This is the sermon title and reference from last
week, but I'm not going to preach the same sermon
I preached last week. I might sometime, if the
Lord so let, but not today. Before I begin, I
just want to kind of tell you, I did go this
week. Like most of you know, I was out of town.
I did go to the annual meeting for the Southern
Baptist Convention. Much went on there. My experience
was largely airports. Driving a rental car in
heavy traffic, walking a lot, voting about 60
to 70 times on various issues, listening to some
pretty good debating on various issues. My feeling
is that we, as Southern Baptists, even though
there are controversies, we are stronger than
ever, that our convention is stronger than ever.
And part of that is because with the controversies
that are going on in the world, God's people
are being drawn to stick close to God's word.
And that is something. And that is something
that we also should be a big part of. Today's
actual sermon title, which will probably be coming
up in a second, is Treading on God's Mercy. And
it does come from, grab your Bibles, take a little
breath, Judges chapter 2. Amen. Thank you for
those of you who participated. Feel free to be
bold. This is God's word. This is what we trust
to be true. Whatever I get right or get wrong
in the next 45 minutes, 40 minutes or so, or
less possibly, God will get it right. God's word
is solid. And so if you allow yourself to be
affected by what we're about to read, then you
will be affected by what we're about to read.
Before we begin to read it, I want to share with
you an illustration. During World War II, the
Germans forced many 12 - and 13 -year -old boys
into the Junior Gestapo. They were running out
of older men, and they forced a lot of boys,
ages 12 to 13, into what was called the Junior
Gestapo. These boys were treated very harshly,
given inhumane jobs to perform. When the war
ended, most had lost track of their families
and wandered without food or shelter. As part
of an aid program to post -war Germany, many
of these youths were placed in tent cities. Here,
doctors and psychologists worked with the boys
in an attempt to restore their mental and physical
health. They found that many of the boys would
awaken in the middle of the night screaming in
terror. One doctor had an idea for handling that
fear. After feeding the boys a large meal, he
put them to bed with a piece of bread in their
hands. while they were told to save it until
morning. The boys then slept soundly. The doctor
hypothesized that it was because after so many
years of hunger, they finally had the assurance
of food the next day. I submit to you, there
is maybe a deeper reason. And we're going to
look a little bit into it in Scripture today.
Judges chapter 2, beginning in verse 11, reads
as follows. Then from there, Then the sons of
Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and
served the Baals. And they forsook the Lord and
the God of their fathers, who had brought them
out of the land of Egypt and followed other gods
from among the gods of the peoples who were around
them, and bowed themselves down to them. Thus
they provoked the Lord to anger. Let's stop just
there one second and make sure we understand
what's happening. So this is post -Joshua. This
is after they've settled in the land but not
conquered the full land. They have already begun
to wander. They've already been visited by an
angel, a messenger from God who told them to
knock that crap off. They didn't really repent
per se, but they recognized what they were doing
was wrong. They wept. And then the men who were
grown men who had seen the incredible things
that God had done stayed their course. And we
talked about last year. last year, last week,
about how that is supposed to be us. We're supposed
to say the course. But now we see that as those
men are gone, the people living in the land,
even though they know the stories of the incredible
things that God has done, they begin to serve
these false gods that were intermixed amongst
them. And they did not cast out the bad, the
people that were not supposed to be there. And
they no longer have their older generation to
kind of hold them to. So they forsook the Lord
and served the Baal and the Ashtoreth, verse
13 says. God's not pleased. If anybody ever tells
you that you should never be angry, you can tell
them that that's just not true. God gets angry.
Here it says that they provoked the Lord to anger.
Verse 14 then says, and the anger of the Lord
burned against Israel. And he gave them into
the hands of plunderers who plundered them. And
he sold them into the hands of their enemies
around them so that they could no longer stand
before their enemies. So what's happening here
is the Israelites are choosing to be disloyal
to God, the God that brought them into this land
of milk and honey, the God that did so many miraculous
things on behalf of their previous generations.
They've turned away from God. Now we see God
provoked to anger and God begins to allow them
to suffer defeat. Even becoming, in a sense,
an enemy himself to his own people. That's what's
actually happening. His people then get mastered
by other people. These other people are not God's
people. They do not follow God. Though they had
the opportunity to. Remember, all of these are
all descendants going back essentially to Noah.
So for a while, they did follow God. Esau, for
example. He wasn't a real godly man, but he certainly
would have declared that God was the only God.
But they all drift. God then takes away their
ability to stand before their enemies. That statement
right there scares me. more than anything. Because
if God removes from the church the ability to
stand before their enemies, we're going to be
in trouble. When we are losing, sometimes we
have to ask ourselves, is it because we have
played with other gods? Wherever they went, the
hand of the Lord, this is verse 15, wherever
they went, the hand of the Lord was against them
for evil as the Lord had spoken. and as the Lord
had sworn to them, so that they were severely
distressed. This is the amazing thing. They were
told in advance by God that if they played the
harlot with the false gods, they would suffer
like they are now suffering. They were warned,
maybe threatened, right? They were told they
would be cursed if they did not stay true to
the Lord. And now, just as God has spoken to
them, they have chosen not to stay faithful.
God is against them rather than for them. They're
still his people. But he is against them, it
says, rather than for them. It says he intended
them harm. He kept his promise this way. He told
them, I will do this to you if you ignore me
and go after the false gods. They were severely
distressed and in turmoil. And verse 16 says,
Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered
them from the hands of those who plundered them.
I want you to understand that theologically,
this he raised up judges thing is a very challenging
concept. Here in the scripture it says that the
judges, and we call them judges because they
supposedly sort of ruled and made decisions,
kind of like what Moses did, right? And what
Joshua did. But actually, when you read the stories
of the judges, you'll see that's not really what
they do. They become like rulers. They become
like military leaders. They lead God's people
out of this. They have a specific purpose. God
sends them to be saviors. It's said in verse
16 again, the Lord raises up judges who delivered
them from the hands of those who plundered them.
Now, why were those people plundering them again?
They're plundering them because God was not only
allowing it, but making it happen as he had told
them he would. So they're being plundered. Then
they begin to suffer so badly that God raises
up judges or saviors, if you will, as an example
of virtue to free them from the plunderers that
God himself had sent. God sent saviors. The worthless
false gods could neither plunder them. if God
wasn't allowing it, nor save them. Why? Because
these false gods essentially do not exist at
all. And if they have any power whatsoever, it
is because they are demons or evil spirits, which
God has already promised to protect his people
from, but because they are not walking, if you
will, in God's protection, they are now subjected
to the plunderers, and then they need the saviors,
which God sends. God could both plunder them
or save them. And he had told them that he would
do either one of those things based on whether
or not they were a faithful people to him. That's
what they were told. We read about it back in
Deuteronomy. Verse 17. Yet they did not listen
to their judges, for they played the harlot after
other gods and bowed themselves down to them.
So God sent saviors. Listen to the beautiful
symbolism of this. God sent saviors to tell them,
this is what you need to do. You've not been
doing it. That's why you're suffering from the
plunder. So now, here's what you need to do.
And yet, they still do not do it. Warned that
they would suffer. They are now suffering. God
sends saviors for them who tell them, knock it
off. Do it right. God will take care of it. And
still, They play the harlot after other gods
and they bow themselves down to them. They turned
aside quickly from the way in which their fathers
had walked in obeying the commandments of the
Lord. They did not do as their fathers. That
phrase there, to turn aside quickly, has been
oft studied, dug into, and whatever. It is to
say that they quickly were able to completely
commit themselves to this new course of action.
And without getting off on this tangent just
yet, understand that this is the capability of
humans. Have you ever been walking into a room
to do something and realized you needed something
that was in the room that you just left? And
you went, wait. You went back and got it. And
then you went, wait. And you went back into the
room and did what you needed to do, right? Have
you ever walked over to loosen a bolt? And as
you're walking toward loosening the bolt, you
go, oh, I need a wrench. And you turned and went
and got a wrench. Have you ever been going to
school and forgot your homework? Oh, I got to
go back and get it. Have you ever been doing
something? You're having a conversation. This
will probably hit a little close to home for
some folks. You're having a conversation. It
might even be kind of an important conversation.
You're on date night or something and your phone
rings and you're like, hold that thought. And
you check and see who it is. We are so capable
of turning when we're not actually supposed to
be turning. As soon as we figure out that if
we turn and get a certain result that it's available
to us, right? Somebody might be calling me. It
might be important. It's during the work day.
It could be a work call. Right? Or whatever.
All of a sudden, we turn quickly away from everything
that we're in. We're so quick at turning that
we forgot how to be where we are. And that's
what they did. Living in the promised land under
God's rule, they forgot how to be the people
of God in the promised land under God's rule,
receiving the blessings that God was sending.
You say, well, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't
turn away from receiving a blessing. Like somebody
is trying to give me something or tell me something
and it's going to be a blessing and I wouldn't
be distracted then. Are you sure? Have you answered
your phone when someone was talking to you about
something important? Have you been distracted
thinking about other things during the sermon,
during inspirational moment time, during the
worship songs? See how quick and easy it is for
us to turn? We say we are adamant, we believe
what we believe, we are who we are, but as soon
as an impetus comes, as soon as something comes
along that is a distraction or a temptation,
we have the ability to turn. Oh, but wait. Now
the plunderers have come, and the saviors have
come, and they're being called to turn. Being
completely capable of doing so, they're being
called to turn from the course of action that
they're on so that they can have what God would
rather for them, and yet they do not. They didn't
listen. They still played the harlot and bowed
down to them. And their doing so became the reason
that they didn't listen. They were following
Baal rather than God. The plunderers come. A
good thing comes. They probably said, you know
what? Yay, Baal saved us. Yay, we escaped our
torment. Yay, we got out of trouble. But they
would not turn back to God as they were supposed
to. They turned aside quickly from following
the commandments of the Lord. They did not do
what their fathers had done, being obedient to
God. Verse 18. When the Lord raised up judges
for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered
them from the hand of their enemies all the days
of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity
by their groaning because of those who oppressed
and afflicted them. So basically the people cried
out, Oh, this is horrible. We're suffering. They're
wet tears. We need help. They didn't say, God,
please help us. They just said, Oh, this is horrible.
The complaining and groaning was going on and
God loved them. And so God sent them a Savior.
Now, whether or not they followed the Savior
was still up to them. And did they? No. We've
already read they did not follow the Savior.
The Savior still saves, but they didn't follow
him. When God raised up judges, God intervened
for the judge because the judge was faithful
to God. That's compassion. And victory, or at
least escape, was given by God during the judge's
intervention. Now, this is a summary passage.
We'll see more detail later when we read other
chapters of the book. This happened because God
was moved to pity. by their groaning, which they
did because they were oppressed by the oppressors
whom God had sent. There is a pattern here that
we are meant not to follow. Verse 19, and we're
almost done with the text. But it came about
when the judge died that they would turn back
and act more corruptly than their fathers in
following other gods to serve them and bow down
to them. They did not abandon their practices
or their stubborn ways. Once the human saviors
died, the people would go right back to worshiping
false gods even more than before. Verse 20. So
the anger of the Lord burned against Israel and
he said, because this nation has transgressed
my covenant which I commanded their fathers and
has not listened to my voice. Because this nation
has transgressed the covenant that I made with
their fathers and has not listened to my voice.
I also will no longer drive out, and so on. The
worst that's going to come is going to come because
they would not. A few things I want you to see
in the text, and the first thing is, let us not
make any mistake. We see God sending plunderers.
Mostly these plunderers come from the surrounding
nations, largely Mesopotamia, which is very wealthy,
and they had a lot of powerful armies built up.
It's one empire into another, into another, and
so on. Even Syria and Assyria and Egypt, they're
persecuted by people all around them who have
built up strong armies. Now, the land of Israel
is very defendable. Jerusalem is built on a mountain.
It's only approachable from one direction. The
land of Israel is very defendable. There are
caves and mountain fortresses at that time. It's
very defendable. But God's people could not defend
themselves. It seems very bad. To be like, God
sends armies to plunder them and makes it so
that they can't stand against the armies. Man,
God is not nice. You see, the reality is, God
is merciful. God has a trait of withdrawing his
wrath even when people are completely worthy
of that wrath. Even when they deserve it completely.
You see, God sent the plunderers because they
were worshiping false gods. That's not good.
It's not good to worship false gods. It's not
good to give abeyance to a demon. Right? Because
even if by some chance that demon does something
for you, it is only to get you deeper stuck in
the evil that is part there. And to the point
that then, if you would later choose to do otherwise,
you're trapped in your own sin and wickedness.
You're stuck there. You lose the ability to turn
away. They deserved to be plundered. They deserved
worse. And then God sends the plunderers to stop
the progression of their sin. See, they were
doing worse and worse. You know, during the period
of time, while the plunderers were coming, people
would stay at home, or men would be part of the
army to try to fight off being plundered, right?
They're hiding out in caves. And during that
period of time, this wasn't actively going on
as much. Worship of the god Molech. The chief
worship service of the god Molech is where you
burn your firstborn child alive in the fire.
So, during the time that the plunderers were
coming, they were not burning their children
alive in the fire because the plunderers were
coming. Now, not because they thought it wasn't
the right thing to do, because as soon as the
plunderers were defeated by the judge, they went
back to that false worship. And that's one horrible
example of false worship, but there are a lot
of others. One of the reasons that Israelite
men were so led into the worship of Baal and
Asherah was because temple prostitutes were made
available so men could go and sleep with the
prostitutes to bring the rain on their crops.
So here's the deal. You're 22 years old, married
to your beautiful bride. She's home pregnant
with your oncoming child. And so she's a little
more round than normal. No problem. You can go
sleep with three or four prostitutes at the temple
because that's Baal worship. Or let's say you
have a little bit of a spat or argument with
your wife and you disagree on something. No problem.
You can go sleep with the temple prostitutes.
They're there for you 24 hours a day. Well, that's
not allowed in Christianity. I only get to be
with my wife in Christianity in God's way, in
the way that God would have us to do it. But
if you go sign on to other religions, other faiths,
you can do it. Even some faiths that claim to
be Christian. You can do whatever you want. As
long as you make it to confession before you
take communion, you'll receive the grace of God.
So you want to sleep around? Fine. Just make
sure you confess it and get it forgiven. Right?
Wrong! That is not what Scripture says. That
is not what the Bible says. Those are traditions
of men. Not what God says. And so they were pursuing
these young, exciting, lusty, demonic, And God
sent plunderers to stop it, to stop the progression.
You're sinking into hell while you are still
alive. And without the plunderers that he sent
the Savior, the judge, people would have thought,
well, we don't really need him. We've got Baal.
We don't need a judge. We don't need a Savior.
Right? We just keep, as long as we sacrifice
our firstborn son and daughter and sleep with
the prostitutes, everything will be fine. And
besides, it's fun. It's good. I never have to
worry about any frustration or stress anymore.
I can always take it out on whoever or get it
out by involving myself with temple activities.
These are wicked, wicked, horrible behaviors
that God's people should never lend themselves
to. And the plunderers came to stop the progression.
But then in stopping the progression, there was
much suffering. And God's people suffered. It's
horrible. Oh, woe is us. We're suffering so badly.
And God then had mercy on them. And He sent the
judges, the saviors, to provide solace, to provide
peace, to show the right way, just as He did
with Jesus 2 ,000 years ago. And then, instead
of turning to the Savior's way, instead of following
the example laid out by God, They continue with
the progression of the false worship, doing the
wrong things. Oh, well, what does this sound
like? It's what we have been doing, what mankind
has been doing for 2 ,000 years, as people have
been drifting. And you see their suffering, and
you realize that when soldiers, during World
War II, when the draft came up, and every man
of warful age had to be registered and would
go off to fight, right? And they were drafting.
hundreds of thousands of people were being drafted,
men, right? And while they were being drafted,
they were learning to fight. That wasn't great.
They were suffering. They were eating military
fare only. They were getting healthy. They were
getting sent off to war to fight, right? Meanwhile,
on the other side of the war, really horrible,
wicked things were taking place. But imagine
the progression if nobody does anything to stop
Adolf Hitler and his agenda. It spreads over
the whole world. And that kind of regime rules
the world and kills everybody that doesn't agree.
So, his progression was being stopped by American
armies and the Allied forces. At the same time,
in the United States of America, a number of
very bad things were progressing quite heartily.
The U .S. was doing things and false religions,
evil, wicked things were happening in... greater
numbers, but then as the draft comes in and all
these men are called off to war, the progression
stops. And the men who came home from war were,
by their nature, militarily, better character.
They learned things about honor and discipline.
Not necessarily got saved, although I'll submit
to you there were a lot of men who got saved
during World War II because they were called
up to fight. And a lot of Christian men went
up and they were sharing the gospel. And there's
what's called foxhole conversions. And it happened
a lot. And so the war stopped the progression
of that evilness. Of that wickedness. Right?
And who knows where we would be if it were not
for that. And it could happen again. It has happened
again in our lifetime. We have people here in
this room who have served in military conflict.
First hand military conflict. And we wouldn't
want that, but we also understand that that military
conflict was stopping the progression of wickedness
and evilness and therefore necessary. And at
the same time, God, throughout all of this, God
has sent a savior. There is a better way. And
this is what they did. They followed these young,
demonic, wicked ways. of religion rather than
returning to God. So God had mercy on them. Then,
when God sends the punishers, God is having mercy
on them, stopping the progression of wickedness.
Then God sends the Savior. He is having mercy
on them to show them that the choices that they
have made, they can turn from it and there is
great blessing to be had in the Lord. Then they
turn to wickedness. God sends punishers. So I
want you to understand that when God is sending
these people this horrible eventualities, horrible
circumstances, actually that is an aspect of
God's mercy. You would surely think so if you
were born a first child and maybe called up to
war rather than burned alive in the fire. Which
would you rather have? God's people were treading
on God's mercy. They turned quickly toward worshiping
Something that was absolutely wrong. Then they
receive a corrective sampling of God's wrath.
They were not destroyed utterly, which was probably
what they deserved. They received a corrective
sampling of God's wrath. They cry out in anguish.
And then God shows mercy again. The wrath is
a statement about sin. Jesus would ultimately
be subject to the worst culmination of God's
wrath. He would take the effect of all sin on
himself. The mercy is a testimony of God's character
and His willingness to spare humans the worst
of it. But as long as there are people of God
who won't turn to Him, there will be enemies
that those people cannot have victory over. I
submit to you that this realm that we are right
now discovering, the realm of God's people who
are tearing with, playing with, bowing down to,
messing with the idols of the world, that is
where The greatest victory for the enemy is.
The greatest victory is not in lost people, right?
Because they could still get saved. They could
get saved before they die. And they could go
to heaven. They have a victory at their disposal
through Jesus Christ. They could be saved. The
greatest victory for the enemy is certainly not
in victorious Christians doing what it is that
God would have them to do. That's no victory
for him at all. So the greatest victory for the
enemy is taking place on that middle ground where
Christians, supposed Christians, supposed people
who believe in Jesus are not following the Lord.
They're not. Rather, they're tearing with idols.
They're going after the things of this world
that entertain, that distract, that tempt. And
God then sends a lack of victory. And in some
cases, out of that lack of victory, they turn
to the Lord. But in many, they do not. As long
as there are people of God who won't turn to
him, there will be enemies of God that cannot
be beaten. That brings us to our conclusion already.
You and I can turn quickly. Just like they did.
You could be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ,
adamant follower. I'm a follower of Jesus. I'm
not going to back down. I'm going to stand firm.
I said I'm going to live for him for my whole
life, and I'm going to do that. And all it takes...
It's for the world to find that chink in your
armor, that thing that entices you. I really
want to see my children do well. I really want
to be able to pay my bills and not have to worry
about it. I really want my health to be what
it needs to be. I really want my relationships
to go in the direction they need to go. And the
enemy, by some worldly method, offers that to
you. And you and I know, we've already talked
about this, you can turn quickly. An excuse will
do it. A reason will do it. Logic will do it.
A better outcome will do it. It would be easy
enough for us to turn quickly. But you are forewarned
by God. Do not turn away from your Lord. He is
Lord. That means He tells you what to do and
you do it. You are forewarned. If you turn away
from God, you will be set upon by enemies over
which you cannot have victory. And you say, well,
that's not fair. That seems harsh. I'm telling
you, that is one of the greatest outpourings
of God's mercy. And we see it as bad during,
and we may cry out. We'll say, oh, save us. Oh,
help me. Oh, something. Somebody intervene. Please
give me what I need. And you may get it. But
if you do not, in that process, turn to the Lord,
you turn quickly away, reason, excuse, whatever
temptation, distraction came, you turn quickly
away. If you do not, in that moment, turn quickly
back to the Lord, then there is no lasting victory
or sustenance. You can turn quickly to the Lord.
You can turn quickly away from the Lord. And
His mercy does not mean that you can or should
stay the course in any form of false worship
or idolatry or turn when things are okay, while
things are going pretty good, to worshiping idols
or unrighteousness in any general sense. God
is taking care of me. Everything is fine. All
my bills are paid. All is good. Well, I can just
watch this. See that. Be part of that. Well,
now we should be able to know. The New Testament
standard of giving is sacrificial giving. Jesus
gave his life. You want to be like Jesus? Give
your life. We now live not for ourselves, but
for the one who died for us. So, when the opportunity
comes along to have something a little better,
first ask yourself, if the Lord so wills, should
I step up? Should I improve? Should I have more?
Should I spend my money that way? And if God
says something otherwise, then you do it God's
way. Always choose God's way. But the world will
continue to present to you as long as you watch
TV or do social media or go to work or go to
school. The world will continue to present to
you alternatives. And if you turn quickly to
one of them, you can expect that God will send
enemies to turn you back. Enemies that you cannot
defeat. And if when those enemies come, you cry
out to him, he will be merciful. And if he is
merciful, it does not mean that you have turned
back to him. It means, perhaps, he loves you
and is merciful. Know, then, that if you are
in anguish, right now, if you're going through
something, I can't fathom, I can't stand it,
I'm suffering, that you can cry out. And even
if that suffering is arising out of your wandering,
even if you deserve it because you did something
bad, God will still hear you as God's people,
and he will intervene. He is not going to solve
the problem of your faithfulness for you. That's
yours to solve. You need to turn back to God.
But he will step in for you if you believe, if
you trust him. So what is the problem? Why are
we not crying out? We say, oh, so this is the
great lie of the enemy. See, you didn't do exactly
what it is that God wanted you to do. So now
if you cry out to God, he's not going to listen.
That is a lie. If you are God's people, no matter
what your suffering, if you cry out to God, whether
it is suffering of your own making, if you cry
out to God, He will send a Savior. He will respond.
That's the word. That's what God, God is merciful.
He loves you. He's not trying to punish you because
you deserve punishment. You're getting it because
that's the way it works. Right? And he's stopping
the progression of your own wickedness. Cry out
to him and he will intervene. The problem that
we've got in this world then is we think that
Just once you believe the gospel, that settles
it. Once you accept, someone tells you the truth,
you go, yeah, that makes sense to me. Mentally
ascend to the truth that that's enough. And that's
not true. That isn't even how people got saved.
It's not how people get saved now. The word says
in Acts 13, 48, when the Gentiles, that's us,
by the way, but our predecessors a long time
ago, when the Gentiles heard this, they began
rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord.
Glorifying means shining a light on. Look how
awesome this is. And as many as had been appointed
to eternal life believed. What are you called
to do? Believe. And then in the Enlightenment,
hundreds of years ago, they began to say that
you can believe something without it affecting
your life. And I'm here to tell you that's not
true. If you believe it, it changes everything
that you are. If you believe that your car is
blue, every time you go to a parking lot, you're
going to look for a blue car. But if you believe
that your car is black and you own a blue car,
you're never going to find your car. Right? If
you believe it, you believe it. And it affects
everything that you are. And you turn quickly,
always turn quickly to the Lord. Never turn quickly
away from the Lord. Believe. That's what saves
people. That's what changes people. That's what
affects people. Believe. And then in the worst
times, in the sufferingest times, in the times
when you're really down and out, believe. Cry
out. Whether it's for the first time, Maybe you're
saying to Jesus, hey, I'm realizing today I did
not have you as Lord and Savior. I'm realizing
today I've not truly submitted my life to you.
Then cry out to the Lord. Whosoever calls upon
the name of the Lord will be saved. Say, okay,
Jesus, save me in earnest. I thought I was saved
before. I guess I'm not. Save me, Lord. Maybe
you say, oh, I didn't even think I was before.
I now know. He'll answer. He'll send a Savior.
He sent Jesus, and he'll send Jesus again into
your life if you cry out. Then you say, well,
I did cry out, but I see that I have a drift.
Turn back quickly. You can. Just the same as,
oh, my phone just rang. I've got to check and
see who that was. You can say, wait, Jesus is
saying, wait, Holy Spirit is saying, wait, the
Word says, I'm going to turn from that. Go home
today and throw away your rated R soft pornography
and live for Jesus as a righteous man. Turn quickly
to Jesus. Turn quickly to the God of the universe.
home today and look at your checking account
and make a serious decision about how much of
that money is really submitted to the God of
the universe. And if you can't physically daily
submit dollar after dollar after dollar, then
just write a check to the church for every penny
you got because it's the only thing that's going
to affect your soul. Submit to the God of heaven.
He created you. He owns you. If you're a Christian,
He saved you. You now live for Him, not for you
any longer. You're called to believe and to let
your belief affect you. And so you've wandered.
And you realize, hey, my suffering is part and
parcel because I wandered. And the enemy will
tell you that God doesn't care. God is punishing
you. God sent the plunderers into your life.
God is the one doing that. And so you're just
stuck with it. You've got to live with it. And
it's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie.
Even if God sent it, which it says He will, He'll
still send a Savior if you'll quickly turn to
Him. He'll still send a Savior. All you really
have to do is cry out. You don't even have to
turn to Him. You can get a Savior for free. Like
the red Ferrari. For free! Just cry out! But
the enemy is taking your voice. Because he's
making you think that God is not going to answer.
But He is. Even if you deserve what you're getting,
He's still going to answer. Psalm 46 .1 declares,
God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in time of trouble. Psalm 34 .7 says, The
angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear
him and delivers them. This verse speaks of God's
protective presence and intervention in the lives
of those who honor him with reverence and obedience.
Turn quickly to the Lord. It's the righteous
cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out
of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the
brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed
in spirit. If you would say, ah, I'm broken,
I'm hurting, I'm struggling. God wants to save
you. And the next time, all you really have to
do is believe enough to cry out and then believe
he'll answer, which the word says he will. Psalms
91, 15 -16 says, He will call upon me and I will
answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I
will rescue him and honor him. With a long life
I will satisfy him and let him see my salvation.
Putting it a little more close to home, Jesus
said, John 16, 33, These things I have spoken
to you so that in me you may have peace. In the
world you have tribulation, but take courage,
I have overcome the world. John 14, 1 -3, Do
not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God.
Believe also in me. In my Father's house are
many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would
have told you. For I go to prepare a place for
you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again and receive you to myself that where
I am, there you may be also. A traveler engaged
a guide to take him across the desert area. When
the two men arrived at the edge of the desert,
the traveler, looking ahead, saw before him trackless
sand swept by winds. There was not a single footprint
or a path or a marker of any kind. Turning to
his guide, he asked in a tone of surprise, Where
is the road? With a reproving glance, the guide
replied, I am the road. Jesus is the way. The
hadas. The way. It's the path of your life. The
road. He knows the answer to every decision you
will ever face. He knows that little outlet that
God always leaves when God allows temptation
to come into your life. He knows where that exit
exists, even if it's a secret door. Jesus is
the way. He is the guide. He is the road. He
is our way through unfamiliar territory. But
it is your perception that stops you from turning
to Him. There was a shoe salesman, a northerner,
New York, New Jersey, something like that. And
his company sent him to Africa. He suffered a
little culture shock when he got there and eventually
kind of got his feet under him and started trying
to sell shoes. That was his job. He sent back
a telegram. This was a while back. I want to
come home. Nobody wears shoes in this part of
Africa. Basically he said, my job is impossible.
I can't sell shoes. Nobody here wears shoes.
So they called him back. He came back to live
in America in the comfort of prosperity. Sell
shoes to Americans. Probably eking out a living
would be my guess. And they sent another salesman
to Africa. He shipped back order after order.
Eventually he wrote the home office as he reached
the top of the sales list. And he said, Everybody
here needs shoes. It's a question of how you're
going to look at it. If you're going to do for
yourself, if you're going to embrace the ways
of the world, if you're going to find comfort
in something that is offered to you, if you find
a good reason to go after something that is not
Jesus, no matter how good the reason, the logic,
or the wisdom is, if you find a good reason to
go after something, I submit to you, if you would
find a good reason to go after the Bible instead
of Jesus. Or church instead of Jesus. Or worship
instead of Jesus. If you find the best reasons,
you'll find the least hope. We are called to
believe. Paul Lee Tan writes this illustration
in the book. He says, Napoleon saw Italy, but
he didn't see the Alps. He had an objective and
knew where he was going. Washington saw the Hessians
at Trenton. A man of small stature would have
seen the Delaware choked with ice. The majority
of people that live see obstacles. Few of us
see the objectives. What is our objective? We
are meant to look like Jesus enough that people
can see Jesus in this lifetime and get saved.
That is our objective. Paying your bills? That's
not your objective. Should you? Sure, that's
good stewardship. It's the right thing to do.
Cooking your meals, not your objective. If it
comes down to following Jesus or eating, don't
eat, die. Because you'll starve to death, go
to heaven. Let's get our priorities straight.
Seek ye first the King of God, all these things
shall be added unto you. But it's the things,
they are the trappings of the false religions
of the world. And they are offered to our people.
And our people see them and begin to think that
they are the objective. But they are not. If
you die at 80 years old on your deathbed and
look back and you collected more stuff, talked
to more people, were listened to more than anyone
else, raised more children or grandchildren,
but did not know God, did not know Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, did not sow any fruits into the
kingdom of heaven, did not lead people to Jesus,
what will the next moment after your death look
like? You will be weeping in sorrow, wishing
you never had a car, wishing you never had a
house, wishing you never had a job, wishing you
never had a dollar, wishing you never had good
health. Because as the parable of the rich man,
and it's not even a parable, but the story, I
say that by accident, the story of a rich man
and Lazarus, not a parable, but a true story
of Lazarus. Lazarus goes to heaven, he's getting
all that he's getting. And the man goes to hell
and he says, you got everything in life. Because
he what? He turned aside and went after those
things. And I can assume that repeatedly God
showed him mercy, stopped his progression into
wickedness, and then again he showed mercy, and
then again he went into wickedness, and the cycle
continued as it might with you or it might with
me if we are willing to turn to the things of
the world. But we must not be because eventually
there will be no more turning. No more turning.
If you tread on God's mercy for this whole life,
it will eventually come down to you. You will
never turn again. Believe for souls saved. Believe
in a growing church. Believe in godly marriages.
Believe in men who stand firm for what's right.
Believe in prayer and worship that carries our
very concerns to the throne room of God. Believe
in crops that are white unto the harvest and
a body. that will work and go out into the fields
and bring them in. Believe in another generation
of God -fearing, loving New Heights members who
will treasure the God of miracles. Believe in
a hundred more children born to members of this
and future generations with a chance to reach
New Heights in Jesus, every one of them, because
we are serving God now and we will not stop.
God is not just in the business of rewarding
those who seek Him, although that is in His character.
Maybe you would rather call upon His mercy because
the young and attractive false gods of mankind
call you and you need only answer. And then when
it starts to go wrong and you face enemies you
cannot beat, you can just cry out to God for
mercy. But actually, we are called to faithfulness.
And we can turn to Him just as quickly as we
could turn to them. And we must. We must turn
to Him. And so if you're here today and you realize
that you have been lured, tricked, pulled, maybe
even by you, or by demons and evil spirits, or
worldly things, you think, man, I could be good
at that. And so you went after it. Think, man,
that'll be good for my kids. And so you went
after it. That'll be good for my career. And
so you went after it. If you've been lured by
worldly things, and you say, well, I never put
them over top of Jesus. That doesn't matter.
The Bible says you shall have no gods in my presence.
Right? That's what the King James means when
it says you shall have no other gods before me.
It doesn't mean on top of me or first in line.
It means in my presence. Understand that these
people, They did not say that God no longer exists.
In fact, historically, we see in the Dagon Temple
stuff attributed to God right next door. They
were still worshiping God. They just were also
carrying with the evils of the world. And you
and I cannot. Look at everything in your life,
and if it does not honor God, first and foremost,
above all, cut it out and say, I am living for
Jesus. is the impact of our belief. That is what
it means to no longer be treading on mercy. If
you realize you are treading on mercy, turn quickly
because you can and He is able to give you victory.
I ask the praise team to come forward at this
time and lead our closing hymn.