Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / September 4, 2022 | Cities & Altars - Building Altars

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September 4, 2022 | Cities & Altars - Building Altars · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's good to be back.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: We are on uh week two of a two-week series that I've had the opportunity to come and share called Cities and Altars.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you were here last week, uh we made a we made a lot of ground, and so we we talked about cities, and what we're doing is we're tracing these themes of building cities, building altars through the biblical story, and seeing what they have to say for us in our lives.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: And last week we looked at building cities, and and we saw that this was sort of early man's way of making a name for himself, uh, a way of comforting himself, trying to uh secure blessing and security and life apart from God and his promised plan to do so.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna try to do it themselves.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so we started asking questions of ourselves last week.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope you took that seriously.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And we started asking, what things are we doing in our lives that are, so to speak, building cities, that are that we're doing to make our own name great, that we're doing uh for the purpose of trying to restore blessing apart from God, or trying to comfort ourselves from the curses apart from God.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh that's where we went last week, and this week we're picking up on the other side of the coin.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, uh somebody this morning actually made me a coin with uh cities on one side, altars on the other, which was absolutely amazing.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um we're gonna look at the other side of the coin, altars, building altars.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna trace that through the biblical story and see how that differs from building uh cities.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh again, I'm known for it.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta start at the beginning, every time.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna do a tiny bit of recap for those who were here last week.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: If this is your first time with us, uh then this should benefit you, and hopefully it will either way.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh we jump into Genesis, and you know, in the beginning of the story, God creates heaven and earth, and he fills it with all kinds of living things, and then he creates a man and a woman to rule over his creation according to his image, according to his likeness, according to his character, to do what is good and right in his eyes, and to reject what is evil in his eyes.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: This was their task, and then to spread that about on the earth.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, Genesis 1 27, God created man in his own image.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: In the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And God blessed them.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: That is, he breathed life into their nostrils, and they stood up and walked.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: They have life.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply the character of God, fill the earth, subdue it.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh then we jump down here.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit-yielding seed, it shall be food for you.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: So God gives them blessing, gives them life, and then he gives them means to sustain life.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is all wrapped up in this uh blessing.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then we see in Genesis 2, the Lord God took the man and he placed him in the garden.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: He put him there.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: We we saw last week the Hebrew word behind put is Noah.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Noah means to rest.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: God rested him in the garden.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: He had no need, he had no need to strive for anything.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we placed him there to serve it and to keep it.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so what we saw last week is this blessing that we're tracing through the Bible uh includes the provision and the protection of life.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is the point.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: And and on top of that, the glory goes to the source of the blessing so long as man is possessing said blessing.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we we also see uh God says, But from the tree, you can eat from any tree to sustain life, but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: For in the day you eat of it, you will surely die.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: That is, the breath will leave your nostrils, uh, and blessing will depart.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so we see this in uh Genesis 3, 17 through 19.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh God says to Adam, Because you've listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree which I told you not to eat, saying, You shall not eat from it.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Cursed is the ground because of you.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: In toil or sorrow you will eat of it all the days of your life, both thorns and thistles it will grow for you, and you will eat the plants of the field, not of the garden.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, man's name is Haadam in Hebrew.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you can hear the name Adam in it, right?
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And Haadam is taken out of the Adama, right?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: So he is Adam is taken from the Adama, the ground, and so you know he's the dirt man, right?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And once the breath of life retur leaves him, he returns to the dirt because that's what he is.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And and so this is the idea that the blessing will leave, you will be expelled from the garden, you you will no longer have the provision of the garden, you'll have to till the ground and work and sorrow, recognizing that you're you're you're gonna it's all in vain.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: You're going back to the dirt.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh this is interesting.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: So so the blessing is is departing then because uh ultimately they did eat from the tree.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Satan came and said, You don't have to do it God's way, you can do it your own way.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: You can be your own God, you can do what's good and right in your own eyes, and so that's what they did, and the blessing departed.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not the end of the story.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thankfully, God in his mercy promises a solution because when man doesn't have blessing, God doesn't have the glory that he intended in creation.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so he promises that one is going to come, a seed from the woman, who is going to stomp out the serpent, but more importantly, who is going to restore blessing to man.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna cause the breath of life to return to man.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna stand up and walk again.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Not only that, he's gonna restore them to the garden, he's gonna give them rest.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I we can know that this was the expectation of the early humans in Genesis, because in Genesis 5, 28 through 29, Lamech from the line of Seth comes on the scene.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: And he lives 182 years, and he becomes the father of a son.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And he called his name Noah.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Y'all remember that word?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: To rest, saying, This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil or sorrow of our hands that arises from the ground, which the Lord has cursed.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Lamech is looking for a child to come from his line who is going to reverse the curse and restore rest.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and so this is uh this is what is being uh looked for.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so they're looking for a new Adam who will reverse the effects of the curse and who will secure blessing and rest for all of mankind.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we're tracking through the story, and this is what the characters are looking for.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we see that with uh obviously Lamech.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh the promise is made to the woman in Genesis 3, 15 and 16, and it says, from her a seed uh will come and he'll crush the serpent, and so now we watch as she has seed.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna see, is this the one?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Or is this not the one?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so Cain comes on the scene and he goes after Satan and he he joins the what we call bottom line, and Abel is on the top line, and so we have these contrasting uh characters.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we we call these team God, those who operate by faith, and team serpent, those who operate by sight, uh, according to what's good in their own eyes, and uh, they're doing something.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: The bottom line's building cities, right?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: We looked at that.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and the top line is building altars.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so we saw that building cities is early man's way of attempting to return to the garden or make a new garden apart from God.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's why you're building cities.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's no other reason to build cities, they're trying to replicate the garden apart from God.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so now we're gonna look at the other side of the coin, and they're not building much of anything except for altars.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And why is that?
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what we're going to look at.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we're gonna start tracing the theme of building altars, and it sort of starts again, Genesis 3.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: A man called his uh wife's name Eve.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is really interesting because God has just cursed them and said, a man, you know, Adam, you're gonna go to the ground, but one is gonna come from her to replace you, and in him is blessing and life.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is this is where it's heading, and so so uh Adam looks at his wife and he calls her Eve, which in Hebrew means life, because she was the mother, or she would be, the mother of all the living.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: And what I I don't think what is happening is he's looking at her and saying, Well, all humans are gonna come from you.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that follows the context.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's looking at Eve and saying, Hope is in you.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Hope is in the one that's coming from you who's going to bring life to all mankind.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so he's recognizing the promise of God, and as a result, something happens.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord shows his mercy.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: And uh if if you're following the story, God says, uh, in the day you eat of that tree, you're gonna die.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: The interesting thing is that they didn't die.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: Not that day, at least, they're going to return to the ground, but something died that day.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it says, Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: He covered them.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh this is really interesting.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um because I don't know if you I don't know how many of you have ever skinned an animal and it lived.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I've never seen it.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: I suppose it maybe is possible, but uh, something died in their place as a substitute for them.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so God shows his mercy because Adam says, Yes, uh, life is no longer in me, it's in you.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so he provides a sheep.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, the next thing uh in chapter four we see uh Eve has Cain and Abel, and it says about Abel, Abel was a keeper of flocks.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Hebrew word is sown, it's sheep, it's keeper of sheep.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the question that I want to ask is uh why is Abel keeping sheep?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: You can't eat them, at least not until after the flood, which is sometime in the future.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh the only thing in the story which would give us any indication as to why Abel is keeping sheep is because he just watched the Lord provide a sheep as a substitute for them.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so Abel's raising sheep.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Cain, on the other hand, is tilling the ground.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and he brings to the Lord uh fruit of the ground.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: And and the way that the Hebrews constructed, as a result, Abel did this.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and so so Cain, if you're again following the story, uh you're looking for a one to come from the woman, and the woman says, and in 4-1, I've gotten an eesh, Yahweh.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Here he is.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna do it, he's gonna crush the serpent.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And Cain's like, hey, hey, hey, hey, wait a minute.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: I know the story.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: I know the promise.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'll kill the serpent, but the serpent's gonna kill me back.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna strike my heel.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: I might stomp on his head.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not doing this.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: So he comes and and nobody's ever told him to bring food from the ground to the Lord.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody's ever done that before.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so operating on human wisdom, Cain uh brings his food to the Lord and he says, uh, well, this do instead.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: And as a result, Abel sees this, and he brings a firstborn of his flock.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, Well, I remember how this went uh when mom and dad sinned.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord provided a substitute.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: I wonder if that'll work again.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: So Abel brings, uh he copies the Lord, and he brings a firstborn from his flock, and the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he did not.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so the the really the only point I'm trying to make uh is that Abel shows where his hope is at the altar.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: By coming to the altar before the Lord and bringing this substitute in copying the Lord's revelation, he shows that his hope is in the promises of God.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas Cain does the opposite, and the Lord promises, I'll protect you, and instead he runs off and he tries to protect himself and he builds a city.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, and so and so this is the contrast that I think is being set up uh by the biblical authors.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so the question we asked last week is why build cities?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: And we said, Well, it was to secure provision and protection and glory apart from God.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: It was an attempt to mitigate the curse that God uh put upon creation.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so that's what Cain is doing.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Abel, on the other hand, is building an altar, and so the question is, why do this?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm arguing that building an altar is a trust in God's promise for future provision, a trust in God's promise for future protection, and ultimately trust in God to glorify himself by making image bearers through mankind.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: And to put it simply, it's a trust in the ending of the curse according to God's promise.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the key word.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: According to the they're all looking for the prom or the curse to end, but the key to team God is they're waiting for God to end it in the way that he said he would end it.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the most important part, I think, is despite appearances.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: See, the problem is Satan is still running the show for a little while.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: He's still down here ruling, and he doesn't like team God very much.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: So when it appears that God's promises are not coming, they're not happening, uh, they continue on in faith that God will accomplish what he has promised.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: He will bring it about.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna trace this theme uh through the Old Testament.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, at least we're gonna rock skip the bigger versions of it.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we looked at Abel and he brings an offering to the Lord that was acceptable.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and the contrast, of course, is Cain, who goes off and he builds a city in an attempt to make the garden for himself, rather than waiting for God to bring it about.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Noah does something uh similar, but uh with Noah, God has this big flood, and he's judging all of the seeds of the serpent, and Noah, the righteous man, is being delivered uh on this boat, and they land, and God tells them, Let's start over, let's plant a new garden.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the first thing Noah does, it says, every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth went out by their families from the ark.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took every clean animal and every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so Noah's saying, I'm trusting you, Lord, to do this.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna start fresh.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I highlight this because I find it very interesting.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: That uh Lamech, Noah's father, says, This one will give us rest from the curse of the ground.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: And if you know the story of Noah, he failed.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: He he does not bring rest to mankind.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but the same word, Noah, is used right here.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't bring rest to mankind, but in his faith, he brings rest to the wrath of the Lord.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: So the Lord says, I will no longer flood the earth again.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's just a nice little inclusio of Noah's story.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so he builds an altar, and the contrast is everyone else who's building, you know, right before Noah, who's building cities, making a name for themselves, taking wives, anyone as they saw fit, uh, and doing only evil in the sight of the Lord continually.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is what they're doing.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so Noah, uh, in contrast, is acting in faith.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Next is Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: We'll start with Abraham.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is interesting.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, right before this, the chapter before this, is Babel.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: And we looked at Babel last week.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: They're build this great city, and they're trying to make a name for themselves and protect themselves.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: So let's build a tower to the heavens.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: And God says, no.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh he comes down and he destroys the whole thing.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: And the next chapter is Abraham.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: And Abraham says, in contrast to them, I will make you a great nation.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: I will bless you and make your name great.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, you're not going to make your name great.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: You're not going to get blessing.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: I will do it for you.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: And you shall be a blessing.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're still using the same definition for blessing.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: You will, you will bring life.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I will bless those who bless you.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I will curse the one who uh the one who curses you, I will curse.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is a similar statement to what Adam said about his wife Eve.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: That you will be the mother of all the living.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so the Lord says to Abraham, uh, You'll be the father of all the blessed.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: In you all the families of the earth will be blessed.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Life will return to them because of you, and because of the nation that I'm going to make from you.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so he continues on.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so what I want you to see is that God makes a promise.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Abraham builds an altar.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: And then he proceeded from there to the mountain east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: And there he built an altar to the Lord, and he called upon the name of the Lord.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: God makes a promise.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Abraham builds an altar, saying, I will trust in your promise, and he calls upon the name of the Lord.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: And don't miss this.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of making his own name great, he is calling upon the name of the Lord.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is the emphasis.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Isaac does something very similar.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord appeared to Isaac the same night and said, I am the God of your father Abraham.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do not fear, I am with you.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, what I said to Abraham, I'm saying to you.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so the first thing Isaac does, he built an altar, and there he called upon the name of the Lord.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: He said, Yes, Lord, I'll trust you to accomplish this promise, to bring blessing.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then Jacob does something similar, though it takes him a little longer.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is interesting.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: Jacob makes uh right before this, Jacob uh falls asleep at Bethel, right?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh he sees in a vision a ladder and angels ascending and descending out of heaven on this ladder.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now we know from the New Testament that the angels are ascending and descending on the Son of Man.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so this ladder is this great picture of the Messiah and the bridge between heaven and earth.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so he sees this and he sets up a stone.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't quite build an altar yet.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: And he says this if God will be with me and protect me on this journey that I take, and give me food to eat, in other words, and provide for me, and I return to my father's house in safety, then the Lord, then Yahweh will be my God.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, I think I'm gonna go try to do it myself for a little bit.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and so he sets up a stone and he says, Anything I get, I'll give a tenth to you, Lord.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and and so Jacob runs out, he schemes for a little while, he's out there trying to make his own name great.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and uh by the end of his story, he's realized that he can't do it himself.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he starts returning back.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: God says, Alright, I've done everything you said, it's time to go back.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so on his way back to Bethel, he says, Um, put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments, and let us arise and go up to Bethel, where the promise was made, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so the altar is this place where they say, I am going to trust in the promise of God.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so the contrast to these three, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is of course Babel, who had made their own names great and were seeking the garden apart from God.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so we continue on with Moses.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, I'm just gonna skip right through this.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Exodus 25 through 40.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: We can't read it right now.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but this entire section in the second half of Exodus is about the building of the tabernacle in the altar of the Lord in the desert with Israel.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, it takes everything in Genesis that we've been seeing, where all of these men are offering to the Lord in faith and it's codifying it in the law.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's really cool because, in contrast to this, is Pharaoh's city building at the beginning of the book, which we looked at last week, where he's out there using Israel to build a city.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: God delivers them and takes them out to the desert to build an altar.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: And this is really cool because again, it's codifying.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Everything that's come before it.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so the altar, even in the Mosaic Covenant, is one, is a place of faith.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll talk about that in just a minute.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: But uh so that the book of Exodus opens with city building and it closes with altar building, which I think is a nice uh feature.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then we get Solomon, right?
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: Israel's finally gotten to their land into Jerusalem, the future site of the garden, and I might argue the past site of the garden as well, but that's a discussion for another day.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh 2 Chronicles 6 says, he stands before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spreads out his hands and says, O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing loving or covenant faithfulness, loving kindness to your servants who walk before you with all their heart.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, he stands before the altar and blessing, he says, Lord, thank you for keeping your promises.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: You are a promise keeper, you will be faithful to your promises.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: And he's doing this as he's standing before the altar.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so the overarching point I'm trying to make in pointing all these out is that building altars is an act of faith.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's an act of faith in God's promises, and this is even in the Mosaic covenant.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is even according to the law.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: See, the law was supposed to reveal sin to Israel and drive them to the sacrificial system in an act of faith which looked forward to God's promise to restore blessing through this child, through this Messiah that they're looking for.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: This was the purpose of the law, to push them to the sacrificial system so that they would trust in God to reverse the curse.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so we jump into the New Testament, where the author of Hebrews is going to pick up on this theme and kind of carry us the rest of the way through our sermon.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: Author of Hebrews in chapter 11 says, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so the Lord says, I'll bring you back to the garden.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: And yet they're like, uh, but we're not in the garden.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so they're acting in faith that ultimately the Lord in the future is going to make this happen.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: They're convinced of it, they're assured of it.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, Hebrews in in verse 4 of Hebrews 11, he says, By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so in faith he offered this, trusting that ultimately God was going to fulfill his promises.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 11, 17 through 19, by faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: And he who had received the promise was offering up his only begotten son.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: And it was he to whom it was said, in Isaac your descendant shall be called.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: So God made a promise that uh that this promise is going to continue through Isaac.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so Abraham, considering God's promise, takes Isaac and he considers that God is able to raise people even from the dead.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: God is able to bless people.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so, from which also uh he received him back as a type.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so Abraham in faith is offering Isaac, trusting that God is going to restore what was lost.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: It says also of Abraham.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was about to receive for an inheritance.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: And he went out, not knowing where he was going, but by faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land dwelling in tents.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Don't miss this, not dwelling in tower, but dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise, for he was looking for the city, which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: He's looking for a city.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now he's not going out and building a city, he's living in tents, wandering around, looking for a city.
• 26:22
  unknown: Right?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it goes on to say, all of these men who were looking for this and didn't they didn't see it.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: They were, they died in faith without receiving the promises.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: The garden's not here yet, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, for those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: And indeed, if they had been thinking of the country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: If they were looking for a city in general, they could have just picked the city or gone back to the city from which they came.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: But as it is, they desire a better one, a better country, it says, but there's nothing there in the Greek.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: They desire a better one, that is a heavenly one.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, God said to Abraham, I will make your name great, I will build you a nation.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: You're not going to do it for yourself.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so all of these men, having gained approval through their faith, they did not receive what was promised.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: They died and they never saw the garden.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: But because God had provided something better for us, that is the apostles, so that apart from this appointed time, they would not be made perfect.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: That God has a plan, He's carrying out.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: And He's gonna finish it.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: He has to finish it.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: He can't get you to the garden unless he finishes his plan.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so the question is, what are they looking for?
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: What city were they looking for?
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're out there looking for a city.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: What are they talking about?
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we jump over Revelation 21.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: He says, He carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: Her brilliance was like costly stone, as a stone of crystal and clear jasper, had a great and high wall for protection, right?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: With twelve gates, and at the gates were twelve angels, and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, God's making Abraham's name great.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: All those city builders out there, they're coming to this city.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: In the daytime, uh its gates, uh there will be no night there, its gates will never be closed, and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it, nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying shall come into it.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: Such is the garden, right?
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: And but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's second book of life.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh like it or not, this is the only time your name will matter in life.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: If it's written in this book.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street, on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: Don't miss this part.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: There will no longer be any curse in the throne of God, and the Lamb will be in it, and his bondservants will serve him.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: Your entrance into this city is by having the name of the Lord on your forehead.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: His name will be made great.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, what I want you to see is this is the garden.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: This new Jerusalem coming out of heaven.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's got the tree of life, it's got the river flowing with living water.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: The city that they're looking for, it's the garden.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's a return to the garden, the city whose builder is God.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: So the point is that the altar is a placeholder.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's an expression of faith in God's promise to fix it all, despite appearances, through the new Adam, the Lamb of God, who's gonna sit on the throne in the garden.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so, how how do we put it all together?
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because I've got to start wrapping up soon, or I'll get in trouble.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so, uh, building cities versus building altars, and we're gonna kind of try to wrap it all together and end if we can.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um Cities, as we've been arguing, represents the idea that I will secure provision, protection, glory, blessing by my own means, according to what seems good and right in my own eyes.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: Altars, on the other hand, uh, is the idea that I will trust God to end the curse and to bring ultimate blessing through the sacrificial Lamb, who is Jesus.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: So put it a little more simply, cities is living by sight or by human wisdom, doing what's good and right in your own eyes.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: Altars is living by faith in God's wisdom despite appearances.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so one of the main points that I want to make, and it's kind of the last point I guess I want to make, uh, is that faith is perfected at the altar.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I really want you guys to see.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: Think about the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: They they go out at first, they're trying to secure their own blessing.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: Abraham's passing his wife off as his sister, thinking he's gonna protect himself when the Lord's already told him such.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but by the end of their journeys, each of them, they're all recognizing that only God can provide the blessing.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it's coming in the future, it's not coming now.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: So in each of their stories, they recognize this, and at some point they stop striving.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it's then that the building of altars finds its significance.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Recognizing that the blessing is in God's promise and nowhere else.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thus their faith is perfected.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: In all situations, they will press on trusting in the promise, even if it doesn't come in their lifetime.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is the definition of a mature Christian, of a mature believer.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: Press on in all situations, even despite appearances.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Hebrews 11 also says, it goes on towards the end, these men who believed in faith that the city was coming, they were stoned.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: They were sawn into, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: They went about in sheepskins and goat skins, right?
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: Sound familiar?
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: Being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground, not building cities.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: And all of these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, how does this work?
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: How is faith perfected at the altar?
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: Romans 8, Paul says this.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not even worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: What we're experiencing now is nothing compared to returning to the garden.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: For the anxious longing of the creation was wait-waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, this is Genesis 3 we read, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery, to corruption, to the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is where I want to focus for.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: Creation longs for a return to the garden.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_00: And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the spirits, we also groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body, the return of our breath into our bodies.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: For who hopes for what he already sees?
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: But if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance, we wait for it.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: We wait for it.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: This word I love in Greek, it's uh perseverance, it's hupa meno, is how it's spelled.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Hupameno, it's a two-part word.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh hupa meaning under, meno meaning to remain.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, just stay there.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: Remain under the curse, under the sufferings of this world.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: And this is totally in contrast to prosperity theology, which says, I want blessing now.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: If you do good things, God will bless you now.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's never been the hope of the believer.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: Hope of the believer is God's gonna bring blessing when the Lord returns.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: For now we must hoop amena.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: We must remain under.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: Must endure, is how we translate it.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: James says this, it's not those, we don't count those who are blessed who have a bunch of stuff and who live in cities and who are comfortable.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: They're not blessed.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord, most of them stoned to death.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: We count those blessed who piminoed, who remained under the curses, who remained under the suffering.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_00: You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and that he's merciful.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 12, following our hall of faith in 11, therefore, since we have such a great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, all these men that he just listed who suffered and who didn't receive the promises, not yet.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_00: Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with hoopamino, the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's translated funny, it's the beginner and the finisher.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: He started it, he's gonna finish it.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: For who the joy set before him, he hoopaminoed the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the Father, for consider him who has hoopaminowed, who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: Paul puts it this way.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_00: We exult in the hope of the glory of God.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: We exult in the fact that the garden is coming, breath is going to enter our dead bodies, and we're gonna stand up and walk.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: We rejoice, we exult, and not only this, we don't just rejoice in the fact that that's coming, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, in our tribulations, knowing because we know that tribulation brings about hoopamino.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: Tribulation and suffering brings about the opportunity to remain under.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: And as we hoopamino, as we remain under, our character is proven.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_00: And our character aligns with Christ, and as our character aligns with Christ, we grow in our hope that the garden is coming and he's gonna bring it.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that hope does not disappoint.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: He is the beginner and he's the finisher of our faith.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can be sure he started it, he's gonna finish it.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: It does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's interesting, and and I do it, I'm just commenting, but so many of our prayers in the church today are all about the ending of suffering and the bettering of our circumstances.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: I I think this ought not to be.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think we pray for endurance, we pray for hoopamino, for a perfect faith, for a faith which remains under suffering, waiting patiently for Christ to come and end it.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: Not now, but when he comes.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: There's no comfort that will last.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: There's no name you can make for yourself that will last.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: There's no possessions that you're gonna take with you.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's not here yet.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_00: We still have need to hoop them in out, to endure.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: We do.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: So stay there.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: Stop striving.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: Stop striving, stop trying to build cities.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: Stay there under the curse, waiting for him to fix it.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh when we as the people of God actually believe in God's promises, we build altars, not cities.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: So there's no need to live a life of striving.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's no need to live for accomplishments or accolades or making a name for yourself or comforting yourself because God in Christ has accomplished all of that for you.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it's coming.
• 40:38
  unknown: Right?
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_00: So stop.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: Stop building cities with your name all over it.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_00: We all do it.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's only one name in one city that matters.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_00: That name is Jesus.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: In the city, you can't get into it without his name on your forehead.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that name has been given to you already.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_00: So wait for it.
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's my encouragement.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_00: Wait for it.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_00: In the meantime, Paul says, encourage one another with these things.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: As you hoop them in, as you remain under, encourage one another.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: Namely, that Jesus is coming and he will not disappoint.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: He's the beginner and he's the ender.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_00: He started it, he's gonna finish it.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_00: And you can bet on that.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_00: Despite what it seems, despite the world going downhill.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: Hoopa minnow, remain under, stay there.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_00: And encourage one another through that.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna do something uh this morning that is actually the sort of um descendant of the altar.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we don't take lambs to the altar today in faith.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, we participate in the body of Christ in faith that Jesus is coming.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_00: The lamb's already paid the price.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but he's coming again, and so we encourage one another by coming to the altar together and partaking in the body and in the blood of Christ.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: Recognizing that we're putting our faith in his body and in his blood to get us to the garden.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so I just wanted you to take a few minutes to reflect on that, to, to, to, to look at the elements that you're taking, to look around the room at one another and be encouraged that we're all in this together with one another.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and we're all waiting for the one who's gonna come and take us back to the garden.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_00: So let's take a minute and reflect on that.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'll come back up in just in just a minute or two, uh, and then we will partake together.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um Jesus was uh with his disciples, and when he had given thanks, he took the bread and he broke it, and he said, This is my body, which is for you.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: Do this in remembrance of me.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_00: It says in the same way he took the cup also after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_00: Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for your story.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_00: That we can read it and that we can be assured that you began it, and as such, you're gonna end it.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I I confess I look forward to that ending.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um life's hard, as you know.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: As we experience the effects of the curse, we get broken down and uh we are often tempted to run to the great comforts of this world.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_00: But Lord, help us to encourage one another in the body to endure, to remain under as you do a work in our hearts to perfect our faith in the coming of your Son, in the coming of your garden.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: We long to taste of the fruit of the tree of life and the water that flows with living water.