Greg Laurie - The God Who Cares (02/19/2018)
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Pastor Greg Laurie teaches on God's caring nature through His attributes like sovereignty, truth, holiness, righteousness, goodness, and love in this Essentials series message. Drawing from the priestly blessing in Numbers 6, he shows God blesses, keeps, smiles on, is gracious to, attentively watches, and gives peace to His people—urging believers to live holy, truthful lives and non-believers to choose life in Christ for true blessing.
Announcements and Opening Prayer
Lord, we are wholly yours because you are holy. You are deserving of our praise. And Lord, we want to know more about you so we can know you better. So we invite you to speak to our hearts as we open the scripture because, as you said, lo in the volume of the book it is written of me. We will find truth about you that we'll find nowhere else in your word that you inspired, that you have given. So help us now to hear it with ears that are listening. Help us to apply it with lives that are flexible to your leading. We commit this time of Bible study to you now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
You can be seated. Well, good morning. Or good afternoon, I should say. It's officially 12:22. Hey, a couple of quick announcements. Number one, if you know anybody in the San Diego area, you might let them know that I'm going to be coming down there to Maranatha Chapel this coming Wednesday night for their midweek service. And we're going to show the Lost Boy film and I'm going to speak as well. My son Jonathan will also be giving his testimony at it. So it's this coming Wednesday night at 7 o'clock at Maranatha Chapel in San Diego.
Also, as you know, we launched our Orange County Bible study this last Thursday night. Were any of you there? Raise up your hand. A few of you came. Well, we're amazed, you know. We're in a venue that seats 1,000 people and it was our hope to fill it. And we filled it with 800 extra people on top of that. So there were 1,800 people that came out. Really great. Thank you. And it was a tremendous response. So I did the same message that I'm doing here on Sunday mornings, our Essentials series. And I gave an invitation at the end for people to come to Christ. And we saw 120 people come forward to make a commitment to the Lord. Amazing. So we'll be down there every Thursday night.
And I've been babysitting this weekend. My wife and my daughter-in-law were at our women's conference that I think is ending just about now. So I watched my granddaughter, Stella, for the weekend. And I've not slept. No, I have a little. But I have new sympathy for you moms out there. Wow. Two and a half years old. That's a lot of work, okay? But we also had a lot of fun, too. You know, we made like little miniature cupcakes last night. Little tiny ones. It was great fun. Anyway.
Introducing the Essentials Series: The God Who Cares
All right. Let's turn in our Bibles to Numbers chapter 6. We're in a series we're calling Essentials. What every Christian needs to know. And the title of our message today is The God Who Cares. I've told you the story before of the little girl that grabbed a piece of paper and some crayons and was beginning to do something with great commitment, the mother could see. And the mom said, Honey, what is it you're going to draw? She says, Mommy, I'm going to draw a picture of God. The mother said, Sweetheart, nobody knows what God looks like. The little girl said, They will when I'm done.
You know, what is God like? People have different concepts and ideas about God. We closed our message last week by pointing out that Jesus compared God, the Father, to a dad who missed his son. Though we call that the parable of the prodigal son, it could just as easily be called the parable of the loving father because here is a dad whose son leaves him, who desperately longs for him. And when his son returns, he runs to him with open arms and throws those arms around his son and he welcomes him back again. What is God like? Let's talk about that. We've been looking at the attributes of God. You might say that this series is Theology 101.
Now when you use the word theology, some people bristle and say, Ooh, theology, that sounds boring. Really? If you find the study of God, angels, demons, the devil, the afterlife, events of the last days, and the meaning of your life a boring topic, I don't know what to say. I can't think of anything more engaging and interesting and fascinating than the things that we're going to be looking at together. And I'll tell you something else. As you get older, you start thinking about these things more, especially heaven, because you're getting closer to it every day. And also when you have someone you love that's gone before you, you think a lot more about that next life.
God's Sovereignty and Truth
Reminds me of a story I heard of an old codger who went out fishing one day. He didn't fish all that often, but decided to give it a try and went out in his little boat in the middle of the lake and threw a line into the water. And as it was waiting for a bite, he heard a voice from the water say, Hey, you, pick me up. He looked around. What am I, hearing things? And he just went back to fishing again. Hey, you, pick me up. The man looked down, and there in the water, looking up at him, was a frog. The old guy said, Are you talking to me? The frog said, Yeah, I'm talking to you. True story, by the way. The frog said, Pick me up. And then the frog said, Because if you pick me up and kiss me, I will become the most beautiful woman you've ever seen, and I'll marry you. And all of your friends will be envious. So the old guy looked at the frog for a moment, reached down and gently picked him up, and then just put him in the pocket of his shirt, right there, like that.
The frog said, Are you crazy? Did you hear what I just said? I said, If you kiss me, I'll become a beautiful woman, and I'll be your bride, and all your friends will envy you. The old guy said, You know, at my age, I'd rather have a talking frog. Well, we're talking about something a lot more interesting than a talking frog here. We're talking about the creator of the universe. And this series that we're doing called Essentials starts with God himself. And I started out with a no-brainer statement, but you have to start somewhere. And the statement was simply this. God exists, and he is the creator of the universe and mankind.
Now, to us, this is the easiest thing to accept, because we're believers in what the Bible says. But you say this in our secular culture today. You proclaim this in our marketplace today, and some people think you've lost their mind. It was actually G.K. Chesterton who made this observation about our culture, and I quote, "You're free in our time to say that God does not exist. You're free to say that he exists and he is evil. You can talk of God as a metaphor or even a mystification. No one will protest. But if you speak of God as a fact, as a reason for changing one's conduct, then the modern world will stop you if it can." We are long past talking about whether an unbeliever should be punished for being irreverent. It is not thought irreverent to be a believer.
Don't you think that's true? We're long past the day when someone would be surprised if you took the name of the Lord in vain. Oh no, we're living in a time where if you dare to say God exists and is the creator of the universe, well, that's controversial. And then if you take that to its logical conclusion and say, therefore, since God exists and is the creator of the universe, He has given us truth and He has shown us what right and wrong are, what good and evil are, now people will think you're crazy.
Biblical Worldview in Decline
I read an alarming statistic just the other day. They revealed that 1% of young adults in America hold a biblical worldview. This age known as the Mosaic generation are between the ages of 18 and 23. Now what is a biblical worldview? As defined in this survey that was taken among them, a biblical worldview is as follows. The Bible is completely accurate in all the principles it teaches. Secondly, Satan is a real being, not a force or merely symbolic. Thirdly, a person cannot earn their way to heaven by trying to be good or do good works. Fourthly, Jesus lived a sinless life while on earth. And lastly, God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world. He still rules the universe today. Okay, now all of us would subscribe to those statements. 1% of the Mosaic generation says that's true.
So, some of us would say, these crazy kids, what do they know? They fried their brains on video games and cell phones, you know? Well, the adults are not much better actually. Because USA Today recently did an article that pointed out how the Christian faith is losing ground in America. And this article said, and I quote, "When it comes to religion, the USA is now the land of the freelancers. The percentage of people who call themselves Christians has dropped 11%. And more than ever before, people are just making up their own stories of who they are. They say, I'm everything. I'm nothing. I believe in myself," said Barry Kosmin, survey co-author. "Today," he says, "religion has become more of a fashion statement, not a deep personal commitment for many."
It reminds me of a conversation I had just a few days ago with some Bible publishers. And they told me that the number one selling point of Bibles today is not the translation or what the content of the study notes might be, etc. But the number one consideration for people in buying a Bible today is if it matches their outfit. So they're starting to factor in colors and design in the look of the Bible. That's interesting to me. Coming back to this article in USA Today, it concluded with a story of a minister who recalled how a couple came into his office with a yellow pad of their teenage son's questions. And one of the boy's questions was, listen to this, "what is that guy doing hanging up there on the plus sign?" Get it? He's talking about a crucifix. Who's the guy hanging on the plus sign? Not even the cross, the plus sign. That's how ignorant people are today.
We've never had a greater need than we have now to get the gospel to our generation. And then my other concern is even in the church, so many are biblically illiterate. They don't know what they believe. They don't think. Instead, they feel and they emote and they opine. But we need to think. And more to the point, we need to think biblically. Okay, so we offer to you theology without apology. And we started with what we learned together in our last message. The attributes of God. Which were, number one, God is omnipotent. God is omniscient. God is all-knowing. So God is omnipresent. He's present everywhere. He's omnipotent. All-powerful. God is omniscient. He knows everything. Okay, let's pick up now and talk about some more attributes of God.
God Is Sovereign and Truth
Here's a really big one. God is sovereign. God is sovereign. We sometimes refer to this as divine Providence. The word Providence comes from two interesting words. Pro-video. You know what that second word means. Knowing something before it happens. God is sovereign. He's all-knowing. Nothing catches God by surprise. Otherwise, the Lord doesn't say, whoa, whoa, what was that? He doesn't learn new things. Nor does He forget things He has already learned. He knows everything that there is to know. And also, He is sovereign. Which means He is in control. He is the king. He is the master. Nor does He have to ask our permission or even give us understanding. God can do what He wants to do whenever He wants to do it.
But listen, God is able to do what He pleases with whomever He chooses, whenever He wishes. I put it up here because I thought you might like to write this down. God is able to do what He pleases with whomever He chooses, whenever He wishes. You see? He doesn't need your permission. He doesn't need a consensus. He's not going to put this up to a vote. God is sovereign. Psalm 115:3 says, "Our God is in heaven. He does whatever He pleases." Even the pagan King Darius made this statement. He said, Daniel 4:35, "All the people of the earth are nothing compared to God. He has the power to do as He pleases among the angels of heaven. And with those that live on the earth, no one can stop Him or challenge Him, saying, 'What do you mean by doing these things?'"
Listen, God is the Potter. We are the Clay. God is the Shepherd. We are the sheep. God is the vine. We are the branches. God is the giver. We are the recipient. Again, God is able to do what He pleases with whomever He chooses, whenever He wishes. This is God's prerogative. Chuck Swindoll made this statement, and I quote, "To say that God is sovereign is to say that He is supreme. He is in full control of all things. All things. He is almighty. He is the possessor of power, both on earth, above earth, below earth, and all matters pertaining to all existence. God is over all nature, over all events, over all blessings, all disasters, calamities. God is over all humanity, all life in the realm of the seen and the unseen world, over good and evil. No one can defeat His purposes. No one can thwart His plans. He is never surprised. He never learns. He is never frustrated. Nothing is ever an afterthought." End quote.
Wait a minute, we say. Hold on now. Are you saying God is sovereign when I'm let go of my job for no good reason? Are you saying that God is sovereign when the doctor calls with bad news? Are you saying God is sovereign when a loved one unexpectedly dies? As a matter of fact, I am. I'm saying God is sovereign. Now that is not to say that all these things that happen are necessarily done by God. There are times when tragedy hits that I would not say God did that. But we would have to be honest and say God allowed that. But why did God allow that? Ah, that's another question altogether. We'll get to that later when we talk about the reason for suffering. But suffice it to say for now that we just fall back on what the Bible says that God is sovereign. He has His plans. He has His purposes. And we may in time understand many of those purposes. And there are other things that we will not understand until we get to heaven.
God Is Truth – The Final Standard
Let's shift gears now. Number two, God is truth. So we've established God is sovereign. He's in control. And God is truth. What does this mean? When we say God is truth, we're saying this means that God and God alone is the true God. His knowledge and His words are true. And He is the final standard of truth. There's a lot of false gods out there. But Jeremiah 10:10 says the Lord is the true God. He's the living God. The eternal King. He is the true God. And therefore what God says is true is true. And what God says is false is false. He is the final court of arbitration. You don't go beyond God. If God says it's good, it's good. If God says it's bad, it's bad. God is true.
Now, sometimes we don't like this because we'll say, well, I disagree with it. Well, then you need to change your opinion, okay? Sort of like when you were a kid and you went to your parents and said, well, you know, I don't want to do thus and so. Why should I do it? And your parents said, because I said so. Didn't you hate that answer? But why? Because I said so. No. And you vowed, when I become a parent, I'll never say that to my kid. How many of you have said that to your kids? Sometimes you just say, you know what? The time of discussion is over. This is what's going to happen. Well, because I said so. And you say those other things you vowed you would never say, like, if all the kids jumped off a cliff, would you jump off? And of course, the favorite, do you think I have a money tree in my backyard? You know, so. But with God, this is absolute. God, but why? I don't understand it. Why? Because I said so. And I am the ultimate source of truth. You can't go any higher than me. And I said so. Okay.
God Is Holy, Righteous, and Good
Number three, God is holy. God is holy. If anything comes out in Scripture, it's this. Remember Isaiah, in the sixth chapter, came before God's presence. And he said, I saw the Lord sitting upon His throne. He was high and He was lifted up. And the angels cried, holy, holy, holy. He saw the Lord in all of His glory. Notice the angels didn't cry, eternal, eternal, eternal, or faithful, faithful, faithful, or mighty, mighty, mighty. Though all those things are true, they said, holy, holy, holy. God is holy. And because God is holy, He hates sin. Habakkuk says, your eyes are too pure to look on evil. You cannot tolerate wrong. God had to put His judgment on Jesus and turn His face away as all the sin of the world was put on the sinless, holy Son of God. And we'll talk about that more in our next time together. But that's our holy God.
And then, fourthly, God is not only holy, He is also righteous. Now listen. Holiness would describe His character, while righteousness and justice would describe His dealing with mankind. We're told in Psalm 11:7, the Lord is righteous. He loves justice. See, God is righteous. That means what He does is right. And it's important to see how these attributes of God work together and actually complement one another. I've already pointed out that God is all-powerful, right? He's omnipotent. He can do anything that He wants. But now we're seeing He's also righteous. He's also righteous, rather. Listen, if He were a God of perfect righteousness without the power to carry out that righteousness, we could never be sure that justice would ultimately prevail. On the other hand, if we were a God of unlimited power, yet without righteousness in His character, how unthinkably horrible our universe would be. But the good news is, is He's all-powerful, but He's righteous, and He's just. He will never misuse His power.
Number five, not only is God wholly righteous, and just, listen to this one, He is also good. God is good. Remember that. The Psalms frequently refer to the fact that God is good. Psalm 106:1, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. David said, taste and see that the Lord is good. Therefore, you don't want to know what good and evil are, right and wrong are. God sets a standard. You don't go any higher than that. That's where you get your worldview. That's where you get your life view. God is good. But then there are times when things happen in our lives, and we don't understand them. We say, why did this happen? I don't know. But what do I know? I know God is good. I can't explain it. Why? I don't know. But I know God is good. Guess what? I know God is also sovereign. And how do you work that out? I don't. I just know these things as a fact. I won't trade what I don't know for what I do know. I know God is good. But what is good? Oh, now that's interesting because his definition of good may be different than our definition of good.
For us, good? Well, good is basically what we want. Take my granddaughter, Stella. She loves to eat one kind of food. It's called the quesadilla. Doesn't matter if it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Stella, what would you like to eat? Quesadilla. I don't even have to finish the question. What would you like? Quesadilla. What quesadilla? Quesadilla. Quesadilla. She loves the quesadilla, which is good for me because that's one of the two things I know how to cook, actually. And it's very specific. She doesn't want a bunch of extra stuff in it. She doesn't want chicken in it. She doesn't want vegetables or whatever. She just wants cheese on tortilla. That's it. And since I was watching her this weekend, I took her out to eat because I can only cook two things, as I mentioned. And so I thought we should try something beside a quesadilla. So I got her chicken fingers, you know. And fries come with the chicken fingers.
And, you know, she's the fries. Fries, fries, you know. Stella, take a bite of your chicken finger. You know, and she takes like a little microwave. Fries, fries, fries, you know. That's how kids are. If you let them eat what they want, they would fill up on the worst food imaginable. So as parents, we try to put a little fiber in their diet. Not much fiber with chicken fingers and fries. But, hey, what do you want, you know. I'm just grandpa, okay. I'm not mom here or dad. So in the same way, we are going through these things with our kids. How much more with God? What is good? Well, our definition of good would probably be blue skies, great health, paid bills, open parking spaces, and no reruns on TV. Seriously, though, good would be smooth sailing. The complete absence of conflict or hardship. How many of you like hardship? Raise up your hand. Okay, I'm glad you agree with me. I don't like it either. And if possible, we will tend to avoid these things when we see them coming our way.
But here's what we need to do. What we think is good could actually be bad. Did you know it could be the worst thing for you? Because you don't learn the great lessons of life when everything is easy. You learn the great lessons of life when things are hard. That's where depth of character comes from. That's where Christlikeness comes from. Not from a carefree life, but usually from crisis because it produces a dependence upon God. Listen to these words of James, chapter 1. I like this translation. When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don't treat them as intruders. Treat them as friends. What? Friends. A trial? Being a friend?
That's what he says. Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you a quality of endurance. Let that process go on until that endurance is fully developed and you'll find that you become men and women of mature character with no weak spots. Men and women of integrity. You see, God can bring good out of bad. It may not be in this life, it may not be until we get to the other side that we realize things that we thought were bad were actually good and things that we thought were good were actually bad. Therefore, just leave it at this. God is good. Okay? And He will determine ultimately what good is and let me add this, Romans 8:28. God causes all things to work together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose.
God Is Loving – Demonstrated in Christ
Not only is God good, but God is loving. God is loving. In fact, the Bible tells us God is love. What better definition is there than that? Not simply God has love or God exhibits love. No. God is love. You want to know what love is? Look at God. That describes His nature and character. And you know, I hope you don't look to Hollywood for your definition of love. They wouldn't know love if it smacked them in the face. Hollywood's all about who's hooking up with who, who the beautiful couple is, who the power couple is, the glamorous couple. And they have relationships that last like nine minutes. You know? How about a real commitment that will last a lifetime? God has shown His love to us not just in what He says, but in what He does. The Bible says God demonstrates His love toward us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He's shown us that love in a tangible way.
So I think about these things. Okay, God is sovereign. God is holy. God is good. What does that mean to me? Listen, there can be no theology without doxology. In other words, how does it apply in my life? I'm glad you asked, even if you didn't. Check this out. God is truth. Therefore, we as His children should be truthful. God is truth. Therefore, we as His children should be truthful. The Scripture tells us lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. Did you know that in Proverbs we're given a list of seven things that God hates? I don't know about you, but if God actually singles some stuff out and says, you know what? I really hate this.
I'm pretty interested knowing what it is. Because I definitely don't want to do something God hates. Do you? And among the seven things that God identifies as things He hates, two of them have to do with lying. One of them is a tongue that lies and the other one is a mouth that lies under oath. Man, you know it's a lot of work to tell lies. Usually we tell a lie to cover up something. You know, we did something we shouldn't have done. Someone says, did you do this and so? No. Before we can even think about it. Lie, lie, lie. There it is. Then we have to tell a lie to cover the lie. Then we have to tell another lie to cover the last two lies. Now we have to come up with another lie to cover the... And after a while you're so exhausted from lying. You don't even know what true is anymore. Just speak the truth and walk in the truth to the best of your ability.
Living Holy and the Priestly Blessing
Another thing to consider, God is holy, therefore we should also seek to be holy. First Peter 1:15-16 says, just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." Since you call on a Father who judges each person's work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. Holy. How can I be holy? Usually the word holy is used in a negative sense. Here's how we normally hear the word holy. Oh, what? You're like knowing everything? You're so holier than thou. And immediately we recoil from that description. I'm not holier than thou. Sorry, I'll try to be more unholier than thou. I mean really what is that person saying? They're saying, get out of my face. Generally something like that will be said to you because you dare to call someone into question. You'll say, you know, I don't know if you really should be doing that because the Bible says that's and so. Oh, what do you know everything? Are you perfect? You're all holier than thou. Oh, I'm sorry. I'll never try to be holy again.
Now the Bible says you should be holy but let's understand what holiness is. Holiness is not false piety nor is it arrogance. nor is it looking down your nose at someone else. In fact, I'll tell you the most holy people I've met are the most humble. Going back to Isaiah, Isaiah says, I saw the Lord high and lifted up sitting on his throne. The angels cried holy. Then Isaiah says, Then I said, Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips. As Isaiah saw God in all of his holiness, he then saw himself in all of his unholiness. You want to know what a holy person is like? It's a person who realizes they have a long ways to go. He showed me someone that says, I've reached a spiritual plateau of maturity and depth that you will probably never attain to. I'm so holy. You're just a jerk is what you are. Okay? Because a person who's really seeking to live a holy life would never say something like that.
You would say something more along the lines of what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:12 when he says, Friends, don't get me wrong. By no means do I count myself to have already obtained all this or to have already arrived at my goal. But I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. I love that. Paul's saying, I'm not an expert. And listen, when I stand up here, please don't think that I present myself as an expert. I've got this thing wired. Listen, I have a long ways to go. Okay? Just ask my wife if you don't believe me. Anyone that knows me. Alright? We're all in process. We're all learning. We're all growing. But yet we should seek to be holy people. The Bible tells us this. But maybe it's hard for us to wrap our mind around the concept of being holy.
So let's re-spell it and it will help. Instead of spelling holy, H-O-L-Y, let's re-spell it this way, W-H-O-L-L-Y. Why is that different? Well, holy speaks of a commitment. You know, there's a lot of wholly committed people in the world today. Some are wholly committed to surfing. Some are wholly committed to making money. Some are wholly committed and they're not real happy right now with this economy. Some are wholly committed to trying to reach some state of physical perfection and they're always messing with themselves. You know, and it's getting out of control and I don't want to say who these people are but you know them when you see them. You go, whoa. But they're committed to something and they're always engaged in it. They're always thinking about it. They're always talking about it. That's someone who is wholly committed to something. All right, let's be wholly committed to God. The Bible says of Caleb, he wholly followed the Lord his God. If you are wholly committed to God, guess what? You'll find yourself living a holy life. H-O-L-Y. We want to be people who are living holy lives.
The Priestly Blessing – God's Care for His People
Let me close now with just a few thoughts from our text, number six. This text is familiar to us. If it isn't, it ought to be. It's a beautiful set of verses. It's a blessing, really. A blessing given by God to the priest to speak over the people on a regular basis. Why? Because God wanted this ingrained in the brains of His own people. He wanted them to hear it again and again. "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." We talked about seven things that God hates. Now let's talk about six things that we need to know about God.
Number one, God wants to bless you. The Lord bless you. Blessing is a spiritual word. It's a word of God's people. And unfortunately it's been hijacked by our culture and misused, but blessing speaks of God's favor upon a man or a woman. Jesus started and ended His ministry by blessing people. The Bible tells us He took little children into His arms and He blessed them. So it starts off, the Lord bless you and the Lord keep you. The Lord bless you and keep you. And you know, in this crazy world we're living in, we often worry about our safety and security. Not only for ourselves, but for our family. But know this, God never forgets what He loves.
We went to Disneyland the other day with our granddaughter, Stella, and I kept my eye on her all day long. I held her for most of the day. Because you don't take your eyes off a child in Disneyland. I saw a lot of parents had their kids on leashes. This is a popular thing these days, walking my kid around on a leash, you know. Seems a little odd, but it also seems to work quite well. But, you know, you wouldn't lose your child and come home and say, did we leave our kid at Tomorrowland? Where's that? You know, if you love someone, you know where they are. God loves you. He knows where you are. He's going to protect His investment at all times. You say, well, Greg, what about when accident or tragedy happens to the child of God? I thought you said He would keep us.
Well, I did. But in asking a question like that, we're somehow assuming we all have a right to live very long lives. And then one day we'll just peacefully die in our sleep. The Bible teaches our times are in His hands. None of us know how long our life will go. Our life is a gift to us from God right now. And that breath you just drew into your lungs is a gift to you from God as well. Don't take that for granted. Even death does not mean that God has somehow failed in His promise to keep us barring the rapture. Just as with the apostles, there will come a time for us to go home to heaven, but that will only occur when God's purposes have been fulfilled for us here and now. The death of a Saint does not mean that God has failed or ceased in His promise to keep us. Instead, it is there that we discover His commitment to keep us. His commitment to keep us does not stop with this life alone, but continues until He has kept us right into the glory of heaven. The Lord keep you.
Number three, God smiles on us. It says in verse 25, the Lord make his face shine upon you. God wants us to be reminded daily. He smiles. Have you ever thought of God as smiling? A lot of times we think of God as frowning. Aren't you glad God doesn't get in bad moods? Don't even bother praying today. God is so grumpy today. Just don't even talk to him. Don't even get on his radar screen. I'm so thankful God's not moody and grumpy and easily upset like I am when I don't have my lunch. No, God smiles on us. And we often think, oh man, if God sees me, he's going to be so upset, he's so angry. Like he isn't aware of what you've been doing.
Listen, when you walk into a room, so to speak, his face lights up. He smiles. There's my boy. Messing up again, but he's my boy. There's my girl. I love her. That doesn't mean he tolerates sin. It doesn't mean that he condones the wrong that you've done. But it means despite what you've done, he still loves you and he smiles on you. But he does want to change you. He's gracious to you. Verse 25, the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. He wants to extend to you his grace, his unmerited favor. Not what you deserve. Don't ever pray, God, give me everything I deserve. Because you deserve judgment just like I did. Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve, but grace is getting what you don't deserve. And God has extended unmerited favor to each of us through Christ. For the Bible says, By grace you've been saved through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Number five, he's attentive to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you. It means that God is fully aware of what you're going through. He's watching you. You have his full attention. And the Lord give to you peace. The only way I can have peace in this crazy world is knowing that there's an all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, sovereign, truthful, loving, righteous, just, and good God watching over me. Where else are you going to put your trust? From what other source will you find your strength? But listen, when we've been talking about this blessing, this is for Christians only. Remember those jackets from years ago? They had a little jacket. For members only. How many of you wore those? How many of you are still wearing them? You never stopped wearing them. We never knew what we were a member of. For members only. There's a lot of us in this club. We don't know what the club is, but members only. This is for believers only. Non-believer can't claim the blessing of God. Non-believer can't claim the Providence of God. Non-believer can't claim the peace of God. They don't get it. Only the believer does.
Invitation: Choose Life and Blessing Today
Here's what God says, okay? I give you a choice. I set before you today life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life that you and your descendants may live. So God's saying, here it is, a life of blessing following me, a life of purpose, not a carefree life, not an easy life, but a life that I will control and guide that will ultimately result in eternity in heaven or you can live this other life apart from me without my blessing. Without my guidance and the certainty of future judgment. So what do you want to do? I love the fact that God says, I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Hey, choose life, choose life, choose life. Sometimes, sorry, like 18th Stella grand story, or grand story. Third service, cuckoo. Okay. Third grandparent story is what I meant to say. But sometimes I'll tell Stella, guess what hand it's in. But I'll kind of hold it both up, but I'll kind of let her know what hand it is. Give her a little hint. Oh, that one. Oh, you got it again. I'm helping her out, you see. God says, I give you life and death, blessing and cursing. Oh, by the way, choose life, choose life, choose life. But it's still your choice. And you can make the wrong choice. And many do. And some of you have.
Maybe you've come here today with guilt. You've come here today with an emptiness in your life. You've come here today with a fear of what's going to happen to you when you die. You've come here today with confusion. And I want to tell you that there's a God who loves you so much. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to come to this earth and die on the cross in your place. And then Jesus Rose again from the dead three days later. And He's standing at the door of your life right now. And He is knocking. And He's saying, if you'll hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. Did you hear that? Jesus said, He'll come into your life today and be your Savior and your Lord and your God and your friend. He'll forgive you of your sin if you'll turn from it and start following Him. And you can get to know this just, righteous, holy, good, and loving God for yourself. And start discovering His plan for you.
If you've not done that, I hope you'll do it right now. Because in the moment, we're going to close in prayer. I'll give you an opportunity to get right with God. Or, if you've fallen away from the Lord, you need to come back to Him. I'll give you an opportunity to return to Him today. Let's pray. Father, I pray now for every person listening to this message. I pray that You'll help them to see their need for You. And help them to come to You this day, we pray.
Well, our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying. How many of you would say today, Greg, pray for me? I want Jesus Christ to come into my life. I want Jesus to forgive me of my sin. I want to know that when I die, I will go to heaven. Father, if that's your desire, if you want Christ to come into your life, if you want Him to forgive you of your sin, if you want your guilt removed, and the void in your life filled, would you just lift your hand up wherever you're sitting, and I'll pray for you. You want Christ to come into your life. You want your sin forgiven. Just lift your hand up wherever you're sitting, and I'll pray for you right now. God bless you.
Let's lift it up where I can see it. You want God's forgiveness today. God bless you and you. Up there in the balcony, God bless you too. In the front of the balcony, God bless you as well. Anybody else? You want God's forgiveness today, lift your hand up. Let me pray for you. God bless you. God bless you. Down here toward the aisle, God bless you too. God bless you. Up there in the balcony, God bless you. Maybe you've fallen away from the Lord. You want to come back to Him today. Lift your hand up and let me pray for you. You want to return to the Lord. Lift your hand up. I'll pray for you today. God bless you and you. God bless each one of you.
Now I'm going to ask all of you that just lifted your hand to stand to your feet and I'm going to lead you in a prayer. Just stand to your feet if you would right now. Stand up. And if you're out there in the amphitheater, outdoors, I want you to stand to your feet. And if you're in the court building, I want you to stand to your feet as well. I know I can't see you there. That doesn't matter. I'm going to lead you in this prayer of commitment. So, if you want Christ to come into your life, you want His forgiveness today, stand to your feet wherever you are. Up there in the very back of the balcony. God bless you guys. Anybody else? Again, out in the amphitheater, in the courtroom, the court building, stand to your feet now. God bless each one of you standing. Anybody else? Even if you didn't lift your hand, you want to make this commitment or recommitment to Christ, stand up right now. God bless you up there in the balcony. God bless. Anybody else? Anybody else? God bless you. All right, all of you that are standing, I want you to pray this prayer out loud right where you stand. And this is a prayer of asking Christ to come into your life. Again, as I pray, I want you to pray this out loud after me right where you stand. Okay? Pray this after me now.
Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner, but You died on the cross and shed Your blood for every sin I have ever committed. I turn from that sin now. I ask You to come into my life. Be my Savior. Be my Lord. Be my God. Be my friend. I choose to follow You, Lord, from this moment forward. Thank You for calling me and accepting me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.