WEBVTT 00:00:09.099 --> 00:16:24.679 Good morning, everybody. Good morning. title 00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:29.600 today, you'll see it says, Called to Curse? Now, 00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:34.500 immediately, in our simplistic minds, we're going 00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:37.360 to say, well, no. Right away, you're going to 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:39.820 say, no, we're not called to curse. That just 00:16:39.820 --> 00:16:42.639 doesn't seem right to me. I submit to you that 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:46.159 in today's text, we're going to find that question 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:49.720 more profoundly than it simply is, are we supposed 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:51.460 to or are we not? Oh, no, I don't think we're 00:16:51.460 --> 00:16:55.080 supposed to do that. And you need... the answer 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:58.539 to the question that we find today in order to 00:16:58.539 --> 00:17:01.779 have the strength necessary when that time comes 00:17:01.779 --> 00:17:06.039 not to give in to pronouncing a curse. Before 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:08.960 we say we never would, we need to realize that 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:12.019 a curse could be everything from foul language, 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:14.700 which may or may not be a curse, to taking the 00:17:14.700 --> 00:17:16.500 Lord's name in vain with regards to something 00:17:16.500 --> 00:17:18.819 that has just happened, some surprising thing 00:17:18.819 --> 00:17:20.779 that caught you off guard, and we say people 00:17:20.779 --> 00:17:23.599 are... Very commonly say, oh my God, when they 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:27.220 don't mean to talk to God or about God. It also 00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:30.119 could mean that you're judging someone for what 00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:32.920 they have done. Even if you don't fully know 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:34.660 what they have done, you think, well, they're 00:17:34.660 --> 00:17:36.400 not there. They didn't keep their promise. They 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:39.619 lied to me some way or whatever. And so you say 00:17:39.619 --> 00:17:41.700 something negative about what they have done 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:45.640 or about that person. And so it can take a lot 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:48.589 of different forms. The one that we're going 00:17:48.589 --> 00:17:51.230 to see in the text today is much more direct 00:17:51.230 --> 00:17:55.329 and specific. And you have the authority to do 00:17:55.329 --> 00:17:57.769 it, but you are not called to do it. To kind 00:17:57.769 --> 00:18:00.029 of ruin the end of the question for you. We have 00:18:00.029 --> 00:18:02.529 been working through the book of Judges. We have 00:18:02.529 --> 00:18:05.089 been seeing a cycle that would happen. A judge 00:18:05.089 --> 00:18:07.549 would rise up, save God's people. We call them 00:18:07.549 --> 00:18:09.250 deliverers. I might actually be a better term 00:18:09.250 --> 00:18:11.750 as a deliverer. Would rise up, call God's people 00:18:11.750 --> 00:18:15.720 out of their terrible circumstance. Usually because 00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:17.980 the people prayed and said, oh God, please help 00:18:17.980 --> 00:18:21.000 us. But they were actually in their terrible 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:24.119 circumstance because of their sin. Because they 00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:26.759 had taken on the sins of the people around them. 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:29.039 They had fallen into temptation. They'd fallen 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:31.160 into worshiping false gods. In some cases, they'd 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:33.160 already gotten wrapped up in worshiping Molech, 00:18:33.180 --> 00:18:36.099 the worst of which worship was burning the firstborn 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:38.720 child in the fire. And so the Israelites who 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.900 were supposed to be following God faithfully, 00:18:42.269 --> 00:18:44.130 Instead, we're wrapped up in all kinds of forms 00:18:44.130 --> 00:18:47.029 of false worship. Now, whether it was as extreme 00:18:47.029 --> 00:18:49.109 as burning their firstborn child in the fire 00:18:49.109 --> 00:18:52.190 or just being distracted by gold or money, a 00:18:52.190 --> 00:18:55.829 variety of ways, sex, labor, hobbies, whatever 00:18:55.829 --> 00:18:58.650 they were involved in, whatever their distraction 00:18:58.650 --> 00:19:00.609 was, they were not faithfully following the Lord. 00:19:00.710 --> 00:19:02.950 Then they went into judgment. Then they cried 00:19:02.950 --> 00:19:05.329 out for God's help and God sent a judge. That's 00:19:05.329 --> 00:19:07.190 the cycle. The judge then comes and there will 00:19:07.190 --> 00:19:09.390 be peace for a while. And that's the cycle every 00:19:09.390 --> 00:19:11.990 time. The people then in their peace. fall into 00:19:11.990 --> 00:19:13.710 their temptation, distraction, doing things they 00:19:13.710 --> 00:19:16.309 shouldn't, and then they're persecuted again. 00:19:17.089 --> 00:19:21.190 So we began last week to study the song of Deborah 00:19:21.190 --> 00:19:24.650 and Barak. So if you grab your Bibles, and we 00:19:24.650 --> 00:19:27.069 usually give a little amen, hoot, holler, hallelujah, 00:19:27.069 --> 00:19:30.490 something, as we go to Judges chapter 5. Thank 00:19:30.490 --> 00:19:32.730 you for those of you who are on board with that. 00:19:32.769 --> 00:19:36.130 That means that as we read this text, if you 00:19:36.130 --> 00:19:38.009 will listen to the word of God and allow it to 00:19:38.009 --> 00:19:40.019 affect you, you will be affected. The Word of 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:42.640 God does not come back without impact. Whether 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:45.059 or not I get my part right, if you will listen 00:19:45.059 --> 00:19:46.400 to what it is that God has to say through this 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:49.279 text, you can be affected today for the Lord. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:53.460 Judges chapter 5, and we're in verse 12. We did 00:19:53.460 --> 00:19:56.279 verses 1 through 11 last week. At that time, 00:19:56.299 --> 00:19:57.680 we mentioned a couple of things, just kind of 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:59.019 putting them back in your head. The first one 00:19:59.019 --> 00:20:03.599 was that this is a very old Hebrew text. Okay? 00:20:03.740 --> 00:20:05.539 So that is to say that it is written in some 00:20:05.539 --> 00:20:07.940 of the oldest Hebrew language that we have in 00:20:07.940 --> 00:20:11.079 Scripture. And at times it can be a little challenging 00:20:11.079 --> 00:20:13.500 to translate into English for that reason. I 00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:15.440 think we'll see one, maybe two of those times 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:17.700 today as we're looking at the text. I'll try 00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:19.279 to point them out to you as we go by, but they 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:23.019 will go by fairly quickly. The second thing that 00:20:23.019 --> 00:20:27.480 we noted last week was that this ode, song, was 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:30.980 unique in its era. So in an era where songs were 00:20:30.980 --> 00:20:34.180 commonly written about events to keep track of 00:20:34.180 --> 00:20:37.559 history, the unfolding of events as they had 00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:41.289 happened, This song was unique because the songs 00:20:41.289 --> 00:20:43.529 were always about the people who had done the 00:20:43.529 --> 00:20:46.730 heroic deeds. King so -and -so, prince so -and 00:20:46.730 --> 00:20:49.410 -so, general so -and -so, the governor so -and 00:20:49.410 --> 00:20:53.029 -so, the hero of the day. And that way they were 00:20:53.029 --> 00:20:56.470 not forgotten. This song is all about God and 00:20:56.470 --> 00:20:59.150 what God had done. Now it does mention through 00:20:59.150 --> 00:21:01.650 whom God did what he did, right? So the people 00:21:01.650 --> 00:21:04.130 are mentioned. But you'll notice that there are 00:21:04.130 --> 00:21:05.950 things mentioned about them that are not necessarily 00:21:05.950 --> 00:21:08.420 the things that... you would mention about God, 00:21:08.539 --> 00:21:11.900 and the song is about God and him getting his 00:21:11.900 --> 00:21:15.660 glory. Verse 12. This will go fairly quickly, 00:21:15.779 --> 00:21:18.779 so hang with me. Verse 12. Awake, awake, Deborah. 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:22.700 Awake, awake, sing a song. Arise, Barak, and 00:21:22.700 --> 00:21:26.319 take away your captives, O son of Abinoam. This 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:29.240 is post -battle. Then survivors came down to 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:31.720 the nobles. The people of the Lord came down 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:35.319 to me as warriors. Bless you. There were those 00:21:35.319 --> 00:21:38.119 who came down to fight. This could be Barak singing, 00:21:38.220 --> 00:21:39.740 it could be Deborah either way, but they're both 00:21:39.740 --> 00:21:43.180 singing the song and recognizing the people of 00:21:43.180 --> 00:21:47.420 God's people came down to fight on the day in 00:21:47.420 --> 00:21:50.779 question. 14. From Ephraim, those whose root 00:21:50.779 --> 00:21:54.460 is in Amalek came down, following you, Benjamin, 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:56.819 with your peoples. So these are the tribes of 00:21:56.819 --> 00:21:59.779 Israel mentioned as taking part. From Machir, 00:21:59.839 --> 00:22:02.339 commanders came down, and from Zebulun, those 00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:05.170 who wield the staff of office. So people from 00:22:05.170 --> 00:22:07.809 various walks of life, mostly leaders and servants 00:22:07.809 --> 00:22:11.490 doing that role already, come down to participate, 00:22:11.690 --> 00:22:15.089 verse 15. And the princes of Issachar were with 00:22:15.089 --> 00:22:19.769 Deborah, as was Issachar, so was Barak. Into 00:22:19.769 --> 00:22:22.569 the valley they rushed at his heels. Among the 00:22:22.569 --> 00:22:25.630 divisions of Reuben, there were great resolves 00:22:25.630 --> 00:22:30.150 of heart. That is to say, they were very adamant 00:22:30.150 --> 00:22:36.880 to be there fighting. Verse 16. It's going to 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:39.039 change a little bit. Why did you sit among the 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:41.279 sheepfolds to hear the piping for the flocks? 00:22:41.299 --> 00:22:43.980 Among the divisions of Reuben, there were great 00:22:43.980 --> 00:22:45.799 searchings of heart. In other words, there were 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:50.059 those that did not come. They heard and thought 00:22:50.059 --> 00:22:51.579 hard on it, but they didn't come and participate. 00:22:52.579 --> 00:22:57.279 Gilead remained across the Jordan. And why did 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:01.460 Dan stay in ships? Asher sat at the seashore. 00:23:02.029 --> 00:23:04.910 and remained by its landings. So these are tribes 00:23:04.910 --> 00:23:06.690 that did not participate. Even though Israel 00:23:06.690 --> 00:23:10.009 was in this great crisis, they stayed back and 00:23:10.009 --> 00:23:11.829 they took care of other things. They didn't participate. 00:23:12.470 --> 00:23:17.130 And so after verse 17, you're kind of expecting 00:23:17.130 --> 00:23:20.869 a sort of a, at least putting them down a little 00:23:20.869 --> 00:23:22.470 bit, right? Like that's not the right thing. 00:23:22.509 --> 00:23:24.569 They didn't do the right thing. Maybe a curse 00:23:24.569 --> 00:23:27.329 even on this people who were God's people who 00:23:27.329 --> 00:23:29.349 didn't answer the call to come and fight God's 00:23:29.349 --> 00:23:33.500 enemies. Verse 18, it says, Zebulun was a people 00:23:33.500 --> 00:23:38.119 who despised their lives even to death. And Naphtali 00:23:38.119 --> 00:23:40.680 also on the high places of the field. In other 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:43.779 words, they surrendered even unto death as necessary. 00:23:43.880 --> 00:23:46.519 The high places were the places where the battle 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:49.240 became the most fevered or most pitched, right? 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:52.859 And they were surrendering their lives by the 00:23:52.859 --> 00:23:56.240 handful, by the dozen as necessary so that God's 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:58.940 people could have the victory. While the people 00:23:58.940 --> 00:24:00.920 named right there before that in the first cup, 00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:03.220 first two verses right before that, were people 00:24:03.220 --> 00:24:05.559 who didn't even bother to come. Some people didn't 00:24:05.559 --> 00:24:07.619 even bother to show up. So you're expecting them 00:24:07.619 --> 00:24:09.619 to be condemned for not showing up. Verse 19. 00:24:10.900 --> 00:24:14.319 The kings came and fought, then fought the kings 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:16.640 of Canaan at Tanakh near the waters of Megiddo. 00:24:16.980 --> 00:24:19.779 They took no plunder in silver. So the people 00:24:19.779 --> 00:24:21.920 who had plundered so many times before came and 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:24.859 fought, but they didn't win. And they didn't 00:24:24.859 --> 00:24:27.519 pull ahead. They didn't take the plunder. Verse 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:32.859 20. The stars, fought from heaven. That's kind 00:24:32.859 --> 00:24:35.680 of a difficult translated from Hebrew to English. 00:24:35.740 --> 00:24:37.619 That's one of the spots right there. But it was 00:24:37.619 --> 00:24:39.579 common in that day to say that the gods had fought 00:24:39.579 --> 00:24:41.980 on behalf of the people. And so this phrase means 00:24:41.980 --> 00:24:45.339 that God himself fought on behalf of the Israelites 00:24:45.339 --> 00:24:48.359 to win the victory. The stars fought from heaven. 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:51.240 From their courses, they fought against Sisera. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:54.900 The torrent of Kishon swept them away. That's 00:24:54.900 --> 00:24:56.279 an interesting word, torrent, because we know 00:24:56.279 --> 00:24:58.180 it's actually just a wadi. It's a small river, 00:24:58.279 --> 00:25:00.980 really. And it's only really rushing in the rainy 00:25:00.980 --> 00:25:04.660 season, which this is not. And so what's presumed 00:25:04.660 --> 00:25:07.099 here is that God used a sort of a flood to muck 00:25:07.099 --> 00:25:09.859 up the land and thereby stop the chariots, which 00:25:09.859 --> 00:25:11.740 would have been by themselves enough to defeat 00:25:11.740 --> 00:25:15.220 the armies of Israel if God had not intervened. 00:25:15.299 --> 00:25:18.799 So the torrent of Kishon swept them away. The 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:21.000 ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon, oh my 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:25.339 soul, march on with strength. Then the heroes' 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:28.380 hoofs beat. From the dashing. The dashing of 00:25:28.380 --> 00:25:31.160 his valiant steeds. Okay? And so this is another 00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:33.099 place where the Hebrew is challenging to translate 00:25:33.099 --> 00:25:35.519 into the English. That word there, beat, was 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:38.319 usually only used in the Hebrew as the sound 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:43.640 of hoof beats moving away. And so best theological 00:25:43.640 --> 00:25:45.980 understanding here is this is talking about beating 00:25:45.980 --> 00:25:49.019 a hasty retreat that the enemies of God's people 00:25:49.019 --> 00:25:51.019 broke into retreat. We know historically from 00:25:51.019 --> 00:25:52.839 the chapter before that's what happened. God 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:55.920 won the victory and they all ran. All that cavalry. 00:25:56.349 --> 00:25:58.890 All those chariots, they ran as best they could 00:25:58.890 --> 00:26:03.250 and were destroyed in their retreat. Verse 23 00:26:03.250 --> 00:26:07.990 then says, Curse Meraz, said the angel of the 00:26:07.990 --> 00:26:11.529 Lord. Now let me be really clear. The angel of 00:26:11.529 --> 00:26:14.130 the Lord in Scripture is a messenger from God. 00:26:14.349 --> 00:26:17.089 Some people have undertaken to think theologically 00:26:17.089 --> 00:26:19.970 that every time you see that in the Old Testament, 00:26:20.049 --> 00:26:23.950 a lot of times that could be Jesus, maybe. A 00:26:23.950 --> 00:26:26.589 messenger from the Lord. Or, God's Holy Spirit. 00:26:27.369 --> 00:26:31.430 But probably an angel, a messenger. The word 00:26:31.430 --> 00:26:34.490 angel meaning messenger. The angel of the Lord 00:26:34.490 --> 00:26:40.329 speaking directly to them, curse miraz. Pronounce 00:26:40.329 --> 00:26:43.970 a curse. The believers in the kingdom, God's 00:26:43.970 --> 00:26:47.329 people, now told to pronounce a curse versus 00:26:47.329 --> 00:26:51.109 this town, miraz. That's a pretty harsh command 00:26:51.109 --> 00:26:52.710 to a people that's not supposed to pronounce 00:26:52.710 --> 00:26:55.539 curses, right? Curse Miraz, said the angel of 00:26:55.539 --> 00:26:58.980 the Lord. Utterly curse its inhabitants. When 00:26:58.980 --> 00:27:01.420 you see the words utterly curse, you're talking 00:27:01.420 --> 00:27:04.720 about pronounced a complete destruction. The 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:07.480 kind of destruction that came down on Sodom and 00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:10.500 Gomorrah, for example. So he's saying, as God's 00:27:10.500 --> 00:27:15.400 people, curse this town, Miraz, verse, because 00:27:15.400 --> 00:27:20.619 they did not come to help of the Lord. First 00:27:20.619 --> 00:27:22.380 of all, we know that God doesn't need help to 00:27:22.380 --> 00:27:25.500 do... God's plans, right? God doesn't need help 00:27:25.500 --> 00:27:27.880 to carry it out. And we see in a few verses back 00:27:27.880 --> 00:27:33.380 in 16, 17, 15, 16 that some of God's very own 00:27:33.380 --> 00:27:37.420 people didn't come out when called, right? But 00:27:37.420 --> 00:27:41.000 here is Miraz, a nearby town that did not help 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:44.539 in the battle and God's people are being told 00:27:44.539 --> 00:27:48.059 to curse them to utter destruction. That's a 00:27:48.059 --> 00:27:50.930 pretty significant thing. And I'm asking you, 00:27:50.950 --> 00:27:53.170 just based on that verse, is there a time in 00:27:53.170 --> 00:27:56.250 which God's people might be called to pronounce 00:27:56.250 --> 00:27:59.910 a curse? I'll begin in 23 again, and we're almost 00:27:59.910 --> 00:28:03.470 done with the text. Curse Miraz, said the angel 00:28:03.470 --> 00:28:06.750 of the Lord. Utterly curse its inhabitants, because 00:28:06.750 --> 00:28:09.309 they did not come to the help of the Lord, to 00:28:09.309 --> 00:28:12.650 the help of the Lord against the warriors. That's 00:28:12.650 --> 00:28:14.710 the end of 23 and the end of our text for the 00:28:14.710 --> 00:28:19.579 day. So we kind of might have expected the curse 00:28:19.579 --> 00:28:23.099 to be pronounced after 17, when some of God's 00:28:23.099 --> 00:28:26.099 people stayed wrapped up in their business, doing 00:28:26.099 --> 00:28:28.279 their other things, rather than coming out when 00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:31.900 God called them. But no, the curse is pronounced 00:28:31.900 --> 00:28:35.839 on Miraz. There are a few people, groups in this 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:37.220 text I want you to see first before I give you 00:28:37.220 --> 00:28:40.259 any points. The first one is people in the kingdom 00:28:40.259 --> 00:28:43.460 who render courageous service. These are people 00:28:43.460 --> 00:28:45.299 who came out and did what God told them to do. 00:28:45.380 --> 00:28:47.680 They fought the enemy. They formed the army of 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:49.500 10 ,000 that followed Deborah and Barak. They 00:28:49.500 --> 00:28:51.000 went into the lowlands where they were likely 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:52.819 to be destroyed. They fought an army that was 00:28:52.819 --> 00:28:56.140 outnumbering at least three, if not 20 to one. 00:28:56.599 --> 00:28:58.579 Who knows how many times you count a chariot 00:28:58.579 --> 00:29:01.180 when chariots are virtually unstoppable by infantry. 00:29:03.819 --> 00:29:07.619 It says that they despised their own lives and 00:29:07.619 --> 00:29:11.839 for their great reward, they got to take part 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:17.279 in God's victory, even in this song. Then there's 00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:21.240 the outsiders who became the enemy. Jabin the 00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:23.640 Canaanite and his people, Sisera the general, 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:26.000 and other kings and royalty that came out to 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:28.599 fight against Israel at this case. Because if 00:29:28.599 --> 00:29:31.200 Israel shakes off the yoke, then there's a lot 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:33.039 of free treasure and slaves that nobody can get 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:36.720 anymore. And so this became an outsider that 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:39.779 stepped up as an enemy in armed resistance to 00:29:39.779 --> 00:29:43.680 fight against Israel. Notice for their outcome, 00:29:43.779 --> 00:29:46.680 they were destroyed. They were eradicated by 00:29:46.680 --> 00:29:49.599 divine action. Not Israel. Israel didn't destroy 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:52.740 them. God destroyed them. The stars fought from 00:29:52.740 --> 00:29:55.480 their courses and the brook Kishon became a torrent 00:29:55.480 --> 00:29:57.960 that trapped their chariots. And then when the 00:29:57.960 --> 00:30:00.279 Israelites came down on them as they were retreating, 00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:03.039 God empowered them to kill. And ultimately, every 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:06.019 Israelite there would kill in the 20s of men. 00:30:07.019 --> 00:30:09.920 After defeating an army of 9 ,000 iron chariots 00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:13.190 pulled by great chargers, crewed by crews of 00:30:13.190 --> 00:30:16.329 10 or 12 men with spears, like the tanks of the 00:30:16.329 --> 00:30:20.589 day. Oh, poor Sisera, because he didn't find 00:30:20.589 --> 00:30:22.549 himself fighting the Israelites whom they had 00:30:22.549 --> 00:30:25.710 persecuted for 20 years. He found himself fighting 00:30:25.710 --> 00:30:31.470 against God. Poor Goliath, right? Killed by a 00:30:31.470 --> 00:30:35.289 boy with a sling and a stone. But really, killed 00:30:35.289 --> 00:30:38.009 by God. He found himself fighting against God. 00:30:38.190 --> 00:30:41.750 Poor Sodom and Gomorrah. Fire rained down from 00:30:41.750 --> 00:30:45.549 heaven so that the land was eradicated and probably 00:30:45.549 --> 00:30:48.930 drenched in salt and is still not useful to this 00:30:48.930 --> 00:30:51.470 day except for water sits there and forms a great 00:30:51.470 --> 00:30:55.329 sea, possibly. Poor Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed 00:30:55.329 --> 00:30:58.670 by God. Poor Egypt, plague after plague after 00:30:58.670 --> 00:31:02.190 plague, right? And every one of their gods was 00:31:02.190 --> 00:31:04.589 made to look to be puny compared to the God of 00:31:04.589 --> 00:31:07.009 the universe so that they had boils and frogs 00:31:07.009 --> 00:31:11.210 and gnats. All the water in their land turned 00:31:11.210 --> 00:31:16.349 to blood for a while and all their people, firstborn 00:31:16.349 --> 00:31:19.109 children, all destroyed. Every person that had 00:31:19.109 --> 00:31:21.190 a firstborn child. And that means grown men who 00:31:21.190 --> 00:31:22.470 had children. They were the firstborn in their 00:31:22.470 --> 00:31:26.230 household and they were killed. Poor Egypt. Poor 00:31:26.230 --> 00:31:29.849 Edom. The prophet Obaniah pronounced a prophecy 00:31:29.849 --> 00:31:32.670 against Edom and Edom was eradicated to the point 00:31:32.670 --> 00:31:35.480 that You can go there and see their great castles 00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:37.240 carved into the side of the rock. For now, look 00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:38.700 it up on the internet. It's a great place to 00:31:38.700 --> 00:31:40.240 go to visit if you have a few thousand dollars 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:44.779 in the Middle East. But no one knows what happened 00:31:44.779 --> 00:31:47.720 to the entire nation. Carried off into captivity. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:51.519 Poor Edom. Poor flood victims in the day of Noah. 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:55.460 Destroyed one and all. Noah and his wife and 00:31:55.460 --> 00:31:58.240 his boys and their wives into the ark. And everybody 00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:03.819 else was drowned. Poor Naaman. In the days of 00:32:03.819 --> 00:32:08.519 Esther, hung on the gallows that he built at 00:32:08.519 --> 00:32:13.559 his own house. Poor Herod, after Jesus came and 00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:15.339 left and the church was in, he was sitting on 00:32:15.339 --> 00:32:17.319 the throne pronouncing great wisdoms and they 00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:19.960 said, oh, you know, these are like the words 00:32:19.960 --> 00:32:21.579 of God and he didn't correct them and say, no, 00:32:21.619 --> 00:32:22.880 they're just my words, they're just the words 00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:25.059 of men and he was eaten by worms from the inside 00:32:25.059 --> 00:32:27.779 out. The list could go on. There are others. 00:32:28.910 --> 00:32:31.430 And these are people that existed beyond the 00:32:31.430 --> 00:32:34.470 line without redemption, and they are put to 00:32:34.470 --> 00:32:38.670 destruction to show God's glory. Pity, pity. 00:32:39.950 --> 00:32:43.609 Also in the story are people of the kingdom who 00:32:43.609 --> 00:32:46.569 had an alternative focus. They're worried about 00:32:46.569 --> 00:32:47.910 their ships. They're worried about their crops. 00:32:48.089 --> 00:32:49.369 They're worried about their animals. They're 00:32:49.369 --> 00:32:53.789 worried about their whatever, recreation. And 00:32:53.789 --> 00:32:57.950 they didn't come. And frankly, they were excused. 00:32:59.809 --> 00:33:02.789 They were scolded and they were left out of the 00:33:02.789 --> 00:33:05.750 great victory of the Lord. But basically they 00:33:05.750 --> 00:33:08.349 were excused. They're not cursed. And so here 00:33:08.349 --> 00:33:11.150 I am to say to you that the next time you face 00:33:11.150 --> 00:33:12.910 great trials, next time you're called to serve 00:33:12.910 --> 00:33:14.650 the Lord and you have to make a choice between 00:33:14.650 --> 00:33:17.029 doing what you want to do and doing what God 00:33:17.029 --> 00:33:21.490 wants to and realigning your wants to be what 00:33:21.490 --> 00:33:23.940 they should be, which is what God wants. That 00:33:23.940 --> 00:33:25.539 you would be not conformed to this world but 00:33:25.539 --> 00:33:27.420 transformed by the renewing of your mind and 00:33:27.420 --> 00:33:29.559 follow the Lord. The next time that opportunity 00:33:29.559 --> 00:33:35.059 arises, realize you may be excused. But you may 00:33:35.059 --> 00:33:37.839 also be scolded or chastised by the Lord and 00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:39.859 left out of the great victory that he intended. 00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:43.420 There were outsiders here who chose an allegiance. 00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:49.140 And they are blessed. We know of Jael and her 00:33:49.140 --> 00:33:51.559 whole household was blessed and she was listed 00:33:51.559 --> 00:33:53.970 in the song. The part that we read last week, 00:33:54.069 --> 00:33:57.470 as Jael was the end of Sisera by putting a tent 00:33:57.470 --> 00:33:59.650 spike through his head. And they are blessed 00:33:59.650 --> 00:34:02.029 by choosing allegiance. But we also said Jael 00:34:02.029 --> 00:34:04.390 had a choice to make. She was in real trouble 00:34:04.390 --> 00:34:06.450 either way. She could have chosen Sisera's allegiance, 00:34:06.690 --> 00:34:09.750 stuck with him, let him escape. But then she 00:34:09.750 --> 00:34:11.849 would have paid for that heartily, surely, probably 00:34:11.849 --> 00:34:15.920 been his slave forever. And then... She chose 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:18.460 to end him instead and side with the Israelites, 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:20.099 and her whole tribe sided with the Israelites, 00:34:20.219 --> 00:34:24.539 and they find a place among God's people. Then 00:34:24.539 --> 00:34:27.280 there's those of the kingdom who intentionally 00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:33.460 lack involvement. They're nearby. They're there. 00:34:33.579 --> 00:34:37.480 They could do it. Who am I talking about? I'm 00:34:37.480 --> 00:34:39.199 talking about the village of Meraz. This was 00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:41.829 a God's people village. Just they could have 00:34:41.829 --> 00:34:44.409 failed to show up like the others did. And that's 00:34:44.409 --> 00:34:45.889 what they did. But they were right there. They 00:34:45.889 --> 00:34:48.130 made it as far as coming to the point that they 00:34:48.130 --> 00:34:50.590 were at God's great victory, but they chose not 00:34:50.590 --> 00:34:53.190 to participate. And here now we see them cursed 00:34:53.190 --> 00:34:59.690 out of existence. So what was the end of Meraz? 00:35:00.269 --> 00:35:02.650 Meraz was there somewhere. They were right near 00:35:02.650 --> 00:35:07.010 the battle. But they so thoroughly disappeared 00:35:07.010 --> 00:35:10.889 after the curse was pronounced. that nobody today 00:35:10.889 --> 00:35:13.210 knows exactly where. They've got a border. There's 00:35:13.210 --> 00:35:15.730 a triangle. Here's a line. Here's a river forms 00:35:15.730 --> 00:35:17.829 a line. Somewhere in there is where Meraz used 00:35:17.829 --> 00:35:20.369 to be, a pretty good bustling town, a metropolis 00:35:20.369 --> 00:35:24.329 of a sort. But after this, they cease to exist. 00:35:24.570 --> 00:35:26.150 I submit to you, if you are in the kingdom of 00:35:26.150 --> 00:35:28.170 God and you come to where God is doing the war 00:35:28.170 --> 00:35:30.230 and you know it's happening and you refuse to 00:35:30.230 --> 00:35:32.750 participate, you just might wind up dismissed. 00:35:34.329 --> 00:35:40.699 And then we see the kingdom. We see them stepping 00:35:40.699 --> 00:35:43.099 out, doing what it is that God would have to 00:35:43.099 --> 00:35:46.480 do. They lead others to blessing. God intervenes 00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:49.659 on their behalf. Their lives are spared. They 00:35:49.659 --> 00:35:52.199 are empowered and called on to glorify the Lord. 00:35:52.760 --> 00:35:55.599 But notice that in this story, in this particular 00:35:55.599 --> 00:35:58.920 case, they are led by the Lord, specifically 00:35:58.920 --> 00:36:03.440 by an angel of the Lord, to proclaim the curse 00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:10.039 on Meraz. They called out who Meraz was, what 00:36:10.039 --> 00:36:13.519 Meraz has done, and pronounced a curse that would 00:36:13.519 --> 00:36:18.380 utterly destroy Meraz. So the question that I 00:36:18.380 --> 00:36:22.300 was led to then was, might we sometime have this 00:36:22.300 --> 00:36:26.139 job to do? If you are a faithful believer following 00:36:26.139 --> 00:36:28.179 the Lord, could you not at some time be called 00:36:28.179 --> 00:36:35.500 upon by the Lord to curse those who are present 00:36:35.500 --> 00:36:38.619 at God's great action? but refusing to participate. 00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:42.539 It's a scary thought. So first we have to ask 00:36:42.539 --> 00:36:44.360 ourselves, are we a people that are called upon 00:36:44.360 --> 00:36:49.260 to curse at all, I guess? Notice that we have 00:36:49.260 --> 00:36:51.719 the power and authority to do so. Jesus said, 00:36:51.860 --> 00:36:54.480 Matthew 16, Truly I say to you, whatever you 00:36:54.480 --> 00:36:57.599 bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, 00:36:57.739 --> 00:36:59.480 and whatever you loose on earth shall have been 00:36:59.480 --> 00:37:01.619 loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if 00:37:01.619 --> 00:37:04.940 you too... If two of you agree on earth about 00:37:04.940 --> 00:37:07.239 anything that they may ask, it shall be done 00:37:07.239 --> 00:37:10.019 for them by my Father who is in heaven. For where 00:37:10.019 --> 00:37:11.860 two or three have gathered together in my name, 00:37:11.940 --> 00:37:14.619 I am there in their midst. So do we not have 00:37:14.619 --> 00:37:17.860 the authority? Having the keys to the kingdom, 00:37:17.960 --> 00:37:25.260 could we not pronounce curses? But blessing and 00:37:25.260 --> 00:37:28.639 cursing and judgment are in the hands of the 00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:30.840 Lord. Christians are called to bless, not curse. 00:37:31.039 --> 00:37:33.440 Yet God himself will bring vengeance upon those 00:37:33.440 --> 00:37:36.500 who claim his name, but live in rebellion. In 00:37:36.500 --> 00:37:39.460 Romans 12, 14, it says, bless those who persecute 00:37:39.460 --> 00:37:43.460 you, bless and do not curse. Out of the same 00:37:43.460 --> 00:37:46.039 mouth, it says in James 3, 9 through 10, should 00:37:46.039 --> 00:37:48.380 not come blessings and curses. It shouldn't be 00:37:48.380 --> 00:37:51.179 like that. We have the example of Jesus, 1 Peter 00:37:51.179 --> 00:37:54.400 2, 23. It says, he did not return insult for 00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:58.239 insult. Matthew 5 .44 says, love your enemies, 00:37:58.480 --> 00:38:01.579 pray for your persecutors. Romans 12 .21 says, 00:38:01.659 --> 00:38:07.300 overcome evil with good. We have a command to 00:38:07.300 --> 00:38:09.659 the church in 1 Peter 3 .9 where it was called, 00:38:09.840 --> 00:38:12.460 we are called to give blessing, not repay evil. 00:38:13.380 --> 00:38:18.380 The default Christian posture is grace, forgiveness, 00:38:18.480 --> 00:38:21.699 and intercession. Do we not see that example 00:38:21.699 --> 00:38:25.039 in Jesus? Even when they tried to kill him prematurely, 00:38:25.039 --> 00:38:28.119 what did he do? He walked away because it wasn't 00:38:28.119 --> 00:38:30.619 time yet. And ultimately, when they did kill 00:38:30.619 --> 00:38:33.699 him, what did he do? Where every man might hang 00:38:33.699 --> 00:38:36.079 on a cross and spew curses, it was like going 00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:38.699 out to see WWE wrestling because they'd go up 00:38:38.699 --> 00:38:40.599 there and they would expose everyone's secrets. 00:38:41.099 --> 00:38:43.000 So -and -so did this. I know so -and -so had 00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:44.760 this affair. You're a liar. You did that. There's 00:38:44.760 --> 00:38:46.719 that politician. They stole this money. They 00:38:46.719 --> 00:38:49.539 would expose everyone's secrets. But Jesus didn't 00:38:49.539 --> 00:38:52.280 do that. He prayed, Lord, forgive them for they 00:38:52.280 --> 00:38:55.739 know not what they do. Are we imitating Christ 00:38:55.739 --> 00:38:58.900 in our speech and our attitude? Or do we wield 00:38:58.900 --> 00:39:02.900 our words like weapons? Blessing those that we 00:39:02.900 --> 00:39:06.320 want to. Speaking positive of those that we hope 00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:09.179 to get things from. Speaking positively of those 00:39:09.179 --> 00:39:12.940 that we hope will serve the Lord. And speaking 00:39:12.940 --> 00:39:15.760 negatively of those that we see do not know God 00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:17.960 or that say they know God but don't follow him. 00:39:21.739 --> 00:39:24.340 Could there be exceptions, times in which we 00:39:24.340 --> 00:39:26.739 are called? Well, in Acts 5, 1 through 11, we 00:39:26.739 --> 00:39:29.699 see Peter, and Peter pronounces a curse on Ananias 00:39:29.699 --> 00:39:33.619 and Sapphira. In fact, he says, you will die 00:39:33.619 --> 00:39:37.119 here right now. And they do, both of them, because 00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:40.000 their hearts were not right in the Lord. And 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:43.019 they had come faking obedience to God, faking 00:39:43.019 --> 00:39:44.840 faithfulness, attempting to earn for themselves 00:39:44.840 --> 00:39:47.940 a place inside the people of God, while in fact 00:39:47.940 --> 00:39:53.179 cursing the Lord. But this was not a personal 00:39:53.179 --> 00:39:55.860 curse. It wasn't Peter's personal agenda. In 00:39:55.860 --> 00:39:57.780 fact, what they did didn't really hurt Peter 00:39:57.780 --> 00:40:00.219 at all. So it certainly wasn't vengeance. But 00:40:00.219 --> 00:40:03.139 it was a prophetic exposure of their hypocrisy. 00:40:03.739 --> 00:40:07.260 And their sin is probably what killed them, not 00:40:07.260 --> 00:40:12.260 the curse. We have Paul and the false prophet 00:40:12.260 --> 00:40:18.099 in Acts 13. There they were in front of... Sergius, 00:40:18.199 --> 00:40:19.900 the proconsul, and they're trying to win him 00:40:19.900 --> 00:40:23.300 to Christ. This is Saul called Paul and Barnabas. 00:40:24.900 --> 00:40:27.800 And there was a magician there. His name was 00:40:27.800 --> 00:40:31.139 Elymas. And he was refuting what Paul was saying. 00:40:32.380 --> 00:40:35.340 And Paul got tired of it. And he pronounced a 00:40:35.340 --> 00:40:38.599 curse on the man. And a blinding mist fell over 00:40:38.599 --> 00:40:41.639 him and he couldn't see. He began to seek people 00:40:41.639 --> 00:40:43.239 to lead him about by the hand because he couldn't 00:40:43.239 --> 00:40:46.219 see. Because his heart was not right and his 00:40:46.219 --> 00:40:49.400 hypocrisy. He was standing up against the gospel. 00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:53.599 And then we see what Paul's curse formula is 00:40:53.599 --> 00:40:58.500 in Galatians 1, 8 -9. He says, let him be accursed. 00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:01.800 But he reserves this curse for those who distort 00:41:01.800 --> 00:41:05.219 the gospel of Jesus Christ. So then we can limit 00:41:05.219 --> 00:41:08.750 ourselves. to people who are only really just 00:41:08.750 --> 00:41:11.550 mocking Jesus. People who are only pretending 00:41:11.550 --> 00:41:13.570 to be followers. People who are only slighting 00:41:13.570 --> 00:41:16.090 and attacking people rather than actually following 00:41:16.090 --> 00:41:19.989 Jesus. And Paul would say, let them be accursed. 00:41:21.650 --> 00:41:24.170 But none of these things are models for daily 00:41:24.170 --> 00:41:28.170 Christian behavior. These are spirit -initiated, 00:41:28.210 --> 00:41:31.329 that is to say, God -led, spirit -initiated acts 00:41:31.329 --> 00:41:35.250 of divine discipline, not personal avengence 00:41:35.250 --> 00:41:39.809 or personal... In other words, if you would ever 00:41:39.809 --> 00:41:44.510 want to, you cannot. But if you would ever be 00:41:44.510 --> 00:41:46.969 called specifically by the Lord in a specific 00:41:46.969 --> 00:41:51.809 circumstance to, then you had better, lest you 00:41:51.809 --> 00:41:54.869 yourself fall under a similar curse for being 00:41:54.869 --> 00:41:57.150 at that moment of the great conflict where God's 00:41:57.150 --> 00:42:00.090 about to get great glory and refusing to do so. 00:42:03.340 --> 00:42:05.860 In fact, the Word says that we are forbidden 00:42:05.860 --> 00:42:09.639 to take vengeance. Never take your own vengeance, 00:42:09.739 --> 00:42:11.880 beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God. 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:16.300 Romans 12, 19, paraphrased. We entrust judgment 00:42:16.300 --> 00:42:19.719 to God. The judge sees all. Our job is to be 00:42:19.719 --> 00:42:23.599 found faithful, not vengeful. Judgment belongs 00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:27.369 to God alone. Personal curses... things that 00:42:27.369 --> 00:42:29.389 you word yourself, phrase yourself, come out 00:42:29.389 --> 00:42:31.070 of your feelings somewhere, even that you think 00:42:31.070 --> 00:42:33.269 are right. Remember that the whole problem in 00:42:33.269 --> 00:42:35.329 the book of Judges is not that they were in sin 00:42:35.329 --> 00:42:38.610 or following false gods, though that's true and 00:42:38.610 --> 00:42:41.349 it was wrong, but it was that they did what they 00:42:41.349 --> 00:42:44.570 thought was right in their own minds. And so 00:42:44.570 --> 00:42:47.309 we must not lean on our own understanding, but 00:42:47.309 --> 00:42:49.590 rather be led of the Lord. And if ever you should 00:42:49.590 --> 00:42:51.530 come to a place where you realize something is 00:42:51.530 --> 00:42:54.269 really wrong, someone is really doing something 00:42:54.269 --> 00:42:56.699 wrong, and you feel like you would... pronounce 00:42:56.699 --> 00:43:00.400 a curse from God, then be sure that you are led 00:43:00.400 --> 00:43:03.179 of the Spirit to do so and let the Spirit speak. 00:43:04.920 --> 00:43:09.280 Judgment belongs to God alone. God's vengeance 00:43:09.280 --> 00:43:13.880 on the faithless who claim His name is a real 00:43:13.880 --> 00:43:18.960 thing. Hebrews 10, 26 -31 says, For if we go 00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:21.500 on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge 00:43:21.500 --> 00:43:25.000 of the truth, There no longer remains a sacrifice 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.940 for sins. Did you get that? If you have received 00:43:29.940 --> 00:43:32.659 the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ, and then 00:43:32.659 --> 00:43:35.480 you choose to willingly go on doing the things 00:43:35.480 --> 00:43:37.500 you know you should not do, or failing to do 00:43:37.500 --> 00:43:39.519 the things that you know you should, no matter 00:43:39.519 --> 00:43:42.019 your excuses, reason, logic, whatever you think 00:43:42.019 --> 00:43:44.239 is right, it all doesn't matter how you feel 00:43:44.239 --> 00:43:46.699 about it, none of that matters. If you willingly 00:43:46.699 --> 00:43:50.000 go on doing the things that you should not do, 00:43:51.719 --> 00:43:53.699 or failing to do the things that you should, 00:43:53.860 --> 00:43:59.199 whatever reason or logic may prevail, there is 00:43:59.199 --> 00:44:03.059 no longer, there no longer remains a sacrifice 00:44:03.059 --> 00:44:07.260 for sins. Jesus is it. He's all that there is. 00:44:07.840 --> 00:44:09.739 And you're going to have to come back to Him 00:44:09.739 --> 00:44:12.500 for that salvation. And because you're willingly 00:44:12.500 --> 00:44:14.840 going on in your sin, the truth is, you probably 00:44:14.840 --> 00:44:20.539 won't. Verse 27 says, but a terrifying expectation 00:44:20.539 --> 00:44:23.719 of judgment and the fury of a fire which will 00:44:23.719 --> 00:44:27.139 consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside 00:44:27.139 --> 00:44:29.980 the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony 00:44:29.980 --> 00:44:33.159 of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment 00:44:33.159 --> 00:44:36.659 do you think he will reserve who has trampled 00:44:36.659 --> 00:44:39.320 underfoot the Son of God and has regarded as 00:44:39.320 --> 00:44:41.980 unclean the blood of the covenant by which he 00:44:41.980 --> 00:44:45.079 was sanctified and has insulted the spirit of 00:44:45.079 --> 00:44:49.440 grace? If you are willingly sinning, that is 00:44:49.440 --> 00:44:51.420 what you are doing if you continue in sin. Now, 00:44:51.460 --> 00:44:53.739 if you are unwillingly sinning, if you slip, 00:44:53.900 --> 00:44:56.619 if you make errors, if you make errors in judgment, 00:44:56.679 --> 00:44:58.239 you thought you knew what God wanted, but you 00:44:58.239 --> 00:45:00.579 went the wrong way, whatever, then you come back 00:45:00.579 --> 00:45:03.039 to the Lord and He is faithful and just and righteous 00:45:03.039 --> 00:45:05.659 to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. 00:45:06.920 --> 00:45:09.719 But if you willingly proceed forward, know that 00:45:09.719 --> 00:45:15.719 there is severer punishment for nothing. Nothing. 00:45:17.449 --> 00:45:20.590 A greater crime to follow Jesus supposedly and 00:45:20.590 --> 00:45:24.889 walk willingly in sin than mass murder, incest, 00:45:24.889 --> 00:45:27.670 rape. All the things that we think are terrible. 00:45:27.789 --> 00:45:31.289 There is no severer punishment for any sin that 00:45:31.289 --> 00:45:36.469 anyone has. Because we will have trampled underfoot 00:45:36.469 --> 00:45:39.429 the Son of God. We will have regarded as unclean 00:45:39.429 --> 00:45:41.010 the blood of the covenant by which He was... 00:45:41.239 --> 00:45:43.360 we were sanctified, and we will have insulted 00:45:43.360 --> 00:45:45.760 the spirit of grace. And verse 30 says, For we 00:45:45.760 --> 00:45:49.219 know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will 00:45:49.219 --> 00:45:52.119 repay. And again, the Lord will judge his people. 00:45:52.780 --> 00:45:56.739 It's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands 00:45:56.739 --> 00:46:03.960 of the living God. Professing believers can fall 00:46:03.960 --> 00:46:10.260 under judgment. Those who go on sinning after 00:46:10.260 --> 00:46:16.059 believing the truth. 2 Peter 2, 20 -22, those 00:46:16.059 --> 00:46:19.559 who return to the world are worse off than before. 00:46:19.900 --> 00:46:24.059 And Revelation 2, 22 -23, judgment begins in 00:46:24.059 --> 00:46:26.179 the house of God, in the people of God, those 00:46:26.179 --> 00:46:29.420 who profess Christ and stick in the kingdom, 00:46:29.659 --> 00:46:31.760 that's where judgment begins. And this is what 00:46:31.760 --> 00:46:34.519 it says in Revelation 2, 22, I gave her time 00:46:34.519 --> 00:46:37.280 to repent, and she does not want to repent of 00:46:37.280 --> 00:46:40.059 her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a 00:46:40.059 --> 00:46:42.460 bed of sickness and those who commit adultery 00:46:42.460 --> 00:46:46.300 with her into great tribulation unless they repent 00:46:46.300 --> 00:46:49.440 of her deeds. And I will kill her children with 00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:52.800 pestilence. And all the churches will know that 00:46:52.800 --> 00:46:55.579 I am he who searches the minds and hearts. And 00:46:55.579 --> 00:46:57.840 I will give to each one of you according to your 00:46:57.840 --> 00:47:00.980 deeds. God will not be mocked, Paul writes in 00:47:00.980 --> 00:47:04.949 Galatians 6. Claiming the name of Christ while 00:47:04.949 --> 00:47:07.969 aligning with the enemy brings divine chastisement. 00:47:09.090 --> 00:47:11.449 We, on the other hand, are to walk in blessing 00:47:11.449 --> 00:47:15.230 and stand in awe of God. We are not called to 00:47:15.230 --> 00:47:19.309 curse. We are called to bless, to witness, and 00:47:19.309 --> 00:47:26.929 to intercede. Our model is Christ. Our method 00:47:26.929 --> 00:47:35.289 is love. Our message is truth. We can and will 00:47:35.289 --> 00:47:40.510 overcome evil with good if we employ as the spearhead 00:47:40.510 --> 00:47:44.070 of all of our offense the sword of the spirit, 00:47:44.230 --> 00:47:50.269 which is the word of God. God alone deals with 00:47:50.269 --> 00:47:53.550 rebellion, hypocrisy, and false allegiance. Let 00:47:53.550 --> 00:47:57.289 us be among the faithful, not the fearful. Let 00:47:57.289 --> 00:48:01.250 us tremble at his holiness, not test his mercy. 00:48:02.510 --> 00:48:06.269 Let us persuade men because we know the fear 00:48:06.269 --> 00:48:10.050 of the Lord. And let us beg God to make us everything 00:48:10.050 --> 00:48:14.170 that is necessary. The Bible says that God is 00:48:14.170 --> 00:48:17.949 patient with us that all men might come to repentance. 00:48:18.389 --> 00:48:20.690 That's why Jesus has not yet returned. It does 00:48:20.690 --> 00:48:23.800 not say that God is patient. with lost people 00:48:23.800 --> 00:48:26.119 that men might come to repentance. It does not 00:48:26.119 --> 00:48:28.199 say that God is patient with those who have not 00:48:28.199 --> 00:48:31.440 yet heard or those who are wrapped up very faithfully 00:48:31.440 --> 00:48:33.840 in some other false religion. It says that God 00:48:33.840 --> 00:48:36.860 is patient with us. Written to the church, God 00:48:36.860 --> 00:48:40.840 is patient with us that all men might come to 00:48:40.840 --> 00:48:45.460 repentance. Let us beg God to make us everything 00:48:45.460 --> 00:48:48.719 that is necessary, even despising our own lives 00:48:48.719 --> 00:48:52.159 as they did in the story that we read. to carry 00:48:52.159 --> 00:48:55.280 out the work of the kingdom, the kingdom of God. 00:48:55.440 --> 00:48:58.500 Let's draw near to Him and I say, we might rightly 00:48:58.500 --> 00:49:02.039 pray that we should never be called upon to pronounce 00:49:02.039 --> 00:49:06.340 a curse. So if you find yourself talking bad 00:49:06.340 --> 00:49:10.559 about someone or what they've done, be very careful 00:49:10.559 --> 00:49:14.420 because you are approaching a line which you 00:49:14.420 --> 00:49:19.300 cannot uncross. You are a keys of the kingdom 00:49:19.300 --> 00:49:24.380 holder. So when someone lies to you and you call 00:49:24.380 --> 00:49:27.900 them a liar, you have loosed on earth something 00:49:27.900 --> 00:49:30.400 that has already been loosed in heaven and you 00:49:30.400 --> 00:49:35.519 may make them a liar indefinitely. Now, should 00:49:35.519 --> 00:49:39.219 you call a lie a lie? For sure. Just be careful 00:49:39.219 --> 00:49:45.500 about calling a liar a liar. Let's draw near 00:49:45.500 --> 00:49:49.760 to Him and rightly pray. that we should never 00:49:49.760 --> 00:49:53.659 be called upon to pronounce a curse, but rather 00:49:53.659 --> 00:49:55.639 leave the vengeance of the Lord in the hands 00:49:55.639 --> 00:49:57.840 of the Lord to deal with professing believers 00:49:57.840 --> 00:50:01.659 who choose allegiance with the enemy. A final 00:50:01.659 --> 00:50:03.800 challenge in some illustrations, and we're through. 00:50:05.239 --> 00:50:10.360 Ask yourself, am I using my words? When my mouth 00:50:10.360 --> 00:50:14.199 opens and my voice comes out, am I using my words 00:50:14.199 --> 00:50:22.760 to heal or to hurt? You were created in the image 00:50:22.760 --> 00:50:30.019 of the being who said, let there be light. And 00:50:30.019 --> 00:50:32.159 from just outside the boundaries of existence, 00:50:32.300 --> 00:50:34.820 whatever that looked like at that time, light 00:50:34.820 --> 00:50:37.880 immediately responded and leapt into being. And 00:50:37.880 --> 00:50:41.900 you were created in his image. And then if you're 00:50:41.900 --> 00:50:44.119 a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you were 00:50:44.119 --> 00:50:48.460 reborn, recreated, growing to be more like him 00:50:48.460 --> 00:50:54.340 every day. That does not mean that you usurp 00:50:54.340 --> 00:50:58.420 his role as creator, but rather that you should 00:50:58.420 --> 00:51:02.659 be very clear about the loving, merciful, gracious 00:51:02.659 --> 00:51:08.019 character of the God of heaven. If you received 00:51:08.019 --> 00:51:10.380 everything you have from the God of the universe, 00:51:10.659 --> 00:51:13.340 why do you sometimes act like you didn't get 00:51:13.340 --> 00:51:17.139 it from him? You earned it yourself. Or that 00:51:17.139 --> 00:51:19.500 you made the right choices in light of the fact 00:51:19.500 --> 00:51:22.679 that you have what you have. The truth is, when 00:51:22.679 --> 00:51:25.039 we get to heaven, we will find our faults to 00:51:25.039 --> 00:51:27.300 be more than we could ever judge ourselves for. 00:51:29.219 --> 00:51:35.539 Are we using our words to heal or to hurt? Am 00:51:35.539 --> 00:51:38.860 I trusting God with judgment? When someone says, 00:51:38.980 --> 00:51:40.260 well, I'm going to do this, or I'm going to do 00:51:40.260 --> 00:51:43.280 that, or I did this, do I immediately go, that's 00:51:43.280 --> 00:51:46.760 wrong, you're wrong, that's a wrong, or do I 00:51:46.760 --> 00:51:50.340 say, what does the Lord say about this? How could 00:51:50.340 --> 00:51:53.000 this person come to make this decision? Why are 00:51:53.000 --> 00:51:59.599 they acting this way? And I understand and you 00:51:59.599 --> 00:52:02.440 understand that no answers to those questions 00:52:02.440 --> 00:52:06.260 will ever be excuses for sin. So if the action 00:52:06.260 --> 00:52:08.639 is sin, it's sin. And there's nothing you can 00:52:08.639 --> 00:52:10.019 do about that. You can't change it and say, well, 00:52:10.059 --> 00:52:12.159 I hear what you're saying. You have really good 00:52:12.159 --> 00:52:14.659 reasons for doing this. So I pronounce this not 00:52:14.659 --> 00:52:19.539 sin. You can't. It's sin if it's sin. But at 00:52:19.539 --> 00:52:22.639 the same time, we trust God with the judgment 00:52:22.639 --> 00:52:24.940 of it. And so yes, we look into scripture and 00:52:24.940 --> 00:52:26.420 there are certain things that we see that we 00:52:26.420 --> 00:52:28.679 don't quite perfectly understand. And here is 00:52:28.679 --> 00:52:32.079 an example that we as a people are not called 00:52:32.079 --> 00:52:34.239 upon. We are not created to be a people that 00:52:34.239 --> 00:52:38.739 pronounces curses in any sort against other people. 00:52:39.440 --> 00:52:42.039 Yet at the same time, we are the direct agents 00:52:42.039 --> 00:52:45.320 of the Lord. And so we have to realize that there 00:52:45.320 --> 00:52:50.599 is a curse upon evil behavior. There are associated 00:52:50.599 --> 00:52:55.000 bad things that happen when people do the wrong 00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:58.420 thing. And you might be wise to ask yourself, 00:52:58.559 --> 00:53:01.659 if I am facing what feels like judgment, if I 00:53:01.659 --> 00:53:04.699 am being chastised, if I am under correction, 00:53:04.900 --> 00:53:07.880 small, medium, or large, ask yourself, is it 00:53:07.880 --> 00:53:12.079 that way? Because I am not right with God. Because 00:53:12.079 --> 00:53:14.400 I need to repent and turn unto the Lord and make 00:53:14.400 --> 00:53:19.590 whatever control I have. submit it over into 00:53:19.590 --> 00:53:23.489 His hands. And if that's the way you need to 00:53:23.489 --> 00:53:25.769 do it, then that's what you need to do. But don't 00:53:25.769 --> 00:53:28.889 expect me or any other Christian, any other real 00:53:28.889 --> 00:53:31.389 Christian, to come into your life and say, this 00:53:31.389 --> 00:53:35.170 is happening to you because of X. I have seen 00:53:35.170 --> 00:53:37.269 that so many times. And every time I've ever 00:53:37.269 --> 00:53:39.769 seen somebody do that, the Holy Spirit has always 00:53:39.769 --> 00:53:42.969 said to me, that's an ignorant person. That's 00:53:42.969 --> 00:53:45.110 a person that doesn't understand. And no, I didn't 00:53:45.110 --> 00:53:47.030 go and say, okay, you're ignorant because you 00:53:47.030 --> 00:53:49.780 said that. I went and said, listen, the Holy 00:53:49.780 --> 00:53:51.559 Spirit is saying to me, something is desperately 00:53:51.559 --> 00:53:53.840 wrong with what you just declared. What you just 00:53:53.840 --> 00:53:56.300 said. Be careful, because your saying this about 00:53:56.300 --> 00:53:58.380 that person is akin to pronouncing a curse, which 00:53:58.380 --> 00:54:02.000 we are not called to do. We had a guest speaker 00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:04.199 once years ago at New Heights that came, and 00:54:04.199 --> 00:54:05.940 they came right after the Twin Towers, and it 00:54:05.940 --> 00:54:09.440 was just after 2001. And as he was preaching, 00:54:09.639 --> 00:54:11.300 I'm not naming the man, this is not gossip or 00:54:11.300 --> 00:54:12.679 slander, as he was preaching, he stood up in 00:54:12.679 --> 00:54:15.519 the pulpit, I was out of town, and he said that 00:54:15.519 --> 00:54:19.420 that was God's judgment. on the Twin Towers and 00:54:19.420 --> 00:54:21.719 that the people that died there and the effects 00:54:21.719 --> 00:54:24.800 of it, all the workers that went in afterwards 00:54:24.800 --> 00:54:26.440 and everybody that died, it all happened because 00:54:26.440 --> 00:54:29.179 of God's judgment on our country and on that 00:54:29.179 --> 00:54:32.019 place. And he pronounced a curse and said that 00:54:32.019 --> 00:54:35.239 that happened because of God said so. God destroyed 00:54:35.239 --> 00:54:40.019 the Twin Towers. He used the people, the militant 00:54:40.019 --> 00:54:43.559 Islamic enemies of America to do that and kill 00:54:43.559 --> 00:54:46.900 all those people. And the beauty of it was all 00:54:46.900 --> 00:54:48.420 the people in New Heights that were there that 00:54:48.420 --> 00:54:50.880 day immediately went, that doesn't sound right. 00:54:51.579 --> 00:54:54.219 I don't think the Bible says that. Now, there 00:54:54.219 --> 00:54:57.400 were great similarities to that event, to some 00:54:57.400 --> 00:55:00.420 events that he related it to, like the Tower 00:55:00.420 --> 00:55:04.139 of Babel. But there's nothing in Scripture that 00:55:04.139 --> 00:55:07.599 ever would say that. And that you would be the 00:55:07.599 --> 00:55:09.539 guy or the girl? You think you're going to be 00:55:09.539 --> 00:55:12.199 the one? What kind of arrogance do you have to 00:55:12.199 --> 00:55:15.480 have to think that you... above all mankind, 00:55:15.619 --> 00:55:19.679 above all angels, above God himself, would be 00:55:19.679 --> 00:55:22.559 the one to judge and declare the wrong of another 00:55:22.559 --> 00:55:28.559 person. Now, sin is still sin. We have methods 00:55:28.559 --> 00:55:30.719 of accountability. But the problem is, when we 00:55:30.719 --> 00:55:32.480 talk about accountability, we go, Matthew 18, 00:55:32.480 --> 00:55:34.780 accountability, a passage where Jesus teaches 00:55:34.780 --> 00:55:37.960 us, we say, well, that's teaching us to correct 00:55:37.960 --> 00:55:40.139 one another. That's teaching us to call people 00:55:40.139 --> 00:55:42.940 back out of their sin. Some of that's true. But 00:55:42.940 --> 00:55:45.239 the truth is, it is the greatest expression of 00:55:45.239 --> 00:55:47.519 love in the church. If you think somebody is 00:55:47.519 --> 00:55:49.619 in sin, you go to them and say, hey, this is 00:55:49.619 --> 00:55:51.539 what I see happening. This feels to me like you 00:55:51.539 --> 00:55:53.260 could be going in the wrong direction here. I 00:55:53.260 --> 00:55:55.199 think you could be going into sin. I wanted to 00:55:55.199 --> 00:55:56.780 kind of call that out to you. Could we figure 00:55:56.780 --> 00:56:00.460 this out together? How hard is it? I know it's 00:56:00.460 --> 00:56:02.099 hard. Because you know how many people do it 00:56:02.099 --> 00:56:03.960 faithfully, believers? Even though it's a command 00:56:03.960 --> 00:56:06.199 of Jesus, nobody wants to do it. You don't want 00:56:06.199 --> 00:56:08.099 to be the one to go to somebody and say, hey, 00:56:08.119 --> 00:56:09.400 can we talk about this because I think you're 00:56:09.400 --> 00:56:11.320 in sin or I think this is the wrong direction. 00:56:12.010 --> 00:56:15.090 Nobody wants to do it. But every single time 00:56:15.090 --> 00:56:17.130 I've ever seen somebody do it, it was people 00:56:17.130 --> 00:56:18.869 that understood that it is a great expression 00:56:18.869 --> 00:56:21.030 of love. Do you want your family members, your 00:56:21.030 --> 00:56:23.010 friends, the people that you love in Christ, 00:56:23.010 --> 00:56:24.550 that you're serving alongside of in Christ, to 00:56:24.550 --> 00:56:27.849 continue in sin? So that they themselves risk 00:56:27.849 --> 00:56:31.530 the wrath of God? Not judgment to hell necessarily. 00:56:31.650 --> 00:56:33.630 If they're saved, they're saved. But that they 00:56:33.630 --> 00:56:35.570 would risk that chastisement? That they would 00:56:35.570 --> 00:56:40.369 fall into the hands of God for correction? No, 00:56:40.389 --> 00:56:43.659 we stand together. We unite. We hold each other 00:56:43.659 --> 00:56:46.099 accountable in that I'm coming in love and saying, 00:56:46.159 --> 00:56:49.260 listen, I hear what you're saying. And I'm not 00:56:49.260 --> 00:56:50.920 going to judge you for making the decision that 00:56:50.920 --> 00:56:52.320 you're about to make or for doing what's right. 00:56:52.360 --> 00:56:54.079 That's not my job. Whether you're saved or not, 00:56:54.139 --> 00:56:56.079 that's between you and the Lord. But I'm pleading 00:56:56.079 --> 00:56:58.420 with you. I think that God will call us to do 00:56:58.420 --> 00:57:03.139 something different. Accusations and curses are 00:57:03.139 --> 00:57:05.840 not our job. There is an ancient being tasked 00:57:05.840 --> 00:57:08.719 with that job. And he himself will spend eternity 00:57:08.719 --> 00:57:11.159 away from God because he slid too far down the 00:57:11.159 --> 00:57:14.719 slope of arrogance. Do not join him in his disrespect. 00:57:15.239 --> 00:57:18.420 Be found faithful, stepping up and out and depending 00:57:18.420 --> 00:57:22.480 on God to carry us through. That's our job. The 00:57:22.480 --> 00:57:25.320 next time we see someone struggling to exhibit 00:57:25.320 --> 00:57:28.019 Jesus the way they should or the way we think 00:57:28.019 --> 00:57:30.340 they should, we should try speaking better things 00:57:30.340 --> 00:57:33.380 for them. Pray God forgive them and help them. 00:57:36.069 --> 00:57:40.869 Two illustrations, I hope. First one. Probably 00:57:40.869 --> 00:57:42.849 completely outside your knowledge, because it 00:57:42.849 --> 00:57:44.150 was completely outside my knowledge, there was 00:57:44.150 --> 00:57:46.710 a thing called the Albigensian Crusade. Raise 00:57:46.710 --> 00:57:47.769 your hand if you know what I'm talking about. 00:57:48.250 --> 00:57:50.250 Okay, good. I didn't either, so I don't feel 00:57:50.250 --> 00:57:52.269 too out of place about that. So the Catholic 00:57:52.269 --> 00:57:54.929 Church declared what was called the Albigensian 00:57:54.929 --> 00:57:57.070 Crusade. It also, by the way, sparked something 00:57:57.070 --> 00:57:59.429 you may have heard of called the Great Inquisition. 00:58:00.619 --> 00:58:03.820 The Albigensian Crusade was to wipe out a sect 00:58:03.820 --> 00:58:07.739 of Christianity called the Carthars. The Carthars 00:58:07.739 --> 00:58:11.059 had developed some beliefs that we would call 00:58:11.059 --> 00:58:14.019 distinctly anti -Christian. They did not believe 00:58:14.019 --> 00:58:18.079 in the doctrine of the Trinity. Get this. They 00:58:18.079 --> 00:58:20.400 did not believe that Jesus was God in the flesh. 00:58:21.139 --> 00:58:26.340 They did not believe that he died on the cross 00:58:26.340 --> 00:58:29.320 to pay for the sins of all mankind the way we 00:58:29.320 --> 00:58:34.440 understand it. They believe that all flesh is 00:58:34.440 --> 00:58:38.539 evil and all God and spirit is good. And you 00:58:38.539 --> 00:58:41.500 can worship good, as long as it's good, you can 00:58:41.500 --> 00:58:44.139 worship it because that's God. And if it has 00:58:44.139 --> 00:58:46.980 anything to do, childbirth, motherhood, nurturing, 00:58:47.320 --> 00:58:50.820 proper marriage, relationships, telling the truth, 00:58:50.940 --> 00:58:54.019 the mankind tell the truth, all of that is still 00:58:54.019 --> 00:58:56.539 evil. It's all evil. It's all evil. There's no 00:58:56.539 --> 00:58:58.719 way that Jesus could have became a human because 00:58:58.719 --> 00:59:00.820 to do that, he would have made himself evil. 00:59:01.599 --> 00:59:02.940 That's what the Carthaginians believed. Now, 00:59:02.960 --> 00:59:04.960 do you believe any of what I just said? None 00:59:04.960 --> 00:59:07.000 of it's right. It's all wrong. It's all heresy. 00:59:07.260 --> 00:59:12.360 But it developed in large representation out 00:59:12.360 --> 00:59:16.760 of the Catholic Church, which was also in heresy. 00:59:17.900 --> 00:59:21.860 Right? Closer, perhaps, to Christianity, but 00:59:21.860 --> 00:59:23.619 also in heresy. A lot of things that they were 00:59:23.619 --> 00:59:25.380 doing that were not Christ -like. Here comes 00:59:25.380 --> 00:59:29.159 an example. The Albigensian Crusade. They were 00:59:29.159 --> 00:59:33.429 going to go in. and put an end to the Carthars 00:59:33.429 --> 00:59:38.230 no matter what. Heretics, kill them all. Kill 00:59:38.230 --> 00:59:43.809 the Carthars. So as the crusade armies approached 00:59:43.809 --> 00:59:47.730 the city of Belziers, led by a man whose name 00:59:47.730 --> 00:59:50.550 I have a hard time pronouncing. It's Armad Al 00:59:50.550 --> 00:59:54.650 -Malrik, who was a papal legate, which means 00:59:54.650 --> 00:59:56.989 he was an officer in the Catholic Church. He's 00:59:56.989 --> 00:59:58.980 leading the army. They asked him, they said, 00:59:59.000 --> 01:00:02.800 when we attack the city, how do we know who are 01:00:02.800 --> 01:00:06.659 Carthars and who are not? How do we know who 01:00:06.659 --> 01:00:10.320 we're supposed to kill and who we're not? And 01:00:10.320 --> 01:00:14.599 his response became famous. He said, kill them 01:00:14.599 --> 01:00:19.639 all and let God sort it out. Now that saying 01:00:19.639 --> 01:00:24.440 didn't die there in 1209. On July 22nd. When 01:00:24.440 --> 01:00:26.400 the siege broke and the city was invaded and 01:00:26.400 --> 01:00:29.840 20 ,000 people, many of whom professed to be 01:00:29.840 --> 01:00:33.659 Christians, all, most all professed to be Christians, 01:00:33.719 --> 01:00:36.440 but many of whom were Carthars and many of whom 01:00:36.440 --> 01:00:41.300 were not, were slain. Out of that was developed 01:00:41.300 --> 01:00:43.820 the Inquisition where they would put people under 01:00:43.820 --> 01:00:47.519 torture as necessary to get them to tell the 01:00:47.519 --> 01:00:50.440 truth of what they believed of Christianity and 01:00:50.440 --> 01:00:53.579 if what they believed was a... heretic version 01:00:53.579 --> 01:00:55.719 of Christianity, they would burn them at the 01:00:55.719 --> 01:01:05.780 stake. For two decades this went on. Now the 01:01:05.780 --> 01:01:09.300 church could never do this, right? The church 01:01:09.300 --> 01:01:14.199 could never say, we know what's right, you're 01:01:14.199 --> 01:01:17.099 wrong, and we'll have nothing to do with you, 01:01:17.159 --> 01:01:19.420 to the point that because we are now in power, 01:01:19.579 --> 01:01:23.960 we will even... Kill you so that you can't infect 01:01:23.960 --> 01:01:30.340 our children with your doctrine. Or could they? 01:01:30.820 --> 01:01:34.840 I submit to you that the same evil spirit or 01:01:34.840 --> 01:01:38.280 cadre of evil spirits that led the Catholic Church 01:01:38.280 --> 01:01:41.760 to start a 20 -year crusade, which we don't even 01:01:41.760 --> 01:01:45.559 know. The records are lost. Somewhere between 01:01:45.559 --> 01:01:51.159 200 ,000 and a million people were slain. in 01:01:51.159 --> 01:01:55.440 that crusade over disagreements in doctrine. 01:01:55.619 --> 01:01:57.940 I submit to you that based on what I just shared 01:01:57.940 --> 01:02:00.340 with you, and there was more, that probably Carthars 01:02:00.340 --> 01:02:03.460 were not even Christian. So now what we have 01:02:03.460 --> 01:02:06.099 is those who are professing to be Christian killing 01:02:06.099 --> 01:02:09.599 those who also profess to be Christian but hold 01:02:09.599 --> 01:02:11.840 a doctrine that the first group cannot subscribe 01:02:11.840 --> 01:02:18.360 to. Christians killing Christians. Supposed Christians. 01:02:18.960 --> 01:02:24.480 killing supposed Christians. Are you using your 01:02:24.480 --> 01:02:28.539 words to heal or to hurt? Are you trusting God 01:02:28.539 --> 01:02:32.679 with a just judgment? Are you living in faithfulness? 01:02:34.940 --> 01:02:40.239 If the answers to those questions make you feel 01:02:40.239 --> 01:02:42.900 a little nervous about the way you're following 01:02:42.900 --> 01:02:45.340 Jesus, you say, well, I think I might be using 01:02:45.340 --> 01:02:47.539 my words to hurt rather than to heal sometimes. 01:02:48.659 --> 01:02:51.880 repent today and turn to the Lord through Jesus 01:02:51.880 --> 01:02:55.960 and be healed. If you've never been saved, be 01:02:55.960 --> 01:02:57.980 saved for the very first time so that Jesus can 01:02:57.980 --> 01:03:00.019 teach you how to get control of your mouth. It'll 01:03:00.019 --> 01:03:02.139 be systematic. It'll take a while. So if you 01:03:02.139 --> 01:03:03.980 are saved and you've been working on it and you've 01:03:03.980 --> 01:03:08.019 got a ways to go, don't panic. Just let him keep 01:03:08.019 --> 01:03:13.239 working on you. Are you living in faithfulness 01:03:13.239 --> 01:03:16.500 or are you living in name only? Remember that 01:03:16.500 --> 01:03:20.139 there were groups in this story not miraz. There 01:03:20.139 --> 01:03:22.059 were people who were part of the kingdom of God 01:03:22.059 --> 01:03:23.699 who did not come to fight. And they were further 01:03:23.699 --> 01:03:25.199 away and they were wrapped up in their things. 01:03:25.300 --> 01:03:26.739 They had things that they thought were important. 01:03:29.739 --> 01:03:33.480 And they didn't get a curse. They just missed 01:03:33.480 --> 01:03:36.679 out on the blessings. When the opportunity comes 01:03:36.679 --> 01:03:38.820 to serve the Lord, will you miss out on the blessings? 01:03:39.139 --> 01:03:41.860 Or will you serve the Lord? That's the question. 01:03:42.880 --> 01:03:45.920 Years and years ago, my side yard was the gathering 01:03:45.920 --> 01:03:47.880 place of the entire community when I was a kid. 01:03:48.260 --> 01:03:50.179 We were the only ones who actually had a side 01:03:50.179 --> 01:03:52.880 yard, and the only other big field nearby was 01:03:52.880 --> 01:03:54.480 behind my house, and it belonged to the shopping 01:03:54.480 --> 01:03:56.619 center, and we'd been told that sometimes they 01:03:56.619 --> 01:03:58.679 would get upset with us for playing back there, 01:03:58.820 --> 01:04:01.400 and if you had football or frisbee or something, 01:04:01.440 --> 01:04:03.400 it inevitably wound up down in the creek, and 01:04:03.400 --> 01:04:06.320 you had to go and find it, and so we played in 01:04:06.320 --> 01:04:10.179 our side yard. One particular Saturday afternoon, 01:04:10.360 --> 01:04:12.719 and you have to understand who I was, I was the 01:04:12.719 --> 01:04:14.159 bully of the neighborhood in my neighborhood 01:04:14.159 --> 01:04:17.820 for years. I was bigger, stronger, and I was 01:04:17.820 --> 01:04:19.400 willing to punch somebody in the face, and nobody 01:04:19.400 --> 01:04:22.760 else really had that trait. And so we did what 01:04:22.760 --> 01:04:25.599 I said most of the time. A couple months before 01:04:25.599 --> 01:04:27.679 this day in question, a boy had moved into the 01:04:27.679 --> 01:04:30.300 neighborhood, and he had been the bully in his 01:04:30.300 --> 01:04:33.619 previous neighborhood, and he was faster than 01:04:33.619 --> 01:04:37.139 me, and he was stronger than me. And he was willing 01:04:37.139 --> 01:04:39.539 to punch people in the face, like me. And so, 01:04:39.599 --> 01:04:41.360 right away, it became a power struggle between 01:04:41.360 --> 01:04:44.659 him and I. Now, on this particular Saturday in 01:04:44.659 --> 01:04:48.239 question, he wasn't there. So, needless to say, 01:04:48.320 --> 01:04:50.840 I was in charge. So we decided we'd play Ultimate 01:04:50.840 --> 01:04:53.300 Frisbee. Ultimate Frisbee is basically like football, 01:04:53.480 --> 01:04:55.179 but you stop, you pass the frisbee, and you go 01:04:55.179 --> 01:04:57.599 back and forth. It's really high endurance. It 01:04:57.599 --> 01:05:00.059 was hot, about 80 degrees outside that day. Sunshine, 01:05:00.260 --> 01:05:03.170 brightly, no shade. We'd taken... frequent Kool 01:05:03.170 --> 01:05:04.690 -Aid breaks, and I was running to the house for 01:05:04.690 --> 01:05:07.070 pictures of Kool -Aid and we're playing. And 01:05:07.070 --> 01:05:08.969 I really wasn't bossing people around too much 01:05:08.969 --> 01:05:10.409 or anything like that. We were just playing and 01:05:10.409 --> 01:05:15.150 having fun. Because the other boy who was the 01:05:15.150 --> 01:05:17.230 other in -charge boy wasn't there, we had to 01:05:17.230 --> 01:05:19.769 select a different team captain. So I was the 01:05:19.769 --> 01:05:21.969 team captain for one team, and there was a girl 01:05:21.969 --> 01:05:24.130 who was the next oldest who was the team captain 01:05:24.130 --> 01:05:26.070 for the other team, which is a problem for me 01:05:26.070 --> 01:05:27.610 because I always picked her on my team because 01:05:27.610 --> 01:05:30.699 she was really good at, like, everything. Now 01:05:30.699 --> 01:05:32.920 she's the captain of the other team. So we picked 01:05:32.920 --> 01:05:35.880 our two teams, and we let her team have one extra 01:05:35.880 --> 01:05:37.719 person because we had a couple extra small people. 01:05:39.880 --> 01:05:41.780 About an hour in, we're playing, having fun, 01:05:41.820 --> 01:05:43.699 everything's going great, and that other guy 01:05:43.699 --> 01:05:45.559 shows up. He just got home from visiting his 01:05:45.559 --> 01:05:46.880 grandma or whatever, and he comes and he wants 01:05:46.880 --> 01:05:49.659 to play. So we shuffled the teams. We put him 01:05:49.659 --> 01:05:51.340 on her team. She's still the team captain. We 01:05:51.340 --> 01:05:52.860 put him on her team. I took two of the little 01:05:52.860 --> 01:05:54.199 guys, and it's pretty balanced, and we started 01:05:54.199 --> 01:05:56.780 playing. Except he started getting physical. 01:05:56.980 --> 01:05:59.780 He's pushing people around. using foul language 01:05:59.780 --> 01:06:02.019 at people, cussing people. He was particularly 01:06:02.019 --> 01:06:05.619 getting down on her, who she was acting as the 01:06:05.619 --> 01:06:07.400 captain of the team and making plans and stuff 01:06:07.400 --> 01:06:09.280 like that. And he was really being really mean 01:06:09.280 --> 01:06:13.719 to her. So then she started looking at me to 01:06:13.719 --> 01:06:16.780 get it to stop, right? And I already know where 01:06:16.780 --> 01:06:18.440 this is going to go. Same place it went the last 01:06:18.440 --> 01:06:21.360 three or four times was a fist fight. And we 01:06:21.360 --> 01:06:24.039 both got hurt pretty bad both times. Not broken, 01:06:24.159 --> 01:06:27.909 but pretty bad. So I said to him, I said, you 01:06:27.909 --> 01:06:30.210 need to knock it off. We were playing just fine 01:06:30.210 --> 01:06:32.130 before you came, so you shouldn't be here if 01:06:32.130 --> 01:06:35.289 it's going to be like that. And he said, whatever. 01:06:36.250 --> 01:06:37.710 Leave me alone. Shut your mouth. Blah, blah, 01:06:37.750 --> 01:06:39.389 blah. So we went back, and on the next play, 01:06:39.449 --> 01:06:41.650 he did it again. So then she said, I don't want 01:06:41.650 --> 01:06:44.349 him on my team anymore. I'm the team captain. 01:06:44.510 --> 01:06:48.170 I don't want him. So then I said, well, I think 01:06:48.170 --> 01:06:50.030 I can handle him. So I took him over to my team, 01:06:50.070 --> 01:06:53.380 and I gave up. one of the players that were just 01:06:53.380 --> 01:06:54.940 about as good and one of the small guys. We balanced 01:06:54.940 --> 01:06:57.300 and we played some more. 20 minutes later, now 01:06:57.300 --> 01:06:59.380 he's doing the same thing on my team, and he 01:06:59.380 --> 01:07:02.320 pushed her as she was about to go down. He just 01:07:02.320 --> 01:07:03.679 kind of pushed her and gave her some extra momentum 01:07:03.679 --> 01:07:05.780 so that she hit her shoulder and the side of 01:07:05.780 --> 01:07:08.059 her face on the tree. So now we're going to go 01:07:08.059 --> 01:07:09.960 to fist fight right away. And she's like, no, 01:07:10.019 --> 01:07:11.500 no, no, it wasn't really an accident. We're just 01:07:11.500 --> 01:07:14.380 playing. He didn't mean it, so no fights, whatever. 01:07:14.579 --> 01:07:17.179 And I said, that's fine, but I'm done. We've 01:07:17.179 --> 01:07:19.099 spent an hour and a half, two hours, we've been 01:07:19.099 --> 01:07:21.599 dealing with this, so I'm done. you're not on 01:07:21.599 --> 01:07:23.880 my team anymore. And he looked at her and said, 01:07:23.940 --> 01:07:25.340 well, can I be on your team? And she said, no. 01:07:26.500 --> 01:07:28.480 So she wouldn't take him, and I wouldn't take 01:07:28.480 --> 01:07:31.079 him, and everybody that was on both teams backed 01:07:31.079 --> 01:07:33.420 the captain. So our captain says, you're not 01:07:33.420 --> 01:07:35.820 on our team, you're not on our team. And so he 01:07:35.820 --> 01:07:42.460 went home. Hear me now. Team captains have the 01:07:42.460 --> 01:07:46.480 authority to send people home. If both team captains 01:07:46.480 --> 01:07:49.940 agree, and neither one will take you, you don't 01:07:49.940 --> 01:07:54.519 play. Here's the problem. Too many people think 01:07:54.519 --> 01:07:58.739 either they are the team captain or because they 01:07:58.739 --> 01:08:01.159 represent the team captain, they get to make 01:08:01.159 --> 01:08:05.960 that decision. And I'm here to tell you, you 01:08:05.960 --> 01:08:11.039 ain't it. And I'm not. And the Pope isn't. That's 01:08:11.039 --> 01:08:16.279 for sure. There are no team captains born of 01:08:16.279 --> 01:08:19.039 men. John the Baptist was not the team captain. 01:08:19.539 --> 01:08:21.399 Moses, who was both the humblest man who ever 01:08:21.399 --> 01:08:25.039 lived and probably one of the greatest servants 01:08:25.039 --> 01:08:28.619 of God, not the team captain. Jesus is the team 01:08:28.619 --> 01:08:33.000 captain. Come in line with Jesus. Be found faithful. 01:08:33.760 --> 01:08:37.399 Drop your tendency to take vengeance. Use your 01:08:37.399 --> 01:08:40.899 words to heal and not hurt. And submit to him. 01:08:41.680 --> 01:08:43.779 And he's going to take you to new heights in 01:08:43.779 --> 01:08:46.220 Jesus that at this point in time you cannot fathom. 01:08:47.630 --> 01:08:51.090 And that road ends in heaven. And that is a place 01:08:51.090 --> 01:08:54.189 you want to be. We might not know exactly what 01:08:54.189 --> 01:08:56.750 it's like, but we've got a decent picture. That's 01:08:56.750 --> 01:09:00.130 where we want to be. And every other road, let's 01:09:00.130 --> 01:09:04.050 be very clear, every other road ends in hell. 01:09:04.930 --> 01:09:09.210 And that is a place you do not want to be. As 01:09:09.210 --> 01:09:11.810 we have our invitation today, I'm asking you 01:09:11.810 --> 01:09:15.350 to submit to the team captain. We're going to 01:09:15.350 --> 01:09:17.460 submit to his judgment. We're going to submit 01:09:17.460 --> 01:09:19.880 to His leadership. We're going to be found faithful. 01:09:21.020 --> 01:09:23.380 Don't be distracted by the things of the world. 01:09:24.420 --> 01:09:27.619 Be found faithful. Don't let the good things 01:09:27.619 --> 01:09:30.800 that God has given you in your life stop you 01:09:30.800 --> 01:09:34.140 from being a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, 01:09:34.239 --> 01:09:38.220 no matter how good they get. In Jesus' name. 01:09:39.199 --> 01:09:40.979 I'll have the praise team come and lead us in 01:09:40.979 --> 01:09:45.779 their final song at this time. Each and every 01:09:45.779 --> 01:09:48.979 one of us, individually, uniquely, letting God 01:09:48.979 --> 01:10:17.109 speak to our hearts. Thank you.