Psalm 78

All right, little wonders, guys, kids, take your

glasses, walk slowly. Yep, have fun. Every moment

of my wandering never changes what you see. I'm

trying to win this war. I come back. So as you

might have guessed, that is the sermon title

from last week. And it's a rough week for that

to happen because the sermon title from this

week has a word in it that is very important

and also not at all common. Okay? And so I'm

going to give you the sermon title. Arden, would

you want to pop over there and put in the PowerPoint

the actual sermon title for me? That way they

can see it later when they need it. Alright?

The sermon title is the... Apothigmatic. Apothigmatic.

He'll put the word up on the screen in a minute.

The apothigmatic history of God. And you're going

to go, I don't know what that word means. And

guess what? I didn't know it either. I had to

look it up. So it's okay. We were all in the

same boat to start with, and we'll all wind up

in the same boat by the time we're done. So it's

apothigmatic. And word may even say it's spelled

incorrectly. And we're looking at Psalm 78. So

the very first thing we need to do if we're going

to look at Psalm 78 is read Psalm 78. So maybe

a little hoot, holler, give me an amen as we

say Psalm 78. Thank you. From this moment on,

what I am reading to you will be God's word.

If you have a slightly different translation,

that's okay. We're even going to talk about that

before we're through. But this is what it says

in the New American Standard Version, at least

if I read it correctly. Psalm 78. just do a little

breaking down, because we're reading a whole

thing, I'm not going to do a ton of breaking

down, okay? So, Psalm 78 starts like this. It

says, Listen, O my people, to my instruction.

Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I

will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter

dark sayings of old, which we have heard and

known, and our fathers have told us. We will

not conceal them from their children, but tell

to the generation to come the praises of the

Lord and His strength and His wondrous works

that He has done. For He established a testimony

in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which

He commanded our fathers, that they should teach

them to their children, that the generation to

come might know even the children yet to be born,

that they may arise and tell them to their children,

that they should put their confidence in God

and not forget the works of God, but keep His

commandments. and not be like their fathers,

a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation

that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit

was not faithful to God. The sons of Ephraim

were archers equipped with bows, yet they turned

their back in the day of battle. So we'll stop

there for one second just to make sure we're

getting up to 9a, really. Basically, all of that,

I hope you got the idea, is about telling the

people that you know and the next generation

the teachings of God. So, of course, the psalmist

is talking about what had been written by that

point in time and the complete word of God. So

we have access to the New Testament that he would

not have had. But he's basically saying God has

commanded us to hear the words that he is saying

to us, to see the world for what it is, and to

realize that he is showing us, telling us something,

and then to deliver that something that he is

showing us, telling us to the people around us

and to the next generation. And even in there

you can see some hints already toward how people

did not do that. Now, let's just be kind of simple

about this for a moment. I am a father of a bunch

of kids, praise the Lord, and I have some grandkids.

And I would say to them to follow the Lord better

than I have. So I think you could say this to

your children one day, follow the Lord better

than you have. And your children will one day

say to their children, follow the Lord. better

than I have. But it's definitely true that we

can look at the histories, and he's kind of given

some very brief synopsis here of what that was

like, and how God taught them and said, do not

conceal these things, teach them to your children

so that your children can teach them to their

children, and even those who have yet to be born

in a really long time. Notice in verse 2 he said,

I will open my mouth in a parable and I will

utter dark sayings of old. So you might recognize

that. As used about Jesus in the New Testament.

Jesus opened his mouth in parables. He told people

stories that would help people to understand

the deeper teachings of God if they were open

to it. But also they might go, you know, that's

no big deal really. They could blow it off if

they wanted to. And people did that. And some

people then got offended by the parables and

some people didn't. And they were like, well,

tell me more. Help me understand that. And they

learned even more. And then this psalm. was quoted

in talking about Jesus. But notice the second

half of it says, I will utter dark sayings of

old. And it's a little difficult to translate

into the English from the original Hebrew. And

so in your Bible, it might even be a little different.

Say if you have a King James or something like

that, they may have translated it slightly differently.

But basically what it's saying is the things

that people never knew back then. So Jesus was

going to use parables and sayings to teach the

truth of something that you would not otherwise

get. So in your day, There is something for you

that you wouldn't get about how God created the

universe, about how God set things up, about

how God responds to the way people act. What

God is likely to do in our day is contained in

the scriptures, but you might have to listen

to God to understand them more deeply. That's

part of what we do when we say reaching new heights

in Jesus. We are working together to go beyond

the outer shell to get to a deeper understanding

of what is there. That's part of what the church

is for. So we all work together to do that. It's

not just me up here preaching. If it wasn't for

you, I couldn't do what I do. It's not possible.

So the bottom line is we all work together to

go deeper. And Jesus would utter the parables

with his mouth and the teachings of old. And

you see that. Like he says, well, you know, it

says, I know you know it says this, but now pay

attention to this. And the new thing that he

taught was not new at all. It was already there.

Like when he talks about adultery, how lusting

in your heart after a woman is the same as committing

adultery already, right? So you're sinning against

God if you lust after a woman in your heart,

as if you were committing adultery. That was

already contained in the command. All he did

was unpack it. He didn't add to it something

new. Even the love your neighbor as yourself,

which would actually be called a new command,

it was new because the Jewish leaders were not

teaching it. They weren't teaching them, and

they certainly weren't modeling it, right? And

so he says, This new command I give you. But

this really wasn't a new command. It was new

to them because they weren't getting it from

any other Jewish teacher at the time. But is

it contained in God's Word? Because you realize

the second half of all of the Ten Commandments

is all about loving your neighbor as yourself.

Right? And so it was already there. So the psalmist

is saying here in 78, these teachings, we have

to go deeper and understand these teachings the

best we possibly can so we can deliver them to

people in our generation and to our children

so they can deliver them to your great, great,

great grandchildren. After you're gone, you've

got some work to do to digest and refine and

deliver this information so that they can deliver

them. It's great to think, oh, my kids, when

they grow up, they'll honor God. I hope they

will. It's even great to think, oh, my grandkids,

and I've seen some gifting in my kids. that I

don't have, and that's awesome. And then I've

seen gifting in my grandkids that I don't have

and my kids don't have, and that's awesome. But

what about my grandkids' kids? If they only digest

the Bible at 17%, then how much can they really

teach the next generation? Less than 17%. You

can't teach them anything unless you teach them

to learn on their own, in which case they will

learn it, and they might get to 34%, which wouldn't

that be great? The bottom line is we're called

by God here in Psalm 78 as the psalmist is really

recognizing what the Bible says that we are supposed

to teach. And the end result of that would be

that the generations that come, hopefully our

generation and then the ones that come, would

not be like the generations before who were stubborn

and rebellious and they did not prepare their

hearts and their spirits were not faithful to

God. And then he ends with this thought, the

sons of Ephraim. Now this is what's called an

analogy. The sons of Ephraim were not necessarily

actually like this, but he's saying, understand,

this is the way it was. They were as archers

equipped with bows that turned their back in

the day of battle. And so if you're a follower

of God, And you do not do what the psalmist is

teaching us to do. Learn what it is that we need

to know about God and deliver it to our generation

and the next generation so they can deliver it

to the next one and so on. If you don't do that,

you're as an archer who is armed with a bow but

does not come into the conflict. They run away

instead. So the archers are typically back here

and the battle is typically up there so they

shouldn't have to worry about running. But if

they think there's any chance that the main battle

might be overrun, they have two choices. They

can fire faster. Shoot more arrows, right? Do

more work. And if the enemy comes close to them,

put their bow on their back and draw their dagger

or their short sword and fight. That's one choice.

And the other choice is to go, oh, they might

be overrun. We're going to run away and live

to fight another day. And God says, if you run

away and live to fight another day, you are a

coward. You are useless. You are worthless in

the kingdom of God. That's basically what he's

saying. He's saying you don't want to be like

that. You don't want to be an archer who turned

his back in the day of battle. Now we're on verse

10. They did not keep the covenant of God. This

sounds bad. They did not keep means they didn't

retain it. They didn't keep it in its fullness.

And they refused to walk in His law and they

forgot His deeds and His miracles that He had

shown them. He wrought wonders before their fathers

in the land of Egypt in the field of Zoan. So

notice that we're up at this point and what did

He say? We will tell. This is what God's people

will do. We will digest it and we will deliver

it. That's what we'll do. And then what did he

say of those who were like those people from

Ephraim? He said they forgot their job. They

didn't do it. They forgot his deeds, his miracles

that he had shown them. He wrought wonders and

they forgot all of those things. What did they

forget? He wrought wonders before their fathers

in the land of Egypt in the field of Zoan. That's

the northern capital of Egypt if anyone cares.

He divided the sea and caused them to pass through

and he made the water stand up like a heap. Then

he led them with the cloud by day and all the

night with a light of fire. He split the rocks

in the wilderness and gave them abundant drink

like the ocean depths. He brought forth streams

also from the rock and caused waters to run down

like rivers. See, they saw God do those amazing

things, yet when they came to the promised land,

does anybody remember how that went? Twelve spies,

ten of them came back and said, oh, it's a really

rich land, but these people are just too big,

we can't handle it. After all that God had done,

that was their response to God. Instead of saying

to their children, listen, our God is great,

our God is powerful, our God is amazing, our

God has done miracles, let me tell you the miracles.

As Ariana was growing up, and it's a little less

so now, she just recently turned 10, a little

less so, but still to this day, she'll ask me,

tell me a family story. She says, tell me a family

story. And you should be telling your family

stories to your kids or to the younger generations,

whether they're your family or not. The next

generation is your responsibility, even if it's

not your blood, right? And so you should be telling

those stories. But let's check for a second,

who is the star? We tell about the great feats

of our youth, the amazing things that we did.

So we say things like, we remember the day when

Tony and Michael both hit home runs playing softball.

But who is the feature of the story? We've got

to tell our kids it's all God. God made me able.

God made me able then. God makes me able now.

We've got to talk about what God is doing. And

yet, we look at our superstars on the football

field and our superstars on the movie and with

superstar influencers on social media. But the

truth is, if they don't give glory to God, they

have no place in your eyesight or in your ears.

They have no place. Because your job is to receive

the miracles, the teachings, the understanding

of who God is, and deliver it to the next generation,

to the people around you, and to the next generation,

the kids and grandkids to come. Because otherwise,

who has delivered what is ours to deliver, and

then who will deliver it five generations down

the road? And I can answer that question for

you before we're through. But if you don't do

your job, you will be missing out on promoting,

speaking about, teaching the great miracles of

God as they did. And you see what they did. Their

entire generation failed to promote it to the

next generation. And what happened to them? They

died in the wilderness. They never went into

the promised land. They didn't make it in. Every

one of their faces went down in the sand. That's

a scary consequence for not being truthful about

the miracles in the history of God. Verse 17

says, And we're going on. Yet they still continue

to sin against Him. So all those miraculous things

that God did, and still they continue to sin

against Him. To rebel against the Most High in

the desert. And in their heart, they put God

to the test by asking food according to their

desires. So God was taking care of them in every

way. And then they started complaining against

God. They said, oh, it's not good enough. It's

not good enough. Then they spoke against God.

They said, can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

See, he's too weak. He can't prepare a table

in the wilderness. That was their taunt, if you

will, toward God. You think there's anybody taunting

toward God in this world today? You think it's

because they've forgotten the character of God,

the things that God has done? Absolutely, that's

the case. Verse 20. Behold, he struck the rocks

so that waters gushed out and streams were overflowing.

Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat?

For His people, so taunting God. Thinking about

what God can't do or won't do rather than what

God can do and will do. That was their mindset.

So the psalmist is saying they wound up in rebellion.

They weren't teaching the mysteries to the generation

and they wound up in rebellion instead. Taunting

God. Can God do it? Yes, God can do it. 21. Therefore

the Lord heard and was full of wrath. Let's see

what God's response is to their taunting God.

He heard and was full of wrath. Wrath means violent

opposition. It does not mean anger in this case.

There are some cases where it does, but it does

not in this case. It means violent opposition.

God was full of violent opposition and a fire

was kindled against Jacob. Jacob would be renamed

Israel and Israel would be the founding man of

the entire nation of Israel to this day. That

has not stopped. And it says, And a fire was

kindled against Jacob, and anger also mounted

against Israel. Now there is the anger, right?

Because they did not believe in God and did not

trust in His salvation. So because they didn't

believe in God and trust in His salvation, they

made God wrathful. He would destroy them in the

wilderness. And because they did not believe

in God and trust in his salvation, he took his

blessings away from them. They would not go into

the promised land. 23. Yet he commanded the clouds

above. So now we're going to talk about God doing

amazing things despite their rebellion. Yet he

commanded the clouds above and opened the doors

of heaven. And he rained down manna upon them

to eat and gave them food from heaven. Man did

eat the bread of angels. Doesn't mean that's

what angels eat. It just means it came from heaven

and that's where it came from. He sent them food

in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow

in the heavens and by his power he directed the

south wind. When he rained meat upon them like

dust. He caused the wind to blow and the birds

fell down, sat in a camp and they took them and

they ate them. When he rained meat upon them

like dust. dust, even winged fowl like the sand

of the seas. Then He let them fall in the midst

of their camp, round about their dwellings. So

they ate and were well filled, and their desire

He gave to them. Before they had satisfied their

desire, while their food was in their mouths,

the anger of God rose against them and killed

some of their stoutest ones and subdued the choice

men of Israel. So God's providing for them despite

The fact that they're not trusting in Him, not

believing like they should, He provides for them.

So be careful, because God will provide for you,

give you what you need, even if you're not faithful

and obedient. And you might start thinking, well,

God's given me what I need. I got what I need.

I'm fine. I'm all good. Only for God to deliver

in wrath a worse provision, if you will. In 32

it says, in spite of all this, they still sinned.

In spite of what? Again, let's be clear. The

fact that He provided for them when they were

disobedient, and then He's punishing them in

wrath because they were disobedient, didn't believe,

and He's already provided for them in food and

everything else. So now punishment comes in.

In spite of all this, they still sinned and did

not believe in His wonderful works. So He brought

their days to an end in futility and their years

in sudden terror. And the ultimate outcome, as

we talked about last week, was death. 34. When

He kindled them, then they sought Him. I'm sorry,

when He killed them, there you go, when He killed

them, then they sought Him. And they returned

and searched diligently for God. In other words,

as some decided, went down, they're done. Right?

Somebody else said, oh, they got what they deserved.

But I'm not going to get what they deserved.

And they repented and turned to God. So when

He killed some of them, Then some of them sought

Him, the ones that remained. And they returned

and they searched diligently for God. And they

remembered that God was their rock and the Most

High God their Redeemer. So, does God have to

kill in order for us to repent and follow Him?

That's what that mathematical equation led us

to. The final conclusion was somebody around

you, somebody close to you has to die in their

sin in order for you to figure out you don't

want to go the way they go and repent and turn

to God. Is that true? It's not, but that's how

it played out in their circumstances. It is possible

for no one around you to die, for everyone around

you to repent, because repentance is available

to everyone. We're in verse 36. But they deceived

Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their

tongue. So after they saw people die from it,

saw people suffer and die from God's wrath, then

they repented, turned to God, they remembered

that He was their rock, the most high. high God

their Redeemer. But then later, they deceived

Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their

tongue, for their heart was not steadfast toward

Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant.

So again, they deceived God. And then in 38 it

says, But He, being compassionate, forgave their

iniquity and did not destroy them. And often

He restrained His anger and did not arouse all

His wrath. Thus He remembered that they were

but flesh, a wind that passes and does not return.

So God was gentle to remember. They repented

and turned to Him. Then they deceived Him with

their lips and then He was still gentle. And

I submit to you that the church is in that place

today. That the church in the United States of

America and the church the world over is filled,

not filled to the brim, right? Not everybody,

but filled with deceivers. Filled with people

who have repented and turned to God and are yet

living in sin. So that's the exact place where

we are. And God in His grace and in His love

has forgiven their iniquity and does not destroy

them. He's restraining His anger against the

church and He does not arouse all of His wrath

because He remembers that we are but flesh. Then

we're in verse 40. This is after God realizes

they are but flesh and He has not poured out

His full wrath upon them. This is how often they

rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved

Him in the desert. And again and again they tempted

God and pained the Holy One of Israel. They did

not remember His power. The day when He redeemed

them from the adversary. That's a really touching

verse right there if you'll stop and think about

it for a second. Has the church, has God's people

forgotten the day that God redeemed us from the

adversary? Well, when he performed his signs

in Egypt and his marvels in the field of Zoan,

has God's people forgotten the signs that God

performed in Egypt, the ten plagues and so much

more? He turned their rivers to blood and their

streams they could not drink. He sent among them

swarms of flies which devoured them and frogs

which destroyed them. He gave also their crops

to the grasshopper and the product of their labor

to the locust. He destroyed their vines with

hailstones and their sycamore trees with frost.

He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones

and their herds to bolts of lightning. He sent

upon them his burning anger, fury and indignation

and trouble, a band of destroying angels. He

leveled a path for his anger. He did not spare

their soul from death, but gave over their life

to the plague and smote all the firstborn in

Egypt and first issue of their virility in the

tents of Ham. But he led forth his own people

like sheep and guided them in the wilderness

like a flock. And he led them safely so that

they did not fear, but the sea engulfed their

enemies. So he brought them to his holy land.

to this hill country, which his right hand had

gained. He also drove out the nations before

them, and he apportioned them for an inheritance

by measurement, and made the tribes of Israel

dwell in their tents. So God did all of that

after God's people were back and forth and back

and forth in their righteousness, back and forth

in believing, back and forth in testifying, back

and forth in delivering the truth of His miracles.

And yet God did all of that. In verse 56 it says,

Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most

High God, and did not keep His testimonies, but

turned back and acted treacherously like their

fathers. They turned aside like a treacherous

bow, for they provoked Him with their high places

and aroused His jealousy with their graven images.

When God heard, He was filled with wrath and

greatly abhorred Israel. So that he abandoned

the dwelling place at Shiloh, that's where the

tabernacle was first settled, where the first

worship of God was taking place in the promised

land. The tent which he had pitched among men.

And he gave up his strength to captivity and

his glory into the hand of the adversary. He

also delivered his people to the sword and was

filled with wrath at his inheritance. Fire devoured

his young men and his virgins had no wedding

songs. His priests fell by the sword and his

widows could not weep. So God now allows those

who go back and forth and back and forth that

He showed grace beyond measure. He did so much

for them after they failed to believe in Him,

trust Him, and deliver His message to the world.

And now, finally, He allows them to suffer in

the worst way. It's 65. Then the Lord awoke as

if from sleep, like a warrior overcome by wine.

Now, has God ever slept? No. Has God ever been

overcome by wine? No, that's not what it means.

What it means is after he allowed his people

to suffer all that wrath because of what they

didn't do, because of the evils that they perpetrated,

after he did all of that, now he's coming on

the scene and he's going to fix everything. And

it says he drove his adversaries backwards. He

put on them an everlasting reproach. He also

rejected the tent of Joseph and did not choose

the tribe of Ephraim. So those are two really

big names in Israel and they would no longer

be on top. They would no longer be recognized

as powerful. They would no longer be recognized

as God's chosen people. But he chose the tribe

of Judah. That's the tribe of David. Mount Zion,

which he loved. So Judah had Jerusalem, and Jerusalem

had Jesus, David's descendant. And so God would

solve all the problems. We're almost there. And

he built his sanctuary like the heights, like

the earth which he founded forever. He also chose

David. So he shepherded them according to the

integrity of his heart, which was a heart after

God's own heart. He shepherded them according

to the integrity of his heart and guided them

with his skillful hands. And therefore, you could

say, David received the promise that he would

have an heir. who would sit on the throne forever,

and that heir is Jesus. So, there's kind of like

three main things I want you to see in here,

and don't forget the title, the Apothigmatic

History of God. So first of all, this psalm makes

it very clear that the psalmist understood that

the history is to be told for learning God's

story. If you are a person of God, if you are

a follower of God, Don't ever again talk about

how smart you are, how capable you are, how strong

you are, how fast you are, how you were able,

how you figured it out, how you got past a hurdle.

Don't do it unless you bring God into it, because

you can literally do nothing without God. People

are looking for people to look up to, and if

they look up to you, they better see a follower

of Jesus. Or maybe you aren't one. History is

to be told for learning God's story. There are

two famous men, probably a thousand famous men

who have commented on this topic. And the first

one is a man named Hengstenberg. You don't need

to remember his name, just know that he was a

German theologian back in the early 1800s and

like he's super red and you go to college and

you read his stuff and you can barely understand

it. Well, let's distill one point of it. He said,

let whoever reads understand, which call upon

us to penetrate through the shell to the kernel.

You go to the story of God, the history of God.

You look at it and you go, yeah, okay. So Samson,

what brought him down? What really brought Samson

down? Kind of. Yeah, he was tricked. He was deceived,

right? But was he really deceived? I mean, she

cut his hair with his head on her lap. And the

men rushed in and captured him and he lost his

strength. Was that the first time they rushed

in? It was the third time they rushed in. What

really brought Samson down? What a lecherousness,

right? He was after a woman. It was lust. Lust

and money and pride. And it was the bad things

about being a man. Right? The bad thing is that

being a man brought Samson down. That's what

really brought him down. Instead of trusting

God and remaining in his Nazarite vows, one after

another he put them away. Getting his hair cut

was the last Nazarite vow. It wasn't even the

first one that he broke. It was his last one

that he broke, right? So what really brought

Samson down? Well, that's what brought Samson

down. He forgot who he was in the Lord and he

went after the things of this earth. And so I've

got to understand when I read that story something

more than I shouldn't get my hair cut. I've got

to understand when I read that story something

more than I should be strong. I've got to understand

something more when I read that story than I

should hook up with a harlot. There's more to

that story than just he hooked up with a harlot,

he let her deceive him, she cut his hair, but

God was faithful to give it back to him in the

end and he killed all the leaders of the Philistines.

There's more to that story. And so when you read

the stories of God, you don't stop at reading

the stories of God. You listen to the Holy Spirit

of God and you dig deeper. And the next time

you read the story, if you didn't get it last

time, you digest it again. And if you did get

it last time, what do you do? Dig deeper. Read

it again and go deeper. More. How does this apply

to my circumstance? What am I supposed to do?

What do I need to repent of today? How do I need

to turn to Christ? What do I look like as a human

being honoring the story of my God as displayed

in history? This history of God is to be told

for learning God's story and retold and retold

and retold. You may fancy yourself like some

character from the Bible. Aaron stood up and

shared about Vacation Bible School that he really

liked that it followed the story of Peter. I

really liked that too. You know why? Because

Peter was a butthead and so am I. That's what

I like. He was a butthead before he came to Christ.

Before he truly turned his life over to Christ

and went so far as to be crucified. And on the

way as they marched to be crucified, they say

to him, we're going to crucify you like Jesus.

You want to be like Jesus? We'll give it to you.

We're going to crucify you like Jesus. And he

says, oh no, I am not worthy to be crucified

like my Lord. So they crucified him upside down.

Now that's not in the Bible, that's church history.

But the bottom line is, history is the story

of God. It's not just what's written in the Bible.

What happened in World War II? What was God doing?

What happened in Korea? What was God doing? What

happened when the United States elected Franklin

Delano Roosevelt? When in our day, no way he

gets in office. How did our country change from

then to now? What has God been doing? Literally,

the history, I didn't say the Bible, although

that's certainly true, but history is to be told

for learning God's story. A poetic man once said

that history is his story. I don't know if that's

where it originates at. I'm pretty sure it's

not where it originates at. But the bottom line

is the history should be told for learning God's

story. Can you tell the history of how God put

this church here on this property? How much of

it can you get? Because if you don't know it,

you might want to get it because God did miraculous

things in that that happened time after time

again. Providing in incredible ways through His

power that you can't deny. It's like we didn't

have it, then all of a sudden you got it. It's

there. What? That doesn't make any sense. Miraculous

healings. Call the family in. Okay, the church

starts praying. Okay, she's getting better. She

may live after all. Time and again, historic

events of God has intervened. Judy Bolton, who

died from cancer, was miraculously, miraculously,

no question about it, miraculously with the doctor

saying, I can't understand this. This can't possibly

be true. While we were in there, we took a look

around to see how much more. There is no more

cancer. It's all gone. That was one of the two

times she was miraculously healed from cancer.

And she would eventually die from cancer and

not be miraculously healed. But in that, she

prayed for no pain, die in her sleep, and she

had no pain. The nurses kept saying, are you

sure you don't need pain medicine? Open sores

on her feet, like literal holes in her legs.

That hurts. And they're like, you've got to have

pain. She's like, I don't have any pain. I haven't

had any pain for days. They kept trying to give

her more pain pills. She didn't need any because

she didn't have any pain. Eventually, the ventilator

couldn't keep her awake. She went to sleep. They

took her off the ventilator. She went to be with

the Lord. That's a miracle. A third one that

we can count, and she would tell you if she was

here, the miracles that she saw in her life before

she ever got saved. The history that is going

on in our day must be told for learning God's

story. In order for that to be true, the people

that are living it must be about Jesus. You've

got to tell your kids when something goes right.

Why God made it go right this time. And when

something goes wrong, you've got to be able to

tell them why God allowed it to go wrong this

time. And the only way you're going to be able

to do that is if you're daily walking with the

Lord and you can hear His voice. And the only

way you're going to do that is if you spend more

time in Jesus than you spend in the world. The

history must be told for learning God's story.

The other man that I would quote is a man named

Novalis. Now Novalis, that's his... kind of nickname

because he's got this really long name that's

like 11 syllables that I can't even pronounce.

But all the writers always put him down as Novalis

because that was his nickname in that day. And

he was actually what's called a romantic poet.

So he saw the world through romantic eyes. Now

he was a professing Christian. He kind of tended

toward Catholicism, but I don't hold that against

him. He was a professing Christian. And he said

this, he says, the highest view which can be

taken of history is that in which its events

are regarded as parables of God. addressed to

men. The Jewish people believe prophecy is like

this. Here's a prophecy. Here is the prophecy

fulfilled. Let's see if it will get fulfilled

again. Let's see if it gets fulfilled again.

And they have prophecies that are fulfilled again

and again and again. What makes you think that

the events of your life that you're living, and

I know that your life is not really about you,

right? You're just the main character physically

speaking. The real main character is a God, right?

Is God himself. But what if the... The events

that you're going through, the actual things

that are happening in your life are parables

for you to teach the next generation about the

God that is at work in you. And you should be

telling the people around you and children and

anybody who will listen, the people you work

with, whatever, you say, well, now this happened.

What do you think? We have the inspirational

moment. We talk about, well, I saw this and God

told me to pay attention to that. And a lot of

times we'll have like three, four people speak

up and that's great. But it ought to be, we all

have seven to ten of those every single week.

And you should get a book and write them down

because someday you might have grandchildren

or your grandchildren might have grandchildren.

You might still be around. You might have to

deliver the gospel to somebody who needs to deliver

the gospel to somebody who needs to deliver the

gospel. That's the only person there. a racial

woman to be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

You might have work to do. And the stories of

your life are the parables to tell them. You

say, well, there was a farmer who went out to

sow seed. Yeah, everybody knows that one. But

how about when you got out of bed and didn't

feel like doing what you were supposed to do,

but God said, let's go. And then you started

doing it and God empowered it. What does that

teach you? When you got up on Sunday morning,

you didn't want to go to worship. You didn't

feel like it. But after the second song, you're

going like, oh, that's gone. What does that teach

you? Where are the parables that come out of

your life? I'm going to be completely blunt with

you. I am tired of hearing people say, what do

you know about God? And all they can do is quote

the Bible. People who don't even know Jesus can

know that about God. What do you know about God?

The story of your life, the history of your life,

the things that you are doing, the history of

your life is not something to look back and long

for. It's not something to look back and regret

at. It is something to digest, to give you the

message, to deliver to those who need it. Because

the history is to be told for learning God's

story. The truth is, if you can't share the parables

of your life with the lost and dying generation,

then you're no more better than Ephraim with

a bow who runs from battle. I didn't say it.

The psalmist wrote it. Are you or are you not

in the fight? You say, ah, sometimes it's so

hard, man. It's so hard. I'm in the fight. I'm

fighting. If you're fighting to be in the fight,

you ain't in the fight. The fight is we are supposed

to be delivering the message about God to this

generation and the generation to come. History

is to be told for learning God's story. So often,

this is the second point we see in here, that

people reflect on history as if those who suffered

God's wrath were due that wrath rather than for

learning how God delivers. Why did Samson lose?

Well, because he was a bad guy. Because he was

an idiot, right? Who would be so stupid to lay

his head down there a third time and give her

the real last Nazarite vow as the reason that

he might lose his strength, which is kind of

dumb anyway because God gave him the strength.

He gave him the strength because... He was God's

man, not because he was a Nazarite specifically,

but the point is he was willing to tempt God,

willing to mock God. Who would do that? Who's

dumb enough to do that a third time? And we look

at that and we go, I'll never be like that. I'll

learn my lesson and just not be like him. And

then the truth is, years later, we're exactly

like him because we misdiagnosed the story. We

looked at him and said, we don't want to be like

that because we don't want that result. You ever

hear anybody go to the doctor and they got cancer?

What's the first thing, I'll tell you right now,

what's the first thing that goes through most

people's minds other than, I'm sorry that's happening,

I'll pray for you, those basic things, right?

What is it? Second thing, make sure. Yep, make

sure you got, make sure it's real, right? And

then, did they smoke? Did they work with asbestos?

Right? Where is the carcinogen? Where is the

thing that caused them to get cancer? Right?

Because doctors know lots of things that causes

people to get cancer, right? And so, If they're

60 and they smoke for 50 years of their life

and they have cancer, then that's how it works,

right? Well, guess what? Lots of people who don't

smoke get cancer. Lots of people who don't work

with asbestos get cancer. Lots of people who

don't work in coal mines get cancer. Lots of

people who don't work in factories get cancer.

You can go down the list and you can go... Every

single reason a person might ever get cancer

and get to the bottom and there's no reason that

person might have cancer and they still have

cancer. And you'd give that person some mercy,

wouldn't you? You'd be like, oh, that's really

a shame if they have cancer. I feel terrible

if they have cancer because they didn't do anything

to deserve it. What? Nobody deserves cancer.

Not in Christ. Not as a believer. Not if you

recognize who the Lord is. History tells us that

people get it if they do things to get it, but

that does not make us not going to get it. That's

not how it works. So you might get it. And you

might go, well, I don't deserve it. I don't want

it. I feel bad. Well, my back's sore every day.

And my back shouldn't be sore. I didn't do anything

to cause my back to be sore. Yes, you did. You

lived in your body. That's your house. And somehow

or other, we're all not taking care of the body

the way that we should. We need to recognize,

as we reflect on history, instead of saying,

oh yeah, they suffered God's wrath because they

were due God's wrath, and I'm going to try to

avoid that, we should learn how God, what? Delivers

people from His own wrath. That's what we're

supposed to learn. Time and again they were rebellious,

and time and again He brought them out. He holds

the more blessed, the more accountable. If God

has blessed you and given you greatly, And I'm

going to say to you that it's probably true that

if you're here today, God has blessed you and

given you greatly. But you decide for yourself.

It's not my place to say, but it feels that way.

We're living in a country where you can hear

the gospel preached anytime you want. Now, you

may not have, but you can. You can own your own

Bible for a buck and a quarter. You may not own

a Bible, but you can. The blessings are delivered.

And so, realize God holds more accountable those

who are more blessed. Who was the holiest man

in... Moses today. Who was the guy that nobody

could hold a candle to? Moses. And coming out

of Egypt, from the moment he came out of Egypt

to the moment that he didn't go into the promised

land, can you count the number of times that

Moses sinned in the story of Moses? I can. No.

Once. One time. There's one. One sin listed in

the entire story of Moses. Yes, it is. He struck

the rock instead of talking to the rock. And

he said, must I give you again? Nah, God will

give you water out of this rock. So his pride,

his arrogance. But one, how many times have the

other people sinned? Oh gosh, probably every

day they were alive. Right? How many times have

I sinned? Yeah, probably just about every day

I've been alive. I'm not like Moses. Moses had

one sin from the time he brought them out of

Egypt to the time when the promise landed. Because

of that, God, literally it says in the Hebrew,

spoke him dead. For those who are more blessed,

a higher level of accountability is required.

You can have the Holy Spirit of God in you. You

can be saved and walk with Christ every waking

moment and truthfully you can be with him while

you sleep because he doesn't leave when you sleep.

You can have something that nobody else ever

had. That's why Paul said, now, now that it's

been revealed, it is for every man to repent.

You think there wasn't anybody who went to heaven

before that moment, before Jesus was crucified?

No, they were all like, well, I'm doing the best

I can. I'm believing in God for whatever way

he's going to make. I'm just going to do the

best I can. And they had sin. How many times

in the Bible can you count sin in Jacob's life?

Do you know what Jacob means? The word Jacob

means deceiver. Throughout his story, he's deceiving,

deceiving, deceiving, deceiving. And then he

would be named Israel and become the father of

all God's people. God is a gracious God. He wants

to give. He wants to bring you out. But once

he does that, the expectation is raised. God

holds accountable more the blessed. Ananias and

Sapphira in the New Testament. For all we know,

they were saved. They professed to be saved.

Nobody ever said they weren't. But they saw Barnabas

sell a property and give all the money in, right?

And he said, here's all the money. Take care

of the church. Take care of the poor here. And

Barnabas kind of got the kudos. Oh, that's wonderful.

You're a great guy, Barnabas. You're the best.

Name him the encourager, right? And they're like,

well, let's sell our property. And they sold

their property. And they kept back some of the

money. They didn't give it all into the treasury.

But they said they did. They let everybody believe

they gave all the money into the treasury. And

God struck them dead. One at a time, he struck

them dead. Because once you're saved in Christ,

there is a higher level of accountability. The

blessed are held more accountable. So when you

look back in history and you see people sin,

and they kind of make it through. God gives them

grace and it's okay. Don't you ever say, well,

he did it. I can do it too. God will take care

of me. Don't do that. Because you are saved in

Christ. You have the Holy Spirit, if indeed you

are. And you have a higher level of responsibility

to God who cleanses your soul, who regenerates

you, who seals you for the day of His next appearing.

God holds more accountable those who are more

blessed. He surrenders the fool to folly and

He supplants the chosen with another when the

chosen looks down on His provision. You understand

that? So if you're stupid enough to anger God,

to cause the wrath of God to come upon you, after

you've been called, God will move you out of

the way. Now, He may kill you, but probably not.

There'll just be a break in your relationship

with Him that persists for the rest of your life.

You'll take your whole family with you, like

the jailer who repented, and they all brought

him in, all in, and they all accepted Christ,

and they all got back, and you take your whole

family with you, and then you fall, because you're

folly, is that you value the things of this life

more than you value God. It might even be your

family that you value, right? It could be the

money. You'll do well. You get promoted, promoted,

promoted. You're doing so well because you're

working. You're doing it as if you're doing it

unto God. And then you start thinking about the

money one day. Start thinking about retirement.

Start thinking about a boat or an RV or better

things for yourself or for your family. Start

thinking about it, right? Everybody's going to

be okay. I'm going to make sure everybody's going

to be okay. It's all going to be good. I need

more money. I need more money. I need more money.

Make sure it's all going to be good. And where

is God in that? He's nowhere. And then the next

thing you know, this person's drifting, and that

person's drifting, and you were thinking you

were the anchor, and frankly, they were thinking

you were the anchor, and now you're not anymore.

And it can fall apart. God surrenders the fool

to his folly. And He supplants the chosen with

another when the chosen looks down on God's provision.

Are you serving the living God? Because if you

are, And in serving the living God, you delve

into folly. You let other things be more important.

Or you start thinking about the things of this

earth like they were in the wilderness. They

were brought out from God with miraculous intervention.

They're in the wilderness then. And then they

start like, well, we don't like this manna that

rains down from the sky. It's kind of plain.

Can't we get some meat? So God made a wind blow.

The fowl dropped in their midst. It's all the

psalmist's example, right? It's his example.

The fowl dropped in there. They start eating

it. While the meat was still in their mouths,

the strongest amongst them began to die. God

surrenders the fool to his folly and supplants

the chosen. Israel, Jacob would be the chosen

people of God. Israel's descendants, Joseph,

Ephraim, the chosen people of God would all come

out of there. But then there was a man, David.

And he switched all of that over to David and

said, a descendant of yours. Did you know that

there are women in Jesus' ancestry? It's not

even only a patriarchal ancestry. They can trace

their lineage back to Abraham. But it won't do

them squat good. Because Christ is the one who

saves. Christ is the leader of the people. Christ

is the head of the church. Christ is the one

who decides who goes to heaven and who doesn't.

Christ is the only way. And he came out of the

descendants of David. And you can find Ruth in

there, who was a Moabitess, not even a Jew. And

she was brought in. She supplanted God's chosen

people. And the church is the same way. We supplant

the chosen people of God. Now, I understand the

chosen people of God can be included. I'll come

back to that. He, after handing out blessings,

He does not sleep or ignore. God is not just

letting you do whatever the heck you want, whenever

you want, letting you suffer, letting you do

well, whatever. God does not sleep or ignore.

He is present until and if the blessed show a

desire more for the things of this earth than

they do for God. If you're stupid enough to do

that, then you won't be able to find Him anywhere

in your life. even if He sealed your heart and

saved you for eternity, if you choose the things

of this world over God, you might look for Him

and never find Him. Because He's not going to

be part of that. And He calls out every generation.

Out of every generation, He calls out worshipers

in spirit and truth. Since Adam and Eve, every

generation, He calls out worshipers in spirit

and truth that can stay the course because they

have tasted and seen and known the supreme value

of the Lord. People reflect on history as if

those who suffered God's wrath were due that

wrath. The reality is we were all due that wrath.

But we should reflect on history to learn how

God delivers. That brings us to our conclusion.

We must not look into the rich history of God's

people and repeat the mistakes we see happening

there. God has called the church to be this very

thing, the replacement people of God. We can

reasonably expect that He can keep us, that He

can fill us with His eternal character, or He

can remove us just the same as He removed the

chosen fallen people before us. The church is

the replacement for those from history who failed

to desire God more, love God more, keep God's

ways more, while at the same time desiring God's

provision above all things. But the truth is,

they got to the point where any provision would

do, as long as it could be attributed to God,

and then eventually... They didn't even care

if it could be attributed to God anymore, just

as long as they were provided for. In case you

think I'm just pulling this out of left field,

it's clear that the psalmist didn't quite say

that last thing that I said. I want to read briefly

to you from Romans 11. This is our last scripture

for the day. Some of you are going, oh, I kind

of know what he's about to read. And others of

you are going, well, I should read my Bible more

and I would know what he's about to read. Romans

11 says this, beginning in verse 15. He says,

For if their rejection, that's Israel as the

people of God, if their rejection be the reconciliation

of the world, what will their acceptance be but

life from the dead? And if the first piece of

dough be holy and the lump is also, and if the

root be holy, the branches are also. But if some

of the branches were broken off, and you being

a wild olive were grafted in among them and became

partaker with them of the rich root of the olive

tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches,

But if you are arrogant, remember that it is

not you who supports the root, but the root supports

you. You will say then, branches were broken

off so that I might be grafted in. Quite right.

They were broken off for their unbelief. But

you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited,

but fear. For if God did not spare the natural

branches, neither will he spare you. Behold then

the kindness and severity of God to those who

fell severity. but to you God's kindness. If

you continue in His kindness, otherwise you also

will be cut off. We can stop right there. It

says enough, doesn't it? The apothigmatic history

of God. So the word apothigmatic means short,

powerful, saying, or formulation, like a plan

or a book, right? So this is the apothigmatic

history of God. And the truth is, you only know

what your life is like, what you've witnessed

with your eyes, and your living testimony, what

you can talk about that you know is true. That

is the apothigmatic history of God for you. And

you say, but that's so much. To know this Bible

from end to end would be so much. So there's

about, depending on your translation, there's

between 725 ,000 and 800 ,000 words in this Bible.

That sounds like a lot. But of those, almost

2 % of those words are God or Lord. So that cuts

it down a little bit. It's not 800 ,000 different

words. It's not. Nobody has done the statistic

to know, or at least I couldn't find it to know

exactly how many different words there are exactly.

It depends on the translation, obviously. The

bottom line is, this is definitely an apophagmatic

presentation of the truth about God. and your

life is apothematic, all you have to remember

is what happened to you. Now it would be nice

if you could also remember some of what happened

to your parents. If your parents have a great

testimony, remember their story. If they walked

against God and realized it and turned to God,

remember their story. If they loved God and He

loved them back and were taken care of, bless

you. then remember their story and deliver it

to your kids and your kids' kids and say, you

know, when I was younger, I heard these stories

of what God had amazingly done in my parents'

life, but I didn't really listen and I didn't

really follow the way I should. And then I repent

and I turn back. Don't make the mistake that

I made. Tell the apothigmatic history. You say,

no, it's not short. It is short. Pithy means...

Essential, short, and powerful. The Bible is

a condensed version of everything. If you actually

wanted to write down every detail that happened

in the life of Moses, it would take books upon

books to write that down. It even says that in

the New Testament about the life of Jesus. If

you want to write down everything that was about

Jesus, it would take books upon books to write

down everything that he did. If you want to write

down everything that happened in your life, It

would take books upon books and then it would

take me years upon years to pry it out of you.

And the truth is I probably can't. Why? Because

we're stuffing ourselves so full of so much crap

that we can't remember what God is doing in us.

So that we can deliver it to everybody else as

they need it. The translation of the Bible doesn't

matter as long as it's a translation. But what

does matter is what it means. And we must learn

it. Share it with our children and our generation.

Striving to live up to what we learn. Chiefly

giving God His proper place in sovereignty. His

ways are the only ways we want. And you learn

those ways by taking a long look at the apothematic

history of God. What did God deliver us Genesis

through Revelation? And what do you know of it?

And how do you apply it? And then what has God

done in your life? And you say, well, God has

not been good to me in my life. Life is not good

to people in general. Suffering is a normal state

of being. God sent His only Son to die on the

cross for you. And if you'll have Him as Lord

and Savior, you'll have abundant life even in

the midst of that suffering. Miracles do happen.

I could give you... A long list. We could have

a sermon of just me standing up here listing

out miracles that we have seen and there would

be people in this house go, yep, I saw that one.

Yep, I saw that one. Yes, I remember that. Right?

And then we could pass the microphone around

and you could list off five or seven or ten as

long as you knew in advance because it's not

like you're telling them all the time, right?

And if so, why not? Because that's the apothigmatic

history of God. You're supposed to be telling

them all the time. You say, well, I've only got

one the day I got saved. If that's the only miracle

you've ever seen, then you should be telling

that miracle all. The time. And if you've never

seen that miracle, so you can't say that there

are any, then you need to get saved today. You

need to recognize that God has orchestrated the

events of your life and the parameters of your

life, where you live, where you will be, and

required you to be in this room at this moment

so that you can recognize that you have sinned

and therefore are separated from God so you can

believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for

your sins and commit your life to Him and live

for Him from this day forward being born again

instantaneously because God promises whosoever

call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

I just gave you an apothigmatic history of what

it means to be saved in 30 seconds. Can you do

that? Yes, you can. Go do it literally always

everywhere and win the world to Jesus. Because

you are the replacement people of God. Unless

you should delve into the folly of wanting the

comforts of this life more than His presence.

And then He'll replace you too. I'm asking you

today to commit yourself to following the Lord.

I'm not saying that He'll replace you and you'll

lose your salvation. You know, you could do this.

You could say, well, I'm saved. I know I'm saved.

I'm just going to live however I want, and I

know I'm saved. And as long as you keep knowing

that you're saved, you'll probably still be saved,

and it's all good, unless you're just fundamentally

wrong. And if you feel like doing that and living

like that, you might be fundamentally wrong.

You might not be saved, and I wouldn't recommend

it, but you could just do that. All things are

permissible. But as Paul also pointed out, not

all things are profitable. I suggest you follow

the Lord and begin to deliver the apocalyptic

history of God to everyone around you and to

your kids and to Sunday school classes and to

the church and to your spouse. And if your parents

aren't saved, then give it to your parents. And

if a new child is born, start brushing up and

getting ready to deliver all those same stories

over again. Because if you're waiting for me

to do it, I'm going to do one a year. I'm going

to do one a week for a year. I'm going to get

52 in this year. But you should get in a minimum

of 365. Because you're you every day. The apothematic

history of God. That is what it means when it's

the Great Commission. Go and teach them all things

I have commanded you to do. That's what it means

when it says we proclaim what we have seen and

heard that you also may have fellowship with

us and our fellowship is with God the Father

and His Son Jesus Christ. What do we proclaim?

The apophagmatic history of God. Lord help us.

I ask the praise team to come forward and lead

us in a closing hymn. If you're here today and

either you're willing to accept Jesus Christ

as your Lord and Savior for the first time ever,

then you come and you respond and you make that

public and say, yes, that's me. I'm doing that

today. It doesn't matter what people think. Somebody

already thought you were saved. That doesn't

matter. You're getting saved for the first time

ever today. If you made a public confession of

faith this last seven days and you've not told

the church yet about the decision you've made,

this is your opportunity to say, I'm living for

Jesus starting now. If you say, I'm a follower

of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I have not been

sharing the automatic history of God. I haven't

been telling people what I know about God. I

haven't been telling people what the Bible says

about God. I'm not doing that. And you're repenting

today and saying, no, I'm going to do that going

forward. Then you make that publicly known and

say, that's me. You can do that right where you're

standing and say, yes, I will share it. Whatever

it might be, it's on your heart. This is your

opportunity to respond. Let me close our services

today. We're going offline. Those of you who

are online, leave a comment, send a message,

whatever, if you've made some kind of decision

today. We're going to do some business here now

with the Lord. As we sing this song, would you

stand with us and respond as the Lord is leading

you to respond. This is our final song. This

is our opportunity to come and say, yes, that's

me. I need to live for God starting today. Or

yes, that's me. I know I need to be sharing my

life. Whatever else it might be.