Oh That They Had Such A Heart Within Them

So before I start the sermon, I just want to say we had an elders retreat. I told you about last week that I asked you to pray for. For those of you who prayed, we're very thankful. We've never done it before. We went away Friday night. Eric and me and Dan, Daniel, Abram, and John, we spent about 24 hours together. We stayed up late, at least later than I'm accustomed to staying up. It was a very sweet time of fellowship. I want you to know, Friday night, we did two things were on the schedule. One was to go have dinner, and we did that. The other thing was to pray for each one of you, and we did that too. And it was a joy to consider all of you and God's mercy to us. Some of you we know better than others. Some of you have been here longer than others. Some of you might be young kids and think, why?

We're thankful for you. And we're thankful for the church that God's established here and for giving us the good work of leading and loving and discipling you. It was an encouraging and strengthening time. It's true that we spend a lot less time together, the officers, the elders, as the church has grown. We don't spend as much time together. We all lead different small groups now, and we all are involved in different ministries in the church. And that's true of our wives as well. And so it was very sweet for us to get away and to have time to decompress together. So we did that. Saturday, we had a couple of topics we want to talk about. We'll be talking to you guys about those at the congregational meeting and different things. But God was merciful to us. He gave us rest. He gave us good fellowship. And I think he gave us...

renewed strength, at least that's how I feel. I'm really thankful for it. So hopefully we can do it again next year. We went down to the Abe Martin Lodge down at Brown County State Park, right across the street from the church that Vanessa and I got married in. So that was sweet to see. But I just want to tell you, we had a really sweet time. I think we were done. We stopped yesterday at 4.30. Between 4.30 and 5, we all left. So they're good men. If you don't know, If there's elders that you don't know very well because you don't naturally move in their circles, my encouragement to you is to go put yourself in their orbit. Get to know them. They're good men, and I'm thankful for them. This morning now, we're going to be finishing up Deuteronomy chapter 5. Last week, we saw how the Israelites petitioned Moses, and they said, Moses, would you mediate between God and us?

We don't want to die. No one's ever heard God speak directly and live. We have, but we know that if this continues, we're going to die. He's holy and we're sinful, was the thrust of their request. In asking Moses to do that, they promised him that they would listen. They said, go talk to Moses or go talk to the Lord. And everything that he says, we're going to listen to it and we're going to obey it. We noted last week that their willingness to listen and obey the thing that they said. They're asking Moses to go and mediate for them. These were all good things that they asked to do. They didn't fail on any of that stuff. We ended that sermon with an exhortation that we would listen and obey the people that God raises up to us today. That we would say the same thing that they said. But not only that we would say the same thing that they did, but that we would do the thing that they did.

Now, what we're going to see in this passage is, and we alluded to it last week, was they don't do what they say they're going to do. Like almost immediately, they don't do what they say they're going to do. What we're going to see in our passage this week is God's response to their request. Last week, they're talking to Moses. Moses, would you do this for us? This week, we're going to see what God has to say about their request. There's three things, basically, that he does. The first is that he praises what they say, and he says, that was good. They've spoken well. Then he laments their hypocrisy. Basically, they say one thing, but they're going to do something else. And it's not going to go well with them as a result. And then he foretells all of the future troubles that they're going to have, in short form, that they're going to have trouble. And then he gives them their law. Then he goes ahead and calls Moses up on the mountain and gives them their law. Remember that this is Moses retelling 40 years post what had happened.

Mount Sinai. So we're still in the story at Mount Sinai, but he's telling it on the shores of the River Jordan before they go into the promised land. So this is him recounting their history. There's a couple of incredible things that happen in this passage that I hope are eye-catching to you as we work our way through this passage. My hope is that God will help us to overcome cynicism and hopelessness. As we look at this text, you're going to see those things pop up. Or at least you're going to see how we don't respond like God does. He's very merciful to them in this passage. He loves them. They're sinners. And he continues to minister to them in spite of the fact that he knows they're not going to listen. They're not going to obey. It's really incredible that he knows they're not going to obey. And he goes ahead and commands them anyway. It's really a sweet thing. Would you please stand now as we read the word of the Lord from Deuteronomy chapter 5. This is verses 28 through 33.

The Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, I've heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. Oh, that they had such a heart within them that they would fear me and keep my commandments always that may be well with them and with their sons forever. Go, say to them, return to your tents. But as for you, stand here with me. Stand here by me. that I may speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I give them to possess. So you shall observe to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess. This is the word of the Lord.

You may be seated. So the passage starts out with the Lord commending their commitments. Now, it's good for us to slow down right here and not just pass by that and say, God knows everything. And he's always known everything. And he takes time here to commend what they said, even though he knew that they were, it was going to be very short-lived. He commends what they say. It's good that they said. Everything that he says, we're going to do. I think one of our temptations is to not listen, but to just judge based on what we think will happen. And in this passage, what you see is God working slowly through what they say, his response to it, and then his actions according to it. But he commends what they say. He says, it's good what they have said. They have done well in all that they have spoken.

Think about your interactions with your siblings, with your parents, with your children. How often is it that you know what they're going to do or you know what they're going to say? Even before you've said anything to them or they've had any chance to respond, you just know by experience how it's going to go. I think it's very common. We're in the habit of prejudging other people's actions before we even speak to them or give them a chance to respond. We do it backwards. We start with judgment before trial. We just say, well, I just know this is how it's going to be. And what is that? Well, really, that amounts to us justifying our poor behavior. Well, I'm going to start out being a jerk because I know you're not going to listen to me anyway. So I'll just start out telling you.

that I'm sick of your crap. Without ever speaking to them or giving them a chance. Have you ever had someone approach you that way and you said to them as they say, you're just going to fill in the blank and you go, that's not what I was going to say. But you didn't get a chance to say it because they already knew what you were going to say and what you're going to do. This is a common way with us. It's not a good way though. The Lord slows down here knowing all things and he knows all things perfectly. He's never wrong in his assessments. He could just proceed to dispensing with judgments.

without any hearing of the story. He can just say, you're going to do this, and you're going to do that, and here's your judgment, and here's your discipline. Here's your blessing. We just know how it's going to end, and we're just going to proceed to the final score. But that's not what God does here. He knows the goodness of what they said, even though he knew that they wouldn't do what they said. And so we ought to be slow to speak. We ought to be quick to listen. And we ought to give what we would call the benefit of the doubt. Okay? The benefit of the doubt means that you and the person you're talking to or interacting with, you will give them the privilege of you saying, I could be wrong. I may not know what will happen. And so I'm going to act and interact with you in such a way that acknowledges I may not know how this is going to go. I have my suspicions, but I may not know for sure. And so this is the first lesson we get from this passage, is to resist our prejudging of someone or ignoring what they have to say.

Trees, the Bible tells us, are known by their fruit. We often prejudge other people's fruit, but what I want to put in your minds is that the cynicism that leads us to prejudge other people is bad fruit on our tree. So listen and consider what's said and praise what's praiseworthy first. Then God laments what they say or he laments what they're going to do. He says, oh, that they had such a heart within them. What's it mean to have such a heart within them? Oh, that they had such a heart within them that they would fear me and keep my commandments always. What he's saying is, I wish they would do what they're saying. I wish it would be true. Was God wrong about them? He wasn't wrong about them. God's never wrong about anybody. He's never wrong about anything.

He knew what they were going to do. He knew what they were going to be like. That's not true with us. Our judgments, as we've already seen, are often fallible. They're often wrong. We overstate the case. We overdramatize it. But God's judgments are never wrong. He never makes a mistake. He knows already that when those words left their mouth, Moses, go intercede for us and we will listen to everything and we will obey it. God knew before they said it that that was not going to be the case. And so he laments. And he laments because of the impending judgment that they will face. The Israelites, his people, they're going to sow rebellion and they're going to reap judgment. And that's what's lamentable to God. God would rather obedience than repentance. You should know that if there's repentance, and repentance is an essential part of our lives.

But it's not the best thing we could offer to God. The best thing we could offer to God is to listen and obey. What we offer when we listen and don't obey is repentance, okay? But it's not as pleasing or glorifying to God as obedience would be. In 1 Samuel 15, it says, Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? And so there's a comparison going on. Does God delight more in the sacrifices for sin or does he delight more in the obedience to his word? Behold, to obey is better than to sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams. It ought not to be our goal. And hear me.

Your life's going to be, if you're a faithful Christian, your life will be marked by repentance, but that's not all it should be marked by. It should be marked by growing desire and pursuit and realization of obedience. So if we were on a spectrum of like, what does God call us to do? There are those around today who would say, God doesn't really have much to say about how we live our lives. We're saved by grace and that's the end of the story. There are those that say we're saved by works. You have to earn your salvation. And what I just said sounds like it's over here. And there's something that wells up inside of us and says that's not true. That's not true. And what I want you to know is what we read in our assurance of pardon is the gospel truth. We were saved. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for what? Good works. What is a good work?

Is a good work repentance? Yes. Is a better work obedience? Yes. So what did God create us for? He did create us to become like Jesus and to obey him. And we really do have to simmer in that and realize that that's why Jesus came to die. He came to save us from the guilt and the power of our sins so that we would obey him. The Israelites say they're going to obey. But they don't. And many times that's what's true of us is we say we're going to do something, but then we don't do it. And we salve our conscience by saying, well, I'll repent of it. I just want to say to you, repentance is not as pleasing to God as obedience in the first place would have been. We ought to pursue obedience. Repentance is a fallback position and one that we occupy often, but it shouldn't be our only position. God would rather bless.

than discipline. And his lament here is they're going to rebel and they're going to incur judgment. God would rather bless them for their obedience than discipline them for their rebellion. Isn't that, if you have kids, isn't that true of you? Wouldn't you rather have your child do what you say and then you can bless them and you can rejoice in them and you can hug them and kiss them and praise them and delight in their Wouldn't you rather do that than have to discipline them for their disobedience? Both are acts of love of a parent to their child. But wouldn't you rather bless them? Wouldn't you tell them, don't touch the outlet, the little kid, and they give you the look? You know the look. The look is like, I'm deciding whether I'm going to listen to you and whether the consequences outweigh my little desire. Wouldn't you rather they would listen? But wouldn't you go discipline them if they don't listen?

And isn't that an act of love? So God's lamenting that their actions are going to lead to their judgment. He says to them, in effect, when he says, he says, oh, that they had such a heart within them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always. And then he says that it may be well with them and with their sons forever. What he's laying out to them and putting before them is there is peace and blessing and joy and contentment forever in obeying me. And I wish they had a heart to do it. I wish they had a heart to do it. Because what they're forsaking, what they're giving up by their disobedience is all of that peace and joy and blessing. Not just for them, but for their sons. Now, how would that have hit to those people standing there with Moses? Who were they? They were the sons of the people that this was originally said to. They were the ones who lived and wandered in the wilderness without a home, sojourning their whole lives.

Because their parents, their fathers, didn't listen and obey. Ouch. It's real, isn't it? It's not like just this theoretical covenantal promise stuff that's up in our heads somewhere. It's like real. It's like we wouldn't be standing here now, and you wouldn't have known the life you've known if your fathers hadn't disobeyed. Really? Wouldn't that be something? Many of us, all of us, I would say, who have children, There's many things we want for our kids. Those of you who don't have children yet, but want to get married and want to have kids. When you have kids, the thing you're going to want to know is, will it be well with them? Will it be well with them? I know they're going to have a hard time and I know they're sinners and I know I'm going to fail as a parent. But what I want to know the answer to is, will it be well with them? And what we mean by that is, will they have peace with God? Or will they be eternally damned?

That's a scary thing when it comes to being a parent. And anything that you think about as being more important than that is just foolish. It really doesn't matter if they make a bunch of money. It really doesn't matter if they are great athletes. It really doesn't matter if they get straight A's. It really doesn't matter. What matters is when they go to stand before the God who made them, will he smile and receive them or will he cast them out? That's the answer you want. And that's what's promised here. Those who fear and those who keep my commandments always, it'll go well with them and with their children. Now, why is it that it would go well with their children? Are we in a situation where the fathers and the mothers are meriting their own salvation and not only theirs, but the salvation of their children? No, that's crazy talk. That's unbiblical. It's not what's going on here. So what is going on here? What's going on here is

An acknowledgement of the impact of how you live your life as a parent and its effect on your children. Your children, as they get older, they just become more and more like, it becomes more and more apparent that they're like you. And sometimes that'll bring joy to you. Or they're more like, they're like your spouse and you'll delight in it. But other times you're going to look and you're going to be like, oh no, they're like me in the bad way. And you really do have to ask yourself as a parent, where did they learn that? You ever ask that about your kids? Where'd you learn? And before you even get the question out, you're like, I know where you learned that. It was from your mother, right? Sometimes that's true, but it's not always true. Sometimes it's you learned that from me. And it's not going to serve you well to have learned that lesson from me if you continue in it. So I'm not trying to tie up heavy burdens on you as a parent that say you're responsible for your children's salvation. You're not God.

He has his secret hidden decrees. God does elect. And you don't get to participate in that. You didn't get to participate in that decision. But God's given you faith in his son if he has. And he's given you children. And he's told you to raise them up to love and to fear and to trust in and to obey him. You're the means. he's going to use to work out or demonstrate his hidden will for them. And the most significant thing that's going to impact them is how you live your life. Do you listen and obey or not? The biggest thing that's going to impact your children over the course of their upbringing, did you listen and did you obey? When you didn't obey, did they see you repent? Or did they just get an excuse?

Or did they just get blame shifting? Or did they just get nothing happened and it's all fine and we're just going to act like that never happened? What did they get from you? It really doesn't matter what they get from you because they're watching and they're learning and they're going to emulate. And so you see the real work of parenting is not how are we going to feed them and how are we going to clothe them and how are we going to educate them? It's how are we going to disciple them? What are they going to learn from me that I didn't want to teach them?

Will you listen and obey? You really can set them up for success, spiritual success. And it really ought to be your aim to do that. If God's given you children, he's given you a high, high priority, second only to your faith in Christ and your commitment to your spouse. High, high priority. And it'll become evident whether you honored it or not, or whether you mailed it in. My encouragement to you is to read this passage and to take hope. None of us are going to offer perfect obedience to God. We're not even close. And what that means is not we're without hope in the world. It means God is way more merciful and gracious than we can imagine because he takes really, really sinful people and blesses them and their kids. And what can you do except praise him for it? He's so merciful.

Now, I want to go back for a second to God's response to their disobedience, their coming disobedience, the future listening and not obeying. It's lamentable to him. It's a grief to him. So my question to you is, does it cause you grief when other people rebel? Does it cause you grief when other people fall into sin? You might think, well, that's not really my problem. I don't know. I mean, it's like, it's their life and it's their choice and it's up to them. But we really ought to ask ourselves the question, if their rebellion causes God to lament, oh, that they had such a heart in them to obey. Shouldn't that be our heart's response? Maybe you're like Jonah, crawl up on the hill, waiting to see the storm come. You know, that's awful though, isn't it?

It's awful. I mean, at the end, Jonah tells the truth, but it's like not a comfort to him. I knew you were a merciful God. It's such an awful way to give glory to God, to be upset at his mercies to other people, to sinners. But man, it's familiar to us. We see ourselves. It's like, oh, look, there's a mirror. And there I am sitting under that bush with Jonah. He delighted in God's destruction of the wicked. He didn't want God to be merciful to them. He wanted them to get what they deserved, all the while not realizing that if you want other people to get what they deserve, God warns us in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in Matthew 7, from the way that you judge, you'll be judged. And by your standard of measure, it'll be measured to you. And so if you delight in other people's destruction, other people's discipline, other people getting what they deserve, I don't want you to be disillusioned. I don't want you to be ignorant. What you are actively saying is, I want what I deserve. But here's the catch. You don't get to determine what you deserve. God does. And that's different when you say, oh, I want God to give me what I deserve, what he thinks I deserve, not what I think I deserve, what he thinks I deserve. It's a whole different, the math's all different. And we go, no, no, no, that's not, no, I don't. I don't know that I want that.

If that's true of you, if you don't want what you deserve, then you ought not want other people to get what they deserve. And that just feels weak. It feels kind of pathetic. It's like, aren't we supposed to be serious and mean? Isn't that godly? How else will you teach your boys to become men unless you're just hard on them, relentless in pushing them? How else will you teach your daughters to control their emotions without mocking them and making fun of them? Or your wife? How are you going to make her more stable? Show her how stupid it is? How illogical and unreasonable she's being? But man, you know what I find is that men who do that and parents that do that, they have like this much strength to tolerate being dealt with that way themselves. They can't be measured by the standard by which they measure other people. So you ought not to delight in other people's disobedience. It ought to be a grief to you. Realizing that

That speck you're seeing in there, it really isn't much compared to the log in your home. That's how you get to where you're properly grieved by other people's sins. Do you remember Paul and his response or his reaction to the Jews' rejection of Christ? Do you remember Jesus' response? What did Jesus say on the cross when they've nailed him to the cross and stripped him of his clothes and beaten him and put a crown of thorns on him? What's he say? Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing. That's grief. He knows the judgment that they're going to face for putting him to death. And as he's dying, he's praying for them. What a thing. What a thing. What did Paul say about the Romans or about the Jews in the book of Romans? He says in chapter 9, verses 1 through 3, he says, I'm telling the truth. I'm not lying. My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow.

An unceasing grief in my heart. Why? For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. I'll translate it for you. What he's saying is God's chosen me and been merciful to me and given me life through Jesus Christ. And because of my love for my kinsmen, according to the flesh, the Jews. I wish that I would go to hell for their sake so they could be saved. I wish I could be Christ for them. That's what he's saying. I wish I could die and suffer the wrath of God for their sake so they wouldn't have to. I'm full of grief, he says. Great sorrow. So there's a lesson here in Deuteronomy for us about compassion and mercy toward notorious sinners.

You might be thinking from earlier where I said, you know, we make these prejudgments and we decide what people are going to do before we even speak to them. And then we act on that. But here's the thing. It doesn't matter even if you're right. Even if you are bullseye right about what they're going to say and do and how they're going to fail. Even that doesn't justify you acting like Jonah. There's really no justification for it. So then the Lord says to Moses, go and say to them, return to your tents. What's he saying to them? He's honoring their request. Go and say to them, return to your tents, but as for you, stand here by me. They had requested that Moses would intercede for them and be their mediary, and God honors it and says, tell them to go to their tents, but you come back. That I may speak to you all the commandments and statutes and judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I give them to possess. Now, it's an interesting thing that he's going to give them a land to possess, knowing that they're going to rebel.

It's really quite gracious. If you know somebody, if you're going to give a gift to somebody, a blessing to somebody, and you know they're going to squander it, what's the prudent thing to do? Take the blessing away from them and give it to someone who will do right by it. But that's not what God does. And it's like in every verse, you read this passage and you're just like, that's not what I would do. That's not what I would think. That's not what I would feel, or that's not what I would say. And in every instance, the problem is not with him, but with me. I wouldn't be gracious. I wouldn't be patient. I wouldn't be full of grief. I wouldn't be generous. But God is. Oh man, isn't he something? And so he honors their request. Tell them to go to their tents. You come up here. I'm going to give you my law. I'm going to give you my law. Why? So that you can teach it to them when they go into that land that I'm going to give to them, those rebels.

Those ones who are going to build the golden calf that they said they wouldn't do while I'm telling you the law. Like an immediate turn away from God. Ink wasn't even dry on the covenant and they were breaking it. If you knew someone was going to disobey, your inclination would be not to give them the thing that, you know, you don't give a drunk a drink, right? That sort of worldly wisdom. But here God is giving them the promised land. And here God is giving him their law. Why doesn't he just say, I know you're going to waste it. I know you're going to screw it up. I know you're not going to keep your end. I'm not going to give it to you. Why does he give them this stuff? Is it just because he's covenanted with them and he's just obligated? So he's, you know, he made a poor contract, contractual obligation. Now he's just got to keep his end up because he's God, you know. Is that why he does it? Of course, we're like, no. Not sure why that's not the answer, but I don't think that's the whole answer. Why does he give them the land and why does he give them the law?

I'll tell you why. Because in that nation of sinners, he has people that are his. You'll notice in this passage that God goes from talking about they and them, the nation, to talking about Moses specifically. I'm going to give you my law, that you may observe it. God has people in the midst of this land that are truly his. And it's for their benefit. that the sinners received this mercy. Do you remember when Abraham was pleading with God not to destroy the valley? How did he approach God? If there are a hundred righteous, I don't remember the numbers exactly, but it starts high. If there's a hundred righteous, will you be merciful to everyone? Then he comes back and he's like, well, if there's less than that.

And they go, what if there's less than that? What if there's only my nephew? Would you be merciful to those terrible people for the sake of my nephew who stole the good land from me back when I gave him the choice? Because that's what happened. Would you be merciful to him? What did God do? He was merciful. He was merciful in pulling Lot out of it before he cast the judgment. And in this instance, that same principle is at work. God is being merciful to the... to the wicked for the sake of the righteous. The wicked are benefiting from God's mercy on his people. The trouble is the wicked will look at that situation and determine that wickedness doesn't matter because God's just a big friendly grandpa who doesn't ever judge. That's not true. If you think of the history of Israel going forward from this time, it's certainly not true. He does maintain a remnant. He does maintain a...

a number of people in the midst of Israel that are his, that haven't bowed the knee to Baal, or that haven't gone off to worship the idols, that who've stayed true and faithful to him. And God does always maintain a number of people in a group. And so we have to learn that God interacts with groups of people for his good purposes, but with a view to the benefit of his children. And those who are not his children end up reaping some benefit from his kindness. He's willing for his kindness to spill out on the ground and for the wicked to pick up a little bit of it or receive it, right? The rain falls on the just and the unjust for a period of time. It won't always be that way, but it is that way now. And so he gives them the law and he gives them the land for the benefit of the elect because these things are a picture of what's to come.

Right now, he's giving a promised land to a nation of people that's intermixed the righteous and the unrighteous, the believer and the unbeliever. But it's a picture of a land. It's not the final thing. It's just a picture of the thing to come. There's a new land, and it's going to have new inhabitants. But the difference will be at that time, only the righteous will go into it. And the wicked won't be allowed anymore. When they come to Jesus at the judgment, when he's telling this parable of the goats and the sheep, They come and the goats say, we served you, master. We did. We fed and we watered and we clothed and we visited. And he goes, no. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. There's a city coming. You see, all this stuff he's giving to them is meant to teach them to look forward. It wasn't the final iteration. It was a pre-run. It was a story to tell about the future. We live thousands of years after this. We have.

The entirety of scripture and thousands of years of church history to rely on, to purify and clarify what was going on here. And so their understanding at that time shouldn't be the same as our understanding because we have a lot more to go on. We understand that that promised land was a picture and a type of the new heaven and the new earth that are going to come. And that God will be merciful, that anyone who gets into that land will get into that land by his mercy. And we want to get into that land. And so we have to prepare to get into that land, to receive those things, to make our calling and election sure, says the scripture. How do I do that? By listening and obeying. Am I earning my salvation? No. I'm saying if you listen and you obey, that act in and of itself is a gift of God. You don't have the strength to do that stuff on your own.

If you listen and you obey, it's because God's been merciful to you to give you ears to hear, right? How do those who are deaf listen? They can't. They need ears to hear. So if God's given you ears to hear, that's his kindness to you. In the New Testament, that's given as a sign of spiritual life. I was deaf, but now I can hear. I was lame, but now I can walk. I was blind, but now I can see. If you can hear, It's because God made you able to hear. And if you can't hear, it's because God hasn't made you able to hear yet. Having ears, they will not hear. Why do you speak in parables, they asked him. He said, so that having ears, they will not hear. So God is merciful to the wicked for the sake of the righteous. Why he gives them the law, it's why he gives them the land. For their benefit and for our benefit to learn. So how do we know for one of the elect? How do we know for one of the people that

We'll enter the land. How do we know if the person next to us or the co-worker or the neighbor or the sibling or whoever you're thinking about, how do we know if it's worth preaching to them or telling them or inviting them to church? How do we know if it's going to make our relationship better with them because they come to love Jesus the way I do or worse with them because they think we're crazy? You want to know the answer? Say it again. We don't. And that's glorious. It's glorious that you don't know. It's freeing to not know because you're not ultimately the one who's going to save them or judge them. God is. And so we don't know the future or how any particular person or group will respond to the gospel, to the law, to calls to repentance and faith. Our job is to plant. Our job is to water. And it's God's prerogative to cause growth. If and when.

He deems to do it. If he wants people to come into the land, if he wants them to hear the law and to obey the law, if he wants to bring them to a conviction of their sins and to their knees before the cross, that's his prerogative to do. And I've seen him do it. And I've seen him not do it. And I've seen him not do it yet. And that's his prerogative. But in this passage, both the righteous and the wicked receive the good thing. And he's put us in this world as ambassadors, as salt, as light, as messengers, as his children. So we shouldn't be trying to decide and choose about who is and who isn't and what are the prerequisites that make people more inclined to believe and obey, listen and obey. God knew that most of Israel wouldn't believe and obey, and yet he still gave them the law, still gave them the promised land.

That's a generous love for sinners. And quite contrary to our natural inclinations where we're like, well, they won't listen. I know. I know them. I've been their friend. Remember we started at the beginning how we know. We're always right. Except for when we're not, but we don't remember those times. We know. My whole point is to say, no, you don't. Stop acting like you do. You don't. If we could have voted when I was in high school, who's least likely to believe in Jesus? I think I would have been in the running. amongst the people who knew me. And I'm not the only person in the room who can say that. But God is merciful to sinners. He really is. If you're here and you love him, it's because he's been merciful to you. And if he's been merciful to you and patient with you and given you things that you have squandered because of your sin, and he's disciplined you and still blessed you for it, then you ought to do the same thing with other people. You ought to do that with people in your family.

You ought to do that with people at your workplace. You ought to do that with your neighbors. It ought to mark your personality in life, all of life. Some people will respond well initially and then fade away. Some people will respond poorly initially and then come around. Some people will reject and rebel and persist in it. None of that is your concern. Your concern is, Do you love sinners and are you merciful to them the way that God is merciful to them in this passage? Are you grieved by their sin? That's the question you get to answer. Will you give of yourself for their benefit, even if they squander it? That's your question to answer. Will you serve God in these ways or not? Will you become like him in these ways? Because this is what it is to be merciful, to be compassionate, to be gracious.

And your flesh is going to fight you worse than anything you can imagine. But God's stronger than your flesh. So that's the question. Will you be like God is to these sinners in your day-to-day life? Let's pray.