"A Divided Heart"

Well, good morning, brothers and sisters.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Tyler.

! I'm one of the lay elders here, and it's a joy for me to bring you God's Word this morning.

So before we dive in, let's go to the Lord together for help.

Father in heaven, Lord, would you help us?

Open our eyes to see wondrous things in your Word.

Incline our hearts to fear your great name.

Give us understanding.

Father, take these few loaves of bread and multiply them.

And would we richly feast this morning on your Word by faith?

Help me to declare the glories of your great name.

We pray this in our great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ's name. Amen.

Tombstone Tourism.

I wonder if you've ever heard of that.

Tombstone Tourism.

A friend recently explained that his wife is a Tombstone Tourist.

traveling and blogging about her adventures, visiting cemeteries.

And cemeteries are richly furnished with stories to tell, architecture to see, people to remember, family histories to learn.

Tombstone Tourism.

Now, you might be one, too, a Tombstone Tourist, if you've ever looked forward to visiting the Arlington National Cemetery.

You know, for many, this is not just a visit to a cemetery, but a walk through history.

To remember and honor the courage and sacrifice of fallen American soldiers.

Each grave tells a story.

And it's to remember the history of a nation.

Now, we've had recently weddings that we've rejoiced over here as a church.

But, you know, it's a good thing from time to time to walk through a graveyard.

It's good to be reminded of Moses' words.

To teach us to number our days.

To get a heart of wisdom.

To remember Solomon's words.

That it is better to go to the house of mourning than go into the house of feasting.

To remember the clock is ticking on all of our lives.

And to remind ourselves that there will come a day where that second date will be etched onto our tombstone after our birthday.

This morning, the chronicler will be our guide as we tour a graveyard.

And he's going to point to an epitaph of King Amaziah.

And the epitaph could read something like this.

Here lies a person who has lost nothing by being buried.

For he is just as good a man underground as he was above.

And how tragic would it be to leave a legacy of failure.

A legacy of a wasted life.

And the story of King Amaziah is a warning to all of us.

About the dangers of human pride.

And you could be so close, yet so far away.

So let's turn to page 350 in the Pew Bible.

And if you're not familiar with the Bible, the big numbers are the chapter numbers.

And the smaller numbers are the verse numbers.

So it will be helpful to you to turn your Bible open to page 350 as we look at this together.

And we'll look at this story in three scenes.

First, the rising storm.

Second, the downward spiral.

And third, the supreme sovereign.

So let's read the first 16 verses together as we see a life that quickly unravels.

Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to reign.

And he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem.

His mother's name was Jehoadin of Jerusalem.

And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

Yet not with a whole heart.

And as soon as the royal power was firmly his,

he killed his servants who had struck down the king's father.

But he did not put their children to death according to what is written in the law in the book of Moses.

Where the Lord commanded,

Fathers shall not die because of their children,

nor children die because of their fathers.

But each one shall die for his own sin.

Then Amaziah assembled the men of Judah

and set them by fathers' houses

under commanders of thousands and of hundreds

for all Judah and Benjamin.

He mustered those 20 years old and upward

and found that there were 300,000 choice men

fit for war,

able to handle spear and shield.

He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel

for 100 talents of silver.

But a man of God came to him and said,

O king,

do not let the army of Israel go with you,

for the Lord is not with Israel,

with all these Ephraimites.

But go, act, be strong for the battle.

Why should you suppose that God will cast you down

before the enemy?

For God has power to help

or to cast down.

And Amaziah said to the man of God,

But what shall we do about the 100 talents

that I have given to the army of Israel?

The man of God answered,

The Lord is able to give you much more than this.

Then Amaziah discharged the army

that had come to him from Ephraim

to go home again.

And they became very angry with Judah

and returned home in fierce anger.

But Amaziah took courage and let out his people

and went to the Valley of Salt

and struck down 10,000 men of Seir.

The men of Judah captured another 10,000 alive

and took them to the top of the rock

and threw them down from the top of the rock

and they were all dashed to pieces.

But the men of the army of Amaziah sent back,

not letting them go with him to battle,

raided the cities of Judah

from Samaria to Beth-horon

and struck down 3,000 people in them

and took much spoil.

After Amaziah came from striking down the Edomites,

he brought the gods of the men of Seir

and set them up as his gods

and worshiped them,

making offerings to them.

Therefore the Lord was angry with Amaziah

and sent to him a prophet who said to him,

Why have you sought the gods of a people

who did not deliver their people from your hands?

But as he was speaking,

the king said to him,

Have we made you a royal counselor?

Stop!

Why should you be struck down?

So the prophet stopped and said,

I know that God has determined to destroy you

because you have done this

and have not listened to my counsel.

This is God's word.

Well, the vast majority of the kings of Judah

were not good men.

Amaziah?

Well, he's no exception.

And verse 1 sets the stage for a rising storm.

Who was King Amaziah?

Well, he was the son and successor of King Joash.

Remember how the last chapter ended.

His father was murdered by a conspiracy.

And look down at verse 3.

The kingdom is now fully in his grasp.

The royal power is his.

He's now in charge.

In verses 1 to 4,

Amaziah avenges his father's death.

He executes judgment.

And his grievance would have been personal and emotional.

You killed my father.

Prepare to die.

Some of you got that reference.

Now, normal Near Eastern practice

would have been to completely annihilate

not only the threats,

but the threats of friends and family.

But Amaziah doesn't do that.

Notice his respect for the Mosaic law.

Verse 4.

But he did not put their children to death.

Why?

Because the law forbade it.

Quoted straight from the Mosaic law,

fathers shall not die because of their children,

nor children die because of their fathers.

But each one shall die for his own sin.

God's law protected against generational grievances.

The children are not to be put to death

because of the sins of their fathers.

And Amaziah is kept in check by the law of God

to the letter.

So far, so good.

Not so fast.

Notice verse 2.

At the very beginning,

the chronicler wants you to know something about Amaziah.

He did what was right,

meaning he walked in a straight path.

But here was the devastating assessment.

Not with a whole heart.

Verse 2 is a shadow that is cast over this entire chapter.

Half-heartedness.

And already you see the cracks in the foundation

which will lead to a great collapse.

A divided heart always leads to divided loyalties.

And his divided loyalty will lead to his downfall.

Now, brother and sister,

we understand that the tug of war

that exists within our own hearts,

we all have clay feet.

We understand this,

and we stumble in many ways.

We lack perfection,

and if we say we have no sin,

we are a liar,

and the truth is not in us.

This, in verse 2,

cannot mean sinless perfection.

David is said to have obeyed God with his whole heart.

But he certainly was not perfect.

So what's the difference?

Well, God draws near to the broken-hearted

and contrite in spirit.

A sincere heart is broken over their sin.

A divided heart remains a stone.

A divided heart is not poor in the spirit.

A divided heart is complacent.

For the true Christian,

sin has no happy home in our hearts.

A broken heart is a sweet perfume of flowers to God,

while a divided heart is a stench.

You see, the Lord is not pleased

by mere half-hearted actions.

Obedient actions that do not stem

from a desire to please God

actually is not obedience at all.

The greatest act of obedience

to give all you have to the poor,

to let your body be burned,

if it does not arise from love,

from a desire to please God,

they're but filthy rags.

They mean nothing.

God demands worship from the heart.

Now, many wonder why.

Why does God demand worship?

You know, He's not like a drill sergeant

arbitrarily barking orders.

Do this, do this, because I said so.

And God is not insecure,

craving compliments to boost His self-esteem.

No, there's another possibility.

Consider this.

His demand for worship

flows from His love for His creation.

And the best news is that there is no,

there is no conflict between

God's glory and your joy.

God's supreme regard for Himself

flows from the fact that He is infinitely worthy.

That's what you were created for,

to worship God.

Man's chief end is to glorify God

and enjoy Him forever.

To worship God is what you were created for.

And God demands that we serve Him

with a pure heart,

a whole heart,

complete loyalty.

And the Shema in Deuteronomy,

remember, Israel was to confess

not only that God is one,

but God, You are the only one.

The only one my heart desires.

To love You with everything inside of me.

A divided heart says,

I'll love You, God,

but isn't it okay if I also love Baal?

What's the big deal?

Verse 2 is the essence

of sin of idolatry.

See, sin is valuing things,

wanting things above God Himself.

Treating God like a vending machine.

God, I want what I want.

God, give me the family I want.

God, give me the job I want.

Give me the size church that I want.

Give me respect.

God is not our highest aim.

God is just a means to an end.

Frank, consider this a health check.

How is the health of your heart this morning?

Do you treat prayer like a ceremonial pitch

before a baseball game?

Something to do before getting to the main event?

Parroting words without a heart?

You know, coming to church is a habit?

Nothing more.

I mean, you love community, yes.

To a downward spiral.

Point number two, the downward spiral.

And there's three sub-points.

Amaziah's pride, one, leads to rash decisions.

Second, a rejection of God's Word.

And third, hitting rock bottom.

First, it's rash decisions in verses 5 to 13.

You get a section explaining what went wrong

with the Edomites.

First, just like David's sin,

he gathers together and numbers the people.

Whenever you see a king taking a sentence

to count his soldiers, it's always a bad sign.

Look at verse 5.

He counts and numbers 300 choice men.

And then he hires 100,000 mercenaries,

what the chronicler will call mighty men of valor.

Now, what is this telling us?

Well, notice he doesn't even consult the prophets

before he engages these mercenaries.

He doesn't consult the prophets

to see whether God is with him or not.

So rather than reliance on God,

he takes the matters into his own hands.

Rather than trusting God as a warrior,

a shield, and a help,

he makes the rash decision

by making an alliance with these mercenaries.

In verse 7, God in his mercy sends a messenger,

an unnamed prophet who says,

wait, wait, wait, wait, don't do it.

That is a bad idea.

The Lord is not with you in this army.

If you keep going, you're going to lose everything.

Verse 8, go, be strong for the battle.

Why should you suppose that God will cast you down

before the enemy?

For God has power to help or to cast down.

He's saying, do not be foolish.

Look to God as your source of strength.

He is a helper for those who trust in him.

Isn't that what we've seen so far in Chronicles?

Now, this exhortation is a good word for us.

It's a good word in a situation where you face uncertainty.

It's not literally fighting people with swords,

but maybe your situation feels frightening, daunting, scary.

Maybe it's a scary diagnosis.

Maybe it's uncertainty about your immigration status.

Maybe you recently lost a loved one

and you're facing an uncertain future.

An empty house where all your kids

have now moved away and you're alone.

Uncertainty about finding a job.

Maybe it's uncertainty of how you're going to get

through this sermon.

Be strong for the battle, brother and sister.

And he tells us why we can be strong.

God has the power to help.

The Hebrew word is ezer, helper.

God, you are my helper.

Now, not like elves, you know, Santa's helpers.

No, God is a warrior who fights for his people.

I lift up my eyes.

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord,

the maker of heaven and earth.

God, you are my azer.

He has unbounded power to help his people.

He's a protector, a preserver, a provider for his people.

God helps those who call out to him.

And he has no rivals.

He can take a few farmers with pitchforks and shovels

and topple Egypt, the most powerful nation on earth.

Hasn't he demonstrated his power to his people already?

What is Amaziah's response to the exhortation of verse 9?

Is it, you're right.

How could I have been so stupid?

No, look down at verse 9.

He says, what about all the money I paid to the mercenaries?

A modern translation would be, bro, what about the bag?

100 talents of silver, that's $2 million.

For you accountants in here,

his main reference for obedience is his return on his investment.

About taking a loss on the balance sheet.

The question itself shows how half-hearted he is.

He never even considered that he offended God.

This is not repentance.

The question is, what are you willing to give up

for the sake of wholehearted devotion?

Would you give up $2 million for the sake of obedience to God's word?

What cost is too high?

What about your reputation?

Give up your money, your prestige, your popularity, pleasure.

What if the world started to call you intellectually benighted

and bigoted for following Christ?

Would you follow him even then?

To lose your status?

Ah, but friend, the prophet responds with a word

that has encouraged many a very saint.

In verse 9, the Lord is able to give you much more than this.

You'll gain much more if you obey God

than what it would have cost you otherwise.

Oh, this is a call in confidence in God's goodness.

Paul would say all these things are rubbish.

They're trash in comparison to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.

These are nothing compared to God.

So, brother and sister, rest assured in this,

that losses that you suffer for the Lord's sake are not losses.

Even in this life, the Lord will give you much more than you will ever lose.

Of Jim Elliot, he is no fool to give what he cannot keep,

to gain what he cannot lose.

Friend, is God calling you to give up sin?

Much more will he give you.

So much more joy and delight.

He gives you himself.

Friend, are you facing rejection from friends and family

for your devotion to Christ?

He provides abundantly.

So much more.

He gives you himself.

He gives you the communion of saints.

Jesus, a new family across the world.

Jesus would say in Mark 10, verse 30,

Mark 10:30

anyone who leaves behind possessions or relationships for my sake

will receive a hundredfold return in this life

and eternal life in the world to come.

Now, if you can go back to the year 1980,

and you were given the opportunity to purchase shares in the startup Apple,

knowing what you know now,

a company that has returned more than 2,000 times

the original investments,

how much more, how much would you give away?

A dollar?

Ten?

A hundred dollars?

No, you'd give away everything.

How much more will Christ return for those who give their lives to him?

Now, at this point in verse 10,

Amaziah sends the soldiers off.

But again, his obedience is fool's gold.

Yes, he checks the box,

but it appears he is more out for immediate material gain

rather than a desire to please God.

And notice his rashness in hiring mercenaries causes a problem.

In verse 10,

The army was very angry.

Fierce anger.

Why?

Well, it seems this army had lost their opportunity for the real prophet.

The real prophet was plundering the people.

Their wages were nothing in comparison to the spoils of plundering the people.

If you look down at verse 13, that's exactly what they do.

Plundering and killing Amaziah's own people.

Amaziah's sin risked the lives of his people

due to the rashness of his decision.

You know, the effects of sin in our life are terrible.

Sin darkens our minds.

But, you know, sin doesn't just affect you.

Sin affects those around you.

Spouses.

Children.

Fellow church members.

Leaders, it affects the people whom God has put into your care.

Whom God has called you to protect.

Amaziah's people are reaping the consequences for his disobedience.

And meanwhile, look at the bloodthirsty treatment of the Edomites.

Verse 12.

These Edomites are thrown off the cliffs.

One commentator said this.

What they should have done is thrown their idols off the cliffs.

Because as we'll see, these become a snare.

So first were his rash decisions,

but the downward spiral continues by his rejection of God's word.

In verses 14 to 16,

he does something mind-blowingly stupid.

Lukewarmness always leads to false religion.

Look down.

A conquering king worships the idols of a defeated nation.

How stupid.

It was the Lord who gave him victory.

Yet he thinks these idols can help him?

This is like getting on a lightning rod in the middle of a thunderstorm,

cursing God to his face.

This shows how low sin drags us down.

It darkens our judgments.

You know, there is a way that seems right to a man,

but in the end, it leads to death.

You know, how often do we turn to other gods?

Though you and I know they make empty promises.

And they will ultimately fail us.

How often do we treat idols like our Messiah?

They'll protect you.

They'll save you.

They'll give you that feeling that you can't live without.

We know they make empty promises,

but we continue to go back.

You know, sin is actually really irrational.

Always.

You know what else is irrational?

Owning a wolf dog.

Have you heard about these animals?

A wolf dog?

These aren't huskies, which are great dogs.

Bulldogs are okay, too.

He who has ears, let him hear.

Wolf dogs are like 80% wolf.

And when these wolf dogs are young, they look cute.

So what do people do?

They'll adopt them as pets.

You know, people say they're misunderstood,

marginalized even by the prejudices and misinformation out there.

And so they bring the wolf dog into their home.

But then something happens.

Around two years old, these wolf dogs start to behave differently.

They start to behave as predators.

At two years old, these wolves begin to challenge their owner,

asserting their dominance in the house as the alpha.

And at that point, the owners realize

they've invited a vicious predator to live inside their house.

You don't own the wolf.

The wolf owns you.

Many are maimed and killed by their wolf dogs.

Friend, isn't that how sin works?

Our desires are wolves so often clothed in sheep's clothing.

And sometimes we wrongly think sin is a domesticated pet that we can control.

But in Romans 6, Paul writes that sin is a slave master seeking to enslave you.

As John Owen said, be killing sin or sin will be killing you.

And sin provokes God's anger in verse 15.

A man of God approaches him.

Verse 15, why have you sought these gods out?

They never gave you the victory.

Now, Amaziah does something even more irrational.

What does he do?

He scoffs and mocks God's messenger.

He says, who made you a royal counselor?

The answer is God.

He is now standing in judgment above God's word.

And standing above in judgment of God's word

is the clear sign of God's judgment over you.

The prophet responds, I know that God has determined to destroy you

because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.

Now, teenagers, your parents are not perfect.

They're not authoritative like the word of God.

But when they bring the word of God to you, listen to them.

The path to apostasy is paved by apathy toward God's word.

Listen to your parents when they bring you the word.

After rejecting God's word, pride now leads him to hit rock bottom.

Let's pick up the story in verse 17.

Then Amaziah, king of Judah, took counsel

and sent Joash, the son of Jehoiaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying,

Come, let us look one another in the face.

And Joash, the king of Israel, sent word to Amaziah, king of Judah,

a thistle on Lebanon, sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying,

Give your daughter to my son for a wife.

And a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle.

You say, See, I have struck down Edom,

and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness.

But now stay at home.

Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall,

you and Judah with you?

But Amaziah would not listen,

for it was of God,

in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies,

because they had sought the gods of Edom.

So Joash, king of Israel, went up,

and he and Amaziah, king of Judah,

faced one another in battle at Beth Shemesh,

which belonged to Judah.

And Judah was defeated by Israel,

and every man fled to his home.

And Joash, king of Israel,

captured Amaziah, king of Judah,

the son of Joash, son of Ahaziah,

at Beth Shemesh,

and brought him to Jerusalem

and broke down the wall of Jerusalem

for 400 cubits,

from the Ephraim gate to the corner gate.

And he seized all the gold and silver

and all the vessels that were found

in the house of God

in the care of Obed-Edom.

He seized also the treasuries of the king's house

and also hostages.

He returned to Samaria.

Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah,

lived 15 years after the death of Joash,

the son of Jehoaz, king of Israel.

Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah

from first to last,

are they not written in the book

of the kings of Judah in Israel?

From the time when he turned away from the Lord,

they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem.

And he fled to Lachish.

But they sent after him to Lachish

and put him to death there.

And they brought him upon horses,

and he was buried with his fathers

in the city of David.

Pride leads him to hit rock bottom.

By verse 17, Amaziah says to the northern kingdom,

let us look one another in the face.

In other words, he's saying, let's face off.

See you at noon on the playground.

And at this point, he thinks he is it.

He's the boss.

He's a pretty big deal.

He's the next Alexander the Great,

conquering the world.

But in response,

what does the king of Israel say to him?

Well, he begins to wax poetically.

What's with the marriage metaphor?

I think Joash is saying,

I know you're trying to get the upper hand,

but here's what's about to happen.

The small thistle is about to be trampled down.

He's saying, Amaziah, stay at home.

Don't embarrass yourself.

When you come over here,

you'll find out we're not like the Edomites.

You're a big shot on the playground,

but you're about to step into the ring

with Mike Tyson.

Stay at home.

Don't embarrass yourself.

What happens?

Well, pride comes before the fall.

Literally, Amaziah does not listen.

Verse 21, he goes up.

By verse 22, he is trampled down.

End of verse 23,

the wall of the city is exposed.

Now the people are exposed and defenseless.

The king is taken captive.

Treasury is seized.

Hostages taken.

The king is assassinated.

In verse 27.

Amaziah thought these idols

were a good deal,

but sin hides the price tag.

Look what he had to pay

rather than listening to God's word in obedience.

Point number two is the rising,

point one is the rising storm.

Point number two,

the downward spiral.

Point number three,

the supreme sovereign.

Now verse 20,

we are essentially taking,

if you will,

behind the scenes

of what is happening here.

Joash attempted to talk Amaziah

out of such a fight,

but we are told very clearly

in verse 20

that Amaziah would not listen.

He gives a reason.

Why?

For it was from God

that he might deliver them

into the hand of Joash.

This is Pharaoh 2.0.

The king of Judah

has become a Pharaoh

that God will now destroy.

Remember,

God can help

or he can cast down,

and God has now chosen

to cast down.

If you were to ask Amaziah

the question,

whose idea was it

to reject the prophet's warning?

He would say,

it's my idea.

No one controls me.

But look at verse 20 again.

It was of God.

Amaziah did not listen

because God

had determined it to be so.

It's mysterious, isn't it?

Human responsibility

and divine sovereignty.

Now some people think

human history

is all about human.

destiny determined

by our decisions.

But the chronicler

rejects any human-centered

view of history.

This is a God

who lifts up kings

and brings them down.

Proverbs 21,

the king's heart

is a stream of water

in the hand of the Lord.

He turns it

wherever he will.

He exercises sovereignty

over nations.

And has God

stopped being sovereign

since the time

of the chronicler?

friend, God governs

governance.

He is infinitely supreme,

always in control.

He is powerful

over Israel's prophets

and priests and kings.

He is powerful

over current presidents.

He is powerful

over planets.

Psalm 2,

the rulers rage,

the people plot in vain.

And what does God do?

Is he pacing back and forth

in his heavenly throne room

wondering what he's going to do?

No.

God sits in heavens

and laughs

and he does all

that he pleases.

See, the most cataclysmic event

is like a butterfly

landing on Mount Everest.

God is immovable.

Do you think the creature

can limit the creator's

sovereign power?

That is not the story

you see in Chronicles.

And if we go behind

the curtain,

not only with Amaziah,

but all of human history,

will we not expect

to find the same truth?

It was of God.

Now, for all you news junkies

out in here,

I know there are some of you.

Stop.

But I don't know how you do it.

But if you can't,

here's a piece of advice

that Amanda gave.

Every time you read an article,

at the end of each headline,

write,

it was of God.

And surely it must be so.

There's only two alternatives.

Either God must reign

or he must be ruled.

And the emphatic witness

of the scripture

is that God is reigning.

You know, the cancer

in Amaziah's heart

disguised itself

and it's spread

like a predator.

And this church

is a hospital.

And there's honesty

at a hospital.

And the truth

must be told.

Because you see,

the sad story of us

is we are naturally

like Amaziah.

Half-hearted obedience

means nothing to God.

We are apathetic

to God

and his word.

We don't,

we cannot reach up to God.

We're like the paralyzed

man on the side

of the road.

We can do nothing.

But the good news,

my friends,

is that God

has reached down to us.

God hasn't just

sent us a prophet.

He has sent us

his own son.

And this is the message

of the gospel.

You see,

God made you

to bear his image.

And because of that,

he has authority over you.

He demands

full worship

in your heart.

And he is good

and he must

punish sin.

He will not brush

your sin under the rug.

And by nature,

we rebel.

By nature,

we are God-ignoring

and God-belittling.

By nature,

we deserve God's

wrath.

Friend,

do not be deceived.

Outside of Christ,

you do stand

under God's judgment.

God can help

or he can cast

down.

And the good news

is this,

God is a helper

to those who call

out to him.

Because even though

he is surrounded

by idolaters,

his heart is filled

with steadfast love.

We are filled

with hatred,

his heart

filled with mercy.

And God sovereignly

works out his plan

by sending his son.

Fully God

and fully man.

And unlike Amaziah,

he was the perfectly

righteous king.

He obeyed God

not with a half heart

or divided heart.

He obeyed God

with his entire heart.

And he came down

and lived the perfect

life of obedience

that we should have lived.

But despite never sinning,

he goes to a cross.

And isn't the cross

the greatest mystery

of divine sovereignty

and human responsibility?

After all,

who sent Christ

to the cross?

Jesus was carried away,

maybe against his will,

to be tortured,

to be killed,

to be crucified.

And humanly speaking,

didn't Judas

send Christ to the cross?

Humanly speaking,

wasn't it the chief priests,

the scribes,

and the Pharisees,

plotting and scheming

to publicly shame

and execute this Jesus?

Humanly speaking,

didn't Pontius Pilate

and Herod

send him to the cross?

Humanly speaking,

didn't the people

who yelled,

crucify him,

crucify him,

didn't they send him

to the cross?

Friends,

higher above them all,

it was of God.

Who sent Christ

to the cross?

The Father sent him

in his great love.

Sends him to die.

Why?

So he could be

our substitute,

bearing God's

white-hot wrath

against sin

for all who had returned

from their sin

and put their trust

in Christ alone.

And on the third day,

Jesus rose from the dead.

And now Jesus stands

and says,

there are two possibilities.

Either I will be your help

or I will cast you down

in judgment.

And that hope

is held out to you today.

He promises

that he will remove

your heart of stone

and give you

a new heart of flesh.

He will give you

a new heart

by his Holy Spirit.

Friend,

if you are here

and you are not a Christian,

consider this chapter.

Consider what it means

for our lives.

You know,

in our proud hearts,

people tend to think

better of themselves

than what God thinks

of them.

You know,

and we tend to think

that Christianity

is an unnatural way

to live.

We've got it backwards.

You see,

Jesus lived

the most natural life.

He never bowed down

before idols.

You and I

and our sin

are the abnormal ones.

See,

we are slowly dying,

hopeless,

on our knees,

bowing before idols.

Treating career

and cars

and cash

as our functional gods.

We are on our knees,

bowing before idols

and this one comes

to offer us life,

water to the thirsty soul

and what do we do?

We belittle him.

Our entire life

is backwards

when we reject Christ.

God destroys

the wisdom of this world.

There are only

two possibilities.

He will help

or he will cast down.

Friend,

do not be deceived.

Your sin blinds you

to who Jesus is.

Friend,

don't be blind to Jesus.

Don't be like Amaziah,

so close

yet so far away.

Look at Jesus.

Look at his works.

Look at his miracles.

Look at his words.

Look at his deeds.

Look at his actions.

Look at him being raised

from the dead

in history.

The very thing

God has been making clear

since the dawn

of creation.

He has been saying

all along,

look for this one.

Don't be blind

to Jesus.

what happens

when you go to Christ.

Immediate forgiveness.

I'll repeat that.

Immediate forgiveness

and intimate fellowship.

True grace

reaches the bottom

of your heart

and God can take

your ruined life

and make something

brand new.

Oh, but friend,

if you are here

and you're a Christian,

Jesus Christ is the same

yesterday,

today,

and tomorrow.

He is your Azir.

And if he is sovereign

to cast down,

do you not see

that he is sovereign

to be your helper?

He is your sovereign helper,

the maker of heaven

and earth.

He neither sleeps

nor slumbers.

Rest in everything

that he has done for you.

That is a pillow

to lay your head on

at night.

And we have no reason

to boast in ourselves.

It's all of grace.

It's all of God.

All to his glory.

Today he says

the same to you.

I will be your help.

And I will never fail you.

And to close,

during an interview

of the late Christian scholar

Carl F. Henry,

who at the time

was in his 70s,

was asked

how he managed

to remain so humble

for so many decades.

Dr. Henry replied,

how can anyone

be arrogant

when he stands

beside the cross?

Amen.

Let's pray, friends.

Father in heaven,

we pray that we would

stand at the foot

of the cross.

and Father,

we would boast

only in the cross.

Father,

we pray that

Christ would be a magnet

drawing all people

to himself.

And Lord,

that you would get

all glory and honor

and that we would serve you

with our whole hearts.

Pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.