back to index10-01-2017 Kindness and Severity
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You can turn your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 11. 00:00:11.840 |
And I'm going to read from verse 17 all the way down to verse 24. 00:00:15.440 |
But our main focus is going to be on verse 20 to 24. 00:00:24.440 |
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were 00:00:28.600 |
grafted in among the others, and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, 00:00:34.720 |
If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 00:00:39.960 |
Then you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." 00:00:44.640 |
They were broken off because of their unbelief. 00:00:50.920 |
For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. 00:00:54.800 |
Note then the kindness and the severity of God, severity toward those who have fallen, 00:00:58.920 |
but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. 00:01:05.480 |
And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God 00:01:12.160 |
For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted contrary to 00:01:16.720 |
nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more would these, the natural branches, be 00:01:33.000 |
We thank you, Lord, for the privilege to call you our Father. 00:01:41.520 |
We come to meet you, Father God, that knowing you are our refuge. 00:01:46.760 |
Many of us may be in the midst of entanglement, concerns. 00:12:23.240 |
I think the King James Version really captures better what this word particularly means. 00:12:29.600 |
In the King James, or I think maybe the New King James has the same word, it says "Behold." 00:12:35.480 |
I don't know if you guys use that casually in conversations now. 00:12:45.920 |
Nobody speaks like that today, so that's probably why it wasn't translated that way. 00:12:49.600 |
But I feel that the meaning behind this word, the word "Behold" captures it better. 00:12:54.360 |
Because it's not simply to look or to think or to listen, but to take time to really deeply 00:13:02.920 |
So that word is used in the Bible in that kind of reference more than a thousand different 00:13:10.440 |
About twelve hundred, and depending on some translation, maybe a little bit more than 00:13:13.640 |
twelve hundred times, where God constantly says, "Take time to consider, to look, to 00:13:19.680 |
study, to meditate, to think upon these things." 00:13:27.780 |
So after describing His mercy toward the nation of Israel, He now says, "But be careful." 00:13:37.120 |
Because just the way that He judged the nation of Israel, you will also be judged if you 00:13:47.400 |
Kindness and the severity of God are intertwined. 00:13:51.720 |
We kind of tend to dichotomize, saying, "Well, we see the kindness of God, the severity of 00:14:00.480 |
In fact, Exodus chapter 34, verse 6 through 7, God says, "The Lord passed before him and 00:14:06.200 |
proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in 00:14:11.960 |
steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and 00:14:17.760 |
transgressions and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity 00:14:24.040 |
of the fathers on their children, the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.'" 00:14:30.120 |
You notice how He begins the introduction by saying He is gracious, He is slow to anger, 00:14:34.880 |
abounding steadfast love, but in the same breath, He reminds them, "But He will by no 00:14:45.000 |
The cross of Jesus Christ does not make sense. 00:14:47.800 |
If you do not understand the severity of God, if you do not understand the holiness of God, 00:14:52.960 |
the gravity of sin and gravity of who God is, the cross just does not make sense. 00:14:59.560 |
I've shared the gospel with people, and people, you know, one of the common objections that 00:15:03.240 |
they have is, "Why go through all that drama of the Son of God living a holy life and being 00:15:14.320 |
If somebody sins against me, I don't cut myself and bleed and send my only son to be beaten 00:15:27.400 |
If you don't understand the severity of God and the holiness of God, the cross does not 00:15:34.880 |
Romans chapter 2, 4 through 6, he says, "Do you presume on the riches of the kindness 00:15:40.040 |
and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to 00:15:47.120 |
But because of your hard-hearted and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself 00:15:51.240 |
on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgments will be revealed. 00:15:54.460 |
He will render to each one according to his work." 00:15:58.080 |
Do you see in that very short passage, verse 4, 5, and 6, how the severity of God and the 00:16:03.600 |
kindness of God are vitally intertwined with one another? 00:16:10.560 |
And every time God is revealed, whether it is in the gospel or the way he deals with 00:16:14.520 |
the nation of Israel or even the way he deals with the church, it is both. 00:16:20.520 |
As much as it makes us uncomfortable to consider and meditate and think upon the judgment of 00:16:27.400 |
God, we'd rather talk about his grace and no matter what you did this week, God loves 00:16:33.360 |
you unconditionally and we are uplifted and encouraged by that, and it may make us feel 00:16:38.280 |
uncomfortable to think that there are consequences to our sin. 00:16:42.080 |
And we can easily just write that off as legalistic. 00:16:48.760 |
In fact, I hear more and more churches advertising that if you come to our church, you're going 00:16:59.400 |
Maybe they mean that the truth is going to encourage them, that they're going to be pierced 00:17:03.880 |
in their heart and it's going to bring them to repentance and that's going to uplift them. 00:17:09.440 |
But just by the language in itself, it's a false advertisement because not all of Scripture 00:17:18.280 |
In fact, much of Scripture brings much weight, seriousness if we're walking away from God, 00:17:29.080 |
When we think of grace and mercy, I don't think we can think of any better example than 00:17:32.560 |
Jesus himself, who voluntarily gave himself to demonstrate the love of God to sinners 00:17:38.520 |
who are blasphemous and was crucified voluntarily in order to die for very people who hated 00:17:46.320 |
So when we think of grace, there's no better example than Jesus Christ himself. 00:17:51.880 |
Nobody gave the harshest example, nobody gave the most difficult description of God's judgment 00:18:04.520 |
In Matthew 8.12, he says, he describes hell as a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:18:10.040 |
In Mark chapter 9.48, he says, "Their worms shall not die." 00:18:13.960 |
Matthew 3.12 and Mark 9.43, that hell will be unquenchable fire. 00:18:30.080 |
I've only given you small snippets of the things that Jesus said, but Jesus speaks more 00:18:36.560 |
of God's judgment than he does about grace and salvation. 00:18:43.560 |
To emphasize one without the other, you end up completely missing the gospel. 00:18:51.400 |
Part of the reason why I believe that there's such superficiousness in our walk with God 00:18:56.280 |
is because we have emphasized the kindness without understanding the severity. 00:19:02.440 |
We've looked and examined carefully of God's kindness and grace, but we haven't looked 00:19:07.720 |
I think most Christians at churches know of hell. 00:19:12.840 |
We've mentioned it, but almost always it's skimmed over. 00:19:17.880 |
Even in the way that we share the gospel with non-Christians, it's like there's judgment 00:19:22.960 |
So we spend 90% of our conversations about how God forgives our sins, but very little 00:19:31.120 |
See, the mistake of having kindness without understanding severity leads us to the false 00:19:41.640 |
Do you remember when we were studying Revelation chapter 13, we were introduced to the red 00:19:46.640 |
dragon, the Antichrist, and remember third, the second beast? 00:19:56.880 |
The first beast is the Antichrist, and the third, the false prophet, right? 00:20:02.840 |
Remember Satan or devil, his primary task, right, his goal is to usurp glory from God. 00:20:11.360 |
But his primary task, his name basically means accuser. 00:20:16.680 |
They describe him as the one who accuses the brethren before God. 00:20:20.240 |
So if you have any guilt in you, if you have any sin, he's the one who prosecutes before 00:20:25.080 |
God and says, "He does not deserve your love. 00:20:35.340 |
If you have severity without the kindness of God, that's all you get. 00:20:40.360 |
Satan has complete reign over your life, and when he accuses you, you have no remedy. 00:20:46.320 |
And so there are a few people that I have met in a few instances, and I think when I 00:20:53.000 |
went to Romania, that's kind of like what I felt. 00:20:55.200 |
There was so much emphasis on judgment of God, there was no joy in the church. 00:21:01.240 |
There's people living in constant fear, and every once in a while, I'll have a conversation 00:21:05.760 |
with somebody knocking on the door, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and every once in a while, I'll 00:21:10.840 |
meet somebody who's really convicted and want to share with me, but most of the time, you 00:21:13.920 |
can see in their eyes and the conversation we have that this is something they need to 00:21:18.160 |
Because if they don't do enough of it, they're not going to go to heaven. 00:21:22.200 |
If they don't live right, if their good works don't add up to a certain point, they're not 00:21:29.040 |
They're not allowed to have assurance of salvation. 00:21:34.400 |
They can't tell you that when they die, they're going to go to paradise. 00:21:38.140 |
The only way to guarantee that they're going to go to paradise is to commit suicide through 00:21:45.120 |
You see why so many young men, and even women, and even children, are willing to strap themselves 00:21:51.240 |
and blow themselves up, instead of living their whole life trying to be good, and then 00:21:55.000 |
at the end of their life, not know if they're going to make it to paradise or not. 00:22:02.200 |
When you have severity without the kindness of God, you have satanic rule. 00:22:09.720 |
But on the other end, when you have the kindness of God without the severity of God, you have 00:22:16.400 |
Remember what the false prophets, their main work was? 00:22:22.600 |
Deceive to bring attention to glorify the Antichrist. 00:22:29.400 |
And it's not to bring fear, but to take away any fear that you have. 00:22:33.960 |
And if you look at the Old Testament, the prophets come, and you had Isaiah, Ezekiel, 00:22:38.720 |
Amos, Hosea, coming and warning that judgment is going to come. 00:22:43.760 |
The Syrians, the Babylonians, they're going to come and take you into captivity because 00:22:49.440 |
And these false prophets would come, "No, they're liars. 00:22:53.800 |
He said, "Peace, peace, when there is no peace." 00:22:56.960 |
And that was the primary work of the prophets, the false prophets. 00:23:01.360 |
Constantly giving assurance, and he is not shaking their fist to get to God. 00:23:06.540 |
He is attracting them with the lure of the world. 00:23:12.780 |
And making people feel comfortable, and just kind of gradually drifting toward the things 00:23:21.520 |
Either way, whether you have severity without kindness, or kindness without severity, you 00:23:31.920 |
See, number two, the fruit of God's severity is twofold. 00:23:37.320 |
And I'm going to spend the rest of the time talking about these two things. 00:23:39.320 |
The fruit of this severity of God is twofold. 00:23:43.040 |
Other than the fact that that is exactly the way God has presented the truth to us. 00:23:47.600 |
Number one, the severity of God keeps us humble and in awe and fear of God. 00:23:53.640 |
He says, "This is true, that the branches were broken off so that I might be grafted 00:24:00.680 |
They were broken off because of their unbelief. 00:24:02.560 |
But you stand fast through faith, so do not become proud." 00:24:05.720 |
In other words, they were broken off because of their unbelief, and if you continue, if 00:24:12.440 |
you somehow do the same thing that they did, you will also be broken off. 00:24:15.960 |
So do not, do not be arrogant, but be in awe and fear of God. 00:24:24.600 |
When you look at the Old Testament, the way that God introduces himself to the nation 00:24:28.180 |
of Israel is not the kind of picture that you and I would see. 00:24:34.240 |
You know, when I was younger, I had a picture of Jesus when he comes, and I imagined, right? 00:24:40.120 |
Because, you know, I was taught and I knew that Jesus was central to my faith, and so 00:24:45.200 |
we talked a lot about his second coming and praying for his second coming, and so I imagined 00:24:53.080 |
And the picture that I had in my head, and again, I was a young believer at that time, 00:24:57.600 |
a picture I had of Jesus that I had was like my grandmother, you know? 00:25:02.800 |
My grandmother, I don't say my grandfather because I didn't know my grandfathers that 00:25:06.800 |
well, but I have a very distinct picture of my grandmother. 00:25:10.120 |
You know, she always had candy in her pocket, you know? 00:25:13.540 |
She always had something, and she would never let us leave her house without something given 00:25:18.920 |
us, whether it was some money, you know, or candy. 00:25:24.200 |
You know, you can mess up and do whatever you want, and you know, my parents are angry 00:25:28.540 |
and they want to discipline us, and you run to grandma, and grandma will protect you. 00:25:32.200 |
Because I could tell grandma had more authority than my parents, right? 00:25:38.120 |
Like when I die, I'm going to run to Jesus, and he's going to hug me, and maybe candy, 00:25:43.400 |
I don't know what he has in his pocket, but he's going to give me something, and I'm just 00:25:48.760 |
And that's kind of like the picture I had of Christ. 00:25:53.160 |
As a youth pastor, I remember I was going through the various attributes of God and 00:26:03.200 |
It's not like I haven't heard it before, but I really started just studying, and just going 00:26:07.880 |
through this topic of holiness all through Genesis and Revelations. 00:26:11.440 |
And in the middle of the study, I realized there was an aspect of God that I completely 00:26:24.360 |
If you asked me, I could have told you, "Of course God is holy, holy, holy." 00:26:31.360 |
But I didn't fully grasp, it didn't really hit me of what that meant. 00:26:37.380 |
The gravity of who He is and how everything else that I understand about God, it stems 00:26:48.720 |
And even now, as I'm explaining this, there's no way I'm going to do it justice. 00:26:52.320 |
Because I've heard all of this before until, again, as a youth pastor, I was preparing 00:26:59.020 |
And I could tell you that ever since then, my view of Scripture, my view of God was never 00:27:05.920 |
If you remember when Moses encounters God for the very first time at the burning bush, 00:27:14.540 |
his introduction to Moses wasn't, "I love you, and I heard your cry, so I'm going to 00:27:21.280 |
The first thing he says to Moses, "Take off your sandals. 00:27:27.180 |
He tells Moses to have respect and awe in His presence. 00:27:33.940 |
And when he says, "If I go and tell them they asked me, 'Who sent me?'" 00:27:39.460 |
Now in and of itself, it doesn't mean anything. 00:27:41.500 |
But when you understand the meaning behind it, that God, there is no beginning, there's 00:27:53.700 |
In the word "I AM," it encapsulates His very essence of who He is. 00:28:06.700 |
Now we understand, you know, the reason why everybody is so nervous right now because 00:28:20.140 |
We're afraid that possibly that nuclear bomb may go off somewhere near where we are. 00:28:26.140 |
We have a nuclear plant that's not too far from here. 00:28:28.500 |
I mean, that, we should be more scared of that. 00:28:31.500 |
Remember when the earthquake hit in Japan and the devastation that they experienced? 00:28:35.940 |
And even to this day, they haven't fully cleaned that thing up? 00:28:42.980 |
And so it makes people nervous, not simply because it's evil, but because the power it 00:28:54.360 |
And the idea of being around something that powerful makes us nervous, fearful. 00:29:00.500 |
If you're on a boat and you see clouds beginning to form and you're in the middle of nowhere, 00:29:05.660 |
you don't automatically think, "Yes, rain, water." 00:29:11.520 |
The first thing you think is, "Oh my gosh, if this comes down and it begins to swell 00:29:19.320 |
Our first reaction, just like the disciples when the storm came, they were nervous. 00:29:28.900 |
See, when God introduces Himself and He says, "Take off your sandals for you are standing 00:29:35.460 |
on holy ground," and He says, "I am," in His very name, an introduction Himself, would 00:29:47.780 |
That's exactly how God deliberately introduced Himself to the nation of Israel. 00:29:53.500 |
In fact, in Leviticus chapter 10, the first two priests who represents the nation of Israel 00:30:01.420 |
are consumed with fire because they didn't follow the instructions exactly. 00:30:16.900 |
The first two priests, in the context of serving God, are consumed by fire and God says to 00:30:23.900 |
people who come, to my people, "I will show myself as holy." 00:30:29.300 |
What do you think that did to the nation of Israel? 00:30:34.260 |
What do you think that did to the nation of Israel? 00:30:35.940 |
They hear that the first two priests who approached God died. 00:30:43.740 |
These are Moses' nephews, Aaron, the priest's children, set apart to do this work and they're 00:30:55.760 |
My guess is fear fell upon the nation of Israel. 00:31:00.700 |
Dread probably came upon the nation of Israel. 00:31:04.040 |
Who would volunteer to be priests if that's what's going to happen to them? 00:31:09.640 |
Do you think that was by accident that God did that? 00:31:11.720 |
Do you think when God consumed these two men by fire that He was concerned, "If I do this, 00:31:17.320 |
what if they're going to be afraid of me and they're afraid to come to me?" 00:31:20.320 |
Do you think God was concerned about that or do you think God did that purposely? 00:31:32.920 |
He introduced Himself as a holy, holy, holy God. 00:31:37.200 |
He introduced Himself to the nation of Israel in His severity. 00:31:44.680 |
He says, "If you eat of this tree, you shall surely die." 00:31:54.680 |
They build this tower and God is angry over their sin. 00:32:01.080 |
These men come together and they're living in sin. 00:32:04.200 |
God becomes angry and He sends a flood and kills everybody except for the eight. 00:32:08.880 |
He is introduced to us all through the Scripture in His severity. 00:32:14.000 |
Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the disciples, John, every single one of these men who were confronted 00:32:23.600 |
with God's presence did not run to Him and embrace Him. 00:32:34.760 |
The weightiness of the presence of God is clear through Scripture. 00:32:45.560 |
Part of the reason why there is a nonchalant attitude in our walk with God is because we 00:32:57.520 |
understand the severity of God, but we are not beholding the severity of God. 00:33:03.880 |
Why our fellowship is so casual, why people can say, "You know, I committed to Jesus, 00:33:10.120 |
And when the Scripture clearly says, "You can't love God and hate your brothers. 00:33:16.800 |
Why we kind of pick and choose, "I love this doctrine, but I don't love that doctrine. 00:33:20.080 |
I love this about Jesus, but I don't love that about Jesus." 00:33:23.120 |
For all of Scripture, all of who He is, the whole of the cross is God revealed. 00:33:31.500 |
So everything that we know about who He is is founded upon knowing His severity. 00:33:40.660 |
If we don't understand the weightiness of God's presence, the cross would never make 00:33:47.160 |
And this is why hell is so difficult for our generation, because we have a sense of 00:33:53.640 |
justice based upon what we think is right or wrong, never really understanding God, 00:34:01.080 |
never really gazing upon and fully beholding His severity. 00:34:06.920 |
So we function under the assumption that God should be gracious to us. 00:34:17.840 |
And as a result of that, the weightiness of our sin, the weightiness of salvation is 00:34:26.760 |
But the second reason why the severity of God is so important for us is that severity 00:34:31.920 |
of God propels us ultimately to the kindness of God. 00:34:36.440 |
There is a purpose for this other than just to reveal that this is who He is. 00:34:40.660 |
In 21 and 22 it says, "For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He 00:34:46.040 |
Note then the kindness and the severity of God. 00:34:48.440 |
Severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue 00:34:57.080 |
He says the whole purpose of this revelation is that fear of God will propel us to the 00:35:06.240 |
It is the fear of God that propels us to the kindness of God. 00:35:10.760 |
In Matthew 10, 28-33 it says, "And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill 00:35:16.600 |
Rather, fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." 00:35:27.480 |
He said, "Combat fear with a greater fear of God. 00:35:32.480 |
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and not one of them will fall to the ground and 00:35:37.960 |
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 00:35:40.800 |
Fear not; therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows." 00:35:44.400 |
So, everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who 00:35:49.560 |
But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. 00:35:54.440 |
You see how the fear of God, the severity of God, and the kindness of God are so intertwined 00:36:01.400 |
He doesn't just across the board, "Hey, you know, if you sin, God loves you, and you don't 00:36:06.440 |
He says, "No, do not fear them, but fear me." 00:36:13.040 |
I mean, so much of the decisions that we make in life is because of some kind of fear. 00:36:17.840 |
I remember when I was a, when I first went to Magic Mountain, again, I think I forget 00:36:23.160 |
if I was in junior high school or high school, I don't really like roller coasters, you know. 00:36:28.200 |
I tell people because it gives me a headache, but the reality is I don't like the feeling 00:36:33.760 |
So some of you guys like it, but I don't like it. 00:36:38.080 |
And so when I was in high school, you know, they would like, my friends would always want 00:36:41.200 |
to go, and so we'd go, mainly because I don't want to be called the worst, you know what 00:36:46.880 |
So I'm afraid what they're going to think if I don't go, because I've always, you know, 00:36:49.720 |
like, they always, ever since I was young, they always said that I have too much testosterone, 00:36:54.560 |
and I'm like, I'm a guy, you know, and so, like, they just don't think, like, "Oh, Peter's 00:37:09.480 |
I don't like being on roller coasters, but I would get on it anyway, you know? 00:37:15.320 |
And at the end of the day, like, I'm the happiest guy, because I did it, and nobody found out. 00:37:20.640 |
I'm telling, publicly telling you now, but, you know. 00:37:24.280 |
And then I became a youth pastor, and sure enough, every year, somebody has a bright 00:37:30.120 |
idea we have to go to Magic Mountain, and so we would go to Magic Mountain, and it just 00:37:34.280 |
happens my wife likes roller coasters, so, you know, I can't be a wuss in front of her, 00:37:39.720 |
So I'm going to lose my authority in the home. 00:37:41.840 |
So, you know, I went, and I did what I needed to do, but inwardly, I never like roller coasters, 00:37:50.400 |
And fear of man, what my friends would think, what my youth group kids would think, and 00:37:55.680 |
what my wife would think, you know, I kept that all bottled up until today. 00:37:59.680 |
You know, I kept that all bottled up, and I made sure nobody found out, but, you know, 00:38:03.560 |
there's a lot of things that, because of fear of man. 00:38:06.320 |
You dress a certain way, you speak a certain way, you do certain things because of fear 00:38:12.560 |
How much of our life is driven by fear of what will they think if I don't have this? 00:38:22.120 |
What will they think if I don't go to this school? 00:38:24.200 |
What will they think if I don't make this kind of money? 00:38:27.280 |
How much of our temptation toward the world is driven by fear, some kind of fear? 00:38:32.680 |
Maybe not fear of man, but fear of something else. 00:38:43.900 |
He says, if you want to conquer the fear of man, don't fear these people. 00:38:50.840 |
Fear God who has control over your flesh and your soul. 00:38:54.980 |
And to conquer fear, because there's a greater God, and it gives us courage to live in obedience, 00:39:06.600 |
In verse 23, it says, even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted 00:39:11.080 |
in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 00:39:14.120 |
For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted contrary to 00:39:18.200 |
nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be 00:39:25.080 |
He said, consider the severity of God, because the severity of God pushes you toward the 00:39:33.280 |
We cling to the kindness of God, not because we fear the world. 00:39:38.480 |
The Scripture tells us primarily we were saved from God, not from Satan, not from this bad 00:39:49.400 |
The wrath of God was raining upon mankind, so when He came, He consumed wrath. 00:39:55.240 |
Jesus consumed wrath upon Himself to save us from God's wrath. 00:40:02.460 |
The severity of God, beholding the severity of God, ultimately propels us to cling to 00:40:11.000 |
That's why Philippians 2.12, it says, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 00:40:16.280 |
In a generation where we've only been told that the kindness of God, that verse doesn't 00:40:22.160 |
We kind of read it, don't have an answer for it, so we just kind of swing, you know, pass 00:40:29.120 |
That's exactly what it means, to live out your Christian life with fear and trembling. 00:40:35.920 |
So when we see ourselves drifting away from God, there should be fear and trembling. 00:40:42.060 |
When we see ourselves compromising in sin, there should be fear and trembling. 00:40:48.120 |
When we see ourselves living in disobedience and drifting away from obedience, God desires 00:40:55.300 |
us to have fear and trembling, to propel us to persevere in His kindness. 00:41:01.220 |
That's why Jesus says in Matthew 18.8, if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, 00:41:05.780 |
cut it off and throw it away, it is better that you enter life maimed or lame than the 00:41:10.900 |
two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire. 00:41:16.300 |
That's how severe He wants us to fear and tremble. 00:41:20.660 |
Not to live in fear of judgment, but that fear would push us toward the kindness of 00:41:28.300 |
Hebrews chapter 12.4, He says, "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to 00:41:38.500 |
How easily we say, "Well, where do we draw the line?" 00:41:42.500 |
And we use these broad terms to excuse all kinds of sin in our lives, and whenever we 00:41:47.140 |
feel any kind of guilt, we say, "Well, that's legalism. 00:41:53.180 |
And yet, the Scripture continues to tell us to live out with fear and trembling. 00:42:01.100 |
Let me conclude with reading this passage, because I believe Hebrews chapter 12.18-29 00:42:05.340 |
will illustrate and summarize this passage well. 00:42:26.420 |
"For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and a darkness and gloom and 00:42:33.940 |
a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that 00:42:43.500 |
For they could not endure the order that was given. 00:42:46.300 |
If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned. 00:42:49.740 |
Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, 'I tremble with fear.'" 00:42:59.860 |
This mountain he's talking about, it's not a satanic mountain. 00:43:02.460 |
This is a mountain where God gave the commandments. 00:43:10.940 |
Everything that Moses felt was what God made him feel. 00:43:15.620 |
The fear that Israel had when Moses came down just because of the glimpse of God's glory 00:43:20.140 |
that was shining off of his face, they were terrified. 00:43:23.420 |
Asked him to veil his face and go into a tent. 00:43:28.980 |
The author says, "But we did not come to that mountain." 00:43:33.860 |
In verse 22, he says, "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, 00:43:38.420 |
the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in the festal gatherings, and to the 00:43:43.620 |
assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and 00:43:48.540 |
to the spirits of the righteous that made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new 00:43:52.980 |
covenant, and to the sprinkle of blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." 00:43:59.020 |
He says, "What they had in the old covenant was what Moses, Israel experienced, and that 00:44:08.060 |
Now if we stop with that only, Satan would have absolute control. 00:44:13.660 |
He would have absolute sovereign reign because he's the accuser of brothers. 00:44:16.780 |
And you have any sin in you, you're guilty under judgment of God, living in fear and 00:44:21.940 |
But he said, "You did not come to that mountain. 00:44:24.820 |
And he describes this new covenant in Mount Zion where we are free from our sins. 00:44:36.380 |
We have been made righteous, and we have been made perfect by the perfect mediator, Jesus 00:44:41.220 |
So now if we stop in verse 24, he said, "Well, we're not under the old covenant, but we're 00:44:46.500 |
So therefore, we're no longer under condemnation, so we can live free." 00:44:55.400 |
So if we stop in verse 24, we don't understand the full impact of what he's saying. 00:45:00.660 |
And in order to understand the totality, you have to understand, you have to read the rest 00:45:05.460 |
He says, "See that you do not refuse him who is speaking." 00:45:11.900 |
"If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will 00:45:17.540 |
we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 00:45:22.060 |
At that time, his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised yet once more, 'I will 00:45:26.100 |
shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.'" 00:45:29.940 |
Those of you who've been studying through Revelation with us, you know exactly what 00:45:33.580 |
The judgment is going to shake all of creation. 00:45:37.900 |
This phrase, "yet once more," indicates a removal of things that are shaken, that is 00:45:41.620 |
things that have been made in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 00:45:46.780 |
"Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus 00:45:51.700 |
let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming 00:45:58.580 |
See, verse 18 to 21 is description of the old covenant. 00:46:05.540 |
Verse 22 through 24 is a description of our sins being taken away. 00:46:10.220 |
Verse 25 through 29 is the application of the gospel. 00:46:15.980 |
And the application of the gospel is, if God, who was severe in the old covenant, and yet 00:46:22.220 |
we have been given this tremendous mercy, how much guiltier would we be for those who 00:46:29.420 |
have been given so much to ignore and neglect and to simply trample on this salvation? 00:46:37.320 |
So the application in the new covenant is that we would offer to God acceptable worship 00:46:47.600 |
The word here is "all," but the word "all" is also translated in other translations to 00:46:58.000 |
This is the God that we come to worship every Sunday. 00:47:10.340 |
Not to say that God is not loving and gracious. 00:47:15.660 |
But if we pick and choose that these are the things that I like, and that we minimize the 00:47:21.140 |
things that God has revealed about Himself, it does affect the way we live. 00:47:38.560 |
It affects the way that we see the world and how we live in this world. 00:47:56.120 |
Behold, look, see, examine, study, meditate on the kindness and the severity of God that 00:48:13.880 |
Again, we want to invite you to take some time to come before the Lord in prayer. 00:48:22.940 |
Have we been walking casually, lukewarm in our hearts, but not sensing any urgency to 00:48:32.760 |
Drifting, allowing bitterness and anger and hatred, not seeing the damage that it's doing 00:48:45.200 |
Let's take some time to come before the Lord in honest prayer as our worship team leads