I'll go all out, and try to stop you, and there's
no way I love that song. Do you remember singing
that song, Adam, do you remember singing that
song on a bus in the UP? Do you remember singing
that? We sang that song on a bus in the UP. I
think it was one person on the bus who didn't
really like the singing all that much, but then
they got off. And then everybody was excited
about the singing. And then we got off. We apologized
to the bus driver. And he was like, oh, no, this
is the best thing that's happened to me all day.
So I was all right with a bunch of teenagers
in the UP on a bus on a mission trip. That song,
every time I hear it, it flashbacks to that moment
in time. Praise the Lord. So two things, kind
of homework real quick, housework, if you will,
real quick that I want to cover. So the first
thing is, you see this here Bible? This is...
what I have affectionately termed my preaching
Bible. And I love this Bible, and it's got lots
of sermon notes written right on the pages and
stuff like that, and I have preached many a sermon
out of this Bible. Not because it's better than
any other Bible, but because when this was in
my hand, the Lord said I could use it to preach,
and so praise God for it. So this morning, for
the last probably nine months, I have been using...
This Bible and that Bible and everything else.
I did not know where this Bible was. And then
yesterday, Warren and I were texting back and
forth, and he let me know about some folks he
picked up this morning. So I'm going to drive
the church van in the morning. So then this morning
when I went in the church van, I thought, well,
I better make sure it's not too messy because
it always has some issues. The church van does.
And I looked in the back seat, and lo and behold,
guess what was in the back seat of the church
van? There it is. Nine months I've been without
this Bible. So the sermon will be twice as long
today as normal. No, it's not actually going
to happen. I'm just warning you. The things that
happen in the life of the pastor will strangely
affect the sermon on Sunday morning in ways that
we don't understand. The second thing I want
to share with you is we left the book of Judges
some time ago. We were working through. We started
in verse 1, chapter 1. We worked through, and
we got as far as chapter 11, and we stopped at
a certain point. And we're not going to pick
up at exactly the point that we stopped. But
I just want to give you this kind of like a boiled
down reminder. The book of Judges is about God's
people. It's about a people who are called to
be God's people. And over time, they would drift
into doing things that they never should have
been doing in the first place. Mainly, they were
taking on the ideas of the people that lived
around them. They were culturally affected. They
were affected by other idol worship and that
kind of thing. Things that just weren't right.
And they kept adding it in, adding it in. So
it's not that they didn't believe in God. Understand
that. This is not that they didn't believe in
God, but that they had a syncretistic way of
living. You know what I mean? They were trying
to syncretize God with false religion. And we
have some false religions in America that would
love to do that for you. For example, money.
The pursuit of money. Not money itself, but the
pursuit of money is the root of all evil. And
so in America, if you're after the almighty dollar...
That very much becomes a religion. And it becomes
about that, even to the point that you will betray
what you believe in in other ways. So this is
what they were doing. They were syncretizing
the worship of God with all these other forms.
And what that always resulted in was more and
more sinful behavior. Then they would cry out
to God. God would let judgment fall upon them.
Then they would cry out to God, please save us.
And then God would send a judge. And we talked
about how the judges are almost more like deliverers
or savior pictures. They weren't even always
judges. They didn't necessarily judge legal cases.
In some cases, our military leaders didn't necessarily
judge legal cases, things like that. But they
judged in the fact that they led the nation.
And so they were kind of like deliverers or saviors.
If we really wanted to Christianize the book,
we could call it the Book of Saviors, but they
didn't want to do that. They called them judges,
so that's what they were. I say all that to say,
we're back in the book of Judges today, finally,
after taking the break. We didn't take a break
from preaching, obviously. We spent all that
time on the death, burial, and resurrection of
Christ, and Easter, and all that. And now we're
going back to the book of Judges. So grab your
Bibles, if you would. Give me a little who to
holler amen as we go to Judges chapter 11. Thank
you very much. For those of you who don't know
it, we usually do that. That marks the moment
in time where what we read will be not my ideas,
nothing that I've written. but simply what God
says in his word. Now, these events, of course,
are orchestrated by God, and they are sad events.
What we're about to read about is a pretty rough
time in the history of God's people. So we're
in chapter 11, verse 29. It starts out pretty
good. It says, Now the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead
and Manasseh. Then he passed through Mizpah of
Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on
to the sons of Ammon. And Jephthah made a vow
to the Lord. So right up until this point, it's
going pretty good, right? He's got the Holy Spirit
on him. He's doing God's work. They're having
victories, having successes, rallying troops,
that kind of thing. Then it says in verse 30,
And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said,
If thou wilt indeed give the sons of Ammon into
my hands, then it shall be that whatever comes
out of the doors of my house to meet me when
I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it
shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it as a
burnt offering. So the idea of a burnt offering
is to take something that's valuable to you and
dedicate it to God. In theory, God is essentially
receiving that thing. You no longer have it,
so you're receiving it. This is not a God command.
It's not a God thing. It's not anything that
should be done by a godly person. But it was
common in the culture in the day. Now remember,
Jephthah's a judge. The Holy Spirit is on him.
He's doing Holy Spirit work. He's gathering forces.
He's defeating God's enemies. He's doing God
work. And then he goes all of a sudden and...
makes this commitment to dedicate whatever comes
out of his house. Now, first of all, it comes
out of his house, meaning not like carried out
by someone, comes out, actively comes out. So
this is going to be most likely an animal, right?
He's thinking a sheep, a goat, whatever. You
open the door and they're always running for
the door. They're always first ones out the door
kind of thing. And so my guess is that's what
he's thinking. But this is not the kind of command
that God would have given him. So this is of
his own idea, right? Now, a lot of times people
call this a rash decision. It's a quick, oh,
I'm going to do this. It'll be cool. I'm going
to honor God this way. It'll be fast. It won't
really cost me all that much, and God will really
be honored like all those false gods are honored
to you. It'll be just like that. But I'm here
to tell you this is not a rash decision at all.
This did not happen in that instant. This did
not happen just like that. He didn't say, oh,
I'm just going to do what everybody else does
and make a vow, and I'm going to make it about
the first thing that comes out of my house. Watch
as the story unfolds and realize this is not
actually a rash or emotional or quick. Rash means
not thinking about the ramifications of your
actions, right? This is not rash at all. It's
done out of the kind of person that Jephthah
was. All right, so just from 31 then. Then it
shall be that whatever comes out of the doors
of my house to meet me when I return in peace
from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the Lord's,
which wouldn't have been bad to stop right there.
And he says, and I will offer it as a burnt offering.
And that's where it all goes wrong, 32. So Jephthah
crossed over to the sons of Ammon to fight against
them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. Now,
don't think that God gave them into his hand
because of the promise that he made, right? The
Holy Spirit was on him to do this job. God gave
them into his hand because God... was going to
do that. So the promise was completely extra
and unnecessary. Verse 33. He struck them with
a very great slaughter from Erewar to the entrance
of Minith, 20 cities, and as far as Abel, Korah,
Mim. So the sons of Ammon were subdued before
the sons of Israel. Verse 34. Then Jephthah came
to his house at Mizpah. Behold, his daughter
was coming out to meet him with tambourines and
with dancing. Now she was his one and only child.
He starts, Besides her, he had neither son nor
daughter. And when it came about, when he saw
her, that he tore his clothes and said, Alas,
my daughter, you have brought me very low. I
love how he kind of blames it on her for coming
out first. He should have let the goat out first.
You have brought me very low, and you are among
those who trouble me. For I have given my word
to the Lord, and I cannot take it back. That's
true. He's got that part right anyway. So she
said to him, My father, you have given your word
to the Lord. Do to me as you have said, since
the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the
sons of Ammon. Now there's a lot of death in
their world. And so she's not freaking out necessarily
right away because that's not an uncommon feeling
for them to realize that all the soldiers that
died, even though this was a great victory, many
soldiers died. And they're hearing about so -and
-so died and so -and -so died and somebody's
brother died, somebody's kid. There's a lot of
death. But this is really faithfulness. This
is strong faithfulness for her to say, okay,
dad, you made a promise to God. Well, I guess
I'm stuck. See how God has been so faithful?
That also tells you there, it's not totally unexpected.
She realizes that things like this have probably
happened before. She's adjusted mentally to the
idea that she could be sacrificed for a victory.
Now you know that there is a false god called
Molech, and they sacrifice the firstborn child
in the fire, usually as a baby, not as a grown
child. And so she's heard of Molech worship.
She's heard of that being done. She's consenting
to it because their family accepts that. Their
family accepts that that's a possibility. It's
crazy, but we can see that they have this concept
already ground into them. 37. And she said to
her father, let this thing be done for me. Let
me alone two months. I may go to the mountains
and weep because of my virginity, I and my companions.
She's going to go off and have a good time for
a couple months because she's never going to
be with a man. She's never going to have a child.
Then he said, go. So he sent her away for two
months. Now, listen, this is a true test of faithfulness.
Because if she comes back, she's going to be
killed. She's going to be burnt, right, for God.
So he sends her away for two months. And she
left with her companions and wept on the mountains
because of her virginity. It's not like they
were up there having all kinds of partying and
she was losing her virginity, for example. And
it came about at the end of two months that she
returned to her father, who did to her according
to the vow which he had made. And she had no
relations with a man. There it is very clearly
stated. Thus it became a custom in Israel so
that the daughters of Israel went yearly to commemorate
the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadites, four
days in the year. So notice her faithfulness
affects her people for generations. Now his foolish
decision to make that commitment doesn't go on
like people go, oh, I want to do that too, right?
I want to commit my firstborn daughter to be
burned alive so I can have it. People don't follow
his example. But they do celebrate her faithfulness
for generations to come. I want you to understand
then, there's a subtle shift that happens in
the human heart. So subtle that you can miss
it if you're not careful. While you're still
talking about God, this thing can happen. And
it's a dangerous thing. The sermon title today
is Progenitor Me. A progenitor is a person who
starts something, right? That's what a progenitor
is. So God is the ultimate progenitor. He started
literally everything, right? Time, space, matter.
We start thinking, we start shifting our thinking
sometimes from God, what are you doing? A famous
Christian author said, look at what God is doing
and go and join him in it. God's doing something.
Wherever that's happening, just go jump in there
and let God use you to do whatever you want to
do. But our shift moves from, God, what are you
doing? To, God, let me tell you what I'm going
to do for you. That's what happened in the life
of Jephthah. See, instead of him going, I'm going
to gather people and I'm going to go defeat armies
like God said, Holy Spirit's on me. He started
thinking, okay, now that I'm in this position
to do something great for God, now what am I
going to do? And he said, Let me tell you what
I'm going to do for you, God. I'm going to sacrifice
my daughter if you give me this victory. That
shift is what I'm calling progenitor me. You
start to originate something. God is still in
the conversation, but he's no longer the source.
He has now become just one voice amongst many.
See, he still believed in God. He still went
out and risked his life. He still took on the
great battle, rallied people to the battle cry,
felt the Holy Spirit, I'm sure. The Holy Spirit
settled on him, so I'm sure he felt that. He
still did all that. But at the same time, he
started saying, see, now watch what I'm going
to do. See how I'm going to do it differently.
This is very dangerous because in the church,
for example, we talk about, well, I like to worship
a certain way. I don't like that kind of music,
or I do like that kind of music. If that kind
of music glorifies God and that kind of music
glorifies God, you don't get to say, I don't
like that kind and I like that kind. The kind
of music we like is the kind that glorifies God.
And so we start to put our own ideas in there.
I don't like it when people talk a certain way
or do a certain thing. Or I prefer it when people
dress a certain way or people show up at a certain
place at a certain time. We start letting our
preferences drive. When your preferences are
driving, you're becoming a progenitor. It's when
you become the originator of the plan. God's
still in the conversation, but he's not the source
anymore. He's just one voice. And I submit to
you, there was only one time ever when God was
just one voice. And that was in the very beginning
when he said, let there be light. Judges 11 shows
us just how dangerous this can be. See the first
thing. When I become the origin, God becomes
just one influence. When I'm making the plans
and I'm not consulting God about what the plans
are, then what am I going to use to make the
plans? Everything I see? Everything I've heard,
everything I've watched, everything I've done,
everything I've experienced, the good, the bad,
and the ugly. And all of those things become
factors in my making my plans. It's how I walk
my life out on a daily basis, right? I know that
if I get in my car and I take the necessary turns,
I'll arrive at my house. And so sometimes I get
in the car on autopilot and I take the necessary
turns and I arrive at my house. Sometimes when
I'm not even going to my house because I'm not
thinking and I'm like, just take the necessary
turns and I'll arrive there. But what if I wasn't
going there? I'm going somewhere else, and I'm
pulling into my driveway. Oh, crud, I was going
to the store. Oh, crud, I was going to go pick
that up. I was going to go drop that off. Whatever.
But because we get on autopilot, programmed,
we just kind of do what we do, and God is no
longer influencing. At other times, I've been
driving in my car, and God will say, turn right
here. But God, that's not the way home. And God,
when he's really nice, he'll say, I know, we're
not going home. But sometimes he'll say, I said
turn right here. What is your problem today?
And I go, okay, Lord, we're turning right. And
I can only imagine that my life has been saved
and things have been done, for sure, accomplished
because of those moments in which God originates
a plan that seems contrary to what was already
going on and I'm jumping on the plan with God.
But when I become the origin, I'm in the car
and I'm going like, oh, I'm going to drive home.
And God says, turn right here. I'm like, no,
that's not the best way home, God. Your God PS
must be off. You don't know how to get me where
I need to be. I'm going to go where I'm going
to go. And then I'm at home and I'm going, something
feels off. Something doesn't feel right. I don't
think I'm supposed to be here right now. Because
God was trying to take me somewhere and I originated
an alternative plan. The Spirit of the Lord comes
upon Jephthah. God has already moved. God has
already initiated. And then Jephthah makes a
vow. He doesn't stop himself. He doesn't hold
back. He doesn't inquire to God about this. Would
this be a good idea? He doesn't seek additional
wisdom. He doesn't talk to a priest. He doesn't
read his Bible. He doesn't do anything to determine
whether or not this course of action would be.
Now, in that sense, it's rash, right? In that
sense, it's rash. But he's doing it out of his
programming. He's in robot mode. We've got to
glorify God. Man, what more can we do to glorify
God? It's got to be bigger. We've got to add
more bang pow what? Or otherwise we're not truly
honoring the Lord. So here's what I'm going to
do. I'm going to give up whatever comes out of
my house. He adds, I read a story about a man
who once inherited a fully restored classic car
from his dad. The engine was perfect, all original
parts rebuilt by a master mechanic. But the son
thought, I can make this even better. And he
started to just tweak it a little bit. He adjusted
the timing, swapping out some parts with newer
things. He's like, it doesn't have to all be
original parts. I just want the best car I can
possibly have. He improved it. Pretty soon, the
car wouldn't start. Not because the foundation
of the car was bad, but because he couldn't leave
it alone. He couldn't just let it be. See, God
is not... all about your happiness, or all about
your desires being fulfilled, or all about your
plans coming to fruition? Do you understand that
if from the moment you sat here today and heard
this sermon, that if what was necessary for God
to bring you into heaven when you die, is that
literally nothing else goes right in your life.
Now, that's never true. We often think nothing
is going right, right? In the middle, I had a
pretty rough week this week, and I had things
breaking down. Like, oh, that's broken too. Oh,
crud, that's going to be ours to fix. I've got
to pay this person to fix that because there's
no way I have time. This kind of stuff was happening
for the last week. And in the middle, I thought,
you know what? This wouldn't be happening if
I didn't have so much stuff. This wouldn't be
happening if I didn't have a house and cars.
I wouldn't be dealing with relationship struggles
if I didn't have so many relationships. And I
know people that are, often it's old, but lonely.
I don't have anybody. If you're thinking about
somebody in your life that frustrates you and
you just can't figure out how to get them to
calm down or do what you want or not come after
you all the time, not get under your skin all
the time, whatever, I want you to think about
how lucky, how blessed, how incredibly blessed
you are that you have somebody in your life.
I don't know what the percentages are, but it's
over double digits. Americans that do not have
somebody to call or visit today. That's millions
of people in this country alone that do not have
anybody. You have somebody that frustrates you,
whoo, aren't you blessed, isn't it? Turn that
around right away. It turns it around, doesn't
it? Boy, I'm glad I have friends. Boy, I'm glad
I have family members, even the ones that drive
me absolutely nuts, right? God. had already spoken
through his spirit. Victory was already in motion.
But progenitor me says, what God started isn't
enough. I need to contribute. And in that moment,
God's voice gets crowded out by fear of losing,
desire to control, pressure to perform, personal
sense of justice. And God is no longer the origin.
He's become just one influence. And I submit
to you that if you take your eyes off God, and
start worrying about all those other things and
making plans to deal with them all, that eventually
they will become so prominent, so important,
so eye -filling, that in the crowd you won't
even be able to see God or hear God. He'll be
lost as just one influence among many. Second
thing to see in there then is that what I originate
reflects everything shaping me, not just God.
When I start something, whatever it is, even
if God says, go and do this, and I say, okay,
God, how exactly? And God's like, just do it.
I'm just telling you, do it. So when I'm witnessing
and somebody makes it obvious that they're willing
to hear the gospel and I'm just sort of spewing
words as fast as I can trying to get it out.
I'm so excited that this person might be saved.
And God just said, that's what you've got to
do. You've got to be a witness. Just tell people
about Jesus. Just do it. And it's sloppy and
it's messy. And they go, well, this person's
just a human. But those words, they almost seem
a little unhuman, a little something more than
human. There's some wisdom in there. And they
start to turn. What I originate reflects everything
that's shaping me, not just God. And that's the
way that God wants it. Because God has brought
all of those other things into my life to shape
me. But he must remain reigning supreme. He has
to be in charge. So yes, you can have a car if
you can have a car. And God will decide that,
really. You can say, well, tomorrow I'm going
to buy a car. You can plan all day, set the appointment,
go visit with the guys, save up the money, be
able to pay cash. And between now and then, God
can ruin that plan. What was it? You text me,
right? You want to make God laugh? Share your
plans with God, right? So God can frustrate all
of our best ideas if he wants to. And so it doesn't
matter what you think you want to do. God has
to remain supreme. Not just as a voice, but the
supreme voice. Jephthah's vow is revealing. It
sounds spiritual. Hyper -spiritual even. He's
doing what most people would not do. He doesn't
have to. He's already going to win. He doesn't
have to give anything, but he's going to give
his daughter. Or whatever comes out of his house
first. But it's deeply distorted. Whatever comes
out of my house, I will offer it. Where does
that come from? It doesn't come from God's law.
It's not from God's character. It comes from
a world shaped by pagan thinking. Where people
bargaining with God was a normal thing. So if
you do the right thing, you get from God what
you want. And if that's what you think is true
about the God of the universe, you don't understand
the God of the universe. If you think that you
will always get good coming to you because you
chose to do the right thing, I'm going to submit
to you that half the time you think that's true,
you did what you thought was the right thing
that wasn't even the right thing. You see, the
sin of the people in the book of Judges has always
not been they sinned in this way, they were wicked
in this way. It's not even that they were syncretistic.
The problem is they did right what they thought
was right in their own eyes. So you're walking
around judging what you think is right and God's
saying turn right and you're turning left because
you think that's right when in reality you're
ignoring God. The decision that he made comes
from a world shaped by pagan thinking where people
bargained with gods all the time. Think about
a young athlete that steps up to the free throw
line in a championship game. He bounces the ball
a couple of times. He licks the bottom of his
shoes. You've seen it, right? He stands on the
foul line. He bounces the ball a couple of times.
He puts it up. He's about ready to go. He bounces
the ball again. He puts it up. And he says to
God, he says, God, if you let me make this shot.
I'll go to church every Sunday for the rest of
my life because this is the foul point that's
going to win the game. And he's bargaining with
God. That's not faith. That's negotiation, like
you might do with another human being who has
their own desires and motives that are ungodly.
You can negotiate with people because they have
desires and motives, because everything that
they originate is affected by their views, and
you can resonate with their views, which is why
we have them, by the way. So then when I'm sitting
in the... the restaurant and sharing with the
waitress, God willing, many times more, if I
can find one point, one common denominator between
her and I, between her story and my story, and
I can hone in on that, and I can say, This is
how God used that in my life. And if that resonates
with her, then that brings her one step closer
to knowing who God is. That's why those things
are there. The gospel travels through lines of
relationship and the things that God has given
us in our life. And we can negotiate with people
who have those similar lines. Won't you hear
the gospel from me? Won't you hear about Jesus?
That's what the negotiation can be. Because they
have desires. They have those things too. But
we don't do that with God. It didn't come from
scripture. It came from pressure, fear, and cultural
ideas about earning favor. When I become the
originator, my plans are never pure. They're
a mixture. They're a mixture of what I've seen
growing up, what I'm afraid of losing, what I
think will work, what culture has normalized.
God's voice may be in there. I hope it is. But
it's blended. And a plan that is part God and
part everything else will never lead you where
you want to go. Never lead you where you think
it will lead you. There's a third thing to see
in the text then. It is what begins with me.
ends in consequences that I cannot control. How
many times, you ever do this? How many times
you start the ball rolling and later you go,
oh, that happened because I did this. And there
was that happened, that happened, that happened,
but it started rolling. Now all of a sudden,
I got a problem here. I didn't say something
when they did that. And now that's all the way
up here and a really bad thing is happening.
Or I failed to, what begins with me ends in consequences
I cannot control. God gives the victory. The
battle is won. And then Jephthah's daughter walks
out. Tambourine in hand, celebration in her heart.
And in a moment, victory turns into devastation.
He should have been hugging her, dancing, celebrating.
Yes, yes, God gave the victory. Instead, he's
breaking the news that he went on ahead and made
a vow that she would be killed. I know a father.
In fact, if I was going to name, I could probably
name five right now. But I know men who've taken
jobs, career paths, whatever. that promised more
money, more stability, more opportunity. On paper,
they look like a blessing. God provided this,
it's going to be great. But then it demanded
all their time. It demanded nights, weekends,
constant travel. Years later, he's got the house,
he's got the income, his kids all grew up healthy,
had the medicine that they needed, had the food
that they needed, everything like that. But the
relationship between that man and his children,
that man and the kingdom, that man and kingdom
values, and that man and God has suffered. The
truth is, most jobs, while you do them, you can't
spend the time with God that you should be spending
with God. Even though you can, while you're working,
spend time with God, but most of the time you
can't. Not the way you would. Get alone, under
a tree, just you and your Bible, pray, talk to
God, and see what happens. It's totally different
than while you're talking to Him while you're
driving your car, or while you're fixing something
on the job, or while you're making sure you're
on time, or while you're making sure you didn't
miss something on the grocery list. Yeah, it's
totally different. So time and again, people
choose a pathway that makes a lot of logical
sense. But if I do this, I will get this result.
And it's clear that God would want me to get
that result. The truth is, he got what he pursued,
but he lost what he didn't account for. Progenitor
me always assumes I can see far enough, I can
manage the outcome, I can contain the cost. But
what we originate outside of God does not stay
contained. Once it starts burning, it burns everything
in the vicinity. Once it starts accumulating,
it accumulates like Sylvia Cynthia Snout who
wouldn't take the garbage out and eventually
it filled the whole state and there was no taking
the garbage out because there was nowhere to
take it out to. It's like that. It just keeps
expanding. If you originated, it keeps expanding
and the impact is long -standing. It spills.
It spreads. It touches people we never intended
it to touch. Jephthah won the battle and lost
something far greater. That brings us then to
our conclusion. It is the gospel answer to progenitor
me. The me that starts things instead of doing
the things that God would have me do. Or maybe
in addition. Maybe you're saying, I'm doing all
the things that God would have me to do, but
I've got these other things that I started that
weren't of God. If we're honest, this isn't just
Jephthah's story. It's ours. We've all made decisions
without seeking God. We've all tried to help
God out. to get us where God was trying to take
us. We've all created plans that felt right but
ended wrong. And here's the hard truth. We've
all lived as the originator at times. But the
gospel tells us something powerful. When we stepped
in as the flawed origin, so when we stepped in
as the starter, as the creator, kind of shouldered
God out of the way, Jesus Christ stepped in as
the perfect substitute. Consider this comparison.
Jephthah made a vow that could be called rash.
certainly was ungodly. Jesus fulfilled a perfect
will. Jephthah sacrificed someone else. Jesus
gave himself. Jephthah acted out of fear. Jesus
acted in full obedience to God. The funny thing
about rebellion is that it pretends to be a certain
sort of faithfulness. Wait a minute, rebellion,
faithfulness, they seem to be opposites. But
the thing that rebellion does that makes it so
easily embraced... is it pretends to be a certain
sort of faithfulness. People say things like,
well, I'm just being true to myself. This is
just who God made me. This is the way I'm wired.
That's the way I walk. That's the way our family
is. That's the way our culture is. That's the
way things work, implying that you know well
how things work and differently from God or from
other people. Sometimes we say to ourselves,
well, I'm giving more than anyone else would
give. Other times we present it as wisdom saying,
this just makes sense. I submit to you that the
greatest things that God has ever done would
make no sense in the mind of a man or a woman.
Trusting God and coming to God on the terms that
God laid out for us. was, and is all that is
required. And in the middle of concocting our
own plan or providing our own solutions, we lose
the one measure of relationship that matters,
faithfulness. Listen to me. When you stand before
God, if you want to hear a well -done, good,
and faithful servant, there is only one measure
in this lifetime that matters, and that is faithfulness.
Faithfulness is obedience over time. It is obedience
in moments of temptation. It is obedience when
an idea comes that masquerades as opportunity,
but is actually disobedience. Do you remember
a guy, some of you may, some of you may not,
a guy named Haman? So Haman was the villain in
the story of Esther, in the whole book. He was
the villain. And basically, Haman hated Esther's
family, and in particular, Mordecai. Mordecai
didn't bow to anybody, just God. He was a devout
Jewish man, believed in the Lord and the Lord
only. So Haman gets a plot going, and first of
all, he's going to hang Mordecai on gallows at
his house. And then he gets the king, Ahasuerus,
his name is hard to pronounce, but anyway, gets
the king to pass a law that says that the people
can attack the Jews on a certain day, and that
whoever they kill, they get to keep all their
stuff. So he killed a guy who lives down the
street, he could keep his house, his cattle.
slaves, everything he's got. If he's got anything,
any Jew you kill, you get to keep everything
he had. It's a murderous society for a day. In
the third chapter of the book of Esther, Haman
is described as Haman the Agagite. Does anybody
know what that means? Nod your head if you know
what that means. Any Bible scholars in the room?
It's a tough one. Okay, so Agag was the king
of the Amalekites. The Amalekites, God ordered
Saul to wipe them out. The Amalekites were the
people, and they are descendants of Esau. Remember
Esau, Jacob, the rivalry, right? And so the Amalekites
were descendants of Esau. And when the Israelites
came out of Egypt, the Amalekites attacked the
people that were on the edges and the weak and
the older, the infirm, people that couldn't protect
themselves or that were scragglers. They attacked
and killed them and took their stuff, right?
So they killed, who knows, tens of thousands
of elderly women, children, pregnant women, whatever
they could get a hold of that were on the outer
edges as this mass is coming out of Egypt. Terrible,
terrible thing. And God declared that he would
wipe them out for that. evil that they had done.
And then he told Saul to do it. He told King
Saul, go in there, kill them all. Don't take
any other stuff. Raise everything, destroy everything.
Everything that's in there is under the ban.
Nobody gets anything. Kill them all. So Saul
and the people kept some of the best plunder
to supposedly sacrifice to God. And he kept Agag,
the king, alive. And he lived almost as a guest
in his house. Not like as a slave under the table.
We don't have that record. In fact, when Agag
is brought in by Samuel later. Agag says, see,
wasn't the horrible time, isn't it past now?
And he's just like, he's in a really good mood.
The text says he's in a good mood. He's jovial.
So in other words, he's been having a good time
in the house of Saul. And he realizes he's not
going to be punished because Saul has spared
him, right? But Samuel says to Saul, God, because
you have failed to follow the commands of God,
the kingdom will be ripped from you. You will
no longer be king of Israel. Agag and cuts him
to bits, into pieces. Now, that's what God originally
ordered for Agag, and it's pretty gruesome. He
could have just died in combat, but he didn't,
and now he's prospered. Now, I don't know whether
Agag's descendant that remains, son or daughter,
whichever it was, was fostered while he was living
in Saul's house or not. But what I do know is
that Saul was ordered to kill all of the Amalekites,
Agag, and all of his descendants, and did not
do so. Then Agag's descendants, one Targum says
16 generations later, produces Haman, the Agagite,
who then is going to hang Mordecai, the Jew,
and offers a time at which the entire Jewish
nation that's in captivity will be wiped out.
When you are the progenitor, you will start things
in motion that will have lasting ramifications,
not only for you, but potentially for generations
to come. When you watch TV instead of reading
your Bible at night and your kids or your spouse
or whoever see you watching TV instead of cracking
open the Word of God, someday, at best, they
will watch TV instead of reading their Bibles.
At best. But it can be far worse than that because
through lack of knowledge of what a godly man
or woman looks like, they can live as an ungodly
man or woman. They may spend their lives in jail
or running a crack house, or it might be your
grandkids or your great -grandkids or five or
ten generations later, but somebody down the
road. Do you understand that the guy who runs
a crack house on your street probably has a great
-great -great -grandfather who was a devout Christian
man? At one point in time, the Great Awakening
hit America, and it became so prevalent that
in small towns all over America, there was no
alcohol sales anywhere, and the United States
of America, by populist vote, amended the Constitution,
not made a law, amended the Constitution of the
United States of America against sales of alcohol.
So when they were voting against, they went to
the polls and voted against alcohol, they then
went home and did whatever at home, not saying
they drank, did whatever at home, and then generations
later, their children, five, ten generations
later, opened crack houses, ran brothels, ran
bars, right? When you are the progenitor, And
you run on ahead of God or run outside of God,
don't do what God wants you to do. Your plans
have lasting ramifications. So I'm not asking
you today, asking you to choose one progenitor
that is God, let God alone be in charge of your
life. I'm not asking you to make a better decision
for you today. I'm not asking you to reclaim
the rest of your life, although that will exactly
be what happens. We're literally talking about
the benefit, the prosperity, the success, the
blessing, the heaven -bound nature of generations
to come. Better you suffer, better you go without,
better you deny yourself all the wants and desires
you could possibly have and let God instead be
the progenitor so that your kids can go to heaven,
so that your grandkids and great -grandkids can
go to heaven, so that your neighbor's kids can
go to heaven. You say, well, I don't have any
kids. Your co -workers are in the same boat.
When you go to work and spit foul language like
a sailor right alongside them and don't talk
about Jesus, they and their kids are missing
an opportunity to go to heaven. Because you're
not telling them about Jesus. They don't want
to hear it anyway. You don't know that. So I
tried to tell them before and they didn't want
to know. I had a dear friend of mine I went to
high school with for two and a half years. I
didn't talk to him about Jesus because he told
me in no uncertain terms. I did not want to hear
it. I don't want to talk about it. I want nothing
to do with it. I'm not a Christian, nor will
I be. I prayed for him pretty much every day
for two and a half years. And then I wrote him
a letter. And the first line of the letter was,
I'm writing you this letter because you told
me I'm not allowed to talk to you anymore about
Jesus. In which I clearly explained the gospel.
And he said, well, I've changed my position now.
I am open to hearing what you have to say. I
don't know. I know Elvis Presley's brother tells
a story where he dated a girl in high school
and she wouldn't go out with him. She was a devout
Christian. And she wouldn't go to restaurants.
She wouldn't go to movies. Nothing. This is back
in the day when we understood what dating is
actually for, right? And so she wouldn't go out
with him. But she would go to church. And he
would go to church with her if he was willing.
Then he could go to church with her and she would
take him. But he didn't want to go to church.
He didn't want nothing to do with God. So then
she let him go because she had to have a man.
She was devout to God. She had to have a man
who was devout to God. Otherwise, that's a marriage
that you don't want to have, right? And so she
said, well, 25 years later, he walked into that
little church. She wasn't there. She was long
gone, moved to another state or whatever. But
there was a gray -haired old lady crew. And they
recognized him when he walked in. He had never
been in the church ever before. And for 25 years,
that church had prayed for him to come to Christ.
And when he walked in, they recognized him. And
they gathered around him. And they said, you've
come here to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord
and Savior, right? And he didn't know that's
why he was going. He just knew he had nothing
left. He was spent. His insides were all empty.
And he's like, I gotta. I got to go. So I'm going
to go back in my old hometown. He'd been all
over the world, back in my own hometown, and
I'm going to go. And he went in there, and they
gathered around him, and he accepted Christ.
And then he preached that story all over the
U .S., including I sat in one of his sermons
and listened to it. What I'm saying to you is
I'm not asking you to have Jesus as your progenitor
just for your salvation, although it's that important.
We see Jesus at the cross. He says, not my will,
but yours be done. Jesus, who was God in the
flesh, God the Son, who could command the storms
and still the waves and heal the paralytic and
brought people back to life. Jesus said, no,
God the Father is the progenitor. Not my will,
but His will be done. And because of that, our
faith... Failures can be forgiven. Our missteps
can be redeemed. 2 ,000 years later, almost our
future can be reoriented. And I submit to you,
it's not just our future, but the future of all
the people in our lives and generations to come.
From originator to follower. So the question
isn't just, where have I messed up? And we ask
that a lot. Things aren't going right. Where
have I messed up? The question is, who's originating
your life right now? Who's got the reins? Who's
in the driver's seat? Who's originating your
life? And you've got to know. It's got to be
him. And if you've never done it, if you've never
said, okay, God, I'm going to let you alone be
in charge of my life, which, by the way, would
not even be possible if it were not for the sacrifice
of Jesus, then do it. And say, okay, from now
on, God alone will be the originator of my life.
For those who don't know Christ, it's about a
surrender. Trust in what he has already done.
Stop trying to author your own salvation and
receive his. But for those of us who already
know him, where have you taken the pen back from
God? Where in your life? Did you make a decision
or are you making decisions and not praying over
those decisions? Not consulting the word. Faithful
brothers and sisters in Christ, have you chosen
a direction without scripture? A plan that you're
forcing instead of following faithfulness is
not a good plan at all. And remember, faithfulness
is not flashy. It is obedience over time. Obedience
in the face of temptation. Obedience at the moment
at which you think, well, here is an alternative
and it makes more sense than doing what God wants
me to do. It looks like waiting when you want
to act, listening when you want to speak, obeying
when you don't understand. The safest place in
your life is not where you are in control. It's
where God is the originator of what is right
now happening. You're completely aware of it
and submissive to his outcomes. Lay it. down
lay down the plan lay down the pressure lay down
the need to make it happen god is not asking
you to originate he's asking you to obey because
saul did not obey you think god did not know
about Haman, the Agagite, while Saul was alive
16 generations before, God sure knew. Because
Saul did not obey and killed the Agagites, who
were of the Amalekites, who were the people that
killed the weak coming out of Egypt. Because
Saul did not obey, he created a risk for all
of God's people. And you say, well, Saul was
a king. He was a big deal. You know, Saul wasn't
a big deal before he was a king. In fact, in
that same chapter 15, Samuel reminds him, you
had nothing, and God made you king of all of
Israel. So that'd be you. I'm not a king. You're
not a king. Understand that the decision to let
God originate what's going on in your life affects
your family, affects all the people that you
know, and all the people that know the people
that you know, and the people that know the people
that you know that you know. See? It spreads.
Now, in 30 years of being a Christian, it's weird,
but I've led three people named Kendra to Christ.
Three separate people, three different times,
that prayed to accept Christ. One of them, an
Islamic man, was there, and when she was praying
to accept Christ, he prayed along with us. And
that's definitely not a Christian religion. Right?
Three times. And I don't know them. They don't
come to church here. I don't know where they
go to church. I don't know what they're doing.
Two of them were waitresses. I met them because
I was out eating out dinner. Three women named
Kendra. But they know people. And if they're
following God, they'll be found obedient and
they'll be sharing the gospel. And I wonder if
they'll win anybody to Christ named Kendra. I
may not know until I get to heaven. I'm asking
you, if you're here today and you're not, you're
originating your life, stop it. Commit it to
God and let him do it. Let him take care of it.
He's got more resources, more wisdom, more strength,
more experience, everything. He's got more of
everything. Let him do it. Turn your life over
to God through Jesus Christ, the Son. If you're
here today as a Christian, I came in here as
a Christian, but now I see areas where I've kind
of taken control. Stop that. Don't do it anymore.
Submit those areas of your life over to God through
Jesus Christ and say, what would God have me
do? What does obedience look like here? You can
never go wrong with reading your Bible, praying,
serving, giving, loving others, sharing the gospel.
These are commands of scripture. You can never
go wrong doing those things. Do what God commanded
you to do and stop coming up with alternatives.
I ask the praise team to come forward then and
lead us in our closing hymn. And as we sing,
if the Lord has spoken to you in some way. You
respond. If you're accepting Jesus Christ as
your Lord and Savior for the first time today,
I want you to come right up here and tell me
that. Okay, I'm turning my life over to you.
Doesn't matter if somebody thought you did it
already before, whatever. This is the first time
you're truly turning your life over to the Lord,
letting God be your present for it. He'll start
everything. He'll set the plans. He'll set the
direction. If that's what you're doing, then...
You come today and let me know that, and we'll
pray together. If you're here today as a Christian
already, I am a Christian, but I've got a few
things in my own hand. I've been writing my own
story. I've been making things for you. And you
realize you've got to stop doing that because
the ramifications go far beyond what we can see.
Then you make that commitment. Then you move
forward. We'll pray together. And you say, I'm
going to turn my life back over to the Lord.
I'm done with my own plans. I'll consult my plans
with the Lord's plans. Realize that sometimes
it will seem rash. I had to make a quick decision,
so I just made a quick decision. Because the
truth is, you wouldn't have had to make that
quick decision if you had prepared in advance
and spent a little time with the Lord, spent
a little time preparing yourself. You might never
have gotten that situation, but if you did, you
might have already had the answer, and the decision
might not have had the same rash. Our prayer
time with God is an ongoing conversation. She
talks to Him all the time, and every time you
pick up, talk to Him again. I would say, sorry,
God, I was off the phone for a minute here, but
I'm back now because the Word calls us to be
praying without sleep. and keep the conversation
going. Now, you've got that conversation going,
you know the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2,
and when that weird thing happens, you'll know
it. You'll already know what God wants, and it
won't be a racket. So just stand with me as we
sing this song, as the Lord is speaking to your
heart in some way, and we respond. We believe
that we have life in the name of Jesus. We believe
though we have never seen. We believe and choose
to follow our King. Go King Jesus! We believe
that he's coming again. We believe. Oh, we believe.
Sing one more verse. We believe that he's coming
again. The Lord is speaking into your heart right
now.