Trading on Proximity, Semblance, and It's a Dog-eat-dog World Close-by

The earth shall soon be his own, mine soon, the

sun forever to shine. My God, who called me here

below, will be forever mine. Okay, a couple things

real quick. So first of all, our online community

did send in a good word that we did not name

for the letter P. It is participation. And I

don't think we named that one, so I was excited

about that. That was kind of cool. So before

we begin today, we're going to make sure that

we understand a couple of words and that we all

kind of understand the definition that I'm using

for them. So the first word that you'll see in

the title there is trading. Trading is simply

when you give something for something, like bartering,

paying, paying money, trade money for what you

want, that kind of thing. Proximity means when

you're close to something. So to be proximity

to a grenade when it goes off would be horrible.

That's not what you want. To be in proximity

to one of your loved ones when they're in need

is what you want. To be in proximity to the gospel

is to be able to hear it or know enough of it

to possibly do something about it. Semblance

is a word that says the outside of something

looks like it, especially when the inside isn't

like it. So, for example, you might see somebody

acting like Jesus, but when in reality they are

not a Christian, so then they have the semblance

of a Christian, but not actually Christianity

or being a follower of Christ. Sometimes people

say that the outside of our building still looks

like a school, and I don't think that's entirely

untrue. It does kind of look like a school. And

so it has the semblance of a school, but actually

is where the church meets. So that's what semblance

means. And you've heard the phrase probably dog

eat dog world. It means that the bigger, the

badder, the quicker, the faster, the sharper

wins out. And the lesser is destroyed or impoverished.

And now we know what it means to be close by.

All right. So now we've broken those down. We

began working our way through the book of Judges.

So as I told you then, we don't know for sure

how long we'll be here, but we are here now.

We are not. quote -unquote, preaching through

the book, verse by verse, because that's not

what the Lord has laid on my heart. But we have

been now in chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter

2 for three weeks, taking out different pieces

as the Lord has kind of pushed me to kind of

drill down on those pieces. And so we will do

the same today and for the foreseeable future

until the Lord tells me otherwise. That's kind

of my plan. So hopefully God will show us amazing

things through these texts. So grab your Bibles

if you would. Maybe take a breath, give me a

little hoo to holler amen as we go to Judges

Judges 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1. Somebody say Judges. Judges. Thank

you. Are we participating today? I'm just participating

today. Somebody say Judges. Judges. Thank you.

Somebody say chapter 1. Chapter 1. Thank you.

We got it now. Judges chapter 1, verses 22 to

Judges 1:22–26

26. So the text is kind of short. I'm not sure

the message is so short. We'll see how it goes.

I have not practiced it. I finished writing it

at 1030. I wasn't getting it. Okay? So this is

what it says. In Judges chapter 1, verses 22

Judges 1:22–26

through 26. In verse 22, it says, Likewise, the

house of Joseph went up against Bethel, or Bethel,

depending on how you want to pronounce it in

English. It was literally written kind of Bethel

in the Hebrew. And the Lord was with them. The

house of Joseph spied out Bethel. Now the name

of the city was formerly Luz, L -U -Z, which

means like almond tree. which I guess until I

read that I didn't even realize almonds grew

on trees. I never thought about it, but I guess

it's true. The spies saw a man coming out of

the city and they said to him, please show us

the entrance to the city and we will treat you

kindly. So he showed them the entrance to the

city and they struck the city with the edge of

the sword, but they let the man and all his family

go free. The man went into the land of the Hittites

and built a city and named it Luz, which is its

name to this day. So a few things in the text,

first of all, we want to make sure we understand,

and then we're going to drill down from there.

So first of all, when you hear the house of Joseph,

is Joseph a tribe of Israel? No, it is not. Joseph

is not a tribe of Israel. So Joseph was a guy,

pretty famous guy, who was sold by his brothers

into slavery, had a pretty historic story, and

winds up the really first man in Egypt, kind

of technically second man under Pharaoh, but

really first man in Egypt. And the nation of

Egypt prospers substantially, right? So mentioning

the name of Joseph, then, we're talking about

two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. And they were

the grandsons, right? Not the sons. So they were

Joseph's sons. And they became tribes. They split

the tribe that kind of would have been like the

Levites or whatever. So they split. So that's

how we got 12 tribes. That being said, then,

because they mentioned it that way, could they

not have said Ephraim and Manasseh? Surely they

could. So in the story, the tribe of Joseph is

not a tribe. So when we say the house of Joseph

went up, we know it refers to those two tribes.

But there's a reason they're being called that.

And I'll mention it later as to why the author

chose to use those words instead of something

different. Bottom line is they come to the city

loose. They see it's got some defenses. We're

going to conquer it. We're going to deal with

it as God has ordered us to do. A man is coming

out of the city, bumps into their spies. The

spies say, hey, can you tell us how to get in

the city? We'll do our business. We'll let you

go free. You can live happily ever after. That

sounds good to him. He agrees. He shows them

an entrance to the city. Now, the entrance to

the city is a not -so -known way. It's not the

way that everybody goes. And it's not well guarded

by the city because it's a not -so -known way,

a way that not everybody goes. And so strangers

coming would probably not know about it. And

so they were not really worried about guarding

it. So he shows them that way, and then they

destroy the city. They put the city to the sword.

Really probably take over much of what's left

and that kind of thing. The man is, as promised,

allowed to leave. He goes and he is allowed to

live happily ever after. Interestingly enough,

he clearly, and I don't want to get ahead of

myself here, he clearly fears God's people because

he's quick to betray his own city. Right now,

he might have been quick to death. Maybe not.

He might have got away. They might have been

talking at a distance. We don't know. They might

have captured him. We don't know exactly. But

he's doing more than just dying here. He's doing

more than just suffering. He is betraying. His

city, which probably includes all of his extra

cousins and friends and people and history and

all that kind of... We know that he had a value

of the city because he later creates a city by

the same name, so he's commemorating its previous

existence. Anyway, he sides with God's people.

God's people then conquer the city, as was said,

and he is allowed to leave and go live happily

ever after, but he does not take up residence

amongst God's people. Now you might think that

God's people were only people who were ancestors

of those who came out of Egypt, but we actually

know that's not true. The Kenites, for example,

who were the descendants of Jethro, who was the

father -in -law of Moses, they have become as

Israelites. They have the same rights, etc.,

as Israelites. And there's quite a bit of that

going on. So the Jewish people coming out of

Egypt, they were... They were adding people to

their number, not just only people. Even though

that maybe is not the way they were supposed

to multiply or grow, that's what they were doing.

And so it would have been possible, very easy

for him to take up residence in God's people.

You follow? He could have been basically a Jew.

From that point on, he could have said, I'm with

God. I'm with God and God's people. But he did

not. Instead, he flees to the land of the Hittites.

There's an interesting thing going on during

this time. As he flees the land of the Hittites

and builds a city called Luz, historically, not

so much in the Bible, you don't read about it

a lot, but historically, the land of the Hittites

is swelling massively in population, and the

empire of the Hittites is growing substantially.

They are in a prosperous land. It's what we would

call Mesopotamia, right up there above the Promised

Land, where the Euphrates and Tigris rivers are,

and the crops grow four times as well, and that

kind of thing. It's a prosperous land. Why do

you think it might be that while the Israelites

are taking over the promised land, the population

of the Hittite realm is growing massively and

they're becoming empirical and taking on other

lands? Why do you think that's happening? Throw

me a hypothesis real quick. You're living in

the day when the judges and previously Joshua's

army are invading the promised land and everybody

that doesn't flee is killed. That was God's order.

So where do you think they're fleeing to? They're

fleeing to the Hittite realm. It's the country,

if you will, to the north. So as they flee up

there, the country swells massively and begins

to take over regions all around it. You can look

this up in a map online. I was going to hand

one out, but we don't have time for it today.

So you can look it up. Swelling massively in

population and in the empirical nature. Never

does take over anything in the promised land,

right? They don't come back into the promised

land. Some of them remain in the Promised Land,

never get kicked out by the Jews, but the nation

of the Hittites exists up there and gets bigger

and bigger as people are fleeing the Promised

Land and going to join them, including this guy.

What was his name, by the way? Oh, wait. His

name's not in the story, is it? Just this guy.

Some guy. But he does build the city, Luz, in

the Hittite territory. The Israelites will conquer

Bethel. That's going to happen. God has said

it will happen. Not only Bethel, but all of the

surrounding lands. So decide with God's people

to embrace the plan that God has for God's people.

That's not a wrong thing. If God says do this,

God's people are doing it, and you say, I don't

think I want to do that, and you stand against

them, you're going to pay. You're in opposition

to God. If you're in opposition to God's people,

you're in opposition to God. That's the reality

of it. And so it's not wrong of him to side with

God's people because his city was going to be

destroyed. The alternative would be to be kind

of suicidal. And say, OK, well, me and all my

family are going to be destroyed. Or I can tell

you where this back entrance to the city is and

you can go do what's going to be done anyway.

And then I can live really happily ever after

with all my family. So he didn't do anything

wrong here. It looks disloyal. In fact, in the

world, would it not be called disloyal? There's

a word for this. This very thing that this man

does. Does anybody know what the word is? If

somebody did this to America, what would we call

it? Treason. This man has committed treason.

But it's not really treason in the grand scheme

of things because he is siding with the destruction,

what God is going to do, that's already going

to happen. The handwriting is on the wall. You

either jump ship now or you're dead too. And

so no one would fault him for that. You wouldn't

even call it sin necessarily. In fact, you would

more likely call it sin if he was resisting God's

people. So let's take a look at this guy for

a minute. What are his qualifications to do this?

Well, the first thing is he just has proximity.

He happens to be coming out of the city when

the spies come to the city. That's it. He's just

there. He bumps into them. His name isn't named.

He's not a special guy. He's not a general, a

king, a prince. He's not a locksmith that knows

how to open the gates. He's really gotten no

qualifications at first. other than he has proximity.

And immediately when I think about proximity,

I think about the parable of the four soils,

which we're not going to go there and look at,

but Jesus talks about the parable of the four

soils. The seeds fall in four places. One of

them is good soil. That's what we're supposed

to be, right? But one of them is the path itself,

eaten up by the enemy before it can take root.

Thin soil, where things take off and really start

to happen, but the people don't have root, right?

Or soil that has... thorns and whatever in it,

so the cares and the troubles of this world choke

out the growth eventually. So there's four different

soils represented, but what do all the soils

have in common? They bump into the seed. Proximity.

So Jesus was talking about proximity. So his

main qualifier is that he was there. Well, it's

a good thing he was, because because he was there,

he lives happily ever after and takes his whole

family with him. That's a pretty good deal. But

it's not his only qualification. He cooperated

with God's people. Now, if you go back to Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12, which we won't do in the interest

of time, God makes promises to God's people.

Two of the most important parts of the promises

is that I will bless those who bless you. God

says that to God's people. I will bless those

who bless you, and I will curse those who curse

you. There are actually four pieces. I encourage

you, I'm going to read it in Genesis 12, but

we're not going to do that today. So he says,

I will bless those who bless you. I will curse

those who curse you. Did this man bless the Israelites?

He did. He showed them how to get into the city

in a way. So if God says, I will bless those

who bless you, then God is now obligated to keep

his promise to bless this man. You follow the

logic? That's what he said he would do. If, on

the other hand, he said, well, forget you, and

he fought back the best he could, maybe he escaped

with his life and rescued a few of his family

members, but he wouldn't tell them anything,

then I will curse those who curse you would come

into apply. But that's not what he did. He blessed

them, and then God blesses him. He chose to go

then to live in the land of the Hittites. That's

an interesting choice because in this day, other

than amongst the Israelites, gods go with lands.

So if you're Greek from Greece, you follow the

Greek pantheon of gods and you have your list

of people that you follow. And if you're Roman

or a Roman citizen because you were conquered

or whatever, then you follow the Rome pantheon

of gods and so on. So the gods generally follow

the lands. And so for him to move to the land

of the Hittites meant that he was going to have

to follow the Hittite gods, which is problematic.

He clearly fears God and what God is doing through

his people, but he's lacking a certain qualification

for him to actually really prosper the way God

might have done so. So he moves into the land

of the Hittites. He selects for himself the gods

of the Hittites. He chooses to be free, but is

he really free? Is he free? He's submitting himself

to false gods. He's submitting himself to the

government of the Hittites. He's tied to the

commemoration of the city that was destroyed

at his absence. All of that is going on. He's

not really free in the sense, but he would call

himself free. They said, you can go free. He

said, I'm free. Yay. God's people pronounced

him free. He chose to build. That's a pretty

cool qualification. He could do something. He

created a city. That's what it says. He built

a city and called it Luz, which is... its name

to this day at the writing of the Book of Judges.

That city is long since gone. Nobody knows exactly

where it's at. There are tons and tons of military

sites and cities that went down completely no

longer exist in the Hittite realm. And there's

a lot of archaeological digs there trying to

figure out where Luz is, where other things are

from the Bible and so on. And some of them are

just trying to learn history of the Hittite realms

because it was such a big deal. The Hittite region

was such a big deal. And they can't find it.

So that city that he created and named after

the city that the Israelites destroyed was wiped

out completely and now gone. So his legacy, everything

that he lived to do to create a city, and probably

tons of fleeing Hittites and others came and

lived in his city, and it became prosperous,

became part of the empire and all that, it's

all gone. So he chose to go and live in the land

of the Hittites, selected for himself the gods

of the Hittites, chose to be free as the Hittites

were free, chose to build, chose to be a part

of a kingdom with a limited lifespan. Now, he

probably didn't think of it that way at the time.

That's not how we normally think of it, but that's

the reality of what he did. He chose to be a

part of the kingdom of the Hittites rather than

to be a part of the kingdom of God. Arguably,

he tried to create that which was one day done

away with by God. So he tried to remake the city

Luz, which God's people had destroyed, but he

tried to do it in the Hittite realms where he

could be protected by the false gods, protected

by the Hittite armies, and so on. He tried to

remake it, and he did succeed in his lifetime.

To remake it. The immediate conclusion that arises

out of this is that if you as a person, I'm going

to show you how we get there, but I'm going to

give it to you first. If you as a person can

see God in charge of God's kingdom, if you realize

that God is in charge of God's kingdom, and that

God's people have a special power to stay the

course so that God's promises will eventually

be fulfilled, and it will eventually happen as

God said that it will happen. If you can see

that, and if you can love those people, who you

only know because God has put you together with

them, then do that. Joshua, back in the book

of Joshua, chapter 1, verse 4, it says, From

Joshua 1:4

the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far

as the great river, the river Euphrates, and

the land of the Hittites, and as far as the great

sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your

territory. That's what God said to Joshua and

the people of Joshua. In Deuteronomy 20, verse

Deuteronomy 20:17

17, it says, But you shall utterly destroy them,

the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the

Perizzite, the Hivite, the Jebusite, and the

Lord your God has commanded you. Deuteronomy

20, 17. So even before Joshua took over, we had

the idea that God was already going to do it.

And understand, this guy, who probably didn't

know all this, chose to go live amongst the Hittites

instead of living amongst God's people. He chose

a kingdom with an expiration date. He didn't

know it, they didn't know the expiration date,

but he chose a kingdom with an expiration date.

In Exodus 23, beginning in verse 20, it says,

Behold, I am going to send an angel before you

to guard you along the way and to bring you into

the place which I have prepared. Be on your guard

before him and obey his voice. Do not be rebellious

toward him, for he will not pardon your transgressions

since my name is in him. But if you truly obey

his voice and do all that I say, then I will

be... an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary

to your adversaries. For my angel will go before

you and bring you into the land of the, listen

for it, Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites,

the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

And I will completely destroy them. You shall

not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do

according to their deeds. But you shall utterly

overthrow them and break their sacred pillars

in pieces. But you shall serve the Lord your

God, and he will bless your bread and your water

and will remove sickness from your midst. There

shall be no one miscarrying or barren in the

land. I will fulfill the number of your days.

I will send my terror ahead of you and throw

into confusion all the people among whom you

come. And I will make all your enemies turn their

backs to you. I will send hornets ahead of you

so that they will drive out the Hivites, the

Canaanites, the Hittites before you. I will not

drive them out before you in a single year that

the land may not become desolate and the beasts

of the field become too numerous for you. I will

drive them out before you little by little until

you become fruitful and take possession of the

land. I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea

to the Sea of the Philistines and from the wilderness

to the River Euphrates where I will deliver the

inhabitants of the land into your hand and you

will drive them out before you. You shall make

no covenant with them or their gods. They shall

not live in your land because they will make

you sin against me. If you serve their gods,

it will surely be a snare to you. That's Exodus

23. The command of God, essentially, to take

the promised land. But then in Judges 2, which

is a little bit after we read, Therefore I also

said, I will not drive them out before you, but

they will become as thorns in your sides, and

their gods will be a snare to you. When the angel

of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons

of Israel, the people lifted up their voices

and wept. So they named that place Bochum, and

there they sacrificed to the Lord. The process

goes like this. God says, you will wipe all them

out and take all their land, including all the

Hittites. Then they go in and they are not really

faithful with the process that God has given

them because it looks like there are alternatives

all around them everywhere. They start to worship

the false gods. They start to partner with the

stuff that's going on there. prosperous kingdom,

a successful thing that's going on right in their

face. And they're like, you know, I'm not sure

that the standards of the kingdom that we are,

the kingdom of God, aren't a little too stiff

for me. I kind of like these standards over here

better. Being in the kingdom, then, the kingdom

of God, would mean living near those who live

near the kingdom of God, but choose to disconnect

from the kingdom of God and vice versa. So this

guy who was coming out of Luz, who went to the

Hittite kingdom, Went there. By the way, remember

that the crops in that region of the world, like

the same amount of seed would produce four, or

at that time it's believed to be 16 times as

much crops. Extremely prosperous. Some people

think it's because that's where the Garden of

Eden was at one time and those rivers were laid

out, but we don't know that for sure because

things changed possibly geographically after

the flood. Bottom line is this. If you would

live in the kingdom of God, you will live near

those who have chosen not to live in the kingdom

of God. but also chose to be close by. Does that

make sense? So there is a region just outside

the kingdom of God which proves extremely prosperous.

Hang on. Let me say that again. There is a region

of existence, a living that you can do just outside

the kingdom of God that proves, that turns out

to be, that actually is extremely prosperous.

That doesn't seem right. But it's true. That

region receives the castoffs, those who don't

want to live in the kingdom. Some of those people

fear God, but they don't love God, like this

guy. And there's the semblance, that is to say

something that looks like, there's the semblance

of power in numbers. So as people collect together

who don't really want to follow God the way God

says, sometimes their numbers grow, their population

is extreme, and it starts to look like, wow,

look at those people. Why does that body of believers

gather 2 ,000? Why does that cult over there

have buildings that you go to with no, they don't

even need to reach out to people. There's no

signs welcoming people in or wherever, but tons

of people are going there anyway. And people

start to think it looks like power. It looks

like there is something to it. I've got to go

there because it looks like there is something

to it. They're beyond the tipping point. An example

of that was the Hittite Empire. Many of them

are displaced. They're kicked out of their homes

by God's people who have the power of God. They

were chased away by a hornet. Soldiers who had

no training compared to these lifelong soldiers

who couldn't. 20 soldiers that had trained for

40 years. Everyone was a 50 -year -old guy who

knew how to use a sword, knew how to use weapons

and had chariots and everything that could do

all of that. And a 14 -year -old boy in Israel

would take out 20 of them. And they fled to the

Hittite Empire. But because the Hittite Empire

started to grow and have so many people, it went

into an empirical time. And they started to take

on other lands. Now they didn't go into the promised

land because that would just be stupid. But we

know what that's like down there. But look, we

can conquer all these other people. And so they

began to prosper. There is a region just outside

the kingdom of God that proves to prosper. Anti

-church movements are like this. One of the early

Willow Creek movements. This is the church for

people who hate church. And it blew up. They

got tons of people to come because there are

anti -church movements. People say, I don't go

to church because there they insert whatever

it is that they don't like about the church.

Now, leaving off everything that the church does

that God ordains that they don't want. It's a

little too hard. I've got to get up early on

Sunday. It's my only day off. I can sleep in.

I sleep in on Sundays. And by the way, that just

makes sense. It makes me more prosperous on Monday,

more successful. I can do my job better because

I get the weekend off. Or we camp every weekend.

Or we do sports every weekend. Or we do whatever.

So movements that detract. from God's people

are still sometimes very prosperous because lots

of people flock to them. Cults with structure

and rules. And these things even sometimes produce

a semblance of godliness. They look like they're

right. You can't do that here. You can't do that

here. You can't do that here. You have to do

this here. Okay, well, if I can't, can't, and

can't, and I don't, don't, and don't, and I do,

I'm going to do well. Does that make sense? In

fact, these regions just outside the kingdom

of God are, listen to this phrase, trickling.

with milk and honey. Remember that the lands

of the promised land, God said, I will give you

lands flowing with milk and honey. The promised

lands don't flow with milk and honey because

they're the promised lands. They flow with milk

and honey because God makes them flow with milk

and honey. But there are lands that prosper,

right? Mesopotamia is an example of that. One

empire after another conquering tons of societies,

wiping people out, destroying lives, taking slaves

because the crops there grow well. That's a lot

of money. That'll buy you a lot of iron chariots

and swords and so on. Right? And then, I mean,

in fact, just aside for a moment, even in the

day of Solomon, which was the greatest prosperity

time period, basically, for the kingdom of God

in the Promised Land, Solomon bought chariots

and horses from Egypt and sold them to the Hittite

Empire for a profit. And he did things like that

that made the people of God so prosperous. But

the Hittite Empire also was prospering by that.

And they were conquering and taking lands. Not

the promised land, but they were very successful

in other areas. Their land was trickling with

milk and honey. Or, as Egypt occasionally gushing.

You know how Egypt works? There is a realm that

runs along the river, the Nile. And in the spring,

every year, it floods. And it leaves healthy,

good sediment soil for miles out from the river.

And there you can grow a lot of crops. And if

you can grow a lot of crops, you can make money

and you can prosper. And as a society, they have

always prospered. But there was a period of time

when they did not prosper and they needed God

to do something. And God sent Joseph. Joseph

led them to prosper. And the bottom line is this.

We stay on task for a minute. Trickling with

milk and honey or occasionally gushing with milk

and honey. Sometimes the hustle. Or the victimization

there means some will prosper greatly at the

expense of others. It's a dog -eat -dog world.

So if you're stronger, if you're faster, if you're

smarter, you can become a millionaire, a multimillionaire,

a billionaire if you'll hustle to do it. Elon

Musk, arguably one of the wealthiest men, maybe

the wealthiest man in the world for a while there,

says he would say he worked 100 plus hours a

week. Over 100 hours a week. He will work 15

plus hour days on a regular basis, right? And

do it for weeks, months, years, decades. He prospered

because it's a dog -eat -dog world and he's willing

to eat a dog is the bottom line. He's on top

of the heap because he's got the hustle. And

then there's victimization. In this same kingdom

that we're talking about. Which means some will

prosper greatly. At the expense of others. Dictators

will starve out their societies. In order to

be able to sit on golden chairs. And so on. There

in this realm that I'm talking about. Great mantras

or rules of living. Like first come first served.

Respect is earned not given. Be yourself. Along

with a host of other things. And all of these

things validate. A semblance of freedom and daily

choices to continue to reside outside the kingdom

of God and outside kingdom values. And you now

can see, just in this short time that I've been

describing, you can see how, number one, it's

definitely in the world. We can see out there,

near the church but not in the church, near us,

near our families but not in us or in our families,

is a kingdom like what I'm describing. But I'm

here proposing to you that this very same kingdom

is actually in the church. It is in those who

have claimed membership anyway, or those who

have come regularly, or those who participate

in serving, giving, or whatever. The success

of this world then lures God's people, and in

fact even outmatches their efforts. Christians

and servants of God, we foolishly do not recognize

the attraction of this world. I want to be good.

I want to have my bills paid. I want to be okay

with my health and so on. And you look at somebody

else in the world and they've got all that. And

they're not a Christian. So then that means you

don't really have to be faithful. You don't really

have to serve. You really don't have to push

through. You don't have to be that radical, denying

yourself Christian that Jesus called us to be.

Right? You can even find the semblance of God's

given fruit of the Spirit there. They talk all

about goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness,

and self -control. They talk all about love,

peace, and patience. But under scrutiny, when

you actually look at it, you'll see that those

things have to be redefined in order for them

to actually have them. Because a corrupt tree

cannot produce good fruits, so says Jesus. Finding

the semblance of God's given fruit there, then

applying biblical standards, you will need to...

see that that has been redefined, and you'll

say, well, I'm not going to adhere to those redefinitions.

I know what love, peace, joy, and patience are.

I know what faithfulness and self -control are.

I know what goodness, gentleness, kindness is.

I'm not going to let you redefine them for me.

And thus begins the war. The God of heaven will

not allow the fruit of his spirit to be redefined.

Joshua was very aware that in the midst of God's

people, right on the heels of God doing miracles,

after an entire generation is wiped out for not

trusting God and going to the promised land like

they were supposed to, Joshua is very aware that

in their midst are people who would choose this

other kingdom. They want the prosperity that

comes with the proximity. They want the blessing

that comes with blessing God's people. They want

God to do amazing things. But they were unwilling

to put God first. And so he said then, choose

this day whom you will serve. Now the truth is,

you can build something there. If you want to

build something, you can do it. Just like this

guy, we don't even know his name, you can go

to this kingdom that I am describing that is

in close proximity and build something there.

You can build something that commemorates recent

history. You can think about how these events

happened and you don't want them to be forgot

and you can make sure. You can build something

there that commemorates ancestry. You can talk

about your parents, your grandparents, your family

history, your family's traditions, your family's

accomplishments. And you can be another one to

carry the torch, to anoint the mantle of your

house, to say, my family did this, my family

did that. You can commemorate yourself. I want,

I think, I deserve, this is the way I am, this

is the way God may be. You can talk about how

you are, who you are, even what God has made

you while all the time enthroning really you,

not God. You can enthrone your family, commemorate

your family, or whatever you want to see propagated

into future generations, there you can go and

build that. Ironically, you will not build that

in God's kingdom because God's kingdom is instead

all about honoring God, all about praising God.

And when all you have is something to say about

you or the world or your success or your family

or the way you think, you may as well just shut

up. Because all you've done is chosen to put

yourself in a kingdom like this man did with

an expiration date. But you can build something

there. That's a fact. And then lastly, as we're

breaking this all down, In a manner of speaking,

you can undo what God has done, or at least unglorify

it to those who are like -minded. You can say,

well, going to church isn't the thing. Serving

in the body or being a member isn't the thing.

Tithing is too much. You can unglorify the things

that God has instituted and build for yourself

something else that will stand even the test

of your lifetime so that you can teach your children,

and if you live long enough, your grandchildren

to do it the way that you do it. You can build

that there. He rebuilt Luz. Cults have bigger

followings than Christ in many cities. Sports

draw bigger crowds and people will come to a

block party who will not yet come to worship

or serve. It's a reality. You can undo what God

has done or at least un -glorify it to those

who are like -minded. There will be a semblance

of a better production. The truth is, the big

name rock stars, their music, Their electronics,

their lights, their explosions, they're better

than what we got. There are no church bands that

are producing anything that remotely resembles

what the top 100 bands in America are putting

out there. Now, it's good. I mean, there are

some Christian artists that produce an amazing

thing, and they would claim the church. However,

you'd really have to know, you'd have to get

to know them to find out whether or not they

really are following. In fact, Bethel Music,

and I'm not trying to get on a political pedestal

here, out of California, which makes some of

the greatest Christian songs of our era, and

they will sing for an hour and a half to two

hours before the preacher ever gets up to preach.

How do you feel about that? They produce some

of the greatest Christian music that's out there.

But if you examine their doctrine, you'll find

that it does not line up with the Bible, and

it's probably a cult, not even Christianity.

And they have the biggest numbers of people of

almost any church segment in the world. The semblance

of a better production or a bigger production

or more people or more salary for the same amount

of work. It's all available to you. If that'll

tempt you, if it'll tempt you now to go after

any one of those things rather than staying in

the kingdom of God, then I would suggest that

you just do that. Kind of wasting your time.

May as well go build something that you can really

enjoy for your life. May as well go get the promotions

and get the money and really have a happy, good

life before you go to hell. May as well. He said,

choose this day whom you will serve. That brings

us to our conclusion then. It is coming out of

2 Timothy chapter 3. So if you're following along

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

in your Bibles, you're welcome to go there with

me and read it. I'll highlight a couple of key

points. And I think I'm going to tie this all

up in a nice neat ribbon. I plan to. 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 beginning verse 1 says this, But realize

that in the last days difficult times will come.

I could be where we're living. Her men will be

lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant,

revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful,

unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious,

gossips without self -control, brutal, haters

of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers

of pleasure rather than lovers of God. It could

be, I mean, but the problem is, so many generations

before us thought that they could be living in

the same generation too. Why? Because the standards

that we just listed off, many of them are the

same standards of this very same, very close

kingdom that is not God's kingdom, but is living

in our midst. Verse 5 says this, holding to a

form of godliness. Well, there it is. There's

the semblance. It looks like godliness. Although

they have denied its power. Avoid such men as

these, he says, for among them, are those who

enter into households and captivate weak women,

weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,

always learning and never able to come to the

knowledge of the truth, just as Janus and Jambres

opposed Moses. So these men also opposed the

truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard

to the faith, but they will not make further

progress, for their folly will be obvious to

all, just as Janus and Jambres' folly. was also

obvious. Okay, we'll stop there for a second.

Do you know who Janus and Jambres were? So Janus

and Jambres are not mentioned anywhere else in

the Bible. This is not a biblical reference specifically.

But we must remember that the guy writing this

is Paul. Paul was a Jew before he was a Christian.

And so in Jewish tradition, Janus and Jambres

were the sorcerers, the magicians that represented

Pharaoh and resisted Moses. So Moses would do

a miracle, and then they would do the very same

miracle. To a point. Now, their miracles were

finite. So Moses' snake ate their snakes. They

made blood in a bowl. He made blood in an entire

country. So they were finite comparatively, but

the point is it was just enough, just enough

for Pharaoh to not believe God through Moses.

And he was always able to harden his heart with

the help of Janus and Jambres. And so now here

we have mentioned in this text, Janice and Jambres,

and don't forget that in the original text, where

the city of Luz was being destroyed and the man

was being allowed to go free, we have mentioned

the house of Joseph, who was the first house

that really reigned in Egypt, and it was the

house that was forgotten that led to the time

of Moses. Back to verse 10, almost done with

the text. Now, you followed my teaching, conduct,

purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance,

persecutions, and sufferings. Such as happened

to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. What

persecutions I endured, and out of them all the

Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live

godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. If

you've never been persecuted, one of two things

is true. Either you're not living godly for Jesus

Christ, or it just hasn't happened yet. Those

are the options. Because it says right there,

indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ

Jesus will be persecuted. Why? Because there

is a kingdom that lives in our midst or very

nearby that desires all of this that we've been

talking about. And when you offend, and when

you affront, and you say, look, the joy you say,

that's not the joy that the Bible talks about.

The love you're talking about, that's not the

love that the Bible talks about. That's not what

God has called us to. And you say that, you're

going to upset them. And accordingly, be persecuted.

That's what Paul knew to be true, and it had

happened to him, and he said it would happen

to all of us. Verse 13 says, But evil men and

imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving

and being deceived. You, however, continue in

the things you have learned and become convinced

of, knowing from whom you have learned them,

and that from 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, for reproof,

for correction, for training in righteousness,

so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped

for every good work. Wow, that was a lot. And

we don't need it all. What we do need is this.

Paul said, as we near the end time, the kingdom

that we're talking about, the one that lives

near the kingdom of God, to receive the blessings

of proximity, the semblance of God's power, right?

In a dog -eat -dog world, still getting ahead

by their own means, but living right near us

or sometimes in our midst, that kingdom will

become more prevalent. The Christians will walk

away and chase after the easier method of living,

the freedom that that other kingdom theoretically

provides. A great kingdom like Egypt, literally

surrounding God's people. The Pharaoh reigned

and that nation was already huge before the Israelites

ever went into slavery. The government was made

great and the nation then was saved by God when

Joseph became the number one man. Who was he?

He was an Israelite. Why was he there? So that

God could then save his own people out of the

promised land into Egypt and then keep them there

for 400 years while the very people that we're

talking about them that they're supposed to be

destroying would be building up their iniquity.

The kingdom of the Hittites and those who were

thereby. They would live that way. Now what?

Not in proximity to the people of God. But the

Egyptians would be in proximity to the people

of God. And don't forget the blessing and cursing

of Genesis 12. So the people of Egypt bless Joseph

and God's people, and the nation is blessed.

See, it plays out that way every time. When Moses

confronted Pharaoh, these magicians here mentioned

were at first able to duplicate the miracles

with tricks or sorcery. Find a people of the

book! That's what I'm telling you. Find a people

of the Bible that might not like always what

the Bible says. I'm sometimes under such conviction

that I have to change, I have to repent, that

I realize I'm just a man and God is God and I'm

not God. And I go, oh, holy cow, I've got to

turn to God and I've got to fix this problem

with myself. But really, I have to let God fix

it. My burdens must be lifted by God or they

will not be lifted at all. Sometimes when I go

to the book, I'm under such strong conviction.

Sometimes when I go to the book, I'm under such

strong encouragement. Find a people of the book,

Paul says. A people of the kingdom, Paul says.

And then he says, get in! Get in that people

of the book, that people of the kingdom. John

says, if you say you love God, but do not love

your brother, and to love them is to choose to

love them, even when they seem unlovable, and

to be willing to sacrifice everything that you

have for them, even when it seems like they don't

deserve it. That's what it means to love there.

And he says, if you say you love God, but don't

love your brother, and he's talking about in

the church, then you are a liar. And the word

says, God is not mocked. You will reap what you

sow. And so if you live in the kingdom of God,

intermixed with us, we're all here, we're all

studying the word of God right now, we're all

trying to say, okay, what does the Holy Spirit

want from us? But if you know that's not what

you're doing, if you have not put Jesus first,

if you're here to get some blessing, if you're

here to learn something but not really here to

let it change you, if you're here to listen to

the word of God but not really here to go, okay,

I'm ready to give up. All my money, all my time,

all my strength, all my mental power, I would

really submit all that to God and let him use

it. If that's what you're all about, I submit

to you, there's a good possibility you're living

in the kingdom of God of your own making. Not

the kingdom of God that actually is the kingdom

of God. Jesus said, deny yourself, take up your

cross daily, and follow after me. And I imagine

there's people who will follow after him. There

might even be people who will take up their cross

daily. Knowing that if they're with the church,

they might suffer, be persecuted, and so on.

But just not follow him. Just not deny self.

Just fall a little short. Just not be Jesus'

disciple. God is not mocked. You will reap what

you sow. Jesus told the parable of the wheat

and tares. He said, they're growing right together.

They said, should we go tear out those tares?

Those horrible weeds that yield no fruit, no

nutrition? No, don't tear them out because their

roots are intertwined. This means that your husband,

your wife, your child, your friend, the people

that you work with, the people in your church,

your Sunday school teacher, that they might be

going to heaven for an eternity and you might

not be going. Or vice versa. You might be going

and they may not be going. And Matthew 7 says,

we cannot judge salvation while we're on this

earth, so we continue to preach the gospel to

one another. We continue to look at the teachings

of God. Paul was saying, find a people of the

book, a people of the kingdom, and get in. Love

your brother. Love my work and my people. You

can see Jesus getting up off the ground or off

the floor with a dirty towel after washing their

feet saying, oh, if you only knew what I've done

to you. If I have gotten down on my knees and

washed your feet, how much more should you wash

each other's feet? He's talking about service.

Service to people in the nastiest, dirtiest,

most painful ways. Why would he do that? Why

would he set that standard of the kingdom when

right over there, we're all mixed in with us,

right close by, in proximity, easily graspable,

easily interpreted, is a kingdom. But you don't

have to wash anybody's feet. You only got to

serve when you really want to serve. Serve in

the way that you're wired. Serve in the way that

you can. And that's it. You don't really got

to give because nobody's checking your checkbook

to see whether or not you've been faithful with

your tithe and offering. You don't really got

to do that. There's a kingdom right over there.

In fact, there's a lot more people in it and

they're all prosperous. There's tons of professionals

and people winning at games and sports and the

best mechanics sometimes. There's tons of prosperity

right over there in proximity with the kingdom

of God that doesn't have sacrifice yourself,

doesn't have submit yourself to Jesus, doesn't

have be willing to be persecuted. But then you

can hear Jesus saying, he who puts his hand to

the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom

of God. But also the same God said, the gates

of hell shall not prevail against his church.

His local body called out assembly of believers.

His church. I know everybody in the world wants

to say that there's a universal church. It's

everybody that claims the name of Jesus. But

the word there means local, called out assembly

of believers. Which means if we are the church,

if you are the church, we're here, this is us,

and we're New Age Fellowship Baptist Church,

then the gates of hell cannot prevail against

us. Oh, you know what? It's fanciful thinking.

Because one day, the gates of hell will come.

And when they come, we're ready. We'll resist

the gates of hell. We'll turn them back. We'll

defeat them. Oh no. If you haven't gotten anything

out of this sermon, you don't understand that

the gates of hell are in this room right now.

They're right now in this room amongst us. And

the truth is, some of us are living on the other

side of them in the kingdom, right next to the

person that's in the room that loves God and

truly is where they belong in Christ. He also

said that each person has been given as necessary

to serve in that local body of church. That's

the teaching on spiritual gifts. He said that

no one part of that church can dismiss another.

Saved, installed, rooted in His church. If you

can see God is in charge of the kingdom, you

can see God's people have a special power to

stay the course. And if you can love those, who

you only know because God put you together and

said it should be so, then do it. We don't allow

or even follow this model all the time because

sometimes people fear God and they follow him

for a little while here and there. But those

who love God will follow this model. They will

say, I want to be. in the kingdom of God. I want

to be a part of God's people no matter what it

costs me. I want to do it the way God has written

it. If we understand the teaching that I'm talking

about today, we will not just get close to God's

people so we can trade on proximity. Rather,

we will get into God's people with a change in

identity. We're not looking for a semblance of

power or godliness. but an enduring presence

of God, even if it's through persecution. According

to scripture, he will take us through trials

and decisions that we would never choose for

ourselves. He will see us through if we are willing

to not settle for close and success. The lose

that man built, the L -U -Z, the lose that man

built no longer exists. Sometimes, a few hundred

years later, there's a subtext or a plaque or

a book or a name on a map or families still have

certain traditions or cultures still have certain

traditions that somebody started and there's

a debate as to when it got started. Some semblance

of immortality bestowed upon men by their great

acts in their lifetime. But for those men who

have been part of the kingdom of God while they

live, their names are written in the Lamb's Book

of Life and they reside for an eternity with

God. Hell is not close enough to heaven to trade

on proximity. Once Jesus comes again and it's

all done, the people in hell won't be able to

go to the people in heaven and say, hey, if I

give you a piece of cake, will you give me? If

I give you money, will you give me? If I serve

you, if I work for you, if I live amongst you,

will you bless me? No, because there is a great

rift between here and there, and those who are

there, they receive their blessings in their

lifetime as part of the kingdom in close proximity,

but not as part of the kingdom of God. And now

that great rift separates us so that not even

if somebody wanted to go across there, could

they? No one can cross it. Those who are on this

side, they were part of the kingdom of God in

their lifetime and now are forever. Hell is not

close enough to heaven to trade on proximity.

Hell has no semblance of power. And no one there

can eat up anyone else to better their own suffering.

The stronger, the faster, the craftier, the more

intelligent, the more beautiful, the more successful,

the renowned, outside the kingdom of God, let

me say it again, the stronger, the faster, the

craftier, the more intelligent, the more beautiful,

the more successful, the more renowned, outside

the kingdom of God, they will all burn just the

same in the end. There is a kingdom. It is in

very close proximity, and I submit to you, according

to the parable of the wheat and tares, even mixed

in with the kingdom of God. And if you find yourself

to be a terror today, if you find yourself to

be someone who is mixed in with the kingdom of

God, but not truly surrendered to God in the

way that God ordained that we will be, then surrender.

The destruction of any city, any great legacy

that you will construct, has already been ordained

if it is outside the kingdom of God. Are there

athletes? That live in the kingdom of God and

become professionals? Yes. When we go to Camp

You Can, we hear from a number of athletes who

retired from the NFL, which is an amazing feat,

by the way. Most don't. They lived their whole

career, were in the NFL for decades and then

retired. And they come and they speak. And you

know what they say? They don't say, God made

me an athlete. They don't say, God made me able

to do this. They don't say, God just miraculously

from heaven. Why? Because there are tons of athletes

who don't know God. In fact, the truth is, when

you look at them, most of the athletes that don't

know God are just as good as the athletes that

do. There is a kingdom right next door and in

the midst that has proximity, semblance. It's

a dog -eat -dog world close by. But this man

built all that he built outside the fellowship

of God's people. And his success was rooted on

trading on the proximity with the kingdom. He

blessed the Israelites and was blessed for his

whole life, as far as we know, up until the point

that he wasn't. I'm asking you to be 100 % sure.

If you know that there's something that God is

saying, that God's word says you should do, and

you've listened to the world, you've listened

to what's out there, even your flesh, your ideas,

wherever it's coming from, and you say, I can't

quite go there. I can't quite be fully committed.

I can't quite go that far. I can't quite really

put myself on the line. You might want to think

about the fact that you're probably in the kingdom

that's in close proximity and benefiting by it,

trading on it. The end result of that would be

you'll probably wind up blessed beyond measure.

Oh, and maybe never persecuted. But there is

an end to that kingdom. And there is no end to

that kingdom. Let's pray as we come forward today

and lead us in our final hymn, our final song

we're going to sing. If you have realized that

you need to repent, choose God alone as your

God. Choose Jesus alone as your Lord. And follow

him to the best of your ability. You know he's

going to get it perfect. You know he's going

to do mistakes. Sometimes we have to cross the

barrier of doubt. Sometimes we have to throw

out our best understanding and let God substitute

a new one. But if you're here today and you realize

you need to do that, then you do that. God did

not call you to trade on proximity with God.

He called you to be in the kingdom of God. And

Jesus paid the price that you can get in. So

get in. If you're here today and you say, I am

in, but I realize that There are people that

are in my life that may or may not be. And I'm

not getting anybody's salvation. But I also realize

I need to call them to take a serious look at

where they stand. I need to offer salvation again.

Maybe they say they're already saved. Let me

offer it again. And offer it again. And offer

it again. Because this is who I love. This is

who needs me. This is who owns me. I live now

not for myself, but for the one who died for

me. And you can make yourself today to do that.

Whatever it might be that's laying on your heart,

you just say, hey, it's been long enough. Would

you stand with me and sing this song? And if

the Lord is calling you to respond, then would

you so? We believe and we are never the same.

that we have life in the name of Jesus. There

alone is life bound. There is no other name under

heaven, given among men, by which we must be

saved. No, we have never seen. We believe and

choose to follow our King, Jesus.