Message 5 - A Good Start Doesn't Guarantee A Happy Ending (Hebrews: Greater Than)

he is probably the greatest Old Testament King that most longtime Christians have never heard of he became king at 16 years old he reigned for over 52 years during that time he had incredible military success pretty much all of the enemies of Israel were were conquered and those a little bit further away actually paid tribute to him he had massive massive wealth in fact his army was known for the fact that all of the soldiers in it were well-equipped they all had shields swords helmets which was rather a rare thing in that day and that age everywhere he turned he had a Midas touch things just turned to gold and he was incredibly successful as he was seeking the Lord and then one day he decided he was a little bit special so he decided to go in and honor the Lord who had so richly blessed him and who he had so strongly served in a very special way he went he got some incense and he got a flame little torch thing and he went into the temple to put incense upon the altar now that was to be done every single day but it was to be done only by the priest because God had sent down a very strong line to separate the king from the priest it was also because it was only going to be one king priests throughout all history and that of course was a messiah was going to come the one we know as Jesus Christ I'm sure his motivation was good I absolutely know that he knew normal people weren't supposed to do this but as he went in the priests condiments tried to stop them and said what are you doing what are you doing and he began to rail on them just in rage and as he did that he looked and he noticed he suddenly had upon his skin the signs of leprosy he allowed the priests to escort him all the way out of the temple and he spent the rest of his life living separate because he was a leper and the epitaphs were told on his gravesite was not here Elijah Isaiah the great king who gave us peace and incredible prosperity here's what it says here lies Uzziah he was a leper you see King Uzziah found in second chronicles chapter 26 of our Bible is a great example of an incredibly important spiritual principle and that is that a good start doesn't guarantee a happy ending in fact an incredibly great start doesn't guarantee a happy ending we can see this in all of life you know there are the parents who are all excited about their all-star kids not realizing they might not be so happy when that kid hits 30 40 years old the race isn't over in high school or college or junior high there's that incredible wedding followed by a lousy marriage there's that rocket ship career that suddenly is derailed I mean over and over we see this our culture has a story about The Tortoise and the hare that's meant to teach us this lesson that the good start isn't what it's all about it's about the finish but sadly as we're going to see sometimes in the spiritual realm we've fallen into the trap of thinking if we get off to a good start everything will be okay or even worse sometimes we go well if I just sign up for the race it's all okay and the passage we're going to look at today picks up on this theme this warning that a good start is no guarantee of a happy ending we're going to be looking today at Hebrews chapter four so if you got your Bible with you I'll find that or on your digital device for those of you brand-new at figuring out Jesus and and and the Bible there's a table of contents in the front of your Bible it mentions it has Hebrews listed there it's found in what is known as our our New Testament and Hebrews chapter 4 as you're turning there starts with a word help me out for a moment if you're already there the first word in Hebrews chapter four is there four and as we mentioned last weekend as we often try to point out whenever you see therefore in the Bible you have to ask what is it therefore and normally if you treat your Bible as a life textbook like I hope you do you'll draw an arrow up to the previous passage so Hebrews chapter four starts out there for and it's pointing back to some things in chapter three now last weekend we looked at chapter three but we didn't go in any depth at all on the things that it's pointing to so I want you to actually if you got a paper Bible just go to the left swipe if you're on the digital device and I want to start in chapter 3 verse 14 where we have the story that he is making reference to it's actually a chapter 3 verse 7 where we're going to start now let me kind of give you a little bit of the background especially for those of you that are new in your spiritual journey the book of Hebrews as we've mentioned is a transcribed sermon and it was two Hebrews or Jewish Christians who had followed Jesus or Messiah but we're running into personal obstacles because of it some were facing persecution many were facing issues in their a kind of job sort of thing if you will and they were on top of that having family sort of issues as well like man you followed a false prophet so under this kind of pressure some of them were trying to have both will go back to the rituals and all of that of Judaism and will hang on to Jesus or even so well he is the Messiah that completes all these things I'm just gonna slide back and so Hebrews is a warning don't go back keep forward on your journey with Jesus and in the passage we're gonna look at now in chapter 13 he makes a reference to their forefathers the children of Israel and the experience that they all had when after centuries and slay every God sent a guy named Moses to lead them out of their slavery into the Promised Land that God had promised their ancestor Abraham long ago Abraham had been told out of you a great family is going to become a great nation is going to become many nations and one special group what we call Jews today are going to be my people and they are going to have a promised land that I'm going to give them so after their time in slavery in Egypt Moses shows up through a series of plagues and miracles the Egyptians suddenly go hey get the heck out of here get the heck out of here in fact they plunder the Egyptians the Egyptians are so excited that they say well we're gonna need something so they just take off their jewelry and gold and whatever and say here just get out of here we can't handle you anymore now God's plan was for them to walk out of Egypt and in one year a make their way through the desert to the edge of the Promised Land and then go into the Promised Land now along the way they have some incredible incredible miracles first of all all of the plagues and the miracles that caused the Egyptians say get out of here and then right away as they're leaving they find themselves in a box canyon almost with on two sides and not a mountain on the other side but the dead Red Sea and then the Egyptians decide we just lost our labor force what kind of brain cramp did we have and so the cream of the crop of the Egyptian army goes out to pursue the Israelites and they're stuck mountains water strong Egyptian army and they've got jewelry and gold but they ain't got no weapons and so god parched the Red Sea they walk across on dry land and then he closes it in on the Egyptian army as it tries to follow and the cream of the crop of the Egyptian army is destroyed along the way they had these miracles of daily feeding a manna they had these all kinds of experiences God leads them with a pillar of fire at night and a cloud in the day which would tell them stop or go or whatever I mean just a me they get the 10 commandments all of this kind of stuff's going on in this first year and now it's time to move into the Promised Land and so they're supposed to send 12 spies into the land and those spies are supposed to check it out and come back and tell people what is there but they decide they're gonna check it out and tell people whether or not they're capable of conquering it you see a little difference there God you you god said send some people there to check it out they said people in there to check out God's assignment whether or not they could do it and when they came back 10 of them we're like this is terrible there are fortified cities there's very large people there where there is no way we're gonna take it God has sent us here so we will die in the wilderness two of them a guy named Joshua Inc eight guys named Joshua and Caleb said no no this is of the Lord it doesn't matter remember all the stuff he did we can do this but the people sided with the ten and they began to cry out God has brought us out here to die and at that point as they're whining about God and declaring him as a as a worthless undependable god he's had enough and he says that's it you've crossed the line all of you who are adults that I let out of Egypt through Moses and I plan to bring in the Promised Land here's what's gonna happen you're gonna march around in the wilderness until every one of you is dead and it's your children who are gonna get the promise and they turn back and march of the desert that's the 40 years in the wilderness that some of you are familiar with now in your Old Testament there's a book called Psalms it's a it's a bunch of Hebrew poetry many of you are familiar with the famous 23rd psalm the Lord is my shepherd and others well in the 95th Psalm there's a reflection of this story that I just told you that is also of course found in in your Old Testament and the writer of Hebrews the transcriber and the spokesman who spoke that sermon he knew those people knew Psalm 95 most of us have no clue what's in Psalm 95 some you're searching there right now just circle it write it down and we'll get it later but they knew that Psalm very well so he making reference to it throughout this little section we're gonna read right now when he says as it is written the Holy Spirit says whatever it's all back to that story and he's referring and quoting some of your Bibles have kind of a instead of a normal layout there you've got kind of a verse layout that's because he's quoting Psalm 95 so with that background now let's go back and let's pick up the long runway that leads into chapter 4 which continues with this story that he says therefore you better keep your eye on Jesus because of what we find in Hebrews chapter 3 verses 7 to 19 so as the Holy Spirit says and like I mentioned he's referring to Psalm 95 verses 7 to 11 today if you hear his voice don't harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion during the time of testing in the wilderness where your ancestors tested and tried me though for 40 years they had they saw what I did they had seen all of my miracles this is why I was angry with that generation and I said their hearts are always going astray they've not known my ways so I declared on oath and my anger they shall never enter my rest the completion of all that I have for them jump down to verse 12 now see to it brothers here's the application see to her brothers and sisters that none of you has a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from the Living God who were they heard and rebelled were they not all those that Moses led out of Egypt and with whom was he angry for 40 years was it not those who had said whose bodies perished in the wilderness and to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed so we see that they were not able to enter because of their unbelief therefore now we're in chapter 4 since the promise of entering his rest still stands we still have a plan that God has for us let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it like the Israelites for we also have had the good news for claim to us just as they did but the message they heard it was of no value to them because they didn't share the faith of those who obeyed now we have believed enter that rest the completion of God's plan just as God has said so I declared on my oath in my anger they shall never enter my rest and yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world he's referring back to Genesis and the creation story for somewhere I love it he goes somewhere as if he can't remember for somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words the seventh day of creation on the seventh day God rested from all of his works in other words they were complete everything was finished so he entered his rest and again in the passage above Psalm 95 he says they shall never enter my rest they won't get God's plan now we pick up verse six therefore since it still remains for some to enter the rest and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience God again said a certain day he's given another chance calling it today this he did when a long time later he spoke through David that's David of David and Goliath King David Fame as in the passage already quoted David wrote Psalm 95 today if you hear his voice don't harden your hearts for if Joshua had given them rest God would not have spoken later about another day now let me pause there because if you're a longtime Christian you know Joshua if you're new at this it's like who's this Joshua dude Joshua was what was a leader who followed Moses and after the children of Israel died and Moses died then Joshua led them into the Promised Land so what he's saying here is even when they went into the Promised Land that was not the fulfillment of all that God had for them there's more we call it eternity we call it heaven verse 9 there remains then a Sabbath rest for the people of God for anyone who enters God's rest also rest from their works just as God did from his now underlying verse 11 in your Bible let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest to experience all God has for us so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience so it's a simple warning that looks back on a story they knew well some of us know vaguely and some of us had never heard before he says don't be like the children of Israel for God has a plan for you and for me and yet the fact that we get a really great start doesn't mean we're going to completely experience it because there's no guarantee of a happy ending now the problem all along the way you kept seeing this phrase as I was reading it was there disbelief and disobedience so I want to pause here and explain something in the English language disbelief normally means to have doubt and if we say we believe we mean mentally I think is probably true would you agree with me hey do you believe in fill in the blank that means you think it's probably true so we think of faith and belief disbelief and lack of faith as something that goes on between the ears that's not how the New Testament in the Old Testament speaks of faith you can disbelief does not equal doubt disbelief equals disobedience and faith does not equal certainty in my mind it equals obedience when I have biblical faith I'm trusting God enough to do what he says not only when I'm sure it will work out but when I'm filled with doubt in other words you can have great faith and be filled with doubt I love the story about the early church in the book of Acts where a Peter the Apostle was supposedly going to have his head cut off in the morning so they have a the night before they have a prayer meeting that the Lord would spare him and sure enough God gets him out of prison he goes to where they're praying he knocks on the door a little servant girl named Rhoda looks and goes and she runs back in she doesn't open the door for him she goes it's Peter it's Peter he's out here and what do all those people praying say they must be his ghost in modern-day languages got all crap he's dead now wait a minute they were praying that God would want rescue him and when God did they didn't believe it so I want to tell you between their ears they had absolutely no certainty no confidence at all they were praying filled with doubt but because they were praying they were full of obedience you see that difference so the thing here and I really want you to get this as we talked about the warnings in this passage the question isn't how confident you are or how much doubt you have it's how obedient you are or how disobedient you are I've run into and you probably have too a lot of people who tell me oh I trust God I believe in God I believe in God but they don't do anything that shows any belief and I've run into a lot of other people who just kind of go okay here goes I'm sure I'm gonna die but they do the God thing that's what faith is so the Israelites weren't in trouble for the fact they struggled with doubt they were in trouble because they said God I'm not gonna trust you enough to do what you said and that's why disbelief and disobedience throughout this passage are coupled together now on your note sheet there's a little section there this says to clear and present danger and and I want us to understand in this passage that this is not an empty threat this is not an empty threat God is not saying hey a good start is no guarantee of a happy ending wink wink but it's really okay no matter what you do you know an empty threat would be like the parent that lives on a cul-de-sac telling the kids don't play in the street because the train will run you over now when a kid is really little they might believe it and it might help keep them out of the street but as they grow up they realize you were lying to me and what I want you understand is God never has an empty thread if he says you better beware make sure this doesn't happen to you then that means it could happen to us and so it's a theme that's found over and over in the book of Hebrews and the entire Bible but sadly it's a theme we tend to miss because we start arguing about this thing called doctrine or theology instead so I want to take you on a little theological journey so kind of buckle up and and you know we're gonna be in school for a few moments but you need to understand the problem because when we turn this into an argument about theology how it happens who it happens to could it all that what we do is we miss the entire warning God says make sure this doesn't happen to you and what so many especially longtime Christians do is they try to figure out could it happen couldn't it happen how when where and they get into an argument over here and completely ignore the warning right here in the center does that make sense so let me show you how it goes there are basically two camps in the Christian community about this thing called salvation the start we have with Jesus where our sins are forgiven were adopted into his family and we start our journey towards what hebrews calls rest what we call heaven and all that God has for us now on on one side are a group of people who believe that you can be saved and you can lose your salvation now on on that side there's an extreme and some of you maybe even grew up with it a few of you here and that is you not only could lose your salvation but you live always in great fear of it because you could lose it so easily at any second some of you grew up in a Roman Catholic background and there's all kinds of extremes within the Roman Catholic you know from one end to the other but some of you grew up in an environment where it was if you commit a sin and you don't get to mass and give confession and then mass and you die you go to hell and and it's like whoa you're always on edge and in the Protestant community there's a very similar sort of thing that doesn't have mass and confession with it it has confession and prayer if you commit a sin and you're driving along and you haven't yet confessed it then you go to hell so you're always on the edge like oh my gosh I just lied I looked at something I shouldn't have looked at I just did this and like boom you're dead it's like boy it's hot in here and what you've got is you almost got an angry god who's looking to get you if you mess up in the littlest way that is absurd we have a God who died for us while we were his enemies according to the book of Romans he's not going to die for us while we were his enemies forgive us adopt us make us joint heirs with Jesus Christ and then kick us into hell in the first opportunity gets I mean talk about a dysfunctional parent or whatever come on so this extreme of always living in fear isn't but there are other people who go no no it's it's not that but but we really can come to the point where we were genuinely a follower of Jesus and we turn our back on it and we walk away completely and totally and that's what this morning's about now on the other side there's a group of people and many of you probably heard this phrase they'd say no no no no once saved always saved and their idea is that we could never lose our salvation because God irresistible drew us to himself or he pursued and once he starts his work nothing stops it okay you got those two extremes but this one too has its absurdity its absurdity over here is all you gotta do is make a nod to God and everything's okay so in third grade you go to camp they have an emotional come to Jesus meeting you have tears in your eyes you say Oh Lord I'm gonna follow you and then by fifth grade into your eighty-five you live like hell but it's okay in third grade you prayed a prayer for real I call them funeral assurances if you notice anybody who's ever made a nod to God is somehow in heaven when we have a funeral and that's as absurd as the idea of living in fear but if I just sign up for the gym I don't have to go to the gym I'm just healthy but there is a genuine argument between the two sides that say no no no the the people who he's talking about he's warning but what they are is once they've you're always safe so the thing is they're not genuinely Christians they're only professing Christians so it's not a warning to a genuine Christian but you know you got to be careful you're not just a cultural Christian you've got kind of professing don't have the real deal those are the ones that fall away and these people over here are going excuse me that's what the passage says no you really can't so you see the argument between the two now here's the thing I've got an opinion on that in fact a very strong opinion would you like to know what it is yeah you have to just keep coming here because here's the problem if I go into all my discussion why once saved means always saved or why no that is a exaggeration of a biblical doctrine this side whichever one I do we all get into the semantics and the argument of how something happens and we completely forget the warning that is over and over given in Scripture you with me on that so please no cards or letters well I understand the theology okay I like I like I get I got degrees I'm like as my oldest son once told me dad how come you're the kind of doctor they can't fix anything I know this stuff but the problem is the more I study the Bible in depth the more I sometimes can get into the semantics and the side arguments and miss the obvious the stuff that Jesus said you know the kingdom of God is made up of those who are like these little children and here's the obvious if I'm gonna live like hell and I die there there is no funeral assurance for me and the warning weather is you take it however you want that hey you better double check that you're the real deal Christian not a professing Christian or the warning is okay you've been walking with God and now like a Uzziah of presuming of God I don't really care which one of those camps you want to be in today today I want us all to see we cannot rest on a good start guarantees a happy ending we can't just say I signed up I'm okay and we shouldn't be on this end like Oh every little misstep is a mess but we do need to understand a series of missteps in the same direction for a long time can lead to the same experience the children of Israel we're promises rest we don't get his rest on your note sheet there's a little section that assists from danger to disaster how does that happen well there's there's basically three steps that the professing Christian or the real Christian again I don't really care in the warning there's three steps here the first one is this we go from danger to disaster it starts with struggling with sin we struggle with sin now the fact of the matter is every one of us here today struggles with sin everyone watching on the internet everyone in our venues every one of you at our various campuses watching every one of his struggles with sin if I asked are any of you do any of you have no struggle with sin if you raise your hand we have a counseling service because you were in la-la land okay I struggle with sin yeah I have a teaching gift but that doesn't mean this morning on my way to church I wasn't an idiot when I cut four people off and tried to get here fast just pretending we've all got little closet things we've all got things we think and here's the thing that even the Apostle Paul who wrote Bible much of your New Testament he struggled with sin he talks about in a passage called Romans seven the very things I want to do I don't do the very things I don't want to do I do well with this wretched man what's wrong with me and I love it if the best-of-the-best had that then I don't feel so bad about it but here's the key I'm struggling with sin I'm going darn it why did I do that again now got it I thought it was better than that on so you know whatever it would be that's the Christian journey and that's why I see the absurdity of worrying every time you struggle and slip up is crazy over here gods on your side he understands he's our defense lawyer he's our judge in our jury that's a good combo but there's a next step it's when I go from struggling with sin to defending my sin defending my sin now I've not yet crossed the line the children of Israel blew it over and over and over and God kept giving them chances but I am beginning to move into a serious danger zone when I go from struggling to defending and if you want to know what defending my sin looks like it looks simply like this I make excuses well it's your fault I blew off on the handle it's all your fault you you just drove me to it that basically says you need to get right with God because I haven't done anything right well it's it's my parents fault you know that my family was so dysfunctional or or this thing happened to me in the past or or whatever it would be or well I can't do what God wants me to hear because of this financial reason or because you we've got a million excuses and what's happening is when we begin instead of saying crud I did it again instead of saying man my bad lord thank you for forgiving me and please continue to help me to live like who've you made me to be that struggle when I start to go yeah but I am defending and here's where danger becomes disaster I set up camp you see I've defended it enough I just decide you know what God will understand it's all kind of on a little scale and I I'm not struggling with this anymore in fact I got a million reasons why I'm different I'm unique and why it's okay I set up camp and God will be good with it because of all the stuff over here or God will be with it good with it because after all once saved always saved remember that third day prayer I know I should do better but whatever that's how danger becomes disaster and that's why I say we shouldn't argue about the semantics and all the process I mean I'll discuss it all day long with people as long as it's creating light and not heat and as long as we're not forgetting the core of the whole thing which is struggle with sin but be careful when you defend it and for God's sake don't be like Israelites and set up camp in it now what is it that creates this in us on your note sheet there's a section there that says what causes our hearts to harden in our faith twofold and as I was thinking about it this week I just tried to kind of mind map the most common things in my own experience that I find in Scripture and that I found with the people I've had the privilege of shepherding over the decades and there's some common threads and common experiences that cause us to go from struggling to defending to setting up camp they're like little detours and you haven't got much of a problem when you go on the detour you know you ever listen to you know your phone is giving you directions or whatever and you know you'd make a wrong turn it just says make a u-turn roll right and and so these are these are the quick things with a a make it u-turn no big deal you lost a minute two minutes and they will keep us from going oh my gosh I've lost a day I've lost a year I've lost a decade so here they are what causes our hearts to harden in our faith twofold number one when we decide God's Way won't work when we decide that God's Way just won't work in this situation I'm gonna get try to give you a sound bite for each one of those want each one of these five so those of you like to take copious notes you might want to jot this one down and and and this one is this whenever my obedience is based on short term results I'll make some really stupid decisions whenever my obedience is based on short term results I'm gonna make some really stupid decisions in life in relationships and with God because we tried it and it didn't work you know I heard this thing on how to be a good employee and how to move forward in your career and job and man I have had the best attitude and I've worked my butt off for the last three weeks oh they still have promoted me I've been on this diet for two days and nothing's happened and you look at him and go what but we can do that with Jesus there are times and many of us have been there we said man I don't know about this this seems a little hard but okay I will do it and then somewhere after week 1 week 2 week 3 month 3 whatever it would be we look and we go you know god I tried it your way obviously it doesn't fit this situation I now have to take things in my own hands and obedience is not judged by the short-term results it's judged by obedience for the children of Israel when they got right out of Egypt God immediately leads them into this place where there's the two mountains of water in front and the Egyptians chasing them well at the moment it seems like Oh God's Way didn't work in fact they cried out that way but God had an absolutely amazing plan I'm gonna get rid of the Egyptian army for a long period of time they're not gonna hassle you anymore I'm gonna show you my power in an incredible way they just didn't see it yet God's Way was always working have you ever heard this phrase those who had the privilege of maybe growing up in a Christian home so you've been a Christian a long time you know following the Bible in Jesus has so health of my life that even if it wasn't true I'd do it again you ever heard some version of that you know what the Bible says that's stupid that's pitiful why do I say that you can circle on your note sheet 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 19 the Apostle Paul is talking about the resurrection in the certainty of heaven and here's what he says about himself and all of the Christians if we only in this life hope in Christ we are to be above among all people most pitied the Bible actually says man if you're judging whether or not it's worth it to be a Christian based on this life you are a fool and you should be pitied because God's rest and God's plan for us isn't in the next six months the next six years the next 60 years it's in eternity and whenever I get this short term judgment I start sometimes to go well God's plan doesn't work because I don't see the end of the hole I see the end of the week does that make sense to you you with me okay here's the second one when I think God's Way is ill illogical whenever I begin to thank God's Way is illogical like well what doesn't make sense now I know we're in church but can we be honest like get rid of the mask in the pre pretending do you ever read some passage in the Bible or some rule or some Old Testament story or whatever and have a sense of if I was God I sure wouldn't do it that way oh you ever been there your pastor has I mean there are a lot of things about the way God runs this universe about eternity about his plan irie passage in the Old Testament I go where if I was God I wouldn't do it that way but guess what to my great disappointment I am NOT God and I don't mean to mess up your day but neither are you and when I have a God who are we follow when he makes sense with me guess who I made into God me as I've often called it we turned him into a cosmic consultant and here's a problem when God becomes my cosmic consultant he goes silent see if he's my cosmic consultant where I say well you know what whatever fits and makes sense to me I'm in and other than that thank you for the advice but I have to make my own call when I begin to do that here's what you need to understand God doesn't do consulting he just grows silent and so I'm praying oh Lord you know would you just help me figure out what job to take you know just I just need your guidance and I get nothing or I feel this idea and I think it's God and it's totally mine because over here he's been telling me how to treat my spouse and I've been totally ignoring that well the Lord helped me know whether I should marry this person or not you know I just need your insight but I've been ignoring him about out a date why in the world would he tell me who to marry it's not gonna happen he does God he doesn't do consulting and when I turned him into consultant he grows silent and what happens is I just come up with my own sense of God led and once while I'm lucky and once in a while I go God why'd you leave me here and the whole time he never led me anywhere let me talk to those of you they were parents or those of you that once were kids do you ever catch yourself saying things you swore you would never say do you remember some things well you thought your parents were imbeciles hyper restrictive crazy people and now you're putting some of those same things on your own kids why well because I thought some of my parents rules and guidelines and all that when I was a little kid I thought they were absurd because I was a kid not a parent and then suddenly I had another viewpoint and I look back and I go oh maybe I wasn't the brightest kid in the world because you know every kid knows everything well that's how it is with God as isaiah 55:8 and 9 says god says for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord as the heavens are higher than yours so my ways are higher than your ways and thoughts and your thoughts here's a little sound bite I promised when my obedience is based on what seat makes sense to me when my obedience is based on what makes sense to me I'll make some really stupid decisions well it's based on short-term results when it base it's based on what makes sense to me proverbs 14:12 I love the way it puts it there is a way that makes that it makes sense or appears right to a man but the end of it is death I I can prove to myself why I ought not put God to the test of what makes sense to me because I have a long history of making choices that made total sense to me and ended up disastrous am I the only one in this room that's done that my bed is a lot of you have made relationship financial decisions health decisions and at the moment you thought that's the way to go makes sense to me you look back now and go what whoa what brain cramp that I have well why in the world would I do that to God the danger zone starts when we decide God's Way won't work when I think God's Way is illogical and here's the third one wouldn't we fear missing out when we think well God if I do it your way I'll never get married God if I do it your way I won't get ahead financially God if I do it your way my career will hit a brick wall God if I do it your way I'll be taking advantage of God if I do it your way and I can go over and over and over with with examples and all of them are based on the fear of missing out God your way is gonna cause me to miss the best here's a little soundbite whenever I have a bad case of FOMO you know fear of missing out whenever I have a bad case of FOMO I'll make some really stupid decisions by the way the Bible gives us one right is beginning in Genesis chapter three you have the story of Adam and Eve and the fall of Adam and Eve and therefore the start of sin throughout our world than in all of us and it begins with the fear of missing out the Lord has said you can eat of anything except for this tree over here the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the enemy comes to Eve and says the guys say you can't eat this let me tell you the real reason he knows that when you eat of this tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will know good and evil like he does he does want you to do that you'll be like him he's holding out on you and then he takes a bite of whatever it was on that tree and he doesn't die instantly of course he was dead spiritually but they assumed the death would be physical and he says see and so Eve takes its ease it's desirable and sheets and sure enough she knows good and evil experientially instead of theoretically and death has rained ever since Satan went after her and after Adam with the fear of missing out number four when we think our situation is different see all of these we struggle with sin and these are the points at which we begin to defend our sin or make excuses and one of the classic ones is yeah but this is different or I'm different here's the soundbite whenever I think the rules for everyone else don't apply to me whenever I think the rules for everyone else don't apply to me I'll make some really stupid decisions that's what yes I did his success it's so blinded him that he began to think he was successful because he was special and the rules for everybody else are for everybody else but not for me one of the classic ones is I have peace about it I can't tell you how many times I've talked to a brother or sister in Christ and I said you need to start this or you need to stop this because sin goes in two realms it goes in sins of commission things we are doing we shouldn't and sins of omission things we should do when we say we're gonna do someday but not now all of them are disobedience and I'll point it up to them I'll even give them the Bible verse and they go I understand but you know I'm just not there right now and I have peace about it well here's a problem you might have peace about it but if God doesn't have peace about it it's called an excuse and it's a move from struggling with sin to defending sin which can lead so easily to setting up camp in sin none of us are special and none of our situations are different yes they're unique but they all call for the same exact obedience and number five when we suffer from spiritual amnesia when we suffer from spiritual amnesia final soundbite don't put your note sheet away not final point whenever I forget what God has done for me in the past whenever I forget what God has done for me in the past I will make some really stupid decisions and it usually flows in two sides it's like two sides of a coin one of them is when I have great success I forget that it was God who got me here and I think I don't need him anymore okay okay and that's that was you that's just a common thing the more successful we are in whatever realm it might be the more we tend to think we've got this because God likes us best and you know in my life I've been incredibly blessed in many areas far beyond anything I ever dreamed and you know and and sometimes I what I do is I I think this happened because I built a really nice sale and I put it on the ship and I'm responsible for where the boat is gone no no I built a really nice sail maybe but here's the thing without the God going it doesn't go anywhere and that is so true of so many areas of our life or we look and we go yeah I worked hard I sewed this sucker up I bought the material you know I maybe even did something smarter or harder or whatever than other people you folks I don't really care because neither does God because without him going the greatest sail the world does nothing and yeah we have a job we're supposed to put up sail if you will you know we're not suppose to sit there and go God make the sail do this do that whatever but that can cause me to forget forget how I got here but the flipside is a crisis so its success in crisis of the two things or spiritual amnesia comes in and crisis works this way I forget yesterday's miracle in light of today's crisis and we shake our head when others do it in the famous story of the children of Israel I'm going dude and do toises like why are you guys so upset I just did all of these incredible plagues and miracles to get you out of Egypt a little water a couple of mountains of chasing army this is gonna be cool gods up to something neat oh that's so easy for me to say when I teach on that passage and when I look in hindsight but I want to tell you it's a lot more difficult when it's my crisis today right in front of me which is by the way why the Bible makes a big deal about Thanksgiving Circle on your note sheet 1st Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all situations because it's God's will why does God say it's important to you for you us to articulate our thankfulness in every situation because it's what feeds our faith and starves our doubt and without a pattern of regular Thanksgiving for what God has done in the past I will forget his power in the present guaranteed now here's the good news there's a warning in this passage that's just because you've started well doesn't guarantee you'll end well and we have seen five of the ways we start to make our excuses and a set up camp but here's the good news it doesn't matter how jacked up your life is how deep and dark the detours you've taken are as long as you have breath the good news of Jesus as he says come and follow me he says maybe I plan a and you've screwed up plan a and now you're on plan D it doesn't matter climb back up one of my Potter's will let me remake you you stay there as I'm doing stuff and at the end of the day plan D is going to be worthy of God's trophy display case this isn't a message of despair it's a message of warning and then the book of Hebrews and all the Bible always goes back and says today is today it's never too late turn from your sins step forward in your obedience whichever one it is stop or start and experience the complete blessing and plan of God Father thank you for who you are what you've done and all that you have promised for us may we take these warnings to heart not with the trembling fear but a cautious aww of who you are and what you've done in the name of Jesus amen and today we've talked about how spiritual danger becomes disaster struggling becomes defending and excuses become setting up camp this is a message of encouragement for those who are struggling keep on struggling yeah you'll take two steps forward and four steps back and three steps forward and two back and seven forward and four back twelve back it's gonna go all over the map welcome to the Christian journey Jesus is on your side through the power of the Holy Spirit he'll empower you to obey what you know and as you obey what you know he'll give you the next step but it's also a warning because I know there's always a good group of us who have taken some areas and we not only have made excuses we're starting to believe those excuses they make sense to us we're in a danger zone understand a good start does not guarantee a happy ending a struggling journey does a crawling journey does a running journey does but the danger of the excuse is it's not long until we set up camp my prayer is that we will reflect on that not with binoculars for all the Christians we know who are making excuses in setting up camp but it's a mirror to say Lord where is this taking place in my life what is your word for me so turn around and greet someone who's given up camping we'll see you next week god bless

Channel: North Coast Church

Views: 1,321

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: larry osborne, hebrews sermon, Hebrews Bible Study, north coast church, book of hebrews sermon, Hebrews study, north coast, sermons 2018, hebrews sermons series, Hebrews, pastor chris brown

Id: f4EXeUMKue8

Length: 52min 15sec (3135 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 04 2018