GYC SE Spring Conference 2019

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GYC Southeast

Dee Casper

Why God Won’t Leave

Sweet Jesus, I thank you for the privilege to come into your presence, and I thank you that we're told that our need is our greatest argument.

Reminded of the lyrics of a song, that if you would choose to use me my Savior, in spite of my fears and all of my failures, I'm not much to look at, but whatever I am, I'm yours.

Jesus, use me, I'm yours is my plea, and I ask this in Jesus' name.

Since we have this privilege to be walking through an Army Bible camp together, 1 of the purposes of ARMY is it teaches how to dig deeper into Scripture and how to see some of those big theme pictures in Scripture.

What I'd like to do is cover the pursuing love of God that can be found of all places in the Old Testament.

You can find the love of God in the Old Testament.

You don't have to wait until you see Jesus's face in Matthew to see this picture.

I believe our view of God is our primary hermeneutic.

There are many issues, hotly contested issues within Adventism, and hermeneutics come into play here and are mentioned very frequently.

I believe my picture of God is my primary in hermeneutic.

So if I have a horrible picture of God, I'm going to look for texts that confirm that negative picture or my negative standing with God.

But if we have a healthy picture of who God is and how he does life, it makes a big, big difference in the conclusions that we come to as we're reading through difficult texts in scripture.

So I'd like again to cover that with you this evening, the Old Testament God, which is not different than the New Testament God.

But the picture of God in the Old Testament.

And I'm looking forward to sharing some of these things with you.

So we're going to be going primarily through Old Testament texts where God himself is speaking, giving his side of the story.

When we give our discourses on the great controversy, how evil came to exist and so forth, many times we make the point that God didn't start it, but God's going to put an end to it.

In a very, very simple distillation, He's not the 1 who done it, an enemy who done it, who has done it.

I did grow up in Southern Illinois, hope you'll give me that 1.

He's not the 1 who started it, an enemy has done this, but then we say that God is going to put an end to it.

And those are both true statements, are they not?

There is this large swath of time in between those 2 events, and people may be led to wonder, but what about all this stuff?

Is God doing anything about what happens in the middle?

And I hope you'll see this evening, the answer is unashamedly yes.

I actually believe this is 1 of the most compelling arguments in regards to the great controversy, the origin of sin and just the current existence of sin.

Ezekiel chapter 18, what we'll be covering this evening, not just this text, but the whole span.

Ezekiel 18 and verse 23 says this, God Himself speaking, Ezekiel 18, 23, and the texts are on the board if you still need to find them while I start.

He says, do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should turn from his ways and live?

Then go to Ezekiel chapter 33 in verse 11, a very similar theme here.

He says, I say to them, as I live, which is from everlasting to everlasting, says the Lord God, I have how much pleasure?

I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.

Turn, turn from your evil ways, for why should you die, O house of Israel?

It should be abundantly clear here this evening, God is not taking any delight in this destruction of the wicked.

He's wanting them to change course because He desires all men to be saved, 1 Timothy chapter 2 tells us.

2 Peter 3, 9 says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise.

He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Right, this is the same picture from Genesis to Revelation.

And this is 1 of the reasons why he won't leave you alone.

This is 1 of those reasons why you're convicted when you sin.

Not to push you away from God and fill you with condemnation, but to point you to Jesus who died for that sin.

He does not want to leave you alone because he does not want to lose you.

God has a burning love in his heart for every human being that he has created and does not want to lose them.

So he doesn't rejoice over the death of anyone, right?

No 1 creates something out of love and then takes enjoyment in destroying it.

This is 1 of the most compelling arguments for me in Scripture.

Go to Isaiah chapter 5, beginning in verse 1.

The choicest vine, the 1 that bears the most potential, the best vine.

He built a tower in its midst, and so he expected it, obviously, to bring forth good grapes.

But it brought forth what type of grapes?

But just imagine, what's implied here is that God is removing all the things that would encumber or hinder growth.

This is actually 1 of the reasons why God gave the Seventh Adventist Church reforms.

And some of us immediately go into like trauma when we hear that people use the word reform because maybe somebody overstepped their bounds and deprived you of civil liberty when giving you these teachings.

Health reform, dress reform, entertainment reform, all of these things were given to us for a reason, to remove the stuff that would keep us from growing to our full potential.

The point behind every reform that God gave us was to enhance our relationship with Jesus, to grow the relationship, and to pull away the things that would hinder that growth.

And so God is pulling the stones out of the way.

He's digging the soil to ensure that it has the best potential for growth, and then he plants it with the best vine, and instead of putting out good fruit, it puts out a poisonous fruit.

And he's concerned and confused for very good reasons.

He says, And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between me and my vineyard.

And then he says this, What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it?

Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes?

And now let me, please let me tell you what I'll do to my vineyard.

I'll take away its hedge, its means of protection, and it shall be burned.

I'll break down its wall, another means of protection, and it shall be trampled down.

I will lay it waste, it shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briars and thorns.

I will also command the clouds that there rain no rain on it.

Then it says this in verse 7, for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is who?

And the men of Judah are his pleasant plant, but listen to this, he looked for justice but behold oppression, for righteousness but behold a cry for help.

God looks at the landscape here and recognizes this is not what I intended, this is not what I desired, and you're being turned over to the consequences of the decisions that you are making, but why?

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Why God Won’t Leave

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