JUDGES Ruler and Rescuer

Human beings have a timeless and universal fascination with superheroes.

They've been the stuff of every culture from time immemorial.

From Gilgamesh, the ancient Sumerian king,

whose epic search for immortality is perhaps the oldest written story on earth.

To Achilles, the great hero of the Trojan Wars.

To the warriors and nation founders of ancient and modern history.

To Olympians of every age and nation.

To the supermen and the Wonder Woman and all the marvel characters.

Whether they're supermen and women who are real or imaginary.

Contemporary warfare, sports, entertainment.

They are with us everywhere.

There's a particular fascination with them.

As I mentioned there in terms of marvel characters at the moment.

You know, popular movies.

We cannot get enough of superheroes.

We even have to manufacture our own through TV shows like Australian Idol.

And what these superheroes tend to do for us is they release us from the boredom of our ordinary lives.

They excite us.

They inspire us.

They even scandal us with their falls from grace.

They fascinate us.

They give us relief by making our own faults and failings seem so small and excusable compared to their enormous ones.

And the Bible has its heroes too.

We're introduced to three of them in this text in front of us.

But in turn, each one of these heroes points us to a greater hero.

And in fact, the only true hero of the book of Judges.

And that is God himself.

And so, as I said at the beginning, we're exploring Judges 4 and 5 tonight.

These chapters are an awesome read.

They are really interesting.

But both chapters 4 and 5 describe the same events, but coming at it from different angles, if you like.

Chapter 4, which is what I just read, looks at the events from the perspective of a historian.

It's a narrative, a historical narrative.

Chapter 5 describes the same events that we've just read, but from the perspective of the poet or the theologian.

So, there's three things that I want us to see.

We're going to look at very briefly tonight.

First of all, we're going to look at chapter 4 and be introduced to the ruler and the rescuers.

Then in chapter 5, we're going to see who the true ruler rescuer is.

And then the third point is what it means to live by faith in this ruler rescuer.

Okay, so chapter 4, let's have a quick squiz at that.

Get your Bibles open.

At the beginning of chapter 4, we see the cycle that we were introduced to last week by Takeshi.

It starts all over again, very simply.

Again, the Israelites need evil in the eyes of the Lord now that Ehud was dead.

So, one judge is dead and again, God's people commit evil in the eyes of the Lord.

And their sin leads them to be oppressed by Jabin, king of Canaan.

Now, ironically, this king would not even exist had Israel obeyed God back in chapter 1,

when he said, go in and take the promised land and destroy him.

This guy wouldn't even be there, but now he's oppressing God's people.

And Jabin's main agent of oppression is this Sisera, his commander, his general.

We're told in verse 3 that Sisera has 900 chariots fitted with iron at his disposal.

And these things are the smart bombs and the drones of their time.

This is military technology at its height.

And we are told here that Sisera cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years.

This is the worst oppression that they have yet to face.

And at the end of chapter 5, we get a measure of this man and how he treated people.

In chapter 5, verses 28 and 29, Deborah, who will be introduced into a moment,

pictures Sisera's mother and his mother's ladies-in-waiting,

looking out for him to return victorious from his battle with the Israelites.

And we learn from the discussion that they're having with each other while they're waiting for him to come back,

that what Sisera likes to do is to steal women, rape them, and enslave them as his sex slaves.

And they assume that he's taking his time coming back from the battle with Israel

because he's in the process of taking more sex slaves for himself.

He's in the business of raping women right now.

That's why he's taking his time.

It was so common knowledge, even his mother knows about it.

Don't worry, he'll be home for dinner once he's done with the women.

He was a cruel oppressor.

And so it says Israel again cried out to the Lord for help, and God raises up Deborah.

Now, Deborah is different from the other judges.

First of all, she's a woman.

She's the only woman judge.

And secondly, she's described as a prophet in verse 4.

Not a judge, but as a prophet.

And as such, she preaches and teaches the word of God.

And she does it in verse 6 when she says to Barak,

the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you.

That's her speaking prophecy over Barak's life.

Verses 4 and 5 says that she was leading Israel and holding court.

That is, Deborah was not a military leader.

She was more like a modern-day judicial official.

Verse 5 says the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided.

Kind of like a Judge Judy kind of thing.

She was recognized as a wise counselor, as a judge.

I'm not making that comparison with Judge Judy, by the way.

People came to her to settle all sorts of social and legal and relational cases.

Deborah led the people of Israel from wisdom and for character rather than just pure military might.

She was also, interesting, the only judge who led beyond the battlefield.

She didn't just lead them to release them from the oppressor, but she led Israel as a nation from beyond the battlefield.

She is the savior who rules.

She's more than just a rescuer.

She's a ruler.

In fact, they look to her to reshape society.

And in that sense, Deborah is the one judge of all the judges who is the greatest pointer to the monarchy period,

which comes straight after this book and which this book is leading to.

She is the greatest pointer to that.

She's the greatest pointer also in this book to the long-awaited Christ.

You see, the Christ of whom Isaiah 9 says,

he will bear the government on his shoulders and he's called wonderful counselor, prince of peace,

establishing and upholding his kingdom with justice and righteousness.

So right here in the heart of this book of battles and slayings,

we see a, it's a subtle point, but it's a significant point.

God's people don't just need a mighty rescuer.

They don't just need a savior.

They need a ruler.

They need a king.

This is something that Israel will get to the point where they cry out for,

but it's also a significant point for us to grapple with now.

All of these judges ultimately find their fulfillment in the person of Jesus.

He is the Christ who Isaiah is referring to.

So what happens when the modern day person wants to treat Jesus as rescuer but not ruler?

And there are people who want to do that.

What happens when you treat Jesus just as your rescuer but not as your ruler,

just as your savior but not your king?

The result is liberalism.

It's called cheap grace.

It's license.

That is, the gospel of salvation in Jesus is just purely about the management of my sin.

It's about dealing with my sin.

It's not about anything else.

Just sin.

The gospel is about having my sins forgiven so that I can go to heaven.

It's not about relationship with God.

It's just primarily my sins forgiven so that I get to go to heaven.

So I don't get to suffer consequences for my sin.

And so the thinking is, providing I've asked Jesus to forgive me,

I've asked him into my heart and he's forgiven me.

I get to go to heaven.

It doesn't really matter how I live because he's in the business of forgiving me.

So he's going to do that.

I've got this get out of jail free or get out of hell free card.

And I don't need to do anything about spiritual disciplines or radical generosity or anything like that.

Because Jesus is my savior.

On the other hand, if we treat Jesus as my lord, my ruler, and not my savior and my rescuer, the result is the opposite.

It's legalism.

It's a life obeying the rules.

Obeying the rules.

Not totally confident whether I've actually got out of jail for free at all because I'm not sure where I stand.

I just hope I've done enough.

And if I think, convince myself that I have done enough, then the result is self-righteousness and pride and arrogance and judgmentalism and a religious spirit upon everyone else who does not live up to my standard.

And you can sit on this side and use all the language of Zion.

You can lose all the language of righteousness.

And you'll not have a life or a heart of righteousness.

Jesus must be both liberator and lord.

He must be rescuer and ruler.

What's interesting in this text is that Deborah is not the one who, in God's strength, rescues Israel by defeating its oppressor.

She's the ruler, but we have two other rescuers here.

And so she sends Barak in chapter 4, verse 6.

He will lead the battle against God's enemies.

And Barak's name means lightning.

I mean, that's awesome, isn't it?

That's the guy you want to pick.

The guy with the name lightning or crusher or something like that.

So here we have Captain Lightning.

He's the hero of the story.

Although he doesn't seem to fit when you read verse 8.

Barak said to Deborah, if you go with me, I will go.

But if you don't go with me, I won't go.

So maybe Captain Lightning's not quite appropriate.

Captain Sissy Pants or something like that might be more appropriate for him.

He refuses to go into battle unless Deborah comes with him.

Now, he appears at this point to have a timid lack of faith.

And maybe there is an element of wavering there for him.

But he seems to simply refuse to trust and obey the word that came from God.

And in fact, when you read verse 9, it appears to confirm that conclusion.

Deborah says to him,

Barak then summons the troops.

He prepares to fight.

But only because Deborah is with him.

And it's not until verse 14,

after Sisera has gathered his awesome war machine down by the river

and Deborah has told Barak to go,

that Barak charges down Mount Tabor with his men.

The honour for the victory is still withheld from Barak, however,

because of his lack of obedient, radical faith in verse 8.

That's the pessimistic way to read this text.

There is a number of commentators land on it that way.

I think there is a more optimistic way to read it.

And it's my preference.

And the Hebrew language defends it.

And that is to read verse 9 like this.

On the expedition you are undertaking,

the honour will not be yours.

Now with this reading, reading it that way,

Deborah is not rebuking Barak for being weak,

but simply telling him,

you are about to charge down a hillside

into the teeth of 900 iron chariots

and you're not going to get the honour for it.

You okay with that?

It's a prophetic statement of fact,

not a critique of his faith.

And there's a reason I read it like that

when we get to Hebrews 11.

This reading paints Barak as in fact a hero of faith.

He wants to take Deborah with him,

not because he's a coward,

not because he's unfaithful,

but out of recognition that Deborah is the leader of God's people

and she leads through wisdom by speaking the word of God.

The command from Deborah to Barak came from God

and he wants to make sure

that he's got the word of God with him

right there, right then

to go when he's told to go.

He wants to make sure

that he's got a godly woman there

who speaks the word of God.

And we see that in verse 14.

As soon as Deborah tells Barak to attack,

he does it immediately.

He displays tremendous faith.

But more importantly,

he displays real faith

in obeying the word of God at that moment.

He wanted Deborah there

so he could hear from God.

And what makes this story so incredible

is that Barak charges down this hillside

into the battle against all odds,

knowing that he ain't going to get the glory for it.

He's been told that in advance.

You ain't going to get the glory for this.

There is no Victoria Cross for you.

There's no Congressional Medal of Honor.

You're not going to be knighted.

You're not going to be promoted to General Lightning.

It's not happening.

No glory for you.

Would you do that?

I mean, how many of us even

live the Christian life

without the applause of other people?

It's so much easier to serve

and to give and to sacrifice

when other people are noticing.

And it's so embarrassing

when we've got to point it out to them

in subtle ways.

He obeys God and leads his men

knowing that the victory will be given to another.

And when it's all over,

it's done and dusted,

Barak goes back to his job

and Deborah will still rule.

This is humility on display.

And in his humble faith,

Barak, the deliverer of Israel,

really does point us to the great deliverer,

who, though in very nature God,

and therefore the rightful ruler of all things,

still did not consider equality with God

something to be grasped,

something to be used for his own purpose,

for a display of his own glory,

but made himself nothing,

humbled himself and became obedient to death,

even death on a cross.

And so Barak descends the mountain,

Sisera flees,

all that needs to happen now

is for Barak to catch up with him

and to claim victory,

and by the time he does,

Sisera will be dead.

There is this deliciously inexplicable break

in the narrative of Barak's victory

over Sisera in verse 11.

The battle's about to happen,

and then all of a sudden,

the writer mentions that Heber, the Kenite,

had left the other Kenites,

the descendants of Hobab,

Moses' brother,

and Pishni's tent by the great tree

of Zanonim near Kadesh.

Who cares about his camping trip?

What's that there for?

You read the narrative and you go,

why do we care about this guy?

Heber, he's on holidays.

He's pitched his tent.

You wonder, what's it there for?

It's like cutting for a commercial break

right when they're about to announce

the winner of Australian Idol

or Bachelorette

or whatever the shows are

that you watch nowadays.

I don't.

That's a judgment there I'm just making.

But Heber's wife is integral in this story.

That's why the little pitch in the tent thing there

gets in the way.

She's integral.

Her name is Jael.

And in verse 17,

we are told that the fleeing Sisera

reaches this tent which has been pitched,

the tent of Jael

and her name means safety.

What a name.

How ironic.

Safety.

And Jael welcomes him in,

gives him a drink,

lets him take a nap.

Then we read in verse 21,

Jael, Heber's wife,

picked up a tent peg

and a hammer

and went quietly to him

while he lay fast asleep

because he's exhausted

and she drove the tent peg

through his temple

into the ground

and he died.

I'm pretty sure that little bit

and he died

is superfluous to the whole,

you don't need to add that.

I'm just assuming he's dead.

You know,

just want to make sure he died.

You know, he's dead.

This is humiliating death

for Sisera the great general

because setting up

and taking down tents

in their culture

was considered the work of women.

Now, when I go camping,

I do it because I like doing it

and that doesn't do it.

Just want to make that clear,

I do it, right?

Not now.

In their culture,

it was considered women's work

and the tent peg,

which is not the little things

you get from BCF.

This is like,

boom, tent peg.

This is household appliances

for a woman.

So for Sisera,

this is death by toaster

is what this is.

Death by,

or North Shore version,

Thermomix.

Death by Thermomix

for Sisera, right?

This is a smashing salvation.

Pardon the pun.

I'm on a roll.

So this is humiliating.

This is a humiliating death

for this guy.

But these verses do raise

a dilemma for us.

You know,

how does bang, bang, bang

through a bloke's head

square with Jesus

in Luke 6

when he says,

love your enemies?

How do you know?

Did she not wear her

what would Jesus do

ban that day?

Like,

how do you square that?

Driving a tent peg

through a temple

seems at odd

with that.

Command to love,

bless,

pray for your enemies.

Now,

sometimes

when the Bible

has stories like this,

we resolve the dilemma

by remembering

that we need

to make a distinction

between what the Bible

reports

and what it supports.

What it reports

and what it supports.

For instance,

David had many wives.

Report.

It doesn't support

us having many wives.

And so one thing

it reports

and over here

it supports

and celebrates.

The problem for us

in this instance

is that jail's actions

are celebrated

in chapter 5.

And so what her actions

are doing

in all the gruesomeness

of it,

they are celebrating

the salvation

of God's people

through a horrible

and humiliating death.

That's what's happening.

God's triumph

over evil

and the fact

that one day

all people

will stand before him

and be held accountable

for their actions

are in fact

aspects

of the gospel message

which we should welcome

and we should rejoice over.

As hard as it is,

as difficult as it is

for us to grapple with

and the consequences

of what that means,

we should welcome

and we should rejoice over.

However,

the Christian

should tremble

as they do so

knowing that they

will stand there too

with Jesus

alone as their advocate.

And Jesus

is their advocate

because he's the one

who allowed

tent pegs

to be driven

into his hands

and his feet

for our salvation.

His gruesome

and humiliating

death

was for our freedom,

for our salvation.

Revelation chapter 11

Revelation 11:15–18

verses 15 to 18

is quite clear

that Jesus

should be praised

for his victory

over sin

and Satan

and for his final

and eternal judgment

and crushing

of all his enemies.

It says,

all the heavens

will declare

the praiseworthiness

of this Jesus

who defeats

all of his enemies

forever.

and we can know

for sure

that God

will bring justice

because we have

seen sin

rightly judged

at the cross.

The cross

of Christ

is not only

the place

where we are

made right

with God,

it is the proof

that God

does in fact

judge

and punish

sin.

The resurrection

tells us

that there will be

a future judgment

as well

for those

whose sin

has not been punished

by the Lord Jesus

with his death.

That is,

for those

who decide

to carry

their sin

themselves

rather than

hand it to Jesus.

Acts 17

31

says that

the resurrection

is proof

that Jesus

will judge

and he

will punish

sin

forever.

Having said

that,

the death

and resurrection

of Jesus

fundamentally

does change

our attitude

towards our

enemies.

It is

absolutely

right

that we

want to see

justice done.

Absolutely

right.

And frankly,

if you're a Christian,

you plead

for that.

You

plead to God

to bring

justice

to this

world.

You

pray

for him

for the

oppressed

in this

world

to be

released.

For those

who are

suffering

in the

face

of

injustice

around

this

world

right

now,

for God

to intervene

and to bring

justice.

You plead

for God

for that

to happen.

For those

enslaved

to be

set

free.

But you

plead for it

knowing that

it will be

done.

but not

by us.

Not

by us.

The coming

judgment

sets us

free from

seeking

justice

done in

this life

at our

hand.

There

will be

vindication

of those

who are

active

rightly

and

punishment

for all

wrongdoing

beyond this

life.

We can

yearn for

justice

and we

should

yearn for

justice

while at

the same

time

still pray

for and

bless our

enemies.

Because of

the cross

we can

have the

attitude

of Jesus

who on

the cross

as he

looked at

those who

were nailing

him down

killing

him

said

father

forgive

them.

The cross

enables us to

do that

with our

enemies.

As you

move into

chapter 5

we see

who the

true

ruler and

rescuer

is.

Sisera's

death is

the most

devastating

humiliating

defeat

possible.

It is

at the

hand of

a woman

in their

culture

devastating

and humiliating.

And

Deborah's

prophecy

back in

verse 9

of chapter

4 was

true.

The honour

was not

Barak's

but it

wasn't

Deborah's

either.

Humanly

speaking the

honour was

if you like

shared amongst

three people.

And yet

when you

move into

chapter 5

we notice

that the

honour goes

to no

human at

all.

Chapter 5

what it

does is

it looks

beneath the

surface of

the events

of chapter

4 and

reveals the

gods behind

everything

anyway.

God

receives the

praise for

the victory

here as

Deborah and

Barak sing

the praises

of God

who's

defeated

their enemy.

God

will

sing.

When we

got these

words up

here

one of the

glorious things

we get to do

in corporal

worship

is sing

the praises

of God

to lift up

our voices

and our

hearts

and declare

that he

is worthy.

Sing.

The younger

generation have

to hear us

sing.

That's what

Deborah and

Barak are doing

here in

chapter 5.

It is just

singing because

of the victory

that's been won.

It says here

as Israel's men

were on a

march,

God was on

the march.

God showed

his power

through the

rain in

verse 4

as his

people advanced

down the

mountain,

the one

for whom

all mountains

shake and

tremble,

goes to

war in

verse 5.

The point of

verses 6

and 8 is

that he is

the only true

God.

Israel fell

under oppression

because they

abandoned God

and they served

idols and

because of that

all of their

society fell

into decay.

Deborah was

their hope

as the

restorer of

the society

but verses

10 to 12

revealed that

it was actually

God's actions

that gave them

hope.

Then in

verses 19

to 22

Deborah and

Barak

return and

confirm again

that this was

God's victory.

The God

who rules

nature,

even the

stars,

was fighting

for them

verse 21

reveals how

Sisera's

mighty chariots

were defeated

in the end.

The God

who made

the clouds

pour down

water in

verse 4

caused the

river to

flood

sweeping

away

the chariots

of Sisera

as Barak

advanced.

Sisera's

not an

idiot.

He would

never have

arranged

his

chariots

for battle

next to

a river

if he

was expecting

it to

rain.

And this

is the

dry season

when this

happened.

But God

in verse 6

through Deborah

told Israel

exactly where

to fight

and exactly

when to

fight.

God

brought the

rain

and God

brought the

rain

and God

the

lesson for

God's

people here

is that

he wins

and so

blessing is

found in

and with

him.

Blessing

comes when

we put

ourselves in

his service

whatever the

odds,

whatever the

likely cost

it is for

us.

On the

other hand

according to

verse 23

there is a

curse for

those who

do exactly

the opposite

and those

who stay

at home.

It is not

that God

needs our

help but

that he

allows us

to be

involved in

his victory.

Even

Jael here

despite being

a Kenite

and an

enemy of

God took

her place

in the

story and

killed the

enemy of

God.

It's an

incredible

narrative.

And it's

just so

wonderful and

ironic and

beautiful how

the narrative

of these

chapters are

framed around

the actions

of two

women.

Deborah

leads Israel

against

Sisera's

oppression

seen most

horribly the

way he treats

women and

then Jael is

the means by

which his

reign of

rape and

terror come

to an end.

two women

bring him

down.

However,

neither of

them are

mentioned in

the Bible

again.

Neither of

them.

Judges 4

tends to

play down

the hero

status of

Barak.

Barak.

On the

other hand,

Samuel,

the great

prophet of

Israel,

mentions

Barak in

his farewell

address to

the nation

of Israel

in 1

1 Samuel 12 · chapter mention

Samuel

chapter 12

and he's

described there

as a

deliverer

of Israel.

And

Barak is

also mentioned

as one of

the greats

of the

faith in

Hebrews 11

32 to

34 where

it says,

and what

more shall

I say?

I do not

have time to

tell about

Gideon,

Barak,

Samson,

Jephna,

about David

and Samuel

and the

prophets who

through faith

conquered

kingdoms,

administered

justice and

gained what

was promised,

who shut

the mouths

of lions,

quenched

the fury

of the

flames and

escaped the

edge of

the sword,

whose

weakness

was turned

to strength

and who

became

powerful in

battle and

routed

foreign

armies.

Barak did

what he

did according

to verse

33 of

Hebrews 11

through

faith.

When the

command from

God came

to go

via Deborah,

he didn't

hesitate.

Down the

mountain he

went with

10,000 men

following him.

It was

inspirational

leadership.

An iron

chariot could

cut through

a foot

soldier like

a hot

knife through

butter.

And 900

chariots would

defeat 10,000

foot soldiers

in open

plain every

day of the

week.

And the

biggest challenge

for Barak

came when

he hit the

valley floor

at the

bottom of

the mountain.

When he

hit the

bottom of

the mountain,

it was at

that point he

had to

break cover

and he

had to

advance for

20 kilometers

across open

ground

before he

hit the

river

Kishon

and to

front

Sisera's

formidable

chariots in

open country.

Sisera had

plenty of

time to

marshal.

They would

have been

destroyed

before they

even got

to the

river.

That took

nerves of

steel.

And most

of all,

it took

faith.

An unwavering

trust in the

God who had

promised them

today's the day

going to be

victory.

You go now

and you get

victory.

Barak's forces

were no match

for Sisera's

chariots,

but Sisera's

chariots were

no match for

God.

This is

Barak at

his best,

the man of

faith,

the faith that

acts,

the faith that

stakes everything

on God.

And that's why

Barak is

mentioned in

Hebrews 11.

He did not

grab victory

because of his

training,

because of his

strategy,

because of his

raw strength.

His victory

was a gift.

Now this guy

is by no means

the greatest

of biblical

heroes.

Even Hebrews

11 gives

way much more

time and space

to Abraham

and Moses.

This man was

no superhero.

Among human

beings, there

is only one

whose faith

in God was

perfect.

And Hebrews

Hebrews 12:2

12,

verse 2,

calls us to

fix our eyes

on Jesus,

the pioneer

and the

perfecter of

our faith.

faith.

That is,

Jesus is the

perfect example

of faith.

He is the

one who had

complete confidence

in the word

of God.

Complete

confidence

that his

death via

the cross

would result

in victory.

This confidence

translated into

actions.

It says he

endured the

cross.

And further,

his faith was

based on what

lay ahead.

For the joy

set before

him, he

endured the

cross.

Jesus is

the perfect

example of

faith.

He is the

author of

faith.

That simply

means that

Jesus is the

one who wrote

the script on

what it means

to be a

person of

faith in

the word

of God.

Or what it

means to live

a life of

dependence and

obedience.

He is also

the perfecter

of our

faith.

Because he

knew that

you and I

and Barak

and Deborah

could not

do it.

He needed to

fulfill it for

us.

And so he

perfected it

for us.

Totally

obeyed his

father even

to death,

even death

on a cross.

And so

Hebrews tells

us you keep

your eyes fixed

on Jesus.

You keep your

eyes fixed on

him.

We are

called to

look to

him for

our hope.

Verse 3

says,

consider him

who endured

such opposition

from sinners

so that you

will not grow

weary and

lose heart.

What was the

problem of the

people of

Israel in the

time of

judges?

They

consistently

grew weary,

they consistently

lost heart,

they consistently

gave themselves

over to the

worship of

idols.

And this

passage says,

you keep

your eyes

fixed on

Jesus so

that you

don't do

that.

He is the

one who

motivates us,

who inspires

us, he's the

one who can

help us to

overcome our

weariness and

our half-heartedness

and our

worship of

idols.

The main

point of

Hebrews 12,

and I would

argue that

it's possibly

the application

for the

entire book

of Hebrews

is in

verse 1

of chapter

12, and

it's one

three-letter

word right

there, and

it's the

word run.

That's the

application, in

my view, of

all of

Hebrews.

You fix

your eyes on

Jesus and

you run the

race of

perseverance.

I think that

everything else

supports it,

explains it,

gives motivation

for it.

Run the race

of faith in

Jesus.

Run the race

of set before

you.

Endure,

persevere,

run, fight,

be alert, be

strengthened,

don't drift,

don't neglect,

don't be

sluggish, don't

stroll, don't

meander, don't

wander aimlessly,

don't take your

eternal security

for granted.

Run the race

of perseverance.

Don't wander

around half-hearted,

flying over here,

worshipping this

idol and worshipping

this idol of the

heart.

It says he makes

it really clearly.

Fix your eyes on

Jesus, run the

race and get rid

of the sin that

trips you up.

Deal with your

idols is what it

says.

Deal with the

idols of the

heart and not

just the idols of

your heart which

are clearly sin,

it says get rid

of everything that

will slow you

down.

Don't ask of your

entertainment,

don't ask of your

downtime, don't ask

of your work,

don't ask of,

is it sin?

Ask the question,

is this going to

slow me?

Is it going to

hold me back?

Is it going to

put Jesus in a

second place in

any way?

Don't ask,

is it sin?

Ask, is it going

to slow me from

running the race of

perseverance of

obedience to

Christ?

This passage is

saying risk

everything for

Christ.

if there's one

thing that I want

to do in my time

at St. Paul's and

have been trying to

do with us at

St. Paul's is to

build a church

culture that risks

everything for the

glory of God.

We will stop doing

things and we will

start doing things

and we will

consistently call for

sacrifice.

Because Jesus is

the author and the

perfecter of our

faith.

So what about

you?

What's he calling

you to?

It's, you know, I

mean, let's put this

in perspective.

He's not asking you

to run down a

hill into chariots

when he's saying

take the risk and

join a community

group.

Is he?

Take the risk of

relationship with

people and join a

community group.

He's not asking you

to charge at 900

iron chariots when

he says, you know,

come to church

every week and

encourage your

brothers and sisters

and sing my

glorious name.

That's not a,

but it's a risk,

isn't it?

When he's

calling you to be

radically generous,

he's not asking you

to run down a hill

into 900 chariots.

He's asking you to

bring a friend to

Christ when he's

asking you to

surrender the

idols.

He's not asking

you to run down

at 900 chariots,

but he is calling

you to risk.

Are you hearing

him?

Are you obeying

him?

Run as if you

are in a race

with a finishing

line and

everything is

hanging on that

finish line.

Everything.

Fight the fight

of faith on the

basis of Christ's

spectacular death

and resurrection

and show your

faith the way

the Barak,

Deborah,

Jael,

and the saints

of Hebrews 11

did,

not by

coasting through

life,

but by doing

what God

called them to

do and doing

it immediately,

even at great

personal cost.

Thank you.

Thank you.