back to index2017-08-27 Fourfold Judgment of God Against Israel
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All right, this morning we have a, our China team came back last week and they came back 00:00:09.680 |
Saturday and Pastor Mark gave a sermon and he gave his update, but we asked if we can 00:00:14.180 |
have a couple people from the China team to give us an update. 00:00:21.440 |
Yeah, so my name is Jeremy and I was part of the missions team that went out to China 00:00:29.200 |
and we just got back this past Saturday, so it's been about a week now since we got back, 00:00:35.160 |
but God really used this trip to open my eyes and to teach me a lot of things. 00:00:42.240 |
I just wanted to share a couple things that God taught me. 00:00:45.520 |
So over the past two and a half weeks we had a lot of opportunities to be able to hang 00:00:56.680 |
There were about 90 women and 10 guys, so we got to know the guys pretty well and just 00:01:03.600 |
throughout the camp during break times, during meals, and during dorm visits we got to talk 00:01:10.920 |
And I think as we interacted with the students, God broke my heart a little bit for the students. 00:01:21.080 |
A lot of the people were living out their lives just like we do here. 00:01:27.440 |
They're pursuing their goals and they just, you know, a lot of them have been through 00:01:35.200 |
I talked to a lot of people that faced depression and even had thoughts about suicide and stuff 00:01:43.440 |
And I also met people that were a lot older, like in their 50s and stuff, but you know, 00:01:51.160 |
you could tell that they kind of were looking for something more. 00:01:55.480 |
And so as I met these people, I felt like I really connected with them and I could relate 00:02:02.440 |
And God broke my heart for these people because they didn't have the gospel and they didn't 00:02:14.200 |
And at least personally, you know, like, you know, like it hurts me to see that because 00:02:22.400 |
in the end, like none of those things really matter. 00:02:24.640 |
So something that we questioned a lot with them was, you know, is that all there is to 00:02:31.080 |
life, you know, just pursuing your job, getting a good education and stuff, studying hard 00:02:38.320 |
And it made me open my eyes to see the need of the gospel there, which was, you know, 00:02:44.480 |
something that is kind of hard to see sometimes back at home just because I'm so caught up 00:02:54.120 |
Another thing that challenged me, we did actually a devotion from John 4, 37 to 38. 00:02:59.720 |
It says, "For here the saying holds true, one sows and another reaps. 00:03:03.800 |
I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. 00:03:06.760 |
Others have labored and you have entered into their labor." 00:03:11.720 |
Going out for two and a half weeks, it was kind of, I didn't really know what to expect 00:03:15.800 |
and I didn't know, I kind of had doubts on how effective we would be just being there 00:03:21.840 |
for two weeks because in the past two weeks, we got close to the students, but, you know, 00:03:30.480 |
And so I think this passage really showed that although we were only there for a short 00:03:36.200 |
time, that we were really able to make an impact on the students just by showing them 00:03:45.640 |
Something that all the students told us was that, like, they all knew that we were Christian. 00:03:49.960 |
I think that one thing that they were constantly saying is like, "Wow, like you Christians 00:03:56.880 |
And I think just that alone was able to make an impact on them and be able to like help 00:04:02.960 |
them think about, you know, our message to them more. 00:04:08.040 |
And so God taught me that he can use anyone and anything to make his gospel known. 00:04:13.000 |
We've been learning about it in Romans a lot that although we're weak vessels, God 00:04:17.160 |
uses us not by our own strength, but just according to his perfect plan. 00:04:24.920 |
And so that kind of motivated me even coming back home that, you know, anything that we 00:04:36.200 |
Sometimes I don't try because I feel like, "Oh, what's the point? 00:04:41.520 |
But God taught me that even just by showing someone compassion and just really reaching 00:04:48.080 |
out to someone can really make a big impact because you never know what someone's going 00:04:55.000 |
And so those are two things that God taught me during this mission trip. 00:05:00.360 |
So I would say if you guys could pray for the students that we met. 00:05:05.620 |
I think a lot of our team has made connections with the students there that they're still 00:05:13.200 |
So just pray that God would use like messaging as an avenue to continue to reach out to the 00:05:21.360 |
They're asking a lot of questions and they're really interested, but just pray that God 00:05:29.560 |
My name is Christine and I'm one of the 10 team members that went on the China trip. 00:05:40.560 |
First, we would like to thank the church for your support and your partnership on this 00:05:47.680 |
We are just working really mightily in China and we thank you all so much for covering 00:05:52.320 |
us with your prayers before and during the trip. 00:05:55.400 |
And please continue to keep China in your prayers. 00:05:59.560 |
Our team was so blessed in China and I'm sure we all have so many stories to share. 00:06:04.360 |
So please feel free to ask any of us about the trip. 00:06:08.340 |
One of my favorite parts of the program was Pastor Alex's English corners that he added 00:06:14.960 |
on as an optional session at the end of the day, despite having already had classes from 00:06:21.040 |
8 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the students, a good handful of them still came out. 00:06:27.680 |
A little background, Pastor Alex was a pastor here and he moved out to China a couple years 00:06:33.520 |
It was my first time meeting him in China and he's a really cool guy and I'm really 00:06:38.680 |
thankful that I got to get to know him and be able to serve with him. 00:06:43.880 |
So the English corners are presentations on random topics. 00:06:47.320 |
So our topics were culture shock, baseball, dating and marriage, conflict resolution, 00:06:54.640 |
And then there's a discussion at the end and for the students it's a good way to practice 00:06:59.760 |
And for us it was used as an opportunity to share the gospel with them. 00:07:05.620 |
So during these times God made a few things really clear to me. 00:07:09.560 |
One thing was that God is going to move and work regardless of my efforts or sometimes 00:07:18.600 |
By the end of the day we were all really exhausted and there were times when I just wanted to 00:07:24.640 |
Yeah, there was one night towards the end where Joyce and I had to sit through eight, 00:07:29.600 |
nine hours of speeches, which was really long. 00:07:33.240 |
But yeah, even when I wanted to just sit and not really have a conversation about God, 00:07:39.480 |
And those nights they asked so many more questions that we didn't even instigate. 00:07:44.560 |
Like Jeremy shared, a lot of them, all of them knew that we were Christians and they 00:07:47.760 |
were really amazed that we would just come and pay for our trip to China to help them. 00:07:52.280 |
So it was a really good way to really start talking about the gospel. 00:07:57.920 |
And second, God's work in my life is undeniable and unavoidable. 00:08:03.480 |
So in the same way, whenever we were sharing, even if I didn't want to talk about God, He 00:08:08.400 |
just came out anyways because I realized that all of my life decisions and my actions were 00:08:15.640 |
And therefore I couldn't share anything about myself or my thoughts on any topic without 00:08:20.160 |
just going back to the gospel and without sharing my faith with them. 00:08:30.120 |
He's the one who worked in me and therefore He will work in the students' hearts. 00:08:34.920 |
I was personally able to find a way to sneak in the gospel like once every day during those 00:08:41.040 |
So if you multiply that by 10 and then every night, we were able to share a lot and there's 00:08:49.360 |
And Joyce and I personally had really good opportunities sharing with some of the sisters. 00:08:54.120 |
And one of the students named Felix and we were able to share a lot with her and she 00:09:00.720 |
So she was one of the students that we gave a Bible to at the end and thankfully she goes 00:09:07.320 |
So she's interested in going to his Bible studies and things like that. 00:09:10.200 |
So that's something we're really thankful for and we hope and pray that she'll continue 00:09:17.120 |
Yeah, but with that said, a lot of us were also really sad that we couldn't connect the 00:09:23.560 |
students with any community or church or friends back where they were at because they came 00:09:32.160 |
So yeah, it was easy to feel hopeless or wonder if they would ever even think about the conversations 00:09:38.600 |
There was like nights where Joyce and I would stay there until 11 o'clock just sharing about 00:09:42.040 |
who God is and like answering their questions. 00:09:45.640 |
But as I've been reflecting on the trip and myself, I realized that that same principle 00:09:49.840 |
could technically be applied to me or any of us here that, you know, God didn't have 00:09:57.240 |
And in the same way he's going to work in their heart, whether or not they have that 00:10:00.360 |
community or not, God's going to work in his own way. 00:10:03.360 |
So I think that gave me a lot of hope and assurance in that. 00:10:06.360 |
Yeah, and I just wanted to end with a couple of prayer requests. 00:10:11.160 |
First of all, a big thing, I think, like I just said, there's a lot of people who want 00:10:15.880 |
to know about the gospel, but there's not enough people sharing. 00:10:19.360 |
So yeah, China really needs more workers and more people to share and serve and, you know, 00:10:24.040 |
spread the gospel in China and all throughout. 00:10:28.280 |
Also a lot of the Christians that we encountered out of the students, they struggled a lot 00:10:33.360 |
with kind of just thinking of God as someone who helps them in times of need and kind of 00:10:40.960 |
So as we asked them more questions, it got them thinking, but they definitely, again, 00:10:45.240 |
need more just people to guide them and help them live out their Christian lives. 00:10:52.000 |
For Pastor Alex, continual endurance, family's physical and spiritual strength, and again, 00:11:00.080 |
more workers because, yeah, just praying that Pastor Alex will have genuine brothers and 00:11:05.080 |
sisters that he could serve and just be encouraged by and encouraged. 00:11:10.160 |
I think, yeah, it's hard when you're out there alone, even though he does have his family. 00:11:19.600 |
And finally, those that we reached out to and those that Pastor Alex is still reaching 00:11:24.320 |
out to that God will soften their hearts and they'll be able to let go of the things that 00:11:28.560 |
they've been holding on to and really give their lives to Christ. 00:11:34.840 |
If you can turn your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 11, I'm going to be reading from verse 00:11:42.280 |
And as Christine shared, if you guys can continue to keep our missionaries out in China 00:11:49.000 |
in prayer and also for our brothers and sisters, our pastors in India, I kind of updated you 00:11:57.000 |
that they found a land that they're going to be building the training center in, but 00:12:03.200 |
I got an email from them that the government is making it difficult for them to pull out 00:12:07.520 |
So they would only let them pull out a certain small amount each time. 00:12:10.720 |
So if you've been following what's going on in India, the persecution is like exponentially 00:12:17.200 |
So if you've been following, so please continue to keep them in your prayers. 00:12:19.640 |
So every little thing that they're doing, they're making it difficult for them. 00:12:22.720 |
So again, continue to keep them in your prayers. 00:12:35.980 |
The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. 00:12:39.360 |
As it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that 00:12:46.200 |
And David says, let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution 00:12:52.240 |
Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and bend their backs forever. 00:12:57.960 |
Heavenly Father, we want to thank you for our China team coming back safely last week. 00:13:05.720 |
And I pray that all the things that you have shown them and allow them to see and be convicted 00:13:10.420 |
by that it would last Lord God more than just a few days or weeks. 00:13:15.720 |
And I pray that it would be applied even at home, that they would see the harvest Lord, 00:13:22.800 |
And that even for our church, help us to see Lord that we are in the mission ground, that 00:13:27.400 |
we would live our lives appropriately knowing father that we are a mist that comes and disappears, 00:13:32.480 |
that everything that we do would be an investment for eternity. 00:13:36.200 |
We pray father God that your word would speak to us that as Paul has intended his message 00:13:41.260 |
Lord to convict, to strengthen, to build, to remind, I pray that it would have the same 00:13:51.020 |
So again, if you've been following, and I think most of you guys, as we've been following 00:13:54.100 |
through the book of Romans, Paul has been sharing about the justification by faith. 00:13:58.960 |
And that's kind of like the central theme of the book of Romans. 00:14:02.160 |
And we've landed on chapter nine through 11, where Paul says, what does it mean for the 00:14:07.320 |
And then specifically in chapter 10, he says that the reason why the Jews missed their 00:14:16.320 |
They weren't rebuked for lack of prayer because they were prayer warriors. 00:14:25.000 |
And they were known to be great proselytizers. 00:14:28.280 |
They went and went far places to share their message. 00:14:35.320 |
It says they had zeal, but yet they didn't have knowledge. 00:14:40.780 |
So as a result of that, they were ignorant about the righteousness of God. 00:14:44.660 |
They didn't recognize their own sin and they didn't recognize the righteousness of God. 00:14:48.320 |
And that's why they ultimately rejected Christ as the end of the law. 00:14:53.000 |
The passage that we looked at in chapter 11, verses one through six, despite all of that, 00:15:02.040 |
Considering all the rebellion, many, many years of rebellion against God and being blind, 00:15:09.440 |
And his answer was unequivocally, by no means. 00:15:13.480 |
God has not rejected his people because he foreknew them. 00:15:17.920 |
Before they were even formed, he said God ordained to work through them, to made a covenant 00:15:22.600 |
And despite all of their rejection, he says he's going to work through the remnant, a 00:15:27.480 |
small group of people that he's going to keep. 00:15:29.920 |
And at the end times, he's going to restore to have genuine faith. 00:15:33.440 |
And through them, he's going to fulfill his promise that despite all of that. 00:15:38.000 |
The obvious question, the practical question we ask is, how could a nation who is so privileged 00:15:45.200 |
have been given so much, have become so blind by the time of Christ, that even as he appeared 00:15:53.520 |
to them physically, not only physically, but he performed miracles. 00:15:57.320 |
They were constantly asking for proof and Jesus constantly gave them proof. 00:16:02.920 |
He opened eyes that were blind all their life that people could not deny. 00:16:11.440 |
In fact, at the end, he even raises the dead. 00:16:15.320 |
And the nation of Israel, maybe they didn't see all of it, but they've seen enough of 00:16:24.240 |
When Jesus rode on that donkey to come into Jerusalem, he was saying with an exclamation 00:16:30.640 |
mark, if there was any doubt who he was, this should prove it. 00:16:36.000 |
And yet when he was going to the cross, as a whole, the nation of Israel were completely 00:16:42.480 |
How can they have completely missed him in that way? 00:16:45.280 |
In verse seven, he says, what then Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. 00:16:55.040 |
It wasn't that they missed him because they didn't put enough effort. 00:17:02.960 |
And I mentioned this before, whenever you see a Greek word with the word epi in front 00:17:06.800 |
of it, it's for the purpose of intensifying something. 00:17:11.940 |
So when he says it wasn't the lack of seeking, it was epizateo. 00:17:17.960 |
They fervently, passionately sought it, and yet they did not obtain it. 00:17:23.500 |
They sought it intensely, but they didn't get it. 00:17:27.320 |
You know, when I was a young pastor, younger pastor, okay, I'm not going to say I'm old 00:17:32.280 |
yet, okay, when I was a younger pastor, you know, I grew up in the church, so I know that 00:17:38.160 |
especially the Korean community, they're known for prayer. 00:17:41.440 |
You know, they get together sometimes five, 5.30 in the morning, and some of them spend 00:17:46.600 |
an hour, sometimes even two hours, praying every single morning. 00:17:50.360 |
So I grew up knowing that that's just kind of normal. 00:17:53.680 |
When I first became a youth pastor, I was a part of a church where they met Monday through 00:17:58.080 |
Friday, and I think they took a break on Sunday only, and then Monday through Saturday, every 00:18:04.800 |
And because I was a staff at the church, I was required to come. 00:18:07.520 |
So every morning at 5 o'clock to about 6.30, we would have prayer meeting, and then the 00:18:12.080 |
pastor would give a short devotion, and then we would break, and everybody would go to 00:18:17.400 |
Well, some of them, you know, I saw every single day at the church, and then some of 00:18:22.480 |
them, whenever they had a break during the day, would come to church, and they would 00:18:31.600 |
And obviously, that was very challenging to me, and even though it was part of, you know, 00:18:35.560 |
what was required of me, I really enjoyed it, to come in and spending time in prayer 00:18:41.200 |
with a group of people, and it wasn't a small group. 00:18:43.200 |
I think the church, when I first came in, had maybe about 300 people, and then the prayer 00:18:46.760 |
meetings, you know, maybe had about 50 to 60 people on a regular basis, and sometimes 00:18:56.200 |
And so it was a lot of people gathering together in prayer. 00:18:59.320 |
And then I found out that a lot of people, to build that church, they basically offered 00:19:08.120 |
And majority of the people were blue-collar workers, so they weren't millionaires. 00:19:11.840 |
They were blue-collar workers, and they weren't rich, but they donated their wedding rings, 00:19:17.480 |
and there was this movement in the Korean church community where they were kind of saying, 00:19:23.800 |
And so when I heard about that, it was challenging, that people would give up something so valuable, 00:19:29.120 |
and they would donate it to the church so that church could be built. 00:19:31.680 |
And then, obviously, when I found out about that, I was very encouraged and challenged 00:19:36.920 |
But at the same time, in this same church, I've seen some of these same people get into 00:19:46.360 |
And at one point, it got so bad where the police had to be called and break up these 00:19:53.480 |
My dad was a pastor, so I've seen a lot of crazy things inside the church. 00:19:57.960 |
But what was confusing to me is it wasn't necessarily ungodly people. 00:20:03.480 |
It was people who were praying in the mornings, who were sacrificing and giving and serving 00:20:08.480 |
They were the ones up in arms fighting and willing to swing at each other. 00:20:12.840 |
Again, I would like to say that that was my one unique experience in the church, but that 00:20:20.560 |
Oftentimes, the ones who get into that kind of stuff are not the peripheral people because 00:20:26.480 |
It's the people who are committed in the church, the ones that were leading small groups, the 00:20:30.360 |
ones who are at the core, who are serving, and something went wrong. 00:20:36.560 |
How could people who are at least seemingly on the surface that seem so close to God, 00:20:41.680 |
and yet when things went wrong, it became so ugly? 00:20:45.200 |
I mean, since then, I've realized that this is not unique to our generation or even the 00:21:01.520 |
They were praying, doing Bible study, even proselytizing. 00:21:05.480 |
They were doing all of this stuff, and it says, "Yet you had zeal without knowledge." 00:21:15.160 |
There was sacrifice without knowing who Christ was. 00:21:21.840 |
That's a tragedy of the nation of Israel, and that's a tragedy of many who are in the 00:21:26.080 |
church where Jesus himself warned that when that day comes, "Many who says to me, 'Lord, 00:21:32.440 |
Lord,' shall not enter the kingdom, say, 'You had nothing to do with me.'" 00:21:36.840 |
That's a tragedy of a post-Christian culture where we are raised with the gospel taught 00:21:43.120 |
in Bible study, doing exposition, and yet never coming to know Christ personally. 00:21:51.840 |
It's all a theory, but we're never convicted. 00:21:57.440 |
Paul gives a description of how the nation of Israel became so blind that even as their 00:22:03.520 |
Messiah stood before them physically, and even as the Messiah was performing these miracles, 00:22:11.600 |
There's four things that he mentions here in verses 9 through 10. 00:22:18.240 |
It's not something that just happened overnight. 00:22:20.080 |
This was characteristic of the nation of Israel, and again, I think it serves as a warning 00:22:26.040 |
to anybody who's in the Christian community, in the circle of post-Christian culture, where 00:22:32.480 |
we just kind of have a tendency to assume the most fundamental things, just like the 00:22:38.600 |
So there's four things that he mentions here. 00:22:40.280 |
One, he said God judged them by giving them a spirit of stupor. 00:22:44.760 |
Now some of these overlap, but I'm going to mention four things. 00:22:49.880 |
Second, their eyes that would not—God gave them eyes that would not see and ears that 00:22:56.680 |
Thirdly, he says, their tables will become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and 00:23:03.640 |
Fourthly, he says, their backs will be bent because of their blindness. 00:23:07.920 |
So I want to look at these four things and how did these things lead to them becoming 00:23:15.400 |
First, he says God gave them a spirit of stupor. 00:23:19.440 |
The word spirit of stupor basically means to slumber or to be dull. 00:23:25.800 |
John Stott calls this complete loss of spiritual sensitivity. 00:23:31.560 |
That maybe at one point you were sensitive, but for whatever the reason, you become slumber, 00:23:39.760 |
We become so spiritually insensitive that even with the Messiah standing before them, 00:23:47.200 |
Their hearts became so numb that they couldn't recognize the voice of the Messiah compared 00:23:57.000 |
Spiritual dullness, which is oftentimes described in the scripture as lukewarmness or in the 00:24:04.440 |
book of Hebrews to be drifting and simply neglecting. 00:24:11.200 |
You might ask the question, well, if that's the case, if God gave them a spirit of stupor 00:24:14.840 |
so that they would become insensitive spiritually and lukewarm, then how can God say it's their 00:24:20.600 |
fault if God's the one who gave them the spirit of stupor? 00:24:23.920 |
Well, turn with me to Isaiah chapter 29, 9 through 10. 00:24:27.880 |
Paul is actually quoting a specific text in Isaiah chapter 29, verse 10, but we have to 00:24:33.240 |
understand the verse in chapter in verse 9 to see the whole context. 00:24:38.200 |
Isaiah chapter 29, verse 9, he begins by saying, "Astonish yourselves and be astonished. 00:24:51.800 |
In other words, before he gets to verse 10 and saying he gave them a spirit of stupor, 00:24:56.720 |
he says, "If you continue to blind yourself, you will be blind. 00:25:01.280 |
If you continue to astonish yourself by other things, then he's going to let you go." 00:25:06.280 |
So in other words, he's not taking a group of people who are passionately seeking God 00:25:11.120 |
I'm going to judge you and turn your heart cold." 00:25:14.160 |
His judgment basically is, if you continue to go down this path. 00:25:18.600 |
At some point, the judgment is going to be, "Then go." 00:25:21.680 |
He says, "If God speaks and over and over again you say, 'I don't want to hear it,' 00:25:27.640 |
and at some point God is saying, 'I will no longer speak.' 00:25:31.320 |
If God is revealing his glory and he's trying to get them to move and they keep on closing 00:25:37.480 |
and turning the other way, at some point he says, 'I will stop revealing my glory.'" 00:25:43.400 |
He says he gave them a spirit of stupor and he allowed them to pursue what they were committed 00:25:49.580 |
Again, in Psalm chapter 81, verse 10-12, it says, "I am the Lord your God who brought 00:26:04.200 |
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own counsels." 00:26:10.720 |
He says the reason why he gave them a spirit of stupor is because that's exactly what they 00:26:18.440 |
They didn't want to hear what God had to tell them. 00:26:21.420 |
When God sent prophets to rebuke them and warn them about judgment, basically they said, 00:26:28.280 |
And they'd rather have false prophets telling them that everything is okay and God loves 00:26:35.640 |
And they deliberately chose to listen to them rather than the prophets that God gave. 00:26:41.160 |
And he said, "Because of that, I will give you a spirit of stupor." 00:26:47.320 |
Our insensitivity towards spiritual things is simply God releasing us in our rebellion 00:27:06.560 |
In Romans chapter 1, 24-25, it says, "Therefore God gave them up in their lust of their hearts 00:27:14.520 |
God didn't take somebody who was godly and turn them over to impurity. 00:27:18.480 |
He says, "They were going after impurity and they were refusing to submit, so he said, 00:27:27.920 |
He says, "To the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the 00:27:31.720 |
truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the Creator, a creature rather than 00:27:41.800 |
Spiritual backsliding doesn't happen because you made a decision to do so. 00:27:47.720 |
Spiritual backsliding often happens simply out of neglect. 00:27:52.560 |
Lukewarmness is not a decision that you make. 00:27:55.520 |
It is a dullness of us constantly refusing his call. 00:28:10.160 |
Who's going to come before God and say, "I disagree with you. 00:28:18.480 |
Typically the way we refuse God is we say, "Not now. 00:28:23.920 |
Because by saying not now, we are submitting. 00:28:31.520 |
See, basically what God is saying is, "If not now," and you keep saying not now, at 00:28:38.920 |
That's why in Hebrews chapter 3, verse 7, it says, "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 00:28:42.840 |
'Today, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts and end the rebellion on 00:28:49.320 |
In other words, what he's saying is when God is speaking to you today, it's his kindness 00:28:56.520 |
If you refuse his kindness to bring you to repentance, today, tomorrow, God may not convict 00:29:06.920 |
"In the Christian community, you can't say no because that would be rebelling against 00:29:15.120 |
We know enough that we need to submit, that God caused us to pick up our cross, but we 00:29:37.120 |
Not realizing, not now, that tomorrow, God is not at the door just saying, "Okay, is 00:29:44.360 |
Again, in Hebrews chapter 3, verse 13, it says, "But exhort one another every day, as 00:29:49.040 |
long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." 00:29:55.760 |
Whenever God calls and we say, "Not now," we become that much more hardened toward our 00:30:02.160 |
Even though in our mind, we didn't refuse Him, we just postponed obedience. 00:30:08.000 |
Any of you who's raising children, you know when you tell your child to do something and 00:30:12.560 |
they say, "Not now," you don't think of it as like, "Oh, my obedient son. 00:30:27.400 |
When I ask you to do something, I mean to do it. 00:30:29.960 |
The only reason why you're postponing it is because you don't want to do it. 00:30:39.140 |
I hear so many people thinking that the grace of God will always be there no matter what. 00:30:48.640 |
I've been working with young people and I've seen the gamut of them, a lot of the young 00:30:56.560 |
So many of them have said, "Yeah, but just not right now. 00:31:01.880 |
I really want to serve God, but after this, after I get my job and my career, my children, 00:31:09.400 |
all of this, after this is all set up, then I can think seriously about what I can do." 00:31:12.800 |
So I always have plans to serve God and go to the mission field sometime in the future. 00:31:18.840 |
But when days go by, I meet them two, three years later, they're never in the same spot. 00:31:26.440 |
They're always much more hardened than when I first met them. 00:31:31.480 |
They're much more callous than when I first met them. 00:31:39.460 |
How many of you have met people who are really hostile to the gospel? 00:31:46.120 |
Majority of the people that I meet are not hostile to the gospel. 00:31:53.280 |
I remember when I was younger, I got so zealous in sharing the gospel. 00:31:56.520 |
I went out to the mall and I started sharing and this guy was not interested. 00:32:00.120 |
And my youth kicked in and said, "I got to share anyway." 00:32:04.840 |
And I kept on sharing and he got angry with me. 00:32:07.320 |
And then the more angry he got, the more motivated I got, because maybe I'm going to be persecuted 00:32:14.120 |
And he got so angry, he chased me out of the mall with a broom. 00:32:19.120 |
And I left feeling good about myself, because I got persecuted. 00:32:25.000 |
Majority of the response that I've gotten for sharing the gospel was not that. 00:32:27.840 |
I can think of a few instances where people actually got angry. 00:32:31.520 |
Majority of the times, it's, "Well, I'm glad that you believe that. 00:32:39.160 |
I'm glad it works for you, but it doesn't work for me." 00:32:43.360 |
Majority of the times, even in the church, it's never a no. 00:32:55.640 |
Our biggest struggle, in our mind, isn't disobedience. 00:33:03.160 |
Even though it may lead to disobedience, even though in God's eyes, He probably thinks it's 00:33:07.000 |
disobedience, but in our mind, it's just distraction. 00:33:12.240 |
We've given so much of our time and effort to things that don't matter at all in eternity, 00:33:17.200 |
and our hearts are filled with the things that have nothing to do with God, and hearts 00:33:28.760 |
The things that used to excite us and say, "Oh, somebody came to Christ," and be exciting 00:33:32.760 |
for us, but our hearts become so dull that when you hear that somebody came to Christ, 00:33:45.280 |
He says, number two, their eyes, they would see and not see. 00:33:52.240 |
In Romans 1, 19-20, it says, "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because 00:33:58.680 |
For His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly 00:34:02.920 |
perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made, so they 00:34:09.480 |
It's not that God shut their eyes and said, "You know what? 00:34:11.960 |
I'm going to play hide and seek, and I'm going to show myself only to those people, to some 00:34:16.720 |
And the rest of you, I'm just going to close your eyes." 00:34:23.240 |
He left an imprint to lead all creation to Him, and yet they said they refused to see 00:34:30.840 |
Not because He was hiding, but because our hearts were darkened. 00:34:37.720 |
And again, I'm no scientist, but just common sense, and I look at how our body works and 00:34:44.080 |
If we don't have proper blood circulation, if our heart doesn't work properly, if our 00:34:48.040 |
lungs break down, if our liver doesn't work, any part of our organs doesn't work, we're 00:34:54.200 |
If the earth rotates too fast, if it rotates too slow, if we're too far from the sun, too 00:34:58.040 |
close to the sun, and we're all freaking out to death that this ozone layer is going to 00:35:04.040 |
That one crazy guy in North Korea is going to push a button and we're going to die. 00:35:07.500 |
That there's going to be some storm coming and there's going to be flood, we're going 00:35:14.360 |
And the only reason why we are being sustained is by the power of God. 00:35:18.600 |
So it's just to me, it doesn't make any sense to look at the intricacies of how every one 00:35:22.960 |
of these things have to work together just to live, and then to say, "All that happened 00:35:30.000 |
The reason why I got long legs is because you had to run further, so Mother Nature just 00:35:36.760 |
My ancestors had to lift heavy things, so He gave us stocky legs. 00:35:46.480 |
How can you see what you see, what God has made, and then not to see His glory? 00:35:52.200 |
The scripture says, "Because our hearts were darkened." 00:35:54.320 |
Second Corinthians 4.3, it says, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only 00:36:02.020 |
In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them 00:36:05.800 |
from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." 00:36:13.040 |
To have God reveal His glory, and then to say, "I don't see it." 00:36:20.440 |
I mean, Jesus performed all those miracles in front of those people, but they kept on 00:36:34.780 |
And then when they saw Him on the other side, Jesus said, "Don't work for food that is 00:36:47.120 |
They ate the miraculous food, and they said, "Well, we need more signs." 00:36:54.960 |
You know, when we become spiritually insensitive and dull, we're not able to discern even right 00:37:02.360 |
We can be completely right, but we can be completely wrong. 00:37:04.720 |
I mean, when our hearts become dull, we're not in a position to determine what is holy 00:37:12.160 |
I keep hearing arguments from people saying, "How do we determine what is holy and not 00:37:21.560 |
I keep hearing people saying, "Well, when I watch this and when I do this, it doesn't 00:37:31.160 |
At what point in Scripture did the Scripture say, "If it doesn't bother you, I'm okay 00:37:37.040 |
Maybe the reason why we're not bothered by it is because our hearts have become so callous 00:37:43.600 |
If you're even refusing God and refusing God, and our hearts become so callous, how can 00:37:48.560 |
you use that callous heart to determine what is acceptable and unacceptable before God? 00:37:56.080 |
The Scripture says if you keep going down that path, at some point, God's going to 00:38:03.160 |
You're going to see, but you're not going to see. 00:38:06.840 |
I don't know how many people who grew up in the church and try to talk about them the 00:38:11.720 |
gospel, and they don't understand the gospel. 00:38:15.640 |
And I know it's not because they didn't hear it. 00:38:19.180 |
And I know some of their pastors, and I know that they preach the gospel. 00:38:22.720 |
How can you be sitting under that teaching every single week and then not be able to 00:38:40.340 |
The third thing he says, "Their tables will become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block 00:38:47.160 |
The table, the way the Bible writes it, is talking about a place that symbolizes for 00:38:53.840 |
the nation of Israel, a place of peace and security. 00:38:58.440 |
So in Psalm 23 verses 4 to 5, this is a text that we all know, where it says, "Even though 00:39:03.240 |
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with 00:39:06.640 |
me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:39:10.120 |
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies." 00:39:14.680 |
He's comparing what he said in verse 4 with verse 5, and he's taking it to the next level. 00:39:19.420 |
He says, "Your rod and your staff, they will comfort me, just as you will prepare for me 00:39:29.600 |
In other words, he says, even in the context of all your enemies, God's going to prepare 00:39:33.340 |
a table to sustain you, to give you peace, to bless you. 00:39:38.060 |
So the table that Paul is mentioning here, is quoting, is basically saying that this 00:39:44.680 |
table that you relied on for safety and sustenance, will turn around to become a trap, a stumbling 00:39:52.640 |
Again, we see it again in Revelation chapter 320, where Jesus is standing at the door, 00:39:57.000 |
knock, and he says, "If you open the door, I will come into you and dine with you and 00:40:03.240 |
So he describes repentance and restoration as dining with him. 00:40:08.420 |
So this idea of the table and dining is to find peace and blessing and safety. 00:40:15.980 |
So the judgment that is being proclaimed in this text is that those things that the Jews, 00:40:23.080 |
that the nation of Israel was seeking for peace, for seeking for sustenance, rather 00:40:29.780 |
than giving them that, will end up becoming a trap, a stumbling block, and even retribution, 00:40:37.340 |
Now, what could he be possibly talking about? 00:40:40.220 |
Obviously, in the context, he's talking about the law. 00:40:43.540 |
That the Jews pursued the law, thinking that that's where they were going to find peace. 00:40:47.340 |
If they kept the Sabbath perfectly, that they were going to find blessing. 00:40:51.980 |
And every single day, they greeted each other by saying, "Shalom!" 00:40:59.380 |
And they thought that the path of peace was through keeping this law. 00:41:04.220 |
But instead, what did Paul say in the beginning? 00:41:07.100 |
Those with the law will be judged by the law. 00:41:09.900 |
Those without the law will be judged without the law. 00:41:13.140 |
So the very thing that they thought was going to bring life was going to bring judgment. 00:41:19.620 |
The very thing that they pursued, it became their stumbling block. 00:41:25.580 |
Martin Luther, in describing this judgment, says this, "It is like a flower in a field 00:41:33.300 |
whose nectar is used to make honey for the bee. 00:41:39.660 |
To those who are being saved, the word of God is sweetness and honey. 00:41:42.300 |
But for those who are perishing, it becomes poison." 00:41:47.260 |
The very thing that we pursue, that the Jews pursued, turned out to be their source of 00:41:56.860 |
The table that he is describing, obviously to the Jews, it was the law. 00:42:01.460 |
But this is applicable to us even if we are not Jews. 00:42:05.660 |
Basically, anything that we place in our pursuit and our hope where Christ ought to be, eventually 00:42:15.340 |
If we put our confidence in our friendship, that can easily become a trap. 00:42:20.100 |
If our refuge is found in money, it easily becomes a source of a trap, retribution. 00:42:29.540 |
Anything that we place where God was supposed to be, God is supposed to be. 00:42:33.700 |
If you think about the sin of Adam and Eve, of eating the fruit of knowledge of good and 00:42:41.380 |
evil, that simple sin, and we can almost say it's innocent, and yet that innocent sin led 00:42:53.980 |
Compare that to the sin that you may have even committed this week. 00:42:59.420 |
Think about the things that we commit, both things that we know or don't know. 00:43:05.380 |
In comparison, we're kind of like, "Well, it's not bad. 00:43:10.140 |
But compare that to Adam and Eve, what they did. 00:43:13.060 |
What Adam and Eve did was very innocent in comparison to most sins that you and I have 00:43:20.060 |
But why did that particular sin lead to condemnation and death, not only for them, but all descendants 00:43:28.580 |
Because at the core of that sin was a rebellion against God. 00:43:33.160 |
At the core of that sin, instead of receiving life and wisdom from God, they sought it outside 00:43:40.780 |
I'm not going to trust in you, and I'm going to live on my own." 00:43:47.060 |
Anything that replaces God as Lord will eventually lead to a trap, a stumbling, and a retribution. 00:43:53.980 |
So at the core of that sin, it wasn't just the act in itself. 00:43:57.020 |
It's a rebellion in their heart that chooses to find life somewhere else. 00:44:02.460 |
When you see it that way, when you see the heart of the sin, it may at times seem very 00:44:10.340 |
In fact, we may even look righteous on the outside. 00:44:15.200 |
We may be seeking certain things inside the church by serving, by giving, but at the core 00:44:28.380 |
Even in the church, even in our passionate pursuit, it could be finding our safety, our 00:44:39.700 |
And all it does is lead to bitterness, a stumbling. 00:44:48.180 |
Our hearts are so fickle, and it's constant in rebellion against God. 00:44:55.700 |
And sometimes, a lot of times, we don't even know it. 00:44:58.220 |
We can give ourselves to something and be completely blind. 00:45:02.060 |
You know, the most bitter people in the world that I've met, and I'm sure I haven't met 00:45:06.820 |
a lot of people, but at least the people that I've met are pastors. 00:45:11.900 |
You know, I used to hear that when I was a young pastor, that pastors, you know, usually 00:45:14.820 |
the retired pastors, their hearts are dark, and they're black. 00:45:19.340 |
You know, and I understood it because I grew up in a pastor's family, and I saw all the 00:45:23.860 |
mess, and that's why I didn't want to be a pastor. 00:45:28.420 |
You know, now that I've been in ministry a certain period, and you know, when I meet 00:45:32.060 |
young pastors in their 20s, they're the ones usually with a lot of vision. 00:45:35.820 |
You know, I'm going to do this, and you know, I found a new way of doing church, and we 00:45:39.620 |
have this new cutting way, and they're always excited about going to conferences. 00:45:44.260 |
And then you meet pastors in their 30s, and they've kind of gotten punched in the face 00:45:56.780 |
They're not idealistic about ministry, and they're not as eager to jump in and do something, 00:46:01.780 |
and they're kind of like, they're a little bit more cautious, right. 00:46:09.940 |
When I meet guys who are in their 50s and over, you know, they're one messed up people. 00:46:18.460 |
You know, and I have friends that every once in a while I'll meet and talk to them, and 00:46:23.020 |
most of the times we'll share our stories, you know. 00:46:26.660 |
And a friend of mine, again, I had a friend who came up to the retreat, to the BAM retreat, 00:46:30.980 |
and he's gone through a lot in ministry, and I could go through everything he went through, 00:46:35.420 |
but he spent, I mean, he's been in ministry as long as I have, and we're talking about 00:46:39.420 |
various things, and he just, you know, on the way up, he just leaned over and asked 00:46:42.620 |
me, "Peter," like, because on the surface, it seems like everything's together, and he 00:46:52.660 |
And you know, I didn't want to discourage him, and I said, "Every day." 00:47:00.180 |
You know, like, sometimes I feel like a schizophrenic. 00:47:04.300 |
I feel like Sunday night, like, this is the best job in the world, and Monday morning, 00:47:10.060 |
And then Tuesday night, you know, I want to preach the gospel, you know, and see revival 00:47:13.820 |
come, and Wednesday morning, I'd rather dig ditches. 00:47:19.540 |
And I see so many pastors who have been burned out and beaten, and you know, and we have 00:47:27.660 |
And I realize, and there are times, again, it's honest confession. 00:47:31.300 |
There are times when I ask myself, "Is this worth it?" 00:47:38.660 |
I don't want you to get all discouraged, like, that's how I feel right now, all right? 00:47:47.180 |
But there are times when I ask myself, "Is this all worth it?" 00:47:51.900 |
And I, because I see frustration, and I see struggles, and you know, I've been at it for 00:47:56.540 |
so many years, that maybe the remaining time that I could do something else, and I have 00:48:04.340 |
But when those thoughts come to me, I always have to step back and ask myself, "Why are 00:48:12.820 |
And I take a step back, and I ask, "It's because if I give, I want to see something. 00:48:18.660 |
If I sacrifice, there has to be reward for the sacrifice." 00:48:22.980 |
And I have to ask myself, "Is that why you started it? 00:48:27.140 |
Because you thought if you gave, God's going to give you something." 00:48:31.180 |
And I realize that every time my thoughts go back to that, the very thing that I've 00:48:41.460 |
Because my heart isn't motivated by the love of Christ. 00:48:51.460 |
Whatever small task, whatever big task it is, I can't sustain it, because I don't have 00:48:56.780 |
Wherever, whatever I place where only Christ was supposed to be, even for a minute, if 00:49:02.500 |
I put anything else in there, my confidence in you, and I'll just be honest with you, 00:49:10.580 |
Don't get hurt by it, because I don't have confidence in myself either. 00:49:14.340 |
I shared this with my friend, and he was like, "What? 00:49:27.740 |
I don't have confidence in any system that you may think is better. 00:49:42.540 |
I know certain things are better, and certain people are smarter, and whatever, but in the 00:49:51.580 |
If that's the reason why I do what I do, I don't think I'll keep doing it. 00:50:00.540 |
I've lost all confidence in you, which caused me to see Christ and Christ alone. 00:50:08.980 |
The moment I take my eyes off of Christ, despair comes in. 00:50:15.780 |
I don't think I'm going to keep doing it if I can't, which forces me to pray and come 00:50:20.500 |
before God and ask myself, "Why did you start this in the first place?" 00:50:26.740 |
He says, "That very table that you think is going to feed you is going to turn into a 00:50:32.860 |
That very thing that you are hoping for is going to turn out to be a stumbling block. 00:50:38.380 |
The very thing that you're clinging onto is going to turn out to be your judgment." 00:50:43.140 |
And fourthly, it says, "Their backs will be bent because of their blindness." 00:50:47.260 |
Basically it's a description of somebody where burden is so heavy that he bends his back. 00:50:52.420 |
When you lift something that is not that heavy, you just lift it, but when it's heavy, you 00:50:57.580 |
And that's the description that he's making, that the very thing that you thought was going 00:51:01.900 |
to give you life is going to be so burdensome that your back is going to be bent forever. 00:51:08.780 |
Isn't that exactly what happened to the Jews? 00:51:12.860 |
Law ended up becoming their stumbling block, and it became a burden too much for them to 00:51:21.300 |
The very thing that they put their confidence in caused them to be judged. 00:51:28.680 |
We look at all of this, and the end conclusion of all of this, and God must be done. 00:51:41.940 |
If I ended right here, if the Bible ended right there, then we would all be in despair. 00:51:48.740 |
Because you know, when we first become a Christian, you know, we read the stories of Israelites, 00:51:58.420 |
and I think we look at the Israelites and say, "Man, these are foolish people. 00:52:04.580 |
But the more we study, and the more we live, and the more we fail, the more we realize, 00:52:15.740 |
And so the end conclusion is, if God was done with them, then we would be done. 00:52:24.340 |
So I'm not going to get into it this morning. 00:52:27.660 |
So after all of that, that this is the reason why they were so blind. 00:52:35.580 |
God gave them over to their pursuit, and it all backfired on them. 00:52:43.340 |
And that's the question that we're going to start with next time. 00:52:46.380 |
Verse 11, so I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? 00:52:55.980 |
Did their hardness got to a point where there is no hope? 00:53:07.900 |
You and I are here today because God is a God of covenant. 00:53:13.980 |
Just like he told his disciples, how many times do I forgive them? 00:53:24.480 |
You and I are here today because God is faithful to that covenant. 00:53:28.700 |
If he asks for forgiveness, he is faithful and just to forgive all of our unrighteousness. 00:53:35.060 |
Not because of what we had done, not because we figured out how to do church, not because 00:53:38.380 |
we figured out a way to be more clever, but because he said, I will build my church and 00:53:45.340 |
the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 00:53:53.140 |
And that is the only place where we should have confidence. 00:54:02.180 |
Let's take some time to pray as we ask the worship team to come up. 00:54:09.740 |
I don't know about you, but I've been a Christian long enough and I've been a pastor long enough 00:54:22.260 |
Small group, leader, follower, discipleship, home groups, you know, study, exposition, 00:54:34.220 |
You know, bearing fruit, there are seasons of fruitfulness, there are seasons of dryness, 00:54:37.460 |
there are seasons of hardship, there are seasons of fellowship, there are seasons that come 00:54:44.340 |
And the only thing that is consistent day in and day out is Christ and his love. 00:54:53.500 |
We put our confidence in anything else, we're going to be disappointed. 00:55:01.380 |
So my encouragement, again, and I believe that this is the encouragement and challenge 00:55:04.980 |
in the scripture, over and over and over and over again, fix your eyes upon Jesus. 00:55:19.060 |
And you're going to hear it a hundred times more. 00:55:37.620 |
What are you waiting for with your retirement? 00:55:51.220 |
Let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us.