(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. Alright, so Judges chapter 9. Keep your place here. We're going to be going back and forth to Judges chapter 9. So we see quite a story here in Judges chapter 9. And the sermon this morning, or this evening, is going to be on Abimelech's kingdom. Abimelech's kingdom. And we're finishing up the train wrecks in the Bible series tonight. And this story in Judges chapter 9 about Abimelech's kingdom is quite a train wreck. So what is the story, first of all? Let's look at the story and see what we can learn from it this evening. So who's Abimelech, first of all? So Abimelech is the son of this man named Jerubel. And he went, you know, the Bible says Abimelech, the son of Jerubel, went to So who is Jerubel? Look back at Judges chapter 8 and verse number 35 where the Bible says, you know, basically the Bible is telling us at the end of Judges chapter 8 what the people did. So this is the time of the judges, of course. And Abimelech is the son of Gideon, a very famous judge. And the Bible says in verse 35 of Judges 8, 35, neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubel. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time saying that. Jerubel, namely Gideon. So it's another name for Gideon. Okay. And if you look at Judges chapter 7, it says right in the very first verse there, it says, then Jerubel, which is Gideon. Okay. So we know that Jerubel is Gideon. So Gideon had 70 sons from his wives. And then the Bible says in Judges chapter 8 that he had this other son from a concubine named Abimelech. And Abimelech wanted to be in charge. He wanted to be the ruler. He wanted to reign over the people. Look at verse 1 of Judges 9. The Bible says, And Abimelech, the son of Jerubel, went to Seshum unto his mother's brethren and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Seshum, whether it be better for you either that all the sons of Jerubel, which are threescore and ten persons, so that's 70, right? Threescore, three times 20, 60, and then 10, we have 70 people, reign over you, or that one reign over you. Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. So he's saying, you know, go to these people of Seshum, these men of Seshum, and say, hey, is it better that all these 70 sons reign over you, or that just me reign over you? And his mother's brethren spake of him in all the ears of the men of Seshum, all these words, and their hearts were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother. And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Belbereth, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him. And when he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubal. So he slew all of Gideon's 70 sons here, being threescore and ten persons upon one stone. Notwithstanding, yet Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubal, was left, for he hid himself. So he basically executes them on this stone, whatever this stone is. I mean, it must have been quite a scene, executing all of Gideon's sons. I mean, Gideon was a great judge. Gideon freed the nation of Israel from the Midianites. And I mean, he had some serious battles that he fought. I mean, he really took it to the Midianites, and he freed the nation. And just one chapter later, just one generation later, they do this to his sons. All right? And then one of them gets away. Okay? So Jotham, the youngest, he gets away, and go back to verse number seven. And Jotham, the only son of Gideon that escapes, lays a curse onto Abimelech. And look at verse number seven. And I just, I love the curse here that Jotham lays on him, and I'll explain it to you. In verse seven, it says, when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of the Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice and cried, and said unto them, Harken unto me, ye men of Sesham. These are the ones that turned against everybody with Abimelech, that God may hearken unto you. The trees went, now he kind of gives a parable here. He says, the trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them, and they said unto the olive tree, Rain over us. So he's giving a parable of trees, asking other trees to rain over them, and they asked the olive tree first. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewithby they honor God and man to be promoted over the trees? So the olive tree says, No, I'm happy where I'm at with all my olives. And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou and rain over us. But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? So the fig tree says, No, either. He's like, I've got my own things. I don't need to be king. Then said the trees unto the vine. So he's kind of stepping it down, right? He's going from the top tree, the olive tree, down to the fig tree. Now he goes down to the vine. He says, Come thou rain over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine with cheer with God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? So the vine said, No, I don't want it. I'm happy where I'm at. And then said all the trees unto the bramble. So this is kind of a tongue in cheek slam at Abimelech right here. They basically go to the brush, to the weed brush, the bramble, and say, Come thou rain over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, So the bramble wants the job. Right? The bramble wants the job. He's like, Hey, I get to rule over the olive tree. Looks like a promotion. If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow. And if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon. Now therefore, if he had done truly and sincerely, and that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands, skip down to verse number 19. He kind of repeats this and summarizes it and he says, If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech and let him also rejoice in you. So he's saying, Hey, if you've done the right thing here, he's saying, then be happy with your new king and let him be happy with you. He's saying, you know, just serve him and let him serve you and just be happy. Then he says, But if not, and he knows the answer. He knows the answer to the question. He says, But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Sesham and the house of Milo. And then let fire come out from the men of Sesham and from the house of Milo and devour Abimelech. So the curse is this, is that he's like, if you haven't dealt well, if you've dealt treacherously with the sons of Gideon and with Gideon, then he says, you know, just let you destroy each other, basically, is what he says. So he's straight up cursing Abimelech here. And look, go down to verse number 22. The men of Sesham betray Abimelech. In verse number 22, it says, When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel and it wasn't that long, then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Sesham. And the men of Sesham dealt treacherously with Abimelech. Look at verse number 26. And Gal the son of Ebed came out with his brethren and went over to Sesham and the men of Sesham put their confidence in him. So look, the curse of Jotham comes true. I mean, how the story ends is basically Abimelech, you know, commits this treachery and he murders the sons of Gideon, of the great Judge Gideon, who has just freed the nation from the Midianites. And then just three years later, the very people that help him commit this treachery turn on him. Then what does he do? He turns on them and he, you know, he burns their cities and he chases them down. And during that war or those battles, some woman throws a rock on his head basically or a millstone on his head and basically kills him. He's wounded to the point where he says, just thrust me through. So it's not said that some woman killed me. So look, he dies. He's killed by fighting the people that put him into power. That's the story. So look, I mean, let me just give you some thoughts on the story and then, you know, I'll apply the story itself. Okay. So first of all, you know, Abimelech wanted to be king. He wanted to reign over the people. Look, everyone can't be king. It wasn't his place to be the next judge. I mean, he wasn't appointed by God. So everyone isn't anointed to be the king. He was forcing something here. Okay. So he was forcing this situation, right? It wasn't of God. So that's the first thing. You know, we got to be careful not to force situations that aren't of God. Alright. The second thing is this. Beware, just thoughts on the story in general. Okay. Beware of what the Bible calls vain and light men. Go back to Judges chapter 9 and look at verse number 4. Look at Judges chapter 9 and verse number 4. The Bible says, And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Belbereth. Why? Why did he need money? Wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons which followed him. So he basically paid them off. He paid them off to follow him and it worked because they were vain and light men. They were not men of strong moral character. Okay. They were people that could be purchased. They were people whose loyalty could be purchased. I mean, these were literally men that were paid to follow him. Is it a surprise that they turned against him, you know, just a few years later? Look at Judges chapter 9 and verse number 19. And the Bible says, you know, this is the back to the curse. It says, If ye have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubal and his house this day, then rejoice. But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Sesham and the house of Myelos. Look, Abimelech built his house on betrayal. He built his house on treachery. So the first thing is beware of leaders that surround themselves with the shallowest of people. This is a warning. And you can see this. You'll see this in your secular life. You'll see this at work. You know, hopefully you never see it at church. But beware of leaders that surround themselves with vain and light persons, shallow people that have no depth. Look, wicked people always do this. Always. They choose the weakest and most easily influenced group of people. Why? Because it's easy to manipulate them. That's why. Okay, so this brings me to my main point. Abimelech built his house on betrayal. He built his house on treason. Look, Abimelech had a goal. And the goal was not godly. We know that. But he had a goal and he executed his goal through treachery. So the point I want to really make and really drive home this evening is this. It matters how you get there in your Christian life. You know, this attitude that exists in the world today that we just need to make the right alliances and it doesn't matter if we betray people and do this as long as it gets us to our goal. You know, this political maneuvering that you'll see out in the world today. Look, I mean even in politics publicly, you'll see this. It's ridiculous, right? Because the point is here is that the reason, I mean ultimately that because of the way that Abimelech rose to power, the very reason for his success was his downfall. I mean that was the curse coming true but that is the way that God prosecutes things. Abimelech's kingdom was his downfall. The type of kingdom he built was his downfall. He built it through treachery and he died through treachery. You see? Let's talk about treachery for a few minutes, just for a few minutes. I'm going to give you three points on treachery. You're like, how will I recognize treachery? Does treachery exist today? You know, how will I know if someone's treacherous? How will I know if I'm dealing with someone that is a treacherous type of person? How can I tell? Well, the Bible tells you. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 12. First of all, the first thing to look for is this. Treacherous people will speak fair words to you, always. Treacherous people will speak fair words to you. Go to Jeremiah chapter 12 and verse number 6. I'll just give you a few points on how to recognize treacherous people and then we'll get back to the main point. But the point is that fair words will come from treacherous people. You're like, well, what if people are just being nice? Well, you have to know. Look at Jeremiah chapter 12 and verse number 6. You must recognize this. The Bible says, for even thy brethren in the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee. So here's some people who are dealing treacherously with you. Yea, they have called a multitude after thee. Believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee. So basically this leads into, turn to Proverbs chapter 29. This leads into things like flattery and how to recognize it. Right? Because these people, they were speaking fair words but they were really dealing treacherously behind the back of this person in Jeremiah chapter 12. Look at Proverbs 29 and verse 5. Talking about flattery. The Bible says in Proverbs 29, a man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet. So somebody that flatters you is really trying to entrap you. Okay? So, I mean, what's the difference between fair words and flattery? And, you know, how are you going to tell? Right? Well, I mean, it really has to do with sincerity. Right? I mean, if I say that, you know, brother Matthew, that's a nice jacket. And I don't mean it. I think it's ugly. Right? I think that's the worst jacket I've actually ever seen in my life. I'm just kidding, brother. But, look, if I say that's a nice jacket and I mean it, then that's not flattering. But if I say it's a nice jacket and, brother, oh, man, I mean, you're just, you're just everything, I mean, just, you're just looking great, man. Will you buy me lunch? See? The difference is sincerity with flattery, folks. Go back to Proverbs chapter 27 and look at verse number 6. So, I mean, a verse that we've gone over several times in the last two or three weeks, the Bible says, faithful are the wounds of a friend. But look at the next part of the verse. It says, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. So the Bible here says that, you know, faithful are the wounds of a friend. You know, your friend means it. He's saying some not good things to you, but it's sincere and he's trying to help you. But on the other side of that, you're getting good words from somebody who's really your enemy. So, I mean, the world will teach you that your friend should just say nice things only to you, but the Bible says that people that just say nice things only to you are probably your enemy. It's deceitful. Look at Romans chapter 16 and verse number 18. Romans 16 and verse number 18. The Bible says, for they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly. So here's people that are just, they're trying to, you know, come into the church and cause problems and just serve themselves. And the Bible says, and by good words and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of what? Of the simple. So the wicked people, the wicked people, they're always after the simple first. They're always after, you know, the vain and light persons. Right? So like, once again, we see the wicked, they surround themselves with these types of people. Easily manipulated types of people. Look at Isaiah chapter 33. The second point is this. Treacherous dealers, people that, you know, treacherous dealers, now here's, this is rocket science. Listen, treacherous dealers deal treacherously. Look at Isaiah chapter 33. This is what Abimelech should have known right here. Isaiah 33 and verse number 1. The Bible says, woe to thee that spoilest and that, and thou was not spoiled. So he's saying, you know, woe to somebody who goes and just, you know, does harm where you weren't harmed. Okay? And deal is treacherously and they dealt not treacherously with thee. So the people that, you know, go and do something, they're, they're spoiling people and these people did nothing to you, but you're dealing treacherously with them. Then it says when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shall be spoiled. And when thou shall make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. You see how that works? So it says when you go out and you deal treacherously with people and then you're like, all right, I got what I wanted. I spoiled you. I took all your stuff. I got what I wanted. It says, guess what? Now they're going to deal treacherously with you. So those that deal, look, so that leads to my third point. The treacherous will end through treachery. Treachery doesn't work because treachery will end in treachery. Period. I mean, see pretty much the entire kingdom, Northern Kingdom of Israel history. Treachery ends in treachery every single time. Abimelech's end was through the means of his rise. See? And it's fitting, right? I mean, he would have been better off just staying in his own vineyard like the vine. He would have been better off just, you know, having what God wanted for his life instead of forcing something and then treacherously gaining something that he wanted and then ending in treachery. So look, the application this evening is a broad one, but it's this. Goals are great, okay? Goals are great in your life. They're necessary, but it matters how you get there. It matters how you get there. Look, Abimelech reached his goal. Abimelech, he was king or he was the ruler. I don't know if he was called a king, but he was the ruler. He made it. He said, I want to be, I want to reign over you. He prosecuted this plan and he reigned over them for sure. But it didn't matter to Abimelech how he achieved that goal. It was just anything goes. So look, life is not about setting goals and then just doing whatever it takes to get that to those goals. I mean, look, this can be considered a disadvantage. What I'm saying can be considered a disadvantage to the world. I mean, you think of your corporate psychopath or whatever, the person that will just do anything that it takes to get to the top. They will do anything that it takes to get that promotion, to get that credit, to get whatever, to make themselves look good, make their people look good, make you look bad. Look, but you have to operate under this moral authority of the Bible. The world could look at that as a disadvantage. But let's see, you know, if it is a disadvantage. You know, you have to operate morally. You have to know the law like we talked about this morning. Otherwise, look, otherwise God will not be in it. God will not be in it. In an Abimelech's case, God destroyed it. Abimelech's kingdom, the kingdom he built, the very kingdom destroyed him. What are some examples of this for us today? Well, what's a goal that most people have, especially, you know, men? Look, financial success, right? I mean, isn't that something that everybody wants, right? I mean, look, you should not have a goal to be rich, but let's take a poll. You have to support your family. You have to make a living. Guys, take a poll. Raise your hand if you want to be broke. I don't see any hands. You have to make a living. The Bible says this. You are to support your family. You are to work. You are, look, nobody wants to be broke. I mean, there's a line. You're not to have this goal to just be rich, but you have to support your family. I mean, there are a lot of people making a lot of money off the government lately. Did you know that? I said at the beginning of this whole thing back in February or whatever it was, and I'll say it again, it's almost like they're trying to get everyone on government support. It almost feels like that's what they're trying to do, and I'm more convinced now than I was then. I mean, business, I mean, I hear all kinds of stories from people, businesses getting grants that don't need them. It's like it's a free for all out there. I mean, whenever the government is handing out billions, yay, trillions of dollars, I mean, look, the vultures are going to swoop in and people are good at this to take advantage, right? I mean, think about the individual, the worker, just staying home instead of going to work. For 50% of people, 50% of people, did you know that 50% of people being on unemployment right now will make you more money than going to work? You could do this, but you're building a Bimilex kingdom. The world can get away with it. You can't. That's the problem. These things that look attractive, these things like unemployment, sick leave, calling in sick when you're not sick, workman's comp, all these things, look, never will I ever do that because you're building a Bimilex kingdom. I mean, you might say to me, oh, you've never been hurt. It worked. You don't know. When I was 19 years old, I was working for a steel building company and I was on three sets of scaffolding on a trailer, which is six times three. It's 18 feet in the air from the bottom of my feet to the bottom of the trailer. And one of the hooks wasn't hooked and I was carrying two blankets of insulation and I fell 18 feet and landed on my back. My hard hat broke, everything. I landed on all these pipes. Thank God the pipes were there. I bounced off the trailer and onto the ground. And you're like, what did you do? Well, thank God that I didn't have any broken bones. I wasn't really hurt. I had some bruises and I was cut from my neck to my tailbone with cuts. So what did you do? I went to work the next day. That's what I did. That's what I did. And you know what? This is the opposite of a Bimilex kingdom because I could walk to the owner of that company today and he'd give me a job tomorrow. A thousand percent. No problem. You must do things the right way or you're kicking against the pricks, as Jesus would put it. But here's the flip side. Here's the flip side. It's not all bad news. Here's the flip side. Where there are all these people that are just taking advantage, there's opportunity. I've always said that about homeschooling. I've always said that about homeschooling. As the government education system destroys 99% of the coming generation in this country, man, that 1% is going to be in high demand. High demand. Homeschoolers will stand above the rest. Hands down. No problem. There will be opportunity everywhere. Imagine a kid today, I'm already seeing it by the way, a kid today that shows up to work on time every day is like some kind of superhero. It's embarrassing. It's crazy. That's all it takes. There's opportunity everywhere because a bimelech is everywhere. All these people just dealing treacherously with their employers and everybody out there, that's why there's so much opportunity. So you say, okay, how will this destroy my kingdom? You're being a little overdramatic. So you say, okay, unemployment, workman's comp, sick time, all this stuff. Look, here's the thing. That kingdom that you're building will be your own downfall and here's why. First of all, getting a job, especially if you have no experience in anything, I mean, you have to convince someone to invest money in you. Did you know that? You won't produce anything useful for an employee if you have zero experience for probably a year or more. I mean, they will pay taxes on you. They pay benefits for you. They pay insurance on you and they make zero money on you. You have to convince them. You young guys, are you looking at me? I'm looking at you. This is what you have to do. You have to convince someone to invest into you and everyone's in a bimelech. Do you know how many small business owners I know that don't even look for people anymore? Because it's not that they don't need people. It's that they're tired of a bimelech just ripping them off. They can't afford it. They can't afford to just get ripped off again. You're taking food off of their table is what you're doing. So you have to convince, I mean, look, you can rip some people off. You can once or twice. Then you're marked. Then you're marked. I joke with my wife, she's probably sick of this joke after 21 years, but I often joke with my wife with all the credit card applications. I don't even know if we still get them. We probably do. She probably just throws them away and I don't even see them. But I'm like, we should just take out all the credit cards that we can and just like woohoo. Let's just go spending and then we'll just like move to the Philippines or something. We'll live with brother Stuckey. Well, I mean, look, you can do that once and then you've destroyed yourself and no one will touch you with a 10-foot pole. You can get there. You can get there. You can build this type of reputation. A bimelech's kingdom that you're building will be your downfall. It may work for three years like it worked for a bimelech, but it'll be your downfall. The guy who's like, you know what, I'm going to get into a career, work hard, be loyal. Look, that's someone who's building his house on a solid foundation and there's a lot of opportunities for that today. A lot. You ladies, you moms, you're like, yeah, give it to the guys. Get them. Moms. These moms that are putting their kids in, I like how it's not even really called daycare anymore. It's called school. Like, you know, you're putting your one-year-old in school. You know, I'm putting my, oh, where's your child? Where's your child? Oh, he goes to school. How old is he? He's four days old. Or the mom that sets her child in front of a screen for hours a day so she can be on Facebook or whatever. Look, your child may learn their ABCs before my child. If you put them in front of an ABCs video when they're six months old, they may learn their ABCs when they're two or whatever. I don't even know these dates. So see my wife for proper dates. But look, that kingdom, that school sending them off to daycare, sending them in front of a screen, you know, basically being, you know, handing your motherhood off to somebody else or some electronic piece of equipment, that will be your downfall. Your kids may learn their ABCs when they're two, but that will be their downfall for sure. But, ah, you know, it's hard to take the time. It's hard to take the time and teach your children face to face. I mean, it's stressful. Right? And it's like impossible to text when you're doing that or chat on Facebook when you're doing that or make stupid YouTube comments when you're doing that. I mean, it's impossible to do that. But that kingdom will, look, I'm not confused at where the people get, you know, I say many times, like I don't know where you guys come up with all the time to watch YouTube videos, not you guys, but I don't know where people come up with all the time to watch all this YouTube and get into all this Facebook and all this kind of stuff. I actually know where the time comes from. You're taking it away from your family. You're taking it away from your kids. You know, you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing. It's just a sign to me, people that spend all their times doing that stuff, especially moms that are supposed to be home. You know, homeschooling is what you make it. I mean, homeschooling is hard. I mean, if you're done homeschooling in half an hour, you're not doing it right. I mean, the few times when I had to work from home, I mean, I'm just, it stresses me out all the stuff that's going on. I'd rather just, you know, be away at work and have my wife be able to do all that, but it's a lot. And you're like, well, it's not a lot for me. Well, you're not doing it right. And if you're just having some screen or whatever, raise your kids. Look, you're building a bamalex kingdom, and that kingdom will be their downfall. I mean, the church, just, I mean, just things in the church and how things are prosecuted in the church. I mean, not to get into this. I don't really even have this in my notes, but look, when I think about the things that are prosecuted in the church and why they're done that way, there's not a lot of things. No, let me just clear that up. There's nothing that's done here by accident. There's nothing that's done here by accident. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Let me just show you something real quick, because this, quite frankly, this, as we come up on our one-year anniversary, this one thing is probably the biggest learning curve that I've gone through since I started, you know, going from being church member to church leader. This is probably one of my biggest learning curves. I've learned a lot. But look at Hebrews chapter 10, and look at verse number 24. Now, you're like, I've heard this a million times. This is telling me to go to church. No, let's look at something different. Look at verse number 24. The Bible says, we're just going to read the first part of verse 24. The Bible says, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Underline, underline, if you don't mind writing in your Bible, underline, consider one another. There's a lot of things that sitting in the seats, I didn't really understand why it was that way. There's a lot of things like that. I mean, a few things I can just think of on the top of my head. I wasn't really one to go to the pastor and ask, hey, why do you do it that way? Why do you do it that way? But look, that would have been fine if I would have done that. I just kind of put that trust in him that, you know, there must be a reason for it. I know the reasons now. I know the reasons now. I have had so many moments in the last year where I'm like, that's why a pastor does it that way. I'm like, ah, that makes sense. I mean, just like light bulb, light bulb, light bulb. But here's, if I could just cover a lot of those things in one verse, it would be Hebrews 10, 24. It's not every reason, but look, whenever we have a church event or we have church things that we do or activities, all these different things, here's, and you're like, why do they do it that way? And all this kind of stuff. I mean, look, here's the main thing. So you have an idea on how some, and look, there's no issues here. I'm just trying to explain some things that I've learned over the last year. There's no issues at this church that I know of, right? But here's the thing. You are like, oh, I have an idea on how to do this, or I have an idea on this or whatever. Maybe we could do it like this. But here's the thing. You're considering yourself and your idea, maybe your family. I have to consider everybody on everything. I mean, the stories I could tell you about it, like how my wife and I talk about just the social situations and, well, we could do this and have it there and, oh, but then, oh, ah, can't do that because we have to consider everyone. So that is where, I mean, the driver of probably 90 percent of why we do things the way we do around here is because we're just trying to consider everybody. You see what I mean? So that, I mean, that's my job is to consider everyone. I mean, it's your job to consider one another. I have to consider everybody. So I mean, that's been a real eye-opener, a real, you know, perspective adjuster for me as I stepped into the ministry. But so, I mean, just realize that in the church, you know, we prosecute things, especially in a biblical church. We prosecute things specifically in a specific way, church disciplines and other things, all these different things. I mean, they're going to be prosecuted in a very, I mean, nothing will be by accident. Nothing will be by accident at all, right? I mean, a lot of times it's not comfortable. A lot of times maybe you have to have a conversation with somebody, but look, it's on purpose and it's for a reason, okay? And the main reason is just so we can consider everyone and we're supposed to consider one another, right? So look, back to the main point. There should be no Christian Abimelechs, all right? Because, look, the way that Abimelech prosecuted things here, it was not moral. It was not the right way to do things, obviously, to murder all these people in treachery, you know. So Christians should know better is the bottom line. I mean, look at Romans 8 and verse 31. Don't turn there. Turn to Proverbs chapter 3 and we'll just read Proverbs chapter 3. Romans 8, 31 says, you know, it's a famous verse, right? If God be for us, who can be against us, right? I mean, that's what Romans 8, 31. It's a famous verse in the Bible. If God be for us, who could be against us? But what's the opposite of that? Look at Abimelech. He's the opposite of that. Look at Proverbs chapter 3 and verse number 4. The Bible says, so shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. It's talking about reading the law if you read a couple of verses up. And then it says, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. So look, it says if you acknowledge the way God wants you to do things and it says in the verses above, you know, forget not my law in verse number 1. If you don't forget the law and you do things the way that God wants you to do, he'll direct your paths and he'll be with you. And if God be for us, who could be against us? So look, if it's saying that if God is for you, if you're doing things the right way, I mean forget about what the world thinks. So the world is actually wrong. The world is actually wrong when they think the corporate psychopath way is the way to go because if God be for us, forget about it. It's not close. So look, I mean, Romans, I mean, sometimes I wonder if people even believe the Bible sometimes. I mean, if you are not doing things the right, I mean, Romans 13 says the government is there to punish evil. It says nothing about supporting you. Nothing. It's not in the scope of the Bible. And look, and here's the biggest one where you're just like, you see Christians and you're like, what are they reading? What are they listening to? Because look, if God is not with you, your efforts are futile. I mean, worthless. You will get nowhere. And I can't tell you how many times I have seen this play out before my very eyes. Somebody just can't get something going and they're just not, it's not working out. And I'm like, I know why it's not working out. Because you're not doing it the way God wants you to do it. And if God be for us, who could be against us? But if God's against you, forget it. Forget it. You have to do it the right way. Goals are great. Goals are great, but it takes more than goals. You're like, man, this sounds hard and complicated. Well, welcome to church. That's why I'm telling you these things. But guess what? You're like, it's complicated. The Bible gives you this direction. The Bible gives you the direction. The Bible gives you the goals and then it tells you how to get to the goals in the right way. I mean, if we don't do this, it doesn't matter if you get there. You're like, but it's working. I'm almost there. It doesn't matter. Abimelech made it to being king. He was king or he was the ruler. God will be against you just like he was against Abimelech. I mean, it's a theme. Folks, it's a theme. Remember the sermon on idols? Put something before God. God is a jealous God and he is going to destroy whatever you put before him. It's a theme. Gain something in a treacherous way. It's the same type of theme. God will destroy you with that very thing. Look, I don't want to be in this type of position and I don't understand who would. Abimelech's kingdom was his very downfall because of—not because of the goal. Look, it wasn't a godly goal. But it wasn't really because of the goal. It was because of how he got there and what he did. It was both. It was the goal and how he prosecuted. But God used the method to destroy him with it. I mean, talk about poetic justice. So look, folks, methods matter. And you need God to be on your side or you will get nowhere in this Christian life. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.