WEBVTT 00:00:01.870 --> 00:00:04.330 All right, little wonders, guys, kids, take your 00:00:04.330 --> 00:00:33.630 glasses, walk slowly. Yep, have fun. Every moment 00:00:33.630 --> 00:00:43.590 of my wandering never changes what you see. I'm 00:00:43.590 --> 00:04:17.370 trying to win this war. I come back. So as you 00:04:17.370 --> 00:04:19.189 might have guessed, that is the sermon title 00:04:19.189 --> 00:04:23.149 from last week. And it's a rough week for that 00:04:23.149 --> 00:04:26.089 to happen because the sermon title from this 00:04:26.089 --> 00:04:28.329 week has a word in it that is very important 00:04:28.329 --> 00:04:32.430 and also not at all common. Okay? And so I'm 00:04:32.430 --> 00:04:34.829 going to give you the sermon title. Arden, would 00:04:34.829 --> 00:04:37.050 you want to pop over there and put in the PowerPoint 00:04:37.050 --> 00:04:39.089 the actual sermon title for me? That way they 00:04:39.089 --> 00:04:42.110 can see it later when they need it. Alright? 00:04:42.649 --> 00:04:48.389 The sermon title is the... Apothigmatic. Apothigmatic. 00:04:48.569 --> 00:04:50.129 He'll put the word up on the screen in a minute. 00:04:50.209 --> 00:04:54.209 The apothigmatic history of God. And you're going 00:04:54.209 --> 00:04:55.870 to go, I don't know what that word means. And 00:04:55.870 --> 00:04:57.670 guess what? I didn't know it either. I had to 00:04:57.670 --> 00:04:59.490 look it up. So it's okay. We were all in the 00:04:59.490 --> 00:05:01.230 same boat to start with, and we'll all wind up 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:03.810 in the same boat by the time we're done. So it's 00:05:03.810 --> 00:05:06.649 apothigmatic. And word may even say it's spelled 00:05:06.649 --> 00:05:10.519 incorrectly. And we're looking at Psalm 78. So 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:12.399 the very first thing we need to do if we're going 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:16.399 to look at Psalm 78 is read Psalm 78. So maybe 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.600 a little hoot, holler, give me an amen as we 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:22.519 say Psalm 78. Thank you. From this moment on, 00:05:22.579 --> 00:05:24.399 what I am reading to you will be God's word. 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:26.199 If you have a slightly different translation, 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:28.399 that's okay. We're even going to talk about that 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:32.100 before we're through. But this is what it says 00:05:32.100 --> 00:05:35.220 in the New American Standard Version, at least 00:05:35.220 --> 00:05:41.009 if I read it correctly. Psalm 78. just do a little 00:05:41.009 --> 00:05:42.209 breaking down, because we're reading a whole 00:05:42.209 --> 00:05:43.329 thing, I'm not going to do a ton of breaking 00:05:43.329 --> 00:05:46.730 down, okay? So, Psalm 78 starts like this. It 00:05:46.730 --> 00:05:48.889 says, Listen, O my people, to my instruction. 00:05:49.170 --> 00:05:51.889 Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I 00:05:51.889 --> 00:05:54.290 will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter 00:05:54.290 --> 00:05:57.209 dark sayings of old, which we have heard and 00:05:57.209 --> 00:06:02.990 known, and our fathers have told us. We will 00:06:02.990 --> 00:06:05.509 not conceal them from their children, but tell 00:06:05.509 --> 00:06:08.300 to the generation to come the praises of the 00:06:08.300 --> 00:06:10.519 Lord and His strength and His wondrous works 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:13.639 that He has done. For He established a testimony 00:06:13.639 --> 00:06:17.920 in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:20.199 He commanded our fathers, that they should teach 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:22.939 them to their children, that the generation to 00:06:22.939 --> 00:06:26.079 come might know even the children yet to be born, 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:29.139 that they may arise and tell them to their children, 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:32.060 that they should put their confidence in God 00:06:32.060 --> 00:06:35.300 and not forget the works of God, but keep His 00:06:35.300 --> 00:06:37.899 commandments. and not be like their fathers, 00:06:37.980 --> 00:06:40.279 a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:42.639 that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:45.439 was not faithful to God. The sons of Ephraim 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:47.779 were archers equipped with bows, yet they turned 00:06:47.779 --> 00:06:49.939 their back in the day of battle. So we'll stop 00:06:49.939 --> 00:06:51.720 there for one second just to make sure we're 00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:58.279 getting up to 9a, really. Basically, all of that, 00:06:58.339 --> 00:07:00.779 I hope you got the idea, is about telling the 00:07:00.779 --> 00:07:02.420 people that you know and the next generation 00:07:02.420 --> 00:07:06.329 the teachings of God. So, of course, the psalmist 00:07:06.329 --> 00:07:07.949 is talking about what had been written by that 00:07:07.949 --> 00:07:10.550 point in time and the complete word of God. So 00:07:10.550 --> 00:07:12.110 we have access to the New Testament that he would 00:07:12.110 --> 00:07:14.329 not have had. But he's basically saying God has 00:07:14.329 --> 00:07:17.649 commanded us to hear the words that he is saying 00:07:17.649 --> 00:07:21.170 to us, to see the world for what it is, and to 00:07:21.170 --> 00:07:24.870 realize that he is showing us, telling us something, 00:07:25.029 --> 00:07:27.769 and then to deliver that something that he is 00:07:27.769 --> 00:07:30.230 showing us, telling us to the people around us 00:07:30.230 --> 00:07:32.779 and to the next generation. And even in there 00:07:32.779 --> 00:07:35.139 you can see some hints already toward how people 00:07:35.139 --> 00:07:39.699 did not do that. Now, let's just be kind of simple 00:07:39.699 --> 00:07:42.899 about this for a moment. I am a father of a bunch 00:07:42.899 --> 00:07:45.740 of kids, praise the Lord, and I have some grandkids. 00:07:46.300 --> 00:07:49.540 And I would say to them to follow the Lord better 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:52.860 than I have. So I think you could say this to 00:07:52.860 --> 00:07:55.560 your children one day, follow the Lord better 00:07:55.560 --> 00:07:57.620 than you have. And your children will one day 00:07:57.620 --> 00:08:00.959 say to their children, follow the Lord. better 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:04.360 than I have. But it's definitely true that we 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:06.240 can look at the histories, and he's kind of given 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:08.620 some very brief synopsis here of what that was 00:08:08.620 --> 00:08:12.160 like, and how God taught them and said, do not 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:13.980 conceal these things, teach them to your children 00:08:13.980 --> 00:08:15.180 so that your children can teach them to their 00:08:15.180 --> 00:08:17.379 children, and even those who have yet to be born 00:08:17.379 --> 00:08:20.180 in a really long time. Notice in verse 2 he said, 00:08:20.300 --> 00:08:22.480 I will open my mouth in a parable and I will 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:25.879 utter dark sayings of old. So you might recognize 00:08:25.879 --> 00:08:29.470 that. As used about Jesus in the New Testament. 00:08:29.529 --> 00:08:32.009 Jesus opened his mouth in parables. He told people 00:08:32.009 --> 00:08:34.230 stories that would help people to understand 00:08:34.230 --> 00:08:36.490 the deeper teachings of God if they were open 00:08:36.490 --> 00:08:39.049 to it. But also they might go, you know, that's 00:08:39.049 --> 00:08:41.750 no big deal really. They could blow it off if 00:08:41.750 --> 00:08:44.289 they wanted to. And people did that. And some 00:08:44.289 --> 00:08:45.970 people then got offended by the parables and 00:08:45.970 --> 00:08:47.629 some people didn't. And they were like, well, 00:08:47.649 --> 00:08:49.529 tell me more. Help me understand that. And they 00:08:49.529 --> 00:08:52.610 learned even more. And then this psalm. was quoted 00:08:52.610 --> 00:08:54.850 in talking about Jesus. But notice the second 00:08:54.850 --> 00:08:57.090 half of it says, I will utter dark sayings of 00:08:57.090 --> 00:08:59.450 old. And it's a little difficult to translate 00:08:59.450 --> 00:09:02.190 into the English from the original Hebrew. And 00:09:02.190 --> 00:09:03.789 so in your Bible, it might even be a little different. 00:09:03.830 --> 00:09:05.309 Say if you have a King James or something like 00:09:05.309 --> 00:09:07.049 that, they may have translated it slightly differently. 00:09:07.269 --> 00:09:09.370 But basically what it's saying is the things 00:09:09.370 --> 00:09:12.309 that people never knew back then. So Jesus was 00:09:12.309 --> 00:09:14.250 going to use parables and sayings to teach the 00:09:14.250 --> 00:09:16.730 truth of something that you would not otherwise 00:09:16.730 --> 00:09:20.779 get. So in your day, There is something for you 00:09:20.779 --> 00:09:22.960 that you wouldn't get about how God created the 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:24.820 universe, about how God set things up, about 00:09:24.820 --> 00:09:27.460 how God responds to the way people act. What 00:09:27.460 --> 00:09:30.879 God is likely to do in our day is contained in 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:33.399 the scriptures, but you might have to listen 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:36.159 to God to understand them more deeply. That's 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:37.799 part of what we do when we say reaching new heights 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.279 in Jesus. We are working together to go beyond 00:09:40.279 --> 00:09:42.639 the outer shell to get to a deeper understanding 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:45.039 of what is there. That's part of what the church 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:47.970 is for. So we all work together to do that. It's 00:09:47.970 --> 00:09:50.110 not just me up here preaching. If it wasn't for 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:52.190 you, I couldn't do what I do. It's not possible. 00:09:52.549 --> 00:09:55.169 So the bottom line is we all work together to 00:09:55.169 --> 00:09:58.389 go deeper. And Jesus would utter the parables 00:09:58.389 --> 00:10:01.070 with his mouth and the teachings of old. And 00:10:01.070 --> 00:10:02.470 you see that. Like he says, well, you know, it 00:10:02.470 --> 00:10:06.029 says, I know you know it says this, but now pay 00:10:06.029 --> 00:10:08.629 attention to this. And the new thing that he 00:10:08.629 --> 00:10:10.929 taught was not new at all. It was already there. 00:10:11.389 --> 00:10:13.110 Like when he talks about adultery, how lusting 00:10:13.110 --> 00:10:15.210 in your heart after a woman is the same as committing 00:10:15.210 --> 00:10:17.490 adultery already, right? So you're sinning against 00:10:17.490 --> 00:10:19.490 God if you lust after a woman in your heart, 00:10:19.570 --> 00:10:21.889 as if you were committing adultery. That was 00:10:21.889 --> 00:10:24.190 already contained in the command. All he did 00:10:24.190 --> 00:10:26.850 was unpack it. He didn't add to it something 00:10:26.850 --> 00:10:29.169 new. Even the love your neighbor as yourself, 00:10:29.490 --> 00:10:31.549 which would actually be called a new command, 00:10:31.769 --> 00:10:33.690 it was new because the Jewish leaders were not 00:10:33.690 --> 00:10:35.289 teaching it. They weren't teaching them, and 00:10:35.289 --> 00:10:37.490 they certainly weren't modeling it, right? And 00:10:37.490 --> 00:10:39.779 so he says, This new command I give you. But 00:10:39.779 --> 00:10:41.399 this really wasn't a new command. It was new 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:42.659 to them because they weren't getting it from 00:10:42.659 --> 00:10:45.059 any other Jewish teacher at the time. But is 00:10:45.059 --> 00:10:46.860 it contained in God's Word? Because you realize 00:10:46.860 --> 00:10:49.240 the second half of all of the Ten Commandments 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:51.240 is all about loving your neighbor as yourself. 00:10:52.299 --> 00:10:55.639 Right? And so it was already there. So the psalmist 00:10:55.639 --> 00:10:58.360 is saying here in 78, these teachings, we have 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:00.759 to go deeper and understand these teachings the 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:02.799 best we possibly can so we can deliver them to 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:04.759 people in our generation and to our children 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:06.500 so they can deliver them to your great, great, 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:08.679 great grandchildren. After you're gone, you've 00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:12.120 got some work to do to digest and refine and 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:14.299 deliver this information so that they can deliver 00:11:14.299 --> 00:11:16.179 them. It's great to think, oh, my kids, when 00:11:16.179 --> 00:11:17.879 they grow up, they'll honor God. I hope they 00:11:17.879 --> 00:11:20.539 will. It's even great to think, oh, my grandkids, 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:23.470 and I've seen some gifting in my kids. that I 00:11:23.470 --> 00:11:25.570 don't have, and that's awesome. And then I've 00:11:25.570 --> 00:11:27.929 seen gifting in my grandkids that I don't have 00:11:27.929 --> 00:11:30.289 and my kids don't have, and that's awesome. But 00:11:30.289 --> 00:11:33.490 what about my grandkids' kids? If they only digest 00:11:33.490 --> 00:11:37.850 the Bible at 17%, then how much can they really 00:11:37.850 --> 00:11:41.250 teach the next generation? Less than 17%. You 00:11:41.250 --> 00:11:43.269 can't teach them anything unless you teach them 00:11:43.269 --> 00:11:45.250 to learn on their own, in which case they will 00:11:45.250 --> 00:11:47.450 learn it, and they might get to 34%, which wouldn't 00:11:47.450 --> 00:11:50.059 that be great? The bottom line is we're called 00:11:50.059 --> 00:11:52.879 by God here in Psalm 78 as the psalmist is really 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:55.419 recognizing what the Bible says that we are supposed 00:11:55.419 --> 00:11:58.820 to teach. And the end result of that would be 00:11:58.820 --> 00:12:00.759 that the generations that come, hopefully our 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:02.080 generation and then the ones that come, would 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:05.200 not be like the generations before who were stubborn 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:07.860 and rebellious and they did not prepare their 00:12:07.860 --> 00:12:11.080 hearts and their spirits were not faithful to 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:13.409 God. And then he ends with this thought, the 00:12:13.409 --> 00:12:15.190 sons of Ephraim. Now this is what's called an 00:12:15.190 --> 00:12:17.649 analogy. The sons of Ephraim were not necessarily 00:12:17.649 --> 00:12:20.549 actually like this, but he's saying, understand, 00:12:20.669 --> 00:12:23.110 this is the way it was. They were as archers 00:12:23.110 --> 00:12:25.269 equipped with bows that turned their back in 00:12:25.269 --> 00:12:27.389 the day of battle. And so if you're a follower 00:12:27.389 --> 00:12:30.509 of God, And you do not do what the psalmist is 00:12:30.509 --> 00:12:32.389 teaching us to do. Learn what it is that we need 00:12:32.389 --> 00:12:34.009 to know about God and deliver it to our generation 00:12:34.009 --> 00:12:35.649 and the next generation so they can deliver it 00:12:35.649 --> 00:12:37.590 to the next one and so on. If you don't do that, 00:12:37.710 --> 00:12:40.649 you're as an archer who is armed with a bow but 00:12:40.649 --> 00:12:43.990 does not come into the conflict. They run away 00:12:43.990 --> 00:12:46.769 instead. So the archers are typically back here 00:12:46.769 --> 00:12:49.090 and the battle is typically up there so they 00:12:49.090 --> 00:12:50.970 shouldn't have to worry about running. But if 00:12:50.970 --> 00:12:53.169 they think there's any chance that the main battle 00:12:53.169 --> 00:12:56.029 might be overrun, they have two choices. They 00:12:56.029 --> 00:12:58.759 can fire faster. Shoot more arrows, right? Do 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:01.419 more work. And if the enemy comes close to them, 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:03.100 put their bow on their back and draw their dagger 00:13:03.100 --> 00:13:05.659 or their short sword and fight. That's one choice. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:07.779 And the other choice is to go, oh, they might 00:13:07.779 --> 00:13:09.360 be overrun. We're going to run away and live 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:12.039 to fight another day. And God says, if you run 00:13:12.039 --> 00:13:14.139 away and live to fight another day, you are a 00:13:14.139 --> 00:13:17.320 coward. You are useless. You are worthless in 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:18.919 the kingdom of God. That's basically what he's 00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:20.720 saying. He's saying you don't want to be like 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:22.139 that. You don't want to be an archer who turned 00:13:22.139 --> 00:13:25.299 his back in the day of battle. Now we're on verse 00:13:25.299 --> 00:13:28.059 10. They did not keep the covenant of God. This 00:13:28.059 --> 00:13:30.980 sounds bad. They did not keep means they didn't 00:13:30.980 --> 00:13:32.679 retain it. They didn't keep it in its fullness. 00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:35.379 And they refused to walk in His law and they 00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:38.399 forgot His deeds and His miracles that He had 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:42.360 shown them. He wrought wonders before their fathers 00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:47.220 in the land of Egypt in the field of Zoan. So 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:50.019 notice that we're up at this point and what did 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:52.500 He say? We will tell. This is what God's people 00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:54.480 will do. We will digest it and we will deliver 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:57.110 it. That's what we'll do. And then what did he 00:13:57.110 --> 00:13:59.110 say of those who were like those people from 00:13:59.110 --> 00:14:02.129 Ephraim? He said they forgot their job. They 00:14:02.129 --> 00:14:04.950 didn't do it. They forgot his deeds, his miracles 00:14:04.950 --> 00:14:06.929 that he had shown them. He wrought wonders and 00:14:06.929 --> 00:14:11.149 they forgot all of those things. What did they 00:14:11.149 --> 00:14:13.690 forget? He wrought wonders before their fathers 00:14:13.690 --> 00:14:16.269 in the land of Egypt in the field of Zoan. That's 00:14:16.269 --> 00:14:18.110 the northern capital of Egypt if anyone cares. 00:14:18.389 --> 00:14:21.230 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through 00:14:21.230 --> 00:14:24.240 and he made the water stand up like a heap. Then 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.200 he led them with the cloud by day and all the 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:29.399 night with a light of fire. He split the rocks 00:14:29.399 --> 00:14:31.059 in the wilderness and gave them abundant drink 00:14:31.059 --> 00:14:33.799 like the ocean depths. He brought forth streams 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:36.620 also from the rock and caused waters to run down 00:14:36.620 --> 00:14:39.990 like rivers. See, they saw God do those amazing 00:14:39.990 --> 00:14:42.629 things, yet when they came to the promised land, 00:14:42.750 --> 00:14:44.509 does anybody remember how that went? Twelve spies, 00:14:44.750 --> 00:14:46.470 ten of them came back and said, oh, it's a really 00:14:46.470 --> 00:14:47.909 rich land, but these people are just too big, 00:14:47.929 --> 00:14:50.409 we can't handle it. After all that God had done, 00:14:50.570 --> 00:14:53.090 that was their response to God. Instead of saying 00:14:53.090 --> 00:14:55.409 to their children, listen, our God is great, 00:14:55.549 --> 00:14:57.850 our God is powerful, our God is amazing, our 00:14:57.850 --> 00:14:59.730 God has done miracles, let me tell you the miracles. 00:15:00.539 --> 00:15:02.240 As Ariana was growing up, and it's a little less 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:05.039 so now, she just recently turned 10, a little 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:06.759 less so, but still to this day, she'll ask me, 00:15:06.779 --> 00:15:10.360 tell me a family story. She says, tell me a family 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:13.519 story. And you should be telling your family 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:16.500 stories to your kids or to the younger generations, 00:15:16.620 --> 00:15:18.259 whether they're your family or not. The next 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:19.700 generation is your responsibility, even if it's 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:21.559 not your blood, right? And so you should be telling 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:23.759 those stories. But let's check for a second, 00:15:23.820 --> 00:15:28.100 who is the star? We tell about the great feats 00:15:28.100 --> 00:15:29.980 of our youth, the amazing things that we did. 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:33.279 So we say things like, we remember the day when 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:36.539 Tony and Michael both hit home runs playing softball. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.559 But who is the feature of the story? We've got 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:44.620 to tell our kids it's all God. God made me able. 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:47.799 God made me able then. God makes me able now. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:50.240 We've got to talk about what God is doing. And 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:52.240 yet, we look at our superstars on the football 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.559 field and our superstars on the movie and with 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:57.320 superstar influencers on social media. But the 00:15:57.320 --> 00:15:59.799 truth is, if they don't give glory to God, they 00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:02.700 have no place in your eyesight or in your ears. 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:06.240 They have no place. Because your job is to receive 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:07.980 the miracles, the teachings, the understanding 00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:10.240 of who God is, and deliver it to the next generation, 00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:12.440 to the people around you, and to the next generation, 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:14.820 the kids and grandkids to come. Because otherwise, 00:16:15.179 --> 00:16:18.139 who has delivered what is ours to deliver, and 00:16:18.139 --> 00:16:20.019 then who will deliver it five generations down 00:16:20.019 --> 00:16:22.299 the road? And I can answer that question for 00:16:22.299 --> 00:16:24.360 you before we're through. But if you don't do 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:27.480 your job, you will be missing out on promoting, 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:31.559 speaking about, teaching the great miracles of 00:16:31.559 --> 00:16:34.179 God as they did. And you see what they did. Their 00:16:34.179 --> 00:16:36.879 entire generation failed to promote it to the 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:40.200 next generation. And what happened to them? They 00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:42.740 died in the wilderness. They never went into 00:16:42.740 --> 00:16:45.539 the promised land. They didn't make it in. Every 00:16:45.539 --> 00:16:48.340 one of their faces went down in the sand. That's 00:16:48.340 --> 00:16:50.659 a scary consequence for not being truthful about 00:16:50.659 --> 00:16:53.320 the miracles in the history of God. Verse 17 00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:57.480 says, And we're going on. Yet they still continue 00:16:57.480 --> 00:16:59.860 to sin against Him. So all those miraculous things 00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:01.519 that God did, and still they continue to sin 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:04.059 against Him. To rebel against the Most High in 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:06.339 the desert. And in their heart, they put God 00:17:06.339 --> 00:17:09.000 to the test by asking food according to their 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:11.119 desires. So God was taking care of them in every 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:12.839 way. And then they started complaining against 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:14.460 God. They said, oh, it's not good enough. It's 00:17:14.460 --> 00:17:17.410 not good enough. Then they spoke against God. 00:17:17.490 --> 00:17:19.829 They said, can God prepare a table in the wilderness? 00:17:20.130 --> 00:17:22.049 See, he's too weak. He can't prepare a table 00:17:22.049 --> 00:17:23.849 in the wilderness. That was their taunt, if you 00:17:23.849 --> 00:17:26.170 will, toward God. You think there's anybody taunting 00:17:26.170 --> 00:17:28.210 toward God in this world today? You think it's 00:17:28.210 --> 00:17:30.569 because they've forgotten the character of God, 00:17:30.690 --> 00:17:32.670 the things that God has done? Absolutely, that's 00:17:32.670 --> 00:17:35.690 the case. Verse 20. Behold, he struck the rocks 00:17:35.690 --> 00:17:38.269 so that waters gushed out and streams were overflowing. 00:17:38.470 --> 00:17:41.849 Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat? 00:17:42.269 --> 00:17:45.190 For His people, so taunting God. Thinking about 00:17:45.190 --> 00:17:49.069 what God can't do or won't do rather than what 00:17:49.069 --> 00:17:51.349 God can do and will do. That was their mindset. 00:17:51.650 --> 00:17:54.990 So the psalmist is saying they wound up in rebellion. 00:17:55.430 --> 00:17:58.170 They weren't teaching the mysteries to the generation 00:17:58.170 --> 00:18:00.930 and they wound up in rebellion instead. Taunting 00:18:00.930 --> 00:18:04.650 God. Can God do it? Yes, God can do it. 21. Therefore 00:18:04.650 --> 00:18:06.990 the Lord heard and was full of wrath. Let's see 00:18:06.990 --> 00:18:09.230 what God's response is to their taunting God. 00:18:09.710 --> 00:18:12.289 He heard and was full of wrath. Wrath means violent 00:18:12.289 --> 00:18:15.329 opposition. It does not mean anger in this case. 00:18:15.410 --> 00:18:16.849 There are some cases where it does, but it does 00:18:16.849 --> 00:18:18.849 not in this case. It means violent opposition. 00:18:18.990 --> 00:18:21.390 God was full of violent opposition and a fire 00:18:21.390 --> 00:18:24.630 was kindled against Jacob. Jacob would be renamed 00:18:24.630 --> 00:18:27.630 Israel and Israel would be the founding man of 00:18:27.630 --> 00:18:31.529 the entire nation of Israel to this day. That 00:18:31.529 --> 00:18:34.529 has not stopped. And it says, And a fire was 00:18:34.529 --> 00:18:37.490 kindled against Jacob, and anger also mounted 00:18:37.490 --> 00:18:40.150 against Israel. Now there is the anger, right? 00:18:40.529 --> 00:18:43.269 Because they did not believe in God and did not 00:18:43.269 --> 00:18:45.930 trust in His salvation. So because they didn't 00:18:45.930 --> 00:18:48.390 believe in God and trust in His salvation, they 00:18:48.390 --> 00:18:51.829 made God wrathful. He would destroy them in the 00:18:51.829 --> 00:18:54.769 wilderness. And because they did not believe 00:18:54.769 --> 00:18:57.509 in God and trust in his salvation, he took his 00:18:57.509 --> 00:18:59.589 blessings away from them. They would not go into 00:18:59.589 --> 00:19:02.710 the promised land. 23. Yet he commanded the clouds 00:19:02.710 --> 00:19:06.190 above. So now we're going to talk about God doing 00:19:06.190 --> 00:19:08.450 amazing things despite their rebellion. Yet he 00:19:08.450 --> 00:19:10.549 commanded the clouds above and opened the doors 00:19:10.549 --> 00:19:13.049 of heaven. And he rained down manna upon them 00:19:13.049 --> 00:19:16.440 to eat and gave them food from heaven. Man did 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:18.400 eat the bread of angels. Doesn't mean that's 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:20.160 what angels eat. It just means it came from heaven 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:22.319 and that's where it came from. He sent them food 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:25.319 in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:27.380 in the heavens and by his power he directed the 00:19:27.380 --> 00:19:30.000 south wind. When he rained meat upon them like 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:31.759 dust. He caused the wind to blow and the birds 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:34.099 fell down, sat in a camp and they took them and 00:19:34.099 --> 00:19:36.980 they ate them. When he rained meat upon them 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:39.380 like dust. dust, even winged fowl like the sand 00:19:39.380 --> 00:19:42.160 of the seas. Then He let them fall in the midst 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:44.539 of their camp, round about their dwellings. So 00:19:44.539 --> 00:19:47.759 they ate and were well filled, and their desire 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:51.160 He gave to them. Before they had satisfied their 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:53.119 desire, while their food was in their mouths, 00:19:53.319 --> 00:19:56.680 the anger of God rose against them and killed 00:19:56.680 --> 00:20:00.140 some of their stoutest ones and subdued the choice 00:20:00.140 --> 00:20:04.539 men of Israel. So God's providing for them despite 00:20:05.400 --> 00:20:07.720 The fact that they're not trusting in Him, not 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:09.640 believing like they should, He provides for them. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:12.680 So be careful, because God will provide for you, 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:15.839 give you what you need, even if you're not faithful 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:17.839 and obedient. And you might start thinking, well, 00:20:17.900 --> 00:20:19.660 God's given me what I need. I got what I need. 00:20:19.779 --> 00:20:23.680 I'm fine. I'm all good. Only for God to deliver 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:29.700 in wrath a worse provision, if you will. In 32 00:20:29.700 --> 00:20:32.119 it says, in spite of all this, they still sinned. 00:20:32.119 --> 00:20:33.940 In spite of what? Again, let's be clear. The 00:20:33.940 --> 00:20:35.900 fact that He provided for them when they were 00:20:35.900 --> 00:20:39.140 disobedient, and then He's punishing them in 00:20:39.140 --> 00:20:41.380 wrath because they were disobedient, didn't believe, 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:43.559 and He's already provided for them in food and 00:20:43.559 --> 00:20:45.940 everything else. So now punishment comes in. 00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:49.339 In spite of all this, they still sinned and did 00:20:49.339 --> 00:20:51.839 not believe in His wonderful works. So He brought 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:54.980 their days to an end in futility and their years 00:20:54.980 --> 00:20:58.130 in sudden terror. And the ultimate outcome, as 00:20:58.130 --> 00:21:02.789 we talked about last week, was death. 34. When 00:21:02.789 --> 00:21:07.150 He kindled them, then they sought Him. I'm sorry, 00:21:07.210 --> 00:21:09.289 when He killed them, there you go, when He killed 00:21:09.289 --> 00:21:11.349 them, then they sought Him. And they returned 00:21:11.349 --> 00:21:13.690 and searched diligently for God. In other words, 00:21:13.710 --> 00:21:18.130 as some decided, went down, they're done. Right? 00:21:18.230 --> 00:21:19.750 Somebody else said, oh, they got what they deserved. 00:21:21.289 --> 00:21:22.710 But I'm not going to get what they deserved. 00:21:23.089 --> 00:21:25.329 And they repented and turned to God. So when 00:21:25.329 --> 00:21:27.289 He killed some of them, Then some of them sought 00:21:27.289 --> 00:21:29.410 Him, the ones that remained. And they returned 00:21:29.410 --> 00:21:31.430 and they searched diligently for God. And they 00:21:31.430 --> 00:21:33.450 remembered that God was their rock and the Most 00:21:33.450 --> 00:21:39.809 High God their Redeemer. So, does God have to 00:21:39.809 --> 00:21:43.549 kill in order for us to repent and follow Him? 00:21:44.490 --> 00:21:46.829 That's what that mathematical equation led us 00:21:46.829 --> 00:21:49.230 to. The final conclusion was somebody around 00:21:49.230 --> 00:21:51.269 you, somebody close to you has to die in their 00:21:51.269 --> 00:21:52.950 sin in order for you to figure out you don't 00:21:52.950 --> 00:21:54.970 want to go the way they go and repent and turn 00:21:54.970 --> 00:21:58.359 to God. Is that true? It's not, but that's how 00:21:58.359 --> 00:22:00.700 it played out in their circumstances. It is possible 00:22:00.700 --> 00:22:03.019 for no one around you to die, for everyone around 00:22:03.019 --> 00:22:05.279 you to repent, because repentance is available 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:09.720 to everyone. We're in verse 36. But they deceived 00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:11.740 Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their 00:22:11.740 --> 00:22:14.539 tongue. So after they saw people die from it, 00:22:14.579 --> 00:22:16.900 saw people suffer and die from God's wrath, then 00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:18.579 they repented, turned to God, they remembered 00:22:18.579 --> 00:22:20.579 that He was their rock, the most high. high God 00:22:20.579 --> 00:22:23.279 their Redeemer. But then later, they deceived 00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:24.940 Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:27.240 tongue, for their heart was not steadfast toward 00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:29.599 Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant. 00:22:30.019 --> 00:22:32.839 So again, they deceived God. And then in 38 it 00:22:32.839 --> 00:22:35.359 says, But He, being compassionate, forgave their 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:37.839 iniquity and did not destroy them. And often 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.480 He restrained His anger and did not arouse all 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:42.839 His wrath. Thus He remembered that they were 00:22:42.839 --> 00:22:45.539 but flesh, a wind that passes and does not return. 00:22:46.299 --> 00:22:49.720 So God was gentle to remember. They repented 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:51.400 and turned to Him. Then they deceived Him with 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:52.880 their lips and then He was still gentle. And 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:54.500 I submit to you that the church is in that place 00:22:54.500 --> 00:22:56.480 today. That the church in the United States of 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:58.660 America and the church the world over is filled, 00:22:58.900 --> 00:23:01.140 not filled to the brim, right? Not everybody, 00:23:01.380 --> 00:23:03.839 but filled with deceivers. Filled with people 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:06.039 who have repented and turned to God and are yet 00:23:06.039 --> 00:23:08.680 living in sin. So that's the exact place where 00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:11.079 we are. And God in His grace and in His love 00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:13.779 has forgiven their iniquity and does not destroy 00:23:13.779 --> 00:23:16.420 them. He's restraining His anger against the 00:23:16.420 --> 00:23:19.579 church and He does not arouse all of His wrath 00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:23.180 because He remembers that we are but flesh. Then 00:23:23.180 --> 00:23:27.619 we're in verse 40. This is after God realizes 00:23:27.619 --> 00:23:31.059 they are but flesh and He has not poured out 00:23:31.059 --> 00:23:33.000 His full wrath upon them. This is how often they 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:35.680 rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:37.819 Him in the desert. And again and again they tempted 00:23:37.819 --> 00:23:40.539 God and pained the Holy One of Israel. They did 00:23:40.539 --> 00:23:43.240 not remember His power. The day when He redeemed 00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:45.779 them from the adversary. That's a really touching 00:23:45.779 --> 00:23:47.240 verse right there if you'll stop and think about 00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:50.259 it for a second. Has the church, has God's people 00:23:50.259 --> 00:23:53.519 forgotten the day that God redeemed us from the 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:59.680 adversary? Well, when he performed his signs 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:01.880 in Egypt and his marvels in the field of Zoan, 00:24:01.940 --> 00:24:05.380 has God's people forgotten the signs that God 00:24:05.380 --> 00:24:07.579 performed in Egypt, the ten plagues and so much 00:24:07.579 --> 00:24:11.220 more? He turned their rivers to blood and their 00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:13.180 streams they could not drink. He sent among them 00:24:13.180 --> 00:24:15.079 swarms of flies which devoured them and frogs 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:17.339 which destroyed them. He gave also their crops 00:24:17.339 --> 00:24:19.259 to the grasshopper and the product of their labor 00:24:19.259 --> 00:24:21.140 to the locust. He destroyed their vines with 00:24:21.140 --> 00:24:23.299 hailstones and their sycamore trees with frost. 00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:25.960 He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:28.019 and their herds to bolts of lightning. He sent 00:24:28.019 --> 00:24:31.140 upon them his burning anger, fury and indignation 00:24:31.140 --> 00:24:36.070 and trouble, a band of destroying angels. He 00:24:36.070 --> 00:24:38.730 leveled a path for his anger. He did not spare 00:24:38.730 --> 00:24:41.049 their soul from death, but gave over their life 00:24:41.049 --> 00:24:43.690 to the plague and smote all the firstborn in 00:24:43.690 --> 00:24:46.769 Egypt and first issue of their virility in the 00:24:46.769 --> 00:24:50.150 tents of Ham. But he led forth his own people 00:24:50.150 --> 00:24:52.410 like sheep and guided them in the wilderness 00:24:52.410 --> 00:24:55.009 like a flock. And he led them safely so that 00:24:55.009 --> 00:24:57.789 they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their 00:24:57.789 --> 00:25:02.609 enemies. So he brought them to his holy land. 00:25:03.069 --> 00:25:05.930 to this hill country, which his right hand had 00:25:05.930 --> 00:25:08.269 gained. He also drove out the nations before 00:25:08.269 --> 00:25:10.390 them, and he apportioned them for an inheritance 00:25:10.390 --> 00:25:14.809 by measurement, and made the tribes of Israel 00:25:14.809 --> 00:25:18.430 dwell in their tents. So God did all of that 00:25:18.430 --> 00:25:22.329 after God's people were back and forth and back 00:25:22.329 --> 00:25:24.450 and forth in their righteousness, back and forth 00:25:24.450 --> 00:25:26.650 in believing, back and forth in testifying, back 00:25:26.650 --> 00:25:28.549 and forth in delivering the truth of His miracles. 00:25:28.769 --> 00:25:32.859 And yet God did all of that. In verse 56 it says, 00:25:33.059 --> 00:25:35.299 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most 00:25:35.299 --> 00:25:38.519 High God, and did not keep His testimonies, but 00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:41.799 turned back and acted treacherously like their 00:25:41.799 --> 00:25:44.299 fathers. They turned aside like a treacherous 00:25:44.299 --> 00:25:47.000 bow, for they provoked Him with their high places 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:49.900 and aroused His jealousy with their graven images. 00:25:50.019 --> 00:25:52.960 When God heard, He was filled with wrath and 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:57.980 greatly abhorred Israel. So that he abandoned 00:25:57.980 --> 00:25:59.839 the dwelling place at Shiloh, that's where the 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:02.000 tabernacle was first settled, where the first 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:03.839 worship of God was taking place in the promised 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:06.160 land. The tent which he had pitched among men. 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:09.619 And he gave up his strength to captivity and 00:26:09.619 --> 00:26:12.380 his glory into the hand of the adversary. He 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:14.799 also delivered his people to the sword and was 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:17.599 filled with wrath at his inheritance. Fire devoured 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:20.019 his young men and his virgins had no wedding 00:26:20.019 --> 00:26:23.079 songs. His priests fell by the sword and his 00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:29.680 widows could not weep. So God now allows those 00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:31.819 who go back and forth and back and forth that 00:26:31.819 --> 00:26:35.079 He showed grace beyond measure. He did so much 00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:37.180 for them after they failed to believe in Him, 00:26:37.220 --> 00:26:39.099 trust Him, and deliver His message to the world. 00:26:39.220 --> 00:26:42.240 And now, finally, He allows them to suffer in 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:45.420 the worst way. It's 65. Then the Lord awoke as 00:26:45.420 --> 00:26:49.200 if from sleep, like a warrior overcome by wine. 00:26:49.660 --> 00:26:52.750 Now, has God ever slept? No. Has God ever been 00:26:52.750 --> 00:26:55.109 overcome by wine? No, that's not what it means. 00:26:55.150 --> 00:26:58.130 What it means is after he allowed his people 00:26:58.130 --> 00:27:00.390 to suffer all that wrath because of what they 00:27:00.390 --> 00:27:03.329 didn't do, because of the evils that they perpetrated, 00:27:03.410 --> 00:27:06.109 after he did all of that, now he's coming on 00:27:06.109 --> 00:27:07.730 the scene and he's going to fix everything. And 00:27:07.730 --> 00:27:10.470 it says he drove his adversaries backwards. He 00:27:10.470 --> 00:27:13.109 put on them an everlasting reproach. He also 00:27:13.109 --> 00:27:15.609 rejected the tent of Joseph and did not choose 00:27:15.609 --> 00:27:17.490 the tribe of Ephraim. So those are two really 00:27:17.490 --> 00:27:19.690 big names in Israel and they would no longer 00:27:19.690 --> 00:27:22.220 be on top. They would no longer be recognized 00:27:22.220 --> 00:27:24.700 as powerful. They would no longer be recognized 00:27:24.700 --> 00:27:27.259 as God's chosen people. But he chose the tribe 00:27:27.259 --> 00:27:30.319 of Judah. That's the tribe of David. Mount Zion, 00:27:30.599 --> 00:27:35.059 which he loved. So Judah had Jerusalem, and Jerusalem 00:27:35.059 --> 00:27:40.220 had Jesus, David's descendant. And so God would 00:27:40.220 --> 00:27:42.319 solve all the problems. We're almost there. And 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:44.859 he built his sanctuary like the heights, like 00:27:44.859 --> 00:27:49.059 the earth which he founded forever. He also chose 00:27:49.059 --> 00:28:02.029 David. So he shepherded them according to the 00:28:02.029 --> 00:28:04.910 integrity of his heart, which was a heart after 00:28:04.910 --> 00:28:07.849 God's own heart. He shepherded them according 00:28:07.849 --> 00:28:09.829 to the integrity of his heart and guided them 00:28:09.829 --> 00:28:13.049 with his skillful hands. And therefore, you could 00:28:13.049 --> 00:28:15.430 say, David received the promise that he would 00:28:15.430 --> 00:28:17.690 have an heir. who would sit on the throne forever, 00:28:17.910 --> 00:28:23.069 and that heir is Jesus. So, there's kind of like 00:28:23.069 --> 00:28:24.890 three main things I want you to see in here, 00:28:24.950 --> 00:28:29.150 and don't forget the title, the Apothigmatic 00:28:29.150 --> 00:28:32.509 History of God. So first of all, this psalm makes 00:28:32.509 --> 00:28:35.349 it very clear that the psalmist understood that 00:28:35.349 --> 00:28:39.829 the history is to be told for learning God's 00:28:39.829 --> 00:28:44.150 story. If you are a person of God, if you are 00:28:44.150 --> 00:28:48.410 a follower of God, Don't ever again talk about 00:28:48.410 --> 00:28:51.049 how smart you are, how capable you are, how strong 00:28:51.049 --> 00:28:53.990 you are, how fast you are, how you were able, 00:28:54.130 --> 00:28:56.630 how you figured it out, how you got past a hurdle. 00:28:56.990 --> 00:28:59.970 Don't do it unless you bring God into it, because 00:28:59.970 --> 00:29:03.450 you can literally do nothing without God. People 00:29:03.450 --> 00:29:06.049 are looking for people to look up to, and if 00:29:06.049 --> 00:29:09.390 they look up to you, they better see a follower 00:29:09.390 --> 00:29:13.900 of Jesus. Or maybe you aren't one. History is 00:29:13.900 --> 00:29:18.039 to be told for learning God's story. There are 00:29:18.039 --> 00:29:20.380 two famous men, probably a thousand famous men 00:29:20.380 --> 00:29:23.240 who have commented on this topic. And the first 00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:25.420 one is a man named Hengstenberg. You don't need 00:29:25.420 --> 00:29:26.960 to remember his name, just know that he was a 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:29.420 German theologian back in the early 1800s and 00:29:29.420 --> 00:29:31.200 like he's super red and you go to college and 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:32.400 you read his stuff and you can barely understand 00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:34.799 it. Well, let's distill one point of it. He said, 00:29:34.859 --> 00:29:38.299 let whoever reads understand, which call upon 00:29:38.299 --> 00:29:40.940 us to penetrate through the shell to the kernel. 00:29:41.140 --> 00:29:43.740 You go to the story of God, the history of God. 00:29:43.779 --> 00:29:46.880 You look at it and you go, yeah, okay. So Samson, 00:29:46.980 --> 00:29:52.400 what brought him down? What really brought Samson 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:56.740 down? Kind of. Yeah, he was tricked. He was deceived, 00:29:56.940 --> 00:29:59.160 right? But was he really deceived? I mean, she 00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:03.589 cut his hair with his head on her lap. And the 00:30:03.589 --> 00:30:05.710 men rushed in and captured him and he lost his 00:30:05.710 --> 00:30:08.049 strength. Was that the first time they rushed 00:30:08.049 --> 00:30:11.750 in? It was the third time they rushed in. What 00:30:11.750 --> 00:30:14.109 really brought Samson down? What a lecherousness, 00:30:14.109 --> 00:30:17.210 right? He was after a woman. It was lust. Lust 00:30:17.210 --> 00:30:21.950 and money and pride. And it was the bad things 00:30:21.950 --> 00:30:24.740 about being a man. Right? The bad thing is that 00:30:24.740 --> 00:30:26.299 being a man brought Samson down. That's what 00:30:26.299 --> 00:30:28.019 really brought him down. Instead of trusting 00:30:28.019 --> 00:30:30.720 God and remaining in his Nazarite vows, one after 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:32.440 another he put them away. Getting his hair cut 00:30:32.440 --> 00:30:34.420 was the last Nazarite vow. It wasn't even the 00:30:34.420 --> 00:30:36.099 first one that he broke. It was his last one 00:30:36.099 --> 00:30:37.500 that he broke, right? So what really brought 00:30:37.500 --> 00:30:39.059 Samson down? Well, that's what brought Samson 00:30:39.059 --> 00:30:41.380 down. He forgot who he was in the Lord and he 00:30:41.380 --> 00:30:43.920 went after the things of this earth. And so I've 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:45.660 got to understand when I read that story something 00:30:45.660 --> 00:30:48.559 more than I shouldn't get my hair cut. I've got 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:49.980 to understand when I read that story something 00:30:49.980 --> 00:30:52.869 more than I should be strong. I've got to understand 00:30:52.869 --> 00:30:54.630 something more when I read that story than I 00:30:54.630 --> 00:30:57.829 should hook up with a harlot. There's more to 00:30:57.829 --> 00:31:00.829 that story than just he hooked up with a harlot, 00:31:00.910 --> 00:31:03.349 he let her deceive him, she cut his hair, but 00:31:03.349 --> 00:31:04.910 God was faithful to give it back to him in the 00:31:04.910 --> 00:31:06.609 end and he killed all the leaders of the Philistines. 00:31:06.849 --> 00:31:09.769 There's more to that story. And so when you read 00:31:09.769 --> 00:31:12.230 the stories of God, you don't stop at reading 00:31:12.230 --> 00:31:14.630 the stories of God. You listen to the Holy Spirit 00:31:14.630 --> 00:31:16.809 of God and you dig deeper. And the next time 00:31:16.809 --> 00:31:18.849 you read the story, if you didn't get it last 00:31:18.849 --> 00:31:20.730 time, you digest it again. And if you did get 00:31:20.730 --> 00:31:23.970 it last time, what do you do? Dig deeper. Read 00:31:23.970 --> 00:31:26.390 it again and go deeper. More. How does this apply 00:31:26.390 --> 00:31:28.029 to my circumstance? What am I supposed to do? 00:31:28.069 --> 00:31:30.009 What do I need to repent of today? How do I need 00:31:30.009 --> 00:31:32.470 to turn to Christ? What do I look like as a human 00:31:32.470 --> 00:31:35.990 being honoring the story of my God as displayed 00:31:35.990 --> 00:31:40.509 in history? This history of God is to be told 00:31:40.509 --> 00:31:45.950 for learning God's story and retold and retold 00:31:45.950 --> 00:31:48.250 and retold. You may fancy yourself like some 00:31:48.250 --> 00:31:51.609 character from the Bible. Aaron stood up and 00:31:51.609 --> 00:31:54.569 shared about Vacation Bible School that he really 00:31:54.569 --> 00:31:56.569 liked that it followed the story of Peter. I 00:31:56.569 --> 00:31:58.319 really liked that too. You know why? Because 00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:00.599 Peter was a butthead and so am I. That's what 00:32:00.599 --> 00:32:02.660 I like. He was a butthead before he came to Christ. 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:04.740 Before he truly turned his life over to Christ 00:32:04.740 --> 00:32:08.099 and went so far as to be crucified. And on the 00:32:08.099 --> 00:32:09.839 way as they marched to be crucified, they say 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:11.740 to him, we're going to crucify you like Jesus. 00:32:11.859 --> 00:32:13.220 You want to be like Jesus? We'll give it to you. 00:32:13.259 --> 00:32:14.299 We're going to crucify you like Jesus. And he 00:32:14.299 --> 00:32:16.740 says, oh no, I am not worthy to be crucified 00:32:16.740 --> 00:32:19.160 like my Lord. So they crucified him upside down. 00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:20.759 Now that's not in the Bible, that's church history. 00:32:20.900 --> 00:32:23.619 But the bottom line is, history is the story 00:32:23.619 --> 00:32:25.980 of God. It's not just what's written in the Bible. 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:29.240 What happened in World War II? What was God doing? 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:31.680 What happened in Korea? What was God doing? What 00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:33.519 happened when the United States elected Franklin 00:32:33.519 --> 00:32:36.839 Delano Roosevelt? When in our day, no way he 00:32:36.839 --> 00:32:40.660 gets in office. How did our country change from 00:32:40.660 --> 00:32:43.480 then to now? What has God been doing? Literally, 00:32:43.559 --> 00:32:46.819 the history, I didn't say the Bible, although 00:32:46.819 --> 00:32:50.279 that's certainly true, but history is to be told 00:32:50.279 --> 00:32:55.160 for learning God's story. A poetic man once said 00:32:55.160 --> 00:32:59.009 that history is his story. I don't know if that's 00:32:59.009 --> 00:33:00.490 where it originates at. I'm pretty sure it's 00:33:00.490 --> 00:33:02.549 not where it originates at. But the bottom line 00:33:02.549 --> 00:33:05.329 is the history should be told for learning God's 00:33:05.329 --> 00:33:08.190 story. Can you tell the history of how God put 00:33:08.190 --> 00:33:12.309 this church here on this property? How much of 00:33:12.309 --> 00:33:14.349 it can you get? Because if you don't know it, 00:33:14.369 --> 00:33:16.250 you might want to get it because God did miraculous 00:33:16.250 --> 00:33:19.109 things in that that happened time after time 00:33:19.109 --> 00:33:23.130 again. Providing in incredible ways through His 00:33:23.130 --> 00:33:25.650 power that you can't deny. It's like we didn't 00:33:25.650 --> 00:33:26.869 have it, then all of a sudden you got it. It's 00:33:26.869 --> 00:33:29.430 there. What? That doesn't make any sense. Miraculous 00:33:29.430 --> 00:33:32.410 healings. Call the family in. Okay, the church 00:33:32.410 --> 00:33:36.269 starts praying. Okay, she's getting better. She 00:33:36.269 --> 00:33:39.230 may live after all. Time and again, historic 00:33:39.230 --> 00:33:42.789 events of God has intervened. Judy Bolton, who 00:33:42.789 --> 00:33:46.150 died from cancer, was miraculously, miraculously, 00:33:46.150 --> 00:33:48.750 no question about it, miraculously with the doctor 00:33:48.750 --> 00:33:51.309 saying, I can't understand this. This can't possibly 00:33:51.309 --> 00:33:53.730 be true. While we were in there, we took a look 00:33:53.730 --> 00:33:55.509 around to see how much more. There is no more 00:33:55.509 --> 00:33:58.650 cancer. It's all gone. That was one of the two 00:33:58.650 --> 00:34:00.390 times she was miraculously healed from cancer. 00:34:00.470 --> 00:34:02.589 And she would eventually die from cancer and 00:34:02.589 --> 00:34:04.789 not be miraculously healed. But in that, she 00:34:04.789 --> 00:34:06.450 prayed for no pain, die in her sleep, and she 00:34:06.450 --> 00:34:08.329 had no pain. The nurses kept saying, are you 00:34:08.329 --> 00:34:11.150 sure you don't need pain medicine? Open sores 00:34:11.150 --> 00:34:13.969 on her feet, like literal holes in her legs. 00:34:14.590 --> 00:34:16.630 That hurts. And they're like, you've got to have 00:34:16.630 --> 00:34:18.070 pain. She's like, I don't have any pain. I haven't 00:34:18.070 --> 00:34:20.269 had any pain for days. They kept trying to give 00:34:20.269 --> 00:34:21.909 her more pain pills. She didn't need any because 00:34:21.909 --> 00:34:24.880 she didn't have any pain. Eventually, the ventilator 00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:26.480 couldn't keep her awake. She went to sleep. They 00:34:26.480 --> 00:34:27.960 took her off the ventilator. She went to be with 00:34:27.960 --> 00:34:30.539 the Lord. That's a miracle. A third one that 00:34:30.539 --> 00:34:32.619 we can count, and she would tell you if she was 00:34:32.619 --> 00:34:34.460 here, the miracles that she saw in her life before 00:34:34.460 --> 00:34:37.940 she ever got saved. The history that is going 00:34:37.940 --> 00:34:41.139 on in our day must be told for learning God's 00:34:41.139 --> 00:34:42.760 story. In order for that to be true, the people 00:34:42.760 --> 00:34:46.139 that are living it must be about Jesus. You've 00:34:46.139 --> 00:34:48.440 got to tell your kids when something goes right. 00:34:48.909 --> 00:34:51.949 Why God made it go right this time. And when 00:34:51.949 --> 00:34:53.389 something goes wrong, you've got to be able to 00:34:53.389 --> 00:34:56.210 tell them why God allowed it to go wrong this 00:34:56.210 --> 00:34:57.849 time. And the only way you're going to be able 00:34:57.849 --> 00:35:00.530 to do that is if you're daily walking with the 00:35:00.530 --> 00:35:02.230 Lord and you can hear His voice. And the only 00:35:02.230 --> 00:35:03.949 way you're going to do that is if you spend more 00:35:03.949 --> 00:35:08.369 time in Jesus than you spend in the world. The 00:35:08.369 --> 00:35:11.670 history must be told for learning God's story. 00:35:12.469 --> 00:35:14.469 The other man that I would quote is a man named 00:35:14.469 --> 00:35:17.489 Novalis. Now Novalis, that's his... kind of nickname 00:35:17.489 --> 00:35:19.070 because he's got this really long name that's 00:35:19.070 --> 00:35:21.070 like 11 syllables that I can't even pronounce. 00:35:21.369 --> 00:35:23.610 But all the writers always put him down as Novalis 00:35:23.610 --> 00:35:25.849 because that was his nickname in that day. And 00:35:25.849 --> 00:35:28.869 he was actually what's called a romantic poet. 00:35:29.929 --> 00:35:32.710 So he saw the world through romantic eyes. Now 00:35:32.710 --> 00:35:34.369 he was a professing Christian. He kind of tended 00:35:34.369 --> 00:35:36.150 toward Catholicism, but I don't hold that against 00:35:36.150 --> 00:35:38.610 him. He was a professing Christian. And he said 00:35:38.610 --> 00:35:40.469 this, he says, the highest view which can be 00:35:40.469 --> 00:35:43.289 taken of history is that in which its events 00:35:43.289 --> 00:35:47.329 are regarded as parables of God. addressed to 00:35:47.329 --> 00:35:50.670 men. The Jewish people believe prophecy is like 00:35:50.670 --> 00:35:53.610 this. Here's a prophecy. Here is the prophecy 00:35:53.610 --> 00:35:55.710 fulfilled. Let's see if it will get fulfilled 00:35:55.710 --> 00:35:57.809 again. Let's see if it gets fulfilled again. 00:35:57.929 --> 00:36:00.670 And they have prophecies that are fulfilled again 00:36:00.670 --> 00:36:03.269 and again and again. What makes you think that 00:36:03.269 --> 00:36:05.190 the events of your life that you're living, and 00:36:05.190 --> 00:36:06.869 I know that your life is not really about you, 00:36:07.010 --> 00:36:09.010 right? You're just the main character physically 00:36:09.010 --> 00:36:11.510 speaking. The real main character is a God, right? 00:36:11.590 --> 00:36:15.179 Is God himself. But what if the... The events 00:36:15.179 --> 00:36:16.719 that you're going through, the actual things 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:19.500 that are happening in your life are parables 00:36:19.500 --> 00:36:23.159 for you to teach the next generation about the 00:36:23.159 --> 00:36:26.280 God that is at work in you. And you should be 00:36:26.280 --> 00:36:28.400 telling the people around you and children and 00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:30.079 anybody who will listen, the people you work 00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:32.099 with, whatever, you say, well, now this happened. 00:36:32.280 --> 00:36:33.760 What do you think? We have the inspirational 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:35.539 moment. We talk about, well, I saw this and God 00:36:35.539 --> 00:36:37.300 told me to pay attention to that. And a lot of 00:36:37.300 --> 00:36:38.579 times we'll have like three, four people speak 00:36:38.579 --> 00:36:40.880 up and that's great. But it ought to be, we all 00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:43.360 have seven to ten of those every single week. 00:36:43.599 --> 00:36:45.460 And you should get a book and write them down 00:36:45.460 --> 00:36:46.920 because someday you might have grandchildren 00:36:46.920 --> 00:36:48.820 or your grandchildren might have grandchildren. 00:36:48.820 --> 00:36:50.079 You might still be around. You might have to 00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:51.639 deliver the gospel to somebody who needs to deliver 00:36:51.639 --> 00:36:53.099 the gospel to somebody who needs to deliver the 00:36:53.099 --> 00:36:55.320 gospel. That's the only person there. a racial 00:36:55.320 --> 00:36:57.280 woman to be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 00:36:57.920 --> 00:37:02.260 You might have work to do. And the stories of 00:37:02.260 --> 00:37:05.260 your life are the parables to tell them. You 00:37:05.260 --> 00:37:06.900 say, well, there was a farmer who went out to 00:37:06.900 --> 00:37:09.099 sow seed. Yeah, everybody knows that one. But 00:37:09.099 --> 00:37:10.659 how about when you got out of bed and didn't 00:37:10.659 --> 00:37:12.360 feel like doing what you were supposed to do, 00:37:12.380 --> 00:37:13.840 but God said, let's go. And then you started 00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:15.940 doing it and God empowered it. What does that 00:37:15.940 --> 00:37:18.380 teach you? When you got up on Sunday morning, 00:37:18.440 --> 00:37:19.940 you didn't want to go to worship. You didn't 00:37:19.940 --> 00:37:21.480 feel like it. But after the second song, you're 00:37:21.480 --> 00:37:23.739 going like, oh, that's gone. What does that teach 00:37:23.739 --> 00:37:25.800 you? Where are the parables that come out of 00:37:25.800 --> 00:37:29.599 your life? I'm going to be completely blunt with 00:37:29.599 --> 00:37:33.039 you. I am tired of hearing people say, what do 00:37:33.039 --> 00:37:34.980 you know about God? And all they can do is quote 00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:40.239 the Bible. People who don't even know Jesus can 00:37:40.239 --> 00:37:43.579 know that about God. What do you know about God? 00:37:44.409 --> 00:37:47.090 The story of your life, the history of your life, 00:37:47.150 --> 00:37:49.030 the things that you are doing, the history of 00:37:49.030 --> 00:37:50.510 your life is not something to look back and long 00:37:50.510 --> 00:37:52.469 for. It's not something to look back and regret 00:37:52.469 --> 00:37:55.030 at. It is something to digest, to give you the 00:37:55.030 --> 00:37:57.670 message, to deliver to those who need it. Because 00:37:57.670 --> 00:38:01.750 the history is to be told for learning God's 00:38:01.750 --> 00:38:05.630 story. The truth is, if you can't share the parables 00:38:05.630 --> 00:38:07.130 of your life with the lost and dying generation, 00:38:07.409 --> 00:38:10.489 then you're no more better than Ephraim with 00:38:10.489 --> 00:38:14.480 a bow who runs from battle. I didn't say it. 00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:19.780 The psalmist wrote it. Are you or are you not 00:38:19.780 --> 00:38:22.380 in the fight? You say, ah, sometimes it's so 00:38:22.380 --> 00:38:23.940 hard, man. It's so hard. I'm in the fight. I'm 00:38:23.940 --> 00:38:26.019 fighting. If you're fighting to be in the fight, 00:38:26.059 --> 00:38:29.920 you ain't in the fight. The fight is we are supposed 00:38:29.920 --> 00:38:31.840 to be delivering the message about God to this 00:38:31.840 --> 00:38:33.940 generation and the generation to come. History 00:38:33.940 --> 00:38:39.719 is to be told for learning God's story. So often, 00:38:40.030 --> 00:38:42.130 this is the second point we see in here, that 00:38:42.130 --> 00:38:44.769 people reflect on history as if those who suffered 00:38:44.769 --> 00:38:48.610 God's wrath were due that wrath rather than for 00:38:48.610 --> 00:38:52.929 learning how God delivers. Why did Samson lose? 00:38:53.349 --> 00:38:55.369 Well, because he was a bad guy. Because he was 00:38:55.369 --> 00:38:57.789 an idiot, right? Who would be so stupid to lay 00:38:57.789 --> 00:39:00.090 his head down there a third time and give her 00:39:00.090 --> 00:39:02.789 the real last Nazarite vow as the reason that 00:39:02.789 --> 00:39:04.349 he might lose his strength, which is kind of 00:39:04.349 --> 00:39:05.690 dumb anyway because God gave him the strength. 00:39:05.750 --> 00:39:07.750 He gave him the strength because... He was God's 00:39:07.750 --> 00:39:09.449 man, not because he was a Nazarite specifically, 00:39:09.630 --> 00:39:11.590 but the point is he was willing to tempt God, 00:39:11.650 --> 00:39:14.050 willing to mock God. Who would do that? Who's 00:39:14.050 --> 00:39:17.250 dumb enough to do that a third time? And we look 00:39:17.250 --> 00:39:19.369 at that and we go, I'll never be like that. I'll 00:39:19.369 --> 00:39:22.409 learn my lesson and just not be like him. And 00:39:22.409 --> 00:39:24.190 then the truth is, years later, we're exactly 00:39:24.190 --> 00:39:28.389 like him because we misdiagnosed the story. We 00:39:28.389 --> 00:39:30.429 looked at him and said, we don't want to be like 00:39:30.429 --> 00:39:33.710 that because we don't want that result. You ever 00:39:33.710 --> 00:39:35.889 hear anybody go to the doctor and they got cancer? 00:39:36.730 --> 00:39:38.090 What's the first thing, I'll tell you right now, 00:39:38.170 --> 00:39:39.809 what's the first thing that goes through most 00:39:39.809 --> 00:39:42.010 people's minds other than, I'm sorry that's happening, 00:39:42.110 --> 00:39:43.449 I'll pray for you, those basic things, right? 00:39:43.730 --> 00:39:46.670 What is it? Second thing, make sure. Yep, make 00:39:46.670 --> 00:39:49.349 sure you got, make sure it's real, right? And 00:39:49.349 --> 00:39:53.909 then, did they smoke? Did they work with asbestos? 00:39:54.329 --> 00:39:56.969 Right? Where is the carcinogen? Where is the 00:39:56.969 --> 00:39:59.469 thing that caused them to get cancer? Right? 00:39:59.530 --> 00:40:01.469 Because doctors know lots of things that causes 00:40:01.469 --> 00:40:05.389 people to get cancer, right? And so, If they're 00:40:05.389 --> 00:40:08.929 60 and they smoke for 50 years of their life 00:40:08.929 --> 00:40:13.750 and they have cancer, then that's how it works, 00:40:13.809 --> 00:40:16.889 right? Well, guess what? Lots of people who don't 00:40:16.889 --> 00:40:19.750 smoke get cancer. Lots of people who don't work 00:40:19.750 --> 00:40:21.650 with asbestos get cancer. Lots of people who 00:40:21.650 --> 00:40:23.949 don't work in coal mines get cancer. Lots of 00:40:23.949 --> 00:40:25.550 people who don't work in factories get cancer. 00:40:25.710 --> 00:40:28.369 You can go down the list and you can go... Every 00:40:28.369 --> 00:40:31.030 single reason a person might ever get cancer 00:40:31.030 --> 00:40:32.710 and get to the bottom and there's no reason that 00:40:32.710 --> 00:40:34.030 person might have cancer and they still have 00:40:34.030 --> 00:40:36.429 cancer. And you'd give that person some mercy, 00:40:36.510 --> 00:40:38.070 wouldn't you? You'd be like, oh, that's really 00:40:38.070 --> 00:40:39.710 a shame if they have cancer. I feel terrible 00:40:39.710 --> 00:40:41.170 if they have cancer because they didn't do anything 00:40:41.170 --> 00:40:44.269 to deserve it. What? Nobody deserves cancer. 00:40:45.389 --> 00:40:48.429 Not in Christ. Not as a believer. Not if you 00:40:48.429 --> 00:40:51.590 recognize who the Lord is. History tells us that 00:40:51.590 --> 00:40:53.750 people get it if they do things to get it, but 00:40:53.750 --> 00:40:57.289 that does not make us not going to get it. That's 00:40:57.289 --> 00:41:01.630 not how it works. So you might get it. And you 00:41:01.630 --> 00:41:04.730 might go, well, I don't deserve it. I don't want 00:41:04.730 --> 00:41:07.809 it. I feel bad. Well, my back's sore every day. 00:41:07.849 --> 00:41:10.030 And my back shouldn't be sore. I didn't do anything 00:41:10.030 --> 00:41:14.570 to cause my back to be sore. Yes, you did. You 00:41:14.570 --> 00:41:18.110 lived in your body. That's your house. And somehow 00:41:18.110 --> 00:41:20.130 or other, we're all not taking care of the body 00:41:20.130 --> 00:41:22.360 the way that we should. We need to recognize, 00:41:22.420 --> 00:41:24.880 as we reflect on history, instead of saying, 00:41:24.920 --> 00:41:26.940 oh yeah, they suffered God's wrath because they 00:41:26.940 --> 00:41:29.059 were due God's wrath, and I'm going to try to 00:41:29.059 --> 00:41:33.119 avoid that, we should learn how God, what? Delivers 00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:35.980 people from His own wrath. That's what we're 00:41:35.980 --> 00:41:38.699 supposed to learn. Time and again they were rebellious, 00:41:38.699 --> 00:41:42.300 and time and again He brought them out. He holds 00:41:42.300 --> 00:41:46.280 the more blessed, the more accountable. If God 00:41:46.280 --> 00:41:48.989 has blessed you and given you greatly, And I'm 00:41:48.989 --> 00:41:50.570 going to say to you that it's probably true that 00:41:50.570 --> 00:41:51.929 if you're here today, God has blessed you and 00:41:51.929 --> 00:41:54.690 given you greatly. But you decide for yourself. 00:41:54.730 --> 00:41:56.489 It's not my place to say, but it feels that way. 00:41:57.329 --> 00:41:58.989 We're living in a country where you can hear 00:41:58.989 --> 00:42:00.570 the gospel preached anytime you want. Now, you 00:42:00.570 --> 00:42:04.650 may not have, but you can. You can own your own 00:42:04.650 --> 00:42:07.110 Bible for a buck and a quarter. You may not own 00:42:07.110 --> 00:42:10.170 a Bible, but you can. The blessings are delivered. 00:42:10.369 --> 00:42:14.389 And so, realize God holds more accountable those 00:42:14.389 --> 00:42:17.449 who are more blessed. Who was the holiest man 00:42:17.449 --> 00:42:21.940 in... Moses today. Who was the guy that nobody 00:42:21.940 --> 00:42:26.300 could hold a candle to? Moses. And coming out 00:42:26.300 --> 00:42:28.059 of Egypt, from the moment he came out of Egypt 00:42:28.059 --> 00:42:30.179 to the moment that he didn't go into the promised 00:42:30.179 --> 00:42:32.440 land, can you count the number of times that 00:42:32.440 --> 00:42:36.519 Moses sinned in the story of Moses? I can. No. 00:42:37.719 --> 00:42:43.199 Once. One time. There's one. One sin listed in 00:42:43.199 --> 00:42:48.030 the entire story of Moses. Yes, it is. He struck 00:42:48.030 --> 00:42:50.869 the rock instead of talking to the rock. And 00:42:50.869 --> 00:42:56.269 he said, must I give you again? Nah, God will 00:42:56.269 --> 00:42:59.449 give you water out of this rock. So his pride, 00:42:59.550 --> 00:43:03.030 his arrogance. But one, how many times have the 00:43:03.030 --> 00:43:06.550 other people sinned? Oh gosh, probably every 00:43:06.550 --> 00:43:10.489 day they were alive. Right? How many times have 00:43:10.489 --> 00:43:12.590 I sinned? Yeah, probably just about every day 00:43:12.590 --> 00:43:15.570 I've been alive. I'm not like Moses. Moses had 00:43:15.570 --> 00:43:17.909 one sin from the time he brought them out of 00:43:17.909 --> 00:43:19.369 Egypt to the time when the promise landed. Because 00:43:19.369 --> 00:43:23.230 of that, God, literally it says in the Hebrew, 00:43:23.429 --> 00:43:27.929 spoke him dead. For those who are more blessed, 00:43:28.190 --> 00:43:31.010 a higher level of accountability is required. 00:43:31.449 --> 00:43:34.210 You can have the Holy Spirit of God in you. You 00:43:34.210 --> 00:43:36.789 can be saved and walk with Christ every waking 00:43:36.789 --> 00:43:38.590 moment and truthfully you can be with him while 00:43:38.590 --> 00:43:40.170 you sleep because he doesn't leave when you sleep. 00:43:41.259 --> 00:43:43.960 You can have something that nobody else ever 00:43:43.960 --> 00:43:46.880 had. That's why Paul said, now, now that it's 00:43:46.880 --> 00:43:49.199 been revealed, it is for every man to repent. 00:43:49.599 --> 00:43:51.320 You think there wasn't anybody who went to heaven 00:43:51.320 --> 00:43:53.119 before that moment, before Jesus was crucified? 00:43:53.239 --> 00:43:55.039 No, they were all like, well, I'm doing the best 00:43:55.039 --> 00:43:56.559 I can. I'm believing in God for whatever way 00:43:56.559 --> 00:43:57.559 he's going to make. I'm just going to do the 00:43:57.559 --> 00:43:59.760 best I can. And they had sin. How many times 00:43:59.760 --> 00:44:01.559 in the Bible can you count sin in Jacob's life? 00:44:01.800 --> 00:44:04.019 Do you know what Jacob means? The word Jacob 00:44:04.019 --> 00:44:07.190 means deceiver. Throughout his story, he's deceiving, 00:44:07.269 --> 00:44:09.489 deceiving, deceiving, deceiving. And then he 00:44:09.489 --> 00:44:11.349 would be named Israel and become the father of 00:44:11.349 --> 00:44:16.530 all God's people. God is a gracious God. He wants 00:44:16.530 --> 00:44:19.510 to give. He wants to bring you out. But once 00:44:19.510 --> 00:44:24.090 he does that, the expectation is raised. God 00:44:24.090 --> 00:44:28.050 holds accountable more the blessed. Ananias and 00:44:28.050 --> 00:44:30.489 Sapphira in the New Testament. For all we know, 00:44:30.510 --> 00:44:32.389 they were saved. They professed to be saved. 00:44:32.389 --> 00:44:35.159 Nobody ever said they weren't. But they saw Barnabas 00:44:35.159 --> 00:44:37.380 sell a property and give all the money in, right? 00:44:37.760 --> 00:44:39.360 And he said, here's all the money. Take care 00:44:39.360 --> 00:44:40.940 of the church. Take care of the poor here. And 00:44:40.940 --> 00:44:43.340 Barnabas kind of got the kudos. Oh, that's wonderful. 00:44:43.440 --> 00:44:44.780 You're a great guy, Barnabas. You're the best. 00:44:45.079 --> 00:44:47.860 Name him the encourager, right? And they're like, 00:44:47.920 --> 00:44:49.239 well, let's sell our property. And they sold 00:44:49.239 --> 00:44:51.019 their property. And they kept back some of the 00:44:51.019 --> 00:44:52.940 money. They didn't give it all into the treasury. 00:44:53.139 --> 00:44:55.380 But they said they did. They let everybody believe 00:44:55.380 --> 00:44:58.079 they gave all the money into the treasury. And 00:44:58.079 --> 00:45:01.659 God struck them dead. One at a time, he struck 00:45:01.659 --> 00:45:04.849 them dead. Because once you're saved in Christ, 00:45:05.110 --> 00:45:08.929 there is a higher level of accountability. The 00:45:08.929 --> 00:45:11.849 blessed are held more accountable. So when you 00:45:11.849 --> 00:45:13.670 look back in history and you see people sin, 00:45:13.949 --> 00:45:16.909 and they kind of make it through. God gives them 00:45:16.909 --> 00:45:19.090 grace and it's okay. Don't you ever say, well, 00:45:19.170 --> 00:45:22.429 he did it. I can do it too. God will take care 00:45:22.429 --> 00:45:24.690 of me. Don't do that. Because you are saved in 00:45:24.690 --> 00:45:26.670 Christ. You have the Holy Spirit, if indeed you 00:45:26.670 --> 00:45:28.889 are. And you have a higher level of responsibility 00:45:28.889 --> 00:45:31.969 to God who cleanses your soul, who regenerates 00:45:31.969 --> 00:45:35.090 you, who seals you for the day of His next appearing. 00:45:35.989 --> 00:45:41.369 God holds more accountable those who are more 00:45:41.369 --> 00:45:44.989 blessed. He surrenders the fool to folly and 00:45:44.989 --> 00:45:47.809 He supplants the chosen with another when the 00:45:47.809 --> 00:45:51.400 chosen looks down on His provision. You understand 00:45:51.400 --> 00:45:54.139 that? So if you're stupid enough to anger God, 00:45:54.300 --> 00:45:57.119 to cause the wrath of God to come upon you, after 00:45:57.119 --> 00:45:59.440 you've been called, God will move you out of 00:45:59.440 --> 00:46:03.119 the way. Now, He may kill you, but probably not. 00:46:04.719 --> 00:46:06.239 There'll just be a break in your relationship 00:46:06.239 --> 00:46:07.980 with Him that persists for the rest of your life. 00:46:09.019 --> 00:46:11.519 You'll take your whole family with you, like 00:46:11.519 --> 00:46:13.340 the jailer who repented, and they all brought 00:46:13.340 --> 00:46:15.059 him in, all in, and they all accepted Christ, 00:46:15.159 --> 00:46:16.380 and they all got back, and you take your whole 00:46:16.380 --> 00:46:19.579 family with you, and then you fall, because you're 00:46:19.579 --> 00:46:22.889 folly, is that you value the things of this life 00:46:22.889 --> 00:46:24.510 more than you value God. It might even be your 00:46:24.510 --> 00:46:26.070 family that you value, right? It could be the 00:46:26.070 --> 00:46:28.090 money. You'll do well. You get promoted, promoted, 00:46:28.150 --> 00:46:29.409 promoted. You're doing so well because you're 00:46:29.409 --> 00:46:30.730 working. You're doing it as if you're doing it 00:46:30.730 --> 00:46:32.530 unto God. And then you start thinking about the 00:46:32.530 --> 00:46:34.510 money one day. Start thinking about retirement. 00:46:34.690 --> 00:46:37.630 Start thinking about a boat or an RV or better 00:46:37.630 --> 00:46:39.690 things for yourself or for your family. Start 00:46:39.690 --> 00:46:41.190 thinking about it, right? Everybody's going to 00:46:41.190 --> 00:46:42.349 be okay. I'm going to make sure everybody's going 00:46:42.349 --> 00:46:43.590 to be okay. It's all going to be good. I need 00:46:43.590 --> 00:46:45.030 more money. I need more money. I need more money. 00:46:45.050 --> 00:46:46.429 Make sure it's all going to be good. And where 00:46:46.429 --> 00:46:48.210 is God in that? He's nowhere. And then the next 00:46:48.210 --> 00:46:50.190 thing you know, this person's drifting, and that 00:46:50.190 --> 00:46:52.489 person's drifting, and you were thinking you 00:46:52.489 --> 00:46:54.170 were the anchor, and frankly, they were thinking 00:46:54.170 --> 00:46:55.909 you were the anchor, and now you're not anymore. 00:46:56.150 --> 00:46:59.269 And it can fall apart. God surrenders the fool 00:46:59.269 --> 00:47:02.710 to his folly. And He supplants the chosen with 00:47:02.710 --> 00:47:04.949 another when the chosen looks down on God's provision. 00:47:08.110 --> 00:47:12.309 Are you serving the living God? Because if you 00:47:12.309 --> 00:47:14.920 are, And in serving the living God, you delve 00:47:14.920 --> 00:47:17.360 into folly. You let other things be more important. 00:47:17.440 --> 00:47:18.900 Or you start thinking about the things of this 00:47:18.900 --> 00:47:20.539 earth like they were in the wilderness. They 00:47:20.539 --> 00:47:22.219 were brought out from God with miraculous intervention. 00:47:22.420 --> 00:47:24.579 They're in the wilderness then. And then they 00:47:24.579 --> 00:47:26.739 start like, well, we don't like this manna that 00:47:26.739 --> 00:47:28.559 rains down from the sky. It's kind of plain. 00:47:29.179 --> 00:47:32.480 Can't we get some meat? So God made a wind blow. 00:47:32.940 --> 00:47:34.619 The fowl dropped in their midst. It's all the 00:47:34.619 --> 00:47:36.460 psalmist's example, right? It's his example. 00:47:36.659 --> 00:47:38.940 The fowl dropped in there. They start eating 00:47:38.940 --> 00:47:40.559 it. While the meat was still in their mouths, 00:47:40.659 --> 00:47:46.400 the strongest amongst them began to die. God 00:47:46.400 --> 00:47:49.119 surrenders the fool to his folly and supplants 00:47:49.119 --> 00:47:51.659 the chosen. Israel, Jacob would be the chosen 00:47:51.659 --> 00:47:54.519 people of God. Israel's descendants, Joseph, 00:47:54.800 --> 00:47:57.199 Ephraim, the chosen people of God would all come 00:47:57.199 --> 00:47:59.920 out of there. But then there was a man, David. 00:48:00.360 --> 00:48:02.679 And he switched all of that over to David and 00:48:02.679 --> 00:48:05.079 said, a descendant of yours. Did you know that 00:48:05.079 --> 00:48:09.739 there are women in Jesus' ancestry? It's not 00:48:09.739 --> 00:48:12.119 even only a patriarchal ancestry. They can trace 00:48:12.119 --> 00:48:14.760 their lineage back to Abraham. But it won't do 00:48:14.760 --> 00:48:17.659 them squat good. Because Christ is the one who 00:48:17.659 --> 00:48:20.119 saves. Christ is the leader of the people. Christ 00:48:20.119 --> 00:48:22.199 is the head of the church. Christ is the one 00:48:22.199 --> 00:48:23.900 who decides who goes to heaven and who doesn't. 00:48:24.059 --> 00:48:27.239 Christ is the only way. And he came out of the 00:48:27.239 --> 00:48:30.050 descendants of David. And you can find Ruth in 00:48:30.050 --> 00:48:33.690 there, who was a Moabitess, not even a Jew. And 00:48:33.690 --> 00:48:36.849 she was brought in. She supplanted God's chosen 00:48:36.849 --> 00:48:40.869 people. And the church is the same way. We supplant 00:48:40.869 --> 00:48:44.210 the chosen people of God. Now, I understand the 00:48:44.210 --> 00:48:47.030 chosen people of God can be included. I'll come 00:48:47.030 --> 00:48:49.840 back to that. He, after handing out blessings, 00:48:50.039 --> 00:48:52.559 He does not sleep or ignore. God is not just 00:48:52.559 --> 00:48:54.059 letting you do whatever the heck you want, whenever 00:48:54.059 --> 00:48:55.559 you want, letting you suffer, letting you do 00:48:55.559 --> 00:48:58.239 well, whatever. God does not sleep or ignore. 00:48:58.420 --> 00:49:02.320 He is present until and if the blessed show a 00:49:02.320 --> 00:49:05.659 desire more for the things of this earth than 00:49:05.659 --> 00:49:07.960 they do for God. If you're stupid enough to do 00:49:07.960 --> 00:49:09.900 that, then you won't be able to find Him anywhere 00:49:09.900 --> 00:49:13.800 in your life. even if He sealed your heart and 00:49:13.800 --> 00:49:15.980 saved you for eternity, if you choose the things 00:49:15.980 --> 00:49:18.239 of this world over God, you might look for Him 00:49:18.239 --> 00:49:21.039 and never find Him. Because He's not going to 00:49:21.039 --> 00:49:23.679 be part of that. And He calls out every generation. 00:49:23.940 --> 00:49:26.199 Out of every generation, He calls out worshipers 00:49:26.199 --> 00:49:29.099 in spirit and truth. Since Adam and Eve, every 00:49:29.099 --> 00:49:31.260 generation, He calls out worshipers in spirit 00:49:31.260 --> 00:49:33.960 and truth that can stay the course because they 00:49:33.960 --> 00:49:38.400 have tasted and seen and known the supreme value 00:49:38.400 --> 00:49:42.909 of the Lord. People reflect on history as if 00:49:42.909 --> 00:49:45.789 those who suffered God's wrath were due that 00:49:45.789 --> 00:49:48.730 wrath. The reality is we were all due that wrath. 00:49:49.349 --> 00:49:52.230 But we should reflect on history to learn how 00:49:52.230 --> 00:49:56.809 God delivers. That brings us to our conclusion. 00:49:58.449 --> 00:50:02.989 We must not look into the rich history of God's 00:50:02.989 --> 00:50:06.869 people and repeat the mistakes we see happening 00:50:06.869 --> 00:50:10.880 there. God has called the church to be this very 00:50:10.880 --> 00:50:16.039 thing, the replacement people of God. We can 00:50:16.039 --> 00:50:24.840 reasonably expect that He can keep us, that He 00:50:24.840 --> 00:50:27.880 can fill us with His eternal character, or He 00:50:27.880 --> 00:50:30.320 can remove us just the same as He removed the 00:50:30.320 --> 00:50:34.050 chosen fallen people before us. The church is 00:50:34.050 --> 00:50:36.750 the replacement for those from history who failed 00:50:36.750 --> 00:50:40.769 to desire God more, love God more, keep God's 00:50:40.769 --> 00:50:44.070 ways more, while at the same time desiring God's 00:50:44.070 --> 00:50:50.090 provision above all things. But the truth is, 00:50:50.170 --> 00:50:53.309 they got to the point where any provision would 00:50:53.309 --> 00:50:56.329 do, as long as it could be attributed to God, 00:50:56.469 --> 00:50:59.360 and then eventually... They didn't even care 00:50:59.360 --> 00:51:02.599 if it could be attributed to God anymore, just 00:51:02.599 --> 00:51:05.679 as long as they were provided for. In case you 00:51:05.679 --> 00:51:07.460 think I'm just pulling this out of left field, 00:51:07.539 --> 00:51:09.400 it's clear that the psalmist didn't quite say 00:51:09.400 --> 00:51:11.719 that last thing that I said. I want to read briefly 00:51:11.719 --> 00:51:14.920 to you from Romans 11. This is our last scripture 00:51:14.920 --> 00:51:19.079 for the day. Some of you are going, oh, I kind 00:51:19.079 --> 00:51:21.079 of know what he's about to read. And others of 00:51:21.079 --> 00:51:22.500 you are going, well, I should read my Bible more 00:51:22.500 --> 00:51:24.960 and I would know what he's about to read. Romans 00:51:24.960 --> 00:51:27.579 11 says this, beginning in verse 15. He says, 00:51:28.460 --> 00:51:31.800 For if their rejection, that's Israel as the 00:51:31.800 --> 00:51:34.440 people of God, if their rejection be the reconciliation 00:51:34.440 --> 00:51:38.440 of the world, what will their acceptance be but 00:51:38.440 --> 00:51:40.880 life from the dead? And if the first piece of 00:51:40.880 --> 00:51:43.519 dough be holy and the lump is also, and if the 00:51:43.519 --> 00:51:47.579 root be holy, the branches are also. But if some 00:51:47.579 --> 00:51:50.059 of the branches were broken off, and you being 00:51:50.059 --> 00:51:52.619 a wild olive were grafted in among them and became 00:51:52.619 --> 00:51:54.980 partaker with them of the rich root of the olive 00:51:54.980 --> 00:51:57.739 tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches, 00:51:58.440 --> 00:52:01.099 But if you are arrogant, remember that it is 00:52:01.099 --> 00:52:03.400 not you who supports the root, but the root supports 00:52:03.400 --> 00:52:05.960 you. You will say then, branches were broken 00:52:05.960 --> 00:52:07.980 off so that I might be grafted in. Quite right. 00:52:08.219 --> 00:52:10.719 They were broken off for their unbelief. But 00:52:10.719 --> 00:52:13.380 you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, 00:52:13.400 --> 00:52:16.059 but fear. For if God did not spare the natural 00:52:16.059 --> 00:52:19.480 branches, neither will he spare you. Behold then 00:52:19.480 --> 00:52:22.360 the kindness and severity of God to those who 00:52:22.360 --> 00:52:25.889 fell severity. but to you God's kindness. If 00:52:25.889 --> 00:52:28.630 you continue in His kindness, otherwise you also 00:52:28.630 --> 00:52:32.269 will be cut off. We can stop right there. It 00:52:32.269 --> 00:52:35.309 says enough, doesn't it? The apothigmatic history 00:52:35.309 --> 00:52:40.170 of God. So the word apothigmatic means short, 00:52:40.349 --> 00:52:46.210 powerful, saying, or formulation, like a plan 00:52:46.210 --> 00:52:51.070 or a book, right? So this is the apothigmatic 00:52:51.070 --> 00:52:54.440 history of God. And the truth is, you only know 00:52:54.440 --> 00:52:57.559 what your life is like, what you've witnessed 00:52:57.559 --> 00:53:00.639 with your eyes, and your living testimony, what 00:53:00.639 --> 00:53:03.840 you can talk about that you know is true. That 00:53:03.840 --> 00:53:07.900 is the apothigmatic history of God for you. And 00:53:07.900 --> 00:53:10.380 you say, but that's so much. To know this Bible 00:53:10.380 --> 00:53:11.960 from end to end would be so much. So there's 00:53:11.960 --> 00:53:14.440 about, depending on your translation, there's 00:53:14.440 --> 00:53:17.900 between 725 ,000 and 800 ,000 words in this Bible. 00:53:18.380 --> 00:53:21.340 That sounds like a lot. But of those, almost 00:53:21.340 --> 00:53:25.500 2 % of those words are God or Lord. So that cuts 00:53:25.500 --> 00:53:29.900 it down a little bit. It's not 800 ,000 different 00:53:29.900 --> 00:53:35.400 words. It's not. Nobody has done the statistic 00:53:35.400 --> 00:53:37.099 to know, or at least I couldn't find it to know 00:53:37.099 --> 00:53:39.539 exactly how many different words there are exactly. 00:53:39.760 --> 00:53:43.000 It depends on the translation, obviously. The 00:53:43.000 --> 00:53:45.980 bottom line is, this is definitely an apophagmatic 00:53:45.980 --> 00:53:51.380 presentation of the truth about God. and your 00:53:51.380 --> 00:53:54.059 life is apothematic, all you have to remember 00:53:54.059 --> 00:53:56.760 is what happened to you. Now it would be nice 00:53:56.760 --> 00:53:58.219 if you could also remember some of what happened 00:53:58.219 --> 00:54:00.139 to your parents. If your parents have a great 00:54:00.139 --> 00:54:02.840 testimony, remember their story. If they walked 00:54:02.840 --> 00:54:04.800 against God and realized it and turned to God, 00:54:04.900 --> 00:54:09.159 remember their story. If they loved God and He 00:54:09.159 --> 00:54:10.519 loved them back and were taken care of, bless 00:54:10.519 --> 00:54:12.960 you. then remember their story and deliver it 00:54:12.960 --> 00:54:14.960 to your kids and your kids' kids and say, you 00:54:14.960 --> 00:54:16.940 know, when I was younger, I heard these stories 00:54:16.940 --> 00:54:18.980 of what God had amazingly done in my parents' 00:54:19.099 --> 00:54:20.579 life, but I didn't really listen and I didn't 00:54:20.579 --> 00:54:22.340 really follow the way I should. And then I repent 00:54:22.340 --> 00:54:23.780 and I turn back. Don't make the mistake that 00:54:23.780 --> 00:54:26.559 I made. Tell the apothigmatic history. You say, 00:54:26.599 --> 00:54:29.480 no, it's not short. It is short. Pithy means... 00:54:30.099 --> 00:54:32.460 Essential, short, and powerful. The Bible is 00:54:32.460 --> 00:54:35.519 a condensed version of everything. If you actually 00:54:35.519 --> 00:54:37.360 wanted to write down every detail that happened 00:54:37.360 --> 00:54:40.019 in the life of Moses, it would take books upon 00:54:40.019 --> 00:54:42.639 books to write that down. It even says that in 00:54:42.639 --> 00:54:43.900 the New Testament about the life of Jesus. If 00:54:43.900 --> 00:54:45.360 you want to write down everything that was about 00:54:45.360 --> 00:54:47.820 Jesus, it would take books upon books to write 00:54:47.820 --> 00:54:49.559 down everything that he did. If you want to write 00:54:49.559 --> 00:54:51.750 down everything that happened in your life, It 00:54:51.750 --> 00:54:53.150 would take books upon books and then it would 00:54:53.150 --> 00:54:55.989 take me years upon years to pry it out of you. 00:54:56.030 --> 00:54:57.849 And the truth is I probably can't. Why? Because 00:54:57.849 --> 00:55:00.230 we're stuffing ourselves so full of so much crap 00:55:00.230 --> 00:55:03.090 that we can't remember what God is doing in us. 00:55:04.070 --> 00:55:06.670 So that we can deliver it to everybody else as 00:55:06.670 --> 00:55:12.570 they need it. The translation of the Bible doesn't 00:55:12.570 --> 00:55:15.269 matter as long as it's a translation. But what 00:55:15.269 --> 00:55:19.949 does matter is what it means. And we must learn 00:55:19.949 --> 00:55:23.019 it. Share it with our children and our generation. 00:55:23.500 --> 00:55:27.199 Striving to live up to what we learn. Chiefly 00:55:27.199 --> 00:55:31.320 giving God His proper place in sovereignty. His 00:55:31.320 --> 00:55:35.599 ways are the only ways we want. And you learn 00:55:35.599 --> 00:55:41.179 those ways by taking a long look at the apothematic 00:55:41.179 --> 00:55:45.920 history of God. What did God deliver us Genesis 00:55:45.920 --> 00:55:48.980 through Revelation? And what do you know of it? 00:55:49.519 --> 00:55:52.820 And how do you apply it? And then what has God 00:55:52.820 --> 00:55:55.559 done in your life? And you say, well, God has 00:55:55.559 --> 00:55:59.199 not been good to me in my life. Life is not good 00:55:59.199 --> 00:56:02.039 to people in general. Suffering is a normal state 00:56:02.039 --> 00:56:05.760 of being. God sent His only Son to die on the 00:56:05.760 --> 00:56:08.139 cross for you. And if you'll have Him as Lord 00:56:08.139 --> 00:56:10.900 and Savior, you'll have abundant life even in 00:56:10.900 --> 00:56:14.320 the midst of that suffering. Miracles do happen. 00:56:14.719 --> 00:56:17.139 I could give you... A long list. We could have 00:56:17.139 --> 00:56:18.719 a sermon of just me standing up here listing 00:56:18.719 --> 00:56:20.739 out miracles that we have seen and there would 00:56:20.739 --> 00:56:22.340 be people in this house go, yep, I saw that one. 00:56:22.380 --> 00:56:25.019 Yep, I saw that one. Yes, I remember that. Right? 00:56:25.400 --> 00:56:27.019 And then we could pass the microphone around 00:56:27.019 --> 00:56:29.280 and you could list off five or seven or ten as 00:56:29.280 --> 00:56:31.500 long as you knew in advance because it's not 00:56:31.500 --> 00:56:33.019 like you're telling them all the time, right? 00:56:33.639 --> 00:56:37.440 And if so, why not? Because that's the apothigmatic 00:56:37.440 --> 00:56:39.800 history of God. You're supposed to be telling 00:56:39.800 --> 00:56:43.239 them all the time. You say, well, I've only got 00:56:43.239 --> 00:56:46.199 one the day I got saved. If that's the only miracle 00:56:46.199 --> 00:56:47.880 you've ever seen, then you should be telling 00:56:47.880 --> 00:56:51.619 that miracle all. The time. And if you've never 00:56:51.619 --> 00:56:53.380 seen that miracle, so you can't say that there 00:56:53.380 --> 00:56:56.039 are any, then you need to get saved today. You 00:56:56.039 --> 00:56:58.159 need to recognize that God has orchestrated the 00:56:58.159 --> 00:56:59.860 events of your life and the parameters of your 00:56:59.860 --> 00:57:01.480 life, where you live, where you will be, and 00:57:01.480 --> 00:57:03.179 required you to be in this room at this moment 00:57:03.179 --> 00:57:05.119 so that you can recognize that you have sinned 00:57:05.119 --> 00:57:06.699 and therefore are separated from God so you can 00:57:06.699 --> 00:57:08.360 believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for 00:57:08.360 --> 00:57:11.079 your sins and commit your life to Him and live 00:57:11.079 --> 00:57:13.000 for Him from this day forward being born again 00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:15.920 instantaneously because God promises whosoever 00:57:15.920 --> 00:57:18.380 call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:57:19.210 --> 00:57:21.789 I just gave you an apothigmatic history of what 00:57:21.789 --> 00:57:24.190 it means to be saved in 30 seconds. Can you do 00:57:24.190 --> 00:57:27.309 that? Yes, you can. Go do it literally always 00:57:27.309 --> 00:57:30.929 everywhere and win the world to Jesus. Because 00:57:30.929 --> 00:57:35.650 you are the replacement people of God. Unless 00:57:35.650 --> 00:57:39.250 you should delve into the folly of wanting the 00:57:39.250 --> 00:57:42.909 comforts of this life more than His presence. 00:57:43.349 --> 00:57:48.599 And then He'll replace you too. I'm asking you 00:57:48.599 --> 00:57:51.500 today to commit yourself to following the Lord. 00:57:52.440 --> 00:57:54.460 I'm not saying that He'll replace you and you'll 00:57:54.460 --> 00:57:56.219 lose your salvation. You know, you could do this. 00:57:56.239 --> 00:57:57.760 You could say, well, I'm saved. I know I'm saved. 00:57:57.800 --> 00:57:59.000 I'm just going to live however I want, and I 00:57:59.000 --> 00:58:00.440 know I'm saved. And as long as you keep knowing 00:58:00.440 --> 00:58:02.280 that you're saved, you'll probably still be saved, 00:58:02.360 --> 00:58:03.800 and it's all good, unless you're just fundamentally 00:58:03.800 --> 00:58:06.000 wrong. And if you feel like doing that and living 00:58:06.000 --> 00:58:07.659 like that, you might be fundamentally wrong. 00:58:07.719 --> 00:58:09.400 You might not be saved, and I wouldn't recommend 00:58:09.400 --> 00:58:11.820 it, but you could just do that. All things are 00:58:11.820 --> 00:58:14.679 permissible. But as Paul also pointed out, not 00:58:14.679 --> 00:58:18.619 all things are profitable. I suggest you follow 00:58:18.619 --> 00:58:21.940 the Lord and begin to deliver the apocalyptic 00:58:21.940 --> 00:58:26.360 history of God to everyone around you and to 00:58:26.360 --> 00:58:29.900 your kids and to Sunday school classes and to 00:58:29.900 --> 00:58:35.320 the church and to your spouse. And if your parents 00:58:35.320 --> 00:58:39.099 aren't saved, then give it to your parents. And 00:58:39.099 --> 00:58:41.579 if a new child is born, start brushing up and 00:58:41.579 --> 00:58:43.500 getting ready to deliver all those same stories 00:58:43.500 --> 00:58:45.780 over again. Because if you're waiting for me 00:58:45.780 --> 00:58:47.880 to do it, I'm going to do one a year. I'm going 00:58:47.880 --> 00:58:50.199 to do one a week for a year. I'm going to get 00:58:50.199 --> 00:58:53.639 52 in this year. But you should get in a minimum 00:58:53.639 --> 00:58:59.619 of 365. Because you're you every day. The apothematic 00:58:59.619 --> 00:59:02.980 history of God. That is what it means when it's 00:59:02.980 --> 00:59:05.840 the Great Commission. Go and teach them all things 00:59:05.840 --> 00:59:09.159 I have commanded you to do. That's what it means 00:59:09.159 --> 00:59:11.139 when it says we proclaim what we have seen and 00:59:11.139 --> 00:59:13.320 heard that you also may have fellowship with 00:59:13.320 --> 00:59:15.019 us and our fellowship is with God the Father 00:59:15.019 --> 00:59:17.139 and His Son Jesus Christ. What do we proclaim? 00:59:17.480 --> 00:59:22.000 The apophagmatic history of God. Lord help us. 00:59:22.159 --> 00:59:24.400 I ask the praise team to come forward and lead 00:59:24.400 --> 00:59:26.530 us in a closing hymn. If you're here today and 00:59:26.530 --> 00:59:27.929 either you're willing to accept Jesus Christ 00:59:27.929 --> 00:59:29.769 as your Lord and Savior for the first time ever, 00:59:29.889 --> 00:59:31.829 then you come and you respond and you make that 00:59:31.829 --> 00:59:33.630 public and say, yes, that's me. I'm doing that 00:59:33.630 --> 00:59:35.829 today. It doesn't matter what people think. Somebody 00:59:35.829 --> 00:59:37.610 already thought you were saved. That doesn't 00:59:37.610 --> 00:59:39.269 matter. You're getting saved for the first time 00:59:39.269 --> 00:59:41.489 ever today. If you made a public confession of 00:59:41.489 --> 00:59:43.530 faith this last seven days and you've not told 00:59:43.530 --> 00:59:45.289 the church yet about the decision you've made, 00:59:45.429 --> 00:59:47.010 this is your opportunity to say, I'm living for 00:59:47.010 --> 00:59:49.369 Jesus starting now. If you say, I'm a follower 00:59:49.369 --> 00:59:51.050 of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I have not been 00:59:51.050 --> 00:59:53.570 sharing the automatic history of God. I haven't 00:59:53.570 --> 00:59:55.309 been telling people what I know about God. I 00:59:55.309 --> 00:59:56.489 haven't been telling people what the Bible says 00:59:56.489 --> 00:59:58.969 about God. I'm not doing that. And you're repenting 00:59:58.969 --> 01:00:00.510 today and saying, no, I'm going to do that going 01:00:00.510 --> 01:00:02.630 forward. Then you make that publicly known and 01:00:02.630 --> 01:00:04.550 say, that's me. You can do that right where you're 01:00:04.550 --> 01:00:07.769 standing and say, yes, I will share it. Whatever 01:00:07.769 --> 01:00:09.090 it might be, it's on your heart. This is your 01:00:09.090 --> 01:00:10.949 opportunity to respond. Let me close our services 01:00:10.949 --> 01:00:13.610 today. We're going offline. Those of you who 01:00:13.610 --> 01:00:15.969 are online, leave a comment, send a message, 01:00:16.030 --> 01:00:17.449 whatever, if you've made some kind of decision 01:00:17.449 --> 01:00:19.760 today. We're going to do some business here now 01:00:19.760 --> 01:00:22.639 with the Lord. As we sing this song, would you 01:00:22.639 --> 01:00:24.659 stand with us and respond as the Lord is leading 01:00:24.659 --> 01:00:26.780 you to respond. This is our final song. This 01:00:26.780 --> 01:00:28.360 is our opportunity to come and say, yes, that's 01:00:28.360 --> 01:00:30.760 me. I need to live for God starting today. Or 01:00:30.760 --> 01:00:32.619 yes, that's me. I know I need to be sharing my 01:00:32.619 --> 01:00:35.199 life. Whatever else it might be.