WEBVTT

00:00:01.359 --> 00:00:04.200
It begins with knowing that it is for your kingdom's

00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:07.099
work, it is your kingdom's plan. Just bless everyone

00:00:07.099 --> 00:00:09.380
here, just give it to those that cannot be here,

00:00:09.500 --> 00:12:22.509
and may my prayer be with you. Thank you. Take

00:12:22.509 --> 00:12:26.690
me places. We didn't get along great, so it wasn't

00:12:26.690 --> 00:12:30.669
a lot of places. But my family used to go out

00:12:30.669 --> 00:12:33.029
in the early days. This was a long time ago,

00:12:33.090 --> 00:12:35.649
and I was pretty young. I was probably about

00:12:35.649 --> 00:12:41.190
12 or so, 12, 13. My family would go most years

00:12:41.190 --> 00:12:44.009
to the Apple Butter Festival out on the river.

00:12:45.009 --> 00:12:47.190
This was before the Apple Butter Festival blew

00:12:47.190 --> 00:12:50.809
up so big that it's hard to kind of get in there.

00:12:52.100 --> 00:12:56.860
And I had gone one year, and they had a car bashing,

00:12:56.899 --> 00:12:58.860
where you could take a sledgehammer and hit a

00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:01.259
car, and you paid like, it was like a dollar

00:13:01.259 --> 00:13:04.879
a strike, or six for five bucks, or like 15 for

00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:06.519
$10 or something like that. And you could hit

00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:08.259
a car, and if you busted off a piece, you got

00:13:08.259 --> 00:13:10.480
to keep it. And that was probably when I was

00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:12.320
10 or 11. And so by that point, I was totally

00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:15.259
sold on the Apple Butter Festival. Well, the

00:13:15.259 --> 00:13:18.960
next year, or the year in question anyway, whether

00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:20.639
it was the next year or not, My brother took

00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:24.399
us because my parents couldn't go. And I don't

00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:25.899
remember why they couldn't go. I think my dad

00:13:25.899 --> 00:13:28.340
was working and my mom just didn't want to or

00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:30.799
whatever. And so my brother took myself and a

00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:32.700
couple of neighborhood kids. Well, one of the

00:13:32.700 --> 00:13:36.720
guys that he took with us was very large. He

00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:40.240
was the largest ever linebacker, and he would

00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:42.679
have the record for being the heaviest ever for

00:13:42.679 --> 00:13:44.220
Northwood. I don't know if they keep track of

00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:47.120
that kind of thing. But he weighed about 385

00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:50.230
pounds as a senior in high school. and he was

00:13:50.230 --> 00:13:53.669
pretty fast on the short run. And so he was pretty

00:13:53.669 --> 00:13:56.029
dangerous in football, and they were champs that

00:13:56.029 --> 00:13:59.909
year, his senior year. But he went with us. My

00:13:59.909 --> 00:14:01.629
brother drove, he went, his brother went, and

00:14:01.629 --> 00:14:04.730
I went. And this was during one of the times

00:14:04.730 --> 00:14:07.610
of peace that we had with them. And there, at

00:14:07.610 --> 00:14:09.830
the Apple Butter Festival, in the park, is a

00:14:09.830 --> 00:14:12.250
teeter -totter. And I had played on it pretty

00:14:12.250 --> 00:14:14.230
much every year since I was about five or six

00:14:14.230 --> 00:14:17.250
years old. It was made of a big steel pipe like

00:14:17.250 --> 00:14:20.730
this with seats on both sides. And when I got

00:14:20.730 --> 00:14:22.190
there, I wanted to play on the teeter -totter,

00:14:22.230 --> 00:14:24.590
but everybody was too grown up. Everybody was,

00:14:24.809 --> 00:14:27.429
so Jeff, who was the younger brother, he was

00:14:27.429 --> 00:14:30.070
about a year or two older than me. And Jerry

00:14:30.070 --> 00:14:32.370
was my brother's age. He was four and a half

00:14:32.370 --> 00:14:34.429
years older than me or whatever. And so nobody

00:14:34.429 --> 00:14:36.210
wanted to play on the teeter -totter with me.

00:14:36.750 --> 00:14:41.350
And finally, I talked Jerry into playing on the

00:14:41.350 --> 00:14:43.279
teeter -totter. and he's the one who weighed

00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:46.200
385 pounds. So when I was about 12, I weighed

00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:49.399
about 100 pounds. So it really wasn't much teeter

00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:51.139
-tottering going on. He was sitting on the one

00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:52.860
side, and if he pulled the seat up as far as

00:14:52.860 --> 00:14:54.960
his butt, then I could almost get my feet on

00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.220
the ground. I had to climb up on the seat. So

00:14:58.220 --> 00:15:00.620
my brother got on the teeter -totter with me,

00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:03.600
and we still could not push Jerry to the ground.

00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:05.480
He was 4 1⁄2 years older than me, but he was

00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:07.379
only about maybe 20 pounds heavier than me. We

00:15:07.379 --> 00:15:09.679
both graduated high school at about 145 pounds.

00:15:10.330 --> 00:15:12.870
And so he was about 100 pounds or so. And so

00:15:12.870 --> 00:15:14.950
between the two of us, we could not touch Jerry's

00:15:14.950 --> 00:15:18.110
weight. So finally, Jeff said, well, we'll get

00:15:18.110 --> 00:15:20.830
on with you. And so he climbed up on us. All

00:15:20.830 --> 00:15:22.909
three of us are sitting on this one side. The

00:15:22.909 --> 00:15:24.649
best we can, we're kind of crammed on the seat,

00:15:24.710 --> 00:15:26.990
which really had room for about two people. And

00:15:26.990 --> 00:15:29.029
we're all crammed on the seat, at which point

00:15:29.029 --> 00:15:32.570
in time, Jerry got off the teeter -totter. And

00:15:32.570 --> 00:15:34.669
we both went hard to the ground. All three of

00:15:34.669 --> 00:15:36.129
us went hard to the ground. We hit the ground

00:15:36.129 --> 00:15:42.159
real hard. Jerry thought it was very funny. Jeff

00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:44.059
and Tom and my brother and I, none of us thought

00:15:44.059 --> 00:15:47.000
it was very funny. I want you to bear that analogy

00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:49.320
in mind and I'll come back to it in my conclusion.

00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:52.080
We've been working through the book of Judges.

00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:53.879
Maybe you'll give me a little bit of an amen,

00:15:54.059 --> 00:15:56.240
a who to holler, and hallelujah, which means

00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:58.879
praise the Lord, as we go to Judges chapter 3.

00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:02.759
Thank you for being with me today. We're going

00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:05.080
to see an interesting thing in Judges chapter

00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:08.100
3 today, and I'm going to read this to you, and

00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:09.919
then I'm going to ask you, based on what we've

00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.200
studied so far, the first two chapters, what

00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:14.419
is interesting about it, and we'll see if you

00:16:14.419 --> 00:16:16.340
can figure it out. If you want to kind of cheat

00:16:16.340 --> 00:16:18.360
a little bit or be a little bit more aggressive

00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:20.120
in your studies and look back at chapter 2 and

00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:22.500
see what we might have missed or skipped, then

00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:25.299
you can do that. But here we go. This is Judges

00:16:25.299 --> 00:16:28.080
chapter 3, beginning in verse 1. Now, these are

00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:31.210
the nations which the Lord left. To test Israel

00:16:31.210 --> 00:16:34.049
by them, that is, all who had not experienced

00:16:34.049 --> 00:16:36.429
any of the wars of Canaan, only in order that

00:16:36.429 --> 00:16:38.549
the generations of the sons of Israel might be

00:16:38.549 --> 00:16:40.929
taught war, those who had not experienced it

00:16:40.929 --> 00:16:44.350
formerly. Verse 3. These nations are the five

00:16:44.350 --> 00:16:46.789
lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites

00:16:46.789 --> 00:16:48.950
and the Sidonians and the Hivites who live in

00:16:48.950 --> 00:16:52.970
Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal Hermon as far as

00:16:52.970 --> 00:16:56.490
Lebo Hamath. And they were for testing Israel

00:16:56.490 --> 00:16:58.970
to find out if they would obey the commandments

00:16:58.970 --> 00:17:02.679
of the Lord, which he had commanded their fathers

00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:06.000
through Moses. And the sons of Israel lived among

00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:08.500
the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the

00:17:08.500 --> 00:17:11.160
Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And

00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:13.140
they took their daughters for themselves as wives,

00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:14.779
and they gave their own daughters to their sons

00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:17.220
and served their gods. We're going to stop there

00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:19.200
for a minute, because there are a couple of interesting

00:17:19.200 --> 00:17:21.279
things to see before we get to kind of the one

00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:24.059
big one. So the first one is, there are two lists

00:17:24.059 --> 00:17:27.269
of peoples here. If you went back into the book

00:17:27.269 --> 00:17:29.230
of Judges and into the history, you would notice

00:17:29.230 --> 00:17:32.369
that there are people listed on these lists that

00:17:32.369 --> 00:17:35.750
were not previously listed by God. For example,

00:17:36.069 --> 00:17:38.690
the Philistines. The Philistines settled in the

00:17:38.690 --> 00:17:40.650
area of the Promised Land a little later than

00:17:40.650 --> 00:17:44.609
everybody else along the coast and established

00:17:44.609 --> 00:17:47.410
five large kind of city -states there and five

00:17:47.410 --> 00:17:50.029
lords ruled over them. We studied this a little

00:17:50.029 --> 00:17:51.990
bit when we studied the time of David on Tuesday

00:17:51.990 --> 00:17:57.759
nights. In any case, When God first called the

00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:00.359
Israelites out of Egypt, the Philistines were

00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:02.960
not listed among the people that they were to

00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:07.079
wipe out slash chase out. And so there are some

00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:10.759
names on this list that are not necessarily pre

00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:14.259
-set by God that they had to be destroyed. Now

00:18:14.259 --> 00:18:16.519
we're past that now. Remember God has twice said

00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:18.579
that he will not lead the Israelites to destroy

00:18:18.579 --> 00:18:21.599
everybody out of the promised land anymore. First

00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:24.529
he said he wouldn't do it over short order. Because

00:18:24.529 --> 00:18:26.670
that would create disease and death and bodies

00:18:26.670 --> 00:18:28.829
laying everywhere in the promised land. That

00:18:28.829 --> 00:18:31.150
would be bad for everybody. Then he said he wouldn't

00:18:31.150 --> 00:18:33.190
do it at all. Because they had strayed from the

00:18:33.190 --> 00:18:34.910
faith. They strayed from following him appropriately.

00:18:34.950 --> 00:18:36.970
Now he's not going to chase them out. And as

00:18:36.970 --> 00:18:39.450
this text tells us, he left them there. But notice

00:18:39.450 --> 00:18:42.289
that on this list, God left people there who

00:18:42.289 --> 00:18:44.869
were not formally there and said that they had

00:18:44.869 --> 00:18:47.690
to have been cast out or killed. Okay? So that's

00:18:47.690 --> 00:18:50.819
interesting. Also, if you knew the geography

00:18:50.819 --> 00:18:52.460
a little bit, we're not going to drill hard on

00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:54.480
this, but basically what we have is one of these

00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:56.980
lists says there's somebody to the northwest,

00:18:57.200 --> 00:18:59.440
somebody to the northeast, somebody to the southeast,

00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:01.599
somebody to the southwest. Basically, they're

00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:04.380
surrounded. And the other list says they've got

00:19:04.380 --> 00:19:06.799
people all living intermixed with them. So the

00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:09.480
next town over or sometimes the next house over.

00:19:10.259 --> 00:19:12.579
And so what we have is the people that are surrounded

00:19:12.579 --> 00:19:15.099
on all sides and the people that are intermixed

00:19:15.099 --> 00:19:18.220
throughout. And that was for the purpose, as

00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:20.380
we just read, to test them to see whether or

00:19:20.380 --> 00:19:23.680
not they will be faithful. And then, of course,

00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:26.859
they were not faithful. They were protesting

00:19:26.859 --> 00:19:29.140
Israel to find out if they would obey the commandments

00:19:29.140 --> 00:19:32.000
of the Lord, which he had commanded their fathers

00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:35.220
through Moses. And then we read, the sons of

00:19:35.220 --> 00:19:37.539
Israel living among them. We've got the list

00:19:37.539 --> 00:19:39.740
again, and it says they began to give their sons

00:19:39.740 --> 00:19:42.630
to their daughters. and their daughters to their

00:19:42.630 --> 00:19:44.390
sons. So they were intermarrying, which was a

00:19:44.390 --> 00:19:48.309
specific command that Moses said must never happen.

00:19:48.849 --> 00:19:50.769
Before they were to cast them out, wipe them

00:19:50.769 --> 00:19:52.210
out, then he said, we're not going to do that

00:19:52.210 --> 00:19:55.509
now. But even so, that command lasts. It stays

00:19:55.509 --> 00:19:57.990
true that they were not supposed to marry off

00:19:57.990 --> 00:19:59.789
their sons and daughters and intermix with the

00:19:59.789 --> 00:20:02.710
people. And the sons of Israel did what was evil

00:20:02.710 --> 00:20:05.230
in the sight of the Lord, this is verse 7, and

00:20:05.230 --> 00:20:08.930
forgot the Lord their God and served. The Baals

00:20:08.930 --> 00:20:11.890
and the Asherah. So the Asherah are wooden symbols

00:20:11.890 --> 00:20:16.089
of a certain false god. Okay? And they would

00:20:16.089 --> 00:20:17.809
serve them. Now, interestingly enough, what were

00:20:17.809 --> 00:20:20.210
they told to do with the wooden symbols? To burn

00:20:20.210 --> 00:20:23.210
them all. Okay? So it's just to burn all those

00:20:23.210 --> 00:20:25.869
wooden symbols that they are now serving in part.

00:20:26.509 --> 00:20:28.730
So they don't do that. Then listen to what happens

00:20:28.730 --> 00:20:31.170
in verse 8. It says, Then the anger of the Lord

00:20:31.170 --> 00:20:35.710
was kindled against Israel, so that he sold them

00:20:35.710 --> 00:20:39.630
into the hands of Kishon, Rishab Haim, king of

00:20:39.630 --> 00:20:42.029
Mesopotamia. Okay? A couple of interesting things

00:20:42.029 --> 00:20:43.809
in this verse. So the first thing is, what were

00:20:43.809 --> 00:20:46.809
they supposed to do with the Asherah? Burn them.

00:20:46.970 --> 00:20:49.230
Right? Burn all those wooden symbols of false

00:20:49.230 --> 00:20:53.329
worship. They did not. And so then it says, instead,

00:20:53.410 --> 00:20:57.009
the anger of the Lord was kindled, and the phrasing

00:20:57.009 --> 00:20:59.210
is basically the same in the Hebrew. They didn't

00:20:59.210 --> 00:21:01.609
burn what they were supposed to, so now the anger

00:21:01.609 --> 00:21:05.900
of God burns against them. And I submit to you,

00:21:05.940 --> 00:21:08.480
when it comes to righteousness, there will always

00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:11.440
be fuel. Understand? When it comes to righteousness

00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:13.759
and judgment, there will always be something

00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:17.500
to burn. Eternally. Because in hell, people will

00:21:17.500 --> 00:21:20.339
burn eternally for judgment, for righteousness.

00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:24.599
There will always be something to burn. So they

00:21:24.599 --> 00:21:27.380
didn't burn the Asherah. Instead, God's anger

00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:30.670
is kindled against Israel. Then notice the Kushan

00:21:30.670 --> 00:21:33.150
Rishathayim, king of Mesopotamia. Now this is

00:21:33.150 --> 00:21:35.490
an interesting name because historically this

00:21:35.490 --> 00:21:38.309
guy doesn't exist. They can't find him anywhere

00:21:38.309 --> 00:21:40.470
in the written history. But if you translate

00:21:40.470 --> 00:21:42.710
the name back into Hebrew and then back into

00:21:42.710 --> 00:21:46.130
English, what you'll get is Kushan, the wickedest

00:21:46.130 --> 00:21:49.089
king there ever was. Or the wickedest Kushan

00:21:49.089 --> 00:21:52.289
there ever was. So what we have may not be the

00:21:52.289 --> 00:21:55.240
actual name of the king. who was ruling over

00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:57.440
them, or God sold them into their hands, but

00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:00.500
the name of a type of king, but this was an actual

00:22:00.500 --> 00:22:02.900
event. So he's saying this was the worst king,

00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:06.220
if you will, to ever exist of that nation. All

00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:08.180
right? Then the last thing to see in here is

00:22:08.180 --> 00:22:10.119
notice what he did to them. He sold them into

00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:13.740
the hands of Kishon Rishabayim. Okay? So this

00:22:13.740 --> 00:22:16.079
terminology, sold them, is the same terminology

00:22:16.079 --> 00:22:18.660
when a father receives a dowry for his daughter.

00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:24.289
Okay? So in other words, as if, R .J. was going

00:22:24.289 --> 00:22:26.049
to eventually marry off Zoe and somebody came

00:22:26.049 --> 00:22:29.210
and gave R .J. money to marry Zoe. Well, that's

00:22:29.210 --> 00:22:32.029
what's happening here. God is selling Israel,

00:22:32.349 --> 00:22:36.829
his daughter, his people, into the hands of Kishon

00:22:36.829 --> 00:22:42.049
Rishaf Haim in order to marry them off. Okay?

00:22:42.109 --> 00:22:44.460
What did they do with their sons? They married

00:22:44.460 --> 00:22:46.660
their sons off to daughters of the wrong peoples.

00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:48.559
What did they do with their daughters? They married

00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:50.759
their daughters off to sons of the wrong peoples.

00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:53.720
And that led them to idolatry because they brought

00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:56.819
that false worship into their family, into God's

00:22:56.819 --> 00:22:59.920
family. Okay? And then God says, okay, well then

00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:02.480
I marry you off. You marry your sons and daughters

00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:05.660
off, I marry you off. And he sold them, and that's

00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:08.079
the same terminology as if by a dowry was received,

00:23:08.380 --> 00:23:11.640
he sold them into the hands of Kishon, Rishat

00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:14.680
Haim, king of Mesopotamia. And the sons of Israel

00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:18.220
served Kishon, Rishath Haim, eight years. And

00:23:18.220 --> 00:23:20.519
so for eight years, they're stuck in servitude.

00:23:20.859 --> 00:23:24.670
After Egypt, 430 years. After the wilderness,

00:23:24.849 --> 00:23:27.150
learning their lesson, after following Moses

00:23:27.150 --> 00:23:30.150
and then Joshua, after Joshua took them to the

00:23:30.150 --> 00:23:31.630
promised land, all the pictures that they had,

00:23:31.789 --> 00:23:33.890
one of those battles that they were in, they

00:23:33.890 --> 00:23:36.170
couldn't stop the enemy from fleeing away, and

00:23:36.170 --> 00:23:39.190
God rained meteors, giant rocks from the sky

00:23:39.190 --> 00:23:43.069
to crush that army. So conclusive was it that

00:23:43.069 --> 00:23:44.750
God had ordained what they were supposed to do

00:23:44.750 --> 00:23:47.589
and miraculously intervened on their behalf so

00:23:47.589 --> 00:23:51.150
many times, and yet here we are, very few generations

00:23:51.150 --> 00:23:53.579
later, as we're going to see in a moment, This

00:23:53.579 --> 00:23:56.660
people marrying their sons and daughters off

00:23:56.660 --> 00:24:01.039
to not God's people. And so God gives them up

00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:05.400
again to slavery. God says, I guess 430 years

00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:08.700
wasn't enough. Our people, my people, did not

00:24:08.700 --> 00:24:10.740
learn their lesson. So you want to be married

00:24:10.740 --> 00:24:14.599
to falsehood, to idolatry, to adultery, to sin,

00:24:14.740 --> 00:24:16.400
to wickedness that's supposed to be wiped off

00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:19.079
the face of the earth? Fine. Do what you want.

00:24:19.140 --> 00:24:20.960
Here you go. And he sold them into the hands

00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:24.220
for eight years. Now we already know because

00:24:24.220 --> 00:24:25.799
we've already looked at the pattern that there

00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:29.819
is a pattern. Every time they get into wickedness,

00:24:29.880 --> 00:24:32.559
they cry out to God, God responds. It says in

00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:34.819
verse 9, And when the sons of Israel cried to

00:24:34.819 --> 00:24:37.579
the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer. The

00:24:37.579 --> 00:24:40.559
word there could be translated judge, but it's

00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:43.200
not. It is a word that literally means a savior.

00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:45.160
Somebody brings you out of bondage. Remember,

00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:49.059
he sold them into the hands of Christian Rishabhaim.

00:24:49.299 --> 00:24:52.759
And now God... raises up a deliverer, a savior,

00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:55.200
if you will, for the sons of Israel to deliver

00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:00.059
them. And it is Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's

00:25:00.059 --> 00:25:02.900
younger brother. And the Spirit of the Lord came

00:25:02.900 --> 00:25:06.220
upon him, and he judged Israel. And again, that

00:25:06.220 --> 00:25:08.519
word there could be judged, but really it's best

00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:11.559
translated as savior. He saved Israel. And when

00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:14.559
he went out to war, the Lord gave Kishon, king

00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:18.940
of Mesopotamia, into his hand. so that he prevailed

00:25:18.940 --> 00:25:22.480
over Kishon Rishab Haim. Then the land had rest

00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:27.440
forty years, and Athnel, the son of Kenaz, died.

00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:30.880
That takes us through verse 11. So did you catch

00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:34.980
it? Did anybody see what was just brought up

00:25:34.980 --> 00:25:38.660
that was preluded, that was pointed to previously

00:25:38.660 --> 00:25:40.859
in the book of Judges, but we have not yet studied

00:25:40.859 --> 00:25:43.319
it? Has anybody read the chapter 1 and 2 of the

00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:45.339
book of Judges since we started studying them

00:25:45.339 --> 00:25:48.920
a month ago? This guy, Othniel, is mentioned.

00:25:49.619 --> 00:25:52.279
He's not only mentioned in Judges, but he's also

00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:58.559
mentioned back in Joshua, I think it's 15. And

00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:00.640
so, if you just look briefly, we're not going

00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:02.039
to read it, but if you just look briefly back

00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:06.019
at chapter 1, as they were getting things going,

00:26:06.259 --> 00:26:09.160
right? Iron chariots, oh no, we're afraid, right?

00:26:09.299 --> 00:26:11.799
Then they're going to take certain places, places

00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:14.359
conquered, places that were failed to be conquered,

00:26:14.420 --> 00:26:19.400
and so on. And there's a story of Othniel. The

00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:25.259
story is, Caleb says, whoever can conquer debris,

00:26:25.500 --> 00:26:34.400
I'll give my daughter. And Othniel steps up and

00:26:34.400 --> 00:26:42.559
goes and conquers debris. Caleb gives... Her

00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:46.269
name is... I forgot how to say her name. Ak -Shah,

00:26:46.329 --> 00:26:49.289
something like that. Anyway, gives her to Othniel.

00:26:50.009 --> 00:26:53.130
And then Othniel goes to start to rule that land.

00:26:53.309 --> 00:26:55.289
She's not content with the land. She goes back

00:26:55.289 --> 00:26:58.269
to her father and says, hey, can we have water?

00:27:00.609 --> 00:27:02.329
We've got a good land, but it doesn't have water.

00:27:02.890 --> 00:27:04.930
And so then he gives her the high and the low

00:27:04.930 --> 00:27:07.190
springs. The land that they inherit is called

00:27:07.190 --> 00:27:09.950
the Negev. We studied that when we went through

00:27:09.950 --> 00:27:12.769
the story of David. The Negev, the low, fertile

00:27:12.769 --> 00:27:15.569
land of the promised land. Now that's not the

00:27:15.569 --> 00:27:18.849
story for today. But the point is, he's preluded.

00:27:19.089 --> 00:27:23.089
This guy, he's had an experience. Remember why

00:27:23.089 --> 00:27:25.509
the people, I just told you today, remember why

00:27:25.509 --> 00:27:27.829
the people still surround the Israelites? Why

00:27:27.829 --> 00:27:30.970
did God put them there? The ones that still surround

00:27:30.970 --> 00:27:36.920
the Israelites. Big long parentheses. Say that

00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:40.420
again? Kind of, right? So that they could be

00:27:40.420 --> 00:27:42.660
familiar with conquering. So they could be familiar

00:27:42.660 --> 00:27:45.000
with fighting. This is a generation that did

00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:47.920
not go through the wars. Right? So the people

00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:49.839
that were around, it says that he left them there.

00:27:50.299 --> 00:27:53.460
So that they could know, it was in verses 1 and

00:27:53.460 --> 00:27:55.099
2 of chapter 3. Let's go back and see it real

00:27:55.099 --> 00:27:57.539
quick. That is, all who had not experienced any

00:27:57.539 --> 00:27:59.160
of the wars of Canaan, only in order that the

00:27:59.160 --> 00:28:00.779
generation of the sons of Israel might be taught

00:28:00.779 --> 00:28:03.299
war. Those who had not experienced it formerly.

00:28:03.500 --> 00:28:05.920
That's why they were there. Well, guess what

00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:09.259
Othniel already knows? He already knows war.

00:28:09.859 --> 00:28:13.279
He already knows the lessons of God. He knows

00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:16.140
the lesson that God left these people around

00:28:16.140 --> 00:28:19.349
them to learn. He knows that lesson because he's

00:28:19.349 --> 00:28:22.750
already been there. So Othniel then is called

00:28:22.750 --> 00:28:29.170
out to rescue, to save God's people. Okay, so

00:28:29.170 --> 00:28:31.170
we're going to work through the text. A few things

00:28:31.170 --> 00:28:32.769
I want you to see here and then the conclusion.

00:28:32.950 --> 00:28:35.650
So the first thing is this. Unfaithfulness to

00:28:35.650 --> 00:28:39.529
God is the ultimate defeat because it is God

00:28:39.529 --> 00:28:42.750
who brings the victory. So in other words, if

00:28:42.750 --> 00:28:45.710
you're in the worst times of your life, things

00:28:45.710 --> 00:28:48.700
are coming against you. and your finances are

00:28:48.700 --> 00:28:50.059
getting hit, your health is getting hit, your

00:28:50.059 --> 00:28:51.960
relationship, whatever it is, something, you

00:28:51.960 --> 00:28:54.359
might go down the list, but everything is falling

00:28:54.359 --> 00:29:00.880
apart. If your faithfulness holds, you win. If

00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:03.799
you go to unfaithfulness, either to solve the

00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:06.440
problems, or because you're frustrated, because

00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:08.160
you're tired, because you're worn out, because

00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:09.759
you're beat up, maybe you've got nothing left.

00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:12.119
You barely can take another breath. Tears are

00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:13.599
streaming down your face. You've got nothing

00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:17.480
left. And in that moment, If you cry out to God

00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:21.500
in faithfulness and stay faithful, you win. That's

00:29:21.500 --> 00:29:25.359
it. And if you instead choose to go to unfaithfulness

00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:27.680
to try to solve the problem, you lose. There

00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:31.359
is exactly one measure that God is looking for.

00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:35.839
It is faithfulness. That's it. Let your yes be

00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:38.460
yes, your no be no. Show up. Do the work. Serve.

00:29:38.660 --> 00:29:41.619
Share the gospel. When people are about to be

00:29:41.619 --> 00:29:44.660
killed for their faith, and sometimes they are

00:29:44.660 --> 00:29:47.599
killed, Right? You will hear them profess the

00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:51.160
gospel. Why? Because they understand that if

00:29:51.160 --> 00:29:53.619
they stay faithful in that moment, they win.

00:29:53.900 --> 00:29:57.559
Why will martyrs not just renounce Christ and

00:29:57.559 --> 00:29:59.619
not get the bullet to the brain? Why will they

00:29:59.619 --> 00:30:01.619
not just say, well, I don't want to be burned

00:30:01.619 --> 00:30:02.799
alive today, so I'm just going to walk away,

00:30:02.900 --> 00:30:06.660
right? Because won't grace cover that? But what

00:30:06.660 --> 00:30:08.640
we're learning from this text and the book of

00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:10.839
Judges already is that unfaithfulness to God

00:30:10.839 --> 00:30:15.359
is the ultimate defeat. It is where victory goes

00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:19.759
to die. Everything you've ever overcome, every

00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:21.900
success you've ever had, that time when you went,

00:30:21.980 --> 00:30:24.539
oh man, I'm changing. God's making me somebody

00:30:24.539 --> 00:30:26.960
new. I'm doing better. I really made a good decision

00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:29.180
here. I'm praising the Lord today because I'm

00:30:29.180 --> 00:30:31.319
a different person than I used to be. All of

00:30:31.319 --> 00:30:34.140
that goes in the garbage can when you decide

00:30:34.140 --> 00:30:38.829
you can do it better than God can. Unfaithfulness

00:30:38.829 --> 00:30:41.589
to God is the ultimate defeat because it is God

00:30:41.589 --> 00:30:44.210
who brings the victory in the first place. Selling

00:30:44.210 --> 00:30:48.170
your birthright to appease your passions. Basically,

00:30:48.170 --> 00:30:50.130
God wants to hand you the kingdom of God. He

00:30:50.130 --> 00:30:51.730
wants to fully give you the keys. He wants to

00:30:51.730 --> 00:30:53.849
take you home to heaven for eternity. And you're

00:30:53.849 --> 00:30:56.750
going, but here's this stuff. Here's this thing.

00:30:56.890 --> 00:31:00.390
Here's this problem. Here's this pressure. In

00:31:00.390 --> 00:31:03.450
times of relative peace, peace itself becomes

00:31:03.450 --> 00:31:08.029
a weapon of the enemy. In times of relative peace,

00:31:08.210 --> 00:31:11.210
peace itself becomes a weapon of the enemy. Because

00:31:11.210 --> 00:31:14.470
in other words, you want what you want. I need

00:31:14.470 --> 00:31:18.410
it quiet in here. I need you to solve this problem.

00:31:18.869 --> 00:31:21.809
I need you to do what I told you to do. I need

00:31:21.809 --> 00:31:24.990
you to step up at the right time. And then they

00:31:24.990 --> 00:31:28.849
don't, and your peace is damaged. So you fix

00:31:28.849 --> 00:31:34.349
it. You blow up. You get mad. You steal. You

00:31:34.349 --> 00:31:36.990
lie. You do the things that people can do to

00:31:36.990 --> 00:31:40.009
solve problems and you think, well, grace will

00:31:40.009 --> 00:31:43.109
cover it or whatever. In times of relative peace,

00:31:43.289 --> 00:31:45.670
peace itself becomes a weapon. Understand that

00:31:45.670 --> 00:31:48.670
they were at peace. They were not conquering

00:31:48.670 --> 00:31:50.170
the lands around them anymore. They had stopped

00:31:50.170 --> 00:31:51.769
fighting because God had already said He wasn't

00:31:51.769 --> 00:31:55.210
going to do it. Right? There are people living

00:31:55.210 --> 00:31:58.549
in and amongst them and they've got pretty girls.

00:31:59.690 --> 00:32:02.309
I'd like to have a pretty girl. I think I'll

00:32:02.309 --> 00:32:05.880
take a bride from amongst... The Hivites. Right?

00:32:05.940 --> 00:32:09.380
She's clearly welcoming. And I don't have an

00:32:09.380 --> 00:32:11.279
Israelite woman right now. Nobody's welcoming.

00:32:11.480 --> 00:32:14.599
So I'll take one of these. Right? Or vice versa.

00:32:15.900 --> 00:32:18.940
Right? An Israelite woman, a young person, says,

00:32:18.980 --> 00:32:20.920
Dad's got three daughters. And he says, Here

00:32:20.920 --> 00:32:25.160
is an Israelite man, but he's not asking. He's

00:32:25.160 --> 00:32:27.180
not after any of my daughters, or only one of

00:32:27.180 --> 00:32:29.680
my daughters has a suitor. And here I can get

00:32:29.680 --> 00:32:33.700
5 ,000. or I can get sheep and cattle and whatever,

00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:39.400
right? So I'll accept that dowry from Philistine

00:32:39.400 --> 00:32:42.460
and then I'll sell my, I'll basically give in

00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:44.500
my daughter. And yeah, I know that's me. She's

00:32:44.500 --> 00:32:47.160
going to have to worship Dagon, you know, but

00:32:47.160 --> 00:32:49.039
we're kind of already doing some of that anyway.

00:32:49.160 --> 00:32:51.160
It's not really different, right? All paths lead

00:32:51.160 --> 00:32:54.960
to God, right? It's all fine. And they sold their

00:32:54.960 --> 00:32:58.930
daughters. Or they bought lives from amongst

00:32:58.930 --> 00:33:00.730
those people that they were not supposed to be.

00:33:01.410 --> 00:33:05.930
Why? For peace. For the sake of peace. The argument

00:33:05.930 --> 00:33:07.849
goes something like this. What will it hurt?

00:33:08.049 --> 00:33:11.589
God has allowed it to exist. All things in moderation,

00:33:11.930 --> 00:33:13.450
right? You can do anything as long as you don't

00:33:13.450 --> 00:33:17.109
overdo it. Just a little won't hurt. Others are

00:33:17.109 --> 00:33:22.509
doing it, etc. And then notice that a myriad

00:33:22.509 --> 00:33:25.680
of individual decisions. This is how righteousness

00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:30.859
bleeds to death. One little thing after another.

00:33:31.319 --> 00:33:34.339
One little compromise. One little step. It might

00:33:34.339 --> 00:33:37.119
be a sin, but I did repent right afterwards and

00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:38.519
I was cleansed of all unrighteousness and all

00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:40.460
is good, right? And then the next time, it's

00:33:40.460 --> 00:33:42.539
that much easier to do what you've already done

00:33:42.539 --> 00:33:47.099
again. And then again. And again. And righteousness

00:33:47.099 --> 00:33:54.440
suddenly is bleeding out on the floor. There

00:33:54.440 --> 00:33:58.000
is no scale like this for measuring what's good

00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:01.039
or bad in life. There is walking with God and

00:34:01.039 --> 00:34:03.859
being found faithful. Notice, I understand that

00:34:03.859 --> 00:34:05.779
this is a national direction of the Israelites.

00:34:06.539 --> 00:34:10.980
This is not one person, one family, or one church,

00:34:11.320 --> 00:34:13.559
or one local body of worshipers that didn't have

00:34:13.559 --> 00:34:18.139
synagogues yet by that time. One group of people

00:34:18.139 --> 00:34:20.480
worshiping God is talking about the country.

00:34:21.019 --> 00:34:24.000
But each individual was making decisions letting

00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:27.179
their own righteousness bleed off and the country

00:34:27.179 --> 00:34:33.780
then as a whole was going away from God. I understand

00:34:33.780 --> 00:34:35.739
that this book is talking about a national direction,

00:34:35.980 --> 00:34:39.860
but I also see it is a good illustration of how

00:34:39.860 --> 00:34:42.940
we can, number one, make many seemingly small

00:34:42.940 --> 00:34:46.340
decisions and completely submit to intermingling

00:34:46.340 --> 00:34:49.840
with the enemy. Each thing looks pretty small.

00:34:50.380 --> 00:34:53.059
And before you know it, you're so mixed up with

00:34:53.059 --> 00:34:54.760
them that you can't tell the difference between

00:34:54.760 --> 00:35:01.719
them and you. Moreover, eventually we find ourselves

00:35:01.719 --> 00:35:05.079
fully participating in defiling worship practices.

00:35:06.440 --> 00:35:08.860
So we come to church still because that's just

00:35:08.860 --> 00:35:13.079
the right thing to do. But we get excited about

00:35:13.079 --> 00:35:18.500
football or our hobbies. We raise our voices.

00:35:19.190 --> 00:35:21.829
We're willing to talk and shout. Stand up. Go

00:35:21.829 --> 00:35:25.869
spend our money. Commit ourselves. We're willing

00:35:25.869 --> 00:35:28.389
to go after those things. We're willing to declare

00:35:28.389 --> 00:35:30.230
the worth of those things. Stand around talking

00:35:30.230 --> 00:35:33.550
about what we care about. But then when you look

00:35:33.550 --> 00:35:36.150
at the same kind of living for Jesus and you

00:35:36.150 --> 00:35:38.090
compare, are we talking about what we care about?

00:35:39.269 --> 00:35:42.650
Or are we talking about something else? Are we

00:35:42.650 --> 00:35:45.110
blocking out time seven days a week to spend

00:35:45.110 --> 00:35:48.460
time in the Word? But do we watch TV seven days

00:35:48.460 --> 00:35:52.860
a week? Do we spend time in the Bible app highlighting

00:35:52.860 --> 00:35:54.900
verses, thinking about what God wants us to know

00:35:54.900 --> 00:35:57.480
today? But do we play games and apps on our phone?

00:35:58.139 --> 00:36:01.920
Do we take notes during the sermon about what's

00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:03.760
important, what I should do this week, how should

00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:06.340
I respond to this? Oh no, we don't do that. But

00:36:06.340 --> 00:36:08.599
do we use a grocery list to make sure that we

00:36:08.599 --> 00:36:10.039
get what we're supposed to buy at the store?

00:36:11.400 --> 00:36:14.260
See, what happens is one small decision at a

00:36:14.260 --> 00:36:17.239
time and pretty soon your participation with

00:36:17.239 --> 00:36:20.420
that other way of living is so much that it's

00:36:20.420 --> 00:36:22.699
literally defiling God and your relationship

00:36:22.699 --> 00:36:24.760
with God. And God will not allow it. He will

00:36:24.760 --> 00:36:27.019
sell you into the hands of the people that you

00:36:27.019 --> 00:36:29.639
think are better than Him. That's what He'll

00:36:29.639 --> 00:36:34.139
do. Notice also, it is a good illustration of

00:36:34.139 --> 00:36:37.659
how we can or how our decisions compose more

00:36:37.659 --> 00:36:43.110
than judgment for our nation. In other words,

00:36:43.130 --> 00:36:45.849
if we as a country, as a whole, accept certain

00:36:45.849 --> 00:36:49.090
things, and it gets to grow and it rises up,

00:36:49.269 --> 00:36:51.730
then as a nation, we will be seen as not following

00:36:51.730 --> 00:36:53.730
God, even though there may be people inside the

00:36:53.730 --> 00:36:57.309
nation that's following God. For an era, and

00:36:57.309 --> 00:37:00.090
I don't know how long it was, but it's going

00:37:00.090 --> 00:37:02.730
away now. Maybe it's coming back now, actually,

00:37:02.750 --> 00:37:04.550
but it was going away pretty bad for a while,

00:37:04.670 --> 00:37:06.989
and it may go away well again. But for an era,

00:37:07.289 --> 00:37:09.369
The United States of America was known as a Christian

00:37:09.369 --> 00:37:14.250
nation. And they would say that 96, 97 % of Americans

00:37:14.250 --> 00:37:16.510
profess to be Christian. That is not true anymore.

00:37:17.750 --> 00:37:21.789
But be aware that once upon a time, England was

00:37:21.789 --> 00:37:24.670
known as a Christian nation. In fact, the Church

00:37:24.670 --> 00:37:27.050
of England still exists today. You go to downtown

00:37:27.050 --> 00:37:29.429
London and you can take a tour. And on the first

00:37:29.429 --> 00:37:31.630
stop of the tour, you put the earpiece in and

00:37:31.630 --> 00:37:35.829
it will explain to you the gospel. That's a government

00:37:35.829 --> 00:37:39.599
entity. Right? And you sit there and listen to

00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:41.900
the gospel of Jesus Christ and what Christians

00:37:41.900 --> 00:37:45.039
believe. Everybody that tours London that goes

00:37:45.039 --> 00:37:47.719
to Westminster Abbey hears the gospel in their

00:37:47.719 --> 00:37:54.179
ear on a recording. But by last count, less than

00:37:54.179 --> 00:37:56.960
15 % of England was calling itself Christian.

00:37:58.760 --> 00:38:03.019
A hundred years ago, 88 % of men from England,

00:38:03.179 --> 00:38:05.820
wherever they were in the world, went to church,

00:38:05.860 --> 00:38:08.539
participated in an active group worship service,

00:38:08.559 --> 00:38:11.260
and served in the church three times a week.

00:38:12.519 --> 00:38:14.940
Not two, like Sunday morning, Tuesday night.

00:38:15.179 --> 00:38:19.000
Three. Three services a week. 88 % of the men.

00:38:19.159 --> 00:38:22.699
And now, not even 15 or whatever, 15, 20 % of

00:38:22.699 --> 00:38:26.500
England would profess to be Christian. And less

00:38:26.500 --> 00:38:33.190
than five. of England's men go to church three

00:38:33.190 --> 00:38:38.289
times a week. We could be that. In fact, it's

00:38:38.289 --> 00:38:41.230
been said that we are becoming that. And then

00:38:41.230 --> 00:38:43.309
there is a revival happening and the Spirit's

00:38:43.309 --> 00:38:44.909
pouring out and people are changing. The bottom

00:38:44.909 --> 00:38:47.989
line is, our decisions compose more and affect

00:38:47.989 --> 00:38:52.269
the judgment of our entire nation. If you don't

00:38:52.269 --> 00:38:54.869
care what's going on on your block, in your neighborhood,

00:38:54.969 --> 00:38:57.050
in your city, in your state, then you can guarantee

00:38:59.019 --> 00:39:01.760
That unrighteousness will become the norm. You

00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:04.579
can guarantee it. If they break into your neighbor's

00:39:04.579 --> 00:39:06.340
house and steal your neighbor's stuff and you

00:39:06.340 --> 00:39:08.480
watch the car pull up and the thieves go in and

00:39:08.480 --> 00:39:09.880
the thieves come out and you don't call 911,

00:39:10.219 --> 00:39:12.599
you can pretty much guarantee that sometime you're

00:39:12.599 --> 00:39:14.059
going to come home and all your stuff is going

00:39:14.059 --> 00:39:17.360
to be missing. If you don't stand up for what's

00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:20.150
right with regards to marriage, or with what's

00:39:20.150 --> 00:39:22.010
right with regard to anything that is laid out

00:39:22.010 --> 00:39:24.429
in Scripture. God is the one who ordains those

00:39:24.429 --> 00:39:26.289
things, not government. If we don't follow God

00:39:26.289 --> 00:39:28.469
instead of government, then we need to realize

00:39:28.469 --> 00:39:32.210
that eventually God's ways will be gone from

00:39:32.210 --> 00:39:36.030
the earth. Now, God is big enough. He can handle

00:39:36.030 --> 00:39:38.230
the fight. He does it here. He does it every

00:39:38.230 --> 00:39:40.449
time. I understand that. But what will happen

00:39:40.449 --> 00:39:43.010
is He will allow the church, such as we call

00:39:43.010 --> 00:39:46.159
it, to be sold into the hands of the enemy. A

00:39:46.159 --> 00:39:48.780
myriad of individual decisions. This is how righteousness

00:39:48.780 --> 00:39:52.800
bleeds to death. One more in there. God, again,

00:39:53.059 --> 00:39:56.400
in His great grace, in His mercy, sent a rescuer.

00:39:57.320 --> 00:40:00.239
Now, this rescuer was qualified by an interesting

00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:02.460
means. It was not that he married a godly woman,

00:40:02.519 --> 00:40:04.860
although he did. He married a woman who followed

00:40:04.860 --> 00:40:07.539
the Lord, submitted to Him, went back and asked

00:40:07.539 --> 00:40:10.000
for water for their lands, took care of his lands.

00:40:10.119 --> 00:40:13.079
He married a godly woman, and that's good. He

00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:15.179
bravely completed a challenge wherein he had

00:40:15.179 --> 00:40:18.019
to rely on the Lord, taking the lands that needed

00:40:18.019 --> 00:40:21.099
to be still conquered, where really big people

00:40:21.099 --> 00:40:24.460
lived, really dangerous people lived. Not the

00:40:24.460 --> 00:40:27.719
original Goliath descendants, but very large,

00:40:27.800 --> 00:40:29.860
very strong armies there. And he went in and

00:40:29.860 --> 00:40:33.739
he took that land. So he completed a challenge

00:40:33.739 --> 00:40:37.059
relying on the Lord. He had known fighting. He

00:40:37.059 --> 00:40:40.119
was a warrior. He and the men of his family had

00:40:40.119 --> 00:40:42.679
seen firsthand battle. Fighting on behalf of

00:40:42.679 --> 00:40:46.760
God. He had received his wife from a very wise

00:40:46.760 --> 00:40:50.760
and godly man. A man who had trusted God. So

00:40:50.760 --> 00:40:52.780
his wife was trained in righteousness. He was

00:40:52.780 --> 00:40:54.199
trained in righteousness. He had experienced

00:40:54.199 --> 00:40:59.280
it all. And yet, it says, he was set upon by

00:40:59.280 --> 00:41:02.039
the Holy Spirit and God made him victorious.

00:41:02.880 --> 00:41:06.199
I don't care how good you are. If God doesn't

00:41:06.199 --> 00:41:08.440
offer it, if God doesn't do it, if God does not

00:41:08.440 --> 00:41:12.860
give the victory, you will lose. You may think

00:41:12.860 --> 00:41:16.340
you are winning, but you will lose. This man,

00:41:16.579 --> 00:41:18.800
who is probably better than any one of us, on

00:41:18.800 --> 00:41:22.300
paper at least, received the Holy Spirit from

00:41:22.300 --> 00:41:24.280
God for the specific purpose for which he was

00:41:24.280 --> 00:41:27.260
called. And you and I need that. That brings

00:41:27.260 --> 00:41:30.400
us to our conclusions already. The first one

00:41:30.400 --> 00:41:34.059
is this. This story sounds a lot to me like fighting

00:41:34.059 --> 00:41:37.059
temptation. Temptation is the fight that determines

00:41:37.059 --> 00:41:39.639
the character of a man. And correspondingly,

00:41:39.639 --> 00:41:44.840
a nation. And it comes gently. Even as a friend.

00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:50.380
Offering options. You've got options. You don't

00:41:50.380 --> 00:41:53.559
have to. Well, Jesus said, come follow me and

00:41:53.559 --> 00:41:55.579
you'll be free. The truth will set you free and

00:41:55.579 --> 00:41:57.139
you'll be free indeed. You'll be free with the

00:41:57.139 --> 00:41:58.860
Son. You'll be free with me. Free in the kingdom

00:41:58.860 --> 00:42:01.800
of God. So, can't you do this then? Why can't

00:42:01.800 --> 00:42:06.190
you? Why won't you? Temptation comes. even as

00:42:06.190 --> 00:42:08.409
a friend, offering options. It comes gently.

00:42:09.030 --> 00:42:11.530
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10, verses 11

00:42:11.530 --> 00:42:15.590
-13 as follows. Now these things happened to

00:42:15.590 --> 00:42:17.469
them as an example. It's talking about what happened

00:42:17.469 --> 00:42:19.670
to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt

00:42:19.670 --> 00:42:21.429
and eventually suffered in the desert. And they

00:42:21.429 --> 00:42:23.730
were written for our instruction upon whom the

00:42:23.730 --> 00:42:26.070
ends of the ages have come. That includes us,

00:42:26.110 --> 00:42:28.510
by the way. Therefore, let him who thinks he

00:42:28.510 --> 00:42:31.789
stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation

00:42:31.789 --> 00:42:34.909
has overtaken you, but such as is common to man.

00:42:35.360 --> 00:42:41.179
And God is faithful. God is faithful who will

00:42:41.179 --> 00:42:43.920
not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are

00:42:43.920 --> 00:42:46.219
able, but with the temptation will provide the

00:42:46.219 --> 00:42:49.039
way of escape also so that you may be able to

00:42:49.039 --> 00:42:53.000
endure it. Temptation comes. There are going

00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:55.780
to be times where you're going to want to go

00:42:55.780 --> 00:43:00.219
a certain way. And you're going to wonder whether

00:43:00.219 --> 00:43:03.679
or not that way is a sin against God. And I say

00:43:03.679 --> 00:43:05.639
to you that if you think for sure that it is,

00:43:05.699 --> 00:43:09.119
don't go that way. And if you think it is possibly,

00:43:09.360 --> 00:43:12.360
and you're not sure, find out first. Because

00:43:12.360 --> 00:43:15.340
it is, as we've been talking about, unfaithfulness

00:43:15.340 --> 00:43:19.000
that is the ultimate defeat. Temptation is the

00:43:19.000 --> 00:43:20.800
fight that determines the character of a man

00:43:20.800 --> 00:43:23.420
and correspondingly a nation. And temptation

00:43:23.420 --> 00:43:26.340
comes gently, even as a friend offering options.

00:43:26.420 --> 00:43:28.440
Notice in Matthew chapter 4, we won't go there

00:43:28.440 --> 00:43:32.309
and read it, but the devil tempts Jesus. No weapons

00:43:32.309 --> 00:43:35.489
are drawn, no punches thrown, no swords clanging.

00:43:35.789 --> 00:43:40.190
Jesus even humors the devil to a point. The devil

00:43:40.190 --> 00:43:43.329
suggests that Jesus solve his hunger problem

00:43:43.329 --> 00:43:47.429
with a little flex of muscle. Would it even be

00:43:47.429 --> 00:43:50.210
sin for Jesus to turn rocks into bread when he's

00:43:50.210 --> 00:43:52.469
hungry after 40 days of fasting and the fast

00:43:52.469 --> 00:43:55.969
is basically over? It seems like a perfectly

00:43:55.969 --> 00:43:59.090
reasonable suggestion made in the time of relative

00:43:59.090 --> 00:44:02.650
peace. They're not arguing. The devil's not cussing

00:44:02.650 --> 00:44:06.269
him, striking him, crucifying him, nothing. He

00:44:06.269 --> 00:44:08.630
just comes talking. And he says, why don't you

00:44:08.630 --> 00:44:11.409
make these stones into bread? Jesus refuses.

00:44:11.690 --> 00:44:14.750
He counters with a desire to receive provision

00:44:14.750 --> 00:44:20.090
from God and God alone. And he says that an act

00:44:20.090 --> 00:44:23.750
such as the one that Satan was suggesting would

00:44:23.750 --> 00:44:27.510
have shown his priorities. The devil tries again.

00:44:27.989 --> 00:44:30.929
He says, throw yourself down. Even the Bible

00:44:30.929 --> 00:44:34.150
says angels will not allow Jesus to strike his

00:44:34.150 --> 00:44:38.329
feet upon the ground or be hurt. Jesus says no.

00:44:38.469 --> 00:44:43.130
He refuses. You shall not tempt the Lord. Lastly,

00:44:43.130 --> 00:44:46.369
a flat out offer of power. If only Jesus will

00:44:46.369 --> 00:44:52.750
worship even for a second. The devil. The devil

00:44:52.750 --> 00:44:54.309
will give him all the kingdoms of the earth.

00:44:54.570 --> 00:44:57.989
It's flagrant. You see, temptation has upped

00:44:57.989 --> 00:45:01.960
its game. The devil is bold. He's swinging for

00:45:01.960 --> 00:45:04.559
the fences. Because maybe he can get this guy

00:45:04.559 --> 00:45:07.360
to worship him. That would be a real home run.

00:45:08.380 --> 00:45:11.659
Now he's shown his true colors. And you know

00:45:11.659 --> 00:45:15.059
what happens next. And Jesus said to him, Go,

00:45:15.280 --> 00:45:18.199
Satan. For it is written, You shall worship the

00:45:18.199 --> 00:45:21.119
Lord your God and serve him only. And the devil

00:45:21.119 --> 00:45:24.039
left him. And behold, angels came and began to

00:45:24.039 --> 00:45:26.880
minister to him. See, after the devil left him,

00:45:27.150 --> 00:45:29.389
Jesus still didn't do it in his own provision

00:45:29.389 --> 00:45:34.809
or power. God did it for him. What are you trying

00:45:34.809 --> 00:45:38.849
to accomplish? What are your goals in life? Got

00:45:38.849 --> 00:45:42.929
a dream? Got a career goal? Want to get something

00:45:42.929 --> 00:45:45.750
done? Something that's been on your list for

00:45:45.750 --> 00:45:49.829
a long time? Got a bill that needs paid? A problem

00:45:49.829 --> 00:45:51.510
to overcome? What are you trying to accomplish?

00:45:52.909 --> 00:45:55.429
Listen to me when I say to you that temptation

00:45:55.429 --> 00:46:00.150
will come. And they may even say, you can do

00:46:00.150 --> 00:46:03.610
it. You can overcome. You can do what you need

00:46:03.610 --> 00:46:09.070
to do. When it comes silently, quietly, whispering

00:46:09.070 --> 00:46:14.969
in your heart place, you say, go away and be

00:46:14.969 --> 00:46:18.230
found faithful. Second thing, second conclusion

00:46:18.230 --> 00:46:22.730
is this. Being unequally yoked is an access road.

00:46:24.030 --> 00:46:28.190
Teenagers, listen up. This is huge, Curtis. Pay

00:46:28.190 --> 00:46:32.190
attention. Jason, are you with me? Being unequally

00:46:32.190 --> 00:46:35.309
yoked is an access road. The New Testament says

00:46:35.309 --> 00:46:39.030
it this way, 2 Corinthians. Do not be mismatched

00:46:39.030 --> 00:46:42.309
or unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what

00:46:42.309 --> 00:46:44.730
do righteousness and lawlessness share together?

00:46:44.949 --> 00:46:47.329
Or what does light have in common with darkness?

00:46:47.710 --> 00:46:50.269
Or what harmony does Christ have with Belial?

00:46:50.429 --> 00:46:52.329
That's another name for the devil. Or what does

00:46:52.329 --> 00:46:56.829
a believer share with an unbeliever? Or what

00:46:56.829 --> 00:46:58.929
agreement does the temple of God have with the

00:46:58.929 --> 00:47:01.690
idols? For we are the temple of the living God,

00:47:01.849 --> 00:47:04.969
just as God said. And then he quotes, I will

00:47:04.969 --> 00:47:07.650
dwell among them and walk among them. And I will

00:47:07.650 --> 00:47:10.409
be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore,

00:47:10.550 --> 00:47:13.289
come out from their midst and be separate, says

00:47:13.289 --> 00:47:16.909
the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean. And

00:47:16.909 --> 00:47:18.969
I will welcome you and I will be a father to

00:47:18.969 --> 00:47:20.949
you. And you shall be my sons and daughters to

00:47:20.949 --> 00:47:25.170
me, says the Lord Almighty. Do you understand?

00:47:26.469 --> 00:47:29.590
Girls, if you take a husband who does not know

00:47:29.590 --> 00:47:33.050
the Lord the way you know the Lord, you'll pay

00:47:33.050 --> 00:47:36.329
for your entire life and probably not wind up

00:47:36.329 --> 00:47:39.170
in the kingdom of God in this lifetime. It doesn't

00:47:39.170 --> 00:47:41.690
mean you'll lose your salvation. That's between

00:47:41.690 --> 00:47:44.750
you and Jesus. But if you would take a husband

00:47:44.750 --> 00:47:48.230
who does not know the Lord, or men, if you would

00:47:48.230 --> 00:47:51.550
take a wife who does not know the Lord, you will

00:47:51.550 --> 00:47:55.469
pay. That is an access road. I can tell you,

00:47:55.849 --> 00:47:58.949
And I am blessed by the grace of God to have

00:47:58.949 --> 00:48:00.949
a woman who claims Jesus as her Savior and serves

00:48:00.949 --> 00:48:03.469
the Lord alongside of me. But I can tell you

00:48:03.469 --> 00:48:06.530
with absolute certainty that if it were not so,

00:48:06.750 --> 00:48:11.349
I would be terrified daily. Nobody exists inside

00:48:11.349 --> 00:48:14.710
the armor that I put on daily like my wife does.

00:48:16.170 --> 00:48:17.969
You know, understand, if you want to be found

00:48:17.969 --> 00:48:21.159
faithful, if you want the blessings of God, if

00:48:21.159 --> 00:48:23.360
you want the Holy Spirit at work in you daily,

00:48:23.480 --> 00:48:25.199
if you want your spiritual gifts flowing forth,

00:48:25.300 --> 00:48:28.019
if you want your fruit of the Spirit growing

00:48:28.019 --> 00:48:31.679
out of you as it's supposed to, you can't have

00:48:31.679 --> 00:48:36.400
inside you someone who does not know Jesus without

00:48:36.400 --> 00:48:41.719
causing a lasting conflict. And so Jesus would

00:48:41.719 --> 00:48:46.300
say, and Paul isn't quoting Jesus, but God says,

00:48:46.340 --> 00:48:47.719
I will dwell among you and you shall be my people.

00:48:47.840 --> 00:48:49.260
And he says, come out from their midst and be

00:48:49.260 --> 00:48:53.079
separate. Paul says, do not be unequally yoked

00:48:53.079 --> 00:48:55.860
with unbelievers. But we've talked about it for

00:48:55.860 --> 00:48:57.880
marriage because that's what they were doing,

00:48:57.980 --> 00:48:59.659
right? That's what they were doing in the era

00:48:59.659 --> 00:49:01.840
of the judges. They were marrying people who

00:49:01.840 --> 00:49:04.280
did not have an equal yoke with them to God.

00:49:04.380 --> 00:49:06.599
Now, even though they were doing some false worship

00:49:06.599 --> 00:49:09.480
too and so on, right? So I'm not saying that

00:49:09.480 --> 00:49:12.159
you're perfect in Christ. I'm not saying that

00:49:12.159 --> 00:49:14.500
you're perfect in Christ. But the woman that

00:49:14.500 --> 00:49:17.420
you marry or the man that you marry had better

00:49:17.420 --> 00:49:20.340
be at least where you are. And the truth is,

00:49:20.400 --> 00:49:22.840
if they're way ahead of you, let's say if they're

00:49:22.840 --> 00:49:25.260
very spiritually grown ahead of you, you also

00:49:25.260 --> 00:49:29.579
should not marry them. Because that's still unequally

00:49:29.579 --> 00:49:32.059
yoked. So you need to come to a point where you

00:49:32.059 --> 00:49:33.820
can get the two of you understanding certain

00:49:33.820 --> 00:49:36.380
things that God teaches so that you can be equally

00:49:36.380 --> 00:49:39.280
yoked. I remember when RJ was a very young Christian.

00:49:39.840 --> 00:49:42.280
And Alicia had all this background in the Bible

00:49:42.280 --> 00:49:44.980
and stuff. And RJ was playing catch -up and faithful

00:49:44.980 --> 00:49:48.099
to try to do so, to try to balance that out because

00:49:48.099 --> 00:49:49.900
he became a Christian after they were already

00:49:49.900 --> 00:49:53.860
married. I've seen it so many times. Men sit

00:49:53.860 --> 00:49:56.300
in my office and talk in confidence. It's not

00:49:56.300 --> 00:49:58.119
gossip, it's just incompetence about the relationship

00:49:58.119 --> 00:50:00.440
they have with their wife. Or women sit in my

00:50:00.440 --> 00:50:02.539
office with the door open and somebody's nearby,

00:50:02.860 --> 00:50:04.619
but sit in my office and talk about the relationship

00:50:04.619 --> 00:50:06.639
they have with their husband because they're

00:50:06.639 --> 00:50:12.610
unequally yoked. You can't do it easily. The

00:50:12.610 --> 00:50:16.050
person that is not knowing the Lord as much will

00:50:16.050 --> 00:50:19.210
wind up choking because they're straining backwards

00:50:19.210 --> 00:50:21.690
against the yoke. And the person that knows the

00:50:21.690 --> 00:50:24.110
Lord is choking because they're pushing forward

00:50:24.110 --> 00:50:25.570
and they're trying to do the things that God

00:50:25.570 --> 00:50:29.190
wants them to do. So what? So what do you do?

00:50:30.730 --> 00:50:33.329
What if it's your family? Not your husband or

00:50:33.329 --> 00:50:36.670
your wife, but your family. Your brother, your

00:50:36.670 --> 00:50:40.650
sister. Your mother, your father, in this lifetime.

00:50:41.829 --> 00:50:45.010
That's what happened to Jesus. At roughly 30

00:50:45.010 --> 00:50:46.969
years old, Jesus came out and began his public

00:50:46.969 --> 00:50:50.409
ministry. And his mother did not believe him,

00:50:50.429 --> 00:50:52.309
which is pretty amazing, isn't it? Because she

00:50:52.309 --> 00:50:55.650
was there at the virgin birth. She noted what

00:50:55.650 --> 00:50:57.789
God was going to do through him. But then as

00:50:57.789 --> 00:51:00.650
he came out and became public about he was the

00:51:00.650 --> 00:51:02.750
Messiah, the anointed one, he was God in the

00:51:02.750 --> 00:51:05.260
flesh. And he was teaching the gospel and standing

00:51:05.260 --> 00:51:07.500
firm on the truths of God. She didn't believe

00:51:07.500 --> 00:51:11.679
him. And James didn't believe him, his own brother.

00:51:13.440 --> 00:51:17.480
They said, Jesus has gone nuts. And they're going

00:51:17.480 --> 00:51:20.659
to kill him. Because he's ordaining himself a

00:51:20.659 --> 00:51:23.400
king. Because he's calling himself a leader,

00:51:23.460 --> 00:51:29.860
a lord, a messiah. In Matthew 12, verses 46 to

00:51:29.860 --> 00:51:32.760
50, Jesus said, this is what happens. It says,

00:51:33.099 --> 00:51:35.340
While he was still speaking to the crowds, behold,

00:51:35.480 --> 00:51:37.519
his mother and brothers were standing outside

00:51:37.519 --> 00:51:40.719
seeking to speak to him. Someone said to him,

00:51:40.860 --> 00:51:44.239
Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing

00:51:44.239 --> 00:51:45.880
outside seeking to speak. You see, what happens

00:51:45.880 --> 00:51:47.639
is they had come to take him home, to get him

00:51:47.639 --> 00:51:50.139
out of what he was doing. But Jesus answered

00:51:50.139 --> 00:51:52.239
the one who was telling him and said, Who is

00:51:52.239 --> 00:51:57.599
my mother and who are my brothers? And stretching

00:51:57.599 --> 00:52:00.280
out his hand toward his disciples, he said, Behold,

00:52:00.280 --> 00:52:03.860
my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the

00:52:03.860 --> 00:52:06.420
will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my

00:52:06.420 --> 00:52:11.860
brother and sister and mother. So Jesus said,

00:52:11.980 --> 00:52:16.860
in this lifetime, there will be this trouble.

00:52:17.500 --> 00:52:19.639
In fact, elsewhere he said, I did not come to

00:52:19.639 --> 00:52:22.340
bring peace but a sword, right? And he went on

00:52:22.340 --> 00:52:26.099
to say, child and mother and father and brother

00:52:26.099 --> 00:52:28.539
and sister and families will be torn apart by

00:52:28.539 --> 00:52:32.800
the gospel. And so that peace that we're looking

00:52:32.800 --> 00:52:36.159
for, that you can find when you embrace the lifestyle

00:52:36.159 --> 00:52:39.440
and the sinful choices and the ungodliness of

00:52:39.440 --> 00:52:44.059
your family, that peace is no peace at all. That

00:52:44.059 --> 00:52:47.539
is a surrender. That is you surrendering your

00:52:47.539 --> 00:52:50.920
faithfulness. Because there is a call to you

00:52:50.920 --> 00:52:53.820
to stick close to Jesus and hold on to your faithfulness

00:52:53.820 --> 00:52:57.119
regardless of people very close to you not walking

00:52:57.119 --> 00:53:00.130
in the faith the way you know must be done. Now,

00:53:00.230 --> 00:53:02.110
it's not sitting around judging them, saying,

00:53:02.170 --> 00:53:04.409
oh, well, that way they must not be saved. We

00:53:04.409 --> 00:53:06.329
stop short of that. Judge not lest you be judged.

00:53:06.630 --> 00:53:09.190
But we can judge the actions and know that they're

00:53:09.190 --> 00:53:11.849
wrong. Now, if they profess outwardly and say,

00:53:11.909 --> 00:53:13.989
no, I'm not saved, then you can take them at

00:53:13.989 --> 00:53:16.429
their profession. But guess what? That might

00:53:16.429 --> 00:53:18.800
not even be true. That could be an evil spirit

00:53:18.800 --> 00:53:20.900
in them saying that they're not saved when, say,

00:53:20.900 --> 00:53:22.980
20 years ago, they accepted Jesus Christ as Lord

00:53:22.980 --> 00:53:25.699
and Savior in earnest, but they have so far walked

00:53:25.699 --> 00:53:27.320
away from their faithfulness to God that they

00:53:27.320 --> 00:53:28.900
don't look like a Christian and they don't feel

00:53:28.900 --> 00:53:30.599
like a Christian and they're saying they're not

00:53:30.599 --> 00:53:32.760
a Christian. And then on the flip side of that

00:53:32.760 --> 00:53:34.539
coin, you have people who seem to be faithfully

00:53:34.539 --> 00:53:35.860
living for the Lord saying they're Christian

00:53:35.860 --> 00:53:39.130
all the time. Who may not actually be. You can't

00:53:39.130 --> 00:53:41.409
judge that. God has to judge that. But when you

00:53:41.409 --> 00:53:44.590
have a close family, cadre member, friends, business

00:53:44.590 --> 00:53:46.449
partners, whatever, who are not living for the

00:53:46.449 --> 00:53:50.070
Lord, Jesus said, you have to have a line. And

00:53:50.070 --> 00:53:53.630
they're not in. And so what do you do when it's

00:53:53.630 --> 00:53:55.090
your wife, when it's your husband, when it's

00:53:55.090 --> 00:53:57.289
your friend, when it's your best friend, the

00:53:57.289 --> 00:53:58.650
person that's been your friend your whole life,

00:53:58.789 --> 00:54:00.829
your brother, your sister, your mother, your

00:54:00.829 --> 00:54:02.829
father, what do you do? Jesus said, well, you

00:54:02.829 --> 00:54:05.409
have new people to replace them in the kingdom

00:54:05.409 --> 00:54:07.989
of God. You stand with the people in the kingdom

00:54:07.989 --> 00:54:12.090
of God who stand with Jesus. Why? Because the

00:54:12.090 --> 00:54:14.809
ultimate defeat would be found in unfaithfulness.

00:54:15.530 --> 00:54:17.710
Because if you hang all the time with people

00:54:17.710 --> 00:54:20.130
who don't love God, who don't go chasing after

00:54:20.130 --> 00:54:22.769
God, who don't go following after Jesus, then

00:54:22.769 --> 00:54:26.309
you will see temptation more and more comfortable

00:54:26.309 --> 00:54:31.590
for yourself. In Luke 9, 59 -62, there was a

00:54:31.590 --> 00:54:33.590
man with an interesting perspective on this.

00:54:33.889 --> 00:54:37.349
And Jesus corrected him. He says this, Jesus

00:54:37.349 --> 00:54:39.650
said to another, follow me. So he said to the

00:54:39.650 --> 00:54:41.730
man, come follow me. So he's calling him as his

00:54:41.730 --> 00:54:44.429
disciple. God in the flesh calling him to come

00:54:44.429 --> 00:54:48.550
follow him. But he said, Lord, permit me first

00:54:48.550 --> 00:54:51.210
to go and bury my father. Apparently his dad

00:54:51.210 --> 00:54:54.130
had just died. And he said to Jesus, I'll do

00:54:54.130 --> 00:54:57.010
it. I'm going to commit to you fully. But permit

00:54:57.010 --> 00:55:00.050
me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus

00:55:00.050 --> 00:55:03.369
said to him, allow the dead to bury their own

00:55:03.369 --> 00:55:06.969
dead. But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere

00:55:06.969 --> 00:55:10.710
the kingdom of God. So Jesus said there will

00:55:10.710 --> 00:55:14.400
always be people in the world. who are not Christian,

00:55:14.500 --> 00:55:16.840
who are not following God. What percentage of

00:55:16.840 --> 00:55:19.179
people is it? I don't know. But what he said

00:55:19.179 --> 00:55:22.860
was, to some degree, when there are major things

00:55:22.860 --> 00:55:25.519
to be taken care of, they need to take care of

00:55:25.519 --> 00:55:28.550
their own stuff. Do you understand that when

00:55:28.550 --> 00:55:31.210
you take care of the problems of people who are

00:55:31.210 --> 00:55:33.369
dead in their trespasses and sins, again, you

00:55:33.369 --> 00:55:35.570
cannot judge who's dead in their trespasses and

00:55:35.570 --> 00:55:37.190
sins. That's not your job, right? But when you

00:55:37.190 --> 00:55:40.469
step up and you spend your resources, kingdom

00:55:40.469 --> 00:55:42.409
resources, your flesh, your blood, whatever,

00:55:42.690 --> 00:55:47.230
to solve their earthly problems, there is no

00:55:47.230 --> 00:55:50.389
bottom to the well. At the very least, there's

00:55:50.389 --> 00:55:52.610
a big crack, a hole in the bottom, and everything

00:55:52.610 --> 00:55:54.989
you pour in drains out the bottom. And then you

00:55:54.989 --> 00:55:56.710
put more in, it'll drain out the bottom. You

00:55:56.710 --> 00:55:58.690
put more in, it'll drain out the bottom. You

00:55:58.690 --> 00:56:01.090
could go so far as taking every kingdom resource

00:56:01.090 --> 00:56:04.429
you have and putting it in their well, and one

00:56:04.429 --> 00:56:06.889
second later, they will be completely and utterly

00:56:06.889 --> 00:56:09.630
impoverished and have nothing. You can pay their

00:56:09.630 --> 00:56:11.269
rent, they'll have nothing. You can pay their

00:56:11.269 --> 00:56:13.110
bills, they'll have nothing. You can take care

00:56:13.110 --> 00:56:15.289
of their health, they'll have nothing. Because

00:56:15.289 --> 00:56:18.280
they are unsaved. lost in their trespasses and

00:56:18.280 --> 00:56:21.260
sins. They are dead in their trespasses and they're

00:56:21.260 --> 00:56:23.559
not alive. Nobody has anything unless they're

00:56:23.559 --> 00:56:26.239
alive. Right? A dead man goes to the grave. What

00:56:26.239 --> 00:56:29.219
has he got? He had a car the day before. He had

00:56:29.219 --> 00:56:31.119
a house the day before. He had food the day before.

00:56:31.159 --> 00:56:32.880
When he goes to the grave, what has he got? A

00:56:32.880 --> 00:56:35.820
dead man has nothing. And if you give a dead

00:56:35.820 --> 00:56:38.420
man everything and do not give him Christ, he

00:56:38.420 --> 00:56:41.860
has nothing. And so he's saying, let the dead

00:56:41.860 --> 00:56:46.460
bury their own dead. Now, he's not saying, Don't

00:56:46.460 --> 00:56:49.059
go to funerals. He's not saying don't love the

00:56:49.059 --> 00:56:50.880
people around you. Love your neighbor as yourself.

00:56:51.079 --> 00:56:53.159
He's not saying love everybody you possibly can.

00:56:53.199 --> 00:56:55.619
Even love your enemies. So he's not saying don't

00:56:55.619 --> 00:56:58.199
try to lead people to Christ. And elsewhere in

00:56:58.199 --> 00:56:59.760
a moment we'll see that he's not saying withdraw

00:56:59.760 --> 00:57:02.519
completely from everything that goes on in the

00:57:02.519 --> 00:57:09.179
world. But he is saying very completely kingdom

00:57:09.179 --> 00:57:12.239
first. Kingdom people first. Your brothers and

00:57:12.239 --> 00:57:15.219
sisters in Christ first. Just after that, 61,

00:57:15.420 --> 00:57:17.699
it says, Another also said, I will follow you,

00:57:17.739 --> 00:57:21.219
Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those

00:57:21.219 --> 00:57:22.900
at home. All he wanted to do was say goodbye

00:57:22.900 --> 00:57:25.400
to his loved ones. But Jesus said to him, No

00:57:25.400 --> 00:57:29.460
one after putting his hand to the plow and looking

00:57:29.460 --> 00:57:32.320
back is fit for the kingdom of God. You understand?

00:57:32.500 --> 00:57:34.860
He wasn't even allowed to go back and make niceties.

00:57:36.760 --> 00:57:39.699
Jesus was calling him. How many times have we

00:57:39.699 --> 00:57:41.079
said from right here in the pulpit, when you

00:57:41.079 --> 00:57:44.469
know what it is that God wants you to do, Lock

00:57:44.469 --> 00:57:47.289
it in. Act now. We have an invitation so people

00:57:47.289 --> 00:57:48.889
can come forward and say, I'm living for the

00:57:48.889 --> 00:57:50.969
Lord. I want to do what it is God wants me to

00:57:50.969 --> 00:57:52.849
do. I want to get baptized. I want to join the

00:57:52.849 --> 00:57:54.230
church. I want to serve in this ministry. I want

00:57:54.230 --> 00:57:55.809
to tell this person. I want to stand up and be

00:57:55.809 --> 00:57:57.250
found faithful. I'm going to tie it like I'm

00:57:57.250 --> 00:58:00.909
supposed to. Whatever. Lock it in. And if you

00:58:00.909 --> 00:58:03.550
won't lock it in and you turn and look back and

00:58:03.550 --> 00:58:05.889
think about it for a little bit, it's all gone.

00:58:05.929 --> 00:58:10.280
A pillar of salt. All gone. And Jesus said, no

00:58:10.280 --> 00:58:11.940
one after putting his hand to the plow and looking

00:58:11.940 --> 00:58:13.659
back is fit for the kingdom of God. And he said

00:58:13.659 --> 00:58:15.760
that with regards to a man who just wanted to

00:58:15.760 --> 00:58:18.139
say goodbye to his family before going to follow

00:58:18.139 --> 00:58:22.639
Jesus. The world will go on around us and will

00:58:22.639 --> 00:58:25.460
even invite us to join them, but the more we

00:58:25.460 --> 00:58:30.239
realize that God's kingdom must be our priority,

00:58:30.420 --> 00:58:34.559
must be our methods, and our sustenance, the

00:58:34.559 --> 00:58:37.199
more we will be certain of our identity and empowered

00:58:37.199 --> 00:58:41.070
to victory. One last conclusion, and it's got

00:58:41.070 --> 00:58:44.949
parts. It is this. The character of the kingdom

00:58:44.949 --> 00:58:51.530
of God must be not of this world. The character

00:58:51.530 --> 00:58:54.349
of the kingdom of God, by the nature of God,

00:58:54.510 --> 00:58:56.510
in order for God to reign over the kingdom of

00:58:56.510 --> 00:59:02.840
God, it must be not of this world. John 18, 33

00:59:02.840 --> 00:59:05.659
-37, Jesus is before Pilate. He's about to be

00:59:05.659 --> 00:59:07.639
crucified. Well, taken away, beaten, and some

00:59:07.639 --> 00:59:10.079
more things, and then crucified. He says, Are

00:59:10.079 --> 00:59:12.719
you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, Are

00:59:12.719 --> 00:59:14.960
you saying this on your own initiative? Or did

00:59:14.960 --> 00:59:17.300
others tell you about me? Pilate answered, I

00:59:17.300 --> 00:59:19.659
am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief

00:59:19.659 --> 00:59:21.719
priests delivered you to me. What have you done?

00:59:21.880 --> 00:59:24.440
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world.

00:59:25.739 --> 00:59:28.000
He didn't die, go to heaven, send the Holy Spirit,

00:59:28.079 --> 00:59:30.079
and suddenly the kingdom became of the world.

00:59:30.750 --> 00:59:32.889
He said, My kingdom is not of this world. If

00:59:32.889 --> 00:59:34.969
my kingdom were of this world, then my servants

00:59:34.969 --> 00:59:37.349
would be fighting so that I would not be handed

00:59:37.349 --> 00:59:40.150
over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is

00:59:40.150 --> 00:59:43.130
not of this realm. There it is again. Therefore

00:59:43.130 --> 00:59:45.130
Pilate said to him, So you are a king? Jesus

00:59:45.130 --> 00:59:47.449
answered, You say correctly that I am a king.

00:59:47.610 --> 00:59:50.489
For this I have been born, and for this I have

00:59:50.489 --> 00:59:53.090
come into the world, to testify to the truth.

00:59:53.449 --> 00:59:57.809
Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.

00:59:58.269 --> 01:00:01.269
If you would just read those verses right there,

01:00:01.349 --> 01:00:04.510
you know everything you need to know about the

01:00:04.510 --> 01:00:06.789
kingdom of God to know with absolute certainty

01:00:06.789 --> 01:00:09.130
that the character of the kingdom of God must

01:00:09.130 --> 01:00:12.469
be at all times, when you are at the wheel, when

01:00:12.469 --> 01:00:15.010
you are sound asleep, when you are flying high

01:00:15.010 --> 01:00:16.969
as a kite and super excited for the awesome things

01:00:16.969 --> 01:00:18.570
that have been happening, and down and depressed

01:00:18.570 --> 01:00:21.130
and anxious as hurting as you ever are, the kingdom

01:00:21.130 --> 01:00:28.539
of God must be not of this world. It must also

01:00:28.539 --> 01:00:31.599
be unadulterated. So while it is not of this

01:00:31.599 --> 01:00:36.639
world, it also must not be mixed in. Some years

01:00:36.639 --> 01:00:38.679
ago, I don't even remember when, probably five,

01:00:38.900 --> 01:00:40.840
eight years ago, I bought some puzzles at a flea

01:00:40.840 --> 01:00:43.699
market. And they came sealed in plastic bags.

01:00:45.019 --> 01:00:47.079
There's about 500 pieces in the bag. And they

01:00:47.079 --> 01:00:48.940
were pretty small pieces, about 500 pieces in

01:00:48.940 --> 01:00:51.300
the bag. And then it was like a blister pack,

01:00:51.380 --> 01:00:52.500
and there was a line, and then there was another

01:00:52.500 --> 01:00:54.690
bag. And then there was a line. And there was

01:00:54.690 --> 01:00:56.309
another bag. There was three puzzles. And each

01:00:56.309 --> 01:00:58.150
one had about 500 pieces. Didn't come with a

01:00:58.150 --> 01:00:59.849
box. Don't know what the picture was supposed

01:00:59.849 --> 01:01:02.510
to be. That's bad. Ever tried to work a puzzle

01:01:02.510 --> 01:01:04.289
with no picture? No idea what it was supposed

01:01:04.289 --> 01:01:06.769
to be. That makes it really hard. Then one of

01:01:06.769 --> 01:01:08.670
my beautiful young daughters, it was Alicia or

01:01:08.670 --> 01:01:10.349
Molly, I don't know which one, was playing in

01:01:10.349 --> 01:01:14.429
the playroom and opened all the puzzles and mixed

01:01:14.429 --> 01:01:18.170
them all together. At which point in time, there

01:01:18.170 --> 01:01:21.110
was nothing left to do but to throw them in the

01:01:21.110 --> 01:01:25.139
garbage. That's not impossible. It is not impossible

01:01:25.139 --> 01:01:29.099
for someone to sort out those three puzzles and

01:01:29.099 --> 01:01:32.219
work those puzzles. I don't know how long it

01:01:32.219 --> 01:01:33.679
would take, but it would be possible to work

01:01:33.679 --> 01:01:36.000
three 500 -piece puzzles all mixed together with

01:01:36.000 --> 01:01:38.260
no pictures knowing what they are. That would

01:01:38.260 --> 01:01:40.599
be possible. But it sounds a little bit like

01:01:40.599 --> 01:01:44.820
a miracle. And they went in the garbage, and

01:01:44.820 --> 01:01:47.460
we never tried. I worked a lot of puzzles in

01:01:47.460 --> 01:01:52.909
my day. We never tried. I submit to you that

01:01:52.909 --> 01:01:57.210
the kingdom of God must not only be not of the

01:01:57.210 --> 01:02:00.889
world, but also must be not mixed in with the

01:02:00.889 --> 01:02:03.710
world, so that while you are walking right next

01:02:03.710 --> 01:02:07.090
to somebody who does not know Jesus, it is very

01:02:07.090 --> 01:02:10.570
clear that you know Jesus. Now, how is that accomplished?

01:02:11.449 --> 01:02:14.510
You must exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. You

01:02:14.510 --> 01:02:18.199
must speak out. Stand up. Serve. Do what no one

01:02:18.199 --> 01:02:20.900
else would do. Be so different than when you

01:02:20.900 --> 01:02:23.000
are walking right along, working right along,

01:02:23.059 --> 01:02:25.739
talking with somebody who is not of the kingdom

01:02:25.739 --> 01:02:28.980
of God that the differences are stark. I have

01:02:28.980 --> 01:02:31.639
a friend who when we were living in Michigan

01:02:31.639 --> 01:02:33.420
and wanted to come back to Toledo, nobody in

01:02:33.420 --> 01:02:35.099
the church, and I'm not saying they had to or

01:02:35.099 --> 01:02:36.199
needed to or whatever, we were doing what we

01:02:36.199 --> 01:02:37.480
thought we were supposed to do, nobody in the

01:02:37.480 --> 01:02:39.219
church volunteered for us to spend the nights

01:02:39.219 --> 01:02:41.699
at their house on Saturday night. Nobody had

01:02:41.699 --> 01:02:45.000
to. Not required. But my atheist friend who did

01:02:45.000 --> 01:02:47.460
not know Christ and was certain, positive, that

01:02:47.460 --> 01:02:50.320
there was no God, prepared a bedroom in the back

01:02:50.320 --> 01:02:52.179
of his house where no one else would stand, nothing

01:02:52.179 --> 01:02:53.619
else. He took everything out of it, got on like

01:02:53.619 --> 01:02:56.079
a guest room, and went out and bought, wait for

01:02:56.079 --> 01:03:03.840
it, a comforter that cost $400. Remember that

01:03:03.840 --> 01:03:08.400
comforter? Right? Where he slept in central air,

01:03:08.519 --> 01:03:11.170
which we didn't have. in our house in Ohio at

01:03:11.170 --> 01:03:14.809
that time. And we couldn't stay at our house

01:03:14.809 --> 01:03:16.710
in Ohio at that time because it was rented out.

01:03:17.090 --> 01:03:21.070
We couldn't stay there. So we stayed in that

01:03:21.070 --> 01:03:23.969
room. He would go to the store before we showed

01:03:23.969 --> 01:03:28.210
up and buy all the foods that we liked. He's

01:03:28.210 --> 01:03:31.329
a bachelor. He hardly ever ate at home. He would

01:03:31.329 --> 01:03:33.030
just get fast food every day because he didn't

01:03:33.030 --> 01:03:35.550
cook. But he would buy cookable foods and store

01:03:35.550 --> 01:03:37.900
them in the house. So when we arrived, The comforter

01:03:37.900 --> 01:03:40.619
was waiting. The central air was waiting. And

01:03:40.619 --> 01:03:42.840
foods were in the kitchen. And he would buy foods

01:03:42.840 --> 01:03:45.780
that Alicia and Amalia liked. Amalia was like

01:03:45.780 --> 01:03:49.260
three and a half. Alicia was older. But foods

01:03:49.260 --> 01:03:50.739
that they would like. Even though they weren't

01:03:50.739 --> 01:03:52.019
going to stay with us, they were going to stay

01:03:52.019 --> 01:03:53.500
with their grandmother. But he would buy foods

01:03:53.500 --> 01:03:56.019
just on the off chance that they would show up.

01:03:57.139 --> 01:04:00.219
And he's an atheist. And so when you tell that

01:04:00.219 --> 01:04:02.420
story and you talk about how most Christians

01:04:02.420 --> 01:04:04.659
act in life thinking about other people, caring

01:04:04.659 --> 01:04:06.719
about other people, going the extra mile, what

01:04:06.719 --> 01:04:09.340
do you got to be to stand out walking next to

01:04:09.340 --> 01:04:12.139
that guy? There are a lot of pretty nice people

01:04:12.139 --> 01:04:15.000
in the world. And you must not be like them.

01:04:15.059 --> 01:04:17.400
You must be something so much more Christian,

01:04:17.460 --> 01:04:20.059
so much more sharing life. And the easiest way

01:04:20.059 --> 01:04:23.280
to get there is to start talking about Jesus

01:04:23.280 --> 01:04:28.579
so that you stand out. So that people know for

01:04:28.579 --> 01:04:33.099
whom you stand. 1 Corinthians 5, 6 and following

01:04:33.099 --> 01:04:36.119
says this. Your boasting is not good. He was

01:04:36.119 --> 01:04:37.840
correcting the church. Do you not know that a

01:04:37.840 --> 01:04:40.619
little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?

01:04:40.739 --> 01:04:42.500
He's talking about sin and the effects of it

01:04:42.500 --> 01:04:44.300
and how it's spread throughout the church. He

01:04:44.300 --> 01:04:46.280
said, clean out the old leaven so that you may

01:04:46.280 --> 01:04:48.880
be a new lump just as you are in fact unleavened.

01:04:48.880 --> 01:04:51.559
For Christ, our Passover, also has been sacrificed.

01:04:51.760 --> 01:04:54.639
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast not with

01:04:54.639 --> 01:04:57.820
old leaven nor with leaven of malice. It means

01:04:57.820 --> 01:05:00.000
like hatred or meanness toward people, wickedness,

01:05:00.119 --> 01:05:03.460
but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

01:05:03.599 --> 01:05:05.860
In other words, live your lives, walk in sincerity

01:05:05.860 --> 01:05:07.940
and truth, unadulterated, not mixed with the

01:05:07.940 --> 01:05:10.960
world, not blending in. So I wrote you in my

01:05:10.960 --> 01:05:12.900
letter not to associate with immoral people.

01:05:14.059 --> 01:05:16.219
I did not at all mean with the immoral people

01:05:16.219 --> 01:05:18.039
of this world. In other words, he's saying I

01:05:18.039 --> 01:05:19.420
didn't mean you have to step out of the world

01:05:19.420 --> 01:05:21.280
and not know anybody who doesn't know Jesus.

01:05:21.619 --> 01:05:24.099
This is or with covetous or swindlers or with

01:05:24.099 --> 01:05:26.840
idolaters. But then, You would have to go out

01:05:26.840 --> 01:05:30.820
of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not

01:05:30.820 --> 01:05:33.239
to associate with any so -called brother if he

01:05:33.239 --> 01:05:36.820
is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolatry,

01:05:36.840 --> 01:05:40.480
or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler, not

01:05:40.480 --> 01:05:43.079
even to eat with such a one. For what have I

01:05:43.079 --> 01:05:45.780
to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge

01:05:45.780 --> 01:05:48.400
those who are within the church? But those who

01:05:48.400 --> 01:05:51.619
are outside God judges. Remove the wicked man

01:05:51.619 --> 01:05:57.619
from within yourselves. The martyr who will not

01:05:57.619 --> 01:06:02.500
compromise in the least. That's who Jesus was.

01:06:03.559 --> 01:06:06.699
And we call ourselves Christians. Little Christs.

01:06:07.800 --> 01:06:10.019
That's who we are. The Bible says, you shall

01:06:10.019 --> 01:06:13.420
be my witnesses, Acts 1 .8. And the word there

01:06:13.420 --> 01:06:15.780
is martyro. It is the same word that can be translated

01:06:15.780 --> 01:06:20.800
as martyr. Final illustration, a couple of verses

01:06:20.800 --> 01:06:24.619
and we're done. When Polycarp... One of the early

01:06:24.619 --> 01:06:27.119
church fathers was 86 years old and had served

01:06:27.119 --> 01:06:30.280
Jesus his whole life, ever since he'd become

01:06:30.280 --> 01:06:35.500
a Christian. They were threatening to burn him

01:06:35.500 --> 01:06:39.760
if he would not pledge allegiance to Caesar.

01:06:39.820 --> 01:06:42.539
Now, not worship Caesar. I'm not talking about

01:06:42.539 --> 01:06:44.300
worshiping Caesar. He wasn't required to do that.

01:06:44.780 --> 01:06:47.559
He wasn't required to give anything to Caesar.

01:06:47.719 --> 01:06:51.639
All he had to do was swear fealty and say, As

01:06:51.639 --> 01:06:54.900
ruler of the land in which I live, I recognize

01:06:54.900 --> 01:06:58.699
you as lord or boss of my life. That's all he

01:06:58.699 --> 01:07:02.960
had to do. Polycarp said no. He said, 86 years

01:07:02.960 --> 01:07:05.599
have I served him, and he has done me no wrong.

01:07:06.219 --> 01:07:10.179
How can I blaspheme my king and my savior? The

01:07:10.179 --> 01:07:15.019
crowd grew angry. The wood was piled high. Polycarp

01:07:15.019 --> 01:07:18.559
was to be burned at the stake. The judgment came

01:07:18.559 --> 01:07:21.639
down. As the soldiers prepared to nail him to

01:07:21.639 --> 01:07:23.380
the post so he could be burned at the stake,

01:07:23.519 --> 01:07:28.099
he told them it was unnecessary. He said, leave

01:07:28.099 --> 01:07:31.360
me as I am. He who gives me the strength to endure

01:07:31.360 --> 01:07:34.599
the fire will enable me to remain here without

01:07:34.599 --> 01:07:39.059
moving. And as the flames rose, witnesses said,

01:07:39.119 --> 01:07:42.539
he stood like a pillar, unshaken, unwavering,

01:07:42.539 --> 01:07:46.960
faithful until the end. He did not even try.

01:07:47.769 --> 01:07:52.150
To fight the fire. But Polycarp is not our standard.

01:07:52.610 --> 01:07:57.630
He's not our standard. Rather, Jesus is our standard.

01:07:59.469 --> 01:08:03.309
Jesus was Polycarp's standard. Jesus, who for

01:08:03.309 --> 01:08:07.440
the joy set before him, Hebrews... 12 .2 says

01:08:07.440 --> 01:08:09.179
it this way, Therefore, since we have so great

01:08:09.179 --> 01:08:11.440
a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also

01:08:11.440 --> 01:08:13.980
lay aside every encumbrance. That means anything

01:08:13.980 --> 01:08:16.260
that would slow you down from being faithful

01:08:16.260 --> 01:08:18.560
to God, that would stand in your way, that would

01:08:18.560 --> 01:08:22.479
hold you back in any way. Lay aside every encumbrance.

01:08:22.680 --> 01:08:27.220
And the sin, which so easily entangles us. And

01:08:27.220 --> 01:08:29.500
let us run with endurance the race that is set

01:08:29.500 --> 01:08:33.199
before us. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author

01:08:33.199 --> 01:08:36.239
and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before

01:08:36.239 --> 01:08:39.560
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and

01:08:39.560 --> 01:08:42.319
has sat down at the right hand of the throne

01:08:42.319 --> 01:08:45.500
of God. For consider him who has endured so much

01:08:45.500 --> 01:08:48.340
hostility by sinners against himself, so that

01:08:48.340 --> 01:08:53.340
you will not grow weary and lose heart. It doesn't

01:08:53.340 --> 01:08:57.520
say consider your situation. It doesn't say consider

01:08:57.520 --> 01:09:03.090
your options. It doesn't say consider well, hell,

01:09:03.369 --> 01:09:10.430
success, even teaching. But consider Him. If

01:09:10.430 --> 01:09:13.729
we had a set of rules exactly laid out for us,

01:09:13.750 --> 01:09:15.229
and if that's how a person could get to heaven,

01:09:15.310 --> 01:09:17.850
then some folks would get the old college try,

01:09:17.989 --> 01:09:21.449
get pretty close even. But we don't. You cannot

01:09:21.449 --> 01:09:24.729
get to heaven by following the Ten Commandments.

01:09:25.069 --> 01:09:28.039
You cannot get to heaven. by following everything

01:09:28.039 --> 01:09:30.699
that is written in Scripture, unless, of course,

01:09:30.699 --> 01:09:33.399
you will realize it all points to Jesus Christ

01:09:33.399 --> 01:09:35.520
our Lord and put him first before everything.

01:09:36.100 --> 01:09:38.920
This is why every opportunity when I hear, when

01:09:38.920 --> 01:09:42.180
I see people being entreated to bury this just

01:09:42.180 --> 01:09:44.340
this little bit, to take just a little bit from

01:09:44.340 --> 01:09:46.060
the world, to enjoy just a little bit, it's why

01:09:46.060 --> 01:09:49.300
I pray heartily about whether I can, whether

01:09:49.300 --> 01:09:52.199
my family can, whether we can place off all.

01:09:53.500 --> 01:09:56.340
It's why I pray and fast about whether I can,

01:09:56.810 --> 01:09:59.010
whether our church can have a gaming ministry.

01:10:00.489 --> 01:10:04.630
It's about how I prayed. The year before I coached

01:10:04.630 --> 01:10:06.930
baseball, one year I coached baseball when Aaron

01:10:06.930 --> 01:10:08.890
was U12 and there was going to be no coach, I

01:10:08.890 --> 01:10:13.510
went to Sherry and she and I prayed and fasted

01:10:13.510 --> 01:10:17.369
some together and I fasted separately and we

01:10:17.369 --> 01:10:19.710
prayed and fasted as to whether or not I could

01:10:19.710 --> 01:10:24.680
say, okay, I'll coach baseball. Because everything

01:10:24.680 --> 01:10:28.899
that you can get from this world, much of what

01:10:28.899 --> 01:10:31.359
you're allowed to have, much of it you're supposed

01:10:31.359 --> 01:10:34.680
to have, but it has to come through God. And

01:10:34.680 --> 01:10:36.479
if it comes by some other means, then all you're

01:10:36.479 --> 01:10:39.060
doing is turning rocks into bread. And if you're

01:10:39.060 --> 01:10:40.600
turning rocks into bread, then you've forgotten

01:10:40.600 --> 01:10:43.880
that man does not live by bread alone, but by

01:10:43.880 --> 01:10:46.000
every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

01:10:46.600 --> 01:10:49.579
Do you know why the earth still spins? Do you

01:10:49.579 --> 01:10:52.539
know why the sun still shines? Do you know why

01:10:52.539 --> 01:10:55.539
the rain still falls? Because God has not yet

01:10:55.539 --> 01:10:57.779
uttered that very next word which will bring

01:10:57.779 --> 01:11:02.279
it all to an end. I get it. Lost people don't

01:11:02.279 --> 01:11:05.659
understand that. But you tell me who is closer

01:11:05.659 --> 01:11:12.199
to getting it right. Polycarp? Or the 88 % of

01:11:12.199 --> 01:11:14.420
Christians in the United States of America that

01:11:14.420 --> 01:11:18.140
confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior on the

01:11:18.140 --> 01:11:24.229
annual census? And then only 30 to 35 % of them

01:11:24.229 --> 01:11:26.550
show up in church at any time during that year.

01:11:31.090 --> 01:11:34.149
The world's population that professes Christ,

01:11:34.369 --> 01:11:38.130
but there's a statistic that says that not 15

01:11:38.130 --> 01:11:41.529
% of professing Christians, I got that wrong,

01:11:41.609 --> 01:11:43.869
I'm sorry, 15 % of the people of the world can

01:11:43.869 --> 01:11:50.909
name more than one of the Ten Commandments. I'm

01:11:50.909 --> 01:11:54.729
telling you, we've got to follow Jesus. And you

01:11:54.729 --> 01:11:57.449
need to realize that unfaithfulness to God is

01:11:57.449 --> 01:11:59.850
the ultimate defeat because it is God who brings

01:11:59.850 --> 01:12:03.390
the only victory. A myriad of individual decisions,

01:12:03.630 --> 01:12:07.609
this is how righteousness bleeds to death. God

01:12:07.609 --> 01:12:10.789
has sent a rescuer, and because of that, we are

01:12:10.789 --> 01:12:13.609
to recognize that temptation takes many forms.

01:12:14.850 --> 01:12:19.529
Being unequally yoked is an access road. And

01:12:19.529 --> 01:12:24.670
we cannot be of the world or even mixed with

01:12:24.670 --> 01:12:29.250
it. Take heed, those of you who stand. As I look

01:12:29.250 --> 01:12:31.789
around this room, I see a lot of people who profess

01:12:31.789 --> 01:12:33.850
the name of Jesus. I think they're standing in

01:12:33.850 --> 01:12:37.609
Christ. But you know better than I do. And the

01:12:37.609 --> 01:12:41.590
Bible says, he who would stand, take heed, lest

01:12:41.590 --> 01:12:44.729
he fall. I ask the praise team to come forward

01:12:44.729 --> 01:12:48.079
at this time and lead us in a closing hymn. Wherever

01:12:48.079 --> 01:12:50.760
you may be, whether you're dialed in on Facebook

01:12:50.760 --> 01:12:52.859
or you hear this in the podcast or you're sitting

01:12:52.859 --> 01:12:56.260
in the room right now, I'm asking you to think

01:12:56.260 --> 01:12:59.039
about your walk with Christ. And if you'd say,

01:12:59.060 --> 01:13:02.100
man, I'm just barely in. Just barely faithful.

01:13:03.420 --> 01:13:06.600
You just need to realize that's just not it.

01:13:07.039 --> 01:13:10.180
That's not walking with Christ. It's just not.

01:13:11.199 --> 01:13:13.119
If you'd say, well, I'm pretty far in. I've come

01:13:13.119 --> 01:13:17.539
a long way. I am a fighter like Othniel. A lion

01:13:17.539 --> 01:13:20.439
of the Lord, I have done great things because

01:13:20.439 --> 01:13:24.319
God has made me able. But of late, I have let

01:13:24.319 --> 01:13:28.399
the silent creeping of temptation slip in and

01:13:28.399 --> 01:13:31.920
I've become an adulterated Christian, partly

01:13:31.920 --> 01:13:35.819
Christ follower, partly world participant. And

01:13:35.819 --> 01:13:37.920
I would ask you today to repent and have him

01:13:37.920 --> 01:13:41.439
as Lord and realize that someday you or I might,

01:13:41.479 --> 01:13:44.579
like Polycarp, have to say, I will not bow.