WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:06.320 18 years ago, I had this amazing curly-headed friend. 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:07.679 She was my friend girl. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:08.880 She wasn't my girlfriend. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:11.439 So let's make sure we understand the distinguishment there. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:13.119 Friend girl, not girlfriend. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:16.079 I was becoming more and more curious about her, right? 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:21.920 Like these feelings were starting up inside of me, and then came a big decision. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:30.559 I mean, this is one of those huge decisions in life, one of the most difficult transitions known in the human experience. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:34.960 Would I try to transition from friend zone to boyfriend zone? 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:36.479 That's a tough decision. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:38.960 It's close to an impossible transition. 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:40.719 And so I decided I was going to go for it. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:43.920 So one day I just blurted out, not smooth. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:45.280 Let's make sure we understand that. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:46.240 Not smooth. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:48.719 I just said, hey, what do you think about dating? 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:51.119 She quickly said, that's great. 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:52.479 And I said, great. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.079 And then we were off and going. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:55.200 It was not smooth. 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:58.640 It was not, you know, it wasn't Ryan Gosling in the notebook. 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:01.679 There was no, you know, scene in the rain and me lifting her up. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:02.799 None of that. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:04.319 That was not the scene. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:05.680 It was a little awkward. 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:07.599 It was abrupt, but it worked. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:09.040 And it was a decision, right? 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:09.680 And that's the point. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:10.239 That's my point. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:11.040 It was a decision. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:12.239 I made a decision. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:13.519 She made a decision. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:15.120 We made decisions. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:20.159 And decisions actually affect the trajectory of our lives. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:21.200 You have decisions. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:22.079 You've made decisions. 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:32.959 You made a decision about your life, a good one or a bad one, to date that boy, to go to that school or that college, or you made a decision to have too many drinks, or you made a decision to say that thing or not say that thing. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:34.799 You made a decision to get married. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:41.040 You made a decision to move, to take that great job, take that horrible job, to spend that money, save that money, to give that money. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:46.879 We've all made decisions, and the decisions we make affect the trajectory of our lives. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:51.760 Now that's not to say God's not sovereign and he can't work in our bad decisions. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:59.280 It's not to say that God doesn't redeem bad decisions, but it is to say that our decisions affect our lives. 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:08.479 Now that can be a scary thought for many of us, but as we unfold this story, I think we'll see the good news in it. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:14.240 So we're in Joshua chapter 9 as we make our way through this epic Old Testament story. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:17.360 And so these people of Israel, they were enslaved in Egypt. 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:21.120 They come out of that, they're wandering around for 40 years in the desert. 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:25.360 They finally cross the Jordan River, they conquer Jericho, they conquer I. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:27.520 They're finally, they're up in the mountains. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:32.000 They have this great position to take over the land of Canaan. 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:38.400 And then five city-states in the lowlands, they make a Confederacy to try to fight Israel. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:45.280 And so they're joining up the five of them, but then there's this other city-state, Gibeon, hasn't joined the Confederacy. 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:52.319 And so these five decide they're gonna go and attack Gibeon to kind of set a message to all the other city-states. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:55.360 You better join the Confederacy or you got a price to pay. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:57.759 We got to join up, we're gonna fight Israel. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:01.759 But Gibeon decides to come and try to align with Israel. 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:04.479 Now Israel didn't really care to align with Gibeon. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:08.400 Israel didn't need Gibeon, but Gibeon shows up. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:22.080 And the way that they show up is they get together this ruse and this trick because they want to trick themselves into a partnership, a treaty, a covenant, relationship with Israel. 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:28.960 And see, this story is all about a hasty decision made with a rushed heart. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:31.439 A hasty decision made with a rushed heart. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:33.360 We all know what that feels like. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:04:00.639 So if we read Joshua 9, verses 3 through 6, but when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to I, they on their part acted with cunning and went and made ready provisions and took worn-out sacks for their donkeys and wineskins, worn out and torn and mended with worn out and patched sandals on their feet and worn-out clothes, and all their provisions were dry and crumbly, right? 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:02.479 They're really putting on the act here. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:03.520 Verse 6. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:13.759 And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, We have come from a distant country, so now make a covenant with us. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.720 Now this was a ruse because they didn't come from a distant country. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:18.319 They came from 30 miles away. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:24.160 They didn't come from, you know, Tennessee, they came from Cartersville, so they're not that far off. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:32.319 And just a macro level point to start us out with, point number one, is that we need God's wisdom for this life. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:34.000 That's just the beginning point here. 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:35.680 We need God's wisdom for our life. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:40.639 Verse 4 is the key here that these people show up with cunning hearts. 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:43.519 Tricky behavior. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:48.560 And the word here, crafty, that's the word here, cunning could be crafty. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:52.160 It's the same word from Genesis 3 when Satan shows up. 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:58.160 The devil, the liar, the slanderer shows up to deceive Adam and Eve. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:01.439 Same word, same thing's going on here, to deceive. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:17.120 And life contains people who show up into our lives with desired intentions that are selfish, manipulative, and maybe even harmful. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:27.120 And we need God's wisdom, as much of it that we can get, we should want God's wisdom to navigate these circumstances and these relationships. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:32.639 So the Gibeonites come and they bring all that old moldy bread and the old sandals, the old everything. 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:35.680 I think it's five or six references here is to worn out, right? 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:38.800 Like the guy making sure that we understand this text. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:39.839 It is worn out. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:42.319 This is a real act being put on here. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.839 And Joshua probes a little bit in verses 7 and 8. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:49.120 He asks, you know, kind of a question, he probes a little bit, he gets an answer back. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:51.439 He's actually satisfied pretty quickly. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:52.720 That's what the text is showing. 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:56.319 He's like Joshua's just sort of gullible, he's kind of rushed in this decision making. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:05:59.920 The Israelites sample some of their food, they're satisfied pretty quickly. 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:05.279 There's no contemplation over time. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:07.600 There's no seeking of the Lord. 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:12.879 There's no seeking of God's wisdom with a slow and unhurried heart. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:14.959 They just do a quick check. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:16.800 Let's get this decision made. 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:18.319 Let's get this over with. 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:20.000 Let's move ahead. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:20.639 Right? 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:26.800 It would be like marrying somebody because you like the same NBA team. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:27.600 Right? 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:32.639 Like, like, okay, you got one thing in common, but a whole bunch of people root for the hawks. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:36.639 It doesn't make a lot of sense to marry somebody just because you like the hawks. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:45.439 Now, it could work out that you're aligned in the core values of your heart and soul, or it could be that you both just like the hawks, right? 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:51.680 It requires a little more investigation and contemplation before you enter a covenant. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.040 And point number two is that it comes around that problem that we have. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:02.319 Point number two, rushing with decisions is a human problem. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:04.800 I do that. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:06.319 We do that. 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:08.879 We want to make a decision. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:10.000 Right? 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.279 It's our problem when it comes to shopping. 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:13.920 Right? 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:16.480 You just make the decision to purchase too quickly. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:18.959 You just didn't think about it for a little bit. 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:22.480 Maybe you don't really need that thing, or maybe you already have it and you forgot about it, right? 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:23.439 I've done that before. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:26.639 Or decision and romance or friendship or career. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:35.519 All of our relationships are affected as we react and relate out of a hurried, rushed heart to make a decision. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:37.920 And we rush. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:41.120 We rush because we don't like uncertainty. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:51.439 And we rush because we want to be our own power rather than seeking God's wisdom for what He might have to say into this decision. 00:07:52.959 --> 00:08:02.959 See, there's a feeling of uncertainty when it comes to decisions, and one of the ways that we try to make our way through uncertainty without relying on the Lord is just to make a decision and be done with it. 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:11.439 But really, the feeling of uncertainty should put us on our knees before the Lord to seek his wisdom, to seek guidance. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:20.000 Proverbs 28, 26 says this whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool. 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:24.160 But he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:33.519 Now that doesn't mean that you're not creating the image of God, it doesn't mean that you're not a smart person, it doesn't mean you don't have valuable thoughts or your feelings are important. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:34.879 There's none of that. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.480 But it's to say you're not an island. 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:47.360 And if you think your mind holds the full knowledge that is needed to navigate this tricky world, you're a fool. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:52.559 Two months ago, I was getting my haircut. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:09:00.639 So that's two haircuts ago, if you're keeping track of me talking about haircuts and sermons, just in case you are not meaning to do a lot of haircut illustrations. 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:02.000 It just worked out this way. 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:05.440 And so I was in the barber's chair at 3 p.m. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:07.679 on March 12th. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:12.480 So at the same time, Governor Kemp had a press conference at 3 p.m. 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:13.919 to talk about coronavirus. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:25.440 And I can remember all this because my barber and I were talking about how real is this whole you know pandemic issue, you know, what an insane conversation that looked like now, looking back on it two months ago. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:27.279 But we were having that conversation. 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:31.440 Governor Kemp makes his announcement by 4, 4:30. 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:41.679 I'm on the phone with the six other elders of our church, and we have a 15-minute conversation, and in 15 minutes, we made the decision to cancel all in-person gatherings of our church. 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:52.080 I have never, in 40 years of being in churches, I have never been a part of that decision or been a part of a church that just cancels everything indefinitely. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:54.399 We made that decision in 15 minutes. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:59.440 30 minutes later, I send out an email to the entire church saying just that. 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:01.039 Now I say that, I say this. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:02.480 That felt fast. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:06.399 But it wasn't hasty. 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:09.120 And there's a difference there. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:31.120 It felt fast because the situation demanded a fast decision, but that decision was been based upon years and years and years of not just me, but seven people on that call, their experience in life and family, relationships, and health and medicine and businesses and church. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:35.279 And then we have to make a decision. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:37.759 So it's a fast decision, it's not a hasty decision. 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:39.840 So sometimes you're gonna have to make fast decisions. 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:46.639 We're not gonna say that a contemplative, slow, unhurried path is gonna always fit for all decisions. 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:49.039 But here's what can happen. 00:10:49.360 --> 00:11:02.559 The mistake is to categorize the majority of decisions in life that can be made in a slower, contemplative seek the Lord process as a fast decision just because you want to be done with it. 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:03.919 That's the mistake. 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:09.120 And that's what the scriptures speak to over and over again about seeking the Lord. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.120 Don't make a hasty decision. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:15.039 Verse 14 gives it to us in this passage, in this direct story. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:21.679 Verse 14, so the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:25.759 So they never slowed down. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:29.840 They never took it to the Lord to consider. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:31.279 God, what is your wisdom? 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:34.480 This is a big deal to make a covenant with another people group. 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:38.399 And they never even took it to the Lord. 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:46.320 Point number three is this the grace of time, and time can be a real grace for us, a real gift. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:50.879 The grace of time gives us space to seek the Lord. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:59.840 So on Tuesday of this week, I woke up, and as soon as I woke up, usually I walk my dog, and that's sort of like my time and my time with my dog, my dog's time. 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:04.320 But Christy came up to me, she said, Hey, can I go on, can I go on the walk with you? 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:05.360 And that's abnormal. 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.039 I mean, she never goes on my morning walk with me, very, very rarely. 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:10.559 And so I was like, okay, what's up? 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:11.039 Let's go. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:20.720 You know, so we went for a walk together, and we walked, and she started talking because something had popped up at work, and so she starts talking and she just talks to me, and I just listen. 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:24.159 I'm trying to get better at that, just listening because I like to solve the problem. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:30.639 And so I'm just listening, and she's just talking, which is really what she needed to do, is just process all of this out. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:33.039 And finally she stops talking. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:39.360 I talk a little bit, we get back to the house, and she's gonna have to go and seek the Lord on her own for her decision when it comes to this. 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:41.600 But the point is, it took time. 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:48.480 She could have made the decision 45 minutes earlier when the thing popped up, but she pressed pause. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:50.559 Let me just go talk to somebody else. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:58.320 Let me process a little bit, let me let me figure out what I think about this, let me figure out what I feel about this, let me seek the Lord, let me let me put all that together and then I'll make a decision. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:04.080 So here's perhaps what a sort of a patient approach to decision making might look like. 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:10.240 And I say might look like because I don't know exactly how it might fit into your life, but maybe some part of this could fit into your life. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:15.440 Number one is this learn whether the scriptures speak directly to your situation. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:22.480 Learn whether the scriptures speak directly to your situation because you could just have your answer right there right away, and then you're done with it, right? 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:23.200 Like it's clear. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:28.399 It's a right or wrong issue, and you just know, okay, I gotta make that decision no matter how I feel or what I think or what somebody else says. 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:30.480 It's right or wrong, boom, decision made. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:32.639 Number one, learn what the scriptures say. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:35.759 But sometimes stuff falls into this other way of life. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:40.240 You're like, well, I could go this way, or I could go this way, I could go to this school, or I could go to that school, I could take this job, or take that job. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.320 You know, so there's lots of other types of decisions. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:46.480 Number two, contemplate how you really feel and think. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:47.840 That matters. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:50.960 I was never told that in church growing up. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:58.399 For me to contemplate how I feel and think, if the Holy Spirit's inside of me and I'm a child of God, then that matters. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.399 And oftentimes we're just living reactionary. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:11.360 So for us to sort of slow down and process through how I think and how I feel, is this a wound acting out, wanting to make this decision? 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:15.519 Is this an idol driving this decision? 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:23.200 So you've got to be in touch with that personal narrative and where you've been and where you want to go and how you think and how you feel. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:25.919 Number three, and these all kind of combine together. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:28.480 These aren't separate categories, they mesh together. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:33.120 Number three, take time to seek the Holy Spirit's leading in you. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:38.480 You're welcoming the Holy Spirit into those thoughts and feelings. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:45.600 But you want to be alert to God maybe closing a door or opening a door, or God creating a leaning in you. 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:47.200 And this is not the God card, right? 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:52.720 Like God told me to break up with you, God told me to whatever, God told me, let's not play the God card. 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:54.559 Don't blame things on God, right? 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:58.159 But let God into the decision and then you own the decision. 00:14:58.399 --> 00:14:59.600 You can own the decision. 00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:01.279 I am making this decision. 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:03.279 I believe this is the right decision. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:08.960 You own it, and you're also open to the reaction that decision might have and whatever God does with it. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:13.360 Last kind of point in this sort of like maybe approach that might fit into your life. 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:18.960 Number four, seek the advice of wiser and older mentors. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:23.759 Seek the advice of wiser and older mentors. 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:27.679 Be a learner from those who have gone before you. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:37.120 Build out a board of directors for your life, of people you respect, that you look at their life and you know they are older and wiser and they've been through it. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:39.919 And go and talk to them, ask them, shoot them a text, shoot them an email. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:40.879 What do you think? 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:44.480 Now, this is not a Ways GPS to get to Panama City Beach. 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:45.600 It won't work like that. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:56.559 This is much more of an invitation into relationship with the father, where at times you're making decisions you feel very secure about, and at times you're making decisions that you felt like it's a complete step of faith. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:58.960 And either way, we have to make decisions. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:07.200 It's not about perfect decision making, it's about patient decision making, seeking God's wisdom. 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:11.840 Now, within three days, these Israelites they realized their mistake, what they had done. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:18.799 They had made a covenant to not be broken with a people group that they didn't need to make. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:22.559 So now they got a partnership, a people group partnership. 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:28.799 They are in alliance with these people, they are embedded with these people, and then it's to no gain to them. 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:37.840 It's a bad deal to them, but Joshua honors the covenant, even though they are the ones that lied to Joshua. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:40.639 And this is where we get our last point, point number four. 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:44.960 God works in our good decisions and he redeems our bad decisions. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:48.399 God works in our good decisions and he redeems our bad decisions. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:50.799 So the Gibeonites, the story continues. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:52.240 It's a really amazing story. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:55.840 The Gibeonites, they become helpers inside the temple. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:01.519 These people are listed with the people of God returning from the Babylon exile. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:06.000 I mean, these people just become intertwined with God's people. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:10.559 They help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem under Nehemiah's reign. 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:15.519 And this is all because Joshua holds his word. 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:21.440 See, in Joshua, we catch a glimpse of the character of God. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:28.160 We catch a glimpse of the faithfulness of God to his covenant, his relationship to us. 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:31.440 Let me tie all this together with two passages. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:34.160 Psalm 85, verse 34. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:39.920 I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:44.720 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:54.880 His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me, like the moon, it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the sky. 00:17:55.039 --> 00:18:01.440 So God's saying, I won't violate my covenant because I made that promise. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.079 It's based on my faithfulness. 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:09.359 I mean, this brings us back to Hebrews 8, which we talked about a few sermons ago. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:10.799 Hebrews 8, verse 6. 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:19.039 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.440 It's talking about the covenant of law and the covenant of grace. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:27.680 The covenant of grace is better because it is not us performing up to a standard to be accepted and loved by God. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:30.799 It is God's faithfulness to us and the work of Jesus. 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:34.720 We're absolved and we're forgiven, we're righteous, we're accepted. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:36.400 He delights in us. 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:46.799 It is much more excellent than the old, as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:54.240 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second, verse 13. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:19:01.839 And speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete, and what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:09.599 The law is in service to the covenant of grace, the relationship we have. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:18.720 And that relationship we have for God, that relationship with God based on his faithfulness and his word that empowers us to live for him. 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:26.160 You see, we're absolved of sin and made righteous by his word, God's word, his faithfulness to us. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:27.839 He holds the relationship secure. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:29.119 That's why we're secure. 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:34.720 He puts the Holy Spirit in us and promises to never pull his spirit away from us. 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:44.640 He loves us, he delights in us, he's committed to our relationship we have with him, like a father is to a child. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:49.920 I close with this quote because I can't say it any better than this quote that I read this week. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.480 I was reading a Francis Schaefer commentary on Joshua 9, and I'll just close with this. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:56.319 I can't say it any better. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:13.440 If God will not tolerate the breaking of an oath made in his name, how much more will he never break his own oath and covenant made to us on the basis of the shed blood and infinite value of Jesus Christ? 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:21.039 How secure are we who have cast ourselves upon Christ as our Savior? 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:30.400 May we cast ourselves upon Christ and be those of a completely quiet heart. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:32.319 Let's pray together. 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:43.039 God, we thank you that you teach us about decision making, what it means to be slow and contemplative, what it means to seek you. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:51.519 God, we thank you that you have given us the law of how we should live, and that it is holy and it is righteous. 00:20:52.640 --> 00:21:02.160 And God, at the same time, we know we do not perform up to it, and we need a covenant beyond perfection, a covenant beyond our performance. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:04.319 We need a covenant where you are gracious to us. 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:06.079 Thank you for providing it. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:12.160 And that you are committed to us, you are committed to continue to be gracious to us forever. 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:14.000 We thank you. 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:17.119 The work of Jesus is enough for us. 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:22.640 He is the mediator of the better covenant based on better promises. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:37.680 We get the hope that you are a redeemer of all of our bad decisions. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:44.960 For so many of us, we have made bad decisions, those that we regret, those that we still live in shame, and that you are the redeemer. 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:52.240 We don't have to redo it, we don't have to replay it, we don't have to come back from it, that you redeem it, you restore it. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:54.720 We are reconciled to you. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:22:01.680 We thank you for that great work that you do as the holder of the covenant, the holder of our relationship. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:06.079 It is in that, in your faithfulness, your redemption, that we rest. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:08.799 In the power of Jesus' name, amen.