er be the same and it’s all because of you so we invite you now to inhabit the not only the praise of your people but the very hearts of your people for the purposes that we may not even fully know we give you praise in the name of jesus christ the one we love and all god’s people said amen amen good morning church go ahead and have a seat and amory thanks for playing me through that prayer brother it’s you’re a good man this whole team

this is worship amazing it’s amazing yeah it’s okay it’s really true and I I want you to know that there are people in our gathering today that are fairly new with us they’ve been actually with us for almost a year but they’re in our gathering today in some cases for the first time and they’re they’re people that that talk like they’re familiar because they are they’re part of grace point but they’re in another part of the grace point reach so it’s really cool and welcome to

those of you that are here and I’m glad you’re here and one of them is my wife who hasn’t been here for about four months now and is watching this morning and I’m wearing a ribbon on her behalf today is a big run I believe it’s a cancer run of all kinds of cancer and I did not know this but our daughter handed out ribbons you’ve seen the ribbons and people wear them and such if you were to see it closely and you’re welcome to come

and snoop and stare at my pocket today when church is over but it’s mine’s orange which is the color for leukemia so I did not know that at all I but I my heart goes out to chris and and debbie and another debbie and many of you who have battled and in some cases continue the battle of some kind of cancer all that we just sang means a lot to me but it it’s oxygen to you it’s really powerful so praise god and praise god for

what he’s doing in lots of lives and hearts I am I hold in my hand a book mine says holy bible new international version it’s just one of many versions but it’s good and it’s solid and you can have confidence in it but it’s filled with commands statements that are made by god and let’s agree they’re made by god a long time ago all right like centuries and millennia ago that long millennia is a thousand years it’s really long right but they have implications and applications

today or else what we’re about to do doesn’t make any sense does it it would never explain why I spend so much time and I’m encouraged by leadership and the people of this church to spend that kind of time digging in and probing the truth of what god said and then being I sometimes refer to myself as the color commentary my my job’s to kind of take the bible and say how does that work what are the implications of that today in my life and I

and I do that weekly sometimes I do it better than other times but that’s my mission I am I’m bringing that up because when god declares a command pick your command when he declares a command there are basically two options humans have when it comes to whatever that command happens to be right do not steal let’s say one of the ten commandments exodus 20. All right so the first option would be that we choose with god’s help to keep that command not the thing we’re trying

to steal but the command to not steal with me everybody getting this all right it’s really simple we choose that’s one option to obey the command as god stated it because it does have implications for us the word we use is obey the other option of course is very very different than that it’s where we can choose on our own to ignore it to say either something tricky like that’s for people that live long ago you know or to say you know only this time it

won’t matter so much or some other version that essentially dismisses that and washes our hands of that right and when we do those things and I say we when we do because I’m just gonna rat you out I’ve never met a human that doesn’t at times do those things and you’re hearing it from a guy I had a scuffle at a grocery store last night it wasn’t really a scuffle but it was in my heart I was mad at the guy have you ever thought of

ramming somebody with your grocery cart in a grocery store okay there it is that’s my I didn’t do it so you could say well no I didn’t really sin but jesus was the one that came along and said if you fought it in your heart you’ve done it so I’m really you know I had a hard night’s rest last night and and he looked at me surprised like what what’s your deal and I wanted I just wanted to go what’s your deal that applies to you

and what you just did anyway it was it was dumb but in that moment I had a sort of an option I didn’t perform real well in that moment but I did by the time I got home and it was a very lonely evening for me my wife’s in the hospital it’s just me alone with the holy spirit it was a rough one for a while he’s like for real you’re gonna preach tomorrow really so don’t get in my way at a grocery store people don’t

do it it won’t work out well for either of us but all right most reasonable people would say that kind of covers it those two options on anything god says right do what god says period any questions yeah that’s really the the inference of what I’m building up to but here’s a problem we’re human and we have a history of finding a third or in some cases a fourth option when it comes to something god has said in some cases very clearly in his word and

and there’s a first example I’m just not you don’t even need to turn to genesis 3 unless you feel like it but it’s easy to find it’s the third page of the bible so anyway but here’s the deal there’s there’s this example where god issued a command and the command was more or less this you can have it all I made it all for you it’s to bless you and to benefit you and frankly to bring you pleasure this place I’ve made for you called the

garden and I want you to enjoy it climb the trees eat its fruit do whatever and by the way see that one tree in the middle I believe that’s the tone if you really dig into the narrative you find that that’s really the tone that god’s saying look this is one thing one limit stay away from that tree all right and of course you know the story chapter three tells that the humans there were only two at that time actually I’m not going to say they

went straight for that tree but it was something that rolled out and all sorts of trouble sort of think of it as waves after waves of trouble enter humanity all right you’re with me on the narrative so far so and god watched it all are we okay on that that god wasn’t like oh how did that happen right or what did you do no god saw it all there’s videotape you know god could say after further review and he could tell it with certainty this is

what happened I’m trying to sort of make this ridiculous in one sense and then god comes to the people and here’s an interesting thought from the very instance of sin people I found reading that narrative again we’re just so determined to sort of nuance our way around it we we try to skirt around it sometimes and the very first example is adam and eve so in chapter three you come to this you have to turn just listen to this verse 11 chapter 3 god to adam

I’m quoting have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from adam to god very next verse ready the woman oh there’s more he does not to be outdone the woman that you put here see what I’m doing the woman that you put here ate from the tree and she gave me some of the fruit and and I ate it that’s a long answer wouldn’t you say I think yep would have worked adam have you eaten from the tree yep maybe with

god it would be yes sir or something more formal okay we’re not done because god’s done with him at that moment for a moment and he turns to the woman and he says a verse later verse 13 what have you done four words verse 13 as well the woman answered to god the serpent the serpent deceived me and I ate now before you start giving her all kinds of credit because she wasn’t you know as slippery and able to work around the obvious you know booger

on her finger that’s gross that’s a gross thought that’s not in my notes that’s not in my notes okay wait where are we why is this a big deal let me go there she could have said by the way yeah what have I done I ate that would have worked that’s fair enough why is this a big deal several reasons first of all god start with this god gives clear commands don’t don’t say I didn’t understand there’s a few like that in the bible few commands

you’re going huh but the vast majority is emphatically clear if you’re god wouldn’t you want to make it I’m not dumb I would not dummy it down that’s not my point but I would want to speak it in clear language removing all doubt what I had in mind that’s my bias that’s my belief and I think the bible bears that true he clearly expects what he commands to be obeyed now I’m going to quote a passage in deuteronomy chapter 30. It’s just three chapters from the

end of that wonderful book you just need to go there again and again as I do but in chapter 30 I want you to remember these words he says this this command I’m giving you today is not too difficult for you and it’s not beyond your reach so he’s calling out some of our excuses isn’t he then he says it’s not kept in heaven so distant that you have to ask who can go up there and bring it down here so we can hear it and

obey it won’t work with me says god he’s not done it’s not kept beyond the sea so far that you must ask who will cross the sea and bring it back to us so that we can hear it and obey it not gonna work nice try we might say it’s no the message is actually very close at hand and it’s actually on your lips and even closer than that in your heart so that you can may I insert two words three words if you choose they’re

not in the text obey it deuteronomy 30 11-14 but when we humans choose not to obey let me just say what I started this message with admit it what’s our deal you’re looking at a guy that’s like like made a profession at times in my in my ability to not admit it I didn’t have to tell you about my scuffle at the grocery store and I you know it’s halfway done for entertainment purposes but really the truth is I’m cleaner today I feel better because of

last night and what god said and nice bad sleep so when humans choose not to obey the right approach is to admit it would you agree with that just say you did it but that isn’t always the the path people take and when we add exclu explanations for failing to obey hear me now we are dangerously close as people to excusing bad behavior by saying well it’s not so bad not so bad and when we do we’re repeating the sin of adam and eve aren’t we

seems to me this practice eventually becomes the behavior that isaiah would go on to denounce in chapter 5 verse 20 you ready for this he said this what sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil that dark is light and light is dark what sorrow for people who say that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter one observer noted about that passage in that principle when people see no distinction between good and evil destruction soon follows if people say for example

no one can decide for anybody else what is right or wrong is that the world we live in or what no one can say for anybody else what’s really right or wrong they may think that for example getting drunk can’t hurt them or extramarital sex isn’t really wrong as long as everybody’s okay or money doesn’t control their lives but when they make excuses for their actions they break down the distinction between right and wrong and if people do not take god’s word the bible as the

standard soon all moral choices become fuzzy and hazy and negotiable end quote I’ve read those words years ago are they true today then it occurred to me in this series that we’ve begun it’s a very good description of a 325 year stretch of a time in israel’s history known as the judges that was a stretch of three plus centuries it’s been dubbed correctly the dark ages of israel’s history the judges spans from the time of joshua leading the people into israel getting them set in the

various territories that belong to the 12 tribes and dying that’s in 1375 okay so you just sort of have a reference point that was the start of the judges and it went all the way forward in the old in bcu countdown so it went from 1375 all the way to 1050 and the introduction of israel’s very first monarch king saul okay 1375 to 10 50 that’s a long stretch of time and to appreciate the persistent problems that were faced in these dark ages by god’s people

we need to trace where the trouble began and that’s why I have my bible open to deuteronomy chapter seven would you just turn there this morning for a kind of a launching pad really if you will and deuteronomy 7 is a a like part of that 33 chapters I told you about earlier it was smoke smoking it was smoking it was spoken by moses at the end of a 40-year wandering in the wilderness it was spoken deuteronomy in one month the very last month as israel

was gathered on the eastern shore of the jordan river prepared now finally after 40 years to cross into the land moses would not go with him but these words of deuteronomy would so moses speaks them in this last month and the people are I can picture them I’ve stood on that shore physically but I’ve also imagined it from a historical perspective and you would stand there nervously and eagerly sort of a mix of both like wow we’re about to go I don’t know if you would

have heard everything moses said or just some of it because your eyes are on that land and finally the word finally described how you felt they’re about to enter crossover into canaan the land they have been promised to take possession of their new home so in deuteronomy 7 moses is I’ll say it again 33 chapters all happened in a month they comprise three basic messages and in the first the largest of those messages in chapter seven moses the people are told through moses in no uncertain

terms how and what god wanted them to do in taking the land they’re just days from entering everybody with me now because that’s important because what we’re about to read in these six verses is let me give you a warning it’s it’s tough reading it’s rough in lots of ways when the lord your god brings you into the land you are entering to possess and to drive out before you many nations and he lists some of them the hittites the girgashites the amorites the canaanites the

perizzites the hivites the jebusites and some throw in the termites and stuff like that seven watch this look at the description of these seven nations larger and stronger than you and when the lord your god has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them he’s not done then you must destroy them some versions say completely new international says totally in case you’re not clear he goes on make no treaty with them show them these words are in the bible no mercy do not intermarry

with them do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons for they will turn your children away from following me and to serve other gods small g in my bible and the lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you verse 5. This is what you are to do to them I told you it’s hard reading break down their altars smash their sacred stones cut down their asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire these are all

forms of false gods bottom line get rid of them exterminate them for you are a people holy to the lord your god the lord your god has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people his treasured possession god commanded israel here to take possession of the land wiping out its inhabitants entirely don’t deport them don’t put them in camps or prisons kill them eliminate them entirely we just read it they’re to be destroyed make no peace when

you read words like show them no mercy it’s as dark as that sounds it’s like what if some of them are really sorry get rid of them some of you are near the edge now god said that sure you got that right why would god issue such harsh commands destroy them he gave reasons they’re gonna turn your children away from following me at the very least don’t you put that on a priority list that’s high on god’s heart he not only wants your heart he wants

your kids hearts and your grandkids hearts mine too their religions asheropol’s bail and and the like are essentially parts of religions that were very permissive they’re sort of we could call them anything goes religion you know people like that you know those religions it’s kind of look let’s just have a little scoop of whatever we need to have a good time religion and it appeals really to that wide road remember jesus words enter by the wide road because anybody can come and have a great time

doesn’t matter what was it somebody said it enter by the narrow road and how narrow is that road well try john 4 that’s in matthew 7 what we just quoted tried jesus words in john 14 6 when he said I am the way he did not say a way if he said that I would be much softer in my voice right now well jesus is away among many ways there are lots of ways your way is okay you get that it’s called polytheism in the old

testament it’s pluralism today that says you know you can’t you can’t say you’re the way no I’m not saying I’m the way I never told anybody that I do know the way and he is the way and it is a it is a savior named jesus and he’s the truth and he’s the life and then he said this the ones that go well jesus wouldn’t be that harsh this must be an old testament god that was really ticked off but jesus came along and just sort

of recast this image of god really do you realize how often jesus talk about eternal damnation he did enter by the narrow road because those that don’t and there are many that won’t jesus said it will not turn out well they will they will spend eternity separated from me matthew 25 he took a whole chapter to talk about sheeps and goats and he says the sheeps get to go with me for all of eternity and the goats get punished for a couple of weeks and then

they can cross over no it’s all it’s forever that’s right the the new testament talks the same way in luke 16 jesus was the one that told about the rich man and lazarus and there is a set chasm between heaven and hell and it will not be broached this is hard you’re going wow this is hellfire and brimstone stuff from a baptist minister who hates people they get in his way at a grocery store you know it’s not true all right you’re you’re with me I

know you are chapter nine he he makes another statement would you just flip the page up in my bible it’s just one page verse five look at this it’s not because of your righteousness or your integrity he’s talking about his people still that you’re gonna take possession of this land that you’re special to me but on account of their wickedness and the wickedness of those nations that the lord your god will drive them out before you to accomplish what he swore to your fathers abraham isaac

and jacob so back to this question why what would god why would god command israel to do something that that appears so let’s just say a draconian wipe them out entirely destroy them completely I just want to confess something I spent a lot of time on an answer to that question and then it occurred to me about an hour into it that maybe I was worried that you would somehow find fault in god I took it upon myself to assume something that and that is that

this is too harsh you may not like my voice or my the intensity of the moment or two but I was thinking you know maybe people that’s a god that sounds so punitive and you know what I don’t need to tell you where we live and it’s politically correct your greatest sin today in this region is to not be nice say anything that’s crossways about anybody or anything and you will be you will be chopped up so in our politically correct world what we just read

is borderline barbaric let me turn I didn’t come up with an answer but I do want to turn my question around does it matter why god would say this and stay with me I’m not here to insult anybody but does it matter why when god commands something is it necessary for you to absolutely have an airtight answer to why if god commanded something let me say it another way shouldn’t that stand on its own and I put the way the bumper sticker said if god said

it does that settle it the sticker used to say god said it I believe it that settles it remember that I don’t like that sticker at all I want to go up to a bumper they’re not popular anymore and cut out the middle section god says it that settles it whether or not you believe it that’s the truth you see you with me it’s not a slight of hand god says it I believe it that settles it no god says it whether or not I believe

it and that settles it so this is about judges would you turn now to judges chapter one we’re only going to go ten chapters this morning in judges no I’m kidding it seems to me that that is the story of the judges god’s people when they entered the land you probably knew this anticipated it at least did not fully carry out god’s command they didn’t and we’re told seven times in the first chapter that they did not drive out the wicked people that god told them

to eliminate entirely in fact seven times you read just a little sample so you know that I’m not making this up verse 19 the lord was with the men of judah they took possession of the hill country but look what says next in judges 1 verse 19 but they were unable to drive the people from the plains and it goes on seven more times in chapter one exactly like that verse 21 the benjaminites however did not drive out drive out the jebusites who were living in

jerusalem to this day the jebusites lived there with the benjamites to the day of this writing and it goes on and on like that and and you might wonder why why would so many tribes there’s 12 of them why would they fail in something that we spent time in deuteronomy 7 to establish is god’s emphatic no no mystery plan and we’re kind of given in this opening chapter kind of their answer if they were to put it into words about four or five times we’re told

that these people said you know what I don’t want to drive them all out because we got a use for those people we’re going to make them slaves free labor and that’s exactly what they did again and again we’re told look at verse 28 as a sample when israel became strong they pressed the canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely four more times take the time to read this opening chapter and you’ll read again and again that these people drop down to verse

35 the amorites were determined also to hold out in these different places when the power of the tribes of joseph increased they too pressed them into forced labor so god’s appraisal of his people’s failure to obey him fully we could say was a deep disappointment I want you to see why I say that in chapter two the angel of the lord went up from gilgal that’s by the jordan just north of the dead sea went up means went west a little ways to book him this

town of bocom and said I brought you out of egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors I said I will never break my covenant with you and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land but you shall break down their altars yet you have disobeyed me why have you done this and I have also said I will not drive them out before you they will become traps for you it was your job to drive them

out remember and their gods will become snares to you when the angel of the lord had spoken these things all of israel went oh no what have we done the text reads the people wept loudly did you catch the name of this town bokum it actually that the actual name bocum is a name that refers to weeping they are the weepers so again and again and again they failed to carry out god’s explicit command and they in the result wept deeply some of us might sympathize

with their sorrows because undoubtedly they felt they did some good I suspect if you ask them how do you think this went they’d say well you know we were on we did some good things but we we didn’t do it the way god said are they fell short of full obedience is what the text is teaching us they did some good but they ignored doing it completely as god had commanded let’s call that what it is partial obedience okay and which is at least better than

disobedience right it is sort of a trick question is partial obedience as good as or or different than disobedience consider james appraisal of that he was a half-brother of jesus great leader in the new testament he his explanation of that question if that’s something on our minds according to james the person who keeps all of the laws except one keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as the person who has broken all of the laws and he’s saying in case you’re blown away

by that but you need more detail he adds this for the same god who says you must not commit adultery we get that also said you must not murder we get that you’re ready for it now right so if you murder someone but do not commit adultery good for you said james not so fast if you murder somebody but don’t commit adultery he concludes you have still become a law breaker and you need somebody to forgive you this habit of partial obedience didn’t go away in

this three century span of time I mentioned that the judge’s period ended when saul showed up made the first king chapter nine of samuel for samuel tells that nine and six chapters later chapter 15. Samuel comes to saul I’m paraphrasing this it’s a beautiful passage if we had another half hour I’d tell you about it all right we’d read it but in first samuel 15 there’s a powerful exchange between the prophet samuel and saul saul was told to eliminate entirely the amalekites it’s more graphic than

what we read by a long shot destroy everybody men women children animals everything because of what these evil amalekites did to my people this is spoken by a holy god and it was clearly communicated from the prophet to saul now go do it they wiped out a lot of people but they spared the king his name was agg and they spared some of the choice animals because they thought that would be a waste of meat might as well add to our flocks and for a variety

of other reasons and god sent samuel back to saul and said hi saul listen I’m here to check on you and how did it go and saul said we did exactly what god said and I’m sure his dentures dropped I’m sure he went you’re just you’re kidding me I didn’t just hear you say that and saul said or samuel says to him you were supposed to kill them all and saul said well we we saved king ag we spared him as was his word and we

spared the choices animals my men did it actually that was his excuse on the surface they did it and there’s this moment where saul says or samuel says what’s that sound if you killed them all took care of all those animals then what’s that sound I’m hearing of animals in the background maybe as he was had and god rebukes him and says to obey is better than sacrifice you were keeping those animals to sacrifice to me and you completely or partially obeyed me which is a

serious problem here’s the deal the choice is ours what god commands we must obey and we must obey it fully not not occasionally not partially but fully daily to partially obey is to almost obey that’s where my title came from if that defines you in some way anyway I think you need to repent today I said that to myself plenty in preparation for this message and I was I was on a roll I was doing pretty good in the obedience column and the grocery store it

was just it’s just like god to say don’t don’t get on the high horse dude I think he calls pastors dude I don’t know but god says things to us like serve me use the gifts I’ve given you are you doing that if your answer is well I used to obey him fully god says give me back a tenth of what I’ve given you how much has he given you everything you’ve got are you doing that well sometimes I forget about it or whatever god says

be with my people and worship with me worship in the fellowship of other believers I know we have coveted but that’s that’s that’s not really gonna I mean it’s become a great option and and I I’m not calling out people that are staying away because of covet I’m simply saying this there are some people that are that have now a new reason to stay away and and it’s really about a new habit that doesn’t include god or god’s people what’s that about here’s what I’m saying

if these things sort of or partially are happening in your life and if god right now I I got quiet and god said hey I’m going to ask you about those things and if your answer is a moment for you that is awkward or maybe for you in that moment it feels a little bit like us an excuse I’m just going to take a stab and say I think it might be it probably is if reading about israel and saul this morning hearing about that is

like looking at a picture of you if your obedience to god is in some way partial it’s time to turn to god because he wants to change that he’ll he’ll do the work but you’ve got to give him full access it starts with repent I’m sorry don’t add words in fact the best way to move forward from here I’m wrong I’m sorry please forgive me and he will let’s bow our heads if if you would join me now we’re going to sing a song it is

musically a petition it’s really when we sing words like have your way in me they there’s implications for those words it’s called surrender and it involves something that we don’t do easily with enemies but god’s not an enemy he

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 5,891 words.