A Kingdom That Stands Out

lesson to us to remember that when life gets

hard it's not always the big glamorous glorious

things right now across the city of Toledo this

morning there are a number of people and they

might be considered disabled by some that had

a hard time getting out of bed had a hard time

getting a shower getting breakfast taking care

of themselves they're alone in pain we understand

that that's difficult for them and we understand

that it is possible that we could face such days

but then there is the glorious day The exciting

day, the day at which we can aggressively overcome

difficulty. Someone says, what must I do to be

saved? And we courageously share the gospel.

Someone says, man, I'm really hurt and I don't

have enough food or I don't have enough transportation

or I don't have enough money. And we say, well,

I'm going to step up and I'm going to provide

in some way for that person. Those volatile,

exciting, dangerous moments where we step out

of our comfort zone and do something different,

something unique. And the tendency in the kingdom

of God is to think. that only those days that

are exciting like that really matter, and that

just isn't so. Let me give you a couple of just

quick historical illustrations. Now, understand

that the people that I'm talking about here are

also Christians, and it is in a Christian context

when the nation was largely a Christian nation,

at least by profession. The first president of

our nation, George Washington, you may know a

little bit about him. He rose during the Revolutionary

War to become a very popular figure and became

the first president of the United States. Our

country, nearly collapsed under its own weight

in the early days, and his first two presidencies

became the precedent for what presidencies are

supposed to look like for the rest of United

States history. He stepped down after eight years

and went home to his farm, where he spent his

final days focusing intensely on tedious day

-to -day work of a gentleman farmer. He meticulously

managed crop rotations. He built a whiskey distillery.

Don't get me started on that. He fussed over

the daily administrative operations of his gristmill,

and he made his plantation financially self -sufficient.

And he did that because he believed that each

man's basic contributions, each man's work, each

person's work, all told is what makes our nation

great. Not just the actions of, say, the president

or a general or an officer. Abraham Lincoln.

assumed the presidency in 1861 during a catastrophic

national fracture. The nation divided and could

never have become what you and I know as the

United States of America. In fact, his election

sort of triggered the secession of the southern

states in the Civil War. Immediately, the bloodiest

conflict in American history began. While fighting

a civil war, Lincoln kept himself grounded by,

get this list, he maintained a grueling routine

in the telegraph office. Telegraph was their

way, like cell phones, right? So sending, like

the internet, sending messages all across the

country. Daily, he personally didn't have an

assistant do it, or a general, somebody in the

military. Daily, he reviewed every dispatch that

came by telegraph to the United States government.

He also instituted regular open door hours where

ordinary citizens, like any of us, might come

in. Citizens, inventors, widows, soldiers, any

of them could come and meet him. By regularly

engaging with ordinary people, he balanced high

-stakes wartime strategy with mundane realities,

basic day -to -day things. Augustus, who became

Caesar of Rome, rose to power when Octavian,

following the brutal assassination of his great

-uncle, I'm sorry I said that wrong, Octavian

rose to power, that might have been his name

as well, I think he had two names, but anyway,

as his great -uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated.

Then, for two decades, he struggled to keep the

nation of Rome together. There were political

purges where senators were killed, multiple of

them, attacks on his own life, massive societal

upheaval. Rome could have fallen apart. But for

two decades after he struggled, he built what

we now know as Pax Romana, which was the Roman

nation that for 200 years essentially ruled in

peace. He meticulously managed the empire's grain

supply, built aqueducts, supervised public works.

He spent his days passing regulations on road

maintenance, city fire brigades, tax administration,

transforming a turbulent republic into a functioning

administrative state. Now the general that did

all that in the beginning for 20 years could

have said that all that was below him. that was

elected and started the Civil War, could have

said, the common people just can wait while I

deal with what's going on in our nation falling

apart. The president, which was the general in

the Revolutionary War, who became president,

could have said, well, I'll take a few more four

-year terms, because obviously I'm the best man

for the job. As we look at a very short text

today, I want you to realize that we have been

looking at the book of Judges for a while. We've

built our way up through most of chapter 15,

and we've seen Samson, And if I may call it,

be the butthead that he was. Right. And then

to continually begin to have great victories

in the Lord, to rely on God and have great victories.

And then at the end of his last great victory

to become so parched and say, I will die of thirst

and to cry out to God because there was no one

there to provide him with sustenance. And God

provided the sustenance. And out of that, then.

comes the one verse that is our key verse today.

Now, you recall that I showed you that this book

has a chiastic structure. That is to say, the

whole book rises to this point, this verse. And

then from here on down, it's all downhill from

here to the end. So this is the moment at which

those two big pillars of his failures, if you

will, and in the middle is Samson doing what

we're going to see today. So grab your Bibles,

if you would. Give me a little who to holler

amen. One verse, just one verse. Judges chapter

Judges 15 · chapter mention

15. Thank you very much, those of you who are

with me. This is God's word. Whether or not I

get it all right from here, it is important that

you listen to the Lord and let him work in your

life. Judges 15, verse 20. Now, right before

Judges 15:20

this is that instance where he cried out to God

for something to drink, and God opened the rock

and gave him the spring, and he drank. And then

it says, in verse 20, So he, that's Samson, judged

Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines.

Okay? So Samson... It essentially reinstitutes

the kingdom that was meant to be God's people.

Now we know, as we said from the very beginning

in the book of Judges, a lot of times you see

the term judge, right? It better could be translated

in our modern language maybe as savior than ruler

or king. So Samson did not become the king of

the nation. In fact, instead, he returned the

nation to the idea that God was supposed to be

the king. He did that because after he experienced

that lack of sustenance and had to cry out to

the Lord. And God provided for him. So maybe

you've been there. Maybe you've been there at

a moment in your life where whether you were

responsible for your failings or fallings or

not, you realize that if God doesn't do something

right here, there really isn't anything else.

It's not going to go on past this point. When

I was at BG in 1989, the spring of 1989, there

was a young man who had come to BG and his parents

were paying his way. got involved right away

as a freshman with lots of things on campus,

and it provided him with a lot of distractions,

which meant he didn't do well in school. At the

end of the first semester, he realized that he

had failed, essentially. Now, he didn't fail

all of his classes, but he failed some. He couldn't

tell his parents because they were paying his

way. He hadn't made any real friends or anybody

in a relationship, and he leapt from a third

-floor window and killed himself. What I'm getting

at is it's exciting to start something new. It's

exciting to do something incredible. But you

need to realize that the passage of time is in

doing the things that must be done. After you

accept Jesus Christ and you walk forward down

the aisle, it was this way for me. Tears were

in my eyes, emotions in my heart. Every muscle

in my body was sort of thrumming. You kind of

maybe remember what this felt like or what it

felt like for you that was different. And he

asked me to do things that I thought I would

never do in my life, to join the church, to serve,

to tell the congregation, to be baptized. And

fortunately for me, the week before that, Sherry

had asked me what it meant to be saved. And I

said to her, I don't know, but I know it's going

to change everything. And so when I walked down

from the front of the room, I knew that I had

to reanalyze everything in my life. How I dressed,

how I walked, how I talked, what I ate, where

I slept, how I slept, everything. I had to reanalyze

everything in my life now based on that moment.

So I had that blessing because of my wife who

questioned my thought of possibly becoming a

Christian. And not everybody had that. I understand

that after you accept Christ, sometimes it feels

like the day -to -day becomes more important

or too much of a distraction or maybe just too

difficult for some folks. I want to talk to you

briefly about the kingdom of God. The kingdom

of God is that person, place, or thing in which

God reigns. That's what's happening in this verse,

right? So God is reigning over Israel. And you

could search your Bible if you want. You could

search historical texts. But guess what you will

not find? You will not find a further detail.

Not a single. There's not a journal. There's

not a book. There's not a record. You will not

find a single detail about what happens during

this 20 years of Samson's reign. So what we know

for sure is that Samson got out of bed. He got

dressed. He stood strong. He stood in the strength

of the Lord. He depended on God. He stood to

be the man that God made him to be, which is

clearly not how the first part of his life went,

right? And then we know that after this period

of time, after 20 years of submitting the nation

to the Lord, it's going to go poorly. I submit

to you that there are those of us who will live

in the kingdom of God. They'll dress in the kingdom

of God. We might study our Bibles. We might pray.

And at some moment in time, we just say, you

know what? This living in the kingdom of God

is just not enough for me. Or I want something

more. We reach out and take more, go after more

or whatever. That's what Samson will do after

20 years ruling as a judge. So this is a word

of caution to each one of us. You need to know

what the kingdom of God looks like. You need

to be able to see the back of the signs at the

edge of the kingdom of God when you're about

to leave it and say, no, turn back. I need to

be where I'm supposed to be. You need to know

what it's like to live in the kingdom of God

and embrace that as your daily routine. Because

as much as you may think you're smarter than

the next guy, and there's a lot of very smart

people in this room, as much as you might think

you're stronger than the next guy, God has not

literally broken open the side of the mountain

and flowed water for you. God has not made you

mighty to pick up a fresh jawbone of a donkey

and slay. thousands. And therefore, it is entirely

possible that we, like Samson, could fall away

if we do not understand that the kingdom of God

is largely about the things that go on day to

day. We talked to you about the edge of the kingdom

of God for a moment. As people approach the kingdom

of God, so this is to say before they are saved

or before they're submitted to God, there's a

border there. There shouldn't be a brick wall,

which is to say people come in and maybe they

act a little different. They're struggling. to

grasp the things of the kingdom or whatever.

And Christians should not be saying, no, no,

stay away until you get yourself under control.

Stay away until you stop doing that. There should

not be that brick wall of legalism holding people

out, which means there's also not a brick wall

of legalism holding us in. There are signs, signs

of radical hospitality. Like when people come

in here, they should be welcomed in. The sign

should say, you are welcome here. And we should

be like that to people. when they're approaching

the borders of the kingdom of God. And then when

people are struggling and they're not living

the way they should and they get near the edge,

they should notice that they are withdrawing

from presenting radical hospitality to other

people and welcoming them in. They should notice

then that maybe they're not feeling connected

to that radical hospitality effort anymore. There

should be unexplainable peace. We talked a little

bit about indecision -making a couple weeks ago

on a Tuesday night. about how you should have

a peace in the Lord. You should know that God

is taking you in the direction that he's taking

you. There should be a peace that goes beyond

understanding, right? And when you get near the

kingdom of God and you're about to leave it,

you should experience a trembling, a struggle

in the peace. Like, ah, I think I'm about to

walk away from the peace. And a tangible sense

of sacred space. Like when we come in here, this

is God's place. I understand it's just a building.

We were blessed with it, miraculously given to

us, whatever. But this is God's place. When we

come here on Sunday, we meet like this. God is

here. If you can't feel God, and I'm not talking

about emotion, if you can't feel God right now,

you need to reach out to the Lord and say, God,

please, let me draw near to you. Draw near to

me. Help me experience whatever it is that I'm

supposed to experience here. And I'm not talking

about experiential Christianity. But to be in

the presence of the Lord is a markable thing.

And when you get to near the edge of the kingdom

of God like you're going to leave, you should

feel like you're walking away from the greatest

thing that you've experienced. I have a problem

with people like, well, I don't really need to

go to church. I submit to you that people that

don't really need to go be with the church have

not experienced this unsurpassable, this tangible

sense of sacred space that God provides. If you

don't need to be amongst God's people, then you

probably don't understand what it means to be

amongst God's people. The edge of the kingdom

should feel like a sanctuary from the exhaustion

of the world. And that for those who are walking

away, it should be like surrendering those, that

sanctuary. It's exactly what happens in Samson's

life. We're not going to get ahead and look at

that, but that's exactly what happens. He surrenders

the sanctuary that is the God of heaven. He surrenders

the sanctuary. Isaiah 57, 6 says this. He says,

Isaiah spoke and then probably wrote. These I

will bring to my holy mountain and give them

joy in my house of prayer, talking on behalf

of God, for my house will be called a house of

prayer for all nations. The edge of God's domain

is explicitly designed to welcome the outsider

and so that those who are inside the kingdom,

when they are leaving there, they realize they

are leaving that place in which the things of

God are done. They're leaving that people in

which the things of God take root and never are

released. Are you a person in which the things

of God have taken root and you would never release

them? For 20 years, Samson was that person. Matthew

11, 28, 30 says, Jesus invites those on the outside

who are weary and burdened to come to him for

rest. The boundary of God's rule is defined by

relief on the way in, not a heavier yoke. But

this is the amazing thing. Can you believe that

people who are inside the kingdom of God And

it's people who are like, oh, it's just too much

trouble to read my Bible. It's just too much

trouble to give up my finances. It's just too

much trouble to serve those extra hours a week.

I work my 40, 50, 60, 70 hours, but I can't find

time in the 168 -hour week to put in 3, 4, 5,

or 50, if you're not working, hours serving the

Lord. It's just too much. And so that yoke somehow

begins to look like it's too much, and they go

instead and choose a yoke that will carry them

into eternal damnation. Does that make any sense

at all? It is because we have forgotten that

the yoke of Jesus, the yoke of God is light because

the actions that he has called us to build us

up and make us strong while the actions that

our flesh desires suck the life out of us. And

when somebody reaches the boundary of the kingdom

of God, they should realize I am walking away

from a better lifestyle. Yes, there's service.

Statistically, Arden and I got talking about

this while we were traveling. Statistically,

people recover from anxiety and depression. by

serving other people. They also recover by medicine

and counseling. It's true. It's a fact. In fact,

especially those who don't serve other people.

98 % or something. That's a very high number

of people that recover when they take medicine,

have counseling, and also serve. But if you take

the medicine away, it's still 90 -some percent.

And if you take the counseling away, it's still

90 -some percent, which means that you must serve

other people. You have to find a way to step

outside your schedule. And you might have to

divorce yourself from the TV and say, I can't

marry you anymore. I've got to go and serve the

people of God. Heaven forbid you should ever

come to a moment where you have to divorce yourself

of your own life or of your family to serve God.

When people are about to walk out of the domain

and choose a heavier yoke, they should be aware.

Colossians 4, 5, and 6 says this. Be wise in

the way that you act toward outsiders. That's

those who are coming into the kingdom of God.

And you could even say that those who have stepped

out, right, make the most of every opportunity.

Let your conversation always be full of grace,

seasoned with salt. So those who are in the kingdom

of God should be surrounded by people with conversation

full of grace and salt. And so when you get out

there on the edges, you'll find a lot of people,

their conversation is not grace and salt. And

so you cross through that and get out away from

God completely. You find almost everybody's conversation

is not grace and salt. Salt, by the way, is being

called. It's being taught. It's being led. It's

being disciplined. It's being confronted for

your bad behavior before you get out. That's

what the salt is all about. The grace is we love

you no matter what, but please hear me. This

is not good for you. And that's the way we should

be treating each other inside here. And when

you get out there and it's not like that, you'll

realize it. The kingdom of God is given this

image. Let me tell you like a parable for a second.

Imagine you're a weary traveler. You're driving

through a blinding, freezing rainstorm on a dark

highway. You've been driving for hours and hours

and hours without seeing any sign of a place

to stop. The gas tank is on fumes. You're going

to run out of gas. And up ahead, you see a warm

amber glow of a porch light on a sturdy homestead.

There is a big house. There is a roof protecting

from the rain. There is a light shining, glowing.

And when you pull up to the door, you're met

with an interrogation or a locked gate. No. Now,

the kingdom of God is a place where when you

pull up to that door, you are met with an open

door, a dry towel. Now, there is a perimeter

that marks the exact boundary. You have to actually

go to the house, right? You have to actually

go there for the sustenance, go there for the

protection, get the towel, ask the person for

help. And you should, when you're inside the

kingdom of God and that is who you've become,

you are that safe place and people come to you.

And whether or not you can give them the help

that they ask for, you can certainly pray for

them. You can certainly share the gospel. You

can certainly stand up and represent, right,

Jesus. The edges of kingdom should feel like

that porch in both directions. I can't leave

the kingdom of God because others may come who

need Jesus. I can't leave the kingdom of God

because I am a provider of sustenance. I am an

ambassador for the Lord. And that brings us...

to what it looks like inside the kingdom of God.

There are obvious differences. When people interact

with citizens of the kingdom, they should notice

a striking, like it's completely different from

what the world is like. The world is driven by

self -preservation. Everybody wants to get ahead.

They're waiting for their boat to come in. I

want a promotion. I want more money. I got to

buy this. I got to buy that. I need to feed my

flesh. Sometimes it's about retaliation. I got

to get back at them. They did this to me. I'm

going to make them understand that what they

did was wrong. Sometimes it's about anxiety and

fretting and worrying. I'm upset. about where

this is going, what's going to be the outcome,

etc. Kingdom citizens live by a different economy.

If you have experienced the God of heaven and

you understand that this kingdom that we live

in, the economy is different here. Those things,

we don't trade on retaliation, self -preservation,

anxiety. We don't motivate by being angry at

people or by bringing guilt into their life.

That is not how we live. Galatians 5, 22 and

23 gives the fruit of the Spirit. It begins like

this, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, and self -control.

And when you are surrounding yourself by people

who are Christians, you're living inside the

kingdom of God, you should be experiencing those

fruits. You should be able to see them. And if

you're a person who's in the kingdom of God and

you can't see them in you, I suggest you draw

a little closer to Christ. I suggest you spend

a little more time in the Word or prayer. Quit

your job and get busy following Jesus. Quit your

education and get busy following Jesus. Because

the fruit of the Holy Spirit looks like that.

If it ain't present, you ain't in. And you will

still have to dress. And sometimes when you dress,

you'll get the buttons wrong. And you will still

have to do the laundry. And sometimes it will

take longer than you like. And you will still

have to cook your meals. And sometimes you'll

burn it. And you will still have to deal with

difficult people, even some of them inside the

kingdom of God, who are not currently exhibiting

the fruits of the Spirit. And it will be trying.

And yet, for you to remain close to Jesus, the

fruits of the Spirit should be showing up inside

you. These traits are profoundly disruptive in

a culture of outrage and self -indulgence. Do

you understand that when you're being persecuted,

you should be being persecuted because you are

obviously different. Someone has come up to the

border of the kingdom of God. You're inside the

kingdom of God. You're entreating them to come

into the kingdom of God to accept Jesus Christ

as Lord and Savior. You're exhibiting the fruits

of the Spirit. And they go, I don't like that.

He won't retaliate against me. I come back to

the martyrs who over and over and over again,

you see them like Jesus, try and forgive them

for they know not what they do. I think of the

man in Korea who was a young missionary and he

was trying to lead his village to Christ. And

the army came in and they persecuted him repeatedly.

And so finally they took him and his wife and

his two children out into the wilderness and

made them dig a mass grave for the four of them.

standing over them with AK -47s, threatening

to kill them, threatening to beat them, beating

them occasionally when they didn't work fast

enough. And then he put the man's wife and children

down in the grave, three soldiers. He put them

down in the grave that they had forced them to

dig. And he told the man to recant Christ. They

said, recant Christ. Tell us that you're not

a Christian. We'll let you all go. And they would

not. And the children began to cry. Do you hear

it? We're being invited right now to the greatest

feast that will last forever. We're going to

a great celebration that will never end. And

that was the straw that broke the camel's back

or the man's unwillingness to deny Christ. I

don't know what it was for sure. But they opened

fire and killed that woman and those two children.

And they made the man bury them, put the dirt

back on top of them. And then they took him,

blubbering like an idiot, beaten within an inch

of his life, and tossed him on the floor of his

hovel where he lay for two days in sorrow and

despair and pain. And then he got up. and began

to preach the gospel again. Now you tell me,

what in your life, what in my life compares with

that? Several days later, one of the soldiers

came in and says, you still preaching Jesus Christ

after what God let happen to you? And he shared

the gospel with him and he got saved. And then

that soldier went and told one of the other soldiers

what had happened. When it fast forward, that

young missionary became the pastor of what became

the largest church in the world. They couldn't

meet him. A public place. So they met everywhere.

Under trees, in basements, back rooms. At one

point in time, it was estimated that the church

was 400 ,000 strong. 400 ,000. We've got to dress,

eat, walk, talk, act, serve, give, like we are

in the kingdom of God, even when the AK -47.

is pointed at us. And if then, then surely when

you're choosing your clothes and doing your dishes

and so on. The fruits of the Spirit are profoundly

disruptive in a culture of outrage and self -indulgence,

and so should they be, so that people might know

that they are on the border of the kingdom of

God. John 13, 35 says, By this, everyone will

know that you are my disciples, if you love one

another. You know how the world knows that we

are in the kingdom of God? And they are not because

here people love each other. And I get it because

even after being saved, we're all flawed, fall,

struggle, stupid sometimes, right? All of us.

And somebody being dumb in your presence or being

rude in your presence does not give you the right

to not love. Because here is the point. If you

do not love one another, if we as a body do not

love one another, then how will the world know

when they are outside the boundary that there

is somewhere? a sacred place, a sacred people

in which God's love abides. And we practice it

toward one another. Distinct love within this

community is the ultimate visible marker. But

notice that you can see the back of the sign

as well. When you're on the way out, you will

note that you have struggled. to love people

who have wronged you. You have struggled to pray

for fervently the hurts of others that you are

aware of that are in this fellowship, that you

have not gone out of your way to make the contact.

So no one went out of their way to make a contact

with me. Where in the Bible does it say you only

do what God tells you to do when others do what

they are told to do? In your life, someone had

better make the first move and it already has

been done in that it was Jesus and he has already

won. And you're supposed to be following him,

not looking at the other sheep and how they're

screwing up and failing to love and whatever,

not forgetting, as you go about your daily difficulties,

what it means to be a member of the kingdom of

God. My next illustration is a little painful

for me because I am not, as you might have noticed

by hearing my singing, very musically inclined.

But I have had the opportunity to attend a few

orchestras over the years. And I know that if

you go kind of early, You'll hear the orchestra

warming up and tuning and so on, even if you're

just in your seat for a few minutes before it

starts, because it pretty much goes right up

until the beginning. And then suddenly, usually

there's a single note, and everybody sort of

tunes their instruments or plays their instruments

in tune with that note. And then a certain man,

a person, I call him a conductor, steps up in

front of the orchestra, and it's orderly. It's

harmonious. It's beautiful. This is what you

and I need, and it ain't me, and it ain't you.

And so every time you start to think that everybody

in your life should get them in an orbit around

you, should start to do the things that you want

them to do, and your personal preferences start

to think, well, that person's not right, man.

They're not doing what I want them to do. Every

time that happens, you remember, it ain't you.

You're not the one. You're not the one who's

supposed to lead the kingdom of God. You're not

the one whose preferences should be taken into

account. It's Jesus. And yes, if you see sin

in another person, Grace and light requires that

you go to that person and talk to them and try

to haul them back before they walk essentially

out of the kingdom of God. When the world screams

revenge, the kingdom citizens offer forgiveness.

When the world hoards, the kingdom citizens give.

The difference is as obvious as symphony, that

beautiful sound, versus, say, the noises of traffic

or in the child cafeteria in the elementary school

before they switch the lights off. There is a

cacophony of noise that is not the kingdom of

God. It is God's people following Jesus and moving

in the correct direction that Jesus is taking

us. You will find us loving one another, exhibiting

the fruits of the Spirit. You will find us profoundly

disruptive to the world's culture, but united

with one another. The activities of the kingdom

then amount to this, the duty of kingdom ambassadors.

When you got saved, this became your job. We're

not on our own here. We're ambassadors. Every

action, word, and posture then, everything that

you do, say, and the way you do it and say it

directly represents Jesus. You are a kingdom

ambassador. In the olden days, an ambassador

would be sent out on behalf of the government.

And when they went there, they spoke on behalf

of the king. And if the ambassador said, we're

going to war, you got to watch out because we're

going to war. The ambassador said, you have offended

our nation. You got to watch out. You've offended

our nation. A number of times in my history,

I'll give you a few examples in a moment. I've

felt like I... was at a moment where someone

was sort of attacking the kingdom of God, and

I was present for the attack, and then I spoke

something, and later it came true. The bottom

line is this. We are Christ's ambassadors as

though God were making his appeal through us.

2 Corinthians 5 .20 We are a chosen people, a

royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special

possession, that you may declare the praises

of him who called you out of darkness into his

wondrous light. According to 1 Peter. He has

shown you, O mortal, what is good, and what does

the Lord require of you? to act justly and love

mercy and walk humbly with your God, according

to Micah 6 .8. Many years ago, we had what was

called the ICE event. It had a couple of different

names. The bottom line is we were sharing the

gospel with people on the streets, going door

to door, talking to people, going to the mall,

and so on. We were out at the Woodville Mall,

which doesn't exist anymore, spoiler. And while

we were there, I almost got arrested. The police

were called. Me and the guy who was with me who

was sharing the gospel evangelist, I'm going

to call him that, and another member from our

church, and I think I remember who it was, but

I'm not positive. We were sharing the gospel

with the guy, and he was very intent. He really

wanted to know about Jesus and probably would

accept Christ based on the way the direction

of the conversation was going. And so the mall

maintenance men, who were also the mall security,

came up and they told us we had to leave. And

I went up and talked to them to keep them away

from the conversation. And they said, we've already

called the police. The police are on the way.

You're refusing to leave the premises. You're

going to be arrested. So the guy said, well,

I want to know more. I want to know about this.

I think I need this. I'm at kind of like that

spot in my life where it's amazing that we're

here having this conversation today. So we walk

out to the guy's car. The security and maintenance

guys follow us and the police are pulling in

the parking lot. So the guy says, well, I can't

get in trouble with the law. And we asked him

if we could meet across the street, like at Circle

K or something, and continue the conversation.

And he was too freaked out. And he declined.

So that day, at least, he did not accept Christ.

We got in our vehicles and we left and I didn't

get arrested. So about a week later, I put in

a call to the manager of the mall. And I said,

you know, look, we were there trying to talk

to people, public space. We're there trying to

talk to you about Jesus. And your guys chased

us out. And they even threatened to have us arrested.

And all we were doing was talking. We were talking

to somebody who wanted to talk. And he says,

well, I hear you saying that, but this is what

I'm going to tell you. Nobody at the mall wants

to talk. So we have determined that in the mall,

this is how malls actually work. People find

out about a sale. They go to the exact store

they want to go to. They buy exactly what they

want to buy, and then they want to leave. And

they don't want anybody to talk to them while

they're there. They want good customer service

in the store they're in. But other than that,

they don't want anybody to approach them. They

don't want a hand bill. They don't want somebody

to talk to them at all or anything like that.

And I said, well, I've been in your mall. I've

been in a lot of malls. I can tell you that that

is not true. Malls are all about community. If

you don't make your mall about community, if

it doesn't become about people can talk to each

other, people are going to sit in the mall waiting

for someone to talk to them because they have

no one. So that's not true at all. I said, if

you don't change that, your mall will be gone.

And he said, well, you'll pardon me if I say

this to you. I've been a manager of malls for

20 years. I'm new here, Woodville Mall, but a

manager of mall for 20 years. And I just don't

believe you. And I said, well, I'll tell you,

I'm telling you in the Holy Spirit, God is speaking

to my heart that your mall. will die if you don't

change your policies. Less than two years later,

Woodville Mall died. It didn't tear down right

away. People moved back into it and they tried

to keep it going and then the heat went out and

then the roof went out and the mall just now

does not exist. Sherry and I had a favorite restaurant

across town. It's a more recent story. We used

to go there about four times a year on date night.

We went there one night and they refused to give

us a table and said, you've got to wait an hour

and 20 minutes, even though there were tables

empty throughout the whole restaurant. They just

didn't have enough personnel, I guess, which

really offends Sherry and I because we both worked

in a restaurant. We're like, all you got to do

is put people on the clock and you could serve

these tables, right? And so now you're making

people wait an hour and 20 minutes to get a table.

So eventually we get out in the car and we found

out you can reserve a table online. So we reserved

a table online. Then we go inside and they say,

well, if you were on, we have a policy. If you

were on our waiting list, it's an hour and 20

minutes, and you reserve a table online, not

only can you not have a table now, but you have

to wait an hour and 20 minutes from now. So you

start again, which we were. By that time, it

was 40 minutes. So we only had about 40 more

minutes. We could get the table, the original

table that we asked for. And they said, no, you

got to wait an hour and 20 minutes from now.

It starts over. And I said, well, I didn't talk

to the manager. So I talked to the manager. The

manager said, so here's a gift card. Come back

and try us again another time. And I'm like,

well, there's a table. And he's like, no, you

can't have a table. You got to wait an hour and

20 minutes. I said, it's a ridiculous policy.

I said, let me tell you this. And I'm telling

you this as a man of God. If this is your policy,

mind you, this is a restaurant that I liked very

much. And I like their food. I could go there.

I could get the kind of thing that I liked. I

said, this is your policy. Your restaurant will

cease to exist. Now, as he's standing there,

I'm sure he's like, what do you know? Our restaurant

is so busy, we can't keep up with staffing. We

can't fill all our tables. We're on a wait list

an hour and 20 minutes. We're so busy. You don't

know nothing. I submit to you that now that restaurant

is gone. The entire chain went bankrupt. And

not only is that restaurant gone, but all of

those restaurants are gone. Now, what I'm saying

to you is not that I'm anybody. What I'm saying

to you is that the Lord God of heaven knows your

exact circumstances. It also says in the Bible

that you will answer for every idle word that

comes out of your mouth. Now, if I didn't want

that restaurant to go out of business, I probably

should have kept my mouth shut. But since I felt

led of the Lord to say what I said, I really

couldn't. I wish I had listened to myself when

I spoke, because later, after I told him that,

about four months later, I went to Costco and

they had gift cards. I showed this story in the

van over here today. They had gift cards for

sale for about 20 % off. So I bought gift cards

to give to the employees and the volunteers for

this restaurant. Good restaurant, right? At 20

% off. And then the restaurant went, now I have

four gift cards that are worth 200 bucks that

I can't give to anybody. Because I put the, I

didn't. God put the restaurant out of business.

And you can't take them to another city because

God didn't stop by putting the restaurant out

of business. He put the whole chain of 112 restaurants

out of business across the entire country. You

understand? When people are standing at the edge

of the kingdom of God and you're standing in

the kingdom of God, You've got to represent God.

You should be the sign. Yes, hospitality. Yes,

love. Yes, draw them in. Yes, share the gospel.

But there must be a difference. I am standing

here representing God. You are standing there

representing I don't know what. Listen to me

as I talk to you about the God of the universe.

But people are so timid because here's a person

who doesn't know the Lord and they're going to

act the way people who don't know the Lord act.

And you don't want to tell them about Jesus.

That's you in the kingdom of God. That's what

you do. That's who you are. If you've accepted

Jesus, you represent him. You are an ambassador.

Yes, love them and try to draw them in. And in

both cases, I was warning him, like, please don't

do this. I didn't want to see Woodrow Mall close.

I don't want to see that restaurant close. I

was warning him, like, please don't do this.

You know people whom God is calling to a better

life, to an easier yoke, to a life in the kingdom

of God. You know who they are in your lives.

And you're not saying, look, here I am standing

in the kingdom of God. You're right there. Come

over here. Let God save you. Let God give you

a yoke that you can actually bear to build fruit

in you. Come join the effort of the kingdom of

God. And yes, while all of that is going on,

while you are wearing the crest of the king,

while you're carrying the whip open ambassador's

ID, by the way, looks about like this. While

you're doing that, still got to wash the dishes.

You still got to clean the house. you still got

to pay the bills. You probably still got to go

to work or somebody in your family does. You

have to be a human existing in humanity in order

to be the kingdom of God reflecting his presence

right next to those who don't know him. And that

brings us then essentially to our conclusion.

Took a sabbatical a while back. Sometimes I think

I need another one. And on that sabbatical, there

were two songs that... kept occurring. And finally

I asked the Lord, I said, Lord, are you trying

to tell me something? And the first song was

Turbulent Skies. Basically the song says, without

getting into the lyrics, it says that sometimes

life is hard. Sometimes it's rough. I'm going

through difficulties. But it's okay. Because

my hand is in the hand of the man. My hand is

in God's hand. So whatever I'm going through,

Lord, I trust that you're going to take care

of it. That's what it means to face turbulent

skies when you're in the kingdom of God. And

then I realized we are living in a day of turbulent

skies, like every day. Every day sometimes it's

difficult. Every day sometimes you're overcoming

extreme difficulty to even be able to do the

things that... these basic things that we're

talking about doing, or maybe to get a job or

to hold a job or to pay bills or to do your education

in a godly way or to interface with people who

are living outside the kingdom, whatever. So

we're living in a day of turbulent skies. And

so we must be armored. We must be practicing

spiritual disciplines. We must be trusting the

Lord. We should be wielding the sword of the

Spirit because we're living in a day of turbulent

skies. The second song, then, is a little humorous

in light of that one. It is These Are the Days.

These are the days. They are the day in which

you represent God and you can win people to Christ.

Don't you understand that the world, and I get

it, a lot of them now have drifted into cults.

They've drifted into Enlightenment theology and

whatever. It's because people are interested.

There are stats that show that this generation

of young people that are coming up, that are

between like 17 and 25 right now, they are more

interested in spiritual things than any generation

for generations. And your generation or my generation.

Because if they can find something that's real,

don't you understand? I was trying to explain

this to my grandkids yesterday. Jason, are you

with me here? Listen to me. Everything that you

do on your phone, every video game that you play,

Social media, which is actually pictures or memes

about real people doing real things. Everything

that you do on your phone, except possibly reading

your Bible, all of it is not real. It's not real.

You see people, they go to like Disney World,

right? And they're like, oh, yay, Disney World.

And they spend 5 ,000 bucks, which you or I probably

can't do. And they have the greatest day. You

watch this and you're like, oh, it's so entertaining

seeing people go to Disney World, spend all this

money. And what a cool thing. I would love to

go there and do that too. And whatever. That's

not real. Because when that's over, they have

to go home. They cook their own dinner and wash

their dishes and do their laundry. And they will

not turn the camera on then. It's not reality.

And people who are in the kingdom of God should

not be checking out of reality because you're

representing the reality that saves souls as

the ambassador of Christ. And so if you spend

a few too many minutes dwelling on somebody else's

faked up reality. you'll miss the opportunity

to live in your reality and do your dishes and

do your laundry and do your bill paying and do

your working, not just to do those things, but

to do them in a way that represents Jesus Christ.

And that is what it means to be in the kingdom

of God, to exist both in turbulent skies and

to realize that while the skies are as turbulent

as they will ever get, these are the days. And

when we look at the broad sweep of scripture,

we see a fundamental truth. The climate of history

changes. Sometimes there's a civil war. Sometimes

there's a series of assassination attempts. Sometimes

the bills keep coming and the money's not coming

in. Sometimes there's a cancer diagnosis. I've

had two, two separate cancer diagnoses in my

lifetime. I'd be surprised if anybody in the

room over 35 hasn't had that as well. I have

a friend right now who just came from the hospital.

His name is John. You can pray for him. And they

told him the tumors in his body, there is literally

nothing they can do. He's a minister. And so

this is what he said. He ministers in the jails.

And he said, now I have a mobility scooter and

I just got permission. to use my mobility scooter

to go into the jails. So now I can take my scooter

in and still preach the gospel and still do the

same. And he said, that's what I'm going to do

until the day I die. And they told me there is

nothing they can do for me. So they know it won't

be long now. But until then, I will take my mobility

scooter into the jails and preach the gospel.

Where are we fussing, stressing, anxious, planning,

watching somebody else's idea of what's reality?

Live your life! and live it for Jesus Christ.

Some days are turbulent skies, dark, confusing,

heavy with personal failure. Maybe you screwed

up bad, cultural decay, spiritual warfare. Other

days are clear, unmistakable days of advancement

where we're doing something like teaching VBS

and children are hearing the gospel. I'll never

forget. I come to VBS on Main Street and Sherry

was teaching that year. She was teaching the

third and fourth graders and they had had a blow

up class, which my wife is good at dealing with

pressure. She doesn't think she is. She's humble

about that, but she is. And she had to teach

a class that was growing like crazy. Then I get

there 15 minutes before VBS is supposed to start.

She calls me on the phone. She says, I'm stuck

in traffic coming down from Detroit. I'm not

going to be there for lesson time. Can you teach

my lesson? I'm like, yeah, what is it? I'll teach

it. Sure, whatever. So I go in, I get the book.

I want to have it teach out of the book. And

as I'm teaching out of the book, God says to

me that there are a number of lost children in

the class. Their answers were pretty indicative

the way they were answering. And God said, there's

a number of lost children here. And so at one

point in time, I was finishing up the lesson.

And she had just come. And she's standing behind

the chairs. And she got there late. I'm finishing

up the lesson. And the Lord led me to 14 kids

in chairs around me. And I'm in the middle teaching

the baby S lesson. And I go up to the first kid

as led by the Lord. And I shared the gospel.

And I asked him, will you accept Jesus Christ

your Lord and Savior to begin to live for Jesus

today? He said, yes. And I went to the next kid.

And I did the same thing. And he said, yes. By

the time I was done, 13 out of 14 kids. That's

a moment of great advancement of the kingdom

of God. Now, let's say a few of them didn't really

know what they were doing. Let's say half of

them didn't really commit their life and they've

walked away from the kingdom of God. That's still

six or seven individuals who came into the kingdom

of God that day. But I'll tell you that the Holy

Spirit was there and the gospel was plainly explained

and decisions were being made. But there was

one kid whose parents were atheists and he was

an atheist and he was devout and he was actually

pretty well behaved for an atheist. He said no.

Even while the other 13, which tells me that

the other 13 were not just responding in pressure.

He was like third. And after he said no, 10 more

said yes. Amazing days of advancement are afoot.

Listen to God. Present the gospel and ask people

to get saved because that is what the kingdom

of God is about. If they approach the edge of

the kingdom of God and you treat them nicely,

you could be just doing it for customer service.

You'd be trying to manipulate them, whatever.

You could be just an overly polite person. But

if you make it all about Jesus, Ecclesiastes

3 says there is an appointed season for everything

under heaven, a time to tear down, a time to

build, a time for war, peace, to die, etc. But

let me tell you, in the kingdom of God, what

never, ever, ever, no matter how bad it is, goes

out of season, and that is giving God the glory.

If you do that, you're going to upset things.

You're going to irritate folks. But when you

get your next promotion, when you get your next

check, when you get your next problem solved,

give God the glory. When you get your next grade

card, give God the glory. I spoke with a young

man. I didn't ask him to use this illustration,

so I won't name him. He did very well on a test.

And he said, I called my friends that were in

my class, and he said, I didn't want to tell

them how well I did on the test. So I asked him,

and they all got lower grades than him. And he

said, so then after that, I didn't want to tell

them. how I did on the test. Listen to me. There

are no tests in your life except that which God

gives you as a gift. And you're meant to study.

And you're meant to work. And you're meant to

show up and use your best test -taking skills

to answer three times if there's time and get

the best grade you can get. And then you won't

have to be ashamed to say you got a better grade

than somebody else because you don't take the

glory, you give it to the Lord. And if they want

to get a better grade next time, let them come

to Jesus and live the way they ought. Samson's

life will become tragic after these events. 20

years. Some think that the first part of his

suffering takes up the first part of the 20 years

and the rest of his suffering, when he gets stupid

at the end, takes up the last part. So maybe

he didn't actually reign for 20 years. It doesn't

matter if it was 10 years. For 10 years, he got

out of bed. He put his pants on one leg at a

time. I don't know if they had socks, maybe just

sandals. He laced them up. He dressed. He worked.

He led. He saved. And then eventually he'll wind

up that desperate cry, begging God to work through

him just one more time. Don't do it. The kingdom

of God is available to you. Look at your life.

Don't do the things that you think are right.

Do the things that God has given you to do. Don't

be the kind of person that you can wake up in

the morning and feel good about yourself. Be

the kind of person that regularly checks yourself.

by what God is saying about who you are and what

you're doing. God loves you, and he's not going

to stop loving you. And he loves the people that

are outside the kingdom of God just as much as

he loves the people who are inside the kingdom

of God. And he wants them in here, and he expects

that those of us who are in the kingdom of God

will be welcoming signs. And if you're on the

way out, you should be able to see the signs.

You know what the activities of the kingdom are,

and you should be seeing them slipping in your

life. Repent and turn to the Lord. sandwiched

tightly between explosive crises in Samson's

life, in my opinion, are the full 20 years of

his quiet faithfulness as a judge. Some of you

would say, I've been a Christian for a long time.

I've done a lot for the Lord. Maybe I could have

done more, but I've done a lot. Tomorrow, get

up out of bed for the Lord. Dress for the Lord.

Prepare your meals for the Lord. Pay your bills

for the Lord. Use your mouth for the Lord. And

if you find sin, repent, turn to the Lord, turn

it over, confess it to him, and be cleansed of

all unrighteousness. And do it not for yourself,

although it is what's best for you for sure,

but for the Lord. Samson's life proves that God's

glory isn't just found in lightning strikes or

great personal victories or the desperate prayers

of our deepest valleys. His glory is... When

his people hold the line during the quiet, unremarkable

seasons in between. What was your last journal

entry? What was the last time you wrote in a

journal? You know, this is spiritual discipline

journaling, right? So we should all be doing

it to some extent. What was the last thing you

wrote? Was it a big day? Exciting day? A hard

day? Was it a normal day? A day in which you

just got up, got dressed, washed the dishes,

cleaned the house, went to bed. I submit to you

that both of those days are equally worthy of

the Lord. if they are lived for the Lord. Over

30 times in the Bible, it tells us that good

people, godly people, righteous people, and the

only way to truly have righteousness is to get

it imputed by Christ. You can't be perfectly

right. It's not possible, but you can have Christ's

righteousness. It says that righteous people

fall down. Proverbs says fall down seven times,

get up seven times, which means every time you

fall down, you keep getting back up. Maybe you've

fallen down. Maybe you're in a place where you

realize you have not on a daily basis given the

Lord glory with your house, with your chores,

with your job, with your use of your money, with

your use of your mouth, with your choices about

eating, choices about sleeping, with your choices

of entertainment. If you have not given glory

to the Lord, let me just say it this way, you've

fallen down. You're on the edge of the kingdom

of God and God may correct you in a way that

won't be pleasant. Repent and begin again to

do the things. for the Lord that you said you

would when you got saved. I don't care if it's

been 40 years. I don't care if you could say

that for 40 years you washed your dishes for

Jesus every single day, which I know is not true,

but if you could say that, how awesome it would

be. Today, wash your dishes for Jesus. I don't

care if for 40 years you say, I got up and I

worked and I took care of my family. Today, get

up, work, and take care of your family for Jesus.

I don't care if you say, like, people have said

hurtful things to me, and sometimes I struggle

in myself to be the kind of person I should be

because of what I have experienced, what I've

gone through, the way people have hurt me. Listen,

Jesus crucified, need I say more? Praying for

those who are actively crucifying him, rising

again, delivering new life, not just that day

that he rose again, but every day since, and

all the way back to Moses and even Adam and Eve.

and Abraham, and they all got saved the same

way, by the way, that God would make. Will you

get out of bed today and do the things that you're

going to do for the Lord? And if you say, I don't

know, some of the things that I'm doing, they

seem to stop me from doing for the Lord the way

I should, then stop doing them. Do for the Lord

instead. Maybe you're here today thinking about

the level of distraction that you've had. Repent.

Make room for daily decisions. So even while

the Bible gives us over 30 times in which it

says that God's people, righteous people, may

fall down and get up again, it also says that

wicked people fall. And do not rise. And it says

it a heck of a lot more times than 30. Wicked

means that you know what sin is and you do it

anyway. Fall and don't get up. Or fall and do

get up. You see, the title of the sermon is actually

a kingdom that stands out. And guess what you

have to do in order to stand out? You have to

stand, right? You have to be. You have to be

in there, chugging away, doing what it is that

God has called you to do. When it's hard and

when it's easy. When it's glamorous and when

it's almost nothing. when it doesn't feel like

it's important at all. If God has put you there

and he's given you that to do, then do it for

him. Stand. 20 years. And Abraham Lincoln went

home and worked his plantation. I'm sorry, George

Washington went home and worked his plantation.

And Abraham Lincoln, during the war, made it

so that anybody, you know, this is the guy who

was assassinated in the theater at the end. And

common folk, which means John Wilkes Boone's,

could have come to him and met with him in the

Oval Office for years. before he snuck up behind

him and put a bullet in the back of his head.

He could have come any day and just talked to

him. He probably couldn't have brought a gun

in, but he could have come any day and just talked

to him. And instead, in the end, he put a bullet

in his head. And that is where evil goes. But

goodness, that is us. Kingdom of God, folks.

We stay in there. We stand. Get back up. Submit

your life to the Lord. Don't be conformed to

the ways of the world, but be transformed by

the renewing of your mind. Romans 12. have the

praise team come forward and read us in this

final song. We are asking ourselves today, what

does it look like to remain in the name of God?

You should know what it looks like on the border.

It's welcoming, outreaching, serving, giving,

drawing folks. You should know what it looks

like inside. It's fruit and spirit, loving one

another. If you're out there on the raggedy edge,

repent. Turn to the Lord and let him be in charge.

And if you're in the thick of it and you realize

these are turbulent days, hold on to him with

all your might. Or you realize these are the

days I can do amazing things. Hold on to him

with all your might. Because someday will come

that you'll have to make a decision about whether

you want to stay. Now, I'm not talking about

losing salvation. Being in the kingdom of God

is when God is reigning in your life. Being saved

is when we've accepted Jesus Christ as Lord.

That means he's in charge and Savior. That means

he paid the price for your sin. If you've not

done that, then do that. But after that, you're

meant to live in the kingdom of God. And you

should do. And if you aren't, repent and do so.

Would you stand and sing this song with me? But

if you're responding to the invitation some way,

accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior

for the first time, repenting to return to kingdom

activities, then if you come, if the Lord leads

you, just take my hand and tell me what's on

your heart. We'll pray together and we'll share

with the group. We believe that we are never

the same. We believe that we have life in the

name of Jesus. We believe that we are never the

same. Spirit says to me right now that there's

someone in this room who has sin in their life.

And I'm thinking about that.