SERMON SPOTLIGHT * 11/12/23

We’re not advancing the narrative chronologically today. Instead, our text parallels what we have already seen, focusing on the five-alarm emergency of Israel’s spiritual condition. While finding anything to smile about here is hard, we will find something if we look close enough. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 2:6-3:6
TITLE: My Sin, God’s Mercy, And Everyday Life
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

POINTS:
1. Faith Matters
2. Sin Is Serious
3. God Is Merciful

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”The author begins by providing a contrast. The details of Joshua’s death and burial are essential. In 7, we learn how God’s people thrived spiritually under Joshua’s faithful, God-centered leadership. Then, in 9, the author tells us Joshua was buried in his promised inheritance. The point is that God rewards the faithful.”

“Amid difficulty and crisis, Joshua was faithful to God personally and in his leadership. And God rewarded him. But it’s a new era in Israel. An entire generation did know the Lord and what He had done for them.”

“Not knowing isn’t innocent ignorance or memory loss. They had been taught of God’s love, holiness, and faithfulness. They had been taught about Egypt, the Red Sea, and crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land. They just didn’t care. They had no regard for God. They weren’t atheists—they were agnostic.”

“Our faith matters. The Israelites had all the knowledge in the world about God. But knowledge saves no one. The demons know exactly who God and Christ are—they are still demons. Faith in Jesus is everything. Without it, you have nothing. That’s not to say our hope is in our faith. Our hope is the object of our faith, Jesus—He alone saves. But faith is the God-ordained conduit by which we receive the gospel's life, blessings, and promises.” 

“The author could have simply said—They did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. But he is hammering away at, in a word—Idolatry. …They didn’t combat the culture around them. Instead of evangelizing, they assimilated. Instead of being an influence, they were influenced. Their loyalty was horizontal, not vertical. Now, they don’t look like God’s people. They look like Canaanites.”

“We may not be joining ourselves to sacred prostitutes, but as John Calvin famously put it—Our hearts are idol factories. An idol is whatever you allow to become more significant in your life than God. I need IT for happiness. I want IT for status. I have to have IT for sanity. Whatever IT is, even if IT is something good—family, leisure, marriage, children, convenience, godly reputation, health—if you want IT more than God—that will be evident in your priorities—if you are willing to sin because you don’t get IT or to get IT, IT is an idol. Idolatry is loyalty to self and this world. Idolatry is sin. The sin of idolatry is with us every day!”

“Be assured that the penalty of sin was paid at the cross. Be assured that the power of sin was defeated in the resurrection. But be equally assured that sin is still present and powerfully deceptive. If we ignore it, like Israel, our hearts will be hardened as we spiral downward spiritually.” 

“Was this an overreaction by God? I thought God was always faithful to His people? He is—read verse 15. God’s anger is an expression of His faithfulness. It’s a faithful anger. Israel was not innocent. God is doing exactly what He promised to do so many times in the past. …God’s anger is an expression of His holy love.”

“Astonishing! Discipline—Yes! Abandon—No! God is faithful. He is a covenant-keeping God. And despite Israel’s utter failures, God was merciful. God, who rightly casts Israel down, lifted them up! Through individual stories and as one BIG story, this is how Judges reveals the gospel to us. It points us to one who would do what no earthly judge could do.”

“God disciplines those He loves. He knew what Israel needed. But He was merciful through it all. He sent judges to save them. He was longsuffering with them. He loved them with an undying love to restore them as His covenant people.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 3:12-13
Deuteronomy 28:25
Leviticus 26:17

QUOTES:
Dale Ralph Davis - “Love divine is not soft laxity but blazing intolerance and absolute claim. Such is the God of Israel whose jealous love makes him faithful in his anger toward you. Who ever heard of love and fidelity like that?”