The Only Sure Thing
Notes
Transcript
Reliability
Reliability
What can you count on around here?
There are 2 numbers that affect migration that are certainties; 100 and 32.
You can count on it. If we were gamblers, bet these numbers.
Not on the roulette wheel, on the thermometer.
Last week, my daughter was up, Sara and I took her into the forest for a picnic lunch on Friday. Beautiful up here.
On the way back, about 2:30, the parade had begun.
On the 240, pick-ups, campers, and trailers w/ side-by-sides and quads filling up all the campsites.
All day Saturday, up and down Pinewood Blvd. the roar of off-road engines.
Then, Sunday afternoon, it all quieted down.
Why?
B/C, 100. The temp hit 100 in the valley. And, school is out and no one is working.
Then, you know what the 32 represents that also affects migration.
The first freeze up here in the fall and every low-lander is out of here and the weekend traffic stops.
One of our great secrets is after that first freeze in September, it warms up again in October and it’s beautiful.
100 happened early this year. It happens this early occasionally. We’re setting a few records, but not every day and not by a lot.
How many times have we seen snow on Memorial weekend?
The weather can be different year to year. If we look at it closely, it can be unreliable. But seasonally, it’s very reliable.
We know it’s going to be hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
There’s a planting season, harvest season, and an eating season.
We average 70” of snow in the winter.
Every baseball fan is a believer in averages.
Averages are just that, averages. But, we have them for a reason. Statistically, that’s what happens.
One thing it means is, if we have a light snow winter, then the next winter or 2 will be heavy.
That’s reliable. For years, that’s what’s happened. If we weren’t here to experience every cycle, somebody was and they wrote it down and we refer to it now.
On the other side, w/ a proven track record, what is less reliable is getting a contractor to show up to your house.
How many times? Don’t show up to bid. Don’t show up to work.
The dangerous thing, for me anyway, if they don’t show up I might try to do the work myself.
Me w/ a tool in my hands, I’m dangerous.
That’s my track record.
But if they are unreliable, we have to figure it out and fix it ourselves.
What can we count on?
If it’s hot in the valley low-landers are coming up.
If it’s cold in MP then they are heading back down.
If a baseball player hasn’t had a hit in a while he’s likely to get one in his next at bat.
If you have an appt w/ a contractor, anyone’s guess if they’re going to show up.
What about God? His track record?
He has kept every promise He’s ever made.He has never changed nor moved.
From the beginning of time, He has shown up in extraordinary ways that defy logic and explanation.
He’s even involved in the ordinary, our day to day activities.
That’s His track record, His statistical history. Even if we weren’t there, someone who was wrote it down so we can refer to it and plan like we do for the weather.
If there are times when we don’t see Him. Does that mean He is uninvolved? No. It just means we don’t see it.
We’re at the end of Malachi. Which means we’re at the end of the OT. The Last 3 Prophets, Zechariah, Haggai and Malachi.
They, along w/ Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther are the last OT books written, chronologically.
By then, Israel should have a great idea of what to expect of God. What to believe about Him. And, what not to believe.
Thousands of years of history, that both predate Israel and include Israel.
There is no more reliable thing than God.
One of the main themes in Malachi is ppl doing things that distance themselves from God then blame God for the distance.
It’s one of our worst traits and most natural tendencies. Even though God has made Himself abundantly available and never changes, we turn out backs, find another shiny object, walk toward it, turn around, and wonder where God went.
Then, life becomes about us. Out of sight, out of mind.
This diverted vision affects us beyond our comprehension. It shrinks our view of God, enlarges our view of ourselves, and confines us to the small box that is our imagination.
So, when we can’t figure it out or fix it, we end up filled w/ fear. That further shrinks the box around us.
When we lose sight of God we humanize Him and interpret every event humanistically. In that paradigm, it is impossible to comprehend and understand the reason and purpose for the circumstances we face.
In God’s world, there is a good purpose for everything we go thru.But, we have to see it from His perspective.
There is no box that can contain God nor His imagination and ability to explain and extricate us from whatever situation we got ourselves in.
It’s not like we have to figure out the ordinary. If we did, how much more trouble would we be in?
God is involved in the ordinary just like He is the extraordinary.
But, if we’ve come to believe He is as unreliable as MP contractor, our tendency is to pick up the tools ourselves.
And, in that case, you are all too much like me, and we end up in a much deeper hole than when we started.
God is the best bet we will ever make in our lives. He is the only sure thing.
We don’t have to try to figure it out or fix it, we just have to follow. He will always be where we can find Him and will get us to where we want to go in the end.
These are the last words of Malachi and the entire OT before God goes silent for the next 400 years.
Here’s the problem. It includes the 7th question they ask God that indicates they are oblivious to their own responsibility for the path they are on.
The Problem
The Problem
“You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord.
“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’
“You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’ ”
This is a conclusion to the book and to every self-centered question they’ve asked so far.
Arrogant words. Harsh words. Statements that contradict the preceding promise I taught last week.
If they give the whole tithe God will open the floodgates, pour out blessing, and the grain storage will overflow.
No bugs, weeds, or mold will damage any of their crops.
Among other things, they flat denied the truth of this. It’s insulting. God says it’s true. They deny it.
They say it b/c they don’t believe it. In their heart they don’t believe what’s true about God.
They believe things that aren’t true.
They are oblivious that their tough situation is of their own doing.
What words? What do you mean arrogant? Self-sufficient?
You want proof?
You say God is not keeping His promise b/c good ppl like you are suffering and bad ppl like ‘them’ are succeeding.
Oblivious to the fact that they are not as good as they think they are.
What makes a person good? Faith. Belief. And they don’t. So, they aren’t.
While it is true God is not responding in the way they want Him to, but it’s not for the reasons they think.
They think He can’t, He’s changed His mind.
The real reasons are b/c they don’t believe and developed a self-reliance.
They are trying to figure out and fix the problem they are in on their own. But that’s the problem.
The more they try, the deeper the hole they dig for themselves.
When you realize you are in a hold, put the shovel down and stop digging. Try something else.
They said it’s futile to serve God. Worship at its fundamental level is serving God.
It’s worthless to go to worship b/c they don’t get anything out of it.
Irony: they admit they stopped worshiping. And, God is not going to honor that. He will not reward bad worship or non-worship.
Moment of self-evaluation. Have you ever said that?
“I’m not going to church b/c I just don’t get anything out of it.”
Stop going to church, worshipping, don’t get into BS, prayer is boring and not comfortable praying out loud.
God seems to have stopped doing things for me so I’ve stopped doing things for Him.
And, now, we’re struggling in ways we’re not used to. We’ve all lost something. Lost some of our retirement, lost some salary or a job, and lost the ability to enjoy the things we did just a few weeks ago.
Here’s the deal. If you’re into worship just to give to God then you will get more than you ever expected.
But, if you’re into it to get something, you’ll never get what you expect.
They ask, “What have we gained by all this?”
Assumed they had been doing everything right, been faithful, carried all the requirements and repented of whatever they mistakes they’d made.
Reality, they were wrong on all counts.
Their mourning was facade. They mourned b/c they weren’t getting what they wanted. They felt cheated by God.
Jesus said blessed are those who mourn. But, what He meant was those who mourn that they can’t be good enough to earn anything from God and accept all the good gives He gives out of grace.
Israel thought they deserved them and didn’t get them.
Jesus was talking about ppl who knew they didn’t deserve them but got them for that reason.
Israel believed they’d done their part (they hadn’t) and God was not doing His part (He was). It just wasn’t what they expected nor wanted.
They think they are doing all this good. Doing the best they can and it’s enough and it’s going unrewarded.
And, to them, it seemed like the bad ppl around them were being rewarded. They still paid taxes and had serve the king of Persia
He was rich. They were poor. If they were truly God’s, and He really loved them, they thought it should be that way.
The guilty were going unpunished.
Again, oblivious to their own responsibility and situation. But God is about to reiterate this promise one more time.
Just wait. Everyone is going to be held accountable and get what they deserve.
Here’s the promise
The Promise
The Promise
Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.
“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
“Then” is a hard contrast. It’s emphatic. This is the response of the faithful minority to what the majority had been saying.
Unbelieving, unfaithful speak arrogant and wearisome words.
The believing faithful realized they needed to get together and respond in a radically different way.
A small group of believers can make a big difference in the community when they get together and live differently.
They realized the majority was wrong in a big way and they separated themselves.
God made several promises to them.
He promised, b/c of their faith, their names would be written in His book of Life.
It’s referenced in both the OT and NT
Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem.
“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the end of the NT and the message is the same as what’s written at the end of the OT.
If your name is in the Book of Life God will save you.
Part of this promise. He will remember you.
I can forget a name after 10 seconds.
God will remember your name if He’s written in His book.
He promises, Judgment is coming.
Bad ppl will get exactly what’s coming to them.
It make appear they are winning in this life. They will lose in the end.
This life is hard. There are viruses, bugs, earthquakes. Good ppl get sick, get bit, and get shook.
All that changes in Heaven.
And, the goal is to get to heaven. Our goal is not to live on earth like it’s Heaven. It’s to believe while were on earth so we get to heaven.
If we do believe, and God writes our name in His book, we are His treasured possession.
If you have faith He treasures you, flaws, weaknesses, and all.
He will protect you so you get to spend forever in heaven with Him.
Jesus didn’t heal every sick person on earth the first time He was here.
There are 35 miracles He performed that are written about. He healed others, too. They weren’t written about.
When He came to the Bethesda pool He picked one guy.
That guy had no faith before He healed. Faith had nothing to do w/ what Jesus did for him that day.
Jesus healed enough ppl to prove what He was teaching about Himself was true.
He proved He could get us to heaven where we’d never get sick or hurt again.
Huge question: Is God reliable to keep this promise?
Can He? Will He?
Malachi was the end of the OT. Let me skip a stone along some of the things that God did that proves he reliable and will remember us when we get to heaven.
Creation w/ a word.
Paradise for Adam and Eve
A flood that covered the earth. It had never rained before.
He saved one family and 2 of every animal in a boat.
W/ a word he confused everybody’s words at Babel
He chose the 1 right guy from everyone else on earth.
That guy and his wife had a baby the old fashioned way when they were nearly 100 years old.
There was a lamb caught by his horns in the thicket.
Isaac had twins.
Jesus let Jacob wrestle w/ Him till he surrendered.
Jacob had 12 sons.
10 sold 1 into slavery, then prison, then he became the 2nd most powerful man on earth.
Moses survived when all the other male Israeli children were being killed and he was raised in the 1st family.
Plagues.Locust, frogs, blood, death.
Israel walked out of Egypt w/ their entire wealth.
The Sea parted, Israel walked thru, the Egyptian army died.
Manna every day for 40 years. Water out of a rock twice.
The priests stepped in and the river stopped up at flood stage.
Joshua led them into the PL.
Jericho’s walls fell down.
Judges led until there were kings.
David, Solomon, a palace and a temple.
A Pagan king’s idea to let them return from exile. Right.
Rebuilt temple, walls, city, commerce, and farms.
After all this Israel still thought they had to figure it out and fix it themselves. But, the more they did, the deeper the hold the dug. They refused to put down their shovel.
Of all the sure things to bet on, God is the best.
But, when we create a distance, we lose sight of God, we’re more apt to bet on ourselves. And, that’s not a good bet.
The box we live in is too small. But there’s no box big enough for God.
Applications
Applications
Minority
Minority
A small group of faithful ppl can make a big difference in our community.
Don’t be discouraged.
Let’s all stay faithful and collectively lead everyone in MP closer to Jesus.
Treasured Possession
Treasured Possession
You are God’s treasured possession.
Do you feel that way? Can’t always trust your feelings.
When you get discouraged remember what God thinks of you and what He’s done and going to do for you.
Promise
Promise
He will remember you.
Don’t confuse this life with the next.
He’ll make this life much more bearable and manageable for you. But, the goal is the next life.
None of the bad stuff that happens here will happen there.
And there will be so good that it will cause to forget all the bad here.
Hang in, keep moving forward, don’t let yourself get too deep.
And, when you find yourself in a hole, put the shovel down and stop digging. Look for the ladder God put in for you to climb out.
God is the best bet we will ever make in our lives. He is the only sure thing.
We don’t have to try to figure it out or fix it, we just have to follow. He will always be where we can find Him and will get us to where we want to go in the end.