WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:08.720 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:13.759 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:21.920 Before I pray, I just want to remind you of something that we just said in that great song. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:26.640 We said of God that He's roaring with power and He's fighting our battles. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:33.759 So before I pray, I want to just remind you maybe this week you found yourself, you come in today exhausted, you're just on empty. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:38.079 The little fuel indicator light is on because you're just, I've been fighting all week. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:47.039 Some of you have been fighting with your ex-husband, some of you've been fighting with your boss, some of you've been fighting with your kids, some of you have been fighting with your wife, some of you are just mad at the world. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:52.159 But you're fighting, but you're not making any progress. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.039 Maybe because it's not your battle to fight. 00:00:55.280 --> 00:01:00.079 So before I pray, I want you just to ask the Lord, Lord, is how are you fighting for me? 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:02.079 Because He's roaring with power. 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:08.000 The Bible says of God that He's our shield, but He's also our rear guard. 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:09.920 He's got He's got our back. 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:12.640 He goes before us, but He's also got your back. 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:17.200 Because if you're not careful, you're gonna go through life just fighting all the time. 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:19.359 And you're gonna wear yourself out. 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:24.480 The Bible says fight the good fight, but sometimes we don't fight the good fight, we just fight. 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:32.959 And so I just want you just to take a moment and just ask God, God, to just can you show me today just kind of where you're going to bat for me, where you're fighting for me? 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:34.079 And here's why. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:35.359 So you can quit. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:44.079 So you can conserve your energy to love people you should be loving instead of fighting because things aren't going the way you want them to go in a certain area. 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:49.519 So before I pray, you just pray and just ask God, you know, God, where are you fighting for me? 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:52.640 How are you coming to my aid, to my defense? 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:04.560 So, Lord, we uh we understand what the Bible says. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:07.519 It says that you go before us, you are shield. 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:11.039 Uh, you're also our rear guard. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:14.560 So you are over everything that has anything to do with us. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:20.000 And so uh we don't have to wear ourselves out trying to make things happen where something's not happened. 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:21.759 We just say what the Bible says. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:26.000 God, we need you to we need you to come to our defense, to come to our aid in this area. 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:33.039 God, bring all uh the essence and the nature of who you are to bear on this problem that's wearing me out this week. 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:35.360 Otherwise, we're gonna wear ourselves out. 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:37.840 And so, Holy Spirit, lead us into the truth today. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:39.599 Speak a word that has our name on it. 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:51.120 Thank you, God, that you made little girls named Abby, and you made young men named Joel, and you made grown men named Dan, and you gotta, though they're they're they're they're years apart in age, you got a word for every one of them today. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:53.520 Because you're a God that speaks a language we understand. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:56.560 And so say something, Lord, that's loud and clear today. 00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:58.879 We're listening and we're praying in Jesus' name. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:00.719 And everyone said, Amen. 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:01.439 You can have a seat. 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:05.120 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Exodus chapter 34. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.199 If you don't have a Bible, there's one on your row. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:09.680 I'm on page 74, and I want to talk to you today. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:14.159 If you're our guest, we're going through the book of Exodus, uh, and we're up to Exodus chapter 34. 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:19.039 I'm gonna read the first nine verses, and I want to talk to you today about the God of another chance. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:20.479 The God of another chance. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:23.680 Now you may hear that and think, don't you mean the God of a second chance? 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:25.280 No, and here's why. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:28.560 How many of you in this room have needed more than a second chance? 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:29.759 Could I see your hand? 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:31.120 Hold it up. 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:33.759 That's why it's called the God of another chance. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:40.719 Because uh some of you may be here today and you, you know, somebody invited you, and your first thought was, man, if I go in that church, the building's gonna fall down. 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:42.240 Building didn't fall down. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:44.800 You're you're you're you're good, so just relax, okay? 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:51.520 Uh what we're gonna read here in just a minute is like two people uh who are coming to renew their wedding vows. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:55.199 Uh someone asked me a while back, I said, What's the best wedding you've ever done? 00:03:55.360 --> 00:04:01.759 It wasn't really a wedding, it was like a renewal of uh of their covenant, which is what we're gonna read in Exodus 34. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:04.800 But it was a couple that the woman had gotten off the reservation. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:10.240 She had had multiple affairs, and for about two years, she was just out there just living. 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:12.879 She kind of had kids early, and she said, You know what? 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:14.159 I it's my time now. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:22.240 And she just walked away from her husband and her two kids, went off the reservation, and for two years her husband, she would file, and he wouldn't, he wouldn't go through the divorce. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:24.240 And she said, Well, you're gonna finalize it. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:31.360 And so finally, God did a work in her heart, and so they got back together and they never divorced, but and he said, I want to marry you all over again. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:35.040 And she said, Well, we technically never divorced, so they did a renewal of their vows. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:43.279 And and it was well, it was beautiful, but it was powerful because before the wedding ever started, everybody there knew what had happened, and everyone was crying. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:45.839 I came out to say a few gathering words, and people were crying. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:47.519 I was like, Hey, this isn't a funeral. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:57.199 This is a renewal of their vows, these people, and but here's here's why it's one of my favorite weddings or things I call it a wedding I've been a part of because I was talking to her beforehand and I said, How you doing? 00:04:57.360 --> 00:04:58.319 And she said, I'm not doing good. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:00.000 I thought, oh gosh, don't, don't. 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:02.160 Because I'm thinking she's gonna run out the side door. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:04.000 And she said, I'm not doing good. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:05.439 And I said, What's going on? 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:09.519 She said, I can't believe that this man would love me and forgive me and take me back. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:11.759 It's more than I can bear, Neil. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:20.079 Not only did he do that, but when she came down the aisle, he he had her daddy, he said, I want you to walk your daddy, your dad was just like when we first got married, and she's like, No, I don't deserve that. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:24.160 Let's just get married at the Holiday Inn over by the buffet in the banquet room, okay? 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:27.199 He said, No, and that's like a rent, it was beautiful. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:30.079 She came down the aisle and stopped about halfway with her dad. 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:34.160 And I said, Who gives this woman to be committed to this man, her mother and I? 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:36.319 And he's and and he turns to walk. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:40.079 This voice says, Just as Jesus is gonna come for his bride one day. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:43.680 And so, and he said his name is goes to receive his bride. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:47.680 She is sobbing uncontrollably, and he looks like he just won the lottery. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:50.240 He is just beaming, and I mean, I'm bawling. 00:05:50.399 --> 00:06:01.839 By the time they get to me, I'm like groomsmen are crying, bridesmaids are crying, and that cat's just standing there like, isn't this awesome? 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:03.519 Now, why do I tell you that? 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:06.560 What we're gonna read in the Bible is a renewal of covenant. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:13.600 It's God coming to his unfaithful people and saying, I know everything you've ever done, and I forgive you, and I'm gonna take you back. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.879 The Bible says it like this in Exodus 34, verse 1. 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:25.120 The Lord said to Moses, Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:31.199 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on top of the mountain. 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:37.759 No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain, let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:52.639 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first, and he rose early in the morning, and he went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took in his hand two tablets of stone, and the Lord descended in the cloud, and he stood with him and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 00:06:52.800 --> 00:07:13.519 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiven iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:17.360 And Moses quickly bowed his head towards the earth and worshiped. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:28.560 And he said, If now I found favor in your side, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us for your inheritance. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:34.639 There's three things, three points I want to make in the Bible, but I don't want to I don't want you just to hear the points that I make this morning. 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:39.040 I want to hear, I want you to hear and think about the questions that rise out of the text. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:42.319 Those are the things that I want you to talk about in your community groups tonight. 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:49.600 If you're a guest to our church, we have what we call community groups that meet in people's homes twice a month, the first and third Sunday of the month, and they're sermon-based. 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:52.959 We talk about what we hear on Sunday because we don't want to just hear sermons. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:59.279 We want to process that and get around our friends and ask, hey, what does this look like with our life wrapped around it? 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:06.160 So listen for that today, because there's three things the Bible says, but it's also three or four questions by way of application. 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:11.439 The first thing that the Bible tells us about this God of another chance is that God's word is authoritative. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:13.040 God's word is authoritative. 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:14.000 You say, What do you mean? 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:14.800 Look at verse one. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:23.600 He says, The Lord said to Moses, Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:27.600 Now, when I when I say God's word is authoritative, I'm not so naive. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:32.799 I know that we live in a culture that kind of says, hey man, the Bible's written by a bunch of guys that burp dust, okay? 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:35.679 Is that really, I mean, that's just a book written by men. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:40.559 And because here's what we do we kind of look at the Bible through the lens of our preferred behavior. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:48.080 Uh what we believe about the Bible is limited to what the preference, the preferred behavior, the lifestyle we want to live. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:52.159 So wherever the Bible contradicts what I want to do, the Bible's wrong. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:53.600 That's the culture we live in. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:55.279 Now, I'm not saying I agree with that. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:56.639 I'm not saying that's right. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:09:02.480 I'm just saying that's the way the people, we we figure out, hey, this is what I want to live, this is what I want to do. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:09.279 And so if the Bible tells me that this is wrong, I'm gonna discredit the Bible before I repent of my sinful behavior. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:11.279 And I would just say, be careful. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:16.320 And I know I sound like a dinosaur coming to this culture and saying, hey, God's word is authoritative. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:17.440 Here's what I mean. 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:22.879 Look at verse 1, that part where God says, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablet. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:25.039 It's talking about the tablets for the Ten Commandments. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:26.639 God says, I will write on there. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:30.159 But if you're in Exodus 34, just look down to verse 27. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:32.399 Look what the Bible says. 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:38.799 And the Lord said to Moses, Write these words, for in accordance with the words, I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:41.600 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:47.360 He neither ate bread nor drank water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:51.200 Now when it says, He neither ate bread nor drank water, that's talking about Moses. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:56.720 When it says that he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten the Ten Commandments, that's talking about Moses. 00:09:57.039 --> 00:09:59.360 And so the Bible doesn't contradict itself. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:03.600 The Bible, when it says in verse 1, God says, I will write this down for you. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:08.879 What the Bible's saying is what God is saying is that, hey, I recorded, I inspired. 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:12.879 The Bible says of itself that all scripture is breathed out by God. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:17.200 It's literally the thoughts and the intents of God. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:25.120 But what God is saying is, hey, when I say that God's word is authoritative, he's saying, hey, I wrote the Bible, Moses is the pen that I used. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:30.080 So God's not just, it's not, the Bible doesn't uh disagree with itself in verse one. 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:41.039 When God says, I'll write on the tablets the words, he's just saying, hey, I Moses is the vehicle that I use to write these words, to spell out not just the Ten Commandments, but the entire book of Exodus. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:44.240 That doesn't discredit the Bible because God used people to record it. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:49.279 The Bible says later in the New Testament, no prophecy has its origin in the will of man. 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:52.159 But men spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:55.840 And so the first thing I want to say to you is that God's word is authoritative. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:01.440 Because if we can't build and bank our life on the word of God, then what are you going to trust? 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:10.000 Here's a question I want you to think about this week, and it's this What would your life be like if you considered the Bible to be authoritative? 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:12.080 What would your life look like? 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:14.960 If you just considered the Bible, hey, this is true. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:21.600 This is God's word, this is divinely inspired, this is not a bunch of guys got together and made up rules to make people miserable. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.480 This this is really the truth. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:27.759 Second thing the Bible tells us today is that God's character is clear. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:29.200 God's word is authoritative. 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:30.960 Secondly, God's character is clear. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:32.159 That's verse six and seven. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:34.799 Now, have you let me ask you this question before we read. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:37.519 Uh, have you ever heard somebody describe somebody? 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:41.919 And by the way they describe them, you thought, oh man, I think I'd like to meet that person. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:48.399 And then you meet that person and you're like, This is one of these things. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:50.080 It's not like the other. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:52.000 Look what the Bible says. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:54.240 Nobody, by the way, has that experience with God. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:12:14.639 It says, verse 6, the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the Lord the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:20.879 Now, by the way, hold on to that thought right there, verse 7, because that's probably one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:22.240 I'll get to that in just a minute. 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:30.639 But when I say that God's character is clear, what I'm saying is when God self-discloses, he's proclaiming in word what he's already demonstrated indeed. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:31.840 Let me say that again. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:39.759 When God says all these things about himself, that I'm merciful, that I'm slow to anger, that I'm abounding in steadfast love, he's not making it up on the fly, okay? 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:43.440 He's not like putting together a Facebook profile to make himself look interesting. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:45.679 No, he's been all these things. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:49.519 And so now he is saying in word what he's been indeed. 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:52.080 Now, here's my confession for the week, okay? 00:12:52.320 --> 00:13:00.080 When I was a senior in high school, I failed my senior English research paper because I had more secondary sources than primary sources. 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:01.759 Apparently, that's a big deal. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:02.879 Uh and Mrs. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:08.399 Scudder took a red pen and put a big F and wrote on there in a nice little paragraph, kneel. 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:14.080 And it's a fundamental principle of research that you have more primary sources than secondary sources. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:16.480 Because of this, I had to fail you. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:21.120 I didn't want to, and went on all this stuff, and I wrote back, you didn't have to. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:24.320 I still got an F. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:26.080 Now, why do I say that? 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:26.799 Look at me. 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:38.879 Because some of you in this room, you are failing to see God as it really is because you have more secondary sources, things on the internet, bad experiences with the church or with Christians or things you see on TV. 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:53.200 All these secondary sources about God, and you kind of cobble them all together, and you got this kind of uh the this stewing pot of bad experiences and opinions and one-offs and third-hand opinions, and well, they say, and that's what you think God really is. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:57.360 And that's why God says, Hey, let me let me represent myself. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:04.480 Put all the secondary sources aside because no one's ever come and got primary source material about God and looked and said, you know what? 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:07.279 I I don't think I I want to have anything to do with that. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.240 God self-discloses and he says seven things about himself. 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:14.879 He says he's merciful, he's gracious, he's slow to anger. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:17.600 He's a uh he's loving and faithful. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:22.000 After he says he's slow to anger, it says he's abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:24.799 Verse 7, it says keeping steadfast love for thousands. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:28.480 If you got a Bible open, underline that little word keeping in verse 7. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:33.120 Keeping, keeping steadfast love for thousands. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:36.879 I have a friend of mine that used to work at a for a grocery distributor. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:42.080 Uh, and they had this huge warehouse, uh, and I mean hundreds of thousands of feet. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:43.279 And it's just a building. 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:45.279 And he says, You want to come by and see where I work? 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:47.759 And I was like, in my mind, not really. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:49.679 It's groceries. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:51.279 How exciting is that? 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:57.600 And so they had that and they had loading docks for these 18 wheelers, like 36 of them, where these 18 wheelers would back up. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:02.879 This is a massive facility where they back up and load up with groceries and take them to the grocery store. 00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:08.799 And I remember driving to it and just thinking, here's two hours of my life, I will never get back. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:11.519 So I get there and I'm like, oh, this is awesome. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:17.279 But as I'm walking in, I notice up on the top of the building, about every 30 yards, there's these little bubble things. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:19.679 And I was kind of like, well, that's different. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:23.200 Probably like a satellite communications device or something. 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:25.039 And I walk in, he goes, Well, what do you think? 00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:26.879 And I said, What's the things on top? 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.039 He goes, Oh, those are machine gun turrets. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:31.279 Now I'm interested. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:35.039 I just thought, you we get to shoot stuff? 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:48.240 And he said, No, in case of a national uh of a famine or a natural disaster, this place will get overrun because people will come and try to loot the food because if there's a food shortage or something, and so we have a plan in place where we will defend our facility. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:54.080 Are you hiring? 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:58.639 I mean, I saw it through a whole new lens. 00:15:58.799 --> 00:15:59.919 Now, why do I tell you that? 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:01.120 Here, listen to me. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:05.360 If you're here today and you're like, yeah, I'm not really much on the whole God and Jesus thing. 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:07.840 I'm coming to church today to feel better about myself. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:09.360 Uh, look at me. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:15.679 I'm telling you, the only thing, because the Bible says here in verse 7 that he's keeping steadfast love for thousands. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:21.919 The only thing that is bigger than the love God has for you is the ferocity with which he guards it. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:25.519 It's not a bunch of machine gun turrets up on top of the building. 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:27.279 He is keeping steadfast love. 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:33.200 People come and try to get their hands on that, and God just kind of says, Nope, nope, that's got Susie's name on it. 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:35.039 Susie, are you kidding me? 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:37.679 Susie is shocked up with her boyfriend. 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:40.080 She smokes two packs of palm alls a day. 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:41.200 Are you kidding me? 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:45.200 And God just smiles and says, right now she does, but she ain't always gonna be that way. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.519 And I'm keeping the steadfast love for her. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:50.879 So when she comes for it, it will be here with her name on it. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:55.039 So if you're far off today, he's kept he's keeping some love for you. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:57.440 He's not giving up on you. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:01.360 He said, Well, my parents are giving up on me, your parents aren't God. 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:05.039 Okay, and I ain't getting in the middle of all that. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:10.559 I'm just saying what the Bible says, He keeps steadfast love for thousands. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:14.799 He's merciful, gracious, slow to anger, loving, faithful. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:23.599 Then he says this, he says, for uh he says, forgiving that uh forgiving iniquity, the light apart of verse 7, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:26.240 Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:30.960 Now, if you're not careful, you can read that real quickly and just think, well, that's three different words for the same thing. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:32.000 No, it's not. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.160 It's three totally different things. 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:37.279 Let me just unpack it just a little bit and tell you what iniquity is. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.440 Iniquity, that's a word we don't use a lot. 00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:42.799 That's a put a star by this because this is not good. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:48.160 Iniquity is this deeply rooted, it's it's more deeply rooted than just I did the wrong thing. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:50.559 Iniquity means premeditated choice. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:52.319 I continue without repentance. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:57.599 Iniquity left unchecked leads to a state of willful sin with no fear of God. 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:10.240 Iniquity is this disposition in your heart, it's this guilt that's worthy of punishment because we kind of bend and twist the law of God in our hearts and in our heads long before it expresses itself in our hands. 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:16.160 Iniquity is a thought in your heart that says, Hey, I I'm gonna do what I want. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:17.599 I don't care what anybody says. 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:22.480 Iniquity smiles when you're 17 at your parents and says, Yeah, going to church is great. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:26.480 When deep in your heart, you're you're so angry at God and the things of God. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:29.359 And it feels good when you're 17 because you're a rebel. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:33.680 But when you're 22, you'll be the loneliest, saddest person anybody knows. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:35.839 Because that doesn't wash off in the shower. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:36.720 No one knows about it. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:39.920 It's like lotion you put on last week, you can't get it back. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:42.160 It's this disposition of your heart. 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:43.279 You can't blame anybody. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:50.799 And mom and dad, here's the thing: when you see iniquity in your kids' heart, you can't beat it out of them, you can't discipline out of them, you can't buy it out of them. 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:52.640 You better pray that out of them. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:57.039 And you better love them enough to say, hey, sweetie, this isn't just behavior. 00:18:57.200 --> 00:18:58.799 This is belief deep in your heart. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:01.039 This is iniquity, and this will get you. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:02.799 You say, What do you mean? 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:04.960 Here's how you identify iniquity in your heart. 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:09.039 It's that thing that you know is wrong, but you reserve the right to do it anyway. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:14.640 He says, forgive, but but here's the thing God says, I'll forgive your iniquity. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:16.480 Secondly, he says, forgive transgression. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:19.200 Transgression refers to just presumptuous sins. 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:39.119 It's to choose to intentionally disobey, it's a willful trespassing, it's sitting out here at the red light to come to church or come to the office for the staff, and the light on 1464 is green, but the turn arrow is red, and you sit there for about a minute and you look around, and there's no cars coming, and you just hang a left and come to church. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:42.160 But enough about what you call your. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.079 Hey man, when that light red, well, no one was coming. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:46.960 I mean, yeah. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:49.920 Man, God's gonna shave that beard off of you for that. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:50.559 Yeah. 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:52.079 It's not like it was in your heart. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:56.480 You didn't get up, you didn't go to bed last night and go, I'm gonna run a red light tomorrow so I can get to work faster. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:58.799 No, just in the moment, you're like, you know what? 00:19:58.960 --> 00:19:59.759 I'm going. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:01.599 Third thing he says is sin. 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:03.200 Sin means to miss the mark. 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:07.279 It's doing wrong against God or a person doing the opposite of what's right. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:10.319 Hear this part failing to do what you know is right. 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:15.599 Sin is not just doing the wrong thing, sin is not doing the right thing. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:18.160 If you grew up in church, you heard this phrase. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:25.680 They're called sins of commission, sins of commission, things you do, and then there's sins of omission, things you didn't do. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:30.000 That that's the Bible says to him who knows right and to do it not, to him it is sin. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:32.559 You you should look around. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:39.680 Because, see, the way God relates to you is that God doesn't relate to you like I'm gonna spend the rest of your life watching you, waiting for you to screw up. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:41.119 That's not Christianity. 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:45.759 Matter of fact, I talked to somebody this week, they they say, hey man, last week I talked about the mediator. 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:55.200 Remember, I told you what God does for Israel, he does because of how he feels about Moses and this role of the mediator and interceding on behalf of people just gets us ready to understand Jesus. 00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:59.119 Because what God does for us, he does based on how he feels about Jesus. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:06.559 And so the way he feels about Jesus, and I told my friend this week, we have I said, Hey, the way God feels about Jesus, that that's an indication of the way he feels about you. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:08.640 And he said to me, Be careful, Neil. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:22.880 And I said, Now this person's grown up in church, and so because they've grown up in church, they think, man, I'm just I'm just a scum of the earth, I'm just a worm in the dirt, I'm just horrible, and it's amazing that God even puts up with me. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:25.119 And I just think, that's not the Bible. 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:29.039 The Bible doesn't go, the Bible, and he goes, Well, I mean, you gotta be careful. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:30.319 I mean, you understand what you just said? 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:30.640 Yeah. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:34.000 And I could tell you it was shocked, and I thought, I must be telling the truth. 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:39.519 And I said, Yeah, I'm here to tell you that the way God feels about Jesus is the way he feels about you. 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:41.359 Oh, I don't know about that. 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:42.480 You better watch that. 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:48.799 Because, see, here's the thing there's a part of the religious people that want to make that not true because that explains your consistent sin. 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:52.319 And I said, You got a Bible? 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:53.519 And he goes, Well, I got on my phone. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:54.559 I said, Here, let me see it. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:59.279 I just scrolled down, I said, I'm just randomly right, boom, 2 Corinthians 5 21. 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:05.359 He Him who knew no sin to become sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:08.640 You're righteous now. 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:12.079 You're righteous because of what Jesus did, not because of anything you've done. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:15.359 His righteousness ought to affect the way you live every day. 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:20.720 Oh, well, I mean, uh, uh, uh, no, I'm telling you, this is the gospel. 00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:25.920 Well, I tell you what, I didn't start hearing crazy things like this if I came to this church. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:29.920 Did the church you went to, did they preach the Bible? 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:35.519 Well, we had a real pre-printed little outline, had three or four blanks, and we guessed the word before the preacher started. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:40.240 No, Jesus is sad. 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:44.400 Now, why why why do I tell you that? 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:49.359 Because we we we we get away from from from from telling what the but what the Bible says. 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:52.640 It's just, hey, hey, he's keeping steadfast love. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:23:01.119 He's slow to anger, he's abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:02.480 Forgives all that. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:03.599 And David sinned. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.519 David was a guy in the Bible, he was a king, he was a man after God's own heart. 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:13.920 Totally went out and had an affair with another woman, got her pregnant, and to cover up what he did, he had her husband killed. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:20.640 And God sent a man named Nathan along to confront King David and say, Hey, you're the king, you're the president, but you can't treat women like this. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:21.759 This is sin. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:24.079 And David was so repentant. 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:25.039 He broke down. 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:29.680 There's two chapters in the Bible David wrote out of this brokenness from this affair he had. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:32.960 One of them is Psalm 32, the other one's Psalm 51. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:40.559 And in Psalm 32, verse 5, David says this of God, that he forgives my iniquity, my transgression, and my sin. 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:42.960 He forgives all that. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:48.960 He forgives that deep disposition of my heart that says, It's my body, I'm gonna do what I want. 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:52.640 And David says, You know what, God, I thought that. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:54.240 And God says, you know what? 00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:55.680 I forgave that. 00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:59.359 Last thing the Bible tells us about God is that He's just. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:02.000 He's just you still with me today? 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:16.559 He says, right here in the Bible, he says, He starts off, he's slow to anger, merciful, uh, slow to anger, abounded in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty. 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:21.440 Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:26.880 Now, when I say he's just, not only that, but God is consistent in his justice. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:28.319 Let me say it again. 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:31.519 Not only is God just, but he's consistent in his justice. 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:42.240 He's not like Mercurial, he's not up and down, he's not like an alcoholic stepfather that gets just flies off the handle in the spur of the moment, and you're like, you you never quite know how he is. 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:43.359 You say, What do you mean? 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:50.799 Now, a lot of people read this and they think, well, if I if I commit this sin, then then God's gonna punish my kids for my sin. 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:51.680 No, no, no. 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:59.839 What God is saying is, hey, I told you way back in Exodus chapter 20, verse 4, 5, and 6 about the price, the high price of idolatry. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:00.319 Okay? 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:03.519 I told you last week everything in the Bible happens in a context. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:13.519 So Exodus chapter 34 happens in the context of chapter 32, where Moses is up on the mountain meeting with God, getting the Ten Commandments, and the people are like, you know what? 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:14.880 We don't know what happened to Moses. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:16.559 Aaron make us an idol. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:18.880 And so they broke the first and second commandment. 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:23.839 Remember, back when God forbid idolatry, this is what he said in Exodus chapter 20, verse 4. 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:31.519 You shall not make for yourselves a carved image or any likeness or anything that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:36.400 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:46.799 Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:49.519 Now, you say, remember we talked about iniquity? 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:52.319 God says, I'm gonna visit the iniquity of the fathers. 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:56.480 That means, hey, mom and dad, what's deep down in your heart? 00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:01.119 That little reserve place that you think no one knows about this, God knows about it. 00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:07.440 This disposition that's away from the clear teaching of the Bible and towards you and your preferred lifestyle. 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:08.400 God knows about it. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:14.160 And God says, hey, hey, if you you have iniquity in your heart, it's not that he says, I'm gonna visit. 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:17.680 He doesn't, he didn't say, I'm gonna, I'm I'm gonna make this happen to your kids. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:19.920 You're gonna make this happen to your kids. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:23.200 When I visit your house, I'm not building a house, am I? 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:26.319 I'm showing up as a witness to what's already there. 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:27.759 Be careful. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:32.960 Be careful about your iniquity, about the private thoughts and the dispositions of your heart. 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:33.519 Why? 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:36.640 Because your kids will worship what you worship. 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:38.559 Here's a question to think about this week. 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:40.960 If we asked your kids, hey, what do your mom and dad value? 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:42.240 What would they say? 00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:45.759 Would they say Facebook? 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:48.000 A cell phone? 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:48.720 Money? 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:49.839 What would they say? 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:50.720 Work? 00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:51.519 I don't know. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:52.880 I'm not judging you. 00:26:53.039 --> 00:26:56.160 I'm just saying you're you're our kids are perceptive. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:57.599 Be honest with yourself. 00:26:57.759 --> 00:26:58.400 Be careful. 00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:07.200 Because whatever you bow down to, your kids are watching and they're picking up and they're kind of going, okay, that's what it means, and that's what it looks like to be a dad, to be a husband, to be a father. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:09.279 Okay, I think I'm getting this. 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:15.279 And the hardest day is when you see, man, when you see your son treat his wife the way you treated your wife. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:19.359 And the greatest day is when you treat your wife like you're supposed to. 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:23.759 When you're you're when you're a man of honor and integrity, you work hard and provide for your wife. 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:31.279