WEBVTT 00:00:16.429 --> 00:00:30.189 Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. 00:00:30.509 --> 00:00:31.789 You may be seated. 00:00:34.349 --> 00:00:35.549 But good morning. 00:00:36.429 --> 00:00:38.030 My name is Danny Batarsi. 00:00:38.109 --> 00:00:50.750 I have the privilege of serving on the college team here at 614, and it is absolutely an exciting time of year with students going back from the youngins to the high schoolers to the universities as well. 00:00:50.909 --> 00:00:54.189 So I'm excited to see what God does this fall. 00:00:54.429 --> 00:00:59.709 I'm actually going to start this morning by sharing the story of my first love. 00:01:00.269 --> 00:01:03.790 I have permission from CC to share this story, so don't worry. 00:01:04.349 --> 00:01:08.429 It was December of 2016, and it was Christmas time. 00:01:08.670 --> 00:01:20.750 I was 15 years old, and my family were all in our living room sharing a time together, and my brother gave me this envelope, and on the front of this envelope was a car. 00:01:21.149 --> 00:01:29.390 And as I began to open this envelope, I saw the most beautiful thing I think I had ever seen. 00:01:29.629 --> 00:01:36.509 Through the air, what was flying, soaring, or a pair of car keys. 00:01:37.069 --> 00:01:45.709 As I catch them, I read in this envelope that says, Hey, I wanted to gift you a car, as he was getting a new one, but there's two rules. 00:01:46.349 --> 00:01:50.269 No speeding and no texting and driving. 00:01:50.909 --> 00:01:57.789 2009, Honda Civic LX, maroon red, her name was Rose. 00:01:58.429 --> 00:02:02.509 And I kid you not, it was the most beautiful thing in the whole world. 00:02:02.750 --> 00:02:04.829 15-year-old almost getting my license. 00:02:04.989 --> 00:02:15.789 Could not be more thrilled, and I kid you not, I treated that thing like the Mona Lisa, protected it, cared for it for about two months. 00:02:16.430 --> 00:02:22.110 And then somehow, Taco Bell bags just found their way in my car. 00:02:22.270 --> 00:02:24.510 My backseat quickly became a trash can. 00:02:24.670 --> 00:02:29.950 I kept forgetting to take my baseball gear out of the car, so it smelled like a locker room. 00:02:30.110 --> 00:02:34.909 And then there was the first time I got pulled over, and then the second. 00:02:35.230 --> 00:02:37.070 Let's not talk about the third. 00:02:37.150 --> 00:02:40.430 And I'm glad my mom's not here to tell you about the fourth. 00:02:41.070 --> 00:02:52.110 Some beautiful memories, and what I learned around winter time the next year is that when it snows, my high school parking lot becomes a perfect territory to learn how to drift. 00:02:52.270 --> 00:03:01.630 And with a 2009 Honda Civic LX with a manual e-brake, you can have a lot of fun with a very thin sheet of ice. 00:03:01.790 --> 00:03:06.750 But unfortunately, it was an older car, and for some reason the transmission wasn't working as well. 00:03:07.230 --> 00:03:15.230 But then there was the first car accident, and then I took this car to campus, and you guys have the infamous love tap when you're parallel parking. 00:03:15.469 --> 00:03:17.469 Have you heard of the love smash? 00:03:18.030 --> 00:03:19.790 Because I can tell you all about it. 00:03:19.870 --> 00:03:26.110 And that car has too many memories to count, and so on, and so on, and so on. 00:03:27.070 --> 00:03:40.990 My first love, the 2009 Honda Civic Alex with plastipped silver to turn it black, went from pristine and cared for to busted up, my friends puking in it. 00:03:41.150 --> 00:03:48.990 It was dirty, and honestly, I didn't care all too much about how the car was doing as long as I could get from point A to point B. 00:03:49.150 --> 00:03:52.430 I started using that line a lot, as long as I can get there. 00:03:52.590 --> 00:04:00.430 And there was this one time I was at an event that involved a lot of paint, and I didn't think to change my clothes before I got in the car. 00:04:00.590 --> 00:04:03.710 So it also has permanent stains of paint in it. 00:04:04.030 --> 00:04:17.469 But all of that to be said, it took many years and many small moments for this beautiful carrying car to go from pristine to quite literally destroyed in many, many ways. 00:04:17.550 --> 00:04:23.469 And funny enough, that's kind of exactly where we find ourselves in our teaching series that we're going through right now. 00:04:23.709 --> 00:04:32.990 We're studying the kings, and many of these kings made small decisions over time that led to them being completely separated from God. 00:04:33.469 --> 00:04:41.629 It's the idea of decline compounding over time as opposed to one king making one bad decision. 00:04:41.870 --> 00:04:46.509 It was one decision that led to another, that led to another, that led to another. 00:04:46.589 --> 00:04:50.109 And for some of us, it might start with a Taco Bell bag. 00:04:50.430 --> 00:04:50.589 C. 00:04:50.909 --> 00:04:50.990 S. 00:04:51.069 --> 00:04:57.949 Lewis says, day by day, nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different. 00:04:58.189 --> 00:05:01.389 And that is what we're really going to be looking at this morning. 00:05:01.629 --> 00:05:15.789 And the truth is, this could be immensely discouraging and dreadful to think about the decline of humanity and morality as we know it, especially that we've studied this for a few weeks in a row now. 00:05:16.029 --> 00:05:23.870 It feels like we just keep getting hit with this reality of like, we're broken, we're broken, we're broken, we're decaying, we're decaying, humanity is falling apart. 00:05:24.029 --> 00:05:32.349 But it's important that we look at this because these stories are arrows or they're they're lights on a dashboard of a car. 00:05:32.589 --> 00:05:37.149 They point to something else that warn us that something is wrong. 00:05:37.549 --> 00:05:40.589 So looking at these stories strengthens us. 00:05:41.069 --> 00:05:42.509 Quick question for you. 00:05:42.750 --> 00:05:46.509 Does anyone here want to walk in freedom? 00:05:47.229 --> 00:05:47.549 Okay. 00:05:47.949 --> 00:05:48.509 Yeah. 00:05:48.909 --> 00:05:49.870 Good amount of us. 00:05:49.949 --> 00:05:50.509 That's good. 00:05:50.750 --> 00:05:53.069 Does anybody want to walk in purpose? 00:05:54.269 --> 00:05:55.469 Definitely for me. 00:05:55.709 --> 00:05:58.109 Does anybody want to walk with hope? 00:05:59.389 --> 00:06:00.269 All very real. 00:06:00.430 --> 00:06:01.069 Me too. 00:06:01.310 --> 00:06:10.589 And these stories, they serve to teach us so that we can actually walk in those things and not just talk about them like good Christians do. 00:06:10.750 --> 00:06:18.109 But these stories actually help us change so that those things aren't fantasies or ideas, but the reality of our life. 00:06:18.430 --> 00:06:20.029 You guys ready to jump in this? 00:06:20.269 --> 00:06:20.509 Yes. 00:06:21.149 --> 00:06:21.629 Good. 00:06:21.870 --> 00:06:30.669 Before we get started on the declare of decay of humanity, though, I think we have to acknowledge what lens we're bringing to this conversation. 00:06:30.829 --> 00:06:38.349 When this was written many, many years ago, it was written as an autopsy of sort of what happened in this kingdom. 00:06:38.509 --> 00:06:43.229 But as we look at it now, we get to look at it with a little bit of a different lens. 00:06:43.469 --> 00:06:46.669 Because you and I are on the other side of Jesus. 00:06:46.909 --> 00:06:56.669 And because you and I are on the other side of Jesus, the idea of hope, the idea of mercy, the idea of grace, those aren't things that we have to search and hope we can find. 00:06:56.909 --> 00:07:01.229 We know exactly where they are in receiving Jesus and walking with him. 00:07:01.549 --> 00:07:08.589 So it's important we come to this text with an understanding that we aren't going to decay and get lost forever. 00:07:08.750 --> 00:07:13.870 There's genuine and real hope in Jesus, no matter how far we have turned. 00:07:14.109 --> 00:07:19.389 The age-old saying that nobody is too far gone is only true with Jesus. 00:07:19.629 --> 00:07:34.509 And this morning, we're going to look at a decline of people to learn the patterns that could have been picked up on, and hopefully for our lives, we can see where those patterns might start creeping in, so that you and I can also walk in purity with Jesus. 00:07:34.750 --> 00:07:42.750 So I want to encourage you that as we look into this, it is some heavy weighty things, but we get to look at it of, oh, that's good to know. 00:07:42.909 --> 00:07:50.269 Like now that I know, I can learn, I can grow, I can walk in greater maturity, as opposed to, oh my gosh, I'm cooked. 00:07:50.669 --> 00:07:51.389 Sound good? 00:07:51.949 --> 00:07:53.709 Allow me to pray for us as we get into this. 00:07:53.949 --> 00:07:56.589 Lord, I pray that your presence is with us. 00:07:56.829 --> 00:08:00.430 I pray that we are aware of how near you are to us in this moment. 00:08:00.829 --> 00:08:04.509 Lord, I pray that your grace and your peace wash over us. 00:08:04.669 --> 00:08:09.389 That we aren't just here to do good Christian things, but we're here for Jesus. 00:08:09.549 --> 00:08:17.310 So Lord, I pray that whether we are a curious follower of Jesus or a skeptic of the faith, Lord, I pray that we can look to you and learn. 00:08:17.709 --> 00:08:21.149 We can see what you have to offer us this morning. 00:08:21.549 --> 00:08:22.189 Amen. 00:08:23.549 --> 00:08:29.310 This morning we're gonna cover 210 years and 19 different kings. 00:08:29.469 --> 00:08:36.029 And it sounds like a lot, but there's a few patterns that these kings follow, and we're just gonna follow the patterns this morning. 00:08:36.190 --> 00:08:40.509 So we're gonna begin in 2 Kings chapter 17, verses 9. 00:08:40.669 --> 00:08:43.710 I'm gonna read, you can flip there if you would like. 00:08:44.350 --> 00:08:51.470 It says, And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. 00:08:51.789 --> 00:08:57.710 They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. 00:08:57.949 --> 00:09:11.549 They set up for themselves pillars and asherem on every high hill and under every green tree, and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away from them. 00:09:12.189 --> 00:09:21.470 And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, and they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, You shall not do this. 00:09:21.949 --> 00:09:40.189 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all of the law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets. 00:09:40.590 --> 00:09:49.470 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 00:09:50.189 --> 00:09:58.429 This is obviously a very wordy and dense text with a lot of nuances in it, but again, we're gonna track a macro theme that's going on here. 00:09:58.750 --> 00:10:06.110 There's this pastor named John Bevere, who's known for his work in studying what Scripture says around the fear of the Lord. 00:10:06.269 --> 00:10:10.269 And there was one time he visited a friend of his who had gone to prison. 00:10:10.509 --> 00:10:12.350 He was a high-profile pastor. 00:10:12.509 --> 00:10:21.789 He had national presence and national acknowledgement, who had a very serious and very public moral failure around, I think it was money laundering at that time. 00:10:21.949 --> 00:10:26.829 And he sits in front of his friend and he goes, When did you stop loving Jesus? 00:10:27.069 --> 00:10:28.909 Like, when did it go wrong for you? 00:10:29.149 --> 00:10:36.269 And his friend looks him in the eyes and he says, I never stopped loving Jesus, but I stopped fearing him. 00:10:36.590 --> 00:10:45.949 And John Bevere goes on to say how this helped him see that a love for God is different than actually walking in a way that honors God. 00:10:46.269 --> 00:10:54.909 So he defines the fear of the Lord as a holy awe and a profound terror of being separated from God's presence. 00:10:55.230 --> 00:10:59.710 Not a fear of God himself, but a fear of being separated from God. 00:11:00.669 --> 00:11:02.189 Very, very different. 00:11:02.350 --> 00:11:06.829 So in this, we're going to see a thread in these kings that they lacked the fear of the Lord. 00:11:07.069 --> 00:11:10.429 They lacked a desire to stay close to God. 00:11:10.750 --> 00:11:19.789 So the first pattern we see across these kings is that their rebellion didn't start as rejection, but as control of God. 00:11:20.269 --> 00:11:29.230 In 1 Kings 12, it says, And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David, or the kingdom's going to turn back to God. 00:11:29.470 --> 00:11:43.389 If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their Lord, to Rehoboam, king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam, king of Judah. 00:11:43.629 --> 00:11:48.029 So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. 00:11:48.509 --> 00:11:50.110 He was so close. 00:11:50.429 --> 00:11:58.829 Jeroboam was wanting to bring the kingdom back to worshiping God, so he brings in false idols that they can use to worship God. 00:11:59.149 --> 00:12:01.870 On our end, obviously it's like, come on, man. 00:12:02.189 --> 00:12:05.309 But to him he was doing what he thought was best. 00:12:05.789 --> 00:12:10.429 He tried to worship God, but it was on his own terms. 00:12:10.829 --> 00:12:16.350 It was good intention met with impurity, which is still impurity. 00:12:17.230 --> 00:12:21.230 But notice, he didn't outright reject God. 00:12:21.949 --> 00:12:24.110 He actually wanted to honor God. 00:12:24.350 --> 00:12:29.470 And in reality, very few people actually start by rejecting God. 00:12:29.710 --> 00:12:39.230 They often start by controlling something with small, reasonable sounding actions, much like what Noah was sharing about finances. 00:12:39.629 --> 00:12:43.149 Like it's very reasonable to be financially stable. 00:12:43.389 --> 00:12:46.269 It's very reasonable to have a huge emergency fund. 00:12:46.509 --> 00:12:51.389 There's a lot of reason and understanding behind it, but does that come before trusting God? 00:12:51.949 --> 00:12:55.870 Oftentimes for us, it's an order of precedence in our heart. 00:12:56.269 --> 00:13:02.429 It's one small example of how do we trust God over just taking reason. 00:13:02.909 --> 00:13:13.230 And as followers of Jesus in our time, control and the worship of self is said to be one of the biggest hindrances in our walk with God. 00:13:13.629 --> 00:13:18.189 But it's important to note that none of those things are new. 00:13:18.590 --> 00:13:20.829 We just simply don't change. 00:13:21.549 --> 00:13:39.309 Way before the American Western nature that we know now, way before culture was what it is, way before modern individualism and everybody getting to do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, way before all of that, people still tried to control God. 00:13:39.870 --> 00:13:42.029 People still tried to be individualistic. 00:13:42.110 --> 00:13:44.590 It just looked a little different. 00:13:44.909 --> 00:13:54.350 So at what point do we as the church stop blaming culture for our failures and take ownership over our lives? 00:13:55.549 --> 00:13:59.230 It's not culture's fault that we live how we live. 00:13:59.470 --> 00:14:01.389 It's not their fault, it's not their fault. 00:14:01.549 --> 00:14:06.110 At some point in time, we have to acknowledge that there's some onus on us. 00:14:06.509 --> 00:14:09.549 That we have made some choices, good or bad. 00:14:09.870 --> 00:14:14.669 Culture has always been really, really evil and rotten ever since the fall. 00:14:14.990 --> 00:14:16.189 It's not new. 00:14:16.429 --> 00:14:23.069 I could go down just about every sin temptation we have and probably find something in here to show you it's not new. 00:14:23.389 --> 00:14:24.990 Is it worse than ever before? 00:14:25.149 --> 00:14:25.549 I don't know. 00:14:25.710 --> 00:14:26.829 I wasn't there. 00:14:27.309 --> 00:14:29.309 But I know that this says it was there. 00:14:29.470 --> 00:14:35.949 Control was there, wanting to control our lives was there, the worship of self and wanting to do things our own way was all there. 00:14:37.389 --> 00:14:44.350 And history just continually repeats itself, oftentimes because we don't change. 00:14:45.470 --> 00:14:53.149 As a community, I want to be a people that see the value in what Jesus did in such a way that we actually change. 00:14:53.789 --> 00:15:02.189 That we can learn a text like this, be like, okay, like this is a common issue in my life, it's a common issue in lives around me, it's an issue in history. 00:15:02.509 --> 00:15:04.750 Like, God, will you give me the grace to change? 00:15:04.990 --> 00:15:06.669 What if that was our response? 00:15:06.829 --> 00:15:09.549 Or it's like, God, I have no idea how to change. 00:15:09.710 --> 00:15:11.629 I don't even know if I'm in the wrong. 00:15:11.870 --> 00:15:13.389 But I want to know. 00:15:13.629 --> 00:15:15.230 I want to know if I'm in control. 00:15:15.309 --> 00:15:17.230 I want to know if I made a mistake. 00:15:17.549 --> 00:15:22.350 But oftentimes we just carry on doing what we think is best. 00:15:23.549 --> 00:15:28.669 And this exact pattern continues on, but compounds to one layer deeper. 00:15:28.909 --> 00:15:36.029 First it was slightly controlling, but the next pattern we see is that they rejected the warnings from God. 00:15:36.429 --> 00:15:49.309 In 2 Kings it says that God warned them, but in verse 14 it says, But they would not listen, but were stubborn as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 00:15:50.350 --> 00:15:53.470 This isn't being warned once and ignoring it. 00:15:53.629 --> 00:15:58.590 This is being warned over generations and ignoring generations of warnings. 00:15:59.149 --> 00:16:04.669 God warned them many times that their sin would cause them to be distant from God. 00:16:05.549 --> 00:16:09.629 But because they didn't fear God, that didn't concern them. 00:16:10.110 --> 00:16:12.829 Being far from God's presence didn't concern them. 00:16:13.069 --> 00:16:15.309 So they ignored these warnings. 00:16:15.710 --> 00:16:21.710 And in our culture, we get warnings all of the time, whether we see it or not. 00:16:22.029 --> 00:16:24.750 One of them being the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 00:16:24.909 --> 00:16:29.389 Just we do something we shouldn't, and we just feel on the inside of like that's something's not right. 00:16:29.710 --> 00:16:36.990 They didn't sit right, I feel I feel guilty, I feel conviction, whatever word we put to it, the Lord stirs something in us of like, that's not right. 00:16:37.230 --> 00:16:39.710 Or it's community calling you out. 00:16:39.949 --> 00:16:43.789 A friend, someone who actually cares about you, saying that, hey, you messed up, man. 00:16:44.429 --> 00:16:46.189 It's an act of love and care. 00:16:46.509 --> 00:16:53.549 Or the one that I think you and I get most often, whether we realize it or not, is the word of God. 00:16:54.269 --> 00:17:04.990 Whether it's teaching on a Sunday, whether it's in a life group, whether it's through an Instagram reel, when the word of God enters our ears, we have a responsibility to it. 00:17:05.309 --> 00:17:13.230 So doom scrolling, we might accidentally be warned, warned, warned, warned, warned without even realizing it. 00:17:13.470 --> 00:17:19.309 But we've desensitized ourselves and just said, next, next, next, next, next. 00:17:19.549 --> 00:17:28.190 Our culture is considered the age of information, where we have access to every piece of knowledge there has ever been, and AI is only taking that to the next level. 00:17:28.430 --> 00:17:33.069 But as people who want to follow Jesus, we have a responsibility to those warnings. 00:17:33.549 --> 00:17:35.789 We have a responsibility to this word. 00:17:36.190 --> 00:17:46.430 That when God says something that stirs us or challenges us, or even if it doesn't stir us or challenge us, but it's his word, we have a responsibility to it. 00:17:47.230 --> 00:17:56.029 So my question, just for you to briefly ponder to yourself, what have you done when you've gotten to the point of needing a warning? 00:18:04.430 --> 00:18:13.230 The next pattern after rejected warning, it's this line that's across all of the nineteen kings in 210 years. 00:18:13.309 --> 00:18:16.190 It's almost word for word in kings. 00:18:16.430 --> 00:18:21.710 And the language is he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam. 00:18:22.349 --> 00:18:25.710 Said fifteen times across all the different kings. 00:18:26.190 --> 00:18:37.389 Jeroboam was the first evil king, and for 15 different times, 19 kings, 210 years, none of them departed from the sins of the first. 00:18:37.789 --> 00:18:39.710 They didn't say the one right before them. 00:18:39.789 --> 00:18:41.869 They went all the way back to the beginning. 00:18:42.109 --> 00:18:44.910 They just carried on sinning. 00:18:46.269 --> 00:18:50.349 Much of our culture operates on what is called thin belief. 00:18:50.589 --> 00:18:57.950 It's when somebody believes something because they think it is right, not because they actually have a conviction regarding it. 00:18:58.190 --> 00:19:00.430 And the church is not free from this pattern. 00:19:00.509 --> 00:19:04.990 And this is why all of the things that we do have to be anchored on Jesus. 00:19:05.230 --> 00:19:16.670 There are so many opinions out there on how you should do church and how you should do Christianity and all the stats and all the books and all the production tips and how to preach a good sermon and everything that there is. 00:19:17.309 --> 00:19:25.230 But ultimately, if we aren't anchored on Jesus, there's going to be something along the way that enters our thinking. 00:19:25.470 --> 00:19:27.869 Something along the way that enters our practice. 00:19:28.109 --> 00:19:32.509 Something along the way where we just do it because they did it. 00:19:32.829 --> 00:19:40.509 And when it comes to Jesus, there's an immense risk with that because we are broken people who make a lot of mistakes. 00:19:42.750 --> 00:19:48.990 Our default cannot ever become what's easily available or what's been done before. 00:19:49.309 --> 00:19:56.990 All of the kings, all 19 of them, made the mistake of settling for the belief of a leader before them. 00:19:57.629 --> 00:20:03.309 And each and every one of us have had some degree of exposure to different types of teaching and thinking. 00:20:03.789 --> 00:20:06.670 You have to weigh up what is God saying? 00:20:07.389 --> 00:20:11.629 The failures and patterns in my life, what is God saying? 00:20:12.349 --> 00:20:16.190 There are so many different opinions around should a Christian watch horror movies? 00:20:16.349 --> 00:20:17.950 Should we celebrate Halloween? 00:20:18.109 --> 00:20:19.789 I could go on and on and on. 00:20:20.109 --> 00:20:21.789 What is God saying? 00:20:22.109 --> 00:20:31.549 And what are the things that have gotten into the culture of the church or Christianity that we do for the sake of inclusivity and love, but ultimately it's just tolerating sin? 00:20:32.190 --> 00:20:35.950 Like, what are those things that have so deeply permeated culture? 00:20:36.109 --> 00:20:38.670 And we would be foolish to not think there's any. 00:20:38.910 --> 00:20:45.069 There are certainly things in the broader church that we've allowed to enter because we're broken people. 00:20:45.710 --> 00:20:50.029 Which is why we just need to be willing to be like, okay, God, we we're aware. 00:20:50.349 --> 00:20:51.549 Can you help us? 00:20:51.789 --> 00:20:54.910 Can you help us walk in grace and can you help us walk in truth? 00:20:55.069 --> 00:20:59.309 Not making this lighter than it is, but also not loving people less. 00:20:59.549 --> 00:21:02.430 It's an immensely difficult challenge. 00:21:02.670 --> 00:21:09.950 And hear me when I say this, when we fear God, this isn't us starting to earn God's favor or trying to do all the right on our own strength. 00:21:10.190 --> 00:21:16.990 Fearing the Lord ultimately is an understanding of the cross of Jesus and an acceptance of his grace. 00:21:17.230 --> 00:21:19.150 That's what fearing God is. 00:21:19.389 --> 00:21:26.349 It isn't us striving on the inside, it's us receiving God's love and God's grace and letting him change us. 00:21:26.589 --> 00:21:28.910 You and I can't be pure without God. 00:21:29.230 --> 00:21:32.670 Fearing the Lord is literally saying, Alright, God, I need you. 00:21:32.990 --> 00:21:37.470 It's a very humble acknowledgement of like, okay, Lord, I can't do this on my own anymore. 00:21:37.629 --> 00:21:38.430 I've tried. 00:21:38.589 --> 00:21:44.349 I'm trying to love people, I'm trying to love my family, I'm trying to steward my finances well, but I just keep messing up. 00:21:44.670 --> 00:21:46.029 My God, will you help me? 00:21:46.269 --> 00:21:50.269 It's a humble acknowledgement before God of like, Lord, I just need your help. 00:21:51.869 --> 00:22:00.509 What happens next is a compounding effect of control, being warned, rejecting warning, and just carrying on. 00:22:00.589 --> 00:22:06.430 There's a significant jump in this step here, in one that I know that we face. 00:22:06.589 --> 00:22:16.109 In 1 Kings 16 31, it says, and as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Jeroboam. 00:22:16.430 --> 00:22:25.789 Nabat, he took for his wife Jezebel, the daughter of Eph Baal, king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshipped him. 00:22:26.509 --> 00:22:28.349 I'm going to put that in English for us. 00:22:29.470 --> 00:22:36.349 The sins of Jeroboam didn't sting like they used to, which means the conviction lessened. 00:22:37.069 --> 00:22:40.109 Same sin, same mistake, less conviction. 00:22:41.150 --> 00:22:43.869 It wasn't that the sin stopped or started more. 00:22:44.029 --> 00:22:46.190 They just didn't feel the pain of it anymore. 00:22:46.509 --> 00:22:50.269 As if it had become a light thing. 00:22:50.509 --> 00:22:54.269 This is mostly seen in habitual sins that we wrestle with. 00:22:56.109 --> 00:23:00.910 Excuse me, this is felt when habitual sin loses conviction, like it used to. 00:23:01.069 --> 00:23:17.629 Whether that's pornography, hatred, drinking, pride, gambling, you name it, whatever habit we find ourselves in, when the conviction starts to drop, it is one of the more dangerous moments as followers of Jesus. 00:23:18.029 --> 00:23:21.950 Because it doesn't mean that God is tolerating the sin more or allowing it. 00:23:22.190 --> 00:23:24.990 It doesn't mean that God's giving more grace per se. 00:23:25.230 --> 00:23:27.869 It could just mean that we're getting farther from God. 00:23:28.430 --> 00:23:38.509 It could mean that what used to hurt because it grieved God and separated us from Him now doesn't matter as much because we don't really care if we're that far from God. 00:23:39.230 --> 00:23:45.230 It's an intense idea, but it's one that Scripture highlights over and over and over again. 00:23:47.470 --> 00:23:51.230 The Bible says that the Holy Spirit brings conviction. 00:23:51.549 --> 00:23:57.389 So when we don't feel conviction, it could be that we're not aware of the Holy Spirit. 00:23:57.710 --> 00:24:00.269 And it's not saying that God's not speaking. 00:24:00.430 --> 00:24:06.430 We've just ignored his voice over and over and over again to where we might have stopped listening. 00:24:07.309 --> 00:24:16.430 In Israel, and I know in our culture, this led to worse and more evil things becoming the new threshold of what used to feel like conviction. 00:24:16.670 --> 00:24:25.309 This is why things like gambling get worse, or things like pornography get worse, or more intense, or worse things you look at. 00:24:25.629 --> 00:24:28.190 It's just the brutality of conviction. 00:24:28.349 --> 00:24:30.910 We can tolerate more and more evil. 00:24:31.150 --> 00:24:38.430 And because we live in a culture that is very in your face of these addictions and struggles, it's more normalized. 00:24:38.990 --> 00:24:42.029 So it doesn't sting like it used to. 00:24:44.910 --> 00:24:50.190 It got so bad that the reform in Israel couldn't even fix their view of God. 00:24:50.430 --> 00:24:55.629 In Israel, they tore down all of the idols in an attempt to restore worship to God. 00:24:55.869 --> 00:25:03.150 But one of the kings kept some things in the back, just cleaned up everything on the outside, but kept a couple in the back. 00:25:03.389 --> 00:25:06.190 And it's the same mistake that you and I make. 00:25:06.430 --> 00:25:10.509 We try behavior modification without true repentance. 00:25:10.829 --> 00:25:21.389 We try to clean up the outside, we try to clean up the calendar, we try to clean up our appearance, we try to make things look good and orderly on the outside, all along our heart hasn't budged. 00:25:21.789 --> 00:25:36.109 And if it is true that God is interested in your heart and my heart, that he wants you to be loved, seen, and cared for, that he wants you to know freedom and life and mercy, it doesn't matter how it looks on the outside. 00:25:36.349 --> 00:25:47.950 I have seen some people who look phenomenal on the outside, full of life, smiling, joyous, engaged, they're serving in the church, they're giving, but they're dying on the inside. 00:25:48.190 --> 00:25:51.470 The shame, the isolation, the doubt. 00:25:51.789 --> 00:25:54.750 And I've seen people who look real rough. 00:25:54.990 --> 00:26:02.109 They're beat down, they're distraught, they don't know if they can do it, they're fighting for their life, but they're coming to Jesus with their struggles. 00:26:02.589 --> 00:26:06.509 I would take the person struggling every single day of the week. 00:26:07.069 --> 00:26:10.269 That is where I would want to be if I was on that spectrum. 00:26:11.230 --> 00:26:13.230 That is exactly what God wants. 00:26:13.389 --> 00:26:17.950 No matter where you are, in victory or in pain, just to come to Him. 00:26:18.190 --> 00:26:20.509 This isn't a message of you have to be suffering. 00:26:20.750 --> 00:26:22.670 The invitation is just come to Jesus. 00:26:23.230 --> 00:26:24.910 Repentance is coming to Jesus. 00:26:24.990 --> 00:26:28.589 It isn't get your life together or you have to be a disaster. 00:26:29.150 --> 00:26:31.629 There's one consistent thread in here. 00:26:32.589 --> 00:26:39.549 It's coming back to Jesus in repentance, in purity, in wholeness, and asking for his help. 00:26:44.190 --> 00:26:47.309 There's one more layer of this pattern. 00:26:47.470 --> 00:26:52.109 And this one is when things blow completely out of proportion. 00:26:52.349 --> 00:26:58.829 And at this point in time, there is zero conviction and active rejection of God. 00:26:59.710 --> 00:27:02.990 It's the final boss per se of the kings. 00:27:03.150 --> 00:27:06.109 They didn't try to look good on the outside anymore. 00:27:06.269 --> 00:27:11.789 They were rotten on the inside, and they were rotten on the outside, openly rejecting God. 00:27:12.750 --> 00:27:23.150 And this isn't because they silenced God once, they had just completely severed their conscience, severed their conviction by rejecting it over and over and over. 00:27:25.069 --> 00:27:26.670 Weighty stuff, right? 00:27:27.950 --> 00:27:34.990 But it's important because you and I stand here on the other side with hope and life and opportunity to walk in freedom. 00:27:35.230 --> 00:27:42.990 But it's important to see that the condition of our world right now, it gives us a lens for how we can love people. 00:27:43.230 --> 00:27:53.950 It gives us a lens for how we ourselves can come back to Jesus in purity, how we can come to Jesus broken, in need of something to help us move forward. 00:27:54.190 --> 00:27:55.869 We don't have to have it figured out. 00:27:56.029 --> 00:27:59.150 If anybody has it figured out, I probably don't trust you. 00:27:59.549 --> 00:28:01.389 There's literally no way. 00:28:02.430 --> 00:28:05.629 Maybe there's a day where we're like, okay, yeah, like I've got this life figured out. 00:28:05.710 --> 00:28:08.109 And if that day happens, someone slap me. 00:28:09.230 --> 00:28:14.509 I've sat with older people enough to know that that day doesn't always come. 00:28:15.230 --> 00:28:16.589 And that's okay. 00:28:17.150 --> 00:28:20.430 It's okay to not know exactly how to move forward. 00:28:20.670 --> 00:28:30.269 It's okay to not know exactly how to lead your family or handle your finances or how to perfectly study scripture, but the invitation is the same. 00:28:30.509 --> 00:28:33.710 It's coming back to Jesus in repentance. 00:28:34.109 --> 00:28:42.990 There's a scripture in Amos 5 I want to quickly read, and I think it's one of the clearer depictions of how God feels. 00:28:43.230 --> 00:28:45.549 And I can say that because it's God speaking. 00:28:45.629 --> 00:28:47.549 So I'm gonna let him speak for himself. 00:28:47.789 --> 00:28:50.029 Amos 5 21, this is God speaking. 00:28:50.190 --> 00:28:57.549 He says, I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 00:28:57.789 --> 00:29:08.029 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them, and the peace offerings of your fattened animals I will not look upon them. 00:29:08.589 --> 00:29:21.710 Take away from me the noise of your songs, to the melody of your harps I will not listen, but let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 00:29:22.029 --> 00:29:29.789 If you've ever wondered how God felt, he doesn't want the noise, he doesn't need the fanfare, he doesn't need you to figure it out. 00:29:30.029 --> 00:29:33.629 He just wants the righteousness of God to be made known in your life. 00:29:33.950 --> 00:29:38.269 And for you and I, on this side of the cross, the righteousness of God is Jesus. 00:29:39.069 --> 00:29:44.990 I could give you a whole nother 30-minute expository presentation of that. 00:29:45.710 --> 00:29:48.269 But Jesus is the most beautiful thing ever. 00:29:49.150 --> 00:29:52.990 Way better than my 2009 Honda Civic. 00:29:54.509 --> 00:29:59.150 But it's one of those things that you and I at the end of the day have to take ownership over this. 00:29:59.789 --> 00:30:04.990 You can't follow Jesus because it's the right thing to do and have no conviction on the inside. 00:30:05.389 --> 00:30:10.589 But at the same time, at the same time, you can't have conviction on the inside and not follow Jesus. 00:30:11.710 --> 00:30:20.829 One of the great challenges of a sermon like this is that when we silence the conviction so often, we become desensitized to it. 00:30:20.990 --> 00:30:25.710 And when you're desensitized to something, you don't know that you're desensitized to it. 00:30:25.950 --> 00:30:27.950 That's one of the great challenges. 00:30:28.190 --> 00:30:36.430 That's why some people can tolerate this and some people can tolerate that, and it's different because we each have different levels of what we can handle. 00:30:36.750 --> 00:30:41.950 And the same thing before God, we're each at different points of what stings us. 00:30:42.829 --> 00:30:48.750 But the invitation for all of us is the same to let God bring conviction to us. 00:30:49.230 --> 00:30:56.750 And I don't know where you all sit, but what I do know is that it is in God's word that the Holy Spirit does bring conviction. 00:30:56.990 --> 00:31:01.629 And when the Holy Spirit brings conviction, I urge you to listen. 00:31:02.269 --> 00:31:09.069 It could be heavy, it could be hard, or it could be joyful and life-giving, but I urge you to listen. 00:31:10.269 --> 00:31:13.230 It's the only place that you and I can actually find life. 00:31:13.549 --> 00:31:17.710 The only place that there's hope and mercy, it's in the presence of God. 00:31:18.029 --> 00:31:21.950 And when we turn from God, we're rejecting his presence. 00:31:22.750 --> 00:31:24.349 I'm gonna invite the band up. 00:31:25.389 --> 00:31:30.509 I want to remind us of the pastor in prison at the beginning. 00:31:31.150 --> 00:31:32.269 Significant failure. 00:31:32.430 --> 00:31:35.230 Made a big mistake and he knew it, and he owned it. 00:31:35.629 --> 00:31:40.670 But he openly said, I didn't stop loving God, I stopped fearing God. 00:31:41.309 --> 00:31:44.509 He stopped caring if he was distant from God's presence. 00:31:44.750 --> 00:31:47.710 And it just got worse and worse and worse. 00:31:48.190 --> 00:32:02.109 And I know it to be true experientially and statistically that many of us live in dissatisfied bodies, always reaching for relief, always reaching for satisfaction. 00:32:02.509 --> 00:32:06.029 But I want to encourage us with this truth out of Psalm 34:9. 00:32:06.750 --> 00:32:16.109 It says, Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack. 00:32:17.309 --> 00:32:24.670 That is what happens when you and I come to a place of being near God, in his presence, close to him. 00:32:25.470 --> 00:32:30.430 The fact that God is a provider is no longer an idea, but it's our reality. 00:32:30.750 --> 00:32:42.430 Where we long for hope, where we long for comfort, where we long for identity, where we long for purpose, God restores all of those things to us when we are close to his voice. 00:32:44.029 --> 00:32:47.470 And as I close, I want to present this thought to you. 00:32:47.710 --> 00:32:52.029 And it's this idea that arrival is a myth. 00:32:52.430 --> 00:32:56.190 On this side of heaven, you will never stop growing. 00:32:56.670 --> 00:33:00.670 You'll never actually reach a place where you can say that I made it. 00:33:01.230 --> 00:33:03.950 Because you and I are directional beings. 00:33:04.430 --> 00:33:11.230 The only time where anything is ever finally final is when Jesus comes again or we die. 00:33:11.710 --> 00:33:13.150 That's the only time. 00:33:13.789 --> 00:33:16.589 Until then, we're directional beings. 00:33:16.829 --> 00:33:20.430 And what repentance does is it restores our direction. 00:33:21.150 --> 00:33:24.029 It restores us back to being aligned with God. 00:33:24.829 --> 00:33:35.710 But until we get to Jesus, you and I have the opportunity to grow, to be made alive again, to know one another, to stand with one another, to encourage one another. 00:33:36.029 --> 00:33:39.789 Because a day is coming when Jesus returns. 00:33:40.829 --> 00:33:45.950 Our opening scripture is Hebrews 12.28. 00:33:46.029 --> 00:33:58.670 It says, Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. 00:34:00.750 --> 00:34:06.589 This morning, as we close, my invitation for us is simple. 00:34:07.470 --> 00:34:13.710 And it's to invite the Holy Spirit into our hearts, to invite him into our minds. 00:34:13.950 --> 00:34:25.789 And for those of us who might have a severed conscience or we struggle with what we should feel convicted about or not, this is when God consensitize us again. 00:34:26.110 --> 00:34:30.670 And when he does that, it is always through the lens of Jesus. 00:34:30.989 --> 00:34:37.789 The idea that Jesus brought restoration and redemption, that Jesus brought identity and purpose. 00:34:38.509 --> 00:34:45.630 But in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, it says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. 00:34:46.590 --> 00:34:54.349 If you and I want to walk in the fullness of God, we have to be broken before Him and say, God, will you make me stand? 00:34:54.509 --> 00:34:55.949 Will you strengthen my legs? 00:34:56.110 --> 00:34:57.230 Will you grant me hope? 00:34:57.389 --> 00:35:00.030 Will you grant me purpose and identity? 00:35:00.429 --> 00:35:02.190 I'm going to invite us to stand. 00:35:05.710 --> 00:35:07.710 Our prayer ministry team is going to be forward. 00:35:07.869 --> 00:35:15.710 I'd like to encourage you that if you're at a place in your life where you just want more of God, this doesn't require you to feel sick to your stomach with conviction. 00:35:15.789 --> 00:35:18.429 It doesn't require you to know exactly what you want. 00:35:18.509 --> 00:35:25.389 But if you just want more of God, that is who the Holy Spirit is going to come to. 00:35:25.469 --> 00:35:30.590 Not because he can't come to you if you don't want him, but he's an honoring God. 00:35:31.869 --> 00:35:34.110 There's this phrase that John Tyson uses often. 00:35:34.190 --> 00:35:36.989 He says, the Spirit comes where he's wanted. 00:35:37.309 --> 00:35:41.949 He's not going to force his hand upon you, but he accepts your invitation every time. 00:35:42.190 --> 00:35:46.110 And this morning I'm inviting you to invite God into your heart again. 00:35:46.349 --> 00:35:48.829 To invite God into your mind again. 00:35:49.230 --> 00:35:53.070 And I want to encourage us again, I'm saying that phrase a lot, but I'm going to keep saying it. 00:35:53.309 --> 00:35:59.150 When you leave this place and go home is when it actually matters. 00:35:59.869 --> 00:36:04.509 If you come to Sunday and do your best to fear God and then leave and do your own thing, it doesn't do any good. 00:36:04.590 --> 00:36:06.429 It's the same thing they were doing. 00:36:06.750 --> 00:36:09.389 But when you leave is when it matters and how we honor God. 00:36:09.550 --> 00:36:12.190 So that is why we have to ask the Spirit to be with us. 00:36:12.349 --> 00:36:15.630 So he can walk with us and encourage us and stand with us. 00:36:16.349 --> 00:36:18.590 So, Father, I thank you for these people. 00:36:19.550 --> 00:36:23.550 Your children, whose names you had in mind on the cross. 00:36:24.269 --> 00:36:30.750 That you did not leave them empty-handed, you did not leave them in their pain, you did not leave them in their suffering. 00:36:30.829 --> 00:36:38.989 And for those that are strong in Jesus, Lord, I pray that you fan a flame into them, that they may stand and run with you with endurance. 00:36:39.230 --> 00:36:45.469 That they will not hold up, they will not settle, they will not tolerate the culture that they live in. 00:36:46.269 --> 00:36:55.070 Lord, for those who are broken or searching or uncurious, or they're curious, Lord, I pray that you're present to meet them and open their eyes to see you. 00:36:56.190 --> 00:37:01.550 To invite them again into redemption, invite them again into hope, invite them again into mercy. 00:37:02.750 --> 00:37:06.509 For you love them dearly, and they are not alone. 00:37:07.630 --> 00:37:10.190 So, Holy Spirit, will you be with us this morning? 00:37:10.590 --> 00:37:12.030 Will you change us?