Piecing Peace Back Together Judges 3:1-11

It begins with knowing that it is for your kingdom's

work, it is your kingdom's plan. Just bless everyone

here, just give it to those that cannot be here,

and may my prayer be with you. Thank you. Take

me places. We didn't get along great, so it wasn't

a lot of places. But my family used to go out

in the early days. This was a long time ago,

and I was pretty young. I was probably about

12 or so, 12, 13. My family would go most years

to the Apple Butter Festival out on the river.

This was before the Apple Butter Festival blew

up so big that it's hard to kind of get in there.

And I had gone one year, and they had a car bashing,

where you could take a sledgehammer and hit a

car, and you paid like, it was like a dollar

a strike, or six for five bucks, or like 15 for

$10 or something like that. And you could hit

a car, and if you busted off a piece, you got

to keep it. And that was probably when I was

10 or 11. And so by that point, I was totally

sold on the Apple Butter Festival. Well, the

next year, or the year in question anyway, whether

it was the next year or not, My brother took

us because my parents couldn't go. And I don't

remember why they couldn't go. I think my dad

was working and my mom just didn't want to or

whatever. And so my brother took myself and a

couple of neighborhood kids. Well, one of the

guys that he took with us was very large. He

was the largest ever linebacker, and he would

have the record for being the heaviest ever for

Northwood. I don't know if they keep track of

that kind of thing. But he weighed about 385

pounds as a senior in high school. and he was

pretty fast on the short run. And so he was pretty

dangerous in football, and they were champs that

year, his senior year. But he went with us. My

brother drove, he went, his brother went, and

I went. And this was during one of the times

of peace that we had with them. And there, at

the Apple Butter Festival, in the park, is a

teeter -totter. And I had played on it pretty

much every year since I was about five or six

years old. It was made of a big steel pipe like

this with seats on both sides. And when I got

there, I wanted to play on the teeter -totter,

but everybody was too grown up. Everybody was,

so Jeff, who was the younger brother, he was

about a year or two older than me. And Jerry

was my brother's age. He was four and a half

years older than me or whatever. And so nobody

wanted to play on the teeter -totter with me.

And finally, I talked Jerry into playing on the

teeter -totter. and he's the one who weighed

385 pounds. So when I was about 12, I weighed

about 100 pounds. So it really wasn't much teeter

-tottering going on. He was sitting on the one

side, and if he pulled the seat up as far as

his butt, then I could almost get my feet on

the ground. I had to climb up on the seat. So

my brother got on the teeter -totter with me,

and we still could not push Jerry to the ground.

He was 4 1⁄2 years older than me, but he was

only about maybe 20 pounds heavier than me. We

both graduated high school at about 145 pounds.

And so he was about 100 pounds or so. And so

between the two of us, we could not touch Jerry's

weight. So finally, Jeff said, well, we'll get

on with you. And so he climbed up on us. All

three of us are sitting on this one side. The

best we can, we're kind of crammed on the seat,

which really had room for about two people. And

we're all crammed on the seat, at which point

in time, Jerry got off the teeter -totter. And

we both went hard to the ground. All three of

us went hard to the ground. We hit the ground

real hard. Jerry thought it was very funny. Jeff

and Tom and my brother and I, none of us thought

it was very funny. I want you to bear that analogy

in mind and I'll come back to it in my conclusion.

We've been working through the book of Judges.

Maybe you'll give me a little bit of an amen,

a who to holler, and hallelujah, which means

praise the Lord, as we go to Judges chapter 3.

Judges 3 · chapter mention

Thank you for being with me today. We're going

to see an interesting thing in Judges chapter

Judges 3 · chapter mention

3 today, and I'm going to read this to you, and

then I'm going to ask you, based on what we've

studied so far, the first two chapters, what

is interesting about it, and we'll see if you

can figure it out. If you want to kind of cheat

a little bit or be a little bit more aggressive

in your studies and look back at chapter 2 and

see what we might have missed or skipped, then

you can do that. But here we go. This is Judges

Judges 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, beginning in verse 1. Now, these are

the nations which the Lord left. To test Israel

by them, that is, all who had not experienced

any of the wars of Canaan, only in order that

the generations of the sons of Israel might be

taught war, those who had not experienced it

formerly. Verse 3. These nations are the five

lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites

and the Sidonians and the Hivites who live in

Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal Hermon as far as

Lebo Hamath. And they were for testing Israel

to find out if they would obey the commandments

of the Lord, which he had commanded their fathers

through Moses. And the sons of Israel lived among

the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the

Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And

they took their daughters for themselves as wives,

and they gave their own daughters to their sons

and served their gods. We're going to stop there

for a minute, because there are a couple of interesting

things to see before we get to kind of the one

big one. So the first one is, there are two lists

of peoples here. If you went back into the book

of Judges and into the history, you would notice

that there are people listed on these lists that

were not previously listed by God. For example,

the Philistines. The Philistines settled in the

area of the Promised Land a little later than

everybody else along the coast and established

five large kind of city -states there and five

lords ruled over them. We studied this a little

bit when we studied the time of David on Tuesday

nights. In any case, When God first called the

Israelites out of Egypt, the Philistines were

not listed among the people that they were to

wipe out slash chase out. And so there are some

names on this list that are not necessarily pre

-set by God that they had to be destroyed. Now

we're past that now. Remember God has twice said

that he will not lead the Israelites to destroy

everybody out of the promised land anymore. First

he said he wouldn't do it over short order. Because

that would create disease and death and bodies

laying everywhere in the promised land. That

would be bad for everybody. Then he said he wouldn't

do it at all. Because they had strayed from the

faith. They strayed from following him appropriately.

Now he's not going to chase them out. And as

this text tells us, he left them there. But notice

that on this list, God left people there who

were not formally there and said that they had

to have been cast out or killed. Okay? So that's

interesting. Also, if you knew the geography

a little bit, we're not going to drill hard on

this, but basically what we have is one of these

lists says there's somebody to the northwest,

somebody to the northeast, somebody to the southeast,

somebody to the southwest. Basically, they're

surrounded. And the other list says they've got

people all living intermixed with them. So the

next town over or sometimes the next house over.

And so what we have is the people that are surrounded

on all sides and the people that are intermixed

throughout. And that was for the purpose, as

we just read, to test them to see whether or

not they will be faithful. And then, of course,

they were not faithful. They were protesting

Israel to find out if they would obey the commandments

of the Lord, which he had commanded their fathers

through Moses. And then we read, the sons of

Israel living among them. We've got the list

again, and it says they began to give their sons

to their daughters. and their daughters to their

sons. So they were intermarrying, which was a

specific command that Moses said must never happen.

Before they were to cast them out, wipe them

out, then he said, we're not going to do that

now. But even so, that command lasts. It stays

true that they were not supposed to marry off

their sons and daughters and intermix with the

people. And the sons of Israel did what was evil

in the sight of the Lord, this is verse 7, and

forgot the Lord their God and served. The Baals

and the Asherah. So the Asherah are wooden symbols

of a certain false god. Okay? And they would

serve them. Now, interestingly enough, what were

they told to do with the wooden symbols? To burn

them all. Okay? So it's just to burn all those

wooden symbols that they are now serving in part.

So they don't do that. Then listen to what happens

in verse 8. It says, Then the anger of the Lord

was kindled against Israel, so that he sold them

into the hands of Kishon, Rishab Haim, king of

Mesopotamia. Okay? A couple of interesting things

in this verse. So the first thing is, what were

they supposed to do with the Asherah? Burn them.

Right? Burn all those wooden symbols of false

worship. They did not. And so then it says, instead,

the anger of the Lord was kindled, and the phrasing

is basically the same in the Hebrew. They didn't

burn what they were supposed to, so now the anger

of God burns against them. And I submit to you,

when it comes to righteousness, there will always

be fuel. Understand? When it comes to righteousness

and judgment, there will always be something

to burn. Eternally. Because in hell, people will

burn eternally for judgment, for righteousness.

There will always be something to burn. So they

didn't burn the Asherah. Instead, God's anger

is kindled against Israel. Then notice the Kushan

Rishathayim, king of Mesopotamia. Now this is

an interesting name because historically this

guy doesn't exist. They can't find him anywhere

in the written history. But if you translate

the name back into Hebrew and then back into

English, what you'll get is Kushan, the wickedest

king there ever was. Or the wickedest Kushan

there ever was. So what we have may not be the

actual name of the king. who was ruling over

them, or God sold them into their hands, but

the name of a type of king, but this was an actual

event. So he's saying this was the worst king,

if you will, to ever exist of that nation. All

right? Then the last thing to see in here is

notice what he did to them. He sold them into

the hands of Kishon Rishabayim. Okay? So this

terminology, sold them, is the same terminology

when a father receives a dowry for his daughter.

Okay? So in other words, as if, R .J. was going

to eventually marry off Zoe and somebody came

and gave R .J. money to marry Zoe. Well, that's

what's happening here. God is selling Israel,

his daughter, his people, into the hands of Kishon

Rishaf Haim in order to marry them off. Okay?

What did they do with their sons? They married

their sons off to daughters of the wrong peoples.

What did they do with their daughters? They married

their daughters off to sons of the wrong peoples.

And that led them to idolatry because they brought

that false worship into their family, into God's

family. Okay? And then God says, okay, well then

I marry you off. You marry your sons and daughters

off, I marry you off. And he sold them, and that's

the same terminology as if by a dowry was received,

he sold them into the hands of Kishon, Rishat

Haim, king of Mesopotamia. And the sons of Israel

served Kishon, Rishath Haim, eight years. And

so for eight years, they're stuck in servitude.

After Egypt, 430 years. After the wilderness,

learning their lesson, after following Moses

and then Joshua, after Joshua took them to the

promised land, all the pictures that they had,

one of those battles that they were in, they

couldn't stop the enemy from fleeing away, and

God rained meteors, giant rocks from the sky

to crush that army. So conclusive was it that

God had ordained what they were supposed to do

and miraculously intervened on their behalf so

many times, and yet here we are, very few generations

later, as we're going to see in a moment, This

people marrying their sons and daughters off

to not God's people. And so God gives them up

again to slavery. God says, I guess 430 years

wasn't enough. Our people, my people, did not

learn their lesson. So you want to be married

to falsehood, to idolatry, to adultery, to sin,

to wickedness that's supposed to be wiped off

the face of the earth? Fine. Do what you want.

Here you go. And he sold them into the hands

for eight years. Now we already know because

we've already looked at the pattern that there

is a pattern. Every time they get into wickedness,

they cry out to God, God responds. It says in

verse 9, And when the sons of Israel cried to

the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer. The

word there could be translated judge, but it's

not. It is a word that literally means a savior.

Somebody brings you out of bondage. Remember,

he sold them into the hands of Christian Rishabhaim.

And now God... raises up a deliverer, a savior,

if you will, for the sons of Israel to deliver

them. And it is Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's

younger brother. And the Spirit of the Lord came

upon him, and he judged Israel. And again, that

word there could be judged, but really it's best

translated as savior. He saved Israel. And when

he went out to war, the Lord gave Kishon, king

of Mesopotamia, into his hand. so that he prevailed

over Kishon Rishab Haim. Then the land had rest

forty years, and Athnel, the son of Kenaz, died.

That takes us through verse 11. So did you catch

it? Did anybody see what was just brought up

that was preluded, that was pointed to previously

in the book of Judges, but we have not yet studied

it? Has anybody read the chapter 1 and 2 of the

book of Judges since we started studying them

a month ago? This guy, Othniel, is mentioned.

He's not only mentioned in Judges, but he's also

mentioned back in Joshua, I think it's 15. And

so, if you just look briefly, we're not going

to read it, but if you just look briefly back

at chapter 1, as they were getting things going,

right? Iron chariots, oh no, we're afraid, right?

Then they're going to take certain places, places

conquered, places that were failed to be conquered,

and so on. And there's a story of Othniel. The

story is, Caleb says, whoever can conquer debris,

I'll give my daughter. And Othniel steps up and

goes and conquers debris. Caleb gives... Her

name is... I forgot how to say her name. Ak -Shah,

something like that. Anyway, gives her to Othniel.

And then Othniel goes to start to rule that land.

She's not content with the land. She goes back

to her father and says, hey, can we have water?

We've got a good land, but it doesn't have water.

And so then he gives her the high and the low

springs. The land that they inherit is called

the Negev. We studied that when we went through

the story of David. The Negev, the low, fertile

land of the promised land. Now that's not the

story for today. But the point is, he's preluded.

This guy, he's had an experience. Remember why

the people, I just told you today, remember why

the people still surround the Israelites? Why

did God put them there? The ones that still surround

the Israelites. Big long parentheses. Say that

again? Kind of, right? So that they could be

familiar with conquering. So they could be familiar

with fighting. This is a generation that did

not go through the wars. Right? So the people

that were around, it says that he left them there.

So that they could know, it was in verses 1 and

2 of chapter 3. Let's go back and see it real

quick. That is, all who had not experienced any

of the wars of Canaan, only in order that the

generation of the sons of Israel might be taught

war. Those who had not experienced it formerly.

That's why they were there. Well, guess what

Othniel already knows? He already knows war.

He already knows the lessons of God. He knows

the lesson that God left these people around

them to learn. He knows that lesson because he's

already been there. So Othniel then is called

out to rescue, to save God's people. Okay, so

we're going to work through the text. A few things

I want you to see here and then the conclusion.

So the first thing is this. Unfaithfulness to

God is the ultimate defeat because it is God

who brings the victory. So in other words, if

you're in the worst times of your life, things

are coming against you. and your finances are

getting hit, your health is getting hit, your

relationship, whatever it is, something, you

might go down the list, but everything is falling

apart. If your faithfulness holds, you win. If

you go to unfaithfulness, either to solve the

problems, or because you're frustrated, because

you're tired, because you're worn out, because

you're beat up, maybe you've got nothing left.

You barely can take another breath. Tears are

streaming down your face. You've got nothing

left. And in that moment, If you cry out to God

in faithfulness and stay faithful, you win. That's

it. And if you instead choose to go to unfaithfulness

to try to solve the problem, you lose. There

is exactly one measure that God is looking for.

It is faithfulness. That's it. Let your yes be

yes, your no be no. Show up. Do the work. Serve.

Share the gospel. When people are about to be

killed for their faith, and sometimes they are

killed, Right? You will hear them profess the

gospel. Why? Because they understand that if

they stay faithful in that moment, they win.

Why will martyrs not just renounce Christ and

not get the bullet to the brain? Why will they

not just say, well, I don't want to be burned

alive today, so I'm just going to walk away,

right? Because won't grace cover that? But what

we're learning from this text and the book of

Judges already is that unfaithfulness to God

is the ultimate defeat. It is where victory goes

to die. Everything you've ever overcome, every

success you've ever had, that time when you went,

oh man, I'm changing. God's making me somebody

new. I'm doing better. I really made a good decision

here. I'm praising the Lord today because I'm

a different person than I used to be. All of

that goes in the garbage can when you decide

you can do it better than God can. Unfaithfulness

to God is the ultimate defeat because it is God

who brings the victory in the first place. Selling

your birthright to appease your passions. Basically,

God wants to hand you the kingdom of God. He

wants to fully give you the keys. He wants to

take you home to heaven for eternity. And you're

going, but here's this stuff. Here's this thing.

Here's this problem. Here's this pressure. In

times of relative peace, peace itself becomes

a weapon of the enemy. In times of relative peace,

peace itself becomes a weapon of the enemy. Because

in other words, you want what you want. I need

it quiet in here. I need you to solve this problem.

I need you to do what I told you to do. I need

you to step up at the right time. And then they

don't, and your peace is damaged. So you fix

it. You blow up. You get mad. You steal. You

lie. You do the things that people can do to

solve problems and you think, well, grace will

cover it or whatever. In times of relative peace,

peace itself becomes a weapon. Understand that

they were at peace. They were not conquering

the lands around them anymore. They had stopped

fighting because God had already said He wasn't

going to do it. Right? There are people living

in and amongst them and they've got pretty girls.

I'd like to have a pretty girl. I think I'll

take a bride from amongst... The Hivites. Right?

She's clearly welcoming. And I don't have an

Israelite woman right now. Nobody's welcoming.

So I'll take one of these. Right? Or vice versa.

Right? An Israelite woman, a young person, says,

Dad's got three daughters. And he says, Here

is an Israelite man, but he's not asking. He's

not after any of my daughters, or only one of

my daughters has a suitor. And here I can get

5 ,000. or I can get sheep and cattle and whatever,

right? So I'll accept that dowry from Philistine

and then I'll sell my, I'll basically give in

my daughter. And yeah, I know that's me. She's

going to have to worship Dagon, you know, but

we're kind of already doing some of that anyway.

It's not really different, right? All paths lead

to God, right? It's all fine. And they sold their

daughters. Or they bought lives from amongst

those people that they were not supposed to be.

Why? For peace. For the sake of peace. The argument

goes something like this. What will it hurt?

God has allowed it to exist. All things in moderation,

right? You can do anything as long as you don't

overdo it. Just a little won't hurt. Others are

doing it, etc. And then notice that a myriad

of individual decisions. This is how righteousness

bleeds to death. One little thing after another.

One little compromise. One little step. It might

be a sin, but I did repent right afterwards and

I was cleansed of all unrighteousness and all

is good, right? And then the next time, it's

that much easier to do what you've already done

again. And then again. And again. And righteousness

suddenly is bleeding out on the floor. There

is no scale like this for measuring what's good

or bad in life. There is walking with God and

being found faithful. Notice, I understand that

this is a national direction of the Israelites.

This is not one person, one family, or one church,

or one local body of worshipers that didn't have

synagogues yet by that time. One group of people

worshiping God is talking about the country.

But each individual was making decisions letting

their own righteousness bleed off and the country

then as a whole was going away from God. I understand

that this book is talking about a national direction,

but I also see it is a good illustration of how

we can, number one, make many seemingly small

decisions and completely submit to intermingling

with the enemy. Each thing looks pretty small.

And before you know it, you're so mixed up with

them that you can't tell the difference between

them and you. Moreover, eventually we find ourselves

fully participating in defiling worship practices.

So we come to church still because that's just

the right thing to do. But we get excited about

football or our hobbies. We raise our voices.

We're willing to talk and shout. Stand up. Go

spend our money. Commit ourselves. We're willing

to go after those things. We're willing to declare

the worth of those things. Stand around talking

about what we care about. But then when you look

at the same kind of living for Jesus and you

compare, are we talking about what we care about?

Or are we talking about something else? Are we

blocking out time seven days a week to spend

time in the Word? But do we watch TV seven days

a week? Do we spend time in the Bible app highlighting

verses, thinking about what God wants us to know

today? But do we play games and apps on our phone?

Do we take notes during the sermon about what's

important, what I should do this week, how should

I respond to this? Oh no, we don't do that. But

do we use a grocery list to make sure that we

get what we're supposed to buy at the store?

See, what happens is one small decision at a

time and pretty soon your participation with

that other way of living is so much that it's

literally defiling God and your relationship

with God. And God will not allow it. He will

sell you into the hands of the people that you

think are better than Him. That's what He'll

do. Notice also, it is a good illustration of

how we can or how our decisions compose more

than judgment for our nation. In other words,

if we as a country, as a whole, accept certain

things, and it gets to grow and it rises up,

then as a nation, we will be seen as not following

God, even though there may be people inside the

nation that's following God. For an era, and

I don't know how long it was, but it's going

away now. Maybe it's coming back now, actually,

but it was going away pretty bad for a while,

and it may go away well again. But for an era,

The United States of America was known as a Christian

nation. And they would say that 96, 97 % of Americans

profess to be Christian. That is not true anymore.

But be aware that once upon a time, England was

known as a Christian nation. In fact, the Church

of England still exists today. You go to downtown

London and you can take a tour. And on the first

stop of the tour, you put the earpiece in and

it will explain to you the gospel. That's a government

entity. Right? And you sit there and listen to

the gospel of Jesus Christ and what Christians

believe. Everybody that tours London that goes

to Westminster Abbey hears the gospel in their

ear on a recording. But by last count, less than

15 % of England was calling itself Christian.

A hundred years ago, 88 % of men from England,

wherever they were in the world, went to church,

participated in an active group worship service,

and served in the church three times a week.

Not two, like Sunday morning, Tuesday night.

Three. Three services a week. 88 % of the men.

And now, not even 15 or whatever, 15, 20 % of

England would profess to be Christian. And less

than five. of England's men go to church three

times a week. We could be that. In fact, it's

been said that we are becoming that. And then

there is a revival happening and the Spirit's

pouring out and people are changing. The bottom

line is, our decisions compose more and affect

the judgment of our entire nation. If you don't

care what's going on on your block, in your neighborhood,

in your city, in your state, then you can guarantee

That unrighteousness will become the norm. You

can guarantee it. If they break into your neighbor's

house and steal your neighbor's stuff and you

watch the car pull up and the thieves go in and

the thieves come out and you don't call 911,

you can pretty much guarantee that sometime you're

going to come home and all your stuff is going

to be missing. If you don't stand up for what's

right with regards to marriage, or with what's

right with regard to anything that is laid out

in Scripture. God is the one who ordains those

things, not government. If we don't follow God

instead of government, then we need to realize

that eventually God's ways will be gone from

the earth. Now, God is big enough. He can handle

the fight. He does it here. He does it every

time. I understand that. But what will happen

is He will allow the church, such as we call

it, to be sold into the hands of the enemy. A

myriad of individual decisions. This is how righteousness

bleeds to death. One more in there. God, again,

in His great grace, in His mercy, sent a rescuer.

Now, this rescuer was qualified by an interesting

means. It was not that he married a godly woman,

although he did. He married a woman who followed

the Lord, submitted to Him, went back and asked

for water for their lands, took care of his lands.

He married a godly woman, and that's good. He

bravely completed a challenge wherein he had

to rely on the Lord, taking the lands that needed

to be still conquered, where really big people

lived, really dangerous people lived. Not the

original Goliath descendants, but very large,

very strong armies there. And he went in and

he took that land. So he completed a challenge

relying on the Lord. He had known fighting. He

was a warrior. He and the men of his family had

seen firsthand battle. Fighting on behalf of

God. He had received his wife from a very wise

and godly man. A man who had trusted God. So

his wife was trained in righteousness. He was

trained in righteousness. He had experienced

it all. And yet, it says, he was set upon by

the Holy Spirit and God made him victorious.

I don't care how good you are. If God doesn't

offer it, if God doesn't do it, if God does not

give the victory, you will lose. You may think

you are winning, but you will lose. This man,

who is probably better than any one of us, on

paper at least, received the Holy Spirit from

God for the specific purpose for which he was

called. And you and I need that. That brings

us to our conclusions already. The first one

is this. This story sounds a lot to me like fighting

temptation. Temptation is the fight that determines

the character of a man. And correspondingly,

a nation. And it comes gently. Even as a friend.

Offering options. You've got options. You don't

have to. Well, Jesus said, come follow me and

you'll be free. The truth will set you free and

you'll be free indeed. You'll be free with the

Son. You'll be free with me. Free in the kingdom

of God. So, can't you do this then? Why can't

you? Why won't you? Temptation comes. even as

a friend, offering options. It comes gently.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10, verses 11

1 Corinthians 10:11–13

-13 as follows. Now these things happened to

them as an example. It's talking about what happened

to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt

and eventually suffered in the desert. And they

were written for our instruction upon whom the

ends of the ages have come. That includes us,

by the way. Therefore, let him who thinks he

stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation

has overtaken you, but such as is common to man.

And God is faithful. God is faithful who will

not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are

able, but with the temptation will provide the

way of escape also so that you may be able to

endure it. Temptation comes. There are going

to be times where you're going to want to go

a certain way. And you're going to wonder whether

or not that way is a sin against God. And I say

to you that if you think for sure that it is,

don't go that way. And if you think it is possibly,

and you're not sure, find out first. Because

it is, as we've been talking about, unfaithfulness

that is the ultimate defeat. Temptation is the

fight that determines the character of a man

and correspondingly a nation. And temptation

comes gently, even as a friend offering options.

Notice in Matthew chapter 4, we won't go there

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

and read it, but the devil tempts Jesus. No weapons

are drawn, no punches thrown, no swords clanging.

Jesus even humors the devil to a point. The devil

suggests that Jesus solve his hunger problem

with a little flex of muscle. Would it even be

sin for Jesus to turn rocks into bread when he's

hungry after 40 days of fasting and the fast

is basically over? It seems like a perfectly

reasonable suggestion made in the time of relative

peace. They're not arguing. The devil's not cussing

him, striking him, crucifying him, nothing. He

just comes talking. And he says, why don't you

make these stones into bread? Jesus refuses.

He counters with a desire to receive provision

from God and God alone. And he says that an act

such as the one that Satan was suggesting would

have shown his priorities. The devil tries again.

He says, throw yourself down. Even the Bible

says angels will not allow Jesus to strike his

feet upon the ground or be hurt. Jesus says no.

He refuses. You shall not tempt the Lord. Lastly,

a flat out offer of power. If only Jesus will

worship even for a second. The devil. The devil

will give him all the kingdoms of the earth.

It's flagrant. You see, temptation has upped

its game. The devil is bold. He's swinging for

the fences. Because maybe he can get this guy

to worship him. That would be a real home run.

Now he's shown his true colors. And you know

what happens next. And Jesus said to him, Go,

Satan. For it is written, You shall worship the

Lord your God and serve him only. And the devil

left him. And behold, angels came and began to

minister to him. See, after the devil left him,

Jesus still didn't do it in his own provision

or power. God did it for him. What are you trying

to accomplish? What are your goals in life? Got

a dream? Got a career goal? Want to get something

done? Something that's been on your list for

a long time? Got a bill that needs paid? A problem

to overcome? What are you trying to accomplish?

Listen to me when I say to you that temptation

will come. And they may even say, you can do

it. You can overcome. You can do what you need

to do. When it comes silently, quietly, whispering

in your heart place, you say, go away and be

found faithful. Second thing, second conclusion

is this. Being unequally yoked is an access road.

Teenagers, listen up. This is huge, Curtis. Pay

attention. Jason, are you with me? Being unequally

yoked is an access road. The New Testament says

it this way, 2 Corinthians. Do not be mismatched

or unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what

do righteousness and lawlessness share together?

Or what does light have in common with darkness?

Or what harmony does Christ have with Belial?

That's another name for the devil. Or what does

a believer share with an unbeliever? Or what

agreement does the temple of God have with the

idols? For we are the temple of the living God,

just as God said. And then he quotes, I will

dwell among them and walk among them. And I will

be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore,

come out from their midst and be separate, says

the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean. And

I will welcome you and I will be a father to

you. And you shall be my sons and daughters to

me, says the Lord Almighty. Do you understand?

Girls, if you take a husband who does not know

the Lord the way you know the Lord, you'll pay

for your entire life and probably not wind up

in the kingdom of God in this lifetime. It doesn't

mean you'll lose your salvation. That's between

you and Jesus. But if you would take a husband

who does not know the Lord, or men, if you would

take a wife who does not know the Lord, you will

pay. That is an access road. I can tell you,

And I am blessed by the grace of God to have

a woman who claims Jesus as her Savior and serves

the Lord alongside of me. But I can tell you

with absolute certainty that if it were not so,

I would be terrified daily. Nobody exists inside

the armor that I put on daily like my wife does.

You know, understand, if you want to be found

faithful, if you want the blessings of God, if

you want the Holy Spirit at work in you daily,

if you want your spiritual gifts flowing forth,

if you want your fruit of the Spirit growing

out of you as it's supposed to, you can't have

inside you someone who does not know Jesus without

causing a lasting conflict. And so Jesus would

say, and Paul isn't quoting Jesus, but God says,

I will dwell among you and you shall be my people.

And he says, come out from their midst and be

separate. Paul says, do not be unequally yoked

with unbelievers. But we've talked about it for

marriage because that's what they were doing,

right? That's what they were doing in the era

of the judges. They were marrying people who

did not have an equal yoke with them to God.

Now, even though they were doing some false worship

too and so on, right? So I'm not saying that

you're perfect in Christ. I'm not saying that

you're perfect in Christ. But the woman that

you marry or the man that you marry had better

be at least where you are. And the truth is,

if they're way ahead of you, let's say if they're

very spiritually grown ahead of you, you also

should not marry them. Because that's still unequally

yoked. So you need to come to a point where you

can get the two of you understanding certain

things that God teaches so that you can be equally

yoked. I remember when RJ was a very young Christian.

And Alicia had all this background in the Bible

and stuff. And RJ was playing catch -up and faithful

to try to do so, to try to balance that out because

he became a Christian after they were already

married. I've seen it so many times. Men sit

in my office and talk in confidence. It's not

gossip, it's just incompetence about the relationship

they have with their wife. Or women sit in my

office with the door open and somebody's nearby,

but sit in my office and talk about the relationship

they have with their husband because they're

unequally yoked. You can't do it easily. The

person that is not knowing the Lord as much will

wind up choking because they're straining backwards

against the yoke. And the person that knows the

Lord is choking because they're pushing forward

and they're trying to do the things that God

wants them to do. So what? So what do you do?

What if it's your family? Not your husband or

your wife, but your family. Your brother, your

sister. Your mother, your father, in this lifetime.

That's what happened to Jesus. At roughly 30

years old, Jesus came out and began his public

ministry. And his mother did not believe him,

which is pretty amazing, isn't it? Because she

was there at the virgin birth. She noted what

God was going to do through him. But then as

he came out and became public about he was the

Messiah, the anointed one, he was God in the

flesh. And he was teaching the gospel and standing

firm on the truths of God. She didn't believe

him. And James didn't believe him, his own brother.

They said, Jesus has gone nuts. And they're going

to kill him. Because he's ordaining himself a

king. Because he's calling himself a leader,

a lord, a messiah. In Matthew 12, verses 46 to

Matthew 12:46–50

50, Jesus said, this is what happens. It says,

While he was still speaking to the crowds, behold,

his mother and brothers were standing outside

seeking to speak to him. Someone said to him,

Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing

outside seeking to speak. You see, what happens

is they had come to take him home, to get him

out of what he was doing. But Jesus answered

the one who was telling him and said, Who is

my mother and who are my brothers? And stretching

out his hand toward his disciples, he said, Behold,

my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the

will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my

brother and sister and mother. So Jesus said,

in this lifetime, there will be this trouble.

In fact, elsewhere he said, I did not come to

bring peace but a sword, right? And he went on

to say, child and mother and father and brother

and sister and families will be torn apart by

the gospel. And so that peace that we're looking

for, that you can find when you embrace the lifestyle

and the sinful choices and the ungodliness of

your family, that peace is no peace at all. That

is a surrender. That is you surrendering your

faithfulness. Because there is a call to you

to stick close to Jesus and hold on to your faithfulness

regardless of people very close to you not walking

in the faith the way you know must be done. Now,

it's not sitting around judging them, saying,

oh, well, that way they must not be saved. We

stop short of that. Judge not lest you be judged.

But we can judge the actions and know that they're

wrong. Now, if they profess outwardly and say,

no, I'm not saved, then you can take them at

their profession. But guess what? That might

not even be true. That could be an evil spirit

in them saying that they're not saved when, say,

20 years ago, they accepted Jesus Christ as Lord

and Savior in earnest, but they have so far walked

away from their faithfulness to God that they

don't look like a Christian and they don't feel

like a Christian and they're saying they're not

a Christian. And then on the flip side of that

coin, you have people who seem to be faithfully

living for the Lord saying they're Christian

all the time. Who may not actually be. You can't

judge that. God has to judge that. But when you

have a close family, cadre member, friends, business

partners, whatever, who are not living for the

Lord, Jesus said, you have to have a line. And

they're not in. And so what do you do when it's

your wife, when it's your husband, when it's

your friend, when it's your best friend, the

person that's been your friend your whole life,

your brother, your sister, your mother, your

father, what do you do? Jesus said, well, you

have new people to replace them in the kingdom

of God. You stand with the people in the kingdom

of God who stand with Jesus. Why? Because the

ultimate defeat would be found in unfaithfulness.

Because if you hang all the time with people

who don't love God, who don't go chasing after

God, who don't go following after Jesus, then

you will see temptation more and more comfortable

for yourself. In Luke 9, 59 -62, there was a

man with an interesting perspective on this.

And Jesus corrected him. He says this, Jesus

said to another, follow me. So he said to the

man, come follow me. So he's calling him as his

disciple. God in the flesh calling him to come

follow him. But he said, Lord, permit me first

to go and bury my father. Apparently his dad

had just died. And he said to Jesus, I'll do

it. I'm going to commit to you fully. But permit

me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus

said to him, allow the dead to bury their own

dead. But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere

the kingdom of God. So Jesus said there will

always be people in the world. who are not Christian,

who are not following God. What percentage of

people is it? I don't know. But what he said

was, to some degree, when there are major things

to be taken care of, they need to take care of

their own stuff. Do you understand that when

you take care of the problems of people who are

dead in their trespasses and sins, again, you

cannot judge who's dead in their trespasses and

sins. That's not your job, right? But when you

step up and you spend your resources, kingdom

resources, your flesh, your blood, whatever,

to solve their earthly problems, there is no

bottom to the well. At the very least, there's

a big crack, a hole in the bottom, and everything

you pour in drains out the bottom. And then you

put more in, it'll drain out the bottom. You

put more in, it'll drain out the bottom. You

could go so far as taking every kingdom resource

you have and putting it in their well, and one

second later, they will be completely and utterly

impoverished and have nothing. You can pay their

rent, they'll have nothing. You can pay their

bills, they'll have nothing. You can take care

of their health, they'll have nothing. Because

they are unsaved. lost in their trespasses and

sins. They are dead in their trespasses and they're

not alive. Nobody has anything unless they're

alive. Right? A dead man goes to the grave. What

has he got? He had a car the day before. He had

a house the day before. He had food the day before.

When he goes to the grave, what has he got? A

dead man has nothing. And if you give a dead

man everything and do not give him Christ, he

has nothing. And so he's saying, let the dead

bury their own dead. Now, he's not saying, Don't

go to funerals. He's not saying don't love the

people around you. Love your neighbor as yourself.

He's not saying love everybody you possibly can.

Even love your enemies. So he's not saying don't

try to lead people to Christ. And elsewhere in

a moment we'll see that he's not saying withdraw

completely from everything that goes on in the

world. But he is saying very completely kingdom

first. Kingdom people first. Your brothers and

sisters in Christ first. Just after that, 61,

it says, Another also said, I will follow you,

Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those

at home. All he wanted to do was say goodbye

to his loved ones. But Jesus said to him, No

one after putting his hand to the plow and looking

back is fit for the kingdom of God. You understand?

He wasn't even allowed to go back and make niceties.

Jesus was calling him. How many times have we

said from right here in the pulpit, when you

know what it is that God wants you to do, Lock

it in. Act now. We have an invitation so people

can come forward and say, I'm living for the

Lord. I want to do what it is God wants me to

do. I want to get baptized. I want to join the

church. I want to serve in this ministry. I want

to tell this person. I want to stand up and be

found faithful. I'm going to tie it like I'm

supposed to. Whatever. Lock it in. And if you

won't lock it in and you turn and look back and

think about it for a little bit, it's all gone.

A pillar of salt. All gone. And Jesus said, no

one after putting his hand to the plow and looking

back is fit for the kingdom of God. And he said

that with regards to a man who just wanted to

say goodbye to his family before going to follow

Jesus. The world will go on around us and will

even invite us to join them, but the more we

realize that God's kingdom must be our priority,

must be our methods, and our sustenance, the

more we will be certain of our identity and empowered

to victory. One last conclusion, and it's got

parts. It is this. The character of the kingdom

of God must be not of this world. The character

of the kingdom of God, by the nature of God,

in order for God to reign over the kingdom of

God, it must be not of this world. John 18, 33

-37, Jesus is before Pilate. He's about to be

crucified. Well, taken away, beaten, and some

more things, and then crucified. He says, Are

you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, Are

you saying this on your own initiative? Or did

others tell you about me? Pilate answered, I

am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief

priests delivered you to me. What have you done?

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world.

He didn't die, go to heaven, send the Holy Spirit,

and suddenly the kingdom became of the world.

He said, My kingdom is not of this world. If

my kingdom were of this world, then my servants

would be fighting so that I would not be handed

over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is

not of this realm. There it is again. Therefore

Pilate said to him, So you are a king? Jesus

answered, You say correctly that I am a king.

For this I have been born, and for this I have

come into the world, to testify to the truth.

Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.

If you would just read those verses right there,

you know everything you need to know about the

kingdom of God to know with absolute certainty

that the character of the kingdom of God must

be at all times, when you are at the wheel, when

you are sound asleep, when you are flying high

as a kite and super excited for the awesome things

that have been happening, and down and depressed

and anxious as hurting as you ever are, the kingdom

of God must be not of this world. It must also

be unadulterated. So while it is not of this

world, it also must not be mixed in. Some years

ago, I don't even remember when, probably five,

eight years ago, I bought some puzzles at a flea

market. And they came sealed in plastic bags.

There's about 500 pieces in the bag. And they

were pretty small pieces, about 500 pieces in

the bag. And then it was like a blister pack,

and there was a line, and then there was another

bag. And then there was a line. And there was

another bag. There was three puzzles. And each

one had about 500 pieces. Didn't come with a

box. Don't know what the picture was supposed

to be. That's bad. Ever tried to work a puzzle

with no picture? No idea what it was supposed

to be. That makes it really hard. Then one of

my beautiful young daughters, it was Alicia or

Molly, I don't know which one, was playing in

the playroom and opened all the puzzles and mixed

them all together. At which point in time, there

was nothing left to do but to throw them in the

garbage. That's not impossible. It is not impossible

for someone to sort out those three puzzles and

work those puzzles. I don't know how long it

would take, but it would be possible to work

three 500 -piece puzzles all mixed together with

no pictures knowing what they are. That would

be possible. But it sounds a little bit like

a miracle. And they went in the garbage, and

we never tried. I worked a lot of puzzles in

my day. We never tried. I submit to you that

the kingdom of God must not only be not of the

world, but also must be not mixed in with the

world, so that while you are walking right next

to somebody who does not know Jesus, it is very

clear that you know Jesus. Now, how is that accomplished?

You must exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. You

must speak out. Stand up. Serve. Do what no one

else would do. Be so different than when you

are walking right along, working right along,

talking with somebody who is not of the kingdom

of God that the differences are stark. I have

a friend who when we were living in Michigan

and wanted to come back to Toledo, nobody in

the church, and I'm not saying they had to or

needed to or whatever, we were doing what we

thought we were supposed to do, nobody in the

church volunteered for us to spend the nights

at their house on Saturday night. Nobody had

to. Not required. But my atheist friend who did

not know Christ and was certain, positive, that

there was no God, prepared a bedroom in the back

of his house where no one else would stand, nothing

else. He took everything out of it, got on like

a guest room, and went out and bought, wait for

it, a comforter that cost $400. Remember that

comforter? Right? Where he slept in central air,

which we didn't have. in our house in Ohio at

that time. And we couldn't stay at our house

in Ohio at that time because it was rented out.

We couldn't stay there. So we stayed in that

room. He would go to the store before we showed

up and buy all the foods that we liked. He's

a bachelor. He hardly ever ate at home. He would

just get fast food every day because he didn't

cook. But he would buy cookable foods and store

them in the house. So when we arrived, The comforter

was waiting. The central air was waiting. And

foods were in the kitchen. And he would buy foods

that Alicia and Amalia liked. Amalia was like

three and a half. Alicia was older. But foods

that they would like. Even though they weren't

going to stay with us, they were going to stay

with their grandmother. But he would buy foods

just on the off chance that they would show up.

And he's an atheist. And so when you tell that

story and you talk about how most Christians

act in life thinking about other people, caring

about other people, going the extra mile, what

do you got to be to stand out walking next to

that guy? There are a lot of pretty nice people

in the world. And you must not be like them.

You must be something so much more Christian,

so much more sharing life. And the easiest way

to get there is to start talking about Jesus

so that you stand out. So that people know for

whom you stand. 1 Corinthians 5, 6 and following

says this. Your boasting is not good. He was

correcting the church. Do you not know that a

little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?

He's talking about sin and the effects of it

and how it's spread throughout the church. He

said, clean out the old leaven so that you may

be a new lump just as you are in fact unleavened.

For Christ, our Passover, also has been sacrificed.

Therefore, let us celebrate the feast not with

old leaven nor with leaven of malice. It means

like hatred or meanness toward people, wickedness,

but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

In other words, live your lives, walk in sincerity

and truth, unadulterated, not mixed with the

world, not blending in. So I wrote you in my

letter not to associate with immoral people.

I did not at all mean with the immoral people

of this world. In other words, he's saying I

didn't mean you have to step out of the world

and not know anybody who doesn't know Jesus.

This is or with covetous or swindlers or with

idolaters. But then, You would have to go out

of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not

to associate with any so -called brother if he

is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolatry,

or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler, not

even to eat with such a one. For what have I

to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge

those who are within the church? But those who

are outside God judges. Remove the wicked man

from within yourselves. The martyr who will not

compromise in the least. That's who Jesus was.

And we call ourselves Christians. Little Christs.

That's who we are. The Bible says, you shall

be my witnesses, Acts 1 .8. And the word there

is martyro. It is the same word that can be translated

as martyr. Final illustration, a couple of verses

and we're done. When Polycarp... One of the early

church fathers was 86 years old and had served

Jesus his whole life, ever since he'd become

a Christian. They were threatening to burn him

if he would not pledge allegiance to Caesar.

Now, not worship Caesar. I'm not talking about

worshiping Caesar. He wasn't required to do that.

He wasn't required to give anything to Caesar.

All he had to do was swear fealty and say, As

ruler of the land in which I live, I recognize

you as lord or boss of my life. That's all he

had to do. Polycarp said no. He said, 86 years

have I served him, and he has done me no wrong.

How can I blaspheme my king and my savior? The

crowd grew angry. The wood was piled high. Polycarp

was to be burned at the stake. The judgment came

down. As the soldiers prepared to nail him to

the post so he could be burned at the stake,

he told them it was unnecessary. He said, leave

me as I am. He who gives me the strength to endure

the fire will enable me to remain here without

moving. And as the flames rose, witnesses said,

he stood like a pillar, unshaken, unwavering,

faithful until the end. He did not even try.

To fight the fire. But Polycarp is not our standard.

He's not our standard. Rather, Jesus is our standard.

Jesus was Polycarp's standard. Jesus, who for

the joy set before him, Hebrews... 12 .2 says

it this way, Therefore, since we have so great

a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also

lay aside every encumbrance. That means anything

that would slow you down from being faithful

to God, that would stand in your way, that would

hold you back in any way. Lay aside every encumbrance.

And the sin, which so easily entangles us. And

let us run with endurance the race that is set

before us. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author

and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before

him endured the cross, despising the shame, and

has sat down at the right hand of the throne

of God. For consider him who has endured so much

hostility by sinners against himself, so that

you will not grow weary and lose heart. It doesn't

say consider your situation. It doesn't say consider

your options. It doesn't say consider well, hell,

success, even teaching. But consider Him. If

we had a set of rules exactly laid out for us,

and if that's how a person could get to heaven,

then some folks would get the old college try,

get pretty close even. But we don't. You cannot

get to heaven by following the Ten Commandments.

You cannot get to heaven. by following everything

that is written in Scripture, unless, of course,

you will realize it all points to Jesus Christ

our Lord and put him first before everything.

This is why every opportunity when I hear, when

I see people being entreated to bury this just

this little bit, to take just a little bit from

the world, to enjoy just a little bit, it's why

I pray heartily about whether I can, whether

my family can, whether we can place off all.

It's why I pray and fast about whether I can,

whether our church can have a gaming ministry.

It's about how I prayed. The year before I coached

baseball, one year I coached baseball when Aaron

was U12 and there was going to be no coach, I

went to Sherry and she and I prayed and fasted

some together and I fasted separately and we

prayed and fasted as to whether or not I could

say, okay, I'll coach baseball. Because everything

that you can get from this world, much of what

you're allowed to have, much of it you're supposed

to have, but it has to come through God. And

if it comes by some other means, then all you're

doing is turning rocks into bread. And if you're

turning rocks into bread, then you've forgotten

that man does not live by bread alone, but by

every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Do you know why the earth still spins? Do you

know why the sun still shines? Do you know why

the rain still falls? Because God has not yet

uttered that very next word which will bring

it all to an end. I get it. Lost people don't

understand that. But you tell me who is closer

to getting it right. Polycarp? Or the 88 % of

Christians in the United States of America that

confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior on the

annual census? And then only 30 to 35 % of them

show up in church at any time during that year.

The world's population that professes Christ,

but there's a statistic that says that not 15

% of professing Christians, I got that wrong,

I'm sorry, 15 % of the people of the world can

name more than one of the Ten Commandments. I'm

telling you, we've got to follow Jesus. And you

need to realize that unfaithfulness to God is

the ultimate defeat because it is God who brings

the only victory. A myriad of individual decisions,

this is how righteousness bleeds to death. God

has sent a rescuer, and because of that, we are

to recognize that temptation takes many forms.

Being unequally yoked is an access road. And

we cannot be of the world or even mixed with

it. Take heed, those of you who stand. As I look

around this room, I see a lot of people who profess

the name of Jesus. I think they're standing in

Christ. But you know better than I do. And the

Bible says, he who would stand, take heed, lest

he fall. I ask the praise team to come forward

at this time and lead us in a closing hymn. Wherever

you may be, whether you're dialed in on Facebook

or you hear this in the podcast or you're sitting

in the room right now, I'm asking you to think

about your walk with Christ. And if you'd say,

man, I'm just barely in. Just barely faithful.

You just need to realize that's just not it.

That's not walking with Christ. It's just not.

If you'd say, well, I'm pretty far in. I've come

a long way. I am a fighter like Othniel. A lion

of the Lord, I have done great things because

God has made me able. But of late, I have let

the silent creeping of temptation slip in and

I've become an adulterated Christian, partly

Christ follower, partly world participant. And

I would ask you today to repent and have him

as Lord and realize that someday you or I might,

like Polycarp, have to say, I will not bow.