WEBVTT 00:02:00.109 --> 00:02:02.549 We're going to look today at Judges chapter 8. 00:02:02.629 --> 00:02:05.329 We left the book of Judges, having made it this 00:02:05.329 --> 00:02:10.509 far, back in November to dwell deeply on the 00:02:10.509 --> 00:02:13.830 scriptures surrounding the birth of Christ. And 00:02:13.830 --> 00:02:17.870 I warned you, for those who were available to 00:02:17.870 --> 00:02:20.189 receive that warning, I know we've got some people 00:02:20.189 --> 00:02:21.909 who are out sick and some people who are here 00:02:21.909 --> 00:02:24.050 and that kind of thing, but we'll be in the book 00:02:24.050 --> 00:02:27.099 of Judges for the foreseeable future. So I would 00:02:27.099 --> 00:02:29.639 encourage you to read, study, meditate through 00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:32.340 the book of Judges. That'll catch you up to the 00:02:32.340 --> 00:02:35.360 story such as it is. This character that we're 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:39.139 looking at today, we had delved pretty deeply 00:02:39.139 --> 00:02:42.340 into the early part of his story. And then now 00:02:42.340 --> 00:02:45.419 this is a particular episode. As we look at it, 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:47.719 just on the off chance that you're not remembering, 00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:49.900 you're not super familiar with the story, I'll 00:02:49.900 --> 00:02:52.680 try to fill in some of the blanks so you make 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:56.139 sure that... You're getting it connected, basically, 00:02:56.139 --> 00:02:58.139 in your mind. Before I do that, I want to share 00:02:58.139 --> 00:03:00.520 with you an illustration. So this week I was 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:04.659 on the internet, as I occasionally find myself, 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:08.219 and I found a little meme about a show which 00:03:08.219 --> 00:03:12.080 I had not seen before called The Middle. It's 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:14.099 a sitcom. They produced like nine seasons of 00:03:14.099 --> 00:03:16.979 it. The article that I was reading said it's 00:03:16.979 --> 00:03:19.819 okay for Christians, that you can watch it. There's 00:03:19.819 --> 00:03:23.259 just a tiny bit of foul language. but it's not 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:25.199 really like there's not sexual themes or violent 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:27.560 themes or anything like that, so you should be 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:31.080 okay to watch it. But I watched one scene of 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:33.840 it, and in this scene, the dad in the household 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:35.780 is just coming home from work, and the mom is 00:03:35.780 --> 00:03:37.219 in the kitchen, and she's got the kids lined 00:03:37.219 --> 00:03:38.479 up, and two of them are teenagers and one's a 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:41.080 little younger. And she's explaining to them, 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:42.900 the mom's explaining to them a piece of paper 00:03:42.900 --> 00:03:44.699 that she put up on the fridge that shows the 00:03:44.699 --> 00:03:49.159 order of their household. And she says, Mom? 00:03:49.819 --> 00:03:51.759 And then she lists the oldest kid and then the 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:53.919 next oldest kid and then the youngest kid. And 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:55.780 then she goes, oh, yeah, and dad. And she puts 00:03:55.780 --> 00:03:58.219 dad up there kind of next to mom but slightly 00:03:58.219 --> 00:04:01.900 below mom. And one of the kids says, I don't 00:04:01.900 --> 00:04:03.879 think that's right. And she said, what do you 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:06.300 mean? And he said, I think dad's supposed to 00:04:06.300 --> 00:04:09.400 be on the top. And she said, what do you mean 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:12.039 dad's on the top? I'm in charge of this house. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:14.879 And he said, well, then why is dad always first? 00:04:15.530 --> 00:04:17.569 And just then dad comes walking in from work 00:04:17.569 --> 00:04:18.949 and he goes to the refrigerator and gets a drink 00:04:18.949 --> 00:04:21.050 out of the fridge. And she says, as he's walking 00:04:21.050 --> 00:04:23.750 in, she said, they're trying to say that you're 00:04:23.750 --> 00:04:26.069 in charge of the house. Tell them that they've 00:04:26.069 --> 00:04:28.290 got it wrong. And he said, what? What are you 00:04:28.290 --> 00:04:30.589 talking about? And he said, I just got here. 00:04:30.730 --> 00:04:33.329 I'm just coming in on this scene. I'm not sure 00:04:33.329 --> 00:04:36.129 I'm ready to make a decision. What's going on 00:04:36.129 --> 00:04:38.610 here? And she said, well, just tell them. She 00:04:38.610 --> 00:04:40.810 said, they say that you're in charge. And he 00:04:40.810 --> 00:04:44.920 goes, well, that's not incorrect. And he leaves 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:46.279 it against the counter, and he starts taking 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:49.139 a drink of his drink. And the kids are smiling, 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:51.819 and she said, no. She said, I'm in charge. Tell 00:04:51.819 --> 00:04:54.379 them that I'm in charge. And he said, okay, when 00:04:54.379 --> 00:04:57.600 I'm not here, your mother is in charge. And she 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:00.079 starts getting red in the face, really frustrated. 00:05:00.379 --> 00:05:03.860 She said, but why did you say it that way? She 00:05:03.860 --> 00:05:05.660 said, I'm in charge. And then the kids started 00:05:05.660 --> 00:05:07.740 bickering back and forth. And the littlest kid 00:05:07.740 --> 00:05:10.180 says, well, try being me. I'm the littlest. And 00:05:10.180 --> 00:05:12.079 he starts to complain, and they start to bicker 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:13.910 back and forth. And she says, that's it. You're 00:05:13.910 --> 00:05:17.389 done. Go to your room. And they look at their 00:05:17.389 --> 00:05:20.029 dad, and their dad says, and so they start to 00:05:20.029 --> 00:05:21.910 go to their room. And she goes, oh, wait a minute, 00:05:21.949 --> 00:05:24.850 wait a minute. Why did you look at him? You looked 00:05:24.850 --> 00:05:28.329 at him first. I saw that. Stay. Don't go. Stay 00:05:28.329 --> 00:05:31.129 here right now. And they look at the dad, and 00:05:31.129 --> 00:05:33.750 the dad says, and he tries to cover it with his 00:05:33.750 --> 00:05:36.870 drink, like cover his face, and says, okay, stay. 00:05:37.310 --> 00:05:43.180 And she goes, wait. And she starts to realize 00:05:43.180 --> 00:05:47.040 he's actually in charge. So this is our life, 00:05:47.100 --> 00:05:50.399 is it not? I mean, I feel like, generally speaking, 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:52.500 when I am the only person there and no one else 00:05:52.500 --> 00:05:56.560 is around, I'm in charge. Now, I know in my heart 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:58.720 of hearts that God is really in charge, and I 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:00.240 try to submit everything in my life. I don't 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:02.160 want to get ahead of myself to the Lord. But 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:05.040 the truth is, there is a great struggle in the 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:08.079 universe. about who will be in charge. When God 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:09.720 said at the very beginning that he would make 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:13.100 man to reign over all creation, that created 00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:15.560 an upheaval in those who thought that they were 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:19.399 better than man. Not that man should be in charge, 00:06:19.459 --> 00:06:21.819 but that they should be in charge. And then if 00:06:21.819 --> 00:06:23.860 God is going to be like that, then maybe God's 00:06:23.860 --> 00:06:25.980 not fit to be in charge. And it created a rebellion. 00:06:26.420 --> 00:06:28.740 And whatever you believe about the doctrine of 00:06:28.740 --> 00:06:30.279 demons and angels, not everything that people 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:32.040 say about the doctrine of demons and angels is 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:33.740 in Scripture. It's not all there the way people 00:06:33.740 --> 00:06:36.689 try to say it. But whatever you believe about 00:06:36.689 --> 00:06:39.050 that, there have always been, pretty much from 00:06:39.050 --> 00:06:40.490 the very beginning, those who were questioning 00:06:40.490 --> 00:06:44.310 God being in charge. And it really shouldn't 00:06:44.310 --> 00:06:46.250 be like that. He has certain traits that we'll 00:06:46.250 --> 00:06:48.949 see before we're through that pretty much qualify 00:06:48.949 --> 00:06:53.870 him and him alone to be in charge. But one of 00:06:53.870 --> 00:06:55.430 the characters in the story that we're looking 00:06:55.430 --> 00:07:00.149 at today gets that. And it seems like everybody 00:07:00.149 --> 00:07:03.180 else in the story doesn't. And so what's it like 00:07:03.180 --> 00:07:06.480 to be one who gets it when everybody else doesn't? 00:07:07.800 --> 00:07:10.759 Well, we'll see that here. And it doesn't really 00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:15.240 end great. But then Jesus comes much later and 00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:17.000 sort of sorts everything out for us, and we're 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.040 grateful for that. So grab your Bibles, if you 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:21.160 would. Maybe give me an amen, a hoot, or a holler 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:24.660 as we go to Judges chapter 8. Thank you very 00:07:24.660 --> 00:07:27.600 much. This is the Word of God. So that fun story 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:30.240 may help to interpret this passage a little bit 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:32.600 or maybe put it in perspective for you. But what 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:35.360 we're about to read now was inspired by God's 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:37.240 Holy Spirit, written by the hands of men, but 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:40.639 clearly preserved for us through centuries that 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:44.040 we might delve into it just this day. Judges 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:47.339 chapter 8, beginning in verse 18. Right after 00:07:47.339 --> 00:07:49.500 verse 18, I'll stop and break the story down 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:51.220 just to make sure that we understand where this 00:07:51.220 --> 00:07:54.699 is coming from. Then he said to Ziba and Zalmunna, 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:57.259 What kind of men were they whom you killed at 00:07:57.259 --> 00:08:01.139 Tabor? And they said, they were like you, each 00:08:01.139 --> 00:08:04.680 one resembling the son of a king. So backing 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:06.779 up the story from this point, and for those of 00:08:06.779 --> 00:08:08.259 you who didn't read it or get a chance to look 00:08:08.259 --> 00:08:11.819 at it in advance, Gideon has been at war, and 00:08:11.819 --> 00:08:13.980 these two kings have really been a thorn in the 00:08:13.980 --> 00:08:19.259 side to God's people, right? In fact, there were 00:08:19.259 --> 00:08:23.470 two cities that while Gideon was pursuing, them, 00:08:23.470 --> 00:08:25.129 and as they crossed over the Jordan and went 00:08:25.129 --> 00:08:27.810 after these kings, they were in full flight because 00:08:27.810 --> 00:08:29.889 God basically decimated their army. Gideon didn't 00:08:29.889 --> 00:08:31.329 do it. He only had 300 men with him. They had 00:08:31.329 --> 00:08:34.909 Campbell to the horizon, right? Tens of thousands 00:08:34.909 --> 00:08:39.649 of men, at least. And God had routed them and 00:08:39.649 --> 00:08:42.889 used them to destroy each other, but now Ziba 00:08:42.889 --> 00:08:45.210 and Zalun, these kings, they still exist, and 00:08:45.210 --> 00:08:48.149 they have fled, and Gideon has pursued them. 00:08:48.210 --> 00:08:49.629 While they were pursuing, there were two cities 00:08:49.629 --> 00:08:51.049 that Gideon went to, and his men were hungry, 00:08:51.129 --> 00:08:52.879 and they were tired. and they needed resources, 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:56.059 and the cities refused them. So the passage right 00:08:56.059 --> 00:08:58.519 before what we're reading today, when the cities 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:00.320 refused them, they said, well, have you already 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.059 got these kings in your grasp? Have you already 00:09:03.059 --> 00:09:04.960 captured them that we should help you? What they 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:07.159 were saying was, if you fail to get Ziba and 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:09.980 Zalmunna, then they'll come back against us later 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:11.899 and destroy us, and Gideon's not that big a deal. 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:14.919 You're just not that big a deal, right? So we 00:09:14.919 --> 00:09:17.019 don't want to risk it. And Gideon said, you've 00:09:17.019 --> 00:09:19.340 made a huge mistake today. After I capture them, 00:09:19.769 --> 00:09:22.169 I'll come back and I'll deal with you. So he 00:09:22.169 --> 00:09:24.250 goes out there, he captures Ziba and Zalmunna, 00:09:24.269 --> 00:09:25.730 and then he brings them back, and then he destroys 00:09:25.730 --> 00:09:28.629 those two cities. And the one city, he kills 00:09:28.629 --> 00:09:32.009 every man in the city. And so you can read the 00:09:32.009 --> 00:09:33.850 story, get the better details out of it. Although 00:09:33.850 --> 00:09:35.970 before this, I encourage you to do that. We did 00:09:35.970 --> 00:09:37.409 it back in November. I encourage you to do it 00:09:37.409 --> 00:09:40.289 again just to make sure. But now he's captured 00:09:40.289 --> 00:09:42.730 Ziba and Zalmunna. And verse 18, he looks at 00:09:42.730 --> 00:09:46.539 these two kings who were really... creating a 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:49.480 very downtrodden society amongst God's people. 00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:51.500 They were losing their homes and their strongholds. 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:52.899 They were fleeing to the mountains. They lost 00:09:52.899 --> 00:09:55.659 their crops year after year. And now Gideon has 00:09:55.659 --> 00:09:57.960 conquered their armies really through God's might. 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:00.879 And he asks them, he says, what kind of men were 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:03.059 they whom you killed at Tabor? Now there's a 00:10:03.059 --> 00:10:04.419 couple of things to see here. So first of all, 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:07.340 Tabor is an interesting place. Tabor is a place 00:10:07.340 --> 00:10:11.840 that exists and its location is known even today. 00:10:11.899 --> 00:10:14.159 In fact, it's become a place of Christian pilgrimage. 00:10:14.730 --> 00:10:16.490 This is saying a lot of Christians go and see 00:10:16.490 --> 00:10:19.009 Tabor, not because of this event. In fact, a 00:10:19.009 --> 00:10:20.950 lot of Christians that go and see Tabor don't 00:10:20.950 --> 00:10:23.750 know anything about this event where Ziba and 00:10:23.750 --> 00:10:26.669 Zalmunna killed a bunch of people at Tabor. This 00:10:26.669 --> 00:10:28.830 event is not recorded elsewhere in Scripture. 00:10:28.990 --> 00:10:32.309 It took place probably before everything that 00:10:32.309 --> 00:10:35.490 we're reading. So we don't know exactly when 00:10:35.490 --> 00:10:37.769 it happened for sure, and we don't have any details 00:10:37.769 --> 00:10:39.750 of the event, but what we do know is what we're 00:10:39.750 --> 00:10:41.909 about to read is real, and I'll show you why 00:10:41.909 --> 00:10:44.509 in a second. The reason that many Christians 00:10:44.509 --> 00:10:47.590 go there is because another miraculous or incredible 00:10:47.590 --> 00:10:50.210 event takes place there way later on in the history. 00:10:50.389 --> 00:10:52.389 Any Bible scholars in the room know what that 00:10:52.389 --> 00:10:56.090 event is? You'd be pretty incredible if you did. 00:10:56.870 --> 00:11:01.289 It is the Transfiguration, possibly. So there 00:11:01.289 --> 00:11:04.110 is a mountain that is proclaimed to be in a certain 00:11:04.110 --> 00:11:06.889 region. That is where they went up to see Jesus 00:11:06.889 --> 00:11:10.039 be transfigured. He got his white robes. looked 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:12.500 holy before them, and they offered to build tents. 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:13.860 You probably remember this story a little bit 00:11:13.860 --> 00:11:17.039 now. And people think, starting about 300 to 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:20.019 400 AD, pretty much people attributed that story 00:11:20.019 --> 00:11:21.480 to the church fathers, said that's where it took 00:11:21.480 --> 00:11:23.820 place, on Tabor, Mount Tabor. There's another 00:11:23.820 --> 00:11:26.480 mountain nearby that's actually taller, and scholars 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:28.539 debate which mountain it actually was, but when 00:11:28.539 --> 00:11:30.820 Christians go and see where Jesus was transfigured, 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:34.789 guess where they go? Tabor. Going to Tabor, not 00:11:34.789 --> 00:11:37.230 knowing about this massacre, probably, and maybe 00:11:37.230 --> 00:11:39.289 it wasn't actually where Jesus was transfigured, 00:11:39.370 --> 00:11:41.789 because it doesn't say that. The amount on which 00:11:41.789 --> 00:11:44.110 Jesus was transfigured is not named in Scripture. 00:11:44.409 --> 00:11:46.990 But starting about 380, people thought it was, 00:11:47.110 --> 00:11:49.309 and so people go there and see where maybe Jesus 00:11:49.309 --> 00:11:52.049 was transfigured. But what we do know that happened 00:11:52.049 --> 00:11:56.129 there was a massacre. And this is why we know 00:11:56.129 --> 00:12:00.049 that. He says, what kind of men were they whom 00:12:00.049 --> 00:12:03.440 you killed at Tabor? And they said, They were 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.299 like you, each one resembling the son of a king. 00:12:06.419 --> 00:12:09.240 Verse 19 says, and he said, they were my brothers, 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:12.700 the sons of my mother. So his biological brothers 00:12:12.700 --> 00:12:15.919 were killed at the massacre at Tabor. This is 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:20.759 a fact. But, so he says, the sons of my mother. 00:12:20.820 --> 00:12:24.059 As the Lord lives, if only you had let them live, 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:27.519 I would not kill you. So what he's saying is, 00:12:27.620 --> 00:12:31.200 when... Ziba and Zalmunna killed his biological 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:34.659 brothers. They sealed their fate. Now, it's interesting, 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:37.080 and scholars debate why this event was never 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:39.139 mentioned previous to Gideon coming to power 00:12:39.139 --> 00:12:40.980 and all the war that's actually going on right 00:12:40.980 --> 00:12:44.179 now. And the prime theory, the number one theory, 00:12:44.299 --> 00:12:46.259 is this, that if it hadn't been mentioned, then 00:12:46.259 --> 00:12:48.279 everyone might be thinking that the reason that 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:52.240 Gideon went to war was vengeance, was to destroy 00:12:53.439 --> 00:12:56.159 was to destroy those people who killed his brothers. 00:12:56.259 --> 00:12:57.620 And that would make sense, right? People did 00:12:57.620 --> 00:12:59.460 go to war for that reason or go to battle or 00:12:59.460 --> 00:13:01.919 try to hunt down those. And it's even just to 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:03.980 do that. Man kills your brother to go after them 00:13:03.980 --> 00:13:05.559 and try to bring justice. That's a just thing, 00:13:05.659 --> 00:13:08.480 right? But it's not mentioned that way. So we 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:10.440 don't actually know that that was in any way 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:13.360 a motivator for Gideon. What we do know is what 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.080 God told us to do. Welcome, welcome, come on 00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:18.559 in. Got some guests with you today. Yes. Awesome. 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:23.669 All right. And so what we do know, is that they 00:13:23.669 --> 00:13:28.850 killed Gideon's brothers. And he says, the justice 00:13:28.850 --> 00:13:31.490 I'm about to deal with you, to you, I would not 00:13:31.490 --> 00:13:33.669 have done if you had let them live. So they failed 00:13:33.669 --> 00:13:38.549 to show mercy to Gideon's brothers. And now Gideon 00:13:38.549 --> 00:13:40.610 will fail to show them mercy or will not show 00:13:40.610 --> 00:13:43.870 them mercy. So verse 20 says, so he said to Jether, 00:13:44.090 --> 00:13:46.169 so this is his oldest son, it says Jether, his 00:13:46.169 --> 00:13:48.990 firstborn, he looks at his oldest son. So Jason, 00:13:49.149 --> 00:13:51.590 this would be as if your dad looked at you, right? 00:13:53.580 --> 00:13:55.480 Or Aaron, because if I looked at you, oldest 00:13:55.480 --> 00:14:03.700 son, and said, rise, kill them. So he says, basically, 00:14:03.860 --> 00:14:06.460 put them to the sword. Right here, right now, 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:08.200 kill them right now. They deserve to die right 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:11.480 now. They killed your uncles, kill them. But 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.019 the youth did not draw his sword, for he was 00:14:14.019 --> 00:14:16.779 afraid, because he was still a youth. So he wasn't 00:14:16.779 --> 00:14:19.840 a grown man, proven in battle, that kind of thing. 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:22.149 But his dad just said, Kill them. They deserve 00:14:22.149 --> 00:14:24.269 it. Showed the evidence. They openly confessed 00:14:24.269 --> 00:14:26.470 that they had done what they did, right? He said, 00:14:26.490 --> 00:14:27.970 why did you kill them? They said, well, we did 00:14:27.970 --> 00:14:32.889 it because we could. They were like sons of kings, 00:14:32.990 --> 00:14:35.629 and we killed them. We didn't show them any mercy. 00:14:35.809 --> 00:14:38.090 Big deal. And they said, well, those are my brothers. 00:14:38.470 --> 00:14:40.330 And then he tells his son, kill them. And his 00:14:40.330 --> 00:14:43.809 son says, no, because he was afraid and because 00:14:43.809 --> 00:14:47.179 he was still a youth. Verse 21. Then Ziba and 00:14:47.179 --> 00:14:50.299 Zalmunna said, rise up yourself and fall on us, 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:56.159 for as the man, so is his strength. For as the 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:58.820 man, so is his strength. And so that's a saying 00:14:58.820 --> 00:15:03.100 that relates the character of a person or the 00:15:03.100 --> 00:15:05.179 quality of that person or the nature of that 00:15:05.179 --> 00:15:07.840 person to the strength that that person shows 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:12.080 in conflict, under difficulty. You understand? 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:15.940 The kings are saying, these are kings, so they 00:15:15.940 --> 00:15:18.059 carry some weight, even though they're defeated 00:15:18.059 --> 00:15:22.460 kings and not godly kings. And they say, as the 00:15:22.460 --> 00:15:30.220 man, so is his strength. So, Gideon arose and 00:15:30.220 --> 00:15:32.879 killed Ziba and Zalmunna and took the crescent 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:35.019 ornaments which were on their camels' necks. 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:38.720 With two verses left today. Then the men of Israel 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:42.460 said to Gideon, rule over us, both you and your 00:15:42.460 --> 00:15:45.690 son. So that would mean that his son, who did 00:15:45.690 --> 00:15:48.250 not kill them, who did not rise to Jether, his 00:15:48.250 --> 00:15:50.610 firstborn, would become king. If he becomes king, 00:15:50.769 --> 00:15:53.190 then Jether would become king after him. Rule 00:15:53.190 --> 00:15:56.009 over us, both you and your son, and your son's 00:15:56.009 --> 00:15:58.870 son. For you have delivered us from the hand 00:15:58.870 --> 00:16:03.889 of Midian. So because of what Gideon did, and 00:16:03.889 --> 00:16:06.690 you and I know God did it, right? But because 00:16:06.690 --> 00:16:08.950 of what Gideon did, they were going to make Gideon 00:16:08.950 --> 00:16:11.970 king over them. Now in verse 23, Gideon says, 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:15.740 But Gideon said to them, I will not rule over 00:16:15.740 --> 00:16:19.879 you, nor shall my son rule over you. The Lord 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:25.960 shall rule over you. That ends our text for the 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:29.100 day. And you can already see that Gideon appears 00:16:29.100 --> 00:16:32.379 to be the only person in the room who understands 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:36.159 that God is supposed to rule at least over God's 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:37.919 people. The truth is God rules over the whole 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:40.360 world. Before we get to that, though, there's 00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:42.100 a couple of other glaring truths here. The first 00:16:42.100 --> 00:16:45.519 one is this, that justice and vengeance are two 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:50.700 different things. Right. So when someone hurts 00:16:50.700 --> 00:16:56.100 you, you have probably a right to justice. Now 00:16:56.100 --> 00:17:00.299 you can show mercy and add those kings show mercy 00:17:00.299 --> 00:17:02.460 to Gideon's brothers. They might have been shown 00:17:02.460 --> 00:17:04.359 mercy by Gideon. At least Gideon said that he 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:06.829 would. He proved pretty much to be a man of his 00:17:06.829 --> 00:17:09.150 word throughout his entire life, so he probably 00:17:09.150 --> 00:17:11.210 would have shown them mercy had they shown mercy 00:17:11.210 --> 00:17:15.009 to his brothers, but they didn't. Was it justice 00:17:15.009 --> 00:17:17.549 that they killed them? They didn't kill them 00:17:17.549 --> 00:17:20.930 for justice, because they only killed them for 00:17:20.930 --> 00:17:22.990 defending their families and their crops and 00:17:22.990 --> 00:17:26.309 so on, for defending their households, so they 00:17:26.309 --> 00:17:28.509 didn't kill them for justice. They didn't kill 00:17:28.509 --> 00:17:30.509 them for vengeance. Vengeance is they would do 00:17:30.509 --> 00:17:32.470 something back to them because of something that 00:17:32.470 --> 00:17:35.650 was done to them. Gideon, in this passage of 00:17:35.650 --> 00:17:39.210 Scripture, is not dealing justice. Gideon did 00:17:39.210 --> 00:17:41.410 not become a judge in charge of his people. I'm 00:17:41.410 --> 00:17:42.869 sorry, I said that backwards. He is not dealing 00:17:42.869 --> 00:17:44.369 vengeance. Thank you. I'm going to clarify that. 00:17:44.529 --> 00:17:46.670 He is not dealing vengeance. I saw it in your 00:17:46.670 --> 00:17:50.430 eyes. He is dealing justice. He's not bringing 00:17:50.430 --> 00:17:53.329 vengeance, we know, because his brothers were 00:17:53.329 --> 00:17:56.410 killed. He didn't fight the battle because his 00:17:56.410 --> 00:17:58.289 brothers were killed. He didn't summon the 20 00:17:58.289 --> 00:18:00.869 ,000 -man army or reduce it down to 300 men because 00:18:00.869 --> 00:18:03.140 his brothers were killed. He didn't go out to 00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:05.359 war because his brothers were killed, right? 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:08.819 He didn't capture these men because his brothers 00:18:08.819 --> 00:18:11.299 were killed. But along the way, somewhere along 00:18:11.299 --> 00:18:13.400 the way, he discovers that these men are also 00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:17.319 the men who killed his brothers. And it becomes 00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:19.980 justice that these men, first of all, their armies 00:18:19.980 --> 00:18:22.099 are defeated, they're dealt with, and the evil 00:18:22.099 --> 00:18:24.319 is stopped, right? But then he says, well, you 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:26.819 know, if they had shown mercy to my brothers, 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:30.279 I could show them mercy now. But it's justice 00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:33.480 that they died. for not having shown mercy to 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:35.740 my brothers. And it's kind of a nice side effect 00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:39.039 that he's able to deal justice to those who killed 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:42.539 his brothers. And it is justice. But it's not 00:18:42.539 --> 00:18:45.339 vengeance. It comes at the end of a long line 00:18:45.339 --> 00:18:51.579 of what is not vengeance. Right? Because it's 00:18:51.579 --> 00:18:54.500 justice, his son might have gotten up and killed 00:18:54.500 --> 00:18:58.660 them. I submit to you that vengeance is daunting 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:01.299 for youth, for young people. They might seek 00:19:01.299 --> 00:19:02.980 it, they might feel it in their bones that they 00:19:02.980 --> 00:19:05.619 want to deliver vengeance. But to murder somebody 00:19:05.619 --> 00:19:09.019 in his mind, to kill somebody openly in the presence 00:19:09.019 --> 00:19:13.000 of the king and all those witnesses, he didn't 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:15.859 understand justice. He couldn't bring justice 00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:19.380 to them because he was young. And a lot of times 00:19:19.380 --> 00:19:20.980 as young people, we don't understand justice. 00:19:21.420 --> 00:19:23.940 We see justice as just as vengeance. She took 00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:26.799 it from me. He hit me, I hit him back. I want 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:30.420 back. I want more time. I want to feel better 00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:31.980 about myself and I'm not going to tolerate you 00:19:31.980 --> 00:19:33.460 talking to me. So now I'm going to say nasty 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:35.700 things to you to get you to shut up and so on. 00:19:35.779 --> 00:19:38.799 And we get mixed up over what's vengeance and 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:42.420 justice. But Gideon's son could have dealt justice 00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:44.799 and it wasn't wrong necessarily of Gideon to 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:46.680 call on his son to do that. It would have been 00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:48.420 a great opportunity for him to learn a valuable 00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:52.140 lesson about justice. And he didn't. And then 00:19:52.140 --> 00:19:56.339 Gideon did. Justice and vengeance are two different 00:19:56.339 --> 00:19:58.579 things. And you'd be wise at whatever stage in 00:19:58.579 --> 00:20:00.640 your life that you're at to learn the difference. 00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:05.019 There is one person, one being, who has a right 00:20:05.019 --> 00:20:08.880 to vengeance. And it is God. And there is one 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:13.140 person who ensures justice. And it is God. It 00:20:13.140 --> 00:20:15.240 is not me and it is not you. Now God might use 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:17.539 you to deal justice. He might use you to put 00:20:17.539 --> 00:20:19.700 somebody in their place. In their place, for 00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:24.569 example. You better do it in the Lord, or you're 00:20:24.569 --> 00:20:25.910 going to have a hard time sorting out what's 00:20:25.910 --> 00:20:28.329 justice and what's vengeance, what's just dangerous, 00:20:28.529 --> 00:20:32.670 where is mercy in all of this, and so on. The 00:20:32.670 --> 00:20:35.069 next thing to see in there, then, is that validation 00:20:35.069 --> 00:20:37.250 for people is not the same as authorization. 00:20:38.829 --> 00:20:42.589 So it stems from reason that I would like the 00:20:42.589 --> 00:20:44.529 people around me to say that something is okay. 00:20:45.710 --> 00:20:48.809 If you tell me I'm doing a good job, then I might 00:20:48.809 --> 00:20:51.559 have an emotional boost. I might feel a physical 00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:53.859 sensation. My heart might beat a little faster 00:20:53.859 --> 00:20:56.220 for a moment, and I might get some validation 00:20:56.220 --> 00:20:59.259 out of that. But validation is not the same as 00:20:59.259 --> 00:21:01.480 authorization. You don't get to do whatever you 00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:03.779 want just because you think it's okay, and you 00:21:03.779 --> 00:21:05.259 don't get to do whatever you want just because 00:21:05.259 --> 00:21:08.759 somebody else says it's okay. If everybody in 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:12.720 this room ignores what I say today, that's not 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:15.839 validation. And yet, I have been validated by 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:17.799 God to say and authorized by God to say what 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:19.519 I'm saying, because this is the Word of God. 00:21:19.829 --> 00:21:22.450 And I'm just teaching you what it says. If I 00:21:22.450 --> 00:21:25.329 get something wrong, it's your job then not to 00:21:25.329 --> 00:21:28.970 validate it. So I don't keep doing that. And 00:21:28.970 --> 00:21:32.970 I have authorized you to do that. See, validation 00:21:32.970 --> 00:21:36.549 is not the same thing as authorization. And if 00:21:36.549 --> 00:21:38.470 someone in your life tells you it's okay to do 00:21:38.470 --> 00:21:41.450 something, it stems from reason, emotion, logic, 00:21:41.710 --> 00:21:43.769 that you may continue to do that. When a parent 00:21:43.769 --> 00:21:46.599 says, do this. And then you do it and then they 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:49.059 say oh you did such a good job So grateful that 00:21:49.059 --> 00:21:51.420 you did that here's a reward the child will do 00:21:51.420 --> 00:21:54.119 it again because they feel like they've been 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:57.759 validated Now they had authorization to do it 00:21:57.759 --> 00:21:59.619 from the beginning and all they needed to do 00:21:59.619 --> 00:22:01.400 is act on the Authorization that they already 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:03.960 had they didn't need all that validation or the 00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:05.880 gamification thing that we talked about during 00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:10.000 inspirational moment You don't need to make a 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.859 game out of it. You've already been authorized. 00:22:12.099 --> 00:22:13.700 You've been authorized to read the Bible, to 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:15.940 understand it, and to explain it to anyone who 00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:18.740 will listen to you. Right? And if you're a Christian, 00:22:18.920 --> 00:22:21.160 you've been validated by the Holy Spirit being 00:22:21.160 --> 00:22:23.299 in you so that you can properly understand it 00:22:23.299 --> 00:22:26.539 and properly deliver it. But validation from 00:22:26.539 --> 00:22:29.359 people is not the same as authorization. Real 00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:32.259 authority must reach into the spiritual realm. 00:22:32.299 --> 00:22:35.559 You have to have an effect. When you speak, I 00:22:35.559 --> 00:22:37.980 had this instance come up in my house just recently. 00:22:38.119 --> 00:22:43.160 Ariana and I, she was going to bed last Thursday, 00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:44.900 and they had school on Friday. They had snow 00:22:44.900 --> 00:22:46.279 day on Thursday, and on Friday she had to go 00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:48.400 to school. She was laying down. She said, I don't 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:50.099 want to go to school tomorrow. She just doesn't 00:22:50.099 --> 00:22:53.299 really like school. She's doing well in school. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:55.640 She's well -behaved. It's not a discipline issue 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:58.579 like that. She just doesn't like the humdrum 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:01.480 of it and all the drama. and kids trying to push 00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:03.660 their agendas on her, and she deals with bullying, 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:05.480 and she deals with some persecution that people 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:07.059 don't like that she's a Christian, and things 00:23:07.059 --> 00:23:09.740 like that. So one thing after another, and she 00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:10.980 just doesn't really like to go. So she said, 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:12.359 I really don't want to go. And I said, honey, 00:23:12.460 --> 00:23:14.599 you will go to school every day as long as the 00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:16.700 Lord says you're supposed to go to school. You'll 00:23:16.700 --> 00:23:18.839 go to school every day, so you can just let it 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:21.799 go. Stop worrying about it. Go to school, and 00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:23.720 it'll be fine. God always takes care of it, doesn't 00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:25.140 he? Yeah, he always takes care of it. Okay, then 00:23:25.140 --> 00:23:26.279 don't worry about it. She said, but I don't want 00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:27.990 to go. And I said, well, it's fine that you don't 00:23:27.990 --> 00:23:29.769 want to go, but you're going to go. So you may 00:23:29.769 --> 00:23:31.970 as well just accept it. And I said, you're going 00:23:31.970 --> 00:23:33.490 to go unless you're sick. And she said, well, 00:23:33.509 --> 00:23:36.150 I wish I was sick. It took less than 24 hours. 00:23:36.230 --> 00:23:38.650 She got a bad cold. She missed school. Okay. 00:23:38.890 --> 00:23:41.329 So now I'm not saying she got sick because she 00:23:41.329 --> 00:23:45.450 said it, but God is a creator God and he speaks 00:23:45.450 --> 00:23:48.150 things into existence. And you need to be careful 00:23:48.150 --> 00:23:51.630 about how you use your mouth, right? Because 00:23:51.630 --> 00:23:54.109 you can speak into the spiritual realm as a believer 00:23:54.109 --> 00:23:55.309 in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you say, well, 00:23:55.349 --> 00:23:58.529 I'm having trouble. with this, whatever it is. 00:23:58.630 --> 00:24:01.210 And you verbalize that. And you've now authorized 00:24:01.210 --> 00:24:03.769 a whole bunch of evil spirits and issues and 00:24:03.769 --> 00:24:05.630 trials and tribulations to jump on the bandwagon 00:24:05.630 --> 00:24:07.569 and make that thing more difficult for you than 00:24:07.569 --> 00:24:10.230 it was before. And when you're going through 00:24:10.230 --> 00:24:11.789 trials and tribulations, you need to say, well, 00:24:12.109 --> 00:24:14.630 This is meant to cause me trouble, but God's 00:24:14.630 --> 00:24:16.630 going to turn it out for my good. That's absolutely 00:24:16.630 --> 00:24:18.670 biblical. Not only is it Romans 8, but it's biblical 00:24:18.670 --> 00:24:20.730 in the entire story of Joseph, right? So people 00:24:20.730 --> 00:24:22.670 tend to want to cause you harm, including evil 00:24:22.670 --> 00:24:24.589 spirits and demons, the world system, your enemies, 00:24:24.730 --> 00:24:26.910 and sometimes your friends and family members. 00:24:27.089 --> 00:24:28.789 And people want to bring you to a place that 00:24:28.789 --> 00:24:30.490 you don't want to go. And you say, well, I see 00:24:30.490 --> 00:24:32.329 this is meant to cause detriment for me, but 00:24:32.329 --> 00:24:33.910 I'm not going to allow that. God is going to 00:24:33.910 --> 00:24:35.170 turn out for my good, and I'm going to claim 00:24:35.170 --> 00:24:36.950 that. I'm going to walk that. And in the middle 00:24:36.950 --> 00:24:38.789 of your trials and tribulations, James 1, you 00:24:38.789 --> 00:24:41.190 count it as pure joy. See where this is all going? 00:24:41.710 --> 00:24:44.730 We've got to change what we're putting out in 00:24:44.730 --> 00:24:46.769 the spiritual realm because when you speak, it 00:24:46.769 --> 00:24:51.170 has an impact. You complain. You complain and 00:24:51.170 --> 00:24:53.549 you're creating a nice warm bath for a whole 00:24:53.549 --> 00:24:55.470 bunch of evil spirits to come and bathe in. And 00:24:55.470 --> 00:24:56.569 now all of a sudden you're walking around with 00:24:56.569 --> 00:24:58.210 a bathtub on your back and the evil spirits are 00:24:58.210 --> 00:25:00.930 going, yeah, we love a complainer. Let's be realistic. 00:25:01.430 --> 00:25:05.190 When we speak, real authority reaches into the 00:25:05.190 --> 00:25:08.319 spiritual realm. And it has to come out on top. 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:10.480 It doesn't just like die there like you released 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:13.420 it and it fell to the ground dead. Otherwise, 00:25:13.500 --> 00:25:16.819 it's nothing but deception and false hope. And 00:25:16.819 --> 00:25:18.420 so when people come to you and say, oh, I'm so 00:25:18.420 --> 00:25:21.119 glad that you did X. And if that is not meant 00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:23.200 to build you up, if it's not meant to make you 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:24.599 a better Christian, a better follower of the 00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:27.259 Lord and more of a faithful servant, then whatever 00:25:27.259 --> 00:25:29.940 they just said to you really has no value whatsoever. 00:25:32.659 --> 00:25:35.460 Real authority reaches into the spiritual realm 00:25:35.460 --> 00:25:37.900 and comes out on top. Otherwise, it's nothing 00:25:37.900 --> 00:25:39.799 but deception and false hope. How many times 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:42.599 has somebody said, oh, I love you. I love what 00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:45.000 you're doing. Or, oh, you look great today or 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:47.000 whatever. And you're like, well, what does that 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:49.180 kind of mean? I mean, it's nice, but for about 00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:51.480 seven seconds, I feel a little better, you know, 00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:53.759 because you said something cheery or you said 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:55.559 something nice about my outfit or whatever. But 00:25:55.559 --> 00:25:57.740 what does it really mean? What is really the 00:25:57.740 --> 00:25:59.380 value of it? If you have somebody tell you a 00:25:59.380 --> 00:26:01.299 hundred times you look nice, then what does that 00:26:01.299 --> 00:26:04.799 do for your soul? It may do something for your 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:07.220 mind, and what it does for your mind may not 00:26:07.220 --> 00:26:10.019 actually be a good thing. And so the bottom line 00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:12.819 is this. Validation from people is not the same 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:16.380 as authorization. The God of the universe has 00:26:16.380 --> 00:26:19.119 given you permission to come into his family 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:21.140 through Jesus Christ and become a follower of 00:26:21.140 --> 00:26:23.599 the Lord, to carry the keys of the kingdom, to 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:25.700 rebuke evil spirits and demons wherever you go, 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:29.440 to heal, to bring the gospel, to turn people 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:33.700 from lost, subject to wrath, destined for hell 00:26:33.700 --> 00:26:37.720 people, to saved, born again, destined for heaven 00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:40.559 people. That is the most incredible authorization 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:43.390 that there could possibly be. Therefore, then 00:26:43.390 --> 00:26:46.730 am I saying that you don't need validation at 00:26:46.730 --> 00:26:50.589 all? If you've been authorized already by God 00:26:50.589 --> 00:26:52.990 and accepted that authorization, well, let's 00:26:52.990 --> 00:26:54.549 step into that thought for a moment because this 00:26:54.549 --> 00:26:56.170 is something I've heard a lot of Christians say. 00:26:56.329 --> 00:26:59.009 People say, I'm living for an audience of one. 00:26:59.130 --> 00:27:00.250 Have you ever heard that? Somebody said, I'm 00:27:00.250 --> 00:27:01.789 living for an audience of one. Who is the one? 00:27:01.869 --> 00:27:04.589 Well, it's God. So I only care what God thinks. 00:27:04.670 --> 00:27:06.710 I don't care what other people think, right? 00:27:07.269 --> 00:27:09.369 And so what they're doing is they're saying, 00:27:09.390 --> 00:27:12.369 I don't need any validation. I am who I am. I 00:27:12.369 --> 00:27:14.430 don't need anybody to be like Popeye the Sailor 00:27:14.430 --> 00:27:16.410 Man. I am who I am. I'm Popeye the Sailor Man. 00:27:16.529 --> 00:27:18.150 I'm good. I get out of bed in the morning. I 00:27:18.150 --> 00:27:19.109 don't need anybody to tell me I'm doing a good 00:27:19.109 --> 00:27:20.930 job. I don't need praise. I don't need a big 00:27:20.930 --> 00:27:23.190 pat on the back. I don't need posters. I don't 00:27:23.190 --> 00:27:25.210 need trophies. I don't need any validation. I 00:27:25.210 --> 00:27:27.150 already know I'm the best guy on the team or 00:27:27.150 --> 00:27:28.910 I'm doing a great job or whatever, and I don't 00:27:28.910 --> 00:27:31.490 need any validation. And if it's a Christian, 00:27:31.569 --> 00:27:33.609 they say I'm living for an audience of one. It 00:27:33.609 --> 00:27:35.650 kind of sounds like that's a good thing because 00:27:35.650 --> 00:27:37.589 only what God thinks is the only one that matters, 00:27:37.650 --> 00:27:42.480 right? Well. I mean, so Jesus said, so let your 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:46.559 light shine before men. Right? So in other words, 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:48.079 if people should see what you're doing and they 00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:49.779 should formulate an opinion about what you're 00:27:49.779 --> 00:27:52.259 doing, then it is good. The good works that you 00:27:52.259 --> 00:27:54.619 do are good. And maybe join you in doing the 00:27:54.619 --> 00:27:56.859 good works even if they're not saved. But surely 00:27:56.859 --> 00:27:59.500 then when Jesus comes again and they look to 00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:01.640 God and God says, see, this person was doing 00:28:01.640 --> 00:28:04.319 this because I did this. And they were talking 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:06.140 about Jesus and they were doing good works and 00:28:06.140 --> 00:28:07.740 make the connection and God will get the glory. 00:28:08.849 --> 00:28:11.450 So are you living for an audience of one if God 00:28:11.450 --> 00:28:13.690 says, so let your light shine before men? That 00:28:13.690 --> 00:28:15.309 is to say, you're doing the things that you're 00:28:15.309 --> 00:28:17.490 doing and God working through you. No, you're 00:28:17.490 --> 00:28:20.170 not living for an audience of one. You're living 00:28:20.170 --> 00:28:22.069 for an audience of literally every person you 00:28:22.069 --> 00:28:24.710 come in contact with then based on that, so let 00:28:24.710 --> 00:28:26.970 your light shine before men. Now, not that you 00:28:26.970 --> 00:28:28.869 would be validated. That's already been done 00:28:28.869 --> 00:28:30.710 in Christ. Not that you would be authorized. 00:28:30.809 --> 00:28:32.869 Already been done in Christ. But you are living 00:28:32.869 --> 00:28:34.650 not for an audience of one, but an audience of 00:28:34.650 --> 00:28:36.450 everyone that's around you. So you have a responsibility. 00:28:37.180 --> 00:28:38.880 to take care of your body, to control your mouth, 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:41.259 to stand up, serve, give, work, do the things, 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:42.680 be where you're supposed to be, when you're supposed 00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:44.960 to be, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. He said, 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:46.900 well, I'm busy doing so many things. There's 00:28:46.900 --> 00:28:48.119 some things that just kind of fall through the 00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:50.359 mark. Well, every time you miss the mark, somebody 00:28:50.359 --> 00:28:53.759 sees you missing the mark, and now your light 00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:56.920 is not shining. So am I saying you've got to 00:28:56.920 --> 00:28:59.599 be perfect? No. You already have the authorization 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:02.200 and the validation. This is a method by which 00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:04.920 we live so that others can be saved, and it's 00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:07.519 what God has called us to. It won't affect you. 00:29:07.539 --> 00:29:09.460 You're not going to go unsaved because you screwed 00:29:09.460 --> 00:29:11.779 up, because somebody caught you in a lie. If 00:29:11.779 --> 00:29:12.940 you're saved, you're saved. You're not going 00:29:12.940 --> 00:29:15.079 to go unsaved. But at the same time, you're not 00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:17.740 exactly helping them either, right? In fact, 00:29:17.880 --> 00:29:20.039 Paul says it this way in 1 Corinthians 10. He 00:29:20.039 --> 00:29:22.279 says, whatever is put before you, go ahead and 00:29:22.279 --> 00:29:24.839 eat. Eat to the glory of the Lord. Go ahead and 00:29:24.839 --> 00:29:27.319 do it. But if the person who puts it in front 00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:29.240 of you, and I'm paraphrasing it, mentions that 00:29:29.240 --> 00:29:31.960 it's been sacrificed to idols, then do not eat. 00:29:32.019 --> 00:29:33.980 I don't say eat, you know, for your own conscience. 00:29:34.599 --> 00:29:35.940 Because you're not going to be affected at all 00:29:35.940 --> 00:29:37.140 if somebody eats something that was sacrificed 00:29:37.140 --> 00:29:38.440 to idols because you know who God is. You're 00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:40.819 already authorized and already validated. But 00:29:40.819 --> 00:29:42.519 that person's obviously struggling with it because 00:29:42.519 --> 00:29:44.359 they mentioned it. So they mentioned it had been 00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:46.119 previously sacrificed to idols before it was 00:29:46.119 --> 00:29:48.180 sold in the market and they bought it. So you 00:29:48.180 --> 00:29:49.519 say, you know, if you go to a stranger's house, 00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:50.900 just don't even ask them where the food comes. 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:53.940 Just eat and be grateful. Pray and eat and be 00:29:53.940 --> 00:29:56.279 grateful. But if they mention where it came from 00:29:56.279 --> 00:29:57.980 and it came from a place that you can't eat, 00:29:58.099 --> 00:30:01.680 that Christians can't kind of embrace or whatever, 00:30:02.200 --> 00:30:04.779 And like we don't believe in sacrificing things 00:30:04.779 --> 00:30:07.980 to false gods, right? So then don't eat. Not 00:30:07.980 --> 00:30:09.740 for your conscience, but for their conscience. 00:30:10.099 --> 00:30:12.740 Because clearly it's bothering them, right? So 00:30:12.740 --> 00:30:14.779 are you living for an audience of one? If the 00:30:14.779 --> 00:30:17.299 person that's next to you is kind of stumbling 00:30:17.299 --> 00:30:18.819 in their faith, they haven't quite figured it 00:30:18.819 --> 00:30:20.980 out, like they're not going to church, let's 00:30:20.980 --> 00:30:22.500 say, and they're not walking out their faith, 00:30:22.539 --> 00:30:24.180 they maybe profess to be a Christian, but they 00:30:24.180 --> 00:30:26.420 don't quite have it, and then you go ahead and 00:30:26.420 --> 00:30:29.359 sin in their presence, you're teaching them that 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:32.910 that's okay, right? Worse than that, if you do 00:30:32.910 --> 00:30:35.549 something that they think is sin that isn't even 00:30:35.549 --> 00:30:38.170 sin in their presence, they're going to think, 00:30:38.210 --> 00:30:39.710 well, what does it mean to be a Christian anyway? 00:30:40.410 --> 00:30:43.190 Many years ago, I had three teenagers. I was 00:30:43.190 --> 00:30:44.549 picking up for church. I'm bringing church every 00:30:44.549 --> 00:30:46.049 single time. I went to their house. They had 00:30:46.049 --> 00:30:48.470 all requested me baptized. I went to their house, 00:30:48.470 --> 00:30:50.910 and I sat down with their mom. And she said, 00:30:51.049 --> 00:30:53.250 well, I'll tell you one thing right now. First 00:30:53.250 --> 00:30:56.650 thing. We said, hi, I am. She said, I am. Okay, 00:30:56.809 --> 00:30:58.230 you want to sit down? Sure. Do you want a cup 00:30:58.230 --> 00:31:00.759 of water? Not right this second. It's okay. Thank 00:31:00.759 --> 00:31:02.339 you very much. I'll tell you one thing. Right 00:31:02.339 --> 00:31:06.680 now, they're not getting baptized. That was the 00:31:06.680 --> 00:31:08.940 beginning of the conversation. The reason she 00:31:08.940 --> 00:31:10.299 said they were not getting baptized, because 00:31:10.299 --> 00:31:13.740 in her impression, by her statement, they were 00:31:13.740 --> 00:31:18.180 not living as Christians. Now, she was baptized 00:31:18.180 --> 00:31:20.740 as a child. She hadn't been in church in 15, 00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:23.420 20 years, hadn't read a Bible, hadn't watched 00:31:23.420 --> 00:31:25.740 a Bible show. I asked her, you know, are you 00:31:25.740 --> 00:31:28.539 an expert? Have you studied up on this? And she 00:31:28.539 --> 00:31:30.920 would tell me, like, what it is, and we talked 00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:34.059 it all through. So they had a chore chart, which 00:31:34.059 --> 00:31:35.880 according to them, I found out later, was changing 00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:39.160 so fast they couldn't keep up. And so the chore 00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:41.119 chart was on the fridge, and they were not actively 00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:43.119 doing their chore chart, because they were not 00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:45.059 actively doing their chore chart, they were not 00:31:45.059 --> 00:31:46.700 living as Christians, and because they were not 00:31:46.700 --> 00:31:48.319 actively doing their chore chart, and therefore 00:31:48.319 --> 00:31:50.680 not living as Christians, they could not be baptized. 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:55.859 So on the one hand, I'm going like, well, this 00:31:55.859 --> 00:31:58.039 is their mom. They're minors. They can't be baptized. 00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:00.000 We can't do that. We're not going to honor and 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:01.180 obey your parents. We're not going to go beyond 00:32:01.180 --> 00:32:04.619 what she says. On the other hand, they come to 00:32:04.619 --> 00:32:05.859 me and say, well, it changes so fast. We don't 00:32:05.859 --> 00:32:07.279 know what to do. And I said, so what you're saying, 00:32:07.380 --> 00:32:08.940 you're in the process of doing the chore chart 00:32:08.940 --> 00:32:10.680 and she'll go and change the chore chart? Yeah. 00:32:10.920 --> 00:32:13.099 And they said, so what do we do? And I said, 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:15.720 so you finish the chore chart. And then they 00:32:15.720 --> 00:32:17.380 said, but then there's new chores. And I said, 00:32:17.400 --> 00:32:21.670 so then finish those too. And they're like. But 00:32:21.670 --> 00:32:25.130 then we're doing double the chores. I said, so? 00:32:26.549 --> 00:32:29.869 So what? So you do twice as many chores in a 00:32:29.869 --> 00:32:31.950 day, right? But that's what your mom thinks a 00:32:31.950 --> 00:32:36.470 Christian is. We shouldn't have to do that. Are 00:32:36.470 --> 00:32:38.769 you following Jesus or are you following you? 00:32:38.910 --> 00:32:41.190 Are you the one that decides what you should 00:32:41.190 --> 00:32:43.650 do or shouldn't have to do? Is it the pastor 00:32:43.650 --> 00:32:45.109 that decides what you should do or have to do, 00:32:45.170 --> 00:32:47.130 or your dad, your grandfather? Who's going to 00:32:47.130 --> 00:32:48.630 decide what you should do or shouldn't have to 00:32:48.630 --> 00:32:50.529 do? Well, God. So what does God say? God says, 00:32:50.630 --> 00:32:53.049 in the presence of a believer who is struggling, 00:32:53.109 --> 00:32:55.069 or not even a believer yet, if there's something 00:32:55.069 --> 00:32:57.269 that they think is sin that you're doing, you're 00:32:57.269 --> 00:32:59.890 at least throwing a stumbling block. So they 00:32:59.890 --> 00:33:01.349 were throwing a stumbling block at her, and the 00:33:01.349 --> 00:33:03.230 fact that she was stumbling over it, and it sounded 00:33:03.230 --> 00:33:05.210 like this every time she stumbled. Well, I know 00:33:05.210 --> 00:33:08.529 one thing. They're not getting baptized. And 00:33:08.529 --> 00:33:10.150 that's the life that we're doing. You go home 00:33:10.150 --> 00:33:12.250 and you're like, I am following the Lord. Therefore, 00:33:12.390 --> 00:33:14.569 I am free to do whatever. But people are watching 00:33:14.569 --> 00:33:15.829 you. People are watching you. They're looking 00:33:15.829 --> 00:33:17.769 at the things that you're doing and they're offended. 00:33:18.130 --> 00:33:20.109 Not offended like they're mad at you, but offended 00:33:20.109 --> 00:33:23.069 like, well, if that's Christianity, I really 00:33:23.069 --> 00:33:26.890 kind of don't need it. And I'm telling you, knock 00:33:26.890 --> 00:33:29.750 it off. In fact, I would say to you that people 00:33:29.750 --> 00:33:31.230 go on the Internet, for example, and say, I'm 00:33:31.230 --> 00:33:32.769 living only for an audience of one. This is what 00:33:32.769 --> 00:33:34.829 they're saying is, I don't care if anybody else 00:33:34.829 --> 00:33:36.869 goes to heaven or not. I'm going. I got my ticket. 00:33:38.080 --> 00:33:40.019 And that's what you're doing. You probably aren't 00:33:40.019 --> 00:33:41.759 even a follower of Christ if that's how you live. 00:33:42.579 --> 00:33:45.640 Because that's not what Jesus did. Was Jesus 00:33:45.640 --> 00:33:48.420 going? Oh, he absolutely was going. He was going 00:33:48.420 --> 00:33:50.039 from the moment he was born. He was going from 00:33:50.039 --> 00:33:52.319 the moment that he left there. He was going back. 00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:54.380 And then he went to the cross and they crucified 00:33:54.380 --> 00:33:56.339 him and he submitted himself to death, even death 00:33:56.339 --> 00:33:58.819 on a cross. Though equality with God was something 00:33:58.819 --> 00:34:00.980 he could have had, he chose not to have that 00:34:00.980 --> 00:34:02.720 equality while he was on earth, and instead subjected 00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:05.720 him to death of a person, a sinner's death, a 00:34:05.720 --> 00:34:07.980 crucifixion, the worst kind of death, that they 00:34:07.980 --> 00:34:12.320 had to invent a word to describe the pain. He 00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:14.539 died, and while he was doing it, prayed, Lord, 00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:15.800 forgive them, for they know not what they do. 00:34:15.940 --> 00:34:18.159 So let's stop with the whole, I'm living for 00:34:18.159 --> 00:34:19.900 an audience of one, and start thinking about 00:34:19.900 --> 00:34:21.780 the people around us. And if you want them to 00:34:21.780 --> 00:34:24.719 validate you, you don't need that. You want them 00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:26.969 to authorize you, you don't need that. You want 00:34:26.969 --> 00:34:28.969 them to come to the Lord? Then whatever you do 00:34:28.969 --> 00:34:31.489 in their presence ought to be godly. And if they 00:34:31.489 --> 00:34:33.530 have an idea, and if they would think that you're 00:34:33.530 --> 00:34:36.489 doing something is sin, you can do one of three 00:34:36.489 --> 00:34:39.730 things. One, you cannot do that thing around 00:34:39.730 --> 00:34:42.929 them. But if they hear about it, that's going 00:34:42.929 --> 00:34:45.289 to have the same impact. Two, you can explain 00:34:45.289 --> 00:34:46.989 to them how Scripture shows that what you're 00:34:46.989 --> 00:34:50.389 doing is not sin. Be careful, because a lot of 00:34:50.389 --> 00:34:52.789 things that are in the Bible, it says our sin 00:34:52.789 --> 00:34:55.739 or... But there aren't so many things that it 00:34:55.739 --> 00:34:58.679 doesn't say. It says our sin. Right. There are 00:34:58.679 --> 00:35:01.559 things that says our sin. And you could probably 00:35:01.559 --> 00:35:03.119 show them in the whole Bible that it nowhere 00:35:03.119 --> 00:35:04.960 says that the thing that they're thinking you're 00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:07.340 doing, that sin that isn't. You could show it 00:35:07.340 --> 00:35:09.019 doesn't say anywhere in there that it's a sin. 00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:11.400 But if they have a conviction that it's a sin, 00:35:11.460 --> 00:35:15.880 it's still going to be a problem. Right. And 00:35:15.880 --> 00:35:17.460 then the last thing you could do would be just 00:35:17.460 --> 00:35:22.190 stop doing it. And if it's something that you, 00:35:22.329 --> 00:35:24.010 it isn't something that God has told you you 00:35:24.010 --> 00:35:25.650 must do. For example, let's say they say it's 00:35:25.650 --> 00:35:27.809 a sin to witness. You know, unfortunately, God 00:35:27.809 --> 00:35:29.449 has told me I have to do that. And you can show 00:35:29.449 --> 00:35:31.789 them how the word shows you have to do that and 00:35:31.789 --> 00:35:33.829 then do what you're supposed to do. But let's 00:35:33.829 --> 00:35:37.469 say it's wear a color or show up at a certain 00:35:37.469 --> 00:35:40.789 time or wear a kind of clothing. And they think 00:35:40.789 --> 00:35:43.989 it's a sin to do that. You could say, well, the 00:35:43.989 --> 00:35:46.250 Bible doesn't say it's a sin, but because it 00:35:46.250 --> 00:35:48.429 clearly offends their conscience, I'm just not 00:35:48.429 --> 00:35:50.460 going to do it. or I'm not going to do it around 00:35:50.460 --> 00:35:52.739 them, or you're going to somehow teach them that 00:35:52.739 --> 00:35:55.699 they're in error. Those are your options. You're 00:35:55.699 --> 00:35:58.079 not living for an audience of one. You're living 00:35:58.079 --> 00:36:01.420 for the next person to be saved. Paul then says, 00:36:01.579 --> 00:36:04.500 I judge not even myself. So by the way, for a 00:36:04.500 --> 00:36:05.940 lot of people who say I'm living for an audience 00:36:05.940 --> 00:36:08.619 of one, they actually mean them, and that's not 00:36:08.619 --> 00:36:10.739 acceptable either. You are not your own audience. 00:36:11.039 --> 00:36:13.739 Stop validating yourself. Stop authorizing yourself, 00:36:13.980 --> 00:36:15.920 and seek the validation and authorization that 00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:17.920 the Lord provides, and that alone, that's the 00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:20.530 only one. But to me, it is a very small thing, 00:36:20.610 --> 00:36:23.130 he writes in 1 Corinthians 4, that I may be examined 00:36:23.130 --> 00:36:25.809 by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not 00:36:25.809 --> 00:36:27.949 even examine myself, for I am conscious of nothing 00:36:27.949 --> 00:36:30.730 against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted. 00:36:31.150 --> 00:36:33.590 That's the most important. Yet I am not by this 00:36:33.590 --> 00:36:35.030 acquitted. In other words, I'm not found guilty 00:36:35.030 --> 00:36:37.570 because I have examined myself or others have 00:36:37.570 --> 00:36:40.730 examined. That's how I'm found not guilty. But 00:36:40.730 --> 00:36:45.130 the one who examines me is the Lord. Lastly, 00:36:45.289 --> 00:36:48.550 in Ephesians 3, we learn who the real audience 00:36:48.550 --> 00:36:52.969 is meant to be. It says this, Ephesians 3 .10, 00:36:53.130 --> 00:36:55.590 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now 00:36:55.590 --> 00:36:57.909 be made known through the church, that's us, 00:36:57.909 --> 00:37:01.750 to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly 00:37:01.750 --> 00:37:04.429 places. This was in accordance with the eternal 00:37:04.429 --> 00:37:06.909 purpose which he carried out in Christ Jesus 00:37:06.909 --> 00:37:09.610 our Lord. You know who's watching you? Angels 00:37:09.610 --> 00:37:13.860 and demons. You know, the greatest audience you'll 00:37:13.860 --> 00:37:18.099 ever have is angels and demons. If a human watches 00:37:18.099 --> 00:37:20.659 you, I suggest you redirect their attention to 00:37:20.659 --> 00:37:23.380 the Lord as much as you possibly can. If an angel 00:37:23.380 --> 00:37:25.599 or a demon does so, you have a responsibility 00:37:25.599 --> 00:37:29.780 to make clear the manifold wisdom of God. That's 00:37:29.780 --> 00:37:31.900 what the church does. We make clear the manifold 00:37:31.900 --> 00:37:37.059 wisdom of God. And they go, and Satan says, that 00:37:37.059 --> 00:37:42.250 guy, he believes that truth. He's standing up 00:37:42.250 --> 00:37:44.909 for that truth. And then one day he's going to 00:37:44.909 --> 00:37:48.610 say, ooh, that guy was right. And this sucks. 00:37:49.610 --> 00:37:54.510 And so be it. So the aside is, you really can't 00:37:54.510 --> 00:37:56.409 live for an audience of one. You were not created 00:37:56.409 --> 00:37:59.289 to do so. You've become part of God's job to 00:37:59.289 --> 00:38:02.489 reach the lost. And therefore, you need to go 00:38:02.489 --> 00:38:04.670 find them. And if they'll be your audience, you 00:38:04.670 --> 00:38:07.010 need to go tell them what it is that they need 00:38:07.010 --> 00:38:09.010 to know and stand up for what it is that they 00:38:09.010 --> 00:38:13.119 need to see. Then we come to number three. As 00:38:13.119 --> 00:38:18.719 is the man, so his strength. This is going to 00:38:18.719 --> 00:38:22.360 be painful for some of us in the room. For me, 00:38:22.380 --> 00:38:28.880 it was. Be prepared to do it yourself. When you 00:38:28.880 --> 00:38:31.380 start with, there's a job that needs to be done. 00:38:31.460 --> 00:38:33.820 It could be a chore. It could be the easiest 00:38:33.820 --> 00:38:36.820 or simplest of things. You think it might need 00:38:36.820 --> 00:38:38.900 to be done, and it's someone else's responsibility. 00:38:40.069 --> 00:38:42.369 You could ask somebody else to do it. You asked 00:38:42.369 --> 00:38:44.110 your kid to take the garbage out. He didn't take 00:38:44.110 --> 00:38:47.210 the garbage out. Be prepared to do it yourself. 00:38:47.969 --> 00:38:49.909 You asked your wife to balance the checkbook 00:38:49.909 --> 00:38:51.929 or to pay the bills. She didn't do it. Be prepared 00:38:51.929 --> 00:38:55.969 to do it yourself. Not just men, but certainly 00:38:55.969 --> 00:38:57.510 poor men, because that's what we're talking about 00:38:57.510 --> 00:38:59.570 in the passage when it says, as is the man, so 00:38:59.570 --> 00:39:04.389 is strength. Be prepared to do it yourself. But 00:39:04.389 --> 00:39:05.969 it goes a little further than that, doesn't it? 00:39:06.550 --> 00:39:08.769 Somebody needs to tell the lost and dying world. 00:39:08.869 --> 00:39:11.369 Somebody needs to step up and read the Bible. 00:39:11.429 --> 00:39:14.110 Somebody needs to meditate, pray, serve, give, 00:39:14.309 --> 00:39:19.090 show up, be there, stay over, come early. Somebody 00:39:19.090 --> 00:39:21.489 needs to push a broom. Somebody needs to fix 00:39:21.489 --> 00:39:24.349 a car. Somebody needs to. Somebody needs to. 00:39:24.449 --> 00:39:27.030 And anytime somebody needs to, we need to be 00:39:27.030 --> 00:39:30.989 prepared to do it ourselves. If you've become 00:39:30.989 --> 00:39:33.670 aware, you need to be prepared to do it yourself. 00:39:34.730 --> 00:39:36.650 But it goes a little further than that, doesn't 00:39:36.650 --> 00:39:39.869 it? We have one example, one supreme example, 00:39:39.889 --> 00:39:42.170 one person that's ever existed that we're supposed 00:39:42.170 --> 00:39:46.429 to be like, and that is Jesus. And Jesus set 00:39:46.429 --> 00:39:48.690 this example, which I've already mentioned, and 00:39:48.690 --> 00:39:50.570 that is that he was willing to die, even death 00:39:50.570 --> 00:39:53.750 on a cross, to be prepared to do it yourself. 00:39:55.050 --> 00:39:57.449 In fact, if you are not prepared to do yourself 00:39:57.449 --> 00:40:00.710 what it is that you need him to do for you, then 00:40:00.710 --> 00:40:03.880 you can readily expect... Then what he did for 00:40:03.880 --> 00:40:08.079 you may not count for you To get all that if 00:40:08.079 --> 00:40:10.500 you are not prepared to do yourself what it is 00:40:10.500 --> 00:40:13.440 that he did for you You can now do for others 00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:17.420 Then what he did for you may not actually count 00:40:17.420 --> 00:40:21.460 for you. What if you need to die? Die by you 00:40:21.460 --> 00:40:23.500 know, not getting something you want not getting 00:40:23.500 --> 00:40:27.590 a choice not eating a thing Not be able to listen 00:40:27.590 --> 00:40:29.670 to a thing or have a thing or taste a thing or 00:40:29.670 --> 00:40:31.969 feel a thing or spend time on what you'd like 00:40:31.969 --> 00:40:33.889 to. What if you need to set aside your desires? 00:40:35.510 --> 00:40:39.449 I think Jesus actually preached that. Set aside 00:40:39.449 --> 00:40:42.190 your desires. What if you need to suffer? Take 00:40:42.190 --> 00:40:46.030 up your cross. What if you need to suffer daily? 00:40:48.230 --> 00:40:52.289 Be prepared to do it yourself. Strength can mean 00:40:52.289 --> 00:40:54.710 equipping, calling, and more. It doesn't just 00:40:54.710 --> 00:40:56.710 have to mean physical strength. But sometimes 00:40:56.710 --> 00:41:00.809 it just means embracing what God says is necessary. 00:41:01.710 --> 00:41:04.909 So whatever you're going through today, as much 00:41:04.909 --> 00:41:09.130 as it may suck, as much as it may be difficult, 00:41:09.389 --> 00:41:12.250 it wouldn't be happening if God wasn't allowing 00:41:12.250 --> 00:41:15.670 it. So you can safely assume that what you're 00:41:15.670 --> 00:41:18.329 going through now, God has said it is necessary. 00:41:19.590 --> 00:41:22.449 So your option then is to rebel against God, 00:41:22.630 --> 00:41:24.690 think God is not a just ruler, think it's not 00:41:24.690 --> 00:41:28.179 right. try to weed out your way out of it, sneak, 00:41:28.440 --> 00:41:33.139 creep, manipulate, lie, whatever. Or you can 00:41:33.139 --> 00:41:37.719 say, well, here I am. It is necessary. And you 00:41:37.719 --> 00:41:41.699 can be prepared to do it yourself. In the family 00:41:41.699 --> 00:41:45.760 of God, such as the man, so is his strength. 00:41:45.960 --> 00:41:49.659 Such as the woman, so is his strength. When you 00:41:49.659 --> 00:41:52.760 reach heaven, your good works, they probably 00:41:52.760 --> 00:41:56.309 won't stack up. much at all compared to what 00:41:56.309 --> 00:41:59.230 you overcame. And I mentioned it earlier. Jesus 00:41:59.230 --> 00:42:01.510 said, for him who overcomes, I will let him sit 00:42:01.510 --> 00:42:04.050 on my throne with me just as my father, just 00:42:04.050 --> 00:42:06.150 as I overcame and my father let me sit on his 00:42:06.150 --> 00:42:09.670 throne with him. Overcome. So what good work 00:42:09.670 --> 00:42:11.389 will you work when you get to heaven that Jesus 00:42:11.389 --> 00:42:13.889 will let you sit on his throne? You will overcome. 00:42:14.010 --> 00:42:16.050 How will you overcome? You will face difficulties 00:42:16.050 --> 00:42:18.809 that you wish you never had to face and then 00:42:18.809 --> 00:42:21.150 continue on being found faithful, doing the things 00:42:21.150 --> 00:42:23.010 that God would have you to do. It means more. 00:42:25.420 --> 00:42:29.179 to work hard when the sun is beating down on 00:42:29.179 --> 00:42:32.300 your back or the rain is pouring than it does 00:42:32.300 --> 00:42:36.340 to work hard when it's been made not so difficult. 00:42:37.059 --> 00:42:39.400 And God is looking for us to overcome trials 00:42:39.400 --> 00:42:42.480 and tribulations, and in that his will be perfected. 00:42:43.280 --> 00:42:46.059 As is the man or the woman, so is strength. Be 00:42:46.059 --> 00:42:48.699 prepared to do it yourself. That brings us to 00:42:48.699 --> 00:42:50.880 our conclusion. I'll recap. Justice and vengeance 00:42:50.880 --> 00:42:52.719 are two different things, and it would be wise 00:42:52.719 --> 00:42:54.500 to spend some time knowing the difference between 00:42:54.500 --> 00:42:57.440 the two. Validation from people is not the same 00:42:57.440 --> 00:43:00.119 as authority. And it would be wise, very wise, 00:43:00.199 --> 00:43:02.599 to get our validation and our authorization only 00:43:02.599 --> 00:43:06.800 from the Lord. As is the man, so is his strength. 00:43:06.900 --> 00:43:09.000 Be prepared to do it yourself. The things that 00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:10.639 God has laid out for us and realize that what 00:43:10.639 --> 00:43:13.119 we're going through right now is necessary as 00:43:13.119 --> 00:43:15.579 much as we may not like it. And that brings us 00:43:15.579 --> 00:43:20.719 to our conclusion. God, he, God alone is properly 00:43:20.719 --> 00:43:28.570 king. As is the God, so is his strength. God 00:43:28.570 --> 00:43:31.730 created everything from nothing. When only God 00:43:31.730 --> 00:43:36.110 existed, when there was nothing and just one 00:43:36.110 --> 00:43:38.849 someone, and that was God, God the Father, God 00:43:38.849 --> 00:43:40.389 the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, God, 00:43:40.670 --> 00:43:44.210 God spoke into existence everything that human 00:43:44.210 --> 00:43:46.469 beings have been scraping out their existence 00:43:46.469 --> 00:43:49.279 in ever since Adam and Eve failed. everything 00:43:49.279 --> 00:43:51.239 that ever was made into a car, everything that 00:43:51.239 --> 00:43:53.199 was made into an SD card, everything that was 00:43:53.199 --> 00:43:55.219 ever made into a wire, everything that was ever 00:43:55.219 --> 00:43:56.880 made into a boat, everything that was ever made 00:43:56.880 --> 00:43:58.539 into a sphere, everything that was ever made 00:43:58.539 --> 00:44:01.920 into a nuclear bomb, God spoke it into existence 00:44:01.920 --> 00:44:10.199 in an instant. God is properly king. There is 00:44:10.199 --> 00:44:12.860 a rule that if you made it, it belongs to you 00:44:12.860 --> 00:44:14.679 unless you sell it or give it to somebody else. 00:44:15.099 --> 00:44:17.139 God made it, therefore it belongs to him. God 00:44:17.139 --> 00:44:22.539 is properly king. God stands the test of time. 00:44:23.639 --> 00:44:27.559 When there was no mediator, God sent Jesus Christ 00:44:27.559 --> 00:44:29.519 to be that person for us so that we could be 00:44:29.519 --> 00:44:35.519 saved. He is considered the only rightful ruler 00:44:35.519 --> 00:44:38.980 of humanity. And it is our job as Christians 00:44:38.980 --> 00:44:41.000 to bring that up. Remember the story that I told 00:44:41.000 --> 00:44:44.559 at the beginning? Why'd you look at him? This 00:44:44.559 --> 00:44:46.219 is where all the persecution of the church comes 00:44:46.219 --> 00:44:49.099 from. Because we will submit to God and to no 00:44:49.099 --> 00:44:52.739 one else. Not to the flag. Nothing wrong with 00:44:52.739 --> 00:44:57.559 the flag. But not to the flag. Not to the government. 00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:00.539 There's nothing wrong with the government. It 00:45:00.539 --> 00:45:02.820 wouldn't exist if God had done it. This is necessary, 00:45:03.019 --> 00:45:05.559 right? So we endure. But the bottom line is there's 00:45:05.559 --> 00:45:06.699 nothing wrong with any of that stuff. Not to 00:45:06.699 --> 00:45:10.000 the teachers. Not to the governors. Not to the 00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:13.480 police. We submit to God. And so at any time, 00:45:13.539 --> 00:45:15.960 anything, anyone starts to take part of his role, 00:45:16.039 --> 00:45:18.599 we say, no, God is properly king. And that is 00:45:18.599 --> 00:45:21.739 not light. Because when people start to get a 00:45:21.739 --> 00:45:23.579 lot of power and authority, they say of the church, 00:45:23.679 --> 00:45:26.840 well, if there's going to be resistance. I saw 00:45:26.840 --> 00:45:30.500 a meme on Facebook this week that said when they 00:45:30.500 --> 00:45:34.260 when they try to take our Bibles and it was basically 00:45:34.260 --> 00:45:37.420 the screen went dark and there was gunfire all 00:45:37.420 --> 00:45:41.420 over the place. And I'm not saying that's. the 00:45:41.420 --> 00:45:43.480 solution. I'm not saying that's what's going 00:45:43.480 --> 00:45:45.239 to happen, but the bottom line is ain't nobody 00:45:45.239 --> 00:45:49.780 taking my Bible. Nobody's taking my relationship 00:45:49.780 --> 00:45:52.780 with God. Nobody's taking my time with the church. 00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:58.219 God is properly king. So, this is just meant 00:45:58.219 --> 00:46:00.199 to be fun, so I hope I won't bore you with it. 00:46:00.280 --> 00:46:03.599 The alphabet of how we know God is properly meant 00:46:03.599 --> 00:46:05.139 to be king. I don't know if I'll do the whole 00:46:05.139 --> 00:46:06.519 thing. You might see the whole thing later, but 00:46:06.519 --> 00:46:07.880 I'll go through it.