WEBVTT

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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We are at the

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point where we have been focusing our spiritual

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discipline. Our spiritual discipline focus for

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this six months is fasting. So fasting is a spiritual

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discipline. So we're going to back this truck

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up just for a second and talk a little bit about

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what a spiritual discipline is. A spiritual discipline

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is not, for example, something that is forced

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on you, something that is required of you, or

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something that is scheduled in your life for

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you, that's outside your control. And discipline

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is something that you choose to do, you choose

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when you do it, you choose essentially how you

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do it, and you choose then to follow through

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on your plans. That's the nature of discipline.

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If I say, for example, I'm going to get out of

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bed in the morning, the first thing I'm going

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to do is do five push -ups, first thing every

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morning. And then I get out of bed the next morning

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and I don't do those five push -ups, even though

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I said I would. And obviously that's not discipline,

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right? I didn't choose to do what I said I was

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going to do. So spiritual discipline is something

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that you can choose to do. You set up the parameters

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of it. You decide when you're going to do it,

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how you're going to do it, and then you intentionally

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follow through with that. So you can see then

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how the spiritual discipline has some side effects

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that are not necessarily the main thing, but

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some side effects. So, for example, the main

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thing might be and should be drawing close to

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God. We want to know God. We want to know more

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about God. We want to experience God firsthand.

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We want to let God affect us. All that kind of

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thing. You might be fasting. to entreat God to

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do something. Like we talked about last week

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about Esther and them entreating God to know

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that they were right by God so that when she

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came before God, if she lost her life, she'd

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be right for that. Right? When she came before

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the king. And so the side effects can be sometimes

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astonishing. So you fast for a couple of weeks,

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for example, let's say you fast from sweets.

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I'm not going to eat sugar, processed flour,

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I'm going to eat sweets for a couple of weeks.

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Now, the idea is to draw closer to God, to develop

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self -discipline, to be the kind of person God

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wants you to be. But the side effect might be

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you might lose some weight. Your mind will be

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less fogged because there's a thing where sugar

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and processed foods... cloud your mind and make

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it harder to think clearly. So now you can think

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more clearly. Or you might have the effect that

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you start getting up before your alarm goes off.

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You start thinking in the morning, by the time

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your alarm goes off, your mind says, hey, it's

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about time for your alarm to go off. You wake

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up, look, and sure enough, a minute later, your

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alarm goes off. You have side effects that take

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place. But here's the problem. This is the lesson

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for today, the thing I wanted to hone in on.

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We cannot do the fasting. We cannot do the spiritual

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discipline of prayer, giving, serving, worship,

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Fellowship, these are all certain disciplines

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that we do, right? We cannot do those things

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for the side effects. So be careful that you

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don't say, for example, like, okay, I'm going

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to diet and try to get my weight under control,

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and then think of that as fasting, as if that

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is also going to make you more godly or draw

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you closer. That's not how that works, right?

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Or if you have, we talk about fasting before

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you're fasting. I had a blood test done a couple,

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three weeks ago, and you have eight hours of

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fasting, right? Well, that eight hours of fasting

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before I had my blood test done, they did not

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yield me any spiritual fruit whatsoever. I basically

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just didn't eat far away from bed. I got up in

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the morning, I didn't have breakfast, I went

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and had my blood test done. And that's not even

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a challenge, really. It might be for somebody,

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but for most people, it would not really be a

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challenge. And so that is not the spiritual discipline

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of fasting. Let's say you're... You go to the

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doctor and find out that you're allergic to,

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insert whatever, garlic, right? You say, well,

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I love garlic in my food, but I'm not going to

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eat garlic anymore because when I eat garlic,

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I get these allergy symptoms. I get sick or whatever.

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Well, giving up garlic is not the circuit for

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fasting at that point. And you can see part of

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why that is because the situation is forcing

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it, right? You don't have any control. There's

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no discipline. Every time you eat that garlic,

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you get sick. So that's not fasting. Spiritual

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discipline is when you set it up, you decide

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what you're going to do, you decide how you're

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going to do it, and then you follow through.

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And yes, there are positive side effects that

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happen from fasting, but they are not the goal,

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nor do they themselves. If you decide to eat

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right for a few months and lose 50 pounds, that

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does not make that fasting. All right, so we're

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going to pray together, and we're going to pass

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it on to one more. Tony Tate, would you lead

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us in prayer this time? I haven't got very long

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time. Bless you, Father, in whatever that needs

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to go. Bless our family, bless the church, and

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many others as well, to let the gospel advance

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in the kingdom of God. Thank you for everything

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you give us in Jesus' name. Amen. so so A tender

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whisper. It's who you are. I can hardly think

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as lonely. is you Felicia's limping around, but

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just for the record, she was safe at first base,

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I'm told. So she paid a very dear price for that.

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We've got the fun night on Thursday for anybody

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who wants to come out and watch, or for the team,

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we're playing softball one last time, mixing

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up with the other teams, and it's kind of exciting

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to finally be done with the season. And then,

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of course, it was funny because last week I used

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an illustration about how people tend to want

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to... prolong things or restart things like that

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as soon as it's finishing. And now there is talk

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of a fall softball season. So we may be playing

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softball, some of us, yet this year. It's been

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very fun. And it is hard to let it go. So if

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you like to play softball, maybe there's an opportunity

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for you. It'll be a shorter season, five, six

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weeks. But it could be coming in about a month,

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it sounds like. All right. So we have been working

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through the book of Judges. And sometimes we

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go kind of fast and I understand that. So I'm

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going to kind of recap some things just to make

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sure everybody's on the same page. So up through

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the chapter 18 of the book of Judges, what we

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have seen is a repeated theme over and over again,

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where it says everyone did what was right in

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their own eyes. Now, what we've seen is that

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what was right in their own eyes is pretty bad

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stuff. Like they have begun to worship idols.

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They've added in a lot of false worship. They

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worship God incorrectly. They have sinned against

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God in a wide variety of ways. And last time,

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what we really saw was that it had become so

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normal that the behaviors that they had gotten

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into were really not even being questioned anymore.

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And that's where we take up chapter 18. But before

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we get to that, I want to say something about

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the story that we're about to read. So are you

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familiar at all with the story of Lot and Sodom?

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If not, let me give you just a brief synopsis.

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So Lot was Abraham's nephew, and Abraham was

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promised to have a great nation coming out of

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him, but he had had no children. And so Lot was

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with Abraham while Abraham was traveling, and

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they both became very prosperous. They had a

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lot of kids, a lot of shepherds, a lot of sheep,

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a lot of good things going on. And so they needed

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a park. So Abraham said, Lot, look at the land

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wherever you want, and you pick where you want

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to go. So Lot chose this beautiful, fertile valley

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that was composed then of Sodom and Gomorrah

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and the surrounding lands. And that's where he

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went. And he continued to prosper there, but

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he lived in Sodom. So at a certain point, Sodom

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became so sinful that God was going to destroy

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Sodom. And Abraham sort of negotiated with God,

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said, you know, please don't, please don't do

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that. Lot lives there and said, if there were

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50 righteous people that lived there, would you

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still destroy Sodom? And God said, if there's

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50 righteous, I would not destroy Sodom. I would

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let it go if there was 50. It kept getting negotiated

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down until Abraham said, if there was one righteous

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man, would you destroy Sodom? And God said, no,

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if there was one righteous man, I would spare

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the city for one righteous man. And so what winds

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up happening is that's the deal they strike.

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And God sends a couple of angels to Sodom. When

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the angels arrive in Sodom, they go to Lot's

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house. And they're visiting with Lot. And Lot

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is the one righteous man in Sodom for which God

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would spare that city. And he's living there

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with his two virgin daughters. Well, while the

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angels are there, the town hears that some strangers

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have come. And they come and they're banging

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on the door. And they plead with Lot. They tell

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Lot, let the men out so that we might have relations

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with them. That's kind of disgusting. But that

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gives you an idea of how far Sodom had fallen.

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So Sodom was populated by Canaanites. You've

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heard that term before, Canaanites. Those are

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the people that lived in the Promised Land. And

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Canaan comes out of the son Ham, who was the

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son of Noah. And he was the one who kind of betrayed

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Noah. And he was said to be living in a land

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and tempting God's people all throughout to do

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evil. And so the people of Canaan lived in Sodom.

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God hauls by the angels, hauls Lot out. He tells

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him, God, go right now, you and all your family.

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And they go out, and God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah

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with a huge fire, rains down from the sky, destroys

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both cities. You know, there's a side story there

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where Lot's wife looks back, longing for what

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they had when they were living in Sodom, and

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she's turned to a pillar of salt. Allegedly,

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you can still go there today and see the pillar

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of salt, whether that's really the pillar of

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salt or not is unknown. So Lot goes into the

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hills. So when Lot goes into the hills, some

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people think that he and his daughters thought

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that all human society was wiped out. But actually,

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if you read the story, that cannot be true, because

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God shows Lot the other cities where he could

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have gone to live, and Lot chooses to not go

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to those other cities. Instead, he chooses to

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go in the hills. But his daughters then, in desperation,

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his virgin daughters, these are the same virgin

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daughters that Lot was ready to shove outside

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to the crowd. Sodom so that they could have their

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way with his virgin daughters instead of the

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angels, right? But it doesn't wind up happening.

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The angels blind the crowd and then they pull

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Lot out. But he was ready to give up his virgin

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daughters to the crowd. So they get Lot drunk

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while they're staying in the hills. They get

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Lot drunk and have babies with Lot, with their

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dad, right? Very disgusting. I get all that,

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right? And out of that come two peoples. the

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Moabites and the Ammonites. So two sons born

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to Lot, and they become the Moabites and the

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Ammonites. So the Moabites were people that refused

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Israelite hospitality when they were coming out

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of Egypt, and they became lasting, enduring enemies

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of Israel. I'm giving you a lot of background,

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so just suck up what you can, okay? And then

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in the book of Judges already, we have seen the

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Moabite empire basically defeated by the Judges,

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okay? Judges 11, there was a super fat king named

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Eglon, who was the king of the Moabites. And

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Ehud stabbed him with a left -handed dagger and

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he killed him. And then after that, they cast

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him off. I'm sorry, that's Judges 3. And then

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in Judges 11, the Ammonites attacked Gilead over

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a land dispute. They said to Jephthah, well,

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you know, you cheated us, whatever. And Jephthah

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said, no, not actually. And they attacked and

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then they were destroyed. And so now. They still

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exist as a people around, and they're just tempting

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people to worship their false gods. They were

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really wicked. They worshiped a god that required

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human sacrifice. They worshiped false gods that

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allowed them to do all kinds of things that were

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evil and nasty. And they're around, and they've

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lured the Israelites. And so where we're at right

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now, as we go into chapter 19, is the Israelites

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have accepted a lot of those wicked things. They

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came from the Moabites. They came from the Ammonites.

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They came from the Canaanites, right? Who all

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come out of essentially where? They come out

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of lines of God's people that were wicked by

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nature. Ham was wicked, cursed by God, and then

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sponsored the Canaanites who filled the land,

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filled Sodom and those two cities. Sodom and

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Gomorrah were so wicked that God just outright

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destroyed them, right? But many Canaanites that

00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:41.279
didn't live in those cities still existed and

00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:43.200
were still luring the Israelites to do wrong

00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:46.349
things. The Moabites... were came out of that

00:20:46.349 --> 00:20:49.029
line a lot which was not the chosen line not

00:20:49.029 --> 00:20:50.910
the line of jesus not the line of abraham right

00:20:50.910 --> 00:20:55.410
and they were wicked and ruled and molested and

00:20:55.410 --> 00:20:57.450
ruled over god's people and forced them to follow

00:20:57.450 --> 00:20:59.809
false gods and so on and eventually were defeated

00:20:59.809 --> 00:21:01.990
by the judges but still exists still tempting

00:21:01.990 --> 00:21:05.329
them and i think in numbers 25 for example the

00:21:05.329 --> 00:21:10.099
ladies of the mobites um led the men of Israel

00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:12.420
to marry them and worship their false gods. And

00:21:12.420 --> 00:21:14.380
they tempted them with sex and seduced them and

00:21:14.380 --> 00:21:17.200
so on. And so really, we have a wicked people

00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:20.079
that surround. And now we have God's people becoming

00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.900
a wicked people. So we have studied through 17

00:21:22.900 --> 00:21:25.279
and 18. We saw that to the point that now people

00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:27.259
are not even asking questions. And you're going

00:21:27.259 --> 00:21:29.480
to see that a little bit again then in Judges

00:21:29.480 --> 00:21:33.069
chapter 19. Maybe give me a little hoot, a holler,

00:21:33.089 --> 00:21:35.089
amen, hallelujah, something. I know it's going

00:21:35.089 --> 00:21:36.569
to be hard. So we've got three families traveling

00:21:36.569 --> 00:21:39.069
and two families out sick. So the room is a little

00:21:39.069 --> 00:21:42.269
thin, but be with me. Come on now. This is Judges

00:21:42.269 --> 00:21:46.049
chapter 19. Thank you. All right. This is God's

00:21:46.049 --> 00:21:48.670
word. Whether I get right or wrong, what it says,

00:21:48.710 --> 00:21:50.269
it says what it says. You don't have to like

00:21:50.269 --> 00:21:51.609
it. I don't have to like it, but it says what

00:21:51.609 --> 00:21:53.809
it says. And we do have to adjust to it and let

00:21:53.809 --> 00:21:56.910
God speak. Okay. So in Judges chapter 19. So

00:21:56.910 --> 00:21:58.490
what's going to happen here, what we're going

00:21:58.490 --> 00:22:01.369
to read today really isn't. It isn't too horrible,

00:22:01.450 --> 00:22:04.190
but we can see that it's in the offing of something

00:22:04.190 --> 00:22:07.410
that's pretty bad. All right. So 19 says in those

00:22:07.410 --> 00:22:10.190
days when there was no king in Israel, reminding

00:22:10.190 --> 00:22:12.069
us that the story is continuing for everything

00:22:12.069 --> 00:22:14.490
that we've been studying. A Levite who should

00:22:14.490 --> 00:22:16.930
have been a priest, a Levite staying in a remote

00:22:16.930 --> 00:22:18.970
part of the hill country of Ephraim, acquired

00:22:18.970 --> 00:22:22.150
a woman from Bethlehem in Judah as his concubine.

00:22:22.430 --> 00:22:24.869
There are so many things wrong with that statement.

00:22:24.970 --> 00:22:27.029
First of all, the Levite shouldn't have been

00:22:27.029 --> 00:22:28.609
living in Ephraim, right? They're supposed to

00:22:28.609 --> 00:22:32.220
be focused around. Shiloh, but he's living off

00:22:32.220 --> 00:22:34.299
in the hill country of Ephraim, away from where

00:22:34.299 --> 00:22:36.619
they're supposed to be worshiping God. And then,

00:22:36.700 --> 00:22:39.920
let's say he's off. So he's on rotation. He serves

00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:41.880
the temple. Right now, he's not. Then he has

00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:44.519
a woman from Bethlehem in Judah as his concubine,

00:22:44.579 --> 00:22:50.240
not his wife. So, FYI, concubines are not biblical.

00:22:51.380 --> 00:22:54.599
All throughout biblical history, we've seen people

00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:56.440
take wives and also take concubines. They're

00:22:56.440 --> 00:22:58.400
not biblical. A concubine is like a wife with

00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:01.930
no rights. And that's not biblical, right? And

00:23:01.930 --> 00:23:03.589
so he shouldn't have had a concubine at all,

00:23:03.670 --> 00:23:07.089
but he has one. Verse two, it says, but she was

00:23:07.089 --> 00:23:09.529
unfaithful to him. So in other words, she didn't

00:23:09.529 --> 00:23:12.349
stick with him. And she left him for her father's

00:23:12.349 --> 00:23:15.809
house in Bethlehem in Judah. She was there for

00:23:15.809 --> 00:23:18.190
four months. So she's been gone away from him

00:23:18.190 --> 00:23:20.210
for four months. Then her husband got up and

00:23:20.210 --> 00:23:22.670
followed her to speak kindly to her. So he doesn't

00:23:22.670 --> 00:23:24.730
go after her to punish her. He doesn't go after

00:23:24.730 --> 00:23:28.630
her to like... make her a laughingstock in the

00:23:28.630 --> 00:23:30.569
middle of town for not being faithful or anything

00:23:30.569 --> 00:23:32.769
like that. Right. He goes after her to speak

00:23:32.769 --> 00:23:35.470
kindly to her and to bring her back. He had his

00:23:35.470 --> 00:23:38.109
servant with him and a pair of donkeys. So she

00:23:38.109 --> 00:23:41.329
brought him to her father's house. And when the

00:23:41.329 --> 00:23:44.650
girl's father saw him, he gladly welcomed him.

00:23:44.750 --> 00:23:46.029
All right. So here's what we have. So we have

00:23:46.029 --> 00:23:49.869
a man who takes a woman not to be his wife, but

00:23:49.869 --> 00:23:53.269
to be his concubine. So he's not followed godly

00:23:53.269 --> 00:23:55.230
principles in taking this woman into his life.

00:23:55.500 --> 00:23:58.380
She's got no real rights in his household. And

00:23:58.380 --> 00:24:00.980
he goes to her dad's house where she has fled

00:24:00.980 --> 00:24:03.240
after for four months. He's been there because

00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:05.980
she doesn't like it where she's at. And her dad's

00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:08.619
like, oh, I'm so glad to see you. All right.

00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:10.299
Now, if you're a dad in the room, you're not

00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:13.339
resonating with that response. Right. Exactly.

00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:14.980
That's what I'm thinking. Like, I've got an issue

00:24:14.980 --> 00:24:18.259
with you. You took this my wife into your house.

00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:21.519
You had sex with her. You did not make her your

00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:24.299
wife. You're not taking care of her. She doesn't

00:24:24.299 --> 00:24:26.579
like it there. And she came home and for four

00:24:26.579 --> 00:24:28.200
months I've been hearing and my wife's been hearing,

00:24:28.220 --> 00:24:29.559
my kids have been hearing all about the way it

00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:32.460
was. And now you come and, hey, welcome. Glad

00:24:32.460 --> 00:24:34.680
to meet you. Now, that's not how I would expect

00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:36.980
that to go. But again, we're living in a twisted

00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:41.559
time with wicked standards. All right. So it

00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:43.259
says his father -in -law, the girl's father,

00:24:43.339 --> 00:24:45.599
detained him and he stayed with him for three

00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:48.200
days. So he's providing him for three days. It

00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:50.640
says they ate, they drank, they spent the nights

00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:53.779
there. On the fourth day, they got up early in

00:24:53.779 --> 00:24:56.119
the morning, prepared to go. So the man is taking

00:24:56.119 --> 00:24:58.160
his concubine and they're leaving. Not married,

00:24:58.200 --> 00:25:00.779
but they're leaving. But the girl's father said

00:25:00.779 --> 00:25:03.519
to his son -in -law, has something to eat. Keep

00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:05.740
up your strength and then you can go. So he's

00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:07.319
going to give him some extra hospitality. He's

00:25:07.319 --> 00:25:09.359
going to entreat him to stay a little while longer.

00:25:09.779 --> 00:25:12.240
So that makes him look kind of respectable, right?

00:25:12.279 --> 00:25:14.839
He's treating him with a lot of respect. So they

00:25:14.839 --> 00:25:17.019
sat down and the two of them ate and drank together.

00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:19.539
Then the girl's father said to the man, please

00:25:19.539 --> 00:25:21.599
agree to stay overnight and enjoy yourselves.

00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:24.119
So he entreats him to stay one more night. Let's

00:25:24.119 --> 00:25:28.700
party some more. The man got up to go, but his

00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:31.079
father -in -law persuaded him. So he stayed and

00:25:31.079 --> 00:25:33.539
spent the night there again. He got up early

00:25:33.539 --> 00:25:35.539
in the morning of the fifth day to leave, but

00:25:35.539 --> 00:25:37.740
the girl's father said to him, please keep up

00:25:37.740 --> 00:25:39.819
your strength. So they wait until late afternoon

00:25:39.819 --> 00:25:42.900
and the two of them ate. The man got up to go

00:25:42.900 --> 00:25:45.039
with his concubine and his servant. When his

00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:46.720
father -in -law, the girl's father said to him,

00:25:46.759 --> 00:25:49.910
look, Night is coming. Please spend the night.

00:25:50.410 --> 00:25:52.549
See, the day is almost over. Spend the night

00:25:52.549 --> 00:25:55.329
here. Enjoy yourself. Then you can go up early

00:25:55.329 --> 00:25:59.650
tomorrow for your journey and go home. So he

00:25:59.650 --> 00:26:01.170
keeps entreating him to stay a little longer,

00:26:01.210 --> 00:26:02.750
stay a little longer. And that kind of hospitality,

00:26:03.049 --> 00:26:05.950
that kind of generousness looks good, doesn't

00:26:05.950 --> 00:26:07.470
it? Because you want people to give you stuff.

00:26:07.609 --> 00:26:09.029
Don't you feel good about people when they give

00:26:09.029 --> 00:26:11.549
you stuff? So it seems pretty good. But the man

00:26:11.549 --> 00:26:13.269
never said anything about God, never said anything

00:26:13.269 --> 00:26:15.150
about the fact that she was a concubine, not

00:26:15.150 --> 00:26:17.420
a wife. Never said anything about the fact that

00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:19.000
this Levite was not following the rules that

00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:23.180
God had laid out. So that takes us through verse

00:26:23.180 --> 00:26:30.059
9. We're going to go a little further. 10. But

00:26:30.059 --> 00:26:31.920
the man was unwilling to spend the night. He

00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:34.799
got up, departed, and arrived opposite Jabez,

00:26:34.900 --> 00:26:37.559
that is, Jerusalem. The man had his two saddled

00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:39.960
donkeys and his concubine with him. When they

00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:42.319
were near Jabez, and the day was almost gone,

00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:44.579
the servant said to his master, Please, why not

00:26:44.579 --> 00:26:47.960
let us stop at the Jebusite city and spend the

00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:50.079
night here? So they want to go in the city, be

00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:52.740
safe from wild animals, maybe stay somewhere

00:26:52.740 --> 00:26:54.539
warm and comfortable rather than continuing to

00:26:54.539 --> 00:26:57.220
travel. But his master replied to him, We will

00:26:57.220 --> 00:26:59.799
not stop at a foreign city where there are no

00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:03.140
Israelites. Let's move on to Gibeah. Come on,

00:27:03.180 --> 00:27:05.619
he said. Let's try to reach one of these places

00:27:05.619 --> 00:27:09.240
and spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah. So they

00:27:09.240 --> 00:27:14.440
continued on their journey. And the sun set as

00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:16.440
they neared Gibeah and Benjamin. They stopped

00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:20.200
to go in and spend the night in Gibeah. The Levite

00:27:20.200 --> 00:27:22.400
went in, sat down in the city square, but no

00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:24.460
one took them into their home to spend the night.

00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:28.160
In the evening, an old man came in from his work

00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:30.160
in the field. So first of all, it was culturally

00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:32.259
acceptable for somebody to take him in, but nobody

00:27:32.259 --> 00:27:35.980
did. Now this guy comes in, and he's going to

00:27:35.980 --> 00:27:38.160
be the one who's like shining character, in a

00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:41.220
sense. In the evening, An old man came in from

00:27:41.220 --> 00:27:43.119
his work in the field. He was from the hill country

00:27:43.119 --> 00:27:45.599
of Ephraim as well, right? So the Levite is from

00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:48.819
there and now so is he. But he was residing in

00:27:48.819 --> 00:27:54.019
Gibeah where the people were Benjamites. Benjamites,

00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:57.200
there we go. When he looked up and saw the traveler

00:27:57.200 --> 00:27:59.400
in the city square, the old man asked, where

00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:01.559
are you going and where do you come from? He

00:28:01.559 --> 00:28:03.519
answered him, we're traveling from Bethlehem

00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:05.660
in Judah to the remote hill country of Ephraim

00:28:05.660 --> 00:28:08.579
where I am from. I went to Bethlehem and Judah,

00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:11.839
and now I'm going to the house of the Lord. No

00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:15.019
one has taken me into his home, although there's

00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:17.339
straw and feed for the donkeys, and I have bread

00:28:17.339 --> 00:28:20.119
and wine for my concubine and the servant with

00:28:20.119 --> 00:28:23.539
us. There is nothing we lack. Welcome, said the

00:28:23.539 --> 00:28:26.160
old man. I'll take care of everything you need.

00:28:26.339 --> 00:28:29.619
Only don't spend the night in the square. So

00:28:29.619 --> 00:28:32.380
he brought him to his house and fed the donkeys.

00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:34.839
Then they washed their feet and they ate and

00:28:34.839 --> 00:28:38.460
they drank. So notice that we remember, don't

00:28:38.460 --> 00:28:41.339
forget that we're dealing with a time of wickedness.

00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:46.160
Right. So the city does not welcome him in. But

00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:49.019
here comes a guy who will. And he does. Right.

00:28:49.180 --> 00:28:52.400
And we find out that the guy, the Levite, could

00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:54.119
even provide for all of his stuff. He wasn't

00:28:54.119 --> 00:28:55.880
asking for any resources. He didn't need anybody

00:28:55.880 --> 00:28:57.579
to feed him. He had all the food that he needed.

00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.299
Anybody to take care of his cattle. He had to

00:28:59.299 --> 00:29:02.059
take care of the cow and so on. And yet no one

00:29:02.059 --> 00:29:04.440
would be taking him in. We've been hearing this

00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:07.130
phrase. In those days, there was no king and

00:29:07.130 --> 00:29:09.150
everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

00:29:09.269 --> 00:29:12.789
And we see a difference between the father of

00:29:12.789 --> 00:29:14.349
the concubine, who probably should have been

00:29:14.349 --> 00:29:15.950
mad about what was going on with his daughter,

00:29:16.009 --> 00:29:17.789
but he wasn't. And there was no discussion of

00:29:17.789 --> 00:29:20.230
God whatsoever. But he's offering a great deal

00:29:20.230 --> 00:29:22.970
of hospitality to the city where the man goes,

00:29:23.009 --> 00:29:24.730
where nobody wants to offer him hospitality at

00:29:24.730 --> 00:29:27.589
all. So this guy keeps entreating him. Let me

00:29:27.589 --> 00:29:29.130
give you more. Let me give you more. Let me give

00:29:29.130 --> 00:29:32.009
you more. No talk of righteousness, but very

00:29:32.009 --> 00:29:34.710
much a respectable hospitality. Where over here,

00:29:34.809 --> 00:29:37.369
nobody even cares, right? They don't have to

00:29:37.369 --> 00:29:39.210
give him anything, just a roof over his head

00:29:39.210 --> 00:29:41.150
and they won't give him anything. Now this man

00:29:41.150 --> 00:29:44.210
comes in and he sees him in trouble, basically

00:29:44.210 --> 00:29:46.430
sleeping out in the square overnight and he invites

00:29:46.430 --> 00:29:51.109
him in. Evil has become ordinary and many people

00:29:51.109 --> 00:29:53.769
in this chapter still think that they are respectable.

00:29:54.410 --> 00:29:56.630
That dad, he thinks he's respectable because

00:29:56.630 --> 00:29:59.089
he keeps offering hospitality, giving. He's not

00:29:59.089 --> 00:30:01.630
asking for anything in return. The people, they

00:30:01.630 --> 00:30:03.930
think they're respectable, right? They're living

00:30:03.930 --> 00:30:05.450
their lives, working, whatever, but they just

00:30:05.450 --> 00:30:07.190
let a stranger sleep in the square and they don't

00:30:07.190 --> 00:30:09.730
provide him with any hospitality. And now this

00:30:09.730 --> 00:30:11.930
guy thinks he's respectable. He brings him into

00:30:11.930 --> 00:30:15.690
his house. I want you to see then that sometimes

00:30:15.690 --> 00:30:19.869
evil starts with thinking you're doing the right

00:30:19.869 --> 00:30:22.930
thing and you just keep going and it's really

00:30:22.930 --> 00:30:25.309
not the right thing at all. The relationship

00:30:25.309 --> 00:30:29.009
becomes compromised between you and God because

00:30:29.009 --> 00:30:31.609
you have a standard and God has a standard and

00:30:31.609 --> 00:30:34.809
the standards are not the same. Your family maybe

00:30:34.809 --> 00:30:37.009
continues to function, saying we believe in God.

00:30:37.089 --> 00:30:39.490
I will never forget back in the day, a long time

00:30:39.490 --> 00:30:42.589
ago in the ICE event, we had some evangelists

00:30:42.589 --> 00:30:43.990
who came in from out of town and we went around

00:30:43.990 --> 00:30:45.670
and talked to people, knocked on doors and talked

00:30:45.670 --> 00:30:47.349
to people in the street and whatever. And we've

00:30:47.349 --> 00:30:48.630
done a number of things like that. But there

00:30:48.630 --> 00:30:52.799
was one girl who was coming to our... This is

00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:54.519
a young girl. I think she was 11 or 12 years

00:30:54.519 --> 00:30:59.200
old. And she was a professing Christian. Her

00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:01.000
mom would not let her get baptized, but she was

00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:02.799
a professing Christian. And she was pretty devout.

00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:04.680
She was reading her Bible. She was praying. She

00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:06.119
was serving in the church. She was doing stuff.

00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:08.380
Always had a smile on her face. Joy of the Lord.

00:31:08.900 --> 00:31:10.880
And I talked to her about the way it was at home.

00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:12.700
And she said, well, we keep our Bibles on our

00:31:12.700 --> 00:31:14.880
nightstands. And my mom always encourages us

00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:16.319
to read our Bible every night before we go to

00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:18.839
bed. And I'm like, well, that's cool. And so

00:31:18.839 --> 00:31:21.119
we pray before we eat. That's cool. And I started

00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:22.759
thinking in my head, I think, you know, I think

00:31:22.759 --> 00:31:25.180
maybe maybe she lives in a Christian household

00:31:25.180 --> 00:31:28.380
and there's just something wrong about the way,

00:31:28.380 --> 00:31:30.220
you know, they don't understand that they should

00:31:30.220 --> 00:31:31.660
be plugging the church. They should be serving

00:31:31.660 --> 00:31:32.960
the kingdom. They should be doing these things.

00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:34.880
I was thinking about that. Then the ICE event

00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:37.700
came up and it and that put me knocking on her

00:31:37.700 --> 00:31:41.160
door. So I knocked on her door and her mom was

00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:45.630
home and she was not. And the man of the household

00:31:45.630 --> 00:31:47.329
was not home as well. And they were not married,

00:31:47.369 --> 00:31:49.309
but that's irrelevant in this story. The bottom

00:31:49.309 --> 00:31:53.650
line is, she was the only one home. And so I

00:31:53.650 --> 00:31:55.910
started talking to her about Jesus. And the truth

00:31:55.910 --> 00:31:58.410
is, I had two women with me and they went over

00:31:58.410 --> 00:31:59.710
to the side and sat down because the conversation

00:31:59.710 --> 00:32:01.470
took like 40 minutes. They went over to the side

00:32:01.470 --> 00:32:03.289
and sat down and they were praying. And they

00:32:03.289 --> 00:32:04.910
were praying for her. And they were praying for

00:32:04.910 --> 00:32:07.799
me. And before we were done, that woman... prayed

00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:09.960
to accept Jesus Christ as Lord for the first

00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:12.859
time. Now, I had begun to think in hearing the

00:32:12.859 --> 00:32:14.700
stories of her household about Bibles on the

00:32:14.700 --> 00:32:18.059
nightstand, about praying before meals and no

00:32:18.059 --> 00:32:20.359
foul language allowed and being respectful of

00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:22.980
your parents. I began to think that that household

00:32:22.980 --> 00:32:25.660
maybe had some saved people in it. But when I

00:32:25.660 --> 00:32:29.420
talked to her, she was open and honest. She was

00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:32.220
very transparent about it, right? She said, I'm

00:32:32.220 --> 00:32:34.460
not saved. I know I'm not saved. What does it

00:32:34.460 --> 00:32:36.859
actually mean to be saved? And we talked about

00:32:36.859 --> 00:32:39.099
it, and she prayed to accept Christ. In this

00:32:39.099 --> 00:32:43.240
story, we see hospitality. Everyone seems pleasant.

00:32:43.640 --> 00:32:47.400
The customs and appearances. Yet no one is asking,

00:32:47.500 --> 00:32:51.400
what does God require? People are clinging to

00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:54.740
traditions, and we do that a lot today. When

00:32:54.740 --> 00:32:59.480
my parents were young, my dad was 18. He got

00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:03.049
my mom pregnant. She was 16, almost 17. And it

00:33:03.049 --> 00:33:05.509
was traditional then, very much cultural, that

00:33:05.509 --> 00:33:08.170
if you got pregnant, you got married. And so

00:33:08.170 --> 00:33:09.609
my parents were like, it's no problem. We want

00:33:09.609 --> 00:33:11.250
to get married. We love each other. We'll live

00:33:11.250 --> 00:33:12.470
together for the rest of our lives. I was too

00:33:12.470 --> 00:33:14.710
young, really, but we want to get married. And

00:33:14.710 --> 00:33:17.250
so they could not get married in the church building

00:33:17.250 --> 00:33:19.529
because my mom was pregnant with my brother.

00:33:19.869 --> 00:33:22.730
And so they got married in my grandparents' living

00:33:22.730 --> 00:33:24.519
room. Now, they got married in my grandparents'

00:33:24.740 --> 00:33:26.460
living room because, quote, it was the right

00:33:26.460 --> 00:33:28.319
thing to do. My dad had got her pregnant, so

00:33:28.319 --> 00:33:29.980
it was the right thing to do. They got married

00:33:29.980 --> 00:33:33.180
there with my dad's parents there and my mom's

00:33:33.180 --> 00:33:35.700
mom was there because it was the right thing

00:33:35.700 --> 00:33:38.359
to do. They stayed together for life because

00:33:38.359 --> 00:33:40.759
it was the right thing to do. Now, fast forward

00:33:40.759 --> 00:33:44.839
40 years. 40 years later in a church in Tennessee,

00:33:44.940 --> 00:33:47.059
my mother accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and

00:33:47.059 --> 00:33:49.960
Savior. There's a lot of things that people are

00:33:49.960 --> 00:33:52.119
doing and trying to be honest. Everybody knows

00:33:52.119 --> 00:33:54.339
you should basically be honest. You shouldn't

00:33:54.339 --> 00:33:57.720
get caught in a lie, at least. And there's a

00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:00.160
lot of things that people are trying to do that

00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:04.079
they think are right. And it's hard. And they

00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:05.619
get it right sometimes and they don't get it

00:34:05.619 --> 00:34:08.559
right sometimes. And in this story, we see people

00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:11.599
who think they have a standard. They seem respectable.

00:34:12.590 --> 00:34:14.489
Right. They're doing what somebody else might

00:34:14.489 --> 00:34:17.769
not do. But the truth is their heart is not necessarily

00:34:17.769 --> 00:34:21.610
right. Sometimes would be Christians or people

00:34:21.610 --> 00:34:23.889
think they're Christians take on Christian culture,

00:34:24.010 --> 00:34:26.349
Christian schools, Christian politics, Christian

00:34:26.349 --> 00:34:31.210
families. Right. They automatically produce good

00:34:31.210 --> 00:34:34.389
things because they think they are Christians,

00:34:34.510 --> 00:34:39.690
but they are not actually right by God. Only

00:34:39.690 --> 00:34:43.139
transformed hearts. will produce the righteousness

00:34:43.139 --> 00:34:47.059
that God is looking for. And in this story, there

00:34:47.059 --> 00:34:51.260
are no transformed hearts. There are hospitable

00:34:51.260 --> 00:34:53.699
people, respectable people, people with good

00:34:53.699 --> 00:34:56.099
reputations, people that think that they're right,

00:34:56.219 --> 00:35:00.480
but their hearts are not transformed. Notice

00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:04.900
then that evil often waits quietly until circumstances

00:35:04.900 --> 00:35:08.460
reveal that, reveal the truth that we're seeing.

00:35:08.599 --> 00:35:11.289
So now go back to the text for a minute. We already

00:35:11.289 --> 00:35:13.349
know that the people of Gideon are pretty kind

00:35:13.349 --> 00:35:17.510
of like withdrawn from the Levite and his concubine

00:35:17.510 --> 00:35:21.170
and servant, right? And now it begins in verse

00:35:21.170 --> 00:35:23.929
22 that we see something happen. Verse 22, while

00:35:23.929 --> 00:35:26.110
they were enjoying themselves, all of a sudden

00:35:26.110 --> 00:35:28.710
wicked men of the city surrounded the house and

00:35:28.710 --> 00:35:32.550
beat on the door. They said to the old man who

00:35:32.550 --> 00:35:35.349
was the owner of the house, bring out the man,

00:35:35.349 --> 00:35:38.750
the man, sorry, the man who came to your house

00:35:38.750 --> 00:35:41.119
so we can have sex with him. Now, that's this

00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:44.920
translation. In the actual Hebrew, it uses a

00:35:44.920 --> 00:35:49.420
word that means to know him intimately. Now,

00:35:49.460 --> 00:35:51.639
whether that means sex for sure or not, but it

00:35:51.639 --> 00:35:53.900
means to know him intimately, not just to talk

00:35:53.900 --> 00:35:56.920
to him, not just like a conversation with him,

00:35:56.980 --> 00:36:00.420
but to know him intimately. And so in this translation,

00:36:00.579 --> 00:36:02.539
it says that we can have sex with him, which

00:36:02.539 --> 00:36:05.269
is probably pretty accurate. The owner of the

00:36:05.269 --> 00:36:07.849
house went out and said to them, please don't

00:36:07.849 --> 00:36:11.110
do this evil. See, they can identify, he's identifying

00:36:11.110 --> 00:36:13.650
that that is an evil thing. But now listen to

00:36:13.650 --> 00:36:16.150
his logic. He says, please don't do this evil,

00:36:16.230 --> 00:36:19.449
my brothers. After all, this man has come into

00:36:19.449 --> 00:36:22.289
my house. Don't commit this horrible outrage.

00:36:22.449 --> 00:36:24.809
See, he's appealing that they should not take

00:36:24.809 --> 00:36:27.889
the man outside and have sex with him because

00:36:27.889 --> 00:36:32.210
he took him into his house. Not because it's

00:36:32.210 --> 00:36:35.190
wrong. Not because God says it's wrong. Not because

00:36:35.190 --> 00:36:37.929
God has destroyed Sodom. You know the story.

00:36:38.110 --> 00:36:40.949
So did they. In fact, the people who read this

00:36:40.949 --> 00:36:42.230
story in the book of Judges would have known

00:36:42.230 --> 00:36:44.809
intimately the story of Sodom and how God had

00:36:44.809 --> 00:36:46.789
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for similar sin

00:36:46.789 --> 00:36:49.530
to this. And that's not what he says. Consider

00:36:49.530 --> 00:36:53.309
how God treated Sodom after they tried to sleep

00:36:53.309 --> 00:36:55.630
with the angels. No, he doesn't say that. He

00:36:55.630 --> 00:36:57.409
just says, but I took this man into my house.

00:36:57.670 --> 00:37:00.769
We have a custom. I have a responsibility to

00:37:00.769 --> 00:37:02.949
provide them with safety. You should leave them

00:37:02.949 --> 00:37:04.809
alone and let me provide them with hospitality,

00:37:05.210 --> 00:37:08.949
right? Even subtly under the current, he might

00:37:08.949 --> 00:37:10.989
be saying, at least wait until the morning when

00:37:10.989 --> 00:37:15.050
they leave, right? Because that's what the text

00:37:15.050 --> 00:37:18.449
is saying. Don't commit this horrible outrage

00:37:18.449 --> 00:37:22.789
because I brought them into my house. Here, let

00:37:22.789 --> 00:37:26.110
me bring out my virgin daughter and the man's

00:37:26.110 --> 00:37:29.110
concubine now. abuse them and do whatever you

00:37:29.110 --> 00:37:31.710
want to them, but don't commit this outrageous

00:37:31.710 --> 00:37:35.429
thing against this man. I mean, now if this is

00:37:35.429 --> 00:37:37.690
surprising you, I warned you, we are dealing

00:37:37.690 --> 00:37:40.710
with a people living in a period of wickedness

00:37:40.710 --> 00:37:43.429
that has become so proliferous that everyone

00:37:43.429 --> 00:37:46.269
falls to it almost immediately. And even though

00:37:46.269 --> 00:37:49.809
the man showed hospitality, showed respect to

00:37:49.809 --> 00:37:53.670
a traveler, has been generous, now under pressure

00:37:53.670 --> 00:37:56.969
of a mob beating on his door, He offers his own

00:37:56.969 --> 00:37:59.730
daughter and the Levite's concubine, which is

00:37:59.730 --> 00:38:01.949
not his property. That's not his wife. It's not

00:38:01.949 --> 00:38:05.130
his wife with no rights, right? He offers the

00:38:05.130 --> 00:38:07.849
daughter and the concubine to be raped all night

00:38:07.849 --> 00:38:11.670
so that the man can be spared. But the men would

00:38:11.670 --> 00:38:14.110
not listen to him. They're not going to listen.

00:38:14.730 --> 00:38:17.230
They want to have relations with the man who's

00:38:17.230 --> 00:38:20.929
safely in the house. So the man who was providing

00:38:20.929 --> 00:38:24.829
the shelter seized. I'm sorry, the man who is

00:38:24.829 --> 00:38:27.349
receiving the shelter, the Levite, seized his

00:38:27.349 --> 00:38:30.230
concubine. This is the woman whose father he

00:38:30.230 --> 00:38:33.349
just spent the last week with. He snatches her,

00:38:33.389 --> 00:38:36.250
probably by the arm or the hair, and he took

00:38:36.250 --> 00:38:40.550
her outside to them. And they raped her and abused

00:38:40.550 --> 00:38:43.889
her all night until morning. And at daybreak,

00:38:43.969 --> 00:38:47.570
they let her go. That morning, the woman made

00:38:47.570 --> 00:38:50.869
her way back. And as it was getting light, she

00:38:50.869 --> 00:38:54.150
collapsed at the doorway of the man's house where

00:38:54.150 --> 00:38:57.929
her master was. That concludes our text for the

00:38:57.929 --> 00:39:00.469
day. I know it's a dark text. It's a difficult

00:39:00.469 --> 00:39:03.710
text. And I spent many hours processing it mentally

00:39:03.710 --> 00:39:05.730
and spiritually this week to get us to where

00:39:05.730 --> 00:39:09.110
we are right this second. I submit to you that

00:39:09.110 --> 00:39:11.849
for a moment in this story, everything seemed

00:39:11.849 --> 00:39:14.429
hopeful. The Levite and his concubine and his

00:39:14.429 --> 00:39:16.010
servant are safe in the house. They're being

00:39:16.010 --> 00:39:18.650
treated with respect. It sounds like this guy

00:39:18.650 --> 00:39:21.190
that has invited them in is a pretty decent dude,

00:39:21.409 --> 00:39:26.550
right? He's somewhat respectable. The city appears

00:39:26.550 --> 00:39:30.789
peaceful. Nothing terrible is actually happening.

00:39:31.409 --> 00:39:36.329
But the evil has been there all along. It simply

00:39:36.329 --> 00:39:40.369
hasn't been tested. Extreme situations reveal

00:39:40.369 --> 00:39:45.230
while ordinary days conceal. So you can or the

00:39:45.230 --> 00:39:48.769
people you know can live fairly normally day

00:39:48.769 --> 00:39:53.030
in and day out respectable lives. And then when

00:39:53.030 --> 00:39:56.289
real trouble comes, when evil rears its ugly

00:39:56.289 --> 00:39:59.449
head, the evil that is in a person or in their

00:39:59.449 --> 00:40:02.250
situation or in their household jumps up and

00:40:02.250 --> 00:40:06.210
matches the evil. Pressure does not create character.

00:40:06.789 --> 00:40:09.889
People do not get better because times get tough.

00:40:11.230 --> 00:40:14.750
pressure creates character in any way is after

00:40:14.750 --> 00:40:18.329
you come out of the tough times and realize that

00:40:18.329 --> 00:40:19.449
you come out of the tough times, you realize,

00:40:19.530 --> 00:40:21.449
hey, I can do more than I ever thought I could.

00:40:21.969 --> 00:40:25.369
Not during. During, we act out of what is in

00:40:25.369 --> 00:40:29.530
our deeper urges. Our character is revealed.

00:40:30.110 --> 00:40:33.349
The veneer, that's the surface painting, the

00:40:33.349 --> 00:40:35.969
way the surface has been prepared of civilization

00:40:35.969 --> 00:40:40.590
is thin when hearts remain unchanged. I've been

00:40:40.590 --> 00:40:44.570
with a very nice guy. Seemed like he was friendly.

00:40:45.210 --> 00:40:46.750
We could have conversations. I thought we were

00:40:46.750 --> 00:40:49.110
pretty much alike. And we went to a restaurant

00:40:49.110 --> 00:40:51.670
and ordered a sandwich and it came out wrong.

00:40:52.369 --> 00:40:54.349
And apparently that was just too much and put

00:40:54.349 --> 00:40:57.110
him over the edge. And suddenly he was not a

00:40:57.110 --> 00:41:00.590
nice guy at all. And I realized something about

00:41:00.590 --> 00:41:04.230
my friend at that time. And I already knew he

00:41:04.230 --> 00:41:06.630
wasn't saved because I tried to talk to him about

00:41:06.630 --> 00:41:09.400
Christ and failed. But I realized that he had

00:41:09.400 --> 00:41:13.739
a very thin surface coat of goodness. And it

00:41:13.739 --> 00:41:15.340
covered every angle. No matter how you looked

00:41:15.340 --> 00:41:17.719
at him, he looked good. But then when something

00:41:17.719 --> 00:41:19.639
would get beyond him, something would strike

00:41:19.639 --> 00:41:21.659
him a little deeply, something would bother him,

00:41:21.800 --> 00:41:25.880
there was real evil there to be unleashed. I

00:41:25.880 --> 00:41:27.699
felt bad for the people he unleashed it upon

00:41:27.699 --> 00:41:30.300
that day to the point that I even said something

00:41:30.300 --> 00:41:32.179
and a little bit of it was unleashed upon me.

00:41:33.599 --> 00:41:36.940
Many people believe and they say, I'd never do

00:41:36.940 --> 00:41:41.010
that. But scripture teaches, Jeremiah 17, 9,

00:41:41.269 --> 00:41:45.130
the human heart is desperately wicked. In fact,

00:41:45.130 --> 00:41:47.329
it even goes on to say, who can know it? And

00:41:47.329 --> 00:41:49.389
what's implied there is that even you cannot

00:41:49.389 --> 00:41:53.269
know your heart and what you are capable of when

00:41:53.269 --> 00:41:57.050
the situation turns dark. Without God's transforming

00:41:57.050 --> 00:42:01.190
grace, no one knows what he is capable of. I've

00:42:01.190 --> 00:42:03.030
been asked a number of times, like, if somebody

00:42:03.030 --> 00:42:04.929
was coming after your family, would you stand

00:42:04.929 --> 00:42:07.039
up? Would you be strong? Would you defeat them?

00:42:07.099 --> 00:42:08.559
Would you do whatever you have to take a bullet,

00:42:08.679 --> 00:42:14.199
wield a knife? And I pray I would. But I'm a

00:42:14.199 --> 00:42:17.119
human being. I want to. I know what I want to

00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:19.980
be in the moment of friction. And I just have

00:42:19.980 --> 00:42:22.199
to trust God that he will make me in the moment

00:42:22.199 --> 00:42:24.500
of friction what I need to be. Because I also

00:42:24.500 --> 00:42:27.500
know that in me is a weak man, a sinful man,

00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:31.539
a wicked man. Even if right now you can paint

00:42:31.539 --> 00:42:33.800
a pretty good picture. of yourself, you have

00:42:33.800 --> 00:42:37.480
to realize that if times grow rough, do you know

00:42:37.480 --> 00:42:40.219
that there were people who fist fought, literally

00:42:40.219 --> 00:42:42.420
fist fought, knocked over carts, threw each other

00:42:42.420 --> 00:42:45.619
around in aisles over toilet paper during COVID.

00:42:46.340 --> 00:42:49.300
Toilet paper. Because people were worried that

00:42:49.300 --> 00:42:51.159
they would not have something to wipe their butt

00:42:51.159 --> 00:42:55.099
with if COVID went on for a little while. FYI,

00:42:55.119 --> 00:42:57.820
you don't even need toilet paper. It's a luxury.

00:42:58.739 --> 00:43:00.800
And they were beating each other up and sending

00:43:00.800 --> 00:43:03.590
each other to the hospital. because times had

00:43:03.590 --> 00:43:06.750
grown dark, and dark times reveal character.

00:43:07.349 --> 00:43:12.289
The truth is that our best is never enough. The

00:43:12.289 --> 00:43:14.829
old man is more honorable than the rest, the

00:43:14.829 --> 00:43:17.110
Levite is better than some, the father -in -law

00:43:17.110 --> 00:43:20.110
seems generous, yet every person in the story

00:43:20.110 --> 00:43:25.130
is compromised. No hero appears. The lesson here

00:43:25.130 --> 00:43:27.690
is startling. Being better than everyone else

00:43:27.690 --> 00:43:32.230
is not enough. God never called his people merely

00:43:32.230 --> 00:43:38.389
to be less wicked. He called us to be holy. I

00:43:38.389 --> 00:43:40.809
already quoted Jeremiah 17 .9 that says the heart

00:43:40.809 --> 00:43:42.949
is deceitful above all things and desperately

00:43:42.949 --> 00:43:46.309
wicked. Listen to Romans 3 .9 -12 for a second.

00:43:46.369 --> 00:43:48.690
It says, what then? Are we better than they?

00:43:49.250 --> 00:43:51.389
In other words, as Christians, are we better

00:43:51.389 --> 00:43:55.210
than someone else? Not at all. For we have already

00:43:55.210 --> 00:43:57.889
charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under

00:43:57.889 --> 00:44:00.409
sin. As it is written, there is none righteous,

00:44:00.530 --> 00:44:03.150
not even one. There is none who understands.

00:44:03.449 --> 00:44:07.050
There is none who seeks for God. All have turned

00:44:07.050 --> 00:44:09.969
aside. Together they have become useless. There

00:44:09.969 --> 00:44:13.369
is none who does good. There is not even one.

00:44:14.429 --> 00:44:16.889
And so Paul is writing to the church at Rome

00:44:16.889 --> 00:44:19.489
that outside the kingdom of God, outside the

00:44:19.489 --> 00:44:22.230
righteousness that Jesus Christ will freely provide

00:44:22.230 --> 00:44:26.630
to you if you will accept it, there is no righteousness.

00:44:28.079 --> 00:44:31.320
Those who do good and who do good under pressure

00:44:31.320 --> 00:44:34.800
will still yield under a different pressure or

00:44:34.800 --> 00:44:38.239
a deeper pressure because in them there is no

00:44:38.239 --> 00:44:42.280
good. Isaiah 64 says it this way. For all of

00:44:42.280 --> 00:44:45.320
us have become like one who is unclean and all

00:44:45.320 --> 00:44:47.780
our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment

00:44:47.780 --> 00:44:51.679
and all of us wither like a leaf and our iniquities

00:44:51.679 --> 00:44:55.400
like the wind take us away. That's what's going

00:44:55.400 --> 00:44:57.579
on in the passage of scripture that we see today.

00:44:57.960 --> 00:45:01.599
It's not a question of whether or not a human

00:45:01.599 --> 00:45:03.900
being will yield to doing something that they

00:45:03.900 --> 00:45:05.920
should not do. It's not a question of whether

00:45:05.920 --> 00:45:08.559
or not a father will make a mistake as a parent

00:45:08.559 --> 00:45:11.519
or whether a child will disobey their parents.

00:45:11.659 --> 00:45:13.699
It's not a question of whether or not a teacher

00:45:13.699 --> 00:45:15.539
will make the wrong decision in the classroom

00:45:15.539 --> 00:45:17.639
or whether a doctor will make a mistake on the

00:45:17.639 --> 00:45:20.340
job that costs somebody mobility or even their

00:45:20.340 --> 00:45:23.090
life. It's not a question of whether or not bad

00:45:23.090 --> 00:45:25.670
things will happen when people are left to their

00:45:25.670 --> 00:45:29.849
own devices. The question is when. The question

00:45:29.849 --> 00:45:32.510
becomes how much pressure does a person need

00:45:32.510 --> 00:45:34.750
to endure or what kind of pressure do they need

00:45:34.750 --> 00:45:37.550
to endure to bring out of them the wickedness

00:45:37.550 --> 00:45:40.889
that resides in every human being? That's the

00:45:40.889 --> 00:45:46.630
reality of it. But there is hope. There is hope.

00:45:46.730 --> 00:45:49.809
And we're coming to the conclusion already. is

00:45:49.809 --> 00:45:52.909
that we need something better than our best,

00:45:53.130 --> 00:45:55.989
but there is something better offered. Remember

00:45:55.989 --> 00:46:00.389
Sodom. God judged Sodom. He said that people

00:46:00.389 --> 00:46:03.329
of Sodom, they will not repent. They are wicked.

00:46:04.210 --> 00:46:08.429
And he decided to destroy them. Here, Israel

00:46:08.429 --> 00:46:11.789
has become Sodom. And people who read this story

00:46:11.789 --> 00:46:14.829
in its original writing, written in the Hebrew,

00:46:15.090 --> 00:46:18.250
scratched out on a scroll, told from person to

00:46:18.250 --> 00:46:20.760
person, Well, I heard so -and -so say, so -and

00:46:20.760 --> 00:46:23.599
-so said, they read this scroll, and so on. They

00:46:23.599 --> 00:46:27.920
remembered the story of Sodom. They knew that

00:46:27.920 --> 00:46:30.920
the people in this story had become like the

00:46:30.920 --> 00:46:34.500
people in Sodom, and there was nothing left keeping

00:46:34.500 --> 00:46:38.980
them from deserving a reign of fire. This story

00:46:38.980 --> 00:46:42.280
too much echoes that story for them to not have

00:46:42.280 --> 00:46:46.119
known that. The difference is not that Israel

00:46:46.119 --> 00:46:49.150
is less sinful. That's not why God doesn't rain

00:46:49.150 --> 00:46:52.210
down fire and destroy Israel. It's not that God's

00:46:52.210 --> 00:46:56.909
being patient and he'll destroy them eventually

00:46:56.909 --> 00:46:58.929
when they've proven themselves as too wicked.

00:46:59.849 --> 00:47:04.550
Rather, it is God's covenant mercy. God has decided

00:47:04.550 --> 00:47:07.849
to make a covenant with certain people on the

00:47:07.849 --> 00:47:11.170
earth that the kingdom may advance and that anyone

00:47:11.170 --> 00:47:14.030
who would be willing could theoretically enter

00:47:14.030 --> 00:47:17.409
that kingdom. and come into a right relationship

00:47:17.409 --> 00:47:21.849
with God. Like righteous Lot, who was distressed

00:47:21.849 --> 00:47:23.829
by Sodom's wickedness, the New Testament describes

00:47:23.829 --> 00:47:26.170
as that righteous man, Lot, who was distressed

00:47:26.170 --> 00:47:30.110
daily, vexed daily by the wickedness that surrounded

00:47:30.110 --> 00:47:33.889
him. There are still people who are grieved by

00:47:33.889 --> 00:47:38.489
sin in the story, yet the nation itself has become

00:47:38.489 --> 00:47:42.309
deeply corrupt. God delays judgment because Israel

00:47:42.309 --> 00:47:46.010
is his covenant people. not because they deserve

00:47:46.010 --> 00:47:50.289
to be preserved. God's mercy is not saying that

00:47:50.289 --> 00:47:52.610
these wicked actions are okay. God never says

00:47:52.610 --> 00:47:55.409
that that man taking a concubine, a wife of less

00:47:55.409 --> 00:47:59.929
rights, that that's okay. Or that men raping

00:47:59.929 --> 00:48:02.429
men in the city forcibly is okay. Or that men

00:48:02.429 --> 00:48:05.590
raping unto death a concubine, that wife of lesser

00:48:05.590 --> 00:48:07.909
rights, is okay. God never says any of those

00:48:07.909 --> 00:48:09.849
things okay. God has not changed his position.

00:48:10.800 --> 00:48:12.860
God's patience is not saying that people will

00:48:12.860 --> 00:48:15.159
be accepted while they do these things. Hear

00:48:15.159 --> 00:48:18.579
me today. If you are here today and you are living

00:48:18.579 --> 00:48:21.059
in sin and you are doing so intentionally, there

00:48:21.059 --> 00:48:23.940
is nothing in scripture that says that God will

00:48:23.940 --> 00:48:30.659
accept you under those terms. What they needed

00:48:30.659 --> 00:48:35.599
and what we need today is the same. New hearts.

00:48:37.119 --> 00:48:40.829
Jeremiah 30. 31, 31 to 33, the prophet Jeremiah

00:48:40.829 --> 00:48:43.929
writes it this way, says, Behold, days are coming,

00:48:43.969 --> 00:48:46.349
declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant

00:48:46.349 --> 00:48:48.190
with the house of Israel and with the house of

00:48:48.190 --> 00:48:50.730
Judah. Not like the covenant which I made with

00:48:50.730 --> 00:48:52.570
their fathers in the day I took them by the hand

00:48:52.570 --> 00:48:55.349
to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant

00:48:55.349 --> 00:48:57.469
which they broke, although I was a husband to

00:48:57.469 --> 00:49:00.329
them, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant

00:49:00.329 --> 00:49:02.230
which I will make with the house of Israel after

00:49:02.230 --> 00:49:04.849
those days, declares the Lord. I will put my

00:49:04.849 --> 00:49:07.710
law within them and on their heart. I will write

00:49:07.710 --> 00:49:10.190
it. And I will be their God and they shall be

00:49:10.190 --> 00:49:13.409
my people. That is the very gospel itself. That

00:49:13.409 --> 00:49:16.750
is the invitation that is directed at us and

00:49:16.750 --> 00:49:20.750
at every human living being. That we might come

00:49:20.750 --> 00:49:25.070
to him and receive a new heart. Ezekiel 36 then

00:49:25.070 --> 00:49:27.230
says this way. Moreover, I will give you a new

00:49:27.230 --> 00:49:30.309
heart, put a new spirit within you. And I will

00:49:30.309 --> 00:49:32.630
remove the heart of stone from your flesh and

00:49:32.630 --> 00:49:35.130
give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my

00:49:35.130 --> 00:49:48.780
spirit within you. And then in the New Testament,

00:49:48.840 --> 00:50:02.090
in Hebrews 8, we get this. when I will effect

00:50:02.090 --> 00:50:04.050
the new covenant with the house of Israel and

00:50:04.050 --> 00:50:05.949
with the house of Judah, not like the covenant

00:50:05.949 --> 00:50:08.230
which I made with their fathers on the day when

00:50:08.230 --> 00:50:10.590
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the

00:50:10.590 --> 00:50:12.489
land of Egypt, for they did not continue in my

00:50:12.489 --> 00:50:16.150
covenant, and I did not care for them, says the

00:50:16.150 --> 00:50:18.570
Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make

00:50:18.570 --> 00:50:20.510
with the house of Israel after those days, says

00:50:20.510 --> 00:50:22.980
the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and

00:50:22.980 --> 00:50:25.099
I will write them on their hearts. See, the writer

00:50:25.099 --> 00:50:27.400
of Hebrews is saying that the covenant with the

00:50:27.400 --> 00:50:29.860
church today, with believers today, is the same

00:50:29.860 --> 00:50:31.920
renewed covenant that was promised by Jeremiah

00:50:31.920 --> 00:50:35.360
and Ezekiel, really by God through them. He says,

00:50:35.380 --> 00:50:37.000
and I will be their God and they shall be my

00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:39.599
people. And they shall not teach everyone his

00:50:39.599 --> 00:50:41.519
fellow citizen and everyone his brother saying,

00:50:41.659 --> 00:50:44.920
know the Lord. For all will know me from the

00:50:44.920 --> 00:50:47.420
least to the greatest of them. For I will be

00:50:47.420 --> 00:50:49.679
merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember

00:50:49.679 --> 00:50:52.380
their sins no more. When he set a new covenant,

00:50:52.559 --> 00:50:55.559
he has made the first obsolete. But whatever

00:50:55.559 --> 00:50:58.000
is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready

00:50:58.000 --> 00:51:01.059
to disappear. One more set of verses, 1 Corinthians

00:51:01.059 --> 00:51:04.480
1. For the word of the cross is foolishness to

00:51:04.480 --> 00:51:07.820
those who are perishing, but to us who are being

00:51:07.820 --> 00:51:11.320
saved, it is the power of God. See, in this story,

00:51:11.500 --> 00:51:13.699
we have people who are trying to appear respectable.

00:51:14.269 --> 00:51:16.530
People who are trying to have a good reputation.

00:51:16.789 --> 00:51:19.190
They're trying to follow the cultural laws and

00:51:19.190 --> 00:51:22.349
rules and look good to the people around them.

00:51:22.650 --> 00:51:26.230
But internally, they're wicked. Paul writes to

00:51:26.230 --> 00:51:28.349
the Corinthians that if we were following the

00:51:28.349 --> 00:51:30.570
wisdom of the cross to the people around us,

00:51:30.610 --> 00:51:32.969
that wisdom is going to seem like foolishness.

00:51:34.030 --> 00:51:36.610
So a good reputation or a pure and respectable,

00:51:36.949 --> 00:51:40.949
that's not our goal. 19 in that same chapter

00:51:40.949 --> 00:51:44.440
says, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and

00:51:44.440 --> 00:51:46.440
the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.

00:51:46.800 --> 00:51:49.860
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where

00:51:49.860 --> 00:51:52.820
is the debater of this age? Has not God made

00:51:52.820 --> 00:51:56.079
foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in

00:51:56.079 --> 00:51:58.099
the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom

00:51:58.099 --> 00:52:01.539
did not come to know God, God was well pleased

00:52:01.539 --> 00:52:03.900
through the foolishness of the message preached

00:52:03.900 --> 00:52:07.039
to save those who believe. Will you believe God

00:52:07.039 --> 00:52:10.320
is well pleased through the foolishness of the

00:52:10.320 --> 00:52:15.250
message preached? to save you. For indeed, Jews

00:52:15.250 --> 00:52:19.010
ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom. But

00:52:19.010 --> 00:52:22.409
we preach Christ crucified to Jews a stumbling

00:52:22.409 --> 00:52:25.489
block and to Gentiles foolishness. But to those

00:52:25.489 --> 00:52:28.710
who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,

00:52:28.849 --> 00:52:31.989
the power of God and the wisdom of God, because

00:52:31.989 --> 00:52:34.989
the foolishness of God is wiser than men and

00:52:34.989 --> 00:52:37.150
the weakness of God is stronger than men. And

00:52:37.150 --> 00:52:40.530
what I hear is an entreaty by God to this point.

00:52:40.880 --> 00:52:44.719
Please, I'm begging you, stop trying to look

00:52:44.719 --> 00:52:49.860
good. You're wasting your effort. To be respectable,

00:52:50.099 --> 00:52:54.480
to have a good reputation, that is a waste. Our

00:52:54.480 --> 00:52:57.820
hope is not better manners, better traditions,

00:52:58.039 --> 00:53:00.260
better politics, better families, better religion.

00:53:00.420 --> 00:53:03.380
All these things are quite respectable in society.

00:53:03.739 --> 00:53:07.059
But our hope is not even our best effort. Our

00:53:07.059 --> 00:53:10.789
hope is Jesus Christ. who gives what sinful hearts

00:53:10.789 --> 00:53:15.389
cannot produce, he gives a new heart, a new spirit,

00:53:15.510 --> 00:53:19.650
and a new life. There's a story in the New Testament,

00:53:19.710 --> 00:53:20.690
I won't go there and read it to you, but I'm

00:53:20.690 --> 00:53:22.329
going to recap it for you, about a man named

00:53:22.329 --> 00:53:25.969
Nicodemus. He was extremely well respected. He

00:53:25.969 --> 00:53:28.170
fasted two days a week. That means for 24 hours,

00:53:28.349 --> 00:53:30.829
he would go without any food or drink whatsoever,

00:53:30.929 --> 00:53:35.050
no water, two days a week. He memorized whole

00:53:35.050 --> 00:53:37.269
books of the Bible, had the book of Genesis,

00:53:37.409 --> 00:53:40.610
long book. Word for word, beginning to end, memorized.

00:53:40.750 --> 00:53:43.090
And not only the book of Genesis, multiple books.

00:53:43.409 --> 00:53:46.570
He was a preacher in high demand. He traveled

00:53:46.570 --> 00:53:49.010
all around proselytizing, trying to get people

00:53:49.010 --> 00:53:51.250
to believe that the Jewish religion was the only

00:53:51.250 --> 00:53:54.510
way. It was the way to the Messiah, the way that

00:53:54.510 --> 00:53:56.989
God would make that all people would get saved.

00:53:57.210 --> 00:53:59.429
He was in such high demand that he never had

00:53:59.429 --> 00:54:01.969
a weekend where he wasn't preaching in a temple

00:54:01.969 --> 00:54:06.469
or a synagogue or a small group. And Jesus said

00:54:06.469 --> 00:54:10.719
to that man, you must be born again in order

00:54:10.719 --> 00:54:14.039
to be saved. You can be as respectable as you

00:54:14.039 --> 00:54:16.699
want and you're going to go to hell with a whole

00:54:16.699 --> 00:54:19.800
bunch of respectable people. But if you will

00:54:19.800 --> 00:54:22.599
be born again, if you will allow Jesus to be

00:54:22.599 --> 00:54:25.059
Lord of your life, if you allow Jesus to come

00:54:25.059 --> 00:54:27.820
and live in you and lead you and guide you from

00:54:27.820 --> 00:54:30.639
this day forward, whether it's a year or 50 or

00:54:30.639 --> 00:54:32.579
until Jesus comes again, whatever that looks

00:54:32.579 --> 00:54:36.679
like, he'll make you born again. He'll take out

00:54:36.679 --> 00:54:38.340
of you your heart of stone and give you a heart

00:54:38.340 --> 00:54:40.219
of flesh. So there might be somebody in your

00:54:40.219 --> 00:54:42.320
room saying, I really never wanted this. And

00:54:42.320 --> 00:54:43.820
right now in this moment, you're going like,

00:54:43.840 --> 00:54:45.579
wait a minute, I think I do want this. I think

00:54:45.579 --> 00:54:47.739
I need this. I think this is what my life needs

00:54:47.739 --> 00:54:49.280
to be like. This is what God's been trying to

00:54:49.280 --> 00:54:52.179
do. And I see that now. That's God in the process

00:54:52.179 --> 00:54:54.760
of taking out your stone heart, which did not

00:54:54.760 --> 00:54:57.840
want to be with God, and giving you a heart of

00:54:57.840 --> 00:55:00.460
flesh. I heard people a lot of times say that

00:55:00.460 --> 00:55:02.989
the gospel is plan A. And there is no plan B.

00:55:03.010 --> 00:55:05.309
But that actually isn't true. The gospel is plan

00:55:05.309 --> 00:55:07.789
A. And plan A is you must admit that you need

00:55:07.789 --> 00:55:10.389
Jesus, believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,

00:55:10.489 --> 00:55:11.889
and commit to follow him for the rest of your

00:55:11.889 --> 00:55:13.849
life. That's plan A. That's the simple gospel

00:55:13.849 --> 00:55:17.150
of how to get saved. Cry out to the Lord, it

00:55:17.150 --> 00:55:18.670
says, in the name of the Lord, in the name of

00:55:18.670 --> 00:55:20.489
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he will always answer

00:55:20.489 --> 00:55:22.449
and always save you. But there are people who

00:55:22.449 --> 00:55:24.989
do not want that. Their heart is hard. They don't

00:55:24.989 --> 00:55:26.969
want a relationship with Jesus. They think, well,

00:55:26.989 --> 00:55:29.429
I can't trust anyone because I've been betrayed

00:55:29.429 --> 00:55:32.610
so much. I can't depend on anyone. I got to learn.

00:55:32.650 --> 00:55:34.630
My parents and my situation has taught me to

00:55:34.630 --> 00:55:38.070
be dependable, not to depend on anybody. I can't

00:55:38.070 --> 00:55:41.369
let anyone in to lead, to guide, to govern my

00:55:41.369 --> 00:55:45.469
life. I am the one. Solo mio. I'm doing it. They

00:55:45.469 --> 00:55:48.289
don't want Jesus. And that's a heart of stone.

00:55:48.650 --> 00:55:51.030
But there is a plan B in which God says that

00:55:51.030 --> 00:55:52.789
when the gospel comes, when the truth of Jesus

00:55:52.789 --> 00:55:55.170
comes, that people are softened. They go start

00:55:55.170 --> 00:55:56.630
thinking, well, maybe this heart of stone has

00:55:56.630 --> 00:55:58.389
been a little heavy. Maybe it's been a little

00:55:58.389 --> 00:55:59.750
hard. Maybe there's been times where it has not

00:55:59.750 --> 00:56:01.530
served me the way it should have. Maybe it's

00:56:01.530 --> 00:56:04.409
not what I was made to be. Just that doubt, that

00:56:04.409 --> 00:56:06.730
question. And God begins to take out that heart

00:56:06.730 --> 00:56:08.570
of stone and put in a heart of flesh. And you

00:56:08.570 --> 00:56:10.550
can feel, when you feel, what you will feel is

00:56:10.550 --> 00:56:13.389
that you feel you need him. Because that's what

00:56:13.389 --> 00:56:16.559
you were created for. And Jesus said to that

00:56:16.559 --> 00:56:18.659
very respectable man, you must be born again.

00:56:18.760 --> 00:56:20.739
And then a few verses later he says, do not marvel

00:56:20.739 --> 00:56:22.199
that I say unto you, you must be born again.

00:56:22.619 --> 00:56:26.360
Listen to me. If people who appeared respectable

00:56:26.360 --> 00:56:28.519
but had hearts of stone went to heaven, heaven

00:56:28.519 --> 00:56:31.460
would not be like heaven anymore. Heaven would

00:56:31.460 --> 00:56:33.780
be people throwing other people out the door

00:56:33.780 --> 00:56:36.780
to be raped in the street. Because when the pressure

00:56:36.780 --> 00:56:41.579
comes, people exhibit that heart of stone. They

00:56:41.579 --> 00:56:44.320
exhibit that wickedness. that deceitfulness that

00:56:44.320 --> 00:56:47.960
even they do not know. Respectability without

00:56:47.960 --> 00:56:51.900
regeneration will always fail to produce righteousness.

00:56:52.019 --> 00:56:55.179
A couple of quotes and we'll be through. Socrates,

00:56:55.360 --> 00:56:57.260
you might have heard that word. Socrates, a very

00:56:57.260 --> 00:56:59.900
wise, long, long time ago philosopher, right?

00:56:59.920 --> 00:57:02.579
Socrates. He said this, he said, the way to gain

00:57:02.579 --> 00:57:06.159
a good reputation is to endeavor to do what you

00:57:06.159 --> 00:57:08.639
desire to appear. Let me say it again. The way

00:57:08.639 --> 00:57:11.360
to gain a good reputation. is to endeavor to

00:57:11.360 --> 00:57:15.559
be what you desire to appear. In other words,

00:57:15.679 --> 00:57:18.179
people have gotten it backwards. People are painting

00:57:18.179 --> 00:57:21.039
their houses of their lives, trying to look good

00:57:21.039 --> 00:57:23.019
without ever cleaning up what's inside. But if

00:57:23.019 --> 00:57:25.780
you clean up what's inside, the outside will

00:57:25.780 --> 00:57:29.320
naturally follow. If you get a new heart, you

00:57:29.320 --> 00:57:31.239
will become more honest and eventually you will

00:57:31.239 --> 00:57:33.340
just become honest. You will walk in the light.

00:57:33.380 --> 00:57:36.460
You will be sanctified by God, set apart for

00:57:36.460 --> 00:57:39.360
his holy service. You will serve without asking

00:57:39.360 --> 00:57:41.579
for anything back. Instead of serving, hoping

00:57:41.579 --> 00:57:43.480
that people will praise you, hoping that people

00:57:43.480 --> 00:57:45.099
will give to you, hoping people will pat you

00:57:45.099 --> 00:57:46.860
on the back or that you'll get an A or the teacher

00:57:46.860 --> 00:57:49.539
will be a little bit more gentle with you the

00:57:49.539 --> 00:57:51.980
next time you're acting up. You'll serve because

00:57:51.980 --> 00:57:56.159
it's who you are. Socrates said, the way to gain

00:57:56.159 --> 00:57:59.000
a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you

00:57:59.000 --> 00:58:04.019
desire to appear. You can try all day to be what

00:58:04.019 --> 00:58:06.320
you really desire to appear, but something's

00:58:06.320 --> 00:58:08.699
going to come along and it's going to push you.

00:58:09.800 --> 00:58:11.519
And it's going to punch through to that which

00:58:11.519 --> 00:58:14.219
you really are, unless you become that which

00:58:14.219 --> 00:58:16.539
you really want to be. And what you really want

00:58:16.539 --> 00:58:20.559
to be is right by God. You want to be in a relationship

00:58:20.559 --> 00:58:23.119
with the Lord that will help you every moment

00:58:23.119 --> 00:58:27.420
of every day, when it's hard and when it's easy,

00:58:27.579 --> 00:58:32.059
which, by the way, is also when it's hard. William

00:58:32.059 --> 00:58:36.420
Shakespeare, whoever he was, said, Reputation

00:58:36.420 --> 00:58:39.840
is an idol. So people seek after looking good

00:58:39.840 --> 00:58:43.900
to people. Reputation is an idol. Reputation

00:58:43.900 --> 00:58:47.340
is an idol and most false imposition. In other

00:58:47.340 --> 00:58:50.460
words, people get stuck trying to get good reputation

00:58:50.460 --> 00:58:54.699
and it doesn't do them any good whatsoever. He

00:58:54.699 --> 00:58:57.719
says, it's oft got without merit. In other words,

00:58:57.719 --> 00:58:59.360
a lot of people have a good reputation, even

00:58:59.360 --> 00:59:01.980
they don't deserve it. And lost without deserving.

00:59:02.119 --> 00:59:03.960
A lot of people who deserve a good reputation.

00:59:04.599 --> 00:59:07.179
We'll lose it because of rumor, slander, lies,

00:59:07.519 --> 00:59:10.860
cheating, whatever. That has happened to me.

00:59:11.739 --> 00:59:15.000
We've served people, done nothing wrong, and

00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:17.699
then had them lie about us just to kind of put

00:59:17.699 --> 00:59:19.579
distance between us and them. Occasionally it

00:59:19.579 --> 00:59:20.880
was so that they wouldn't have to pay back a

00:59:20.880 --> 00:59:23.800
debt or so that they wouldn't look bad themselves,

00:59:24.119 --> 00:59:27.400
whatever. And when somebody slanders your reputation,

00:59:27.699 --> 00:59:32.219
your best defense is to know who you are. To

00:59:32.219 --> 00:59:36.119
be who you are. And the only chance of that is

00:59:36.119 --> 00:59:40.960
to be right by God. Abraham Lincoln said this,

00:59:41.000 --> 00:59:45.780
he said, Character is like a tree, and reputation,

00:59:46.079 --> 00:59:51.159
it's shadow. The shadow is what we think of it.

00:59:51.440 --> 00:59:56.539
The tree is the real thing. Jesus is inviting

00:59:56.539 --> 01:00:00.579
you to get a character of his creation, a heart

01:00:00.579 --> 01:00:03.219
of flesh. A leader who will lead you in the right

01:00:03.219 --> 01:00:05.380
direction. A servant who will teach you to serve.

01:00:05.519 --> 01:00:10.460
A lover who will love as example and then make

01:00:10.460 --> 01:00:15.539
you able to love the same way. In 1989, I went

01:00:15.539 --> 01:00:18.739
to the theater to see a rom -com. I'm exposing

01:00:18.739 --> 01:00:22.679
myself. I love romantic comedy. And a lot of

01:00:22.679 --> 01:00:24.260
them I can't watch because I don't watch rated

01:00:24.260 --> 01:00:27.130
R movies or a lot of things they show. Things

01:00:27.130 --> 01:00:30.070
they say are not good. I won't watch, but there

01:00:30.070 --> 01:00:32.489
are occasionally ones. In 1989, I wasn't saved,

01:00:32.510 --> 01:00:34.769
and I went to go see a movie. The movie was called

01:00:34.769 --> 01:00:37.449
Harry Met Sally. Are you familiar with that movie?

01:00:38.489 --> 01:00:41.030
No? It was a very big movie. For a rom -com,

01:00:41.050 --> 01:00:42.809
it was one of the most grossingest of all time.

01:00:43.590 --> 01:00:46.750
At the end of the movie, it was supposed to end

01:00:46.750 --> 01:00:48.630
with them breaking up, and that was it. That

01:00:48.630 --> 01:00:49.690
was how the movie was supposed to end. That was

01:00:49.690 --> 01:00:52.670
the realistic ending. That was the script. That's

01:00:52.670 --> 01:00:54.710
what they had planned. And as they're producing

01:00:54.710 --> 01:00:58.179
the movie, it became... obvious that the two

01:00:58.179 --> 01:01:00.219
of them breaking up after everybody in the movie

01:01:00.219 --> 01:01:03.480
had rooted for them to be together was going

01:01:03.480 --> 01:01:05.340
to be a problem. It was going to cause a problem

01:01:05.340 --> 01:01:06.920
with the audiences, and it was going to get bad

01:01:06.920 --> 01:01:09.199
reviews. Early watchers said, no, we don't want

01:01:09.199 --> 01:01:13.139
that. That's not good. And so the two actors

01:01:13.139 --> 01:01:15.239
in the movie were Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan,

01:01:15.360 --> 01:01:16.639
and they said to Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan,

01:01:16.719 --> 01:01:18.199
well, we're cutting the end of the movie. Instead

01:01:18.199 --> 01:01:19.900
of them breaking up, we want them to end up together.

01:01:20.559 --> 01:01:22.500
But we don't have anybody to write lines, so

01:01:22.500 --> 01:01:26.119
take care of it. And so they took care of it.

01:01:26.400 --> 01:01:28.599
And Billy Crystal looked deeply into Meg Ryan's

01:01:28.599 --> 01:01:31.400
eyes and he says, when you realize you want to

01:01:31.400 --> 01:01:34.639
spend the rest of your life with somebody, you

01:01:34.639 --> 01:01:38.159
want the rest of your life to start as soon as

01:01:38.159 --> 01:01:42.840
possible. And then that line spread throughout

01:01:42.840 --> 01:01:45.900
the world and affected people. And now it's spread

01:01:45.900 --> 01:01:48.539
to here and affected us. And why do you think

01:01:48.539 --> 01:01:53.059
that is? Because when you realize that you want

01:01:53.059 --> 01:01:57.039
to spend the rest of your life with Jesus, You're

01:01:57.039 --> 01:01:58.440
going to want the rest of your life to start

01:01:58.440 --> 01:02:03.219
right away. This concludes the message. It's

01:02:03.219 --> 01:02:05.380
a message of a people living in respectable ways

01:02:05.380 --> 01:02:09.760
in a very dark time. I'm asking you, are you

01:02:09.760 --> 01:02:14.199
somebody like that? It's not good enough. It

01:02:14.199 --> 01:02:15.860
wasn't good enough for me when I was 25 years

01:02:15.860 --> 01:02:18.199
old. I began to realize I had a house and a job,

01:02:18.199 --> 01:02:20.079
a career. I was successful, as some people count

01:02:20.079 --> 01:02:23.940
success. I had a beautiful wife, a beautiful

01:02:23.940 --> 01:02:27.000
daughter. and one on the way, lots of loans,

01:02:27.179 --> 01:02:29.960
paying for everything. Both our cars had loans,

01:02:30.079 --> 01:02:32.840
our house had loans. I put the mower on a credit

01:02:32.840 --> 01:02:35.719
card, and I realized that that wasn't going to

01:02:35.719 --> 01:02:38.280
get it done. Whatever you've managed to collect,

01:02:38.420 --> 01:02:39.840
it's not going to get it done. Whatever people

01:02:39.840 --> 01:02:41.280
think of you, it's not going to get it done.

01:02:41.360 --> 01:02:43.039
There will be no standing before the white throne

01:02:43.039 --> 01:02:45.420
of judgment and saying, but everybody loved me.

01:02:46.340 --> 01:02:49.900
I did all these good things. Those who make those

01:02:49.900 --> 01:02:51.960
pleas, we already know. Jesus will say, get away

01:02:51.960 --> 01:02:55.110
from me. I never knew you. I'm asking you. No

01:02:55.110 --> 01:02:57.090
matter how respectable or what people think about

01:02:57.090 --> 01:03:00.409
you, will you start your life with Jesus today?

01:03:01.349 --> 01:03:03.809
When you realize that you want to spend the rest

01:03:03.809 --> 01:03:05.989
of your life with somebody, you're going to want

01:03:05.989 --> 01:03:09.510
to start it right away. I ask the praise team

01:03:09.510 --> 01:03:11.409
to come forward and lead us in our final song.

01:03:11.690 --> 01:03:14.530
If you're here today and say, I feel God pulling

01:03:14.530 --> 01:03:15.289
on my heart.