Two Cities of Faith.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, open them to Genesis 11. [0:05] We’re going to be finishing up the first part of the book of Genesis this morning with [0:12] the history that is the city of Babel. [0:16] And we’re going to talk about two distinct cities this morning. [0:19] One is the one of our making and one is the one that God has promised to deliver to us. [0:25] And the reality that in one way or the other we are finding our significance, we are putting

[0:32] our trust, we are finding our hope in one of those two cities. [0:37] This morning, no matter where you are, no matter what you’re doing with your life, [0:40] you’ll be in one of those two camps. [0:43] And I want to unpack a little bit. [0:45] There’s been a theme throughout the first part of the book of Genesis, if you’ve noticed. [0:50] And that is that we, by our very nature, by our default mode, maybe you’d call it, we

[0:57] naturally drift towards sin. [1:01] We naturally, because Adam and Eve, because of their sin, we do not naturally drift towards [1:08] the things of God. [1:09] God will do something, God will bring judgment, God will redeem. [1:13] But unless we are intentionally, actively pursuing trust in Him, putting our faith [1:19] in Him, we will just drift.

[1:24] We will go the way of sin. [1:26] And you’re going to see that again this morning. [1:29] And that really is the theme. [1:30] That’s the story over and over and over through the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis. [1:36] It is a statement, it is a revelation of who we are and what we do time and time again. [1:45] And I want to point out this morning, my hope is that we will see that Babel was not just

[1:50] a city that was built one time and we never had that problem again, but rather it is [1:55] something that we commonly rehearse and rebuild over and over again. [2:01] And our only hope is that God will destroy it over and over again in our lives. [2:07] So I want to start with taking a look at where we are as a culture, where we are as a people.

[2:13] Here’s an interesting data that I found this past week. [2:17] The average size of a new American home in 1950 was 983 square feet. [2:26] That was the average home for right at four people. [2:31] That’s where they lived, that’s how families functioned. [2:36] In the year 2011, 60 years later, the average size of a new home is 2480 square feet. [2:46] And that’s for three people.

[2:48] So what we’re seeing as a society is that in 60 years, I just want to put it as simple [2:52] as possible, each person takes up three times more space than they used to. [2:58] That’s not all pant size.

[3:03] We as a society have progressed to a place where we seek more space, we seek more comfort, [3:12] and some of it is that we’ve progressed in our technology. [3:16] Our building methods are a little bit cheaper, not quite as sturdy, but a little bit cheaper [3:21] so we can have a little more home, maybe for a little more money, because they’re way more expensive now too. [3:28] My question isn’t, oh my goodness, how terrible are we? [3:31] My question is, what does that type of progress say about us?

[3:38] And do we think about it? [3:40] Because there’s one way of looking at the culture around us, looking at the affluence [3:44] and leisure that we in our society, we do live in, I’ve been to other societies, I’ve [3:50] seen that they live a little bit different, and just kind of going along and just saying, [3:57] man, that’s great, isn’t it? [4:00] And just looking at that cultural progression as benign at worst.

[4:07] But really when we get deep down inside, the question isn’t, I’m not going to come to you [4:11] today and say, how many square feet is your house? [4:14] No, no, I’m going to come to you today and I’m going to say, I want to get deeper than [4:18] that. [4:19] Because this is not about how big your house is. [4:22] Bigger the better for me, I’ve got more room to sit in.

[4:26] But my question is, what motivates us to seek that?

[4:31] What motivates us to need all that space? [4:35] What motivates us even more than that to need the stuff that fills the space? [4:40] Because I rarely meet anybody that looks at me and says, if only I had less space for [4:46] less stuff. [4:48] So we look in our garage, we’ve got two car garages, can you even fit a car in there anymore? [4:54] I mean, boxes are in that thing.

[4:57] So we as a people are consuming more and more stuff. [5:02] Technology is increasing faster than we can keep up. [5:06] The phone that you bought last year, it’s already obsolete and you need Siri more than [5:11] a meal.

[5:16] But the question that we have to ask ourselves this morning is, are we motivated for that, [5:21] for something that’s good, for something that’s holy, for something that’s righteous, or [5:25] are we motivated for that because we’re finding security, we’re finding hope, we’re finding [5:31] comfort, we’re finding just leisure all the time and we just kind of want to excuse ourselves [5:37] from what God is actually doing in this world. [5:40] So join me in Genesis chapter 11 and I think the history of this story will tell us a

[5:48] lot.

[5:50] In Genesis chapter 11 starting in verse 1 we read, Now the whole earth had one language [5:56] and the same words. [5:59] And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled [6:05] there. [6:05] And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.

[6:12] And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. [6:17] Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, [6:25] and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole [6:31] earth. [6:32] So there’s a couple of things I want to point out in these first four verses. [6:38] The first one is the advancement of the society, the advancement of the culture from where

[6:44] God created us originally and from where Noah and his family were left off.

[6:50] So we have basically a completely vegan dream of absolute organic. [6:57] Alright? [6:58] And here culture has gone to a place where they’ve discovered technological advancement. [7:06] No longer are they building log cabins and mud huts. [7:10] Now they’re making bricks, they know how to make mortar, they have figured out as a society, [7:17] as a culture, how to progress to make building easier.

[7:24] Also, I want you to note that they have, according to verse one, one language that [7:29] they share as a people. [7:31] This is a shift. [7:33] If you read the end of chapter 10, what you’re going to see is that there seems to be a [7:38] bench towards an understanding that they had multiple languages, depending on where the [7:44] people settled that were the descendants of Noah and his children.

[7:47] There was division according to chapter 10 and people had settled all over the earth [7:53] and formed their own languages and their own cultures, but here in chapter one we see [7:57] a great unification has happened. [8:01] People have come together for a common purpose, they’ve come together for a common language. [8:07] And that’s very important. [8:08] You can get far more accomplished if you speak the same language as the person next to you,

[8:12] can you not? [8:14] You can get a great deal accomplished. [8:16] Last summer I was in another culture over in East Asia, I could get nothing accomplished. [8:21] I needed my friend Mike to help me out, and man I stuck to his side because I could not [8:25] speak the language.

[8:28] But what we see here is a great unity happening. [8:31] So there’s two things I want you to note in these first few verses. [8:33] Number one, language is an important uniting thing. [8:37] The Bible shows the power of language as God uses it to give us His Word and as we use [8:43] it to come together and accomplish things. [8:46] And number two, the basis for the unity that that provides is very important.

[8:54] As a culture and as a people it’s very simple for us to say, if we could just have more [9:00] unity. [9:00] If we could come together, if we could tolerate one another better, if we could come together [9:05] and just live a united front, how great would our society be? [9:09] Well this story is going to stand as a testament that yeah, that all depends on what the unity [9:15] is built around.

[9:17] If everyone comes together for a common purpose that is awful, that’s not good unity. [9:24] We have militias in wildernesses everywhere that experience unity but cause great harm.

[9:30] And so what does their unity under one language for one common purpose, what does it accomplish?

[9:39] It accomplishes disobedience to God and the exaltation of humanity to where God alone [9:47] deserves to be. [9:49] Notice verse four. [9:52] Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens [9:58] and let us make a name for ourselves lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole [10:03] earth.

[10:05] There’s two things there. [10:08] First, that they want to make a name for themselves in the heavens. [10:14] There’s a point number one and then I’m going to unpack it for you is that Babel was and [10:18] is an attempt at giving God’s glory to man.

[10:25] And we see that through the second thing. [10:29] At the end of verse four, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. [10:35] What did we talk about last week that God desired for man to do? [10:39] Disperse over the face of the entire earth. [10:42] God said, team the earth, fill it. [10:45] And so man comes together and unites under a united front and they say, man, we need

[10:49] to seek the human good. [10:50] We are better together than we are apart. [10:54] God said this, let’s do this. [10:58] Let’s unite, let’s not disperse, let’s form an urban center, let’s build it up into the [11:04] heavens and let’s make a name for ourselves. [11:08] And what they’re doing there is they’re saying, humans have more wisdom and understanding

[11:13] of what we need to do in our lives and what we need to accomplish on this earth above [11:18] and beyond what God’s understanding is. [11:22] So what they’re doing here is they’re making an exchange. [11:25] Rather than obeying God, rather than seeking God’s glory, they want to seek their own. [11:30] And they say, let’s build the tower to the heavens. [11:34] That’s an important phrase.

[11:35] In Psalm 115 verse 3, it says that the heavens belong to God and he does whatever he pleases. [11:43] And pause there. [11:44] In Hebrew understanding, it was understood that the heavens belong to God. [11:49] And that understanding is that God is completely transcendent. [11:52] God is completely above us. [11:54] God’s glory goes over the face of everything.

[11:57] So they’re not just saying, let’s build a tall tower. [12:02] They’re saying, let us establish ourselves at a basis of significance that is equal to [12:09] or greater than God.

[12:13] What did Satan tempt Eve with? [12:16] To be equal to or greater than God.

[12:22] The same thing over and over and over again.

[12:29] And so there is an attempt really to humiliate heaven to the level of man. [12:39] Because we often read this story and we’re like, they’re building a tower. [12:42] They’re trying to get to heaven in this tower. [12:44] They’re just going to build it taller and taller and taller and taller until they get to heaven. [12:47] I don’t think that’s the significance of the story. [12:49] I don’t think that was their agenda.

[12:52] I think the agenda here is far more common than we would even think to apply it to our lives. [12:59] Because when we say, why are they trying to build a tower to heaven? [13:02] I would never be tempted to do that. [13:03] It completely separates it from my life, doesn’t it? [13:06] I’ve never been tempted to do that. [13:07] I mean, astronauts go up there.

[13:08] I don’t.

[13:11] That’s not what they’re doing at all. [13:13] They’re saying, let’s make ourselves as lofty in all of creation as God. [13:19] And whenever you do that, you immediately begin to question what God has told you to do. [13:26] To lose faith in what he has promised for you. [13:28] And to do things that seem right in your eyes, but completely conflict with what God has told you to do.

[13:37] Because God designed man to have a great glory. [13:44] To have a great image inside of himself. [13:47] To have great creative capacity. [13:50] And if you and I are honest with ourselves, the concept of staying together, the concept [13:56] of being united, the concept of really just coming together in one city, as one people, [14:03] for the common human good.

[14:05] Man, that sounds great. [14:08] Unless, God has said, do something else.

[14:14] And God clearly said, do something else.

[14:20] But our wisdom will trick us time and time again to think, my situation is a little different though, Lord.

[14:28] No, it’s not. [14:30] No. [14:31] It’s not. [14:32] So the unity that they shared with one another was completely different than what they actually [14:38] did for themselves. [14:40] And everything in their lives was based on progress.

[14:46] Bigger, faster, stronger. [14:49] We can build bricks. [14:52] So let’s do it. [14:53] As many as possible. [14:56] We can build a city. [14:57] Let’s do it.

[14:59] As high as possible. [15:02] Let’s make progress for the sake of progress. [15:05] And slowly, society drifts away from God.

[15:14] With progress comes a culture of affluence and leisure. [15:18] We will excuse ourselves from obeying God by using language like calling and gifting.

[15:25] Kind of what it really is, is an excuse to have a veiled disobedience against God while [15:30] building our own personal babel.

[15:34] So we’ll say, man, God, I’m better at building towers than I am really obeying you. [15:42] So I’ll do that instead. [15:43] But I still want to have faith in you because I still want to get to heaven.

[15:50] That’s not the way God’s designed it. [15:53] That’s not the way God’s designed it. [15:55] Number two this morning, sin drives us to find significance in this world, but faith [16:01] drives us to find significance in God. [16:06] Look at Psalm 115, verse 4 now. [16:09] After declaring that God is in the heavens, they belong to Him, that He does whatever

[16:15] He pleases, it talks of man and it says, their idols are silver and gold, the work of human [16:23] hands. [16:26] So what are they worshiping in the tower of babel? [16:29] They’re worshiping all that their hands can make. [16:32] When we seek progress in the name of man, in order to do it, we have to convince ourselves [16:39] to show that God’s will is somewhat irrelevant in our lives and doesn’t drive us to actually

[16:44] do anything for Him, but instead, we have a different purpose than He really would [16:48] have thought of. [16:49] So we excuse ourselves to go away from that. [16:51] We work harder, we get more progress, we advance further in this culture, we get more stuff, [16:59] we get what we want, and before we know it, we’re completely incapable of pulling ourselves [17:05] away from the silver and gold and stuff and materials that we’re building our lives around

[17:11] in order to actually do something for God.

[17:19] Significance, and where you find it in your life, shows the object of what your faith [17:26] is in. [17:28] Babel was to be a city that showed the independence of man from the power of God. [17:35] When trust in God is lacking, humanity always seeks an alternative sense of security by [17:41] seeking significance in something other than where God calls for complete obedience in [17:48] faith.

[17:51] So whether it be the newest car, whether it be a bigger home, whether it be a nicer television, [17:57] whether it be a nicer spouse or better thing, bigger, faster, stronger, when we make our [18:04] about those things, whatever those things are that will bring us relief from the pain [18:13] and dissatisfaction that we’re feeling about where we presently are, those things will [18:20] become your God. [18:22] Whatever you are finding your significance in is what you are worshiping.

[18:29] Whatever you are chasing after as the ultimate pursuit of your life is the thing that you [18:37] are worshiping and the object in which or on which you are placing your faith in.

[18:46] For some of us it is a job or a career. [18:50] For others of us it is intelligence. [18:53] For some of us it is a bank account or a car or something. [18:56] I don’t know what it is, but what are you pursuing with your life?

[19:04] Let me put it this way. [19:07] What do you excuse yourself away from pursuing God with?

[19:14] What is it that you are spending so much time on in your life?

[19:20] I’d love to serve God, I just don’t have time.

[19:25] What is it in your life that causes that thought process?

[19:31] That’s what your faith is in. [19:33] That’s what the object of your hope is being placed on.

[19:38] And it can be the simplest thing to the most complicated thing.

[19:47] Sin drives us to find significance in this world above finding our significance in God. [19:53] That’s what faith drives us to find. [19:56] Here’s the reality, God says be fruitful, multiply, team the earth, spread yourselves [20:01] out. [20:02] He doesn’t say not to build towers. [20:05] There’s nothing wrong with a tower.

[20:09] It can make you see better, see further, give you a little bit of security. [20:13] They built towers later in scripture. [20:16] The apostle Paul is lowered from one. [20:19] Rahab is in one. [20:21] God never says, got to destroy the world again, too many towers.

[20:29] Remember, it goes deeper than that. [20:31] Because the motivation for that tower, why are they seeking that tower? [20:36] To get themselves as far away from God and as far away from having to take the responsibility [20:41] of obeying his commands. [20:43] We’ll give them. [20:45] Let’s make our name great.

[20:47] You cannot make your name great without also making the name of God bad.

[20:56] There’s no dichotomy there, one or the other.

[21:01] Number three this morning, God desires his people to build a culture on the hope of [21:08] trusting in his promises.

[21:14] Because what they’re doing there in verse four is they’re beginning to build a culture. [21:19] They’re beginning to build a city. [21:21] And the significance of that city cannot be felt apart from this world. [21:25] Therefore the only hope in that city is in this world. [21:29] Look in verse five.

[21:32] And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of man had built. [21:37] And the Lord said, behold, they are one people and they have all one language and this is [21:43] only the beginning of what they will do. [21:46] And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. [21:55] Come, let us go down and there confuse their language so that they may not understand one [22:00] another’s speech.

[22:01] So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth and they left off [22:06] building the city. [22:08] Therefore its name was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of all [22:15] the earth and from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

[22:23] Notice number one, God’s will will be done.

[22:31] To your detriment or to your benefit.

[22:37] Friends that’s the reality of what we see in the judgment of God for them. [22:42] God says look I want humanity over the face of the earth. [22:47] I’ll do it one way or the other. [22:50] You can enjoy going all over the face of the earth or you can hate it. [22:55] And so God confused their language. [22:59] Hope friends can only be eternal to be real.

[23:05] Scripture in this part of the text shifts to God’s perspective. [23:08] He sees the disobedience of man and immediately condemns it. [23:13] Let me tell you how author Andy Crouch puts it. [23:17] At Babel God Riley observing that nothing they do or propose to do is possible. [23:25] Will now be impossible for them. [23:27] Surely not because God is threatened by their ambition but because he recognizes the havoc

[23:33] that such cultural vanity could wreak. [23:37] God intervenes scattering humanity into many linguistic cultural groups saving them from [23:45] the worst of their creative capacity and making their mutually incomprehensible language a [23:52] sign of their alienation from one another and from God.

[23:58] This is where we have a tough time with the judgment of God. [24:01] We look at it as God’s judgment is bad bad bad. [24:04] But what we see in this story what we see in the story of Adam and Eve with the curses [24:07] that come down because of sin we see a great work of God’s grace for us to save us from [24:15] going further into sin than we would have gone without him intervening. [24:21] So in God dispersing everyone in God confusing language he gives us a great grace to stop

[24:28] us from going ahead along further down the road to perdition than we would have gone [24:33] otherwise. [24:34] When he confuses the language he does us a great revelatory benefit by showing us a sign [24:41] that there are things that will separate us as a people as there are things that will [24:47] separate us from good fellowship with God. [24:52] And so his judgment is a revelation of his glory.

[24:58] Now understand that we were meant to enjoy creation but we were not meant to find our [25:04] meaning worth and satisfaction in it. [25:09] You were created for more than this world but we were created for this world. [25:16] It’s just that often times we limit the scope of our view to that which is in this world [25:23] so we have no hope beyond it. [25:26] That is when we exchange the worship of God for the worship of creation.

[25:30] There’s nothing wrong with enjoying this world. [25:32] God looks at the world when he creates it and says it is good.

[25:36] And the proverbs it’s filled with proverbs of how to enjoy this world properly.

[25:43] So friends please don’t hear a stoic call to the denial of pleasure. [25:50] It’s not how God would create us to be. [25:53] But what he would create us to be is understand our place in his plan.

[25:58] That we are not meant to find our security in the progress and in the things of this [26:05] earth. [26:05] Instead we are to seek it in God and God alone. [26:12] Jeremiah chapter 2 speaking of the nation of Israel. [26:18] Centuries later after Babel like I said it’s a rehearsal over and over again. [26:24] Jeremiah writes be appalled O heavens at this.

[26:27] Be shocked. [26:28] Be utterly desolate declares the Lord. [26:31] For my people have committed two evils. [26:34] They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and hewed out cisterns for themselves. [26:40] Broken cisterns that can hold no water. [26:43] A cistern is a waterproof container that will hold water completely.

[26:49] It will not leak it has complete containment.

[26:56] And Jeremiah speaking for the Lord says that his people when they forsake God they are [27:01] seeking their comfort. [27:02] They are seeking their security. [27:05] Over and over again God will tell Israel something. [27:08] You are fine I will defend you. [27:10] And yet the kings of Israel and the armies of Israel will run to Egypt.

[27:13] They will run to Assyria. [27:14] They will run to Babylon and say protect us. [27:17] We need more than God can offer. [27:18] And God says you are digging for yourself cisterns. [27:24] Wells that cannot hold water. [27:26] It is like going to a well with a bottomless bucket and not understanding why you bring

[27:32] it up over and over and it is empty.

[27:35] God says that is what we do when we find our significance in the things of this world. [27:42] We are trying to drink from vessels that cannot contain the water that we need. [27:49] And God says I am the fountain of living water. [27:52] I promise I have all that you need. [27:57] But God demands that you trust him at his word.

[28:04] It is not easy. [28:05] It is not simple. [28:08] But God says trust me I am better than anything that this world has to offer. [28:17] God’s command for faithful obedience is always built on future hope in Jesus. [28:25] Throughout the Old Testament beginning in Genesis chapter 315 God constantly says I [28:31] will triumph over sin.

[28:33] I will triumph over all that this world will tell you I won’t triumph over. [28:37] I promise I will do it. [28:38] I promise I will do it. [28:40] I promise I will bring redemption. [28:41] I promise I will save you. [28:42] I promise I will bring you into my kingdom.

[28:44] But you have to trust me. [28:45] You have to live a life that signifies that you trust me on that. [28:49] In the Old Testament God delivers in the person and work of Jesus.

[28:55] In the New Testament he says look at what I did in Jesus. [29:01] Promise I am going to restore my kingdom completely in the future. [29:05] But he says trust me. [29:07] Trust me. [29:08] Trust me. [29:09] Trust me.

[29:10] And often times in word we will say I trust you. [29:13] Indeed we will say I better build an earthly 401k.

[29:19] I need a backup plan because what if God doesn’t come through on his promises.

[29:25] God says it’s another bottomless bucket.

[29:32] Another bottomless bucket.

[29:36] Man attempts to put himself up above God. [29:42] God says only I have the power to be that high. [29:47] Look in Philippians chapter 2 verses 9 through 11. [29:53] Philippians 2 we read this. [29:55] And being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death [30:01] even death on a cross speaking of Jesus.

[30:03] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him at the name of Jesus which is above [30:09] every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and [30:14] under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the [30:21] Father. [30:21] Notice this exaltation that God says look at what I have done in Jesus. [30:30] Look at what I have done.

[30:31] Have you ever seen anyone that has power over death? [30:36] No. [30:37] Jesus has that. [30:40] And here’s where the great grace in the tower of Babel is really seen. [30:44] Do you understand that even if God had left them alone and said do whatever you want build [30:49] whatever city you think is the smartest that city would have fallen eventually.

[30:58] You can look at great monuments to the progress of man from just a couple of hundred years [31:04] ago. [31:05] They’re crumbling. [31:07] They’re falling apart.

[31:10] That great tower would have fallen. [31:13] Would have rusted. [31:15] The wind. [31:16] The rain. [31:17] The rust. [31:19] It would have just slowly deteriorated over time.

[31:22] And God says look at the revelation that I give you through that.

[31:28] This world is temporary. [31:30] It will fall.

[31:35] Look in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 16 through 18. [31:40] This is where faith becomes so complicated for us. [31:44] Verse 16 we read. [31:45] So we do not lose heart though our outer self is wasting away our inner self is being [31:51] renewed day by day for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal [31:57] weight of glory beyond all comparison.

[32:00] As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen for the [32:06] things that are seen are transient but the things that are unseen are what? [32:10] Eternal. [32:12] See in Babel all the faith that they had was right in front of them. [32:17] What they could see. [32:20] For us it’s numbers on a screen numbers on a bank account doctors reports report cards

[32:26] of our kids how much food is in our pantry how much square footage is in our house how [32:37] many miles are on our car.

[32:43] And we say based on everything I’ve got I’ve got no hope.

[32:51] If only I had this thing. [32:55] If only I had that thing my life would be complete.

[33:02] And God says do not base your hope on the things in this world that are seen but base [33:11] it on that which is unseen base it on that which I have done in Jesus Christ and want [33:18] to do inside of your very life. [33:22] The reality this morning is that God will deliver his city in and through Jesus. [33:30] None of you have seen heaven don’t worry neither have I.

[33:36] None of you have seen the kingdom of God.

[33:41] None of you have experienced the beauty that God says glorification will be like when we [33:47] see the light in his presence healed whole no more pain no more sickness no more death [33:53] no more mortgage no more student loan debt. [33:57] Fill in the blank.

[34:03] Yet God says right there he says when you live a life of faith you are leveraging everything [34:13] in creation on the reality that I will deliver.

[34:22] Heaven is the hope of a new creation.

[34:28] There are two cities that we constantly see being built in scripture.

[34:34] The first city is Babel. [34:36] There were many cities built after Babel but they were all Babel. [34:40] They were all man’s attempt at displacing God and bringing God’s glory to himself.

[34:50] God says there is a city to come that we are not going to deliver by our hands. [34:57] That we are not currently in charge of. [35:02] We will never be in charge of. [35:05] God says the burden of that city is on me. [35:12] The burden of trust is on us humans. [35:17] The burden of believing that he will deliver is on you and I.

[35:21] It says this way in Philippians chapter 3. [35:24] For many of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears walk as enemies [35:30] of the cross. [35:31] I want to pause right there and I want to tell you that being called an enemy of the [35:35] cross that is not great.

[35:40] That is not a good goal. [35:43] That is about as bad as it gets in scripture. [35:45] He is not saying something simple like we would say you are just struggling to believe. [35:51] He says enemy of the cross. [35:56] He says verse 19 their end is destruction. [36:00] Their God is their belly and their glory and their shame with minds set on earthly

[36:09] things.

[36:12] That text will be out of reach for you and you will say there is no chance I could ever [36:19] be an enemy of the cross until you get to that phrase.

[36:30] Then he just levels us all.

[36:35] He says one evidence that you could be an enemy of the cross in your life do you have [36:43] your mind set. [36:44] That term there is a term of pursuit. [36:47] That term there is a pursuit of hope. [36:51] That term there is what you are basing your life on. [36:54] He says it is on earthly things.

[37:00] But then verse 20 he never leaves us hanging Paul thank God. [37:05] But our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a savior the Lord Jesus Christ [37:13] who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables [37:20] him even to subject all things to himself. [37:26] God’s kingdom will only ever be delivered by Jesus for those whose hopes those whose [37:38] dreams those whose faith those whose trust are in his finished work in hope of his future

[37:48] work.

[37:52] God gives us so much grace in saying you can’t build it I will. [38:01] And I am going to deliver it. [38:05] Your task is to live in this world right here right now as one whose hope is set on the [38:14] future and on the future alone and the church of Jesus Christ lives to be a sign of the [38:22] kingdom of God that is to come. [38:26] Matthew chapter 16 verse 19 Jesus looks to his people and he says I am delivering over

[38:32] to you I will do it the keys to the kingdom of God. [38:36] What he is saying there is when you trust in Jesus when you follow him with your life [38:42] when you put your faith for your future hope in him your entrance is secure and you are [38:49] to live as one who has hope not as one who is seeking it here but one who is seeking [38:55] it there.

[38:58] Through all that Jesus has done and all that he has commanded us to build it is found [39:02] in his church and we understand that our lives are to be spent in pursuing the progress [39:08] note that we are to seek progress of the gospel of the coming kingdom of God in which Jesus [39:19] will deliver a perfect city. [39:24] I can’t even imagine what that must be like.

[39:30] Oh I had so much more I wanted to share with you.

[39:37] Revelation chapter 21 and I can’t even comprehend this so I don’t have much to say about it. [39:45] This is what God says awaits those who trust in him. [39:50] The apostle John writes as God gives him this amazing revelation. [39:54] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had [40:02] passed away and the sea was no more and I saw the holy city new Jerusalem coming down [40:10] out of heaven from God.

[40:12] Can you imagine a city coming down from heaven? [40:17] The blueprint can’t be built here because it is coming from there.

[40:24] God prepared it for his people as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud [40:32] voice from the throne saying, behold the dwelling place of God is with man. [40:39] He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them [40:45] as their God. [40:47] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. [40:53] Neither shall there be any mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have

[40:59] passed away. [41:02] And he who is seated on the throne said, behold I am making all things new.

[41:11] Also he said, and here is what I really want you to note, write this down for these words [41:19] are what? [41:21] Trust worthy and true.

[41:26] God says keep trusting. [41:28] Trust, trust. [41:32] It is going to be hard. [41:34] It is not going to be good all the time down there. [41:38] You are going to want to build yourself a new well with new water with new trust. [41:43] Don’t do it.

[41:45] Because if you just trust that I have power over death, that I have power to give new [41:51] life and all that I have given you in Jesus, if you just trust I am going to deliver a [41:56] city that puts Babel to shame.

[42:02] That human hands cannot even imagine. [42:04] I am going to do it, but you have got to trust me.

[42:09] You have got to live your life in trust. [42:11] You have got to believe that what I have to offer is better. [42:14] You cannot give yourself a better gift than I am going to give. [42:17] So don’t be an enemy of the cross. [42:19] Don’t set your hopes on earthly things.

[42:23] Don’t even move all over the earth if you are going to move with something that is less [42:27] than my glory and less than my trust. [42:30] Don’t take that job if it is going to take you away from me. [42:33] Don’t move your family in any direction if it won’t give you more trust, if it won’t [42:38] give you more hope, if it won’t give you more of me. [42:42] Do not move away from Jesus, but move closer.

[42:49] Do not lead your family down a path that will give them false hopes.

[42:59] Friends, the implications are hours long, but I want you to be mesmerized by Revelation [43:12] 21, 1 through 5. [43:15] Memorize it, because that is our hope in and through Jesus.

[43:27] As the band comes up, we are heading into the week that we celebrate the resurrection [43:38] of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

[43:44] There is another part of this week, and that is the reflection of what Jesus did for us. [43:52] In His body, in the shedding of His blood, in the giving over of His life, He took Babel [43:59] onto Himself.

[44:03] And through His work on the cross, He destroyed it on our behalf. [44:08] He said, no longer are you condemned by your sin, no longer do I condemn you through your [44:16] disobedience, but I take all the punishment for every single person that built those [44:24] towers in Babel. [44:27] Jesus took their sin.

[44:30] At some point in your life, probably right now, there is something that you are placing [44:37] hope on in this life.

[44:40] There is something that you are seeking above Jesus.

[44:46] And this week is such a time of reflection. [44:49] Many call it the Holy Week, because we set it aside to look at what Jesus did on the [44:55] cross for our behalf.

[44:59] During this week, Jesus takes the Passover meal of the Old Testament and He says, I’m [45:04] fulfilling that meal myself.

[45:09] The cup represents His shed blood, the plate represents His broken body on our behalf. [45:15] And when you come this morning, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, if you trusted [45:20] Him as your Savior, if you know the new life and His resurrection and are seeking it, probably [45:27] stumbling through it, like me.

[45:31] When you come this morning, I want you to bring that false hope.

[45:36] And I want you to give it to Him. [45:39] And I want you to proclaim to Jesus, I want my hope to be in you.

[45:45] God grant me the strength of repentance.

[45:50] If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, I want you to know that your hope cannot be [45:55] found here. [45:55] It can only be found in the city that is to come, through the finished work of Jesus [46:01] Christ our Lord.

[46:04] Today you can know God, and I’m going to invite you to know Him.

[46:09] I’ll be standing right over here, with some in the back of the foyer even.

[46:14] I’d love to talk to you about it. [46:15] I’d love to share the story of Jesus and let you know that your sin does not have to condemn [46:22] you. [46:24] You can know God. [46:27] When you’re ready, come.