Why Don’t People Just Do What God Says?

Introduction

Good morning. If you will open your Bibles with me to your Old Testament and to Jeremiah chapter 3. Jeremiah chapter 3. This morning we studied Jesus’ clear and strong and stinging rebuke of the Pharisees and the scribes in Matthew chapter 23. And these were religious people. They were people who knew the law. In fact, so much so that verses 2 and 3 of that chapter tell us that the Jews Jesus were talking to were to listen to what the Pharisees said, but not do as they did, because they preached, but they did not practice. Now one of the questions that many people have is how could the Pharisees who knew the law not just keep it? And we’ll study that this morning, but I think it’s obvious in many places, and time and again we saw, like in chapter 23, and even after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, we see that the Pharisees, some keepers of the Jewish law, were concerned with their earthly standing.

And while that makes sense for them, oftentimes I’m left with the same question of the Jews in the Old Testament. In the time of Jeremiah, when you consider Jeremiah’s prophecy, it was after Israel had already been taken away into Assyrian captivity. In fact, history notes that over a hundred years after Israel went into captivity, Judah was taken, this time into Babylonian captivity. And the question all over the Old Testament, beginning even in Exodus, when the people were together in the land of Egypt, and as Moses is taking them out, they’re grumbling, they’re complaining, and they’re saying, Oh, that we had just stayed in Egypt. You’ve taken us out here, and we’re going to die. And God would provide for them. And we say, How did they not know God would provide?

And then a few chapters later, the same thing would happen. And then when they’re outside of the promised land, they send in the spies, and ten of the twelve say, We can’t do this. And Joshua and Caleb knew, with God, we could. But time and again, I’m left with this question, and it really bothers me. Today, in the Old Testament, in the New Testament, why don’t people just do what God says? There’s all kinds of religious questions we examine. In fact, one of our adult Bible classes this quarter is on answering religious error. And there’s a lot of questions that people ask, like, will good people go to heaven, when we studied this morning. But this one’s perhaps so pointed and so obvious that you can’t ask it to people.

You can’t walk up to someone really and just say, Why don’t you just do what God says? But I’m left thinking about that question time and again. Why don’t people just obey? Why don’t I do what God says? If I know it’s there, I see what he expects of me, why don’t I just obey him? Let’s look in Jeremiah chapter three, beginning in verse six. We kind of see the problem with the people of Judah. In verse 6, the Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah, have you seen what she did, that faithless one Israel? How she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore. And I thought after she has done all this, she will return to me.

But she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord. And the Lord said to me, Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words towards the north and say, Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord.

I will not be angry forever, only acknowledge your guilt that you rebelled against the Lord your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the Lord. Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord, for I am your master. I will take you one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. This is a powerful scripture. But I really want to start this morning by examining verses six through ten. You see something that Judah had, and really Judah has a lot in common with our day and time. You wouldn’t think that because it was thousands of years ago, you might say, over two thousand, close even to three thousand, depending on how liberal you are with that time stamp.

1. Treacherous Judah Did Not Fear and Took Sin Lightly

But when you look back at verse six, the Lord said to me, In the days of King Josiah, when Josiah is reigning, have you seen what she did? That faithless one Israel, that she did what? That she went out and was rampant in practices of idolatry. She’s called out, Israel is, and God calls out Israel, and time and again, what’s the designation for Israel? The faithless one. Israel was faithless. They had no good kings from the time that the kingdom, the united kingdom of Saul, David, Solomon, and ever so briefly Rehaboam, from the time that it split into two, there was not one truly good king of Israel, the northern ten tribes. And in answering that, they were taken into captivity, and God is saying to Jeremiah, during the days of Josiah, have you seen what happened?

What did happen? They were faithless, and God punished them, taking them away into captivity. And yet in verse 7, and I thought, after she has done all this, she will return to me. But she did not return. And you see this at the end of verse 7. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. Israel’s a good case study. Why didn’t the people of Israel just do what God says? Well, the truth is, if you trace it all the way back to that divide in 1 Kings chapter 12, yes, Rehoboam stayed over Judah, but who took over in the north? In the tribes of Israel? That was one king Jeroboam. And instantly he changed the worship. He changed the priesthood. They neglected the law. Over and again, Jeroboam did not want his people to go to Rehabam.

He was concerned, much like the Pharisees, with his own standing. In fact, he was afraid if the people even went to Jerusalem to worship. In 1 Kings chapter 12, we learn that Jeroboam was afraid of what? That they’re going to stay there and they’re going to come back and they’re going to kill me. Because they’re going to pledge their allegiance to Jerusalem, to Judah, to Rehaboam. Selfish motives indeed. King after king, slaughter after slaughter, king would pass, and Israel was faithless because they had deteriorated in such a way they didn’t know up from down, left from right. But the interesting part of this is not just to pile on Israel, but it’s that last part of verse 7. Israel is called faithless. But time and again, what did we see Judah called?

Her treacherous sister Judah. That’s pretty powerful because while Israel had no good kings, Judah did have several, depending on how you would reckon that. Josiah certainly is a strong example of one. And when you remember what happened during the days of Josiah, they found the law. And when the law was found and it was read in the eyes of Josiah, he repented because he realized weeping, we have not been keeping this. We have to turn back.

But she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this, once again, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart. But in pretense, declares the Lord. And the Lord said to me, Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. That’s pretty powerful. This debasing of a society that was Israel that had not a single good king that was taken into captivity over a hundred years before Judah fell, is said in verse 11 to be what? More righteous than treacherous Judah. How can that be? Judah was the stamp, the lineage that God had left with his people. This was David’s lineage. And yet, even in verse 10, they did return to him.

But wow. They did not return with their whole heart, but in pretents, declares the Lord. When the law was read to Josiah, he absolutely wept. He did repent, and God was going to spare Josiah because he recognized his sincere repentance, his sincerity in wanting to please God. But what’s said about the religious reforms that happened is they were not done with whole heart. They were done in pretense. They were done just to do it, just to cover their bases, just to return to God in name, but not in deed, and not in heart. Now that’s a powerful example because as you study and you examine why did the Old Testament people of Judah not obey, you see three reasons just in this text. They had the clear law, and we’re going to see Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verses 15 through 20 in just a moment.

But while we’re in Jeremiah 3, look again at verse 8. What had happened? In verse 8, even though she saw Israel, even though Judah saw how God punished Israel, what’s that first description in verse 8? Yet her treacherous sister Judah did what? Did not fear. It didn’t matter that God had punished Israel. It didn’t matter that God had promised to punish Israel. They saw it and they kept on doing it anyway. They did not fear. In verse 9, what happens next? Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery, that is spiritual adultery against God. How did she take the sin? She took it, verse 9 says, lightly. They were not afraid of God. They took sin lightly. And here’s the final punch in verse 10.

2. They Had the Clear Law and Choices

When they did return, they returned only in pretense. So it’s a people who did not fear God, took sin lightly, did not truly devote themselves to God. And then all of a sudden we understand verse 11 at least a little bit more. Because faithless Israel, well, they were a little more righteous because Judah was treacherous. It wasn’t a shining badge for Israel, it was a black eye for Judah. When you look in Deuteronomy chapter 30, though, when you consider all of the people of Israel, turn in your Old Testament with me to Deuteronomy chapter 30. As we turn to Deuteronomy chapter 30, you can you need to know that they all knew what was here. Yes, the law was lost, but they should have known if their teachers were doing their job, if their elders were serving properly.

And in the case of Judah, they had the proper priesthood. They should have known this. In Deuteronomy chapter 30, in verse 11, God, one of the many times in the scriptures, he outlines two different paths. Consider with me in verse 11 of Deuteronomy chapter 30. For this commandment that I command to you today is not too hard for you. Neither is it far off. It is not in heaven that you should say, Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say, Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very near you.

It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. Verse 15: See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. Consider verse 21, verse 16, as we continue, though. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, Jeremiah chapter 3. You just heard that ding ding ding.

If you do that, I declare to you, verse 18, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. God tells them in verse 11 through 14, this command that I’m going to give to you, it’s going to start applying, and you can do it. You know what the law is. This is not impossible for you. You can keep it. And in verse 15, he says, I have set before you life, and I have set before you and good. And I have set before you death, and place before you evil. You get to decide. Of course, the good news was in verse 16, if they obeyed the commandments of the Lord, they would enjoy the blessings that God would shower upon them.

3. Without Excuse Because They Had Seen Israel Fall

But if they would not, if they would go after other gods, as we saw in Jeremiah chapter 3, and how many times in the Old Testament, they would be punished. So we cannot say that the people of Judah did not obey because they didn’t have clear law and choices. They knew what the law was, they knew what the stakes were. So it can’t be that they did not know. And again, remember what was their response to sin. They took it lightly. They did not fear God. So as we see secondly, they were also without excuse because they had already seen Israel fall. When you consider our reading, what did God expect they would have seen? In verse 7, yes, he describes that Israel fell away, and he thought that they would return.

He thought that punishing them might make them return, and they didn’t. But also the last part of verse 7, and their treacherous sister Judah saw it. When you start listing the examples of how privileged the people of Judah were, it gets to be a little bit embarrassing. They had the temple, they had the Levitical priesthood, they had the law found, they had seen Israel fall. There was no excuses. As if God’s law wasn’t clear enough, as if they couldn’t just obey and submit to God. They even saw what happens when you don’t, and yet, still, as punctuated in that section by Jeremiah, they did not fear God. In fact, if you turn back to Jeremiah and look in chapter 2 and some of the verses immediately preceding this chapter, they claimed to be innocent.

If you can imagine in Jeremiah chapter 2, if you consider Jeremiah chapter 2, beginning in verse 34. On your skirts is found the lifeblood of the guiltless poor. You did not find them breaking in, yet, in spite of all these things, you say, I am innocent. Surely his anger has turned from me. Behold, I will bring you to judgment for saying, I have not sinned. How much you go about changing your way, you shall be put to shame by Egypt as you were put to shame by Assyria. From it too, you will come away with your hands on your head, for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper by them. When you think about Israel and their transgressions, when you think about Judah, they did not only transgress God’s will.

They thought surely God was going to be okay with it. That God was going to see them, and because he was their God, because they were his people, this other stuff just wasn’t really wasn’t that important. God was going to save them because that’s what God does. He steps in and saves. And in verse 35, they say, I am innocent, and I have not sinned. When you think about the Old Testament people, not only Judah, but even Israel, as we see in Jeremiah chapter 2, you consider that this is all you can do to convince someone. You can lay out what God has said. God can only give his word to us, and we can choose to accept it or reject it. All he can do is show us examples like we have in this day and time in the Old Testament and the New Testament and look after that and say, we want to follow after the good examples.

We’re going to turn our backs towards sin. And goodness knows that we have to be willing to acknowledge sin. In fact, isn’t that what we saw in Jeremiah chapter 3? If you turn the page in your Bible, perhaps you’re open still. If you see in verse 12, what was the message to Israel? Return, faithless Israel. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful. I will not be angry forever. Verse 13, what did God want? Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God, and that you have not obeyed my voice. Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord. Judah was doing the opposite of everything that God had commanded, and you wonder why. And the answer is, it’s not God’s fault.

4. The Jews Loved Their Worldly Standing

When you consider in the New Testament, when you consider why did people who obey Jesus not obey, it becomes even a little bit more clear. Look in John chapter 9. The Jews love their worldly standing, not just the Pharisees, as we’ll see in chapter 12, not just the religious leaders in chapter 12, but when you consider the Jews at large in John chapter 9. To be fair to the people and to properly understand this, we have to know that the Jewish whole economy, you might say, the whole social structure of being a Jew, being a Hebrew at this time, was everything. It wasn’t just a place where they went to the synagogue on Saturdays and saw their fellow Jews, shook hands and said, How are you doing?

And went on their way. Being a Jew, this was everything. They had their economy, they had their laws, they had their teachers, they had their leaders. And in John chapter 9 and verse 18, we have a man who’s been healed, who has been given his sight, and for some reason, this is on trial for it. In John chapter 9 and verse 18, the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, Is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see? His parents answered, We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes.

Ask him. He is of age, he will speak for himself. Why would they do this? In verse 22, John gives us the answer. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore, his parents said, He is of age, ask him. I love that. Parents passing the book, passing the responsibility. And why would they not just acknowledge that he was healed by the power of God, that he was not healed by the power of the Christ? Verse 22 is clear and irrefutable. This is from the inspired mind of John. His parents said these things because they feared the Jews. Why? They did not want to be put out of the synagogue.

Why do people who knew Jesus not obey, not just simply confess him as the Christ? Because they loved their standing in the world as it was. If you turn a few chapters over to John chapter 12. In John chapter 12, as you consider in verse 42 and 43 to the point, consider some of the authorities even. In verse 42, nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him. But for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it. Here it is again, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. Why would they not just submit to Jesus? Why would they not just confess him? It says in verse 42, they believed in Jesus.

Because they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. They liked their worldly standing the way it was. They liked their job, they liked their social circle, they liked what it meant to be a Jew and to not have to worry about Jesus being the prophesied Messiah, and so they would not confess him because they were more concerned with the Jews, more afraid of the Jews than afraid of God.

5. His Disciples Didn’t Fully Believe His Claims

Consider, secondly, his disciples even didn’t fully believe his claims. Before we make application, look at one final example with me in Matthew chapter 26. In Matthew chapter 26, beginning in verse 30, as Jesus is nearing his crucifixion, if any group of people should know the plan of Jesus, if any group of people would submit to him, cling to him, stay with him, it would be the disciples. Yes, Peter kind of got things wrong, and we’re going to see that, and Peter was brash and would say things that don’t add up, and we’re thinking, oh, Peter, come on. But all the disciples were with him. They should have known. In Matthew twenty six and verse 30, and when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives, and Jesus said to them, You will all fall away because of me this night.

For it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. And Peter answered him, Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And Peter said to him, Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And we usually stop there, but read the last phrase. And the disciples said the same. Peter said, Lord, I will not deny you, even if I have to die with you. I’m going to stick with God no matter what. Is that claim good?

Yes. Being willing to give all in the name of Christ, that’s absolutely a good thing. And as you consider the story, even within this chapter, consider in verse forty seven, as Judas approaches, as the betrayal is at hand, keep track of Peter and the disciples, beginning in verse forty seven. While he was still speaking, Judas came one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with the swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him. And he came up to Jesus at once and said, Greetings, Rabbi. And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, Friend, do what you came to do. Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.

And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. And then Jesus said to him, Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so? At that hour, Jesus said to the crowds, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.

In the end of verse 56, read it clearly with me. Then all the disciples left him and fled. It does say to be fair that Peter would follow at a distance, but of course we know that Peter would succumb to the very temptation he told Jesus would never happen. He denied him three times before the rooster crows, and we’re left asking again, why would the disciples, why would Peter not obey Jesus? Why did they not trust in him? It can only be that they did not fully believe his claims. When you consider when Peter was first rebuked by Jesus, when Jesus said, I’m going to have to go and be crucified, and Peter said, Far be it from you, Lord. And what was Jesus’ Jesus’ response?

6. We Try to Muddy the Two Choices

Get behind me, Satan. He didn’t think that Jesus would come. If Jesus was the Messiah, certainly he wouldn’t be put to death. Certainly the Jews couldn’t win. The Romans couldn’t crucify him. That’s not how the Savior story goes. That’s not how the kingdom will be restored. And yet Jesus, even in Matthew chapter 26, tells them, the time is at hand. And they say, We will not leave you. Peter says, We will not deny you. And within this chapter, both came to pass. Even though the disciples should have known better, they certainly had no excuse. They certainly knew Jesus. They certainly believed in Jesus. They obviously didn’t fully believe his claims. So why don’t we obey today? Why don’t we just submit? First of all, can I say that one of the ways that we avoid this is we try to muddy the two choices God has given us.

You look in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. I appreciate anyone who was heading to Matthew 7, but if we can turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. And as you think about the words of Paul here, and you think about the message of the Christ, time and again he emphasized having two pathways. There is the narrow way that leads to life, the broad path that leads to destruction. There is the wise man who hears and does the words of the Savior. There is the foolish man who hears and does not do them. And in between, of course, Matthew 7 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter.

Time and again, two choices. Note what Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 7, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his mind. When he comes on that day to be glorified in the saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. There are two classes of people, and when you see Jesus is coming again, what is going to happen to those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of Jesus?

You see it clearly in verse 8. Jesus is going to come in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Truth is, when we don’t do what we’re supposed to do, when we kind of have our periods where we kind of drift away from God, when we when we don’t take Christianity as seriously as we know it is to be taken, let’s make no qualms about this. God doesn’t teach that that’s okay. There is not a single scripture that teaches you can kind of float along, and there’s some sort of nebulous third ground, third area that you can float into. There is the narrow way and there is the broad way. There is eternal life and eternal damnation.

Those are the choices. It’s up to us to decide which path will I take. But when I think about why do people not just obey, to be honest, if I think about myself, it’s because I don’t really take it that seriously. I don’t believe fully what Jesus had said. What does Jesus say? Because we know when he comes again, he’s going to come in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance. But if you turn in your Bible just a little bit over to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, what about this coming of Jesus? When will it be? How will it be? In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 1. Now, concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you, for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

While people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. In 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 10. In 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 10, we learn even more about this incident, about this coming, about this time. In 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 10, again, the description is linked. Tell me, do we fully believe this? I have to consider do I fully believe what’s being written in the inspired word of God here in 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace. If we believe Jesus is coming, we will be ready, living lives of godliness, hastening, waiting for the coming of the day of the Lord. But when we don’t believe, when we don’t just obey, we’re saying to ourselves and to Jesus and God, either no, thank you, I don’t need your salvation, or I don’t really think he’s coming.

I don’t think any of us believe that God is lying, or that there is no God. Most, at least 99% of the people here this morning believe in God. I can take that to the bank. But if we believe in God, and we believe 2 Peter chapter 3 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and Jesus’ almost entire teaching is true and right. When I live in a pattern of rejecting God, of not putting him first, of not doing everything I can to grow closer to him, to live that life of holiness and godliness. Perhaps I’m just like the disciples, who didn’t truly believe what Jesus said was going to be true. Because if we believed that Jesus was coming today, or that Jesus could come at any time as is mentioned as a thief in the night, I would give my all every single moment.

Truth is, we can’t possibly believe that Jesus is coming, inflicting vengeance on those who disobey him and still choose to disobey him. Either that or we’re suspending our belief for the moment. Because, as what happened to Demas in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10, perhaps we find ourselves in love with the present world. A sad note in Colossians chapter 4 is that Demas is listed as one of Paul’s companions, you might say, one of the good guys. And yet in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10, it says that Demas has deserted him in love with this present world. And in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 15, the warning is clear do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Conclusion

For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but it’s from the world. The world was passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. Why do we not just obey? Because we don’t want to. That’s why we don’t obey. There are no excuses. Just like the people of Judah, we know what God expects. Just like the people of Judah seeing their sister Israel be taken captive over a hundred years before them, we have seen how God deals with his people. When the Israelites disobeyed, what did God do? He punished them. When they re when the Jews rejected Jesus in the time of the Christ, what did God do?

Promised punishment for them. In Acts chapter 8, when people tried to interfere, or excuse me, when people tried to interfere with the teaching of the Christ, what would happen? They would be punished. They would be rebuked for their transgressions. Do we truly believe what Jesus said? If we do, we would obey. Make your faith strong this morning. Make your belief strong. The truth is we all go through these periods in life where we have kind of our spiritual highs, and then if we’re honest, we have some of our spiritual lows. I don’t know where you’re at this morning. I answer for me. And one thing I know from my God that we can believe, because it’s recorded time and again, and particularly in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10, we are awaiting the judgment seat of Christ.

But we will give an answer for what we have done, whether good or whether evil. If you believe in Jesus and you’re harboring sin, you will make it right now. You will make it right today. Why do people choose to do wrong? Because they want to love the things of this world more than they truly love God. Choose God first. Trust in the one who sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Trust in the one who made his will known. We’re without excuse, and yet we are with a loving God who has promised us victory if we’ll trust in him, if we’ll seek in him. Consider today, if we can help you in any way that God could come, that Jesus could be sent, and he may come like a thief in the night this very day.

And whether or not he does, please God. Give him your all. Give him what’s deserved. If we can help you in any way be made right with God, come forward now as we stand and sing the invitation song.