WEBVTT

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We are going to talk about the face of God. We

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only have two left, by the way, and then an overview.

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So in less than a month, we will be done with

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this series. And very soon, we're changing our

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structure a little bit up in the room anyway.

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So I'm excited about that. So let's pray together,

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and then we'll... Let us seek the face of God

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in prayer, shall we? Father in heaven, first

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of all, we want to praise you. There would be

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no words, there is no list, no poetry, no song.

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that gets the job done. You are an amazing God,

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and we praise you for all that you are that we

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don't even know. We surrender to you in praise.

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At the same time, Lord, we confess to you that

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you have worked plans, even in our midst, right

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in front of our faces, steering us in the right

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direction that we did not understand, and at

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times we can now see we even worked against you.

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Forgive us for that. Thank you for sending your

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son Jesus to pay that price. Set us on the right

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course. Thank you for letting us be here in this

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place. And even for this material that we've

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been going through. Looking at the anthropomorphic

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words for God. Each one speaks to us. And it's

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kind of like studying the whole Bible in little

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bits. And we're grateful. I ask you to watch

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over us during this time. The kids as they play.

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Have fun. Learn Bible verses. The youth as they

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serve. The adults as they serve. Lord, we got

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big things on the horizon. We got Back to School

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Bash on Saturday. It's going to be a busy day.

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We got a lot of promotion between now and then.

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And I pray that there will be hundreds come.

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I pray that there will be any number, dozens

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saved. Lord, that your will be done. That people

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would be saved here on the earth. As we look

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forward to Surf Tour, that's looking incredible.

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Looking like there's going to be some awesome

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things happening in that couple of days. And

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I pray that there will be people getting saved

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all over Toledo. Perrysburg, Maumee, Bowling

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Green, Florida, everywhere in this area that

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people hear the gospel and get saved. We know

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that a rising tide raises all boats is a very

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real thing. The kingdom needs your lifting. And

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we submit it to you to do what we cannot and

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then use us to do whatever you would. And we

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pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right.

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So I prayed about. Back School Bash, don't forget

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that's Saturday. Also, Surf Tour is just over

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a month away. So that's going to be exciting.

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So the face of God, again, occurs all throughout

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Scripture. We've got a lot of that. Remember

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that we're looking at these anthropomorphisms

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of God because we realize God is spirit. Not

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physical. So God does not literally have a face

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like you or I have a face. Could he if he wants

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to? Sure. Has he at times? Probably. But these

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phrases where it says the face of the Lord teach

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us important things about God. To seek God's

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face, then, is to seek him personally. So, for

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example, I talk to you on the phone or if I write

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you a letter or send you a text. we know inherently

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that that is not as personal as being together.

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So we can talk over the phone about cooking chili

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together, but until we cook chili together, that

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presence, that experience of being together is

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missed. So to seek God's face is to seek him

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personally, to be with him in his presence, to

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know him personally. To have God's face shine

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upon someone is to receive his favor. And the

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scripture talks about that. To have God hide

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his face is to experience the withdrawal of God's

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fellowship and blessings. When God pulls back

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his face or when our sin creates a barrier between

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us and him, it's like he's behind a curtain.

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Right. And you cannot have that personal experience

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with him. So the face of God communicates at

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least four great truths. And these go in that

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first box. First box. Number one, God desires

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fellowship. with his people and i would even

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go say you can take out the his if you want and

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just put with people because even those people

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that god does not have fellowship with in any

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way shape or form yet god desires fellowship

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hence the call to evangelism right so god desires

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fellowship with his people or with people god

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blesses those who walk with him so Time and time

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again, we see in Scripture that those who choose

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to be on God's side, doing what it is that God

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would have them to do, going God's way like that,

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that God blesses. In fact, I guarantee everyone

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around the room right now, we could tell stories

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about how God has blessed us when we were doing

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the things that God wanted us to do. And sometimes

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those stories are truly amazing. Now, it also

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happens, side note, that people then want to

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do those things only to get blessed, and it does

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not work that way. You cannot follow God specifically

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for the blessings. It's the other way around.

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God blesses those who walk with him, not those

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who walk alongside him to manipulate him to give

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them blessings. God disciplines by withdrawing

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his favor. So a lot of times people like the

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Bible says he chastises those whom he loves.

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So what does that mean when it says that God

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punishes people? Because it doesn't sound very

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gracious or merciful or kind. And we already

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have talked about how God blesses those who walk

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with him. And so if you choose not to walk with

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God, not to go the way that God would have you

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go, then by natural extension, those blessings

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are withdrawn. So the world is kind of like that.

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I know a man right now who's going through some

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significant trials. He came to our church. He

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said, I'm going to live with the Lord. I'm going

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to put God first, and God's going to be first

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in everything. And then he allowed some things

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to interfere with that. And so now he's going

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through some of the greatest trials he's had

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in recent years. And you say, well, God would

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not do that. Well, yes, he would. As a parent

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would. So let's say any parent in the room would

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be the same way. Let's say we're supposed to

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go today at 7 o 'clock. To the movies, and everybody's

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going to get a large popcorn, and everybody's

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going to get a treat. We're going to go to dinner

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right before. We're going to see the movie that

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everybody's been wanting to see. And two hours

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before we're supposed to leave to go to the movies,

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our child is acting up bad. Or our teenager is

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back -talking an assassin as being a jerk, right?

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Now, do we go to the movie or not? And the answer

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is probably not, right? Because you cannot reward

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that kind of behavior. Well, God is the same

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way. God naturally blesses those who walk with

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him. God naturally withdraws that favor or those

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blessings for those children who choose another

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course who need to be disciplined. And then the

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fourth one is God will one day dwell visibly

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with his redeemed people. And you could put forever.

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So God will one day be with us visibly. And the

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Bible talks about heaven forever and how folks.

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So you realize that. Revelation talks about the

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angels that surround God and sing, holy, holy,

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holy, and they are doing that right now, up until

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the moment at which Christ is about to come back

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to the earth, right? So what humans physically

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approach the throne of God right now? The answer

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is none, because there are angels surrounding

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the throne that are singing, holy, holy, holy.

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That's the image of heaven right now. It's not

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that people don't go to heaven, they do, but

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they do not come physically up to the throne

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of God right now, because if they did, they would

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experience wrath, right? Those angels are protecting

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all creation, and even humans who have been redeemed

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would suffer that wrath. And so we have this

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understanding that God will one day, he's going

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to live with us invisibly, and we will be with

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him forever. But it's not like that now. Even

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when somebody dies and goes to heaven, it's not

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like they can just crawl up on God's lap, right?

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Because Jesus has not yet returned and completed

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the final step of putting everything under God's

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feet and the redemption. Okay, so when a frightened

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child is separated from his parents in the store,

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he's not looking for their hands or for their

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voice, right? He's looking for their face. One

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time I was at Kmart when I was a kid. Most of

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us remember Kmart, I think. It was right over

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here on Navarre. And we were in the store. And

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we were in the line. We were checking out. And

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next thing we know, we're walking out. And I

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walked out the door of Kmart onto the sidewalk,

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headed for the car. And I knew where our car

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was. I was headed for the car. And as far as

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I knew, as far as I was thinking, I was walking

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with my mom and dad. They were with me. They

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were checked out. And they walked out. And I

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thought they were with me. And then I got to

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the curb and went to step down off the curb.

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And I looked to see. It was not my mom and dad.

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It was a guy wearing a jacket, kind of like my

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dad's jacket, and pants the same color as my

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dad's pants, but it was not my dad. And it was

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not my mom. In fact, it wasn't even a woman.

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It was a man, right? And I'm going like, oh,

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crud. I'm no longer with my parents. And so immediately

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I thought, well, this happened for one reason,

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which was I didn't look at their faces. I didn't

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look at who they were. And then secondly, when

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I started to look around, guess what I looked

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for? I looked for their faces. And I realized

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you cannot identify somebody by their legs. You

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can't identify them by their jacket. You have

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to identify them by their faces. And so I was

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scrambling to find my parents' faces to get back

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where I needed to be. The face of God represents

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his presence, his safety, his relationship, and

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his love. And all throughout scripture, believers

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long for something that's much more than like

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earthly security, like a better job, better paycheck,

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health, whatever. There's something bigger than

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that. And it has to do with the presence of God.

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And that's what we're going to talk about then

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today. as we look at God's face. All right. So

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the first point there, God's face shines with

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blessing. So the reference is Numbers 6, 24 to

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26. Okay. Numbers 6, 24 to 26. And this is most

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of it. Anyway, the Lord bless you and keep you.

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The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious

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to you. The Lord lift up his confidence on you

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and give you peace. And so this is obviously

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the promised land people, the Israelites come

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out of Egypt, theoretically going to go into

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the promised land. So the priestly blessing that

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the priests would pronounce this blessing over

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the people in general, in general, it's one of

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the best known passages in the Old Testament.

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So you can memorize this blessing. And then you

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can pronounce it as a prayer over top of your

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spouse, over top of your boyfriend, your girlfriend,

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your child, whatever. And you're praying scripture.

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And praying scripture is always a good thing.

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Lots and lots, probably millions of Christians

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have memorized and prayed this scripture over

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the years. God's shining face here symbolizes

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his approval, his favor, his grace, and peace.

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Just as sunshine brings warmth and life to the

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earth, God's smiling face brings spiritual blessings.

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to his people. Notice the progression. First,

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he blesses. He keeps. He shines. He gives grace.

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He grants peace. Everything flows from God's

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gracious presence. So if you have God, you have

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all that. I know a woman, she just told me a

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story less than two months ago. She was on the

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table at the hospital and they told her she probably

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was not going to survive. And she started freaking

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out. They had to do a procedure. She was code

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blue or whatever. Her heart was not beating or

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beating correctly. And they told her she probably

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wasn't going to make it. They were talking over

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time. I don't think they told her, but they were

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talking about it, stuff over top of her. She

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felt like she probably wasn't going to make it.

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And she said she had such an amazing peace because

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she knew if she died in that moment, she was

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going straight to heaven. And then they saved

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her life. And now she's serving Jesus. Hopefully

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every day, but I know a lot. And so that presence

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brings that blessing. It keeps you, shines, gives

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grace, gives peace. The application then is the

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greatest blessing God gives us is not his gifts

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or anything else that you can hold in your hand,

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but his presence. I've preached it a couple of

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times, and I believe it's absolutely true. I

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believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross primarily,

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number one, above and beyond everything else,

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in order that God's presence could be with God's

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people. And that is what happens in the form

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of the Holy Spirit, right? So Jesus said, I go

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to heaven. You should want me to go there because

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I'll pray to the Father and he'll send you another

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comforter. And they talked about the Holy Spirit.

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Before the New Testament, the Spirit did not

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live in people. God's Holy Spirit did not live

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in people. It would settle on people. He would

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settle on people. He would affect people. He

00:13:45.950 --> 00:13:47.769
would affect their minds, cleanse their minds,

00:13:47.870 --> 00:13:50.870
that kind of thing. But now, from Pentecost on,

00:13:51.110 --> 00:13:54.269
God's presence, His Holy Spirit lives in us.

00:13:54.710 --> 00:13:57.870
That is what Jesus really died for. That was

00:13:57.870 --> 00:14:02.289
the joy that was set before Him. Okay, then that

00:14:02.289 --> 00:14:05.730
brings us to number two. We are called then to

00:14:05.730 --> 00:14:09.690
seek God's face. Psalm 27 .8 is the reference.

00:14:10.090 --> 00:14:16.309
Psalm 27 .8. When you said, seek my face, my

00:14:16.309 --> 00:14:20.590
heart said to you, your face, O Lord, I shall

00:14:20.590 --> 00:14:26.470
seek. So God is saying, seek my face. And the

00:14:26.470 --> 00:14:28.909
psalmist writes, when I heard that, my heart

00:14:28.909 --> 00:14:34.799
said, I will seek the face of God. OK, but David

00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:38.299
didn't seek God's blessings. Obviously, he wanted

00:14:38.299 --> 00:14:41.019
God's blessings. Right. Everybody wants God's

00:14:41.019 --> 00:14:43.779
blessings. But that's not what he was after.

00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:47.059
He sought God himself. Remember that David was

00:14:47.059 --> 00:14:49.860
called during part of his life, at least a man

00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:53.240
after God's own heart. And so what does God want?

00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:58.080
He wants us to seek him, his presence, not. His

00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:00.419
power, not what you can do because he makes you

00:15:00.419 --> 00:15:03.580
able, not what he can give you, not the healing

00:15:03.580 --> 00:15:05.879
that he can give. All of those are good things.

00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:08.960
There's nothing wrong with them. But what we

00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:10.620
kind of already learned is that God wants to

00:15:10.620 --> 00:15:12.720
give them and will give them if we get the first

00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:15.539
thing first, which is to seek his presence. Seeking

00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:19.899
God's face means pursuing intimacy. OK, so that

00:15:19.899 --> 00:15:23.080
same word that we had from Sunday, for those

00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:25.500
of you who were on Sunday, there was a word that

00:15:25.500 --> 00:15:27.940
talked about. They wanted to know the man and

00:15:27.940 --> 00:15:29.759
it was a know him in intimacy. He's talking about

00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:32.659
sex. That same word is what we're talking about.

00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:36.419
To be intimate with God is to try to hide nothing

00:15:36.419 --> 00:15:39.360
from God. To expose everything that you are and

00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:41.860
be willing humbly to take whatever God has for

00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:46.019
you. It's intimacy. And then worship him because

00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:48.120
that is the natural outpouring of knowing who

00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:52.259
he is. Obedience. So you should obey God. Whatever

00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:55.509
God says, that's what we should do. And we have

00:15:55.509 --> 00:15:57.330
a lot of that already. We don't have to ask him.

00:15:57.370 --> 00:15:58.789
He's already told us because it's in the Bible.

00:15:59.230 --> 00:16:02.409
And then fellowship, right? And that's fellowship

00:16:02.409 --> 00:16:05.210
with God. But don't miss that a key way to fellowship

00:16:05.210 --> 00:16:07.929
with God is actually to fellowship with God's

00:16:07.929 --> 00:16:11.330
people. Remember that when you mistreat a human

00:16:11.330 --> 00:16:13.950
being, you're actually mistreating somebody who

00:16:13.950 --> 00:16:15.690
is made in the image of God. Even though their

00:16:15.690 --> 00:16:18.350
image might be flawed, they were still made in

00:16:18.350 --> 00:16:22.320
the image of God. And so... One of the greatest

00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.899
things about fellowship with other believers

00:16:24.899 --> 00:16:27.000
is that we're fellowshipping with someone who

00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:29.320
is made in the image of God, whose image is being

00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:32.159
renewed. So they're becoming more and more like

00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:36.299
God. It is possible to desire God's provision

00:16:36.299 --> 00:16:41.720
without desiring his presence. That's very common.

00:16:43.179 --> 00:16:45.980
Even people will say, I want to feel like God

00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:50.960
is with me. I want to know what God is doing.

00:16:51.549 --> 00:16:55.090
I want to see God save people. Hear all those

00:16:55.090 --> 00:16:58.789
phrases? It's all, I want, I want, I want. And

00:16:58.789 --> 00:17:01.370
there is a man, or being, not a man, a being

00:17:01.370 --> 00:17:04.109
who is the I want being and is not a Christian.

00:17:04.509 --> 00:17:07.910
That's Satan. Satan is the I want being, right?

00:17:08.049 --> 00:17:10.609
And he taught Adam and Eve how to be I want beings.

00:17:10.930 --> 00:17:14.190
And then they propagated that in every generation

00:17:14.190 --> 00:17:19.490
spiritually after that. David refused that mistake.

00:17:20.109 --> 00:17:23.130
He would not allow himself to want the provision

00:17:23.130 --> 00:17:26.029
of God. He was chased out of his kingship. Before

00:17:26.029 --> 00:17:27.930
he was ever made king and put on the throne,

00:17:28.210 --> 00:17:31.670
Saul hunted him for years with armies to kill

00:17:31.670 --> 00:17:34.609
him. And during that time, he was not praying,

00:17:34.670 --> 00:17:38.970
God kill Saul. Which, in my heart, I think maybe

00:17:38.970 --> 00:17:41.630
I would have been praying something like that.

00:17:42.029 --> 00:17:43.470
Because I don't want to be hunted to the ends

00:17:43.470 --> 00:17:46.089
of the earth. His family was at risk all the

00:17:46.089 --> 00:17:48.720
time, right? And so you might be thinking, God,

00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:51.220
take care of this man. You know he's a bad man.

00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:53.660
Get him off the throne. And David didn't do that.

00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:57.480
He always sought the presence of the Lord. So

00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:00.519
then the application then is God desires to be

00:18:00.519 --> 00:18:04.799
more than your provider. FYI, everything that

00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:09.380
you have, God provided. And so that's done. That's

00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:12.619
already done. We do pray, Lord, give us this

00:18:12.619 --> 00:18:15.279
day our daily bread. But some people want the

00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:17.099
bread for tomorrow and the bread for retirement,

00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:21.500
too. And that's not necessarily godly. Or they

00:18:21.500 --> 00:18:23.339
want to take their bread from somebody else.

00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:27.579
And that's not godly. So God desires to be more

00:18:27.579 --> 00:18:30.519
than your provider. He desires to be your closest

00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:34.019
relationship. And that word is chosen very specifically.

00:18:34.279 --> 00:18:38.039
Your closest relationship. God is more close

00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:41.890
than your wife. God is more close than your kids.

00:18:42.089 --> 00:18:44.809
God is more close than your parents, right? So

00:18:44.809 --> 00:18:47.690
God is your closest relationship. And the truth

00:18:47.690 --> 00:18:50.569
is, you will never be able to have the intended

00:18:50.569 --> 00:18:52.829
relationship with any other human being that

00:18:52.829 --> 00:18:56.029
you want to have unless God is closest. God is

00:18:56.029 --> 00:18:59.049
the conduit, right? So if you want to love somebody,

00:18:59.309 --> 00:19:02.410
God is love. If you take God out, you will not

00:19:02.410 --> 00:19:05.190
love them. You will do something to them or for

00:19:05.190 --> 00:19:07.920
them or by them or about them. because you will

00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:09.579
like what you see, you will like what you feel,

00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:11.880
whatever, but if you take God out, there's not

00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.660
any love in it. That's why people have asked

00:19:14.660 --> 00:19:16.500
me, I think some of the teenagers in our youth

00:19:16.500 --> 00:19:18.579
group asked me just not that long ago, you know,

00:19:18.579 --> 00:19:20.220
if you don't know God, can you really love somebody?

00:19:20.279 --> 00:19:23.299
And the answer is probably no, not in the biblical

00:19:23.299 --> 00:19:32.599
sense. Okay? All right. Then we're, okay, so

00:19:32.599 --> 00:19:34.890
we're moving on to number three. First of all,

00:19:34.890 --> 00:19:38.309
let me illustrate. A young man might initially

00:19:38.309 --> 00:19:41.750
pursue a relationship because he likes what someone

00:19:41.750 --> 00:19:45.589
gives him. So Jaden might hang out with Hannah

00:19:45.589 --> 00:19:48.730
because Hannah is pretty. Because Hannah is friendly.

00:19:49.269 --> 00:19:52.490
Because Hannah encourages him. Because Hannah

00:19:52.490 --> 00:19:54.869
makes him feel good when she is around. Those

00:19:54.869 --> 00:19:58.150
kinds of things. But that is not what a healthy

00:19:58.150 --> 00:20:01.430
marriage is built on. So a healthy marriage is

00:20:01.430 --> 00:20:05.710
built on... delighting in the person not merely

00:20:05.710 --> 00:20:07.829
the benefits of the person that you're connected

00:20:07.829 --> 00:20:15.289
to right so if you're uh hanging out with uh

00:20:15.289 --> 00:20:17.130
your best friend let's say it's not a female

00:20:17.130 --> 00:20:19.029
at all it's your best friend and he's strong

00:20:19.029 --> 00:20:22.490
maybe he's got warrior skills you know you know

00:20:22.490 --> 00:20:24.650
he's and you run into some gang members on the

00:20:24.650 --> 00:20:26.910
street or something then you might say well i

00:20:26.910 --> 00:20:29.230
feel safe because i'm with this guy he's pretty

00:20:29.230 --> 00:20:32.329
tough i think he'll take care of it right And

00:20:32.329 --> 00:20:33.829
so you might like to hang around with somebody

00:20:33.829 --> 00:20:35.309
like that, especially if you're going into a

00:20:35.309 --> 00:20:40.170
dangerous area. Well, God is like that. He has

00:20:40.170 --> 00:20:42.509
all those benefits. He's big. He's strong. He's

00:20:42.509 --> 00:20:45.490
also beautiful. He's powerful in every way. He's

00:20:45.490 --> 00:20:48.009
merciful, gracious, kind, all kinds of good things.

00:20:49.150 --> 00:20:52.289
But you can't seek him for the good things. You

00:20:52.289 --> 00:20:55.349
have to want him by virtue of who you are and

00:20:55.349 --> 00:20:57.930
who he is. So mature believers then seek God

00:20:57.930 --> 00:21:03.559
for who he is. not what he provides. So if you're

00:21:03.559 --> 00:21:05.259
a young believer, you might be still thinking,

00:21:05.299 --> 00:21:07.779
I want to be saved. And a lot of people do that.

00:21:07.819 --> 00:21:10.059
They pray to God to be saved and they want to

00:21:10.059 --> 00:21:11.339
be saved on the day that they're going to be

00:21:11.339 --> 00:21:13.180
saved because they want to be saved. They don't

00:21:13.180 --> 00:21:14.599
want to go to hell. They're afraid of hell, right?

00:21:14.740 --> 00:21:16.819
There's been a lot of foxhole conversions. I'm

00:21:16.819 --> 00:21:18.559
going to die today. The bombs are coming down.

00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:20.200
Oh, Lord, if you save me, I'll live for you for

00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:22.279
the rest of my life. And they seek God because

00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:26.140
they want to be saved. But if you stop there,

00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:31.359
you'll be nothing but... seeking him for what

00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:34.900
he can provide. But if you realize then once

00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:37.160
you meet God, he's so much bigger than what he

00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:39.380
can provide. He's so much more important. It's

00:21:39.380 --> 00:21:40.579
so much more important to have that relationship

00:21:40.579 --> 00:21:43.980
with him directly rather than to look at what

00:21:43.980 --> 00:21:47.319
he can provide. Also, if, by the way, you're

00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:49.660
after God for what he can provide, then when

00:21:49.660 --> 00:21:51.240
you're diagnosed with stage four cancer and given

00:21:51.240 --> 00:21:53.079
six months to live, your relationship with God

00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:55.240
is going to suck. It's going to be really bad.

00:21:55.789 --> 00:21:57.849
He loses a job, doesn't have any money, bills

00:21:57.849 --> 00:21:59.410
are coming in, can't keep the electric on in

00:21:59.410 --> 00:22:01.190
your house, and all of a sudden your relationship

00:22:01.190 --> 00:22:03.829
with God is going to be non -existent. Because

00:22:03.829 --> 00:22:08.990
apparently God is not providing. But if you seek

00:22:08.990 --> 00:22:12.250
him for who he is, look at Job. Job literally

00:22:12.250 --> 00:22:15.349
lost everything, but he was in a relationship

00:22:15.349 --> 00:22:17.490
with God for who God was. And he said, well,

00:22:17.589 --> 00:22:19.730
you know, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh

00:22:19.730 --> 00:22:22.930
away. Who am I to take what he gives and then

00:22:22.930 --> 00:22:25.819
to be upset when he takes away? And so he must

00:22:25.819 --> 00:22:28.140
have his reasons, basically, is what he was saying.

00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:29.920
And so that's where we need to be. If you're

00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:32.119
seeking God for who he is, not what he gives,

00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:34.299
then when things aren't quite going right, you

00:22:34.299 --> 00:22:38.119
won't automatically be accusing God. All right.

00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:41.859
Number three, God sometimes hides his face. Isaiah

00:22:41.859 --> 00:22:47.420
59 to another classic Old Testament verse. But

00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:50.180
your iniquities have made a separation between

00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:52.500
you and your God and your sins have hidden his

00:22:52.500 --> 00:22:56.299
face from you. So there's this idea of a curtain

00:22:56.299 --> 00:22:59.619
or a barrier that comes up between us and God,

00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:08.160
or a rift, if you will. This is like one of Scripture's

00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:11.599
dangerous, sobering, scary, whatever you call

00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:16.480
it, warnings. God's people had assumed that he

00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:18.319
was ignoring them when this verse was written.

00:23:18.380 --> 00:23:20.920
They said, well, God's ignoring us. But actually,

00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:24.079
Isaiah explained that persistent sin, had broken

00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:26.759
their relationship with God. So God was telling

00:23:26.759 --> 00:23:28.200
them, don't do stuff. They were doing it anyway.

00:23:29.619 --> 00:23:33.039
And then that created a rift between them and

00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:35.480
God. And they started thinking, oh, God has abandoned

00:23:35.480 --> 00:23:39.160
us. And that was maybe reflected on God's character,

00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:41.039
that kind of thing. But actually, it was they

00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:43.660
were continuing in sin. So if you're continuing

00:23:43.660 --> 00:23:47.119
in sin, God will always seem far apart, far away.

00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:48.640
You know, that's the way it works, because you're

00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:51.420
like throwing up a barrier, a curtain between

00:23:51.420 --> 00:23:54.230
you and him. So God had not ceased to exist.

00:23:54.369 --> 00:23:56.390
He had not stopped loving his covenant people.

00:23:56.670 --> 00:23:59.569
But his favor and his fellowship had been hindered

00:23:59.569 --> 00:24:03.549
by unrepentant sin. Because they would not turn

00:24:03.549 --> 00:24:05.910
from their sin and turn back to God. They were

00:24:05.910 --> 00:24:07.869
looking elsewhere. They were seeking elsewhere.

00:24:10.589 --> 00:24:13.490
So what we're talking about is relational distance.

00:24:14.410 --> 00:24:16.970
We're not talking about a loss of who God is

00:24:16.970 --> 00:24:19.890
or his sovereignty. So God is still sovereign.

00:24:19.990 --> 00:24:22.829
He's still in charge of your life. And if you're

00:24:22.829 --> 00:24:25.470
saved, you're still saved. But you can be saved

00:24:25.470 --> 00:24:28.869
and God can be distant. And the fellowship, even

00:24:28.869 --> 00:24:30.049
though you're like, well, but wait a minute.

00:24:30.109 --> 00:24:31.809
He said, I'll be with you even under the end

00:24:31.809 --> 00:24:34.150
of the age. And that would be true. You would

00:24:34.150 --> 00:24:36.089
still be saved. He'll take you all the way through.

00:24:36.269 --> 00:24:39.089
Right. But if you're sinning against him and

00:24:39.089 --> 00:24:43.630
unrepentant, then you have a relational. So I'll

00:24:43.630 --> 00:24:46.130
give you an example. My wife and I had an argument.

00:24:46.230 --> 00:24:50.440
This is some years ago now. And I got mad. And

00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:52.559
I went in the kitchen, and I was banging the

00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:55.559
pots and pans. I'd wash the dishes and throw

00:24:55.559 --> 00:24:59.259
the pans in the cupboard, making a noise. I wanted

00:24:59.259 --> 00:25:02.279
her to know that I was angry. After I got done

00:25:02.279 --> 00:25:04.680
throwing all the pots and pans in the cupboard,

00:25:04.839 --> 00:25:06.740
a little harder than I should have and whatever,

00:25:07.019 --> 00:25:10.160
I went back in the living room, and she wasn't

00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:11.759
in the living room anymore. She'd gone to the

00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:14.180
bathroom. And I sat down in the living room.

00:25:14.200 --> 00:25:15.579
When she came back in the living room, we were

00:25:15.579 --> 00:25:19.359
in the same room. that there was a distance between

00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:22.680
us, even though we were only five, six feet apart,

00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:25.220
right? It was clear that she was upset with me.

00:25:25.240 --> 00:25:26.940
I was upset with her. I was upset with her for

00:25:26.940 --> 00:25:28.420
being upset with me. She was upset with me for

00:25:28.420 --> 00:25:30.500
being upset with her. We were both upset about

00:25:30.500 --> 00:25:32.720
what we had argued about. So we sat in the same

00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:34.660
room five, six feet apart until one of us would

00:25:34.660 --> 00:25:37.200
break that silence and get it started. And that's

00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:40.480
what it's like when God's face is hidden by unrepentant

00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:45.779
sin. You can watch TV with God now. You can have

00:25:45.779 --> 00:25:48.470
dinner with God. God will be with you while you're

00:25:48.470 --> 00:25:51.289
working. He's still there, right? You're dragging

00:25:51.289 --> 00:25:52.630
him through the mud and doing the things you

00:25:52.630 --> 00:25:55.150
shouldn't be doing, but you're the presence of

00:25:55.150 --> 00:25:58.029
God, the face of God, that fellowship and blessings

00:25:58.029 --> 00:26:03.589
is separated from you. It feels distant. So sin

00:26:03.589 --> 00:26:06.309
does not, the application then is sin does not

00:26:06.309 --> 00:26:10.269
remove God's omnipresence. So sin does not chase

00:26:10.269 --> 00:26:12.529
God away. When I was a young believer, I had

00:26:12.529 --> 00:26:14.690
a seasoned, kind of mature, thought he was mature

00:26:14.690 --> 00:26:18.059
Christian tell me, that God cannot see people

00:26:18.059 --> 00:26:20.900
when they sin, that God will not look on sin.

00:26:21.099 --> 00:26:23.539
And there is a verse that supports that general

00:26:23.539 --> 00:26:26.960
idea that God will not look on sin. But that's

00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:28.420
not what it means. That's not what Scripture

00:26:28.420 --> 00:26:30.960
says. God sees all the sin. His eyes look through

00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:33.680
all the earth looking for people who will be

00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:37.160
obedient to him. And as we've heard when we talk

00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:39.799
about the ear and the eye, we know that God is

00:26:39.799 --> 00:26:41.819
searching out people that he can be a blessing

00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:45.500
to. So he's still omnipresent. He's everywhere,

00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:49.460
everywhere that he wants to be. But it hinders

00:26:49.460 --> 00:26:52.900
our enjoyment of the fellowship with God. So

00:26:52.900 --> 00:26:57.119
you will lose all the good spiritual, emotional,

00:26:57.339 --> 00:27:00.000
mental aspects of being a Christian by having

00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.259
unrepentant sin. So let me stop. We're going

00:27:04.259 --> 00:27:07.160
to do a stunt in a second. I want to talk about

00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:08.720
unrepentant sin just for a second. I understand

00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:12.410
what it means. So does unrepentant sin mean you

00:27:12.410 --> 00:27:17.230
sin? Let's say you told a lie. And then a week

00:27:17.230 --> 00:27:20.109
later, you told a lie. And then a month later,

00:27:20.210 --> 00:27:24.029
you told a lie. Is that the definition of unrepentant

00:27:24.029 --> 00:27:30.890
sin? It is not. All three of those lies are iniquity,

00:27:30.890 --> 00:27:34.750
and they will start to build a barrier between

00:27:34.750 --> 00:27:38.329
you and God, right? But repentance has to do

00:27:38.329 --> 00:27:41.410
with your heart condition. What did you want

00:27:41.410 --> 00:27:44.390
to do? So before the first time you lied, maybe

00:27:44.390 --> 00:27:46.329
you didn't realize it was an ignorance. And then

00:27:46.329 --> 00:27:48.609
you went, oh, crud, I lied. God, I'm sorry. I

00:27:48.609 --> 00:27:50.970
don't want to do that. And a week later, you

00:27:50.970 --> 00:27:53.029
did it again. Now it's not ignorance now because

00:27:53.029 --> 00:27:55.910
now you know what you did, right? And immediately

00:27:55.910 --> 00:27:58.769
you go, oh, God, I'm sorry. And you try to make

00:27:58.769 --> 00:28:01.470
it right, try to do what you can and move on.

00:28:01.549 --> 00:28:04.430
A month later, you do it again, right? But it's

00:28:04.430 --> 00:28:06.470
about heart condition. It becomes unrepentant

00:28:06.470 --> 00:28:09.799
sin when one of two things happens. When you're

00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:11.880
willfully doing something that you know is wrong,

00:28:12.039 --> 00:28:15.200
and usually it's a Bible verse, right? Like the

00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:16.980
Bible's telling you don't do this or do this,

00:28:17.099 --> 00:28:19.140
and you know the Bible verse, but you're just

00:28:19.140 --> 00:28:20.940
not applying the Bible verse. You're doing whatever

00:28:20.940 --> 00:28:23.640
you want to do in that moment, even though the

00:28:23.640 --> 00:28:25.980
Bible says you can't do it. Or the Bible says

00:28:25.980 --> 00:28:29.200
you should do something different, right? But

00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:31.039
if it's not the Bible, however, you became aware

00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:34.279
of the correct course of action, and you willfully

00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:37.500
choose the wrong course of action despite knowing.

00:28:38.200 --> 00:28:42.619
That is not right. That's unrepentant sin. And

00:28:42.619 --> 00:28:47.519
it remains unrepentant sin until you repent,

00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:50.680
right? And you say, hey, whoa, wait a minute.

00:28:50.920 --> 00:28:53.680
I screwed this up. I shouldn't have done that.

00:28:53.740 --> 00:28:56.259
That was wrong. I went off course there. I see

00:28:56.259 --> 00:28:58.980
that, right? It might be a day, might be weeks,

00:28:58.980 --> 00:29:01.200
could be years. I know people that have slayed

00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:03.680
away under a certain unrepentant sin for years,

00:29:03.859 --> 00:29:06.569
right? So the other way that you get it done,

00:29:06.569 --> 00:29:08.029
the first one is when you don't follow something

00:29:08.029 --> 00:29:10.829
that you know to do. The other way of unrepentant

00:29:10.829 --> 00:29:14.150
sin is when you find out after the fact that

00:29:14.150 --> 00:29:17.150
something is wrong, and instead of turning to

00:29:17.150 --> 00:29:19.529
God to deal with it, you keep kind of dealing

00:29:19.529 --> 00:29:22.789
with it yourself, right? So maybe to use the

00:29:22.789 --> 00:29:24.630
lying example, this wouldn't probably be true,

00:29:24.710 --> 00:29:26.049
but maybe you say, well, everybody in the world

00:29:26.049 --> 00:29:28.029
lies. I don't think God wants us to not lie.

00:29:28.230 --> 00:29:29.990
And you just kind of live your life with an occasional

00:29:29.990 --> 00:29:31.789
little lie here and there and there and there,

00:29:31.890 --> 00:29:36.029
right? And then... God convicts you and you start

00:29:36.029 --> 00:29:38.809
questioning what's wrong. Something's wrong.

00:29:39.289 --> 00:29:41.450
I don't feel right. My relationship with God

00:29:41.450 --> 00:29:42.549
doesn't feel right. I don't know what I'm supposed

00:29:42.549 --> 00:29:46.369
to do. And then God points you to the lying,

00:29:46.450 --> 00:29:49.670
but you're like, oh, well, I'll fix that. I'll

00:29:49.670 --> 00:29:52.230
take care of that. So you intend to stop lying.

00:29:52.569 --> 00:29:56.109
So you just start trying to enact plans. So here's

00:29:56.109 --> 00:29:59.049
what I'll do. I won't tell anybody that I'm going

00:29:59.049 --> 00:30:01.329
to do anything in advance because that might

00:30:01.329 --> 00:30:06.150
break my promise. Or I won't talk to that person

00:30:06.150 --> 00:30:08.789
anymore because I really want to have a good

00:30:08.789 --> 00:30:10.450
relationship with them and I'm afraid I'll be

00:30:10.450 --> 00:30:12.670
lured into lying. You start all these action

00:30:12.670 --> 00:30:14.390
plans of how you're going to keep from lying.

00:30:15.089 --> 00:30:18.109
And you miss step one, which was to turn to God

00:30:18.109 --> 00:30:22.150
for forgiveness, to confess your sins, and to

00:30:22.150 --> 00:30:25.349
receive the help that God can provide. And so

00:30:25.349 --> 00:30:29.809
that's what people do. Either A, they start and

00:30:29.809 --> 00:30:32.240
they repeat. And they know what they're not supposed

00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:34.500
to be doing already before they ever really get

00:30:34.500 --> 00:30:36.400
moving on it, sometimes right after getting saved

00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:39.380
or whatever. Or B, they come convicted of sin

00:30:39.380 --> 00:30:42.779
later, and then they don't get the help from

00:30:42.779 --> 00:30:44.779
God. They just keep trying to fix it themselves.

00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:48.400
And I've known people that did that. So I knew

00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:54.000
a man, for example, who had gotten into almost

00:30:54.000 --> 00:31:00.799
an affair. He was flirting with a woman. pursuant

00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:02.279
to probably having an affair with her, and he

00:31:02.279 --> 00:31:07.859
was married. And so then he was convicted about

00:31:07.859 --> 00:31:10.119
it, and he said, well, okay, well, I'm not going

00:31:10.119 --> 00:31:11.920
to have anything to do with her, with that woman

00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:15.279
anymore. So now he basically hated her. He was

00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:17.380
very mean toward her. He didn't want nothing

00:31:17.380 --> 00:31:20.579
to do with her, wouldn't help her, nothing. But

00:31:20.579 --> 00:31:22.819
he worked with her. So they were constantly seeing

00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:24.799
each other, and he was treating her very rudely.

00:31:25.119 --> 00:31:28.180
Well, if that's evident, then he didn't handle

00:31:28.180 --> 00:31:30.339
that in a biblical way. He didn't repent, turn

00:31:30.339 --> 00:31:32.599
to God, get it fixed. All he really needed to

00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:34.880
do was make sure that they were never alone together,

00:31:35.180 --> 00:31:37.200
make sure that he wasn't flirting with her anymore,

00:31:37.380 --> 00:31:39.660
make sure that maybe he was open and transparent

00:31:39.660 --> 00:31:41.980
with her that that was wrong and that he should

00:31:41.980 --> 00:31:43.640
not have done it, was not going to do it anymore,

00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:45.740
talk to his wife about it, make sure she was

00:31:45.740 --> 00:31:48.799
on the right page, and amend the situation, give

00:31:48.799 --> 00:31:50.720
it over to God and move on. And it would have

00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:53.099
been fine. But instead, he went to a humanistic

00:31:53.099 --> 00:31:55.099
way of doing it, which I'm going to... shun that

00:31:55.099 --> 00:31:56.759
person, treat them disrespectfully, that kind

00:31:56.759 --> 00:31:59.619
of thing. And that's what we tend to do if we

00:31:59.619 --> 00:32:02.000
don't repent and turn to God. By the way, the

00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:06.279
Bible says, John wrote that if you confess your

00:32:06.279 --> 00:32:10.299
sins, that God will forgive you your sins. He's

00:32:10.299 --> 00:32:12.400
faithful and just to forgive you your sins and

00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:15.039
to cleanse you of all unrighteousness. So when

00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:16.859
you go to him and say, God, please help me, then

00:32:16.859 --> 00:32:19.299
he washes that away. It may only stay gone until

00:32:19.299 --> 00:32:21.539
you delve back into it, right? You might do it

00:32:21.539 --> 00:32:23.079
again. If you do, then you got to repent, go

00:32:23.079 --> 00:32:25.150
back to him again. That kind of thing. Again,

00:32:25.369 --> 00:32:26.869
we're not talking about losing our salvation.

00:32:27.089 --> 00:32:30.049
We're talking about that closeness with God that

00:32:30.049 --> 00:32:33.289
we can have. Okay, so we're going to do a stop

00:32:33.289 --> 00:32:35.230
for those who would like to do a stop. I took

00:32:35.230 --> 00:32:37.769
the liberty of getting out three cards. I will

00:32:37.769 --> 00:32:40.569
still randomize them, but I got to play the game

00:32:40.569 --> 00:32:46.329
today. Okay, so this is pairs, two -person teams

00:32:46.329 --> 00:32:50.029
participating. Who wants to play? Who plays my

00:32:50.029 --> 00:32:55.579
game? You need a partner. And if we're odd, I'll

00:32:55.579 --> 00:32:59.180
be a partner with somebody. Come on. He already

00:32:59.180 --> 00:33:03.440
asked you now. Okay, you need this. Good catch.

00:33:04.339 --> 00:33:13.319
All right, we need a partner for Mike, or I'll

00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:19.720
do it. I got back -to -back with your partner.

00:33:24.619 --> 00:33:28.559
Okay, so this is what you have to do. You have

00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:33.619
to toss the ball up over your head, and you cannot

00:33:33.619 --> 00:33:36.839
move away from each other. And then your partner

00:33:36.839 --> 00:33:39.440
has to catch the ball and toss the ball back

00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:42.380
to you. You have 60 seconds to complete that

00:33:42.380 --> 00:33:45.359
task. If you complete the task, you get three

00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:47.599
tickets. If you fail to complete the task, you

00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:55.700
get one. Let me start the timer. A little higher

00:33:55.700 --> 00:33:58.079
so people can see. Probably would be a good call,

00:33:58.240 --> 00:34:07.359
I think. On your mark, get set, go. Okay, you

00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:09.139
can go get it. Try again. You have 60 seconds.

00:34:16.369 --> 00:34:24.449
Try again. That was a good reflex if you caught

00:34:24.449 --> 00:34:32.690
it. Try again. Oh, there's one. And? Oh, you

00:34:32.690 --> 00:34:45.679
almost had it. 25 seconds. Oh, she dropped it

00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:48.260
that time. All right, got three right there.

00:34:51.400 --> 00:34:58.239
13 seconds. Yeah, communication is key, I guess.

00:34:58.940 --> 00:35:27.760
How much do we have to catch? No! Thank you.

00:35:31.739 --> 00:35:35.679
Stop. Stop. Stop. Okay. I'll try to remember

00:35:35.679 --> 00:35:37.039
to cut that out of the podcast. I don't think

00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:48.730
anyone will hear my phone alarm. All is well.

00:35:49.190 --> 00:35:54.809
Okay, number four. We're over halfway. God's

00:35:54.809 --> 00:35:58.849
face brings joy. So we already have, right, the

00:35:58.849 --> 00:36:01.610
face represents the presence of the Lord, and

00:36:01.610 --> 00:36:04.489
his presence will bring the blessings. We already

00:36:04.489 --> 00:36:07.079
got that. And so in Scripture, we see that God's

00:36:07.079 --> 00:36:09.900
face brings joy. Psalm 1611 is the reference.

00:36:10.099 --> 00:36:15.179
Psalm 1611. In your presence is fullness of joy.

00:36:16.099 --> 00:36:20.960
In your right hand, there are pleasures forever.

00:36:23.539 --> 00:36:29.719
So even though in this verse, the word face is

00:36:29.719 --> 00:36:32.860
not explicitly used, God's presence is the central

00:36:32.860 --> 00:36:36.420
theme throughout Scripture. And it's a lot of

00:36:36.420 --> 00:36:40.139
other places they use the word face. So joy is

00:36:40.139 --> 00:36:45.199
not ultimately found in circumstances. So my

00:36:45.199 --> 00:36:49.119
first Christian devotional book that I wrote

00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:51.920
was called Think Again. And the material that

00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:55.960
inspired me to write it was a paper that I wrote

00:36:55.960 --> 00:36:59.280
while I was in college called How to Find Happiness.

00:37:00.199 --> 00:37:02.760
Right. And so then I branched off of there to

00:37:02.760 --> 00:37:05.920
write that book. And the bottom line is in the

00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:14.219
world today, happiness is meeting enough of your

00:37:14.219 --> 00:37:17.139
desires that you don't feel them overwhelming

00:37:17.139 --> 00:37:20.480
you. Right. So don't feel like like overly thirsty,

00:37:20.599 --> 00:37:24.280
overly hungry, desperate for money, whatever.

00:37:24.420 --> 00:37:25.579
So you're meeting enough of your desires. You

00:37:25.579 --> 00:37:28.719
don't feel pain or experience negative feelings

00:37:28.719 --> 00:37:32.130
because of it. And then also being able to get

00:37:32.130 --> 00:37:34.869
at least some fulfillment of what you imagined,

00:37:35.090 --> 00:37:39.590
what you dream, etc. Now, you know, that's a

00:37:39.590 --> 00:37:41.750
really empty description of happiness, right?

00:37:42.150 --> 00:37:44.849
Because you don't know most of the time what's

00:37:44.849 --> 00:37:48.630
good for you. So I know right now I know two

00:37:48.630 --> 00:37:52.730
couples where both the man and the woman both

00:37:52.730 --> 00:37:56.739
said, I'll never be married. They were happy

00:37:56.739 --> 00:37:58.260
being single and they thought, I'll never be

00:37:58.260 --> 00:38:01.320
married. One of the couples, they were older,

00:38:01.420 --> 00:38:05.360
so they found each other in their mid to early

00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:08.500
30s or something like that. And they were saying,

00:38:08.579 --> 00:38:10.820
both parties separately saying, I'll never be

00:38:10.820 --> 00:38:14.960
married. And that was their first marriage in

00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:17.719
their 30s. So they had reason to believe they

00:38:17.719 --> 00:38:20.280
might never be married. And then the other couple

00:38:20.280 --> 00:38:23.400
was younger and he was a rabble rouser and she

00:38:23.400 --> 00:38:25.559
was a traveler. She wanted to see the world.

00:38:25.900 --> 00:38:28.699
And they both said, I'll never be married. I

00:38:28.699 --> 00:38:31.659
just thought of a third one. And they both said,

00:38:31.719 --> 00:38:33.920
he said, there's no woman out there for me. And

00:38:33.920 --> 00:38:36.280
she said, I don't want anything to do with marriage

00:38:36.280 --> 00:38:38.860
or family or kids, nothing. That's a life that

00:38:38.860 --> 00:38:41.099
I don't want to have anything to do with. So

00:38:41.099 --> 00:38:42.800
that's three I can think of just right now in

00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:45.360
this moment. But the truth is, you don't know

00:38:45.360 --> 00:38:47.880
what's really good for you, right? Scripture

00:38:47.880 --> 00:38:50.420
will kind of inform us, but we really don't.

00:38:50.440 --> 00:38:53.840
So to start to be happy that you're getting what

00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:56.769
you think is good for you, is a very dangerous

00:38:56.769 --> 00:38:59.909
road to go down because then your happiness is

00:38:59.909 --> 00:39:02.030
based on circumstances and then someday you won't

00:39:02.030 --> 00:39:04.070
be getting what you wanted that day. We had it

00:39:04.070 --> 00:39:07.289
come up in our house the other day. We talk a

00:39:07.289 --> 00:39:10.050
lot about inner joy and we had some schedule

00:39:10.050 --> 00:39:12.929
changes that we had to break some promises to

00:39:12.929 --> 00:39:15.250
Ariana and she started to kind of get mopey.

00:39:15.250 --> 00:39:16.929
She was getting upset because she didn't get

00:39:16.929 --> 00:39:20.130
to do the things that she wanted to do. I explained

00:39:20.130 --> 00:39:21.429
it to her and I said, well, let me ask you a

00:39:21.429 --> 00:39:24.429
question. Who's in charge in this situation?

00:39:24.849 --> 00:39:28.710
You? Or God. Because I just explained to you.

00:39:28.769 --> 00:39:31.610
God did this. It's not us. We didn't break our

00:39:31.610 --> 00:39:33.030
words. Not because we're bad people breaking

00:39:33.030 --> 00:39:35.130
promises or whatever. But this is why this has

00:39:35.130 --> 00:39:38.989
to be this way. So if God did that. And you get

00:39:38.989 --> 00:39:41.110
upset now. Then you have to realize that you're

00:39:41.110 --> 00:39:43.530
getting upset at God. Who changed the story.

00:39:44.230 --> 00:39:45.969
Because he changed the story. The way he changed

00:39:45.969 --> 00:39:47.130
the story. Which basically means you're saying

00:39:47.130 --> 00:39:52.590
he can't be God. So joy is not happiness. Joy

00:39:52.590 --> 00:39:56.719
is not found in circumstances. is found in communion

00:39:56.719 --> 00:40:00.599
or relationship with god the greatest delight

00:40:00.599 --> 00:40:03.579
of heaven is not streets of gold or gates of

00:40:03.579 --> 00:40:05.900
gems or the fact that you're going to get to

00:40:05.900 --> 00:40:08.420
see people there you might see a dog like your

00:40:08.420 --> 00:40:11.019
dog that you have when you as a kid uh might

00:40:11.019 --> 00:40:13.539
not be the exact dog you can debate that doctrine

00:40:13.539 --> 00:40:16.900
if you want but not today but anyway you get

00:40:16.900 --> 00:40:19.090
to heaven and see people or that Not because

00:40:19.090 --> 00:40:20.989
there's a line there that's going to thank you

00:40:20.989 --> 00:40:22.769
because of your grand service while you're on

00:40:22.769 --> 00:40:25.250
earth. Not because the angels sing better than

00:40:25.250 --> 00:40:28.510
any music we got down here. None of those things

00:40:28.510 --> 00:40:33.130
are why. It's because we have the unhindered

00:40:33.130 --> 00:40:36.090
presence of God. That is what will bring us the

00:40:36.090 --> 00:40:40.389
great joy. So then the application point then

00:40:40.389 --> 00:40:43.969
is the closer we walk with God, the greater our

00:40:43.969 --> 00:40:47.570
joy becomes. Now, on the surface, it sounds like

00:40:47.570 --> 00:40:49.030
you don't really have any control over that,

00:40:49.130 --> 00:40:52.030
right? So do I really have any control about

00:40:52.030 --> 00:40:55.030
how close I walk with God? Because he's God.

00:40:55.210 --> 00:40:57.630
I can't make God do anything. I can't force him.

00:40:57.690 --> 00:40:59.889
I can't draw him close by my own actions, right?

00:41:00.409 --> 00:41:03.409
But that isn't entirely true, is it? God has

00:41:03.409 --> 00:41:05.369
promised that for those who call upon the name

00:41:05.369 --> 00:41:07.429
of Jesus, that he will make them Christians.

00:41:07.449 --> 00:41:08.750
Making them Christians, the Holy Spirit comes

00:41:08.750 --> 00:41:10.429
and lives in you, so now you have his presence

00:41:10.429 --> 00:41:14.030
daily. The Bible says if you embrace the flesh,

00:41:14.570 --> 00:41:17.329
you less experience the presence of the Spirit.

00:41:17.510 --> 00:41:19.170
If you embrace the Spirit, you less experience

00:41:19.170 --> 00:41:23.409
the presence of the flesh. So embrace the things

00:41:23.409 --> 00:41:26.889
of the Spirit. God's presence grows. The Bible

00:41:26.889 --> 00:41:28.869
gives us spiritual disciplines. The spiritual

00:41:28.869 --> 00:41:32.010
disciplines are all about trying in our effort,

00:41:32.150 --> 00:41:36.050
which obviously is in Christ, to draw close to

00:41:36.050 --> 00:41:39.429
the Lord. That's what they're all about. If you

00:41:39.429 --> 00:41:41.449
were not saved, you could not draw close to him

00:41:41.449 --> 00:41:44.260
no matter what. It would destroy you. Right.

00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:46.679
But because you are saved, if you are saved,

00:41:46.840 --> 00:41:49.059
you can draw close to him by spiritual disciplines.

00:41:49.519 --> 00:41:52.519
So there are things that you can do. The closer

00:41:52.519 --> 00:41:55.079
we walk with God, the greater our joy becomes.

00:41:55.679 --> 00:41:57.920
So to me, this has been my experience of the

00:41:57.920 --> 00:42:00.599
days when I'm really getting hit. And it happens

00:42:00.599 --> 00:42:04.260
sometimes. My family or some bad things are happening

00:42:04.260 --> 00:42:06.760
that I really don't like. And I start to not

00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:10.920
feel joy. I start to ask myself, what is the

00:42:10.920 --> 00:42:12.869
most important thing? What am I going through

00:42:12.869 --> 00:42:18.030
right now? Or the presence of God? Interestingly

00:42:18.030 --> 00:42:20.250
enough, side note, by the way, while Jesus was

00:42:20.250 --> 00:42:23.190
alive, he said to the disciples, they said, don't

00:42:23.190 --> 00:42:25.190
you need to eat? And he said, well, I have food

00:42:25.190 --> 00:42:27.670
that you know not of. And he was talking about

00:42:27.670 --> 00:42:30.969
doing the will of the Father. And so, think about

00:42:30.969 --> 00:42:34.610
this. When you're in a spot where your situation's

00:42:34.610 --> 00:42:38.130
not good and your joy starts to wane, do God's

00:42:38.130 --> 00:42:43.289
work. Practice the spiritual disciplines. And

00:42:43.289 --> 00:42:45.150
when you do that, you'll draw closer to the Lord.

00:42:45.190 --> 00:42:48.829
Your joy meter will start to go back up. Not

00:42:48.829 --> 00:42:51.550
because you're doing something to have joy, but

00:42:51.550 --> 00:42:54.409
because you're drawing close to the Lord. Five.

00:42:55.010 --> 00:42:59.929
God's face watches over the righteous. The reference,

00:43:00.030 --> 00:43:02.590
the application point was, the closer we walk

00:43:02.590 --> 00:43:07.380
with God, the greater our joy becomes. Five is

00:43:07.380 --> 00:43:09.699
God's face watches over the righteous. The reference

00:43:09.699 --> 00:43:14.639
is 1 Peter 3 .12. And it says, and I kind of

00:43:14.639 --> 00:43:16.039
quoted this a minute ago when I was talking,

00:43:16.199 --> 00:43:18.440
For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,

00:43:18.719 --> 00:43:21.679
but the face of the Lord is against those who

00:43:21.679 --> 00:43:25.900
do evil. So if I could say it simply, God is

00:43:25.900 --> 00:43:30.079
picking sides. People say, well, the judge shouldn't

00:43:30.079 --> 00:43:33.800
pick sides. And a judge that isn't perfect wouldn't

00:43:33.800 --> 00:43:35.880
pick sides because he knows he could be wrong.

00:43:36.280 --> 00:43:38.099
But God is not that kind of judge. He's perfect.

00:43:38.280 --> 00:43:42.480
And so he's picking sides. Peter is actually

00:43:42.480 --> 00:43:46.400
quoting Psalm 34. God's face represents his active

00:43:46.400 --> 00:43:50.260
opposition to evil. So just as much as God faces

00:43:50.260 --> 00:43:54.719
his presence to us, his fellowship and his blessings,

00:43:54.980 --> 00:43:58.960
it's also his opposition to evil. God is never

00:43:58.960 --> 00:44:02.559
morally neutral. So if anybody tells you, I don't

00:44:02.559 --> 00:44:06.980
think God really cares, they're wrong. Period.

00:44:07.760 --> 00:44:10.880
God cares about everything, right? And you say,

00:44:10.880 --> 00:44:12.099
well, how can he care about everything? Well,

00:44:12.139 --> 00:44:13.940
because he's infinite, right? He has no limit

00:44:13.940 --> 00:44:17.920
in his cares, right? You say, but what if it's

00:44:17.920 --> 00:44:20.679
just like the color of my shirt? God knows that

00:44:20.679 --> 00:44:22.320
the right color shirt might entreat somebody

00:44:22.320 --> 00:44:23.860
to talk to you, say something to you, and you

00:44:23.860 --> 00:44:25.880
might be able to share Christ with them. Or you

00:44:25.880 --> 00:44:27.139
might be able to hold the door for somebody that

00:44:27.139 --> 00:44:28.480
you might not otherwise be able to hold the door

00:44:28.480 --> 00:44:31.119
for, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Nothing

00:44:31.119 --> 00:44:35.340
is beyond his concern. His holiness, God's holiness,

00:44:35.440 --> 00:44:40.400
requires God to oppose wickedness. By requires,

00:44:40.599 --> 00:44:43.400
I mean if he didn't do it, he wouldn't be God.

00:44:43.760 --> 00:44:46.300
Therefore, he doesn't. It's not like he's trapped,

00:44:46.559 --> 00:44:50.179
shackled, something like that. By definition,

00:44:50.500 --> 00:44:54.300
God opposes wickedness. Be very careful then

00:44:54.300 --> 00:44:55.760
about your wickedness. Remember we talked about

00:44:55.760 --> 00:44:58.559
willfully choosing. That's unrepentant sin. That's

00:44:58.559 --> 00:45:01.039
willfully choosing to go on in a sin. The Bible

00:45:01.039 --> 00:45:04.510
calls that wickedness. And we can't have that

00:45:04.510 --> 00:45:08.309
anymore because we are saved. So now we have

00:45:08.309 --> 00:45:11.210
the bestowed righteousness of Christ. So see

00:45:11.210 --> 00:45:13.730
the contradiction? I'm righteous walking in Christ,

00:45:13.750 --> 00:45:18.150
but my actions are wicked. That's a contradiction.

00:45:19.429 --> 00:45:24.130
Right? So what has to give? Well, your righteousness

00:45:24.130 --> 00:45:27.829
in Christ cannot give. Because he paid the price

00:45:27.829 --> 00:45:31.150
on the cross. So then the wickedness has to give.

00:45:31.210 --> 00:45:33.269
It has to stop at some point. We have to say,

00:45:33.289 --> 00:45:35.610
look, I'm doing something I shouldn't do. I repent

00:45:35.610 --> 00:45:41.369
and be convicted and turn back to the Lord. Okay?

00:45:42.849 --> 00:45:45.849
So his holiness requires him to oppose wickedness.

00:45:46.829 --> 00:45:49.670
It's comforting to us because he will fight the

00:45:49.670 --> 00:45:51.789
wickedness, which means sometimes we have to

00:45:51.789 --> 00:45:55.559
fight it. It attacks us or whatever. But for

00:45:55.559 --> 00:45:58.400
the rebellious, this is a solemn warning. And

00:45:58.400 --> 00:46:01.059
so if you are a Christian and also kind of rebellious

00:46:01.059 --> 00:46:03.079
or getting away with something, this should be

00:46:03.079 --> 00:46:05.159
a very solemn warning. God will stand against

00:46:05.159 --> 00:46:08.519
you. Ephesians 2 says we were once objects of

00:46:08.519 --> 00:46:10.380
wrath. It does not mean that God hates you. It

00:46:10.380 --> 00:46:12.559
does not mean that you'll be unsaved, but he

00:46:12.559 --> 00:46:16.199
will oppose your course. He will remove his presence

00:46:16.199 --> 00:46:18.360
and his blessings, not his presence for salvation

00:46:18.360 --> 00:46:22.179
purposes, but his closeness. There'll be a barrier

00:46:22.179 --> 00:46:24.139
between you and him, as we've been talking about.

00:46:25.070 --> 00:46:28.090
And then it says to the application is choose

00:46:28.090 --> 00:46:32.309
to live under God's smile rather than under God's

00:46:32.309 --> 00:46:37.570
discipline. And because you know Christ, that

00:46:37.570 --> 00:46:41.030
is a choice that you can make. Let's say if you're

00:46:41.030 --> 00:46:43.110
making that choice on a daily basis and then

00:46:43.110 --> 00:46:46.010
next Thursday you discover, oh, crud, I did something

00:46:46.010 --> 00:46:49.440
I should not have done. You're not suddenly going

00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:51.880
to be cast out of the kingdom of God. Just repent,

00:46:52.019 --> 00:46:53.940
turn to the Lord, confess your sins, and allow

00:46:53.940 --> 00:46:57.639
him to cleanse you and move on. Short memory,

00:46:57.960 --> 00:47:02.079
but do have a memory. Make the difference. So

00:47:02.079 --> 00:47:04.579
choose to live under God's smile rather than

00:47:04.579 --> 00:47:08.380
under God's discipline. Okay, number six. Moses

00:47:08.380 --> 00:47:12.000
longed to see God's glory. It's interesting when

00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:15.300
you think about it. Sure. Choose to live under

00:47:15.300 --> 00:47:23.099
God's smile. rather than God's discipline. Moses

00:47:23.099 --> 00:47:27.139
longed to see God's glory. Exodus 33, 20 -23.

00:47:29.400 --> 00:47:35.039
He said, You cannot see my face, for no man can

00:47:35.039 --> 00:47:40.730
see me and live. Now elsewhere in Exodus 24,

00:47:40.989 --> 00:47:42.889
a little known passage that a lot of people like

00:47:42.889 --> 00:47:45.849
kind of overlook, it says that Moses and Aaron

00:47:45.849 --> 00:47:49.429
and many of the believers who were faithful to

00:47:49.429 --> 00:47:52.429
God amongst the Israelites were in God's presence.

00:47:52.530 --> 00:47:58.170
They were with God. They saw God. And so putting

00:47:58.170 --> 00:48:00.769
those two things together, you have to realize

00:48:00.769 --> 00:48:03.309
that that means there is a difference from being

00:48:03.309 --> 00:48:10.449
with God and from seeing his face. But also know

00:48:10.449 --> 00:48:13.269
that Moses did speak with God face to face. And

00:48:13.269 --> 00:48:17.829
then later when he came out, he had a glow by

00:48:17.829 --> 00:48:19.449
his face that made everybody else uncomfortable.

00:48:20.710 --> 00:48:23.550
Right. So there it was not just that he could

00:48:23.550 --> 00:48:26.449
have been destroyed, but that the people around

00:48:26.449 --> 00:48:28.630
him were suffering because of his having been

00:48:28.630 --> 00:48:32.030
right up close with God. And at one point in

00:48:32.030 --> 00:48:33.809
time, God says, I'll speak to my servant Moses

00:48:33.809 --> 00:48:35.650
face to face, but everybody else I'll speak to

00:48:35.650 --> 00:48:41.650
in dreams and visions and things like that. Moses

00:48:41.650 --> 00:48:44.650
desired the fullest revelation of God possible,

00:48:44.789 --> 00:48:49.510
yet God's infinite holiness exceeded what sinful

00:48:49.510 --> 00:48:52.170
humanity could endure at that point in time.

00:48:52.869 --> 00:48:56.269
God mercifully revealed his glory while protecting

00:48:56.269 --> 00:48:59.269
Moses. In other words, he could be there with

00:48:59.269 --> 00:49:01.489
God. He could be in God's presence, experience

00:49:01.489 --> 00:49:04.369
God firsthand, but God protected him from the

00:49:04.369 --> 00:49:07.739
part of God that would have destroyed him. And

00:49:07.739 --> 00:49:11.780
God does that for us. I've not written this in

00:49:11.780 --> 00:49:13.179
a book, but I've thought about it a lot of times.

00:49:13.219 --> 00:49:16.659
I think one of the greatest aspects of grace

00:49:16.659 --> 00:49:19.760
of God is that people who are wicked, people

00:49:19.760 --> 00:49:22.639
who are in sin, are ignorant, they can lie to

00:49:22.639 --> 00:49:26.059
themselves and say that God does not exist. Because

00:49:26.059 --> 00:49:29.400
if they did not do that, if they could not lie

00:49:29.400 --> 00:49:31.079
and convince themselves that God does not exist,

00:49:31.340 --> 00:49:34.699
then they would be broken every single day. Maybe

00:49:34.699 --> 00:49:37.760
even destroyed every single day. Right. But they

00:49:37.760 --> 00:49:40.579
can deceive themselves and believe that God is

00:49:40.579 --> 00:49:43.639
not waiting for them to turn. That God is not

00:49:43.639 --> 00:49:46.000
lingering with them. Right. Acts 17 says he's

00:49:46.000 --> 00:49:47.639
never far away in the first place. That God is

00:49:47.639 --> 00:49:49.800
not convicting them of sin. They can deceive

00:49:49.800 --> 00:49:53.340
themselves about that. And then that is a form

00:49:53.340 --> 00:49:55.460
of protection to them. They put it on like a

00:49:55.460 --> 00:49:58.079
coat. So they talk to a Christian who could share

00:49:58.079 --> 00:49:59.679
the gospel. They could get saved. And they say,

00:49:59.739 --> 00:50:01.639
I don't believe in God at all. God's not real.

00:50:01.760 --> 00:50:03.800
I got all kinds of arguments. You have to talk.

00:50:03.860 --> 00:50:06.019
You have to convince me, whatever. And they do

00:50:06.019 --> 00:50:08.500
that. to protect themselves from experiencing

00:50:08.500 --> 00:50:15.599
God. And God is so close. So this passage reminds

00:50:15.599 --> 00:50:21.639
us of God's transcendence and his grace. So he's

00:50:21.639 --> 00:50:26.139
far above all, beyond all, untouchable, and yet

00:50:26.139 --> 00:50:31.840
he's close by his grace. One day... As we mentioned

00:50:31.840 --> 00:50:34.239
earlier, redeemed believers will experience what

00:50:34.239 --> 00:50:38.139
Moses could only anticipate in that moment. And

00:50:38.139 --> 00:50:40.000
that brings us to the application. The application

00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:43.760
is, the more we know God, the more we desire

00:50:43.760 --> 00:50:47.239
to know God. So once you've, it should be, once

00:50:47.239 --> 00:50:49.219
you've experienced Jesus Christ's salvation,

00:50:49.800 --> 00:50:53.159
once the Holy Spirit has come inside you, right,

00:50:53.280 --> 00:50:55.840
and you're walking, then each day there should

00:50:55.840 --> 00:50:58.500
be a little, at least a minimum of a little inkling

00:50:58.500 --> 00:51:01.889
where you want to know more. You want to not

00:51:01.889 --> 00:51:05.030
and it's not no, it's not Gnosticism. It's not

00:51:05.030 --> 00:51:06.389
knowledge like I'm going to know more of what

00:51:06.389 --> 00:51:10.150
it says in the book. It's know him like intimately,

00:51:10.269 --> 00:51:12.690
have a personal relationship with him. So, for

00:51:12.690 --> 00:51:14.590
example, you might say, I wonder what God will

00:51:14.590 --> 00:51:17.809
want me to do tomorrow. I wonder what God wants

00:51:17.809 --> 00:51:19.949
me to say right now. And it's more important

00:51:19.949 --> 00:51:21.730
to you what God wants you to say than it is what

00:51:21.730 --> 00:51:24.289
you want to say. And so you constantly have that

00:51:24.289 --> 00:51:26.090
little nagging. I need to know him more. I want

00:51:26.090 --> 00:51:27.730
to spend more time with him. And that's what

00:51:27.730 --> 00:51:29.980
leads us to read our Bible. It's what leads us

00:51:29.980 --> 00:51:32.340
to pray. It's what leads us to practice all the

00:51:32.340 --> 00:51:33.800
spiritual disciplines because we always want

00:51:33.800 --> 00:51:37.019
to draw close with him. If you don't have that,

00:51:37.119 --> 00:51:39.719
kind of ask yourself, why don't you have that?

00:51:40.500 --> 00:51:43.000
And if you do have that and you're not practicing

00:51:43.000 --> 00:51:44.820
certain spiritual disciplines that God has given

00:51:44.820 --> 00:51:47.500
us to do that, then it's like if you wanted to

00:51:47.500 --> 00:51:51.039
get 50 miles away and you got up in the morning

00:51:51.039 --> 00:51:53.400
and started walking instead of taking a car,

00:51:53.579 --> 00:51:56.780
a plane, a bus, getting a ride from a friend.

00:51:57.389 --> 00:52:00.610
God has given you the tools to draw close to

00:52:00.610 --> 00:52:02.530
him. He's told you how to do it. And if you're

00:52:02.530 --> 00:52:07.010
not doing it, then that's dumb. That's not the

00:52:07.010 --> 00:52:10.429
right way to get it done. Application on point

00:52:10.429 --> 00:52:14.070
six was the more we know God, the more we desire

00:52:14.070 --> 00:52:17.929
to know him. Last point, seven. We can do Bible

00:52:17.929 --> 00:52:22.909
trivia if we want, and then we'll be on. We shall

00:52:22.909 --> 00:52:28.840
one day see his face. Revelation 22 .4, they

00:52:28.840 --> 00:52:31.739
will, this is very clear, they will see his face

00:52:31.739 --> 00:52:38.239
and his name will be on their foreheads. This

00:52:38.239 --> 00:52:40.480
is one of the greatest promises in all of scripture.

00:52:41.400 --> 00:52:46.619
They will see his face. The Bible begins with

00:52:46.619 --> 00:52:48.679
humanity walking with God. Adam and Eve walked

00:52:48.679 --> 00:52:51.360
in the coolness of the Garden of Eden and then

00:52:51.360 --> 00:52:55.650
sin entered in and there was a break. Adam and

00:52:55.650 --> 00:52:58.710
Eve hid in the bushes, covered themselves up.

00:53:00.210 --> 00:53:02.650
Most Bibles describe it with the word shame.

00:53:02.849 --> 00:53:05.969
But the bottom line is there was a sin break.

00:53:06.110 --> 00:53:09.230
Did God still come to the garden that day? He

00:53:09.230 --> 00:53:12.809
did. He still came into their presence. But there

00:53:12.809 --> 00:53:15.730
was a break between them and him. And that's

00:53:15.730 --> 00:53:18.630
what sin does, as we've been talking about in

00:53:18.630 --> 00:53:23.389
this lesson. The beauty of it is the Bible ends

00:53:23.389 --> 00:53:27.510
with redeemed humanity once again beholding God's

00:53:27.510 --> 00:53:30.789
face forever. He's going to bring us back together.

00:53:31.329 --> 00:53:34.690
I've heard a lot of people, when they get saved,

00:53:34.750 --> 00:53:37.230
probably six, maybe ten people, when they're

00:53:37.230 --> 00:53:38.829
about to pray to be saved, when they're making

00:53:38.829 --> 00:53:41.630
a decision to be saved, will say, I've been away

00:53:41.630 --> 00:53:44.530
from God for too long. Now, they've not made

00:53:44.530 --> 00:53:46.269
a decision for Christ before. They've not been

00:53:46.269 --> 00:53:49.389
saved before. But there is this inherent feeling

00:53:49.389 --> 00:53:53.230
in a human who is not saved that they are missing

00:53:53.230 --> 00:53:57.409
what humanity once had. And so they'll say, I

00:53:57.409 --> 00:54:00.929
did it myself. I've been away from God too long.

00:54:01.329 --> 00:54:06.170
And so we feel like we somehow we moved away

00:54:06.170 --> 00:54:08.030
from God and that's not where we want to be.

00:54:08.409 --> 00:54:12.929
And so this is the promise of Scripture. No barriers.

00:54:13.610 --> 00:54:20.030
No separation. No shame. Perfect fellowship restored

00:54:20.030 --> 00:54:23.349
forever. That's the promise of scripture. And

00:54:23.349 --> 00:54:26.650
again, I said, I think the main thing that Jesus

00:54:26.650 --> 00:54:30.309
died for was the presence of God with people.

00:54:30.469 --> 00:54:32.630
That people and God could be in the same place

00:54:32.630 --> 00:54:36.329
at the same time, essentially. And then it would

00:54:36.329 --> 00:54:38.849
be like that forever. Okay, then the application

00:54:38.849 --> 00:54:42.820
point is our greatest hope. It's not escaping

00:54:42.820 --> 00:54:47.159
earth. That's not our greatest hope. I'm tired

00:54:47.159 --> 00:54:51.480
of this rat race, overcoming disease. I don't

00:54:51.480 --> 00:54:54.800
have to fight anymore. Rather, it is enjoying

00:54:54.800 --> 00:55:00.500
God's presence eternally. That is the goal. Yes,

00:55:00.559 --> 00:55:03.539
you will experience trouble while on the earth.

00:55:03.739 --> 00:55:07.099
But Jesus said, fear not, for I have overcome

00:55:07.099 --> 00:55:11.239
the world. Then we get to the theological summary.

00:55:11.840 --> 00:55:16.159
The face of God teaches these things. His presence.

00:55:17.059 --> 00:55:22.679
He desires fellowship with his people. His favor.

00:55:23.960 --> 00:55:31.719
He blesses those who walk with him. His holiness.

00:55:35.179 --> 00:55:44.150
He opposes sin. His grace. He invites sinners

00:55:44.150 --> 00:55:52.510
into fellowship. His glory. His holiness exceeds

00:55:52.510 --> 00:55:55.309
human comprehension. It's beyond what we can

00:55:55.309 --> 00:56:04.130
really know. His glory. His promise. One day

00:56:04.130 --> 00:56:08.449
believers will behold him face to face. That's

00:56:08.449 --> 00:56:16.099
his promise. And his eternal fellowship. He will

00:56:16.099 --> 00:56:20.940
dwell with his redeemed forever. Practical applications.

00:56:21.920 --> 00:56:26.500
Bottom right -hand side, right? Yep. No. Okay.

00:56:26.760 --> 00:56:30.980
In the bottom box, pick one you like. Seek God

00:56:30.980 --> 00:56:36.380
himself rather than merely his blessings. That

00:56:36.380 --> 00:56:38.320
can be a choice that you make. You can seek God.

00:56:39.179 --> 00:56:44.400
Rather than what God can give you. Or guard your

00:56:44.400 --> 00:56:49.159
fellowship through daily repentance. So willingly,

00:56:49.340 --> 00:56:53.000
or I should say willfully, daily turn back to

00:56:53.000 --> 00:56:58.219
God. Usually right after I have somebody get

00:56:58.219 --> 00:56:59.519
saved, one of the first things I'll tell them

00:56:59.519 --> 00:57:01.659
is each day get up and do whatever God tells

00:57:01.659 --> 00:57:05.099
you to do. And yes, you need to be more proficient

00:57:05.099 --> 00:57:08.940
in knowing what that is each day. that's a great

00:57:08.940 --> 00:57:11.199
way to go. Get out of bed in the morning with

00:57:11.199 --> 00:57:13.260
your first breath and your feet hit the floor

00:57:13.260 --> 00:57:14.380
and say, okay, what am I going to do for God

00:57:14.380 --> 00:57:17.760
today? What does God want me to do? Third one,

00:57:17.860 --> 00:57:25.940
live in a way that reflects his favor. So if

00:57:25.940 --> 00:57:27.639
you realize that you're getting it from him,

00:57:27.760 --> 00:57:30.900
what does the New Testament say? If you have

00:57:30.900 --> 00:57:33.420
received everything that you have, why do you

00:57:33.420 --> 00:57:36.260
behave as if you did not receive it? So we should

00:57:36.260 --> 00:57:42.519
behave as if we have received it. Two more. Find

00:57:42.519 --> 00:57:45.519
joy in his presence above earthly pleasures.

00:57:46.360 --> 00:57:50.519
So you're going to have to turn the TV off and

00:57:50.519 --> 00:57:54.820
do something about drawing close to God. You're

00:57:54.820 --> 00:57:59.260
going to have to think about him, pray to him,

00:57:59.460 --> 00:58:02.699
think about ways you can serve while you're driving,

00:58:02.920 --> 00:58:05.199
while you're in the grocery store. while you're

00:58:05.199 --> 00:58:08.860
fixing things, etc. There's joy in God's presence,

00:58:08.960 --> 00:58:11.000
and we should have that above earthly pleasures.

00:58:11.980 --> 00:58:17.280
And the last one, look forward with hope to seeing

00:58:17.280 --> 00:58:21.760
him face to face. Here's an illustration for

00:58:21.760 --> 00:58:24.039
you. During the American Civil War, a young soldier

00:58:24.039 --> 00:58:26.739
was found sitting outside the White House. He

00:58:26.739 --> 00:58:30.780
was crying, weeping, because he had repeatedly

00:58:30.780 --> 00:58:33.139
been denied an audience with President Abraham

00:58:33.139 --> 00:58:36.829
Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln, I mentioned this in

00:58:36.829 --> 00:58:39.489
a sermon a few weeks ago, he had an open -door

00:58:39.489 --> 00:58:42.530
policy that ordinary people could come and speak

00:58:42.530 --> 00:58:46.170
to him, but he was repeatedly denied an audience

00:58:46.170 --> 00:58:50.329
with the president. The account of this story

00:58:50.329 --> 00:58:54.409
is well -known historically. A young boy walked

00:58:54.409 --> 00:58:57.429
up to him, learned his story, and quietly took

00:58:57.429 --> 00:59:00.469
him by the hand. The child led the soldier past

00:59:00.469 --> 00:59:02.989
the guards and directly into the president's

00:59:02.989 --> 00:59:05.820
office. Weeping, he couldn't see the president.

00:59:05.980 --> 00:59:08.519
This boy comes up, takes his hand and leads him

00:59:08.519 --> 00:59:12.099
into the president's office. The guards allowed

00:59:12.099 --> 00:59:15.440
them through because the boy was the president's

00:59:15.440 --> 00:59:21.039
son, Tad Lincoln. Whether every detail of this

00:59:21.039 --> 00:59:23.559
story is historical or like people made stuff

00:59:23.559 --> 00:59:26.880
up about it or whatever, it illustrates a profound

00:59:26.880 --> 00:59:32.300
biblical truth. On our own, sinful humanity cannot.

00:59:33.230 --> 00:59:36.070
stand before the holy face of God. That's not

00:59:36.070 --> 00:59:38.730
possible. But through Jesus Christ, the son of

00:59:38.730 --> 00:59:42.289
God, believers have been granted access into

00:59:42.289 --> 00:59:45.989
the father's presence. We no longer approach

00:59:45.989 --> 00:59:49.230
as condemned rebels, but as adopted sons and

00:59:49.230 --> 00:59:53.289
daughters welcomed into fellowship through God's

00:59:53.289 --> 00:59:59.030
grace. Now you will be able to come into his

00:59:59.030 --> 01:00:04.199
presence and see his face for eternity. God's

01:00:04.199 --> 01:00:06.559
face is a solemn reminder to those who do not

01:00:06.559 --> 01:00:10.179
know God about his perfect holiness. Sin separates

01:00:10.179 --> 01:00:13.760
humanity from fellowship. But for us, the face

01:00:13.760 --> 01:00:16.320
of God is the source of blessing, joy, peace,

01:00:16.480 --> 01:00:19.199
hope. His face shines upon his children with

01:00:19.199 --> 01:00:21.619
grace. He invites us to seek him daily, to walk

01:00:21.619 --> 01:00:24.420
closely with him, and to enjoy fellowship for

01:00:24.420 --> 01:00:27.860
which we were created. One day, faith will become

01:00:27.860 --> 01:00:30.679
sight. You don't have to read your Bible anymore.

01:00:31.000 --> 01:00:33.619
You don't have to pray. You'll actually be there.

01:00:34.460 --> 01:00:37.199
And the longing that the Bible describes will

01:00:37.199 --> 01:00:40.099
finally be fulfilled. They will see his face.

01:00:40.599 --> 01:00:44.139
Until that day, let's continue to seek his presence,

01:00:44.400 --> 01:00:47.400
rejoice in his favor, and live in anticipation

01:00:47.400 --> 01:00:49.840
of the eternal fellowship that awaits everybody

01:00:49.840 --> 01:00:53.280
who belongs to Jesus. To which I would say, let's

01:00:53.280 --> 01:00:55.519
invite everybody to belong to Jesus. Because

01:00:55.519 --> 01:00:56.940
we don't want them to not be there when that

01:00:56.940 --> 01:00:59.619
time comes. Okay, so we're going to do Bible

01:00:59.619 --> 01:01:02.829
trivia. And then we only have about five minutes,

01:01:03.030 --> 01:01:06.989
so... Gotta go fast. I gotta get it open, so

01:01:06.989 --> 01:01:17.869
give me a second. It's not working. Oh. I had

01:01:17.869 --> 01:01:19.449
to move the weather out of the way, don't you

01:01:19.449 --> 01:01:33.920
know? Okay, if you're playing, stand up! He just

01:01:33.920 --> 01:01:37.599
draws you right in, doesn't he? Okay, I'm going

01:01:37.599 --> 01:01:39.239
to flip a coin. If it's heads, I'm starting.

01:01:39.480 --> 01:01:44.460
Sean, are you standing? Or are you laying? If

01:01:44.460 --> 01:01:48.760
I skip you, you'll be out. Okay, so we're starting

01:01:48.760 --> 01:01:51.420
over here with Vanessa. Alright, here we go.

01:01:52.159 --> 01:01:57.360
That's a hard one. Who built the ark? Noah built

01:01:57.360 --> 01:02:01.860
the ark. Alright. Adam, what is the first book

01:02:01.860 --> 01:02:07.150
of the Bible? Genesis. Caleb. Who was swallowed

01:02:07.150 --> 01:02:12.010
by a great fish? Tom. Who was swallowed by a

01:02:12.010 --> 01:02:19.769
great fish? John. Correct. Huh? Joshua. Who led

01:02:19.769 --> 01:02:23.570
the Israelites out of Egypt? Moses. Correct.

01:02:23.869 --> 01:02:27.750
Chris. It's the first somewhat challenging one.

01:02:27.909 --> 01:02:31.989
Okay. What did God create on the very first day?

01:02:36.400 --> 01:02:42.780
On the first day. Careful. Do you want to guess

01:02:42.780 --> 01:02:47.039
or do you want to stick Mike with it? That would

01:02:47.039 --> 01:02:54.699
be worth it. Okay. Mike, what did God create

01:02:54.699 --> 01:02:57.599
on the very first day? It is a little tricky.

01:03:00.940 --> 01:03:04.420
Light is correct. Very good, sir. That is correct.

01:03:04.699 --> 01:03:09.300
All right, Natalie. Who was the first man? And

01:03:09.300 --> 01:03:12.039
for a follow -up question, Kashawn, who was the

01:03:12.039 --> 01:03:14.519
first woman? All right. We made it all the way

01:03:14.519 --> 01:03:16.099
across the room except for the light was kind

01:03:16.099 --> 01:03:21.059
of tricky. That was tricky. Okay. Vanessa, how

01:03:21.059 --> 01:03:29.260
many days did God take to create the world? To

01:03:29.260 --> 01:03:37.760
create the world? Yes, to create. It is worded

01:03:37.760 --> 01:03:42.039
very specifically. Oh, six. Six days is correct.

01:03:42.980 --> 01:03:47.280
Adam, what is the last book of the Bible? Caleb,

01:03:47.599 --> 01:03:54.579
who was Jesus' mother? Mary. Okay. Joshua, where

01:03:54.579 --> 01:04:03.409
was Jesus born? Just the town will do. Yep. Yes.

01:04:04.449 --> 01:04:07.550
As in like that. Is that the answer? Yes, that's

01:04:07.550 --> 01:04:12.969
correct. Yeah. Okay, Mike. What did David use

01:04:12.969 --> 01:04:21.010
to defeat Goliath? I'll give you a sling and

01:04:21.010 --> 01:04:24.960
stone. Okay. It's not a sling shot, but. You

01:04:24.960 --> 01:04:28.559
can look it up later to see the difference. Actually,

01:04:28.659 --> 01:04:30.599
we have a kid's Bible home that says he used

01:04:30.599 --> 01:04:32.579
a slingshot. I was like, I don't like this kid's

01:04:32.579 --> 01:04:38.679
Bible. Okay. Natalie, who betrayed Jesus? First

01:04:38.679 --> 01:04:47.280
and last name. No help. Two tickets for Natalie,

01:04:47.440 --> 01:04:49.500
two tickets for Vashon. Vanessa, who betrayed

01:04:49.500 --> 01:04:58.269
Jesus? First and last? Yep. That's correct. Adam,

01:04:59.869 --> 01:05:05.550
what sea did Moses part? The Red Sea is correct.

01:05:05.769 --> 01:05:13.909
Caleb, what was the name of Abraham's wife? Not

01:05:13.909 --> 01:05:16.489
sure? Yeah, well, you know, this is the way the

01:05:16.489 --> 01:05:19.550
luck falls sometimes. Joshua, what was the name

01:05:19.550 --> 01:05:28.650
of Abraham's wife? Sarah is correct. And you

01:05:28.650 --> 01:05:31.570
noticed that it was not Abram, but Abraham. That's

01:05:31.570 --> 01:05:35.730
pretty impressive. Okay, Mike, you ready? What

01:05:35.730 --> 01:05:40.769
was the name of Isaac's wife? That's a hard one.

01:05:42.630 --> 01:05:48.809
That could be a room sweeper. No, it does not.

01:05:49.010 --> 01:05:56.539
It does start with an R. Rebecca is correct.

01:05:56.980 --> 01:06:01.500
Did you give him the answer? He sometimes rises.

01:06:01.559 --> 01:06:04.480
I never know. No help from the peanut gallery.

01:06:04.840 --> 01:06:08.000
All right, Vanessa. Who interpreted dreams in

01:06:08.000 --> 01:06:15.280
Egypt for Pharaoh? Joseph is correct. Adam, what

01:06:15.280 --> 01:06:22.210
are the Ten Commandments written on? Stone tablets

01:06:22.210 --> 01:06:28.750
is correct. Josh? Who is the strongest man in

01:06:28.750 --> 01:06:38.449
the Bible? Yes. Samson is correct. That was so

01:06:38.449 --> 01:06:42.889
easy. All right. Mike? What was the name of Ruth's

01:06:42.889 --> 01:06:49.389
mother -in -law? This is the second hard one

01:06:49.389 --> 01:06:55.690
in a row for you. It's like this random list

01:06:55.690 --> 01:06:59.929
of trivia has it out for you. Naomi is correct.

01:07:01.210 --> 01:07:05.130
Very good, sir. Vanessa, which prophet confronted

01:07:05.130 --> 01:07:09.610
King Ahab and Queen Jezebel? Ahab and Jezebel.

01:07:12.110 --> 01:07:14.650
Okay, so I think that was four tickets, I think,

01:07:14.690 --> 01:07:17.349
right? Is that our fourth time, Drew? Okay, yep.

01:07:18.530 --> 01:07:22.289
All right, Adam? Which prophet confronted Ahab

01:07:22.289 --> 01:07:34.769
and Jezebel? Sit for four tickets, stand for

01:07:34.769 --> 01:07:43.710
five. That's a lot of tickets. Okay. Joshua.

01:07:43.929 --> 01:07:46.610
Which prophet confronted King Ahab and Queen

01:07:46.610 --> 01:07:59.460
Jezebel? Sure. Yes. Elijah is correct. Okay.

01:07:59.920 --> 01:08:04.539
Mike, here we go. How many disciples did Jesus

01:08:04.539 --> 01:08:23.670
have? No. How many disciples did he call? Twelve

01:08:23.670 --> 01:08:28.909
is correct. Same. I mean, they're using the word

01:08:28.909 --> 01:08:31.770
interchangeably, I'm pretty sure. Josh, who denied

01:08:31.770 --> 01:08:39.170
Jesus three times? Mike, what is the shortest

01:08:39.170 --> 01:08:41.470
verse in the Bible, just the words, you don't

01:08:41.470 --> 01:08:44.609
have to give me the reference. Jesus wept is

01:08:44.609 --> 01:08:48.439
correct. Josh? Who was thrown into the lion's

01:08:48.439 --> 01:08:58.039
den? Daniel is correct. Yeah, exactly. Mike,

01:08:58.140 --> 01:09:01.239
what city's walls fell after Joshua's army marched

01:09:01.239 --> 01:09:08.739
around them? There are like six tickets, so don't

01:09:08.739 --> 01:09:13.000
guess. I wouldn't at this point. Jericho is correct.

01:09:14.079 --> 01:09:17.159
Josh what was Matthew's profession before following

01:09:17.159 --> 01:09:21.020
Jesus? That is correct