A Costly Victory

Well, it's good to see all of you this morning.

Glad you're here.

And of course, it is the Word of God that we bring every morning through the Scriptures.

That's where our hope is.

That's where life comes from.

That's what nourishes our soul.

That's what strengthens us for tomorrow.

That's what gives us a sense of direction and purpose in life.

And it's the Word of God that we come to again today.

The Word of God that's accessible.

The Word of God that is life and breath for us.

And I trust that you are those who immerse yourself consistently in the faithful Word of God.

I'm reminded of the psalmist who says in Psalm 1 that he meditates day and night on the Word of God.

And it's that Word of God that's like a tree that's planted by rivers of water.

It gives his own soul.

It gives his own life nourishment and fruitfulness.

And so it's the Word of God that we anchor our trust in today.

Well, I trust that all of you have been able to look at from the Maranatha Minute kind of the new process for nominating deacons or spiritual leaders that are here at our church at Maranatha.

We have sought to kind of blend two principles.

One from 1 Timothy chapter 3 that talks about spiritual leaders.

1 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

And that those who pursue spiritual leaders are those who desire this position.

God has worked in their life.

And there's this sense in which that they feel like God is calling them to this.

It's something that they desire to do.

A leadership position that they want to bless the church with by their service to the Lord.

The second is from Acts chapter 6.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

Speaking about deacons in particular.

And Peter says,

Men who have integrity.

Men who demonstrate a commitment to loving and serving and trusting the Lord.

And so we've thought, how do we bring that process to our church so that we encourage that kind of thing?

And so we're asking each of you from the congregation to identify men from within the congregation who have those qualities.

Men of good repute.

Men who are serving Jesus.

Men who have a reputation of love for families and commitment to the scriptures.

And that you will engage the men that God brings to your attention.

And that God will stir their hearts to want to actively pursue, desire the pursuit of this kind of leadership.

Because as you can imagine, leadership, especially in the context of the church, is becoming increasingly harder.

And the opposition that we face as leaders is challenging.

And so we want the men who engage this process to do it willingly.

As Peter will say from 1 Peter chapter 5.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

Not out of compulsion.

Because God wants to draw up men from our congregation to lead in that way.

Of course you know this.

But I want to draw it out to your attention once more.

That God has graciously given us so many gifted leaders.

What a joy.

What a blessing it is to serve alongside men who love the Lord.

Men who have devoted their attention, their life.

Who have exemplified for the long haul commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we have 12 men who serve as deacons, spiritual leaders in this church.

And man, we should celebrate that.

Matter of fact, can I just encourage you?

Can we just applaud?

Just thank you to the men who serve this body.

Just this past week.

And of course, we can't touch on all the stories.

And so I just, the ones I know.

Just this past week, because of some of the rain damage that has happened.

There was a lady in our church.

Her tree, parts of her tree fell down.

And it was three of our deacons that engaged that process.

And spent lots of days this past week trying to help that lady.

And trying to address this problem.

And that's the kind of, those are the kind of men we have serving in our body.

And it's a joy.

Another deacon, and I think probably others were also involved in this as well.

Well, we have something called the Maranatha Movers.

And so several of our people are moving to different places within the city.

And another one of our deacons or two helped to kind of coordinate this Maranatha Movers.

And that happens consistently throughout the year.

And we just praise the Lord again for the faithful leaders that God has put over our church.

That exemplify service to the Lord.

Lord Jesus himself in Mark 10, 45, we find he came not to be served.

But to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

And we have deacons who exemplify that kind of spirit.

They are a blessing to me.

And I trust they're a blessing to you as well.

And I hope that you are encouraging them actively.

I hope you're actively praying for them.

I hope you're actively supporting them.

And God has blessed us with that.

We also have a couple of deacons in their families.

Several that are serving in our children's ministry.

Both in the nursery but also in children's ministry.

And they coordinate this so that our families can enjoy the blessing of faithful individuals.

Who are building into your children and my children.

And so I'm grateful for them as well.

Spiritual leaders, God has placed over this fellowship.

And the chance for us to be part of that process through the nominating.

And recognizing faithful men who may or may not currently be serving in that capacity.

And calling them out and encouraging them to step up.

We do have at least four younger men.

We call them deacon elects.

These are men who are qualified as deacons.

But are young enough that we want to help put them alongside other kind of seasoned veterans as it were.

And so that we can walk along the process with them.

And we call them deacon elects.

And they serve alongside the deacons for a year.

And every year they have their session expires.

And they do it again.

And so you're going to recognize those kinds of men as well.

Younger men who are serving.

And who have the fitness to serve the Lord in that capacity.

Well we are continuing our study in the book of Judges.

I would encourage if you would please to open your Bibles to Judges chapter 10.

Judges 10 · chapter mention

If you're using the Pew Bibles it's on page 210.

Judges chapter 10.

Judges 10 · chapter mention

As we get started I want to show this graphic to you.

You have it on your outlines.

But just to have it in front of us.

So you can kind of see what's going on.

This is kind of the book of Judges in summary.

Kind of in a snapshot as it were.

This is what's happening.

And I'm kind of a visual guy.

So being able to see these kinds of things up front.

You kind of can experience and get a sense of it.

What the words are communicating just by looking at this graphic.

And you can see right at the center.

We talked about last time in the book of Judges.

This leader Gideon and his son Abimelech.

It's the only father-son duo in the book of Judges.

That kind of stand as kind of this watershed moment.

Of how things begin to really take a turn for the worse.

In the lives or in the history of the Judges themselves.

Judges chapter 2 verse 19 becomes the trajectory.

Judges 2:19

It becomes kind of the summary phrase that helps us understand.

What's taking place as we follow this timeline through.

Judges chapter 2 verse 19 says.

Judges 2:19

But whenever the judge died.

They turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers.

Going after other gods.

Serving them and bowing down to them.

They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

That's the summary of what we're reading here in the book of Judges.

That's what we have come to expect.

That's what we are seeing play out in front of us.

That kind of becomes kind of the template by which we are meant to interpret the details that are coming.

That follow in this book.

That generation after generation after generation.

They continue to turn further and further away from the Lord.

And that's what we're going to see again in Judges chapter 10, 11 and 12.

Judges 10 · chapter mention

This morning as we come to chapter 10.

The main thing that we need to keep in front of ourselves is that God appointed, initially appointed deliverers.

But now they have become self-appointed saviors.

God originally appointed deliverers.

And now these deliverers have become self-appointed saviors.

We see that.

And I trust you'll be able to kind of pick this out now from the text as I read it through the first five verses.

Here it is.

Isaiah 10:1

Chapter 10, verse 1.

It says,

After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola, the son of Pua, son of Dodo, a man of Iskar.

And he lived in Shemir in the hill country of Ephraim.

And he judged Israel 23 years.

Then he died and was buried at Shemir.

After him arose Jer, the Gileadite, who judged Israel 22 years.

He had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys.

They had 30 cities called Havat Jer to this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

And Jer died and was buried in Chemon.

Immediately, you should notice this cycle that's taking place.

We'll come back to this slide so you can kind of see this visually as it's working out in front of us.

We should see that this progression of the people, this downward progression of the people,

is kind of prompted by two other things that are taking place simultaneously.

You see on the top left over there that Othniel, who was the first judge, was the one who was appointed by God.

We find that he was a God-appointed judge or God-appointed savior for the people.

Ehud was also appointed by God.

Deborah, as a prophetess, speaks on behalf of God, giving the word of God to Barak,

who is also appointed by God to save and deliver the people of Israel.

And then you come to Gideon.

Another prophet precedes Gideon.

An angel of the Lord appears to Gideon.

He empowers Gideon.

He gives a direct word to Gideon.

He provides the instructions on how Gideon is supposed to enjoy the benefits of God's provision for him.

And he goes out and he, on behalf of the Lord, is able to push back and oppose

and deliver the people of Israel from the hand of the Midianites.

And then you get to Abimelech, this self-selected leader,

who then appoints himself through the help of the lords of Shechem to make himself king.

And from here on out, what we're going to find in the book of Judges,

instead of God-appointing judges, what do you notice there in verse 1 of chapter 10?

Go ahead and look at it.

What does it say?

What are the words that you find right there on the page?

After Abimelech there arose to save Israel,

Tola.

What is missing here?

What do you see that's not present in this verse?

Well, what you see that is not present is that Tola has decided that he is going to do

what God has not selected him to do.

He is now a self-appointed leader over Israel.

He has risen himself to save Israel.

Verse 3, same thing happens.

After him, Jer the Gileadite.

You move back to, this is kind of the book ends of this section.

In chapter 12, we find much of the same thing.

Chapter 12, verse 8.

This is kind of the end of this section that surrounds the story of Jephthah,

who says,

It says,

You see the same kind of pattern.

These self-styled, self-selected leaders who are deciding to rise up and to exert some measure of authority

in the land of Israel to act as deliverers.

And that's the pattern we begin to see in the book of Judges.

It moves from God-appointed judges that we find in Otniel and then in Ehud,

to now selected judges that happen through the prophetic ministry of the prophets through Deborah

and through this prophet we find in Judges chapter 6.

Judges 6 · chapter mention

And now it completely turns in the remaining chapters to now these leaders deciding that they're going to be God's gift to the nation.

This is a pattern.

A pattern of those who decide that they're going to be the Savior, as it were,

independent of God's work in their life to raise them up.

We begin to see another pattern begin to emerge.

The pattern of conflict that begins very far outside of Israel.

And then as we continue to move along the timeline, the history of Israel,

that conflict turns inward.

So now there's a conflict that's happening between Israel and themselves

till you finally get to the very end in Judges chapter 17 to 21

Judges 17 · chapter mention

where there's no more deliverer.

There's no more judge.

There's no more outward oppressor.

And all the oppression, all the conflict is internal.

And Israel is struggling against itself.

That's what we're left with when we come to Judges chapter 17 to 21.

Judges 17 · chapter mention

And you find the trend that the more and more people decide to become the leader that God hasn't appointed,

their hearts begin to turn more and more away from God.

And so their leadership of becoming a rescuer, of becoming a deliverer,

what they believe is right for Israel,

they're doing what is right in their own eyes,

now becomes internal.

Becomes a struggle against themselves.

Because Canaan has got into Israel.

Rather than the people of Israel driving the Canaanites out,

driving the nations out from the promised land,

Canaan has gotten into the hearts of the very nation,

of the very people,

of the very ones who were set apart as God,

from God to be a kingdom, a priest, a holy nation.

The nations have gotten in.

And this chart helps us to track this conflict

that has moved from the outside,

from Mesopotamia that was 700 miles away.

And then Ehud, which was that second deliverer,

and he's opposing forces from the Moabites,

who were neighbors to Israel.

And then you have Barak, who's opposing and delivering Israel,

from the Canaanites, who lived within the country.

And then Gideon, who's pushing back against the Midianites.

And the Midianites, guess what?

They were sons of Abraham.

That's where they came from.

And you remember that Moses married Jethro.

He was the priest in Midian.

There's family relationships.

It's moved inward.

And now Gideon, instead of only opposing the Midianites from the outside,

Gideon will now turn the page,

and he will attack his own people,

the men of Succoth, the men of Penuel.

This deliverer has gotten a little cocky.

This deliverer has gotten a big head.

He's begun to assume a role that he was never entrusted with.

And because he is doing what's right in his own eyes,

we find that he turns the fight inward.

You see, it's easy for us, though, to look at Israel and to say,

what has happened to these people?

What is their problem?

Why can't they understand the significance of their actions?

But then as we hold the mirror up to ourselves,

I have found myself saying this,

and maybe you have found yourself saying this too,

is that we often become the Savior

instead of allowing God to be the Savior.

How many times have you confronted a problem in your life,

whether it's a problem at work,

or a problem in your family,

or a crisis that's taking place,

something that's out of control,

and you have usurped and decided

that you're going to step in,

that you're going to set your plans,

that your agenda is going to now be the prominent thing,

and the last thought on your mind

is to turn the issue over to the Lord,

to entrust the situation to Him.

Instead, and I'll just speak for myself,

how easy it is to take the bull by the horns,

to pull myself up by my own bootstraps,

to understand and decide what the problem is,

and to work it through to fix the situation,

and to become the Savior that everyone, of course, needs.

But whenever we do this,

whether God gives us success by His grace or not,

whatever successes God allows us to enjoy,

the credit, the glory goes to us, doesn't it?

Rather than glory going to God.

Since we're talking about the book of Judges,

and since I've mentioned the significance of Judges

helping us recognize the importance of the family,

that God had given specific instructions

to the family in Deuteronomy,

that fathers were to pass on the law to their children

and their children's children,

we recognize that the Judges were kind of set in place

to kind of model what that was supposed to look like.

These family heads,

they were providing proximate leadership among the people.

But now these proximate leaders,

instead of directing attention to the Lord,

they're directing attention to themselves.

They've become their own self-prescribed deliverer,

their own self-described Savior.

And that's so often our problem.

Paul Tripp will put it this way.

He says we become glory robbers.

Whenever we direct people's attention away from the Lord,

and we direct that attention onto ourself,

and whether we're doing that intentionally or unintentionally,

whenever we take credit for the success that God gives,

we're drawing attention to us,

not drawing attention to the Lord.

Whenever we can pat ourselves on the back and say,

hey, look at my family.

Look how great I did as a dad.

Whenever we think we can do that

without giving credit to the grace of the Lord Jesus,

we become glory robbers.

Whenever we have a ministry,

whenever we have an effective evangelistic kind of exchange,

where somebody comes to faith in the Lord Jesus,

or whenever we have a great opportunity to succeed in the office,

but that attention is directed to us,

and our skill,

and our abilities,

and the way we could just pull it off,

and we don't allow God to enjoy,

and to be described as the one who gives that to us by His grace,

we become glory robbers.

1 Peter chapter 4 puts it this way.

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

In verses 10 and 11,

he says,

As each has received a gift,

use it to serve one another,

as good stewards of God's varied grace.

Whoever speaks as one who speaks the oracles of God,

whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies,

in order that in everything,

God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

That's why we exist.

We exist to draw attention to the wonder of our God.

Every service,

every way that you serve your family,

and the benefits,

and the way that God helps you to raise up your children

in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

All the successes that you have at work,

all the successes that you might have in sharing the gospel,

all the successes that you might have in various ministries,

whatever that success,

praise the Lord,

direct attention to Him,

and let Him receive the glory.

Don't become a glory robber.

That becomes the prevailing problem in Israel.

The tipping point has happened.

The people have raised themselves up.

They have asserted for themselves,

We will be the Savior.

When the Savior has always been present,

they just needed to trust Him.

Next we see in verses 6 to 16,

you see the people have confused godly sorrow

with worldly sorrow.

They've confused godly sorrow with worldly sorrow.

Look at this in verse 16.

It says,

The people of Israel,

this is verse 6,

again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

And they served the Baals and the Ashtra,

the gods of Syria,

the gods of Sidon,

the gods of Moab,

the gods of the Ammonites,

the gods of the Philistines,

and they forsook the Lord,

and they did not serve Him.

This is now the seventh and final time

the apostasy of the nation of Israel

will be described.

The seventh and final time

is meant to demonstrate the fullness

of the way in which the people of Israel

have rejected God,

the totality of their rejection against the Lord.

That's what this is meant to show us.

And the totality is final.

By this point,

this pattern has become tragically familiar.

If you have the notes in front of you,

you can see kind of there in the,

along this point,

the six other places in the book of Judges

where this is referenced.

Judges chapter 2, 11 to 13.

Judges 2 · chapter mention

Judges chapter 3.

Judges 3 · chapter mention

Judges chapter 3, verse 12,

Judges 3:12

and 4, verse 1.

Judges chapter 6.

Judges 6 · chapter mention

Judges chapter 8.

Judges 8 · chapter mention

And now, Judges chapter 10.

Judges 10 · chapter mention

And what you find is this progression

that's taking place.

It started out with two deities,

the Baals and the Astra.

This was the distraction.

This was the idolatry that was taking place.

It begins small,

if you want to say it that way.

It was embedded in culture, okay?

But the Baals and the Astra

were the things that were tripping them up.

But now,

the nations have totally perverted the people.

So that,

now the writer of the book of Judges

wants us to understand

how complete and thorough

this pollution, corruption had become.

Now seven different deities

have infiltrated the nation.

This is meant to show us,

again,

the seriousness of their depravity.

But then we come to chapter 10,

verse 10.

And I think it's really easy

for us to think,

hey,

here's the bright spot.

Here's the,

here's the,

the turn,

the confession that's taking place.

Hey,

look at this.

This is great.

And we see this

and we think,

okay,

a revival has happened.

Confession has taken place.

Look at,

look at verse 10.

And the people cried,

of Israel cried out

to the Lord saying,

hey,

we have sinned against you

because we have forsaken our God

and have served the Baals.

And the Lord said

to the people of Israel,

did I not save you

from the Egyptians,

from the Amorites,

from the Ammonites,

from the Philistines,

the Sidonians,

the Amalekites,

and the Monites

oppressed you?

You cried out to me

and I saved you

out of their hand.

Yet,

you have forsaken me

and served other gods.

Therefore,

I will save you

no more.

Wow.

Let that sink in

a little bit.

I will save you

no more?

They've confessed

their sin.

They've come clean

about their idolatry.

They've acknowledged

the problem.

And God says,

I will save you

no more?

What in the world

is going on?

It's the same thing

that goes on

every time.

We give lip service

to confession,

but nothing actually

changes in our heart.

We acknowledge our sin

and a lot of times,

and what Paul will draw out

in 2 Corinthians 7,

is this difference

between godly sorrow

and worldly sorrow,

and the difference

is pretty stark.

It has a lot of

the same similarities

because the individuals,

they recognize

how difficult

their sin is.

They come clean

about their sin.

They feel very bad

about their sin.

Sometimes,

they're really emotional.

They say the right words.

But worldly sorrow

is to remove consequences.

Worldly sorrow

is to move past

the pain.

Worldly sorrow

is just to acknowledge

these things to God

so we can get on

with our life.

Whereas,

godly sorrow

is the kind of sorrow

that says,

God,

this has affected you.

Against you

and you only

have I sinned

and done

what is evil

in your sight,

O Lord.

Please forgive me.

I acknowledge this

and I will do

whatever it takes

to orient my life

in a way

that pleases you.

There is this true

repentance

that takes place

and not just

a confession

or acknowledgement

of sin

but there is a

true turning

of heart and life.

This consistent

trajectory

of life

that points

itself to God.

That's what

repentance is.

It's different.

It's willing to

accept

the consequences.

It's the kind

of repentance

that's willing

to do

what's necessary

in order to

restore what's

been lost

and to mend

and to heal

the hurt

that's been imposed.

And of course,

we can't do

all of that

personally

but we entrust

that to the Lord

and we allow Him

to work in our life

and the Lord

knows the hearts

of these rascals

here in the nation

of Israel

in Judges chapter 10.

Judges 10 · chapter mention

He knows the truth

behind the story.

Behind the words,

God knows the heart.

It's the same

of what we find

in John chapter 2.

John 2 · chapter mention

John chapter 2

John 2 · chapter mention

verses 23 and 24

when Jesus is addressing

the people

in the first century

He says,

Now when He was

in Jerusalem

at the Passover feast

many believed

in His name

when they saw

the signs

that He was doing.

Hey!

Spectacular!

They believe in Him!

But then it goes on.

But Jesus

on His part

did not entrust

Himself to them

because He knew

all people.

Did you catch that?

Jesus knew

what was truly

going on

in their life.

He knew that

they received

the spectacle

of His miracles.

They trusted

that He was the one

who could do this

but they did not

believe the man.

They believed

the miracle worker

but they would not

believe the man

that He was

the Son of God

and that believing

that He was

the Son of God

it required

a posture

of worship

that He is the Lord

that He is the one

who calls the shots.

It was this

superficial

kind of faith

that had no depth

in it

to change a life.

It's what we find

in Matthew chapter 15

Matthew 15:8

verses 8 and 9.

This people

honors me

with their lips

but their heart

is far from me.

In vain

do they worship me

teaching as doctrines

the commandments

of men.

that is

a horrifying

reality

and it's the very

thing that's happening

here in Judges chapter 10.

Judges 10 · chapter mention

The people

that were

worshiping Him

with their lips

but their heart

was actually

very,

very distant

and that is probably

the most dangerous

place to be.

We come to church

on a Sunday morning.

We sing songs

that are

saturated

in the scriptures.

We talk

about the Lord

Jesus

in our

conversations

before and

after the service

but nothing

has actually

changed

in our life.

We feel

safe

because we're

actually

in a place

of worship.

We're among

God's people

but it perhaps

is the most

dangerous

place

for superficial

people to be.

So what do we do?

well,

you say,

Lord,

I've got blind spots.

I need you

to examine

my life.

I need you

to shine

the spotlight

on me.

I can't see

what I can't see.

I need you

to expose

the deep realities

of my life.

I don't want

to just be

comfortable

where I am.

I want to be

moving in the

direction of

Jesus Christ.

I want

his life

to be the

trajectory

of my life.

I don't want

to just come

to church

to be comfortable.

I want

to come

here

to worship,

to serve,

and to change.

And I want

to be part

of the change

in others.

Not just to show

up as a consumer

but I want

to be one

of those

individuals

that is offering

and supporting

and encouraging

and teaching

and admonishing

the rest

of the congregation

to do what

Hebrews says

to stir one

another up

to love

and good deeds.

Lord,

I want

my participation

when I come

to be with

your people

to be fully

in,

to be fully

engaged.

I don't want

to just be

a pretender.

I want to be

somebody who's

fully in.

We find

as we move

on to Judges

Judges 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11.

And by the way,

we're done.

Okay?

This is just,

I'm going to

footnote

and we're going

to pick this

up next week.

Okay?

Because we have,

this is now

at the heart

of what we need

to talk about.

I want to rush

through this

because this is

probably some

of the most

important material

we're going

to get to

in the book

of Judges

because this

is where

everything

begins to

become very

confusing for us

because Jephthah,

his speech

in Judges

Judges 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11,

we're going

to encounter

the name

Yahweh,

the Lord.

And every time

you're reading

through the

scriptures and

you see

capital L,

capital O,

capital R,

capital D,

that's the name

Yahweh,

that's the covenant

keeping God.

Every time you

see that,

you think,

God's involved.

Jephthah is

going to use,

he's going to

invoke the name

of Yahweh,

I think some

15 times

throughout this

chapter,

but let me tell

you,

he is not

talking about

the Lord

in the economy

of God

himself.

His concept

about the Lord,

and I'm going

to show this

to you more

next week,

is so polluted,

it's so immersed

in culture,

it's been so

corrupted that he

has no idea

what he's talking

about.

He's talking

about the Lord,

but it doesn't

mean the Lord

God himself,

the covenant

keeping God,

and when the

Spirit of the

Lord comes upon

him,

we have come

to take that

to mean that

when the Spirit

of God is there,

then he's validating

the ministry or

the work of that

individual.

Well, that is not

the case here in

Judges chapter 11

Judges 11 · chapter mention

and ongoing.

the Spirit

of the Lord

comes on the

man in spite

of the man

because the

Spirit of God

is keeping

true to his

covenant-keeping

nature,

his covenant

to Abraham,

Isaac,

and Jacob,

and the

instruments that

he's using

are just there

to show the

faithfulness and

mercy of our

God.

We'll see that

more.

We have

come to

know from

the New Testament

ministry of the

Holy Spirit

that when the

Holy Spirit

comes within

an individual,

he changes

them.

He transforms

them.

We see that

in Titus

Titus 3:5

chapter 3

verse 5.

It talks about

that we were

washed, we were

regenerated,

we're cleansed,

not by works

of righteousness

which you have

done, but

according to

his mercy

he saved us

by the washing

of regeneration,

by the renewing

of the Holy

Spirit.

That's the

work in the

New Testament

that we often

carry over

into the Old

Testament and

assume that

when the Spirit

of God is

present, then

the man who

is being used

by the Spirit

is also

validated, his

ministry is

confirmed, and

that is not

what's happening.

And that

perhaps is

also very

scary.

There's a lot

of things that

God graciously

allows us

to do that

really have

nothing to

do with

God's work

in our

life.

And we're

going to

see, we're

going to

see from

the life of

Jephthah how

he barters

with God, how

he negotiates

with God.

And it's the

same kind of

thing we find

ourselves doing

periodically when

we say, God

if you just

fix this

crisis, you

fix this

problem, then

I'm going to

give my whole

life to you.

I'm going to

go back to

church, I'm

going to send

this money,

whatever it

is, and it's

the same kind

of thing that

happens in

Jephthah's heart

and life.

It's this

negotiation that

takes place

where God is a

part of the

equation, but

I'm at the

center rather

than God being

at the center.

We're going to

talk about that

more next week.

But the

beauty, the

beauty of what

we're about to

celebrate here, the

beauty of what

we're going to

remember is

communion, the

work of the

Lord Jesus

Christ to

change all of

that for us.

All of that

polluted motives,

all of those

obscured desires,

all of those

things that

flood in and

want to turn

us upside down

can be corrected

and changed

and cleansed

by the Lord

himself.

We find in

1 John 1.9,

if we confess

our sin, he is

faithful and just

to forgive our

sin and to

cleanse us from

all unrighteousness.

There is a

reset that's

available.

It's available

through Christ.

So, if you

feel like a

failure, like I

often do, you

feel like I

wish you could

go back and

fix all the

brokenness that

I've created,

you say, if I

just made better

decisions in my

life, things

would be better

now.

The Lord Jesus,

by his grace,

can change that.

He won't

necessarily change

the past, but

he's going to

change the

person.

He's going to

change you.

He's going to

help you be

changed from the

inside out.

There's this

transformation that

those who place

their faith in the

Lord Jesus get to

anticipate.

Transformation,

being changed from

one degree of

glory to the

other.

That's what 2

Corinthians 4

talks about.

And that's

what's offered to

us through the

death and

resurrection of our

Lord Jesus.

That's what we

celebrate this

morning.

Let me pray.

I'll ask the

deacons to come

forward.

And we'll

remember the

Lord Jesus in

our time of

communion.

Lord, thank you

for sending your

son, Jesus.

Thank you that he

lived the perfect

life that we

could never

live.

Lord, as we

take this honest

look at ourselves,

we recognize that

there are areas

that are out of

step.

And so, we

pray that by

your grace, you

would expose us,

that you would

draw attention to

those things that

are not godly,

and that by your

spirit and by your

power, you would

help us to walk

like Christ, to

walk worthy of the

gospel.

Thank you for

sending your son so

that we could

anticipate a life

with God that

begins the moment

of faith.

as we remember

this this morning,

this do in

remembrance of me,

as we remember

your work this

morning, I pray,

that it would

move us along

this path of

repentance, of

real change,

heart change,

life change,

that those who

look at us will

see not us, but

they'll see our

Lord Jesus, and

they'll give glory

to him.

We pray in your

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.