Jeff Miller

August 25, 2024

Nation Facing Judgment

Discern

Jeff Miller

August 25, 2024

Nation Facing Judgment

Introduction:

4 Clues You're Hearing a Bad Sermon (Micah 2:1-13):

The sermon Avoids hard truths. (Micah 2:6a)
The sermon doesn't Agree with something God already said. (Micah 2:6b)
The sermon Appeals to the flesh. (Micah 2:6b)

2 Timothy 4:3-4 - For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

The sermon Attracts non-spiritual people. (Micah 2:11b)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:44-00:54
who would eventually become the pastor after me, one time got up to speak, and he said, "You know, God wants to shine his light through you.
00:56-01:09
And when we take his light that's in you, when we take that light, should we hide that light under a bushel?" Remember that song?
01:11-01:12
So I'm like, no.
01:13-01:25
He's like, yes, because that bushel's gonna catch on fire and it'll make the light brighter and more people will see it.
01:26-01:28
And then that's when it dawned on me.
01:30-01:32
I think that he thinks a bushel is a little tree.
01:35-01:36
That wasn't a great sermon.
01:40-01:47
And my point is, you know, sometimes it's easy to tell a bad sermon.
01:49-01:53
Other times, not so much.
01:55-01:58
And that's where we're going in Micah chapter two today.
01:58-02:01
Just as a quick review, remember we're under God's wrath.
02:01-02:03
We talked about that a couple of weeks ago.
02:03-02:10
For us in America, God's wrath isn't something that is coming according to Romans one, God's wrath is something that's here right now.
02:12-02:15
And last week we explored the question, how does that make you feel?
02:17-02:18
Are you apathetic?
02:20-02:20
Are you angry?
02:23-02:27
Are you amused at this thought that God is going to punish sinners?
02:31-02:32
Well, you know what's worse?
02:34-02:45
is the fact that God sends preachers to proclaim his truth so that lost sinners would come back to him.
02:48-02:53
But those lost sinners would rather listen to false teachers that are preaching bad sermons.
02:55-02:58
And there are lots of bad sermons being preached in our day.
03:01-03:07
But I need to ask you, church, Can you tell if a sermon is good or bad?
03:09-03:12
And when I say bad, I think you understand, I mean unbiblical.
03:14-03:25
Can you discern if a message is actually from God or if it's something that some guy made up?
03:27-03:28
Can you do that?
03:30-03:39
I'd like you to bow your heads with me, please, and I'm gonna ask that you would please pray for me to communicate God's word faithfully, and I will pray for you to receive it.
03:48-03:57
Father, I pray right now you'd open our hearts up to receive your word, and that we would be people that are fully dedicated to your word.
04:03-04:13
Not with some chip-on-our-shoulder, carmogeny way, but with joy, but with much discernment.
04:15-04:23
Father, you know we live in a day that there's people around every corner saying that they're bringing a message from God, and that can't all be true.
04:26-04:27
You've given us your words that we would know.
04:29-04:45
And I pray, Father, that we would read this message from Micah that was preached so many centuries ago, but is just as relevant right here today where we sit.
04:46-04:47
We pray in Jesus' name.
04:47-04:50
And all of God's people said, amen.
04:51-04:57
Micah chapter two, the first five verses here, Let's just break it down a little chunk at a time to get the flow here.
04:57-05:02
But the first five verses kind of gets us back to that courtroom scene that we talked about last week.
05:04-05:09
But the Lord is getting specific with his issues with the people.
05:09-05:14
You remember last week we saw in chapter one, the issue is idolatry.
05:16-05:24
But specifically, you know, there's one manifestation of idolatry that God is really fired up about, and that is covetousness.
05:25-05:35
You go to the New Testament, Colossians 3, 5 tells us that covetousness is idolatry, and it always gets God's attention, all right?
05:35-05:37
So look at the first couple of verses here.
05:37-05:43
It says, "Woe to those who devise wickedness "and work evil on their beds.
05:45-05:49
"When the morning dawns, they perform it "because it is in the power of their hand.
05:50-05:54
"They covet fields and seize them, and houses, "and take them away.
05:54-06:10
"They oppress a man and his house, "a man and his inheritance." Micah here is condemning people in power, whether these were political leaders or business leaders, they knew who he was talking about, but these are people who prey on the innocent.
06:11-06:13
And it's a sickening scene here.
06:13-06:16
It says, "On their beds," meaning premeditated.
06:16-06:25
They're laying down to go to sleep at night, And all they're thinking about is how can I get what doesn't belong to me?
06:26-06:34
How can I legally, and that's in quotes, legally steal from innocent people?
06:36-06:38
How can I take their livelihoods?
06:38-06:40
How can I take their children's inheritance?
06:43-06:44
Like, why would they do that?
06:46-07:02
Well, he tells you right here in verse one, "because it is in the power of their hand." In other words, if you ask them, "Why are you doing that?" They would say, "Because I can, that's why." They're abusing their authority.
07:03-07:19
Look at verses three and four, he goes on, "Therefore, thus says the Lord, "behold, against this family I am devising disaster "from which you cannot remove your necks "and you shall not walk haughtily, "For it will be a time of disaster.
07:19-07:27
"In that day, they shall take up a taunt song against you "and moan bitterly and say, 'We are utterly ruined.
07:27-07:30
"'He changes the portion of my people.
07:30-07:31
"'How he removes it from me!
07:32-07:39
"'To an apostate he allots our fields.'" So God uses their same language.
07:39-07:41
God invokes eye for an eye.
07:42-07:43
Do you see that?
07:43-07:47
He says, "You are devising to take from people." "Guess what?
07:48-07:57
"I'm devising to take from you." God says, "I'm going to knock you off your high horse.
07:58-08:00
"You're not gonna walk around haughtily.
08:00-08:01
"You're not gonna be proud.
08:01-08:10
"I'm gonna knock you down." Eventually, what happened was Assyria conquered the 10 northern tribes in about 722 BC.
08:11-08:13
I believe that's what he's talking about here.
08:14-08:23
Verse five, he goes on, he says, "Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot "in the assembly of the Lord." Cast the line, he's not talking about fishing.
08:23-08:27
That was a figure of speech to talk about measuring out land parcels.
08:28-08:35
What he was saying here is this, eventually Israel's gonna be restored, and we're gonna be measuring out parcels of land to divide up among the people, but guess what?
08:36-08:37
You ain't gonna be part of that.
08:37-08:39
You're gonna have nothing.
08:40-08:41
That's what he's saying.
08:43-08:44
Look at verse six.
08:46-08:48
Do not preach, thus they preach.
08:48-08:50
One should not preach of such things.
08:51-08:52
Disgrace will not overtake us.
08:54-08:56
You see, the people were denouncing the true prophets.
08:56-08:58
This is what I was talking about earlier.
08:58-09:03
There were people that were saying, hey, you shouldn't be preaching God's wrath.
09:03-09:04
I mean, come on, come on.
09:04-09:06
God's not going to punish us.
09:07-09:09
We're Israel, we're His people.
09:09-09:10
He's not going to punish us.
09:11-09:13
You shouldn't be talking like that.
09:16-09:23
Well, that's a problem, because you know, it's really hard to repent from sin that's not being preached.
09:25-09:28
He goes on, verse 7, "Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
09:29-09:30
Has the Lord grown impatient?
09:31-09:38
Are these his deeds?" Do not my words do good to him who walks uprightly?
09:40-09:43
You see, they were objecting to people who preached the word of God, like Micah.
09:44-09:51
They're like, "Hey, should you really be preaching "like this, going around, saying God is impatient "and God brings disaster on sinners?
09:51-10:02
"Come on, come on, Micah, that's not true." And Micah's response right there, "Do not my words do good to him who walks uprightly?" Micah's response is this.
10:03-10:09
Old Testament Israel, the enjoyment of covenant promises only comes to the people who keep the covenant.
10:10-10:11
That's how it worked in the old covenant.
10:12-10:17
But I would say church today, even today, I think there's a principle there for us.
10:17-10:25
And I would have to ask, why do those who despise God's words expect to receive blessing from God?
10:25-10:26
Same principle.
10:28-10:34
You want God to bless you and do good to you, but his word has no place in your life?
10:34-10:36
How do you come up with that?
10:38-10:43
There was just no market for Micah's message.
10:47-10:48
But he repeats it.
10:49-10:52
Verses eight through 10, he says it again, same thing.
10:52-10:56
"But lately my people have risen up as an enemy.
10:56-11:00
You strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly with no thought of war.
11:02-11:08
The women of my people, you drive out from their delightful houses, from their young children, you take away my splendor forever.
11:09-11:17
Arise and go, for this is no place to rest because of the uncleanness that destroys and with a grievous destruction.
11:20-11:21
See what he's saying?
11:21-11:25
He's saying to certain Israelites, you're acting like Israel's enemy.
11:27-11:28
That's what you're acting like.
11:28-11:32
You're coming upon your fellow Israelites who are trusting you.
11:34-11:35
You're stealing from them.
11:36-11:45
So now, God's evicting you because your thuggery has polluted the land.
11:46-11:47
Look at verse 11.
11:50-12:05
He says, "If a man should go about "and utter wind and lies, saying, "I will preach to you of wine and strong drink, "he would be the preacher for this people." Again, it's a problem with preachers.
12:07-12:08
Problem with preachers.
12:08-12:10
We see here, here's how to be a celebrity pastor.
12:11-12:12
It's right here.
12:13-12:15
I mean, I don't know how I missed it all these years.
12:17-12:25
I've been looking all through the Bible for sermon content, and I don't know, I don't know if I've ever preached a sermon on wine and strong drink.
12:27-12:28
So I thought about that for today.
12:30-12:32
Like, how would you like to hear that sermon?
12:33-12:45
Like if I got up before you today and said, "Today, I'll be preaching from the book of Budweiser." In the beginning, God created the hops and the barley.
12:48-12:52
You know, greater love has no man than this, that he shares beer with his friends.
12:55-12:57
Blessed are the intoxicated, for they shall dance well.
13:00-13:01
It's foolishness, right?
13:01-13:02
It's foolishness.
13:03-13:04
We can admit that, right, it's foolishness.
13:05-13:06
That's what he's saying.
13:07-13:10
He's like, that's the garbage that you wanna hear.
13:13-13:13
It's foolishness.
13:14-13:17
You don't wanna hear from God, right?
13:17-13:18
You don't wanna hear from God.
13:18-13:22
You want somebody to preach something that's gonna make you feel good.
13:22-13:23
That's what you want.
13:25-13:25
There's a problem.
13:28-13:31
But as always with these Old Testament prophets, it's not all doom and gloom.
13:31-13:32
He gives us that glimmer of hope.
13:32-13:34
Look at verses 12 and 13.
13:34-13:38
He says, "I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob.
13:39-13:41
"I will gather the remnant of Israel.
13:41-13:49
"I will set them together like sheep in a fold, "like a flock in its pasture, a noisy multitude of men.
13:50-13:56
"He who opens the breach," that's Jesus, by the way, "goes up before them.
13:57-14:01
"They break through and pass the gate, going out by it.
14:01-14:12
"Their king passes on before them the Lord at their hand." So he speaks of a day when Israel is going to be assembled and then liberated from confinement.
14:14-14:20
Many scholars believe that that was fulfilled in a particular event in about 701 BC.
14:22-14:25
And we're not gonna read it now, but I'll break these references down.
14:25-14:27
You know, the events talked about three times in the Bible.
14:28-14:30
It's talked about in 2 Kings 18 and 19.
14:31-14:38
It's talked about in 2 Chronicles 32, and it's talked about in Isaiah 36 and 37.
14:38-14:43
Short version, Jews fled to Jerusalem, Jerusalem under siege from the Assyrians.
14:44-14:50
King Hezekiah prayed, and God killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers while they slept.
14:51-14:56
And that whole scene foreshadows the day that the Messiah is going to protect Israel.
14:57-15:01
At the end of the tribulation, Zechariah 14 talks about it, Revelation 12.
15:02-15:06
This is a foreshadowing when God helps Israel flee from the Antichrist.
15:07-15:10
So this prophecy had a near and a far fulfillment.
15:12-15:13
That's Micah chapter two.
15:15-15:18
And what do we learn from Micah chapter two, my friends?
15:18-15:19
Here's what we learn.
15:19-15:24
That Israel in Micah's day had the same fatal flaw that we have in our day.
15:27-15:28
Lack of discernment.
15:29-15:32
Like, didn't we just have a sermon series on this?
15:32-15:32
Yeah.
15:34-15:35
And we're gonna have another sermon on this.
15:36-15:36
Why?
15:37-15:42
Because I've told you before, that's my biggest concern for this church, is lack of discernment.
15:44-15:53
Gobbling up anything that's being spewed, as long as it's called Christian, as long as there's a Bible verse kind of attached to it, well, I'm gonna believe this and follow this.
15:54-15:56
You gotta have discernment.
16:00-16:08
And the people in Micah's day, as Micah pointed out humorously, they couldn't tell a good sermon from a bad one.
16:11-16:15
And you know, you know the great thing about the internet?
16:16-16:21
The great thing about the internet is we have access to so many sermons.
16:24-16:26
But you know a bad thing about the internet?
16:32-16:33
Some of you got ahead of me.
16:35-16:39
We have access to so many sermons.
16:42-16:47
Now listen, I'm not telling you not to be listening to sermons.
16:47-16:49
I think you absolutely should.
16:49-16:49
I do.
16:51-16:54
I listen to sermons online from other preachers.
16:55-17:00
Here's what I am saying, you've gotta use discernment, people, and you've gotta watch for red flags.
17:02-17:10
And there are so many red flags, and Micah gives us a few, all right?
17:11-17:14
Micah gives us a few, so let's highlight those.
17:14-17:16
On your outline, four clues you're hearing a bad sermon.
17:20-17:22
Four clues you're hearing a bad sermon.
17:25-17:31
Keep these things in mind anytime you're listening to a sermon, even here, okay?
17:32-17:32
Even here.
17:35-17:37
Number one, the sermon avoids hard truths.
17:39-17:40
The sermon avoids hard truths.
17:40-17:42
Go back to verse six.
17:42-17:43
See this?
17:44-17:45
Do not preach lest they preach.
17:45-17:47
One should not preach of such things.
17:47-17:49
See, Micah was talking about the judgment of God.
17:50-17:59
They're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, nope, "we shouldn't be talking about these things." Many people evaluate a sermon based on how it makes them feel.
18:01-18:05
If the sermon makes me feel good, then it was a good sermon.
18:06-18:10
And if a sermon made me feel bad, then it was a bad sermon.
18:12-18:12
(buzzer buzzing)
18:13-18:13
Incorrect.
18:14-18:16
That is not how you evaluate a sermon.
18:18-18:20
People just wanna hear the good stuff, right?
18:20-18:21
Oh, just tell us the positive.
18:22-18:23
We don't wanna hear the negative stuff.
18:24-18:30
I don't wanna hear, just, can you, can you just preach like comfort to us?
18:31-18:39
Not so much of like the commandments and what God expects from me and disciples stuff.
18:39-18:42
Can you just affirm me?
18:43-18:44
Give me the good stuff.
18:45-18:46
That's what they were saying.
18:48-18:52
Nothing about guilt, nothing about, hey, you're in sin and you need to repent.
18:54-18:59
Nothing about, God's wrath is on people who do not obey the gospel.
19:02-19:03
They say, you shouldn't preach about things.
19:05-19:08
But Pastor Jeff, you're making people feel bad about themselves.
19:12-19:18
You know, it's funny, over the years of ministry, I've preached about hell many times.
19:20-19:23
You know, so many times that I've preached about hell, I've gotten pushback.
19:25-19:25
You shouldn't talk like that.
19:25-19:26
You shouldn't say those things.
19:27-19:28
Pastor Jeff, you shouldn't talk like that.
19:28-19:33
You know, that scares people and doesn't make people feel good.
19:33-19:38
And I've gotten so much pushback when I preached on hell.
19:38-19:44
But you know, it occurred to me this week as I was thinking through these things, I've preached on heaven a lot too.
19:45-19:47
And you know I've never gotten any pushback on that.
19:49-19:51
They're like, "Oh, that's a truth that's delicious.
19:52-19:58
"Tell us more about that." But hell, that's a truth, now we're not really interested in that one as much.
19:58-19:59
Do you see a problem?
19:59-20:03
When we start picking and choosing what it is that we want to hear from God?
20:03-20:04
That's a problem.
20:08-20:18
If hell isn't real, if sin isn't a problem, if guilt isn't a valid feeling for sinners who are disobeying God, then what is the purpose of the cross?
20:21-20:29
What moves us people to cry out to God for mercy and forgiveness from our eternally terminal condition?
20:30-20:39
If we don't address the reality that we're broken people and Jesus Christ came into this world to rescue us from our sin.
20:43-20:47
How are we gonna do that if we're avoiding the hard truths?
20:50-20:53
You know, just imagine with me, imagine if I went to the doctor.
20:53-21:45
Imagine I go to the doctor and I'm sitting down in a room and the doctor goes, "You know, Jeff, "your blood pressure is pretty high." And I say to him, "Too scary, what else you got?" And the doctor says, "Well, Jeff, you're a bit overweight." And I say, "I don't really want you making me feel bad about eating cake." "Next." And the doctor says, "Well, you know what, Jeff, as you're approaching 50, you know what What we recommend is that men about your age get a colonoscopy, and I say, that doesn't sound like fun.
21:49-21:57
The doctor says, Jeff, hey, we got your blood work back and it's giving me a lot of concern.
21:59-22:03
And I'm like, dude, you are really bumming me out.
22:05-22:07
Can we just talk about what is working?
22:07-22:10
My left elbow feels amazing.
22:11-22:12
Not a bit of pain.
22:12-22:13
Look at that, full range of motion.
22:13-22:14
Are you seeing this?
22:15-22:16
Can we just talk about this?
22:17-22:19
Let's just talk about how great my left elbow is.
22:19-22:20
Can we do that?
22:21-22:23
Truth be told, it's about the only thing that still works.
22:26-22:31
But wouldn't that be foolish of me to so address the doctor?
22:31-22:33
That's exactly what Mike is talking about.
22:33-22:37
'Cause that's the mentality that people have.
22:37-22:39
We just wanna hear about the good stuff.
22:39-22:41
Don't tell us any of the bad stuff.
22:41-22:42
Don't give us any warning.
22:44-22:49
That's why at Harvest, we preach through a book of the Bible, verse by verse, chapter by chapter.
22:49-22:50
Why?
22:50-22:51
Well, lots of reasons.
22:51-22:52
Here's a reason, we don't wanna avoid anything.
22:53-22:55
We don't wanna avoid anything.
22:58-23:00
Because you know, Jesus went right after the hard truths, didn't he?
23:01-23:16
Jesus said things like, "Deny yourself." Jesus said things like, "You need to carry your cross." Jesus said things like, "Oh, you wanna be great?
23:17-23:23
"Well, then you need to be a slave to everybody." And how did people react to Jesus?
23:25-23:40
Jesus often had people walk away from him, saying, "This is a hard saying, who can accept it?" Listen, my friends, whoever avoids hard truths isn't following the pattern of Jesus.
23:42-23:49
They aren't preaching the whole counsel of God, and they aren't being faithful to their ministry.
23:51-24:02
So when you hear a sermon that avoids hard truth about sin, about guilt, about repentance, about God's wrath, about costly discipleship.
24:02-24:06
If you hear a sermon like that, well, you're hearing a bad sermon, okay?
24:07-24:09
Here's another clue, number two.
24:09-24:10
Four clues you're hearing a bad sermon.
24:10-24:12
The sermon avoids hard truths, number two.
24:12-24:14
The sermon doesn't agree with something God already said.
24:15-24:16
How about that?
24:17-24:19
No brainer, look at verse six again.
24:22-24:24
He says again, "One should not preach of such things.
24:24-24:29
"Look, disgrace will not overtake us." Boy, that's a definitive statement, isn't it?
24:29-24:31
Disgrace will not overtake us.
24:31-24:32
It will not.
24:32-24:32
Wait, wait, wait.
24:33-24:40
You're saying, are you saying, Micah, that God is going to bring discipline on people who disobey him?
24:40-24:41
That's poppycock.
24:42-24:42
No way!
24:46-24:48
And you know, I thought so much about that this week.
24:48-24:58
You realize Micah was not the first preacher to warn of God's judgment on unbelievers, to warn of God's judgment coming upon the idolaters.
24:58-24:59
Do you know that's all through the Old Testament?
25:02-25:16
For example, Leviticus 26, 17, Deuteronomy 28, 15, Deuteronomy 30, 18, Deuteronomy 31, 17, 1 Kings 14, 16, Jeremiah 7, 15, Jeremiah 15, 1, Hosea 9, 17.
25:17-25:17
Do I need to go on?
25:18-25:18
Do you get the point?
25:19-25:23
This was a consistent message of God all through his prophets.
25:23-25:26
And then Micah says it and they're like, nah, that's not gonna happen.
25:28-25:28
Excuse me?
25:31-25:39
The preachers in Micah's day, these false teachers, they just, they were flat out contradicting what God already said.
25:41-25:43
Either that reminds you of Satan.
25:44-25:45
Remember Garden of Eden?
25:46-25:51
Tempting Eve to eat off the tree and Eve's like, Well, God says we're not supposed to eat that or touch it or we're gonna die.
25:52-25:53
You remember Satan's response?
25:53-25:54
You're not gonna die.
25:54-25:56
That's exactly what he's talking about here.
25:57-25:58
No, you're not gonna die.
25:59-25:59
No.
26:02-26:04
Satan's tactics never change.
26:04-26:07
All he does is recruit more spokesmen.
26:10-26:12
And the only remedy for this is to know your Bible.
26:13-26:20
You gotta read it and you gotta reread it and you gotta memorize Scripture Are you gonna meditate on the word of God?
26:20-26:31
And you have to be so familiar with God's truth that as soon as someone spews a lie, it is so obvious to you, like, "Man, that's not what God says.
26:33-26:39
"Caught that right away." It's gotta be so obvious to you.
26:41-26:49
You know, like when somebody gets up and says, "Okay, my friends, listen, "You know, God does not give you any more "than you can handle." Well, that's a popular sermon, isn't it?
26:49-26:50
You ever hear that one?
26:51-26:51
(slurps)
26:51-26:53
Sorry, I gag a little bit when I hear that.
26:54-26:54
(congregation laughs)
26:54-26:58
Threw up a little bit in my mouth when I hear people say that, because that is not in the Bible.
26:58-27:00
I've had people fight me on that.
27:00-27:01
That is in the Bible!
27:01-27:03
I'm like, that is not in the Bible!
27:03-27:04
It's not in the Bible.
27:05-27:08
Show me where that's in the Bible, that God does not give you more than you can handle.
27:10-27:17
I can show you where the Bible says God gives us way more than we can handle learn to depend on him and not ourselves.
27:19-27:27
So this idea that God doesn't give you more trials than you can handle, the Bible says God's not going to allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear.
27:27-27:29
That's a different thing, but that's not what people are preaching.
27:31-27:34
You gotta know what the Bible says.
27:34-27:35
Here's another one.
27:35-27:40
People say, well, you know, God's done with Israel, and the church has replaced Israel.
27:41-27:42
That's not true.
27:43-27:44
Read Romans 9, 10, and 11.
27:46-27:48
God has not replaced Israel with anything.
27:49-27:58
God made a covenant with Israel, and God's going to fulfill that covenant, but there's people that preach that, and it's wrong, and you've gotta know your Bibles.
28:00-28:01
Here's another one.
28:02-28:06
You know, women are just as qualified to be pastors of churches as men.
28:09-28:17
Look, I know somebody right now is like, "Oh, that's a sexist statement." My most favorite human being on the planet is a woman.
28:20-28:21
By far.
28:23-28:28
Look, it's not speaking about ability or talent.
28:32-28:36
The Bible says there's roles that God has for men and roles God has for women.
28:37-28:39
And you can take that up with him, but that's what he said.
28:42-28:49
By the way, don't assume that a sermon is biblical just because a Bible verse is read.
28:51-28:52
That happens a lot.
28:53-29:02
People get up and they read a verse and then they start spewing trash and you're like, "Well, he read a verse, so this must be biblical." No, no, no, that's not the evaluation.
29:02-29:08
You need to ask yourself, "Is the preacher expositing?" Meaning this, "The preacher, is he representing the text?
29:10-29:15
Is he echoing what's in there, not using it as a springboard to launch into his own thing?
29:17-29:21
Is what he's saying agreeing with everything else that God said in his word?
29:21-29:24
And if the answer is no, then you're hearing a bad sermon.
29:27-29:29
Four clues you're hearing a bad sermon.
29:29-29:33
The sermon doesn't, I'm sorry, the sermon avoids hard truths.
29:33-29:36
The sermon doesn't agree with something God already said, number three.
29:37-29:39
Here's another huge clue.
29:39-29:40
The sermon appeals to the flesh.
29:43-29:44
The sermon appeals to the flesh.
29:44-29:45
Look at verse 11 again.
29:45-29:58
If a man should go about and utter wind and lies, old windbag, saying, I will preach to you of wine and strong drink.
30:03-30:04
I will preach to you of wine and strong drink.
30:04-30:07
Some people are like, oh, I hope this is a sermon series.
30:08-30:09
I wanna hear about this.
30:10-30:11
It's an appeal to the flesh.
30:13-30:23
There's a huge clue, listen, huge clue that it's a bad sermon when the spotlight of the sermon isn't on Jesus Christ, but the spotlight's on you.
30:26-30:30
See, here's the message of the gospel, the short version.
30:32-30:35
The message of the gospel is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
30:36-30:41
He died to take away our sin, and He rose from the dead to give us eternal life.
30:42-30:53
And upon believing in Him, His Spirit indwells all believers, and His people are to grow as disciples by the power of His Holy Spirit, by the wisdom that comes from His word.
30:55-30:56
That's the gospel.
30:57-31:02
But that has been replaced in our day by sermons that are all about my benefit.
31:03-31:07
Sermons that cater to, God wants me to be happy.
31:10-31:11
God wants me to be happy.
31:12-31:13
Like, what do you mean?
31:13-31:16
I'm gonna give you a couple examples of these kinds of things.
31:17-31:22
One is, we can call it the psychologized message of self-actualization.
31:24-31:25
Oh, that sounds so technical.
31:26-31:29
The psychologized message of self-actualization.
31:29-31:29
What does that mean?
31:32-31:37
I mean, so much preaching in our day is that Jesus is our divine psychologist who wants us to learn how to love ourselves.
31:38-31:47
Jesus' main concern for me is that I have positive feelings, that I stop thinking less of myself and I start thinking more of myself.
31:52-31:59
And in this message, I need to see myself as a victim of psychological disorders rather than an offender of God's law.
31:59-32:08
What I need is healing and purpose in my life rather than mercy and forgiveness.
32:10-32:11
Do you see the problem?
32:12-32:21
You see it, it's self-centered, it's self-loving, it's self-pitying, and it's producing a non-serving generation of churchgoers.
32:25-32:34
Because instead of denying yourself, instead of spending myself for the sake of the gospel and his kingdom to make disciples.
32:34-32:37
We've turned that all into self-fulfillment.
32:41-32:43
Another example is the prosperity gospel.
32:44-32:47
If you have enough faith, God's gonna make you healthy and wealthy.
32:48-32:56
And there's whole ministries built on persuading people, sow your financial seed and reap a financial harvest.
33:02-33:06
Do I believe that the more you give to God, the more God gives back to you?
33:06-33:08
100%, I believe that.
33:10-33:14
But see, people have turned that into the whole thing.
33:17-33:21
And sermons have turned into motivational pep talks, not calls to discipleship.
33:22-33:25
And you listen to those sermons, actually very little is said about Jesus Christ.
33:26-33:33
Very little is said about the cross, but much is said about how God wants you to be rich.
33:33-33:34
It's a problem.
33:38-33:40
Other examples, the word of faith movement.
33:41-33:47
You have the power to speak things into existence, name it and claim it, believe it, speak it, receive it.
33:50-34:00
I could go on, but I think you see my point that like in Micah's day, so much in the church today is all about me.
34:00-34:08
It appeals to the flesh, and it turns the gospel of Jesus Christ into self-serving lies.
34:12-34:20
And by the way, the Bible totally predicted this was going to happen in our day, just as it happened in Micah's day.
34:21-34:23
Like look at 2 Timothy 4, verses three through four.
34:25-34:26
Look at this.
34:28-34:44
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to, oh, there it is, suit their own passions.
34:44-34:52
Not teachers to tell me about Jesus, not teachers to explain the gospel, not teachers to tell me how to be a disciple, suit my passions.
34:53-34:57
We'll turn away from listening to the truth, wander off into myths.
34:58-35:01
You see, Paul says the time is coming and I would say it's now here.
35:04-35:10
When a sermon focuses on you, when it appeals to your flesh, that's a clue that you're listening to a bad sermon.
35:12-35:13
And finally, one more.
35:15-35:17
The sermon attracts non-spiritual people.
35:20-35:21
Look at the end of verse 11.
35:22-35:26
Again, he says, you know, the person says, I will preach to you of wine and strong drink.
35:27-35:30
Look at this last statement, he goes, he would be the preacher for this people.
35:30-35:39
Wow, that's an indictment on the spiritual condition of Israel, and it's not good, not good.
35:40-35:41
That wasn't a compliment from Micah.
35:44-35:49
And I have to tell you, church, don't assume because the church is big that the truth is being proclaimed.
35:51-35:59
Somehow we get in our minds that the size of the church shows you how faithful the church is being to the Lord, and that's not always the case.
36:00-36:07
You know, Islam has like 1.8 billion followers, and they're not exactly representing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
36:08-36:10
When I say not exactly, I mean not at all.
36:14-36:22
But when you avoid hard biblical truths, but instead you seek to appeal to the flesh, you're gonna get a large following.
36:25-36:27
But not of people that know their Bibles.
36:29-36:43
You're going to want, you're going to get, excuse me, you're gonna get people that just want some personal benefit, even if that personal benefit is, you know what, I feel really good about myself because I went to church today.
36:46-36:50
A sermon that doesn't have the gospel attracts people that don't want to hear the gospel.
36:52-36:53
And that's a clue.
36:54-36:55
It's a bad sermon.
36:58-36:59
Micah chapter 2.
37:02-37:05
Church, I would say again, no, no.
37:07-37:13
The message of Micah is the message for 2024 America.
37:17-37:19
We're facing God's judgment right now.
37:21-37:27
And when someone stands up and says they're speaking for God, you better know how to discern.
37:29-37:29
Let's pray.
37:31-37:38
Father in heaven, it's just astounding to me how relevant your word is.
37:39-37:41
I mean, your word tells us it's living and active.
37:43-37:58
But when I get to a passage like this and look at the state of the Christian church in America, it's staggering how directly this applies.
38:01-38:09
Father, I could bemoan what's happening in other churches, but really you've called me to focus on what's happening in this one.
38:10-38:14
And I pray for my brothers and sisters here that we would grow in discernment.
38:14-38:16
Your word tells us it's something that we learn.
38:17-38:19
It's something that we have to grow in.
38:19-38:22
And I pray, Father, that we would grow in this discipline.
38:22-38:34
We would grow in the ability to immediately be able to recognize garbage when it's being spewed, but it's being called the word of God.
38:37-38:54
Father, we thank you that you've given us a book, something that can be analyzed and read and re-read and compared and meditated on, and you've given us this book so that these truths are frozen.
38:58-39:04
Father, for Harvest Bible Chapel, help us to grow as discerners of your Word.
39:05-39:07
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Micah 2:1-13

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Tell of a bad sermon you’ve heard. What made it “bad”?
What would you say to a friend that excitedly follows a pastor that you know preaches unbiblical sermons?
Which of these “4 clues” catches your attention the easiest when you detect a bad sermon?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

August 18, 2024

Nation Facing Judgment

Mourn

Jeff Miller

August 18, 2024

Nation Facing Judgment

Introduction:

How does the thought of God's judgment on sinners make you feel? (Micah 1:1-16)

Are you Apathetic ?
Are you Angry ?
Are you Amused ?

How Do I Mourn If I Don't Feel Like Mourning?

Confess your own sin.
Isaiah 6:4-5 - And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
Consider the condition of sinners.
Luke 19:41-44 - And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
Concentrate on the cross.
Romans 5:8 - God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:43-01:19
Micah chapter 1, verse 1 says, "The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheph in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem." The name Micah means "who is like Jehovah." And he prophesied during the reign of these kings of Judah that are listed here.
01:19-01:25
We're talking about 735 to about 700 BC.
01:26-01:34
And it was a nation that was very outwardly religious, but very inwardly sinful.
01:35-01:35
Sound familiar?
01:39-01:40
It was a day of idolatry.
01:41-01:43
It was a day of impurity.
01:44-01:46
It was a day of injustice.
01:46-01:47
Sound familiar?
01:49-01:54
And Micah's message is this, judgment is coming.
01:57-02:06
And during Micah's ministry, it came to Israel, the Northern kingdom, about 722 BC as the Assyrians conquered them.
02:06-02:19
And long after Micah's ministry, his word, the word of the Lord through him would come true as judgment would come to Judah by the hand of the Babylonians about 586 BC.
02:22-02:32
But there's a message that's here for 2024 America because as we saw last week, We are under the wrath of God.
02:33-02:38
You can't read Romans chapter one and deny the wrath of God is here, people.
02:42-03:04
So Micah's message applies, and here's Micah's message, despite judgment, despite judgment, pardon is offered, restoration is promised, And there is hope, despite the circumstances we see around us.
03:06-03:09
So let's bow our heads as we dive into chapter one.
03:09-03:19
I'm gonna ask quickly that you just pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's word, and I'll pray for you to be ready to receive it today.
03:20-03:20
Let's pray.
03:23-03:29
Father, we believe your word is living and active, You have a message here for us today.
03:32-03:40
May we understand it clearly and accurately, and may we receive it wholeheartedly.
03:41-03:47
We pray in Jesus' name, and all of God's people said, amen.
03:48-03:49
Do you love ice cream, my friends?
03:50-03:53
All right, on the count of three, I want you to shout out your favorite flavor.
03:53-03:54
I'll give you a second to think about it.
03:56-03:58
On the count of three, just shout out your favorite flavor of ice cream.
03:59-04:00
You ready?
04:01-04:03
One, two, three.
04:06-04:06
Me too.
04:11-04:13
I hate ice cream.
04:14-04:18
I mean, I love ice cream.
04:18-04:19
It tastes so good.
04:21-04:22
But I hate ice cream.
04:23-04:27
Ice cream makes me so sick, it just does.
04:27-04:30
And every single time I eat ice cream, nom nom nom nom, it's so good.
04:31-04:35
And then like an hour later, I'm like, why did I do that to myself again?
04:38-04:52
And you know, it always reminds me of what John experienced, Revelation chapter 10, and verse 10, he's talking about this little scroll that signified the judgment of God.
04:52-04:55
John says, "And I took the little scroll "from the hand of the angel and ate it.
04:58-05:11
"It was sweet as honey in my mouth, "but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter." That's the response to God's judgment.
05:13-05:16
He's like, on one hand, it was so sweet.
05:17-05:18
Why was it sweet?
05:18-05:30
Because it's so sweet to think "God's gonna make all things right." And all this wickedness and rebelliousness of people, "God's gonna make it all right." And that's sweet to know.
05:31-05:33
That's sweet to know that God is gonna make all things right.
05:33-05:55
But he said, "It was bitter in my stomach "because it's not a great feeling to think "that God making all things right "means that there are people heading to eternal judgment." That kind of gives you a sour feeling afterwards when you think about that.
05:56-06:02
When you consider that lost people, as God is making all things right, lost people are going to hell.
06:04-06:05
Does that bother you at all?
06:13-06:14
How do you feel?
06:17-06:20
And I know we don't talk about feelings that much, we talk about facts.
06:22-06:23
But today we are going to talk about feelings.
06:25-06:32
How do you feel knowing that God's wrath is here right now?
06:33-06:33
How does that make you feel?
06:35-06:38
After we studied Romans one last week, how did you feel about that?
06:39-06:49
And how do you feel knowing that God's wrath is also coming in the events of revelation, how does that make you feel?
06:53-06:54
Well, let's look at Micah.
06:56-07:01
Just gonna take it a chunk at a time here in chapter one so we can wrap our brains around what's happening.
07:02-07:09
But first, Micah just basically says, "Hey, hey, listen up, listen up everybody, "judgment is coming." Look at the verses two through four.
07:10-07:23
He says, "Hear you peoples, all of you, "Pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, "and let the Lord be a witness against you, "the Lord from His holy temple.
07:23-07:30
"For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place "and will come down and tread "upon the high places of the earth.
07:31-07:53
"And the mountains will melt under Him "and the valleys will split open "like wax before the fire, "like waters poured down a steep place." So the picture here is like you're in God's courtroom, which is a terrifying thought because in God's courtroom realize God is the plaintiff and he's also the judge.
07:56-08:09
And Micah here in this opening statement is saying, hey, by the way, people, you know, God is not safely far away detached from human affairs.
08:09-08:18
He says, God is, he's coming down and it's going to be absolutely devastating when he does.
08:20-08:23
So why, what's the problem?
08:23-08:24
Why is God so fired up?
08:24-08:26
Well, look at verses five through seven.
08:28-08:33
He says, "All this is for the transgression of Jacob." That's another name for Israel.
08:35-08:40
"And for the sins of the house of Israel." What is the transgression of Jacob?
08:42-08:43
Is it not Samaria?
08:44-08:46
And what is the high place of Judah?
08:47-08:48
Is it not Jerusalem?
08:49-09:01
Therefore I will make Samaria a heap, in the open country a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations.
09:02-09:05
All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces.
09:06-09:12
All her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste.
09:14-09:20
For from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
09:22-09:23
Like, why is God so fired up?
09:24-09:27
He tells you right here, it's transgressions and sins.
09:27-09:31
Specifically, the issue is idolatry.
09:32-09:35
And in that little chunk we read, he said, you know what Jerusalem is like?
09:35-09:39
Jerusalem has turned into like one big pagan altar.
09:45-09:49
Idolatry is a sin that God takes so seriously.
09:50-09:52
Like, well, what is idolatry?
09:52-10:09
Idolatry is when you take the love and devotion and adoration that should go to God, and you give that to something or someone else, that's idolatry.
10:11-10:18
And you're like, "Phew, man, "sounds like those people had an idolatry problem." Hey, hey, you better tune in.
10:21-10:22
Idolatry is the sin of our nation.
10:26-10:29
Like, we don't have, we ain't worshiping like little stone idols.
10:31-10:37
Oh no, no, no, we have so many, we have so many idols that we failed to recognize it.
10:38-10:39
Idols like sports.
10:43-10:45
Idols like music.
10:47-10:50
Idols in Hollywood, they're everywhere.
10:54-10:57
And I think it's gotten so bad that most people can't even recognize it.
11:00-11:06
You know, most of us Pittsburghers can name the whole roster for the Pittsburgh Steelers but can't name the 12 apostles.
11:10-11:16
There's a lot of people that know every word to a Taylor Swift album, but I can't memorize scripture.
11:16-11:18
I'm just not really good at memorizing things.
11:21-11:22
True or false?
11:27-11:34
I don't know what time, I just, oh, Pastor Jeff, I don't have time to get involved in helping a church.
11:34-11:37
I just don't have time to go to small group.
11:37-11:44
But we got time to take little Joey to his T-ball game in Blonox eight days a week.
11:46-11:48
Right, oh, he's on a travel T-ball team.
11:51-11:53
We got games in Dubois.
11:56-12:03
We have time for that because we all know Joey's got a bright future ahead in t-ball.
12:05-12:10
We have all the time in the world for that, but small group for an hour and a half a week?
12:11-12:23
I can't do that." And you say, "Ouch." And I say, well, maybe you're not as free from idolatry as you'd like to think you are.
12:26-12:29
Like, what was he talking about prostitution here?
12:30-12:33
Well, there's a couple things to think about with that.
12:33-12:39
You know, many ancient pagan religions made prostitution a part of their worship, sick.
12:41-12:53
And I think this is brought up in the context of idolatry because when you study your Old Testaments, Idolatry is likened to harlotry, meaning this.
12:54-12:56
Do you know how God feels about idolatry?
12:56-12:58
Do you know how he feels about it?
12:59-13:00
God feels, by the way.
13:01-13:02
Do you know how he feels about idolatry?
13:03-13:08
It's like a man who has a wife that becomes a prostitute.
13:11-13:12
God feels like that man.
13:14-13:17
The book of Hosea, that's what the whole book is about.
13:19-13:21
But understand, God feels.
13:22-13:33
When we choose to put our adoration and love in other things, other than God, he feels like a husband whose wife became a prostitute.
13:33-13:34
That's how he feels.
13:35-13:41
So now are you starting to understand why this is something that fires him up the way that it does?
13:45-13:49
Look at Micah's reaction, verses 8 and 9.
13:50-14:02
He says, "For this I will lament and wail, I will go stripped and naked, I will make lamentations like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches.
14:02-14:07
For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah.
14:08-14:15
that has reached to the gate of my people to Jerusalem." This was Micah's reaction.
14:15-14:16
He says he's lamenting and wailing.
14:16-14:18
He's making lamentations.
14:18-14:18
He's mourning.
14:19-14:21
He was grieving over the state of his nation.
14:21-14:22
And you're like, why?
14:22-14:23
And he tells us why.
14:23-14:25
He says the wound is incurable.
14:25-14:27
There's no recovery from this.
14:27-14:28
There's no fix.
14:29-14:30
God's going to show up.
14:30-14:33
We're not turning this franchise around anytime soon.
14:34-14:35
And listen, people, that is America.
14:40-14:57
You're like, "Is it really that bad?" Well, we saw in Romans 1 last week the manifestation of God's wrath of abandonment has reached its worst when you have a nation that applauds sin.
14:58-14:59
We're their people.
15:01-15:26
at the point that you're a racist, bigot, homophobe if you don't applaud sin. We're there people. The last chunk here, and Micah, he gets very specific. I want to explain to Let's see what's going on here.
15:27-15:35
Micah lists 11 towns in the area that are going to face God's judgment through the invading enemy.
15:36-15:38
And I wanna kinda give you a heads up here.
15:38-15:45
In the Hebrew, all of these towns and the description of what's happening to them, it's all wordplay.
15:46-15:52
It's all puns based on the name of the city or the sound of the name.
15:53-15:56
Understand, Micah wasn't trying to be funny, okay?
15:56-15:59
This wasn't like dad joke time.
16:00-16:07
He was talking about judgment, again, using wordplay based on the city.
16:09-16:15
You know, think of it this way, like, you know how, like, even in our country, cities have, like, special, like, nicknames and things like that?
16:16-16:20
Like, Pittsburgh is known as the, the Steel City, right?
16:20-16:24
And New York is known as the Big Apple, right?
16:24-16:29
And Chicago is known as the Windy City, right?
16:30-16:36
So it would be like this chunk we're looking at here, it would be like if Micah was in our day saying something like this.
16:38-16:41
The Steel City is going to rust away.
16:42-16:46
The Big Apple is going to rot and be thrown in the garbage.
16:48-16:52
and the windy city is going to be leveled by a tornado.
16:53-16:54
See, that's what he's doing here.
16:55-16:58
And I'm not gonna explain all of these.
16:58-17:00
If you want a homework assignment, you can do that.
17:00-17:02
You can look these things up.
17:02-17:07
But I just wanted to give you the heads up that that's what is happening in these verses.
17:08-17:10
So he says, "Tell it not in gaffe.
17:12-17:18
"Weep not at all, and Bethleafra, roll yourselves in the dust.
17:21-17:23
Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir.
17:24-17:30
In nakedness and shame, the inhabitants of Zanon will come out.
17:32-17:38
The lamentation of Bethazel shall take away from you its standing place.
17:38-17:47
For the inhabitants of Moreth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.
17:48-17:52
Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish.
17:54-18:00
It was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel.
18:01-18:05
Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth Gath.
18:06-18:10
The houses of Aqsa shall be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.
18:11-18:13
"I will again bring a conqueror to you.
18:15-18:21
"Inhabitants of Mereshah, the glory of Israel, "shall come to Adulam.
18:23-18:28
"Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, "for the children of your delight.
18:31-18:42
"Make yourselves bald as the eagle, "for they shall go from you into exile." There again, that last verse, shaving, you know, your head.
18:43-18:44
He was calling the people to mourn.
18:45-18:54
Micah was prophetically seeing the exile take place, and he was crushed by it.
18:57-19:08
As we said, America is currently facing the wrath of God through abandonment, and America is going to face much worse from God.
19:11-19:16
And I want to ask you again the question that we asked at the beginning, how does that make you feel?
19:24-19:27
On your outline, I want you to jot some things down here.
19:28-19:29
So I'm going to ask you, how do you feel about that?
19:30-19:32
The first one is this, are you apathetic?
19:35-19:36
Are you apathetic?
19:36-19:50
many Christians, when we talk about the judgment of God, their reaction is just, "Meh." That judgment is a doctrine that we affirm, right?
19:50-19:52
And we're like, "Yes, that is a true doctrine of Scripture.
19:52-20:01
I do believe." But judgment isn't a reality that we mourn over.
20:05-20:09
For a lot of Christians, they say, well, you know what, yeah, judgment is true.
20:09-20:12
Sinners are just going to get what's coming to them.
20:12-20:13
That's just the way it is.
20:13-20:14
I mean, judgment, it happens, right?
20:15-20:17
It happens, and that's just the way it is.
20:22-20:29
How can we say that we have the love of God in us and be so callous about that?
20:32-20:33
So are you apathetic?
20:34-20:36
Maybe for some of you, you're angry.
20:37-20:38
Letter B, are you angry?
20:38-20:42
Oh yes, listen, there is a place for righteous anger.
20:43-20:44
Absolutely, yes.
20:45-20:47
But many people are just, they're just fed up.
20:48-20:53
And their reaction is just complaining when they see all the sin.
20:54-20:55
Knowing that God's judgment is coming.
20:56-21:03
You know, they think of men competing in women's sports and there's drag queen story hour and there's corrupt leaders.
21:04-21:07
And we're just disgusted and we're condemning.
21:08-21:13
And we're saying, you know what, I can't wait until God punishes them.
21:17-21:17
Are you angry?
21:21-21:23
Let her see, how about this one, are you amused?
21:23-21:24
Are you amused?
21:27-21:35
We look at all the perversion, all the wickedness, And we just make it a joke.
21:35-21:38
We got our memes, we got our reels.
21:40-21:42
We make fun of it on social media.
21:42-21:44
We love the Babylon Bee.
21:44-21:46
Boy, they're really getting their shots in.
21:48-21:51
We just laugh at the absurdity of it all.
21:56-21:57
Maybe you're like me.
21:58-21:59
I've bounced around all three of those.
22:01-22:01
I have.
22:04-22:13
But Micah models the only real appropriate action that God's people should have as their nation faces judgment.
22:13-22:14
He mourns.
22:15-22:23
And church, today I just want to ask you, and I have to ask myself, when was the last time we mourned over the sin of our people?
22:25-22:32
When was the last time we were grieved knowing that God was going to punish the sins of the people?
22:33-22:35
When was the last time that happened?
22:43-23:20
When we talk about sinners facing the judgment of God, listen, we're not talking about hypothetical characters that live in a figurative place that are facing ambiguous consequences. We're talking about real people in my neighborhood that are going to suffer tremendously for their sin. Does that bother you? I'm sure for many of us, you're thinking right now, Okay, honesty check, I get it.
23:21-23:22
Okay, Jeff, I get it.
23:22-23:23
I should mourn.
23:23-23:24
I should.
23:24-23:25
I should.
23:27-23:30
But honestly, I don't.
23:30-23:32
I'm not there.
23:33-23:35
I'm just not there.
23:36-23:45
And I can understand what you're saying, and I see how Micah was mourning over the sins of his people, but Jeff, I'm just not there.
23:50-23:51
How do I get there?
23:52-23:53
I'm so glad you asked.
23:54-24:00
Because in your outline, how do I mourn if I don't feel like mourning?
24:02-24:05
How do I mourn if I don't feel like mourning?
24:08-24:14
I'll give you three things here that I want you to take with you today that I want you to carry with you this week.
24:16-24:18
and you're gonna see a change in your heart.
24:19-24:20
How do I mourn if I don't feel like mourning?
24:21-24:23
Number one, confess your own sin.
24:26-24:30
Because understand that this was the question that I wrestled with, I shared with you.
24:31-24:38
I bounced between all of those, the apathy, the anger, the amusement, and I had to ask myself, you know, God, how do I get there?
24:43-24:45
And this has to be the first step.
24:45-24:47
It takes us to Isaiah's day.
24:47-24:55
Remember Isaiah chapter six, he saw the Lord in the temple, and this was his reaction.
24:55-25:07
He said, "And I said, 'Woe is me, for I am lost.'" Look at this, "For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
25:07-25:16
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." You see, Isaiah mourned the sin of his nation, but you see what he did first?
25:18-25:21
First, he came into recognition of his own sin.
25:25-25:32
And before you're gonna feel sorry about the sins of America, you gotta get sorry over your own sin.
25:37-25:40
Can you recognize your own waywardness?
25:43-25:45
I'm talking to Christians now.
25:47-25:58
Christians, do you see that despite the fact that you truly have a love for the Lord, you fall back into rebellion?
25:59-26:01
You fall back into lust of the flesh.
26:02-26:06
You fall back into old patterns of living that dishonor the Lord.
26:09-26:12
And can you recognize it when you do that?
26:13-26:17
It hurts your testimony, it hurts others, it hurts yourself.
26:20-26:26
And if we're going to mourn over the sins of our nation, we've got to confess our sins before God first.
26:27-26:30
And that means, church, we've got to stop minimizing it.
26:31-26:32
We've got to stop excusing it.
26:33-26:35
Are we gonna stop comparing ourselves with others?
26:40-26:42
I wanna encourage you to get specific.
26:44-26:49
To say something like this, you know, God, I see in my own life my tendency to stray.
26:53-26:57
God, I see in my own life my selfish desires that I know are wrong.
27:00-27:02
selfish desires that I go after no matter who it hurts.
27:08-27:15
To pray before the Lord, God, I see my own hypocrisy of criticizing other people's sins while justifying my own.
27:18-27:24
God, I see in my life, I want to do the right thing, but I fail so often at that.
27:29-27:30
Can you get there?
27:35-27:46
Because if you will, the next thing you're going to say is, and I recognize, God, that I live with people who are just the same as me.
27:47-27:48
I'm no better than them.
27:50-27:52
I'm no different than them.
27:53-27:57
Because we're all lost without you.
28:00-28:16
So do a reality check on yourself, and recognize that every single other person has the same problem, a foolish disregard for the God who loves us.
28:18-28:19
Start there.
28:20-28:21
Confess your own sin.
28:22-28:26
to consider the condition of sinners.
28:27-28:29
Consider the condition of sinners.
28:30-28:32
So we're gonna fast forward from Isaiah's day.
28:33-28:36
Well, Jesus was actually who Isaiah saw in the temple, by the way.
28:37-28:39
But we're gonna fast forward to another scene involving Jesus.
28:40-28:42
This takes us to Luke chapter 19.
28:44-28:47
Now this is known as the triumphal entry.
28:48-28:57
You know, they're having this big celebration It says Jesus rides into Jerusalem, but you see Jesus wasn't celebrating.
28:59-29:03
It says when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it.
29:03-29:04
There's what Jesus did.
29:05-29:06
He wept over it.
29:07-29:10
Why was Jesus mourning over people?
29:10-29:21
Look, it says, saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day "the things that make for peace, But now they are hidden from your eyes.
29:24-29:36
For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you.
29:38-29:51
And they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation." See, Jesus mourned over the Jews in Jerusalem for two reasons.
29:53-29:57
The first one is they were lost.
29:59-30:03
And the second reason is they're going to suffer.
30:08-30:10
Think about those two reasons.
30:10-30:13
This is what made our Lord mourn over people.
30:15-30:16
First of all, lost.
30:20-30:21
They were clueless.
30:22-30:23
They were blind.
30:25-30:30
They were people who were completely oblivious to what was really going on.
30:32-30:35
Like, "You sure about that?" "Yeah, I'm sure." Do you remember what Jesus said on the cross?
30:36-30:41
"Father, forgive them, For they do not know what they are doing.
30:42-30:44
Jesus said they're lost.
30:45-30:46
They are so lost.
30:47-30:51
They have no idea that their God is right here with them.
30:52-30:53
They're lost.
30:55-30:58
The second thing we said is they're going to suffer.
31:01-31:03
may Jesus mourn. He says they're going to suffer.
31:07-31:22
Let me ask you some questions. Go ahead and shout out your answer like you did the ice cream. But according to the Bible, when a lost person dies, where do they go for eternity?
31:22-31:23
Shout out the answer.
31:24-31:24
To hell.
31:25-31:27
According to the Bible, they go to hell.
31:30-31:32
And what is hell like?
31:32-31:33
Shout out your answer.
31:33-31:37
Is hell a good place or is hell a place of suffering?
31:37-31:38
Shout it out.
31:39-31:40
Suffering.
31:42-31:43
How long does hell last?
31:43-31:45
Is it temporary or is it eternal?
31:46-31:46
Shout it out.
31:50-32:16
believe all that? I mean, you say it, but do you really believe all that? That hell is a place of eternal suffering for the lost? Well, you say you believe it, but when When was the last time you really stopped to think about that?
32:23-32:28
You know what, people, the internet has us so detached from thinking of people as human beings.
32:31-32:49
We live in a day, instead of actually having a conversation with people, we'd rather text, or we'd rather post something on their social media wall or whatever, we've turned politicians into caricatures in our minds.
32:54-32:57
So when we talk about lost people, we're so detached.
32:57-33:02
We talk about lost people, it's like, that's a concept, that's not my problem.
33:06-33:16
You know, we come face to face with these issues, like the transgender madness, like drug addiction, like abortion, and you're like, not my problem.
33:20-33:21
Until it's your son.
33:23-33:24
Until it's your nephew.
33:25-33:26
Until it's your daughter.
33:27-33:28
Until it's your cousin.
33:36-33:47
And some say, well look, you know what Jeff, "You know, you're saying I should feel bad "about the fate of the unredeemed, "but they did it to themselves." Right, they did it to themselves.
33:49-33:56
Does that make it more tragic or less tragic that they did it to themselves?
33:57-34:13
See, to me, that kind of makes it more tragic that somebody is hell-bent on going to hell Despite warnings, despite God's intervention, they double down on the wickedness.
34:13-34:15
That's more tragic to me.
34:18-34:22
Jesus mourned because people were lost and people were going to suffer.
34:25-34:28
Like, I'm not there, I'm not there.
34:28-34:32
Well, imagine this scenario with me.
34:33-34:59
Imagine you walk out of church today, and you're gonna walk down to Sheetz, and you go out to the sidewalk here, and you're walking down, and you look at this big intersection right here, you see a blind man standing at the intersection, and he starts walking into traffic.
35:01-35:03
And you're like, where's this going?
35:06-35:10
He gets hit by a truck, right in the middle of the intersection.
35:11-35:15
Like a truck going full speed through a green light.
35:21-35:22
Do you have that scene in your head?
35:27-35:32
If you saw that, I promise you, you wouldn't be empathetic.
35:35-35:39
You wouldn't walk away from that going, no, not my problem.
35:42-35:45
I promise you, you wouldn't be angry about that.
35:46-35:50
You wouldn't watch that man get hit by a truck and say, oh, this makes me so mad.
35:51-35:54
Blind people just never seeing where they're going.
35:55-35:57
What is the matter with blind people?
35:58-36:00
Why do blind people walk in the middle of busy intersections?
36:01-36:02
I'm so sick of it.
36:03-36:04
He deserved that.
36:05-36:06
You wouldn't say that.
36:09-36:10
And you certainly wouldn't be amused.
36:12-36:13
Be nothing to laugh at.
36:14-36:19
Be nothing to turn into a meme and put on your social media.
36:24-36:25
What would you do?
36:26-36:30
Well, I'll tell you exactly what you do.
36:31-36:37
You would feel horrible that their condition led to their suffering.
36:39-36:46
You would feel horrible that their condition led to their suffering.
36:53-36:57
What does that say about how we view blind sinners walking into hell?
37:03-37:07
See, this is the case of every sinner that you know.
37:07-37:10
They're lost and they're going to suffer.
37:14-37:16
You need to consider the condition of sinners.
37:17-37:19
Get honest to God in prayer over it.
37:20-37:21
Maybe you need to start there.
37:21-37:27
I would say, "Get in your room, shut the door, "and get on your face and say, "God, I'm gonna confess something to you.
37:27-37:30
"I haven't cared." By the way, God already knows.
37:32-37:33
That's why we're confessing.
37:35-37:36
I haven't cared for others.
37:36-37:38
Remind me, God, that people aren't the enemy.
37:39-37:40
People are the victims of the enemy.
37:40-37:45
Move my heart knowing that they're blind and lost and heading to suffering.
37:49-37:50
How do I feel?
37:50-37:52
How do I mourn if I don't feel like mourning?
37:53-37:54
Number one, confess your own sin.
37:54-37:56
Number two, consider the condition of sinners.
37:56-37:59
And then finally, number three, concentrate on the cross.
38:02-38:18
Romans 5, 8 says, "God shows his love for us "in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." If you're having a hard time mourning the condition of sinners, I just want you in your mind's eye, do it right now.
38:18-38:23
I want you to envision in your mind's eye, Jesus Christ on the cross.
38:25-38:27
Do you have that image in your head?
38:29-38:34
Of our savior, bloody and battered, nailed to the cross.
38:38-38:46
And that scene of the son of God on the cross speaks to the horrifying reality of the magnitude of the wickedness of sin.
38:49-38:51
Do you have that picture in your head?
38:52-39:02
Jesus on the cross, the only perfect person to ever walk on the earth, nailed there to die because that was the price that had to be paid for sin to be forgiven.
39:05-39:07
And most people would rather have sin instead.
39:12-39:14
Look at Jesus on the cross.
39:15-39:21
God providentially allowed his son to be murdered so that we could be reconciled to God.
39:22-39:26
And most people would rather have their sin instead.
39:28-39:30
Look at Jesus on the cross.
39:30-39:40
God provided the way for us to have every single blessing that we could have in this life and the promise of eternal paradise in heaven with him.
39:44-39:46
and most people would rather have their sin instead.
39:50-40:08
God so lavishly demonstrated his love to a world that not only rejects him but mocks him, despite the warnings that he gives to those who do.
40:10-40:17
So if you don't feel like mourning, I want you to stop and concentrate on the cross.
40:19-40:25
I want you to think about how the world at large has responded to this God who so loves us.
40:27-40:28
And you will mourn.
40:31-40:34
For worship team, would make their way back up to the platform please.
40:38-40:47
Church, if we're going to be the people of God, living in a nation facing judgment.
40:48-41:00
If we're going to fulfill any of God's purposes for us, the first thing we have to do is care.
41:02-41:05
Take an honest assessment of where we are.
41:09-41:15
and take an honest assessment of why God is bringing his wrath and mourn.
41:16-41:17
Let's pray.
41:19-41:23
Father in heaven, we bow ourselves before you.
41:23-41:27
And God, we confess to you as a people, we don't mourn.
41:27-41:30
Not like Isaiah, not like Jesus, not like Micah.
41:30-41:32
We don't mourn.
41:33-41:42
But God, I just pray today, in a fresh way, you would break our hearts for the sins of the people.
41:44-41:50
It is so easy for us to just say, well, I don't sin like they do.
41:53-41:54
And we write them off.
41:57-42:15
Father, I pray that you bring us back into the place where we feel, where our heart is moved when we consider sin, sinners, and their ultimate destination.
42:19-42:22
Father, there's not a thing that I can do to make anybody feel anything.
42:24-42:30
But God, I'm asking by the power of your word, by the power of your Holy Spirit, You would break up some hard hearts.
42:32-42:44
Give us a people, give us hearts, rather, so that we would be people of compassion and people who mourn the sins of our nation.
42:45-42:47
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Micah 1:1-16

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
When you see sin run rampant and celebrated, how do you typically react? Do you merely condemn sinners, are you indifferent towards their being judged, or do you just laugh them off? Why?
The Biblical response to sinners facing God’s wrath is to mourn (see Micha 1:8-9, 16). If you don’t mourn, why not? How can you get to the place where your heart breaks for what breaks the heart of God?

Breakout
Pray for one another to have the heart of Jesus - to mourn over the sinfulness of our nation.

Jeff Miller

August 11, 2024

Nation Facing Judgment

Living in the Wrath of God

Jeff Miller

August 11, 2024

Nation Facing Judgment

Introduction:

Living in the Wrath of God (Romans 1:18-32):

God Abandons thsoe that Abandon Him. (Rom 1:18-23)
Judges 10:13-14 - Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress.

Hosea 4:17 - Ephraim (Israel) is joined to idols; leave him alone.

They clearly know about God...

But they clearly don't want God.

3 Evidences that God Has Abandoned People:

First the Heart goes: Sexual Immorality. (Rom 1:24-25)
Then what is Natural goes: Dishonorable Passions. (Rom 1:26-27)
Finally, the Mind goes: Debased Minds. (Rom 1:28-32)

Mourn
Discern
Wake up
Hope
Worship
Repent
Believe

John 3:36 - Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:44-00:45
Let's bow our heads for a moment.
00:45-00:58
I'm going to pray for you to have a heart open to receive the Word of God, and I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to clearly and accurately and urgently proclaim God's Word to you.
00:59-00:59
Let's pray.
01:02-01:04
Father in heaven, we believe in the power of your Word.
01:09-01:12
And I pray, Father, that there are no distractions in our hearts today.
01:14-01:21
That we can worship you with our minds as we engage your word.
01:24-01:26
Father, you would open our eyes.
01:29-01:34
We thank you ahead of time for the way your word is going to be at work in the lives of your people.
01:35-01:37
We pray in Jesus' name.
01:37-01:40
And all of God's people said, amen.
01:41-01:43
We're starting a series on the book of Micah.
01:43-01:46
So open your Bibles to the book of Romans.
01:47-01:48
(congregation laughing)
01:49-01:52
That series starts next week, actually.
01:53-01:55
This is an introduction to the whole series.
02:00-02:01
But we have to start here.
02:03-02:04
Have you been following the Olympics?
02:05-02:06
You've been watching the Olympics?
02:09-02:12
I read this week, this is so interesting.
02:13-02:17
In the summer of 1924, remember that?
02:18-02:20
The Olympic games were in Paris.
02:22-02:30
Eric Liddell was a Scottish sprinter and a devout Christian.
02:32-02:45
Well, he was supposed to compete on a Sunday, but he had this strong personal conviction about the Sabbath, and he wasn't going to race on the Sabbath.
02:48-02:58
So the organizers of the games allowed him to run in a different event, because they did not want to violate his Christian convictions.
03:01-03:23
100 years later, the Paris Olympics kicked off with opening ceremonies that included a gross parody of the Last Supper with drag queens representing Jesus Christ and his disciples.
03:26-03:28
What happened in 100 years?
03:31-03:32
How did we get here?
03:37-03:47
So much corruption, so much perversion, so much hatred and violence.
03:49-03:58
And we live in a day where people are violently screaming for the right to murder infants before they're born.
04:01-04:02
How did we get here?
04:05-04:12
Well, Christians who know their Bibles say, well, you know, God's wrath is coming.
04:14-04:15
And you're right, it is.
04:16-04:34
But many Christians don't realize this, that the Bible tells us that all this wickedness that we're seeing right now, all this stuff we're watching right now, means that God's wrath is already here.
04:42-04:51
We're starting a series in Micah, and Micah was preaching to a nation, Israel, that was facing the wrath of God.
04:53-05:02
And the message of Micah is the message that God wants his people sitting right here and listening to this here today.
05:03-05:05
This is the message he wants you to hear.
05:07-05:14
As a nation is facing the wrath of God, what do I do?
05:16-05:20
What do I do when my nation is facing God's judgment?
05:21-05:36
What does God call me to do while I watch His wrath come upon people who not only persist in unrighteousness, but they openly mock God while they do it.
05:36-05:38
What am I supposed to do?
05:42-05:44
That's the series coming up in Micah.
05:44-05:51
But before we dive in to Micah, some of us need a reminder.
05:53-06:08
And some of us need to be sold on this truth, that God's wrath is clearly and plainly and obviously here now.
06:10-06:29
And I have to start here because when we go into Micah talking about God's wrath, I know that there are going to be some people, if we didn't do this on-ramp, there's gonna be some people that are like, "Oh yeah, God's judgment's coming." Yeah, right, I know that's all happening at the end and it's coming later and I'll sort of tuck this information away for later.
06:29-06:31
No, no, no, it's here now.
06:34-06:35
We need reminded of that.
06:38-06:41
This isn't a series for the future, this is a series for right now.
06:42-06:50
So in your outline, living in the wrath of God, one point today, and that's this.
06:51-06:53
God abandons those that abandon Him.
06:56-06:57
That's the point.
06:58-07:04
Romans 1, God abandons those that abandon Him.
07:05-07:06
Look at verse 18.
07:08-07:28
Paul says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven and unrighteousness of men." Stop there. Do you see the word "wrath"?
07:28-07:28
Do you see that?
07:30-07:33
The wrath of God is manifested in many ways.
07:34-07:37
You know, you think of like the revelation events, right?
07:38-07:41
The seals and the trumpets and the bowls.
07:41-07:43
Yes, that is God's wrath.
07:43-07:46
God's wrath is manifested as hell.
07:47-07:53
Eternal separation from God, cast out of his presence for eternity, yes.
07:53-07:59
But another way that the wrath of God is manifest is through abandonment.
08:02-08:03
What is abandonment?
08:04-08:08
It's when God says, oh, you wanna sin.
08:09-08:11
You prefer sin over me, okay.
08:12-08:13
Have it.
08:15-08:17
Have it, I'm done.
08:18-08:19
Have your sin.
08:20-08:21
and see where that gets you.
08:25-08:42
When I think of the wrath of God as abandonment, I can't help but think back to when I was in high school, I was in this biology class, and this particular class somehow was made up of like the rowdiest students in school.
08:43-08:46
And I know you're thinking, why was I in there?
08:48-08:51
Maybe in God's providence, just for a sermon illustration.
08:54-09:13
But this class was made up of like the rowdiest students in school and inexplicably, the teacher many times he would come in and he'd just be about to teach and he'd say, "I'll be right back." And he would leave the room and he'd be gone.
09:13-09:18
It was a two period class because there was like instruction in Eris' lab, he'd be gone for both periods.
09:21-09:33
So let me ask you, when the teacher left the room, do you think this rowdy group of students got better or worse with him gone?
09:36-09:39
You're like, well, obviously better, Pastor Jeff.
09:39-09:41
Yeah, we were great.
09:41-09:45
We were putting together Thomas Kinkade puzzles.
09:45-09:50
And we had a hymn sing out of the tabernacle hymnal.
09:53-09:54
Obviously not.
09:55-09:59
When he left the room, it turned into like the LA riots.
10:01-10:11
And my point is, when his presence was gone, we had zero restraints.
10:13-10:14
So much less than when his presence was here.
10:15-10:22
And you see, that's the truth of God, resulting a nation that God says, "Okay, you want to sin?
10:23-10:31
I'm out." And like that biology class, things ain't getting better when God steps out of the room.
10:33-10:36
God abandons those that abandon God.
10:36-10:38
And you see this throughout Scripture.
10:38-10:44
I could spend a long time giving you cross references, but just a couple here.
10:45-10:53
Judges chapter 10, paraphrasing, you know, Israel sinned again and God was sending other nations to punish Israel for sinning and it happened again.
10:53-11:03
And Judges 10, they're like, "Oh, we sinned against you, God." And God says, "I saved you from so many enemies." But verses 13 and 14, look at what God says.
11:03-11:09
God says, "Yet you have forsaken me," abandoned me and served other gods.
11:09-11:11
Therefore, I will save you no more.
11:12-11:14
Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen.
11:15-11:18
Let them save you in the time of your distress." You see that?
11:19-11:20
They abandoned God.
11:20-11:31
God says, "I'm out." You see it, Hosea 417, Ephraim, it's another name for Israel, is joined to idols.
11:32-11:37
God says, "Leave him alone." Let him go.
11:39-12:02
And we're going to see here in Romans 1, this wrath of abandonment is exactly what the apostle Paul was talking about because a spoiler alert, three times in this passage, verse 24, verse 26, and verse 28, three times in this passage, he says, "God gave them up." He abandoned them.
12:02-12:03
He gave them up.
12:04-12:10
Interestingly, that phrase gave them up was actually a courtroom term.
12:11-12:16
It was used to describe what happens to a prisoner that's being sent for his punishment.
12:17-12:21
Like go, I'm giving you up, I'm releasing you for your punishment.
12:22-12:23
That's the word used.
12:24-12:29
The Bible says this happens all through history, Acts 14, 16, write that reference down.
12:29-12:38
It says in past generations, He, God, allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.
12:40-12:48
Nations have rejected what they knew about God and God abandoned them because of their rejection of God.
12:48-12:52
Listen, that is 2024 America.
12:58-13:01
Like, how in the world do people abandon God?
13:02-13:03
How does that happen?
13:04-13:05
How does that happen?
13:07-13:08
Well, let's read the passage.
13:08-13:10
It tells us exactly how it happens.
13:11-13:21
He says, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
13:22-13:28
For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them.
13:29-13:41
for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made.
13:42-13:45
So they are without excuse.
13:48-14:02
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, But they had become futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
14:04-14:24
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, and birds, and animals, and creeping things." That's how people abandon God.
14:26-14:32
Let's just break it down into one very easy two-part statement, it's this.
14:32-14:33
Here's what Paul's saying.
14:34-14:42
They clearly knew about God and they clearly did not want God.
14:43-14:44
Do you see that?
14:44-14:45
Do you see that in the text?
14:45-14:50
They knew about Him, but they didn't want Him.
14:52-14:53
Let's break that down.
14:54-14:56
They knew God, verse 21, they knew God.
14:56-15:03
When it says they knew God, he's obviously not talking about a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
15:03-15:05
He's obviously not talking about that.
15:05-15:08
He's saying they knew that there is a God.
15:08-15:13
Nobody, literally nobody needs sold on that fact.
15:14-15:19
Everyone knows that there is a God, whether they want to admit it or not.
15:19-15:19
Like, well, how?
15:20-15:23
He tells us, verse 20, because of God's power and nature.
15:25-15:27
God has revealed Himself in creation.
15:31-15:36
Everybody knows that there's a God, because He's shown in creation.
15:38-15:53
Every time a baby is born, every sunset, every trip to the ocean, every mountain, every one of His magnificent creatures.
15:58-16:03
We can look around at creation and we see the fingerprint of God on everything.
16:03-16:05
But you know, the Bible also tells us we know it inwardly.
16:06-16:16
In fact, if you go over to Romans 2.15, Paul tells us that God's law is written on our hearts, that we inherently know right and wrong.
16:17-16:23
And that also points us to the one who established what is morality.
16:26-16:27
But is it really clear to people?
16:28-16:29
How clear is it?
16:29-16:34
Well, according to the Bible, verse 19, he says it's plain.
16:35-16:37
Verse 19 says it has been shown.
16:39-16:41
Verse 20 says it's been clearly perceived.
16:41-16:50
Verse 20 says, "So much so that they are without excuse." So we have to be clear, the issue is not ignorance.
16:53-16:54
It couldn't be more clear.
16:55-16:57
Everyone knows that there is a God.
16:58-16:58
Right?
16:58-17:00
That was the first part of the statement.
17:00-17:07
Everyone clearly knows there is a God, but he also says they clearly do not want God.
17:09-17:12
Verse 18 says they suppress the truth.
17:12-17:13
Do you understand what that means?
17:14-17:15
It means they got the truth.
17:18-17:19
They just suppress it.
17:19-17:20
I can't help it.
17:20-17:24
When I hear that word suppress, my mind only goes to one thing.
17:24-17:26
I think of a gun suppressor.
17:26-17:27
Do you know what a gun suppressor does?
17:29-17:31
It quiets the noise.
17:32-17:35
And that's what people do with the truth of God.
17:36-17:39
He's speaking so loudly to them.
17:39-17:42
And I gotta distract myself.
17:42-17:44
I gotta quiet that down.
17:46-17:50
He says in verse 21, they don't want to honor Him as God.
17:50-17:52
That means they don't want to acknowledge His authority.
17:53-17:54
And they don't wanna thank Him.
17:54-17:56
That means to acknowledge His goodness.
17:57-17:59
They just don't want 'em.
18:04-18:05
They will not give thanks.
18:06-18:07
They will not give thanks.
18:07-18:13
You know, it's funny you talk to somebody that doesn't believe in God.
18:15-18:17
Something they all have in common, they're not thankful.
18:19-18:21
Like, what do I have to be thankful for?
18:21-18:22
What has God ever done for me?
18:24-18:25
Oh, really?
18:26-18:27
What has God ever done for you?
18:29-18:30
You know, these people eat.
18:32-18:33
These people breathe.
18:34-18:46
These people have the privilege of enjoying all the, quote, good things that life has to offer, and they have zero appreciation for the one who provided everything for them.
18:49-18:49
Why?
18:50-18:50
Why?
18:51-18:52
Why is there no gratitude?
18:54-19:06
Because I know that I should live a life of gratitude towards this God, but that means I have to acknowledge this God that I don't want interfering with the way that I want to live.
19:09-19:20
You should have that verse underlined in your Bible because thankfulness to God and faith in God go hand in hand every time.
19:22-19:25
You're like, oh, so these people don't worship then.
19:26-19:29
Right, people that don't want God, they're just, they're not worshipers.
19:29-19:33
And that's not true because everybody worships something.
19:34-19:35
Everybody worships something.
19:35-19:37
That's what he's talking about in verse 23.
19:40-19:41
Everybody worships something.
19:41-19:42
Do you know why?
19:43-19:45
Because that's just how we're designed.
19:46-19:51
As human beings, our creator God designed us for certain things.
19:51-19:52
He designed us to eat.
19:53-19:55
He designed us to sleep.
19:55-19:58
He designed us to be able to speak and think.
19:59-20:01
Do you know what else God designed us to do?
20:03-20:07
Hardwired in us, we are designed to worship.
20:10-20:13
Everybody worships something or someone.
20:14-20:15
Something has your affection.
20:16-20:17
Something has your attention.
20:18-20:19
Something has your devotion.
20:23-20:27
And that's why Paul says people abandon God and they worship anything else.
20:27-20:33
He gives a list, you know, they worship man and birds and animals and creeping things.
20:34-20:41
Bible says people worship money, people can worship power, people will turn to anything else, but you're gonna worship something.
20:44-20:50
So the question is, okay, so what is God supposed to do when people abandon Him?
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What's He supposed to do?
20:52-20:59
People are like, yes, God, I know You're there, I don't want You, I'm doing my own thing, and I'm worshiping something else, what's God to do?
21:03-21:06
You're like, God's supposed to say, oh, bless your hearts.
21:08-21:09
I've given you life.
21:10-21:18
I sent my son to die a horrific death on your behalf and you turned your back on me.
21:18-21:22
Well, just let me know how I can bless you.
21:23-21:24
I await your orders.
21:29-21:30
What's God supposed to do?
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Well, the Bible tells us exactly what God does.
21:37-21:40
And as I told you, he says it three times in the passage.
21:41-21:41
What does God do?
21:43-21:50
When you clearly know God and you clearly don't want God, this is one of the scariest things in the whole Bible, people.
21:50-21:52
The Bible says he gives you up.
21:53-21:54
Go ahead.
21:55-21:56
God says, "Go ahead, do it your way.
21:57-21:59
"You think you don't need me?
22:01-22:08
"Oh, you think you know better than me, okay, I'm out." And listen, he's not pouting.
22:10-22:17
He's not some adolescent with a chip on his shoulder that's been rejected and is gonna get even.
22:17-22:18
No, no, no, it's nothing like that.
22:20-22:21
It's God giving you what you want.
22:24-22:25
And that is a horrifying thought.
22:27-22:28
So what happens?
22:29-22:31
What happens when God abandons a nation?
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What happens when a nation knows God and they don't want God and they go their own way and they start worshiping other things?
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What happens?
22:39-22:42
Well, that's the rest of the passage on your outline.
22:42-22:43
I said there was one point.
22:43-22:44
These are sub points.
22:44-22:45
It doesn't count.
22:48-22:51
Notice it's A, B, and C because points are numbers.
22:52-22:53
(congregation laughing)
22:54-22:56
I got you on a technicality.
22:59-23:02
Three evidences that God has abandoned people.
23:04-23:06
And this is a sequence.
23:07-23:08
This is what happens.
23:08-23:10
These are steps.
23:11-23:13
This is a snowball rolling down the hill.
23:17-23:20
This is sewage being flushed, is really what it is.
23:21-23:23
it just gets worse and worse and worse.
23:24-23:28
Three evidences that God has abandoned people.
23:28-23:33
And by the way, it doesn't happen overnight in our culture.
23:33-23:34
This has been happening for decades.
23:34-23:38
How long have we been talking about, you know, them taking prayer out of schools?
23:38-23:42
How long have we been talking about they took the 10 commandments out of the public square?
23:42-23:44
This has been happening for a long time.
23:44-23:47
So don't think that this is just a new thing.
23:50-23:56
This is a sequence that you have watched play out in front of you.
23:58-23:59
So what is the sequence?
23:59-24:00
Three evidences that God has abandoned people.
24:00-24:02
Letter A, first the heart goes.
24:05-24:06
That results in sexual immorality.
24:10-24:11
Look at verses 24 and 25.
24:14-24:19
Hey, they knew God, they didn't want God, they started worshiping other stuff, they abandoned God, so what does God do?
24:19-24:45
Verse 24, "Therefore God gave them up "in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, "to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, "because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie "and worshiped and served the creature "rather than the creator who was blessed forever, amen." So step one is first the heart goes.
24:47-24:50
This is evidence that God has abandoned a nation.
24:52-24:54
Lust dominates the heart.
24:55-25:00
Hear me, I'm not talking about people that are like, I'm really struggling with lust.
25:00-25:06
I'm really struggling with this and I'm seeking to get control in this area of my life.
25:07-25:16
We're not talking about people that are like, you know, the Bible says God's Holy Spirit gives self-control and I'm really seeking the Lord to grow in this area.
25:16-25:17
We're not talking about that.
25:19-25:25
We're talking about unrestrained, let them off the leash.
25:27-25:31
Lust in my heart turns into lust released in my body.
25:34-25:36
Do I need to sell anybody on this really?
25:37-25:48
Do I really need to convince anybody that our culture has turned into dogs chasing after dogs in heat.
25:49-25:51
And I'm not being crass, people.
25:52-25:56
Is that not how we're going?
25:57-25:58
Not how we've gone.
26:04-26:08
That somebody explained to me that there's an app for that.
26:08-26:09
You know, there's an app for that.
26:10-26:18
several apps actually, that you can use your phone and find people for a physical meeting.
26:20-26:28
I'm not talking about dating or relationship apps, I'm talking just to meet up with somebody for that.
26:33-26:35
We have turned into a pornographic culture.
26:37-26:39
And do you know what happens in a pornographic culture?
26:39-26:45
Marriages are destroyed, and women are abused, and children are trafficked.
26:50-26:52
Like, why is this happening?
26:54-26:59
Because God gave us up to unrestrained lust.
27:01-27:06
God was saying, you want lust, you want to act like an animal, have at it.
27:08-27:09
That's the first step.
27:09-27:13
The second, the first to heart goes, that's sexual morality, letter B.
27:14-27:16
Then what is natural goes.
27:17-27:21
Then what is natural goes, that's dishonorable passions.
27:22-27:23
Look at verses 26 and 27.
27:24-27:33
It says, "For this reason, "God gave them up to dishonorable passions." Like, well, what is that?
27:34-27:38
He explains in no uncertain terms what that means.
27:38-27:38
Look at this.
27:39-27:46
He says, "For their women exchange natural relations "for those that are contrary to nature.
27:49-27:56
"And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women "and were consumed with passion for one another.
27:58-28:58
"Men committing shameless acts with men "and receiving in themselves the due penalty "for their error." So, the next step, first the heart goes sexual immorality, then what is natural goes, it's dishonorable passions. The next step is perversion. The sexual sin goes from man and woman sexual sin to same sex sexual sin. And by the way, this is a shout out for all the people that say, "Well, you know, the New Testament never says that homosexuality is wrong." You know how many times I've heard that over the years? "Oh yeah, there's something mentioned in the Old Testament law, but you know, the New Testament never really says that homosexuality is wrong." And I would just ask you, what would God have to say to make it more clear than this?
29:00-29:07
Three times, three times right here, God says, "That's not natural.
29:09-29:23
"Do I have to sell you on why it's not natural?" There was a time in my ministry I didn't think I'd have to, but now I'm not so sure that people understand Biologically, what happens in normal relations?
29:23-29:25
That's how far we've gone.
29:27-29:28
He says they've received a due penalty.
29:30-29:31
They're already reaping consequences.
29:31-29:33
You think God's wrath is coming?
29:33-29:34
It is, but it's already here.
29:34-29:36
They're already getting the consequences.
29:37-29:39
That's why he says due penalty, due penalty.
29:39-29:40
Like what?
29:41-29:42
VD.
29:46-29:49
like being unfulfilled, being unsatisfied.
29:55-29:59
Calling it gay is such a cruel, ironic term for it.
30:04-30:09
But here we are as a culture, recently concluded Pride Month.
30:12-30:18
And it's such an appropriate name for a culture that abandoned God and has been abandoned by God.
30:20-30:21
They're patting themselves on the back.
30:22-30:23
We are so proud of ourselves.
30:26-30:32
And here again, he says, verse 26, God gave them up.
30:34-30:36
Unrestrained homosexual lust.
30:38-30:40
Have you noticed that in our culture at all?
30:43-30:47
that God is saying, okay, you wanna be a pervert?
30:49-30:50
Go ahead, I'm out.
30:54-31:00
Finally, the mind goes, debased minds.
31:01-31:02
Look at verse 28.
31:04-31:12
It says, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, There's the abandonment thing.
31:13-31:14
Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God.
31:15-31:16
Look at this, here it is one more time.
31:16-31:23
God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
31:25-31:26
Debased, you know what debased means?
31:28-31:32
It literally means when you test something and you discover that it's useless.
31:33-31:34
That's debased.
31:36-31:48
And what he's saying here is when a culture abandons God, when a nation abandons God and God abandons the nation, the next step is people's minds become useless.
31:48-31:51
There's nothing good that comes from their minds.
31:53-31:57
And what do you call it when you lose your mind?
31:57-31:58
What do you call that?
31:59-32:00
It's called insanity.
32:00-32:01
Right, I heard a few of you say that.
32:01-32:02
It's called insanity.
32:04-32:09
And we live in a culture of absolute insanity.
32:12-32:14
You're like, "Well, what do you mean?
32:14-32:16
"What do you mean we live in a culture of insanity?
32:16-32:19
"What do you mean?" Well, let me ask you a question.
32:19-32:20
How many genders are there?
32:24-32:27
You know that's one of the first things kids learn, right?
32:27-32:29
That's one of the first things children learn.
32:29-32:31
There's boys and there's girls, right?
32:34-32:35
Last number I heard was 72.
32:36-32:37
It's probably double that by now.
32:39-32:43
but I heard literally that there were 72 different genders.
32:44-32:46
That's crazy.
32:49-32:54
That's insane to say that there's 72 different genders.
32:54-32:55
That's insane.
32:55-32:59
It's insane to say there's three, but 72?
33:02-33:02
Insane.
33:03-33:07
That's a debased, useless mind, and what you're left with is insanity.
33:09-33:10
You're like, do you have any other examples?
33:11-33:12
Have you turned on the TV lately?
33:14-33:29
Have you heard that there is a governor of a particular state that passed a law mandating that feminine hygiene products are put in girls' and boys' restrooms in the high schools?
33:33-33:35
You're like some fringe wackadoo, right?
33:37-33:38
No, potential vice president.
33:41-33:42
Insane!
33:47-33:49
You can't rationalize that.
33:54-34:02
We have what are supposed to be some of the most powerful and influential people in this culture that can't define what a woman is.
34:05-34:06
Do you know what that is?
34:07-34:07
It is insane.
34:08-34:09
It is just insane.
34:10-34:11
And I'm not saying that jokingly.
34:11-34:14
I'm saying that literally, that is insane.
34:19-34:22
I was watching about a month or two ago.
34:22-34:23
Did you ever see those reels?
34:24-34:26
They show you those little 10 second clips.
34:26-34:27
Did you ever see those things?
34:28-34:32
I was watching some of those and this person was dead serious.
34:33-34:36
I thought it was a joke, but I had to watch it like three or four times.
34:37-34:38
They were dead serious.
34:38-34:51
But this person, I'm not sure what the gender was, but that person explained, their little video was a tutorial on the proper pronouns if you identify as a frog.
34:52-34:54
And they were serious.
34:58-34:59
That's insane.
35:01-35:01
And you're like, what?
35:02-35:03
You know what, Pastor Jeff, you're right.
35:03-35:08
Now that I think about it, Why does it seem like there's so many empty heads?
35:11-35:14
Because God gave them over to a debased mind.
35:14-35:17
You don't wanna use your mind to worship me and to know me?
35:19-35:22
You wanna use your mind for being an idiot?
35:23-35:25
Be an idiot, go ahead.
35:26-35:30
Come up with your own devices and ideas, and that's what we've come up with.
35:32-35:33
God gave them up.
35:33-36:03
God says, "You want to be foolish, go for it." What is perverse is promoted. What is decent is denounced. All because God is a good God.
36:03-36:14
Verse 28, "They did not see fit to acknowledge God." And he talked about cancel culture.
36:16-36:21
What he's talking about here in Romans one is what happens when you get a cancel Jesus culture.
36:24-36:27
And really it's an abandoned culture, is what it is.
36:30-36:32
Do I have to sell you on this?
36:34-36:37
Am I some tinfoil hat wearing weirdo?
36:42-36:47
Or these things that God's word is describing here, is this what you're seeing when you turn on your television?
36:49-36:50
You tell me.
36:51-36:55
Is this what you see when you get on your favorite social media platform?
36:57-36:58
You tell me.
37:01-37:02
Look at the rest of the passage.
37:04-37:16
Verse 29, it says, "They were," in case you're still not convinced, look at verse 29, "They were filled "with all manner of unrighteousness, "evil, covetousness, malice.
37:18-37:23
"They were full of envy, murder, "strife, deceit, maliciousness.
37:25-37:41
"They are gossips, slanderers, Haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
37:42-37:48
Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die.
37:50-37:56
Here it is, look at this last phrase, because this is when you know we have hit the bottom.
37:56-37:57
Look at this.
37:57-38:11
"They not only do them, "but give approval to those who practice them." This is the bottom of the barrel.
38:11-38:24
Not only when society is doing these things, Paul's saying, you know, you've hit bottom when people start applauding these things as a culture.
38:26-38:27
(congregation laughing)
38:30-38:31
Like do we applaud sin?
38:32-38:33
Do we applaud sin?
38:34-38:36
Applaud is an understatement.
38:38-38:40
We have parades for sin.
38:43-38:50
We will change our Facebook profile to a rainbow picture to let people know that we're applauding sin.
38:53-39:07
We have Disney and Sesame Street, two platforms that are supposed to reach preschool children that are promoting homosexual lifestyle.
39:09-39:15
Some of the cultural icons with the biggest platforms use them to promote sin the loudest.
39:15-39:18
Look at your athletes, look at your actors, look at your musicians.
39:21-39:42
And you can see as a culture, we went from tolerance of sin to applauding sin, to I'm proud of you for applauding sin, to if you don't applaud sin, you're a racist homophobe.
39:46-39:50
And God helped these churches that are flying their rainbow flags.
39:53-40:00
Churches that should be praying for repentance, churches that should be seeking to point lost people to Jesus Christ for healing.
40:01-40:06
And instead, we wave a flag for approval and applause.
40:10-40:10
God help us.
40:15-40:19
God gives them up to useless minds.
40:21-40:22
You want foolishness.
40:24-40:25
God says, you wanna be foolish?
40:25-40:27
Okay, go for it, I'm out.
40:30-40:31
So there it is.
40:33-40:38
That's the description of what happens when people reject God.
40:39-40:42
And then God returns the favor.
40:46-40:48
He simply abandons them.
40:50-40:53
And that is a most terrifying kind of wrath.
40:57-40:59
And church, we are immersed in it right now.
41:03-41:05
You saw these verses 29 through 31.
41:05-41:11
He prophesied, Paul prophesied about things that we watch on the news right now.
41:14-41:19
It's hateful, it's violent, it's ruthless.
41:21-41:25
Look at those verses and turn on the news and watch people burning down businesses.
41:26-41:35
Watch the riots, watch the mass shootings, watch the, I don't know, you can turn on the TV and watch a presidential candidate nearly get assassinated.
41:36-41:37
That's where we are.
41:39-41:41
That speaks to where we are as a culture.
41:42-41:49
And the point is this, my friends, God's wrath isn't just something that's coming.
41:54-41:55
He says it's here.
41:59-42:00
So what do I do?
42:01-42:02
Like, yeah, I see it.
42:03-42:04
I see it, Jeff, what do I do?
42:06-42:12
Well, the prophet Micah told Israel in the Old Testament what to do in light of God's wrath.
42:14-42:17
And this is still the message for God's people in 2024 America.
42:22-42:24
As God's judgment is revealed to us.
42:25-42:27
So what are we supposed to do?
42:30-42:32
Oh, it's gonna take seven weeks for me to tell you.
42:32-42:35
And Taylor, we're not starting right now.
42:36-42:37
But what are we to do?
42:38-42:40
First of all, we are to mourn.
42:48-42:50
That's next week's message, we're to mourn.
42:51-42:54
When's the last time you've mourned over what's happening?
42:55-42:58
Micah tells his people, God's word's telling us that we need to discern.
43:00-43:02
You're like, we just had a series on that.
43:02-43:04
Well, it comes up again, so guess what?
43:06-43:07
We're covering it again.
43:09-43:14
We need to discern because we can get so roped into the foolishness.
43:17-43:18
What else do we need to do?
43:19-43:20
Church, we need to wake up.
43:21-43:24
That's what Micah told Israel, and that's what we need, church.
43:24-43:25
We need to wake up.
43:25-43:26
Wake up.
43:31-43:32
Man, things are really bad.
43:32-43:35
Yeah, you know what else we need to do?
43:35-43:36
We need to hope.
43:36-43:37
We need to hope.
43:39-43:41
You know things will not always be as they are now.
43:42-43:43
I have that on really good authority.
43:46-43:47
We need to hope.
43:49-43:51
Also in the meantime, we need to worship.
43:54-43:56
I think everybody worships something, right?
43:56-43:58
Yeah, we need to worship our risen king.
44:02-44:04
In church, even for God's people, you know what we need to do?
44:04-44:05
We need to repent.
44:11-44:15
We're not some untouched hospital room in here.
44:17-44:18
We need to repent.
44:21-44:22
And finally, we need to believe.
44:24-44:25
That's what God wants from us.
44:27-44:31
That's really the only thing God's ever asked of people is that we trust what He says.
44:32-44:33
We need to believe.
44:35-44:41
We're going to close our time gathering around the Lord's table if our communion servers would come up and our worship team would come up.
44:43-44:45
We're going to gather around the Lord's table.
44:49-44:53
You know, as we're thinking of God's wrath, there's a verse that always comes to mind for me.
44:54-44:55
I think we have it on the screen here.
44:55-44:56
John 3.36.
44:56-44:58
Look what Jesus said.
45:00-45:03
"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
45:09-45:22
"Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, "but the wrath of God remains on him." Just look at that verse for a second.
45:25-45:26
We're talking about the wrath of God.
45:26-45:31
Do you know what you have to do to receive the wrath of God?
45:34-45:38
The answer's nothing, 'cause you got it by default.
45:42-45:45
If you haven't received Jesus Christ, you're under God's wrath.
45:49-46:03
But if you have turned from your sin and received Jesus Christ, this is why we gather around the Lord's table, we celebrate this glorious truth, because this reminds us that Jesus took God's wrath for you.
46:05-46:18
And though we as believers are, yes, collateral damage, living in a nation under the wrath of God, the day is coming when we will be delivered from the worst of it.
46:24-46:37
But you know, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, this world is the only taste of hell you will ever experience.
46:41-46:53
But I gotta tell you, if you are not a believer in Christ, if you have not received him, then this world is the only taste of heaven that you're ever going to experience.
46:55-46:57
This is for God's people.
46:57-46:59
So I'm gonna invite you to stand.
46:59-47:01
Our worship team's gonna play here in a moment.
47:02-47:09
We're going to ask that if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you don't have to be a member of this church, but you do have to be a born again believer in Christ.
47:09-47:15
We invite you to come down the center aisle, take the elements back to your seat by going to the outside aisle.
47:16-47:17
I'm gonna ask that you hold onto them.
47:18-47:27
And in just a moment, as a sign of unity as a church, When everybody has received, I will lead us in taking the Lord's Supper together.
47:27-47:28
So please, when you're ready, come.
47:31-47:33
The wrath of God is here.
47:37-47:38
But the worst is coming.
47:41-47:45
And thanks to Jesus Christ, we will be saved from the worst.
47:46-47:49
Because on the cross, he took God's wrath upon himself.
47:51-47:57
The Bible tells us on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread and he broke it and he gave thanks.
47:58-48:02
And he said, "This is my body, which is given for you.
48:03-48:17
"Eat this in remembrance of me." The Bible tells us that after the meal, Jesus took the cup and he said, "This is the blood of the new covenant, "which is poured out for the forgiveness of sin.
48:18-48:25
"Drink this in remembrance of me." Would you please stand as we close in worship?

Small Group Discussion
Read Romans 1:18-32

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
How is God’s abandoning people a manifestation of His judgment? What are the three things God “gives people up” to (Romans 1:24, 26, 28)?
How exactly is thankfulness connected to faith (Romans 1:21)?
What are some ways that you see debased (useless) minds in our culture today (see Romans 1:28)?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Jeff Miller

August 4, 2024

Gratitude

Jeff Miller

August 4, 2024

Introduction:

  
    Three Reasons We Are Giving Thanks Today (Psalm 138): 
Adoration : We give thanks for what God is Doing . (Ps 138:2-3)
    
Anticipation : We give thanks for what God is Going to Do . (Ps 138:4-6)
       
Assurance : We give thanks that God Always finishes His work . (Ps 138:7-8)

Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Speaker 1:
00:00-00:01
Good morning, Harvest Bible Chapel.
Speaker 1:
00:02-00:02
Good morning.
Speaker 1:
00:04-00:07
Welcome to gratitude service.
00:11-00:12
[Applause]
Speaker 1:
00:19-00:22
I mean, can you believe this?
Speaker 1:
00:23-00:24
[Cheers]
Speaker 1:
00:26-00:32
I can barely wrap my brain around this at the way that the Lord has provided for this church.
Speaker 1:
00:32-00:39
So what else could we possibly say today other than, "Thank you, God."
00:39-00:47
[applause]
Speaker 1:
00:48-00:52
All right, who still brought their Bibles with them today? You got your Bibles?
Speaker 1:
00:54-01:01
If you do not, I'm gonna give you a moment to look it up on your phone, because I bet you brought your phone even if you didn't bring your Bible.
Speaker 1:
01:03-01:06
Open up to Psalm 138.
Speaker 1:
01:10-01:11
Psalm 138.
Speaker 1:
01:15-01:26
While you're turning there, many, many years ago, when Cade was just a little squirt.
Speaker 1:
01:26-01:34
He was going to the school that was actually meeting next door to where the church normally meets at Hope.
Speaker 1:
01:35-01:38
And they had a Halloween trick or treat.
Speaker 1:
01:38-01:40
They had like costume day, right?
Speaker 1:
01:41-01:45
Well, this school had such a cast of characters.
Speaker 1:
01:45-01:48
And we would hear about them all the time when Cade would come home.
Speaker 1:
01:49-01:50
And there was one little boy.
Speaker 1:
01:50-01:52
I'm going to call him Joey.
Speaker 1:
01:53-01:57
But he was obsessed with elevators.
Speaker 1:
01:58-01:59
Obsessed with them.
Speaker 1:
02:01-02:07
And on this costume day, this Halloween day, it was a kind of parent open house thing.
Speaker 1:
02:08-02:12
And Cade was standing next to Joey.
Speaker 1:
02:13-02:15
And they had their costumes on.
Speaker 1:
02:15-02:19
And little Joey was dressed up like a stormtrooper from Star Wars.
Speaker 1:
02:21-02:29
And Cade, when he was little especially, he-- are you familiar with the expression, learn how to whisper in a sawmill?
Speaker 1:
02:32-02:35
So Cade was introducing Aaron and I to his little friend.
Speaker 1:
02:36-02:39
And Cade goes, this is Joey.
Speaker 1:
02:39-02:45
And then he puts his hand over his mouth like he's whispering something to us, but it was on the wrong side.
Speaker 1:
02:45-02:53
He goes, he thinks he's a storm trooper, he thinks he's an elevator, but he's actually a storm trooper.
Speaker 1:
02:54-02:56
Don't tell him.
Speaker 1:
02:56-02:57
(congregation laughing)
Speaker 1:
03:01-03:03
And we're like, well, now the whole zip code knows.
Speaker 1:
03:04-03:08
But I mentioned little Joey because I think about him often.
Speaker 1:
03:08-03:11
He had a bit of a self-awareness issue.
Speaker 1:
03:14-03:21
And truthfully in church, I think a lot of times, even as Christians, sometimes we have a self-awareness problem.
Speaker 1:
03:24-03:27
Let me ask you this, are you a thankful person by nature?
Speaker 1:
03:33-03:44
Well, that's sort of a hard question to ask in church because everyone thinks of themselves as thankful.
Speaker 1:
03:45-03:51
I mean there wouldn't be anybody that we could pull aside here today now or later on when we're eating.
Speaker 1:
03:51-03:54
There's nobody we'd pull aside that would say, "You know what?
Speaker 1:
03:54-03:59
Deep down I'm not thankful for nothing." There's nobody like that, that would say that.
Speaker 1:
04:02-04:15
So maybe a better question is, "Do you give thanks?" Maybe that's a more objective way for us to examine if we're really thankful people.
Speaker 1:
04:16-04:23
Do you actively, consistently give thanks to God?
Speaker 1:
04:25-04:27
Well Psalm 138, look at verse 1.
Speaker 1:
04:28-04:35
It says, "I give thanks, excuse me, I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart.
Speaker 1:
04:38-04:46
Before the gods I sing your praise." The gods, what does that mean?
Speaker 1:
04:49-04:50
Before the gods?
Speaker 1:
04:51-04:53
I did a lot of studying this week.
Speaker 1:
04:56-04:56
What does that mean?
Speaker 1:
04:56-05:05
Well, some people say, "Well, the Hebrew word is Elohim, and that's a word that's used of the Lord." So some people are saying it's just poetic.
Speaker 1:
05:05-05:07
He's talking about God.
Speaker 1:
05:07-05:10
Some people say, "No, no, no, he's talking about idols.
Speaker 1:
05:10-05:38
You know, there's a lot of false gods out there, and in the face of all these false gods I'm giving you thanks, true living God." And some people say, "Well, you know, that word is sometimes used in the Old Testament to describe prominent people, like the important people of society." I'll be honest with you, that's not the phrase in that verse that really bothers me.
Speaker 1:
05:39-05:40
You know which one it is?
Speaker 1:
05:40-05:42
Do you know what phrase in that verse bothers me the most?
Speaker 1:
05:45-05:46
Whole heart.
Speaker 1:
05:51-05:53
Because I too often fail at that.
Speaker 1:
05:55-05:56
And so do you.
Speaker 1:
05:58-05:59
You know what the difference is?
Speaker 1:
05:59-06:01
The difference is like this.
Speaker 1:
06:01-06:08
You know, imagine you come to the picnic and somebody, if you have children, somebody gives your kid a lollipop.
Speaker 1:
06:09-06:12
As a parent, what do you say to your kid?
Speaker 1:
06:13-06:15
Say thank you, right?
Speaker 1:
06:15-06:17
Say, hey, hey, hey, hey!
Speaker 1:
06:19-06:22
I mean, that's how some parents say it.
Speaker 1:
06:22-06:23
Hey!
Speaker 1:
06:24-06:28
"Hey, say thank you." And then what does your kid do?
Speaker 1:
06:29-06:45
"Thank you." There's a difference between that versus somebody really doing something for you where you genuinely, "Hey, hey, "I just wanted to say thank you.
Speaker 1:
06:45-06:47
"That meant so much to me that you did that for me.
Speaker 1:
06:47-06:49
"Thank you." See the difference?
Speaker 1:
06:53-07:00
You see, we're no different than the little kids being forced to say thank you for the lollipop.
Speaker 1:
07:00-07:10
We're no different than that when we come to church and we just sort of mouth the words during the music time.
Speaker 1:
07:15-07:17
And all I'm saying, church is.
Speaker 1:
07:19-07:19
Not today.
Speaker 1:
07:21-07:32
All of this today is for us to come together, all of us, and to give thanks with a whole heart.
Speaker 1:
07:34-07:40
So in Psalm 138, we're going to look at three reasons we are giving thanks today.
Speaker 1:
07:41-07:52
Three reasons we are giving thanks today. Number one is adoration. We give thanks for what God is doing. Look at verse 2.
Speaker 1:
07:54-08:20
David writes, "I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness for you have exalted above all things your name and your word." God takes His Word very seriously.
Speaker 1:
08:22-08:29
And you know, this church was founded on the belief that the Word of God does the work of God.
Speaker 1:
08:31-08:41
And I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but the world more and more and more is denying God, and denying God's Word. Have you noticed?
Speaker 1:
08:46-08:49
But Harvest Bible Chapel, we have drawn a line.
Speaker 1:
08:51-08:53
We're saying, not here.
Speaker 1:
08:56-08:56
Not here.
Speaker 1:
08:57-08:58
We are building a different place here.
Speaker 1:
09:01-09:03
God, your word is going to be exalted here.
Speaker 1:
09:05-09:07
God, your word is going to be preached here.
Speaker 1:
09:07-09:18
And God, there are going to be a generation of children that come up in this church here, who are going to have a regard for your word love for the God who gave it.
Speaker 1:
09:27-09:36
I got to tell you, I've been choking back tears many, many, many times over the past couple of months and many times today.
Speaker 1:
09:39-09:41
Because this church started with nothing.
Speaker 1:
09:42-09:49
No people, no money, no anything.
Speaker 1:
09:50-10:11
I remember going to the bank and opening up a bank account and they're like, "What are we gonna put in it?" Like, "Nothing." Like, "Let me go see if I have change "in the cup holder in my car." And now, we're sitting on nearly 12 acres and on our way to fundraising for a new building of our own.
Speaker 1:
10:12-10:13
(applause)
Speaker 1:
10:16-10:22
Church, how can we not give thanks for what God is doing?
Speaker 1:
10:24-10:25
Look at verse three.
Speaker 1:
10:27-10:30
On the day I called, you answered me.
Speaker 1:
10:31-10:36
My strength of soul, you increased.
Speaker 1:
10:40-10:56
Look, I've got to say this, you know, I've heard so many people over the years that I've ministered to say something like this, "You know, I tried praying and nothing happened." Have you ever felt like that?
Speaker 1:
10:57-11:08
"I tried praying, nothing happened." What people mean when they say that is this, I tried praying and my circumstances didn't change.
Speaker 1:
11:11-11:15
And honestly, isn't that what we're usually asking for when we pray?
Speaker 1:
11:15-11:27
God, I need you to take this away or God, I need you to give me that or God, I need this to be fixed in my life or God, I need this healed for this person.
Speaker 1:
11:30-11:31
But do you know what verse 3 reminds us?
Speaker 1:
11:32-11:33
A very important truth.
Speaker 1:
11:35-11:36
Listen very closely.
Speaker 1:
11:38-11:49
Answered prayer doesn't always, and I should say, answered prayer doesn't usually mean that circumstances change.
Speaker 1:
11:51-11:53
Did you see what he said in verse 3?
Speaker 1:
11:55-11:58
David said, "God didn't take away the trial." What did he say?
Speaker 1:
11:59-12:56
strength of soul you increased. And my friends I found as I've prayed that God doesn't usually change my circumstances but he always changes me. And God is going to use the trials in your life to draw you closer to him in total dependence on him. I thought about that a lot that week this past week and I thought you know what truth be told isn't that better? That instead of God always changing circumstances God always strengthening you isn't that better? And I think and I would suggest to you I think that's way better. You know Why? Because trials are going to keep coming.
Speaker 1:
12:56-13:03
Have you noticed trials are always going to be coming in different degrees, in different ways.
Speaker 1:
13:03-13:04
Trials are always going to be coming.
Speaker 1:
13:06-13:07
God's not going to make your life easy.
Speaker 1:
13:09-13:10
Instead, what he's going to do.
Speaker 1:
13:12-13:13
As he's going to strengthen your soul.
Speaker 1:
13:16-13:26
At Harvest Bible Chapel, from the very beginning until today, we have witnessed God at work in the souls of people.
Speaker 1:
13:28-13:32
And again, Church, I would ask you, how can we not give thanks for what God is doing?
Speaker 1:
13:34-13:40
I've asked some of those people to give testimony for the way God has been at work in their lives in this church.
Speaker 1:
13:40-13:43
First I'm going to ask if Jay and Andy Naur would come up and share.
13:45-13:45
[applause]
Speaker 2:
13:55-13:59
Hi, my name is Jay Kauer, and you know what I'm excited about?
Speaker 2:
13:59-14:00
You know what I see here?
Speaker 2:
14:01-14:07
I see Matt Cole going 20 yards that way, cutting right behind that groundhog, and me hitting him with a pass.
Speaker 2:
14:07-14:09
This is a football field times 10.
Speaker 2:
14:10-14:11
This is fabulous.
Speaker 2:
14:13-14:22
So I just wanted to let you know that this church started on October 1st, the year of our Lord, 2011.
Speaker 1:
14:23-14:25
October 2nd, but close enough.
Speaker 2:
14:25-14:26
You were a day early.
Speaker 2:
14:26-14:27
We were a day early.
Speaker 2:
14:28-14:29
Andy and I were there.
Speaker 2:
14:30-14:31
And we've never left.
Speaker 2:
14:32-14:33
No clapping.
Speaker 2:
14:33-14:33
No, no, no.
Speaker 2:
14:34-14:36
So it's been 13, what's that?
Speaker 2:
14:37-14:38
Why are we still here?
Speaker 2:
14:38-14:40
Is that what, I'm glad you asked.
Speaker 2:
14:41-14:43
We are still here because of leadership.
Speaker 2:
14:43-14:44
It's very simple.
Speaker 2:
14:45-14:49
This leadership is, I've never seen leadership like this.
Speaker 2:
14:51-14:53
Absolutely uncompromising on the word.
Speaker 2:
14:55-14:57
That's rare these days, I don't know if you've noticed.
Speaker 2:
15:00-15:03
They're ready for anything that would come along.
Speaker 2:
15:03-15:04
Persecution's coming.
Speaker 2:
15:05-15:20
I don't know if you know this, but for the first time in the history of the world, there's been deception that has been put on the world, and everyone's falling for it.
Speaker 2:
15:21-15:23
Not that leadership of this church did not fall for it.
Speaker 2:
15:25-15:32
In a lot of ways, they're just being very strong, and that's what's keeping me here.
Speaker 2:
15:32-15:33
A lot of good friends have left.
Speaker 2:
15:34-15:36
You're supposed to go to church where your friends are.
Speaker 2:
15:37-15:45
No, go to church where God is blessed, where God is strengthened, where God's kingdom is strengthened, and where the word is being uncompromisingly preached.
Speaker 2:
15:45-15:46
And that's what we get here.
Speaker 2:
15:47-15:48
Not, yeah, amen.
Speaker 2:
15:48-15:49
Not just from him.
Speaker 2:
15:50-15:51
I'm not just talking about Jeff.
Speaker 2:
15:51-15:54
There's other, like this guy here, Taylor.
Speaker 2:
15:55-15:55
Taylor's another one.
Speaker 2:
15:56-15:57
And there's like-- - Oh, he's another one.
Speaker 2:
15:58-16:04
(audience laughing) There's like 12 others that preach uncompromisingly.
Speaker 2:
16:05-16:06
I can't see you over here.
Speaker 2:
16:07-16:08
There, that's better.
Speaker 2:
16:08-16:08
Okay.
Speaker 2:
16:10-16:21
So, see, as a byproduct of this leadership, what we are creating here at Harvest Bible Chapel is a culture.
Speaker 2:
16:22-16:51
And this culture is like causing you, You may not even know it, but it's causing us to kind of react in a second nature kind of way, biblically. And I see it all the time. I'm seeing it more and more. And here's an example of how that culture is affecting our life right now, in our lives. And I'm so grateful for this.
Speaker 2:
16:52-16:54
I have to read this because I'm not going to get through it.
Speaker 2:
16:57-17:58
I'm just gonna read it so I can just Get through it a Young woman who attends here Made known that she desired to serve God by cooking for a family in need That family was mine It's my sister and mom actually and this woman who now I refer to as the casserole Queen has been providing meals for my mother and sister for months now, and my mother is touched by this generosity for certain, but she has commented to me how my sister's attitude toward the church has been changing as a result of this stranger's act of caring. When a stranger blesses a stranger, they don't stay strangers, and the Holy Spirit is working through this woman's personal ministry in my life and in my family's life.
Speaker 2:
17:59-18:01
And I'm ridiculously grateful for that.
Speaker 2:
18:01-18:02
To the Lord.
Speaker 1:
18:02-18:03
Amen, amen.
Speaker 2:
18:06-18:07
Yeah, clap for that.
Speaker 2:
18:08-18:10
I and my family are loved.
Speaker 2:
18:10-18:11
Something keeps stinging me.
Speaker 2:
18:13-18:14
Sorry, did I take too long?
18:15-18:16
(laughing)
18:17-18:18
I'm
Speaker 3:
18:18-18:18
I'm Andy.
Speaker 3:
18:18-18:21
I just wanted to add more blessings.
Speaker 3:
18:21-18:24
We've been blessed since the first day that we've been here.
Speaker 3:
18:25-18:34
Small groups for sure have been a blessing for the prayer, for the relationship that we have with a lot of people in here.
Speaker 3:
18:35-18:40
Getting to know people to support the physical, emotional, and prayer support.
Speaker 3:
18:41-18:43
The prayer team, thank you all so much.
Speaker 3:
18:43-18:50
It is such a blessing to get an email in the middle of the week that, hey, I just prayed for a need that you had.
Speaker 3:
18:50-18:51
That is amazing.
Speaker 3:
18:52-18:58
And the young families, as Jay was just alluding to, There is one person in particular that has helped our family.
Speaker 3:
18:58-19:01
We've been helped by many others though as well.
Speaker 3:
19:01-19:15
And when I see you young families, it is so encouraging because you're not just ready and able to help, you are enthusiastically diving in and serving the Lord by serving His church.
Speaker 3:
19:15-19:18
This is a wonderful church family that we have been blessed by.
Speaker 3:
19:18-19:19
Thank you all.
Speaker 3:
19:19-19:19
>> Amen.
19:20-19:21
Thank
Speaker 1:
19:21-19:21
you, guys.
Speaker 1:
19:21-19:22
Thank you.
Speaker 1:
19:24-19:25
[ Applause ]
Speaker 1:
19:25-19:27
Miss Debbie, where's Miss Debbie?
Speaker 1:
19:27-19:27
I know you're here somewhere.
Speaker 1:
19:28-19:29
You can stand up.
19:33-19:33
I
Speaker 2:
19:33-19:35
think he was joking about your height.
Speaker 1:
19:35-19:36
Yeah, that was a short joke.
Speaker 1:
19:42-19:44
Remember, remember, remember, we're thankful.
Speaker 1:
19:44-19:45
We're thankful.
Speaker 4:
19:45-19:47
This will be my last day at the church.
Speaker 4:
19:47-19:51
Hi, I'm Debbie Simons, and I live in Natrona Heights.
Speaker 4:
19:52-19:54
So it's quite a hike for me to come here.
Speaker 4:
19:54-19:58
However, this is my church, my family.
Speaker 4:
19:59-20:01
The church is not a building for me.
Speaker 4:
20:01-20:02
It's a group of people.
Speaker 4:
20:04-20:21
I started coming here with my husband in 2012, and sadly he passed away that very year, and God dropped Jeff out of the sky at my house that year, and he has taken care of me and my family ever since.
Speaker 4:
20:21-20:22
I have three children.
Speaker 4:
20:24-20:28
None of them come here but my granddaughter Charlotte, I think most of you know.
Speaker 4:
20:30-20:34
Over the years I've been blessed with a vehicle, a furnace.
Speaker 4:
20:35-20:42
I have been, I mean you saw me raw as a widow and just have walked me through that time.
Speaker 4:
20:42-20:56
And recently my daughter's house caught on fire at Christmas and my small group jumped into action and just refurbished her with everything she needed.
Speaker 4:
20:56-21:01
She is a non-believer and she was truly blessed by that.
Speaker 4:
21:02-21:11
And also recently a small group, not my own, came to my house and worked tirelessly.
Speaker 4:
21:12-21:18
They were like a well-oiled machine and they were so joyful and the kids that came, so joyful.
Speaker 4:
21:19-21:27
This is a church that gives and loves without measure and beyond anything you could ever dream or imagine.
Speaker 4:
21:28-21:36
So make yourself known and know some of these people because they don't just provide physical things.
Speaker 4:
21:36-21:42
They take care of your heart, point you back to the Lord, and they're all about Him.
Speaker 4:
21:43-21:44
So thank you, Harvest.
21:46-21:47
This will be my last day here.
Speaker 1:
21:49-21:51
I love you. I love you, God. Thank you, God.
Speaker 1:
21:51-21:53
Thank you so much. This better not be your last day.
Speaker 1:
21:56-21:57
This better not be your last day.
Speaker 1:
22:00-22:01
Bow with me in prayer, please.
Speaker 1:
22:02-22:04
Father in heaven, we just want to pause right now.
Speaker 1:
22:06-22:10
As your word teaches us, Father, we give thanks.
Speaker 1:
22:10-22:12
We give thanks, God, for your love and faithfulness.
Speaker 1:
22:14-22:20
And as we heard from Debbie, as we heard from the Nauers, God, you have demonstrated your love through the people in this church.
Speaker 1:
22:20-22:22
God, you've demonstrated your faithfulness.
Speaker 1:
22:22-22:24
And God, we thank you for that.
Speaker 1:
22:25-22:27
You have demonstrated your faithfulness to your word.
Speaker 1:
22:27-22:28
Hold it above all things.
Speaker 1:
22:29-22:32
You have demonstrated your faithfulness, God, and we thank you for that.
Speaker 1:
22:32-22:36
We have nothing to offer anyone in and of ourselves.
Speaker 1:
22:38-22:44
But it is your word that changes people, and it is your word that strengthens the souls of people.
Speaker 1:
22:44-22:46
And for that, God, we thank you.
Speaker 1:
22:47-22:49
God, we ask that you would continue.
Speaker 1:
22:53-23:00
To demonstrate your goodness and faithfulness, and we will continue to give you thanks, we pray these things
Speaker 5:
23:00-23:00
in Jesus name.
Speaker 1:
23:01-23:01
Amen.
23:07-23:07
The
Speaker 5:
23:07-23:10
three reasons we are giving thanks today, second on the list, anticipation.
Speaker 5:
23:11-23:13
We give thanks for what God is going to do.
Speaker 5:
23:14-23:17
We often have such low expectations of God, don't we?
Speaker 5:
23:17-23:22
Our anticipation of what He's gonna do in the future can be very weak.
Speaker 5:
23:22-23:27
We set the bar so low for Him so we can avoid frustration and disappointment.
Speaker 5:
23:29-23:32
'Cause if you don't get your hopes up, you can't be let down, right?
Speaker 5:
23:33-23:44
Well, David does not choose to think that way in verse four because he swings for the fences for his expectations of what God will do and what God will accomplish in the future.
Speaker 5:
23:45-23:46
Let's read the beginning of verse four.
Speaker 5:
23:47-23:50
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks, O Lord.
Speaker 5:
23:51-23:57
At this time in history, David was probably the only king on planet Earth who worshiped and served the one true God.
Speaker 5:
23:58-24:03
Every other king bowed down to handmade idols that could do nothing for no one.
Speaker 5:
24:04-24:10
But David doesn't just focus on the here and now, he focuses on the there and then.
Speaker 5:
24:10-24:25
He calmly looks ahead and he is a hundred percent sure that Gentile rulers will abandon their foolish idolatry and join him in a worshipping and thanking the Lord Why will this happen?
Speaker 5:
24:26-24:40
Well David tells us why at the end of verse 4 and in verse 5 For they have heard the words of your mouth. They shall sing of the ways of the Lord for great is the glory of the Lord So again, why will this happen?
Speaker 5:
24:41-25:09
Because God is too great and glorious for it not to happen. Amen King David is saying God is too big. God is too awesome just to be worshipped by me. I know the other rulers will get in line behind me David had no evidence of this future except for God's character and track record which are more than enough Why are we so confident that the Lord is gonna use Harvest Bible Chapel in a great and mighty way in this area?
Speaker 5:
25:10-25:33
Because he is too great and glorious for it not to happen Amen Because he is worthy of the worship of every single person in that neighborhood next to us because he is worthy of the worship of Everyone on Klein Road because his name is worthy of being lifted high in New Swickley in Zillian Opal and Cranberry Wexford and beyond. He is worthy of being lifted high in Pittsburgh and throughout this world.
Speaker 5:
25:36-25:39
You know, this church isn't just about all of us in this field right now. Do you know that?
Speaker 5:
25:40-25:46
This church is about the Lord drawing more and more worshippers and disciples unto himself through us.
Speaker 5:
25:47-25:52
If we lose that expectation, if we lose that anticipation, we are so lost.
Speaker 5:
25:53-25:56
We are dead in the water and this move is pointless.
Speaker 5:
25:57-26:06
As we move forward as a congregation, we must constantly make sure that our expectations, anticipation are wholly focused on God.
Speaker 5:
26:08-26:10
David reminds us of this important reality in verse 6.
Speaker 5:
26:11-26:20
He says, "For though the Lord is high, He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar." Yes, God is high and lifted up.
Speaker 5:
26:20-26:24
Yes, God is gloriously holy and beyond us in every single way.
Speaker 5:
26:25-26:55
this king of the world who is high above all still sees those who recognize their rightful place before him. Humility does not go unnoticed in heaven. Other people may not notice it whenever you humble yourself, but who cares? God Almighty sees you, He knows you, He loves you, and He blesses you. But David gives us this warning in verse 6 as well. "The haughty, the proud, the arrogant, the boastful." God God knows from afar.
Speaker 5:
26:57-26:59
God keeps those who exalt themselves at an arm's length.
Speaker 5:
26:59-27:05
He keeps his distance because they have failed to remember who they actually are and who he truly is.
Speaker 5:
27:07-27:18
And I was racking my brain earlier this week to figure out how to illustrate this and how it works out in real life, and the Lord gifted me with an experience on the way home on Tuesday evening from work.
Speaker 5:
27:19-27:21
It was 5.15, rush hour traffic.
Speaker 5:
27:22-27:23
We're going pretty slow.
Speaker 5:
27:24-27:28
All of a sudden, this souped up scion zooms right past me and cuts me off.
Speaker 5:
27:29-27:32
But Mr. Scion wasn't content just to cut me off.
Speaker 5:
27:32-27:37
He started zooming ahead and cutting other people off with the most obnoxious and lousy noises.
Speaker 5:
27:37-27:38
(imitates scion)
Speaker 5:
27:40-27:41
Over and over again.
Speaker 5:
27:42-27:43
You know what's funny though?
Speaker 5:
27:44-27:51
No matter how fast he went, no matter how many people he cut off, he always somehow ended up right behind my car.
Speaker 5:
27:54-27:54
(laughs)
Speaker 5:
27:54-27:57
the speed limit, I stayed in the same exact lane.
Speaker 5:
27:57-28:01
And at one point I heard him scream, that's how loud he screamed, in the car next to me.
Speaker 5:
28:01-28:12
He screamed and slapped his steering wheel 'cause he was kept far away from where he wanted to be, no matter how hard he tried to go ahead in his own way and his own power.
Speaker 5:
28:14-28:16
Harvest, let's not be like Mr. Scion.
Speaker 5:
28:17-28:21
Let's never think that we got this and we can do it on our own because we cannot.
Speaker 5:
28:23-28:32
Let us follow God's plan at his pace, at his perfect timing, even though his way may seem slow, bumpy, and frustrating at times.
Speaker 5:
28:34-28:36
Because ultimately, this isn't our work.
Speaker 5:
28:37-28:38
It is God's work.
Speaker 5:
28:39-28:44
Let us humble ourselves and thank the Lord that he has invited us into his work.
Speaker 5:
28:45-28:49
Let us expect great things of God and passionately worship him right now.
Speaker 5:
28:50-29:18
Let us eagerly anticipate the future he is going to bring this church and praise him and thank him now because he is worthy. There may not be a building in this field right now but let's thank God that it's going to be someday soon. We're going to continue to thank the Lord through testimony so if Jamie and Dylan Kingham could come forward to share how Harvest Bible Chapel has impacted them. Give them a round of applause.
Speaker 6:
29:25-29:31
Hi, honestly, I'm feeling a little emotional and I didn't think I would be, but I'm Jamie Kingan.
Speaker 6:
29:31-29:32
This is my husband, Dylan.
Speaker 6:
29:32-29:33
That's our son, Bo, back there.
Speaker 6:
29:35-29:40
And we've been coming to Harvest for about a year, but we've known about it for about seven years.
Speaker 6:
29:40-29:42
My mom and dad started coming here.
Speaker 6:
29:42-29:48
And when we got married and we're like looking for a church, we grew up with very different church backgrounds.
Speaker 6:
29:48-29:54
We were like, we want to find somewhere different than my family, than, like, you know, like our own place, like whatever.
Speaker 6:
29:54-30:06
So we were looking and going to different churches, and we were just feeling very discouraged because we hadn't found a place that we felt like really comfortable or like we both were like this is where God wants us to be.
Speaker 6:
30:06-30:10
And we were just like praying that God would guide us and just like give us some wisdom.
Speaker 6:
30:11-30:45
And we came to a service with my mom and dad one week, and Pastor Jeff gave a sermon about how it's really important to be able to trust and respect and like be able to lean on the leadership of your church and we got in the car and left and I was like that is not where we're at like we need to reevaluate and we felt that immediately at harvest that we could really trust and respect what was coming out of the leadership and that it was a place that would help us grow as like a a new family and as new parents.
Speaker 6:
30:47-30:48
And that would walk alongside of us.
Speaker 6:
30:49-30:51
And now we look at, oh, sorry.
Speaker 6:
30:54-31:24
We look at going to church with our family as like such a blessing, 'cause it's like a really beautiful generational, like my grandparents are here, and Beau's grandparents are here, and so my son gets to grow up going to church with his family and his grandparents, his great grandparents and around a body of people who will encourage us and help us bring him up in a place that has a firm foundation in the world.
Speaker 6:
31:24-31:26
So, sorry I got so emotional.
Speaker 7:
31:31-31:32
Hello, I'm Dylan.
Speaker 7:
31:34-31:43
But yeah, kind of going off of what Jamie was saying, it's like Jamie was, I think, seven, eight months pregnant and we were still scrambling to find a church.
Speaker 7:
31:43-31:48
And I'm like, "Oh, this is gonna be tough." So we ended up going to Harvest.
Speaker 7:
31:48-31:54
And then like she said, from day one, it was immediate, the impact that Harvest had on us and our lives.
Speaker 7:
31:56-32:04
And we knew right away that Beau was gonna be raised in this church and he's gonna be a man of God because of, partially because of this church.
Speaker 7:
32:04-32:06
And we dedicated him to the church.
Speaker 7:
32:06-32:19
And now kind of fast forward to today and you can see the future almost out here today and just the church family that we have and that Bo has as well.
Speaker 7:
32:20-32:21
It's just truly amazing.
Speaker 7:
32:21-32:35
And what Jeff said earlier, like the world is hard and it can be a hard, dark place, but this church is different and you can see that today and in the future as well.
Speaker 7:
32:35-32:37
So thank you.
32:37-32:37
Thank you.
32:39-32:39
(applause)
32:40-32:40
Thank
Speaker 5:
32:40-32:41
you both for sharing.
Speaker 5:
32:41-32:43
Now I'm going to invite Becca Kendrew forward to share as well.
Speaker 5:
32:43-32:44
So give her a round of applause.
32:46-32:47
(applause)
32:49-32:52
Becca Kendrew>> I'm
Speaker 8:
32:52-32:53
Becca Kendrew.
Speaker 8:
32:53-32:56
Me and my family, we've been coming here for a little over a year now.
Speaker 8:
32:57-33:03
And something I've said to them since we started coming here is everyone just seems so loving here.
Speaker 8:
33:04-33:25
I just felt so comforted from the moment I walked in the door and I'm very passionate about worshiping and singing and so being able to join the worship team has been a really big blessing for me.
Speaker 8:
33:29-33:33
My family experienced a lot of hurt before coming here.
Speaker 8:
33:36-33:48
And seeing the way you guys treat each other and love one another when someone is going through something, it's like, that is like what I've been missing at past churches we've been to.
Speaker 8:
33:48-33:50
We experience a lot of church hurt.
Speaker 8:
33:52-33:54
I just wanna say thank you for that.
Speaker 8:
33:55-33:55
Ryan.
Speaker 8:
33:58-33:59
Thank you.
Speaker 8:
34:01-34:06
But yeah, I just, I really appreciate the way you guys say, like, how can I be praying for you?
Speaker 8:
34:06-34:07
How can I help you?
Speaker 8:
34:07-34:09
And you really show up and you do that for one another.
Speaker 8:
34:10-34:12
And I think that's something me and my family missed.
Speaker 8:
34:13-34:19
And I just love the way this preaching has come straight from the scripture, from the Bible.
Speaker 8:
34:19-34:24
And I'm just ready each Sunday to write everything down.
Speaker 8:
34:24-34:25
I put it in my Bible.
Speaker 8:
34:25-34:35
I have it all down and I'm ready to just listen and learn from it all and oh I'm losing my spot. I'm so worked up.
Speaker 8:
34:38-34:41
But yeah, just thank you for how much you've loved me and my family.
Speaker 8:
34:42-34:50
It's meant the world to us and a lot of healing has come from this church and I'm very very very grateful. I'm very grateful. Thank you.
34:58-34:58
Let's
Speaker 5:
34:58-35:00
continue to give thanks to God in prayer.
Speaker 5:
35:02-35:07
God, we listen to these testimonies, it's hard to get overwhelmed by all that you're doing.
Speaker 5:
35:07-35:13
Lord, we get so caught up in our schedules and our routines and our issues that we totally miss that you're at work.
Speaker 5:
35:15-35:21
Lord, we so often think to ourselves, I wish God was doing something, but you are doing something, no matter what season that we're in.
Speaker 5:
35:21-35:26
And we thank you that you're at work at Harvest Bible Chapel since 2011 until today and in the future, Lord.
Speaker 5:
35:27-35:32
We anticipate great things because you have done great things for us over the course of this church.
Speaker 5:
35:32-35:35
And we know you'll continue to do so moving forward.
Speaker 5:
35:35-35:39
Lord, may we never try to depend on ourselves or think that we can do it.
Speaker 5:
35:39-35:45
May you always put us in the position where we have to trust you every single step along the way.
Speaker 5:
35:46-35:50
Lord, we thank you for every single person that will be saved through this ministry.
Speaker 5:
35:51-35:55
We thank you for every single family that will be strengthened through this ministry.
Speaker 5:
35:55-35:58
We thank you for every single disciple that will be made.
Speaker 5:
35:59-36:04
And Lord, help us to remember that this is your work, and you have invited us into it with you.
Speaker 5:
36:05-36:07
Lord, we thank you, we praise you.
Speaker 5:
36:09-36:12
In the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Speaker 1:
36:19-36:29
There's one more reason we're giving thanks today, not just adoration, we give thanks for what God is doing, anticipation, we give thanks for what God is going to do.
Speaker 1:
36:31-36:33
But number three is assurance.
Speaker 1:
36:34-36:38
We give thanks that God always finishes His work.
Speaker 1:
36:39-36:40
Look at verse seven.
Speaker 1:
36:42-36:49
Verse 7 says, "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.
Speaker 1:
36:51-37:09
You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me." Stop there. David reminds us trouble is going to come. And it almost always comes from people.
Speaker 1:
37:10-37:23
And that might seem like such a strange concept, especially on today, especially as we look at what the Lord has provided this church, especially as we're here celebrating how God is at work and trusting what He's going to do.
Speaker 1:
37:26-37:45
Trouble's going to come. It almost always comes from people. And there will be, Yes, even from within the church, naysayers and complainers and critics.
Speaker 1:
37:47-37:59
Like, well, how do you know that? Because when God is at work, there are always people who are not on board.
Speaker 1:
38:00-38:02
That's what David was talking about here.
Speaker 1:
38:03-38:05
Do you need another reference?
Speaker 1:
38:06-38:06
How about Moses?
Speaker 1:
38:09-38:11
How about the Apostle Paul?
Speaker 1:
38:13-38:13
How about?
Speaker 1:
38:16-38:29
About our Lord, how about Jesus Christ himself, who came to die for our sins, to be raised from the dead, to give us eternal life, The perfect, righteous Son of God.
Speaker 1:
38:30-38:32
God clearly at work.
Speaker 1:
38:35-38:38
And even in the face of God Himself, there were people that were not on board.
Speaker 1:
38:40-38:41
Like, man.
Speaker 1:
38:43-38:44
I guess you're right, Pastor Jeff.
Speaker 1:
38:44-38:46
What do we do about these people that are on board?
Speaker 1:
38:46-38:47
What do we do?
Speaker 1:
38:47-38:48
What do we do about that?
Speaker 1:
38:52-38:52
Nothing.
Speaker 1:
38:54-38:55
Did you see what he just said?
Speaker 1:
38:57-39:14
He says, "You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand delivers me." What David is saying is, "You know what, God, when there's people that aren't on board with what you're doing, I know that you're going to deal with them." And he will.
Speaker 1:
39:15-39:17
So why am I so concerned about them?
Speaker 1:
39:19-39:20
God's going to preserve us.
Speaker 1:
39:20-39:23
His right hand is going to deliver us.
Speaker 1:
39:23-39:26
And today, church, how can we not give thanks for His assurance?
Speaker 1:
39:29-39:32
And if you're like, "Well, how do we know?
Speaker 1:
39:33-39:37
How do we know that God is going to fulfill His purpose?
Speaker 1:
39:37-39:42
How do we know God will fulfill His purpose?" Well, look at verse 8.
Speaker 1:
39:43-40:15
"The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me." steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands." God has some work for us to do, obviously, but the question is, who's going to make sure the work gets done? Everybody point. Who is going to make sure that the work gets done. God will fulfill his purpose.
Speaker 1:
40:20-40:39
Quick poll you people doing projects at home. How many people by show of hands, I'll give you both choices and then you can vote. How many people when you do a project you like to do one project and get it all finished versus the people that start like 15 projects and they're all at various stages of completion.
Speaker 1:
40:39-40:45
All right, so how many people are like one at a time, please how many people like that I feel you?
Speaker 1:
40:47-40:51
Okay, how many people right now at their house have like 15 projects happening?
Speaker 1:
40:53-42:27
or more See I'm a one-at-a-time person Because - and this is why maybe it's just how I'm autistic or something but like When I see a bunch of half or quarter or third finished projects when I see those around the house It's just always a reminder to me Of a lack of commitment on my part like Jeff you started that but you didn't finish that And then I'm like really convicted like I was why was I so interested in doing that then and now I don't have as much interest now Well good news Because this verse tells us that God always finishes what he begins. Do you know God doesn't run out of steam? God doesn't run out of money. God doesn't run out of resources. God doesn't run out of interest. And the fact that we are sitting here today on this property and we're looking out here we can say how do we how do we know how do we know God's gonna put a building there? How do we know? Because God always finishes what And he didn't bring us here today and say, "All right kids, good luck. Let me know how it goes when you get that building up." He says at the end of verse 8, "Do not forsake the work of your hands." Do not forsake the work of your...
Speaker 1:
42:27-42:38
What is the work of God's hands? What is that? What is the work of God's hands? Do you know the Bible tells us, Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God's workmanship.
Speaker 1:
42:40-42:46
And Philippians 1.6 reminds us that when God starts something in you, He's going to finish it.
Speaker 1:
42:50-42:59
So yes, yes, yes, a building is going to be put here where God is going to be at work through you.
Speaker 1:
43:01-43:06
But first, God wants to do something in you.
Speaker 1:
43:08-43:09
The Lord's going to fulfill His purpose.
Speaker 1:
43:11-43:16
So how can we not give thanks for His assurance?
Speaker 1:
43:20-43:22
And straight A's in gratitude looks like this.
Speaker 1:
43:23-43:28
Adoration, thanking God for who He is.
Speaker 1:
43:29-43:37
Anticipation, thanking God for what He's going to do, and assurance, thanking God knowing that He's going to finish what He does.
Speaker 1:
43:41-43:41
And you know what I found?
Speaker 1:
43:42-43:55
The people that get that, the people that truly understand those three things about God are the people who are going to give thanks with their whole heart.
Speaker 1:
43:58-44:10
Thankful people are motivated by their gratitude to God to worship, to give, and to serve.

Small Group Discussion
Read Psalm 138

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Psalm 138:3 and Psalm 138:7 tell us that God doesn’t always change our circumstance when we pray, but He strengthens us. Tell of a specific time when you were strengthened by God, even though your circumstances didn’t change.
In Psalm 138:8, we have both a declaration of certainty God will finish His work (v8a) and a plea for God to finish His work (Psalm 138:8c). What does this say about the nature of faith?

Breakout
Pray prayers of specific things you are thankful for.

Jeff Miller

July 28, 2024

Intentional Love

How to Love Difficult People: How to Love Those Who Hurt You

Jeff Miller

July 28, 2024

Intentional Love

Introduction:

How can I love someone after a hurt? (Genesis 45:1-15)

When I trust God is at work...

I reject Revenge . (Gen 45:1-3)
I recognize God redeems wrongs . (Gen 45:4-8)
Romans 8:28 - And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
I release My resentment . (Gen 45:5,9-13)
Genesis 41:51-52 - Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house." The name of the second he called Ephraim, "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
I run After reconciliation . (Gen 45:14-15)
Romans 12:18 - If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

01:15-01:15
Well, good morning.
01:17-01:20
If we haven't met yet, my name is Justin.
01:21-01:25
I'm one of the elders here, and I am blessed to be able to share God's word with you today.
01:27-01:39
This month, we've been going through a series on intentional love, and I hope that like me, you've been encouraged by hearing Dan, Pastor Taylor, and Pastor Rich preach these past few weeks.
01:40-01:52
I have the very unenviable task We're following all of them today to conclude the series, so it seems as prudent as ever to go to the Lord in prayer as we begin.
01:53-02:03
So as is our tradition, if we could take just a moment and you would pray for me to faithfully represent God's word, and I will pray for you to receive it.
02:09-02:09
Amen.
02:12-02:19
Many years ago in college, several of my friends enrolled in a flag football elective.
02:19-02:25
Now, we had done other sports previously, but this one didn't fit my schedule.
02:25-02:32
So for the next few months, I kept hearing about all the fun they were having, football story after football story.
02:33-02:37
And they're like, Justin, you have to join next time.
02:38-02:41
So that spring, I signed up.
02:41-02:44
And I was really excited.
02:45-02:45
Like, how excited?
02:46-02:51
I went out to the store and actually bought some receiver gloves, right?
02:51-02:54
Because that's definitely how seriously I should take this.
02:56-03:08
And I was in my apartment actually visualizing myself flying through the air, making contested one-handed catches, and my teammates surrounding me after a touchdown as I'm doing some cool pose.
03:10-03:14
Well, then came the first day of class.
03:15-03:16
It's the first series.
03:17-03:18
We had the ball.
03:18-03:21
We drew up the play on the quarterback's chest.
03:22-03:26
I'm going to streak down the sideline and run a post across the middle of the field.
03:28-03:29
We lined up.
03:30-03:31
I restrapped my gloves.
03:33-03:37
And as the ball was snapped, I took off like I had a jet pack on.
03:38-03:44
full speed, plant my foot, cut in, and as I turn up to look for the ball, wham!
03:45-03:48
I got lifted on my feet and slammed into the ground.
03:48-03:49
I never saw him.
03:51-03:55
And that guy was also going full speed.
03:56-03:58
It was supposed to be flag football, right?
03:58-03:59
Meaning no tackles.
04:00-04:02
But he didn't see me either.
04:03-04:04
So I got lit up.
04:08-04:09
I was laying on the ground.
04:10-04:12
I destroyed my shoulder.
04:13-04:21
And I was rehabbing it for months, so I didn't play another snap that day, nor have I played another snap of football in the 15 years since.
04:22-04:26
But a doctor did recently ask me, like, what happened with my shoulder?
04:26-04:30
So I did get to say, oh, you know, it's an old football injury.
04:32-04:33
(audience laughing)
04:34-04:41
Okay, Justin, but what does you getting hurt have to do with intentional love?
04:42-04:49
Well, today we are talking about a pretty tough topic, how to love after you've been hurt.
04:50-04:55
And this month we've talked a lot about love, but what do I mean by hurt?
04:56-05:02
To be clear, if you're in an abusive situation of some kind, you need to contact our pastors immediately.
05:03-05:10
But there are so many other ways that we hurt each other relationally, we can't even list them all.
05:11-05:20
Like, for example, how do you love someone after they said something that hurt so badly, you still think about it even years later?
05:21-05:24
Or how do you love someone who betrayed you?
05:25-05:30
Someone who you trusted and they suddenly turned on you with their actions?
05:32-05:36
Or how do you love someone who fills your life with empty promises?
05:37-05:40
In that case, the inaction is what hurts.
05:41-05:43
We could go on, of course.
05:44-05:51
Well, I shared the football story because when I got hurt playing, it was because I never saw the defender.
05:52-05:54
I wasn't looking in the right place.
05:56-06:00
And oftentimes, after a hurt, we aren't looking in the right place.
06:01-06:08
And what I mean is, typically, after I've been hurt, I'm completely consumed with the hurt itself.
06:10-06:17
All of my focus is on how I was offended, or how I was mistreated, or how I was disrespected, whatever it is.
06:18-06:23
I'm looking right at it, as I guess most of us naturally do.
06:24-06:35
But we can't stay focused there, because as we're going to see from the passage today, overcoming hurt in order to love, it starts by looking to the Lord.
06:37-06:51
If I condense the sermon down to one of those church Burger King signs, it might say, "To see past your hurt, you must see God at work." But we can go into a little bit more detail this morning.
06:52-06:57
If you would please open your Bibles with me to Genesis, chapter 45.
06:59-07:01
We're going to be reading from the account of Joseph.
07:01-07:05
So, as you're turning there, let's quickly review his story.
07:06-07:09
It begins back in Genesis chapter 37.
07:10-07:17
Joseph was his father Jacob's favorite son, and he kept having dreams that someday his brothers would bow down to him.
07:18-07:27
His brothers were very angered by this, So they attacked and nearly killed Joseph before selling him into slavery and tricking Jacob into thinking he was dead.
07:29-07:37
Years passed and Joseph was wrongfully imprisoned in Egypt, but shortly after being thrown in jail, he was appointed Egypt's prime minister.
07:37-07:40
This is a very abbreviated summary, by the way.
07:41-07:48
Fast forward and there was widespread famine, but under Joseph's leadership, Egypt had reserved plenty of food.
07:49-08:04
So Jacob sent his other sons there to buy some, but they didn't know that the man in charge questioning them and testing their character was Joseph until Genesis chapter 45.
08:06-08:08
So how can I love someone after a hurt?
08:09-08:17
On your outline, when I trust God is at work, number one, I reject revenge.
08:18-08:22
So let's start, Genesis 45, verse 1.
08:24-08:29
It says, "Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him.
08:30-08:38
He cried, 'Make everyone go out from me.' So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
08:39-08:43
And he wept aloud so that the Egyptians heard it and the household of Pharaoh heard it.
08:44-08:48
And Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph.
08:49-08:58
Is my father still alive?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.
09:00-09:03
They were dismayed at his presence.
09:04-09:07
Yeah, imagine being one of the brothers.
09:08-09:13
Together, you sold Joseph away and faked his death, and now you're at his mercy.
09:14-09:19
And with Joseph's power at that time, any type of vengeance was on the table.
09:20-09:23
Imprisonment, execution, court jesters, anything.
09:25-09:35
And imagine being Joseph, the people who hurt you more deeply than you thought was possible, are now in front of you and you can get justice.
09:37-09:39
But Joseph wasn't thinking about getting even, was he?
09:41-09:43
Your Bible says he could not control himself.
09:44-09:48
And he wept so loudly, everyone around heard him.
09:49-09:55
That uncontrollable emotion wasn't from rage though, it was from compassion.
09:56-09:58
He still cared for his family.
09:58-10:12
He said, "I am Joseph, is my father still alive?" He could have said, "I am Joseph, now it's your turn to suffer." or I am Joseph, do you realize what you've put me through?
10:14-10:19
But Joseph rejected revenge, despite what he endured because of his brothers.
10:20-10:23
He chose intentional love.
10:24-10:32
And we'll see more of that love throughout this passage, but let's focus on how Joseph denied that instinct of payback.
10:33-10:38
It's like if someone put a box of donuts in front of a child.
10:39-10:42
Is their first instinct to have one?
10:43-10:44
No way.
10:45-10:46
Not for kid Justin.
10:47-10:49
I would have had another and another and another.
10:50-10:52
And if you don't believe me, you can ask my parents after service.
10:54-11:03
But as adults, we can reject that initial response and limit ourselves to just one delicious chocolate frosted treat.
11:04-11:05
I'm very pro doughnuts.
11:06-11:07
(audience laughing)
11:07-11:12
My point is, taming an initial reaction isn't just for donuts.
11:13-11:16
It's common to so much of the Christian life.
11:17-11:24
Reject the sinful response, and through Christ, make the more difficult, but ultimately better choice.
11:25-11:31
Reject the desire for revenge, and as difficult as it may be, choose love.
11:32-11:34
And you might be thinking, well, check.
11:35-11:36
I reject revenge.
11:37-11:43
Joseph didn't send his brothers to a dungeon, and I've never issued a dungeon sentence or anything like that.
11:45-11:48
But revenge looks a little bit different for us.
11:49-11:54
We have some classic revenge moves, like the passive aggressive move.
11:55-11:57
Hey, hey, are you still upset about yesterday?
11:58-11:58
Me?
11:59-11:59
Never better.
12:01-12:03
Why would being insulted like that make me upset?
12:03-12:04
I'm good.
12:06-12:08
Or what about the silent treatment?
12:10-12:11
We get revenge without saying a thing.
12:13-12:15
Or on the other end, venting.
12:16-12:23
I'm so offended and you hurt me so bad, I'm gonna raise my voice until I feel like we're even.
12:25-12:26
All of that is revenge.
12:28-12:40
In our sinful flesh, we love to hold others accountable for their wrongs, we certainly don't want that treatment when we're wrong, but we don't usually think about that.
12:41-12:51
The other path here is rejecting the instinct for revenge and intentionally choosing love, being patient, listening, giving grace.
12:53-13:04
When we get that urge to retaliate, we first have to be aware that it's even happening, and then ask the Lord to move our focus away from the hurt.
13:05-13:08
Because as we just read, Joseph didn't retaliate.
13:09-13:12
So we have to ask, why not?
13:14-13:17
I'll tell you, he wasn't looking at the hurt.
13:18-13:20
Joseph was looking up.
13:22-13:26
Point number two on your outline, how can I love someone after a hurt?
13:28-13:34
When I trust God is at work, I recognize God redeems wrongs.
13:35-13:38
Let's continue reading in verse four.
13:40-13:44
It says, "So Joseph said to his brothers, "come near to me, please.
13:46-13:46
"And they came near.
13:47-13:51
"And he said, I am your brother Joseph, "whom you sold into Egypt.
13:52-13:56
"And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves "because you sold me here.
13:57-14:00
"For God sent me before you to preserve life.
14:01-14:09
For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
14:10-14:17
And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive for you many survivors.
14:18-14:22
So it was not you who sent me here, but God.
14:22-14:32
He has made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt." Pause there.
14:34-14:40
So continuing his speech, Joseph detailed the reason he rejected revenge.
14:40-14:41
Did you see that?
14:42-15:01
Verse five, "Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here for God sent me before you." Verse seven, "And God sent me before you." Verse eight, "It was not you who sent me here, but God, what does that mean?" What does he mean?
15:03-15:07
Joseph knew, and we know, that his brothers were wrong.
15:08-15:15
The book of James tells us that God tempts no one to sin, so Joseph's brothers were 100% guilty.
15:16-15:19
They sinned against Joseph by their choice.
15:20-15:32
The reason, though, that Joseph kept saying, "God sent me," is he understood a wonderful truth about our God, which is also the key to this entire sermon.
15:33-15:37
God can bring something good out of something evil.
15:39-15:44
God does not cause wrongs against you, God redeems wrongs against you.
15:46-15:58
So Joseph's brothers sent him to Egypt with the intention to destroy, but God sent Joseph to Egypt with the intention to save, among others, to save the very people that betrayed him.
16:00-16:06
So, did God send Joseph to Egypt, or did his brother's betrayal send him to Egypt?
16:08-16:08
Yes.
16:09-16:11
Can you fully explain that to me?
16:11-16:12
No, I can't.
16:13-16:15
That is the mystery of God's providence.
16:16-16:20
But if you have more questions about that, Pastor Taylor will happily answer them after service.
16:23-16:28
See, Joseph understood it's not possible to stop God's purpose.
16:29-16:40
Like, have you ever taken a vacation or even heard of a vacation with these two elements, a long drive and a dad?
16:42-16:51
Let me ask you, when that dad purposes in his mind to travel on this vacation, is there anything that can stop him?
16:52-16:55
Weather, traffic, bathroom breaks?
16:55-16:56
We'll just cancel those.
16:57-16:58
Dad, do you know what I'm saying?
16:59-17:01
We are going to get there, right?
17:02-17:13
One year, we were about to drive home from North Carolina, and somehow, all the windows on the car, including the moon roof, got stuck open.
17:14-17:15
and it was raining.
17:16-17:17
(Laughter)
17:17-17:26
We were with other families, so my mom, my sister, and I got distributed into other vehicles, but my dad didn't go to a repair shop.
17:27-17:30
He didn't duct tape garbage bags everywhere.
17:31-17:45
No, as the cars pulled out, I looked over and saw my dad driving with all the windows still wide open, a huge grin on his face, and swim goggles over his eyes.
17:46-17:47
(Laughter)
17:51-17:57
As a kid, when I looked at my father that day, I knew nothing could stop my dad.
17:59-18:06
And when Joseph looked at his heavenly father, he knew nothing could stop his dad.
18:08-18:11
Obviously, there are so many ways this analogy breaks down.
18:12-18:14
I love my dad, but he doesn't rule over the universe.
18:16-18:21
And not just my dad, but all of us as humans are sometimes caught off guard.
18:22-18:23
But God's never surprised.
18:24-18:42
God never thinks, "Oh no, what am I gonna do now?" But we have to know that God's plan is unstoppable because trusting that God is at work in your life is the critical step to loving someone who hurts you.
18:44-18:45
Because bad stuff happens.
18:46-18:52
People get hurt, offended, ignored, cut down.
18:54-18:59
And don't leave thinking that being hurt in itself is good, because it isn't.
19:00-19:02
The world is messed up.
19:03-19:06
If you're dealing with hurt right now, I am genuinely sorry.
19:07-19:14
and whoever hurt you was wrong, someday in heaven we'll be free from sin and from hurt.
19:16-19:24
Until then, we have to trust that God is at work even in our bad situations, like Joseph's.
19:25-19:31
And like we read in Romans 8.28, it's a familiar verse to many of us.
19:32-20:08
It says, "And we know that for those who love God, "All things work together for good "for those who are called according to his purpose." This does not say that all the things that happen to you are good in themselves, but this verse does say, "For those in Christ, God works together all things, "the good things and the bad things for your good." So even in the bad times, recognize that He redeems wrongs.
20:10-20:16
And in regards to intentionally loving those who hurt us, by recognizing that, we can even forgive.
20:18-20:22
Point number three, how can I love someone after I hurt?
20:23-20:28
When I trust God is at work, I release my resentment.
20:30-20:35
Forgiveness, we're talking about forgiveness, but that doesn't start with an R.
20:38-20:52
We saw that Joseph forgave his brothers in verse five, but we can read this passage and even the whole story of Joseph and still not take in the magnitude of what's being forgiven.
20:54-21:00
Joseph was hurt so deeply, he named his children out of his pain.
21:02-21:06
I'll jot down Genesis chapter 41, verse 51.
21:07-21:08
I think we have that, yes.
21:09-21:32
It says, "Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, "for he said, 'God has made me forget all of my hardship "'and all my father's house.' "The name of the second he called Ephraim, "'for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.'" decades of pain at the hands of his brothers.
21:33-21:39
So keep that in mind as we continue reading in verse nine.
21:42-21:52
Joseph said, "Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, "Thus says your son Joseph, "God made me lord of all Egypt.
21:53-21:55
"Come down to me, do not tarry.
21:55-22:04
"You shall dwell in the land of Goshen "and you shall be near me, you and your children "and your children's children and your flocks, "your herds and all that you have.
22:09-22:18
"There I will provide for you, "for there are yet five years of famine to come, "so that you and your household and all that you have "do not come to poverty.
22:19-22:24
"And now your eyes see, "and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see "that it is my mouth that speaks to you.
22:25-22:31
You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt and of all that you have seen.
22:31-22:34
Hurry and bring my father down here.
22:35-22:40
So despite his hurt, does that sound like someone holding resentment?
22:41-22:48
No, Joseph forgave his brothers and completely provided for them too.
22:48-22:51
He was like, you guys, you gotta tell dad.
22:51-23:00
We're gonna live over here in the best land and just hurry and move in, and God sent me to get this already, and now you're coming, and did you tell dad yet?
23:01-23:04
Joseph is so selfless here, it's easy to forget.
23:05-23:07
He's talking to the people that ruined his life.
23:09-23:13
Forgiveness like this makes no sense.
23:14-23:16
It's intentional love.
23:17-23:20
But you might be thinking, I still don't see the connection.
23:21-23:27
How does trusting God as at work lead me to forgive?
23:29-23:32
Joseph saw God's higher purpose.
23:33-23:43
God raised him to his position in Egypt so that he could rescue countless lives, including those of his own family, God's chosen people.
23:45-23:50
Looking at that instead of the hurt led him to forgive.
23:50-23:59
Because when you really believe God is working all things together for your good, you are free to forgive.
24:00-24:02
Just rewind for a minute.
24:03-24:08
We are free from revenge because we know he handles the justice.
24:10-24:15
We are free from focusing on the hurt because he redeems wrongs.
24:16-24:21
And because he redeems wrongs, We are free to forgive.
24:22-24:27
We can let go of grudges because we know he is at work.
24:28-24:39
When God is going to use this for good, how God is going to use this for good, we often, almost always, don't know in the moment, but we know he will.
24:41-24:50
And sure, you might not need to forgive anyone right now, But any relationship of any significance requires forgiveness.
24:50-24:56
So, assuming you ever interact with another human again, you will need to forgive.
24:58-25:03
Others might say, "Well, I was hurt, and I want to forgive the person.
25:03-25:04
I really do.
25:04-25:10
But, to be honest, I'm struggling to let it go." Is that you?
25:12-25:18
Or are you more like the person who would say, I was hurt and I don't want to forgive that person.
25:18-25:20
You don't understand what they did.
25:21-25:22
They don't deserve it.
25:25-25:28
And I'm not here to minimize anybody's hurt this morning.
25:30-25:36
But you have to remember that even at our worst, God is intentionally loving us.
25:38-25:41
And you cannot love without forgiveness.
25:42-25:48
Forgiveness doesn't mean everything always goes back to the way it was for many reasons.
25:49-25:49
It might not.
25:50-25:53
But it does mean that you let it go.
25:55-26:04
For example, have you ever been in an argument and brought up a time that the other person hurt you in the past?
26:05-26:07
We all know that's a really bad idea.
26:08-26:13
but it also reveals you haven't released that resentment.
26:15-26:18
Because releasing it means I don't bring it up anymore.
26:19-26:21
They're forgiven and it's done.
26:22-26:31
Releasing it means even if it does come back up in my mind, I ask God to help me think of something else because it's over.
26:33-26:39
That's only possible through the renewal of our hearts and minds by Jesus Christ.
26:40-26:47
And if we look to the forgiveness we receive in him, our relationship with God is better after forgiveness, right?
26:47-26:51
When we forgive someone, the relationship should get better.
26:52-26:53
Let's go after that.
26:54-27:02
If you get in a disagreement with a friend, or a relative, or a spouse, change the fight.
27:02-27:05
Fight over being the first to ask for forgiveness.
27:06-27:08
Fight to be the first to forgive.
27:10-27:14
Because that's how the, excuse me, let's try that again.
27:14-27:17
That's how the relationship is reconciled.
27:18-27:24
And if we want to love after a hurt, we need to run after reconciliation.
27:27-27:32
Conveniently, point number four, when I trust God is at work, I run after reconciliation.
27:35-27:37
Let's continue in verse 14.
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Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
27:46-27:49
And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them.
27:49-27:52
After that, his brothers talked with him.
27:54-28:04
So we see that after Joseph's speech, he and his brothers were reconciled, Though I have to laugh at after that, his brothers talked with him.
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Obviously they were terrified at first, but after Joseph gave a dissertation on God's providence and a Mount Rushmore forgiveness speech, at the same time, they were like, okay, yeah, yeah, we can talk.
28:19-28:30
Through Joseph's recognition of God working in his life, he forgave and loved his brothers, reuniting the family and preserving God's people.
28:31-28:38
Do you see the impact of Joseph's intentional love on his family, on a nation?
28:40-28:45
But what does running after reconciliation look like for us?
28:47-28:55
Well, we have to start by acknowledging that the goal, if possible, is reconciliation with the person that hurt you.
28:56-28:57
Where do I get that?
28:58-29:00
Take a look at Romans 12, 18.
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It says, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, "live peaceably with all." Notice the phrase, "So far as it depends on you," because the reality is, one person cannot repair a relationship on their own.
29:20-29:25
Even if you have forgiven someone, they may refuse to restore things.
29:26-29:28
Some of us are living that right now.
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That's why we say run after reconciliation.
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Obviously, it plays out differently depending on the nature of the relationship, but are you pursuing peace?
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Are you showing that person intentional love in whatever form is appropriate?
29:47-29:52
If at all possible, Are you trying to build the relationship back up?
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And you can't say, well, it's not at all possible because it's their fault.
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I wish I could say the reward of reconciliation is certain if you intentionally love whoever once hurt you.
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But I can't say that.
30:14-30:21
But we still run after it because we We are called as believers to represent Christ.
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We must reflect the way he pursues reconciliation with us, knocking on the door of our hearts.
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And as we start to close, I'd add that every one of the points today reflects our Lord Jesus Christ.
30:43-31:13
When you choose to reject revenge, reflect the way Jesus chose love for his enemies, us, over giving us what we deserve. And of course the supreme evidence that God redeems wrongs is found in Jesus' death and resurrection because he was killed out of jealousy and hatred in the hearts of mankind and yet God's will to save was accomplished.
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The absolute worst is simultaneously the absolute best.
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And forgiveness, I mean, when you forgive someone who hurt you, someone who doesn't deserve to be forgiven, you are bringing them face to face with Jesus Christ because forgiving someone who doesn't deserve it is exactly what he does for us.
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Through that forgiveness, Jesus reconciles us to the Father.
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If you don't have a relationship with him, he is running after reconciliation with you.
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And if you do have a relationship with him, he enables you to trust that he is at work, 'cause we cannot do that on our own.
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Look not at the hurt, look to him.
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And if you've been with us through this month, let's zoom out for a moment, because each week of the Intentional Love series really had the same point.
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We have to be intentional about unconditional love.
32:26-32:28
Loving our neighbor, right?
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Loving those who we disagree with, loving our enemies, and loving those who hurt us.
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Frankly, the world is telling you to despise these people.
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But this month, we saw that despite what the world says, God's word tells us that we must love.
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We must love our neighbors.
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We must love people while disagreeing.
32:57-32:59
We must love our enemies.
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And we must even love those who have hurt us.
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That requires intentionality and the transformational love of Jesus Christ.
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So our prayer is that this series has been an equipping for that kind of intentional love.
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Let's go after it together.
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Will you pray with me, please?
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Lord God, we thank you for your word.
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And God, those of us in this room who have come to a relationship with you know the incredible power of your love.
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We know the impact of your intentional love on us.
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And so God, even as we, over this month and specifically this morning, as we went over, God, how to act with the same intentionality towards those who are difficult to love.
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We do that knowing that it's only possible through you, God.
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We humble ourselves before you and ask that you would work through us to love everyone in our lives, God.
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And we pray that those who don't know you would come to a saving knowledge of what you have done in your love.
34:32-34:37
All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Genesis 45:1-15

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Why is our natural reaction to hurt that we should “get even”?
Have you seen God redeem wrongs against you? How should seeing God at work free you from carrying resentment?
As difficult as forgiveness can be in some situations, why are we called to continually forgive?
Why do we “run after” reconciliation?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Discern

Introduction:

4 Clues You're Hearing a Bad Sermon (Micah 2:1-13):

Mourn

Introduction:

How does the thought of God's judgment on sinners make you feel? (Micah 1:1-16)

How Do I Mourn If I Don't Feel Like Mourning?

Living in the Wrath of God

Introduction:

Living in the Wrath of God (Romans 1:18-32):

3 Evidences that God Has Abandoned People:

Gratitude

Introduction:

Three Reasons We Are Giving Thanks Today (Psalm 138):

How to Love Difficult People: How to Love Those Who Hurt You

Introduction:

How can I love someone after a hurt? (Genesis 45:1-15)

When I trust God is at work...

Upcoming Small Group Questions CLICK HERE

How much of the Bible have we covered since 2011?

Introduction:

4 Clues You're Hearing a Bad Sermon (Micah 2:1-13):

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

How does the thought of God's judgment on sinners make you feel? (Micah 1:1-16)

How Do I Mourn If I Don't Feel Like Mourning?

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

Living in the Wrath of God (Romans 1:18-32):

3 Evidences that God Has Abandoned People:

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

Three Reasons We Are Giving Thanks Today (Psalm 138):

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

How can I love someone after a hurt? (Genesis 45:1-15)

When I trust God is at work...

Audio Transcript