The Gibeonite Deception.

Steve Gentry

[0:09] We’ll go ahead and have a seat. [0:10] Welcome to Village Church. [0:11] This is your first time here. [0:12] My name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:14] And as always, I’m thankful and grateful [0:16] to see each and every one of you.

[0:18] If you have a Bible, go ahead and open it to Joshua, Chapter 9. [0:21] That’s where we will be this morning. [0:24] Every once in a while, you will come upon a narrative of scripture [0:27] where you might ask yourself, what in the world did I learn there? [0:32] I think Joshua 9 might fit that category [0:35] for some of the narratives of scripture.

[0:38] And so my hope is this is a helpful and edifying, [0:41] encouraging, even exhorting sermon for you so that you can begin to see [0:46] really how the narratives of scripture form the very lives that we live, [0:52] whether it be through a rebuke or whether it be through just an exhortation [0:56] to to carry on, to move on in the faith. [1:00] But last week, if you’ll remember, we saw Israel rebound

[1:03] from the sin of Aiken, where in obedience to God, they destroyed the city of A.I. [1:08] And really, once your sin is dealt with, the key that God wants you [1:13] to remember in life is that you need to move forward. [1:16] If you’ve been forgiven, there’s nothing holding you back from moving forward. [1:19] Are the promises of God are concerned? [1:21] You move forward in faith, you move forward in obedience,

[1:24] because God will always deliver on every one of his promises. [1:28] And it takes a real change of mind to believe that and to form your very life [1:33] around that we saw last week that faith and sin begin in the mind. [1:38] And so for Israel to advance against A.I., excuse me. [1:42] It took a mindset of trusting that God would deliver them victory in their pursuit. [1:48] And so the promises of God still require the effort of faithful people.

[1:52] God does not only determine the ends, but he also determines [1:55] the means by which those ends come. [1:58] And we saw through Aiken that sin can cost you in regards to the promises of God. [2:04] But now, as we move forward into Joshua, nine is going to present to us [2:07] a reality that God also plans for our righteous actions [2:12] and strategies to be used by him to deliver on every one of those promises.

[2:18] One of the biggest keys that you need to learn in life is that God uses wisdom [2:22] he uses strategy and he uses vigilance by his people [2:26] to actually deliver on his promises. [2:29] Therefore, because of that, it is not a Christian posture [2:32] to simply sit and wait for God’s will to be delivered into our lives. [2:37] We must be people of action.

[2:39] We must think through the decisions that we make. [2:41] We must think through our actions before they are produced in our lives [2:45] in order to ensure that they line up with what God has revealed [2:50] and what God wants to deliver into our lives. [2:53] So Joshua, chapter nine serves to me as a great example [2:56] of how the people of God can be lulled

[2:59] into a place of simply doing whatever seems easiest at the moment [3:05] rather than remaining vigilant and seeking God’s input [3:09] and the decisions that we make in our lives. [3:11] I just want to begin reading the first few verses of Joshua nine [3:15] says that as soon as all the kings who are beyond the Jordan [3:19] in the hill country and in the lowland all along the coast

[3:22] of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, the Hittites, the Amorites, [3:26] the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites [3:29] heard of this. [3:31] They gathered together as one to fight against Joshua and Israel. [3:36] But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard that what Joshua had done [3:40] to Jericho and to A.I., they on their part acted with cunning

[3:45] and went and made ready provisions and took worn out sacks [3:49] for their donkeys and wine skins worn out and torn and mended [3:53] with worn out patched sandals on their feet and worn out clothes. [3:57] And all their provisions were dry and crumbly. [4:00] And they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal [4:03] and said to him and to the men of Israel, we have come from a distant country.

[4:07] So now make a covenant with us. [4:11] Number one, this morning, I want you to understand that God’s promise [4:14] of victory requires strategy. [4:16] God’s promise of victory requires strategy. [4:20] There is a way that you can go about following Jesus, [4:23] where you get far too comfortable with what God has promised.

[4:27] You get far too comfortable with the blessings that God gives into your life. [4:30] You can get far too comfortable with what you experience, [4:34] whereas material blessings in your life are concerned. [4:36] But when you deal with the issue of building dynamic faith [4:40] and following Jesus, it’s important to remind ourselves [4:44] that when God promised Joshua that no one would be able to stand

[4:48] against Israel in Joshua, Chapter one, it was predicated on the reality [4:52] that people would try to stand against Israel throughout the entire conquest. [4:58] And such is the case that we see in the first few verses of Joshua, Chapter nine. [5:02] There’s now a coalition of kings that are going to come together [5:05] to try to stand against Israel. [5:07] They’ve seen a fall.

[5:09] They’ve seen Jericho fall. [5:10] And so now all of the kings of the region are coming together. [5:13] They’ve made a treaty with one another, and they are going to collectively act [5:17] as one in order to stand against the advance that Israel is making [5:21] on the promised land. [5:23] And so when you’re seeking to obey God, you need to understand that word often

[5:27] spreads, a word of success spreads, words of the blessing of God spreads. [5:32] And there are going to be people that are going to seek to stymie [5:37] your advance on the promises of God. [5:39] They’re going to seek to discourage you, whether it is that you’re seeking [5:42] to live an evangelistic lifestyle, whether it is that you’re seeking [5:45] to make disciples, whether it is that you’re trying to influence

[5:48] the culture around you for righteousness, whether you’re trying to raise a family [5:52] in the way that God intended for you to raise a family, [5:54] whether it is that you’re trying to repent of sin, [5:58] understand that you must realize that you’re going to face opposition [6:00] in every one of those things. [6:03] And how many times you remind yourself you’re rarely going to be ready

[6:06] for the opposition that you’re going to face. [6:08] You’re rarely going to be ready for the people that are going [6:10] to try to discourage you, the people that are going to vilify you, [6:13] the people that are going to mock you, the people [6:15] that are going to say all types of terrible things against you, [6:18] the nations in this category of Israel that might rise against you

[6:22] to seek to stop the conquest of God, but also understand [6:25] that you need to be prepared in all times that the enemy [6:28] Satan is always going to stand against the advancement [6:31] of the kingdom of God, not just for Israel, but in your life as well. [6:36] The modern world, let’s be honest, can lull you into a sense of comfort. [6:41] I think the problem that many people have is that you may believe that

[6:44] since you aren’t encountering resistance, everything is going great. [6:48] Everything’s easy. [6:50] There’s no difficulty in my life. [6:52] There’s no one standing against me in my life. [6:54] I’m not encountering a single bit of resistance in my life. [7:00] And you may be tempted to when you’re laying in bed at night, say,

[7:02] Oh, thank you, Lord, because you’ve blessed me with a lifestyle. [7:05] By which I face zero resistance. [7:07] But what you don’t understand is that God’s not blessing you with it. [7:10] You’re just not going anywhere.

[7:13] That resist, excuse me, that lack of resistance [7:15] may actually be a judgment of God in your life. [7:18] A lack of resistance in your life typically means you’re not growing. [7:24] You’re not getting anywhere. [7:26] There’s no forward movement. [7:28] You’re stagnant.

[7:31] The opposite of the blessing of God may be true in your life [7:34] because you will not encounter any resistance if you’re standing still. [7:41] If you’re not moving anywhere, you should expect there to be no resistance. [7:45] But here’s the deal. [7:46] If you’re not moving anywhere, you should expect to never advance on anything, [7:51] never grow in your life.

[7:53] And you become stagnant. [7:56] And my experience, stagnant people never take personal responsibility [7:59] for their own stagnancy. [8:01] You say, man, well, you know, maybe a leader needs to do something [8:04] more in my life because I’m stagnant and I’m stagnant [8:07] because of everyone else’s lack of involvement in my life.

[8:12] Friends, that’s not the reality. [8:14] The reason that you may feel that you’re not being led is because you’re not going [8:17] anywhere and they’re advancing without you. [8:20] They’re moving forward without you. [8:22] You might say, and I’ve heard this many times. [8:24] I’ve been criticized for this many times.

[8:26] I just feel so disconnected from leadership. [8:29] I can tell you why you’re disconnected, because we’re miles ahead of you [8:33] and we’re not waiting for you. [8:35] I can tell you where the kingdom of heaven is concerned. [8:37] I’m not going to wait for any of you to catch up. [8:40] I’m moving with God.

[8:42] So long as God is moving forward, that’s where I want to be. [8:45] That’s where I’m going to bring all the leaders of the church. [8:47] And we’re going to move with God. [8:49] So if you decide to stay stagnant miles behind where the movement of God is, [8:54] understand one thing for certain. [8:55] My response is, that’s not my problem.

[8:58] I’m not waiting. [9:00] I’m going where God’s going. [9:02] And so the answer for you is not to criticize those that are ahead of you. [9:07] The answer for you is to get your feet out of the mud and move with God. [9:13] Place some catch up. [9:14] It’s amazing how quickly the grace of God allows you to catch up

[9:19] when you’re stagnant. [9:20] God will move you a mile in a minute. [9:24] If you’ll simply look to him and say, Father, forgive me for my stagnancy. [9:28] Forgive me for lacking the faith that I needed to move forward with you. [9:33] The resistance, though, won’t always be physical. [9:38] It’s amazing to me that most of the resistance that I’ve faced in my life

[9:42] has not been physical in nature. [9:44] It’s been spiritual in nature. [9:46] I go with the Ephesians, Chapter six, says the apostle Paul writes, [9:49] and he says, finally, be strong in the Lord. [9:52] Now, it’s fascinating about this is [9:53] it’s very similar to what Joshua was told in Joshua one.

[9:56] And then again, last week in Joshua, Chapter eight, be strong [9:58] and courageous. [9:59] The apostle Paul says the same thing. [10:01] Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his mind, not your mind, [10:05] not what you can accomplish, not what you are capable of. [10:09] This is about reaching your potential.

[10:12] This is about the strength of the Lord. [10:13] He’s just put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand [10:17] against the schemes of the devil. [10:20] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, [10:23] against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present [10:26] darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

[10:31] The spiritual battle is not merely physical. [10:36] There’s an undergirding spiritual world that is at play [10:40] in the resistance, as well as the temptation that we’re going to face [10:44] every single day. [10:46] Understand there are cosmic and dark powers that will stand against you. [10:50] Therefore, to be lulled into a false sense of comfort, friends,

[10:54] that is a tool of the enemy to keep you from preparing [10:58] for the reality of battle that you will encounter when you follow Jesus Christ. [11:04] Some of the greatest spiritual warfare that I’ve seen [11:06] is the type of warfare that keeps you fat and happy. [11:10] Stand and still enjoying all of the gifts that God has given you, [11:14] not realizing that Romans chapter one warns us that the very gifts,

[11:18] the very blessings of this life that God gives us can very quickly [11:22] become our objects of worship. [11:25] And we worship the gifts rather than the gift giver. [11:29] Friend, remain vigilant and strategic in your life. [11:34] The command for Joshua and Israel to be strong and courageous [11:36] was not a one time command, nor was it a one time decision.

[11:42] It was a call to always be ready. [11:46] They needed to be vigilant. [11:47] They needed to be strategic in every decision that they made [11:51] as they obeyed God in the mission of conquest that he had called them into. [11:55] So many people want to live for God, [11:58] but you don’t want to think about living for God.

[12:02] You want it to be something that’s thoughtless. [12:04] You want it to be something that you don’t have to think through. [12:07] You want it to be a paint by numbers life. [12:10] But that is not the reality of the world that is cursed by sin all around us. [12:16] You must understand that everything requires thought. [12:19] You want to have a relationship with Jesus,

[12:22] but you don’t want to think through how that is going to impact your daily life. [12:29] Friends, living for God requires that you pay attention. [12:33] It requires that you think through your decisions. [12:37] It requires you to think through your actions. [12:39] It requires you to think through your reactions. [12:41] And it also requires you to be strategic

[12:46] in thinking through how all of the decisions [12:49] that you are going to make in your life, how they’re going to impact [12:53] your relationship with God, how they’re going to impact those around you, [12:58] how they are going to impact your growth, where the gospel is concerned. [13:02] And ultimately, how the decisions in your life [13:06] are going to impact the kingdom of heaven in this world.

[13:11] I know that so many of you think in life, you’re like, [13:15] oh, I’m nobody. [13:17] My decisions don’t matter. [13:20] My decisions don’t impact anybody else. [13:23] I mean, my decisions can’t possibly impact the kingdom of God, [13:28] to which I would say you downplay the role that God has called you to play

[13:32] where the gospel is concerned. [13:35] You downplay the role and the impact that you could have in the lives [13:38] of people around you. [13:40] You downplay the impact of what God has called you into where obedience is concerned. [13:45] If you are a follower of Jesus, there is no decision in your life [13:50] that doesn’t impact the kingdom of God,

[13:53] because that is what God has called us to grow in this world. [13:56] Look at what Jesus himself said in Matthew, chapter 10, verse 16. [14:00] He commanded that his followers. And I love this. [14:03] He says, be wise as serpents and innocent as does. [14:06] That’s the only positive thing that the Bible says about snakes. All right. [14:10] But we need to pay attention to it. Why?

[14:13] Because he says right there, he says, I am sending you out as sheep [14:16] in the midst of wolves. [14:19] It doesn’t sound comfortable, does it? [14:22] No, it sounds dangerous. [14:24] Sounds risky. [14:25] I don’t know if you know this, but sheep don’t put up much of a fight against wolves.

[14:29] They’re not prepared for battle. [14:32] They’re not armor ready. [14:34] And so you need to understand that what he’s telling you there is [14:36] you need to think through your life. [14:39] You need to think through what you’re doing. [14:41] You need to think through how you’re going to do it.

[14:43] You need to think through the impact that it’s going to have. [14:45] He says, yes, you need to be innocent as does. [14:48] And we are familiar with that if we spend any time in church. [14:52] Like, oh, we need to be righteous. [14:54] We need to repent of sin. [14:56] We need to seek purity in our lives.

[14:58] We need to seek holiness in our lives. [15:00] And Jesus says, yes, absolutely. [15:03] Innocent as does. [15:04] God hates sin, so he doesn’t want it in the lives of his followers. [15:09] So you need to seek a life by which you are becoming a holier over time. [15:13] But he says, don’t miss this.

[15:15] And this is the part that most of you miss.

[15:19] As wise as serpents, because you can’t imagine how the two of those work together. [15:24] I’ll tell you how they work together. [15:25] And we’re about to see it in the text. [15:27] He’s telling Israel, you need to be cunning in your strategy, [15:32] just like he’s telling us. [15:33] You need to be cunning in the strategy that you use in your life.

[15:39] This is what happens starting in verse seven. [15:43] So the Gibeonites have come up with a plan, haven’t they? [15:46] Bunch of liars. [15:49] It’s kind of like that guy on the corner with the sign that half of you fall for. [15:53] He’s going to be out in front of Walmart on Melothian today. [15:55] If you go out that way, I tell you, he’s going to have all these rags on.

[15:58] My son took me out to lunch for my birthday. [16:01] He’s a very, very giving. [16:02] I know it was for Father’s Day. [16:03] They all run together at this point in my age. [16:05] But for Father’s Day, he took me out for lunch and he took me to my favorite. [16:08] My second favorite restaurant, because I’m so classy.

[16:11] My second favorite restaurant is Taco Bell. [16:14] All right. [16:15] McDonald’s is always going to be number one in my heart. [16:17] It’s the only restaurant I’ve been to that has tasted the same for 40 years. [16:22] I’m what I tell you, what a blessing of God. [16:24] They figured it out.

[16:26] They got in the lab, created fake meat, and I tell you, [16:29] it tastes just like a real cow. I love it. [16:31] Love it. I mean, every if I have McDonald’s every day, I’d die happy. [16:34] I would die quick, but I’d die happy. All right.

[16:38] But so my son knows my love language. [16:40] He took me to Taco Bell. [16:41] We’re sitting in Taco Bell. [16:42] And of course, there’s there’s a gentleman with, you know, [16:45] he’s got ratty clothes on. [16:47] He’s got holes in his T-shirt.

[16:48] Jeans all ripped up. [16:50] You know, shoes look like he wore them back in World War One. [16:54] All right. I mean, it’s just rough looking. [16:56] And I’ll kid you not, we watch this man. [16:59] We’re sitting there eating just a manna from heaven. [17:02] All right.

[17:03] And this man walks up, gets into a car much newer than mine [17:07] and drives away. [17:10] That’s the Gibeonite deception. [17:12] The Gibeonite said, we need to look like we are road worn. [17:17] We need to look like we’ve been traveling a long way. [17:20] So rip your clothes up a little bit.

[17:22] Don’t grab the new wine skins. Grab the old wine skins. [17:25] We need to wear shoes that are from two seasons ago [17:28] that are covered with playground mud. [17:31] We need to look like we are homeless travelers. [17:34] And they go to Joshua and they say, we are from a distant country. [17:40] Make a treaty with us.

[17:43] Friends, you need to understand number two this morning. [17:46] You need to trust God more than you trust your wisdom. [17:49] Look in verse seven and verse seven and following, it says, [17:53] but the men of Israel said to the Hivites, [17:55] because that’s the region that Gibeon was in, [17:57] perhaps you live among us.

[18:00] Then how can we make a covenant with you? [18:02] In other words, they question it. [18:04] They say, are you telling the truth here? [18:07] And they said to Joshua, we are your servants. [18:09] And Joshua said to them, who are you and where do you come from? [18:13] And they said to him, from a distant country, your servants have come

[18:16] because of the name of the Lord, your God, for we have heard a report of him [18:21] and all that he did in Egypt and all that he did to the two kings [18:25] of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to see on the king of Heshban [18:29] and Og, the king of Bashan, who lived in the Ashtar off. [18:33] So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country said to us, [18:37] take provisions in your hand for the journey and go to meet them

[18:40] and say to them, we’re your servants. [18:42] Come now, make a covenant with us. [18:46] Here is our bread. [18:46] It was still warm when we took it from our houses. [18:49] I mean, they laid it on thick as our food for the journey. [18:52] On the day we set out to come to you.

[18:55] But now, behold, is dry and crumbly. [18:57] These wine skins were new when we filled them. [19:00] And behold, they have burst. [19:02] And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey. [19:07] So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. [19:12] Underline that.

[19:14] But did not ask counsel from the Lord. [19:19] And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them [19:22] to let them live. [19:23] And the leaders of the congregations swore to them.

[19:29] I don’t know if you figured this out, [19:31] because I’ve seen so many people that haven’t figured it out. [19:35] You’re going to be lied to in life. [19:38] You’re going to be deceived in this life. [19:42] If you sit there and you’re like, well, no one’s ever lied to me. [19:45] Oh, honey.

[19:47] Oh, buddy, somebody’s lying to you right now is the greatest chance. [19:52] You’re naive, you’re gullible. [19:54] People are deceptive. [19:56] The default mode of the corruption of sin in human existence [20:00] forces some people into a place where they believe [20:04] that deception is better than honesty,

[20:08] that lies are more powerful than truth, [20:11] that to get the things that they want in this life, [20:14] that they must deceive those people around them. [20:17] And that is exactly the tool of the enemy that the Gibeonites fell for. [20:21] And that is exactly what happened to Israel in this instance. [20:27] Friends, I will tell you,

[20:29] the clearest discernment in life is always going to be God’s word. [20:34] You always make decisions according to God’s word, [20:37] and you will always be in truth. [20:39] But here’s the other key. [20:40] You will always be more perceptive [20:44] with your mind saturated in God’s word than without your mind

[20:48] saturated in God’s word. [20:49] Do you want to live a life where you’re going to be duped [20:51] by a lot of false teaching? [20:53] Don’t saturate your mind with the Bible and you won’t know truth from error. [20:57] But the reality is that what Gibeon was actually taking advantage of. [21:02] Now, the Bible is silent on this,

[21:04] but the Gibeonites seem to have formed a strategy. [21:08] The text is already told us they were cunning people. [21:10] They’ve taken a strategy where they’re actually deceiving Israel [21:15] to use the law of God against Israel. [21:17] What do I mean by that? [21:18] Well, Moses told them in Deuteronomy 20, verse 10,

[21:21] when you draw near to a city to fight against it, [21:25] offer terms of peace to it. [21:28] Now, there’s a qualification to that. [21:31] And a lot of people, this is the problem that a lot of people have with Bible study. [21:34] You treat verses as though they are islands to themselves. [21:38] All right. Well, you got to read the context of what’s going on all around it,

[21:41] because that text is qualified starting down in verse 15 in Deuteronomy 20, [21:46] starting in verse 15, it says, thus you shall do to all the cities that are what? [21:51] Very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here, [21:56] but in the cities of these people that the Lord your God is giving you [22:00] for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes. [22:06] So this offer of a peace treaty was not to be made to anyone in the promised land.

[22:12] It was only to be made in people that they came into contact [22:14] with outside of the promised land to be a peaceful nation. [22:19] And so what the Gibeonites did was they made it look like, oh, we’re from really, really far away. [22:25] I don’t know if the law of God had made it to Gibeon at that time. [22:28] But basically what they’re saying is, don’t you have to make a peace treaty with us? [22:33] Says we are from a distant country.

[22:35] The only option, though, for the Gibeonites, [22:38] where Israel was concerned was total annihilation. [22:41] The Gibeonites did not qualify for what was going on in Deuteronomy, Chapter 20, verse 10. [22:47] The narrative does not reveal if they knew this, but that’s the strategy that they had. [22:51] But of important notice, though, is what I told you to underline [22:55] how Israel went about making the decision

[22:59] that they were going to offer a peace treaty to the people of Gibeon. [23:04] Verse 14 states clearly, they did not ask counsel from the Lord. [23:09] Now, why is that so important? [23:12] Why is that so vital? [23:14] Because you might be saying yourself, well, I make a thousand decisions a day [23:17] that I don’t seek the counsel of the Lord for.

[23:19] And that’s why you’re in the mess you’re in. [23:22] That’s why your life is as chaotic as it is. [23:24] Why you’re so overwhelmed with anxiety the way that you are. [23:28] Numbers, Chapter 27, verse 21 states [23:31] that a special revelation was available [23:35] to Israel in circumstances like this. Look what it says.

[23:38] Says he shall stand before Eliezer, the priest, [23:41] who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim [23:45] before the Lord at his word, they shall go out [23:50] and at his word, they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel [23:54] with him, the whole congregation. [23:57] Joshua had available the special revelation of the Lord

[24:01] to see whether or not the Gibeonites were telling the truth. [24:04] Now, be honest, you don’t have the Urim available to you any longer, friends. [24:08] But God did make it available to them. [24:11] And so what did they do that was so wrong here? [24:15] They became prideful. [24:17] And when you make decisions

[24:20] without going to the revelation of God that is available to you, [24:26] every one of those decisions is made outside of faith. [24:31] That’s why the Book of Romans is so clear in Romans 14, I think, [24:35] where it says anything that you do [24:38] that is not by faith is a sin unto you. [24:42] Because when you cease to understand

[24:45] that everything comes out of a life of faith for the follower of Jesus Christ, [24:51] then you are getting into a lifestyle [24:53] where you are making decisions out of pride because you think you are smart enough. [24:58] You think you are wise enough. [25:00] You think you’ve got this. [25:01] You think you’ve moved past the need to consult the Lord.

[25:05] You think that you are so wise that God is just going to bless [25:09] every decision that you make.

[25:13] Friend, don’t do it. [25:15] The clearest discernment in life [25:18] is always available from the sources that God provides.

[25:24] Never trust yourself more than you trust God. [25:28] Every moment of sin in your life, do you realize that it’s you saying, [25:31] I trust myself more than I trust God? [25:34] Every time you just follow whatever feeling comes natural to you, [25:38] when God has clearly said, don’t do that, it’s you saying, [25:41] I trust myself more than I trust God.

[25:44] This is another reason why we implore you here over and over [25:48] to saturate your mind with the word of God. [25:51] The reason for that is because he has made it available to us [25:55] so that we can have the discernment [25:58] from the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. [26:01] I think so many of us, we miss the way that the work of the Spirit

[26:05] actually works in our lives, and we treat it as though [26:08] it’s some kind of magical power that God gives us [26:11] or without the word of God, we just say, Holy Spirit, what do I do? [26:16] And he’s going to give us an indicator light as to which way we should go. [26:20] It’s not the way that it works at all. [26:22] If you want the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, you need this.

[26:25] Both John 14 and in John 16, Jesus Christ himself said, [26:29] he says, I’ve got to go, because if I go, someone better than I is going to come. [26:33] That’s the Holy Spirit. [26:34] But he says, once the Holy Spirit comes, he will bring to remembrance [26:38] everything that I have taught you. [26:40] What has Jesus taught? He’s taught his word.

[26:44] How will the Holy Spirit remind you of anything? [26:46] If you’re not saturating your life with the word of God, [26:49] you were not meant understand this. [26:53] You were not meant by God to solely trust your gut instinct. [26:59] Some of you have great gut instincts, [27:02] but the enemy is going to use that against you at some point.

[27:05] If you’re not saturating your gut instinct with the word of God. [27:08] So a spiritual warfare works, friends. [27:10] Too many people claim that they have discernment from God, [27:14] but it is nothing more than a prideful venture [27:18] in claiming that the thoughts that you have in your own prideful mind [27:23] are the very words of God.

[27:26] It always amazes me when people tell me that they have a word from God. [27:29] How much God sounds like you.

[27:33] But you need to be careful of that. [27:35] I’m not saying God doesn’t give some people more sense that he gives other people. [27:40] I mean, go on the Internet, just type in Darwin Awards. [27:43] God does give some people obviously more sense than he gives other people. [27:49] You can see that on fail army on YouTube. [27:52] Some people just don’t have any sense.

[27:55] But that type of common sense is insufficient [28:01] in living a life of faith for God. [28:04] That’s why when anyone tells you they have a word from the Lord. [28:08] And boy, they tell me that a lot. [28:11] You know what your response needs to be? [28:13] OK, what Bible verses that.

[28:16] Because if God gives you a word, I want you to understand [28:19] that word is going to match the scriptures. [28:23] God isn’t giving new revelation. [28:25] We’re not tacking anything on to the Book of Revelation. [28:28] All right. It’s sealed. [28:30] It’s done when God gives his people a move, when the Holy Spirit

[28:34] gives you a prompting, understand that it will always match the word of God. [28:40] And so when you don’t saturate your mind with the word of God, [28:45] how are you going to know that that prompting is from the Holy Spirit? [28:49] And how are you going to know if that prompting is from the enemy [28:52] seeking influence in a foothold in your life? [28:56] You won’t. You won’t.

[28:59] You need to be careful that it is actually the voice of the spirit. [29:04] And in this culture, be very careful that you are not [29:08] listening to the influence of the demonic. [29:11] God speaks through his word. [29:15] It isn’t an arbitrary adventure in guessing [29:18] whether it’s the spirit or whether you just ate some bad guacamole

[29:22] last night, friends. [29:24] God wants us to be people of the word, [29:27] because that is the avenue through which he gives us discernment. [29:32] Proverbs, chapter three is one of the most quoted sections of scripture, [29:37] but it is rarely applied. [29:39] I’ve seen people make an absolute mess of their lives.

[29:42] And they say, my life versus Proverbs three, five and six. [29:45] And I say, please don’t do that to God. [29:47] It’s obviously not. [29:48] The text says, trust in the Lord with all your heart. [29:51] Do not lean on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him. [29:56] And he will make straight your paths.

[29:58] But add on verse seven, be not wise in your own eyes. [30:04] Fear the Lord. [30:06] Turn away from evil. [30:08] Verse seven puts verses five and six, I think, in a much better perspective. [30:14] This is about submitting your life to the leadership of God in your life. [30:19] Friends, seek God by prayerfully

[30:22] saturating your mind with scripture. [30:25] That is how the spirit reveals himself to us. [30:28] That is where his promptings are. [30:30] Too many times you ask God to speak and then you just sit there. [30:35] The spirit is saying, open the book. [30:38] Be not wise in your own eyes.

[30:41] God will lead you down paths of righteousness, [30:45] but you must not put your voice in God’s mouth. [30:50] He has spoken, therefore go to his word. [30:54] If Israel had taken the time [30:58] to go before the presence of God, [31:00] they would have made a wiser decision.

[31:04] They would have avoided the deception of Gideon. [31:09] But friend, when you won’t humble yourself to receive direction from God, [31:14] you will go down roads that God does not intend you to go. [31:18] And you may even go down that road saying the Lord’s leading me here [31:22] because you believe a lie. [31:25] It’s the enemy that is leading you down the road

[31:27] that is away from God’s direction. [31:30] There’s always going to be a price to pay when you put your ego [31:35] in front of submission to God. [31:39] Humble yourselves, friend. [31:41] Don’t trust your own mind. [31:44] But number three, this morning, understand grace should never be an excuse,

[31:49] but always a comfort. [31:51] Grace should never be an excuse, but always a comfort. [31:56] God’s grace is greater than our foolishness, [31:59] and I praise him for that every single day. [32:02] Look down in verse 16. [32:04] At the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them,

[32:09] they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them. [32:14] It’s one of the most fascinating things about life. [32:17] Your lies will come out. [32:20] Your lies will come out. [32:21] I don’t know how their lies came out, but it says that after three days [32:25] and so Israel’s advancing on Canaan, they’re walking in the promise.

[32:31] They’re probably getting a little bit closer to Gibyan. [32:33] And one of those foreigners from a distant country might have said, [32:38] Hey, guys, you want to come over to my house for dinner? [32:40] Wait a second.

[32:43] As may have said, I recognize this. [32:46] You know, you need to turn left. [32:47] Don’t turn right. How do you know where to go? [32:49] I don’t know how the deception came out. [32:52] But friends, it came out and now Israel looks foolish. [32:57] Do you want to know why people sometimes look foolish?

[33:00] It’s pretty simple math equation. [33:01] The foolish tend to look foolish. [33:03] All right. They look foolish because they were foolish. [33:07] Israel’s not the hero of this story. [33:10] Gibyan’s not the hero of this story. Keep reading. [33:14] The text says verse 17, and the people of Israel set out

[33:16] and reached their cities on the third day. [33:19] Now, their cities were Gibyan, Cheperah, Beiroth, Kiryath, Jerim. [33:24] But the people of Israel did not attack them [33:27] because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, [33:30] the God of Israel. [33:32] Then all the congregation murmured against the leaders.

[33:35] But all the leaders said to all the congregation, [33:38] we’ve sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. [33:41] And now we may not touch them. This. [33:45] Excuse me. This we will do to them. [33:47] Let them live. [33:48] Lest the wrath be upon us because of the oath that we swore to them.

[33:53] And the leaders said to them, let them live. [33:55] So they became cutters of wood, drawers of water for all the congregation. [33:59] Just as the leaders said, said to them, Joshua summoned them. [34:02] And he said to them, why did you deceive us, saying, [34:06] we are very far from you when you dwell among us. [34:10] Now, therefore, you are cursed, and some of you shall never be anything

[34:14] but servants, cutters of wood, drawers of water for the house of my God. [34:21] As I said, lies never last. [34:24] I know someone thinks in this room that they’re you’re the exception to the rule. [34:28] Your life is full of lies. [34:30] You deceive people all the time and you’re like, it’s working out for me. [34:34] But understand, that’s always temporary.

[34:37] Eventually, your lies will become like rotten milk, [34:41] just sour to the taste. [34:44] Friends, lies are always uncovered. [34:47] And even if you are able to deceive people, you are not deceiving God. [34:53] You will stand in judgment for your lies. [34:56] And such is the case with Gibyanites, the Gibyanite deception.

[34:59] Once they got close, the lies came out. [35:03] And because of integrity, Israel had sworn by God. [35:07] That’s why you should be very careful. [35:09] The commitments that you make in life. [35:12] Never give a commitment to anything easily, [35:16] because some of you make yourselves a liar

[35:19] because you don’t want to tell somebody you’re not going to do something. [35:23] Don’t commit. [35:24] I rarely commit to anything, keeps me honest.

[35:28] And you need to be careful of what you commit to, who you commit to. [35:33] Only commit to something that you are going to honor. [35:38] But once you’ve committed, honor your commitments. [35:43] And Israel and their integrity, they honor the commitment. [35:46] They’re not going to attack the Gibyanites as they should have [35:49] because they were deceived.

[35:52] But understand, God’s judgment on the Gibyanites was clear.

[35:58] They got the land. Israel did. [36:01] The Gibyanites lost everything. [36:04] Entire people cursed to slavery by God forever. [36:08] Because of the lie that they gave to Israel. [36:12] This is another narrative that reveals God to be the hero of the story. [36:17] Israel is not the hero.

[36:18] The Gibyanites are not the hero. [36:21] God is the hero. [36:23] Israel still gets the land because God is gracious to Israel. [36:28] They sinned against God, excuse me, by not seeking his presence [36:33] in the decision making process. [36:35] Yet God was gracious that they continued on conquest

[36:39] with the Gibyanites as servants. [36:41] Friends, many times I’ve considered the foolish decisions [36:44] and the mistakes and the actions that I have made. [36:48] Yet God has forgiven me. [36:50] Yet God continues to bless me. [36:53] Yet God continues to use me

[36:55] because of God’s grace towards me in the gospel. [37:00] I praise God for his grace towards me every single day. [37:03] He continues to be gracious [37:06] through all of my failures and mistakes. [37:09] And I’ll tell you, that’s a comfort. [37:11] That’s why I say God’s grace must be a comfort to you.

[37:15] If God’s grace is not a comfort to you, then friends, [37:18] you don’t have faith in Jesus Christ. [37:20] If you don’t realize what you deserve versus what God has given in his grace, [37:25] you’re not thinking through what forgiveness really is all about. [37:29] You’re not thinking through the hell that you deserve [37:31] from the heaven that God has promised.

[37:34] You’re not thinking through the turmoil [37:36] that sin should give you in your life and the anxiety relieving [37:41] reality of what a reconciled relationship with God is all about. [37:46] God is gracious to his people, [37:50] and it should be a soft pillow for you to sleep on at night, [37:56] that you are a forgiven and you are a freed person

[37:59] that is indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. [38:02] And you don’t deserve his promptings and his leadings in life. [38:06] But he gives it anyway.

[38:11] But the comfort of God’s grace [38:14] must never become an excuse [38:19] to sin and fail in life. [38:23] And that is what it becomes for many people. [38:26] You need to look at the scriptures to see what grace is meant [38:30] to give you and to turn you to in your life.

[38:35] What should the grace of God in this specific instance to Israel? [38:39] What should it have turned them to do? [38:43] Well, we’re never going to do that again. [38:45] That’s what it should have done. [38:47] Should have said, we made a decision without God, [38:49] and now we are stuck with all of these people.

[38:53] Next time, we need to seek the counsel of God [38:56] before we make a bad decision like that. [38:59] But friends, so you need to do in your life. [39:02] There are times, though, that we are tempted to use God’s grace [39:06] in our temptation to sin. [39:09] There are times when we will look at the temptation to sin and say,

[39:13] well, God is gracious, so it doesn’t matter what I do. [39:17] I can sin against God, and he’s just going to forgive me again. [39:20] I can do the wrong thing. [39:22] I can be a bad steward of all the resources that God has given me. [39:25] I can make bad decision after bad decision after bad decision. [39:29] Blessing of God.

[39:30] That’s the way grace works, right? [39:32] No, that is not that is sinning on top of sin. [39:37] And you have given yourself then a sinful comfort on top of all of it. [39:41] You don’t want to do that. [39:43] Roman six warns us that in the renewed mind in Christ, [39:47] we must not use God’s grace as an excuse to sin.

[39:50] Here’s what it says. [39:51] It says, what shall we say then? [39:53] Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound by no means? [39:58] By no means. [39:59] How can we who died to sin still live in it? [40:02] We have a new life.

[40:03] We repent rather than continue in sinful states. [40:07] God’s grace for Israel was to push them on in conquest, [40:10] and it is the same for you. [40:12] Your conquest is not over the promised land. [40:15] It’s not a physical realm right now. [40:17] Your conquest is over sin and for the world around you to come to faith in Christ.

[40:23] But when you accept sin, friends, you curse yourself [40:27] to never being a part of the kingdom of heaven. [40:31] For like we pointed out last week, a continual pattern of sin [40:35] in your life reveals that you are no follower of Jesus at all. [40:39] Grace must propel you to a life of obedience. [40:44] It must not pacify you into a life of sin.

[40:49] Therefore, friends, let the grace of God propel you [40:53] into a life of following Christ, [40:56] because that’s what it’s meant to do. [40:58] A few application points this morning. [41:01] Be on alert for the deception of the enemy. [41:03] Be on alert for it. Look out for it.

[41:06] Be weary of it. [41:08] Friends, it happens more than you think it’s going to happen in your life. [41:11] It’s not just people trying to deceive you. [41:14] It’s Satan seeking to deceive you. [41:18] Secondly, constantly strategize with the wisdom God provides. [41:22] This is a vital element of your discipleship

[41:24] that many of you are not thinking through. [41:27] You think you’re just going to naturally by some type of osmosis [41:31] grow in your discipleship. [41:33] Now you have to choose to grow. [41:35] You have to choose to enter into environments of growth. [41:38] You have to choose to repent of sin.

[41:39] You have to think through and strategize. [41:42] Where can I put myself in life that’s going to give me greater growth [41:45] than other areas will? [41:47] And then you need to pursue those areas. [41:49] Number three, beware of trusting your own thoughts over God. [41:54] How can you tell the difference between indigestion and the power of the spirit?

[41:58] The scriptures, the word of God. [42:00] It’s amazing how clear minded you can be [42:03] when you saturate yourself with the Bible. [42:06] And then fourthly, weaponize God’s grace. [42:09] To live his mission faithfully. [42:13] Weaponize God’s grace.

[42:15] Understand that it is meant to lead you somewhere. [42:18] It has been to spark a new life in you. [42:21] It is meant to transform you. [42:23] Therefore, let God’s goodness and his grace [42:26] urge you on to the potential that God has put into you [42:31] to live his mission.