VISION SERIES: “Make All Things New”
TEXT: Judges 1:16-22
MESSAGE: “Relying on God’s presence”
TWO QUESTIONS:
Who are we?
Vision: A church for our city that seeks new life in Jesus
Who are we trusting in?
“The Bible makes it clear that every time that there is a story of faith, it is completely original. God’s creative genius is endless.” ― Eugene H. Peterson
“Theism allows us to live within our humanity more comfortably…We are not ‘accidental collocations of atoms,’ as Bertrand Russell put it—we are characters in the middle of the greatest story ever told.” — Gavin Ortlund
“In reading the Scriptures it became evident that the primary common denominator of those individuals used by God was centered in the simple phrase, “the Lord was with him.” Certainly, every biblical leader had a mix of natural attributes and developed skills, but these are seldom mentioned. Rather, the primary secret to their excellence was a genuine and manifest sense of the presence and power of God…In the Old Testament, this phrase was descriptive of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and David, as well as some of the significant judges, kings, and prophets. In the New Testament it was said of John the Baptist, Mary, and the disciples.” — Daniel Henderson (Old Paths New Power)
TEXT: Judges 1:16-22
What can we learn about relying on God’s presence? We must be attentive to…(1. Visible Success 2. Hidden Disobedience 3. Invisible Presence)
- Visible Success (v. 16-18)
“And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people. 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory.
- Hidden Disobedience (v. 19)
“And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.”
“If chapter 1 finished with verse 18, it would be almost completely encouraging, and bode well for the rest of Judges. But verse 19 jars. “The Lord was with the men of Judah”—and yet “they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.” Judah does not trust in God’s strength, so they measure their own strength against their enemies’, and fail to push the chariot-owning plain-dwellers out of the land. Common, but faithless, sense, begins to prevail here. Judah doesn’t trust God; and so they don’t secure their inheritance so that they can worship God without compromise…It is not our lack of strength that prevents us from enjoying God’s blessings, or from worshiping God wholeheartedly; it is our lack of faith in his strength. When we rely on ourselves, and base our walk with God on our own calculations instead of simply obeying, we find ourselves making decisions like the Judaites…It is halfway discipleship, and Judges will show us that it leads to no discipleship at all. The warning to us is clear!” — Timothy Keller, Judges for You
- Invisible Presence (v. 20-22)
“And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak. 21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day. 22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.”
“While the popular adage declares that “the devil is in the details,” it is more accurate to avow that God is in the details. The doctrine of providence declares that God’s providential rule extends to all things great and small, from the huge to the minute, the infinite to the infinitesimal.” — RC Sproul (The Invisible Hand)
“Failure after failure is recorded in the subsequent verses. The city of Jerusalem was on the boundary between the territory of Judah and Benjamin; the campaign against it by Judah in v. 8 was only a short-lived success. The Benjaminites come first after Judah in the litany of failure, perhaps foreshadowing their negative role in the final chapters of the book.” — Iain M. Duguid
“Our life is full of brokenness – broken relationships, broken promises, broken expectations. How can we live with that brokenness without becoming bitter and resentful except by returning again and again to God’s faithful presence in our lives.” – Henri Nouwen
TAKEAWAYS: Ask God to expose areas in our lives of…
- Self-trust
- Faithlessness
- His Hand
“My job is not to solve people’s problems or make them happy, but to help them see the grace operating in their lives.” ― Eugene H. Peterson
“And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” — Matthew 28:17-20
“…in His final commission Jesus did not reassure us by saying ‘And, behold, you will guide (____________) by becoming skillful leaders, and dynamic visionaries, even to the end of the age.’ Rather, His words were clear, precise, and compelling. ‘Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” — Daniel Henderson