Sin & God's Authority

Introduction:

Question: How many languages are spoken in the world today?

Translation: “What’s up Strive? Can you understand what I’m saying?”

Answer: 7,000

Beth am nawr? (Welsh)

How many can you understand?

Translation: “How about now?”

For some of us, we can barely speak English…and we struggle to understand English....how bout this guy...

Jīn wǎn, wǒmen jiāng guānzhù zuì yǔ shàngdì de quánwēi (Chinese)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDaTTVR2JXY

Translation: “Tonight, we are going to be looking at Sin & God’s Authority”

E vedremo il motivo per cui oggi ci sono oltre 7000 lingue parlate in tutto il mondo (Italian)

How much of that did you understand? Was it actually english?

Translation: “And we're going to see the reason why there are over 7,000 languages spoken around the world today”

See…we can barely even understand people who speak the same language

But even if we do speak the same language, we have different terms for the same exact things…that it can still be pretty confusing

What is a robot?

In the U.S., it’s a programmed machine that carries out specific tasks

In South Africa, it’s a traffic light

A trunk in the U.S. is a part of a car, but that same part of a car in England is a boot

Go to New Zealand, and order a biscuit, and you’ll get a cookie

Right? We’ve probably all experienced frustration or confusion because of the language barrier.

I remember when my youth group went on a mission trip to Portugal (show picture)

There was this teen there named Diogo

Here are a couple pictures

People called us twins....naturally....it’s a common theme in my life apparently

We hung out a good bit on that mission trip, although i only understood about 4.325% of what he actually ever said

Have you ever wondered where the different languages come from?

All of the languages we have in the world today are a result of SIN, did you realize that?

Turn to with me

You’ve all probably heard the words “Tower of Babel” before....but tonight we want to dig into it a little further than you probably ever have

Some time has passed since God passed judgement on the world in the form of a flood....but we know that humanity was still broken

There was still a heart problem, and there was still a sin problem

Read verses 1 through 4 with me

This part of the history of mankind occured on what is today modern day Iraq

And notice specifically verse 4 with me, what did it say?

“let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

Now, does anyone here remember God’s command?

, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it”

, “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”

What was God’s specific command? Answer: To fill the earth

What were the people on the plains of Shinar doing…what was their main goal

To not be scattered so that they could glorify themselves

Don’t miss that....they were blatantly ignoring the command of God....they were actively sinning against God in their hearts, and in their actions

By remaining together, they hoped to make a great name for themselves as a great people

We do this though don’t we?

Don’t we ignore God’s commands sometimes in order that we might be glorified?

What are some ways people in today’s culture try to make a name for themselves?

Don’t misunderstand here, God wasn’t angry they were building a city....He was angry at their motives

He was angry at the “why” behind the what

He was angry that their focus was on themselves and not on His glory....which remember…that’s why we exist —> to glorify God

Again, the what isn’t necessarily always bad…it’s the why behind the what

Now, let me ask you this....do you really believe that we are guilty of doing the same thing that the people in were doing?

Most likely....we probably have never thought of it that way…but it’s true isn’t it?

Aren’t we guilty of trying to build our own individual little empires where we receive all of the glory?

And I know we always talk about social media, and how that’s a very clear picture of us promoting ourselves, and it is....that’s true

But the issue has been at play long before social media and it’s an issue of our hearts....of us wanting to put ourselves before God, of us wanting to receive the glory and the praise instead of God

Do you agree that:

Pursuing a bigger platform or a personal brand is the equivalent of trying to build our own kingdom?

The root of all of this is mankind’s heart, our, sinfulness and wickedness, and it takes shape in so many different ways in our lives

tells us that that was the root of Satan’s sin too....followed his heart, was true to himself, it was all about him....

And if you’re honest with yourself....so much of your daily lives is about who?

It’s about you, it’s about what you want, what you desire, what you think is right, what you will get out of it, what you will receive from it

Guy’s…listen to me, we’ve all got some massive heart issues, and we need to call them out in our lives and lay them down.

As we keep reading....verse 5 tells us that God actually came down to see what humankind was up to....

Not that He didn’t already know…but it’s similar to what He did in the Garden.....

And verse 6 tells us this: “And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

Imagine with me that everyone in the world spoke the same language....what would change?

He was going to

It’d be easier to communicate…obviously

There’d be no barriers that naturally are there because of different languages

Things could happen quicker

There’d be a greater collaboration

You could order food properly in a foreign country

Why do you think this was a problem for God?

Do you think He was threatened by what their rebellion?

Answer is no, He wasn’t threatened…but He is jealous for His glory and His glory alone

And the truth is, that He will not allow any kingdom, whether it be a nation, or whether it be your own little personal kingdom, He’s not going to allow any kingdom to take away His glory

And so God confused their languages....they were one minute talking about how high they wanted the structure to go, and then the next minute they couldn’t even understand each other

So their well thought out plans, to be one great nation....wasn’t going to work too well any more because God introduced new languages into the world.

That’s why we have Chinese, that’s why we have Welsh, that’s why we have Czech, Norwegian, and so on and so on and so on

God, in His great authority, caused their plans to fail rather than succeed.

Do you think that sometimes it is better for our plans to fail rather than succeed without God?

Is it possible that our plans sometimes will succeed without God?

Here’s the truth for you all, one that I want you to think about and ponder

Every single day…you are building something

it’s not a tower made of bricks and bitumen…but your building something

And the temptation for us is to build something that tells the world that it’s all about us.

We have the desire to make a name for ourselves

After all, isn’t that what society tells us to do?

Go out there and make a name for yourself. Make people remember you. Leave a legacy

And that thought, at the root of that thought is the idea that we, the creation, are the center of the universe

Which....if you think back to the first sin…that’s exactly what Adam and Eve were hoping for, isn’t it?

And when we’re caught in that thought....it leads us to think that we have no need for God, that we can actually save ourselves!!!

That’s why it is actually incredibly good news that God causes the plans of man to fail.

That’s why it’s great news when God causes your plans to fail sometimes

I’ve already told you guys I had this grand plan I was going to work for the government, and I was this close, and my life would have been made. I’d be making close to 120k right now......and I’d be nowhere as near to God as I am right now

God causes our plans to fail, God strips everything away sometimes, to point us back to Him. To cause us to see that He is where we find true joy, and He is who we are to glorify

And you guys can build your reputation, your snap score, your insta followers, your educational profile, your career path stepping stones, you can build all of that, spend years doing it…and you can be doing it all for the wrong reasons.

If God, tonight, started to strip away everything you do in a day, or in a week, or in a month, if He would strip away everything that was done for your own glory…what would be left?

And guys, even our successes in life, where we assume God must be behind them because they were good things....why are they good to you?

What personal successes have you experienced in life? Did you take all the credit for your success or did you glorify God?

In Rev, John the apostle sees a vision of Heaven in the future, and writes this, “9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Notice....there is coming a day where a great multitude, from every nation and tribe and people and languages (there they are), standing before Him and worshiping Him

See, God dispersed people, but He did it so that salvation could be offered to all mankind

In God’s perfect plan, He knew the best course of action was to hold back the tide of sin and self-glorification of mankind by confusing languages, and He did it for all of us.

And one day we are all going to be brought back together glorifying Him

In what language? Who knows....I think it will be mandarin. Maybe it will be multiple languages, who knows…

But the inverse of the tower of Babel will be happening

We will be back together, and we will be a great people…the only difference is that God will be receiving the full glory that He is due.

Why is God’s way of making our relationship with Him right again through Jesus a better way than trying to get to Him in our own strength and effort?

See guys....God, in His mercy and grace…confused the languages of the people in the Shinar plain so that we could receive salvation

Mankind’s mentality will always be that we can achieve salvation on our own, that we can be glorified by our own strength.

It’s not true.

We were created by God to be in a relationship with God, and the reason we aren’t in that perfect relationship is because of our own strength, because of our own decisions

What have you done with the offer of God’s salvation in your own life?

Are you trying to make a name for yourself, are you trying to be all that you can be on your own?

Or have you come to Him, expressed regret over the errors of your ways and clung to Him for salvation?

The choice is yours

Don’t choose yourself....you will regret it.