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Man judges chapter 10 is kind of a short little chapter here That's a little bit of an interlude because it doesn't really have any of the big stories about any of the big judges So it has just a few minor judges mentioned at the very beginning and then it just talks about God's frustration with the children of Israel. They're they're coming to him in repentance But obviously God is angry because of the back and forth, you know They keep on forsaking God and they keep being delivered and then they go back to serving other gods And so this chapter is kind of setting up chapter 11, which is the big chapter about Jephthah So it starts out in verse number one and after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tolah the son of Puah the son of Dodo a man of Issachar and he dwelt in Shamer in Mount Ephraim He judged Israel 20 and 3 years and died and was buried in Shamer And after him arose Jairah Gilead died and judged Israel 20 and 2 years He had 30 sons that rode on 30 ascolts and they had 30 cities which are called Haavathjir unto this day which are in the land of Gilead and Jair died and was buried in Kammon, so those are just a few judges that we don't really know that much about the Bible doesn't really give us a lot of details, but it's just a period of 40-some years where they have some kind of godly leadership This guy's judging them for 22, this guy's judging them for 23 But then after that, you know whenever there's a void of leadership whenever they don't have some kind of a godly leader Telling them to serve the Lord and preaching to them then they go astray so in verse 6 it says the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord and served Baelim and Ashtaroth and the gods of Syria and the gods of Zidon and the gods of Moab and the gods of the children of Ammon and the gods of the Philistines and forsook the Lord and served not him and the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines and Into the hands of the children of Ammon and that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel 18 years all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites Which is in Gilead that verse can be a little bit confusing the way that it reads there But if you look at the beginning there in verse 8 it says and that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel now who's vexing and oppressing the children of Israel? Well, we're talking about the Philistines and the Ammonites and if you know a little bit about the geography of the region You know that the Philistines are along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea Which is like southwest of where Israel is so on their southwest side today This area is known as the Gaza strip because remember when you're reading the Bible and it talks about the Philistines talks about the five Lords of the Philistines and it goes through, you know, Ashkelon, Ekron and one of those is Gaza Okay, that's one of the cities of the Philistines So modern-day Gaza strip that is the land of the Philistines and then the Ammonites were over on the other side of the river so east of the Jordan River and So that would be the modern-day country of Jordan where the Ammonites and the Moabites and the Edomites are on that side So basically what we see is they're getting it from both sides, you know, because east are the Ammonites West-southwest are the Philistines and they're being oppressed on both sides It says in verse 8 that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel But then it says 18 years all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Ammonites, which is in Gilead, so the people that are on that east side of the river They end up having more problems than the ones that are on the west side of the river Now if you remember the actual promised land Was the part west of the Jordan River That was where they were supposed to go and conquer the land and that was the land that Abraham Isaac and Jacob were gonna inherit But if you remember when you're reading the book of Numbers There's that group of tribes that they don't want to go all the way in they don't want to go over Jordan They want to stay on that east side of the Jordan River and they say hey, this is good for our cattle We like it. Of course, they haven't even been to the other place, but they basically just wanted to settle for second best on this side of the Jordan and You know Moses warned them about it and everything, but they ended up Kind of making an agreement with God and Moses that they're gonna fight the battles and everything's gonna be great so God allowed it, you know, God basically allowed two and a half tribes to be on the one side of the river and For the other ten tribes to be over here on the west side of the river But what you have to understand is that geographic boundary Kind of cut off those people on the east side of the river to where they were kind of fringe people You know what? I mean? They weren't really in the heart of the nation and I believe that what that pictures is People who are kind of on the fringe of church. They're kind of on the fringe of living the Christian life They're not really all the way in they're kind of half in and half out and that's a dangerous place to be Because when you study for example in the book of Numbers You'll see where a plague hits or God sends fire among them or fiery serpents or any kind of an enemy attacks them It talks about how the people on the outermost part of the camp are the ones who end up dying first Right the ones on the outermost part of the uttermost parts. They are the first casualties And so, you know the warning is that if you're gonna be on the fringe You're more likely to be a casualty than if you get all the way in I mean It's just kind of common sense that if an enemy attacks the camp of the Israelites the people in the middle are the safest People on the very edges the people that are falling behind and lagging behind are the ones that are gonna get nailed Okay, so we don't want to be half in half out in the Christian life We don't want to be just barely in church, you know, we barely show up, you know Sunday morning only Or just three times a month and we barely read the Bible, but we know we're still kind of in church We're still kind of serving God we go soul winning once a month or whatever Well, you know what you're likely to be a casualty if you're one that's a fringe person, you know Get all the way in get get deeper in Because it's a battle. I mean it's a it's a war that's going on And so we don't want to be the ones on the edges getting nailed So, you know the whole nation gets oppressed for a year that year But the people on the other side of the river they'd been getting it for 18 years So everybody see the difference there in that verse the people on the other side of Jordan it says 18 years Those people were they got oppressed in that way It says in verse 9 moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan To fight also against Judah and against Benjamin so now they're crossing the river They're not just messing with the fringe people anymore now they're crossing the river into the heart of the Promised Land and going after the tribes of Judah and Benjamin which of course is where like Jerusalem will be located just to give you the geography Although of course this is before Jerusalem's time But just to help you understand that that's deep in the heart of the Promised Land and so then You know they cross over to fight against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim So that Israel was sore distressed and the children of Israel cried in the Lord saying we've sinned against thee both because we've forsaken our God and also serve Balaam and The Lord said unto the children of Israel Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites from the children of Ammon and from the Philistines the Zydonians also and the amount he's like look I keep delivering you and delivering you And it's like how many times are we gonna do this? Because there's been a pattern throughout the book of Judges where every time things go well for them Then as soon as the the godly leader is gone as soon as the judge is gone Then they go back to worshipping other gods and being idiots and ruining their lives and Then they repent they cry out to God when things are going bad He sends them a deliverer, and it's just the cycle over and over again But what you have to understand about the book of Judges. It isn't just a cycle It always gets a little bit worse every time so it's like they go bad good bad good bad good But the bad is always a little worse and the good is never quite as good So the book of Judges even though it's in a cycle. It's kind of like a downward spiral ultimately and so God here is not just at the drop of a hat ready to say. Oh you guys repent now Oh, no problem come on home He's like wait a minute You know how many times are we gonna do this? I delivered you from these people I delivered you from these people I delivered these people and he knows their hearts that they haven't really Made a full repentance because he's looking at them and saying you know why don't you go cry out to the gods you've been worshiping You know it seems like they still have those gods in their heart, and so he rebukes them instead of just Welcoming them back with open arms. He says I delivered you from XY and Z people At the end of verse 12 you cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand yet You have forsaken me and served other gods Wherefore I will deliver you no more. I am not going to deliver you anymore The answer is no you want me to deliver you know They're well you know he's just be glad that they're praying to him well He's sick of them only coming to him when they're in their direst need and Constantly committing adultery with these other false gods He says in verse 13 yet You have forsaken me and served other gods wherefore I will deliver you no more go and cry into the gods Which you've chosen let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation You know then I got to tell a funny story here I've I apologize if I've already told this story a bunch of times But it's so funny when pastor Jimenez first came to preach here back in 2006 So we're talking about 15 years ago. He came and preached a sermon and He was young he was 20 years old But he everybody thought he was a pastor because he was just so mature and preached so well But anyway, he's preaching along and when you've been in church a long time and when you know a lot about the Bible you can kind of know what's coming in a sermon and And when a pastor says you know turn to so-and-so the book you kind of know what chapter He's going to because you can kind of predict where the sermon is going so he's preaching along and he says turn to judges chapter 10 and I was paying attention to the sermon and I kind of knew where he was going and I thought to myself He wants Joshua 10 Like he's not looking for judges 10. He's looking for Joshua 10 So he turns to the chapter he turns to judges 10 and you can tell he gets kind confused He looks a little he looks a little nervous. It looks a little confused. He's kind of sweating a little bit and But then he just starts reading it anyway So he just goes with it So he just starts reading judges 10 anyway, like you know, I don't think anyone else noticed that there was a problem It's just that I knew where he was going And so I was really homed in paying attention and so he reads the part from judges 10 He meant to read the part in Joshua 10 because Joshua 10s about the Sun standing still that's the passage He was going for he reads the judges 10 passage and said and then just incorporates it into his sermon And then he just starts preaching this part about you know Go cry unto these other gods and worry and he preached this whole part and then he just you know Went back to his notes and just kept rolling and he had accidentally written down judges instead of Joshua I kid you not and this is back when the church is very small. There's like 15 people there or something. I kid you not a guy walks up to me after the service and Says man that part when he talked about, you know, go cry to the other gods You know that let them deliver you in the time of your affliction He said man that part just like nailed me right between the eyes he said that part was so convicting and That ended up being like the big part of the sermon that did the most for him Is that funny or what then it just goes to show how God will lead a preacher To preach on what we need to hear a lot of time and and and so even through making a mistake Obviously God actually led that mistake because this guy needed that point But it was but I don't know if I've told that story before but I know I've told it in the preaching class before Because the lesson in the preaching class was you know, if you make a mistake just go with it, you know He just just you just go with it because hey, it's all good. Amen, you know, just preach whatever's in front of you and Nobody else even knew that it was a mistake. Some people thought it was the best part of the whole sermon So anyway, I can't ever Read Judges 10 or Joshua 10 without thinking about that But this is such a great little passage where he says, you know, you serve these other gods We'll go cry unto those gods now when you need help Isn't amazing how people expect God to be there for them all the time But were they there when God needed them, you know because the law you said why would God need us You know, he doesn't need anything from us. He's not one that needs to be fed or or given drink, you know He's not like these Buddhist gods and Hindu gods where you have to pour milk on their head and and you know Kind of throw fruit at them and stuff He doesn't need those things. He doesn't need that kind of service You know when it talks about we talk about serving God, he doesn't need that kind of service Because he doesn't need to be fed or watered. Okay But I'll tell you what though God has committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation God has given us work to do on this earth that we need to be doing and So are we someone that he can rely on, you know? The Bible says that we're stewards of the mysteries of God and it's required in stewards that a man be found Faithful and what does faithful mean faithful in that context means someone in whom you can put your trust someone you can rely on So let me ask this can God rely on you to witness to people can God rely on you to preach the gospel Can God rely on you to teach your family the Bible can God rely on you to serve him? Because all of a sudden you want to rely on him when things go bad But when things are going good Let him rely on you To preach the gospel because last time I checked Jesus Christ was not walking up and down the streets of Phoenix, Arizona preaching the gospel I've never seen Jesus knock a single door in the state of Arizona to give someone the gospel Jesus said as long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world But he said you're the light of the world, you know Jesus when he was on this earth He won people unto the Lord and he actually got people saved because he was a human Being living on this earth walking and talking among us and he got people saved But now it's our job to get people saved and he's not going to do it himself You know, we just the the program that we've been doing with Brother Sigora and myself and some other pastor we've been doing that landmarks program, right? Who's who's seen the landmarks program? Who's not seen it? Okay, you must watch it immediately Anyway, go on YouTube and you can see our landmarks episodes Well the episode that we just did on on Monday where we're shivering in the snow Of course, we filmed that Months ago. But anyway in that episode it was all about how you have to be saved to get someone saved you know, and I preached on that a couple months ago and it's so funny to watch people struggle with that teaching and and to just refuse to accept that teaching and to just Continue to believe that people just get saved on their own by themselves. They're just going to just read the Bible and figure it out Folks, it's nonsense. You got to have somebody there to preach you the gospel and it's got to be somebody who's actually saved But anyway, I'm not gonna re-preach that message But the point is that God has committed to us and committed means that he's relying on us He's entrusted us with that responsibility He's committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation So that if our gospel be hid it's hid to them that are lost and so it's a two-way street with God We can't just live our lives. However, we want do whatever we want No time to read the Bible no time to pray no time to go to church No time to win souls and then also Oh God help me, you know, God could just say well, why don't you Cry out to the gods that you've been worshiping and let them Help you because I'm not gonna deliver you anymore because you know what you forsook me Now today we don't have these sort of other gods in the same way that the children of Israel Did where they're surrounded by pagans where it's like you drive, you know, five miles and it's a new God You know and then you go five ten more miles and it's another God, right? It's just like this town's got a God this city's got a God and you know There are places like that today in India or something where you know, each village or town has their God But you know, typically we don't really deal with that in the United States We don't have like the God of Canada the God of Mexico and the God of Honduras You know, we don't really have this pantheon of pagan gods that God's competing with but you know what there are other gods quote-unquote because the Bible says you can't serve God and Mammon and Mammon is the god of money and So there's the god of money, but you know, I'll tell you a big God that people have made in 2021 America is they've made science a god they use science as a replacement for God Now, of course, there's nothing wrong with science Science falsely so-called though opposes the Word of God That's why the Bible says Oh Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust avoiding profane babblings and oppositions of science falsely so-called which some professing have erred concerning the faith and So the Bible does talk about science falsely so-called and there is science that's good But then there's a science religion out there That's a false God that people use as a substitute for God basically just like for some people money is their God Some people the Bible says their God is their belly So your belly can be your God money can be your God and for many people today science is a god and then yeah There are false gods like obviously there's you know, Allah of Islam or whatever But We need to make sure that we're not serving other gods Quote-unquote whether that's literal other gods or other things that could take the place of God, you know, the Bible says covetousness is idolatry So how is covetousness idolatry because covetousness means you want things that don't belong you so covetous people. What do they want? They want money and The Bible says you can't serve God and mammon. So when you're a covetous person who's into money you know what the Bible is teaching is that you're an idolater because you're worshiping the God of money Now somebody help me out Who's good at finding things in the Bible? Maybe you've got the app on the smartphone that you can jump into there's a verse in Proverbs that I want It's the verse that says, you know that there's there's no counsel. There's no wisdom against the Lord No Somebody know the verse I'm talking about such a great verse and I'm sick. Okay. I'm not feeling well. What is it? 2130 okay, let's all turn there together Proverbs 21 30 You know being sick doesn't just mess with your body it messes with your mind and so bear with me tonight I'm doing the best I can up here, but I'm feeling very fatigued. So it's hard for me to see I'm in Psalms You know, I'm pulling a brother Jimenez now, I probably should just go with it though, you know Maybe it could really change somebody's life. All right, so Proverbs 21 30 okay this This is one of my favorite verses I love this verse and So I'm we're just gonna stop and read it a couple times because I really want this to sink in for you This is very profound There is no wisdom Nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord Let that sink in for a minute. There's no wisdom. There's no understanding. There's no counsel against the Lord understand that I mean any any kind of truth any kind of knowledge any kind of understanding or wisdom or counsel It's not going to go against the Word of God It's Not going to go against God somebody understand that so you know what this verse tells me is that science Does not go against God Science does not go against God because isn't science some kind of wisdom or understanding or counsel I mean science is an understanding. It's knowledge How could it go against the Lord it can't because there is no Wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord You know you've heard the expression the truth fears no investigation. You know the more you Test the Bible and try the Bible. It's gonna come out looking like gold because it is gold Because it's the perfect Word of God, and there's no understanding against the Lord You know what goes against the Lord. It's something that's a lack of understanding a wrong understanding Wrong knowledge wrong information, and so there's no conflict between Science and the God of the Bible He's the author of all of the things that scientists study and so there is no conflict between God and science But there are many people today that have set up science as an idol as a false God and They're trying to use science as a replacement for God of course science can't replace God Science can't tell us why we're here Science can't tell us you know where the universe came from They can't tell us what life is and folks if you actually talk to people who really know science They would agree with what I just said Real scientists even if they're secular even if they're non-christian real scientists would agree with what I just said they would tell you you know And by the way, this is what every expert Biologists would tell you they would say we don't know what life is Right now in science. There's not even a theory of what life is Forget a theory of where life came from there's no theory of where life came from Folks I'm not up here giving you some radical creationist view I'm telling you that if you talk to a secular Scientist they will tell you there is no theory on the origin of life right now in science Nor is there even a theory on what life even is What the definition of life is they don't know so science can't answer these questions my friend Okay, they can't tell and then they can talk about the Big Bang and evolution and the things that they believe in but they can't Tell you where that came from how it took place. They don't know Okay But let me tell you something Those who make a religion out of science people are like oh, I don't believe I don't believe Bible. I believe in science I don't believe in God. I believe it says even though these are two totally different things that don't contradict one another and science can't answer the questions that religion answers oh No, I believe inside science. I don't believe in the Bible have you ever noticed how the god-hating liberals reject science constantly and They only Believe in the science that they pick and choose what they want to believe in because let me ask you this I wonder if these people who reject the Word of God and and the god-hating types I Wonder if they'll accept the science on gender You know will they accept the biological definition of male and female Because I mean I thought they're into science You know they're not very good at practicing their religion of science Are they because I would love for them to accept the science on homosexuality? Because last time I checked these bunch of god-hating liberals. They put up a sign in their yard that says Science is real, but then right after it. It says love is love which is a fag slogan Now of course the statement by itself love is love is a meaningless statement That's like saying red is red blue is blue chair is chair Two is two five is five. It's just it's a it's a meaningless statement But we know what love is love means it means fag love Queers that's what it means friend Everybody knows that so they have a sign that says science is real and then right under that It's like hey being a fag is normal So here's my question what does science say about that because last time I checked Cdc.gov and AIDS gov has all the science Showing that they're 50 times more likely to get AIDS this year being a sodomite, so why don't they accept that science? Or why don't they accept the science of what life is? How about life beginning at conception? You know I guarantee you if they found in a fetus on Mars. They'd say it was alive. I Mean they're Folks they're so they're so desperate to try to find life on Mars. They just won't let it go like there's no life there How many what do we say what do we send 11 rovers? It's like how many rovers do we have to send folks there's nothing there It's not a lot. You know, but Bill Clinton back in 1996 you know stood on the White House lawn all excited about the possible discovery of life on Mars I don't know if anybody remembers that you know I was 15 at the time But anyway, you know they supposedly you know why you know why you guys don't remember it because it didn't pan out So it's kind of like oh whoops nevermind But in 1996 you know Bill Clinton gave a press conference about it because NASA said we found evidence for life on Mars You know it turned out. You know and what they find You know they they thought that they had found Some super ridiculously small Bacteria on a meteor that supposedly originated on Mars, and here's the thing about that though You know you look at what's growing inside of a woman's body You know at four weeks gestation ten weeks gestation Twenty weeks gestation. It's a lot more impressive Than what NASA thought that they had found In that meteorite when they thought oh we got evidence for life on Mars and whatever and of course they were totally wrong and had made a mistake, but here's what's funny so Bill Clinton. You know he gives his press conference and Then and then right after that Literally he finishes talking about how hey, you know we think we might have found life on Mars We still got to figure it out though. You know we're not sure yet We were still researching, but it's pretty exciting and he said oh, it's gonna answer all the questions that we have Why what if you found a snail on Mars well that answers all my questions about the universe Well now I know why I'm here now, I have a purpose Now I understand everything Oh Mars bacterium, thank you for answering all the questions that have plagued me my entire life and Then he turns around and then he turns around and talks about how important it is to be pro-choice In the same press conference that he's talking about finding life on Mars in 1996 he turns around and says all the Republicans with the radical Anti-choice agenda anti-abortion So you see the hypocrisy there? You're excited about finding some microscopic bacteria From Mars, but then you look at what's growing inside a mother's womb It's not alive life doesn't begin a conception. You don't believe in science You just hate the Lord You're just anti Bible. You're just anti truth in fact the Bible jives with science the Bible is the one warning us about all of these disgusting lifestyles and warning us about the sodomite death style and and Warren and talking about Babies in their mother's womb as if they're alive You know and and the Bible says that God created them male and female So who's scientific now? There's no counsel. There's no understanding. There's no wisdom against the Lord. Okay, so science jives with Scripture that's why the Bible even says science falsely so-called is the one that's opposed to Scripture and so We see here that Science is a false god to a lot of people and Here's the thing, you know, even something that's good can become a false god. Like there's nothing wrong with money. Money's not bad But yet can money be a false god Absolutely is Science bad. No, but science can be a false god when people put it in the place of God see there are certain things that money can do for you and Then there are other things that God can do for you that money cannot do for you. Am I right? I mean money can do a lot for you, right money can put a roof over your head Money can put food in your stomach, but money can't save your soul money can't forgive your sins and You could even get an illness Where you can have all the money in the world and you cannot cure that illness with that money And by the way money can't give you eternal life, but God can give you eternal life So you see how there are certain things that money can do it. Well, there are certain things that science could do You know science can answer questions about the world that we live in and about the universe but there are a lot of questions that science can't answer and that it will never be able to answer and I Personally believe that it will never be able to answer the question of what life is Because in my I don't know this for a fact, but in my opinion life itself even in a plant all life Transcends the physical in my opinion I believe that life was created by a divine act In the beginning and that and now only life can beget like it's like it's like that torch was lit in the beginning by God And you can pass that flame from torch to church, but there's no other lighter out there. There's no lighter on Mars or anywhere else Yet, does everybody understand what I'm saying? Life can't produce or I'm sorry non life can't produce life Begets life and I think that it's because there's something supernatural about life itself Which is why scientists still don't have a definition of even what life is okay, so Science can't give life but God quickens God says I kill and I make alive. I'm the Lord So there's certain things that God can do That science can't do and there's certain things that God can do that money can do so here's the problem With making money your God or science your God is that when you really need God he might just say well Why don't you go turn to science? Since that's what you're into why don't you turn to money? You know why don't you go cry out to those gods that you've been worshiping? Because you know I wonder how it's gonna be when you're when your marriage is falling apart You think science is gonna help you oh Oh Maybe I can do some kind of experiment make some observations here. You know you know Science isn't gonna fix your marriage science isn't gonna teach you how to raise your kids Science isn't going to solve all your problems my friend. Okay, and and you say well money money. You know what? Money can't buy me love You know I mean money can't buy everything. There are a lot of people with a lot of money and a lot of problems and their life is messed up and they're miserable and they're failing because money doesn't buy everything and So go back if you would to judges God's saying here. You know why don't you go cry out? to who you've been worshiping and If you've been worshipping money Then turn to money when you have a problem if you've been worshipping science turn to science when you have a problem You know and the moral of the story is that if we draw an eye to God God's gonna draw an eye to us But if we forsake him He may not be there for us now. Obviously we know that as saved Christians He's not going to forsake us in the sense that we always have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and Jesus said I will never leave you know forsake you and So God is never gonna take away our salvation He's never gonna stop loving us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God He's always gonna be our father, but let me tell you something though we can forfeit his protection We can forfeit his blessings look you don't just automatically get blessed as a Christian You got as brother say guru is preaching you got to be a good Christian You know and the Bible teaches that if we don't follow God's rules. He'll chastise us. He'll chasten us and So we might find ourselves in a jam Because of the fact that God's chasing us and disciplining us, and then we start crying out all the sudden Oh God. He's like well. Oh well all of a sudden you want to pray now, huh? I haven't heard from you in years Because you've been too into making money Or you've been too into sports, or you've been too into this or that or whatever you know you spent all your time watching TV shows and not reading the Word of God and not going to church, and I you know go cry out to Netflix and See if Netflix will deliver you in the day of trouble if that's what you did on Sunday morning If that's what you did on Sunday night if that's what you did on Wednesday night if Wednesday night was Netflix and chill Well, then why don't you go call out to Netflix and see if they'll help see if Disney plus will save you in the time of trouble Right reach out to them and and so God is Gonna be there for us, but here's the thing our walk with God's a two-way street It's not a one-way valve. It's a two-way street. We he said draw an eye to God and he'll draw an eye to you You know and if we're faithful to him Then he's gonna be there for us when we need him. Are you there for him when he needs you? He needs you to be faithful to the house of God. He needs you to be faithful soul-winning He needs you to be faithful serving him He's committed to us the ministry of reconciliation You know of course the Calvinist would hear that and say like well. Yeah, I mean he doesn't need us for anything Why don't we all just die then we are we're all dirt. Okay. Thank you Calvinist None of us matters. We're all expendable We're all dirt. We do we we why are we even here? You know that's not what the Bible You know but the Bible teaches me that if our gospel be hid it's hid to them that are lost And he's committed to us the ministry of reconciliation and that he wants us to be faithful Let me ask up. Why would God want us to be faithful if he's not even relying on us anyway Some of you guys it's like hey, you know Raymond brother Segura you know Corbin man. I need you guys to be faithful I need you I Why why do I need you guys to be faithful? Corbin why do I need you to be faithful? Because I'm relying on you Right think about it it. What if what if what if I didn't need these guys for anything What if I just did everything myself? took care of everything myself and And and they were everything they were doing was extra Everything they're doing is bonus because I got it all figured out all by myself Would it make sense for me to be like man? I need you guys to be reliable No, because whether they show up or not it's gonna get done anyway, right? No, I need them to be reliable because I'm relying on them. I Mean think about Moses went up in the mount. He's relying on Aaron Am I right and Aaron let him down? But he's relying on Aaron Aaron needed to be faithful see when you have employees you rely on those employees. So you need them to be reliable and God says I'm committing to you the ministry of reconciliation. I'm trusting you to preach the gospel I'm trusting you to be a witness for Christ. I'm trusting if look if your gospel is hit It's hit to them that are lost. I'm Trusting you I'm relying on you. That's why he says it's required in stewards that a man be found faithful. What is a steward? Now that's a word that we probably don't use very much in 2021 but a steward is someone who you trust with everything like for example in the Bible You have the story about Joseph where Potiphar just relies on him To take care of everything Potiphar doesn't know how much money's in his bank account He doesn't know what's he all he knew was the the food on his plate and he just left everything for Joseph to handle He trusted Joseph. He relied on Joseph. Joseph was Potiphar's steward. Does everybody understand what that word means? Joseph was the steward of Potiphar's household, so it'd be like if I had a guy that worked in my home and he runs my checking account and He deposits my paycheck and he pays all the bills and he basically, you know Make sure that everything's accounted for and he does my taxes now look Wouldn't you want that to be someone that you? Could trust you know if you're gonna bring somebody in and kind of have them handle everything You know if I'm gonna sign over power of attorney to this guy and and give him the keys to the kingdom I'm trusting him. That's what a steward is okay, so a steward is someone who you're trusting with valuable items and Remember Luke chapter 16 the unjust steward He'd been wasting his master's substance He'd been squandering the finances and when the boss finds out he says you can't be a steward anymore Because you were unfaithful you were unreliable So the Bible says moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful We are stewards Paul said We're stewards of the mysteries of God we're stewards of the gospel We've been entrusted with this valuable treasure as the Bible calls it We have this treasure in earthen vessels We are stewards of the mysteries of God and it's required in stewards that a man be found faithful So we've got to be reliable, right? So God is relying on us He says You're the light of the world if your Gospels hit it's hid to them that are lost Care what the Calvinists say and they've got all their logical arguments and rationale, but you know what the Bible actually says though is that? the Ministry of Reconciliation has been committed to us and if our Gospels hit it's hidden them that are lost and That we are commanded to go out and save them with fear pulling them out of the fire Okay So God's relying on you And imagine if your job is relying on you to show up on Monday morning and You don't show up on Monday. You don't show up on Tuesday. You don't show up on Wednesday You don't show up on Thursday, but then you show up on Friday and you're like, where's my paycheck? You know and this is what a lot of Christians are doing They're unfaithful. They're unreliable They're not doing the work, but then all of a sudden they want to show up and make a withdrawal You know, it reminds me of when bums will come to our church and and want free money and handouts and things and I always ask Him I say well, where did you go to church last Sunday? What am I what am I saying when I asked him that I'm saying well go cry to the gods That you've been worshiping You know go cry to the god of the Philistines go cry to the god of the Ammonites You know, they come to me and say oh, man, I need the money blah blah and it's like well Where'd you go to church last Sunday? Oh Well, you know And I just say well look wherever you went on Sunday wherever it was go ask them for help. I Don't whether it was a bar or a casino or a Burger King or the gas station or maybe it was the Mormon Church or the Catholic Church or Wherever you went last Sunday go ask them for help. That's what I tell people That's Your church so get they will help you This is not your church. I don't know. I'm just like I never knew you depart from me You know, it'd be like it'd be like if you went to Wells Fargo and you just want to withdraw money and your account is at Chase Your accounts at Chase you're trying to withdraw money at Wells Fargo. It doesn't make any sense. Does it? Now Look if someone in our church is in need, you know, then that's our problem Right, that's our responsibility But here what you've got is people just refusing to work and the problem and here's the thing you say well What about helping people outside the church? Look, I would love to help people outside the church but here's the problem with that is that we don't know their situation and The thing is the people who go here we actually know them We actually know their situation and we can actually take the time to figure it out No, as opposed to somebody who's literally just hopping from church to church. Just saying my name is Jimmy I'll take all you give me and they don't even have any legitimate need. They just refuse to go to work Does everybody see the problem with that? I'm all look look if there's someone legitimately in need that I knew for sure is legitimately in need outside the church Yeah, I would have no problem being charitable and helping that person But when somebody just calls me up and says could I speak to the pastor if he or she is available You know right away. I know this person doesn't even know who they're calling and I've literally had them call me before and just say oh Can I speak with the pastor please and I just say which church are you trying to reach right now? Oh They don't even know the name of the church that they just dialed And I'll ask him like well, what's the pastor's name that you want to talk to what's his name oh I you know Because they're literally just calling down a list and they get money from this guy money from they're just trying to get money from as many different people Go cry to the church that you went to last Sunday Go cry to the God that you've been worshiping, right? Don't just expect what what's the moral here don't just go through life ignoring the Lord and following money or fame or Sports or science or whatever and and I'm not saying that those things are necessarily all bad things but when they become a replacement for God they're bad things and Then that's what you're after you know what why don't you call out to your video games to save you? Because for some people that's what they're doing on Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night That's what they're doing. You know during a soul winning time or something. They're on a video game So then call into your video game to help you in the time of trouble He's saying you know I'm not gonna deliver you because you've forsaken me so verse and there's one more point I want to get to because I'm almost out of time here Verse 15 and the children of Israel said unto the Lord we've sinned Do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee deliver us only we pray thee this day and they put away the strange gods from among them and serve the Lord and look at this statement at the end of verse 16 and His soul. This is God's soul Was grieved for the misery of Israel Now I'm gonna give you one final profound truth here, and I don't want you to miss this Just because I'm only throwing it at the very end of the sermon doesn't mean it's not important because this is actually Possibly the most important thing that I tell you tonight. It's very important. I want you to get this is that there are many times in the Bible where God Tells people you're doomed you're done here. He even said I'm not gonna deliver you anymore But yet when those people repent and Get right with God. He still backs off and and and he still takes them back anyway Are there examples like that in the Bible First of all this is one of them He's like I'm not gonna deliver you anymore and then They're like okay, but we're did you know what we're just gonna get right with God anyway Do what do whatever seems good do whatever seems good with us God even if you're not going to deliver us We're sorry anyway, and they get right with God anyway, and then he you know what? He delivers them What About Jonah, I mean Jonah preached and said yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown He didn't say unless you guys do X Y & Z Did he even tell them anything to do? Not it's not recorded in Scripture. It just says yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown in fact Jonah thought there was no hope I Mean did Jonah see any hope there no he's just like you guys are doomed See you suckers he preached, and then he just set up a little booth So that he could watch The carnage he had his popcorn and he was ready to watch Nineveh be Sodom and Gomorrah part 2 and He got mad when it didn't get destroyed So you think that he was given a bunch of hope to people you think it was like what's isn't that Joel Osteen things like? the hour of hope night of hope Who knows what I'm talking about? What's it called? Yeah, Joel Osteen, you know it's like $49.95 with Ticketmaster or something, but you know night of hope with Joel and Victoria Osteen, okay? This was not Jonah's night of hope When Jonah showed up he didn't offer any hope he just preached yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown But when the men of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast, and you know what God spared Nineveh What about when he tells hezekiah get your house in order you're gonna die hezekiah cries And he prays and God gives him 15 more years of life God is merciful and and I love it when the Bible asked this question because it asked this question a few times Who knoweth if the Lord will repent of? The evil that he said he would do you know who knows if who knoweth if the Lord will be merciful You know that's why when God told David your child will die David You know what David didn't just go off. Well. That's it my child's gonna die he still prayed for seven days because he said who knows God's merciful sometimes he backs off on these things and Until the child was actually dead he kept on making supplication to God because even when God says your child's gonna die You know you could still sometimes Change God's mind by making supplication and pray so we see it with Jonah we see David's mentality We see with hezekiah. We see it right here. I mean it's it's all throughout Scripture and This is why it's very foolish of you ever to get to a point where you feel like well You know it's too late to get right with God I'm sunk. It's over folks if If someone tells you It's too late for you to get right with God You're done. You're doomed get right with God anyway. Just in case You know what I'm saying Because you don't know and And and sometimes you might just feel like man. I've messed up my life so bad That my life is gonna go down the tubes. There's no way God's gonna forgive me for all this There's no way I can get it back on track. There's no way I can get off these drugs There's no way that I can fix my marriage. There's no way I can fix my life. You know what it's Never too late to at least try and get right with God Even if God himself, I don't care if God himself walked up to me and said I'm done with you I'm not gonna help you. You're on your own Pastor Anderson. You know what I would still keep trusting in God I would still keep asking I would still keep praying I would still keep trying I would I'd figure out what made him so mad and I'd fix it Even if he just told if he just said don't even bother trying to fix it Don't even bother you're doomed. I just be like, well, I'm gonna try anyway Because look that's what people do all throughout the Bible But yeah, you see children giving up on pleasing their parents. Oh, my parents aren't gonna be happy no matter what I do Bologna get right with God get right with your parents and fix things You See Christians giving up on God giving up on church children giving up on their parents being pleased with them Look, you need to realize that even when things look hopeless, you should always Repent should always try to make things right and get right with God no matter what Even if an angel from heaven told you just you're toast I would pray I would get on my knees and say God, please. Let me be not toast And you know what there's a pretty good chance God would answer my prayer if my heart was right He searches the reins in the heart and he would know if I'm sincere about my repentance or not And you know what God is very merciful his mercies are new every morning And when you truly repent even when he talks this big talk of I'm not gonna deliver you anymore He still delivered them again because they actually Got right. They actually cried out to him You know, he just he just wanted a deeper level of repentance because it was a deep, you know Because it was getting old the superficial repentance was getting old. So he wanted it to be a deeper turnaround this time and So I hope that encourages you. I mean it's it's very important because so many people I'm telling you they they go out and they commit a sin and then they just think up I give up Folks you always can come back You know, you can always it's always worth a shot to get things right and Because look God is not going to be angry forever He is one who forgives All the time and so you don't want to ever fall into that trap Always realize that even when it seems like there's no hope getting right with God always makes sense to do and you'll always be better off getting right with God and Getting the sin out of your life and it's it's never too late to get back in church Get out, you know, maybe you haven't been soul winning in years get get back out there and do some soul winning. Why not? You know, why not crack open that Bible you haven't been reading and start reading it You know, why don't you get on your knees and pray for the first time in months or years or whatever what you know it? just Well, it's too late for me. I'm old until you're dead, it's not too late for you and So don't give up. Let's buy our heads and have a word of prayer father. We thank you so much for this chapter and Lord help us to be Reliable and faithful to you so that when we need you we can call on you in confidence Lord you you said that we That we we receive what we ask of you because we keep your commandments and do the things that are pleasing in your sights Lord, so help us to keep your commandments and do those things that are pleasing in your sights so that You'll be there to answer our prayers and and and bail us out when we need it Lord Please just help every single person here to be faithful to you during the good times Lord and I pray that you would please bail us all out in our bad times Lord. And and when we're when we're in a bind Lord, please help us and Laura. I know a lot of people are going through hard times right now There are a lot of people that are sick With coronavirus or other sicknesses and and other problems that they have Lord Please just help your people and bless them Lord and and and Lord look at look at the fact that they went soul-winning and and did these things for you Lord and then repay them according to their goodness Lord and and as far as their sins Lord be merciful to them and and and look the other way at those things because you you are a merciful God and so Lord we just pray that you would please just be there for us and Lord help us to be there for you As your ambassadors when you need us to evangelize this world and in Jesus name we pray amen