A Double Ending Part 1

And if you would open up your Bibles, please open up to the book of Judges, chapters 17 and 18.

Judges 17 · chapter mention

If you've got a pew Bible, it's on page 256 of your pew Bible.

Do you know what it means to give lip service?

Lip service is essentially a kind of hypocrisy.

It's saying one thing, but you actually mean or are doing something else.

For example, you tell your spouse that you're going to do something, but then you don't do it.

I'm sure that doesn't apply to anybody in the room.

They become empty words.

And if you keep on doing that, you lack integrity.

You're saying one thing and you're doing another thing.

Another example would be a close Christian friend comes up to you and asks,

how are you doing spiritually?

A very specific question from a person who loves you, and you say, just fine.

Or maybe you say something like, I'm a blessed man, blessed.

But the reality is you are in a spiritual tailspin.

It's lip service, empty words, lack of integrity.

Let's say that there's a sister in our church who's claiming that Jesus Christ is her king,

but in reality, this sister is the king of her own life.

Her profession is lip service.

Because actually she is reigning on high in her own life.

Hypocrisy is when you say one thing but do another.

Do you know what the opposite of hypocrisy is?

Integrity.

It's when your words and your life, they line up.

Have you been in a situation where a non-Christian says this to you?

The church is full of hypocrites.

I've heard that.

I'm sure you've heard that.

And in one sense, it's true.

We're all hypocrites.

We all have a gap between our profession of Christ and our practice of living for Christ.

Anybody heard of the album Jesus Freak?

DC Talk?

Third track, What If I Stumble?

Brendan Manning is recorded by saying this.

The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today are Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips,

but walk out the door and deny Him with their lifestyle.

This is what an unbelieving world finds unbelievable.

Friends, I want you to know something.

Lip service Christianity.

Lip service Christianity.

Hypocrisy.

It's not the cause of worldliness.

It's a symptom of it.

If your skin breaks out with itchy little pock-like lesions that are spreading over your body,

they're not telling you that you may have chicken pox.

They're telling you,

you've got the virus.

We're going to see a virus

hitting full tilt

in the people of Israel.

The no-king virus.

It canonizes people.

If you're acknowledging Jesus with your lips,

but denying Him with your lifestyle,

you got the virus.

We've reached the end of the book of Judges.

And just as Judges began with a double introduction,

Judges ends with a double conclusion.

And so next week,

we're going to look at Judges 19, 20, and 21,

where the people of Israel hit rock bottom,

and you see it because they've been completely canonized,

made,

they've become just like the nations around them morally.

Today, we're going to look at 17 and 18,

where this complete canonization of the people of Israel,

they are religious apostates.

They say one thing, but they do another.

Hypocrisy isn't the cause of worldliness.

It's a symptom of it.

And do you know what the cure is?

Do you know what the cure of a divided heart over Jesus is?

It's a united heart in Jesus.

And He specializes in that work.

So what we're going to do is,

I'm going to walk you through chapter 17 and 18,

and then we're going to bring it to bear towards the end of the sermon.

So we're going to see that this

canonization of Israel

starts in a household,

it moves to the clergy,

and then it affects a tribe.

You ready?

Let's dig in.

Chapter 17,

we're going to see a compromised household

in verses 1 through 6.

Let me read it for you.

There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim

whose name was Micah.

By the way,

Micah means,

who is like the Lord.

No one.

That's what his name means.

Whose name was Micah,

and he said to his mother,

the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you,

about which you uttered a curse

and also spoke in my ears,

behold, the silver is with me.

I took it.

And his mother said,

blessed be my son by the Lord.

And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother,

and his mother said,

I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son

to make a carved image and a metal image.

Now therefore, I'll restore it to you.

So when he restored the money to his mother,

and his mother took 200 pieces of silver

and gave it to the silversmith,

who made it into a carved image and a metal image,

and it was in the house of Micah,

who is like the Lord.

And the man Micah had a shrine,

literally a house of God,

and he made an ephod and a household gods

and ordained one of his sons,

who became his priest,

his priest.

In those days,

there was no king in Israel.

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Let me just summarize what we just read.

We're introduced to this guy named Micah.

His name means who is like Yahweh.

He steals 1,100 silver pieces from his mom.

He hears her curse.

Whoever steals it,

he freaks out,

and so he confesses it.

Not because he fears Yahweh.

He fears his mom.

He returns the 1,100 silver pieces

after his mom blesses him in the name of the Lord.

This is crazy.

Well, he returns the 1,100 silver pieces.

His mom takes 200,

gives them to a silversmith,

and she's like,

I'm dedicating this to the Lord for my son,

so let's go make an idol.

It's crazy.

Micah puts the image in his,

quote-unquote,

house of God,

makes an ephod,

which is a fancy kind of dress,

priest's wear.

Household gods.

What?

And he ordains his own son as his priest.

Not Yahweh's priest,

his priest.

Okay,

what you're going to find out about Micah

as we go through 17 and 18

is he is an opportunist,

a self-serving opportunist.

He's looking for opportunities

to advance what he wants

when he wants it,

but he is also quite a disobedient dude

in other respects as well.

He steals.

Exodus 20, 15.

No, no.

He dishonors his mom.

Exodus 20, 12.

No, no.

His confession is totally suspect.

His mom blesses her disobedient son

in the name of Yahweh

like she's trying to reverse the curse

she just spoke.

What?

He did not need blessing.

He needed to be spanked.

Both mom and son

were involved in creating

and worshiping an idol.

Carved images of Yahweh

were not allowed.

Exodus 24.

And household gods

were a big no-no.

You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 23.

This is a mess.

And they're doing it

in the name of the Lord.

You know what's crazy about it?

They seem oblivious to it.

They seem like everything's fine.

Now,

this household

has been Canaanized!

They're just doing

what everybody else does around them.

And then the author

in 17.6

tells us why.

He gives us an explanation.

He says,

in those days,

there was no king in Israel.

Everyone did what was right

in his own eyes.

Their worshiping this way

is a doing what was right

in their own eyes,

just like everybody else.

Because there's no king

in the land.

Now, you may see that phrase,

there's no king in the land.

You might be thinking,

well, they're talking

about a human king.

And Judges,

what follows Judges

is Ruth.

They talk about this

coming one

from the line of

kind of like David guy.

And then 1 Samuel

rolls around.

And it's 1 Samuel

that Saul

is anointed

the first king

of Israel.

Israel.

So this is decades out.

So you might think

this is talking

about a human king.

There's no king

in the land.

No king in Israel.

But I think the author

is being a little

tongue-in-cheek here.

Because there is

a king in Israel.

King Yahweh.

As we've been going

through the book of Judges,

do you remember

the cycle?

Israel sins.

God sends

an oppressor.

Israel cries out.

God sends a deliverer.

God has been

at work in Israel

since the book

of Judges began.

What do you mean

there's no king?

In fact,

in 1 Samuel 8,

the people demand

from Samuel

a human king

to lead their armies.

Just like all the nations.

And do you know

what God says

to Samuel?

Samuel,

they're not rejecting you.

This is 1 Samuel 8.8.

They have rejected me

from being king

over them.

There's no king

in the land

as a way of explaining

how Israel

has deceived herself.

She doesn't think

there's a king

in Israel.

They're ignoring

King Yahweh.

And when you ignore

God as king,

do you know

what you're left with?

lip service.

They're acknowledging

Yahweh with their lips

but denying him

with their lifestyles.

This household

is representative

of all the households

in Israel at the time.

We're seeing

a kind of compromise

on the household level.

And what we'll see

again and again

is that Micah

is this self-serving

opportunist

who's using Yahweh

for his own gain.

Is your household,

brother, sister,

paying lip service

to King Jesus?

Moms, dads, kids,

are you acknowledging

King Jesus

with your lips

but functionally

denying him

with your lifestyle?

Have you been infected

with the no king virus?

Okay, we've seen

a compromised household.

Let's look at

a compromised clergy,

a lip service

Levite.

It's in verses

7 through 13.

Let me read it for you.

Now there was a young man

of Bethlehem in Judah

of the family of Judah

who was a Levite

and he sojourned there

and the man departed

from the town of Bethlehem

in Judah to sojourn

where he could find a place.

And as he journeyed,

he came to the hill country

of Ephraim

to the house of Micah,

the guy that we were

just reading about.

And Micah said to him,

where do you come from?

And he said to him,

I am a Levite

of Bethlehem in Judah

and I am going to sojourn

where I may find a place.

And Micah said to him,

the opportunist that he is,

stay with me

and be to me

a father and a priest

and I will give you

ten pieces of silver a year

and a suit of clothes

and your living.

And the Levite went in

and the Levite

was content

to dwell with the man

and the young man

became to him

like one of his sons.

And Micah ordained

the Levite

and the young man

became his priest

and he was in

the house of Micah.

Then Micah said,

now I know

the Lord will prosper me

because I have

a Levite

as a priest.

Now I know

God will prosper

our church

because we have

a Trinity

Evangelical Divinity School

grad as a pastor.

Let me kind of

summarize what just happened.

Not what I just said,

but the story.

We have

a sojourning Levite.

He's a young man,

probably just over 30.

He's unnamed

at least for now.

And he's sojourning

from Bethlehem.

A sojourn is a wanderer.

And he's a Levite,

which means he's

of the tribe

of the Levites,

which means

he is one

of those

precious Levites

in Israel.

They don't have

a land allotment

because Yahweh

is their allotment.

They have been

uniquely called

and set apart

to serve the Lord

in his house.

And at this point

in Israel's history,

the house of the Lord

was in Shiloh.

You can see it,

1831.

Well,

this Levite

is sojourning

and he just happens

to sojourn

up to the hill

country of Ephraim

and he comes across

Micah's house

and Micah greets him

and starts a conversation

with him.

Where do you come from?

Verse 9.

And this Levite

says to him,

I'm a Levite

of Bethlehem

and Judah.

I'm going to sojourn

where I may find a place.

That little phrase,

where I may find a place,

shows up twice

in this passage

and it's getting

at something.

You know who's restless?

The sojourning Levite.

He wants to find

a place.

He wants to lay

some roots.

But he's not

consulting Yahweh.

He's making this thing

up as he goes.

He's a pastor

for hire.

Well,

he's an opportunist

and Micah's

an opportunist

and so Micah

sees the opportunity

because he's got

his house of God

that he's been

filling with trash

and now he wants

a priest

from the people

of Levite

and it'll just

round it off

and make it beautiful.

So he starts

cooking on a scheme.

Where do you come from?

Oh,

stay with me

and be to me

a father or priest.

That is appealing

to this young man's

ambition.

A father

and a priest.

Status.

Hey,

you'll have authority

over me

and then you'll be

a priest

at 32.

And then he appeals

to his wallet.

I'll give you

a salary

of 10 silver pieces

a year.

You'll have

a clothing allowance

so you will be

dressed

beautifully

and then,

you know,

I'll take care

of your room

and board too.

Quite a deal.

And so this Levite

says,

I'm in

literally.

And the Levite

went in.

The Levite

in verse 11

is happy.

He is content

to dwell with the man.

That word content

should make you think,

where is he

finding his happiness?

Because it's not

in the house

of the Lord

in Shiloh.

In verse 12,

Micah

ordains him

as his priest.

Sorry son,

you are fired

as my priest.

We have a Levite

now who will

be my priest.

Not a priest

of Yahweh,

a priest of Micah.

And then in verse 13,

Micah is happy.

Now I know

that the Lord

will prosper me

because I have

a Levite

as a priest

as though that

is what will

cause God

to prosper you.

So,

I'm guessing

somewhere along

the line,

Micah threw out

to this Levite.

Hey,

this is a win-win

situation,

buddy.

Hey,

hey,

hey,

hey,

hey,

hey,

hey,

hey,

hey,

hey,

we have two

opportunists

who are

ignoring God.

They think

that there is no God,

no king in Israel,

but there is.

They're disobeying,

they're seemingly

unaware,

they're totally

misguided.

What the Levite

should have done

is said this,

no way,

buddy,

no way.

I'm not going to be

your priest,

I'm Yahweh's priest.

I'm not serving

in your house,

I'm serving

in the house

of the Lord

where the Lord

says he will

be worshipped.

You know what

this is?

This is a sober

warning for anybody

who provides

for their families

in the service

of God.

Do you know

what's possible?

Within Christian

ministry,

it's possible

to serve

in the name

of the Lord

Jesus,

but you're

actually

serving

yourself.

There's a no

king virus

with this

clergyman

in the hill

country of Ephraim

and there's a

no king virus

plaguing

much of the

pastors in the

United States

of America.

They're in it

for themselves.

It's representative.

Do you know

what happens

when spiritual

leaders

are infected

by this

no king

virus

where you

are

just

acknowledging

Jesus

with your lips

but you're

denying him

with your

lifestyle?

Do you know

what happens?

Here's what

happens

to pastors

is that

they start

seeing spiritual

positions

as self-serving

opportunities.

That's what

happens.

And they do

it all

in the

name

of the

Lord.

You know

what the

test is?

Where do

you find

your

contentment?

What makes

you happy?

And if it's

not Jesus

you got

some hard

work.

So so far

here's what

we've seen.

We've seen

a compromised

household.

The no king

virus affects

Micah and

his mom.

And now this

no king virus

is showing up

in the clergy.

Levite,

this priest.

It is a

comprehensive

compromise

of God's

people.

Now let's

turn to the

tribe.

Chapter 18.

The tribe

of Dan.

Instead of

reading all

31 verses

I'm just

going to

kind of

walk you

through in

summary.

In chapter

18,

1-6,

here's what

happens.

We're

first shown

in one.

In those

days there

was no

king in

Israel.

They think

Yahweh

isn't

reigning.

But he

is.

And then

we're

introduced

to this

people of

Dan who

are seeking

for itself

an inheritance

to dwell in.

For until

then no

inheritance

among the

tribes of

Israel had

fallen to

them.

Oh no,

the people

of Dan,

they don't

have an

inheritance.

Here's what

we know from

Judges 1

34-36,

they did

have an

allotment.

They're

talking about

a land

allotment.

God had

given them

a land

allotment.

And you

know what

Dan did?

They didn't

do anything.

Of all the

tribes named

in chapter

1,

Dan is the

last.

And of all

the tribes

named,

we see

repeatedly

again,

they couldn't

put out

the Canaanite

indwellers

as they

were supposed

to.

What happened

with Dan

was this,

they couldn't

push out

the Amorites,

the Amorites

pushed them

back.

Here's what

that does.

It makes you

realize Dan's

already disobedient.

We have a

compromised

people who

aren't being

faithful to

their God.

And so here's

what we see

happen.

In verse 2,

they're like,

hey,

let's have a

Dan rally.

Okay,

let's get

five spies

to go find

some land

of our

own choosing,

not what

the Lord

has given

us.

And so they

send out

five spies.

And those

spies are

supposed to

be kind of

like make

you think

of Joshua

2,

those spies.

But these

spies are

under false

pretense.

The tribe

God is,

the land

God is

allotted,

is still

there,

just west

of Jerusalem,

just west

of Ephraim,

just north

of Judah,

right in the

middle of

Israel,

the promised

land,

right on

the shores

of the

Mediterranean.

But no,

no,

no,

they don't

go there.

They head

north.

They're in

a town,

two towns

called Zorah

and Eshterol,

and they move

north.

And you know

whose house

they come

across in

the hill

country of

Ephraim?

The house

of Micah.

And while

there,

they hear

the voice

of the

Levite,

they recognize

it.

Bethlehem

and Zorah

Eshterol,

they're pretty

close,

so the chances

are they

already knew

each other.

And so they

now stop by

these five

spies and

they check

out Micah's

place.

They ask

the Levite,

you know,

what's the

story?

Hey,

how'd you

get here?

And then

in verse

five,

they ask

him to

inquire of

God.

They don't

really,

everything's

suspect here,

gang.

They're in

disobedience.

I think

they're

playing

them.

Because the

tribe of

Dan,

they're

opportunists

too.

Inquire of

God,

please,

that we

may know

whether the

journey on

which we

are setting

out will

succeed.

In the

priest,

the Levite

says,

go in

peace.

The

journey in

which you

go is

under the

eye of

the Lord.

Do you

know what?

That's a

mess.

Because we

already know

they're in

disobedience.

that Levite

isn't speaking

on behalf

of God.

But man,

it's exactly

what the

tribe of

Dan wanted

to hear.

And so,

in verses

7-13,

they send

the spies

north to

this city

of Leish,

and it's

actually in

the inheritance

of Naphtali,

another tribe

of Israel,

but they come

across these

unsuspecting

people who,

man,

they are

unprotected,

and they're

living in a

rich and

fertile land,

so they're

like,

let's do

it.

So they

send a

report back

to their

brothers and

sisters in

Zorah and

Eshter all in

verses 8-10,

and they say,

hey, we found

the land,

let's go do

it.

And if you

look at

verse 9,

you start

seeing some

interesting

language.

Arise,

let us go

up.

And look at

verse,

that last

sentence,

do not be

slow.

10,

as soon as

you go,

let's do

this.

Woo,

woo,

woo,

woo,

woo.

Woo.

They rally

600 men

of war,

and they

send them

north.

Let's go

take Laish.

Guys,

let's,

there's a little

spot,

hill country

of Ephraim.

Let's stop

there first.

So in

verse 14,

this 600

people,

600 men

of war,

with these

five spies,

they stop

at Micah's

house,

because they're

on a mission.

In verse 14,

we read this,

the five spies

say their 600

brothers,

do you not

know that in

these houses

there are an

ephod,

household gods,

a carved

image,

and a metal

image?

Now,

therefore,

consider what

you will do.

Wink,

wink,

wink,

wink.

Take it.

They meet

the Levite,

it's false

pretense,

small talk,

they ask him

about his

welfare.

The 600

men are

outside the

gate,

flexing their

muscles,

sharpening

their swords,

and then in

verse 17,

the five spies

go into

Micah's house,

and they take

the carved

image,

the ephod,

the household

gods,

the metal

image,

while the

priest stood

there and

watched.

And then in

verse 18,

the priest

says,

hey,

what are you

doing?

And then in

verse 19,

they say,

shh,

shh,

shh,

shh,

shh,

please be

quiet.

Oh,

we've got a

job offer

for you.

They appeal

to his

ambition.

They know

he's an

opportunist.

So,

these five

spies in

the house

of Micah,

holding on to

this image,

say to the

false priest,

hey,

what's better,

being a priest

of a one-man

household,

or being a

priest of the

people of

Dan.

Promotion,

baby.

And look

what he

says in

verse 20,

the author,

and the

priest's

heart was

glad.

Yes!

Finally,

they see the

talent.

What's

making him

glad is

that his

self-serving

opportunist

heart is

being

satisfied.

In 21

through 26,

I forgot

to mention

this one

point.

Not only

was the

heart of

the priest

glad,

this Levite,

he took

the ephod,

household gods,

in the

carved image,

and went

along with

the people

of Dan.

He became

a thief.

So,

in verses

21 through

26,

the 600

men with

this Levite,

with this

carved image,

they bolt.

They're going

up to

Laish.

Micah finds

out.

He chases

them down.

In verse

24,

he confronts

them.

Hey,

you take

my gods

that I

made,

verse 24,

and the

priest,

and go

away,

and what

have I

left?

This is

my

everything.

This is

my

treasure.

To

which

these

people of

Dan respond

in verse

25,

would you

shut your

face?

Lest

one of the

angry ones

in our

midst

should cause

you to

lose your

life with

your

household.

Wink,

wink.

Murderous,

thieves,

idolaters.

Don't miss

the irony.

Micah,

who stole

silver from

his mom and

made a

carved

image,

has now

had that

stolen from

him by

the God

that he

trusted.

In

verses

27-31,

Micah goes

home without

anything.

In

verse 27-31,

we read that

this people

of Dan,

they go up

to Laish

and they

decimate the

place.

They did

to Laish

what they

were supposed

to do to

the land

allotted to

them by

Yahweh

down south.

They wipe

it out.

They bring

the edge

of the

sword to

bear on

it.

It's

complete

destruction.

It's

completely

under

false

pretense.

This

isn't

Yahweh's

doing.

This is

Dan's

doing.

In

fact,

you start

actually

feeling pretty

bad for

the Canaanites

that just

got wiped

out.

That's the

irony of

it all.

But there's

more surprises.

In verse

30, as

we're coming

to the end

of this

account,

we finally

learn the

name of

the Levite.

Check it

out.

The people

of Dan set

up the

carved image

for themselves

and Jonathan,

the son of

Gershom,

son of

Moses,

and his

sons were

priests to

the tribe

of the Danites

until the

day of the

captivity.

Do you

see what

just happened

there?

Two

generations

from Moses,

his grandson

is leaving

a tribe

in the

false

worship

of Yahweh.

Complete

Canaanization

of Israel.

That

it hit

so close.

And then

in verse

31,

surprise

number two,

so they

set up

Micah's

carved image

that he

made as

long as

the house

of God

was at

Shiloh.

What's

being here

is the

origin story

for the

false

worship

in the

northern

kingdom

for

hundreds

of

years

to

follow

that

eventually

result

in

Yahweh

sending

the

Assyrians

to take

the northern

kingdom

into

captivity

and to

decimate

in judgment.

what we

have here

is the

origin story

of a

deep

and

long

standing

false

worship

in

Israel.

It was all

accomplished

through

hypocrisy.

Lip

service.

Opportunists,

disobedient,

oblivious

seemingly to

what they're

doing,

completely

misguided.

They're

setting up

a worship

place for

Yahweh

when they

are setting

up something

abhorrent

to Yahweh.

Hypocrisy,

it turns out,

can affect

a whole tribe

of people,

a whole

denomination

of people.

We've all

watched what's

been happening

to the

Methodist church

over the

last few

decades.

It can

affect

American

evangelicalism,

make us

opportunistic.

It makes

you start

asking the

question,

who are

we really

serving

when we

declare

certain

political

partnerships?

Who are

we doing

it for?

Really?

Really?

the

accumulated

effect

of a

compromised

household,

a

compromised

clergy,

and a

compromised

tribe is

to make

you realize

the extent

of the

religious

canonization

that has

taken place

in Israel.

They have

reached rock

bottom

spiritually.

this

hypocrisy,

this

lip

service,

it's

not the

cause

of their

canonization,

it's a

symptom

of it.

There's

no noble

characters

in this

account.

The name

of Yahweh

is used

as a

byword.

There's

lip

service

of

self-serving

opportunists

all the

way

through

disobedient

idolatrous

thieves

who are

murderous,

disobedient

to their

parents,

misguided,

seemingly

oblivious.

Do you

know what

you could

say at

this

point?

Israel,

you're

full of

hypocrites.

Just like

the charge

against the

church.

The church

is full

of hypocrites.

It's

true.

We've

all got a

gap between

our

profession

and our

practice.

Here's

the question.

Are you

aware of

it?

Or are

you

ignoring

it?

Are you

comfortably

numb

in your

compromise?

Are you

acknowledging

Jesus with

your lips

but denying

him with

your

lifestyle?

This has

plagued

God's

people

for

millennia.

In

Matthew

15,

7-8,

Jesus

confronts

the

Pharisees

who were

insisting

that God's

people

obey the

commands of

man over

God.

And this is

what he says

in verse

7-8.

You

hypocrites,

well did

Isaiah

prophesy

of you

when he

said,

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.

Jesus could

have quoted

Isaiah to

Micah.

He could

have quoted

that to

Jonathan,

the son of

Gershom,

the son of

Moses.

He could have

quoted it to

the five

spies of the

tribe of

Dan.

and he

could quote

it to

us.

Are you

honoring Jesus

with your

lips, but

your heart

is far

from him?

If Jesus

Christ, if

King Jesus

is not the

controlling

center of

your life,

I doubt

that you're

going to

publicly

disavow

him.

I'm going

to guess

though you

will pay

him lip

service.

Because

that's

what I

do.

You

acknowledge

him with

your lips

and then

walk out

the door

and deny

him with

your

lifestyle.

Brothers

and sisters,

this no

King virus

that we

see back

in Judges,

wow,

that virus

is around

a day.

Do you

know what

the cure

to the

virus is?

Do you

know what

the cure

for hypocrisy

is?

Do you

know what

the cure

for acknowledging

Jesus with

your lips,

but denying

him with

your lifestyle?

Do you

know what

it is?

Do you

know what

the cure

of a

divided

heart

is?

It's a

heart

fully

united

in the

worship

of Jesus.

That's

the cure.

King

Jesus

is the

cure

to our

hypocrisy.

he is

no

hypocrite.

He

never

said this

and did

that.

Never.

In fact,

in Revelation

19,

when he's

coming back

on a

white war

horse,

his title

is faithful

and true.

He's

true to

his word,

faithful to

what he

says.

And this

king,

he died

for you

and he

died for

me.

He died

for our

hypocrisy

so that

when he

was raised,

we'd be

raised with

him to

live whole,

united,

integrity

lives

by his

power,

by his

grace.

Jesus is

not some

imperfect

small

S

savior

who

accomplishes

a little

salvation.

He is

totally

God,

totally

man,

the perfect

capital

S

savior

who has

accomplished

a forever

salvation

and you know

what that

begins with?

salvation,

that salvation

starts in

your heart

where he

flips you

by his

grace and

transforms a

self-serving

opportunistic

heart and he

transforms it by

this grace

into a

Christ

magnifying

opportunistic

heart.

Now we're

looking for

opportunities to

magnify him

as our

king.

There is a

king in

our land.

There is a

king reigning

on high

in 2024.

The risen

king,

King

Jesus.

Let me

press you.

Are you

aware of

some hypocrisy

in your

life?

Are you

aware of

the gap

between your