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May 15, 2025 · 1 hr 2 min · The Greatest
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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Obey Today: The Path to Experiencing God's Fullness 0:00 Yes. We give you all the praise, glory, and honor, and Lord, we gather before your throne today because you are worthy and you invite us to do this because you're the king of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and you have a0:08 great love for each and every 1 of us. So Lord, now we pray that as we open your word that it would be faithfully and accurately proclaimed because Lord, we believe that when it is that you speak. So our prayer to you0:20 this morning is speak Lord for we are ready to hear what it is that you have to tell us. About 75 degrees with a little cloud cover.0:32 Beautiful day, 20000 people show up and thousands that give their lives to Christ and are baptized. And Lord, we just trust that you're good and that's not too hard for you. And so Lord, we're inviting you to do that.0:43 And now for all who are gathered, who desire to hear the word of the Lord, who will believe what it is that the Lord is saying to you and will by faith put into practice what he shows you. Will you agree with me very0:53 loudly this morning by saying the word amen. Amen. As a pastor, I get asked many questions, but 1 of the frequent questions I get asked by Christian people all the time is how can I experience1:05 more of God's favor in my life? How can I experience the fullness of Jesus Christ? How come it is there are some Christians and I see my friend's life and I look at them, it seems like they're walking in lockstep1:17 with Jesus. And yet for me, it's very, very hard and I, I want more of Jesus in my life. What would you tell me? I'll give you a 2 word answer. Obey today.1:30 Obey today. Obedience is essential to growing in Christ. Obedience is more important than a lifetime of seminary classes. Well, learning the word and knowing the word1:42 is essential. Applying the word is even more important. It's what are you gonna do with this living and active word? And sometimes when you hear me say something like that, like obey today, you begin to think like, well,1:54 is there some other way? Like how long do I need to obey today? As long as you're still alive, wake up and say, obey today. It's kind of like when we go and we wanna get in shape and we hire a personal trainer and then2:06 we ask, what do I need to do to get in shape? They say, well, you have to start eating differently and you need to drink more water and you need to show up to the gym. And we ask, but but how long do I need to do that?2:17 Like for a day? I mean, do you have any options where I can sit on my couch and just get better? Do you have any pills I can take? No. The answer is consistent effort2:29 in the same direction. And this is true of anything in life. If you wanted to earn more money and have money for your kid's education or for retirement and you went and talked to a financial planner and said, what would2:41 you have for me? They would say this, save money and then spend less than you make. Well, for how long do I need to do that? Probably 20 or 30 years. Well, do you have any shortcut2:52 options? There are no shortcut options. And there are no shortcut options when it comes to your relationship with Jesus Christ. If you really want to experience Jesus Christ to the full, obedience is essential.3:04 I grew up in a traditional in a traditional church. We sang the song on Sunday mornings, trust and obey For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. If you really want to3:16 experience the fullness of Jesus Christ in your life, obey today. Obedience sometimes means doing something. Sometimes it means stop doing something, and sometimes it means start doing something different.3:29 And the reason that's so important, is there are many Christians and some of you fall into that category today, where you know that the Lord has told you something. You know he's nudged you in a certain direction,3:38 whispered something in your ear, prompted you about a decision that you need to make and what do we do? Yeah. And that's not what I was praying about God. I want you to talk to me about something else. It's those areas3:50 of obedience that God is wanting to talk to you. And if he's been talking to you about something, I promise you that God has a word for you this morning. You're not listening today by accident. And to take a look4:02 at 4 reasons that God wants you to obey today, we're gonna be in Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3. And in this book where we've talked about how Jesus is the greatest, the greatest of all time, how he's the greatest4:13 prophet and priest and king, how he's greater than the angels. Today, we're gonna see how he's even greater than Moses. And we're gonna see reasons, 4 reasons why we're called to obey today. I'm gonna read4:25 through chapter 3. See if you can find those 4 reasons, and then we'll unpack them together. He says, they're 4 holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling. Consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our4:37 confession. He was faithful to him who appointed him as Moses also was in all his house. For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, but just so much as the builder of4:49 the house has more honor than the house. Is is faithful in all his house as a for a5:00 testimony of those things which were to be spoken. Son over his house, whose house we are, if we hold fast our5:12 confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked me, as in the day of trial5:24 in the wilderness where your fathers tried me by testing me and I saw work and saw my works for 40 years. Therefore, I was angry with this generation and said, they always go astray in their heart, and5:36 they did not know my ways. As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Take care, brethren, that there not be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls5:47 away from the living God. As long as it is still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of5:59 Christ. If we hold fast the beginning of our assurance, firm until the end, while it is said, today, if if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me. For who provoked him when6:11 they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he angry for 40 years? Was it not those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they6:23 would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. And here this author of the book of6:34 Hebrews highlights 4 reasons why obedience is essential to experiencing the fullness of God in your life. If you only remember 2 words from this message, here's the 2 words, obey6:46 today. Can you say those out loud and loudly with me right now? Obey today. If you wake up tomorrow and say, what was the pastor talking about? Obey today. That God is speaking and he wants you to6:58 be obedient in the moment where you're asking the Lord, search me and try me, oh Lord. See if there's any offensive way in me. Lead me in the way everlasting. Some of us say, I don't even know if there's anything I'm7:09 being disobedient to because we're unwilling to ask God. Would you be willing to present your bodies as a living sacrifice this morning? Would you be able to pray silently right where you are before you hear this7:19 message? Lord, if there's anything in my life today that's out of alignment with you, would you show me because I want to make it right? I may not even be aware of what it is. But Lord, if there is,7:31 would you show me? In your kindness, would you show me? In your love, would you show me so that I can walk in the fullness of Christ by being obedient today? I'm gonna give you 4 reasons from the text that7:43 we're called to be obedient today. And the first is this, obey today because Jesus Christ is greater than Moses. Obey today because Jesus Christ is greater than Moses. Now, most of you that are here today would7:55 say, amen. We know that. Go on to point number 2, but you need to realize the book of Hebrews was written to a Jewish audience and this Jewish audience had followed all of the Jewish customs in ways. And for them,8:08 Moses was and is still considered the greatest leader in Israel's history. He was unlike any other. He was spared at his birth. You remember his mother sent him down in a basket.8:20 When he fled into Midian, he was called at the burning bush and heard the voice of God. He became the deliverer for all of God's people. All of the plagues came through him. He was the instrument that God chose.8:33 The final plague that came was death of the firstborn where Moses instructed all the people to paint blood on a doorpost, foreshadowing the death of Christ so that the angel of death would pass over.8:45 When they went out from Egypt, they plundered the entire Egyptians. God worked with Moses and came alongside the whole nation as they exited being a pillar8:57 of fire by night and a cloud by day. When they got to the red sea and they couldn't cross and the Egyptian army was behind them, God used Moses as his instrument to hold out his staff and park the red sea and they9:09 walked across it on dry ground. And then God closed the sea up over all the Egyptians killing all of the soldiers that were were there. When the people crossed over and started complaining that there wasn't food, God9:19 provided manna. When they complained there wasn't anything to drink, God provided water. When they complained that there wasn't any meat, God provided quail. God used Moses to do all of that. And then most importantly,9:30 perhaps is Moses was the servant through whom God brought the law to the people, the 10 commandments specifically. And he instructed the people as to how they were to live through Moses. Even in the new9:42 Testament, we read about the law of Moses. It's really the law of God that came through Moses. But even if you were to talk to a Jewish person today, they would tell you Moses is the greatest leader in all of Israel's9:53 history. So to write this to them, they would need to believe, you mean there's 1 greater than Moses? There's 1 greater for his people than Moses? Yes. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's gonna highlight 3 different10:05 ways why Jesus is greater than Moses. Notice what he says. He says, therefore holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus the apostle and10:17 high priest of our confession. When we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, he said, think of these 2 roles, apostle and high priest. Moses was never called an apostle. An apostle is 1 directly sent by God. So10:28 in some way, Moses was called by God and he was sent by God and he went, quote unquote, reluctantly to Egypt because God called him to do it.10:40 But Jesus Christ was different. Jesus Christ is God. He was appointed by God. He was sent by the father and in submission came to this world as the apostle to fulfill the law, die on the cross for our10:52 sins and rise from the dead. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the trailblazer and pioneer of our faith. He is far greater than Moses. Moses was created by11:04 God. Jesus Christ is God. And notice what else, The high priest was the 1 who represented11:16 God's people before God. The 1 who pleaded for the sins of the nation. The 1 who once a year went into the holy of holies and did that. Moses did not play that role. But Jesus11:28 Christ came and through his sacrificial death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, he became the high priest for the whole planet for anybody who through repentance and faith would trust Jesus Christ. And in11:39 the coming chapters, we're gonna spell out who Jesus is as our high priest and how he lives to make intercession for us and how he represents us before the father.11:56 For the for the for the for the for the for the for the for for all who through faith believe in him. Greater scope in his ministry. Notice what verses 212:08 and following say. It says, he was faithful to him who appointed him. That's talking about Jesus. As Moses also was in all his house, For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses12:20 by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Make no mistake about it.12:37 Jon, In John chapter 1 in verse 14, it says, the word12:48 became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Meaning, he tabernacled among us. The tabernacle in the old testament was made to specific specifications that God told Moses to do13:00 so people would understand the severity of their sin and all the different pieces of furniture in the tabernacle and all the different ways that they brought their sacrifices so they know how holy God is.13:19 Way, is the truth, is the life. To see Jesus is to see God. Jesus is greater than Moses. Make no mistake about it. And notice number 3, Jesus13:31 has a greater relationship with God than Moses ever did. Now you think about Moses. I mean, Moses talked face to face with God. Moses, the glory of God from his back reflected off of13:42 Moses's face so much that when he came down off the mountain, he had to put a veil over himself. I mean, Moses had a incredible relationship with God that nobody had, but Jesus Christ was different. Notice what it says.14:10 Only son. Jesus is God's 1 and only son. Jesus is God's 1 and14:22 only son. Jesus Christ is God's only begotten son. He has a higher and greater relationship. Jesus Christ is deity. There's never been a time that Jesus Christ hasn't existed.14:33 2000 years ago, he put on flesh. And in talking about this house, whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope, firm until the end. Well, what's the house of God? It's the14:45 body of Christ. That when we turn from our sin and we turn to Christ, we're part of his family. We're in the household of God because we are connected to the living 1, the Lord Jesus Christ.14:58 He's greater than Moses. He's greater than Moses. He's the greatest being that has ever and will ever live. He's God of all gods. And when he put on flesh15:09 2000 years ago, he's the perfect man as well. He's the God man for all eternity. That's who Jesus is. So you may ask, if I'm to obey today because Jesus is greater than Moses, like, why are you telling me that? What15:21 does that have to do with my obedience? Here's why. Brought the law to the people, you can specifically read this in Leviticus chapter 26 and Deuteronomy chapter15:33 28. In Leviticus chapter 26, you read about the the blessings of keeping the law. And in Deuteronomy chapter 28, you read about the curses of breaking the law. In other words, what Moses brought to the people15:45 was so significant that if they kept the law, God bless them. If they broke the law, God cursed them. Why? Because God wanted to get his glory through the nation of Israel because they were to be the light15:57 to all the nations. When Israel was obedient to God, all throughout the old Testament relationships flourished, their crops flourished, everything flourished. So the people on the outside could look at Israel. And say,16:08 whoever their God is, that's the God of the universe. We better live like Israel lives. When Israel was disobedient, what happened? They were cursed in such a way that people would look from the outside and16:20 say, whoever their God is, we don't want to mess with him because he's worthy of all the glory. And God said, either way, if you do what I'm asking you to do, I'll bless you. If you don't do what I'm asking you to do,16:31 I'll curse you. And either way, I'm getting all my glory. And the writer of Hebrews is saying, if God's people needed to be obedient to the law because the law was that important, how much more16:43 Jesus Christ who's the giver of the law? How much more important is it for you as a new testament believer to obey all the things that God commanded you to do? Isn't it interesting?16:55 At the very end, the great commission in Matthew chapter 28 before Jesus ascends to heaven, Jesus says, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them17:07 in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit and what? Teach them to obey or teach them to observe what? Everything I've commanded you and I'll be with you always to the end of17:19 the age. So what things do we not have to be obedient to? We have to be obedient to it all. And for many people in our generation, specifically people in the church in North America,17:30 specifically people in America, think that obedience is a secondary option for people that actually want to grow. And for other Christians, it's just not that big of a deal. Friends. If you want to experience Jesus17:42 Christ to the full, your obedience to his word is essential. It's foundational. It's bedrock. It's paramount to you ever experiencing the fullness of Jesus Christ. You, you can't play with this17:54 stuff. You can't say, well, it's God's grace. It really doesn't matter how I live because God's going to forgive me anyway. When you live like that, you cannot experience the favor and the blessing of God in your life.18:06 Obey today because Jesus Christ is greater than Moses. And if God was serious about the law and he was, which is why Jesus fulfilled it, which is why he had to die in our place because we couldn't keep the18:18 law. How much more important is it for us to be obedient to everything that Jesus Christ has us do? Obey today because Jesus Christ is greater than Moses. Secondly, this, obey18:29 today because passivity hardens your heart towards God. Obey today because passivity hardens your heart towards God. Obey today because passivity hardens your heart towards God. Obey today because passivity hardens your18:38 heart towards God. He says, notice this. At the end of verse 6, he says, we know who we are if we hold fast our confidence and boast of our hope firm until the end. Some people say this and they18:50 say, well that means if you keep being obedient then you're saved. You gotta hold on with everything you have. Friend, you can't make yourself be obedient. It's not about you being obedient to prove that you're saved.19:01 Here's what it means. You'll have the joy of the Lord. Cause if you are saved, there will be a desire to be obedient to the very end. If you are saved, there'll be a hunger to do what Jesus Christ wants you to do.19:14 If you say that you've been saved and there's never been a change of your heart where you desire what Jesus desires, check your heart because you may not be saved. Because when you're saved, Jesus19:26 Christ wants to do something new in and through your life. It doesn't mean that you'll always do it perfect, but it means when you don't, you will know that you didn't do what God wanted you to do. Because there will be19:36 a desire inside that says, I want that. And here's why you need to know this, because passivity hardens your heart towards God. He says, therefore, just as the holy spirit says, now19:48 he's gonna quote Psalm 95. So he says the holy spirit says, and he quotes Psalm 95. So who wrote Psalm 95?20:01 Chapter 4 verse 7 that it's through David. So the Holy Spirit wrote Psalm 95 through David. Right? Dual authorship. So Holy Spirit's words coming through David. And what did he say? Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit's20:11 words coming through David. And what did he say? Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit. Therefore, just as the holy spirit says today, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoke me. You're20:21 gonna see that here. You're gonna see it later in the chapter. You're gonna see it next week because God thinks it's important that when you hear his voice, you do something with it. Passivity hardens your heart towards20:32 God. You say, well, what's that mean? What's passivity? Passivity is indifference, insensitivity, lethargy, complacency. It means this,20:44 when you hear the word of the Lord preach or you're studying your Bible on your own and God prompts you through his word that this is what I want you to do, you need to go forgive that person. You need to give that20:53 amount of money. You need to make that relationship right. You need to stop doing that behavior. You need to start doing this. Whatever it is, passivity is, yeah, I'm not ready to deal with that 1 yet.21:05 It's when we say this in our heart spiritually. Why do today what I can do tomorrow? I'm sure God will bug me about it tomorrow. When you live with that level of passivity, you can't stay on the same plane with21:17 Jesus, you begin to plummet. Your heart begins to harden. It begins to atrophy. It's why for some of you, you remember what it was like when you first got saved and you say, I wish it was like that all the21:29 time. And for some of you, the reason it's not like that now is because there's a specific area of your life that the Lord's asking you to deal with and you don't wanna deal with that area of your life. And I know what21:40 this is like. I I've walked with the Lord for 30 years. I've had seasons like this where I'm asking the Lord to bless this thing over here. And he starts telling me about this thing over here and I don't wanna deal with21:49 this thing. And I think, Lord, I'm not talking to you about that right now. I'm talking about this. But when the Lord puts something on your heart he wants you to do, he will never leave you alone until you do it.22:02 So don't be passive because passive passivity hardens your heart. If you're lethargic, if you're insensitive, if you're complacent, When you read the Bible, it's not just about gaining more Bible knowledge.22:14 Knowledge puffs up, love builds up. Put it into practice. Let me just tell you this. I've had a lot of formal education, but I can tell you this, 522:26 minutes of obedience with Christ is more important than a lifetime of education in the Bible. There's a lot of people that know a lot about the Bible, but aren't living the fullness of Christ because they're not22:35 obedient. That should give you great hope. Young people that should give you great hope. People that say, I don't know much about the Bible yet, should give you great hope. You don't have to. Just apply what you do know.22:47 Take what God's showing you and put it into practice and he will reveal more wisdom about who he is. The way you grow in Christ is not simply by reading your Bible. It's when the spirit prompts you through reading your22:58 Bible that you do what he tells you to do. That's how you grow because passivity hardens your heart. So when you read the word and you hear God's voice, apply it. He says,23:10 do not harden your hearts as as they provoked me as in the day of trial in the wilderness where your father's tried me by testing me and saw my works for 40 years.23:22 What did Israel do all the time in the wilderness? They complained and grumbled. I mean, that was their spiritual gift. And you know what God did because of23:33 that? Because he took the 6000 out, and he loved them, and he delivered them, and he freed them. But because of their complaining, and because of their disobedience, and going into the promised land, you know what he23:45 said? I'm gonna give you all a 40 year camping trip, and only Joshua and Caleb are gonna survive. Now we laugh. I don't like camping.23:57 A weekend camping trip sounds like a long time to me. This is 40 years and it's 40 years camping with the same people. And you know, everybody that you're camping with is going to die before God's going to24:09 put his favor back on you. It's tragic. All because of what? Not because God's not good. Not because God doesn't love Israel. Not because God didn't want to bless them, but because24:21 Israel said to God, we don't want to do what you want us to do. And for 40 years, their life was miserable. Some of you that know Christ, your life is miserable because he showed you24:33 something to do a week ago or a month ago or a year ago or 5 years ago or 10 years ago. And you said, no, not gonna do that. Friends, passivity24:45 hardens your heart towards God. Notice this. He goes, therefore, I was angry with this generation. Said they always go astray in their heart and they did not know my ways. And I swore24:57 in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. That's exactly what happened to the nation of Israel. Living passively leads to rebellion. It leads to rebellion.25:09 When you hear God's word and some of you hear it when you're here at the church because I know how this works. Because when the word of God is faithfully proclaimed, the Holy Spirit will speak to you. And some of you25:18 have different weekends than others have and God speaks at different volumes and different levels about specific things. So there's some weeks you're here and you're like, I needed to hear that. Some weeks you're here25:27 and like, yeah, that was okay for me. And other weeks you're here and it's if as if you're sitting there saying, did somebody send a letter to pastor Jeff because he's reading my mail? And God's pounding on your heart.25:40 And on some of those days, what you want to do is get up and leave the building as quick as you can when God's saying, no, linger in this. I'm giving this to you because I love you. I'm giving this to you because I care25:51 about you and I want you I want you to make it right. And the good news of the gospel is through repentance and faith God, we can start fresh through the blood of Jesus all over again right in a moment. Isn't that good26:02 news? Yes. Passivity hardens your heart. We end up procrastinating where we tell the Lord, you know, maybe, maybe it's just not now, maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day I had a26:14 friend in college who was struggling with his classes. And so he went to see his academic advisor and I asked him later in the day, I said, Hey, how'd it go? And he said, well, they gave me these 2 brochures and he held26:23 them up. And 1 was on time management and 1 was on overcoming procrastination. And I said, well, what'd you think about him? He said, well, the time management 1 was pretty good. I said, well, what about the overcoming26:33 procrastination? When he goes, I'll get to that 1 later. That's how many of us are spiritually. God begins to talk to us about something specific in our lives that we don't wanna deal with and we26:45 begin to think, okay, I'll deal with that tomorrow. I'll deal with it the next day. You know what? Satan's biggest lies about obedience is go ahead, obey Christ. Just don't do it today. He loves you enough. You can do it26:56 tomorrow. And you know what he's going to say when you wake up tomorrow? It's okay. Just do it tomorrow. And we put it off and we put it off and we put it off. Did you know procrastination is a sin? James 427:08 17 says, anyone who knows the good he ought to do and does not do it, sins. Here's what it means. If God's been speaking to you about something specific he wants you to start doing, stop doing, or27:20 start doing differently and you do nothing with it, that's sin. That sin's forgivable. But when you're passive and not responding to God, it leads to rebellion in your life. It's why27:32 some people who have genuinely been born again are living as though they're not in a season. And what we see in, in the nation of Israel, God's people is they provided an example to27:43 us. Paul tells us in first Corinthians chapter 10, if you want to turn there, why God took Israel through these different things and how they're an example to us. As you're turning to first Corinthians 10, let me read27:54 the first few verses. He says, for I do not want you to be unaware brethren that our fathers were all under the cloud and all pass through the sea. And we're all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea and all28:04 ate the same spiritual food and and all drank the same spiritual drink for they were drinking from a spiritual rock, which followed them and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not well pleased28:15 for they were laid low in the wilderness. What's he saying? Every single 1 of them experienced all of God's blessings. Every single 1 of them saw the power of God. Every single 1 of them saw God28:27 provide for every single 1 of their needs. And yet what? 600000 of them that came out all died in the wilderness because all they did was say, yeah, I've seen it but show me something else. Show me more.28:39 That's not enough for me. They didn't continue to walk in obedience with their God.28:52 Example for us. So if we study the nation of Israel and we study what God did through his people, there'll be an example to us. And there's 5 things he highlights that when we live passively, the types of29:03 rebellion that we'll notice in our own hearts. See if any of these resonate with you. If you're not walking obediently to Christ, 1 of these is going to resonate with you. Notice what he says. He29:15 says, these things happen as examples for us so that we would not crave evil things as they also crave. When you're passive and it leads to rebellion, 1 of the things that will go off in your heart is you'll begin to29:27 crave evil. They'll begin to be a desire for things that God doesn't want you to do. It's desiring the, to do the opposite of what God demands out of curiosity. There'll be this craving that29:39 comes up and you'll say, yeah, I know what the word says, but I don't really want to do it. I wonder why I can't do this and why can't I get away with that? And who's really gonna know anyway? There'll be a craving to do29:48 things that go against the word of God when you live passively and don't honor him. Number 2, he tells us in verse 7, do not be idolaters as some of them were. As it is written, these people sat30:00 down to eat and drink and stood up to play. You remember in Exodus 32, Moses goes up on Mount Sinai to get the law and God writes it with his finger and he comes back down and what are God's people doing? They're going30:11 crazy. They've seen the living God serve them in awesome ways, deliver them and give them freedom, and yet they take all their jewelry and pull it together and make a golden calf and worship the calf.30:23 It's crazy. He said, we'd never act like that. You know what idolatry is? When you live passively, it leads to rebellion. Idolatry to starts to take over your heart. Idolatry is placing your30:35 ultimate allegiance in that which is an ultimate. Placing your ultimate trust in that, which is an ultimate. He said, well, I'd never worship a golden calf. You're right. You would not, but you know what you would do?30:46 You'd love your house more than you love Jesus. You'd love your car more than you love Jesus. You love your job more than you love Jesus. You love job security more than you love Jesus. You love your money more than you30:56 love Jesus. You love your vacation time more than you love Jesus. You love your family more than you love Jesus. And anything that you place above Jesus is called idolatry. And when you're not walking in31:07 obedience to him, something else will go off in your heart and you'll say, I love that more than Jesus and Jesus is good, but this is more important to me. Notice what else they've went after. Let us not act31:19 immorally as some of them did and 23000 fell in 1 day. You remember in numbers chapter 25, 24000 died with that plague. 23000 died in a day31:31 according to the new testament because of what immorality you say what's immorality. Imorality is fulfilling godly desires in an ungodly or selfish way. Imorality is31:43 trying to fulfill a godly desire in an ungodly or selfish way. Sexual immorality is this, God created marriage to have sexual fulfillment. It's trying to achieve sexual fulfillment some31:55 way outside of the bonds of marriage. And I can stand up here and go into great detail because I've counseled hundreds of people. I'm like, you've tried that? There's all sorts of crazy ways we try to fulfill it. And32:05 here's what happens. When you try to fulfill a godly desire in an ungodly or selfish way, you'll never be satisfied. And you've always got to go back and go back and go back and the more you go back, the more empty you32:16 feel. God hates immorality. When you're passive towards the things of God and rebellion creeps up, craving evil, idolatry, immorality are part of the things that happen. And then third is this. Or32:28 fourth is this. It's testing the Lord. Notice verse 9. Nor let us try the Lord or test the Lord as some of them did and were destroyed by serpent. You remember that story in numbers chapter 21.32:41 Testing the Lord is asking the Lord to prove himself while not believing and thanking him for what he's already done. Testing the Lord is when you say, God, I've now now do something for me while you disregard everything32:52 he's already done. Israel did this all the time. The religious leaders in the new testament, the Pharisees did this all the time. When Jesus Christ was here, what did he do? Well, he restored sight to the blind. He33:04 healed people. He raised people from the dead. He fed 5000 people out of 5 loaves and 2 fish. Everywhere he went, miracles abounded. He stopped the storm on the sea. Over and over again, all we see is his miracles. And33:15 yet every time the religious leaders showed up, what did they say? Just give us a sign. That will be enough. What else do you want me to do? I mean, even if I rise from the dead, that won't be enough33:27 for you. You're putting me to the test. You're not honoring me for what I do. And many of us do that too. We'll experience God in a service. We'll experience God on a Tuesday night. We'll see God at work in our life.33:37 We'll see how he provides, but instead of thanking him and blessing him for all he's done, here's what we tell God. What have you done for me lately? You're no good. I need you to show me the money.33:50 That's what we talk like. Israel was great at that. And then this final 1, which we've already hit on a little bit. Verse 10, nor grumble as some of them did and34:02 were destroyed by the destroyer. You remember Korah's rebellion in number 16? Here's what grumbling is. It's complaining and whining for your selfish desires to be met. It's what we're naturally good at when we're not34:14 being obedient. We complain and we whine for our selfish desires to be met all the while we're not living obedient to Christ. We're not living obedient to Christ in our dating relationships, and yet we're whining to God34:26 that we haven't met the right person yet. We're not being obedient, and we're whining and complaining to God to how come our marriage doesn't have wholeness in it. We're whining and complaining to God, and we're not34:35 living obedient about why our job isn't working out the way it is. Friends, God hasn't asked you to grumble and complain. He hates it. Parents, you know what it's like with your34:47 kids when they whine. I mean, when your kids are whining and complaining, do you say, hey, great job. You're so good at that. We don't do that. Like, stop34:59 it. We don't like that. And why did they go through all this? Verse 11, now these things happen to them as an example and they were written for our instruction upon whom the35:11 end of the ages has come. Why do we see all these things? Cause we look at Israel sometimes we're like, how silly were they? I mean, they had God right with them the whole time and all they did was complain. Friends, how35:23 silly are we? Jesus Christ who rose from the dead is with us all the time and he loves you with an unconditional love. And yet for many of us, we don't walk in obedience to him. And then we do all these same35:35 things. We crave evil. We test the Lord. We go after immorality. We whine and complain, and then we wonder why our life with Christ isn't any good. Obey today.35:48 When you start walking in the fullness of Christ and you begin to obey, you can experience God in greater and greater and greater and greater and greater measure. You say, well, what do I do? Well, when you're obedient,35:59 you worship differently. You rejoice differently. You pray differently. You serve differently. You encourage differently. You give differently. You give thanks differently. You give financial differently. You give of36:10 your time differently. Everything's different when you're walking in the fullness of Christ. And it's not a have to, it's a joy. When you're living obedient to God, God does not tell you something to do in the word just36:21 so he can look down and say, see, I'm making you do that. Yeah, I know you're miserable, but I'm making you do that. That's not why God makes you be obedient. God says, everything I've designed for you, if you're36:31 obedient to me, will give you the greatest joy and bring me the greatest glory. If you really wanna be satisfied, the way you were designed as a human being in the image of God is to walk obediently with Christ in36:43 every single way. That's why it's important that we take inventory. Sometimes we're very aware of what it is. Some of you are scared because you're hearing this message like, I know exactly what it is that I haven't been36:52 doing. I know what exactly what it is the Lord wants me to start doing. I know exactly what it is that I have to start doing differently. And some of you may be sitting there like, I can't think of anything. And perhaps37:03 there's nothing right now, but would you have the courage to pray? And say, search me oh Lord and try me. See if there's anything offensive in me and lead me in the way everlasting and he'll meet you right where you're37:13 at. See God tells us about who he is because he has the power to forgive. And through his forgiveness and the shed blood of Jesus, we can start over in a moment and experience the fullness of Christ. Obey37:25 today because Jesus Christ is greater than Moses. Obey today because passivity hardens, calcifies your heart towards God. And third, Obey today because sin37:37 deceives even within a community of, of believers. Sin deceives even within a community of believers. Did you know that? Did you know that just because you're a believer and you come to church, you're not immune to sin37:47 anymore? You're not immune to deception anymore? I mean, notice what he says in verse 12. Take care of brethren that there not be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that37:59 falls away from the living God. And most of us would say, well, that's not Christians because Christians can't fall away from the living God. Okay. Well, who's he talking to, holy brethren? Who's he talking to in this38:11 community? He's talking to us. Sin can still deceive you even if you're a Christian, if you're unaware. It's almost verbatim as to what Paul says in first Corinthians38:22 10 verse 12. After he says all these things, he says, therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. Friends, this is a warning passage for all of us. Just because you're a Christian38:34 doesn't mean that you won't sin. I won't even ask you for show of hands because I know it'd be everybody that's a believer if I asked this question. How many of you from the time that you became a Christian, there's at38:45 least 1 time in your life that you sinned in a way that if you could go back, you would say, I'd never repeat that again. I mean, everybody, all of us, because we think we know better.Show more In this video 0:00 Obey Today: The Path to Experiencing God's Fullness
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