1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Today completing a three-part series on the land that they were about to go into. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:12,000 We've been working through the book of Deuteronomy and we're getting pretty deep into it now. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,000 But this last week, the week before last, we talked about the promised land. 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:22,000 Last week we talked about the grace land and today we're going to talk about the holy land. 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:29,000 And you will hear me loud and clear, I believe, because I am passionate about what, 6 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,000 I hope I don't peek the microphone, I am passionate about what we're looking at today. 7 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:36,000 Before we do that, I want to do a little object lesson. 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,000 And you don't have to come up front. 9 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,000 Normally I will let at least a young person or someone come up front. 10 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:41,000 You don't have to do that today. 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,000 But I do need your full attention. 12 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:49,000 And if you have an answer, if you would like to be called on or you have an answer for this little object lesson that we're going to do, then that's fine. 13 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,000 I'm going to give you two items and I want you to give me a third item that does not belong in that group. 14 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,000 Who wants to go first? 15 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:57,000 Alright, RJ. 16 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:58,000 Two dogs. 17 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:02,000 Give me a third item that does not belong in that group. 18 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:03,000 A cat. 19 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:04,000 That was pretty easy, right? 20 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:05,000 That was an easy one. 21 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:10,000 I'm going to give you three items and I want you to give me a fourth item that does not belong in that group. 22 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,000 Who wants to go next? 23 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:13,000 Let's go Caitlin. 24 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:14,000 We'll do Caitlin. 25 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:22,000 So Caitlin, it's a hoagie sandwich, a slice of pizza, and a glass of juice. 26 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,000 A cell phone does not belong in that group. 27 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,000 I'm going to give you five items and I want you to give me something that does not belong in that group. 28 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,000 Jason was the first hand I saw up. 29 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:39,000 Birthday candles, coffee stirrers, food labels, a new puppy, and a lizard. 30 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,000 What? 31 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,000 He's thinking. 32 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,000 A potato. 33 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:47,000 That's kind of tough. 34 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:52,000 A potato has a lot to do with food there, but you're right, a puppy and a potato don't go together. 35 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,000 I think it's getting a little harder. 36 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:59,000 I'm going to give you 100 items and then I want you to give me the 101st item that does not belong in that group. 37 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,000 Are you ready? 38 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,000 Believe it or not, I'm not actually going to do it. 39 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:04,000 I'll give you part of the list. 40 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:05,000 I'll give you part of the list. 41 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:14,000 Beans, noodles, spaghetti, crayons, magic markers, paper, whole reinforcement stickers, paper clips, a list of words you can read, 42 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:30,000 beads that are sewn onto a skirt, Lego magnetic letters, poker chips, puppies, giraffes, craft gems, a spool of thread, playing cards, balloons, small stickers stuck in tens of frames, 43 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:40,000 unsharpened pencils, loom bands, whatever those are, all those little stretchy things, loom bands, construction paper, cheese pizza. 44 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:45,000 That's about half, almost 100, right? So somebody give me something that does not go in that group. 45 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,000 Tommy Trammell. TV. TV. TV does not go in that group. 46 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:54,000 However, TV might have all of those things on it, so there's that. 47 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:59,000 Somebody else got one that doesn't go in that group? Go. The moon. The moon does not go in that group. 48 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,000 Let's see if planets are anywhere on the list of 100 things, or moons, or celestial bodies. 49 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,000 That would rule that out. Jason? Potato. 50 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,000 But there's lots of food already in there. 51 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:18,000 Okay, so the point is, what I want you to see is, the larger the group and the characteristics of the items in the group, 52 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:24,000 the more things could be loved in the group or discluded, right? You could kick them out. 53 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,000 So if there's no food in the group, then naming a food makes a lot of sense. 54 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:31,000 If there are foods in the group, then naming a food to be in the group might make sense. 55 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,000 Putting it out of the group could be in the group, right? 56 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:43,000 So the kind of the group, the number, and the very nature of the things in the group determine what could go in the group and what could not. 57 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,000 Does that make sense? Is everybody following the logic of that? 58 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,000 If I said, we'll do one last one. I'm going to give you 100 things. 59 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,000 I'm going to go back to RJ. RJ, are you ready? 60 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:56,000 I'm going to give you 100 things. I want you to give me a 101st thing that would not belong in the group. Are you ready? 61 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,000 Are you ready? 100 dogs. 62 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:03,000 One cat. Okay, very good. Yes, sir. 63 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,000 Alright, one cat would not go in the group. 64 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,000 So if the group is all the same, it's pretty easy to decide what doesn't go in there, right? 65 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:14,000 100 cats, one dog would be in a very bad way. He would be very put out. 66 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,000 Unless it was a very, very big cat. And then probably even then, right? 67 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:22,000 Like even a lion with 100 dogs. We got 100, you mentioned like 100 Pikachu's and one lion. 68 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:28,000 It'd be like a WWF wrestling match or something going on there. 69 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,000 Okay, so grab your Bibles if you would. 70 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,000 Bear that in mind, the nature of the group and being in the group, not being in the group, that kind of thing. 71 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,000 And turn with me. We usually say amen, hoot, holler. Somebody take a breath right now. 72 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,000 Hold it. Hold it. 73 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:45,000 To go to Deuteronomy 28.15. 74 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:49,000 This is God's Word. It's not mine. I did not write it. 75 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:54,000 The truth is I cannot interpret it for you because God's Word is of no private interpretation. 76 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:58,000 It says what it says. What you're going to find is that you do not like what it says. 77 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,000 That's what I found. 78 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,000 As we read this, you're going to find that you do not like what it says. 79 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:08,000 It's a long text. I will not do a lot of explaining during the text. 80 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,000 But then I'll bring it together in some nuggets. 81 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,000 So you read along in your own text if you've got it. 82 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:18,000 And here we go. It's Deuteronomy 28.15 to the end of the chapter. 83 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:25,000 But it shall come about if you will not obey the Lord your God to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes, 84 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:30,000 with which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. 85 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:34,000 So basically that's the summary statement for what we're about to read. 86 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:38,000 And he's going to give us a bunch of what the curses are and some other bad things that are going to happen and like that. 87 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:47,000 But basically he's saying if you will not do, if you will not observe to do, pay close attention, work hard to do all the things that God has commanded you through me at this time, 88 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:53,000 follow his statutes. He says, then the curses shall come upon you and overtake you. 89 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,000 Here we go. 16. Curse shall you be in the city and curse shall you be in the country. 90 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,000 Curse shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 91 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:07,000 Curse shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. 92 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:11,000 Curse shall you be when you come in and curse shall you be when you go out. 93 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:18,000 So you may, those of you who were here last week, notice a similarity between those and the blessings. They're kind of opposites. 94 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:22,000 So the blessings that came before this, they were all the ways that we would be blessed. 95 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,000 And now these are the opposites of that. 96 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:33,000 20. The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion and rebuke in all you undertake to do until you are destroyed 97 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:39,000 and until you perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds because you have forsaken me. 98 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,000 And the me there is God, not Moses. 99 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:49,000 The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until he has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it. 100 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:54,000 So remember the promised land, promised to go in. Remember grace land. You got that even though you didn't deserve it. 101 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:59,000 Holy land says you're going to be in there and you ignore what I say and you're going to lose it. 102 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:05,000 That's what he's saying. 22. The Lord will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation 103 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:13,000 and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew and they shall pursue you until you perish. 104 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:21,000 And the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze. That means no clouds in sight, no good in sight in the sky. 105 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,000 And the earth which is under you will be like iron, hard as a rock, unable to be farmed. 106 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:31,000 24. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust. 107 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:35,000 From heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed. 108 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,000 The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. 109 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,000 You shall go out one way against them, but you shall flee seven ways before them. 110 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,000 And you shall be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 111 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:50,000 That's a key phrase right there. They will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 112 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:54,000 Notice that it's not because they are successful in combat that they will be an example of terror. 113 00:07:54,000 --> 00:08:00,000 They already were that, right? The people all around the promised land, all around the grace land were fearing them because of God. 114 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:08,000 Now he's saying because they would not follow, the people will be, they will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 115 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:12,000 Not because they would conquer them, but because of what God was doing to them. 116 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:20,000 Catch it? 26. And your carcasses, that's your dead body, shall be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth. 117 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,000 And there shall be no one to frighten them away. 118 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:29,000 27. The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and with the itch 119 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:31,000 from which you cannot be healed. 120 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:37,000 The Lord will smite you with the madness, with blindness and with bewilderment of heart. 121 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:42,000 And you shall grope at noon as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways, 122 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:47,000 but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually with none to save you. 123 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:51,000 You shall betray the wife, but another man shall violate her. 124 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,000 You shall build a house, but you shall not live in it. 125 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,000 You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not use its fruit. 126 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:01,000 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it. 127 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,000 Your donkey shall be torn away from you and shall not be restored to you. 128 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:09,000 Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you. 129 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:16,000 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes shall look on and yearn for them continually. 130 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,000 But there shall be nothing you can do. 131 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:25,000 A people whom you do not know shall eat of the produce of your ground and of all your labors, 132 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:30,000 and you shall never be anything but oppressed and crushed continually. 133 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,000 You shall be driven mad by the sight of what you see. 134 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:39,000 The Lord will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils from which you cannot be healed, 135 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,000 from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 136 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:48,000 The Lord will bring you and your king, whom you shall set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known. 137 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:53,000 And there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone. 138 00:09:53,000 --> 00:10:00,000 And you shall become a horror, a proverb and a taunt among all the people where the Lord will drive you. 139 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,000 Another key phrase. I'll read it again. 140 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:07,000 And you shall become a horror, a proverb and a taunt among all the people where the Lord will drive you. 141 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:13,000 You shall bring out much seed to the field, but you shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it. 142 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:21,000 You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall devour them. 143 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:28,000 You shall have olive trees throughout your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with oil, for your olives shall drop off. 144 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:33,000 You shall have sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity. 145 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:37,000 The cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground. 146 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:44,000 The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower. 147 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,000 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him. 148 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,000 He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. 149 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:56,000 So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, 150 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:02,000 because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. 151 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:08,000 And they shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever. 152 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,000 There it is again. I'll read it again. 153 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:14,000 And they shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever. 154 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:18,000 Are you getting the concept here now? 47. 155 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:24,000 Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart for the abundance of all things. 156 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:34,000 Therefore you shall serve your enemies from the Lord, whom the Lord shall send against you in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things. 157 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:39,000 And he will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. Has anyone had enough? 158 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:43,000 Is this not bad enough? Oh, it's not bad yet. Watch this. 159 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:50,000 The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, 160 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:56,000 a nation of fierce countenance, who shall have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. 161 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:03,000 Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, 162 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:11,000 who also leaves you no grain, new wine or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish. 163 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:19,000 And it shall besiege you, this is where it gets really bad, it shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, 164 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:25,000 come down throughout the land. And it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land, which the Lord your God has given you. 165 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:33,000 Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you, 166 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:39,000 during the siege and the distress by which your enemy shall oppress you. You get that? They're going to eat their own kids. 167 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:49,000 The man who is refined and very delicate among you shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain, 168 00:12:49,000 --> 00:13:01,000 so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he shall eat, since he has nothing else left during the siege and the distress by which your enemy shall oppress you in all your towns. 169 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:11,000 The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for the delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes 170 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:21,000 and toward her son and daughter and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears, for she shall eat them secretly, 171 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:28,000 the lack of anything else during the siege and the distress by which your enemy shall oppress you in your towns. Now that's bad. 172 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:38,000 If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book to fear this honored and awesome name, the Lord your God, 173 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:45,000 then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues and miserable and chronic sicknesses, 174 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:52,000 and he will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Almost done. 175 00:13:52,000 --> 00:14:01,000 Also, every sickness and every plague which not written in the book of this law, the Lord will bring on you until you are destroyed. 176 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:07,000 Then you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude because you did not obey the Lord. 177 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:15,000 In other words, there were so many of them when they came out of Egypt and they multiplied so much into the land, but because they didn't follow God, they will become few again. 178 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:24,000 And it shall come about that as the Lord delighted over you to prosper you and multiply you, so the Lord will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you, 179 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,000 and you shall be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it. 180 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:36,000 Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, 181 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:44,000 which you or your fathers have not known, and among those nations you shall find no rest, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot. 182 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:52,000 But there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. 183 00:14:52,000 --> 00:15:00,000 So your life shall hang in doubt before you, and you shall be in dread day and night, or night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. 184 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:09,000 In the morning you shall say, would that it were evening, and at evening you shall say, would that it were morning, because of the dread of your heart which you dread, 185 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:14,000 and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see, and the Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships. 186 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:23,000 By the way about which I spoke to you, you will never see it again, and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, 187 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:30,000 but there will be no buyer. My goodness. Everything that they have, cursed by God. 188 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:38,000 Three things I want you to see in this text. The first one is, well, and there are really three words, okay, three words, 189 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:42,000 and I'll give them to you in advance, and then you can look for them as we talk about them. The first one is different. 190 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:49,000 The first word is different. The second word is chastisement, and the third word is because. 191 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:57,000 So the first word is different. This was to be a different land, a different people. That's hard, right? 192 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:03,000 We have people in our world right now who want to be different, so they go off and they'll join like the goth group, and they'll dress like a goth, right? 193 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:10,000 But there are millions of people who are goth. They want to be different, so they'll go off and they'll start a YouTube channel. 194 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:16,000 But there are millions of people starting YouTube channels. They'll go off and they want to be different, so they'll become a certain profession 195 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:21,000 where there's a lot of need to get out there and find out. It's rather competitive. There are millions of people in every profession. 196 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:26,000 You can't be different by simple choices that you make in your life. You have to be different by integrity. 197 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:33,000 There has to be a whole you settled on a certain thing, and that thing that you're settled on has to be different than what everyone else is settled on. 198 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:40,000 That's how you make it different. People are not different based on their socioeconomic background, their age, their hair color, their skin color. 199 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:46,000 That does not make people different. We are not that different. If you look at it, I could find somebody that looks just like Ron Mack. 200 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:54,000 Search the world. You'll find it. You probably could go on Google right now, right? And Google, you know, mid-sized hairy man, and there he is, right? 201 00:16:54,000 --> 00:17:00,000 And you come up and look like 50 guys that look like him. You aren't different because you look different, right? 202 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:05,000 And you aren't different because you make different choices. You're different because your life is founded on something. 203 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:11,000 If the fringes of you are over here, I'm this way because of this, and over here, I'm this way because of this, 204 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:17,000 when you bump into somebody and let's say you don't like cheese, my son Arden doesn't really like cheese, he doesn't like pizza. 205 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:23,000 Who doesn't like pizza? That makes him different, right? Except there are millions of people in the world that can't even eat cheese, right? 206 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:29,000 So that's not going to make him any different. You're honest, right? Most of the time. You're honest, right? 207 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:36,000 But there are millions of the people in the world who are mostly honest. That's nothing. But they were called to be different. 208 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:46,000 They were called to be holy and set apart. An example, the people around them were terrified of them because they could see in them who their God was. 209 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:50,000 That's why they were terrified. When God parted the Jordan, when God parted the Red Sea, 210 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:56,000 God conquered the armies of Pharaoh and left them under the ocean or under the sea, right? 211 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:02,000 After that, that gave reason for them to be terrified. But in order for those people of the world to be terrified of them, 212 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:10,000 they had to be founded on God. God said, this is going to be my holy land. Yes, it's a promised land. I said it would take you there. 213 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:14,000 Yes, it's a grace land. You don't deserve it. I'm going to give you everything. Houses you didn't build, crops you didn't plant, 214 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:19,000 cities you didn't construct, roads you didn't make. I'm going to give it all to you for free. It's a grace land. 215 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:26,000 I'm going to give it all to you for free. But then God said, when you live it in the grace land, you're going to be a holy land. 216 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:32,000 This is going to be my holy land. So that the world can look at you and see a difference. Bless you. 217 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:38,000 I know there's people that you want to go out and you want to do good works. Hey, that's great. 218 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:42,000 But the reality is there are a lot of organizations and people in the world doing good works. 219 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:46,000 And that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. But just doing good works. 220 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:53,000 Even the Bible says, so let your light shine before men so that in the day of the coming that they will glorify your Father in heaven. 221 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:59,000 Right? Going out and doing good works is a very poor definition of so let your light shine before men. 222 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:10,000 Because there are a lot of people doing good works. There's an Islamic mosque down Parisburg way that has built into it a school and a clinic, etc. 223 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:16,000 It's all built in that they don't worship in there hardly at all anymore. But all that stuff is built in a mall of good works. 224 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:28,000 And people can go there and get served. But they don't know Jesus. So is God going to be glorified in the day that Jesus comes again? No. 225 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:35,000 Just doing those good works. That's not good enough. Those good works have to be founded on something that matters, something that lasts, something eternal. 226 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:45,000 God said, you will follow me. You will do what I tell you to do. Be different. Be a different kind of people. Be a different land. 227 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:55,000 Let the world look to you as you're set apart. God was not calling them out of Egypt so that he could have a bully in the neighborhood. 228 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,000 Right? So he got somebody that everybody would be afraid of. And he could do whatever he wanted. 229 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,000 Every time he would come he would send some more frogs, send some more gnats. Right? 230 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:11,000 He said there was a battle where they were fleeing. In Joshua we studied this. And God sent giant rocks down on the army before the Israelites could ever catch them and destroy them. 231 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:19,000 God did not save the Israelites so that he could continually do everything for them and they would be wicked people. 232 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:27,000 And evil people doing the wrong things. No, he said, unless you observe to do the commands that I have given you this day, all these curses will come upon you. 233 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:34,000 They were to be a holy people. Bring that forward into today. I understand we're not going to be perfect and get everything right. 234 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:40,000 I get that. I understand we're going to make mistakes. And in the middle of our mistakes go, oh, that wasn't good. 235 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:48,000 And there's going to be times when we make intentional decisions. I want this. I'm going to kind of ignore where God says I shouldn't do it and I'm going to go do it. 236 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:56,000 And then afterwards, like, oh, God, I'm sorry. I confess. I did that. I know I shouldn't have done that. Please cleanse me and forgive me of all unrighteousness. 237 00:20:56,000 --> 00:21:04,000 I understand that that's the world in which we live and God understand God sees that you are but dust. Right. That's a reality. 238 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:10,000 But at the same time, God calls us to be different, to be different. You shouldn't be able. 239 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:18,000 You shouldn't be willing to go into sin and do what it is that God doesn't want you to do without some trepidation, without some concern. 240 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,000 The fear and the reverence of God should be a reality for you. 241 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:33,000 Just as they were called to be a holy and different people, Christians today in the kingdom of God, though our boundaries are not marked on a map, are called to be holy and different. 242 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:37,000 Notice that this chapter is all about declared chastisement. Right. 243 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:44,000 So they're being told in advance that if they do not observe and follow the commands that they were given by God, that they would be chastised. 244 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:48,000 They would be disciplined. In fact, you hear the phrase over and over again. They'd be destroyed. 245 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,000 They'd be wiped from the land. They'd be chased out. 246 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:58,000 And like, oh, you know, that's never going to happen to me. I'm a follower of Lord Jesus. I believe and I'm all taken care of. 247 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:04,000 And yet he said in that day, there will be those who cry Lord, Lord, but have no part with me. 248 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,000 That's what Jesus said. So you could say that. 249 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:14,000 But if you're willing to just go on and be whoever the heck you want to be and ignore the teachings of God, there's a real question built in there. 250 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:22,000 The question is either who is God or who is you or are you and God in the same group? 251 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,000 That's what it comes down to. 252 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:35,000 Now, if you don't understand that God is a holy God and God is building in you a holy person, somebody to be different from the world. 253 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:40,000 And the world is so many things. So many things. How do you be different from the world? 254 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:44,000 Build your life upon the rock. Build your life upon Christ. Build your life upon God. 255 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:47,000 And check everything that comes into your life as to whether it belongs or not. 256 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:54,000 If you're not willing to do that, then there is a declared chastisement. How bad does it get? How bad does it get? 257 00:22:54,000 --> 00:23:01,000 Well, the truth is that there are people who claim the name of Jesus and they say they are following Jesus. 258 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:05,000 And they're not. They're lying. 259 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:10,000 Paul said, of course there are those who lie about that. Satan himself comes dressed as an angel of light. 260 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:14,000 Why wouldn't his followers pretend to be Christians? 261 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:18,000 So there are people in the world who are pretending to be Christians. So how do we be different than them? 262 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,000 Well, you've got to just take the pretending off and actually be what they are pretending to be. 263 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:27,000 Let them try to mock you. Let them try to imitate you. Let them try to come after what it is that you're doing. 264 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:33,000 Listen, we can all give. We can all serve. Everybody can give and serve. 265 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:37,000 The question is when you give and when you serve, will it matter? 266 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,000 I'm not saying will it make somebody not hungry. 267 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,000 I'm not saying will it make somebody not hurting, encourage them, whatever. 268 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,000 There are lost people, atheists, and people in every religion that do that. 269 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:53,000 But if it's founded on what God is trying to do, then God says He'll support it. He'll make it matter. 270 00:23:53,000 --> 00:24:00,000 But if not, then it's Isaiah 64. Rags. Filthy, filthy rags. 271 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,000 So they move into the land. We know the story. 272 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:08,000 And then they don't follow God the way they're supposed to. 273 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:16,000 Inviting back in pagan religions, not wiping out or chasing out those they were supposed to wipe out or chase out. 274 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:21,000 And yeah, it's over hundreds of years. It happens over hundreds. It's not like every day. 275 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:26,000 Not like instantaneously they moved in. Oh, now I've got a free house and some crops. I'm going to go worship Molech. 276 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:30,000 It's not like that. They went, oh, free house and crops. Yay, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 277 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:38,000 I read one author who said that in the wilderness there by Sinai when Aaron cast the molten calf, 278 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,000 that they weren't trying to make another God. 279 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:45,000 They were just trying to make an image by which they could worship God. 280 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,000 Which God says you're not allowed to do that. So it was wrong. 281 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:53,000 And then whenever we make an image by which we can worship God, we make a thing by which we can come to God. 282 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:57,000 That's why we don't come through any man or any ceremony or any ritual. 283 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,000 We go straight to God through Jesus Christ. Right? 284 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,000 Now we do that as a group as well as as individuals. 285 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:09,000 So as a church, we go straight to God through Jesus Christ as individuals, straight to God through Jesus Christ. 286 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,000 And you're going to come in here one day or you're going to sit in the church one day. 287 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,000 And somebody else needs to go to God through Jesus, but they just can't. 288 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:18,000 But you can. And you can go for them. And then you can take them with you when you go. 289 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,000 And now, boom, we're all healed and moving in the right direction again. 290 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,000 That's what the church is all about. It's the kingdom of God. 291 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:35,000 But don't kid yourself. If you're in the church and you're ignoring the commands of God, you're ignoring the direction of your father, you will be chastised. 292 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:39,000 God chastised those whom he loves. In fact, the chastisement will continue. 293 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:45,000 Somebody was jokingly read a meme on Facebook and said, the beatings will continue until morale improves. 294 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,000 Improves, right? The beatings will continue until morale improves. 295 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:54,000 This chapter says the beatings will continue until holiness improves. 296 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:58,000 God said, I am with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. 297 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:06,000 And because I am with you and that will never leave you forsake you or forsake you, I will make sure that if you choose to walk through the fire, you feel the fire. 298 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:11,000 If you choose to walk through a wall of thorns, I will make sure that you feel the wall of thorns. 299 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:21,000 I will make sure that you hear me saying, don't go there, but beyond that if you choose to go there, despite what I say, I will make sure that you feel it. 300 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:31,000 Listed in there amongst the mental ailments that will come upon people who are not honoring the commands of God is blindness. 301 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:38,000 Not a literal blindness like your eyes can't see, but an inability to discern, an inability to think straight. 302 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:48,000 You get wrapped up in the things of this world, idolizing it, worshiping it, and then you're not following God with your whole heart, not building your whole life on God, and the curses begin to unfold. 303 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:53,000 You say, no, no, God would never curse. God never sends a bad thing. That's not true. 304 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:58,000 It says all good things are sent by God. That's a fact. 305 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:05,000 But God is more than willing to send the bad if that's what it takes to get you back on course for the good. 306 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:14,000 We are all dying today. We are all dying today because of sin. 307 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:20,000 The curse is real. God said, my soul will not tarry with man more than 120 years. 308 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:26,000 And from that moment on, very, very few people have ever lived to be over 120. 309 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:31,000 God said, you will struggle and toil in the ground to try to make ends meet, try to make it work. 310 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:42,000 And from that moment on, men have always struggled and toil. Now, we've been trying to create a society by which men do not need to struggle or toil in the soil against God. 311 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,000 We say, no, we can eventually do it. You think that's not happening? 312 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:55,000 Take a look, if you will, for a moment at the number one export of every United States in the United States of America. You can Google it later. 313 00:27:55,000 --> 00:28:05,000 OK, what you'll find, what you'll find, where it was corn, what's the number one export of Idaho? Nope. Used to be. 314 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:15,000 What's the number one export of Florida? That's what it used to be. 315 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:26,000 Forty, I think it's 42 states. I might have that number right. Forty two states. Technology, microchips, aviation parts mostly. 316 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:34,000 Most of them are aviation parts. Most of the states in the United States of all, where do you grow an aviation part? 317 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:44,000 Where do you grow a microchip? Do you scratch in the dirt? See, what's happening is we are trying to be this successful, prosperous people without doing it God's way. 318 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:49,000 So we're going to design a system whereby we don't need God. Has that ever happened before? 319 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:53,000 It's been happening since the Garden of Adam and Eve. 320 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:59,000 The bottom line is God is sending curses into this world to try to get people's attention. 321 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:07,000 Try to get us to go, hey, pay attention. I love you. So this has to be paid for. What you are doing has to be paid for. 322 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:12,000 And the truth is it already has been paid for. There was a mark, a moment in time, in which I paid for it. 323 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:17,000 But then after I paid for it and you moved into the land of promise and you moved into the land of grace, 324 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:22,000 now I expect you to be wholly living in the land of promise and the land of grace. 325 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,000 And you're not doing that. You're living however the heck you want. 326 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:33,000 You're seven hours a day on social media streaming 50 episodes a month or maybe 150. 327 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:38,000 Instead of being in your Bible, instead of praying, reading, serving, going out, telling people about Jesus, 328 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:50,000 instead of building your life on Christ, you're taking part in a world that is trying to find a way to exist in wealth and prosperity without me. 329 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:56,000 And curses are coming. They're already in place. There's some of this, I struggle mentally. 330 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,000 You don't struggle mentally because there's something wrong with your body. 331 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:07,000 It's not why it works. You struggle mentally because you live as part of a people who are under a curse. 332 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,000 Now there's a way around it, a way over it, a way through it, but that doesn't mean it's going to go away 333 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:20,000 because your flesh and your body will be with you until you go to see Jesus for eternity, either by death or by His coming again. 334 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:28,000 This chastisement is still in place and real today because why? Because we live in the Holy Land. 335 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:35,000 We live where we are supposed to be different. We live where we are supposed to be like the King, growing more like the King daily. 336 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:41,000 And if you're not, then you're building your life on something else and God doesn't like it. 337 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:46,000 And to be very clear then goes the because. The third word, the because. 338 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:51,000 The because are because they did not obey. That's very clear. He says it multiple times. 339 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:56,000 Because you did not obey. Because they did not observe to obey. In other words, they weren't making an effort. 340 00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:01,000 They didn't take notes. They didn't bring their own Bibles. Not that they had those. 341 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:06,000 They didn't study on their own time. They didn't have time away with the Lord praying, 342 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:10,000 thank you God for all that you've done, singing praise songs while they're working in the field. 343 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:17,000 Their lives had not become about God. And so they did not obey and they did not observe to obey. 344 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:27,000 But it goes further than that because guess what? There are people who obey and there are people who observe to obey and they will be in hell. 345 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:32,000 Because there is an aspect of what he said in here that you must not miss. 346 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,000 And it's in verse 58. We read it. We'll read it again. 347 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:42,000 If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law, which are written in this book, 348 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:48,000 to fear this honored and awesome name, the Lord your God, 349 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:54,000 then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants. 350 00:31:54,000 --> 00:32:04,000 Verse 47. Therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord shall send against you in hunger and in thirst and nakedness and the lack of all things 351 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:07,000 and he will put an iron yoke on your neck. That's verse 48. 352 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:13,000 Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart for the abundance of all things. 353 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,000 There we go. That's verse 47. 354 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,000 Verse 58 said, let me read it again. If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law, 355 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:24,000 which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the Lord your God. 356 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:30,000 And 47 said, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, 357 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:38,000 let me tell you now how to take the commands of the Lord, the thing that God has told us to do, 358 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:45,000 and follow those things and in following them have eternal abundance of his presence. 359 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:51,000 Store up treasures for yourself in heaven. I'm not preaching about heaven today, but whatever that exactly looks like, 360 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:55,000 how to store up treasures for yourself in heaven, and it comes down to this. 361 00:32:55,000 --> 00:33:01,000 You get out of bed in the morning fearing and honoring the Lord your God who created all, 362 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:08,000 promised all, and gave all, having nothing to do with your character or what type of individual you are. 363 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:15,000 He promised it and he gave it, and now he commands you to be different. 364 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,000 I've heard a pastor say it, I've coined the phrase a couple of times myself, 365 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:24,000 if you got saved to become a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and nothing changed, you didn't get saved. 366 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,000 You're just a person, I'm just a person, we're all just people. 367 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:33,000 We've got our good stuff and our bad stuff. We made our mistakes and we didn't. People did things to us. 368 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:40,000 There's somebody in this room who could not say that somebody did something to them and it hurt. 369 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:47,000 It cut deep. Even the youngest of us who say somebody did something to me. 370 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:51,000 And that's all it takes. We're human. 371 00:33:51,000 --> 00:34:01,000 But humans have to recognize the Creator and who He is and how a failure in holiness demands payment 372 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:07,000 and also follow the commands of the Lord with joy and gladness. 373 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,000 You know what you got that God gave you? 374 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:17,000 Well you can think of anything that you've got and God gave it to you and you ought to be glad. 375 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:20,000 And you can serve God out of joy. 376 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:24,000 Like, well man it's hard for me to get out. It's hard for me to go to church. 377 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:27,000 It's hard for me to tell anybody about Jesus because I'm going through some stuff. 378 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,000 You ain't got no stuff that God didn't give you. 379 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:34,000 If God gave you the stuff it's so you can go out. 380 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:38,000 You have a story to tell that nobody else has. 381 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:42,000 I built my life upon the rock. Jesus came, took up residence. 382 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,000 I still got all these problems. I got this problem, that problem, that problem. 383 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,000 I'm dying. I'm going through this. My bank account's draining. 384 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,000 I got all these problems. But He's with me. 385 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:54,000 And something's happening. Let me tell you what's happening in the midst of all those troubles. 386 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:58,000 That's a story that only you can tell. 387 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:03,000 And if you will obey the Lord and observe to follow His commands with joy and gladness in your heart 388 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:08,000 and a fearful loving recognition of how awesome and powerful our God is, 389 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:13,000 then, then you have fruit. 390 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,000 Then you have abundance. 391 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,000 Then you have treasure stored up for yourself in heaven. 392 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:24,000 I'm going to recap briefly and then that brings us all the way to our conclusion. 393 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:27,000 Remember that little activity that we did? What doesn't belong? 394 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:30,000 In order to know what doesn't belong in the group, you've got to know what's in the group. 395 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,000 Well, let me tell you what's in the group with God. 396 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:40,000 God and people who reverence and fear Him and serve Him with joy and gladness. 397 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,000 That's what's in the group with God. 398 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:46,000 Now, to do that through Jesus Christ, coming to that conclusion, 399 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:49,000 God asked you to be different. He promised you a place. 400 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:56,000 He gave you a place through Jesus, His Son, and now He asks you to be different. 401 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:00,000 God declared chastisement for all those who go the wrong way. 402 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,000 Everybody living in the Holy Land that goes the wrong way already ought to know, 403 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,000 if you're going the wrong way, you're going to pay. 404 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:06,000 That's the reality. 405 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:10,000 Somebody told you all you've got to do is just believe and receive Jesus as Savior, 406 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:13,000 and everything's going to be okay. You're going to be in heaven someday. 407 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,000 No matter what you do, it's going to be fine. 408 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:20,000 Paul said, call upon Him as Lord and Savior. 409 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:23,000 That means He tells you what to do and you do it. 410 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:28,000 You leave that out, and you can be like those guys standing at the judgment, 411 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,000 and they say, Lord, Lord! 412 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:34,000 And you say, yeah, you call Lord now, because now you don't want to go into fiery hell. 413 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,000 So you call Lord now. Where was Lord when you were lying? 414 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,000 Where was Lord when you were cheating? Where was Lord when you were stealing? 415 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:40,000 Where was Lord when you were adultery? 416 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:43,000 Where was Lord when you were not showing up to be faithful? 417 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:47,000 You say, Lord, but do you do what I tell you to do? 418 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:50,000 Because the Lord is somebody who tells you what to do, and you do it. 419 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:54,000 So this word, Lord, it does not mean to you what it means to me. 420 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:59,000 So be different, or be chastised, so that He will lead you to a place where you can be different. 421 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:06,000 And let your heart be filled with joy and gladness for all that you have received from Him, 422 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:11,000 and fear and love for Him, because He is the Creator, and He is the God of the promise, 423 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:14,000 and the God of the giving, and the God of the holy. 424 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:19,000 And that brings us to our conclusion, because this results in a problem, doesn't it? 425 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,000 Who goes under this system? You know who goes through hell on earth? 426 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:27,000 Not literal hell, but figurative hell on earth? Everybody. 427 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,000 And you know who goes to hell? Everybody. 428 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:35,000 Because nobody has got joy and gladness in their heart to serve the Lord. 429 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:40,000 And if they do, mostly it is coming and going. 430 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:45,000 Now you can, there is a way. 431 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:50,000 If you don't recognize how powerful God is, 432 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:54,000 I start to feel that way when I think about the number of stars in the sky, 433 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:58,000 and the grains of sand on the beach, and all the animals in the oceans. 434 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:02,000 When I was down in the Caribbean, one of the guys said, and I checked it out, 435 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:07,000 it is true that 80% of the animals that live on the face of the earth have yet to be discovered and named. 436 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:13,000 80%. And I thought, man, He is a big God. 437 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:19,000 And that brings us to our conclusion, because for us, there must be grace. 438 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:24,000 We are living in Graceland, and we must be experiencing grace, 439 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:28,000 so that every time we screw up, so that every time we make a bad choice, there is grace. 440 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:32,000 Now, our desire is holiness, our desire is to build our life upon the rock, 441 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:37,000 but we are going to screw up sometimes, things are going to happen, things are going to hurt us that we didn't even do, 442 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:42,000 and we need grace for that. We need grace. 443 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:48,000 And that grace then comes at the expense of God's holiness, unless the price is paid. 444 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:55,000 God is holy. Somebody has got to be cursed for the things that I do that deserve a curse. 445 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:59,000 And it ought to be me. And I don't want to be. 446 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:03,000 I don't want to go to hell for an eternity. I don't want to spend time away from God. 447 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:08,000 So somebody has got to be cursed, so that God can give me grace. 448 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:16,000 Enter Jesus Christ. And He took our sins upon Him on the cross. 449 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:24,000 He became sin for us. He knew no sin, never sinned his whole life, and became sin for us, and died on the cross, 450 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:31,000 so that we could have grace instead of curses every day, 451 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:36,000 so that we could die and go to heaven, and even have His presence now, 452 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:43,000 because God is not going to put up with you. He is not going to put up with your stuff, 453 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:49,000 unless somebody is willing to pay for it. And that person was Jesus. 454 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:53,000 So at the intersection of grace and holiness is Jesus Christ. 455 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:57,000 Pretty cool, because He was promised. 456 00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:03,000 Jesus was promised as the entry into the grace land, and He came. 457 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:12,000 Jesus was holy, and then died to save men who were not, and women who were not. 458 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:16,000 At the intersection of grace and holiness is Jesus Christ. 459 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:20,000 He paid the price. I'll read just a few verses and then I'll be through. 460 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:24,000 At 2 Corinthians chapter 5, some of you may already know these verses. 461 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:26,000 They are some of my favorite verses in the Bible. 462 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:31,000 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, 463 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,000 and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 464 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:36,000 Namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, 465 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:41,000 but not counting their trespasses against them. 466 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:45,000 Let me say that again. Namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, 467 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:48,000 not counting their trespasses against them. 468 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:52,000 And He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 469 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:56,000 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were entreating through us. 470 00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:00,000 We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 471 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:06,000 He made Him, God made Jesus, who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, 472 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:10,000 that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 473 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,000 Welcome to Holy Land folks. 474 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:16,000 Welcome to the ability to make the right choice, to do the next right thing, 475 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,000 to trust in Jesus Christ as Lord. 476 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,000 That means He tells you what to do when you do it. 477 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:22,000 As Savior that means He paid the price for your sins, 478 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:26,000 so even if you get it wrong, you can still get in. 479 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:32,000 Without Jesus, all the good works in the world are as filthy rags, 480 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:33,000 and you're no different. 481 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:36,000 It doesn't matter how good you think you are, or how good anyway, 482 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:40,000 you can get the Nobel Peace Prize, seven years running, 483 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:46,000 and all the world would be on front of Time Magazine, and Life Magazine, and all of them. 484 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:54,000 All the magazines that are touting how awesome you are, die, and go to hell for eternity. 485 00:41:54,000 --> 00:42:00,000 But with Jesus, every good work you do, every smile, every handshake, 486 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:04,000 every time you commit to show up and you show up, every word of worship, 487 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:10,000 every time you read your Bible, He can make all that valuable. 488 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:14,000 Don't dismiss it. 489 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,000 We're living in the promised land. 490 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:18,000 We're living in the grace land. 491 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:23,000 We're living in the Holy Land. 492 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,000 But don't kid yourself either. 493 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:29,000 For those who will not accept the salvation that Jesus has provided, 494 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:31,000 it's still the Holy Land. 495 00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:35,000 Remember, they would become a terror to all the world. 496 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:39,000 When they didn't honor God and follow what God told them to do, 497 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:41,000 He punished them, He chastised them, 498 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:44,000 and He did most of the things that were written in that list. 499 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:46,000 He didn't do them all because He didn't completely wipe them out. 500 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:49,000 He gave them a remnant. 501 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:51,000 He punished them and chastised them, 502 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:54,000 and all the world said, well, why? 503 00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:55,000 Why did God do that? 504 00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:57,000 Why did God call them out of Egypt? 505 00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:01,000 Why did God promise them and grace them and then punish them? 506 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:07,000 And the answer, all the world would know, well, because they're His people. 507 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:09,000 Because He claimed them for Himself, 508 00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:12,000 and then they didn't do what they were supposed to do. 509 00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:14,000 They weren't the people they were supposed to be. 510 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:15,000 What about you? 511 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:19,000 Are you going to do, if you're a Christian, 512 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,000 are you going to do what it is you're supposed to do? 513 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:25,000 You say, yes, I'm going to do it to the best of my ability. 514 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:27,000 That's all He asks for. 515 00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:29,000 The best of your ability, and then at the end of that, 516 00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:32,000 He shows up and you do way more than you ever thought you could. 517 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:35,000 That's how it works. 518 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:40,000 Are you going to be what it is that He said you can be in Jesus Christ? 519 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:42,000 You say, yes. 520 00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:46,000 Yes, and with all that's in me, I want to be what it is. 521 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:49,000 You do that by submitting all that you are to Jesus, 522 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:51,000 and He will make you different. 523 00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:53,000 Now, I said we're not all that different. 524 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:55,000 The way we look isn't all that different, etc. 525 00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:58,000 But the truth is, we're all unique. 526 00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:00,000 Human beings, every single human being, 527 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:03,000 the one thing that is not unique about us is we want to be different. 528 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,000 But you're already different. 529 00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:08,000 Created to be a unique representative of the Lord, 530 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:11,000 will you represent Him on the earth? 531 00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:13,000 Let the answer be yes. 532 00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:15,000 If you're here today and you've not given your life to Jesus Christ as Lord, 533 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:17,000 that means He tells you what to do and you do it, 534 00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:19,000 and a Savior, that means He paid the price for your sins, 535 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:21,000 then you do that right now while I'm still talking. 536 00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:23,000 We're going to sing a song in a moment. 537 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,000 It'll be the closing song of our service. 538 00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:30,000 During that song, you'll have the opportunity to make your decision to do that today public. 539 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,000 You came in and you say, I have questions, I'm still struggling. 540 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:34,000 That's okay. You struggle and have questions for as long as you want. 541 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:36,000 Just don't do it for too long. 542 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:39,000 Make sure that when you're ready and God's ready, 543 00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:41,000 because no one comes unto the Father except for calling you, 544 00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:43,000 you say, okay, yes, Lord, me. 545 00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:45,000 Yes, I'm in. I'm willing. 546 00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:47,000 And you be saved. 547 00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:49,000 And you let Him lead you for the rest of your life. 548 00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:51,000 And don't ever look back from that moment on. 549 00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:55,000 Always strive to be whatever it is that God wants you to be. 550 00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:57,000 You say, well, what happens when I make a mistake? 551 00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:59,000 I'll feel bad about myself. Yeah? 552 00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:01,000 Well, God doesn't use guilt. The enemy does. 553 00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:03,000 So you say, I'm not guilty in Christ. 554 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:05,000 I'm forgiven. Now I'm living for Jesus. 555 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:07,000 I shouldn't have done that. 556 00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:10,000 Turn it over to Him and let Him forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. 557 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:13,000 That's what 1 John 1 9 says. 558 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:16,000 And He is faithful and just to do so and He'll do it every time. 559 00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:18,000 Because why? 560 00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,000 Because it's already been paid for. 561 00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:22,000 The question is, will you let it stand? 562 00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:24,000 Will you let the payment stand? 563 00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:26,000 And if you are a Christian, commit yourself today. 564 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:28,000 Whatever it is that you know you've not been doing. 565 00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:30,000 If you've been seven hours a day on social media, 566 00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:34,000 you don't have to decide right now no more. 567 00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:38,000 I would suggest you say, well, from now on, seven hours a day in the Bible. 568 00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:40,000 You're like, whoa, seven hours a day in the Bible? 569 00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:42,000 No way. Nobody could do that, right? 570 00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:45,000 You can do seven hours on social media, you can do seven hours in the Bible. 571 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:47,000 Or maybe you want to have a little more balance 572 00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:49,000 and spend an hour or two in the Bible 573 00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:51,000 and still do some social media. 574 00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:55,000 But be careful because it's addictive and it can go the wrong way. 575 00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:58,000 God help us. 576 00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:00,000 God help us. 577 00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:02,000 We're living in the Holy Land. 578 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,000 I ask the praise team to come forward 579 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:06,000 and lead us in this song. 580 00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:08,000 And then as we sing, 581 00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:10,000 I said Isaiah 53, the punishment, 582 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:12,000 our punishment that was on him. 583 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,000 Amen. 584 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:18,000 There is peace to be had in Jesus and nowhere else. 585 00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:20,000 Will you stand with me and sing this song? 586 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:22,000 This will be our closing hymn. 587 00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:24,000 Come on, everybody stand up. It's that long enough. 588 00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:26,000 Let's sing this song together. 589 00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:28,000 But if the Lord is ministering in your heart, 590 00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:30,000 leading you to do something right now that you do it, 591 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:32,000 you come forward and you raise your hand right where you are 592 00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:34,000 and say, hey, that's me. I need to make this commitment. 593 00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:36,000 I need to make this commitment. 594 00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:38,000 If you're not going to do what you might be, 595 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:40,000 then you do that. 596 00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:42,000 And we'll let God have his way. 597 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:44,000 We're living in the Holy Land. 598 00:46:44,000 --> 00:47:12,000 We believe that we are never lost. We believe that we have life in the name of Jesus. 599 00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:14,000 We believe that Jesus is the way that life is found. 600 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:16,000 He said, I am the way and the truth and the life. 601 00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:18,000 No one come unto the Father except through me, that's Jesus Christ. 602 00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:20,000 If you're willing to come to Jesus, 603 00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:22,000 you can by that method alone. 604 00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:44,000 We believe that Jesus is the way that life is found. 605 00:47:44,000 --> 00:48:12,000 We believe in the truth here in the Holy Land. 606 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:16,000 You are here today, you're accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior for the very first time. 607 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:20,000 Oh, you're repenting of sin and turning your life over to the Lord. 608 00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:22,000 I pray that you come and share that with us, 609 00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:24,000 but do not be ashamed of Jesus Christ. 610 00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:34,000 We believe that we have life in the name Jesus 611 00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:44,000 We believe that we have never seen 612 00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:56,000 We believe the truth to follow our King, Jesus 613 00:48:56,000 --> 00:49:06,000 We believe that Jesus is real 614 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:14,000 We believe in the truth he reveals 615 00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:20,000 We believe that he sends us proxies 616 00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:24,000 We believe that he's coming again 617 00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:32,000 We believe that Jesus is real 618 00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:38,000 We believe in the truth he reveals 619 00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:44,000 We believe that he sends us proxies 620 00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:50,000 We believe that he's coming again 621 00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:56,000 We believe 622 00:49:56,000 --> 00:50:00,000 Oh, we believe 623 00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:06,000 If we're going to pray in just a moment, I'll give you the opportunity to speak. If there's a word in your heart that you need to say, now is your chance. 624 00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:10,000 You got a word? You want to say something? God will be with you, right? 625 00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:12,000 Go ahead, bring it. I got one. 626 00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:16,000 Um, hey guys. 627 00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:18,000 Hello, Perry. 628 00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:30,000 I would be free from the things in this world until we're willing to forgive those who have wronged us.