TITLE: THE RIGHT TO DECIDE
SCRIPTURE: JUDGES 21:25 / PROVERBS 14;12
The OT book of JUDGES is a book about apathy and apostasy! About a time when the chosen people of God turn away from Him and did what was right in their own eyes. From the time the people of Israel knew and followed God until the apostasy, or falling away of their faith, took a mere couple of generations! WOW! After JOSHUA, a great and mighty servant of the Lord, died and his generation along with him the next generation did not know God.
• Oh, they knew of God
• But did not know Him and His Word
• They were no longer obedient to Him and did not cling to His ways!
It is a lesson in what happens to an individual and a nation as they stray from being committed to knowing and following the Lord - When God is no longer important and the very center of their lives.
• It teaches us about what happens when we start doing what we think is best and not what God knows is best!
• The downward spiral and unravelling of a person and a society is jaw-dropping!
• The book of Judges is very, extremely, overwhelmingly relevant for not only us but for our nation today!
God chose the people of Israel to be a light in a dark world. To shine so that as they lived and obeyed the Lord, they would show just who God was to a world that was mired in idolatry and spiritual darkness! The Israelites were to be the way the whole world would come to know God and worship Him!
• God promised to bless them so greatly, if they obeyed Him, that all the world would wonder who the great and benevolent God of the Jews was
• In ancient times everyone believed in a god
But God also promised the people of Israel that if they would turn away from Him and not obey Him and would be a bad representation of who He was to the world that He would punish them.
• Not because He was mean or spiteful
• But because of God’s righteous judgement
• The people of Israel had made a covenant, better than a promise, and agreed to this deal
• They would come to understand, every evil act has a consequence
God punished the Israelites as a way of waking them up so they would turn from their evil ways and turn back to Him. And in turning back to Him the Israelites would again show the world who the real God is.
• During the time of Judges, the stubborn nation of Israel started a very dangerous and downward spiral!
• They would turn away from God and…“DO WHAT WAS EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD”
• Seven times in the book of Judges do we find these words
The Bible says in this OT book, every man did was right in his own eyes.
• We are not talking about people who chose to do wrong here
• They chose to do right
• The Bible says - but they chose for themselves what was right
• These are sincere people who said, “I want to do right, but I will decide what’s right”
This is the condition our nation is in today.
• We are in a state of Unrest
• We are in a state of Distress
• We are in a state of Confusion
• Because we as a nation have decided to do what is right
• What is right in our own eyes
May I say, the word of God should decide what is right! The King James Bible tells us what is right. Let’s walk down the road of history together for a few moments -- The devil came to Eve in the GARDEN OF EDEN and quoted God’s Word to Eve. Satan said, “IF YOU WILL JUST EAT OF THE TREE, YOU WILL BE AS GODS KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL.”
• So, Eve said, “I want to know what’s good and what’s right, what’s so bad about that”
• Eve ate of the tree of the Garden so she could decide for herself what’s good and evil
Hear me clearly this morning –
• No one has a right to decide what is good or evil
• No Preacher has a right to decide what is good or evil
• No Church has a right
• No Young person has a right
• No Government has a right
• No Feminist has a right, to decide for them self what is good and evil
• God has the only right to decide what’s good and evil
The Bible says that every man did right; but he decided what was right in his own eyes.
• The Abortionists have decided that they are doing the right thing
• Planned Parenthood has decided on doing what they think is right
• The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to make decisions based upon what they think is right
They are all doing what is right in their own eyes.
• Eve decided it was right to eat the forbidden fruit
• The people in the book of Judges decided for themselves what is right
• But they were doing evil
• God’s Law is right!
• Walk with me this morning
• The Gay community has decided their lifestyle is right
• Racist have decided their position is right
• Drunkards have decided that booze is right
• Communists have decided that tyranny is right
• Catholics have decided that it is right to chant “Hail Mary” and bow to statues
• The Vatican has decided it is right to confess your sins to a wicked priest who is saturated with sins himself
• Only God has a right to decide what is good and evil – what is right!
There are many sincere people who want to do right, but they want to decide for themselves what is right. The consequences are deadly. PROVERB 14:12, “THERE IS A WAY WHICH SEEMETH RIGHT UNTO A MAN, BUT THE END THEREOF ARE THE WAYS OF DEATH.”
• There is always someone to tell you that you are doing right to do evil
• That’s what Satan did to Eve
• The devil said it was right to eat the forbidden fruit
• But it was evil because God said don’t do it
• There is always someone to tell you that you are doing right to do wrong
In our society, there are so many different philosophies and teachings of science. Mankind loves to gain knowledge; just as the Greeks of Paul’s day. We should not allow ourselves to become deceived by the so called wisdom of the intellectually elite and those who are in the religious world.
• We learn in the scriptures that the wisdom of and knowledge of the world can make someone proud
• Men get to the point where they sometimes think that they know better than God or know more than God
I CORINTHIANS 1:20-29 -- We need to trust in the wisdom of the Lord. The Lord gives us so many warnings of consequences that will come if we do certain things, but we sometimes think to ourselves that we are the exceptions. We need to see how truly limited we are without the Lord. God’s ways and thoughts are so far above ours! How can we think we know what will be better for us?
When we compare the human perspective with the divine perspective - it becomes clear that there is a vast difference between God and man. With such a lack of knowledge that we have about how this world works, why do we ever think that we know better than the Lord? It must be clear to us --- that man sure doesn’t know better than the Lord!!!
I believe this is why we are in the condition we are currently in. God has shut everything down with this COVID-19 to help us see –
• We can do nothing
• We are not so intelligent
• We cannot even agree that COVID-19 is real as thousands die around us!
• Businesses, communities, churches have closed
• Social distancing
• This is how we look without God and so much worse
I must admit this morning, COVID-19 also has sharpened my theological understanding of good and evil - providence and calamity - sin and repentance - belief in Christ and grace. God’s providence is perfect, and our point of view flawed. Because God is good - just - and wise, all the time and in every circumstance, then COVID-19, for the Christian, must be for our good and for God’s glory.
Living through Covid-19 positions us to begin to see the world from God’s point of view. The pandemic destroys our idols of prosperity, breaks down the false confidence of all men, and makes us all feel unsafe in our own strength — and feeling unsafe is sensible. As John Calvin writes in his commentary on HOSEA 1:5, “THERE IS NO REASON WHY WE SHOULD FEEL SAFE WHEN GOD DECLARES HIMSELF OPPOSED TO AND ANGRY WITH US.”
• The idols that God is destroying are both national and personal
• God is pointing his finger at all of our hearts
• If taking away our prosperity is how God will shake us up from our national and personal sins, are we all in?
Living through this Pandemic helps us to give glory to God and gives encouragement to a world suffocating from panic and frenzy, while putting its hope and trust in itself. JOHN writes, I JOHN 5:4 “EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN BORN OF GOD OVERCOMES THE WORLD. AND THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD — OUR FAITH”
• COVID-19 will not overcome the world
• Christ will
• And we will in him
We as believers must make the conscience decision to Hear – See – Trust – God in this critical season. The world is depending on us, just as nations were depending on the Israelites as God chosen people, to make a difference in their lives. I believe too many – Churches – Pastors – Prophets – Tv Evangelist – have stopped preaching about this season and what God is doing and we have reverted to preaching the same old tired messages that make people feel good but does not help them. We need to hear the heart of God and continue to give the nations hope by preaching through this season.
• Stop talking about what God is Getting Ready to Do
• He is not getting ready to do anything - He already is doing what He does
• Stop Declaring and Decreeing this will be your Financial Season
• Hear the Heart of God in this Pandemic
• I am talking this morning about THE RIGHT TO DECIDE
• Let’s decide to hear God and Cry Loud!
John the Baptizer preached the same message over and over and over again.
• He had no new message
• He did not deviate to any feel good messages
• I am sure he wanted to preach something different every now and then
• His message remained the same and never changed
• The same old message drew thousands
• The same old message challenged the hearers to get baptized
• The same message would cost him his physical life
• THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND
• REPENT
THE RIGHT TO DECIDE.
• You may be completely convinced that a certain thing is right
• You may believe it with all your heart sincerely
• Having no doubt that this thing is correct
• But if what you believe is wrong, your sincerity and certainty will not stop the consequences that the Lord says will happen
• Our opinion that the path is right does not make it right
• Our sincerity in an erroneous opinion does not exempt you from the consequences!
There are so many people of so many different religions that seem sincere.
• They all believe that they are right
• But the fact that so many seem sincere in their beliefs, if they are not following Jesus the way He prescribed, sincerity is not going to get you to heaven
• Just because we sincerely believe something is right doesn’t make it so, especially when the Lord says otherwise
Let me say unequivocally to Christians and especially to my evangelical friends, we are not to follow someone standing in the place of God.
• God does not intend that we have a king (as a religious leader)
• A Pope
• A Wicked President
• Or an authoritarian Pastor telling us what to believe
• That is why our nation is in this difficult and trying time
Jesus gave all believers direct, personal access to God. He said that he who is the greatest is really to be the servant. As was typified by the time of the Judges --
• Jesus set up no large, rigid structure of government for His assembly
• He established no man as king or pope over it
• He did not give elders the authority to lord it over the assemblies
• Because, just as in the time of the judges when God was directly everyone’s king, now Christ is to be every Christian’s KING - SHEPHERD - PRIEST
THE PROBLEM IS NOT “DOING WHAT IS RIGHT IN YOUR OWN EYES.”
• Let’s be real!
• Do you know anybody who is “doing what is wrong in their own eyes?”
• No!
• When we do wrong and do our own thing we try to justify why it is right
• The problem is “falling away from God”
• If you think it is right to “fall away from God” then you are headed for “suffering and distress”
• As a nation we have fallen away from God
• As a nation we are suffering and in distress
• Every man is doing what is right in his own eyes and that leads to death
--TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND DO NOT LEAN ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE WILL DIRECT YOUR PATHS
--Simply put? we are to only trust in the Lord? and not what seems right to us
--God alone is our only source of true prosperity and genuine help
--God, and God alone, knows the right way to the right end
--God, and God alone, knows what will benefit us
--God, and God alone, knows from what to free us, and what to shelter us from
--It is our duty, and for our benefit, that we place our confidence wholly upon God and never trust our own judgment?
--The VERB for LEAN here depicts for us the picture that we should, lean with the whole body on something
--Like as if you were going to rest upon it
--Like you are supported by it?
--This is the kind of leaning that we should be doing upon God
--Not ourselves
--Nor on what seems right to us
--But what is Right in the Sight of God
--God has the only RIGHT TO DECIDE
