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Our sermon title this morning is
The Danger of Good Enough. 

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There are times in life when 
nothing less than perfection is 

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the standard. 
There's situation where 100% is 

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the only acceptable standard. 
We can talk about all kinds of 

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industries, for instance, where 
people work. 

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Careful attention is being paid 
to make sure everything is 

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accurate up to standard. 
Nothing is left to chance, and 

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when someone does get careless 
and starts cutting corners, 

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catastrophic disasters can 
result. 

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One of my hobbies is reading and
learning about mechanical 

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flight, airplanes, helicopters, 
jets and rockets and so on. 

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It's fascinated me all my life 
since I was a little boy. 

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One of the things I've learned 
over the years is the extreme 

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tight standards and regulations 
that the whole industry has, at 

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least in Canada and the US. 
That's one reason why it's so 

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costly. 
First to buy a plane, own a 

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plane and to fly one and even 
just to to fly along as a 

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passenger. 
Everything is so tightly 

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controlled and monitored. 
The good enough mentality is not

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fit there. 
It's never about, oh, it's good 

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enough. 
At least we wouldn't be 

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comfortable flying if they did 
that. 

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They have rules. 
They have standards and 

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regulations that not should be 
followed, that have to be 

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followed. 
And when they're not, 

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catastrophic results sometimes 
happens. 

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And this is of course, not just 
airplanes. 

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That's just my field of hobby. 
It's in the medical field and 

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the nuclear industry. 
And we could go on and on and 

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on. 
Building bridges, for instance. 

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When a good enough mentality 
creeps in, it's only a matter of

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time before reliability, safety,
and quality is compromised and 

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spirals downward. 
And in time, but one time was, a

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healthy, thriving business or 
organization or community just 

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declines and ceases to exist 
because nothing in the end 

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really matters that much 
anymore. 

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Sometimes people adopt A good 
enough mentality to save time, 

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to save costs, or they may just 
become lazy until one day they 

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realize it's too late and what 
always was just taken for 

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granted by years of neglect and 
compromises has just 

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deteriorated and no longer 
exists. 

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Think of it when it comes to the
things of physical safety. 

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We live in a country where 
standards are high. 

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Whether it's air travel, water, 
running water in our town, 

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whether it's building codes, the
list goes on and on. 

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But let me ask this question. 
But what about our spiritual 

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lives? 
How often do not Christians live

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with just a good enough 
mentality? 

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That's good enough. 
I go once or twice a month to 

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church. 
Good enough. 

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I give a little bit. 
It's good enough. 

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I serve once in a while. 
It's good enough. 

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I know I'm not perfect, but hey,
a few little hiccups are good 

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enough. 
I'm good enough. 

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For many people, if they would 
live their physical life the way

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they live their spiritual life, 
they wouldn't survive. 

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If we lived physically, if we 
lived life physically the way we

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do spiritually, would our 
physical body survive? 

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We may not say our spiritual 
life is good enough, but our 

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havior communicates that 
sometimes the way we live, the 

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things we do, they carry that 
message. 

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When it comes to carrying out 
God's commands in our lives, 

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when it comes to how we align 
ourselves with the teachings of 

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God's Word, we know we're not 
perfect. 

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We know that we're not God and 
we're not perfect and never will

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be. 
But that should not subtract 

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from the aim to be perfect. 
Perfection should always be in 

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our sights, Jesus says in 
Matthew 548. 

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Therefore you shall be perfect, 
just as your Father in heaven is

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perfect. 
And we know outside the grace of

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God we're not. 
But through God's grace, in 

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Christ's eyes we can be. 
Our human flesh will never be 

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perfect, we understand that. 
But perfection should still be 

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the focus. 
Have you ever stopped to think 

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of how prone people are to 
measure their perfection, not by

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God's perfection, but how much 
better they are than compared to

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somebody else? 
Think about that. 

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And then when we do that, we may
say, oh, our quality is not top 

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notch, but compared to that, 
we're doing pretty good. 

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That's not the way to measure 
life. 

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That's not the standard to live 
by. 

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Oh, compared to so and so, we're
doing all right. 

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When good enough becomes the 
stand for standard, when good 

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enough becomes the standard for 
moral, holy, godly living, good 

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enough is the is that that line?
That's the introduction to 

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decline an eventual spiritual 
shipwreck. 

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The standard must always be 
God's standard, even though we 

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don't achieve it fully. 
It can't be human culture when 

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we evaluate ourselves by a list 
of bad things we do not do. 

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Not only is our bar too low, 
it's the wrong bar. 

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This morning we're going to go 
into our second sermon on the 

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series in the book of Judges. 
Today we will see what happens 

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when the people start 
compromising God's standards and

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what happens when things simply 
become good enough, good enough.

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We will see that the people of 
Israel did not continue the way 

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they started. 
They lowered the standards. 

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They started with a very high 
standard, but they lowered it. 

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Things became good enough over 
time. 

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High standards were dropped 
high, high moral standards were 

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compromised, high objectives 
were not achieved, and things 

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began to fall. 
I want to say a few things about

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the book of Judges that I forgot
to say last Sunday. 

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The Bible has a variety of 
books, and the book of Judges is

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one of the unique books. 
They're all unique in their own 

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way, but the Bible has books 
called the books of the Law, The

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first five books of Moses, the 
books of the law. 

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These are the standards that God
had for his people. 

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Now there was also history 
included in that, but they were 

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the books of the law, 
Deuteronomy, Leviticus and 

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Numbers and so on. 
Then there are books of 

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prophecy, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and 
others. 

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They tell foretell the future, 
what God is going to do and what

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God did. 
Then there are books of wisdom, 

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Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 
and so on. 

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Then there's also the Gospels, 
and there are the letters, the 

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epistles, and they have their 
unique nature. 

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Each one of them has a unique 
nature. 

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But in the book of Judges, even 
though we don't find it as a 

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prescriptive book that tells us 
you do exactly what they did, it

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does give us the moral 
principles that God had given to

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his people. 
And what happens when they're 

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not lived out. 
It tells us the story of the 

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nation of Israel when they enter
the promised land and what 

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happened when they shifted their
moral compass, what happened 

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when they shifted their sights 
from what God wanted them to do 

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to what the culture was pushing.
And as we go through the book, 

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we will learn in the book of 
Judges. 

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And if we pay attention, God 
does not play games. 

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His commands are real and they 
are serious. 

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And disobeying his commands has 
serious consequences. 

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And there's a lot about Israel's
disobedience in this book. 

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And they didn't get away with 
it. 

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It didn't work. 
It's not a oh, at least they get

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by. 
At least it worked. 

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No, it didn't. 
In our time, where we get 

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ourselves into trouble is when 
we start living this way, the 

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way, you know, I know we're not 
perfect, but hey, we're pretty 

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good. 
We're good enough. 

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We get ourselves in trouble when
we want to make the decisions. 

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What's OK with God when we want 
to set the standards And it's no

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longer God's standards that we 
go by, but our own. 

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So in today's passage we will 
look at some things that went 

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wrong and how it got the nation 
into trouble. 

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Last Sunday was just in general 
overview, an introduction to the

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whole book. 
But today we want to get into 

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the into the weed, so to speak. 
In Judges chapter one verse one 

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to two we read and you can 
follow in your Bibles and your 

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devices. 
It says this Now after the death

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of Joshua, it came to pass that 
the children of Israel asked the

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Lord, saying, Who shall be first
to go up for US against the 

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Canaanites, to fight against 
them. 

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And the Lord said, Judah shall 
go up. 

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Indeed, I have delivered the 
land into his hand. 

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We see at the outset, after the 
after the death of Joshua, the 

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values that Joshua had instilled
in the people. 

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Those values held Joshua the 
leader had died, but his 

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teachings, his instructions, his
lifestyle, his example that had 

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taken root in the lives and the 
hearts and minds of the people. 

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So they, they knew what he was 
about. 

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They had followed him. 
They had trusted him. 

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They had followed his pattern. 
Even after he was gone, they 

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wanted to continue that. 
They wanted to do it the way he 

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did it. 
They knew Joshua was a man of 

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prayer. 
Joshua would go and talk to God.

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And so they also, well Lord, who
do you want us to go? 

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Who of us should go and fight 
against the Canaanites to take 

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more of the land? 
Notice what they did not ask. 

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They did not ask should we 
continue? 

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They did not ask should we do 
this? 

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That was not the question. 
This question was who should be 

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be the one to go. 
It was a leadership question. 

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Their leader Joshua was dead as 
I mentioned, but his leadership 

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lived on in the people. 
That was the way it should be. 

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They had been commanded to take 
the land and they were serious 

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about doing this. 
And God responds to their 

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prayers as Judah shall go up 
first. 

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And this next phrase is very 
telling. 

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He says I indeed I have 
delivered the land into his 

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hand. 
He did not say I will deliver. 

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He says he had. 
It's a, it's a statement of 

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ownership. 
It's a statement of transaction.

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The land was their blessing. 
It was theirs for the taking, 

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but they had to go and do it. 
God had blessed them with the 

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land. 
They were now instructed how to 

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continue what Joshua had 
started. 

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It was theirs for the taking. 
And so the first thing we want 

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to notice this morning is God 
has blessings that he's given 

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his people to claim. 
The question here is not a 

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question of who the Land's been 
given to. 

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It was a question of whether or 
not they would now proceed and 

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do the job. 
Would they claim the blessing? 

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Would they be willing, committed
and dedicated to this work for 

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them to take? 
What had been given to them was 

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a gift, but it was not a free 
ride. 

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Their work wasn't. 
There was work involved in 

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clearing out the idol 
worshippers and the idols they 

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would have to drive out The 
people displaced them. 

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And we know from passages that 
they did go to battle and they 

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did fight for what God had told 
him was theirs. 

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Again, I just want to mention 
this here that this is not a 

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prescriptive passage. 
It's not a prescriptive book in 

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the sense of, Oh yeah, you can 
go and take out your neighbor 

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and take his house. 
That's not what this is about. 

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This is not a passage teaching 
us to go and drive our people 

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and take their land. 
This, this happened under the 

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old covenant where God had 
promised Israel he was going to 

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give them the land of Canaan 
because the that was his 

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promise, His covenant to 
Abraham. 

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And the inhabitants of the land 
would have to leave. 

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They were idol worshippers. 
They were evil, they were 

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wicked. 
And God said his judgment would 

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be poured out on them and Israel
would remove them. 

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I also want to mention this 
morning here that we're not 

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going through a series of 
history lessons here. 

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That's not the intent of this of
this sermon series. 

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To do a history series would 
take much longer, and it would 

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no longer be a sermon series, 
but a lecture series on facts, 

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places, and events. 
That's not something we want to 

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use the morning worship service 
for. 

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We want to do that sometime, 
maybe in a Bible study on a 

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Wednesday night and so on, but 
not here. 

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Our aim here is to see what 
spiritual principles were at 

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work in these events and times. 
And God is still the same God. 

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So let's look at the passage 
closely. 

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Before the people do anything, 
they inquire of God as they 

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should, and they listen to God. 
They're focused on continuing 

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the mission to which they were 
called, take over the land, and 

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they ask God for direction. 
God directs them and the land is

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theirs. 
And says in verse 2, the Lord 

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said, Judah shall go up. 
Indeed, I have delivered the 

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00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,360
land to his hand. 
Joshua. 

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Judah was chosen by God to take 
leadership. 

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00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:39,920
And this already foretold in 
other passages elsewhere in the 

234
00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,160
Scripture that Judah would be a 
leadership tribe in the nation 

235
00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:45,000
of Israel. 
And it was out of Judah actually

236
00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,440
that King David was born and 
also later on the Messiah as 

237
00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:50,560
well. 
But blessings have strings 

238
00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:53,040
attached. 
Blessings are not given just 

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00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,160
because some blessings have 
conditions. 

240
00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:01,160
And to, to get the blessings, we
must follow God's commands. 

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00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,240
What would have happened if when
Joshua died, the people just 

242
00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,000
kind of, oh, well, I guess 
that's it then? 

243
00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,520
Or what if they had prayed and 
God answered their prayers? 

244
00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:13,920
Who's supposed to go up first? 
And what if they just said, Nah,

245
00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:17,200
I guess we'll wait a while. 
We don't feel like going now. 

246
00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,280
We'll wait for a different time,
a better time, or maybe we'll 

247
00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,960
ask somebody else to, to do it. 
The blessing might not have 

248
00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:26,480
happened. 
God's blessings are not 

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00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:31,640
timeless, endless opportunities.
Blessings can be missed, they 

250
00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,400
can be squandered, they can be 
compromised. 

251
00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:35,600
We'll see that as we go through 
the book. 

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00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,320
Many times people miss out on 
the blessings of God because 

253
00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:43,400
they don't ask for direction. 
In the letter of James in the 

254
00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:46,840
New Testament, the apostle James
writes says we have not because 

255
00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,400
we ask not, then we do ask. 
We often ask with wrong motives 

256
00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:55,080
since the times of the 
blessings, sometimes the 

257
00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:56,560
blessings of God don't seem to 
come. 

258
00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,560
A person may be praying for 
something and nothing seems to 

259
00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:01,840
happen. 
An equally important question 

260
00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,400
then to ask is, how am I 
aligning myself with God? 

261
00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:09,520
God had given them the land, 
yes, but taking them, taking the

262
00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:11,920
land, was something they had to 
be engaged in. 

263
00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:14,760
The enemies of Israel were 
living in the land. 

264
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:16,400
They were not just going to give
it up like that. 

265
00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:20,200
They had to be removed. 
Maybe you're in a place where 

266
00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:22,920
you would like to accomplish 
something, but it's too hard. 

267
00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,720
If it was easier, I don't want 
to put in the energy. 

268
00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,000
I don't want to have the 
discipline, I don't want to put 

269
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,640
in the effort, but I want the 
blessing. 

270
00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:41,560
That mindset doesn't work. 
Those who have to work hard for 

271
00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:44,120
what they get do better than 
those who have things just 

272
00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:47,480
handed to them. 
I know this is not about earning

273
00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:49,360
anything. 
It's not about grace earning 

274
00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:50,880
grace. 
Grace is a free gift. 

275
00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:53,320
We know that. 
But the blessings don't come by 

276
00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:57,920
themselves. 
We cannot expect God to give us 

277
00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,520
something and just sit there and
he's going to do it. 

278
00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,800
He wants us, He wants to partner
with us and making it happen. 

279
00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,600
There are many people whose 
lives are ruined, not because 

280
00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,360
there's no blessing, simply 
because they don't take it. 

281
00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:17,920
And sometimes we as especially 
as a culture, we want it easy, 

282
00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,720
convenient, and so often times, 
well, let's let's take a 

283
00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:27,400
shortcut and not experience and 
not not exercise discipline. 

284
00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:32,000
And the blessings may not come 
and we may ruin ourselves. 

285
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,200
I said last Sunday that we as 
God's people were made in his 

286
00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:38,280
image. 
And this is true. 

287
00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:40,720
This applies to the Israelites 
as well. 

288
00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:44,040
To be God's image means we have 
part to in his work. 

289
00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,240
We have work to do. 
There's a connection between US 

290
00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:48,440
and God. 
We're destined to enjoy God's 

291
00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:53,120
blessings, but that requires our
participation, our involvement, 

292
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,960
our commitment. 
And so God didn't just say to 

293
00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,360
the Israelis, OK, guys, I'm 
going to clean up the land, send

294
00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:00,080
some disasters, and the land 
will be bare and empty. 

295
00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:01,280
And you just go take the empty 
land. 

296
00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:05,400
No, you have a part in this. 
And we read on how the military 

297
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:07,960
campaign unfolded. 
At the start there were good 

298
00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:12,320
successes, but in time, 
challenges would arise. 

299
00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:16,320
Things we got got more difficult
and then the compromises began. 

300
00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,720
We find in the in the latter 
part of chapter one, verse 19 

301
00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,040
that God was with Judah, but the
challenges would come and they 

302
00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:27,440
became difficult and as the 
people continued to take over 

303
00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:31,120
the land, they came to different
people groups who were they were

304
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,480
not able to drive out. 
The reason for it is mentioned 

305
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,320
here. 
It mentions for instance, let's 

306
00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:41,040
read chapter 1, verse 19. 
So the Lord was with Judah and 

307
00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:43,240
they drove out the Mountaineers.
There's this stuff, stuff that 

308
00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,360
happened before this, which I 
encourage you to read. 

309
00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,280
But so the Lord was with Judah 
and they drove out the 

310
00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,760
Mountaineers, but they could not
drive out the inhabitants of the

311
00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,280
lowland because they had 
Chariots of iron. 

312
00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,880
Do you think God was saying, oh,
oh, I guess it's too hard for 

313
00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:01,960
these guys here. 
So we'll back down a little bit.

314
00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,079
Is that what happened? 
Or God said, you know what, 

315
00:17:05,079 --> 00:17:08,400
guys, you can let them be, 
That's OK, don't worry about it.

316
00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,400
It tells us what happened, but 
doesn't tell us anything about 

317
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,560
God's mindset. 
We know God's mindset. 

318
00:17:14,839 --> 00:17:17,640
God was with Judah. 
He helped them drive out the 

319
00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:19,240
Mountaineers. 
But then when it came to the 

320
00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,200
valley, they had iron Chariots 
and so Judah didn't have the 

321
00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:27,960
power. 
From a human perspective, the 

322
00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:30,880
whole thing was too difficult. 
In their own strength, they 

323
00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,320
couldn't do it for sure. 
But remember Jericho, remember 

324
00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:36,760
the Jordan River, remember the 
Red Sea. 

325
00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,360
God's blessings are sometimes 
difficult in proportion to their

326
00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:45,080
value. 
Not all blessings are easy. 

327
00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,240
Blessings of great value are 
sometimes difficult because they

328
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:49,880
require more discipline, greater
effort. 

329
00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:53,600
Our priorities should always be 
looking to God, seeking God's 

330
00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,400
face, and asking God what he 
wants from us. 

331
00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:58,880
I sometimes say to people, when 
you say I can't, you've slammed 

332
00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:00,920
the door. 
Sometimes I ask a young man, 

333
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:02,200
what would you like to do in 
life? 

334
00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:04,760
Oh I would like to XYZ but I 
can't. 

335
00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,600
I said don't use that phrase. 
Then you've slammed the door. 

336
00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,160
Rather say I would like to do 
XYZ and to do it would take this

337
00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:13,040
and this and this. 
Now you have a step ladder, now 

338
00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:17,000
you have a set of stairs to it. 
Sure it's going to be hard, but 

339
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,120
don't use phrases like oh we 
can't. 

340
00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:23,720
Someone might ask was God not 
willing or not able to help the 

341
00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:25,640
people of Israel take the 
lowlands? 

342
00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,440
We know God told him to take the
land. 

343
00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:32,160
God did not say take the land. 
Except if you meet people with 

344
00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:33,840
iron Chariots, then you don't 
have to. 

345
00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,240
Then it's OK. 
That's not what happened. 

346
00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,200
They could not take the Lola and
it tells us that. 

347
00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:41,960
And yes, the people of the 
valley were stronger militarily,

348
00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,200
but the God of Judah was much 
bigger than any tribal nation 

349
00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,040
around them. 
They failed in their objective 

350
00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:52,440
not simply because the military 
might of the people in the 

351
00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:54,640
valley. 
From reading the whole book of 

352
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:59,240
Judges and many other passages, 
we find that they overcame much 

353
00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,960
greater difficulties than that. 
But then right next, if you 

354
00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:04,520
continue reading, I won't read 
those verses. 

355
00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:07,200
In the next verse we read that 
the people gave Caleb the city 

356
00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:09,400
of Hebron. 
The sons of Anak lived there. 

357
00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:13,480
They were fearsome people, 
giants, men of huge stature. 

358
00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,840
But that did not deter Caleb. 
He finished the job of removing 

359
00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,880
these men from the land. 
He had served alongside Joshua, 

360
00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,720
and he goes and takes the city. 
And no doubt he's much older man

361
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:25,640
now than many of the Israelites 
were. 

362
00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,760
He trusted God, not in his own 
power, not in his own ability. 

363
00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,840
He did what God called him to 
do, not worrying about the other

364
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,920
circumstances. 
What if every Israelite soldier 

365
00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,120
had the heart and determination 
of Caleb? 

366
00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:40,360
Would iron Chariots have stopped
them? 

367
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:45,720
What if they prayed? 
We see in Caleb's view, his 

368
00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,240
obedience was his part, and 
Caleb's view, obedience was what

369
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:50,000
he did. 
Victory and success, that was 

370
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,360
God's part. 
After the death of Joshua, 

371
00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,720
things had started well, but the
war efforts started to decline. 

372
00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:00,120
We find reading onward, the 
people let up in their mission. 

373
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:04,680
The mission lost energy, not the
urgency anymore and the result 

374
00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:09,520
was it started to die down early
on in the book of Judges. 

375
00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,960
Let's continue reading verse 1 
to 21, chapter 121. 

376
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,840
Notice the children of Benjamin.
But the children of Benjamin did

377
00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:19,440
not drive out the Jebusites who 
inhabited Jerusalem. 

378
00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:22,320
So the Jebusites dwell with the 
children of Benjamin in 

379
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,240
Jerusalem to this day. 
Whoever wrote the Book of 

380
00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:27,600
Judges, that was the reality of 
the time. 

381
00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:31,200
It does not tell us why the 
children of Benjamin did not 

382
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,080
finish the job. 
Perhaps they became comfortable 

383
00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:35,560
with the where where things 
were. 

384
00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:37,920
Maybe what they had was good 
enough. 

385
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,440
Whatever the reasons were for 
not completing the task, there 

386
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:43,800
would be consequences for 
allowing it to happen. 

387
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:49,200
Things would not be well. 
We don't know the mindsets of 

388
00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,160
the people of Benjamin, but what
happened is obvious. 

389
00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:54,320
Let's just consider for a 
moment. 

390
00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,880
Let's just think back to the 
time of the crossing of the 

391
00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:00,680
Jordan River in the book of 
Joshua, when they crossed the 

392
00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:05,440
Jordan River and they went up to
Jericho and they took the city 

393
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:07,400
of Jericho. 
Big events that they were. 

394
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,080
Do you think that people were 
thinking, oh, yeah, In a few 

395
00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:12,560
generations, we will just let it
all be. 

396
00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:14,320
We'll just simmer down. 
We'll quiet down. 

397
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,840
We'll we're going to change. 
Do you think they thought that? 

398
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,080
Never. 
That would have been not in 

399
00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:23,440
their minds at all. 
But over time, small, little 

400
00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,400
incremental compromises 
happened. 

401
00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,200
They started with high 
standards, lofty goals, but then

402
00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,640
little by little, they changed. 
Let's continue reading verse 

403
00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:37,600
chapter 127 and on it says. 
However, Manasseh didn't drive 

404
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:41,000
out the inhabitants of Bethshawn
in its villages, or Tanakh in 

405
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,600
its villages, or the inhabitants
of Dor in its villages, or the 

406
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,800
inhabitants of Iblium in its 
villages, or the inhabitants of 

407
00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:50,640
Megadu in its villages. 
For the Canaanites were 

408
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:52,080
determined to dwell in that 
land. 

409
00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:55,360
And it came to pass when Israel 
was strong, they put the 

410
00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:58,680
Canaanites under tribute, but 
did not completely drive them 

411
00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,920
out. 
Think about it, not only did 

412
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,920
they were they OK with them 
living in the land, they were 

413
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:07,760
superior. 
The Israelites were superior in 

414
00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:09,640
power. 
OK, we'll just make them work 

415
00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,120
for us. 
We'll just benefit from them. 

416
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,200
This was a completely what God 
had said don't do. 

417
00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:18,280
They were going to capitalize on
it. 

418
00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,960
A deadly mistake. 
Let's continue reading verse 29.

419
00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:25,600
Nor did Ephraim drive out the 
Canaanites who dwelt in Geezer. 

420
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:27,680
So the Canaanites dwelt in 
Geezer among them. 

421
00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,680
Nor did Zebulun drive out the 
inhabitants of Kitron, or the 

422
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:33,960
inhabitants of Nehalo. 
So the Canaanites dwelt among 

423
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,320
them and were put under tribute.
Again taxation. 

424
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,200
Nor did Asher drive out the 
inhabitants of Eko, or the 

425
00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:43,120
inhabitants of Sidon, or of 
Alab, or Axib, or Halba, or 

426
00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:46,240
Afic, or Rehob. 
So the Asherites dwelt among the

427
00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,080
Canaanites, the inhabitants of 
the land. 

428
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,600
For they did not drive them out,
nor did not till I drive out the

429
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,320
inhabitants of Beth Shemesh or 
the inhabitants of Beth Aneth, 

430
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:57,000
but they dwelt among the 
Canaanites, the inhabitants of 

431
00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,160
the land. 
Nevertheless, the inhabitants of

432
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,840
Beth Chemesh and Bethannan were 
put under tribute to them. 

433
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:05,720
And the Amorites forced the 
children of Dan into the 

434
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,000
mountains, for they would not 
allow them to come down to the 

435
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,160
valley. 
And the Amorites were determined

436
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,800
to dwell in Mount Harris, in 
Ajalon, and in Chalbim. 

437
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:16,880
And yet when the strength of the
House of Joseph became greater, 

438
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,880
they were put under tribute. 
This is jaw-dropping from what 

439
00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:24,200
we read at the beginning, from 
what God had commanded his 

440
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:26,760
people to do compared to what 
they were now doing. 

441
00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:30,120
God had so clearly said don't 
make agreements with them, don't

442
00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:33,000
reside together with them, don't
have anything to do with them. 

443
00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:37,400
Here are 7 tribes mentioned who 
opted out for finishing less, 

444
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:38,760
doing less than they were called
to. 

445
00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:42,160
They lowered the bar. 
They accepted a different 

446
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:43,920
outcome than was originally 
planned. 

447
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,400
Here's an extreme shift from 
what we read in the books of the

448
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,000
law to what happened in actual 
life. 

449
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:53,640
Somehow it had become 
acceptable. 

450
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:58,600
It was good enough. 
You know what's so concerning 

451
00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:02,040
here? 
They're not just compromising 

452
00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:03,960
the mission, they're content 
with it. 

453
00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:10,120
It doesn't faze them. 
Listen, folks, the problem was 

454
00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:12,920
not the Canaanites. 
They were just Canaanites, 

455
00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,520
unbelievers, Pagan Canaanites. 
The problem was God's people. 

456
00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:20,600
And that's the problem in the 
church today. 

457
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:26,080
It shouldn't surprise us when 
evil people do evil and want to 

458
00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:27,640
continue that. 
That's their nature. 

459
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,160
That's their default setting. 
What was happening here to the 

460
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:33,280
people of Israel, They were 
compromising. 

461
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:36,440
They've been tasked with this 
huge responsibility. 

462
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:38,440
Take the land. 
That was no longer the high 

463
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:40,600
point. 
The land was a blessing to them.

464
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,840
They were commanded to take it. 
But they started to shift and 

465
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,080
started to integrate with the 
people they were not supposed to

466
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,960
connect with. 
They were forming the wrong 

467
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:55,640
connections, and guess what? 
They even tried to leverage it 

468
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,520
for their own advantage. 
We're going to benefit from it. 

469
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:03,600
We're smart. 
They capitalized on it. 

470
00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,600
Let's put them pay taxes to us. 
That's the plan. 

471
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,800
We'll benefit from them. 
They had received no such 

472
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,560
permission from God to do this. 
The danger was that God's 

473
00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:17,080
enemies would trip them up and 
they would wander off and follow

474
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:18,760
their gods. 
And we will know as we read. 

475
00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:20,240
We'll see. 
That's exactly what happened. 

476
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:25,200
Notice again verse 34 where we 
read and the Amorites forced the

477
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,320
children of Dan into the 
mountains, for they would not 

478
00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:28,560
allow them to come down to the 
valley. 

479
00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,040
Why? 
Because they let them. 

480
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,320
This does not look like Jericho 
or many of the other cities. 

481
00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,440
This looks like negotiating the 
Believers Church Bible's 

482
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:40,080
commentary. 
The writer puts it this way. 

483
00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,800
He says rather than seeking the 
Lord for direction, the Danites 

484
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,840
seek to the Danites seek the 
Canaanites for permission. 

485
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,360
You know what, folks? 
Since when is the Church of God 

486
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,880
asked or commanded to see what 
the world says and follow their 

487
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:56,880
leading? 
Maybe you can negotiate with the

488
00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,240
government, with the 
authorities, and follow their 

489
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:06,120
leading. 
Since when they were not doing 

490
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:08,120
what God commanded them, they 
could have prayed. 

491
00:26:08,120 --> 00:26:10,760
Lord, this is too hard for us. 
Unless you redeem us, unless you

492
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:12,400
save us, we'll be destroyed by 
these people. 

493
00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,280
We'll take what comes. 
God's people should not 

494
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,880
negotiate away God's blessings 
for things of lesser value. 

495
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,320
Since when is it God's will that
His church goes to the Pagan 

496
00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:27,360
tables, secular culture, and sit
at their tables trying to work 

497
00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:30,000
out agreements and negotiations?
How can we serve God? 

498
00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:31,680
How would you allow us to serve 
our God? 

499
00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,840
That's never up for negotiation.
The secular culture should never

500
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,040
be the point of reference from 
where the church makes decisions

501
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,800
on how to run ministries or what
moral standards we set. 

502
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:42,840
They are set. 
We have to just follow them. 

503
00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,600
God's Word alone should always 
be the only standard how the 

504
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,720
church lives and serves God in 
this world. 

505
00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:51,680
They should never be. 
Oh well, I guess we could make 

506
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,640
some shift. 
We could compromise when that 

507
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:56,760
happens. 
There's no end to that. 

508
00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,640
When the shifting values and 
corrupt standards of the world 

509
00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:05,000
are incorporated into the 
church, there's only one option.

510
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,440
It's to repent. 
They didn't. 

511
00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:12,520
We see what happens. 
We will see repeatedly how the 

512
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:17,000
people of Israel fell and then 
learn to repent time and again. 

513
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,400
This would happen. 
Things were hard. 

514
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,360
They break down and their 
brokenness and despair. 

515
00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:25,600
Finally they would cry out to 
God and God who loves to forgive

516
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:27,680
repentance. 
Sinners would reach down and 

517
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,280
lift them out of their bondage 
and descended the deliverer to 

518
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,200
freedom. 
We are today not under that old 

519
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:35,160
covenant. 
As I said, Judges is not a 

520
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:37,680
prescriptive book, but the 
principles hold true. 

521
00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,560
It's a book of principles 
revealing God's perfection in 

522
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:46,440
the standards and they're not up
for negotiation today. 

523
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,840
The Church of Jesus Christ in 
large part is not working for or

524
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:54,040
fighting the battles correctly. 
And it's never an earthly battle

525
00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:56,360
we should be fighting anyway. 
It's a spiritual battle. 

526
00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:01,120
The Church of Jesus Christ today
is focused on sharing the 

527
00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:02,840
gospel. 
And should we should do that? 

528
00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:06,400
Preach repentance to sinners, 
preach hope to the lost, Go 

529
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:09,080
down, go to the down and out. 
Those are the the words we have 

530
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:10,920
to say. 
Our weapons are not swords and 

531
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,400
guns and bombs. 
We fight with love and 

532
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:18,640
compassion and suffering. 
Our call is to expose injustice 

533
00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:20,680
toward the oppressed, the poor, 
and the marginalized. 

534
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,480
Our call is to expose sin with 
the light of the gospel. 

535
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,840
Our fight comes at a cost to us.
The world is not a friend of the

536
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,520
Church of Jesus. 
When earthly rulers sense 

537
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,040
they're being exposed, they will
push back. 

538
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:35,560
When they're rebuked, they'll 
often turn on God's people, as 

539
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:37,560
we know the voice of the 
martyrs. 

540
00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:40,360
Many other organizations we know
from the story of Daniel. 

541
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,560
We know of other stories. 
God sometimes rescues people. 

542
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:44,840
Sometimes he lets them be 
killed. 

543
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:46,400
John the Baptist, he confronted 
Herod. 

544
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:48,960
His head was chopped off. 
He was not spared. 

545
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,240
The danger often comes when the 
world comes with inviting 

546
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,280
negotiations. 
Let's, let's, let's have a 

547
00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,080
dialogue. 
Let's talk about this. 

548
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:05,200
There's never a time to sit down
at a table and talk with evil 

549
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:07,760
and say, oh, by the way, maybe 
we can incorporate this into our

550
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,640
church as well. 
When it comes to the standards 

551
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,680
God gives us in His word, the 
secular culture may want to 

552
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:16,280
influence us, but the red flag 
should always be up. 

553
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:23,480
The people of Israel got 
themselves into trouble time and

554
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,040
time again. 
When the culture starts to want 

555
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,800
to join hands with the church, 
the church should always be in 

556
00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:30,440
high alert and have it scarred 
up. 

557
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,240
We know from the outcome, from 
the story of Israel, the passage

558
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,240
that I read last Sunday. 
I want to read it again this 

559
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:41,400
morning, as I mentioned last 
Sunday, that not everything in 

560
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:43,120
this book is in chronological 
order. 

561
00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:45,480
The writer, whoever wrote the 
book, did not put it on 

562
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:47,960
chronological order. 
And here's a piece in chapter 2.

563
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:50,360
That's before Joshua died. 
Let me read that again. 

564
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,160
Joshua chapter 2, beginning 
verse one. 

565
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,040
Then the Angel of the Lord came 
up from Gilgal to Bakum and 

566
00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,080
said, I LED you up from Egypt 
and brought you to the land 

567
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:01,880
which I swore to your father's, 
and said, I will never break my 

568
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,440
covenant with you, and you shall
make no covenant with the 

569
00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:06,320
inhabitants of this land. 
You shall tear down their 

570
00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:07,920
altars. 
But you have not obeyed my 

571
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,560
voice. 
Why have you done this? 

572
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:15,480
Already in Joshua's day there 
were signs of this compromise. 

573
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,840
They were doing good, but 
compromise had started to form 

574
00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:21,040
cracks in there. 
Handling. 

575
00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:23,960
Handing over God's blessings 
comes at our peril. 

576
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:28,600
This Angel of the Lord is a 
messenger from God. 

577
00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,080
The danger of a good enough 
mentality will lead to 

578
00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:33,880
compromise and lowering one's 
moral standards. 

579
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,200
God rebukes his people for not 
having carried out his commands 

580
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:38,640
against the nations to which He 
sent them. 

581
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:43,000
Terry Bensinger in the Bible 
commentary writes this. 

582
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,640
He said Israel's failure is not 
primarily the result of military

583
00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,800
or political incompetence, but 
of sin. 

584
00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,560
Similarly, the ongoing struggle 
anticipated in the future is 

585
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:56,920
problematic not because of loss 
of property or political unrest,

586
00:30:57,280 --> 00:30:59,480
but because of religious 
syncretism. 

587
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,120
Like the Sirens wooing Odysseus 
to the rocks, the gods of Canaan

588
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:06,200
will lure Israel into faulty 
beliefs and practices. 

589
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:09,920
Religious syncretism means when 
different belief systems from 

590
00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:13,440
different religions are brought 
together, mixed together, the 

591
00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,280
different values come come one 
and embraced and accepted one by

592
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:20,680
the other. 
This phrase that Terry mentions 

593
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,400
here in his book The Sirens 
Wooing Odeskis to the Rocks is a

594
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,720
is an ancient mythical story by 
a writer named Homer. 

595
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:27,960
And it's written in different 
ways. 

596
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:31,000
And it's a fictional story about
an island inhabited by mythical 

597
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,360
creatures that were part bird 
and part woman. 

598
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:35,880
And the story is that is told in
different ways. 

599
00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,000
But these creatures have 
beautiful voices. 

600
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,800
And if a sailor sails by the 
island, these creatures would 

601
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,640
sing beautiful songs and the 
sailor would inevitably steer 

602
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,840
his ship to the island and be 
and be crashed on the rocks. 

603
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:49,760
And this man, Odysseus, has been
warned of this. 

604
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,000
So he comes up with a plan. 
He wants to check out and make 

605
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:54,800
sure that when he hears the 
songs without, he will not do 

606
00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,080
that. 
He orders his men to plug their 

607
00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:59,920
ears with beeswax so they won't 
hear the song of these 

608
00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:02,680
creatures. 
And but he leaves his ears open.

609
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:06,320
But he has his his crew tie him 
to a mast so he can't move. 

610
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,120
And he tells them, even if I 
want you to release me, don't 

611
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:11,880
until we're past. 
And so they sailed by this 

612
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:13,720
island. 
And sure enough, this beautiful 

613
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,840
singing, so attractive, he wants
the ship to be steered to the 

614
00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:18,280
island. 
And they don't listen because 

615
00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:20,440
they can't hear. 
And after they passed the 

616
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:23,920
island, he's released. 
Of course, this just a fairy 

617
00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:24,760
tale. 
It's a myth. 

618
00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,240
But there's an important 
illustration of the story. 

619
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:32,800
The idea is it is never safe 
ever to dabble with temptation, 

620
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:37,200
no matter how attractive, how 
logical, how rational, how good 

621
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,160
it looks. 
The things we know to be true 

622
00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:44,200
are not up for negotiation. 
It's never right to dabble with 

623
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,920
sin. 
It's never right to entertain 

624
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:51,240
things we know are not right. 
This is an area where the church

625
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:53,840
in North America does not have a
good track record. 

626
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,520
I don't need to go into detail, 
but we all know that as a people

627
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:02,160
we are very privileged in every 
way in our country, more so than

628
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:06,440
many people in many countries. 
And so it stands to reason we 

629
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:09,800
should also be producing fruits 
in line with that. 

630
00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:14,800
But it's not happening. 
So the church today, to a large 

631
00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:16,960
part, instead of being a light 
to the world, increasingly 

632
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,320
changes and shifts and adapts to
fit around in the culture. 

633
00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:22,640
What the culture does, we can 
somehow incorporate in the 

634
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,800
church. 
We see increasingly the world is

635
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,320
ramping up the pressure to 
embrace, engage in increasingly 

636
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,760
what the world does. 
The people of Israel have been 

637
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,000
blessed with the land of Canaan.
They'd done some of what they're

638
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:38,400
supposed to do, but they failed 
in the overall objective. 

639
00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:41,920
Notice what happens next. 
The Angel says, Therefore I also

640
00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:45,320
said, I will not drive them up 
before you, but they shall be 

641
00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:47,960
thorns on your side, and the 
gods shall be a snare to you. 

642
00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:52,440
So it was when the Angel of the 
Lord spoke these words to all 

643
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:54,920
the children of Israel that the 
people lifted up their voices 

644
00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:56,920
and wept. 
Then they called the place the 

645
00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:59,360
name of the place, Bakum, and 
they sacrificed there to the 

646
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:01,800
Lord. 
The very things that we 

647
00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:04,960
compromise with and things we 
think we can adapt, they're 

648
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:11,600
going to destroy us. 
The consequences would be these 

649
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,400
people would not drive out their
dollar to snake wicked nations, 

650
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:17,440
and they would instead let that 
be a temptation to them. 

651
00:34:18,159 --> 00:34:20,199
This is not one massive sweep of
events. 

652
00:34:20,199 --> 00:34:22,960
It's just a slow incremental 
stage by stage. 

653
00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:26,440
And yes, they couldn't take the 
whole land of cane in one fell 

654
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:28,320
swoop, that's true. 
But they were supposed to do a 

655
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:30,080
totally thorough job of cleaning
it up. 

656
00:34:30,199 --> 00:34:32,360
Not just do a little bit here 
and dabble here and dabble there

657
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:35,320
and dabble everywhere and just 
let this happen, Let that in and

658
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,199
not make that at all. 
That was the problem. 

659
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:42,920
The lines became blurred. 
There were people in places they

660
00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:46,040
should have been cleaned out. 
They'd let people stay. 

661
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,320
The problem was it just became 
good enough. 

662
00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:52,360
What do we allow in our lives? 
And it's good enough. 

663
00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:54,760
Oh, yeah, I know. 
I have a habit and I know I have

664
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:56,080
a problem. 
I know I have an addiction. 

665
00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:57,520
I know I don't. 
I know I should. 

666
00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:02,440
No, it's good enough. 
It says here they rept they were

667
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:05,240
sad they never repented. 
Not here. 

668
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,840
Some people go to church. 
They know they're sin in their 

669
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:12,080
lives. 
They feel guilty and feel 

670
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,400
convicted in how they live. 
They go to church, expect a 

671
00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:16,960
harsh sermon, a powerful sermon.
They go home feeling convicted 

672
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:18,880
and they feel good. 
They felt convicted. 

673
00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:27,440
There's no change. 
They weep, No change happens. 

674
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,040
God's not interested in tears. 
He's interested in reformed 

675
00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:32,760
hearts. 
Tears are good if they come from

676
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:34,440
a heart of repentance, but they 
didn't hear. 

677
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:35,920
They came from a heart of regret
and sorrow. 

678
00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:38,320
It's not working. 
They sacrificed, Lord, we'll 

679
00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:41,520
give you a sacrifice. 
Or they would repent later on, 

680
00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:44,280
but not yet. 
Someone might say, well, repent 

681
00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:46,840
of what? 
Misplaced priorities? 

682
00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:52,320
Misplaced values, misplaced 
commitments, misplaced goals. 

683
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:58,400
Where are our hearts today? 
Oh, it's good enough. 

684
00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:03,160
We're doing good enough. 
God wants to bless us. 

685
00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:06,400
It's not a physical land that 
He's calling us to conquer. 

686
00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:11,440
God wants us to discipline 
ourselves, to control ourselves.

687
00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,720
He sent us and Jesus to die for 
this so we could do it to give 

688
00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:17,440
us eternal life. 
And His Spirit in our hearts 

689
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:19,440
helps us. 
We can't earn it. 

690
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:22,680
We can't earn eternal life, but 
our life of discipline, our life

691
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,360
of Christian values that should 
always be coming out from our 

692
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:30,360
hearts. 
Of all the places we may be 

693
00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:32,200
tempted to cut corners and think
this is good enough. 

694
00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:35,000
Let it not be in our 
relationship with God. 

695
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:37,840
He's the last person we should 
ever feel like short changing. 

696
00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:41,440
He will never take second place.
He's a God of love and 

697
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:45,960
compassion, but also justice. 
He's a God of grace and mercy, 

698
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,840
but also of truth. 
When we go from here this 

699
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:54,120
morning, let's seek God, not 
seek how we can maybe 

700
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,200
accommodate, have the best of 
both worlds. 

701
00:36:56,880 --> 00:37:00,240
Let's devote ourselves to Him, 
make our connection with Him 

702
00:37:00,240 --> 00:37:04,040
sure, and everything else 
becomes secondary because in the

703
00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:08,560
end, good enough won't cut it. 
Let's pray. 

704
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,280
Thank you Lord, for your word. 
Your standard is perfection. 

705
00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:16,200
There is no partial good grade 
that you accept. 

706
00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:18,760
You've called us to obedience 
and service to you. 

707
00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,000
You provide us with your gift of
grace to be able to walk with 

708
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:23,800
you. 
We're thankful for this day 

709
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:26,160
together as a church. 
We pray that we will take heart 

710
00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:28,880
and what you revealed to us 
about ourselves and Your Word, 

711
00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:31,760
and you will apply it. 
Or may you bless your people. 

712
00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:35,120
Help us as your people to aim 
for perfection and all that we 

713
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:37,000
do. 
We know it will fall short, but 

714
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,280
Your grace covers that. 
Our sins are covered. 

715
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:42,840
That we know, but not in a good 
enough way where our sins are 

716
00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:44,760
covered. 
There we are, perfect in you. 

717
00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:48,120
Or may you lift our spirits up, 
guide us and lead us as a 

718
00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:49,720
church. 
We thank you in Jesus name.