back to index2019-06-30 Warning Signs of Apostasy Pt. 2
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If you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 4, and I'm going to read again 7 through 00:00:08.640 |
11, just so that we'll be familiar with the text that we're in this morning. 00:00:18.560 |
"Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden 00:00:23.360 |
your hearts as when they provoked me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where 00:00:27.840 |
your fathers tried me by testing me, and saw my works for forty years.' 00:00:32.680 |
Therefore I was angry with this generation and said, 'They always go astray in their 00:00:39.240 |
As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest." 00:00:46.480 |
Patience and loving Father, we are gathered here together because we want to hear from 00:00:50.960 |
you, not from man's experience, man's knowledge. 00:00:56.280 |
We pray, Father God, that it is your word that is exposited, it is your word that goes 00:01:02.240 |
forth, it is your word that would convict us and lead us. 00:01:06.240 |
We entrust this time to you, Lord God, as you've given us the privilege to gather together 00:01:11.880 |
We genuinely desire to worship you in spirit and in truth, so we ask for your help. 00:01:17.360 |
Help us, Lord God, to put behind whatever things that we've entangled ourselves with, 00:01:23.920 |
May this time be truly sacred, that we may hear from you and to receive grace and mercy. 00:01:30.680 |
We ask for your blessing, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 00:01:35.280 |
Without having to show with hands, just kind of a rhetorical question for you to just think 00:01:39.080 |
about, how many of you are working in the field that you study? 00:01:45.280 |
So if you did go to college, how many of you are actually in the field that you study? 00:01:50.800 |
And no, no, you don't know, don't raise your hand. 00:01:55.240 |
How many of you have changed your major at least once while you were in school? 00:01:59.440 |
Again, don't raise your hand, I would just want to think about it, okay. 00:02:04.080 |
National statistics is 80% of college students change their major at least once before they 00:02:16.680 |
33% work in fields that didn't need a college degree at all, right? 00:02:22.320 |
33% are actually working long-term in a job that didn't require a college degree at all. 00:02:31.160 |
Only 27% work in the field that they've actually studied. 00:02:34.480 |
That means 73% of the people are working in fields that had nothing to do with their major. 00:02:41.000 |
So whether you spent four years or five years in your studies, whatever you're doing, maybe 00:02:45.080 |
it got you through the door, but really didn't train you for whatever it was that you're 00:02:50.360 |
Now, all of this is not to say college is useless, right? 00:02:59.720 |
Why do so many students come in and some point in their career, they end up changing their 00:03:06.400 |
Well, I mean, there could be a lot of explanation, but the simplest explanation is when you first 00:03:10.640 |
came in, you didn't really know what you wanted. 00:03:13.320 |
So you probably were told when you were younger, you'd be a great engineer, you'd be a great 00:03:17.560 |
scientist, you'd be a great doctor, and then once you start studying, you realize that 00:03:22.920 |
And maybe from the pressure from home, because you did certain things, or maybe because you've 00:03:27.280 |
already invested two years of your life into it and you couldn't change for whatever the 00:03:30.280 |
reason when you first came in, more than 80%, like not once, more than once changed their 00:03:37.440 |
major and by the time they graduate, even then they're not exactly sure because very 00:03:41.800 |
small percentage of people just graduate and end up doing exactly what they studied. 00:03:48.960 |
The reason why I mention this is because so much of our Christian life reflect what we 00:03:58.040 |
So many people who grew up in the church, the statistics is, at least for the younger 00:04:03.200 |
group, 80% and it matches the number of students who actually changed their major. 00:04:10.000 |
80% of students who grew up in the church, sometime during their college career, they 00:04:15.840 |
end up drifting away from their faith and they abandon their faith completely by the 00:04:22.160 |
80% of people who graduated from college, who are actively involved in campus ministries, 00:04:29.440 |
80% of them, by the time they get into their careers and they're young adults and they 00:04:33.600 |
settle down, 80% of them also fall away and they no longer walk with the Lord. 00:04:39.960 |
So if you calculate, I don't know the exact math in that, but I don't have the statistics 00:04:44.440 |
above that, but if you calculate, the majority of the people who grew up in the church are 00:04:54.880 |
Now, we can have all kinds of studies and sociologists and church planters and evangelists, 00:04:59.960 |
theologians have been studying for years what causes all of this, but in the end, this is 00:05:07.720 |
I don't know the numbers of how many people fall away after they get married, but from 00:05:12.160 |
my observation from years of doing ministry with this group, I can tell you it is high. 00:05:20.160 |
There are, again, I don't know the exact number, but people who get married and then after 00:05:24.920 |
they have children, what percentage of them are persevering and fervently pursuing the 00:05:31.360 |
I don't know the number for that either, but I know it's pretty high. 00:05:37.080 |
The confusing part of that is once you pass a certain point, when they walk away from 00:05:41.800 |
their faith, they don't walk away from the church. 00:05:47.040 |
You can be apostate, at least where you and I are. 00:05:50.160 |
In every way, there is no personal relationship with Christ. 00:05:58.240 |
It's more because that's what you studied, that was the pressure, you've invested too 00:06:02.000 |
much, so it's too late to turn around, so this is my lot in life and you just end up 00:06:06.680 |
going because to forfeit your faith by physically walking away from the church, you have too 00:06:11.960 |
many friendships, family ties, your whole social interaction is all centered around 00:06:21.400 |
And so some people physically walk away, many people stay in the church, and yet their life 00:06:30.320 |
It just happens to be the culture of the church. 00:06:33.780 |
This warning that is given in Hebrews chapter 3 is not unique to the book of Hebrews. 00:06:39.720 |
All throughout scripture, there is this warning not to drift. 00:06:42.900 |
We looked at last week about these traits of apostasy, and the reason why it's important 00:06:47.960 |
for us to look at that is because every single one of us needs to be sober as to the message 00:06:53.840 |
Last week, we looked about how he said, the first one, "Today, if you hear his voice, 00:07:00.400 |
Apostasy, oftentimes in the church, begins with delayed obedience. 00:07:05.720 |
And the reason why that's so confusing is because when there is delayed obedience, it 00:07:13.040 |
Even though our hearts have drifted away from God and we're no longer walking with him, 00:07:23.900 |
And so when we delay our obedience, it is disobedience. 00:07:30.820 |
And secondly, when there is delayed obedience, which in God's eyes is disobedience, it causes 00:07:39.660 |
And that's why he says, "Today, if you hear his voice." 00:07:42.100 |
If the voice of God makes any sense, if God convicts you and softens your heart and calls 00:07:55.060 |
Spiritually, you may not be in the same place. 00:08:01.380 |
God is not somebody that you can turn on and off whenever you are ready. 00:08:04.400 |
He says that when you, when God calls you today, today do not harden your heart. 00:08:13.640 |
So today we're going to be looking at the third and the fourth one. 00:08:21.220 |
And three, a heart that strays away from God. 00:08:25.160 |
In verse 10, "They always go astray in their hearts and they did not know my ways." 00:08:32.340 |
In Psalm 78, 7 through 8, it describes this hardened heart. 00:08:36.260 |
And again, it's a description of what happened to the nation of Israel. 00:08:39.600 |
That they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep 00:08:43.180 |
his commandments and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation 00:08:48.780 |
that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God. 00:08:54.540 |
What does it mean that they didn't prepare their hearts? 00:08:57.740 |
The Hebrew word for prepare, kun, literally means to make firm, to establish, or to make 00:09:04.580 |
That word is described in establishing an object, founding of a city, adjusting a weapon 00:09:12.900 |
toward its target, or making something ready or ordaining something for something specific. 00:09:18.240 |
So in other words, the word kun, to prepare, basically means to establish the foundation 00:09:23.640 |
to prepare it for whatever work that you're trying to do. 00:09:26.980 |
So if you're shooting a weapon, you're targeting, you're making sure before you pull the trigger 00:09:33.240 |
The Bible describes something similar to this when it says to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:09:37.020 |
It means to allow yourself, to let yourself to be filled, to establish, to prepare your 00:09:44.580 |
And so what he is saying is, when the trials and testing comes, if you have not prepared 00:09:51.660 |
your heart, it will reveal what your heart is filled with. 00:09:58.000 |
And so because they did not prepare their heart, they didn't establish their heart toward 00:10:01.340 |
God, when they were squeezed, it immediately showed what was inside. 00:10:07.960 |
It said that they were constantly going astray, they were constantly grumbling against God. 00:10:14.680 |
And again, this is given to us as an example, a negative example not to follow. 00:10:19.540 |
Now just in case that we think that God sent them out and at the first sign of some grumbling, 00:10:28.940 |
We need to understand the context of what God says here. 00:10:32.560 |
When he says he was provoked and he swore to himself that they would not enter the rest, 00:10:38.560 |
when he was angry with them, it was not a knee-jerk reaction, that he didn't tolerate 00:10:43.320 |
In fact, whenever we look at the Old Testament, people typically think, when you look at it 00:10:47.600 |
superficially, God is a God of harsh judgment and righteousness in the Old Testament, and 00:10:52.560 |
God is a God of mercy and grace in the New Testament. 00:10:55.640 |
Because on the surface, we talk about the cross and how Jesus forgives our sins, and 00:11:01.240 |
And then we look at the Old Testament, how he gave the law, and when the Israelites rebelled, 00:11:05.960 |
But when you dig deeper, you'll find that the God of the Old Testament and the God of 00:11:14.040 |
That the God of the New Testament is just as righteous, just as holy as the God of the 00:11:18.280 |
Old Testament, and the God of the Old Testament is just as gracious and mercy as the God of 00:11:23.560 |
And the reason why is because it's the same God. 00:11:26.720 |
I want to go over with you the brief history, just through the book of Exodus and Numbers, 00:11:32.280 |
because this text is based upon that period of experience. 00:11:39.480 |
This is the beginning of God responding and deliverance to the nation of Israel. 00:11:45.520 |
The Lord said, "I have surely seen the afflictions of my people who are in Egypt, and have given 00:11:51.280 |
heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. 00:11:56.680 |
So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them up 00:12:00.720 |
from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey." 00:12:04.920 |
So remember, this is the beginning of God responding and showing mercy to the nation 00:12:14.420 |
In their suffering, he has mercy on them, and he begins this process by establishing 00:12:19.580 |
Moses to go have a power encounter with Pharaoh, and then through that process, he would deliver 00:12:25.440 |
them to the nation of Israel, and then take them to the land filled with milk and honey. 00:12:30.540 |
But all of this was started, at least that period, because they cried out to God in their 00:12:41.840 |
They're not years into the desert before the grumbling happens. 00:12:47.120 |
Moses is sent, and he says, "My God, Yahweh, told me to tell you to let my people go, so 00:12:57.840 |
Pharaoh hardened his heart, and he said, "These people, it's because maybe they have too much 00:13:09.240 |
And as soon as they got squeezed, in Exodus chapter 5, verse 21, "They said to them, 'May 00:13:18.120 |
"'May the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh's sight 00:13:22.720 |
and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.'" 00:13:27.720 |
So right off the bat, as soon as things got a little bit difficult, right, they cried 00:13:35.000 |
They are the ones who cried out to God in their suffering. 00:13:38.920 |
And when God answers and sends Moses, initially they probably thought, "Wow, Moses. 00:13:43.560 |
But as soon as Pharaoh puts a little bit of squeeze, they turn on Moses. 00:13:59.720 |
Basically He has a power encounter with the 10 plagues, right? 00:14:03.160 |
And He shows great power to the nation of Israel and Pharaoh, and they are delivered. 00:14:10.080 |
But as they are going, they run into the Red Sea. 00:14:14.800 |
We come all the way out here, and what if Pharaoh is going to come and he comes and 00:14:18.560 |
So they hear that Pharaoh changed his mind, and now that he's coming after them. 00:14:22.480 |
And this is what he says in Exodus 14, 11-12. 00:14:25.720 |
The nation of Israel, then they said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt 00:14:29.840 |
that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?" 00:14:33.880 |
"Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? 00:14:37.560 |
Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt saying, 'Leave us alone that we may 00:14:46.880 |
They cried out to God, begging for God to deliver them. 00:14:50.040 |
But as soon as they got squeezed, they have a completely different view of what happened. 00:14:58.600 |
"Leave us alone," they said, "for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians 00:15:10.880 |
After everything that I've done, after all the miracles that I've shown you, after sparing 00:15:14.380 |
your children and delivering you from Pharaoh himself because you're scared?" 00:15:27.240 |
They're on the other side, and they're so elated by God's mercy and grace, they break 00:15:32.800 |
Moses actually writes a song, and the whole nation of Israel is partying it up. 00:15:37.240 |
So you would think that the rest of their journey in the wilderness would be reflecting 00:15:45.160 |
Three days, three days after being delivered through the Red Sea, they begin to grumble. 00:15:54.280 |
So the people grumbled to Moses saying, "What shall we drink? 00:16:10.680 |
Not only are they drinking, their animals are drinking, their children are swimming. 00:16:14.680 |
And you would think, "Wow, even after all of that, God doesn't squash them, and he leads 00:16:23.760 |
Exactly one month later, about five, six weeks later, Exodus chapter 16, 2-3. 00:16:30.640 |
The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 00:16:36.160 |
The sons of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the Lord's hand in the land 00:16:39.820 |
of Egypt, when we sat by the post of meat, when we ate bread to full, for you have brought 00:16:45.520 |
us up out of the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." 00:16:49.720 |
So now that our thirst is taken care about, what about our stomach? 00:16:57.040 |
He gives them manna, miraculous food, manna, for the next 40 years. 00:17:02.240 |
This miraculous food that they're able to pick up from the ground and eat. 00:17:06.240 |
But after a while, they get sick of the manna, and what do they say? 00:17:23.600 |
Exodus chapter 17, they grumbled again about the water, because they got thirsty. 00:17:28.240 |
And then you know the story in Exodus chapter 32. 00:17:33.320 |
And by the time Moses goes up to the mountains to receive the law from God, they're like, 00:17:42.920 |
And then they come back down, and they're worshiping this gold calf, and they ask Aaron, 00:17:51.320 |
He says, "I put some gold pieces, and I threw it in the fire, and this golden calf came 00:17:58.240 |
And so they wanted to worship, but I was only doing what they wanted. 00:18:06.920 |
And if you're going to worship this golden calf, you stand over there. 00:18:09.660 |
And God judges them, but He is merciful to those who repent. 00:18:21.560 |
Numbers 11, they complained because they didn't have meat. 00:18:29.680 |
Numbers chapter 14, 1 through 4, you know what happens there. 00:18:33.760 |
God is preparing them to get into the promised land, and the spies that go in, they come 00:18:38.800 |
back, and their lack of faith in God again is revealed. 00:18:45.240 |
Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that 00:18:51.000 |
All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said 00:18:54.280 |
to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would that we had died in this 00:19:05.220 |
Our wise and our little ones will become plunder. 00:19:08.200 |
Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" 00:19:12.360 |
So they said to one another, "Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt." 00:19:19.600 |
And then Numbers 24 through 5, again it kind of reveals to us in conclusion what they believe. 00:19:25.080 |
"Why then have you brought the Lord's assembly into this wilderness for us and our beasts 00:19:31.040 |
Why have you made us come up from Egypt to bring us into the wretched place? 00:19:34.560 |
It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink." 00:19:43.920 |
Now I've highlighted some of their complaints. 00:19:50.680 |
The ones that have risen to be recorded in Exodus and Numbers is because it was an organized 00:20:00.160 |
But my guess is the grumbling was happening all the time. 00:20:05.000 |
Individually, in the homes, in conversations. 00:20:08.840 |
And every time they got squeezed just a little bit. 00:20:29.560 |
We have to every time we sin, we got to do it. 00:20:32.760 |
These are just the grumblings that rose up to the top. 00:20:36.820 |
But can you imagine the grumbling that was taking place within the camp constantly? 00:20:46.000 |
Remember last week's passage, it says that God was testing them and instead they turned 00:20:56.520 |
They tested God by demanding God to prove himself worthy of them. 00:21:02.400 |
They turned the tables around and they were constantly examining God. 00:21:12.240 |
So every time they got squeezed, they turned the tables and they began to get their laser 00:21:22.760 |
And when they got squeezed, it revealed what was really in their hearts. 00:21:30.160 |
They were serving comfort, they were serving their stomach, they were serving each other, 00:21:34.080 |
and God just played a role in them pursuing what they wanted. 00:21:39.220 |
So when they got squeezed, it was revealed that their real faith was not in God. 00:21:47.440 |
So many Christians fall away from their faith for that very reason. 00:21:52.240 |
As long as friendships are around and bills are paid and things are going well, but as 00:21:55.520 |
soon as we get squeezed, it reveals that it is not God that we pursue. 00:22:00.800 |
And once God doesn't do it for them anymore, there's no reason to follow him. 00:22:07.080 |
And that's why many people begin to walk away from God. 00:22:10.220 |
But they were testing God for another reason. 00:22:11.860 |
They were testing God to see how far God's going to let them get away with this. 00:22:19.520 |
Grumble after grumble, testing after testing, patience after patience, until it says in 00:22:25.140 |
Hebrews 3 that their hearts got hardened and God was provoked. 00:22:31.020 |
This provoking isn't just God decided to become angry. 00:22:35.320 |
Something would be where, you know, or something happens and you just like, your anger just 00:22:40.340 |
Whether somebody cuts you off on the road, you know, maybe your younger brother just 00:22:44.100 |
knows your button and he just pokes at it and you just get provoked. 00:22:50.260 |
Those of you who've been married for a long time, your wife and your husband, they know 00:22:53.420 |
your weaknesses and when they're in their anger, they'll poke at it, right? 00:23:04.040 |
God was provoked because he kept on waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. 00:23:07.920 |
After everything that he has done for the nation of Israel, they would not turn. 00:23:12.640 |
And as a result, in Hebrews 3, 11, it says, "I swore in my wrath they shall not enter 00:23:20.060 |
When God swears that he's going to do something, it is done. 00:23:26.060 |
God's not saying, "I swear in my anger that they will not enter my rest." 00:23:32.020 |
He's like, "Okay, okay, okay, now, now, now, now, don't get that angry. 00:23:38.280 |
Just as God is reliable when he says he will save us, when he says judgment is coming, 00:23:45.340 |
So, in other words, they took his patience to the far end until the point where he was 00:23:56.580 |
You know what's interesting is Psalm chapter 81, 11 through 12, it describes God's anger 00:24:02.540 |
And he says this, "But my people did not listen to my voice and Israel did not obey me, so 00:24:08.220 |
I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart to walk in their own devices." 00:24:16.900 |
God was so angry and he said, "Just do whatever you want." 00:24:25.580 |
That sounds like exactly what a rebellious person would want to hear. 00:24:29.860 |
Because a rebellious person is wrestling with God to do whatever he wants and then 00:24:34.780 |
God's the one pounding and saying, "Hey, stop." 00:24:39.000 |
But the judgment he describes is in the stubbornness of their heart. 00:24:51.220 |
All God has to do to judge mankind is to disappear. 00:25:08.540 |
All he has to do is just draw back and then let sin run its course. 00:25:13.460 |
That's why in Romans chapter 1 it says, "Wrath of God is being revealed in this generation." 00:25:20.420 |
How is the wrath of God being revealed in our generation? 00:25:23.980 |
Romans chapter 1, 22 to 28, "Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the 00:25:28.260 |
glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and the birds 00:25:32.420 |
of the four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 00:25:34.860 |
Therefore, God gave them over in their loss." 00:25:42.780 |
Giving them over in their hearts of impurity so that their bodies would be designated among 00:25:46.380 |
them for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature 00:25:50.340 |
rather than the creator who is blessed forever. 00:25:54.580 |
God gave them over to their degrading passions over and over again. 00:25:59.300 |
His wrath is giving them over to their rebellion. 00:26:06.820 |
"For their woman exchanged the natural functions for that which was unnatural. 00:26:10.980 |
In the same way, also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in 00:26:16.780 |
Men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty 00:26:21.980 |
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved 00:26:27.460 |
mind to do those things which are not proper." 00:26:31.900 |
God's wrath, according to Romans, is being revealed by just letting them go. 00:26:42.420 |
Now let me describe why this is the judgment of God. 00:26:48.820 |
If you have a child at home, 10, 13, 14, 15, however old they are, if you have a child 00:26:55.940 |
at home and you're fighting over the internet, you know, you're trying to put parental control, 00:27:04.820 |
you're doing this, you're doing all for the purpose of protecting them, what would happen 00:27:09.740 |
to a child if you didn't put limitations on them? 00:27:13.180 |
You put a 10-year-old or 5-year-old in front of the computer and said, "I'm tired of this," 00:27:26.540 |
Is he going to Google, "How to clean my room?" 00:27:33.380 |
Is he going to Google and find search, "Oh, I got the freedom to do whatever I want," 00:27:36.740 |
and then he's going to type in, "How to honor my father and mother." 00:27:44.900 |
The reason why the parents come in and put restriction is for their own good. 00:27:50.580 |
Reason why they get discipline is for their own good. 00:27:53.620 |
It's because the parents love them and it's trying to protect them. 00:27:57.060 |
We often think about, well, you know, when Israel committed sin, God came down and he 00:28:03.140 |
And we say, "Oh, that's the judgment of God." 00:28:05.880 |
We look at the book of Revelation and say, "Oh, the wrath of God," because that's what 00:28:09.740 |
the wrath of God, in our mind, we think that's what the wrath of God looks like. 00:28:16.780 |
Because all he had to do is to one time smash and be over with. 00:28:23.420 |
Couldn't God have just said, "Israelites," and just... 00:28:25.660 |
You got a bunch of ants coming into your house and you don't want them there? 00:28:53.100 |
But what is this trauma of dividing them and causing them to repent? 00:28:58.320 |
And you go to the book of Revelation, you have the seals, you have the bowls, you have 00:29:03.640 |
the trumpets, and every time he brings these judgments, why go through all of this trauma? 00:29:13.520 |
He's using that to bring sinners to repentance. 00:29:17.920 |
And the Bible clearly says he's disciplining because he's trying to bring them to repentance. 00:29:25.200 |
If God was truly, if he was truly done, there would be no drama of Revelation. 00:29:32.680 |
Revelation would take us straight to the right throne judgment and just done. 00:29:40.400 |
It's his kindness that leads us to repentance. 00:29:47.960 |
It's his kindness that warns us repeatedly because if you provoke him and if you continue 00:29:55.000 |
at some point, he will swear you will not enter my rest. 00:30:00.200 |
And that's what happened to the nation of Israel. 00:30:02.200 |
Israel pushed and pushed and pushed and they tested him and tested and tested him until 00:30:09.720 |
You know, we love to quote the passage in 2 Timothy chapter 2, 13, where we say, if 00:30:14.720 |
we are faithless, he will be faithful because he cannot deny himself. 00:30:20.720 |
We love that passage because it gives freedom for our faithlessness. 00:30:30.000 |
But we kind of use that as a get out of jail cart. 00:30:38.400 |
Right before that passage in verse 12, it says, if you deny him, he will deny you. 00:30:49.440 |
You go to people's homes, it's like, if we are faithless, he is faithful because he cannot 00:31:00.000 |
The perfect example of that is the nation of Israel. 00:31:06.420 |
If you are faithless, he will remain faithful. 00:31:09.920 |
You know why they wandered in the desert for 40 years? 00:31:22.140 |
Those people who were grumbling and complaining and they did not heed the warnings from God, 00:31:27.120 |
he waited 40 years for that generation to die off and a new generation to be risen. 00:31:32.400 |
So he was faithful to his promise to the nation of Israel. 00:31:35.880 |
He was faithful to the promise to the nation of Israel. 00:31:40.200 |
But those who denied him did not enter into the promised land. 00:31:46.440 |
That's how that verse is actualized in Scripture. 00:31:53.280 |
Those who are, although they were faithless, God remains faithful to himself, to the promises 00:32:03.240 |
It says their hearts went astray and they did not know him. 00:32:10.200 |
They said, "Oh, we didn't know you didn't want us to grumble. 00:32:13.260 |
We didn't know that we should have been asking for food. 00:32:16.820 |
We didn't know we shouldn't have been worshiping the golden calf." 00:32:20.880 |
It wasn't because they didn't have knowledge. 00:32:27.080 |
They didn't have a personal relationship with God. 00:32:31.220 |
So as soon as they got squeezed, it revealed what was in their heart. 00:32:36.120 |
In John chapter 17, verse 3, it says, "This is the eternal life that they may know you, 00:32:41.160 |
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." 00:32:46.960 |
He said this is eternal life that they may know you. 00:32:51.900 |
And that's why in Matthew 7, verses 22 to 23, Jesus says, "Many will say to me on that 00:32:56.480 |
day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons 00:33:03.360 |
And then I will declare to them, 'I never," what? 00:33:06.160 |
"Knew you, apart from a you who practiced lawlessness." 00:33:14.760 |
So in their hardened hearts, what happened was during those 40 years of trial, every 00:33:20.520 |
time they got squeezed, it revealed that they knew nothing of their God. 00:33:26.200 |
They were more concerned about their safety, about their stomach, about their thirst, about 00:33:32.160 |
comfort, about the land, and they did not know God. 00:33:39.560 |
You know, it's interesting, the way he describes his judgment is that he says he was provoked, 00:33:43.720 |
he was angry that they would not enter their rest. 00:33:47.920 |
And that's what happened to the nation of Israel. 00:33:49.720 |
At least that generation dies off, new generation rises, and God allows them to get in. 00:33:55.360 |
The Bible describes our salvation as finding rest, rest in Christ. 00:34:01.240 |
That's why Jesus, when he invites people to come, he says, "Come to me, all who are weary 00:34:05.200 |
and heavy laden, and I will give you that rest." 00:34:07.720 |
I'm not going to go too deep into this theology because we're going to get deeper into it 00:34:13.600 |
But the Bible describes salvation as finding rest. 00:34:20.380 |
Those who do not know Christ is in a perpetual state of restlessness. 00:34:30.300 |
Here's a man who's not only a billionaire, you know, people fantasize about if I was 00:34:37.500 |
You can't do whatever you want because there's laws. 00:34:41.740 |
Even if you have all the money in the world, you have to do it, you have to abide by the 00:34:46.780 |
And even if you had all the money, and even if you had the law, you don't have the wisdom. 00:34:53.140 |
You can go and blow your money, invest in the wrong place, and become poor the next 00:35:00.620 |
He had all the money in the world, he had all the power, he was the king, and he was 00:35:08.540 |
So if anybody can experience the pleasures of this world, without limitation it would 00:35:15.940 |
So his whole life was dedicated in experimenting. 00:35:27.820 |
He had women, he had money, he had pleasure, he had everything that he could possibly, 00:35:31.620 |
intellectually, socially, everything that he looked at, he wanted, he could have had 00:35:47.460 |
How often do we fool ourselves to think that only if we had more money, only if we had 00:35:50.860 |
more freedom, only if we were younger, only if this, only that. 00:36:10.900 |
At the end of his life, all he found was emptiness. 00:36:14.900 |
Psalm 434 verse 8, it says, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. 00:36:19.660 |
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." 00:36:26.460 |
Blessed is the man who knows true rest in him. 00:36:30.580 |
In Habakkuk verse 3, 17 to 18, it says, "Though the fig trees should not blossom, and there 00:36:36.060 |
be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce 00:36:42.020 |
no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the 00:36:46.580 |
stalls, yet I will exalt in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." 00:36:52.940 |
This is foolishness to somebody who does not know Christ. 00:36:58.340 |
Why would you exalt, why would you give him glory when he didn't give you bounty? 00:37:02.940 |
When you have no food, you have no fruit, you have no harvest, and all of this is cut 00:37:10.180 |
You have to understand, this is not a farmer who just casually has these things. 00:37:14.400 |
When he says he has none of that, this is a man who doesn't have anything. 00:37:20.420 |
And he says, "Yet I will exalt in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." 00:37:25.780 |
Unless you have tasted the goodness of God, this passage will never make any sense. 00:37:33.180 |
If you are pursuing Christ, hoping that Christ is somehow going to lead you to the green 00:37:39.180 |
pastures, and you're more committed to these green pastures, and that Jesus is only an 00:37:43.700 |
avenue to get to the green pastures, the same temptation will overcome us. 00:37:49.700 |
Every time we're a little bit squeezed, we turn to tables. 00:38:02.260 |
We praise him when our relationships are going well. 00:38:08.300 |
But as soon as we are squeezed, we begin to grumble. 00:38:16.420 |
The Bible describes non-Christians whose eyes have been blinded because they do not see 00:38:31.820 |
So a Christian is somebody whose eyes have become open, and we found life and rest in 00:38:39.780 |
And that's why Paul says in Philippians 4, 12-13, "I know how to get along with humble 00:38:45.180 |
means and I also know how to live in prosperity. 00:38:47.900 |
In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being content and going hungry, 00:38:53.420 |
both of having the abundance and suffering need. 00:38:55.940 |
I can do all things through him who strengthens me." 00:38:58.420 |
Is Paul saying that he's learned, when he doesn't have money, how to stretch that dollar? 00:39:05.620 |
Is Paul saying that when he has abundance, he knows how to save and put in the right 00:39:09.380 |
investment and make sure that this never happens again? 00:39:14.580 |
He's sitting in prison, chained to a Roman guard, uncomfortable as you can possibly be, 00:39:19.500 |
possibly facing death, and he's trying to encourage the Christians outside and said, 00:39:32.640 |
And that's why he says, "He desired to suffer to know Christ." 00:39:38.660 |
If it means I can have more Christ, if I can have more of him, even if I die, if you ask 00:39:46.660 |
me what I want, I'm ready to go because what I've tasted in Christ is so much better than 00:39:58.580 |
That's basically what it says in chapter three. 00:40:01.300 |
Everything that I knew before I met Christ became rubbish in light of the surpassing 00:40:08.340 |
Only a man who has tasted the goodness of God can say what he says. 00:40:26.900 |
This difference between faith and unbelief, it is so subtle because it is not the distinction 00:40:32.820 |
between church and non-church, small group or not small group, discipleship and non-discipleship. 00:40:39.980 |
Sometimes we can look at the external things and think that that is the evidence of Christianity. 00:40:47.180 |
Those are the fruits of it, but it's not the cause of it. 00:40:56.660 |
And that is the danger that you and I live in today where we are because we are busy. 00:41:07.460 |
And yet when we get squeezed, every time we get squeezed, it shows where we are. 00:41:13.180 |
Let me conclude with this because I read this testimony from Desiring God. 00:41:19.980 |
So if you wanted to go, this is only a portion of his testimony and I thought it was relevant 00:41:28.260 |
And this is a testimony of a man who was in the church serving and realized that he did 00:41:39.460 |
I believed I could die at any moment and be welcomed into heaven. 00:41:47.540 |
I did not have a category for someone thinking that they were a follower of Christ and not 00:41:52.880 |
I assumed that if I had any desire to be a Christian, God should welcome me with shouts 00:41:58.920 |
I had never read that there would be people on Judgment Day who would emphatically greet 00:42:03.320 |
Jesus calling him Lord, Lord and yet be rejected by him. 00:42:07.600 |
No one ever told me that people could do a lot of mighty works for God and yet still 00:42:13.480 |
I convinced myself that I was safe from the wrath of God. 00:42:16.120 |
No one told me that lukewarm Christians get spit out of God's mouth. 00:42:20.440 |
No one informed me that if God was not first in my heart, I was either in urgent need of 00:42:28.340 |
In the words of Francis Chan, I was lukewarm and loving it. 00:42:32.240 |
I did not have a category for something, someone thinking that they were a follower of Christ 00:42:50.760 |
I gave God props for my athletic achievements. 00:43:04.520 |
Sure, I rarely owned him in public or spent time with him in private, but he understood. 00:43:13.360 |
If God had not intervened, I would have awoken from my delusion to a lake of fire. 00:43:18.520 |
I imagined I feasted at the table of grace, drank from the chalice of eternal life, but 00:43:23.400 |
I was eating garbage and drinking sewer water. 00:43:26.520 |
I was dreaming like those described in Isaiah 29.8. 00:43:31.580 |
It will be as when a hungry man dreams and behold, he is eating, but when he awakens, 00:43:38.040 |
Or as when a thirsty man dreams and behold, he is drinking, but when he awakens, behold, 00:43:56.920 |
The question is not did you go to church, did you grow up in the church, how many Bible 00:44:00.080 |
verses did you memorize, are you active, are you tithing? 00:44:08.840 |
Are you living in restlessness, jumping from relationship to relationship, from experience 00:44:14.840 |
to experience, from one stage of life to the next stage of life, because you do not know 00:44:25.080 |
Did he actually open your eyes and did you actually see the glory of the gospel of Jesus 00:44:29.280 |
Christ that caused you to want him more than this world? 00:44:38.040 |
The danger that you and I are in, grown up in the church, spending years committed, actively 00:44:43.200 |
serving maybe even leading in the church, we may automatically assume when Christ comes, 00:44:50.400 |
Lord, Lord, and he may turn the tables on us and say, I never knew you. 00:44:59.280 |
There's a reason why the Bible keeps warning over and over and over. 00:45:06.600 |
He's going to tell us about the goodness of God and the glory of Christ and how he is 00:45:10.240 |
above all else and how he's worthy to be exalted, and then he will always couple that with how 00:45:17.040 |
can you escape if you ignore such a great salvation, if you just kick the can down the 00:45:28.440 |
If today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. 00:45:32.280 |
If God is calling you to repentance, repent today, not tonight, not at your home, today. 00:45:38.100 |
If you've drifted away from God, you know all the right things to say about Christianity. 00:45:43.860 |
You've got all the things checked mark, but there is no affection for Christ and it taints 00:45:55.480 |
Everything is irritating because you have not rested in Christ. 00:46:18.260 |
If none of your friends came to this church, would you still come to church? 00:46:22.280 |
If the songs didn't meet your preference, would you still come to church? 00:46:26.680 |
Would you still serve the church if you were the only Christian in Irvine? 00:46:30.580 |
Would you still serve the church if it meant you would lose your job? 00:46:34.160 |
Would you still follow Christ if you would lose your bank account as a result? 00:46:56.200 |
It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. 00:47:06.160 |
Anything less than that, we're fooling ourselves. 00:47:09.200 |
God is not demanding that hardcore, disciplined, strong-willed people come to Christ. 00:47:16.420 |
God is calling people who are weak-willed, who are weak and easily distracted, and to 00:47:21.040 |
surrender our lives to Christ and see that he is worth more than anything else that we 00:47:25.560 |
are tempted in, anything else that we've been entangled with, that is straining the joy 00:47:32.160 |
And until we repent, that we really truly come to Christ, you will never know. 00:47:36.300 |
You will always watch from a distance and hear other people's testimony and think to 00:47:40.720 |
yourself, "Maybe one day, I hope I can experience that." 00:47:44.180 |
But it never comes, because you're always delaying. 00:47:47.720 |
Tomorrow, when it's easier, when circumstances change. 00:47:57.340 |
If you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. 00:48:02.140 |
Let's take some time to pray as we ask our worship team to come. 00:48:14.000 |
As our worship team leads us, I pray that his word and the example of the Israelites 00:48:25.040 |
Again, our natural response to something like this could easily be, "Well, thank God I'm 00:48:37.620 |
I wish my mom, my dad, my brother, they really needed to listen to this." 00:48:43.760 |
If we're not careful, we can easily check off the box and look at the things that we're 00:48:47.960 |
doing in life without really examining where your heart is. 00:48:58.840 |
When's the last time you actually conversed with him? 00:49:30.320 |
Or did you come this morning wanting to hear from the Lord? 00:49:36.520 |
Did you come this morning because you wanted to hear his voice? 00:49:44.680 |
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden. 00:49:59.600 |
Ask the Lord to save us, restore us, revive us. 00:50:07.160 |
Let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us.