Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Good morning, 945.
[00:00:07] Good morning. If I have not met you, my name is Michael Fueling and I'm the lead pastor here at the village church. We are in the book of Leviticus. If you have your bibles, would you open to Leviticus, chapter 26?
[00:00:21] How many chapters are there in the book of Leviticus?
[00:00:24] 27. I know. You mean you haven't memorized this book by now? Guys, come on, step it up.
[00:00:30] We are two sermons away from being done. So, Leviticus 26 this morning. All right. So throughout history, God has given us at least three tools to show us how all of life works. Tool number one is the Bible, the word of God, where God just generously answers our questions and shows us truth and reality. Tool number two, not everybody has had this privilege, but what is supposed to happen is we are supposed to have a godly mom and dad and aunts and uncles and family members. So that when there are things in the Bible that might be a little bit confusing or there are principles and we don't know how to apply them, we can go to the wisdom of the godly men and women in our life who are part of our family.
[00:01:16] And then there are moments, though, where, like your mom or your dad, your Grammy, your grandpa, that person who loves the Lord in your life, they might not have all the answers. And so they say, you know what? Like, we need to go get a resource. And we have 2000 years of christian history where almost every single issue you can imagine there is good, awesome biblical wisdom on that thing. And so the Lord has given us these three things, these three wonderful gifts, so that we do not have to wonder, how does life work? How do relationships work? How do our bodies work? How does the land work? How does marriage work, how does friendships work, how does work? How does sexuality work? The Bible is just so replete with this. And then there's so much wisdom in our families, and there's so much wisdom throughout generations and millennia of Christianity, the demonic realm. I want you to hear me, wants you disconnected from all of these. It does not want you to have access to them. It wants you to figure out life by trial and error. Because when you have to figure things out by trial and error, you make mistakes. And in the process of making mistakes, some of them last for a really long time, the damn through them. And God is so gracious, you don't have to live life by trial and error. You can live life with wisdom. So if you are young in this room and you have access to the word of God, a godly family member or ten.
[00:02:43] And a rich christian tradition and a spiritual family in your life. Do not be a fool. Listen, get wisdom, because these people know how to do things, and the word of God helps us. All right, so let me illustrate why we don't want to be fools. Adam and Eve, God communicates pretty clearly, do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And Adam and Eve, they knew better, didn't they? I mean, God, you don't know. You, like, designed everything. But, like, maybe me, in my finite wisdom, I know just a little bit. You know better than you or King Saul. God tells King Saul, you have to destroy every amalekite. You cannot leave a single one alive, and you can't take their animals and their stuff. You have to leave it all. Well, King Saul is like, I mean, look, what does God know anyway? Because, you know, King Saul knew better, didn't he? And he was disciplined for this in a pretty severe way. David, King David, God was very clear. You're not to take a census, meaning you cannot count all the military men in your army. And David's like, well, all the other kings are doing it. And God's like, no, you actually cannot do that. And so David says, well, I'm gonna go against what I know God wants, and I'm gonna go against the advice of my best general, who told me, don't do it, and I'm gonna do it anyways.
[00:04:04] And so you could say, somebody might ask, okay, who cares if Adam and Eve eats from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Well, God does, because God didn't design humans with the capacity to carry the knowledge of good and evil and not be destroyed by it. And so there was discipline for their disobedience. Not only did they experience the destruction of the sin, but God cast them out of his presence forever.
[00:04:36] Okay, well, King Saul, I mean, who cares if King Saul doesn't kill all the amalekites? I mean, they have some really, really, really valuable things. Who cares if I just, like, I'll take a few of them for myself? Why waste the money?
[00:04:54] Well, God cares because him and his infinite wisdom knows that if you don't take them all out, they will come after you for generation after generation after generation. The damage to the people of God will be unspeakable for centuries. Oh, and by the way, King Saul, you don't have the ability to take in valuable gods from other cultures and not be corrupted by them. You don't have the heart for it. And God knew that, but Saul knew better. Or David, who cares? It's David's army. Who cares if David wants to count how many fighting men he has so that if he goes into battle, he can be prepared and know kind of what the best strategy is. God's very clear, David, I don't want you to take a census. Why? Because God knows the moment David takes a dumb census, David is going to stop trusting in the Lord. He's going to start doing things his way, and then he is going to lose. And there are going to be hundreds of thousands of people who are going to die. And so God, so that David never forgets this moment, enters in and disciplines him. 70,000 Israelites die because of this discipline. And the question you're supposed to ask as the reader is not, how could Jesus do that? The question is, how many more would have died if God didn't intervene? And so we step back, and there's a principle that's going to guide us through Leviticus 26. It's very simple. It even rhymes.
[00:06:17] The wise obey, and the foolish learn the hard way because I don't want to be a fool.
[00:06:27] And if I really want to make this doubly rhyme, I would have said, the wise obey right away. Do not sway, but the foolish learn the hard way. I just made that up on the spot. I was like, wow, I really could have exploited the memory and the memorization of this.
[00:06:42] But this is a principle, guys. If you know what the word says and you are receiving wisdom from godly people in your life, and you know what is right, do not spurn wisdom or the word of God.
[00:06:56] And Leviticus 26 is going to show us why. All right, so Leviticus 26 picks up where 25 left off. But really, they're talking about the same thing. So I need to give a really brief overview.
[00:07:08] Leviticus 25. Leviticus 25. God mandated two laws. They were practices that the nation of Israel was supposed to practice for the land and the people to get the rest they needed. The first is called the Sabbath year. So every 7th year, everybody in the agricultural industry had to stop working. You couldn't work the land. You couldn't do anything. You had to take a year off. It was reset for the land. It was a reset for the animals, a reset for the workers. There was also a reset of all debts. Within the nation of Israel, there's a reset for the poor. The poor were actually given wonderful resources to start a new life. If you were a slave or a servant in the nation of Israel, all of you were released. It was a wonderful year. Every seven years, no debt, no slaves in the nation of Israel. That is a mandate by law. The second thing God mandated was called the year of Jubilee. So every 50 years there's going to be a really wonderful celebration. You get all the benefits of the Sabbath year, but it's extended rest. So in the year of Jubilee, you get the 49th year off and the 50th year off for the land. The animals and the workers, all of the servants and slaves are permanently emancipated throughout the nation. And there is a property reversion, meaning the land that God gave your ancestors, your family, your clan, everybody in the nation of Israel gets it back. So that if your grandpa lost his land because he did something dumb and went into debt, and now the generations after him are poor, all of it gets reset so that there is no poverty within the nation of Israel. Leviticus 26. One carries on from chapter 25. Here's what it says.
[00:08:51] You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or a pillar.
[00:08:59] You shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the Lord your God.
[00:09:06] You shall keep my sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord. So, summary statement. Two big rules for the nation of Israel. Number one, do not worship demon gods. Sound good, everybody? Number two, keep my sabbaths. Not just a weekly Sabbath, but the Sabbath year. Every seven years and every 50 years, the year of Jubilee. Okay? So let's just pull back. Don't worship demon idols and take time off. Everybody else good with this?
[00:09:39] And if you do this, if you avoid demons and you take time off and you don't overwork your people and your land and your animals, okay, I want to bless you. And so, verses three to 13, I'm going to. If you have a bible, open up to Leviticus. I didn't put them all on the screen. It's too much. I just want to read through this. And I want you to savorous the kindness of God for those who obey his word.
[00:10:01] Verse three. If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then, if, then I will give you your reins in the season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Verse five. Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest. That's really good, by the way. And the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down and none shall make you afraid. I will remove harmful beasts from the land and the sword shall never go through your land. Verse seven. You shall chase your enemies and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you will chase a 101 hundred of you shall chase 10,000. And your enemies shall befall before you by the sword. I will turn to you and I will make you fruitful and multiply you. And I will confirm my covenant with you. You shall eat old store long kept. And you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. I will make my dwelling among you and my soul shall not abhor you. Verse twelve.
[00:11:16] And I will walk among you and will be your God and you shall be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. That you should not be their slaves, broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. Amen. Village church like, if I am in Israel and I'm like, I'll obey that. I'll take a year off every seven years. I'll take a day off every week. I'll celebrate a year of Jubilee. I'll cancel debts. I'll bless people. God, if this is the benefit of avoiding demon gods, give me this future you will never regret. Faithfulness of God. Today I want you to catch this. Future you has a lot of opinions on today. You by the way, does. Today you have a strong opinion on past you by the way. Today you is future you from the past.
[00:12:06] Some of you are like, this is like mind inception. You're like, you're drawing it out on a piece of paper.
[00:12:13] I want to read a couple of scriptures and I'm going to pick three. There's hundreds.
[00:12:18] James 125. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
[00:12:30] Isaiah 119. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land. Joshua one eight. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. I could literally spend the rest of our time this morning reading from the hundreds of scriptures that basically communicate a simple point. If you will obey God, you will be blessed.
[00:13:03] If you obey him. Future you wants to give you a big hug. Future you is like, do it. You can do it. And by the way. Future, you also has much to say about ignoring God's word today.
[00:13:17] Future, you would love to intervene into some of your lives and say, stop it. The Lord wants better for you. You are forfeiting so much you can't see it. Future, you can.
[00:13:31] And so we need to start playing and thinking the long game. And here's what we know, even if we don't know how it's all going to work out. God is always faithful to bless obedience, period.
[00:13:40] This brings us to the second part of Leviticus 26, verses 14 to the end of the chapter. They are hard to read, but these are the kind of scriptures that we need to face head on. We need to look at them and hear like God, what are you saying about yourself? What are you saying about your people?
[00:14:00] And even as we read through this, there's going to be probably many of you in this room. Names and faces are going to go through your mind.
[00:14:08] And some of you, you might actually hear this and think to yourself, uh oh, I think this is about me.
[00:14:16] And so wait to the end of the chapter, because there's really good news for you or the people in your life if the rest of Leviticus 26 applies to you. You guys ready? Verse 14. If you have a bible, check it out in there. Verse 14. If you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments but break my covenant, then I will do this to you.
[00:14:53] I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache.
[00:15:03] And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. Verse 17. I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you and you shall flee when none pursues you.
[00:15:25] I am thankful that when God disciplines, God doesn't do it all at once.
[00:15:31] Rhetorical question. Or you can answer it. How many of you, I don't know, sinned in the last week?
[00:15:37] Some of you need to put up both hands, right? And did God come down and just destroy you all at once?
[00:15:45] No. In fact, God is very, very patient with our struggles. He is very patient with our sin. And I am very grateful that typically the process of God disciplining his people is a slow, intentional process.
[00:16:04] And we're going to look at this morning the phases of God's discipline. And what you're going to notice is that each of these phases are designed to justly but forcibly bring you back in alignment with God.
[00:16:19] And so we're going to go through six of these phases, and all of them are designed to. To bring you back into alignment with God. This is what he wants. So the first phase is very simple. It's warning. Leviticus, chapter 26, other chapters in the Bible, they are warnings. They are given before any of the violations have taken place, so that when they happen, you know exactly what God is going to do. If you do this, then I will respond and do this so that nobody can say, God. I had no idea this would be the consequence. He literally spells out almost everything. If you do X, Y, or z, then a, b, and c is going to happen. So it's very, very clear.
[00:17:03] The second phase is called repercussion. It's very simple.
[00:17:08] Repercussion is getting what you deserve. You get pulled over, you get a speeding ticket, you feel bad, you pay your fine, you drive better for a month, and then it all starts over again. Anyone else? Okay.
[00:17:23] The purpose of repercussion is to bring you to phase three, which is realignment. This is the goal. Now, phases one, two, and three, everyone in this room, we have experienced this, whether we understand it through this paradigm or not. Welcome to the christian life. You do something dumb, there's a repercussion. The repercussion aligns you back to God's word. You're like, that was ridiculous. There's conviction and, like, you recessed. This happens throughout the christian life on a regular basis. It's just part of being a human with a sin nature.
[00:17:57] Now let's go back to the speeding illustration.
[00:18:01] If everybody drove however they wanted, without repercussion, what would happen?
[00:18:08] The vast majority of us would be dead. Amen.
[00:18:12] And so here's the deal. Repercussions are good, because without repercussions, people act crazy. And so when God disciplines, we don't go, how could you? You're supposed to be nice all the time.
[00:18:31] It would be terrible of God to not discipline anybody and to let people get off scot free, because then we would just keep doing more and more evil, and then you and your family would die eventually because of someone's stupidity. So out of love and kindness for the human race, God disciplines. And the more severe the discipline, the more probable that that person could be capable of doing something that destroys many people. So when you see God come down hard on people in the Bible, you don't. You're not supposed to go, wow, you're not nice. You're supposed to say, what are you saving us from?
[00:19:09] You're supposed to say, had you not done this thing, how bad was it going to be? When you give God the benefit of the doubt and you trust his character, and when you see him intervene in human history in disciplined and intense ways, it is always for the greater good and the preservation of many people. Now, there are two kinds of people who experience repercussions.
[00:19:30] The first kind are those who receive discipline, and they're realigned.
[00:19:35] The second kind are those who spurn discipline.
[00:19:40] They bucket. How dare you, God? Do you know who I am?
[00:19:45] And then they are brought and ushered into phase four.
[00:19:50] Phase four is called breaking, and you're going to see this in the text. Look at verse 18.
[00:19:56] God says, if in spite of this, the repercussions, you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again. And look at this word. Sevenfold for your sins.
[00:20:11] Verse 19, he says, and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.
[00:20:23] When God is breaking you, it's miserable.
[00:20:30] Here's an indicator that you're in the breaking phase.
[00:20:35] The repercussions of your old sin seem to be getting greater and more painful than they used to be.
[00:20:44] You used to be able to do this thing, and there was a little bit of repercussion, and then it was fine. Now you're doing the same things, but they're landing harder, hurting more people. And the repercussions seem to be getting bigger and more pervasive, almost like they are sevenfold.
[00:21:02] So now one action is not resulting in a singular repercussion, but a multiplicity of repercussions.
[00:21:09] Look at verse 18 again. Then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins.
[00:21:17] All right, so before we move to phase five, I need to be crystal clear about one aspect of phase four.
[00:21:24] Not all seasons of heartache are because of personal sin and discipline in your life.
[00:21:32] Sometimes other people sin so big and so ugly, and you're stuck in their vortex.
[00:21:39] Sometimes. Sometimes you can't control all the things that happen around you. Sometimes there are seasons of unusual pain for something bigger that God is doing later in your life, and you have no line of sight to like, oh, is there, like, am I sinning? Is there something going on in my life? And here's a case in point job. You want to talk about somebody's life falling apart? It wasn't just sevenfold. He felt like he was feeling it a thousand fold. Lost everything. Children, you name it. And people were rightly looking at job and saying, what did you do, man? Like, did you upset God? And it had nothing to do with sin in his life.
[00:22:15] You will know, 99% of you, by the way. You will know that you're in the breaking season, and you will know why.
[00:22:25] You will have mental clarity in the breaking season of which part of God's word you are disobeying and what you're being belligerent to.
[00:22:34] Now, there is probably the 1% who is so hard hearted, but I would actually say they're probably past the breaking phase. But if you are in the breaking phase, I just need to be clear. You will know that you're in it. You will know the sin in your life. You will probably be able to connect the sin to the multiplicity of repercussions in your life. And you don't need other people to tell you why all this stuff is going on.
[00:23:00] And this brings us to verse 20. It elaborates on the breaking phase.
[00:23:06] And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit. And so you're gonna notice that the sin you once enjoyed now begins to break you. It begins to weigh heavy on your heart. You used to be able to just do it and get away with it. And now it's like, ah. And then what? You'll notice it actually starts beginning to affect land, which is their job, their income, their responsibility. You're like, now my sin is impacting my job or my pocketbook.
[00:23:41] And unfortunately, there are some people that are so stubborn and so rebellious that when they are in a breaking season, they will not bend the knee to God again. What is the goal of phase four? It's to realign you.
[00:23:55] And yet sometimes we or someone we love, might be in a season where we are so stubborn and they get ushered into phase five, which is despair.
[00:24:04] Despair is simply the season of sevenfold repercussions that goes on and on and on and on and on. And it just doesn't stop to the point where you are worn out to degrees that you never imagined.
[00:24:23] Look at verse 21.
[00:24:25] Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will look at the word. Continue striking you like it's just going sevenfold for your sins.
[00:24:41] And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number so that your roads shall be deserted. And now it's not just the heaviness of your heart. It's not just your income or your job, but it is your marriage, it is your children, it is your family. And what's happening is it just keeps going and going and going. And that old thing he used to be able to do with very little repercussion, it is now amplifying sevenfold, repeatedly, over and over. And you know. You know what it is? The problem with the season of despair is that we get more blind to our own selves. The longer this goes, the angrier we get, the more self justifying we get. And this is a really dangerous season because we can begin to delude ourselves in profound ways. Well, not you, but other people, of course. Right?
[00:25:32] So verse 23 takes us to phase six, and it's one that I would not wish upon my enemies. And what I want you to notice about phase five is, what I find is that phase five is typically the phase that lasts the longest.
[00:25:50] My experience when I look at scripture, when I look at just my life and other people's lives, phase five can last years. This is where you see the patience of God in unbelievable ways.
[00:26:02] Phase six, though, is probably one of the hardest ones to read, because when despair doesn't do the trick, vengeance comes when God is determined that there is no hope for repentance.
[00:26:19] This is when phase six happens.
[00:26:23] When you have spurned him and you have mocked him. You know what is true and you know what is right. You know the gospel, you know the word, and you are holding on to your sin, and you refuse to obey. But you shake your fist at God. Verse 23.
[00:26:37] And if by this discipline, breaking in despair, you are not turned to me, but walk contrary to me, then I also will walk contrary to you. Now, I want to show you something. Because what happens in vengeance is that there is a shift in who is doing what.
[00:26:55] In the first five phases, there seems to be a primary giving over. You do something dumb, you experience the repercussions. But when you get to vengeance, God takes the punishment and discipline into his own hands, and he takes personal responsibility for the sevenfold discipline. I want you to watch this. He says, I myself, I'm no longer delegating. I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.
[00:27:23] Look at verse 25. He says, I will bring a sword upon you that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I, God, is taking deep personal responsibility for this. I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When verse 26, I break your supply of bread. Ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. Verse 27. This vengeance continues, but if in spite of this, you will not listen to me but walk contrary to me, then I will walk contrary to you. Look at this. Look at this. Two words in fury.
[00:28:04] And I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. Listen, preachers have a habit of painting God as weak and pathetic and desperate and needy and please love me. I just need you to love me. Please.
[00:28:23] Our God is holy. He is secure. He is strong. He is righteous. He is also very, very patient.
[00:28:34] You don't just get to a place where God, like, you don't just make a mistake and go, oh, whoops. And God's like, my fury. That is not how the system works. What you see is that it takes God a very long time to get to that place, and he will give every opportunity for your realignment with him, because that is what he wants. But you do get to a point where sometimes someone refuses and they shake their fist at God, and he moves into this. May it never be said of any one of us in this room. Many of us may find ourselves in a position of phase four, God forbid phase five. But may we never, ever be so arrogant and prideful that we. We have to put ourselves in this position. I want you to hear this. Good dads discipline their kids, especially when their kids are belligerent and destructive. When a dad lets belligerent and destructive kids run amok, the house becomes chaos. We don't do this. And so when you see God intervene in human history and in scripture and do really challenging things in discipline in ways that you're like, ah, that's hard for me to read to my non christian friends. You have to step back and say, our God is a good dad.
[00:29:46] And whatever discipline he is invoking, imagine what it would be like if he sat back passively and let them run amok. It's not how he works. He is good, and he intervenes. Now, you might be asking, Pastor Michael, what does this have to do with Sabbaths and Jubilee? Everything. Look at verse 34.
[00:30:06] Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths. Why? Because God had to pull the people out of the land, have them enslaved by another country, taken out so the land could finally get its rest. Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate while you are in your enemy's land. Then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. And sometimes, throughout history, God has had to remove the people of Israel out of the land so the land could actually work again.
[00:30:36] Last week I shared with you, as we taught through Jubilee and the Sabbath year, something that was so irritating and frustrating. And in case you weren't here, I want to say it again.
[00:30:47] There is no example in history or in scripture where the nation of Israel practiced the year of Jubilee, not once. And there is no example in scripture or in history where the people of Israel practiced the Sabbath year. None. So what's God going to do?
[00:31:13] So they go into the promised land, they worship demon gods, they ignore their sabbaths, ignore their Sabbath year, and ignore the year of Jubilee. So should God just sit back and do nothing? What should he do?
[00:31:26] Well, he's also a God who always keeps his word. And he was clear, if you don't do these things or if you go worship demon gods, then here's how I'm going to respond. And so God did exactly this. I want you to turn with me to the book of Two Chronicles, chapter 36.
[00:31:46] I'm going to read you a passage, but I think it is just worth you seeing it with your own eyes. Second chronicles 36. If you don't know where that is, there is no shame, by the way, in looking at your list of Bible books, of the Bible on the front and trying to find second chronicles. Most people don't spend their life there, but it's a great book. Second Chronicles 36 and this is a beautiful insight into the phases of God's discipline process.
[00:32:10] Two chronicles 30 615 says, the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.
[00:32:26] Did God just come in and destroy them and kick them out of their land? No. In fact, God sent messenger after messenger after messenger because he loves his people and his land, and he would send these messengers and they would bring God's word to them. You can't do this. You have to obey God's word. He's told you what is going to happen if you ignore him. Don't do it. Verse 16 says, but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, scoffing at his prophets, until, by the way, this took hundreds of years, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until, hear this, there was no remedy.
[00:33:10] When you're in phase six, it's because there's no remedy.
[00:33:15] Verse 17 therefore he, Yahweh, brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man, or virgin, or old man, or aged. He gave them all into his hand, exactly as he said he would do. And the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. And they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all of its precious vessels. He took into exile and Babylon those who had escaped from the sword. And they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia. I want you to see verse 21. I'll put this on the screen. Why all this discipline?
[00:34:01] To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah. Until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths.
[00:34:07] All the days that it lay desolate, it kept Sabbath to fulfill 70 years.
[00:34:14] There were 70 years worth of Sabbath days, Sabbath years and jubilee years that they ignored. And God was like, this land is going to get all the rest it deserves. And if that means I have to pull you out of it to give it what it deserves, then I will do it.
[00:34:30] Nehemiah, 1031. After the babylonian exile, NeHemiah brings back some people to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. And this is the I want you to hear his recommitment speech to God.
[00:34:42] When the neighboring peoples bring merchandise or grain to sell on the Sabbath, we will not buy from them on the Sabbath or on any holy day. And every 7th year we will forego working the land and will cancel all deaths.
[00:34:56] It's an awesome set of words, but they never did it, at least that we have proof of.
[00:35:02] But even they understood, if we want the privilege to come back into the land, if we want the privilege of this, we need to be a people who obey God's word.
[00:35:11] At this point, you might also be asking, so, Pastor Michael, if I'm ever in this phase, or Pastor Michael, I know somebody in this phase, especially phase six. But any of them, are they stuck forever under the hand of God's vengeance?
[00:35:25] And I have great news they're not. And it brings me to my first so what?
[00:35:31] Break the cycle of discipline now before it gets any further.
[00:35:35] Leviticus 26 40 gives the sole remedy, if you are in any phase of God's discipline, to get back into the realignment phase.
[00:35:47] Verse 40 says this.
[00:35:51] But if they confess their iniquity, don't miss that. But if they what?
[00:35:57] Confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers and their treachery, meaning my grandfather did these sins, my father did those sins, and I have inherited the sins of all the generations before me.
[00:36:10] And also in walking contrary to me, verse 41, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies. If then their uncircumcised heart is humbled because of the discipline process, and they make amends for their iniquity, two words, confession and amends. Here then verse 42. Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob.
[00:36:35] Stubbornness is a cancer of the soul.
[00:36:38] And there is something about people who get themselves into phases four, five and six that it is really, really hard for them to humble themselves.
[00:36:46] But when you see it, guys, it's beautiful.
[00:36:49] When you watch somebody stare their own sin in the face and say, I did that, that's in me. I'm going to take full and extreme responsibility for everything I did. I'm not going to exaggerate. I'm not going to take responsibility for things I didn't do, but I'm going to look at the things I did and say I did that.
[00:37:08] And then when somebody says, you know what? I have hurt other people, I am going to go out of my way to make that thing. Right now we're finally getting a glimpse into what true repentance is. What most people want is they want to be able to say, I'm sorry. Isn't that enough?
[00:37:25] Sometimes an I'm sorry is enough. But if you're in phase four, five, or six with God, the chances are you've hurt a lot of people in the process.
[00:37:33] And so now some things need to be done. And this is where we see the beauty of true repentance. Somebody who's truly repentant. Repentant does not just settle for an I'm sorry. They want to say, how can I make this right? Or if you sit down with somebody who is apparently repentant and you say, there are some things we now need to do to make this thing right, they will say to you if they're truly repentant, whatever it takes.
[00:37:55] Repentance is this beautiful combination of confession and a willingness to make amends.
[00:38:01] Number two, we don't repent simply to make life easier.
[00:38:08] We repent because we are truly broken over what we have done.
[00:38:12] I want to just show you this one last time. Verse 44. There's something here that is really easy to miss, but I think it's really meaningful.
[00:38:20] He says this yet for all that your repenting amends, when you do these things, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will note, spurn them. This is so easy to miss. And I just want to show this to you.
[00:38:35] When we go to God and say, I'm sorry, there's a little part of us that also expects him to get rid of all the repercussions of everything we've ever done. Well, God, I came to you. You're supposed to make it all better now. It's not the way it works.
[00:38:49] What's interesting is he says, okay, you're Israel. You're enslaved in another land.
[00:38:56] And when you humble yourself and you confess and you make amends for what you did, you're still going to be staying in that land for some time.
[00:39:04] If you do something illegal and go to jail for ten years, and then you go to the people that you harmed and say, I'm sorry, do you still have to fulfill your sentence? Yes.
[00:39:13] So this idea that because I'm going to confess to God and I'm going to make amends, that everything is going to be better, that's not real. Life is not how it works. In fact, many of us have been guilty of this or we've heard this or seen this. It's like, man, if you just come to Jesus, your whole life is going to get better. And I'm telling you, for most people, when you come to Jesus, here's what you're doing. You're saying, I am a sinner. You're facing it head on. You're looking at it, and you don't see everything at once. But what you do see, you're like, owning it. That's hard. And then you're like, God, will you forgive me? No excuses, I did this. And then you're like, okay, who else have I harmed? So to come to Christ isn't just a get out of hell free card.
[00:39:50] You got to come to God and say you're sorry for your sins. And then if you're not willing, I mean, are you really repentant if you're not willing to make anything right with anybody and you just want to say, I'm sorry, and then go live the rest of your life the way you would normally live it? No, repentance is about extreme ownership of my own sins and then a willingness to actually go make right the things that are wrong. For most people, coming to Christ is the beginning of one or two or three really hard years.
[00:40:15] But future you has a very strong opinion that you start that process now, because future you, future you in heaven wants you to be faithful to God and trust him now, because God will be faithful to bless you if you will obey him now. And if you were here and you're like, I've never trusted in God. I've never told him, I'm sorry. I think you should do it today. But Jesus also says, count the cost. You don't go into war without counting the cost of a battle. Here's the cost. You will have to look at your sin head on, own it and then take responsibility for it. That's a big deal. But it's amazing to be someone who takes ownership of sin and to walk with God. As you figure out how do I bring healing from the damage I created in my life. And I'm telling you guys, it is worth it. Is worth it. You could close your eyes to it and say, Jesus, I don't want all that.
[00:41:11] But if forgiveness and reconciliation with goddess and the peace of knowing God and I are okay, if that is the blessing, give me that any day.
[00:41:21] And so I don't know what your next step is. I have a strong hunch that the Holy Spirit might be just kind of pressing on each one of us in a different way. Whatever it is, do it. Go with the Lord. It is worth it. And if you're a Christian and you're in this phase, repent.
[00:41:37] The Lord will be with you. Get out of this cycle of discipline. Realign with him. Future you is begging you to do it, let alone the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for Leviticus 26.
[00:41:52] If we're honest, most of us gave up on our reading planned by Leviticus five.
[00:41:56] But this chapter is here and it is good and it is hard. God, I thank you that you are strong and you are also compassionate. I thank you that you are a discipliner, but you're also somebody who brings redemption.
[00:42:09] Lord, whatever the next step is for each one of us individually, would you help us to that end? And thank you for the blood of Christ that covers all of our sin. We love you and we pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
