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Sermon 6 Julio 2014
Sermon 6 Julio 2014
Sermon 6 Julio 2014
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I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god. (Is 44:6, ESV)
Is there any God besides me?
There is no Rock; I know not any. (Is 44:8,
ESV)
Is He?
If He is, what is He? Who is He?
Does what you really believe about that
really make any difference?
Almost all of the people Isaiah spoke to didnt
think so.
They believed the story was first and most
about them
and if there was a God, He would just have to
fit into their stories!
Even the Israelites, the ones known as Gods
chosen people, no longer believed He was
The Only Living Eternal God.
They had reduced Him to just one small g
god among countless others.
It is much the same today. As many people as
ever (if not more than ever) are perfectly fine if
someone talks about a God and faith in
Jesus as a way to Him. Conversations
change drastically if someone starts talking
about the God and faith in Jesus as the
way to Him!
Satans first verbal challenge of the God
was much deeper than what appears in our
modern translations of The Bible. That
typically has him pressing in on Eve (while
Adam stood there, uselessly), Did God really
say? (Gen 3:1)
A more thorough dissection of that shows there
was a deeper question implied. It has Satan
sneering a mocking one-word question:
God??? as if to say, Cmon, youre not
really worried about him, are you? Pffft; he
should be worried about you!
Es l?
Si lo es, qu es l? Quin es l?
Lo que usted realmente cree sobre eso
realmente hace una diferencia?
Casi todas las personas a las que Isaas habl
creyeron lo contrario.
Ellos crean que la historia era primeramente y ms
acerca de ellos y si haba un Dios, l slo tendra que encajar en sus
historias!
Incluso los hijos de Israel, los conocidos como "el
pueblo elegido de Dios", ya no crea que l era
El nico Dios Vivo y Eterno.
Ellos lo haban reducido a slo un "d minscula" dios
entre muchos otros.
Es lo mismo hoy. Muchas personas como siempre (si
no ms que nunca) estn perfectamente bien, si
alguien habla de "un" Dios - y la fe en Jess como
"un" camino a l. Las conversaciones cambian
drsticamente si alguien empieza a hablar de "el"
Dios - y la fe en Jess como "el" camino hacia l!
El primer desafo verbal de Satans de, el" Dios era
mucho ms profundo de lo que aparece en las
traducciones modernas de la Biblia. Que
normalmente lo tienen presionando en Eva (mientras
Adan se qued all, en vano), "Dios realmente
dice?" (Gen 3:01)
Una diseccin ms completa de eso muestra que
haba una pregunta ms profunda implcita. Tiene a
Satans burlndose con una pregunta de una sola
palabra: Dios??? como diciendo, "Vamos, ustedes no
estn realmente preocupados por l, verdad? pffft; l
debe estar preocupado por ustedes! "
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In his new book Yawning at God; you cant
tame God so stop trying Drew Dyck says as
a result of that conversation in Eden we
neither tremble in fear nor thrill with
excitement at the prospect of encountering this
wild deitywe give mere mental assent to
truths that should leave us shaking.
It has always been hard to continue to be
amazed by the statement God is,
and by the fact that He has included us in His
story.
It has always been hard to remain amazed that
faith in what Jesus did makes it possible for us
to come boldly to the throne of our gracious
God (Heb 4:16, NLT)
Many (if not most) of us have a hard time
thinking about going someplace we cant see
to talk to someone we cant see either.
I believe there is a bigger problem: if
statements about God like Isaiahs are true,
we really have to admit
He
is
God!
Contrary to what Satan constantly tries to trick
us into believing, we each have to admit:
I am not God!
Beyond that,
we cannot control God
nor predict what He doesand our pride and
arrogance hates that!
There are probably only three or four people in
the history of the world who would actually
say they know more than Godbut I believe
far more of us think it far more often than we
realize or admit.
I believe it can be subtly or blatantly seen in
our prayers.
Over the past few weeks there have been some
graphic examples of that. Think of some of the
images we have seen: the final minutes of a
soccer game
and French soccer fan has her eyes closed and
her hands clasped under her chin
and another camera captures an Ecuadorian fan
in the same position;
both pleading for their own version of the same
thing.
Or what about a game that comes down to
penales (penalty kicks).
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The images alternate back-and-forth: an entire
team on its knees for a goalieand another
team in the same position for a shooter.
The Bible tells us God is omnipresent
(everywhere, all the time) so He sees every
game.
He is omniscient (all-knowing), so that
includes French and Spanish (and especially
Greek!)so He knows what everyone is
asking.
He is also Father of all (Eph 4:6).
What does He do when people on both sides
are praying for victory?
What about a Bible verse that states God
knows the end from the beginning? (Is
46:10)
Does that mean He knows who is going to win
next the World Cup next Sunday?
What if one nation has 100-thousand people
praying and the other has 100-million? Does
that make any difference to The God who
is!?
What if, after he World Cup is over, the plane
carrying the winning team home crashes?
What if three players survive but are in
critical condition?
What if two are what we would call
believers and have family, friends and
complete strangers pleading with God for them
and the third is an atheist and has nothing
but atheists around him? What if he gets out of
his hospital bed, trades his robe for jeans,
walks through the door and never looks back.
What if the others stay in their hospital beds
for months and actually never open their eyes
again.
Not many people base their view of God on the
outcome of a soccer gamebut many base
their view of God
on what happens in places like hospital rooms.
It can be hard to not let what we think about
God be affected by
what we think He is doing (or isnt doing) -or how fast!
From microwave meals to new pain medicine
to newer iPhones, countless things teach us to
expect things quickly and faster all the time.
As we continue to get spoiled by getting so
many things so fast (and faster all the time),
we continue to lose our ability (or at least our
desire) to endure to persevere to just hang
in there.
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But The Bible tells us a thousand years are
like a day to God (2 Pet 3:8) so we have to
admit we often dont know how He
understands quickly or soon!
Not only that, The Bible includes statements
like, The LORD our God has secrets known to
no one. (Deut 29:29, NLT) Our inner
kindergartener wants to stamp its feet and
pout, But thats not fair!
The reality is, God designed some things in
ways I dont think any of us would.
He waited until Abraham was 75 years old
before telling him he would have a son and
25 more years passed before that son was
born!
Moses training for ministry happened during
40 straight years in the desert including
time in what the King James Bible calls the
backside of the desert (Gen 3:1)!
25 years passed from the time David was
anointed King by Samuel to the time he
actually sat on the throne in Jerusalem.
And many people know God told Jeremiah to
tell the Israelites He knew the plans He had for
them (Jer 29:11). Many people dont know (or
forget) that plan included 70 years in exile!
25 years of waiting; testing. 40 years. 70.
I think were probably all okay with
waitingbut we each have personal limits on
how long that should be.
But waiting longer than you think you should
have to can really affect what you really
think about God
or what you think God really thinks about you!
On the one hand, we read statements about
God like the ones from Isaiah and we nod and
say Amen!
on the other hand, what we think about God
can be affected (sometimes deeply) by what
we think He is doing
or how quickly He seems to be doing it;
or when we think He isnt doing things we
think He really should be.
I dont know many people who dont often
have some version of the question: Why would
(or why wouldnt) a good and all-powerful
Goddot-dot-dot (and they finish the
question with a personal story; almost always a
hard story!)
No one has ever made an appointment with me
in search of answers to questions about God --
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because he just graduated with high honors
with a business degree,
and got the first job he applied for,
and just found an apartment that cost a third of
what he had budgeted for,
and just met the most amazing woman,
and his parents just hosted a special supper to
have dozens of people tell him how much they
love him,
and his car is running better than ever,
and his annual doctors check-up showed he is
in the best shape of his life.
People in the church dont ask hard
questions about God when He is behaving or
performing the way we think He should
be
and when things are going great for
people outside the church they really dont
have any reason to even think about God.
However, we often start to squirm and/or ask
questions when things seem to start going
against us and that subtly shows how easy it
can be to start to think we could do a better job
than God if we just had the chance!
And what we believe about God can easily be
affected (sometimes deeply) by what we think
He is doing
or how quickly He seems to be doing it;
or when we think He isnt doing things we
think He really should be.
Go to Exodus chapter 2 and try to keep your
finger or a marker there for the rest of our
time.
The Bible says Moses spent forty years in the
desert (including its backsidei)doing little
more than take care of sheep.
I wonder how that affected what Moses
thought about Godand it frustrates me that
all Moses wrote about that time was, During
those many days the king of Egypt died (Ex
2:23, ESV)
Moses seemed more interested in showing
when it was time for him to leave the desert
and go help the Jews.
He wrote the people of Israel groaned
because of their slavery and cried out for help.
Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to
God. And God heard (Ex 2:23-24, ESV)
The way that was written meant more than
heard one time: they kept crying and God
kept hearing.
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The word for heard wasnt just like, I
heard the phone ring? It was more like a
good friend you havent heard from in years
calls because she is a doing business in Iran
and she gave her driver a Bible and it turned
out the driver also works for the police. She
got stripped naked and beaten and thrown in
the worst jail there is in that country but one
guard took enough pity on her to give her one
long distance call. I am almost certain you
would say you heard her differently than
you heard the phone ring in the first place.
The kind of hearing you would give your old
friend is the way the word was used here in
Exodus.
I dont know where Moses put the
emphasisbut where I am lately, I put it on
the first word: God heard (Ex 2:24)
God. Do you remember what we saw about
Him? The one and only; no god before Him;
will not be any god after him; the first and the
last; the one who made the earth and all that is
on it; the one who stretched out the heavens;
there is no other.
He heard
I dont know what would happen with what we
call our prayer life
if we kept asking The Holy Spirit to continue
to magnify our understanding of
The God who is
as The God who hears us!
Part of the problem is, we all know what it is
like when were talking to someone and we
believe he or she is really hearing us: eye
contact, body language, tone of voice; you can
feel empathy and sympathy.
Sometimes it is really hard to feel that with
Godand the way we feel affects what we
believe.
If we dont feel like God is hearing us or if
we dont feel like God is here it is tempting to
believe He isnteither here or hearing.
It is like, If God really cares then He mustnt
hear because He isnt doing anything!
Or, If God really hears then He mustnt care
because He isnt doing anything!
David wrote Psalm 55 when people were
saying horrible lies about him led by a man
who used to be one of his best friends.
David used words like distraught, anguish,
fear, trembling, all written in the present
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tense so they were very real as he
wrotebut look at verse17:
Evening and morning and at noon I utter my
complaint and moan,
and he hears (Ps 55:17, ESV)
Pastor Voddie Baucham shook me deeply
when he said, It is a privilege just to be heard
by God!ii He was not saying it is a privilege
when God does what we want or ask.
Pastor Baucham said, God is holding up the
universe by the power of His mightHe flung
the stars into place and sustains themand yet
He hears us!
Is it enough just to be heard by The Only
Living Eternal God? If not, why not?
David moaned and complained and that can
be okay if something is bugging, hurting or
almost crushing us. We can (and should)
unload on God but it crosses a dangerous if
we start subtly cursing Him or begin doubting
whether He is real because something isnt
happening we think should be or something
is happening we think shouldnt be.
We even get that messed up on a human level.
I often hear people say, We dont (or didnt)
have a voice in that. We arent being
heard.
In my experience, most of the time they were
being heard things just didnt go their
way!
The Israelites were groaning for relief but it
wasnt coming
and a belief began to grow that God wasnt
listening
or He was listening was but didnt care.
The way God heard (Ex 2:24) was written
says He,
The Only Living Eternal God,
was listening and cared!
I dont know what you are crying out these
days
or what you cried out in the past
or what youll cry out sooner than you would
probably like,
but that small phrase shows
The Only Living Eternal God
hears
and cares!
I want that to amaze me more all the time
especially as I continue to learn to admit the
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world is not what Pastor Baucham called a
black and white cowboy movie where the
good guys are in white and the bad guys
are in black and there are neutral, innocent
people on Main Street or in the saloon.
Even in the Old Testament the tendency is to
see Moses and the Israelites as the good guys
and Pharaoh and the Egyptians as the bad
guys.
God made it pretty clear He didnt choose the
Jews because they were the good guys. His
point in choosing them was to show His love
and grace! I am actually kind of amused when
anyone seems arrogant about being chosen by
God. I have come to believe if He chooses
someone it is actually a subtle way of saying,
Dude, you need a lot of work!
One of the most prominent Jews in history
wrote:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinnersand I am the worst of them all.
But God had mercy on me
so that
Christ Jesus could use me
as a prime example of his great patience with
even the worst sinners. (1 Tim 1:15-16, NLT)
I want the fact that God hears me to continue
to amaze me more all the timebecause He
doesnt hear me because I am good; He hears
me because He is God!
That makes what Moses wrote in Exodus 2
even more amazing. Not only did he tell us
God heard the Israelites (bad guys at that
point in the story!), but God remembered his
covenant (Ex 2:24).
The word remembered did not mean God
slapped His forehead and said, Oh, rightthe
covenant; I forgot about that!
It meant more like: To think deeply
aboutand in such a way that all your
emotions get involved. It is kind of like the
difference between me saying, I remember
my wedding day: October 19, 1991, and me
thinking, Ohhhhh, I remember my wedding
day and my wedding night!
God remembered His covenant. Back in the
time of Genesis, He told Abraham it was an
everlasting covenant and then God told
Him what it was: I will always be your God
and the God of your descendants after you.
(Gen 17:7, NLT)
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In Exodus 2, the wording Moses used showed
how intimate that relationship can be when
he said God knew the Israelites. It was the
same word Moses used to describe the first
time Adam and Eve came together,
physically as in, Adam knew Eve his wife,
and she conceived (Gen 4:1, ESV)
I want to get much better at remembering how
God responds when I turn to and even cry
out to Him!
The Only Living Eternal God hears me; He
knows me far more intimately than I can
imagine!
That should humble me deeply
and make me very grateful
because it has nothing to do with me, in and of
myself.
Exodus 2 does not say, God remembered how
good the Jews were. God told Moses to tell
the Jews (and the echo of it must be heard
here, too):
The LORD did not set his heart on you and
choose you because you were more numerous
than other nations, for you were the smallest of
all nations!
Rather, it was simply that the LORD loves you,
and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to
your ancestors. (Deut 7:7-8, NLT)
The story is first and most about God and He
included us in His storyand He didnt
include us to show how good we are; He did it
as a way of showing how awesome His love is!
Ive watched enough people walk through hard
times
and I have walked through enough of my own
to know how easy it can be to think, It sure
doesnt feel like He loves me.
As I mentioned earlier, the way we feel almost
always feeds what we believe!
If we dont feel like God is loving us it is
tempting to believe He isnt.
It is like, If God really loves, why isnt He
doing anything? Look at what is happening!
It sure doesnt seem like love!
The Holy Spirit has been correcting me a lot
through Isaiah lately. I personalized one line
that has hit me particularly hard:
How foolish can I be?
(God), You are the Potter, and You are
certainly greater than me, the clay! (Is 29:16,
NLT)
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Have you ever watched a potter working on a
clump of clay?
If that clay could talk, what would it say as the
potter starts to dig his fingers in; as she starts
to squeeze and mold and even tear pieces of
clay off and toss them to the side?
The portion we just looked at says the Lord
loves you.
God shows his love for me by taking care of
my sins.
God, The Potter, unleashes The Holy Spirit to
tear chunks off, mold, shape, pinch, squeeze
me to deal with my sinbecause He loves
me too much to leave me the way He found
me!
God is doing that with billions of pieces of
clay all around the world. He has done the
same thing with billions more since he started
the masterpiece of Creationand there is no
way of knowing how many more He will work
on, on the way to the New Creation!
I intentionally mentioned billions of
peoplebecause I believe together they are
crucial to properly understand a piece of
Scripture that is often used to explain God -and what He does (or allows).
If youve been around churches much, youve
likely heard all things work together for
good (Rom 8:28, ESV)
We often make that word all smaller or more
self-centered than it was intended to be as in
all things that happen to me. All things
literally meant: all thingsnot just things that
affect me!
Beyond that, the verb was written in the
singular form as in God works. Paul
wasnt saying all things work together but
God is working all things, together,
simultaneously!
Sometimes, things I would agree are good do
come together for me but I dont believe that
is what the verse is saying in its fullness. The
word for good in there meant much more
than what would typically be considered
good here and now! The way Paul used it
gave it a sense of complete as in, how it
will be when human history ends and all
things are seen and known by those who will
be with God in the next stage of eternity. That
is what God is working all things together for!
I want to go a little farther with an illustration
Ive used before. Imagine a plain cardboard
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box; no writing or picture on it. I take the lid
off it and see it is one of those brutal 3,000piece jigsaw puzzles. I pull out one piece. Do
I have any chance of knowing what the picture
is? What if I give 2,999 other people each a
piece. By simply holding the pieces, can any
of us know what the picture is?
Only the person who designed the puzzle in the
first place could know!
There are over seven billion people on the
planet. If we consider the phrase all things,
how many puzzle pieces would there be for
God to be working together right now? That
is getting into the ant-on-the-iPad kind of
stuff I cannot comprehend!
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thinking, Oh, my I sure hope that x-ray
doesnt come back showing any dark spots on
it where they shouldnt be!
What I see all through The Bible is the promise
of Gods presencewho says something like,
Between Eden and Heaven, I hate things like
cancer! I know what the x-ray shows but Im
going to let your doctor tell you. Either way, I
want to remind you, Im here and Im with
you, all the way into eternity.iii
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ii
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=525141455
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iii
Matthew 28:20