This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:01] Welcome to Huntington Beach, California. Or, as we like to call it, Soul City, USA.

[00:00:10] We're living in a drive through culture.

[00:00:12] We would rather talk to a box than stop and talk to a person. A lot of times the box asks me, would you like hot sauce with that?

[00:00:22] I always say, no, thank you. But then when I open the bag, there's hot sauce in there. These are not real conversations. I want to invite you to the All Souls class. This is for those who want to have a real conversation. How to get real about my son.

[00:00:45] Because of how I grew up, I had a really negative view of God in the church.

[00:00:50] I needed to be honest with myself so I could be honest.

[00:00:53] My heart was so hard and I did not want to talk about it. I was finally faced with who I was as a person.

[00:00:59] What is a prophet? If I have a good life, I lose my soul. I'm so glad I open up. No, God is open up for me. A whole new life. I can't believe how easy it is to talk to people here. I can't believe how much it is worth trusting in Jesus. Once I had that conversation, everything changed. Completely changed my life. It is so weird now I'm free to talk to anyone and the conversations just keep getting better because this time I was so I needed to be saved. We are all souls.

[00:01:31] I am a soul. I am a soul. I am a soul. I am so and so are you. The time has come for you to see yourself as God sees you.

[00:01:41] You are a soul.

[00:01:48] I want invite all of you to pray with me for our All Souls class. This is something that's all right after this service one week from today. And maybe you're even somebody and you've never really opened up about what's going on in your soul and how to have a relationship with God.

[00:02:06] We want to invite you to come to that class next Sunday at one o'clock. There will be lunch and we're going to really dove into what it means to be a sober right now.

[00:02:15] I want to invite you to open your Bible and turn with me to Leviticus 24. And I hope you've been reading through Leviticus with us. I hope you're enjoying at this hour last week of studying this book. We're going to be reading through chapters 23 to 27. And today we're going to study one of the narratives. And one, there's only really two stories in the entire book of the Vidic. His most of it is God speaking to his people in Israel. And then it's two stories. And today's story teaches us the devastating consequences of having a low view of God. The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us. That's one of the lines in this famous book, The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Towser. If you've ever read this book before, we we recommend it. We have it in our little book Nook. And what he says in this book is the decline of the knowledge of the holy is the reason we're having so many troubles in our culture today. A rediscovery of the majesty of God will go a long way to curing our troubles if we would bring back spiritual power to our lives.

[00:03:33] We must begin to think of God more nearly as he is. So the first thing he says in this book, the knowledge of the Holy, is what comes to our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us. So I'm going to ask you here today, if I bring up God, the name of God, the Lord.

[00:03:57] What comes to your mind?

[00:03:59] Do you have a low view of God? You kind of not really think about him or kind of bring him down to our level, or do you have, as we're gonna see, a high view of God? Do you think about him as a holy one who is high and lifted up? Because how you think about God is going to determine the thoughts going in your head, the words coming out of your mouth and the things you do in your life.

[00:04:24] So what do you think about God?

[00:04:26] That is the most important thing about you, and this is a a sobering story, kind of a shocking narrative here in Leviticus 24 of what happens to a man who has a low view of God and he blasphemes the name of the Lord. And so I'm going to read for us on page 102. You got one of our Bibles. Leviticus 24, starting in verse 10. I'm going to read all the way to the end of the chapter and out of respect for God's word. I'm gonna ask everyone to stand for our scripture reading here together today. And I want you to really try to picture with me what this must have been like to be a part of this experience, to give this our full and undivided attention as we study the word of God.

[00:05:09] This is Leviticus 24, verse 10. Now, an Israelite woman's son whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel and the Israelite woman's son. And a man of Israel fought in the camp. And the Israelite woman son blasphemed the name and coerced. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shellow Myth. The daughter of debris of the tribe of DeeAnn. And they put him in custody till the will of the Lord should be clear to them. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, bring out of the camp the one who Kirst and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head and let all the congregation stone him and speak to the people of Israel, saying whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The Sojourner as well as the native when he blasphemes the name, shall be put to death. Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor as he has done, it shall be done to him. Fracture for fracture. Eye for eye. Tooth for a tooth. Whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. You shall have the same rule for the soldier and for the native, for I am the Lord, your God. So Moses spoke to the people of Israel and they brought out of the camp the one who had Kirst and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did, as the Lord commanded Moses.

[00:07:02] That's the reading of God's word. Please go ahead and have your seat. I mean, that's that's a hard picture for us.

[00:07:10] To think about it's kind of one of those stories that you might read in the Bible and you might not really relate to and you might just keep reading. But I want us for a moment to really think about what just happened here, that somebody when he got in a fight. We have a guy who really is. It's clear here he represents everybody. He's both so Gerner and native, his mom being of the tribe of Dan, his father being an Egyptian. He represents both Jew and Gentile. And he gets in a fight with another man. I don't know if they're punching each other, if they're rustling, but it's one thing that they've gotten a fight.

[00:07:46] But then when he blasphemes the name, when he uses the name of Ja Way, the name of the Lord in a curse.

[00:07:57] Well, it's like that stops everything. And they end up taking the guy outside of the camp.

[00:08:05] Now, I can't even get in and out of Starbucks without hearing somebody blaspheme the name of God around here.

[00:08:13] Our young people can't even walk down the halls of their high school or their college without hearing somebody use God's name or the name of his son, Jesus Christ, in an inappropriate kind of a way.

[00:08:25] I mean, we are here in it all the time. People are using o m g. Like it's some kind of expression, like L.O., if they're startled, if they're happy, if they're surprised, if their soul is in torment, whatever, they just throw it out there.

[00:08:39] Can you imagine a situation like this where it was taken so seriously?

[00:08:45] That's God's name was seen as so holy and high and lifted up that the fact that he just blaspheme the name, profaned the name, he just brought the high and holy name of your way down and used it as a curse. Well, that meant everything stopped and that person had to be put to death. Can we even relate to that at all?

[00:09:09] That's what's going on. I mean, there's only two stories in this book, and this is one of the stories that is recorded that is put down as an example. And I'm sure it was talked about a lot among the people of Israel. And it's something that we're supposed to know. This is what God thinks about people who use his name in an inappropriate way is not okay with it.

[00:09:31] He believes that is a penalty, there's a penalty for that sin deserving of death. That's how he set it up here in the nation of Israel.

[00:09:41] Now, I hope we as we're going through the law together and I'm preaching on the weekend there every week there's chapters to read, like last week we talked about Chapter 18 and I hope you read those chapters. Coming up here to to 22. And then this week, we're going to read chapters 23 to 27. You're going to get a lot more out of it.

[00:09:58] Go back to Chapter 18 where we left off last week. And one of the commanders here, there was a whole chapter of commands, commands of why a nation would become an abomination and the land would want to vomit that nation out of why God was going to use his people, Israel, to drive out the Cain and knights in judgment for their sin. And God said, here's some things. If nations do these things, then they're going to get driven out and they're not going to continue as a nation. And one of the things God said in Leviticus 18, verse 21, on page 97, he says, You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Malek.

[00:10:36] And so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

[00:10:43] You can't offer your kids and what they're talking about is child sacrifice. Burning children in flames because of this false God, this idol, Maulik, in the worship of him.

[00:10:55] Hey, it's it's not just that you do something wrong. You're actually by worshiping that false God. You're taking my name and you're not treating it like it's holy and set apart. And one of a kind. And there's no one like me. Your profaning my name. God says.

[00:11:15] See if you've read through all these commandments, this holiness code here in Leviticus, where God's teaching is people how to be holy because he is holy, what you'll see over and over is the reason there is these commands is because if you disobey what God says, you will profane his name.

[00:11:34] That's really what's at stake.

[00:11:37] Good, chapter 19, verse twelve. Look at how God says it here in a command about not lying.

[00:11:43] He says, You shall not swear by my name falsely and so profane the name of your God.

[00:11:50] I am the Lord.

[00:11:53] Now, this still happens in America where people will put their hand on a Bible and they'll promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me who. And then they start lying and perjuring.

[00:12:06] Right. I mean, that's how it works.

[00:12:09] Maybe people don't see it as much these days.

[00:12:11] But you've heard maybe somebody say, I swear to God, as if they're using the name of God as some kind of authority, that what they're about to say is the truth.

[00:12:20] And a lot of times when people are swearing to God, they're about to tell you a lie.

[00:12:26] And God says, you're profaning my name when you do that.

[00:12:30] Now, if we lose a little bit in translation because we look at verse twelve when it says I am the Lord, do you see Lord there, its capital l o r d if you ever see that word capital l o r d that means it's the actual name yea way. This is like God's personal name is as the idea of when God introduced himself to Moses and told him to tell the people I am that I am. That's kind of the idea of the name. Yea way like I am the one who was, who is and who is to come. I'm the eternal one. Yeah I am Yahweh's.

[00:13:07] So he's not just saying that he's God or the title Lord. This is actually his name. Yea way. Do you know who I am. Do you see my name as holy as set apart as high and lifted up. Well then the reason you can't lie in my name is because of my name. Because of who I really am. Because of my character. All of my attributes. How could you associate me with a lie? How could you use my name in a curse?

[00:13:36] That's what he's getting to in these commands is the holiness of his name, which is not to be profane. Go to Chapter 21 and look at verse six. These are command specifically for the priest.

[00:13:49] That's where Leviticus gets its name because there's try. The people from the tribe of Levi, who are the priests, the people that are interceding between God and the Tabernacle and the people who are bringing their sacrifices and they're getting clean from their uncleanness. And they're the priests who bring in the people to God and God, to the people and their standards for the priests.

[00:14:11] And it says here in the Vidic is 21, verse six, that these priest shall be holy to their God and not profane.

[00:14:19] The name of their God, for they offer the Lord's food offerings and the bread of their God. Therefore, they shall be holy.

[00:14:29] These priests who are going to represent God there at the Tabernacle, they have to be holy or they will bring down profane the name of their God.

[00:14:42] That's why it's so important that they obey all these commandments and they live this certain way and they go through all these things to be clean.

[00:14:48] And it's because the name of God is at stake.

[00:14:54] So this holding this section of the book, all these commands, they end in Chapter two and Chapter 22 excuse me, go to the end of chapter 22, verse 31. And now we come so many chapters of commands and now we come to the end of it. And here's the conclusion. It says here in chapter 22, verse 31. So you shall keep my commandments and do them. I am the Lord. Or you could say I am your way. You need to do it because I'm the one telling you to do it because my name's spined it.

[00:15:27] You shall not profane my holy name.

[00:15:32] That I may be sanctified among the people of Israel.

[00:15:36] I am yea way. Who sanctifies you?

[00:15:40] I'm set apart and because you're my people. I'm going to set you apart. That's why you need to do my commandments, because my name can not be profaned. Now, when you see that God has been telling all these things to Moses and then Moses has been going and giving all these things speech after speech to the people of Israel, and in all these different speeches, the name of God being profane is a concern. And he keeps saying over and over. I am your way. See, that's now setting up our story where two men are fighting and one of them uses the name of your way, not like he is holy and high.

[00:16:22] Lift it up and set apart in one of a kind.

[00:16:25] No, he uses it in this way where he takes it in vain and he uses it as a part of a curse. And for that, because he just profane the name.

[00:16:36] That man is taken outside the camp.

[00:16:40] I want you to think about that, like we think about you hear somebody saying, oh my God, you hear somebody saying that at Starbucks and they're not quoting the songs. You know what I'm saying? Right. They're saying, oh, my God.

[00:16:54] You hear him say that? Let's let's just now imagine that Leviticus 24 happened at your local Starbucks. Right. People are always in a hurry.

[00:17:05] They're always getting their coffee right. Couple of people region for the same coffee. It spills on somebody. They say, oh, my God. Imagine Starbucks just freezing.

[00:17:15] Everybody stopping right there. Like, how dare that person just profane the holy name of God, like we're taken off the green aprons or stop in the drive through.

[00:17:26] Right. Everything stopped. Mobile orders stopped. Right. You can't use your card and your points anymore. We're all walking out in the parking lot right now. OK. Who heard this person profane the name of God. So imagine you heard them. And you walk up now as a witness and you put their hand on their head. You won't have to do this many times for this to feel like a very serious thing. You see what I'm saying?

[00:17:51] And then everybody's looking for a big rock to go and throw at that person to crush their skull, to kill them. Because how dare they profane the name of God? Do you see what a low view of God?

[00:18:07] We have? That we're hearing people say that and we don't even think about it. See, this is a little bit different, what God's saying here.

[00:18:18] Now, I want to make it very clear, if you hear somebody using God's name in an inappropriate way, please don't throw anything at them. All right. Can we just clarify that this was a law for God's people in the nation of Israel? But is it serious if somebody is using the name of God in an inappropriate way?

[00:18:37] How about this, why don't you write down Exodus 20, verse seven, Exodus 20, verse seven is one of the Ten Commandments. This is number three of the Ten Commandments. And it says, you shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless. Who takes his name in vain.

[00:19:00] OK, so this is one God said, you can't have any other gods, you can't make idols or images of gods. And then his third commandment was, you can't take my name, which must be wholly set apart. Nobody like me, one of a kind. You can't take my name and use it in a vain way.

[00:19:21] And it's very clear. Hey, nobody who uses God's name is mean is getting away with it. They're not going guilt, guilt free. No, they will not hold him guiltless. They will be held accountable for the way that they use God's name.

[00:19:38] Now, if you're taking notes, you might want to write down next to Exodus 20, verse seven.

[00:19:42] That vein equals empty. That's what the word vanity there in the Hebrew means.

[00:19:48] It means you're using God's name in an empty way. It doesn't really have the full person of God behind the way you're using his name. Now, the other narrative of Leviticus that we looked at was when the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, the fire of the Lord consumed the sacrifices.

[00:20:06] And we talked about the cover vode of God, the glory of God, that God has a sense of weightiness or heaviness. So this is now the opposite. When you're talking about God in an empty way, that's not fitting with who he really is in his glory to talk about God.

[00:20:24] You need to always have that sense of gravitas, that sense of heaviness, weightiness, like we're talking about someone who is the true and living God, who is not like us, who dwells on a throne in heaven.

[00:20:37] And if we just talk about him like he's ordinary, just kind of curse word, vain word coming out of my mouth. Well, see, that's an empty way to talk about God.

[00:20:47] So the commandment here to not take God's holy name and use it in vain is more than just don't say, oh my God or just don't say the name Jesus Christ. It's actually much more than that.

[00:21:03] That's what the Jewish people did with commands, is they just tried to turn it into something that either can do or I don't do. And then I feel good about myself and I feel self-righteous. So there's this thing about not using God's name in vain. God's name is your way. The Jewish people's response was we just won't use the word your way. That was the way they responded to this. We'll just avoid using the name of God. A lot of people today, they're like, I won't lie. Oh, M.G. will not be. Oh, my God. All just say, oh, my gosh. That's how a lot of people do it today. We're talking about something way more than that. Yes, I would strongly encourage you if you're if you're just letting the name of Jesus or the name of God flow out of your mouth in some kind of just loose, inappropriate way, you should totally stop talking like that. In fact, you should not even be okay with anybody around you talking like that.

[00:21:55] Somebody said something bad about your spouse. Would you just roll and grab your coffee and walk out the door? Somebody started making fun of your kids, your kids. They're making fun of them, you just gonna act like you didn't hear it.

[00:22:09] They're talking about your God. The one who created you, the one who saved you. The one who gives life and breath and all things. And we're just acting like that's OK to blaspheme, to take the name of God in vain. Oh, this is a big deal.

[00:22:25] But see, the idea is more than that. If I say here I am, God's my witness. I'm telling you the truth. And then I come and lie to you. Well, then see, that's also taking God's name in vain.

[00:22:38] So there's all kinds of ways, any way that you're thinking about God or talking about God and it's empty of who he really is. Then you are using God's name in vain, unless he's being referred to as the holy one. And we're talking about the weightiness and having this of his glory. There are many different ways that we could be thinking and speaking where God's name is being brought down in a way that is inappropriate. It doesn't really match the reality of who he is as God. His name must always be consistent with the holiness of his character.

[00:23:14] That's the command. That's what he's concerned about.

[00:23:19] He's concerned about the way you think about him in your own thoughts, not just the things you say or the lies you tell or what you might do, but do you think of him as holy and high and lifted up, or do you have a low view of God?

[00:23:33] He's concerned about the. He wants his name to be known to you as holy.

[00:23:41] So here's something I want to encourage you with the next time you hear somebody say, because it's become such a popular expression in our culture. Oh my God. I want you to turn with me right now to Psalm 22, verse two. And let's look at a psalm where that is actually a quote where someone is actually crying out from their soul to God. Psalm 22, verse to page four hundred and fifty seven. This is what I want you to try to think about every single time.

[00:24:11] Now you hear God's name used in some profane, blasphemous way, and it's just basically somebody using the name of God in a way that's not really talking about him and who he is. Well, when you hear somebody say, oh, my God. Well, here's a quote. Psalm 22, verse two. Oh, my God. I cry by day, but you do not answer. And by night. But I find no rest.

[00:24:36] So here's David pouring out his soul to God in prayer, seeking God, but feeling like he's not finding him. And so he's crying out. Oh, my God.

[00:24:47] Now, the context here even takes it further in our minds. Look back at verse one.

[00:24:52] It says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me now? Who said that?

[00:24:59] Where did he say that when he's dying for you?

[00:25:04] When all of your sin, the punishment that you deserve is being placed on to Jesus when he is under the wrath of God and he is experiencing judgment for your sin. That would be an appropriate place to cry out. My God. My God.

[00:25:22] He quotes this line. So David wrote this a thousand years before Jesus, and then when Jesus is taking your sin, the wrath of God for your sin is now Jesus is experiencing that wrath.

[00:25:38] He's crying out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

[00:25:43] And the answer to that question that Jesus was forsaken because of your sin is so that you could be forgiven because of your sin.

[00:25:53] That would be an appropriate context for someone to be crying out, my God.

[00:25:58] Oh, my God.

[00:26:00] When Jesus is bearing the sins of the whole world.

[00:26:05] So when you hear somebody say something like that, you should be thinking about Jesus crying that out on the cross when he's dying for you, when he's dying for them. I don't think you should be okay with it one bit that somebody is using God's name like that. I think you should say, are you praying right now?

[00:26:21] I mean, especially if you know the person, especially if you're older than the person, you have any level of authority with, the person like it should just not be tolerated.

[00:26:31] Like, oh, are you talking to God right now? Because I know him, I'm happy to introduce you to him.

[00:26:36] I mean, you got you can't be you can't just let God's name be profaned right there and just not even realize what is happening. I mean, that right there, what you just heard is the very sin that Jesus cried that out for when he was being judged for it. Jesus is suffering the penalty of death so that that person who just blaspheme the name of God does not have to die.

[00:27:03] Jesus died in their place and now they're using the phrase that Jesus cried out when he died for them on the cross. And they're using it about Starbucks.

[00:27:15] Like, that's not OK.

[00:27:18] And you should not be OK with it. You should not be OK. Saying you should not be OK with anybody, you know, saying. And when you hear oh, my God, that's Jesus Christ crying out the cry of one who is bearing our sin and being forsaken so that we could be forgiven and accepted.

[00:27:39] And David, whatever he's going through here, that he uses these words where he's feeling separated and far off from God as he's crying out, oh my God, David's heart here is sincere when he says that, like, he's really wanting God to be near to him. And even when he's crying out, oh, my God, and he's feeling distant from him, look at verse three. It says, yeah, you are holy enthroned on the praises of Israel.

[00:28:05] So when he is crying out, oh, my God, he's not bringing God's name down in a profane way. He's actually acknowledging that you are the one who is set apart. You are the one there is no one like you. You are high and lifted up. And what a beautiful picture here. Like you're sitting on a throne and your throne is being lifted higher and higher as all your people praise you and worship you and sing to you. It's like you're singing, sitting on the praises of all your people as they lift you up to your glorious place.

[00:28:40] You know this guy, when he says, oh, my God, he's like crying out in his soul for God and he's crying and he knows who God really is, like, this is sincere right here.

[00:28:52] This is not a flippant or just expressive phrase. Liquidy says in verse foreign, you are fathers trusted.

[00:29:01] He's remembering like how God delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt, how he led them to the promised land. And you are fathers trusted. They trusted. And you delivered them to you. They cried and were rescued.

[00:29:14] And you they trusted and were not put to shame you. I know who the name of my God is.

[00:29:20] He's the holy one. He's enthroned on the praises of his people. And any one who trusts in the name of the Lord will never be put to shame.

[00:29:29] So here's a guy, he's in a rough place. He's crying out to God, but he's holding got up and he's honoring the name of God.

[00:29:39] See this low view of God that is all around us, that is even within us, is not to be tolerated.

[00:29:48] And so we want to talk now about three ways to have the high view of your taken notes there. We want to give you three ways to have the high view of God so that you will not fall into the sin that is just an epidemic all around us of profaning God's name are bringing him down to our level.

[00:30:09] And I want you to turn with me to Isaiah. Fifty seven, verse fifteen.

[00:30:13] And I want to really think about what you and I would be processing in our thoughts and have our minds renewed our thoughts captive to Jesus if we were really thinking about a high view of God, three ways to have this high view where his name is lifted up and look how God introduces himself. Just this one verse. Isaiah, 57. Fifteen. It's on page six hundred and seventeen.

[00:30:41] If you got one of our books, this would be a great verse to inspire some prayer this week. A great verse to try to really memorize.

[00:30:50] Here, this is God talking about himself, telling you how you should think about him. If we're gonna have a high view of God, that's going to mean less speaking out of our mouths and more listening to what comes the words coming out of the Lord's mouth. What he's saying and here's what God says for us, says the one who was high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place. Anybody want to say amen to that right there? Like, the whole way that God wants to be thought about is through this spatial analogy where when you think about God's name, Yahweh, his character, all that comes to your mind.

[00:31:33] When you think about God, it should be like spacially. You should see it as high and lift it up.

[00:31:40] And he says that he inhabits eternity, which is something we can't even relate to as people who are defined by space and time. We have always existed in these skin and bones. We have always known that the clock is ticking and the fact that God is out there outside of the limitations of space and time, that he lives in a spiritual realm, an eternal realm and a kingdom of heaven. So we can't even fully grasp that concept.

[00:32:10] That's hard for us to even process that he is in a Turnell God who who dwells outside of the limitations that we know life to be.

[00:32:20] And his name is Holy, and there's a couple of ways that you and I should think about holiness. Maybe the most common way that we think about it is to be holy is without sin, without sin.

[00:32:33] So there's a contrast there that God is perfect. God is pure and we are corrupt. Even inside of us in our souls, we fall short of the standard of God's holiness, of his glory. And so we've missed the mark where we have sinned. But God is holy. But it's not just that he's without sin. Holy means more than that. It means that he is set apart, that there is no one like him, that God is one of a kind. That's the idea of the holiness of God.

[00:33:07] And so it says you when you and I think about God, we should see him high and we should see him as holy. And when we see him set apart and lift it up now we're in the place to have a right view of God and then we're really going to see ourselves.

[00:33:23] Look what God goes on to say here says, I dwell in the high and holy place.

[00:33:28] And also with him, who is of a contrite and lowly spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. Hey, here's I want you to think about me high and lift it up.

[00:33:44] And here's the kind of person I'm looking for. Lola and Contri.

[00:33:48] And when I see that person, the person who really has that high view of me, and therefore they're they're low before me, you know what I want to do with that person? I want to revive them. I want to give my life to them. I want a fire burning in their soul. I want them to have love and joy and peace. When I see somebody who's lonely and really has a high view of me.

[00:34:11] That's who God's looking for. Are you one of those people?

[00:34:15] And when I see this idea that we need to have a low view of ourselves, the way that we have talked about it today is that would give us the idea of a low self esteem.

[00:34:26] That's not what I'm talking about.

[00:34:28] I'm not talking about somebody who would actually think negative thoughts about themselves. Who would actually have some level of shame about their body image or some kind of real shame in social situations. That's not that's not what it means here at all. It means that when you have a high view of God, you now have the right context to see yourself as low and that you are not the center of the universe.

[00:34:51] That's the idea. You can now see what life is really all about. That the world and all that God is doing is about him and his name, not about you and your name. Can I get any man from anybody on that?

[00:35:05] Because that's not what the world is telling you. That's not what Google Maps is telling you. You ever open up Google Maps? You're right there. You're the blue dot. You're the center. Where do you want to go? This whole world's about you. We're starting right here with you. Right. You ever walk up to some big play, some shopping center, some famous play, some tourist attraction, and you walk up and they got one of those maps and you're looking at this epic map of this place that you've been want to go to. And there it is right there. You are here and your leg.

[00:35:35] Yes, I am. You know what I mean? You feeling good about yourself?

[00:35:40] So there's this lie that's in our sinful, selfish nature that this life is about me and I'm here to tell you today to repeat the words of God to you, this life is not about you at all.

[00:35:52] You are not the point of your own existence. You can't even satisfy your own sense of being. No.

[00:35:59] You have to see who God is as high lifted up. And then when you see yourself as low before him, Inuit's, about his name and not your name, then you'll experience life as it was meant to be lived.

[00:36:12] You'll have a revival in your soul.

[00:36:15] When God's the one you're live in for the point of your life is not that you can have a nice house and a nice family and develop a good name for yourself. The point of your life is to lift the name of God higher as you praise his holy name. That's why he made you.

[00:36:31] And if you've got this high inflated view of yourself.

[00:36:34] And you think you're somebody, but, yeah, you're always kind of looking for something more.

[00:36:39] Never satisfied. That's because that's not how life really is. You need to have a high view of God. And then in relationship to God, you'll be able to see yourself. Wow. I'm not really that important compared to God and who he is and what he doing. My life needs to be about him, not me. Point number one, if you want to have the high view, is you've got to see yourself from God's perspective. And there's two words that he uses. One is Loli, which is in contrast to him because he's so high and lifted up. And the other word he uses here that he wants you to see yourself as is contrite.

[00:37:21] Contracts where we need to bring back in the vocabulary contrite means that you're sorry.

[00:37:27] Contrite means that your spirit is broken, that you actually see the holiness of God. And in contrast, not only do you see that he's high and you're low, but you see that he's perfect and you're not. And you see your sin. And there's this God, these sorrow that leads you to repentance.

[00:37:48] Now, here at our church, we want everybody to hear this word repentance. We want everybody, all people everywhere to repent. And what it means is, is a change of mind.

[00:37:59] You're living your life your way. And then you hear about God and his son, Jesus Christ. And you turn from the way that you're live. You turn now and you live God's way instead of your way. And so we've been trying to spread this word here at our church to anybody who will listen to us. Hey, have you heard.

[00:38:16] You need to repent and believe in the gospel. Have you heard that God commanded all people everywhere to repent and experience forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus? And what's really exciting, as people are hearing the word repent and there no one, they need to turn their life around. And what I'm seeing now is some people being like, hey, I just wanted to let you know I repented.

[00:38:38] I turned my life around, I'm going to stop doing this and I'm going to start doing this and they tell it to me, very matter of fact. Like, yeah, the other day I thought about it and I was like, I'm going to repent. And so I'm really stoked now about the good things I'm going to do. And I'm not going to those bad things.

[00:38:53] And there is like, no, I'm sorry. There is no brokenness.

[00:39:00] There is no, like, crying of tears or any kind of real working up of emotions or feeling bad. It's just like, yeah, I guess I was messed up. I'll try to do the right thing.

[00:39:11] Know what God's looking for is somebody who can't just say that they're sorry, but somebody who really is sorry. For the things that they've done, for the things that they kept doing over and over when they knew they were wrong, but they kept doing them. And now there's this like brokenness.

[00:39:31] Like they're crushed in spirit. They're like, why am I living this way? And they actually feel this like turmoil in themselves. Like, I need to change my ways, but I can't really do what I need God to change me.

[00:39:45] And there's this part of the contract. He calls it. He's looking for broken people, not people who can come to church and act like they've got it all together. That's not the kind of person that's going to experience a revival. No, God's looking for somebody who's low because he's high and they're broken about their sin because he's holy. And God says, give me a few of those people and I'll show you how life was really meant to be lived. Give me a few of those people and all lift my name. Very high.

[00:40:16] But are you are you this person here that God wants to dwell with, that God wants to have a relationship with? He was of a contrite and lowly spirit, and he wants to revive your lowly spirit. He wants to revive your contri.

[00:40:29] Ha. So if you don't have a high view of God, you won't have a right view of yourself lowly and contract term with me. Matthew, Chapter five.

[00:40:39] And look at some of the things that Jesus teaches here. Matthew, Chapter five. Jesus is going to take some of the teaching that we're looking at in Leviticus. And he's going to have to correct it because the Jewish people, they they didn't really get to the heart of God's commands.

[00:40:55] They just got to like what they could do or could not do. And they just kind of misinterpreted the commands of God. And Jesus says all these laws that God gave the people of Israel, we're not supposed to abolish those laws. Jesus says he did not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. He actually came to fulfill the law of God to establish that track record of righteousness. And here in Matthew five, Jesus has to reteach some of the law because the Jewish leaders have misinterpreted it and they're doing it wrong. And he has to now set the record straight.

[00:41:31] Look at how on page eight hundred and ten, Matthew 533 Liquidy says here, referring to Leviticus 1912 that we read earlier.

[00:41:41] Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old the people of Israel and the vinegar's you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord. What you have sworn a no lying with God's name, no swearing to God and then doing something else. But I say to you, do not take an oath at all either by heaven, for it is the throne of God or by the Earth, for it is his footstool or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. Here's what the Jewish people were doing there like, oh well, if it's a bad thing to swear on the name of God. How about we just swear to heaven or we'll swear to earth or we'll swear to Jerusalem? How about that? Instead, we'll just swear to these other things and keep lying. And here he's calling them out for it. And he says in verse 37, let what you say be simply yes or no. Anything more than this comes from evil.

[00:42:35] When you meet somebody and they tell the truth, they tell it like it is. You can trust them, you can take them at their word. What they say is what they actually do. Isn't it refreshing to meet people like that?

[00:42:48] He's saying, hey, let's stop with all this false swearing stuff. Let's just tell the truth.

[00:42:53] Everybody, let's get back to the real intent of what we were getting to in the law. Look what he says in verse 38. We just read this in Leviticus 24. You have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And how they were using it then, how people still use it today is like, oh, I'm going to get revenge on somebody. That's not even how we read it earlier here in the service.

[00:43:15] It was about the punishment needs to fit the crime. If you did this level of damage, this level of damage shall be done to you. This was about a punishment for a crime, not some kind of revenge. That's never how the law was meant to be used.

[00:43:31] And so he says, do not resist the one who is evil. Don't be retaliatory. Don't seek revenge if anyone slaps you on the right cheek. Turn to him the other also. If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

[00:43:45] If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. We have to respond when we're treated in an evil way. We have to overcome evil with good. We have to love our enemies. We have to pray for those who persecute us. We have to be patient with all people. That's what he's getting to hear.

[00:44:03] In fact, he keeps going through the law. And then he says in verse 48, look at verse 48, you therefore must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.

[00:44:13] Does that sound very similar to God saying you shall therefore be holy as I your God? I am a holy. So Jesus, he's got to go back to the law. He's got to clarify what it originally meant. And he's trying to teach them now. Hey, you guys have gotten this whole thing about swearing on God's name. You're twisting that this whole thing about punishment, fitting the crime. You're making it about revenge and your rights being violated. You're twisting that. Hey, you guys got to get back to what God really said and living out his ways. And then he says, let me teach you how to pray. So he flows right from clarifying the law to teaching them how to pray.

[00:44:54] And they were praying in this messed up, self-righteous way where I'm praying out loud in public. So people will think I'm spiritual, I'm praying to God and using these phrases and repeating phrases and trying to impress God by what I'm saying. And Jesus is like, I'm going to have to re teach you how to pray. Matthew, chapter six, verse nine Jesus says, here's how you should pray. Here's how you should talk to God. Pray then like this.

[00:45:18] Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your what?

[00:45:23] First thing Jesus teaches us how to pray for is that the name of God would be holy. That it would be high and lifted up.

[00:45:33] That this would be our primary concern, seeing ourselves as lowly, seeing ourselves as contri. What's the main point of life? It is that God's name would be acknowledged for who he really is as the one who is high and lifted up above all other things. That's what hallowed means. Set it apart. Make it holy. Lift it high. God, I want your name to be lifted higher. That's what he teaches us to break for.

[00:46:01] First thing when you and I go to prayer is we're praying for the name of God not to be taken in vain, not to be profane. No, we want it right where it should be high and lifted up. I got to ask you, when you pray. Is that your first request?

[00:46:17] For God's name to be hallowed. Are you praying the way Jesus taught us to pray here? Or do you have a better way of praying? I got to even ask you a more personal question. Do you even pray?

[00:46:29] I mean, going to church a long time, and I know the Bible, it's assuming that people who have a relationship with God would pray in the Bible. It says when you pray a lot of people today, it's in if I pray.

[00:46:40] And if I have time to pray.

[00:46:43] Do you realize that's the definition of you're the center of the universe and life is about you when you're too busy doing you to ask for God's name to be hallowed, you have missed the point of your life.

[00:46:56] Now, Jesus is saying the first request when you go to God is not God, meet my needs, not God. What you can do for me? It's God. Your name is the desire of my soul, your renown, your glory, your name being known. That is the driving motivation of my life. That is the thing that gets me out of the bed in the morning is I want your name. Hallowed.

[00:47:23] Can you relate to that? That's the high view point number two, you need to pray like you need to be taught, pray like you need to be taught. Don't come up with a better way to pray than how Jesus teaches us to pray.

[00:47:39] He says your prayers should not start with your needs. Oh, he says, bring your needs to God, your physical needs, your spiritual needs. Ask God to lead you not into temptation to protect you from evil.

[00:47:51] God loves you. He cares about you. He wants to hear your needs. But that's not the first thing. That's the first thing you're praying about. You got to flip the script of your prayer life upside down and you got to put God's name as the first thing you want his name to be known here on Earth as it is in heaven. That's number one. God's name is what we're really living for. And yes, I have these needs and I do trust you to meet them. But it's not about me. It's about God getting the glory.

[00:48:22] And it's so important that that motivation.

[00:48:25] Is the reason that you asked for what you ask for if you're not asking for it, for his namesake? If you're not asking for it, for the name of Jesus to be lifted high, even if you're asking for a good thing, you might not be asking for it for the right reason.

[00:48:44] Like here at church, one of the things we're always asking people to pray for, like with our All Souls class. Coming up next Sunday, will you pray for people's souls?

[00:48:52] Will you pray for people to be saved? Is it a good thing to pray for people to be saved? But see, we shouldn't just be praying for someone to be saved because we want another person coming to church or because you want to feel good about your family or because it would be easier for you if that person would stop sinning and get saved.

[00:49:10] No, the reason you pray for that person to get saved is because there's only one name given under heaven among men by which anybody can be saved. And that's the name of Jesus Christ. Every soul that gets saved lives higher. The name of Jesus.

[00:49:26] So we rejoice when people get baptized here at this church. And it can't be because we want more people coming to church.

[00:49:32] It can't be because of anybody here. No. The reason we rejoice when somebody gets baptized is because they get baptized in the name of the father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. And they're a soul that's been saved for the glory of God.

[00:49:48] We rejoice that God gives us a new building and he's building our church and more people are coming, not because we want more people coming to church, but we want the name of Jesus lifted higher on the praises of more people here in Huntington Beach.

[00:50:03] Is it really about his name being hallowed or is it really about you getting what you want? The point of life is now you live in in your house with your family and your money feeling good about yourself. You know what the Proverbs Chapter 18 actually says that the rich man who sits behind his high walls is only safe in his own imagination. But the name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous who run into it are safe.

[00:50:34] Is the name of God more real in your mind than money or houses or lands?

[00:50:43] That's what it's senior like every day.

[00:50:47] This thing that really energizes me, that keeps me going is I am bothered about how the name of God is being treated around here, and I know that one day every single knee is going about whether they're in heaven or on earth or whether they're under the earth.

[00:51:03] Every knee is going about, every tongue is going to confess.

[00:51:06] And that name of Jesus is going to be seen for how it really is as the name above every name. And it's all going to be to the glory of God. And right now, it's not like that. And it bothers me.

[00:51:19] And so I'm asking for God's name to be hallowed.

[00:51:22] I'm asking for him to be known as the one who's high and lifted up, the people now could see by faith what someday we're all gonna know by sight that his name is holy.

[00:51:33] That's what I'm asking for. And I got to ask you, are you bothered by the way people talk about your got? Where you live.

[00:51:42] Are you bothered by the fact that many people in America think they can just live without God and they're actually under that strong delusion that they are living in a godless universe?

[00:51:53] And they're trying to operate like there is no God. Does that bother you that his name is not being high and lifted up and he's not getting the glory and honor that belongs to him? Are you praying about that?

[00:52:07] Or you just kind of expecting and that's the way it's going to be, I'm only really expecting myself to how low the name of God. Or maybe my family. Or maybe my church.

[00:52:15] He's not just the God of you or your family or our church. He is the God of all people.

[00:52:22] And his name is to be hollowed by every single living soul. In fact, everything that has breath should be praising the Lord right now, and he should sit enthroned on those praises. Because he is holy. He's one of a kind. He is the show. There is no one like him.

[00:52:44] But that's the point.

[00:52:47] And if you're not bothered by it, I want you to turn with me the first Samuel 17. I want I want to introduce you to a guy who was bothered.

[00:52:55] He was bothered about the way God was being talked about. This is one of the most famous stories in all of human history. This is one of my favorite stories. Usually it comes up when your kids play an AYSO soccer if you've ever had that experience. Where you meet the team where all of their like socks and shin guards are coordinated. You know what I mean? And then you'd like you can even find somebody to coach your kids team, am I speaking to anybody right now? Right.

[00:53:22] Oh, we got a real David and Goliath match up here at AYSO soccer field today, right? Yes. This is how the story's been reduced down to like an underdog and a giant. And we all need to watch our giants fall so that we can kind of rise up and feel better about ourselves, that that's not what this story is about at all. OK. This is a story where the people of Israel faced off against the Philistines, their enemies, and they were going to war with each other, and there was a giant among the people of the Philistines, a man named Goliath. And he talks about how tall he was and how strong he was and about how his armor was in his weapons are.

[00:54:00] And he was saying to the armies of Israel, all challenge any one of you to a one on one battle. And whoever wins that one, all one battle, that nation will serve the other nation.

[00:54:11] And if you're in first, Samuel, 17 on page two hundred and thirty nine, look at verse 10. And here's the key to the whole passage. If you really want to understand what was intended in the story of David and Goliath. It starts right here in First Samuel 17, verse 10.

[00:54:27] And the Philistines said, I defy key word of the chapter. I defy the ranks of Israel this day.

[00:54:35] Give me a man that we may fight together.

[00:54:39] The key of this chapter is the trash talk, specifically that Goliath is defying the armies of Israel. Now insert our character, David, who we just met in the last chapter. The youngest out of all the brothers of the sons of Jessie and Samuel just anointed him to be king because he's a man after God's own heart. But he's the youngest of the brothers. He's like out in the wilderness watching the sheep while the rest of the big brothers go to war.

[00:55:07] And so his father one day sends David to the frontlines to go see his brothers there.

[00:55:11] And when David is there at the front lines, here comes Goliath, trash talking the armies of Israel. And nobody, not King Saul, not his brothers, not to anybody in the entire army wants to mess with Goliath. And when David here's what Goliath says, he's bothered by it.

[00:55:31] The one guy in all the army who's bothered. And here's what David says. Are we going to let this philistine defy the armies? And then he says this the armies of the living God.

[00:55:46] Like, hey, we're the people of God.

[00:55:50] Your way is our God. He's made a covenant with us as Israel. And now this guy's going to smack talk against our army when we're the army of the one true and living God. And we're going to let him talk to us like that when he's defying God.

[00:56:08] One guy out of all the people gets bothered.

[00:56:12] And he's so bothered he starts saying something about it like what's going to be done about this Philistine who's defying the armies of the living God and his brother comes in as older brothers can do, starts making fun of em, where? Hey, where'd you leave those few sheep in the wilderness. What are you doing here, kid? Get out of here.

[00:56:30] Nobody wants to listen to you, but David keeps saying it over and over and he ends up in front of King Saul.

[00:56:37] And King Saul looks at David and says, you're just a youth. You're just a young man, Goliath. He's been a man of war since he was a youth. You're not going to be able to fight this guy. There's no way you stand a chance against Goliath. Look what David says in First Samuel, 17 34.

[00:56:54] We look at verse 34 with me.

[00:56:57] We'll get into the mindset, why is David bothered? Why does he think he is going to fight this giant Goliath? David said to saw your servant used to keep sheep for his father.

[00:57:08] And when there came a lion or a bear and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and I struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. I love that picture there of David fighting with some bear, grabbing him by the beard, smacking him around a little bit. How dare you give me give me that sheep back. Right. Your servant is struck down, old lions and bears. And this uncircumcised philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.

[00:57:41] Do you hear what this guy is saying? He's talking about our God, and he's not saying he's holy and high, lift it up. He's bringing the name of our God down and our guys, the living God.

[00:57:54] One guy bothered about it all, fired him.

[00:57:57] And so, David, he approaches the giant and the trash talk is really the key of the story, look down a verse 43. Here's Phyllis, here's a Goliath trash talking David. The Philistines said to David, Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? Here he is mocking. And David and the Philistine curse. David by his who? Who does it say they're Jesus a battle.

[00:58:21] This isn't just a battle between two armies. It's not even now a battle between two men, a giant and an underdog. Now, this is a battle between who has the real God, who's right and what they believe, who has the right view of the universe. Is it the Philistines and the false gods that they worship? Or is it the Israelites with your way, the true and living God? And when Goliath is taunting the armies, he's doing it by his gods, cursing their God.

[00:58:50] And David says enough is enough.

[00:58:52] And he says in verse 45, you come to me with the sword. And with the spear.

[00:58:56] And with the javelin. But I come to you in the name of your way of hose, the god of the armies of Israel whom you have to fight. Yeah, I understand you're tall and you've got armor and you've got weapons. Here's what I've got. I've got the holy name of God.

[00:59:15] And he says, I'm going to kill you right now, and the reason I'm going to kill you is so that all the Earth may know that there is a God in Israel. I want all people everywhere to hollow the name of God and how dare you defy him?

[00:59:31] I think through the story with me, really think about it for a second. How does David kill Goliath?

[00:59:39] He's stones. That's how he kills Goliath.

[00:59:44] A stoning him as a blasphemer of his God. Who has taken the name of the Lord in vain?

[00:59:53] And he throws that stone straight at the head of the blasphemer. He might have been thinking about Leviticus 24 when he gathered those stones.

[01:00:03] Because he knew, he knew.

[01:00:06] That the name of our God will be exalted and it will be exalted by every one point, number three. You have to want everyone to know his name. It's not enough that you know his name or your family knows his name or some of us here at church know his name.

[01:00:22] No, the goal has to be worldwide global glory.

[01:00:27] Give into the name of God. Our first request. The first thing we're praying for is for God's name to be. How low? That's what we're praying for.

[01:00:40] Someone asked the band to come up now and we're gonna give everybody a chance to respond.

[01:00:45] Do you really have a high view of God? Do you see yourself in the right perspective? Are you praying for his name to be hallowed?

[01:00:52] Do you want everyone to know who got it? Can you see him even now as you sit here? Not now with your eyes in your head, but with the eyes of your heart. Can you see him high and lifted up, shining in the light of his glory? Do you have the high view of God?

[01:01:12] Let me pray for us right now. Father in Heaven. We want to confess how much we have brought your name down here to earth. How much we have profaned and taken your name in vain? And Guy, we see that there is a universal low view of you all around us and God we ask. And we have been asking for weeks, Father, as we've been praying for a revival. We have been asking you to open our eyes, to see wondrous things from your law and what could be more wondrous than you.

[01:01:46] Father, we ask right now that you would open everyone's eyes here, that they might be able to see you your way.

[01:01:52] Whose name is holy, that they might be able to see you high and lifted up, shining in the light of your glory. God, maybe there's some people who have never seen you. Today is the day that you need to open their eyes. They need to see they've been thinking life was about them and they've been the center.

[01:02:09] God make them slowly, make them contrite, revive their soul today. God, maybe there's some of us who need to be reminded that life is not about us. What's so caught up in our business, in our family and our calendar and our money? God, life is about your name being how alone on earth as it is in heaven. So, Father, open the eyes of our hearts. Now we pray.

[01:02:35] And let us see you here today. In Jesus name for your name sake. We ask that a man.