Greg Laurie - What God Is Like? (03/22/2018)
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Pastor Greg Laurie unpacks the beautiful Aaronic blessing from Numbers 6:24-26, showing what God is truly like—He loves to bless us, keep us safe, smile on us with grace, give us His full attention, and fill us with peace. This Old Testament promise reveals the same loving, gracious Father we see in the New Testament, inviting us to know Him personally and choose His blessing over a cursed life of sin.
Knowing God – Beyond Our Earthly Fathers
Father, we want to know You better. We want to know Your character, Your nature, Your will. But most importantly, Lord, we just want to know You. We want to know all about You. So I pray as we open up Scripture, and we're given this glimpse of Your glory, as we see Your heart toward us, may it help us to love You even more. So we commit this time of Bible study to You now, in Jesus' name. Amen.
I heard a story of a little girl who got out a piece of paper and some crayons, and she was getting ready to draw something. And her mom said, Honey, what are you going to draw? She said, I'm going to draw a picture of God. The mom said, Well, sweetheart, nobody knows what God looks like. And the little girl said, They will when I'm done.
So what does God look like? What is God like? Is He a smiling God? Or is He a frowning God? And how does God look at you and me? Does He approve of us? Or does He disapprove of us?
You know, because God is referred to as a father, sometimes we will sort of think of Him in the way that we think of our earthly father. And that can be problematic because we may have had pretty messed up, or may still have pretty messed up earthly fathers.
For instance, if you had a father who was aloof and distant, or worse, was harsh and even abusive, you might apply that to God. That is what God is like, because He is a father too. Then again, if you have a father who is kind and approachable and fun-loving, maybe you transfer that to God also.
Well, here is the problem with that. God isn't like your earthly father. God is God. He stands apart from everyone else, irregardless of how good or poor of a job your father on earth may have done. You need to know your heavenly father is different.
So the only way we can get a proper portrait of God is in the pages of Scripture. I mean, the classic example is the story of the prodigal son given to us by Christ Himself. Jesus effectively gives us a snapshot of God telling us what God is like.
And you all know the story, so I won't tell it. But in the story that Jesus tells, God is like a father who loves His children. And when we are sinning against Him or running from Him, He misses us and longs for our return. So it is clearly a picture of a loving father that runs to meet His son as He throws His arms around Him.
And some would say, well, yeah, that is the New Testament version of God. But the Old Testament version of God, He is a whole different guy. There is two gods. O.T. God and N.T. God. Right? No. Wrong. The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. He is a God of love. He is a God of mercy. He is a God of grace. But He is also a God of justice. He is a God of holiness. He is a God of righteousness. He is the same in both Testaments.
The Israelites' Wilderness Journey
So we are in this series that we are calling The Greatest Stories Ever Told. Which is a flyover of the Bible from, say, 30,000 feet. We have been looking at mountain peaks of Scripture. And we have looked at Genesis and Exodus. And last time we looked at Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God and His request of the Lord to show Him His glory.
Now we come to this section here in Numbers where the Israelites are making their journey to the Promised Land. They have come through the Red Sea. The Egyptian army is no longer in issue. They are long gone. They have all been drowned. So now we have the Israelites moving through the wilderness.
They have their super cool GPS system. A fire by night. A cloud by day. It is pretty simple. When the cloud stops, you stop. When the cloud moves, you move.
Every day when they get up in the morning, they have breakfast waiting for them. Courtesy of God. It is called manna. And they gather this manna up. And they eat it. And it gets them through the day and so forth. And the next morning there is manna once again.
So here they are making this journey. Now it really shouldn't take all that long, even on foot, to get from Egypt to what is modern day Israel. But to them was known as the Promised Land or Canaan's Land or the Land of Canaan. It took them 40 years. It probably should have taken them a month, maybe a month and a half on the outside. It took them 40 years.
Why did it take so long? Is it because men were in charge and they didn't want to stop and ask for directions? Well, the answer is it is because they effectively went around in circles over and over again.
You know, they might say, didn't we see that cactus before? I think it was a little smaller, but I did carve my initials and I see them there. It is a little bigger. They were going around and around in a self-imposed wilderness. It did not have to be this way.
The Scripture actually tells us why it happened. Hebrews 3 says, here is what the Holy Spirit says. Today you must listen to the voice of God. Don't harden your hearts against Him as Israel did when they rebelled and tested God's Patience in the wilderness. So in my anger I made a vow, says the Lord. They will never enter my place of rest.
Be careful, dear friends. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. So listen, the book of Numbers was written to a wandering people. People who are going around in circles.
If you feel that is a description of your life, then this message is just perfect for you tonight. Maybe you feel like you are just going in circles. You feel like you learned something and then you go and blow it and fall back to the same sins again. And then you come out of it and you fall back again. And it just goes again and again.
Breaking the Cycle of Spiritual Wandering
Years ago I was back in North Carolina visiting Billy Graham in his home and he had one of the weirdest dogs I have ever seen. I was waiting to go in his home and he had this dog that perpetually chased his tail. I mean literally, the whole time I was there the dog just went in circles chasing his tail.
I thought, what is wrong with this dog? They said he chases his tail. Does he do anything else? He sleeps and then he gets up and starts chasing his tail. Weirdest thing I have ever seen. Because you have heard the expression, I literally saw a dog do it. He was like a psycho dog.
So I came back maybe a year later and I said, where is that dog that chases his tail? I said, he got it. He what? He bit his tail off. Stupid dog. I mean, you know, I am always mocking cats. I don't think even a cat would do something that dumb.
But sometimes we are like that dog chasing our tail, going in circles. It doesn't have to be that way.
So God commanded the priest to pronounce a blessing on the people. A people wandering in the wilderness. He wanted this blessing pronounced on the people again and again and again.
Effectively, the Lord was saying, I want this ingrained in their brains. I want it etched in their hearts. I want them to know this blessing from memory and be able to recite it at a moment's notice.
Why? Because this blessing that we are going to read really shows them what God is like. It shows His nature, His attitude toward them and really, in effect, toward us.
It is number 6, verse 24. It is going to be very familiar. Here it is.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.
So they shall put My name on the children of Israel and I will bless them.
That is so beautiful, isn't it? It is so profound. It is so poetic. But do we really know what it means? I mean, we say it. We pray it. We sing it. The Lord bless thee. Right? But do we even know what we are singing?
The Aaronic Blessing – What God Is Really Like
I mean, for starters, what does it mean when it says, Have His face shine upon us? What does it mean when it says, The Lord lift up His countenance upon us? And for that matter, what does it even mean when we say, The Lord bless you? What does it mean?
Well, let's talk about that. Let's start with the first point I want to bring to your attention.
1. God Loves to Bless Us
God loves to bless us. Verse 24. The Lord bless you.
Now we use this word blessing a lot. Most of the time we mean it. If you really want to be blessed, just sneeze. Total strangers will start blessing you. You ever notice that? You sneeze, God bless you. And then maybe you are having sort of an allergic reaction and it gets awkward. Achoo. God bless you. Achoo. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. He got you. You know, it goes on.
I don't know if they know what they are saying. But it is sort of the, I guess, apropos response of someone who is sneezing.
Sometimes we will say it to get rid of someone. You know, conversations going too long and we are at church and we are going, well man, it is really good to see you. God bless. Which really means go away now.
When our son Jonathan was a very little child, we would take him to this restaurant when we lived down in San Clemente. And it was this one waitress that just really would fawn over him and give him all sorts of attention and kind of pinch his cheek and talk to him in a little baby voice. And the whole time he would just say, oh mama, oh mama. And he would always mumble something. And he was just a little kid. So we couldn't quite understand him.
And then one day we figured out what he was saying. The whole time she was smothering him with all this affection. He was saying, go bye bye. Go bye bye. Go bye bye.
You ever feel that way? Someone is like getting on your nerves. You are like, haha, wow, go bye bye. Or you might say, God bless. God bless you. Go away, will you?
Don't be offended if I say, God bless you. I might actually mean it.
The word blessing is a spiritual word. The world may hijack it, but they have no idea of what it is. Sometimes you will even see people who have no interest in Jesus Christ say, oh this is a blessing or that is a blessing. And they don't even know what the word means.
A blessing is for a believer. And Jesus both started and concluded his ministry by blessing people. When he saw those two downhearted disciples on the Emmaus road, we read that he joined them and he blessed them. When little children came to him, he took them into his arms and he blessed them. After his resurrection, we read he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And then he ascended.
He loved to bless people. And of course we have the Beatitudes, which are the first verses of the Sermon on the Mount. And what do they say? He taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Again and again. It is blessed.
But what does the word mean? Well the word blessed comes from a root word, makarios. This was a Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Because of its geographical climate, its balmy environment and fertile soil, the Greeks believed that anyone who lived on the island of Makarios effectively had it made in the shade.
The idea was, man, if you live on Makarios, you don't need anything. Everything you need for a fulfilling life is right there on that island. So the idea of Makarios came to mean a self-contained happiness.
So when this word is used in Scripture, that is what it means. A self-contained happiness. See, sometimes our happiness is contingent on good things happening. You know, if we just got that raise at work, or the weekend has come, or we are going to go out to a great meal, or something fun happened or exciting, I am happy.
But then we didn't get the raise at work, or you know, we just ate the worst meal ever, and the bill just arrived, or we got some bad news, you are not happy. You are happy is contingent on good things happening.
Blessing is different. The word blessed means self-contained, irregardless of what is happening circumstantially. You are blessed. That is the idea of Makarios. Self-contained happiness.
So what do we learn? The Lord bless you. God wants to bless you. And it is independent of your circumstances.
Now some people might look at their life and wonder if this benediction ought to say, the Lord curse you. Because they feel like they are cursed. They feel like they have been dealt a bad hand in life. It is just not fair.
Some even ask about generational curses. Is there a curse that can come on a family and be passed from generation to generation? Quick answer, no. Though you can be cursed, and I want to define what that means in a moment. It is not what you probably think.
Generational curses. When the Bible says the sins of the parents are visited upon the children. It doesn't mean there is a curse on a family. It just means the children do the same stupid things their parents did. And that is why we need to really think about our lifestyle. Because we pass a value system down to our kids. And what we say. And what we do. And the way that we live and the choices we make.
That is why it is not uncommon for parents who divorce to have kids that divorce. Or parents that have alcohol issues to have kids that have alcohol issues. I mean if I followed sort of the pattern of my family, I should have been a divorced alcoholic tonight. Because my mom was divorced seven times. She was a raging alcoholic.
But the good news is even when that bad behavior is being passed down. God can step in and interrupt it. And change it. And then you can start a new kind of pattern that you can pass on to your children and grandchildren. That is what I have tried to do.
And so yes there is a place where you can be cursed. But when we say curse we don't mean like some witch putting a hex on you. That is not what it means. But the Bible does talk about being cursed.
For instance God cursed Cain because of his constant disobedience we are told in Genesis 9.25. God said there would be a curse on the person who worships false God in Deuteronomy 27.15. Also on the person who lives immorally. And the list goes on.
And when I say a curse let me put it another way. God says there will be reaped consequences for choices you make. So if you make bad choices you will in effect be cursed. And by that I mean you will face the music. You will have to face up to what you have done.
Deuteronomy sums it up. Chapter 30. God says I call heaven and earth as witnesses today. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life that you may live.
So God says okay here is how it works. You have a choice in life. I have given you a free will. You can be blessed. Or you can be cursed. You can have life. Or you can have death. The choice is up to you. By the way choose life.
It is kind of like you are in a class and the teacher says okay I am going to give you a test. And this is the question you are going to be answered. Oh by the way here is the answer to the question. Oh thank you. Write it down.
So God says here it is. You are going to be tested in life. You are going to have blessing or cursing. Life By the way, choose life. He is going to give us a little hint. Choose life. You want my advice as God? I kind of know what I am talking about here. Choose life. But I won't violate your free will.
God Blesses More Than We Desire
So God loves to bless you. Jesus said, fear not the little flock. It is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
You know, when I was raising my two sons, especially my first son, Christopher, you know, I spoiled him rotten. I agree with Dr. Dobson's advice that parents owe their first child an apology, you know. And I think I wanted to give him the childhood I didn't have. And I would just randomly buy him toys. And you know, that isn't always a good thing to do. But they were a lot of fun to play with.
And I would just say, let's go to the toy store. It wasn't his birthday or Christmas. Let's just go to the toy store and look around. So, you know, we are looking around. And we would walk out with these big toys. Way overkill, you know. And we would walk in the house with this new toy. My wife would look at me, roll her eyes. Like, we can't afford that.
But you know, I kind of spoiled them. And you know, that is kind of the privilege, I guess, of a parent. I am not advocating. I am just saying I did it.
But you know, when you have a grandkid, you must spoil them. Now we are gone from maybe something you shouldn't do to something you must do. Let the parents be the bad guy. The grandparents get to have all the fun. It is a reward for having to put up with their parents, our kids. Right? And it is not a sacrifice for me to do something for my grandkids. Oh, I don't want to do this. They need food again. Oh. No, it is your joy. You enjoy it.
So know this about God. God loves to bless you. Know this also about God. God loves to bless you even more than you want to be blessed. Isn't that great to know? How many of you want to be blessed? Raise your hand up. You want to be blessed. Okay. How many of you want to be cursed? Oh, I am so glad no one raised their hand. All right.
God wants to bless you even more than you want to be blessed. So the Lord bless you.
The Lord Keep You – Constant Protection
Number two, the Lord keep you. Verse 24. The Lord keep you.
God wants us to be constantly reassured he will keep us. We need this reassurance in such an evil and uncertain world. We sometimes worry about our safety and our security, not only for ourselves, but for our family.
Sometimes believers even wonder about their personal salvation. Even mature believers have those times where they doubt that they are saved. And they feel so badly about that. But you need to know that even great men of God had moments of doubt.
Elijah had his moments of doubt. My goodness. Even John the Baptist had moments of doubt. And according to Jesus, John was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. Yet after Christ started his public ministry, John sent a message to Christ saying, Are you the one or should we look for another?
Father. Yeah, I am the one. Didn't we kind of work that out at the baptism there? Remember the Holy Spirit came upon me in the form of a dove. And God said, This is my beloved son. John is sitting in a stinking prison though. And he is saying, I am just kind of struggling. I am not sure.
Jesus reassured him. He did not rebuke him. Just tell John this. So my point is, even mature believers may have moments of doubt.
But here is what you need to know. God is going to keep you. Psalm 121 says, I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. Listen. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will preserve you from all evil. He will preserve your soul.
The Hebrew word that is used there in Psalm 121 for being kept means to be watched, to be guarded, to have a hedge around you. Let me repeat that again. It means to be watched, to be guarded, to have a hedge around you.
We all remember the story of Job. He was attacked by the devil. And remember this, that Satan correctly said to God, have you not put a hedge around him? And when we use the word hedge, it's an updated, like a wall around you. A fire wall around you. Something that protects you that is impenetrable.
And so this hedge was around Job. This wall is around us. So we need to know that. God will keep you. Satan cannot scale or penetrate this wall. And if he tries to come in the front door, he has to face Jesus. Because Jesus said in John 10, I am the door of the sheep.
See, back in those days, they would put sheep in a sheepfold, which was very basic. It was basically sort of like a little low-slung fence. We might call it a corral. And at the opening where the sheep would go in and out. There was no door. The Shepherd was the door. That's where he would sleep. So if a predator comes in, there was the Shepherd to meet him.
So here's Jesus. And he's put us safely here. And we've got these walls of protection around us. And he's the front door. And the devil comes knocking. And Jesus says, you want some of this? The devil says, never mind. And he leaves.
So just know this. You are safe. Many passages remind us of this. You might write some of these down. 2 Thessalonians 3:3, the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. Jude 1:24, him that is able to keep you from stumbling and present you faultless before his presence with exceeding joy. 1 Peter 1:5, that we are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation. Jude 1:1, to those who are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ.
So this phrase kept could be translated, you are continually kept. You are protected. Listen, God doesn't lose his loved ones. Jesus said this in John 13, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
You don't lose something or someone you love. Right? You don't go to Disneyland and forget your kid. Unless you want to. Well, you can just go live in Fantasyland now. You already do in some ways. Just live there. See how that works out. And you walk away. You are not going to do that. Maybe if your kid is 40, you might do that. I don't know. But the idea is you remember those too far away. You always want to know where they are.
God never forgets what He loves. And He will protect His investment. And if we are not for this protection of God, none of us would make it. But we are kept by the power of God.
So we say, then that means I can do anything I want and go anywhere I want to go. And I will always be kept by God. Right? Wrong. Yes, you are kept by God. But then over in the book of Jude we read these words. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wait. What are you saying to me? You are saying that God keeps me. Right? Yes. But now you are saying I must keep myself in the love of God. So who is doing the keeping? Both of you.
It is like walking a small child across the street. You have the child's hand. But the child needs to hold on to your hand. If the child pulls away and runs, you know, you go after them. And so God is saying, here, take my hand. Here we go through life. And we are going, okay, this is good. I am pulling away. And you pull away. God will try to hold on to you. But He won't force you.
Now, He could hang on to you against your will. But He won't do that. And we have to stay away from those things that can pull us away. What does it mean to keep yourself from the love of God? It means keep yourself in a place where God can show His love to you. Keep yourself in a place where God can bless you.
Here is another way to look at it. Keep yourself away from all that is unlike Him. Keep yourself away from any influence that would violate his love or bring sorrow to God's heart. Hang around with people that will help you.
Some people, places, and activities make it easier for the devil to tempt us. But now that we have been delivered from the kingdom of Satan we need to keep our distance. And this is what Jesus meant when he taught us in the Lord's Prayer to say, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
And really what you're saying when you pray that is, Lord, help me to not unnecessarily put myself in the way of temptation. Protect me and keep me.
The Lord bless you. The Lord keep you.
God Keeps Us Through Trouble
Now, here's the thing that sometimes we may misunderstand. We may think that this means that God's going to keep us from all trouble. There are even some preachers that would suggest that if you become a Christian, you know, effectively you're never going to become sick or ill. You're going to be amazingly wealthy, especially if you send money to their ministry. And if you aren't, at least they will be. And, you know, and life's just going to be relatively perfect.
Well, that's not what the Bible teaches. And when the Bible says that God will keep us, it doesn't mean he will always keep us from trouble, but it always means he will keep us in trouble.
And sometimes God will keep us from a problem, but sometimes he'll let us go through the problem and be with us in the midst of it. Going back to the Red Sea. The Lord could have delivered them from that. He could have airlifted them over the Red Sea. But he allowed them to get into that situation with their backs against the wall, so to speak, and the Egyptian army closing in.
Why? So they would pray and see God's glory on display. And then when he answered their prayer, and the Red Sea opened up, and they walked through, and it closed on the pursuing Egyptian army. They saw that God walked with them through their difficulties.
And there's a story after story in the Bible like that. I mean, God could have kept Daniel from the lion's den. Instead, God kept Daniel in the lion's den. God could have kept Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. But instead, God walked with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace.
Jesus could have kept the disciples from all the storms on the Sea of Galilee. But he would say to them, let's cross over to the other side. And he would be on board that boat with them as they went through the storms.
Sometimes God keeps us from trouble. No question. But you can always be sure he will keep you in trouble.
Maybe you're in trouble right now. Maybe you're frightened, and you're unsure about your future, and you don't know what's going to happen next. Just know this. You are not alone. God is there with you in the midst of it.
Sometimes I think we may think that we have some right to live easy, tranquil lives. And then one day we'll just die in our sleep. Everything will be nice and cozy and comfortable. The Bible doesn't promise that.
Jesus did not say, in this world you will have sunshine and lollipops. Wouldn't that be an interesting verse? Remember that song? Sunshine, lollipops. No. Jesus never promised that. He said, In this world you shall have what? Tribulation. Then what did he say after that? But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
You're going to have tribulation in this life. Our life is a gift to us from God. The breath I draw into my lungs right now is a gift from God. The beat of my heart. It's a gift from God. Don't take it for granted.
You say, okay, great. Well that's all fine. But what about when death comes? What about it? He'll keep you there too. Even death does not mean God has somehow failed in His promise to keep us, barring the rapture in our lifetime.
Just as the apostles, there will come a time for us to go home to heaven. And that will occur when God's purposes for our lives on earth are completed. The death of a Saint does not mean God has failed or ceased to keep His problem. It just says that now God's going to keep you through that passage from this life into the next one and take you safely into heaven.
The Lord bless you. The Lord keep you.
God Smiles and Is Gracious to Us
Number three, God smiles on you. God smiles on you. Look at verse 25. The Lord make His face shine upon you. Better translation, the Lord smile on you. That's what that text means.
That's important to know. Because maybe you wonder, what does God think when I show up, you know? Do you know people that when they come walking in, you're like, oh. You know, they can tell when you feel that way. It's like the lyrics of that Bob Dylan song, Positively Fourth Street. I love the line where he says, I wish for just one time you could stand inside my shoes and you'd know what a drag it is to see you.
What a great line. You know what a drag it is to see you. That was my Bob Dylan imitation. Maybe we feel that way about God. Oh. God looks at me and says, Oh what a drag. Greg is here. Oh. Hi Greg.
That is not how God feels about us. Here is what He says. His face smiles. He smiles. Like when your kids show up. Or your grandkids show up. Or someone you really love shows up. Your face just lights up.
That is God. He is not like these false gods. These idols. You ever look at the faces of idols? I have been through museums and seen various idols and they are always mad about something. You ever notice that? You ever see a tiki god? They are never smiling. They are frowning. You know. Their tongues hanging out. They are ticked off about something.
All these false gods. They always woke up on the wrong side of the bed. They are always walking on eggshells. Around those gods man. They are upset about something.
Well listen. That is not our God. Our God looks at us. He loves to bless us. He will keep us. And when we walk in the room He smiles.
God says I want you to know that. So He is saying to the priest, I want you to tell this to my people over and over again. I want it ingrained in their brain. I want them to think of that when they pray. This is how I feel toward you.
Here is something else you may not know. God doesn't just smile when He sees you. He sings over you. Zephaniah 3:17 says, The Lord your God in the midst of you is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
I love that. Don't you? I was pushing my granddaughter Allie on the swing today. And as I pushed her, I was singing to her, I said, Swing, swing, swing, and make music to the... So I kind of took a Chris Tomlin song and massacred it. But instead of sing, sing, I made it swing, swing.
So then when I asked her, Do you want to go swing? She would go, Swing, swing, swing. You know, she knows that song is associated with it. So I sing over her. I sing her Christian songs. I sing her biblical lyrics. Because I want it ingrained in her little brain. And then she starts to remember it.
God sings over you. He delights to be in your presence, as I hope you delight to be in His.
Number four. God is gracious to you. Verse 25. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
Now this is something we need to understand. What does it mean? Well, one definition of grace is God's unmerited favor, right? So let's contrast the word grace with two other words. We will go with justice and mercy.
Justice is getting what I deserve. Mercy, I have got it on the screen here, is not getting what I deserve. And grace is getting what I don't deserve.
Again, justice is getting what I deserve. I break a law. I am arrested. I am tried and sentenced. Justice was meted out. I got what I deserve.
Mercy is not getting what I deserve. I go before the judge. He has a little compassion on me and says, I am going to give you another chance. That is mercy.
Grace is getting what I don't deserve. Let me illustrate. Let's say I loaned my Harley to a friend and he crashed it and totaled it. This has never happened, but I do remember one time I had a Harley I just got years ago. And I was out riding with my friend, Raul Rees. And Raul said, Greg, can I ride your Harley? I said, sure, Raul, but be careful. I just got it. Okay, man. It's neat.
So that was a Raul imitation. You got Bob Dylan a Raul in one sermon. Come on. Where else are you going to get that? But from this deranged mind. But so we pull into a gas station and I'm on Raul's bike and I pull up and he's pulling behind me on my brand new bike and I'm looking in the little side view mirror and I watch my bike fall over. And I look, Raul, what happened? He goes, I can't believe it. He didn't damage it, but still.
So let's say, back to the illustration. Let's say I loaned my bike to someone and they went out and totaled it. Okay, now if I dealt with them in justice, I'd say, you need to buy me a brand new bike just like the one you total. That's justice.
Mercy would be, okay, you don't have to buy me a brand new bike. Forget about it. Grace would be, I'd take them out to dinner and buy them a brand new bike. See, that's the difference.
So we always say, God, give me justice. Don't pray that prayer. You don't want God to give you what you deserve. Because you deserve judgment. So you say, God, be merciful to me. God, extend your grace to me.
See, when he extends mercy, he doesn't give you what you deserve. And when he extends grace, he gives you his unmerited favor and blessing.
And the Bible tells us it's by grace that we are saved through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast.
It was this grace that sustained Paul in his days of difficulty. With a Thorn in the flesh, some kind of a physical infirmity. It may have been a disability. It may have been an injury that came as a result of his multiple beatings and stonings and shipwrecks. But whatever it was, he says, I asked the Lord three times to take it away. And God said, My grace is sufficient for you.
I mean, the classic example of grace is back to the story of the prodigal son. If the father dealt with the son justly, he would have allowed the people in the city to stone the boy, because the boy had sinned. He had drug the family name through the mud, drug the name of the town and village through the mud, brought disgrace. He would have let the boy be executed. That would have been justice.
If the father would have dealt with the boy in mercy, he would have let him come on as a hired hand, as the boy actually requested. He said, Father, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Just make me a hired servant. You know, let me just be a ranch hand now. I can't be your son anymore. I've obviously blown that.
But the father indeed dealt with him in grace when he put the signet ring back in his boy's finger and put the royal attire on him, or at least the luxurious attire on him, I should say. And the boy was put back into full sonship. That was grace, you see. Not justice, not getting what you deserve, even more than mercy. It was grace extended.
The Lord be gracious unto you.
God Gives Full Attention and Peace
Number five, the Lord be attentive to you. Verse 26. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you. What does that mean? That means to lift up his face, or another way to translate it, to look to see, to know, to be interested, to have one's full attention.
Have you ever been speaking with someone and they're not paying attention? Let me restate the question. Ladies, have you ever tried to have a conversation with your husband? Or let me put it another way. Have you ever talked to somebody who's texting? You know, and they're not listening. You're saying, so anyway, I said this, they're like, oh.
And some people move their lips when they text. Have you noticed that? They're like, are you listening to me? Yes. What did I just say? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm not sure. You're not listening. Pay attention. Listen to me. Look at me.
We say that to our kids, right? Look at me when I talk to you. So here's what God is saying. You have my full attention. Father, yes. He's looking. He'll get right down there. You know, kids love that when you get down on their level. And you talk right to them. Oh, he's talking. Yeah, they're listening. You hear what they say. You respond to what they say.
Here's what God is saying. You have my complete attention. That's what it is when he says he'll lift up his countenance upon you.
Sometimes we wonder if we have God's attention. We wonder, is God aware of what's happening to me right now? Because things aren't going all that well.
I wonder if Joseph ever felt that way. The Bible doesn't say he did, but you wonder. He was, after all, only human. I mean, here is Joseph. What a guy. He resists the advances of the wife of Potiphar who wants to have sex with him. He does all the right things. And what happens? He's falsely accused of rape and thrown into a stinking Egyptian prison.
How easily he could have thought, well, this is just great, isn't it? You serve the Lord. You do what God wants. And this is where it gets you. If I would have given in to Mrs. Potiphar, that cougar, I wouldn't be here right now. I'd be living on the lap of luxury. But here I am suffering.
No, I don't know that Joseph ever said that. The Bible doesn't say he did. But God was still blessing him. You see, how could that be a blessing to be in prison? Because God was prepping Joseph for some awesome things. Joseph's best days were to come, and God was preparing him to be someone who could handle those blessings.
Everything we go through in life is preparation for something else.
Number six, and this is our last point, God wants to give his peace to you. Verse 26, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
I mean, if you think about this, that God wants to bless you, he wants to keep you, he smiles on you, you have his complete attention. That should give you perfect peace.
Philippians 4 says, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
So when I know that God's in control of my life, and I can rejoice, it brings great peace. Knowing this.
One final thing. Verse 27. So shall they put my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.
God is saying to the priests, listen, you guys, you have spiritual oversight over these people. I've put you in charge. I want you to tell this to them over and over again. You just tell them this. I'll bless them. I'll keep them. I'll make my face shine upon them. I'll be gracious unto them and give them peace.
You tell it to them. Tell it to them. Tell it to them. Tell it to them. And you know what? I'll back it up. I'm good for this. You can take it to the bank.
This is why I love to preach the gospel. Because I know the gospel works. When I get in the pulpit and I tell people to come to Christ, I know it works. I don't worry about, oh gee, what if Jesus doesn't work out for some of these people? What if Jesus doesn't back up his promises? What if Jesus is too busy? I don't think that because I know he will change lives. I've seen it over and over and over again.
God will be good for his word. You know, there was a day when if someone said, I'll do it, that was it. A man's word was his bond. You didn't need to sign a bunch of agreements. You just say, hey, I'm good for it. Shake on it. Done.
God says, I'm good for this. I'll back it up 100%. You tell them and I'll follow through. I will bless them. I will give them peace. I will be gracious to them.
This Blessing Is for Believers Only
Now these promises, as I said in the beginning, are only for the child of God. The non-believer can't claim this. So they can say it. They can pray it. They can sing it if they want. But it's meaningless. This is for believers only.
Remember those jackets we used to wear years ago? We, I see, those of us who've been around for a while. They're called members only. Remember those? Members only. We all had them. Members only. What were we members of? I don't know, but I'm a member. Are you? Little epplets on them. Members only. Stupid, really.
But this is for believers only. For believers only.
Here's why you can receive the blessing from God. Coming back to the word curse. You can have God's blessing. Because Jesus took the curse.
Galatians 3:13, Christ has redeemed us says, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is every man that hangs on a tree.
Listen to this. Jesus was cursed so I could be blessed. Jesus died so I could live. Jesus was forsaken so I might be forgiven. He took the curse. He absorbed the curse. Cursed is every man that hangs on a tree, the scripture says.
He said, I'll take that. I'll absorb it all for them. So I don't have to live a cursed life. I can live a blessed life.
And by the way, if you're a Christian, it's already yours. It's already there. Sort of like going down to your bank account thinking you have five bucks and finding out you have 500 bucks. Or to actually be more close to scripture, it would be like thinking you had five bucks and finding out you had five million bucks. Five million dollars.
Where did that come from? Well it didn't come from you. You didn't earn that much. Someone put it in there for you. A very generous person.
This is what God has done for you in the spiritual life. You know, we're living like little paupers just sort of making it from moment to moment. God says, hey, you know what? I put a lot in your spiritual bank account. You need to start utilizing it.
Ephesians 1:3 says, we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm because we belong to Christ. God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy without fault in His eyes.
You have everything you need to live the Christian life. So stop going through withdrawals and make a withdrawal from your spiritual bank account. Well, I don't feel it. Who cares if you feel it? It's not about your feelings. This is about the reality of what the Bible says. God's given you what you need. It's all there. Take advantage of it.
The blessings are there. You can live a blessed life. Not a carefree life. Not a problem-free life. Not even an easy life. But listen, friend, you can live a blessed life. Because we've understood what blessing means. It's not just everything going perfectly. It's knowing that God goes with me through life, no matter what. And He's changing me into His image.
The Lord bless you. The Lord keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you. The Lord lift up His countenance and give you peace.
You can have that. Or you can choose a curse. Again, I don't mean anything mystical about that. You can just face the repercussion of your sins.
Let me come back to a verse I quoted, but I want to quote again. Amen. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you. And I have set before you, God speaking, life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life that both you and your descendants may live, that you may love the Lord your God, and that you may obey His voice, and you may cling to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days.
And God says, here's the choice. Life or death. Blessing or cursing. The narrow road that leads to life, or the broad way that leads to destruction. You can build your house on the rock, on the firm foundation, or you can build it on the sinking sand. It's up to you.
And then in the end, you have these choices before you. Heaven or hell. It's really our choice. God won't force His will on you. But He will tell you what to choose.
Like I said earlier, I love it when He says, is that before you, life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose life, choose life. That's what He wants you to do.
Invitation – Choose Life Today
Would you make that choice? Now most of you are probably believers already. But there might be some here or watching that are not believers, are listening perhaps. They've never made that choice to believe in Jesus.
Well, here's what you need to know. Jesus Christ came to this earth 2,000 years ago and voluntarily went to a cross and died for your sin. Why? Because you and I have all broken God's commandments. And we have all fallen short of God's standards.
So Jesus, the perfect man, the God man, absorb God's wrath on my place. And then He Rose again from the dead. And now He stands at the door of our life and He knocks and says, if we'll hear His voice and open the door, He'll come in.
Again, it's back to that choice, isn't it? I can leave the door closed or I can open the door up and invite Him in. It's entirely up to me.
If you have never invited Jesus in and you don't have the confidence that your sin is forgiven, respond to this invitation. I'm going to extend as we close now in prayer.
Let's all bow our heads if you would. Father, I pray for any person here listening, any person watching. I pray that they'll see their need for Jesus and that they will come to you now and believe and choose life.
Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, how many of you would say tonight, Greg, I want Jesus Christ to come into my life. I want Him to forgive me of my sin. I want to know that when I die, I will go to heaven. I want to choose life. Pray for me right now.
If you want Christ to come into your life, if you want Him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that you will go to heaven when you die, would you raise your hand up right now wherever you're praying. And let me pray for you.
Just lift your hand up wherever you are. And I'll pray for you tonight. If you want Christ to come into your life, lift your hand up. God bless you. Lift your hand up where I can see it, please. You want His forgiveness. You want Him to come into your life. Just raise your hand up. I'll pray for you right now. Wherever you are. They're in the back. God bless you. Over here. God bless you. Anybody else? Raise your hand up. Maybe you have been facing the ramifications of your sin, of your bad choices. You need a second chance in life. You need a fresh start. You need to come to Jesus or you need to come back to Jesus.
If you want to make that commitment, raise your hand up. I will pray for you tonight. God bless you. Anybody else? Raise your hand now. God bless you.
I am going to ask all of you that have raised your hand, if you would please, to stand to your feet. I am going to lead you in a prayer of commitment or recommitment to Jesus. Again, if you raise your hand, just stand to your feet. That is right. Others are standing, so you are not the only one. Stand up. Even if you did not raise your hand, but you want to make this commitment or recommitment to Christ, stand to your feet. I am going to lead you in a prayer.
Just stand up. God bless you. Stand up wherever you are. God bless. Stand up. There's more of you that want to make this commitment. Stand now. Let me pray with you and for you. God bless you there in the back. Anybody else? Stand now. God bless you. Stand up. God bless you there. Anybody else? Stand now.
We're going to pray together and get this resolved so you can get right with God. One final moment. If you're going to stand, stand now. Let me pray for you and with you. Stand now.
All right. God bless you. You that are standing, I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me. And this is a prayer of asking Christ to forgive you of your sin. Again, as I pray, pray this out loud after me right now, okay? Pray this after me now.
Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner, but I thank you for dying on the cross and shedding your blood for my sin. I turn from my sin now. And I choose to follow you from this moment forward as your child, as your disciple. Thank you for calling me and forgiving me and accepting me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.