The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 5: Farewell Address

Episode Date: May 26, 2019

Rebellion feels like freedom and fun but will always lead to death and bondage. True freedom and joy are only found in following Jesus. Click the 1 Samuel Resources tab for the full study journal, summary recap videos and more.

Amen and amen. How we doing, church? Are we good? How amazing was that? Baptizing 418 people in the Atlantic Ocean the last Sunday. Glory to God. It's one of our favorite days here at 1122. It's always amazing to me to see, like we get to see firsthand miracles. I mean, people declaring Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and demonstrating to the whole world that the only eternal miracle has happened to them, that they have died to themselves, him and resurrected the newness of life, and I know there were a bunch of you, and you're one more, the person you've been praying for like crazy, for years and years and years and years, finally took that step and took the plunge. And in typical 1122 fashion, you saw in the video, it's 418 people, and maybe you saw on social media.

There was 418. Well, in actuality, there was one more. When we got finished with the 418 people that, like, registered like you were supposed to with all that stuff, there was one of our guys that was a camera guy. He's actually on staff here in IT, and he was running one of the, the cameras and when it all wrapped up he said uh pastor joby i got saved when i was 12 years old but i've never gone public with it through baptism would you please baptize me and we baptize one more so actually it was 419 but who's counting hey hey happy memorial day weekend i will i need to say

this is um we would not be able to do that to gather together on the beach and proclaim Jesus as our Lord and Savior if we didn't have men and women of courage and honor that were willing to lay down their life for the sake of our freedom. And this weekend, we remember those that gave the ultimate sacrifice. And to all of you who have served or are currently serving in our military, and you are willing to put your life on the line for people that don't deserve it like us, we say thank you to you who are serving and have served. I don't know who said it. It was like John Wayne or my dad or somebody awesome said,

there are only two people that would lay down their life for someone that didn't deserve it, Jesus Christ and the American soldier. Amen. And so, as you go to the beach today and tomorrow and eat hot dogs and blow stuff up for the glory of God, we say thank you that we can do that stuff. In fact, the last two days, me and Gretchen and some folks from the band were at Langley Air Force Base

sharing the gospel with men and women from Langley, which is pretty, I've never felt like more of a weenie in my whole life than that moment. But it was pretty awesome. Hi, if you got your Bibles, and I hope you do, we're in the book of First Samuel, or if you brought your journal with you, we're going to be on page 24. And we're going to talk about Samuel's farewell address. Now, we've got to kind of cover some ground here because last week we ended in chapter 5, and today we're going to pick it up in chapter 12. so I need to cover the context of what's happened in that time. You remember last week we talked about idols and idolatry, and the sons of Eli the priest, Phineas and Hoffney,

they grabbed the Ark of God and they treated it like an idol. They treated it like a lucky rabbit's foot or a trinket. And they thought if we could just get this, the Ark of God, which represents the presence of God, if we could get it to the front of the battle against the Philistines, then God has to do what we want him to do. But God will not be a means to our end, And so it doesn't go good for them.

They both die. The ark of the covenant is taken. And remember, they put the ark of the covenant in the temple of Dagon. And every morning they would wake up and all the idols were bowing down to God because God doesn't cuddle with or play with idols. And everywhere they put the Ark of God or the presence of God, his hand was heavy against anybody that would reject him. And so they're kind of playing Hot Potato with the Ark of God.

They don't know what to do. It's a very loose translation, but this is what happened in 1 Samuel 6. So they put the Ark on this cart and they hooked it up. the two milk cows, and then they just sort of open the gate of their place and just to see where the cows will take it. Sure enough, the cows leave, and they take the Ark of God to Israel, back to Israel. And so then in chapter 7, Samuel goes before all of Israel and says, you got to get rid of the idols. Basically, he preaches my sermon from last week. Got to get rid of all of the idols, and so they get rid of all of the idols. And then God shows up in a miraculous way, and even though they have

been getting whipped by the Philistines, in chapter 7, Israel puts... the Philistines out of the promised land. And then everything's going super good. And Samuel judges Israel for years. And when I say judge, it's not like an American judge where he's like sitting presiding over court cases. It means like he is the God-appointed leader. That the leader for Israel was, they were led from a place of the prophet and the priests, not the king. And then Samuel's getting old and his kids are kind of cruddy, which is sort of a theme in the book of Samuel. And so the people of God, Israel says, we want a king like all the other nations have a king. We want to be like all the other nations. And Samuel warns them. He's like, hey, listen, God is your king. You know, this is a theocracy.

God ruled and reigned over Israel from his throne. So you don't need to put your trust in man. You need to keep your trust in God. And they were like, yeah, whatever. We want it, literally. We want to be like the other nations. And so God comes to Samuel and says, give them what they want. Because they're not rejecting you and your leadership. They are rejecting me and my leadership. Now, the interesting thing here is, the Bible says in Romans chapter 1, that when God gives you what you want, it is evidence of God's wrath in your life. That when God is wrathful to us, it's not when we get busted, but it's when he turns us over to our own desires. Fine, have it your way. That it's actually God's grace and kindness in the

in our life when we get convicted, when we get busted, when we get in trouble. When we get to that place where God allow some circumstances in our life to not go our way so that we would know that we must rely on the one true God. And so in chapter 8 he says fine, give them what they want. In chapter 9, Samuel is on the lookout for the first king of Israel. And so he's kind of minding his own business praying about it. And along comes a guy named Saul. and Saul is looking for his dad's lost donkeys.

So you never know where God finds you doing weird stuff, like looking for lost donkeys. And he bumps into Samuel and he's like, hey, Sam, if you see my dad's lost donkeys. And he's like, no, I haven't seen lost donkeys. But I see that you are God's man to be the first king. The Bible says he was good looking and he was literally head and shoulders above all of the rest of Israel. And so Saul is anointed as the king of Israel. He's not inaugurated yet, but he is anointed. And the Bible says this.

It says, when Saul turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart, and all these signs came to pass that day. In other words, God began to do things in and through Saul that he never in a million years saw himself doing. And then the inauguration day hit, and everybody all of Israel gathers in to welcome in their very first king. It's kind of a big deal.

And then there's this one little red flag. The Bible doesn't say much about it, and I think it's kind of weird, as they are ready to inaugurate Saul, their first king, the Bible says that he's hiding amongst the baggage. Like, he's just afraid. I don't know if it's like a literary term, like he's got a bunch of baggage, but he's like, hey, get out from the Samsonites and Louis Vuittons, you got to be the king, and he's hiding, all right? They don't say anything about it, but they put him up on the throne. And it's kind of a red flag, and then you get to chapter 11, and Saul hasn't done very much at this point.

He's kind of minding his own business. He's out on a farm like plowing with a cow or something. And then he gets word that the Ammonites, these are the bad guys, that they have threatened one of the tribes of Israel. And here's what they do. They go into this tribe of Israel and says, we're even moving in and we're going to kill you. Or you can surrender to us and we'll gouge out your right eyeball. That was the option that they had. Okay?

So either we're gouging out your eye or we're going to kill your whole body, which one you want us to do. they're like, let us pray about it. So then they send an email to Saul, and they're like, hey, king, we need you help. You know, chief eye gout is coming after us, and we don't want to know what to do. And Saul gets all worked out. He gets really, really angered. And so it's good for Saul as the king. It's not good for the cow. So he sacrifices the cow, so the glory of God, and chops him up into all these pieces and then sends the pieces of the cow all throughout Israel to the 12 tribes of Israel with an invitation. May you come. and help us battle against the eye gouged people,

or we're going to do to you what I did to the cow. So it's a very passive-aggressive invitation to come be a part of the team, and everybody's like, I guess we're in, we're drafted, and they go to war. And they whip the eyeggouge people. Just kill them quickly, all right? And then at the end of chapter 11, Saul demonstrates maturity and compassion and restraint and leadership, and everything is going super good.

And I don't know how familiar you are with the Bible, but it's not going to end super good for Saul. Like next week, it goes really bad. But it starts out super great. And I don't know if you know this, but it's not really how you start that matters. It's how you finish. And so when Samuel sees Saul leading as the king, he knows. He knows that the transition has been made. That we are no longer, Israel is no longer a group of people led by a group of people led by

a judge anointed and appointed by God, but now Israel is a monarchy like all the other nations. And so I say all that so you'll know what's happening in chapter 12. In chapter 12, Samuel is going to give this like final farewell address. He gathers all the people and he's going to say the final words. This is it. And so think about it. If you know the words you're going to share with somebody are going to be your last words, these are going to be very, very, very important words. and it's kind of common in the Bible for some of the great leaders of the scriptures to get the nation of Israel together and give this farewell address. In fact, the Shema that we're studying for this two-year period of time, Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul and all your strength.

This was the final words of Moses. The book of Deuteronomy is Moses gathering Israel together, knowing that his time and leadership was over, and he was sharing with them, though, whatever you do when you get into the promised land, do not forget the Lord your God. Deuteronomy actually means second law. And it doesn't mean another law. He's just repeating or reminding this is how you are to live. In fact, mamas, you do this all the time.

You know that moment when you drop your kid off at somebody else's house and you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, before you get out of the car, look at me in the face. Look at me. Brush your teeth and change your under. Whatever your rules are, that's Deuteronomy right there. That's like the second law. Don't forget this. Joshua is going to do the same thing.

Joshua chapter 24. He knows that his time and leadership is over. And so he gathers the nation of Israel at Shechem. And he says, this very famous verse, choose for yourself this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. That is what 1 Samuel chapter 12 is. These are Samuel's final words to Israel.

We'll pick it up in chapter 12. verse 1 says this. And Samuel said to all of Israel, behold, I have obeyed your voice and all that you have said to me, and have made a king over you, and now behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray, and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am. Testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded, whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it. Testify against me and I will restore it to you. And they said, you have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.

And he said to them, the Lord is witness against you and his anointed is witness this day. That you have not found anything in my hand and they said he is witness. Here's what Samuel is saying. Samuel is saying, I'm not perfect, but I have done my best to lead you with integrity. Now, this should go without saying, but in today's age, it needs to be said, integrity in leadership matters. Integrity and leadership in all of life matters. That in God's economy, God does not just judge us and God is not just pleased with the end. but God also looks at the means by which we accomplish the ends

and for some reason in our culture we have lost integrity and leadership. In fact, do you know what the word integrity? The word integrity, the root word for it is integer. It's rooted in the shema. The Lord our God, the Lord is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, so mind and strength. In other words, integrity is loving the one. true God with our one and only life.

And that we do not have compartmentalized lives. Sometimes we think that we have compartmentalized lives. Like you think you've got your work life and you got your church life and you got your Friday night life and you got your Sunday morning life and you got your online life and you got your public life. And in fact, when you try to live this way, it gets awkward sometimes like when your groups of friends or groups of people bump into each other from your different lives. You're just minding your business on a Tuesday at Top Golf with your party

friends and then your church friends walk up and you're like ah and your party friends are like who are they and you're like that's my that's my that's my that's my church and they're like what you go to church right remember one time I was a when I was a youth pastor I was going to fletcher high school and I was looking for this baseball player that was part of it he was one of our student leaders and I pull up on the campus and I'm walking around the campus looking for this kid and I can't find him so this little cheerleader comes bopping along and I'm like hey do you know you know said his name. She's like, why are you looking for him? Because you know, a little stranger danger. And I was like, I'm his youth pastor. She went, what? He goes to church.

So then I find him. I'm like, hey man, what about Sally? She's like, yeah, I've been sharing my faith with her so much. Have you? Because I think you're a liar. That's what I think is going on here. So Samuel is not claiming perfection, but what Samuel is claiming is I have tried to live my one and only life to the pleasure of the one true God. Integrity matters. Integrity matters. Integrity matters. No, it wasn't your son. In fact, one of the very first things that I did when it became clear to me that God was calling me and a team of people to plant the church of 1122. Before we assembled a staff, before we had a mission statement before any of that, I gathered together at a board of elders, older godly men and gave them all access in my life to protect me for me and hold

me accountable. Because I want to, when I'm done, be able to stand in front of this church and my family and the Lord and not claim to be perfect, not even close, but to be able to be a man of integrity. And let me tell you, there's two things that take guys out in my position over and over and over, money and honey's. So I got rules about the rules about the rules when it comes to monies and honeies. I'm never alone with a female and the elders have my tax returns. Now, so that ain't going to get me. I may kill a person at the Jags game. That could happen.

If you see that on the news, just be like, yep, they got him. All right. But I want to be a man of integrity. So Samuel is a man of integrity. And then verse 6, that's kind of the intro. And then he's going to start pleading with him. And Samuel said to the people, The Lord is witness who appointed Moses and Aaron

and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now, therefore, stand still that I may plead with you. He is going to plead with his people. Like, he's got this thing in him that he wants them to just stay still long enough so I can get it in you. You ever do that with your kids? You ever trying to explain something to your kids? Like when they're real little, you know, they don't understand. Then they get this little place where they kind of trust you a little bit, like, you know, elementary school.

And then they start, like, middle school. They just lose their minds. You know what I'm talking about? And you just want to grab them by their blessed little ears and be like, listen to me. You just want to take their head and just pop the top off of it for a second and reach down in here and grab what you know to be true and right and godly and just take it out of you and plant it inside of them and then put their head and heart back on. You ever do that?

Is it just me? Am I the only intense parent? You know what I call that? Preaching. So if it ever feels like I'm a little agitated, what I'm trying to do with us every week is just that thing. Just stay still and let me plead with you to believe the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if I could, if I could, I would take your head and rip it off and reach down in here and take the gospel and plant it in there and nail it down to your soul so that when the enemy whispers his lies, you wouldn't forget it all week long, okay? That's what we're doing.

I'm just glad you put up with it, but. So I want you to see, like Samuel's passion for his people here, now therefore stand still that I may please. with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. He's going to get historical now. He's going to say, let's look over our shoulder in the past, and we are going to see God's relentless pursuit for his rebellious children over and over and over. He says, when Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers

cried out to the Lord. And the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt. Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hands of Cicera and the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them, and they cried out to the Lord and said, we have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the bales and the astra.

But now deliver us out of the hand of the enemies that we may. may serve you. And the Lord sent Jerobul and Barack and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side and you lived in safety. Here's what he's saying. He's like, look, Israel, what we're doing is not new. It's just our turn. And may we learn from the failures of our fathers. What he's talking about here is he's talking about this cycle from starting with Moses all the way through the book of judges. What happened this. What happened this is that the thing. He's talking about this. the nation of Israel over and over and over and over is that Israel would be walking closely with the Lord. They would be walking in obedience. They would be basking in his blessing. And then there would come

this point where they forgot the Lord. They just sort of thought, you know what, I got this. Kind of like that moment when you get the flu and they put you on medicine and they say, no matter what, take all the medicine. And you get about three quarters away through the medicine and you feel good. And you're like, I don't need that medicine. And then what happens? You go. get sicker. That's what he's saying happens. They're walking closely with the Lord. Their dependence on him wanes.

They feel super independent. They're like, forget you, God. They begin to be disobedient to God. And disobedience has a destination. And it is our destruction and ruin. And so then things don't go good. And it gets worse and worse and worse. And then they find themselves at the bottom of the pit.

And it's in that place. that they cry out to God. My bad. Save me, God. And how many of you know that it is God's kindness and goodness that he would let you hit rock bottom so that you would realize the only place is to look up to him? And so that's what they do.

And in God's mercy, in God's grace, he would send them a deliverer. A prophet, a judge, a leader would show up and would preach to them and point them back to God and they would repent and they would surrender. And they would come back to God and over and over and over, you see God's relentless pursuit of his rebellious children. Now, if you dozed off a little during that, and you woke up at the end and you thought,

is he describing my spiritual life? No, I'm talking about Israel, and it just happens to be your spiritual life and mine too. Anybody else been in that kind of cycle again and again and again? Just over and over, or we just saying it, Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. I tell you, I have never woken up one morning. You know what I'm doing? I'm rebelling today.

No, man, it's like a cow wanders away. You know how a cow wanders? Like, I don't know. I've never been driving down the road and see a cow just like making a run for it. A cow just eats what's right in front of him. He's like, this is good. Oh, look, there's a little bit here. Oh, there's a little bit here.

There's a little bit here. And if there's not a cattle guard there, eventually they would just wonder off. And oftentimes this is how we are made, and this is what Samuel is warning his people of. And here's the problem with that cycle that just goes over and over and over, is there's a big old difference between remorse and resolution, and what the Bible would call repentance. You see, remorse and resolution is all about me. I feel bad because I screwed up and I will try harder.

And then what happens is you do that over and over and over again. I mean, this was the story of my Christian faith for years and years and years and years and years. You know, I got saved at camp at this big old event. And much like Israel, there was this moment where I could just, I mean, I was basking in the presence of God. I was at camp. I was ready to go for it, man. I was all juiced up on Jesus and had the Jesus t-shirts and singing the Jesus songs. And I went home ready to attack hell with a water gun, man.

I was ready, and it would last for many days. And I'd take my eyes off him, and I'd do what everybody else was doing, and then I'd get to this place, or I thought, well, how did I get here? Lord help me. And then it would just be a countdown to the next camp, and this one, I did it, man. I've thrown rocks in ponds, and I've written sins, and nailed them to crosses, and I've lit and stuff on fire, and anybody else do all that stuff, those things, you know, and you're like, maybe this one will take.

Well, the problem with remorse and resolution, is it's often based on what we would call just sin management. That we think what it means to be a good Christian, by the way, there's no such thing as good Christian. Is that we take hold of our sin and we have to control then. And depending on where you're from or what church you grew up in, they gave you a list of the things good Christians don't do. Like where I'm from, I've told you this a million times. The list of sins where I was from was this. Good Christians don't drink, smoke, chew, go with girls who do.

That was our list. Right? there were some other things rated our movies were in there then they made one about Jesus so we didn't know what to do with that and it was very difficult to obey that list where I'm from because the prime queen was like hey

y'all now if y'all know what this is repent so around here I call it I use the same illustration all the time I want you to do this today or tomorrow when you go to the beach we call this sin management it's like beach ball theology we think our job as a good Christian is you take

hold of your sin like you would take hold of your sin like you would take hold of a beach ball and you go out into the ocean of your life and you press that thing under the waves. Now listen, I'm not pro-sin. I'm anti-send. But sin management is not what it means to be a Christian. To be a Christian or a Jesus follower

means you have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And you are saved by works, just not yours, his, on the cross. And so you grab that ball and you try out with all that you're made of to hold it under there. I got this. I'm not going to drink and cut it. as much and things like that. And how long can you do it?

Some of you fellas could do it a minute, man. You're pretty yoked. But eventually, eventually you can't hold it under there. I mean, you got sunscreen on your hands, you know, your arms get tired, you get distracted, a wave hit you in the face, and you lose grip. And then what happens? The beach ball, try it tomorrow at the beach. The beach ball doesn't just gently make its way back to the surface.

It explodes in your face. and where I was from, the church was always there to point out the explosion. And so the way I heard it, I don't think this is exactly how people were teaching him, but the way I understood it was this. God is good, you're bad, try harder, see you next year at camp. You see, the good news of the gospel is that Jesus walks up with a pocket knife and just stabs the beach ball. and all of the power of sin is deflated in your life. Now, not perfectly until we get to heaven, but it is finished.

And then you just look like an idiot holding a deflated beach ball while you're flexing on it. So the idea is not to be soft on sin. The idea is that you abide in Jesus apart from him. It is impossible to do anything. And in him, no thing is impossible. that he has overcome that we might overcome. Listen, I don't watch very many up-to-date movies anymore, not because I'm spiritual, I'm just too busy.

But there is a moment in a movie that I think illustrates what Samuel is saying to Israel. Remember the Matrix? Very biblical movie. It really is a picture of the gospel. Give me a second. So remember Neo is kind of figuring out like, there's more to this life than regular life. Trinity shows up and says, come on, come with us. He's standing there in the rain.

The car pulls up. She opens the door, get in, he gets in. They put a gun in his face just for a dramatic effect, and I think. They're riding down the road, and she's talking about what he has been called into, and he's like, no, not for me, I'm out. They jam on the brake, she opens the door, and he looks down this road. It's right in front of this alley. It's pouring rain, pouring rain, and she says something to the effect of,

he starts to go down that road, and she goes, wait a second, you have been down that road before. You know where it leads. That's not where you want to be. And so he says, all right, you shut the door. Then they suck that little spider thing out of his. That part's not biblical, but the first part is, okay? This is what Samuel is going to say.

Samuel is going to be saying in just a second, just a couple of verses, disobedience has a destination, and following God has a destination. Israel choose for yourself this day. It will go well for you to follow the Lord. He says it this way in verse 12. And when you saw that Nahash, that's the iPoker, the king of the Ammonites came against you. You said to be, no, but a king shall reign over us.

And when the Lord your God was your king. And now, behold, the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked. Behold, the Lord has set a king over you. And then here's the choose. Here's the choose for yourself, Israel. He says, if you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God,

it will be well. Now, he's not saying it'll be perfect. He's not saying you won't have rainy days. He's not saying you won't face trials of many kinds. But he's saying, no matter what is thrown your way, when you know the Lord as Lord of your life and not you as Lord of your life, you will be able to say with the hymn writer, it is well with my soul.

You see, in reality, you don't break God's commandments. You can only break yourself against them. You see, because the author of life knows how to do life best. And then he says, but here's your other option. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. You see, again, you don't really break God's commandments. you can just break yourself against them.

I've met people here at 1122. Pastor pray for me. The devil is all over me. I'm like, all right, tell me about it. And you start telling me about the decisions that you make. And I go, I'm sorry. I don't think that's the devil. I think you are your own worst enemy.

He's probably relieved. He ain't got to mess with you because you are just inflicting your own wounds, all right? This is what he's saying. Remember the greatest commandment in the Bible? I hope so because we're spending two years on it. A lawyer comes to Jesus. Jesus, what's the greatest command?

manment. He goes, it's this, here, oh, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. In other words, you've heard Yolo, you only live once, that's stupid. You only live forever. So take this one and only life that you have, all of it, this one and only life, all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and you dedicate it to loving the one true God in your life. And obedience has a destination, it does. And disobedience has a destination. And here's what he's saying. Every single one of us were created as image bearers of God. And because of that, every single one of us way down at the soul level, we had this itch that the

things of this world just can't scratch. Now, we live in a world that spends billions of dollars a day to get us to believe that the temporary things of this world can do for us what only the one true God can do for us. And so Samuel is talking about. about idols and idolatry like we did last week, but I'm telling you, there are some folks, there are some people, by the grace of God, look to Jesus to satisfy their soul. But then there's a bunch of us, even those of us that know better and have trusted Jesus, that just get distracted by the things of this world. Like, we look to ourself to satisfy ourselves. Like, we really begin to think, a better version of me, then I'll be fully and finally satisfied. Like, listen,

you're in school and you think if you can just get that degree, then all of life will go well. Ask to anybody that graduated. It's not as big deal as you think. You should graduate. Calm down, mama. You should study hard. It's just not going to fully and finally satisfy you. You see, if you're in your 20s, I got news for you.

You're going to be more disappointed with you than you think when you get to your 30s. Do you know why? Because it's still you. I'm telling you. You've been walking with Jesus. Anybody is still struggling with the same sin for like 20 years? Anybody else? Am I the only one?

Okay? Me and the Apostle Paul from Romans chapter 7. I want to do good and I can't pull it off. The evil I don't want to do, these things I keep on doing, the good things that I want to do, I try, and evil is right there with me. And he says, what a wretched man that I am. Who will save me? This is where we get Romans 8-1. Therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, Jesus.

If you turn to yourself for satisfaction, I promise you will let you down. And not only will you disappoint you, it will destroy you. I mean, some of you think if you could just get your physical self in shape, then you will be fully and finally satisfied. You're killing yourself in the gym and listen to me, Mama, even if you pull it off. I mean, even if when you go to the beach, you can sit in any angle and nothing rolls up on itself, there will still be an empty place in your soul that just will not be scratched. And let me just, speaking from my 40s to those of you in your 20s and 30s, you got something working against you, time and gravity.

They are not your friend. They are not your friend. And it's coming faster than you think. And so you can try and try and try. And listen, and some of you, if you've got a little extra change laying around, you can go and delay it a minute. You can, man. You can nip it and tuck it and paint it and inflate it and shrink.

Whatever you want to do, you can stretch that stuff around and you can fool people for a minute. You do too much. It looks like you lost the fight. I'm just going to warn you. It does, man. It's just like, whoa, hold on. Say I'm lying. Hey man, no judgment.

If the house needs painting, painting the house. I'm just telling you if you put your hope there, you will be let down. Because yourself will not sustain you. We talk about this all the time. Sometimes we put our hope in stuff. we take our eyes off of our Savior and we put it in stuff. It almost sounds dumb to say out loud, doesn't it? A new truck is going to do something for you as a man?

You think if you can just get that new house, then, then you'll be fully and finally satisfied? Or some new pain? You know this is a lie. And again, I'm not anti-stuff. It's just if you begin to worship the stuff instead of the giver of the stuff. And for some of you, for some of us, listen, we're all. all prone to all of these. For some of us, we look to the someone else's in our life to satisfy us. And we think if I could just find the right, in fact, you single people, oh, bless you,

because you are in search of the mythical one, one, one, one. And you just know in your soul that when you meet him, he will complete you. Married people, would you testify? Now listen, listen, man, it is a good gift from above to have a spouse, no doubt. But let me tell you what it's going to expose in you. Not you completely, but you've exposed me to what a sinful slob I am. You put two sinners facing each other in the house and let you live together. It gets rough, all right? And the problem is that when you ask your spouse to bear the weight of the Savior,

Not only are you disappointed, but it destroys them. And so what Samuel is saying is, trust God with your life. I say this all the time. I say, we don't follow Jesus because he makes life better, but that he's better than life. That is absolutely true. But it is also true, generally speaking, that when we do life God's way, life is better.

I mean, the Bible gives us all these commandments about how to live our life, all these instructions. It talks about sex and it talks about money and it talks about time and it talks about relationships. And oftentimes what we do in 2019 is like, how in the world could this old book tell me anything about my sex life? Right? God don't know what he's talking about. He ain't seen 50 shades of gray. He's sitting up in heaven with his miracle ear just tuning in once a week.

He's actually the author of life. And he knows how this thing was designed to be run and lived. and when we do things the way God has intended it, I'm not saying that it foolproofs everything. I'm just saying it's better because he knows what he's doing. And instead of me, look, I could chase down a couple of examples, but I wouldn't want you to get lost in the examples. We could talk about, you know, are you doing sex God's way or the world's way?

Are you doing money, God's way or the world's way? Are you doing time God's way or the world's way? But the reality is that the real issue of those activities is that they will expose your identity. They'll expose who your true Lord is. And identity precedes activity, no doubt, but the activity of our lives point to who our true God is. And what happened in Samuel's day and what happens in our day

is day after day after day, even for those of us who are believers that walk with Jesus, we just forget God and put our eyes on the things of this world as they make promises that they can never, ever keep. And so what Samuel is saying here is, so choose today. Or the Bible word would be this, repent, repent. Repent is for sure.

I know repent has kind of been tainted by the bullhorn people going to games and stuff, but it's a legit Bible word. It means one of the ways to think about it is to change direction. I was on a pathway of disobedience. It leads somewhere. I'm going to hit the brakes going down this path, and I am going to change direction, and I'm going to do this thing God's way.

And the crazy thing is that God, in his grace and mercy, he just invites you to change direction and come running to him instead of running from him. But literally, in Greek, the word repent means to change your mind, to change the way you think. It means to rethink your strategy for life. And hopefully by the power of the Holy Spirit, you get to the place even this day, where you change the way you think about some of the decisions that you're making in your life.

And you begin to realize, uh-oh, me being the boss of me ain't working too good. Maybe I should hand over the reins of my life to the author of this life. That's what he's talking about here. Verse 16, he says, now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. What's going to happen now, it seems kind of out of place, but what's going to happen now is that Samuel is going to give the nation of Israel a sign. And a sign is something that points to something bigger than itself. Like every time y'all drive up I-95 and get to Dylan, you send me a text of Dylan.

I get 100 a month. I really do. No problem. And I always text back the same name. Keep driving. It'll get on you. That's what I text, all right? But Dylan isn't the sign.

The sign points to Dylan. So the miracle that is about to happen here is just a sign to reveal the character and nature of God. He says, I will call upon the Lord that he may send thunder and rain. And then he says, and you shall. know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king, and so Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. Well, it was the wheat harvest time, and it's not supposed to rain during that time.

They plant during the rainy season, and it grows, and then the rain stops, and they wait a little while, and they harvest it. And he goes, is it not harvest day? And they're like, yep, so it's not supposed to rain, right? Right, right. God make it rain. Boom, thunder, rain. And here's what he's pointing to.

If you can trust God to make it rain, not like make it rain, but like make it rain, then can't you trust God to rain down blessings and everything that you need in your life? That's what that sign was. Verse 19, and all the people said to Samuel, pray for your servants to the Lord, your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil to ask for ourselves a king. You see, actually, this is really, really good news because they are beginning to see it. They are being convicted of the Holy Spirit of their own sin.

There's a big difference between conviction and condemnation. Condemnation comes from the enemy. Condemnation says, based on the things that you have done, you are unfit for use. Who do you think you are? Conviction is when God would love us enough that the spirit of God in us would point out the places is in us that do not look like Jesus, and then we surrender that unto him, and God, by the power of the

Holy Spirit, and His inspired word are like a hammer and a chisel to chisel everything out of us that doesn't look like Jesus, and that is a painful process. So if you show up here week after week after week, and almost every week you leave with, there's some things that really need to change in my life. That is evidence of the work of God in your life. Glory to God, in your a struggle. Let me tell you that person doesn't scare me at all. That is just evidence of the progressive sanctifying work of God in your life that he ain't done with you yet. Let me tell you who scares me. The church person that shows up and says, I don't really have a struggle. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. That may be because you're just dead on the inside and there is no life in there. And so I pray to God that the

that the spirit of God, the only real preacher here at 1122, would get into nooks and crannies of your soul that a human with words cannot get into and begin to illuminate and shine light on lies of the enemy in your life that you have believed and that you, those things would be chiseled away out of your life and you and I would repent and come running to the hands of the loving father. You see, they're beginning to see it. Verse 20 and Samuel said to the people,

do not be afraid, the most commanded thing in the scripture. You have done all this evil. Those sentences don't make sense together, do they? Don't be afraid. You're a really big sinner. I mean, both of those together, this is evidence of the grace of God. That you and I are more sinful and more evil than we have ever imagined and deserve the full wrath of God. And simultaneously, you and I are more loved by Jesus Christ than you and I can ever imagine.

And those two things are the same. I am a great sinner, but praise God, I have a greater Savior. He says, yep, do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. That is last week's sermon. Verse 22, for the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great namesake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you. a people for himself. In other words, no matter how bad you think you have messed up,

no matter how bad you think you have screwed up, God will not forsake himself, that God's arms are not too short to save. There's a lot of you, and you believe God is shaped like a T-Rex, big old head, big old teeth, and little tiny arms. And he tries to reach you and he can't, so he just bites your head off. That's God. The Bible would be like, that ain't God, okay?

that God is faithful even when we are not. He finishes this way, moreover, as for me, far be it for me, that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you. Church, I pray for you in a way that would freak you out. I pray with everything I'm made of that God would bless you or break you, do whatever it takes to draw you to him. And he says, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all of your heart, for consider what great things he has done for you. but if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away both you and your king.

So essentially, he's saying what Joshua said. He's saying what Moses said. Choose for yourself this day whom you will serve. You can rebel against the God or you can surrender your life to him. And here's the point. Rebellion feels like freedom and fun. Anybody that tells you that it's not that way is lying to you. Here's the thing about temptation.

It's tempting. I don't understand the brothers. It's like, I'm not even tempted anymore. Huh. Well, that's it. God bless your ministry. All right. But for those of us that we call honest, temptation is tempting.

And when we get this idea in my head, like, forget you, God, I got this. Rebellion always feels like fun. It always feels like freedom, but will always lead to death and bondage. That's just where that road goes. True freedom, true joy are only found in following Jesus Christ. So what do you do when the Spirit of God convicts you and you know you are heading your life, whether all of it or part of it in disobedience? You repent. You change your mind about what you're thinking about. You change direction. And instead of running from God, you run to God. And if you were to say, how do I do that? It's right here in verse 22. That essentially Samuel lays out the gospel here in verse 22. For the Lord will not forsake his people. For his great namesake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. That the reason that God will not forsake his people is because he loved you so much that he sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ,

to be forsaken on the cross so that we would not. I mean, think about this. God would love us enough that Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, shows up on this earth, fully God, fully man, and lives a perfect life. And yet skips to the end of the road of disobedience and goes to the cross and the wages of sin is death. And he paid the wages on our behalf. That Jesus on the cross doesn't just bear our sin, but the Bible says he becomes our sin. That God made him who was without sin to be sin for us, that we would be made the righteousness of God.

In other words, Jesus didn't just die for us. Jesus died instead of us. And then we get, we are imputed with his righteousness that God was calling unto himself a people. It's not just that God forgives you. The gospel takes it beyond that. That God adopts you as his own son or daughter. I mean, think about this. Think about standing before a judge.

Some of you will have to imagine it. Some of us won't. That's just true. You're standing before a judge, and he takes a document with all of your sins, with all of your broken laws, with your criminal record, and he starts reading it off.

And your thought is not, that wasn't me, your thought is, how'd they find out about that one? And that one. And that one. And you know that you know, you stand there guilty, before the judge and the judge says to you, what say you?

And you have no excuse. You have no defense. You know that the debt that he is talking about, you could never pay back. You know that you don't have enough lifetime to pay back all of the things that you do and you have no excuse. Then in walks the judge's son and says, I'll pay the price. And the judge says, okay, it's up to you. want to pay this or will you take his payment? In that moment, you say, by faith, so you're

serious. So you will take my place for my sins. I'll take that substitutionary payment. And that's what repentance is right there. And the God slams the gavel, the judge slams the gavel down on the table, and he says, not guilty. And you think, I'm free. Then he looks at you and he says, okay, gather your things and come with me. And you're like, where are we going? And the judge says, we're going to my house. Because I'm not just canceling your debts, but now you're going to come live with me. I'm going to adopt you into our family. We're going to start with this. We're going to change your name. When I change your name, it changes your record. And so because now you have my last name, then you get credit for everything that my son has done,

which is a holy, perfect, and righteous life. And you go, what have I done to deserve it? Not a thing. And it gets better than that. Come on. We're going to stay at my house. And everything that I have is yours. Everything that I have.

Here's the keys to my car, the keys to my house. Here's the bank account. And it's not about cash and prizes, but you begin to receive a love of a father like you've never experienced on this earth. that's what it means when we repent. That's what it means that the Lord will not forsake his people for his great namesake because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself that Jesus didn't just die for you, he died instead of you,

and God doesn't just forgive you, he adopts you into his family as his heavenly father and you and I become sons and daughters of the most high king forever and ever and ever. Amen. Now, if you've never done that, if you've never done that thing where you get to the place in your life where you admit it, I'm not just a bad decision maker that needs to improve my life skills. But I really am a sinner that needs someone to do for me what I could never do for me. And if you are ready in this very moment to believe that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow that counted for you. And today, you're ready to confess him as Lord.

Then I want you to do that. And the moment that you do that, you will be saved. You will be adopted into the family of God. Do you please bow your head and close your eyes at all of our locations? And if you would say, that is me, I'm ready to be adopted into the family of God. Not because of any good thing that I have done, but because of what Jesus did for me on the cross. If that is you, right now, right where you are, raise your hand. Say, Father, here I am.

I surrender my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I admit it. I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe that when Jesus died on the cross, that counted for me. And in this moment, God, I confess you as Lord. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, I thank you, and I praise you, that you are for us and not against us. God, I thank you, and I praise you for your relentless pursuit of your rebellious children.

God, we confess to you that we are prone to wonder. Lord, we feel it. We're prone to leave the God I love. And so once again, Lord, we say, here's our heart. Take and seal it. Seal it for that courts above. God, I thank you that you did not wait for us to repent before you came and died, but you demonstrated your love for us and this that while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us. God, I pray that every believer in all of our locations would remind themselves of the gospel. And God, I thank you for those that today for the very first time trusted the gospel for their salvation. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.