1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,280 EEEE 2 practise 2 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:18,320 Stretch 3 3 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:21,920 fresh 4 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:26,080 backpack 5 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:31,080 I'm gonna be a fool 6 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,080 I'm gonna be a fool 7 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,080 The man that you are 8 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:39,080 The man that you are 9 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:42,080 The one from home 10 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,080 The man that you are 11 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:50,080 The man that you are 12 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:53,080 The man that you are 13 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,080 The man that you are 14 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,080 That's the way I really am 15 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,080 And I see you in me 16 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:03,080 And I see you in me 17 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:08,080 You know I don't care about 18 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:13,080 You can't just do what I do 19 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:19,080 You can't just do what I do 20 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:24,080 The man that you are 21 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:29,080 In the mountains 22 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:34,080 The mountains and right there in the road 23 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:39,080 The rest is on for everyone 24 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:45,080 For everyone to come to the cross 25 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:50,080 I will never be found to see open arms for you and me 26 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:55,080 For everyone to come to the cross 27 00:01:55,080 --> 00:02:00,080 The rest is on for everyone 28 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:05,080 For everyone to come to the cross 29 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:10,080 The rest is on for everyone 30 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:15,080 For everyone to come to the cross 31 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:21,080 Whoa, whoa 32 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:26,080 Everyone come to the cross 33 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:32,080 Whoa, whoa 34 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,080 Whoa, whoa 35 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:40,080 The rest is on for everyone 36 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:45,080 For everyone to come to the cross 37 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,080 Whoa, whoa 38 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:55,080 Everyone come to the cross 39 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,080 Whoa, whoa 40 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:34,460 Praise God, just a couple of announcements this morning. 41 00:03:34,460 --> 00:03:39,400 Number one on the agenda that's coming up fast is at four o'clock today here at the 42 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:40,400 church grounds. 43 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:45,640 We had planned on going to Maumee Bay, but unfortunately Maumee Bay is under a water 44 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,840 warning out there so the kids and folks who have health insurance and stuff like that 45 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:50,520 would not be able to swim. 46 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:51,520 So we will be here. 47 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:56,000 We will be here at four o'clock today and for a few hours at least having fellowships 48 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:57,880 and just kind of spending some time together. 49 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:02,680 I know that we're doing some water games for the kids and using them people and myself 50 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:03,680 because I want to play water games. 51 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:04,680 So we're here. 52 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:05,680 Anybody wants to play water games? 53 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:06,680 Yes, we're going to have some adult games that are not wet. 54 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:07,680 I saw people bringing a couple of corn holes. 55 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:08,680 You have that kind of thing if you want to come and you bring it, whatever that's great. 56 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:09,680 There is a kind of a potluck thing so if you want to bring some food to share you can 57 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:10,680 do that. 58 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:11,680 We've got sandwiches as the main course and then we've got some desserts. 59 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:12,680 Miss Chris has a kind of a list that she's been keeping so we've got that. 60 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:13,680 But if you have a sick of it, you can bring it to the church grounds. 61 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:14,680 So we're going to be here at four o'clock today. 62 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:15,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 63 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:34,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 64 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:49,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 65 00:04:49,680 --> 00:05:08,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 66 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:23,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 67 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:39,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 68 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:54,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 69 00:05:54,680 --> 00:06:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 70 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 71 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 72 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 73 00:06:55,680 --> 00:07:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 74 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 75 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 76 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 77 00:07:55,680 --> 00:08:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 78 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 79 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 80 00:08:40,680 --> 00:08:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 81 00:08:55,680 --> 00:09:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 82 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 83 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 84 00:09:40,680 --> 00:09:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 85 00:09:55,680 --> 00:10:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 86 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 87 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 88 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 89 00:10:55,680 --> 00:11:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 90 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 91 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 92 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 93 00:11:55,680 --> 00:12:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 94 00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 95 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 96 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 97 00:12:55,680 --> 00:13:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 98 00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 99 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 100 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 101 00:13:55,680 --> 00:14:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 102 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 103 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 104 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 105 00:14:55,680 --> 00:15:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 106 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 107 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 108 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 109 00:15:55,680 --> 00:16:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 110 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 111 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 112 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 113 00:16:55,680 --> 00:17:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 114 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 115 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 116 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 117 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 118 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 119 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 120 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 121 00:18:55,680 --> 00:19:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 122 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 123 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 124 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 125 00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 126 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 127 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 128 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 129 00:20:55,680 --> 00:21:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 130 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 131 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 132 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 133 00:21:55,680 --> 00:22:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 134 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 135 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 136 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 137 00:22:55,680 --> 00:23:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 138 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 139 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 140 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 141 00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 142 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 143 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 144 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 145 00:24:55,680 --> 00:25:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 146 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 147 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 148 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 149 00:25:55,680 --> 00:26:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 150 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 151 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 152 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 153 00:26:55,680 --> 00:27:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 154 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 155 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 156 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 157 00:27:55,680 --> 00:28:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 158 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 159 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 160 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 161 00:28:55,680 --> 00:29:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 162 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 163 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 164 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 165 00:29:55,680 --> 00:30:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 166 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 167 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 168 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 169 00:30:55,680 --> 00:31:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 170 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 171 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 172 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 173 00:31:55,680 --> 00:32:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 174 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 175 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 176 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 177 00:32:55,680 --> 00:33:10,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 178 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:25,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 179 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:40,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 180 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:55,680 We're going to be here at four o'clock today. 181 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,680 So on the surface, this song sounds kind of depressing. 182 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:06,680 These are the words of Ryan Clark, the singer or demon hunter, about the meaning behind the song. 183 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:11,680 It can be easy to put people on a pedestal of unrealistic expectations. 184 00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:20,680 We often forget that every single one of us, no matter how seemingly perfect on the outside, is a broken individual. 185 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:26,680 I've made it a point to be transparent about this in my own life through my lyrics. 186 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:33,680 I never want to give the impression that I have it all figured out or that every struggle lies behind me. 187 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:38,680 It can be very freeing to understand that everyone at some point will fail. 188 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:42,680 They will fail God, they will fail themselves, they will fail you. 189 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:52,680 Understanding grace and forgiveness is the only way to spare yourself the disappointment of giving the position. 190 00:34:52,680 --> 00:35:00,680 I really like the one line, lost in the shadow of an endless grace. 191 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:09,680 Sometimes when people are walking around their Christian life with the grace of God covering them in every aspect of their life, 192 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:17,680 they can seem to be better than what they are, perfect, or whatever you want to call it. 193 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:23,680 You've got to remember that that all comes from God, not from an individual. 194 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:32,680 Remember that when somebody is covered by the grace of God, that is God's doing, not them. 195 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:41,680 It really helps that if somebody does something or says something to you that hurts you or caught you off guard or whatever, 196 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:46,680 to remember that, hey, this person is just as screwed up as I am. 197 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:53,680 It doesn't matter what they do or say. We all need God's grace. 198 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:56,680 Amen. That was a good word, brother. Thank you so much. 199 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,680 Alright, we've got time for one more. Anybody else? 200 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:03,680 I was watching Tom and Jared, my nephew's one. 201 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:14,680 There was this episode where Tom gets his letter of advance and he says he's won a billion dollars for it in Merritton. 202 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:18,680 But the stipulation is he loses all of it if he hurts any creature. 203 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:20,680 He says, even amounts. 204 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:24,680 And Jerry also read the letter. He knew about it. 205 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:28,680 He's lived on top of it, he's followed his money, he's lived in the high life. 206 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:32,680 Jerry's pestering him into knowing what Jerry does all the time. 207 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:35,680 Every time Tom's about to smack him, Jerry shows him the contract. 208 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:37,680 You're going to lose your money. 209 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:41,680 They go back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. 210 00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:46,680 But eventually it gets to the point where Tom's about to smack Jerry, Jerry shows him the contract, 211 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:51,680 and Tom grips it up and then Jerry shows Jerry a gradual piece of paper that says, even amounts. 212 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,680 And Tom shoves it down his throat. 213 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:57,680 And then he chases Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. 214 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:01,680 And that's kind of an interesting way of thinking I like to. 215 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:08,680 The nice things are nice, but they're not as nice as you think. 216 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:14,680 There's something else that's going to make you want to make the most of it. 217 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:17,680 The things that are worth it are not the things you want to make. 218 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,680 Yeah, and then you lose it all. 219 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,680 I see what you're saying. 220 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:27,680 Live for eternity, not for enjoyment now. 221 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:28,680 Good stuff. 222 00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:29,680 You got something quick? 223 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:30,680 Yeah. 224 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:33,680 I had a big old spiel, sorry. 225 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:39,680 But I do it this way, and as people know, to be transparent. 226 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:44,680 I do so much brokenness, lost suffering, that no one can understand. 227 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,680 Probably the worst 12 years of this life I've ever had. 228 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:51,680 And they won't understand why it is, and they'll talk to me, and it's like, it is. 229 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:54,680 When I was talking to my daughter, she feels the same way. 230 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:56,680 She feels like she's blessed so much. 231 00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:58,680 She's so blessed. 232 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:01,680 She's able to find Jesus at such an early age. 233 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,680 She's going to church, and she's going to thank her dad. 234 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:06,680 I just see all those blessings. 235 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:13,680 And I started to understand that the blessings isn't what makes her feel safe, comforted. 236 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:15,680 It's when I sure got with her. 237 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:20,680 The thing is, when I was talking to her, I said, we're going to go for a walk. 238 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:23,680 We're going to get hot, and it's going to get sweaty, and it's going to stink. 239 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:24,680 We've got to drink water. 240 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:25,680 I said, drink water. 241 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:27,680 These bodies are broken. 242 00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:30,680 And I just started thinking about it. 243 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:32,680 I was like, but here's the thing. 244 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:34,680 We're all broken. 245 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:36,680 But God didn't have to be broken. 246 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:38,680 God could have stayed on the throne. 247 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:40,680 God could have stayed where he was at. 248 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:42,680 But equality of God wasn't enough for him. 249 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:44,680 This is Philippians chapter 2. 250 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:47,680 He looked at himself and said, no, this is not the way I am. 251 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:55,680 I don't consider myself being God by looking good, but actually being righteous, being good, so I become a servant to all. 252 00:38:55,680 --> 00:39:00,680 I become a living sacrifice to anyone who comes to me to come back to what I gave them. 253 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:08,680 And so when I go through suffering and we all is here, I'm reminded that one thing that God never suffered. 254 00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:10,680 God chose to become a sufferer. 255 00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:15,680 They even call him a suffering servant, because every servant suffers here today. 256 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:17,680 But not constantly suffer. 257 00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:25,680 The reason he didn't say he was suffering is because he didn't just suffer, but he became sufferer. 258 00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:29,680 God for the first time said, I'm going to taste death. 259 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:32,680 I'm going to taste pain, temptation. 260 00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:35,680 I'm going to taste everything that the world has. 261 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:37,680 But I'll never turn my back on God. 262 00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:40,680 But God the Father turned his back on him so he could die. 263 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:43,680 So that anyone could come to him, he rose again. 264 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:48,680 And like my brother said, a victorious relationship with God. 265 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:50,680 But the victories of God is not in us. 266 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:53,680 And the victories that happen is because of him. 267 00:39:53,680 --> 00:40:02,680 And that's what we can all remember, is that when you suffer, there's only one that truly suffers with us. 268 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:09,680 Alright, so we're going to play together at this time, transition to tithes and offerings, a little more worship, and then into the Word. 269 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:13,680 And ask Alicia, Alicia would you pray for us this time as we move forward? 270 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:15,680 Let's pray with her. 271 00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:19,680 Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. 272 00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:24,680 Thank you for bringing us all here through our struggles, through our ailments, through our sicknesses. 273 00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:29,680 You with all of us, you with our finances and our health and our families. 274 00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:33,680 And help us to do everything that we do for you and remind us why we do it. 275 00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:40,680 And do the same. 276 00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:41,680 Alright, so at this time we're going to do something a little bit different. 277 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:45,680 So if you are comfortable and able to do so, would you stand with us this morning? 278 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:50,680 If you are young or young at heart and would like to do some motions, take to the aisles. 279 00:41:50,680 --> 00:41:53,680 I've got all this nice space up front so I need some young people. 280 00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:56,680 You need about this much space. 281 00:41:56,680 --> 00:42:03,680 So make sure you're not going to kick somebody, spread yourself out a little. 282 00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:10,680 You've got long arms, you've got long legs, don't put it in a kicking space, okay? 283 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:13,680 Alright, we've got some words up there. 284 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:16,680 We're going to start real slow so you can get some motions with us. 285 00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:18,680 And then we're going to see if we can do it a little faster. 286 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:19,680 Are we ready? 287 00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:25,680 I've got the joy down in my heart, deep, deep down in my heart. 288 00:42:25,680 --> 00:42:29,680 Spell it, J-O-Y, down in my heart. 289 00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:31,680 Deep, deep down in my heart. 290 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:35,680 Where'd it come from? Jesus put it there. 291 00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:39,680 And nothing can destroy it, destroy it, destroy it. 292 00:42:39,680 --> 00:42:45,680 I've got the joy down in my heart, deep, deep down in my heart. 293 00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:47,680 Alright, we're going to go a little faster. Are we ready? 294 00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:52,680 I've got the joy down in my heart, deep, deep down in my heart. 295 00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:56,680 Spell it, J-O-Y, down in my heart. 296 00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:57,680 Deep, deep down in my heart. 297 00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:00,680 Where'd it come from? Jesus put it there. 298 00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:04,680 And nothing can destroy it, destroy it, destroy it. 299 00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:09,680 I've got the joy down in my heart, deep, deep down in my heart. 300 00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:11,680 Okay, one more time, really fast. Ready? 301 00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:15,680 I've got the joy down in my heart, deep, deep down in my heart. 302 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:17,680 Spell it, J-O-Y, down in my heart. 303 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:19,680 Deep, deep down in my heart. 304 00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:22,680 Where'd it come from? Jesus put it there. 305 00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:25,680 And nothing can destroy it, destroy it, destroy it. 306 00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:29,680 I've got the joy down in my heart, deep, deep down in my heart. 307 00:43:29,680 --> 00:43:31,680 Alright, good job. 308 00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:33,680 I can't spell it right. 309 00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:36,680 My body can't spell it. 310 00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:39,680 Probably a horrible body speller. 311 00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:50,680 I spell joy, J-Y-O-3. 312 00:43:50,680 --> 00:44:02,680 My song. 313 00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:14,680 Even though I fall through the valley of the shadow of death, your perfect love is passing out there. 314 00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:26,680 And even when I'm caught in the middle of the storms of the night, I won't turn back, I know you're one here. 315 00:44:26,680 --> 00:44:38,680 And I will fear no evil, for I've got it with me. 316 00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:52,680 And if my God is with me, whom then shall I fear? 317 00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:59,680 Oh no, you never let go, through the storm and through the storm. 318 00:44:59,680 --> 00:45:05,680 Oh no, you never let go, in every high and every low. 319 00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:16,680 Oh no, you never let go, oh no, you never let go of me. 320 00:45:16,680 --> 00:45:23,680 I've been waiting, waiting, waiting for the heart that goes on. 321 00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:28,680 I'm coming to be your dog, your bear. 322 00:45:28,680 --> 00:45:35,680 There'll be a day when you'll show up, but until that day comes, 323 00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:52,680 you'll be the one you'll be on the other. And I will fear no evil, for I've got it with me. 324 00:45:52,680 --> 00:46:06,680 And if my God is with me, whom then shall I fear? 325 00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:12,680 Oh no, you never let go, through the storm and through the storm. 326 00:46:12,680 --> 00:46:18,680 Oh no, you never let go, in every high and every low. 327 00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:30,680 Oh no, you never let go, oh no, you never let go of me. 328 00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:36,680 There'll be a day when you'll show up, but until that day comes, 329 00:46:36,680 --> 00:46:46,680 you'll be the one you'll be on the other. And I will fear no evil, 330 00:46:46,680 --> 00:46:54,680 till I will praise you. 331 00:46:54,680 --> 00:47:00,680 And I can see a light, that is coming, for the hearts that go on. 332 00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:07,680 There'll be an end to each trouble, but until that day comes, 333 00:47:07,680 --> 00:47:19,680 till I will praise you. 334 00:47:19,680 --> 00:47:25,680 Oh no, you never let go, through the storm and through the storm. 335 00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:31,680 Oh no, you never let go, in every high and every low. 336 00:47:31,680 --> 00:47:43,680 Oh no, you never let go, oh no, you never let go of me. 337 00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:49,680 Oh no, you never let go, through the storm and through the storm. 338 00:47:49,680 --> 00:47:55,680 Oh no, you never let go, in every high and every low. 339 00:47:55,680 --> 00:48:09,680 Oh no, you never let go, oh no, you never let go of me. 340 00:48:09,680 --> 00:48:13,680 I just want to say something really quick. I'd love to watch you go by it over there, 341 00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:15,680 raising her hands, praising God. 342 00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:19,680 Amen. 343 00:48:19,680 --> 00:48:37,680 And arms raised, clapping. 344 00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:51,680 I keep finding voices in my mind that say I'm not enough. 345 00:48:51,680 --> 00:49:04,680 Every single line that tells me I will never measure up. 346 00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:17,680 Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low? 347 00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:29,680 Remind me once again just who I am because I need to know. 348 00:49:29,680 --> 00:49:35,680 You say I am lost when I can't feel a thing. 349 00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:42,680 You say I am strong when I think I am weak. 350 00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:49,680 You say I am well when I am functional. 351 00:49:49,680 --> 00:49:59,680 And when I know you're all, oh you say I am yours. 352 00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:06,680 And I believe, oh I believe, what you say of me. 353 00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:22,680 I believe the only thing that matters now is everything you think of me. 354 00:50:22,680 --> 00:50:36,680 In you I find my worth, in you I find my heavy. 355 00:50:36,680 --> 00:50:40,680 You say I am lost when I can't feel a thing. 356 00:50:40,680 --> 00:50:46,680 You say I am strong when I think I am weak. 357 00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:52,680 You say I am well when I am functional. 358 00:50:52,680 --> 00:50:59,680 And when I know you're all, oh you say I am yours. 359 00:50:59,680 --> 00:51:09,680 And I believe, oh I believe, what you say of me. 360 00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:29,680 Oh I believe, take me all I have and now I'm breathing at your feet. 361 00:51:29,680 --> 00:51:38,680 You'll have everything you've got, you'll have every little thing. 362 00:51:38,680 --> 00:51:46,680 You say I am lost when I can't feel a thing. 363 00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:52,680 You say I am strong when I think I am weak. 364 00:51:52,680 --> 00:51:58,680 You say I am well when I am functional. 365 00:51:58,680 --> 00:52:05,680 And when I know you're all, oh you say I am yours. 366 00:52:05,680 --> 00:52:15,680 And I believe, oh I believe, what you say of me. 367 00:52:15,680 --> 00:52:28,680 I believe, oh I believe, yes I believe, what you say of me. 368 00:52:28,680 --> 00:52:34,680 I believe. 369 00:52:34,680 --> 00:52:36,680 We've been working through the book of Deuteronomy 370 00:52:36,680 --> 00:52:40,680 and we're in chapter 4 for the third week in a row. 371 00:52:40,680 --> 00:52:41,680 We've got to get moving. 372 00:52:41,680 --> 00:52:44,680 We've got a long way to go to get through this book. 373 00:52:44,680 --> 00:52:47,680 But that being said, we'll get there when the Lord wants us to get there. 374 00:52:47,680 --> 00:52:56,680 So there was a man, you don't know him, but his brother was slain. 375 00:52:56,680 --> 00:53:02,680 Then he heard a week later that the man who killed his brother had been arrested. 376 00:53:02,680 --> 00:53:06,680 So he took off the time from work and he went to court. 377 00:53:06,680 --> 00:53:11,680 He wanted to hear every last bit of the trial of the man who had killed his brother. 378 00:53:11,680 --> 00:53:16,680 At the end of the trial, the jury rendered a verdict. 379 00:53:16,680 --> 00:53:23,680 They said that the man who had killed his brother was not guilty. 380 00:53:23,680 --> 00:53:25,680 I ask you this question. 381 00:53:25,680 --> 00:53:33,680 What logic must the jury have used to determine the man as not guilty? 382 00:53:33,680 --> 00:53:35,680 He had killed his brother. 383 00:53:35,680 --> 00:53:37,680 He had taken his life. 384 00:53:37,680 --> 00:53:40,680 He knew it for a fact. 385 00:53:40,680 --> 00:53:44,680 Could it be, at least under our system of judgment, 386 00:53:44,680 --> 00:53:49,680 that the murder was, or the death of the man was in self-defense? 387 00:53:49,680 --> 00:53:52,680 They could use a plea of self-defense and say that I only killed him 388 00:53:52,680 --> 00:53:56,680 because that was the only thing I could do to survive. 389 00:53:56,680 --> 00:54:00,680 Could he have argued that it was under mental duress 390 00:54:00,680 --> 00:54:04,680 and the heat of the moment that he had temporarily gone insane? 391 00:54:04,680 --> 00:54:06,680 And that's why the man was found innocent. 392 00:54:06,680 --> 00:54:09,680 Under our system of justice, he might be found innocent 393 00:54:09,680 --> 00:54:15,680 because in the moment he had been temporarily insane. 394 00:54:15,680 --> 00:54:20,680 The text that we're going to look at today addresses these issues for the Israelites. 395 00:54:20,680 --> 00:54:24,680 And remember that all the book of Deuteronomy is a recap. 396 00:54:24,680 --> 00:54:26,680 So it's already happened. 397 00:54:26,680 --> 00:54:31,680 So he's recounting the history of the Israelites coming into the Promised Land. 398 00:54:31,680 --> 00:54:37,680 And he's going to talk to them about how it might be that men might be found innocent 399 00:54:37,680 --> 00:54:41,680 of the death of another person that they have indeed killed. 400 00:54:41,680 --> 00:54:46,680 And what should be done with men like that. 401 00:54:46,680 --> 00:54:48,680 So grab your Bibles if you would. 402 00:54:48,680 --> 00:54:54,680 A little hoot, holler, amen as we go to Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 41. 403 00:54:54,680 --> 00:54:56,680 This is God's Word. 404 00:54:56,680 --> 00:54:59,680 Whatever I get right or wrong from here on out, God's Word is infallible 405 00:54:59,680 --> 00:55:04,680 and it may speak to your heart and help you be changed if that is indeed your desire. 406 00:55:04,680 --> 00:55:07,680 And if you know Jesus, you know that's the goal for us, 407 00:55:07,680 --> 00:55:11,680 that we move a little bit forward each day. 408 00:55:11,680 --> 00:55:12,680 It says in verse 41, 409 00:55:12,680 --> 00:55:19,680 Then Moses sat apart three cities across the Jordan to the east, that a manslayer might flee there, 410 00:55:19,680 --> 00:55:25,680 who unintentionally slew his neighbor without having enmity toward him in time past. 411 00:55:25,680 --> 00:55:29,680 And by fleeing to one of these cities, he might live. 412 00:55:29,680 --> 00:55:33,680 So basically, there are these cities across the Jordan. 413 00:55:33,680 --> 00:55:36,680 This is the area where it's not technically the Promised Land, 414 00:55:36,680 --> 00:55:40,680 but they took it on the way in and it's been kind of lumped in and included. 415 00:55:40,680 --> 00:55:44,680 And he marks off these three cities and we're going to talk about where they are in a moment. 416 00:55:44,680 --> 00:55:50,680 But the bottom line is this verse says, verse 41, and then into verse 42, 417 00:55:50,680 --> 00:55:56,680 says that these cities would be marked out for someone to flee there who had taken the life of another man, 418 00:55:56,680 --> 00:56:00,680 but specifically had not done it with enmity toward that man. 419 00:56:00,680 --> 00:56:04,680 In other words, they didn't have anger in their heart, they didn't hate the man, 420 00:56:04,680 --> 00:56:08,680 they didn't plan this necessarily, but it happened. 421 00:56:08,680 --> 00:56:14,680 It says who unintentionally slew his neighbor without having any enmity toward him in time past. 422 00:56:14,680 --> 00:56:17,680 So we call that first degree murder in the United States of America. 423 00:56:17,680 --> 00:56:20,680 You plan to murder them. It's aggravated, it's intentional. 424 00:56:22,680 --> 00:56:29,680 And any other death of another, that person could flee toward those cities 425 00:56:29,680 --> 00:56:34,680 and they could stay there safely, if you will, and live. 426 00:56:34,680 --> 00:56:39,680 And verse 43 says, Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Rubinites, 427 00:56:39,680 --> 00:56:46,680 and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. 428 00:56:46,680 --> 00:56:51,680 So he laid out these three cities with the intention that they might go there and not. 429 00:56:51,680 --> 00:56:56,680 Now I want you to think about who the Israelites were in this day. 430 00:56:56,680 --> 00:57:00,680 He's recounting a history, but who were they in the day that these cities were originally laid out? 431 00:57:00,680 --> 00:57:03,680 They had become soldiers one and all. 432 00:57:03,680 --> 00:57:08,680 There was not a man amongst Israelite that didn't own one or more swords, 433 00:57:08,680 --> 00:57:12,680 one or more shields, one or more suits of armor. 434 00:57:12,680 --> 00:57:18,680 There was not a man amongst Israel who did not know how to swing a sword to kill 435 00:57:18,680 --> 00:57:22,680 or thrust a spear to kill. 436 00:57:22,680 --> 00:57:28,680 They had to fight their way in, and they would fight their way to take control of the entire promised land. 437 00:57:28,680 --> 00:57:33,680 They all knew what it was to kill, how it was to kill, 438 00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:38,680 and when they killed somebody, they all knew that when that person was dying, 439 00:57:38,680 --> 00:57:42,680 when they were dead, they knew that they had struck them in an important place, 440 00:57:42,680 --> 00:57:44,680 or they had struck them in a not so important place. 441 00:57:44,680 --> 00:57:49,680 And obviously, back there with the way medicine was, you could be struck in a not so important place and still die. 442 00:57:49,680 --> 00:57:53,680 Your leg had to be chopped off because of gangrene or whatever, 443 00:57:53,680 --> 00:57:56,680 and then you've got one leg for life, or they don't get it in time, 444 00:57:56,680 --> 00:58:00,680 and the poison still spreads to your heart, you still die, and so on. 445 00:58:00,680 --> 00:58:03,680 They had many weapons. 446 00:58:03,680 --> 00:58:11,680 They were essentially all fighters, and they were used to standing up for what was right. 447 00:58:11,680 --> 00:58:16,680 They knew that as a people, they had been called to deliver a verdict of judgment 448 00:58:16,680 --> 00:58:18,680 on the people who were located in a promised land, 449 00:58:18,680 --> 00:58:21,680 people who burned their firstborn children in the fire, 450 00:58:21,680 --> 00:58:26,680 people who went to the temple to have sex with prostitutes to make it rain. 451 00:58:26,680 --> 00:58:30,680 They knew that the people there were in false worship, not worshiping God, 452 00:58:30,680 --> 00:58:35,680 but all these other false gods, and that they had delved into all these wicked behaviors, 453 00:58:35,680 --> 00:58:37,680 and that God had now passed judgment on them. 454 00:58:37,680 --> 00:58:41,680 So they felt that they were God's instruments of justice 455 00:58:41,680 --> 00:58:47,680 in wiping out the people that were currently living in the promised land or chasing them out. 456 00:58:47,680 --> 00:58:52,680 Under that circumstance, there were bound to be unintentional deaths. 457 00:58:52,680 --> 00:58:55,680 Everybody's got a sword, right? 458 00:58:55,680 --> 00:58:57,680 Everybody knows how to kill. 459 00:58:57,680 --> 00:59:02,680 There were bound to be unintentional deaths when they settled in the promised land, 460 00:59:02,680 --> 00:59:07,680 and Moses was stating what to do about those unintentional deaths. 461 00:59:07,680 --> 00:59:11,680 Now, obviously, the unintentional deaths can mean more than just killing somebody, 462 00:59:11,680 --> 00:59:14,680 and we'll come back and take a look at that before we're through, 463 00:59:14,680 --> 00:59:17,680 but the bottom line is he knew it was going to happen, 464 00:59:17,680 --> 00:59:21,680 and he had made some rules as led by God for how to handle it when it did happen. 465 00:59:21,680 --> 00:59:25,680 So let's look at the actual event of Moses assigning these cities that took place. 466 00:59:25,680 --> 00:59:28,680 So you're going to go to the left into the book of Numbers, 467 00:59:28,680 --> 00:59:32,680 if you're following along in your Bible. 468 00:59:32,680 --> 00:59:35,680 Book of Numbers, and we're going to look at chapter 35. 469 00:59:35,680 --> 00:59:37,680 So you're not going to go very far to the left, 470 00:59:37,680 --> 00:59:39,680 so we're only in four chapters into Deuteronomy, 471 00:59:39,680 --> 00:59:42,680 and you're going to go back four chapters, and then the book right before that is Numbers, 472 00:59:42,680 --> 00:59:46,680 and the chapter right before that is 36, and the one before that is 35. 473 00:59:46,680 --> 00:59:49,680 So these are events not very far behind in our Bible, 474 00:59:49,680 --> 00:59:55,680 even though they're some years behind in the life of Moses. 475 00:59:55,680 --> 00:59:57,680 Numbers 35. 476 00:59:57,680 --> 00:59:59,680 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 477 00:59:59,680 --> 01:00:01,680 Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, 478 01:00:01,680 --> 01:00:03,680 When you cross the Jordan into the land of Cain, 479 01:00:03,680 --> 01:00:07,680 and then you shall select for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge. 480 01:00:07,680 --> 01:00:10,680 So, in other words, God's telling Moses, not just these cities in this side. 481 01:00:10,680 --> 01:00:13,680 Remember, Moses doesn't eventually get to cross the Jordan, 482 01:00:13,680 --> 01:00:17,680 but he's getting a command from God after setting up the ones on the right side of the Jordan, 483 01:00:17,680 --> 01:00:20,680 or what we'd call the east side of the Jordan. 484 01:00:20,680 --> 01:00:25,680 He's going to tell Joshua and the leaders of the Israelites to set them up in the whole other part, too. 485 01:00:25,680 --> 01:00:30,680 So now we see there's going to be cities of refuge where people can flee to all throughout the promised land, 486 01:00:30,680 --> 01:00:33,680 because there are going to be unintentional deaths. 487 01:00:33,680 --> 01:00:35,680 He says, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Cain, 488 01:00:35,680 --> 01:00:38,680 and then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, 489 01:00:38,680 --> 01:00:43,680 that the manslayer who has killed any person unintentionally may flee there. 490 01:00:43,680 --> 01:00:46,680 And the cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, 491 01:00:46,680 --> 01:00:51,680 so that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for trial. 492 01:00:51,680 --> 01:00:58,680 In other words, it's going to give him a fair trial to determine whether or not he has unintentionally killed the person. 493 01:00:58,680 --> 01:01:01,680 And if he flees to the city, he can be sure of getting that trial. 494 01:01:01,680 --> 01:01:05,680 If he stays at home, he's probably going to get slain by the manslayer. 495 01:01:05,680 --> 01:01:11,680 It says, Then the cities which you are to give shall be your six cities of refuge. 496 01:01:11,680 --> 01:01:15,680 You shall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan. 497 01:01:15,680 --> 01:01:17,680 They are to be cities of refuge. 498 01:01:17,680 --> 01:01:21,680 These six cities, I'll try to say that again, it's not that easy. 499 01:01:21,680 --> 01:01:28,680 These six cities shall be for refuge for the sons of Israel and for the alien and for the sojourner among them. 500 01:01:28,680 --> 01:01:36,680 Now notice that says they're going to apply these laws to strangers, non-Jews, Gentiles, people that live amongst them. 501 01:01:36,680 --> 01:01:40,680 So there will be people that live amongst them, whether they be their servants or travelers or merchants or whatever. 502 01:01:40,680 --> 01:01:44,680 They're going to apply these laws to those people equally, the same they do to Jewish people. 503 01:01:44,680 --> 01:01:50,680 They're going to get a fair trial if they have possibly unintentionally slain someone. 504 01:01:50,680 --> 01:01:56,680 It continues, That anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there, meaning to those cities of refuge. 505 01:01:56,680 --> 01:02:02,680 But if he struck him down with an iron object so that he died, he is a murderer. 506 01:02:02,680 --> 01:02:04,680 The murderer shall surely be put to death. 507 01:02:04,680 --> 01:02:12,680 So what we see is if this person drew his sword or had a weapon, a dagger, sword, whatever, and he went and attacked that person, 508 01:02:12,680 --> 01:02:21,680 he's the attacker, and he killed him with an iron sword, then, bless you, then he's surely going to be put to death. 509 01:02:21,680 --> 01:02:24,680 So it's a pretty obvious standard what the murderer is. 510 01:02:24,680 --> 01:02:28,680 You went after him with a weapon and killed him, that's murder. 511 01:02:28,680 --> 01:02:29,680 No way out of it. 512 01:02:29,680 --> 01:02:30,680 And you're going to be put to death. 513 01:02:30,680 --> 01:02:31,680 Seventeen. 514 01:02:31,680 --> 01:02:39,680 And if he struck him down with a stone in his hand by which he may die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer. 515 01:02:39,680 --> 01:02:41,680 The murderer shall surely be put to death. 516 01:02:41,680 --> 01:02:44,680 So if he went after him with a stone, so I can't use my sword, that's definitely a killing. 517 01:02:44,680 --> 01:02:46,680 I'm just going to beat him with a stone, right? 518 01:02:46,680 --> 01:02:52,680 But if I hit him with a stone that might kill him, and it does, so I went after him, 519 01:02:52,680 --> 01:02:58,680 and I hit him with a stone that might kill him, and it does, now I'm a murderer and I should be put to death. 520 01:02:58,680 --> 01:03:06,680 Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand by which he might die, so I hit him with a club, for example, 521 01:03:06,680 --> 01:03:11,680 then he might die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer. 522 01:03:11,680 --> 01:03:12,680 The murderer shall surely be put to death. 523 01:03:12,680 --> 01:03:17,680 Now these are all incidents incited by the person in question. 524 01:03:17,680 --> 01:03:19,680 We know this guy killed somebody, did he do it intentionally? 525 01:03:19,680 --> 01:03:24,680 Well, if you hit him with a steel weapon, hot iron weapon that could kill him, 526 01:03:24,680 --> 01:03:26,680 and he killed him, he hunted him down, went after him with a weapon, 527 01:03:26,680 --> 01:03:28,680 that's murder. 528 01:03:28,680 --> 01:03:32,680 If you hit him with a stick or a club that could kill him, 529 01:03:32,680 --> 01:03:33,680 if you hit him with a switch, that's different. 530 01:03:33,680 --> 01:03:35,680 If you hit him with a stick or a club that could kill him, 531 01:03:35,680 --> 01:03:38,680 and it killed him that's it, it's not unintentional. 532 01:03:38,680 --> 01:03:41,680 If you hit him with a stone, even it might be, look at that stone, baseball sized stone, 533 01:03:41,680 --> 01:03:44,680 and hit him with it that could kill somebody, and I knew it could kill somebody, 534 01:03:44,680 --> 01:03:48,680 so now that's not unintentional, that's murder, that person deserves to die. 535 01:03:48,680 --> 01:03:55,360 to die. 19. The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death. He shall put him 536 01:03:55,360 --> 01:03:59,400 to death when he meets him. So as soon as he comes upon that guy knowing that he did 537 01:03:59,400 --> 01:04:04,200 it, he can put him to death. In the street, in the bar, at his house. Doesn't matter. 538 01:04:04,200 --> 01:04:09,100 So he comes upon him and he can put him to death because he knows that that's, that he 539 01:04:09,100 --> 01:04:11,840 killed him. He went after him with his sword, he went after him with his stick, he went 540 01:04:11,840 --> 01:04:15,440 after him with his stone. We know that so he can put him to death. Remember these were 541 01:04:15,440 --> 01:04:20,360 all guys who thought of themselves as dealing justice. Alright. And then he can put him 542 01:04:20,360 --> 01:04:26,480 to death. He fled to the city, to the city of refuge. Now he gets a fair trial. At the 543 01:04:26,480 --> 01:04:30,840 end of the fair trial, we determine, yep, he went after him with his sword and he died. 544 01:04:30,840 --> 01:04:37,200 That's murder. Right? So now the avenger comes, puts him to death. It's pretty simple. It's 545 01:04:37,200 --> 01:04:42,040 not very complex at all, is it? And if he pushed him, alright, so now he didn't use 546 01:04:42,040 --> 01:04:48,440 any weapons at all. So then if he pushed him, of hatred. Or if he threw something at him 547 01:04:48,440 --> 01:04:55,160 lying in wait and as a result he died. Or if he struck him down with his hand in enmity. 548 01:04:55,160 --> 01:04:59,200 Now we're talking about motivation. So pushing somebody is not normally going to kill him. 549 01:04:59,200 --> 01:05:03,440 Right? But it's clear that he did that out of anger, out of hatred or enmity. He really 550 01:05:03,440 --> 01:05:07,880 did not like that person. Or he lay in wait and he threw a rock at him or threw something 551 01:05:07,880 --> 01:05:12,380 like a piece of wood at him. What does it matter? He threw something at him. Obviously 552 01:05:12,380 --> 01:05:15,960 he did that out of anger toward that person or hatred toward that person. It says, and 553 01:05:15,960 --> 01:05:21,820 as a result he died. The one who struck him shall surely be put to death. So now we're 554 01:05:21,820 --> 01:05:25,640 judging the motivations. That's why we need a trial. Right? It's not obvious. It's not 555 01:05:25,640 --> 01:05:28,880 as, oh, you went after him with a sword, a spear or a stone that could kill somebody 556 01:05:28,880 --> 01:05:33,120 and he killed him. So now it's obvious. It's not obvious. He pushed him. He didn't necessarily 557 01:05:33,120 --> 01:05:36,840 mean to kill him. But he did it with anger in his heart. He really hated him. So now 558 01:05:36,840 --> 01:05:41,560 that's murder and he's going to be killed for it. The blood avenger shall put the murderer 559 01:05:41,560 --> 01:05:48,240 to death when he meets him. But verse 22, if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, 560 01:05:48,240 --> 01:05:51,040 in other words, he didn't have it in his heart that he hated the man. He just pushed him. 561 01:05:51,040 --> 01:05:56,400 It was a heated moment or whatever. Or he threw something at him without lying in wait. 562 01:05:56,400 --> 01:06:01,240 So we're, we're messing around and, and I throw a rock at the person. I think I'm being 563 01:06:01,240 --> 01:06:05,600 funny or we're taught, we're arguing. We're having a disagreement. I'm not lying away 564 01:06:05,600 --> 01:06:08,960 from you. I'm having a disagreement and I throw a rock at you because I think, you know, 565 01:06:08,960 --> 01:06:12,240 I'm going to get your attention or whatever. I didn't think it was going to kill you. But 566 01:06:12,240 --> 01:06:18,680 then it said 23 says, or with any deadly object of stone and without seeing it dropped on 567 01:06:18,680 --> 01:06:24,160 him so that he died while he was not his enemy nor seeking his injury. In other words, I 568 01:06:24,160 --> 01:06:28,520 really didn't mean to hurt him. And the trial is judging that. Then the congregation shall 569 01:06:28,520 --> 01:06:33,280 judge between the slayer and the blood avenger according to these ordinance ordinances. In 570 01:06:33,280 --> 01:06:37,440 other words, based on these rules right here, the congregation, the trial, the people were 571 01:06:37,440 --> 01:06:40,680 judging him, which is where we get this whole concept in America of a trial of your peers, 572 01:06:40,680 --> 01:06:43,520 right? Going to pull Jewish men out. They're going to look at them and they're going to 573 01:06:43,520 --> 01:06:48,640 say, no, this applies or this applies, right? They're making a decision and they're going 574 01:06:48,640 --> 01:06:52,680 to judge. Should this person be allowed to live or should the blood avenger be allowed 575 01:06:52,680 --> 01:06:58,120 to take vengeance? Now 25 says, and the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand 576 01:06:58,120 --> 01:07:02,800 of the blood avenger and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to 577 01:07:02,800 --> 01:07:07,840 which he fled and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed 578 01:07:07,840 --> 01:07:12,800 with the holy oil. So now you got this guy, he unintentionally killed somebody or that's 579 01:07:12,800 --> 01:07:18,120 his claim. He flees to the city of refuge. He's called to a trial. They judge. Yes, he 580 01:07:18,120 --> 01:07:22,520 unintentionally killed him. He didn't mean to do it. He's allowed to go back home, right? 581 01:07:22,520 --> 01:07:28,160 With his family. No, he's allowed to go back to the city of refuge so he can stay away 582 01:07:28,160 --> 01:07:31,840 from all of his family. He's not allowed to be with his kids or his wife unless they move 583 01:07:31,840 --> 01:07:36,040 there, right? But he can't go back to his aunts and his uncles, can't go back to his 584 01:07:36,040 --> 01:07:41,240 ancestral home or whatever until the high priest who's been anointed with oil dies. 585 01:07:41,240 --> 01:07:47,400 Think about the symbolism of that right there. Until the high priest faces death, the guy 586 01:07:47,400 --> 01:07:51,280 who's been anointed with oil, until he faces death, the man who unintentionally killed 587 01:07:51,280 --> 01:07:56,320 somebody, he did kill somebody but he didn't do it in murder or hatred or with a weapon 588 01:07:56,320 --> 01:08:00,760 on and down, things like that, all that we just read, right? He is not allowed to go 589 01:08:00,760 --> 01:08:09,480 home until the high priest dies. Okay? 26. But if the manslayer shall at any time go 590 01:08:09,480 --> 01:08:13,840 beyond the border of the city of refuge to which he may flee. So he went there. He's 591 01:08:13,840 --> 01:08:16,520 not allowed to go back there. He's allowed to live out his life there until the high 592 01:08:16,520 --> 01:08:21,200 priest dies. But if he leaves the city of refuge, so he leaves where he's been put by 593 01:08:21,200 --> 01:08:28,800 God by the commands of Moses, right? Then it says, and the blood avenger finds him outside 594 01:08:28,800 --> 01:08:33,040 the border of his city of refuge. So the guy who could take his life if he was not determined 595 01:08:33,040 --> 01:08:38,560 as innocent, if that guy finds him outside the city of refuge and the blood avenger kills 596 01:08:38,560 --> 01:08:45,200 the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. So in other words, if the guy who could have 597 01:08:45,200 --> 01:08:51,980 killed him if it was murder finds him outside the city of refuge, he can kill him and that's 598 01:08:51,980 --> 01:08:58,200 not murder. That's fair vengeance. That's within the law. He shall not be guilty of 599 01:08:58,200 --> 01:09:03,400 blood because he should, the man who slew unintentionally, should have remained in his 600 01:09:03,400 --> 01:09:10,040 city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, 601 01:09:10,040 --> 01:09:14,160 after the high priest face death, the manslayer shall return to the land of his possession. 602 01:09:14,160 --> 01:09:19,080 He gets to go back home and take his family lands like he had before. And you follow? 603 01:09:19,080 --> 01:09:23,320 Okay. Now, there's a few things I want you to see in there and then you're already sensing, 604 01:09:23,320 --> 01:09:27,480 I think if you're paying attention, a positive, powerful conclusion that is in this, these 605 01:09:27,480 --> 01:09:31,600 texts, all right? The first thing I want you to see in there is that God without a doubt 606 01:09:31,600 --> 01:09:38,320 despises murder. God hates murder. God does not want to see people who are created in 607 01:09:38,320 --> 01:09:41,960 the image of God, even though they be imperfect, even though they be sinners, even though they 608 01:09:41,960 --> 01:09:46,800 be flawed or be a drunkard or whatever, it doesn't matter. No matter what their ailments 609 01:09:46,800 --> 01:09:54,640 are, God does not want to see people killed vindictively with anger, with enmity. That's 610 01:09:54,640 --> 01:10:00,160 a problem. Murder is killing someone with intent. You did it on purpose and you, and 611 01:10:00,160 --> 01:10:05,880 realize that that person who was killed was made in the image of God. Just as the killer, 612 01:10:05,880 --> 01:10:09,800 who should never want to kill, was made in the image of God, so too the one who is being 613 01:10:09,800 --> 01:10:15,280 killed was created in the image of God. When a person murders another person, they are 614 01:10:15,280 --> 01:10:21,720 destroying everything that that person ever could be. Future tense. You say, well that 615 01:10:21,720 --> 01:10:26,440 person deserves to die because they did whatever, but you don't know what they're going to 616 01:10:26,440 --> 01:10:32,640 be like in 10 years, 20 years, 40 years. Modern psychology, people don't change. They are 617 01:10:32,640 --> 01:10:37,720 just the way they are. That's not what the Bible says, right? In Christ, people change 618 01:10:37,720 --> 01:10:43,560 completely and God knows that. And God is patient that all men might come to repentance. 619 01:10:43,560 --> 01:10:47,480 He desires that people, even people who are murderers, even people who are sinners, whatever, 620 01:10:47,480 --> 01:10:52,160 that they would come to repentance. However, if you would kill someone, destroy everything 621 01:10:52,160 --> 01:10:55,720 that they are, if you would seek them out and intentionally kill them, then you are 622 01:10:55,720 --> 01:11:01,760 robbing God and mankind of all of their future deeds. Everything that they would ever do, 623 01:11:01,760 --> 01:11:06,840 every person that they would ever love, serve, give, care about, stand up, speak out, stand 624 01:11:06,840 --> 01:11:11,460 for truth, anything good that they might ever do, and anything bad that they might ever 625 01:11:11,460 --> 01:11:22,320 do, has been stolen from mankind, the earth, from God. Worse, it's easy to do it. You say, 626 01:11:22,320 --> 01:11:26,400 well I'm going to take that person, I like that person, they stole my money, or maybe 627 01:11:26,400 --> 01:11:31,600 they cheated on so and so, or they hurt so and so, so I'm going to take my sword and 628 01:11:31,600 --> 01:11:36,720 I'm going to go run them through. Done. They are worthless. I have judged them as worthless. 629 01:11:36,720 --> 01:11:41,760 They are no good anymore, and then based on that, now who is no good? Well, whether or 630 01:11:41,760 --> 01:11:46,780 not the person who was run through was no good, that's irrelevant. Did you hear anything 631 01:11:46,780 --> 01:11:51,780 in there about the person other than the blood avenger who killed somebody who murdered somebody? 632 01:11:51,780 --> 01:11:57,320 We heard that. But other than that, unintentional means you didn't go after them with a weapon 633 01:11:57,320 --> 01:12:01,640 of any kind. You didn't push them, meaning to cause them harm or to possibly death. You 634 01:12:01,640 --> 01:12:05,160 didn't come after them with a stone that could possibly kill somebody. You didn't have 635 01:12:05,160 --> 01:12:09,360 enmity in your heart before. You didn't hate them, have anger toward them. It's all about 636 01:12:09,360 --> 01:12:13,520 what's going on in the person who's being judged as intentionally a murderer or unintentionally. 637 01:12:13,520 --> 01:12:17,000 It has nothing to do with what that other person, they could have cheated at cards. 638 01:12:17,000 --> 01:12:21,520 They could have stole his wife. Right? That's all covered under another text, but the bottom 639 01:12:21,520 --> 01:12:27,560 line is, he's saying, you just don't get to go after people because those people, as bad 640 01:12:27,560 --> 01:12:33,440 as they might be, they are made in the image of God. Yes, they're marred, but so are you. 641 01:12:33,440 --> 01:12:37,680 Yes, they're wicked and evil at times, but so are you. But now, here's the exception. 642 01:12:37,680 --> 01:12:41,680 The exception is when that person has intentionally done it to somebody else. It shows you how 643 01:12:41,680 --> 01:12:46,720 much God despises murder. If you can find in your heart enmity toward another person, 644 01:12:46,720 --> 01:12:50,680 you can really look at them and say, man, that person, I hate them. Or man, I'm so angry 645 01:12:50,680 --> 01:12:54,400 with them. And be careful because there's a thin line between being angry at a person 646 01:12:54,400 --> 01:12:59,040 and angry at a person's deeds. And we slip across that line before we ever realize it. 647 01:12:59,040 --> 01:13:02,880 We think about how much we hate what they do and just in a blink of an eye, you're thinking 648 01:13:02,880 --> 01:13:08,920 about you hate them. I'm angry at them because of what they did. So often, we can't even 649 01:13:08,920 --> 01:13:14,120 sort it. Somebody's acting angry at a person, but really what they're angry, they think 650 01:13:14,120 --> 01:13:20,160 they're angry at what the person did, but the line is so thin. Jesus said in the New 651 01:13:20,160 --> 01:13:24,080 Testament, when you're angry at a brother, you have murdered them already. That's how 652 01:13:24,080 --> 01:13:31,920 thin the line is. It's a very thin line. God despises murder. You just can't do it. Do 653 01:13:31,920 --> 01:13:39,880 not live your life as a person who hates other people. Don't do it. Because God despises 654 01:13:39,880 --> 01:13:43,960 it. And if Jesus says you are guilty of murder, then based on this text, and thank God we 655 01:13:43,960 --> 01:13:48,000 don't live under this system, if you went around angry and you were angry at your brother, 656 01:13:48,000 --> 01:13:54,280 you'd be subject to blood vengeance. That's what Jesus was saying. You're a murderer. 657 01:13:54,280 --> 01:13:58,580 You're angry at them. You're a murderer. So then somebody would have the right to come 658 01:13:58,580 --> 01:14:03,560 and kill you. Well, the truth is, because of our sin and the way we behave to other 659 01:14:03,560 --> 01:14:06,960 people and the way we behave in our lives, somebody does have the right to come and kill 660 01:14:06,960 --> 01:14:15,520 us. God despises murder. Secondly, notice that God is more concerned with men's heart 661 01:14:15,520 --> 01:14:20,680 than with apparent outcomes. Now, if I lost my brother to some guy who hit him with a 662 01:14:20,680 --> 01:14:26,000 rock, I'm going to be pretty angry at that guy. I'm going to struggle in my emotions 663 01:14:26,000 --> 01:14:30,360 with anger toward the person who killed my brother. Now, I have to repent of that and 664 01:14:30,360 --> 01:14:33,720 I have to say, no, I'm not going to do that. Or otherwise, that anger is going to get control 665 01:14:33,720 --> 01:14:38,160 of me and I might go and do something I shouldn't do. And then I might have a high price to 666 01:14:38,160 --> 01:14:42,680 pay. What's the domino effect of that? If the blood avenger comes and kills somebody 667 01:14:42,680 --> 01:14:46,120 and that person unintentionally kills somebody and says, now that was illegitimate, then 668 01:14:46,120 --> 01:14:49,080 you kill the blood avenger. Who kills the blood avenger? Well, the blood avenger does. 669 01:14:49,080 --> 01:14:52,600 Now the brother of the guy who just got killed said, no, that was illegitimate. And next 670 01:14:52,600 --> 01:14:54,840 thing you know, you've got a brawl on the street. Everybody's drawing their swords. 671 01:14:54,840 --> 01:14:58,080 And they're all soldiers. And they all have weapons. And they're all capable of killing 672 01:14:58,080 --> 01:15:03,840 somebody and they know exactly how to do it. Very similar to what we're facing in the world 673 01:15:03,840 --> 01:15:07,920 today, except we're talking about a different kind of weapons, aren't we? God is more concerned 674 01:15:07,920 --> 01:15:12,320 with going on what's in a man's heart than with apparent outcomes. On the passage that 675 01:15:12,320 --> 01:15:18,160 we just read about murder, a murderer would be put to death because he is a murderer and 676 01:15:18,160 --> 01:15:25,160 that's justice. If murderers continue to live, they will likely murder again because they 677 01:15:25,680 --> 01:15:30,560 have already been at the moment of hating God's image. They have usurped God's authority 678 01:15:30,560 --> 01:15:36,760 over life and death and they've done it intentionally. Once you have learned to have anger in your 679 01:15:36,760 --> 01:15:41,080 heart towards somebody else or to hate somebody or to murder somebody, once you think, man, 680 01:15:41,080 --> 01:15:45,440 I'll kill that guy, even though you may never have done it. Once you've done that, you've 681 01:15:45,440 --> 01:15:50,360 crossed a line from which it's hard to come back. Be careful about thinking about how 682 01:15:50,360 --> 01:15:57,360 bad other people are because that will drag you across that line. And we're already there 683 01:15:57,400 --> 01:16:01,040 if we're not careful because yes, they've hurt us. Yes, there's problems, et cetera. 684 01:16:01,040 --> 01:16:05,640 We're living in a world full of messy stuff and even creation. But do we go out and go, 685 01:16:05,640 --> 01:16:11,360 I hate that tree? So a tree drops a branch on your car and crushes it. Do you then go 686 01:16:11,360 --> 01:16:15,200 get a chainsaw, cut down the tree and burn every last little bit of it because you hate 687 01:16:15,200 --> 01:16:21,760 it so much? You might, but if you are, then I submit to you that you've got anger management 688 01:16:21,760 --> 01:16:26,400 issues, right? You've got a struggle because the tree didn't do nothing. It just did what 689 01:16:26,400 --> 01:16:30,680 trees do. But it's a groaning creation. What if a tornado comes and knocks down your house? 690 01:16:30,680 --> 01:16:34,600 Are you then going to be out shooting the wind, burning the wind, stabbing the wind 691 01:16:34,600 --> 01:16:37,640 with a knife? Are you going to hunt it to the ends of the earth and try to defeat the 692 01:16:37,640 --> 01:16:44,640 wind? No. Tragedy happens all the time. People do things that they should not do. That happens. 693 01:16:44,640 --> 01:16:49,800 But usurping God's authority to become judge, jury and executioner and destroy this person 694 01:16:49,800 --> 01:16:53,800 who's creating the... That's not acceptable. That's why Jesus led us to be a people of 695 01:16:53,800 --> 01:17:00,800 forgiveness. Forgive them. The truth is all societies cannot work if murderers are left 696 01:17:01,160 --> 01:17:06,560 unpunished because they will go on victimizing good people and enjoying the benefits of society 697 01:17:06,560 --> 01:17:10,040 while other good people live in fear. That's the thing we've got going on in the world. 698 01:17:10,040 --> 01:17:14,160 We've got people that are out there and they're teaching things and they're attacking people 699 01:17:14,160 --> 01:17:19,120 and they're very crafty at it and whatever. If you say something that's right, somebody 700 01:17:19,120 --> 01:17:22,120 else will come against you and they'll attack you and they're very crafty at it. They'll 701 01:17:22,120 --> 01:17:27,120 destroy you. I'll never forget during COVID there was a pastor down south in a church, 702 01:17:27,120 --> 01:17:31,280 I think it was in Louisiana, and they decided that they were not going to stop having church 703 01:17:31,280 --> 01:17:36,800 as we were led to do. We didn't stop having church either. And that church blew up and 704 01:17:36,800 --> 01:17:39,680 it grew and a lot of people were coming because no other churches were open. And they said, 705 01:17:39,680 --> 01:17:43,120 no, we're not going to stop worshiping God. And they didn't have a bunch of huge COVID 706 01:17:43,120 --> 01:17:47,480 outbreak and a bunch of people die. But the pastor was leading that church, was attacked. 707 01:17:47,480 --> 01:17:51,600 He was attacked on social media. He was attacked at his home. He was attacked everywhere. In 708 01:17:51,600 --> 01:17:57,880 fact, eventually they threw him in jail because he supposedly tried to run somebody over with 709 01:17:57,880 --> 01:18:01,080 a church van. They were driving in the parking lot. He was driving five mile an hour, just 710 01:18:01,080 --> 01:18:04,080 edging forward very slowly, trying to get into his parking spot. And the people in the 711 01:18:04,080 --> 01:18:07,560 parking lot would not get out of the way of him so he could park the church van. And one 712 01:18:07,560 --> 01:18:12,020 guy supposedly got bumped. At which point in time the sheriff of the county immediately 713 01:18:12,020 --> 01:18:15,640 came and arrested him and threw him in jail because he was trying to kill somebody with 714 01:18:15,640 --> 01:18:21,780 a church van. We live in a world where people will try to get their way. And if you try 715 01:18:21,780 --> 01:18:27,080 to stand up for what's right and do what's right, you will become a target. My suggestion 716 01:18:27,080 --> 01:18:30,680 to you is that if you want to start do what's right and risk becoming a target, first learn 717 01:18:30,680 --> 01:18:35,440 to forgive. First learn to not fight back. First learn to take those punches and stand 718 01:18:35,440 --> 01:18:41,480 up and be strong despite the fact that others are doing wrong. You do what's right. Right? 719 01:18:41,480 --> 01:18:45,680 Now if you become the blood avenger, you better darn well make sure that you have been authorized 720 01:18:45,680 --> 01:18:51,280 by God to be a blood avenger. And there's no blood avenger in our day. Not you, not 721 01:18:51,280 --> 01:18:56,580 me, not in this room. Because there's grace. Because somewhere down the road, murderers 722 01:18:56,580 --> 01:19:01,880 get saved. Jeffrey Dahmer who ate people because he thought people were something to be eaten, 723 01:19:01,880 --> 01:19:07,300 gave his life to Christ in his last week on earth. Now I'm not one to judge. I don't know 724 01:19:07,300 --> 01:19:11,320 if he came to Christ's life. He was later put, I guess he died by a lethal injection. 725 01:19:11,320 --> 01:19:20,800 I don't remember. He was murdered in prison. Nice. So I don't know if he got saved or not. 726 01:19:20,800 --> 01:19:25,780 It's irrelevant. But he had the right. He could have come to Jesus Christ and been saved 727 01:19:25,780 --> 01:19:31,240 despite the fact that he ruined so many people's lives. Our weapon is the gospel. We do not 728 01:19:31,240 --> 01:19:38,560 fight flesh and blood. We're not blood avengers. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. Do not 729 01:19:38,560 --> 01:19:44,240 take vengeance for yourself, saith the Lord. The bottom line is we must learn to forgive 730 01:19:44,240 --> 01:19:49,400 and not do that. And with that then, because people are going to forgive you when you do 731 01:19:49,400 --> 01:19:53,080 wrong, you're not licensed to victimize other people. Because when you start getting good 732 01:19:53,080 --> 01:19:56,200 at victimizing other people, you've crossed a line from which you cannot come back. And 733 01:19:56,200 --> 01:20:00,440 there is a blood avenger. It isn't a human being. But there is someone. And we'll get 734 01:20:00,440 --> 01:20:11,120 to that in a minute. The third point to notice in here then is that people want to make righteousness 735 01:20:11,120 --> 01:20:18,520 out to be complicated. But notice how easily it is. The intent was determined by the list 736 01:20:18,520 --> 01:20:22,340 of small commands written right there. We could very easily decide, we just went by 737 01:20:22,340 --> 01:20:27,280 the words the way it was written, whether or not the person who did it intentionally 738 01:20:27,280 --> 01:20:30,520 murdered somebody or not and should be put to death, or whether they should be allowed 739 01:20:30,520 --> 01:20:35,320 to live in the city of refuge as long as the high priest was still alive. They had a very 740 01:20:35,320 --> 01:20:41,520 simple set of rules. In the United States of America right now, when a law goes to Congress, 741 01:20:41,520 --> 01:20:46,120 it's usually about 500 pages deep and nobody's even read it. You're like, I don't want to 742 01:20:46,120 --> 01:20:51,120 believe that's true. Look it up. Nobody can read 500 pages in the 10 days that they're 743 01:20:51,120 --> 01:20:54,720 given order. By the time it goes through committee, things are changed. Now they have whole staffs 744 01:20:54,720 --> 01:20:59,560 that read parts of it and they get briefed on it and the idea is for everybody to know 745 01:20:59,560 --> 01:21:02,480 what's in there. We're trying to know what's in there. We're trying to do a good job, know 746 01:21:02,480 --> 01:21:08,440 what we're voting on, not voting on, things like that. But the bottom line is 500 pages. 747 01:21:08,440 --> 01:21:12,760 The determination of whether or not a person is guilty of murder was not 500 pages. It 748 01:21:12,760 --> 01:21:19,600 was just two paragraphs, barely three paragraphs. You can determine very simply whether or not 749 01:21:19,600 --> 01:21:25,080 someone is attacking someone by looking at what they're doing. And that's what they would 750 01:21:25,080 --> 01:21:30,240 decide in a court. But let's make it as complicated as we possibly can be because we want the 751 01:21:30,240 --> 01:21:36,200 people to get away with whatever they possibly can. Or should we just keep it simple? Righteousness 752 01:21:36,200 --> 01:21:42,440 is simple. The intent of a person is pretty easily determined when you're talking about 753 01:21:42,440 --> 01:21:46,760 murder. It's not so easily determined when you're talking about the way they're manipulating 754 01:21:46,760 --> 01:21:51,720 things behind the scenes, gossip and slander and so on. However, righteousness is still 755 01:21:51,720 --> 01:21:56,640 right. Let me say it simply. When someone talks, not a husband and wife pair, but outside 756 01:21:56,640 --> 01:22:01,120 the husband and wife relationship, when someone talks about what happened when you were not 757 01:22:01,120 --> 01:22:10,600 there, that is gossip. Understand? You say, no, that's witnessing. No, it's gossip. When 758 01:22:10,600 --> 01:22:17,480 you talk about what Jesus did when you were not there, that's witnessing. Now, if they 759 01:22:17,480 --> 01:22:22,320 talk about what happened when you were not there and they don't tell the exact truth, 760 01:22:22,320 --> 01:22:26,920 that's bearing false witness. Exactly what's disallowed in the Ten Commandments. If they 761 01:22:26,920 --> 01:22:31,760 talk about what's happened when they were not there and you form an opinion based on 762 01:22:31,760 --> 01:22:37,440 what they told you happened when you were not there, then that is the sin of gossip 763 01:22:37,440 --> 01:22:43,280 fully enacted. Well, I saw so and so say and I saw so and so say back to them and now I'm 764 01:22:43,280 --> 01:22:46,280 thinking about that and I'm thinking about what so and so said back to them and I'm thinking, 765 01:22:46,280 --> 01:22:50,720 well, that person was not very nice. So now I form an opinion in my head that that person 766 01:22:50,720 --> 01:22:55,520 can be not very nice at times. Not always. I've seen them be nice too, but at times they 767 01:22:55,520 --> 01:22:59,800 can be not very nice. Now, I formed an opinion. That means the person who gossiped to me, 768 01:22:59,800 --> 01:23:05,680 I took their gossip, I acted on it, I formed an opinion, now we have a sin. That is unrighteousness. 769 01:23:05,680 --> 01:23:09,120 Not playing games with it. When you talk about what happened when you were not there with 770 01:23:09,120 --> 01:23:12,680 the intent to form an opinion and the person that you talk to, that's gossip. The Bible 771 01:23:12,680 --> 01:23:19,640 says it's sin. If what you say is expressly negative about that person, that's slander. 772 01:23:19,640 --> 01:23:23,960 Even if it's true. I come to Brother Tim and I say, Brother Tim, you know, Josh and I were 773 01:23:23,960 --> 01:23:27,560 talking the other day and this happened and Josh did that and I'm really upset with your 774 01:23:27,560 --> 01:23:35,240 son right now because of what he did. That's slander. I slandered Josh. You know, you just 775 01:23:35,240 --> 01:23:38,720 said what happened. You just told the story, right? I got no business telling the story. 776 01:23:38,720 --> 01:23:42,880 Brother Tim wasn't there. How does he need to know that? Right? Now, if my wife and I 777 01:23:42,880 --> 01:23:46,720 talk about it, we are in the Bible one person, so you need to talk to somebody about something 778 01:23:46,720 --> 01:23:49,560 I haven't talked to. But be careful because when you talk to your wife or you talk to 779 01:23:49,560 --> 01:23:53,680 your husband, they may form an opinion and you need to make sure that they get the right 780 01:23:53,680 --> 01:23:57,840 picture and be honest and truthful about what happened. So you're not creating in them a 781 01:23:57,840 --> 01:24:01,200 negative feeling that then goes on and they do something that they shouldn't do. But you 782 01:24:01,200 --> 01:24:05,320 can talk about it with your spouse but nobody else. If they weren't there, they don't need 783 01:24:05,320 --> 01:24:12,320 to know. Now you talk about what the sermon was about, talk about what the word says, 784 01:24:12,320 --> 01:24:17,240 talk about what Jesus is doing. Those are all acceptable topics. But all this talk about 785 01:24:17,240 --> 01:24:21,200 why so and so did what they did, you don't even know. What they actually did, you don't 786 01:24:21,200 --> 01:24:25,000 know. It's all gossip and we're doing it as if it were acceptable. And I'm just giving 787 01:24:25,000 --> 01:24:30,880 you one small example of how we have muddied the waters about what's righteous and what's 788 01:24:30,880 --> 01:24:35,960 not. But God sees righteousness as very clear and very simple. So I'm going to say to you, 789 01:24:35,960 --> 01:24:42,680 just make this your life slogan if nothing else. Don't blur the line. Don't question 790 01:24:42,680 --> 01:24:46,560 yourself. When the Bible says don't do it, just don't do it. When the Bible says do it, 791 01:24:46,560 --> 01:24:50,280 just do it. That's it. No more discussions. Don't go to somebody and ask their opinion 792 01:24:50,280 --> 01:24:53,480 on it. Don't form a committee. Don't think about it. Don't pray about it and say, oh 793 01:24:53,480 --> 01:24:57,480 God, well you know, I would start witnessing if only you would tell me definitively with 794 01:24:57,480 --> 01:25:01,640 a roll of thunder and a peel of lightning and blind me for three days like you did Paul, 795 01:25:01,640 --> 01:25:06,600 then I would start telling people about Jesus too. Don't do that. God already told you in 796 01:25:06,600 --> 01:25:12,240 His word very clearly that you need to talk to people about Jesus. Stop blurring the line. 797 01:25:12,240 --> 01:25:17,160 Righteousness is righteousness. Anything else is sin and unrighteousness. And there is a 798 01:25:17,160 --> 01:25:25,280 blood avenger. Also, notice that if you know what you are doing is wrong and you do it 799 01:25:25,280 --> 01:25:30,240 anyway, then that is wickedness. These guys who are determined as murderers and subject 800 01:25:30,240 --> 01:25:34,000 to the blood avenger, they were all being subject to the blood avenger because they 801 01:25:34,000 --> 01:25:37,960 had decided essentially whether they did it out of the anger that was in their heart or 802 01:25:37,960 --> 01:25:43,640 whatever to take a weapon or a stick or a rock or a push or throw something or whatever 803 01:25:43,640 --> 01:25:48,500 and kill somebody. They had decided to do it. Even if they hadn't literally decided 804 01:25:48,500 --> 01:25:52,400 to kill them, but really just decided that they hated them and were angry at them, that's 805 01:25:52,400 --> 01:25:56,920 enough because the action was precipitated in hate and anger and they threw the rock 806 01:25:56,920 --> 01:26:04,520 and now the person is dead. That's murder. No blurring the line. Okay? So notice that 807 01:26:04,520 --> 01:26:07,960 there is a difference then between somebody who did it intentionally and somebody who 808 01:26:07,960 --> 01:26:14,440 did it unintentionally. Right? Okay, we are moving into the conclusion. I want to talk 809 01:26:14,440 --> 01:26:18,800 to you about sins of ignorance. There is a question as to whether or not sins that you 810 01:26:18,800 --> 01:26:24,520 do without intending to sin are different from sins that you do knowing that it's sin. 811 01:26:24,520 --> 01:26:30,960 And the answer is yes. Simply put, let's hear from Jesus. We've got two short passages of 812 01:26:30,960 --> 01:26:36,120 scripture left. One is in Luke 12. So if you are reading along in your Bible, I encourage 813 01:26:36,120 --> 01:26:42,640 you to do that. Luke 12, just two verses. Jesus is going to speak on this very same 814 01:26:42,640 --> 01:26:57,640 subject, Luke 12. And it's verse 47 and verse 48. And it says this, and that slave who knew 815 01:26:57,640 --> 01:27:04,020 his master's will and did not get ready or act in accordance with his will shall receive 816 01:27:04,020 --> 01:27:11,240 many lashes. But the one who did not know it and committed deeds worthy of flogging 817 01:27:11,240 --> 01:27:17,080 will receive but few. Now obviously the slave here that we are talking about is not traditional 818 01:27:17,080 --> 01:27:22,880 slavery. We are talking about a servant subject to his master to which we are subject to our 819 01:27:22,880 --> 01:27:28,160 Lord Jesus Christ. So we can go back and reword the passages the same way Jesus meant them 820 01:27:28,160 --> 01:27:34,160 which is to say, and that servant of Christ who knows Christ's will and does not get ready 821 01:27:34,160 --> 01:27:40,280 to act in accordance with Christ's will shall receive many lashes. But the one who did not 822 01:27:40,280 --> 01:27:45,440 know it and committed deeds worthy of flogging will receive but few. Jesus was being very 823 01:27:45,440 --> 01:27:50,800 clear and it says, and from everyone who has been given much shall much be required. And 824 01:27:50,800 --> 01:27:59,920 to whom they entrusted much of him they will also ask all the more. You, if you have accepted 825 01:27:59,920 --> 01:28:05,720 Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, have been made nothing less than a child of God. You 826 01:28:05,720 --> 01:28:11,400 have been freed from sinful behavior. You have overcome the former you and become a 827 01:28:11,400 --> 01:28:16,760 new you when you were born again. And if you have received all of that then much can be 828 01:28:16,760 --> 01:28:22,880 expected of you. What much might be expected? That if you know the will of the Lord you 829 01:28:22,880 --> 01:28:28,120 will do the will of the Lord. It's that simply put. To know the will of the Lord and not 830 01:28:28,120 --> 01:28:35,020 do the will of the Lord is to despise the will of the Lord. It is to dishonor the one 831 01:28:35,020 --> 01:28:40,540 who went to the cross and died for you. It is to dishonor the one who created DNA and 832 01:28:40,540 --> 01:28:45,680 every living thing and stars in the sky and shall we go on. He does not deserve to be 833 01:28:45,680 --> 01:28:52,840 dishonored. He deserves to be respected. Don't blur the line. You say, oh but God gave me 834 01:28:52,840 --> 01:28:57,740 all this, God made me the way I am, all that kind of thing. You're just blurring the line. 835 01:28:57,740 --> 01:29:07,720 To him who much is given from him much is expected. Jesus said so. So if you know the 836 01:29:07,720 --> 01:29:12,720 will of the Lord you're expected to do it. Now if you do something that's wrong, not 837 01:29:12,720 --> 01:29:17,240 knowing that it's against the will of the Lord, then you'll not be punished. That's 838 01:29:17,240 --> 01:29:23,640 what it said, right? No, that's not what it said. We just read it. We read it twice in 839 01:29:23,640 --> 01:29:30,160 fact. It didn't say that. It said you'll be punished with fewer lashes. That's what 840 01:29:30,160 --> 01:29:36,640 it says. Sins of ignorance are treated differently than sins of knowing that you're sinning. 841 01:29:36,640 --> 01:29:42,280 In fact, the Bible describes sins of ignorance this way. It calls that iniquity or simply 842 01:29:42,280 --> 01:29:49,240 sin. The Bible describes sins when you know you're sinning and calls that wickedness. 843 01:29:49,240 --> 01:29:54,120 Many places the Bible says that God essentially hates wickedness and God will discipline wickedness. 844 01:29:54,120 --> 01:29:58,720 We're going to look at one more text and then I'll bring it all to a close. Matthew 845 01:29:58,720 --> 01:30:03,360 11. So we're going back to the left in the New Testament, if you're following along, 846 01:30:03,360 --> 01:30:10,840 which I encourage you to do. Matthew 11. We're going to read from verse 20 through 24. The 847 01:30:10,840 --> 01:30:19,640 latter part of this, again, is Jesus speaking. Verse 20 says, then he and the he in this 848 01:30:19,640 --> 01:30:23,600 story is Jesus and it's capitalized, depending on what version of the Bible you have, but 849 01:30:23,600 --> 01:30:30,920 it's talking about Jesus. Then he began to reproach, that means he was confronting them 850 01:30:30,920 --> 01:30:38,400 or talking firmly against them. He began to reproach the cities in which most of his miracles 851 01:30:38,400 --> 01:30:45,800 were done. So Jesus began to say, oh, you're in trouble now. Watch what it says. He began 852 01:30:45,800 --> 01:30:53,440 to reproach them because they did not repent, it says. Verse 21, woe to you, Corzine, woe 853 01:30:53,440 --> 01:31:00,460 to you, Bethsaida. For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, which occurred 854 01:31:00,460 --> 01:31:07,000 in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. So he's saying woe 855 01:31:07,000 --> 01:31:12,080 to you, two cities. I did a lot of miracles there in you. And if the miracles that I did 856 01:31:12,080 --> 01:31:17,000 there in you were seen over there in those cities, they would have repented a long time 857 01:31:17,000 --> 01:31:24,320 ago. Verse 22 says, nevertheless, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and 858 01:31:24,320 --> 01:31:30,560 Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. So how was it that Tyre and Sidon are getting 859 01:31:30,560 --> 01:31:37,120 the more tolerable outcome? Because less of the miracles that Jesus did were done in those 860 01:31:37,120 --> 01:31:45,360 cities. They saw less of his miraculous interventions than the other two cities did. So the other 861 01:31:45,360 --> 01:31:53,360 two cities were in trouble, but Tyre and Sidon will be treated less badly, if you will, in 862 01:31:53,360 --> 01:31:58,800 the day of judgment. Verse 23 says, and you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, 863 01:31:58,800 --> 01:32:02,520 will you? In other words, you will not be lifted up to heaven, will you? You shall descend 864 01:32:02,520 --> 01:32:07,640 to Hades, or you could put hell there if you want. You shall descend to Hades, for if the 865 01:32:07,640 --> 01:32:13,560 miracles had occurred in Sodom, remember Sodom? One of the cities that God rained fire down 866 01:32:13,560 --> 01:32:16,840 from heaven and destroyed it where Lot was and he and his wife and family were taken 867 01:32:16,840 --> 01:32:21,220 out and she looked back, turned to Phil, her soul, boom, gone, may well lay onto the dead 868 01:32:21,220 --> 01:32:30,400 sea today, that Sodom? Well, back up, it says, you shall descend to Hades, for if the miracles 869 01:32:30,400 --> 01:32:36,440 had occurred in Sodom, which occurred in you, it, that Sodom, would have remained to this 870 01:32:36,440 --> 01:32:44,480 day. Nevertheless, I say to you that it shall be more tolerable, wait for it, for the land 871 01:32:44,480 --> 01:32:54,920 of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. Ouch! That hurts. They had seen the miracles 872 01:32:54,920 --> 01:33:04,240 of Christ, Sodom didn't have that, but was so wicked that they had descended into such 873 01:33:04,240 --> 01:33:08,880 wickedness that God wiped them off the face of the earth. God himself rained down fire, 874 01:33:08,880 --> 01:33:12,960 wiped the city off the face of the earth, but it would be more tolerable for the people 875 01:33:12,960 --> 01:33:17,520 of Sodom in the day of judgment than the city that God did not wipe off the face of the 876 01:33:17,520 --> 01:33:22,200 earth that had seen the miracles of Jesus and not repented. I think you're beginning 877 01:33:22,200 --> 01:33:28,980 to get the idea. The first set of verses that we just read shows Jesus explaining that sins 878 01:33:28,980 --> 01:33:33,280 of ignorance will be treated less harshly. The second set is Jesus explaining that certain 879 01:33:33,280 --> 01:33:38,200 cities will be handled very roughly by God because they saw Jesus' mighty works and did 880 01:33:38,200 --> 01:33:52,680 not repent. When you know, you know, no more games. When you know, you know, no more games. 881 01:33:52,680 --> 01:34:01,920 You know. So repent. Turn to God, turn away from your wicked ways. Live according to what 882 01:34:01,920 --> 01:34:12,000 you know and realize that now you have seen the glory of God. Now that you know the glory 883 01:34:12,000 --> 01:34:23,880 of God is a real thing, your sins, the things you do wrong, can less and less be called 884 01:34:23,880 --> 01:34:31,300 sins of ignorance, which is why we can be expected to repent. It is why we can be expected 885 01:34:31,300 --> 01:34:36,120 to walk in righteousness before the Lord. It is why we can be expected to be a pillar 886 01:34:36,120 --> 01:34:42,600 of truth and stand up for what's right. You are now responsible to grow and be more and 887 01:34:42,600 --> 01:34:48,680 more good every day. If you take up the tools of this world and do what you might have done 888 01:34:48,680 --> 01:34:58,040 in ignorance and been punished lightly, now that you know, you will be judged as in wickedness. 889 01:34:58,040 --> 01:35:05,400 You can no longer do what you once did in ignorance because you are no longer ignorant. 890 01:35:05,400 --> 01:35:12,160 I said a couple of times during the sermon that we have a blood avenger. Remember that 891 01:35:12,160 --> 01:35:20,600 the person who unintentionally killed someone then went to trial in a city of refuge and 892 01:35:20,600 --> 01:35:27,040 was determined as innocent of murder, they didn't get to go home. Then you get to go 893 01:35:27,040 --> 01:35:33,080 back to their ancestral home, to their family lands. In fact, if they were caught outside 894 01:35:33,080 --> 01:35:39,920 the city of refuge at any time after that before the high priest faced death, they would 895 01:35:39,920 --> 01:35:48,000 be subject to murder by the blood avenger who would not be found guilty for doing so. 896 01:35:48,000 --> 01:35:56,120 The one who sins unintentionally and is found innocent and saying they sinned unintentionally, 897 01:35:56,120 --> 01:36:05,840 they didn't know they were ignorant, can stay in the city of refuge but cannot go back to 898 01:36:05,840 --> 01:36:12,960 where they sinned unintentionally. There is a blood avenger waiting for you right outside 899 01:36:12,960 --> 01:36:18,920 the gate, right outside where God has put you. As you wander away from what God has 900 01:36:18,920 --> 01:36:24,120 taught you, as you begin again to do things that you should not do, there is a blood avenger 901 01:36:24,120 --> 01:36:31,680 waiting for you right outside. The Bible describes it, this path that we're on, this road that 902 01:36:31,680 --> 01:36:39,100 Jesus said, I am the way, as a way of holiness. It is a way of righteousness. It is a way 903 01:36:39,100 --> 01:36:46,280 of doing the right thing empowered by God, by his Holy Spirit. This is the painful truth 904 01:36:46,280 --> 01:36:55,440 of the scriptures. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Now, if you have 905 01:36:55,440 --> 01:37:00,000 accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the great blessing is, it says, the wages 906 01:37:00,000 --> 01:37:04,520 of that sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ as Son. 907 01:37:04,520 --> 01:37:08,240 That eternal life granted to you through Jesus Christ as Son is a wake up moment. It's a 908 01:37:08,240 --> 01:37:12,840 moment of being born again. It's a moment of now living for the Lord. Now, you cannot 909 01:37:12,840 --> 01:37:17,520 go back and sin the sins of ignorance. No matter how good an argument the world makes, 910 01:37:17,520 --> 01:37:21,720 you cannot live the way you used to live when you were in ignorance because now you are 911 01:37:21,720 --> 01:37:27,040 no longer in ignorance. Someone has told you, you have believed, you have awakened, you 912 01:37:27,040 --> 01:37:32,000 have been born again, Jesus said. And in so doing, you can no longer go back and act the 913 01:37:32,000 --> 01:37:36,520 way you once did when you were in the world. You cannot do the things because if you do, 914 01:37:36,520 --> 01:37:41,720 you are leaving the city of refuge that God has restored for you, that he's laid out for 915 01:37:41,720 --> 01:37:45,720 you, that he's put there for you. You cannot leave the city of refuge and go back and subject 916 01:37:45,720 --> 01:37:51,120 yourself to the avenger of blood because, don't kid yourself, he will eventually find 917 01:37:51,120 --> 01:37:57,440 you. He is stalking like a roaring lion, looking for whom he may devour. Don't go stick your 918 01:37:57,440 --> 01:38:06,440 head in his mouth. Stay where you belong. Now, if you leave the city of refuge and are 919 01:38:06,440 --> 01:38:10,840 killed, does that mean you cannot go to heaven? If you leave the city of refuge and are punished 920 01:38:10,840 --> 01:38:15,000 horribly by the blood avenger who is out there waiting, if you do not follow the Lord after 921 01:38:15,000 --> 01:38:19,280 having been saved and you continue to live the way the world lives and live in the world 922 01:38:19,280 --> 01:38:25,520 system and do not live for God, does that mean you cannot go to heaven? What it means 923 01:38:25,520 --> 01:38:30,920 is you can no longer call it ignorance. You can no longer stop living the way the Lord 924 01:38:30,920 --> 01:38:35,080 would have you to live and live in what you would call ignorance and say, well, I don't 925 01:38:35,080 --> 01:38:39,360 thank God. No, you know what God wants now. If you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, 926 01:38:39,360 --> 01:38:43,560 you know what he wants. And the Word teaches. Are there gray areas where the Word does not 927 01:38:43,560 --> 01:38:47,920 teach? Yes, there are. And if you want to indulge in those areas, I don't recommend it. Some 928 01:38:47,920 --> 01:38:51,520 of them you can indulge in and the Word will not convict. And you can even claim that they 929 01:38:51,520 --> 01:38:54,120 are sins of ignorance and say, well, I think I can live that way because the Bible doesn't 930 01:38:54,120 --> 01:38:58,320 specifically say that I can't. But once God comes and tells you personally, you have a 931 01:38:58,320 --> 01:39:00,960 personal encounter with the Lord that says you can no longer do that, then you have to 932 01:39:00,960 --> 01:39:06,840 quit. Years ago, I was ministering with a man who had been an associate pastor for roughly 933 01:39:06,840 --> 01:39:11,480 20 years in the church. And I sat with him and we talked. And he said, well, I must, 934 01:39:11,480 --> 01:39:14,800 I got to share this with you. I got to tell you something that's really heavy on my heart. 935 01:39:14,800 --> 01:39:18,760 I have to be open. I have to be honest. I have to tell you who I am. And I said, okay, 936 01:39:18,760 --> 01:39:24,760 go ahead. I said, I'm scared now, but go ahead. And he said, you know, I smoke cigarettes. 937 01:39:24,760 --> 01:39:28,340 And I said, yeah, I know that. And he said, you know, the Word does not say you can't 938 01:39:28,340 --> 01:39:32,460 smoke cigarettes. And I said, yeah, I know that. The Word says there's no cigarettes 939 01:39:32,460 --> 01:39:35,520 are not mentioned in the Bible. I said, I think it's bad for you. I think it's bad for 940 01:39:35,520 --> 01:39:38,440 probably for your witness. But you know, you have to deal with that with the Lord. And 941 01:39:38,440 --> 01:39:42,760 he said, well, I want to tell you that God has told me straight forward, personally, 942 01:39:42,760 --> 01:39:49,000 straight up told me flat out, I can no longer smoke. And I said, really? I said, well, that's 943 01:39:49,000 --> 01:39:52,080 awesome clarity then that should give you great strength to quit. I'm sure you've been 944 01:39:52,080 --> 01:39:55,320 probably wanting to do it anyway. And your wife probably wants to quit whatever. And 945 01:39:55,320 --> 01:40:01,440 he said, yeah, well, I also have to tell you that I don't intend to quit. And the room 946 01:40:01,440 --> 01:40:10,200 got very silent. He said, so just to be clear, God has told me I have to quit. And I'm telling 947 01:40:10,200 --> 01:40:20,000 you today, I'm not gonna. Now you tell me what I should say next based on today's sermon. 948 01:40:20,000 --> 01:40:24,600 What I said was, if you continue to do that after the Lord has told you that you have 949 01:40:24,600 --> 01:40:30,480 to stop, then that can be called nothing but wickedness. And in the end, you will lose 950 01:40:30,480 --> 01:40:35,200 everything. You'll lose your life, you'll lose your family, you'll lose everything. 951 01:40:35,200 --> 01:40:39,040 If you continue and wicked, if you say to God, I hear you Lord, I know exactly what 952 01:40:39,040 --> 01:40:43,080 you're telling me to do. But you shake your fist at God, and I raised my fist that day. 953 01:40:43,080 --> 01:40:46,000 And I said, you shake your fist at God and say, I'm not gonna do what you tell me to 954 01:40:46,000 --> 01:40:53,880 do despite the fact I know what I'm supposed to do. Then it will all turn out in wickedness. 955 01:40:53,880 --> 01:40:58,200 And we cried together and we prayed together and he repented and he decided to quit. He 956 01:40:58,200 --> 01:41:00,640 said, I don't know how I'm gonna do it. I don't know how I'm ever gonna do it. But he 957 01:41:00,640 --> 01:41:04,760 decided to quit and he continued to serve the Lord until the day he died. And went on. 958 01:41:04,760 --> 01:41:09,080 I believe in all my heart went to be with Jesus. I sat with a woman in her living room 959 01:41:09,080 --> 01:41:13,400 who had betrayed my family. She had lied to us and she perpetrated a great act of wickedness 960 01:41:13,400 --> 01:41:23,240 against us. And I said, God does not approve. God is against us. And I know. But I don't 961 01:41:23,240 --> 01:41:28,400 care. She said, I had to do what I had to do. I needed and she told me what she needed. 962 01:41:28,400 --> 01:41:31,840 I needed that and I needed to get it. And you weren't giving it. Nobody was giving 963 01:41:31,840 --> 01:41:35,520 it to me. I needed it. And so I took it. I needed to do this. She said, I pray to God 964 01:41:35,520 --> 01:41:41,840 every night and God's gonna forgive me and nothing is gonna happen from it. And I said, 965 01:41:41,840 --> 01:41:46,720 well, that's not what the Bible says. Bible says, if you know what you're doing is wrong, 966 01:41:46,720 --> 01:41:51,320 you just told me you did. And you did it anyway. That's wickedness. And God will not look 967 01:41:51,320 --> 01:41:57,480 away. God will not back down and he will punish you. Less than three months later, that person 968 01:41:57,480 --> 01:42:00,680 who I was sitting with was diagnosed with cancer and was on the verge of dying from 969 01:42:00,680 --> 01:42:07,200 it. And our family ministered to them through what became the darkest hours of their life. 970 01:42:07,200 --> 01:42:10,280 And they repented and turned back to the Lord and lived the entire remainder of their life 971 01:42:10,280 --> 01:42:17,280 for Jesus and went to be with him. You decide. What the word is calling us to is nothing 972 01:42:17,280 --> 01:42:25,120 less than don't blur the line. God says what he says. It's going to be very, very comfortable 973 01:42:25,120 --> 01:42:29,160 in the coming days to change what the word of God says. It's being done all over the 974 01:42:29,160 --> 01:42:37,880 world as we speak. There was a church in Columbus. It was down to six people attending. Six people. 975 01:42:37,880 --> 01:42:43,120 They're about to close the doors. Beautiful, like $10 million building. Six people coming 976 01:42:43,120 --> 01:42:46,920 to church. They hired a pastor. They had money in the bank. Hired a pastor. And they said, 977 01:42:46,920 --> 01:42:49,720 and the pastor said, if you'll give me carte blanche, I can do anything I want. I can grow 978 01:42:49,720 --> 01:42:56,400 your church to 100 in a year. And they said, fine. So the pastor said, well, we're going 979 01:42:56,400 --> 01:43:02,600 to be the church for all people. And he posted everywhere that they would do homosexual weddings 980 01:43:02,600 --> 01:43:05,920 in front of the church. That he would hear the vows of homosexuals and get married in 981 01:43:05,920 --> 01:43:11,720 front of the church. In less than a year, the church grew to 100 people. That's what 982 01:43:11,720 --> 01:43:17,080 he said would happen. A few years, church had 250 people. And you're like, well, that's 983 01:43:17,080 --> 01:43:21,600 awesome. I want to be a part of a church that grows to 250 people in a couple of years. 984 01:43:21,600 --> 01:43:29,320 I want to do that. We attended that church. My wife and I and a couple people went with 985 01:43:29,320 --> 01:43:35,360 us. During the service, you know how many times the word was preached? We were there 986 01:43:35,360 --> 01:43:39,400 for an hour and 15 minutes. You know how many times it was preached? None. You know how 987 01:43:39,400 --> 01:43:46,080 many times a Bible verse was quoted? Once by a child. Wasn't a particularly convicting 988 01:43:46,080 --> 01:43:54,280 Bible verse, but once. They had a speaker get up and basically read an essay. That church 989 01:43:54,280 --> 01:43:58,640 is not following God. I'm not attacking that church and I'm not naming it because I would 990 01:43:58,640 --> 01:44:04,680 never slander that church. That's not my place. That's up to the Lord. What I'm telling you 991 01:44:04,680 --> 01:44:10,760 is if you engage in wickedness, which will get very comfortable in the coming days, as 992 01:44:10,760 --> 01:44:14,360 it gets close to Jesus coming again, there's going to be a lot of people who want to hear 993 01:44:14,360 --> 01:44:17,720 what they want to hear. And if you tell them what they want to hear, they'll love on you. 994 01:44:17,720 --> 01:44:22,000 They'll take care of you. They'll give you everything you want while you're with them. 995 01:44:22,000 --> 01:44:27,320 They'll come to your church. They'll serve in your ministries. It's going to get like 996 01:44:27,320 --> 01:44:31,120 that. People are going to come after what they want to hear. And less and less people 997 01:44:31,120 --> 01:44:36,600 are going to want to hear what this says. And I'm here to tell you today, God cares 998 01:44:36,600 --> 01:44:43,520 about what His word says. Don't blur the line. Learn to forgive. Learn to stand up for what's 999 01:44:43,520 --> 01:44:49,000 right. Learn not to make excuses for yourself and say, I didn't know. Because the truth 1000 01:44:49,000 --> 01:44:56,360 is you do know. We're going to have a hymn of invitation at this time. It's an opportunity 1001 01:44:56,360 --> 01:45:01,360 to ask yourself, what's the Lord saying to me today? I want you to think about your life. 1002 01:45:01,360 --> 01:45:07,360 What are you doing? You know God's saying you can't do that. I want you to repent. It 1003 01:45:07,360 --> 01:45:12,360 doesn't matter if you do it with me or publicly or whatever, or you can do that in your heart. 1004 01:45:12,360 --> 01:45:16,360 What are you doing? You know God's saying you can't do anymore. Don't blur the line. 1005 01:45:16,360 --> 01:45:21,360 Don't make excuses. Don't say, well, I'm doing that because an insert something that makes 1006 01:45:21,360 --> 01:45:25,360 you feel a little better about it. What are you doing? God says you can't do. And repent 1007 01:45:25,360 --> 01:45:29,360 back to the Lord and look to God today, to His Son Jesus Christ, and feel empowered. 1008 01:45:29,360 --> 01:45:34,360 What are you not doing that God says you have to do? Are you not spending time in the Bible? 1009 01:45:34,360 --> 01:45:39,360 Are you not praying? Are you not meditating on the Word? All of those things are commanded 1010 01:45:39,360 --> 01:45:43,360 in the scripture. They're all commanded. Are you not praising Him? Do you know how many 1011 01:45:43,360 --> 01:45:51,360 times praising God is commanded in scripture? Hundreds. If you know what it is that He wants 1012 01:45:51,360 --> 01:45:58,360 you to do and you don't do it, that's sin. Worse than that, according to what we've read, 1013 01:45:58,360 --> 01:46:03,360 that's wickedness. How'd you like it if you claimed the name of Jesus while you were alive, 1014 01:46:03,360 --> 01:46:09,360 then arrived at the day of judgment, and it's better for Sodom on that day than it is for 1015 01:46:09,360 --> 01:46:16,360 you? No way. I'm not willing for that. No way. I'm not into that. I don't want to get 1016 01:46:16,360 --> 01:46:20,360 there and see the people that were destroyed by the final fire of heaven from wickedness 1017 01:46:20,360 --> 01:46:24,360 that beat down doors to try to have sex with men hiding behind the doors. I don't want 1018 01:46:24,360 --> 01:46:29,360 to go to the day of judgment and it'd be better on that day for them than me. No way. Don't 1019 01:46:29,360 --> 01:46:37,360 go to the line. Just call it what it is. You know, no more games. Repent and turn to the 1020 01:46:37,360 --> 01:46:41,360 Lord and say, okay Lord, I want to do what you want me to do. I want to know what that 1021 01:46:41,360 --> 01:46:45,360 is, and in knowing what that is, I want to do it. Because you know what? It may only be 1022 01:46:45,360 --> 01:46:49,360 a few more days, or maybe a few more weeks, or maybe a few more years, or even decades, 1023 01:46:49,360 --> 01:46:54,360 or you may die of unnatural causes before Jesus comes again. But even if you do, you're 1024 01:46:54,360 --> 01:46:59,360 talking about 50 years at most, looking around this room and talking about Korea, maybe 100 1025 01:46:59,360 --> 01:47:04,360 years, right? But 60 years, 70 years, Arden, 80 years, whatever, I told you to live to 1026 01:47:04,360 --> 01:47:11,360 be 100, and if it was 100 years of doing what's right, you're going to be blessed, you're 1027 01:47:11,360 --> 01:47:13,360 going to be better off, you're going to feel good about it, you're going to be serving 1028 01:47:13,360 --> 01:47:17,360 God, you may be persecuted for righteousness, you may have people come against you, whatever, 1029 01:47:17,360 --> 01:47:20,360 but you're going to be strong, God's going to build you from the inside out, rather than 1030 01:47:20,360 --> 01:47:24,360 you're building yourself from the outside in, God's going to build you from the inside 1031 01:47:24,360 --> 01:47:28,360 out, and you'll still be standing. And on the day of judgment, you'll be better for 1032 01:47:28,360 --> 01:47:34,360 you than for somebody else who saw the amazing thing that God did who didn't follow Arden. 1033 01:47:34,360 --> 01:47:41,360 The Lord helps, but he's standing. Stand right in the trees, stand for what's right, serve, 1034 01:47:41,360 --> 01:47:47,360 and don't quit, and don't blur the line, stop blaming others, and be down to people. 1035 01:47:47,360 --> 01:47:50,360 We are, and these children, if they've accepted Jesus Christ before his age, we've not done 1036 01:47:50,360 --> 01:47:53,360 that, we've not gotten started, let's get born again, let's put it behind us, all old 1037 01:47:53,360 --> 01:47:58,360 things passed away. And if you have done that, then think about what's in your life that 1038 01:47:58,360 --> 01:48:00,360 you're not doing what you're supposed to do, and you're doing what you're not supposed 1039 01:48:00,360 --> 01:48:05,360 to do based on God saying, I'm going to repent today and come to the world. And then if you 1040 01:48:05,360 --> 01:48:09,360 have some decision made publicly, and you say, I'm turning from a certain sin, or I'm 1041 01:48:09,360 --> 01:48:14,360 going to do what God told me to do, and I'm going to do that, or I need to be baptized, 1042 01:48:14,360 --> 01:48:18,360 or I need to join the church, or I need to begin to get, or I need to start a new ministry, 1043 01:48:18,360 --> 01:48:22,360 or I know what God wants me to do in the community, or whatever, you need to make a decision, 1044 01:48:22,360 --> 01:48:25,360 and as you sin, you come forward and make that decision. That's how you seem to come 1045 01:48:25,360 --> 01:48:30,360 forward at this time of year, and then everybody else will stand and sing this final hymn, 1046 01:48:30,360 --> 01:48:34,360 but if you ever responded, then you just come forward, and you can share with your group. 1047 01:48:34,360 --> 01:48:40,360 There's only four, because this is the way you're all facing. All right? It's just a room. 1048 01:48:40,360 --> 01:49:08,360 You come and make that public. As we sing, we respond to what is in your heart. 1049 01:49:08,360 --> 01:49:23,360 I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. 1050 01:49:23,360 --> 01:49:38,360 No turning back. 1051 01:49:38,360 --> 01:49:53,360 No turning back.