WEBVTT

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Sometime now, we've been talking about fasting,

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and in Hebrews 1, beginning in Hebrews 1, verses

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1 -4, the book of Hebrews reminds us of the supreme

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majesty of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the

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ultimate ruler, the ultimate servant, the ultimate

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sacrifice, Lord of the universe, nothing was

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made except that which was made through Him.

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God, who spoke to our ancestors through the prophets,

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has now spoken to us through his son Jesus. Jesus

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is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact

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imprint of his nature. That's Hebrews 1 .3. Because

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Christ is the ultimate revelation of the Father,

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our hearts are to be drawn toward him to seek

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deeper communion with Christ. Fasting, then,

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is that spiritual discipline, it's one of them,

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it's not the only one, that allows us to do exactly

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that. As you say, this thing that I'm giving

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up, I realize Jesus is more important to me.

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We don't earn God's favor that way. We talk about

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drawing close to God through spiritual disciplines.

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You don't do that so that God will be forced

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to reward you or so that God will be pleased

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with you as you put away some things from your

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life. If there is something that is in your life

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that is sin, you can't fast from that. You just

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put sin away. Let that go. But if there's things

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in your life that are good and they're taking

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up a certain place that belongs really solely

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only to Jesus, then you can put those things

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away for a time to make sure that when they come

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back, they don't take up part of Jesus's space.

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Fasting is a deliberate act of setting aside

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the physical or experiential to focus on the

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spiritual. We choose to abstain from food. For

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example, we're declaring that our deepest hunger

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is not for the bread, but for the word. It's

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not for the things of the world, but for Christ

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himself. In the culture that we're living in,

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and you guys are all gonna kind of, you'll resonate

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with this in 2026, we're surrounded by an endless

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stream of content connectivity. So even if you're

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trying to stay off social media, even if you're

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not doing YouTube, even if you're not watching

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a lot of TV, everywhere you go, you can't drive

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your car down the road without a bulletin board

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screaming about one thing or another. Everywhere

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you go, you're getting texts. I've been getting

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texts on my phone to take surveys about popular

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public issues as the election is coming up and

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to vote for one candidate or another. When we

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are fasting, we're unplugging from that artificial

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noise of culture to tune our hearts to the frequency

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of heaven. So I want you to look at what's in

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your life, whatever it might be, that is providing

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a certain amount of distraction from your faith.

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And just like you might take off a headset, and

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step out into the real world. You might breathe

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fresh morning air or feel the power of self -discipline,

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the freedom that you're provided when you make

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choices to do the right thing. Fasting allows

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us to lay aside the distractions of our devices,

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of our appetites, even sometimes of relationships

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or places, and say, Lord, you are better than

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the things that I crave. As members of New Heights

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Fellowship Baptist Church and guests, We are

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a congregation of believers, I hope, indwelt

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by the Holy Spirit. If you're here and you know

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that you are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit,

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you understand that the only thing that's stopping

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that from being true is your response to the

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Lord Jesus Christ. And if you would respond and

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say, OK, Jesus, I'm yours. Leave my life. Let

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me walk the rest of my days in faith. Save me.

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Then the Holy Spirit comes. He comes and he'll

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fill you up. And from that moment on, he becomes.

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your experience with him becomes all the more

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important than the things that you experience

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otherwise. Whether you're seeking clarity, like

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I need to know, repentance, I need to give something

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up, or a deeper sense of God's presence, I need

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to feel him. I need to know that he is leading

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my life. Whether any one of those things is true,

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fasting is a way to say, Lord, you are better

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than the things I crave. As we look toward the

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return of Jesus Christ, as a people, we need

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not be weighed down. by the cravings of the flesh.

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But instead, we are fasting now to feast then.

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So we are giving up things now that distract

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us from Jesus. And in that moment, there will

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be nothing to give up. We will have everything.

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We will feast on the glorious truth that Jesus

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himself, our great high priest, sits at the right

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hand of the majesty on high and has prepared

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a place for us. So I was talking with a brother

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this week, and we're talking about... How it's

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difficult for people to make choices in life,

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to give up, for example, shopping at a place

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where they know that the prices are only cheap

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because of villainy, right? Wickedness, slavery

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being used to make the products, for example.

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We want to order the cheapest thing, even though

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we know that it can't actually be that cheap.

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And it's hard for people to make a choice to

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spend a little bit more money to not support

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wicked teachings. Like we know that an organization

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is... pro -liberal theology, that they're against

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what the Bible says. And we still want to give

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them money because we enjoy what it is that they've

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made. And it's hard for people to make a choice,

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for example, to not go and do something else

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other than coming to worship because it feels

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like suffering. Fasting reminds us that a little

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bit of suffering, a little bit of choosing to

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do the right thing, frees you up that in those

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cases where you might have to make a choice not

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to support someone's bad agenda. or not to buy

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something from someone that is only able to sell

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it to you because maybe they stole it. And you

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can get a great price on a pair of speakers off

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the back of a truck, but you know it's probably

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stolen. And we don't have to take part in anything

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of the world that somehow prospers us. We can

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instead choose to be right. And every time you

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choose to go a day without food and do it right,

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or a day without social media, or a month without

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social media, or online shopping, if that's something

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that you think that God wants you to give up,

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or anything that you choose to fast from, and

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you go that period of time, at the end of it,

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then after that, when you encounter something

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that you realize is not really godly, it may

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not be in sin, but it's not really godly, you

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can say no. And you know you can say no, because

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you already said no to something that was taking

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a big place in your life, and put Jesus first.

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Use the spiritual discipline of fasting to draw

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close to God, not because it makes him happy

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with you, because God loves you. For all that

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he is, he loves you. He loves you enough to die

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for you, and in fact did. but use the spiritual

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discipline of fasting to be free in Christ and

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fast now to feast in the moment of his return.

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We'll pray together, take up tithes and offerings,

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and worship a little more. Dick and Tony, would

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you pray for us? Or lead us in prayer at this

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time as we praise you. Lord, thank you for another

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day. Thank you for this place where we can come

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together. As your people, we worship you, we

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hear from you, and we hope, Lord, that you would

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speak to us today. Help us, Lord, to be focused

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on what we came here for. Help us to know this

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is a place where we're with other people, our

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friends, our family, whatever. And we just come

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to give you some time out of our day, the first

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part of our day. Forgive us for what we've been.

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And just ask you, Lord, to be with us in this

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service. Be with us in this service. Be with

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us in every aspect of the children's lesson.

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And ask you, Lord, to bless us as we try to give

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back a little. that you give us. And I just ask

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you guys to take them up. Thank you that we can

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give. And bless the giver. And those that want

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to give but can't, bless them also, Lord. Help

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them to seek your will in what they do. Amen.

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Real quick before I get into the sermon and the

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opening introduction, a little bit of business

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I want to take care of. So number one, I neglected

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to mention that there are two softball games

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tonight. for two New Heights teams. Two softball

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games tomorrow night for two separate New Heights

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teams. Both separate New Heights teams have a

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double header. So both teams play at 6 .30 and

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7 .45. So everybody's arriving at the park at

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6 .15. And then we're all playing, I'm sorry,

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at 6 o 'clock. And we're all playing at 6 .30

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and 7 .45. So support that in any way that you

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possibly can. If you're a softball player and

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have not made the play yet, we still have openings

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on the teams. So we need that. If Kate and Grace

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are going to play, we're going to get them on

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the roster and that kind of thing. And so we

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need to get – that's tomorrow night. Also, don't

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forget there's books in the back of the cafeteria.

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I see that folks have been kind of stabbing to

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them, taking what they like and like that. So

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if you want one of those books or even several

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of those books or you know somebody that does,

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please take them. That's what they're for. And

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then there's also tomatoes in the cafeteria.

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that were hats from a local community garden.

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So if you grab kind of first come first serve,

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but, you know, be responsible, obviously make

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sure others can get some too. And then we have

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a card before the end of the day, before everything

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is said that we're going to pass around and sign

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for Dominic and Haley for the babies. Okay. So

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all of that, I want to make sure I mentioned

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now, because, you know, I get preaching and when

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I get preaching, I forget everything. So it's

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going to be all about God all the time from here

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on until the invitation. And I'm excited. So

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as you know, I hope you know, we have been working

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through the book of Judges, and we have come

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to the end. We are at the end of what is basically

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a very long book of scripture. It's not the longest

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that we've ever done, and we've learned a lot,

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but today we're going to have a sort of an overview

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teaching that's going to come out of the final

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verse, and I think there's something really powerful

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in here that I saw that really affected me, and

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so I hope you'll get it too. And I'm going to

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try to do my best to explain it to you. So first,

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grab your Bibles, if you would. Give me a little

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who to holler amen as we go to Judges chapter

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21. Thank you. This will be our last time for

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a little while visiting the book of Judges. We

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may reference back to it and things that we've

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learned and whatever. But we are about to leave

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the book of Judges. Bless you. About to leave

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the book of Judges for who knows how long. You

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can study it. You have access to it. You have

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it in your Bible. You can study it any time you

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want. Judges chapter 21, verse 25, the very last

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verse of the book of Judges could be a theme

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verse for the entire book. And by the time we're

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done, you're going to see that even more clearly

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today than we have seen it throughout as we studied

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the whole thing. It simply says in verse 25,

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In those days there was no king in Israel, and

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everyone did whatever seemed right to him. And

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so we have seen that verse a couple of times

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throughout the book. And we're supposed to be

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picking up something about the problem of doing

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whatever you think is right. We know by now,

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you know, the scripture says elsewhere, lean

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not on your own understanding. Right. So it very

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simply put, we could say it's just not good enough

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to do what you think is right. We could stop

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right there and call it a day. Also, we see in

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that verse a pointing to a needing of a king.

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And so right after this, right after the book

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of Judges, you're going to go into, chronologically

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speaking, you're going to go into the book of

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Samuel. And Samuel will ultimately be called

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upon by the people and then released by God to

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call the first king of Israel. And the goal of

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calling a king of Israel would be to put an end

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to the problem that we're going to look at today.

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And so they have failed time and again to put

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an end to this problem. Before we move on, I

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want to give you this opening illustration. There

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have been a number of times in my life where

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I have changed my mind. When I was 25 years old,

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I had not yet eaten a salad. So for 25 years

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of my life, I was dead stone convinced that lettuce

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was of the devil. I used to jokingly say that

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I would never eat anything that would grow inside

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your shoes, which is a reference to mushrooms.

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I wouldn't eat mushrooms on pizza, sandwiches,

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or anything. Now, mushrooms have become one of

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my favorite foods, especially certain cooks.

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And I started eating salads when I was about

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26, and I eat them on a regular basis. In fact,

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now I can readily, easily, especially if it's

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got a little protein in it, substitute a salad

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for a meal and be one happy camper. Like, I had

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a steak the first day I got off my Daniel Fast,

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and it did not taste as good as the salad. And

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so I could easily now replace steak with salad.

00:17:10.970 --> 00:17:12.609
And they're like, oh, no, steak is so much better.

00:17:12.670 --> 00:17:14.089
You must not have made a good steak. No, I made

00:17:14.089 --> 00:17:16.789
a pretty good steak. I'm not saying as good as

00:17:16.789 --> 00:17:18.089
anybody else, but I make a pretty good steak.

00:17:18.190 --> 00:17:20.250
But I ate steak and I ate salad and the salad

00:17:20.250 --> 00:17:22.009
was better than the steak. So take it for what

00:17:22.009 --> 00:17:24.369
you will. I also learned to make a flatbread

00:17:24.369 --> 00:17:26.049
while I was on my Daniel Fast out of protein

00:17:26.049 --> 00:17:29.490
powder and whole flour that is unprocessed, which

00:17:29.490 --> 00:17:31.089
you're allowed to have on Daniel Fast. It's a

00:17:31.089 --> 00:17:33.890
vegetable. And I made it out of that. And I now

00:17:33.890 --> 00:17:36.059
like that better than any bread product. I can

00:17:36.059 --> 00:17:38.579
make it as a dessert and I can make it as a garlic

00:17:38.579 --> 00:17:40.779
bread and I can make it as a breakfast bread.

00:17:40.980 --> 00:17:42.779
And I like that better than any bread that I've

00:17:42.779 --> 00:17:45.420
ever had in my entire life. So I changed my mind

00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:48.460
about I used to really like a robust wheat bread.

00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:51.259
Now I would rather have that flatbread. OK, so

00:17:51.259 --> 00:17:53.440
we change our minds all the time. We go to the

00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:55.000
store and say, oh, I'm going to go buy this.

00:17:55.079 --> 00:17:57.119
We get there and we go, I'm going to buy this

00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:59.359
and this and this as well. Or we get there, we're

00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:01.140
going to buy one thing and we get there and find

00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:03.099
out that they have it in a bulk pack and we can

00:18:03.099 --> 00:18:04.740
buy three or four of them at one time and we

00:18:04.740 --> 00:18:07.200
buy that instead, right? People are counting

00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:09.420
on the fact that you change your mind all the

00:18:09.420 --> 00:18:12.900
time, that things are changing in your perception

00:18:12.900 --> 00:18:16.220
all the time. So that alone would undermine the

00:18:16.220 --> 00:18:18.319
idea that you can do what you think is right.

00:18:18.619 --> 00:18:21.839
When up to 25 years old, I honestly thought that

00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:24.759
it was perfectly okay to lie to get your own

00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:26.519
way. Now, as long as you weren't hurting anybody,

00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:28.759
right? I was a basically good person. I thought

00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:30.140
I wanted to think of myself as a good person.

00:18:30.180 --> 00:18:33.259
So if I lied, I thought it was okay. It was little

00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:36.079
white lies. Dog ate my homework. Kid on the bus

00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:37.980
tore it up. My mom taught me to do all of that

00:18:37.980 --> 00:18:40.440
stuff when I was younger. I had probably a hundred

00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:42.900
different lies in my regimen on how I could get

00:18:42.900 --> 00:18:44.960
out of my homework or get another day on it because

00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.019
I believed that was true. And then at roughly

00:18:47.019 --> 00:18:49.920
25 years old, I started to realize, maybe that's

00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:52.000
not actually okay. I don't see how it's really

00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:53.700
helping me or anyone else. And I think actually

00:18:53.700 --> 00:18:55.819
the end result of it is bad. And then I started

00:18:55.819 --> 00:18:57.859
going to church and I realized that the Bible

00:18:57.859 --> 00:18:59.539
says you specifically cannot do that. And then

00:18:59.539 --> 00:19:01.779
when I got saved, I knew for a fact I could no

00:19:01.779 --> 00:19:03.779
longer do that. And then it took me a little

00:19:03.779 --> 00:19:06.460
while, like a year and a half, two years to really

00:19:06.460 --> 00:19:09.920
put to bed that lying, deceitful nature that

00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:11.960
I had had. So you could be a young Christian

00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:13.920
and still struggling with that. But you realize

00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:16.619
that by now, I hope you've changed your mind.

00:19:17.049 --> 00:19:19.089
about the standard of righteousness as you are

00:19:19.089 --> 00:19:21.910
growing in Christ. Romans 12 says that by the

00:19:21.910 --> 00:19:23.670
renewing of our mind, what does that mean? If

00:19:23.670 --> 00:19:25.869
your mind is renewing, then your mind is changing,

00:19:26.069 --> 00:19:28.349
right? It's changing to come, as we talked about

00:19:28.349 --> 00:19:31.470
on Tuesday, in line with Scripture, right? And

00:19:31.470 --> 00:19:35.069
that alone would be a small part of your act

00:19:35.069 --> 00:19:37.430
of spiritual worship, as you honor the Lord with

00:19:37.430 --> 00:19:38.750
your choices and your mind is being renewed.

00:19:38.950 --> 00:19:41.930
You may have some journey to get to, some steps

00:19:41.930 --> 00:19:43.750
to take to get to where you need to get, but

00:19:43.750 --> 00:19:45.309
the bottom line is we understand that we are

00:19:45.309 --> 00:19:47.619
changing our mind. Understand that the world

00:19:47.619 --> 00:19:51.160
is counting on you to be a person who changes

00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:53.200
your mind, even about the things that you absolutely

00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.420
know are true. I was standing at the life station

00:19:55.420 --> 00:19:58.400
toward the end of the COVID era, about 2021.

00:19:58.859 --> 00:20:00.359
And there was a woman who was standing there

00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:03.200
and she was a leader of a food pantry. And we

00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.880
had helped them financially with food. And she

00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:08.319
was telling me about how she had been adamantly

00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:11.000
against certain lifestyle choices and that she

00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:13.960
had then changed her mind. to be now in favor

00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:15.759
of those lifestyle choices, even to the point

00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:17.519
that she was helping young people sneak behind

00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:19.539
their parents' backs. She would take them out

00:20:19.539 --> 00:20:21.220
of their house under false pretenses and then

00:20:21.220 --> 00:20:23.420
sneak behind their parents' backs to do the things

00:20:23.420 --> 00:20:25.359
that she had previously said that she would never

00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:27.519
allow in her own house or tolerate. And now she

00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:30.299
was sneaking to help other people's kids do it

00:20:30.299 --> 00:20:32.890
behind their parents' backs. And I said, We tried

00:20:32.890 --> 00:20:34.589
to talk it through and I talked to her biblically

00:20:34.589 --> 00:20:36.529
how that was wrong and so on. And then ultimately

00:20:36.529 --> 00:20:38.950
she said, you don't understand. Now I am solely,

00:20:39.130 --> 00:20:41.210
completely, 100 % convinced that this is true.

00:20:41.369 --> 00:20:43.109
That's why I support it. I'll support it until

00:20:43.109 --> 00:20:45.430
I die. And I said, well, if nothing else, let

00:20:45.430 --> 00:20:47.690
me ask you this. You were adamantly against it

00:20:47.690 --> 00:20:49.329
and then you changed your mind and now you're

00:20:49.329 --> 00:20:51.789
adamantly for it. With no greater standard than

00:20:51.789 --> 00:20:53.710
yourself, no reason to change your mind except

00:20:53.710 --> 00:20:56.160
for your own opinion. Why would you not one day

00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:58.339
down the road, a year from now, 10 years from

00:20:58.339 --> 00:20:59.920
now, whatever, change your mind again? After

00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:02.000
you see the damage that it does, I submit to

00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:03.940
you, you probably will change your mind again.

00:21:04.140 --> 00:21:06.539
And so now I would say you should temper your

00:21:06.539 --> 00:21:08.240
course of action because you're going to change

00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:10.480
your mind again. So the bottom line is this.

00:21:10.619 --> 00:21:13.420
We are changing our minds all the time and the

00:21:13.420 --> 00:21:15.579
world is counting on it. Now, the result of that

00:21:15.579 --> 00:21:19.359
is civilized warfare. We say things like we can

00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:22.660
agree to disagree. Meaning, eventually I'll get

00:21:22.660 --> 00:21:24.480
you to change your mind, or eventually you'll

00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:26.500
get me to change my mind. We'll come around to

00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:29.140
a way of understanding that we agree on. Agree

00:21:29.140 --> 00:21:31.119
to disagree is not biblical, by the way, because

00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:33.079
it doesn't matter what you think is right. It

00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:36.160
matters what God says is right. So if you think

00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:37.920
you're right, and I think I'm right, and we're

00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:39.940
agreeing to disagree on it, what if we're both

00:21:39.940 --> 00:21:41.640
wrong? And how are we ever going to find that

00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:43.720
out unless we're working on it? So agree to disagree

00:21:43.720 --> 00:21:45.180
just means we're just going to agree to be wrong.

00:21:45.509 --> 00:21:47.130
So here's a believer over here who's following

00:21:47.130 --> 00:21:48.910
the Lord. They think one thing is true. Here's

00:21:48.910 --> 00:21:49.930
a believer over here. They're following the Lord.

00:21:49.950 --> 00:21:51.869
They think another thing is true. They're disagreeing.

00:21:51.869 --> 00:21:53.630
We're not working on it because we're agreeing

00:21:53.630 --> 00:21:55.589
to disagree. So how are we ever going to get

00:21:55.589 --> 00:21:57.910
to the truth? It's not biblical. What it does

00:21:57.910 --> 00:22:02.509
is it results in ongoing civilized warfare. And

00:22:02.509 --> 00:22:06.049
that's where they existed. They had decided to

00:22:06.049 --> 00:22:09.549
be a people that allowed what they thought was

00:22:09.549 --> 00:22:11.569
right and allowed everybody else the authenticity

00:22:11.569 --> 00:22:14.250
of doing what they thought was right and so on.

00:22:14.549 --> 00:22:16.930
and it resulted in, as we have studied from the

00:22:16.930 --> 00:22:19.289
beginning of the book of Judges, ongoing continuous

00:22:19.289 --> 00:22:22.170
cycles of warfare. Let me break that down for

00:22:22.170 --> 00:22:24.029
you for a second. It looks like three things

00:22:24.029 --> 00:22:25.650
at least, and I've broken them down in my notes.

00:22:25.690 --> 00:22:28.970
The first one is, it looks like expecting, accepting,

00:22:29.230 --> 00:22:30.589
okay? You see, it's kind of an easy thing to

00:22:30.589 --> 00:22:31.710
remember. It's got a little rhyme to it, right?

00:22:31.869 --> 00:22:33.990
Expecting, accepting. In other words, more of

00:22:33.990 --> 00:22:37.329
the same. So people keep moving as they expect,

00:22:37.549 --> 00:22:41.180
while the enemy, evil spirits, Satan, your flesh,

00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:43.859
the world system, while the enemy builds a darker

00:22:43.859 --> 00:22:46.240
future. So you keep getting out of bed each morning

00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:47.960
thinking things are going to go on the way they're

00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:50.079
going on currently, right? So you keep thinking,

00:22:50.220 --> 00:22:52.019
those of you who work jobs, you keep thinking

00:22:52.019 --> 00:22:54.160
that you're going to keep being able to get up

00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:55.960
in the morning and go to work. You keep thinking

00:22:55.960 --> 00:22:58.220
that your health is going to hold out and you're

00:22:58.220 --> 00:22:59.359
going to be able to do what it is that you're

00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:01.680
doing. Or some of us get that earth -shattering

00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:03.819
event where we think our health is not holding

00:23:03.819 --> 00:23:05.299
out, right? And we don't know what's going to

00:23:05.299 --> 00:23:08.420
come. And then you realize, hey, by what standard

00:23:08.420 --> 00:23:11.309
did I 10 years ago think that everything was

00:23:11.309 --> 00:23:13.690
just going to keep on continuing as it is. By

00:23:13.690 --> 00:23:15.269
what standard? Well, it certainly wasn't God's

00:23:15.269 --> 00:23:17.170
standard, right? Because God doesn't say that,

00:23:17.230 --> 00:23:18.730
that everything's going to keep on continuing

00:23:18.730 --> 00:23:21.029
as it is. In fact, he says the opposite, that

00:23:21.029 --> 00:23:23.049
there is a kingdom work that is happening and

00:23:23.049 --> 00:23:25.369
the kingdom advance must be advancing. If it's

00:23:25.369 --> 00:23:26.970
advancing, that means things are changing. Things

00:23:26.970 --> 00:23:29.109
are happening. And if it's not advancing, that

00:23:29.109 --> 00:23:31.519
means the world... kingdom is advancing. They're

00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:33.960
getting their way. And that also is not what

00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:36.779
God wants. So once people go after earthly things

00:23:36.779 --> 00:23:38.759
and they start thinking the standards. So, for

00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:40.200
example, if I just get up every morning, I go

00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:41.900
to work at eight, I get off at five, I have a

00:23:41.900 --> 00:23:44.460
little snack, I have dinner, whatever. I watch

00:23:44.460 --> 00:23:46.700
TV. I go to bed at a certain time. I get up and

00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:48.779
I do it all over again. Right. Or I go after

00:23:48.779 --> 00:23:50.940
relationships or I handle my kids a certain way.

00:23:50.980 --> 00:23:53.859
You start doing it by worldly standards. You

00:23:53.859 --> 00:23:59.180
never are going to get around to God things unless

00:24:00.009 --> 00:24:02.750
A savior comes in. This is why Jesus could say

00:24:02.750 --> 00:24:05.130
to Nicodemus, you shall not see the kingdom of

00:24:05.130 --> 00:24:08.009
God lest you be born again. Because Nicodemus

00:24:08.009 --> 00:24:10.569
had settled on a worldly standard traditions

00:24:10.569 --> 00:24:14.130
that were arising out of his being a Pharisee.

00:24:14.130 --> 00:24:16.390
All right. And so Jesus was saying, look, you've

00:24:16.390 --> 00:24:18.809
settled for worldly things. You've changed your

00:24:18.809 --> 00:24:20.829
mind to a certain set of what you consider to

00:24:20.829 --> 00:24:23.349
be godly, worldly things. And you've settled

00:24:23.349 --> 00:24:25.589
for that. And unless you are born again, unless

00:24:25.589 --> 00:24:28.049
you encounter a savior, you will never get around

00:24:28.049 --> 00:24:31.299
to kingdom of God. Jesus said that to Nicodemus.

00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:33.599
And in saying it to Nicodemus, he's now gone

00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:35.759
on to say it to everyone for the last 2 ,000

00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:37.559
years, right? Because we have it in the New Testament.

00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:40.859
In the book of Judges, chapter 2, it says this.

00:24:41.019 --> 00:24:44.119
It says, and all that generation also were gathered

00:24:44.119 --> 00:24:45.859
to their fathers. So what generation is it talking

00:24:45.859 --> 00:24:47.920
about? And we'll touch on it again in a minute.

00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:49.279
But the bottom line, it's talking about a generation

00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:52.019
that knew God. knew God was an active God. The

00:24:52.019 --> 00:24:55.119
generations that knew that God had won battles

00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:57.400
for the Israelites, gave them houses already

00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:00.559
built, fields already ready to be harvested for

00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:02.680
crops, all of that. God gave them all of that.

00:25:02.779 --> 00:25:04.839
God called them to righteousness. God punished

00:25:04.839 --> 00:25:06.299
them when they sinned, when they went up against

00:25:06.299 --> 00:25:08.700
AI after they first chickened out, basically.

00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:11.059
And they said, God said, now I will not go with

00:25:11.059 --> 00:25:12.559
you. And they said, no, we're going to go. We're

00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:14.339
going to go. We promised. We said we would. We're

00:25:14.339 --> 00:25:15.339
going to go. And they went up there and they

00:25:15.339 --> 00:25:17.440
suffered a horrible defeat. They wandered in

00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:19.099
the wilderness for 40 years because they were

00:25:19.099 --> 00:25:22.140
not faithful to God. So those generations that

00:25:22.140 --> 00:25:24.180
knew the truth of the powerful things that God

00:25:24.180 --> 00:25:26.839
had done, they died out. They got old. They were

00:25:26.839 --> 00:25:29.079
gone. They were gathered to their fathers. And

00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:31.619
there arose another generation after them who

00:25:31.619 --> 00:25:34.700
did not know the Lord. nor yet the work which

00:25:34.700 --> 00:25:37.160
he had done for Israel. And so the book of Judges

00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:39.259
sets the scene that the people who are living

00:25:39.259 --> 00:25:41.140
in the days of the judges, and we'll talk more

00:25:41.140 --> 00:25:43.420
about what that actually means, are people who

00:25:43.420 --> 00:25:46.759
had not necessarily firsthand experienced powerful

00:25:46.759 --> 00:25:48.920
actions of God. They didn't see the Jordan part.

00:25:49.019 --> 00:25:50.839
They didn't see the Red Sea part. By the way,

00:25:50.859 --> 00:25:53.900
neither have I. Now that does not mean that I

00:25:53.900 --> 00:25:56.119
have not seen God do powerful things. I have.

00:25:56.279 --> 00:25:58.660
And so have you. Some of you have told me the

00:25:58.660 --> 00:26:01.519
stories of powerful things that God saw. But

00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:03.980
have your children had firsthand experiences?

00:26:04.140 --> 00:26:06.440
Have the other church members had firsthand experiences

00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:09.200
of what God had saw? So what happens, or what

00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:11.640
God had done? So what happens is people are expecting,

00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.220
accepting. It is what it is. You know, I'm suffering.

00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:17.480
My health isn't right. I'm not going to do anything

00:26:17.480 --> 00:26:19.819
necessarily about it, but I'm just going to have

00:26:19.819 --> 00:26:22.140
to keep dealing with this, right? And so there's

00:26:22.140 --> 00:26:24.720
one statistic, right or wrong, that says that

00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:27.599
in urban America, so in the urban cities of America,

00:26:27.799 --> 00:26:30.519
that a high percentage of... teenagers will now

00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:33.039
graduate from high school on medication for mental

00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:35.599
health disorders there are pessimists if you

00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:38.480
will who are estimating that within 10 to 20

00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:41.299
years it'll be as high as two -thirds of all

00:26:41.299 --> 00:26:44.240
high school seniors will graduate from high school

00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:46.700
on mental health medication it means they'll

00:26:46.700 --> 00:26:48.759
go into the workforce on mental health medication

00:26:48.759 --> 00:26:50.660
it means that if they get married they'll get

00:26:50.660 --> 00:26:52.759
married on mental health medication it means

00:26:52.759 --> 00:26:54.920
that they'll raise their children on mental health

00:26:54.920 --> 00:26:58.380
medication they just keep except Expecting, accepting.

00:26:58.700 --> 00:27:01.579
It is what it is, right? It's very dangerous

00:27:01.579 --> 00:27:04.779
to accept somebody else to diagnose you and then

00:27:04.779 --> 00:27:06.900
to live according to that diagnosis. That's very

00:27:06.900 --> 00:27:09.039
dangerous. But that's what's going on in the

00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:11.039
world. That's what we've got going on. Because

00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:13.119
those same people who are struggling receiving

00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:16.619
that diagnosis are not accepting that God has

00:27:16.619 --> 00:27:20.920
made them a powerful creator and in Christ, born

00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:23.579
again fresh to put all old things anew. That's

00:27:23.579 --> 00:27:26.119
what Jesus died for. The presence of God in the

00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:28.240
lives of believers. So it's very dangerous to

00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:30.740
just start thinking that everything is going

00:27:30.740 --> 00:27:33.019
to keep going on as it is. So now you start to

00:27:33.019 --> 00:27:35.200
cope. I'm going to be in pain every day when

00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:37.960
I get up. Toward the end, when I was working

00:27:37.960 --> 00:27:40.680
at Pizza Hut and I was a restaurant manager and

00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:43.420
I was saved as a Christian, I had pain in my

00:27:43.420 --> 00:27:46.299
leg, in my knee, in my lower thigh every day,

00:27:46.380 --> 00:27:49.750
all day. Minor pain every day, all day. And by

00:27:49.750 --> 00:27:52.069
seven, eight, nine hours into my shift, the pain

00:27:52.069 --> 00:27:54.630
was excruciating. I never went to a doctor because

00:27:54.630 --> 00:27:57.450
when I was a young teen, I had been hurt playing

00:27:57.450 --> 00:27:59.029
football and they did a surgery. So we got to

00:27:59.029 --> 00:28:00.670
have this surgery. The surgeon said, you got

00:28:00.670 --> 00:28:02.170
to have the surgery. If you don't, you're going

00:28:02.170 --> 00:28:06.210
to be basically impotent and poop in your pants

00:28:06.210 --> 00:28:09.670
and all this by the time you're 20. And I didn't

00:28:09.670 --> 00:28:12.049
believe it. And so. I didn't get the surgery.

00:28:12.250 --> 00:28:15.390
And so now I'm thinking to myself, well, I feel

00:28:15.390 --> 00:28:18.289
like I did this to myself. So I was in pain all

00:28:18.289 --> 00:28:20.589
day long, every day. And then even as a young

00:28:20.589 --> 00:28:23.509
Christian, I was in pain. And then God said to

00:28:23.509 --> 00:28:25.569
me, why does it have to be that way? Why are

00:28:25.569 --> 00:28:27.829
you going through that? And I said, well, I don't

00:28:27.829 --> 00:28:29.170
know. I thought it's because I did something

00:28:29.170 --> 00:28:30.970
wrong. I didn't do what I was supposed to. I

00:28:30.970 --> 00:28:33.210
didn't get the surgery. And God said, no, maybe

00:28:33.210 --> 00:28:35.990
not. Look into it. So I go to the doctor. The

00:28:35.990 --> 00:28:37.289
doctor said, oh, you have a muscle on the side

00:28:37.289 --> 00:28:38.960
of your knee that is atrophied. So we're going

00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:40.819
to get that working again. And after three and

00:28:40.819 --> 00:28:42.900
a half weeks of physical therapy, I got it working.

00:28:43.059 --> 00:28:45.880
And then the pain went away. And so after I had

00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:47.900
pain in my knee, and I don't know if I was going

00:28:47.900 --> 00:28:49.019
to need a knee replacement or whatever when I

00:28:49.019 --> 00:28:50.839
went to the doctor, but all things were possible,

00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:55.019
right? But then after day, after day, after day,

00:28:55.079 --> 00:28:57.680
five, six hours a day of literally like felt

00:28:57.680 --> 00:28:59.400
like somebody was pounding on the inside of my

00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:02.200
knee with a hammer for the last five, six hours

00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:05.299
of my shift every day, it was gone. But I was

00:29:05.299 --> 00:29:08.099
just going on thinking that it was going to be

00:29:08.099 --> 00:29:10.180
what it always had been. And God said, well,

00:29:10.279 --> 00:29:12.200
why is it like that? And I would encourage you

00:29:12.200 --> 00:29:15.619
that lean not on your own understanding means

00:29:15.619 --> 00:29:19.339
that. Stop assuming that the way things are is

00:29:19.339 --> 00:29:21.460
the way, because that's going to result in you

00:29:21.460 --> 00:29:24.119
prolonging certain problems that don't need to

00:29:24.119 --> 00:29:25.980
be prolonged. You refusing to fight in areas

00:29:25.980 --> 00:29:28.119
that you need to fight. You refusing to have

00:29:28.119 --> 00:29:30.059
peace in areas that you need to have peace. The

00:29:30.059 --> 00:29:32.019
second thing to see in here is what's called

00:29:32.019 --> 00:29:34.680
acceptable losses. They had acceptable losses

00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:36.559
time and time again. We have people hiding in

00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:37.759
the hills and the people in the plains are getting

00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:39.759
wiped out. They're being persecuted. They're

00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:42.480
losing tons of stuff. And there were acceptable

00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:45.359
losses. More, they were losing freedom. They

00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:47.480
eventually began to burn their firstborn children

00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:49.240
in the fire, just like the followers of Molech

00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:51.200
had done before them. And they started doing

00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:53.119
that because that was an acceptable loss. It

00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:54.900
was an acceptable loss to burn your firstborn

00:29:54.900 --> 00:29:57.259
child in the fire. Can you imagine? To get the

00:29:57.259 --> 00:30:01.480
benefits of Molech worship. It's crazy. And yet

00:30:01.480 --> 00:30:03.700
they started to believe that. They gave up their

00:30:03.700 --> 00:30:05.480
freedom. They gave up their firstborn children

00:30:05.480 --> 00:30:08.819
in many cases. They suffered other people's destruction.

00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:11.019
Well, that's just them over there dying. We're

00:30:11.019 --> 00:30:12.259
not going to get upset about that. We're not

00:30:12.259 --> 00:30:13.420
going to do something about that. We're not going

00:30:13.420 --> 00:30:15.400
to sum up an army. That village is wiped out.

00:30:15.460 --> 00:30:16.700
That village is wiped out. Oh, we heard about

00:30:16.700 --> 00:30:18.299
that village is wiped out. But it's not us. Not

00:30:18.299 --> 00:30:19.920
right now. So we're not going to do anything

00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:23.279
about it. It's not okay to deem certain things

00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:26.619
as acceptable losses. Worse, in the present day,

00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:29.460
people are losing the image of the creator. People

00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:31.769
are no longer representing God. They're no longer

00:30:31.769 --> 00:30:33.430
doing the things that God would have them to

00:30:33.430 --> 00:30:35.329
do. They're doing the things that they think

00:30:35.329 --> 00:30:37.690
they should do, which is get a job, earn money,

00:30:37.750 --> 00:30:40.230
pay bills, have stuff, eat the way they want

00:30:40.230 --> 00:30:41.910
to eat, go to places they want to go, whatever.

00:30:42.250 --> 00:30:44.829
And the image of the creator is being lost. And

00:30:44.829 --> 00:30:46.849
yes, it was marred at the fall, but it was never

00:30:46.849 --> 00:30:48.809
meant to be lost. The truth is you don't have

00:30:48.809 --> 00:30:51.650
to hate God to neglect God. You only have to

00:30:51.650 --> 00:30:53.789
keep putting something else in the temple. And

00:30:53.789 --> 00:30:55.740
that's what they did. They took on other gods.

00:30:55.940 --> 00:30:58.259
They didn't stop worshiping God. Even what we

00:30:58.259 --> 00:31:00.200
just read, where they wiped out the tribe of

00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:02.440
Benjamin. They went to fight the third day against

00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:05.299
the tribe of Benjamin after 25, what, 40 ,000

00:31:05.299 --> 00:31:07.500
people died. They went to fight them on the third

00:31:07.500 --> 00:31:10.240
day because why? Because God told them to. God

00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:12.079
said, go up against them. I'll give you the victory

00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:14.160
today. So they didn't wipe out their worship

00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:17.380
of God. They just added other things to it. Acceptable

00:31:17.380 --> 00:31:20.500
losses in order to... continue doing what they

00:31:20.500 --> 00:31:22.880
were doing. They did not necessarily wake up

00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:24.859
one morning and announce, we're going to destroy

00:31:24.859 --> 00:31:27.180
our relationship with God. They simply began

00:31:27.180 --> 00:31:29.980
pursuing other things. And when God is no longer

00:31:29.980 --> 00:31:32.140
at the center, something else will always take

00:31:32.140 --> 00:31:35.000
the place. The interior of you is like a vacuum.

00:31:35.160 --> 00:31:38.000
It's like what they hypothesize outer space reacts

00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:39.559
as, although there are people that think that

00:31:39.559 --> 00:31:41.359
outer space is not empty, and people think outer

00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:44.200
space is empty, whatever, right? But it's like

00:31:44.200 --> 00:31:46.509
that. The inside of you is like a vacuum. And

00:31:46.509 --> 00:31:47.930
if you don't fill it with the only thing that

00:31:47.930 --> 00:31:50.029
will fill it, it'll suck. And I don't mean it'll

00:31:50.029 --> 00:31:51.730
suck like it'll be bad, although that's true.

00:31:51.829 --> 00:31:53.509
I mean, it'll suck like the most powerful vacuum

00:31:53.509 --> 00:31:55.789
under creation. It will continue to draw things

00:31:55.789 --> 00:31:58.190
in to fill that void. And you will constantly

00:31:58.190 --> 00:32:00.789
fill that void with something, the void that

00:32:00.789 --> 00:32:03.809
can only truly be filled with God. So acceptable

00:32:03.809 --> 00:32:06.470
losses was the second problem that we saw over

00:32:06.470 --> 00:32:07.950
and over again throughout the entire book of

00:32:07.950 --> 00:32:10.670
Judges. And then the last was in misinterpreting.

00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:13.119
Now, you may or may not know what vacillation

00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:14.799
is. I had to look it up and make sure I had the

00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:17.539
right definition of the word. OK, so vacillation

00:32:17.539 --> 00:32:19.299
is when a person is constantly changing their

00:32:19.299 --> 00:32:21.660
minds. That's what we use it for in common vernacular.

00:32:21.819 --> 00:32:24.220
But it also means the constant flux or state

00:32:24.220 --> 00:32:26.299
of a thing. So it gets bigger, smaller, goes

00:32:26.299 --> 00:32:28.920
up and down. Right. It doesn't stay the course.

00:32:29.119 --> 00:32:33.380
And what happens with vacillation is life is

00:32:33.380 --> 00:32:35.920
up and down. OK, when I was a youth director

00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:38.750
back in the day, East Toledo. We had an event

00:32:38.750 --> 00:32:41.650
called YEC. It was a Young Evangelism Celebration.

00:32:41.710 --> 00:32:43.710
Youth Evangelism. No, Youth. Youth Evangelism

00:32:43.710 --> 00:32:45.890
Celebration. And about 5 ,000 teenagers would

00:32:45.890 --> 00:32:47.650
come from all over the state of Ohio for a concert

00:32:47.650 --> 00:32:49.470
on Saturday night, on Friday night, and then

00:32:49.470 --> 00:32:51.269
a concert on Saturday morning. Most of them would

00:32:51.269 --> 00:32:52.849
sleep at the concert on Saturday morning, or

00:32:52.849 --> 00:32:55.289
try to, because they couldn't hardly get them

00:32:55.289 --> 00:32:56.690
to go to bed on Friday night, right? Because

00:32:56.690 --> 00:32:58.170
there were 5 ,000 youth all in these hotels,

00:32:58.309 --> 00:33:00.329
all over Dayton, and it was really hard to get

00:33:00.329 --> 00:33:02.130
them to go to bed. And then on Saturday morning,

00:33:02.170 --> 00:33:03.529
they'd have a hard time staying awake, even though

00:33:03.529 --> 00:33:05.369
they always put the hard rock stuff on Saturday

00:33:05.369 --> 00:33:07.589
morning. It was really loud. But they were still

00:33:07.589 --> 00:33:09.369
sleeping, which I don't understand how a teenager

00:33:09.369 --> 00:33:12.009
sleeps through hard rock, but they did it. These

00:33:12.009 --> 00:33:14.569
kids would go to YEC. And while they're at YEC,

00:33:14.670 --> 00:33:17.029
they would hear the gospel preached in simple

00:33:17.029 --> 00:33:19.150
terms, like what we do here at New Heights. And

00:33:19.150 --> 00:33:21.730
they would respond. They would go down. They'd

00:33:21.730 --> 00:33:23.250
give their life to Christ. They'd request to

00:33:23.250 --> 00:33:24.990
be baptized. They'd commit themselves to live

00:33:24.990 --> 00:33:28.990
for the Lord, whatever. And then a few days later

00:33:28.990 --> 00:33:31.670
or a couple of weeks later, they'd go back to

00:33:31.670 --> 00:33:33.859
their old life. that a mountaintop experience.

00:33:34.500 --> 00:33:36.519
YEC was awesome. It was beautiful. It was wonderful.

00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:38.640
The music was great. The people were great. The

00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:40.839
message was clear. I gave my life to Christ.

00:33:41.059 --> 00:33:42.420
And then a week later, they were living just

00:33:42.420 --> 00:33:45.400
like nothing ever happened. Then sometimes youth

00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:47.319
camp would come up and their friends would invite

00:33:47.319 --> 00:33:48.500
them. Well, I'm going to go to youth camp. And

00:33:48.500 --> 00:33:50.220
they'd go for five days. And at youth camp, they

00:33:50.220 --> 00:33:51.960
would give their life back over to Christ. They'd

00:33:51.960 --> 00:33:53.099
start living for Christ and things would start

00:33:53.099 --> 00:33:55.839
going right again. And after a few weeks, after

00:33:55.839 --> 00:33:57.920
youth camp, they'd go back to living the way

00:33:57.920 --> 00:33:59.180
that they were living before and stuff would

00:33:59.180 --> 00:34:01.619
start going to snot, right? And I always wondered,

00:34:01.950 --> 00:34:03.869
If that's the way it works, you have a spiritual

00:34:03.869 --> 00:34:05.509
experience and then you go back to living the

00:34:05.509 --> 00:34:06.990
way you were. Spiritual experience, go back.

00:34:07.109 --> 00:34:09.289
How is that helping anybody? And then I found

00:34:09.289 --> 00:34:11.789
out that it doesn't look like that. It's not

00:34:11.789 --> 00:34:13.469
a spiritual experience and then back the way

00:34:13.469 --> 00:34:15.489
it was. Actually, it looks like this. It's a

00:34:15.489 --> 00:34:17.030
spiritual experience and then back the way it

00:34:17.030 --> 00:34:18.829
was. And you're not quite as low as you were

00:34:18.829 --> 00:34:20.389
before because now you have the Holy Spirit in

00:34:20.389 --> 00:34:21.849
your life trying to lead you even though you're

00:34:21.849 --> 00:34:23.389
not necessarily responding. And then it looks

00:34:23.389 --> 00:34:25.570
like this. Every day, all day, it looks like

00:34:25.570 --> 00:34:27.769
this. Every week, all week, it looks like this.

00:34:27.789 --> 00:34:29.929
Ups and downs and ups and downs. And every time

00:34:29.929 --> 00:34:32.380
it starts to go up. The person who should be

00:34:32.380 --> 00:34:36.079
basing their standards on the Lord instead says,

00:34:36.179 --> 00:34:38.179
oh, it's getting better. And they have hope because

00:34:38.179 --> 00:34:40.000
now it's getting better, right? And then it starts

00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:41.519
to go bad. And they're like, oh, Lord, I need

00:34:41.519 --> 00:34:43.800
you. Do something here. And it starts to get

00:34:43.800 --> 00:34:45.559
better. Oh, God did something. It's getting better.

00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:48.019
And it's up and down and up and down. And that's

00:34:48.019 --> 00:34:51.880
vacillation. And so we misinterpret. life's ups

00:34:51.880 --> 00:34:54.179
as god doing something good that is not how that

00:34:54.179 --> 00:34:56.960
works all blessings come from god that is true

00:34:56.960 --> 00:34:59.199
but everything good that you ever see happening

00:34:59.199 --> 00:35:00.860
everything good that you appraise first of all

00:35:00.860 --> 00:35:03.199
isn't even always good right you getting a bunch

00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:05.699
of money not necessarily a good thing if you

00:35:05.699 --> 00:35:08.719
don't tithe give serve stay focused on god make

00:35:08.719 --> 00:35:10.559
god your highest priority then you getting that

00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:12.920
money was a bad thing right it's not as simple

00:35:12.920 --> 00:35:15.260
as when something that the world calls is good

00:35:15.260 --> 00:35:17.679
or that makes you feel good is good that that's

00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:19.400
god doing a good thing and you're going to jump

00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:22.099
right on it right Life is not a straight line.

00:35:22.300 --> 00:35:25.260
There are ups and downs. Life is not straight

00:35:25.260 --> 00:35:27.500
down. So when I was a young Christian, I read

00:35:27.500 --> 00:35:29.639
the book of Judges. Did you ever do that? As

00:35:29.639 --> 00:35:31.179
a young Christian, maybe read the entire book

00:35:31.179 --> 00:35:32.420
of Judges. I read a whole bunch of books when

00:35:32.420 --> 00:35:34.099
I was a young Christian for the first time ever.

00:35:34.179 --> 00:35:35.219
And I had never read them before. I'm like, wow,

00:35:35.239 --> 00:35:37.039
this is powerful. And I looked at the book of

00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:39.119
Judges and I thought, oh, I see what happened.

00:35:39.260 --> 00:35:41.159
So they keep getting a judge. And then every

00:35:41.159 --> 00:35:42.619
time the judge is gone, they keep going back

00:35:42.619 --> 00:35:45.480
into sin. And so this is what I see. And a lot

00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:48.139
of theologians call it this. But I now see in

00:35:48.139 --> 00:35:50.429
studying it that they're not really right. OK,

00:35:50.469 --> 00:35:52.090
this is the thing that really touched my heart.

00:35:52.150 --> 00:35:54.010
So pay attention to this. All right. What they

00:35:54.010 --> 00:35:57.510
say is that it's a sin spiral. So it gets better

00:35:57.510 --> 00:35:59.369
while they have a judge and then it goes down

00:35:59.369 --> 00:36:00.909
and it goes down and down and down. Then they

00:36:00.909 --> 00:36:02.590
get a judge and it gets better and it goes down

00:36:02.590 --> 00:36:04.710
and down and down. And each time they go down,

00:36:04.849 --> 00:36:07.150
they go down worse and worse and worse until

00:36:07.150 --> 00:36:09.369
the end of the book. That's what they said. But

00:36:09.369 --> 00:36:11.730
I'm about to show you that's not accurate. OK,

00:36:11.829 --> 00:36:14.409
I'll do that one second. The bottom line is life

00:36:14.409 --> 00:36:17.929
is up and down. Life is not a straight line toward

00:36:17.929 --> 00:36:19.429
better or worse. Just because you're a Christian

00:36:19.429 --> 00:36:21.849
does not mean your life is going to be on a constant,

00:36:21.909 --> 00:36:23.849
steady incline. It's always going to get better,

00:36:23.889 --> 00:36:25.369
better, better, better, better in heaven. That's

00:36:25.369 --> 00:36:27.070
not how it works. No, that's not how it works.

00:36:27.090 --> 00:36:29.110
Some days are better than others. Israel had

00:36:29.110 --> 00:36:31.530
inherited a story of God's faithfulness. Their

00:36:31.530 --> 00:36:34.650
ancestors had seen the Red Sea, the Jordan, Jericho

00:36:34.650 --> 00:36:37.289
fall. But now there's a generation that did not

00:36:37.289 --> 00:36:39.710
know the Lord. I submit to you generations that

00:36:39.710 --> 00:36:41.630
did not know the Lord. They had inherited the

00:36:41.630 --> 00:36:44.300
benefits of God's work. They only had lands because

00:36:44.300 --> 00:36:46.199
God gave them to them. They only had cities because

00:36:46.199 --> 00:36:48.199
the people before them built them and God gave

00:36:48.199 --> 00:36:51.579
them to them. And they have the benefits, but

00:36:51.579 --> 00:36:54.800
now it's up and down and up and down. But the

00:36:54.800 --> 00:36:56.920
truth is, it's up and down and up and down on

00:36:56.920 --> 00:37:00.179
the way down. The enemy is always at work. And

00:37:00.179 --> 00:37:02.219
if you're not getting the benefits of God in

00:37:02.219 --> 00:37:03.960
your life, you're going to get the influence

00:37:03.960 --> 00:37:06.219
and impact of the enemy. So here's what I want

00:37:06.219 --> 00:37:08.079
you to see about the book of Judges. And then

00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:11.599
you'll see this very clearly. The book of Judges

00:37:11.599 --> 00:37:14.380
represents several centuries where Israel did

00:37:14.380 --> 00:37:16.500
not have a king. They also were not actively

00:37:16.500 --> 00:37:18.099
taking over the lands that they were supposed

00:37:18.099 --> 00:37:19.739
to, expanding the kingdom to be the way it was

00:37:19.739 --> 00:37:21.400
supposed to. So they really weren't doing what

00:37:21.400 --> 00:37:24.360
God told them to do. It's over 300 for sure,

00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:26.260
because we, I don't know if you remember this

00:37:26.260 --> 00:37:28.280
when we studied or not, but Jephthah said, 300

00:37:28.280 --> 00:37:30.960
years ago, we won this land and we've had it

00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:32.860
for 300 years. And now you're saying we took

00:37:32.860 --> 00:37:34.260
it from you. And that's just not true. Remember,

00:37:34.300 --> 00:37:36.519
he said that 300 years ago, this happened. You

00:37:36.519 --> 00:37:38.139
may not remember the bottom line. So that means

00:37:38.139 --> 00:37:40.679
for over 300 years, the book of Judges was going

00:37:40.679 --> 00:37:46.039
on by the time of Jephthah. Then in Judges 20,

00:37:46.300 --> 00:37:48.920
there's a verse where it says Phinehas, who was

00:37:48.920 --> 00:37:51.400
the son of Aaron, was serving as the high priest.

00:37:51.679 --> 00:37:55.219
Let me say it again in Judges 20. So Judges 20

00:37:55.219 --> 00:37:59.960
is the next to the last chapter. So Aaron was

00:37:59.960 --> 00:38:02.820
the high priest before the era of Judges. And

00:38:02.820 --> 00:38:06.099
now in Judges 20, we see Phinehas was the high

00:38:06.099 --> 00:38:08.079
priest who was the high priest for Aaron. So

00:38:08.079 --> 00:38:10.900
what that tells you is this book is not written

00:38:10.900 --> 00:38:13.900
chronologically. The events of Judges do not

00:38:13.900 --> 00:38:15.960
go from Judges 1 and then the stuff that happened

00:38:15.960 --> 00:38:17.340
next, Judges 2, the stuff that happened next,

00:38:17.400 --> 00:38:20.320
Judges 3, and so on, up to Judges 21. It's not

00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:23.239
a chronological book. It's a theological book.

00:38:23.340 --> 00:38:25.679
Theological book means it has a point of theology,

00:38:25.719 --> 00:38:28.119
something to teach us about God. So we should

00:38:28.119 --> 00:38:31.280
not imagine Israel simply getting worse and worse

00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:33.440
in a straight line from chapter 1 through chapter

00:38:33.440 --> 00:38:36.619
21. Just the same as anybody's life does not

00:38:36.619 --> 00:38:39.260
get better or worse in a straight line, which

00:38:39.260 --> 00:38:40.719
is what God was showing us through the book of

00:38:40.719 --> 00:38:43.599
Judges. It's not like that. Instead, Judges shows

00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:46.940
us a reoccurring pattern that happens whenever

00:38:46.940 --> 00:38:50.659
people choose to live by the standard of whatever

00:38:50.659 --> 00:38:53.539
is right in their own eyes. Almost to the conclusion,

00:38:53.559 --> 00:38:56.000
but it's a doozy, so stick with me, okay? So

00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:58.699
we see throughout the book, Israel turns away

00:38:58.699 --> 00:39:00.940
from God. God gives them over to oppression.

00:39:01.219 --> 00:39:04.300
So God uses the very people that God would empower

00:39:04.300 --> 00:39:07.820
them to destroy, to somewhat destroy them, to

00:39:07.820 --> 00:39:09.860
create terrible situations, right, where their

00:39:09.860 --> 00:39:11.940
children are enslaved or where they've lost their

00:39:11.940 --> 00:39:14.179
crops or the lands that God gave them. So God

00:39:14.179 --> 00:39:16.239
uses those same people to oppress the Israelites.

00:39:16.320 --> 00:39:19.670
Israel cries out. God raises a deliverer. Israel

00:39:19.670 --> 00:39:22.030
experiences relief. And then Israel turns away

00:39:22.030 --> 00:39:24.710
again when that judge is no longer there. So

00:39:24.710 --> 00:39:27.909
that's the cycle. Life in judges is up and down.

00:39:28.110 --> 00:39:30.849
So even when there is no judge, there was a certain

00:39:30.849 --> 00:39:32.409
amount of faithfulness. There was a certain amount

00:39:32.409 --> 00:39:33.869
of good things that people were doing and good

00:39:33.869 --> 00:39:35.469
experiences that people were having. And they

00:39:35.469 --> 00:39:37.289
might say, we're doing fine. We're following

00:39:37.289 --> 00:39:39.349
the Lord. And you might do the same. I got a

00:39:39.349 --> 00:39:41.349
new job. I got a new house. I got a new friend.

00:39:41.530 --> 00:39:44.159
I got a new... ministry task. Things are going

00:39:44.159 --> 00:39:45.880
pretty good. My health is getting better. And

00:39:45.880 --> 00:39:48.019
you might say, because good things are happening

00:39:48.019 --> 00:39:50.440
to you, then you might want to infer that you

00:39:50.440 --> 00:39:52.699
are being faithful to the Lord, that your life

00:39:52.699 --> 00:39:54.239
is going in the right direction. You might even

00:39:54.239 --> 00:39:57.340
say, well, I said I would go do this. And right

00:39:57.340 --> 00:40:00.840
away, God responded positively. And so now I've

00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:03.139
got to go do that, right? Like my brother, when

00:40:03.139 --> 00:40:05.119
he was sitting in his car and the car wouldn't

00:40:05.119 --> 00:40:07.079
start on a rainy, stormy night on the side of

00:40:07.079 --> 00:40:08.840
the road, and he tried to start the car and it

00:40:08.840 --> 00:40:10.159
wouldn't start. And he said to God, he said,

00:40:10.179 --> 00:40:12.239
he said, God, I'm sorry, he didn't say to God.

00:40:12.300 --> 00:40:15.039
He said to himself, he said, if I turn the car

00:40:15.039 --> 00:40:17.099
over and it starts now, then I'm going to start

00:40:17.099 --> 00:40:18.880
a nonprofit to help wounded vets. And I'm going

00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:20.420
to do all that. The thing I've been thinking

00:40:20.420 --> 00:40:22.280
about doing. He didn't say it to God. He didn't

00:40:22.280 --> 00:40:24.079
ask God for a sign. He didn't beg God to tell

00:40:24.079 --> 00:40:25.679
him nothing. He just said, if my car starts now,

00:40:25.719 --> 00:40:27.320
I'm going to do it. Turn the key over and it

00:40:27.320 --> 00:40:29.139
started. And he went off and he started the nonprofit.

00:40:29.420 --> 00:40:31.440
And that's what people do. Oh, because the car

00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:33.739
started. Now I know I'm on this course and I've

00:40:33.739 --> 00:40:36.300
got to do it. You're leaning on your own understanding

00:40:36.300 --> 00:40:39.050
and you're doing what you think is right. And

00:40:39.050 --> 00:40:41.489
life will always do this during this period of

00:40:41.489 --> 00:40:44.110
time. So you'll start getting good things. You'll

00:40:44.110 --> 00:40:45.849
be like, oh, it's working. This is going great.

00:40:45.989 --> 00:40:49.090
Good things are happening. But you're not following

00:40:49.090 --> 00:40:50.929
God. You're leaning on your own understanding.

00:40:50.989 --> 00:40:52.650
You're doing what you think is right rather than

00:40:52.650 --> 00:40:55.309
what God says is right. And so that's just good

00:40:55.309 --> 00:40:57.849
things happening. And then it starts to go down.

00:40:58.230 --> 00:40:59.849
And you start to question, like, why is this

00:40:59.849 --> 00:41:01.210
happening to me? Oh, my goodness, I'm so anxious.

00:41:01.289 --> 00:41:02.829
I'm so worried. I'm so stressed. I can't believe

00:41:02.829 --> 00:41:04.690
this is happening. I'm getting a diagnosis, a

00:41:04.690 --> 00:41:06.630
problem. I'm trapping. I'm suffering. We're taking

00:41:06.630 --> 00:41:08.630
losses. Oh, those are acceptable losses because

00:41:08.630 --> 00:41:10.369
we're doing what it is. So now we're suffering.

00:41:10.610 --> 00:41:13.170
We're running on without the things that we would

00:41:13.170 --> 00:41:16.150
like. But we're doing that because we say we're

00:41:16.150 --> 00:41:18.090
serving God when we're actually not serving God.

00:41:18.230 --> 00:41:20.349
And so now we're putting ourselves in line for

00:41:20.349 --> 00:41:23.050
suffering of our own orchestration. We're continuing

00:41:23.050 --> 00:41:25.570
the fighting just as they were doing when it

00:41:25.570 --> 00:41:28.909
was completely unnecessary to do so. Earthly

00:41:28.909 --> 00:41:32.769
pursuits crowd out spiritual priorities. They

00:41:32.769 --> 00:41:35.070
did not necessarily wake up one morning and announce,

00:41:35.389 --> 00:41:37.269
we're going to destroy our relationship with

00:41:37.269 --> 00:41:39.190
God. And I'm looking at these people in this

00:41:39.190 --> 00:41:41.210
room. I'm looking around at you. And I'm going

00:41:41.210 --> 00:41:43.329
to say that I don't see anyone who would do that.

00:41:43.449 --> 00:41:45.449
I don't see anyone who would get out of bed in

00:41:45.449 --> 00:41:47.030
the morning one morning and just say, I'm going

00:41:47.030 --> 00:41:49.349
to destroy my relationship with God today. I'm

00:41:49.349 --> 00:41:50.750
just going to write God off and be done with

00:41:50.750 --> 00:41:53.030
him. I don't believe it. Looking at y 'all, I

00:41:53.030 --> 00:41:54.530
don't believe it. Knowing some of the people

00:41:54.530 --> 00:41:56.480
that are... watching online, I think most of

00:41:56.480 --> 00:41:58.699
them wouldn't do it. And the enemy knows. He

00:41:58.699 --> 00:42:00.719
knows that. He knows that you won't do it. So

00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:03.219
what he's done is he's created an environment

00:42:03.219 --> 00:42:06.260
wherein everybody changes their mind. Everybody

00:42:06.260 --> 00:42:09.420
waffles on even the most important things. And

00:42:09.420 --> 00:42:12.659
life goes up and down. And so when things are

00:42:12.659 --> 00:42:15.119
on the way up, you're like, oh, well, this is

00:42:15.119 --> 00:42:16.659
pretty good. And then things start down and you

00:42:16.659 --> 00:42:18.500
start rooting around for what you're going to

00:42:18.500 --> 00:42:19.760
do. Scramble. I'm going to work harder. More

00:42:19.760 --> 00:42:22.079
hours. I need to do more. I need to be better.

00:42:22.139 --> 00:42:24.329
It's all my fault. I'll accept the diagnosis.

00:42:24.329 --> 00:42:26.050
I'll take the drugs. I'll do all these things.

00:42:26.369 --> 00:42:29.909
Because you're reading the curve rather than

00:42:29.909 --> 00:42:34.480
looking at God. All they did, not say I'm going

00:42:34.480 --> 00:42:35.940
to destroy my relationship with God. All they

00:42:35.940 --> 00:42:40.139
did was to start pursuing other things. That's

00:42:40.139 --> 00:42:42.400
all they did. The land, the crops, the prosperity,

00:42:42.599 --> 00:42:44.139
the security, the approval of the surrounding

00:42:44.139 --> 00:42:45.980
nations, the gods of the people around them.

00:42:46.059 --> 00:42:47.800
And you almost could do it in that order. Oh,

00:42:47.860 --> 00:42:50.800
she's pretty. Yeah, but she's not Israel. Yeah,

00:42:50.800 --> 00:42:53.289
but she's pretty. It'll be fine. I'm going to

00:42:53.289 --> 00:42:54.909
take her into my house. She's going to make me

00:42:54.909 --> 00:42:57.929
some babies. It'll be fine. She won't be allowed

00:42:57.929 --> 00:42:59.889
to worship those pagan gods in my house. We worship

00:42:59.889 --> 00:43:01.750
only the Lord in my house. But three to five

00:43:01.750 --> 00:43:04.289
years in, oh, I found something in my wife's

00:43:04.289 --> 00:43:06.250
bedroom. It looked like maybe she was worshiping

00:43:06.250 --> 00:43:08.829
those false gods still. And then 10 years in,

00:43:08.869 --> 00:43:11.610
it's like, oh, it's fine. She's such a good mother

00:43:11.610 --> 00:43:14.369
and she's such a good provider. She'd give me

00:43:14.369 --> 00:43:16.469
five, six kids and they're growing up to be good,

00:43:16.489 --> 00:43:19.590
strong boys. It's fine. She worships that false

00:43:19.590 --> 00:43:21.690
god, but I'm not going to do that. I'll stay

00:43:21.690 --> 00:43:23.820
faithful to God. Now, five years later, it's

00:43:23.820 --> 00:43:26.059
like, well, it wasn't raining for a while. I

00:43:26.059 --> 00:43:29.199
was praying to God to rain and it never did rain.

00:43:29.380 --> 00:43:32.179
But then she prayed to Molech and it rained.

00:43:32.360 --> 00:43:35.699
Oh, well, let's just take those idols of Molech

00:43:35.699 --> 00:43:37.340
and we'll put them up here on a shelf that's

00:43:37.340 --> 00:43:39.639
down to the right from the idols of God. The

00:43:39.639 --> 00:43:42.099
things that we are symbols of God. So we're not

00:43:42.099 --> 00:43:44.119
on the same shelf because we can't have a God

00:43:44.119 --> 00:43:46.840
above God or with God, but down here. So these

00:43:46.840 --> 00:43:48.559
things will be important. And in modern day,

00:43:48.579 --> 00:43:51.349
that may be family, money. These are things that

00:43:51.349 --> 00:43:53.809
will be important. Sports, recreation, relationships.

00:43:54.269 --> 00:43:55.909
These things will be important, but they'll not

00:43:55.909 --> 00:43:58.250
be as important as God. God will still, they'll

00:43:58.250 --> 00:44:00.070
know, I'll know, everyone will know, God will

00:44:00.070 --> 00:44:01.269
still be the most important thing. But we're

00:44:01.269 --> 00:44:03.469
down on this other shelf down here. Several stages

00:44:03.469 --> 00:44:06.670
down will be these other things, right? And then

00:44:06.670 --> 00:44:08.309
about five, ten years later, it's like, oh, this

00:44:08.309 --> 00:44:10.829
shelf is a little higher. Well, Molech has answered

00:44:10.829 --> 00:44:12.309
several times, and we've prayed, and God just

00:44:12.309 --> 00:44:13.989
doesn't seem to be answering. And by that time,

00:44:14.010 --> 00:44:15.489
God isn't answering, because now you've made

00:44:15.489 --> 00:44:17.489
other gods. So he's not answering. You feel distant

00:44:17.489 --> 00:44:20.500
from God, but you can feel. something when you

00:44:20.500 --> 00:44:22.579
worship Molech because it's a demon, evil spirit,

00:44:22.679 --> 00:44:25.179
and he's happy to fill that void for you. Anything

00:44:25.179 --> 00:44:27.119
that draws you away from God. And pretty soon

00:44:27.119 --> 00:44:28.880
your shelves are the same. And then pretty soon,

00:44:28.880 --> 00:44:30.420
yes, it's kind of a pain to have two shelves.

00:44:30.480 --> 00:44:32.219
You just have one shelf with all the God stuff

00:44:32.219 --> 00:44:36.429
and all the Molech stuff on the same shelf. And

00:44:36.429 --> 00:44:38.570
maybe if life goes on long enough with enough

00:44:38.570 --> 00:44:40.510
ups and downs, one of those times on the way

00:44:40.510 --> 00:44:42.869
down and you really need help, Molech gets his

00:44:42.869 --> 00:44:45.269
own shelf and God just gets put in the closet.

00:44:45.750 --> 00:44:47.869
Nobody starts out by trying to destroy their

00:44:47.869 --> 00:44:50.590
relationship with God. But those who live according

00:44:50.590 --> 00:44:52.570
to what they think is right, not according to

00:44:52.570 --> 00:44:55.429
what God says is right, suffer that vacillation.

00:44:55.429 --> 00:44:58.590
They suffer acceptable losses and they expect

00:44:58.590 --> 00:45:01.190
things to go on the way they are. And that is

00:45:01.190 --> 00:45:03.630
not what God says is going to happen. They're

00:45:03.630 --> 00:45:05.710
not going to go on the way they are. What begins

00:45:05.710 --> 00:45:08.130
as a pursuit of earthly advantage can become

00:45:08.130 --> 00:45:11.730
a departure from heavenly authority. You don't

00:45:11.730 --> 00:45:16.059
have to hate God in order to neglect God. Israel

00:45:16.059 --> 00:45:18.559
experienced real deliverances. They had Othniel,

00:45:18.800 --> 00:45:22.679
Ehud, Deborah and Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson,

00:45:22.699 --> 00:45:25.139
all of those we read about. Moments of great

00:45:25.139 --> 00:45:27.880
victory and God did amazing things. And then

00:45:27.880 --> 00:45:31.380
while that judge was alive, who had seen God

00:45:31.380 --> 00:45:35.300
do amazing things, right? He held the nation

00:45:35.300 --> 00:45:38.920
together to be faithful. Jesus is alive and he

00:45:38.920 --> 00:45:41.239
is our king. And given the opportunity, he will

00:45:41.239 --> 00:45:43.789
hold the kingdom together. But I submit to you

00:45:43.789 --> 00:45:45.190
that there are a lot of Christians who don't

00:45:45.190 --> 00:45:46.429
really want to do that because they're pretty

00:45:46.429 --> 00:45:49.949
proud, pretty attached. They'll say, well, I'm

00:45:49.949 --> 00:45:52.570
doing the things that I think are right in the

00:45:52.570 --> 00:45:54.750
kingdom. I'm pretty sure this is what God wants

00:45:54.750 --> 00:45:56.550
me to do. And it's definitely not sin. So I'm

00:45:56.550 --> 00:45:59.130
going to do it. I'm pretty sure just means you're

00:45:59.130 --> 00:46:01.769
not sure. Judges 2 .18, when the Lord raised

00:46:01.769 --> 00:46:04.489
up judges for them, the Lord was the judge, was

00:46:04.489 --> 00:46:06.690
with the judge, and delivered them from the hand

00:46:06.690 --> 00:46:09.230
of their enemies all the days of the judge. God's

00:46:09.230 --> 00:46:12.289
mercy is real. But relief is not the same as

00:46:12.289 --> 00:46:15.409
repentance. It came about when the judge died

00:46:15.409 --> 00:46:17.889
that they would turn back and act more corruptly

00:46:17.889 --> 00:46:21.170
than the Israelites had before, says then their

00:46:21.170 --> 00:46:23.849
fathers. Israelites often wanted relief. They

00:46:23.849 --> 00:46:26.949
wanted rescue. So do I, so do you. But they did

00:46:26.949 --> 00:46:29.389
not want a ruler. They wanted God to change their

00:46:29.389 --> 00:46:34.519
circumstances. So you, so I. But do we want God

00:46:34.519 --> 00:46:37.539
to change us? Are we willing for God to change

00:46:37.539 --> 00:46:40.579
us? This is why, in part, that life does not

00:46:40.579 --> 00:46:42.719
move in a straight line. A person can experience

00:46:42.719 --> 00:46:44.780
blessing and still be drifting. You're getting

00:46:44.780 --> 00:46:46.500
good stuff, but you're drifting away from God.

00:46:46.619 --> 00:46:48.960
A person can experience hardship and still be

00:46:48.960 --> 00:46:50.659
walking faithfully. You can be going through

00:46:50.659 --> 00:46:52.400
difficulty and still be faithful to the Lord.

00:46:52.420 --> 00:46:54.699
Look at Job. It was a period of testing. It had

00:46:54.699 --> 00:46:57.619
nothing to do with the fact that Job was an unfaithful,

00:46:57.619 --> 00:47:00.059
wicked man. Because he wasn't. And yet he went

00:47:00.059 --> 00:47:02.320
through horrible times and throughout remained

00:47:02.320 --> 00:47:04.619
faithful to God. A church can have a season of

00:47:04.619 --> 00:47:07.380
growth and add people and still desperately need

00:47:07.380 --> 00:47:09.139
repentance. That's what's going on with a whole

00:47:09.139 --> 00:47:10.840
bunch of churches all over the world that are

00:47:10.840 --> 00:47:13.380
not about Christ at all. A family can experience

00:47:13.380 --> 00:47:16.400
difficulty and still be moving in the right direction.

00:47:16.500 --> 00:47:18.079
So you can be having hardships and say, I don't

00:47:18.079 --> 00:47:19.860
like it the way it is. This is a real problem.

00:47:19.920 --> 00:47:21.900
Something's going wrong here. We've got health

00:47:21.900 --> 00:47:23.760
difficulties. We've got... financial difficulties,

00:47:23.880 --> 00:47:26.900
whatever, and yet still be on God's course for

00:47:26.900 --> 00:47:29.820
your life. God has allowed people to die for

00:47:29.820 --> 00:47:33.719
their faith. That's extreme, but it's real. Believers

00:47:33.719 --> 00:47:36.699
can experience what seems like worldly benefits

00:47:36.699 --> 00:47:40.500
and still be on a fast track to personal experience

00:47:40.500 --> 00:47:42.699
with God's wrath. And you can go, I'm doing pretty

00:47:42.699 --> 00:47:44.239
good here. I'm going to go after this. I can

00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:45.719
do it. God's put it within my reach. It's an

00:47:45.719 --> 00:47:47.400
open door. I should really take it. And then

00:47:47.400 --> 00:47:49.469
you take it. and just realize that you fell into

00:47:49.469 --> 00:47:51.929
the snare. You didn't honor the Lord with your

00:47:51.929 --> 00:47:54.369
choice, which then puts you on a road to wrath.

00:47:54.570 --> 00:47:57.010
Watch out. You don't have to make a willful choice.

00:47:57.210 --> 00:48:00.110
All you have to do is be willing to let somebody

00:48:00.110 --> 00:48:02.190
else make the choice that isn't God. That brings

00:48:02.190 --> 00:48:04.349
us to the conclusion. I want you to understand

00:48:04.349 --> 00:48:07.170
that there is a dog -eat -dog world out there,

00:48:07.250 --> 00:48:09.750
a world of personal performance. And the fact

00:48:09.750 --> 00:48:12.570
is, you can contend there based on your smarts,

00:48:12.570 --> 00:48:14.349
your ability to create. You now, if you're saved,

00:48:14.469 --> 00:48:16.340
you have a spiritual gift. which people will

00:48:16.340 --> 00:48:19.039
gladly have you use for their benefit, right?

00:48:19.159 --> 00:48:22.019
You have the ability to discipline yourself as

00:48:22.019 --> 00:48:23.880
a Christian. You have spiritual discipline ability.

00:48:23.920 --> 00:48:26.280
You have self -control. You have fruits that

00:48:26.280 --> 00:48:29.239
no one can buy. Love, joy, peace, patience. No

00:48:29.239 --> 00:48:30.679
one can buy those things. They don't have them.

00:48:30.719 --> 00:48:31.800
They don't have them. The Holy Spirit produces

00:48:31.800 --> 00:48:34.000
them in you. That's valuable to people. So you

00:48:34.000 --> 00:48:37.920
can contend in the world of dog -eat -dog personal

00:48:37.920 --> 00:48:40.260
performance. The gifts of God and the remnants

00:48:40.260 --> 00:48:42.679
of God's goodness will make you a contender.

00:48:42.880 --> 00:48:46.510
But in the end, God determines all outcomes,

00:48:46.690 --> 00:48:49.690
even there. No one ever became king or president,

00:48:49.769 --> 00:48:52.750
governor or general without God putting them

00:48:52.750 --> 00:48:55.349
in that place. God is not working to make you

00:48:55.349 --> 00:48:58.829
successful in a worldly sense. That is not his

00:48:58.829 --> 00:49:02.530
goal. Hang on, Tyson. You're all right, buddy.

00:49:02.889 --> 00:49:06.590
He's working to create kingdom prosperity. You

00:49:06.590 --> 00:49:09.090
are a celestial being. What you eat or how much

00:49:09.090 --> 00:49:10.929
money you collect is not going to benefit that

00:49:10.929 --> 00:49:13.820
one bit. There is a world in which planning,

00:49:13.940 --> 00:49:16.820
strategizing, and executing make success seem

00:49:16.820 --> 00:49:19.300
like logical outcomes. I decided to do it. I

00:49:19.300 --> 00:49:21.300
planned it. I took certain steps. I did it well.

00:49:21.539 --> 00:49:24.300
And you can contend here. The wisdom of the Lord

00:49:24.300 --> 00:49:27.099
and your improved character for having come into

00:49:27.099 --> 00:49:30.000
contact with the wisdom of the Lord will help

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:32.260
you. You can make good choices. You can say,

00:49:32.260 --> 00:49:35.199
when I get up early, I do better. In the afternoon,

00:49:35.239 --> 00:49:37.360
I'm more productive, so you can start getting

00:49:37.360 --> 00:49:40.619
up early. I see that God's Word says, if I cut

00:49:40.619 --> 00:49:43.320
certain things out of my life, I can focus more

00:49:43.320 --> 00:49:44.920
on other things. In this period of time where

00:49:44.920 --> 00:49:46.460
I'm really having a lot of work I have to do,

00:49:46.519 --> 00:49:48.079
or there's family issues or whatever, so I'm

00:49:48.079 --> 00:49:49.840
going to cut some of those things out and focus

00:49:49.840 --> 00:49:52.119
on these things. And you can make those choices,

00:49:52.199 --> 00:49:54.739
and you can do better having encountered God's

00:49:54.739 --> 00:49:57.679
Word. People have done it. self -help books written

00:49:57.679 --> 00:50:00.199
based on one Bible verse or two, and then people

00:50:00.199 --> 00:50:01.780
became millionaires even though they didn't know

00:50:01.780 --> 00:50:04.239
Christ. So you can do it. You can contend in

00:50:04.239 --> 00:50:07.460
that arena, and you could come out on top more

00:50:07.460 --> 00:50:10.719
often than not for a while, but eventually you're

00:50:10.719 --> 00:50:13.260
going to answer to God. God will do whatever

00:50:13.260 --> 00:50:16.519
it takes to bring you to a realization that your

00:50:16.519 --> 00:50:19.019
knowledge is finite and you are dependent on

00:50:19.019 --> 00:50:22.300
him. So if you build your kingdom and it does

00:50:22.300 --> 00:50:25.320
great, for example, if you gain the whole world,

00:50:27.650 --> 00:50:30.730
The bottom line is this. The book of Judges,

00:50:30.730 --> 00:50:33.909
the whole book, is a theological book written

00:50:33.909 --> 00:50:37.690
to teach us that the world we contend in is going

00:50:37.690 --> 00:50:40.110
to be one of our own choosing. In other words,

00:50:40.130 --> 00:50:42.610
the battles that you join, that's going to be

00:50:42.610 --> 00:50:44.630
one of your own choosing. Are you going to follow

00:50:44.630 --> 00:50:47.630
Jesus Christ and join the spiritual warfare that

00:50:47.630 --> 00:50:50.429
will benefit you for eternity with Christ at

00:50:50.429 --> 00:50:53.599
your head? Or... Will you protect your opportunity

00:50:53.599 --> 00:50:57.500
to engage in civilized warfare? And it can continue

00:50:57.500 --> 00:51:01.039
for a whole life. I know people who have tried

00:51:01.039 --> 00:51:03.380
to do everything that they could do right by

00:51:03.380 --> 00:51:05.139
their own standards. I've told you before, I

00:51:05.139 --> 00:51:07.400
know some folks when I was a young Christian

00:51:07.400 --> 00:51:09.460
who blessed us, who were atheists, did not believe

00:51:09.460 --> 00:51:11.380
in God at all. And they were some of the nicest

00:51:11.380 --> 00:51:13.659
people, giving, kindest people that I had ever

00:51:13.659 --> 00:51:15.860
met and would not profess the name of Jesus and

00:51:15.860 --> 00:51:17.619
not want to hear anything about him. And they've

00:51:17.619 --> 00:51:19.719
stayed, they stayed that course for a really

00:51:19.719 --> 00:51:22.190
long time being like that. And I know Christians

00:51:22.190 --> 00:51:25.670
who promote ungodly behavior and support ungodly

00:51:25.670 --> 00:51:28.909
Christians by their profession and ungodly lifestyles,

00:51:28.909 --> 00:51:31.150
and they continue to do that, and they're prospering

00:51:31.150 --> 00:51:33.769
by doing that. But they will eventually answer

00:51:33.769 --> 00:51:35.769
to God for it, because God is more concerned

00:51:35.769 --> 00:51:38.030
about spending eternity with them than he is

00:51:38.030 --> 00:51:41.730
about their agenda on earth. So the book of Judges

00:51:41.730 --> 00:51:45.670
is a book of theological pointing toward the

00:51:45.670 --> 00:51:48.090
kingdom of God. Who was to be king of Israel?

00:51:48.519 --> 00:51:51.139
God was. Were they to be doing that which God

00:51:51.139 --> 00:51:53.719
said they were supposed to do, or were they to

00:51:53.719 --> 00:51:56.360
be doing that which they already knew or believed

00:51:56.360 --> 00:51:58.500
was right? The answer is they were supposed to

00:51:58.500 --> 00:52:00.440
be doing that which God said they were to do.

00:52:00.679 --> 00:52:03.099
So I'm going to go through now, and this is by

00:52:03.099 --> 00:52:06.500
way of conclusion, and I'm powerful sorry for

00:52:06.500 --> 00:52:08.199
the note -takers for what I'm about to do to

00:52:08.199 --> 00:52:09.900
you, because you're not going to keep up. I'm

00:52:09.900 --> 00:52:11.320
going to warn you of that right now. But you

00:52:11.320 --> 00:52:13.780
can get this from me later if you want it on

00:52:13.780 --> 00:52:17.579
paper, right? So Jesus came and then Jesus used

00:52:17.579 --> 00:52:20.760
ordinary things to reveal extraordinary truths,

00:52:21.000 --> 00:52:23.260
just like the book of Judges is doing for us

00:52:23.260 --> 00:52:25.179
in the Old Testament. So in a sense, it's a book

00:52:25.179 --> 00:52:27.380
about the gospel and the kingdom of God. Here

00:52:27.380 --> 00:52:30.320
is what Jesus said about the kingdom of God.

00:52:30.400 --> 00:52:32.400
Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a mustard

00:52:32.400 --> 00:52:36.599
seed. God's work may begin quietly, but its final

00:52:36.599 --> 00:52:39.139
reach is far greater than the beginning suggests.

00:52:39.800 --> 00:52:42.480
Jesus said the kingdom of God is like leaven.

00:52:42.579 --> 00:52:45.659
The kingdom's influence works deeply and progressively,

00:52:45.679 --> 00:52:48.400
transforming lives and ultimately reaching far

00:52:48.400 --> 00:52:51.280
beyond what is immediately visible. Jesus said

00:52:51.280 --> 00:52:53.980
the kingdom of God is like a hidden treasure

00:52:53.980 --> 00:52:56.199
that a man found buried in a field. The kingdom

00:52:56.199 --> 00:52:59.539
is worth more than everything else combined.

00:52:59.840 --> 00:53:01.880
The man went and sold everything he had and bought

00:53:01.880 --> 00:53:04.460
the field in which the treasure was buried. But

00:53:04.460 --> 00:53:06.719
he also said the kingdom of God is like a costly

00:53:06.719 --> 00:53:09.519
pearl. A merchant searching for the fine pearl

00:53:09.519 --> 00:53:11.599
finds one of extraordinary value and sells everything

00:53:11.599 --> 00:53:14.320
he has to possess it. The kingdom is not merely

00:53:14.320 --> 00:53:17.599
one valuable thing among many. It is the supreme

00:53:17.599 --> 00:53:19.840
treasure. So when you start to think that something

00:53:19.840 --> 00:53:21.820
else, your relationships, your jobs, your money,

00:53:21.860 --> 00:53:24.480
whatever, is also a treasure, no. The kingdom

00:53:24.480 --> 00:53:29.179
is the treasure. Jesus used a dragnet to illustrate

00:53:29.179 --> 00:53:31.340
the kingdom of God, a net that gathers fish of

00:53:31.340 --> 00:53:33.579
every kind, and the good are separated from the

00:53:33.579 --> 00:53:35.739
bad because the kingdom's present invitation

00:53:36.480 --> 00:53:39.340
reaches broadly. You're all welcome in the kingdom

00:53:39.340 --> 00:53:42.360
of God. I am welcome. All my family, all my friends,

00:53:42.480 --> 00:53:44.380
everybody that I will ever bump into, every waitress

00:53:44.380 --> 00:53:45.960
who will ever serve me and every cashier who

00:53:45.960 --> 00:53:48.079
will ever check me out. They are all welcome

00:53:48.079 --> 00:53:49.460
in the kingdom of God. Doesn't matter what they

00:53:49.460 --> 00:53:51.380
think is right or don't think is right currently

00:53:51.380 --> 00:53:52.900
or what they're going through or the blessings

00:53:52.900 --> 00:53:54.960
that they're receiving currently. None of that

00:53:54.960 --> 00:53:57.260
matters. Everybody is welcome. The invitation

00:53:57.260 --> 00:54:00.599
reaches broadly, but God's final judgment will

00:54:00.599 --> 00:54:03.519
make a perfect separation between the righteous

00:54:03.519 --> 00:54:06.360
and the wicked. Jesus used a growing seed. He

00:54:06.360 --> 00:54:08.940
said, the kingdom of God is like a man who scatters

00:54:08.940 --> 00:54:11.659
seed. God causes his kingdom to advance according

00:54:11.659 --> 00:54:14.340
to his power and his timing, even when human

00:54:14.340 --> 00:54:17.300
beings cannot see or explain any part of the

00:54:17.300 --> 00:54:20.000
process. God is doing something. It is about

00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:23.280
the kingdom. It's not about you or yours. It's

00:54:23.280 --> 00:54:25.780
not about whether you live or die. It's not about

00:54:25.780 --> 00:54:28.980
your health or weakness. God is doing something,

00:54:29.059 --> 00:54:32.039
building a kingdom. You can choose which arena

00:54:32.039 --> 00:54:34.869
you contend in. A king giving a wedding feast

00:54:34.869 --> 00:54:36.710
is used as an example of the kingdom of God.

00:54:36.869 --> 00:54:39.150
God graciously invites people into his kingdom,

00:54:39.250 --> 00:54:43.090
but entrance is not casual or self -defined.

00:54:43.230 --> 00:54:45.250
You don't get to come or not come. You don't

00:54:45.250 --> 00:54:46.969
get to make excuses. You don't get to be there

00:54:46.969 --> 00:54:48.849
some of the time and not there some of the time.

00:54:48.929 --> 00:54:52.130
We must respond to God's invitation on his terms.

00:54:52.369 --> 00:54:54.650
He used 10 virgins awaiting a bridegroom as an

00:54:54.650 --> 00:54:56.469
illustration of the kingdom of God. The kingdom

00:54:56.469 --> 00:55:00.070
calls for readiness. You must use your life now

00:55:00.070 --> 00:55:02.880
to be ready for when Jesus comes again. That

00:55:02.880 --> 00:55:06.139
is the whole goal of your life now. It is not

00:55:06.139 --> 00:55:08.639
to spread the gospel. Though that is part of

00:55:08.639 --> 00:55:10.980
being ready, that is not the whole goal of your

00:55:10.980 --> 00:55:13.019
life. The whole goal of your life is that when

00:55:13.019 --> 00:55:15.780
Jesus comes again, you will be ready to usher

00:55:15.780 --> 00:55:18.679
into the permanent kingdom of God. The activities

00:55:18.679 --> 00:55:21.159
of the current kingdom of God is us choosing

00:55:21.159 --> 00:55:23.059
to contend and do warfare in the way that he

00:55:23.059 --> 00:55:25.000
has called us to, which includes sharing the

00:55:25.000 --> 00:55:28.900
gospel. You cannot borrow another person's preparedness.

00:55:29.320 --> 00:55:32.809
Not your parents. not your sibling, not your

00:55:32.809 --> 00:55:36.690
spouse. You personally must prepare yourself

00:55:36.690 --> 00:55:39.889
and allow Jesus to prepare you for his coming.

00:55:40.230 --> 00:55:42.989
Jesus used a man traveling and entrusting servants

00:55:42.989 --> 00:55:46.309
with his possessions. Those who belong to the

00:55:46.309 --> 00:55:49.650
kingdom are responsible to faithfully use what

00:55:49.650 --> 00:55:52.530
the king has entrusted to them while awaiting

00:55:52.530 --> 00:55:55.690
his return. Whatever you have, have access to,

00:55:55.730 --> 00:55:59.530
or ever will have, your job is to use that thing.

00:56:00.079 --> 00:56:02.980
for the kingdom. Jesus used the king, separating

00:56:02.980 --> 00:56:05.739
sheep from goats. The kingdom culminates in the

00:56:05.739 --> 00:56:08.519
righteous judgment of Christ, revealing the reality

00:56:08.519 --> 00:56:10.880
of our relationship to him. Jesus said, I did

00:56:10.880 --> 00:56:13.119
not come to condemn, but rather they are condemned

00:56:13.119 --> 00:56:14.860
already by what they have done with the Son of

00:56:14.860 --> 00:56:18.099
God. If the Son of God has not become first in

00:56:18.099 --> 00:56:21.719
your life, you are going to go to hell. Not my

00:56:21.719 --> 00:56:24.480
decision, not even your decision. In the time

00:56:24.480 --> 00:56:26.280
when you get there, in the moment that you could

00:56:26.280 --> 00:56:28.380
go to heaven for eternity, The question is going

00:56:28.380 --> 00:56:30.280
to be asked, what did you do with Jesus? You're

00:56:30.280 --> 00:56:32.599
going to say, well, I love Jesus. I profess the

00:56:32.599 --> 00:56:36.019
name of Jesus. I worship Jesus. Okay, was he

00:56:36.019 --> 00:56:38.380
Lord of your life? Well, yeah. What about that

00:56:38.380 --> 00:56:40.400
shelf that had all the mixed stuff, the other

00:56:40.400 --> 00:56:42.980
stuff? What about Moloch and money and relationships

00:56:42.980 --> 00:56:46.380
and sex and drugs and TV and all those things

00:56:46.380 --> 00:56:48.820
that got your attention? Well, yeah, but Jesus

00:56:48.820 --> 00:56:51.019
was highest amongst them. God's going to say,

00:56:51.059 --> 00:56:53.219
do you think that Jesus was ever supposed to

00:56:53.219 --> 00:56:55.400
be amongst them? Jesus used the illustration.

00:56:56.039 --> 00:56:57.960
Of the great banquet, a gracious invitation,

00:56:58.360 --> 00:57:01.699
but earthly priorities and excuses can reveal

00:57:01.699 --> 00:57:04.019
a heart that does not truly value the king. Are

00:57:04.019 --> 00:57:05.719
you making excuses? Or could you be done with

00:57:05.719 --> 00:57:09.659
that? Done making excuses. Jesus used a persistent

00:57:09.659 --> 00:57:12.400
widow seeking justice. If persistence matters,

00:57:12.699 --> 00:57:16.099
even before an unjust judge, how much more should

00:57:16.099 --> 00:57:18.300
God's people pray continually and trust their

00:57:18.300 --> 00:57:20.920
righteous father? Two left. Jesus used a Pharisee

00:57:20.920 --> 00:57:23.500
and a tax collector praying. Both were praying.

00:57:23.639 --> 00:57:26.010
The Pharisee was praying. Oh, thank you, God,

00:57:26.230 --> 00:57:28.909
that I am not like that worthless, wicked sinner

00:57:28.909 --> 00:57:31.750
tax collector, that you've made me a holy, good,

00:57:31.789 --> 00:57:34.050
godly man. And the tax collector begged him and

00:57:34.050 --> 00:57:37.289
said, God, I'm a wicked sinner. Forgive me. And

00:57:37.289 --> 00:57:39.389
Jesus said that that tax collector would go away.

00:57:39.530 --> 00:57:41.690
He said, who will go away vindicated, that Pharisee

00:57:41.690 --> 00:57:44.409
or that tax collector? And he said that tax collector

00:57:44.409 --> 00:57:46.530
will go away vindicated. And elsewhere, he told

00:57:46.530 --> 00:57:49.110
the holy men of his day that the tax collectors

00:57:49.110 --> 00:57:50.769
and whoremongers would come and sit down in the

00:57:50.769 --> 00:57:52.610
kingdom before they would. You think you're something

00:57:52.610 --> 00:57:55.219
special because you're... doing some of the spiritual

00:57:55.219 --> 00:57:57.320
discipline because you profess the name of Jesus.

00:57:57.539 --> 00:58:00.739
There's some prostitute or wife beater or thief

00:58:00.739 --> 00:58:02.739
that's out there in the city, and he's going

00:58:02.739 --> 00:58:04.760
to hear the gospel today, and he's going to give

00:58:04.760 --> 00:58:06.780
his life to the Lord. For all the people who

00:58:06.780 --> 00:58:09.179
are sitting in church all over the world, he's

00:58:09.179 --> 00:58:11.739
just as able to for sure come rushing into the

00:58:11.739 --> 00:58:13.460
kingdom of God and go to heaven when he dies.

00:58:13.619 --> 00:58:16.460
It's about not what you think is right or what

00:58:16.460 --> 00:58:18.159
I think is right, but what we've done with the

00:58:18.159 --> 00:58:20.510
Son of God. And are humbly approaching the Lord.

00:58:20.590 --> 00:58:22.570
And then the final one that I had on my list

00:58:22.570 --> 00:58:25.269
was that he used a nobleman who went away to

00:58:25.269 --> 00:58:27.449
receive a kingdom. A nobleman trusts money to

00:58:27.449 --> 00:58:29.650
his servants while he goes away to receive a

00:58:29.650 --> 00:58:32.070
kingdom and later returns to evaluate their faithfulness.

00:58:32.130 --> 00:58:34.389
It's called the parable of the talents. The king

00:58:34.389 --> 00:58:36.889
will return and his servants are called to faithful

00:58:36.889 --> 00:58:39.869
service rather than passive waiting. The kingdom

00:58:39.869 --> 00:58:43.650
of God is God's rule and God's reign. Ultimately

00:58:43.650 --> 00:58:46.650
centered in Jesus Christ. To operate in God's

00:58:46.650 --> 00:58:49.590
kingdom. means recognizing that Jesus is king,

00:58:49.789 --> 00:58:52.849
not merely an advisor to your life. Jesus is

00:58:52.849 --> 00:58:55.150
not just the guy who has the answers. Jesus is

00:58:55.150 --> 00:58:56.690
not just the guy who defends you when you're

00:58:56.690 --> 00:58:58.409
really down or lifts you up when you need help.

00:58:58.550 --> 00:59:00.230
He's not just the one who prayed the Father and

00:59:00.230 --> 00:59:03.909
had the Holy Spirit sent. Jesus is king. It does

00:59:03.909 --> 00:59:06.610
not mean abandoning your family, your job, your

00:59:06.610 --> 00:59:08.969
responsibilities, or legitimate earthly relationships.

00:59:09.309 --> 00:59:11.889
It does mean putting them in their proper order.

00:59:12.030 --> 00:59:15.000
Instead of asking, what do I want? What benefits

00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:17.599
me or what does the world tell me to pursue?

00:59:17.719 --> 00:59:19.940
The kingdom -minded person asks, what does my

00:59:19.940 --> 00:59:22.579
king want and how can I faithfully obey him?

00:59:22.840 --> 00:59:26.380
Jesus said it this way. He said, seek first the

00:59:26.380 --> 00:59:29.619
kingdom and his righteousness and all these things

00:59:29.619 --> 00:59:32.719
will be added unto you. I'm here today to ask

00:59:32.719 --> 00:59:35.059
you, as we've studied the entire book of Judges,

00:59:35.119 --> 00:59:38.730
do you now see that this whole, all that they

00:59:38.730 --> 00:59:40.750
went through, generations, men who ruled for

00:59:40.750 --> 00:59:42.550
40 years, 60 years, you can add them all up.

00:59:43.130 --> 00:59:46.030
They all lived, suffered, and died on the same

00:59:46.030 --> 00:59:47.690
kind of path that you and I live on. Now, we're

00:59:47.690 --> 00:59:50.329
not going to be, hopefully, rushing off to war

00:59:50.329 --> 00:59:52.909
today, but there is a spiritual warfare. Putting

00:59:52.909 --> 00:59:54.989
your Bible on a shelf at home and not reading

00:59:54.989 --> 00:59:58.010
it, that is choosing to contend in an arena in

00:59:58.010 --> 01:00:00.989
which you cannot win. Refusing to tithe, give,

01:00:01.250 --> 01:00:04.090
serve in the church, that's choosing to contend

01:00:04.090 --> 01:00:06.909
in an arena in which you cannot win. It'll go

01:00:06.909 --> 01:00:08.409
up and down and sometimes you'll feel like you're

01:00:08.409 --> 01:00:09.690
winning and sometimes you'll feel like you're

01:00:09.690 --> 01:00:12.130
losing. But the end result is civilized warfare.

01:00:12.429 --> 01:00:14.829
You'll just keep fighting. Fight your whole life.

01:00:14.969 --> 01:00:18.050
You'll fight until you die. At 60, at 80, God

01:00:18.050 --> 01:00:20.010
forbid tomorrow. And you'll just keep fighting

01:00:20.010 --> 01:00:22.590
for your whole life. Only in the end to realize

01:00:22.590 --> 01:00:25.070
that all the effort was wasted because Jesus

01:00:25.070 --> 01:00:28.210
already fought the fight living 33, 4, 5, whatever

01:00:28.210 --> 01:00:31.030
years and overcame what it means to be human.

01:00:31.170 --> 01:00:33.010
Lived a sinless life and then died a sinner's

01:00:33.010 --> 01:00:35.369
death to pay for our sins. That's the arena that

01:00:35.369 --> 01:00:37.920
you want to fight in. But Jesus said, unless

01:00:38.880 --> 01:00:41.260
you be born again, you cannot see the kingdom

01:00:41.260 --> 01:00:43.949
of God. So if you're here and you're not born

01:00:43.949 --> 01:00:45.389
again, then I get it. You're probably having

01:00:45.389 --> 01:00:47.869
a hard time seeing the places in your life at

01:00:47.869 --> 01:00:52.179
which other things have taken priority. But here

01:00:52.179 --> 01:00:58.679
are the words of Jesus. Call unto Jesus. And

01:00:58.679 --> 01:01:00.800
just say, okay, Jesus, you first. You at the

01:01:00.800 --> 01:01:02.519
center. You're the only one on my show. Nobody

01:01:02.519 --> 01:01:04.869
else gets a shot. Nothing that you are doing

01:01:04.869 --> 01:01:06.769
in your life. Nothing. You say, well, my job.

01:01:06.769 --> 01:01:09.030
I work my job every day, all day. You know, eventually

01:01:09.030 --> 01:01:11.090
people stop working. And it happens. Raising

01:01:11.090 --> 01:01:12.829
your kids. I've been raising my kids forever,

01:01:12.969 --> 01:01:14.530
man. They're teenagers now. They drive me nuts.

01:01:14.550 --> 01:01:16.110
And it's been such a long journey and whatever.

01:01:16.289 --> 01:01:18.449
But eventually they go live on their own. They're

01:01:18.449 --> 01:01:20.130
not there every day. So I've been fighting this

01:01:20.130 --> 01:01:21.889
health concern. Every day I fight this health

01:01:21.889 --> 01:01:24.230
concern. But eventually it's gone. The clothes

01:01:24.230 --> 01:01:26.130
that you're wearing now. The house that you have.

01:01:26.369 --> 01:01:29.590
Eventually it's all gone. It cannot be the priority.

01:01:30.070 --> 01:01:32.869
because it will all eventually go. The kingdom

01:01:32.869 --> 01:01:36.130
of God is the priority. So if you made an inventory

01:01:36.130 --> 01:01:39.030
list of everything that you own and everything

01:01:39.030 --> 01:01:43.230
that you do in 168 day week, all of that is just

01:01:43.230 --> 01:01:45.550
all the things that God has given you to actually

01:01:45.550 --> 01:01:48.730
use for his glory. Do that. Contend in that kingdom

01:01:48.730 --> 01:01:50.809
and the kingdom will advance. And if we all do

01:01:50.809 --> 01:01:52.829
that, the kingdom will advance in an amazing

01:01:52.829 --> 01:01:55.010
way. And God's will will be done on the earth,

01:01:55.170 --> 01:01:56.489
which is what we're supposed to be praying for

01:01:56.489 --> 01:01:58.750
every single day. But I submit to you that a

01:01:58.750 --> 01:02:00.769
lot of Christians are living like a lot of the

01:02:00.769 --> 01:02:03.170
people in the book of Judges were. And when things

01:02:03.170 --> 01:02:05.869
are going good, you think, oh, wow, God is so

01:02:05.869 --> 01:02:08.369
good. Wow. And things are going badly. Oh, God,

01:02:08.429 --> 01:02:09.909
please help, please help, please help. And we

01:02:09.909 --> 01:02:12.429
miss the fact that it's not actually like this.

01:02:12.909 --> 01:02:16.070
It's actually like this. All the while, until

01:02:16.070 --> 01:02:17.889
we're so far away from God, there's no way back.

01:02:18.070 --> 01:02:20.230
And that's where we started as unsaved believers.

01:02:21.349 --> 01:02:23.590
If you're here today and you're a believer, don't

01:02:23.590 --> 01:02:27.469
walk this road. Instead, devote yourself. to

01:02:27.469 --> 01:02:30.150
disciplined contention in the kingdom of God,

01:02:30.230 --> 01:02:32.670
to advance the kingdom. Seek ye first the kingdom

01:02:32.670 --> 01:02:34.429
of God and all these things shall be added unto

01:02:34.429 --> 01:02:36.630
you. And then when they're added, use them for

01:02:36.630 --> 01:02:38.469
the kingdom of God. I ask the praise team to

01:02:38.469 --> 01:02:40.210
come forward at this time and lead us in a closing

01:02:40.210 --> 01:02:42.789
song. And as we're singing this song and we're

01:02:42.789 --> 01:02:44.869
leading the book of Judges today, I hope you'll

01:02:44.869 --> 01:02:46.690
take with you the understanding that the book

01:02:46.690 --> 01:02:49.309
of Judges is not chronological. It's not a linear

01:02:49.309 --> 01:02:51.510
path. It's not... Things were getting worse and

01:02:51.510 --> 01:02:53.250
worse and worse as it went on, although that's

01:02:53.250 --> 01:02:55.070
true. They did, generation after generation,

01:02:55.230 --> 01:02:57.929
do worse. But even those end things, when they

01:02:57.929 --> 01:02:59.630
cut that, when they cut that woman up and sent

01:02:59.630 --> 01:03:02.829
her to 12 tribes, that actually probably happened

01:03:02.829 --> 01:03:05.250
fairly early on in the day. When they destroyed

01:03:05.250 --> 01:03:06.949
the tribe of Benjamin and almost wiped them out,

01:03:07.010 --> 01:03:09.889
that happened fairly early on in the era of the

01:03:09.889 --> 01:03:13.389
judges. Stand with me and sing this song so that

01:03:13.389 --> 01:03:15.050
the Lord is impressed upon your heart to make

01:03:15.050 --> 01:03:16.829
some kind of decision, either to receive Him

01:03:16.829 --> 01:03:19.289
in earnest as Lord and Savior, or to repent of

01:03:19.289 --> 01:03:21.489
some force of action or some focus that you had,

01:03:21.630 --> 01:03:24.230
and do that. Make it public. Publicly confess

01:03:24.230 --> 01:03:25.769
whatever it is that God is doing in your life

01:03:25.769 --> 01:03:27.710
today, and then let everyone else say it together.

01:03:27.889 --> 01:03:39.380
The Lord is speaking into your heart. That means

01:03:39.380 --> 01:03:40.440
you only have one...