The Dangerous Victory of Dan Judges 18

In the book of Esther, in chapter 4, we see an

incredible event. Are you familiar with it? Does

anybody know what happens in the book of Esther

in chapter 4? So, Mordecai sends a message. Who's

Mordecai? Mordecai sends a message to Esther

and asks her to go and approach the king. That

sets the stage for the greatest moment of fasting

in the Bible. I mean, every moment of fasting.

When Esther learned that Haman had plotted to

destroy the Jewish people, she understood that

there was really nothing that she could do. No

amount of political skill, personal influence

over the king, none of that was going to help

him. So what she did instead was she asked Mordecai

to ask all of his people in his circle, and also

she asked all of her ladies in her circle. And

she said, go gather together all the Jews and

fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three

days, night or day. That's actually chapter 4,

verse 16. Now, you might think that they were

fasting to change the king's mind. And in the

world, that might be what people think, right?

I can do this. For example, if you're a child

or a teenager and your parents don't give you

one, like go to your room, stalking mad, mope,

tell them you're not going to talk to them for

a couple of days, give them the silent treatment,

and then finally they might change your mind.

You might think that the way that you behaved

is how you elicited the change. That was not

their goal at all. This fasting was not about

changing the king's mind. As I said, Esther already

realized that there was nothing that she could

do to change his mind. What fasting did instead

was prepared Esther's heart. And then just a

second later in that same chapter, she says,

so then after that time, I will go to the king.

And if I perish, I perish. See, she knew that

the fasting might not change the king's mind.

The fasting was not for the purpose of entreating

the king to receive her positively. It was for

preparing her heart that if she should die in

the service of the Lord, she would be right with

God. That's different. Jesus then reinforced

the same principle in the New Testament, in Matthew

6. Jesus says, when you fast, it's an assumption,

not if you fast, but when you fast. And he taught

them that they don't do it for public recognition.

Don't do it out there so everybody can see you.

Don't look all lopey and sad that you're going

without this or that. But as an act of sincere

devotion before the Father. Biblical fasting,

which is our spiritual discipline emphasis for

this sixth month, is not about forcing God's

hand or entreating somebody else to change their

mind. It's about drawing near to God. with humility

and dependence. You are saying, essentially,

Lord, you are more necessary to me than, insert,

whatever you're fasting from. Right? And classic

fasting is food. So, we know that we need food

to survive. We have to eat, or at least take

in nutrients by some means, and if you, God forbid,

you can't eat for some reason, they'll probably

give you a stomach to you, if it ever came to

that. But, bottom line is, you have to take in

nutrients. But you're saying to God, that God,

you are more important to me, than my comfort,

than my sustenance. I need your strength more

than my own strength. And when we receive the

idea of fasting that way, then we, like Esther,

come to the place where we can say, and if I

perish, I perish. Now we may live in a nation

where that may not be required of us in living

for Christ, because in Syria you have religious

freedoms. But there could come a time, situationally

in one person's life, or governmentally, there

may be laws or rules made at some point in time

in our nation. And I wonder, will we wait to

fast and come to the moment of saying, and if

I perish, I perish, until such a time arises?

Or will we remember this spiritual discipline?

I submit to you that as our church, as New Heights

Fellowship, we know that we do not fast to manipulate

God. We fast because we recognize how desperately

we need God. You can do this, and probably should,

before major decisions, difficult conversations,

ministry opportunities, or anticipated spiritual

battles. Fasting reminds us that victory belongs

to the Lord. So I'll ask you today these questions.

I'm going to mull them over in your minds for

a second. In a moment, we're going to pray and

move on, and we'll worship the Lord with our

tithes and offerings and sing a little more.

But don't let this time pass you without dealing

with a few of these things. First, is there a

burden that you have been carrying without first

seeking the Lord in prayer and fasting? I hear

a lot of times people say, well, I prayed about

it. Jesus didn't say if you fast, he said when

you fast. Is there a burden that you have been

dealing with without first seeking the Lord?

first seeking God in prayer and fasting? Is there

a decision that requires more dependence on God

than confidence in yourself? You know, there

really is nothing that's put before you that

you can't just make a decision about. You're

a human being created with free will, a creator

and a destroyer created in the image of God.

You can speak things into existence, create them

with your hands, envision them with your mind,

dream, imagine a future that does not yet exist.

So you can... With any decision that is presented,

you can say, well, this could result in this,

this, or this. You could be a master chess player

who's working on it every single day, and they

think 10, 11 moves ahead for 64 pieces. Did I

get that right? It's not right. How many is it?

32. Anyway, you can do it. The question is, will

you require dependence on God to do it or not?

And the Bible says we are meant to require dependence

on God. Consider then setting aside a meal or

a day to seek the Lord with a focused heart.

Or maybe you look at your life and say, I realize

I have become attached to this thing. I'm spending

a lot of time and effort maintaining my TV series

or my books I'm reading or my recreation, whatever

it might be. And you can say, I'm going to fast

from that for self -discipline purposes and to

focus on the Lord. Ask God then to prepare you

to obey whatever he calls you to do. As I pray

in this moment, I'm going to lead us in a prayer.

A little bit about fasting. A little bit about

fasting. A little bit about worshiping and recognizing

the Lord for who he is. And I ask you to join

me. Would you join me now? Father in heaven,

we pray today that you would teach us to believe

on you. Day in and day out. When we rise and

when we settle for the night. When we sit to

eat or sometimes rush to eat and can't even sit.

When we do the work of the kingdom and when we

enjoy our recreation, hopefully in the way that

we're doing it for you. Lord, we ask you to show

us what dependence looks like. We realize that

dependence does not look like being weak. And

I think that's a lesson of fasting as well. It

takes some effort. It's an intentional choice.

That's why it's called a spiritual discipline.

Because it's a choice. And a choice that then

must be enforced. Lord, I see how when we don't

apply ourselves in the spiritual disciplines,

we kind of languish. We don't grow. We don't

reach for what you would have for us, and when

we're not reaching for what you would have for

us, maybe other things fall in our lap, or we

reach for something else that's proper. No, Lord.

Help us to be dependent on you. I don't think

the world talks about independence. That if you

make enough money, influence enough people, bless

you, that you'll be okay, that you'll do well.

Kind of like the American dream. Here we see

pictured the dream of the kingdom that we belong

to. The dream of the kingdom of God is a man

or a woman dedicated to God, depending on God.

We were made to be in right relationship with

you, and for that we depend upon you. That you

would put us in, that you would keep us in, that

you would walk us through it all, that you would

stay with us through it all, that you would fulfill

all the promises that you have made, and you

are a God who fulfills his promises. Even as

we go to tithes and offerings right now, Lord,

think about that widow who gave her the last

two mites. And it was said that she gave more

than all those who piled in their coins and rang

the horns that day because she gave out of her

need. She gave out of her want. She gave out

of her sacrifice. But we know that that's the

kind of giving that the Bible calls us to now.

We talk a lot about tithing because, of course,

that's still a biblical thing too. But really,

sacrificial giving is the giving of the New Testament.

So that, Lord, today, as we give of our tithes

and offerings, as we say, our 10 % and our whatever

mores, I pray that you'll take that money as

a testimony, as a statement, as an act of worship,

and use it for whatever you would. That the church

would, united, understand your will for us. We

know that in the renewing of our mind is the

ability to understand your good and perfect will.

So as we do that today, Lord, we pray that you'll

take it all and make it all, bless you, whatever

it needs to be. Bless us as we continue to worship

you. Set this people not on a pedestal. Lord,

we don't even pray to be a light on a hill, although

we know that we don't have a choice in that matter.

We already are. We don't pray to be better than

anyone else. We don't pray knowing that we are

better than anyone else. We simply come to you

in dependence today and ask you through the blood

of Jesus, your son, that you take care of us,

provide for us as you promised, protect us as

you promised, purpose us as you promised, and

empower us as you promised. And therefore, we

pray, your will be done here on earth as it is

in heaven. In Jesus' name, amen. I like sports.

I like watching football, but I used to be a

young guy. I used to like playing football, and

then now not so much anymore. And so I don't

watch as much football as I used to watch either.

I like to watch baseball, but I prefer to play

baseball. And so I play softball, so I don't

watch very much baseball anymore. But I remember

a number of times watching the Super Bowl, and

you're familiar with that, or even the Rose Bowl.

And at the Super Bowl and the Rose Bowl, ultimately

there is a victor, a person who wins. The coach,

the quarterback, the team wins the game. And

a lot of times the team will say, well, it was

my line, or the quarterback says, it was my line

that protected me and did a great job, that did

the team do a great job. This was a whole team

effort. And I kind of like doing that. So right

after the game, the announcers do a lot of analyzing

the game. They did it by ball control. They kept

the ball for a long period of time, and that

really did it. Or he really made this work. was

the one who scored 200 yards today. He's the

one who made the victory possible. A lot of analyzing

that. And then right after they get to talking

about what it was about the winning team that

made them win, and maybe a little bit about what

it was about the losing team that made them lose,

right after that, they start talking about the

winning team in another way. Think about it for

a second for the sports people that are in the

room. They start looking at that Super Bowl team

or that Rose Bowl college team, and they start

asking a certain question. You know what question

I'm thinking of? Say it again. I'll talk about

after what could they have done better. What's

the next topic? Yep. Can they do it again? That's

the next topic, right? So in the college, a lot

of that has to do with, well, they've got 13

seniors rotating off this year, including the

quarterback, the running back, and three linemen,

right? And so they've got some good up -and -comers,

but... Maybe not. In the pro team, they're stacked

to do it again. These guys are all young and

strong, and they're blowing away. They'll do

it again for sure. They'll be a contender next

year for sure. And that becomes the topic. Can

they do it again? I submit to you that victories

carry with them a certain impetus, a desire to

have more victories. And that, as well as some

other things that we're going to see today, creates

a certain result. And so be careful. Be careful

in your victories to ensure that they are godly

victories. What we're going to see in the book

of Judges today is a victory that is not godly

and a result that is very sad. And so grab your

Bibles, if you would, and turn with me to Judges

Judges 18 · chapter mention

chapter 18. Okay, Mark, come on. Is there anybody

out there? All right, we'll try it again. Turn

with me to Judges chapter 18. Thank you. This

Judges 18 · chapter mention

is God's Word. Whatever I get right or wrong

in what I have written about it, God's Word will

never fail you. So if a whole other sermon comes

into your heart and into your head because the

Holy Spirit is putting it there today, I suggest

you listen and respond accordingly. So we're

going to do it a little differently today than

we usually do it. Instead of reading all of Judges

18 and then going back and breaking down each

part, which I love doing it that way, we're going

to read the parts as we go. That will be in the

interest of time. So before we go into 18, consider

this, that it is true in the world in general

that culture measures everything by results.

How well you succeeded determines whether or

not what you did was the right thing. If the

business grows, it must have been right. If the

church gets bigger, God must be blessing it.

If the plan succeeds, it must have been God's

will. But scripture repeatedly teaches from beginning

to end something completely different from that.

Proverbs 14, 12, which we're a little familiar

with, I hope, because we used it last week as

part of the sermon. There is a way which seemeth

right unto a man, but the end thereof are the

ways of death. So you can look at a way and say

this way looks right, but the end of it is death.

And that death is talking about could be death

of your body, but also could be referring to,

and probably is, that spiritually we're separated

from God, and we don't have that oneness or that

unity with God that we would like to have or

should have. We see many times in Scripture where

people didn't really do anything wrong, and everything

goes wrong. And so it is not as simple as looking

at whether or not things went right to determine

whether or not right choices were made. Job did

not do anything to have all of his children killed,

to have his house destroyed, Everything lost,

right? That was not because of punishment. It

was because the devil wanted to test it. And

the Lord gave him permission to do so, probably

knowing what no one would do. That story repeats

itself. There are a lot of times when people

face suffering, and their suffering is not a

direct response to the choices that they've made.

Now, are we all worthy of suffering? Do we all

have sin and therefore possibly the ways of death?

Yes. For the grace of God, it is possible for

us to also enjoy great blessings of the Lord.

The bottom line is, it's never so clear as success

means it was done right. So Judges 18, then,

looks at a tremendous military success. You may

or may not know some of the history. I'm pulling

it in a little bit as we go. The tribe of Dan,

at the time of the book of Judges, has not settled

into the lands that they were said that they

would take. Okay, so they're supposed to take

over all the lands, kick out all the people that

were there before, and kill as necessary everyone

who would not retreat. And Dan has not done that.

And in this story, they will finally receive

a territory and mark out the area that they're

supposed to be in. They will win a huge battle.

They will gain a city. They will establish worship.

By human standards, it looks like everything

is going according to God's promises being fulfilled.

And at the end of the chapter, we will see...

one of the greatest, darkest spiritual tragedies

in Israel's history. Something, the greatest

danger sometimes arises out of these successes

and victories. So first of all, look with me

then at Judges chapter 18. We're going to read

Judges 18 · chapter mention

verses 1 to 6, and it says in 18, 1. In those

days, there was no king of Israel. And in those

days, the tribe of the Danites was seeking an

inheritance for themselves to live in. For until

that day, and inheritance had not been allotted

to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel.

So they hadn't figured out where they were supposed

to settle yet, even though it's been generations.

So the sons of Dan sent from their family five

men, out of their whole number, valiant men from

Zorah and Eshto, to spy out the land and to explore

it. And they said to them, go explore the land.

And they came to the hill country of Ephraim.

Now you know that's where... The guy that we've

been reading about lives, right? You remember

he's there, that guy Micah. First he had his

son be his priest, and then later he hired a

guy. So that's the guy that we've been reading

about. So he said, go explore the land. And they

came to the hill country of Ephraim to the house

of Micah and stayed overnight there. When they

were near the house of Micah, they recognized

the voice of the young man, the Levite. And they

turned aside. They turned aside there and said

to him, who brought you here? And what are you

doing in this place? And what do you have here?

He said to them, Micah has done this and that

for me, and he has hired me, and I have become

his priest. Then they said to him, inquire of

God, please, that we may know whether our way

on which we are going will be successful. And

the priest said to them, go in peace. Your way

in which you are going has the Lord's approval.

That takes us through verse 6. Notice that they

said to him, ask counsel, we pray thee of God.

They arrive at Micah's house, but notice what

they don't do. There's not a question about the

stolen idols. There's not a question about a

graven image. There's not a question about a

molten image that's carved out. That's all against

God's commands. These are valiant, honorable

men amongst the tribe of Dan. So we can reasonably

expect that those people represent the faith

beliefs of the tribe of Dan. And they don't question

the fact that this guy is a priest and he's not

supposed to be. This is a temple that's set up

there where it's not supposed to be. This has

idols in it and it's not supposed to be. They

don't even ask. They don't even think about it.

Rather, this homemade priesthood seems perfectly

acceptable. That makes sense to us. They don't

take the high ground of speaking out against

graven images. They don't question why worship

is taking place outside the place that God has

appointed. They simply just join right in. Idolatry,

introduced in Judges 17, has already become ordinary

in all the tribe of Dan. This is one of Satan's

greatest strategies. Satan rarely begins by convincing

people that sin is a good thing, because that's

kind of black and white. We kind of feel it.

We kind of know it. Rather, he convinces them

that it's normal. That it's what everybody does.

Even saying, I'll take care of it. You hear things

like, everyone will lie, right? Or, trust me,

my reasons for not being there, even though I

said I would be there, are sufficient. I made

a commitment, and I can't come now because X

interfered. And that's acceptable, right? No.

Actually, it's not acceptable. You say, I know

what I'm doing, and we expect everybody to believe

us, even though... They know, and we know, and

everyone knows that we've made mistakes before,

and this one could be just as much a mistake

as the last, or it could be right, but how are

they supposed to know that? They're just supposed

to take our workflow. Or even things like, I

said so. Think then on these scriptures, and

I'll just, I'm going to read them to you. If

you're a note taker, write down the references.

If you're a fast Bible flipper, you can go there,

but I'm not going to take time for us to turn

notes. Romans 12, 2, for example, which says,

and be not conformed to this world. Don't be

like what's normal, but be transformed by the

renewing of your mind, so that you may what?

Prove, or you may test, what the will of God

is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

So there is a way for you to, by participating

in the renewing of your mind, seek knowing what

is good and acceptable and perfect according

to God. Isaiah 5 .20 says this, Woe to those

who call evil good and good evil, who substitute

darkness for light and light for darkness, who

substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

You see, we're living in a world where words

are getting redefined and people are saying,

this is okay. And God says, it's not okay. And

then people are joining. And do you know that

in one of the greatest proponents of Adolf Hitler

at the beginning of World War II, you know who

one of the greatest proponents of Adolf Hitler

in? Germany at the beginning of World War II

was? The Christian church. They had him in their

pulpits. They talked about him every Sunday and

how he was turning the nation in the right direction.

The Christian church. Do you think knowing the

mind of Christ they should have been endorsing

a man who would do what he was already doing,

even though it wasn't public everything that

he was doing yet and what he would do? Or should

they have been saying by the renewing of their

mind, there's something wrong here. Be careful

about jumping on the bandwagon. of this individual,

we can already feel by the leadership of the

Lord that something's not right. Exodus 20, verses

Exodus 20:3–5

3 to 5 says, You shall have no other gods before

me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or

any likeness of what is in heaven, above, or

on the earth, beneath, in the water, under the

earth. You shall not worship them or serve them,

for I, the Lord, I am the Lord your God. I'm

sorry, I, the Lord, your God, am the jealous

God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers, hang

on, on the children, on the third and fourth

generations of those who hate me, but showing

loving kindness to those who love me and keep

my commandments. And that's really a significant

statement, directly contrary to everything that's

going on in our text today. But listen to Deuteronomy

12. And this one will touch your heart a little

bit. It says, but you shall seek the Lord at

the place. Remember, Shiloh is in Ephraim within

walking distance. Micah's house is within walking

distance of the temple dedicated to the Lord.

Not easy walking distance, but they walk long

ways, right? So you shall seek the Lord at the

place with the Lord your God will choose from

all your tribes. To establish his name, therefore,

his dwelling, and there you shall come. Let's

lay it out really clearly. He says, You shall

not do at all what we are doing here today. every

man doing whatever is right in his own eyes.

Do you hear that? That's everything that they're

doing in the book of Judges. That phrase has

repeated a bunch of times, every man doing what

was right in his own eyes. And he was saying,

don't do that. Don't do what's right in your

own eyes. He says, for you have not as yet come

to the resting place and the inheritance which

the Lord your God is giving you. When you cross

the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord

your God is giving you to inherit, and he gives

you rest from all your enemies, around you so

that you live in security, then it shall come

about that place in which the Lord your God will

choose for his name to dwell. There you shall

bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings,

your sacrifice, your tithes, and the contribution

of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings,

which you will bow to the Lord. And you shall

rejoice before the Lord your God, and you and

your sons and daughters, your male and female

servants, and the Levite who is within your gates,

since he has no portion of inheritance with you.

Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings

in every cultic place you see, but in the place

where the Lord chooses in one of your tribes.

There you shall offer your burnt offerings, and

there you shall do all that I command you. So

it's worth noting that societal position, arrival

being an expert in the eyes of others to accept

the ungodly way, your godly life. You know, they

look at you and say, hey, that's a Christian.

And you're living a certain way. And they look

to you, and now you have authority. They're seeing

how you're living. So it's worthwhile noting

that if you want to be a Christian and live out

in society, you can go out there and tell them

all kinds of things. And that's not where they're

supposed to get it from. They're not supposed

to get it from you. Or if they're getting it

from you, then I'm sure that whatever they're

getting from you is coming from them. It's not

your story to make up. It's not my story when

I'm out walking the streets to make up. We are

the church. The church answers to God. We are

the body of Christ, and we answer to our head,

Christ. If people want the answers to the dilemmas

of the universe, they should come to the church,

because the church is the one whom God has made

his agent on earth in our day. The Danites actually

asked this false priest. This guy has no authority

whatsoever. He is a sinner against God, worshiping

idols. outside the temple that God has destructed.

And he has no authority whatsoever. And the Danites

come to him and ask, you know how many times

I've had people come to me and say, I kind of

like you, you look good, you've got a tie on.

What about this? How do you prefer to live my

life? And if my answers are not from the God

of the universe, then my answers are worthless.

They're worse than worthless. They wanted God's

blessings without God's authority. And this guy

was their best chance. Which you can be for people.

Just the same as he was. But religion without

obedience always creates counterfeit comfort.

If you're not following God, if that is not your

choice, if you're not doing what it is that God

wants you to do, you will find yourself at peace,

as long as you don't think about it very much.

Like that line from popular TV a while back that

says, it makes perfect sense if you don't think

about it. And that's how the world is living.

And they will look to you as an expert. in counterfeit

comfort. I want you to think for a moment about

a bank where everybody in the bank is using counterfeit

money. All the tellers have counterfeit money,

all the deposits, everybody has counterfeit money.

No one questions it because everyone else is

accepting it. They don't look to see whether

the money is counterfeit because they assume

someone else has checked to see if it's counterfeit.

Being the fastest counter or holding the greatest

quantity of that worthless money would still

be a position of great honor. And it's like that

in fake churches in the world. Now, I'm not judging

any one church, but I will tell you, there are

things and people out there who call themselves

churches that definitely are not. The government

recognizes churches in the United States of America,

calls them religious or faith bodies, that are

clearly not churches as Christ commanded. They

don't even pretend to be. And yet they are recognized

in that way. Employee of the Month in our fake...

Money bank might well be best at dealing with

concerns of those who start to wonder about the

counterfeit nature of the money. Somebody comes

in their bank and says, yeah, this doesn't look

quite right. Is this real? And they deal with

it. They're like, oh, it is. It's no problem.

Let me convince you. Here's the arguments for

it. The money is definitely good. You're fine.

Just take it and go. And because they're able

to. or stall concerns about people who think

the money might be counterfeit, they now win

the day. They get their picture up on the wall,

and they get the trophy every couple of months,

and they get the raises, etc. You and I cannot

be that. We can't. We have to be true. We have

to follow the Lord of the universe and his promises

of fulfillment. God's truth never changes when

public opinion changes. The right direction is

almost always different from what is everyone

else doing. The only place that you might find

that that's the right direction is when you're

surrounded by a loyal people of God. I suggest

you find one of those. In fact, I suggest you

may have found one of those. And then you can

look around and see what other people are doing.

And if you see them not doing what's right, then

you can Matthew 18 accountability, hold them

accountable so that we can be a people that are

doing what's right. But you can know that the

right direction is rarely what everyone else

is doing. The question, rather, is what has God

said? Back to his word. Back to the spirit. Back

to his presence. When you feel him pushing you

in a certain direction, you cross -check it with

the word of God. You listen to the sermon. You

study the Bible. And you say, yes, between what

God's word says and what the spirit is saying

to me, I know this is the right thing. That brings

us to the second point, then. Which is that success

is never God's standard for truth. Success is

never God's standard for truth. Notice then,

beginning in verse 7, it says this. So the five

men departed and came to Laish. And they saw

the people who were in it living in security,

in the way of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting.

For there was no oppressive ruler humiliating

them for anything in the land. And they were

far from the Sidonians. and had no dealings with

anyone. So this is a cut -off society that's

not connected. Notice it's not an Israelite society,

and Dan has the commission to push out people

who live in this land. So if they push them out,

then they are doing what God said that they could

do. So this looks like maybe a good deal. Verse

8. When they came back to their brothers at Zorah

and Eshdeel, their brothers said to them, What

do you say? And they said, Arise, and let us

go up against them. But we have seen the land,

and behold, it is very good. And will you sit

still? Do not hesitate to go, to enter, to take

possession of the land. When you enter, you will

come to an unsuspecting people with a spacious

land, for God has handed it over to you, a place

where there is no lack of anything that is on

the earth. Then, Okay, so they set out. Where

are they going? They're going up to that city

that they found that was Iceland, Laís. isolated

from everybody else. It doesn't have easy reinforcements,

but it's a beautiful land with lots of stuff

in it. It's a great place for Dan to settle.

That's what they're thinking. And they've been

told by this fake priest that their plan would

go well. And they did go up and spy out. That

was their plan. So they've had success. But they

come first to the house of Michael. Then the

five men who went to spy out the country of Laish

said to their kinsmen, do you know that there

are in these houses an ephod, and household idols,

and a carved image, and a cast So they turned

aside there, came to the house of the young man,

the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked

him how he was doing. Meanwhile, the 600 men

armed with their weapons of war, who were of

the sons of Dan, were positioned at the entrance

of the gate. That's got to be intimidating. Now

the five men who went to spy out the land went

up and entered there. They took the carved image,

the ephod, the household idols, and the cast

metal image. While the priest was standing at

the entrance of the gate with the 600 men armed

with weapons in war, when these men entered Micah's

house and took the carved image, the ephod, the

household idols, and the cast metal image, the

priest said to them, What are you doing? And

they said to him, Be silent. Put your hand over

your mouth and go with us and be to us a father

and a priest. Is it better for you to be a priest

to the house of one man or to be a priest to

a tribe and a family in Israel? The priest's

heart was glad. And he took the ephod, the household

idols, and the carved image, and went among the

people. So the priest says, go in peace before

the Lord is your way wherein you go. He sends

them off. Then they go spy out the land. They

come back. They get all their brothers, all their

weapons. They come up here to Micah's house.

Now the priest is enlisted to come and be their

priest. Everything appears to happen exactly

as predicted. They find an unsuspecting city.

The attack succeeds. Their army is going to win.

They are going to do something amazing. They

can see that already right now. Everything seems

to be working. But this is where countless believers

become confused. We're assuming that it's working

because it's right. It's working because it's

what God wants. We say, it must have been God.

But God's approval is never measured by immediate

success. The enemy will argue for it. Demons

and evil spirits will shriek how they were right.

See, we were right. We took you in the right

direction because you agreed with them. And your

flesh nature will want to agree with them again

because it worked last time. So they came, they

consulted the priest, and they went up and they

spied out the land and everything went perfectly.

Now they've rallied this huge army to go up there

and take the city. Even your mind. By liberal

application of your reasoning, you'll figure

this out and say, hmm, the road that led to victory

must have been endorsed by God. It just makes

sense. But Jesus said it this way in Matthew

7, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will

enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does

the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter.

Now before we go any further, let me just ask

you, did Micah do the will of God? Did the priest

do the will of God? Did the spies do the will

of God? Is the army doing the will of God? As

a people, they have accepted idolatrous worship

and leadership of a false priest as the reason

for doing what they're doing. They're not doing

the will of God. And yet they are expecting great

blessings and then attributing those blessings

to God. Hear me now to say to you simply, if

your life is blessed and you are not doing the

will of God, Those blessings are not coming from

God. You can become rich. You can become at peace.

You can praise yourself and stop arguing with

yourself and feel perfectly calm in your current

course of action. But if you are not following

God and doing as what God would have you to do,

then you can safely trust this one fact, that

the blessings you're receiving were not sent

by the Lord. Every good thing comes from God

in heaven. But a blessing... that supports your

wicked way, is not actually a good thing. And

did not come from the Lord. Rather, Jesus says,

many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord,

did we not prophecy in your name? I submit to

you, did not that priest prophecy to those men

in the name of the Lord? He did. But was he actually

speaking for God? No, because he wasn't living

for God. He wasn't connected to the commands

of the Lord. Many will say to me on that day,

Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,

and in your name cast out demons, and in your

name we were winning miracles? And then I will

declare to them, I never knew you, depart from

me, you who practice lawlessness. Deuteronomy

13 says it this way, and this will blow your

mind if you just make the connection with the

story of Micah. It says, if a prophet or a dreamer

of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign

or a wonder, in other words, if he can do something

miraculous, let's say he heals a lame man, Or

he wakes the dead. The dead person brings them

back to life or whatever. It doesn't matter what

the sign or wonder might be. It says, and the

sign of the wonder comes true concerning which

he spoke to you, saying, let us go after other

gods whom you have not known and let us serve

them. So in other words, we have this guy who

can do these miraculous things, yet his life

says, let's follow false gods. Let's be into

this thing that the world's into. Let's collect

these things that the world collects. Let's find

our success in these successes that the world

says are successes. If he would do that, it says,

verse 3, You shall not listen to the words of

that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the

Lord your God is testing you to find out if you

love the Lord your God with all your heart and

with all your soul. See, they were warm as a

people. Moses warned them before they went to

the promised land that there would be these people

who could seemingly do amazing things. Why did

didn't they go back to that priest? They went

back because he told the five spies that they

would have success in going up there. And they

did. They said, well, this guy's the real deal.

And here we have Moses saying, when you think

he's the real deal, be careful. The real deal

listens to God, follows to God. The last of that,

verse five says, so you shall purge the evil

from among you. which comes right before 1 -9,

which is the one that says, be strong and courageous.

The book of the law shall not depart from your

mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night,

so that you may be careful to do according to

all that is written in it, for then you will

make your way prosperous, and then you will have

success. You can see where the problem arises,

because the word says, if you will do all that

God has said to you, then you will have prosperity

and success. So then when we see somebody who

has prosperity and success, It's kind of natural

to assume that maybe they did what God wanted

them to do. Except that's not the order of things.

If you have the prosperity and success without

doing what God wanted you to do, then that prosperity

and success did not come from the Lord. In the

early days of teen and young adult ministry,

pastor, youth director, really, they didn't call

me pastor there, youth director at East Toledo,

and then came to New Heights, and I was leading

the youth group for a while, and then Chris Mitchell

did it for a while, and I was helping her, and

then I was doing it again for a while. And all

that time, I learned something about young people.

Young people, listen, this is huge. And if you've

got a young person who's ready to come up in

your midst, pay attention, because this is huge.

Young people want what old people have. They

want houses, cars, successful careers. They want

families, etc. But here's what young people don't

want. They don't want to endure the work that

old people went through to get there. And I get

it. Because I was a young person and I was in

the exact same way. When I was at Radio Shack

back in the day, 19 years old, computers were

just becoming a thing. I was a salesman at Radio

Shack. And I was very successful in selling at

Radio Shack. But I was spending every penny I

made. I had a girlfriend who liked to eat out

and go see the point and stuff. And so I was

spending the money. As fast as it could have

been, I was spending it. As fast as it could

have been. And then they came out with a 286

megahertz computer. Can't even call it a PC because

that term was kind of coined later. Computer

that could fly at 286 megahertz. The computer

boss was going, what? That's not fast. It's not

fast, right? And I wanted that bad boy. I'm like,

how much is it? $1 ,200. That's a lot of money.

That's like three, four paychecks. And I don't

have it because I spent everything that I got.

So I got a RadioShack credit card with a $500

limit on it. That's not near enough to buy a

$1 ,200 computer. So then I went out and got

a Citibank credit card with like a $700 limit

on it. And between the two, and then I paid a

little bit of extra cash, I bought that computer,

maxed out both of those credit cards. Why? Because

I wasn't willing to wait another month and not

spend my money during that month to have the

money to buy the computer that I could afford

because I was making good money. But I wasn't

willing to do that because I wanted it right

then. So I maxed out both credit cards. Now I

not only had to pay off. the balance of the computer.

But on top of that, interest rates were high.

So I paid off like another 20 % accumulating

every month. And instead of paying it off in

a month, which I could have done if I had just

worked my butt off and stopped spending all that

money. Instead, I paid it off in a year and a

half. And that $1 ,200 computer cost me about

two grand. I get it. We all get it. Every person

that's over the hill in this room has been there

and done that. Young people, listen to me. There

is work to get where you're going. It is work.

to do the things that God has asked you to do.

But it is a yoke that God will help you carry

and you can build a life that will honor the

Lord. If you go another route, you might get

there faster. The dark side is faster. But you'll

not be where you want to be. You'll not be walking

with the Lord. You'll not be spiritually alive

inside. Psalm 1, verse 1 to 3 says this. How

Psalms 1:1–3

blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel

of the wicked. Watch out. There are a lot of

people who will tell you. And some of them will

wear a collar or a tie. Some of them will bring

money. They'll bring a word that's charming,

better than me. I don't speak that way. I get

that. Right? But this is from God, not from me.

The book of the law shall not depart from your

mouth. How blessed is the man who does not walk

in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the

path of the sinner. Do you see the difference?

Nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight,

that would be your delight, young man, young

woman, my delight, is in the law of the Lord.

And in his law, he meditates day and night. He

will be like a tree firmly planted by streams

of water, which yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither. And whatever he

does, he prospers. But it's really easy, then,

to look at somebody who seems to be planted by

a stream of water, who seems to be getting money

coming in on a consistent basis, who seems to

be dressed nice, who seems to be able to talk

nice, or maybe they have a bigger vocabulary,

or they have a high reading level, or they have

a better education, and to think that, well,

those are the things that I need, and to look

at how they got to where they are, and to try

to follow the same path by which they went, not

realizing that it's not godly. The order is different.

First, make sure that you are following God.

First, make sure that your counsel is coming

from somebody who respects the Lord. First, make

sure that your choices are submitted to what

the Word of God sends. Then, God will add in

prosperity. Out of that, he'll make you as if

you are planted by a stream, forever watered

from underneath. And so when you might be ruffled

on the surface and struggling and trying to get

by, inside you'll be filled up with a power.

and a glory and a grace and a mercy and a kindness

and fruit of the Spirit that will see you through

difficult times. You wonder why people are scratching

and clawing and trying to get forward? Because

people don't understand that the goal is not

to try to get forward. The goal is to get deep,

is to reside in the Lord and the rest. You're

better off to be broke and depending on God than

to be rich and not be able to find Him anywhere.

1 Samuel 15, 22, To obey is better than sacrifice.

Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings

and sacrifice as in obeying the voice of the

Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

and to heed is better than the fat of rams. The

Danites wanted reassurance more than they wanted

revelation. The priests became their spiritual

mascot. FYI, I am not applying to be your spiritual

mascot, nor is anyone else in this church. You

want to learn about Jesus? Look to Jesus. Can

Jesus use people to do that? Yes. but at any

point in time that any person or thing interferes

with him doing that, you don't look to them,

you look to him. The priest became their spiritual

mascot. It becomes comforting to honor the one

who takes on the name of a godly one, and it's

more comfortable because honoring an actual godly

one would have meant repentance. I've gone out

visiting people's houses who are in the church,

and I've gone out visiting people's houses who

are in the world, and I'm just... generalizing

when I say that. I visited people in their homes

who maybe knew Jesus, maybe didn't. By their

profession, they did. But they don't go to church

anywhere. They're not learning from the Bible.

They don't have a pastor. Right? I knock on the

door. Who's there? Pastor Dan from New Heights.

Oh, come in! Come in! I've gone and stood with

them in their kitchens while they were cooking

their dinner and they begged me to stay and eat

with them. I've gone and sat in their living

room where they brought me ice cold water and

snacks and almost like honored me as being a

pastor of New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church

and the positive things that comes out of that

name. You don't know this necessarily, but New

Heights Fellowship Baptist Church is well looked

upon in the entire city because they hear my

own personal calls, because they hear our podcast,

because they get delivered. groceries from the

life station, because they've been to our block

parties, right? We are affecting people all over

the place because they talk to Holly and Chris

and constantly hand them the church information

at the front door at the life station. It's constant,

right? So thousands and thousands of people.

So I'll go, Pastor Dan from New York, oh, come

in. And I've stood with them while they cooked

their dinner, and I've sat in their chair, and

they brought me ice -cold water. And at the same

time, I've gone to Christians' homes in this

church, and I'm not scolding anybody, where they

were too busy to receive me. Or they said, hey,

you know, We're kind of busy right now, could

you come back another day? Or come on in, come

on in, but I'm working on this car, or I'm working

on this project, or I'm doing something, I'm

too busy to talk to you right now, but you're

welcome to come on and hang out. See, the ungodly

of the world want to latch on to the godly. You

will find favor by walking with the Lord amongst

the ungodly because it's easier to latch on to

you than it is to latch on to Jesus. In fact,

a person cannot latch on to Jesus in their own

strength. Jesus latches on to them. And so in

this case, they chose a priest who was not godly

because it was easier to latch on to a priest

that was godly. And if they had gone to Shiloh,

there might have been great shame in the fact

of how their people had accepted so readily idolatry

and listened to false prophets. His prediction

gave them emotional confidence. Everyone found

in themselves a desire for everything to just

be okay. They wanted victory. They were told

they would have it. That sounds good to them.

This priest's office gave religious credibility.

His robe, his idols, his titles, his endorsements.

None of these things could actually give divine

approval because that man was not divinely approved.

People often look for someone who will bless

the direction that they've already chosen. I

remember when we bought that house up in Michigan,

a loan officer said, you can do it, you can afford

the boat. We were never supposed to buy that

house for young Christians at the time. And ran

on ahead of God. He told us where we were supposed

to live, we were not supposed to buy it. God

calls us to seek his will before, all caps, before

choosing our direction. By now, everybody has

some form of GPS, usually, at their accessibility.

I've seen that yesterday that 90 % of Americans

own a car, and that 90 -some percent of the people

who own a car use GPS in some fashion. Did you

know that GPS can take you the wrong way to get

where you're going? Now, you've probably noticed

on your GPS, on your phone, iPhone, Android,

whatever, that it'll say this route has a similar

arrival time. And you might pick three or four

routes that have a similar arrival time, right?

But one of those routes, the road might be rougher.

It might require more turns. Traffic could be

developing right then and that moment, and the

satellite hasn't caught up yet. A road could

be closed, and the programming might not be in

there yet to tell you that the road is closed.

The GPS can take you down a route that is not

the right route. But people always say, well,

I got here. It said it would take me 11 minutes,

and I got here in 11 minutes. So that must have

been the right route, right? Maybe not. What

if it's not? What if the other route, you've

been driving on past a gas station, you go, oh,

there's a gas station there. I need gas. I'm

at like three -eighths of a tank. I may as well

get it now so I don't have to get it the next

day. You stop and you get it. Then the next day,

you don't have to stop at a time when you really

needed to not stop. While you're at the gas station,

maybe the person behind the counter needs a little

witness, a little encouragement, a God bless

you, something like that. And the GPS route that

took you the other way didn't take you past the

gas station at all. So there's nobody to win

to Christ. You arrive in 11 minutes, you assume

it's the right way. Why not get in your car before

you press... on the directions to pray and see

if it's the way that God wants you to go. Oh,

but yes, the GPS is easy. And it does always

get me there. This is exactly what I'm talking

about. It's the human mentality to assume that

if we arrive at the destination, the directions

that we took to get there must have been right.

A church can grow through entertainment. A business

can prosper dishonestly. A family can accumulate

wealth, stability, education, physical health.

All while drifting spiritually. Success proves

ability. Only scripture proves obedience. The

standard is not, did it work? The standard is,

did God command it? Is my path holy and righteous?

There is a moment in time you can get too far.

And that is exactly what the tribe of Dan does.

This victory becomes the most dangerous victory

of Dan, bringing us to our third point. Look

at verse 21, and we'll finish the chapter. 21.

Then they turned and left. And they put the children

and the livestock and the valuables in front

of them. And when they had distanced themselves

from Micah's house, The men who were in the houses

near Micah's house assembled by command and overtook

the sons of Dan. When they called out to the

sons of Dan who turned around and said to Micah,

what's the matter with you that you have assembled

together? So the people from the house of Micah,

they don't want the priest to be taken. They

don't want the stuff to be taken. They're going

after the tribe of Dan to try to stop it. Verse

24, he said, you've taken my gods, which I made,

and the priest. and have gone away, what more

do I have? So how can you say, notice he said,

what more do I have? And that's a place that

you can get to when you're in false worship.

You can think that you don't need God, you have

this, and now that's taken away, and you wind

up with nothing. So how can you say to me, what

is the matter with you? Then the sons of Dan

said to him, do not let your voice be heard among

us, or else fierce men will attack you, and you

will lose your life and the lives of your household.

So the sons of Dan went on their way. And when

Micah saw that they were too strong for him,

he returned and went back to his house. By the

way, that's pretty much the end of his story

there. They took what Micah had made, and the

priest who had belonged to him, and came to Laish,

to a people quiet and unsuspecting, and struck

them with the edge of the sword, and they burned

the city with fire. And there was no one to save

them, because it was far from Sidon, and they

had no dealings with anyone, and it was in the

valley, which is near Beth Rehob. So they rebuilt

the city, and they lived in it, and they named

the city Dan, after the name of Dan, their father,

who was born to Israel. However, the name of

the city was previously Laish. The sons of Dan

set up for themselves the carved image, Jonathan

the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh. He and

his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites

until the day of the captivity of the land. So

they set up for themselves Micah's carved image,

which he had made. All the time that the house

of God was in Shiloh. That last part was poetic.

They set up a temple within walking distance

of the temple. Everything that God had promised

the tribe seems to be happening. So they were

told that they would go and take the people out

of the land and take it over. And it was a prosperous

land and they would be great. They got land now.

They got security. They got inheritance. They

got victory. But notice the tragic ending. And

they set them up Micah's raven image. Instead

of establishing worship centered on God, they

institutionalized, permanentized idolatry. Now

they will false worship all the way until the

people of God go into captivity. In a second

you'll see it's even a little worse than that.

One writer commented that they may have done

this by way of an apology to God for not having

honored Shiloh. So they set the temple up, dedicated

a lot of money to it, a lot of effort to it,

to kind of say to God, God, we're sorry that

we're not going to Shiloh. We want to worship

you. Look at all that we've dedicated to your

service. Let me tell you that an apology with

a reason sounds a lot like not an apology. Somebody

says to you, I'm sorry, but blah, blah, blah.

It doesn't really seem like an apology, right?

An apology that gives a reason that persists

is actually no apology at all. If the reason

for the bad behavior is good, then that reason

or another reason would be sufficient to repeat

the same bad behavior in the future. For example,

if I say to you, well, I'm sorry, but you said

the wrong thing and it upset me and that's why

I did what I did. Then that's no apology, because

if you say the wrong thing in the future, I'm

going to do it again. Right? And that's the problem.

That's why a lot of times you talk to me and

you say, I'm sorry, but... it doesn't feel like

an apology to them because you're basically giving

your excuse to be bad again. And that's what

they were doing. They might have been apologizing

to God, but if they were, they were doing it

by way of saying, we're going to keep doing this

bad that we're doing. In this case, the victory

becomes the birthplace of generations of false

worship. They lock their children and their grandchildren

and every person that will come to live in the

city of Dan into false worship. What looked like

freedom becomes spiritual slavery. God had always

intended for Dan to possess an inheritance. He

was always going to give them a place if they'd

just be faithful. And now they have it, it's

true, but God never intended them to gain it

by stealing idols, by recruiting an illegitimate

priest, and by ignoring his commands. God's promises

are inseparable from God's character. You understand?

If you say, God told me to do this, but the thing

that God is telling you to do does not match

up with God's character, then one thing or the

other is true. Either the thing that you're saying

is true is a lie, or we misunderstand God's character.

And according to being a Christian and what it

means to have God in your life, we don't misunderstand

God's character. That creates a problem. God's

promises are inseparable from his character.

His blessings are designed to produce... Holiness.

Whenever we pursue God's gifts without God's

ways, the gift itself becomes, wait for it, bondage.

Now you're trapped. You see, you have to repeat.

You have to again say, I got great victory by

not following God. I'm not going to repent and

turn to God because I don't want to admit that

I did all these things not following God. But

now I need victory again. In order to keep proving

that you're not walking away from God, you have

to keep finding bigger and better victories.

It becomes like an addiction, and you're in bondage

to your own success. And people do that until

it is their whole life. Galatians 6 says, Do

not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever

a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one

who sowed to his own flesh will from the flesh

reap corruption, but the one who sowed to the

Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due

time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Do

it right. Do the right thing, and in time you

will be blessed. Farmers go off, put the seed

in the ground. They don't go the next day to

harvest. They harvest when the seed grows to

a crop. So do the work of the Lord and let the

Lord bless you in the Lord's time. That's what

it says. James 3 .17 says this, But the wisdom

from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,

reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering

without hypocrisy. Psalms 37 says this, I have

seen a wicked, violent man spreading himself

like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. See,

I've seen a wicked guy. That man is doing awesome.

He's doing great. Then he passed away, and lo,

he was no more. I sought for him, but he could

not be found. Mark the blameless man, and behold

the upright. For the man of peace will have a

posterity. A posterity means you'll go on, and

the effects of you being in the world will last

beyond your lifetime. But transgressors will

be altogether destroyed. The posterity of the

wicked will be cut off. but the salvation of

the righteous is from the Lord. He is their strength

in time of trouble. And then the prophet Micah,

he has told you, O man, what is good, and what

does the Lord require of you, but to do justice,

to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your

God. And then Jesus said, if you love me, you

will keep my commandments. God never separates

destination from discipleship. If you cannot

grow as a Christian in the process of getting

where you are going, then you are going to the

wrong place. If you cannot grow as a Christian

while reaching the destination that you've plotted

the course to, then the course you have plotted

and by very good likelihood the destination you

are headed for are both flat out wrong. A builder

may finish a beautiful house without a foundation.

My parents' house in Tennessee was built during

World War II. We had to turn in ration certificates

to get bricks. We had an extremely limited supply

of bricks. So they built the house without a

foundation. Now you can set a matchbox car at

one end of the kitchen and it will roll to the

other end by itself. You can trip getting up

in the middle of the night to walk to the bathroom

over the floor because the bathroom floor is

two feet higher than the bedroom floor because

there was no foundation. But you know, when he

built that house, it looked good. It looked perfect.

It was sitting on piles of block, the little

bit that they could get. But over time, the ground

settled in various places. And then over top

of that, they would put in trims. My parents

paid a guy $30 ,000 to put a foundation under

the house. And he told them that when he put

that foundation under and leveled the house,

that it would all kind of level back out. The

floors would go back to being horizontal and

everything would be good. Except that somebody

had built in trim and cabinets and everything

else while the floor was already tipped. So there

were so many nails resisting. That no matter

how much they jack the house, all they could

do was bust the cabinets off the walls and break

up the trim and the floor and never level. You

need a foundation. And you may look pretty for

a while not having one. And everybody would think

about how smart he is, how fast he is, how capable

he is, how well he pays his bills, whatever.

And if you don't build your life on Christ, you

will crash down when the storm comes. Dan gained

the city, but they lost generations. Their children

and their children's children and their children's

children's children would follow false gods instead

of the God of the universe because of what they

did that day. Parents can provide financially

while neglecting spiritual leadership. Do you

understand that if you put food in their mouths,

if you put clothes on their backs and a roof

over their head, but do not make the single,

number one, most important thing in your life

and in your house, Jesus Christ, the Lord of

the universe? that you may well be clothing them,

feeding them, and sheltering them on their way

to hell, and securing it for their lifetime and

the lifetime of their children to come. Jesus

must be first! And if he's not, we'll be surprised

when they start to build their houses without

foundations. Churches can become larger while

becoming weaker spiritually. In fact, that is

the normal way that things go, because lost people

want to attach themselves not to a godly church,

present but to an ungodly presence because attaching

to a godly presence is more difficult. And so

if tomorrow we make a motion as a church to start

preaching a health and wealth gospel or become

an open and affirming church, we'll probably

get more people pretty quickly. But will we be

more godly? No. In fact, we will not be godly

at all. Christians can achieve impressive accomplishments

while drifting from fellowship with Christ. Never

sacrifice God's character. To obtain God's promises.

That's what they did. Because eventually, what

you gain becomes that which enslaves you. That

brings us to our conclusion. Judges 18 is not

merely about one try. This text is a warning

to every generation that will ever live on the

earth. Dan accepted idolatry because everyone

else was accepting it. Dan confused success with

God's approval. They took matters in their own

hand and took for themselves what God would have

eventually given them had they just been faithful.

Dan obtained victory, but planted seeds of future

bondage for themselves and for generations to

come. Years later, this is the thing that will

blow your mind. Years later, you might have heard

this story, and I'm going to tell it to you briefly.

There comes a king, and he has to rule the northern

kingdom after the two kingdoms split. The southern

kingdom becomes the tribe of Judah and Benjamin.

The other ten are in the north. And he's ruling

the northern kingdom. And he says, well, we've

got a problem. There's a temple built in Jerusalem.

And every time they have a big festival down

there, everybody in my kingdom is walking down

there. And it's investing a ton of money in their

economy. And they're giving. They're doing offerings.

And they're worshiping. And they're listening

to the priests there. Talk about how that's the

only place that you can worship and there's only

one way that you can worship God and all that.

And he said, Jeroboam said, I got to do something.

So what he decided to do was to set up two beautiful,

molten, made, precious calves that people could

come and worship. And he says, I got to have

two places that I can set up these beautiful

calves so that people can come and worship and

not always go down to Jerusalem where all that

money, all those people, and some of them stay

there. They don't ever come back. I've got to

get some solid area in my kingdom. So I'm going

to put one of those calves at Bethel. That's

in this part of my kingdom. And then a clean

opposite side of my kingdom. I need a good place

to put another one. And guess where he put it?

Yes, go ahead. Where? Dan. He put it in Dan.

He put one in Bethel and one in Dan. And now

Jeroboam's people, the entire nation of Israel,

ten tribes. will worship falsely. Not worship

God anymore. And they'll go into captivity because

of it. And it started here with Micah taking

first his son and then a guy from Bethlehem with

a fancy name to be their priest. And then that

priest prophecies to five spies and those spies

go and they seemed to get good success by listening

to that false priest. And then they go back to

the people of Dan and said, we can do it. We

can finally make happen what God said he would

make happen for us. And they went and they stole

the idols. They stole the priest. They stole

the ephod. They went up and they took Laish and

they turned it into Dan. And they started generations

of idolatrous worship, just the same as you or

I could do today. And then Jeroboam needed a

place to put that cabin and put it there. And

you can guarantee that those two streets became

stumbling blocks for the entire nation of Israel

from then until Israel would no longer exist.

The seeds planted here produced a harvest like

that generations later. Our culture still asks

the question, does it work? Does your Christianity

work? Is God prospering you? God still asks the

question. Is it holy? I'm calling myself a holy

people. The cross reminds us, and you should

never forget every time we take the Lord's Supper,

that reminds us that God's greatest victory did

not look successful. Jesus appeared defeated,

rejected, crucified, buried, yet through apparent

failure came eternal triumph. God has never measured

success the way people do. He measures faithfulness.

I'm asking you today, where have you allowed

results to become your standard instead of Scripture?

I'm asking you today, where have you pursued

God's blessings while neglecting God's character?

Today, God calls us back. Not merely to successful

living, that's in his hands, but to faithful.

Because in the kingdom of God, faithfulness is

always a greater victory than success. Indeed,

God has a great plan for you. No doubt about

it. God's great plan for you must prioritize

what he is trying to build in you. Otherwise,

it's not his plan. And the result will be something

decidedly ungodly. And when we choose ungodliness,

even by mistake, We fulfill that need in us for

God for a time at first by a pattern that is

in our own strength repeatable. We can do it

again and again. We say, for a little while,

I can make it like God is in my life every day.

And the victory, those victories, those successes

that we begin to have, people leave addictions,

people leave bad habits behind, people become

dependable. Those victories become all we need

to stay that course, that course that's not godly,

that's not dependent on him, trapped, attached,

separated from his fellowship until the end.

I get it. It's a lot to come to church on a Sunday

and to talk about the end of your life or the

end of your journey or the successes beyond your

successes. That's not what being here is exactly

about. But it's absolutely the right thing to

come and talk about our journey. Absolutely the

right thing to come and talk about are we accepting

into our lives things that we begin to worship

then. Things that may bring us success. I'll

give you a few just kind of commonplace examples

and I'm done. I know people who profess to love

the Lord. And if you ask them, they'll be...

transparent. And they'll tell you that they haven't

opened their Bible since last Sunday. Now this

is the Word of God. It has everything in it that

God really wants you to know in a written form

inspired by the Holy Spirit. I know people who

have been pastors for 30 years, and they'll tell

me that they have never heard or experienced

God's direct leading on their life. That doesn't

make no sense to me. Whenever I feel like I'm

not hearing from the Lord, and it starts to be

a while, a day or two, or I feel like God is

not leading my life specifically. I'm going,

what's wrong? And I'm seeking the Lord. And I

think sometimes God talks quietly to us so that

we'll lean in to demonstrate that we want to

hear what he has to say. And I'm told by people

who have been pastors for 30 years that they've

never heard from the Lord or his guidance. There's

a very real part of Christianity that says that

the only way you can hear anything from God is

just to read from this book. That's it. That

makes my Christianity something. Because quite

frequently, God will say, don't do that. Do that.

Now, I know that that's informed by my experiences,

so a lot of times it's a verse that pops in my

head. So I read my Bible, and the verse pops

up in my head. So I submit to you, it's time

you began to do the work. The work to get to

where God is taking you is work that is attached

to God's character. And there's nothing wrong

with you working, but you can work so hard until

you bleed or sweat or pass out from exhaustion.

As long as the work that you are doing is work

in God's character, that would be fine. But for

those that work the 100 -hour work weeks to put

more money in the bank, to retire, to stay away

from, isolate from the work of God, that's not

Godly. That's something altogether different.

But I feel for them, because it's not like I

necessarily willfully make the choice anymore.

What we just read is it's not that they're trapped.

Let me ask you, are you trapped? Well, guess

what? He's a chain breaker. He can make you free.

There was in John 8 an example. There were a

bunch of Jews who came to believe in Jesus. The

Jewish men had their history traced all the way

back to Abraham, but they came to believe in

Jesus. And Jesus looked at them that believed

in him, and he said, You come, follow me. Come

follow me, and then you will know the truth.

And Jesus said, the chain breaker, you're still

free today. If you've bought into that model,

repent and turn to the Lord. If you're here today

and you say, I don't like Jesus, Lord. I don't

think he's saving my life, but I want him to

save me. All you got to do right now, I'm not

waiting for music or anything. I'll just say,

okay, right now, I'm ready. I'm going to follow

Jesus beginning today. He'll make you new. He'll

make you new right now. And then you can just

follow him for the rest of your life. And yeah,

you may get it right or wrong some days. Just

remember that your decisions are meant to align

with his character. And that's how you live for

Jesus. I'm not sure. And do you promise to help

them make that decision? Do that in courage with

somebody else. Make some decisions. Make them

look as if that was you. Can you stand with me

and sing a song? We'll sing together. If the

Lord is in your heart, we're going to respond.

So, lifestyle? Nothing at all.