1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,160 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:25,240 We're going to go ahead and continue our study. 10 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:29,260 And first Samuel, if you have your Bibles, turn there with me to 11 00:00:29,420 --> 00:00:33,980 1 Samuel, chapter 5, and I'll recap just a little bit of what we 12 00:00:33,980 --> 00:00:34,900 talked about last week. 13 00:00:34,900 --> 00:00:40,860 Last week we studied the defeat of Israel to the Philistines. 14 00:00:40,860 --> 00:00:46,860 The Philistines came in and slayed 30,000 footmen and they took 15 00:00:46,860 --> 00:00:50,980 the ark of God and killed Eli's sons Hophni and Phineas. 16 00:00:50,980 --> 00:00:54,630 And we're the news came to Eli that his sons had been killed and 17 00:00:54,630 --> 00:00:57,590 that the people from Israel had been killed, and particularly 18 00:00:57,590 --> 00:00:59,510 that the ark of God had been stolen. 19 00:00:59,990 --> 00:01:01,710 He fell and died himself. 20 00:01:01,710 --> 00:01:08,790 And so we ended the chapter in Samuel 4 with the words of basically 21 00:01:08,790 --> 00:01:13,630 this woman who is proclaiming that the glory of God was departing 22 00:01:13,630 --> 00:01:14,310 from Israel. 23 00:01:14,630 --> 00:01:17,270 And so we end chapter four with hopelessness. 24 00:01:18,110 --> 00:01:20,990 We end chapter four with depression and despair. 25 00:01:21,550 --> 00:01:24,990 And really we see that a lot when it comes to Christians today 26 00:01:24,990 --> 00:01:29,030 with spiritual struggles and, and hardships and even what we would 27 00:01:29,030 --> 00:01:29,830 consider failures. 28 00:01:29,830 --> 00:01:33,190 There's a lot of folks that would deem that God has forgotten 29 00:01:33,190 --> 00:01:36,790 about his people or maybe he has stepped away and turned his back 30 00:01:36,790 --> 00:01:37,550 on his people. 31 00:01:37,550 --> 00:01:42,350 But even in the midst of the unfaithfulness of Israel, we see 32 00:01:42,350 --> 00:01:44,830 God's power and his faithfulness to the truth. 33 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,640 And in chapter five, what we're going to see is that even because 34 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,760 of the moral failures of Israel and because of their defeat, 35 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:57,120 we still see God's powerful presence there in the land of the 36 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:57,800 Philistines. 37 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:00,840 And we're going to talk more about the application of that here 38 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:01,800 a little bit later. 39 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,520 So with me in first Samuel, chapter five, we're going to look 40 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,920 at verse one says, and the Philistines took the ark of God and 41 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,520 brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. 42 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,979 Now mentioned this last week, but the Philistine kingdom at this 43 00:02:13,979 --> 00:02:16,179 point in time had five city states. 44 00:02:16,179 --> 00:02:19,939 They had five major cities, and Ashad was one of those major 45 00:02:19,939 --> 00:02:25,299 cities that had a temple that was set up for the false God Deon. 46 00:02:25,619 --> 00:02:29,699 And we're going to talk about the story of how God shows his power 47 00:02:29,699 --> 00:02:33,179 over the false God of the Philistines here this evening. 48 00:02:33,179 --> 00:02:36,579 So verse number two says when the Philistines took the ark of God, 49 00:02:37,050 --> 00:02:40,010 they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by day. 50 00:02:41,050 --> 00:02:44,810 So essentially what we see here is that they take what we would 51 00:02:44,810 --> 00:02:48,050 consider and according to Scripture, the most holy artifact 52 00:02:48,050 --> 00:02:51,530 of the Israelites, and they put it there in the house of Dagon, 53 00:02:51,530 --> 00:02:54,890 essentially saying that the God of Israel is going to submit 54 00:02:54,890 --> 00:02:56,730 to the God Dagon. 55 00:02:56,970 --> 00:03:00,090 And what we know is that God doesn't submit to anybody. 56 00:03:00,330 --> 00:03:02,570 God is more powerful than any false God. 57 00:03:02,570 --> 00:03:03,930 He's more powerful than any person. 58 00:03:03,930 --> 00:03:07,640 He's more powerful than any a power that we find in the world. 59 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:12,560 And so this, this situation that we see here, that the Philistines 60 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:16,000 are essentially defying God and ultimately trying to put God 61 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:16,920 into their box. 62 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:20,760 And it's a, it's an act of victory in their minds, and it's 63 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:24,720 an act of ultimate in their minds defeat over the God of Israel, 64 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,480 which we're going to see here is, is not coming to pass. 65 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:29,480 And so the Philistines were, were happy. 66 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:30,360 They were confident. 67 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:34,200 They believed that their God was superior to the God of Israel 68 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:35,400 because of the victory. 69 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:37,880 And sometimes that's how the world perceives Christians. 70 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,680 It might seem like whatever they're worshiping, whatever the 71 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,920 world is worshiping, whether it's self or money or a false God, 72 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,240 that if there seems to be a victory in their eyes, that they 73 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:50,680 think that their God is more powerful than our God, or maybe even 74 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:52,320 that our God doesn't exist. 75 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,880 But every time God shows Himself to be almighty, he shows 76 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:00,160 Himself to be glorified, no matter what the case might be. 77 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:04,290 And so always remember this, God will glorify Himself, even if 78 00:04:04,290 --> 00:04:07,490 his people do not glorify him, he will glorify Himself. 79 00:04:07,890 --> 00:04:11,290 And that's seen over and over again in Scripture, that even in 80 00:04:11,290 --> 00:04:14,730 Israel and the Israelites failures, even as we as believers 81 00:04:14,730 --> 00:04:18,090 are unfaithful, God will always be faithful to His Word and 82 00:04:18,090 --> 00:04:20,050 He will always be glorified. 83 00:04:20,370 --> 00:04:23,130 And so sometimes we might be like the people there in Israel that 84 00:04:23,130 --> 00:04:24,850 think that the glory has departed. 85 00:04:25,410 --> 00:04:29,650 But even when men and women won't glorify God, we know that God 86 00:04:29,650 --> 00:04:31,330 will ultimately exalt himself. 87 00:04:31,740 --> 00:04:33,660 And that's what we're going to see here in this passage. 88 00:04:33,660 --> 00:04:37,220 And so the lesson that we can learn in this case is that even when 89 00:04:37,220 --> 00:04:39,980 Israel felt like they were defeated, even when they believed 90 00:04:39,980 --> 00:04:43,220 that God had forgotten about them, even though they believed that 91 00:04:43,220 --> 00:04:46,420 the glory of God was taken away, the glory of God was not taken 92 00:04:46,420 --> 00:04:46,780 away. 93 00:04:46,940 --> 00:04:49,700 It was they who were the Ones that had missed the glory of God 94 00:04:49,700 --> 00:04:52,540 and missed their opportunity to glorify him in the midst of that. 95 00:04:52,540 --> 00:04:54,620 So verse three says this. 96 00:04:54,620 --> 00:04:58,380 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold Dagon 97 00:04:58,380 --> 00:05:01,500 was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. 98 00:05:02,100 --> 00:05:05,860 And so they come into the temple there, they come into that 99 00:05:05,860 --> 00:05:10,260 house of Dagon, and they found Dagon, the statue, the, the idol 100 00:05:10,260 --> 00:05:13,660 Dagon, on its face there, bowing down before the ark, which 101 00:05:13,660 --> 00:05:19,740 is a picture of how this, this Dagon, this false God, can ultimately 102 00:05:19,740 --> 00:05:23,180 fall before God and that all folks eventually will fall before 103 00:05:23,180 --> 00:05:23,620 God. 104 00:05:23,940 --> 00:05:26,300 The Bible says in the New Testament that every knee shall bow 105 00:05:26,300 --> 00:05:28,660 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 106 00:05:28,930 --> 00:05:32,170 And in this case, we see that the false Dagon falls before the 107 00:05:32,170 --> 00:05:35,730 ark of the Lord, and they took Dagon and set him in his place again. 108 00:05:35,730 --> 00:05:39,170 So they see this and there could be a lot of things that come 109 00:05:39,170 --> 00:05:40,290 to pass in their minds. 110 00:05:40,290 --> 00:05:43,810 Maybe they thought that it was a mistake, maybe they thought that 111 00:05:44,450 --> 00:05:47,290 the wind came in and blew it over, but ultimately they set it 112 00:05:47,290 --> 00:05:48,810 up and try to figure it out themselves. 113 00:05:48,810 --> 00:05:52,250 And so they're, they're confronted with the truth that God 114 00:05:52,250 --> 00:05:54,930 is more powerful, but yet they set up Dagon again. 115 00:05:55,510 --> 00:05:58,350 This is going to happen in a different way in verse four. 116 00:05:58,350 --> 00:06:02,310 And when they arose early in the morning, morrow morning, behold 117 00:06:02,310 --> 00:06:04,550 Dagon was falling upon his face and the ground before the ark 118 00:06:04,550 --> 00:06:06,910 of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both of the palms of his 119 00:06:06,910 --> 00:06:09,270 hands were cut off upon the threshold. 120 00:06:09,910 --> 00:06:12,230 Only the stump of Dagon was left to him. 121 00:06:13,190 --> 00:06:17,150 So the second day that they come back, maybe if they were confused 122 00:06:17,150 --> 00:06:20,070 or maybe that they doubted that this wasn't something beyond 123 00:06:20,390 --> 00:06:24,640 the norm, the next morning they find their God fallen onto the 124 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:24,800 ground. 125 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:26,960 But this time he's not just on the ground fallen. 126 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,600 He, he's had his hands broken off, his head's broken off, and all 127 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,400 that's there is the stump of the, the torso of Deon. 128 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,600 And so they recognize that obviously something is going on. 129 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:42,360 And after seeing God's power, these Philistine priests have a choice 130 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:42,720 to make. 131 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,120 They could say, well, you know what, maybe the God of Israel is 132 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:46,840 the real God. 133 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:50,030 Maybe we need to stop worshiping this false God of Dagon. 134 00:06:50,030 --> 00:06:52,590 Which there's a lot of theories about who Dagon was. 135 00:06:53,470 --> 00:06:58,150 Some historians believe that Dagon was a God who was represented 136 00:06:58,150 --> 00:06:59,710 as a half fish, half man. 137 00:07:00,510 --> 00:07:03,030 Other scholars don't believe that that's the case, that he was 138 00:07:03,030 --> 00:07:06,870 just represented as a man, but nonetheless Dagon was a false God. 139 00:07:06,870 --> 00:07:10,270 Most people at that time believed that Dagon was the father 140 00:07:10,270 --> 00:07:13,030 of baal, which some of you know, the false God baal. 141 00:07:13,030 --> 00:07:15,150 It's mentioned quite a bit in the Old Testament. 142 00:07:16,070 --> 00:07:17,390 But what they have is a choice. 143 00:07:17,390 --> 00:07:19,830 They could say, well, the God of Israel is more powerful. 144 00:07:20,550 --> 00:07:24,350 They could serve the God of Israel, they could reject the false 145 00:07:24,350 --> 00:07:29,150 God Dagon, or they could just do something else, make it, make 146 00:07:29,150 --> 00:07:31,830 a religious act and come back to their old path. 147 00:07:31,830 --> 00:07:33,390 And verse five tells us that that's what they do. 148 00:07:33,390 --> 00:07:36,950 Therefore, neither the priest of Dagon nor any that come into Dagon's 149 00:07:36,950 --> 00:07:39,910 house tread on the threshold of Dagon and Ashdod unto this day. 150 00:07:40,070 --> 00:07:43,940 So essentially what they do is they create just basically a religious 151 00:07:43,940 --> 00:07:44,420 tradition. 152 00:07:45,060 --> 00:07:48,260 They didn't choose to repent, they didn't choose to turn to the 153 00:07:48,260 --> 00:07:50,820 true God that demonstrated his power over their God. 154 00:07:51,060 --> 00:07:54,940 And this is indicative of every time in our culture that a 155 00:07:54,940 --> 00:07:58,060 God shows himself very clearly, clearly to the world by 156 00:07:58,060 --> 00:08:02,020 the way of truth and the word of God, or by powerful testimonies 157 00:08:02,340 --> 00:08:03,540 about lives changed. 158 00:08:03,540 --> 00:08:06,940 People see that evidence, but yet still reject the truth of God 159 00:08:06,940 --> 00:08:09,920 for various reasons, but ultimately because their rebellion, 160 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:12,920 because of their hardened hearts, because of their sinful nature, 161 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:13,800 because of their pride. 162 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,520 And the Bible says that God resists the proud, but gives grace 163 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:17,000 to the humble. 164 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,600 And so because of their pride and because of their rebellion, they 165 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,400 choose not to worship the God of Israel who proved himself to be 166 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:24,000 more powerful. 167 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,680 They stick to their own God and stick to their religious tradition. 168 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:32,200 And so these Phil, these Philistine priests are, were confronted 169 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,560 with the truth, but they rejected God. 170 00:08:35,959 --> 00:08:37,719 And, and I think that that's what we can see today. 171 00:08:37,959 --> 00:08:42,319 God is, is so clearly revealing himself today. 172 00:08:42,319 --> 00:08:45,279 I think all of us could admit that we live in a dark world and 173 00:08:45,279 --> 00:08:47,639 that there is a battle between good and evil. 174 00:08:48,199 --> 00:08:53,359 And, and God clearly tells us in his Word how it got started, how 175 00:08:53,359 --> 00:08:55,479 this whole world got started and how it's going to end. 176 00:08:55,959 --> 00:08:59,559 And we can see people read, everyone can read the Bible, everyone 177 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:01,400 can see the, the creation of God. 178 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,120 The Bible says that the law of God is written on the hearts of man, 179 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:06,720 but yet those who don't believe are. 180 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,800 It's not a matter of evidence, but it's a matter of faith. 181 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:11,440 It's a matter of humility. 182 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:12,840 It's a matter of pride. 183 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:16,000 It's a matter of whether or not someone's going to reject the 184 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,240 truth of God and submit themselves to his power. 185 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:21,400 So what I would say is this. 186 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:23,880 I was, I was watching a interview one Time. 187 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:28,510 And someone said, well, what if God himself came down and showed 188 00:09:28,510 --> 00:09:33,310 Himself and clearly evidenced to you and gave you visual evidence 189 00:09:33,310 --> 00:09:34,150 that he exists? 190 00:09:34,150 --> 00:09:35,030 What would you do then? 191 00:09:35,190 --> 00:09:38,870 And the guy said, well, I would probably think I was hallucinating 192 00:09:38,950 --> 00:09:40,550 because it couldn't be real, right? 193 00:09:40,550 --> 00:09:43,950 So you see, the hardenedness of man is that even if God does reveal 194 00:09:43,950 --> 00:09:47,150 Himself, which He has revealed himself, it's not a matter of evidence 195 00:09:47,150 --> 00:09:48,910 as much as it is a matter of faith. 196 00:09:48,910 --> 00:09:51,910 And that's what we see with these Philistine priests is it's 197 00:09:51,910 --> 00:09:53,070 not a matter of evidence. 198 00:09:53,070 --> 00:09:56,470 The evidence was clearly there, but it was a matter of faith. 199 00:09:56,790 --> 00:09:57,510 Verse 6. 200 00:09:59,110 --> 00:10:03,790 So, but the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them and Ashdod, and 201 00:10:03,790 --> 00:10:07,950 he destroyed them and smote them with emirates, even Ashdod and 202 00:10:07,950 --> 00:10:08,710 the coast thereof. 203 00:10:08,710 --> 00:10:10,589 So you might not catch what it's saying here is. 204 00:10:10,589 --> 00:10:15,390 But on top of Dagon being destroyed in his own house by the 205 00:10:15,390 --> 00:10:20,190 power of God, God was also judging them because of their rebellion. 206 00:10:20,190 --> 00:10:22,750 And it says that he smote them with emirates. 207 00:10:22,750 --> 00:10:23,710 Now, what are Emirates? 208 00:10:23,710 --> 00:10:26,670 Well, there's a couple different interpretations of that 209 00:10:26,670 --> 00:10:29,630 word, but essentially it's tumors, it's swelling. 210 00:10:30,270 --> 00:10:33,430 It would be some type of evidential sickness that people could 211 00:10:33,430 --> 00:10:34,830 see and evidently feel. 212 00:10:35,550 --> 00:10:38,470 Some scholars believe that it would have been like the bubonic 213 00:10:38,470 --> 00:10:39,630 plague, something like that. 214 00:10:40,030 --> 00:10:41,190 But essentially there were. 215 00:10:41,190 --> 00:10:45,190 There were issues of not just spiritual nature, but now it had 216 00:10:45,190 --> 00:10:47,950 come to the physical side of things, and God was revealing Himself 217 00:10:48,410 --> 00:10:50,490 by way of sickness to the people of Ashdod. 218 00:10:50,890 --> 00:10:51,450 Verse 7. 219 00:10:51,450 --> 00:10:54,770 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, the ark 220 00:10:54,770 --> 00:10:58,290 of God of Israel shall not abide with us, for his hand is sore 221 00:10:58,290 --> 00:11:00,730 upon us and upon Dagon, our God. 222 00:11:01,770 --> 00:11:04,970 So again, it's not a matter of evidence, because they evidently 223 00:11:04,970 --> 00:11:06,770 see that the power of God is upon them. 224 00:11:06,770 --> 00:11:09,850 But instead of seeing this as a judgment, instead of getting right 225 00:11:09,850 --> 00:11:13,130 with God, instead of turning away from Dagon, they say, we got 226 00:11:13,130 --> 00:11:14,250 to get rid of this God. 227 00:11:14,330 --> 00:11:15,450 We got to get rid of Him. 228 00:11:15,730 --> 00:11:16,850 This conviction, this. 229 00:11:16,850 --> 00:11:18,770 This judgment is not something that we want. 230 00:11:18,770 --> 00:11:21,330 We want to squiggle out of that and go back to our old ways. 231 00:11:21,970 --> 00:11:25,290 Again, that's evidence through folks today that aren't willing to 232 00:11:25,290 --> 00:11:27,410 hear the truth of the preaching of the Word of God, because 233 00:11:27,410 --> 00:11:30,490 conviction allows many people to feel uncomfortable, which it should 234 00:11:30,490 --> 00:11:31,570 make us feel uncomfortable. 235 00:11:31,810 --> 00:11:34,850 But it's how we deal with that conviction and the judgment of God 236 00:11:34,850 --> 00:11:35,770 that really matters. 237 00:11:35,770 --> 00:11:38,890 And so these people here in Ashdod are saying, we just got to 238 00:11:38,890 --> 00:11:39,490 get rid of this. 239 00:11:39,490 --> 00:11:41,530 We got to get rid of this preaching, we got to get rid of this 240 00:11:41,530 --> 00:11:41,850 word. 241 00:11:41,850 --> 00:11:43,170 We got to get rid of the power. 242 00:11:43,330 --> 00:11:45,650 We have to just avoid this at all costs. 243 00:11:46,420 --> 00:11:48,940 And so I would encourage us to think about that today and how that 244 00:11:48,940 --> 00:11:53,460 looks for us within our world and understand that when the power 245 00:11:53,460 --> 00:11:57,500 of God is evidently seen and when God is dealing with sin, we 246 00:11:57,500 --> 00:11:58,740 shouldn't run away from him. 247 00:11:58,980 --> 00:12:00,900 The opposite would be to get right with him. 248 00:12:00,900 --> 00:12:03,700 And we know that the Philistines don't do that, because 249 00:12:03,700 --> 00:12:04,420 what do they do? 250 00:12:04,420 --> 00:12:06,100 They say, we got to get rid of this. 251 00:12:06,660 --> 00:12:09,660 And verse eight, they sent, therefore, and gathered all the lords 252 00:12:09,660 --> 00:12:12,580 of the Philistines unto them and said, what shall we do with the 253 00:12:12,580 --> 00:12:13,780 ark of the God of Israel? 254 00:12:14,610 --> 00:12:16,290 So we have a meeting of the minds here. 255 00:12:17,170 --> 00:12:20,890 Instead of in repentance, turning to God, they come up with 256 00:12:20,890 --> 00:12:23,570 their own worldly wisdom, they come up with their own path. 257 00:12:23,570 --> 00:12:27,570 And they answered and said, let the ark of God of Israel be carried 258 00:12:27,970 --> 00:12:29,090 about unto Gath. 259 00:12:29,330 --> 00:12:33,490 So they think maybe just changing our city will be the answer. 260 00:12:33,490 --> 00:12:35,370 Maybe it's just something with Ashdod here. 261 00:12:35,370 --> 00:12:36,450 We need to move it over to Gath. 262 00:12:36,450 --> 00:12:39,770 Now, some of you are familiar with Gath, related to. 263 00:12:39,770 --> 00:12:42,350 That's where Goliath, the giant Goliath comes from. 264 00:12:42,430 --> 00:12:44,430 But he was a Philistine as well. 265 00:12:44,430 --> 00:12:45,350 But Gath is a. 266 00:12:45,350 --> 00:12:46,110 A city there. 267 00:12:46,430 --> 00:12:46,750 And. 268 00:12:46,750 --> 00:12:50,350 And the land of Canaan, which was one of the major cities of the 269 00:12:50,350 --> 00:12:50,790 Philistines. 270 00:12:50,790 --> 00:12:53,390 And so they say, let's just try to avoid it and go to Gath. 271 00:12:53,470 --> 00:12:56,510 And they carried the ark of God of Israel about thither. 272 00:12:57,310 --> 00:13:00,470 And so they believe that this is the answer. 273 00:13:00,470 --> 00:13:03,430 And so instead of submitting to the God of Israel, they decide 274 00:13:03,430 --> 00:13:04,270 to get rid of him. 275 00:13:04,910 --> 00:13:08,190 And we all know that as much as any culture has tried to get rid 276 00:13:08,190 --> 00:13:09,790 of God, you can't get rid of God. 277 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:12,920 We can do things to try to push him away. 278 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:19,000 And even in many cases, scares me so much every time it does that, 279 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,520 you know, I. I will tell you that the technology here has really 280 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:25,560 been trying to fight against me this last few weeks. 281 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,440 So if you guys were here Sunday night, I had, like, a choking 282 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:29,120 problem. 283 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,840 I had, like, had chili before the service, and my throat was getting 284 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:32,880 all messed up. 285 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:34,520 So I'm sorry for the distractions. 286 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:37,910 It's just the, you know, um, the enemy trying to stop us. 287 00:13:37,910 --> 00:13:43,030 But anyway, they're going to Gath and they're gonna see if that's 288 00:13:43,030 --> 00:13:43,870 gonna change it. 289 00:13:44,110 --> 00:13:47,590 But ultimately all of us are gonna face God and the people of 290 00:13:47,590 --> 00:13:49,150 Gath do the same thing, verse nine. 291 00:13:49,150 --> 00:13:52,350 And it was so that after they had carried it about, the hand of 292 00:13:52,350 --> 00:13:55,430 the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction. 293 00:13:55,430 --> 00:13:58,230 And he smoked the men of the city, both small and great, and they 294 00:13:58,230 --> 00:14:00,230 had emirates and their secret parts. 295 00:14:00,230 --> 00:14:04,180 And so what we can see here is that in verse number nine, it isn't 296 00:14:04,180 --> 00:14:04,740 any better. 297 00:14:05,060 --> 00:14:08,980 The city of Gath tries to do the same thing in rebellion to God. 298 00:14:09,140 --> 00:14:12,420 And we see that there's more destruction and more pain in their 299 00:14:12,420 --> 00:14:13,780 rebellion and their sin. 300 00:14:14,260 --> 00:14:17,500 So God is still proving himself to be all powerful, even 301 00:14:17,500 --> 00:14:19,860 over people that don't believe in him. 302 00:14:20,020 --> 00:14:20,740 Verse 10. 303 00:14:21,060 --> 00:14:24,740 Therefore, they sent the Ark of of God to Ekron, which is another 304 00:14:24,740 --> 00:14:25,460 one of their cities. 305 00:14:25,460 --> 00:14:29,180 And it came to pass as the Ark of God came to Ekron that the Ekronites 306 00:14:29,180 --> 00:14:33,210 cried out, saying, they have brought about the Ark of God of Israel 307 00:14:33,210 --> 00:14:34,690 to us, to slay us and our people. 308 00:14:34,690 --> 00:14:37,290 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines 309 00:14:37,290 --> 00:14:40,850 and said, send away the ark of God of Israel and let it go again 310 00:14:40,930 --> 00:14:45,090 unto this his own place that it slay us not and to our people. 311 00:14:45,410 --> 00:14:48,010 For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city. 312 00:14:48,010 --> 00:14:50,290 The hand of God was very heavy there. 313 00:14:50,850 --> 00:14:54,690 And so the Ark of the covenant was basically at this point in time, 314 00:14:54,690 --> 00:14:57,250 just being bounced about through all these Philistine cities. 315 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,840 And every single city that it was at, it was showing judgment, 316 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:03,160 it was showing this pain. 317 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,320 And the Ekronites were not happy to see the ark there. 318 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,760 And still, though they didn't submit to God. 319 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:11,920 And so the Philistines eventually come up with a plan to 320 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:12,600 say, you know what? 321 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:13,480 We're giving it back. 322 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:18,120 Instead of repenting, they turn to just trying to avoid their 323 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:18,760 problems. 324 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:24,090 And that's many times how we see people in the world today living 325 00:15:24,090 --> 00:15:26,330 in rebellion, try to deal with their problems, just try to avoid 326 00:15:26,330 --> 00:15:29,330 it, just try to cover it up, just try to send it somewhere else. 327 00:15:29,650 --> 00:15:31,450 And that's exactly what they try to do here. 328 00:15:31,450 --> 00:15:32,090 So verse 12. 329 00:15:32,090 --> 00:15:35,730 And the men that died were not smitten with the emirates, and the 330 00:15:35,730 --> 00:15:37,570 cry of the city went up to heaven. 331 00:15:39,809 --> 00:15:45,010 So what we can ultimately see here is that this is a story of God's 332 00:15:45,010 --> 00:15:50,090 power over the unfaithfulness of his own people, his power over 333 00:15:50,090 --> 00:15:51,890 rebellion of the Philistines. 334 00:15:52,460 --> 00:15:56,780 And really what we see is this hand of judgment upon those in that 335 00:15:56,780 --> 00:15:57,100 sin. 336 00:15:57,100 --> 00:16:01,100 And so the Philistines, if they would have, and we have enough 337 00:16:01,100 --> 00:16:05,140 proof in the Old Testament to know that even Gentiles, when they 338 00:16:05,140 --> 00:16:08,460 turn to The Lord and repentance came to find salvation. 339 00:16:08,780 --> 00:16:12,620 So, for example, you have Rahab, among many others, Ruth. 340 00:16:13,100 --> 00:16:15,340 So it didn't mean that just because they were not Israelites 341 00:16:15,340 --> 00:16:16,540 that they couldn't find salvation. 342 00:16:16,540 --> 00:16:18,380 They could have repented and turned towards the Lord. 343 00:16:19,790 --> 00:16:21,270 The art could have been a blessing to them. 344 00:16:21,270 --> 00:16:23,790 But at the same time, we know that it was not a blessing to them 345 00:16:24,670 --> 00:16:28,950 because of their lack of desire to know the true God and to 346 00:16:28,950 --> 00:16:30,990 love him and to follow him and to obey him. 347 00:16:31,470 --> 00:16:35,230 Which is a passage when we were going through Second Corinthians, 348 00:16:35,230 --> 00:16:35,950 if you remember. 349 00:16:35,950 --> 00:16:38,470 I want you to see this because this is a principle that we even 350 00:16:38,470 --> 00:16:38,950 see today. 351 00:16:38,950 --> 00:16:42,350 Second Corinthians, chapter 2, verses 15 and 16. 352 00:16:43,470 --> 00:16:50,380 The same truth that can be a blessing to us as Christians is painful 353 00:16:51,020 --> 00:16:53,260 and a hardship to those who are in rebellion. 354 00:16:54,060 --> 00:16:56,180 We're going to look at two different New Testament passages 355 00:16:56,180 --> 00:16:59,420 that I think illustrate the principle that we see here in 1st 356 00:16:59,420 --> 00:17:00,540 Samuel, chapter 5. 357 00:17:00,860 --> 00:17:05,660 So in 2nd Corinthians, chapter 2, verses 15 and 16, it says, for 358 00:17:05,660 --> 00:17:10,540 we are unto God a sweet Savior of Christ in them that are saved 359 00:17:10,540 --> 00:17:12,060 and in them that perish. 360 00:17:12,220 --> 00:17:15,300 To the one we are a savor of death, unto death, to the and to 361 00:17:15,300 --> 00:17:17,900 the other, the Savior of life unto life, and who is sufficient 362 00:17:17,900 --> 00:17:18,340 for these things. 363 00:17:18,340 --> 00:17:21,420 And so what we can see here is that Jesus in, in. 364 00:17:22,380 --> 00:17:26,260 In many ways for Christians and in all ways for Christians is 365 00:17:26,260 --> 00:17:27,180 a beautiful thing. 366 00:17:27,180 --> 00:17:29,140 It's an exciting thing to know that we're saved. 367 00:17:29,140 --> 00:17:31,580 It's an exciting thing to know that we have life. 368 00:17:31,580 --> 00:17:34,780 It's exciting thing to know that our knee will bow to the Lord. 369 00:17:34,860 --> 00:17:38,380 But for those that are in rebellion, Jesus is, is an offense. 370 00:17:38,460 --> 00:17:43,170 It's, it's something not for blessing, but to them it's a curse. 371 00:17:43,730 --> 00:17:46,370 And we'll see a couple of other passages of scripture that 372 00:17:46,370 --> 00:17:47,570 specifically speak that. 373 00:17:48,290 --> 00:17:51,970 But what, what I will say to you is that in the world today, many 374 00:17:51,970 --> 00:17:57,090 people are okay with talking about God. 375 00:17:58,290 --> 00:18:00,850 Many people are okay with talking about religion. 376 00:18:01,410 --> 00:18:05,370 Most people are okay with you expressing yourself with religious 377 00:18:05,370 --> 00:18:09,400 freedom until it comes down to the wire. 378 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:12,240 And we say that there's one way, and that one way is found in 379 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:12,840 Jesus Christ. 380 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:17,160 Now, in the case of First Samuel, what happened was, is that 381 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:20,080 the Philistines saw the ark of God and they thought, well, this 382 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:24,480 would be something beneficial for us to add to our God here and 383 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,880 maybe we can find some kind of power that the Israelites are finding 384 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:28,520 in this ark. 385 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:30,880 Maybe there's something that's emanating from this ark that can 386 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:32,000 give us some type of benefit. 387 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,980 But when the ark wasn't bringing them benefit, what did they 388 00:18:34,980 --> 00:18:35,140 say? 389 00:18:35,140 --> 00:18:36,300 Well, we need to get rid of it. 390 00:18:36,540 --> 00:18:41,020 And a lot of times people will use the Bible or they use Christianity 391 00:18:41,020 --> 00:18:45,300 or they use religion as somewhat of a religious trinket that 392 00:18:45,300 --> 00:18:48,620 they can add on to their life as some kind of good luck charm. 393 00:18:48,779 --> 00:18:52,060 But when the realization is, is that, hey, I'm a sinner, I need 394 00:18:52,060 --> 00:18:54,900 Jesus Christ as savior, and the truth of God is essentially wrapped 395 00:18:54,900 --> 00:18:58,500 up in the fact that the gospel is the only way for salvation, that 396 00:18:58,500 --> 00:19:02,190 all of us need a savior, that none of us can save ourselves, that's 397 00:19:02,190 --> 00:19:05,470 when we start to see people in the world that are in rebellion squirm. 398 00:19:05,470 --> 00:19:05,630 Right? 399 00:19:05,630 --> 00:19:05,950 It's a. 400 00:19:05,950 --> 00:19:06,830 It's a stumbling block. 401 00:19:06,830 --> 00:19:10,470 And I want you to see in First Peter, Chapter 2, this exact principle, 402 00:19:11,270 --> 00:19:15,510 First Peter, Chapter 2, speaks of Jesus being a rock of offense 403 00:19:15,829 --> 00:19:16,430 to those. 404 00:19:16,430 --> 00:19:19,350 And for some, he's the cornerstone of our salvation. 405 00:19:20,710 --> 00:19:23,990 So for the Philistines, they look at the ark and they say, wow, 406 00:19:24,870 --> 00:19:27,600 the ark makes the Israelites powerful. 407 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:30,440 So we want to take the ark and we want to bring that in. 408 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,280 Well, when they brought it in on their terms and in their way, 409 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,080 it didn't bring blessing, it brought judgment. 410 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,960 So when people try to bring in a different Jesus or a Jesus that 411 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,400 they can understand or a Jesus that they support, but it's not the 412 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,080 Jesus of the Bible, they're bringing in something trying to bring 413 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,160 the blessings of Jesus, but when they bring it in, in, in a way 414 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,840 that is wrong, there's ultimately judgment, there's. 415 00:19:52,230 --> 00:19:55,230 There's pain and there's confusion, and we see it's a rock 416 00:19:55,230 --> 00:19:55,630 of event. 417 00:19:55,630 --> 00:20:01,230 So in First Peter, chapter two, we'll go to verse number four, 418 00:20:01,230 --> 00:20:04,070 because I think that this will, will allow us to kind of see 419 00:20:04,150 --> 00:20:05,590 the bigger context here. 420 00:20:05,910 --> 00:20:07,190 It says, to whom coming? 421 00:20:08,630 --> 00:20:12,030 And so what he's talking about here is Jesus. 422 00:20:12,030 --> 00:20:13,270 He's talking about Jesus coming. 423 00:20:13,270 --> 00:20:16,910 And he already had come at this point as unto a living stone, 424 00:20:16,910 --> 00:20:18,470 disallowed indeed of men. 425 00:20:18,550 --> 00:20:21,610 So he was rejected of men, but chosen of God and precious. 426 00:20:22,090 --> 00:20:24,850 Then he points to the people who believe in Jesus, and he says, 427 00:20:24,850 --> 00:20:26,290 ye are also livelier. 428 00:20:26,290 --> 00:20:30,010 Living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood 429 00:20:30,010 --> 00:20:33,330 to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus 430 00:20:33,330 --> 00:20:33,610 Christ. 431 00:20:33,850 --> 00:20:38,090 So he says, when you trust in the Lord as your Savior and you have 432 00:20:38,090 --> 00:20:40,730 faith in him, you are a living stone. 433 00:20:41,050 --> 00:20:43,850 And so what Peter is doing is he's trying to paint a picture. 434 00:20:44,090 --> 00:20:47,130 And the picture is, is that we're building a spiritual house. 435 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:52,080 And so the spiritual house is built up through living stones. 436 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:53,720 That's us, that's the believers. 437 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,880 But then he says the spiritual houses are built for a purpose, to 438 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:01,640 offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 439 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,600 So ultimately we're there to glorify God. 440 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:06,360 We're ultimately there to praise Him. 441 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,680 But then he says in verse number six, wherefore also it is 442 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:11,480 contained in the Scripture. 443 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,800 And this is a reference to Psalm 118. 444 00:21:14,970 --> 00:21:17,930 Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone. 445 00:21:18,250 --> 00:21:20,570 So there's a bunch of living stones. 446 00:21:20,730 --> 00:21:23,450 That's us and that's other Christians throughout history. 447 00:21:23,930 --> 00:21:25,810 But there is a chief cornerstone. 448 00:21:25,810 --> 00:21:26,850 Or think about it this way. 449 00:21:26,850 --> 00:21:30,169 There's a foundation that all these stones are built upon. 450 00:21:30,169 --> 00:21:33,130 It says, behold, I lay a scion, a chief cornerstone, elect 451 00:21:33,130 --> 00:21:33,930 and precious. 452 00:21:34,570 --> 00:21:37,050 So he's chosen by God for a specific purpose. 453 00:21:37,050 --> 00:21:39,210 And we know that that's the purpose of redemption. 454 00:21:39,210 --> 00:21:43,050 And he that believeth on him shall not be confounded or not be 455 00:21:43,050 --> 00:21:43,690 put to shame. 456 00:21:43,690 --> 00:21:48,740 So the difference between those who are put to shame, judged, 457 00:21:49,060 --> 00:21:52,140 condemned, and those that don't have that condemnation, who 458 00:21:52,140 --> 00:21:55,300 have righteousness, who have salvation, are those who trust in 459 00:21:55,300 --> 00:21:55,940 Jesus Christ. 460 00:21:56,740 --> 00:21:58,020 He's the same Jesus. 461 00:21:58,020 --> 00:22:01,460 He's the same stone for the Christian, for the believer, he's 462 00:22:01,460 --> 00:22:02,820 a Chief Cornerstone. 463 00:22:03,220 --> 00:22:03,940 Verse 7. 464 00:22:04,580 --> 00:22:07,860 Unto you therefore, which believe, he is precious. 465 00:22:08,820 --> 00:22:10,900 So for the believer, Jesus is precious. 466 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:12,480 He's the chief cornerstone. 467 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:14,040 He's everything we build our life on. 468 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:16,640 He's everything that we we are. 469 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:17,640 He's our identity. 470 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,440 But unto them which be disobedient. 471 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:22,640 So this is speaking to those who don't believe. 472 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,200 It's not just about, hey, a Christian fails here and there. 473 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,960 And once you're disobedient, now you've lost this blessing. 474 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:30,880 He's specifically talking about those who have not believed, 475 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,800 who have rejected the truth of who Jesus is. 476 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:39,160 He says, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the 477 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:41,080 builders disallowed or rejected. 478 00:22:41,860 --> 00:22:44,620 So when he's talking about the builders, he's talking specifically 479 00:22:44,620 --> 00:22:46,740 about the religious leaders of Jesus's day. 480 00:22:46,820 --> 00:22:47,180 They. 481 00:22:47,180 --> 00:22:48,260 They rejected him. 482 00:22:48,340 --> 00:22:50,500 The same is made head of the corner. 483 00:22:50,900 --> 00:22:54,820 So he says that same Jesus that some rejected, you believe, 484 00:22:54,820 --> 00:22:57,300 but some rejected, he is the cornerstone. 485 00:22:57,300 --> 00:22:58,580 He's the chief of the corner. 486 00:22:58,580 --> 00:22:59,860 He's the head of the cornerstone. 487 00:23:00,180 --> 00:23:04,660 And for the Christian, that's a blessing that's precious. 488 00:23:05,060 --> 00:23:05,740 Verse 8. 489 00:23:05,740 --> 00:23:10,370 And a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which 490 00:23:10,370 --> 00:23:14,570 stumble at the word being disobedient, wherein to also they 491 00:23:14,570 --> 00:23:15,370 were appointed. 492 00:23:16,170 --> 00:23:17,690 So what we see here is this. 493 00:23:18,330 --> 00:23:19,530 He says, Verse 8. 494 00:23:20,170 --> 00:23:25,890 The same stone that is the precious cornerstone of who we are 495 00:23:25,890 --> 00:23:30,650 as Christians is the same rock of offense for those who don't believe 496 00:23:31,210 --> 00:23:35,460 who ultimately were, are destined for judgment. 497 00:23:35,460 --> 00:23:36,460 That's what he's saying there. 498 00:23:36,460 --> 00:23:39,820 So the point I'm trying to make here this evening is that we 499 00:23:39,820 --> 00:23:45,060 don't worship a different Jesus that judges those that are 500 00:23:45,060 --> 00:23:45,980 in rebellion. 501 00:23:45,980 --> 00:23:46,980 It's the same Jesus. 502 00:23:47,300 --> 00:23:51,300 But when you mention the word Jesus, the Christian should celebrate. 503 00:23:51,700 --> 00:23:54,100 The Christian should feel warmth in one's heart. 504 00:23:54,100 --> 00:23:56,860 The Christian should think about all the beautiful things that 505 00:23:56,860 --> 00:24:00,500 Jesus is to them as Savior, as Lord, as shepherd. 506 00:24:01,540 --> 00:24:02,580 It's kind of like when. 507 00:24:02,580 --> 00:24:07,700 When people are talking to me about my family, like, maybe someone 508 00:24:07,700 --> 00:24:10,700 says, hey, you know, like, your child did really good in class 509 00:24:10,700 --> 00:24:11,060 today. 510 00:24:11,060 --> 00:24:13,340 Like, that brings that heart to me. 511 00:24:13,340 --> 00:24:14,780 Of, like, that's exciting. 512 00:24:14,780 --> 00:24:16,580 That's a blessing, because I love that person. 513 00:24:16,900 --> 00:24:20,540 So anytime I hear something good about someone that I love, I 514 00:24:20,540 --> 00:24:21,380 should get excited. 515 00:24:21,380 --> 00:24:22,900 And that's the same thing about Jesus. 516 00:24:23,300 --> 00:24:26,460 But for someone who is in rebellion to Jesus, whether they 517 00:24:26,460 --> 00:24:30,300 know it or not, they're ultimately going to have, as it says 518 00:24:30,300 --> 00:24:31,580 here, a rock of stumbling. 519 00:24:31,660 --> 00:24:33,820 It's going to be an offense to them. 520 00:24:34,780 --> 00:24:38,860 So that is why the Bible is telling us that's why people are 521 00:24:38,860 --> 00:24:41,580 okay with religion until you start talking about Jesus. 522 00:24:41,580 --> 00:24:43,419 Because Jesus is that cornerstone. 523 00:24:43,419 --> 00:24:44,060 He is that. 524 00:24:44,060 --> 00:24:48,140 He is that polarizing figure that basically everything rides on 525 00:24:48,140 --> 00:24:49,260 when it comes to salvation. 526 00:24:49,980 --> 00:24:52,540 And so that's what we see all the way back in First Samuel. 527 00:24:53,020 --> 00:24:56,340 It was seen in the ark, but what they did is they brought that 528 00:24:56,340 --> 00:24:59,370 in, thinking that they could apply it to the way that they want 529 00:24:59,370 --> 00:25:01,090 to apply it to in their own life. 530 00:25:01,090 --> 00:25:04,610 But what we can see is that that brings offense and judgment. 531 00:25:04,930 --> 00:25:08,850 And there's really only one way to respond to God's power, and 532 00:25:08,850 --> 00:25:12,410 that is to fear him in a healthy respect and to submit to 533 00:25:12,410 --> 00:25:15,370 him and to repent before him or be judged. 534 00:25:15,370 --> 00:25:18,050 As the Bible says in Philippians chapter two, that one 535 00:25:18,050 --> 00:25:20,290 day every knee is going to bow, every tongue is going to confess 536 00:25:20,290 --> 00:25:21,650 that Jesus Christ is Lord. 537 00:25:21,890 --> 00:25:26,500 Those that are believers will confess it by way of salvation and 538 00:25:26,500 --> 00:25:27,140 celebration. 539 00:25:27,540 --> 00:25:31,780 Those that are not are going to confess it in judgment and in 540 00:25:31,780 --> 00:25:32,180 pain. 541 00:25:32,420 --> 00:25:35,260 But it'll be a recognition one way or the other at one point in 542 00:25:35,260 --> 00:25:35,540 time. 543 00:25:35,860 --> 00:25:38,860 And every single person that's ever walked this planet will eventually 544 00:25:38,860 --> 00:25:40,860 recognize who Jesus is. 545 00:25:40,860 --> 00:25:45,260 And whether or not they're doing it through salvation and celebration 546 00:25:45,260 --> 00:25:48,580 or pain and judgment, it's going to still be a proclamation. 547 00:25:48,660 --> 00:25:52,390 And so even those Philistines that were rejecting will eventually 548 00:25:52,870 --> 00:25:57,550 recognize the power of, of God seen in Jesus Christ. 549 00:25:57,550 --> 00:25:59,590 And so I think about that today. 550 00:25:59,670 --> 00:26:03,110 So what's the practical application today for us as believers? 551 00:26:04,310 --> 00:26:09,270 We know that the Bible says in, in 2 Corinthians, and, and I 552 00:26:09,270 --> 00:26:11,950 want you to see this because I, I've often talked about this in 553 00:26:11,950 --> 00:26:18,140 different capacities, but I don't know if it's been recent since 554 00:26:18,140 --> 00:26:20,620 I brought this up in a church service. 555 00:26:20,620 --> 00:26:22,620 I've done it in some of my Bible studies recently. 556 00:26:22,780 --> 00:26:26,580 But in Second Corinthians, chapter 11, the reason why we're 557 00:26:26,580 --> 00:26:30,420 so adamant about warning, about knowing who the true Jesus 558 00:26:30,420 --> 00:26:33,780 is, the Second Corinthians, chapter 11, verse number four, tells 559 00:26:33,780 --> 00:26:42,140 us that there will be some that come preaching Jesus, but seemingly 560 00:26:42,140 --> 00:26:43,260 a different Jesus. 561 00:26:44,590 --> 00:26:48,870 And so what, what we're seeing here is that, yes, if someone is 562 00:26:48,870 --> 00:26:52,630 proclaiming the true Jesus, that's something that we should celebrate, 563 00:26:52,630 --> 00:26:54,270 even if they're not exactly like us. 564 00:26:54,750 --> 00:26:56,070 Jesus even referenced that. 565 00:26:56,070 --> 00:26:58,990 And even Paul references that like, hey, they might have different 566 00:26:59,630 --> 00:27:02,110 preferences than us, they might worship a little bit different 567 00:27:02,110 --> 00:27:05,030 than us, but if they're preaching the true Jesus, we celebrate 568 00:27:05,030 --> 00:27:05,310 that. 569 00:27:06,030 --> 00:27:08,470 We don't have to have the same convictions as them, but what we 570 00:27:08,470 --> 00:27:09,790 do is we say, hey, they're preaching Jesus. 571 00:27:09,790 --> 00:27:10,710 Jesus is being heard. 572 00:27:10,710 --> 00:27:11,550 That's fantastic. 573 00:27:11,940 --> 00:27:12,300 Amen. 574 00:27:12,300 --> 00:27:13,300 Praise God to that. 575 00:27:13,700 --> 00:27:17,500 But what Second Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 4 says is that 576 00:27:17,500 --> 00:27:18,860 for if he's. 577 00:27:18,860 --> 00:27:20,340 He's warning of false teachers. 578 00:27:20,500 --> 00:27:24,020 Actually, let's just jump back a little bit by way of context, because 579 00:27:24,020 --> 00:27:26,540 I really want you guys to see this, because I really believe that 580 00:27:26,540 --> 00:27:29,220 this is something that we have to be so conscious of within our 581 00:27:29,300 --> 00:27:30,420 Christian walk today. 582 00:27:30,580 --> 00:27:33,580 Says verse one of Second Corinthians, chapter 11 would to 583 00:27:33,580 --> 00:27:38,300 God ye could bear with me a little in my folly and indeed bear 584 00:27:38,300 --> 00:27:38,620 with me. 585 00:27:38,620 --> 00:27:40,060 So he says, bear with me. 586 00:27:40,060 --> 00:27:41,500 Now, you have to understand the context. 587 00:27:41,500 --> 00:27:45,060 In Second Corinthians, chapter 11, Paul is being accused of being 588 00:27:45,060 --> 00:27:49,060 a false teacher by false teachers, which puts yourself in 589 00:27:49,060 --> 00:27:51,620 a really hard place, because when you have false teachers saying 590 00:27:51,620 --> 00:27:54,980 that you're the false teacher, you're kind of like, what am I doing? 591 00:27:54,980 --> 00:27:55,260 How. 592 00:27:55,260 --> 00:27:56,220 How can I overcome this? 593 00:27:56,220 --> 00:27:59,620 So he just says, bear with me in my false teaching while I give 594 00:27:59,620 --> 00:28:00,300 you the truth. 595 00:28:00,380 --> 00:28:00,780 Okay? 596 00:28:00,780 --> 00:28:01,420 That's what he's saying. 597 00:28:01,420 --> 00:28:04,420 He says, for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy. 598 00:28:04,420 --> 00:28:08,440 And so Paul basically says, you in the, in the Corinthian Church, 599 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,960 I'm so jealous of you because I Love you and, and jealousy in and 600 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:14,240 of itself is not a bad thing. 601 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:15,560 Selfish jealousy is bad. 602 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,480 Selfish jealousy is a terrible thing because I want something to 603 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:18,920 myself. 604 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:21,880 But I would say that God is jealous for us. 605 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:23,200 So jealousy is a good thing. 606 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:24,280 Like I'm jealous of my wife. 607 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:26,040 I want my wife to love me and love me alone. 608 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:26,480 That's it. 609 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:28,240 That's in, in the concept of marriage. 610 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:28,480 That's. 611 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,520 That's the picture of what we're seeing. 612 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:34,900 Reese says, I, I, I love you with a godly jealousy, for I have 613 00:28:34,900 --> 00:28:36,580 espoused you to one husband. 614 00:28:36,580 --> 00:28:38,500 He says, you are the bride of Christ. 615 00:28:38,580 --> 00:28:40,260 You are now married to Jesus. 616 00:28:40,580 --> 00:28:44,060 And so for Paul, in his mind, he's like, for you to come and follow 617 00:28:44,060 --> 00:28:48,820 these false teachers is like you committing adultery to your husband. 618 00:28:49,300 --> 00:28:52,260 And he says that, he says, you have been espoused to one husband, 619 00:28:52,260 --> 00:28:54,660 that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 620 00:28:55,300 --> 00:28:57,540 But I fear lest by any means. 621 00:28:58,110 --> 00:29:02,350 As the serpent beguiled Eve, so the serpent deceived Eve through 622 00:29:02,350 --> 00:29:03,230 his subtlety. 623 00:29:03,790 --> 00:29:07,550 So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity or 624 00:29:07,550 --> 00:29:11,710 the pure focus that is Christ, that is in Christ. 625 00:29:12,350 --> 00:29:15,870 For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus. 626 00:29:16,110 --> 00:29:20,470 So Paul says, there are people that are coming to you, and they're 627 00:29:20,470 --> 00:29:22,510 preaching Jesus, but it's a different Jesus. 628 00:29:22,830 --> 00:29:26,610 He says, for if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we have 629 00:29:26,610 --> 00:29:30,090 not preached, he says, remember, Paul's the apostle. 630 00:29:30,810 --> 00:29:33,130 He is a mouthpiece of God to the people. 631 00:29:33,290 --> 00:29:36,050 And he says, you've heard the true Jesus, and if someone preaches 632 00:29:36,050 --> 00:29:39,290 a different Jesus, that's not the true Jesus, or if you receive 633 00:29:39,689 --> 00:29:41,370 any other spirit. 634 00:29:42,730 --> 00:29:45,490 So this is kind of difficult for us to understand, but what that 635 00:29:45,490 --> 00:29:48,690 means is that, yes, we receive the spirit of the Holy Ghost, we 636 00:29:48,690 --> 00:29:51,200 receive the Holy Spirit, but there are other spirits out there. 637 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,600 That's why the Bible says, test every spirit, whether or not 638 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:54,520 it comes from God. 639 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,320 So what that means is that there can be religious experiences 640 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:00,920 or spiritual experiences that we have that are not from God. 641 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,160 And I know that's hard for our Western minds to think about, but 642 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:07,560 folks, there is a spiritual battle going on behind the scenes 643 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:12,680 that can be what is seemingly a good thing, but it's actually darkness. 644 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:15,080 It's actually from the spirit realm that's evil. 645 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:17,080 So he says, don't receive another spirit. 646 00:30:17,410 --> 00:30:19,410 Don't listen to the teaching of another spirit. 647 00:30:19,730 --> 00:30:22,210 And so we'll talk more about that later on. 648 00:30:22,210 --> 00:30:25,050 But then he says, or, or if you receive another spirit which 649 00:30:25,050 --> 00:30:27,490 ye have not received, or another gospel. 650 00:30:28,050 --> 00:30:31,130 Remember, gospel means Good news, another gospel which you have 651 00:30:31,130 --> 00:30:34,690 not accepted, you might well bear with him, which, which means 652 00:30:35,650 --> 00:30:38,250 you, you put up with it long enough, you shouldn't bear with that 653 00:30:38,250 --> 00:30:38,610 anymore. 654 00:30:38,610 --> 00:30:40,050 Okay, so what. 655 00:30:40,050 --> 00:30:41,050 Why am I saying all this? 656 00:30:41,050 --> 00:30:44,120 Because someone might come and say, this is, this is. 657 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:46,040 That was a long Runway to get to where I'm at. 658 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,360 But someone might come to you and say, look, don't you love Jesus? 659 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:51,960 Jesus loves you. 660 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:53,800 That sounds like a beautiful message. 661 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:56,800 But what I'm going to tell you is, is that make sure you know what 662 00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,840 type of Jesus is being preached, because if it's not the 663 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:03,400 Jesus that's presented in the word of God, it's not the Jesus that 664 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:04,760 we should be believing in. 665 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,600 And so I just want to be clear about that, because here in, throughout 666 00:31:09,370 --> 00:31:12,130 the whole Old Testament and the New, but particularly here in 667 00:31:12,130 --> 00:31:14,650 Second Corinthians, chapter 11, the Bible says that there can 668 00:31:14,650 --> 00:31:17,450 be a different Jesus preached, there can be a different spirit received, 669 00:31:17,610 --> 00:31:20,330 and there can be a different Gospel preached. 670 00:31:20,810 --> 00:31:24,210 So, so one might say here by way of application, well, Pastor, 671 00:31:24,210 --> 00:31:26,090 how do I know if it's the right Jesus or not? 672 00:31:26,330 --> 00:31:26,730 How. 673 00:31:26,730 --> 00:31:29,970 How do I know that someone that's proclaiming Jesus is proclaiming 674 00:31:29,970 --> 00:31:30,890 the true Jesus? 675 00:31:30,970 --> 00:31:34,530 Well, first and foremost, what do they believe about that Jesus? 676 00:31:34,530 --> 00:31:37,100 Do they believe that Jesus is God? 677 00:31:37,660 --> 00:31:39,660 If they don't believe that Jesus is God, they're. 678 00:31:39,660 --> 00:31:41,340 They're contradicting the Word. 679 00:31:41,820 --> 00:31:44,780 John, chapter one, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word 680 00:31:44,780 --> 00:31:46,700 was with God, and the Word was God. 681 00:31:47,260 --> 00:31:49,900 And so there's a lot of people out there today that will say, well, 682 00:31:49,900 --> 00:31:52,980 Jesus is not God, but he's a good prophet, or he's a creation 683 00:31:52,980 --> 00:31:54,140 of God, or he's. 684 00:31:54,140 --> 00:31:57,500 He's a powerful spirit, or he's a powerful being, whatever they 685 00:31:57,500 --> 00:32:01,580 say, if it's counter to what the Bible says about the true person 686 00:32:02,310 --> 00:32:05,350 and work of Jesus Christ, and they are preaching a different Jesus. 687 00:32:05,430 --> 00:32:09,870 So I say that person and work of Jesus Christ, who Jesus is, he's 688 00:32:09,870 --> 00:32:10,230 God. 689 00:32:10,470 --> 00:32:13,710 He's 100 man, he's 100 God, he's. 690 00:32:13,710 --> 00:32:17,670 He's born in the flesh, as the Bible says, He dwelt among us, but 691 00:32:17,670 --> 00:32:20,550 then also the work of Jesus Christ, that he died on the cross 692 00:32:20,550 --> 00:32:25,150 for our sins, that he didn't just die on the cross because he 693 00:32:25,150 --> 00:32:28,230 was a martyr, or, or that he was really just preaching a different 694 00:32:28,470 --> 00:32:29,030 message. 695 00:32:29,300 --> 00:32:32,100 No, Jesus didn't get killed that day. 696 00:32:32,260 --> 00:32:33,780 Jesus gave of himself. 697 00:32:33,780 --> 00:32:37,220 The Bible says that he offered himself as a sacrifice, as the Passover 698 00:32:37,220 --> 00:32:37,620 land. 699 00:32:38,420 --> 00:32:41,220 And so whether or not people thought that Jesus was doing, that 700 00:32:41,220 --> 00:32:42,580 Jesus was offering himself. 701 00:32:42,660 --> 00:32:45,419 So what I would also say is this, okay, so that's the Jesus of 702 00:32:45,419 --> 00:32:45,940 Scripture. 703 00:32:46,020 --> 00:32:49,660 But then I would also say, like, are they preaching a message 704 00:32:49,660 --> 00:32:52,580 that corresponds with the whole scope of the Word? 705 00:32:52,820 --> 00:32:55,100 So maybe they have Jesus, right, But they're preaching other 706 00:32:55,100 --> 00:32:56,260 parts of the Bible wrong. 707 00:32:56,550 --> 00:32:59,670 What I would say is be very cautious about that because the Bible 708 00:32:59,670 --> 00:33:01,990 says that the word of God is, is God breathed. 709 00:33:01,990 --> 00:33:03,830 The scriptures are given by God. 710 00:33:03,910 --> 00:33:06,790 So if they're denying other parts of Scripture, they're basically 711 00:33:06,790 --> 00:33:08,230 saying that God is denying himself. 712 00:33:08,230 --> 00:33:11,670 And so what do they say about the whole, the whole book? 713 00:33:12,229 --> 00:33:15,030 Not just, well, hey, you know what, Jesus, I only want to follow 714 00:33:15,030 --> 00:33:17,670 Jesus, but I don't want to follow other passages of scripture. 715 00:33:17,830 --> 00:33:19,110 That's, that's a major issue. 716 00:33:19,110 --> 00:33:20,270 So we would, we would say that. 717 00:33:20,270 --> 00:33:23,960 But then again, going far forward, remember 2nd Corinthians 718 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:24,560 11:4. 719 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:26,080 A different spirit. 720 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:31,920 If, if the spirit that I'm being driven by is making me contradict 721 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,320 the Word, it's not the Spirit of God. 722 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:40,160 If the emotions and the, and the fanfare that come along with 723 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:44,120 the spiritual experience does not equate to obedience to God, then 724 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:45,440 it's not of, of God. 725 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,040 And so I want you to be aware of that, because there can be people 726 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:51,980 that say, well, I had this spiritual experience, and the spiritual 727 00:33:51,980 --> 00:33:54,900 experience led me to do this, and I believe it's from God, so therefore 728 00:33:54,900 --> 00:33:55,940 I'm okay with doing it. 729 00:33:56,020 --> 00:33:59,980 Well, if that action that the Spirit has led you to do is contradicting 730 00:33:59,980 --> 00:34:02,700 the Word and leading you to sin, that's not from God, that's 731 00:34:02,700 --> 00:34:04,020 from another Spirit. 732 00:34:04,260 --> 00:34:06,100 And then we see a different gospel. 733 00:34:06,260 --> 00:34:08,380 And so the, the, the last mark there would be. 734 00:34:08,380 --> 00:34:10,820 Are they preaching the right way to get to heaven? 735 00:34:11,140 --> 00:34:12,500 The gospel, the right news. 736 00:34:12,660 --> 00:34:15,700 What if I told you the gospel news is this, that God loves everyone. 737 00:34:16,100 --> 00:34:19,310 And forget about what you do, forget about what you believe in. 738 00:34:19,310 --> 00:34:20,830 Everyone's going to go to heaven one day. 739 00:34:20,830 --> 00:34:22,990 That's a gospel, but that's not the true gospel. 740 00:34:23,390 --> 00:34:24,910 That's not the gospel of the Scriptures. 741 00:34:25,790 --> 00:34:28,430 And so what we would say here tonight is that we need to be very 742 00:34:28,430 --> 00:34:32,110 careful when it comes to what does Jesus mean for me? 743 00:34:32,749 --> 00:34:36,830 What, what, what God is being presented, what religion is being 744 00:34:36,830 --> 00:34:38,430 presented, and what am I believing in? 745 00:34:38,430 --> 00:34:41,990 Because it's just as those Philistines thought that the, the 746 00:34:41,990 --> 00:34:45,430 God of Israel can be a blessing to us, he was not, because 747 00:34:45,990 --> 00:34:47,910 ultimately they were in rebellion to him. 748 00:34:48,230 --> 00:34:50,750 And so that's an application that I think we can all take with 749 00:34:50,750 --> 00:34:54,470 us here today, all the more reason why we need to proclaim and 750 00:34:54,470 --> 00:34:57,910 preach the true Jesus in a world today that needs to hear Jesus. 751 00:34:59,029 --> 00:35:01,790 But again, preaching the whole scope of scripture, and that's the 752 00:35:01,790 --> 00:35:02,230 harder part. 753 00:35:02,230 --> 00:35:04,550 The harder part is telling everybody the whole story. 754 00:35:04,790 --> 00:35:08,590 And what I would encourage you to do as a Christian, at whatever 755 00:35:08,590 --> 00:35:11,750 capacity that God is calling you to proclaim the gospel message 756 00:35:11,750 --> 00:35:15,210 is to proclaim it completely and fully with love and truth. 757 00:35:15,770 --> 00:35:16,730 Love and truth. 758 00:35:17,290 --> 00:35:18,690 And so what. 759 00:35:18,690 --> 00:35:20,890 What we see tonight is this. 760 00:35:22,330 --> 00:35:25,810 When I'm asking somebody whether or not they're, you know, 761 00:35:25,810 --> 00:35:27,890 I don't really care if you're religious, all right? 762 00:35:27,890 --> 00:35:30,370 So if I'm talking to someone and I'm trying to present the truth 763 00:35:30,370 --> 00:35:33,810 of God to them, I. I might start the question with, do you go 764 00:35:33,810 --> 00:35:34,330 to church? 765 00:35:34,650 --> 00:35:37,610 Because that might help us understand where to go when it comes 766 00:35:37,610 --> 00:35:39,050 to our discussion with somebody. 767 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,880 But really, at the end of the day, the deciding factor is not whether 768 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:45,200 or not someone goes to church, even though going to church is a 769 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:47,440 good thing in the right setting, in the right context, at 770 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:48,120 the right church. 771 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:49,560 But. 772 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:52,720 And it's not like that I've read the Bible, because there are 773 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:55,800 many people that have read through the Bible that don't believe 774 00:35:55,800 --> 00:35:56,120 it. 775 00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:00,680 So the true question would be not, are you religious? 776 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:02,680 Do you do religious things? 777 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:06,040 Do you want God to bless your life? 778 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:07,960 Do you want to go to heaven? 779 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,160 Even though we should ask whether or not people want to go 780 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:12,200 to heaven, but there's a lot of people that think they're going 781 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:13,520 to heaven for the wrong reasons. 782 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:16,000 Like if I walk up to someone and say, do you want to go to heaven? 783 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,080 I would say a vast majority of people, if they believe that there 784 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:21,200 is an afterlife, would say, I want to go to heaven. 785 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,360 But then the next question would be, is, do you know how to 786 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:24,960 get to heaven? 787 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:27,520 Well, I think being a good person is going to get me to heaven. 788 00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:31,680 You'll hear this mostly, that I hope my good outweighs my bad. 789 00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:34,840 Because if I'm more good than I'm bad, then God will shine brightly 790 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,230 on me that maybe I. I hope I've done enough. 791 00:36:37,230 --> 00:36:39,030 I. Folks, none of us have never. 792 00:36:39,030 --> 00:36:40,070 We can never do it. 793 00:36:40,470 --> 00:36:41,910 We never could do enough. 794 00:36:42,150 --> 00:36:43,590 So the idea would be this. 795 00:36:43,590 --> 00:36:46,350 It's not just about having someone that wants to go to heaven. 796 00:36:46,350 --> 00:36:48,070 Because what if I got up and preached and I said, how many of 797 00:36:48,070 --> 00:36:48,910 you want to go to heaven? 798 00:36:48,910 --> 00:36:50,190 And everyone raises their hand. 799 00:36:50,190 --> 00:36:52,710 I said, all of you are saved today because you want to go to heaven. 800 00:36:52,710 --> 00:36:55,990 There's a Lot of people that want paradise, they want everlasting 801 00:36:55,990 --> 00:36:58,830 life, but they don't find it in Jesus Christ because he's the 802 00:36:58,830 --> 00:37:01,810 rock of stumbling, because we've got to submit to him, we've 803 00:37:01,810 --> 00:37:03,570 got to submit to our heavenly Father. 804 00:37:03,810 --> 00:37:07,490 And so that's where we're seeing in, in the disconnect in our 805 00:37:07,490 --> 00:37:11,730 culture today is we have to so clearly diagnose with a scalpel, 806 00:37:12,050 --> 00:37:12,370 right? 807 00:37:12,370 --> 00:37:17,129 With a scalpel, get down to the most basic, most reduced level 808 00:37:17,129 --> 00:37:19,890 of what a person believes in when it comes to who Jesus is. 809 00:37:19,970 --> 00:37:22,210 A good start is that they believe that Jesus exists. 810 00:37:22,210 --> 00:37:23,090 That's a great start. 811 00:37:23,090 --> 00:37:26,410 It's a great start to believe that someone believes in the afterlife, 812 00:37:26,410 --> 00:37:30,620 that they believe in, in spirituality, they believe in all 813 00:37:30,620 --> 00:37:30,980 these things. 814 00:37:30,980 --> 00:37:34,220 That's fantastic because that at least allows us to go through 815 00:37:34,220 --> 00:37:34,940 an open door. 816 00:37:34,940 --> 00:37:36,940 But at the end of the day, what does the Bible say? 817 00:37:36,940 --> 00:37:39,580 The Bible says that it's through Jesus and Jesus alone, he's 818 00:37:39,580 --> 00:37:40,660 the chief cornerstone. 819 00:37:40,980 --> 00:37:43,180 And so I say all that. 820 00:37:43,180 --> 00:37:46,420 And that's like a branch off of First Samuel, chapter five. 821 00:37:46,420 --> 00:37:48,540 But what I will say is that the Philistines, the reason why they 822 00:37:48,540 --> 00:37:51,140 missed it was not because they didn't worship the ark, right? 823 00:37:51,140 --> 00:37:54,870 Or that they didn't, they weren't the right bloodline or they 824 00:37:54,870 --> 00:37:56,030 weren't in the right location. 825 00:37:56,350 --> 00:37:59,470 The reason why they didn't have the blessings of God was because 826 00:37:59,470 --> 00:38:00,990 they rejected God in rebellion. 827 00:38:01,230 --> 00:38:02,350 They didn't believe in him. 828 00:38:02,590 --> 00:38:07,390 And that's what we can see even today, just, just in a more 829 00:38:07,390 --> 00:38:08,270 modern sense. 830 00:38:08,350 --> 00:38:10,030 And so I want you to think about that. 831 00:38:10,590 --> 00:38:13,150 You say, well, I don't even know what the gospel is like. 832 00:38:13,630 --> 00:38:15,710 I couldn't even explain that to somebody. 833 00:38:17,310 --> 00:38:21,340 Well, the blessing of being a believer and trusting in the word 834 00:38:21,340 --> 00:38:23,580 of God is that he gives us the definition. 835 00:38:23,980 --> 00:38:28,060 So if you want to have a good, clean, straightforward definition 836 00:38:28,060 --> 00:38:30,300 of the gospel, go to First Corinthians, chapter 15. 837 00:38:31,100 --> 00:38:34,060 And if someone asks you, well, what do you believe when you're saying 838 00:38:34,060 --> 00:38:34,780 the gospel? 839 00:38:34,940 --> 00:38:38,380 Well, Paul gives us that right there in First Corinthians, chapter 840 00:38:38,380 --> 00:38:38,700 15. 841 00:38:38,700 --> 00:38:41,260 And he goes, Just the first four verses. 842 00:38:41,260 --> 00:38:44,380 If you just read the first four verses, that gives us the gospel. 843 00:38:45,020 --> 00:38:50,210 Now some people say, well, it's the gospel plus you gotta work, 844 00:38:50,530 --> 00:38:53,930 or the gospel plus you gotta be at a Baptist church, or the gospel 845 00:38:53,930 --> 00:38:54,290 plus. 846 00:38:54,450 --> 00:38:58,850 Well, there, there are all these things that I think are good 847 00:38:58,850 --> 00:38:59,330 to do. 848 00:38:59,490 --> 00:39:03,170 We should serve, we should go to a good Bible believing church. 849 00:39:03,410 --> 00:39:08,690 But what Paul describes this, the gospel, he doesn't say any of 850 00:39:08,690 --> 00:39:09,090 those things. 851 00:39:09,090 --> 00:39:12,290 He says basically the story of who Jesus is. 852 00:39:12,450 --> 00:39:15,010 He says that Jesus died according to the scriptures and that 853 00:39:15,010 --> 00:39:17,590 he was buried and that he rose again on the third day according 854 00:39:17,590 --> 00:39:18,430 to the scriptures. 855 00:39:19,310 --> 00:39:20,110 So he. 856 00:39:20,110 --> 00:39:23,550 He gives us the simple message of the gospel, and that's what we're 857 00:39:23,550 --> 00:39:24,270 trusting in. 858 00:39:24,430 --> 00:39:28,750 All the other elements of spiritual growth stem from the gospel. 859 00:39:29,470 --> 00:39:31,870 I can't grow in the Lord unless I trust in the. 860 00:39:31,870 --> 00:39:33,310 The simplicity of the gospel. 861 00:39:33,870 --> 00:39:35,390 And then from there I can grow. 862 00:39:35,470 --> 00:39:38,070 And there's a lot of nuances, right? 863 00:39:38,070 --> 00:39:41,310 I mean, when I was growing up, I had no care in the world. 864 00:39:41,310 --> 00:39:44,800 When I was 10 years old, my biggest care in the world was like, 865 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:48,760 am I gonna score a touchdown at recess and football or, you know, 866 00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:50,320 what am I gonna have for lunch today? 867 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:54,800 But as I got older, there were more nuances of life that I needed 868 00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:55,680 to deal with, right? 869 00:39:56,240 --> 00:40:00,240 Taxes and, you know, paying these bills and like. 870 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:04,440 So as we mature as Christians, there are other elements of that 871 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,120 maturity that we have to recognize and we have to identify. 872 00:40:07,930 --> 00:40:10,570 But to tell someone that they have to know all those things before 873 00:40:10,570 --> 00:40:13,650 they come to Christ is a complete misunderstanding of the 874 00:40:13,650 --> 00:40:14,730 simplicity of the gospel. 875 00:40:14,970 --> 00:40:18,250 So spiritual growth and maturity comes from the growth after 876 00:40:18,330 --> 00:40:18,970 salvation. 877 00:40:19,610 --> 00:40:22,610 So sometimes people will say, well, you have to be a certain way 878 00:40:22,610 --> 00:40:23,889 to get to find God. 879 00:40:23,889 --> 00:40:24,570 No, it's just. 880 00:40:24,570 --> 00:40:24,850 It's. 881 00:40:24,850 --> 00:40:25,450 It's faith. 882 00:40:25,850 --> 00:40:29,450 And then that faith will then eventually grow if we're walking 883 00:40:29,450 --> 00:40:30,890 and we're nourished in the word of God. 884 00:40:30,890 --> 00:40:33,050 So I will stop there. 885 00:40:33,050 --> 00:40:35,610 I would like to go a lot longer, but I will stop there. 886 00:40:36,130 --> 00:40:38,930 Well, we'll come back next week and we'll see the result of 887 00:40:39,970 --> 00:40:41,490 them sending the. 888 00:40:41,490 --> 00:40:43,410 They're trying to figure out all the stuff, and they're going 889 00:40:43,410 --> 00:40:48,850 to send the ark back to Israel, and we're gonna see how that 890 00:40:48,930 --> 00:40:52,210 kind of comes to pass in First Samuel, chapter six. 891 00:40:52,610 --> 00:40:57,290 And we're gonna eventually get to where in Israel they. 892 00:40:57,290 --> 00:40:58,250 They say they wanna. 893 00:40:58,250 --> 00:40:59,170 They want a king. 894 00:40:59,730 --> 00:41:00,570 They want a king. 895 00:41:00,570 --> 00:41:02,290 And we're gonna hear the story of King. 896 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:02,920 King Saul. 897 00:41:03,720 --> 00:41:05,320 And most of you know that story. 898 00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:07,800 And then eventually, through King Saul, we'll get to King David, 899 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:11,640 which really was the culmination, I thought, of coming 900 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,760 into first and second Samuel was really studying the life of David, 901 00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:19,160 but we have to study the life of Samuel and the life of Saul to 902 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:21,360 get to the life of David, which. 903 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:24,520 Which is going to be, I think, a really great study to have. 904 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:27,360 Well, if you have any questions about anything that we 905 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:30,160 talk about here within the services, I'd love to answer those 906 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:33,780 questions for you, or if I don't know the answer to those questions, 907 00:41:33,780 --> 00:41:36,260 I'd love to work alongside of you to find the answers to those 908 00:41:36,260 --> 00:41:37,820 questions from the Word of God. 909 00:41:39,180 --> 00:41:41,700 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 910 00:41:41,700 --> 00:41:42,380 podcast. 911 00:41:42,540 --> 00:41:44,940 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 912 00:41:45,580 --> 00:41:47,860 If you would like to find out more information about our church 913 00:41:47,860 --> 00:41:51,340 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 914 00:41:51,660 --> 00:41:54,220 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 915 00:41:54,940 --> 00:41:59,380 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 916 00:41:59,380 --> 00:42:03,820 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 917 00:42:03,820 --> 00:42:06,660 along for future podcast and updates. 918 00:42:07,300 --> 00:42:08,260 Thank you so much. 919 00:42:08,500 --> 00:42:09,220 God Bless. 920 00:42:09,460 --> 00:42:10,740 Have a wonderful day.