1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 We're in Hosea chapter 8. 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:09,160 A father was explaining to his children the meaning of Lent and 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,480 how to prepare for Easter and 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,340 he suggested that he and his wife would be 5 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,040 abstaining from all desserts until Easter and 6 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:26,200 he had three daughters and ages six, eight and eleven and the oldest two daughters said, 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:33,400 yeah, we're on board with that. We also are going to abstain from all sweets until Easter. The youngest daughter who is six 8 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,360 She thought about this for a while and then she said confidently 9 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,720 What I want to give up, I want to give up consequences 10 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:45,480 But life doesn't really work that way, does it? 11 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,680 We're not free to do that. You are free to choose 12 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:57,160 But you are not free from the consequences of your choice and one of the most elementary and important lessons in life is to learn the 13 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:02,880 connection between choices and actions and consequences. While we are free to choose our actions, 14 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:09,280 we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions and lives have been ruined or at least 15 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:15,320 damaged long term by failing to understand this basic life principle. 16 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:22,240 You are in control of your actions, but you cannot control the consequences of your actions. 17 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:28,160 And when the consequences begin to spin out of control, we protest. That's not fair. 18 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,560 Yeah, I did something wrong, but I don't deserve that. 19 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,200 And we begin to think of ourselves as the 20 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:41,680 aggrieved victims of injustice rather than the responsible party who has sinned and 21 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:44,480 sometimes we get angry at God. 22 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:51,600 When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord. 23 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:59,360 Many of us have had to learn this lesson the hard way, myself included, that sin will take you farther than you want to go, 24 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,600 keep you there longer than you want to stay and cost more than you want to pay. 25 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:09,080 Believe me, it's a painful lesson to learn and not one that you want to repeat. 26 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:15,400 Hosea puts it this way, for they sow the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind. 27 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:22,440 So what were the choices and actions of Israel that led to them reaping the whirlwinds? 28 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:30,120 We're in Hosea chapter 8 today and the first was rebelling against God's law, verses 1 through 3. 29 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:40,240 Set the trumpet to your lips, one like a vulture is over the house of the Lord because they have transgressed my covenants and rebelled against my law. 30 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:43,920 To me they cry, my God, we Israel know you. 31 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,840 Israel has spurned the good, the enemy shall pursue him. 32 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:54,120 Now the house of the Lord in this context refers not to the temple in Jerusalem, 33 00:02:54,120 --> 00:03:00,120 but rather to the land of Israel that is about to be ravaged by the vulture Assyria. 34 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,400 And so Israel objects and protests against this idea. 35 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:12,520 Surely this can never happen to us because we know the Lord, we know Yahweh, we believe in Yahweh, we worship Yahweh, 36 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,600 and Baal and Astorith and Kimash and Moloch and the Golden Calf. 37 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:21,920 We are God's people, this is His land, surely we are saved from all harm in His lands. 38 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:26,760 Please God, remember us, we know you, we are your people. 39 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:29,760 Did Israel know God? 40 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:38,520 To know God in the biblical sense requires living in a covenant relationship with Him which requires following His law and obeying His commands. 41 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:46,240 To say I know God or I believe in God or I worship God while rebelling against His commands is blatant hypocrisy. 42 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:51,600 Was Israel living as God's obedient and faithful covenant people? 43 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:58,240 God's verdict is this, they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law. 44 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:04,560 The Hebrew word for rebelled, some versions have transgressed, is a strong word, pesha. 45 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:13,560 It means not only breaking a rule or disobeying a command, but it also includes the idea of breaking a relationship that is based on mutual trust. 46 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:21,560 So, pesha is an act of betrayal against a person, not just breaking a rule. 47 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:32,560 Following God's deliverance of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, God invited Israel into a conditional covenant relationship, conditional upon their obedience to His commands. 48 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:44,560 If Israel is obedient, then Yahweh will be their God and dwell with them and bless them and provide for them and protect them and make them a holy nation and a blessing and a light to all the other peoples of the earth. 49 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,560 But if they disobey, God will punish them. 50 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,560 All that the Lord has spoken, we will do, the people promised. 51 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:54,560 But did they? 52 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:58,560 They have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law. 53 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:07,560 And Israel's rebellion was a violation of trust, an act of betrayal, an act of pesha, resulting in a broken relationship. 54 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:17,560 If an Israelite went away on a trip and while he was gone, a stranger broke into the house and stole some items, that would be called robbery. 55 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:28,560 But if it were a neighbor or a friend who broke into the house and stole some items, that would be called pesha, a violation of trust. 56 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,560 If an unmarried man sleeps with a prostitute, that would be a sin. 57 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:38,560 But if a married man sleeps with his best friend's wife, that would be pesha. 58 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:44,560 Israel's idolatry and covenant breaking was an act of pesha. 59 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:54,560 Act of rebellion, treacherous rebellion against God and His moral authority, thereby breaking a personal covenant relationship with God. 60 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,560 Israel has spurned the good, the text says. 61 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:00,560 So what is the good? 62 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:06,560 Well, supremely, it's a covenant relationship with God, but along with that, His law is the good. 63 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,560 God's law is good because God is good. 64 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:15,560 And spurned is also a strong word. It means rejecting, expelling, excluding. 65 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,560 It's a forceful rejection of God's law. 66 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,560 It's not just trying hard and failing to live up to it. 67 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:26,560 No, it's a defiant denial that God's law is even good. 68 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,560 Do you see the hypocrisy, the contradiction here? 69 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:31,560 We know the Lord. 70 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:37,560 We worship the Lord, but we reject His law as something bad. 71 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:41,560 Suppose you have a physical exam with your doctor and I ask you about it. 72 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:43,560 How do you like your doctor? 73 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,560 Oh, he's a great guy, a great doctor. 74 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:48,560 He's smart and personable and knowledgeable and caring. 75 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:49,560 He's great. 76 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:51,560 How was your exam? 77 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:58,560 Well, my doctor is concerned about a couple of things, so he wrote a couple of prescriptions for me and advised me to make some lifestyle changes. 78 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:00,560 But I'm not going to do it. 79 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:02,560 I don't trust his advice. 80 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:05,560 I don't think he knows what he's talking about. 81 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,560 I read a blog online that has a much better approach. 82 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:14,560 So I'm not going to do anything my doctor prescribed or advised, but he's a great guy. 83 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:19,560 He's a great doctor, smart and knowledgeable and skilled and capable and caring, 84 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,560 and I love going to him for exams. 85 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:24,560 Or how about this scenario? 86 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:27,560 You ask a baseball player how he likes his coach. 87 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:29,560 Oh, he's the best. 88 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:31,560 He really knows the game. 89 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:33,560 He has a winsome personality. 90 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:35,560 He really knows how to bring out the best in his players. 91 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:38,560 So he must really enjoy his practices. 92 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:40,560 No, complete waste of time. 93 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:43,560 I could run a much better practice. 94 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:47,560 He has us doing all these stupid drills that make no sense whatsoever. 95 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:52,560 Well, then his team rules must really be helpful for team morale and unity. 96 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:53,560 Are you kidding? 97 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:56,560 His team rules are from the 1950s. 98 00:07:57,560 --> 00:07:58,560 They're stupid. 99 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:00,560 They take all the fun out of you and being on the team. 100 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,560 But he's a really great guy and a really great coach. 101 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,560 He knows his stuff and how to bring out their best in his players. 102 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:08,560 Do you see the disconnect? 103 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,560 And do you see the application for us today? 104 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:15,560 If you profess to know God and love him, 105 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,560 do you love his law and do you obey his commands? 106 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:21,560 Can you say with the psalmist, 107 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,560 the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul, 108 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:27,560 the testimony of the Lord is perfect, 109 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,560 reviving the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure, 110 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:34,560 making wise is simple, the precepts of the Lord are right, 111 00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:37,560 rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, 112 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:42,560 enlightening the eyes, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever, 113 00:08:42,560 --> 00:08:45,560 the rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 114 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:49,560 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, 115 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:52,560 sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 116 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:56,560 Moreover, by them is your servant warned in keeping them, 117 00:08:56,560 --> 00:08:58,560 there is great reward. 118 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:04,560 Well, I agree with most of his commands and try to follow them, 119 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:07,560 but clearly some of his commands are not for today. 120 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:11,560 I mean, does God really expect people to save sex for marriage? 121 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:15,560 Does he really expect couples who love each other to wait until they get married 122 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:17,560 to live together and sleep together? 123 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:22,560 And does God really expect couples to stay married until death? 124 00:09:23,560 --> 00:09:25,560 And surely if the Bible were written today, 125 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:29,560 God would not still call homosexuality sinful, would he? 126 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:32,560 I mean, that was just for Bible times, right? 127 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:35,560 Surely God understands now that love is love, 128 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:39,560 and two men or two women who want to get married should have the same right 129 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:41,560 to get married as a man and a woman. 130 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:44,560 And surely God understands now that gender is fluid 131 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:47,560 and has nothing to do with biological reality 132 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:49,560 and people can be born in the wrong body. 133 00:09:49,560 --> 00:09:51,560 And if they are, they should do something to their body 134 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:54,560 to make it look more like how they feel on the inside, right? 135 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:57,560 Surely God wants people to be true to their authentic self. 136 00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:01,560 I mean, surely God can see how the world is changing. 137 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:05,560 And so his rules and commands need to change too, right? 138 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:08,560 The Bible was written 2,000 years ago. 139 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:13,560 We can't blame God for not knowing how outdated 140 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:18,560 and hateful and unfair some of his laws would appear to people today. 141 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:23,560 So yes, I believe God is good, but some of his laws are bad. 142 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:30,560 Why does God equate rebelling against his law with spurting the good? 143 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:35,560 Because God's laws and commandments are expressions of who God is. 144 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:40,560 A great doctor does not give harmful prescriptions or bad advice. 145 00:10:40,560 --> 00:10:45,560 A great coach does not run lousy practices or give bad team rules. 146 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:48,560 And a good God does not issue bad laws. 147 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:55,560 If his rules and commands are defective, it means his character is defective. 148 00:10:56,560 --> 00:11:02,560 So you can reject God and his law, but you cannot love God and hate his law. 149 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:05,560 Verse 12, God says, 150 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:12,560 Were I to write for him, Ephraim, Israel, were I to write for him my laws by the 10,000s? 151 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:16,560 They would be regarded as a strange thing. 152 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:22,560 A strange thing here, meaning alien, illicit, even prohibited. 153 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:29,560 You see, Israel's culture was so dominated by idolatry and sexual immorality and social injustice 154 00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:34,560 that the law of God was regarded as something strange, foreign, 155 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:42,560 alien, belonging to another time and place, even as something to be prohibited. 156 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:48,560 There was a time when I was growing up, and even when our daughters were growing up, 157 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:53,560 when God's laws and commandments and rules were held in high regard in American society. 158 00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:57,560 Now, people have always been sinners, so of course people sinned, 159 00:11:57,560 --> 00:12:00,560 of course people broke those commandments, but there was a cultural consensus 160 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:05,560 that God's commandments were good rules to live by, no longer. 161 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:10,560 Our culture is now so strongly dominated by beliefs and ideologies, 162 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:14,560 which are antithetical to biblical sexual morality, 163 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:23,560 that God's moral laws now regarded as something strange, weird, alien, belonging to another time and place, 164 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:30,560 and even as something bad and hateful that should be rejected and prohibited and canceled. 165 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:34,560 You see, it's one thing to affirm that God's law is good, 166 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:37,560 but then we fail to live up to it in our fallenness. 167 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:41,560 It's quite another to reject God's law as something bad, 168 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:47,560 and to regard it as morally virtuous to treat God's law with contempt. 169 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:49,560 But that's where we are today in our culture. 170 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:53,560 May God have mercy on us. 171 00:12:53,560 --> 00:13:00,560 The second reason why Israel would be reaping the whirlwind is they were trusting lesser rulers. 172 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:05,560 No sooner had Israel received the Ten Commandments and promised to obey them 173 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:12,560 that the people rebelled and made a golden calf and worshiped it and sacrificed to it. 174 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:17,560 And many years later, after God brought them into the promised land, after Joshua's death, 175 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:20,560 the people rebelled over God's kingship over them. 176 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:25,560 And in the days of Samuel, the people insisted on having a king just like all the other nations. 177 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:31,560 So they rejected God as their king and insisted on having a human king to reign over them and protect them. 178 00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:36,560 God granted their request and gave them Saul, who proved to be unfaithful. 179 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:40,560 So God replaced Saul with David and then made this covenant with David. 180 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:46,560 Furthermore, the Lord declares that he will make a house for you, a dynasty of kings. 181 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:53,560 Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time and your throne will be secure forever. 182 00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:58,560 And thus one of David's sons Solomon became king and he built the temple in Jerusalem 183 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:02,560 and he became great in wisdom and power and wealth. 184 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:05,560 Upon his death, his son Rehoboam became king. 185 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:12,560 But the people of Israel and all of the northern territories, all the people except the southern tribe, Judah 186 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:15,560 and probably also Benjamin and some of Levi, 187 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:20,560 all of the northern tribes rebelled against Rehoboam and rebelled against the house of David, 188 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:24,560 basically cutting themselves off from the line of the Messiah. 189 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,560 And the northern kingdom of Israel chose Jeroboam as their king. 190 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:31,560 And what was the first thing Jeroboam did as king? 191 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:34,560 He made two golden calves. 192 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,560 And he sent one in the north and Dan and one in the southern part of Israel in Bethel. 193 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:45,560 Yahweh had commanded his people that they must offer sacrifices to him only in the temple in Jerusalem. 194 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:52,560 But Jeroboam and his successors including Jeroboam II and Hosea's time made many altars throughout the land of Israel 195 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,560 and appointed many priests who were not Levites. 196 00:14:55,560 --> 00:15:01,560 And these altars were used to worship other gods in addition to Yahweh, false gods such as Baal. 197 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:09,560 Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have become to him altars for sinning. 198 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:17,560 These altars that were built throughout the land of Israel became altars for idolatry, altars for the worship of Baal. 199 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:27,560 Now Baal was a fertility god and the worship of Baal was often accompanied by the worshipers engaging in sex with cult prostitutes 200 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:32,560 as a way of gaining the favor of Baal to send rain for a good crop. 201 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:41,560 The northern kingdom of Israel with its capital in Samaria existed for 208 years from 930 BC 202 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:47,560 when they rebelled against the house of David until 722 BC when they were conquered by Assyria. 203 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,560 During that time there were 19 kings from 9 different dynasties 204 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:57,560 and guess how many of those kings were faithful to Yahweh and his law? 205 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,560 None. Zero. Nada. 206 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:06,560 They were all losers, every single one of them. 207 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:18,560 Once Israel rejected the line of David and of the Messiah, their entire history as a nation was marked by wicked kings leading them into idolatry. 208 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:24,560 And so the Lord says, they made kings but not through me. 209 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,560 They set up princes but I knew it not. 210 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:31,560 With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction. 211 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:37,560 I have spurned your calf, O Samaria, my anger burns against them. 212 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:43,560 At the time of Hosea, Israel was within about 30 years of being destroyed by Assyria. 213 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:50,560 Even before the final conquest in 722 BC, the Assyrian army invaded parts of Israel several times. 214 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:56,560 So how did Israel respond to this grave danger by turning to Yahweh for help and protection? No. 215 00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,560 Israel is swallowed up. 216 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:06,560 Already they are among the nations as a useless vessel for they have gone up to Assyria, a wild donkey wandering alone. 217 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:08,560 Ephraim has hired lovers. 218 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:18,560 Though they hire allies among the nations, I will soon gather them up and the king and princes shall soon writhe because of the Tribune. 219 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:22,560 Israel turned to other nations for security and protection. 220 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:26,560 So if Egypt was threatening, they turned to Assyria for help. 221 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:28,560 If Assyria was threatening, they turned to Egypt for help. 222 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,560 If Judah was threatening, they turned to Damascus for help and vice versa. 223 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:38,560 And when it became clear that Assyria was the greatest threat and no other nation could protect them, 224 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:47,560 then they gave heavy tribute to Assyria, kind of like businesses giving money to the mob to protect them from the mob. 225 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:54,560 And rather than turning to Yahweh in repentance and trust, they turned to other kings and nations and other gods. 226 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,560 Were these other nations loyal allies? Of course not. 227 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:10,560 Not only did Assyria not protect them, Assyria took all their tribute money and then ended up destroying and putting an end to the northern kingdom of Israel anyway. 228 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:15,560 For they sow the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind. 229 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:24,560 There's only one true and living God, Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 230 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:35,560 And God has revealed Himself in His creation more fully in His Word, both Old and New Testament and supremely in the Word made flesh Jesus. 231 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:39,560 The God of the Old Testament is the very same as the God of the New Testament. 232 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:45,560 There's no difference as the worship song says that we sing, He is the same God. 233 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:55,560 And the God of the Bible is not only a loving and merciful God, but also a perfectly just God who punishes sin and rebellion. 234 00:18:55,560 --> 00:19:00,560 Israel rejected God's law, spurned what was good. 235 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,560 Israel rejected God's reign as king over them. 236 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:12,560 And then they rejected God's chosen Davidic line of kings and then they turned to foreign kings and foreign gods rather than Yahweh. 237 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:16,560 They sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind. 238 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,560 Assyria utterly destroyed Israel. 239 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:25,560 The people lost everything and the northern kingdom of Israel ceased to exist. 240 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:32,560 While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions. 241 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:36,560 Well, what are some takeaways and responses from this text? 242 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,560 First, we reap what we sow. 243 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,560 That's New Testament also. 244 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,560 Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. 245 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,560 For whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 246 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:57,560 And sometimes we reap the whirlwind more than we think fair because we tend to underestimate the gravity of our sin. 247 00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:04,560 Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay. 248 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:16,560 And since we have all spurned God's love and broken his law many times, we all stand condemned before a perfectly just God who must punish sin, 249 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,560 which brings us to the good news of the gospel. 250 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:26,560 The cross, plus God's justice, equals no condemnation. 251 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:29,560 Listen carefully. 252 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:39,560 Those who put their hope for salvation and eternal life in a non-judgmental God of love are in serious peril. 253 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:44,560 Yes, God is love, truth, but he's also just. 254 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,560 And there's no contradiction in that. 255 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:55,560 Anyone who thinks the God of the New Testament is not judgmental has never paid close attention to the teachings of Jesus 256 00:20:55,560 --> 00:21:01,560 and has never read the last book of the New Testament, which is full of God's judgments. 257 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:08,560 Our hope of eternal life in heaven has nothing to do with the non-existent, non-judgmental God. 258 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:10,560 Our hope is in Jesus. 259 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,560 Our hope is in the cross of Jesus Christ. 260 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:21,560 Our only hope of eternal salvation is in the cross of Jesus Christ and only in the cross of Jesus Christ. 261 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:23,560 Our hope is in him. 262 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:25,560 Sin must be punished. 263 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:35,560 And at the cross, Jesus bore all of our sins and suffered the full and just punishment for all of our sin and rebellion, all of our pesh. 264 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:42,560 And therefore, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 265 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:49,560 We often think that our forgiveness and salvation are due to the love and mercy and grace of God, which they are. 266 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:51,560 That is true. 267 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:59,560 The cross of Jesus Christ is the greatest demonstration of how much God loves you, even in your sin, even in your rebellion. 268 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:02,560 God loves you. 269 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:08,560 But it's just as true that our forgiveness and salvation are due to the justice of God. 270 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:17,560 If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 271 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,560 Faithful and just to forgive us. 272 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:22,560 Why just? 273 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:28,560 Because our sins were fully and justly punished at the cross. 274 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:36,560 And it would be unjust for God to punish believers for sins that have already been fully punished. 275 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:44,560 And God demonstrated that he had accepted Jesus' death as full payment for all of our sins by raising Jesus from the dead. 276 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:46,560 Listen carefully. 277 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:57,560 If you have put your trust in the truth that Christ died for your sins and was raised from the dead, then you have absolutely nothing to fear from the justice of God. 278 00:22:57,560 --> 00:22:59,560 Nothing. 279 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,560 No condemnation means no condemnation. 280 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:10,560 No matter what you have done, no matter how much you rebelled against God, no matter how far you have strayed from his path, 281 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:14,560 no matter how convicted you are of your sins, 282 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:17,560 no condemnation means no condemnation. 283 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:25,560 He no longer counts your sins against you because Jesus took all of your sin and all of your punishment upon himself on the cross. 284 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:35,560 But, and I need to say this also, if you have not received by faith the gift of salvation and eternal life in Jesus Christ, 285 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:40,560 then you have everything to fear from the righteous judgment of God. 286 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,560 But God loves you and he is eager to forgive you. 287 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,560 He is eager to bring you into his family. 288 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:49,560 He is eager to give you eternal life. 289 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:57,560 He is eager to love and accept and forgive you if you will trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. 290 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:06,560 Next, God is good and therefore his will is good and therefore his law is good and good for us. 291 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:11,560 God's law is an expression of his character and his will. 292 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:20,560 All of God's rules and commandments proceed from his wisdom and love and righteousness and goodness and knowledge of what is best for us. 293 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:27,560 So as you trust his character and his will, so also trust his moral law and rules. 294 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,560 Oh, how I love your law. 295 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:31,560 It is my meditation all the day. 296 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:35,560 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies for it is ever with me. 297 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:40,560 I have more understanding than all my teachers for your testimonies are my meditation. 298 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:43,560 I understand more than the agent for I keep your precepts. 299 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:47,560 I hold back my feet from every evil way in order to keep your word. 300 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:56,560 I do not turn aside from your rules for you have taught me how sweet are your words to my taste sweeter than honey to my mouth. 301 00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:02,560 A love relationship with God is maintained by following his rules. 302 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:12,560 You may have heard it said Christianity is about a personal relationship with Jesus, not about following a bunch of religious rules. 303 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:16,560 Yes, the personal relationship part is true. 304 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:21,560 And no, following a bunch of religious rules will not get you into heaven. 305 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:30,560 God accepts us as righteous in his sight on the basis of our faith in Jesus, not on the basis of our rulekeeping. 306 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:34,560 But that doesn't mean that obedience is optional in the Christian life. 307 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:40,560 Jesus said, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. 308 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:47,560 And he who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him and manifest myself to him. 309 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:49,560 Think about it. 310 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:58,560 What do sinful, finite creatures like us really know about what it takes to abide in a love relationship 311 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,560 with a holy God who is the creator of the universe? 312 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:03,560 What do we know? 313 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:08,560 So God tells us in his word, in his law, in the commandments of Jesus, 314 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:13,560 he tells us what it takes to please him and live according to his will. 315 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:17,560 God's law keeps us from getting disoriented. 316 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:23,560 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 317 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:28,560 When Beth and I were in Italy in Tuscany a couple of months ago, 318 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:32,560 one of the days that we were there, we went for a hike in some beautiful woods. 319 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:37,560 And we were following a path, not a big broad path, but a bigger than a deer path. 320 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:38,560 It was a clear path. 321 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:44,560 We were following this path that went over a brook and went into the woods a ways and it stopped. 322 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:45,560 It just stopped. 323 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:50,560 But it was a beautiful woods area and we thought, you know, we've only been lost once or twice on this trip. 324 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:52,560 We need some more adventures, so let's keep going. 325 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:56,560 And I mentioned the fact that once you get off a path in the woods, it's easy to get disoriented, 326 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:57,560 but we kept going. 327 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:02,560 So we walked some farther and then we decided it's probably time we should get back to the path. 328 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:07,560 So we turned around and went back to the path except we couldn't find the path. 329 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,560 And we looked all around and we couldn't find the path. 330 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:16,560 So we thought the road was in that general direction, so we headed off toward the road. 331 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:21,560 We kind of heard some traffic over there, so we headed off in that direction and we crossed a brook. 332 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:25,560 Not the same place that we crossed before, but we did. 333 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:29,560 I thought, what's probably a good sign that we at least have crossed this brook again? 334 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:34,560 And we kept going and we were listening for the traffic and then we saw some cars. 335 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:39,560 So we headed toward the road confident that once we got to the road, we would get to our car. 336 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,560 We got to the road and there was no car. 337 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,560 And we went to the left for a while and no car. 338 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:48,560 So we thought, well, let's try going right. 339 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:52,560 So we went to the right, no car. Around a curve, no car. 340 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:54,560 Around another curve, no car. 341 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:56,560 Around another curve, no car. 342 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:58,560 We finally found the car. 343 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,560 We're here. We finally found the car. 344 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:06,560 But we are probably off by half a mile. 345 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:12,560 And we thought, how could we have gotten that far off track in that short of a time? 346 00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:14,560 That takes some talent actually. 347 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:20,560 But it would have been better if we had stayed on the path. 348 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:27,560 Some people might say that following a path is restrictive and diminishes our freedom to forge our own way. 349 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:32,560 But what actually happens when we stray off the path of God's truth? 350 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:40,560 Thinking we are free, we end up enslaved to the surrounding cultures, falsehoods and deceptions and delusions. 351 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,560 We end up lost and disoriented. 352 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:48,560 Like many people today who cannot even answer the question, what is a woman? 353 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:53,560 And who think that men can have periods and get pregnant and nurse babies. 354 00:28:53,560 --> 00:29:00,560 If you want to wander around in the woods lost and disoriented along with many others in our society who've rejected God's law, 355 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:02,560 you're free to do so. 356 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,560 But you're not free from the consequences of doing so. 357 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,560 Namely separation from God. 358 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:12,560 But God loves you too much to let you stay lost. 359 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:18,560 And you're here today because God is pursuing you and calling you to himself. 360 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,560 And whatever you have done before can be forgiven. 361 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:31,560 And however far you have strayed from him, the good shepherd can find you and bring you back home to God and to paths of righteousness. 362 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:38,560 The law as taught by Jesus reveals the narrow path to Christ's likeness empowered by the Holy Spirit. 363 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:42,560 How did Jesus develop Godly character? 364 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:49,560 He said, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 365 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:58,560 You see, the character of Christ was formed as he lived closely connected to the Father and his love and kept his Father's commandments. 366 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:00,560 What is God's ultimate will for us? 367 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,560 To become like Jesus. 368 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,560 And how do we know what that looks like? 369 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:10,560 Different people have different ideas of what Jesus was like and what it means to be like him. 370 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:12,560 So is this just a matter of subjective opinion? 371 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:17,560 We each create our own reality in our own minds as to what it means to become like Jesus? 372 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:18,560 No. 373 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:25,560 Jesus gives us his commandments as a light to the path that leads to Christ's likeness. 374 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:32,560 That's why making disciples involves teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, Jesus said. 375 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:38,560 As we obey his commandments, which are consistent with the Father's commandments in the Bible, 376 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:42,560 then we abide in his love and we grow in Christ's like character. 377 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:46,560 You see, the law shows us what Godly character looks like. 378 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:51,560 And the Holy Spirit within us empowers us to live in obedience to God's laws. 379 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:58,560 And as we do so, we become more like Jesus who lived a life of perfect obedience. 380 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:07,560 The law gives us a vision of who we are becoming and are destined to be as new creations in Christ. 381 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:12,560 Pastor Stefan reminded us of this truth a couple of weeks ago in a Wednesday night Bible study. 382 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:22,560 If God's laws are an expression of God's character, then obeying God's law is how we grow in Godly character in Christ's likeness. 383 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:34,560 And disobeying his commandments is a betrayal of our true self, a betrayal of our authentic self of who we are in Christ. 384 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:42,560 We are all in Christ's new creations on our way to becoming like Jesus. 385 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,560 And one day we will be like Jesus when he returns. 386 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:52,560 And the law shows us how we can live authentic to our true self and our true identity in Christ. 387 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:58,560 When we are following the path of obedience, we are being true to who we are. 388 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,560 We are being true to our identity as new creations. 389 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:08,560 When we go off the path in disobedience, we are being false to our true self. 390 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:18,560 To follow and obey Jesus is to become who God made us and redeemed us to be, transformed into a new creation in Christ. 391 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:24,560 That's our true self. That's our true identity. That's who we really are. 392 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:31,560 And every step of obedience we take is progress toward becoming more like Jesus. 393 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:41,560 So here's the crucial question, especially for those of you who are 30 and under, because you're growing up in a culture that is hostile to God's moral law. 394 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:49,560 Here's the question, is God's law good? Is God's law good? 395 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:58,560 How about you? Will you affirm today that God is good and therefore His will is good and therefore His law is good? 396 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:10,560 Do you affirm that God's moral law proceeds from His wisdom and love and righteousness and therefore it is in your best interests to seek to obey God's commandments? 397 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:18,560 For all of us, do you confess that we have broken God's laws and commandments and therefore are in need of a Savior? 398 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:23,560 Have you received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord? I'm going to lead you in a prayer in a moment that you can do that. 399 00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:37,560 And then for those of you who have, are you willing to follow Jesus on the narrow path of obedience to God's commandments, even in the midst of a culture that is hostile to that law? Let's pray. 400 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:53,560 Father, we acknowledge that you are good, that your will is good, acceptable, perfect, that your law and commandments therefore are good and good for us. 401 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:58,560 But we also acknowledge that we've broken your laws and commandments and we need a Savior. 402 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:07,560 And I pray for anybody here today that has not yet accepted Jesus as their Savior, that right now they would simply confess, yes, Lord, I have sinned. 403 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:16,560 I've broken your laws. I've disobeyed your commandments. I stand condemned. 404 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:23,560 But I believe that Jesus took all of my sin and punishment upon Himself at the cross and I put my trust in that. 405 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:34,560 And I believe you raised Him from the dead, that He's alive today and I ask Him to come into my life and reign in my heart as Lord. 406 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:47,560 And for all of us, will we affirm that the law of God is good and is in fact the path toward becoming more like Jesus? 407 00:34:47,560 --> 00:35:03,560 And that we will seek with our whole heart in the power of the Holy Spirit to follow and live according to the path of obedience so that we might fulfill our destiny and be true to our identity as new creations in Christ. 408 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:11,560 As we sing our closing song, I'm going to ask some of you perhaps have been struggling with really, is God's law good or not? 409 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:22,560 And if you are willing to affirm today, yes, God's law is good. You want to affirm that before here at the altar, we encourage you to come to the altar and just make that affirmation. 410 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:29,560 Others of you perhaps need to really believe the good news. There's no condemnation if you're in Christ. 411 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:34,560 And you might be here today and you realize that I've broken God's laws. I have. 412 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:44,560 But I want you to come to the cross and affirm. No, there's no condemnation for me. God does not count my sins against me because all my sin was on Jesus at the cross. 413 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:53,560 And then there are others of you who perhaps just want to affirm that you want to follow the path of obedience because you want to be more like Jesus. 414 00:35:53,560 --> 00:36:04,560 And you want God's help in helping you to become more like Jesus. Let's stand as we close with our last song.