Numbers 16 | In the Wilderness

Listen to this week’s sermon, In the Wilderness preached by Rev. Benjamin Kandt from Numbers 16.

Episode Transcript

Rev. Benjamin Kandt (00:06):
Hello everyone.
This is Pastor Benjamin.
You're listening to SermonAudio from New City, Orlando.
At New City, we long to see ourFather answer the Lord's
Prayer.
For more resources, visit ourwebsite at Newcity Orlando.com.

Joshua Esquivel (00:21):
Please join me in reading the Prayer of
Illumination.
Almighty God, as we hear yourword inspired word, teach us,
reprove us, and train us inrighteousness, that we may be
equipped for every good workthrough Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Our scripture today comes fromNumbers 16.

(00:42):
Now Korah, the son of Ezar, sonof Kohath, son of Levi and
Dathan and Biram, the sons ofEliab, and An the son of Peleth,
sons of Reuben, took men, andthey rose up before Moses with a
number of the people of Israel,two hundred and fifty chiefs of
the congregation, chosen fromthe assembly, well-known men.

(01:06):
They assembled themselvestogether against Moses and
against Aaron, and said to them,You have gone too far, for all
in the congregation are holy,every one of them, and the Lord
is among them.
Why then do you exaltyourselves above the assembly of
the Lord?
When Moses heard it, he fell onhis face and he said to Korah

(01:27):
and all his company, In themorning, the Lord will show who
is his and who is holy, and willbring him near to him.
The one whom he chooses, hewill bring near to him.
Do this.
Take censors, Korah and all hiscompany, put fire in them and
put incense on them before theLord tomorrow.

(01:49):
And the man whom the Lordchooses shall be the holy one.
You have gone too far, sons ofLevi.
And Moses said to Korah, Hearnow, you sons of Levi, is it too
small a thing for you that theGod of Israel has separated you
from the congregation of Israelto bring you near to himself, to

(02:12):
do service in the tabernacle ofthe Lord, and to stand before
the congregation to minister tothem, and that he has brought
you near him and all yourbrothers, the sons of Levi, with
you?
And would you seek thepriesthood also?
Therefore, it is against theLord that you and all your
company have gathered together.

(02:32):
What is Aaron that you grumbleagainst him?
And Moses sent to call Dathanand Biram, the sons of Eliab,
and they said, We will not comeup.
Is it a small thing that youhave brought us up out of a land
flowing with milk and honey tokill us in the wilderness?
That you that you must alsomake yourself a prince over us.

(02:56):
Moreover, you have not broughtus into a land flowing with milk
and honey, nor given usinheritance of fields and
vineyards.
Will you put out the eyes ofthese men?
We will not come up.
And Moses was very angry andsaid to the Lord, Do not respect
their offering.
I have not taken one donkeyfrom them, and I have not harmed

(03:19):
one of them.
Then Horah assembled all thecongregation against them at the
entrance of the tent ofmeeting, and the glory of the
Lord appeared to thecongregation, to all the
congregation.
And the Lord spoke to Moses andAaron, saying, Separate
yourselves from among the conthis congregation, that I may
consume them in a moment.

(03:40):
And they fell on their facesand said, O God, the God of the
spirits of all flesh, shall oneman sin, and will you be angry
with all the congregation?
And the Lord spoke to Moses,saying, Say to the congregation,
get away from the dwelling ofKorah, Dathan, and Abiram.
And Moses said, Hereby youshall know that the Lord has

(04:03):
sent me to do all these works,and that it has not been of my
own accord.
If these men die as all mendie, or if they are visited by
the fate of all mankind, thenthe Lord has not sent me.
But if the Lord createssomething new and the ground
opens its mouth and swallowsthem up with all that belongs to
them, and they go down aliveinto Sheol, then you shall know

(04:27):
that these men have despised theLord.
And as soon as he had finishedspeaking these words, the ground
under them split apart, and theearth opened its mouth and
swallowed them with all theirhouseholds and all the people
who belonged to Korah and alltheir goods.
So they and all that belongedto them went down alive into
Sheol, and the earth closed overthem, and they perished from

(04:50):
the midst of the assembly.
This is God's word.

Rev. Benjamin Kandt (05:15):
They're all signature moves.
They're all signature moves.
And this morning, in our text,we're gonna see that God has
some signature moves too.
That in the story of Scripture,God shows up in predictable
patterns where we can begin tocount that this is the way that
He's gonna move and act.
And so I have one point andthree subpoints.

(05:36):
The one point is that Godopposes the proud, but gives
grace to the humble.
Throughout the storyline ofScripture, that's one of God's
signature moves.
He opposes the proud, but givesgrace to the humble.
If you have a Bible or adevice, or you have the worship
guide and you brought a monocleto be able to read it, you are
welcome to turn there now, andlet's look at numbers 16

(05:59):
together, verse 1.
I want to look at the proud.
Let's look at the proud here.
Number 16, verse 1 says this.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar,son of Kohas, son of Levi, and
Dathan and Abiram, the sons ofEliab, and An, the son of
Pelith, sons of Reuben, tookmen.
Now, when we read this, thesenames are confusing to us, but

(06:23):
they are ancient hyperlinks toother places in the story of
Scripture.
That's what's happening here.
And so when we read that Korahis a Levite and a son of Kohath
in verse 1, that cues to theclose and careful reader of
Scripture that this group ofpeople were actually charged
with this really incredibleresponsibility, which was to

(06:44):
carry the most holy things inGod's mobile tent dwelling
that's called the tabernacle.
They had a really importantresponsibility.
And then Dathan and Abiram,being sons of Reuben, who was
the firstborn son of all ofIsrael's sons, it's a really
prestigious role, they weremeant to be leaders in Israel.

(07:04):
Now, let me make that plain.
Korah, Dathan, and Abiramshould have had high status in
Israel, but they didn't.
Why?
Well, because God chose Mosesas the leader, not Reuben or his
descendants, and he chose Aaronas the high priest, not the
sons of Koath.

(07:25):
And so you can see there'ssomething going on here for
these men as they take up theirdissatisfaction that leads them
into a rebellion.
Korah becomes this ringleaderin a rebellion to get the status
he thinks he deserves.
Look with me at verse 2.
And they rose up before Moseswith a number of the people of

(07:45):
Israel, 250 chiefs of thecongregation, chosen from the
assembly.
These are, it says, well-knownmen.
In other words, they have highstatus, just not as high as
Moses and Aaron.
Verse 3 says, they assembledthemselves together against
Moses and against Aaron.
Now, one of the things you haveto know is a primary character
in the book of Numbers is what'scalled the camp.

(08:08):
Now, there's a slide that'll beup behind me that shows you
kind of what this camp wouldhave looked like.
But in concentric circles fromthe outside in, the outermost
tribes of Israel would havecamped around the outside, and
then inside of that would havebeen the Levites, and then
within that was the tent ofmeeting, the most holy place
where God Himself dwelled amonghis people.

(08:28):
That's relevant because theLord structured his camp with
these concentric circles, theseinner rings of holiness.
Look at verse 3.
They assembled themselvestogether against Moses and
against Aaron, and here's theissue: they don't like these
inner rings of holiness.
And they said to them, You'vegone too far.
For all in the congregation areholy, every one of them, and

(08:52):
the Lord is among them.
Why then do you exaltyourselves above the assembly of
the Lord?
I've never been in a courtroom,but I've seen TV shows, and so
I assume this happens.
But when you're about to takethe stand, right, you put your
hand on a Bible in the courtroomand you say, I will tell the
truth, the whole truth, andnothing but the truth, so help
me God.
What is happening here is thatKorah has taken a half-truth and

(09:16):
made it the whole truth,thereby becoming an untruth,
which is heretics 101.
That's what you do.
You affirm one truth strongly,but you deny another one.
And that's what's happeninghere.

So let me just ask you (09:28):
are all in the congregation of Israel,
are they all holy?
Yes.
Leviticus 19, 2 says reallyclearly, speak to all the
congregation of the people ofIsrael and say to them, You
shall be holy, for I am the Lordyour God, and I am holy.

(09:49):
So that's true.
But did Moses and Aaron really,quote, exalt themselves above
the assembly of the Lord?
No.
The Lord exalted them.
It's a big difference.
And so Korah is blinded by hispursuit of status here, and he's
forgetting something important.
Korah is a Levite.

(10:09):
He's in, he's not even in theouter courts, if you will.
He's in this inner circle ofthe holy ones.
But it's not enough for him.
In fact, Moses and Aaron mightbe the only people that have
greater status than Korah in thepeople of Israel.
And it's not enough for him.
Look at verse 9.
Moses calls this out.
He says, Is it too small athing for you that the God of

(10:32):
Israel has separated you fromthe congregation of Israel to
bring you near to himself?
Is that not enough for you?
One of the things we're seeingin the pattern of the people of
Israel in the book of Numbers isthat whether the human cravings
are for meat or for power orfor exclusive access, it is
never enough.
It's never enough.

(10:53):
Because Korah has fallen preyto what C.S.
Lewis calls the desire to be inthe inner ring.
Lewis says at some point inyour life, you're going to
experience this.
You're going to experience thatone of the most dominant
elements of our existence ashuman beings is the desire to be
inside the inner ring and theterror of being left outside of

(11:15):
it.
We all experience this in avariety of ways.
Out of this desire to be aninsider, many of us will stay
late at work and even takeprojects on the weekends,
special projects that we, youknow, we complain about.
And maybe it's tiring andunhealthy to work on a Saturday
afternoon, but to have them freebecause you don't matter would

(11:37):
be far, far worse.
And so you work yourselfendlessly trying to pursue,
ambitiously pursuing theascendancy through these inner
rings of exclusivity.
You see, the problem isn't inthe fact that there are inner
rings.
They're not the issue.
The issue is our desire to getinside of groups that are more

(11:59):
exclusive than the ones that wealready belong to.

The underlying question is (12:02):
who am I if I'm not with them,
whoever they may be?
And so the proud disregardpeople who can't help them to
ascend.
They're lesser than.
If you can give me status, Iwill give you my time, energy,
attention, devotion.
But if you can't offer meanything, why would I do that?

(12:24):
Now I want to commend you, newcity.
In the last year or so, I'veheard more people in their 40s
and 50s asking for me to connectthem with people in their 20s
and 30s to invite into theircircles to disciple them.
Why do I love that?
Because those people can't giveyou any status.
All you have is to offer themstatus.
That's a really importantthing.

(12:46):
But I was talking to some ofthe business leaders in our
congregation.
I asked, hey, what is thisdynamic, this inner ring
dynamic, look like in theworkplace?
It was illuminating for me.
One of them spoke about howthey've seen mid-level people
cry because they were notinvited into a meeting that they
wanted to be a part of.
Another one said that there'sthis on the surface a culture, a

(13:09):
team culture, but underneath isthis zero-sum game.
And so you can't have friendsin the workplace because
everybody is competition.
And so gossip andself-promotion become the lingua
franca of that workplace.
You see, the reality of livingto press further up and further
into these inner rings createsan immense pressure.

(13:32):
One person said the pressure isthe pressure to say yes to
everything, always doing andproducing more and more and
more.
Because how else are you goingto ascend the hierarchy?
And sometimes even people landin the ER because of stress and
anxiety and panic attacks, andthey're pecking away at their
work phones from the hospitalbed, unable or unwilling to

(13:54):
unplug, wearing their hospitalstay as a badge of honor.
You see, one of the reasonsmany of you are so busy, so
exhausted, so overcommitted isbecause of the pride that's
motivating you to ascend intothe upper, upper, upper rings.
Thinking that once you finallyget into the next one, it'll be

(14:15):
enough.
You see, this is Korah'sproblem.
He's showing us what it lookslike to want to be in the inner
ring.
And C.S.
Lewis, in this article calledThe Inner Rings, he says this of
all passions, the passion forthe inner ring is most skillful
in making a man who is not yet avery bad man to do very bad

(14:36):
things.
Korrah might not have been aringleader of a rebellion
against God most high if itwasn't for this desire that we
share with him to be in the nextinner ring.
Now I want to contrast proudKorah with humble Moses.
Look with me at verse four.
When Moses heard it, he fell onhis face.

(15:00):
I like to call this faceplantleadership.
And this speaks to me.
The reason why is because I wasa skateboarder for most of my
life.
And so I just like to imaginethat Big Mo is trying to golly
nose grind a handrail and heclips his lip and he faceplants,
falls on his face.
That's not what's happening,but I like to think that that's
what's happening.
What's really happening here,and this really did catch me

(15:22):
years ago when I was readingthrough the book of Numbers and
our Bible reading plan, and Icame to this realization that
godly leaders fall on theirfaces before God as a strategy
of leadership.
This is core to godlyleadership.
If you don't believe me, justtrack with me here.
Abraham fell on his face beforeGod in Genesis 17, 3.

(15:43):
Joshua fell on his face inJoshua 5, Ruth fell on her face
in Ruth 2, David fell on hisface in 1 Samuel 20, Ezekiel
fell on his face in Ezekiel 1,Daniel fell on his face in
Daniel 10, Jesus fell on hisface in Matthew 26.
What is happening here?
Well, you see, because to fall,to fall down prostrate with

(16:06):
your face to the ground is aposition of being humbled before
the exalted one.
The Bible says, you are dust.
And so if that's true, beloveddust, inspired dust, yes, dust
nonetheless, than to fall ontheir face before God, it's a
posture of saying, you are holyand I am not.

(16:28):
You are exalted and I am low.
You are the one who is greatand I am actually small.
It's a the proper positioningof the humble before the holy
God.
That's why all of these godlyleaders find themselves falling
on their face before God.
And it's it's not only fear andtrembling, it's also awe and

(16:50):
adoration and exhilarationbecause true status looks like
submission and surrender, notascending to the next and
highest ring.
Jesus says it like thiseveryone who exalts himself will
be humbled.
And he who humbles himself willbe exalted.

(17:12):
I take great hope in thatbecause it's easier to go low
than to rise up high.
And this is within the realm ofall of our agency, right?
It's the one who exalts himselfor the one who humbles himself.
You can go low.
And there's a good promise inScripture that grace runs
downhill.
That God opposes the proud butgives grace to the humble.

(17:32):
You see, face plant leadershipshows us that the way up is
down.
And in verse five, we see thatMoses said to Korah and all his
company, In the morning the Lordwill show who is his and who is
holy, and will bring him nearto him.
The one whom he chooses, hewill bring near to him.
You see, what Moses is willingto do here is to let God

(17:55):
vindicate him.
It's a humble move.
One of the places this mainpoint shows up in scripture is
in 1 Peter chapter 5.
Peter says this, writing to thewhole church, he says, Clothe
yourselves, all of you, inhumility toward one another.
Why?
Peter says, For God opposes theproud but gives grace to the

(18:18):
humble.
He goes on, he says, Humbleyourselves, therefore, under the
mighty hand of God, so that atthe proper time he may exalt
you.
What does it look like tohumble yourself under the mighty
hand of God?
This verse right here, castingall your anxieties on him
because he cares for you.
That's what Moses is doingright here.
He's casting his anxieties onthe Lord.

(18:39):
He's saying, Lord, youvindicate me, you handle this
situation, you show up and act.
And that actually frees him up.
You see, because pride fillsyou with cares and anxieties,
but humility actually frees youto be carefree in the care of
God.
That's what Moses isexperiencing here.

(18:59):
But it goes on in verse 9, thisis his critique.
He says, Is it too small athing for you that the God of
Israel has separated you fromthe congregation of Israel?
Listen to this language, tobring you near to himself, to do
service in the tabernacle ofthe Lord, and to stand before
the congregation to minister tothem.
And that he has brought younear to him, and all your

(19:19):
brothers, the sons of Levi, withyou.
And would you seek thepriesthood also?
And here's the key piece.
Therefore it is against theLord that you and all your
company have gathered together.
What is Aaron that you grumbleagainst him?
Verse 9, that phrase, is it toosmall a thing for you?
You see, look at all that Godhas given to you, and yet you're

(19:42):
still discontent.
And is your discontentment atyour spouse or your boss or your
situation?
According to Moses, he says,What is Aaron that you grumble
against him?
Your discontentment is againstthe Lord.
Your dissatisfaction isactually towards the Lord.

(20:03):
You see, because discontentmentwith our current ring will
always lead to a desire for amore attractive and exclusive
ring.
Your inner ring in this room,diverse people, your inner ring
might be a country club or apunk rock band.
You might be a Swifty or asneakerhead.
You might be wanting to be in acorporate boardroom or a

(20:26):
CrossFit gym or the PTA or evena church leadership team.
But as long as you're governedby that desire, you will never
get what you want.
The reason is because as youtry to peel that onion, you will
succeed until there's nothingleft.
And so discontent is not onlydestructive to you, it's
dishonoring to God.

(20:46):
And so in verse 20, the Lordspoke to Moses and Aaron,
saying, Separate yourselves fromamong this congregation that I
may consume them in a moment.
He takes their discontent veryseriously.
But look how Moses and Aaronrespond.
And Moses and Aaron fell ontheir faces and said, Oh God,
the God of the spirits of allflesh.

(21:07):
When you're reading the Bible,however God's address, his
titles, his names, it's worthjust underlining, slowing down,
paying attention.
Oh God, the God of the spiritsof all flesh, shall one man sin
and will you be angry with allthe congregation?
You see, the humble are free tosee God for who he really is.

(21:27):
There's a way in which many ofus miss God in the world because
we expect him to be all overhigh and lifted up in profound
ways, but he's actually at ourfeet oftentimes, washing them.
Because we worship a humble Godwho is high and lifted up and
also with the broken and thelowly and the contrite.

(21:47):
You see, when they call him theGod of the spirits of all
flesh, what they're saying hereis that God is sovereign over
the life of every human being.
He has ownership over the livesof every human being.
Because Moses and Aaron knewthat a heavy dose of the
sovereignty of God is medicinalto the mania of pride.

(22:09):
When you see God high andlifted up, who holds your very
life in his hand, the God of thespirits of all flesh, when that
begins to soak in, that that'sultimate reality, not you and
your little ladder of success,you begin to be set free.
You don't have to be so proud.
You don't have to pursue higherand greater status.

(22:33):
And so Moses, freed up to becontent with the place that God
has him, in verse 28 says this.
And Moses said, Hereby youshall know that the Lord has
sent me to do all these works,and that it has not been of my
own accord.
You see, Moses is just tryingto do what the Lord has sent him

(22:54):
to do.
It's another way to talk aboutwhat calling or vocation is.
Who is God made you to be?
What is he called you to do?
Maybe you don't have toambitiously ascend in order to
matter.
Maybe you can just do all thatGod has given you to do.
Ephesians 2.10 says that wewere created in Christ Jesus,
where his workmanship, and thathe actually did that in order to

(23:16):
give you good works to walk inthat he's prepared beforehand.
Maybe that's your life'smission, is to just simply walk
out the good works that God gaveyou, that he prepared
beforehand for you in Christ.
I was talking to again one ofthose business leaders and I and
I asked them, like, what's theantidote?
What's the way forward?
If this is the culture of theworkplace often.

(23:37):
And they said the lack ofidolization of the room is what
actually gets you invited in.
The obvious desire to be in theroom is the thing that
obstructs your ability to getin, because people think your
chief goal is just to be in theroom, not to do the work that it
requires.
I love this.
Moses is giving us the wayforward.
Do what God has sent you to do.

(23:59):
Nothing more, nothing less.
He's given you good works towalk in.
That's all Moses is trying todo.
And so maybe you pass up apromotion or an exclusive dinner
or an opportunity of a lifetimebecause you have a deep and
settled sense that wherever Godhas you, you could say with
Moses in verse 28, the Lord hassent me to do all these works.

(24:20):
And it has not been of my ownaccord.
Moses is so confident the Lordwill show up for him in real
time that he leaves this up tohim.
The third and final point isthat is God's opposition and
grace.
Look at verse 31 with me.
And as soon as Moses hadfinished speaking all these
words, the ground under themsplit apart, and the earth

(24:43):
opened its mouth and swallowedthem up, with their households
and all the people who belongedto Korah and all their goods.
So they and all that belongedto them went down alive into
Sheol, and the earth closed overthem, and they perished from
their mid from the midst of theassembly.
And all Israel who were aroundthem fled at their cry, for they

(25:03):
said, Lest the earth swallow usup.
And fire came out from the Lordand consumed the two hundred
and fifty men offering theincense.
This is a picture of God'spoetic justice.
His punishment always fits thecrime.
Dathan and Abiram refused to,quote, come up in verse 12, and
so they went down alive intoSheol, verse 33.

(25:27):
Korah wanted to play with fire,and the dude got burned.
And so what we see here is thatthe proud, recognizing that you
are dust, and to dust you shallreturn, it might be the
antidote to your pride.
But Korah's story is not over.
In fact, later in the book ofNumbers, chapter 26, if you want

(25:50):
to turn there, you can, verse9, the narrator is telling this
story, and they add a surprisingnote.
In Numbers 26, verse 9, it saysthis Dathan and Abiram, who
contended against Moses andAaron in the company of Korah,
when they contended against theLord, and the earth opened its
mouth and swallowed them uptogether with Korah, when that

(26:12):
company died, when the firedevoured 250 men, and they
became a warning.
And here's the key text, verse11.
But the sons of Korah did notdie.
What's the significance of thatdetail?
The Holy Spirit does not wastehis breath when he inspires
Scripture.
That phrase matters.

(26:32):
The sons of Korah did not die.
Somehow God preserved Korah'sdescendants, sparing them from
their father's fate.
And in fact, God opposes theproud, but he gives grace upon
grace upon grace, so much thoughthat in 2 Chronicles 20, verse
19, it says this and the Levitesof the Kohites and the

(26:53):
Korahites stood up to praise theLord, the God of Israel, with a
very loud voice.
You see, the sons of Korahbecame musicians, singers, and
gatekeepers in the temple ofDavid.
Their access, the access thattheir dad was grasping for was
given to them by grace.
Now, because of God, hisopposition to Korah, but his

(27:18):
grace to his sons, the sons ofKorah wrote some of the most
beautiful Psalms.
They're on like the greatesthits list.
Some of you know these, Psalms42 through 49, Psalms 84 through
85, Psalms 87 and 88.
These are all written by thesons of Korah.
And interestingly, some of thethemes that mark these Psalms

(27:38):
are redemption from Sheol and alonging for God's presence.
Our call to worship thismorning came from Psalm 84.
Many of us know this one.

It goes like this (27:48):
a psalm of the sons of Korah.
How lovely is your dwellingplace, O Lord of hosts.
My soul longs, yes, feints forthe courts of the Lord.
My heart and flesh sing for joyto the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,and the swallow a nest for
herself, where she may lay heryoung at your altars, O Lord of

(28:10):
hosts, my king and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell inyour house, ever singing your
praise.
For a day in your courts isbetter than a thousand
elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeperin the house of my God than
dwell in the tents ofwickedness.
For the Lord God is a son and ashield, the Lord bestows favor
and honor.
No good thing does he withholdfrom those who walk uprightly.

(28:34):
O Lord of hosts, blessed is theone who trusts in you.
Better to be a doorkeeper thana ringleader.
Better to be the kind of sonsof Korah who learn from their
family story that the kind ofstatus that our Lord is most
concerned with and that calls usto is the status that comes
from proximity to himself.

(28:56):
To long, yes, faint for thecourts of the Lord, to be near
unto God, and to be contentedwith the status that comes from
that.
So how can we be the kind ofpeople who have the humility to
be content with proximity toGod?
Well, the philosopher SorenKierkegaard tells a story called

(29:16):
The King and the Poor Maiden.
Tells a story about this kingwho was great and exalted, and
all of his enemies feared him,and everybody knew if he said
this, it would happen, or elsepunishable by death.
And as he was parading throughhis kingdom, he saw a beautiful
poor maiden that he immediatelyfell in love with.
So he went back to his castleand he strategized.

(29:38):
How am I gonna get her?
He thought, well, the first andeasiest thing he could do is to
command her to love him.
Like he could roll up, pomp andcircumstance, banners and
horses, swords and shields, andcommand her to become his wife.
But the problem is that forcedlove is not true love, and he

(29:58):
knew it.
See, he knew that if he wanteda cringing subject, he could do
that, but he wanted a lover.
That option wouldn't work.
Second option, he could elevateher to his status.
He could show up and give hergold rings and precious stones
and a robe and a cloak and acrown and lift her up to his

(30:21):
level, to let her ascend therings.
But the problem is he wouldnever know if he was loved by
her for himself or for hisgifts.
So the only other option he wasleft with was to become a
peasant like her in order to winher love truly.
And so this king, convincedthat he could not command her

(30:44):
love or elevate her to hisstatus without crushing her
freedom, he resolved to descenddown to her.
Not in disguise, truly andreally forsaking all that was
rightfully his as the king ofthe kingdom and taking on the
broken and tattered robe of abeggar, he goes and meets this

(31:06):
woman and wins her affections.
Now you see, Jesus did this inthe incarnation.
This is the true story of theworld.
We live in a world that is aromance in the midst of a
battlefield, and this is whatthe true king did.
You see, he left the innermostring of heaven in order to come
down.
And while the proud aregrasping to ascend into the

(31:29):
inner ring, the Son of Goddescends in order to bring us
into the only ring that reallymatters.
You see, Jesus fell on his facebefore God in Gethsemane
because he knew he would beswallowed up in judgment, that
he would descend into Sheol.
But rather than descending intoSheol alive, he ascended from

(31:50):
Sheol alive, and now he ascendedto heaven, and he's seated on
the throne at the highest ring,and he's bringing us up to be
with him.
You see, the dust of earth isnow seated on the throne of
heaven.
And so we look to Jesus, theexalted one, and as we look to
him, we can humble ourselvesunder the mighty hand of God,

(32:12):
because we know at the propertime, just like he exalted
Jesus, he will exalt us as well.
For God opposes the proud, butgives grace to the humble.
Let's pray.
Jesus, we worship you.
Holy Spirit, you alone can stirup our affections to see Jesus
in all that he is.

(32:33):
We want to behold the King andHis beauty.
What kind of King is this thatwould come down?
Forgive us for being sopreoccupied with ascending into
further up and further end intoinner rings when you, Jesus,
showed us what true humanitylooks like.
We love you, we worship you, weadore you, we want to be like

(32:54):
you, but more than that, we wantto be with you and in you,
seated with you in the heavenlyplaces where you dwell.
It's in your beautiful name wepray.
Amen.