From His Heart

Speaker 1

Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, discover why you either have a victorious faith or a compromising life. You can't have both.

Speaker 2

Have you come to the place where you tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and you can't seem to get victory over those iron chariots?

Listen, it is better to die in faith than to live in doubt and defeat.

You can't make friends with the devil. You can't compromise with sin. You can't compromise with evil because it will wreck and ruin your life.

Speaker 1

Are you living in spiritual victory or spiritual defeat? We all are fighting the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Well, what is a sin that you've tried and tried to overcome, but you just can't seem to find victory over it?

This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schre. And today we'll hear part two of the message Iron Chariots. It's from his new 10-lesson series, Before There Were Kings: The Cost of Compromise. Now, today we're studying the first chapter of the Book of Judges. We're talking well over 3,000 years ago. We can learn a lot about defeating compromise in this series.

The lesson is called Iron Chariots Part Two. If you miss any from the series this month, you can go online to listen again at fromhisheart.org. Click the listen link right now. Open your Bible to the Book of Judges, chapter one, and let's learn God's truth, taught to us before there were kings.

Speaker 2

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Here's the question for you to consider. Are you living in spiritual victory or spiritual defeat? Three truths I want to share with you today.

Truth number one: Every Christian has a wonderful savior and king. Every single person who has been born again has been saved by the Lord. He is your savior and he is your king. Look at verse one again. Now, the angel of the Lord. This isn't just an angel of the Lord; this is the angel of the Lord, the angel of Yahweh. Who is this angel of the Lord? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not an angel who did these things; it was God who did these things. This is a pre-incarnate visitation of the Lord Jesus Christ. So for us as believers, the Lord is our Savior and he's our king. He has done for us what he did for them.

Number one: The Lord has freed us from sin. Just as he freed them from the bondage of Egypt, he has freed us from the bondage of sin. Now every Christian has been set free. Free from sin. If the Son has set you free, you shall be free indeed (John 8:36). So they had been freed, and the Lord is reminding them, "I'm the God who delivered you from Egypt, and I'm the God who is faithful." The Lord has freed us, and he is faithful to us. Because this angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus, said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers. And I said, I will never break my covenant with you." I am the faithful God. I always keep my word. God is faithful. He made a covenant with you, and he will not break it.

Second truth: Not only does every Christian have a wonderful savior and king, but every Christian has been given commandments for living. He gives us commandments. For what purpose? For our good. Sometimes people look at the commandments and they just say, "Oh man, these are just restrictions on my life." First John, chapter 5, verse 3 states, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." God gave you the commandments for your good. God is a good God. And God's commands are to be obeyed. They're not suggestions; they are commands. That's why he says in verse two, "You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land. You shall tear down their altars."

Now, what was the command? When you go into the land, you remember the land of promise, which is the land of Israel. That was God's land that he gave to his people—the promised land. That's not a vacant piece of property; people lived there. The people that lived there, we call them Canaanites. They had Amorites, Jebusites, Perizzites, and all these "ites" that lived there. But it's kind of a blanket term: Canaanites, because it's the land of Canaan. Well, these people were grossly idolatrous. They were horribly wicked and evil. God had it; he had it up to here with them. He was done with them. The patience of God is long-lasting, but it's not everlasting.

He told his people, the Jews, "You go in there and take the land. I will be with you and drive those people out, and you smash their altars, you destroy all their false worship, and you get those people out of here." Why? Because if you let them stay, they will be a snare to you. You will start adopting their ways. It won't be a good thing. You can't handle their worship because their worship is very sensual, and that's just going to pull you like a magnet. You gotta get it out. You can't have any kind of a relationship with them.

And so that's what God told them to do. Remember, they went in there in Numbers 13 the first time when they didn't go in. They said, "We can't beat those people; they're giants in the land. What are we supposed to do with giants? How can we fight giants?" And so, you know, they gave a bad report. The ten spies, Joshua and Caleb said, "We can by all means go in because God is with us." They said, "Oh no, we can't. We can't." They were giants, and we're just grasshoppers. And what does a giant do with a grasshopper? Just steps on it and stomps on it. That's what's going to happen to us. "Oh, we need to go back to Egypt. It was better for us in Egypt. Why is God bringing us out here? So that we would die?"

Well, the Lord didn't like that at all. Just tremendous unbelief. Well, how were they supposed to take the land? Every command of God comes with power from God to fulfill the command. So if God tells you, "Go, take the land," you say, "Well, how am I going to do that? How am I going to fight these people?" Well, God gives you power to do it. And in the book of Judges, we read about their victories. For the first 18 verses, they're doing well. They're mowing down the enemy—victory, victory, victory, victory. Until verse 19 of chapter one.

Now, the Lord was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots. And they saw the iron chariots and they said, "No, we're not gonna be able to handle that." Now, listen, I've entitled this message "Iron Chariots." Because everyone in this room, there are things you look back on in your Christian life and you say, "I got victory here. I got victory here. But, man, I've run into a sin in this particular area of my life." Whether it's the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the boastful pride of life, some people, their issue is power. They want to be in positions of power. They want to be in leadership. You know, most people in politics have an issue with power, and that's their bugaboo. That's the thing that's going to be a problem for them.

Oh, for others, you know, it's a kind of a hidden thing. Their issue is with bitterness. Bitterness is, I think, the number one sin in the church because you can try and hide it, you can try and cover it up, but you're jealous of other people and you're bitter in your heart because others seem to be getting things that you're not getting. And you're just kind of, maybe you're a one-talent person and you're looking at the five-talent people and you're just mad at them, you're bitter at them. That's a big, big issue. For some, it is substance abuse—drugs, alcohol—that becomes an iron chariot. Whatever it is, God says, "I will be with you, and we can defeat this."

And so every day you have to show up for the battle. Because the thing about those iron chariots is they don't go away. You have victory one day, but you know the next day you're going to have to do battle with this because the enemy is going to keep coming at you. And I have an Achilles heel toward that. Now, my iron chariot may not be your iron chariot; your iron chariot is not somebody else's iron chariot, but it is for you. And the Lord knows that. Just as it says in Judges 1:19, "The Lord was with Judah," and the Lord will be with you and is with you as his child. And if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things?

You know, another big iron chariot for some people is anger. They just get angry. They have a hair-trigger temper, and boom, they're ready to just go off. And when they get angry, then all the vulgarities come out, and they're just out of control. And so, Lord, you have to bring that before the Lord. "Lord, this is a problem for me, and I don't want to make friends with this sin. I have to fight this sin." So every command comes with power. And know this: every compromise comes with consequences.

So Judah didn't take the land. They said there are iron chariots, verse 19. And they couldn't do it. Even though Joshua had said, "You're going to encounter the enemy with iron chariots, and the Lord is with you. You can take that." Just like we encountered giants and we had victory there. Then it goes on to say in verse 27, "But Manasseh," that's another tribe in Israel, "did not take possession of Bethshan and its villages, or Tanakh and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam." Ibleam is an interesting city; it means "devouring the people" and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages. So the Canaanites persisted in living in that land.

Hey, when Judah failed to stand up, when they failed to show faith and courage, you know, faith and courage are contagious. And so is fear and faithlessness. Fear and faithlessness spread. The ten faithless spies in Numbers, chapter 13, influenced the whole congregation. Everybody lifted up their voices and wept. "We can't take the promised land." But they could. And no matter how hard Joshua and Caleb tried to say, "No, it's a good land; God's going to give us the land," they didn't go in. Faith and courage are contagious, and fear and faithlessness are contagious.

And so from Manasseh, then we read about Ephraim not taking the land, and then Zebulun not taking the land, and Asher not taking the land, and Naphtali for not taking the land, and Dan, and all these, they're just saying, "No, we can't do it, we can't do it." Well, God told them to take it, but they're walking not by faith, but by sight. And so there are consequences to that. Judgment comes. The Lord tells them in verse three of chapter two, "Therefore, because you haven't obeyed me, you haven't done what I told you to do, therefore, I also said, I will not drive them out before you, but they will become as thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you." Thorns in your sides. This is what Joshua had told them in Joshua, chapter 23.

Now remember, they did well when Joshua was their leader. They followed the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the generation that were of that same age as Joshua. Joshua died at the age of 110, the ripe old age. But this is what Joshua told them in Joshua, chapter 23, beginning in verse 9: "For the Lord has driven out great and strong nations from before you. And as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the Lord your God is he who fights for you, just as he promised you. So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God. For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them so that you associate with them, and they with you, know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you, but they shall become a snare and a trap to you and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you."

They were warned. God is not coming to them in Judges, chapter two and saying, "Oh, by the way." No, they were warned. Joshua warned them. This is what's going to happen if you don't drive them out, if you make friends with the Canaanites. And there were consequences there. Can you imagine thorns in your eyes, how that would hurt? And as you read in the Book of Judges, it's just that downward cycle. They would be subjugated for longer and longer periods of time, and it's horrible.

So every Christian has a wonderful savior and king. Every Christian has been given commandments, instructions for living from the Lord because God wants us to have an abundant life and live an abundant life.

And then truth number three: Every Christian must get right when they get derailed. You have to get right when you get derailed. Now, I thought about wording that in this way: Every Christian must get right if he gets derailed. But I thought, what's the "if"? I mean, can anyone give a testimony that says, "Well, you know, I've faced every giant in my life, I've faced every Canaanite with iron chariots, and it's never been a big deal for me"? Well, how about lying? Is lying a big deal for you? Because all of us can relate to getting derailed in our Christian life. We come up against that sin that has iron chariots, and then we fall and fall and fall, and we're not struggling well. Hopefully, we're struggling poorly because we don't want to get to the place where we're not struggling anymore, where we just give in. We just say, "Well, that's the way it is."

You know, I guess as my mother-in-law used to say, "Well, I'm jealous; that's just the way I am." I was like, "Wait a minute, you don't get a pass on jealousy. That's one of the deeds of the flesh. It's not a good thing to be jealous." So we have to get it right when we get derailed; we get right.

Now look at verse four. When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. So they named that place Bo Kim. And there they sacrificed to the Lord. Oh, they were weeping. Why? Because now God's not going to drive them out. And now he says they're going to be thorns to us and snares, and we're going to have difficulty because we disobeyed.

Okay, you find yourself in that situation; what do you do? You get right with God. You know, Samuel told the people when they sinned so greatly, asking for a king, he said, "You've committed all this wickedness. Only fear the Lord and follow him with all your heart." I mean, you can't unscramble eggs, so you have to go on with the Lord. "Repent, therefore" (Acts 3:19). Repent, therefore, and return so that your sins may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

Broken down in your Christian life, what do you do? You just stay broken down? No, you call upon the Lord. You ask him for his mercy and his grace. You confess your sin to him, and you move on with the Lord.

Now, the Bible talks about worldly sorrow and godly sorrow (2 Corinthians, chapter 7). There's a sorrow according to the world, and there's a sorrow according to the will of God. It seems to me these people who wept at this place, that whose name became known as Weeping Bo Kim, they had the sorrow of the world. Now, worldly sorrow produces tears and regret. People are. When you have worldly sorrow, you're upset about the consequences. "Oh no, I did this." You know, it's kind of like you get pulled over. You're on the freeway, get pulled over. "What am I getting a ticket for?" "Well, you were going 85 in a 55." And so you're like, "Oh, okay." The officer asks you, "How fast were you doing?" "45." No, I mean, probably not. So you say, "Ah, you caught me; I was doing 85." Well, here's your ticket. And you're very upset, but you're not upset about breaking the law; you're upset about getting the ticket. You're upset about getting caught. When you were going 85 and there wasn't a cop around, you weren't thinking, "Oh, this is so bad. I feel terrible about this." No, you weren't even thinking about it. You're looking in the rearview mirror, making sure nobody's there.

So worldly sorrow, there are tears and there's regret. You know, the poster child for worldly sorrow is Judas. Judas betrayed the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. And then when he saw that Jesus was condemned to death, he came and returned the 30 pieces of silver. And he said, "I have sinned and betrayed innocent blood." And they said, "What is that to us? See, you see to that yourself." And he threw the money into the temple and he went out and hanged himself. The phrase from Adrian Rogers always rings in my mind: "Trying to escape the hell within him, he hanged himself and stepped into the hell before it." He had worldly sorrow. He didn't have godly sorrow.

Why do you know he didn't have godly sorrow? Because of his actions. See, worldly sorrow brings tears and repentance and regret. But godly sorrow produces repentance and change. With godly sorrow, the Lord convicts your heart, and you're not so concerned about the consequences; you're concerned about the sin. You're not saying, "God, I just broke your law," but, "God, I broke your heart, and God, I'm so sorry." And there's a conviction and there is a weeping inside. Kind of like the woman in Luke chapter seven that wept at Jesus' feet and washed his feet with her tears and wiped his feet with her hair. She had the tears of repentance. It was true. And Jesus would tell her, "Your sins have been forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace now."

Obviously, she's not going to continue to be a prostitute. As he told the woman caught in adultery, "Go and sin no more. Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." The woman in Luke chapter four, in John chapter four, the woman at the well, "Go call your husband." "I don't have a husband." "You've had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. This you have said truly." Well, once she encountered the Lord and there was genuine repentance, she didn't go back to a life of sin.

Peter is the poster child for godly sorrow. He sinned a similar sin to Judas. Judas betrayed the Lord; Peter denied the Lord three times. But he repented. He was convicted in his heart. He repented. He got right with God, and God used him in great ways.

Now, compromise has got to go if we're going to walk with God. You can't live in spiritual compromise. If you're going to walk with God, you can't say, "Well, I'm just going to coexist with the Canaanites, with the iron chariots." Because once you have Canaanites with iron chari

Speaker 1

It's likely that you have some Canaanites in your life that tempt you to compromise so you can feel like you're liked, you're loved, you're accepted. It's a dangerous thing to fall into that trap. As we've learned in this first message called "Iron Chariots" from Pastor Jeff's new 10-lesson series, "Before There Were Kings," the cost of compromise is significant.

Compromise may seem harmless at first, just a small concession, a slight bending of the truth. But in reality, it is a dangerous slippery slope. Today, we're in Pastor Jeff's series, providing a sobering example of how God's people repeatedly compromised with the culture around them, embracing idolatry and disobedience. The result? A cycle of sin, suffering, and desperation. Hey, that describes our world today, doesn't it?

But even in their rebellion, God remained faithful, calling them back to Him. In the series "Before There Were Kings: The Cost of Compromise," Pastor Jeff reveals the hidden dangers of spiritual compromise and how to stand firm in God's truth no matter the pressure. Because the reality is, what you compromise to keep, you will eventually lose. But when you stand on God's unshakable truth, He will uphold and bless you.

Are you ready to break free from compromise and walk boldly in faith? Get this entire series, nearly eight hours of uncompromised truth, our gift to you for your support from His Heart this month of any amount. Simply call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-24253) or go online to fromhishheart.org and request "Before There Were Kings: The Cost of Compromise."

God bless you for standing with us to share the uncompromising truth of our Lord to a lost and dying world. I'm Larry Nobles, trusting that you'll be right back here next time for lesson two in this series called "The Danger Zone" from Judges Chapter Two, when we'll again open up God's Word and share real truth, real love, and real hope. From His Heart.

Speaker 2

There is tremendous truth There is love There is hope that you always dream Love he every scars from his heart.

Speaker 1

From his heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world. Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Find out more@fromisheart.org.