1 00:00:00,580 --> 00:00:03,540 This message by Glenn Meldrum was originally produced 2 00:00:03,540 --> 00:00:06,040 by In His Presence Ministries for the Radical 3 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:06,700 Truth Podcast. 4 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:09,580 You can listen and subscribe to the Radical 5 00:00:09,580 --> 00:00:17,500 Truth Podcast by going to www.ihpministry.com 6 00:00:17,500 --> 00:00:20,240 You are welcome to reproduce this message for 7 00:00:20,240 --> 00:00:21,180 free distribution. 8 00:00:21,780 --> 00:00:23,940 This message is part of a series entitled, 9 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:25,400 The Radical Jesus. 10 00:00:26,540 --> 00:00:28,200 In last week's podcast, we began a new 11 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,400 section on radical pursuit that is part of 12 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:32,240 our continuing study on the radical Jesus. 13 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:35,440 In that lesson, we concentrated on God's radical 14 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:37,920 pursuit of mankind, which is a phenomenal truth 15 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:39,900 about the wonder of God's love that is 16 00:00:39,900 --> 00:00:41,940 worth the investment of our time and energy 17 00:00:41,940 --> 00:00:44,100 to learn about and apply to our lives. 18 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:46,200 In this week, we will look at man's 19 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:47,800 response to God's pursuit of us. 20 00:00:48,300 --> 00:00:50,340 As we saw in last week's lesson, Christ's 21 00:00:50,340 --> 00:00:52,400 pursuit of mankind is thoroughly radical. 22 00:00:53,060 --> 00:00:54,580 His pursuit of us is far more than 23 00:00:54,580 --> 00:00:57,140 the historical event of His crucifixion because it 24 00:00:57,140 --> 00:00:59,720 reaches into the distant past before creation existed 25 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:00,860 and time began. 26 00:01:01,540 --> 00:01:02,920 For God to create the human race when 27 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:04,920 He knew that they would willfully rebel against 28 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,220 Him is reasoning beyond what our mental abilities 29 00:01:07,220 --> 00:01:07,960 can process. 30 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:10,880 To create people in His own image as 31 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,440 the Genesis creation account records means that the 32 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:15,500 Lord had to give mankind a genuine free 33 00:01:15,500 --> 00:01:15,780 will. 34 00:01:16,460 --> 00:01:19,080 This is important because authentic love cannot exist 35 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:19,940 without free will. 36 00:01:20,660 --> 00:01:22,580 It will not be long before mankind invents 37 00:01:22,580 --> 00:01:25,160 the technology that can make computers and robots 38 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,460 communicate in ways that make them appear to 39 00:01:27,460 --> 00:01:28,580 have legitimate emotions. 40 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,520 The insurmountable problem this technology faces is that 41 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,080 without genuine free will, there cannot be legitimate 42 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,220 emotion, and this includes love. 43 00:01:37,980 --> 00:01:40,920 Scientists may develop elaborate computer programs that work 44 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,500 through powerful computers that respond to the emotion 45 00:01:43,500 --> 00:01:45,640 of people with what appears to be legitimate 46 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:46,180 emotion. 47 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:48,800 But we must not forget that those responses 48 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:51,460 can only be the result of programmed computers 49 00:01:51,460 --> 00:01:54,240 and robotics working together, not of that which 50 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:55,680 comes out of a genuine life. 51 00:01:56,260 --> 00:01:58,840 Man is not a mere sophisticated organic machine. 52 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:01,240 In Genesis 2-7 we are told the 53 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:02,880 Lord God formed the man from the dust 54 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,000 of the ground and breathed into his nostrils 55 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,020 the breath of life and the man became 56 00:02:07,020 --> 00:02:07,860 a living being. 57 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:10,280 To be a living being, or as the 58 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,360 King James translation translates the word, a living 59 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:15,980 soul, we must have an authentic free will. 60 00:02:16,700 --> 00:02:18,280 God created man and woman in such a 61 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:19,900 way that they could love each other and 62 00:02:19,900 --> 00:02:21,840 this cannot happen without the choice of a 63 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:22,080 will. 64 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:24,520 Since the Lord created us with the capacity 65 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:26,500 to love each other, there is then the 66 00:02:26,500 --> 00:02:28,280 ability that we can know the love of 67 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:29,780 God and love Him in return. 68 00:02:30,460 --> 00:02:33,020 This is God's design for humanity, and though 69 00:02:33,020 --> 00:02:35,220 sin marred and perverted our free will, it 70 00:02:35,220 --> 00:02:37,280 did not eradicate it as some have claimed. 71 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,480 If sin destroyed our free will, then we 72 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:42,220 would not have the ability to love each 73 00:02:42,220 --> 00:02:43,220 other to love God. 74 00:02:43,660 --> 00:02:46,460 The Lord said in Genesis 1-26, Let 75 00:02:46,460 --> 00:02:47,960 us make man in our image and in 76 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:50,100 our likeness, and let them rule over the 77 00:02:50,100 --> 00:02:51,540 fish of the sea and the birds of 78 00:02:51,540 --> 00:02:53,600 the air and over the livestock and all 79 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:55,800 the earth and over all the creatures that 80 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:56,820 move along the ground. 81 00:02:57,420 --> 00:02:59,540 God is the only truly free being that 82 00:02:59,540 --> 00:03:01,740 exists, which means that He does not need 83 00:03:01,740 --> 00:03:04,360 anything outside of Himself to exist, to be 84 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:06,360 who He is or to be fulfilled, for 85 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,060 He is perfect and complete in and of 86 00:03:08,060 --> 00:03:08,500 Himself. 87 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,600 For God to make mankind in His image 88 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:14,200 tells us that He gave us authentic personhood, 89 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,720 similar in nature to His own, but our 90 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:18,920 personhood is finite, while His is infinite. 91 00:03:19,660 --> 00:03:21,820 For us to have genuine personhood, we must 92 00:03:21,820 --> 00:03:23,160 have an actual free will. 93 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:25,700 Though we have free will, ours is not 94 00:03:25,700 --> 00:03:27,440 like God's since we are not free as 95 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:28,100 God is free. 96 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:30,640 Our freedom is limited, His is infinite. 97 00:03:31,220 --> 00:03:33,220 We need God, but He does not need 98 00:03:33,220 --> 00:03:33,520 us. 99 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:35,300 We cannot live without God. 100 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:37,860 He can live without mankind and still remain 101 00:03:37,860 --> 00:03:38,840 fully who He is. 102 00:03:39,300 --> 00:03:40,740 We need to be loved because we are 103 00:03:40,740 --> 00:03:41,500 created to love. 104 00:03:41,500 --> 00:03:43,800 God does not need our love, nor is 105 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:45,900 He benefited by our love, yet we are 106 00:03:45,900 --> 00:03:48,080 totally benefited by His love for us. 107 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:50,840 For God to be free, He must be 108 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,260 able to freely love with a disinterested love. 109 00:03:53,620 --> 00:03:55,580 For mankind to love God and to know 110 00:03:55,580 --> 00:03:57,660 His love, they must have a free will, 111 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,600 or there can be no reciprocal meaningful relationship 112 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:02,080 between God and man. 113 00:04:02,940 --> 00:04:03,980 Now, I have said all this to lead 114 00:04:03,980 --> 00:04:05,620 us to the idea that the Lord, who 115 00:04:05,620 --> 00:04:07,820 is all-knowing, knew that when He created 116 00:04:07,820 --> 00:04:09,820 mankind in His own image, they would have 117 00:04:09,820 --> 00:04:11,480 a free will with the ability to love 118 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:12,780 Him or not to love Him. 119 00:04:13,460 --> 00:04:15,820 The historical account of Adam and Eve's rebellion 120 00:04:15,820 --> 00:04:18,180 teaches us that when their free will was 121 00:04:18,180 --> 00:04:20,940 placed in certain conditions, they would rebel against 122 00:04:20,940 --> 00:04:21,340 God. 123 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:23,260 And we know that this is exactly what 124 00:04:23,260 --> 00:04:23,680 happened. 125 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,320 Love must be willed or it cannot be 126 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:28,500 loved, which leads us to the conclusion that 127 00:04:28,500 --> 00:04:30,280 for Adam and Eve to love, they had 128 00:04:30,280 --> 00:04:32,200 to be given the opportunity to make a 129 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:32,580 choice. 130 00:04:32,900 --> 00:04:34,820 So the Lord created knowing that we would 131 00:04:34,820 --> 00:04:36,780 rebel and that the only way there could 132 00:04:36,780 --> 00:04:39,420 be reconciliation was for Him to become human 133 00:04:39,420 --> 00:04:41,040 and take upon Himself the sins of the 134 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:42,620 world as the Lamb of God. 135 00:04:43,340 --> 00:04:44,720 Can you get a glimpse of the pursuit 136 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,340 of God that began before creation even came 137 00:04:47,340 --> 00:04:47,980 into existence? 138 00:04:48,580 --> 00:04:50,420 I think one of the reasons Christians do 139 00:04:50,420 --> 00:04:52,640 not passionately follow Jesus is that they do 140 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:54,460 not have eyes to see the phenomenal love 141 00:04:54,460 --> 00:04:56,240 that He has for us that is proved 142 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,060 through His radical pursuit of us. 143 00:04:58,780 --> 00:05:01,100 Sure, there are tons of sermons preached every 144 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:03,300 Sunday on God's love, but much of it 145 00:05:03,300 --> 00:05:06,060 is watered-down, humanistic, man-centered love that 146 00:05:06,060 --> 00:05:08,720 does not represent the magnificent love of God. 147 00:05:09,260 --> 00:05:10,840 Though we are made in God's image, we 148 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:12,200 must lay hold of the fact that He 149 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:13,460 is not made in our image. 150 00:05:14,220 --> 00:05:16,720 To make God in our image is idolatry, 151 00:05:17,140 --> 00:05:18,580 for it creates a God out of our 152 00:05:18,580 --> 00:05:21,320 own imagination and then bows down and worships 153 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:21,460 it. 154 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:24,140 The difficulty we have in understanding God's love 155 00:05:24,140 --> 00:05:26,140 is that His love is by nature infinite 156 00:05:26,140 --> 00:05:27,380 while ours is finite. 157 00:05:28,140 --> 00:05:29,680 There are depths to God's love that is 158 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:31,880 beyond human reasoning, and at times when we 159 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:33,440 get a peek at it, it can seem 160 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:34,960 as if He was not very loving at 161 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:35,460 times. 162 00:05:36,220 --> 00:05:37,640 Then we have the added problem that our 163 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,000 sinful nature has perverted our love into a 164 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,000 selfish, taking, grasping thing, which is all we 165 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:44,500 have as a point of reference in this 166 00:05:44,500 --> 00:05:45,200 fallen world. 167 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,940 Our sin nature causes us to either misunderstand 168 00:05:48,940 --> 00:05:51,620 His disinterested love or to be oblivious to 169 00:05:51,620 --> 00:05:53,720 His selfless nature of divine love. 170 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:55,800 If we could see a little more clearly 171 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,240 God's radical pursuit of mankind, then we would 172 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:01,020 understand that man's pursuit of God should display 173 00:06:01,020 --> 00:06:02,060 that same passion. 174 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:03,680 It, too, should be radical. 175 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,260 But how often is this the case with 176 00:06:06,260 --> 00:06:07,400 most professing Christians? 177 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:09,960 The norm for the American church is so 178 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:12,140 low that it does not resemble Jesus, who 179 00:06:12,140 --> 00:06:13,920 is the standard of the New Testament faith, 180 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,260 nor does it resemble those early saints that 181 00:06:16,260 --> 00:06:17,060 walked with Jesus. 182 00:06:17,700 --> 00:06:20,060 The Lord not only deserves our passionate pursuit 183 00:06:20,060 --> 00:06:22,320 because of who He is, but because He 184 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:23,840 deserves the reward of His suffering. 185 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:26,180 Jesus did not die on the cross so 186 00:06:26,180 --> 00:06:28,080 He could give us a sickly, anemic response 187 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:29,480 to His work on the cross. 188 00:06:29,900 --> 00:06:31,540 He fully gave Himself for us so that 189 00:06:31,540 --> 00:06:33,200 we could fully give ourselves to Him. 190 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:36,700 Most people respond to His loving overtures with 191 00:06:36,700 --> 00:06:38,860 indifference and at times even utter rejection. 192 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:41,780 The Lord spoke through the prophet Jeremiah in 193 00:06:41,780 --> 00:06:42,480 chapter 7. 194 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:45,520 I spoke to you again and again, but 195 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:46,380 you did not listen. 196 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,260 I called you, but you did not answer. 197 00:06:49,980 --> 00:06:52,020 The context of this verse is that the 198 00:06:52,020 --> 00:06:54,340 Lord is calling those that were supposed to 199 00:06:54,340 --> 00:06:56,280 be the people of God, but they had 200 00:06:56,280 --> 00:06:58,480 given themselves over to their sin and idolatry 201 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,900 and so refused to respond to God's call. 202 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:09,200 The Lord then declared in verse 20, We 203 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:11,400 know that history proved this prophecy to be 204 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:11,680 true. 205 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,800 Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians, who also 206 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:16,660 destroyed the temple at the same time. 207 00:07:16,660 --> 00:07:19,740 In chapter 1 of Malachi, we find God 208 00:07:19,740 --> 00:07:22,360 confronting Israel over the compromise that had crept 209 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,600 back into the people after they returned from 210 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,020 their Babylonian captivity and the rebuilding of the 211 00:07:27,020 --> 00:07:27,320 temple. 212 00:07:28,020 --> 00:07:29,900 How quickly we can turn a living faith 213 00:07:29,900 --> 00:07:30,880 into a dead religion. 214 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:33,400 The people accused the Lord that He did 215 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:35,340 not love them when the fact was that 216 00:07:35,340 --> 00:07:37,260 the people did not reverence the Lord. 217 00:07:37,900 --> 00:07:39,840 In Malachi 1.14, we hear the Lord 218 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:49,340 declare, For I am a great king, says 219 00:07:49,340 --> 00:07:51,540 the Lord Almighty, and my name is to 220 00:07:51,540 --> 00:07:52,840 be feared among the nations. 221 00:07:53,620 --> 00:07:55,260 We are obligated to God to give Him 222 00:07:55,260 --> 00:07:57,180 the absolute best of our life, time, and 223 00:07:57,180 --> 00:07:57,500 wealth. 224 00:07:58,140 --> 00:08:00,120 The Lord is a great king that deserves 225 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:01,500 to be feared and loved. 226 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:03,860 It is very important that when we look 227 00:08:03,860 --> 00:08:05,560 at the subject of the fear of God, 228 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:07,760 we understand that love is an integral part 229 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:08,400 of the equation. 230 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:11,560 Whenever people love God correctly, they will rightly 231 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:13,840 fear Him, and whenever they rightly fear Him, 232 00:08:13,980 --> 00:08:15,340 they will genuinely love Him. 233 00:08:15,340 --> 00:08:17,760 He is a great king and deserves our 234 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,300 wholehearted devotion, for no one has loved us 235 00:08:20,300 --> 00:08:22,000 as He has, and no one has proved 236 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:23,780 His love for us like the radical Jesus. 237 00:08:24,580 --> 00:08:27,000 In spite of man's willful ignorance of God's 238 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:28,900 love for us and of all the ridiculous 239 00:08:28,900 --> 00:08:31,280 lies we hurl at Him, He presses on 240 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:33,820 with deliberate, persistent desire for us and for 241 00:08:33,820 --> 00:08:34,500 our salvation. 242 00:08:35,260 --> 00:08:37,100 How long would our love endure if we 243 00:08:37,100 --> 00:08:39,539 were rejected as mankind has rejected the Lord? 244 00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:42,700 The frailty and limitedness of our love would 245 00:08:42,700 --> 00:08:44,560 soon give way under the first wave of 246 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:45,020 rejection. 247 00:08:45,340 --> 00:08:47,580 Our shallow love would quickly turn to hatred 248 00:08:47,580 --> 00:08:49,940 after the first time we were aggressively attacked 249 00:08:49,940 --> 00:08:50,560 by people. 250 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:52,680 Would you die for the salvation of those 251 00:08:52,680 --> 00:08:54,760 that hated you, for those that rejected you? 252 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:57,400 In John 1, verse 11, we are told 253 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:59,220 that Jesus came to His own, and His 254 00:08:59,220 --> 00:09:00,460 own did not receive Him. 255 00:09:00,780 --> 00:09:02,920 And we are among that number, though that 256 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:04,600 verse is directly speaking of Israel. 257 00:09:05,180 --> 00:09:07,440 If you were all-powerful, would you destroy 258 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:09,840 those people if they hated and attacked you 259 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:10,760 like they did Jesus? 260 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:13,260 Or maybe we would have destroyed them way 261 00:09:13,260 --> 00:09:15,840 before such events got that far, like right 262 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:17,760 after Adam and Eve sinned. 263 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:20,380 God is good to us, and as revealed 264 00:09:20,380 --> 00:09:23,040 in Psalms 103.10, He does not treat 265 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,140 us as our sins deserve or repay us 266 00:09:25,140 --> 00:09:26,360 according to our inequities. 267 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:28,520 And still we are prone to make our 268 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,060 excuses for why we do not passionately pursue 269 00:09:31,060 --> 00:09:32,680 Him like He pursued us. 270 00:09:33,540 --> 00:09:35,880 We think ourselves noble if we are more 271 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,720 passionate about God than most professing Christians, yet 272 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:40,340 we fail to seek Him as He sought 273 00:09:40,340 --> 00:09:40,700 us. 274 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:43,260 He deserves the reward of His suffering, which 275 00:09:43,260 --> 00:09:45,340 includes our passionate pursuit of Him. 276 00:09:46,100 --> 00:09:48,300 If we fail to comprehend God's radical pursuit 277 00:09:48,300 --> 00:09:49,980 of us, how will we be able to 278 00:09:49,980 --> 00:09:51,500 grasp the urgency of the matter? 279 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:54,720 The Lord loves mankind with a radical love 280 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,760 beyond human comprehension, but there is an urgency 281 00:09:57,760 --> 00:09:59,380 to His radical pursuit of us. 282 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,160 He pursues people with urgency because He knows 283 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:03,840 our lives on earth are as a vapor. 284 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:05,880 We are here today and gone tomorrow. 285 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:08,900 There is a narrow space of time in 286 00:10:08,900 --> 00:10:11,120 which we can be reached, and that space 287 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:12,880 of time is far shorter than the span 288 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:13,540 of our lives. 289 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:15,900 For each person, the space of time in 290 00:10:15,900 --> 00:10:17,620 which he can reach us is as varied 291 00:10:17,620 --> 00:10:18,660 as the number of people. 292 00:10:19,180 --> 00:10:20,820 The Lord must work within the few years 293 00:10:20,820 --> 00:10:22,700 we live, and then there are only so 294 00:10:22,700 --> 00:10:25,640 many minutes, hours, days, months, or years that 295 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:27,020 we will be open to His call. 296 00:10:27,660 --> 00:10:29,440 Though He is laboring behind the scenes to 297 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:31,240 save us, He is ever moving us to 298 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:32,180 the point of decision. 299 00:10:32,780 --> 00:10:33,840 He does not want us to be as 300 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,300 stillborn babies that never come to life, nor 301 00:10:36,300 --> 00:10:38,540 as preemies or sickly babies that die before 302 00:10:38,540 --> 00:10:39,140 their time. 303 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:41,460 There is an urgency in God's call such 304 00:10:41,460 --> 00:10:43,900 as can be found in Hebrews 3, verses 305 00:10:43,900 --> 00:10:44,800 7-12. 306 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:48,360 So the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you 307 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:50,360 hear His voice, do not harden your heart 308 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,180 as you did in the rebellion during the 309 00:10:52,180 --> 00:10:54,200 time of testing in the desert, where your 310 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:56,580 fathers tested and tried Me and for forty 311 00:10:56,580 --> 00:10:57,880 years saw what I did. 312 00:10:58,340 --> 00:10:59,860 That is why I was angry with that 313 00:10:59,860 --> 00:11:02,500 generation and said, Their hearts are always going 314 00:11:02,500 --> 00:11:04,760 astray and they have not known My ways. 315 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:07,040 So I declared on oath in My anger, 316 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:09,200 They shall never enter My rest. 317 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:11,440 See to it, brothers, that none of you 318 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,420 has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away 319 00:11:14,420 --> 00:11:15,400 from the living God. 320 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,080 Three times in Hebrews, Paul quotes Psalms 95 321 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:22,280 -7, Today, if you hear His voice, do 322 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:23,360 not harden your hearts. 323 00:11:23,940 --> 00:11:25,700 The Lord knows that we are in desperate 324 00:11:25,700 --> 00:11:26,280 need of Him. 325 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:28,960 Actually, there is nothing we need more than 326 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:29,380 Christ. 327 00:11:29,380 --> 00:11:32,300 Israel fought against God for forty years in 328 00:11:32,300 --> 00:11:32,720 the wilderness. 329 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,960 They had hard, unrepentant hearts, so they never 330 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:38,300 entered God's rest, which is symbolized by the 331 00:11:38,300 --> 00:11:38,960 promised land. 332 00:11:39,620 --> 00:11:41,460 They died in the wilderness outside of God's 333 00:11:41,460 --> 00:11:44,080 promises, which strongly implies they died in their 334 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,200 sin and were separated from God forever. 335 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:49,680 With relentless passion and limitless energy, the Lord 336 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:51,140 is driving people to the foot of the 337 00:11:51,140 --> 00:11:52,780 cross so they might be saved. 338 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:54,940 But He will not force His salvation on 339 00:11:54,940 --> 00:11:57,160 anyone since He gave us a genuine free 340 00:11:57,160 --> 00:11:57,440 will. 341 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,460 He uses every means at His disposal in 342 00:12:00,460 --> 00:12:03,100 His loving attempt to win man's devotion so 343 00:12:03,100 --> 00:12:04,920 He can bring them to His eternal home. 344 00:12:05,460 --> 00:12:07,120 He draws some people through the ache of 345 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:07,520 loneliness. 346 00:12:08,300 --> 00:12:10,160 That ache burns in our hearts so that 347 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,040 we might look for a better and lasting 348 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:14,240 love that can satisfy our yearning to be 349 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:15,160 faithfully loved. 350 00:12:15,780 --> 00:12:18,040 He uses physical suffering that can wrack the 351 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:19,940 bodies of the young and old alike to 352 00:12:19,940 --> 00:12:21,740 show them that they are frail and in 353 00:12:21,740 --> 00:12:23,700 need of a great physician to heal their 354 00:12:23,700 --> 00:12:24,600 sin-sick souls. 355 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:27,920 He uses the depression and feelings of hopelessness 356 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,160 that can immobilize people to drive them to 357 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,020 the only place where there is true hope. 358 00:12:32,580 --> 00:12:34,780 He also uses the painful consequences that our 359 00:12:34,780 --> 00:12:37,520 sin produces to open our blind eyes that 360 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:39,880 only He can satisfy the deepening longings of 361 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:40,320 the soul. 362 00:12:40,820 --> 00:12:42,760 And He even uses the hordes of hell 363 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:45,240 to drive people into His loving embrace after 364 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,320 they have suffered the horrors of being a 365 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:48,160 plaything of hell. 366 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:50,920 The Lord fully understands the urgency of the 367 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:53,300 time because He knows when He will return 368 00:12:53,300 --> 00:12:55,760 and bring to an end the insanity of 369 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:57,460 sin that has taken control of the human 370 00:12:57,460 --> 00:12:57,900 race. 371 00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:01,100 The Lord spoke through Paul in 2 Thessalonians 372 00:13:01,100 --> 00:13:02,940 1, verses 6-10. 373 00:13:03,620 --> 00:13:04,500 God is just. 374 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:06,580 He will pay back trouble for those who 375 00:13:06,580 --> 00:13:08,600 troubled you and give relief to you who 376 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,460 are troubled and to us as well. 377 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:13,080 This will happen when the Lord Jesus is 378 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,680 revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His 379 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:16,480 powerful angels. 380 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:18,600 He will punish those who do not know 381 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:20,380 God and do not obey the gospel of 382 00:13:20,380 --> 00:13:21,180 our Lord Jesus. 383 00:13:21,180 --> 00:13:24,160 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and 384 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:25,880 shut out from the presence of the Lord 385 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:27,620 and from the majesty of His power on 386 00:13:27,620 --> 00:13:29,260 the day He comes to be glorified in 387 00:13:29,260 --> 00:13:31,500 His holy people and to be marveled at 388 00:13:31,500 --> 00:13:33,500 among all those who have believed. 389 00:13:34,060 --> 00:13:36,140 The only reason the Lord delays His second 390 00:13:36,140 --> 00:13:37,380 coming is that He is compassionate. 391 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:40,500 2 Peter 3.9 informs us that the 392 00:13:40,500 --> 00:13:42,380 Lord is not slow in keeping His promise 393 00:13:42,380 --> 00:13:44,060 as some understand slowness. 394 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:46,280 He is patient with you, not wanting anyone 395 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:48,500 to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 396 00:13:49,140 --> 00:13:52,400 Though God patiently delays His second coming out 397 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,260 of compassion, we must not misunderstand that delay 398 00:13:55,260 --> 00:13:57,240 as an expression that He is not greatly 399 00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:58,860 bothered by the sins of mankind. 400 00:13:59,700 --> 00:14:01,740 He delays so that He can save all 401 00:14:01,740 --> 00:14:02,760 that want His salvation. 402 00:14:03,620 --> 00:14:05,320 Yet there is a time that is fast 403 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:07,500 approaching when He will say, Enough! 404 00:14:08,260 --> 00:14:10,500 Until that time, we can hold to the 405 00:14:10,500 --> 00:14:12,860 heart of God as revealed in Ezekiel 18. 406 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:14,920 Do I take pleasure in the death of 407 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:16,840 the wicked, declares the sovereign Lord? 408 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,640 Rather, am I not pleased when they turn 409 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:20,960 from their wicked ways and live? 410 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:23,720 I will judge you, each one according to 411 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:25,760 his ways, declares the sovereign Lord. 412 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:26,680 Repent. 413 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:29,500 Turn away from all your offenses, then sin 414 00:14:29,500 --> 00:14:30,760 will not be your downfall. 415 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:33,220 Rid yourself of all the offenses you have 416 00:14:33,220 --> 00:14:34,960 committed and get a new heart and a 417 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:35,420 new spirit. 418 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:37,780 Why will you die, O house of Israel? 419 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:39,920 For I take no pleasure in the death 420 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,220 of anyone, declares the sovereign Lord. 421 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:44,000 Repent and live. 422 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:46,860 Can you not hear the urgency in God's 423 00:14:46,860 --> 00:14:48,100 appeal in these verses? 424 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:51,060 He knows that salvation is a gift offered 425 00:14:51,060 --> 00:14:53,060 to people only in this life. 426 00:14:53,340 --> 00:14:55,120 In the next life, it is too late 427 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:57,440 to repent, too late to be saved, and 428 00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,140 too late to fall in love with God. 429 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:01,440 When we pass through the veil of this 430 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:03,860 world into the next, the condition of our 431 00:15:03,860 --> 00:15:06,360 character in this life will be fixed forever 432 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:07,000 in the next. 433 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:09,740 People that die without God in this life 434 00:15:09,740 --> 00:15:11,220 will get their wish for eternity. 435 00:15:11,620 --> 00:15:13,680 They will not have God forever and ever. 436 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:16,820 Wherever Jesus is, there will be heaven, and 437 00:15:16,820 --> 00:15:18,600 wherever He is not, there will be hell, 438 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:21,240 since hell is the tangible absence of God. 439 00:15:21,740 --> 00:15:23,860 And since God is good, kind, loving, and 440 00:15:23,860 --> 00:15:26,220 beautiful, those that will spend an eternity with 441 00:15:26,220 --> 00:15:28,480 Him will only experience the wonder of who 442 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:29,000 He is. 443 00:15:29,460 --> 00:15:31,660 Only what is good, kind, loving, and beautiful 444 00:15:31,660 --> 00:15:33,200 will be in the new heaven and new 445 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:33,540 earth. 446 00:15:34,020 --> 00:15:36,500 But hell is the total absence of everything 447 00:15:36,500 --> 00:15:38,560 that is good, kind, loving, and beautiful. 448 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:41,200 In this fallen world, we can see to 449 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:43,260 a limited degree what is good, kind, loving, 450 00:15:43,300 --> 00:15:45,800 and beautiful, but in hell, they will not 451 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:46,940 exist in the least. 452 00:15:47,380 --> 00:15:49,240 Think about that for a moment, and let 453 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:50,040 that sink in. 454 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:51,720 Think of the horror of what it is 455 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,060 to never see beauty again, because beauty comes 456 00:15:54,060 --> 00:15:56,500 only through God and is defined by God. 457 00:15:56,820 --> 00:15:59,120 Or to never know love again, because God 458 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,320 is love, and where God is not, there 459 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:02,320 can be no love. 460 00:16:02,500 --> 00:16:04,560 So this is the total absence of love. 461 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:06,620 In hell, there is no kindness. 462 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:08,640 I do not think we can fathom a 463 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:10,600 world where there is no kindness at all. 464 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,680 And God is the only good that exists. 465 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:15,460 There is no evil in Him. 466 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,540 So goodness will fill what He fills, but 467 00:16:18,540 --> 00:16:21,160 where God is not tangibly present, there can 468 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:22,860 be no expression of good. 469 00:16:23,580 --> 00:16:26,120 Hell is an existence without any expression of 470 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,600 goodness, kindness, love, or beauty. 471 00:16:29,100 --> 00:16:30,480 And I do not think that we can 472 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:33,680 comprehend such an existence, nor grasp its horrors. 473 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,080 So is it any wonder that the Lord 474 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:38,520 is filled with an urgency to save all 475 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,120 that will embrace His salvation, because He fully 476 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,300 knows the joys of heaven and the terrors 477 00:16:43,300 --> 00:16:43,720 of hell? 478 00:16:44,380 --> 00:16:46,420 Oh, how foolish it is when people fight 479 00:16:46,420 --> 00:16:48,160 against the only One that can do them 480 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:48,860 infinite good. 481 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:51,240 How crazy it is to run away from 482 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:52,980 the hound of heaven that is in hot 483 00:16:52,980 --> 00:16:55,020 pursuit of us to do us good and 484 00:16:55,020 --> 00:16:55,560 not evil. 485 00:16:56,180 --> 00:16:57,980 To have once known the Lord and then 486 00:16:57,980 --> 00:16:59,800 to turn our back on God is the 487 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:02,100 greatest act of insanity that could ever be 488 00:17:02,100 --> 00:17:03,300 committed by a human being. 489 00:17:03,859 --> 00:17:05,760 To run from the One that offers us 490 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:07,880 life so that we can chase after the 491 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,599 very things that will produce our ruin, misery, 492 00:17:10,740 --> 00:17:14,020 despair, and damnation is the most irrational, idiotic 493 00:17:14,020 --> 00:17:16,420 thing that can be done, yet people do 494 00:17:16,420 --> 00:17:17,359 it all the time. 495 00:17:18,260 --> 00:17:20,180 Should not the lives of those who call 496 00:17:20,180 --> 00:17:22,960 themselves Christian be the complete opposite of those 497 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:24,220 that are rushing to hell? 498 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:26,839 Should not the lives of those that want 499 00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:28,680 to flee from the wrath to come so 500 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:30,260 that they can know the glories of heaven 501 00:17:30,260 --> 00:17:32,040 live like they want to go to heaven? 502 00:17:32,740 --> 00:17:34,700 Yet the life of the typical, self-proclaimed 503 00:17:34,700 --> 00:17:36,920 Christian today is full of the very things 504 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:38,940 that will be the downfall of those that 505 00:17:38,940 --> 00:17:40,460 blatantly do not know Christ. 506 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,340 Church folk can watch the same filth that 507 00:17:43,340 --> 00:17:45,300 is on TV and in the movies that 508 00:17:45,300 --> 00:17:47,060 the mass of people rushing to hell watch, 509 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:49,280 but they think that for some illogical and 510 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:51,780 unscriptural reason that they are safe from judgment. 511 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:54,460 They can be immersed in the same porn, 512 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,860 greed, sexual immorality that will damn multitudes to 513 00:17:57,860 --> 00:18:00,760 hell, but for some very foolish reasons think 514 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:03,020 they are exempt from the spiritual law that 515 00:18:03,020 --> 00:18:04,220 they will reap what they sow. 516 00:18:04,220 --> 00:18:07,160 You can have people engrossed in the same 517 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:10,220 devilish party spirit that grips the world, smoking 518 00:18:10,220 --> 00:18:13,040 dope, sucking down beer, sipping wine and hard 519 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,400 liquor, and yet think that their actions are 520 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:16,200 not damnable. 521 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:18,800 In the end, it all comes down to 522 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:19,180 this. 523 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:21,800 If we had a passion for God, we 524 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:24,040 would not allow any form of compromise in 525 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:24,620 our lives. 526 00:18:24,980 --> 00:18:27,020 The pursuit of holiness is all about the 527 00:18:27,020 --> 00:18:27,880 pursuit of God. 528 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:30,680 Legalism is never the pursuit of God or 529 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:33,280 the pursuit of holiness, because legalism is all 530 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:34,820 about trying to be right with God through 531 00:18:34,820 --> 00:18:37,640 our own moral goodness, which is not obtainable 532 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:38,500 for fallen man. 533 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:40,340 It is one of the weakest and most 534 00:18:40,340 --> 00:18:43,700 despicable lies when people justify their compromise by 535 00:18:43,700 --> 00:18:45,920 claiming that they are not legalistic, that they 536 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:46,880 are free in Jesus. 537 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:49,540 To use Jesus as an excuse to practice 538 00:18:49,540 --> 00:18:51,680 sin is a very evil thing to do. 539 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:54,280 Paul warned us of this in Romans 6, 540 00:18:54,460 --> 00:18:55,520 verses 1 and 2. 541 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:57,080 What shall we say then? 542 00:18:57,580 --> 00:18:59,320 Shall we go on sitting so that grace 543 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:00,000 may increase? 544 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:01,260 By no means. 545 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:02,560 We died to sin. 546 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:04,500 How can we live in it any longer? 547 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,280 Grace gives us victory over sin. 548 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,680 It does not allow us to practice it. 549 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:11,960 Whenever our love for Jesus grows, so will 550 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:12,780 our love for holiness. 551 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:15,200 Do you want to overcome a sin in 552 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:15,600 your life? 553 00:19:15,740 --> 00:19:17,860 It begins with a growing passion for Christ, 554 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:19,400 to love Him enough that we do not 555 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,360 want the least expression of sin or compromise 556 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:22,220 in our lives. 557 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:24,660 Peter warned us in 2 Peter 2.19 558 00:19:24,660 --> 00:19:26,580 of those that teach we have a right 559 00:19:26,580 --> 00:19:27,380 to practice sin. 560 00:19:27,780 --> 00:19:30,240 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are 561 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:31,180 slaves of corruption. 562 00:19:31,180 --> 00:19:34,460 For by whom a person is overcome, by 563 00:19:34,460 --> 00:19:36,360 him also he is brought into bondage. 564 00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:38,480 You will not find a person that is 565 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:40,360 in passionate pursuit of God to be an 566 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:42,660 alcoholic because they want to be so close 567 00:19:42,660 --> 00:19:44,600 to Jesus that they will not let alcohol 568 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:45,500 touch their lips. 569 00:19:46,060 --> 00:19:47,860 The more God fills our lives, the less 570 00:19:47,860 --> 00:19:49,640 room there will be for any expression of 571 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:51,180 sin, compromise of the world. 572 00:19:51,780 --> 00:19:53,520 Empty lives have little interest in God. 573 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:55,120 They are too full of the world to 574 00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:57,300 be holy, too busy to pray, too busy 575 00:19:57,300 --> 00:19:58,380 to study God's Word. 576 00:19:58,860 --> 00:20:00,900 Much of the church has become as self 577 00:20:00,900 --> 00:20:03,940 -absorbed and pleasure-driven as any professing atheist. 578 00:20:04,700 --> 00:20:06,560 Selfish people who claim to love God while 579 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:08,360 they are sleeping with the devil are no 580 00:20:08,360 --> 00:20:10,940 closer to heaven than those in deliberate defiance 581 00:20:10,940 --> 00:20:11,440 of God. 582 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,340 Prostitutes and drug addicts are closer to entering 583 00:20:14,340 --> 00:20:16,060 the kingdom of God than the self-righteous 584 00:20:16,060 --> 00:20:18,380 that justify the practice of sin by claiming 585 00:20:18,380 --> 00:20:20,220 that they are saved by grace and are 586 00:20:20,220 --> 00:20:21,960 walking in the liberty of the Spirit. 587 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:24,040 There is a very important question that would 588 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:25,740 be good for us to answer with all 589 00:20:25,740 --> 00:20:26,140 honesty. 590 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:28,180 Do we really love Jesus? 591 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:30,780 And I think that there is another equally 592 00:20:30,780 --> 00:20:33,440 important question that logically follows the first. 593 00:20:34,220 --> 00:20:35,840 What proof do we have to offer that 594 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:36,620 we love Jesus? 595 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:39,440 If we truly love Jesus, then there must 596 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:41,680 be substantial proof of it in our lives. 597 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:43,980 Love is proved by our actions far more 598 00:20:43,980 --> 00:20:44,980 than by mere words. 599 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:46,920 The flip side is also true. 600 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:48,300 When we do not love God, then there 601 00:20:48,300 --> 00:20:49,800 is ample proof for that as well. 602 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:52,900 How can people say they love Jesus and 603 00:20:52,900 --> 00:20:55,040 not respond to His love with actions that 604 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:55,820 prove that love? 605 00:20:56,360 --> 00:20:58,580 Is it not reasonable to expect that genuine 606 00:20:58,580 --> 00:21:01,560 professions of devotion should have substance behind them? 607 00:21:02,100 --> 00:21:04,480 But what do empty promises and professions of 608 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:06,320 love without substance really mean? 609 00:21:06,980 --> 00:21:09,320 Let me present an analogy to illustrate my 610 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:09,660 point. 611 00:21:10,180 --> 00:21:12,560 Think of a young man who passionately longs 612 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:13,860 to marry the woman of his dreams. 613 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:16,460 She has accepted his offer of marriage and 614 00:21:16,460 --> 00:21:19,160 openly wears the engagement ring that signifies their 615 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:20,220 commitment to each other. 616 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,400 How would that young man feel if he 617 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:24,360 found out that his bride-to-be is 618 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:26,980 actually in love with his personal antagonist and 619 00:21:26,980 --> 00:21:27,620 archenemy? 620 00:21:28,260 --> 00:21:30,120 Would this not be an offense of horrendous 621 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:30,560 magnitude? 622 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:33,220 Would this not break his loving heart and 623 00:21:33,220 --> 00:21:34,600 justify his righteous anger? 624 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:37,000 But this is exactly what a large portion 625 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:38,900 of professing believers do all the time to 626 00:21:38,900 --> 00:21:39,360 Jesus. 627 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:41,960 While claiming to love Jesus, they flirt with 628 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,020 the world that is openly hostile to Him 629 00:21:44,020 --> 00:21:45,980 and hang out with the devil that stands 630 00:21:45,980 --> 00:21:47,400 in defiance of Christ's rule. 631 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:50,040 They want all the benefits associated with a 632 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:51,960 relationship with Jesus yet without any of its 633 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:52,500 obligations. 634 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,220 When you look at the lives of people 635 00:21:55,220 --> 00:21:57,360 that live in compromise, you will see the 636 00:21:57,360 --> 00:21:59,700 undeniable fact that they have given their hearts 637 00:21:59,700 --> 00:22:01,440 to the very things that make up the 638 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:02,320 kingdom of this world. 639 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:04,840 At best, their love for Him is half 640 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:05,120 -hearted. 641 00:22:05,500 --> 00:22:07,340 At worst, it is totally counterfeit. 642 00:22:07,940 --> 00:22:09,720 It does not take a Bible scholar to 643 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:11,840 know that there is something terribly wrong with 644 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:14,080 mingling the world with the Christian faith. 645 00:22:14,700 --> 00:22:17,100 Jesus did not radically pursue people so that 646 00:22:17,100 --> 00:22:19,980 they could become spiritual whores, prostituting themselves from 647 00:22:19,980 --> 00:22:22,000 the world Jesus came to deliver us from. 648 00:22:22,660 --> 00:22:24,260 We see this thought many times within the 649 00:22:24,260 --> 00:22:26,380 prophetic books of the Bible and it also 650 00:22:26,380 --> 00:22:27,680 comes out within the New Testament. 651 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,080 Just look at why the Lord judged Jude 652 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:32,360 in Jerusalem through Nebuchadnezzar and you will see 653 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:34,720 an example of His reaction to the spiritual 654 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:36,440 adultery and prostitution of Israel. 655 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:38,740 The Lord declared through Isaiah in chapter 1, 656 00:22:38,820 --> 00:22:41,080 verse 12, See how the faithful city has 657 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:41,780 become a harlot? 658 00:22:42,220 --> 00:22:44,340 He later made a similar statement through the 659 00:22:44,340 --> 00:22:46,300 prophet Hosea in the fifth chapter. 660 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:48,260 Their deeds do not permit them to return 661 00:22:48,260 --> 00:22:48,960 to their God. 662 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,280 A spirit of prostitution is in their heart. 663 00:22:51,420 --> 00:22:53,060 They do not acknowledge the Lord. 664 00:22:53,580 --> 00:22:55,760 I believe that a spirit of prostitution has 665 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:57,360 a strong hold on much of the American 666 00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:57,840 church. 667 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:00,580 Israel's sin was far deeper than just the 668 00:23:00,580 --> 00:23:02,480 accumulation of their outward sins. 669 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,900 It was what they had become, spiritual prostitutes. 670 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,200 Our outward life is only a reflection of 671 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:10,640 the condition of our inward life. 672 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:13,600 A spirit of prostitution had filled their hearts 673 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,260 so that it defined their actions. 674 00:23:15,700 --> 00:23:17,520 Their love of self and sin kept them 675 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:18,700 from returning to the Lord. 676 00:23:18,700 --> 00:23:21,000 The idols they served and the pagan practices 677 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:23,240 they performed were only the byproduct of the 678 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:24,960 spiritually corrupt condition of their heart. 679 00:23:25,500 --> 00:23:27,840 What they had become on the inside also 680 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:29,960 revealed what they believed about the Lord. 681 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:32,140 It is easy to look at the events 682 00:23:32,140 --> 00:23:34,440 of ancient Israel and think they are different 683 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:36,360 than us, but that is not a very 684 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:37,960 wise approach to the study of Scripture. 685 00:23:38,980 --> 00:23:41,040 These accounts were given to us for our 686 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:43,300 admonishment so that we would not be taken 687 00:23:43,300 --> 00:23:45,000 up with the same sins that they were. 688 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:47,240 Much of the American church is in a 689 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:49,440 very similar position with the Lord, as was 690 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:50,180 ancient Israel. 691 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:52,700 We can claim to love Jesus while we 692 00:23:52,700 --> 00:23:54,100 prostitute ourselves with the world. 693 00:23:54,620 --> 00:23:56,980 Half-hearted devotion always keeps people striving to 694 00:23:56,980 --> 00:23:58,080 live between two worlds. 695 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:00,780 And the deceptive nature of sin can cause 696 00:24:00,780 --> 00:24:02,800 us to believe the terrible lie that we 697 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,480 are right with God even when we are 698 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:05,480 in the practice of sin. 699 00:24:06,120 --> 00:24:08,220 Time and again, the great compassion of the 700 00:24:08,220 --> 00:24:10,960 Lord is revealed through the Spirit's convicting power. 701 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,080 Only deep, heartfelt repentance can lead us to 702 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,020 the only source of power that can transform 703 00:24:16,020 --> 00:24:17,340 our hearts and lives. 704 00:24:17,340 --> 00:24:19,960 If we want God's transforming power at work 705 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:21,820 in our lives, then we must fully embrace 706 00:24:21,820 --> 00:24:22,820 His gift of repentance. 707 00:24:23,740 --> 00:24:25,740 The urgency of God's pursuit of us for 708 00:24:25,740 --> 00:24:27,720 our eternal good can be seen in His 709 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:28,940 calling us to repentance. 710 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,440 Only an aggressive commitment to love God and 711 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:34,660 to break off every expression of sin and 712 00:24:34,660 --> 00:24:37,320 every association with the enemy will allow people 713 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,020 to possess the real life that can only 714 00:24:39,020 --> 00:24:40,000 be found in Christ. 715 00:24:40,700 --> 00:24:42,100 Let me be honest with you with this 716 00:24:42,100 --> 00:24:42,860 closing statement. 717 00:24:43,340 --> 00:24:45,800 I fear that many professing Christians are quickly 718 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,700 heading into eternal judgment because they have not 719 00:24:48,700 --> 00:24:51,720 understood the urgency of the situation, the dangerous 720 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,100 condition that they are in, or the power 721 00:24:54,100 --> 00:24:56,020 of sin to bind and enslave them. 722 00:24:56,780 --> 00:24:59,000 God is pursuing us for eternal well-being. 723 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:01,380 Do not fight against His astounding love and 724 00:25:01,380 --> 00:25:01,800 compassion.