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Why Do We Forsake God? - Part 1 of 2

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• Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 15. I want to begin a message today which I will finish next Lord's Day, Lord willing. So this message is going to have about five points and I'm only going to be able to cover about two of them today. So, Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 15. And the title of the message is, "Why Do We Forsake God?" Why do we forsake God? Deuteronomy 32 and look at verse 15. Make sure you hold this passage because we will come back and get the context of this verse in just a little while. Notice Deuteronomy 32 and verse 15.

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• The scripture says, "But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked. Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick. Thou art covered with fatness. Then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of His salvation." Have you ever asked yourself this question, how is it possible for someone to forsake the truth? I understand that many people who profess to hold and believe truth in reality really and truly never really believe it to begin with. We are told in the Bible that there are some people that have a form of godliness but they deny the power thereof in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 5. But how in the world is it possible to walk away from your training, from your upbringing, and from your faith? How can one turn against the one true and the living God? Again, there are many who profess to be Christians, which I understand, that have never been regenerated and never been converted to begin with. In fact, the truth of the matter is this, Scripture teaches that when an individual leaves his profession of faith, it is really genuinely evidence that he was never ever saved to begin with.

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• The Bible says in 1 John 2 and verse 19, listen carefully, "They went out from us, but they were not of us. Had they been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that it might be made manifest that they were not all of us." So obviously when an individual leaves the faith, it is evidence that he's never ever really been genuinely converted to begin with.

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• In my nearly 50 years of preaching, I've known a number of professing Christians, as well as a few excellent preachers and teachers to apostatize. I must confess that some, when they left the faith, really genuinely shocked me. Because I counted them as brothers in Christ. But these individuals, some of them, not only left the ministry, they not only left their faith, they left their families as well.

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• And so you have to ask the question, how in the world could that happen? What could motivate someone to leave the faith, to leave the ministry, to leave his family? There are a number of people that fall into that category. I want you to hold Deuteronomy 32. We are coming back there. But look in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10. And I want you to notice what the Apostle Paul has to say about Demas. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10. In this passage, the Apostle Paul just simply says this, "For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia." But he says, "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed into Thessalonica." Now I want you to note that Demas not only turned his back upon the Apostle Paul, but upon the Lord as well. He turned his back upon truth and righteousness. Now, I know the Scripture tells us that he loved this present world, but the question is, how did he get to the position in his life that he preferred the present evil world above the Lord and His truth?

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• Now, I want you to look at verse 10, because I want to give you two words here. When Paul says, "For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world," the word "love" there is agapao. It literally means to love, to feel and exhibit an esteem and goodwill for a person or to prize and to delight in a thing. The etymology of this word commonly is understood as love based upon esteem. When the Bible says that Demas had loved this present world, the word "world" there is the Greek word aion, which literally is properly translated as an age or a period of time. So what the scripture is telling us is this, Demas esteemed very highly the age in which he lived. He esteemed the present period of time. In fact, he esteemed it far greater than he esteemed Christ and the truth. You remember the Bible tells us in Hebrews 11 verse 25 concerning Moses. Moses forwent the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater treasures than all of Egypt.

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• But here, Demas esteemed temporary pleasure far greater than he esteemed the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now I want to emphasize a truth that the Apostle Paul made in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 18. I want you to listen carefully to what he said. He said, "While we look not at things which are seen, but at things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

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• Now stop and think about that. Everything that you and I see is temporal. Look at the changes in our towns, the changes in our homes, the changes in our lives. Everything that you and I can behold with our eyes is temporal. But the apostle is saying those things which are not seen are eternal.

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• Now Demas preferred the pleasures of sin for a season. The scripture tells us in Psalm 16 verse 11, David said, "Thou wilt show me the path of life, and thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures forevermore." So you have then the temporary pleasures of this life versus the eternal pleasures of the sovereign God of heaven and earth. So you have to ask yourself this question, how could Demas make such a wicked and foolish choice? So let's expand that question and ask it like this. How could anyone make such an unwise and foolish and wicked choice?

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• Now I know you're going to come back and say, well the answer to that is because of sin. Well I understand that sin, generally speaking, is the answer. But when you begin to say that Demas loved this present world more than he loved truth and more than he loved Christ, and when you look around and see that many others do exactly the same, it is sin, but there's something about it. You see, Demas had been exposed to truth. Demas had sat under the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Now, I understand that sin hardens the heart. I understand that sin blinds the eyes. I understand depravity. I understand the power of lust, the allurements of the world, the seductions of sin and Satan. But there's something more that causes an individual to act wickedly and forsake God, forsake the truth, forsake righteousness, forsake the ministry.

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• Now let me try to set this up because I want to expand my thoughts and first of all just try to get you to consider Israel under the Old Covenant for a while. When you consider Israel under the Old Covenant, the only thing that you could really truly say, here was a people that knew first hand the power, presence, and protection of God. I want you to turn back in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 4. We'll be turning to several passages, especially in Deuteronomy. I want you to look at what the scripture says concerning old Israel. In Deuteronomy chapter 4, look if you would please at verse 34 and 35. Deuteronomy 4 verses 34 and 35. Watch this. Deuteronomy 4 verses 34 and 35. Watch carefully.

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• "Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all the Lord your God did for you in Egypt? Look before your eyes, unto thee it was showed that thou mightest know that the Lord, He is God, and there is none else beside him."

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• Now I want you to stop, we're going to look at another passage too momentarily, but I want you to stop and think of just the implication in those two verses. Israel saw the judgments of God upon the Egyptians. They saw all the plagues in the land, and I don't know if you remember this or not, but when God was sending all those plagues upon the Egyptians, He severed the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived. In other words, all those plagues that fell on the Egyptians did not fall upon the Israelites. And God said that you might know that I put a difference between my people and the Egyptians. So when thick darkness... You know, we ask this all the time. It's a childish riddle.

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• Where was Moses when the lights went out? Everybody answers, in the dark. But that's not what the scripture says. The Bible says, "But the children of Israel had light in their dwellings." So God severed the land of Goshen from all the Egyptians. So the Israelites then saw all of these plagues fall upon the Egyptians, but not upon themselves. And when the death angel came, he passed over the houses of the Israelites that had the blood on the doorposts, but he did not pass over the house of the Egyptians. And you remember how Pharaoh and his army chased after Israel when Israel left. If you would turn back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 14, I'm just trying to show you the things that Israel actually saw. Because this is what God said in Deuteronomy chapter 4. So look in Exodus chapter 14, beginning there with verse 24. Exodus 14 and verse 24, and we'll read through verse 31. Notice Exodus chapter 14, verse 24. "And it came to pass in the morning, watched the Lord looked into the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheels that they draved them heavily, so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the

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• face of Israel. For the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon the chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared, and the Egyptians fled against it. And the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh, that came into the sea after them. There remained not so much as one of them, watch, but the children of Israel walked upon the dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were walled unto them on their right hand and on their left. Thus, the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore, and Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians.

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• And the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and His servant Moses." Now I want you to note, here was a people that had seen all of these great miracles and these great judgments. They had seen the hand of God against their enemies. They had experienced first hand His protection, His provision, His deliverance. Now I want you to go back to Deuteronomy chapter 4. I want you to look at the context of verse 15. We're going to begin reading at verse 10. Because I'm trying to answer the question, why do men forsake God? Why do they forsake the faith? I want you to watch. Deuteronomy chapter 4, or let's see. Yeah, Deuteronomy chapter 4 is what I want. And let's begin there with verse 10. Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 10. Watch carefully. Deuteronomy 4, verse 10.

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• The Bible says, "Especially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. And you came near and stood under the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire in the midst of heaven with darkness and clouds and thick darkness. And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only you heard a voice.

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• And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform even ten commandments. And he wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments that you might do them in the land, whether you go over to possess it. Take you therefore good heed unto yourselves, for you saw no manner of similitude on that day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire."

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• Now let me stop there. Here's what I'm trying to share with you. First of all, Israel has seen all of the judgments and mercies and miracles of God. Now, God has specifically taught them. He's given them His law. He's given them His statutes. He's given them His judgments. Moreover, you've got to remember that God personally led the children of Israel 40 years through the wilderness. I want you to turn over in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 8, and let's begin reading there with verse 2. Deuteronomy chapter 8, verses 2 through 5. I want you to see what God did for the children of Israel in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 8, watch verse 2. God says, "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, and to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know, that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

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• Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell these forty years. Thou shalt consider in thine heart that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." Now, what did God do for forty years? He fed them. Their shoes did not get old. Their garments did not rot. Their feet did not swell. God took care of them, they experienced first hand all of the mercies of God.

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• Now, before we turn back to Deuteronomy 32, I want you to go to the book of Numbers, and look at chapter 14, and let's look at verse 22, and let me ask you a question. Now I want you to consider that the Israelites saw all the judgments of God, they experienced deliverance first hand, they saw all of Pharaoh's army dead upon the seashore. God provided for them miraculously.

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• He took care of them. Now, Numbers chapter 14 and verse 22, look what God says. Numbers 14 verse 22, "Because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, I have not hearkened in my voice." Whoa! What did God just say? These men saw all of my miracles. And instead of obeying me, they've now provoked me ten specific times.

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• Now I want you to go back to Deuteronomy 32. I want to read verses 15 through 18. And I want to ask you a question, and then I'm going to show you the answer. Deuteronomy chapter 32, begin there with verse 15. "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked. Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness. And he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation.

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• They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods. With abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God. To gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the rock that begat thee, thou art unmindful. Thou hast forgotten God that formed thee."

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• Now let me ask you a question. How could those Israelites who saw and experienced the miracles and the greatness and the power and the manifestation of the God first hand, they knew it. They believed it, temporarily at least. They saw it. How could they provoke God ten times? And then how could they deliberately, purposely, knowingly turn and sacrifice to idols and to false gods and to other gods, when they've experienced all of this firsthand? How could they do that? How could anyone do that even today?

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• Well, let me try to answer that for you. The answer is actually given to us in verse 15. Watch carefully. Deuteronomy 32 verse 15. "But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked, thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness. Then he forsook God who made him," watch, "and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation."

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• Now here's my first point. When men lightly esteem the sovereign God, they forsake Him. The Hebrew word for "lightly esteemed" is the word nobel. It's a very emphatic word. It literally means to dishonor, to make vile, to treat as foolish, to regard with contempt, and to count as a thing of naught. So when they esteemed Him lightly, they were counting God as vile, foolish, worthless. In order to forsake the one true and living God of Israel, the Israelites had to first hold Him in contempt. They treated Him as if He was foolish and vile, a thing of naught. It's easy to see how you can flee to a false God or to another God when you have no consideration for one who's done everything for you. I want you to hold Deuteronomy 32.

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• I want you to turn to the last book in the Old Testament, the book of Malachi. Go to chapter 1. Malachi chapter 1. I want you to see, and I want to emphasize this over and over, because I'm going to show you this is absolutely prevalent today. Look in Malachi chapter 1. And look what God asks in verse 6, or God states. He states and then asks. Malachi chapter 1 verse 6. God asks, or God states, "A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear, saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priest, that despise my name?" And you say, "Where did we despise thy name?" Now God said, if a son honors his father, and I'm a father, why do you not honor me? If a servant honors his master, and I'm the master, why do you dishonor me? And the priests then say, "Wherein have we dishonored thee?" Let's begin reading there with verse 7 and read through verse 13.

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• Watch carefully. They asked, "Wherein have we despised thy name?" He says, "You offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And you say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that you say, The table of the Lord is contemptible."

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• Now let me just stop there. Have you ever heard anybody say, "I don't like going to church. I don't like hearing sermons. I don't like..." You know what they're saying? The worship of the Lord is contemptible. Now watch. "And if you offer the blind for sacrifice, which was forbidden, is it not evil? And if you offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it now to thy governor.

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• Will he be pleased with thee? Or accept thy person, saith the Lord of hosts?" God says you take that old dirty, rotten, stinking carcass that you call to sacrifice, this blind and lame and sick and diseased, you take him, feed him to your governor, see if he'll appreciate it. But God says, that's exactly what you're doing to me. You're giving me that which is worthless. Watch if you would, verse 9, "And now I pray you, beseech God, that he will be gracious unto us.

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• This has been by your means. Will he regard your person, saith the Lord of hosts? Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for naught? Neither do you kindle a fire in my altar for naught. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered in my name in a pure offering. For my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts. But you have profaned it in that you say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even its meat, is contemptible."

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• "You said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! You snuffed it, saith the Lord of hosts, and you brought that which is torn, and the lame, and the sick, and you brought an orphan. Should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord?" Look what he's saying. You want to know where you've despised me? You want to know where you've lightly esteemed me? That's exactly what I'm telling you, says God.

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• You had no regard for me. You had no regard for my word, for my commands, for my statutes, for my judgments. You treated me with contempt. Albert Barnes, in his commentary, commenting on Malachi 1 and verse 6, said this, listen carefully, "God was their Father by creation, as He is Father of all, as Creator of all. He had come to be their Father in a nearer way by temporal redemption and adoption as His special people, creating them to be a nation to His glory.

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• Thus, they were taught to confess in Psalm 103, 'He hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.' This title God had given to them in the sight of the Egyptians. In Exodus 4 and verse 22, 'Israel is my son, my firstborn.' Of this, Hosea reminded them in Hosea 11 verse 1, 'When Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt.' And Jeremiah reassured them in Jeremiah 31 and verse 9, 'I'm a father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn.' This Isaiah also pleaded in Isaiah 63 and verse 16, 'Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not. Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer.

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• Thy name is from everlasting.' Isaiah 64 and verse 8, 'And now, O Lord, thou art our Father, we the clay, and thou our potter, and we are all the work of thy hands.' God had impressed this relationship of Father and Moses' prophetic warning in Deuteronomy 32 and verse 6, 'Do you thus requite me? Requite the Lord, O foolish people and wise? Is not He thy Father that has bought thee? And hath He not made thee and established thee?' So here, God, all through the Old Testament, was considered the Father of Israel.

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• And what did they do? They dishonored their Father. They held Him in contempt. They counted him as vile and foolish. So how could they resist their father? The answer is, by lightly esteeming him. They did not care for his person. They did not care for his power. They did not care for his position. He was considered as a thing of naught to them. And anytime the name of God came up, it was with ridicule and mockery and scorn.

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• Now let me ask you a question. What has happened in our universities and in our theological schools? Why is the Word of God mocked? Why is God mocked? Why is He counted as a thing of naught? And why is His law, why is His Word brought up as, well, if you want to do it, fine. If you don't want to do it, that's fine too. Let me go a little bit further.

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• Have you noticed, and I'm sure you have, what is happening in our government? Have you noticed the fact that in all levels of government, I don't care if you're talking about city, county, state, federal, or national as some folks would say, that God is disregarded and despised. And moreover, the people are being taught to dishonor and despise God because, you know, government must be neutral. There's no such thing as neutrality, by the way.

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• I hope you understand that. Neutrality is a means whereby you enforce a false god, basically speaking. But I want you to stop and think about this. When we are taught by our own government that we cannot say anything against Islam, we cannot say anything against Buddhism and Hinduism and all these other isms, we can't do that because, you know, all religions are equal. When they try to tell you all religions are equal, what they're saying is this, the Christian God is just one God among many gods.

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• And He may be safely disregarded or dishonored. Let me tell you something, folks. The one true and living God that has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ is not just simply one of the gods. He is the sovereign, supreme God of heaven and earth. And beside Him, there are no others. He is absolute. In Isaiah 37 verse 16, the Bible says this, "O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, Thou art God, even Thou alone. In all the kingdoms of the earth, Thou hast made heaven and earth." In Isaiah 45 verses 5 and 6, God says, "I am the Lord and there is none else. There is no God beside me that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there is none else." Now let me tell you something. If you do not wish to forsake God, and if you don't wish to forsake the faith, you must learn to highly esteem God, and value Him, and worship Him, and count Him as the One True and the Living God.

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• If you don't think He is the One True and the Living God, inevitably, invariably, you'll be serving false gods. Because if He's not the One True and the Living God, you're going to go to whomever and whatever you think is the one true and the living God. Thus you'll end up forsaking Him and serving devils as Israel did. So how did Israel, in light of all the miracles and all the manifestations of God forsaking, they lightly esteemed God.

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• They held Him in contempt. Now here's my second point. I want you to listen carefully. I just told you when men lightly esteem the sovereign God, they forsake Him. Secondly, when men lightly esteem the Son of God, they forsake Him. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 5. John chapter 5. And notice verses 22 and 23. John 5, verses 22 and 23.

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• These are very powerful truths. John 5 verses 22 and 23. Watch this passage. John 5, beginning there with verse 22. The Bible says, John 5 verse 22, "For the Father judgeth no man, but have committed all judgment unto the Son. Why? Why has God the Father committed all judgment unto the Son? Here it is, that all men should honor the Son even as or equally as they honor the Father. He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which is in him." Now, the Bible says, if we honor the Son, we honor the Father that sent Him. If we dishonor the Son, we dishonor the Father that sent Him. In Matthew 10 and verse 40, our Lord said this, when He sent His disciples out, He said, "He that receiveth you, receiveth Me. And he that receiveth Me, receiveth him that has sent Me."

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• Now note, He said, "I'm sending my disciples, if they receive you, they receive me. If they receive me, they receive the Father who sent me."

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• Now I want you to listen to what he said in Luke 10 and verse 16, because the reverse is equally true. He said in Luke 10 and verse 16, "He that heareth you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you, despiseth me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me." Wow! So if one dishonors the father, he will dishonor the son. If one treats the father with contempt and disdain, and counts him as foolish, so will he do to the son. If he holds the father in contempt, he will hold the son in contempt.

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• Let me ask you a question. Have you ever asked why the Jews as a whole reject Christ?

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• Now I know that there are exceptions, I understand that. But I'm speaking in regard to Judaism as religion as a whole. Why would Judaism reject Christ? Let me expand that. Why would anyone reject the substitutionary and sacrificial work of Jesus Christ? I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 53. I want to show you the answer. Isaiah 53. And we're going to read the first four verses. Isaiah 53, beginning with verse 1. Isaiah 53, verse 1. Here we go. Isaiah 53, verse 1.

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• "Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the armor of the Lord revealed?" We're talking about Christ, the Messiah. "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form or comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. Watch, He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

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• And we hid as it were our faces from Him. He was despised, here it is, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem Him, stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."

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• Now I want you to note, if you would please, in verse 3. The Bible says, "He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed Him not." Hmm. What is Isaiah teaching us? Isaiah is saying that the people at that time did not count Him, value Him, or regard Him as the Son of God. They esteemed Him not. They did not count Him as the Messiah. They did not count Him as the Redeemer. And look at verse 4. "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." In other words, we did esteem Him stricken and afflicted. What is He saying? He is saying the people at that time counted Christ as getting what He deserved. They didn't count Him as suffering a substitutionary death or sacrificial death.

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• They had contempt for Him. Why is it today that men and women hold the Son of God in such contempt? You say, well, I don't know that many people that speak contemptuously of Jesus Christ. Well, let me ask you, why is it that men and women are rushing madly and headlong into life, living, and making a living without giving one minute of their time to think upon Jesus Christ and His sacrificial work? Why is it that people can go day after day, never read their Bibles, never pray, never think about the work of Christ? Let me answer that for you. Because they don't consider it worth thinking about. They count it foolishness. They count it vileness. They count it something that is very contemptible.

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• The very fact that multitudes refuse to enter the doorway of a church building where the truth is being preached just evidences that they hold Christ in contempt. They do not wish to hear of Christ. They do not want to be reminded of Christ. He just is not worth the time or the trouble in their estimation. They esteem Him with very little regard. Why can they take His name in vain and speak flippantly concerning Christ? They have no regard for Him. Here's my question. Judas and the Jews estimated Christ to be worth about 30 shekels of silver. What is your estimation of Christ?

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• Is He the Son of God? Is He the Savior of the world? Is He the Lord of all? Is He God of gods and King of kings and Lord of lords? Is He God incarnate? Is He God in the flesh? If He is, you need to esteem Him and highly regard Him for what He really, genuinely, truly is. The reason we can forsake God, the reason we can forsake Christ, is we lightly esteem Him. When you have no regard for God, His Son, His truth, you'll despise it. You'll reject it. You'll count it as a thing of naught.

  #54 | 42:18 to 43:19 | cleaned

• Not worth taking up your time, not even worth thinking about. Now let me make some applications today. I'll pick up next Sunday and try to finish this, but I want you to listen. According to John 5, verses 23 and 24, it is absolutely impossible to maintain one attitude toward God the Father and a different attitude toward God the Son. I've heard people say, well I believe in Jesus Christ but I don't like the God of the Old Testament. What?

  #55 | 43:20 to 43:58 | cleaned

• He that honors the Son honors the Father. He that dishonors the Son dishonors the Father. It is equally true in reverse. He that honors the Father honors the Son. He that dishonors the Father dishonors the Son. You have to understand there is one God, not two, not three. One God who has revealed Himself in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And when you try to maintain one attitude toward God the Father and a different attitude toward God the Son, it'll never work. It'll never happen.

  #56 | 44:08 to 44:48 | cleaned

• The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 3, "And without all controversy, great is the mystery of Godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, seen of angels, preached on in the world, and received up in the glory." Jesus Christ is God incarnate. And you cannot maintain one attitude toward Him and a different one toward the Father. The second application is this. Your service, your sacrifice, and your worship will reflect your estimation of Jesus Christ.

  #57 | 44:50 to 45:32 | cleaned

• I've always said, and those of you who've heard me regularly will remember this, there's something dreadfully wrong with a professing Christian when you have to beg him to come to church, or beg him to study, or beg him to pray, or beg him to hear preaching of the Word of God. Something wrong somewhere.

  #58 | 45:39 to 46:00 | cleaned

• Do you realize... Think back on Old Testament Israel. Listen carefully. All the miracles in the world will not help you if you do not believe. Likewise, all the miracles in the world will not keep you close to God the Son and God the Father if you do not esteem Him very highly. You have to understand He is God. Third application of this. As Christians, we must live our entire lives demonstrating that this present evil world is not our home. And when I say present evil world, I'm talking about the world system. The world that God created is not evil. God has given us richly all things to enjoy.

  #59 | 46:08 to 47:22 | cleaned

• But I've got news for you, dear friend. In this world system that is anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Bible, it has nothing for me. And it should have absolutely nothing for you. Which brings me to this. If we genuinely esteem God and hold His truth very highly, we cannot compromise it or sacrifice it for worldly fame, fortune, or honor. We cannot become a Demas. We cannot love this present age more than we love Christ in truth.

  #60 | 47:23 to 48:10 | cleaned

• And I realize the Scriptures does teach indeed that there are pleasures in sin for a season. But the punishment of sin is eternal. And I prefer to do without the pleasures of sin. Father, grace of God through Jesus Christ, that I may have pleasures evermore at His right hand." How much do you esteem Christ? They forsook God. Why? Because they lightly esteemed their God. We must hold Him very highly and exalt Him and worship and honor Him, for He alone is God. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your love, for Your grace, for Your mercy. We ask You, Heavenly Father, to teach us and build us up in the most holy faith. Enable us, Father, to serve Thee with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

  #61 | 48:12 to 49:34 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T15:57:56Z