If you see someone missing, just pray for them. And it's the end of the summer. It should start being time for everyone to be back at home. But in your Bibles tonight, Judges chapter 2. Judges chapter number 2. Now, appreciate Scott filling in last week. And he probably covered some of what I'm going to cover tonight. But I can't skip a spot. There's just something in me. It's probably my OCD or something like that. I just can't skip a spot. But Judges chapter 2. We've already looked at this chapter, how the influence, the shadow that Joshua and the men that saw all those miracles cast upon the people around them. And it behooves us today, though God is not going to make the sun stand still at our command. None of those things are going to happen. People can see Jesus through us, can't they? And that's what they need to see. Our kids need to see that we pray for something, and then we see it come to pass. And that's one of the joys of Norris' life and my life together. We're in the evenings in the privacy of our home. We pray about certain things that are precious to us, and we've been able to add up the different answers that he's given to us in just the last few months, things that really weren't shared with other people. God alone hears it. and he answers that prayer. And that's much the same as Joshua leading the people into that land where they did things that were not possible for them to do, but God did it through them. And so those people were familiar with God, were fluent with God. They were Testimonies of God to the people and their shadow was cast very successfully upon a whole generation, but they came to the end of their days. And generations pass, and it's happened all over your Bibles. and they're reminded all the time that God took them out of Egypt. Moses experienced that, Joshua experienced that, Caleb experienced that. They saw all those wonders there. And yet, as soon as that shadow passes, as soon as those people remember the great leaders no more, they went into idolatry. And that's something that we just don't understand. Probably because of this, we associate their idolatry with bowing down before idols, which it was. But idolatry is merely putting something ahead of God in your life. That's all it is. We're supposed to worship the Lord our God, and Him only we serve. And yet today, you can see empty churches everywhere, sometimes because of hurt feelings, and you're going to have hurt feelings. sometimes because of this problem or that problem or something else. And it's funny, people that have had four or five marriages, they undoubtedly had a problem in their marriage, but they're not gonna dump marriage because it meant more to them than church does to most people. Now, think about that. Think about that. This is, once again, we're going to look at God's intervention tonight, because in verse 7, the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua. And then in verse 10, there arose another generation which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel. And in verse 14, you see the anger of God. The anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies, whithersoever they went out. The hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them when they were greatly distressed." In other words, just exactly what had been prophesied for hundreds of years, they would run into a powerlessness against their enemies if they turned their backs upon God. And we look at them and wonder, how could you turn your back on God? But then you look also, we saw Solomon today in Ecclesiastes. The Bible says of him that Solomon went after idols, and God says plainly this, after God had appeared to him twice. Now think about that. Yes, God appeared to the children of Israel in a flaming fire and pillar of cloud and fire and so on. They saw his presence. They heard that the mountain was shaking and all that. But God appeared to Solomon twice and God told him, don't take strange wives or they'll turn your heart away and they turned his heart away. And now he was the wisest man to walk the face of the earth. What in the world is this about idolatry, idol worship, and even mingling with this world that is so easy? Well, you can certainly see it today, can't you? You can certainly see it today. It's a rare church that stands for the King James Bible, sings the old hymns of the faith, and actually likes each other. That's a rare one anymore, isn't it? Isn't that a sad thing? Some of the favorite, I mean, some of the favorite memories you have are memories of times when you sat into the preaching of the word of God. Every time we sing, now I can't remember the song. Every time we sing one song, I've mentioned it before, it'll come to me, but I think back to a revival meeting 55 years ago. Why do I remember that song being the song every night? Why do I remember that? It's because it touched my heart. There are certain things that touch your heart and they take those things with you the rest of your days. And I'm afraid that most of our generation that's rising up today knows nothing about prayer life and the fact that God can hear and answer our prayers. See, if you're praying only yourself to God about something, when the answer comes, no one else gets the credit. You know that God heard you. God heard you, and God in His grace and generosity answered your prayer, whether it's yes or no. When you teach school, as I did for years, when you teach school, you know those kids want a parent figure. Many of them don't have one. And sometimes they do just stuff just to be noticed. I know several teachers in here. Every one of you can say, yeah, I saw kids that did stuff just to be noticed. They knew it was wrong, but they want to see if you cared. And I would overhear the kids in the back saying, how does he see that stuff? Well, because I was the one doing those things not so long ago. Okay. I know what to look for. I'm afraid there's a generation today that knows nothing about a walk with the Lord, that knows nothing about verses that so touch your heart you weep when you read them. Zechariah does that to me all the time still. You weep when you read them. And that's all about repentance in Zechariah. Why is it that people don't see that? You know, when the government has all kinds of programs to bail you out, and there's a place for, I'm not criticizing that so much, except when you give it to illegal immigrants, but you are conned out of a trust in God. And I know that idolatry had to have several characteristics that would make it attractive to people. Undoubtedly, some of those characteristics are the fine-looking young men and the pretty girls, because that was a problem all the way along. But this is God intervening again. Scott spoke last week on the endless cycles, how conviction comes upon us and then you forget all about that conviction and go back to where you were. That's what you don't want. You want stability. I want to look at how God intervenes. That's one of the principles of the Bible that I am so thrilled about. Because sometimes you get into a place where there's no hope and God intervenes and blesses you greatly, doesn't he? He blesses you. I got a text from Brother James this afternoon and I hadn't texted him. I mean, I just, this just showed up and he said, please apologize to the church for us. He's facing cancer, which will very likely put him out of commission for two years and that's best case scenario. Please apologize to the church for us. You all desperately needed that, didn't you? It's, you know, that's Brother James. That's why we love him so much. So sorry we're not coming your way. And I said, of course, we're sorry, too. We're far more concerned right now about your treatment, your health, and you take care of yourself, okay? We have memories of great and glad times when we'd have special meetings. You know, this building was built for youth, and actually my shop, where that TV is up there, used to be a basketball hoop. And I had a bunch of teenagers here when we had Brother James here. 25 years ago, and they played basketball in here until way past midnight. And those kids remember that. Those kids remember that. That's precious to them. We remember that, too, don't we? There's a generation today that's been raised up not even to know there is a God. Let's pray. Lord, bless this time together. I've already wandered, Lord. My thoughts are going rampant, but Lord, that's fine with me as long as you are piquing my curiosity and giving me the right things to think and to speak, and I pray that you would. Your spirit is there. You've promised your spirit to lead us in all truth. Let your spirit speak through me to lead us into truth tonight, that these passages that were written for our learning, As the Bible says, let them teach us something tonight that would make us walk closer to you, and frankly, to enjoy our walk with you more and more. Just bless us, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, the ones that should be heroes in your life are the ones that you know how to walk with the Lord. The ones that you know how to walk with the Lord. And I have some friends from college that I still think back, and what I remember is the times that they would get down on their knees and pray for things, and the times we'd pray together, and the times we'd go out on extension and go and witness to people, sometimes on the street, sometimes doing church work, all over the Southern, Well, South Carolina, North Carolina, where we'd go and do that and we had fun serving God. It should be that way for us every day, shouldn't it? It's great to serve the Lord. Take a bundle of tracts and pass them out to people. Pass them out to people. You know what? They might burn them or throw them away, might get mad at you. Usually that doesn't happen. But they might. But you know what? They'll never be able to say no one cared for their soul. Will they? Well, sin always starts with neglect. Think about that. The Hebrews tells us that, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Neglect seems like a kind of an innocuous, a harmless thing, but that's where sin starts so much of the time, isn't it? Where you just neglect your Bible reading. You just neglect. You just neglect your prayer time. Your prayer time is when you speak to God, and your Bible reading time is when God speaks to you. It starts with neglect. Pretty soon it ends up with excuses. Well, I should have, but I didn't. I know better. And then pretty soon you defend your bad behavior, and you turn cold and indifferent. And finally, after a while, you start promoting a bad behavior. And I'm afraid that's amongst Christians as well. How in the world, as I said Wednesday night, how in the world could people in Paul's day be glad that he's in prison? That's Philippians 1. They're glad he's in prison, so now he's out of the way, we'll preach the gospel. And Paul says, I'm so glad that Jesus is preached. I'm so glad that Jesus is preached. The devil whispers hopeless in your minds. You know, when people come to church, they bear burdens that you know nothing about. And sometimes it could be someone closest to you that bears some burdens that you know nothing about. And really, in this life, we hate to share some of those burdens because we don't want to burden someone else as well. Jesus never says that to us. Bring your burdens to him. Bring your burdens. And it's funny, I hope you've experienced this where you have a great burden. It might be a date coming ahead, a medical date like James has or whatever it might be. It might be a burden about doing something for the Lord or whatever it might be. And sometimes God just takes the burden, lifts the burden off your shoulders. It might be, I was thinking about starting another church years ago up in Canada, and we were excited about that, went up there, and I was thinking about trying to do a Saturday service or what, because there were people interested, and you hate to see people interested that don't have a church, and I went up there, and the burden was completely removed, and there's a reason for that. Not everyone that says there's no church means that there's no church they can go to. They just don't want to, okay? But you know, in prayer time, sometimes those burdens are removed too. Hey, a burden about surgery, and I know James has one, a burden about surgery, that's something that can weigh heavily on your heart. But there's also a time that God can remove that burden one way or the other. Why? We're His. He can do with me whatever He wants to. Whatever he wants to, God intervenes. You need to pray that he does. Think about all the principles in the Bible, and I'm barely through the introduction here. Think of all the principles in the Bible. First Corinthians 11, when we come to the communion table, as I've said, it's a coercive event to force you, compel you, I don't mean unwillingly, to look at your own situation, to look at your own heart. Is your heart right with God? If you were to die and stand before Jesus tonight, what's the thought that concerns you at that prospect? I've allowed this into my life. I haven't done this in my life. I've not been the way I should. You know, all those thoughts come to you. You know exactly what the decision needs to be made, and you don't make it. The Bible says, let a man examine himself, but then in 2 Corinthians 13, it says, let us examine ourselves whether we be in the faith. Hey, there are people that go to church that know how to get saved and maybe they never really have been saved. I've seen people saved that way. But the Bible says, examine yourself. God's spirit was there. Look at the giving of God's spirit in John 14. He will reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He will lead us in all truth. He's a comforter. Think of all the works that the spirit does in our behalf to us and for us. And he can certainly give you the answer to the needs of your heart. Candy, but if we don't pause to examine our hearts, we won't, the Holy Spirit convinces us of sin, doesn't he? And boy, I'll tell ya, that's what keeps our walk with the Lord sweet and alive and special, where you keep short accounts with God. You keep short accounts with God. Now, if you look at verse 16, nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges after all that God's anger and all this, the Lord raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. Man's condition was desperate. Man's condition was desperate. Really. Brother Don was saying, how is your brother in the military? Is that says, huh? that they're already showing that amongst those you gotta watch out for are Bible-believing Christians. Now, I've read that before, that's not news to me, but there's a testimony where it was actually seen. What's wrong with this? Well, we believe in a traditional family. We believe that there is a God in heaven, we're created. And somehow or other, that shows us that there are dark days in our country ahead. It almost never turns around from that, though revival's possible anywhere, isn't it? We pray for revival. And that revival should start in our hearts first because our hearts too quickly grow cold, don't they? Man was desperate, he loved his sin. He just didn't like the judgment that came upon him. Isn't that exactly what Judas did when he repented? He was hoping to be a hero and he wasn't, so he wanted to return the bribe. He wasn't sorry for his sin. He was sorry it didn't work out. And lots of people are like that, aren't they? Man's desperation is self-made. Man's desperation is self-mated. They violated very clear commands. How much more clear and plain can you get? You'll have no other gods before me. You'll have no other gods before me. You're not to mingle with the heathen. You're not to worship their gods. You know what a joy it is to fellowship around the word? When you and your spouse or your family are home alone, And you just think about the sweetness of God's word. Might have been a church service that day. It might have been how God spoke to your heart. It might have been a thought that came to you because you wondered about this passage for a long time. And somehow or other it came to you and you fell asleep. How would you like to be married to a Muslim that cared nothing for that? How would you like to be married to someone that was lost? They carried nothing that was religious, maybe, or not religious at all, but they were lost and it meant nothing to them. Hey, that takes away the sweetest part of your fellowship, doesn't it? The sweetest part. I mean, to pray together with your spouse and see God move in. What a blessing that is. They violated clear commands. Clear commands. There was This illustrates the desperate wickedness of the human heart. Hey, they mingled themselves among the heathen. You know this very well, that they were attracted to the fine-looking, personable people. And folks, there are people living in horrible sin that are very personable people. They might be fine-looking and all of those things, but that's not, when I talk to our kids about looking for a spouse, first thing is, are they saved? Second thing is, are they serving God right now? Hey, I'm glad if you're saved, but if you're not serving God, I don't want to gamble that you'll want to serve God with me in the future. Desperate wickedness of the human heart. We can excuse anything, can't we? I'm afraid men are very good at that. David had to employ that somehow in taking another man's wife and putting him to death. The man after God's own heart had to excuse that in the short term, didn't he? Although he lost his joy, he lost his evangelistic zeal, he lost all the things that made him the man after God's own heart, or the results of man after God's own heart. Desperate wickedness. They were ungrateful. And I'm telling you, gratefulness is a blessing. In a day where people are known for the mentality that they are entitled to things, isn't it nice to see someone that's not that way? They're grateful for the smallest kindness. Nora got a bag of groceries for a lady that was desperate years ago. She took them up there, tried to witness and everything. We got the groceries in there and she said, oh, I don't like this kind of bread. Oh, I don't like this stuff. That happens sometimes. But you know what? God provides my needs. I'd rather not let my heart grow calloused, wouldn't you? And you're going to get burned sometimes. And these people were ungrateful for what God had given to them. Ungrateful. Think about a farmer. Think about a farmer. You know what he wants? A piece of dirt to go and plant stuff on. A gardener wants a backyard where you can plant something. Someone like me, a table full of fresh cooked stuff, okay? Amen, that's good preaching, isn't it? Being ungrateful, being ungrateful. God had given them so much, gave them fields that were already producing, homes that were already built, and gave them clear commands that they'd already experienced as a people that these brought blessings. They turned their backs on it and violated the scriptures immediately. Why should we be surprised if David did the same thing? because that's in the heart of man. Why do you keep your heart with all diligence? Because it's desperately wicked, isn't it? The human heart doesn't even acknowledge God's long-suffering, His patience, His mercy. His love for us is so immensely indescribable, isn't it? Why would God love me? Why would God love you? Have you thought about that? And yet he didn't just love us and let us sneak in the gate. He made us joint heirs with Jesus Christ. So even though the Bible says God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, that's part of my inheritance. You know, right? Everything he owns, I get to join air. I'm a joint heir with him on. And no, I'm never equal to the son of God, but he makes me a brother. He make, he adopts me into his family. Now that's a wondrous thing, isn't it? God's long suffering, his patience and mercy. And this was a willful violation of their own conscience. They forsook the Lord in verse 13. They forsook the Lord and served. That means they intentionally left the Lord behind and went this direction instead. You know, you know people that are saved. It was neat. I think it was one of the preachers, one of the folks that spoke in one of the ladies' meetings over there. I don't know if I have that right, but I know who it was now. Turns out his daughter is married to Shearer over in Belt. And someone told him that the subject of a perfect human came up. And I'm gonna slaughter this, but a perfect human came up and this gentleman said, well, I've seen one. You ever seen a Down syndrome baby? They are the most lovable, affectionate, selfless people. He said, because there's a Downs baby that they were talking about. I've seen the perfect baby. You say, well, they're flawed. Really? Really? I have never heard anyone say anything, but what a delight. And I know several people with Downs babies. What a delight that child is in their homes. Why? They're not selfish and self-centered. When you think about the goodness of God, you have your health, you have a happy home, you have food on the table, and you have these things. Don't ever forget to give thanks to God for all he's done. Look at the Lord's Prayer. Our Father which art in heaven, that's his title. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. I mean, thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. It's praise to God, but it's asking God merely for a day's provision. And we had some sales, and I don't know how we moved from a single wide into a house with a pantry, and she has actively filled up that pantry. And I'm not critical. Isn't it wonderful to know that we have provision? God's provided magnificently for us. I'm not getting very far or fast tonight, I'm sorry. But they willfully violated their conscience to go after the heathen. They had to be ungrateful for what God had done. They had to have carnal motivation as opposed to spiritual and make sure your motivation is spiritual. and they were undoubtedly rebellious. The Bible doesn't say anything good about rebellious. Now, what they would call it today is open-mindedness or self-determination or something like that. The Bible says it's like the sin of witchcraft. That's a horrible thing. Their desperation was self-made, but it was also a symptom of their lives, wasn't it? Over and over and over again, without proper leadership, they went into idolatry. And when they were brought back, miraculously, they rarely left their idols behind. We look at those positive chapters at the end of 2 Chronicles, in the end of 2 Kings, where... They're at the end of that kingdom. And there were some good kings, Josiah and Hezekiah. And I love to read about Josiah. Well, one of those two. They passed the word around all over the northern tribes and the southern and said, we're going to celebrate Passover. You're welcome to come. Hey, they were at odds with each other. The northern kingdom was separated, divided under Solomon's son, Rehoboam. But some of them came. Some of them came. You know who would have come? The ones that remembered the good old days when granddaddy would talk about how God intervened in our behalf and you'd read the stories of God parting the Red Sea and there were still people that knew that there was a God in heaven that established them in that land and they were grateful enough to make that trek down to Jerusalem once again to do that. They repeated their rebellion over and over again. They ignored God's words. Then they would maybe dilute God's word. They elevated themselves and their opinions, didn't they? And all they could do is exploit God's mercies. Think about that. The Bible says, because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. You can have testimonies of people on death row for murder, and they say, I wasn't worried. I knew that it would be a minimum of 10 years before I faced a sentence if they caught me. Exactly what the Bible says. Exactly what the Bible says. People are bold and brazen in sin when they don't have to face it. That's why my old preacher friend would hear his mother after he went to bed, pray, God, every time Buddy does wrong, would you let him get caught? That's a good prayer to pray. That's a good prayer to pray. Why? You don't want them to get away with it this time and think they can get away with something bigger next time. These children of Israel were given a land, given homes, given peace and security. They were given victory over all their enemies. And you could go through a long list of things they were given. And they turned their backs upon God. The most ungrateful of things. And they can go for quite a long time because God's mercy was great. He illustrates that verse in Ecclesiastes 8, that when a sentence isn't executed speedily, people's hearts turn darker. That's what happened to the children of Israel. That's what happened to the children of Israel. And I may say, every time you get away with something and it bothers your conscience for a while, and this is especially young people, but people of every age, it bothers your conscience for a while. And then after a while, it doesn't bother you too much. And there can be days that go by, you never even think about it. All that's done is calloused your heart. That's all that's happened. Your heart's grown hard. And apart from the grace of God, it'll stay hard and probably get harder still. They quickly return to their rebellion. They quickly return to their rebellion. Well, I've thought many times about the characteristics of, like David, the man of God's own heart, or godly men, and it's true all the way through your Bibles. Just a few. One is, like David said in Psalm 51, my sin is ever before me. You know, that doesn't mean you live in defeat because you failed. It means that you failed and the devil's happy to remind you of it because God has hidden it as far as the east is from the west. When you confessed it and forsook it, my sin is ever before me. You cannot equate pride with spiritual condition unless it's you're proud of your wonderful Savior. Not only that, I like that in 1 Kings 8, where Solomon is dedicating the temple. And he says this, when men who know the plague of their own heart turn toward this temple to pray, hear God from heaven. You know the plague of your heart? I mean, think about the plague of your heart. There are people that will go, and I've talked to Christians, professing Christians that say, well, I don't know when was the last time God convicted me of sin. When was that? It's been years. That's a man who doesn't walk close to God. If he's saved. If he's saved. I don't mean we live in defeat. I'm just so thankful I have a wonderful Savior that saved me and keeps me despite the inclinations of our heart or our mind or whatever else. They know the plague of their own hearts. Paul knew that, didn't he? The things that I would do, I can't. The things I hate are the things I do. The plague of our own hearts. There's a reason it says keep your hearts with all diligence. Every time I talk to young ladies that are looking at the possibility of a young man, hold on to your heart. Hold on to your heart. You know how these marriages happen this way? A young lady, maybe a young man, they didn't hold on to their heart until God released it. Until God made his will plain. When God engineers the marriage, it doesn't mean you won't have struggles and trials. It means you can go through them together. And there's this, not just the marital bond, you have God in the midst of it. And what a sweet, that's a taste of heaven, isn't it? It's a taste of heaven. Well, Paul knew that. And you know, we preach a completely different way from the religions of the world. We preach that you have a relationship with God. We preach you have a relationship with God. Have you been blessed with friends that you may not see very often? But when you see them, you take up where you left off. Aren't they a special blessing? Everyone that I have like that is a believer. And no, you should keep in touch one with the other. Yes, you should. But you know, Jesus is waiting for you to pray if you haven't prayed for a while, and he'll take you up just where you left off, won't he? Take you up just where you left off. Well, they quickly returned to rebellion. So man's desperation, but then you see God's provision. Won't get real far tonight. What's God's provision? It says, verse 16, nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges. He raised up judges. In other words, God provided a leader to pull them out of that mess. God provided a leader to pull them out. They knew they were under judgment. They knew that they were in a mess. They knew they needed help. And God provided a judge to lead them out of the mess, though the judge wasn't a Levite or a priest to intercede between them and God. He wasn't a Levite. I think they were the ones that taught the words of God. It wasn't that. It was a military leader, if you will, not a king. He was a civil leader of the people. Because people need leadership. People need leadership. Home needs a man that leads the home. I didn't say dictates the home. Churches need preachers that lead the church. The Bible speaks in Peter's own words that we don't, how is it, not afflicting, I better read it, in 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5, I'm an elder. Verse two, feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. Neither is being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. You know, the church is God's church. God's church. And this pulpit is supposed to be an example to the flock. That's why I like having different people in this pulpit. There are some people I won't have. You're to be an example to the flock. And yes, every man is a man at best. But people that will live in and excuse sin don't have anything to teach you. They were judges. It wasn't a king. It was a civil leader because people need to follow and participate. People need the opportunities. People need the leadership. And that's all over your Bible. God provided judgments, judges. What qualified them? Well, first of all, they were prompted by the call of God. It says that he raised up judges. They listened to call and heeded it. People responded to their courage and strength. When you're in the middle of God's will, you can realize that you're indomitable, nothing will stop you, and you won't die until God's done with you. I believe that firmly, very firmly. And that strength and conviction will lead them. You say, well, was it Gideon that says, you know, I need to put the fleece out. Was it Gideon? I need to put this, I want to make sure. And we can kind of smile at that. If you're leading people to battle where people were dying the next day, wouldn't you kind of want to know God was in the midst of it? And by the way, Israel's habit, their history showed that, oh, you can go and try to take that mountain, but I'm not among you. And he confirmed that God was with him. Then he watched his army pared down from 30,000 or so to 300. And they were armed with what? They were armed with a lamp and a trumpet. And that's not what you want to go to battle with unless God directs you there. He raised up judges and the people responded to the courage they showed. And there was no permanent succession of those judges. It wasn't automatic that the son of that judge would become the next judge until Samuel. I think there might've been one before that, but that wasn't, it wasn't a king in succession. God raises up men. Do you realize that that's been his habit for years? that he raises up men. I've mentioned I grew up in a Methodist church. I don't think I ever heard the gospel there. And that was in the sixties. And when my dear precious aunt came and opened the Bible and spoke to us the words of life and I got saved, I think that was the first time I heard the gospel. But the Methodists 125 years ago were the ones that preached the gospel and you couldn't escape. What happens? Well, when they kind of fell into coldness, God raised up someone else over here. And you think about in a crowd, in a crowd, God might raise up a young man or a young lady here that'll make a difference in this country. Hey, not all those differences are made by preachers. It was a shoe salesman that won, was it, D.L. Moody to the Lord. A shoe salesman, a shoe salesman. God works in wonderful ways, doesn't he? It's so nice to be working with him. And by the way, it says that in 1 Corinthians 3, that when we go out, we plant the seed, knock on doors, someone else comes and waters it. But it's God that gives the increase and we're laborers together with God. If God seems to be silent to you, David said that, be not silent to me. If God seems not to be hearing you, why don't you go where you know he's going to be? You'll labor with him in the harvest. Why not go there and enjoy a time of telling people about Jesus? They got deliverance, didn't they? And it doesn't say that they got revived. but they got physical deliverance because putting out some physical effort is easier than repenting. Did you hear that? Putting out some physical effort, it takes a terrible scoundrel not to try to provide for his family and protect his family. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you're spiritual. They would go out and try to get rid of the threat militarily But they'd come back home unchanged, it seems, because they'd immediately go back into rebellion. I'm sure some were changed and transformed. After all, there are other judges raised up. But the nation's trajectory was all down, wasn't it? And in every one of our lifetimes, the youngest among us has seen our country going downhill, hasn't it? I got a good public school education. I tested out two years of college math when I went back as a math major. I'm not very smart, okay? But I got a good college preparation just going to high school. And I didn't even like school. But today, how much are they teaching you stuff? I'm sure there's some good teachers. I know some good teachers. But even in Montana, you're seeing people talking about stuff that I've never even heard of until recently. And that's happened in the last half a dozen years or so. Our trajectory is downhill. You know what this nation needs? Well, it needs better leadership, yeah, but that doesn't fix the problem. This nation needs revival. That's what fixes the problem, isn't it? They got deliverance. The physical ability was there. They just needed to be led. In 2, verse 7, it says, the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua. They were able to serve. They were experienced in serving. And I know that generation died off, but there's more than enough ability in those people to rally around the right kind of leader and deliver their nation. but they just needed to follow a leader. And yet, look at verse 17, and yet they would not hearken unto their judges. A judge came and delivered them from captivity, or delivered them from oppression, delivered them from their children being taken off as slaves, or whatever happened, a judge came and delivered them, and they wouldn't even listen to the judge. You think there's a spark of divinity in every man? I've never seen one. I've never seen one. Well, rebellion still happened, didn't it? It says 17, Yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a-whoring after other gods. That's what idolatry is called. It's unfaithfulness. You know that God that redeemed you. You know the God that you should serve. Even amongst the children of Israel, they knew the God they were supposed to worship. So they unfaithfully went after other gods and bowed themselves unto them. They turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord. The fathers walked, obeying the commandments of the Lord, but they did not sow. It's almost like they identified the commandments and escaped them. That's what's going on today. That's what's going on today. To think that children, what do they call it, gender dysphoria, which is a nice name for mental illness, to think that that's taken seriously, those poor kids, they never trace the kids that go through processes like that, how many of them are suicidal. They never trace that. There is a satanic attack on the home today. A satanic attack on families, and in particular, children. In particular, children. Just as we saw in Ecclesiastes 12.1. Because if the children are distracted when they get older, they'll never come back. They'll never come back. Rebellions still happen. In verse 18, And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. The only one there with a tender heart is God. Because verse 17 says they didn't listen to the judges. God saw the misery of his people and he intervened. and intervene. I have a God like that. There is no idol that will do that. No idol can hear you. No idol, if they could, then in the days of Elijah, some part of Baal would have put fire on that altar, wouldn't they? They can't respond, because they're lifeless, a creation of man, undoubtedly to indulge a man's flesh. Well, The judges displayed God's presence and power. Isn't that a wonderful thing? That God's presence and power are displayed. You've heard of stories of people on the mission field where they were going through a horrible trial and God spared them and they found out that one of their friends back home was awakened in the night and prayed for them. I've read several accounts of that. Several accounts. How did they know to pray for them? Because God's spirit lives within us and God wakens us with a burden. We pray for that burden and God delivers across the country. How many times, I remember in college praying for money. And sometimes I'd go to the post office, that was a high point of my day. And I'd find an envelope with just enough money that I needed to get by. Do you know how invaluable that is in life? It's invaluable to see God providing, to see God moving, but what about when you stand, this gentleman that his mother prayed that he'd get caught every time, he had polio as a kid. He's with the Lord now. He had polio as a kid. He was maybe five foot eight and very slight, had a limp. And he wasn't afraid of anyone or anything. He's the one that said he was preaching out in front of a bar one time in Atlanta, I think. And this great big guy came up, picked him up by the collar, lifted his feet off the ground, said, you shut up. And Buddy said, the only thing I could remember was the word of God is powerful. I started quoting, Jesus wept. I started quoting any Bible verse I could think of. And that guy broke down into tears. You know why? He had a mama at home praying for him. And that guy got saved that day. It is one of the reasons you serve God is because it's right, but also because you get to see God move. When you present the gospel to someone, they say, yeah, I'd like to do that. I had a boy, I've said this many times, had a boy in Olympia one time said, would you like to pray today? And he says, yes, I would. And he got on his knees at his door. He was 12 years old. I have never seen that before or since. Never seen it. you get to see God move. Nothing quite like that, is there? Nothing quite like that. God's presence and power. And God delivered them through good leadership. And the last part of verse 18 is the remedy for their oppression, the remedy for their oppression. I'm afraid my time is gone tonight. If I keep going, I'll be another hour. And, um, that's not going to go over really well tonight. We'll just, uh, we'll pick it up next week, the Lord willing, but isn't it sad that we can't condemn them because the same, uh, wicked hearts within each of us. Our problem is in this life that our flesh isn't redeemed. Romans 8 says, we're waiting for the redemption of the body. My soul's as redeemed as it's going to be, but my body's not. That's why Romans 7 says that the things you want to do, you can't. The things you can't do, you do. Because the flesh is, we have a redeemed soul inside of an unredeemed body. And if you let your body rule you, you're going to have a life bouncing from one sin to the next, defeat and despair. But what a sweet and pleasant joy to have God lead you and direct your steps every day. Nothing like it. Nothing like it. Let's pray.