WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:02:44.150 Good morning. and sing to help the children. 00:05:57.550 --> 00:05:59.870 They're put down below the line because they 00:05:59.870 --> 00:06:02.649 are less important and often passed by, almost 00:06:02.649 --> 00:06:06.569 ignored, but no one ignores them in their formation. 00:06:06.829 --> 00:06:10.149 When the author is putting them together, it 00:06:10.149 --> 00:06:13.889 has to make sense. It has to be valuable. That's 00:06:13.889 --> 00:06:16.889 why it's in there. So we looked last week at 00:06:16.889 --> 00:06:19.970 a text. We ended with verse 10 of the book of 00:06:19.970 --> 00:06:23.329 Judges, chapter 1. And this is what it said. 00:06:23.449 --> 00:06:25.529 So Judah went against the Canaanites who lived 00:06:25.529 --> 00:06:27.899 in Hebron. Now the name of Heber formerly was 00:06:27.899 --> 00:06:31.920 Kiriath Arba. And they struck Sheshai and Ehman 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:35.899 and Talmai. Okay? So raise your hand if you know 00:06:35.899 --> 00:06:41.879 who those three men were. Okay. So until I've 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:43.459 prepared the sermon that I'm about to prepare 00:06:43.459 --> 00:06:47.100 today, I also would have raised my hand. I did 00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:49.819 not know who they were. But they're mentioned 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:54.379 in passing here as defeated during the time when 00:06:54.379 --> 00:06:58.509 Judah was defeating Hebron and Kiryat Arba. So 00:06:58.509 --> 00:07:00.149 now let me tell you who they are. And you'll 00:07:00.149 --> 00:07:01.589 think, wow, this is a little more significant. 00:07:03.610 --> 00:07:09.089 Numbers chapter 13, verse 21 to 22. So they went 00:07:09.089 --> 00:07:10.870 up and spied out the land from the wilderness 00:07:10.870 --> 00:07:15.870 of Zin as far as Rehob at Levohamah. When they 00:07:15.870 --> 00:07:18.589 had gone up into the Negev, they came to Hebron, 00:07:18.589 --> 00:07:21.810 where Ahaman, Cheshiai, and Talmiah, the descendants 00:07:21.810 --> 00:07:25.399 of Anah, were. Notice the three names. Now, Hebron 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:27.620 was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt, so 00:07:27.620 --> 00:07:29.100 we can actually, because Egypt kept a really 00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:31.180 detailed history, we can nail down exactly when 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:34.720 that city was built, verse 30. Then Caleb quieted 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:36.560 the people before Moses and said, we should by 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:39.220 all means go up and take possession of it, for 00:07:39.220 --> 00:07:41.339 we will surely overcome it. You recognize the 00:07:41.339 --> 00:07:49.000 story now? The story is when Moses sends 12 spies 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:52.220 to spy out the land, of two of them, Joshua and 00:07:52.220 --> 00:07:56.129 Caleb, right? So then they spy out the land and 00:07:56.129 --> 00:07:59.529 they find the descendants of Anak there named 00:07:59.529 --> 00:08:03.089 by those names. Now, whether it's exactly the 00:08:03.089 --> 00:08:05.430 same three men who are still alive, this is over 00:08:05.430 --> 00:08:08.290 a dozen years later. Actually, it's over 50 years 00:08:08.290 --> 00:08:10.389 later because there were four years before this. 00:08:10.470 --> 00:08:13.589 And then Joshua sent Caleb in and then 15 years 00:08:13.589 --> 00:08:15.470 more passed after Caleb was supposed to take 00:08:15.470 --> 00:08:18.250 over the region. And that's where we're at now. 00:08:18.350 --> 00:08:21.319 So it's been a long time. Whether it's the same 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:23.420 three men alive or descendants of the same three 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:25.620 men or their clans, their families named by their 00:08:25.620 --> 00:08:27.220 names or whatever the bottom line is, the three 00:08:27.220 --> 00:08:30.399 names are named. And they're not a footnote. 00:08:31.379 --> 00:08:34.179 They're not a footnote because when the Israelites 00:08:34.179 --> 00:08:36.559 first wanted to go in, they saw the descendants 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:39.000 of Anak there and what did they see about them? 00:08:39.659 --> 00:08:42.940 They were giants. What was their response to 00:08:42.940 --> 00:08:46.179 them? They said, we are as grasshoppers in their 00:08:46.179 --> 00:08:50.870 eyes. They were terrified of the sons of Anak, 00:08:50.909 --> 00:08:55.149 named by these same three names. So they were 00:08:55.149 --> 00:08:58.409 unwilling then, and they gave a false report, 00:08:58.549 --> 00:09:00.149 really, the ten then gave a false report to the 00:09:00.149 --> 00:09:03.309 rest of Israel, and all of Israel becomes unwilling 00:09:03.309 --> 00:09:05.629 to go into the promised land because they saw 00:09:05.629 --> 00:09:09.110 these three men and their families living in 00:09:09.110 --> 00:09:13.450 the land. Now, fast forward to this point in 00:09:13.450 --> 00:09:15.970 time, they're already in there. And they're just 00:09:15.970 --> 00:09:18.909 trying to finish off what was started under Joshua. 00:09:18.909 --> 00:09:22.470 Joshua was still alive at this time, but his 00:09:22.470 --> 00:09:24.190 public ministry is essentially over. He's not 00:09:24.190 --> 00:09:26.289 really leading Israel anymore. And they're really 00:09:26.289 --> 00:09:27.909 just trying to bring it to a conclusion. And 00:09:27.909 --> 00:09:30.929 Joshua said, now go and do it, right? Just finish 00:09:30.929 --> 00:09:34.970 it off. And during that time, they go in and 00:09:34.970 --> 00:09:37.710 conquer Hebron and destroy those three men and 00:09:37.710 --> 00:09:43.809 thereby their families, right? And it's a big 00:09:43.809 --> 00:09:47.840 deal. It really shows that the same people that 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:49.980 scare God's people when they were going to go 00:09:49.980 --> 00:09:51.879 in the first time are the same people that they 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:55.100 easily conquered this time. Now that's all the 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:56.879 more important because we see that in other ways 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:00.620 they were not really being faithful. They began 00:10:00.620 --> 00:10:03.399 to struggle in following God. In Numbers chapter 00:10:03.399 --> 00:10:07.500 13, this was after that passage I just read to 00:10:07.500 --> 00:10:10.049 you. Beginning in 27, it says this, Thus they 00:10:10.049 --> 00:10:11.909 told him and said, We went into the land where 00:10:11.909 --> 00:10:14.049 you sent us, and it certainly does flow with 00:10:14.049 --> 00:10:16.490 milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, 00:10:16.710 --> 00:10:18.230 the people who live in the land are strong, and 00:10:18.230 --> 00:10:19.850 the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, 00:10:20.169 --> 00:10:23.570 we saw the descendants of Anak there. Amalek 00:10:23.570 --> 00:10:25.649 is living in the land of the Negev, and the Hittites 00:10:25.649 --> 00:10:27.070 and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living 00:10:27.070 --> 00:10:29.090 in the hill country. And the Canaanites are living 00:10:29.090 --> 00:10:32.490 by the sea and by the side of the Jordan. Then 00:10:32.490 --> 00:10:34.889 Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:37.279 We should by all means go up and take possession 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:39.679 of it, for we will surely overcome it. But the 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:41.899 men who had gone up with him said, We are not 00:10:41.899 --> 00:10:43.860 able to go up against the people, for they are 00:10:43.860 --> 00:10:47.860 too strong for us. So they gave out to the sons 00:10:47.860 --> 00:10:50.179 of Israel a bad report of the land which they 00:10:50.179 --> 00:10:52.100 had spied out, saying, The land through which 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:56.000 we have gone is a land that devours its inhabitants, 00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:59.659 and all the people whom we saw in it are men 00:10:59.659 --> 00:11:03.320 of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim. 00:11:03.789 --> 00:11:07.110 The sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim, and 00:11:07.110 --> 00:11:09.809 we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, 00:11:09.970 --> 00:11:13.330 and so we were in their sight. In other words, 00:11:13.330 --> 00:11:16.549 they were cowards, at least in the moment that 00:11:16.549 --> 00:11:19.250 they saw the sons of Anak. They were terrified 00:11:19.250 --> 00:11:24.570 to go and do what God had told them to do. Now, 00:11:24.649 --> 00:11:28.950 it doesn't end here. If you go on with me for 00:11:28.950 --> 00:11:31.419 a moment. Basically, the summary of the rest 00:11:31.419 --> 00:11:32.820 of this chapter, we'll probably hit it before 00:11:32.820 --> 00:11:35.019 we're done, but it is that they all over the 00:11:35.019 --> 00:11:38.039 place failed to take all the lands that God ordained 00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:41.120 for them to take. Just to give you a quick sample, 00:11:41.500 --> 00:11:43.639 likewise the house of Joseph went up against 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:45.480 Bethel and the Lord was with them and the house 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:47.679 of Joseph spied out Bethel. They conquered that. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:56.120 But elsewhere, it says, when Israel became strong, 00:11:56.220 --> 00:11:58.679 they put the Canaanites to forced labor. But 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:01.179 they did not drive them out completely. Now did 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:04.179 Ephraim drive out the Canaanites who were living 00:12:04.179 --> 00:12:06.440 in Gezer? So the Canaanites lived in Gezer among 00:12:06.440 --> 00:12:08.360 them. And it just goes on. And there's always 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:11.179 this compromise, this they don't completely conquer 00:12:11.179 --> 00:12:12.779 the land that God gave them. But now if you'll 00:12:12.779 --> 00:12:15.480 skip to chapter 2, verse 1, read a few verses, 00:12:15.559 --> 00:12:17.919 it says this. Now the angel of the Lord came. 00:12:18.200 --> 00:12:20.700 Now there's an interesting theory here because 00:12:20.700 --> 00:12:24.039 this person might, theologians think this person 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:27.480 might actually be Jesus. There's two possibilities. 00:12:27.580 --> 00:12:30.460 It is a mighty angel of God, right? But then 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:32.720 also there are a few instances where this exact 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:34.899 phrasing in the Hebrew is used, the angel of 00:12:34.899 --> 00:12:37.860 the Lord, and it points to the anointed one, 00:12:37.940 --> 00:12:41.019 or the sent one of God, as opposed to just a 00:12:41.019 --> 00:12:43.460 normal angel. We know that the Greek word angel 00:12:43.460 --> 00:12:45.340 is messengers, so Christians can be considered 00:12:45.340 --> 00:12:47.559 angels because they're messengers, but there 00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:49.820 is an intonation that goes along with the idea 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:51.500 of being an angel that is something considerably 00:12:51.500 --> 00:12:53.360 more. An angel is not a person. A person does 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:56.389 not become an angel, right? It says this, it 00:12:56.389 --> 00:12:58.350 says, Now the angel of the Lord came up from 00:12:58.350 --> 00:13:02.409 Gilgal to Bochum, and he said, I brought you 00:13:02.409 --> 00:13:04.470 up out of Egypt and led you into the land which 00:13:04.470 --> 00:13:06.409 I have sworn to your fathers, and I said, I will 00:13:06.409 --> 00:13:09.230 never break my covenant with you. And as for 00:13:09.230 --> 00:13:11.210 you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants 00:13:11.210 --> 00:13:13.769 of the land. You shall tear down their altars, 00:13:13.769 --> 00:13:18.750 but you have not obeyed me. But you have not 00:13:18.750 --> 00:13:21.860 obeyed me. What is this you have done? Therefore 00:13:21.860 --> 00:13:24.340 I also said, I will not drive them out before 00:13:24.340 --> 00:13:26.620 you, but they shall become as thorns in your 00:13:26.620 --> 00:13:29.440 sides, and their God shall be a snare to you. 00:13:29.659 --> 00:13:31.379 And it came about when the angel of the Lord 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:33.559 spoke these words to all the sons of Israel that 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:37.019 the people lifted up their voices and wept. So 00:13:37.019 --> 00:13:39.960 they named that place Bochum. And there they 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:42.659 sacrificed to the Lord. And so the responses 00:13:42.659 --> 00:13:48.200 of the Israelites to the speaking of the angel 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:50.309 of the Lord is kind of good. They weep. They 00:13:50.309 --> 00:13:53.649 sacrifice, but what don't they do? They don't 00:13:53.649 --> 00:13:55.269 repent, turn back to God, and do what God ordered 00:13:55.269 --> 00:13:56.649 them to do. That's what they don't do. If you 00:13:56.649 --> 00:13:58.730 go on, you'll see that they continue. Right after 00:13:58.730 --> 00:14:00.750 this is the story of Joshua's death, and they 00:14:00.750 --> 00:14:03.669 continue to make deals and compromises and so 00:14:03.669 --> 00:14:06.830 on. It all began with a certain moment in time. 00:14:06.870 --> 00:14:08.610 We talked a little bit last week about how Judah 00:14:08.610 --> 00:14:11.429 had already begun to compromise, but we saw Judah 00:14:11.429 --> 00:14:15.190 and Simeon have great victory nonetheless. And 00:14:15.190 --> 00:14:17.840 it says that they went on. Now we're back in 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:20.139 chapter 1, verse 17. Then Judah went with Simeon 00:14:20.139 --> 00:14:21.639 and his brother. They struck the Canaanites. 00:14:22.299 --> 00:14:24.659 Judah took Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon 00:14:24.659 --> 00:14:26.700 with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. 00:14:26.980 --> 00:14:29.240 Now the Lord was with Judah, and they took possession 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:31.299 of the hill country. But they could not drive 00:14:31.299 --> 00:14:33.740 out the inhabitants of the valley because they 00:14:33.740 --> 00:14:37.080 had iron chariots. And from then on, from the 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:38.919 moment that the iron chariots are mentioned, 00:14:39.139 --> 00:14:41.980 you see failing after failing. Some successes 00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:44.840 too, but failing after failing of God's people. 00:14:45.210 --> 00:14:47.289 to do what it is that God's people were called 00:14:47.289 --> 00:14:49.710 to do, which was own the promised land, cast 00:14:49.710 --> 00:14:52.509 out the Canaanites. God held them in captivity 00:14:52.509 --> 00:14:56.529 for over 400 years until the wickedness of the 00:14:56.529 --> 00:15:00.090 people in this land would become so much so that 00:15:00.090 --> 00:15:02.129 God was right in ordaining that they should be 00:15:02.129 --> 00:15:05.210 wiped out. And then they come in there, and they're 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:07.149 having great success under Joshua. Joshua is 00:15:07.149 --> 00:15:08.909 getting ready to go home to be with the Lord. 00:15:09.409 --> 00:15:11.649 And he says, now go and do it. And the end of 00:15:11.649 --> 00:15:15.289 his is, choose who you will serve. Right? And 00:15:15.289 --> 00:15:16.870 they choose God. They say, oh, we'll do it. We'll 00:15:16.870 --> 00:15:18.309 do everything God told us to do. And then they 00:15:18.309 --> 00:15:20.690 go in and they continually fail, beginning with 00:15:20.690 --> 00:15:23.990 the iron chariots they compromise. So let's look 00:15:23.990 --> 00:15:26.049 then at this summary text, everything that I've 00:15:26.049 --> 00:15:27.490 just showed you. The first thing I want you to 00:15:27.490 --> 00:15:31.110 see there is this conflict. Iron chariots versus 00:15:31.110 --> 00:15:35.830 Yahweh. Iron chariots versus Yahweh. Even as 00:15:35.830 --> 00:15:39.250 the culmination of man's strength and craftiness 00:15:39.250 --> 00:15:42.009 and hard labor. Whatever you want to think of 00:15:42.009 --> 00:15:44.049 iron chariots as, it could be tanks or nuclear 00:15:44.049 --> 00:15:46.710 weapons today, right? Whatever you want to think 00:15:46.710 --> 00:15:50.029 of it as, it is nothing compared to God's power. 00:15:51.049 --> 00:15:53.889 Iron chariots are nothing compared to God's power. 00:15:54.370 --> 00:15:56.610 Pharaoh rushed out after the Israelites with 00:15:56.610 --> 00:15:58.570 iron chariots. He left them all under the sea. 00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:02.169 And now divers have located, they believe, wheels 00:16:02.169 --> 00:16:05.009 from that army decimated under the sea where 00:16:05.009 --> 00:16:09.809 the waters washed over Pharaoh's armies. You 00:16:09.809 --> 00:16:13.029 can see coral in the shape of wheels of chariots 00:16:13.029 --> 00:16:15.789 that they've discovered. The bottom line is that 00:16:15.789 --> 00:16:17.970 no matter what you think of these iron chariots 00:16:17.970 --> 00:16:22.850 as, symbolically speaking, it's all nothing compared 00:16:22.850 --> 00:16:26.889 to God's power. The world's system spins up its 00:16:26.889 --> 00:16:30.429 weapons of destruction. They build a better mousetrap, 00:16:30.470 --> 00:16:32.029 because if you build a better mousetrap, the 00:16:32.029 --> 00:16:33.429 world will beat a pat to your door and you get 00:16:33.429 --> 00:16:36.230 rich. Right? So they've invented internet. They've 00:16:36.230 --> 00:16:37.950 invented cell phones. They've invented a smaller 00:16:37.950 --> 00:16:40.049 microchip. And it just goes on and on and on. 00:16:40.090 --> 00:16:42.409 And all of these crafty schemes in the world 00:16:42.409 --> 00:16:47.029 spin up as men seek victory in the world's program. 00:16:48.549 --> 00:16:54.090 They even look for ways to find resources. Even 00:16:54.090 --> 00:16:56.659 look for ways to find peace. If you have enough 00:16:56.659 --> 00:16:58.379 money and no one can touch you, you can have 00:16:58.379 --> 00:17:00.059 enough bodyguards, you can have enough control, 00:17:00.340 --> 00:17:02.899 you own the world's oil supply, whatever, you 00:17:02.899 --> 00:17:05.299 will have peace. No one can mess with you. And 00:17:05.299 --> 00:17:07.279 while that whole system is working to do that, 00:17:07.299 --> 00:17:09.700 to spin up to these weapons of mass destruction 00:17:09.700 --> 00:17:12.059 or this installation of peace and their idea, 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:19.099 nothing compares to God's power. Accepting certain 00:17:19.099 --> 00:17:22.049 tenets. then, is the equivalent to surrendering 00:17:22.049 --> 00:17:24.390 territory won and allocated by God. They said 00:17:24.390 --> 00:17:27.069 this. They said, well, you know, there's a people 00:17:27.069 --> 00:17:28.690 there and they're doing pretty well. The city's 00:17:28.690 --> 00:17:30.009 built pretty well and it's pretty fortified. 00:17:30.049 --> 00:17:32.450 We don't technically need to conquer them because 00:17:32.450 --> 00:17:34.130 we've got plenty of land, plenty of resources. 00:17:34.170 --> 00:17:36.089 There they are, walled up city, plenty of armies 00:17:36.089 --> 00:17:37.930 and so on. They've got iron chariots. That could 00:17:37.930 --> 00:17:40.390 be messy. I get to see my son's guts splayed 00:17:40.390 --> 00:17:41.789 across the field as he fights against them. I 00:17:41.789 --> 00:17:43.670 don't want that. So here's what we'll do. Just 00:17:43.670 --> 00:17:48.210 pay us tribute. If you pay us enough money, Then 00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:50.869 we'll let you live there in our land, right? 00:17:50.970 --> 00:17:55.509 And so we develop tenants equivalent to surrendering 00:17:55.509 --> 00:17:57.369 the territory to them, but it's technically still 00:17:57.369 --> 00:17:59.710 ours. If they pay us enough money, it'll be fine, 00:17:59.869 --> 00:18:05.069 right? But God is still God, and God still ordered, 00:18:05.190 --> 00:18:09.730 and they still did not obey. Here are chariots. 00:18:09.930 --> 00:18:16.200 There were giants. When the armies of the Israelites, 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:17.940 and maybe they were a little less skilled in 00:18:17.940 --> 00:18:19.759 combat then, when they came out of Egypt and 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:21.380 wound up on the border to the promised land, 00:18:21.420 --> 00:18:23.299 after God took them through all of that, they 00:18:23.299 --> 00:18:24.759 saw the giants, they panicked. They're going, 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:27.200 oh, giants. Can't go in there and fight the giants. 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:28.819 That'll be tough. It's going to be really hard. 00:18:28.859 --> 00:18:30.420 People will die. Surely people will die. Lots 00:18:30.420 --> 00:18:32.839 of people probably. Maybe God will give us a 00:18:32.839 --> 00:18:34.519 victory. Yeah, but lots of people will die. It's 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:36.500 terrible. We were like grasshoppers in our own 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:40.960 eyes. And that's how they saw us. Giants. But 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:43.970 now iron chariots. What's the difference between 00:18:43.970 --> 00:18:46.890 a giant and an iron chariot? Virtually nothing. 00:18:47.130 --> 00:18:50.289 Both of those things require you to have an ounce 00:18:50.289 --> 00:18:53.809 of faith that God can handle giants or iron chariots. 00:18:55.789 --> 00:18:58.809 David said, does no one stand up against this 00:18:58.809 --> 00:19:04.809 man who mocks God? And he believed. And a young 00:19:04.809 --> 00:19:08.069 man, an old boy, went out and destroyed a giant 00:19:08.069 --> 00:19:11.329 that day. Here are the chariots. There were giants. 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.839 But God's people already have the victory if 00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:17.559 they will just walk in what God is already doing. 00:19:22.420 --> 00:19:31.119 Arranging mercy for the world around us. Saying, 00:19:31.220 --> 00:19:36.420 oh yeah, you do you and I'll do me. A lot of 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:40.000 times it's more profitable to do that. we benefit 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:41.799 because we don't say the thing that people don't 00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:43.660 want to hear or do the thing that people don't 00:19:43.660 --> 00:19:46.779 want to see. And that's what they were doing. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:48.579 They said, what's more probable to us to give 00:19:48.579 --> 00:19:50.440 mercy to this people, even though God said, wipe 00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:53.559 them out? God already decided. God already told 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:55.519 them what to do. And God has already told us 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:58.140 what to do. And we're not fighting a war. We're 00:19:58.140 --> 00:19:59.880 going to go kill people. We're not taking visible 00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:01.759 terrain on the earth. That's not what we're talking 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:06.019 about. But God has told us what to do. And when 00:20:06.019 --> 00:20:08.680 we don't do it in order to not offend or to not, 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:12.700 not cause ripples or to maybe prosper in the 00:20:12.700 --> 00:20:15.779 world system. If you prosper in the world system 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:17.759 under those circumstances, you will be just like 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:19.819 the Israelites who saw giants or iron chariots 00:20:19.819 --> 00:20:22.019 and stopped doing what it is that God wanted 00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:26.099 them to do. 2 Corinthians 10, verses 3 to 5 says, 00:20:26.259 --> 00:20:29.500 Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according 00:20:29.500 --> 00:20:31.180 to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare 00:20:31.180 --> 00:20:34.660 are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for 00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:38.009 the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying 00:20:38.009 --> 00:20:40.569 speculations and every lofty thing raised up 00:20:40.569 --> 00:20:42.309 against the knowledge of God, and we are taking 00:20:42.309 --> 00:20:44.609 every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 00:20:44.690 --> 00:20:46.769 Let's be super realistic for a second here. Let's 00:20:46.769 --> 00:20:48.670 just get it simple if we can. Have you had a 00:20:48.670 --> 00:20:51.970 personal experience with the living God? Have 00:20:51.970 --> 00:20:55.329 you personally experienced God? Has God ministered 00:20:55.329 --> 00:20:57.549 in your heart? Have you heard the words of God 00:20:57.549 --> 00:20:59.509 in your head? Have you read the Bible and felt 00:20:59.509 --> 00:21:01.390 such extreme conviction and realized, I've got 00:21:01.390 --> 00:21:03.089 to do something about what I'm reading today? 00:21:03.589 --> 00:21:05.789 Have you been affected by the God of the universe? 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:08.940 That when the world tries to affect you or something 00:21:08.940 --> 00:21:10.819 tries to hold you back from being what it is 00:21:10.819 --> 00:21:13.940 that God has called you to be, should you not 00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:16.299 be able to look back at that moment in time in 00:21:16.299 --> 00:21:18.359 which God had done something amazingly powerful 00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:22.279 and say, this over here is no big deal. This 00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:24.400 thing that would try to stop me from doing the 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:27.039 thing that God wants me to do is literally nothing. 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:30.839 A thought is nothing. A temptation, nothing. 00:21:32.359 --> 00:21:38.829 A relationship with God, everything. Giants and 00:21:38.829 --> 00:21:42.869 iron chariots, they're symbols of God's people 00:21:42.869 --> 00:21:47.849 who know God, saw God do amazing things. They 00:21:47.849 --> 00:21:51.410 just saw the very giants that chased their fathers 00:21:51.410 --> 00:21:56.930 away from the promised land wiped out. Yet when 00:21:56.930 --> 00:21:58.630 they see the iron chariots, they say, well, that's 00:21:58.630 --> 00:22:03.190 another thing. They could have. They should have. 00:22:03.930 --> 00:22:05.809 And if they were trusting in the Lord, they would 00:22:05.809 --> 00:22:08.109 have. Hence, the angel of the Lord says, what 00:22:08.109 --> 00:22:12.150 have you done? How could you do this? How could 00:22:12.150 --> 00:22:13.950 you do this faced with what scares you, that 00:22:13.950 --> 00:22:15.529 you would not follow the Lord who can handle 00:22:15.529 --> 00:22:17.150 everything that scares you? That brings us to 00:22:17.150 --> 00:22:19.950 the second thing. Scary things scare scared people. 00:22:21.950 --> 00:22:24.789 That's the reality. Scary things scare scared 00:22:24.789 --> 00:22:27.509 people. And I think the unfortunate truth is 00:22:27.509 --> 00:22:29.549 that people who don't know the Lord are scared 00:22:29.549 --> 00:22:32.289 people. I wasn't. For over 25 years of my life, 00:22:32.349 --> 00:22:33.869 I was afraid of what people would think of me, 00:22:34.029 --> 00:22:35.549 afraid of what would happen if I tried certain 00:22:35.549 --> 00:22:38.769 things, if I had stuck my neck out. Now, I wasn't 00:22:38.769 --> 00:22:41.630 afraid of dying in a car accident or crashing 00:22:41.630 --> 00:22:44.049 my motorcycle or falling from an 80 -foot high 00:22:44.049 --> 00:22:47.569 tree. I wasn't afraid of, if I did something, 00:22:47.630 --> 00:22:51.769 it causing me physical harm. I wasn't smart enough 00:22:51.769 --> 00:22:53.799 to be afraid of those things. But I was intimidated 00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:56.500 by the things of the world and that I would someday 00:22:56.500 --> 00:22:58.420 need to be a dad or someday need to be a successful 00:22:58.420 --> 00:23:00.039 businessman or someday need to be financially 00:23:00.039 --> 00:23:03.460 successful. I was intimidated by what people 00:23:03.460 --> 00:23:05.400 would think of me. So intimidated that I couldn't 00:23:05.400 --> 00:23:09.019 go and get a sandwich without ketchup or mayonnaise 00:23:09.019 --> 00:23:10.700 because I was afraid of what the minimum wage 00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:12.440 worker behind the counter would think of me if 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:14.140 I ordered my sandwich without mayonnaise or ketchup. 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:18.400 That's how bad it was. to the point that I went 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:20.380 to lunch with two friends in Milwaukee and sat 00:23:20.380 --> 00:23:22.500 there and choked down mayonnaise, which was, 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:24.440 to me at that time, the most disgusting substance 00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:26.559 on the face of the earth, because I didn't want 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:29.240 to admit to them that I was too afraid to tell 00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:30.680 the person at the counter that I didn't want 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:35.420 mayonnaise. And the whole time, I have two brand 00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:37.519 new friends I just met at a convention, and I'm 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:39.420 talking with them about stuff that we both enjoy, 00:23:39.539 --> 00:23:41.779 and all I'm thinking about is what filthy person 00:23:41.779 --> 00:23:43.980 I am that I can't get a sandwich without mayonnaise. 00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:46.319 And you're like, well, no, that's not me. So 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:48.019 there's nothing in your life that scared you 00:23:48.019 --> 00:23:50.440 before you got saved? I'll bet there was. I'll 00:23:50.440 --> 00:23:52.779 bet there are things that scare you now if you're 00:23:52.779 --> 00:23:56.980 not careful. Scary things scare scared people. 00:23:58.119 --> 00:24:01.799 John 16, 33 says this in contrast. It says, these 00:24:01.799 --> 00:24:04.839 things have I spoken to you that in me you may 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:07.519 have peace. In the world you have tribulation, 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:09.960 but take courage. I have overcome the world. 00:24:10.039 --> 00:24:12.559 Jesus knew that you were going to be here amongst 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:16.359 things that would scare you. amongst things that 00:24:16.359 --> 00:24:19.099 you might worry, have anxiety or fear over. And 00:24:19.099 --> 00:24:24.180 he said this, listen to me. You can have peace. 00:24:24.940 --> 00:24:27.980 In the world, you have trouble. There's stuff 00:24:27.980 --> 00:24:31.859 going on here. And it isn't all good. But take 00:24:31.859 --> 00:24:35.339 courage. I have overcome the world. And then 00:24:35.339 --> 00:24:37.500 in John 14, 1, he says this, do not let your 00:24:37.500 --> 00:24:39.559 heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also 00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:43.559 in me. And John 14, 27, he says, Peace I leave 00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:45.500 with you, my peace I give to you, not as the 00:24:45.500 --> 00:24:47.900 world gives do I give to you. Do not let your 00:24:47.900 --> 00:24:51.720 heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. But 00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:53.599 what about suffering? Because, you know, that's 00:24:53.599 --> 00:24:56.039 still something, right? Like, if we are not fearful 00:24:56.039 --> 00:24:58.460 and we go into a situation, we could be persecuted. 00:24:59.019 --> 00:25:01.960 If we are not concerned about choices and we 00:25:01.960 --> 00:25:03.880 make a choice that puts us out there on the raggedy 00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:06.220 edge, we could be dead. We could be broken. We 00:25:06.220 --> 00:25:07.539 could be in a wheelchair for life. That'd be 00:25:07.539 --> 00:25:10.720 terrible. We can be filleted alive, or our skin 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:12.740 can be ripped open, and how's it going to ever 00:25:12.740 --> 00:25:14.799 heal? You see a doctor for years, a wound care 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:20.359 for months. Terrible things can happen. And Paul 00:25:20.359 --> 00:25:22.519 said this, what then shall we say to these things? 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:27.160 If God is for us, who is against us? He who did 00:25:27.160 --> 00:25:28.980 not spare his own son, but delivered him over 00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:31.960 for us all, how will he not also with him freely 00:25:31.960 --> 00:25:34.660 give us all things? Who will bring a charge against 00:25:34.660 --> 00:25:37.480 God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Who 00:25:37.480 --> 00:25:39.839 is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:42.779 died. Yes. Rather, who was raised? Who is at 00:25:42.779 --> 00:25:45.480 the right hand of God? Who also intercedes for 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:48.039 us? Who will separate us from the love of Christ? 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:49.940 Here they are, right here. These are all the 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:51.259 things that we're worried about, right? All the 00:25:51.259 --> 00:25:52.859 things that we're fearful of. Will. Tribulation. 00:25:53.099 --> 00:25:55.660 Trouble. Distress. Stuff that rocks you internally. 00:25:56.279 --> 00:25:57.740 Persecution. People are going to come down on 00:25:57.740 --> 00:25:59.380 you because you're a Christian. Famine. You go 00:25:59.380 --> 00:26:01.180 without food. Nakedness. You go without clothes. 00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:04.119 Peril. Risk of your life. Or sword. They kill 00:26:04.119 --> 00:26:06.450 you with the sword. Just as it is written, for 00:26:06.450 --> 00:26:08.450 your sake, we are being put to death all day 00:26:08.450 --> 00:26:10.769 long. We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 00:26:11.190 --> 00:26:15.849 But in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer 00:26:15.849 --> 00:26:19.190 through him who loved us. Did you get that? In 00:26:19.190 --> 00:26:21.230 those situations, which we might say are the 00:26:21.230 --> 00:26:23.109 worst situations, that we want to avoid if at 00:26:23.109 --> 00:26:26.289 all possible, in those things, we overwhelmingly 00:26:26.289 --> 00:26:29.599 conquer. For I am convinced that neither death, 00:26:29.660 --> 00:26:31.559 nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:33.380 things present, nor things to come, nor power, 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:35.599 nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:37.740 will be able to separate us from the love of 00:26:37.740 --> 00:26:40.819 God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In other 00:26:40.819 --> 00:26:46.480 words, if you go into a time of trouble and you're 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:52.160 suffering, you become a conqueror. Oh wait, more 00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:55.079 than a conqueror. If you go into a time of persecution, 00:26:55.140 --> 00:26:57.329 you stand up for what you believe in, The kids 00:26:57.329 --> 00:27:00.089 don't like it. The workers don't like it. Teachers 00:27:00.089 --> 00:27:01.769 don't like it. Government don't like it. Understand 00:27:01.769 --> 00:27:03.789 it for what you believe in. And you are persecuted 00:27:03.789 --> 00:27:06.430 near unto death, possibly. Your finances are 00:27:06.430 --> 00:27:08.869 stolen. Your house is taken away. People throw 00:27:08.869 --> 00:27:10.490 rocks through your windows, whatever it might 00:27:10.490 --> 00:27:14.230 be. If any of that happens, you are more than 00:27:14.230 --> 00:27:19.170 a conqueror. That's what he said. Unfortunately, 00:27:19.230 --> 00:27:21.309 the people in our story, they were no more than 00:27:21.309 --> 00:27:23.269 conquerors. They were conquerors, right? They 00:27:23.269 --> 00:27:25.430 didn't. They took Bethel. Judah took Bethel. 00:27:26.190 --> 00:27:30.869 That's significant. Caleb's offspring, they took 00:27:30.869 --> 00:27:38.329 Hebron and conquered the Anak. That's huge. But 00:27:38.329 --> 00:27:40.829 they were no more than conquerors. Do you want 00:27:40.829 --> 00:27:43.329 to be a conqueror? Do you want to be a soldier 00:27:43.329 --> 00:27:45.509 who conquers cities? Do you want to be a manager 00:27:45.509 --> 00:27:47.630 who conquers employees? Do you want to be an 00:27:47.630 --> 00:27:51.349 investor who conquers finances? That is not what 00:27:51.349 --> 00:27:54.140 God died for. That's not what Jesus came and 00:27:54.140 --> 00:27:57.119 lived and died on the cross for. You were made 00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:00.420 more than a conqueror. So when you hedge your 00:28:00.420 --> 00:28:02.980 bets trying to get victory, you're selling out. 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:06.480 You're coming up short. You're not going after 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:09.140 what God actually, he made you to be more than 00:28:09.140 --> 00:28:11.240 a conqueror, not a conqueror. Like most of us 00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:12.579 are like, oh, I'll never be a conqueror. I'll 00:28:12.579 --> 00:28:14.819 never be super successful. I'm afraid I'll make 00:28:14.819 --> 00:28:17.319 decisions and so on that don't help along the 00:28:17.319 --> 00:28:21.519 way. I'm not quite that smart. That kind of thing. 00:28:22.009 --> 00:28:25.289 God never made you to be a conqueror. He made 00:28:25.289 --> 00:28:28.250 you to be more than a conqueror. Scary things 00:28:28.250 --> 00:28:34.690 scare scared people. Knock that off. That's not 00:28:34.690 --> 00:28:38.269 what you were bought for. Then the third thing. 00:28:38.529 --> 00:28:41.069 If you choose to do it on your own, God will 00:28:41.069 --> 00:28:44.569 give you what you ask for. If you choose to do 00:28:44.569 --> 00:28:46.910 it on your own, your own way, not God's way, 00:28:46.990 --> 00:28:50.589 God will give you what you ask for. Now they 00:28:50.589 --> 00:28:52.710 would be plagued by the people around them and 00:28:52.710 --> 00:28:54.769 their false gods, and that becomes the history 00:28:54.769 --> 00:28:58.089 of Israel. Even their wisest king to ever live, 00:28:58.170 --> 00:29:00.869 Solomon, will take hundreds, maybe a thousand 00:29:00.869 --> 00:29:04.049 plus wives and concubines and all their gods 00:29:04.049 --> 00:29:06.369 into his household and walk away from faithfulness 00:29:06.369 --> 00:29:12.109 to the Lord. This curse, if you will, that God 00:29:12.109 --> 00:29:14.430 delivers is a response to their lack of immediate 00:29:14.430 --> 00:29:16.190 following. I want you to go back to the Garden 00:29:16.190 --> 00:29:19.299 of Eden for a moment. When Adam and Eve stole 00:29:19.299 --> 00:29:22.099 that fruit from the tree. Who planted the tree? 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:25.099 God planted it. Who made it grow fruit? God did. 00:29:25.259 --> 00:29:27.819 Who fertilized it? God did. Who brought water 00:29:27.819 --> 00:29:30.180 up to it from the ground? It didn't rain. God 00:29:30.180 --> 00:29:33.920 did. Who took the fruit and ate it? Adam and 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:38.400 Eve did. Look at the curse. They'll be cast out 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:39.859 of the Garden of Eden where they might take fruit 00:29:39.859 --> 00:29:41.799 from any tree faithfully. The work that they 00:29:41.799 --> 00:29:44.599 had to do there was easy. cast out and now to 00:29:44.599 --> 00:29:46.599 have to do hard work for their whole life and 00:29:46.599 --> 00:29:51.140 all of us the same. God often uses the effects 00:29:51.140 --> 00:29:54.500 of sin to punish the sinner. Now you can say 00:29:54.500 --> 00:29:57.599 you're suffering, but the reality is a lot of 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:01.059 our suffering is because we're in sin. We refuse 00:30:01.059 --> 00:30:04.519 to make the hard choices to give God his place. 00:30:05.059 --> 00:30:07.539 And then we suffer and we're like, oh no, one 00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:10.980 of the first blogs I ever wrote. I have a blog 00:30:10.980 --> 00:30:13.160 that I don't take as good a care of as I should, 00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:14.660 even though it's read kind of like all over the 00:30:14.660 --> 00:30:16.920 world. It's called Thinking Crazy for Christ, 00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:19.460 the number four. And one of the first ones I 00:30:19.460 --> 00:30:21.640 wrote was, this is what the human beings do. 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:23.660 Human beings do this. They shoot themselves in 00:30:23.660 --> 00:30:25.000 the foot, and then they spend the rest of their 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:26.420 life complaining about how their foot hurts. 00:30:27.079 --> 00:30:28.940 And this is what we're doing. Instead of going, 00:30:29.059 --> 00:30:30.759 you know, why is it like this? Am I supposed 00:30:30.759 --> 00:30:32.220 to learn from this? Is there something I need 00:30:32.220 --> 00:30:33.720 to repent and turn to the Lord? And it actually 00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:36.359 doesn't even matter. If you did it or somebody 00:30:36.359 --> 00:30:38.099 else did it to you, either way, the response 00:30:38.099 --> 00:30:39.799 is the same. You repent and turn to the Lord 00:30:39.799 --> 00:30:41.619 and do whatever it is that God's calling you 00:30:41.619 --> 00:30:43.579 to do the way that God's calling you to do it. 00:30:43.640 --> 00:30:48.160 And walk with Him daily. We shoot ourselves in 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:50.740 the foot. We cause our own problems. God often 00:30:50.740 --> 00:30:52.960 uses the effects of sin to punish the sinner. 00:30:55.240 --> 00:30:57.880 If you choose to do it on your own, God will 00:30:57.880 --> 00:30:59.819 give you what you ask for. The only way you'll 00:30:59.819 --> 00:31:02.339 be able to think that you're faithful, the only 00:31:02.339 --> 00:31:03.519 way that you'll be able to think that you're 00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:06.099 God's man or woman, if you're doing it on your 00:31:06.099 --> 00:31:10.920 own without God, is to change who God is. You 00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:14.299 have to change God up for an idol. Change God 00:31:14.299 --> 00:31:16.400 up for something that will accept the course 00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:19.420 that you've laid out for yourself. Something 00:31:19.420 --> 00:31:21.759 that you can still enjoy and find peace and prosper 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:24.059 and get ahead and overcome and be a conqueror. 00:31:24.970 --> 00:31:28.349 Something that's not God at all. If you choose 00:31:28.349 --> 00:31:31.829 to go your own way outside God, he'll let you 00:31:31.829 --> 00:31:36.690 go. He'll let your sin be the punishment for 00:31:36.690 --> 00:31:40.470 you as a sinner. And you won't be unsafe. I'm 00:31:40.470 --> 00:31:42.470 not talking about losing your salvation. There 00:31:42.470 --> 00:31:49.549 is a way that God seals the end result. But you 00:31:49.549 --> 00:31:51.650 can be a corrupt tree that cannot produce good 00:31:51.650 --> 00:31:55.900 fruit. That's what the New Testament says. That 00:31:55.900 --> 00:32:00.039 brings us to our conclusion then. As Joshua had 00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:02.640 ordered them near to the end of his public ministry, 00:32:02.980 --> 00:32:06.200 he basically said this, decide this day who you 00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:09.240 will serve. In their case, that looked like not 00:32:09.240 --> 00:32:12.839 courageously, obediently pushing on or destroying 00:32:12.839 --> 00:32:16.539 the people of the land. There were people who 00:32:16.539 --> 00:32:18.660 were allowed to flee, and if they didn't and 00:32:18.660 --> 00:32:20.359 they stayed and put up military opposition, they 00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:24.079 were supposed to be destroyed. Oh, the Israelites 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:27.059 are coming. And what happened was, as soon as 00:32:27.059 --> 00:32:29.259 you start making pacts with the people of the 00:32:29.259 --> 00:32:32.700 land, the fear of the Israelites is gone. Oh, 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:34.339 the Israelites are coming. Oh, well, maybe they'll 00:32:34.339 --> 00:32:36.039 just make a pact with us. Get the tribute ready. 00:32:36.259 --> 00:32:39.420 We'll pay them enough to leave us alone. And 00:32:39.420 --> 00:32:41.660 so, yes, there was an intimidation on behalf 00:32:41.660 --> 00:32:43.099 of those who lived in the land. They knew that 00:32:43.099 --> 00:32:45.460 was God's people, but they saw that God's people 00:32:45.460 --> 00:32:48.440 no longer were following the direction of their 00:32:48.440 --> 00:32:51.559 own God to destroy or chase out the people of 00:32:51.559 --> 00:32:53.720 the land. And so now nobody's leaving anymore. 00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:56.759 They were all fleeing, and now they're not fleeing. 00:32:57.059 --> 00:32:59.799 And it's the same way with our enemies, thoughts 00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:02.000 and temptations and choices and things that we 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:05.140 face in this life. If you are not on God's side, 00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:07.359 if you are not doing what it is, if you can't 00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:13.920 face food and sex and drugs and bad music and 00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:16.700 all the things in this world, what opportunity 00:33:16.700 --> 00:33:19.579 to make money? If you can't face those things 00:33:19.579 --> 00:33:22.220 and say, no, I am God's man or woman, and when 00:33:22.220 --> 00:33:24.660 I come in there, it's going to suffer. Things 00:33:24.660 --> 00:33:25.980 are going to change. It's not going to be that 00:33:25.980 --> 00:33:28.079 way. You can't walk into a room and everybody 00:33:28.079 --> 00:33:30.039 in the room knows that if they're gossiping, 00:33:30.039 --> 00:33:32.779 they should stop. If that's not you, then you're 00:33:32.779 --> 00:33:37.420 not acting like a man or a woman of God. If people 00:33:37.420 --> 00:33:40.640 can willingly lie in your presence and tell falsehoods, 00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:42.660 and you'll just kind of laugh it off and think 00:33:42.660 --> 00:33:45.039 it's funny and not say anything because you know 00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:49.059 it's not true, then why should they run? Why 00:33:49.059 --> 00:33:51.220 should they hide? Why shouldn't they just keep 00:33:51.220 --> 00:33:53.640 being everything that the world says will prosper 00:33:53.640 --> 00:33:56.339 them? Because there is no alternative. There's 00:33:56.339 --> 00:33:59.019 no reason for anybody in Hebron or anybody in 00:33:59.019 --> 00:34:01.480 Jericho, which crashed to the ground and was 00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:05.039 razed literally in the day of Joshua, being that 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:07.079 city that no one thought could be conquered, 00:34:07.180 --> 00:34:11.840 and God did that? And when the military enemies 00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:14.829 were fleeing from... People under Joshua, and 00:34:14.829 --> 00:34:16.710 they couldn't catch up to them to destroy them. 00:34:16.750 --> 00:34:19.789 God rained meteor fire from the heavens to destroy 00:34:19.789 --> 00:34:21.969 an army that was fleeing from Joshua because 00:34:21.969 --> 00:34:23.809 he knew they would just turn on them eventually. 00:34:25.070 --> 00:34:27.090 And in any case, they were worthy of destruction. 00:34:28.309 --> 00:34:30.530 Joshua ordered them, near the end of his public 00:34:30.530 --> 00:34:33.789 ministry, decide this day who you will serve. 00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:40.519 They should have courageously, obediently pushed 00:34:40.519 --> 00:34:42.599 outward and destroyed the people of the land 00:34:42.599 --> 00:34:44.800 that would not flee, but instead they began to 00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:47.179 make pacts and compromise and so on. They found 00:34:47.179 --> 00:34:49.940 excuses one by one to let peoples remain. And 00:34:49.940 --> 00:34:52.880 the more remains of the world in your life, the 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:55.019 more temptation you will face, the more struggles 00:34:55.019 --> 00:34:56.739 you will face, the more your mind will go in 00:34:56.739 --> 00:34:59.139 different directions, and you will begin to select 00:34:59.139 --> 00:35:01.679 for yourself gods that will comfort you in the 00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:04.159 choices that you make that do not honor the God 00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:11.019 of heaven. Excuses, one by one. Even tributes. 00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:18.039 And soon they were an intermingled people rather 00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:22.639 than being a people like God's people who were 00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:27.780 designed to stand apart. In ours it looks like 00:35:27.780 --> 00:35:32.079 at least the following. God calls us to fear 00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:35.320 no tactics of the enemy. If someone says something 00:35:35.320 --> 00:35:37.860 to you you don't like to hear, it doesn't have 00:35:37.860 --> 00:35:44.559 to touch you at all. It doesn't have to mess 00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:47.139 with your head. It doesn't have to affect you. 00:35:47.800 --> 00:35:52.039 Do you know who you are in Christ? That the living 00:35:52.039 --> 00:35:56.519 God sent his only son to die on the cross. You're 00:35:56.519 --> 00:35:59.289 now bought and paid for. You belong to him. There 00:35:59.289 --> 00:36:01.150 is literally nothing that the world can do to 00:36:01.150 --> 00:36:02.789 touch you. If somebody says something you don't 00:36:02.789 --> 00:36:04.269 like, does that have to mess with your head? 00:36:04.570 --> 00:36:07.469 No, it does not. If the doctor says something 00:36:07.469 --> 00:36:09.090 that you don't like, does that have to mess with 00:36:09.090 --> 00:36:11.070 your head? Do you have to start wondering, oh, 00:36:11.090 --> 00:36:12.630 no, I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring? 00:36:12.989 --> 00:36:20.070 No. Fear no tactics of the enemy. Accept no failings 00:36:20.070 --> 00:36:22.949 in yourself. This is a problem because even in 00:36:22.949 --> 00:36:25.369 my own circles, people by close confidants, friends, 00:36:25.449 --> 00:36:27.070 people in this room, I'm telling you, I'm not 00:36:27.070 --> 00:36:28.650 naming anybody because I didn't ask any permission. 00:36:29.039 --> 00:36:32.579 But this is what we'll do. Things go wrong. I 00:36:32.579 --> 00:36:34.239 don't like a certain thing. A certain thing affects 00:36:34.239 --> 00:36:36.039 me a certain way. And say, well, this is just 00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:39.760 my personality. It's no sin for me to say that 00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:42.239 I have to behave that way. Or for me to say that 00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:43.820 I have to accept that kind of behavior. Or I 00:36:43.820 --> 00:36:45.800 have to respond a certain way when somebody does 00:36:45.800 --> 00:36:47.019 something like that. There's no sin in that, 00:36:47.159 --> 00:36:49.960 right? There's no sin in me to say that I'm eating 00:36:49.960 --> 00:36:52.119 a little too much on a consistent basis. Or I'm 00:36:52.119 --> 00:36:53.719 spending a little too much on a consistent basis. 00:36:53.719 --> 00:36:57.079 There's no sin in any of that. So we accept our 00:36:57.079 --> 00:37:01.489 failings. But that is not the way God created 00:37:01.489 --> 00:37:03.789 you to accept your failings. When you see something 00:37:03.789 --> 00:37:05.789 and you start thinking to yourself, oh wait, 00:37:05.869 --> 00:37:08.090 this could be a flaw in me. This could be a character 00:37:08.090 --> 00:37:09.650 flaw, a struggle that I have, something that 00:37:09.650 --> 00:37:13.909 needs to be fixed. You have two choices. You 00:37:13.909 --> 00:37:16.469 can submit that thing to God and if God says 00:37:16.469 --> 00:37:18.329 fix it, then you can begin to work to fix it 00:37:18.329 --> 00:37:19.889 for the rest of your life as long as it takes. 00:37:20.949 --> 00:37:23.489 Or you can make an excuse for it and say, yeah, 00:37:23.510 --> 00:37:25.429 that's just the way God made me. Now you tell 00:37:25.429 --> 00:37:26.929 me which one of those is the kingdom and which 00:37:26.929 --> 00:37:29.769 one of those is the world. Is that not what the 00:37:29.769 --> 00:37:32.130 world says? Oh, I'm this way because this is 00:37:32.130 --> 00:37:33.670 the way God made me and I'm going to do what 00:37:33.670 --> 00:37:36.670 it is? If they even accept that God exists at 00:37:36.670 --> 00:37:39.110 all, that's what they say. That is not what the 00:37:39.110 --> 00:37:41.750 kingdom does. We align ourselves with a risen 00:37:41.750 --> 00:37:44.090 Savior. We overcome every challenge. And when 00:37:44.090 --> 00:37:45.789 you find a failing in yourself, you say, okay, 00:37:45.909 --> 00:37:48.170 we're going to deal with this. First thing we're 00:37:48.170 --> 00:37:49.289 going to do is we're going to submit it to God. 00:37:49.710 --> 00:37:51.469 Then we're going to say, what does God say it 00:37:51.469 --> 00:37:54.010 should be? Then we're going to do that, whatever 00:37:54.010 --> 00:37:56.679 that is. If we can get it out of His Word, that'll 00:37:56.679 --> 00:37:57.860 make it easy, because you're going to look it 00:37:57.860 --> 00:37:59.699 up like a dictionary, or Google it, and it'll 00:37:59.699 --> 00:38:03.699 find it. All right? Easily. But if it's not that 00:38:03.699 --> 00:38:05.840 point blank, but the Holy Spirit is convicting 00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:08.179 me, then I'm going to get clear direction. I'm 00:38:08.179 --> 00:38:09.400 going to search it out in prayer. I'm going to 00:38:09.400 --> 00:38:10.639 listen to God. I'm going to get clear direction. 00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:12.380 This is what God wants me to do, and I'm going 00:38:12.380 --> 00:38:18.349 to do that. I accept no failing in myself. We're 00:38:18.349 --> 00:38:21.030 going to recognize and deliberately abolish any 00:38:21.030 --> 00:38:23.809 willingness in us or in the kingdom of God to 00:38:23.809 --> 00:38:27.190 compromise the teachings of Jesus. Whatever he 00:38:27.190 --> 00:38:30.670 said goes. And people are like, well, he kind 00:38:30.670 --> 00:38:32.250 of did. You know that there are people out there 00:38:32.250 --> 00:38:33.550 right now claiming they're Christians. And some 00:38:33.550 --> 00:38:36.429 of them are major theologians making six figures 00:38:36.429 --> 00:38:38.449 in some cases who will say there is no hell. 00:38:40.809 --> 00:38:42.929 Now you know enough to know that the Bible very 00:38:42.929 --> 00:38:46.309 clearly says there is. That God lays it out. 00:38:47.089 --> 00:38:49.050 It cannot be doubted. And they'll just take those 00:38:49.050 --> 00:38:51.829 texts where it cannot be doubted. And they'll 00:38:51.829 --> 00:38:54.469 say, well, that does not have the same authority 00:38:54.469 --> 00:38:57.590 as all the rest of Scripture. That's all poetic. 00:38:57.769 --> 00:39:00.289 It's not actually real. Even though the Bible 00:39:00.289 --> 00:39:02.090 is very clear that from beginning to end, it's 00:39:02.090 --> 00:39:04.570 all what it is. There's no compromising on it. 00:39:04.590 --> 00:39:07.750 Take it for what it is. And by the way, they're 00:39:07.750 --> 00:39:10.110 getting very well paid, very well compensated 00:39:10.110 --> 00:39:11.670 through that position because there's a lot of 00:39:11.670 --> 00:39:14.960 people who want there to be no hell. And you, 00:39:15.099 --> 00:39:17.019 as a Christian, you, as a follower of the Lord, 00:39:17.059 --> 00:39:20.099 need to recognize and deliberately abolish any 00:39:20.099 --> 00:39:22.480 willingness to compromise the teachings of Jesus. 00:39:22.699 --> 00:39:30.199 It is what it is. Then, fear not. And so many 00:39:30.199 --> 00:39:32.239 Christians living in fear, I'm so afraid of this, 00:39:32.260 --> 00:39:34.820 I'm so afraid of that. Understand that scary 00:39:34.820 --> 00:39:40.300 things scare scared people. Are they scary? Yes, 00:39:40.579 --> 00:39:45.159 they're scary. Anybody here ever watch a horror 00:39:45.159 --> 00:39:47.659 movie that sort of scared you? Like, wow, that 00:39:47.659 --> 00:39:50.480 was something. Like, I kind of regret that a 00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:51.800 little bit now because it kind of scared me. 00:39:52.860 --> 00:39:54.659 Now, not everybody has. Some people can watch 00:39:54.659 --> 00:39:56.360 it and it doesn't bother them at all, right? 00:39:57.960 --> 00:40:00.719 But if you watch a movie, whether it's that or 00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:03.679 maybe you watch a documentary about what's going 00:40:03.679 --> 00:40:05.579 on in the world and how the government is doing 00:40:05.579 --> 00:40:07.079 this and doing that and you start to wonder, 00:40:07.159 --> 00:40:08.739 is the government really doing that or whatever? 00:40:09.260 --> 00:40:13.010 Do these conspiracies seem serious? Really have 00:40:13.010 --> 00:40:15.670 something. Are they really on to it? And you 00:40:15.670 --> 00:40:17.170 start wondering. And you start to feel a little 00:40:17.170 --> 00:40:18.869 fear about it. There's nothing I can do about 00:40:18.869 --> 00:40:23.710 that. Scary things scare scared people. God's 00:40:23.710 --> 00:40:25.650 got it. It's going to be fine. Let me tell you 00:40:25.650 --> 00:40:27.250 how it's going to go. It's going to go like this. 00:40:27.329 --> 00:40:29.030 The world is going to go to hell in a handbasket 00:40:29.030 --> 00:40:31.050 very slowly until God decides it's going to go 00:40:31.050 --> 00:40:33.289 a lot quicker. That's what's going to happen. 00:40:33.530 --> 00:40:35.869 Then he's going to recreate everything wherein 00:40:35.869 --> 00:40:37.449 those who have accepted Jesus Christ are going 00:40:37.449 --> 00:40:38.789 to live there in the new heaven and the new earth. 00:40:38.869 --> 00:40:40.989 You want to fly on a pony? You can do it. I'm 00:40:40.989 --> 00:40:42.130 going to swim out of the sea without having to 00:40:42.130 --> 00:40:43.610 breathe. If there was a sea, there probably won't 00:40:43.610 --> 00:40:45.289 be according to Scripture. But if there was, 00:40:45.409 --> 00:40:47.090 you can do it. I'm going to disappear in one 00:40:47.090 --> 00:40:48.909 place and appear in another. You can do it. Heaven 00:40:48.909 --> 00:40:52.010 will be like that. No fear. No dying. No sorrow. 00:40:52.250 --> 00:40:55.349 No pain. All gone. The new earth will be perfect. 00:40:55.409 --> 00:40:56.909 And that's coming someday. But it ain't here 00:40:56.909 --> 00:40:59.070 yet. And as long as it's not, we're foreign to 00:40:59.070 --> 00:41:01.889 this world. And yes, terrible stuff is going 00:41:01.889 --> 00:41:04.269 to happen. And in the midst of it, you're supposed 00:41:04.269 --> 00:41:06.750 to have peace and stand firm. Fear not. Stand 00:41:06.750 --> 00:41:09.510 firm. We are to proclaim what we have seen and 00:41:09.510 --> 00:41:12.929 heard. Reach new heights in Jesus. That's our 00:41:12.929 --> 00:41:16.570 motto and our key verse for our church. That's 00:41:16.570 --> 00:41:18.110 the kind of people that we're supposed to be. 00:41:18.230 --> 00:41:20.869 God says so in his word. And we're to gather 00:41:20.869 --> 00:41:23.409 as the church and act as the body of Christ without 00:41:23.409 --> 00:41:26.989 allowing any reason, excuse, or mental struggle 00:41:26.989 --> 00:41:33.110 to interfere. People are scared to be baptized. 00:41:33.250 --> 00:41:34.809 People are scared to join the church. People 00:41:34.809 --> 00:41:36.769 are scared to witness. People are scared to read 00:41:36.769 --> 00:41:38.389 their Bibles. People are scared to preach in 00:41:38.389 --> 00:41:39.849 public or tell their friends what they think 00:41:39.849 --> 00:41:44.769 is true or what they thought God did. Those are 00:41:44.769 --> 00:41:47.670 things that, they're gifts from God. They're 00:41:47.670 --> 00:41:50.710 not even meant to be scary. Wait a minute. Those 00:41:50.710 --> 00:41:55.750 iron chariots, whose land were they in? Where 00:41:55.750 --> 00:41:58.489 did their resources come from? They were gifts 00:41:58.489 --> 00:42:01.730 from God. That moment in time in which they were 00:42:01.730 --> 00:42:04.449 needed to face iron chariots or face giants. 00:42:04.730 --> 00:42:07.809 They were gifts from God. Goliath's head was 00:42:07.809 --> 00:42:11.449 a gift from God to David. The sons of Anak were 00:42:11.449 --> 00:42:16.150 gifts from God. All of it. And people are afraid. 00:42:19.269 --> 00:42:21.250 We're supposed to gather as a church and act 00:42:21.250 --> 00:42:24.050 as the body of Christ without allowing any reason, 00:42:24.090 --> 00:42:28.050 logic, or theoretical wisdom of the world to 00:42:28.050 --> 00:42:30.900 interfere. I'll give you a couple of illustrations 00:42:30.900 --> 00:42:32.780 and then one closing thought and we're done. 00:42:33.239 --> 00:42:35.079 The first illustration is that of a lighthouse 00:42:35.079 --> 00:42:38.820 keeper. The lighthouse on the shore, rocky shore, 00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:41.940 stretched for miles. Lighthouse, faithful lighthouse, 00:42:42.199 --> 00:42:44.480 called the number of ships away from those rocks. 00:42:44.519 --> 00:42:46.179 That's what lighthouses do. They shine the lights 00:42:46.179 --> 00:42:47.460 out there and you realize, oh, we're getting 00:42:47.460 --> 00:42:50.219 close to a rocky shore and the ship would veer 00:42:50.219 --> 00:42:54.039 off and be safe. Lighthouse was there for hundreds 00:42:54.039 --> 00:42:58.289 of years. One particular generation. there was 00:42:58.289 --> 00:43:03.909 a very kind man running the lighthouse. The supplies 00:43:03.909 --> 00:43:06.510 would come in for the oil to burn to run the 00:43:06.510 --> 00:43:09.349 lighthouse. And the people of the village, it 00:43:09.349 --> 00:43:11.610 was a particularly cold winter, and they came 00:43:11.610 --> 00:43:12.929 and they asked if they could have just a little 00:43:12.929 --> 00:43:17.070 oil to light a lamp or just stay warm. My child 00:43:17.070 --> 00:43:20.530 is sick. I really need a room to be warm, hopefully 00:43:20.530 --> 00:43:24.000 so he can get healthy. Little bit, little bit, 00:43:24.019 --> 00:43:26.760 little bit, the lighthouse keeper gave oil to 00:43:26.760 --> 00:43:30.099 the people around the lighthouse. Until one faded 00:43:30.099 --> 00:43:37.000 night, a huge storm came. It was cold, freezing 00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:41.119 rain, lightning, thunder. It was dark. And he 00:43:41.119 --> 00:43:42.980 lit the lamp and the lighthouse to chase the 00:43:42.980 --> 00:43:45.860 ships away from the rocks. Except sometime in 00:43:45.860 --> 00:43:51.579 the dark of the morning, he ran out of oil. And 00:43:51.579 --> 00:43:54.260 a bunch of ships crashed. And a bunch of people 00:43:54.260 --> 00:43:57.119 died. And the people of the village suffered 00:43:57.119 --> 00:44:01.059 like they never had before for want of a little 00:44:01.059 --> 00:44:08.059 oil. We are the people of God. The resources 00:44:08.059 --> 00:44:10.460 to do God's work have been handed over to us. 00:44:11.559 --> 00:44:15.760 And I understand that our resources, kingdom 00:44:15.760 --> 00:44:20.250 resources, are often called upon. by people in 00:44:20.250 --> 00:44:23.909 the world who do not know God. And you may sometime 00:44:23.909 --> 00:44:27.110 have to share your abundance with those who are 00:44:27.110 --> 00:44:29.230 starving, those who are hurting, those who are 00:44:29.230 --> 00:44:33.670 in need. And it may open the door so you can 00:44:33.670 --> 00:44:37.190 talk about Jesus. But if you share those resources 00:44:37.190 --> 00:44:40.070 and do not talk about Jesus, you're doing no 00:44:40.070 --> 00:44:43.670 one any favors. For when their ship crashes upon 00:44:43.670 --> 00:44:47.429 the rocks, when their doom comes in full, they 00:44:47.429 --> 00:44:49.840 will simply ask, Why didn't he ever tell me? 00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:54.659 Why does she never tell me? They helped me a 00:44:54.659 --> 00:44:58.300 little along the way to my destruction. Are you 00:44:58.300 --> 00:44:59.780 going to help them to their eternal salvation? 00:45:00.380 --> 00:45:07.699 Or help them to their eternal destruction? Compromise. 00:45:08.179 --> 00:45:10.699 There's an old illustration that goes along like 00:45:10.699 --> 00:45:13.280 this. It says that if you take a lobster and 00:45:13.280 --> 00:45:15.719 throw it in a pot of boiling water, it won't 00:45:15.719 --> 00:45:17.969 stay. It'll thrash and throw boiling water all 00:45:17.969 --> 00:45:19.730 over the place and climb out if it possibly can. 00:45:19.849 --> 00:45:22.650 It'll get out. But if you put a lobster in a 00:45:22.650 --> 00:45:25.130 cold pot of water, put that pot of water on a 00:45:25.130 --> 00:45:28.530 burner and bring the temperature up, after a 00:45:28.530 --> 00:45:30.070 while the water warms up. And guess what the 00:45:30.070 --> 00:45:34.550 lobster does? He enjoys a nice warm bath. And 00:45:34.550 --> 00:45:37.510 it gets hotter. And he enjoys a nice hot bath. 00:45:37.889 --> 00:45:40.090 And pretty soon he dies in the boiling water 00:45:40.090 --> 00:45:43.389 without ever struggling away. The church cannot 00:45:43.389 --> 00:45:47.320 be a boiling lobster. You've got to get back 00:45:47.320 --> 00:45:50.079 to the beginning and say, what has God called 00:45:50.079 --> 00:45:54.300 me to do? Do not compromise on the great things 00:45:54.300 --> 00:45:57.320 of the faith. Not even in the least. Do not take 00:45:57.320 --> 00:45:59.659 things into your life that the world says are 00:45:59.659 --> 00:46:05.179 good in anticipation of relishing them. You will 00:46:05.179 --> 00:46:07.199 soon find yourself searching around for another 00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:10.099 kind of God. A pastor who doesn't quite preach 00:46:10.099 --> 00:46:12.599 the word. A church, maybe one growing quite large 00:46:12.599 --> 00:46:15.739 in number. That is a little more comfortable 00:46:15.739 --> 00:46:21.500 for you. No greater illustration exists than 00:46:21.500 --> 00:46:24.960 the Anakim that are in this very text. They scare 00:46:24.960 --> 00:46:30.380 the Israelites away from the promised land. But 00:46:30.380 --> 00:46:32.920 here, they end up as basically just a footnote 00:46:32.920 --> 00:46:39.139 to the victory in the day of the judges. People 00:46:39.139 --> 00:46:41.119 fear that their commitment to Christ will cost 00:46:41.119 --> 00:46:44.090 them. Fearing baptism, a public profession of 00:46:44.090 --> 00:46:45.590 faith, joining the church, letting Christian 00:46:45.590 --> 00:46:47.570 life and church activity be more important than 00:46:47.570 --> 00:46:50.050 world -given activities. They fear waiting for 00:46:50.050 --> 00:46:52.690 a godly Christian spouse or working hard to become 00:46:52.690 --> 00:46:56.010 a godly Christian spouse. They're made by the 00:46:56.010 --> 00:46:58.489 world to fear proper discipline of their children 00:46:58.489 --> 00:47:01.590 or they fear the animal in them and so avoid 00:47:01.590 --> 00:47:03.670 establishing relationships on a deeper personal 00:47:03.670 --> 00:47:06.369 level. They fear what they have become having 00:47:06.369 --> 00:47:08.889 known the grace of Christ and or they fear the 00:47:08.889 --> 00:47:11.559 process of getting to where they belong. Often 00:47:11.559 --> 00:47:14.000 they hang in there cherishing their excuses or 00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:16.800 delaying their unleashed devoted potential, all 00:47:16.800 --> 00:47:19.139 the while risking the great ramifications that 00:47:19.139 --> 00:47:21.719 God will not defeat the very enemies that they 00:47:21.719 --> 00:47:25.639 fear. The very thing that causes you to go, I 00:47:25.639 --> 00:47:28.219 don't know, is the very thing that God will allow 00:47:28.219 --> 00:47:31.099 to go the way you don't want it to if you fear 00:47:31.099 --> 00:47:35.940 it. But if you will trust the Lord in the moment, 00:47:36.019 --> 00:47:38.440 if you will trust Him to deal with whatever it 00:47:38.440 --> 00:47:41.449 is that you face, then, He will deal with it. 00:47:42.849 --> 00:47:48.269 We need a moment of saying no more. We need a 00:47:48.269 --> 00:47:50.210 moment of saying I will not accept failings in 00:47:50.210 --> 00:47:55.550 myself. I will trust God and God alone. I will 00:47:55.550 --> 00:47:58.090 not add to myself from the world's wealth no 00:47:58.090 --> 00:48:03.289 matter what. I will instead stand for the Lord 00:48:03.289 --> 00:48:07.449 in the workplace, in my home, in my school, everywhere 00:48:07.449 --> 00:48:10.159 I might be found. We need a moment of seeing 00:48:10.159 --> 00:48:12.699 the past for what it is, footnotes to bring us 00:48:12.699 --> 00:48:15.559 to a present as we're willing to fall on the 00:48:15.559 --> 00:48:20.940 mercy of the Lord, repent, and propose new life 00:48:20.940 --> 00:48:24.659 in Christ. That very moment then is provided 00:48:24.659 --> 00:48:27.360 by Jesus in being born again. So for those of 00:48:27.360 --> 00:48:29.440 us who have not been born again, we need only 00:48:29.440 --> 00:48:31.659 accept his offer and begin the journey, then 00:48:31.659 --> 00:48:34.440 begin born again. But for those of us who have 00:48:34.440 --> 00:48:37.829 been born again, there is that. 1 John 1, 9, 00:48:37.869 --> 00:48:39.730 confession and repentance and cleansing of all 00:48:39.730 --> 00:48:42.349 unrighteousness because we have an advocate before 00:48:42.349 --> 00:48:46.170 the Father taking care of it for us. And that, 00:48:46.230 --> 00:48:49.670 when one of those two things happens, that is 00:48:49.670 --> 00:48:53.030 when challenges faced become footnotes to history. 00:48:55.150 --> 00:48:57.550 When I was in seventh grade, I gave a book report 00:48:57.550 --> 00:49:00.690 in front of the class. One of the girls came 00:49:00.690 --> 00:49:02.530 up to me afterwards and she really liked it, 00:49:02.630 --> 00:49:04.230 but she said some things that sort of got under 00:49:04.230 --> 00:49:06.389 my skin. made me think I looked like a fool. 00:49:07.510 --> 00:49:09.349 I don't know if that's what started or not, but 00:49:09.349 --> 00:49:11.650 from that point on, I avoided every book report 00:49:11.650 --> 00:49:13.769 and public speaking I gave that I possibly could. 00:49:14.929 --> 00:49:17.750 I missed 38 days of my junior year to miss every 00:49:17.750 --> 00:49:19.289 time I would have been speaking in front of the 00:49:19.289 --> 00:49:23.230 class to give a book report or anything. Because 00:49:23.230 --> 00:49:25.309 I didn't want to look like a fool. In that time, 00:49:25.389 --> 00:49:28.909 I gave one. I gave exactly one report. It was 00:49:28.909 --> 00:49:31.440 on Hitler's Mein Kampf. By the time I was done, 00:49:31.519 --> 00:49:33.900 I role -played Hitler out of his autobiography, 00:49:33.940 --> 00:49:36.360 Mein Kampf. By the time I was done, the girls 00:49:36.360 --> 00:49:37.940 in the class had all decided that they were going 00:49:37.940 --> 00:49:40.380 to get me, that I was going to be punished for 00:49:40.380 --> 00:49:42.440 my believing the same thing that he did, which 00:49:42.440 --> 00:49:44.380 I did not believe that he did. I was role -playing 00:49:44.380 --> 00:49:45.900 him. That was the assignment. I was pretending 00:49:45.900 --> 00:49:49.480 to be him. So after I explained it, they didn't 00:49:49.480 --> 00:49:53.179 get me. They left me alone. But the point is 00:49:53.179 --> 00:49:58.059 this. That was the one oral report that I gave 00:49:58.059 --> 00:50:02.400 between my junior and senior year. At 25 years 00:50:02.400 --> 00:50:06.139 old, I was managing the pizza hut. And we would 00:50:06.139 --> 00:50:08.300 have product rollouts. And I'd do my product 00:50:08.300 --> 00:50:10.019 rollout and my mop would fill with cotton. My 00:50:10.019 --> 00:50:12.400 palms was wet. I literally could feel the water 00:50:12.400 --> 00:50:14.940 running down inside my shirt as I told my employees 00:50:14.940 --> 00:50:18.039 that I hired a train how to make the new pizza 00:50:18.039 --> 00:50:21.559 that was about to roll out. And at 25 years old, 00:50:21.599 --> 00:50:24.440 God called me to preach. I didn't know it at 00:50:24.440 --> 00:50:29.539 the time, but he said, Accept the new life in 00:50:29.539 --> 00:50:31.139 me and I'll take you places that you would never 00:50:31.139 --> 00:50:33.940 dream of. I'll do in you what you would never 00:50:33.940 --> 00:50:37.900 do in yourself. A few years later, he specifically 00:50:37.900 --> 00:50:39.900 called me to preach. And I thought, I don't know 00:50:39.900 --> 00:50:42.079 how to do that. I can't do that. I went and did 00:50:42.079 --> 00:50:43.579 it just one time and said, I'll never do it again 00:50:43.579 --> 00:50:46.659 if I can possibly help it. And God said, oh yes 00:50:46.659 --> 00:50:50.159 you will. Fast forward to the story. I stand 00:50:50.159 --> 00:50:52.500 before you today and I'm telling you, the one 00:50:52.500 --> 00:50:55.630 thing you fear, anything, whatever it is, You 00:50:55.630 --> 00:50:57.909 have two choices. Either submit it to God and 00:50:57.909 --> 00:51:01.849 do with it what he pleases, or continue to allow 00:51:01.849 --> 00:51:04.070 it to plague you until you have to find another 00:51:04.070 --> 00:51:07.789 God. You have to find another way. Build your 00:51:07.789 --> 00:51:13.269 eyes. If it scares you, if it is you and it scares 00:51:13.269 --> 00:51:17.010 you, if it's big and hurtful, if it's earthquakes 00:51:17.010 --> 00:51:20.429 or iron chariots, you need to submit it to God 00:51:20.429 --> 00:51:24.309 and live for the Lord. the way you promised you 00:51:24.309 --> 00:51:26.230 would as a saved Christian, he will forgive you 00:51:26.230 --> 00:51:28.269 and cleanse you of all unrighteousness, or the 00:51:28.269 --> 00:51:30.829 way you need to do the very first time if you 00:51:30.829 --> 00:51:32.489 never have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord 00:51:32.489 --> 00:51:36.570 and Savior. And all the challenges that loom 00:51:36.570 --> 00:51:40.150 so large will become just footnotes in your history. 00:51:41.050 --> 00:51:46.530 But know this, the author took great care in 00:51:46.530 --> 00:51:50.969 constructing those footnotes. It was for you. 00:51:52.500 --> 00:51:54.840 Will you surrender your life to Christ in earnest 00:51:54.840 --> 00:51:58.739 today? I ask the priest to come forward and lead 00:51:58.739 --> 00:52:02.760 us in our closing hymn. And if you're there and 00:52:02.760 --> 00:52:04.559 God is moving in your heart, then you say, that's 00:52:04.559 --> 00:52:06.300 me. And you just say, okay, God, whatever you 00:52:06.300 --> 00:52:08.440 want. And let him lead you with what happens 00:52:08.440 --> 00:52:08.719 next.