[0:00] The first thing we do is you go to God right away. Joshua fell on his face before the Lord, didn't talk to the people, didn't talk to the army. He just went to God. That's the right thing to do. To get out of a mess is go to God.
[0:12] Then secondly, and always after you go to God, is identify the problem. And then deal with the problem. And in the passage, they needed to eliminate the situation, the problem. And then they learned from the lesson and moved forward was the last step to getting out of the mess.
[0:27] And I said in the beginning of that that some people's lives are just one mess after another mess to another mess. And it's as if they get stuck in a destructive cycle.
[0:42] And when I was making those comments, it reminded me of a message that I preached to Bible Baptist Church via Zoom over three years ago when I stood in a classroom in Pennsylvania.
[0:53] And some of you, I don't know, I don't think anybody was here in the sanctuary at that time. But you were in your living rooms, in your bathrobes. And you were just sitting on the, some of you were outside on your phones.
[1:06] It was just a weird time, wasn't it? But back then, I preached a message here from judges. And then I came across it in reading this week again. And I just couldn't get away from it. And I thought, well, most of the church isn't watching their screens anymore for that.
[1:20] They're not even here. And I'm going to go back over this and change it a little bit. But I just felt burdened about it coming off of what we did Wednesday in how to get out of a mess.
[1:32] And so we're going to look here in the book of Judges. And notice this cycle that I believe some people are, they have tendencies toward.
[1:43] And I want to help you to avoid it, to get out of, not just get out of a mess that you get in, but to get out of, if that's you, that destructive cycle that is going to control and waste your life.
[1:54] And so before we go any further, let's pray and ask God to help us with this. Lord, I pray now, I ask that you and you alone would take over this time, that you would speak through me and through your words, and that the truth that we see that took place in the past and is potentially, it's evident in some lives in the present or the potential for it is, Lord, I pray you'll reveal this, that you'll put your finger on it, that you'll speak to hearts, and that we as believers would get the victory over ourselves, over our sins, over our stubbornness, over those things that keep us from you and from experiencing a victorious Christian life the way you intend.
[2:40] And so God, please take this time and use it and accomplish something. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. I forgot all my announcements. I'll try to remember that before we quit. So I'll put that there.
[2:53] We're too far past that right now. We're in the book of Judges. Now the book of Judges covers about 300 years. And it's a history of the nation of Israel before they were really established as a kingdom, before King Saul, David, Solomon, before all of that.
[3:09] They're just going through just an awkward stage in their nativity, I guess, of coming into the land and getting it established. And so it's a period of time in the life and the lives of this people, this nation, that it really wasn't so great.
[3:30] The book's not a great book. There's interesting characters, but of what it says about Israel, it doesn't say much good stuff at all. Now, they entered the land through Joshua.
[3:42] He brought them in. At Joshua 1, verse 1, it starts with now after the death of Moses. And now Judges, chapter 1, verse 1, now after the death of Joshua, it came to pass.
[3:55] And so we're transitioning leadership again. And they enter the land. Joshua's taken them in. They've fought battles. They've conquered or subdued the enemies of God in the military sense, but not in an occupational sense.
[4:11] The enemies still exist in the land. The Canaanites and many of them still exist in pockets all over the land and cities. And in some cases, they couldn't drive them out. In other cases, we may read of some of this, God leaves them there to test them, to prove them whether they're going to fight, whether they're going to get rid of them or not, whether they're going to obey them.
[4:31] And so in the land is problems. I mean, this is such an easy analogy to your life, to you getting saved and getting the promised land.
[4:42] That's not heaven, not yet. But in you, in your flesh, dwelleth no good thing. And there's sins in your flesh. And you've got to fight them. And it's up to you then to take responsibility for them and decide I don't want these to have control over me, but rather I am, through God, going to subdue it.
[5:00] And the picture's really plain. And so here we're looking at the book of Judges and eventually they get it together. Eventually they do, hundreds of years later, literally generation after generation, many of them go by.
[5:15] Later they get it together and they get a kingdom established. And then you know of David that just pushed those borders of the heathen back and established the entire region for the people of God.
[5:27] But before the victory, there was a time of defeat. And before there was power, we read of the times of weakness.
[5:39] And before there was the dominion, they were slaves. And this is the book of Judges. It tells of a weak, of a fragile nation that displayed very little determination.
[5:50] It's not because they didn't have the numbers. It's not because they didn't have the potential. It's not because they didn't have the Lord on their side. But rather, they displayed little determination. They displayed very little character.
[6:03] I wonder if I'm talking about you already. No determination to serve God and do right and no character. And you've just got the heathen in the land that are going to eventually take over.
[6:17] And then you're going to cry to God. And when you get in a mess, and then he's going to help you. And then you're going to get victory, but you're not going to get it fixed. And you're going to go right back into this cycle.
[6:28] The cycle. You're going to see it. It happens over and over. So this is a fragile nation with little determination to do what God told them to do. And the book describes this, what I'm calling a reoccurring cycle that these people allowed to control them for way too long until they got victory and got out of it.
[6:47] Literally, generations came and went, never experiencing what God had promised, what he had intended for them in sending them in. Read Deuteronomy 28, the first 16, 20 verses.
[7:02] God says, if you'll obey me, this is what I want to do. I want to bless. And he just gives a list. Everything in your life, from your children, your cattle, the ground, what it brings forth.
[7:15] The nations will be subdued. I'll protect you. And I'm just going to dump my blessings if you'll obey me. And that was theirs for the taking. The potential is completely there, but they just wouldn't put the work in.
[7:29] And so they never experienced the victory. And they never knew the blessings of a life lived in righteousness and in fellowship with God. They were slaves. Slaves to a destructive cycle.
[7:42] Now in Genesis 2, let's, I'm sorry, Judges 2, let's read a few verses here. We'll start in verse 11. And this is kind of a synopsis of the book.
[7:55] This is a synopsis of years and years and years that are going to follow. Verse 11, And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Balaam. And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them and bowed themselves unto them and provoked the Lord to anger.
[8:16] And they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. And he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them.
[8:26] 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 and they were greatly distressed.
[8:43] Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges. But they went a whoring after other gods and bowed themselves unto them.
[8:54] They turned quickly aside out of the way or they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the Lord but they did not so. And when the Lord raised up judges then the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of the 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.
[9:15] And in verse 19 it came to pass when the judge was dead that they returned and corrupted themselves more than their fathers and following other gods to serve them and to bow down unto them.
[9:25] They ceased not from their own doings nor from their stubborn way. So they allowed sin to enter the land and their lives and the result inevitably is corruption is destruction is God's judgment.
[9:42] That happens always. God's judgmental is faithful to punish their wicked behavior. You can count on that. And he sends in other nations.
[9:53] It could have been in some cases it was the Philistines in Samson's day and Gideon's day it was the Midianites and it's other times the Moabites. They're fighting against nation after nation coming in one at a time and sometimes multiple.
[10:06] God's just raise them up go get them. Go do it. Knock them out. And so they under this servitude and it was grievous at times as in like they'd grow crops and the nation would just come in and wipe out all their crops.
[10:21] I mean it was they were sore distressed it says in some passages. Children are this is their life they're growing up in a nation that is conquered by another nation and they're completely oppressed they have no freedom they have no wealth no substance not much for food it's a terrible lifestyle.
[10:40] That's God's people and they cry to God to save them and get them out of it and so he hears their cry he sends a judge he sends somebody to help them out and deliver them and he raises up a deliverer and then they get liberty and they get freedom and they coast for a while and the land's at rest and what do you think they do?
[11:01] They fall right back into the cycle. Now let me read you you can turn if you can find it quickly Nehemiah just a couple books maybe six or seven eight books to the right Ezra Nehemiah Esther and in Nehemiah 9 he recalls this stage of Israel's history he recalls the times of the judges and I just want to read his wording of this and you'll see this cycle displayed so looking at Nehemiah 9 and we'll begin we'll just skim a few verses here verse 23 says their children also multiply as thou as the stars of heaven he described bringing them out of Israel and blessing them and he says in verse 23 and brought us them into the land in verse 24 so their children went in and possessed the land that thou subduest before them the inhabitants of the land and verse 25 they took strong cities in a fat land and possessed houses full of goods wells dig vineyards nevertheless next verse 26 nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against thee and cast thy law behind their backs and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee and they wrought great provocations therefore thou deliverest them into the hand of their enemies who vexed them and in the time of their trouble when they cried unto thee thou heardest them from heaven and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviors who saved them out of the hand of their enemies but after they had rest they did evil again before thee therefore leftest thou them into the hand of their enemies so that they had the dominion over them yet when they returned and cried unto thee thou heardest them from heaven and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies the cycle the cycle the cycle now I got it on the screen
[13:01] I want to illustrate it it's something I tried to do a while back and it didn't work here is the cycle of judges it starts with them falling into sin that's the arrow down they're dropping off into sin and I'll just leave this up since it illustrates what we're reading and what we're studying and then the Lord sends in a nation and they're bondmen they're enslaved to them and it's it's not just that they're hewers of wood and drawers of water I mean they're like I described their economies collapsed their liberties are gone it's a horrible horrible lifestyle and so they cry out to God that's an eye opening thing they realize we did this and God save us and the Lord has mercies many mercies and so what does he do he sends a judge he sends a savior he sends a deliverer and you know these guys a few of them I mentioned Samson and Gideon and there's a handful of others as you read through that book that show up and that fight the battles of the Lord and deliver them there comes deliverance they're freed from their enemies they pushed them back out of their land now they have the liberty to do what they want to do again no oppression nobody's messing with them they've been freed and so they go into this rest
[14:24] I'll call it complacence and many times didst thou deliver them and yet they fall right back into it and that cycle goes over and over and over and over and I'm not done over and over and over again in the book of Judges 300 years of this and it sure looks like the lives of some people that God has saved and he's given them the grace of God eternal life he's given them his Holy Spirit within them he's given them the word of God and they cast it behind their backs and fall into sin and then the sin brings on a mess and they realize oh I don't like this I should do better I should God you should fix this help me help me help me and the Lord has mercy thank God he has mercy and he does something he does a work you could liken that to the Lord Jesus
[15:30] Christ and the power of God and you get out of that mess and things get better for a little bit and instead of doing some things you ought to do you're just like yep it's all good it's all good it's a ho right back into the sin and this is a cycle and I want to treat you something here of how to get out of the cycle I don't want you in the cycle I don't want you to get stuck in that thing Israel were the people of God had the problem they had here is that they didn't need to be delivered from the enemy the Assyrians or the Syrians they needed to be delivered from themselves they need to be delivered from their stubbornness from their own iniquity and from their lack of fighting for what's right they need to be delivered from the cycle and what God could have done was just fix the whole thing he could have just wiped
[16:32] I mean sterilized the land of sin and made the borders and kept them out and put his law in their hearts like he says he will in the future and everyone know the Lord he could have did that then but he didn't he left them to themselves look at chapter 2 we're in Judges chapter 2 and he leaves heathen in the land to test their commitment to him much like he could just wipe you clean of all the sin inside of you you just don't have a longing for it anymore and he doesn't he still leaves that flesh to deal with right now and he wants to know if you're going to obey him and hearken to his voice it says in verse 21 well I'll start in 20 and the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel and he said because that this people have transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers and have not hearkened unto my voice
[17:33] I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died that through them I may prove Israel through the nations the heathen filthy abominable nations I may prove Israel whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein as their fathers did keep it or not therefore the Lord left those nations without driving them out hastily neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua so that was on purpose he left them there he was going to make them stand up and fight if they wanted it now I want to discuss with you this morning the ways to be delivered from this cycle and I'll take you to one more place we're going to hop around judges a little bit but look at judges 10 and here comes a passage that I can use to draw out three quick thoughts after several rounds of the cycle several times in and out of it the Lord basically says
[18:41] I'm done I'm done delivering you you just keep falling right back into it and so pick up judges 10 and verse 9 says moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim so that Israel was sore distressed and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord saying we have sinned against thee both because we have forsaken our God and also served Balaam and the Lord said unto the children of Israel did not I deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the children of Ammon and from the Philistines the Zidonians and the Amalekites and the Manites did oppress you and you cried unto me and I delivered you with their hand yet you have forsaken me and served other gods and here's a statement wherefore I will deliver you no more we're done go cry unto the gods which you have chosen let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation and the children of Israel said unto the Lord we have sinned but now their tone is a little bit different than it was back in verse 10 now they say this do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee deliver us only we pray thee in this day now they have a little different heart about them a little different tone in their voice they're little they're ready to receive they're not just saying hey fix it we messed up now fix it now they're saying if we deserve punishment give us the punishment we deserve it let's get this thing fixed let's get it reconciled so that we can be back to where we ought to be and what I see in this is their repentance I see them repenting do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee and then they put away the strange gods and serve the Lord but to begin I want to say that to get out of the cycle you have to first repent you can't just beg God for a quick fix cry a few tears say I wish it wasn't the way it is
[20:46] God just doesn't want to hear you say I messed up he knows that sure it's good for you to admit that but he'd rather see a change of heart about it he'd rather see you change your mind about it he'd rather see you repent repentance it's a new attitude that they pick up look at look back at chapter 2 we read this earlier I just want to highlight it in chapter 2 verse 19 at the end of the verse it describes when the judge dies they return corrupted themselves and they followed other gods about it and it says they ceased not from their own doings nor from their stubborn way you know what that's pride and you know what will keep you from repenting is your stubbornness and your pride and they ceased not from their stubborn way they wouldn't bend they wouldn't break they wouldn't give in oh they'd cry wah but they wouldn't repent and they needed to repent they're stuck in a cycle one mess after another because they're stubborn the Bible says in Proverbs 22 verse 4 that by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life so can we assume that without humility and without the fear of the Lord you don't have any of it you're in a mess and these people were in a mess because they refused to repent they refused to repent that's going to be the biggest thing that somebody to get out of this cycle of falling into sin is to learn how to repent repentance is a change of heart it's a change of mind it's a turning and Christians love to confess their sins and because he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins but how often do they want to repent of their sins and say enough's enough and you know repentance is it's not as hard as it sounds or as I'm maybe I'm making it sound I don't mean to do that it's not a hard thing to do the only thing that's hard is getting that stubbornness out and getting past yourself and saying no
[23:11] I'm good no I can handle this no it's not that big a deal other people are doing it what and you just find 30 excuses why it's okay and can keep it going instead of just being honest with God and humbly come into the word of God saying whatever you say God you're right I'm not I'm dead wrong even when I want to make it sound like I'm right I'll take it your way and just repent of yourself and open up your heart to God say what what is it what do you want I'll do it well that's clean and pure repentance when you'll turn from whatever way you're seeking the Bible says in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths and it says be not wise in thine own eyes fear the Lord and depart from evil but when you're wise in your own eyes you're going to be going toward evil you're going to be excusing it you're going to be justifying it and here's the nation of Israel stubborn and proud and full of sin and refusing to repent and when you repent then some things can follow and come back there to judges 10 and see the next step it was verse 15 the children of Israel said in the Lord we have sinned do thou unto us whatsoever seem with good unto thee deliver us only we pray thee this day and in verse 16 it says and they put away the strange gods from among them so first step is to repent the second step is to change your environment or to clean up your environment it's put away the strange gods clean the land out then it starts with your heart and so what did they do look back at judges chapter 3 judges chapter 3 the trouble they had is they never eliminated the enemies out of their life or out of the land and judges 3 verse 5 the children of Israel dwelt among the
[25:15] Canaanites the Hittites the Amorites the Perizzites the Hivites and the Jebusites they're not supposed to dwell among them they were supposed to move them out drive them out but they dwelt among them in verse 6 they took their daughters to be their wives they fell in love with them and gave their daughters to their sons and serve their gods and the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord so what happens when you don't clean out your heart what happens when you don't repent of your sins and then change your environment and clean up those sins and get them out of your life you dwell among them you fall in love with them and you don't quickly get rid of them they hang on they grip get a hold of you become part of your life and now they're marrying them and having offspring that's half Jew half Perizzite or Hittite what in the world's God gonna do with that he wants them out he's not looking for a half breed people he's looking for a peculiar holy people holy seed that he promised to bless that goes way out into the future and here they are mingling with the Gentile nations change your environment it's gonna take some work to clean it up and make this land or your heart as we're talking a place that resembles something God would want to dwell in you know it's so easy to say what's wrong with that what's that what he why is that a big deal everybody does that it's okay it's fine and they never consider does God holy God be holy for I am holy just rings in my head right here that's what he wants but we never want to say does does what holy God wants for my life is this even close to what he wants or is it's just what I want and want to accept and pretends fine with me he should be okay with it if I am isn't that so backwards ungodly backwards instead of taking your life repenting of it all cleaning it all up and just saying what you want in my life I want in my life guide me speak to me leave me teach me something that we read in those Psalms
[27:38] Psalm 119 praying for God to teach him what's right and direct him according to his word so change your environment they were okay with having the heathen in the land and their wicked idolatry and their their fornicative nature of all of that some of the sins that were going on with their cultures it was unclean and they were okay with it they're okay living among it they're saying we can handle that it's not gonna affect us you know who it did affect their children and now their children are growing up around it and seeing it and learning it oh boy look back at Deuteronomy 18 Deuteronomy 18 Moses gave very specific and pointed instructions about something they need to watch out for when they move into this new land Deuteronomy 18 I'm going to start in verse number 9 when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations there shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire or that uses divination or an observer of times or an enchanter or a witch or a charmer or a consulter with familiar spirits or a wizard or a necromancer for all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord and because of these abominations the Lord thy God does drive them out from before thee thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God for these nations which thou shalt possess hearkened none to observers of times and unto diviners but as for thee the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee to do so so look over at chapter 20 and verse 16
[29:35] Moses continuing to instruct them 20 16 of Deuteronomy but of the cities of these people whom the Lord thy God shall give thee for an inheritance thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth but thou shalt utterly destroy them namely the Hittites and the Amorites the Canaanites the Perizzites the Hivites the Jebusites as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee why that they teach you not to do after all their abominations which they have done unto their gods so should ye sin against the Lord your God in Romans chapter 16 Paul tells the church to be wise concerning that which is good but simple concerning evil you don't need to study evil and sins you don't need to be illuminated to what the ways of the world are you it's it's a wise thing to keep your children from seeing it from learning it you try to what so how do you learn it how did I learn a lot of what I learned from the television and from what
[30:47] I put in my ears with headphones music I fell in love with the world's music and it taught me enough filth that I didn't have to ask questions because I knew I learned a ton about the drug culture I learned a ton about fornication and sex and uncleanness just by listening to them I learned how to cuss I learned a filthy mouth all of that stuff just from listening to them they taught me they taught me with their words they taught me with their actions and I didn't it wasn't in my home growing up I didn't learn it from my mom and dad my dad wasn't a drunk that beat my mom and had a filthy mouth I learned it by going to the heathen would to God they were where they were wiped out of my heart and I didn't allow them in there to teach me and teach me and keep going back to them so number one repent and number two change your environment if you're stuck in the cycle and can't get help and can't get out of it and learn how to do this repent of your your problems your sins that get you in them and then change the environment clean it up and remove the things out of it these people here these Jews they they allowed sins to they they lived among the sinners and then learned their sins and the sinners taught God's people how to sin and there it is they fell right into it and it's the same reason certain men or women are stuck in some destructive cycles they'll get help but they won't ever change they won't ever clean up their life and they need to stay away from it
[32:30] Bible says in Proverbs 4 enter not into the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men avoid it pass not by it turn from it and pass away run he talks about it a few times like the bird from the hand of a flower flee like a deer the hunter flee you don't have to instruct them hey deer there's a couple hunters coming you better get ready they are ready they want to get out and the sinner is supposed to you and I are supposed to take heed to that and consider that's how we're to flee when the world steps up when the world shows up when temptation shows up and if you haven't figured out what's causing you to fall or the the reason for the reoccurrence of your sins and your stubbornness and then get on your face let God show you what it is repent of it and then remove it and change your environment clean it up now there's another thing that I notice in the cycle here some attributes of it's on the screen there at the top look at verse number 11 in chapter 3 after this judge
[33:52] Othniel shows up he's in verse 9 the Lord raised up a deliverer yep he sure did and he delivered him and in verse 11 the land had rest 40 years look at chapter 3 verse 30 after Ehud they go right back into the cycle and Ehud gets them out and in verse 30 Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel and the land had rest four score years but then there's chapter 4 verse 1 the children of Israel again did evil and after the judge is gone back down they go started over look at chapter 5 in verse 31 this is after Barak and after Deborah and you know JL she smites Sisera through the temples with the nail in the tent and she sings this song this prophetic song and comes to the very end of the last verse of chapter 5 it says so let all thine enemies perish O Lord but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might it says at the end and the land had rest 40 years and what do you know happens the very next verse and the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and now it's the Midianites that are coming up and it's Gideon going to be the one raised up in that one back down into the cycle more people more children being oppressed being raised in a land never knowing the goodness of God never knowing what it's like to go to church on Sunday morning because their parents got in a mess and fell into a cycle and then the kids are in a mess and somewhere along the lines if we could apply this
[35:56] God raises somebody up and the cycle shows up somewhere else but notice that the victories the deliverance that they enjoyed it was followed by rest it was followed by rest and they rested all the way up until they fell they fell every time the verse following it one or two says they did evil in the sight of the Lord now how could we get out of this cycle it was back in chapter 10 you don't need to turn back there but in chapter 10 where I got my first two thoughts from verse 15 and 16 it says the children of Israel said unto the Lord we have sinned do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee deliver us only we pray thee this day and then they put away the strange gods from among them and then the third thing it says and serve the Lord and serve the Lord and so they got rid of the sins they first repented and had a change of heart and mind about it and was ready to do what God wanted them to do and then they got rid of what they needed to get rid of and they cleaned up and changed that environment and then in that last passage in chapter 10 they serve the Lord and what's going to help you to get out of this cycle is thirdly is to be proactive that is that is to to take some preventative precautions do something that's right with yourself don't just get rid of the sin and then what there's a void in your life you're going to go right back to it so fill it with something that's right you know what they did with the law of the Lord we read that in Nehemiah they cast it behind their backs you know what happens when you repent you turn you know what's now in front of your face the law of the Lord again you're going to get back in the word of God that's going to keep you from the cycle get in the word of God you know what these Jews should have did in this time of their rest what they didn't do they should have built themselves up in worshipping God they'd have been a whole lot less apt to fall and follow and serve the gods of the nations around them if they would have built up their children and who the true God is and why we worship Him and what His word says about it they should have warned them about these other gods and about what the effects of this curse is what happened to their fathers and how God delivered them from it and instead of building them up in it they just rested just took it easy all the way up until they fell again they should have ingrained the culture in the word of God they'd be a much more strong much less apt to fall into being deceived and into the wickedness of the nations around them if they would know and were taught what that really is they wouldn't be so curious they wouldn't be so interested in checking it out but they didn't you know what else they should have did they should have as I said secondly changed it
[38:59] I mean should have wiped them out like they were supposed to in the beginning then they wouldn't be around to teach their kids and lure their kids in and just little by little reel them over to their side to where they end up dropping right back into it they need to be proactive take some positive action in your life this is a different thought here it's in 2nd Kings 17 I'm reminded of a king that when God turned his people over to the king of Assyria and he they were taken away captive the king put people in the land do you remember that they placed him in the land and they said king this is bad there's lions coming and attacking us because we don't know the ways of the God of the land and that was happening and so the king did something he took a priest just as one priest and he sent him there teach them the ways of the God of the land so that all this stops and that's what he did that king you know what he's doing he's kind of being proactive here he's trying to fix things by teaching them the way they should live that would appease this God now granted he's a pagan king that doesn't know the Lord and the thing was kind of a mess but that was the idea though it was right that's what these Jews should have did with their Levites should have been teaching all through the land set up Bible institutes make it a part of their government that the children learn the scriptures they don't graduate if they can't
[40:32] X, Y, and Z through this book quoting everything and knowing everything that's part of the culture they should have got it back into the culture they would have all known we don't go to those gods we're supposed to get rid of them if they saw Jebusites they should have thought you don't belong here you don't belong in this land this is our land given to our father Abraham by God Almighty you don't belong in here and if enough of them would have thought that way they'd have done something about it they weren't teaching it they weren't preaching it instead they were resting and that's when you're most likely to fall when you let your guard down it's at the top of the cycle it's easy up there you're at the top there's no it's not the bottom with all the weight and the sorrow and the crying it's at the top and that's the place it's easy to slip off of if you don't take the positive action the preventative measures they could have avoided by engaging in righteousness and getting connected to their word of God and to their preaching or their teaching priests they could have built that thing up to where it would have been strong but no no they just rested and that's where they fell instead of disciplining themselves to do right now I don't know what this looks like for you
[41:57] I don't know if this cycle is something you've experienced I don't know what it is the thing the sin I don't know it's probably different it probably looks different for most if not all of us it might be you need to delete some things that don't belong on your devices and the Lord will tell you the Lord showed me that I'm not going to describe anything to you it's none of your business but the Lord showed me that more than once in my life hey boy you're letting this keep you from this you're letting what's on your phone and certain things there which there's nothing wrong with it I can use it for good but you're letting it sin is getting in it's getting in through that thing that you're allowing and the Lord said no and I had to repent of it and I had to clean it up and delete it and say God help me I don't want to go that way I want you you may have to delete some stuff you may have to break off some things that are harmful for you whether it's relationships or whether it's family ties or things that are destructive things that are bringing sin into your life the Lord will show you that he'll reveal that to you unless you want to just keep doing that the rest of your life unless you just want to keep getting into that until the Lord says go cry to your other gods because I'm done picking you up out of this mess you might have to take some preventative messers you might have to say you know what no more sleeping in on Sunday morning no more never not this family
[43:52] I'm done making excuses once in a while oh I had a tough day yesterday I was out in the sun at the beach I got sunburned so I'll just let this go you could make a decision and say no I'm going to plant my feet where God wants me every single service you know what some of you won't do that you know why because you're stubborn that's why if you would pray about it you know what the Lord would tell you but you're stubborn I'm not talking about just getting delivered from the problems that come up in your life I'm talking about getting out of the cycle just getting out of it completely to where you can walk with God and you can experience his blessings and you can know him and when when there's sorrow in your heart when there's trouble in your life you just you trust him and you walk with him but if you're stuck in this cycle you're not just going to get out because you say
[44:55] God please he'll help you out he'll lift you up but you'll fall right back in it's not complicated this morning repent learn how to repent to repent you have to push that stubbornness down and just clear the whole slate and say God enough I'll take what you give me just what do you want me to do repent of the whole thing and then clean it up change the environment and replace it with righteousness take some positive actions get some goals to grow I'm talking about coming to church a second ago that's a great one that's a great decision that no matter what comes up in my life by the grace of God I'm going to do everything I can in my power to be in church and be on time and that's what I want to do because I believe it's right and somewhere along the way you'll have a trial you'll have you'll fall into sin on a Saturday and you'll just feel like nah no that's where that true repentance comes in and says
[46:03] I'm not letting this take me away from God and you get it right it's not complicated it's just going to take some work now in Joshua we studied how to get out of a mess this morning we're trying to show you how to get out of this cycle it's probably not for everybody but it might be for some it might be for some that aren't even here because they're in the mess they're in the cycle and that's on them but you are here and if you know what I'm talking about this morning or you can relate to this in any way or the Lord's kind of touching on something here then you're a fool if you just ignore it and walk away this is God's word to you to help you so humble yourself repent clean it up and then get walking with God get in the word of God and get connected to this local church and anything spiritual that you can get your hands on and replace all that other junk with what's right and if you could do that and decide that you'll get the strength to keep from falling but you don't want to fall into this rest it's okay it's all good
[47:18] I'll go to church when I feel like it I'm not really because you're on your way so there it is there's the message I guess I got to give my announcements I'll do that later Father I ask that you'll take these words you you you you you you you you