The earth shall soon be his own, mine soon, the
sun forever to shine. My God, who called me here
below, will be forever mine. Okay, a couple things
real quick. So first of all, our online community
did send in a good word that we did not name
for the letter P. It is participation. And I
don't think we named that one, so I was excited
about that. That was kind of cool. So before
we begin today, we're going to make sure that
we understand a couple of words and that we all
kind of understand the definition that I'm using
for them. So the first word that you'll see in
the title there is trading. Trading is simply
when you give something for something, like bartering,
paying, paying money, trade money for what you
want, that kind of thing. Proximity means when
you're close to something. So to be proximity
to a grenade when it goes off would be horrible.
That's not what you want. To be in proximity
to one of your loved ones when they're in need
is what you want. To be in proximity to the gospel
is to be able to hear it or know enough of it
to possibly do something about it. Semblance
is a word that says the outside of something
looks like it, especially when the inside isn't
like it. So, for example, you might see somebody
acting like Jesus, but when in reality they are
not a Christian, so then they have the semblance
of a Christian, but not actually Christianity
or being a follower of Christ. Sometimes people
say that the outside of our building still looks
like a school, and I don't think that's entirely
untrue. It does kind of look like a school. And
so it has the semblance of a school, but actually
is where the church meets. So that's what semblance
means. And you've heard the phrase probably dog
eat dog world. It means that the bigger, the
badder, the quicker, the faster, the sharper
wins out. And the lesser is destroyed or impoverished.
And now we know what it means to be close by.
All right. So now we've broken those down. We
began working our way through the book of Judges.
So as I told you then, we don't know for sure
how long we'll be here, but we are here now.
We are not. quote -unquote, preaching through
the book, verse by verse, because that's not
what the Lord has laid on my heart. But we have
been now in chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter
2 for three weeks, taking out different pieces
as the Lord has kind of pushed me to kind of
drill down on those pieces. And so we will do
the same today and for the foreseeable future
until the Lord tells me otherwise. That's kind
of my plan. So hopefully God will show us amazing
things through these texts. So grab your Bibles
if you would. Maybe take a breath, give me a
little hoo to holler amen as we go to Judges
chapter 1. Somebody say Judges. Judges. Thank
you. Are we participating today? I'm just participating
today. Somebody say Judges. Judges. Thank you.
Somebody say chapter 1. Chapter 1. Thank you.
We got it now. Judges chapter 1, verses 22 to
26. So the text is kind of short. I'm not sure
the message is so short. We'll see how it goes.
I have not practiced it. I finished writing it
at 1030. I wasn't getting it. Okay? So this is
what it says. In Judges chapter 1, verses 22
through 26. In verse 22, it says, Likewise, the
house of Joseph went up against Bethel, or Bethel,
depending on how you want to pronounce it in
English. It was literally written kind of Bethel
in the Hebrew. And the Lord was with them. The
house of Joseph spied out Bethel. Now the name
of the city was formerly Luz, L -U -Z, which
means like almond tree. which I guess until I
read that I didn't even realize almonds grew
on trees. I never thought about it, but I guess
it's true. The spies saw a man coming out of
the city and they said to him, please show us
the entrance to the city and we will treat you
kindly. So he showed them the entrance to the
city and they struck the city with the edge of
the sword, but they let the man and all his family
go free. The man went into the land of the Hittites
and built a city and named it Luz, which is its
name to this day. So a few things in the text,
first of all, we want to make sure we understand,
and then we're going to drill down from there.
So first of all, when you hear the house of Joseph,
is Joseph a tribe of Israel? No, it is not. Joseph
is not a tribe of Israel. So Joseph was a guy,
pretty famous guy, who was sold by his brothers
into slavery, had a pretty historic story, and
winds up the really first man in Egypt, kind
of technically second man under Pharaoh, but
really first man in Egypt. And the nation of
Egypt prospers substantially, right? So mentioning
the name of Joseph, then, we're talking about
two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. And they were
the grandsons, right? Not the sons. So they were
Joseph's sons. And they became tribes. They split
the tribe that kind of would have been like the
Levites or whatever. So they split. So that's
how we got 12 tribes. That being said, then,
because they mentioned it that way, could they
not have said Ephraim and Manasseh? Surely they
could. So in the story, the tribe of Joseph is
not a tribe. So when we say the house of Joseph
went up, we know it refers to those two tribes.
But there's a reason they're being called that.
And I'll mention it later as to why the author
chose to use those words instead of something
different. Bottom line is they come to the city
loose. They see it's got some defenses. We're
going to conquer it. We're going to deal with
it as God has ordered us to do. A man is coming
out of the city, bumps into their spies. The
spies say, hey, can you tell us how to get in
the city? We'll do our business. We'll let you
go free. You can live happily ever after. That
sounds good to him. He agrees. He shows them
an entrance to the city. Now, the entrance to
the city is a not -so -known way. It's not the
way that everybody goes. And it's not well guarded
by the city because it's a not -so -known way,
a way that not everybody goes. And so strangers
coming would probably not know about it. And
so they were not really worried about guarding
it. So he shows them that way, and then they
destroy the city. They put the city to the sword.
Really probably take over much of what's left
and that kind of thing. The man is, as promised,
allowed to leave. He goes and he is allowed to
live happily ever after. Interestingly enough,
he clearly, and I don't want to get ahead of
myself here, he clearly fears God's people because
he's quick to betray his own city. Right now,
he might have been quick to death. Maybe not.
He might have got away. They might have been
talking at a distance. We don't know. They might
have captured him. We don't know exactly. But
he's doing more than just dying here. He's doing
more than just suffering. He is betraying. His
city, which probably includes all of his extra
cousins and friends and people and history and
all that kind of... We know that he had a value
of the city because he later creates a city by
the same name, so he's commemorating its previous
existence. Anyway, he sides with God's people.
God's people then conquer the city, as was said,
and he is allowed to leave and go live happily
ever after, but he does not take up residence
amongst God's people. Now you might think that
God's people were only people who were ancestors
of those who came out of Egypt, but we actually
know that's not true. The Kenites, for example,
who were the descendants of Jethro, who was the
father -in -law of Moses, they have become as
Israelites. They have the same rights, etc.,
as Israelites. And there's quite a bit of that
going on. So the Jewish people coming out of
Egypt, they were... They were adding people to
their number, not just only people. Even though
that maybe is not the way they were supposed
to multiply or grow, that's what they were doing.
And so it would have been possible, very easy
for him to take up residence in God's people.
You follow? He could have been basically a Jew.
From that point on, he could have said, I'm with
God. I'm with God and God's people. But he did
not. Instead, he flees to the land of the Hittites.
There's an interesting thing going on during
this time. As he flees the land of the Hittites
and builds a city called Luz, historically, not
so much in the Bible, you don't read about it
a lot, but historically, the land of the Hittites
is swelling massively in population, and the
empire of the Hittites is growing substantially.
They are in a prosperous land. It's what we would
call Mesopotamia, right up there above the Promised
Land, where the Euphrates and Tigris rivers are,
and the crops grow four times as well, and that
kind of thing. It's a prosperous land. Why do
you think it might be that while the Israelites
are taking over the promised land, the population
of the Hittite realm is growing massively and
they're becoming empirical and taking on other
lands? Why do you think that's happening? Throw
me a hypothesis real quick. You're living in
the day when the judges and previously Joshua's
army are invading the promised land and everybody
that doesn't flee is killed. That was God's order.
So where do you think they're fleeing to? They're
fleeing to the Hittite realm. It's the country,
if you will, to the north. So as they flee up
there, the country swells massively and begins
to take over regions all around it. You can look
this up in a map online. I was going to hand
one out, but we don't have time for it today.
So you can look it up. Swelling massively in
population and in the empirical nature. Never
does take over anything in the promised land,
right? They don't come back into the promised
land. Some of them remain in the Promised Land,
never get kicked out by the Jews, but the nation
of the Hittites exists up there and gets bigger
and bigger as people are fleeing the Promised
Land and going to join them, including this guy.
What was his name, by the way? Oh, wait. His
name's not in the story, is it? Just this guy.
Some guy. But he does build the city, Luz, in
the Hittite territory. The Israelites will conquer
Bethel. That's going to happen. God has said
it will happen. Not only Bethel, but all of the
surrounding lands. So decide with God's people
to embrace the plan that God has for God's people.
That's not a wrong thing. If God says do this,
God's people are doing it, and you say, I don't
think I want to do that, and you stand against
them, you're going to pay. You're in opposition
to God. If you're in opposition to God's people,
you're in opposition to God. That's the reality
of it. And so it's not wrong of him to side with
God's people because his city was going to be
destroyed. The alternative would be to be kind
of suicidal. And say, OK, well, me and all my
family are going to be destroyed. Or I can tell
you where this back entrance to the city is and
you can go do what's going to be done anyway.
And then I can live really happily ever after
with all my family. So he didn't do anything
wrong here. It looks disloyal. In fact, in the
world, would it not be called disloyal? There's
a word for this. This very thing that this man
does. Does anybody know what the word is? If
somebody did this to America, what would we call
it? Treason. This man has committed treason.
But it's not really treason in the grand scheme
of things because he is siding with the destruction,
what God is going to do, that's already going
to happen. The handwriting is on the wall. You
either jump ship now or you're dead too. And
so no one would fault him for that. You wouldn't
even call it sin necessarily. In fact, you would
more likely call it sin if he was resisting God's
people. So let's take a look at this guy for
a minute. What are his qualifications to do this?
Well, the first thing is he just has proximity.
He happens to be coming out of the city when
the spies come to the city. That's it. He's just
there. He bumps into them. His name isn't named.
He's not a special guy. He's not a general, a
king, a prince. He's not a locksmith that knows
how to open the gates. He's really gotten no
qualifications at first. other than he has proximity.
And immediately when I think about proximity,
I think about the parable of the four soils,
which we're not going to go there and look at,
but Jesus talks about the parable of the four
soils. The seeds fall in four places. One of
them is good soil. That's what we're supposed
to be, right? But one of them is the path itself,
eaten up by the enemy before it can take root.
Thin soil, where things take off and really start
to happen, but the people don't have root, right?
Or soil that has... thorns and whatever in it,
so the cares and the troubles of this world choke
out the growth eventually. So there's four different
soils represented, but what do all the soils
have in common? They bump into the seed. Proximity.
So Jesus was talking about proximity. So his
main qualifier is that he was there. Well, it's
a good thing he was, because because he was there,
he lives happily ever after and takes his whole
family with him. That's a pretty good deal. But
it's not his only qualification. He cooperated
with God's people. Now, if you go back to Genesis
chapter 12, which we won't do in the interest
of time, God makes promises to God's people.
Two of the most important parts of the promises
is that I will bless those who bless you. God
says that to God's people. I will bless those
who bless you, and I will curse those who curse
you. There are actually four pieces. I encourage
you, I'm going to read it in Genesis 12, but
we're not going to do that today. So he says,
I will bless those who bless you. I will curse
those who curse you. Did this man bless the Israelites?
He did. He showed them how to get into the city
in a way. So if God says, I will bless those
who bless you, then God is now obligated to keep
his promise to bless this man. You follow the
logic? That's what he said he would do. If, on
the other hand, he said, well, forget you, and
he fought back the best he could, maybe he escaped
with his life and rescued a few of his family
members, but he wouldn't tell them anything,
then I will curse those who curse you would come
into apply. But that's not what he did. He blessed
them, and then God blesses him. He chose to go
then to live in the land of the Hittites. That's
an interesting choice because in this day, other
than amongst the Israelites, gods go with lands.
So if you're Greek from Greece, you follow the
Greek pantheon of gods and you have your list
of people that you follow. And if you're Roman
or a Roman citizen because you were conquered
or whatever, then you follow the Rome pantheon
of gods and so on. So the gods generally follow
the lands. And so for him to move to the land
of the Hittites meant that he was going to have
to follow the Hittite gods, which is problematic.
He clearly fears God and what God is doing through
his people, but he's lacking a certain qualification
for him to actually really prosper the way God
might have done so. So he moves into the land
of the Hittites. He selects for himself the gods
of the Hittites. He chooses to be free, but is
he really free? Is he free? He's submitting himself
to false gods. He's submitting himself to the
government of the Hittites. He's tied to the
commemoration of the city that was destroyed
at his absence. All of that is going on. He's
not really free in the sense, but he would call
himself free. They said, you can go free. He
said, I'm free. Yay. God's people pronounced
him free. He chose to build. That's a pretty
cool qualification. He could do something. He
created a city. That's what it says. He built
a city and called it Luz, which is... its name
to this day at the writing of the Book of Judges.
That city is long since gone. Nobody knows exactly
where it's at. There are tons and tons of military
sites and cities that went down completely no
longer exist in the Hittite realm. And there's
a lot of archaeological digs there trying to
figure out where Luz is, where other things are
from the Bible and so on. And some of them are
just trying to learn history of the Hittite realms
because it was such a big deal. The Hittite region
was such a big deal. And they can't find it.
So that city that he created and named after
the city that the Israelites destroyed was wiped
out completely and now gone. So his legacy, everything
that he lived to do to create a city, and probably
tons of fleeing Hittites and others came and
lived in his city, and it became prosperous,
became part of the empire and all that, it's
all gone. So he chose to go and live in the land
of the Hittites, selected for himself the gods
of the Hittites, chose to be free as the Hittites
were free, chose to build, chose to be a part
of a kingdom with a limited lifespan. Now, he
probably didn't think of it that way at the time.
That's not how we normally think of it, but that's
the reality of what he did. He chose to be a
part of the kingdom of the Hittites rather than
to be a part of the kingdom of God. Arguably,
he tried to create that which was one day done
away with by God. So he tried to remake the city
Luz, which God's people had destroyed, but he
tried to do it in the Hittite realms where he
could be protected by the false gods, protected
by the Hittite armies, and so on. He tried to
remake it, and he did succeed in his lifetime.
To remake it. The immediate conclusion that arises
out of this is that if you as a person, I'm going
to show you how we get there, but I'm going to
give it to you first. If you as a person can
see God in charge of God's kingdom, if you realize
that God is in charge of God's kingdom, and that
God's people have a special power to stay the
course so that God's promises will eventually
be fulfilled, and it will eventually happen as
God said that it will happen. If you can see
that, and if you can love those people, who you
only know because God has put you together with
them, then do that. Joshua, back in the book
of Joshua, chapter 1, verse 4, it says, From
the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far
as the great river, the river Euphrates, and
the land of the Hittites, and as far as the great
sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your
territory. That's what God said to Joshua and
the people of Joshua. In Deuteronomy 20, verse
17, it says, But you shall utterly destroy them,
the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the
Perizzite, the Hivite, the Jebusite, and the
Lord your God has commanded you. Deuteronomy
20, 17. So even before Joshua took over, we had
the idea that God was already going to do it.
And understand, this guy, who probably didn't
know all this, chose to go live amongst the Hittites
instead of living amongst God's people. He chose
a kingdom with an expiration date. He didn't
know it, they didn't know the expiration date,
but he chose a kingdom with an expiration date.
In Exodus 23, beginning in verse 20, it says,
Behold, I am going to send an angel before you
to guard you along the way and to bring you into
the place which I have prepared. Be on your guard
before him and obey his voice. Do not be rebellious
toward him, for he will not pardon your transgressions
since my name is in him. But if you truly obey
his voice and do all that I say, then I will
be... an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary
to your adversaries. For my angel will go before
you and bring you into the land of the, listen
for it, Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites,
the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
And I will completely destroy them. You shall
not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do
according to their deeds. But you shall utterly
overthrow them and break their sacred pillars
in pieces. But you shall serve the Lord your
God, and he will bless your bread and your water
and will remove sickness from your midst. There
shall be no one miscarrying or barren in the
land. I will fulfill the number of your days.
I will send my terror ahead of you and throw
into confusion all the people among whom you
come. And I will make all your enemies turn their
backs to you. I will send hornets ahead of you
so that they will drive out the Hivites, the
Canaanites, the Hittites before you. I will not
drive them out before you in a single year that
the land may not become desolate and the beasts
of the field become too numerous for you. I will
drive them out before you little by little until
you become fruitful and take possession of the
land. I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea
to the Sea of the Philistines and from the wilderness
to the River Euphrates where I will deliver the
inhabitants of the land into your hand and you
will drive them out before you. You shall make
no covenant with them or their gods. They shall
not live in your land because they will make
you sin against me. If you serve their gods,
it will surely be a snare to you. That's Exodus
23. The command of God, essentially, to take
the promised land. But then in Judges 2, which
is a little bit after we read, Therefore I also
said, I will not drive them out before you, but
they will become as thorns in your sides, and
their gods will be a snare to you. When the angel
of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons
of Israel, the people lifted up their voices
and wept. So they named that place Bochum, and
there they sacrificed to the Lord. The process
goes like this. God says, you will wipe all them
out and take all their land, including all the
Hittites. Then they go in and they are not really
faithful with the process that God has given
them because it looks like there are alternatives
all around them everywhere. They start to worship
the false gods. They start to partner with the
stuff that's going on there. prosperous kingdom,
a successful thing that's going on right in their
face. And they're like, you know, I'm not sure
that the standards of the kingdom that we are,
the kingdom of God, aren't a little too stiff
for me. I kind of like these standards over here
better. Being in the kingdom, then, the kingdom
of God, would mean living near those who live
near the kingdom of God, but choose to disconnect
from the kingdom of God and vice versa. So this
guy who was coming out of Luz, who went to the
Hittite kingdom, Went there. By the way, remember
that the crops in that region of the world, like
the same amount of seed would produce four, or
at that time it's believed to be 16 times as
much crops. Extremely prosperous. Some people
think it's because that's where the Garden of
Eden was at one time and those rivers were laid
out, but we don't know that for sure because
things changed possibly geographically after
the flood. Bottom line is this. If you would
live in the kingdom of God, you will live near
those who have chosen not to live in the kingdom
of God. but also chose to be close by. Does that
make sense? So there is a region just outside
the kingdom of God which proves extremely prosperous.
Hang on. Let me say that again. There is a region
of existence, a living that you can do just outside
the kingdom of God that proves, that turns out
to be, that actually is extremely prosperous.
That doesn't seem right. But it's true. That
region receives the castoffs, those who don't
want to live in the kingdom. Some of those people
fear God, but they don't love God, like this
guy. And there's the semblance, that is to say
something that looks like, there's the semblance
of power in numbers. So as people collect together
who don't really want to follow God the way God
says, sometimes their numbers grow, their population
is extreme, and it starts to look like, wow,
look at those people. Why does that body of believers
gather 2 ,000? Why does that cult over there
have buildings that you go to with no, they don't
even need to reach out to people. There's no
signs welcoming people in or wherever, but tons
of people are going there anyway. And people
start to think it looks like power. It looks
like there is something to it. I've got to go
there because it looks like there is something
to it. They're beyond the tipping point. An example
of that was the Hittite Empire. Many of them
are displaced. They're kicked out of their homes
by God's people who have the power of God. They
were chased away by a hornet. Soldiers who had
no training compared to these lifelong soldiers
who couldn't. 20 soldiers that had trained for
40 years. Everyone was a 50 -year -old guy who
knew how to use a sword, knew how to use weapons
and had chariots and everything that could do
all of that. And a 14 -year -old boy in Israel
would take out 20 of them. And they fled to the
Hittite Empire. But because the Hittite Empire
started to grow and have so many people, it went
into an empirical time. And they started to take
on other lands. Now they didn't go into the promised
land because that would just be stupid. But we
know what that's like down there. But look, we
can conquer all these other people. And so they
began to prosper. There is a region just outside
the kingdom of God that proves to prosper. Anti
-church movements are like this. One of the early
Willow Creek movements. This is the church for
people who hate church. And it blew up. They
got tons of people to come because there are
anti -church movements. People say, I don't go
to church because there they insert whatever
it is that they don't like about the church.
Now, leaving off everything that the church does
that God ordains that they don't want. It's a
little too hard. I've got to get up early on
Sunday. It's my only day off. I can sleep in.
I sleep in on Sundays. And by the way, that just
makes sense. It makes me more prosperous on Monday,
more successful. I can do my job better because
I get the weekend off. Or we camp every weekend.
Or we do sports every weekend. Or we do whatever.
So movements that detract. from God's people
are still sometimes very prosperous because lots
of people flock to them. Cults with structure
and rules. And these things even sometimes produce
a semblance of godliness. They look like they're
right. You can't do that here. You can't do that
here. You can't do that here. You have to do
this here. Okay, well, if I can't, can't, and
can't, and I don't, don't, and don't, and I do,
I'm going to do well. Does that make sense? In
fact, these regions just outside the kingdom
of God are, listen to this phrase, trickling.
with milk and honey. Remember that the lands
of the promised land, God said, I will give you
lands flowing with milk and honey. The promised
lands don't flow with milk and honey because
they're the promised lands. They flow with milk
and honey because God makes them flow with milk
and honey. But there are lands that prosper,
right? Mesopotamia is an example of that. One
empire after another conquering tons of societies,
wiping people out, destroying lives, taking slaves
because the crops there grow well. That's a lot
of money. That'll buy you a lot of iron chariots
and swords and so on. Right? And then, I mean,
in fact, just aside for a moment, even in the
day of Solomon, which was the greatest prosperity
time period, basically, for the kingdom of God
in the Promised Land, Solomon bought chariots
and horses from Egypt and sold them to the Hittite
Empire for a profit. And he did things like that
that made the people of God so prosperous. But
the Hittite Empire also was prospering by that.
And they were conquering and taking lands. Not
the promised land, but they were very successful
in other areas. Their land was trickling with
milk and honey. Or, as Egypt occasionally gushing.
You know how Egypt works? There is a realm that
runs along the river, the Nile. And in the spring,
every year, it floods. And it leaves healthy,
good sediment soil for miles out from the river.
And there you can grow a lot of crops. And if
you can grow a lot of crops, you can make money
and you can prosper. And as a society, they have
always prospered. But there was a period of time
when they did not prosper and they needed God
to do something. And God sent Joseph. Joseph
led them to prosper. And the bottom line is this.
We stay on task for a minute. Trickling with
milk and honey or occasionally gushing with milk
and honey. Sometimes the hustle. Or the victimization
there means some will prosper greatly at the
expense of others. It's a dog -eat -dog world.
So if you're stronger, if you're faster, if you're
smarter, you can become a millionaire, a multimillionaire,
a billionaire if you'll hustle to do it. Elon
Musk, arguably one of the wealthiest men, maybe
the wealthiest man in the world for a while there,
says he would say he worked 100 plus hours a
week. Over 100 hours a week. He will work 15
plus hour days on a regular basis, right? And
do it for weeks, months, years, decades. He prospered
because it's a dog -eat -dog world and he's willing
to eat a dog is the bottom line. He's on top
of the heap because he's got the hustle. And
then there's victimization. In this same kingdom
that we're talking about. Which means some will
prosper greatly. At the expense of others. Dictators
will starve out their societies. In order to
be able to sit on golden chairs. And so on. There
in this realm that I'm talking about. Great mantras
or rules of living. Like first come first served.
Respect is earned not given. Be yourself. Along
with a host of other things. And all of these
things validate. A semblance of freedom and daily
choices to continue to reside outside the kingdom
of God and outside kingdom values. And you now
can see, just in this short time that I've been
describing, you can see how, number one, it's
definitely in the world. We can see out there,
near the church but not in the church, near us,
near our families but not in us or in our families,
is a kingdom like what I'm describing. But I'm
here proposing to you that this very same kingdom
is actually in the church. It is in those who
have claimed membership anyway, or those who
have come regularly, or those who participate
in serving, giving, or whatever. The success
of this world then lures God's people, and in
fact even outmatches their efforts. Christians
and servants of God, we foolishly do not recognize
the attraction of this world. I want to be good.
I want to have my bills paid. I want to be okay
with my health and so on. And you look at somebody
else in the world and they've got all that. And
they're not a Christian. So then that means you
don't really have to be faithful. You don't really
have to serve. You really don't have to push
through. You don't have to be that radical, denying
yourself Christian that Jesus called us to be.
Right? You can even find the semblance of God's
given fruit of the Spirit there. They talk all
about goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness,
and self -control. They talk all about love,
peace, and patience. But under scrutiny, when
you actually look at it, you'll see that those
things have to be redefined in order for them
to actually have them. Because a corrupt tree
cannot produce good fruits, so says Jesus. Finding
the semblance of God's given fruit there, then
applying biblical standards, you will need to...
see that that has been redefined, and you'll
say, well, I'm not going to adhere to those redefinitions.
I know what love, peace, joy, and patience are.
I know what faithfulness and self -control are.
I know what goodness, gentleness, kindness is.
I'm not going to let you redefine them for me.
And thus begins the war. The God of heaven will
not allow the fruit of his spirit to be redefined.
Joshua was very aware that in the midst of God's
people, right on the heels of God doing miracles,
after an entire generation is wiped out for not
trusting God and going to the promised land like
they were supposed to, Joshua is very aware that
in their midst are people who would choose this
other kingdom. They want the prosperity that
comes with the proximity. They want the blessing
that comes with blessing God's people. They want
God to do amazing things. But they were unwilling
to put God first. And so he said then, choose
this day whom you will serve. Now the truth is,
you can build something there. If you want to
build something, you can do it. Just like this
guy, we don't even know his name, you can go
to this kingdom that I am describing that is
in close proximity and build something there.
You can build something that commemorates recent
history. You can think about how these events
happened and you don't want them to be forgot
and you can make sure. You can build something
there that commemorates ancestry. You can talk
about your parents, your grandparents, your family
history, your family's traditions, your family's
accomplishments. And you can be another one to
carry the torch, to anoint the mantle of your
house, to say, my family did this, my family
did that. You can commemorate yourself. I want,
I think, I deserve, this is the way I am, this
is the way God may be. You can talk about how
you are, who you are, even what God has made
you while all the time enthroning really you,
not God. You can enthrone your family, commemorate
your family, or whatever you want to see propagated
into future generations, there you can go and
build that. Ironically, you will not build that
in God's kingdom because God's kingdom is instead
all about honoring God, all about praising God.
And when all you have is something to say about
you or the world or your success or your family
or the way you think, you may as well just shut
up. Because all you've done is chosen to put
yourself in a kingdom like this man did with
an expiration date. But you can build something
there. That's a fact. And then lastly, as we're
breaking this all down, In a manner of speaking,
you can undo what God has done, or at least unglorify
it to those who are like -minded. You can say,
well, going to church isn't the thing. Serving
in the body or being a member isn't the thing.
Tithing is too much. You can unglorify the things
that God has instituted and build for yourself
something else that will stand even the test
of your lifetime so that you can teach your children,
and if you live long enough, your grandchildren
to do it the way that you do it. You can build
that there. He rebuilt Luz. Cults have bigger
followings than Christ in many cities. Sports
draw bigger crowds and people will come to a
block party who will not yet come to worship
or serve. It's a reality. You can undo what God
has done or at least un -glorify it to those
who are like -minded. There will be a semblance
of a better production. The truth is, the big
name rock stars, their music, Their electronics,
their lights, their explosions, they're better
than what we got. There are no church bands that
are producing anything that remotely resembles
what the top 100 bands in America are putting
out there. Now, it's good. I mean, there are
some Christian artists that produce an amazing
thing, and they would claim the church. However,
you'd really have to know, you'd have to get
to know them to find out whether or not they
really are following. In fact, Bethel Music,
and I'm not trying to get on a political pedestal
here, out of California, which makes some of
the greatest Christian songs of our era, and
they will sing for an hour and a half to two
hours before the preacher ever gets up to preach.
How do you feel about that? They produce some
of the greatest Christian music that's out there.
But if you examine their doctrine, you'll find
that it does not line up with the Bible, and
it's probably a cult, not even Christianity.
And they have the biggest numbers of people of
almost any church segment in the world. The semblance
of a better production or a bigger production
or more people or more salary for the same amount
of work. It's all available to you. If that'll
tempt you, if it'll tempt you now to go after
any one of those things rather than staying in
the kingdom of God, then I would suggest that
you just do that. Kind of wasting your time.
May as well go build something that you can really
enjoy for your life. May as well go get the promotions
and get the money and really have a happy, good
life before you go to hell. May as well. He said,
choose this day whom you will serve. That brings
us to our conclusion then. It is coming out of
2 Timothy chapter 3. So if you're following along
in your Bibles, you're welcome to go there with
me and read it. I'll highlight a couple of key
points. And I think I'm going to tie this all
up in a nice neat ribbon. I plan to. 2 Timothy
chapter 3 beginning verse 1 says this, But realize
that in the last days difficult times will come.
I could be where we're living. Her men will be
lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant,
revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful,
unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious,
gossips without self -control, brutal, haters
of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers
of pleasure rather than lovers of God. It could
be, I mean, but the problem is, so many generations
before us thought that they could be living in
the same generation too. Why? Because the standards
that we just listed off, many of them are the
same standards of this very same, very close
kingdom that is not God's kingdom, but is living
in our midst. Verse 5 says this, holding to a
form of godliness. Well, there it is. There's
the semblance. It looks like godliness. Although
they have denied its power. Avoid such men as
these, he says, for among them, are those who
enter into households and captivate weak women,
weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,
always learning and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth, just as Janus and Jambres
opposed Moses. So these men also opposed the
truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard
to the faith, but they will not make further
progress, for their folly will be obvious to
all, just as Janus and Jambres' folly. was also
obvious. Okay, we'll stop there for a second.
Do you know who Janus and Jambres were? So Janus
and Jambres are not mentioned anywhere else in
the Bible. This is not a biblical reference specifically.
But we must remember that the guy writing this
is Paul. Paul was a Jew before he was a Christian.
And so in Jewish tradition, Janus and Jambres
were the sorcerers, the magicians that represented
Pharaoh and resisted Moses. So Moses would do
a miracle, and then they would do the very same
miracle. To a point. Now, their miracles were
finite. So Moses' snake ate their snakes. They
made blood in a bowl. He made blood in an entire
country. So they were finite comparatively, but
the point is it was just enough, just enough
for Pharaoh to not believe God through Moses.
And he was always able to harden his heart with
the help of Janus and Jambres. And so now here
we have mentioned in this text, Janice and Jambres,
and don't forget that in the original text, where
the city of Luz was being destroyed and the man
was being allowed to go free, we have mentioned
the house of Joseph, who was the first house
that really reigned in Egypt, and it was the
house that was forgotten that led to the time
of Moses. Back to verse 10, almost done with
the text. Now, you followed my teaching, conduct,
purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance,
persecutions, and sufferings. Such as happened
to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. What
persecutions I endured, and out of them all the
Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live
godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. If
you've never been persecuted, one of two things
is true. Either you're not living godly for Jesus
Christ, or it just hasn't happened yet. Those
are the options. Because it says right there,
indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ
Jesus will be persecuted. Why? Because there
is a kingdom that lives in our midst or very
nearby that desires all of this that we've been
talking about. And when you offend, and when
you affront, and you say, look, the joy you say,
that's not the joy that the Bible talks about.
The love you're talking about, that's not the
love that the Bible talks about. That's not what
God has called us to. And you say that, you're
going to upset them. And accordingly, be persecuted.
That's what Paul knew to be true, and it had
happened to him, and he said it would happen
to all of us. Verse 13 says, But evil men and
imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving
and being deceived. You, however, continue in
the things you have learned and become convinced
of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
and that from childhood you have known the sacred
writings which are able to give you the wisdom
that leads to salvation through faith which is
in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by
God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, for training in righteousness,
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped
for every good work. Wow, that was a lot. And
we don't need it all. What we do need is this.
Paul said, as we near the end time, the kingdom
that we're talking about, the one that lives
near the kingdom of God, to receive the blessings
of proximity, the semblance of God's power, right?
In a dog -eat -dog world, still getting ahead
by their own means, but living right near us
or sometimes in our midst, that kingdom will
become more prevalent. The Christians will walk
away and chase after the easier method of living,
the freedom that that other kingdom theoretically
provides. A great kingdom like Egypt, literally
surrounding God's people. The Pharaoh reigned
and that nation was already huge before the Israelites
ever went into slavery. The government was made
great and the nation then was saved by God when
Joseph became the number one man. Who was he?
He was an Israelite. Why was he there? So that
God could then save his own people out of the
promised land into Egypt and then keep them there
for 400 years while the very people that we're
talking about them that they're supposed to be
destroying would be building up their iniquity.
The kingdom of the Hittites and those who were
thereby. They would live that way. Now what?
Not in proximity to the people of God. But the
Egyptians would be in proximity to the people
of God. And don't forget the blessing and cursing
of Genesis 12. So the people of Egypt bless Joseph
and God's people, and the nation is blessed.
See, it plays out that way every time. When Moses
confronted Pharaoh, these magicians here mentioned
were at first able to duplicate the miracles
with tricks or sorcery. Find a people of the
book! That's what I'm telling you. Find a people
of the Bible that might not like always what
the Bible says. I'm sometimes under such conviction
that I have to change, I have to repent, that
I realize I'm just a man and God is God and I'm
not God. And I go, oh, holy cow, I've got to
turn to God and I've got to fix this problem
with myself. But really, I have to let God fix
it. My burdens must be lifted by God or they
will not be lifted at all. Sometimes when I go
to the book, I'm under such strong conviction.
Sometimes when I go to the book, I'm under such
strong encouragement. Find a people of the book,
Paul says. A people of the kingdom, Paul says.
And then he says, get in! Get in that people
of the book, that people of the kingdom. John
says, if you say you love God, but do not love
your brother, and to love them is to choose to
love them, even when they seem unlovable, and
to be willing to sacrifice everything that you
have for them, even when it seems like they don't
deserve it. That's what it means to love there.
And he says, if you say you love God, but don't
love your brother, and he's talking about in
the church, then you are a liar. And the word
says, God is not mocked. You will reap what you
sow. And so if you live in the kingdom of God,
intermixed with us, we're all here, we're all
studying the word of God right now, we're all
trying to say, okay, what does the Holy Spirit
want from us? But if you know that's not what
you're doing, if you have not put Jesus first,
if you're here to get some blessing, if you're
here to learn something but not really here to
let it change you, if you're here to listen to
the word of God but not really here to go, okay,
I'm ready to give up. All my money, all my time,
all my strength, all my mental power, I would
really submit all that to God and let him use
it. If that's what you're all about, I submit
to you, there's a good possibility you're living
in the kingdom of God of your own making. Not
the kingdom of God that actually is the kingdom
of God. Jesus said, deny yourself, take up your
cross daily, and follow after me. And I imagine
there's people who will follow after him. There
might even be people who will take up their cross
daily. Knowing that if they're with the church,
they might suffer, be persecuted, and so on.
But just not follow him. Just not deny self.
Just fall a little short. Just not be Jesus'
disciple. God is not mocked. You will reap what
you sow. Jesus told the parable of the wheat
and tares. He said, they're growing right together.
They said, should we go tear out those tares?
Those horrible weeds that yield no fruit, no
nutrition? No, don't tear them out because their
roots are intertwined. This means that your husband,
your wife, your child, your friend, the people
that you work with, the people in your church,
your Sunday school teacher, that they might be
going to heaven for an eternity and you might
not be going. Or vice versa. You might be going
and they may not be going. And Matthew 7 says,
we cannot judge salvation while we're on this
earth, so we continue to preach the gospel to
one another. We continue to look at the teachings
of God. Paul was saying, find a people of the
book, a people of the kingdom, and get in. Love
your brother. Love my work and my people. You
can see Jesus getting up off the ground or off
the floor with a dirty towel after washing their
feet saying, oh, if you only knew what I've done
to you. If I have gotten down on my knees and
washed your feet, how much more should you wash
each other's feet? He's talking about service.
Service to people in the nastiest, dirtiest,
most painful ways. Why would he do that? Why
would he set that standard of the kingdom when
right over there, we're all mixed in with us,
right close by, in proximity, easily graspable,
easily interpreted, is a kingdom. But you don't
have to wash anybody's feet. You only got to
serve when you really want to serve. Serve in
the way that you're wired. Serve in the way that
you can. And that's it. You don't really got
to give because nobody's checking your checkbook
to see whether or not you've been faithful with
your tithe and offering. You don't really got
to do that. There's a kingdom right over there.
In fact, there's a lot more people in it and
they're all prosperous. There's tons of professionals
and people winning at games and sports and the
best mechanics sometimes. There's tons of prosperity
right over there in proximity with the kingdom
of God that doesn't have sacrifice yourself,
doesn't have submit yourself to Jesus, doesn't
have be willing to be persecuted. But then you
can hear Jesus saying, he who puts his hand to
the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom
of God. But also the same God said, the gates
of hell shall not prevail against his church.
His local body called out assembly of believers.
His church. I know everybody in the world wants
to say that there's a universal church. It's
everybody that claims the name of Jesus. But
the word there means local, called out assembly
of believers. Which means if we are the church,
if you are the church, we're here, this is us,
and we're New Age Fellowship Baptist Church,
then the gates of hell cannot prevail against
us. Oh, you know what? It's fanciful thinking.
Because one day, the gates of hell will come.
And when they come, we're ready. We'll resist
the gates of hell. We'll turn them back. We'll
defeat them. Oh no. If you haven't gotten anything
out of this sermon, you don't understand that
the gates of hell are in this room right now.
They're right now in this room amongst us. And
the truth is, some of us are living on the other
side of them in the kingdom, right next to the
person that's in the room that loves God and
truly is where they belong in Christ. He also
said that each person has been given as necessary
to serve in that local body of church. That's
the teaching on spiritual gifts. He said that
no one part of that church can dismiss another.
Saved, installed, rooted in His church. If you
can see God is in charge of the kingdom, you
can see God's people have a special power to
stay the course. And if you can love those, who
you only know because God put you together and
said it should be so, then do it. We don't allow
or even follow this model all the time because
sometimes people fear God and they follow him
for a little while here and there. But those
who love God will follow this model. They will
say, I want to be. in the kingdom of God. I want
to be a part of God's people no matter what it
costs me. I want to do it the way God has written
it. If we understand the teaching that I'm talking
about today, we will not just get close to God's
people so we can trade on proximity. Rather,
we will get into God's people with a change in
identity. We're not looking for a semblance of
power or godliness. but an enduring presence
of God, even if it's through persecution. According
to scripture, he will take us through trials
and decisions that we would never choose for
ourselves. He will see us through if we are willing
to not settle for close and success. The lose
that man built, the L -U -Z, the lose that man
built no longer exists. Sometimes, a few hundred
years later, there's a subtext or a plaque or
a book or a name on a map or families still have
certain traditions or cultures still have certain
traditions that somebody started and there's
a debate as to when it got started. Some semblance
of immortality bestowed upon men by their great
acts in their lifetime. But for those men who
have been part of the kingdom of God while they
live, their names are written in the Lamb's Book
of Life and they reside for an eternity with
God. Hell is not close enough to heaven to trade
on proximity. Once Jesus comes again and it's
all done, the people in hell won't be able to
go to the people in heaven and say, hey, if I
give you a piece of cake, will you give me? If
I give you money, will you give me? If I serve
you, if I work for you, if I live amongst you,
will you bless me? No, because there is a great
rift between here and there, and those who are
there, they receive their blessings in their
lifetime as part of the kingdom in close proximity,
but not as part of the kingdom of God. And now
that great rift separates us so that not even
if somebody wanted to go across there, could
they? No one can cross it. Those who are on this
side, they were part of the kingdom of God in
their lifetime and now are forever. Hell is not
close enough to heaven to trade on proximity.
Hell has no semblance of power. And no one there
can eat up anyone else to better their own suffering.
The stronger, the faster, the craftier, the more
intelligent, the more beautiful, the more successful,
the renowned, outside the kingdom of God, let
me say it again, the stronger, the faster, the
craftier, the more intelligent, the more beautiful,
the more successful, the more renowned, outside
the kingdom of God, they will all burn just the
same in the end. There is a kingdom. It is in
very close proximity, and I submit to you, according
to the parable of the wheat and tares, even mixed
in with the kingdom of God. And if you find yourself
to be a terror today, if you find yourself to
be someone who is mixed in with the kingdom of
God, but not truly surrendered to God in the
way that God ordained that we will be, then surrender.
The destruction of any city, any great legacy
that you will construct, has already been ordained
if it is outside the kingdom of God. Are there
athletes? That live in the kingdom of God and
become professionals? Yes. When we go to Camp
You Can, we hear from a number of athletes who
retired from the NFL, which is an amazing feat,
by the way. Most don't. They lived their whole
career, were in the NFL for decades and then
retired. And they come and they speak. And you
know what they say? They don't say, God made
me an athlete. They don't say, God made me able
to do this. They don't say, God just miraculously
from heaven. Why? Because there are tons of athletes
who don't know God. In fact, the truth is, when
you look at them, most of the athletes that don't
know God are just as good as the athletes that
do. There is a kingdom right next door and in
the midst that has proximity, semblance. It's
a dog -eat -dog world close by. But this man
built all that he built outside the fellowship
of God's people. And his success was rooted on
trading on the proximity with the kingdom. He
blessed the Israelites and was blessed for his
whole life, as far as we know, up until the point
that he wasn't. I'm asking you to be 100 % sure.
If you know that there's something that God is
saying, that God's word says you should do, and
you've listened to the world, you've listened
to what's out there, even your flesh, your ideas,
wherever it's coming from, and you say, I can't
quite go there. I can't quite be fully committed.
I can't quite go that far. I can't quite really
put myself on the line. You might want to think
about the fact that you're probably in the kingdom
that's in close proximity and benefiting by it,
trading on it. The end result of that would be
you'll probably wind up blessed beyond measure.
Oh, and maybe never persecuted. But there is
an end to that kingdom. And there is no end to
that kingdom. Let's pray as we come forward today
and lead us in our final hymn, our final song
we're going to sing. If you have realized that
you need to repent, choose God alone as your
God. Choose Jesus alone as your Lord. And follow
him to the best of your ability. You know he's
going to get it perfect. You know he's going
to do mistakes. Sometimes we have to cross the
barrier of doubt. Sometimes we have to throw
out our best understanding and let God substitute
a new one. But if you're here today and you realize
you need to do that, then you do that. God did
not call you to trade on proximity with God.
He called you to be in the kingdom of God. And
Jesus paid the price that you can get in. So
get in. If you're here today and you say, I am
in, but I realize that There are people that
are in my life that may or may not be. And I'm
not getting anybody's salvation. But I also realize
I need to call them to take a serious look at
where they stand. I need to offer salvation again.
Maybe they say they're already saved. Let me
offer it again. And offer it again. And offer
it again. Because this is who I love. This is
who needs me. This is who owns me. I live now
not for myself, but for the one who died for
me. And you can make yourself today to do that.
Whatever it might be that's laying on your heart,
you just say, hey, it's been long enough. Would
you stand with me and sing this song? And if
the Lord is calling you to respond, then would
you so? We believe and we are never the same.
that we have life in the name of Jesus. There
alone is life bound. There is no other name under
heaven, given among men, by which we must be
saved. No, we have never seen. We believe and
choose to follow our King, Jesus.