Two Declarations and a Set-up Deuteronomy 26:16-19

Now they let me go far out of turn right to pray

When the dark is through they live on still I will stay

Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name, blessed be your name

Blessed be your name, blessed be your name

Listen, be your name

Listen, be your name

We're the fountains of deserts

Now walk through the wilderness

Listen, be your name

Everybody see you far out

Turn back to face

When the dark is over and gone

Still I will sing

Listen, be the name of the Lord

Listen, be your name

Listen, be the name of the Lord

Listen, be your glorious name

There's a view of me

And the sun shining down on me

On the world long as it shines me

Blessed be your name

Listen, be your name

When the road parts with the wind

There's a view of me

Blessed be your name

Everybody see you far out

Turn back to face

When the dark is over and gone

Still I will sing

Listen, be the name of the Lord

Listen, be your name

Listen, be the name of the Lord

Listen, be your glorious name

Give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will just stand

As woman blessed be your name

And I see you far out

Turn back to face

When the dark is over and gone

Still I will sing

Listen, be the name of the Lord

Listen, be your name

Listen, be the name of the Lord

Listen, be your glorious name

I'm going to pray for the men who went to Campy Can this week

And myself and RJ Sherwood will test me about what went on there

So you can know a little more first hand what that was like

And we're just going to do all the glory to God

I actually have to pray for my family this coming week

As we travel Tuesday through next week

It's the first away vacation that we've taken in a number of years now

So we're glad to be able to do that

God arranged it, saved us for it, that kind of thing

I actually will pray for us

And then pray for some recent diagnoses

We'll get into the details of that

We've got a couple members in our church that have recent diagnoses with health concerns

And they'll share with you about this if they want to

Probably just ask you to pray for them

Because we know that God is the ultimate healer

He's an amazing man

We've seen cancer miraculous heal before

We've seen all kinds of amazing things

So we'll ask God to do His amazing work and trust Him for us

Let's pray together

Father in heaven, this is your day

It's a Sunday

It's an opportunity to gather together in this building

That you provide as a bond to the church

And we are the church

We are grateful to be a part of the bond

To each be a member

And our members that are missing

Because they're far afield

Except for traveling, or just hurting, whatever

Are greatly missed

And for those who are here today

And aching because somebody is missing

Or aching because of circumstances

That happen to me and Lord

We want to set those things aside

We want to trade them

For the glory that you have

For the love that you have for us

For the peace that you instill in us

We want to give up our own

Worries, regrets

Concerns, struggles

And instead

Let you leave

Let you heal

Let you provide

Let you empower us to do the things

That we have to do

That right now at least is worship you

And hear from your word

Spend a little time together

Spend a little time learning and growing

To pray for those who are absent

We praise you for what went on this week

You can't, you can't

Even with my 24, 36 hours of recovery

And I know others probably want to do the same thing

Lord, you are still well worth it

Everything that it could have been

And more

Whatever the problems

Whatever the stumbling, Lord

You were there and helped us through it all

Plus our time of worship

With your presence

We know you are everywhere that you want to be

And you want to be here

So we want to just tell you that we don't want to be in the way

We submit this to you

This time, this effort, our voices

The conditions of our hearts

Thank you Lord for taking our hearts of stone

And giving us hearts of flesh

To care about one another and others in what they are going through

And to make a difference

We pray Lord that we will do that now

By worship and by sending this out

Over the Facebook

And by putting it out on podcasts

We pray for those all over the world

In 11 countries that are listening to our podcast

Probably later

Probably next week, this episode

Next week because I don't know if I'll get it

Before I go out of town

But Lord we pray for them

So that they hear the messages, they hear the words

They sing the words of hope

That they will be touched by you

Affected by you, drawn closer by you

We just want to hear your voice

We pray for just that today

Work through us and in us

And on us in Jesus name we pray

Amen

Alright, I need children to the front

Zaden, come here

Everybody on your feet

We're going to do some fun stuff

But we have some Bible verses first

Come here Zaden

I need you to read this

No? No? Alright

Do that

Really loud

Come on, read it

So come God, ready

Gladness come before

And restore for sinning

Come up here

Come on, come on, come on

You can be a child, get up

Therefore you too

Have grief now

But I will see

You again

And you, your heart will rejoice

And no one will take

Your joy away from you

For his anger is

But for a moment, his favor is for a lifetime

Weeping may last for the night

But a shot of joy comes in the morning

Now may the God of hope

Share you with all joy and peace

In believing so that

You will abound in hope

By the power of the Holy Spirit

Amen

You are our glory and joy

You will go out with joy

And be led forth

With peace

The mountains and the hill

Will break forth

Into shouts of joy before you

And all the trees

Of the film

Will clop their hands

But the angels said to them, do not be afraid

For behold, I bring you good news

Of great joy which will be for all people

Those are all Bible verses

About joy, so now

We're gonna do

The joy song

If it's not up there

Go, it's not ready

Alright, so what I need you to do is

Everybody stand up

And put your foot out like this

Make sure you're not kicking

This much space

Stand up, come on

Don't get in my kick

You can do it, you can do it

I'll stand here on one foot and wait

Right here, this is your spot

Alright

So if you go to the next slide

We're gonna do this four times

The first time we're gonna do it slow

Really, you can learn the motions if you don't already know it

Okay

Ready?

You should

I've got the joy down in my heart

Deep, deep down in my heart

Sell it

J-O-Y down in my heart

Deep, deep down in my heart

Where'd it come from?

Jesus put it there

And nothing can

Destroy it, destroy it, destroy it

Hooh!

I've got the joy down in my heart

Deep, deep down in my heart

Okay, a little faster

I've got the joy down in my heart

Deep, deep down in my heart

Sell it

J-O-Y down in my heart

Deep, deep down in my heart

Where'd it come from?

Jesus put it there

And nothing can destroy it

Destroy it, destroy it, hooh!

I've got the joy down in my heart

Deep, deep down in my heart

I've got

I've got the joy down in my heart

Deep, deep down in my heart

Sell it

J-O-Y down in my heart

Deep, deep down in my heart

Where'd it come from?

Jesus put it there

And nothing can destroy it

Destroy it, destroy it, hooh!

I've got the joy down in my heart

Super, speed

I've got the joy down in my heart

Deep deep down in my heart, deep deep down in my heart.

Where'd it come from?

Jesus put it there and nothing can destroy it,

destroy it, destroy it.

I've got the joy down in my heart,

deep deep down in my heart.

Yay!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Yeah!

Woo!

Whoa!

All bad, girl.

Tyler.

ganz.

Sugger Callers.

Oh, I can tell you, you raise a smile on a starry night

You are the blessing you have

You bring me good news, oh, I can tell you

I'll show you the stars every day as we love you all the way

You are the blessing you have

You bring me good news, oh, I can tell you

I'll show you the stars every day as we love you all the way

You are the blessing you have

The goofy picture is the only one where everyone was looking

It makes perfect sense

Okay, so yes, we'll talk briefly about Camp You Can

and our main focus is obviously on what got this

I'm going to ask a few questions that we have with the boys with us today

and we'll see if they can answer the questions

Okay, so first of all, name one speaker from Camp You Can

Jaycee

Jaycee, okay, tell me a little bit about Jaycee, anything you know

He comes from a very big, not a lot of people

He used to work for a very bad company down in Mexico

and he was jailed for 9 years

Jaycee went to jail for the first time when he was 9

In fact, he actually was working for the Colombian drug cartel

and taking a contract to kill people by the time he was 9 or 10 years old

and spent most of his life in jail

and then fairly recently actually, he was about 5 years old

and he was our camp pastor

and he had his life for the Lord

and he was our camp pastor for the week

So that's pretty cool

Alright, somebody else give me another speaker

Anybody else got one?

Jaycee's got another one, are you listening Caleb?

You had your hand up before and I doubt you remember the same person

Do you have another speaker?

Okay, Caleb, go

Okay, tell me about H Good a little bit

Anything you remember

Tell me one of the things that he told us

If you do easy things, your life will be hard

If you do hard things, your life will be easy

Yeah, if you do the easy things, your life will be hard

but if you do the hard things, your life will be easy

and I really suck about that, we're at the neighborhood of us

You got another thing, go ahead

He said, he said, we must overcome hate

That's right, one of the things that we have to overcome

a number of things, one of the things we have to overcome

is haters, people who hate us, people who hate God

What was his name?

Doug Worthamson

Okay, Doug Worthamson, tell me a little bit about Doug Worthamson

He spoke about the Christian diet

Yeah, do you remember what he said before?

Did I earn today?

Yeah, that's good, very good

Did I earn today?

Somebody later said in the morning, but he always

get ready to go to bed, or at night he asked himself, did I earn today?

In other words, did I do the things today that

I should have in light of who I am, in light of what God has already done

Did I do it right? Did I earn today?

I mostly expect, not just about food, right?

But about life in general, discipline is the only thing

that we're supposed to do, very good, very good

Okay, what's an M&M?

Remember an M&M?

That's right, go ahead

Measure an L on the same table

This is like a real difficult thing

Measure and manage

Can't manage what you can't measure

So you can't adjust or correct if you don't measure

If you don't check yourself or check what it is, check how big it is, how small it is, how fast it is, how long it is

If you don't check it, you can't change it

So you cannot manage what you don't measure

Okay, so what was your big thing, what was the big takeaway from the camp?

What was the big thing that affected you or you thought about? Go ahead

What did you think was important? What do you remember the most?

Don't say swimming, although that was very cool

What was the takeaway?

If you tell somebody about Camp You Can, what are you going to be sure and tell them about?

It was the thing that I don't think we're going to be doing

That's the most important thing, how he changed up from last year

Yeah, that was neat, wasn't it?

We're talking about Lawrence Punderberg, Lawrence Punderberg played in the NBA for many years, retired from the NBA

And he told some interesting stories about winning in the NBA

Who was the basketball star that he dunked on one time?

Shaq O'Neal, right? Was that Shaq?

Yeah, he dunked on Shaq one time and he talks back to, was that Shaq? One time?

I think I don't remember, but I think it was last year

Yeah, I might have been, I'm not sure

One professional basketball player who's considered to be one of the best in the world

He talks back to him one time and then Lawrence, you don't talk back

They're really great players, it just makes you look like an idiot

So I think it's probably a lesson you can take away

Anyway, so he was saying this year what he did was instead of just coming and just talking, he showed them

He did exercises and he had a bunch of, yeah, he brought other professional basketball stars and college coaches and stuff like that with him

Right? Two others

One was from football

And they actually did activities like conditioning activities and passing and shooting and all kinds of stuff that they did

Instead of just talking, they got up and they did all kinds of cool activities

So that was really nice

Yeah, it was hard too though, right? Some of those look like they were pretty hard

Okay, Jason, what was your takeaway? You're going to tell somebody one thing for sure about Camp O, what would you say?

Nice and loud

It's a fact that over 100 kids decided to come and we had about over a quarter of kids

Probably like a fourth of the kids there, they'd like to use us

That's right, so we had about 110 kids between the ages of 9 and 15

And over a quarter of them, I don't know the exact number, over a quarter of them made first time students

That's right

I would more than that, I know that

It was probably about 25, 30

But I also know that not everyone was tracked because they didn't have a way to make sure that everybody got their name all list or anything like that

The one, I can't be taken, I had three myself

So, nobody got my numbers from me

I did, I don't have to

I like you, hi

That's right, yep, and then there were another, equal to roughly that many at least that region of their life, right

And there were a lot of boys who came forward for prayer about situations in their life

And it was pretty powerful moving of the Holy Spirit

So, for me, I just want to say I was blessed to be able to do it

It was exhausting because I got about four and a half hours broken sleep a night

By the time they would go to bed and get up, I think they were, and it's definitely synthesized that they had a rough cabin

They were getting sleep, those

Maybe they were all around, I don't know, but

There were about, I think, three kids who were calm

One of them was me, and the person above me was the person above me

Yeah, so three kids in a cabin of 12 that were calm at night

And the others were talking until, until somebody made them shut up basically

We had to at least get a Torrell, I mean, what time limit?

A what?

A Torrell

Oh really?

Wow

And he said it was like two o'clock and we all fell asleep

Yeah, well I went in there the one night and they were all sleeping by one o'clock, so

Had I known that it was like that every night, I would have gone in there more often, but

My room was actually really good, but they didn't go to bed until close to one

They were supposed to get up at seven, but I had to get up plenty of time before that

I was taking my shower and organizing because I was getting up by six

I said one, get up at six, one, one thirty, get up at six, and four and a half, five hours sleep

And every time somebody would unzip their sleep bag, every time the door would open, every time somebody

Step on the floor, every time the bed was creak, I would wake up because I was sleeping by the door

And I had to make sure they weren't sleeping in the room, so I was waking up all night long

So I came home, I was pretty exhausted, but I would say, that being said, it was well worth it

I did enjoy myself a great deal

I got the blessing of taking the hikers camping, 18 hikers went camping on the first day

And only six went on the second day, and both trails were awesome

And they said, we almost got lost, they kept saying, we're lost, we're lost

You really cannot be lost, I knew exactly where it was at, I knew the direction to go

You can't be lost, we may have lost the trail, which we did, like three times, lose the trail

But we were never lost, okay, it was pretty cool

There was a point at which the trail ended here, and then about like 50 yards away

The trail started again, and there was a river in between, we had to cross the river and look for the trail

And we got on the trail again

We saw the rock line, we started to run around the river, and I saw the look-wise

It looked like there was a waterfall, but the water was so still

And it looked like there was a waterfall, but then there was just the reflection

Yeah, cool, very cool

Alright, RJ, what would you like to say about camping?

Actually, it was just a huge blessing

To see all these kids come in from different backgrounds, different families

The coolest thing about it that I really enjoyed is watching them all get to know each other

And learn each other's story, and see how different backgrounds can come together and become best of friends

And obviously, God was there, he showed up in great ways

I think for this year, for me especially, there was a lot in me that I was taught by some of these kids

And it's crazy to think that an 8-year-old kid can teach you so much

As far as it goes, I would say, yeah, definitely exhausting

It was very exhausting

We ended up doing black football for the first time, and I did the playing quarterback

And it's exhausting

But it was a lot of fun, it was cool to see these kids come together and have fun

And most importantly, to understand that God is here, he's with us, he cares about us

And it's cool to see that these young kids are given the opportunity to learn, God really is

We have the planners to do a black football tournament next year, that's true

A couple things I would add, in total a dream of one

We ate three square meals a day, and basically with Buffet, you go back up and get as much as you want

And one thing that struck me was that many, many of the kids that were there

And it probably applies to some of our own kids, they're not normally getting three square meals a day

Grabbing a bowl of cereal, that's not a square meal, contrary to what some people might think

So they had three square meals a day, and by the second day, I never heard so much flatulence coming out of 110 boys

Everywhere you walk, you walk in a hall here, all over the place

Because they're eating real food for the first time in their lives, or the first time in months or years, and a lot of it

And then, that was a factor, and then also the decompressing from all the time

No phones, no tablets, for the better part of four days

And starting on the second day, you could actually see people's eyes opening up

Like they were paying attention to what was going on around them

And it's not like we have a lot, it's not like that a lot of times

It's a lot of, walking down the hallway, I look at my phone, right, or I'm just listening to you

But I'm actually playing a game, or whatever

And that was, that was powerful, because they were alive, they were doing stuff

And I thought about that at Lord's Court to my heart, how we can focus on something

It doesn't have to be your phone or electronics, it could be anything

It could be your relationship, it could be your job struggles, it could be your health struggles

We get focused on that, and everything else dims

And that's, we're supposed to be like that, because that focus then is supposed to be on Jesus, right

So we focus on Jesus, and everything else dims

But when we focus on something else, then our relationship with God dims

So it becomes hard to see clearly

And so it was really cool that they were able to put that down, put it away, and live

You know, and then it was just, it became about, okay, what are we doing next?

We're checking the schedule, what's going on next?

What is he saying, what are they doing?

And there were issues with kids falling asleep, because, again, they weren't getting out of sleep at night

And their bellies were full

And then they would wake them up, have them do exercise and things like that, wake them up

But I would just say, you know, it was a great opportunity

I would love to believe, initially at the end of the year, we thought we were going to have

Three or four more men come from New Heights, and we could definitely use it

Twenty leaders counting teenagers, twenty-two actually counting the student mentors

Is not enough to really interact with every boy

It really is, and to be able to bring the word and talk to one on one

Like, I couldn't even know it, I think I got maybe half their names, at most

You know, and they were wearing our name tags, so you didn't really half have their name

But then you had to walk up to them and flip, hey, and flip over their name tag to find out what it was

You know, to be able to talk to them by their name

And Terrell was up in the microphone, red shirt, yellow jacket

You know, calling people by what they're wearing, because he didn't know everybody's names

And so, the more leaders, and they wanted to plan an arrest period for the leaders

So each day you would get like an hour off

And it wasn't enough leaders to do that

There was maybe only one or two leaders that weren't physically doing something

So, that would be huge, and then, and here's the great blessing

One, 110 boys, two, 18 boys from Toledo

Up from 11 different neighborhoods, which is really cool

Might be that Councilor Oxford, so, but 11 different neighborhoods, and really cool

And then, next year, so this year they doubled from last year, about 50 last year

This year we had 110, next year they would like to have 200

And the gymnasium will hold it, there is room for it

And the housing will hold it, and the grounds will hold it, and the pool will hold it, and the pool is huge

So, that would be really cool

So, pray for that now, God just might do something awesome, yes sir

Two quick things, one, it's how all the kids were all tired during the day and at night, they don't want to go to sleep

And then another thing is, they were talking about if they were to have 200 kids, they might have to get another captain

Oh yeah, they definitely would, yeah

We were just, I think about 130 is the most we could put in that building, something like that

Or like, there were like four rooms not being used

So that's, so that's, they were hating those four, more than I am, I were

Yeah, eight bunk beds, so 16 kids, so that's room for 64

And then we had maybe like about eight or ten beds empty

So we could get close to 200 and then after that we'd have to be in two of those big buildings

So basically it was all huge big cabins, like this hall we've got three cabins on it with eight bunk beds

This hall we've got three, this hall we've got three, and then there were 10 showers on each side

Plenty of bathrooms, and then they had a big common area in the middle and that's where we all met

In the morning for devotional and stuff

Alright, RJ would you pray for us then and we'll worship God a little bit more and just be sure to thank God

I pray that all the kids there that made the decision to follow the New Lord that they can go to the church and pray for them

Your Heavenly Father I want to thank you for this time, thank you for the blessing that we had at camp, I pray that all the kids there that made the decision to follow the New Lord that they met sincerely and they continue to grow and learn

God I thank you for all the meddling that helped out, I pray for their well-being, their safety, their health and all that

I pray for Anthony's family and the other couple of wives and the loved ones and we all know how hard that can be

Even though his family member is always rough, but God I pray that you comfort them and let them know that he might be gone but he's rejoicing with you

And that is probably the greatest thing I've heard, pray for the kinds of offering that they use to glorify your name and make sure that you stay up top

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Before we begin, we're going to have a brief object lesson, so I need one volunteer, anybody want to volunteer?

I'll volunteer to hold somebody, going once, going twice, alright come on

Okay, so I have a fan, this is no different than all the fans that the ladies use to keep themselves cool during the service

And so if I were, we're going to play a little game of hide and seek, and I said to you I'd like you to hide that fan anywhere in the room, not on your person obviously, but anywhere else in the room

Where someone might not find it if they were searching for it, where would you hide it?

Anywhere in the room?

Probably in somebody else's first or something, or like under that stand, maybe inside the piano, somewhere hidden

So if you went right now and hid it, we would all know where you hid it, and so probably we would be able to find it, most likely, right?

So if you put it somewhere inaccessible, like if we put it up on top of the door up there, then Jamie couldn't get it

Maybe Alicia couldn't get it, but somebody would just push a chair over, right?

What if you had a ladder, does that change where you can hide the thing?

Yeah

Okay, so then we could put it up high, you could put it up in the heater vent, up there, in the heater vent

I have a frame that I can hold to you, and then it would also be out of view, okay?

Alright, so what if I take this away, and I ask you the same question about the bear

Would you hide the bear somewhere where no one can find it?

Go ahead, do it now, hide the bear somewhere where no one can find it

What bear?

What bear? Does anybody know where the bear is?

Jason knows where the bear is, so does he, do you know where the bear is Jason?

Where's the bear?

I see the bear

Okay, how many people knew where the bear was?

I saw it, I didn't see it

Alright, so there is a thing, it's kind of a literary quote called the case of the purloin letter

It's a story, it's actually by Sherlock Holmes, one of the investigators, sorry, by Edgar Allan Poe

One of the investigators, Edgar Allan Poe, created it that's like Sherlock Holmes

And the case of the purloin letter is they search for the letter all throughout the story

And then they eventually find it, guess where?

In plain view, right?

One of the places that things are often hidden that no one will find them is in plain view

Have you ever seen anybody stick a piece of paper on somebody's back that says kick me?

Don't do that, it's not nice, but have you ever seen that? Sure you have, right?

So it's in plain view, but it's behind you, so if you're not looking directly at it you wouldn't see it

If you're sitting over here like Josh, wouldn't have seen the bear because the piano's in the way

And that kind of thing, alright?

So it is possible to hide something in plain view and for it not to be found

Using a ladder, for example, you could set that thing up out of reach

So then it could be literally, there it is, but if you take the ladder away

They're going, oh I can't, I see it, it's right there, but I can't get to it

Right? And that could happen, for example, if you wanted to try to adjust the Wi-Fi extender up there

You would definitely need a ladder, even standing on a chair would not be enough, right?

We can adjust that camera by standing on a chair, but that camera you can't reach by standing on a chair

Does that make sense? Alright, so I want you to bear those things in mind with me

The text for today is just four verses and it continues in Deuteronomy 26 where we left off

So let's go to, thank you very much, let's go to Deuteronomy 26

I'm there, anybody else? Got your Bibles?

Uh oh, well you'll just have to listen real good, okay?

If you get too tired you can stand up or do push-ups

He's thinking, no I don't want to do push-ups

Alright, so Deuteronomy chapter 26 beginning in verse 16

Deuteronomy 26 · chapter mention

Now we read 16 last week so this is a reminder so you can see how it bridges over

It says, this day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances

You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul

And that's where we stopped at last week, and we start in 17

17 says, the first declaration, here we go

You have today declared the Lord to be your God

And that you would walk in his ways and keep his statutes, his commandments and his ordinances

And listen to his voice, okay? So there's a list of things here

They have declared that he is their God, I hope that we have declared that the Lord is our God

In some cases that may not be so, and before we're done we're going to see why it's so important, okay?

Have you declared that the Lord is your God?

And having declared that the Lord is your God, you would walk in his ways

Now this word here in the Hebrew in the ways is very similar to a forest path

It's a direction that people have gone and so the ground shows passage

We realize this is the path because the underbrush, the detritus is worn away where people have walked before us

And so that's the word, it's talking about the way, okay?

So you would walk in his ways, the ways not only that God walks, but the ways that people who are in relationship with God walk

And that you would keep his statutes

Does anybody know the difference between statutes, commandments, and ordinances?

Because there's a list here, we're going to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances

So a statute is a prescription

Has anybody here ever had a medicine?

It says take two pills one time a day, take one pill at bedtime, one pill at night, that's a prescription

These are not prescriptions for your medicine, these are prescriptions for the way that God would want you to live

So God's statutes are prescribed for situations

It might say if this happens then do that

When in this situation, do this and so on

God's prescriptions if you will, or his statutes, his commandments are pretty easy

That's God's directions

It's what he's commanded us to do

And before you say well I don't know the whole Bible

Understand that people were following God's commandments before the Bible was ever written

Even some of the ones that we have clearly written in the Bible now

People were figuring out that they were the right thing to do and what God wanted them to do

And doing them even before the Bible was written

And then there's his ordinances

Now an ordinance, if you think of it, kind of look at the structure of the word

You realize it has something to do with orders

Or the process of ordination or ordaining something, making something true

And so his ordinances are like his judgments

So when a priest decides or the church decides or the word makes a judgment about a certain thing

That that thing is bad, right

That's an ordinance, so really what we're talking about are his prescriptions

His directions and his judgments

And that we'll keep those things, that's what we've said

If the Lord is our God then we will keep those things

And it says and listen to his voice

And I submit to you that in their day, listen to his voice meant something different than what it does today

They did not have the written Bible

So they couldn't read it to get what God says

Moses right now in speaking and writing this down is writing down essentially the first five books of the Bible

And that's the first time they will have had that

Before that it was all oral tradition

So to hear God's voice was to hear directly from God or to hear through a prophet

Now you can hear directly from God

You can hear through the teaching of God's word

You can hear through God's word and you can hear from the Holy Spirit in your heart, in your person

So it's different for us

We have more access to God telling us what to do

More access to God's prescriptions, more access to God's directions

And more access to God's judgments than they did

Yet they were supposed to follow these things

In making him their God that was the first declaration

They declared that he is their God and they will do these things

Now the second declaration

The Lord has today declared you to be his people

A treasured possession as he promised you

And that you should keep all his commandments

So his declaration is two part

First of all he says you belong to me

You are my treasured possession, I claim you

And you will keep all of my commandments is part of his declaration

So is God ever wrong in his declarations?

No, God's people whom he claims for himself would keep his commandments

Now if you know a little bit of the history of what's coming for the Israelites

Do they keep his commandments?

They do not

They drift further away

Then a judge rises up and brings them back

And then they're good for a while and then they drift away again

And every time they drift away, they drift further away

So because God's declaration is two part and they are connected

He declares them to be his people, a treasured possession

And they would keep his commandments

Those two things are connected

So we always talk about the contradiction

Like I am a Christian, I love the Lord

Because I love the Lord, I'm going to honor him with this choice

And you see somebody else says, well I'm a Christian, I love the Lord

But I'm not going to honor him with this choice

That's a contradiction

So you're saying something is true

And you're saying it's going to affect your actions

But then it doesn't affect your actions

So you're not contradicting yourself

We make it out as if we're contradicting ourselves

I'm a follower of Jesus

I will do what Jesus wants me to do

There I did it again

I didn't do what Jesus wanted me to do

You didn't contradict you

You contradicted God

God is the one who says this is my people

And they will do as I command them

And then you don't do as he commands you

You're contradicting not the first declaration

Where you say I will keep his statutes, his prescriptions

I will keep his ordinances, his judgments

I will keep his commandments, what he tells me to do

But the second one where he says you will be my people

And follow my commands

So when you contradict God you become in opposition to him

Wrath sets in

You've picked a fight with the big guy

You're saying you say this but it's not true

And you're saying that to God

It'd be one thing if we say about ourselves I am a certain thing

And then we don't show up to be that thing

Maybe we just failed

Maybe we just made a mistake

Maybe we just forgot

But when you say what God says is not true

That's another thing altogether

That's contradicting God and you're opposing him

And therefore he is opposing you

And then we go on to 19

And 19 kind of shows us the setup if you will

One aspect of it

19 says and that he shall set you high

Above all nations which he has made

For praise, fame, and honor

And that you shall be a consecrated people

To the Lord your God as he has spoken

So again this is something that God has said he will do

And now it says he will do it

So as if we took the ladder and put the bear up high

And then we'll put the ladder away and nobody can touch it

God would set up his people

For what purpose?

For this purpose

Praise, fame, and honor

And so when you stand up for the Lord

And do what the Lord would have you to do

Taking based on the first two declarations

God will set you up for praise

That means he recognizes how good you are

And you recognize how good he is

There's praise flowing both directions

Others will praise you

And then you can redirect that praise toward him

Which is the hope

Fame you will be recognized

This word here in the Hebrew means

To be held in high esteem by anybody who knows you

So now you ask yourself

As I live for the Lord

As I function as a person of integrity

Are my family and friends able to esteem me well?

Do they look at me and go

Okay, yeah, he's stepping up

She's stepping up

She's doing what she's supposed to do

Now it doesn't mean that they see God in you

Because a lot of people in the world think

That other people in the world do well too

They do right things

But if they look at you and they see

Yeah, man, she's got character

She's really stepping up

I esteem her well

Then you can say pay attention to the Lord

This is not about me

I don't do this because of who I am

I do it because of who God is

So God sets you up then for praise

For fame and then for honor

Now we know it's ultimate honor

And that we'll be in heaven one day for eternity

But it's also honor on earth, right?

When the father runs down off the porch

And throws himself on the returning prodigal son

Kisses him on the neck and says

Oh, my son who was dead but now is alive

And he says kill the fattened calf

And he puts a ring on his finger

And a robe on his back

And shoes on his feet

He is honoring him in every possible way

Provision, power, purpose, protection

He's honoring him in every possible way

And God will honor you

And he sets you up for that

You don't do that

See it's he shall set you high above all nations

Which he has made for praise, fame, and honor

That's the setup that we want

Okay, so in this text

In these verses which we've already read

We've seen that as a people of God

And having declared ourselves as a people of God

We are to follow his commandments, his ordinances

His statutes, and his ways

And to listen to his voice

And that God then declared us as his people

A treasured possession

He promised us that we would keep his commandments

And then we see that in light of that two declarations

He will set us up

But we have a problem, don't we?

You with me, Jace?

Okay, stand firm

All right, we have a problem

So first of all, let's talk about the first declaration

So when I was not a Christian, 25 years old

I was searching, questioning, skeptical

I wasn't talking much to anybody about it

But I was reading, I was searching the internet

Such as it was at that time

It wasn't as good as it is now, but it was there

I was looking, trying to figure out

What was wrong with this Christianity thing

What was it that I was seeing in these people

Because they were clearly different

But also they were sort of the same as the world

You know, they're kind of like

There was problems, so they weren't quite right

But at the same time, they were proclaiming God

And they were better than most

And I was trying to figure it out

And the pastor would preach, and he said

Jesus died on the cross

And I said, well, what if Jesus didn't die on the cross?

They saw him again later, three days later

So I'm alive and thought he died on the cross

But what if he didn't really die?

And so I researched it, and I tried to figure out

How do they know that he was dead?

And there is factual evidence and proof

That we know that he was dead

There were witnesses by the hundreds who were there

Saw the Roman centurion run a spear into his heart

People do not survive having a spear run into their heart, right?

You can't just give them a drug and they fall asleep

Like they do in some sci-fi novels and stuff

And wake up a few days later

He got a spear run in his heart, right?

That Roman centurion would have sacrificed his life

If Jesus didn't die

They were experts in knowing when someone was dead

And it goes on and on

So Jesus really died

But it took me questioning it to get to that

And I know that there are people, young Christians and non-Christians

Who question all that

I was like that

I was not ready to make a declaration

Because I didn't think there was anything to make a declaration to

But then once I got to a point where I understood

That what they were saying was true

I realized it demands a declaration

What are you going to do about it?

Take it plain for a moment and just say this

You realize that if you eat too many sweets

Repeat repeatedly

Continue to eat too many sweets

Your body will grow in size in ways that are not helpful to you

And ultimately your heart will struggle in your chest

Your lungs will struggle to function

Your liver will struggle to process

Your kidneys will struggle to process

And if you continue that for decades you will die

So what are you going to do about it?

Let's see, so I'm going to eat sweets in moderation

So the sweets don't kill me, right?

If you drive your car down the road

100 mile an hour on the expressway

And then crawl in the back seat

So no one's driving the car

You will have maybe a minute or two to live at most

However long it takes for that car to impact and then you'll be dead

So what are you going to do about it?

Well, I'm not going to do that, right?

I'm going to drive my car

I'm not going to drive it 100 mile an hour on the expressway

Unless I absolutely have to for an emergency situation

If I do, I'm going to pay very close attention

And make sure I'm not going to leave the wheel, right?

So when something is detrimental to you

Or something is extremely beneficial to you, Jason

You decide, Jason, to do that thing, right?

So when the preaching of God is beneficial to you

This is beneficial to you

So you have to discipline yourself

You have to try hard to get it

You have to go, this is for me, I want to understand it

What is he talking about?

It's a natural...

If you believe, you will take the steps according to what you believe

But what we have in the world is a people, a lot of people

Is a lot of people

He's with you, he's on your side

So there's a lot of people that will say they believe something

And it completely doesn't affect what they believe

Doesn't affect them at all, right?

For example, most people will say that telling the truth is the right thing to do

But most lost people will lie under the right circumstances

In fact, I've had this conversation a number of times with people

If they put a gun to my head

And they told me I have to renounce Jesus in order to survive

I'm just going to lie

Because grace covers it anyway

And a lot of Christians think, well if I get in that case, I'll just lie

I'll tell them whatever they want to hear, not to take my life

Because Jesus is going to take care of it anyway

And yet, that's not the declaration

That's not what the word calls us to

If you believe in Jesus and you believe that you will have life after death

Then you would be willing in that moment

And I believe that Jesus would give you the courage

To stand up and potentially die

And in dying, be ushered into eternal life

Do you believe?

And if you believe, there comes a declaration

And in a moment we'll talk about what happens if

Either A, you believe and the declaration never comes

Or B, the declaration happens and then afterwards you act like you don't believe

In the world, much of the world is at the crux of the first declaration

Do you believe?

That's the question

And once you believe and declare that you believe

It opens a channel of faith to God and according to scripture by grace are you saved

You cannot save yourself

You cannot make the second declaration true

You can say the first declaration and mean it

And make it true to the best of your ability

And that's where we're sitting at for most people in the world

The second declaration is also problematic

Because it is God's declaration as I said

And it occurs to me that many Christians contradict God

God says

He declares us to be his people

And we say yes, I am God's people

I want to be God's people

I want to go to heaven

I want to live for the Lord

I want to be forgiven of my sins

I want to confess my sins

Be cleansed of all unrighteousness

Like 1 John 1, 9 says

Yes, I want to be God's treasured possession

I want to be the sheep that wandered in the wilderness for a while

And God left the 99 in the field

And came and found me and brought me in

Jason, don't you want to be saved?

Don't you want to be God's treasured possession?

I want that

But there's no way to bring God to the point of doing that

I can't force it

I can't talk him into it

I can't bribe him

I can't lie to him

He sees the darkness that's in my heart

He sees the things that I do

There is nothing that I can do to cause that to happen

It's two separate declarations

Do you understand that you can say

I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and I will live for Him

I will follow His prescriptions

I will follow His commands

I will walk in His ways and do the things that God wants me to do

And yet, not be saved

No, wait a minute

That's everything that a person needs to do to be saved

I believe in God

I believe in living the way God wants me to live

Walking in His ways

Unless you walk in one particular way

You will not be saved

And what is that one particular way?

Jason, what's that one particular way that a person has to walk in in order to be saved?

Anybody?

Close

Narrow in scope, right?

One particular way that people have to walk in in order to be saved

Don't make it harder than it is

It's a Sunday school answer

Jesus

I am the way and the truth and the life

No man cometh unto the Father but by me

Only one trail leads where you want to go

And it is through Jesus

So you can say

I believe in God

And I will follow His prescriptions for my life

And I will follow His statutes

And I will follow His commands

And I will follow His ways

And yet, if you do not follow that one particular way

You cannot be saved

Do you think that every Jewish person devout or otherwise is on the face of the planet and is going to go to heaven someday?

That's not what the Bible says

And even being in this room

Being in the right place at the right time to hear the teaching, the preaching

Preaching yourself

I could be standing up here trained to break down the word and preach it to you

Man, he's so good

His points are clear

I can understand him

His illustrations are awesome

It brings it home, whatever

And bless you

And I could go to hell when I die

You must come through Jesus

That is the only way

And that right there where it says

I will follow His ways

Includes clearly Jesus

So the declaration of God is contingent

Not on your personal declaration

But on your willingness to follow God's ways

In particular one way, which is Jesus

And so is it not possible?

Don't you think it's possible that we have a whole bunch of people in the world who are declaring themselves?

Declaration number one

I believe in God and I'm doing what God wants me to do

Just follow me

I very recently heard a man say

God told me to say this

God is speaking to me

He told me to say this

And then he said it

And I was like God may have told you to say that

But he didn't tell you to say it that way

There is no way

That's just not how God works

And yet he was adamant

And people believed him

That God was telling him to say it

And apparently to say it that way

Your declaration one will only precipitate God's declaration two

If it's done in Jesus

Then we come to the setup

Here's the thing

You've got to choose

There are essentially three setups that came to mind as I was preparing this sermon

The first one is the best one

It's where we are saved in Jesus Christ and set up and taken care of

And you can read about it in a whole bunch of places in the Bible

But I'm going to read about it today in 1 Corinthians chapter 3

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

And you can go there and read it in your Bibles if you want

1 Corinthians chapter 3 beginning in verse 10

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

1 Corinthians chapter 3

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

After we look at these setups we're on the conclusion already

1 Corinthians chapter 3 beginning in verse 10

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

It says

According to the grace of God which was given to me as a wise master builder

I laid a foundation and another is building upon it

But let each man be careful how he builds upon it

For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid

Which is, there it is, Jesus Christ

Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw

Each man's work will become evident

For the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire

And the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work

If any man's work which he has built upon it remains he shall receive a reward

If any man's work is burned up he shall suffer loss

But he himself shall be saved yet as through fire

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him

But the temple of God is holy and that is what you are

Let no man deceive himself

If any man among you thinks he is wise in this age

Let him become foolish that he may become wise

For the wisdom of the world is foolishness before God

For it is written he is the one who catches the wise in their craft

And the Lord knows the reasonings of the wise that they are useless

So then let no one boast in men for all things belong to you

Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death

Or things present or things to come

All things belong to you and you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God

That's the set up that you want

The foundation is Jesus Christ and the goal then is to live building on that foundation

I was reading in the suburban press yesterday and it had all these dates about when things were started

And it talked about when the cornerstone was first set for Waite High School

To build Waite High School

And the date and the year when it was first set

And where that cornerstone was set

Everything else in that building was going to line up with that cornerstone

Jesus is our foundation and you have to ask yourself

And it's hard, I get this, okay

Because there are a lot of good things in the world and all these things are given to us to enjoy

But here's the deal, Curtis, give you an example

Whatever you watch, whatever you play, etc.

If you're believing in God and trusting in the Lord for what comes after

Has to line up with that initial cornerstone

And it's hard to do that yourself, isn't it?

Easier if you know the prescriptions

So something comes along

Oh, wait, this is in the prescriptions

I know what to do if this happens

RJ, what do you do if you get a headache?

Okay, starts by drinking water

Take medicine

Okay, starts by drinking water, takes medicine

Next week, if RJ gets a headache, he's going to start by hydrating

And if that doesn't work, he's going to take medicine for it so he can get past his headache

Because he has the prescription

So what do you do to make sure that all the things of this life that you choose to do

Line up with the cornerstone, the foundation that God has laid in Jesus Christ?

You ask yourself, what is God's prescription?

So what is God's prescription with regard to media?

Focus on the pure

What is God's prescription with regards to telling the truth?

Always tell the truth

Let all deceit and lies of any kind pass away from you

And it goes on

Those are prescriptions

They're also commands, but they're prescriptions for a certain case

So we learn the prescriptions, the ordinances, God's judgment

So what happens if I do get to that point where God puts a gun to my head

And he's going to pull the trigger if I don't renounce Jesus

And I renounce Jesus, what might happen?

You know that the Bible talks about that?

It says exactly, there's an ordinance, a ruling of God for what to do

I'll show it to you in the conclusion

Bottom line is, setup number one, the one that we want is this setup

It's where Jesus is our foundation

And everything else in our life must come in line

Or actually not be part of this building that God is building

And we say, I can't have that, it's not in me

Because it doesn't line up with the foundation

The problem is, there are at least two other setups that people choose from

The first one you can see clearly in Isaiah chapter 1

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

So if you're following along in your Bibles, go to Isaiah chapter 1

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

He's one of the bigger prophets in the back of the Old Testament

So you can kind of thumb through and find Isaiah no problem

Isaiah chapter 1

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

And I'm just going to read 27 through 31

But understand that Isaiah was recognizing that amongst God's people

There were those who were making their declaration

And God was making a declaration about them

Which is a two-part declaration

It says, they will be my people and also they will follow my commands

But they were breaking the second half and calling God a liar

They were in opposition to God

That's the day in which he lived

And then he wrote this

Zion will be redeemed with justice

And her repentant ones, that means the people of them that turn back to God

Will be redeemed with righteousness

But transgressors, those who cross the line

And sinners, those who live not in a way that God would want them to

Will be crushed together

And those who forsake the Lord

In other words, if they put him off

Shall come to an end

Surely you will be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired

They went after oaks for them

Would be like TV or sweets or nice houses or nice cars for us, right?

Surely you will be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired

And you will be embarrassed at the gardens which you have chosen

For you will be like an oak whose leaf fades away

Or as a garden that has no water

And the strong man will become tinder

His work also a spark

Get this, we got some strong people in the room

RJ is strong, Josh is strong

Jason is strong, Tommy is strong, Aaron is strong

We got a lot of strong people in the room

I think Curtis is pretty strong

I've never put him fully to the test

But I think he's pretty strong

I'm getting stronger, right?

We have some strong people

This says that a strong man will become tinder

If you do it in your own strength

You know what tinder is, right?

Tinder is the stuff you use to start a fire

It's the little bits of stuff that burns real easy

So we strong men will become tinder

If we don't do it God's way

And then it says his work also a spark

So we're the tinder and what we do then in our strength

Becomes the spark and with a tinder and a spark

You've got a fire, okay?

Thus they shall both burn together

The man and his work

Catch that?

Will burn together

And there will be none to quench them

Isaiah is saying that there is another way

What is the way?

What is the set up here?

The set up is it's a people that declare

I believe in God

I will follow the statutes, the commands, the ordinances and the ways

But then when it comes down to it

They're not doing it

They transgress or they are in sin

Their work becomes tinder

I'm sorry, their strength becomes tinder

And their work becomes a spark

And now they're burning

And they are sad and embarrassed at that which they pursued

In the day that they realize what they've done

They will be sad and embarrassed

It's the thing that they thought was great

That they were so about

I really want a better job

I really want more pay

Listen, you got all the better jobs

And all the more pay and all the better house

And all the better health

You could be healed

And you could live to be 120

And by the time your 121st birthday comes

You're going to be embarrassed about all the things you pursued

Unless you build your life in Jesus Christ and live for an eternity with God

We think, oh life is so long

120 years God will tarry with a man

That seems like such a long time

So if I eat right, exercise, drink all the right water, sleep right

Do all those things

Manage my money right

If I honor my parents

I do all those things

I might live to be 120 years old

And on my 121st birthday I will rue everything I ever did

That wasn't building my life on Jesus Christ

If I do it as somebody who builds with perishable materials

And I truly am saved

But I'm hit or miss, hit or miss all the time

Then I'll still burn with the stuff

But ultimately I'll still make it in

Right, so I'll be burned, I'll be smoking

As the things that I treasure

The things that I desired are burnt off of me

But I'll still go into heaven

Because I truly am a follower of Jesus

But if I am not truly a follower through Jesus

And following the Lord

Then I won't go in at all

And I will rue all the things that I thought were awesome in this life

All the things that I wanted

Right, so that's the setup

I suggest to you that who's setting that up

Right, so if God is setting it up

1 Corinthians 3, 10 through 23

If God is setting it up like that

The foundation is Jesus Christ

And we're going to build on the foundation

Who's setting this one up?

The Isaiah 1 setup

That's humans, that's people

It's self, they look after the oaks that they want

They look after the gardens that they want

Choked out by the cares and riches of this world

Maybe they never become saved because they're too busy with the things of this life

Or they become saved and they struggle too much with the things of this life

And if they are saved and struggle with the things of this life

Then when they stand before Jesus

He'll burn that stuff off so they can enter in for an eternity

But if they are never saved, they'll burn with it for an eternity

It's not my word, it's his word

And people are setting themselves up

By pursuing the good things of this life

That are entertaining, that taste good, that are enjoyable

Right?

Alright, we've got one more, last one

And then we go to the conclusion

So this one is found very clearly in several places

But we'll read about it in John chapter 8

John 8 · chapter mention

John chapter 8

John 8 · chapter mention

And the blessings of this is we get it straight from the mouth of Jesus

As he's talking in John chapter 8

John 8 · chapter mention

Okay?

John 8

And I'll read beginning in 39

John chapter 8 beginning in 39

John 8 · chapter mention

Jesus is speaking

I speak the things which I have seen

This is 38

I speak the things which I have seen with my father

Therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father

They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father

Jesus said to them, if you are Abraham's children

Do the deeds of Abraham

By the way, what were the deeds of Abraham?

Anybody know?

The deeds of Abraham would go on the same nation

Yep, that's what he would do

That's what would, and really would be done through him

So the main deed of Abraham was faith

God saw his faith, that's when he was willing to sacrifice his son

He saw his faith and counted it to him for righteousness

So he built his foundation in faith in the way that God was going to make

That he didn't even know it was Jesus yet

But he trusted the foundation, which was God

But it also says that he walked upright before the Lord

In that faith, it says he followed all the commands of the Lord

Alright?

And so what they should be doing is following the commands and the ways

And the statutes and the ordinances of God

But Jesus says that's not what they're doing

They're following something heard from their father

I submit to you, they have another father

Someone else is setting them up

You follow?

They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father

And Jesus said to them, if you are Abraham's children

Do the deeds of Abraham

But as it is, you are seeking to kill me

A man has told you the truth

Which I heard from God

This Abraham did not do

You are doing the deeds of your father

They said to him, we were not born of fornication

We have one father, even God

Jesus said to them, if God were your father

You would love me

For I proceed forth and have come from God

For I have not even come on my own initiative

But he sent me

Why do you not understand what I am saying?

It is because you cannot hear my word

You are of your father the devil

And you want to do the desires of your father

He was a murderer from the beginning

And does not stand in the truth

Because there is no truth in him

Whenever he speaks a lie

He speaks from his own nature

For he is a liar and the father of lies

But because I speak the truth

You do not believe me

And we will stop there

The bottom line is

There is a third set up

And it is a set up by whom?

Or by who?

Who is setting up the third set up?

Say it again

Satan

Right

So there are three setups

You can pick and choose from

And one of them is God's set up

And one of them is Satan's set up

And one of them is the set up of people

Or the world

So anybody who has not been saved

Is probably going to choose

They are going to start with the set up of the world

But then when they know there is a contradiction

Or a conflict between God and Satan

They may choose Satan

They may choose God

And if you choose the set up of the world

And do not choose God or Satan

You have actually chosen

Eternal death over eternal life

There is only one way to get eternal life

It is through Jesus

We covered that

So that brings us to the conclusion

I just want to recap for one second

There are two declarations

There is one declaration that says

I am a follower of God

I believe in the Lord

I will live for the Lord

Follow His statutes

His ordinances

His commands

And His ways

And ultimately that will lead you to following the way

Which is Jesus Christ

And then your life is built on that

And you come into eternity with God

That is the one you want

But there is also a declaration

That is of the world

The world wants the trees

The world wants the garden

The world wants a job

The world wants a paycheck

The world wants a relationship

The world wants a better house

The world wants more help

The world is waiting for its ship to come in

And so busy focused on the docks

That it is missing the declaration

That would set it up for eternity

Which is in God

And then there is a third declaration

Which is a very persuasive declaration

Remember these are Jewish people

He was talking to men who fast two days a week

Memorize whole books of the Bible

Baptize people

Teach about God

That is who he was talking to

And he said to them that Satan was their father

You follow?

It is a very persuasive, very tricky

Right in the middle of your life

Set up that you do not want

So choose, I would say simply put

You want to choose the set up of God

Which brings us to the conclusions

Sorting the set ups

In your life you are going to have to make a decision

I liken it to this

There are two men who live side by side

One guy kept letting his dog run on the other guy's property

And pooping on his grass

Casing his cat

And so finally the guy whose cat was getting cased

And his property was getting pooped on

Said I am going to build a fence

I am going to put up a privacy fence

And that will keep his dog up

He calls the dog warden

But every time he calls the dog warden comes

The dog is on his back or blah blah blah

And he says well I am going to build a fence

Between my property and his property

So he goes out and buys the lumber

Gives the post hole digger some cement

Goes every eight feet

Put the hole in the ground

Put the post in the ground

Put some cement around it

There is water that soaks into the cement

It becomes solid rock

Turns all the way down

Turns the corner all the way back up to his house

And his whole backyard is fenced in

But the guy with the dog says

Hey we had a problem

What are you talking about we got a problem

He said you built that fence

On my property

I know you built it to keep out my dog

And we have had some trouble with that

But the bottom line is that line of fence

Between my property and your property

That line of fence

Is on my property

It belongs to me

Because you built it on my property

And the court sides with the person who says

You built a fence on their property and it is their fence

And he says and by the way

I don't want a fence

If I wanted a fence I would have put a fence up

So I am going to take the fence down

The guy is like

The guy takes the fence down

A few days later

His dog is chasing his cat again

Poops appearing in his backyard again

He goes out

He buys cement

He already got a post hole digger

He buys some posts and he buys a fence

And he puts the fence up

Guess where

On his own property

And now the fence cannot be taken down

Turn your Bibles to Revelation chapter 21

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

If you are following along

Revelation 21

I am going to read beginning in verse 6

This is a vision if you will

Of the coming of the new heavens

And the new earth

And God has taken care of all of it

It says in verse 6

And he said to me

It is done

I am the Alpha and the Omega

The beginning and the end

I will give to the one who is the first

And the second

And the second and the third

And the fourth

And the fifth

And the sixth

And let me have a look at the end

I will give to the one who thirsts

From the spring of the water of life

Without cost

So God says

I will give to the one who thirsts

Once you recognize you have a need

Jason have you recognized you have a need

I will give from the spring of the water of life without cost.

It's already paid for. It's free.

Remember, your declaration is good.

There are going to be a lot of people in the world who have said,

I'm moving for God and get there and they don't get to go to heaven.

Because they didn't do it through Jesus.

Jesus himself said, Matthew 7,

There will be many who say unto me, Lord, Lord, but do not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus said while he was preaching on the earth, okay,

It's free. You just have to recognize that you have a thirst, that you have a need and go to God for it.

And he says, I will give of the water of life without cost.

Continuing in verse 7, he says,

Then he who overcomes shall inherit these things,

And I will be his God, and he will be my son.

So God will let you drink of the water of life.

It's free, and then you just have to overcome.

So the foundation is laid. Get it?

Jesus is the foundation. The foundation is laid.

And now you build throughout the struggles of your life, throughout the difficulty, etc., etc.

You build on that foundation.

And the one who overcomes, so in other words, right now all you got to do is all you got to do.

And people say this all the time, and I think people then say they do it,

But they don't really do it in many cases.

You just have to say to God, OK, God, I recognize I have a thirst.

There is something in me.

One of the guys at Camp You Can said, I tried it all.

In fact, it was J.C. He said, I tried it all.

He said, I did drugs, I did party scene, I had people cheering me,

Shouts and praises and music, bar scene.

He said, at one point in time, I had a million dollars in cash in my closet.

And he wasn't being figurative. He's literal.

He literally had a million dollars of cash stacked in his closet.

And he said, and I realized I was empty.

I needed something.

And whatever it was, everything that I had tried, and he had taken everything from anybody in his life.

He said he was so big and so bad and so strong and so scary that anything he asked for, people give it to him.

He could take anything he wanted. No girl turned him down.

Somebody got a hundred bucks in their pocket, he asked for it.

They gave it to him, because if he wanted, he could just take it.

He killed so many people, beat so many people.

No one would turn him down. He could have anything he wanted, anytime he wanted.

And he realized he couldn't have the one thing he needed.

He recognized a thirst in himself.

Once you've recognized that thirst in yourself, God is willing to give you the water of life without cost.

And then He expects you to overcome in this life, to stick with Him,

to stand by His commands, His statutes, His ordinances, and His ways, and do it God's way.

And if you do that, you shall then inherit all thing, and you will be a child to God forever.

But listen, verse 8, and this is scary.

But for the cowardly.

Do you know what a coward is?

A coward is a person who doesn't act in courage to do the right thing.

They're the kind of person who will say something bad about you, but not to your face.

They're the kind of person who will say, I believe in Jesus, and I'm living for Him no matter what.

But when a gun is to their head, they'll renounce His name.

He says, but for the cowardly and the unbelieving.

Unbelieving is the kind of people who do not trust God, they do not believe God,

they do not believe God can do what God says He's going to do.

And for the abominable, and for the murderers, and immoral persons, and sorcerers.

Sorcerers are the kind of people who think that if they say the right thing, God will do what they want Him to do.

Or they can twist somebody else to get them to do what they want if they just do the right thing in this life.

Idolaters, that's someone who worships anything else.

If there is anything that comes remotely close to the value of God in your life.

It's not that you can say, well I can't have other gods before Him like greater than Him.

It's you can't have any other gods in His presence.

So if you're busy looking for a way to be entertained when you ought to be looking for a way to be grown in the Lord,

you've got to ask yourself, are you an idolater?

And it says, but for the cowardly, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and the murderers, and the immoral persons,

and the sorcerers, and the idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone,

which is the second death.

Notice that verse 8 starts with a but.

The drink is given freely for those who recognize the thirst.

And those who recognize the thirst and receive the drink that overcome shall inherit these things,

and become a child of God for eternity.

But for the cowardly, whether or not they are given the drink, the cowardly, the unbeliever, the abominable,

the murderers, the immoral persons, the sorcerers, the idolaters, the liars, their part will be in the lake of fire.

God wants to set you up.

By His grace, He is willing to give you a drink from the spring of life,

which He paid for with His very own blood through His Son Jesus Christ.

By His grace, as a free gift, you cannot earn it.

It's not about what you say.

A lot of times we want people to say, yeah, I believe.

And you should. That's your part. That's your declaration.

But somebody saying, yeah, I believe when they don't is worse than somebody who doesn't say, yeah, I believe.

Either way, they still wind up in hell, unless they at some point truly do believe.

But it's worse to say, I believe when you don't, because then you paint a picture that God is a liar.

Paint a picture that God's declaration is false, and God's declaration is not false.

And it says, we were once objects of wrath, Ephesians 2.

But by grace, you have been saved through faith, through believing.

You let Jesus' death stand for you.

He became your Lord, and now you walk in His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His ways,

and follow His voice, and you overcome, and you get eternity in heaven with God.

And it's amazing.

In fact, a little earlier in that chapter is a brief description.

He says,

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men,

and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them,

and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall no longer be any death,

there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain.

The first things have passed away.

And He who sits on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new.

Eternity with God is the exact thing.

But I ask you, when you're choosing your setups,

let's say if you were the enemy, and you wanted to have a good chance

that somebody would choose either Satan's setup or man's setup and not choose God's setup,

what would you do?

How would you hide it?

Where would you put it?

Would you put it up high where somebody couldn't reach it?

Well, that doesn't work, because God can easily make somebody be able to reach it

by providing a ladder, by providing a boost, whatever.

And all you have to do is see it and know that you need it,

thirst for it a little bit, and God will give it readily, freely.

So what would you do?

If you were Satan and you were trying to hide this setup of God, what would you do?

I submit to you, just put it in plain view.

Put it right there, so simple, so easy, not confusing,

and then distract people from looking at it.

Distract them with oak trees and gardens, sports cars, and cute girls and cute guys,

drugs, and whatever else you can.

For that thing that is right there in front of them that God has made open and evident to everyone

will not be chosen by those who think they want something else.

I got back from Camp You Can, and I was a little put out for a few minutes,

because for one, one of the boys left with their parents before I knew it.

I can just see their parents or say anything, and I'm like,

Holy cow, where is he?

I'm like, where is he?

And no one that was still there could remember seeing him after the rest area,

and so for a hot minute I thought, oh no, did we leave him at the rest area?

And then I called RJ, and I said, did you see him back at the building?

I was like, no, I didn't see him, but Jason was in the car with RJ,

and Jason said, oh yeah, he rode with me from the rest area back to the church building,

and so then we knew everything was fine.

Well, at the same time, and that's how easy it is, he was right there in plain view,

but I didn't see him, and so I began to wonder.

But at the same time, there was another boy who couldn't find his bag in the car.

His bag, he's looking for his bag.

He looked at the entire van for his bag, and he couldn't find it.

And his brother began to look for his bag.

Now everybody's looking for the bag.

We're all looking for the bag.

Nobody's got the bag, so I told RJ on the phone, I said,

RJ, I'm pretty sure you took the bag, because you took the other vehicle with the rest of the bags.

He said, no, I made sure I only had the bags of the people that are with me.

He said, I don't have anybody else's bags, and I said,

well, they're all looking at the van.

We're all looking at the van.

I don't see it.

They don't see it, and he kept saying, it's my blue bag.

It's my blue bag.

He thought it was a gray bag, but it was blue.

He kept saying, it's my gray bag.

It's my gray bag.

Finally, they found the bag, and it wasn't gray.

His bag that he used all week long at Camp You Can, that he packed, that he carried, his bag,

he thought it was gray, and it was blue.

And somebody else, which happened to be his brother, had to say, listen, that's not gray.

That's blue, and it's been blue all week long, and that's your bag.

And he looked at it, that's my bag.

Yep, that's right, it is blue.

Where are you going to hide the setup that God has?

You hide it in plain view.

Tell people it looks a little different.

Somebody in this room is going, but I'm not sure because I want this, this, and this.

Somebody brought into a prosperity gospel.

Listen, you can follow Jesus, and you may suffer.

You can follow Jesus, and you could get, probably not in our day, but it could happen,

especially if you became a missionary in a foreign country, you could get burned at the stake,

or crucified, or get your fingernails pulled out.

In the last week, somebody in the Arab community across the world has had their fingernails pulled out

because that's the common treatment that they use on them to get them, to tell them who told them about Jesus.

That's what they do.

They keep them awake all night long, deprive them, waterboard them, and pull their fingernails out

until they tell them who told them about Jesus.

And most of the time they don't, because they know they're going to die anyway.

So what good does it do? They just suffer until they're dead.

And then spend eternity in heaven with God.

So it isn't always going to be peaches and cream.

He said, I'll give you freely of the spring of life.

And for him who overcomes, you stay the course.

Follow the commands, follow the statues, follow the ordinances, and follow his ways,

and stick with Jesus, and build on the foundation that Jesus has given.

Then there's eternity.

The great blessing is God will strengthen you, he will provide for you, he will protect you,

he will give you purpose, and he will give you power while you are doing that to overcome.

Even if you get sick, even if you get hurt physically, emotionally, or psychologically,

you can overcome and stick with him.

It is not about getting rich.

It is not about getting healthy.

It is not about having prettier stuff.

It is about building on the foundation of Jesus Christ, which is largely about your declaration.

And we're right back to the beginning.

They could have been listed in different order.

The declaration of God happens first, now I'm saved, now I have the power, authority, etc.

to make my own declaration and to keep it.

Will you?

The question is, have you recognized a thirst in yourself? I thirst for God.

I need something more than what this life has thus far provided me,

and if so, then you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior,

and he will give you a drink of the spring of life for free.

If you can honestly sit here and say, I do not nor have I ever recognized a thirst within myself,

and I can tell you flat out based on the scripture, you are not saved.

You are not ready to be saved.

But if you can say, I have recognized a thirst in myself, and I have reached out for God,

and he has given me a drink, I have been filled up by the Lord,

yes, I have troubles, but I am overcoming, then you are saved.

And you're set up for this life and for the next.

But let's not play games, shall we?

Don't say to God, yeah, I'll be yours, but I'm still going to do what I want to do,

unlike what you said, in contrast to what God said, I'm going to do what I want to do.

No, we do as God would have us to do, and we stand firm,

and God is still in the soul-saving business.

And so we have to go out there and find those people and say,

look, this is right here in front of you.

I know it's not complicated.

You want a rich formula with 17 ingredients, but here it's as simple as this.

Have you recognized a thirst in yourself, something that this world does not satisfy?

I have. If you have, Jesus says, go to Him, and He'll give you a drink of the spring of life,

and you will be made eternal. You'll be taken care of.

It's that simple.

And then just live for Him for the rest of your life and overcome,

and you'll sail on into the kingdom, regardless of any suffering you may have in the meantime.

So why are we not? Why are we not?

Everybody that we talk to, every opportunity that we get, ask that one question.

Have you noticed a thirst in yourself that this world cannot satisfy?

If they say no, you could stop right there.

Or you could say, well, if you ever do, I can tell you what it is.

And they may later that day or the next week or months down the road or years,

and you may see them in heaven, they may attribute their salvation to you.

Have you ever noticed a thirst in yourself that this world cannot satisfy?

Just go to Jesus.

Jesus is at the well, John chapter 4, final illustration.

John 4 · chapter mention

The woman is there.

She's had a bunch of men married multiple times,

and the guy she's with right now is not her husband.

She's a Samaritan, so a Jew shouldn't even be talking to her.

Jesus sends the disciples on ahead to get food.

And they say, well, don't you need food? We'll bring some back for you.

And He said, I have food of which you know not.

In other words, I don't need food right now because I'm being fed.

And He said, His food is to do the will of His Father, and then you know what He did.

He stayed there, and instead of eating, He told that woman how to be saved.

He told her many things, all the things that she had done.

And He said, if you knew who I was, you'd have asked of me,

and I'd give you a drink, and you'd never thirst again.

And she said, well, you don't even have a bucket. How are you going to draw water?

Because she didn't understand what He was talking about.

But now, you do, and I do, and I submit to you, we need to go find others who do.

Thank you very much. This concludes our services.

Go be there for, and be the church.