Called To Curse? Judges 5:12-23

Good morning, everybody. Good morning. title

today, you'll see it says, Called to Curse? Now,

immediately, in our simplistic minds, we're going

to say, well, no. Right away, you're going to

say, no, we're not called to curse. That just

doesn't seem right to me. I submit to you that

in today's text, we're going to find that question

more profoundly than it simply is, are we supposed

to or are we not? Oh, no, I don't think we're

supposed to do that. And you need... the answer

to the question that we find today in order to

have the strength necessary when that time comes

not to give in to pronouncing a curse. Before

we say we never would, we need to realize that

a curse could be everything from foul language,

which may or may not be a curse, to taking the

Lord's name in vain with regards to something

that has just happened, some surprising thing

that caught you off guard, and we say people

are... Very commonly say, oh my God, when they

don't mean to talk to God or about God. It also

could mean that you're judging someone for what

they have done. Even if you don't fully know

what they have done, you think, well, they're

not there. They didn't keep their promise. They

lied to me some way or whatever. And so you say

something negative about what they have done

or about that person. And so it can take a lot

of different forms. The one that we're going

to see in the text today is much more direct

and specific. And you have the authority to do

it, but you are not called to do it. To kind

of ruin the end of the question for you. We have

been working through the book of Judges. We have

been seeing a cycle that would happen. A judge

would rise up, save God's people. We call them

deliverers. I might actually be a better term

as a deliverer. Would rise up, call God's people

out of their terrible circumstance. Usually because

the people prayed and said, oh God, please help

us. But they were actually in their terrible

circumstance because of their sin. Because they

had taken on the sins of the people around them.

They had fallen into temptation. They'd fallen

into worshiping false gods. In some cases, they'd

already gotten wrapped up in worshiping Molech,

the worst of which worship was burning the firstborn

child in the fire. And so the Israelites who

were supposed to be following God faithfully,

Instead, we're wrapped up in all kinds of forms

of false worship. Now, whether it was as extreme

as burning their firstborn child in the fire

or just being distracted by gold or money, a

variety of ways, sex, labor, hobbies, whatever

they were involved in, whatever their distraction

was, they were not faithfully following the Lord.

Then they went into judgment. Then they cried

out for God's help and God sent a judge. That's

the cycle. The judge then comes and there will

be peace for a while. And that's the cycle every

time. The people then in their peace. fall into

their temptation, distraction, doing things they

shouldn't, and then they're persecuted again.

So we began last week to study the song of Deborah

and Barak. So if you grab your Bibles, and we

usually give a little amen, hoot, holler, hallelujah,

something, as we go to Judges chapter 5. Thank

Judges 5 · chapter mention

you for those of you who are on board with that.

That means that as we read this text, if you

will listen to the word of God and allow it to

affect you, you will be affected. The Word of

God does not come back without impact. Whether

or not I get my part right, if you will listen

to what it is that God has to say through this

text, you can be affected today for the Lord.

Judges chapter 5, and we're in verse 12. We did

Judges 5 · chapter mention

verses 1 through 11 last week. At that time,

we mentioned a couple of things, just kind of

putting them back in your head. The first one

was that this is a very old Hebrew text. Okay?

So that is to say that it is written in some

of the oldest Hebrew language that we have in

Scripture. And at times it can be a little challenging

to translate into English for that reason. I

think we'll see one, maybe two of those times

today as we're looking at the text. I'll try

to point them out to you as we go by, but they

will go by fairly quickly. The second thing that

we noted last week was that this ode, song, was

unique in its era. So in an era where songs were

commonly written about events to keep track of

history, the unfolding of events as they had

happened, This song was unique because the songs

were always about the people who had done the

heroic deeds. King so -and -so, prince so -and

-so, general so -and -so, the governor so -and

-so, the hero of the day. And that way they were

not forgotten. This song is all about God and

what God had done. Now it does mention through

whom God did what he did, right? So the people

are mentioned. But you'll notice that there are

things mentioned about them that are not necessarily

the things that... you would mention about God,

and the song is about God and him getting his

glory. Verse 12. This will go fairly quickly,

so hang with me. Verse 12. Awake, awake, Deborah.

Awake, awake, sing a song. Arise, Barak, and

take away your captives, O son of Abinoam. This

is post -battle. Then survivors came down to

the nobles. The people of the Lord came down

to me as warriors. Bless you. There were those

who came down to fight. This could be Barak singing,

it could be Deborah either way, but they're both

singing the song and recognizing the people of

God's people came down to fight on the day in

question. 14. From Ephraim, those whose root

is in Amalek came down, following you, Benjamin,

with your peoples. So these are the tribes of

Israel mentioned as taking part. From Machir,

commanders came down, and from Zebulun, those

who wield the staff of office. So people from

various walks of life, mostly leaders and servants

doing that role already, come down to participate,

verse 15. And the princes of Issachar were with

Deborah, as was Issachar, so was Barak. Into

the valley they rushed at his heels. Among the

divisions of Reuben, there were great resolves

of heart. That is to say, they were very adamant

to be there fighting. Verse 16. It's going to

change a little bit. Why did you sit among the

sheepfolds to hear the piping for the flocks?

Among the divisions of Reuben, there were great

searchings of heart. In other words, there were

those that did not come. They heard and thought

hard on it, but they didn't come and participate.

Gilead remained across the Jordan. And why did

Dan stay in ships? Asher sat at the seashore.

and remained by its landings. So these are tribes

that did not participate. Even though Israel

was in this great crisis, they stayed back and

they took care of other things. They didn't participate.

And so after verse 17, you're kind of expecting

a sort of a, at least putting them down a little

bit, right? Like that's not the right thing.

They didn't do the right thing. Maybe a curse

even on this people who were God's people who

didn't answer the call to come and fight God's

enemies. Verse 18, it says, Zebulun was a people

who despised their lives even to death. And Naphtali

also on the high places of the field. In other

words, they surrendered even unto death as necessary.

The high places were the places where the battle

became the most fevered or most pitched, right?

And they were surrendering their lives by the

handful, by the dozen as necessary so that God's

people could have the victory. While the people

named right there before that in the first cup,

first two verses right before that, were people

who didn't even bother to come. Some people didn't

even bother to show up. So you're expecting them

to be condemned for not showing up. Verse 19.

The kings came and fought, then fought the kings

of Canaan at Tanakh near the waters of Megiddo.

They took no plunder in silver. So the people

who had plundered so many times before came and

fought, but they didn't win. And they didn't

pull ahead. They didn't take the plunder. Verse

20. The stars, fought from heaven. That's kind

of a difficult translated from Hebrew to English.

That's one of the spots right there. But it was

common in that day to say that the gods had fought

on behalf of the people. And so this phrase means

that God himself fought on behalf of the Israelites

to win the victory. The stars fought from heaven.

From their courses, they fought against Sisera.

The torrent of Kishon swept them away. That's

an interesting word, torrent, because we know

it's actually just a wadi. It's a small river,

really. And it's only really rushing in the rainy

season, which this is not. And so what's presumed

here is that God used a sort of a flood to muck

up the land and thereby stop the chariots, which

would have been by themselves enough to defeat

the armies of Israel if God had not intervened.

So the torrent of Kishon swept them away. The

ancient torrent, the torrent of Kishon, oh my

soul, march on with strength. Then the heroes'

hoofs beat. From the dashing. The dashing of

his valiant steeds. Okay? And so this is another

place where the Hebrew is challenging to translate

into the English. That word there, beat, was

usually only used in the Hebrew as the sound

of hoof beats moving away. And so best theological

understanding here is this is talking about beating

a hasty retreat that the enemies of God's people

broke into retreat. We know historically from

the chapter before that's what happened. God

won the victory and they all ran. All that cavalry.

All those chariots, they ran as best they could

and were destroyed in their retreat. Verse 23

then says, Curse Meraz, said the angel of the

Lord. Now let me be really clear. The angel of

the Lord in Scripture is a messenger from God.

Some people have undertaken to think theologically

that every time you see that in the Old Testament,

a lot of times that could be Jesus, maybe. A

messenger from the Lord. Or, God's Holy Spirit.

But probably an angel, a messenger. The word

angel meaning messenger. The angel of the Lord

speaking directly to them, curse miraz. Pronounce

a curse. The believers in the kingdom, God's

people, now told to pronounce a curse versus

this town, miraz. That's a pretty harsh command

to a people that's not supposed to pronounce

curses, right? Curse Miraz, said the angel of

the Lord. Utterly curse its inhabitants. When

you see the words utterly curse, you're talking

about pronounced a complete destruction. The

kind of destruction that came down on Sodom and

Gomorrah, for example. So he's saying, as God's

people, curse this town, Miraz, verse, because

they did not come to help of the Lord. First

of all, we know that God doesn't need help to

do... God's plans, right? God doesn't need help

to carry it out. And we see in a few verses back

in 16, 17, 15, 16 that some of God's very own

people didn't come out when called, right? But

here is Miraz, a nearby town that did not help

in the battle and God's people are being told

to curse them to utter destruction. That's a

pretty significant thing. And I'm asking you,

just based on that verse, is there a time in

which God's people might be called to pronounce

a curse? I'll begin in 23 again, and we're almost

done with the text. Curse Miraz, said the angel

of the Lord. Utterly curse its inhabitants, because

they did not come to the help of the Lord, to

the help of the Lord against the warriors. That's

the end of 23 and the end of our text for the

day. So we kind of might have expected the curse

to be pronounced after 17, when some of God's

people stayed wrapped up in their business, doing

their other things, rather than coming out when

God called them. But no, the curse is pronounced

on Miraz. There are a few people, groups in this

text I want you to see first before I give you

any points. The first one is people in the kingdom

who render courageous service. These are people

who came out and did what God told them to do.

They fought the enemy. They formed the army of

10 ,000 that followed Deborah and Barak. They

went into the lowlands where they were likely

to be destroyed. They fought an army that was

outnumbering at least three, if not 20 to one.

Who knows how many times you count a chariot

when chariots are virtually unstoppable by infantry.

It says that they despised their own lives and

for their great reward, they got to take part

in God's victory, even in this song. Then there's

the outsiders who became the enemy. Jabin the

Canaanite and his people, Sisera the general,

and other kings and royalty that came out to

fight against Israel at this case. Because if

Israel shakes off the yoke, then there's a lot

of free treasure and slaves that nobody can get

anymore. And so this became an outsider that

stepped up as an enemy in armed resistance to

fight against Israel. Notice for their outcome,

they were destroyed. They were eradicated by

divine action. Not Israel. Israel didn't destroy

them. God destroyed them. The stars fought from

their courses and the brook Kishon became a torrent

that trapped their chariots. And then when the

Israelites came down on them as they were retreating,

God empowered them to kill. And ultimately, every

Israelite there would kill in the 20s of men.

After defeating an army of 9 ,000 iron chariots

pulled by great chargers, crewed by crews of

10 or 12 men with spears, like the tanks of the

day. Oh, poor Sisera, because he didn't find

himself fighting the Israelites whom they had

persecuted for 20 years. He found himself fighting

against God. Poor Goliath, right? Killed by a

boy with a sling and a stone. But really, killed

by God. He found himself fighting against God.

Poor Sodom and Gomorrah. Fire rained down from

heaven so that the land was eradicated and probably

drenched in salt and is still not useful to this

day except for water sits there and forms a great

sea, possibly. Poor Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed

by God. Poor Egypt, plague after plague after

plague, right? And every one of their gods was

made to look to be puny compared to the God of

the universe so that they had boils and frogs

and gnats. All the water in their land turned

to blood for a while and all their people, firstborn

children, all destroyed. Every person that had

a firstborn child. And that means grown men who

had children. They were the firstborn in their

household and they were killed. Poor Egypt. Poor

Edom. The prophet Obaniah pronounced a prophecy

against Edom and Edom was eradicated to the point

that You can go there and see their great castles

carved into the side of the rock. For now, look

it up on the internet. It's a great place to

go to visit if you have a few thousand dollars

in the Middle East. But no one knows what happened

to the entire nation. Carried off into captivity.

Poor Edom. Poor flood victims in the day of Noah.

Destroyed one and all. Noah and his wife and

his boys and their wives into the ark. And everybody

else was drowned. Poor Naaman. In the days of

Esther, hung on the gallows that he built at

his own house. Poor Herod, after Jesus came and

left and the church was in, he was sitting on

the throne pronouncing great wisdoms and they

said, oh, you know, these are like the words

of God and he didn't correct them and say, no,

they're just my words, they're just the words

of men and he was eaten by worms from the inside

out. The list could go on. There are others.

And these are people that existed beyond the

line without redemption, and they are put to

destruction to show God's glory. Pity, pity.

Also in the story are people of the kingdom who

had an alternative focus. They're worried about

their ships. They're worried about their crops.

They're worried about their animals. They're

worried about their whatever, recreation. And

they didn't come. And frankly, they were excused.

They were scolded and they were left out of the

great victory of the Lord. But basically they

were excused. They're not cursed. And so here

I am to say to you that the next time you face

great trials, next time you're called to serve

the Lord and you have to make a choice between

doing what you want to do and doing what God

wants to and realigning your wants to be what

they should be, which is what God wants. That

you would be not conformed to this world but

transformed by the renewing of your mind and

follow the Lord. The next time that opportunity

arises, realize you may be excused. But you may

also be scolded or chastised by the Lord and

left out of the great victory that he intended.

There were outsiders here who chose an allegiance.

And they are blessed. We know of Jael and her

whole household was blessed and she was listed

in the song. The part that we read last week,

as Jael was the end of Sisera by putting a tent

spike through his head. And they are blessed

by choosing allegiance. But we also said Jael

had a choice to make. She was in real trouble

either way. She could have chosen Sisera's allegiance,

stuck with him, let him escape. But then she

would have paid for that heartily, surely, probably

been his slave forever. And then... She chose

to end him instead and side with the Israelites,

and her whole tribe sided with the Israelites,

and they find a place among God's people. Then

there's those of the kingdom who intentionally

lack involvement. They're nearby. They're there.

They could do it. Who am I talking about? I'm

talking about the village of Meraz. This was

a God's people village. Just they could have

failed to show up like the others did. And that's

what they did. But they were right there. They

made it as far as coming to the point that they

were at God's great victory, but they chose not

to participate. And here now we see them cursed

out of existence. So what was the end of Meraz?

Meraz was there somewhere. They were right near

the battle. But they so thoroughly disappeared

after the curse was pronounced. that nobody today

knows exactly where. They've got a border. There's

a triangle. Here's a line. Here's a river forms

a line. Somewhere in there is where Meraz used

to be, a pretty good bustling town, a metropolis

of a sort. But after this, they cease to exist.

I submit to you, if you are in the kingdom of

God and you come to where God is doing the war

and you know it's happening and you refuse to

participate, you just might wind up dismissed.

And then we see the kingdom. We see them stepping

out, doing what it is that God would have to

do. They lead others to blessing. God intervenes

on their behalf. Their lives are spared. They

are empowered and called on to glorify the Lord.

But notice that in this story, in this particular

case, they are led by the Lord, specifically

by an angel of the Lord, to proclaim the curse

on Meraz. They called out who Meraz was, what

Meraz has done, and pronounced a curse that would

utterly destroy Meraz. So the question that I

was led to then was, might we sometime have this

job to do? If you are a faithful believer following

the Lord, could you not at some time be called

upon by the Lord to curse those who are present

at God's great action? but refusing to participate.

It's a scary thought. So first we have to ask

ourselves, are we a people that are called upon

to curse at all, I guess? Notice that we have

the power and authority to do so. Jesus said,

Matthew 16, Truly I say to you, whatever you

bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven,

and whatever you loose on earth shall have been

loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if

you too... If two of you agree on earth about

anything that they may ask, it shall be done

for them by my Father who is in heaven. For where

two or three have gathered together in my name,

I am there in their midst. So do we not have

the authority? Having the keys to the kingdom,

could we not pronounce curses? But blessing and

cursing and judgment are in the hands of the

Lord. Christians are called to bless, not curse.

Yet God himself will bring vengeance upon those

who claim his name, but live in rebellion. In

Romans 12, 14, it says, bless those who persecute

you, bless and do not curse. Out of the same

mouth, it says in James 3, 9 through 10, should

not come blessings and curses. It shouldn't be

like that. We have the example of Jesus, 1 Peter

2, 23. It says, he did not return insult for

insult. Matthew 5 .44 says, love your enemies,

pray for your persecutors. Romans 12 .21 says,

overcome evil with good. We have a command to

the church in 1 Peter 3 .9 where it was called,

we are called to give blessing, not repay evil.

The default Christian posture is grace, forgiveness,

and intercession. Do we not see that example

in Jesus? Even when they tried to kill him prematurely,

what did he do? He walked away because it wasn't

time yet. And ultimately, when they did kill

him, what did he do? Where every man might hang

on a cross and spew curses, it was like going

out to see WWE wrestling because they'd go up

there and they would expose everyone's secrets.

So -and -so did this. I know so -and -so had

this affair. You're a liar. You did that. There's

that politician. They stole this money. They

would expose everyone's secrets. But Jesus didn't

do that. He prayed, Lord, forgive them for they

know not what they do. Are we imitating Christ

in our speech and our attitude? Or do we wield

our words like weapons? Blessing those that we

want to. Speaking positive of those that we hope

to get things from. Speaking positively of those

that we hope will serve the Lord. And speaking

negatively of those that we see do not know God

or that say they know God but don't follow him.

Could there be exceptions, times in which we

are called? Well, in Acts 5, 1 through 11, we

see Peter, and Peter pronounces a curse on Ananias

and Sapphira. In fact, he says, you will die

here right now. And they do, both of them, because

their hearts were not right in the Lord. And

they had come faking obedience to God, faking

faithfulness, attempting to earn for themselves

a place inside the people of God, while in fact

cursing the Lord. But this was not a personal

curse. It wasn't Peter's personal agenda. In

fact, what they did didn't really hurt Peter

at all. So it certainly wasn't vengeance. But

it was a prophetic exposure of their hypocrisy.

And their sin is probably what killed them, not

the curse. We have Paul and the false prophet

in Acts 13. There they were in front of... Sergius,

the proconsul, and they're trying to win him

to Christ. This is Saul called Paul and Barnabas.

And there was a magician there. His name was

Elymas. And he was refuting what Paul was saying.

And Paul got tired of it. And he pronounced a

curse on the man. And a blinding mist fell over

him and he couldn't see. He began to seek people

to lead him about by the hand because he couldn't

see. Because his heart was not right and his

hypocrisy. He was standing up against the gospel.

And then we see what Paul's curse formula is

in Galatians 1, 8 -9. He says, let him be accursed.

But he reserves this curse for those who distort

the gospel of Jesus Christ. So then we can limit

ourselves. to people who are only really just

mocking Jesus. People who are only pretending

to be followers. People who are only slighting

and attacking people rather than actually following

Jesus. And Paul would say, let them be accursed.

But none of these things are models for daily

Christian behavior. These are spirit -initiated,

that is to say, God -led, spirit -initiated acts

of divine discipline, not personal avengence

or personal... In other words, if you would ever

want to, you cannot. But if you would ever be

called specifically by the Lord in a specific

circumstance to, then you had better, lest you

yourself fall under a similar curse for being

at that moment of the great conflict where God's

about to get great glory and refusing to do so.

In fact, the Word says that we are forbidden

to take vengeance. Never take your own vengeance,

beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God.

Romans 12, 19, paraphrased. We entrust judgment

to God. The judge sees all. Our job is to be

found faithful, not vengeful. Judgment belongs

to God alone. Personal curses... things that

you word yourself, phrase yourself, come out

of your feelings somewhere, even that you think

are right. Remember that the whole problem in

the book of Judges is not that they were in sin

or following false gods, though that's true and

it was wrong, but it was that they did what they

thought was right in their own minds. And so

we must not lean on our own understanding, but

rather be led of the Lord. And if ever you should

come to a place where you realize something is

really wrong, someone is really doing something

wrong, and you feel like you would... pronounce

a curse from God, then be sure that you are led

of the Spirit to do so and let the Spirit speak.

Judgment belongs to God alone. God's vengeance

on the faithless who claim His name is a real

thing. Hebrews 10, 26 -31 says, For if we go

on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge

of the truth, There no longer remains a sacrifice

for sins. Did you get that? If you have received

the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ, and then

you choose to willingly go on doing the things

you know you should not do, or failing to do

the things that you know you should, no matter

your excuses, reason, logic, whatever you think

is right, it all doesn't matter how you feel

about it, none of that matters. If you willingly

go on doing the things that you should not do,

or failing to do the things that you should,

whatever reason or logic may prevail, there is

no longer, there no longer remains a sacrifice

for sins. Jesus is it. He's all that there is.

And you're going to have to come back to Him

for that salvation. And because you're willingly

going on in your sin, the truth is, you probably

won't. Verse 27 says, but a terrifying expectation

of judgment and the fury of a fire which will

consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside

the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony

of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment

do you think he will reserve who has trampled

underfoot the Son of God and has regarded as

unclean the blood of the covenant by which he

was sanctified and has insulted the spirit of

grace? If you are willingly sinning, that is

what you are doing if you continue in sin. Now,

if you are unwillingly sinning, if you slip,

if you make errors, if you make errors in judgment,

you thought you knew what God wanted, but you

went the wrong way, whatever, then you come back

to the Lord and He is faithful and just and righteous

to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

But if you willingly proceed forward, know that

there is severer punishment for nothing. Nothing.

A greater crime to follow Jesus supposedly and

walk willingly in sin than mass murder, incest,

rape. All the things that we think are terrible.

There is no severer punishment for any sin that

anyone has. Because we will have trampled underfoot

the Son of God. We will have regarded as unclean

the blood of the covenant by which He was...

we were sanctified, and we will have insulted

the spirit of grace. And verse 30 says, For we

know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will

repay. And again, the Lord will judge his people.

It's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands

of the living God. Professing believers can fall

under judgment. Those who go on sinning after

believing the truth. 2 Peter 2, 20 -22, those

who return to the world are worse off than before.

And Revelation 2, 22 -23, judgment begins in

the house of God, in the people of God, those

who profess Christ and stick in the kingdom,

that's where judgment begins. And this is what

it says in Revelation 2, 22, I gave her time

to repent, and she does not want to repent of

her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a

bed of sickness and those who commit adultery

with her into great tribulation unless they repent

of her deeds. And I will kill her children with

pestilence. And all the churches will know that

I am he who searches the minds and hearts. And

I will give to each one of you according to your

deeds. God will not be mocked, Paul writes in

Galatians 6. Claiming the name of Christ while

aligning with the enemy brings divine chastisement.

We, on the other hand, are to walk in blessing

and stand in awe of God. We are not called to

curse. We are called to bless, to witness, and

to intercede. Our model is Christ. Our method

is love. Our message is truth. We can and will

overcome evil with good if we employ as the spearhead

of all of our offense the sword of the spirit,

which is the word of God. God alone deals with

rebellion, hypocrisy, and false allegiance. Let

us be among the faithful, not the fearful. Let

us tremble at his holiness, not test his mercy.

Let us persuade men because we know the fear

of the Lord. And let us beg God to make us everything

that is necessary. The Bible says that God is

patient with us that all men might come to repentance.

That's why Jesus has not yet returned. It does

not say that God is patient. with lost people

that men might come to repentance. It does not

say that God is patient with those who have not

yet heard or those who are wrapped up very faithfully

in some other false religion. It says that God

is patient with us. Written to the church, God

is patient with us that all men might come to

repentance. Let us beg God to make us everything

that is necessary, even despising our own lives

as they did in the story that we read. to carry

out the work of the kingdom, the kingdom of God.

Let's draw near to Him and I say, we might rightly

pray that we should never be called upon to pronounce

a curse. So if you find yourself talking bad

about someone or what they've done, be very careful

because you are approaching a line which you

cannot uncross. You are a keys of the kingdom

holder. So when someone lies to you and you call

them a liar, you have loosed on earth something

that has already been loosed in heaven and you

may make them a liar indefinitely. Now, should

you call a lie a lie? For sure. Just be careful

about calling a liar a liar. Let's draw near

to Him and rightly pray. that we should never

be called upon to pronounce a curse, but rather

leave the vengeance of the Lord in the hands

of the Lord to deal with professing believers

who choose allegiance with the enemy. A final

challenge in some illustrations, and we're through.

Ask yourself, am I using my words? When my mouth

opens and my voice comes out, am I using my words

to heal or to hurt? You were created in the image

of the being who said, let there be light. And

from just outside the boundaries of existence,

whatever that looked like at that time, light

immediately responded and leapt into being. And

you were created in his image. And then if you're

a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you were

reborn, recreated, growing to be more like him

every day. That does not mean that you usurp

his role as creator, but rather that you should

be very clear about the loving, merciful, gracious

character of the God of heaven. If you received

everything you have from the God of the universe,

why do you sometimes act like you didn't get

it from him? You earned it yourself. Or that

you made the right choices in light of the fact

that you have what you have. The truth is, when

we get to heaven, we will find our faults to

be more than we could ever judge ourselves for.

Are we using our words to heal or to hurt? Am

I trusting God with judgment? When someone says,

well, I'm going to do this, or I'm going to do

that, or I did this, do I immediately go, that's

wrong, you're wrong, that's a wrong, or do I

say, what does the Lord say about this? How could

this person come to make this decision? Why are

they acting this way? And I understand and you

understand that no answers to those questions

will ever be excuses for sin. So if the action

is sin, it's sin. And there's nothing you can

do about that. You can't change it and say, well,

I hear what you're saying. You have really good

reasons for doing this. So I pronounce this not

sin. You can't. It's sin if it's sin. But at

the same time, we trust God with the judgment

of it. And so yes, we look into scripture and

there are certain things that we see that we

don't quite perfectly understand. And here is

an example that we as a people are not called

upon. We are not created to be a people that

pronounces curses in any sort against other people.

Yet at the same time, we are the direct agents

of the Lord. And so we have to realize that there

is a curse upon evil behavior. There are associated

bad things that happen when people do the wrong

thing. And you might be wise to ask yourself,

if I am facing what feels like judgment, if I

am being chastised, if I am under correction,

small, medium, or large, ask yourself, is it

that way? Because I am not right with God. Because

I need to repent and turn unto the Lord and make

whatever control I have. submit it over into

His hands. And if that's the way you need to

do it, then that's what you need to do. But don't

expect me or any other Christian, any other real

Christian, to come into your life and say, this

is happening to you because of X. I have seen

that so many times. And every time I've ever

seen somebody do that, the Holy Spirit has always

said to me, that's an ignorant person. That's

a person that doesn't understand. And no, I didn't

go and say, okay, you're ignorant because you

said that. I went and said, listen, the Holy

Spirit is saying to me, something is desperately

wrong with what you just declared. What you just

said. Be careful, because your saying this about

that person is akin to pronouncing a curse, which

we are not called to do. We had a guest speaker

once years ago at New Heights that came, and

they came right after the Twin Towers, and it

was just after 2001. And as he was preaching,

I'm not naming the man, this is not gossip or

slander, as he was preaching, he stood up in

the pulpit, I was out of town, and he said that

that was God's judgment. on the Twin Towers and

that the people that died there and the effects

of it, all the workers that went in afterwards

and everybody that died, it all happened because

of God's judgment on our country and on that

place. And he pronounced a curse and said that

that happened because of God said so. God destroyed

the Twin Towers. He used the people, the militant

Islamic enemies of America to do that and kill

all those people. And the beauty of it was all

the people in New Heights that were there that

day immediately went, that doesn't sound right.

I don't think the Bible says that. Now, there

were great similarities to that event, to some

events that he related it to, like the Tower

of Babel. But there's nothing in Scripture that

ever would say that. And that you would be the

guy or the girl? You think you're going to be

the one? What kind of arrogance do you have to

have to think that you... above all mankind,

above all angels, above God himself, would be

the one to judge and declare the wrong of another

person. Now, sin is still sin. We have methods

of accountability. But the problem is, when we

talk about accountability, we go, Matthew 18,

accountability, a passage where Jesus teaches

us, we say, well, that's teaching us to correct

one another. That's teaching us to call people

back out of their sin. Some of that's true. But

the truth is, it is the greatest expression of

love in the church. If you think somebody is

in sin, you go to them and say, hey, this is

what I see happening. This feels to me like you

could be going in the wrong direction here. I

think you could be going into sin. I wanted to

kind of call that out to you. Could we figure

this out together? How hard is it? I know it's

hard. Because you know how many people do it

faithfully, believers? Even though it's a command

of Jesus, nobody wants to do it. You don't want

to be the one to go to somebody and say, hey,

can we talk about this because I think you're

in sin or I think this is the wrong direction.

Nobody wants to do it. But every single time

I've ever seen somebody do it, it was people

that understood that it is a great expression

of love. Do you want your family members, your

friends, the people that you love in Christ,

that you're serving alongside of in Christ, to

continue in sin? So that they themselves risk

the wrath of God? Not judgment to hell necessarily.

If they're saved, they're saved. But that they

would risk that chastisement? That they would

fall into the hands of God for correction? No,

we stand together. We unite. We hold each other

accountable in that I'm coming in love and saying,

listen, I hear what you're saying. And I'm not

going to judge you for making the decision that

you're about to make or for doing what's right.

That's not my job. Whether you're saved or not,

that's between you and the Lord. But I'm pleading

with you. I think that God will call us to do

something different. Accusations and curses are

not our job. There is an ancient being tasked

with that job. And he himself will spend eternity

away from God because he slid too far down the

slope of arrogance. Do not join him in his disrespect.

Be found faithful, stepping up and out and depending

on God to carry us through. That's our job. The

next time we see someone struggling to exhibit

Jesus the way they should or the way we think

they should, we should try speaking better things

for them. Pray God forgive them and help them.

Two illustrations, I hope. First one. Probably

completely outside your knowledge, because it

was completely outside my knowledge, there was

a thing called the Albigensian Crusade. Raise

your hand if you know what I'm talking about.

Okay, good. I didn't either, so I don't feel

too out of place about that. So the Catholic

Church declared what was called the Albigensian

Crusade. It also, by the way, sparked something

you may have heard of called the Great Inquisition.

The Albigensian Crusade was to wipe out a sect

of Christianity called the Carthars. The Carthars

had developed some beliefs that we would call

distinctly anti -Christian. They did not believe

in the doctrine of the Trinity. Get this. They

did not believe that Jesus was God in the flesh.

They did not believe that he died on the cross

to pay for the sins of all mankind the way we

understand it. They believe that all flesh is

evil and all God and spirit is good. And you

can worship good, as long as it's good, you can

worship it because that's God. And if it has

anything to do, childbirth, motherhood, nurturing,

proper marriage, relationships, telling the truth,

the mankind tell the truth, all of that is still

evil. It's all evil. It's all evil. There's no

way that Jesus could have became a human because

to do that, he would have made himself evil.

That's what the Carthaginians believed. Now,

do you believe any of what I just said? None

of it's right. It's all wrong. It's all heresy.

But it developed in large representation out

of the Catholic Church, which was also in heresy.

Right? Closer, perhaps, to Christianity, but

also in heresy. A lot of things that they were

doing that were not Christ -like. Here comes

an example. The Albigensian Crusade. They were

going to go in. and put an end to the Carthars

no matter what. Heretics, kill them all. Kill

the Carthars. So as the crusade armies approached

the city of Belziers, led by a man whose name

I have a hard time pronouncing. It's Armad Al

-Malrik, who was a papal legate, which means

he was an officer in the Catholic Church. He's

leading the army. They asked him, they said,

when we attack the city, how do we know who are

Carthars and who are not? How do we know who

we're supposed to kill and who we're not? And

his response became famous. He said, kill them

all and let God sort it out. Now that saying

didn't die there in 1209. On July 22nd. When

the siege broke and the city was invaded and

20 ,000 people, many of whom professed to be

Christians, all, most all professed to be Christians,

but many of whom were Carthars and many of whom

were not, were slain. Out of that was developed

the Inquisition where they would put people under

torture as necessary to get them to tell the

truth of what they believed of Christianity and

if what they believed was a... heretic version

of Christianity, they would burn them at the

stake. For two decades this went on. Now the

church could never do this, right? The church

could never say, we know what's right, you're

wrong, and we'll have nothing to do with you,

to the point that because we are now in power,

we will even... Kill you so that you can't infect

our children with your doctrine. Or could they?

I submit to you that the same evil spirit or

cadre of evil spirits that led the Catholic Church

to start a 20 -year crusade, which we don't even

know. The records are lost. Somewhere between

200 ,000 and a million people were slain. in

that crusade over disagreements in doctrine.

I submit to you that based on what I just shared

with you, and there was more, that probably Carthars

were not even Christian. So now what we have

is those who are professing to be Christian killing

those who also profess to be Christian but hold

a doctrine that the first group cannot subscribe

to. Christians killing Christians. Supposed Christians.

killing supposed Christians. Are you using your

words to heal or to hurt? Are you trusting God

with a just judgment? Are you living in faithfulness?

If the answers to those questions make you feel

a little nervous about the way you're following

Jesus, you say, well, I think I might be using

my words to hurt rather than to heal sometimes.

repent today and turn to the Lord through Jesus

and be healed. If you've never been saved, be

saved for the very first time so that Jesus can

teach you how to get control of your mouth. It'll

be systematic. It'll take a while. So if you

are saved and you've been working on it and you've

got a ways to go, don't panic. Just let him keep

working on you. Are you living in faithfulness

or are you living in name only? Remember that

there were groups in this story not miraz. There

were people who were part of the kingdom of God

who did not come to fight. And they were further

away and they were wrapped up in their things.

They had things that they thought were important.

And they didn't get a curse. They just missed

out on the blessings. When the opportunity comes

to serve the Lord, will you miss out on the blessings?

Or will you serve the Lord? That's the question.

Years and years ago, my side yard was the gathering

place of the entire community when I was a kid.

We were the only ones who actually had a side

yard, and the only other big field nearby was

behind my house, and it belonged to the shopping

center, and we'd been told that sometimes they

would get upset with us for playing back there,

and if you had football or frisbee or something,

it inevitably wound up down in the creek, and

you had to go and find it, and so we played in

our side yard. One particular Saturday afternoon,

and you have to understand who I was, I was the

bully of the neighborhood in my neighborhood

for years. I was bigger, stronger, and I was

willing to punch somebody in the face, and nobody

else really had that trait. And so we did what

I said most of the time. A couple months before

this day in question, a boy had moved into the

neighborhood, and he had been the bully in his

previous neighborhood, and he was faster than

me, and he was stronger than me. And he was willing

to punch people in the face, like me. And so,

right away, it became a power struggle between

him and I. Now, on this particular Saturday in

question, he wasn't there. So, needless to say,

I was in charge. So we decided we'd play Ultimate

Frisbee. Ultimate Frisbee is basically like football,

but you stop, you pass the frisbee, and you go

back and forth. It's really high endurance. It

was hot, about 80 degrees outside that day. Sunshine,

brightly, no shade. We'd taken... frequent Kool

-Aid breaks, and I was running to the house for

pictures of Kool -Aid and we're playing. And

I really wasn't bossing people around too much

or anything like that. We were just playing and

having fun. Because the other boy who was the

other in -charge boy wasn't there, we had to

select a different team captain. So I was the

team captain for one team, and there was a girl

who was the next oldest who was the team captain

for the other team, which is a problem for me

because I always picked her on my team because

she was really good at, like, everything. Now

she's the captain of the other team. So we picked

our two teams, and we let her team have one extra

person because we had a couple extra small people.

About an hour in, we're playing, having fun,

everything's going great, and that other guy

shows up. He just got home from visiting his

grandma or whatever, and he comes and he wants

to play. So we shuffled the teams. We put him

on her team. She's still the team captain. We

put him on her team. I took two of the little

guys, and it's pretty balanced, and we started

playing. Except he started getting physical.

He's pushing people around. using foul language

at people, cussing people. He was particularly

getting down on her, who she was acting as the

captain of the team and making plans and stuff

like that. And he was really being really mean

to her. So then she started looking at me to

get it to stop, right? And I already know where

this is going to go. Same place it went the last

three or four times was a fist fight. And we

both got hurt pretty bad both times. Not broken,

but pretty bad. So I said to him, I said, you

need to knock it off. We were playing just fine

before you came, so you shouldn't be here if

it's going to be like that. And he said, whatever.

Leave me alone. Shut your mouth. Blah, blah,

blah. So we went back, and on the next play,

he did it again. So then she said, I don't want

him on my team anymore. I'm the team captain.

I don't want him. So then I said, well, I think

I can handle him. So I took him over to my team,

and I gave up. one of the players that were just

about as good and one of the small guys. We balanced

and we played some more. 20 minutes later, now

he's doing the same thing on my team, and he

pushed her as she was about to go down. He just

kind of pushed her and gave her some extra momentum

so that she hit her shoulder and the side of

her face on the tree. So now we're going to go

to fist fight right away. And she's like, no,

no, no, it wasn't really an accident. We're just

playing. He didn't mean it, so no fights, whatever.

And I said, that's fine, but I'm done. We've

spent an hour and a half, two hours, we've been

dealing with this, so I'm done. you're not on

my team anymore. And he looked at her and said,

well, can I be on your team? And she said, no.

So she wouldn't take him, and I wouldn't take

him, and everybody that was on both teams backed

the captain. So our captain says, you're not

on our team, you're not on our team. And so he

went home. Hear me now. Team captains have the

authority to send people home. If both team captains

agree, and neither one will take you, you don't

play. Here's the problem. Too many people think

either they are the team captain or because they

represent the team captain, they get to make

that decision. And I'm here to tell you, you

ain't it. And I'm not. And the Pope isn't. That's

for sure. There are no team captains born of

men. John the Baptist was not the team captain.

Moses, who was both the humblest man who ever

lived and probably one of the greatest servants

of God, not the team captain. Jesus is the team

captain. Come in line with Jesus. Be found faithful.

Drop your tendency to take vengeance. Use your

words to heal and not hurt. And submit to him.

And he's going to take you to new heights in

Jesus that at this point in time you cannot fathom.

And that road ends in heaven. And that is a place

you want to be. We might not know exactly what

it's like, but we've got a decent picture. That's

where we want to be. And every other road, let's

be very clear, every other road ends in hell.

And that is a place you do not want to be. As

we have our invitation today, I'm asking you

to submit to the team captain. We're going to

submit to his judgment. We're going to submit

to His leadership. We're going to be found faithful.

Don't be distracted by the things of the world.

Be found faithful. Don't let the good things

that God has given you in your life stop you

from being a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ,

no matter how good they get. In Jesus' name.

I'll have the praise team come and lead us in

their final song at this time. Each and every

one of us, individually, uniquely, letting God

speak to our hearts. Thank you.