Treading On Mercy Judges 2:11-20

This is the sermon title and reference from last

week, but I'm not going to preach the same sermon

I preached last week. I might sometime, if the

Lord so let, but not today. Before I begin, I

just want to kind of tell you, I did go this

week. Like most of you know, I was out of town.

I did go to the annual meeting for the Southern

Baptist Convention. Much went on there. My experience

was largely airports. Driving a rental car in

heavy traffic, walking a lot, voting about 60

to 70 times on various issues, listening to some

pretty good debating on various issues. My feeling

is that we, as Southern Baptists, even though

there are controversies, we are stronger than

ever, that our convention is stronger than ever.

And part of that is because with the controversies

that are going on in the world, God's people

are being drawn to stick close to God's word.

And that is something. And that is something

that we also should be a big part of. Today's

actual sermon title, which will probably be coming

up in a second, is Treading on God's Mercy. And

it does come from, grab your Bibles, take a little

breath, Judges chapter 2. Amen. Thank you for

Judges 2 · chapter mention

those of you who participated. Feel free to be

bold. This is God's word. This is what we trust

to be true. Whatever I get right or get wrong

in the next 45 minutes, 40 minutes or so, or

less possibly, God will get it right. God's word

is solid. And so if you allow yourself to be

affected by what we're about to read, then you

will be affected by what we're about to read.

Before we begin to read it, I want to share with

you an illustration. During World War II, the

Germans forced many 12 - and 13 -year -old boys

into the Junior Gestapo. They were running out

of older men, and they forced a lot of boys,

ages 12 to 13, into what was called the Junior

Gestapo. These boys were treated very harshly,

given inhumane jobs to perform. When the war

ended, most had lost track of their families

and wandered without food or shelter. As part

of an aid program to post -war Germany, many

of these youths were placed in tent cities. Here,

doctors and psychologists worked with the boys

in an attempt to restore their mental and physical

health. They found that many of the boys would

awaken in the middle of the night screaming in

terror. One doctor had an idea for handling that

fear. After feeding the boys a large meal, he

put them to bed with a piece of bread in their

hands. while they were told to save it until

morning. The boys then slept soundly. The doctor

hypothesized that it was because after so many

years of hunger, they finally had the assurance

of food the next day. I submit to you, there

is maybe a deeper reason. And we're going to

look a little bit into it in Scripture today.

Judges chapter 2, beginning in verse 11, reads

Judges 2 · chapter mention

as follows. Then from there, Then the sons of

Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and

served the Baals. And they forsook the Lord and

the God of their fathers, who had brought them

out of the land of Egypt and followed other gods

from among the gods of the peoples who were around

them, and bowed themselves down to them. Thus

they provoked the Lord to anger. Let's stop just

there one second and make sure we understand

what's happening. So this is post -Joshua. This

is after they've settled in the land but not

conquered the full land. They have already begun

to wander. They've already been visited by an

angel, a messenger from God who told them to

knock that crap off. They didn't really repent

per se, but they recognized what they were doing

was wrong. They wept. And then the men who were

grown men who had seen the incredible things

that God had done stayed their course. And we

talked about last year. last year, last week,

about how that is supposed to be us. We're supposed

to say the course. But now we see that as those

men are gone, the people living in the land,

even though they know the stories of the incredible

things that God has done, they begin to serve

these false gods that were intermixed amongst

them. And they did not cast out the bad, the

people that were not supposed to be there. And

they no longer have their older generation to

kind of hold them to. So they forsook the Lord

and served the Baal and the Ashtoreth, verse

13 says. God's not pleased. If anybody ever tells

you that you should never be angry, you can tell

them that that's just not true. God gets angry.

Here it says that they provoked the Lord to anger.

Verse 14 then says, and the anger of the Lord

burned against Israel. And he gave them into

the hands of plunderers who plundered them. And

he sold them into the hands of their enemies

around them so that they could no longer stand

before their enemies. So what's happening here

is the Israelites are choosing to be disloyal

to God, the God that brought them into this land

of milk and honey, the God that did so many miraculous

things on behalf of their previous generations.

They've turned away from God. Now we see God

provoked to anger and God begins to allow them

to suffer defeat. Even becoming, in a sense,

an enemy himself to his own people. That's what's

actually happening. His people then get mastered

by other people. These other people are not God's

people. They do not follow God. Though they had

the opportunity to. Remember, all of these are

all descendants going back essentially to Noah.

So for a while, they did follow God. Esau, for

example. He wasn't a real godly man, but he certainly

would have declared that God was the only God.

But they all drift. God then takes away their

ability to stand before their enemies. That statement

right there scares me. more than anything. Because

if God removes from the church the ability to

stand before their enemies, we're going to be

in trouble. When we are losing, sometimes we

have to ask ourselves, is it because we have

played with other gods? Wherever they went, the

hand of the Lord, this is verse 15, wherever

they went, the hand of the Lord was against them

for evil as the Lord had spoken. and as the Lord

had sworn to them, so that they were severely

distressed. This is the amazing thing. They were

told in advance by God that if they played the

harlot with the false gods, they would suffer

like they are now suffering. They were warned,

maybe threatened, right? They were told they

would be cursed if they did not stay true to

the Lord. And now, just as God has spoken to

them, they have chosen not to stay faithful.

God is against them rather than for them. They're

still his people. But he is against them, it

says, rather than for them. It says he intended

them harm. He kept his promise this way. He told

them, I will do this to you if you ignore me

and go after the false gods. They were severely

distressed and in turmoil. And verse 16 says,

Then the Lord raised up judges who delivered

them from the hands of those who plundered them.

I want you to understand that theologically,

this he raised up judges thing is a very challenging

concept. Here in the scripture it says that the

judges, and we call them judges because they

supposedly sort of ruled and made decisions,

kind of like what Moses did, right? And what

Joshua did. But actually, when you read the stories

of the judges, you'll see that's not really what

they do. They become like rulers. They become

like military leaders. They lead God's people

out of this. They have a specific purpose. God

sends them to be saviors. It's said in verse

16 again, the Lord raises up judges who delivered

them from the hands of those who plundered them.

Now, why were those people plundering them again?

They're plundering them because God was not only

allowing it, but making it happen as he had told

them he would. So they're being plundered. Then

they begin to suffer so badly that God raises

up judges or saviors, if you will, as an example

of virtue to free them from the plunderers that

God himself had sent. God sent saviors. The worthless

false gods could neither plunder them. if God

wasn't allowing it, nor save them. Why? Because

these false gods essentially do not exist at

all. And if they have any power whatsoever, it

is because they are demons or evil spirits, which

God has already promised to protect his people

from, but because they are not walking, if you

will, in God's protection, they are now subjected

to the plunderers, and then they need the saviors,

which God sends. God could both plunder them

or save them. And he had told them that he would

do either one of those things based on whether

or not they were a faithful people to him. That's

what they were told. We read about it back in

Deuteronomy. Verse 17. Yet they did not listen

to their judges, for they played the harlot after

other gods and bowed themselves down to them.

So God sent saviors. Listen to the beautiful

symbolism of this. God sent saviors to tell them,

this is what you need to do. You've not been

doing it. That's why you're suffering from the

plunder. So now, here's what you need to do.

And yet, they still do not do it. Warned that

they would suffer. They are now suffering. God

sends saviors for them who tell them, knock it

off. Do it right. God will take care of it. And

still, They play the harlot after other gods

and they bow themselves down to them. They turned

aside quickly from the way in which their fathers

had walked in obeying the commandments of the

Lord. They did not do as their fathers. That

phrase there, to turn aside quickly, has been

oft studied, dug into, and whatever. It is to

say that they quickly were able to completely

commit themselves to this new course of action.

And without getting off on this tangent just

yet, understand that this is the capability of

humans. Have you ever been walking into a room

to do something and realized you needed something

that was in the room that you just left? And

you went, wait. You went back and got it. And

then you went, wait. And you went back into the

room and did what you needed to do, right? Have

you ever walked over to loosen a bolt? And as

you're walking toward loosening the bolt, you

go, oh, I need a wrench. And you turned and went

and got a wrench. Have you ever been going to

school and forgot your homework? Oh, I got to

go back and get it. Have you ever been doing

something? You're having a conversation. This

will probably hit a little close to home for

some folks. You're having a conversation. It

might even be kind of an important conversation.

You're on date night or something and your phone

rings and you're like, hold that thought. And

you check and see who it is. We are so capable

of turning when we're not actually supposed to

be turning. As soon as we figure out that if

we turn and get a certain result that it's available

to us, right? Somebody might be calling me. It

might be important. It's during the work day.

It could be a work call. Right? Or whatever.

All of a sudden, we turn quickly away from everything

that we're in. We're so quick at turning that

we forgot how to be where we are. And that's

what they did. Living in the promised land under

God's rule, they forgot how to be the people

of God in the promised land under God's rule,

receiving the blessings that God was sending.

You say, well, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't

turn away from receiving a blessing. Like somebody

is trying to give me something or tell me something

and it's going to be a blessing and I wouldn't

be distracted then. Are you sure? Have you answered

your phone when someone was talking to you about

something important? Have you been distracted

thinking about other things during the sermon,

during inspirational moment time, during the

worship songs? See how quick and easy it is for

us to turn? We say we are adamant, we believe

what we believe, we are who we are, but as soon

as an impetus comes, as soon as something comes

along that is a distraction or a temptation,

we have the ability to turn. Oh, but wait. Now

the plunderers have come, and the saviors have

come, and they're being called to turn. Being

completely capable of doing so, they're being

called to turn from the course of action that

they're on so that they can have what God would

rather for them, and yet they do not. They didn't

listen. They still played the harlot and bowed

down to them. And their doing so became the reason

that they didn't listen. They were following

Baal rather than God. The plunderers come. A

good thing comes. They probably said, you know

what? Yay, Baal saved us. Yay, we escaped our

torment. Yay, we got out of trouble. But they

would not turn back to God as they were supposed

to. They turned aside quickly from following

the commandments of the Lord. They did not do

what their fathers had done, being obedient to

God. Verse 18. When the Lord raised up judges

for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered

them from the hand of their enemies all the days

of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity

by their groaning because of those who oppressed

and afflicted them. So basically the people cried

out, Oh, this is horrible. We're suffering. They're

wet tears. We need help. They didn't say, God,

please help us. They just said, Oh, this is horrible.

The complaining and groaning was going on and

God loved them. And so God sent them a Savior.

Now, whether or not they followed the Savior

was still up to them. And did they? No. We've

already read they did not follow the Savior.

The Savior still saves, but they didn't follow

him. When God raised up judges, God intervened

for the judge because the judge was faithful

to God. That's compassion. And victory, or at

least escape, was given by God during the judge's

intervention. Now, this is a summary passage.

We'll see more detail later when we read other

chapters of the book. This happened because God

was moved to pity. by their groaning, which they

did because they were oppressed by the oppressors

whom God had sent. There is a pattern here that

we are meant not to follow. Verse 19, and we're

almost done with the text. But it came about

when the judge died that they would turn back

and act more corruptly than their fathers in

following other gods to serve them and bow down

to them. They did not abandon their practices

or their stubborn ways. Once the human saviors

died, the people would go right back to worshiping

false gods even more than before. Verse 20. So

the anger of the Lord burned against Israel and

he said, because this nation has transgressed

my covenant which I commanded their fathers and

has not listened to my voice. Because this nation

has transgressed the covenant that I made with

their fathers and has not listened to my voice.

I also will no longer drive out, and so on. The

worst that's going to come is going to come because

they would not. A few things I want you to see

in the text, and the first thing is, let us not

make any mistake. We see God sending plunderers.

Mostly these plunderers come from the surrounding

nations, largely Mesopotamia, which is very wealthy,

and they had a lot of powerful armies built up.

It's one empire into another, into another, and

so on. Even Syria and Assyria and Egypt, they're

persecuted by people all around them who have

built up strong armies. Now, the land of Israel

is very defendable. Jerusalem is built on a mountain.

It's only approachable from one direction. The

land of Israel is very defendable. There are

caves and mountain fortresses at that time. It's

very defendable. But God's people could not defend

themselves. It seems very bad. To be like, God

sends armies to plunder them and makes it so

that they can't stand against the armies. Man,

God is not nice. You see, the reality is, God

is merciful. God has a trait of withdrawing his

wrath even when people are completely worthy

of that wrath. Even when they deserve it completely.

You see, God sent the plunderers because they

were worshiping false gods. That's not good.

It's not good to worship false gods. It's not

good to give abeyance to a demon. Right? Because

even if by some chance that demon does something

for you, it is only to get you deeper stuck in

the evil that is part there. And to the point

that then, if you would later choose to do otherwise,

you're trapped in your own sin and wickedness.

You're stuck there. You lose the ability to turn

away. They deserved to be plundered. They deserved

worse. And then God sends the plunderers to stop

the progression of their sin. See, they were

doing worse and worse. You know, during the period

of time, while the plunderers were coming, people

would stay at home, or men would be part of the

army to try to fight off being plundered, right?

They're hiding out in caves. And during that

period of time, this wasn't actively going on

as much. Worship of the god Molech. The chief

worship service of the god Molech is where you

burn your firstborn child alive in the fire.

So, during the time that the plunderers were

coming, they were not burning their children

alive in the fire because the plunderers were

coming. Now, not because they thought it wasn't

the right thing to do, because as soon as the

plunderers were defeated by the judge, they went

back to that false worship. And that's one horrible

example of false worship, but there are a lot

of others. One of the reasons that Israelite

men were so led into the worship of Baal and

Asherah was because temple prostitutes were made

available so men could go and sleep with the

prostitutes to bring the rain on their crops.

So here's the deal. You're 22 years old, married

to your beautiful bride. She's home pregnant

with your oncoming child. And so she's a little

more round than normal. No problem. You can go

sleep with three or four prostitutes at the temple

because that's Baal worship. Or let's say you

have a little bit of a spat or argument with

your wife and you disagree on something. No problem.

You can go sleep with the temple prostitutes.

They're there for you 24 hours a day. Well, that's

not allowed in Christianity. I only get to be

with my wife in Christianity in God's way, in

the way that God would have us to do it. But

if you go sign on to other religions, other faiths,

you can do it. Even some faiths that claim to

be Christian. You can do whatever you want. As

long as you make it to confession before you

take communion, you'll receive the grace of God.

So you want to sleep around? Fine. Just make

sure you confess it and get it forgiven. Right?

Wrong! That is not what Scripture says. That

is not what the Bible says. Those are traditions

of men. Not what God says. And so they were pursuing

these young, exciting, lusty, demonic, And God

sent plunderers to stop it, to stop the progression.

You're sinking into hell while you are still

alive. And without the plunderers that he sent

the Savior, the judge, people would have thought,

well, we don't really need him. We've got Baal.

We don't need a judge. We don't need a Savior.

Right? We just keep, as long as we sacrifice

our firstborn son and daughter and sleep with

the prostitutes, everything will be fine. And

besides, it's fun. It's good. I never have to

worry about any frustration or stress anymore.

I can always take it out on whoever or get it

out by involving myself with temple activities.

These are wicked, wicked, horrible behaviors

that God's people should never lend themselves

to. And the plunderers came to stop the progression.

But then in stopping the progression, there was

much suffering. And God's people suffered. It's

horrible. Oh, woe is us. We're suffering so badly.

And God then had mercy on them. And He sent the

judges, the saviors, to provide solace, to provide

peace, to show the right way, just as He did

with Jesus 2 ,000 years ago. And then, instead

of turning to the Savior's way, instead of following

the example laid out by God, They continue with

the progression of the false worship, doing the

wrong things. Oh, well, what does this sound

like? It's what we have been doing, what mankind

has been doing for 2 ,000 years, as people have

been drifting. And you see their suffering, and

you realize that when soldiers, during World

War II, when the draft came up, and every man

of warful age had to be registered and would

go off to fight, right? And they were drafting.

hundreds of thousands of people were being drafted,

men, right? And while they were being drafted,

they were learning to fight. That wasn't great.

They were suffering. They were eating military

fare only. They were getting healthy. They were

getting sent off to war to fight, right? Meanwhile,

on the other side of the war, really horrible,

wicked things were taking place. But imagine

the progression if nobody does anything to stop

Adolf Hitler and his agenda. It spreads over

the whole world. And that kind of regime rules

the world and kills everybody that doesn't agree.

So, his progression was being stopped by American

armies and the Allied forces. At the same time,

in the United States of America, a number of

very bad things were progressing quite heartily.

The U .S. was doing things and false religions,

evil, wicked things were happening in... greater

numbers, but then as the draft comes in and all

these men are called off to war, the progression

stops. And the men who came home from war were,

by their nature, militarily, better character.

They learned things about honor and discipline.

Not necessarily got saved, although I'll submit

to you there were a lot of men who got saved

during World War II because they were called

up to fight. And a lot of Christian men went

up and they were sharing the gospel. And there's

what's called foxhole conversions. And it happened

a lot. And so the war stopped the progression

of that evilness. Of that wickedness. Right?

And who knows where we would be if it were not

for that. And it could happen again. It has happened

again in our lifetime. We have people here in

this room who have served in military conflict.

First hand military conflict. And we wouldn't

want that, but we also understand that that military

conflict was stopping the progression of wickedness

and evilness and therefore necessary. And at

the same time, God, throughout all of this, God

has sent a savior. There is a better way. And

this is what they did. They followed these young,

demonic, wicked ways. of religion rather than

returning to God. So God had mercy on them. Then,

when God sends the punishers, God is having mercy

on them, stopping the progression of wickedness.

Then God sends the Savior. He is having mercy

on them to show them that the choices that they

have made, they can turn from it and there is

great blessing to be had in the Lord. Then they

turn to wickedness. God sends punishers. So I

want you to understand that when God is sending

these people this horrible eventualities, horrible

circumstances, actually that is an aspect of

God's mercy. You would surely think so if you

were born a first child and maybe called up to

war rather than burned alive in the fire. Which

would you rather have? God's people were treading

on God's mercy. They turned quickly toward worshiping

Something that was absolutely wrong. Then they

receive a corrective sampling of God's wrath.

They were not destroyed utterly, which was probably

what they deserved. They received a corrective

sampling of God's wrath. They cry out in anguish.

And then God shows mercy again. The wrath is

a statement about sin. Jesus would ultimately

be subject to the worst culmination of God's

wrath. He would take the effect of all sin on

himself. The mercy is a testimony of God's character

and His willingness to spare humans the worst

of it. But as long as there are people of God

who won't turn to Him, there will be enemies

that those people cannot have victory over. I

submit to you that this realm that we are right

now discovering, the realm of God's people who

are tearing with, playing with, bowing down to,

messing with the idols of the world, that is

where The greatest victory for the enemy is.

The greatest victory is not in lost people, right?

Because they could still get saved. They could

get saved before they die. And they could go

to heaven. They have a victory at their disposal

through Jesus Christ. They could be saved. The

greatest victory for the enemy is certainly not

in victorious Christians doing what it is that

God would have them to do. That's no victory

for him at all. So the greatest victory for the

enemy is taking place on that middle ground where

Christians, supposed Christians, supposed people

who believe in Jesus are not following the Lord.

They're not. Rather, they're tearing with idols.

They're going after the things of this world

that entertain, that distract, that tempt. And

God then sends a lack of victory. And in some

cases, out of that lack of victory, they turn

to the Lord. But in many, they do not. As long

as there are people of God who won't turn to

him, there will be enemies of God that cannot

be beaten. That brings us to our conclusion already.

You and I can turn quickly. Just like they did.

You could be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ,

adamant follower. I'm a follower of Jesus. I'm

not going to back down. I'm going to stand firm.

I said I'm going to live for him for my whole

life, and I'm going to do that. And all it takes...

It's for the world to find that chink in your

armor, that thing that entices you. I really

want to see my children do well. I really want

to be able to pay my bills and not have to worry

about it. I really want my health to be what

it needs to be. I really want my relationships

to go in the direction they need to go. And the

enemy, by some worldly method, offers that to

you. And you and I know, we've already talked

about this, you can turn quickly. An excuse will

do it. A reason will do it. Logic will do it.

A better outcome will do it. It would be easy

enough for us to turn quickly. But you are forewarned

by God. Do not turn away from your Lord. He is

Lord. That means He tells you what to do and

you do it. You are forewarned. If you turn away

from God, you will be set upon by enemies over

which you cannot have victory. And you say, well,

that's not fair. That seems harsh. I'm telling

you, that is one of the greatest outpourings

of God's mercy. And we see it as bad during,

and we may cry out. We'll say, oh, save us. Oh,

help me. Oh, something. Somebody intervene. Please

give me what I need. And you may get it. But

if you do not, in that process, turn to the Lord,

you turn quickly away, reason, excuse, whatever

temptation, distraction came, you turn quickly

away. If you do not, in that moment, turn quickly

back to the Lord, then there is no lasting victory

or sustenance. You can turn quickly to the Lord.

You can turn quickly away from the Lord. And

His mercy does not mean that you can or should

stay the course in any form of false worship

or idolatry or turn when things are okay, while

things are going pretty good, to worshiping idols

or unrighteousness in any general sense. God

is taking care of me. Everything is fine. All

my bills are paid. All is good. Well, I can just

watch this. See that. Be part of that. Well,

now we should be able to know. The New Testament

standard of giving is sacrificial giving. Jesus

gave his life. You want to be like Jesus? Give

your life. We now live not for ourselves, but

for the one who died for us. So, when the opportunity

comes along to have something a little better,

first ask yourself, if the Lord so wills, should

I step up? Should I improve? Should I have more?

Should I spend my money that way? And if God

says something otherwise, then you do it God's

way. Always choose God's way. But the world will

continue to present to you as long as you watch

TV or do social media or go to work or go to

school. The world will continue to present to

you alternatives. And if you turn quickly to

one of them, you can expect that God will send

enemies to turn you back. Enemies that you cannot

defeat. And if when those enemies come, you cry

out to him, he will be merciful. And if he is

merciful, it does not mean that you have turned

back to him. It means, perhaps, he loves you

and is merciful. Know, then, that if you are

in anguish, right now, if you're going through

something, I can't fathom, I can't stand it,

I'm suffering, that you can cry out. And even

if that suffering is arising out of your wandering,

even if you deserve it because you did something

bad, God will still hear you as God's people,

and he will intervene. He is not going to solve

the problem of your faithfulness for you. That's

yours to solve. You need to turn back to God.

But he will step in for you if you believe, if

you trust him. So what is the problem? Why are

we not crying out? We say, oh, so this is the

great lie of the enemy. See, you didn't do exactly

what it is that God wanted you to do. So now

if you cry out to God, he's not going to listen.

That is a lie. If you are God's people, no matter

what your suffering, if you cry out to God, whether

it is suffering of your own making, if you cry

out to God, He will send a Savior. He will respond.

That's the word. That's what God, God is merciful.

He loves you. He's not trying to punish you because

you deserve punishment. You're getting it because

that's the way it works. Right? And he's stopping

the progression of your own wickedness. Cry out

to him and he will intervene. The problem that

we've got in this world then is we think that

Just once you believe the gospel, that settles

it. Once you accept, someone tells you the truth,

you go, yeah, that makes sense to me. Mentally

ascend to the truth that that's enough. And that's

not true. That isn't even how people got saved.

It's not how people get saved now. The word says

in Acts 13, 48, when the Gentiles, that's us,

by the way, but our predecessors a long time

ago, when the Gentiles heard this, they began

rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord.

Glorifying means shining a light on. Look how

awesome this is. And as many as had been appointed

to eternal life believed. What are you called

to do? Believe. And then in the Enlightenment,

hundreds of years ago, they began to say that

you can believe something without it affecting

your life. And I'm here to tell you that's not

true. If you believe it, it changes everything

that you are. If you believe that your car is

blue, every time you go to a parking lot, you're

going to look for a blue car. But if you believe

that your car is black and you own a blue car,

you're never going to find your car. Right? If

you believe it, you believe it. And it affects

everything that you are. And you turn quickly,

always turn quickly to the Lord. Never turn quickly

away from the Lord. Believe. That's what saves

people. That's what changes people. That's what

affects people. Believe. And then in the worst

times, in the sufferingest times, in the times

when you're really down and out, believe. Cry

out. Whether it's for the first time, Maybe you're

saying to Jesus, hey, I'm realizing today I did

not have you as Lord and Savior. I'm realizing

today I've not truly submitted my life to you.

Then cry out to the Lord. Whosoever calls upon

the name of the Lord will be saved. Say, okay,

Jesus, save me in earnest. I thought I was saved

before. I guess I'm not. Save me, Lord. Maybe

you say, oh, I didn't even think I was before.

I now know. He'll answer. He'll send a Savior.

He sent Jesus, and he'll send Jesus again into

your life if you cry out. Then you say, well,

I did cry out, but I see that I have a drift.

Turn back quickly. You can. Just the same as,

oh, my phone just rang. I've got to check and

see who that was. You can say, wait, Jesus is

saying, wait, Holy Spirit is saying, wait, the

Word says, I'm going to turn from that. Go home

today and throw away your rated R soft pornography

and live for Jesus as a righteous man. Turn quickly

to Jesus. Turn quickly to the God of the universe.

home today and look at your checking account

and make a serious decision about how much of

that money is really submitted to the God of

the universe. And if you can't physically daily

submit dollar after dollar after dollar, then

just write a check to the church for every penny

you got because it's the only thing that's going

to affect your soul. Submit to the God of heaven.

He created you. He owns you. If you're a Christian,

He saved you. You now live for Him, not for you

any longer. You're called to believe and to let

your belief affect you. And so you've wandered.

And you realize, hey, my suffering is part and

parcel because I wandered. And the enemy will

tell you that God doesn't care. God is punishing

you. God sent the plunderers into your life.

God is the one doing that. And so you're just

stuck with it. You've got to live with it. And

it's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie.

Even if God sent it, which it says He will, He'll

still send a Savior if you'll quickly turn to

Him. He'll still send a Savior. All you really

have to do is cry out. You don't even have to

turn to Him. You can get a Savior for free. Like

the red Ferrari. For free! Just cry out! But

the enemy is taking your voice. Because he's

making you think that God is not going to answer.

But He is. Even if you deserve what you're getting,

He's still going to answer. Psalm 46 .1 declares,

God is our refuge and strength, a very present

help in time of trouble. Psalm 34 .7 says, The

angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear

him and delivers them. This verse speaks of God's

protective presence and intervention in the lives

of those who honor him with reverence and obedience.

Turn quickly to the Lord. It's the righteous

cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out

of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the

brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed

in spirit. If you would say, ah, I'm broken,

I'm hurting, I'm struggling. God wants to save

you. And the next time, all you really have to

do is believe enough to cry out and then believe

he'll answer, which the word says he will. Psalms

91, 15 -16 says, He will call upon me and I will

answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I

will rescue him and honor him. With a long life

I will satisfy him and let him see my salvation.

Putting it a little more close to home, Jesus

said, John 16, 33, These things I have spoken

to you so that in me you may have peace. In the

world you have tribulation, but take courage,

I have overcome the world. John 14, 1 -3, Do

not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God.

Believe also in me. In my Father's house are

many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would

have told you. For I go to prepare a place for

you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will

come again and receive you to myself that where

I am, there you may be also. A traveler engaged

a guide to take him across the desert area. When

the two men arrived at the edge of the desert,

the traveler, looking ahead, saw before him trackless

sand swept by winds. There was not a single footprint

or a path or a marker of any kind. Turning to

his guide, he asked in a tone of surprise, Where

is the road? With a reproving glance, the guide

replied, I am the road. Jesus is the way. The

hadas. The way. It's the path of your life. The

road. He knows the answer to every decision you

will ever face. He knows that little outlet that

God always leaves when God allows temptation

to come into your life. He knows where that exit

exists, even if it's a secret door. Jesus is

the way. He is the guide. He is the road. He

is our way through unfamiliar territory. But

it is your perception that stops you from turning

to Him. There was a shoe salesman, a northerner,

New York, New Jersey, something like that. And

his company sent him to Africa. He suffered a

little culture shock when he got there and eventually

kind of got his feet under him and started trying

to sell shoes. That was his job. He sent back

a telegram. This was a while back. I want to

come home. Nobody wears shoes in this part of

Africa. Basically he said, my job is impossible.

I can't sell shoes. Nobody here wears shoes.

So they called him back. He came back to live

in America in the comfort of prosperity. Sell

shoes to Americans. Probably eking out a living

would be my guess. And they sent another salesman

to Africa. He shipped back order after order.

Eventually he wrote the home office as he reached

the top of the sales list. And he said, Everybody

here needs shoes. It's a question of how you're

going to look at it. If you're going to do for

yourself, if you're going to embrace the ways

of the world, if you're going to find comfort

in something that is offered to you, if you find

a good reason to go after something that is not

Jesus, no matter how good the reason, the logic,

or the wisdom is, if you find a good reason to

go after something, I submit to you, if you would

find a good reason to go after the Bible instead

of Jesus. Or church instead of Jesus. Or worship

instead of Jesus. If you find the best reasons,

you'll find the least hope. We are called to

believe. Paul Lee Tan writes this illustration

in the book. He says, Napoleon saw Italy, but

he didn't see the Alps. He had an objective and

knew where he was going. Washington saw the Hessians

at Trenton. A man of small stature would have

seen the Delaware choked with ice. The majority

of people that live see obstacles. Few of us

see the objectives. What is our objective? We

are meant to look like Jesus enough that people

can see Jesus in this lifetime and get saved.

That is our objective. Paying your bills? That's

not your objective. Should you? Sure, that's

good stewardship. It's the right thing to do.

Cooking your meals, not your objective. If it

comes down to following Jesus or eating, don't

eat, die. Because you'll starve to death, go

to heaven. Let's get our priorities straight.

Seek ye first the King of God, all these things

shall be added unto you. But it's the things,

they are the trappings of the false religions

of the world. And they are offered to our people.

And our people see them and begin to think that

they are the objective. But they are not. If

you die at 80 years old on your deathbed and

look back and you collected more stuff, talked

to more people, were listened to more than anyone

else, raised more children or grandchildren,

but did not know God, did not know Jesus Christ,

the Son of God, did not sow any fruits into the

kingdom of heaven, did not lead people to Jesus,

what will the next moment after your death look

like? You will be weeping in sorrow, wishing

you never had a car, wishing you never had a

house, wishing you never had a job, wishing you

never had a dollar, wishing you never had good

health. Because as the parable of the rich man,

and it's not even a parable, but the story, I

say that by accident, the story of a rich man

and Lazarus, not a parable, but a true story

of Lazarus. Lazarus goes to heaven, he's getting

all that he's getting. And the man goes to hell

and he says, you got everything in life. Because

he what? He turned aside and went after those

things. And I can assume that repeatedly God

showed him mercy, stopped his progression into

wickedness, and then again he showed mercy, and

then again he went into wickedness, and the cycle

continued as it might with you or it might with

me if we are willing to turn to the things of

the world. But we must not be because eventually

there will be no more turning. No more turning.

If you tread on God's mercy for this whole life,

it will eventually come down to you. You will

never turn again. Believe for souls saved. Believe

in a growing church. Believe in godly marriages.

Believe in men who stand firm for what's right.

Believe in prayer and worship that carries our

very concerns to the throne room of God. Believe

in crops that are white unto the harvest and

a body. that will work and go out into the fields

and bring them in. Believe in another generation

of God -fearing, loving New Heights members who

will treasure the God of miracles. Believe in

a hundred more children born to members of this

and future generations with a chance to reach

New Heights in Jesus, every one of them, because

we are serving God now and we will not stop.

God is not just in the business of rewarding

those who seek Him, although that is in His character.

Maybe you would rather call upon His mercy because

the young and attractive false gods of mankind

call you and you need only answer. And then when

it starts to go wrong and you face enemies you

cannot beat, you can just cry out to God for

mercy. But actually, we are called to faithfulness.

And we can turn to Him just as quickly as we

could turn to them. And we must. We must turn

to Him. And so if you're here today and you realize

that you have been lured, tricked, pulled, maybe

even by you, or by demons and evil spirits, or

worldly things, you think, man, I could be good

at that. And so you went after it. Think, man,

that'll be good for my kids. And so you went

after it. That'll be good for my career. And

so you went after it. If you've been lured by

worldly things, and you say, well, I never put

them over top of Jesus. That doesn't matter.

The Bible says you shall have no gods in my presence.

Right? That's what the King James means when

it says you shall have no other gods before me.

It doesn't mean on top of me or first in line.

It means in my presence. Understand that these

people, They did not say that God no longer exists.

In fact, historically, we see in the Dagon Temple

stuff attributed to God right next door. They

were still worshiping God. They just were also

carrying with the evils of the world. And you

and I cannot. Look at everything in your life,

and if it does not honor God, first and foremost,

above all, cut it out and say, I am living for

Jesus. is the impact of our belief. That is what

it means to no longer be treading on mercy. If

you realize you are treading on mercy, turn quickly

because you can and He is able to give you victory.

I ask the praise team to come forward at this

time and lead our closing hymn.