Participants: Mike Leno
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000034
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00:28 A certain young man, he was a fifth grader,
00:32 was a major disruption in his classroom. 00:37 He was disrespectful. He was disobedient. 00:40 He would not pay attention to his lessons. 00:43 He was mean to his classmates. 00:46 He just generally ran amuck. 00:49 Well, as happens in a lot of school systems, 00:54 they got the teachers together. 00:55 They got the school psychologist 00:57 and they came up with a diagnosis. 01:01 This young man, I'll call him Mark, 01:03 had ADD, attention deficit disorder. 01:07 Well, they brought the parents in 01:09 and they had a little consultation. 01:10 And they assured the parents 01:12 that this ADD was a genetic 01:15 or a biological problem of some kind 01:17 and it wasn't their fault and, 01:19 you know, they shouldn't worry about it 01:20 and there were special ways to take care of it. 01:24 And the parents went home 01:27 and thought about this for a while. 01:29 And they called the young man in. 01:31 And they said, "Mark, 01:34 things are going to change around here 01:37 and this is what's going to happen. 01:41 You see your door to your room over there?" 01:43 "Yeah." That was his door. 01:45 Oh, there was something different. 01:46 There was a padlock on his door. 01:48 Wow, he'd never seen that before. 01:50 He ran over there and he tried to get in 01:52 and he couldn't get in his door. 01:53 And he said, "Mom, dad, what's wrong?" 01:55 They said, "Well, things are gonna be 01:57 a little different around here. 01:58 For the next 6 weeks, 02:01 things are going to be entirely different. 02:03 Now you will have 15 minutes in the morning 02:06 to get ready for school to use your room 02:08 to get ready for school. 02:10 You will have 15 minutes at night 02:12 to get ready for bed. 02:13 But other than that, 02:15 you are not going to use your room. 02:16 You're going to sleep in a very comfortable place, 02:19 warm, comfortable, soft couch in the living room. 02:24 But you won't be using your room for a while. 02:28 The reason is because your teacher has complained 02:31 that you are a major disruption in the classroom. 02:35 Now" they said, "Mark--" 02:37 By the way, this was quite a punishment 02:39 to Mark because all of his videogames, 02:42 all of his toys, 02:43 everything that he counted valuable was in his room. 02:49 They said, "Mark, 02:51 for any infraction at school or at home, 02:56 there will be a week added to the time 03:00 the padlock stays on the bedroom door." 03:05 Well, it was amazing what happened to this ADD. 03:10 It completely disappeared. 03:13 In fact, Mark was considered a model child 03:17 both at school and at home. 03:21 He helped with his chores at home. 03:22 He was respectful. 03:24 At school, he paid attention to his lessons. 03:26 He didn't bother the other kids. 03:28 He wasn't disrespectful to the teacher. 03:32 And finally when the 6 weeks were over, 03:35 the padlock was taken off of his bedroom door. 03:38 He was allowed back into his room 03:41 with the promise that if he relapsed, 03:45 there would be another 6-week period of time 03:47 with the padlock on the door. 03:50 A year later, his parents reported 03:53 to his psychologist that he had never relapsed, 03:58 that he was as good as gold and was respectful 04:02 and attentive at school as well. 04:07 It's amazing what the law can do. 04:11 Sometimes parents just have to lay down the law. 04:17 Sometimes you and I need the law as well. 04:27 This sermon is called 04:29 "From Sinai to the Promised Land." 04:32 There is another title that I almost used for it. 04:34 It's called "What part of 'thou shalt not' 04:36 don't you understand? 04:38 Instructions on the way to the Promised Land." 04:41 It seems that we have ADD when it comes to God. 04:46 No matter how many assurances and warnings we get, 04:49 the human race just doesn't get it sometimes. 04:54 God's Commandments help us get it. 04:58 A rather young Dr. Martin Luther King said 05:01 in a sermon in 1954, the quote, 05:04 "This is a moral universe, 05:07 the laws of which we violate at our own peril. 05:11 We must remember," he said, 05:12 "that it's possible to affirm the existence of God 05:15 with your lips 05:17 and to deny the existence of God with your life. 05:21 The most dangerous form of atheism," 05:24 said Dr. King, "is not theoretical atheism, 05:28 but practical atheism." 05:33 This message is divided into basically 05:37 three observations on child discipline, 05:40 as applied to our spiritual lives, of course. 05:42 Number one, 05:44 good parents lay down the law for their child. 05:48 They do not lay down the law for someone else's child. 05:51 Laying down the law does not change 05:53 the child's status of belonging to the family. 05:56 In other words, breaking the law means 05:59 that discipline is applied, 06:01 not that the kid is kicked out of the family. 06:05 Second observation, improvement in behavior 06:09 does not make a child any more 06:11 or less a child of the family. 06:15 It does mean, however, that the child's happier, 06:17 more productive, less selfish 06:19 and more pleasant to live with. 06:22 Number three, 06:24 when the child grows up, he or she will be attracted 06:28 or not attracted to their family 06:31 and will choose whether to be part of it or not. 06:35 Choice and natural consequences 06:39 not the punishments or rewards 06:40 from the parents determine 06:42 the ultimate destiny of the child. 06:48 We can look at Israel's experience 06:51 as they traveled from Sinai to the Promised Land 06:55 and see how these principles apply to our spiritual lives. 07:00 First of all, 07:02 the observation that good parents lay down 07:03 the law for their child 07:05 and that they don't lay down the law 07:06 for someone else's child. 07:08 Laying down the law does not change 07:09 the child's status of belonging to the family. 07:15 In the wilderness of Sinai, God met His people. 07:22 Do you know how the Ten Commandments begin? 07:25 Oh, everybody knows that, "Thou Shalt Not." 07:27 No, that's not how the Ten Commandments begin. 07:29 Go to the first verse of Exodus 20. 07:32 In fact, let's read Exodus 20:1, 2. 07:37 God says, "I am the Lord your God, 07:40 who brought you out of Egypt, 07:42 out of the land of slavery." 07:46 That is how the Ten Commandments begin. 07:50 God saved them from slavery and then gave them His law. 07:54 Having the law of God then was a sign of 07:58 having the grace of God. 08:01 They were already His children. 08:03 They were the children of Israel 08:04 that He had saved out of Egypt, 08:06 out of slavery, out of bondage. 08:08 They were His. 08:11 The good news of the Ten Commandments 08:14 is that God saved His people first. 08:16 And then gave them His law. 08:20 The law as correctly understood 08:22 by the Jews was never a curse. 08:24 It was a gift, a blessing, an evidence of God's grace. 08:30 Dr. Laura Schlessinger published a book 08:33 not too long ago called "The Ten Commandments." 08:38 A contemporary explanation of the law 08:40 as it was meant to be understood. 08:42 This is what she had to say. 08:44 "In our extensive discussions with various groups, 08:47 we have found that, 08:49 although many people are comfortable 08:51 with the idea that humans have 08:53 such general obligations to God as 08:56 "Do onto others as you would have them do onto you," 08:59 they are uncomfortable with the idea of 09:01 specific obligations to God such as, 09:04 "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy" 09:06 which she said puts a definite crimp 09:08 in their shopping schedules. 09:10 Does that limit our freedom? 09:12 On the contrary, Dr. Laura said, 09:15 "It expands our lives." 09:18 In her introduction to the book, 09:19 she relates how she once based her ideas of 09:21 goodness and success on her own standards. 09:25 When she discovered God's standards 09:27 and started living by them, she found quote 09:30 "a higher idealism, a more profound, 09:33 just and consistent morality, 09:37 found only through the commandments. 09:39 My life," she says, 09:40 "has focus, purpose, and meaning. 09:43 I feel a part of something more important than 09:45 my daily experiences might indicate. 09:48 I don't feel so alone anymore," she says. 09:51 You ever feel alone in the universe? 09:55 Find a way to belong to something bigger than you. 09:59 And there is nothing bigger than belonging 10:01 to the purposes of the Almighty ruler of the universe. 10:06 You see, the proper view of the Ten Commandments 10:09 is the same for us as it was 10:13 for those Israelites camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. 10:17 Our obligations to God are a sign of His love for us 10:21 and an indication that He has already saved us. 10:25 When put into practice as a response to that love, 10:29 we find more freedom not less. 10:34 Our second observation on child behavior says 10:39 that improvement in behavior does not make 10:42 a child any more or less a child of the family. 10:47 It does mean, however, that the child is happier, 10:50 more productive, less selfish 10:52 and more pleasant to live with. 10:53 Now this is an area that Christians 10:55 often have a hard time with 10:56 because once we start responding to God's love 11:00 and we start trying to keep the commandments, 11:03 we think-- 11:05 out of our natural sinful ways of thinking, 11:08 we think that the better we are, 11:12 the more qualified we are to be a son or daughter of God. 11:16 It's not true. 11:18 Where the Israelites any more or less 11:20 the children of Israel 11:21 when they had the Ten Commandments 11:23 than when they were saved out of the bondage of Egypt? 11:26 No way. 11:29 The Israelites were a bunch of former slaves, 11:32 on their way to the Promised Land. 11:34 They were delivered. 11:35 Their destination assured, 11:37 but they needed to become better people 11:39 not in order to be accepted by God, 11:41 they were already accepted by God, 11:43 but in order to be happier, more successful, 11:46 more able to relate to God 11:48 and more able to represent God to the world around them. 11:53 Notice David's view of the law in Psalm 119 11:57 starting with verse 97. 12:00 "Oh, how I love your law. I meditate on it all day long. 12:05 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, 12:07 for they are ever with me. 12:09 I have more insight than all my teachers, 12:11 for I meditate on your statutes. 12:13 I have more understanding than the elders, 12:15 for I obey your precepts. 12:17 I have kept my feet from every evil path 12:19 so that I might obey your word. 12:21 I have not departed from your law, 12:23 but you yourself have taught me. 12:25 How sweet are your words to my taste, 12:28 sweeter than honey to my mouth? 12:30 I gain understanding from your precepts. 12:32 Therefore I hate every wrong path." 12:36 God's law was never intended to be a legalistic device 12:41 to make us acceptable to God. 12:44 It was intended to be a gift, a promise of a better life, 12:48 a life of freedom from the negativity of sin. 12:52 When those Israelites received the law on Mount Sinai, 12:54 it was with the promise 12:56 that they were on the way to the Promised Land. 13:04 How that all relates to everyday life is sometimes 13:07 rather interesting? 13:09 When my son was young, 13:14 I probably learned more than he did about 13:18 how the law is applied to everyday life? 13:21 You see one time we went to camp meeting together. 13:27 And my son when he was little did not like wearing shoes. 13:32 He hated wearing shoes. 13:34 And so he ran all over the camp without shoes. 13:37 And as trying to be a responsible father, 13:42 I kept telling him, "Son, wear your shoes." 13:46 But he didn't want to wear a shoe, 13:47 so he might put them on for a minute. 13:49 And then I'd see him running around the camp later, 13:52 he wouldn't have the shoes on. 13:55 Well, there came a point where I decided 13:59 that nagging him into wearing his shoes 14:01 was really not going to work. 14:04 The more I nagged him to put his shoes on, 14:07 the less he wanted to put his shoes on. 14:10 So I decided to back off 14:13 and just let natural consequences 14:15 take their course. 14:18 Casey ran around without his shoes. 14:21 My son, Casey did not put his shoes on 14:24 when his dad told him to. 14:26 And, therefore, he suffered the punishment 14:29 of bleeding feet. 14:32 Now I didn't say, "Casey, 14:34 because you didn't wear your shoes, 14:36 I'm going to cut your feet and make them bloody." 14:39 What a horrible father I would've been? 14:42 In fact to this day, I feel a little guilty 14:45 for not laying down the law sooner. 14:48 If I had laid down the law sooner, 14:49 I could have saved him some pain and suffering. 14:53 So it is my fault for not laying down the law sooner. 14:57 Nevertheless, the natural result of 14:59 disobedience is what brought about 15:02 his cut and bloody feet. 15:04 So once I did lay down the law 15:07 and he had to put the shoes on, 15:09 it was a little painful to put those shoes on. 15:13 Now was my son Casey ever in danger of being 15:17 kicked out of the family? 15:19 No. Of course, not. 15:20 Was he disobedient? Oh yes, definitely. 15:25 He was in danger, however, of being hurt, 15:29 unhappy, possibly even infected 15:32 with some nasty bacteria. 15:34 The law was a gift to save him from the pain of cut, 15:41 dirty, and bloody feet. 15:43 The law could have made him happier. 15:49 Number three, 15:51 when the child grows up, 15:53 he or she will be attracted or not attracted 15:57 to their family and will choose 16:00 whether to be part of it or not. 16:03 Choice and natural consequences not the punishments 16:07 or rewards from the parents 16:08 determine the ultimate destiny of the child. 16:11 Now this is where we start feeling a little bit uneasy 16:14 because ultimately, there is a final destination 16:19 for both you and me. 16:21 And no matter how much God tries 16:24 to discipline us along the way, 16:26 we still have freedom of choice. 16:28 We can choose whether we want to go 16:30 all the way to the Promised Land 16:31 with God or not. 16:34 We sometimes view God as a rather large, 16:38 supernatural, disciplinarian who zaps people 16:41 when they get out of line. 16:42 Or to the other extreme, 16:44 we think of God as some heavenly Santa Claus 16:47 who never lets anything bad happen to us 16:50 no matter what we do. 16:52 What we do does have consequences 16:55 for good or for evil. 16:58 And it will have ultimate consequences 17:03 for good or for evil. 17:06 The generation of Israelites that camped 17:08 at Mount Sinai did not go into the Promised Land. 17:13 Did you realize that? 17:15 After all of that time that God spent with them, 17:17 giving them His law and marching them 17:21 right up to the border of the Promised Land, 17:23 that generation did not go into the Promised Land. 17:27 Why? Because they rebelled. 17:30 Back in the Book of Numbers, it recounts the story, 17:33 how they came right to the border 17:35 of the Promised Land and they picked a spy 17:36 out of each one of the 12 tribes. 17:39 And they sent them to spy out the land. 17:42 And after a while, those 12 spies came back 17:44 and gave their report. 17:47 10 spies said, "This is horrible. Why? 17:50 The land will devour us." 17:53 There's the descendants of Anak, the Giants. 17:57 "We better turn back. 17:59 We'd have been better off just dying in the wilderness. 18:01 We'd have been better off back in Egypt. 18:03 Caleb and Joshua, however, 18:05 gave a little different report. 18:06 They said, "This was a wonderful land. 18:08 Look at what we brought back." 18:09 They had found a cluster of grapes that were so big. 18:11 It took two men to carry it on a pole. 18:13 And they brought back some pomegranates. 18:14 They said, "This is a land 18:16 flowing with milk and honey." 18:17 It's interesting that 10 out of the 12 18:21 saw the hardships and the danger. 18:23 And two of them saw the promises of God 18:26 being fulfilled right before their eyes. 18:31 And so they rebelled. 18:33 The people were persuaded by the report of the 10 spies. 18:35 And they rebelled and they chose another leader. 18:38 And they said, "We're not going in." 18:42 It's kind of interesting what happened next 18:44 because in the sight of this rebellion, 18:48 what is God supposed to do? 18:51 And so God came and talked to Moses. 18:55 And said, You tell the people that 18:57 they've chosen not to go into the Promised Land, 18:59 they're not going." 19:02 And Moses pleaded for God to forgive those people. 19:09 It's interesting how God put Moses 19:12 in a mediatorial position intentionally. 19:17 It sounds at first like God is being 19:19 rather harsh because He's threatening 19:21 to wipe out all of Israel. 19:22 And Moses steps in just like Christ does 19:26 as our mediator. 19:28 And says, "Don't destroy them." 19:30 I think God was really showing through Moses 19:33 what He was really like. 19:36 And so God says, "Don't worry." 19:38 Turn with me to Numbers 14:20, 19:42 in the Book of Numbers Chapter 14, 19:46 we have God's response to Moses. 19:51 When God was threatening to wipe out the Israelites, 19:58 He was looking like the bad guy. 20:00 He was looking like that nasty old ogre 20:03 that was gonna wipe everybody out 20:04 just because He didn't get His way. 20:06 But, you know, God has never been like that, 20:08 never has, never will. 20:10 And through Moses, 20:12 He was showing His true character. 20:13 But when He meets with Moses again in Numbers 14:20, 20:20 "The Lord replied, 20:21 'I have forgiven them, as you asked. 20:26 Nevertheless, as surely as I live 20:28 and as surely as the glory of the Lord 20:30 fills the whole earth, 20:31 not one of the men who saw my glory 20:33 and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt 20:35 and in the desert but who disobeyed me 20:38 and tested me ten times-- 20:41 not one of them will ever see the land 20:43 I promised on oath to their forefathers. 20:46 No one who has treated me with contempt 20:48 will ever see it. 20:50 But because of my servant Caleb has a different spirit 20:54 and follows me wholeheartedly, 20:56 I will bring him into the land he went to, 20:58 and his descendents will inherit it." 21:02 God always forgives, 21:05 but He can't force our loyalty and our faith. 21:11 Faith has to be won. It can't be forced. 21:17 In Hebrews 8:10, we have another picture 21:22 of how the law was intended to be. 21:25 In Hebrews 8:10. 21:29 "This is the covenant I will make 21:31 with the house of Israel after that time, 21:34 declares the Lord. 21:35 I will put my laws in their minds 21:36 and write them on their hearts. 21:38 I will be their God, and they will be my people." 21:44 You see, God, He doesn't just want obedience. 21:50 He wants a family. 21:52 He wants to give us what we really want. 21:55 And He is waiting for people to be won 21:57 over to His side and to really want Him. 22:01 His law is a gift for those who want to know 22:03 what God is like and want to imitate Him. 22:07 Being saved or lost is not a matter of law, 22:12 but for those who are glad to be saved already, 22:14 it is a precious gift. 22:17 For those who choose to be lost, 22:18 it is a warning and a promise of better things 22:23 if they choose to change their minds. 22:26 Are you bound for the Promised Land? 22:29 If you are part of God's family, you are. 22:33 If you are part of God's family, 22:34 you have already been saved from sin 22:37 not because of any goodness in you, 22:39 but because God chose to do it, 22:40 just as He took those poor slaves out of Egypt 22:43 and brought them into the wilderness of Sinai 22:47 and then onto the Promised Land. 22:50 If you accept the salvation, 22:52 God will instruct you and make you a better person. 22:54 He'll put His laws in your hearts. 22:56 He will transform you by His love. 22:58 You will enter the Promised Land, 23:00 unless you deliberately lose faith with God. 23:05 You see that was the problem with the Israelites. 23:08 Right on the border of Canaan, 23:10 they could have gone in, 23:12 but it wasn't because God gave up on them, 23:14 it was because they gave up on God. 23:20 Sometime, after my experience 23:25 at camp meeting with Casey's shoes, 23:28 he and I decided to go for a little hike. 23:29 We were living in Tucson, Arizona at that time. 23:31 And the Catalina Mountains are a beautiful place to hike. 23:35 And we knew of a little abandoned mineshaft 23:38 that was just 2 or 3 miles up the trail. 23:40 And so one afternoon, we took our flashlights 23:44 and a couple of little hammers to see 23:47 if we could find a couple little pieces of quartz. 23:49 And we headed up the trail. 23:52 Well, we got up to the destination 23:56 in this little hole on the side of the mountain 23:58 and we walked in, turned our flashlights on 24:01 and we had a nice time. 24:02 We really didn't find anything valuable. 24:05 It's very accessible to the trail 24:08 and lots of hikers have been in there 24:10 and not too many pieces of quartz left. 24:14 But we had a good time anyway. 24:16 When we were done we came out of the entrance to the cave. 24:21 We discovered the sun had gone down. 24:26 It was now getting dark. 24:28 Well, I wasn't too worried because the moon was full. 24:34 And the desert landscape just lit up before us. 24:38 And it was gorgeous. 24:40 It had cooled off a little bit, 24:42 but it was so comfortable just to be hiking along. 24:46 And so as we headed down the trail, 24:49 we knew that the Promised Land, 24:53 the parking lot was just around the corner. 24:57 And we kept hiking and we kept hiking. 25:00 And we were making good time. 25:06 And the problem was the landscape was starting 25:09 to look unfamiliar. 25:15 Finally, Casey turned to me and he said, 25:17 "Dad," he knew I was lost by that time. 25:22 He said, "Dad, maybe we should pray." 25:25 I said, "Okay, let's pray." So we prayed. 25:30 And then we looked up and we still didn't know 25:32 where we were. 25:33 And we did something that you should never do 25:37 in the dark and you should never, never do 25:41 in the dark in the desert with lots of cactus around. 25:46 And that is we left the trail. 25:48 You see, we could see the lights 25:50 from the parking lot just over the ridge. 25:55 I mean, we could see the glare of the lights 25:57 and kind of the halo and we knew we were so close 26:01 and so we wanted just to get up on that little ridge 26:03 and look down and see where it was. 26:07 We didn't find it. 26:08 And after messing around for a while off the trail, 26:11 we found the trail again. 26:12 And Casey wanted to pray again. 26:14 He said, and then he wanted to pray again and he said, 26:17 "Dad, you know, in the Bible, didn't they, 26:19 didn't they pray seven times at one time." 26:21 I said, "Okay." 26:22 And so we prayed seven times 26:24 and we headed back on to the trail 26:26 this time in the opposite direction we'd gone before. 26:28 And suddenly I knew where we were. 26:31 In the dark, we had missed the turnoff 26:33 to the parking lot. 26:34 And so we had to retrace our steps, 26:36 not very far. 26:37 Make the right turn and make it to the parking lot. 26:43 In our travels through the deserts of this life, 26:49 we are a lot like those Israelites 26:50 who went through God's school in the desert. 26:55 We are not perfect hikers. 26:57 Sometimes we get off on the wrong trail. 26:59 Sometimes we ignore God's instructions. 27:02 Sometimes we don't follow the rules of the road 27:05 like we should. 27:06 And we find ourselves in the dark and lost 27:12 just as the Israelites received the gift of grace, 27:15 God's law, and then finally stood 27:18 on the banks of Jordan River. 27:19 After all the mistakes and learning, 27:21 they still had to cross by faith. 27:24 We must cross by faith. 27:26 Only a faith-trust relationship with God 27:31 will bring us across Jordan. 27:33 And just as my son and I had to turn to God, 27:36 out of faith, out of desperation, 27:39 knowing that we didn't know our way out of this, 27:42 we can trust in our Heavenly Father. 27:45 God will bring us across Jordan, 27:47 not because He will take revenge on us, 27:51 not because we'll be afraid of Him, 27:53 but because we love Him, 27:55 we have chosen Him and we are loyal to Him. |
Revised 2014-12-17