Guardians, We Are Judges 2:6-11

hand basket or going to hell in a hand bag or

going to hell in a hand cart. Any of those sayings?

So all of those are sayings that make reference

to things going poorly, getting worse. And when

you talk about going to hell in a hand cart,

that includes the intonation that it's getting

worse and worse and faster because a hand cart

will go downhill very quickly. You can let go

of it. Once you get it going, it'll go downhill

all by itself. No one has to make it go downhill.

Being in a handbasket or a handbag means being

carried there, so it implies it's getting there

without anyone's real effort. So I'm not carrying

the handbag, I'm riding the handbag, and things

are getting worse and worse and worse for me.

And interestingly enough, these phrases actually

come from a previously Christian phrase. So here

is a handbag. This is a handbag. It's got little

straps here. We have zippers. They didn't always

have zippers. They might have had pull strings.

And there is nothing in the handbag. Empty. Right?

I mean, on the scale of physical objects, perhaps,

but there is air in there. Right? There is air

in there. And then here is a basket. And the

basket is empty. And I don't have a hand cart.

Right? But if the handbag or the hand basket

or the hand cart are going to hell, then I don't

want to be in it. But the saying is usually that

the world is going to hell in a handbasket, a

handbag, or a handcart. And it means that as

you look around, you see things are decaying

rapidly. They're going in a worse and a worse

way pretty fast. Does anybody think maybe that's

the assessment you would give the world today?

Maybe. But the saying originally was a Christian

saying, and it was actually going to heaven in

a handbag or a handbasket. Now that's interesting,

isn't it? And along the way it became twisted.

Nobody knows where the saying was originally

invented at. Search the origins and there are

a few hypotheses, but no one really knows for

sure where the saying came from. But the saying

was originally going to heaven in a handbag or

a handbasket. Again, implying that you're not

getting there under your own power, but rather

being carried there. And if the basket or the

bag are going to heaven, then I want to be in

it. But if the basket or the bag are going to

hell, then I don't want to be in it. So we talked.

of the church should theoretically be going to

heaven in a handbag or a handbasket. The world

going to hell in a handbag or a handbasket really

doesn't surprise me all that much because the

world doesn't necessarily know God. I want you

to bear that concept in mind and then I'll reference

it again in the conclusion to bring that thought

home. Judges chapter 2 verse 6 says, When Joshua,

Judges 2:6

now Joshua was already the replacement leader

under Moses, did not get to go into the Promised

Land, Joshua, for the remainder of his life,

a long time, served the Israelites, led them

into the Promised Land on behalf of God. When

Joshua had dismissed the people, this is right

after the angel corrected them, for they were

wandering off course, and they had, theoretically,

godly sorrow. They certainly had sorrow. And

they praised God, and they had offerings, recognizing

that they had sinned. When Joshua had dismissed

the people, the sons of Israel, that's theoretically

God's people, went each to his inheritance to

possess the land. So they went out with the purpose

of doing what they were commanded by God to do.

So they go home to their homes and they go out

with the purpose of doing what God has commanded

them to do, which is to possess the land. Verse

7. The people served the Lord all the days of

Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived

Joshua. who had seen all the great work of the

Lord, which he had done for Israel. So in other

words, while Joshua was still alive, and the

people who were alive when Joshua brought them

out of the promised land, and when they had seen

the great works, remember that there were people

who came into the promised land, not just Joshua

and Caleb, but there were people who were alive

through the entire wanderings in the desert,

because it says that everybody who was over the

age of 20 died in the desert. But if they were

young enough, they were spared and they became

part of that group of people that came into the

promised land. Now that's if they didn't die

to a snake because some of them were bit by snakes

and refused to look up at the bronze serpent

and be healed and things like that or some other

means at that time. Bottom line is, many under

20 came out of the wilderness and now they are

alive and Joshua is alive and they're leading

God's people. Follow? And while they are there

and they are leading God's people, the work of

the people was the work of the Lord. They were

doing what they were supposed to be doing, simply

put. Verse 8. Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant

of the Lord, died at the age of 110. And they

buried him in the territory of his inheritance

in Timnath -Rois, in the hill country of Ephraim,

north of Mount Gaash. So they buried him in the

land that God had promised him and his people.

So that's a great honoring. So he was honored.

And then it says in verse 10, all that generation

also were gathered to their fathers. So in other

words, Joshua and Caleb and all of the others

who had seen all the great and miraculous things

that God had known God, they were gathered to

their fathers. That means they passed away. They

went on to heaven, if you will. And there arose

another generation after them. who did not know

the Lord, nor yet the work which he had done

for Israel. And that statement right there is

the bridge statement from what we have read so

far in the book of Judges to everything that

will come to pass. And it ain't good. They're

going to continually spiral down, do things that

God didn't want them to do. God sends a judge,

lifts them up, if you will, defends them against

the attackers that God was allowing to molest

his people and for a time under that judge they

will do better and then the judge will die or

no longer be a judge and then the people will

spiral down into sin again and then the judge

will rise up and call them to righteousness and

they will do better and then he'll die or be

gone and the people will spiral down again and

so basically throughout the book of Judges from

here from this moment at the moment it says all

the generation all that generation also were

gathered to their fathers, and there arose another

generation after them who did not know the Lord,

nor yet the work which he had done for Israel.

From that statement on, the people are only going

to spiral into sin and judgment. They will be

taken into slavery, ultimately. Men, women, women

will eat their babies to keep from starving to

death. You understand? It's only going to get

horrible from here on out. So immediately I'm

reading this text and I'm thinking to myself,

how does a person act or how do you act out being

a generation that knows the Lord and the work

he has done? Because Joshua and the generation

living in his day were that. And because they

were that, the people living in his day did right

by God. Well, here we are. I want to do whatever

is necessary for me to do, what I want to be,

whatever is necessary for me to be, so that the

people who live in my day will do the works of

the Lord. I'm not talking about just our church,

although that would be wonderful, not just my

family, although that would be wonderful, but

anybody that is in my influence, my courts, if

you will. So first of all, I realized in order

to do that, you have to do what Joshua regularly

did. And what the people of God did when Joshua

called them to righteousness while he was still

alive. And that is, you must repent. You've got

to repent and turn to God. And it's a repentance

that is present. That means right now, oops,

screwed up. I'm repenting. I'm turning to God.

Right now, someone hurt me. I'm turning to God.

Right now, I'm going through something I never

would have wanted to go through. I'm turning

to God. Repentance is not just turning from sin.

It is turning to God. Now, ideally, it results

in the absence of sin because you focus on God

and God gets your heart right and now you don't

want or drift into all of these other things.

But we turn from all of our sin and turn to God,

present and future tense. And we follow Jesus.

We follow him in all of the examples that he

has set for us and all of the teachings that

he has given us and all of the commands that

he has given us and whatever we know to do, we

do. That includes baptism. It includes being

part of the church. It includes giving. It includes

working in your family, working in your church,

working in your community to push, if you will,

the agenda of the Lord Jesus Christ. It includes

serving, loving, witnessing, forgiving others

who do not deserve forgiveness, but you forgive

them immediately upon the time of their transgression

because that's what Jesus does. And we are part.

of His body. It includes reconciling people to

the Lord, which means you have to share the truth

of the Gospel. You have to share the truth that

is contained in Scripture. You have to share

what you know, just as much as you have seen

and heard. You don't have to make things up.

You don't have to know better. When some atheist

comes to you and quotes some strange philosopher

that you've never heard of and says, well, what

do you think about that? You say, well, Jesus

Christ lived, died on the cross for my sins,

was buried and rose again, and I intend to live

eternally with God, and I'm going to do it through

Jesus, and I know my sins were covered by the

blood. What about you? Well, there was a philosopher

who lived, and he said this. He had to face the

same question that you have to face. What are

you going to do with a Jesus that lives, dies,

and raises again? What are you going to do with

a Jesus through whom nothing was created except

that which was created through him? All things

created through Jesus. What are you going to

do with that? The guy who then comes to earth

and dies for all sin. What are you going to do

with that? I don't care how many philosophers

you can quote or ideas you have or how much smarter

than me you think you are. I'm asking you, what

are you going to do with it? If they say, well,

I'm not going to believe, then you can quote

John 3 .17. You remember John 3 .16, right? For

God so loved the world. Well, John 3 .17 says,

For he did not come to condemn the world, but

they are condemned already by what they have

done with the Son of God. And all that matters

is not how smart a person is, but what they do

with the Son of God. And so I want to be a generation

that knows the Lord. I want to be part of a people

that knows the Lord and the work that he has

done. I'm still here. I still have things to

say and do to make a difference in this world.

And I may have to tell the stories. Because if

I don't, who will? You may have to tell the stories

because if you don't, who will? Don't ever get

saved. Start living for Jesus and all of your

sin, all the bad things you ever did are washed

away and put behind you and you forget the stories

of what God has done. When you survived what

you did when you were lost and stupid, that was

a miracle of God. That was an example of His

good grace. And you should tell the story. You

should represent. You should share what you know

to be true. I'm still here. Do you know God?

I hope so. The Bible says that we will know Him

through His Son, Jesus Christ. Do you know the

work that God has done? I hope so. If you accepted

Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, there should

now be the presence of His Holy Spirit in your

heart, testifying with your spirit that you are

saved. you should know that you are saved. You

should know that you are serving a risen Savior,

living for Him, not for you. You're still here.

You and the courts that you've been giving must

serve the Lord. We have a responsibility to ensure

that anyone and everything, that it comes within

our auspices. In other words, your phone, your

money, Your time, your house, your children.

I've had people say to me, well, I don't want

to make my children go to church. Is it right

to go to church? Absolutely, it's right to go

to church. Therefore, you make your children

go to church. If they grow up hating church because

you made them go to church, that's on them. Because

it's the right thing to do. You don't want to

say to your children, well, you've got to be

monogamous. Or you've got to be heterosexual.

Or you've got to tithe. You've got to give financially.

You've got to read your Bible. You don't want

to tell them to do right. These are right things,

commands of God, because they're right things.

We tell them to do right. It's not like they

have an option. If they don't do right, what's

the result? You say, well, I want to let them

choose on their own. Even as a saved believer,

saved or not saved, either way, they don't get

to choose on their own. The rules have already

been laid out. The conduct of the kingdom has

already been laid out. We have a responsibility

to make sure that everything within our courts

works to serve the Lord. You don't clean your

house because it's nice to live in a clean house.

You clean your house because it is a gift from

God. You don't cook your meals because you like

to eat food. You cook your meals because in cooking

your meals you serve the engine that serves God.

You feed your body so that your body can serve

God. And the list goes on. All that we do, we

do to ensure that all that we have access to,

all that we have auspices over, serve the Lord.

That is the example that we set. And so anyone

that comes into your presence, you're sitting

down having coffee with someone, you can tell

them, it's not right. What you're doing, it's

not right. Not because they're Christians. Yes,

I understand. That you cannot convict a person

of sin, nor can you lead them to God without

Jesus. They will not get saved, nor will they

have the authority to long -lasting follow Jesus.

And there are people who say, well, in fact,

I think of the man right behind Billy Graham,

his second -in -command after they preached to

hundreds of thousands of millions of people and

saw tens of thousands of folks except Jesus Christ.

That man right behind him said, you know what,

actually, I think I'm an atheist. After he shared

the gospel over and over and over again. No one

comes to Jesus except, number one, he be called,

and number two, he be willing. I can cast a demon

out of an unwilling man, but a split second later,

he'll come back, if that man is willing. You've

got to decide this day whom you will serve, Joshua

said. And having decided to serve the Lord, you

have a responsibility to act accordingly. If

it's inside your auspices, if it's inside your

control, if it's within the sound of your voice,

if it's within the reach of your arm, right?

If you were walking down the street with a small

child next to you, you completely don't know

them. And their adult has fallen 20, 30 feet

behind. And they suddenly go to rush out into

the road in front of an oncoming semi. You're

not going to go, hey, your kid. because they're

20 feet behind and they can't stop their kid.

You're going to grab that kid. Now, if you grab

that kid and keep them from running out in front

of the semi, you might get in trouble. You might

get sued for assault. You might get sued for

bodily handling someone else's child, for an

abuse of civil rights. If it's a person of another

race or another culture, they'll say, oh, you

only grabbed him like that. You hurt him. You

only did that because he's from another race.

He would never have run out in front of the truck.

You made that up. But you know in your heart

he's going to run out from his stomach. You stop

him. And this is what we are called to as being

a generation that knows the work of the Lord.

Our ambassadorship includes telling the history,

ancient and modern, of the kingdom. I'm going

to share just a few stories with you for a second

here about the establishment of this church and

this church building and this church in this

church building. When our church wanted to come

into this building, it was run down. It was deserted.

The roof was leaking in several places and we

could not use it. And so we came in and began

to fix it up. Miraculously, the school system

said they would give it to the city if the city

would earmark it for us, which is unheard of.

And they were not at peace at the time. They

were mortal enemies. For over 10 years, I sat

at a board meeting of the Board of Education

where they argued. The city and the board argued

for an hour over a $500 playground repair because

the playground belonged to the school system.

I'm sorry, belonged to the city, and the school

had been using it, and they argued who was going

to pay the $500. $500! Tens of millions of dollars

budget, $100 million budget, and they were arguing

for an hour over $500. And then yet, they agreed

in unity to give us this building. So we come

in here, we're trying to start fixing it up.

We had a few thousand dollars in the bag. We

thought it was going to be $26 ,000 to get the

electricity on. And I mentioned it to Ron. And

Ron said, you know, funny thing is, I just saw

Joe Crist yesterday. He said, if I need anything,

He gave me his number. Let me see if I got it.

He gave me the number. I called him. He put people

together. We got with the electric company and

$26 ,000 got done for $2 ,600. That we could

afford. When the water could not be turned on,

we're cleaning the building with 50 gallon drums

of water that we're bringing over from our building

on Main Street and the water couldn't be turned

on because when they were going to tear down

the building, they crushed the water main that

ran from out here at the street over. They crushed

it instead of just cutting it off. They crushed

it. And so a new one had to be installed from

the road all the way to the building and a new

water meter inside the building and the new connection

and everything. And we're struggling, struggling,

struggling to get that done. We're drawing the

drawing and then finally they said, well, you

know you've got to have an engineer do this,

right? And I'm like, well, no, I didn't know

that. If I had known that, I wouldn't have spent

13 times coming here to try to get you to approve

it. I've been here 13 times. And she said, well,

it looks perfect. The drawing looks great, but

you need an engineer stamp. I'm like, oh, crud.

Start looking for an engineer. And the engineer

said, well, they would have to draw it from the

get -go. Then it was going to be thousands of

dollars. And I'd already spent so much time.

So I go to the inspection department. I said,

can you get the water on? Can you tell me what's

wrong? And he said, well, why do you need this

water that you're drawing on this plane? I said,

well, that's what they told us we needed. He

said, no, you only need two inches. Water line

two inches, not four. Why was it four before?

I had no idea. He said, well, does it have fire

extinguishers in the building? I said, well,

no, it had fire hoses. He said, well, that's

why it had four before, was to drive the fire

hoses. You don't need that. You only need two

inches. We'll schedule it today. A couple hundred

bucks. I'm like, for crying out loud? Thank you,

God. That's awesome. I was praying all the way

there. Then they said, well, turn it on. Then

it didn't get turned on. Six weeks, it didn't

get turned on. Six more weeks, it didn't get

turned on. I called the water department. I said,

why is our water not turned on? It's been 12

weeks. And he said, well, it's going to be six

more weeks. I said, you know, if it was going

to be six more weeks, that would be one thing.

But you already said six, and it wasn't. And

then it was six, and it wasn't. And now you're

saying six more? What's going to happen in 18

weeks when it's not on? We need water. And he

said, well, that's all I can tell you. There's

nothing else I can do. That's how it works. So

I called, at the time, the building was still

owned by TPS. I called Jim Gant. I said, we don't

have water. He said, what? I said, we don't have

water. And the water department's supposed to

turn it on, but it's been 12 weeks already. It's

not turned on, and they keep saying six more

weeks, and I don't know what's going to happen.

He said, you know, the funny thing is, the director

of the water, the new director of the water department,

just called me yesterday, and he said, if I need

anything, give him a call. And I said, well,

give him a call. I said, what's his name, by

the way? He said, Tom Carruthers. I said, I recognize

that name. Deputy Mayor Tom Carruthers was the

guy in the mayor's office who set up the deal

for the city to give us this building. That was

Friday afternoon at 4 o 'clock. I get off the

phone with him. He calls Tom Carruthers. 8 a

.m. Saturday morning, the next day, 16 hours

later, they're out front installing the water

line. Now, if we don't tell those stories, we

forget that God does miracles. We had a woman

with 13 spots of cancer all over her torso with

a PET scan. Not x -rays, right? With a PET scan.

That means they do a cellular level scan of your

body to find exactly where they're located so

they can go in and do a biopsy. She comes. We

huddle together in the doorway between the kitchen

and the sanctuary where now the assembly room

is over there at the life station. We pray, tears

in our eyes, begging God. The next day she goes

in, they go to biopsy the first spot, and they're

like, there's nothing here. We can't biopsy.

We'll just go to the next one. It's fine. There's

13. We'll find. We just need like four today.

So we'll find one. By the time they were done,

they checked all 13 spots, which had showed up

in the PET scan as cancer, and they couldn't

biopsy because there were no spots. All 13 gone.

God has been doing miracles. Twice we prayed,

anointed Judy Bolton's head with oil and prayed,

and twice she was miraculously healed of cancer.

The second time, Ron and I sat there. We did

a surgery. And the surgeon said, well, you know,

neck cancer, it's in multiple regions. It's always

in multiple regions, right? And so we were just

clearing the main right near her air pipe today.

We know that we're going to have to do several

more surgeries. And as the surgeon came out,

he said, you know what? I can't explain this

at all, but we got it all. There won't be any

more surgeries. We did one region. All the cancer

is gone. We're sure we got it all. Remember that?

God. did miracles, does miracles. In our midst,

all the time, we need to be faithful, we need

to be praying, we need to be a generation that

does right. Years ago when we were on Main Street,

we had a man violently interrupt our services.

He had decided that we preached the gospel to

his girlfriend, she got saved, and she wanted

to get apart. They didn't want to live together

anymore. And he lost it. bipolar or something

and he was off his medicines and he lost it.

And then he got arrested and then he got unarrested

and then he came, showed up at the church building

in the morning and he went off on me for leading

his girlfriend to Christ. And I said, and he

threatened violence. I said, you're not welcome

on property. You need to leave right now and

don't come back. And sure enough, middle of service,

one of our teenage girls, 13, 14 years old, up

here singing a song, a solo by herself. He disrupts

the service. Visible violence going on. He comes

up and he's going to break up the instruments.

Right? And he tried to choke out Deacon Tony.

Put his hands around Deacon Tony's... We have

video of... We've got a camera videoing the service

and here comes, from the left side to the right

side, Deacon Tony's got him by the waist and

he's got it picked up in the air and he's carrying

him toward the front door and the guy's trying

to choke him out the whole time. And a number

of the men that are in the room right now are

there protecting the women and children. And

three people called the 911 because we had already

talked about the possibility of something like

this, persecution, and it could happen any day.

And if we have persecution, you know what happens

in our church? If you're new, you probably don't.

Here's what happens. The women get the children

out of the way and the men take care of the problem.

Men do not retreat from trouble in our church.

You understand? You go toward the problem. Guy

comes in shooting. The eight of us, ten of us,

twelve of us who are courageous enough to do

what we're supposed to do, we'll take him down.

I guarantee it. I don't care if he's got an AK

-47. It doesn't matter. He comes in this church

with an AK -47, he'll be lucky to survive. Because

we go toward the problem while the women protect

the children. That's the rule. That's biblical

to the beginning. And that's what we did that

day. The police showed up in four minutes. He

went to jail. Is that a miracle? No, none of

that is a miracle. Not one bit of it. We had

guys with bruises. Not one bit of it. Here's

the miracle. Six months later, he's got a restraining

order. He's not allowed to be in church. A couple

of the guys pressed charges. He was not allowed

to be there. Six months later, one of our guys

who was there that day who helped fend him off

is riding a city bus. And that guy, way out across

town, where he's legally allowed to be, gets

on the bus. They recognize each other. Five minutes

in, he gets up and he moves over to sit right

across from our guy. And he says, can I talk

to you? Am I allowed to talk to you? He says,

you can talk to me. Just stay over there. And

he says, I just want to beg your forgiveness.

I realized what I had done. I have since repented

and turned my life over to the Lord and I'm on

my medications and I'll never do anything like

that ever again. That's a miracle. And the list

goes on. We must be a people that proclaims.

You know that three seats over from you right

there in that seat, the one that's sitting there

empty today? There was a woman who came in. I

know her personally. I will not name her because

I've not asked. And she sat there. She's a practicing

lesbian. Had been for a decade. And she sat right

there on the end of that chair. And I preached,

without knowing, I didn't know that about her

at the time. I preached a sermon about righteousness

and godliness. And I mentioned homosexuality

in my sermon. And instead of getting up and getting

out, instead of getting angry, she sat right

there and listened to the sermon. Comes time

for the invitation. She gave her life to the

Lord. Repented of her homosexuality. Turned her

life over to the Lord. That woman is married

now. has three kids, and her and her husband

have written several books about raising a Christian

family, and they travel around the southeastern

United States. They live in North Carolina, traveling

around the southeastern United States, talking

about how repentance and turning to the Lord

is the solution to family strife. She came in

and sat down, homosexual, practicing. She might

have even claimed that she was a Christian, but

she got up and walked out a member of the kingdom

of God. a member of the family. You can say,

there's not enough people here today. You can

say, we're not reaching enough people here today.

By the time we're done, about 300 people will

watch our services online. Our podcast, by this

podcast, in a couple years, will have been listened

to by about 1 ,500 people. That's not very many

people compared to the world's population. And

yet, God is doing miracles. I'm asking you. Are

you an ambassador for Christ? Are you willing

to tell the ancient history and the modern history

of the kingdom of God? Are you delivering the

truth? We, Sherry and I, usually go out to eat

on date night. And I started reviewing restaurants

and I comically became kind of like important

as a restaurant reviewer, which is kind of ironic

because I don't actually like to eat out at all,

right? And so people are reading my reviews online

and stuff. The first question they ask you after,

was it good or not, is what did you buy? What

did you get? Because maybe they want to buy the

same thing you bought to get good food or to

make sure that it wasn't a customary dish and

they want to order something else. So they ask

you, what did you get? And so I just put in what

I got. I'm asking you, when you became a follower

of the Lord Jesus Christ, what did you get? If

you think you got just grace, and goodness, and

oh, it's going to be fun, and this is going to

be awesome, I'm going to soar high above all

the world, and people will maybe look up to me,

or maybe they won't, but it's always going to...

If that's what you got, that's not the customary

dish. That's not what people get. What people

get is an ambassadorship. What people get is

a service to the living God. What people get

is a right and a responsibility to speak out

about what's going on in your presence. Philippians

2 talks this way about Christ. It says, Philippians

Philippians 2:1

2, verse 1, if therefore there is any encouragement

in Christ, I believe there is, if there is any

consolation of love, there surely is, if there

is any fellowship of the Spirit, that's the Spirit

of God, which surely there is, if any affection

and compassion, he says, make my joy complete

by being of the same mind, maintaining the same

love, united in spirit intent on one purpose.

Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but

with humility of mind, let each of you regard

one another as more important than himself. This

is what the kingdom looks like. Do not merely

look out for your own personal interests, but

also for the interests of others. Have this attitude

in yourself, which was also in Christ Jesus,

who, listen to what Jesus did, although he existed

in the form of God, did not regard equality with

God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself.

taking the form of a bondservant, and being made

in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance

as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore also God highly exalted him and bestowed

on him the name which is above every name, that

at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of

those who are in heaven and on earth and under

the earth, and that every tongue should confess.

that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God

the Father. Are you following Jesus? I think

you should be like -minded with Him. I think

you should be willing to sacrifice like He did.

I think you should stop thinking there is another

way. Do you not know this God I'm talking about?

Or maybe you think you know God, but do you not

know the works of this God I'm talking about?

Then listen. Listen to his word. Listen to your

pastor, to your deacon, to godly parents and

godly grandparents, godly elders of the church.

Willingly seek His will for your life. Abandon

yourself. Stop thinking, I want. You should cut

the words, I want, right out of your vocabulary.

Because your wants have one exact purpose. They're

supposed to be aligned with His wants. And if

you want what He wants, you're going to get what

you want. And if you want something other than

what He wants, you're not going to get what you

want. And you cannot act that way. As if you

will get what you want outside His will. Abandon

self. Become willing to suffer. Follow Jesus'

example and teaching and ultimately his presence.

Oh my goodness. If Pastor Dan preached that,

if I stood up here and said that to you, that

you needed to deny your own desire, you need

to abandon what you want, that you need to be

willing to suffer on a daily basis. And just

follow him and that's it. And if I preach that

to you without being able to back it up, you'd

say, Pastor Dan is some kind of dude just kind

of trying to warp our minds. That's just too

much to ask for. But then Matthew wrote in chapter

16, verse 24, beginning, he said, Then Jesus

said to his disciples, If anyone wishes to come

after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross,

and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his

life will lose it. But whoever loses his life

for my sake will find it. For what will it profit

a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits

his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange

for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to

come in the glory of his Father and his angels,

and he will then repay every man according to

his deeds. To keep it just. Let's stop playing

games with what we are commanded to do and be.

We are that generation. Churches that don't know

should listen to those that do. In COVID, churches

were scrambling, scrambling to make sure that

they were handling COVID correctly. And at one

point in time, a former mentor of mine lectured

me for an hour and 40 minutes. Lectured me nonstop.

I barely got a word in edgewise. Lectured me

on the phone. While I was supposed to be working

at the life station, I'm sitting in my van, listening

for an hour and 40 minutes. He lectured me that

we should have canceled our services, that we

should have stopped worshiping God, that we should

have stopped coming together to serve God. He

said, don't you see that all the churches are

not worshiping, that all the churches are not

serving God, that all the churches are not coming

together because that's what's respectful, because

that's a good witness to Christ. You should stop

coming together for worship like everybody else.

At the end of an hour and 40 minutes, I said,

well, I want you to understand, we're going to

have to disagree on this topic. I said, but secondly,

I want you to understand that my church has already

decided. I had three men in the church come to

me and say, I'm stricken right now in this moment.

Give me a second. I had three men in the church

come to me and say, even if the church does not

gather on Tuesday or Sunday, even if you don't

come to preach, even if there would be no one

to lead worship, we will still be here. Not for

the world, not for anything that the world has

to offer, not for law or government or fines

or fees or punishment or persecution will we

abandon the worship of our God at the appointed

hour. And I said, the church will not stop. They're

not going to stop. And even if I wanted to stop,

which I don't, I don't believe in it, it wouldn't

stop. Now, after it was all said and done, that

sounds bad. It really does. After it was all

said and done, here's what hurt me more. That

hurt. That whole conversation really hurt. In

fact, I lost my mentor over that conversation.

He's never been my mentor since. Not because

I didn't forgive him. I did. But because he just

could not mentor me when I disagreed with him

under those circumstances. And he said, well,

you're done. Either you're right and you've graduated,

or you're wrong and I can't deal with you. That's

what he said. But after all was said and done,

it came out that churches, quite a few, not enough,

but quite a few churches refused to stop worshiping.

One of my good friends, who's a very strong supporter

of the ministry and the Life Station especially,

said, we never stopped worshiping. And we made

arrangements. People wore masks if they needed

to. People stayed six foot apart, sanitized everything.

They broadcasted their service onto the parking

lot so older seniors who were fearful that they

might get contaminated could sit in their cars

and listen, things like that. So we made arrangements.

Well, we never stopped worshiping. And I said,

man, I wish you'd have said something. See, If

we're a church that knows what God wants, then

it is our job to deliver that message to anyone

who will listen. You've got friends that go to

church and they say, well, our church closed

down because of this. You know what happened

to a lot of churches that closed down because

of COVID? They never reopened. Dozens of them

in Toledo alone. Let alone the world. Because

they weren't supposed to close down in the first

place. But we also did not go out. But there

was one victory, and that is that I have another

dear friend of mine who's on the Voluntary Advisory

Board for the Life Station, and he and I go way

back. And after they lectured me for an hour

and 40 minutes, like the next week, it started

with a phone call. We were on a Teams call or

whatever, Zoom, right, a Zoom call. And they

had been talking bad about churches that were

staying open. And at the end of that, after they

got done talking bad about them for about 15

minutes, I said, well, I'm going to leave this

call now. And FYI, my church is still open. So

you just talk to Adam for 15 minutes about me,

and I forgive you all. It's inappropriate. I

forgive you all. These are all pastors, right?

I forgive you all, but I'm done. I'm not going

to be on the call no more. Oh, wait, wait, wait,

wait, wait. And I push the button. I'm done.

So then my mentor called me, lectured me for

an hour and 40 minutes. Then later that day,

my friend, who's a pastor out in Bryan, Ohio,

called me up, and he said, dude. He said everybody

in the church wanted to stay open. Everybody

in the church. We all thought God wanted us to

keep worshiping. But my mentor, he didn't say

his name, but I knew who he was talking about.

My mentor called me and told me we had to stop.

So I went to the church. I told them that my

mentor told me we had to stop. And they said,

okay, well, we better stop. And then we stopped.

We stopped two weeks ago. But I spent the last

hour getting a hold of all my deacons and church

members and we'll be worshiping in public this

Sunday. You see? I didn't mean to. I didn't know

better, but we led. New Heights led. I had a

friend of mine, this is the last illustration

I'll give on this topic because I've gone too

long on it already, a friend of mine out of Charlotte,

South Carolina, whatever one it is, Charlotte,

North Carolina, whichever one it is, out of Charlotte,

and he did a survey right after COVID. In the

end, he surveyed 1 ,565 churches. He found 1

,565 churches that did not close for COVID. And

of those churches, 1 ,565 churches. One church

had a case of breakout of COVID in their church

that could be attributed to public worship. Now,

we had COVID spread amongst family members and

stuff. We had COVID at other times that were

being passed around, right? I got it from my

son because I ate off his plate, and he had it,

and we didn't know he had it. Ron got it from,

I think, Art. We think he got it from Art, but

it wasn't here. It wasn't in the worship. One

out of 1 ,565 churches had it, and it was in

the choir. And it broke out during choir practice.

Now we know. But many don't. Many don't know.

They don't know about God, and they don't know

the amazing things that God gave. I'm going to

give you really quick, this is going to go by

very fast, four reasons why that's true. The

first reason, Proverbs says, is there is a way

that seems right unto a man, and yet leads to

death. So in other words, there are people out

there, and some folks in here, who will stumble

on a path that seems like the right way to go,

and they will take that path. They will try to

do right. They will think they are doing right.

And I don't think that my friends who are Christian

pastors who told their churches that they need

to stop me, I don't think that they thought they

were doing wrong, and don't hear me slamming

them at all, and I've named no names, I'm not

telling you who did and who didn't, or anything

like that. That was their choice. And if their

choice, they might have been saving somebody's

life. If God told them to close their doors,

one of their 90 -year -old members might have

died from COVID because they stayed open. God

could do that, right? That's fine. God could

do that. So I'm not saying they did wrong. What

I'm saying is people are trying to do right on

a pathway that looks right that actually leads

to death. Then there are those who are responding

to their unending desire. The truth is, if you

begin to go down a road going after what you

want, you will never get done. If you go after

somebody else's boyfriend or girlfriend and you

manage to draw them away and fall madly in love

with them, we all know where that road ends,

right? If you can steal them away from somebody

else, somebody else can steal them away from

you. And the list goes on. There is no limit

to how much you can want. Do you like steak?

Do you eat four ounces of steak? Would you like

to eat four and a half or five? Ever notice how

the steaks you get in a restaurant are like three

quarters of a pound? By the way, nobody ever

anywhere needs to eat three quarters of a pound

of meat at any time. Ever. You never need that.

Your body doesn't need it. You're just going

to be digesting it for 36 hours. And you're eventually

going to poop most of it out. I'm just being

plain. Right? Nobody needs it. And yet, every

restaurant you go to wants to charge 25 bucks

for a 12 -ounce steak. And you don't need it.

Tastes really good. And you'd buy it, eat it.

And a few weeks later, if you had the money,

you'd buy it again. There is no limit to our

desire. If you look at good -looking women or

women in bikinis or underwear or naked, that

road never ends. Until you die, it will never

end. Ask somebody who's been in it, who's been

stuck in it, who can't get out of it. Unending

desire is a natural, fallen human condition.

And it doesn't just magically go away because

you got saved. It just gets triumphed. Right?

You get victory and freedom over it. And if you

go back and embrace it, that road never ends.

And there are Christians and non -Christians

alike who are caught up in their unending desire.

Check Philippians 3. Outside their understanding.

The wisdom of God, the thing that they're being

told to do is outside their understanding. In

fact, the cross is foolishness. Faithful following.

You know how many times I've had people tell

me in my life? That giving 10 % or more of your

funds to the church tithing seems foolish? I

can just chuckle all the way to the bank. Because

I once believed that, finally overcame it, and

have never regretted it. Ever. God always takes

care of it. Now, but I can think of the times

before I started being faithful, doing what was

right, that lack was abounding. Times where we

didn't know where we were going to get a gallon

of milk. I woke up one morning when Alicia was

about a year old, and I was very young, saved

Christian at the time, and I'm praying, God help

us, because Alicia's going to want milk. And

we don't have any. We have very little food in

the house. Food stamps were gone for the month.

Bills are paid, roofs over our head, but we have

nothing. And I get up and I go open the door

as I would want to do to let some sunshine in.

We had a screen door with... Plexiglass in it

and I opened the door and there inside the screen

door was two gallons of milk, two blocks of cheese

and two dozen eggs. Which probably somebody got

from WIC or whatever and couldn't use and they

dropped them off at our house. But where was

it going to come from? We were so short and God

took care of us and God will take care of you

while you are mistakenly following wrong roads,

while you are... feeding your endless desire,

and while you are not understanding what it means

to faithfully follow him, but do understand this,

that's not his expectation. You don't get to

stay there long term. His expectation is that

you will behave as an ambassador, that you will

turn everything within your control for your

good and his. There's one left. Radical following,

like what I'm talking about, making your decisions

based on Christ, radical following. with radical

lack of compromise, and we think radical means

rational. Or means not rational, rather. So we

think it doesn't make any sense. You're like

a zealot. You're like a cult member. Isn't it

funny that zealots and cult members are more

committed to their false demon god than we are

to ours? That they'll blow themselves up to have

a chance at going to their version of Valhalla?

But Christians won't step up and say something

because they're afraid of what somebody will

say back or the way somebody will act? Come on.

Let's get bold. When it comes to Christ, you

should be like a cult member. You follow him

no matter what. What do we say? Deny yourself.

Take up your cross. That means be willing to

die and follow him daily. That's what Jesus said

it means to be one of his. So people rationalize

their way to worldly behavior, even Christians.

I'm following the Lord, I'm following the Lord.

But here's this thing over here, and it's not

specifically spoken against in Scripture. It's

not a sin. So I'm going to add that to my life,

and pretty soon the things that we add to our

life detract from the things that we're faithfully

following God. I mean, ambassadors eat the food

of the kingdom in which they serve, right? Well,

yes, they do. But they don't eat poison, just

because the locals do. And they don't partake

of destructive behavior just to fit in or even

to build bridges because they know that there

is a long -term price to pay and they're eventually

going to go home and answer to the sending nation

for the way they behaved while they were an ambassador.

And ambassadors have been withdrawn by nations.

Ambassadors have been found guilty of treason.

Ambassadors have been removed from their position

and jailed or even killed. If you're an ambassador

for Christ, you live under the values of your

kingdom, not under the values of the kingdom

in which we reside physically. Proverbs 13 says

this, a wicked messenger falls into adversity.

A messenger and an ambassador are a very similar

thing, right? A wicked messenger falls into adversity,

but a faithful envoy brings healing. Poverty

and shame will come to him who neglects discipline,

but he who regards reproof, that means pays attention

to correction, will be honored. Desire realized

is sweet to the soul, but it is an abomination

to fools to turn away from evil. In other words,

if you're stupid, you think it's not good to

turn away from evil because you're going to miss

out on something. But if you're smart in the

Lord, you realize turning away from evil is exactly

who we are. And then 20 says, he who walks with

wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools

will suffer harm. We've come to our conclusion.

Let me tell you what we're not. We are not a

collection of free agents. We are a body of Christ

and a family of God. Sometimes we are huddled

together against the storm when God sees fit.

Think of them in the upper room begging God after

Jesus was crucified. And many times after, we're

praying for Peter when he was arrested. But together

we are a church that will invade and transform

anywhere that God gives us influence. And doing

that as a family? And as we are still heirs and

joint heirs with Christ, is exactly what we're

called to. We are not enjoying the benefits of

freedom in Christ while awaiting Jesus' return.

Let me say that again. We are not enjoying the

benefits of freedom in Christ while awaiting

His return. While freedom to not sin could be

considered a great treasure, and freedom to still

go to heaven, having been found fallen short

of the glory of God, is everything essential.

That we lacked before we got saved? All of that

has now been given that we may live for the one

who died for us. We are not absorbing the best

wisdom the world has to offer, including the

Bible. The Bible is the only God -breathed library

of life -changing truth. There isn't another,

even if it's based on the Bible. This is it.

This is all you get. Every word in it is useful

for correction, rebuke, and direction to take

us where we want to go. Hebrews 4 .12 says, For

the word of God is living and active and sharper

than any two -edged sword, piercing as far as

the division of soul and spirit, both joints

and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and

intentions of the heart. Paul said to Timothy,

And that from the childhood you have known the

sacred writings which are able to give you the

wisdom that leads to salvation. Through faith,

which is in Christ Jesus, all scripture is inspired

by God and profitable for teaching, reproof,

correction, training in righteousness for this

purpose. so that the man of God may be adequately

equipped for every good work. Did you catch that?

It's about what you do and what is done in your

presence. Not, we are not loving most those who

love me or who are like me or who seem to need

it most. Love is the fruit of the Spirit. And

to lack that love is to lack the impact of God's

presence. It is to fail to represent him. It

is to give place to darkness that his absence

allows. We bring love into every situation. We

become his agents of love, real biblical love

learned and trained directly from his example

and his filling, including our desire to do what

is right in every situation, to force that correctness

when necessary, when it's within our power to

do so. To enforce when necessary and to maintain

our own self -control under Christ no matter

what we do. What we are. We serve the Lord and

we lead others to do so. And in so doing, we

forestall the inevitable. Listen, this is it.

This is where the rubber meets the road. This

is everything right here. So those of you who

are tired, those of you who are distracted, focus.

And if somebody left the room and you know it,

get them to listen to this later. We serve the

Lord and lead others to do so. And in so doing,

we forestall the inevitable. Did you catch that?

We are meant to be the former generation. We're

like Joshua and the old guys that died out in

this story. We're meant to be the former generation

that secures our families, our friends, our churches,

our city, our state, and frankly, this world

against the outpouring of the wrath of God. Of

course, in time, God will remove his people out

of the line of fire and proceed as he has promised.

This is all over the Bible. The Levites walked

nearest the temple. God said, you will walk surrounding

the tabernacle as we walk. Walk surrounding the

tabernacle because otherwise my wrath will pour

out and destroy the entire nation. The Levites

were his priests. In that line of priests, we

have a single high priest, Jesus, and we are

the priesthood of his people. We stand in the

way of the wrath of God. When Abraham was negotiating

with God about Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot lived,

he got it down to if just one righteous man lived

there, he would not destroy the cities for virtue

of that one righteous man. I'll spare them if

there's just one. And then he pulled Lot out

and destroyed them both with raining fire from

heaven. I can go on. The bottom line is we are

meant to be that preserving generation, stopping

the inevitable. Logically, you can't know how

to get from where you are to where you are going

without knowing where you are and where you are

going. At least upon learning how to get where

you are going, you will know where you are. We

are children of God. We live in a foreign nation.

We live in a place that, frankly, a lot of days

I get out of bed and I really would rather not

be there. Let's be realistic. You're dealing

with illness, you're dealing with cancer, you're

dealing with health struggles, you're dealing

with job struggles, relationship struggles. I've

been bad -mouthed so many times. I've had a contract

taken out on my life. This is not easy work,

being in the kingdom of God. Do you want to be

here serving? Yes, you do, because you're part

of the kingdom of God and that's what we are,

ambassadors. Feeling unknown, a past unrevealed,

but God knows all and wants you. He wants you

to be born again and to have that sinful nature

put in check. He's calling worshipers in spirit

and truth and empowering them to become a part

of the generation that he already put in place

to prevent the inevitable. You will not partake

of the pleasures of this world, but definitely

realize you play a part in sustaining them. Do

you understand that everybody who got out of

bed today that doesn't know Jesus and chose not

to be in a church, chose not to live for God,

they're only getting a little while longer. To

come to God? Because people like you, assuming

you love Jesus and are actually doing what you're

supposed to be doing, are standing in the way

between the outpouring of God's wrath and their

destruction? Based on this text, we make it possible

for women to get abortions. Not because we support

abortions. We make every murder possible. We

make every theft possible. Every bad thing that

happens. It is only allowed to happen as sin

because we are still standing in the way. But

also, every salvation that happens because we

stand up for what we do, because we know God

and we testify about the good things that God

has done and wants to do, there is a chance.

In 2 Peter 3, it says, God is not slow as some

men count slowness, but he is patient that all

men might come to repentance. And that's how

most people quote it. But actually, what it says

is, He is patient with you and with me. His patience

is not directed at lost people that they might

come to repentance. They're subject to wrath.

We were too. Objects of wrath before we came

to repentance and met Christ. He's patient with

us. He's giving us a chance to be that generation.

To stand up in the gap. Illustration and then

I'm through. When I was about 13 years old, we

played a lot of sports in my side yard. I don't

have a very big side yard anymore, but I did

then. We played wiffle ball. We played tron.

Tron's where you stand like in a diamond and

you throw frisbees at each other. You can block

with your frisbee, and if you get hit with the

frisbee in any way, you're out. Kind of painful,

but we did it anyway. So we were on a wiffle

ball kick. We were playing wiffle ball, but we

were playing it like baseball, not like wiffle

ball. We were playing baseball with a wiffle

ball bat and ball. But I got hurt and I couldn't

play, which was a problem because I owned the

bat and the ball. Understand? So one of the kids

comes knocking on my door. You want to play wiffle

ball? Nah, I can't. I'm hurt. Doctor said I got

to take it easy, but let my ankle heal and stuff

like that. And he looked really sad. He goes,

oh, man. But we really wanted to play. We got

like eight guys, four on four plus you. If we

get one more, it'd be five on five. It'd be great.

We really wanted to play. I said, oh, you can

use the bat and the ball and play. I'll even

come out and watch. That's where we live. And

they played. And you know what happened? While

they were playing, they had a dispute between

them. They couldn't decide whether somebody was

safe or out. I think that was the first dispute.

And guess who they asked? Pretty soon I was the

umpire, the referee. I was the one determining

what was right and what was wrong. That's the

role of the church. That's who we are in the

kingdom of God. To do it, you've got to love

God more than anything else. You've got to abandon

your ideas, yourself, your want, and follow Him.

And then watch. Over time, I get it, right? Over

time, they begin to realize. That's somebody

I can ask. Is this right? Is it wrong? I'm sure

you've probably had people, what do you think

about this? They're not really asking you. In

fact, the next time somebody asks you, what do

you think about this? Don't you dare reach in

your treasure trove of wisdom. Don't you dare

give your opinion. The next time somebody asks

you what you think, you reach into your new wineskin.

You pull out the teaching and the truth of Jesus

Christ our Lord. And even if you wouldn't normally,

even if your opinion is slightly different than

Jesus's and you're still adjusting to it, you

tell them not what you think, but what God thinks.

And in end, you'll be an arbiter. You'll be a

mediator. You'll be an ambassador. I hope that

I won't die and the church and the family and

the city and the country in which I live will

drift down and spiral down into sin and face

God's judgment. But I'll tell you one thing for

sure. As long as I'm alive, if I have anything

to say about it, that's not going to happen.

And I would ask you, as men and women of Christ,

to feel exactly the same way. When you are present

and a wrong takes place, sacrifice yourself as

Jesus did. risk persecution and trials, stand

up for what's right. And some of us may die,

but all of us will live. I'm asking you to be

the generation that made sure, as much as was

under their power, that what went, went right.

And when it's like that, that doesn't have to

be a handbag. or a hand basket, or a hand cart,

there will still be journeys to hell. Because

there will still be stubborn people, still stiff

-necked, still unwilling to accept the gospel,

still unwilling to be saved. They're still on

the journey to hell. But then we can actually

say, yeah, the world may be going to hell in

a hand basket, but whatever I've got under control,

this here, this is on a different journey. This

is me making it right. Will you join me? I ask

the praise team to come forward at this time

and lead us in our final hymn. We're going to

sing together. As we sing, if the Lord has spoken

to your heart today and you realize that either

as a Christian or not, either one, you've been

buying into a different method than what I've

just asked you to, and you realize that God wants

you to be a man or a woman who will stand up

for what's right, will do right. And impress

upon your auspices, your courts, everything that

you can touch to be right. God's calling you

to be that. And I ask you to repent today. Turn

to Him and say, I want that to be me. And it'll

cost you everything. But you'll gain more.