching through the book of Nehemiah, and that's, we've come to this part here, and just by the way, 00:03:12.500 --> 00:03:16.919 just so you know, one of the funny things, if you study commentary, you read commentaries like I do, 00:03:17.479 --> 00:03:22.139 I start to look at a passage and I think, oh, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, just a passage, 00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:27.859 and then I read a commentary and I discover there's pages devoted to something that looks innocuous, 00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:34.700 and this first verse is actually one of those verses that just looks innocuous, but actually 00:03:34.700 --> 00:03:40.940 causes lots of controversy amongst people, and here's what Nehemiah 9, 1 does, it says this, 00:03:41.440 --> 00:03:48.380 now on the 24th day of the month, the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth 00:03:48.380 --> 00:03:54.380 and with earth on their heads. Now, why on earth is that controversial? Well, the controversy comes 00:03:54.379 --> 00:03:59.400 if you look at the context, because Nehemiah is a book, and so it has a beginning, it has an end, and 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:05.680 stuff in between, and what's just happened before this is the people of Israel have gathered to hear 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:12.240 God's word, and as God's word was heard and explained to them, they started to realize that 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:18.339 they had done wrong, and they started to feel convicted and grieved the wrongdoing that they'd done, 00:04:18.339 --> 00:04:23.759 and we've all had that type of experience. We come to realize that maybe something we've done in the 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:27.739 past, or just last week or a week ago, that we didn't think was wrong, all of a sudden we realize 00:04:27.739 --> 00:04:33.120 how it's hurt us, how it was a bad thing, and it hurt people, and it hurt ourselves, and hurt God, 00:04:33.500 --> 00:04:40.719 and we feel bad about it, and so, but then they're encouraged to say, this is not a day of grieving, 00:04:40.939 --> 00:04:44.799 because you're coming into the presence of God, and the joy of the Lord is our strength, 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:50.900 and so they're led into rejoicing, they have a feast, they're to share their extras, 00:04:51.379 --> 00:04:55.780 sort of make sure everybody has like a feast with lots of fat and lots of wine, in other words, like 00:04:55.780 --> 00:05:01.800 lots of ice cream with whipped cream, and really juicy steaks, and lots of butter on the potatoes, 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:11.960 and lots of wine, and then they go into a period of seven days of feasting, as they remember God's act 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:20.560 to deliver them, and to provide for them, and that all happens, let's say that all ends on Saturday, 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:27.120 and now the next part of the chapter comes, and it's no longer Saturday, but now it's Monday, 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:34.399 and on Monday, they're all fasting. Well, I've shared that with a couple of people, and they all say, 00:05:34.479 --> 00:05:39.539 well, that's the wrong order. Ah, you see, there's the problem. People say it's the wrong order. 00:05:39.540 --> 00:05:46.200 Like, how can we explain this? How can we explain that the Bible has this wrong order? Like, the 00:05:46.200 --> 00:05:51.140 biblical order is you fast and repent of your sin, and then you celebrate and feast, and this has the 00:05:51.140 --> 00:05:56.140 completely wrong order. You're, you know, feasting and celebrating, and then you immediately go into, 00:05:56.200 --> 00:06:00.620 almost immediately go into a fast, and then, you know, scholars say, oh, you know, well, maybe chapter 00:06:00.620 --> 00:06:05.120 nine should have been over here, and this should have been over there, and they come up. Listen, 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:14.319 listen, that's life, isn't it? Like, how many of us have a great moment with God? Maybe we've had a 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:20.160 Sunday morning where you just really feel the Spirit and the presence of God, and you just really feel 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:26.300 God's close to you, and you just feel really excited, and you're just, you're almost like on a high, 00:06:26.300 --> 00:06:34.759 and you celebrate afterwards, and then the next day, you feel unbelievably crappy, or like the next day, 00:06:34.840 --> 00:06:42.319 you know, you snipe at your wife, you snipe at your boss, you share slander, you overspend on your 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:48.019 credit. Like, that's life. Life doesn't go in some type of, like, order like that. To my mind, it's like, 00:06:48.100 --> 00:06:52.740 just get over it. Like, that's life. It's one of the things that's so wonderful about the Bible is that 00:06:52.740 --> 00:06:57.680 the Bible describes real life. It's one of the things that constantly causes people problems. 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:05.240 When I was in Calgary, I got to spend some time with my, some of my grandsons, and they were, I 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:08.740 think, like, one of them's like seven and five, or something like that, and they were watching a 00:07:08.740 --> 00:07:14.040 cartoon, like, appropriate for a seven-year-old, I don't know, with monsters that wrestle, and one guy, 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:19.019 you know, anyway, it's so funny to watch it with them, because, you know, to me, it's just so predictable, 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:22.420 right? They're going to look, it looks like they're going to lose, and everything's going to go bad, 00:07:22.420 --> 00:07:26.300 and, of course, they're going to happy, they're going to have a happy ending, and all that, but they're 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:34.140 so into it. Like, one of my grandsons, he found it so tense, he had to leave the room. He hasn't figured 00:07:34.140 --> 00:07:39.900 out yet. It's all just very formulaic, but the problem is we want, we want the Bible to be like 00:07:39.900 --> 00:07:45.259 a cartoon and formulaic, but in fact, it just describes the real world. In the real world, you can have a time 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:49.040 that's really great with God, and you're feasting, and then before you know it, you need to repent. 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:55.900 It's just real life. Now, the next part also causes all sorts of controversy as well, believe it or not, 00:07:55.960 --> 00:08:00.920 but for a different reason. Look what happens next. It says this in verse 2, and the Israelites, 00:08:01.540 --> 00:08:08.400 the Jewish people, separated themselves from all foreigners, from all who are outside of the Jewish 00:08:08.400 --> 00:08:13.560 faith. They separate themselves. They're all, remember, they're all gathered. They're in fasting, 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:18.439 and they're in sackcloth, oops, and ashes. Sorry to those online in particular. I just, I shouldn't 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:24.899 have done that, but anyway. Sometimes I just forget the mics there, which is a good thing. Anyway, so 00:08:24.899 --> 00:08:30.500 they're separated, and they stood, and they confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers and 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:36.539 their mothers, their ancestors. Now, here's the problem with the text, is it gets people bent out of 00:08:36.539 --> 00:08:42.679 shape, is this idea of separation, that they're separating from the outsiders, but here's the thing to 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:51.199 understand. It's, we're not, we're not hearing it right. What they're about to do is have a time 00:08:51.199 --> 00:08:57.279 where they are reminded of the reality of the triune, well, they don't know it's the triune God, but we do, 00:08:57.739 --> 00:09:08.639 the reality of God, how great he is, and how needy and broken and constantly sinning they are. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:13.759 That's what they're going to gather to remember. They're going to spend their time focusing on the 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:19.399 greatness of God, and on, in a sense, their unworthiness, and God's great kindness to them. 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:27.340 Now, it's not like, and I'm not, I'm going to use, it's not like having a Republican or a Democratic 00:09:27.340 --> 00:09:33.840 Party convention where it's all raw, raw, raw, raw, we're the greatest, everybody else sucks, 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:40.519 and, and at the end of the day, you walk away pumped and filled with pride. This is the opposite 00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:47.180 of that. This is a time that ends up humbling you, and rather than making you look down your nose at 00:09:47.180 --> 00:09:51.980 other people, it makes you look at other people and notice the world in, in a way that's going to 00:09:51.980 --> 00:09:56.780 actually be filled with compassion. So, it's not a bad thing that they've separated, and on one level, 00:09:56.840 --> 00:09:59.759 they're just doing what we do on a Sunday morning, which we gather together, in a sense, 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:04.700 we've separated from the world, to come together to hear God, hear about God and his greatness and 00:10:04.700 --> 00:10:09.759 our, our, our great needs. So, it's not a bad thing. It's not a raw, raw, raw time, we're great, 00:10:09.860 --> 00:10:15.860 thumping our chest. No, no, it's a time of God is great, and we have a great need. You know, 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:22.840 when you're looking, you can't look up to God and look down your nose at people at the same time. 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:31.860 You can't look up to God and look down your nose at people at the same time. And so, the more we are 00:10:31.860 --> 00:10:38.280 trained to look up to God, it's not that people disappear, but that we won't look down our noses 00:10:38.280 --> 00:10:46.720 at them, because we're looking up to God. So, what are they doing? Well, verses three to five 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:51.960 describe sort of what they're going to do, and it, it goes like this. 00:10:55.700 --> 00:11:00.220 And they stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a 00:11:00.220 --> 00:11:05.860 quarter of the day, for three hours. For another quarter, another, for another three hours, they 00:11:05.860 --> 00:11:12.700 made confession and worshiped their God. And then it says, and I'm not going to try to reread the names 00:11:12.700 --> 00:11:16.759 that Jono did. I, I, they sounded great to me. I don't know whether you pronounce them correctly 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:23.820 or not. I, I was just talking to a Jewish woman, uh, the other day at the coffee shop, and I, I said, 00:11:23.920 --> 00:11:28.759 uh, I used the word Tanakh, and she said, no, no, no, no, that's not how you say it. I said, it's not? 00:11:28.860 --> 00:11:36.580 She said, no, Tanakh. She really emphasized the sound. So, I have no idea whether Jono pronounced the 00:11:36.580 --> 00:11:40.500 names correctly, but it sounded good to me. But there's a whole list of names, and then if you 00:11:40.500 --> 00:11:47.940 jump down to, um, to verse five, uh, we come to the prayer. Remember I said how they're gathering to 00:11:47.940 --> 00:11:54.460 look up to God, uh, and here we see the summary of all their worship. Stand up and bless the Lord 00:11:54.460 --> 00:12:02.379 your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all 00:12:02.379 --> 00:12:08.620 blessing and praise. And that sort of summarizes all of their worship, looking up to God who's high 00:12:08.620 --> 00:12:13.799 and mighty and transcendent. But now what follows, and I'm not going to read the whole thing because 00:12:13.799 --> 00:12:22.460 it's, it's very long, uh, but what follows now is 31 verses of, in the proper Christian sense of the 00:12:22.460 --> 00:12:30.039 word, confession. We, uh, they confess the greatness of God, and they confess their sin and their need. 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:36.039 And we're going to, it's a 31 verse prayer. And, uh, I'm just going to read the first part of it, 00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:43.519 and then we're going to come to this very tragic and thought-provoking but. So, here's what they do. 00:12:44.699 --> 00:12:51.120 They begin by saying, you are the Lord, verse six, you are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:58.759 the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and all that is on it, the sea and all that is 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:07.379 in them. And you preserve all of them, and the host of heaven worships you. Now, just pause for a second 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:14.759 here. This little bit that doesn't seem like it's very important, affirming how God has created and 00:13:14.759 --> 00:13:21.779 preserves all things, is actually very, very, very important to understanding the prayer. And part of 00:13:21.779 --> 00:13:26.679 the reason we sometimes don't understand the Bible right is we forget the way it's ordered. By the time 00:13:26.679 --> 00:13:32.579 we get to the end, we forget, in a sense, the basis on which it's standing to help to understand. So, 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:35.819 we're going to, I'm going to hopefully return to it, but it's actually really important. 00:13:38.579 --> 00:13:46.019 The reason it's important is that one of the things that people fear about God, the true God, 00:13:46.959 --> 00:13:51.679 the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, three persons, one God forever and ever. 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:58.839 One of the worries that we have is that God, in a sense, is like a totalitarian God 00:13:58.839 --> 00:14:06.500 who obliterates everything and only wants us to worship him, and that he'll get in the way of 00:14:06.500 --> 00:14:14.620 us having relationships or making money or getting promotions. And we worry that God will be all-consuming. 00:14:14.620 --> 00:14:22.139 And ironically, when we think that about God, what we're really worrying about are idols and demons. 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:30.899 That's actually what we're worried about. We've misunderstood that the triune God is the 00:14:30.899 --> 00:14:39.000 complete opposite of an idol and the complete opposite of a demon. And that's why this text is 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:47.820 really important to show that God isn't going to annihilate normal human interests, but instead is 00:14:47.820 --> 00:14:54.059 going to help us to know how to fulfill them wisely. Anyway, what continues? So then he moves. He goes 00:14:54.059 --> 00:14:59.279 from creation to verse 7. There's a big jump in period. They remember now. And by the way, one of the 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:07.240 things which is so powerful, if I was to show you, I started to notice something when I was reading it. 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:14.560 And you probably can't see it, but if you see all the pink there at all, vaguely, that's every time 00:15:14.560 --> 00:15:21.960 the word you or your is used in the text. This is a text directed directly to God. You, you, you. And he 00:15:21.960 --> 00:15:30.340 is the one who's doing and accomplishing things. So verse 7, you are the Lord, the God who chose Abram 00:15:30.340 --> 00:15:37.280 and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. You found his heart 00:15:37.280 --> 00:15:44.160 faithful before you and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, 00:15:44.280 --> 00:15:50.160 the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Gergesite. And you have kept your promise 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:57.279 for you are righteous. So they're remembering their, their, their ancient, in a sense, ancestor 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:03.559 Abraham and the promises that God made to him and God kept them. And now they jump a big period of 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:09.879 time and they remember when they were in slavery. Verse 9, and you saw the affliction of our fathers 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:16.959 and mothers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea. God has done a series of miracles to break 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:22.480 them, bring them out of slavery and bring them to the edge of the Red Sea. And you performed signs 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:27.620 and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land. For you knew that 00:16:27.620 --> 00:16:34.100 they acted arrogantly against our fathers and mothers. And you made a name for yourself as it is 00:16:34.100 --> 00:16:39.720 to this day. And you divided the sea before them so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:45.980 land. And you cast their pursuers into the depths as a stone into mighty waters. 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:52.279 By a pillar of cloud, you led them in the day and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:58.639 the way in which they should go. So it's describing how they, he, God first does these mighty miracles 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:07.099 so that Pharaoh, you know, I've just been reading Exodus in my devotions and, and, and Moses keeps 00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:13.700 coming to Pharaoh because the Jewish people are enslaved in Egypt. And Moses keeps saying to Pharaoh, 00:17:13.700 --> 00:17:19.759 God says to you, let my people go. And Pharaoh keeps saying no. And finally, there's so many 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:25.680 miracles that Pharaoh let says, get out of here. And then he pursues them. And, but God gets them 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:30.340 across the Red Sea as if on dry land. And then on the other side of it, he, he leads the way with a 00:17:30.340 --> 00:17:37.019 pillar of fire at night and a cloud during the day. And then it jumps ahead to verse 13. You came down on 00:17:37.019 --> 00:17:44.220 Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes 00:17:44.220 --> 00:17:50.859 and commandments. And you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and 00:17:50.859 --> 00:17:57.480 statutes and the law by Moses, your servant. And you gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, 00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:03.700 that's the manna, and brought water for them out of the rock of their, for their thirst. And you told 00:18:03.700 --> 00:18:09.460 them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them. Some of you who know the Bible very 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:14.460 well know that Jesus and John's gospel refers to the man is bread from heaven. And that's the Old 00:18:14.460 --> 00:18:21.860 Testament text that he's referring to. Now, what, this is all just about God's great kindness. He's, 00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:28.639 his kindness in creation, his kindness in calling Abraham to be in a covenant with him, a relationship 00:18:28.639 --> 00:18:35.240 with him, the, his kindness to the people of Israel when they were in slavery, his kindness in speaking 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:42.459 to them. And it all reflects his kindness. And in fact, in many ways, if you think about it, many people, 00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:46.339 I've met many people over the years who said, if God really wanted me to believe in him, why wouldn't 00:18:46.339 --> 00:18:51.799 he do something dramatic? And, you know, they might even say, listen, if, if I came to the edge 00:18:51.799 --> 00:18:56.779 of the Ottawa River and God parted the Ottawa River so I could walk across the Ottawa River 00:18:56.779 --> 00:19:01.779 on dry land, I would believe in him. In fact, I, I, it would change my life. I would believe in him 00:19:01.779 --> 00:19:07.059 for the rest of my life. If God could just speak to me in a way that was very obvious that it's just, 00:19:07.139 --> 00:19:12.099 it's God speaking. If, you know, there was, there was thunder and lightning and clouds in the midst of 00:19:12.099 --> 00:19:18.000 all that, this huge display of awesomeness at the same time I heard God actually speak. Well, if he did 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:23.180 that, I would believe in him and it would change my life. And I, I would live for him forever. Like, 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:27.599 I would understand that. It would completely and utterly convict me. If, if God were to do these 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:32.240 miracles, then I, I would believe in him. I would understand him. And that's what many of us say. 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:34.740 But look at what happens in verse 16. 00:19:34.740 --> 00:20:04.720 Verse 16. 00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:20.880 I mean, one of the things I guess we could say to people is if God really wanted me to believe him, 00:20:20.940 --> 00:20:25.200 why wouldn't he do something like that? And, and we couldn't say, well, actually God did a bit of an 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:31.539 experiment for all human beings to let you know that that doesn't work. Like he's done that already. 00:20:31.539 --> 00:20:36.920 It doesn't, it doesn't work with people. They can see these remarkable miracles. And then even after 00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:41.099 they've received the remarkable miracles, they, they still, they turn their back on God. They make 00:20:41.099 --> 00:20:44.819 their hearts hard to him. They, they want to do their own way. In fact, they actually even want to go 00:20:44.819 --> 00:20:53.099 back to slavery in Egypt. Like how is that actually sort of, you know, working? It, it, it doesn't work. 00:20:53.099 --> 00:21:02.539 They had what God wanted. Now you might've been able to see that. You can see what happens next. But, 00:21:02.619 --> 00:21:08.839 you know, the question would be, how does God react to them? He's done all of these things. He's spoken 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:14.919 to them. He's done miracles for them. He's delivered them. They've just finished a celebration that the 00:21:14.919 --> 00:21:18.500 people who are, maybe this is what, one of the things that's led them to actually want to, 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:24.480 to have this time of fasting and repentance where, where they've remembered God's deliverance 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:29.000 and his provision for them. And then they feel this need to repent. 00:21:31.500 --> 00:21:39.880 And, sorry, it's a bit, a bit distracting. I don't know what it is. Anyway. 00:21:39.880 --> 00:21:49.820 Sorry, lost my place there for a second. How does God react to them? Does he blast them? 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:54.300 Does he say, listen, you guys, like, you know, here it is. I've done all of these things for you. 00:21:54.340 --> 00:21:58.000 You've completely and utterly turned your back on me now. I'm just going to blast you. I'm just going 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:01.940 to send lightning down from heaven to obliterate you. I'm going to have the earth open up. I'm going 00:22:01.940 --> 00:22:07.300 to have it swallow, I'll swallow you up. But no, that's not how God reacts. He reacts in a very 00:22:07.299 --> 00:22:10.899 different way. Look how the verse 17 finishes. Actually, I'll begin at verse at the beginning 00:22:10.899 --> 00:22:16.480 again and then see how it finishes. Verse 17. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:21.279 wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:28.339 return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, 00:22:28.980 --> 00:22:35.299 slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. Even when they had made 00:22:35.299 --> 00:22:41.559 for themselves a golden calf and said, this is your God who brought you up out of Egypt and had 00:22:41.559 --> 00:22:47.419 committed great blasphemies. You and your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:53.259 The pillar of God to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire 00:22:53.259 --> 00:22:59.299 by night to light for them the way in which they should go. You gave your good spirit to instruct them 00:22:59.299 --> 00:23:04.940 and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. Forty years you 00:23:04.940 --> 00:23:09.880 sustained them in the wilderness and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their 00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:20.799 feet did not swell. So here they do something. They make an idol and they say that this is the 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:24.600 this thing, this thing made out of metal, this thing that had performed all the miracles. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:29.640 And then they want to turn around and they want to go back to Egypt. They want to go back to 00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:34.600 slavery and how does God respond to it. Well, he doesn't stop giving them manna. He doesn't 00:23:34.600 --> 00:23:39.320 take away the cloud. He doesn't take away the pillar of fire and he continues to provide for them. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:50.060 So here's the thing. You know, if in a sense the the first important thing about the but is that 00:23:50.060 --> 00:23:54.759 many of us think that if God was just to do a very remarkable miracle in front of us, it would change 00:23:54.759 --> 00:23:58.839 our lives forever and we would believe in him. But we see that it doesn't actually work. 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:04.039 We also get it wrong when we think of God's judgment. 00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:12.519 Here's how we get it wrong. You see, what this text is saying is that fundamentally when we do 00:24:12.519 --> 00:24:19.220 things which are wrong, God is patient with us. He continues to provide for us. He often continues 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:26.620 to bless us. And the hope is that if he's patient with us, that we will have, we will come to realize 00:24:26.620 --> 00:24:34.940 his patience with us and we will follow in a sense our, his goodness back to him. But then if he does 00:24:34.940 --> 00:24:39.600 that and he does that and does that and then, you know, Christians still say, well, at the end, 00:24:39.819 --> 00:24:45.380 if you die and you're apart from Christ, you'll be judged by God. You will be cast out of his presence. 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:52.720 And we'll say, well, God, that's not very fair. Like, it's not very fair. If you really wanted me to 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:59.940 know you, you should have had consequences for my actions. And if you had consequences for my actions, 00:25:00.780 --> 00:25:10.460 then I would have known that I need to repent. But if we know our own heart, what happens when there 00:25:10.460 --> 00:25:17.680 are consequences to our actions, then we think to God, we think of God, well, God, that's not very 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:23.880 fair. Why did you give me these bad consequences for my action without giving me more time? If you'd 00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:30.340 given me more time, then I would have realized that I needed to repent. But you see, we can't have it 00:25:30.340 --> 00:25:34.860 both ways. The problem is that it's not the problem that there's something wrong with God. God is always 00:25:34.859 --> 00:25:41.839 God. The problem is within us. If God is patient and kind with us, then we use it as a reason why 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:47.859 we can't really believe in him because he doesn't make us very convicted of the wrong things in our 00:25:47.859 --> 00:25:52.819 lives. And if he convicts us of the wrong things in our lives, then we're upset with him as well 00:25:52.819 --> 00:25:59.299 because we say you should be more patient with us. Well, you can't, I mean, the problem is you. The 00:25:59.299 --> 00:26:03.480 problem is that you're confused, not that God's confused, but that you're confused. 00:26:07.159 --> 00:26:10.599 And if you go on and you read the rest of the prayer, we're not going to read it now. You're 00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:15.480 going to read the next six, 17 verses. You'll see that it goes back and forward between God, 00:26:15.619 --> 00:26:22.379 in fact, actually judging them. And so there's bad consequences and then having mercy on them and 00:26:22.379 --> 00:26:26.879 delivering them. And it goes back and forward all the way through the rest of the text. I'm not going 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:34.180 to bother reading. You can look at it yourself. But, and this is all leading up to why it's an 00:26:34.180 --> 00:26:37.940 insight about us changing. If you could put up the first point, that would be very helpful. 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:45.840 One of the things which is very clear throughout the rest of the text is that the triune God 00:26:45.840 --> 00:26:56.040 punishes you by giving you what you want. The triune God punishes you by giving you what you want. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:01.260 In fact, it's very interesting. It actually goes back and forward. I could have written this point in a 00:27:01.260 --> 00:27:09.060 separate way. The triune God punishes you not by giving you what you want, but by letting you get 00:27:09.060 --> 00:27:14.940 what you want. And that's how he punishes us. 00:27:17.860 --> 00:27:22.240 And that's sort of counterintuitive on one hand, but if you think about it for a second, it's, 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:31.460 remember I began, why is it, why is it, like for those struggling with porn, why is it that you know 00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:36.339 that it's wrong, you know that it hurts your relationships, you know that, you know that it 00:27:36.339 --> 00:27:42.720 demeans you, you know that it, you just know all these different reasons why, you know, it takes up all 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:51.720 sorts of your time, and then you go back to it. Or, or you, you know that you need to have some more 00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:59.900 control of your money, and because your, your, your debt, indebtedness is just causing you problems, 00:27:59.900 --> 00:28:03.700 and you get some type of control over it, then the next thing you know you've gone and you bought some 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:09.319 shoes, and you bought a purse, and, and you bought a bike, and, and your credit card debt is just way up to the, 00:28:09.319 --> 00:28:15.399 the, the, the yahoo. Or, or why, how, how is it that you realize that you have to put a, a break on your 00:28:15.399 --> 00:28:21.339 ambition, and a break on your, your, your over concern with money, because it's, it's ruining your 00:28:21.339 --> 00:28:25.259 time with your family, and it's ruining your marriage, and it's ruining your friendships, 00:28:26.059 --> 00:28:31.059 because you're just so driven to, it doesn't even matter if you lose all your friends, because 00:28:31.059 --> 00:28:35.539 you're driven to have a, to have promotions in a career, and then you come to your senses, and you 00:28:35.539 --> 00:28:40.000 realize that it's, that it, it's, it's, it's a wrong thing, but then you go back to it. Well, 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:48.039 this text here, in a sense, is saying that, in a sense, there's a, comes a point in time when, 00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:52.799 whether it's God actually giving you what you want, or he lets you just pursue what you want, 00:28:53.619 --> 00:28:59.519 that his common grace that brings you back and stops you from complete ruination, he just 00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:07.559 removes that, and when he removes that, you, you, you spend more and more time with the porn, you, 00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:13.920 you, you spend more and more time with your idols about your, your importance, or, or your need for 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:19.500 money, or your need to spend, or your need for alcohol, or your need for drugs, or your need for 00:29:19.500 --> 00:29:25.240 affirmation, or your need for praise, or, or whatever it is, and, and you go more and more whole hog into it, 00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:31.940 and all it does is enslaves you and ruins you, and all the way through the rest of the prayer, 00:29:32.279 --> 00:29:38.220 when God says he's giving you to your enemies, he's not giving you to people who don't, he, he's giving 00:29:38.220 --> 00:29:43.599 you to the things that you want, without you realizing that the things that you want in such a fashion 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:45.960 are your enemies that ruin you. 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:56.640 You, you, you come to that point in time when you, you've got the cars, you've got the houses, you've got, 00:29:57.140 --> 00:30:03.120 you, you've, you've got piles of money in the bank, and you, you sit in your, in your fancy house all by 00:30:03.120 --> 00:30:09.840 yourself, because you've burned every relationship in your entire life, and now you've had the thing that 00:30:09.840 --> 00:30:14.740 you've given your life to that you think will give you meaning, and all it's done is make you less of a 00:30:14.740 --> 00:30:23.420 person all alone. And the reason all of this is happening, is if you could put up the next point, 00:30:23.500 --> 00:30:28.000 that would be very helpful, and I've sort of adapted a words from a Bob Dylan song, 00:30:28.620 --> 00:30:32.160 is that human beings are made so that we've got to serve somebody. 00:30:35.079 --> 00:30:40.799 That, that's our problem. It's not our problem, it's, it's not a bug, it's, it's a feature. 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:51.480 I was made to know the triune God, and I was made to love him, and I was made to serve him, 00:30:51.680 --> 00:31:01.079 and I was made to find my rest in him, and my identity in him, and my meaning in him, and my hope in him, 00:31:01.079 --> 00:31:11.019 and my peace in him, and when I cast him away, and want to go my own way and be like a god, 00:31:11.159 --> 00:31:20.359 that desire to still serve and be connected and find meaning, it doesn't go away, it just goes and 00:31:20.359 --> 00:31:29.319 attaches itself to other things, it attaches itself to money, or ideologies, or, or houses, or, or things, 00:31:29.319 --> 00:31:39.319 or, or sex, or reputation, or power, or, or the nation, or, or, or, or the, the corporation, 00:31:39.319 --> 00:31:44.539 it just attaches to other type of things, and you've got to serve somebody, or something, or somewhat, 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.939 and the fact of the matter is, is that that somebody, something, or somewhat will end up just ruining 00:31:49.939 --> 00:31:54.980 you, it will consume you, they have no breaks, the only apparent breaks that are there are the 00:31:54.980 --> 00:32:01.039 breaks that come from God's common grace, his patience to you, that you will realize that 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:08.400 there's these things that will end up consuming you, and ruining you, in a sense what the Bible text 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:13.339 is wanting us to do is, is, is making us realize time, and time, and time again, 00:32:13.819 --> 00:32:20.500 that as we serve these things that are ultimately our enemies, that aren't the true and living God, 00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:26.460 we will come to a point where we realize that we need God to deliver us, and we need his mercy, 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:35.900 because I don't have the strength in myself to save myself, I, I do for a short period of time, 00:32:35.960 --> 00:32:42.660 and then I go back to these things, and these things just ruin me, and it's, in a sense, God 00:32:42.660 --> 00:32:48.799 leaves that in us, so that we will call out to him for deliverance, and for mercy, 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:57.119 now here, just in closing, this goes back to our, well, actually, just, just listen, 00:32:57.460 --> 00:33:01.279 the texts aren't up there, this is where it's better if you have your own Bibles, listen to 00:33:01.279 --> 00:33:06.879 Romans 8, where it describes what it is that Christ does for us, and we pour out our heart to him, 00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:16.879 that when, that, that Jesus sees that I'm serving things that ruin me, and he sees that that's where 00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:21.100 I want to go, that I want to find my meaning in these things, I want to find my hope in these 00:33:21.100 --> 00:33:27.200 things, I think that if I can just have these things that'll satisfy my desires, and I'll be a 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:32.520 better person, and he sees how these things ruin me, and he sees all of these things, and still he loves 00:33:32.520 --> 00:33:39.160 me and dies on the cross for me, he loves me and dies on the cross for me, and when Christ dies on the 00:33:39.160 --> 00:33:47.519 cross for me, that the punishment that I deserve is, is, is, is dealt with, the, he pardons my sin, he gives 00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:53.980 me new life, he gives me new hope, and a new final word, and he gives me his presence, and he provides 00:33:53.980 --> 00:34:02.500 within himself a safe place, and a sanctuary, and a hope, listen how it's described in Romans chapter 8, 00:34:02.500 --> 00:34:08.159 there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the spirit 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:14.780 of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death, for God has done what the law, 00:34:15.380 --> 00:34:20.800 in other words, by moral effort, weakened by our flesh, our sinful human nature, could not do, 00:34:21.420 --> 00:34:27.900 he does something for us that we couldn't do, by sending his own son in the likeness of our flesh, 00:34:27.900 --> 00:34:37.920 flesh, and he takes our place so that sin is condemned, and he does this so that God's righteousness 00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:49.039 might be fulfilled, and, and that his Holy Spirit, his Holy Spirit will come and dwell within us, 00:34:49.039 --> 00:34:55.460 and by the end of the text, he's saying this, 00:34:58.059 --> 00:35:03.679 what then shall we say to these things, if God is for us, who can be against us, he who did not spare 00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:09.679 his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things, 00:35:10.340 --> 00:35:17.099 who shall bring any charge against God's chosen ones, it is God who justifies, who is to condemn, 00:35:17.099 --> 00:35:22.599 Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, 00:35:22.699 --> 00:35:25.500 who is indeed interceding for us, 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:28.420 who shall separate us from the love of Christ, 00:35:28.900 --> 00:35:33.940 shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword, 00:35:34.579 --> 00:35:37.659 as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long, 00:35:37.739 --> 00:35:39.599 we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered, 00:35:39.819 --> 00:35:44.719 no, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, 00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:49.739 for I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, 00:35:49.859 --> 00:35:54.779 nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, 00:35:54.980 --> 00:35:58.639 will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, 00:35:59.079 --> 00:36:02.559 because you see, when we understand that we got to serve somebody, 00:36:02.679 --> 00:36:06.980 and that our loves are disordered, and we can't save ourselves, 00:36:07.059 --> 00:36:09.239 and we call out to God for mercy, and he says, 00:36:09.239 --> 00:36:13.059 I am a God of mercy, I have provided for your need, 00:36:13.199 --> 00:36:17.479 I have paid for your transgressions, I have given you new life, 00:36:17.559 --> 00:36:21.500 I have given you the presence of your Holy Spirit, of my Holy Spirit, 00:36:21.619 --> 00:36:26.699 I have pledged myself to you that when you put your hands in mine, 00:36:26.799 --> 00:36:30.359 and I take your hand, my hand will never let you go, 00:36:31.439 --> 00:36:33.239 it will never let you go, 00:36:33.239 --> 00:36:36.199 and the final word about you will be, 00:36:36.199 --> 00:36:38.619 come into my kingdom, my son or my daughter, 00:36:38.719 --> 00:36:42.119 and that is your final, the God's final word about you in Christ. 00:36:48.199 --> 00:36:51.859 And what that does is creates a sanctuary. 00:36:53.439 --> 00:36:56.879 You see, as the gospel becomes more real to our hearts, 00:36:57.439 --> 00:36:58.839 it becomes a sanctuary. 00:36:58.840 --> 00:37:06.539 And I can say, Lord, I fell back into the porn, 00:37:07.240 --> 00:37:08.760 I fell back into the debt, 00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:11.500 I fell back into the workaholism, 00:37:12.039 --> 00:37:13.980 I fell back into unforgiveness, 00:37:14.680 --> 00:37:16.300 I fell back into jealousy, 00:37:17.160 --> 00:37:18.720 I fell back into envy, 00:37:19.380 --> 00:37:21.120 I fell back into pride, 00:37:21.780 --> 00:37:23.220 I fell back into arrogance, 00:37:24.620 --> 00:37:26.720 I fell back into despair. 00:37:28.840 --> 00:37:30.320 I fell back into hatred. 00:37:32.200 --> 00:37:34.000 Thank you so much that you never let me go. 00:37:36.700 --> 00:37:37.720 Thank you for Jesus. 00:37:40.900 --> 00:37:43.660 And then we can pray the prayer of saying, 00:37:43.760 --> 00:37:43.980 Lord, 00:37:46.200 --> 00:37:47.420 please, please, 00:37:47.620 --> 00:37:48.760 you've been my savior, 00:37:48.920 --> 00:37:49.800 and you're never going to let me go, 00:37:49.880 --> 00:37:50.880 please be my Lord. 00:37:52.100 --> 00:37:54.380 Help me to put these things in their proper place, 00:37:54.720 --> 00:37:57.059 help me to put these things away that need to go away, 00:37:57.059 --> 00:38:01.679 and order my steps, 00:38:02.360 --> 00:38:03.039 govern me. 00:38:05.299 --> 00:38:07.320 Turn my greed into generosity, 00:38:08.279 --> 00:38:10.299 turn my anger into compassion, 00:38:11.259 --> 00:38:13.519 turn my hatred into love, 00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:18.279 turn my obsession into peace and freedom, 00:38:18.799 --> 00:38:23.019 turn my despair into hope. 00:38:23.019 --> 00:38:24.679 I come to you today, 00:38:24.759 --> 00:38:26.320 I come to your table, 00:38:26.440 --> 00:38:27.360 I come to your church, 00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:28.219 I hear your word, 00:38:28.380 --> 00:38:31.360 I'm reminded of your great love for me, 00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:32.019 and once again, 00:38:32.079 --> 00:38:33.179 I commit myself to you, 00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:35.800 and I know you haven't weighed my merits, 00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:37.000 you've pardoned my offenses, 00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:38.480 and I'm just so glad, Father, 00:38:38.539 --> 00:38:40.699 that I can come and be with other sinners, 00:38:41.559 --> 00:38:43.840 to remember the great, 00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:46.079 your great mercy to us, 00:38:46.139 --> 00:38:47.780 and your son's death upon the cross, 00:38:47.980 --> 00:38:50.039 and I commit myself to you again. 00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:53.500 And I know this week I will maybe stumble and fall, 00:38:53.779 --> 00:38:54.860 but I ask, Lord, 00:38:54.940 --> 00:38:55.800 that you help me not. 00:38:56.900 --> 00:38:58.420 And if you could put the final point, 00:39:00.059 --> 00:39:05.039 Jesus saves you and leads you into the freedom of true and ordered love. 00:39:05.759 --> 00:39:07.420 That's the thing I want to close with. 00:39:08.219 --> 00:39:10.800 It isn't that when Jesus becomes the Lord of your life, 00:39:10.860 --> 00:39:13.039 that he becomes so completely and utterly all-consuming, 00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:14.679 that there is no marriage, 00:39:14.940 --> 00:39:15.739 there is no money, 00:39:15.880 --> 00:39:16.739 there are no houses, 00:39:16.980 --> 00:39:17.860 there are no jobs, 00:39:17.860 --> 00:39:18.880 there are no promotions. 00:39:20.680 --> 00:39:23.539 But he takes your disordered love for promotions, 00:39:23.940 --> 00:39:24.960 and orders it. 00:39:25.019 --> 00:39:27.260 He takes your disordered love for affection, 00:39:27.500 --> 00:39:28.300 and he orders it. 00:39:28.360 --> 00:39:30.380 He takes your disordered love for friendship, 00:39:30.900 --> 00:39:31.820 and he orders it. 00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:35.099 He takes your disordered love for affirmation, 00:39:35.220 --> 00:39:36.240 and he orders it. 00:39:36.740 --> 00:39:38.140 He puts it in a hierarchy, 00:39:38.140 --> 00:39:42.460 where you learn to have him be your chief end in love. 00:39:43.079 --> 00:39:46.220 And as that begins to become more real to your heart, 00:39:46.219 --> 00:39:48.980 these other things don't vanish, 00:39:49.639 --> 00:39:53.099 but they have their proper end and their proper power. 00:39:53.779 --> 00:39:55.319 And that's the promise of the gospel. 00:39:55.919 --> 00:39:56.839 I invite you to stand. 00:39:56.840 --> 00:40:06.700 Let's bow our heads in prayer. 00:40:10.039 --> 00:40:13.100 Father, I confess, we confess, 00:40:14.039 --> 00:40:17.380 that we rarely ask ourselves, 00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:20.120 what idol are we wanting to serve? 00:40:20.900 --> 00:40:24.120 What idol do we think will give us meaning in our life? 00:40:24.119 --> 00:40:27.480 What idol do we think will give us hope? 00:40:28.339 --> 00:40:32.079 What idol do we think is going to give us comfort? 00:40:33.000 --> 00:40:34.539 Father, we rarely ask that. 00:40:35.380 --> 00:40:36.159 And we ask, Lord, 00:40:36.239 --> 00:40:38.619 that you help to make the gospel so real to our heart, 00:40:38.699 --> 00:40:41.539 that we desire Jesus to truly be the Lord of our lives. 00:40:42.460 --> 00:40:46.299 And Father, as we deal with discontent, 00:40:46.359 --> 00:40:47.619 and as we deal with sin, 00:40:48.059 --> 00:40:51.159 we ask that you would reveal to us those idols 00:40:51.159 --> 00:40:53.859 that we want to serve and run after and worship. 00:40:55.759 --> 00:40:58.819 And as you make them clearer to us, Father, 00:40:58.899 --> 00:41:01.279 we ask that you put them in their proper place, 00:41:01.639 --> 00:41:05.579 that we would seek our meaning and hope and comfort 00:41:05.579 --> 00:41:07.440 in the person of your Son 00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:11.199 and of your kindly and gracious rule over us. 00:41:11.199 --> 00:41:13.899 And we give you thanks and praise 00:41:13.899 --> 00:41:17.259 that you do not want to obliterate our loves, 00:41:17.679 --> 00:41:21.299 but you want to purify and cleanse and order our loves 00:41:21.299 --> 00:41:22.759 so that we might be free. 00:41:23.559 --> 00:41:25.419 So, Father, we ask that you would help us 00:41:25.419 --> 00:41:26.839 to trust your great goodness 00:41:26.839 --> 00:41:28.339 as we think about your Son 00:41:28.339 --> 00:41:30.299 and all he has done for us, 00:41:30.739 --> 00:41:33.980 to not fear you in a way as if you would hurt us, 00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:36.679 but to know how good you are 00:41:36.679 --> 00:41:38.159 and how true you are 00:41:38.159 --> 00:41:40.519 and how your word is always trustworthy. 00:41:41.239 --> 00:41:42.920 And we ask this in the name of Jesus, 00:41:43.059 --> 00:41:44.039 your Son and our Savior. 00:41:44.779 --> 00:41:45.119 Amen.