(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

You can't figure it out, but what happened is that it's getting too much air, or the look versus the minds that are, you know, they're just having energy. No, but I have one feeling that the energy is going to be playing out in front of the microphone. There they are. Look at that. They've got the pan. How was it? Good. Was it hot? You made hot? Yeah. Nice. Paul, can I have your whole bag? Shoot, this is my weak point. Chocolate. Thanks, brother. Hey, how are you doing, brother? How are you doing? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How are you doing, brother? How in the world can somebody go to church for one, two, three, four, five, 20 years and not tell you the most basic thing in the entire Bible, which is how to be saved, how to not go to hell? How is that possible? Well, it's possible because most so-called pastors or preachers today have a rent-a-priest mentality. If the deal's better over here, they'll go over here. If it's better over there, they'll go over there. And so what does the Bible say about those types of people? There's a word used. Jesus used it. We're going to look at it later. Hirelings. That's what they are. They are hirelings. Nobody wants to be referred to like that. So you have to have enough knowledge and understanding to be able to discern their behavior, to be able to identify that they are hirelings. That's literally the behavior that this Levite is showing us because they're supposed to be teaching the Word of God. And what's he doing? He's just bouncing around. You know, I'll leave Bethlehem, Judah. I'm going to go over here to Ephraim and see if the deal's better over here. Yeah, I got a good deal. And then, you know, a better deal comes along. I'll just go over here and I'll be with you guys because you're in larger in number. And so that breeds an attitude, which this attitude is very prevalent in chapter 17, 18, really throughout the rest of the book. This attitude is very prevalent in our society today, more so than any other time in the nation's history. And that is this. And I'm going to say this a few times this morning. It's not what you can get out of God, but it's what God should get out of you. This is the big problem that we face today. People have this attitude and they come and they visit churches like ours and they are here for one purpose and one purpose only. And that is to see what this place can give them. Well, you don't have the guitar. You don't have the drums. You don't have the smoke machines. You don't have a K through five program. You don't have a big, large steeple. You don't have a large enough kitchen. You don't have ushers. You don't have this. You know, and that turns them off. And that is a deal breaker oftentimes to these people. But what do we have? We have the word of God preached. We have a congregation of people that are saved, that believe the word of God, that actively edify one another, that actively go out into the community and preach the gospel to the lost. We have opportunities for people to give back and to serve God. He is God. We are the servants. I mean, that's how it's supposed to be. But what happens? People come in here and it's always like this two, three weeks later because they know it's a small church and they don't want to email right away. So email two, three weeks later or a month later. Hey, you know, hey, Pastor, I just want to let you know, I came to visit. You know, I really like the teaching. You know, I learned a lot. I've listened to a few things online, but man, you know, there's just not enough instruments. You know, I really just want to just just kind of help your ministry grow. You should, you know, bring in drums. You should just maybe open up to some of the modern versions. Have you ever heard of this pastor over here on Eagle and Franklin? You should invite him because he's really well known in the area and it's just a long laundry list of things that I should do to attract people. And but you see, the problem is with that mentality is that it's not about what you can get out of God. And that's what these people want. They want what can God do for me? Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. That is what they want. What can you give me constantly over and over and over again? And if you ever slip up and don't praise them for something, don't thank them for something. Oh, you better watch out because the knives are coming and they're coming for your back. It's sad. It's tragic. But you know what? As a preacher and as a congregation, I think we can all realize, hey, if that's your attitude, you're probably better off over there at places that will placate you, places that will feed you with what you want to hear, what you want to see and what you want to experience. Now, this is true. What I'm about to say is true. People will come back to a church because of how we made them feel. But here's the thing. Everybody who's come in here as of the last year and a half as a visitor, no one has emailed me and said that people were rude, which was a constant thing, a constant thing that I used to get. We don't get that anymore. And I praise God for that and I thank God for that. But this attitude is just very dangerous that's out there today. And you guys all hear it because you tell me. You knock on somebody's door and they're like, well, I'd like to come. And then I hear. Like, I'll be on one stairwell and I'll hear, well, does your church do this? Does your church give sushi rolls out after the service? You know, do you have a coffee shop? It's like we have free coffee. We have free stuff all the time. But that's not good enough. People want that elaborate, you know, singled out coffee shop with a pretty barista. That's serious. That's what they want. That's what they want. And they're willing to pay for it. Isn't that ironic? I mean, think about how ironic that is, right? Everything in our church is free. The gospel's free. All those clothes back there are free. If you want a hymnal, I'll give it to you for free. We'll give you a free Bible. We'll give you free anything. All sorts of stuff are free. Just don't take the camera. That's expensive, you know, on the internet. But you tell people, hey, we don't even charge people for the smallest things, like water and coffee. But you don't have this. But you don't have Starbucks. But you don't have, you know, these programs that we can, you know, buy into, and you don't have a school. They just want to pay for things that make them feel good. Isn't that crazy? It's like, what in the world? I've been to churches where they charge you for water. I have been to independent, fundamental Baptist churches that charge you for a bottle of water. We don't even do that. And people are like, well, that's really nice and all, but it'd really be better if, you know, I could just get something elaborate. It's crazy. But it's just this attitude, man. It really is true. It's not about what you can get out of God. It's what God should get out of us. He did all the hard work. We're grafted in. We're saved, right? What can we do to help other people see that truth? What can we do to give back? What can we do to serve? That is how we should be. That is not what you see, though, in Judges 17 and Judges 18 and throughout the rest of the chapter. And it's a very dangerous attitude to have. So let's break this down here. Judges 17. Now let's look at verse number one. So the Bible says, And there was a man of Mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah. And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from me, about which thou cursed and spakest of also in my ears. Behold, the silver is with me. I took it. OK, so, you know, a really interesting thing here is this eleven hundred pieces of silver. Eleven hundred shekels of silver. We read about that last week. Remember, that's what the five lords of the Philistines had offered every one of them to Samson's wife if she would find out the secrets of the strength. And I don't know what the significance of that. I'm not going to say this is part of that. It could just, well, actually, you know, if you do study the number eleven in the Bible, you'll find this to be true. In the positive note, OK, eleven, like, I mean, the eleventh hour, right? It's like a positive ending to something. But a lot of times it's like the negative destruction to something. So I don't know if there's something to that there. Definitely a good study for another day. But the thing here is this guy stole this eleven hundred shekels of silver. And then he hears his mom curse, right? So she's not saying four letter words. She's basically, you know, giving out a curse for whoever stole this. Like, I hope they die. I hope they burn in hell. You know, things like that, like a real curse. OK, and so this guy's like, whoa, sounds pretty serious. And so he makes a confession. He says, you know, hey, mom, you know that money that you're out here, you know, cursing? Well, I took it. And instead of her being like, what? And maybe having a little conversation. OK, look at look at the language here. Behold, the silver is with me. I took it. Look at this. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son. And now, again, you are supposed to be the judge. That is why God has provided these stories so that you could judge every line in here and see the mistakes, see the errors and not make them yourselves. So as much as blessed thou be of the Lord, my son. I'm so glad you told me that. I'm going to bless you. God bless you. Look at verse three. And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son to make a graven image and a molten image. Now, therefore, I will restore it unto thee. Is that right? Is that biblical? Of course not. Of course not. I mean, it's just right off the bat. What do we see here? Just violation after violation after violation of the word of God. Verse four. Yet he restored the money into his mother. So that's good. The only reason he did is because he heard his mom curse. You know, she didn't produce this curse. Who knows what would have happened? Probably would have gone and, you know, bought him an ephod or something. Who knows? Verse four. Yet he restored the money into his mother and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the founder who made thereof a graven image and a molten image. And they were in the house of Micah. Every verse, it just gets worse and worse. It just stacks sin upon sin upon sin. And so, of course, this is also God showing us like the in-between details of how they went from serving God to going into the sin to full-blown idolatry and enslavement and all that stuff there. So verse number five. And the man Micah had an house of gods. So now it's like he's a mason. He's got this shrine with all these, you know, these lowercase G gods in it. So you see how it just gets worse and worse and worse. And the man Micah had a house of gods and made an ephod and terrafin and consecrated one of his sons who became his priest. If this doesn't create your own religion, I mean, I don't know what is. I mean, this guy by himself has created his own religion. And guess what? If you were to talk to this guy, if you were to say, Hey, Micah, you know, who's the Lord God of heaven and earth right now? You'd say, oh, you know, it's God. He would tell you it's the right God, but he's not serving him the way that they're supposed to. They're making graven images, molten images, idolatry. He's got a whole house to contain these things. Not only that, but he consecrates his own son to be his priest. What does that mean to consecrate? Well, to set aside, to set apart. I mentioned this already. Okay, priests in the Old Testament, who were they? The sons of Aaron. Levites took care of the priestly duties for the nation. So the man Levi, the founder, obviously, of the tribe of Levi, he had three sons. He had Gershon, Kohath, and Merai. Kohath had Aaron and Moses. And even in Psalm chapter 99, it says that Moses was a priest also. We'll have to do a detailed study of this sometime. But if they weren't after the order of Aaron, and it is very clear in the Bible, they were not to be a priest. But of course, everybody's doing what's right in their own eyes here, and he sees nothing wrong with that whatsoever. So verse number six here. In those days, there was no king in Israel, but every man did which was right in his own eyes. Now, if you're wondering what this Ephod is and all that stuff, I'll just give you a quick breakdown here. So the high priest would wear this breastplate, which was called an Ephod. It had 12 stones, and it would also carry two other stones. And when you study this out, we don't have time to look at all of the details, but basically, they would ask God a question, and it would kind of get like a yes or a no type answer. So for example, in the book of Joshua, somebody steals a garment, does something against God while they're trying to inherit the Promised Land, and God basically stops blessing Israel. And Joshua realizes that, and he's like, uh-oh, something's wrong, something's going on, okay? And he knows that there's a problem with an individual, but they've got 12 tribes to go through. How are they going to find this person? Well, they call for the high priest. They get the Ephod over there, and that Ephod basically, or the Urim and Thummim, basically narrow down the tribe and the exact family of the person that stole the money, that stole the Babylonian garment, and they were able to get rid of that person out of the nation. So this here is a copy of that, which is highly unbiblical. And so if I were to imagine what this would be like, it'd probably be like just, I don't know, like the eight ball thing. That's probably, you know, you go to Walmart and see the little magic eight ball, and you shake it and you ask it a stupid question and it supposedly answers it for you. Superstition, that's probably how they use their little Ephods that they made out of money or whatever. Just again, either way you look at it, it's highly unbiblical. I mean, just go read Exodus chapter 20. None of this should be happening. The Levite here should have stopped this once he got to Micah, but you don't see that. Look at verse seven. And there was a young man out of Bethlehem, Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a, here it is, a Levite, and he sojourned there. And he sojourned there. So the first six chapters, okay, what do you see? You just see sin upon sin upon sin, no rebuke. Just, oh, I'm glad you returned the money. Now let's do more sin. Let's just make more idolatry and let's just see how much we can heap on ourselves. I mean, that's kind of the attitude that you're seeing there. Verse seven here. We're told that this priest, a real priest, a Levite shows up and what should happen? Hey, well, what should happen is this guy should be like, what are you doing with all this stuff? This is a violation of the word of God. Let me show you the proper way to serve God, the right way to serve God, the only way to serve God. But is that what happens? Look at verse eight. And the man departed out of the city of Bethlehem, Judah, to sojourn where he could find a place. Hey, well, what was wrong with Bethlehem, Judah? Why do you feel the need to go do this? And he came to Mount Ephraim to the house of Micah as he journeyed. Verse nine. And Micah said unto him, what comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehem, Judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. So he's just looking for a deal. It's rent a priest here. He's just like, hey, you know, whatever is good. That's where I'll kind of stay and and be happy. I'm doing what's right in my own eyes. Verse 10. And Micah said unto him, dwell with me and be unto me a father and a priest. You know, it's obvious by the context of the story that this man, this Levite, is younger than Micah. Hey, but Micah is saying, hey, we want you to be a father unto us. And of course, there is a religion today that will point to these passages and say, see, this is how it is. Our priests are supposed to be a father figure. And you can call him father. The Bible says it's perfectly fine. We know that Jesus said to the contrary. Remember, if you don't understand why these things are preserved for you, that it's for your judgment, for your rightly dividing. This is literally active homework that you can do to get better at judgment. That is what this is for. You're supposed to see that and be like, that's not right. Right. That's not OK. That's not good. But you get a Catholic person over there. Oh, see, father and priest. The Bible says it. I've not looked. Rifleman right by REI. It's a really liberal part of town right off Milwaukee. There's a house over there with a guy that will pull that on you. And I'll show you if you want. You want to go knock on his door after the service, we'll go do it. And he will take you to these chapters and say, see, even in Judges 17, you know, and even in Judges 18, the Bible says that priests are to be called father. Prove me wrong. Prove me wrong. And then he won't let you get a word out of your mouth. So there you go. But we got to move on here. OK, look at verse 11. And the Levite was content to dwell with a man. Is that right? Is that OK? Should he have been content to dwell with this guy? Where thus far up to the Bible, where have we been told that this is OK for a Levite to just be a priest unto one guy or one guy's family? Shouldn't he be in Shiloh where the tabernacle is? Shouldn't he be doing his priestly duties with his tribe? Now, obviously, it would be OK if he's doing service to this part of Israel here. But he said, sure, I'm content. Verse 11. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. So think about Micah's attitude here, because Micah consecrated his own son. You're going to be my priest. This dude shows up. He's like, oh, sorry, kid. He's a real priest. So now because of your poor choices, you've hurt the feelings of your own child. And it's just an absolute mess. But what I think this teaches us is this. When pastors compromise, the people are going to do what's right in their own eyes. It's just a very basic statement to say. But when pastors compromise, people are going to do or believe what is right in their own eyes. That is why so often you are out there, and you're talking to people, and they're like, well, yeah, I believe I'm going to go to heaven. I'm not like Hitler. I haven't killed anyone. I'm not like George Soros. I heard that one the other day. And I cracked up. It's a pretty good one. I haven't done this. I haven't done that. You know, I just think that God is good and that, you know, he's just going to look at me and realize the good things that I've done. They're going to outweigh the bad, and I'm going to be safe. But we know that's not what the word of God says. You have to be safe. There is a way to be safe, a right way and many wrong ways. And if we compromise that because of how people feel, well, I don't really like that straight and narrow language that you guys use. It's really divisive. It really hurts people's feelings. And I just think you're dividing people. I just think there's a better way to do this. I had a woman one time call the phone, and she's crying. And she's like, I found one of your invites on my door, and I just think there's a better way to do this. And I'm like, whoa, what in the world is wrong? I'm like, all right, who left the invite? That's what I was thinking. This was a few years ago. And she says, I called her back, actually. I normally don't do that, but this one I did. And she's like, I'm so glad you called me back. I've got great ideas for you. And I'm an interior designer, and I know how people feel. And I just think that that King James stuff on the back and all that doctrine, it just hurts people. It just turns people away. I said, well, good. So I said, well, good. She gasps. She gasps. She's like, good? No, that's not good. We're supposed to reach out and love everyone. I said, chapter and verse, please. She says, Jesus loves. It's all she knew. Just Jesus is love. You need to get a black card with red letters, because that's what stands out to people. That's what catches people's eyes. And I said, OK, so you want me to change the color of my invites? Yes. And take everything off. I'm like, let me get this straight. You want me to go door to door with a black card with red letters that says Jesus loves you? She says, yes. I said, no, click. That's it. I'm not doing that. If people get their feelings hurt because of what's on our card, throw it in the trash and just don't come here. It's that simple. If you don't like what I say, turn the internet off. Go somewhere else. It's really not that hard. I don't think it's that hard, do you? Does anybody in here think that's difficult? No. Does anybody in here want people like that, where you have to walk on eggshells all the time and hide what you believe and hide how you... No, nobody wants that. Look, you want to talk about tyranny. You want to talk about oppression. That's oppression. OK? And that's what we don't want. So this guy's a clown, obviously. He's a bad priest. And Micah is a cluck. This guy is nothing. I mean, he's just a goofball, OK? I mean, he's messing up his family. His religious life is just in shreds. And all because when pastors compromise, people in their church will do what's right in their own eyes or believe what's right in their own eyes. That's what you see. That is how it is. Look at verse 12. Micah consecrated the Levite and the young man became his priest and was in the house of Micah. Verse 13 then said, Micah, now know I that the Lord will do me good seeing I have a Levite to my priest. OK? We're supposed to judge. Is that good? Is that good? Is that not what people say to us all the time? I just know that God's going to do me good because I have a Bible on my shelf because my grandfather was a priest, my uncle was a pastor. I'm good. Or how about this one? I know God's going to do me good because I'm a Jew. Right? That one's starting to creep up a little more these days, isn't it? I know that God will do me good. How do you know? Again, Micah is this. Micah has this attitude. Micah wants to get everything that he wants out of God. And he's even doing it the wrong way. So that's why I said earlier, it's not what you can get out of God. It's what God should get out of you. He should ask that priest. Hey, what does the word of God say about this? What does the word of God say about this? You don't read that anywhere in these passages. There's no mention of the word of God, of the law of God or anything like that. He's just like, you're a priest. That's good enough for me. Just the fact that you are a priest and that you are here is good enough and that's going to bless me. That's superstition. That is wrong. That is idolatry is what that is. I had an individual tell me this. He said it was a situation with a satellite church. It was our church. I'll just be honest. When I moved here, I took this church, which used to be Verity Baptist Church, Boise. And I was told, get that church away from this person as soon as you possibly can. So that's what I did. We came here, started this church, or we took over this church from Pastor Menes and I moved the church from this person's house. And I don't want to get into why right now it's not important. But when I had the conversation with him, he said at first, like, yeah, this is going to be a real huge burden lifted off my shoulders. Thank you very much. And I thanked him for even doing it. You know, thank you for taking that step forward and providing a place where people could meet and study the word of God and be good to go. And he said, cool. Later on he comes to me and says, hey, I want to talk to you about that. I said, cool. He says, I've been thinking about this and ever since the church has been in my house, I've been blessed and I've been getting extra, you know, I've been getting little raises here and there. I've been getting a lot of extra blessings in my life. And I had this thought that sounds a lot like Micah. It sounds a lot like Micah because that's not how this works. It's not just the fact that we are this artifact in your home that somehow provides you with blessings. That's like Catholic superstition. I've got these candles, I've got the statue of Mary like my mom used to have and that brings us blessings. That brings us good luck. It's the same thing. It's just a different way of looking at it. And I told him obviously, well, you know, thanks for your concern, but I'm not going to do that. And of course that was a notch of anger in him for a long period of time. But you know, that's what we're watching out for. Again, it's not what you can get out of God. That was his mindset. And I recognize that. Hey, don't take the church from my house because I'm being blessed. Is that right? Is that okay? No, that's terrible. It's horrible. That's Micah syndrome. That's what that is. It's not okay. Go to Romans chapter number 12. And then we'll go to Judges 18. Okay, but go to Romans chapter number 12. So when pastors compromise, people do or believe what is right in their own eyes. Why is that? Well, because they're not getting fed the truth. There's a whole host of reasons. I mean, most of these churches we already know they're filled with unsaved people. And, but if you are saved and you're going to a place like that, which we do find, you know, that inner man isn't getting fed. So he's malnourished, you know, and he's got all this gookus and all this gunk from the flesh just built up around him. And he doesn't have the ability to see properly like he should. Okay. So again, you know, it's not about what you can get out of God. It's what God should get out of you. You say, is that biblical? Is that a principle in the Bible? Yes, right here, Romans 12. We'll get verse number one. Paul says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. That's what this church stands on. That's what the word of God says. That's why we take things and we look at society and we say, hmm, let's test that. Is that good for us? Is that wise for us? And then we preach against things. And then what happens? Well, some people say, you know what? Yeah, I checked that out. That makes sense. I'm going to go ahead and make that change. I'm going to adopt that. Other people say you're legalistic. You know, God didn't say anywhere that you should dress nice. Show me one verse, one verse where you have to wear a suit and tie. It's not in there. But if I come up here with holes in my jeans and, you know, a sleeveless polo, what are you going to think? What message does that send? Is that wise? It doesn't matter if it's sin. It doesn't matter if it's in the word of God. We know that is not wise. That is not a good way to behave. And so that's our job is to explain that concept to people. We're not sitting here trying to browbeat people over how you dress. We're not going to turn women away because they walk in here wearing pants. We're not going to make fun of them. We're not going to belittle them. We want to get their hearts aligned with this, with the word of God. Everything else will take care of itself once you do that. We don't have to force people into you have to believe exactly like me on every single little detail or you're out. That's not good either. You get people's hearts aligned with the word of God and the rest takes care of itself. But we have a responsibility after salvation. And there was a lot of things that we should do. And we should make the choice to be separate from the world. We should make the choice to live better than the world to be set apart. And Paul says this is a reasonable service. Okay. We are servants of the most high God. And Jesus said that his yoke is not burdensome. It is not heavy. These things are not grievous. They become grievous when we get legalistic about it. And we started posing. Well, you don't have this. Well, you don't say this right. And we start belittling people. But look at verse 2. And be not conformed to this world. Okay. Now if I show up here week after week with holes in my pants and a sleeveless polo and I get rid of this for the music stand and I sit down and I talk very softly into you and I just start talking. You know what? This church is going to grow like that. And you know what this world is going to say? Hey, I can get behind that. That's going to feed me. That's going to serve me real good. That's going to serve me real well. And this place is going to fill up and we're going to get more money than we know what to do with. But then we're not going to be able to go soul winning. Who's going to take you serious? You're going to take somebody serious and knock you on your door with holes in your pants, sleeveless polo that's just reading some lovey-dovey fake NIV verse out of the Bible to you? No, you're going to tell them to get lost. Like this is weak. This is garbage. I don't want this. Okay. Look at the rest of the verse. And be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Like Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes. And the wise man's eyes are in his head. How do we strengthen that? How do we get those to break forth? Okay. Look what he says. That you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So we as God's children, we have these things that we are called to do. We are called to prove and we're called to prove these things. Look at the verse. Verse two. We are called to prove what is good. So if somebody comes at us and says, Have you heard of this? Have you heard of this ministry? Have you heard of this preacher? Have you heard of this doctrine? Have you heard of this teaching? Have you heard of this way of explaining a verse? We're supposed to say, Hmm. No. Tell me. And then we have the job to prove. How do we prove? Do we go online and see what other preachers say about it? What do we do? Go to the word of God. This is how we measure. This is how we prove what is good and acceptable. There are some things that are not acceptable to God and there are some things that are not acceptable unto God and it is our job to prove those, okay? And also to prove what is perfect and complete and what the will of God is. That is our job. That is our responsibility. And when we compromise, okay? And really the Bible says that you're all kings and priests, okay? So when a priest compromises, people are going to do what is right in their own eyes. That's the society we live in. That is the world that we live in. That is one of the battles that we have to face. Judges chapter number 18. So Judges 18 chapter one, we already looked at, okay? We know there is no king in Israel and we could now understand that they're not even, by and large, they're not even looking at God as king. Now obviously there's some good people in there, right? Samson's parents, for example. God chose them to birth Samson. They were serving the Lord and when the angel would visit him, you know, Manoah was like, I want to hear it for myself. I want to hear what this guy has to say from God, okay? These people, though, that we're dealing with today, the society, the culture at large, they don't have that attitude, okay? So the attitude of wanting to serve the Lord and do what's right in the Lord's eyes, that is a minority of people, just like today, right? Just like today. There's no difference. It's the same thing. Look at verse five. It says, And they said unto him, Actually, you know what? Let's back up here. I'm sorry. Let's look at verse two. Let's just back up for context. It's been a while since we read this. Let's look at verse two. So the children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valor, from Zorah and from Eshtol to spy out the land and to search it. And they said unto them, Go search the land, who when they came to Mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, they lodged there. So they see the house of Micah, like, cool. We're going to lodge here. Verse three. When they were by the house of Micah, they knew the voice of, and here it is, the young man, the Levite, right? This young man who's called father, you know, not just the Catholics do that, right? Mormons. You see like a 19 year old kid on a bike and it says elder Jacob's elders. Okay. Look, there's nothing new under the sun. Okay. And when they were by the house, verse three of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man, the Levite. And they turned in thither and said unto him, Who brought thee hither? And what makest thou in this place? And what hast thou here? So they're like, why did you choose this place to set up shop, to set up camp? You know, verse four. He said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and he hath hired me. You see that word hired? Keep that in your mindset because we're going to look at that a little later. And hath hired me and I am his priest. And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee of God, that we may know whether our way, which we go, shall be prosperous. Okay. So let's stop right here. Okay. So these five men from the tribe of Dan, they're like, all right, we've got a priest. Notice how they act here. Okay. They're not just like, Hey, make us a golden ephod and some terra-fems and we'll just put them in our pockets and we'll, you know, we'll win the battle. Okay. What do they actually do? They actually say what? Look at verse five. And they said unto them, Ask counsel, we pray thee of God, that we may know whether our way, which we go, shall be prosperous. I think we could all judge that. There ain't nothing wrong with that. That's the right way to be. That's the attitude they ought to have. Okay. Is that the attitude that Micah had? No, he sees a priest. Hey, I'll hook you up with this, this, this, and this. And you can be mine. You can come on in. He's like, cool, I got it. I'll do it. Verse six. Don't miss this. So they said, ask counsel of God. Now look what the narrator is telling you here. Okay. Look what the narrator says. Who's the narrator? It's the Holy ghost. And the priest said unto them, go in peace before the Lord is your way. Where in ye go? Something is missing here. Okay. Something is missing. You read this verse five. And then you read verse six, verse five. Hey, ask counsel of God. Okay. And then verse six, the narrator hops in and says, and the priest said, what's missing? He didn't ask God. Did he? He just said, go in peace before the Lord is your way. Where in your go? Where in you go? Okay. So I'm going to say it like this. Rent to pastors or rent to preachers, whatever you want to call them, rent to priests. They rely on their position rather than God's permission. Okay. They rely on their position rather than God's permission. In fact, just right before the service was sitting back there, my phone was dinging and the sodomites just, you know, like my name's Reverend so-and-so from some church up here, whatever the usual, you know, and it's just like, you're not a real pastor because you didn't graduate from seminary. You didn't graduate from this. You didn't graduate from that. I got one last week from a legit pastor, somebody around here. It was just like, you know, I'm really, I don't want to be rude. I just want to know where you graduated Bible college. I wrote back. I didn't graduate Bible college. I graduated from a real college and have an accredited degree. And I said, what about that? Silence. Haven't heard nothing. You know what I mean? Because if you're going to flex on me, then I'm going to flex on you back. I'll play your stupid game and I'm always going to win. You know, it's just ridiculous here. These people believe, well, because I have been blessed by this board of elders. I have this piece of paper that signifies me as graduating from seminary. I am better than you because you don't have that. But I got a secular degree that's like real. That took me four years plus to get, and that's not good enough. Your degree is not even accredited fool. You know what I mean? Like what job can you go and get? Nothing. What are you going to do? Go apply for some, you know, corporate job and be like, oh yeah, I've got a degree in definitive cool study. They're going to be like, what? We can't use that. Get out of here. So if you want to, on a fleshly level, you know, play this chess puffing game, you got to be very careful about doing that because sometimes people have more than you. Okay. It's absolutely ridiculous. But again, these preachers of today in even of this day, just, Hey, my position is all you need to do. Whatever I say is good to go. Okay. Now the Danites make a mistake here, don't they? Because they're like, okay, cool. And they go. And here's the crazy thing about it. We're not going to have time to dissect the entire chapter. So I'm just going to break it to you. We already read it anyways. They're victorious. Aren't they? The tribe of Dan is victorious. They actually take the land and they, they possess the land and the job gets completed. And so I'm willing to bet, and this is my opinion, newsflash. This is my opinion, my opinion. I believe that these people of the tribe of Dan, if you were to go back and talk to them, they would say, yeah, God did bless us. And in a roundabout way he did because God didn't stop them. Okay. But really if you judge properly, God is teaching us something here. Just because you're successful at something, like I said last week, when we talked about Samson does not mean that it's blessed by God. It does not mean that it's okay because you guys, we all run into this all the time, right? You knock on a person's door and they're like, no, Joel Osteen is, is, is from God, even though he might be different. I know, I hear what you guys are saying, and I know his gospel is a little bit different, but look at all the people that he has. Look at all the money he has. You really think that God would give him that if he was a bad guy, if he was a devil? No, but I believe the devil would give it to him. I believe the devil would definitely give it to him. Obviously I don't always say it to them like that. That's for here. That's for, for us. Okay. Y'all get the point, but pastors oftentimes just rely on their position rather than getting God's permission. And how do we get permission on anything that we want? Well, we already looked at it. Romans 12, we go to the word of God. This is our ruler. This is what we take and we measure. Is this good? Is this in spec? Is this correct? No. Okay. This is out of spec. Guess what? It is bad. It is a violation. Go to Matthew chapter number 16. This is why the Catholic church is just so much. Oh, you gotta, you just, just listen to me. You know, all these religions like that, and I met an old Mormon guy. This guy had been going to the Mormon ward around here, somewhere in Meridian for like 35 years. And I said, dude, just tell me the truth, man. I said, is it true that whatever Russell Nelson says, trumps the Bible? He said, yes, it does. And I thanked him, man. I shook his hand and say, Hey, thanks for being honest with me. I've been, I've been asking people around here that, and they're not being honest with me. He's asked because these young, these young guys, he's like, this is the church. I was like, this is an honest, unsaved guy here. You know, it is what it is, right? But I thanked him for that because, you know, it just goes to show, you know, this attitude of Micah, this attitude that's prevalent in the nation of Israel is also out here in the world today. It hasn't gone nowhere. It's the same stuff. Look at this here. Okay. Matthew 16. Look at verse number five. And Jesus, it says, it says when his disciples, verse five, and when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Verse six, then said Jesus unto them, take heed and beware of the leaven, the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And then later on, he goes on, go to John 10, but later on, he goes and tells them, you know, he said, don't, don't do after the manner of the Pharisees for they say and do not. And he tells them this, okay, says, you know, it's not just necessarily, it's not the word of God. It's not a problem with the word of God that they're teaching. It's their application that is wrong. And in this story here, Jesus is telling the disciples, we try to teach them a lot of different things, but he's telling them to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, these people that are teaching so-called the word of God. And what is the leaven? It's hypocrisy. It's hypocrisy. That's what it is. And that's what you find with this Levi here. He's being hypocritical. He's using his position and saying, well, you know, just that automatically is good enough. You know, this, this gives you permission. Go, go, go and be well, be, be prosperous. God said, it's cool. Don't worry about it. You know, the Danites should have been like, hold on for a second. How'd you get that answer? I don't see an Ephod, a real one. I don't see a Tarafim. I don't see you praying. You're just like that quick. I'm just like, I asked him, bam. There's the answer. They should have been a little suspicious because that is a huge red flag. And so let's look at this here. Very similar thing over in John chapter 10, look at verse number six. So it says this, it says, this parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were, which he spake unto them. And now let's look at what leads up to that. And then we'll look at the explanation because this is very important. So Jesus is speaking a parable here and the disciples are like, these people are just like, I don't get it. I don't understand. Look at verse one. Let's back up to verse one. Jesus says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that enterth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber, but he that enterth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. So he's trying to communicate something here through a story, through a parable, okay, that there is one right way to be saved. Anything else is robbery. Okay. Verse three. To him the porter openeth and the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. Notice the personality here. Okay. Notice that the porter calls the sheep by name. Okay. Verse four. When he putteth forth his own sheep, goeth before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. Verse five. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him for they know not the voice of strangers. This is why we become very agitated when we run into people and they say, Hey, I listened to Joseph Prince. Are you familiar with David Wilkinson? Do you know Charles Spurgeon? I don't know what Charles Spurgeon's gospel is. I know a lot of people say we save. I don't know. Let me pick a different name. R.C. Sproul. John MacArthur. You know, don't you think they have some good things? What do we say? Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Okay. That doesn't make them right. That doesn't make them right with God. That doesn't mean that what they say in every avenue is true. It doesn't mean just because they hold this position, that they have God's permission to be teaching or doing whatever it is that they're doing. Okay. And so here we're told that a stranger will they not follow. So when we hear people following the voice of a stranger, then say, well, you got to repent. Okay. You don't have to turn from every sin, but you do got to have some sort of asking for forgiveness, at least every day at night. You know, that should make you nervous. That should make you very nervous that there is a problem here. Okay. And of course, verse six, where we started this parable spake unto, or this parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were, which he spake unto them. So now what is he going to do? He's going to clarify that and he's going to bring up this word hireling. Okay. So pay attention to that verse seven. Then said Jesus unto them again, verily, verily I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. He's not talking about the Levitical priesthood here. Okay. He's talking about people that have said, Hey, I have the way of salvation. It's by doing what I say. It's by doing what the world says. It's by do, do, do, do. It's by works. It's not. I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. So when we're doing the twofold mission of the church, we're edifying, we're evangelizing that is supposed to be as if we're in pasture. That is a good thing. We're feeding ourselves. We're feeding other people. It is a good thing. It is not a burden. Verse 10. Look at this. The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. This is why we are called to prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans chapter 12. That is how we counterdict the world and the thieves in the world. Okay. I am come, verse 10, that they might have life and they might have it more abundantly. Verse 11. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. So he's like, okay. Since you didn't understand this parable, I'll just tell you plainly. I'm the door. I'm the sheep. I'm the shepherd. Okay. And my sheep, hear my voice. So again, verse 12. He says, but he that is an hireling and not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. Look at this here. Verse 13. The hireling fleeth because he is in hireling and careth not for the sheep. And he says, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. Okay. So what does the hireling do? Okay. The hireling flees when trouble comes. Okay. The hireling will flee when the price rises. And that's kind of what the Levite's doing. Okay. He's a, he's a priest and a Micah. It's wrong. Okay. He's already committed to it. He's like, I'll take your 10 shekels and I'll take the, the garments you're going to give me. And I'm content to be a part of your family. Well, then the tribe of Dan comes by later on in chapter 18 with 600 men. They're armed. They're ready to go. They're ready to fight. And they're like, we would really like you to be part of us. They're not threatening him, but it does kind of seem like that speaks by itself. And you know, you look outside and see 600 people armed and somebody's like, Hey, we got a better deal for you. You might think like, Hmm, what happens if I say no? Okay. So there's that we have to deal with as well. Go back to Judges 18. We're almost done. We're going to wrap this up. We're almost done. Okay. But Jesus tells us that that attitude, okay. Cause we know that this Levite, he takes the better deal because they're going to pay him more. Okay. And what does that do? It just starts internal fighting. Just starts fighting. And then Micah has to puff up and go and chase down the Danites and say, Hey, you took my gods. You took all my idols. You took my priest. And they're just like, Hey, you don't want to get hurt. Look at us, look at you, turn around and go back. Just a sad story. All the result of because people have this attitude. What can I get from God? What can God do for me? What artifact? What thing can I do to make God bless me? What thing can I do that I just want to do? Cause I don't want to do anything I don't want to do. So what thing that I want to do? Can I do and say, you know what? Yeah, that's it. God's got my back. I'm going to be prosperous. Again, it's not about what you can get out of God. It is what God should get out of us. And verse 27, let's just fast forward here. Chapter 18, let's just look at how the story ends just for sake of time. Okay, so we already know that this Levi here, he's pretty much a hireling. If the tribe of Ephraim comes by, I'm willing to bet my opinion and say, Hey, we'll offer you 1100 shekels a month to come with us. I bet he'd be like, you know what? Yeah, you're right. You guys are larger than the Dan. Let's do it. Let's just go. But that's my opinion. So let's see how this ends here. How does this end? Verse 27. Actually look at verse 26. And the children of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back into his house. So again, that's how it ended. Again, God's people fighting. This little internal beef here never should have been there. And it was the result of people wanting to extract things for themselves. Selfishness is what has driven this. Verse 27. And they took the things which Micah had made and the priest which he had and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure. And they smoked them with the edge of the sword and burnt the city with fire. Verse 28. And there was no deliverer because it was far from Zidon and they had no business with any man. And it was in the valley that lieth by Bethlehem. And they built a city and dwelt there. And of course that, I mean that right there, that verse there, verse 28, that's a whole sermon all by itself. I don't even want to bother that right now. Look at verse 29. And they called the name of the city Dan after the name of Dan their father who was born unto Israel. How be it? The name of the city was Laish at the first. And it's always good to know for your own Bible reading when you're reading about these towns. Like, okay, what was the history there? Okay, I got it. I'm good to go. Verse 30. Look at this here. And this is why you know that this was written far after the actual time of the judges. Okay, look at this here. And the children of Dan set up the graven image. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan. Now look at this. Until the day of the captivity of the land. I was looking at some scholar notes to see what they would say about this. And they're like, this is a misspelling here. Okay, this is an error because Manasseh should say Moses. So they're basically like, just read it as it says Moses or write Moses off on the margin. It says Manasseh. That's what it says. So that's who it is. That's how you deal with that. Okay, I don't have time to get into that. You know, we're told to be very careful about digging too deep into these genealogies because people had different names and it just gets really complex. Okay, and most of the people that want to just barf this stuff at you, even when you have the right answer, and I'm not saying you shouldn't, they're not gonna listen anyways. Okay, so just something to think about there. But we'll do a detailed breakdown on all this stuff some other time. If you have questions about who that is or how this works, just see me after the service. I'll explain it. So it says, let's read it one more time. And the children of Dan set up the graven image. Okay, again, more sin. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. And they'll say, well, the land got into captivity when David came on the scene and took Jebus and made it into Jerusalem. And then the tabernacle went from Shiloh to Jerusalem. And so that's ridiculous. I don't even know why you would say something like that. The reason why you find that is because the Zionists are just super bitter and a lot of them happen to be scholars. And when they read about anything negative towards their history, like them going into captivity, it bothers them. The narrator here is telling you, hey, this came much later. Obviously, we know that the northern kingdom of Israel went into captivity by Tiglath-Pilzer. What, during the time of, I forgot what the last king, I can't think of it right now, but you guys know what I'm talking about. Go look at the last king of the nation of the northern kingdom of Israel. That's when they went into captivity when the Assyrians came in and conquered them. So somehow God said, you know what, I want to attach this narrative onto here so that you can judge, so that you can see, okay, that's ultimately what led to their physical destruction. Why did the northern kingdom of Israel go away? Because they never got this selfish ideology this selfish attribute out of their culture, okay. They kept just doing what they wanted to do and that's human nature. That is how we are as people. That is something that we have to learn to recognize in ourselves and to squash. Because again, if you adopt this attitude, well, I'm gonna come to church and it's just what it can do for me and you just constantly take it, take it, take it, take eventually there's nothing left and you get bored and you get bitter and you get angry and oh, the grass is greener over there, that's where I'm gonna go, okay. We need the opposite, we need kingdom builders, we need people with a building mindset that say, oh, hey, I can do this, I can do that, here's a hole over here, let me try to fill it, let me try to build. That's what God's looking for. God is looking for people that want to serve because we are servants and he is the ultimate shepherd, verse 31, and they set them up Micah's graven image which he made all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. Now obviously, after David comes on the scene, he's a man after God's own heart, so he takes this and chucks it, he gets rid of all that, he's not gonna allow that in the house of God and certainly Solomon in his early days, okay, and up to mid-life, definitely was not going to put up with that. So we're gonna stop it there for today and we will start the last story next week on Sunday night. But the main thing to remember is, again, it's not about what you can get out of God, it's what God should get out of us. It's how can we serve, how can we help the kingdom of God, okay? We are servants, we are workers, together for the good of the kingdom of God and we have to be strong in that if we're gonna see growth, if we're gonna see things prosper. So let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you, Lord, for this day and for everything that you've done for us and thank you for these stories and the wisdom that they teach. I just pray that you'd bless the soul winning after the service and bring us back again safely tonight. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right, so we're gonna have one more song here and then we will be dismissed. All right, everyone, please grab your hymnals one last time this morning and turn to song number 96. God leads us along, song number 96. Sing that out on the first. In shady green pastures so rich and so sweet, God leads his dear children along. Where the water's cold flow paints the weary one's feet, God leads his dear children along. Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song in the night season and all the day long. On the second. Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright, God leads his dear children along. Sometimes in the valley in darkest of night, God leads his dear children along. Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song in the night season and all the day long. Though sorrows befall us and Satan oppose, God leads his dear children along. Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes, God leads his dear children along. Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song in the night season and all the day long. On the last. Away from the mire, away from the clay, God leads his dear children along. Away up in glory, eternity's day, God leads his dear children along. Sing it out. Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song in the night season and all the day long. Alrighty, let's bow our heads and dismiss ourselves in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, thank you for this time we had to hear your word be preached. I ask that you please bless the soul winning to come after the service as well as the church service this evening. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We are dismissed. Amen. Amen.