[0:00] Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 93. Psalm 93. Psalm 93. Psalm 93. The Lord reigns.
[0:14] He is robed in majesty. The Lord is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established.
[0:25] It cannot be moved. Your throne was established long ago. You are from all eternity. The seas have lifted up, O Lord.
[0:38] The seas have lifted up their voice. The seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters.
[0:50] Mightier than the breakers of the sea. The Lord on high is mighty. Amen. Your statutes stand firm.
[1:01] Holiness adorns your house for endless days, O Lord. And then turn with me to the back of your Bibles to 1 John.
[1:13] The last five books of the Bible. 1, 2, and 3 John. Jude and Revelation. We're looking at 1 John chapter 3. And verses 19 and 20.
[1:28] 1 John chapter 3 verses 19 and 20.
[1:38] 1 John chapter 3 through 19 and 19. 1 John chapter 4 through 19 and 19. 1 John chapter 4 through 19 and 19. 1 John chapter 4 through 19 and 19. 1 John chapter 5 through 19 and 19. 1 John chapter 5 through 19 and 19. and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us.
[1:56] For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. One of the worst things that we can do as Christians is to think that everyone else is like me.
[2:13] Just like me, with the same inner world that I have, the same sorts of thoughts that I have, the same past experiences. Their past experiences are like my past experiences.
[2:27] Their ideas are the same as mine. It's one of the most hurtful things that we can do as Christians, because invariably, when we do that, we misunderstand each other.
[2:40] And misunderstanding is one of the most painful things to go through, isn't it? To be misunderstood, to have people think they understand, but then they really don't.
[2:54] And so when we think everyone is just like me, we always end up condemning and ridiculing, even in our own heads, or judging. And it's just simply because we don't understand them.
[3:07] It's one of the very first, I think, lessons that husbands and wives have to learn when they get married, is that that person is really another person.
[3:22] He, she doesn't think like I am. She is not processing it like I am. And so, I don't know how ladies talk, but when the guys get together and we talk, we say, man, you gotta, you don't have to get it, but you really need to get it.
[3:38] You need to get that she's different than you are. You don't have to understand all the whys and connect all the dots, but you need to really understand that that's how she feels.
[3:49] That's how she's thinking. And I'm very sure the same thing can be said about husbands. What we need to learn in marriage is something that we need to learn in the church.
[4:03] That we are different. We're different. So, Paul, writing to the pastors in Thessalonica, in 1 Thessalonians 5, says this, We urge you, brothers, he's talking to the pastors, We urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
[4:27] That's a very helpful verse because that tells me that some things can look the same on the outside, but on the inside, they're very different.
[4:38] So, this person is having a hard time obeying. They're slow in their obedience. And Paul says, no, it could be that they're slow to obey because they're lazy.
[4:52] They're idle. They're not working hard enough. But it very well could be because they're timid. It's not laziness that's driving it. It's fear.
[5:04] Or it could be that that person is weak. And so, when I'm doing bicep curls, and I'm doing 45 pounds, right?
[5:17] And then I give it to a young lady, and she can only do 10 pounds. And the 45 is just way too hard for her.
[5:28] Well, I need to take that into consideration. Sometimes obedience, some little bit of obedience is easier for others. And it's harder for others because some are weaker, some are stronger.
[5:41] Every Christian is not like you. We can't paint with a big, broad brush. Now, the reason I'm talking about all this is because this morning, I'm going to talk about something that very well might not have very much to do with you.
[5:58] It might not be where you're at. It might not be something that you struggle with. This isn't you. This isn't on your radar. This isn't in your software to have this problem.
[6:10] But I will tell you that some of your brothers and sisters do have this problem. It doesn't cause you any issue whatsoever.
[6:21] And so, what I'm going to be talking about in some ways, it might sound almost like I don't get that. It's a foreign language to me. But I'll tell you, it's an arrow in your sister's heart.
[6:33] She'll know what I'm talking about. And I'm talking about self-hate. Self-hate. Now, what do I mean by that?
[6:45] That's just my word for what I'm going to be talking about. So, just let's listen to the voice of self-hate.
[6:57] And some of you aren't going to have any problem at all recognizing this voice. And for others, it's going to be a foreign language. So, let's listen to self-hate, the voice.
[7:10] I'm a failure. I don't mess up sometimes. By definition, by identity, I'm a failure.
[7:21] For me to succeed at anything, for anything to go well is extraordinary. It's a fluke. It's an accident. But my stock and trade, the normal way of me living, is a failure.
[7:33] Nobody really loves me because nobody really could love me. I'm way too messed up for that. I always make things worse. God, people put me into a situation.
[7:47] And invariably, the situation is worse for me being there. I don't make things better. When I come into a situation, I mess it up. I deserve to be treated poorly.
[8:01] I'm a piece of garbage. I'm too weak. Too pathetic. Too sensitive. Too sinful. Too damaged. Too stupid. Too hurt.
[8:12] Been through too much. Useless. Tooalnız. Tooalnız. Tooalnız. And you say, I don't know that voice. I don't know that bird song. And if that's you, I think you should thank God that that's not you.
[8:27] Because some of your brothers and sisters live with that voice. And they know what I'm talking about. For some, it only happens in moments of stress, in times of stress, in periods of stress.
[8:39] That's when this voice gets louder and louder. But for others, when it's not the real conscious voice that they're actually hearing in their head, that they're speaking to themselves, it's the stance of their heart.
[8:53] It's the fabric of their lives. It's sort of the inbuilt assumptions, and it's the program on your computer that's always running in the background. You know what I'm talking about, that program that's always going, always slowing things down.
[9:09] It's a heart that's always ready to oppose us, to speak against us. And we become our own enemies, ready to see ourselves in what we did in the worst possible way, ready to run ourselves down, afraid to see anything good in ourselves.
[9:31] And so the past is covered with failure, and the present is defined by failure, and the future, it's bleak.
[9:42] And why is it so bleak? Because I'm going to be there. And I'm going to be there. And if I'm there, weak as ever, gross as ever, dull, pathetic, damaged as ever.
[9:56] That's the voice of self-hate. And like I've been saying, some people hear that voice very clearly. And some of you probably very rarely hear this.
[10:07] This is why 1 Thessalonians is so important to us, because we're different. Some are weak. Some are strong. Some hear this. Some don't. And so if this isn't where you're at, don't be so quick to discount it, because we're different.
[10:24] So the voice of self-hate. Now why do some people hear it and some don't? Well, there's probably lots of reasons for that.
[10:37] It very well could be temperament. We have different temperaments. Some of us are more optimistic, naturally, and some of us are more pessimistic. Some of us are more excitable. Some of us are pretty steady. We have different temperaments.
[10:48] We process life differently from each other. And so this different temperament, we're susceptible in some ways, maybe to this voice, just because God made us with a certain temperament. That has something to do with it, I'm sure.
[11:04] But there's other reasons. There's other things I've seen, I've heard. Let me just give you some of these reasons.
[11:15] Were you adopted? You probably know this voice. Because something in your little heart as a child started to say, people don't want me.
[11:29] And the more you thought of it, the more that one little thought took hold in your mind, your heart. It's like that movie Inception, where the idea is the virus.
[11:43] All it takes is just to get that one little idea in there, and it spreads. So maybe that one little idea of, I wasn't wanted, spread.
[11:56] Were you abused? Well, you probably know this voice, because abuse in many ways says, I don't like you. And to have your parents, or your family, or people that you could trust, or you should have been able to trust, to have them abuse you early, it easily turns to do, I must have deserved that in some way.
[12:21] How do you process that? People shouldn't like me. I'm unlikable. Why don't they like me? It must be because I'm messed up. I'm wrong. And something about me is all wrong.
[12:34] And so on it goes. Or maybe you were neglected, or ignored, or you had distant relationships with your parents, and people like that. Abuse says, I don't like you.
[12:45] Neglect says, you don't even exist. You don't deserve to exist. Maybe it's none of those things. Maybe it's one big moral failure.
[12:57] Years ago, a Christian man was tired, and he was ran down, and he was constantly busy. And so he's run down.
[13:08] He's tired. His resources are low. And he went on an out-of-town conference business trip. And while he was out, he committed adultery. It was one time.
[13:20] And he repented, and he was broken, and he hasn't come close to it since. And not to diminish that sin at all. Not to diminish it at all.
[13:32] But sadly, that has now become his identity. He's not someone who did that. That's what he is. I'm the adulterer. When he thinks about himself, when he thinks about what he can do, what he thinks he can add to the church, or what he thinks people think of him, this is how he defines himself.
[13:50] I'm the adulterer, the moral failure. That's me. Maybe it's not even one big failure. Maybe it's a series of failure. Maybe it's not even moral failure.
[14:02] You've never made a lot of money. You've had careers that you wanted, and they've fallen apart. And you've never been able to make what you wanted of your life. Maybe it's not even a real failure.
[14:16] Maybe it's what I would call a pretend failure. The culture says you have to be skinny. And you have to be healthy. And you have to have glowing skin. And you have to be constantly optimistic.
[14:30] But try as you might, you can't get there. And you've tried. And you've failed. And you've tried. And you've failed. And you've tried this. And you've failed. And now you, through all these series of failures, have become the gross.
[14:44] That one. Not good enough. Not measuring up. And that's why I'm saying that if this isn't you, you can be glad. You've been blessed.
[14:58] Your temperament is different. Your genes are different. Your background is different. Maybe God's gift, grace, is they're different. But it's different. Paul says, help the weak.
[15:10] Be compassionate. And that begins with recognizing that, but by the grace of God, there go I. What made me to differ. What made me to differ.
[15:23] I didn't choose that home. I didn't choose this brain. I didn't choose this body. I didn't choose this body. So, you're strong.
[15:34] You're free. You're whole. Well, thank God. Help your sister. Help your brother. So, we've heard the voice of self-hate.
[15:46] We've seen maybe where some places that it comes from or what feeds into it. And I hope you've seen something of how it works. It's dynamic. Where it gets its power.
[15:56] Or how it works. First, it defines us as a failure. As whatever these things are. Gross. I'm nothing but a disappointment. And then it argues for that identity.
[16:08] It brings in reasons. Why? That must be true. Look what people did to you. Look what you did to them. Look where you're at. Look where you should be.
[16:19] Look at this. Look at what has happened. And really what makes it so tricky and so difficult is because there's a lot of truth in some of it.
[16:31] There's truth. There's half-truths. There's lies all mixed up with the truths. And real humility, where we should be humbled, it turns into a false humility.
[16:44] A kind of unbelief. It's pride at work. Because instead of listening to the gospel, instead of listening to how God defines me and explains me and tells about me, instead I don't hear that voice.
[16:58] Instead, I put my voice higher than his voice. My voice more authoritative. My experience more real, more powerful than what the gospel says. And so in a lot of ways, there's unbelief.
[17:12] There's disobedience. There's truth and lies mixed together. But it is a one-sided, self-focused, self-generated, godless, without God, that's what I mean.
[17:25] But very understandable. Very understandable way to look at yourself. It's this whole storyline.
[17:36] And, you know, stories, as they get bigger, they bring in more things. And this is a whole storyline that becomes a whirlpool that draws in more and more things, more and more data, more and more information.
[17:48] And it begins to have this explanatory power for everything. Why did that person treat me like that? Well, it must be because of this. How are they treating me? Well, they must be treating me like this.
[17:59] And it begins to explain everything. It explains me. It explains other people. It explains my church. It explains my relationship with God. And the further and further you go, it becomes this whirlpool that picks up steam and picks up power.
[18:10] Until it takes everything into its orbit. Well, is there any way out? Is there any way out of that self-hate, that condemning, when our heart condemns us?
[18:27] Paul says, help the weak. And so what can I do? What can I do as a pastor? What can I do? What can you do as a friend? Well, really, there's nothing that we can say.
[18:38] Because if this is you, you don't need to hear our voice. And you need to quit listening to your voice. And you need to start listening to God's voice. Because there is a different voice.
[18:52] There's a louder voice. There's a more authoritative voice than the voice of self-hate. It's the voice of God. And so, brother or sister, if this is you, if that describes you, I want you to hear the voice of God.
[19:11] You need to hear him speaking. Idols have mouths but cannot speak. The Lord took pride in the Old Testament that he was the God that could speak.
[19:25] All the other statues, all the other so-called gods, they could say anything. They couldn't say anything. But God could speak. And our God speaks. And he spoke first.
[19:37] He spoke first. His voice was the first voice ever heard. God said, let there be light. And there was light.
[19:47] God's voice is the voice of authority. He speaks to nothing. And nothing hears and becomes something. So he speaks with authority. His voice creates. His voice commands.
[19:59] We've seen that the last couple of weeks. That who has the right to command? Who is the only lawgiver? God.
[20:10] Who is the only judge? God. He gets the first word. He gets the last word. His voice is first. His voice is last.
[20:20] And he tells things what they are. He tells people what they are. He tells you what you are. He's the one that defines you by his word.
[20:34] He tells people why they exist. He tells people what he's like. The biggest thing. The biggest problem man has is we want to tell God what he should be like.
[20:46] We want to make up God for ourselves. But God says, I'm the one that gets to speak and say what I'm like. So Moses went up to the mountain. And the Lord declared.
[20:57] He spoke to him his name. He said, Moses, this is who I am. This is what I'm like. It doesn't matter what anyone is imagining out there.
[21:08] This is what I'm like. The Lord. The Lord. The compassionate and gracious God. Slow to anger. Abounding in love. And on it went.
[21:21] The voice of God tells us who he is. And the voice of God tells us who we are. The voice of God is the final interpreter of what is good and what is right.
[21:33] What is true and what is false. What he requires and what he thinks. And so. This is what we want to do this morning is pit the voice of self-hate that says all those things against the voice of God.
[21:50] So, dear brother or dear sister, you need to hear him and you need to quit listening to yourself for a moment and listen to what he says about you. What he says about you, brother or sister. And I want to round up some people who are already strained because what happens is some people when they start to hear good things about what God thinks about them, they start ruling themselves out.
[22:13] They say that's for other people. It's not for me. For some reason, I'm the exception. And if that's what you're thinking, you can search the Bible.
[22:26] And there are no Christian out there. That's just the exception. That the promises don't come to that they don't count for them. So what does he say? He says, I made you.
[22:41] I made you. Well, he made you in his mother's womb, in your mother's womb.
[22:53] He knit you together. Every feature. Every trait. Your temperament. Your biology. Your height.
[23:03] Your metabolism. Your genes. Self-hate says you're an accident. A monstrosity. A failure. Your biology is gross.
[23:14] It's weak. It's pathetic. Your brain is that, too. And God says, no, I made you. And I don't make junk. I don't make junk.
[23:26] And I made you. And that means you're not junk. It means that voice of condemnation, of saying, that's, I'm all these bad things. It's not true.
[23:37] It can't be true. Because God says, I made you. And then he says, I want you. I want you. Self-hate says no one can really want you.
[23:50] Everyone just puts up with you. You've been foisted on everybody. You've been forced on them. They really wish. God himself wishes you weren't here.
[24:00] But here you are anyways. And so everyone just has to deal with you. But what does God say? Deuteronomy 7.7. The Lord did not set his affection. Not set his affection on you and choose you.
[24:14] We need to stop there. Pause. The Lord did not set his affection on you. What is God saying?
[24:28] He's saying, I have affection for you. God not only loves you. He likes you. He delights in you. He has positive, good feelings about you.
[24:42] He is determined to do you good. He has affection for you. But it's not me saying this. This is what God is saying. And then he says, the Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you.
[24:56] Well, wait. He chose you. Why did he choose you? Not because you were something, Israel. Not because you were great or numerous or just so wonderful. He chose you.
[25:07] He elected you. And so let's think about that. Self-hate says no one really could want you. You've been foisted on God. You've been forced on God. He probably has you, but he probably wishes he didn't have you.
[25:20] You somehow slipped in on him. So let's have a conversation. Let's have an argument. Self-hate. Is that what you're really saying? Is that what you're really saying?
[25:32] Really? That's what you're saying. Does that make any sense? Does anyone foist anything on God? Does anyone force something on God? So God has no choice in the matter. Forced on God?
[25:46] That's stupid. Could anyone ever force themselves on God? And God says, no, I wanted you. I want you. I want you.
[25:58] I chose you in Christ. I loved you before the world began. Go to Psalm 139. I'm not saying turn there, but go in your mind.
[26:09] How long has the Lord been thinking about you? All my days were written in your book before one of them came to be. And then when it came time for you to be born, he gave you this thought about you as he created you.
[26:24] You were unwanted, but now you're wanted. He says to Israel, you weren't numerous. You weren't so lovable. That's not it. I love you because I am the God of love.
[26:36] I am love. That's what I do. And self-hate says no one wants you. And Christ says that's not true. Not true.
[26:48] You belong to me. I died to make you mine. First Corinthians six says he died to make our bodies, our physical bodies, part of his body.
[27:02] And so were you forced on Christ? Jesus said, I loved you and I gave myself up for you. He took the initiative. And self-hate says you're on the outside.
[27:16] You aren't on the inner circle. The people, the Bible doesn't really apply to you. All the good things are for the others, not for not for me.
[27:27] And Jesus says you are my body. There's no outside and inside. We don't have parts of our body anywhere else. Our body is what our body is.
[27:39] Jesus says you're my body. There's no inner circle. You're in. I wanted you in my church. I wanted you in my body. I saved you and I put you in my church. No one forced you on me.
[27:51] No one forced you on me. I don't. It's not like I just have to put up with you. I went and found you. I called and saved you. I wanted you in the church and pastors and church members.
[28:06] Yeah, we recognized it. But we don't make Christians. Pastors don't make Christians. We don't make church members. Jesus does.
[28:18] Jesus is building his church. Jesus says it's not about them. It's about me. And I'm saying you're in. And if you're in, you're in because he wanted you in.
[28:29] And no one can say anything different. The voice of self-hate says no one wants to be near you. If they knew you, they wouldn't like you.
[28:45] You really should go around saying unclean, unclean. And maybe that's exactly what you're doing in your own way. You don't go around saying unclean, unclean.
[28:56] But you're always apologizing. Always bringing up your faults. Always running yourself down. When someone compliments you, it's almost impossible for you to say thank you.
[29:08] When someone compliments you, you say no, no, no. It's all your way of saying. It can look like humility. But it's just your way of saying unclean. Unclean.
[29:18] But God won't have that. God won't have you far away.
[29:31] Psalm 145.18. The Lord is near to all who call on him. Psalm 139. Where can I go from your spirit? Can I go up to heaven to get away from you? No, you're there.
[29:42] Can I go down to the depths? No, you're there. Can I go to the east? No, you're there. To the west? No, you're there. Can I go in the dark? No, the darkness is as light to you. Wherever I go, you hem me in behind and before.
[29:54] You've laid your hand upon me. God is the God who touches us. Who is near us. Who comes in and encloses with us. Self-hate says God doesn't want you.
[30:04] God says I'm near. I'm here. I'm right beside you. I'm right with you. I touch you. I heal you. What did Jesus do in his gospel ministry?
[30:15] In the ministry that we see in the gospels? He went around touching the untouchable. He didn't give two hoots about what everyone was saying about unclean.
[30:28] He washed his disciples' feet. He sat children on his lap. He touched lepers. He let sinful, a sinful, adulterous woman wash his feet.
[30:42] That's what Jesus was. That's what he does. He comes near to sinners. He's not afraid to have dealings with them. Even if the whole world is saying they're unclean.
[30:53] And what does the Holy Spirit do? He moves right in. He moves right in. God says it's like you can't get close enough.
[31:07] I abide in you. Now you abide in me. I'm staying with you. Now you stay right here with me. You stay right here where I am. Let's be near each other.
[31:20] That's what God says to you. I'm the God who wants to be with you. I'm the God who wants to be near you. That's how I feel about my wife.
[31:33] I like to go shopping with her. And when I'm running errands, I always ask her if she wants to come along. And sometimes she's nice enough to do that. And we can go for a walk and there's nothing to talk about. But you know what?
[31:44] I'm with her. She's with me. And God says that's what I want to do. You abide in me. You stay and live in me. And I'll stay and live in you.
[31:55] Well, what else does God say? He says, you're in my family. You're in the family. Self-hate says you don't belong.
[32:06] You're an outsider. But God says you're part of my family. John 1 says he gave us the right to become children. He gave us the authority to become children of God.
[32:21] And so where does this authority, where does this right, where does this standing to become a child of God come from? It's not from other people. It's from Jesus Christ himself.
[32:32] He says, I make you a child. That's your right. And no one can say anything different. And you can't say anything different about it either. Ephesians 2, you're no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household.
[32:48] You're in God's kingdom. You're in God's family. Adopted. Brought in. We've already talked about it, but here it is again. There isn't some inner group where the promises of God, that really applies to them.
[33:06] And then there's just some others. Some others. Forced on God. Forced on God. Secondhand citizens. Secondhand daughters. Secondhand sons. There's no such thing. God says, you're mine.
[33:20] I'm your father. And Jesus says, I'm building my church, and I decide what stones to put into it. And I choose you, and I put you in, and you belong, and I love you, and I forgive all of your sins.
[33:33] I've washed you. You're in. You belong. And the last thing God says is this. I'm greater than your heart.
[33:46] I'm greater than your heart. And that's what we read at the very beginning in 1 John 3. And I want you to look there again. 1 John 3, verse 20.
[34:09] 1 John 3, verse 20. Whenever our hearts condemn us. This is how we set our hearts at rest in his presence.
[34:19] Whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts. And he knows everything. You see, in this whole matter, there's this wrestling match.
[34:32] This fight for dominance. Who gets the final word? Self-hate with its half-truths and relentless condemning, relentless disparaging voice.
[34:46] Or is it God's voice? Who gets the final say? My heart that condemns me? Or God?
[34:58] And God pulls out his trump card. His final word. His final say. And he says, I am greater than your heart. I am greater than your heart.
[35:10] My heart is saying, I'm gross. I'm bad. I can't do anything right. I'm unloved. I'm useless. I'm worthless. God doesn't really love me or want me. I'm outside.
[35:20] And everyone else is inside. And I wish I could belong. But I don't. And no wonder I don't belong. Look at me. Self-hate is talking all of this stuff. Our heart is condemning us. And God says, I am greater than your heart.
[35:35] I get to decide how I feel about you. I get to decide what I do. Not your heart. I decide whether you belong or not. I decide whether you're forgiven or not. I decide whether you're in or not.
[35:46] Whether you belong to the family or not. I decide if I get to want to be near you or not. I decide how I feel about you. Not you. I get to decide what I do with you.
[36:02] Your parents don't. The media doesn't. Our culture doesn't. Your emotions don't. Your family doesn't. I get to decide.
[36:14] My voice is final. Because I'm the greatest. And my voice asserts itself over every other voice. And my voice will be heard.
[36:26] And so I do love you. I do want to be near you. I am near you. You are my daughter. You are my son. I do forgive all of your sins.
[36:37] My son died for you. My son lives for you. My spirit lives in you. And I'm your father. And I'm with you.
[36:49] And I'm for you. And your sin. He says I've trampled it underneath my feet. I blotted it out. As far as the east is from the west.
[37:00] Isaiah 44.22. I've swept away your offenses. I've swept away your offenses like a cloud. Your sins like the morning mist.
[37:14] Swept them away. And now look outside. Is there any mist around? Gone. And you can't say. But you don't know everything. You don't know everything.
[37:27] If you knew. But God says I am greater than your heart. And what does 1 John 3.20 say? And he knows everything.
[37:40] That thing that you feel like is your trump card. That thing that you feel like gives you the right. To say all of these terrible things.
[37:51] To define yourself. To close yourself off from the gospel. To close yourself off from God. That thing God knows about. He knows about it.
[38:04] And he's already decided. That he loves you. And that you belong. So here we are at the end. Will you believe?
[38:19] Will you believe what God says? Will you go on in your pride? Will you go on in your pride? Because that's really the only alternative. The opposite of unbelief is pride.
[38:30] The opposite of actually believing what God says. Is asserting yourself and saying. No God you're not right. What I think is actually what's true. Will you go on in your pride?
[38:41] Or will you believe? Will you trust? In his kind heart. His kind heart. And you say. Well how can it be? How can it just be that good?
[38:53] How can it just be that? Well. God isn't domesticated. God isn't tame. So we need to quit trying to domesticate God.
[39:06] You need to quit trying to domesticate God. He's not going to follow your rules. He's not going to live inside the box. In the confines of your thoughts. And what you say is reasonable.
[39:16] And what you say is true. He's not tame. But he's good. He's good. We can't corral him in.
[39:27] We can't lasso him in. We can't put him in an order. And we can't say. No God. This is what you're going to do. And this is what you need to think. Because that's what I think you need to think. We can't do that. He's not tame.
[39:38] But he's good. And we can just look at the cross. And it is the most wild. Unexpected. Scandalous thing ever. God eternal.
[39:51] Humble to the grave. We sang it. The creator dies. Well should the earth shake when God its creator dies.
[40:02] The innocent is crucified. And Isaiah 53 said. God crushes his son. His son. It's wild.
[40:14] It's scandalous. It's not something that anyone could plan or think. It doesn't fit within the confines of what we think a relationship with God should look like. That he should come in his son and die in our place.
[40:27] It's it's it's unexpected. But it's good. It's good. And so you can't look at the cross and think. Well God has to fit inside my little box because he doesn't fit.
[40:41] He's not going to fit. He's not going to stoop down to agree with everything you think. You can't look at the cross and think God has to agree that with your opinions.
[40:57] Can't look at the cross and think God has to agree with everything you can. Or should do or be. What I'm saying is God's voice has the final word.
[41:12] God gets the final say. And he has spoken finally in the cross. And at the cross he says to stained, guilty, ashamed sinners.
[41:25] I love you. And now you're forgiven. I love you and you're welcomed. He says to broken and damaged and enslaved people.
[41:37] I love you and I set you free. And so. Lay down your unbelief. Lay down your unbelief. And if you feel the wind of freedom.
[41:49] And feel the wind of joy in your face. It's really this good for me. Yes it is. God has loved you. Paul said Jesus loved me.
[42:01] He loved me. And he gave himself up for me. And he lived in the joy of that. And I want you to do the very same thing. Let's pray. Our God how great you are.
[42:20] We read in Psalm 93 that the waves, the ocean, the mighty deeps. The peoples and the chaos of this world. They all raise up their voice.
[42:31] But your voice is greater. We read in 1 John that even our hearts rise up against us to condemn us. But who will bring any charge against God's elect?
[42:46] Jesus Christ died. More than that he lives. Amen. So please help us to learn to put our hearts at rest.
[42:59] With this great truth of your. Of the gospel. Of your love. Of your sovereign. Free. Free. Unfettered. Grace and love.
[43:12] Thank you that we've heard these two things. That you are loving and that you are strong. So you can love us and set us free. And I pray for my brothers and sisters who maybe have lived long lives with this voice whispering in their ear.
[43:28] That you would set them free and give them the joy of assurance. And the joy of salvation in Jesus Christ. That they might go on from strength to strength.
[43:39] That they might no longer be weak but become strong. They could run with perseverance and joy. The race set before them.
[43:51] And for those who are lost. Lord you are. Your love. Your character. What you've done in the cross. That is the gospel. And I pray that you would open their eyes to see that you are that good.
[44:06] That you don't despise broken and hurting people. But you save them. And you love them when they call out to you. And I pray that they would do that this morning. That today would be a day of grace for them.
[44:19] And a day of grace for all of us. That we would go from strength to strength. From joy to joy. As we bathe in this truth. Of what you have said about us in the word of God.
[44:30] Help us to believe it. Help us to live upon it. And help us who are strong to help the weak. To bear with them. To encourage them. To build them up. Just like Jesus did.
[44:41] And he does. We pray this in his name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.