WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:08.320 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:13.439 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:14.640 You can have a seat. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:17.920 If you've got a Bible, I ask you to take it open up to Exodus chapter 17. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:20.160 We are uh going through the book of Exodus. 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:23.920 Uh we took a break for Advent, and now we're gonna get back in Exodus. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:30.800 Uh and I want to uh I I think what I have this morning is more of a word than a sermon, and I'll try to get it out in the in the form of a sermon. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:36.479 Usually at the Sunday after Christmas, you'd like to give away a car or a puppy or something to make people interested. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:42.799 Uh I don't have any cars or any puppies, uh, but but I think I've heard from the Lord uh from from Exodus 17. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:45.679 And so I want to talk to you this morning about this topic. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:47.520 Old words for the new year. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:49.439 Old words for the new year. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:55.359 Uh and old, not in the that they're old now dated, but old in that I don't think we say these things in the church enough. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:03.280 Uh and so uh I've been carrying this with me for this past week, and so I want to give birth to it here in your midst today and let you do with it whatever you want. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:08.640 One lady said in the last service, she said, after the first point, I could have just got up and walked out. 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:10.079 And I said, You should have. 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:16.560 Uh and so after the first point or the second point, if you're like, that's all I needed to hear, just quietly make for the exit, and we'll see you next week. 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:17.359 Amen? 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:21.519 Y'all are like, you don't mean that. 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:23.120 Uh this is what the Bible says. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:30.239 Now, by the way, the book of Exodus is that God set his affection on these people, Israel, and he said, You're gonna be my people, I'm gonna be your God. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:36.959 That has a privilege to it, me being your God, but also has a responsibility in it with you being my people, okay? 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:38.480 And so keep that in mind. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:46.159 And they're on a journey, they've been g they've been delivered out of slavery under Pharaoh to worship God, and they're on a journey to the promised land. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:57.599 The Bible says in Exodus 17, verse 1, all the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Shin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and encamped at refitim. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:01:59.760 But there was no water for the people to drink. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:03.840 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink. 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:07.200 Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:09.599 Uh why do you test the Lord? 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:18.319 But the people thirsted therefore, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:22.159 And so Moses cried to the Lord, What shall I do with this people? 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:24.159 They're almost ready to stone me. 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:33.280 And the Lord said to Moses, Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:40.639 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rocket Oreb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:53.360 And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel, and he called the name of the place Massah and Marabah because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, Is the Lord among us or not? 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:55.120 And by the way, this is free. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:00.080 Anytime people in the Bible name a place, it's with a reason. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:03.360 Either it's a really good reason or it's a really bad reason. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:06.319 And we'll understand that more as we get into it this morning. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:14.719 Uh but when I say old words for the new year, there's four phrases that I think the Holy Spirit's giving me I want to give to you from Exodus 17, 1 to 6. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:16.080 And the first one is this right here. 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:20.560 God leads us with sanctification in mind, not satisfaction. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:23.680 God leads us with sanctification in mind. 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:30.319 Sanctification is the process by which we become more and more like Jesus and less and less like our natural self. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:30.800 Amen? 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:31.759 Does that make sense? 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:35.520 And so God leads us with sanctification in mind, not satisfaction. 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:36.400 Where do you get that? 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:37.280 Look at verse 1. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:46.080 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Shin by stages according to the commandment of the Lord and camped at Rephidim. 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:49.520 In other words, God told them to move out, and he told them to camp here. 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:51.039 And by the way, look at me, beloved. 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:54.400 God knew there was not going to be water there for them to drink. 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:56.719 God knew it. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:07.680 And so, as you take this old word with you into the new year, because sometimes God's gonna put us in circumstances, which, by the way, there's nothing about our life that catches God off guard. 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:09.680 There's two words you never find in the Bible. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:10.560 Oh, really? 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:15.520 And so God leads you with sanctification in mind, not satisfaction. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:17.439 Now, let me hear, let me say this. 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:20.399 That means that that doesn't mean you're never gonna be satisfied. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:22.639 That means that one of those is bigger than the other. 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:26.480 So if you're one of the boys and girls that are in the room this morning, let me tell you this. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:31.120 That means that sometimes your mom and dad are gonna tell you to do things and you're not gonna want to do it. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:32.480 But you need to do it anyway. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:32.879 Why? 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:37.360 Because it's gonna make you more like Jesus if you learn to obey some authority figures in your life. 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:41.120 Parents, you need to require obedience of your kids, okay? 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:46.959 Because when I see some kids out in the out in the world, out in public, I just think they ain't got no authority at home. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:50.720 And it's not a statement about your kid, mom and dad, it's a statement about you. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:53.199 Thank you for coming today. 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:54.240 You're dismissed. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:57.920 I mean, just go to the mall and just look around. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:02.160 And I have this question that goes through my mind: who's whipped that kid lately? 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:04.399 And it ain't my job. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:08.480 I'm just kind of like, dang, people do not know how to be in public. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:14.720 See, God leads us with sanctification in mind, something bigger and better than our personal satisfaction. 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:21.680 Now that's hard for you to get your head around unless you believe, you know what, there's something better than me just getting my way all the time. 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:25.279 Because, boys and girls, when you get older, you don't get your way all the time. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.879 So you need to start when you're really little, not get in your way all the time. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:31.199 It's great. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:33.839 It's a great thing to not get your way all the time. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:35.279 And by the way, look at me. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.759 Jesus didn't get his way all the time. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:42.720 In the garden, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:45.680 But nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:52.879 That means you can say to your mom and dad, you know what, I don't want to do that right now, but because you're my mom, I'm gonna obey you and do what you ask me to do. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:56.560 Or you can say, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:01.519 And then your mom's gonna whip you and you're gonna do it anyway. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:08.319 No, no, God leads us with sanctification in mind, bigger picture, bigger agenda than me being satisfied. 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:10.720 And here's how you know you're growing up spiritually. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:16.000 Being sanctified is better, is more satisfying than being satisfied. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:18.319 It just is. 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:25.839 Second thing I want to say to you this morning, an old word to take into the new year is simply this: God is not the problem. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:34.480 And I would just love for all of us as a church just to start off the new year, just kind of fixed and foremost in our mind this statement that God is not the problem. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:39.279 Whatever the issue is, it's not God that it's not doing what God should be doing. 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:41.839 Can we just take that with us into the new year? 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:50.560 Because if we're not careful, well, let me say it like this: I don't believe God owes us an explanation, another demonstration, or a reassuring miracle. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:57.839 God has done enough for all of us in this room to have complete confidence in and faith in Him until the day we die. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:00.720 God doesn't owe us anything more. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:02.480 He's done plenty. 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:04.560 Uh matter of fact, I think C.S. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:07.120 Lewis, a great Christian writer and thinker, had it best. 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:09.040 He wrote a book called God in the Dock. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:13.120 Now he talks about God in the dock, not like a boat dock, like God's on trial. 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:21.360 And in the book he says this he talks about the difference in how men from a long time ago, people a long time ago thought about God and how the modern man thinks about God. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:25.920 He says the ancient man approached God as the accused person approaches his judge. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:28.639 For the modern man, the roles are reversed. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:29.839 He is the judge. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:31.360 God is in the dock. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:34.959 He is quiet, he is quite a kindly judge. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:42.959 If God should have reasonable defense for being the God who permits war, poverty, and disease, then the modern man is ready to listen to it. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:50.399 The trial may even end in God's acquittal, but the important thing is that man is on the bench and God is in the dock. 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:52.560 And beloved, let me just tell you something. 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:54.319 That's our culture we live in. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:58.319 Man is on the bench as the judge and God is in the dock. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:00.160 But that ain't true. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:07.600 I don't care how many people think that and feel that, the Bible teaches that God is on the bench and man is in the dock. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:10.079 And God doesn't have to prove Himself to us. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:12.800 If you could just go into the new year and say, you know what? 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:14.000 God's not the problem. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:22.560 If the wheels come off your business or your home or your marriage, or one of your kids gets off the reservation and says, I'm mad at God, and I can't you make me go to church. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:25.839 Just smile and go, hey, sweetie, God ain't the problem. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:27.759 Let's just start with that. 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:29.759 God is not the problem. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:31.199 God didn't have to prove Himself. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:35.120 A long time ago, we used to sing a hymn called Tiss so sweet to trust in Jesus. 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:36.240 We don't sing it much anymore. 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:36.960 It's not hip. 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:38.559 It doesn't have iambic pinct hammer. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:40.000 You can't dance to it or whatever. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:45.759 Uh especially if you go to a church that looks like Banana Republic and less like a church, you don't sing stuff like that. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:48.799 Churches are embarrassed of sounding, this is free. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:53.679 Churches in America are embarrassed of sounding like the church and looking like a church. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:59.360 So you walk in, it's like Banana Republic, or it's like a coffee shop, and you're like, hey, where'd the church go? 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:01.200 Oh, we're a church. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:04.399 We're into that. 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:06.080 Yeah, well, whatever. 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:08.799 Just, I mean, let's stop trying to disguise ourselves. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:14.559 Because here's the thing: if you get you can get so good at disguising yourself, the world doesn't recognize you anymore. 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:25.039 And so we used to sing this hymn that says, 'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word, just to rest upon his promise, just to know, thus saith the Lord. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:30.480 And the chorus says, Jesus, Jesus, how I've trusted him, how I've proved him o'er and o'er. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:32.399 Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him. 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:34.480 Oh, for grace, to trust him more. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:37.039 See, the the the the hymn writer had it right. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:41.919 It is our privilege to prove to the world around us the sufficiency and the veracity of God. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:53.759 It is our privilege to say to everybody, Yes, I'm going to get in situations where the bigger agenda is my sanctification, my becoming more and more like Jesus than my satisfaction. 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:58.720 So watch me, and I'm going to demonstrate to you how sufficient God really is. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:03.200 That doesn't, you don't get there unless you begin with the fact that God is not the problem. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:08.879 He says in verse 2, Exodus 17, the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:11.600 And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.399 And then he says, Why do you test the Lord? 00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:16.720 This is the great sin that they committed. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:19.759 And we'll get to that in a minute, is they tested the Lord. 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.399 They demanded that God prove himself to them as if he hadn't done enough already. 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:26.080 So what does it mean to test the Lord? 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:29.039 How do we trust the Lord, to test the Lord? 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:31.679 Let me give you four or five ways we test the Lord these days. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:35.039 The first one is simply this when we refuse to wait for him. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:37.200 When we refuse to wait for him. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:39.279 This was not the first time they'd been without water. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:45.120 Just two chapters ago in Exodus 15, they got tomorrow, this place of bitter water, and they said, There's no good water here to drink. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:50.480 And God miraculously provided, and here we are, just two chapters later, and God led them to a place. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:50.960 Why? 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:55.840 Because God wanted to see what was really in their heart, what they would do when they didn't get their way. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:59.840 Your truest character is on display when you don't get your way. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.600 That's when the real you comes rushing out. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:06.080 That's when the real you says, This is beneath me. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:07.679 I deserve better than this. 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:11.200 And so there they were, screaming at Moses and testing God. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:11.679 Why? 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:17.519 Because they refused to wait and say, No one among these millions of people, no one said, You know what? 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:19.600 This isn't the first time we've been without water. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:21.440 And our God is faithful, okay? 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:22.559 He's gonna provide. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:25.759 So let's just chillax here and wait on God to come through. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:29.279 No, they were thirsty and they turned on God in a heartbeat. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:30.639 Another way we test the Lord. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:35.360 Secondly, is when we demand that He does the same thing the same way at the same time every time. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:40.480 We demand that God does the same thing the same way, the same time, every time. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:42.320 Because here's what they're thinking. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:52.879 They back in chapter 15, they didn't have water, they cried out, they turned on Moses and they they complained to God, and God provided it, and so in their mind they start thinking, this is how you get God to respond. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:59.120 And if you're not careful, you you think, hey, the way I get God to respond is just by complaining. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:03.120 Third way we test the Lord is when we when we believe we know better. 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:05.360 When we believe we know better. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:07.120 When we're like, I got this. 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:08.000 I got this. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:12.480 See, when you start thinking you know better, then you've taken responsibility for your life and your well-being. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:14.720 And you've said to God, I don't, I don't need anything else. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:16.240 I I I I got this. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:18.559 It's a dangerous place to be, beloved. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:21.919 One of the fourth ways we test God is when we doubt his character. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:32.879 When we doubt his character, when we when we say to him, because in in this second half of chapter 17, uh tells a story about Moses and a battle's going on with the Amalekites. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:36.960 And as long as Moses held his arms up with a staff in, the people of God were winning. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:39.759 But when he got tired, his arms came down, the enemy started winning. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:46.320 So two men came along and held his arms up, and after that, they they they they they they said, Hey, God is Jehovah-Nisi. 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:49.759 The Lord our God is a banner God, is what they said. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:53.519 That's who that's where that name comes into being for the for the people of God. 00:12:53.600 --> 00:13:06.000 And and God does not like it when we doubt his character, when we when we insult his consistency and his sufficiency, that is gonna come back, beloved, in ways that you don't have a frame of reference for. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:12.080 The last way that we test God is when we insist that he prove himself by doing specific things. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:18.639 When we insist that God prove himself by doing specific things, like making the price of oil go back up. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:21.840 Oh, yeah. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:26.080 Or we insist that, you know, hey, here's how we insist that God does specific things. 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:31.519 You're 25, you're a guy, you're single, you're starting to get lonely, you've kind of outgrown the club scene. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:36.320 You're like, hey man, I I wouldn't mind being married or you know, having kids and stuff. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:38.639 Or I wouldn't mind having just a girlfriend. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:41.840 Having a girlfriend is great, but let me just warn you something. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.639 Them girlfriends turned into wives. 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:48.000 And then, yeah, yeah, that's mine over there. 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:48.559 Amen. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:54.080 And then, like Jay-Z says, you got 99 problems, but a wife ain't one, okay? 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:56.399 Yeah, and it's great. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:57.919 I highly recommend it, okay? 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:00.879 Girlfriends turn into wives who have kids. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:04.720 And when you marry that woman, you marry her family as well. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:06.399 All of them. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:14.559 Which is why when we're done here this morning, I'm gonna go home, pile up in the minivan with my wife, two daughters, and two dogs, and drive nine hours to Florida. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:16.799 Get you some of that. 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:18.240 Yeah. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:22.799 On the second busiest day of the Christmas holiday season, travel-wise. 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:27.120 Now, if there's a slowdown on I-10 on the way, my wife's gonna look at me and go, babe, I'm so sorry. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:27.840 I'm so sorry. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.320 I'm gonna look at her and go, You owe me for this. 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.159 No, I'm not gonna say that. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:36.639 I'm like, babe, we we we made this decision. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:37.279 This is great. 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:39.360 I joke, I say, you know, we could go tomorrow. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:42.399 I'd get up at four in the morning, have you there by one or two in the afternoon? 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:45.519 And she said, Yeah, there's something about waking up at my parents' house. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:50.559 See, yeah. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:55.120 Oh, you married fools out there like, save yourself, dude, save yourself. 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:56.720 No, no, no, no. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:58.799 Here's this is free. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:01.679 Marriage is where self goes to die. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:08.480 That's all married people laughing right now. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:13.840 You single people looking around like, oh, well, uh, I don't think I ever want to be married. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:15.120 Hey, let me tell you something. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:17.679 If you're not married, you're missing out. 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:20.240 Yeah, we'll explain later. 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:21.840 Explain it to your little kids later. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:23.039 Yeah. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:26.159 It's just marriage is where self goes to die. 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:27.919 You don't get your way all the time. 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:29.360 You can plead all you want. 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:31.840 Oh, Father, it'd be possible to just cut past from me. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:32.480 It can't. 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:43.120 Because here's the thing: you're now in a one-flesh relationship with another human being, and they have a will and they have desires, which means you ain't gonna always get your way. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:45.120 And you're better for it. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.480 So, text me that in about six hours. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:51.919 So I'm sitting on I 10, them two dogs got to get out and go to the bathroom. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:56.399 I'm like, mmm, mmm, mmm. 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:03.200 Third thing, that the the the this old word to take into the new year's, third one is this sin has consequences. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:05.360 Sin has consequences. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:07.679 And see, yeah, yeah, yeah, there's forgiveness. 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:09.360 Because immediately that's where you go. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:10.639 Oh man, there's forgiven. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:12.960 Yeah, there's forgiveness, but there's also consequences. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:20.000 And my fear is that we preach forgiveness so long and so hard that we've raised a generation who do not understand consequences. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:27.519 But God understands consequences, beloved, and one of the biggest consequences for the children of Israel is that is that God stopped trusting them. 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:29.840 You say, well, how do you know God stopped trusting them? 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:32.639 Because God stopped entrusting himself to them. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:37.600 And when God stops trusting somebody, he stops entrusting himself to those people. 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:42.399 And so what happens is that they just ended up going in a big circle for 40 years. 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:51.279 So if you're coming to the end of the year and you're kind of like, man, I'm still struggling with the same sins, thinking the same thoughts, using the same words and phrases to describe my life. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:54.720 Basically, I just spent the whole year just going in a big circle. 00:16:54.879 --> 00:17:01.440 Then maybe the issue is not your wife or your boss or your church or God or your kids or your husband or your wife, whatever. 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:04.559 Maybe the issue is that God doesn't trust you anymore. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:08.799 Maybe that's the issue. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:14.799 Maybe there's no one in your life that looks at you and kind of says, hey man, now I know some of you are thinking, oh, well, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:16.240 This is John. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:17.200 You can turn if you want. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:20.400 John chapter 2, verses 23, 24, and 25. 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:22.160 This is what the Bible says. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:23.759 Because I'm all in on this. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:33.599 When God stops trusting a man, you can know Jesus and be in relationship with Jesus and go to heaven when you die, and God not trusts you like he trusts some other people. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.119 John chapter 2, verse 23. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:43.599 Now, when he, Jesus, was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was due. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:44.559 Did you hear that? 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:46.880 They saw the signs, so they believed in his. 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:48.000 That didn't make them Christian. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:49.680 They said, Well, we believe in your name. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:51.440 We believe that you might be the Messiah. 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:52.079 We believe. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:54.240 It's kind of like Nicodemus in John 3. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:57.440 Jesus does some miracles and he's already done some stuff. 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:06.960 And Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night and he says, Oh, Rabbi, we we know you're a teacher who's sent from God because no one could do the things that you do unless God were with him. 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:09.759 And Jesus says, Marvel not that you must be born again. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:13.119 You're not going to get a sniff of the kingdom unless you're born again. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:16.720 And Nicodemus is like, Oh, oh, okay, we can talk about that. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:18.720 Why did Jesus talk that way? 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:19.599 Here's why. 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:24.880 Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many people believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:27.200 Oh, you did signs, you healed people. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:28.160 That's awesome. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:29.680 Look at the next sentence. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:38.640 But Jesus, on his part, did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people, and he needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:41.839 That's probably the scariest verse in the Bible. 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:43.039 Why? 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:44.240 Hear it again. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:48.960 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people. 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:51.359 He needed no one to bear witness about man. 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:52.880 Here's a translation, beloved. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:55.519 And hear this from a heart of compassion it comes from. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:58.400 God doesn't need you to tell him what's in your heart. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:18:59.920 He already knows. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:02.319 He already knows. 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:03.599 He knew what was in a man. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:05.359 He didn't need man's testimony about man. 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:07.519 I don't need anybody to bear witness about man. 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:09.119 I know what's in a man. 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:10.880 I know what's in a person. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:14.720 That ought to not frighten you, that ought to liberate you. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:20.079 To stop trying to act like, oh, I don't think this or feel this. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:22.319 Sin has consequences. 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:30.319 And one of those you're going to see over and over in Exodus is that God, when God stops trusting people, and by the way, this is one of those consequential things. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:36.559 Now again, when the Bible names something, when it says Meribah and Masa, there's a reason God's saying, don't forget this. 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:40.880 And it's not just for them, it's for future generations, which includes us. 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:43.839 We can't preach trustworthiness into you. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:46.559 Going to church won't make you more trustworthy. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:51.519 We all should ask ourselves, hey, hey, hey, am I a person that God trusts? 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:53.519 You say, why is that such a big deal? 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:56.079 Let me read to you from the 95th Psalm. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:00.880 Here's why it's a big deal. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:02.400 This is the 95th Psalm. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:06.319 Starts off really good and then kind of ends on a more somber note. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:09.200 Psalm 95, verse 1, Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:12.000 Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:14.240 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:17.200 Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:20.640 For the Lord is a great God and the great king above all gods. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:25.039 And in his hand are the depths of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are his also. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:29.920 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:32.000 Oh, come let us worship and bow down. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:37.920 Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:48.960 Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts at Maribah as you did at Masah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:57.759 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:01.839 Therefore I swore in my wrath, they shall never enter my rest. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:07.119 Beloved, before you go astray in your life, you go astray in your heart. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:13.920 So set over your heart this morning and ask yourself, Where is it where do I sense my heart kind of going astray? 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:21.279 Because he says here today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah and as on that day at Massah. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:30.000 Do not harden your hearts as they did back in Exodus 17 when they put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:34.960 Ask yourself today, what else does God have to do for you to trust him? 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:39.920 God says, My record speaks for itself, though they had seen my work. 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:43.839 They put me to the test like I have some more to prove. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:47.200 Beloved, let me just say again sin has consequences. 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:54.319 Not to be ominous and Debbie Downer, but just to say, hey, let's let's think about this. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:55.440 Is there forgiveness? 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:56.400 Absolutely. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:57.759 Is there consequence? 00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:58.880 Absolutely. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.599 The children of Israel, this generation, wandered for 40 years. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:05.839 And God said they're never going to enter my rest. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:06.319 Why? 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:08.240 Because they went astray in their heart. 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:11.680 They started thinking wrongly about God on the inside. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:15.759 And then they continued to relate wrongly to God on the outside. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:20.720 Fourthly and finally, this morning, I want to give you this word, this old word to take into the new year. 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:22.880 It's presence without provision. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:25.680 It's presence without provision. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:28.000 Now, that doesn't mean that God's not going to provide. 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:28.559 Amen? 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:30.160 You hear what I'm saying? 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:34.400 Well, it's really about learning to relate to God in a more mature way. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:39.440 Relating to Him with something more than getting our way in mind. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:40.960 Notice the question that they asked. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:42.640 They said, Is the Lord among us? 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:48.240 Back in Exodus 17, they get to the end and they said, Is the Lord among us or not? 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:50.960 And that was the deal breaker for God. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:53.119 God was like, Are you kidding me? 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:57.039 You have the audacity to ask a question like, Am I among you or not? 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:58.319 Why is that such a big deal? 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:03.279 Because back in Exodus 4, God told Moses, You take this staff, and it's going to be a symbol of my presence. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:07.680 And then God said to the people, I will be your God and you'll be my people. 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:08.079 Okay? 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:10.079 This is privilege and it's responsibility. 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:11.759 It's a two-way street here. 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:17.039 And then he said, I'll be a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:17.759 Hello. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:22.000 And you have the audacity to turn around and go, is God with us or not? 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:23.440 Because here's why they ask it. 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:25.599 Because we ain't got any water to drink. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:30.559 And God, beloved, takes himself seriously. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.359 He takes his character seriously. 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:40.400 And he's like, This, this is let me give you a because sometimes you can think, I don't really relate to that. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:50.880 Sometime this next week, men, when your wife is cooking supper, and it's about 20 minutes later than it usually is coming off the stove, walk in the kitchen and look at your wife and go, hey, are we eating supper or not? 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:54.240 Let me know how that goes. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:57.359 That's what they did. 00:23:57.759 --> 00:23:58.559 That's what they did. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:01.440 They were like, hey, is God among us or not? 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:06.079 And God's like, I don't know who you think you're talking to, but you're not talking to me that way. 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:11.519 And not, and by the way, not because God's angry, but because God's right. 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:14.960 Don't confuse those two, beloved. 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:23.440 So as we go into the new year, I want to encourage us to learn to relate to God and to think about God in terms of presence, not just provision. 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:25.920 Presence, not just provision. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:32.880 Because the Bible says in Psalm 16, 11, in his presence is fullness of joy, and in his right hand are pleasures forevermore. 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:38.480 So the provision issue and what God can do, that's a done deal. 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:42.960 But here's how you know you're maturing and how you think about your Christianity. 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:47.839 You just want to kind of be in God's presence and you don't want to ask him for anything. 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:50.480 You just want to just be around him. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:54.640 I tell my 18-year-old who's going off to college in like seven and a half, eight months. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:25:02.480 I was like, hey, you need to spend more time with your mom this next semester of school than you do your friends, because your mom's smarter and better than all your friends. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:04.240