Collusion and False Reconciliation

Well, praise the Lord everybody. Man, I want to go to the Old Testament, book of Judges. I know you that are in former prophets, never get out of the book of Judges. I want to do something that the Lord has brought a place to my heart. But what I wanted to do was go to Philippians 2, verses 5 through 11, and talk about when Jesus earned or when he won his name, then flip to Revelation chapter 3, verse 12, and talk about when the victory of that name is realized, and then drop back to Matthew 1, 21, the view of Christmas break, and talk about when that name was prophesied and became a reality. That little bit of flesh that was in the manger of Bethlehem became the tip of the spear of the greatest battle of human history. And I felt a little pressure from the Lord, and I felt a little bit like Jude when he

said, when I gave all diligence to write unto you about our common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith, which was once delivered unto the saints. I feel like I have that kind of task. So you'll forgive me for being less encouraging than I wanted to, and to be as exhortive as the text is today. Would you pray that the Lord will help me share my heart, and that he'll bless us in our time together, Lord? We are so thankful that we never come to these moments by ourselves, Lord. The witness of your spirit that we've already felt in worship. We thank you for your touch. We ask you to quicken this moment. Help us. We can understand the things that are given to us by the preached word that we

can walk in the spirit. We can walk in the victory that only you can give, Lord. We'll be careful to thank you to give you all the praise and the honor for your goodness. Jesus' name, we pray, we ask. Amen, amen. God bless you, may be seated. Thank you for those kind words, Brother Turner and well. What a great, great year we've been having for all of you freshmen who have almost finished your first semester. Congratulations for you upperclassmen, especially you seniors. You can do it. It doesn't have to be pretty. It just has to be finished. Hallelujah. I can feel a witness in the spirit. I'm not sure what spirit that was, but I feel a witness in the spirit. I'm going to walk a little dangerously. I'm going to give you my title ahead of time. I know that I probably should save the title because there is a

reality in which some things, if you say, I'm going to preach on tithing today. People start conveniently making their way to the bathrooms and out the back door of the church. But I do want to give it to you because I don't think that of you. I think that you're the type of people that really want to know the will of God. So I'm going to slow down and talk a little bit today. And if I titled this, I would title it something like this, collusion and false reconciliation. So don't shut down on me. But I do feel like I'm going to share something from the Lord. I remember when I was in seminary, my very wonderful and kind, we had lots of interactions and, man, boy, was there a lot of, boy, I don't know if a nicer word, heresy in that class. But my wonderful feminist instructor was teaching.

And Dr. Russell, she was very kind to me. And we had a great interchange and I enjoyed my time there. But we don't believe at all about anything about the Bible. And I remember she went to the Book of Judges and she looked at the last couple of chapters of the Book of Judges. And it tells this awful story about a man who has a concubine, which is kind of a half-wife. You get the benefits of the relationship without the obligations. That's why marriage is a good test. It's what I like to call in holiness a good creep filter. It'll run off every creep that's not committed to you. So make sure you keep yourself, ladies. And if he's not willing to commit, don't give yourself. And so there is this complex issue where a man in one of the tribes of Israel is, there he is.

He's making his way back into the, he's done some trade. He's coming back in and he doesn't want to stay overnight in the pagan lands because that's bad. Bad things can happen in pagan places. But then he gets to the land of Israel and this crazy thing happens. He brings his half-wife that he's not committed to into the house and the men from one of the tribes come and they bang on the door and they demand his wife and he sends his half-wife out. And you'll forgive my candor. I want to give the description of the text. They, they rape her all night until, you know, her husband wakes up, half-husband, gets up and he walks out and he'll give her a little nudge. Come on, it's time to go home and she's dead. And then my wonderful feminist professor says that he

gets all this righteous indignation built up. So what does he do instead of at least giving her a proper burial and you're the jerk that sent her out there? You're not a man if you can't protect a woman. And, and he cuts her up, sends 12 pieces all over Israel. Then Israel gets fired up. What's not going to, we're going to do what the law says and they're not living according to the law at all. And yet they get together, they unite and they say, we're going to give us this guy and these men and they're like, we're not going to give them to you. And they, and they attack the tribe and you have the 11 tribes attacking the one tribe and, and they almost eradicate, eradicate one of the tribes of Israel and they go, oh no, what have we done? And then, then you get this complex, added complexity

where they say, well, we got the leftover men bishop and this is what we should do. Have a barbecue and, and at the barbecue whenever there's a man that comes up and, and, and you see when the damsels get there, just run and grab you one, oh, more rape and molestation. We can save the tribe of Israel that we almost destroyed. And, and my wonderful feminist professor said, how can this be the word of God? When you look at this story, how in the world can this be the word of God? No, I had been to Indiana Bible College, so I just ups with my hand in the back and I said to my wonderful professor, I cause trouble in her class often and I said, well, Dr. Russell, don't we have to understand when the Bible's being descriptive and not prescriptive? Don't we understand that in historical narrative

that every once in a while you have to say, this is not prescribing what you should do, this is actually describing what happens when you don't do what you should do? And I just remember she was like, she gave me a look and I was, I was in trouble, but it is what it is. And then, and then I get that. I know what it's not and what I wanna do though is it's not enough for me to handle my wonderful liberal professor's argument against the Bible being the word of God. I have to go further than that and say, why is this in scripture? The reason it is in scripture is because of the comment of Judges chapter 17 verse six where the Lord reveals what this situation shows us. It says, in those days there was no king in Israel but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

This is what happens when people forsake the law of God and they end up following what's right in their own eyes. So that's what I wanna talk to you about because when you look at the end of the book of Judges these chapters are very different than the rest of the book of Judges. Chapters one through 16 can hardly prepare you for chapter 17 all the way till the end because there are no more judges and it's showing us what happens when people forsake Godly leadership. It is revelation for needed insight into the dynamics of life and ministry. If you don't get these principles it will affect your life, your marriage, your family, your church, your organization, your movement. It will have an impact eventually even on society. What's the principle brother Kilman? There's a disobedience always leads to bondage and obedience always leads to deliverance

and that's what the Lord is trying to communicate in these two little events that are snapshots for us to understand what the people of God can do when they get into disobedience the level to which they can seek. Now when we read this cycle in the book of Judges we can see it and when we can understand it but when you begin to minister to people, when you watch what happens and I'm gonna try not to get stuck here but some of these elders can tell you that when you start dealing with the reality of human life and you see that there are people that collude in opportunities to not obey God together let's reject the Bible but let's reject the Bible together and they create their own little circles of influence instead of being reconciled to God and reconciled to his purpose where blessing is found through obedience instead

they found these own little circles and they pat each other on the back and find ways to encourage each other in disobedience and the reason I'm being strong today is because I am seeing time after time after time the results of that type of false reconciliation it ends in devastation and disaster. Sin has a cycle that's the warning of scripture and it's astonishing what a person or a minister even can turn into when we're given to sin's cycle and there's this false view that you get chapter 17 and 18 which I'm gonna try to deal with a little bit in detail today and it looks relatively tame those verses those two chapters but when you get to 1920 and 21 even my feminist professor would say this is horrendous it's a description of what society can get to when it rejects God but there's a critical revelation there

in the first example and it's this that no ministry no religious practice is safe without God and that by the time you get to 1920 and 21 you can't get there without chapter 17 and 18 and 17 and 18 is the precursor because the first one leads to the other nobody backsides overnight nobody gets to disaster overnight nobody ends in destruction overnight there is a process and a cycle to sin I wanna help warn you and arm you against the attacks of the enemy so let's go to the book of Judges chapter one the Bible says and there was a man of Mount Ephraim whose name was Micah Micah means who is like Yahweh well definitely not him it's fascinating that people can call themselves all sorts of name you can call yourself apostolic and not be that too that was extra verse two and he said unto his mother

the 1100 shekels of silver that were taken from thee about which thou curses and Spacus of also in mine ears behold the silver is with me I took it and the mother said blessed be thou the Lord my son now we see his heart Micah is a thief he stills from his own mama and then she pronounces a curse and there was this pagan parental cursing thing that was tied to the Canaanites we don't have time to deal with but he's afraid he's not righteous but he's spiritually superstitious so how can he be religious and be a thief that can steal from his own mom at the same time there's a warning here that people have a tremendous capacity for compartmentalizing the religious things that they do away from their secular so-called life no no you have a whole life that has to be dedicated to God

the Bible says and he restored the 1100 shekels of silver to his mother and his mother said I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord and from my hand for my son to make a graven image and a molten image now wait a minute there's a coherent problem here you've dedicated this to the Lord but you're making an idol out of it and it's idolatry the second command is being violated and she uses the name of God twice trying to praise God and worship God while breaking the fundamentals of what worshiping God should be about and so what you read in the book of Judges is when you see it you're supposed to be almost slackjawed how in the world can you make up your own commandments or ideas and throw a little God talk in there and think everything's okay how can you violate what the Bible says

about being a child of God and then slap a little apostolic title on it and think it's going to be okay what is she thinking I'll tell you what she's thinking she's thinking just like the pagans around her and it would be sad for the people of God to start reflecting the things of the world in the church and still have an apostolic title on it I'm going to tell you it's covenant followers and covenant obedience that's going to lead to victory instead of fashioning her life on the basis of God's word her thinking her convictions and her values are being shaped by the culture that she's surrounded by and I'll try to behave but Judges 175 says and the man Micah had a house of God now this is an Israelite he has a house of God he made an Epod and a tariff him

and consecrated one of his sons who became his priest so much in this little text this little verse no longer is he worshiping the one true God he's become polytheistic he's no longer monotheistic now he has a son priest that he's put in place not a Levite by the command of God and he's not even worshiping in Shiloh he's instituted his own little house church where he can prop up his own sin and hire his son to preach anything he wants to hear now you're crazy if you don't think that's a temptation okay you don't get to pick the pastor in your life you don't get to violate the principles of God and get out from underneath Godly authority and create your own context for your own ministry I'm going to tell you you go down that road you will end up like Micah you go down that road

you may even attract you a little team and get things started but at the end of the day you're going to be so far from God and the generations that you have in your future are going to be subject to horrendous conditions because you open the door to sin can't afford not to let the word of God touch our heart and guide us and and deal with it and and and he settles into this sin with no conviction that's dangerously close to becoming a reprobate and I'll just tell you students I hate to tell you over and over and over again you're going to be called the bad guy or the bad gal because you stand up for what scripture says about separation never never never let anyone intimidate you you got to protect your future you got to protect your calling you got you got

should the Lord tarry you're going to have all sorts of people and generation after generation under the ministry that God gives you and you got to get them blessed by getting them into obedience to God we get that terrible comment in verse six that there's no king in Israel and every man did what was right in their own eyes and I know better than God and who cares about the forsaking forsaking the assembling of ourselves together who cares about that and I would understand people's commentary on those types of things that we don't need to go to church if they hadn't walked up with a bible in their hand when they said it to me you can sell some things and and you can say maybe I can mix it up and justify it a little bit with a little God talk I'm going to tell you there's some people

they can't they can't get you on board with what they want to do unless they mix in God talk like one man that I love and I'm praying that we'll find repentance said we're going to look a little different we may do things a little different but we're going to be the same we're going to believe the same things here if you're going to look a little different you're not believing the same thing and the only reason you can lead that church down that path is because they don't know where the indestination is I'm going to tell you when a Micah comes along and you're going to experience a Micah who's going to want to come you come to my house and and you set up worship here and I'm going to set you up for the future and they will use your giftings to justify their own sin

because they don't want a real consecrated life you got to love God enough to say I'm not selling my gift I'll prove it to you I'm not just preaching stuff this is in the word of God Judge of 17 that's that's for anybody that should hear this recording and take a shot at me K-I-L-L-M-O-N sorry for that not really not to you and there was a young man out of Bethlehem, Judah of the family of Judah everybody say a young man who was a Levite wow had a calling maybe could have came to Indiana Bible College and he's sojourned there and the man departed out of the city from Bethlehem, Judah now why are you leaving the place of Shiloh why are you leaving the place of worship why are you leaving the place that you're called he says well to Sojourn

where he could find a place you already have a place it's called Shiloh you already have a tabernacle you can't just go land anywhere you want you got to be apostolic to the time you die what that means is you can't be looking for an opportunity to land somewhere on a platform or an opportunity where somebody's going to give me a full time paid position quit lusting after those things and say I'm going to die an apostolic minister I'm going to be at Shiloh until I die every person like Micah is responsible for the worsening of society the worsening of culture and the worsening of the church and they're not usually alone without this Levite seeking to do his own thing there would be solid worship in Shiloh and he's going to be used to endorse compromisers verse nine says and Micah said unto him when's come astell

he said unto him I am a Levite of Bethlehem Judah and I go to Sojourn where I may find a place just looking for a place to sell my gift he says Micah said unto him dwell with me and be unto me a father and a priest I want you to lead I want you to be over me and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year in a suit of apparel and thy victuals so the Levite went in be unto me a father and a priest and I'll set you up in full time you can live easy that young Levite already had there's a collusion there there's a collusion in the heart of Micah because he's compromised and there's a collusion in the heart of this Levite because he's ready to compromise his gift and I'm going to tell you if you got a sell out price

you will bump into somebody who will eventually offer it somebody just offer me a full time position or a platform make a little money and I'm just going to tell you that you won't have the success and the following and the influence and the money that you think you're going to have you may be in places but I'm going to tell you what will happen they get to dictate some things in your life because look at verse 11 and the Levite was content to dwell with the man and the young man was unto him as one of his what his father one of his priests no no no he was just like one of his boys that he could boss around I'm going to tell you you go ahead and look for the opportunity to sell your gift instead of the Lord opening a door for you

and they'll get to dictate what you preach and don't preach they'll get to dictate what you teach or don't teach they'll get to dictate what you sing or don't sing you go ahead and sign your stupid little label yes I said it Kilman K-I-L-L-M-O-N you go ahead and sell your gifting and talk about how many people that you're reaching for the Lord behind the scenes I bet you never get to sing one God I'm going to tell you you cannot sell your gift and think it won't have ramifications for your future because a hireling is just a hireling and if you're for hire you got a you're only going to get the money and the okay you get the point and Micah consecrated the Levite how can he consecrate the Levite you don't need some people's blessing you don't need some people's vindication

and I don't care how big their platform is if it's compromised it's not a vindication from God I'm trying to behave today and the young man became his priest and he was in the house of Micah then said Micah now no eye that the Lord will do me good seeing I have a Levite to my priest justified himself all these horrendous compromises that he has and and he justifies himself because of this young man's willingness to prostitute his giftings some people only want your you on their team so they can ease their conscience they're looking for somebody that will collude with them to make them feel okay in their sin you cannot afford to bless people in their sin you have to actually love people enough to stand for truth so that they can have the opportunity to repent and be saved see they do it too

they go there they watch that they participate in that see I'm okay too collusion and false reconciliation and you're united you're not the united Pentecostal church because you're not united around the minimum of what's in the manual so you start your own little thing now I'm not just talking about the UPC I'm just going to tell you you can find somebody that'll want to go start their own thing and use you that now I will I will say Bishop I respect that better than people that want to stay in our organization and change it go start your own thing how about you build your own church too instead of stealing an apostolic one I'll behave verse 8 chapter 18 in there's in those days there was no king in Israel and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them inheritance to dwell in

now why are the Danites seeking an inheritance to dwell in because they haven't driven out the enemy they're not strong enough the enemy is stronger than them in terms of their will of accomplishing what God wants them to do that's the issue it's not that God can't give them land it's because they're compromised and they're hard and they have no victory because idolatry is in their heart so what do they got to do they got to go look for somebody else's church to steal I'm trying to behave but I want to be as strong as the Bible and Brother Perry what one of the challenges is is when people can't produce something in the spirit what they do is they try to manufacture revival in the flesh you hire in the best singers you hire in the best presentation you get the promo team going really good

and I'm not against of any of those godly things but they are not going to be a substitute for consecration in Shiloh you can try to for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel they didn't have the victory so what do they do they send out these five men they go search the land and spy out of coast and they come up and they find Micah's house and then they hear this voice wow that guy sounds like a Levite sounds apostolic and they say hey what are you doing here hey I got hired you got me a job here man I'm set up and it looks good and hey how about you pray for us and see if our way be prosperous you're going to ask a hireling to pray for you now what's tragic is they're going to slaughter a whole village

and just a few short verses it's astonishing to me what people will do to vindicate their lifestyles and what you have to do as a young minister is understand when you collude with people you participate in their broken marriage when they get divorced because you tore down the boundaries of holiness you are just as guilty young Levite who should be teaching the truth and letting people be saved instead of innocence being slaughtered and you bear the the marks of that same fall out of sin because of your collusion with evil I wanted to do something encouraging but the Lord wanted me to exhort you the priest said unto him go in peace before the Lord before the Lord is your way wherein you go God's going to bless you it's fascinating to me how many prophets will say that blessing healing blessing healing how about repent

are you going to be destroyed how about repent or your entire future is going to be wrecked how about repent are you going to be lost for eternity five men departed and come to Leish and they're like hey these people dwell careless there's no magistrate in the land they're in the furthest northern border and they're the descendants of the Phoenicians but they're too far away from support and and we can probably take this without any political fallout we can go in stage a coup take over the church we can push them out I'll try to behave go back and judges say you can look at it on your own time there's wealth in that house I saw all this stuff man think about it verse 15 and they turned thitherward and came to the house of the young man the Levi even unto the house of Micah

and saluted him hey bro we're back with 600 men appointed with their weapons of war here's the problem with being a higherly when 600 men come at you armed for war and you don't have the presence of God what are you going to do I tell you what Elijah can do fire can come down from heaven and destroy his enemies to the point by the time you get the third God coming he's coming in humility listen no big deal I'm not trying to be you're a man of God I'm just trying to do my job see God knows how to vindicate those that stand for him but if you put yourself in the position of compromise you are always going to be what only what you can manipulate in your own carnality and your human limitation that's why you cannot afford to prostitute your gift

for an opportunity you got to say Lord help me not walk through any door accept the door you open because if you open the door everything I need to be there will be there they took the graven image and the e-pod and the tariff and the molten image sad when people can steal your gods then said the priest under them I what do you do and he says in verse and they said unto him hold thy peace lay thy hand upon his shut your mouth or you'll be a consequence yeah I'm going to quote Bishop Bishop used to say I'd rather preach in a storefront with the truth than in the finest palace I know why because at the end of the day if they can tell you to shut your mouth you are not the pastor if they can intimidate your pulpit into silence

you will never be a minister of God if they control what you declare when you teach preach and sing you are not going to be a you are not going to be a true minister of God but if you will stand on the side of right God knows how to vindicate you and bring fire down from heaven and Elijah's vindicated right in the face of the enemy lay thy hand up on thy mouth and go with us and be to us a father and a priest oh this father bit it's okay though he's always looking for a bigger congregation and more money verse 20 says in the priest's heart was glad yay opportunity if you get a hireling all you have is the loyalty of a hireling but they expect trouble put the little ones in the cattle and the carriage before them and we're going to put the arm in in the back

and and here comes Micah he overtakes the children of Dan you know the fellow children of Israel and he says they cried unto the children of Dan and they turned their faces and said unto Micah what aileth thee that thou comest to us with such company and he said you've taken away my gods which I made that's the problem if you make it you have to prop it up and the priest well you bought him are you surprised when someone else can buy him I'm trying to move on I want to speak something into your future there are some people you cannot afford to have on your team and if you have to hire them to get them there if you have to manipulate to get them there somebody else can hire them and get them out of there what you need to say is

Lord only send me a dedicated Levite who loves worship that loves Shiloh give me somebody that's fallen in love with a relationship with God and I can build a future and ministry on that thing I'll try to hurry and the children of Dan said unto him let not thy voice be heard among us lest angry fellows run upon thee and lose thy life when the lives of thy and the lives of thy household and the children of Dan went their way and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him he turned went back into his house what are you doing looking for loyalty you're looking for character really you hired him in compromise don't look for loyalty you hire somebody with a lack of character they will always have a lack of character I'm closing 1827 and they took the things which Micah had made

and the priest which he had because if you build your church that way somebody else will come along with a bigger and better thing in the future and then you will lose all the people you attracted that's why we are not into the attraction model we're into the conversion model be careful and they smote them with the edge of the sword they went into up to Laish unto a people now this should stagger you these are the children of Israel this is a tribe of Israel and they went unto a people that were quiet and secure they're not causing any problems they're just there trying to eke out a living and they smote them with the edge of the sword and burnt their city with fire there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon they had no business with any man it was in the valley that laughed in Bethrobbe

and they built a city and dwelt there in them and they called the name of the city Dan after the name of Dan their father wow there's a legacy who was born unto Israel albeit the name of the city was Laish at the first and the children of Dan set up the graven image and Jonathan the son of Gersham the son of Manasseh he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of captivity immediately they built a religious system and set up their own little worship team and their own little preaching team and they get everything going and let's just vindicate our disobedience and our horrendous character of how we killed people and took over this land falsely and they set them up Mike has graven image which he made and look at what the bible says they set it up all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh

there was true worship available but there are two compromise to go if something starts wrong it'll probably end wrong Dan becomes the centerpiece I wish we had time to deal with it but man that's a class brother turner but Dan becomes the centerpiece of idolatry in Israel from that time forward and by the time they start making these cows these golden calves under Jeroboam Dan has no problem saying set it up here it becomes a thorn in the side of Israel for its entire future and it won't stop until the northern kingdom is destroyed there are people religious people people that think they're the people of God have no consideration of stealing or threatening creating false priesthoods and slaughtering the innocent and setting up idolatry if I just mix in a little God talking Brother Kilman what does this mean what does this preach to us

there are people that claim to follow God but make up their own rules and try to take and pick a little bit here and set a little bit aside and we're going to just be a little bit different and we're going to you know by the way the UPC is going to be different in just a few years and you got to decide whether or not you're hooking your train to people who talk like that I promise you the organization I grew up in is far from God I love them I'm praying for them Bishop I hope they find repentance but they are far from God and we can end up that way too all it takes is corrupt people and young ministers who want the money that collusion that meeting of evil desires colluding and some type of false reconciliation can prop up a future that would destroy

an entire organization Brother Kilman are you talking about the UPC I'm talking about all the letters because the Bible is clear it can end up there I have some reading and then if you'll come to the music I'm going to try to land this thing Matthew 7 I'm going to read a couple passages scripture they're a little lengthy and then I'm going to ask you to stand look at what Jesus says in that great sermon on the Mount Brother Brown I wish I could just hand you the mic and have you go for hours on the sermon on the Mount enter ye at the straight gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that lead it to destruction and many there be which go in there at many the Bible says because Jesus says because straight is the gate that's the reason they don't go in

because it's straight because straight is the way and narrow is the way which lead it to life and view there be that find it but Jesus doesn't stop there he says beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves they're only about satiating their own desires Jesus says you shall know them by their fruits do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles no you don't do that even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit a good tree cannot be brought bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down in cast into the fire wherefore Jesus repeats it again so you don't miss it by their fruits you shall know them beware people trying to hire you

I know there are good people that can sometimes make a mistake but if you go to a place without the invitation and the inclusion of your pastor God help you because there's something called ethics and if Micah is unethical he will treat you unethical and if you hire a Levite that's looking to find his own place he will not be ethical it's your church what are you thinking that type of collusion will only end in disaster not everyone Jesus goes on to say that to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven then Jesus says it many will say in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name by the way it's singular they know there's only one saving name have we and in thy name have have cast out devils

and in thy name done many wonderful works and I get you your Levite I get you you're an apostolic and then will I profess under them Jesus says I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity and if you're willing to commit sin to get into opportunities for ministry if you're lusting after position and money Jesus says there are going to be many that claim to know me but living in willful disobedience you know you're going against the will of God for your life see I tried I tried to do something else today but I feel like I got to say maybe some freshman that's going back home and you're thinking I've got enough and I just want to do my own thing now that's the problem that's what you got to crucify that desire to do your own thing if it's your ministry

it'll be your ministry the rest of your life but it won't be his ministry that's why you got to say I got to lay down every ambition at the altar of Christ and say not my will thy will be done and Jesus says and he says it's many the size of the crowd is going to shock people into eternity in eternity on judgment day because in your life in your ministry and in your methods there's they're inconsistent to his commands and there's a warning that you can become self deceived and think you're okay this is a warning I know I know I'm preaching the young ministers that are dedicating their life to the will and purpose of God but I just want to tell you that that type of thing that warning from Jesus tells us something this type of thing where people are in the ministry

doing stuff for Jesus and yet embracing willful sin happens all the time because many are going to say what do you mean Jesus I have to conclude with 2 Timothy 3 1-5 if you'll stand with me the apostle Paul says this know also that in the last days perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of them their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection trucebreakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good traders heady high-minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers lovers of God and then the Bible says having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof that spiritual tone right before the rapture that Paul is dealing with is going to be just like in the time of judges where people are doing everything right in their own eyes and what should you discern

you should discern that that's going to happen you're going to find a Micah you're going to be tempted to be a Levite that will sell their gift but what should you do with that you should crucify that longing on the inside of you and more than that you shouldn't hang out with people who want to do that because the Bible says from such turn away the only safe place in this world is in simple obedience to God whether it's in your personal life in your ministry in your marriage in your family in your church it's simple obedience to God that will protect you I'm going to be real strong with my clothes you cannot afford some opportunities I don't want to see another student leave IBC and sell their gift I know that temptation is real I pray it doesn't ever happen again I've seen it way too many times

I'm just going to tell you you cannot afford some opportunities quit lying to yourself saying I can really reach them if I do that no you won't you will become compromised like the many others that came before you surrender your heart in your life in your ministry to God I want to try to save somebody today I want to save your future you cannot engage in some relationships you know when you're being tempted in your flesh out from underneath the authority that God gave you you do not want or need some people on your team and at your church because you are not smarter than God what is your challenge today for the killmen don't peddle your data quit looking for the next big opportunity just look for obedience and then don't keep company with people who do so I'm calling you to consecration today

every Micah willing to be an unethical person in hiring every Levite discontent with the limitations that they think Shiloh is create a future that contributes this thing I was up here when I walked into chapel thank you for the worship it was wonderful but I just felt like I had to challenge you that you're at the start of something and if you if you don't start right you can end in disaster and so I know I got I got you hear my heart today I love you I love I want to see great things come out of your life in ministry but I got to love you enough to tell you that the Bible warns us against the proclivities of our own hearts if there's any type of collusion in your life I'm asking you to bring it to the altar if there's any unsurrendered ambition

I know I know but I'm asking you to bring it to the altar brother killmen I've heard this 50 times maybe this is the time where God will root out that thing on the inside of you yeah but my pastors against me maybe the Lord knows how to protect you and limit your opportunities so you don't end up in some place it's going to destroy everything that he has for you in your future quit chafing the surrendering I'm asking you to come I'm asking you to come I refuse to let my ambitions destroy and create chaos I don't want to be guilty of looking for opportunities man I'm trying to move on it can seem so small just my I just don't have see much going on in my own home church brother killmen I'm just looking for an opportunity I understand there are good times

for the Lord to open doors and your pastor will bless that and God can get you out even eat in complex situations but I'm telling you you got to say Lord you have to open the door help me not to keep pushing on doors that you have no desire in my life to be open because if you open it it will be a future wave from what the Lord wants for your life there you'll be years and years years later I wish I I'm not going to mention any names but I've seen I hate to say it for the brown you've seen it for the sleeve but you've seen it guys said I went to school with girls I went to school with so far from apostolic commitments now because they were looking for opportunities in the present that looks so small looks so small

come on just just close your eyes for the Lord and say God help me to surrender every ambition of my heart if there is a point of collusion in me with another person that is trying to lead me away from the truth help me to give up that relationship because that's not a real opportunity for blessing I know this is going to be heavy give them up give them up God if I have to walk away from a friendship I got to walk away from a friendship protect me from the longings of my own heart help me to understand that there are things at stake in the future I don't want my legacy to read look how many people they let us stray I want to go to heaven with full hands look at what I brought God maybe a small church somewhere Jesus but I've given you years of

apostolic ministry instead of trying to sell my gift I've given you my entire life to have an apostolic church and nothing else and he will say come on in my good and faithful servant enter into the joys of the Lord come on press in the spirit press in the spirit yes Lord I want to be faithful oh God I want to be faithful God I want to be faithful I want to walk worthy of the calling wherein you've called me come on that's it just a little longer