Leaving the moon god for the true God

Father, thank you that it wasn't as if just it goes up to the book of Acts and then nobody's a Christian until us.

We thank you, Father, that you have maintained your church in every generation from the death and resurrection of Jesus and his ascension in the day of Pentecostal today.

You have maintained your church.

And in every generation there have been people who have loved you and praised you.

Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us that we might be faithful in our generation.

Father, send out laborers into the harvest.

This harvest, you have a harvest in Ottawa.

And Father, send laborers into the harvest.

Use us.

But now we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would calm and settle our souls so that as we read your word written and hear your word, that you will come and minister deep within.

This we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Amen.

This is the year 5,777 if you are an Orthodox Jew.

5,777.

And Orthodox Jews have calculated this date.

It's the number of years that everything has existed.

They go back through what we call the Old Testament.

They call the Tanakh and have calculated that the world is 5,777 years old.

And we're just finishing up a series.

Today is the last Sunday of my series of going through the first 11 chapters of Genesis.

Genesis.

And so one of the things is, you know, do Christians have to believe that the world is 5,777 years old?

Or is there a little bit of variation that is in that?

How do we read the Bible?

One of the things that people have asked me is, George, do you read the Bible literally?

And so this last of Sundays on Genesis 11, I've sort of said a little bit about it before, but it's actually an appropriate time, especially given what happens in Abram and especially given the spiritual needs that we have, to actually take a time just for a second and consider this question.

Do Christians have to believe that the world is 5,777 years old?

So if you have your Bibles, Genesis chapter 10, and we're going to, Genesis 11, sorry.

Genesis 10 · chapter mention

And we're going to just look at verse 10, which gives us another one of those genealogies.

And it's a genealogy with ages.

And we'll just start reading.

And when I move, we'll just start reading.

And then I just want to make a few comments about it.

And here it goes.

First chapter 11, verse 10.

And these are the generations of Shem.

When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpashad two years after the flood.

And Shem lived after he fathered Arpashad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Arpashad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah.

And Arpashad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber.

And I'm not going to keep reading.

You get the idea.

So here's the thing.

First of all, if you want to really know some of how I've been trying to understand the age of the earth, etc., etc., which I'm not going to reiterate.

I just encourage you to go back and listen to some of my sermons.

The first one on Genesis 1-1 and how I talked about historical Adam and how I talked about knowing the flood.

I'm not going to reiterate those things.

I just want to look at a very particular way of actually listening to what the Bible says and what the Bible doesn't say.

And what it actually says here in Hebrews, in Hebrew means that we actually can't really calculate the age of the earth from this.

Because the genealogy doesn't work like a combination, the numbers in a combination lock where everything is just one number after another.

And it's like a mechanical type of order.

The word fathered just can also mean ancestor of.

And instantly I can feel certain people feeling a little bit antsy.

But here, could you put up the first point, Andrew?

This is going to be my big, this is really a far more important point than maybe most of us realize.

Let God be God and let his word written be his word to us.

Let God be God and let his word written be his word to us.

When scholars study the Bible, not just this one bit, but when they study the whole Bible from cover to cover,

one of the things they notice when they study the Bible from cover to cover

is that the biblical writers don't treat genealogies in a, like the way you treat instructions to fix something in your computer

or instructions on a bank machine or combinations in a combination lock.

So for instance, if you read the same genealogy in the book of Luke,

you'll discover that in fact,

I have to make sure I get the names right here.

If you study the same genealogy in Luke,

you'll discover that

Shelah,

if you look down here,

you know how it says verse 12,

when Arpashad had lived 35 years,

he fathered Shelah.

If you read the same genealogy in Luke,

you'll discover that Shelah is Arpashad's grandson.

So does this mean the Bible's...

No, what...

They didn't write genealogies

to try to communicate this type of historical knowledge.

You can skip generations.

That's not me saying this because I'm some liberal.

It's actually because

if you read all of the Bible

and just see how it is that the Bible

is trying to communicate,

you realize that they don't...

They use...

One of the things they do with genealogies,

I think is in the Indiana Jones movies

or some of those other older movies,

he has to go on a trip from wherever he is in California or whatever,

and he has to go to some other place in the world,

and all of a sudden you see a map,

and maybe you see like a picture of a plane

moving across the ocean and landing places,

and then maybe like a picture of a camel or a balloon or something

as it goes from place to place to place.

Part of the way that the Bible uses genealogies

is to just show a connection between one group and another.

Part of what it's talking about

is it's trying to communicate who's significant.

And part of what it's trying to communicate

is if you actually count up the ages,

and this is another reason for you to understand

that just the way they use it,

it's like the significant person

that is the ancestor of this person,

is if you add up the ages,

then Shem, right,

who's one of the sons of Noah,

who was in the ark,

if you add up the ages,

Shem outlives Abraham by 35 years.

And yet there's no record wherever in the Bible

that when Abraham's going around

that Shem is around

or some of these other people on the list.

If you add up the ages,

Shem and Abraham's grandson Jacob

would have been able to hang out together.

And Jacob would have been able to talk to Shem

for 35 years after his grandfather had died.

See, here's the real big significance to this.

Let God be God and let his word written

be his word to us.

Like a lot of us,

when we hear things like this,

we say, well, that's not fair.

Why doesn't the Bible just say what it means?

But what we're doing when we say that

is we're not actually saying,

why doesn't the Bible just say what it means?

What we're actually saying is,

God, we think our ways of writing

are the way that you should have written.

How dare you not write the way we write?

Like, how dare you not write

the way we write newspapers

or we write academic papers?

Like, if you want to speak to us,

speak in the type of ways

that we understand things.

God, like, how dare you just...

Hold on a moment.

Like, for a committed Christian,

like, what's going on there?

See, here's one of the other things about this.

Like, when I was growing up,

and I still see it so many times

when I listen to different speakers

and I go to different conferences

and I get involved in different debates,

that a lot of people,

what they think of is somebody

who takes the Bible literally,

who finds one simple text

and uses it to shout down

every other text

and every other type of idea of nuance

and just uses it like a battering ram.

I'm not going to get into a discussion

about baptism,

but I was just listening to something

and a guy went on and on and on

and on and on

about how he believed the Bible

and the Bible's view on baptism.

And he just went on and on and on

and he kept quoting this one verse.

And what you'd never know

if you listen to him

is that there's 88 different passages

in the New Testament

that talk about baptism.

88 different passages.

I'll say it again,

88 different verses.

And this guy,

who for a lot of us,

we think of,

that's a strong Bible man.

He's a Bible teacher.

He doesn't just sort of give,

you know, blah, blah, blah, blah.

He teaches the Bible.

He gives you the Bible.

It's simple.

It's clear.

But he actually isn't giving you the Bible.

He made no attempt

to talk about 87 other verses.

He made no attempt whatsoever

to try to say,

well, you know,

if you look at all of these verses together

and listen to all that God says,

this is what God says.

And one of the very hard things

for Bible-believing churches

and for Bible-believing Christians

is a lot of times

we don't actually believe the Bible

and we don't actually listen to the Bible.

So what we want to do

is we want to find one simple verse

that we can use

like a club

or a battering ram

to knock everybody else out of the way

or we want to use it

like a megaphone

to shout everybody down

and we pick a verse

which is sort of the way that we think.

But the whole point

of listening to the Bible

and listening to God

is to try to figure out

how he thinks

because he's smarter than us.

He's wiser than us.

He's God.

And so scholars

who study the Bible

very, very carefully

and don't just read this one little bit

but read it from cover to cover

have understood

that the way the Bible uses genealogies,

the way that God chose

to reveal his word

actually preserves mystery

about calculating certain things.

And if we say

that God can't do that

we say,

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

what do you mean God can't do that?

Really?

He can't?

Well, suck it up.

He did.

That's what he did.

Like get over yourself.

Like let God be God

and let his word written

be his word to us.

And don't just harp on one verse

but have a deep commitment

to read the Bible

from cover to cover

and to just really listen deeply

to all that God wants to say to us.

And then as he speaks to us

throughout all of scripture

and we are humbled before it

we can say,

isn't that very interesting?

Is it God uses genealogies?

He chose a time

when genealogies were used

and it was fine for people

to skip one generation,

two, five,

who knows how many generations

to just show the significant thing.

And you know,

here's the thing

which is really interesting

is that we get so caught up,

those of us

in a more evangelical

type of tradition,

we get so caught up

with these types

of very, very

like an attempt

to, I don't know,

defend the Bible

but we actually miss

what the other thing

which is really going on

in the Bible

because here's the thing

which is also so significant

about this text

is that just before this text,

just before this genealogy,

we have the story

of the Tower of Babel

which I talked about last week.

That God comes down

and as part of God's grace to us,

when he judges,

he judges in mercy

and part of his mercy

is he scatters people

throughout the entire face

of the earth.

They want to do a great evil.

They want to remove all barriers.

They want to remove all limits.

They want to pretend to themselves

that they've become gods.

They want to do

whatever a god can do

because in the ancient world,

just as we on one level

implicitly think,

the ancient world gods

can do whatever they

dang well feel like doing

and that's what human beings

want to become.

They want to become like gods,

do whatever they dang well

feel they can do

and God in his mercy

scatters them

throughout the whole face

of the earth

so then immediately after that

what he does

is he shows these

significant people going along

and what he's saying to us is

on the ground

it looks like God

is out of control.

I mean the world

is out of control

that God has not

remembered his promise

to send a person

who would destroy

the serpent

and open the way

back to the garden

of Eden

in fellowship with God

and what this genealogy

does amongst other things

is say,

look at that,

throughout all of the changes

and chances of this fleeting world

God has not forgotten

his promise

and time after time

there's a significant person

and every time you see

this significant person

you are being reminded

that God has not

forgotten his promise.

There is going to come one

who will slay the serpent

and be used by God

to make us right with God again.

That's what God is doing.

It's really important for us

who live as Christendom

increasingly lies in ruins

around us

and we live amidst the ruins

and the fragments

of Christendom

to remember that God

is still sovereign

and in control

and remembers

and is committed

to his promises.

We have to let God

be God

and let his word

be his word to us

because we follow God

with our ears.

We follow Jesus

with our ears

by listening to him.

We come to faith

by our ears.

Not by our ability

to see the future.

Not by our ability

to control the future.

But we follow Jesus

with our ears.

Now,

some of you might say,

okay, George,

that's a very interesting thing

to get out of a genealogy.

And I have to confess,

I sort of don't really,

you know,

those of us

who maybe aren't

from evangelical backgrounds,

we might say,

yeah, George,

you get those Bible-believing guys,

you know,

take them down a peg or two.

And for those of us

who are from Bible-believing

that type of backgrounds,

we might say,

well,

it's a bit of a surprise

to maybe think

that some of those people

that we like to listen to

who are really harangue

on one verse

that they might actually

not be listening to the Bible

and it's a very humbling

thing for us

to try to get our mind

around some of these

types of things.

But,

okay,

so God is keeping

his eye on the ball.

He's going to send a promise

and it all comes down

to Abram.

I think that's what John said

if I just read

and I guess it comes down

to this hero,

doesn't it?

This hero of faith,

this father of three

of the great religions

on the planet,

Christianity,

Judaism,

and Islam,

all trace back

the significance of Abraham.

And so I guess you're right.

This genealogy comes

and it ends with Abraham,

this really,

really,

really,

really great man.

And as soon as we start

to think,

yeah,

I guess it does come down

to this really,

really great man,

and I guess I am listening

to the Bible,

George,

that's where we have

to say,

time out.

It doesn't come down

to a great man.

It doesn't come down

to a great man.

It comes to a guy

with no hope

who worships the moon.

Can you put up

the next point?

God does not build elites.

He calls and blesses

the hopeless.

You see,

here's this other thing

in terms of our own thinking

and the way we sort of

just assume

that the Bible

is going to match

with our thinking

rather than listening

to the Bible.

And in our thinking,

I don't know,

you get education

so you can become

like more,

you know,

you can get a better job,

you can have,

you can get promotions.

I remember a few years ago

I asked somebody

what was the difference

between somebody

who got a computer

engineering degree

and a computer science degree

and they said

$20,000 a year in salary.

The engineer getting more money

than the computer scientist.

And I don't know

if that's true,

it's just what they said.

And we're just used

to the fact that,

you know,

that we try to become

more and more powerful.

We try to become

better and better and better

and surely then

the way God is going

to work

is if he's going

to be keeping

his eye on the ball

and if you're going

to have a great man

of faith

that it's all about

God just building up

this thing

to getting to this point

where Abraham

has it all together,

like where he's,

he just has this great faith

and God recognizes

his great faith

and he has all this potential

and that's what God recognizes,

but that's not what

the genealogy says at all.

Like,

look what it actually says.

Verse 27.

Now,

these are the generations

of Terah.

Terah fathered Abram.

Later on,

his name becomes Abraham.

Nahor and Haran.

And Haran fathered Lot.

Okay,

so there's this guy,

Terah.

He has three sons.

Haran died in the presence

of his father,

Terah,

in the land of his kindred

in Ur of the Chaldeans.

Now,

there's only Terah

and two boys.

And Abram

and Nahor took wives.

The name of Abram's wife

was Sarai

and the name of Nahor's wife,

Milcah,

the daughter of Haran,

the father of Milcah

and Iscah.

Now,

just pause.

We know from

archaeological evidence

that in Ur

of the Chaldeans

that they worshiped

the moon god.

and people

who know Hebrew

say that both

Sarah and Milcah

are named

after aspects

of the gods

and goddesses

under the panoply

of the moon god.

God is calling people

who worship the moon.

The whole genealogy

has come down

to one guy,

Terah,

who has three sons.

One son dies.

The two remaining sons' wives

who become important

are both named

after goddesses

in the moon god's

pantheon.

We know actually

from other places

in the Bible

where it tells us

that in fact Abraham

before God's call

worshipped other gods,

not the true

and living God.

And then a verse

which is going to be

unbelievably important

in a couple.

Look at verse 30.

Now Sarai,

that's the wife of Abraham,

was barren.

She had no child.

So as God formed an elite,

it's come down to Terah,

has three sons,

one dies,

two left,

and one of the sons,

his wife has no children.

These aren't the powerful elite,

at least not the way

Christians and Jewish people

would understand it.

You see,

one of the things we have,

one of the problems we have

with thinking that God calls

and forms elites

is that it does

several things within us.

it either means

that we become

very,

very,

very proud

because obviously

he's coming

and dealing with us.

So obviously,

like I'm going to have faith

like Abraham,

obviously I'm part of the elite.

Or it lets us off the hook

from having to follow God

because we say,

well,

you know,

I'm not like,

I'm not like Abraham.

You know,

I'm not very well educated.

I don't have that many abilities.

I'm not a great at praying,

you know,

whatever it is.

So I'm sort of off the hook.

But the whole point

of this text

is it's all setting us up

to the hopelessness

of the line

and how God speaks

into hopelessness,

how God speaks

into this mixture

of strength

and frailty

and weakness,

and how

in the midst

of something

which looks completely

and utterly unworthy

and utterly helpless,

God's commitment

and promise,

God being God

and God speaking

creates things

when people listen

and say yes.

You see,

if God actually works

through both

the hopeless

and people

who have excellency

and stuff like that,

in fact,

it's all about God

and not about us,

then there's nothing

to ever be proud about

if you're a Christian.

Nor is there ever

any reason

why we should think

that it can't be us,

that God is calling.

Look down to chapter 12,

verses 1 to 3.

And actually,

just a pause here.

Could you put up

the next point, Andrew?

Here's the thing

which is going to be

really, really amazing

is that one of the things

that characters

is if you study

ancient paganism

and even modern paganism,

the gods are fickle.

One day they wake up,

they don't like you.

Don't like you,

don't like you,

don't like you.

But they like you,

you, and you.

Next day,

sucks to be the first group.

I like a different group.

The gods are fickle.

You have to sort of figure out

maybe what you've done.

And a lot of times

it hasn't been

that you've done anything,

it's just that the gods

are fighting with each other,

that the gods,

many wives or lovers

have gotten jealous

with each other

and they've just

zapped a few of you

or blessed a few of you

and it's the gods fighting

and we're just

their little pawns.

And that's the world

that Abram grows up in.

In a world

of fickle gods,

the true God

commits promises

and keeps his word.

Look at what happens

in chapter 12

verses 1 to 4.

Now the Lord said

to Abram,

go from your country

and your kindred

and your father's house

to the land

that I will show you

and I will make you

a great nation.

I will bless you

and make your name great

so that you will be

a blessing.

I will bless those

who bless you

and him who dishonors you

I will curse

and in you

all the families

of the earth

shall be blessed.

So Abram went

as the Lord

had told him

and Lot went with him.

Abram was 75 years old

when he departed

from Haran

and if you go back

and if you go

and read more

of the story of Abraham

you'll discover

that his wife

was 10 years younger

than him.

That means

that when Abram

goes out

he's 75 years old

he has a wife

who's 65 years old

and his wife

has never had a baby.

His wife

has never had a baby.

And yet

look what he says

to Abram.

Go from your country

and your kindred

verse 1 again

and your father's house

to the land

that I will show you

verse 2

and I will make you

a great nation.

I will make you

a great nation.

He's 75 years old

he's going out

with a 65 year old wife

who's never had a baby

and God says to him

I will make you

a great nation

and I will bless you

and I will make

your name great

so that you will

be a blessing.

I will bless those

who bless you

and him who dishonors you

I will curse

and in you

all the families

of the earth

shall be blessed.

If you could put up

the next point Andrew

that would be very helpful.

God's commitment

and promises

engender faith.

I know that's a bit

of a complicated word

that some of you

have never heard before

but no one's faith

causes God

to commit

and promise.

What you're seeing

here in the Bible

is the great divide

between the true God

and all idols.

What you see here

is the great divide

to how the Bible

describes the gospel

and what God

wants to do

for people

and all religion

and all spirituality

and all irreligion.

If you go along

the Trans-Canada Highway

from Ottawa

as if you're going

up to North Bay

and somewhere along

the trip

as you're going

on the Trans-Canada

to go west

there's a sign

on the side of the road

and on the side

of the road

the sign says

that from this point on

all the rivers

that you see

flow north.

They all flow north

to the Arctic Ocean

to Hudson's Bay.

Before that

the waters flowed

in a different direction.

After that

they flow

in a different direction.

and basically

every religion

every spirituality

and part of the reason

that people say

that they can't be religious

or they can't be spiritual

is at the heart

of all of these systems

of thought

is the belief

that I have faith

or I do rituals

or I learn yoga

or I learn

how to say

the Lord's Prayer

or I get confirmed

or I pray to Allah

five times a day

or I make my pilgrimage

to Mecca

or I learn

all of the right

praise songs

or memorize

part of the Bible

or I sacrifice

to the right

Hindu gods

and goddesses

or the right

Buddhist gods

and goddesses

and I follow

the right practices

and if I follow

the right practices

then God will commit

to me

and make promises

to me

and that's how

all religion

and all spirituality

works

but look at

how it works here

God takes someone

who worships

the moon

and he's not

even very swift

in listening

to God

some of you

are using versions

of the Bible

that when I read

chapter 12

verse 1

in my version

it says

now the Lord

said to Abram

and some of your

versions of the Bible

said the Lord

had said to Abram

and in Hebrew

like they're both

good translations

had said

is probably

a little bit

more accurate

what it's saying

is that while

Abram

was still in Ur

of the Chaldeans

God had called him

and he continued

to call him

and Abram

sort of started

to obey

what had to be done

but he didn't really

obey what had to be done

he left Ur

of the Chaldeans

but he left

with his dad

and his brothers

and he goes

to another place

and it's only

after the person

dies there

in fact he goes

to another place

which is prosperous

and another place

which worships

the moon

and God

has been calling him

and calling him

and calling him

the moon god worshiper

and he hasn't responded

until finally

the time comes

after many calls

that he responds

and in God's

look how it goes

the Lord said

to Abram

go from your country

and your kindred

and your father's house

to the land

that I will show you

and I will make you

a great nation

I will bless you

I will make your name great

so that you will be a blessing

I will bless those

who bless you

and him who dishonors you

I will curse

and in you

all of the families

of the earth

shall be blessed

it's all

God will do it

God will do it

and he says to Abraham

I am calling you

from worshiping the moon

I am calling you

even though

on a certain

on a human level

you are lacking

and respecting

you have no hope

I am calling you

I am committing to you

I am promising

these mighty things

to you

I will do these things

to you

if you go

the promise

the commitment

the promise

the commitment

the promise

the commitment

and then in verse 4

so Abraham

went

as the Lord

told him

you see

God commits

to Abraham

he promises

to Abraham

and it's God's

commitment

and promises

which engender

faith

he doesn't look down

and say to Abraham

gosh you were so

faithful

gosh

you're just like

Andrew

you have 10 kids

great kids

I'm going to do

spectacular things

through you

get ready

you know

hang on

you're going to go

on an adventure

because you're so

faithful

you're so smart

you're good looking

all of those types

of things

you're

look whoa

wow

the theology

you know

whoa

you know

I can hardly

look down

at your halo

so bright

no

you worship

the moon

your situation

is hopeless

I've been calling

you for years

and you haven't

said yes

God commits

God promises

that's what

engenders

faith

that's what

engenders

faith

you see

that's one of

the reasons

why the mission

statement of this

church

is

making disciples

gripped by the

gospel

learning to live

for God's glory

making disciples

gripped by the

gospel

learning to live

for God's glory

because

we live

if you put up

the next point

that would be

great

God's promises

to Abraham

are spectacularly

kept

in the incarnation

birth

life

death

and resurrection

of Jesus

Messiah

I mean one of the

amazing things

about all of this

remember I said

that we follow

God with our ears

we follow Jesus

with our ears

not with our eyes

the text goes ahead

and says that

God's going to show

Abraham these things

all Abraham has

is God's voice

and God's promise

to go

God makes this promise

God makes this commitment

Abraham's response

is to respond in faith

and do what he says

God makes this promise

God makes this promise

he makes this commitment

we begin

not just to trust

God

but to trust

in what he says

because it's when we

trust in what he says

that we're really

trusting him

and so we hear

with our ears

we hear with our ears

faith comes from hearing

we hear with our ears

and we step out

in faith

and as we step out

in faith

God will show us

from day to day

what we need to be seen

but primarily

we follow him

with our ears

and Abraham

did not know

that this

him finally responding

as he finally comes

the Bible doesn't tell us

why exactly it is

that Abraham

finally believed

and trusted

what God

was saying

to him

and I think

the reason

the Bible

doesn't tell us

that is because

that was something

unique to him

what we need

to listen to

is the rest

of the Bible

we need to see

the trustworthiness

of God's word

the wisdom

of his laws

we need to see

the wisdom

of the story

the beauty

of the story

we need to see

Jesus

we need to see

Jesus

dying upon the cross

as the perfect

revelation

of God's love

we need to understand

how God

has been keeping

his promises

from the time

of Abraham on

we need to see

how God

has been keeping

his promises

even to Adam

and Eve

that he would

send one

who would

slay the serpent

we need to see

how the tomb

is empty

and after

the tomb

is empty

and they cannot

find the body

and because

Jesus is risen

and the body

is not there

and thousands

and thousands

of people

who can just

walk down

to the grave

and see the body

of Jesus

believe that

Jesus has risen

from the dead

that he's no longer

there

that God

has vindicated

Jesus

as the one

who can slay

the serpent

and make human

beings right

with God

and we need

to see all

of these things

and have a new

certain ground

of hope

based on how

God has kept

his promises

that for every

single human being

and planet

on the earth

that God

has a call

to them

to come

to be made

right with him

through putting

their faith

and trust

in Jesus

and we need

to be gripped

with this story

we don't need

praise songs

to pump us up

we don't need

Bach

to make us

just think

how beautiful

and melodic

things are

we don't need

great art

I mean those

things are wonderful

when they come

we don't need

to have

spectacular rhetoric

we need to be

gripped with

God's promises

and gripped

by the gospel

and as we are

gripped by

God's promises

that's how

faith grows

within us

and the wonderful

thing about the gospel

the wonderful thing

that all of these

promises

when they culminate

in the coming

and the death

and resurrection

of Jesus

is we understand

in a far deeper

way

what God is going

to do to slay

the serpent

in a far deeper

way

what God is going

to do to make

us right with him

how Jesus

God the son of God

when he dies

upon the cross

that he's dying

upon the cross

and he is able

to die

and bear the punishment

and the shame

of every single

thing that we have

ever done wrong

every accusation

in our head

every accusation

by our loved ones

every accusation

by coaches

or bosses

by demons

or by the world

or by our own conscience

every accusation

all of those

accusations

against us

fall on him

and are dealt

with by him

and all of the things

that we cannot do

that Jesus

we not only have

Jesus taken away

all of the bad

things we've done

all of the things

that we are ashamed

of

all of our weakness

not only have

all of those things

dealt with by Jesus

but his actual ability

to obey the father

and to live a life

of obedience

where even though

he is tempted

in every way

as we are without sin

that he has not sinned

his perfect life

standing for me

when I get in him

by faith

made right with God

by faith

if I preach

the most spectacular sermon

that has ever been preached

in the history of the world

next Sunday

it does not add anything

to what Jesus does for me

and God does not love me

one iota more

if next Sunday

I preach the worst sermon

of my entire life

God will not love me less

it doesn't take away

from what Christ has done

my hope is built

on nothing less

than Jesus' blood

and righteousness

I dare not trust

the sweetest frame

but wholly lean

on Jesus' name

that's what we sang earlier

that's the promise

of the gospel

and as it grips

as faith grows

just wind up

with a couple of things

if you could put up

the next point

the mind matters

but we must obey

our way to clarity

the mind matters

don't kiss your brains goodbye

but we obey our ways

to clarity

you know

when we began

my wife and I

began the adventure

of trying to actually

give away 10% of our money

to God's work or more

I wish I could tell you

that we had such

unbelievable faith

in God's word

that we just went

from what we were

which was virtually nothing

to giving 10% of our income

but no what we did

is we trusted God

for 10 more dollars

and you know what

the sky didn't fall in

we didn't go hungry

God met our needs

so we trusted him

for 10 dollars more

the sky didn't fall in

we didn't go hungry

we trusted him

for 10 dollars more

until we could trust him

with it all

because you know

we tithe

because we want to trust

that God is our Jehovah Jireh

because

giving is the highest

form of living

you know

with sexual faithfulness

with working on your marriage

with trusting God's word

about miracles

trusting God's word

about miracles

makes you smarter

not dumber

trusting God's word

makes you wiser

and so you don't fear

what the world fears

and you don't trust

what the world trusts

but you start to have

a type of balance

and wisdom

that comes

not from being ashamed

of God's word

but from trusting God's word

that's how it is

that our minds

get renewed

we got to obey

our way to clarity

it's when you bear witness

to Jesus

and people make fun of you

and they beat you

in arguments

but you bear witness

to Jesus

and you call out to him

and say Lord

help me to know

what to say

I want to trust your word

I want to be able

to bear witness

that's how you learn

that's how you grow

that's how God's word

becomes more precious

and deep to you

use our minds

but you obey

your way to clarity

we just want to use

our minds

until we've had it

all figured out

but we obey

our way to clarity

and here's the really

big thing

in closing

if you could put up

the final point

I follow my

I follow Jesus

with my ears open

and my eyes closed

you see in a sense

that's what Abraham

had to do

isn't it

okay

Abraham

you're 75 years old

you have a 65 year old

wife

you've never had a child

I'm going to make you

into a great nation

go

I'm going to go

to a high school

graduation ceremony

on Thursday

I can tell you

right now

one of the main things

we're going to say

in the graduation ceremony

what are they going to say

we all probably know

follow your dreams

follow your dreams

don't let any other people

tell you what your dreams are

follow your dreams

one of the things

that you know

the wardens and I say

when we

every fall

when we come down

to make our budget

one of the things

we say is

we say

we want to try to live

in the real world

and in the real world

how does the real world

work in the fall of 2017

when we sit down

we don't say

follow our dreams

we say

you know what

only God knows

the future

we have no idea

how much money

God will provide

for us

in the next year

now that doesn't

sound as sexy

and as moving

as follow your dream

but which one's real

every human being

goes into the future

with their eyes closed

no human being

not the smartest person

in the world

not the greatest musician

not the greatest poet

not the greatest mystic

no human being

by their own power

knows what will happen

in three minutes

in two minutes

in one minute

every single one of us

walks into the future

with our eyes closed

see the Bible

brings us

to the real world

and the real state

of our heart

and in the real world

and in the real state

of our world

the real state

of our heart

I am not a god

I am not a goddess

sorry the movie

Arrival

spoiler alert

is completely

and utterly wrong

learning a new language

will not allow you

to know the future

like you're a god

it's a dumb idea

like it's dumb

but it appeals

to our pride

nobody knows

the future

the Bible

is both

unbelievably

on one level

depressingly realistic

but it's not

depressingly realistic

it's realistic

and God says

I know the future

follow me

with your ears

and George

when you follow me

with your ears

what have I told you

I have told you

George

that 4,000 years ago

I spoke to a man

Abraham

about how I would

bless every family

on the earth

through him

and George

I kept that promise

2,000 years later

I never forgot it

I kept that promise

I sent my son

he died upon the cross

George

follow me

with your ears

and George

as you follow me

with your ears

listen to what I say

that I tell you

that my son died

on the cross

for you

that when my son

died upon the cross

you are seeing

the perfect picture

of me

and of my love

and of my concern

for you

you see that I desire

to bless you

that I will bring you

to the new heaven

and the new earth

and that when you

merely reach up your hand

not that you can reach

to me

but I can reach down

to you

that I will reach

my son's hand

will reach to you

and his hand

will never let you go

and that I don't

you do not know

George

whether you will be rich

you do not know

whether you will be successful

you do not know

any of these things

but you can know

that when you put

your hand up to mine

and Jesus reaches down

and grabs it

and he has died

on the cross for you

he is

his righteousness

covers you

he will never let you go

and you will be

in the new heaven

and the new earth

and I love you

and I care for you

I love you

and I care for you

follow me

with your ears

let God be God

listen to his word

from cover to cover

follow me

with your ears

I will never let you go

please stand

Father help us

to listen to your word

help us to be honest

with ourselves

Father

when your word

bugs us

and it irritates us

but Father

help us to have

our bugging

and our irritation

come to you

help us to lay it

at your feet

humbly

help us to let you

be you

to let you choose

the words

you want to choose

and

because it's your word

and Father

help us to follow you

with our ears

help us to follow you

with our ears

Father

we so desperately

want to know

the future

we so desperately

want to be able

to describe

what we see

we so desperately

want to be able

to do that

Father

but we cannot

but you have said

you will never

leave us

or forsake us

that your word

will lead us

to yourself

that your word

and your son

will bless us

so Father

help us to follow you

with our ears

follow you

with our ears

Father

if there is one here

who has not yet

put their trust

in you

Father

may this be the Sunday

where they call out

to you

and say

Jesus be my Savior

and my Lord

for what you have done

for me on the cross

be my Savior

and my Lord

Father

make us disciples

of Jesus

who are gripped

by the gospel

learning to be

to follow you

with our ears

as you free us up

so we will live

for your glory

and all this we ask

in the name of Jesus

your Son

and our Savior

Amen

the Son

and Your Amen

A

Man