Participants: Daniel Kurek
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000786
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01:00 It's a pleasure to be here today. I'm glad that
01:03 I've the opportunity to speak with you. 01:05 I held from Niagara Falls, Canada. And, today I'm 01:10 going to tell with you about "God in a Box". 01:15 I want to certify giving the brief illustration 01:18 from the life of Count Leo Tolstoy. If anyone of you 01:21 know history Count Leo Tolstoy was 01:22 a Russian Count, he was a noble man in Russia 01:26 more then a century ago and he was a prolific 01:28 writer, he wrote many books, several which 01:31 dealt with spiritual issues. Now, he seem 01:34 to have been obsessed throughout his life 01:36 with religion and ritual and different things like 01:38 that. It seems that I've stumble upon a story 01:42 that might shed some light as to where 01:43 this lifelong pursuit came from. 01:46 You see, when Count Leo Tolstoy was 01:49 five years old, his older brother Nicholas, 01:53 declared to him that he had discovered the 01:55 secret for the pursuit of happiness. 01:58 And he said, this secret was simply for everybody 02:03 to love everyone else. And, if people follow 02:06 this advise, the kingdom of heaven would surely 02:08 come to every man and women on earth. 02:11 Then his brother Nicholas told Leo, that this 02:14 secret was written on a stick that was buried 02:18 deep in the forest, it was a green stick, 02:20 sticking out of the dirt at the edge of the ravine, 02:22 deep in the forest, where no person had ever 02:24 traveled. And, so this story stuck with Leo 02:30 and he spend most of his life searching for 02:32 this fabled greenstick, and obvious it was various 02:34 shapes and sizes and forms. He realized that 02:38 it was a very metaphorical sort of 02:40 stick and so he spend all his time seeing, 02:44 where it might appear. Now, he had answers 02:48 that he was desperately looking for. 02:51 Today, I want to point out another stick, that 02:54 the children of Israel had look for. 02:56 And, how Leo story is not quite as new as 02:59 we might think. Let's pray us in pray. 03:04 Father of heaven, I speak, I ask that, it will 03:07 be your words and not mine. And, I ask that, 03:11 each one listening today, be blessed. My words 03:16 from your Holy Scripture, and I ask that all 03:19 things, that you our Lord and savior Jesus Christ 03:22 would be glorified and lifted up. I pray these 03:24 things in your name, Amen. 03:28 If you turn with me to the book of first Samuel, 03:31 Chapter 4, Versus 2:11, First Samuel Chapter 4. 03:37 So, First Samuel, chapter 4, Versus 2:11. 03:46 This is what it says, "The Philistines drop 03:48 in battle ray to meet Israel, when the battle 03:53 spread, Israel was defeated before the 03:55 Philistines, who killed above four thousand men 03:57 on the battle field. When the people came 04:00 into the camp, the elders of Israel said, 04:02 "Why has the Lord defeated us today 04:04 before the Philistines. Let us take to ourselves 04:07 from Shiloh the Ark of the Covenant 04:10 of the Lord that it may come among us 04:11 and deliver us from the power of our enemies. 04:16 So, the people sent to Shiloh and from there 04:18 they carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord 04:20 of host, who sits above the Cherubim. 04:23 And, the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas 04:26 were there with the Ark of Covenant of God. 04:29 Now, as the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord 04:31 came into the camp, all Israel shouted with 04:33 a great shout. So, that the earth 04:35 resounded, when the Philistines heard the 04:38 noise of the shout, they said, what is the 04:40 noise of this great shout in the camp 04:41 of the Hebrews mean, then they understood 04:45 that the Ark of the Lord had come into the camp. 04:49 The Philistines were afraid for they said, 04:51 God has come into the camp and they said, 04:54 Woe to us! For nothing like this has ever happened 04:56 before. Woe to us! Who shall deliver us from the 05:00 hand of these mighty Gods? These are the 05:03 the God's who smoke the Egyptians with all kinds 05:05 of plagues and wilderness. Take courage 05:07 and be man of Philistines or you'll become slaves 05:10 to the Hebrews, as they have been slaves to you, 05:13 therefore be man and fight. And, so the 05:15 Philistines fought and Israel was defeated, 05:18 and every man fled to his tent and the slaughter 05:20 was very great; for there fell of Israel thirty 05:23 thousand foot soldiers. And the Ark of the God of 05:26 God was taken and the two sons Eli, Hophni and 05:29 Phinehas died. And, so reading through this 05:35 passage one begs a question what happened? What when 05:39 wrong? It seems like God had abandoned the 05:44 Israelites. And, so the answer today that I'm 05:48 going to give from the Bible is going to be 05:50 three fold and it goes like this. Number one, 05:53 Rebellion against God confuses discernment, 05:56 it confound our judgment. Rebellion against God 05:59 inevitably leads to further Rebellion and 06:03 third most God sends judgments to save rebels. 06:08 Now, the battle between Israel and the 06:11 Philistines that are written of in the fourth 06:13 chapter of first Samuel, took place at a low 06:16 point in the history of Israel in the history 06:19 of God's people. When we take a look at 06:21 to the Book of Judges, chapter 21 verse 25, it 06:25 describes the times in a very interesting matter, 06:29 first turn to the Book of Judges, you bounce 06:31 back two books from first Samuel to truth and 06:33 then to judges, 21st chapter that's the last 06:35 chapter of the Book of Judges in verse 25, 06:38 it says this, this is the final conclusion in the 06:40 Book of Judges. In those days, there was 06:42 no king in Israel, everyone did what was 06:45 right in his own eyes. So, in that time of 06:49 Israel history, everybody was doing what 06:52 they felt was right. There was no one to 06:53 guide, no one to lead them, no one that really 06:57 provided a stover path, no one 07:01 provided a solid path for them to follow, everybody 07:04 just kind of did, what was okay in their own 07:06 eyes. And, so it kind of reflects today's 07:10 culture melayu it reflect today's, 07:14 we've doing things, for example, you go 07:16 today in our postmortem mindset, what you 07:20 believe is okay, what I believe is okay, 07:22 your truth is your truth, my truth is my truth. 07:24 I can worship his, you can worship that, 07:26 we all worship different things and everybody 07:28 is go in a heaven, it was the same way 07:29 in the time of the Israelites. Everybody 07:32 did whatever they wanted, one guy worship 07:34 Bale, and other guy worship Molech, 07:35 somebody else worship to Ashtarout and 07:37 another person worship Yahweh. And everybody 07:43 thought that they were okay. 07:47 And, so in other words there was really no 07:51 standard of right and wrong, everybody just 07:53 fought along and did what they thought was 07:55 okay. In addition to sons of Eli, the high 07:58 priest, these two man Hophni and Phinehas, 08:00 who are supposed to lead God's people in 08:02 truth and who are supposed to teach God's 08:04 people his ways. In fact led God's 08:07 people to further apostasy and a 08:08 Rebellion against God. This only had the result 08:14 of increasing darkness and misery and hurts 08:17 and pain all throughout the land, and it was in 08:20 this setting that the prophet Samuel began 08:21 his ministry. You see, Israel had 08:25 fallen away from God. The leaders were corrupt 08:27 and the enemies were closing in like jackals. 08:30 In verse two of First Samuel chapter 4, 08:33 we read that the Israelites went out 08:35 to meet the Philistines in battle, but rather 08:37 than victory, they met with crushing defeat. 08:40 Let's take a look at that passage again. 08:42 It says, that the Philistines drop in 08:44 battle ray to meet Israel. Now, Israel 08:46 had a history of beating overwhelming God's back 08:48 in those days. But instead of beating, 08:52 the Philistines this time. The Philistines 08:54 crush the Israelites. And, so the Israelites 08:57 realized that something had gone drastically 08:59 wrong decided that they are going to go 09:00 back to Israel, they were going to go back. 09:05 A final war taken place, I can just 09:06 imagine the soldiers tramping back to the 09:08 camp disheartened, struck down, and they 09:13 did the first thing that came to mind, 09:16 the logical thing, they want to ask the elders 09:18 what had happen? Why had God defeated us 09:20 this way? In fact, in the text itself, it says, 09:23 "Why has the Lord defeated us?" 09:25 Right, they recognized that this was no 09:27 ordinary circumstance that something 09:29 supernatural was in the mix. And, so the 09:38 elders quickly recognized that it was the hand of God, 09:41 that had brought judgment Israel. And at this point, 09:46 we begin to realize the deceptiveness of sin. 09:48 You see the elders rather than enquiring 09:50 of the Lord or perhaps enquiring of 09:52 Samuel, simply decided to follow their own 09:57 judgment, follow their own ways of doing 09:59 things. They just prolonged to what they 10:01 thought was best. We realize at this 10:06 point that the deceptiveness of sin 10:09 confound judgment. Rebellion against God, 10:12 confounds ability to figure out, what's 10:14 right and wrong. What the best path 10:16 to take is? And, so the people 10:19 of God realized that the God caused their defeat, 10:23 but they had no clues to why? And, the men who 10:26 should have been able to lead were in fact 10:30 clouded as well. Their minds were numb 10:32 and they had no answers. So, they basically went 10:35 about and came up with their own solutions. 10:39 Now, Samuel later compares Rebellion as to the sin of 10:44 witchcraft and idolatry. Now, the reason that this sin 10:47 is so pernicious, so devious is that it puts the sinner 10:50 under the direct control of Satan. 10:52 You see, anytime that we knowingly choose to do 10:54 something that directly contradicts or 10:56 contravenes God's will. It puts us directly under the 11:00 control of deceiving spirits. You see, Job declared it in 11:03 this way, those who rebel against the light, they do not 11:06 want to know it's ways nor abide in it's paths. 11:09 They shut themselves up by day, they do not know 11:11 the light, for the morning is the same to him as thick 11:14 darkness for he is familiar with 11:16 terrors of thick darkness. The mind of the one, 11:19 who rebels against God becomes confused. 11:22 Darkness overwhelms him and sets in all the sun the 11:25 ability to discern is blunted. Light and darkness seem to 11:31 become one to this individual. Isaiah calls the mode on it 11:35 by saying, you've seen many things, but 11:37 do not observe them. Your ears are open, 11:40 but none hears. And, in the New Testament, for our 11:44 New Testament Christians, I hope that each one of us 11:47 here is a New Testament Christian, the result of 11:49 actions that contradict God's will is as though 11:54 we've our consciousness seared with the branding iron. 11:58 And, so going back to Israel lacking was them 12:01 inside, their minds are darkened in sin. 12:03 The elders responded with what they thought was best, 12:06 with what was seem logical. If God won't go with us 12:09 into battle then we will simply have to take God 12:12 along with us. Now, this goes to show that spiritual 12:15 things can only be discerned by the spirit of God, 12:19 outside of this we can only be deceived and so the 12:22 children of Israel thought that by bringing the Ark of 12:25 the Covenant into battle with them they were going 12:27 to be able to determine the outcome of the fight. 12:29 And, so an essence at this point, God's Ark becomes 12:33 like a lucky rabbits food, if you take the lucky charm 12:35 with us or we bring that into battle then that's going 12:39 to make all the difference. And, so once again in this 12:43 passage, the Philistines go to meet the children of 12:46 Israel, the children of Israel stomped out confidently 12:50 because they have the Ark with them. 12:51 And they figured, if you got a rabbits foot, God is 12:53 here with us, we are unstoppable, we're going 12:55 to squash these Philistines. But, the problem is this, 13:00 that they had lost their understanding of who God was 13:02 and what his purposes in this whole drama that was 13:05 unfolding were. They had simply 13:09 remembered that back in the days of Mosses and 13:12 Joshua, when the Ark had gone out in the battle, 13:14 the children of Israel had been victorious. 13:18 And, so simply put, they thought that they could 13:20 control God like you would control a remote control car. 13:27 And, so the Israelites want them to regain that glory of 13:30 former days, went out into battle, treating the Ark as 13:34 though it was an idol, as though this goal box with 13:37 some Angels on it had some sort of ability 13:40 intrinsically to save, to deliver Israel from the 13:44 hand of the Philistines. Now, let's take a look what 13:50 we read here in verses 7 and 8 of the passage. 13:53 It says that the Philistines were afraid because they said 13:56 God has come into the camp and they said, woe to 13:58 us for nothing like this has happened before, right. 14:03 The Philistines being pagans, being heathens 14:06 thought hey, the Israelite God is in the camp that 14:08 Ark right there, that's their God. 14:10 Nothing like this has ever happened before, we're 14:12 going to get stopped. They got scared. 14:16 Now, in verse 3, the Israelites said, hey let's 14:20 take to ourselves Shiloh, the Ark of the Covenant 14:21 from the Lord that it may come among us and deliver 14:23 us from the power of our enemies. 14:25 The Israelites just like the Philistines think that there 14:27 is something special about this box. 14:29 Completely forgetting that it's not the fact that the box 14:33 is going with them, but it was the Lord of hosts that 14:36 was their shield and protector, it was God 14:39 almighty, who was their Lord and savior. 14:43 They forgot and as a result disaster followed. 14:48 You see, God can't be placed in a box, that's an 14:52 impossibility and the Israelites forgetting the 14:56 fact that the lord of heaven was too big to fit into a 14:59 box like that, so they put their trust in a bunch of 15:04 paneled wood, needless to say the children of Israel 15:08 lost the fight that day, they got stumped by the Israelites 15:11 or by the Philistines. And, the Philistines that 15:14 day routed the Israelites not simply killing 4000 15:17 men, but killing 30,000 men this time. 15:19 They captured the Ark and while Hophni and Phinehas, 15:22 the wicked sons of Eli, who would led Israel into 15:25 deeper apostasy or caring the Ark, they were slain. 15:30 And the rest of the chapter tells the 15:31 story pretty clearly. Now, there was sadness in 15:35 Israel, when the news of tragic defeat 15:37 reached the tribes. I can just imagine, 15:39 it's spreading from town to town from place to place, 15:41 what had happened? Has God completely abandoned us? 15:45 You see, the Israelites had forgotten that it was 15:48 necessary to have an abiding faith in Lord. 15:51 There was necessary to have a true faith; the place 15:54 to penance on God, their faith had only become a 15:57 nominal one, they had abandoned the ways of 15:59 God and decided to follow the ways of other nations. 16:02 They had decided to do what was right in their own eyes. 16:07 And, so as a result their faith had lost it's ability to 16:10 prevail with God. Instead of providing hard 16:14 service to God, they only provided lip service, 16:17 they had forgotten the Covenant blessings and 16:20 curses uttered by Mosses, as they prepared to 16:22 enter the promise land. If we turn to Deuteronomy 16:24 chapter 28, let's see that right now, that's 16:26 Deuteronomy chapter 28, 16:42 we see in verse 2 of chapter 28 in 16:44 Deuteronomy, all these blessings will come upon 16:46 you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God 16:48 and then Mosses goes to list off all the various blessings 16:51 that will take place, they'll never have want for food, 16:55 they'll have protection, God will defeat the enemies 16:57 if they ever come against Israel, God will establish 17:00 his people, but the converse of that was that if 17:04 they disobeyed then God will remove 17:07 his hand of protection. In verse 15 of the 28th 17:11 chapter, it says but it shall come about, if you do not 17:13 obey the Lord your God to observe to do all his 17:16 commandments and a statue to which I charge 17:18 you today, that all these curses will come upon 17:20 you and overtake you. You see, if the Israelites 17:25 choose deliberately to back away from God to walk 17:27 away from the provisions that he made for each one 17:30 of them, for each of the tribes, for each of the 17:31 families, for the nation as a whole then God said I'll 17:35 release you from your contract, I'll release you 17:37 from his Covenant so you can do whatever you want 17:39 and when it's time for you to comeback, you can 17:42 comeback, but remember my protection won't be over you. 17:50 And, so where would Israel had made it's choice 17:55 and now the consequences followed. 17:57 You see in their disobedience, Israel had become like one 18:00 of the heathen nations, when the people obeyed 18:03 the holy precepts nothing was impossible for them, 18:06 the Lord would work with his muddy right hand 18:08 and deliver them with his infinite power, but now 18:11 when they looked upon the Ark and did not associate 18:13 this Ark with God nor honor his revealed will by 18:17 obedience to his law, it was little to them 18:20 than an ordinary box. The Ark with the staff of 18:23 Aaron and the twin tablets and the Jar of Manna 18:28 pointed to the God, who was able to deliver them. 18:32 The God, who is a lawgiver, the God, who is able to 18:35 provide life from the dead piece of wood, the God, 18:38 who was able to sustain his people in the dead 18:40 wilderness by bread from heaven. 18:45 These things contain the side of the Ark were only 18:47 significant and so far as they pointed to the one, 18:50 who is a provider for Israel. God and all of these things 18:56 is understood to be a lawful and yet benevolent 18:59 and merciful ruler. When Israel looked to the 19:02 Ark, as though the pagans looked to their own idols, 19:08 as though it possessed in itself the elements of 19:10 salvation, as though it possessed in itself some 19:12 sort of value to save, it was an upfront and an 19:17 abomination to God. The results of this apostasy 19:20 were formalism, hypocrisy, and idolatry. 19:24 Hence the Prophet Jeremiah later in Israel's 19:26 history wrote about Israel's rebellions 19:29 against God in this way. For my people have 19:31 committed two evils, they have forsaken me, the 19:34 fountain of living waters and to, and have gone to 19:37 hue for themselves cisterns. Broken cisterns 19:39 that can hold no water. Not only had Israel 19:42 pushed God away, but tried to replace him. 19:46 They had tried to replace him by their 19:48 own cheap imitations. Now, you might say, 19:51 listen the Ark was no cheap imitation, I mean, 19:52 it was gold, you know, there was and also it's a 19:54 fancy craftwork on it, but when compared to the God 19:57 of the Universe there was no comparison. 20:02 And, so now God want to reveal what would happen 20:05 as a result of his removing his hand of protection 20:08 from his chosen people. You see, Israel's only 20:11 hope at this point was to run back to God. 20:16 Israel's only hope was to run back to God. 20:18 You see, they had tried everything in their power 20:22 to find solutions to their own problems on their own 20:24 without God's intervention. When they had failed they 20:28 went to their elders and tried to come up with their 20:30 own solutions and it's funny because Rebellion, 20:33 as I said before inevitably leads to further Rebellion. 20:37 The sins that they had preceded with only went 20:41 into a deeper pit and they only felt deeper and darker 20:45 into confusion and chaos. What started off is just a 20:51 loss of 4000 lives and of being loss of 30,000 lives 20:54 until the Philistines with the very borders and the 20:56 Philistines themselves had captured the Ark and taken 20:58 it back into their own territory, into 21:01 their own country. For the Israelites, this was 21:03 a crushing loss, for them their God had been 21:06 conquered, for them it seemed like all hope was gone. 21:10 And, yet at this point, at this dark point in Israel's 21:12 history, when it seems that all hope was gone that's 21:15 when God interceded, when God intervened to let 21:18 them know, that when they were hopeless, they could 21:21 come to him, fallen him completely in their 21:24 desperation and that he would answer. 21:28 You see, Israel's sins had separated them from their 21:31 God and he could not give them the victory until they 21:33 had repented and, from the wickedness that they were 21:36 doing, until they turned away from their idolatry, 21:38 until they turned away from their child sacrifices 21:41 and until they turned away from their adultery from 21:43 defiling of each others wives and women. 21:47 You see, it was not enough that the Ark in a sanctuary, 21:49 where in midst of Israel. God's presence needed to 21:52 be in the midst of Israel. It was not enough that the 21:56 priest offered sacrifices, it was not enough that they 21:58 provided atonement through these animal symbols. 22:05 It was not enough that they carried the name of 22:07 Jehovah or Yahweh. You see, the Bible tells us 22:12 that God does not regard the request of anyone who 22:15 regards sin in his own heart. 22:19 Proverbs 28 verse 9 tells us that, he who turns away his 22:22 ear from listening to the law even his prayer is an 22:25 abomination, but the children of Israel, who are 22:27 not even interested in turning back to God in 22:29 their state of self-sufficiency, 22:31 self-sufficiency and satisfaction had no recourse. 22:36 So, God sent a crisis, God decided that hey, if you're 22:40 not going to turn to me or if you don't feel well out of 22:43 your own volition then I'm going to put you in a 22:45 position where you don't have any option except to 22:48 either keep on your course to destruction or to be 22:53 saved by my hand. And, so God sends a crisis. 23:01 Same thing happens in many of our lives, you see 23:03 when we're not willing to listen to God, when we're 23:06 down the path towards destruction, when we're 23:07 moving towards Rebellion brothers and sisters, when 23:10 we're running from God that's when 23:12 he places crisis in our paths. 23:15 It's at those moments when we realize our dependency on God. 23:19 You see in the Beatitudes, Jesus 23:23 tells us that, blessed are those who are poor in spirit. 23:27 Poor in spirit is a colloquial term, it's a turn 23:29 of phrase that doesn't really translate, but the 23:33 essence of it means desperate. Those who are poor in 23:36 spirit are desperate and it's those people that realize 23:39 the need of God and God calls them blessed, he calls 23:42 them happy, the ones who are desperate are happy 23:44 because they know, where their salvation lies. 23:49 They've tried everything, they've done everything 23:51 they could possibly can, they've no other options, 23:55 they've to come to God. And, so in our lives often 24:02 times God uses crisis to bring us back to him. 24:05 To let us know, there are striving is for nothing, 24:11 it will not achieve anything unless God is there 24:14 fighting with us and fighting for us. 24:17 And, so the Israelites went out twice to fight the 24:22 Philistines and they got thrashed completely. 24:25 34,000 Hebrews died in the course of two battles, 24:29 that's an overwhelming defeat and to make things 24:31 worse, the Ark of the Covenant was captured by 24:34 the heathens, by the Philistines. 24:36 And all of this happened because Israel has rebelled 24:38 against God and refused to repent to their sins. 24:41 And, so it was at this point that Israel realized their 24:44 utter helplessness and their dire need 24:48 in God's power to save. After their second 24:53 disastrous defeat, Israel was ready to hear God's 24:56 word and so the prophet Samuel, chapters later in 25:00 the First Samuel, chapter 7 tells the people to repent 25:03 and forsake their idols, their wishy washy ways 25:07 and to surrender completely to God, 25:09 not just 50%, not just 75%, not even 99%, but he says 25:14 surrender all the way, turn your backs on your sins 25:17 and comeback to Jesus, comeback to God. 25:21 And it was that time, at that point when Israel 25:25 exercised simple faith in the God, who delivered 25:28 them from Egypt, and the God who promised to be 25:31 there when it matter most, when they exercised that 25:34 simple faith that was when he answered. 25:40 You see, when they took God in his word and turn 25:43 back that's when things happened and in this way 25:46 we can see how God demonstrates his love for 25:50 his repentant children, you see the Israelites went up 25:55 with Samuel to offer sacrifices at Mizpeh. 26:00 The Philistines always on the look out, always 26:03 wanted to make sure that the Israel, Israelites were 26:05 under their thumb came and started seeking out 26:07 searching, looking what was going on, they thought 26:10 maybe they're gathering together 26:11 to start up another war. So, the Philistines 26:14 thought you know what, let's launch a preemptive 26:17 strike, let's smash the Israelites, while we still 26:20 have the chance before they can really a mass 26:21 numbers and gather together and maybe 26:23 deal us a deadly blow. And, so they surrounded 26:29 the worshiping Israelites at Mizpeh as Samuel was 26:31 offering sacrifices planning to slaughter all of them. 26:34 Now, the Israelites were there in a spirit of peace, 26:37 in a spirit of repentance, they simply wanted to 26:41 comeback to God, they wanted God's favor restored. 26:49 And, so it's at this point that Samuel intercedes and 26:51 he prays to God and God answers in a mighty way. 26:54 You see, God sent a devastating storm to smash 26:58 the Israelite or to smash the Philistine forces, 27:01 to confound their ways and to scatter them allover. 27:07 Now, it's funny, I come from Canada, where 27:11 storms are just like regular old storms. 27:14 I thought that I had seen plenty of 27:15 storms in my lifetime. My brief 28 years, but 27:19 when I went down South for the first time to a youth 27:23 conference in Tennessee in Chattanooga 27:25 last, last Christmas. I remember getting caught 27:30 in the storm on the way down, I was driving on the 27:31 highway with several friends and my breaks 27:35 were started to fail and the torrential downpour started 27:39 and to make things worse the torrential downpour 27:42 was followed by lightning. Now, at home when you 27:46 see lightening, it's no big deal, it's just regular old 27:48 lightning, and you know it spreads across the sky, you 27:50 know, it's kind of interesting, but nobody 27:51 really pays attention to it. Now in the deep South, 27:55 when you see lightning, a lightning storm with the 27:59 downpour that I saw, it's like nothing I had ever 28:01 seen before in my life. It was a crazy event, 28:04 it seemed like the heavens literally were torn open 28:07 and water started to pouring out and lightning 28:10 bolts perhaps from, from who knows, where came 28:14 out and just started smashing into the ground, 28:16 it was like bolts of energy, the biggest lightning bolts 28:18 I had ever seen in my life were just touching down 28:21 and smashing into the ground. I just thought, you know, 28:23 what I'm really glad, I'm in this car. 28:25 You know, the breaks are failing, I'm just really glad, 28:27 I'm inside this car on four tires made of rubber, 28:29 so that if I get hit, now what's gonna happen. 28:33 I was glad that I was not stuck on the outside. 28:36 Now, I can just imagine, a storm like that coming 28:38 down into this open plain by Mizpeh scattering the 28:42 Philistines, making them run in terror as they 28:47 prepared to attack the Israelites, almost all their 28:50 plans were confounded, almost all everything that 28:52 they wanted to do was thrown into an uproar. 28:55 They could not complete their task, the God of the 28:58 Israelites to whom there were sacrificing and 28:59 turning to, was going to deliver them and the 29:03 Israelites seeing how God was delivering them, how 29:06 he was acting on their behalf, how he was taking 29:09 them and protecting them? Grab their weapons and 29:13 they chased the Philistines. Not only back to the 29:15 borders of their country, but beyond the 29:17 borders of their country. And, so from this, we can 29:21 learn the lesson that God will never turn his back on 29:23 us, if we come to him in humility recognizing our need. 29:29 And, so in the midst of this huge mess, in the midst of 29:32 this chaos, God had good news in spite of the 29:36 destruction, in spite of the slaughter, God had good news. 29:39 You see he had put into action, a plan of salvation 29:42 to save Israel from it's, from it's stubborn 29:44 stubborn hard hardiness. The point here is that in the 29:47 state of emergency God uses emergency measures 29:49 to reach us and to save his people. 29:53 When God's followers will not hear that still small 29:55 voice then God will use a megaphone and 29:58 loudspeakers, where these lessons are not taken to 30:02 heart then God will use even stronger tactics, 30:08 a louder megaphone, it's funny, if these lessons 30:13 were to have been taken to heart by Israel then they 30:16 would not have tried the course that they had 30:17 throughout history. And, today we face a 30:20 similar situation in world you see, in today's world 30:24 many profess Christians live apart from any true 30:27 knowledge of God and are absent of a daily 30:29 experience with him, just like Israel we live for the 30:32 here and now forgetting the eternal realities that are 30:35 presented to us in God's word. Far too often, we like 30:39 Israel worship God's throne rather than the risen 30:41 savior, rather than the almighty God, who dwells 30:44 on that throne. You see, Israel's critical mistake was 30:47 they worshipped the God that they thought was in the box. 30:50 They forgot that God can't be put into a box, 30:52 they forgot that God could not be fit into a wooden box. 30:58 And, in forgetting this they stopped worshipping the 31:02 creator and started to worship his throne. 31:08 And just like Israel, who suffered from the case of 31:11 mistaken identity, the same goes 31:13 from many of us in today's world. 31:18 We think because we have the accessories, because 31:21 we've the accoutrements, we've the final product, 31:24 we've the whole deal. Our great crises today is to 31:28 see the utter foolishness of our own lukewarm hearts 31:32 in our lukewarm condition and to sense our need of 31:35 that goal, which is refined in the fire, which God 31:40 gives to us freely. For some the issue is that 31:45 we only have a superficial understanding of who 31:47 Jesus Christ is? And, what is sacrifice on the cross 31:49 means for each and every single one of us? 31:56 Often times, we try and find solutions to our 31:58 problems, we try and find ways of coping with the 32:00 sufferings and struggles of this world by feeling that 32:03 God shaped hole in each of our hearts through cheap 32:06 imitations. We take money, drugs, alcohol, 32:12 relationships with men or women, whoever might be, 32:16 pack them into our hearts, looking for some sort of 32:20 solace from the emptiness that's there, we try and fill 32:25 that hole that specifically designed for God's 32:29 dwelling, for his spirit to live in with 32:31 things that cannot fill us. We replace the cisterns 32:36 with word of life from God and hue for ourselves 32:40 broken wells that can't hold any water, and will 32:44 never, will never slake our thrust. 32:55 For some of us, it's trying to figure out, where God 32:56 fits in this puzzle or crazy lives, trying to figure out 33:02 how to gain that deeper walk, how to gain a deeper 33:04 experience with his God, who he can't see, how to 33:07 make him real to us. For some it's realizing the 33:11 formalism, religious ritual and drew salvation by 33:17 works commandment keeping will never achieve 33:20 the results that we wanted to. It's realizing that those 33:24 things are the signs of a dead or dying faith that can 33:28 never save us. A faith that has lost its connection to 33:31 Jesus, truly the teachings that are found in the Bible, 33:35 that are found in scripture are powerful, they're able 33:38 to move mountains, they're able to bring life to the 33:40 dead, the word of God is sharper than a two edge sword. 33:46 It can accomplish mighty things, but the trouble is 33:48 this, that if the word of God is not looked at from 33:54 the foot of the cross even the mightiest theological 33:58 ideas and concepts will not make a difference. 34:03 You see, our faith needs to be grounded in our Lord 34:06 and savior Jesus Christ, our faith needs to 34:10 recognize that there is only one way to overcome, our 34:14 faith needs to cry out in desperation to Jesus. 34:22 You see, listen to Christian music, isn't gonna buy us a 34:26 ticket to heaven, wearing Christian T-shirts or 34:28 carrying Christian key chains is not going to give 34:30 us a place at the welcome table in heaven. 34:35 Try and keep all the commandments and, and 34:37 doing this could work and that could work and trying 34:39 to do this and that, be nice to your neighbor, do all 34:41 these different things, those things and none of 34:43 themselves offer no merit because we can't do 34:47 anything to save ourselves brothers and sisters, we 34:49 cannot do a single thing to earn our way to heaven, 34:53 all we can do is cry out in desperation to the Lord 34:55 God, who saves us. The reason we do these things, 35:01 reason that we're able to follow God's will, to obey 35:04 his commandments, to stay faithful to him is because 35:06 he is the one, who saves us. He provides us with the 35:09 strength, the will and the direction to 35:13 do his good works. You see, Jesus alone at the 35:18 cross of Calvary earn for each one of us, a place in 35:22 the kingdom of heaven. The question for us is are 35:26 we willing to step out in faith and grab hold, seize 35:30 hold of that opportunity that he is affording to each 35:33 one of us. Jesus alone earned us a place in heaven 35:38 and can give us access to heaven. 35:41 If we think at any point in our Christian walk, in our 35:44 experience with God that we can somehow add to 35:47 that, how we can somehow give ourselves a place in 35:50 heaven then we're deceived and we're all, we're taking 35:55 the first step just as Israel took into destruction. 36:00 The Christian writer Ellie Froome once wrote, too 36:03 many times I found myself placing hope in a system of 36:05 beliefs rather than believing in a 36:09 crucified and risen savior. Now, friends today, if we 36:11 find ourselves doing the same thing, a foolish 36:17 talking to Hippocratic ritualism, formalism, if we 36:22 think that by what we do, we can somehow buy 36:24 ourselves a ticket to heaven. We need to wakeup 36:29 perhaps this is your wakeup call today, perhaps 36:31 this is the day of deliverance, maybe you are 36:35 struggling with sorrows, maybe you are struggling 36:38 with difficulties, maybe life is not turning out the 36:40 way that you wanted too, maybe things are falling 36:43 apart with the sins, maybe God is calling you today, 36:49 and saying hey, I've got the answers 36:52 that you're looking for. God wants to draw each 36:56 one of us with codes of love, God's wants each 36:59 one of us to come to him and seek solace under his 37:05 hand of protection. Sometimes when we are 37:08 not listening, God remove that hand and let us see 37:11 what life is really like. Let us see, how horrible 37:15 things can get, but God promises to never abandon 37:18 us, he is always there waiting like that's, like that 37:22 father, who is waiting for his prodigal son to 37:24 comeback, God is always waiting too. 37:26 And, he does the seeking, God is always seeking us, 37:31 calling out today are we willing to follow that call. 37:38 Today, if you found that nothing in your life so far 37:41 has worked, if you're finding that all the 37:44 solutions to the problems that you think you had, 37:47 have seemed to fray the ends and come apart, don't 37:52 delay and give your life to Christ. 37:56 Jesus is the only way, he can deliver you from the 37:59 bondage of sin, he can heal the sorrows, he was a man 38:04 just like us, he knows what we're going through, he 38:08 knows what you're feeling today brother, he knows 38:10 what you're going through sister and today Jesus calls 38:14 each one of us to place our dependence entirely on 38:17 him, to let go and let him catch us. 38:25 You see, God can't be found in a box, but he can 38:30 be found in the hearts and minds of those who believe 38:33 his words. God can't be found beside a box, but his 38:39 Angels can be found beside those, who trust in 38:41 his word. God can't be found on top of a box, 38:49 but his voice can be found discerned 38:52 written in the word of life. The Apostle Paul once 38:59 wrote that the words of the prophets were written 39:01 down as a warning and a reminder to those who 39:03 would come after, let us take the words of that 39:06 Apostle to heart. You see, today we are living in 39:12 similar circumstances as Israelites 39:15 have all used to live in. Today, we live in a 39:18 society, where everything goes, you can be who you 39:21 want to be, do what you want to do, morality 39:23 doesn't matter anymore, people have thrown the 39:28 God's law, people have thrown the God himself 39:32 from the schools, from the churches, from society, 39:39 having a phone of Godliness they deny the power 39:40 thereof and today we're experiencing to follow 39:48 from those decisions, from those choices. Today, each 39:52 one of us has a choice to make, every single one of 39:57 us can choose either to serve God or serve the devil. 40:02 There is no middle ground friends, there is 40:04 no middle ground. Are we going to serve 40:08 vitals that can't deliver, are we going to place our trust 40:12 in something that has no hope of ever meeting our 40:16 needs, are we going to place our hope in the God 40:19 who is able to deliver, to deliver. 40:24 God sends his judgments to save his rebels, if you 40:29 found do you descend into Rebellion, that you're 40:33 running from God, that you will like that prodigal. 40:37 I invite you, I encourage you to stop running, walk 40:41 away from the pigs straw, walk away and come to Jesus. 40:48 Go back to God, he is waiting with his arms 40:51 outstretched, waiting to put his own robe on you, 40:53 waiting to put his finger on your hand, and all you've 40:56 to do is say yes. It doesn't matter how far you've 41:01 gone, doesn't matter how low you've gotten. 41:07 God is never too far away. There is a story about Bill 41:13 Myers, he was a runner in the Olympics several years ago, 41:20 native American runner and he had trained hard to 41:25 go to the Olympics, he was a long distance runner, 41:30 he had been in the army, he had trained in both 41:32 boxing and running and then one day he decided 41:34 that he just want to run for his country. 41:37 And, so he started training long distance, 10,000 41:38 meter runs and when he was in the trials for the US 41:43 Olympic team, he went to the finals, but this time 41:49 wasn't that grade, he was quite a bit of a distance 41:53 behind the guy that came in first, Bill came in 41:56 second and so when it came town to handout 41:59 shoes because the budget was limited for the US 42:01 Olympic team at that time. They decided, hey you 42:04 know what, we're not going to give you any 42:05 shoes because we really don't think you're gonna make it. 42:10 We don't think that you've got a shot at winning the title. 42:13 And, so they gave him a choice, you rather provide 42:15 your own shoes or you just your own shoes or you 42:16 don't go. Now, he had trained a longtime, long 42:19 and hard. He pursued his goal, Bill had pursued this 42:25 goal for a longtime and then he came to the point 42:29 where he decided, you know, what I've got 42:31 nothing to lose, I might as well go forward and so he 42:34 got his own shoes and he went to the Olympics. 42:36 Now, somehow through miracle, he had managed 42:39 to make it to the finals at the Olympics. And, so he 42:42 was in the final, final race. As he was getting ready, 42:48 the announcers were speaking and it came up 42:51 that he was not very favorite to do anything 42:55 even remotely remarkable. In fact it came out that, he 43:00 was not even offered shoes by the Olympic team. 43:02 Now, in spite of that, he had managed to make it to 43:05 the finals and now as the gun went off and the finals 43:09 began, he maintained a healthy distance behind the 43:12 rest of the pack, but as time progressed it was 43:15 known as several runners fell away, there are only 43:18 three left and the third one was Bill. And, he had 43:22 gauged his distance behind the two man that were 43:27 leading him. He gauged what they were doing, he 43:30 observed carefully, and he wouldn't let them out of his 43:33 side, even though he was behind, he was not 43:35 out of the race. And, so Bill just 43:38 kept down trailing them and he noticed that the two 43:40 men in the lead kept on fighting back and forth, 43:43 back and forth, back and forth, wearing 43:46 each other down. And, when the time 43:48 was right, Bill decided that he was gonna make it go 43:51 forward, he was gonna make an all out sprint and 43:53 to the surprise of everyone in the bleachers, in the 43:57 stands, Bill made a run for it and completely knocked 44:01 his competition out of the race, completely 44:03 out of the game. This man scored one 44:06 of the greatest upset victories in the Olympic 44:07 running history. Knocked the two favorites 44:10 out of the race and beat them by minutes. 44:15 And, so the story that we've here is that no matter 44:18 where you're in life, no matter what's going on, 44:21 no matter how hard times might seem, no matter how 44:23 far away God might seem to be don't give up because 44:27 God has assured each one of us victory through Jesus Christ. 44:30 God has told us through his word that we've what it 44:35 takes to win. Not because of who we are, but because 44:40 who he is? Philippines 4:13 tells us, I can do all 44:44 things through Christ, who strengthens me. 44:47 If you believe that promise today or if you simply 44:50 want to believe today, if you don't know, if this 44:54 whole thing is new, now I encourage you pray in 44:59 your heart today, ask Jesus Christ into your heart, ask 45:02 the Lord to show himself to you, to let you know, on 45:06 no one certain terms that he is there for you and that 45:10 he is going to take care of you. 45:14 In this life, there is nothing more valuable then 45:19 relationship with God. You see, brothers and 45:21 sisters all these things that we've down here are going 45:23 to burn one day, this world is coming to an end. 45:28 When we look at the news, when we look at newspapers, 45:32 when we look at media reports, we see all the 45:33 chaos that the world is in. We see that the righteous 45:40 are being attacked while the wicked prosper; we see 45:44 that things cannot go on for very long and God is 45:47 calling each one of us to comeback to him like a 45:51 hen wanting to gather her chicks, God calls each one 45:55 of us to comeback to him. And, so today God asks 46:08 each one of us to comeback. And unlike Count Leo Tolstoy, 46:09 who searched his entire life looking for that fabled 46:12 greenstick, that stick that could not possibly deliver 46:15 in all it's various forms, he died a man with lot of 46:21 questions and few answers. He saw religion not in 46:27 relationship, but rather as a series of rituals and for him 46:33 it was sorrow and dreary. God does not want us to 46:36 have a relationship with him like that. 46:38 God wants us to be joyful, to be happy, to be peaceful 46:41 and content in the fact that he is our provider that just 46:44 like for Israel revolt, he is a God, who is able to 46:48 provide us with guidance for our lives through his 46:51 word and the Ten Commandments. 46:53 He is a God, who is able to provide for us just as he 46:56 provided for Israel. So long ago with a man in 47:02 the desert, he is a God who is able to raise the dead, 47:05 he has power over life and death that God is able to 47:09 provide for us. And, so today we've the answer 47:15 that Count Leo Tolstoy, so desperately searched for 47:17 and that answer is right there, it's not in a stick, 47:20 it's not in ravine, it's not found somewhere in the 47:27 desert in the wilderness, God's word is available 47:30 to each one of us. We're not going to find the 47:33 answers in riches, in status, in fame or all the writings 47:37 of wisdom ever conceived by the minds of men, 47:41 but we'll find it in God's word because it's no 47:46 ordinary word, this word is the word of God, the Holy 47:53 Spirit moving upon men, who want to know the real 47:57 answer, who want to know the truth. 47:59 You see Jimi Hendrix in the Nova concert, one day 48:09 at the height of his career suddenly stop playing 48:14 and just shouted out in the audience can anyone tell 48:18 me what the truth is. A man, who is at the 48:22 height of stardom, at the height of fame, a man who 48:25 thought he had it all, suddenly came to the 48:29 realization that there was something missing, no 48:32 matter where you are, no matter who you are, don't 48:36 deny that need that each one of us has, today ask 48:42 the questions that count, ask the questions that 48:43 matter, come to the Lord Jesus Christ and 48:51 seek the word of life. We'll never find fulfillment 48:59 in the things of this world, we'll never find fulfillment 49:05 in goals of this earth, but what we will find 49:07 fulfillment in is relationship with Christ. 49:12 We'll find the answer in a person named Jesus. 49:16 Today, is a day of visitation, today salvation 49:20 is coming near, don't turn you backs, just as God 49:28 spoke to Elijah in a still small voice, just as God 49:35 spoke to men of world he speaks to us today 49:37 in his scripture. And, if you ever 49:44 had questions then it's never too late to find answers. 49:50 It's never too late until they carry out your, 49:59 it's never too late until you find to leave this earth, 50:05 it's never too late until you finally leave this world and 50:09 we don't know, when the time comes for today while 50:11 you still have an opportunity, 50:16 give it a shot, I guarantee you that you won't regret it. 50:22 So, today, if you hear God calling your name, if you 50:24 hear God calling your voice, 50:29 don't delay and don't turn away. 50:34 And, so I want to review the three points that I made 50:37 earlier on, Rebellion against God confuses our 50:42 judgment, it confounds our discernment, Rebellion 50:45 against God is so devious and pernicious because we 50:48 don't realize how diluted and how deceived we 50:51 really are. Just as the Israelites went from sin to 50:54 sin and dig a, dug a hole deeper and deeper and felt 50:58 further and further into apostasy, so the same case 51:01 is with us, if we do not realize what's going on, 51:04 if we simply just keep on bailing down the hill into a 51:07 snowball of sin or going to end up at the bottom 51:11 wondering how we got there. The deceptiveness of sin is 51:17 what it makes so dangerous and so we need to make 51:20 sure that we stay faithful, that we stay zeroed in onto 51:24 God's will, that we see obedient to his ways, 51:28 not even a small turn, a small deviation away from 51:31 God's paths, that ones that he has given to us, the ones 51:33 that he is told us to walk in not even a small turn 51:39 can be allowed. Just as Israel went 51:44 into a snowball affect, the same thing could happen to 51:49 each one of us. Let's not allow that to happen, 51:55 let's squash it, just as Rebellion leads to further 52:00 Rebellion, we need to say stop, it's going no further, 52:05 whoever you are in your lives, 52:11 say today, I'm turning my life around. 52:14 Today, I'm not going to do the same thing that 52:16 happened to the Israelites. You see, because God does 52:20 not want us to perish, he will do whatever it takes to 52:23 bring us into the kingdom of heaven, sometimes even 52:25 if it hurts us a little. You see, Jesus told us, it's 52:28 better to enter blind or lame into the kingdom of 52:30 heaven then to be thrown into hellfire having 52:32 everything that you need and you want. 52:37 God will send judgments upon us to turn our 52:40 thoughts back to him. God will send a crisis in 52:43 our way, so that we can realize who we have need 52:48 of and who are trust should lay in, not in man, not in 52:53 riches, not in wealth, not in fame, but rather in God 52:57 almighty, who is able to deliver. If today, you find 53:01 yourself walking in Rebellion, if you find 53:03 yourself not being where you want to be, if today, 53:06 you realized that you know what, my spiritual 53:08 experience is not the way I wanted to be, I'm far 53:11 away from God, then comeback to God, 53:19 take this time to say Lord, I want you in my life 53:25 and I want you to take away those things, that are 53:27 placing a separation between me and you. 53:30 And, I know, it might be a struggle, but I'm not gonna 53:34 have an other plan be, I'm going to trust and I'm 53:37 going to obey, and I'm going walk with you and 53:40 sometimes even if it hurts I'm gonna clean to you, 53:43 I'm gonna hang on for dear life because I know, that 53:45 there is no other life jacket, there is no other life 53:47 preserver, that's gonna carry me through, there is 53:50 nothing else that works. And, if you are willing to 53:56 do that God says, that he will carry us all the way through. 54:03 He tells us in the last verse of Matthew that he is with 54:07 us always, even to the end of the age, not on and off, 54:12 not as a part-time savior, but through thick and thin, 54:18 through the happy times, through the hard times, 54:20 through joys and sorrows, God promises that he is 54:23 going to be there with us and so rather than standing 54:27 on the edge of the ravine and looking over hoping 54:32 that maybe somehow things will workout, 54:34 take the plunge and ask God for his mighty hand to 54:39 catch. There was a man named Henri Nouwen. 54:42 I want to conclude with the story. 54:44 He is a famous Christian writer and he was also 54:48 a very prolific speaker, lecturer, he worked with 54:54 a community of mentally handicapped folks in Canada. 54:58 This man said that he had befriended some acrobatic 55:02 artists, some trapeze artists, who worked for circus. 55:05 And, it was incredible the relationship that these two 55:10 performers have to have, he said that it taught him 55:14 a lot about spiritual lessons and interest in God. 55:17 You see, he said that when you're the catcher 55:23 in a trapeze act your job is to hang from the bar, 55:28 as it's swinging and to catch the guy or girl, 55:30 who is going to jump, that's your only job. 55:34 You don't worry about trying to do a jump 55:35 yourself you're simply worried about catching the person. 55:38 Now, for the person that's jumping it's not their job to 55:42 try and catch the person that's gonna be catching 55:44 them, that's why the name is not the catcher, that's 55:46 why they are called the jumper. 55:48 Their job is to jump and you train that move, that 55:51 technique, so you can do it flawlessly and so that you 55:54 don't try and reach out or frail or get anxious, but as 55:58 you are flying through the air, you simply wait for the 56:02 catcher to catch you, you simply wait for that 56:07 person's arms to come out and grab the hold. 56:11 If you don't do that, it can result in disaster or perhaps 56:13 even death and this man said that one of the hardest 56:18 things to do was to wait, to wait in the air as the 56:22 catcher was coming towards you. 56:25 And, so the same thing takes place with us. 56:28 Sometimes it's incredibly hard to wait, sometimes it's 56:32 hard to wait for God's deliverance, sometimes it 56:35 becomes almost excruciating. We are curious creatures 56:40 and we want to know the end from the beginning, 56:44 but because of our finiteness because of the 56:46 fact that we cannot see all the possibilities, we just 56:48 have to trust in God and know that he will carry us 56:53 through, that he will see us to the end and he knows best. 56:57 So that even when things are getting hairy, we can 57:00 recognize that God is carrying out the work of 57:02 salvation for each one of us. Just as Paul wrote in 57:07 Book of Romans all things were together for the good 57:10 of those that love God, Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17