Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / The World is On Fire | 2 Chronicles 15:3-7 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

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The World is On Fire | 2 Chronicles 15:3-7 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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The. World is on fire.
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The world is on fire. Those are the words that flashed
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on one of my devices from a report issued from one of the
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leading news organizations in our country.
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And I'm sure you as well are being bombarded by barrage of
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breaking news and incoming stories on almost an hourly
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basis. But this particular statement
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gripped me. It caught my attention because I
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find it to be a very compelling, compelling and powerful
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description of how the world today perceives what's happening
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in the. World, The world is on fire.
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And as I thought about this, I thought.
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That's probably how some people here feel as well, that no
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matter what direction you look into, no matter what sphere in
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society, something is up in flames.
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Something is up in flames, whether that's metaphorical or
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literal, and these fires are projected to only spread and to
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generate and cause untold damage and destruction.
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And if there isn't a fire, in an obvious sense, if there isn't
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clear turbulence, then there is smoke, There's smoke signaling a
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fire to come. And that's producing in this
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generation an overwhelming and eerie sense that there is no
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longer a safe place to go to in this world.
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We feel surrounded. It's not just a little spark
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here, a little spark there, the whole building.
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Is up. In flames.
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And this is the day that you and I are living in, and it is
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escalated quickly and the emotions range from total
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outrage to people living on edge, wondering how the events
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that we are seeing will unfold and how they will determine the
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trajectory, if not our own lives, then the lives of the
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children and grandchildren that we love so deeply.
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Where is this all going? What is this all going to lead
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to? International wars, famines,
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earthquakes, Mass shootings that almost seem to be numbing now
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because they just are expected disease and pestilences and
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immoral education system on all levels.
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The invasion of Marxism? A blatant and outright corrupt
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and dysfunctional political. System The looming threats of
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terrorism. More and more, we're hearing
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about how terrorists are flooding into our borders and
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through our borders. Natural disasters that are just
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becoming more intense and more common.
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And the cherry on top is just the overall moral decay.
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And all of these things seem to just be coming closer and
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closer, surrounding us as a generation, and it's almost
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suffocating. But while the world is
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helplessly and, dare I say, frantically looking for a
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solution or solutions, you and I, the Church of Jesus Christ,
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are not hopeless. We are very hopeful because we
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have many reasons to be hopeful. And one of those reasons why we
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can be at rest is because the modern tragedies and the modern
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trends that are disturbing are not without explanation for the
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Christian. Because in the possession of the
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Christian is a eternal, unchanging, timeless word, the
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word that belongs to God and comes from God.
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And in that word, we have answers.
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We have answers, and with those answers we have the only
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solution for the problems that we're seeing and facing today.
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Now the overall consensus, the general opinion of the believer
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today is that we are racing towards the.
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End that. That.
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That's undeniable. But I don't want that to be the
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only answer we have for ourselves or for others.
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Because yes, the world may be confused.
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We are confident the the world may be in hysteria.
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You and I know rest. The world might be in darkness.
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We surely have the light, but we want to also feed into our
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confidence with greater truth. I I want us to dig deeper into
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the mind of God, to find even more precise commentary of what
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is actually happening here. Why is it happening?
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How is this being caused? Why is it only getting worse and
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worse? There are answers here.
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We don't just have to brush it off by saying, well, this is
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just the last days. No, there's even more to that.
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There's more to what we're seeing today.
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Let me say this way, There is a message from God to the people
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that are living in this time of history.
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There is a message from God himself, and I don't stand
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before you as a prophet who has subjective words from God.
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I stand to you as. A simple mailman with God's word
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that's already been given and that relates to and connects to
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what we are experiencing. And so I invite you to pursue
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that with me by coming to the book of Second Chronicles in
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Chapter 15. If you haven't caught on yet,
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we're taking a pause on Mark Second Chronicles Chapter 15 and
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come with me to verse 5. Here's the context of this
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passage. You have a prophet named Azariah
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and he with the Spirit of God coming upon him approaches a
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king. King of Judah at this time was
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ASA. ASA up to this point was a man
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of God. He had a tender heart for God.
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He was dependent upon God and he displayed that through his
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prayer life. But the prophet Azariah by the
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Spirit wants to encourage him to not make the same self defeating
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mistakes that the nation of Israel has made in former times.
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And so he's going to exhort the king and he's going to exhort
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the king by giving a brief history lesson.
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And this history lesson is from a unspecified time period in
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Israel's resume. But interestingly, as you're
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going to hear this, it's not just pertaining to Israel's
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unstable past. It actually speaks of an era
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when the world was on fire, when the world when the neighboring
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nations, when the inhabitants of not just one land but multiple
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lands were also troubled and disturbed.
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And here's what it says in verse in verse 3.
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For a long time, Israel was without the true God and without
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a teaching priests and without law.
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But when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of
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Israel, and sought him, He was found by them.
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And here's the main text in verse 5.
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In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to
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him who came in, For great disturbances afflicted all the
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inhabitants of the lands. They were broken in pieces.
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Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled
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them with every sort of distress.
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Father, we ask that you help us understand your word, your voice
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for today give us ears to hear what the Spirit says to the
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churches in Jesus name. Amen.
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Again, you and I here see that these circumstances that Azariah
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is alluding to is not just focused on the nation of Israel.
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And people wonder where and when these things, these
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circumstances occurred, right? He's very general in verse five.
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He just says in those times, well, what times based on the
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characteristics, many believe that he's speaking about the
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times of the judges, which is a very good case to make.
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But it's ambiguous. And it's it's ambiguous because
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Israel has known a cycle of apostasy throughout its history.
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But I want you, more importantly, to look at the
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descriptions of those times. Look at how the Bible is so
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specific. And as you discover this, you
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will see how unparalleled, how rather paralleled it is to our
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own time. The first thing that he says
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here in verse 5 is that there was no peace to him who went out
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or to him who came in. There was no peace for him who
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came out or to him who would come in.
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In other words, there was a general fear in the atmosphere
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and the main reason for that fear is because there was
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criminal activity rampant causing citizens to be fearful
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of being in the public of traveling.
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They were hesitant to even leave their own homes.
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And in Judges Chapter 5 verse six, you don't have to turn
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there. But in Judges 5-6, as a
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reference for you, there's even more light shed on this where we
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were told there that the highways in Israel were
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abandoned and people went about through the byways.
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In other words, there was so much evil that people avoided
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public places, high traffic areas.
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They would take the longer route home because criminals at this
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point took advantage of these strategic places, robbers and
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thieves and murderers, to satisfy their evil pursuits.
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And so it caught on. These are these are the places
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to avoid and to watch out for. And there was no officials to
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regulate this, to supervise this, to deal with this.
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Is that not the reality that you and I are in today?
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Especially for us in Illinois, especially for us near Chicago,
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You have people today that want to avoid parades, that think
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twice about going to concerts. You have many people who are
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willing to rely on online shopping than to risk being a
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victim of another random act of murder, mass murder at a mall.
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So let me just click, click and get it.
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Come to my front door. There's fear.
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There's no peace. That's why you don't drive in
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certain neighborhoods at certain times of the day, and in our
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city it's at any time of the day.
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In some places, this is what is being told to us.
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There is an. Environment and atmosphere of
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evil that's causing innocent civilians and citizens to pay a
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price to their regular day-to-day experience.
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But from there, we read something else.
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We read about nation crushing another nation, so international
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distress and turmoil, but not just international notices, he
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says. City against city, we're talking
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about demographic, we're talking about internal conflict and
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combat. So this is civil war.
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This is death and division and tension among people who
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represent a group or a nation or a people.
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And so you have now streets. You have territorial and tribal
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antagonism, and Israel is not unfamiliar with skirmishes among
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their own tribes. And neither are we, because you
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and I are being programmed every single day in our universities,
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in our media, from books and celebrities and everything in
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between, that you belong to a social class.
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You are a part of a subgroup, and here let's help us identify
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you to a subgroup. And on top of that, let's show
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you the other subgroups in your context that are opposite of
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you, that are obstacles not just to you, but obstacles to the
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thriving of this culture. These other groups are
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hindrances to the urban utopia that we want to reach as a
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people. And so we're worried about
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gangs. We're creating gangs out of our
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own civilians, and we can't have discourse anymore.
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We now resort to violence. And you can't express yourself
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without being threatened, either being punched in the mouth or
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have a gun pulled out on you having your house vandalized.
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If you post the wrong thing, you have to get up and move and
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leave the whole place altogether.
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And I can give you more and more examples from these texts, but
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let me just summarize it the way Azariah does here.
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He says in verse 5. In those times there was no
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peace to him who went out or to him who came in.
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For great disturbances, plural afflicted all the inhabitants of
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the lands. Meaning here that there were
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many factors that contributed to the global anarchy of that day
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and it affected absolutely everyone in some way, shape or
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form. No one was out of reach from
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feeling the effects. Of this disorder and growing
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mayhem, and that's true of you and I as well.
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We all are feeling something, and I'm persuaded that it's only
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going to get more intense unless a miracle happens.
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And if you thought that these uncanny similarities from this
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text are shocking, prepare to be shocked further by the final
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statement that Azariah gives here and verse.
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Six. Look at the last part of verse
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6, for God troubled them with every sort of distress.
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Who's in charge of all of this? Who's in charge of the lack of
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peace? Who's in charge of nations and
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nations coming against each other, city against city?
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Who's in charge? It's not Satan.
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It's not politicians. It's not Hollywood God.
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God was the one that troubled them with every sort of
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distress. Is that ruffle with your
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theology? God's not apologizing for it.
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The Spirit of God comes upon Ezra to say that unequivocally,
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God is behind this. Should we think any differently
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today? I'm convinced, No, not that we
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have to be careful. God is the author of evil.
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He's far from the author of evil, but in his wisdom and in
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his power and in his justice, he is often the permitter of it.
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God, who is the great restrainer from time to time, will remove
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his restraining grace and allow a generation to devour one
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another. God.
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God troubled them with every sort of distress, And if God is
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the one that they were dealing with, then we're that much
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closer to finding reprieve. We're that much closer to
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hopefully finding a true solution here, because what
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we're seeing right now is interview and podcasts of people
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trying to figure out how do we find an answer and here's the
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word of God. Well, if you know the 'cause,
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then you come that much closer to a solution.
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God is the one troubling, You know, the nations today can save
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themselves a lot of time, a lot of energy, a lot of resources,
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and they can even save a lot of lives if they just but realize
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and accept now, except today, not as a history lesson now.
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That who they're dealing with is God.
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Accept that there is a transcendent, holy being that is
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orchestrating these events. That's undeniable.
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But is there an explanation? Yes, In the very same text there
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is an explanation. You and I received clarification
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to the Why. Why would a good and holy God, a
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God of peace, God of forgiveness, God of mercy?
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Why would such a God allow the world to be set on fire?
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Why wouldn't he stop it at a spark?
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Why is it only destroying and wreaking more havoc?
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And in the same text, you actually get three reasons why.
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There are three reasons why for why God troubled them, and why
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God today, I believe, is allowing what's happening across
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the globe. Maybe you saw it, but if you
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didn't go back to verse three with me.
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Here's what Azariah says. For a long time, Israel he's
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focusing on Israel now was without the true God number 1/2,
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and without a teaching priest and three and without law.
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Those are the three reasons. The reason why God troubled them
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with every distress was because Israel was without the true God.
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Let's deal with that one first. What do you mean without the
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true God? Did they become atheist?
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No. Azariah is specific.
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He didn't say that they weren't without God.
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Without what? The true God.
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And so we're not being told here that Israel stopped believing in
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God. We're not talking about a
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postmodern age. We're not talking about a post
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truth age. We're not even talking about a
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people who stop performing sacrifices and observing
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rituals. It's that the object of their
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submission, the object of their worship, was not toward the one
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and true God. So the primary reason for why
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God troubled this generation was with distress was because of
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idolatry. Idolatry.
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Which means what? Well, there's many ways that you
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and I can create an idol in our lives.
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We can, like the Israelites early in the wilderness journey,
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create a golden calf and give it the name Yahweh.
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So it has the right name, but it's a totally different being.
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Or we can abandoned the idea of Yahweh altogether and just raise
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up different false gods. And a false God can be anything.
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Anything that you find your source of guidance and
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satisfaction from ultimately is an idol.
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And what you're seeing here is as this generation has turned
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their back on the true God. Not the idea of God, not even
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the participation in spiritual activity or the willingness to
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even claim to be religious. That is not true.
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If you just read Judges and First Samuel and Kings, you'd
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realize that from the surface they were very religious.
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They participated in much, but it was illegitimate worship.
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They did not honor God the way he revealed himself to be.
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Instead they found liberty to define God the way they wanted
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him to be defined. And when you abandon the true
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God, it's inevitable that chaos will ensue.
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And one of the reasons why the true God the main reason here
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according to the Holy Spirit in this verse.
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Why the true God was not acknowledged and revered and
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pursued was because of point #2. They weren't just without the
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true God. They were what?
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Without a teaching priest. And again, the Holy Spirit is
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specific. He didn't say that they were
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without priests. There was plenty of priests
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throughout Israel's history, but one of the forgotten roles of
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the priest was that a priest was not just called the Levitical
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priest was not just called to supervise sacrifices and help
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screen what was coming in the the temple or Tabernacle.
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The priest, according to the law, also had a responsibility
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to verbally instruct the people about the law of God.
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And if you need a reference for that, there are many.
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There's one in Leviticus, there's one in Malachi, and
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here's one from Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy 3310, the Levites
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were called to instruct people with the written word of God,
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but in those times there was no teaching priests.
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So what does that mean? Well, there were priests who are
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present. Additionally, there were even
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priests who are performing. But there was virtually no
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priest proclaiming the word of God, and God says that is a
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reason why I am going to trouble the world with distress, namely
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my people. Well, how does this work?
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I mean, who would have thought? Think about this.
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This is what? Blew my mind late last night.
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Who would have thought that the havoc and the mayhem in cities
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was due to a vacancy in the pulpit?
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That's what God does. Stop me.
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God is pointing to the pulpits and he's saying, where is my
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word? Where is the word of God being
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taught? Here's how it works.
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The pulpit proclaims the Word of God.
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The church is enlightened and empowered by that proclaimed
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Word. Then the empowered church goes
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out into the world and operates as a purifying and preventative
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agent in the culture. That's how that works.
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Do you see how it trickles down word receiving the word?
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And as you guys are scattered, as all of us are scattered into
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our unique context, your presence, your salt, your light
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puts a level of restraint on our culture from going headlong,
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diving headlong into depravity. But what happens when the priest
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is not teaching? Well then the the priest is not
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proclaiming the word of God. And in those times a lot of it
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was just personal dreams or experiences or or gross
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misinterpretations and interpretations of the scripture
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to fit the needs of the people, what they think are their needs.
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So the word is not proclaimed. And when the word is not
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proclaimed, overtime what happens?
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The people are no longer nourished.
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And when they're not nourished, what happens?
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Well, they become weak. And when they become weak, what
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happens? More?
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Susceptible to deception without the true God.
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More vulnerable to temptation, Not representing the true God's
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character. And in the long term, this
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entity that was called to be the moral conscience of a culture
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fails to operate as such, and this culture now accelerates
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into collapse. That's how that works, you know.
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Jeremiah was told by God in chapter 23 and you don't have to
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turn there. He criticizes the false prophets
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and he says where are those who stood in my counsel and proclaim
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my words that the people may turn from their evil?
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That's a fascinating insight because the the possibility of
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people repenting and changing and being renewed is absolutely
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inseparable from the transaction of the word of God.
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People are convinced that if I can, if I can just get the
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emotions, if I can just relate, if I can just help you with this
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one problem in your life, then I can help you and God can help
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you. That's not the case.
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Just give the word of God and let.
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The word do its work. It's not enough to have a Bible
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and a pulpit. It's not enough to even give
25:01
footnotes to certain statements you make from the pulpit.
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People need to be taught what the word of God is, what it's
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saying, what it means, how it applies.
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That needs to happen regularly, and God says there was no
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teaching. Priest I'll let you interpret
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that for today, if you need help seeing how that.
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Today, just look for the most popular sermons on the Internet
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and you'll get what I mean. Thank God there are voices today
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that are giving the truth. I praise God and you know those
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ministries as well. But it's unfortunate that not
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every pulpit has a teaching priest.
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America is a big country. There are 1,000,000 upon
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hundreds of millions of people. We need more than just six
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reputable ministries. We need every state, every city
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to have teaching priests. And what event eventually
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happens, Well, the deterioration will intensify also because of
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the final thing mentioned here by Azariah, that they were
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without law, that they were without law.
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And so now, over time, when you don't have the true God, when
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you don't have teaching priests, we don't have the Church
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speaking to the powers, the politics, the policies, the evil
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agendas and agents of evil, where people lose track of
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what's right and wrong. And just like the days of
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judges, everybody begins to do what is right in their own eyes.
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And what did Jesus say would be the mark?
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One of the marks of the last days in Matthew 24 that
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lawlessness will increase, lawlessness will increase, so
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there will be. Less and less of a fear and
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recognition of objective right and wrong.
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And now we are making rules and making laws based on what you
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feel is right. And I don't want to keep going
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there, You hear that all the time.
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But I find amazing here is that it starts as a minority of
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lawless people. Then over time, that minority
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becomes the majority and that majority.
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Then vehemently begins to snuff out any remnant who holds to the
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truth, whether or not there are teaching priests or not.
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That's how it tends to go. Now I just want to give you one
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example of what happens when a society or culture no longer has
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the true God, no longer has teaching priests, no longer has
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law. God gets their attention by
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troubling them with all kinds of distress, and He's very specific
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in how He does it with his tragedies.
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Let me give you one example. This is one that you probably
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never heard in Sunday school, but turn with me to 2nd Kings
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Chapter 2. And look here with me in verse
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23, just to give you an idea, this is speaking about Elijah,
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not Elijah. Elijah was transported into
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heaven. In a miraculous way, this is now
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Elijah who has received his mantle, a double portion of his
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anointing, and he is now walking in that power as the prophet for
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the nation of Israel. And this is an interesting
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occurrence that takes place while he's on route as a prophet
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in Second Kings 2/23. He, being Elijah, went up from
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there to Bethel and while he was going up on the way, some small
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boys. That's not the best translation.
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Some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying
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go up you bald head, go up you bald head.
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And he turned around and when he saw them he cursed them in the
29:08
name of the Lord. And two she bears came out of
29:12
the woods and. Tore 42 of the boys.
29:15
I told you, you didn't hear this in Sunday school.
29:21
That's in the Bible. And here's how most This is why
29:24
most believers who know the story are disturbed by because
29:27
they they just see a bunch of kids probably playing around
29:30
with with sticks, and they're there on on the side street
29:34
outside of the borders of the city of Bethel.
29:36
And the prophet had a very long ministry journey and he dealt
29:40
with many miracles and problems and he just wants to get home
29:44
quietly and peaceably. And now you have these little
29:46
kids calling him out for his receding hairline.
29:51
Hey bald head. Hey, And they're just joking.
29:53
They're a little rude and insensitive.
29:54
And here's an irritated prophet who turns around and calls a
29:57
curse upon them and two bears come out of nowhere mall. 42 of
30:01
them. Is that what's going on here?
30:05
This is why you have to read slowly and not just read slowly,
30:09
but read the whole Bible or us. Things like this, if you read
30:12
them in isolation, don't make sense.
30:14
And then atheists make blog posts talking about how vicious
30:16
our God is. Let's read this together slowly.
30:20
Yeah, Verse 23. He went up from there to where?
30:24
Bethel. Good.
30:25
So now we know the location of this place.
30:27
Does Bethel have a rich spiritual heritage?
30:29
Yes, it does have a rich spiritual heritage.
30:32
Bethel is where Jacob encountered God while he was on
30:36
the run from his brother Esau. And he encountered God in such a
30:39
personal and special way that he called that place the House of
30:43
God, which means Bethel. But unfortunately, Bethel did
30:47
not continue to hold up to that rich spiritual heritage, because
30:53
when the Kingdom of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, you
30:56
have a northern Kingdom and a southern Kingdom.
30:59
The king of the northern Kingdom, Jeroboam, was nervous
31:04
about the southern Kingdom. He was nervous because the place
31:07
of worship was Jerusalem, and he didn't want his people to go
31:10
down there and to lose his allegiance with them.
31:14
And so he comes up with a devilish but clever idea.
31:17
I'm going to create two other places of worship so that my
31:22
people don't have to travel down to the Southern Kingdom.
31:25
And so I'm going to raise up a place of worship in the city
31:28
called Dan. I'm going to put a golden calf
31:32
there. Have you seen that before?
31:34
And I'm going to raise up another golden calf in a place
31:36
called Where? Bethel And from that time Bethel
31:43
became not the House of God, but the House of idolatry, and years
31:49
and decades go by. And this place, unfortunately
31:53
now we become a den. Of apostates.
31:59
And that hasn't changed here. In Second Kings chapter 223.
32:03
You're talking about a people. You're talking about young boys
32:07
whose parents very likely worship false gods and whose
32:12
parents probably had a great disdain for the true God and the
32:15
true messengers of God, one of them being Elisha.
32:20
Secondly, we're told here that as Elisha travels by this
32:24
idolatrous place, small boys came out of the city.
32:28
Now, I told you earlier that small boys isn't the best
32:30
translation because the Hebrew word can describe a wide range
32:33
of different kind of boys. So one strong example of that is
32:41
in Genesis 37 two, where we're told that Joseph was a lad, he
32:47
was a young man. It's the same Hebrew word and
32:49
we're told in that same verse that he was how old, 17 years
32:52
old. So based on that, that truth
32:55
concerning the Hebrew word, the wide range of it and its
32:58
meaning, and the activity of these children, they're very
33:03
likely preteen or teenagers. We're not talking about
33:07
kindergarten kids that are just a little bit disrespectful here.
33:12
We're talking about a band of young men that can pose a
33:16
threat, and they're obviously intuitive enough to make these
33:21
remarks go up, you bald head. Are they just criticizing his
33:26
headpiece? No, they're not.
33:30
What are they referring to? They're referring to what
33:32
happened with Elijah. Just a few verses earlier,
33:35
Elijah was taken up into heaven by Chariots of fire, And there
33:42
were people who heard about this, and the reports clearly
33:44
spread about it, and it came even to Bethel.
33:46
But instead of it being a testimony that encouraged
33:49
greater faithfulness and love to the true God, it became a reason
33:52
to scorn God more. And maybe this is a remark of
33:56
disbelief, but here's what they're saying.
33:59
Hey Elijah, the same way your mentor was removed from us, why
34:04
don't you join him and get out of our face?
34:06
We want nothing to do with you or your ministry.
34:09
We don't care what kind of miracles you perform.
34:11
Go up, you bald head. Get out of here.
34:16
So this is not this is more than just personal insult.
34:19
This is rejection of the true God and the messenger of God.
34:24
This is just solidifying the truth that these children as
34:27
well are apostates. And what does Elijah do?
34:34
Elijah do? Even the language here in verse
34:38
20, he turned around, so he's just walking and he's going
34:41
about his way. But they came up behind him
34:45
because usually problems start with words and they tend to lead
34:50
to physical altercation with troublemakers at least.
34:56
And Elisha stops. He turns around and he curses
35:00
them. And if it's stopped there, you
35:02
might have more problems. But he curses them in the name
35:05
of the Lord and two she bears come out.
35:10
Here's the thing you have to understand.
35:11
Elisha is not just speaking out of frustration.
35:14
Elisha doesn't just have this personal ability to cause nature
35:19
to work in his favor. Elisha pronounces a curse in the
35:22
name of the Lord and guess who heard and accepted it?
35:25
God. God answers that, and he moves
35:31
in to defend his servant. And we think, OK, so, so we we
35:37
have to look at God's character then.
35:38
No, you have to. Understand that there's
35:41
something deeper going on here. This is clearly the most
35:47
disturbing part. So God is behind this.
35:51
But it wasn't spontaneous even. No, this is God fulfilling an
35:56
ancient warning that he gave long ago concerning his people
35:59
if they remained in an unrepentant state of apostasy.
36:04
Let me put it this way. What happened to those children
36:06
was warned about many, many, many years ago before they even
36:12
existed. Let me show you that.
36:16
Go to Leviticus, the thrilling Book of Leviticus.
36:20
I say that because people don't think it's thrilling, and I
36:22
think it's absolutely fascinating.
36:25
In Leviticus chapter 26. Here, the Lord gives promises
36:29
and rewards for obedience and staggering warnings for
36:34
persistent disobedience. And let's qualify the kind of
36:37
disobedience that God is speaking about here.
36:39
He's not speaking about you and I stumbling.
36:41
He's not speaking about you and I.
36:42
In a brief period of coldness of heart in verse 14 of chapter 26,
36:50
here's what he is speaking about.
36:51
But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these
36:54
commandments, if you spurn my statutes and if your soul abhors
36:59
my rules, do you hear the language here?
37:02
If you spurn my statutes, if you you're so abhorred, like you
37:05
have discussed towards the word of God, you have absolute
37:09
disdain for the truths of God, so that you will not do all my
37:15
commandments, but break my covenant.
37:17
So that is the level of disobedience we're speaking
37:21
about, being steeped in stubborn rebellion.
37:26
And for the rest of this chapter, you know what God does?
37:28
He gives cycles of warning. In other words, he says, if you
37:31
stay in this kind of condition, let me put it this way, if you
37:35
turn your back on the true God and refuse to hear the truth and
37:40
refuse to live without my law long enough, I'm going to give
37:44
you a series of distress. Different degrees of distress.
37:54
And one of those categories is later on in verse 21.
38:01
Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I
38:05
will continue striking you. So pause there.
38:07
Remember, he's talking about I'm going to turn up the heat more
38:12
and more because you're not listening to me.
38:14
I'm trying to get your attention here, and here's one way he'll
38:17
do it. I will continue striking you
38:19
sevenfold for your sins, and I will let loose the wild beast
38:25
against you which shall bereave you of your children and destroy
38:33
your livestock and make you few in numbers, so that your Rd.
38:36
shall be deserted. Do you see this?
38:40
Back before the people even entered into the promised land,
38:43
God gave a warning that if you walk away from me long enough,
38:48
I'm going to try to get your attention, and I will allow it
38:52
to get to the point where the wild beast will come out and
38:55
bereave you of your own children.
38:58
And that happened in Second Kings 223 to 25 S Again, this
39:02
isn't random. This isn't spontaneous.
39:07
This was predicted. This was God fulfilling his
39:10
part. Of the warning when the people,
39:14
like the people of Bethel, walk contrary to his law.
39:17
Do you know what I take from this though, in terms of
39:22
principle? When a nation rejects God, when
39:26
a nation rejects the true God, children pay a heavy price.
39:33
Children will pay a heavy price. And again, this is just one
39:40
example of many of how God will trouble a land.
39:46
But with what goal in mind does he have?
39:50
Does he have a goal? Is there an aim for all of this?
39:54
Absolutely. Go back to Second Chronicles 15
39:57
and let's look at verse three and four again.
40:08
For a long time Israel was without the true God, and
40:12
without a teaching priest, and without law now verse 4 But when
40:17
in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and
40:22
sought him, he was found by them.
40:27
For God troubled them. He troubled them with great
40:32
disturbances, afflicting all the inhabitants of land.
40:35
Why does he trouble them with every sort of distress so that
40:38
in? Their distress?
40:40
They would turn to God. Unfortunately, so many people
40:51
only understand the language of distress before they bend their
40:56
knee. Before they even consider God.
41:03
Is there distress in your life? If you're walking with the Lord
41:08
and there is trials and tribulations, then you could
41:11
take comfort to know that he is only purifying you further and
41:16
that he's going to sanctify you through that.
41:19
But if you have turned your back on God, and you are not walking
41:26
for the true God without his law, perhaps the distress in
41:34
your life. Is God trying to get your
41:36
attention? Are you listening to that?
41:42
In His love, He will let your world crumble so that you can
41:48
come back to him and stay close to Him.
41:56
In their distress, they turn to the Lord.
41:59
That's why he allows it, because we're very, very stubborn
42:04
people. Here's the thing I'm worried
42:06
about, though. Personally, it's true for the
42:10
testimony of Israel, and unfortunately, I think it's very
42:13
true of our generation, especially here in America.
42:16
Many people and many nations have a very high tolerance for
42:20
pain, and that's not a good thing.
42:25
That's not a good thing. I've said this before.
42:28
I don't mean to repeat myself, but I know some strong people,
42:31
and that's not a good thing. What I mean by strong is.
42:34
It takes a lot for them to surrender.
42:39
They find a lot of inner strength and fortitude, not to
42:43
be faithful but to remain in a place of faithlessness.
42:47
And it concerns me because I wonder, what else does God need
42:51
to do in your life for you to wake up, America?
42:57
What else does God need to do for you to wake up?
43:02
And to call upon him in your distress, because look here
43:10
verse 3 again, for a long time Israel that's so important.
43:16
Lord doesn't resort to disasters immediately.
43:19
He waits, He waits, and there you are, walking further and
43:24
further away from the true God He waits.
43:26
And more and more we're seeing less teaching priests occupying
43:30
pulpits and churches. He waits.
43:32
As we become more and more and more lawless, he waits.
43:36
He waits. But there comes a time.
43:39
We're in his brimming love, he says.
43:43
I have to get their attention. And so he.
43:47
Troubles them with every sort of distress, shaking our world so
43:54
that we can look up. But here's the problem.
43:58
You see, just because these are the divine designs of these
44:01
disturbances, it does not mean that they always produce what
44:04
they were intended to produce. And that's not God's fault.
44:11
I believe with all of my heart that God is speaking to this
44:17
generation with what we're seeing.
44:20
Will they listen? Let me show you something in our
44:28
final text in Jeremiah chapter 18.
44:33
Let's go to verse seven of Jeremiah 18.
44:40
Some might accuse a message like this of being oversimplistic or
44:47
misapplication because God had a special covenant with Israel, so
44:53
it makes sense for him to deal with them in this way.
44:56
It was a theocracy. They were elected with a special
45:01
privilege, but with that privilege came great
45:04
responsibility. So how can you take these things
45:07
that relate to Israel and apply them to us?
45:10
Well, here's your answer from Jeremiah 18.
45:11
Seven If at any time, what do you think any time means?
45:17
It means anytime. Nothing special about the Hebrew
45:20
either. If at any time lean into this
45:23
now. My brother, my sister, I declare
45:27
concerning a nation. Did he say my nation, a nation
45:33
or a Kingdom? So he's talking about any
45:36
nation, any Kingdom, at any time that I will pluck up and break
45:42
down and destroy it. And if that nation did he say my
45:45
nation? No.
45:46
If that nation concerning which I have spoken turns from its
45:50
evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to.
45:53
Do to it. And if at any time can you be
45:56
any more clear? And if at any time I declare
45:58
concerning a nation, not my nation, a nation or a Kingdom,
46:02
that I will build and plant it, and if it does, evil in my
46:06
sight, not listening to my. Voice.
46:09
Well, I thought you just spoke to Israel.
46:14
No, a nation, a Kingdom. If they don't listen to my
46:18
voice. Well, how does God speak?
46:20
He troubles them with many distress.
46:25
Then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.
46:31
It's clear even in this covenantal age where God had a
46:38
special relationship with one nation, though, they had unique
46:45
features and unique rewards. Because of that relationship,
46:50
there are certain things. That apply not just to them but
46:54
to the whole world. And here's one of those things.
46:58
Any nation that knows of my word, that knows of my law, that
47:02
knows of who the true God is, turns their back on it and does
47:06
not relent from doing it's evil, I will deal with that nation.
47:12
So second Chronicles 15 verses three to six is just as
47:20
relevant. To America in 2023 than it was
47:23
King ASA few 100 years before Christ.
47:29
Just as relevant. And what did this generation and
47:34
Jeremias do in response to this? Look at verse 11 and 12.
47:43
Now therefore say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of
47:45
Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord.
47:46
Behold, I am, I am, I am. Shaping disaster against you and
47:52
devising a plan against you. I'm, I'm, I'm shaping something
47:57
catastrophic against you. I don't want to go there.
48:03
And so here's the rest of it. Return everyone from his evil
48:06
way and amend your ways and your deeds.
48:09
Now look at this verse 12. But they say that is in vain.
48:15
We will follow our own plans and will everyone act according to
48:22
the stubbornness of his evil heart.
48:29
So if somehow, miraculously, a message like this gets to the
48:34
Oval Office. And our president and our
48:39
officials hear the clear word of God, but they answer in the same
48:46
way. Vain.
48:57
We're staying on the path that we're in.
49:01
This is what God is saying to this world today.
49:07
Return everyone from his evil way and amend your ways and your
49:11
deeds. I know that a lot of people
49:16
today, as we're looking out into this world that is burning,
49:22
they're also. Priests of our day who are
49:25
speaking, and I'm from time to time listening to what is being
49:30
said, maybe you are too, and praise God that there are
49:35
faithful messengers of God out there.
49:37
But here's here's what's going out there in terms of majority.
49:44
So far. There's a lot of talk of
49:45
prophecy. Is this prophetic fulfillment
49:49
what we're seeing in the Middle East?
49:52
Is this is this fit in the timeline of the Last Days
49:55
somewhere? Which is fine, it's important to
49:58
clarify that. But my concern is there is
50:01
little exhortation for people to posture their hearts toward God.
50:09
A lot of explanation, very little exhortation, posturing
50:18
their hearts toward God in this time of great.
50:22
Distress. What can we do?
50:27
We're just this tiny faithful church in Norridge, IL.
50:37
Well, we worship the true God, and we by God's grace make this
50:47
a place of teaching. And we live according to the law
50:53
of God, and we honor the righteous laws of our land.
50:58
And we do our part in God's Providence to be a purifying and
51:04
preventative agent in this distressing time in world
51:08
history. And maybe for you today, in this
51:12
place, your life is in shambles, but you don't know God.
51:19
Or you once walk with God, and it has been months and years
51:24
since you have pursued him, loved him, obeyed him, sought to
51:30
understand him. Could it be that in his great
51:34
love he is troubling you to bring you closer to him again?
51:38
Will you listen to him? Will you?
51:46
In Luke 13, I made mention of this last Friday.
51:49
Two days ago and Luke 13, a few Jews came up to Jesus and they
51:55
brought up a terrorist attack. Some Galileans were were slain,
52:01
and their blood was mixed with the blood of the sacrifices.
52:04
This was the doing of Pilate and Jesus simply looks at them and
52:12
says do you think that there were worse sinners than you?
52:21
Because the Jews of that they had a concept that if tragedy
52:23
happened it means that you did something very bad to deserve
52:25
it. And if you walk in righteousness
52:28
and if you do good, then you escape such things.
52:32
And Jesus clarifies that very briefly, and then he goes.
52:36
Into something else, he goes into a message of repentance.
52:41
And this is what somebody said, and I love to borrow it, just to
52:44
share it with you when we hear of tragedies, when we hear of.
52:49
Terrorist attacks when we hear of natural disasters, right?
52:51
Because it wasn't just the guy leans.
52:52
The Tower of Siloam fell and killed 18 people.
52:56
Jesus brought that up too. People have a lot of questions
53:02
and sometimes part of those questions is how can I protect?
53:08
Myself from this How can I avoid this?
53:10
How can I escape this? And you know what Jesus saying
53:14
in that you want to know the safest place in a world like
53:17
this. Where there can be tragedies and
53:20
there can be evil men who have power and take advantage of that
53:23
power, you know you want to know the safest place.
53:26
Repent. That's the safest place.
53:32
You want to know how you can assure the greatest security for
53:35
your future? Repent.
53:39
That's what you do. Not about accumulating this.
53:44
Not about hiding there. Not about moving there.
53:48
Making sure that your heart is right with God.
53:53
This is my heart this afternoon. Because we have to read the
53:59
writing on the wall. I get it.
54:02
Every generation says Jesus is coming back.
54:05
I understand. Well, one of these times
54:07
somebody's going to get it right.
54:11
I understand, but there is still though.
54:15
We don't call for dates, and though we don't ask people to do
54:18
ridiculous things under the pretense of get ready for the
54:23
apocalypse, if there's anything that needs to be done is to call
54:29
people to get right with God. OK, teach.
54:35
Teach about prophecy in the Bible.
54:36
Teach about how current events may be explained in the
54:39
scriptures. Do it, but exhort the people.
54:44
Get ready. Get ready.
54:48
The Lord is coming. The Lord is speaking on a
54:53
megaphone. So when I get caught up with
54:57
little things, trinkets, and trivial ideas, hear what God is
55:01
saying. Oh, I pray that America would
55:08
hear what God is saying because He's speaking.
55:14
And this God, who does perform many distressing things, is a
55:19
God who's willing to bring rest to that land that calls back to
55:24
him. I closed my Bible, but I have to
55:26
show you that here it is in Second Chronicles 15, verse 15,
55:33
When ASA encouraged the people to pursue reform and to pursue
55:37
obedience, they got rid of idols.
55:39
I mean, this man even got rid of his mother.
55:43
The Queen Mother, because she had made a detestable image for
55:45
Ashra. And notice what we're told here
55:47
in Second Chronicles 1515 and all Judah rejoiced over the
55:51
oath. For they had sworn with all
55:53
their heart and it sought him with their whole desire, and he
55:59
was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around again.
56:10
I believe the God of this Bible is alive today.
56:13
I do. I really believe that what a
56:18
tragedy would be for any preacher to come up here to just
56:20
give some inspirational lesson, not believe that it applies
56:23
today, It applies today. And here's how much I believe in
56:27
that if this nation would have enough sense to respond to
56:31
distressing times that we're in and call out to God this God in
56:35
heaven, the same God in Second Chronicles 15 will bring rest to
56:39
this nation. He can.
56:41
And until then, hold on tight. Hold on tight.
56:46
Not gritting your teeth, not bracing for impact, but a heart
56:51
full of joy because you are a repentant people.
56:54
We are a repented people, are we not?
56:56
We stand righteous before God in Christ Jesus.
57:00
We have hope. Don't worry about your
57:02
possessions. Don't worry about your mortgage.
57:04
Don't worry about your children. Just put your hand in the hand
57:07
of him who has control over all things, and you will be more
57:10
than OK. It shall indeed be good for the
57:13
righteous. And so we have hope, even as the
57:20
world is burning. We are like Goshen, where there
57:24
is light and life, though everything around us is death
57:27
and dark. We are in Goshen who points to
57:31
Jesus Christ, positionally safe and practically experientially
57:35
safe because he is a real living God who walks with us.
57:38
He walks with us not just when it is bright and dandy.
57:41
He walks with us even where through the fire and in the
57:45
water. Nothing will overtake us,
57:48
Saints, nothing will overtake us.
57:51
Cast all your fears, anxieties on him.
57:53
Let every news headline and breaking story just cause you to
57:57
break forth and praise. Why?
57:58
Because we serve the One who is not surprised by these things.
58:03
We were surprised on October 7th, 2023.
58:06
King Jesus wasn't. And I have a hunch that there
58:10
will be many surprises on the way.
58:13
But I take comfort to know that I am shielded by the One who
58:16
knows tomorrow, and He leads you and I what a blessed Savior we
58:21
serve. I'm done.
58:30
Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that we have
58:40
the truth. We thank you that your word is
58:44
truth. We thank you that you have
58:48
called us for such a time as this.
58:51
Help us stay close to you. That is, the ground rumbles
58:56
beneath our feet, and as the walls shake around us, that we
59:01
would take refuge in you, for you are an ever present help in
59:04
trouble. We do pray for all the distress,
59:10
and though you may be behind it, Lord, we ask that the purpose of
59:13
it would find fruition in our generation.
59:17
Give the grace for people to see and hear you.
59:22
And to not let one more disaster go by before they call out to
59:25
you. We pray for our governing
59:28
officials. We pray for our President.
59:30
We pray for our vice President. We pray for our mayors.
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We pray for our governors. May they see the writing on the
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wall, and Lord, may they see it in a way where it's not too
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late. But as an invitation to make
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things right, we pray for our new House Speaker.
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That he would stand for truth and righteousness.
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That he would be unashamed of the gospel, unashamed of the
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decrees and the testimonies of the Word of God.
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We ask Lord for what's happening around the world, that your
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wisdom would be deposited in our hearts and how to interpret it,
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and that you would, Lord, redeem those in the midst of it.
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But we know that these things will happen, and they will
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increase until you return and bring peace on the earth.
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So we say one more time with all of our hearts.
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On the Sunday afternoon come Lord Jesus, and make everything
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right. And with all this mess and all
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this burning and all the fire, may you find in our bosoms a
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passion that would bless you. So we sing to you now, asking
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that you would be pleased with what you see in here, in this
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place and other places on the Sunday afternoon that are
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honoring you. Because they have teaching
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priests and they have the true God.
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Empower our brothers and sisters across the lands.
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Empower those pastors to be prophets, to speak forth the
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word of the Lord so that people would get right with the God.
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We thank you and we rejoice in you with all the personal
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problems we have. All the issues, all the worries.
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Help us see them in the light of eternity.
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You will wipe away every tear you'll remove, every disease.
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You will crown us with a crown imperishable.
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You will clothe us with a white raiment that will never be
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stained, and you will bring us into your arms for all of
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eternity. Thank you for reminding us of
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our inheritance in Christ. In Jesus name we pray.
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Amen. Let's stand and worship the King
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of Kings and the Lord of Lords who reigns forevermore.