Towers of Dissapointment

Welcome to research all of our campus locations in the triangle I 12 was I here last week and so I know many of you came eagerly last week waiting to hear what I had to say about the Pampers loss in the Super Bowl since I made such a bold prediction about it and even more Jersey on the day they were playing a few of you have said that you think it indicates some kind of lack of prophetic ability when it comes to sports, I think that's mean-spirited for you to say I think about what the Lord revealed to me why the Pampers losses because even though I were Jersey, after every sermon point good certain point that I made. I did not run out into the audience and get my Bible to a little kid.

So it was a failure to go all in on my part to let that be a lesson to you about the need to go all in on everything but I take responsibility for it and I apologize now that I have that out of the way, we're back in our series called the whole story in which we are working our way through the whole Bible in the course of the year.

Last week our church planting residence took us to the life of Abraham, which is what I've asked them to do, but the snow Kenneth Lewis back a week and so they do skip something that I think is really important in the plot line of the Bible and so backwards to Genesis 11 and pick up that story that they we had skip over last week so you have a Bible and I hope that you do hope that you will open it.

Genesis 11. If you don't have a Bible I mean I only feel self-conscious, but never about the church her again. I think it is so much more out of what I'm saying if you have something here in front of you so if you have one, bring it if you'd like wonder the first time yesterday and I just demanded some to get there give you one will have one though the height limit to start by asking you as your opening in your Bible serve asking how many of you speak another language besides English. Raise your hand. Okay with some proficiency. I mean, you speak two or more languages besides English with some level of proficiency.

I feel proud would Styne University back three or more besides English anybody the grand up my ass. He wanted to about four or more languages besides English anybody for more language. I know that our Chapel Hill campus and our downs under their campuses. We have sometimes we speak five languages are more when I got my PhD I had to reading proficient in for research languages, Greek, Hebrew, German and Latin.

Do not be too impressed by that because if you put sentences in all four languages now in front of me. I could probably identify which language was which. But that is about the extent of what I remember, the only language that I really know, besides English is Indonesian and that is gotten pretty rusty over the years I lived in Indonesia for two years. I think I told you before that I had right next to zero language training before they drop me off in a place where I was 100 miles from the nearest English speaker when I landed there mate when I added two afternoons a kid you not.

Avoid maturing those two afternoons meant that I could say hi name is JD Burger bathroom house is on fire. That was the extent of my not language the technology language. Still working on English I the kids told me the language which is great because kids are so patient and did make fun of me a lot but it also meant that I made a lot of mistakes because the kids did not give me vocabulary quizzes and I would just your words drawn up. They yeah it was you know some of you know that my life motto is often wrong. Never in doubt. And so I spoke the language with the same brash, unwarranted confidence with which I do everything in life, so it led to situations. For example like I was in a restaurant and I'd sleeps four times I'm starting to make a mess and so I knew the Kleenex. I did know the word for Kleenex in Indonesia and that's a rather technical word if he asked me, so I did of the worker's knees and so I said to the waitress who was probably 2025 feet away from me.

Excuse me I need to sneeze, but the scene except for busing which means fornicate fornicate so it's not good in any culture to yell the waitress that across the restaurant, but it is especially not good in a Muslim context. When you are an American, my daughter, by the way, in the first service leaned over and said what is fornicate me.

She's 10 years old just a funny word for sneeze and that's what my my wife told her so you get in here. That's what it means. All that kind of confusion. All that frustration all that you know humor goes back to Genesis 11. According to the Bible, the multiplicity of languages was God's response to one of mankind's most spectacularly simple displays.

It's an event that occurred really relatively early in recorded human history on the plains of Shinar, or modern-day Iraq. It was the building of the Tower of Babel.

Now, on the surface. When you read Genesis 11 doesn't look like they'd done anything horrifically evil, they just build a tower, what's wrong with that, but it's going to give you a glimpse into the root causes of sin and it's good to show you what makes sense simple to show you why sin has such power over you ever wonder that by the way, why is it that sin seems to control you so much that even when you decide you want to do it anymore. It's like you can't stop doing it.

This story will give you some of the answers to that question you use my friend not Carter's title here and call the story towers of disappointment because that's exactly what these towers are there towers of disappointment you ever felt like life was disappointing anyway. Maybe if your marriage is been disappointing. Or maybe it's your job or earlier, the stage of life that you're in retirement. You thought was you look different. I think you find an explanation for why that is. In this story.

I hope you'll see that what God was doing here. The Tower of Babel. He continues to do today in your life which is one of the reasons why. Genesis 11 is in the Bible, Genesis 11 verse one and walk you through it here.

Now the whole earth had one language of the time in the same words right sneeze and forget about your divorce and its people migrated from the East.

They found the plane and the land of Shinar.

Again, modern-day Iraq and they settle their and they said to one another, let us build ourselves on stuff in the Bible.

This would be good. I like a city and a tower top and Evans, let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. Now two comments I want to make here. First, the fact that they wanted to stay put in this one area and not go we were anywhere, is itself English is itself is itself an act of disobedience. God had commanded them three times in Genesis to be fruitful and multiply all over the earth for his glory.

I read I think it would not want to obey that be fruitful and multiply. Sounds like have sex and travel sound like an awesome plan to me.

But here's a little throwaway lesson for you.

God always pushes his people to look at how work to multiply toward sending and giving and generosity. Simple man always looks inward toward gathering and building for his security and for his glory. Throwaway lesson here is the more important lesson.

Second thing right what is it specifically that they want. There's three things I had you highlighting your Bible. They want a city. Think of a city as a whole were a place to belong.

They want a tower whose top reaches the heavens think about his significance. They want to do something that matters. They want some level of permanence in their lives like you're doing something that is going to endure a great name they want to be connected to greatness, these are the three desires that they have now, if you've read the book of Genesis of this point, you know that ironically God had given them all those things in the garden of Eden, a city God was to be their home. It was in fellowship with him is where we got our sense of belonging tower. We got our significance from doing his will.

We were sons and daughters. We were servants and emissaries of the King of Kings, a great name the greatness we sought was supposed to come from being connected to God. But now mankind is rejected God and so having rejected God date feel this boy this back where there created for the things they don't have an account like I said, you couple weeks ago the first emotion that man felt after having sin after the sensation the thrilling sensation of taking up a bit and fruit. The first sensation that they thought after that was a sense of shame over their nakedness not told you. The irony is there naked before they said, but their nakedness didn't bother them. Why not what's because they felt closed in the love and the acceptance of God.

But now, having stripped themselves of that love and acceptance. Their heart has this gigantic vacuum in it and so they began to reach out for other things to replace what God had once played in their heart. Sin is an attempt to find in something or someone else. Something that you should've found the God sin is. That's why it says that this tower reached out toward the heavens trying to get back with a one-sided got a call this tower Babel Babel, which means literally the date of God. So there's your first point of your writing things down number one sin, attempts to build towers that sin attempts. It begins as an attempt to build a tower to heaven. Their desires for belonging for security for greatness. Those desires are not wrong.

It's where there'll choosing to look for them is where it's it's wrong here we are, several thousand years later people haven't changed that much. We still desire the same things were not we want to city we will place we really feel safe and agreed that we really felt like we belong to what we're cherished and loved and respected and not my family so important to many others.

Or maybe it's it's it's what you want so badly to be accepted by the right group at your school so you really want to sit with this particular group of kids at lunch. Or maybe it's having the right people praise you coaches. Your teachers and the cool kids. Maybe it's the it's your peers in your career you really want their respect. Maybe it's the academic community respect what you want because you want to belong. You want to be accepted. You want to city. We want security we want something that guarantees our safety and not what insurance is $1 trillion industry in our country now on the centers on what insurance I have. I have it. Of course, but sometimes you get the idea that people are looking to insurance to remove any possible danger from their lives. I saw a while back that for $118 a year hundred $90. Here you get alien insurance.

That's not a joke. You look it up if you hundred dollars a year to get abducted by aliens when your family gets $500,000 which you be abducted by aliens. At least you know, not a loss. If you get eaten by aliens. They get and you can prove that you get $3 million now. If you have a lot in insurance not try to send you more power to you, but you get the idea that were trying to say through insurance. I can be totally secure. Nothing that can ever happen to me.

We want security won't we want our lives to matter is why some people stress out so much over their careers or lack of progress in their career. It's why men when they get close to 50 years old will unbutton her shirt down to their navel and where Drive read BMWs and process all out because I really want my life the matter I want to make a difference in life and I thought, I'm not doing it, we want to be connected to greatness to enter who you are.

That's what you name drop whatever you met somebody famous or you're in the same room or somebody famous meteor in the same way you throw somebody famous you get close you can put that picture up.

I see other Christian leaders put out things like you know at lunch today with Billy Graham hashtag humbled by this. Unlike the irony is, you're not humbled by it at all. Yes your exalted by that's what you tweet about. I don't tweet things really humbled me forgot to do my quiet time again this morning at stackable by the doctor told me I still need to lose 8 pounds hashtag humbled by this I don't do that right that would be appropriate, I once alone like you to spell you recently a friend sent me this picture see this established former presidential candidate. That's me. Photo bombing Jeb Bush there. That picture sends it to me. How long do you think it took from the time that landed on my phone to the time I tweeted out for the entire world to see circuits is how long it took, because I want to be connected to greatness.

I want to be important.

Now there's nothing wrong with the desires for security and for belonging even significance and greatness. It's where we chose to look for them primarily, that became wrong. Don't listen. One of the greatest and most liberating discoveries of my life was realizing that all my life all my life I've been reaching out for and yearning for God even when I didn't know what I was looking for those this yearning. I experience when I was a kid I did not know how to articulate it man, but I yearn for something that I tasted in the security of my parents home and that I tasted in the affections of their love for me it was why I was terrified at the thought of them dying or or or or that the thought that somehow would be taken away from them. I feel this kind of effort.

This kind of yearning again and my desire to meet that special somebody who would just think the world of medium will make you the center of their world not be the center of bird that would make them the center of mine. I sometimes experience that yearning in the adventure of foreign travel, because no foreign travel is never as good as the excitement and anticipation leading up to it. Sometimes I feel that yearning when I met a church service and I will be speaking here in the dispute. The worship and I just yearning for something like I'm not quite there yet.

I cannot all or when I see the sunset over the seemingly endless horizon of the beach. These experiences are all great like my favorite things in life but if either calling out to me reaching it is something beyond them that I'm just your as usual CS Lewis is it much better than me and you can make an argument that 90% of my sermons or reprint rephrasing what sizzles is that somewhere but here it is. Here's what he said look at this. The books of the music in which we thought the meeting was located. Will Butch pray if we trusted them.

It was never was never in them and only came through them your sin.

That's a huge distinction. The beauty yearn for was never in the romance was never in the art. It was never into him in the end the sunset interest came through and what came through them was longing these things, the beauty, the memory of our own past the cherished memory we have of their parents or one of our parents are good images of what we really desire but if there mistaken for the thing itself.

They turn into dumb idols. Idle means replacement for God. Don needs he can't even speak breaking the hearts of their worshipers. They are not the thing itself but only the scent of a flower. We've not found yet, but the echo of a two we've never heard the news from a country we've never yet visited Lewis said that when you experience the blessings of the necromancer even said good food.

If anything, a ray of sunshine that's warming your face and you feel the warmth of you since the light you look back up along the rate of the sun from which it emanates is all these things that you love in life are our messages to you of a God from whom they emanate like rays of the sun. He said marriage is the Ray God's love is the ocean a good marriage.

That is the stream God's love is the fountain a good marriage is a drop God's love is the ocean a good marriage is the shadow God's love is the substance I'm telling you it would absolutely revolutionize your life if you realize that every tower you ever built in your life whether your career were the romance for their self image was an attempt to regain something that God is designed to give you and himself. I recently read that even pornography is driven by this desire to dig beauty into ourselves.

Yes, it's just loss but it's more than that. I want to process beauty. I want to possess it.

And so there are people who turn to that as a way to possess it. It's what GK Chesterton the British philosopher that had a big influence on Lewis said even the man who knocks at the door. The brothel men who knocks on the prostitutes doors really in search of God, sin, attempts to build towers that have an that's number one.

Let's keep moving. Verse five. So the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of Minna Bill by the way, that's no that's a play on words and in Hebrew because came down you the bill the tower up came down as a very condescending, it's very like a diminutive term like the Lord is saying oh they're trying to build a tower to heaven. Go down and see with the little gerbils are up to.

So he team oriented down to see with the children and Bill verse six of the Lord said, behold, there one people and they all have one language, and this is only the beginning. What they will do nothing that they propose to do now will be impossible for them what he saying is from this from this heart that is expressed in building this tower is gonna come every kind of corruption every kind of wickedness, every kind of evil is gonna grow out of this. So there's your second point, there number two. Since roots all sins, the Rudy is by my will and mustering for my glory since route is by my will and mustering for my glory again with the looking for security significance. Great is not wrong. This is a they were supposed to get those things they depending on God.

But now, instead of depending on God for the things they want to do it for themselves in their own way by their own strength and so they get the glory.

Let us build a tower for ourselves for the glory of our name and it is from that attitude that all simple corruptions are going to emanate.

I often teach my kids that they can understand sin just by looking at the very simple way that spelled in English SIN} simple. The middle letter is I it's because I do what I want to do instead of what God wants me to.

I want to do it in my strength instead of God strength.

I want to do it so I get the glory and the attention and not God sends wickedness begins not with the immorality of the act, but with a heart of pride behind the act.

That's why God says this tower to become the source of immeasurable amount of said babble or Babylon is a way to be translated in Scripture is going to become the symbol in both the old and New Testament for the epitome of man's wickedness. Babylon is the name of the capital city of Israel's fiercest enemy that destroyed Jerusalem and take them captive in the book of Revelation at the end of the New Testament Babylon in the morning. The battle of Armageddon is to be the symbol of man's united front against God after the battles over that Angel stands up and says fall and fallen is Babylon babble same word the great she's become a dwelling place for demons for all the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality. In Genesis 11. There's nothing about demons or sexual immorality.

But these are things these are demon to influence things violent suppression, sexual immorality, are all fruits of sin but it is hard to pride that is the root of sin. Genesis 11 you try going here was on a revelation can be a wickedly confusing book you try to read before you lost a locus in the bowl the blood. I'm a professional. Which means I can take you in safely and out so that you don't get left behind. Okay that's what I do, but what you what you got.

It knows it is to cities being built in the book of Revelation. Once the city of man Babylon by my will and mustering for my door. The other is the city that is legal by God. Okay so so the heart behind us. All sin goes back to this posture about Satan himself. Same from Satan is a Ouija board that was no peers also became Satan. Isaiah tells a good question. You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven, Satan above the stars of God I'll set my throne on high house sit on the mount of the assembly in the far reaches of the North. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the most.

Not what phrase you your repeated over and over and over again to other I will Satan become Satan because he chopped up baby puppy angels and you don't drink the blood say became Satan because he said I want to do it by my will and my strength for my glory, so minutes ask you for a minute to the core of your heart. I'm not asking if your religious. I'm not asking for more.

That's what people always go to and it's totally the wrong question because it is possible to be very religious and to be very moral and have a heart that is dominated by by my will and mustering for my glory. It is possible for you to get really good grades to get really good grades but do it by your will in your strength and for your glory and by the way, the straight a student who is very moral, who is doing it by his will in his Franklin for his glory is closer to the heart of Satan and the God is knocking on the door. The prostitute is very possible for you to build a business. A good business and equitable and fair business in your strength by your will for your glory. It's very possible to be religious in your strength by your will for your own glory. You know how you can know that you're dominated by that heart of I will and pride.

CS Lewis said that there is one telltale sign for how you can know that there is one litmus test that will every single time. Tell you but you walk in pride your you and you. It is jealousy toward others is always comparing your tower to their town. Pride is Lewis says in its very essence competitive.

That's why he said proud people can never get along is that people with other sins and vices like to hang around people who do the same sends drunk like going out together and will be glad to get together and swap stories, drug addict like going out together people who are proud Lewis says always hate each other because their pride is always in conflict with somebody else's pride to to to pride.

It does not matter that I'm smart that I'm smarter than you. It doesn't matter if I'm athletic or good-looking. It only matters that I'm more athletic and better looking and richer than you are. CS Lewis says the quickest way to tell that you have pride is that somebody else's pride bothers you. Because pride is always in competition.

That's why they're project you want it works.

You when that person that other person gets the good grade or they get the new car or there to go to school in scholarship because a whole. Now you know that they just think of something anybody else thinks or something like that. They think they're something means nothing but your something you really want to be something, but that there some major lesson something and they think of something is away from you and that actual right and articulated that way but that's essentially what going on in your heart is that I really want it to be by my will and my strength for my glory to get it. Really what's going on in your heart.

Do not ask how moral you are, how religious you are.

That's completely the wrong question who's well you live in by yours or God's strength you attempt the meeting today with you attempt the beach that we door strength of God's free booze glory. Are you more concerned about your glory of God. When I was in Sunday school of thought in this way in every heart there is a throne and across if you're on the throne.

Jesus is going to have to be on the cross what Jesus is going to be on the throne your to be on the cross in your heart. There's only one person to call the shots. There's only one person who strength is making it happen. Only one person whose glory is being pursued yours or Jesus is, which is what key movers can read verse seven, let us go down and confuse their language so they may not understand one another. Speed to me to match. When this happened, what chaos you were the words altering their meanings oversight Lord disperse them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Number three send leaves rotting towers of disappointment in your life interesting to me that God does not tear down the tower as an outing on a 20 down the God leaves that there decaying falling apart rotting as a message. He could've let he could've let mankind along with SAP never would ability heaven, but he gotten the dead, and he frustrates their attempts to try and wake them up.

Now match? This deal here were he scatters them and leave their towers to the Cape is that judgment or is that mercy both its judgments, but it's a judgment with ounce of judgment with a pound of mercy is what God is doing to try to wake them up before they make decisions that they can never come back from and that are eternally too late. You understand that every judgment before the ultimate judgment is actually mercy because what God is trying to do is wake you up off of a path to get you to come back from it before you can't. That would change how you saw a lot of what happened in your life if you started to see that the towers of disappointment in your life were left there by God as monuments to tell you go down that path. So with that let me ask you, what are the rotting towers of disappointment in your life.

One of the broken towers that God is left where he really tasted disappointment was it in a broken relationship may be a failed marriage is in drug addiction. Maybe some kind of humiliation you've gone through.

Recently a lost job, maybe maybe you got caught cheating and you got kicked out of school again. I'm absolutely revolutionary thought.

What if you learn to think about the disappointments in your life. The broken towers not as God's harsh judgment on you, but is God's mercy towards you say you can't pursue that it only disappointment the only one that satisfies you, and I recently few months ago and that Ashley Madison scandal broke that thing has medicine with website work facilitated adulterous relationships when they don't delete came out all these email addresses got exposed. There were a number of Christian leaders who got exposed and that kind of thing. I was very disturbing and tragic and was one nationally known Christian leader whose email address was part of the database and I read a magazine article where he said he said you know he said I signed up for the website in a moment of weakness and he said it was a dark time in my life is about. I never acted on it. I just signed up and had the account. He said everyone filled out the profile he said, so I never pursued a relationship. He said it.

When these addresses came out. He said I I thought I saw a look at that, like God was harshly judging me for my sin to the board came to me and said you can't, you know, the leader of this ministry since is another was the harsh judgment of God's ability widen the last of the month of come to see that it was actually the sweet mercy of God toward me, but is about a gotten away from it.

I would've just lost over it and I would never have. I may not pursue the relationship and I would've never dealt with this dark place in my heart that actually made me sign up for the count. To begin with, and God cared about me so much that he was willing to publicly expose me so that he could deal with this part of my heart that are not learned to depend on and trust him in. What if you started a look at some of these humiliating broken towers in your life has God's message to you that you don't want to get on that path. I'm trying to try to pay you back. I'm trying to bring you back I'm trying to wake you up.

Tim Keller says when you face the inevitable disappointment of a broken tower is what he was an idol whenever you face the inevitable disappointment of an idol is as you have one of four reactions, I think these are so accurate when you face when he's disappointed broken towers.

The more you blame the idol itself chose the wrong thing.

Next time I make a better truth. We were so young.

We got married we did know what we were doing we were naïve and stupid.

That's why we chose the wrong person. And that's what were so unhappy is a really good divorce and now are older, wiser, and this time I choose better because I know that out there there's a soulmate who is just going to fit me perfectly to make all my romantic dreams come true. Sure, that's right, she sin right over there, next to the unicorn and a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow. That's where you should look for you blame the idol itself. Just think I got it.

She's better. He said the second option is you can blame yourself.

That's a lot of people do real well on the property. Work hard enough I'll do better next time you turn over new leaf that working or does it does it New Year's resolutions people doesn't the death stays clean for two days and then you could turn back the same disorganized jerk you always were right there you whatever made you fail the first time in some reappearing everywhere with every failure, either through you feel more like given up talking number three blame the idol blame yourself often are three blame the world you blame the world you just give up on being happy become a mean cynical old person who mocks all those naïve young people just didn't know yet numb to it all. You medicate through both alcohol or drugs or shopping or some hobby that you consider yourself with men.

You get angry and depressed and white alternative music lyrics to what is the greatest week with the world altogether blame yourself. Blame the idol, blame yourself, blame the world to the fourth option is you can realize you were created for a different world that's the right option. Again, CS Lewis, if I find myself a desire which nothing on earth can satisfy, the only possible estimation is that I must of been created for another world you want to be safe you want to belong. You want to have a home you want beauty and significance you want to be connected to greatness.

There's nothing wrong with those desires. It's where you're looking for them. It's what's wrong these things rolling. God reminded me as we go to my favorite songs on 139 listen to the Lord you have searched me and known me, you know, when I sat down when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar you searched on my path and my lying down your acquainted with all my ways. Even before word forms on my tongue, behold, the Lord, you know what altogether.

You him again behind them before you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge seems too wonderful for me of so high like I can attain it. Where can I go from your spirit, where can I flee from your presence. If I ascended into heaven, you be there course, but if I made my bed in hell you'd be there but the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand should leave me in your right hand would hold me up if I say in the spare surely the darkness shall cover me in the light about me is turned in the night.

Even the darkness is not dark to you the night for you is as bright as the noonday darkness is as light with you you for me in my inward parts, you knit me together in my mother's womb. Before I had a name and they just called me a fetus.

You knew who I was and you knew what I was going to become high praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well.

There I saw my unformed substance when I was just a fetus in your book all my days were written every single one of them.

The days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of Emma my mom did know she was pregnant yet how precious to me are your thoughts. Oh God, how fast is the sum of those thoughts. If I could count them they would be more than the sand of the seashore. And I wake up and I think surely that the dream is too good to be true, but when I wake deal with you.

Do you know how much and how often God thinks about you. This is so you and before your mom even knew that she was pregnant.new name he had designed you.

He knew all the daisy and plan for you teachers. Every one of them and he assigned his angels to watch over you in good times and bad. When it felt to you like darkness was going to overcome you godlike that was the light of day for me also. Everything was happening.

I never lost control before the word even born on your mouth. Whether was in prayer or whatever to express and I knew it was no one here fell from your head without me knowing about it.

It always amused me how how intimately where my wife was of our kids, their physical features when they were like infants know I can be like hey did you see that why I got a new freckle on her left shoulder and I feel like which one is right. If you notice the contrast one cannot split. David is saying here is, God knows me more intimately than the most attentive love smitten mother. When I made my bed and how he said and that's not poetry is literal. You and I had made our bed in hell and God set out go to hell for God to go to hell and took the bed not made for myself what absorbed Helen to himself died on the cross and was taken by God for me so that he could buy me back on itself so I would not stay there.

They said I could be run from you and help you cared about me too much. You chase me the hell enjoyed Helen, my place is no wonder that David said how precious are these thoughts to me how fast of the some of them if I can count them to be at the sand of the seashore wake up too good to be true but not too good to be true is happening at the dream and never wake up from. You want to be known to be valued. You want to be approved of you are in the love and the approval that he gives you is richer and deeper and last longer than the love of any man or woman he just can't stop thinking about you. You trying to be special to somebody special to him. You trying to matter in life. You matter to him beyond you been searching for in romance correctly, his arms, the security that you are working for in your life can be found in his promise. The beauty that you craved in pornography is found in his presence fullness. You yearn for in all your pursuits is going to be found when you walk with him which leads to the last point was nine. Therefore, its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all your home or play on words. Babel you get this reaction in Hebrew Bible becomes Blau, which means computers so that it always confused because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. Now Chapter 11 ends that the Chapter 11 12 boom. What this but you never listen.

You may never connect to jump from Chapter 11 the same. Now the Lord said to go to your country. Got your kindred, your father's house to the city. The land also. I'll make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great, shall become a blessing. How bless those who bless you and him are designed you I will curse him and you all the families of the earth shall be less your fourth point.

God is building a better tower, but I noticed the Scripture reference for this point is 12 one through the rest of the Bible because Genesis 11 is in a sense, the fulcrum of the whole Bible man's attempts to build a tower back to God to regain what he lost to God have failed.

So, in Genesis 12 God starts to build his own tower, but he starts in a really odd place he chooses a sterile frail old man, which is not the epitome of human weakness is the opinion. Some even inhuman strength is the epitome of human weakness and he says to this sterile frail old man named Abram. I'll give you a home Abram and to be better and more secure than in the home that they can build on the tower about one point Babel. How did you significance Abraham greater than any tower you can bill you have a role in blessing the whole world how make your name great Abram because out of the greatness of your name.

The greatness of my name and one day Abram all the scattered families of the earth with their new languages are going to be reunited around the tower that I build because of what I do for you and so we fast-forward to the whole Bible to the very last book of the Bible, Revelation 7 and we see this incredible scene word where were John the writer Revelation said after this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that nobody could number from every nation, all the tribes and Lee peoples and languages that were scattered Babel.

All of hard now back together, standing before the tower that God built the throne and before the Lamb, and they were all crying out loud voice.

Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne into the land and so you have what was dispersed in Genesis 11 brought back together but this time they're not standing around a tower that they built proclaiming their awesomeness. This time there standing around the throne that God has built and they are worshiping safe salvation is not a how awesome we work. Salvation belongs to our God and they are united not in praise of their strength, they are united in adoration of the grace that God has extended to them and so the message of the whole Bible is God can build this tower you can hit little glimpses of it throughout the Bible. For example, in the very middle acceptor to the Holy Spirit falls Holy Spirit falls on the on the earth.

The first time the Holy Spirit comes the first thing that happens all the people from speaking the languages was going on. There's a magic trick, no, God is basically flashing neon sign saying I'm reversing Babel all the stuff they couldn't competent Babel I'm been accomplished through my spirit to go back to Abram's life and you realize that he's not able to get his wife pregnant so God puts his spirit in Abraham and then to the spirit. He's able to do it.

What you see throughout the Bible. Is that what man can't do. God does in his place and gives him as a gift to man can't live a life that's pleasing to God through Jesus was in our place. Man can't die the death that we are commended.Jesus dies in her place, and certainly can't resurrect himself from the dead. God by his spirit brings out Jesus's dead body as I will now live in you. I give you that is a gift, the whole Bible cover to cover screams. One thing salvation belongs to our God and one day around the throne were not to be proclaiming how awesome we are what we accomplished were not to be demoting our failures. Quarter to declare the glory of the God who built this thing through us, which is no wonder why in Revelation, John points out that, relishing 24 and God will write a name on our foreheads and that name that he writes could be his name, you have a name tag and haven't you know that girl fashion intact of the name tag and have not is a JD on as a Jesus. Now I don't think that means it will do so only college of Jesus to them. I get confusing I say Jesus notices what you what it means is that the most important and that I have attached the needs Jesus into your heart, is that you comforting me this week as I thought about the fact that I had this feeling that when I get to heaven. There are to be people who come up to me in heaven to walk up and say why are you here maybe the new middleware time in my life. Maybe the new me in high school, same thing.

Maybe they made a bad day right like I recently I was traveling and it's almost not in Raleigh and I said something really rude to some guy and I never do that. Raleigh what did you do me a medicine emergency because under the rug enchantress over the church and pastor you know you cussed me out and I know would meet up size never say in Raleigh, but I was traveling and they just got the better of me and so I said something rude and sinful and forcing about as much, and in all none Raleigh system to be okay and then I thought the will discuss a Christian was the Joseph in heaven.

He will talk to me is okay. Remember that Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on the street you said why are you here at times, hang my head. I'm an appointment for an hour. This is because his name some of or had not my because I'm going to do what I do to become what I become, not because I have the internal strength, but because God has determined that he is going to do it through me some churches is what God is been doing for the good old Bible to do in every age of the church.

He will accomplish.

It is surely a Sarah Abram's wife got pregnant surely as Jesus walked out of the grave he has driven the church forward by the power of the spirit in every age and he's the one driving this church forward in this day he's building his church. These what is doing something amazing for your life. He's a oneness determine he's going to make your life a blessing and not cursing us to build the charts and I need you to do something amazing and I need you to overcome addiction need you to be an awesome parent needs you to be a perfect spouse, he just wants you to yield yourself to him, letting something amazing through you.

That's it.

Christian life is not about ability is about availability and letting God go back to our there one of two towers that are being built in your life. Want to either. Genesis 11 build a pretty impressive tower by your will and your strength for your glory revealed yourself fully and completely without restriction to let Jesus build his tower of grace, and you switch is to rebuild judiciary building whose will is will are you living according to yours or your God not asking you how religious you are just require that cares not asking you humble you, I'm asking you ever given Jesus a blank check and decide it's all yours. Everything you see what you have now your time to treasure your talents do you see those things as belonging to you that you give God some of her new Siemens belonging to him. That is when a huge difference I see happening you come and you think like okay I'm a be generous and give God some of my money and some amount time and at some point some of you woken up to this you will and is on money or my time to begin with a big difference in like you if it if you have $10 in your pocket. I like and I have $10 and you think what how much can I spare you know is in the JD, but if you got my wallet in your pocket with $10 and a somewhat $10. It's not how much I want to get JD at six does he want to leave any of it with me to see that every second you live every breath you take every penny you have is actually his research is a Jesus what you want me to do with this money what you want to do this time what you omitted it with his talents do you see what you have is warming to you or him are strength you get up and face each day with don't tell me it's God's if you don't have a daily time to meet with God and pray registers me totally off your radar. Everything is about your strength glory. Are you concerned about yours or God's mission pursuing your kingdom. His mission don't tell me I'm pursuing God's if all you do is come to this church and we can sit in the audience to be involved in God's mission means you involving God's body. God didn't put you here.

She'd come here with religion once a week for me this is a church is an organization of ministry that we extend the kingdom of God through whose kingdom was towering building by your will and your strength for your glory or not my will but thine be done not by might or by power but by my Spirit, says the Lord, and honestly kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen much about your heads over to listen the real preacher this church, the Holy Spirit, not me. Not me just a moment to let him saturate your heart and let him apply these words you just ask yourself this question sues will you live in by entering glory which let the Holy Spirit expose the towers of disappointment of inevitable disappointment. Let them call you back to himself. Maybe this weekend or realizing what a tower disappointment as there is not trying to pay you back. Just listen, just a moment at all of our campuses or worship teams are to come there to lead us in the celebration of the bread and the best demonstration of the tower that God built to get to us a tower by his strings and save us to rejoice in that what you prepare your heart by letting Holy Spirit have using what tower irrigation building warning