lesson to us to remember that when life gets
hard it's not always the big glamorous glorious
things right now across the city of Toledo this
morning there are a number of people and they
might be considered disabled by some that had
a hard time getting out of bed had a hard time
getting a shower getting breakfast taking care
of themselves they're alone in pain we understand
that that's difficult for them and we understand
that it is possible that we could face such days
but then there is the glorious day The exciting
day, the day at which we can aggressively overcome
difficulty. Someone says, what must I do to be
saved? And we courageously share the gospel.
Someone says, man, I'm really hurt and I don't
have enough food or I don't have enough transportation
or I don't have enough money. And we say, well,
I'm going to step up and I'm going to provide
in some way for that person. Those volatile,
exciting, dangerous moments where we step out
of our comfort zone and do something different,
something unique. And the tendency in the kingdom
of God is to think. that only those days that
are exciting like that really matter, and that
just isn't so. Let me give you a couple of just
quick historical illustrations. Now, understand
that the people that I'm talking about here are
also Christians, and it is in a Christian context
when the nation was largely a Christian nation,
at least by profession. The first president of
our nation, George Washington, you may know a
little bit about him. He rose during the Revolutionary
War to become a very popular figure and became
the first president of the United States. Our
country, nearly collapsed under its own weight
in the early days, and his first two presidencies
became the precedent for what presidencies are
supposed to look like for the rest of United
States history. He stepped down after eight years
and went home to his farm, where he spent his
final days focusing intensely on tedious day
-to -day work of a gentleman farmer. He meticulously
managed crop rotations. He built a whiskey distillery.
Don't get me started on that. He fussed over
the daily administrative operations of his gristmill,
and he made his plantation financially self -sufficient.
And he did that because he believed that each
man's basic contributions, each man's work, each
person's work, all told is what makes our nation
great. Not just the actions of, say, the president
or a general or an officer. Abraham Lincoln.
assumed the presidency in 1861 during a catastrophic
national fracture. The nation divided and could
never have become what you and I know as the
United States of America. In fact, his election
sort of triggered the secession of the southern
states in the Civil War. Immediately, the bloodiest
conflict in American history began. While fighting
a civil war, Lincoln kept himself grounded by,
get this list, he maintained a grueling routine
in the telegraph office. Telegraph was their
way, like cell phones, right? So sending, like
the internet, sending messages all across the
country. Daily, he personally didn't have an
assistant do it, or a general, somebody in the
military. Daily, he reviewed every dispatch that
came by telegraph to the United States government.
He also instituted regular open door hours where
ordinary citizens, like any of us, might come
in. Citizens, inventors, widows, soldiers, any
of them could come and meet him. By regularly
engaging with ordinary people, he balanced high
-stakes wartime strategy with mundane realities,
basic day -to -day things. Augustus, who became
Caesar of Rome, rose to power when Octavian,
following the brutal assassination of his great
-uncle, I'm sorry I said that wrong, Octavian
rose to power, that might have been his name
as well, I think he had two names, but anyway,
as his great -uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated.
Then, for two decades, he struggled to keep the
nation of Rome together. There were political
purges where senators were killed, multiple of
them, attacks on his own life, massive societal
upheaval. Rome could have fallen apart. But for
two decades after he struggled, he built what
we now know as Pax Romana, which was the Roman
nation that for 200 years essentially ruled in
peace. He meticulously managed the empire's grain
supply, built aqueducts, supervised public works.
He spent his days passing regulations on road
maintenance, city fire brigades, tax administration,
transforming a turbulent republic into a functioning
administrative state. Now the general that did
all that in the beginning for 20 years could
have said that all that was below him. that was
elected and started the Civil War, could have
said, the common people just can wait while I
deal with what's going on in our nation falling
apart. The president, which was the general in
the Revolutionary War, who became president,
could have said, well, I'll take a few more four
-year terms, because obviously I'm the best man
for the job. As we look at a very short text
today, I want you to realize that we have been
looking at the book of Judges for a while. We've
built our way up through most of chapter 15,
and we've seen Samson, And if I may call it,
be the butthead that he was. Right. And then
to continually begin to have great victories
in the Lord, to rely on God and have great victories.
And then at the end of his last great victory
to become so parched and say, I will die of thirst
and to cry out to God because there was no one
there to provide him with sustenance. And God
provided the sustenance. And out of that, then.
comes the one verse that is our key verse today.
Now, you recall that I showed you that this book
has a chiastic structure. That is to say, the
whole book rises to this point, this verse. And
then from here on down, it's all downhill from
here to the end. So this is the moment at which
those two big pillars of his failures, if you
will, and in the middle is Samson doing what
we're going to see today. So grab your Bibles,
if you would. Give me a little who to holler
amen. One verse, just one verse. Judges chapter
15. Thank you very much, those of you who are
with me. This is God's word. Whether or not I
get it all right from here, it is important that
you listen to the Lord and let him work in your
life. Judges 15, verse 20. Now, right before
this is that instance where he cried out to God
for something to drink, and God opened the rock
and gave him the spring, and he drank. And then
it says, in verse 20, So he, that's Samson, judged
Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines.
Okay? So Samson... It essentially reinstitutes
the kingdom that was meant to be God's people.
Now we know, as we said from the very beginning
in the book of Judges, a lot of times you see
the term judge, right? It better could be translated
in our modern language maybe as savior than ruler
or king. So Samson did not become the king of
the nation. In fact, instead, he returned the
nation to the idea that God was supposed to be
the king. He did that because after he experienced
that lack of sustenance and had to cry out to
the Lord. And God provided for him. So maybe
you've been there. Maybe you've been there at
a moment in your life where whether you were
responsible for your failings or fallings or
not, you realize that if God doesn't do something
right here, there really isn't anything else.
It's not going to go on past this point. When
I was at BG in 1989, the spring of 1989, there
was a young man who had come to BG and his parents
were paying his way. got involved right away
as a freshman with lots of things on campus,
and it provided him with a lot of distractions,
which meant he didn't do well in school. At the
end of the first semester, he realized that he
had failed, essentially. Now, he didn't fail
all of his classes, but he failed some. He couldn't
tell his parents because they were paying his
way. He hadn't made any real friends or anybody
in a relationship, and he leapt from a third
-floor window and killed himself. What I'm getting
at is it's exciting to start something new. It's
exciting to do something incredible. But you
need to realize that the passage of time is in
doing the things that must be done. After you
accept Jesus Christ and you walk forward down
the aisle, it was this way for me. Tears were
in my eyes, emotions in my heart. Every muscle
in my body was sort of thrumming. You kind of
maybe remember what this felt like or what it
felt like for you that was different. And he
asked me to do things that I thought I would
never do in my life, to join the church, to serve,
to tell the congregation, to be baptized. And
fortunately for me, the week before that, Sherry
had asked me what it meant to be saved. And I
said to her, I don't know, but I know it's going
to change everything. And so when I walked down
from the front of the room, I knew that I had
to reanalyze everything in my life. How I dressed,
how I walked, how I talked, what I ate, where
I slept, how I slept, everything. I had to reanalyze
everything in my life now based on that moment.
So I had that blessing because of my wife who
questioned my thought of possibly becoming a
Christian. And not everybody had that. I understand
that after you accept Christ, sometimes it feels
like the day -to -day becomes more important
or too much of a distraction or maybe just too
difficult for some folks. I want to talk to you
briefly about the kingdom of God. The kingdom
of God is that person, place, or thing in which
God reigns. That's what's happening in this verse,
right? So God is reigning over Israel. And you
could search your Bible if you want. You could
search historical texts. But guess what you will
not find? You will not find a further detail.
Not a single. There's not a journal. There's
not a book. There's not a record. You will not
find a single detail about what happens during
this 20 years of Samson's reign. So what we know
for sure is that Samson got out of bed. He got
dressed. He stood strong. He stood in the strength
of the Lord. He depended on God. He stood to
be the man that God made him to be, which is
clearly not how the first part of his life went,
right? And then we know that after this period
of time, after 20 years of submitting the nation
to the Lord, it's going to go poorly. I submit
to you that there are those of us who will live
in the kingdom of God. They'll dress in the kingdom
of God. We might study our Bibles. We might pray.
And at some moment in time, we just say, you
know what? This living in the kingdom of God
is just not enough for me. Or I want something
more. We reach out and take more, go after more
or whatever. That's what Samson will do after
20 years ruling as a judge. So this is a word
of caution to each one of us. You need to know
what the kingdom of God looks like. You need
to be able to see the back of the signs at the
edge of the kingdom of God when you're about
to leave it and say, no, turn back. I need to
be where I'm supposed to be. You need to know
what it's like to live in the kingdom of God
and embrace that as your daily routine. Because
as much as you may think you're smarter than
the next guy, and there's a lot of very smart
people in this room, as much as you might think
you're stronger than the next guy, God has not
literally broken open the side of the mountain
and flowed water for you. God has not made you
mighty to pick up a fresh jawbone of a donkey
and slay. thousands. And therefore, it is entirely
possible that we, like Samson, could fall away
if we do not understand that the kingdom of God
is largely about the things that go on day to
day. We talked to you about the edge of the kingdom
of God for a moment. As people approach the kingdom
of God, so this is to say before they are saved
or before they're submitted to God, there's a
border there. There shouldn't be a brick wall,
which is to say people come in and maybe they
act a little different. They're struggling. to
grasp the things of the kingdom or whatever.
And Christians should not be saying, no, no,
stay away until you get yourself under control.
Stay away until you stop doing that. There should
not be that brick wall of legalism holding people
out, which means there's also not a brick wall
of legalism holding us in. There are signs, signs
of radical hospitality. Like when people come
in here, they should be welcomed in. The sign
should say, you are welcome here. And we should
be like that to people. when they're approaching
the borders of the kingdom of God. And then when
people are struggling and they're not living
the way they should and they get near the edge,
they should notice that they are withdrawing
from presenting radical hospitality to other
people and welcoming them in. They should notice
then that maybe they're not feeling connected
to that radical hospitality effort anymore. There
should be unexplainable peace. We talked a little
bit about indecision -making a couple weeks ago
on a Tuesday night. about how you should have
a peace in the Lord. You should know that God
is taking you in the direction that he's taking
you. There should be a peace that goes beyond
understanding, right? And when you get near the
kingdom of God and you're about to leave it,
you should experience a trembling, a struggle
in the peace. Like, ah, I think I'm about to
walk away from the peace. And a tangible sense
of sacred space. Like when we come in here, this
is God's place. I understand it's just a building.
We were blessed with it, miraculously given to
us, whatever. But this is God's place. When we
come here on Sunday, we meet like this. God is
here. If you can't feel God, and I'm not talking
about emotion, if you can't feel God right now,
you need to reach out to the Lord and say, God,
please, let me draw near to you. Draw near to
me. Help me experience whatever it is that I'm
supposed to experience here. And I'm not talking
about experiential Christianity. But to be in
the presence of the Lord is a markable thing.
And when you get to near the edge of the kingdom
of God like you're going to leave, you should
feel like you're walking away from the greatest
thing that you've experienced. I have a problem
with people like, well, I don't really need to
go to church. I submit to you that people that
don't really need to go be with the church have
not experienced this unsurpassable, this tangible
sense of sacred space that God provides. If you
don't need to be amongst God's people, then you
probably don't understand what it means to be
amongst God's people. The edge of the kingdom
should feel like a sanctuary from the exhaustion
of the world. And that for those who are walking
away, it should be like surrendering those, that
sanctuary. It's exactly what happens in Samson's
life. We're not going to get ahead and look at
that, but that's exactly what happens. He surrenders
the sanctuary that is the God of heaven. He surrenders
the sanctuary. Isaiah 57, 6 says this. He says,
Isaiah spoke and then probably wrote. These I
will bring to my holy mountain and give them
joy in my house of prayer, talking on behalf
of God, for my house will be called a house of
prayer for all nations. The edge of God's domain
is explicitly designed to welcome the outsider
and so that those who are inside the kingdom,
when they are leaving there, they realize they
are leaving that place in which the things of
God are done. They're leaving that people in
which the things of God take root and never are
released. Are you a person in which the things
of God have taken root and you would never release
them? For 20 years, Samson was that person. Matthew
11, 28, 30 says, Jesus invites those on the outside
who are weary and burdened to come to him for
rest. The boundary of God's rule is defined by
relief on the way in, not a heavier yoke. But
this is the amazing thing. Can you believe that
people who are inside the kingdom of God And
it's people who are like, oh, it's just too much
trouble to read my Bible. It's just too much
trouble to give up my finances. It's just too
much trouble to serve those extra hours a week.
I work my 40, 50, 60, 70 hours, but I can't find
time in the 168 -hour week to put in 3, 4, 5,
or 50, if you're not working, hours serving the
Lord. It's just too much. And so that yoke somehow
begins to look like it's too much, and they go
instead and choose a yoke that will carry them
into eternal damnation. Does that make any sense
at all? It is because we have forgotten that
the yoke of Jesus, the yoke of God is light because
the actions that he has called us to build us
up and make us strong while the actions that
our flesh desires suck the life out of us. And
when somebody reaches the boundary of the kingdom
of God, they should realize I am walking away
from a better lifestyle. Yes, there's service.
Statistically, Arden and I got talking about
this while we were traveling. Statistically,
people recover from anxiety and depression. by
serving other people. They also recover by medicine
and counseling. It's true. It's a fact. In fact,
especially those who don't serve other people.
98 % or something. That's a very high number
of people that recover when they take medicine,
have counseling, and also serve. But if you take
the medicine away, it's still 90 -some percent.
And if you take the counseling away, it's still
90 -some percent, which means that you must serve
other people. You have to find a way to step
outside your schedule. And you might have to
divorce yourself from the TV and say, I can't
marry you anymore. I've got to go and serve the
people of God. Heaven forbid you should ever
come to a moment where you have to divorce yourself
of your own life or of your family to serve God.
When people are about to walk out of the domain
and choose a heavier yoke, they should be aware.
Colossians 4, 5, and 6 says this. Be wise in
the way that you act toward outsiders. That's
those who are coming into the kingdom of God.
And you could even say that those who have stepped
out, right, make the most of every opportunity.
Let your conversation always be full of grace,
seasoned with salt. So those who are in the kingdom
of God should be surrounded by people with conversation
full of grace and salt. And so when you get out
there on the edges, you'll find a lot of people,
their conversation is not grace and salt. And
so you cross through that and get out away from
God completely. You find almost everybody's conversation
is not grace and salt. Salt, by the way, is being
called. It's being taught. It's being led. It's
being disciplined. It's being confronted for
your bad behavior before you get out. That's
what the salt is all about. The grace is we love
you no matter what, but please hear me. This
is not good for you. And that's the way we should
be treating each other inside here. And when
you get out there and it's not like that, you'll
realize it. The kingdom of God is given this
image. Let me tell you like a parable for a second.
Imagine you're a weary traveler. You're driving
through a blinding, freezing rainstorm on a dark
highway. You've been driving for hours and hours
and hours without seeing any sign of a place
to stop. The gas tank is on fumes. You're going
to run out of gas. And up ahead, you see a warm
amber glow of a porch light on a sturdy homestead.
There is a big house. There is a roof protecting
from the rain. There is a light shining, glowing.
And when you pull up to the door, you're met
with an interrogation or a locked gate. No. Now,
the kingdom of God is a place where when you
pull up to that door, you are met with an open
door, a dry towel. Now, there is a perimeter
that marks the exact boundary. You have to actually
go to the house, right? You have to actually
go there for the sustenance, go there for the
protection, get the towel, ask the person for
help. And you should, when you're inside the
kingdom of God and that is who you've become,
you are that safe place and people come to you.
And whether or not you can give them the help
that they ask for, you can certainly pray for
them. You can certainly share the gospel. You
can certainly stand up and represent, right,
Jesus. The edges of kingdom should feel like
that porch in both directions. I can't leave
the kingdom of God because others may come who
need Jesus. I can't leave the kingdom of God
because I am a provider of sustenance. I am an
ambassador for the Lord. And that brings us...
to what it looks like inside the kingdom of God.
There are obvious differences. When people interact
with citizens of the kingdom, they should notice
a striking, like it's completely different from
what the world is like. The world is driven by
self -preservation. Everybody wants to get ahead.
They're waiting for their boat to come in. I
want a promotion. I want more money. I got to
buy this. I got to buy that. I need to feed my
flesh. Sometimes it's about retaliation. I got
to get back at them. They did this to me. I'm
going to make them understand that what they
did was wrong. Sometimes it's about anxiety and
fretting and worrying. I'm upset. about where
this is going, what's going to be the outcome,
etc. Kingdom citizens live by a different economy.
If you have experienced the God of heaven and
you understand that this kingdom that we live
in, the economy is different here. Those things,
we don't trade on retaliation, self -preservation,
anxiety. We don't motivate by being angry at
people or by bringing guilt into their life.
That is not how we live. Galatians 5, 22 and
23 gives the fruit of the Spirit. It begins like
this, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self -control.
And when you are surrounding yourself by people
who are Christians, you're living inside the
kingdom of God, you should be experiencing those
fruits. You should be able to see them. And if
you're a person who's in the kingdom of God and
you can't see them in you, I suggest you draw
a little closer to Christ. I suggest you spend
a little more time in the Word or prayer. Quit
your job and get busy following Jesus. Quit your
education and get busy following Jesus. Because
the fruit of the Holy Spirit looks like that.
If it ain't present, you ain't in. And you will
still have to dress. And sometimes when you dress,
you'll get the buttons wrong. And you will still
have to do the laundry. And sometimes it will
take longer than you like. And you will still
have to cook your meals. And sometimes you'll
burn it. And you will still have to deal with
difficult people, even some of them inside the
kingdom of God, who are not currently exhibiting
the fruits of the Spirit. And it will be trying.
And yet, for you to remain close to Jesus, the
fruits of the Spirit should be showing up inside
you. These traits are profoundly disruptive in
a culture of outrage and self -indulgence. Do
you understand that when you're being persecuted,
you should be being persecuted because you are
obviously different. Someone has come up to the
border of the kingdom of God. You're inside the
kingdom of God. You're entreating them to come
into the kingdom of God to accept Jesus Christ
as Lord and Savior. You're exhibiting the fruits
of the Spirit. And they go, I don't like that.
He won't retaliate against me. I come back to
the martyrs who over and over and over again,
you see them like Jesus, try and forgive them
for they know not what they do. I think of the
man in Korea who was a young missionary and he
was trying to lead his village to Christ. And
the army came in and they persecuted him repeatedly.
And so finally they took him and his wife and
his two children out into the wilderness and
made them dig a mass grave for the four of them.
standing over them with AK -47s, threatening
to kill them, threatening to beat them, beating
them occasionally when they didn't work fast
enough. And then he put the man's wife and children
down in the grave, three soldiers. He put them
down in the grave that they had forced them to
dig. And he told the man to recant Christ. They
said, recant Christ. Tell us that you're not
a Christian. We'll let you all go. And they would
not. And the children began to cry. Do you hear
it? We're being invited right now to the greatest
feast that will last forever. We're going to
a great celebration that will never end. And
that was the straw that broke the camel's back
or the man's unwillingness to deny Christ. I
don't know what it was for sure. But they opened
fire and killed that woman and those two children.
And they made the man bury them, put the dirt
back on top of them. And then they took him,
blubbering like an idiot, beaten within an inch
of his life, and tossed him on the floor of his
hovel where he lay for two days in sorrow and
despair and pain. And then he got up. and began
to preach the gospel again. Now you tell me,
what in your life, what in my life compares with
that? Several days later, one of the soldiers
came in and says, you still preaching Jesus Christ
after what God let happen to you? And he shared
the gospel with him and he got saved. And then
that soldier went and told one of the other soldiers
what had happened. When it fast forward, that
young missionary became the pastor of what became
the largest church in the world. They couldn't
meet him. A public place. So they met everywhere.
Under trees, in basements, back rooms. At one
point in time, it was estimated that the church
was 400 ,000 strong. 400 ,000. We've got to dress,
eat, walk, talk, act, serve, give, like we are
in the kingdom of God, even when the AK -47.
is pointed at us. And if then, then surely when
you're choosing your clothes and doing your dishes
and so on. The fruits of the Spirit are profoundly
disruptive in a culture of outrage and self -indulgence,
and so should they be, so that people might know
that they are on the border of the kingdom of
God. John 13, 35 says, By this, everyone will
know that you are my disciples, if you love one
another. You know how the world knows that we
are in the kingdom of God? And they are not because
here people love each other. And I get it because
even after being saved, we're all flawed, fall,
struggle, stupid sometimes, right? All of us.
And somebody being dumb in your presence or being
rude in your presence does not give you the right
to not love. Because here is the point. If you
do not love one another, if we as a body do not
love one another, then how will the world know
when they are outside the boundary that there
is somewhere? a sacred place, a sacred people
in which God's love abides. And we practice it
toward one another. Distinct love within this
community is the ultimate visible marker. But
notice that you can see the back of the sign
as well. When you're on the way out, you will
note that you have struggled. to love people
who have wronged you. You have struggled to pray
for fervently the hurts of others that you are
aware of that are in this fellowship, that you
have not gone out of your way to make the contact.
So no one went out of their way to make a contact
with me. Where in the Bible does it say you only
do what God tells you to do when others do what
they are told to do? In your life, someone had
better make the first move and it already has
been done in that it was Jesus and he has already
won. And you're supposed to be following him,
not looking at the other sheep and how they're
screwing up and failing to love and whatever,
not forgetting, as you go about your daily difficulties,
what it means to be a member of the kingdom of
God. My next illustration is a little painful
for me because I am not, as you might have noticed
by hearing my singing, very musically inclined.
But I have had the opportunity to attend a few
orchestras over the years. And I know that if
you go kind of early, You'll hear the orchestra
warming up and tuning and so on, even if you're
just in your seat for a few minutes before it
starts, because it pretty much goes right up
until the beginning. And then suddenly, usually
there's a single note, and everybody sort of
tunes their instruments or plays their instruments
in tune with that note. And then a certain man,
a person, I call him a conductor, steps up in
front of the orchestra, and it's orderly. It's
harmonious. It's beautiful. This is what you
and I need, and it ain't me, and it ain't you.
And so every time you start to think that everybody
in your life should get them in an orbit around
you, should start to do the things that you want
them to do, and your personal preferences start
to think, well, that person's not right, man.
They're not doing what I want them to do. Every
time that happens, you remember, it ain't you.
You're not the one. You're not the one who's
supposed to lead the kingdom of God. You're not
the one whose preferences should be taken into
account. It's Jesus. And yes, if you see sin
in another person, Grace and light requires that
you go to that person and talk to them and try
to haul them back before they walk essentially
out of the kingdom of God. When the world screams
revenge, the kingdom citizens offer forgiveness.
When the world hoards, the kingdom citizens give.
The difference is as obvious as symphony, that
beautiful sound, versus, say, the noises of traffic
or in the child cafeteria in the elementary school
before they switch the lights off. There is a
cacophony of noise that is not the kingdom of
God. It is God's people following Jesus and moving
in the correct direction that Jesus is taking
us. You will find us loving one another, exhibiting
the fruits of the Spirit. You will find us profoundly
disruptive to the world's culture, but united
with one another. The activities of the kingdom
then amount to this, the duty of kingdom ambassadors.
When you got saved, this became your job. We're
not on our own here. We're ambassadors. Every
action, word, and posture then, everything that
you do, say, and the way you do it and say it
directly represents Jesus. You are a kingdom
ambassador. In the olden days, an ambassador
would be sent out on behalf of the government.
And when they went there, they spoke on behalf
of the king. And if the ambassador said, we're
going to war, you got to watch out because we're
going to war. The ambassador said, you have offended
our nation. You got to watch out. You've offended
our nation. A number of times in my history,
I'll give you a few examples in a moment. I've
felt like I... was at a moment where someone
was sort of attacking the kingdom of God, and
I was present for the attack, and then I spoke
something, and later it came true. The bottom
line is this. We are Christ's ambassadors as
though God were making his appeal through us.
2 Corinthians 5 .20 We are a chosen people, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special
possession, that you may declare the praises
of him who called you out of darkness into his
wondrous light. According to 1 Peter. He has
shown you, O mortal, what is good, and what does
the Lord require of you? to act justly and love
mercy and walk humbly with your God, according
to Micah 6 .8. Many years ago, we had what was
called the ICE event. It had a couple of different
names. The bottom line is we were sharing the
gospel with people on the streets, going door
to door, talking to people, going to the mall,
and so on. We were out at the Woodville Mall,
which doesn't exist anymore, spoiler. And while
we were there, I almost got arrested. The police
were called. Me and the guy who was with me who
was sharing the gospel evangelist, I'm going
to call him that, and another member from our
church, and I think I remember who it was, but
I'm not positive. We were sharing the gospel
with the guy, and he was very intent. He really
wanted to know about Jesus and probably would
accept Christ based on the way the direction
of the conversation was going. And so the mall
maintenance men, who were also the mall security,
came up and they told us we had to leave. And
I went up and talked to them to keep them away
from the conversation. And they said, we've already
called the police. The police are on the way.
You're refusing to leave the premises. You're
going to be arrested. So the guy said, well,
I want to know more. I want to know about this.
I think I need this. I'm at kind of like that
spot in my life where it's amazing that we're
here having this conversation today. So we walk
out to the guy's car. The security and maintenance
guys follow us and the police are pulling in
the parking lot. So the guy says, well, I can't
get in trouble with the law. And we asked him
if we could meet across the street, like at Circle
K or something, and continue the conversation.
And he was too freaked out. And he declined.
So that day, at least, he did not accept Christ.
We got in our vehicles and we left and I didn't
get arrested. So about a week later, I put in
a call to the manager of the mall. And I said,
you know, look, we were there trying to talk
to people, public space. We're there trying to
talk to you about Jesus. And your guys chased
us out. And they even threatened to have us arrested.
And all we were doing was talking. We were talking
to somebody who wanted to talk. And he says,
well, I hear you saying that, but this is what
I'm going to tell you. Nobody at the mall wants
to talk. So we have determined that in the mall,
this is how malls actually work. People find
out about a sale. They go to the exact store
they want to go to. They buy exactly what they
want to buy, and then they want to leave. And
they don't want anybody to talk to them while
they're there. They want good customer service
in the store they're in. But other than that,
they don't want anybody to approach them. They
don't want a hand bill. They don't want somebody
to talk to them at all or anything like that.
And I said, well, I've been in your mall. I've
been in a lot of malls. I can tell you that that
is not true. Malls are all about community. If
you don't make your mall about community, if
it doesn't become about people can talk to each
other, people are going to sit in the mall waiting
for someone to talk to them because they have
no one. So that's not true at all. I said, if
you don't change that, your mall will be gone.
And he said, well, you'll pardon me if I say
this to you. I've been a manager of malls for
20 years. I'm new here, Woodville Mall, but a
manager of mall for 20 years. And I just don't
believe you. And I said, well, I'll tell you,
I'm telling you in the Holy Spirit, God is speaking
to my heart that your mall. will die if you don't
change your policies. Less than two years later,
Woodville Mall died. It didn't tear down right
away. People moved back into it and they tried
to keep it going and then the heat went out and
then the roof went out and the mall just now
does not exist. Sherry and I had a favorite restaurant
across town. It's a more recent story. We used
to go there about four times a year on date night.
We went there one night and they refused to give
us a table and said, you've got to wait an hour
and 20 minutes, even though there were tables
empty throughout the whole restaurant. They just
didn't have enough personnel, I guess, which
really offends Sherry and I because we both worked
in a restaurant. We're like, all you got to do
is put people on the clock and you could serve
these tables, right? And so now you're making
people wait an hour and 20 minutes to get a table.
So eventually we get out in the car and we found
out you can reserve a table online. So we reserved
a table online. Then we go inside and they say,
well, if you were on, we have a policy. If you
were on our waiting list, it's an hour and 20
minutes, and you reserve a table online, not
only can you not have a table now, but you have
to wait an hour and 20 minutes from now. So you
start again, which we were. By that time, it
was 40 minutes. So we only had about 40 more
minutes. We could get the table, the original
table that we asked for. And they said, no, you
got to wait an hour and 20 minutes from now.
It starts over. And I said, well, I didn't talk
to the manager. So I talked to the manager. The
manager said, so here's a gift card. Come back
and try us again another time. And I'm like,
well, there's a table. And he's like, no, you
can't have a table. You got to wait an hour and
20 minutes. I said, it's a ridiculous policy.
I said, let me tell you this. And I'm telling
you this as a man of God. If this is your policy,
mind you, this is a restaurant that I liked very
much. And I like their food. I could go there.
I could get the kind of thing that I liked. I
said, this is your policy. Your restaurant will
cease to exist. Now, as he's standing there,
I'm sure he's like, what do you know? Our restaurant
is so busy, we can't keep up with staffing. We
can't fill all our tables. We're on a wait list
an hour and 20 minutes. We're so busy. You don't
know nothing. I submit to you that now that restaurant
is gone. The entire chain went bankrupt. And
not only is that restaurant gone, but all of
those restaurants are gone. Now, what I'm saying
to you is not that I'm anybody. What I'm saying
to you is that the Lord God of heaven knows your
exact circumstances. It also says in the Bible
that you will answer for every idle word that
comes out of your mouth. Now, if I didn't want
that restaurant to go out of business, I probably
should have kept my mouth shut. But since I felt
led of the Lord to say what I said, I really
couldn't. I wish I had listened to myself when
I spoke, because later, after I told him that,
about four months later, I went to Costco and
they had gift cards. I showed this story in the
van over here today. They had gift cards for
sale for about 20 % off. So I bought gift cards
to give to the employees and the volunteers for
this restaurant. Good restaurant, right? At 20
% off. And then the restaurant went, now I have
four gift cards that are worth 200 bucks that
I can't give to anybody. Because I put the, I
didn't. God put the restaurant out of business.
And you can't take them to another city because
God didn't stop by putting the restaurant out
of business. He put the whole chain of 112 restaurants
out of business across the entire country. You
understand? When people are standing at the edge
of the kingdom of God and you're standing in
the kingdom of God, You've got to represent God.
You should be the sign. Yes, hospitality. Yes,
love. Yes, draw them in. Yes, share the gospel.
But there must be a difference. I am standing
here representing God. You are standing there
representing I don't know what. Listen to me
as I talk to you about the God of the universe.
But people are so timid because here's a person
who doesn't know the Lord and they're going to
act the way people who don't know the Lord act.
And you don't want to tell them about Jesus.
That's you in the kingdom of God. That's what
you do. That's who you are. If you've accepted
Jesus, you represent him. You are an ambassador.
Yes, love them and try to draw them in. And in
both cases, I was warning him, like, please don't
do this. I didn't want to see Woodrow Mall close.
I don't want to see that restaurant close. I
was warning him, like, please don't do this.
You know people whom God is calling to a better
life, to an easier yoke, to a life in the kingdom
of God. You know who they are in your lives.
And you're not saying, look, here I am standing
in the kingdom of God. You're right there. Come
over here. Let God save you. Let God give you
a yoke that you can actually bear to build fruit
in you. Come join the effort of the kingdom of
God. And yes, while all of that is going on,
while you are wearing the crest of the king,
while you're carrying the whip open ambassador's
ID, by the way, looks about like this. While
you're doing that, still got to wash the dishes.
You still got to clean the house. you still got
to pay the bills. You probably still got to go
to work or somebody in your family does. You
have to be a human existing in humanity in order
to be the kingdom of God reflecting his presence
right next to those who don't know him. And that
brings us then essentially to our conclusion.
Took a sabbatical a while back. Sometimes I think
I need another one. And on that sabbatical, there
were two songs that... kept occurring. And finally
I asked the Lord, I said, Lord, are you trying
to tell me something? And the first song was
Turbulent Skies. Basically the song says, without
getting into the lyrics, it says that sometimes
life is hard. Sometimes it's rough. I'm going
through difficulties. But it's okay. Because
my hand is in the hand of the man. My hand is
in God's hand. So whatever I'm going through,
Lord, I trust that you're going to take care
of it. That's what it means to face turbulent
skies when you're in the kingdom of God. And
then I realized we are living in a day of turbulent
skies, like every day. Every day sometimes it's
difficult. Every day sometimes you're overcoming
extreme difficulty to even be able to do the
things that... these basic things that we're
talking about doing, or maybe to get a job or
to hold a job or to pay bills or to do your education
in a godly way or to interface with people who
are living outside the kingdom, whatever. So
we're living in a day of turbulent skies. And
so we must be armored. We must be practicing
spiritual disciplines. We must be trusting the
Lord. We should be wielding the sword of the
Spirit because we're living in a day of turbulent
skies. The second song, then, is a little humorous
in light of that one. It is These Are the Days.
These are the days. They are the day in which
you represent God and you can win people to Christ.
Don't you understand that the world, and I get
it, a lot of them now have drifted into cults.
They've drifted into Enlightenment theology and
whatever. It's because people are interested.
There are stats that show that this generation
of young people that are coming up, that are
between like 17 and 25 right now, they are more
interested in spiritual things than any generation
for generations. And your generation or my generation.
Because if they can find something that's real,
don't you understand? I was trying to explain
this to my grandkids yesterday. Jason, are you
with me here? Listen to me. Everything that you
do on your phone, every video game that you play,
Social media, which is actually pictures or memes
about real people doing real things. Everything
that you do on your phone, except possibly reading
your Bible, all of it is not real. It's not real.
You see people, they go to like Disney World,
right? And they're like, oh, yay, Disney World.
And they spend 5 ,000 bucks, which you or I probably
can't do. And they have the greatest day. You
watch this and you're like, oh, it's so entertaining
seeing people go to Disney World, spend all this
money. And what a cool thing. I would love to
go there and do that too. And whatever. That's
not real. Because when that's over, they have
to go home. They cook their own dinner and wash
their dishes and do their laundry. And they will
not turn the camera on then. It's not reality.
And people who are in the kingdom of God should
not be checking out of reality because you're
representing the reality that saves souls as
the ambassador of Christ. And so if you spend
a few too many minutes dwelling on somebody else's
faked up reality. you'll miss the opportunity
to live in your reality and do your dishes and
do your laundry and do your bill paying and do
your working, not just to do those things, but
to do them in a way that represents Jesus Christ.
And that is what it means to be in the kingdom
of God, to exist both in turbulent skies and
to realize that while the skies are as turbulent
as they will ever get, these are the days. And
when we look at the broad sweep of scripture,
we see a fundamental truth. The climate of history
changes. Sometimes there's a civil war. Sometimes
there's a series of assassination attempts. Sometimes
the bills keep coming and the money's not coming
in. Sometimes there's a cancer diagnosis. I've
had two, two separate cancer diagnoses in my
lifetime. I'd be surprised if anybody in the
room over 35 hasn't had that as well. I have
a friend right now who just came from the hospital.
His name is John. You can pray for him. And they
told him the tumors in his body, there is literally
nothing they can do. He's a minister. And so
this is what he said. He ministers in the jails.
And he said, now I have a mobility scooter and
I just got permission. to use my mobility scooter
to go into the jails. So now I can take my scooter
in and still preach the gospel and still do the
same. And he said, that's what I'm going to do
until the day I die. And they told me there is
nothing they can do for me. So they know it won't
be long now. But until then, I will take my mobility
scooter into the jails and preach the gospel.
Where are we fussing, stressing, anxious, planning,
watching somebody else's idea of what's reality?
Live your life! and live it for Jesus Christ.
Some days are turbulent skies, dark, confusing,
heavy with personal failure. Maybe you screwed
up bad, cultural decay, spiritual warfare. Other
days are clear, unmistakable days of advancement
where we're doing something like teaching VBS
and children are hearing the gospel. I'll never
forget. I come to VBS on Main Street and Sherry
was teaching that year. She was teaching the
third and fourth graders and they had had a blow
up class, which my wife is good at dealing with
pressure. She doesn't think she is. She's humble
about that, but she is. And she had to teach
a class that was growing like crazy. Then I get
there 15 minutes before VBS is supposed to start.
She calls me on the phone. She says, I'm stuck
in traffic coming down from Detroit. I'm not
going to be there for lesson time. Can you teach
my lesson? I'm like, yeah, what is it? I'll teach
it. Sure, whatever. So I go in, I get the book.
I want to have it teach out of the book. And
as I'm teaching out of the book, God says to
me that there are a number of lost children in
the class. Their answers were pretty indicative
the way they were answering. And God said, there's
a number of lost children here. And so at one
point in time, I was finishing up the lesson.
And she had just come. And she's standing behind
the chairs. And she got there late. I'm finishing
up the lesson. And the Lord led me to 14 kids
in chairs around me. And I'm in the middle teaching
the baby S lesson. And I go up to the first kid
as led by the Lord. And I shared the gospel.
And I asked him, will you accept Jesus Christ
your Lord and Savior to begin to live for Jesus
today? He said, yes. And I went to the next kid.
And I did the same thing. And he said, yes. By
the time I was done, 13 out of 14 kids. That's
a moment of great advancement of the kingdom
of God. Now, let's say a few of them didn't really
know what they were doing. Let's say half of
them didn't really commit their life and they've
walked away from the kingdom of God. That's still
six or seven individuals who came into the kingdom
of God that day. But I'll tell you that the Holy
Spirit was there and the gospel was plainly explained
and decisions were being made. But there was
one kid whose parents were atheists and he was
an atheist and he was devout and he was actually
pretty well behaved for an atheist. He said no.
Even while the other 13, which tells me that
the other 13 were not just responding in pressure.
He was like third. And after he said no, 10 more
said yes. Amazing days of advancement are afoot.
Listen to God. Present the gospel and ask people
to get saved because that is what the kingdom
of God is about. If they approach the edge of
the kingdom of God and you treat them nicely,
you could be just doing it for customer service.
You'd be trying to manipulate them, whatever.
You could be just an overly polite person. But
if you make it all about Jesus, Ecclesiastes
3 says there is an appointed season for everything
under heaven, a time to tear down, a time to
build, a time for war, peace, to die, etc. But
let me tell you, in the kingdom of God, what
never, ever, ever, no matter how bad it is, goes
out of season, and that is giving God the glory.
If you do that, you're going to upset things.
You're going to irritate folks. But when you
get your next promotion, when you get your next
check, when you get your next problem solved,
give God the glory. When you get your next grade
card, give God the glory. I spoke with a young
man. I didn't ask him to use this illustration,
so I won't name him. He did very well on a test.
And he said, I called my friends that were in
my class, and he said, I didn't want to tell
them how well I did on the test. So I asked him,
and they all got lower grades than him. And he
said, so then after that, I didn't want to tell
them. how I did on the test. Listen to me. There
are no tests in your life except that which God
gives you as a gift. And you're meant to study.
And you're meant to work. And you're meant to
show up and use your best test -taking skills
to answer three times if there's time and get
the best grade you can get. And then you won't
have to be ashamed to say you got a better grade
than somebody else because you don't take the
glory, you give it to the Lord. And if they want
to get a better grade next time, let them come
to Jesus and live the way they ought. Samson's
life will become tragic after these events. 20
years. Some think that the first part of his
suffering takes up the first part of the 20 years
and the rest of his suffering, when he gets stupid
at the end, takes up the last part. So maybe
he didn't actually reign for 20 years. It doesn't
matter if it was 10 years. For 10 years, he got
out of bed. He put his pants on one leg at a
time. I don't know if they had socks, maybe just
sandals. He laced them up. He dressed. He worked.
He led. He saved. And then eventually he'll wind
up that desperate cry, begging God to work through
him just one more time. Don't do it. The kingdom
of God is available to you. Look at your life.
Don't do the things that you think are right.
Do the things that God has given you to do. Don't
be the kind of person that you can wake up in
the morning and feel good about yourself. Be
the kind of person that regularly checks yourself.
by what God is saying about who you are and what
you're doing. God loves you, and he's not going
to stop loving you. And he loves the people that
are outside the kingdom of God just as much as
he loves the people who are inside the kingdom
of God. And he wants them in here, and he expects
that those of us who are in the kingdom of God
will be welcoming signs. And if you're on the
way out, you should be able to see the signs.
You know what the activities of the kingdom are,
and you should be seeing them slipping in your
life. Repent and turn to the Lord. sandwiched
tightly between explosive crises in Samson's
life, in my opinion, are the full 20 years of
his quiet faithfulness as a judge. Some of you
would say, I've been a Christian for a long time.
I've done a lot for the Lord. Maybe I could have
done more, but I've done a lot. Tomorrow, get
up out of bed for the Lord. Dress for the Lord.
Prepare your meals for the Lord. Pay your bills
for the Lord. Use your mouth for the Lord. And
if you find sin, repent, turn to the Lord, turn
it over, confess it to him, and be cleansed of
all unrighteousness. And do it not for yourself,
although it is what's best for you for sure,
but for the Lord. Samson's life proves that God's
glory isn't just found in lightning strikes or
great personal victories or the desperate prayers
of our deepest valleys. His glory is... When
his people hold the line during the quiet, unremarkable
seasons in between. What was your last journal
entry? What was the last time you wrote in a
journal? You know, this is spiritual discipline
journaling, right? So we should all be doing
it to some extent. What was the last thing you
wrote? Was it a big day? Exciting day? A hard
day? Was it a normal day? A day in which you
just got up, got dressed, washed the dishes,
cleaned the house, went to bed. I submit to you
that both of those days are equally worthy of
the Lord. if they are lived for the Lord. Over
30 times in the Bible, it tells us that good
people, godly people, righteous people, and the
only way to truly have righteousness is to get
it imputed by Christ. You can't be perfectly
right. It's not possible, but you can have Christ's
righteousness. It says that righteous people
fall down. Proverbs says fall down seven times,
get up seven times, which means every time you
fall down, you keep getting back up. Maybe you've
fallen down. Maybe you're in a place where you
realize you have not on a daily basis given the
Lord glory with your house, with your chores,
with your job, with your use of your money, with
your use of your mouth, with your choices about
eating, choices about sleeping, with your choices
of entertainment. If you have not given glory
to the Lord, let me just say it this way, you've
fallen down. You're on the edge of the kingdom
of God and God may correct you in a way that
won't be pleasant. Repent and begin again to
do the things. for the Lord that you said you
would when you got saved. I don't care if it's
been 40 years. I don't care if you could say
that for 40 years you washed your dishes for
Jesus every single day, which I know is not true,
but if you could say that, how awesome it would
be. Today, wash your dishes for Jesus. I don't
care if for 40 years you say, I got up and I
worked and I took care of my family. Today, get
up, work, and take care of your family for Jesus.
I don't care if you say, like, people have said
hurtful things to me, and sometimes I struggle
in myself to be the kind of person I should be
because of what I have experienced, what I've
gone through, the way people have hurt me. Listen,
Jesus crucified, need I say more? Praying for
those who are actively crucifying him, rising
again, delivering new life, not just that day
that he rose again, but every day since, and
all the way back to Moses and even Adam and Eve.
and Abraham, and they all got saved the same
way, by the way, that God would make. Will you
get out of bed today and do the things that you're
going to do for the Lord? And if you say, I don't
know, some of the things that I'm doing, they
seem to stop me from doing for the Lord the way
I should, then stop doing them. Do for the Lord
instead. Maybe you're here today thinking about
the level of distraction that you've had. Repent.
Make room for daily decisions. So even while
the Bible gives us over 30 times in which it
says that God's people, righteous people, may
fall down and get up again, it also says that
wicked people fall. And do not rise. And it says
it a heck of a lot more times than 30. Wicked
means that you know what sin is and you do it
anyway. Fall and don't get up. Or fall and do
get up. You see, the title of the sermon is actually
a kingdom that stands out. And guess what you
have to do in order to stand out? You have to
stand, right? You have to be. You have to be
in there, chugging away, doing what it is that
God has called you to do. When it's hard and
when it's easy. When it's glamorous and when
it's almost nothing. when it doesn't feel like
it's important at all. If God has put you there
and he's given you that to do, then do it for
him. Stand. 20 years. And Abraham Lincoln went
home and worked his plantation. I'm sorry, George
Washington went home and worked his plantation.
And Abraham Lincoln, during the war, made it
so that anybody, you know, this is the guy who
was assassinated in the theater at the end. And
common folk, which means John Wilkes Boone's,
could have come to him and met with him in the
Oval Office for years. before he snuck up behind
him and put a bullet in the back of his head.
He could have come any day and just talked to
him. He probably couldn't have brought a gun
in, but he could have come any day and just talked
to him. And instead, in the end, he put a bullet
in his head. And that is where evil goes. But
goodness, that is us. Kingdom of God, folks.
We stay in there. We stand. Get back up. Submit
your life to the Lord. Don't be conformed to
the ways of the world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Romans 12. have the
praise team come forward and read us in this
final song. We are asking ourselves today, what
does it look like to remain in the name of God?
You should know what it looks like on the border.
It's welcoming, outreaching, serving, giving,
drawing folks. You should know what it looks
like inside. It's fruit and spirit, loving one
another. If you're out there on the raggedy edge,
repent. Turn to the Lord and let him be in charge.
And if you're in the thick of it and you realize
these are turbulent days, hold on to him with
all your might. Or you realize these are the
days I can do amazing things. Hold on to him
with all your might. Because someday will come
that you'll have to make a decision about whether
you want to stay. Now, I'm not talking about
losing salvation. Being in the kingdom of God
is when God is reigning in your life. Being saved
is when we've accepted Jesus Christ as Lord.
That means he's in charge and Savior. That means
he paid the price for your sin. If you've not
done that, then do that. But after that, you're
meant to live in the kingdom of God. And you
should do. And if you aren't, repent and do so.
Would you stand and sing this song with me? But
if you're responding to the invitation some way,
accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior
for the first time, repenting to return to kingdom
activities, then if you come, if the Lord leads
you, just take my hand and tell me what's on
your heart. We'll pray together and we'll share
with the group. We believe that we are never
the same. We believe that we have life in the
name of Jesus. We believe that we are never the
same. Spirit says to me right now that there's
someone in this room who has sin in their life.
And I'm thinking about that.