Contrary Or Authentic

Leviticus 26:21, 23-24, 27-28, 40-41

21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;

24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;

28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:

My message title is Contrary or Authentic

We are creatures of habit.

We live repetitiously.

From the moment we wake up in the morning, until we go to bed at night, we repeat the same routine.

· We go to the bathroom.

o Wash our face.

o Brush our teeth.

o Apply deodorant. (at least I hope you do)

o Get dressed.

We repeat this routine seven days a week.

What’s more is;

· We even use the same toothpaste every day.

o The same soap.

o The same deodorant.

o We eat the same breakfast…Honey Nut Cheerios.

o Chobani, Greek Yogurt.

And we also tend to say the same things every morning;

· Good morning babe.

· Get the kids up, no you get them up.

· Kids, it is time to get up.

We greet people with the same phrases.

· Hello Boss.

· Hi teacher.

· Good morning bus driver.

We are creatures of habit.

Mine are different than yours and yours are different than mine, but we are all creatures of habit.

· Studies show that 40-50 percent of the decisions you and I make every day are shaped by habit.

· Rather than deliberately choosing our actions, habits make our decisions for us.

Some of you get a Starbucks every day.

You don’t even have to think about it.

It has become a habit.

Some habits are good.

· Combing our hair is a good habit.

· Wearing deodorant is a good habit.

Some habits are bad.

· One of mine is leaving the dishes on the counter.

· Checking your cell phone every other minute.

When activities become habits we don’t really think about them, we just do them.

· They become automatic.

· Even robotic.

However, there are many regular activities we do every day that should not become so automated.

· Each of us are blessed to have family.

· It is a blessing to be able to say “good morning” and “sweet dreams” to our spouses and children every day.

This is one area where we don’t want to be so automated.

Don’t answer your wife with the same old phrase every time she talks to you;

· Hey Babe. (that’s my phrase)

· Or when your wife calls your name, you answer; What?

o Huh, I can’t hear you?

It becomes annoying, even irritating.

Our communication with our loved ones should be authentic and heartfelt every single time we speak to them.

It shouldn’t become so casual and habitual that we don’t really think about what we are saying.

Can I get a witness on that?

The same is true in church.

We can come to church for weeks without having a heartfelt conversation with anybody in our spiritual family.

Most of the time it is just small talk.

· How are you doing?

· How is work?

· The men talk about sports.

· The ladies talk about the kids and the dog.

We switch into that automatic mode and we can’t help ourselves because it is habit.

· We talk about the same things over and over again.

· It becomes routine, automated and sometimes monotonous.

And if we are not careful, our relationships become superficial.

The real problem is this can lend to a lack of authenticity in our relationship with Jesus.

How do you think God feels when we casually say the same automated things to Him every day?

There is a danger here that I want to talk about because it has happened to me before.

It has happened to you before.

· Going through the motions.

· Praying the same 3 minute prayer.

· Without even thinking, our communication with God becomes routine.

o It becomes casual.

o No thought is put into it.

I am talking to somebody here today that needs to get real with God.

You need to become Authentic in your communication with God.

· If our church services are not real every time we come, we have a problem.

· If we are not authentic before God every time we pray, we have a problem.

You see God has a certain way He operates.

· God only extends Himself to you in the manner you extend yourself to Him.

· You will only get out of this service what you put into it.

· If you are going to be casual with God, God is going to be casual with you.

The text I read to you is a little different for a Sunday Service but it illustrates what I am talking about.

· I won’t share the entire story of the text but what you need to know is; this is recorded just after God gave the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

· This was the beginning of the Law of Moses.

The word I want to talk to you about is contrary.

One of the Ancient Hebrew rules for interpreting Scripture states; any word that is repeated exactly seven times in a passage becomes the most important concept in that text.

‘Contrary’ is repeated exactly seven times in this text.

God said: If Israel walks contrary to Me, then I will walk contrary to them.

God really wanted the reader to understand this.

In the English language, contrary means; in a manner opposite to what is expected.

If we apply the English definition we could translate it this way;

· If Israel is going to walk in a manner opposite of what I expect, I will do opposite of what they expect.

However, we get a clearer picture when we use the Hebrew translation.

The Hebrew word for contrary is Keri.

It means to be casual, random and mindless about something.

Remember those three words. (casual, random and mindless)

What God was saying to Moses was;

· If Israel is going to treat my laws in a casual way, then I will also treat Israel in a casual way.

· If Israel is going to randomly obey my laws, then I will randomly listen to their prayers.

· If Israel is not going to think about my Word nor consider my laws, then I will not consider Israel nor think about her ways.

God wanted Israel to know from the very outset of the law that He would only extend Himself to them in the manner Israel extended themselves to God.

· Israel would learn to read the law of Moses four times every day.

· It would become a habit to them.

· It would become so automated that they wouldn’t even have to think about it.

This would cause the law to become so familiar to them that they would begin to treat it in a casual and thoughtless way.

So God had to remind Israel, ‘you are only going to get out of this what you put into it.’

· If you are casual about this, it is not going to work.

· If you are going to be random about this, it is not going to work.

· If you don’t think about why you need to follow Me or why you need to obey me, this is not going to work.

And, if you read the entire 26th chapter of Leviticus God tells Israel exactly what He will do for them if they are real and authentic.

And then He tells them what He will do to them if they are not. And that part is not so nice.

There is both salvation and judgment in this chapter.

I know this is not typical Sunday preaching, but we need to hear it just the same.

I preach about Mercy and Grace all the time, and rightfully so; but I wouldn’t be much of a preacher if I didn’t warn you about God’s judgment.

God is coming back to judge us and that day is coming soon.

· We need to make sure that we are real with Jesus.

· We need to make sure that we are not simply going through the motions.

· We need to think about every prayer.

Because we are living in the generation of the return of Jesus Christ.

We will only get out of this what we put into it.

Can I get a witness?

I want to share a story from;

Genesis 6:3

3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

Genesis 6:5-8

5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Matt 24:37-39

37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

The Bible describes a lot of similarities between Noah’s time and the time of the return of Jesus Christ.

As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.

· We are living in the generation of the return of Jesus Christ.

· We are living in a generation that is eerily similar to Noah’s

In Noah’s generation, just as today, God was looking for people to extend Grace to.

And the Bible says that Noah found Grace in the eyes of the Lord.

· In Noah’s generation, just as today, anybody could come to God.

· In Noah’s generation, just as today, there was an open door to God.

But it was only Noah and his family who put forth the effort to serve God.

o For hundreds of years, that door was open to man.

o For hundreds of years, God’s Grace was available.

Finally, God looked across the earth and He saw great wickedness and evil.

· It upset God.

· It hurt God.

The Bible says that He was grieved in His heart.

The Hebrew definition for grieved states that God had worry and great pain in His heart, but there was also anger there. God was grieved.

Just as in Noah’s generation, God’s Grace is available today.

But if we interpret this Scripture correctly, we must also say that as in Noah’s generation, God’s heart is grieved today.

God’s heart is grieved today for the same reason it was grieved in Noah’s generation.

· When God looks across this earth, He sees wickedness and evil.

· People say they believe in God, but their actions don’t show it.

o They make little effort to please God.

· People are casual, random and thoughtless about God.

So God is grieved.

In God’s heart there is this worry for mankind.

· God is worried about you.

· God is concerned about you.

· God’s heart hurts for you.

God is not willing that you perish.

But if I am going to be truthful with all of you, there is also anger in God’s heart.

As it was in the days of Noah…

There came a point in Noah’s generation when God’s anger caused Him to pull away from man.

That is why God said, “My Spirit will not always strive with man.”

· So God reached a point where He pulled back His Grace.

o He pulled back His Mercy.

o He pulled back His Spirit.

And God’s anger was released upon the earth in the form of the flood.

As it was in the days of Noah…so shall it be…

Today there is an open door before us but soon God will close the door.

· Grace is available today, but soon it won’ t be.

o Mercy is available today.

o God’s Spirit is available today.

There is an open door that every person can walk through if we make the effort.

· I think what God wants to know about you more than anything else is; are you willing to make the effort?

· Will you be real with God at this altar today?

What bothers God about us is that sometimes we get so casual about Him that we think the door will always be open.

But it won’t always be open.

· We need to treat every day like it might be our last.

· We need to pray at the altar like it might be our last chance.

Somebody needs to get real with God today.

Jesus said;

Rev 3:15-16

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

God does not like that indifferent attitude. A half hearted attitude.

God requires all of your heart.

You will only get out of this what you put into it.

James 4: 8

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

Let’s come around this altar and really seek God for our needs today.

Luke 11:9-13

9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?