Courage to Confront

Good morning, guys. Man, this is great. One of the best sounds you could ever hear in a church is everybody getting to hang out and talking and meeting and greeting with everybody else. A distant third is the sound of everybody stopping that conversation and finding their seats again, just like Claudia did and Robbie. I’ve got my chatty Cathy’s in that back corner, Sam. There’s no amount of name calling is going to get them to stop and probably gonna need to get Buck or get Arthur and get just get those guys to say, “Hey, you know, we all just sit down, let Jeremy have his peace or whatever.” So, awesome. Thank y’all.

Hey, we have come to the portion of our service where we just do prayer. If this is new to you, man, I hope this becomes special and old to you very quickly. We totally believe that if we try things in our strength, our ability, our wisdom, we might be able to build something cool or see some sort of milestone, but what we need is we need God’s power and we need God’s wisdom and God’s ability to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. So we take a moment of every Sunday morning where we just pray and we pray out loud. We pray for a specific need. This month we are praying for what I call your one. What I mean is everybody is close to someone who is far from God. That’s your one. Your one may be a neighbor. It may be a family member, a co-worker, whatever it is. But we just want to take a few moments for you to pray for your one. So grab someone that you’re sitting by. Just pray for them by name. Ask that God would get a hold of them, that He would draw them to Himself. You take it away and I’ll put a bow on it here in a second.

Holy Spirit, God, thank You that when I was 15, I was Luke Harden’s one. And God, he saw that he was close to me, but I was far from You. And he took that personally. God, thank You that he shared the gospel with me that night after youth group. He invited me to believe and to leave behind the things of this world. God, I had grown up in church. I had read lots of the Bible. I had memorized parts of Scripture and knew some of the hymns, but God, I did not know You. I just thank You that Luke was able to see that. Lord, I pray for my one right now who also grew up in church, also knows a lot of the Bible, also knows a lot of the songs, but God, he’s left all that behind. And he is trying to find some sort of meaning and power in life through witchcraft and through just being a good person. And I’m begging that You would save him. Begging that You would save him. Lord, thank You for connecting me and him. Thank You for giving us a friendship. God, for all the ones that we’ve just prayed for, I beg that You would save them. I beg that You would draw all of our ones to a place of giving their lives to You because they know that in Your hands, God, that that’s where our lives ought to be, God. Psalm 16:11 it says that in Your presence is fullness of joy and at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. God, who does not want joy and pleasure? We all want those things, but those can only be found in You. I pray for the person in the room right now who is going to listen to a few words. God, I pray for them. Lord, I trust in a room this size, there is somebody that does not actually know You as Lord and Savior. And I’m begging that You would save them. I’m begging that You would use the next few moments, God, to get a hold of their hearts and draw them to a place of giving their lives to You. Please, God, I give You this message. It’s in Your name that we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Well, thank you guys so much. Go ahead and turn to Judges chapter 9. Judges chapter 9 is where we’re going to be. Man, I tell you, the Bible’s got some crazy stories. There’s just no sugar coating it. Sometimes you come across stuff in God’s Word, and you’re like, “Why is this here?” This reads a little bit more like HBO or something you see on TV. Like, what in the world is God doing? As you’re getting there, I tell you a short story. Honestly, it just it just makes fun of me. I’ve confessed to you guys in the past that I have a bit of a temper and that comes out most naturally whenever I’m overstimulated by our delightful little children. And sometimes I just I I don’t know how Becca does it. She can just manage all the noise and the frenetic activity around her so much better than me. It happens around me and just my heart just starts bubbling. And what normally happens is I just kind of lose it. I like guys stop. And then one or more of my children cries and runs off and then I’ve got to do the double work of going and pursuing them and apologizing and repenting and saying, “Hey, daddy’s really trying to work on this. Please give me another chance.” So my kids know this.

The other day one of my kids found this. This is called the Baptist Courier. If you don’t know South Carolina Baptist, we have our own little magazine, newspaper thing. It comes out every month. This is this month’s edition. It’s all about the war of words, how God’s word helps tame our talk. My child found this and said, “Mom, what is this?” And Becca explains. And when I get home from work that day, I am greeted at the door with my kids saying, “Daddy, daddy, you need to read this. I’m super grateful for that. I mean, honestly, it was really embarrassing in that moment. I’m like trying to drop my stuff from the day and I’m like, “Yes, you are right. I do need it.” Is what it is. But I’m really appreciative of my child in that moment for having the courage to confront me on something.

I don’t know how your family operates. I really appreciate when my kids can look at my life and can say, “Hey, what you are saying you believe does not match how you’re actually acting.” I really appreciated that. I needed that. The courage to confront somebody is not natural for most of us. It’s hard to conjure up for most of us. But I’ll tell you, when God lays it on your heart to address somebody in the midst of a situation and for you to deliver God’s word to them, man, God can get a hold of that and change people’s lives all the way around. I’m particularly grateful for that moment with my child because it helped give me not just a sermon introduction illustration, but it reminded me that no matter who you are or what you need to address, God can give you the courage to make a confrontation as well.

Judges chapter nine has this crazy story where you have a hero who is unlikely the run of the litter and he has the courage for a massive confrontation. Bit of a road map for the sermon this morning. We’re going to take a few moments and walk through this passage which has this confrontation and then I’m going to draw out four laws of sin from the passage. And then after that, I want to offer everybody three responses starting today. Okay.

Now, what just happened in Judges chapter 8, you have a guy named Gideon. Gideon is one of the judges that God had seen, had raised up, had given influence, and ultimately given a victory over foreign invaders. Gideon, also named Jerub-Baal, is faithful ultimately in what God calls him to do against these foreign invaders. God gives him victory. All that’s great. Gideon’s life though starts this downward spiral of foolishness immediately after the victory. Now Gideon takes all of the plunder and all of the spoil from their victory and he makes this golden ephod, this this instrument of worshiping God. Gideon makes this and what the Bible tells us in Judges chapter 8 is that Gideon and all the people start bowing down to it in worship.

Gideon’s foolish choices don’t stop there, though. He then goes and marries lots of wives and he even takes a concubine. A concubine is someone that you marry purely for sex. Gideon has all these wives. He’s got this concubine and eventually that leads to the nation of Israel practicing idolatry once Gideon has died. Gideon sees the heights of God using him to deliver all the people of Israel from this enemy. And his story ends at this low valley where upon his death, Israel is no better or it that’s where we pick up in Judges chapter 9. Read it with me. Verses 1-6. Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal, that’s another name for Gideon, went to Shechem.

and spoke to his uncles and to his mother’s whole clan, saying, “Please speak in the hearing of all the citizens of Shechem. Is it better for you that 70 men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you? Remember, I am your own flesh and blood.” Verse three, his mom’s relatives spoke all these words about him in the hearing of all the citizens of Shechem, and they were favorable to Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” Verse four, so they gave him 70 pieces of silver from the temple of Baal Berith. That’s the false god they were worshiping at that time. Abimelech used it used those 70 pieces of silver to hire worthless and reckless men, and they followed him. He went to his father’s house 30 miles away in Ophrah, and he kills his 70 brothers. Now read that again. He went 30 miles and kills his 70 brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, his dad, on top of a large stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, the runt of the litter, he survives because he because he hides. Verse six, all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millow gathered together and proceeded to make Abimelech king at the oak of the pillar in Shechem.

What a story. What a moment in the story of the Bible. So you got these you got Abimelech and these 70 brothers. Abimelech, he is the son of Jerubbaal or Gideon’s concubine versus these 70 brothers, the normal, if you will, sons of Gideon. Abimelech lives in Shechem. The 70 brothers live in daddy’s hometown, Ophrah. Shechem is actually the place where God calls Abram and says, “Hey, I’m going to make you into a great nation. I’m going to make your name great. I’m going to bless you so that you will bless other people.” Shechem is the original site where Abram, the father of Israel, puts the first altar for the people to be known as Israel to worship God. Shechem is also the place where Abimelech starts leading the Israelites further and further and further away from God. Ironically, Abimelech’s coup is funded by idol money from the temple of Baal Berith. Your Bible might have a little number or a little letter beside Baal Berith, and down at the bottom it would tell you literally that means Lord of the Covenant.

Put yourself there in this moment. Abimelech is standing where Abraham, the father of Israel, once stood, and he’s using money from the temple of the false gods to fund his coup against his 70 brothers ultimately to lead the people of Israel not back towards worshiping God, but to worship these false gods. You see what’s happening here? You see this moment where Abimelech’s ravenous desire for his own fame, his own notoriety, his own authority is going to mutate and twist and grow ultimately to his 70 brother’s deaths. What a moment. Now, thankfully, the youngest son escapes, Jotham. Surprisingly, he doesn’t run away. How many of us, you just watched your half sibling kill your 69 older brothers. How many of us stay in town? Not me. Not your pastor. Uh-uh, man. I feel like I’m called back to the mission field at that point. We’re going overseas.

So, thankfully, Joseph escapes. Surprisingly, he doesn’t run away. He in fact takes his stand and he displays the courage to confront. Jotham takes his stand on top of Mount Gerizim. This is important for us. So I already told you Shechem is the town where God calls Abraham and where Abraham makes this altar where Abraham will start worshiping God as a forerunner for all the people of Israel. Mount Gerizim is where a guy named Moses, where Moses would stand and he would look at all Israel before they enter the promised land. And Moses would say, “Hey, we have got the words of God. If you obey these words, it will go well for you. God will bless you. If you do not obey these words, God will punish you. This will go poorly for you.” Moses does that on top of Mount Gerizim. Thousands of years later, there’s another guy named Jotham taking his stand on top of Mount Gerizim. Jotham, whose name literally means God is perfect. God is honest. Standing in the same place Moses stood calling the people of Israel back to follow God yet again. He’s inviting God’s people to obey God’s word. If they do, they’ll receive God’s blessing. If not, they will receive God’s punishment. But Jotham confronts the people not by screaming, not by arguing, but by telling a parable. Look at Jotham’s parable verses 8-15. And once again, put yourself looking up the side of a cliff and there’s this guy on the top and he’s calling out to you. The trees, the trees decided to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, “Reign over us.” But the olive tree said to them, “Should I stop giving my oil that people use to honor both God and man and rule over the trees?” Then the trees go to the fig tree. Come rain over us. But the fig tree says to them, “Should I stop giving my sweetness and my good fruit and rule over the trees?” Later the trees said to the grape vine, “Come and reign over us.” But the grapevine says to them, “Should I stop giving my wine that cheers both God and man and rule over the trees?” Finally, all the trees said to the bramble, “Come, ran over us.” The bramble says to the trees, “If you really are anointing me as king over you, come find refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.”

So Jotham wants to confront the people of Israel, specifically in the city of Shechem. He’s confronting his brother Abimelech. And he does it with this parable. He says, “A group of trees is looking for a king tree to rule over them. They go first to the olive tree.” The olive tree says no. The fig tree says no. The grape vine says no, but the bramble bush says yes. The olive tree is important because olive oil is used for anointing ceremonies, both in Israel’s politics, but also in their spiritual worship in the temple. The fig tree is interesting because figs are super versatile. You can just eat them fresh. You can dry them. They’re great. They’re used as sweeteners. Israelites would put them in their cakes. Everybody in Israel would have loved figs. The grapevine, that’s great, too. Wine brings happiness to people and it brings happiness to God when it’s consumed the right way. That’s a sermon for another time, another day. But the bramble bush, all the trees approach the bramble bush. Lowly, thorny, not a whole lot of shade under a bramble bush, right? I mean, really, have you ever tried to take some comfort and some refuge under a bramble bush, a brier patch? How many of us have made that mistake?

And that’s the parable. Basically, Jotham is looking at the people of Shechem and he’s looking at his brother Abimelech. And this is what he’s saying. Y’all are about to crown the most worthless, ungodly, degenerate person among you. This is going to put you in the dirt caught on briars looking like fools. And then Jotham runs. Indeed, if Shechem had acted faithfully toward Jerubbaal, Gideon, if they had done this the right way to make Abimelech king, they could rejoice. But what Jotham says in verse 18, a little later, he says, “But today you’ve attacked my father’s family. Today you’ve killed his 70 sons on top of a large stone. Today you’ve made Abimelech, the son of his slave woman, king over y’all.” And what’s going to happen? What’s going to happen to all these people for trying to take refuge under the bramble bush? Verse 20. May fire come from Abimelech and consume the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo. May fire also come from the citizens of Shechem and Betho and consume Abimelech.

Not hard to read between the lines and understand what Jotham is saying. He’s offering them a warning. Man, this passage is a train wreck. Things just go from bad to worse as poor decisions are stacking on top of each other. Carnage is filling the city. And at the end of the day, you’ve got an entire city rallied behind a bloodthirsty upstart who just murdered his 70 brothers funded by silver from the idol temple. All because he wants to be king. So, why is this here? At the very beginning, I said, “The Bible’s got some crazy stories, Clarence, why is this here, Mr. Arthur? Why is this here, Miss Billy Jean? Why would God put this in the Bible?” I believe is because God wants to give us warnings about sin. In fact, I believe that this passage has four laws of sin. And I want to list them for you. The first one is this is that sin always rejects God’s authority. You see that in how the passage opens up. Now to sin literally it’s a Roman archery term that means to miss the mark. You’re watching the summer Olympics and hopefully every time they shoot an arrow at the target or what if they got the rifles, they’re supposed to Hit the bullseye. Anytime they don’t hit the bullseye, but they’re outside of it, they have sinned. They have missed the mark. The Bible says that us before God is the same way. God has a target. He has a mark. We’re supposed to hit it every single time. But we can’t. We miss the mark all the time. And here’s the deal. God though is holy. And God is in charge. And He has a holy standard for us. So our sins are not just mere mistakes, but they are offenses against a holy God according to His holy law.

We sin when we fail to live up to God’s perfect standard. And if you’re like me, this is every day. Every day you failed to live up to God’s standard. Every day you miss the mark of what God calls us to be and to do.

So far in the book of Judges, what’s going on is God is the one that raises up the ruler for Israel. God equips them. God calls them. God gives them the mission. But when this passage starts, you’ve got Abimelech. He rejects God’s authority. He raises himself up. He calls Shechem to follow him. He equips himself with money from the idol temple. And he starts murdering his brothers. Abimelech and me and all of us, we sin by rejecting God’s authority. And we do this in two main ways. All right? We do this either when we fail to do what the Bible says to do or when we intentionally do what the Bible says not to do.

Think about it this way. God’s got a holy standard. We sin either when we intentionally break that standard or we do things sorry or when we fail to do the things the Bible tells us to do.

Let me give you some examples. Sometimes we break God’s written standards when God says you are supposed to love and honor one another. But instead, what we do is we gossip about them. We lash out. We use people. We threaten people. We backbite against people. Or we just ignore them. The Bible has a clear standard. The way you treat people is supposed to look like how God has treated you. And we break that whenever we go against what God has said.

But the Bible also has commands for us that sometimes we just we pick and choose what to obey if we’re being completely honest. I think sometimes we look at God’s word and we look at God’s commands almost like a buffet. I’ll take a little bit of church. I’ll take a little bit of Christian music while I’m riding around. I’ll take an Easter service every now and then, but man, I’m not going to have any of that sharing my faith with people outside of the church. I’m not going to have any of that, you know, tithing money to the church, whatever it is. And we treat God’s word like a buffet. Instead, God is like the chef of a nice kitchen, and you’re just going to get whatever the chef wants you to have because the chef knows best, right? Which one would you rather have really? Would you rather have a gourmet meal prepared for you specifically by a chef that you just get to enjoy or trying to pick and choose all these terrible options off of a buffet? Man, God is like this chef and He has this way of life for us, but instead we reject that all the time.

Sin rejects God’s authority. That’s the first law. The second law is this. Write this down. Sin leads to greater destruction and death. You see how Abimelech’s selfish desires mutate and grow into something so much more destructive in this in this passage. Look at it. Abimelech wakes up one day and says, “I want to be king.” He goes to bed that night and his 70 brothers are dead. Sin always leads to greater destruction and greater death. And that destructive pattern once again happens for us too.

You tell a little white lie. You bend the truth just a little bit. But what becomes what starts as a moment a lie or a bend the truth becomes a habit where you’re just routinely dishonest with people. You’re never talking straight with them. And because you’ve lived in dishonesty, that means you’re going to live with no friends. You see how telling one white lie or bending the truth, it actually breaks your relationships with people so that eventually you’re just isolated and trusted by nobody.

Or maybe it’s scrolling social media. I want to talk specifically to the men here. Scrolling social media and you see a picture of A girl, and you just kind of linger on it for a little bit, and then you swipe. Doesn’t hurt anybody. Just a second. I won’t tell anybody. I didn’t actually do anything. That one moment of lust, though, becomes this pathway to something darker where eventually you can’t make it through a day without looking up stuff on your phone. You can’t escape this demon of pornography in your life. You’re living in pornography, looking at stuff all the time, and your wife notices, and man, your marriage is just crumbling.

Sin does this for us. It’s what happened in this passage. You look at Gideon’s life where Gideon, he has this victory over all the Midianites, and the people want to make him king. And you know what Gideon says? He says, “No, I won’t be king. None of my sons will be king. Instead, God will rule over us.” Gideon then makes this ephod which he himself starts to worship. All Israel starts to worship. And then when Gideon dies, they have forgotten all about God, and they’re just worshiping Baal-Berith. So much so that when Abimelech comes to power and says, “Hey, the best way for me to be king is for me to slaughter my 70 brothers,” and no one’s batting an eye. Why does no one confront Abimelech until Jotham looks at all of his dead brothers in the city square from atop Mount Gerizim? Why is nobody confronting him? It’s because sin does this, man.

Man, sin is like yeast. You make a little bit of bread. If you don’t put any yeast in it, it just stays flat. You put a little bit of yeast in a lot of bread dough, and that whole thing will rise because the yeast permeates it. Sin does this in our lives. A little bit of sin, entertaining just a little bit of something that goes against God’s ways, man, it mutates and it grows in our lives.

In fact, if there’s anybody this morning, and that’s you, and you feel like you have been caught in something, some pattern of sin that you can’t break out of, man, we have a ministry just for you. Every Sunday night, six o’clock here, Robbie and his team lead something called Celebrate Recovery, which is all about helping folks get over and conquer over 40 hurts, habits, and hang-ups. And you might say, “Jeremy, man, I’m not at this place where I don’t have any friends.” But you do recognize, “Hey, I really struggle telling the truth.” You might be looking at me and saying, “Jeremy, my marriage is in a decent place. It’s not crumbling, but you are right. I can’t go a day without looking up stuff on Instagram or other stuff on my phone.” Man, please come tonight. We have a judgment-free zone for you where you can learn how the gospel of Jesus can free you from that.

Here’s the fact of the matter. If you don’t kill sin, sin will kill you. Sin always does it. The third law: sin humiliates and overpromises. Think back about the parable that Jotham told everybody. And I want you to imagine a grove of trees stooping under a brier patch. Michael, you spend a lot of time outside. Have you ever seen that? You ever seen a poplar grove stoop under a brier patch? Man, getting to know this doesn’t happen. Imagine an oak tree trying to get some shade under a bramble bush. That’s what Jotham is saying the people think is going to happen. It’s ridiculous. It’s impossible. It’s an overpromise. Abimelech. He is this bramble bush of a guy looking at all these oak trees in Shechem saying, “If you just stoop and bend yourselves under me, you can find some shade.” Sin does this, though. Sin humiliates us, and it always overpromises what it can deliver.

The problem is sin can’t actually give us what we think sin gives us. But that’s really good news. I think about when my buddy Luke shared the gospel with me at 15. Man, I was caught in a cycle of sexual sin that I could not break free from. Man, I just—I thought fooling around with girls would satisfy me. I thought it would provide some sort of happiness. I thought it would give me some sort of meaning in life. And man, it just left me so thirsty, so dry. And I am so grateful for that. My buddy Luke got to introduce me to someone. James 1:17 says that every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. Man, sin leaves you thirsty. Sin is like eating salt, expecting expecting to come away feeling better. God though is the good giftgiver. Good giftgiver, not sin. Sin will never give you what you think it will give you. Satan can never satisfy you even though he lies to you. This world does not actually have your good in mind. But God is a good giftgiver who will humble us but will always deliver on His promises.

Finally, number four, sin eventually destroys sinners. Satan, the world, and our flesh all lie to us. That lie is you can do whatever you want and not face the consequences. But God makes the rules and the truth is that sin always comes back to bite us. Jotham said it in verse 20. Man, if you play with fire, you are going to get burned. If the people of Shechem were to play with the fire of Abimelech, then he was going to burn them. And if Abimelech was going to play with the fire of Shechem, Shechem was going to consume him. And what we all need to know is that there is a very real fire waiting for everyone who willfully practices and lives in sin. There is a very real reality of eternity of God’s punishment in a place called hell. For everyone who refuses to embrace the forgiveness and the grace of God’s almighty in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Man, I am not trying to deliver you from the natural consequences of foolish decisions. I am up here trying to woo someone to place their faith in Jesus Christ because if you do not and you leave from here today and you’re t-boned on your way to lunch and you’ve never placed your faith in Jesus Christ, there is no amount of second chances. There’s no doovers, man. Make today the day that you place your faith in Jesus. Make today the day that you say, “God, I need You.” Make today the day you say, “God, I am a sinner. I need to be forgiven. Please embrace me in love and kindness. Please deliver me from these things I’m living in and and take hold of me.” God will do that every time.

Thankfully, sin though does not have to have the last word because by God’s grace, Abimelech and the people of Shechem still have Jotham. Jotham calling to them, pleading with them, urging them to repent to God. Man, if you are stuck in some sin pattern, that sin does not have to have the final word on your life. You don’t have to live the rest of your life with a bad temper. You don’t have to live the rest of your life in substance abuse. You don’t have to live the rest of your life in pornography, adultery, greed, gossip, whatever it is. You don’t have to. By God’s grace, He could deliver you from that. Today could be the day you turn the corner where you say no to whatever that sin is and yes to God. The day that you take the wisdom of Jotham and you stop playing with fire.

Man, Jotham reminds me of another son. Another son who offers repentance and grace for lost rebels who reject God’s word. A son named Jesus Christ who courageously confronts us in the midst of our sin. A son Jesus Christ who stood on a hill and called people to repentance. A son Jesus Christ who longs to be the firstborn among many brothers but unlike Abimelech won’t kill you in His path to become the rightful king. A son named Jesus Christ who instead was slain for you who suffered death for you that is Himself the sacrifice for your sin. Man, I’m not trying to tell you to make yourself clean and good in your own power because you can’t. What I’m up here doing is saying that there is a way out and His name is Jesus who called Himself the way and the truth and the life. Offering those things to anybody that would just embrace Him.

So what do we do? There’s three responses for everybody starting today. First, repent while you still can. Man, none of us knows the day when our lives will end. Why not make today the day you repent of your sin? You claim forgiveness in the good news of God and you enjoy love with God. To repent simply means to turn from one thing and embrace another. So I’m I’m calling you if you’ve never done this to embrace God’s forgiveness. And you would simply say, “God, I need You. I’m a sinner. Please forgive me.” If you say those things and mean them, God will answer that prayer. And I’m not just calling for non-Christians to repent for the very first time. I’m also calling my brothers and sisters in Christ. Man, we still struggle with sin every day. We have all brought baggage in here from our sin in the week. Man, let’s repent of that. Let’s say, I am done living in bondage to whatever sin pattern this is. I’m done with this. Why not make today the day you experience true freedom and joy apart from those things that are weighing you down? Repent while you still can.

The second one, be on guard. I wish the people of Shechem had had some greater wisdom and they were on guard against Abimelech. But we can learn from their mistake and we can be on guard against sin. You see, sin is more than just a bad choice you occasionally make. The Bible, God Himself in Genesis 4:7 describes sin as a predatory force waiting for an opportunity to exploit your weakness and take you out.

I’m reminded of one of my kids this past week getting ready to go to school, walk into the car. They walk through a spiderweb. What did my kid do? What do you think my kid did? I need somebody to act it out. What did my kid do? >> Yeah, Caroline’s right. Depends on which one. I don’t think Anna cares. She’s the toughest of the three for sure.

Man, when we walk into a spiderweb, you flinging that thing off immediately, right? God forbid the spider actually still be on you. You’re at that point. Why don’t we treat sin that way? When that thing comes up on Instagram, guys, why are we flinging the phone across the room? Whenever that temptation to gossip about somebody comes into your mind, why aren’t we just ending the conversation? Say, “I’m sorry. I’ve got to stop. I’m I’m I’m done here.” Whenever you’re riding down the road and you see somebody’s truck or their house and you’re tempted to covet that, why are we pulling off immediately, putting it in park in a safe place, and praying, “God, make me content with what You’ve actually given me and help me not to covet my neighbor’s stuff.” And I’m taught, man, I’m preaching to myself right now. Why don’t I do this? I’m not on guard against sin. I think sometimes I’m welcoming it in my life. But God is telling us this morning, be on guard.

Finally, the very final thing, the third response, warn others. Man, what good would my faith in Christ be if I never helped others enjoy freedom in Christ, too? My role as a follower of Jesus is to share the hope of the gospel with everybody. Which means I approach non-Christians and I say, “Hey, there is a better way. Love Jesus and let Him love you.” And I approach Christians and I say, “Hey, there is a better way. Love Jesus and let Him love you.” And that’s what’s supposed to mark our lives. We are supposed to be warning people, calling them to leave behind their sin. And that’s supposed to happen here in the church, too. You know what happens here? Whenever we see each other living in sin, but never addressing it, we’re a bunch of trees trying to take shade under a bramble bush, digging in the dirt, getting all caught up and cut up. It’s not what God wants for us.

Man, if you really believe that God is the best thing anyone could ever have, then let’s start asking God to give us the courage to confront people in love and grace, offering them a better way, too. You may be the only Jotham in your school. You may be the only Jotham in your family, on the job, or sometimes in this church. But please, let’s not give up calling others to repent of sin and embrace God’s authority.

And you might be in a moment this morning where you recognize that you are caught in something. And you want to take a moment and just ask for God’s power to free you from that, and ask for His forgiveness. I want to do something. I’ll be standing up here. Miss Donna, can you come and join me up here as well? We’ll go into our final song. Michael, man, if you want to talk with either me or Miss Donna and you just say, “Hey, I’m caught in this something on my phone, something in my life, this way I treat people, and I want freedom from it.” Man, we’ll we’ll be here for this final song and we would love to pray with you and just to offer you a better way. How about this? Let’s all close our Eyes, bow our heads. I’m going to pray for y’all as the music starts. As the song begins, may you just come forward, and we would love to pray with you. Let’s pray.

God, I pray for all of us here in this room. Lord, I’m begging that You would free somebody from a pattern of sin today. Lord, for anybody in the room that does not yet know You as Lord and Savior, I beg that You would use these final moments to get a hold of them and wake them up to the beauty of the gospel. And for all of us in the room that do know You as Lord and Savior, but we are just content to live in some sort of muck and mire, I pray that You would draw us to conviction, that we would want something better, and that You would bring them forward during this final, this final song. Lord, we love You, and it’s in Your great name that we pray. Amen.