WEBVTT 00:00:05.761 --> 00:00:06.384 What a great day. 00:00:06.384 --> 00:00:07.166 What a great day. 00:00:07.166 --> 00:00:09.625 I'm so glad you're here. 00:00:09.625 --> 00:00:11.282 My name is James. 00:00:11.282 --> 00:00:12.385 We have a chance to meet. 00:00:12.445 --> 00:00:26.801 It's my privilege to serve as campus pastor here, but we've been in the series now for about six weeks or so, called in the fire, and we're talking about the shared human experience of going through difficulty. 00:00:26.801 --> 00:00:32.920 It doesn't matter if you know Jesus and you've been walking with Jesus for 50 years, or whether you've got no faith at all. 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:36.539 We all go through the trial. 00:00:36.539 --> 00:00:50.519 We all experience the fires of life on a broken planet, and so the question then becomes not will I go through pain or will I experience fear, or will I be angry or be anxious? 00:00:50.519 --> 00:00:58.113 The question becomes when I'm angry or fearful or anxious or uncertain about the future, what do I do? 00:00:58.113 --> 00:01:01.359 Does the fire make me better? 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:16.520 Do I come out the other side like gold, where I've been purified and been bettered by the fire, or do I come out the other side, broken and crumbling under the weight of life? 00:01:16.520 --> 00:01:27.693 And today we're gonna land the plane on this series by talking about something that's become quite controversial in our world today, and it's the idea of truth. 00:01:27.693 --> 00:01:34.140 The idea of truth How do we know what's right and wrong. 00:01:34.140 --> 00:01:46.550 How do we find the truth and anchor our life to the truth in a world where truth seems to be such a tense topic of discussion? 00:01:46.550 --> 00:01:49.246 So let me pray and then we're gonna jump in Father again. 00:01:49.246 --> 00:01:51.575 We're grateful to be here As we go. 00:01:51.575 --> 00:01:52.980 Now to your word, father. 00:01:52.980 --> 00:01:54.986 We don't need man's opinions. 00:01:54.986 --> 00:01:56.850 We need to hear from your Holy Spirit. 00:01:56.850 --> 00:02:10.764 We need your word to do its work in us, to sharpen us, to correct us, to discipline us, to make us more like Jesus, so that we can shine like lights in the world. 00:02:10.764 --> 00:02:11.987 Father, we love you. 00:02:11.987 --> 00:02:14.052 We thank you in Jesus' name, amen. 00:02:15.022 --> 00:02:26.027 I don't know how closely you guys follow the social media scene, but working with youth ministry for the last decade or so, i've had to at least learn about it so I can like name drop. 00:02:26.027 --> 00:02:28.492 You know TikTok or whatever when I'm talking to youth. 00:02:28.492 --> 00:02:36.508 But one of the interesting things that's happened in the social media world recently was when Elon Musk purchased Twitter. 00:02:36.508 --> 00:02:41.805 Now youth don't care about that because their parents are on Twitter now, which makes it not cool. 00:02:41.805 --> 00:02:45.260 So you talk about Twitter to them and they're like that was so like four years ago. 00:02:45.260 --> 00:02:47.319 You know like why are you living in the past? 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:49.484 You know, but Twitter. 00:02:49.604 --> 00:03:02.180 Twitter was purchased by Elon Musk and it was fascinating to watch the conversation around that deal go down and not to make a political statement at all. 00:03:02.180 --> 00:03:04.246 But it became a political statement, did it not? 00:03:04.246 --> 00:03:10.902 And what was fascinating, as Elon Musk bought Twitter and then he began to add features to it. 00:03:10.902 --> 00:03:28.225 One of the features was this community notes feature, where now somebody can tweet something but if it's not true, somebody else can put a community note and people can actually vote on the community note, so that what ultimately is hopefully going to happen the truth will rise to the top. 00:03:28.225 --> 00:03:41.097 And what's been fascinating about this social experiment is to see as people make statements and then somebody else makes a community note about their statement. 00:03:41.097 --> 00:03:43.622 That's completely opposite of what the original statement was. 00:03:43.622 --> 00:03:50.641 Then to watch people upvote and downvote these like this search for truth is fascinating, and that's what's happening. 00:03:50.641 --> 00:04:01.034 It's a search for truth, and what I think maybe Musk is after at the end of the day is we need the truth. 00:04:02.341 --> 00:04:20.625 That matter right or left, religious background or what you're walking through, there's something powerful about truth and deep down on the inside, we all know that and we all long for truth. 00:04:20.625 --> 00:04:40.150 Culturally, truth has been defined as what you feel, what fits best with your perspective on life, what allows you to become the most authentic version of you. 00:04:40.150 --> 00:04:42.213 That is your truth. 00:04:42.213 --> 00:05:17.045 Sociologists, psychologists, people that study people have looked at our society and they say that we're in a postmodern society or we're in some version of what they call secular progressivism, which basically holds to this idea that truth, while it may exist, it can't be known by finite humans, which we all are, and so the most accurate statement on truth and modern culture and society is simply to say well, who's to say what actually is the truth? 00:05:17.045 --> 00:05:21.491 And in a culture like that, truth becomes internalized. 00:05:21.491 --> 00:05:26.963 It's what you see, what you feel, what you understand, how you interpret the world. 00:05:26.963 --> 00:05:29.847 That then becomes your truth. 00:05:31.709 --> 00:05:38.022 Then we come to the scriptures and we see a different perspective on truth. 00:05:38.022 --> 00:05:52.046 In John 14, six we talked about this a couple of months ago Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life, the truth, not a truth, an option for truth. 00:05:52.046 --> 00:06:09.153 Jesus defines himself as the truth, and so, if we take that picture of truth, truth becomes then, not something internal that is based on our interpretation or understanding, but truth is a person. 00:06:09.153 --> 00:06:14.104 It's not something that we find or discover within. 00:06:14.104 --> 00:06:23.175 It's someone that we encounter, and truth becomes something that changes everything about us. 00:06:23.175 --> 00:06:27.085 This is an interesting topic. 00:06:27.125 --> 00:06:42.793 Anytime you start talking about truth, it just for me it feels like a tense subject, and the reason I think that is is because the enemy Jesus describes in Scripture as the father of lies. 00:06:42.793 --> 00:06:59.620 So when we, as the people of God, begin to talk about truth, what we are doing is we are taking the fight directly to the enemy And we're saying, hey, in a world full of lies, we want to follow the truth. 00:06:59.620 --> 00:07:08.944 We're going to push back the darkness of lies with the light of the truth of God. 00:07:08.944 --> 00:07:16.871 And so just know that, like the parable Jesus told us, we begin to talk about truth. 00:07:16.871 --> 00:07:29.129 The word of God is like a seed and our hearts are like soil, and there is a very real enemy who wants to snatch the seed of God's word before it can take root in the soil of our hearts. 00:07:29.129 --> 00:07:39.871 So my ask for you today is to open your mind and your heart to the truth of God's word, wherever you're at in your journey of faith, whether you're a follower of Jesus or not. 00:07:39.871 --> 00:07:46.134 Open your mind and open your heart and let the Holy Spirit do His work on the inside. 00:07:48.924 --> 00:07:51.914 We're gonna go back today to Numbers, chapter 14. 00:07:51.914 --> 00:08:00.336 We began this series a few weeks ago in Numbers 13, and the scene there was a great moment in Israel's history. 00:08:00.336 --> 00:08:08.174 They have come to the brink of the promised land that God promised to Abraham a long time before. 00:08:08.174 --> 00:08:11.250 They're at the edge, they can see it, it's right in front of them. 00:08:11.250 --> 00:08:16.067 And so Moses sends 12 spies, if you remember into the land. 00:08:16.067 --> 00:08:19.490 And the 12 go into the land and they find fortified cities. 00:08:19.490 --> 00:08:30.108 There are armies waiting on them on the other side, and not only that, but the armies that are waiting on the Israelites, they're made up of people that are huge, like these are giants. 00:08:30.108 --> 00:08:37.894 This is like a Pee Wee football team going to play the Dallas Cowboys, like it's not like a fair matchup at all. 00:08:37.894 --> 00:08:43.273 And so the spies come back and they give this report to the people of Israel. 00:08:43.273 --> 00:08:44.015 They're like, wait a minute. 00:08:44.015 --> 00:08:48.552 I know what Moses said and I know that you know God's told us this is our land. 00:08:48.552 --> 00:08:51.233 But we saw the city, and they're big and they're fortified. 00:08:51.233 --> 00:08:55.332 And we saw the people, and they're huge, and they got weaponry that we don't have. 00:08:55.332 --> 00:08:58.434 Like we don't seem like we can take this land. 00:08:58.434 --> 00:09:01.353 In fact, we seem like grasshoppers compared to these people. 00:09:01.353 --> 00:09:09.894 And so now what happens in chapter 14 is that Israel, the people of God, have a choice to make. 00:09:09.894 --> 00:09:23.054 Will they trust the truth of God's word Or will they trust the reality of what they see, their interpretation of the circumstances in front of them? 00:09:23.054 --> 00:09:25.112 What will they do? 00:09:25.112 --> 00:09:27.492 Who will they trust? 00:09:27.492 --> 00:09:32.692 So numbers chapter 14, we're going to start in verse one and read the first 10 verses here. 00:09:32.731 --> 00:09:39.355 This morning, at the report of the spies, all the congregation raised a loud cry. 00:09:39.355 --> 00:09:43.269 And if you're in church and the congregation raises a loud cry, that's not a good thing. 00:09:43.269 --> 00:09:51.396 The people wept that night and all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 00:09:51.396 --> 00:10:00.733 The whole congregation said to them it would have been better that we had died in the land of Egypt, or it would have been better that we had died in this wilderness. 00:10:00.733 --> 00:10:05.390 Why is it that the Lord is bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? 00:10:05.390 --> 00:10:10.071 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land with our wives and our little ones? 00:10:10.071 --> 00:10:11.230 They'll become a prey. 00:10:11.230 --> 00:10:13.932 It's like a wild animal is going to devour us. 00:10:13.932 --> 00:10:17.635 Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? 00:10:17.635 --> 00:10:22.853 And so the congregation said to one another let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt. 00:10:23.725 --> 00:10:26.889 Now remember, egypt was not a good place for the people of Israel. 00:10:26.889 --> 00:10:29.270 It was familiar, but it wasn't good. 00:10:29.270 --> 00:10:31.571 It was comfortable, but it wasn't good. 00:10:31.571 --> 00:10:34.452 It was what they knew, but it wasn't good. 00:10:34.452 --> 00:10:39.687 And Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation and the people of Israel. 00:10:39.687 --> 00:10:45.673 And Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jefune, were among those who had spied out the land. 00:10:45.673 --> 00:10:55.274 They tore their clothes And they said to all the congregation of the people of Israel the land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 00:10:55.824 --> 00:10:57.230 Now let's talk about the truth. 00:10:57.230 --> 00:10:59.091 It's a good land. 00:10:59.091 --> 00:11:04.850 If the Lord delights in us, he'll bring us into this land and he'll give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. 00:11:04.850 --> 00:11:08.533 Only, do not rebel against the Lord. 00:11:08.533 --> 00:11:10.951 Don't fear the people of the land. 00:11:10.951 --> 00:11:13.711 They're bred for us, their protections removed from them. 00:11:13.711 --> 00:11:16.606 The Lord is with us, don't fear them. 00:11:16.606 --> 00:11:19.692 Then all the congregate listen to this response. 00:11:19.692 --> 00:11:22.893 Then all the congregations said to stone them with stones. 00:11:22.893 --> 00:11:31.153 But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. 00:11:31.245 --> 00:11:33.913 Let me sum up the rest of what happens here. 00:11:33.913 --> 00:11:41.932 So the glory of the Lord comes down and God is not pleased with the lack of faith in his people And he's ready to discipline and correct. 00:11:41.932 --> 00:11:46.111 And so Moses prays and essentially says God, remember who you are. 00:11:46.111 --> 00:11:51.430 You're the God who's patient in the face of offense and you're slow to anger. 00:11:51.430 --> 00:11:53.673 You're abounding instead of fast love and faithfulness. 00:11:53.673 --> 00:11:56.770 Please forgive us, please forgive these people. 00:11:56.770 --> 00:11:58.629 And God relents. 00:11:58.629 --> 00:12:00.814 He forgives, but he also disciplines. 00:12:00.814 --> 00:12:08.470 He says this generation of Israelites who didn't have the faith to trust my word, they will die in the wilderness. 00:12:08.470 --> 00:12:24.106 Only Joshua and Caleb will go in to the promised land because of their faith, their different spirit, and then from there Israel begins their wilderness journey, if you will. 00:12:25.284 --> 00:12:27.130 There's political unrest. 00:12:27.130 --> 00:12:32.410 A couple of chapters later there's a rebellion against Moses and Aaron and some other guys try to take power. 00:12:32.410 --> 00:12:40.692 Economic uncertainty it's hard to become an economically viable people when you're living in the desert and wandering around from place to place. 00:12:40.692 --> 00:12:52.715 There's uncertainty about the future because they're surrounded by enemies And, most of all, the Israelites are a people without a home. 00:12:52.715 --> 00:12:54.286 They're in the wilderness. 00:12:54.286 --> 00:12:57.889 You know, and sometimes we think, the Bible's unrelatable right. 00:12:57.889 --> 00:13:03.774 Political uncertainty, economic tension. 00:13:03.774 --> 00:13:09.798 We feel like people without a home, surrounded by enemies. 00:13:09.904 --> 00:13:14.009 The title of this talk, this message today, is Strangers in Exiles. 00:13:14.009 --> 00:13:23.150 You ever felt like that, like you're in a place that you don't understand and you don't know what the future holds, and you thought you had a path forward. 00:13:23.150 --> 00:13:25.072 But now it's just uncertain. 00:13:25.072 --> 00:13:44.413 Or maybe in today's culture, today's world, you're trying your best to anchor your life to the truth of God's work, but then everything you hear around you is how this book, written thousands of years ago, is out of touch and out of date and for people in another time and another place. 00:13:44.413 --> 00:13:48.649 And it's like I feel like a person without a home, a people without a place. 00:13:48.649 --> 00:13:57.994 How do we anchor ourselves to the truth of God's word in a world that seems to quickly believe any other option for truth? 00:14:00.004 --> 00:14:06.273 When I love about the scriptures, somebody said one time that the Old Testament is not just the story of what happened. 00:14:06.273 --> 00:14:14.213 It's the story of what always happens And there's some things that we can learn from the Israelites in Numbers 14. 00:14:14.213 --> 00:14:19.832 But the big question for us today is this will I believe God? 00:14:19.832 --> 00:14:26.096 Will you believe God, even in the face of opposition, in a world full of lies? 00:14:26.096 --> 00:14:32.649 will you believe God or will we compromise our convictions for the sake of our comfort? 00:14:32.649 --> 00:14:35.930 Will you believe what God says? 00:14:35.930 --> 00:14:46.014 Will you trust and obey the scriptures, the word of God, the truth of God, or will we become people who compromise on our convictions for the sake of comfort? 00:14:47.444 --> 00:14:50.314 A couple of thoughts on truth from Numbers 14. 00:14:50.314 --> 00:14:55.612 Number one is this when it comes to truth, we don't always get it right. 00:14:55.612 --> 00:14:58.130 We don't always get it right. 00:14:58.130 --> 00:15:03.185 The sin nature within us is real, is it not? 00:15:03.185 --> 00:15:06.899 Sometimes we look at Israel and we're like how could they not get it? 00:15:06.899 --> 00:15:09.059 They saw the Red Sea split. 00:15:09.059 --> 00:15:12.222 They saw the Israelites, their enemies, wiped out. 00:15:12.222 --> 00:15:16.341 They saw the pillar of cloud in the day and they saw the fire by night. 00:15:16.341 --> 00:15:17.458 How could they not get it? 00:15:17.458 --> 00:15:22.456 And I feel like if the Israelites were in the room with us, they'd look at me and they'd be like James. 00:15:22.456 --> 00:15:23.559 How do you not get it? 00:15:23.559 --> 00:15:26.701 You got the whole story of God's word. 00:15:26.701 --> 00:15:34.001 You know Jesus, who is the Son of God, who shed his blood and gave his life and resurrected from the dead. 00:15:34.001 --> 00:15:35.020 And how do you not get it? 00:15:35.020 --> 00:15:37.539 How do we not get it? 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:40.837 See, we're so quick to look at Israel and be like how Israel? 00:15:40.837 --> 00:15:42.663 could you do this in Numbers 14? 00:15:42.663 --> 00:15:45.519 But the reality is, if we were there, we'd have been just like Israel. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:49.721 We'd have been more like the 10 than the two. 00:15:49.780 --> 00:16:00.066 More than likely, the story of the Bible is the story of God's grace and goodness to us, even when we fail and get it wrong. 00:16:00.066 --> 00:16:07.978 We need God to show us the truth, because the reality is. 00:16:07.978 --> 00:16:14.245 Romans once says it really clearly we have a tendency, because of our sin, to suppress the truth. 00:16:14.245 --> 00:16:16.761 We bury it, we push it down. 00:16:16.761 --> 00:16:19.803 We don't necessarily always like the truth. 00:16:19.803 --> 00:16:24.882 Paul says it like this by our unrighteousness we suppress the truth. 00:16:24.882 --> 00:16:27.403 For what can be known about God as plain to them? 00:16:27.403 --> 00:16:29.259 because God has shown it to them? 00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:37.640 For his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have become this, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world. 00:16:37.640 --> 00:16:38.443 I love that. 00:16:38.443 --> 00:16:39.757 God wants us to see him. 00:16:39.757 --> 00:16:41.082 He wants us to know him. 00:16:41.082 --> 00:16:43.182 But here's what happens. 00:16:43.182 --> 00:16:44.678 We know God. 00:16:44.678 --> 00:16:48.864 Although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. 00:16:48.864 --> 00:16:53.822 But they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. 00:16:53.822 --> 00:17:03.923 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. 00:17:03.923 --> 00:17:13.607 We may not be building idols to worship today, but we do have a tendency to exchange truth for a lie. 00:17:14.735 --> 00:17:16.643 Truth makes us uncomfortable. 00:17:16.643 --> 00:17:19.384 It forces us to confront some things within us. 00:17:19.384 --> 00:17:22.204 When we read the scriptures, it's like a mirror. 00:17:22.204 --> 00:17:29.435 It shows us the standard of God and it shows us the areas of our life that are not up to God's standard. 00:17:29.435 --> 00:17:37.326 And oftentimes what happens is, rather than deal with the truth of God's word, we would rather bury the truth and stay in our comfort. 00:17:37.326 --> 00:17:48.067 The danger, what we learn from Numbers 14, is that this does not lead us into the path of God's promise. 00:17:48.067 --> 00:17:53.980 God doesn't want us to have a foolish heart and a darkened mind. 00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:57.622 He wants us to have a wise heart and a mind that's full of light. 00:17:57.622 --> 00:18:04.102 He wants us to have wisdom so that we can grow and develop and follow him in faith. 00:18:06.155 --> 00:18:15.321 Romans 12 says it like this what we need is not to conform to the pattern of this world, but to allow God to transform us through the renewing of our minds. 00:18:15.321 --> 00:18:23.128 We need God to show us the truth so that we can walk in the truth. 00:18:23.128 --> 00:18:34.468 Matt Chandler said this recently the reality of Jesus means that truth is external and fixed, not internal and fluid. 00:18:34.468 --> 00:18:37.631 Truth is external. 00:18:37.631 --> 00:18:38.235 It's not on the inside of us. 00:18:38.235 --> 00:18:44.153 It's the person and work of Jesus, it's God's word as revealed in scripture. 00:18:44.153 --> 00:18:51.015 It's external, it's fixed, it does not change, it's not internal and fluid. 00:18:51.015 --> 00:19:07.854 So, in a world that's suppressing the truth, let's stop looking to the inside to base our perspective on truth of what we see, what we understand, what we feel, because what we see is limited, what we understand is finite, our feelings are inconsistent. 00:19:07.854 --> 00:19:37.707 At best, let's look to the external, fixed truth of Jesus Christ in the revealed word of God And then, when the truth of God's word, the leading of God's spirit, when it forces us to confront some things within us, when it puts us at odds with culture, let's just go ahead and make the choice that today we're not gonna be people who suppress the truth, who push it down and try to bury it for the sake of our comfort and our convenience. 00:19:39.622 --> 00:19:46.725 We're gonna live by the truth of God, because the second thing that we see in Numbers 14 is that God is committed to the truth. 00:19:46.725 --> 00:19:50.574 God's committed to the truth. 00:19:50.574 --> 00:20:01.634 That's why, when Israel rebels in the wilderness, there are consequences for their rebellion, because the truth, jesus said, has the power to set you free. 00:20:01.634 --> 00:20:03.121 It's the truth of Jesus. 00:20:03.121 --> 00:20:03.844 It is the way to life. 00:20:03.844 --> 00:20:13.292 Truth is God's gift to us to lead us to what is good and lasting and eternal. 00:20:13.292 --> 00:20:15.863 The opposite of truth is a lie. 00:20:15.863 --> 00:20:23.027 The opposite of God is the enemies, the father of lies. 00:20:23.027 --> 00:20:27.119 The opposite of God is the enemies, the father of lies. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:31.769 God is committed to the truth. 00:20:32.583 --> 00:20:34.171 I love Moses' response. 00:20:34.171 --> 00:20:40.980 When the people rebel, moses' praise and his prayer is really profound. 00:20:40.980 --> 00:20:42.066 It's God. 00:20:42.066 --> 00:20:44.580 Please forgive us for where we get the truth wrong. 00:20:44.580 --> 00:20:50.500 Please be gracious, please be faithful, please remember your steadfast love. 00:20:50.500 --> 00:20:55.519 But also I love that Moses reminds himself of who God is. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:57.519 How do we know that God's committed to the truth? 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:00.740 because God's the same yesterday, today and forever. 00:21:00.740 --> 00:21:01.348 He doesn't change. 00:21:01.348 --> 00:21:05.580 In a world where everything changes, god is constant. 00:21:05.580 --> 00:21:17.050 How many of you are glad to know today that God is constant, that in your future he's gonna be faithful just like he's been in the past, that his word will stand the test of time? 00:21:17.050 --> 00:21:32.655 If you build your life on the foundation of the scriptures, the solid rock that is Jesus Christ, you do not have to wonder if your house will crumble in the future If the world crumbles around you, the word of God will remain. 00:21:32.655 --> 00:21:37.540 The truth of God will stand solid in the storm. 00:21:37.540 --> 00:21:41.377 And so Moses says to God now, please, god. 00:21:41.377 --> 00:21:46.880 In verse 17, let the power of the Lord be great, as you have promised. 00:21:48.128 --> 00:21:56.234 Saying and he goes back to Exodus 34-7, the Lord is slow to anger and abounding instead fast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression. 00:21:56.234 --> 00:22:02.600 But he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the sin of the fathers and the children to the third and fourth generation. 00:22:02.600 --> 00:22:13.719 Please forgive the sin of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt until now. 00:22:13.719 --> 00:22:15.919 And guess what God does? 00:22:15.919 --> 00:22:18.461 He forgives, he forgives. 00:22:18.461 --> 00:22:20.701 Verse 20,. 00:22:20.701 --> 00:22:25.747 Then the Lord said I have pardoned, i have forgiven. 00:22:25.747 --> 00:22:30.370 You know one of our roles in the world today. 00:22:30.370 --> 00:22:32.748 Jesus said it like this in Matthew, chapter five. 00:22:32.748 --> 00:22:41.720 He said you're here to be salt, the preserving agents of what is right and good and true. 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:45.630 God hears your prayers. 00:22:45.630 --> 00:22:53.293 When you pray, god responds to the prayers of faith lifted to him by his people. 00:22:53.293 --> 00:23:04.893 Let's be people who live by truth and who, in living by truth, become the agents of preservation for a world that is in rebellion. 00:23:04.893 --> 00:23:09.784 Moses prays and God forgives And God forgives. 00:23:11.342 --> 00:23:16.920 Is it possible that, as God's people today pray, that God will move and God will forgive? 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:19.688 and God will show up and work in the people in your office? 00:23:19.688 --> 00:23:23.028 He'll show up and work in the people in your family. 00:23:23.028 --> 00:23:28.469 He'll show up and work in the people that right now look like they're living in rebellion to God. 00:23:28.469 --> 00:23:31.730 Let's be people who believe God and who talk to God. 00:23:31.730 --> 00:23:35.108 God, you're full of steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:23:35.108 --> 00:23:37.144 God, you're slow to anger. 00:23:37.144 --> 00:23:38.148 You're quick to forgive. 00:23:38.148 --> 00:23:43.000 God, will you show your grace to these people in my life that needs you? 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:47.547 Will you show up and work like only you can to bring life from death? 00:23:47.547 --> 00:23:52.968 God's committed to the truth. 00:23:54.321 --> 00:24:01.989 Third thing that we see in Numbers 14 is this There's always a remnant. 00:24:01.989 --> 00:24:13.509 There's always a remnant, and what I mean by that is this If you look through the story of Scripture, quite a few moments where humanity hangs in the balance. 00:24:13.509 --> 00:24:20.945 People have rebelled, things have gotten bad and it's like, hey, god's really close to just starting over with this whole deal. 00:24:20.945 --> 00:24:22.830 But what does God do? 00:24:22.830 --> 00:24:26.109 over and over and over, he preserves a remnant. 00:24:26.109 --> 00:24:35.509 He finds someone of faith And that person of faith becomes the channel for God's work and God's blessing in the earth. 00:24:35.509 --> 00:24:39.720 In Genesis six, it's Noah and his family. 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:46.211 In Genesis 12, it's Abram, it's Daniel and Babylon. 00:24:46.211 --> 00:24:50.173 It's the prophets as the Israelites are in exile. 00:24:50.173 --> 00:24:53.492 In the New Testament, it's the church. 00:24:53.492 --> 00:25:03.853 In a world that is following not the narrow way of Jesus, but the wide road that leads to destruction, there's always a remnant. 00:25:03.925 --> 00:25:16.897 I love Numbers 14, verse 24, as God is promising that the majority of the generation of Israelites in the desert, in the wilderness, will not see the promised land of God become their own. 00:25:16.897 --> 00:25:36.296 God says this, but my servant, caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, i will bring into the land And I read that phrase a different spirit, and that just struck my heart. 00:25:36.296 --> 00:25:41.575 May we be people who have a different spirit. 00:25:41.575 --> 00:25:43.632 That's what characterizes the remnant. 00:25:43.632 --> 00:25:47.006 It's a different spirit In Israel. 00:25:47.006 --> 00:25:52.236 In Numbers 14, there is a spirit of fear and Caleb lives with a spirit of faith. 00:25:52.236 --> 00:26:02.509 In our world today, where the spirit of anxiety rules, may we be people who live with a spirit of peace In a world of anger and hate. 00:26:02.509 --> 00:26:05.094 May we be people who live with a spirit of love. 00:26:05.094 --> 00:26:09.194 In our world today where there is division. 00:26:09.194 --> 00:26:12.407 May the church be marked by the spirit of unity. 00:26:12.407 --> 00:26:16.633 Let's be people who have a different spirit. 00:26:17.646 --> 00:26:19.072 I love Acts, chapter 11. 00:26:19.072 --> 00:26:27.937 There's a moment where the church is expanding There in a place called Antioch and Luke, who wrote Acts, drops this little line in Acts, chapter 11. 00:26:27.937 --> 00:26:28.938 I think it's verse 26. 00:26:28.938 --> 00:26:34.676 He says it was at Antioch that they were first called Christians. 00:26:34.676 --> 00:26:36.989 That's one of those verses you can read about. 00:26:36.989 --> 00:26:38.855 That's cool, a little trivia fact there. 00:26:38.855 --> 00:26:41.373 You know, next time in Sunday school live group you need to throw out a fact. 00:26:41.373 --> 00:26:42.408 Where were they first called Christians? 00:26:42.408 --> 00:26:42.749 Antioch. 00:26:44.065 --> 00:26:49.489 But what's fascinating about that verse is that the church didn't have to tell people hey, call us Christians. 00:26:49.489 --> 00:26:56.348 No, it was at Antioch that they were called Christians because they were characterized by a different spirit. 00:26:56.348 --> 00:27:00.532 People in Antioch were looking at them, going wait a minute. 00:27:00.532 --> 00:27:04.254 They don't look like us, wait a minute. 00:27:04.254 --> 00:27:06.023 They're not acting like us. 00:27:06.023 --> 00:27:07.375 They're not speaking like us. 00:27:07.375 --> 00:27:08.891 They're not afraid like we are. 00:27:08.891 --> 00:27:12.335 They're not chasing after what we're chasing after. 00:27:12.335 --> 00:27:14.392 There's a different spirit. 00:27:14.392 --> 00:27:16.951 They look like Jesus. 00:27:16.951 --> 00:27:19.730 The Christians little Christ. 00:27:19.730 --> 00:27:24.456 Clearly they're following after the way of Jesus. 00:27:26.227 --> 00:27:37.288 It's like when I read that and begin to think about it like that, the Holy Spirit just impressed on my heart this question do people know that you follow Jesus by the way that you live your life. 00:27:37.288 --> 00:27:40.490 Did they call you a Christian? 00:27:40.490 --> 00:27:43.175 or do you have to tell them that you're a Christian? 00:27:43.175 --> 00:27:49.777 Would they be surprised to hear me say oh yeah, i follow Jesus. 00:27:49.777 --> 00:27:50.427 Oh, really you do. 00:27:50.427 --> 00:28:05.254 May we be people characterized by a different spirit because we have, as followers of Christ, the Holy Spirit living on the inside. 00:28:05.254 --> 00:28:09.454 And Jesus had this to say about the Holy Spirit. 00:28:09.454 --> 00:28:13.596 He said when I go to be with my father, i'm not going to leave you as orphans. 00:28:13.596 --> 00:28:16.113 You might feel like strangers, in exiles. 00:28:16.113 --> 00:28:25.992 You might feel like you're fighting upstream against the tide of culture, the pressures of the world, the ideologies of the day, but I will not leave you as orphans. 00:28:25.992 --> 00:28:33.118 My helper, the Comforter, will come and dwell with you on the inside so that you never walk alone. 00:28:33.118 --> 00:28:35.993 So we close this series today. 00:28:35.993 --> 00:28:37.391 We're going to close a little bit differently. 00:28:37.391 --> 00:28:39.813 I'm saying you want to go ahead and get ready up here. 00:28:40.105 --> 00:28:48.332 A couple of years ago, we you know it was 2020, covid hits, shuts the world down And man, you all remember those days. 00:28:48.332 --> 00:28:51.695 We don't have to keep revisiting that, but it really did. 00:28:51.695 --> 00:28:58.777 It turned the world upside down And so much of what we trusted in for stability and consistency was gone. 00:28:58.777 --> 00:29:02.890 It was unstable, inconsistent, and people were struggling. 00:29:02.890 --> 00:29:12.585 People continue to struggle, and we went in 2021, the first part of that year, like January, something to what we call the mountain experience. 00:29:12.585 --> 00:29:36.790 It's our annual youth retreat up to look up Lodge, And we wrote a song that year for that retreat, called Strangers in Exiles, and it was all about the reality of walking through life as followers of Jesus in a culture that is out of control, where nothing is consistent, where everything is uncertain, where there's turmoil and tension. 00:29:37.905 --> 00:29:39.489 Think back to those days, man. 00:29:39.528 --> 00:29:40.572 It was crazy. 00:29:40.853 --> 00:29:41.855 Everything was political. 00:29:43.128 --> 00:29:46.787 It's like you said you like Burger King better than McDonald's, and it was like we can't be friends. 00:29:48.227 --> 00:29:51.496 It's racial tension, economic uncertainty. 00:29:51.496 --> 00:29:53.083 It was chaos in 2020. 00:29:53.083 --> 00:29:59.698 And so we wrote this song to communicate one big message that in the fire, we do not walk alone. 00:29:59.698 --> 00:30:13.317 We've got the spirit of Jesus living on the inside, and so the fire that is inevitable doesn't have to be our destruction. 00:30:13.317 --> 00:30:21.793 God can actually use it to discipline us, to correct us, to grow us, to change us, to make us more of who he's called us to be. 00:30:21.793 --> 00:31:07.527 And so, as we close this series out today, sometimes music has a way of sticking where words fall short, and so I just want you to sit and hear and worship and allow these words to impact your heart, and my prayer is that the truth of this song, rooted in the pages of God's word, would remind you, in whatever fire you're walking through today, whatever fire comes next in your life, and even as we wander, even as we feel like we're a people without a home, we never walk alone, because the spirit of Jesus is with us and within us. 00:31:37.028 --> 00:31:43.256 Over hills and through valleys, all the highs and the lows. 00:31:43.256 --> 00:32:01.946 I have searched for you, jesus, down a long winding road And I'm worn out and weary. 00:32:01.946 --> 00:32:13.379 I hear your voice, calm the storm, an invitation to rest In Jesus alone. 00:32:13.379 --> 00:32:20.822 You were with me through the wandering in and out. 00:32:20.822 --> 00:32:26.019 You'll be with me through it all. 00:32:26.019 --> 00:32:34.101 So come with me, with my eyes on you. 00:32:34.101 --> 00:32:37.038 My whole being could end in Him. 00:32:39.094 --> 00:32:43.203 Oh, i never walk alone. 00:32:43.203 --> 00:33:00.782 I see your grace in the trial, bringing hope in the pain, and I call you by my fire. 00:33:00.782 --> 00:33:04.309 I know you're working here in me. 00:33:04.309 --> 00:33:06.814 Yes, you are. 00:33:06.814 --> 00:33:12.304 You were with me through the wandering in and out. 00:33:12.304 --> 00:33:17.059 You'll be with me through it all. 00:33:17.059 --> 00:33:24.189 So come with me, with my eyes on you. 00:33:24.189 --> 00:33:28.141 My whole being could end in Your name. 00:33:29.995 --> 00:33:33.124 Oh, i never walk alone. 00:33:33.124 --> 00:33:40.880 You'll make rivers in the desert, make a way through the sea. 00:33:40.880 --> 00:33:44.980 You're the fourth man in the fire. 00:33:44.980 --> 00:33:50.848 Now your spirit lives in me. 00:33:50.848 --> 00:33:59.390 You have carried your cross. 00:33:59.390 --> 00:34:03.121 You have carried my sin. 00:34:03.121 --> 00:34:10.340 You have laid down your whole life To give me mine back again. 00:34:10.340 --> 00:34:28.059 You're bringing heaven and earth back together All as one, all your sons and your daughters Laying crowns at your throne In the light of your glory. 00:34:28.059 --> 00:34:31.269 My soul finds its home. 00:34:31.269 --> 00:34:35.101 So I can trust you in the wandering. 00:34:35.101 --> 00:34:37.336 I know I never walk alone. 00:34:37.336 --> 00:34:45.342 You were with me through the wandering in and out. 00:34:45.342 --> 00:34:50.398 You'll be with us through it all. 00:34:50.398 --> 00:34:58.309 So come with me with my eyes on you. 00:34:58.309 --> 00:35:01.320 My whole being could end in Your name. 00:35:01.320 --> 00:35:06.342 Oh, i never walk alone. 00:35:06.342 --> 00:35:14.541 Oh, i never walk alone. 00:35:14.541 --> 00:35:20.881 Oh, i never walk alone. 00:35:47.920 --> 00:35:48.521 So come with me. 00:35:48.521 --> 00:35:52.657 With my eyes on you, my whole being could end in Your name. 00:35:52.657 --> 00:35:57.249 Oh, i never walk alone. 00:35:57.249 --> 00:36:01.159 You were with me through the wandering in and out. 00:36:01.159 --> 00:36:06.048 You were with me through the wandering in and out. 00:36:06.048 --> 00:36:10.202 You were with me through the wandering in and out. 00:36:10.202 --> 00:36:15.240 And He will deliver us out of your hand, o King. 00:36:15.240 --> 00:36:25.239 But even if He doesn't, let it be known to you, o King, that we will not serve your gods Or worship the golden image that you have set up. 00:36:25.239 --> 00:36:26.836 It's a different spirit. 00:36:26.836 --> 00:36:28.093 We're not bowing. 00:36:28.093 --> 00:36:32.378 We serve the one God, no matter what comes our way. 00:36:32.378 --> 00:36:36.479 Our eyes are on Him and our hope is anchored in His name. 00:36:36.479 --> 00:36:41.039 In His glory, our souls have found their home. 00:36:42.313 --> 00:36:44.559 So the three men are thrown into the fire. 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:50.994 It's turned up so hot that even the ones who throw them in Die in that moment. 00:36:50.994 --> 00:36:53.661 But King Nebuchadnezzar, he's astonished. 00:36:53.661 --> 00:36:55.880 He rises up in haste. 00:36:55.880 --> 00:37:01.681 He asks his counselors Did we not throw three men bound up into the fire? 00:37:01.681 --> 00:37:05.615 His counselors answered and said to the King true, that's right. 00:37:05.615 --> 00:37:14.077 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said but I see four men Unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they're not heard. 00:37:14.077 --> 00:37:20.514 And the appearance of the fourth Is like a son of the gods, you don't walk alone. 00:37:20.514 --> 00:37:26.634 You don't walk alone Even in the fire. 00:37:26.634 --> 00:37:27.276 You're not alone. 00:37:28.490 --> 00:37:34.396 If you're here today and you're not a follower of Jesus, i want to extend that invitation to you today. 00:37:34.396 --> 00:37:37.369 The prayers are coming. 00:37:37.369 --> 00:37:37.992 This life is hard. 00:37:37.992 --> 00:37:44.918 Jesus is willing to walk with you, to lead you through and to lead you home. 00:37:44.918 --> 00:37:46.193 It's by grace, through faith. 00:37:46.233 --> 00:37:57.316 Scripture says that we're saved A trusting and the blood of Jesus That was shed for the forgiveness of our sins, by confessing Him as Lord, believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead. 00:37:57.316 --> 00:38:03.775 So today, for the first time, you want to give your life to Christ, with every head bowed and every eye closed. 00:38:03.775 --> 00:38:06.356 This prayer along with me. 00:38:06.356 --> 00:38:12.838 Dear God, i trust my life to Jesus. 00:38:12.838 --> 00:38:15.775 I ask you to forgive me. 00:38:15.775 --> 00:38:23.338 I ask you to lead me today and every day In Jesus' name, amen. 00:38:23.338 --> 00:38:31.360 If you prayed that prayer in just a moment, when we stand and sing, i wanted to ask you to step out from where you are, come down front, grab me by the hand And share that. 00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:33.898 We'd love to celebrate that with you this morning. 00:38:33.898 --> 00:38:44.077 There's no greater way to end this day Than to walk out of here knowing that never again, no matter what happens in life, will you walk alone? 00:38:44.077 --> 00:38:56.369 So, father, as we stand and sing, may the truth of your word Find good soil in our hearts And produce a great harvest. 00:38:56.369 --> 00:38:59.376 In Jesus' name, everybody says amen.