1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:09,960 Good morning, church. Today a scripture selection will 2 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,480 be from the book of Micah. If you're using the Bibles we 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,400 provided under your seats, you can find the first reading that 4 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,560 we'll start off with on page 729. 5 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,760 All right, this is Micah chapter 3 starting at verse 1. 6 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:35,720 And I said, hear your heads, and of Jacob and rulers of the House 7 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,040 of Israel. Is it not for you to know 8 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:42,840 justice, you who hate the good and love the evil, whose tear 9 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:46,840 the skins from my from off my people and their flesh from off 10 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,720 their bones? Who eat the flesh of my people, 11 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,600 and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in 12 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:58,240 pieces, and chop them up like meat in a pot, like a flesh in a 13 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:02,440 Calderon. Then they will cry to the Lord, 14 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,720 but He will not answer them. He will hide his face from them 15 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,040 at the time, because they have made their deeds evil. 16 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,600 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people 17 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,400 astray. Who cry peace when they have 18 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,440 something to eat, but declare war against Him, but put nothing 19 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,560 into their mouth. Therefore it shall be night to 20 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,400 you without vision, and darkness to you without divination. 21 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,600 The the sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be 22 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,320 black over them. The seer shall be disgraced, and 23 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:40,240 the diviners put to shame. They shall all cover their lips, 24 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,000 for there is no answer from God. But As for me, I'm filled with 25 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,640 power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might 26 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,640 to declare to Jacob his transgressions, and to Israel 27 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:55,320 his sin. Hear this you heads of the House 28 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,680 of Jacob, and rulers of the House of Israel, who detest 29 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:03,320 justice and make crooked all the all that is straight, who built 30 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:05,880 Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. 31 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,000 It's heads give judgement for a bribe. 32 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,800 It's priests teach for a price, it's profits practice divination 33 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,240 for money. Yet they lean on the Lord and 34 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,040 say, is it not the Lord in the midst of us? 35 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:24,120 No disaster shall come upon us. Therefore, because of you, Zion 36 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,000 shall be plowed as a field. Jerusalem shall become a heap of 37 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:34,880 ruins in the mountains of the house, a wooded height going 38 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,960 into Micah. Chapter 4, verse one through 5. 39 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,600 It shall come to pass in the later days that the mountain of 40 00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:45,400 House of the Lord shall be established as the highest of 41 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:49,520 the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills, and 42 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,120 people shall flow to it. And many nations shall come and 43 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:57,880 say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the 44 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:03,000 House of the God of Jacob, and that that he may teach us his 45 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,840 ways, and that we may walk in his past. 46 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,840 For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the 47 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:12,360 Lord. From Jerusalem He shall judge 48 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,640 between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong 49 00:03:15,640 --> 00:03:18,080 nations. Far away they shall beat their 50 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:22,160 swords into plowshares, and their Spears into pruning hooks. 51 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:26,640 Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall 52 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:31,800 they learn war anymore, but they shall sit every man under his 53 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,800 vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. 54 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,480 For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. 55 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:43,360 For all the people walk each in the name of its God, but we walk 56 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,800 in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. 57 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,960 Going into Micah chapter 5, verse 2 through 5. 58 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:57,160 But you, O Bethlehem Ephratha, who are too little to be among 59 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:01,360 the clans of Judah, for you shall come forth for me, one who 60 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,880 is to be the ruler in Israel. Who's who's coming forth is from 61 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:10,240 of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up 62 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:15,280 until the time when she who is in labor has given birth. 63 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,040 Then the rest of his brother shall return to the people of 64 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:23,240 Israel, and he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the 65 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:27,120 strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name, the Lord 66 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:31,280 his God, Lord his God, And they shall dwell secure. 67 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:35,680 For now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and he shall 68 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:41,800 be their peace. Going into Micah chapter 6, 69 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,840 verse one through 8, here's what the Lord says. 70 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,840 Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills 71 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:52,640 hear your voice. Hear you mountains the 72 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:57,200 indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the 73 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,520 earth. For the Lord has an indictment 74 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:03,880 against his people, and he will contend with Israel. 75 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,320 O my people, what have I done to you? 76 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,840 How have I wearied you? Answer me, for I brought you 77 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:13,800 from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the House of 78 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,600 slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 79 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:22,240 O my people, remember what black king of Moab devised, and what 80 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,920 Balaam the son of Bior answered him, And what happened to 81 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:29,760 Shidam, to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the 82 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,920 Lord. With what shall I come before 83 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,000 the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? 84 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,080 Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a 85 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:44,880 year old, with the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams, 86 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:47,760 with 10 thousands of rivers of oil? 87 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:51,240 Shall I give my first born for my transgressions, the fruit of 88 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:57,400 my body for the sins of my soul? He has told, he has told you, oh 89 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:02,080 man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but do 90 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:06,360 justice and love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. 91 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:12,760 And then finishing off with Micah Chapter 7, verse 18 92 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:20,320 through 20, who is God like you, pardoning iniquity, passing over 93 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:25,560 transgressions for the remnant of his inheritance. 94 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:29,120 He does not retain his anger forever because He delights in 95 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,880 steadfast love. He will continue compassion on 96 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:34,880 us. He will tread our iniquities 97 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,760 under foot. You will cast all of our sins 98 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:42,280 into the depths of the sea. You show will show faithfulness 99 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:46,600 to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham as you have sworn to our 100 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,200 fathers from the days of the old. 101 00:06:49,560 --> 00:07:00,160 This is the word of the Lord. What's going on port city family 102 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,200 and friends how we doing good. It's good to be with you. 103 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,440 Some of y'all might know I came to faith in college praise God 104 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,880 at 18 years old. Maybe that's your story or maybe 105 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,560 you grew up kind of around the church, but but things started 106 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:15,800 popping in that kind of 18 to 22 year range. 107 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,200 And what's really cool when you come to faith in that time 108 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,360 period, there's different advantages of different times, 109 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:26,240 but the summers are super strategic because you're kind of 110 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:27,680 a free agent. You know, you got to get an 111 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,440 internship, you're trying to make like $100 or whatever, but 112 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:33,920 then you come back in the fall. And so God just used a lot of 113 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,880 what I, I kind of think of like gospel greenhouse environments 114 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,160 to grow me quickly. He just puts you around strong 115 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,760 believers during the summer and just turns up the the faucet a 116 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:44,280 little bit of how quickly you can grow. 117 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:47,760 And this year, praise God, we are launching our first ever 118 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,000 city life initiative for our college students here at Port 119 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:51,400 City. Can we give the Lord a round of 120 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:53,680 applause for that? OK, if you don't know what city 121 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,280 life is, basically you get to experience adulthood for the 122 00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:59,400 summer with us. OK, You get to learn how to live 123 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,160 in Norfolk, not on a campus, which I have told you is a 124 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,760 resort, but you get to just be a normal kind of adult, get an 125 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,720 internship or a job, make some money, and we'll teach you how 126 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,760 to walk with Jesus and love on a city and be a member of a church 127 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:14,720 during the summer and just invest in you. 128 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,760 So if you're a college student or you know somebody who needs 129 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:19,600 to apply for that, you've got like a week. 130 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,120 And if you want to talk to somebody or guy Isaac back here 131 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:25,240 in the doorway, talk to him before you leave today. 132 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,320 If you're like, I want to hear more about city life, Isaac will 133 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,400 get you the info, application, all that good stuff. 134 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:34,000 So what I want to do right now is pray because Micah is dope 135 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:37,360 and we got to dive into it. OK, so let's let's pray and 136 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:39,919 we'll dive in. Our Father, we're so grateful 137 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:42,960 you saved so many people in so many ways, so many times, Some 138 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:45,440 young, some old, some in college. 139 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,680 God, we pray you would continue by Your word to save people, by 140 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:52,520 the Son of God through the Spirit, applying the word to our 141 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:54,320 hearts, cutting us, giving us faith. 142 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,160 Lord, would you do it again? Your word says it always 143 00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:59,120 accomplishes that for which you send it out. 144 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,160 We pray on this rainy morning in our great city, You would do the 145 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,560 same thing, that as the rain goes out and accomplishes its 146 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:06,240 purposes, Your Word would do that now. 147 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:09,160 So what we know not right now. Would You teach us what we have 148 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:11,080 not? Would You give us and who we are 149 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:12,440 not? Would You please make us let the 150 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:14,760 words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be 151 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:16,640 acceptable in Your sight? And everybody who agree with 152 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:22,120 that said Amen. I remember one time I was like 153 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:27,040 11 and I was at this thing where my parents and another family 154 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:28,600 were hanging out. I didn't know these people, but 155 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:32,440 I got assigned watch the seven-year old and I was 11. 156 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:35,960 Mind you, this 7 year old was in AY phase. 157 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:38,080 You know what I'm talking about. Well, no matter what I told his 158 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:39,440 brother, you know what he said back to me? 159 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,200 Why? And I was like, eventually you 160 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,160 get to where you're like, because I said so little boy, 161 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,040 you know, but what's so interesting about that? 162 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:50,040 Why question is it just gets existential really quick. 163 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:52,480 Why, why, why was I born to this family? 164 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,000 You know, like you're just like, I I don't know what your parents 165 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,320 have told you, man. Like, so it's it's just the 166 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:02,520 question. Why gets really deep really 167 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:04,120 quick. It only takes like 3, you know, 168 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:06,560 to get to like, but why? OK. 169 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,000 And today's book is Micah. Micah is in the middle of the 12 170 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:13,920 prophets. He's a contemporary of Isaiah. 171 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:15,520 Some have called him the little Isaiah. 172 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,360 He's also contemporary of Amos. So a lot of this sermon, you 173 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,280 need to have Pastor John's sermon, Don't pass go, don't 174 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:24,600 collect 200. Just go listen to that sermon. 175 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,760 I'm assuming a lot of that is backdrop to this from a few 176 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:30,640 weeks ago. You can check that on our 177 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:34,720 podcast. And Micah is ministering lower 178 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,880 down in Judah, but the topic is justice. 179 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:42,480 Somebody say justice, and the question why just has to be 180 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:47,120 asked, because if I'm you, you probably agree that being good 181 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:49,560 is good, that doing justice is good. 182 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:53,720 The question becomes why though? But why though? 183 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,960 Is morality some sort of sheet of paper standard that exists in 184 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,280 the universe? Is karma governing things and 185 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:06,920 some abstract energy with this sheet of paper and somehow, or 186 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,000 is it because we agree that things are good, that they're 187 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,840 good or in some kind of way when injustice, when murder or 188 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:16,200 something happens, you're like, not only is that wrong, but it 189 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:21,600 should not happen and should means like we are obligated to 190 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,320 do good in some kind of way. And if you agree with that, what 191 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,600 I invite you to consider today is that the Bible presents an 192 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:33,440 extremely compelling reason for why we should do justice. 193 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,640 And that is because God envisions justice happening on 194 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:39,720 the earth, because it's been happening in heaven. 195 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:43,080 Actually, the Bible presents at the center of all things is not 196 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,000 a sheet of paper. It's not an energy. 197 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,840 It's a person. His Father, Son, Spirit is God 198 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:52,600 himself from whom love flows. Love doesn't govern God. 199 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:55,320 Justice doesn't govern God. It's not even side hustle to 200 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:58,080 God. It flows from His very essence, 201 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:00,760 His own operations within himself. 202 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:03,800 Father, Son, and Spirit have always been loving and just and 203 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,680 good. And we who are in Christ are the 204 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:08,520 ones who have agreed with God that that is. 205 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:13,000 So we get justified by God because actually we are unjust. 206 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:15,320 We are not aligned with God. So the first justice that's got 207 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:16,400 to happen is between you and him. 208 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:19,000 And then once that happens, you get to live in alignment with 209 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:23,400 God and everything can become a means of administering his story 210 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:25,840 and walking in your purpose. So moving forward in this 211 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,560 sermon, I'm going to assume you want to be a good person. 212 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,040 I'm going to assume you care about justice. 213 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:32,800 I'm going to assume that this matters to you. 214 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:36,760 And what I want going through your mind is just that that 215 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,000 little 7 year old of like why though? 216 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,360 And is it possible the Bible presents a more compelling case 217 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,880 than than what is just dripping in our culture and in the the 218 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:48,160 shows we watch and all these things. 219 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:51,000 Are you with me? And my prayer for the church in 220 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,120 here is that we walk out of here living a Christ filled Micah 68. 221 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:57,560 We would do justice, love, kindness and walk humbly with 222 00:12:57,760 --> 00:12:58,720 our God. Amen. 223 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:01,560 To get there, we're going to look at the indictment, the 224 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:05,560 restoration and the king. The indictment, the restoration 225 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:07,440 and the king. If you are ready, let me hear 226 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:11,240 you say I'm ready. Point #1 the indictment calling 227 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,480 out injustice. We're going to start in chapter 228 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,120 6, chapter 6, verses 1 and 2. That's what it, that's what it 229 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,480 says. Hear what the Lord says. 230 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:23,800 Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills 231 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,280 hear your voice. Hear you mountains. 232 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:29,400 The indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the 233 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:31,240 earth. For the Lord has an indictment 234 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,720 against His people, and He will contend with Israel. 235 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:37,200 Here's what you got to understand about the prophets. 236 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,400 OK, I've said this over and over and over, but it's just good for 237 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,600 us to hear it, OK? They live alongside things that 238 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,480 are happening in history. The prophets are God's 239 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:50,200 interpretive communication of what God feels as that stuff's 240 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,680 going on. OK, so the people of God are 241 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:56,400 going into exile. 722 Assyria takes them over. 242 00:13:56,680 --> 00:14:01,000 Micah prophesied from like 760 until 680. 243 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,000 So he's going to see Israel fall. 244 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,880 And the, the, the idea here is that God has an indictment 245 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:11,120 against his people. Somebody say indictment, you 246 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:13,880 should be thinking like a law room, like a courtroom, OK. 247 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,760 And the idea is if you are an Israelite, your life's getting 248 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,760 hard, OK? We're talking physical violence, 249 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:23,360 gruel stuff like stuff is starting to go down. 250 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:25,200 Other nations are taking you over. 251 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:29,040 And it's real simple to just be like God is not for us, like he 252 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:32,280 said he was, because if he was, this wouldn't be happened to us. 253 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:34,040 I thought he was a God full of compassion. 254 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,920 And so the Lord is like, let me let me take you all to court 255 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:40,440 right quick. Let me roll out my indictment. 256 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,120 And the indictments are a series of how God is going to say I did 257 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:47,480 everything I said I would do. I chose you and he's just going 258 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,880 to layout his case for why Judgment doesn't mean he's done 259 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:53,440 with you, but it is part of his faithfulness to you. 260 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:56,080 And if you will turn your hearts, we will keep walking 261 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:58,040 this thing out together. Does that make sense? 262 00:14:58,200 --> 00:14:59,680 He wants to make sure, let nobody. 263 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:01,880 I'm telling y'all before I send you to exile. 264 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,080 I'm sending you and I'm still good to you. 265 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:05,760 Are you with me? That's the idea. 266 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,640 So there's four indictments. I want to walk you through them. 267 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:13,160 Let's look at verse 30. My people, What have I done to 268 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,440 you? How have I wearied you? 269 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,960 Answer me, for I brought you from the land of Egypt, circle 270 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:21,640 that, and redeemed you from the House of slavery, and I sent 271 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:23,320 before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 272 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:27,200 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what 273 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:29,480 Balaam the son of Beor answered him. 274 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:33,040 And what happened from Shateem circle that to Gilgal circle 275 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:36,160 that, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord. 276 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,480 So he gives 3 locations and all of it makes up 1 indictment. 277 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,760 Here's the first indictment. You forgot what I've done. 278 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,480 You forgot what I've done. You know what Egypt means? 279 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,280 Slavery. When I bought you, you were a 280 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,240 slave to sin. When I bought you, Pharaoh ran 281 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,560 you and you did what he said. I got you out of there 282 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,400 miraculously through the templates with Moses and all 283 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:06,920 these jokers. I I saved you then I wish I 284 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:08,760 could go into it. If you came to a quit we would 285 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:09,760 have walked through it. It was dope. 286 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:12,920 From Shatim to Gilgal, just write these down. 287 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:17,400 Shatim is numbers 25. Arguably the lowest moment is 288 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:21,280 your light history OK? They once rescued from Egypt 289 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,000 they go out into the desert and start tripping and 290 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,480 intermarrying. Just doing some crazy sexual 291 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,120 religious practices with another nation, aligning themselves with 292 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:35,560 them just years after God did the templagues and split the sea 293 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,600 and all the stuff, right? That's their lowest moment in 294 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:40,840 history. Now, Gilgal, you can write down 295 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:45,240 Joshua chapter 4, the moment they get through the Jordan 296 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,920 River, if you remember this, OK, they get through the Jordan 297 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:51,200 River. They're now in the promised land 298 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:55,400 and God says get 12 memorial stones, one for each tribe. 299 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:57,840 And where they're standing when that happens is Gilgal. 300 00:16:57,920 --> 00:17:01,760 So look what God's doing. Egypt, slavery, Shateem, your 301 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,520 lowest moment, Gilgal, your highest moment in the promised 302 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,319 land. I've been faithful every step of 303 00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:10,160 the way even though y'all been doing what you did. 304 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:12,880 And Shateem are y'all with me? So let me point out your worst 305 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:14,640 moment is my most faithful moment. 306 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:18,160 So let us not get it twisted that the next chapter where you 307 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:19,839 go into exile means I'm against you. 308 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:21,920 It's my new mode of being for you. 309 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:24,319 If you would listen to me, are y'all with me? 310 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:28,800 But y'all before we, it's so easy to throw rocks at at people 311 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:31,680 in the Bible before we the second your life starts going 312 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:33,840 hard. Do you not think God's not good? 313 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:36,480 This is happening the second it happens. 314 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,640 And just imagine in some kind of way God is faithful to 315 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:42,760 everything he said he was going to do. 316 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:45,640 We just can't see it. So our lesson here is to see 317 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,560 God's heart pleading with his people through the indictment. 318 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:52,480 Are you with me? God's heart, because he's so 319 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:56,000 frustrated with how unjust they've been and just so 320 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,080 oppressive to the poor. We're going to get into some of 321 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,080 that stuff and just how awful they've been. 322 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,320 They're not embodying his law at all. 323 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,960 So he's going to say do justice. But behind that, the heart of 324 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,760 the indictment is a broken heart that you forgot how good I am. 325 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:16,080 Y'all remember in Lion King when Rafiki brings Simba over to the 326 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:17,760 water, he's like, come with Rafiki. 327 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:19,920 He show you to it and then they run through with the beat and 328 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:21,680 stuff and then they get there and he's like, it's just my 329 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,040 reflection. He's like look and his finger is 330 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:26,200 like the whole length of the screen. 331 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:29,160 Then he looks down and Mufasa comes out and he goes, Simba, 332 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:31,440 you have forgotten me. No, never. 333 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,760 You've forgotten who you are and thus you have forgotten me. 334 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:35,640 You are more than what you've become. 335 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:37,440 That's what's happening right here. 336 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:40,040 Are y'all with me? That's kind of the idea is you 337 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:44,880 have forgotten me. Verses 7 and 8 say this. 338 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:50,360 Verses 7 and 8, will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams, 339 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,240 with 10 thousands of rivers of oil? 340 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,160 Shall I give my first born for my transgression, the fruit of 341 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:58,800 my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, old man, what 342 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,840 is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice 343 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,520 and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? 344 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,920 Here's the second indictment. You don't know what I want. 345 00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:13,000 You don't know what I want. You've forgotten what I've done, 346 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:14,360 and you don't even know what I want. 347 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:16,080 Like you're out here like, what does the Lord want? 348 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:18,960 Does he want sacrifices? Does they even hypothetically 349 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:21,320 were asking, does he want us to sacrifice our own kids to him to 350 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:23,600 prove we love him? And he's like, you've lost it. 351 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:26,040 You're out your minds. I've told you what I want. 352 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:28,960 And he walks through this threefold pattern of what he 353 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,200 wants for his covenant people to do while in relationship with 354 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:34,240 him. And the first one is do justice. 355 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,560 Somebody say do justice. Y'all do justice means make 356 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:42,720 things right and we could get this can look real big like when 357 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:45,720 injustices are done and y'all it could be all the way down to 358 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,520 aligning things with reality, picking up the trash. 359 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,720 In a weird way, it's it's setting things to right. 360 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,760 The question becomes again, why what is right? 361 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:57,080 The ultimate right is who God is. 362 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:00,520 It's aligning yourself with his story, with his character, and 363 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:04,000 it's living with him. So what God envisions for the 364 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,640 New Testament people of God is that we would, because we've 365 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,160 been made right with God, not through our own. 366 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,360 But through the actions of Jesus Christ, we now live with Him in 367 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:17,920 faithfulness, doing justice not to get His favor. 368 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:20,840 We don't do justice to get God to love us. 369 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,440 We do it because He already did. We do it because we love Him. 370 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:26,400 And now I don't pick up the trash like you. 371 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,080 See that, Lord? We do everything we do with God 372 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:34,120 so that He can look good and all things can have their proper 373 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:36,240 place and enjoy the alignment with God. 374 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:40,080 Are you with me? So that's the idea of do justice 375 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,640 #2 love, kindness. Somebody say love. 376 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:46,360 Don't you love this shift from do to love? 377 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:49,120 Don't you love that? Do this and like I can do that. 378 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:51,920 Lest we think we could do without loving. 379 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:57,800 I love this one, you know. Love, kindness, love it. 380 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:02,560 That speaks to virtue. Become the kind of soul for whom 381 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,120 the loving response is your default, which is sort of what 382 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:07,640 the Sermon on the Mount is all about. 383 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:10,920 It's it's shifting from a world where you're like, I'm not 384 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:16,320 supposed to X to where your soul can't fathom the type of 385 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,120 behavior where that would even be a thing. 386 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:20,680 Are you with me? So like thou shall not murder. 387 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,920 I've never murdered nobody. Becoming the type of soul for 388 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:27,400 whom you want peace with people so bad for them to see how good 389 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,960 God is. You can't even fathom calling 390 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:31,840 somebody an idiot. You know what I'm saying? 391 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:33,960 That's what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. 392 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:37,440 Become that type of person who so loves kindness. 393 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:39,600 And y'all, I just got to say this in 2026. 394 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,800 What has captured your imagination like mine? 395 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,760 We're obsessed with efficient lives. 396 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:50,040 What loving kindness about is living a beautiful life. 397 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:55,120 It's living your life in such a way that you love the virtue in 398 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:58,680 the essence of what things are and what they mean about who God 399 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:05,160 is and how it makes Him look. You don't value how it turns 400 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:06,200 out. Are you with me? 401 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,560 You parent the way you do because it's beautiful. 402 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:11,920 You don't know what's going to happen with those kids. 403 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:16,800 Amen, somebody OK, you teach the way you do, you lead the way you 404 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:19,360 do, you give money the way you do, you share Christ the way you 405 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:23,200 do and have no guarantee of any result. 406 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,320 But if you love efficiency, you'll just become a gold chase 407 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:32,120 in podcast hacking habit chase in person who feels like loving 408 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:36,120 kindness is sort of keeping you from being on the top of the 409 00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:38,360 mountain and having as much money as you could and all. 410 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:40,840 Are you with me? If what's captured your 411 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,440 imagination is efficiency, beauty will feel inefficient. 412 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:47,160 Are you with me? But if we fall in love with a 413 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,280 life that just makes God look good, there's this old phrase be 414 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:52,240 good for goodness sake. Y'all ever heard that? 415 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,960 I felt like I used to be getting cussed at when my parents said 416 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:58,680 be good for goodness sake, you know, like almost like goodness 417 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:01,640 sake, son. And now I'm like, think about 418 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,800 that phrase. It's the idea that something is 419 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,640 good just because it's good, which again, should ask us to 420 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:09,600 lead, to ask the question, why? What is good? 421 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,360 And all those existential questions point us back to who 422 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:15,160 God is, what Christ has done, the Spirit, and we walk with 423 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:17,360 them. But we've kind of removed that. 424 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:19,960 And it's like just hustle for hustling's sake. 425 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,000 You're somebody if you've got some ground, you've earned. 426 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,960 And I'm just telling you that's not what the Bible envisions #3 427 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:35,240 walk humbly with your God. If you're kind of in the 428 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,800 headspace that just being a good person, it doesn't matter who 429 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,280 cares, Bible, whatever path to be good number. 430 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:43,640 This third part's going to challenge you because you were 431 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:48,000 created by God, who is the center of all things to do 432 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,040 justice and love kindness and to do it with him. 433 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:54,680 And for all the believers in the room, just a reminder, you live 434 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:58,040 with God, not for God, Amen. Like I live for the glory of 435 00:23:58,040 --> 00:23:59,440 God, but I'm living with them, man. 436 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,600 And that just that's way easier than get through the end of your 437 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:05,400 day. And look what I did for you 438 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,480 today. Lord, No, like the goal is that 439 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:10,560 you'll just be human sized. You're just a human. 440 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:12,400 That's what it means to walk humbly with God. 441 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:16,320 You got limits, you got to sleep, you get sick, you're 442 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:19,040 just, you're all you can do is what you can do, but you do it 443 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,920 humbly with your God. Be a humble, human sized, owned 444 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:26,040 by God person. That's what the Bible envisions. 445 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,520 OK, to get the other two indictments, we got to go back 446 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:33,720 to chapter 3. We're going to be in verse 9, 447 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:38,480 starting in verse 9. Hear this you heads of the House 448 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:42,880 of Jacob and rulers of the House of Israel, who detest justice 449 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:45,320 and make crooked all that is straight, who builds Zion with 450 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:47,680 blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. 451 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:49,560 It's heads give judgement for a bribe. 452 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,440 It's priests teach for a price. It's profits, practice 453 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:57,440 divination for money. Yet they lean on the Lord and 454 00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:59,960 say, is not the Lord in the midst of us? 455 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,600 No disaster shall come upon us, y'all. 456 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:08,040 The third indictment is you leaders don't know justice. 457 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:12,000 You don't know it, ignorant of it, don't get it. 458 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:17,160 You preach for money, you teach for money, you do what is good, 459 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,160 not for goodness sake, but for money's sake. 460 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:23,360 You know it's only when it pays off for you and you've built 461 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:25,400 your your lives on the backs of the poor. 462 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:27,800 And y'all, this breaks God's heart. 463 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:30,760 Y'all power. The everybody has power. 464 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,000 By the way, even little kids have power. 465 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,240 They have dominion over the little toys you've given them, 466 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:37,640 which is scary when one of the arms is broken and the eyes, 467 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:39,120 eyes are plugged out and I'm just playing. 468 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,280 But the idea is all of us have power and authority. 469 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:44,760 All of us. You are authoring something in 470 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:46,840 your life. You're exercising authority over 471 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:50,480 something. And the idea is with power, the, 472 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,960 the goal of it is to bring about the flourishing of that which 473 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,040 you have power over of the doll, right? 474 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,880 So there's nothing quite like a leader who isn't doing justice 475 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:05,560 because they're taking their power and leveraging it for 476 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:09,080 their own comfort, right? It's the idea that like the 477 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,440 people under their authority are pawns. 478 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,520 They're not people. And that's what sin pushes us to 479 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,360 is it's just to use people. You become my pawn. 480 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:21,800 You are no longer a person. You're a pawn in my game. 481 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:25,200 Are you with me? That's what sin corrupts power 482 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,520 to do. Jesus would later say in Mark 483 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,880 chapter 10, he would say the the leaders of the day, the 484 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:34,360 Gentiles, they, they take their power and Lord it over you. 485 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:38,240 They take it and hold it over you and leverage it for their 486 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:40,800 own game. And he says, but it will not be 487 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:45,800 so among you. For the greatest among you will 488 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:47,720 not be the one who can hold things over. 489 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:52,040 People will be the one who serves the greatest of all, will 490 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,960 be the servant of all, for the Son of Man came to give his life 491 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:58,080 as a ransom for many. You know, we live in a day of 492 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,520 scandal, and scandal has been normalized. 493 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:03,240 And some of that is just our access to the amount of scandal 494 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,360 there probably has always been. I fully understand that. 495 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,520 What we've got to be careful of is that scandal doesn't become 496 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,800 sport. Y'all with me or we're scandal 497 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:13,640 chasing. There's a new a little trend 498 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:16,520 where people make a post seem like a scandal and then make fun 499 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:18,200 of you for looking at it. Have y'all seen any of these? 500 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:19,640 I know because it's happened to me. 501 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:21,560 It'll be like, do you want to know what happened on this day? 502 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,880 And you look at it like shame on you because on Sunday and 503 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:26,600 they're using almost as like an inviter thing. 504 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:29,360 But it's, I mean, scandal is sport a little bit. 505 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:33,400 And I think the point when you see a scandal, I think it should 506 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:37,000 sober us to self analysis of how we're using our power, you know, 507 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:41,560 and yes, we need to look into what what things are going on 508 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:43,800 out there and how that's impacting things. 509 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:47,120 But y'all, the point is like, where am I treating people like 510 00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:49,200 pawns? You know, like where am I taking 511 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:51,480 my authority? Where am I just irritated if 512 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:54,560 people just get in line with me? Lest we think if you were in 513 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:56,560 that seat, you wouldn't do the same, you know what I mean? 514 00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:01,000 Like the point is, let's all eat some humble pie. 515 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,560 It's not just that the leaders had an issue in Israel, it's 516 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:06,760 that as go the leaders kind of so goes everybody. 517 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:08,160 You know, that's sort of the idea. 518 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:11,880 OK, look with me at verse 5 and verse 8. 519 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:14,960 Last, last indictment here. OK. 520 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:18,640 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people 521 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,520 astray, who cry peace when they have something to eat, but 522 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,120 declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. 523 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,680 Verse 8. But As for me, I am filled with 524 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:29,920 power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might 525 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,840 to declare to Jacob's transgression into Israel his 526 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:34,080 sin. Here's the 4th indictment. 527 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,120 You prophets don't tell the truth. 528 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,040 You prophets don't tell the truth. 529 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:46,840 Remember, there's no they're, they're, they're all just saying 530 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:49,320 what's happening and interpreting it for the people. 531 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:52,160 And some of them are saying we're good, God loves us, peace, 532 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:54,760 all is well. And you got guys like Mike, 533 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,320 Isaiah, Amos, Jeremiah, others over the years going not well. 534 00:28:58,320 --> 00:28:59,960 Look at how these people are doing. 535 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:01,880 Look at how they're eating good and they're not. 536 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,040 Look at this. This is reality, friends, I'm 537 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:06,040 telling y'all. And so the people get put in 538 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:08,880 this position of picking sides. Who do we believe, right? 539 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,200 Which I think is a very fair question in 2026. 540 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,600 OK, who do we believe? Anybody could teach a compelling 541 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:18,800 word. You just got to tell a joke. 542 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,760 There's a formula to it. Tell a joke, do this, tell some 543 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:23,720 half truths. They were saying things like 544 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:25,880 we're the people of God. Was that not true? 545 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:29,400 It's true. It's half true, right. 546 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:34,080 So as we, I want to give you a diet of discernment here in 2026 547 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:36,120 of how to discern what you're listening to. 548 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:40,440 Before I do that, we just have to agree that we're susceptible 549 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:44,120 to following false teaching, lest we think you couldn't. 550 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:46,360 And maybe you have at some point in your life. 551 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:49,600 There is no shame in that. OK, Like black guys, Grace, 552 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:51,120 hopefully you know you're not now. 553 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:54,520 But y'all, we all are susceptible to it because what 554 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:58,600 the New Testament calls itching ears, there's something in us 555 00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:01,320 that wanted back then to hear peace. 556 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:04,360 All is peace. So the reason we're listening to 557 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:06,360 them say it is I want there to be peace. 558 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:08,840 Does that make sense? So it's not just the mouthpiece 559 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,920 that is held accountable. It is also those who wanted to 560 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:13,360 hear peace when there is no peace. 561 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:16,040 Are you with me? So there's a dual relationship 562 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:20,480 here. Can I give you just a little bit 563 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:22,200 of history of how dope this is just real quick. 564 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,560 And then I'll give you the diet of determine for 2026. 565 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:29,040 Just real quick right now. Jeremiah 26 y'all this is dope 566 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:33,000 write down Isaiah 36 to 39 go read it later. 567 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:38,160 This is what was happening is Jeremiah hundreds of years 568 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:42,520 later, said the the people listening to Jeremiah go have a 569 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,040 conversation of should we believe Jeremiah that we're 570 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,680 about to go to Babylon a couple 100 years later and they're 571 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:51,280 like, yo, remember Micah prophesied that it was about to 572 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:55,720 go down for the Syrians with Israel and Hezekiah listened to 573 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:58,600 Micah and changed his heart and then LED to reform. 574 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:00,640 And that's why Judah didn't fall to Assyria. 575 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:03,400 So amongst themselves, they're like, yo, Micah was right. 576 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:07,040 So we should listen to Jeremiah. So they discerned they were 577 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:09,960 well, actually the person who said that they didn't listen to 578 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,240 because they threw Jeremiah in a hole and said, stop listening to 579 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:14,800 him. OK, Jeremiah didn't go super 580 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:18,160 well for but they were trying to discern who do we listen to? 581 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,640 Right? And they leveraged Micah was 582 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:24,920 right because it happened. And then even once they knew it 583 00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:26,440 happened and said Jeremiah's the same. 584 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:28,080 We should listen now. And they don't. 585 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:30,640 Are you with me? It's pretty crazy. 586 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,760 So here is kind of what I would give you as a diet. 587 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:37,960 First things first, hopefully most of the teaching you're 588 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:42,000 hearing is highly local. Stay local, start local, stay 589 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,160 local, OK? That doesn't just mean me. 590 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:46,080 It doesn't just mean the ministry of the word here. 591 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,040 It even means in community as you do life here. 592 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:52,080 Hopefully the people who have the green light to call out sin 593 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:54,520 in your life, you know them like you know them really well. 594 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:56,560 You trust them. This is book of Proverbs, 595 00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:00,160 abundance of counselors. We're so prone to listen to a 596 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:02,360 preacher 300 miles away. I'll never meet. 597 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:05,480 Then the 300 people one mile away that know you, right? 598 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,760 They know you and they're bringing you the word and you 599 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:09,680 don't listen. But that dude had a dope word. 600 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,280 300 miles way, you know, and you listen to everything they say 601 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:13,960 until it ain't right. Then you find another one. 602 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:15,840 So let's not be those people. Are you with me? 603 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:18,760 Let's start local, stay local. But there's some dope Christian 604 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,080 teaching on the Internet. I hope you're listening to some 605 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:22,400 great stuff. Many of them are better 606 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,040 communicators than I'll ever be, and that's great. 607 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:28,000 So I'm going to give you some discernment of how you process 608 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:29,200 that. Here's three questions to ask 609 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:31,280 yourself. Number one, what is their 610 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:34,800 source? Just real point blank basic. 611 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:38,920 Is it the Bible? And are they teaching the Bible, 612 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,120 the historical pieces of the Bible? 613 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,040 Are they pulling the Bible out? Or is it just immediate, like, 614 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:48,960 let me grab that word and then just rants, nothing but stories 615 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,440 and rants and, and almost like they're just getting to what 616 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:53,840 they can. Now let me tell you what I 617 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,400 really want to tell you. Or is it teaching what the Bible 618 00:32:56,400 --> 00:33:03,520 says #2 what is its gospel? What is like, what is the person 619 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:06,240 of Jesus's life, death, ministry, resurrection, pushing 620 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:10,160 you towards, you know, the gospel is that God is the prize, 621 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,720 and Christ died for you so that you could know him and live with 622 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:15,520 him. Irregardless of how your life 623 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:16,920 goes, you get God. Amen. 624 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,280 But there's all kinds of stuff out there that takes the work of 625 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,080 Jesus and mascots him on some other gospel. 626 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:25,640 A mascot can't speak. It just represents, right? 627 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:29,960 So there's the political gospel that Jesus represents my side 628 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,760 left, right or middle. We know that Jesus ain't in a 629 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:35,640 camp, OK? He's over it all. 630 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:37,800 He's not left, He's not right. And let's not glorify the 631 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:39,280 middle. He just is, OK? 632 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:44,360 The second is a purpose gospel. A purpose gospel is when the the 633 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:47,920 personal work of Christ unleashes your purpose so that 634 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:49,800 you can thrive. And again, that's half true, 635 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:51,840 right? All of these are rooted in, does 636 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:53,320 God care about politics? Yes. 637 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:54,760 Does God want you to have purpose? 638 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:58,080 Absolutely right. But it it hijacks the work of 639 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:03,400 Christ and makes it subservient to you as the main agent of of 640 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,960 life with God and purpose #3 prosperity gospel. 641 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:09,880 If you do right by God, God will do right by you. 642 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:12,520 You do your part, He'll do his part. 643 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,120 Believe it enough, name it, claim it. 644 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:20,040 Breakthrough becomes all that the ministry is about over time 645 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:25,440 and #4 there's an experienced gospel where what is wanted for 646 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:30,920 you isn't to intimately know God and in Christ and man, that is 647 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:32,199 experiential. Half true. 648 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:36,239 I want you to have experience as you do that, but it leverages 649 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:40,440 the work of Christ to make your experience of worship and 650 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:45,840 feeling with God usually under the ministry that you're sitting 651 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,159 under feel elevated to anything else. 652 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:51,480 OK, and I would just say watch out for all that stuff. 653 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:54,880 And lastly, does the ministry, does the teaching, does it 654 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:58,960 slowly make people feel like neighbors or enemies? 655 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:03,040 Does everybody around you become an enemy or do they become a 656 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:04,640 neighbor to love? You know, there's tons of 657 00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,600 ideology that's against the gospel of Jesus Christ, right? 658 00:35:07,720 --> 00:35:09,840 Tons. All kinds of stuff that we push 659 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:12,800 back on all the time. But the people embodying that 660 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:15,960 ideology, we still got to find a way to love, even when it's, 661 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:17,880 yeah, truth and love all the stuff. 662 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:20,400 I'm not talking about caving on truth. 663 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:23,280 But I am saying if the tone of the ministry is just like, if 664 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:26,560 this type of person cease to exist, we'd be better off. 665 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:30,520 It's like, that's tough. You know, that's tough. 666 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:34,680 Hopefully that's helpful for you. 667 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:39,040 Let's get into restoration. Some dope stuff here. 668 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:41,760 Restoration. Let's envision the future of 669 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:43,760 justice. So we've called it out. 670 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:45,840 We've indicted. Let's talk about the future. 671 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:47,360 Chapter 4. Verses 1 and 2. 672 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:50,840 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of 673 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:53,360 the House of the Lord shall be established as the highest of 674 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:56,440 the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills, and 675 00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:59,160 people shall flow to it. And many nations shall come and 676 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:01,560 say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the 677 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:04,640 House of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his way, and 678 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:07,720 that we may walk in his past. For out of Zion shall go forth 679 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:09,800 the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 680 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:12,040 All right, here's the first image. 681 00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:16,560 The nations will flow to the Lord for His teaching, 682 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:20,880 literally, people flocking for teaching, literally like 683 00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,840 sprinting to get in on the action that is God's law. 684 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:26,280 The flow in the passage is up to Jerusalem. 685 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:30,640 We're literally just coming to get what we can't get anywhere 686 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:36,280 else. This flow to God's lifted uphill 687 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,000 and then what's flowing out of it is teaching and teaching. 688 00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:41,440 Because without teaching, all there is is darkness. 689 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:46,280 That's kind of the idea is that God's law, his ways is just 690 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:49,520 illumination flowing from his very essence, not from a sheet 691 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:50,360 of paper. Amen. 692 00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:53,600 Somebody if you think of the even something like the 10 693 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,360 commandments, just as tablets, you're missing something. 694 00:36:56,600 --> 00:37:01,680 It flow from a God who is OK and so they're coming to get him, 695 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:04,400 not it the instruction flows from him. 696 00:37:04,720 --> 00:37:07,880 OK, how many y'all seen Wreck it Ralph? 697 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:13,440 One of the greats, OK, in Wreck It Ralph, there's these bugs 698 00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:16,040 that are eating everything in their path and they're, they're 699 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:20,240 destroying everything. But then when a beacon of light 700 00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:23,760 shot up in the sky, they would and they would all like go to 701 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:24,840 the light. Y'all remember this? 702 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:29,200 OK, That's sort of the idea of what God's word is. 703 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:33,440 It is the beacon without which people don't know their right 704 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:35,400 hand from their left. They're just kind of doing 705 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:36,440 whatever. Are you with me? 706 00:37:36,720 --> 00:37:41,280 So the word which flows from who God is, again, the word is not 707 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,080 adjacent to God, it's flowing from him, from the person of 708 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:48,040 Christ, from the Spirit, and it's imagining that the nations 709 00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:51,560 are literally sprinting to get there because it's that good. 710 00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:55,360 Y'all, we take soul for granted some teaching of God in our 711 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:57,360 culture. We do y'all. 712 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,560 Do you know the Romans used to write letters to each other 713 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:02,120 being like, these Christians are crazy. 714 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:05,640 Y'all, there would be a sickness and the Romans are dying by 715 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:09,080 thousands and they're like, get out of town now because their 716 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:13,240 Pagan idolatry LED them to believe every man for themself. 717 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:16,440 Watch your back, cover yourself. Get out of here. 718 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:20,000 But the Christians were flocking to the sickness. 719 00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:22,440 They were flocking to help those dying. 720 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:26,640 They were risking their own lives into a Roman worldview 721 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:30,000 that made no sense. They literally were like, get a 722 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:34,040 load of these guys. We take for granted something as 723 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:36,800 basic as caring for the vulnerable, the oppressed, human 724 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:39,080 rights, y'all. These concepts are the air we 725 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:42,120 breathe in our culture. But they they, they, they, they 726 00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:44,960 really, the game really changed when this dude named Jesus came 727 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:46,000 on the scene. Are you with me? 728 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:49,680 And had he not? We take for granted some of 729 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:52,760 those shifts that now we we we see as normative. 730 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:56,280 Are you with me? And here's kind of the the New 731 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:59,600 Testament twist on the flowing to the beacon, the wreck it 732 00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:01,760 Ralph. The New Testament twist is that 733 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:06,840 when Jesus came, instead of that being located in Jerusalem, when 734 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:10,600 Jesus comes, he is the temple. He is not a building. 735 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:13,360 He himself is the temple and those who follow him. 736 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:15,680 If the Spirit indwells you, you're the temple. 737 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:18,680 So now the idea is that God has scattered the beacons. 738 00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:21,680 Are you with me? What once had to happen there 739 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:24,000 and everybody kind of came like a long journey. 740 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,360 The New Testament sends out, it's no longer come to the 741 00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:29,160 beacon. It's like, let me scatter 742 00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:32,320 beacons everywhere and the nations will be reached for 743 00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:33,400 Christ. Are you with me? 744 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:40,040 OK, look at Micah 4 verse three. He shall judge between many 745 00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:43,120 peoples and shall decide for nations far away, and they shall 746 00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:45,760 beat their swords into plowshares and their Spears into 747 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:47,920 pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword 748 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:51,120 against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. 749 00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:55,920 Here's the second image. Conflict will be replaced by 750 00:39:55,920 --> 00:40:00,600 peace. Y'all when the word comes, When 751 00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:04,120 the beacon comes. When the nations flow, they go 752 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,680 back home and they're like, what do we do with swords now? 753 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:10,120 Now that we got God's word, we don't need this anymore. 754 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:13,440 Now that we know this Yahweh this, this God who is so kind 755 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,800 and good and we've been reconciled to him, maybe we 756 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:18,280 could use this to farm or something. 757 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:21,120 You know what I'm saying? Like imagine people taking a 758 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:23,760 bunch of swords and then beating them down so that they can no 759 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:27,840 longer do destruction but can be used to till up the ground 760 00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:30,440 y'all. The image is that when God is 761 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:33,960 having his way, what once made us against each other makes us 762 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,880 together. What once led to war now we use 763 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:41,360 to work what once was an end. Like death is a new beginning. 764 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:44,680 Are you with me? The idea is let's work together 765 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:48,440 and church. I will just say we've got a 766 00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:50,600 dream of where that could happen in our community. 767 00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:52,960 Where does gang violence look like people working together? 768 00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:56,560 Where does sibling rivalry, hey somebody become like peace in a 769 00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:58,640 home? Where does the teammate that 770 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:02,240 you're so filled with resentment and irritation and jealousy of 771 00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:05,360 or the Co worker that stabs you in the back behind your back? 772 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,880 What does it look like to dream of peace where there's conflict 773 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:12,960 and once you dream it, now you enter see that it might happen. 774 00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:16,280 Does that make sense? You live in the peaceful future 775 00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:18,680 now, and that's what makes you different than everybody. 776 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,560 Are you with me? That's what gives you belief, 777 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:23,640 even when there's still ongoing conflict. 778 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:26,600 Are you with me? That's the idea. 779 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:30,000 Jesus in him and him alone, hostility can become 780 00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:33,920 hospitality. Let's talk about how we get 781 00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:35,720 there. So we got the future vision. 782 00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:40,000 We've got the indictments. What's the path point #3 783 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:42,080 inauguration, the path to justice? 784 00:41:43,720 --> 00:41:45,880 Some of y'all probably picked up on it when guy all read from 785 00:41:45,880 --> 00:41:47,760 chapter 5 verse 2. Check this out. 786 00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:55,560 But you, O Bethlehem Apaphritha, who are too little to be among 787 00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:58,720 the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who 788 00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:03,000 is to be ruler in Israel, who from whose coming forth is from 789 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:05,840 of old from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up 790 00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:08,000 until the time when she was in labor has given birth. 791 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:10,240 And the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of 792 00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:12,800 Israel, and he shall stand and shepherd his flock, and the 793 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:15,520 strength of the Lord and the majesty of the name of the Lord 794 00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:20,400 his God. In Matthew chapter 2, Yallah, 795 00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:22,280 y'all know Matthew quotes this about who? 796 00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:25,000 Jesus, because he was born where? 797 00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:31,800 In Bethlehem, y'all, the idea is that the inauguration of Jesus 798 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:35,600 is sort of the bridge between these two realities, between the 799 00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:38,680 indictment in which they're standing in the future that God 800 00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:41,160 envisions. There is this king who will 801 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:42,520 come. There's this king who is a 802 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:47,360 different type of leader. Did you notice the verb noun 803 00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:49,680 pair that describes what this king will do? 804 00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:52,040 Starts with an S. What's he going to be? 805 00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:57,320 What's he going to do? He's going to be a save it That 806 00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:04,760 was incredible yes, he will and this Savior will SH yes shepherd 807 00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:08,320 his flock come on. So when you think of this king 808 00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:10,680 coming and again y'all we're talking about leaders that 809 00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:14,000 preach for money for the people of God in exile to hear there's 810 00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:19,320 somebody coming who will shepherd his flock who will care 811 00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:20,400 for them. Y'all. 812 00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:23,600 I don't know what you think of of God's primary verbs of what 813 00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:26,560 he wants to do for you. He wants to shepherd you, which 814 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:28,880 means you were sheep, which means you can't do nothing. 815 00:43:28,880 --> 00:43:32,920 You got no arms. All you can do is and just you 816 00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:36,520 can't do nothing. Sheep are cute, but dumb. 817 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,880 They're they're silly. And God wants to shepherd you. 818 00:43:42,240 --> 00:43:45,920 He wants to take care of you and although the text doesn't make 819 00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:50,240 the link between chapter 4 and this coming one from Bethlehem 820 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:53,440 one to one of that will bring that what we know from the 821 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:56,360 ministry of Jesus, from his inauguration, from his death on 822 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:59,680 the cross. This is exactly what he came to 823 00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:02,840 do was bring this world where conflict is no more, which means 824 00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:07,440 we live now in a time known as the already not yet where we 825 00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:10,520 don't yet see the peace. We don't yet see everybody being 826 00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:14,440 shepherded, but it's coming. OK he came once dropped a lot of 827 00:44:14,440 --> 00:44:18,000 miracles, doubt in everybody's place and he said I'm coming 828 00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:21,800 back and we live in that in between I want to point out one 829 00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:23,760 last dope thing and won't be done. 830 00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:25,200 Is that OK? If you're still in it, let me 831 00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:29,040 hear you say I'm in it and if you've checked out do a few head 832 00:44:29,040 --> 00:44:32,880 circles and check back in. Here we go all right, verse 4 833 00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:36,000 they shall dwell secure for now. He shall be great to the ends of 834 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:39,760 the earth and he shall be their peace. 835 00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:46,200 Let's say that one together, he shall be their peace. 836 00:44:46,520 --> 00:44:51,080 Y'all, this verse is crazy. It says that the Shepherd King 837 00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:55,720 will be their peace. I don't know about you, but I 838 00:44:55,720 --> 00:44:58,760 just need to hear sometimes. Your tax return ain't going to 839 00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:00,360 bring you peace. Amen. 840 00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:02,680 Somebody might bring you some more Grubhub. 841 00:45:02,880 --> 00:45:05,480 OK, I got some spots you could try out. 842 00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:08,880 Y'all? Gambling becoming more normal 843 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:11,240 than water around here has not brought our country peace. 844 00:45:11,720 --> 00:45:14,760 We being legalized has not brought our country peace. 845 00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:19,520 Shocker. OK, peace comes y'all not even 846 00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:22,880 y'all watch this. This is it doesn't even come 847 00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:26,080 just from a person. Peace is a person. 848 00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:29,280 The text says he will be their peace. 849 00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:31,160 Doesn't say he will give them peace. 850 00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:33,760 He says it will. He will be their peace. 851 00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:37,520 Some of us operate, even the believers in the room. 852 00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:43,720 We operate like God gives peace. God is peace. 853 00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:47,080 Does He give it? Yes, more than He gives it. 854 00:45:47,080 --> 00:45:49,600 He is it. And some of us are living the 855 00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:51,440 believers in the room. I'm going to talk to you first. 856 00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:54,480 We're living in the gap between He gives it and He is it. 857 00:45:54,480 --> 00:45:57,000 And God is just asking you to move closer and closer and 858 00:45:57,000 --> 00:45:59,200 closer to who He is, not just what He gives. 859 00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:03,440 If you continue to live in a world where God gives peace and 860 00:46:03,440 --> 00:46:05,720 you know the gospel, you know what Christ has done, you're 861 00:46:05,720 --> 00:46:07,840 going to get to the end of your life and be nothing but 862 00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:11,080 disappointed. You're going to get to the end 863 00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:13,520 of your life and be like, he didn't give what I thought he 864 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:17,000 would give. And y'all, I've got 865 00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:19,960 disappointments. Let me be clear, but it's part 866 00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:23,520 of how God, God uses disappointment to move you from 867 00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:25,320 gives to is. Does that make sense? 868 00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:30,200 He's trying to get you to a place where it's you and him and 869 00:46:30,200 --> 00:46:33,320 his path to do that for each of us is different, but for all of 870 00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:36,360 us, it's from gives to is because God is peace. 871 00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:41,040 He doesn't just give peace and until you get there, God is 872 00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:44,960 genuinely, truly, this is hard. He is subservient to something 873 00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:47,000 you want to be given. That's hard. 874 00:46:47,560 --> 00:46:49,840 That's really hard. It's true of me. 875 00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:55,320 But we need to hear God does give peace, but even more than 876 00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:57,480 that, He is peace. And if you are not a believer 877 00:46:57,480 --> 00:46:59,160 here today, I don't know where you're going for peace. 878 00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:01,440 I don't know if it's gambling, I don't know if it's the dopamine 879 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:02,840 through that or weed or whatever. 880 00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:06,320 I'm not judging you, OK? I'm just telling you, you are 881 00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:09,400 looking for peace, which makes you a human. 882 00:47:09,680 --> 00:47:14,880 But the Bible is all about sin. We we talk about sin a lot sin 883 00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:17,160 that we're not we're not ever trying to make you feel like a 884 00:47:17,160 --> 00:47:20,240 bad person. We're trying to say sin is going 885 00:47:20,240 --> 00:47:24,840 to the wrong thing, going for the right thing for the the 886 00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:25,760 wrong. So are you with me. 887 00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:27,720 You're going to the you're help me. 888 00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:31,080 You're going to get the right thing from the wrong thing. 889 00:47:31,280 --> 00:47:33,640 There we go wrong source right thing. 890 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:35,760 Everybody wants peace. Me too. 891 00:47:36,520 --> 00:47:38,080 The question is, where are you going? 892 00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:41,280 And as you enter into a space where the Word of God is taught, 893 00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:43,360 don't hear us saying God gives peace. 894 00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:48,360 He does, but He is peace. What we offer you is a person 895 00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:50,800 who himself is the Prince of Peace. 896 00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:56,480 We offer you God himself. So let's close out looking at 897 00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:59,120 Chapter 7, verses 18 through 20. We'll be done. 898 00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:05,480 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over 899 00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:07,680 transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? 900 00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:11,840 He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in 901 00:48:11,840 --> 00:48:16,920 steadfast love. He will again have compassion on 902 00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:19,440 us. He will tread our iniquities 903 00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:23,200 under foot. You will cast all our sins into 904 00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:25,520 the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to 905 00:48:25,520 --> 00:48:28,640 Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham as you have sworn to our 906 00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:32,800 fathers from the days of old. If you're not a believer here 907 00:48:32,800 --> 00:48:35,520 today, maybe the the seven-year old. 908 00:48:35,520 --> 00:48:38,200 Why, why, why question? Why can Micah say that? 909 00:48:40,240 --> 00:48:42,600 Who gets to say that? Who gets to say God will have 910 00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:44,440 compassion on us? Again, that's pretty. 911 00:48:45,480 --> 00:48:47,560 Who are you to say God will have compassion on you and not 912 00:48:47,560 --> 00:48:50,440 somebody else? Who, who, how can he say this? 913 00:48:50,560 --> 00:48:52,680 Who gets to say this with confidence? 914 00:48:52,680 --> 00:48:55,360 Because that's some dope stuff. I want compassion. 915 00:48:55,760 --> 00:48:59,280 I want my iniquity passed over. I want him to not be angry with 916 00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:00,280 me. I want him to delight and 917 00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:04,200 steadfast love to me. You know what the Bible presents 918 00:49:04,720 --> 00:49:09,080 is that this person, Jesus, has come at the perfect time, born 919 00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:11,480 of a virgin under the Roman Empire's thumb. 920 00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:13,680 He came and lived a life of peace. 921 00:49:13,680 --> 00:49:18,360 He was justice embodied. He walked in it at all times. 922 00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:22,520 And this king, this Prince of Peace, this just God lived a 923 00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:29,000 just life and at the end of his life died an unjust death, so 924 00:49:29,000 --> 00:49:33,200 that unjust rebels like you and me can trade places with him. 925 00:49:33,680 --> 00:49:36,960 Y'all the Bible story is not you better start being just and then 926 00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:40,040 you could say Chapter 7, verses 18 through 20 with confidence. 927 00:49:40,520 --> 00:49:44,360 What the Bible presents is that Jesus is the perfect spotless 928 00:49:44,360 --> 00:49:48,000 lamb, just in all his ways. He is peace. 929 00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:51,880 And he died. He was thrown in the sea, He was 930 00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:58,960 killed, He was unjustly murdered so that the unjust ones could 931 00:49:58,960 --> 00:50:01,480 put our trust in Him and his death. 932 00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:05,800 His perfection accounts to you, and he takes your death, you get 933 00:50:05,800 --> 00:50:07,200 his life. That's the gospel. 934 00:50:07,720 --> 00:50:10,800 The good news of the Bible, y'all, is that the reason our 935 00:50:10,800 --> 00:50:15,800 sins can be thrown in the sea is because Christ died for them. 936 00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:20,400 That's what the Bible teaches, that our confidence comes not 937 00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:24,320 from what we do, but from what He did. 938 00:50:24,840 --> 00:50:28,840 And ironically, you'll be more just if the just one has died 939 00:50:28,840 --> 00:50:30,600 for you and you receive it as a gift. 940 00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:33,480 Then you could ever live justly out of fear or trying to prove 941 00:50:33,480 --> 00:50:35,960 something. If you actually see what he's 942 00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:39,200 done for you at great cost to himself, free to you. 943 00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:44,000 When you do that, your life just unlocks. 944 00:50:44,840 --> 00:50:48,200 And believer, you need to hear today your sins are in the 945 00:50:48,200 --> 00:50:52,240 depths of the sea as far as the east is from the West. 946 00:50:52,240 --> 00:50:54,840 So far has he removed your sin from you. 947 00:50:54,840 --> 00:50:58,680 That's crazy. Some of us only know, and I 948 00:50:58,720 --> 00:51:02,800 resonate with this, we only know how to relate to God about our 949 00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:06,520 sin. It's almost like we bring it to 950 00:51:06,520 --> 00:51:09,600 him just over and over and over and somewhat what the Bible 951 00:51:09,600 --> 00:51:12,240 presents. This is crazy is that he removes 952 00:51:12,240 --> 00:51:17,120 the sin so he can know you. There is a you that is not your 953 00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:19,760 sin. That's what he's after. 954 00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:22,120 That's the 1. He wants to walk with him 955 00:51:22,120 --> 00:51:25,760 humbly, are you with me? So it's getting to a place like 956 00:51:25,760 --> 00:51:29,200 Micah where the scene is still bad, right? 957 00:51:29,200 --> 00:51:33,080 Like we still live in a broken, sinful age and there's still sin 958 00:51:33,080 --> 00:51:37,760 in us, but we don't approach the Lord wondering how he feels 959 00:51:37,760 --> 00:51:39,840 about us. We could say you will have 960 00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:42,800 steadfast love on us. You'll have, if Micah could say 961 00:51:42,800 --> 00:51:46,760 this, how much more can we who know Christ, how much more can 962 00:51:46,760 --> 00:51:50,400 we be confident that we stand in the, the faithfulness shown to 963 00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:53,440 Jacob and Abraham and all, not because I'm a somebody, but 964 00:51:53,440 --> 00:51:57,360 because Christ died for me and I'm sealed with the Spirit and 965 00:51:57,360 --> 00:52:00,920 we have peace in him. We don't even have to beat 966 00:52:00,920 --> 00:52:03,000 ourselves up for where we're going, for the wrong place for 967 00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:04,880 peace. We just get to be reminded again 968 00:52:04,880 --> 00:52:06,640 that he is our peace, not those things. 969 00:52:06,800 --> 00:52:09,160 He is our peace. He is our peace, He is our 970 00:52:09,160 --> 00:52:13,160 peace, He is our peace. So we chase after God knowing 971 00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:15,760 he's for you. We don't chase him with a spirit 972 00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:17,000 of fear. Y'all. 973 00:52:18,440 --> 00:52:22,280 It just unleashes like an unhurried, just inviting tone 974 00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:25,280 where you chase down the God who has bought you to himself at the 975 00:52:25,280 --> 00:52:28,640 cost of his own Son. And if you don't know Jesus here 976 00:52:28,640 --> 00:52:31,440 today, I believe you want to live a just life. 977 00:52:32,600 --> 00:52:37,160 The question is why and in what power and who gets the glory 978 00:52:37,160 --> 00:52:39,200 from it? That's other question. 979 00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:42,880 Part of why God set it up this way is that we can just stand 980 00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:45,360 back and all say, you know, God did all of that. 981 00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:47,960 All things are from him and through him and to him. 982 00:52:47,960 --> 00:52:51,120 I didn't get rid of my sin. I didn't think of justice. 983 00:52:51,200 --> 00:52:53,200 I didn't think of that. I didn't make me right with you. 984 00:52:53,200 --> 00:52:54,360 I didn't this. You did that. 985 00:52:54,360 --> 00:52:55,720 You gave me that power. You did that. 986 00:52:55,960 --> 00:52:59,440 And as we do it with Him, we get the joy, He gets the glory and 987 00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:01,200 the earth gets the good. Are you with me? 988 00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:06,400 I'm at peace with God. Have we considered what the cost 989 00:53:06,400 --> 00:53:09,440 to be made right with my Father? Jesus had to take the cross. 990 00:53:10,160 --> 00:53:12,760 Now he has taken my sins and thrown them into the sea. 991 00:53:13,320 --> 00:53:16,600 When God looks at you, believer, He sees a child set free. 992 00:53:17,320 --> 00:53:20,720 Now we walk humbly with Him, loving kindness as justice flows 993 00:53:20,720 --> 00:53:25,560 from God to us to neighbor. Justice is the story of God, the 994 00:53:25,560 --> 00:53:28,440 story of the world, and it's all empowered by our Savior. 995 00:53:29,080 --> 00:53:30,680 Our God is love, beauty, and justice. 996 00:53:30,680 --> 00:53:33,040 To Him be the glory both now and forever. 997 00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:36,000 Can you imagine the future of justice with Jesus? 998 00:53:36,240 --> 00:53:38,200 It just keeps on getting better. Let's pray. 999 00:53:39,360 --> 00:53:41,560 Lord Jesus, we love you. Thank you for your word. 1000 00:53:41,560 --> 00:53:43,320 Thank you that you made things right with us. 1001 00:53:44,520 --> 00:53:46,960 Got to pray for my friends who are looking for peace in all the 1002 00:53:46,960 --> 00:53:49,440 wrong places. God, may they not feel shame, 1003 00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:53,640 but may they feel invited to lay those things down and to find 1004 00:53:53,640 --> 00:53:54,560 you. Who is our peace. 1005 00:53:54,560 --> 00:53:57,840 I pray for the believers in that gap between you give peace and 1006 00:53:57,840 --> 00:54:00,320 you are our peace. God, would you take us further? 1007 00:54:00,320 --> 00:54:04,520 Would you bring us to where we can genuinely say you God are 1008 00:54:04,520 --> 00:54:07,320 our peace, get the glory for the rest of our time we pray in 1009 00:54:07,320 --> 00:54:08,200 Jesus name, Amen.