Civilized warfare (Can Continue...) Judges 21:25

Sometime now, we've been talking about fasting,

and in Hebrews 1, beginning in Hebrews 1, verses

Hebrews 1:1–4

1 -4, the book of Hebrews reminds us of the supreme

majesty of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the

ultimate ruler, the ultimate servant, the ultimate

sacrifice, Lord of the universe, nothing was

made except that which was made through Him.

God, who spoke to our ancestors through the prophets,

has now spoken to us through his son Jesus. Jesus

is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact

imprint of his nature. That's Hebrews 1 .3. Because

Christ is the ultimate revelation of the Father,

our hearts are to be drawn toward him to seek

deeper communion with Christ. Fasting, then,

is that spiritual discipline, it's one of them,

it's not the only one, that allows us to do exactly

that. As you say, this thing that I'm giving

up, I realize Jesus is more important to me.

We don't earn God's favor that way. We talk about

drawing close to God through spiritual disciplines.

You don't do that so that God will be forced

to reward you or so that God will be pleased

with you as you put away some things from your

life. If there is something that is in your life

that is sin, you can't fast from that. You just

put sin away. Let that go. But if there's things

in your life that are good and they're taking

up a certain place that belongs really solely

only to Jesus, then you can put those things

away for a time to make sure that when they come

back, they don't take up part of Jesus's space.

Fasting is a deliberate act of setting aside

the physical or experiential to focus on the

spiritual. We choose to abstain from food. For

example, we're declaring that our deepest hunger

is not for the bread, but for the word. It's

not for the things of the world, but for Christ

himself. In the culture that we're living in,

and you guys are all gonna kind of, you'll resonate

with this in 2026, we're surrounded by an endless

stream of content connectivity. So even if you're

trying to stay off social media, even if you're

not doing YouTube, even if you're not watching

a lot of TV, everywhere you go, you can't drive

your car down the road without a bulletin board

screaming about one thing or another. Everywhere

you go, you're getting texts. I've been getting

texts on my phone to take surveys about popular

public issues as the election is coming up and

to vote for one candidate or another. When we

are fasting, we're unplugging from that artificial

noise of culture to tune our hearts to the frequency

of heaven. So I want you to look at what's in

your life, whatever it might be, that is providing

a certain amount of distraction from your faith.

And just like you might take off a headset, and

step out into the real world. You might breathe

fresh morning air or feel the power of self -discipline,

the freedom that you're provided when you make

choices to do the right thing. Fasting allows

us to lay aside the distractions of our devices,

of our appetites, even sometimes of relationships

or places, and say, Lord, you are better than

the things that I crave. As members of New Heights

Fellowship Baptist Church and guests, We are

a congregation of believers, I hope, indwelt

by the Holy Spirit. If you're here and you know

that you are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit,

you understand that the only thing that's stopping

that from being true is your response to the

Lord Jesus Christ. And if you would respond and

say, OK, Jesus, I'm yours. Leave my life. Let

me walk the rest of my days in faith. Save me.

Then the Holy Spirit comes. He comes and he'll

fill you up. And from that moment on, he becomes.

your experience with him becomes all the more

important than the things that you experience

otherwise. Whether you're seeking clarity, like

I need to know, repentance, I need to give something

up, or a deeper sense of God's presence, I need

to feel him. I need to know that he is leading

my life. Whether any one of those things is true,

fasting is a way to say, Lord, you are better

than the things I crave. As we look toward the

return of Jesus Christ, as a people, we need

not be weighed down. by the cravings of the flesh.

But instead, we are fasting now to feast then.

So we are giving up things now that distract

us from Jesus. And in that moment, there will

be nothing to give up. We will have everything.

We will feast on the glorious truth that Jesus

himself, our great high priest, sits at the right

hand of the majesty on high and has prepared

a place for us. So I was talking with a brother

this week, and we're talking about... How it's

difficult for people to make choices in life,

to give up, for example, shopping at a place

where they know that the prices are only cheap

because of villainy, right? Wickedness, slavery

being used to make the products, for example.

We want to order the cheapest thing, even though

we know that it can't actually be that cheap.

And it's hard for people to make a choice to

spend a little bit more money to not support

wicked teachings. Like we know that an organization

is... pro -liberal theology, that they're against

what the Bible says. And we still want to give

them money because we enjoy what it is that they've

made. And it's hard for people to make a choice,

for example, to not go and do something else

other than coming to worship because it feels

like suffering. Fasting reminds us that a little

bit of suffering, a little bit of choosing to

do the right thing, frees you up that in those

cases where you might have to make a choice not

to support someone's bad agenda. or not to buy

something from someone that is only able to sell

it to you because maybe they stole it. And you

can get a great price on a pair of speakers off

the back of a truck, but you know it's probably

stolen. And we don't have to take part in anything

of the world that somehow prospers us. We can

instead choose to be right. And every time you

choose to go a day without food and do it right,

or a day without social media, or a month without

social media, or online shopping, if that's something

that you think that God wants you to give up,

or anything that you choose to fast from, and

you go that period of time, at the end of it,

then after that, when you encounter something

that you realize is not really godly, it may

not be in sin, but it's not really godly, you

can say no. And you know you can say no, because

you already said no to something that was taking

a big place in your life, and put Jesus first.

Use the spiritual discipline of fasting to draw

close to God, not because it makes him happy

with you, because God loves you. For all that

he is, he loves you. He loves you enough to die

for you, and in fact did. but use the spiritual

discipline of fasting to be free in Christ and

fast now to feast in the moment of his return.

We'll pray together, take up tithes and offerings,

and worship a little more. Dick and Tony, would

you pray for us? Or lead us in prayer at this

time as we praise you. Lord, thank you for another

day. Thank you for this place where we can come

together. As your people, we worship you, we

hear from you, and we hope, Lord, that you would

speak to us today. Help us, Lord, to be focused

on what we came here for. Help us to know this

is a place where we're with other people, our

friends, our family, whatever. And we just come

to give you some time out of our day, the first

part of our day. Forgive us for what we've been.

And just ask you, Lord, to be with us in this

service. Be with us in this service. Be with

us in every aspect of the children's lesson.

And ask you, Lord, to bless us as we try to give

back a little. that you give us. And I just ask

you guys to take them up. Thank you that we can

give. And bless the giver. And those that want

to give but can't, bless them also, Lord. Help

them to seek your will in what they do. Amen.

Real quick before I get into the sermon and the

opening introduction, a little bit of business

I want to take care of. So number one, I neglected

to mention that there are two softball games

tonight. for two New Heights teams. Two softball

games tomorrow night for two separate New Heights

teams. Both separate New Heights teams have a

double header. So both teams play at 6 .30 and

7 .45. So everybody's arriving at the park at

6 .15. And then we're all playing, I'm sorry,

at 6 o 'clock. And we're all playing at 6 .30

and 7 .45. So support that in any way that you

possibly can. If you're a softball player and

have not made the play yet, we still have openings

on the teams. So we need that. If Kate and Grace

are going to play, we're going to get them on

the roster and that kind of thing. And so we

need to get – that's tomorrow night. Also, don't

forget there's books in the back of the cafeteria.

I see that folks have been kind of stabbing to

them, taking what they like and like that. So

if you want one of those books or even several

of those books or you know somebody that does,

please take them. That's what they're for. And

then there's also tomatoes in the cafeteria.

that were hats from a local community garden.

So if you grab kind of first come first serve,

but, you know, be responsible, obviously make

sure others can get some too. And then we have

a card before the end of the day, before everything

is said that we're going to pass around and sign

for Dominic and Haley for the babies. Okay. So

all of that, I want to make sure I mentioned

now, because, you know, I get preaching and when

I get preaching, I forget everything. So it's

going to be all about God all the time from here

on until the invitation. And I'm excited. So

as you know, I hope you know, we have been working

through the book of Judges, and we have come

to the end. We are at the end of what is basically

a very long book of scripture. It's not the longest

that we've ever done, and we've learned a lot,

but today we're going to have a sort of an overview

teaching that's going to come out of the final

verse, and I think there's something really powerful

in here that I saw that really affected me, and

so I hope you'll get it too. And I'm going to

try to do my best to explain it to you. So first,

grab your Bibles, if you would. Give me a little

who to holler amen as we go to Judges chapter

Judges 21 · chapter mention

21. Thank you. This will be our last time for

a little while visiting the book of Judges. We

may reference back to it and things that we've

learned and whatever. But we are about to leave

the book of Judges. Bless you. About to leave

the book of Judges for who knows how long. You

can study it. You have access to it. You have

it in your Bible. You can study it any time you

want. Judges chapter 21, verse 25, the very last

Judges 21:25

verse of the book of Judges could be a theme

verse for the entire book. And by the time we're

done, you're going to see that even more clearly

today than we have seen it throughout as we studied

the whole thing. It simply says in verse 25,

In those days there was no king in Israel, and

everyone did whatever seemed right to him. And

so we have seen that verse a couple of times

throughout the book. And we're supposed to be

picking up something about the problem of doing

whatever you think is right. We know by now,

you know, the scripture says elsewhere, lean

not on your own understanding. Right. So it very

simply put, we could say it's just not good enough

to do what you think is right. We could stop

right there and call it a day. Also, we see in

that verse a pointing to a needing of a king.

And so right after this, right after the book

of Judges, you're going to go into, chronologically

speaking, you're going to go into the book of

Samuel. And Samuel will ultimately be called

upon by the people and then released by God to

call the first king of Israel. And the goal of

calling a king of Israel would be to put an end

to the problem that we're going to look at today.

And so they have failed time and again to put

an end to this problem. Before we move on, I

want to give you this opening illustration. There

have been a number of times in my life where

I have changed my mind. When I was 25 years old,

I had not yet eaten a salad. So for 25 years

of my life, I was dead stone convinced that lettuce

was of the devil. I used to jokingly say that

I would never eat anything that would grow inside

your shoes, which is a reference to mushrooms.

I wouldn't eat mushrooms on pizza, sandwiches,

or anything. Now, mushrooms have become one of

my favorite foods, especially certain cooks.

And I started eating salads when I was about

26, and I eat them on a regular basis. In fact,

now I can readily, easily, especially if it's

got a little protein in it, substitute a salad

for a meal and be one happy camper. Like, I had

a steak the first day I got off my Daniel Fast,

and it did not taste as good as the salad. And

so I could easily now replace steak with salad.

And they're like, oh, no, steak is so much better.

You must not have made a good steak. No, I made

a pretty good steak. I'm not saying as good as

anybody else, but I make a pretty good steak.

But I ate steak and I ate salad and the salad

was better than the steak. So take it for what

you will. I also learned to make a flatbread

while I was on my Daniel Fast out of protein

powder and whole flour that is unprocessed, which

you're allowed to have on Daniel Fast. It's a

vegetable. And I made it out of that. And I now

like that better than any bread product. I can

make it as a dessert and I can make it as a garlic

bread and I can make it as a breakfast bread.

And I like that better than any bread that I've

ever had in my entire life. So I changed my mind

about I used to really like a robust wheat bread.

Now I would rather have that flatbread. OK, so

we change our minds all the time. We go to the

store and say, oh, I'm going to go buy this.

We get there and we go, I'm going to buy this

and this and this as well. Or we get there, we're

going to buy one thing and we get there and find

out that they have it in a bulk pack and we can

buy three or four of them at one time and we

buy that instead, right? People are counting

on the fact that you change your mind all the

time, that things are changing in your perception

all the time. So that alone would undermine the

idea that you can do what you think is right.

When up to 25 years old, I honestly thought that

it was perfectly okay to lie to get your own

way. Now, as long as you weren't hurting anybody,

right? I was a basically good person. I thought

I wanted to think of myself as a good person.

So if I lied, I thought it was okay. It was little

white lies. Dog ate my homework. Kid on the bus

tore it up. My mom taught me to do all of that

stuff when I was younger. I had probably a hundred

different lies in my regimen on how I could get

out of my homework or get another day on it because

I believed that was true. And then at roughly

25 years old, I started to realize, maybe that's

not actually okay. I don't see how it's really

helping me or anyone else. And I think actually

the end result of it is bad. And then I started

going to church and I realized that the Bible

says you specifically cannot do that. And then

when I got saved, I knew for a fact I could no

longer do that. And then it took me a little

while, like a year and a half, two years to really

put to bed that lying, deceitful nature that

I had had. So you could be a young Christian

and still struggling with that. But you realize

that by now, I hope you've changed your mind.

about the standard of righteousness as you are

growing in Christ. Romans 12 says that by the

renewing of our mind, what does that mean? If

your mind is renewing, then your mind is changing,

right? It's changing to come, as we talked about

on Tuesday, in line with Scripture, right? And

that alone would be a small part of your act

of spiritual worship, as you honor the Lord with

your choices and your mind is being renewed.

You may have some journey to get to, some steps

to take to get to where you need to get, but

the bottom line is we understand that we are

changing our mind. Understand that the world

is counting on you to be a person who changes

your mind, even about the things that you absolutely

know are true. I was standing at the life station

toward the end of the COVID era, about 2021.

And there was a woman who was standing there

and she was a leader of a food pantry. And we

had helped them financially with food. And she

was telling me about how she had been adamantly

against certain lifestyle choices and that she

had then changed her mind. to be now in favor

of those lifestyle choices, even to the point

that she was helping young people sneak behind

their parents' backs. She would take them out

of their house under false pretenses and then

sneak behind their parents' backs to do the things

that she had previously said that she would never

allow in her own house or tolerate. And now she

was sneaking to help other people's kids do it

behind their parents' backs. And I said, We tried

to talk it through and I talked to her biblically

how that was wrong and so on. And then ultimately

she said, you don't understand. Now I am solely,

completely, 100 % convinced that this is true.

That's why I support it. I'll support it until

I die. And I said, well, if nothing else, let

me ask you this. You were adamantly against it

and then you changed your mind and now you're

adamantly for it. With no greater standard than

yourself, no reason to change your mind except

for your own opinion. Why would you not one day

down the road, a year from now, 10 years from

now, whatever, change your mind again? After

you see the damage that it does, I submit to

you, you probably will change your mind again.

And so now I would say you should temper your

course of action because you're going to change

your mind again. So the bottom line is this.

We are changing our minds all the time and the

world is counting on it. Now, the result of that

is civilized warfare. We say things like we can

agree to disagree. Meaning, eventually I'll get

you to change your mind, or eventually you'll

get me to change my mind. We'll come around to

a way of understanding that we agree on. Agree

to disagree is not biblical, by the way, because

it doesn't matter what you think is right. It

matters what God says is right. So if you think

you're right, and I think I'm right, and we're

agreeing to disagree on it, what if we're both

wrong? And how are we ever going to find that

out unless we're working on it? So agree to disagree

just means we're just going to agree to be wrong.

So here's a believer over here who's following

the Lord. They think one thing is true. Here's

a believer over here. They're following the Lord.

They think another thing is true. They're disagreeing.

We're not working on it because we're agreeing

to disagree. So how are we ever going to get

to the truth? It's not biblical. What it does

is it results in ongoing civilized warfare. And

that's where they existed. They had decided to

be a people that allowed what they thought was

right and allowed everybody else the authenticity

of doing what they thought was right and so on.

and it resulted in, as we have studied from the

beginning of the book of Judges, ongoing continuous

cycles of warfare. Let me break that down for

you for a second. It looks like three things

at least, and I've broken them down in my notes.

The first one is, it looks like expecting, accepting,

okay? You see, it's kind of an easy thing to

remember. It's got a little rhyme to it, right?

Expecting, accepting. In other words, more of

the same. So people keep moving as they expect,

while the enemy, evil spirits, Satan, your flesh,

the world system, while the enemy builds a darker

future. So you keep getting out of bed each morning

thinking things are going to go on the way they're

going on currently, right? So you keep thinking,

those of you who work jobs, you keep thinking

that you're going to keep being able to get up

in the morning and go to work. You keep thinking

that your health is going to hold out and you're

going to be able to do what it is that you're

doing. Or some of us get that earth -shattering

event where we think our health is not holding

out, right? And we don't know what's going to

come. And then you realize, hey, by what standard

did I 10 years ago think that everything was

just going to keep on continuing as it is. By

what standard? Well, it certainly wasn't God's

standard, right? Because God doesn't say that,

that everything's going to keep on continuing

as it is. In fact, he says the opposite, that

there is a kingdom work that is happening and

the kingdom advance must be advancing. If it's

advancing, that means things are changing. Things

are happening. And if it's not advancing, that

means the world... kingdom is advancing. They're

getting their way. And that also is not what

God wants. So once people go after earthly things

and they start thinking the standards. So, for

example, if I just get up every morning, I go

to work at eight, I get off at five, I have a

little snack, I have dinner, whatever. I watch

TV. I go to bed at a certain time. I get up and

I do it all over again. Right. Or I go after

relationships or I handle my kids a certain way.

You start doing it by worldly standards. You

never are going to get around to God things unless

A savior comes in. This is why Jesus could say

to Nicodemus, you shall not see the kingdom of

God lest you be born again. Because Nicodemus

had settled on a worldly standard traditions

that were arising out of his being a Pharisee.

All right. And so Jesus was saying, look, you've

settled for worldly things. You've changed your

mind to a certain set of what you consider to

be godly, worldly things. And you've settled

for that. And unless you are born again, unless

you encounter a savior, you will never get around

to kingdom of God. Jesus said that to Nicodemus.

And in saying it to Nicodemus, he's now gone

on to say it to everyone for the last 2 ,000

years, right? Because we have it in the New Testament.

In the book of Judges, chapter 2, it says this.

Judges 2 · chapter mention

It says, and all that generation also were gathered

to their fathers. So what generation is it talking

about? And we'll touch on it again in a minute.

But the bottom line, it's talking about a generation

that knew God. knew God was an active God. The

generations that knew that God had won battles

for the Israelites, gave them houses already

built, fields already ready to be harvested for

crops, all of that. God gave them all of that.

God called them to righteousness. God punished

them when they sinned, when they went up against

AI after they first chickened out, basically.

And they said, God said, now I will not go with

you. And they said, no, we're going to go. We're

going to go. We promised. We said we would. We're

going to go. And they went up there and they

suffered a horrible defeat. They wandered in

the wilderness for 40 years because they were

not faithful to God. So those generations that

knew the truth of the powerful things that God

had done, they died out. They got old. They were

gone. They 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. And so the book of Judges

sets the scene that the people who are living

in the days of the judges, and we'll talk more

about what that actually means, are people who

had not necessarily firsthand experienced powerful

actions of God. They didn't see the Jordan part.

They didn't see the Red Sea part. By the way,

neither have I. Now that does not mean that I

have not seen God do powerful things. I have.

And so have you. Some of you have told me the

stories of powerful things that God saw. But

have your children had firsthand experiences?

Have the other church members had firsthand experiences

of what God had saw? So what happens, or what

God had done? So what happens is people are expecting,

accepting. It is what it is. You know, I'm suffering.

My health isn't right. I'm not going to do anything

necessarily about it, but I'm just going to have

to keep dealing with this, right? And so there's

one statistic, right or wrong, that says that

in urban America, so in the urban cities of America,

that a high percentage of... teenagers will now

graduate from high school on medication for mental

health disorders there are pessimists if you

will who are estimating that within 10 to 20

years it'll be as high as two -thirds of all

high school seniors will graduate from high school

on mental health medication it means they'll

go into the workforce on mental health medication

it means that if they get married they'll get

married on mental health medication it means

that they'll raise their children on mental health

medication they just keep except Expecting, accepting.

It is what it is, right? It's very dangerous

to accept somebody else to diagnose you and then

to live according to that diagnosis. That's very

dangerous. But that's what's going on in the

world. That's what we've got going on. Because

those same people who are struggling receiving

that diagnosis are not accepting that God has

made them a powerful creator and in Christ, born

again fresh to put all old things anew. That's

what Jesus died for. The presence of God in the

lives of believers. So it's very dangerous to

just start thinking that everything is going

to keep going on as it is. So now you start to

cope. I'm going to be in pain every day when

I get up. Toward the end, when I was working

at Pizza Hut and I was a restaurant manager and

I was saved as a Christian, I had pain in my

leg, in my knee, in my lower thigh every day,

all day. Minor pain every day, all day. And by

seven, eight, nine hours into my shift, the pain

was excruciating. I never went to a doctor because

when I was a young teen, I had been hurt playing

football and they did a surgery. So we got to

have this surgery. The surgeon said, you got

to have the surgery. If you don't, you're going

to be basically impotent and poop in your pants

and all this by the time you're 20. And I didn't

believe it. And so. I didn't get the surgery.

And so now I'm thinking to myself, well, I feel

like I did this to myself. So I was in pain all

day long, every day. And then even as a young

Christian, I was in pain. And then God said to

me, why does it have to be that way? Why are

you going through that? And I said, well, I don't

know. I thought it's because I did something

wrong. I didn't do what I was supposed to. I

didn't get the surgery. And God said, no, maybe

not. Look into it. So I go to the doctor. The

doctor said, oh, you have a muscle on the side

of your knee that is atrophied. So we're going

to get that working again. And after three and

a half weeks of physical therapy, I got it working.

And then the pain went away. And so after I had

pain in my knee, and I don't know if I was going

to need a knee replacement or whatever when I

went to the doctor, but all things were possible,

right? But then after day, after day, after day,

five, six hours a day of literally like felt

like somebody was pounding on the inside of my

knee with a hammer for the last five, six hours

of my shift every day, it was gone. But I was

just going on thinking that it was going to be

what it always had been. And God said, well,

why is it like that? And I would encourage you

that lean not on your own understanding means

that. Stop assuming that the way things are is

the way, because that's going to result in you

prolonging certain problems that don't need to

be prolonged. You refusing to fight in areas

that you need to fight. You refusing to have

peace in areas that you need to have peace. The

second thing to see in here is what's called

acceptable losses. They had acceptable losses

time and time again. We have people hiding in

the hills and the people in the plains are getting

wiped out. They're being persecuted. They're

losing tons of stuff. And there were acceptable

losses. More, they were losing freedom. They

eventually began to burn their firstborn children

in the fire, just like the followers of Molech

had done before them. And they started doing

that because that was an acceptable loss. It

was an acceptable loss to burn your firstborn

child in the fire. Can you imagine? To get the

benefits of Molech worship. It's crazy. And yet

they started to believe that. They gave up their

freedom. They gave up their firstborn children

in many cases. They suffered other people's destruction.

Well, that's just them over there dying. We're

not going to get upset about that. We're not

going to do something about that. We're not going

to sum up an army. That village is wiped out.

That village is wiped out. Oh, we heard about

that village is wiped out. But it's not us. Not

right now. So we're not going to do anything

about it. It's not okay to deem certain things

as acceptable losses. Worse, in the present day,

people are losing the image of the creator. People

are no longer representing God. They're no longer

doing the things that God would have them to

do. They're doing the things that they think

they should do, which is get a job, earn money,

pay bills, have stuff, eat the way they want

to eat, go to places they want to go, whatever.

And the image of the creator is being lost. And

yes, it was marred at the fall, but it was never

meant to be lost. The truth is you don't have

to hate God to neglect God. You only have to

keep putting something else in the temple. And

that's what they did. They took on other gods.

They didn't stop worshiping God. Even what we

just read, where they wiped out the tribe of

Benjamin. They went to fight the third day against

the tribe of Benjamin after 25, what, 40 ,000

people died. They went to fight them on the third

day because why? Because God told them to. God

said, go up against them. I'll give you the victory

today. So they didn't wipe out their worship

of God. They just added other things to it. Acceptable

losses in order to... continue doing what they

were doing. They did not necessarily wake up

one morning and announce, we're going to destroy

our relationship with God. They simply began

pursuing other things. And when God is no longer

at the center, something else will always take

the place. The interior of you is like a vacuum.

It's like what they hypothesize outer space reacts

as, although there are people that think that

outer space is not empty, and people think outer

space is empty, whatever, right? But it's like

that. The inside of you is like a vacuum. And

if you don't fill it with the only thing that

will fill it, it'll suck. And I don't mean it'll

suck like it'll be bad, although that's true.

I mean, it'll suck like the most powerful vacuum

under creation. It will continue to draw things

in to fill that void. And you will constantly

fill that void with something, the void that

can only truly be filled with God. So acceptable

losses was the second problem that we saw over

and over again throughout the entire book of

Judges. And then the last was in misinterpreting.

Now, you may or may not know what vacillation

is. I had to look it up and make sure I had the

right definition of the word. OK, so vacillation

is when a person is constantly changing their

minds. That's what we use it for in common vernacular.

But it also means the constant flux or state

of a thing. So it gets bigger, smaller, goes

up and down. Right. It doesn't stay the course.

And what happens with vacillation is life is

up and down. OK, when I was a youth director

back in the day, East Toledo. We had an event

called YEC. It was a Young Evangelism Celebration.

Youth Evangelism. No, Youth. Youth Evangelism

Celebration. And about 5 ,000 teenagers would

come from all over the state of Ohio for a concert

on Saturday night, on Friday night, and then

a concert on Saturday morning. Most of them would

sleep at the concert on Saturday morning, or

try to, because they couldn't hardly get them

to go to bed on Friday night, right? Because

there were 5 ,000 youth all in these hotels,

all over Dayton, and it was really hard to get

them to go to bed. And then on Saturday morning,

they'd have a hard time staying awake, even though

they always put the hard rock stuff on Saturday

morning. It was really loud. But they were still

sleeping, which I don't understand how a teenager

sleeps through hard rock, but they did it. These

kids would go to YEC. And while they're at YEC,

they would hear the gospel preached in simple

terms, like what we do here at New Heights. And

they would respond. They would go down. They'd

give their life to Christ. They'd request to

be baptized. They'd commit themselves to live

for the Lord, whatever. And then a few days later

or a couple of weeks later, they'd go back to

their old life. that a mountaintop experience.

YEC was awesome. It was beautiful. It was wonderful.

The music was great. The people were great. The

message was clear. I gave my life to Christ.

And then a week later, they were living just

like nothing ever happened. Then sometimes youth

camp would come up and their friends would invite

them. Well, I'm going to go to youth camp. And

they'd go for five days. And at youth camp, they

would give their life back over to Christ. They'd

start living for Christ and things would start

going right again. And after a few weeks, after

youth camp, they'd go back to living the way

that they were living before and stuff would

start going to snot, right? And I always wondered,

If that's the way it works, you have a spiritual

experience and then you go back to living the

way you were. Spiritual experience, go back.

How is that helping anybody? And then I found

out that it doesn't look like that. It's not

a spiritual experience and then back the way

it was. Actually, it looks like this. It's a

spiritual experience and then back the way it

was. And you're not quite as low as you were

before because now you have the Holy Spirit in

your life trying to lead you even though you're

not necessarily responding. And then it looks

like this. Every day, all day, it looks like

this. Every week, all week, it looks like this.

Ups and downs and ups and downs. And every time

it starts to go up. The person who should be

basing their standards on the Lord instead says,

oh, it's getting better. And they have hope because

now it's getting better, right? And then it starts

to go bad. And they're like, oh, Lord, I need

you. Do something here. And it starts to get

better. Oh, God did something. It's getting better.

And it's up and down and up and down. And that's

vacillation. And so we misinterpret. life's ups

as god doing something good that is not how that

works all blessings come from god that is true

but everything good that you ever see happening

everything good that you appraise first of all

isn't even always good right you getting a bunch

of money not necessarily a good thing if you

don't tithe give serve stay focused on god make

god your highest priority then you getting that

money was a bad thing right it's not as simple

as when something that the world calls is good

or that makes you feel good is good that that's

god doing a good thing and you're going to jump

right on it right Life is not a straight line.

There are ups and downs. Life is not straight

down. So when I was a young Christian, I read

the book of Judges. Did you ever do that? As

a young Christian, maybe read the entire book

of Judges. I read a whole bunch of books when

I was a young Christian for the first time ever.

And I had never read them before. I'm like, wow,

this is powerful. And I looked at the book of

Judges and I thought, oh, I see what happened.

So they keep getting a judge. And then every

time the judge is gone, they keep going back

into sin. And so this is what I see. And a lot

of theologians call it this. But I now see in

studying it that they're not really right. OK,

this is the thing that really touched my heart.

So pay attention to this. All right. What they

say is that it's a sin spiral. So it gets better

while they have a judge and then it goes down

and it goes down and down and down. Then they

get a judge and it gets better and it goes down

and down and down. And each time they go down,

they go down worse and worse and worse until

the end of the book. That's what they said. But

I'm about to show you that's not accurate. OK,

I'll do that one second. The bottom line is life

is up and down. Life is not a straight line toward

better or worse. Just because you're a Christian

does not mean your life is going to be on a constant,

steady incline. It's always going to get better,

better, better, better, better in heaven. That's

not how it works. No, that's not how it works.

Some days are better than others. Israel had

inherited a story of God's faithfulness. Their

ancestors had seen the Red Sea, the Jordan, Jericho

fall. But now there's a generation that did not

know the Lord. I submit to you generations that

did not know the Lord. They had inherited the

benefits of God's work. They only had lands because

God gave them to them. They only had cities because

the people before them built them and God gave

them to them. And they have the benefits, but

now it's up and down and up and down. But the

truth is, it's up and down and up and down on

the way down. The enemy is always at work. And

if you're not getting the benefits of God in

your life, you're going to get the influence

and impact of the enemy. So here's what I want

you to see about the book of Judges. And then

you'll see this very clearly. The book of Judges

represents several centuries where Israel did

not have a king. They also were not actively

taking over the lands that they were supposed

to, expanding the kingdom to be the way it was

supposed to. So they really weren't doing what

God told them to do. It's over 300 for sure,

because we, I don't know if you remember this

when we studied or not, but Jephthah said, 300

years ago, we won this land and we've had it

for 300 years. And now you're saying we took

it from you. And that's just not true. Remember,

he said that 300 years ago, this happened. You

may not remember the bottom line. So that means

for over 300 years, the book of Judges was going

on by the time of Jephthah. Then in Judges 20,

there's a verse where it says Phinehas, who was

the son of Aaron, was serving as the high priest.

Let me say it again in Judges 20. So Judges 20

is the next to the last chapter. So Aaron was

the high priest before the era of Judges. And

now in Judges 20, we see Phinehas was the high

priest who was the high priest for Aaron. So

what that tells you is this book is not written

chronologically. The events of Judges do not

go from Judges 1 and then the stuff that happened

next, Judges 2, the stuff that happened next,

Judges 3, and so on, up to Judges 21. It's not

a chronological book. It's a theological book.

Theological book means it has a point of theology,

something to teach us about God. So we should

not imagine Israel simply getting worse and worse

in a straight line from chapter 1 through chapter

21. Just the same as anybody's life does not

get better or worse in a straight line, which

is what God was showing us through the book of

Judges. It's not like that. Instead, Judges shows

us a reoccurring pattern that happens whenever

people choose to live by the standard of whatever

is right in their own eyes. Almost to the conclusion,

but it's a doozy, so stick with me, okay? So

we see throughout the book, Israel turns away

from God. God gives them over to oppression.

So God uses the very people that God would empower

them to destroy, to somewhat destroy them, to

create terrible situations, right, where their

children are enslaved or where they've lost their

crops or the lands that God gave them. So God

uses those same people to oppress the Israelites.

Israel cries out. God raises a deliverer. Israel

experiences relief. And then Israel turns away

again when that judge is no longer there. So

that's the cycle. Life in judges is up and down.

So even when there is no judge, there was a certain

amount of faithfulness. There was a certain amount

of good things that people were doing and good

experiences that people were having. And they

might say, we're doing fine. We're following

the Lord. And you might do the same. I got a

new job. I got a new house. I got a new friend.

I got a new... ministry task. Things are going

pretty good. My health is getting better. And

you might say, because good things are happening

to you, then you might want to infer that you

are being faithful to the Lord, that your life

is going in the right direction. You might even

say, well, I said I would go do this. And right

away, God responded positively. And so now I've

got to go do that, right? Like my brother, when

he was sitting in his car and the car wouldn't

start on a rainy, stormy night on the side of

the road, and he tried to start the car and it

wouldn't start. And he said to God, he said,

he said, God, I'm sorry, he didn't say to God.

He said to himself, he said, if I turn the car

over and it starts now, then I'm going to start

a nonprofit to help wounded vets. And I'm going

to do all that. The thing I've been thinking

about doing. He didn't say it to God. He didn't

ask God for a sign. He didn't beg God to tell

him nothing. He just said, if my car starts now,

I'm going to do it. Turn the key over and it

started. And he went off and he started the nonprofit.

And that's what people do. Oh, because the car

started. Now I know I'm on this course and I've

got to do it. You're leaning on your own understanding

and you're doing what you think is right. And

life will always do this during this period of

time. So you'll start getting good things. You'll

be like, oh, it's working. This is going great.

Good things are happening. But you're not following

God. You're leaning on your own understanding.

You're doing what you think is right rather than

what God says is right. And so that's just good

things happening. And then it starts to go down.

And you start to question, like, why is this

happening to me? Oh, my goodness, I'm so anxious.

I'm so worried. I'm so stressed. I can't believe

this is happening. I'm getting a diagnosis, a

problem. I'm trapping. I'm suffering. We're taking

losses. Oh, those are acceptable losses because

we're doing what it is. So now we're suffering.

We're running on without the things that we would

like. But we're doing that because we say we're

serving God when we're actually not serving God.

And so now we're putting ourselves in line for

suffering of our own orchestration. We're continuing

the fighting just as they were doing when it

was completely unnecessary to do so. Earthly

pursuits crowd out spiritual priorities. They

did not necessarily wake up one morning and announce,

we're going to destroy our relationship with

God. And I'm looking at these people in this

room. I'm looking around at you. And I'm going

to say that I don't see anyone who would do that.

I don't see anyone who would get out of bed in

the morning one morning and just say, I'm going

to destroy my relationship with God today. I'm

just going to write God off and be done with

him. I don't believe it. Looking at y 'all, I

don't believe it. Knowing some of the people

that are... watching online, I think most of

them wouldn't do it. And the enemy knows. He

knows that. He knows that you won't do it. So

what he's done is he's created an environment

wherein everybody changes their mind. Everybody

waffles on even the most important things. And

life goes up and down. And so when things are

on the way up, you're like, oh, well, this is

pretty good. And then things start down and you

start rooting around for what you're going to

do. Scramble. I'm going to work harder. More

hours. I need to do more. I need to be better.

It's all my fault. I'll accept the diagnosis.

I'll take the drugs. I'll do all these things.

Because you're reading the curve rather than

looking at God. All they did, not say I'm going

to destroy my relationship with God. All they

did was to start pursuing other things. That's

all they did. The land, the crops, the prosperity,

the security, the approval of the surrounding

nations, the gods of the people around them.

And you almost could do it in that order. Oh,

she's pretty. Yeah, but she's not Israel. Yeah,

but she's pretty. It'll be fine. I'm going to

take her into my house. She's going to make me

some babies. It'll be fine. She won't be allowed

to worship those pagan gods in my house. We worship

only the Lord in my house. But three to five

years in, oh, I found something in my wife's

bedroom. It looked like maybe she was worshiping

those false gods still. And then 10 years in,

it's like, oh, it's fine. She's such a good mother

and she's such a good provider. She'd give me

five, six kids and they're growing up to be good,

strong boys. It's fine. She worships that false

god, but I'm not going to do that. I'll stay

faithful to God. Now, five years later, it's

like, well, it wasn't raining for a while. I

was praying to God to rain and it never did rain.

But then she prayed to Molech and it rained.

Oh, well, let's just take those idols of Molech

and we'll put them up here on a shelf that's

down to the right from the idols of God. The

things that we are symbols of God. So we're not

on the same shelf because we can't have a God

above God or with God, but down here. So these

things will be important. And in modern day,

that may be family, money. These are things that

will be important. Sports, recreation, relationships.

These things will be important, but they'll not

be as important as God. God will still, they'll

know, I'll know, everyone will know, God will

still be the most important thing. But we're

down on this other shelf down here. Several stages

down will be these other things, right? And then

about five, ten years later, it's like, oh, this

shelf is a little higher. Well, Molech has answered

several times, and we've prayed, and God just

doesn't seem to be answering. And by that time,

God isn't answering, because now you've made

other gods. So he's not answering. You feel distant

from God, but you can feel. something when you

worship Molech because it's a demon, evil spirit,

and he's happy to fill that void for you. Anything

that draws you away from God. And pretty soon

your shelves are the same. And then pretty soon,

yes, it's kind of a pain to have two shelves.

You just have one shelf with all the God stuff

and all the Molech stuff on the same shelf. And

maybe if life goes on long enough with enough

ups and downs, one of those times on the way

down and you really need help, Molech gets his

own shelf and God just gets put in the closet.

Nobody starts out by trying to destroy their

relationship with God. But those who live according

to what they think is right, not according to

what God says is right, suffer that vacillation.

They suffer acceptable losses and they expect

things to go on the way they are. And that is

not what God says is going to happen. They're

not going to go on the way they are. What begins

as a pursuit of earthly advantage can become

a departure from heavenly authority. You don't

have to hate God in order to neglect God. Israel

experienced real deliverances. They had Othniel,

Ehud, Deborah and Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson,

all of those we read about. Moments of great

victory and God did amazing things. And then

while that judge was alive, who had seen God

do amazing things, right? He held the nation

together to be faithful. Jesus is alive and he

is our king. And given the opportunity, he will

hold the kingdom together. But I submit to you

that there are a lot of Christians who don't

really want to do that because they're pretty

proud, pretty attached. They'll say, well, I'm

doing the things that I think are right in the

kingdom. I'm pretty sure this is what God wants

me to do. And it's definitely not sin. So I'm

going to do it. I'm pretty sure just means you're

not sure. Judges 2 .18, when the Lord raised

up judges for them, the Lord was the judge, was

with the judge, and delivered them from the hand

of their enemies all the days of the judge. God's

mercy is real. But relief is not the same as

repentance. It came about when the judge died

that they would turn back and act more corruptly

than the Israelites had before, says then their

fathers. Israelites often wanted relief. They

wanted rescue. So do I, so do you. But they did

not want a ruler. They wanted God to change their

circumstances. So you, so I. But do we want God

to change us? Are we willing for God to change

us? This is why, in part, that life does not

move in a straight line. A person can experience

blessing and still be drifting. You're getting

good stuff, but you're drifting away from God.

A person can experience hardship and still be

walking faithfully. You can be going through

difficulty and still be faithful to the Lord.

Look at Job. It was a period of testing. It had

nothing to do with the fact that Job was an unfaithful,

wicked man. Because he wasn't. And yet he went

through horrible times and throughout remained

faithful to God. A church can have a season of

growth and add people and still desperately need

repentance. That's what's going on with a whole

bunch of churches all over the world that are

not about Christ at all. A family can experience

difficulty and still be moving in the right direction.

So you can be having hardships and say, I don't

like it the way it is. This is a real problem.

Something's going wrong here. We've got health

difficulties. We've got... financial difficulties,

whatever, and yet still be on God's course for

your life. God has allowed people to die for

their faith. That's extreme, but it's real. Believers

can experience what seems like worldly benefits

and still be on a fast track to personal experience

with God's wrath. And you can go, I'm doing pretty

good here. I'm going to go after this. I can

do it. God's put it within my reach. It's an

open door. I should really take it. And then

you take it. and just realize that you fell into

the snare. You didn't honor the Lord with your

choice, which then puts you on a road to wrath.

Watch out. You don't have to make a willful choice.

All you have to do is be willing to let somebody

else make the choice that isn't God. That brings

us to the conclusion. I want you to understand

that there is a dog -eat -dog world out there,

a world of personal performance. And the fact

is, you can contend there based on your smarts,

your ability to create. You now, if you're saved,

you have a spiritual gift. which people will

gladly have you use for their benefit, right?

You have the ability to discipline yourself as

a Christian. You have spiritual discipline ability.

You have self -control. You have fruits that

no one can buy. Love, joy, peace, patience. No

one can buy those things. They don't have them.

They don't have them. The Holy Spirit produces

them in you. That's valuable to people. So you

can contend in the world of dog -eat -dog personal

performance. The gifts of God and the remnants

of God's goodness will make you a contender.

But in the end, God determines all outcomes,

even there. No one ever became king or president,

governor or general without God putting them

in that place. God is not working to make you

successful in a worldly sense. That is not his

goal. Hang on, Tyson. You're all right, buddy.

He's working to create kingdom prosperity. You

are a celestial being. What you eat or how much

money you collect is not going to benefit that

one bit. There is a world in which planning,

strategizing, and executing make success seem

like logical outcomes. I decided to do it. I

planned it. I took certain steps. I did it well.

And you can contend here. The wisdom of the Lord

and your improved character for having come into

contact with the wisdom of the Lord will help

you. You can make good choices. You can say,

when I get up early, I do better. In the afternoon,

I'm more productive, so you can start getting

up early. I see that God's Word says, if I cut

certain things out of my life, I can focus more

on other things. In this period of time where

I'm really having a lot of work I have to do,

or there's family issues or whatever, so I'm

going to cut some of those things out and focus

on these things. And you can make those choices,

and you can do better having encountered God's

Word. People have done it. self -help books written

based on one Bible verse or two, and then people

became millionaires even though they didn't know

Christ. So you can do it. You can contend in

that arena, and you could come out on top more

often than not for a while, but eventually you're

going to answer to God. God will do whatever

it takes to bring you to a realization that your

knowledge is finite and you are dependent on

him. So if you build your kingdom and it does

great, for example, if you gain the whole world,

The bottom line is this. The book of Judges,

the whole book, is a theological book written

to teach us that the world we contend in is going

to be one of our own choosing. In other words,

the battles that you join, that's going to be

one of your own choosing. Are you going to follow

Jesus Christ and join the spiritual warfare that

will benefit you for eternity with Christ at

your head? Or... Will you protect your opportunity

to engage in civilized warfare? And it can continue

for a whole life. I know people who have tried

to do everything that they could do right by

their own standards. I've told you before, I

know some folks when I was a young Christian

who blessed us, who were atheists, did not believe

in God at all. And they were some of the nicest

people, giving, kindest people that I had ever

met and would not profess the name of Jesus and

not want to hear anything about him. And they've

stayed, they stayed that course for a really

long time being like that. And I know Christians

who promote ungodly behavior and support ungodly

Christians by their profession and ungodly lifestyles,

and they continue to do that, and they're prospering

by doing that. But they will eventually answer

to God for it, because God is more concerned

about spending eternity with them than he is

about their agenda on earth. So the book of Judges

is a book of theological pointing toward the

kingdom of God. Who was to be king of Israel?

God was. Were they to be doing that which God

said they were supposed to do, or were they to

be doing that which they already knew or believed

was right? The answer is they were supposed to

be doing that which God said they were to do.

So I'm going to go through now, and this is by

way of conclusion, and I'm powerful sorry for

the note -takers for what I'm about to do to

you, because you're not going to keep up. I'm

going to warn you of that right now. But you

can get this from me later if you want it on

paper, right? So Jesus came and then Jesus used

ordinary things to reveal extraordinary truths,

just like the book of Judges is doing for us

in the Old Testament. So in a sense, it's a book

about the gospel and the kingdom of God. Here

is what Jesus said about the kingdom of God.

Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a mustard

seed. God's work may begin quietly, but its final

reach is far greater than the beginning suggests.

Jesus said the kingdom of God is like leaven.

The kingdom's influence works deeply and progressively,

transforming lives and ultimately reaching far

beyond what is immediately visible. Jesus said

the kingdom of God is like a hidden treasure

that a man found buried in a field. The kingdom

is worth more than everything else combined.

The man went and sold everything he had and bought

the field in which the treasure was buried. But

he also said the kingdom of God is like a costly

pearl. A merchant searching for the fine pearl

finds one of extraordinary value and sells everything

he has to possess it. The kingdom is not merely

one valuable thing among many. It is the supreme

treasure. So when you start to think that something

else, your relationships, your jobs, your money,

whatever, is also a treasure, no. The kingdom

is the treasure. Jesus used a dragnet to illustrate

the kingdom of God, a net that gathers fish of

every kind, and the good are separated from the

bad because the kingdom's present invitation

reaches broadly. You're all welcome in the kingdom

of God. I am welcome. All my family, all my friends,

everybody that I will ever bump into, every waitress

who will ever serve me and every cashier who

will ever check me out. They are all welcome

in the kingdom of God. Doesn't matter what they

think is right or don't think is right currently

or what they're going through or the blessings

that they're receiving currently. None of that

matters. Everybody is welcome. The invitation

reaches broadly, but God's final judgment will

make a perfect separation between the righteous

and the wicked. Jesus used a growing seed. He

said, the kingdom of God is like a man who scatters

seed. God causes his kingdom to advance according

to his power and his timing, even when human

beings cannot see or explain any part of the

process. God is doing something. It is about

the kingdom. It's not about you or yours. It's

not about whether you live or die. It's not about

your health or weakness. God is doing something,

building a kingdom. You can choose which arena

you contend in. A king giving a wedding feast

is used as an example of the kingdom of God.

God graciously invites people into his kingdom,

but entrance is not casual or self -defined.

You don't get to come or not come. You don't

get to make excuses. You don't get to be there

some of the time and not there some of the time.

We must respond to God's invitation on his terms.

He used 10 virgins awaiting a bridegroom as an

illustration of the kingdom of God. The kingdom

calls for readiness. You must use your life now

to be ready for when Jesus comes again. That

is the whole goal of your life now. It is not

to spread the gospel. Though that is part of

being ready, that is not the whole goal of your

life. The whole goal of your life is that when

Jesus comes again, you will be ready to usher

into the permanent kingdom of God. The activities

of the current kingdom of God is us choosing

to contend and do warfare in the way that he

has called us to, which includes sharing the

gospel. You cannot borrow another person's preparedness.

Not your parents. not your sibling, not your

spouse. You personally must prepare yourself

and allow Jesus to prepare you for his coming.

Jesus used a man traveling and entrusting servants

with his possessions. Those who belong to the

kingdom are responsible to faithfully use what

the king has entrusted to them while awaiting

his return. Whatever you have, have access to,

or ever will have, your job is to use that thing.

for the kingdom. Jesus used the king, separating

sheep from goats. The kingdom culminates in the

righteous judgment of Christ, revealing the reality

of our relationship to him. Jesus said, I did

not come to condemn, but rather they are condemned

already by what they have done with the Son of

God. If the Son of God has not become first in

your life, you are going to go to hell. Not my

decision, not even your decision. In the time

when you get there, in the moment that you could

go to heaven for eternity, The question is going

to be asked, what did you do with Jesus? You're

going to say, well, I love Jesus. I profess the

name of Jesus. I worship Jesus. Okay, was he

Lord of your life? Well, yeah. What about that

shelf that had all the mixed stuff, the other

stuff? What about Moloch and money and relationships

and sex and drugs and TV and all those things

that got your attention? Well, yeah, but Jesus

was highest amongst them. God's going to say,

do you think that Jesus was ever supposed to

be amongst them? Jesus used the illustration.

Of the great banquet, a gracious invitation,

but earthly priorities and excuses can reveal

a heart that does not truly value the king. Are

you making excuses? Or could you be done with

that? Done making excuses. Jesus used a persistent

widow seeking justice. If persistence matters,

even before an unjust judge, how much more should

God's people pray continually and trust their

righteous father? Two left. Jesus used a Pharisee

and a tax collector praying. Both were praying.

The Pharisee was praying. Oh, thank you, God,

that I am not like that worthless, wicked sinner

tax collector, that you've made me a holy, good,

godly man. And the tax collector begged him and

said, God, I'm a wicked sinner. Forgive me. And

Jesus said that that tax collector would go away.

He said, who will go away vindicated, that Pharisee

or that tax collector? And he said that tax collector

will go away vindicated. And elsewhere, he told

the holy men of his day that the tax collectors

and whoremongers would come and sit down in the

kingdom before they would. You think you're something

special because you're... doing some of the spiritual

discipline because you profess the name of Jesus.

There's some prostitute or wife beater or thief

that's out there in the city, and he's going

to hear the gospel today, and he's going to give

his life to the Lord. For all the people who

are sitting in church all over the world, he's

just as able to for sure come rushing into the

kingdom of God and go to heaven when he dies.

It's about not what you think is right or what

I think is right, but what we've done with the

Son of God. And are humbly approaching the Lord.

And then the final one that I had on my list

was that he used a nobleman who went away to

receive a kingdom. A nobleman trusts money to

his servants while he goes away to receive a

kingdom and later returns to evaluate their faithfulness.

It's called the parable of the talents. The king

will return and his servants are called to faithful

service rather than passive waiting. The kingdom

of God is God's rule and God's reign. Ultimately

centered in Jesus Christ. To operate in God's

kingdom. means recognizing that Jesus is king,

not merely an advisor to your life. Jesus is

not just the guy who has the answers. Jesus is

not just the guy who defends you when you're

really down or lifts you up when you need help.

He's not just the one who prayed the Father and

had the Holy Spirit sent. Jesus is king. It does

not mean abandoning your family, your job, your

responsibilities, or legitimate earthly relationships.

It does mean putting them in their proper order.

Instead of asking, what do I want? What benefits

me or what does the world tell me to pursue?

The kingdom -minded person asks, what does my

king want and how can I faithfully obey him?

Jesus said it this way. He said, seek first the

kingdom and his righteousness and all these things

will be added unto you. I'm here today to ask

you, as we've studied the entire book of Judges,

do you now see that this whole, all that they

went through, generations, men who ruled for

40 years, 60 years, you can add them all up.

They all lived, suffered, and died on the same

kind of path that you and I live on. Now, we're

not going to be, hopefully, rushing off to war

today, but there is a spiritual warfare. Putting

your Bible on a shelf at home and not reading

it, that is choosing to contend in an arena in

which you cannot win. Refusing to tithe, give,

serve in the church, that's choosing to contend

in an arena in which you cannot win. It'll go

up and down and sometimes you'll feel like you're

winning and sometimes you'll feel like you're

losing. But the end result is civilized warfare.

You'll just keep fighting. Fight your whole life.

You'll fight until you die. At 60, at 80, God

forbid tomorrow. And you'll just keep fighting

for your whole life. Only in the end to realize

that all the effort was wasted because Jesus

already fought the fight living 33, 4, 5, whatever

years and overcame what it means to be human.

Lived a sinless life and then died a sinner's

death to pay for our sins. That's the arena that

you want to fight in. But Jesus said, unless

you be born again, you cannot see the kingdom

of God. So if you're here and you're not born

again, then I get it. You're probably having

a hard time seeing the places in your life at

which other things have taken priority. But here

are the words of Jesus. Call unto Jesus. And

just say, okay, Jesus, you first. You at the

center. You're the only one on my show. Nobody

else gets a shot. Nothing that you are doing

in your life. Nothing. You say, well, my job.

I work my job every day, all day. You know, eventually

people stop working. And it happens. Raising

your kids. I've been raising my kids forever,

man. They're teenagers now. They drive me nuts.

And it's been such a long journey and whatever.

But eventually they go live on their own. They're

not there every day. So I've been fighting this

health concern. Every day I fight this health

concern. But eventually it's gone. The clothes

that you're wearing now. The house that you have.

Eventually it's all gone. It cannot be the priority.

because it will all eventually go. The kingdom

of God is the priority. So if you made an inventory

list of everything that you own and everything

that you do in 168 day week, all of that is just

all the things that God has given you to actually

use for his glory. Do that. Contend in that kingdom

and the kingdom will advance. And if we all do

that, the kingdom will advance in an amazing

way. And God's will will be done on the earth,

which is what we're supposed to be praying for

every single day. But I submit to you that a

lot of Christians are living like a lot of the

people in the book of Judges were. And when things

are going good, you think, oh, wow, God is so

good. Wow. And things are going badly. Oh, God,

please help, please help, please help. And we

miss the fact that it's not actually like this.

It's actually like this. All the while, until

we're so far away from God, there's no way back.

And that's where we started as unsaved believers.

If you're here today and you're a believer, don't

walk this road. Instead, devote yourself. to

disciplined contention in the kingdom of God,

to advance the kingdom. Seek ye first the kingdom

of God and all these things shall be added unto

you. And then when they're added, use them for

the kingdom of God. I ask the praise team to

come forward at this time and lead us in a closing

song. And as we're singing this song and we're

leading the book of Judges today, I hope you'll

take with you the understanding that the book

of Judges is not chronological. It's not a linear

path. It's not... Things were getting worse and

worse and worse as it went on, although that's

true. They did, generation after generation,

do worse. But even those end things, when they

cut that, when they cut that woman up and sent

her to 12 tribes, that actually probably happened

fairly early on in the day. When they destroyed

the tribe of Benjamin and almost wiped them out,

that happened fairly early on in the era of the

judges. Stand with me and sing this song so that

the Lord is impressed upon your heart to make

some kind of decision, either to receive Him

in earnest as Lord and Savior, or to repent of

some force of action or some focus that you had,

and do that. Make it public. Publicly confess

whatever it is that God is doing in your life

today, and then let everyone else say it together.

The Lord is speaking into your heart. That means

you only have one...