God’s Wake-up Call | Judges 1-21

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? Hey, good to see you. I hope all is well. If this is your first time ever visiting with us, thanks for joining us. Thanks for trusting us with your Sunday morning. I hope this place can feel like home for you very quickly. We're going to pray, like we always do, before we jump into studying the Word of God. We believe God is here, that he wants to speak to us today.

So, I want to invite you right now to pray and say, "God, would you speak clearly to me this morning?" Then, would you pray for the people around you and say, "God, speak clearly to them as well." Then I want to ask you to pray for me and ask that God would speak clearly through me to you.

Lord, I pray that you would give us a perspective that would allow us to not take this moment for granted, that we get to gather together as followers of Jesus, we get to open up your Word, and we get to hear from you. Lord, thank you that by your Spirit, we can hear from the living God. Every person can leave here saying, "I've met with God, and he's spoken to me today." So, Lord, would you give us eyes to see you and ears to hear from you and hearts that are receptive to all you have in store? We give this time to you. We need you. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen.

Several years ago, we were still living in College Station, and I was up at the Breakaway offices, which is where I worked. We worked on the second floor, and our conference room had these big windows. We heard that there was a tornado watch that turned into a tornado warning. We were sitting in the conference room having a meeting, and we looked out the windows, and the sky had changed.

It had become incredibly dark, and you could look and see, like, "Oh, yeah. The watch has, in fact, become a warning." To the point that we got up and moved with haste into the concrete stairwell of this office building. People from a different office were in there as well. When I was standing in this space, I called home to make sure my wife Kat had gotten our son Jake, who was a baby at this time, up and into a safe place. Jake was a baby, so it was his naptime, and I knew Kat was also taking a nap, so I just wanted to make sure Kat was awake.

So I called, and she didn't answer. I began to get worried, because my wife is a very heavy sleeper. I would imagine that many of you are heavy sleepers. My wife is the type that it's like, "Hey, Kat, your alarm is going off." Maybe you're married to that person. That's just the way God wired you. That's okay.

I call Kat once. She doesn't answer. I call her again. I realize pretty quickly Kat is not going to hear her phone. It is down too far. She's not going to hear it. So I begin to panic a little, and I have this urgency in me. "Kat needs to know there is something on its way that is destructive. It is going to potentially cause damage. It's life-threatening." I'm like, "How can I get her attention when she's asleep at home?"

So, I get on my alarm system app on my phone, and I start arming and disarming our alarm system, because the panel is right next to our bed. At home, I know that Kat in our room is hearing Beep! Beep, beep! That's armed, disarmed. Beep! Beep, beep! I'm just sitting there. Armed. Disarmed. Armed. Disarmed. Finally, Kat calls me. She's like, "What's going on?" I'm like, "There is a tornado happening right now."

The reason I tell you that is today, as we step into the book of Judges, the book of Judges is a phone call to Watermark Community Church to make sure we are awake, that we are awake spiritually, because it's not that something destructive or dangerous or threatening is coming; it's already here. There is something going on right now, if you're not aware of it. There are Christians all over the world who are living wide awake. Revival is happening in our world today, and it's really exciting.

At the exact same time, there are Christians in our world who are abandoning the church and their faith altogether. People are deconstructing. People are walking away from Jesus. There are churches that are divorcing themselves from truth. There are Christian marriages that are crumbling in front of us. Pastors are making the news for all of the wrong reasons. There is something going on. The book of Judges today is going to be a phone call to make sure we are, in fact, awake.

So, you just need to know the urgency I felt when I was calling home, trying to get Kat's attention… I feel that for you today. So, if you sense a little bit of nervous, restless energy coming from the stage today, that's why. I feel this deep burden, this responsibility, this longing for anyone in the room who's still asleep apathetically to wake up. So, it's a phone call to you individually, but it's a call to us collectively, corporately.

We're in the Year of the Word where we're journeying from cover to cover through the Bible, and we land today in the book of Judges. The book of Judges is a tragic book. The book of Judges chronicles about 275 years of the nation of Israel just living asleep to the goodness of God. So, I want us to learn from the book of Judges today.

My hope is that the book of Judges would invite us to wake up in three ways, and I'll tell you what they are right now. First, the book of Judges would invite us to wake up and disciple the next generation. Secondly, we would wake up and call out compromise. Thirdly, we would wake up to the full extent of God's faithfulness.

If you have a Bible, I want to invite you to turn to Judges, chapter 2. The reason we're going to be in Judges, chapter 2, is that Judges, chapter 2, is basically the movie trailer for the entire book. It's a summary chapter of what plays out throughout the entire book. How does the book of Judges fit into the overall story of Scripture? One of the reasons we're doing the Year of the Word is so you would understand the whole story of Scripture.

Think about it. All the way back in Genesis, chapter 3, God promises that a Serpent crusher is going to come who is going to reverse the effects of the fall. It is God's plan to restore what was lost in Eden. So, from the beginning, it has been God's intention to have a people living in a place, accomplishing his purposes, while enjoying his presence.

When we read through the book of Joshua, Joshua was the closest we have been to Eden since Eden. The book of Joshua is the first time since Genesis, chapter 3, that we've seen all of those ingredients back together. In Joshua, you have a people. God has called out the nation of Israel. They are now in a place, the land of Canaan. They have a purpose. What's their purpose? To be holy. Part of being holy is driving out the inhabitants of the land who are unholy. And they're enjoying God's presence. God resides in the tabernacle.

So, you see all of the ingredients back together. Now, this is the moment where, if you're reading and you don't know the rest of the Bible, you might begin to think, "Okay. I can see how the story is ultimately going to play out." I think about when I was a kid. There were times where the game show Wheel of Fortune was on. I understand that by saying that you young people are like, "Yeah, you're a super-old man." Yeah, I embrace that.

But for those of you who even know what Wheel of Fortune is… I haven't watched it in decades. When a contestant gets to a point where they see things clearly enough, what do they say? "I'd like to solve the puzzle." When you read Joshua, you could get to a point where you're like, "I'd like to solve the puzzle. I know exactly how this story is going to play out. God has his people in his place, accomplishing his purposes, enjoying his presence.

So, you know what's probably going to happen? The nation of Israel is going to learn from Adam and Eve's mistakes. They're finally going to be faithful to God. God told Adam and Eve, 'Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it,' so the nation of Israel is now going to extend God's rule and reign throughout the earth. The nation of Israel is going to turn out to be the Serpent crusher, and everyone is going to live happily ever after."

Then you turn to Judges, and what do you find? One massive dumpster fire. You find out that the rebellion that existed in Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden now exists in all of God's people in the land that was, in some ways, supposed to be a recreation of Eden, the land of Canaan. We are no closer to the new creation. We're no closer to Eden once again. All of Israel is infected with sin, including its leaders.

I don't know if you notice this when you're reading through Judges, but even the leaders, the judges God sends to save the nation… Even they are mediocre. They just get worse and worse throughout the book, culminating in Samson. You know Samson, that childhood hero we tell the stories about, the guy who didn't give a rip about God and married a woman who was trying to kill him every night? You know, that beautiful kids' story, that man we elevate as "You want the strength of Samson." No, you really don't. You want what he didn't have: faith in his God. Even the leaders were mediocre. You just see the whole nation unraveling.

The book of Judges is basically about two things. It's about Israel's failure and God's faithfulness. You see this played out by a consistent cycle through the book. You see the cycle played out by repeated phrases. A repeated phrase in the book that you might have noticed is "The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord." You see that show up seven different times. And what does Israel do? It says, "Israel cried out to the Lord." That's mentioned six different times. And what's God's response? He raises up a deliverer. Israel's failure; God's faithfulness.

The fact that Israel is stuck in a cycle cultivates a need in the reader for an even greater deliverer. One of the reasons the book of Judges exists is to cultivate a need in you and me for an even greater deliverer. If you look at the way the book of Judges ends… Look at the wording of the very last verse. It says, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

The book ends with you coming to the conclusion, "God's people don't need a judge; they need a king. Someone even greater will have to come to break the cycle of sin among God's people." Okay. So, what do we do with the book of Judges? We allow the book of Judges to be a phone call to make sure we are awake. Look with me now at Judges, chapter 2, starting in verse 6.

"When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years.

And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel."

Let's zero in on that final sentence. "And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel." Why is that problematic? The reason that is problematic is because of Deuteronomy, chapter 6, which Chris Sherrod did a masterful job teaching just a few weeks ago.

Do you remember what Deuteronomy, chapter 6, says? It says in verses 6 and 7, "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

So, when we read in Judges, chapter 2, that a generation rose up that didn't know the Lord or the work he had done, it tells you that there was a discipleship issue in the nation of Israel. At some point, one generation stopped passing their faith down to the next generation. At some point, God was no longer central in the home. What you see as a result is a nation that's asleep. The reason I tell you this is if Judges is going to be a phone call today to make sure we're awake, then here's what it's inviting us to do.

1. Wake up and disciple the next generation. I don't want to talk about this at length because Chris did such a good job. I would encourage you to go back and listen to that message he just gave a few weeks ago. But I do want to talk for a moment to the parents in the room. I'm not going to talk exclusively to parents, but I want to start with parents.

If you're a parent, I just want to be clear. Our aim as parents is not to raise good kids; our aim is to raise godly kids. It's not to raise successful kids; it's to raise surrendered kids. Our goal isn't to raise well-adjusted kids; it's to raise well-affected kids, kids who have been well-affected by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The reason I'm clarifying this is if your goal as a parent is to raise a good kid or a successful kid or well-adjusted kid, you just need to know at some point you are going to cultivate idolatry in your kid's heart without even realizing it. You will. You'll cultivate idolatry in their heart. Good grades to get into the right school will become ultimate.

Starting, winning, and being the best on the team will become ultimate. Being comfortable financially will become ultimate. Getting married will become ultimate. Good manners and a good personality, which leads to people's approval, become ultimate. When any of these things that you could classify as important become ultimate, that's idolatry. We, as parents, are responsible for that.

So, here's what I want to do right now. I want to draw a distinction between parenting and discipling. Parenting should just be discipleship, but for this moment, I want to draw a distinction between the two. Everyone in the world, whether you're a Christian or not… Anyone who is a parent needs to parent, but people who aren't Christians can't disciple. So I want to draw a distinction.

When I talk about parenting, you need to think about parenting as helping your kid understand what to do or not do. That's what you have a responsibility to do if you're a parent: to help your kids understand what's right and wrong, what they should do and what they shouldn't do, but you also have the responsibility to disciple your kids.

When I talk about discipling your kids, I'm talking about helping them understand what Jesus Christ has done for them, is doing in them, and will do through them. Our tendency is to major in what they should do or not do and call that godliness. That's an aspect of it, but you're really teaching moralism if it's void of the power of the Spirit.

Discipling your kids is helping them understand that the most important thing they can do is major in understanding what Jesus Christ has done for them, is doing in them, and wants to do through them. You teach them that, and it will affect what they do and don't do. Disciple the next generation.

I was talking to a friend not too long ago, and he said, "Man, I just haven't done a good job of discipling my kids." He was starting to use the Join the Journey discussion cards that the church has produced. Do you know what my message was to him? My message to him was, "Hey, man. Doing something is better than nothing."

So, that's what I want you to hear from me today. No shame. You don't need to walk out of here this morning feeling like a failure as a parent for what you have or haven't done in the past, but today is a day where you can make a decision, "I am going to disciple my kids." Doing something is far better than doing nothing. Even if it's clunky along the way, something is better than nothing.

Maybe that means using the Join the Journey cards. They are now on the Join the Journey app. I'd encourage you to go back and listen to Chris' message. I'd encourage you to check out Faith Path on our website, which gives you things to do with your kids at every stage of their life. One of the things I will do when I'm driving home or when we're preparing for dinnertime, because dinnertime in our house is when we talk about the Lord…

We don't do it every night, but we do it multiple times a week. I will just ask, "God, what do you want me to share with my family at dinner?" What I'm looking for is for God to remind me of how he showed up in my life during that day that I can pass on to my kids, because my kids need to see that God is also at work in my life. So, maybe you try doing that.

You just need to know there's always going to be a pull on your life away from parenting. I don't know if anyone here, after Chris spoke, started doing the Numbers 6 blessing at night. "May the Lord bless you and keep you, make his face shine upon you…" I would imagine that some of you, when you heard that, were like, "I'm going to do that," and you've already forgotten about it.

Or maybe… I've experienced this a little. I start doing it, and then it's like, "Okay. Jake, may the Lord keep you, bless you, keep you, make his face…" It's like, "Man, I just have to get through this." God is not like, "That's what I'm talking about." There's going to be this constant pull, but it's a fight worth fighting.

I'm not just talking to parents right now. Here's what I want everyone to know. We have about 2,000 kids on our campus every Sunday between the ages of 0 and 14, and then we have hundreds of high school students who call this church home. The people who make the decision to serve in those ministries… You just need to know you're not babysitting; you're discipling. You are investing in, raising up, and discipling the next generation.

I want you to hear me say this. We need more of you. We need more of you who are willing to stand up and say, "Yeah, I'd love to invest in a 5-year-old. I'd love to help disciple a 9-year-old. Use me however you want, but I feel a calling to raise up the next generation." There are Sundays where we are in danger of turning kids away because we simply need more disciple-makers in our children's ministry.

So, if in your mind you are thinking, "I don't want to babysit," don't. Show up and disciple. We have thousands of young adults at our church. These young adults are the future elders of our church, the future marriages, future parents, future leaders of this church. If you're afraid for the next generation, disciple the next generation.

Before we move on, let me say this. One commentator came to the conclusion that when chapter 2 says they didn't know the Lord, it's not talking about the Israelites not knowing about God. He came to the conclusion that it's basically saying they knew about God; they just didn't have any regard for God. That's instructive for us as well.

Here's what we have to remember. You can teach the next generation so that they know, but you have to show the next generation so they will believe. I am so thankful for the people God put in my life who showed me what following Jesus looks like in a very compelling and captivating way and whom God used to cultivate my heart.

I grew up wanting Brian Mountjoy's passion for unbelievers to know Jesus. I wanted Brian Fisher's Christlike conviction, integrity, boldness, and love for God's Word. I wanted Gregg Matte's wisdom and commitment to godliness. I wanted Doug Sherman's awareness of God's voice and presence. I want now my parents' Christlike selflessness and generosity.

Who has showed you what it looks like to follow Jesus? Who are you showing what it looks like to follow Jesus? And do you have a faith worth reproducing? The reason I'm even sharing this with you is if we're asleep as a church right now on discipling the next generation, we might not feel it today or tomorrow or this year or even next year, but at some point, we are going to wake up, and Watermark Community Church will have become a dead church. I'll explain it this way.

This past week, I took my 7-year-old Jake on a man trip, just the two of us, for a few nights. On the last full day we were there, we had just spent all day at an amusement park, so we were wiped out tired, but we needed to eat dinner. I knew that very close to our hotel was this restaurant Kat and I used to love. I'm not going to mention the name, but this used to be our go-to place, probably our favorite place. It's a chain, but it was our go-to place.

The reason we liked it was the food was really good, and it had a hint of upscale to it, but it was reasonably priced. But that was 15 or 16 years ago that it was kind of our place. We went to it a few years ago, and we were like, "Eh, it's not as good as we remember it." Have you ever had that experience, where you're like, "Have they changed or have I changed?" You kind of don't know.

But I took my son. I was like, "You know what? I know what we'll get here." So, we walk in, and it's not the restaurant it used to be. This place that had this hint of upscale to it… Now we walk in. There's hardly anyone in the restaurant. They have the music on loud. They've now introduced TVs all around, so now they're confused. Like, are they a sports bar? But that's never what they've been.

Then we sat down and ordered. There was hardly anyone in the restaurant, but it was almost like the waitress took our order of just two items, went back, and was like, "Let me sit on this for a minute. Let me help them cultivate their appetite for it." It took them… There was a point where I was looking back into the kitchen, like, "Can I help you? You just take…just put… Yeah. We can do this together."

Then, when the food came… I got the thing they're known for. It was burned, and it was the type of thing where, in that moment, I ate to live until I reached a point where I was like, "Okay. I can't do any more," and I walked out of there. It was like, "Man, this place is not what it used to be." There is a reason this place is closing places around the country. They've lost who they are.

All it takes is a few years here at Watermark for us to lose who we are, where we stop raising up the next generation. If you go long enough, at some point you just become a dead church. So, let me clarify for you what we're about here at Watermark: abiding in Jesus, making disciples, and enjoying life together. That's it. Abiding in Jesus, making disciples, and enjoying life together.

2. Wake up and call out compromise. Look at verse 11. "And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord…" Remember, that's mentioned seven times. "…and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth."

So, if you want to understand the book of Judges, it's just a cycle where the nation of Israel, one generation after another, does what is evil in the sight of the Lord, and they begin worshiping the Baals. But how do they get into this cycle? What started the cycle in the first place? Compromise. It's compromise. If you have a physical copy of the Bible, I want to invite you to turn back to Judges, chapter 1.

We can see the compromise. It's in the text. Look at it. Remember, God told the nation of Israel to drive out the wicked, pagan-worshiping, child-sacrificing inhabitants of the land. Judges 1:27: "Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean…" Judges 1:29: "And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites…" Judges 1:30: "Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron…" Judges 1:31: "Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco…" Judges 1:33: "Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh…"

Do you see it? Compromise in chapter 1 cracked the door to full-blown rebellion in the rest of the book. Israel consistently did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, which was worship the Baals. Now, when you read Israel's history and read that they worshiped Baal and the Ashtaroth, do you know what's happening there? Do you understand the history behind that? If not, let me fill you in.

When you read that, you can jump to the conclusion, "Okay, they're pagan deities, so there was pagan worship." That's correct, but I want you to understand what was actually happening. Baal was the god of storm and fertility, so Baal was in charge of the weather and the productivity of the land and the womb. Ashtaroth was Baal's sexual partner.

The Canaanites, in their theology, had this understanding that the fertility of the land and the womb was contingent upon the sexual relationship between Baal and Ashtaroth, so Canaanites developed cult prostitution, or sacred prostitution, as part of their worship. The thought was this. A Canaanite man would go and sleep with a cult prostitute, and in doing so, the man was taking on the role of Baal, and the woman was taking on the role of Ashtaroth.

For the man and the woman to have sex… The thought was it might encourage the deities, Baal and Ashtaroth, to get together and do their thing, and if Baal and Ashtaroth got together and did their thing, then it would produce abundance on the land. It would cause the land to be fertile, and it would cause the womb to be fertile. So, when the text says the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, that's what we're talking about. One generation after another began to engage in cult prostitution, the worship of Baal.

Now, can you see how they would get there? Just think about the compromise. God tells them, "Drive out the inhabitants of the land," but when you do that long enough, it's like, "Man, we have been at war for so long. And you know what? I've met some of the Canaanites. They're nice people. They're nice enough that I'd give my son to be married to one of their daughters. I've met them. They're good people."

You live together long enough, and then you begin to think, "You know what? There might be something to appeasing Baal. We still believe in Yahweh, and we need Yahweh's help, especially in crisis, but now that we're in the land, we've got to provide for ourselves. We need crops. We need the rain to come. So, if worshiping Baal is going to help us out and provide fertility for the land and the womb, what could it hurt? And you know what? It's enjoyable. What a deal. Sex is now worship, and it brings success. Can't go wrong with that." It's compromise.

Compromise cracked the door to full-blown rebellion. The book of Judges is inviting us to call out compromise, so that's what I want to do right now. I just want to call out compromise. I'm not going to use flowery language. I'm not going to sit here and try to bubble wrap you from feeling any conviction. I'm just going to call it out, because I care about this church and I want this church to be awake.

Scripture describes the Christian life as a race. The Bible says we should run in a way that we should win. I think so many Christians turn the Christian race into a 5K fun run, a fun walk/run, where you just want to run at your own pace. You just want to find a pace that's comfortable, that's not too difficult. Sometimes you just want to walk and breathe it out. You just want to run at your own pace, whatever feels comfortable.

The reality is, if you were honest, the fire you once had for Jesus went out awhile ago, and you've been living off embers for months now. You've gotten so used to attending church without investing in church. It's just a fun run. For some of you, in this fun run, you're stopping for a water break because there are things that are more important to you right now.

You have to get your career off the ground. That's what needs your attention right now. Or somehow it always works out that you have time to work out physically, but you don't have time to work out spiritually. You have time to focus on what you're eating physically, but you don't have time to eat spiritually. Here's the reality: you have the time for what's important to you.

I think some people buy into the mentality that it is theologically correct that God wants them to be happy. We take on that mentality. "God wants me to be happy, right?" Maybe you're single, and you've bought into the lie, "You know what? If there were Christians to date, I would date them, but there aren't any. But good news: the guys or girls I do date are still quality." Or maybe you're married, and you're saying, "You know what? I have needs, and my spouse isn't meeting my needs. That's why I look at porn. That's why I cheat. It's her fault. It's his fault."

"You know, work is stressful, so a few glasses at night helps me wind down." Or maybe it's, "You know what? God is love, so it doesn't matter what the Bible says. The most important thing is love. Sex outside of marriage is fine as long as there's love. An alternative lifestyle in the LGBTQ community is good as long as there's love. Choosing or changing your gender or having an abortion is okay if you're just trying to love yourself and your future."

Or maybe you're one of those people who only walk with the Lord when they need the Lord. I call that crisis Christianity. You just bounce from crisis to crisis. That's exactly what the Israelites did in the book of Judges. The only time they cried out to God was when they finally realized they needed God. The reason I'm calling this out… I just want to be clear. I hope casual Christians are very uncomfortable at Watermark Community Church.

I hope that people in the room who are living two different lives, where you come in here on Sunday mornings and play the game of church, and then you leave here and are a very different husband or spouse or parent or worker…you're living two different lives… I hope this place is very uncomfortable for you, because the Christian life is a call from Jesus himself to come and die. It is to take up your cross and follow him.

So, let me tell you two things we really believe here at Watermark. First, Jesus is the ultimate treasure. He is the ultimate treasure, and the Christian life is a constant rediscovery and new discovery of the infinite value of Jesus Christ. All of life comes down to knowing Jesus, being known by Jesus, and making Jesus known. If you want to live a successful life, if you want to get to the end and look back and say, "I lived to the glory of God," then live to know Jesus, be known by Jesus, and to make Jesus known. The second thing I want to clarify for you is that we don't bend God's Word; we bend to God's Word.

3. Wake up to the full extent of God's faithfulness. The full extent. Look at verse 14 with me. Don't miss this. "So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress."

When you heard me say that Judges is inviting us to wake up to the full extent of God's faithfulness, you might have thought we were going to jump straight to the fact that God was faithful to always forgive and to provide a judge for them. We're going to get there, but before we get there, we have to realize that we're talking about the full extent of God's faithfulness.

How does the text we just read display God's faithfulness? Well, in verse 15, it says, "The Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, as the Lord had sworn to them." What's that showing? God did exactly what he told the nation of Israel he would do. Dale Ralph Davis referred to this as God's faithful anger. It's his faithful anger.

We live in a time when people want church to just be a place that makes them feel good. If that's what you're looking for, I'm going to fail you royally today. People want a church where the message is basically, "Hey, don't let the world get you down. Don't let anyone tell you that you're not enough. God loves you just the way you are." We at Watermark want to be a church that boldly proclaims the extent of God's faithfulness.

This is the moment with some of you where I am arming and disarming the alarm system next to your head, just begging you, shaking you, "Please, wake up," because God is faithful to his Word. He will always do what he says he's going to do. This right here is the Word of God. This is God's faithfulness. Listen to 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10. We're not playing around today.

"He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you."

This is me begging some of you, "Please, wake up." Stop playing games. God is faithful to his Word. He always keeps his promises. Let me just ask some of you: Do you know him? I'm not asking if you know about him. I'm not asking you if you have gone to church all your life. I am asking if you have come to a place in your life where you have realized that you are desperate and bankrupt without the saving grace of God in the person of Jesus Christ, who went to the cross, died sacrificially for your sin, and rose victoriously, conquering your sin, so that you could be made right with a perfect, holy God. Do you know him?

If you're here, and you do know him, but you are running from him, living in sin unapologetically, let me beg you to repent. Repent today. Stop cheating today. Come clean today. God disciplines those whom he loves. Sometimes the discipline of God… The more you resist, the harder it can be. Yet his faithfulness extends even farther. Don't miss this. You see this all throughout the book.

Judges 2:16: "Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them." Verse 18. It's beautiful. "Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them."

I love how Dale Ralph Davis, probably my favorite Old Testament commentator, explained these verses. He says, "What a glad wallop it packs: the one who 'gave them into the hand of plunderers' 'saved them from the hand of their plunderers'; the hand that is against them is nevertheless mysteriously for them. Here is the fundamental miracle of the Bible: that the God who rightly casts us down to the ground should—without reason—stoop to lift us up." That's the God of the Bible.

It's easy for us to read Judges and to judge the judges and all of Israel. It's so easy to read this cycle and be like, "Are you kidding me? Guys, hello. Wake up." Yet their story is our story. We've all run after other gods, yet God has raised up a deliverer, not to secure rest just for a few decades but to secure our rest for all of eternity. Just like all of the other judges, Jesus died, but unlike any of the judges, on the third day Jesus Christ rose from the dead, not as a judge but as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

How does God cast us down? Romans 3:23: "…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…" Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death…" But how does God stoop down and lift us up? Just like when the nation of Israel would call out to God and God would respond with a judge, Romans 10:13: "For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"

Saved from hell, but not just that…saved into a new life with a new start, complete forgiveness, where you have a new identity as a child of God. You have a new position because you're now in Christ. You have new power because the Spirit of God lives inside of you. You have a new purpose because you've been invited into the family business to be an ambassador for Christ. And you have a new hope that a day is coming where Christ will come back and take you to where he is.

So, my message to you from the book of Judges this morning is "Wake up." Wake up and disciple the next generation. Wake up and call out compromise. Wake up to the full extent of God's faithfulness. Let's pray together.

Here's what I want to invite you to do right now. Let's do business with the Lord right here in this moment. I want to invite you to ask God three questions. Just ask it, and then give God a chance to answer it. First, ask him, "What is one way that you want me to disciple the next generation?" Just ask him and see what he brings to mind. If he brings something to mind, say "Yes" to it right now.

Next, ask him, "Where is there compromise in my life?" If he brings something to mind, don't make excuses. Don't explain it away. Just repent. Ask for forgiveness. Receive his grace right now. Then ask him, "How do you want me to respond to your faithfulness today?" If you don't know him, maybe he is inviting you today to finally put your faith in him and surrender. Maybe he's calling you to come back home because you've been running. Maybe he's inviting you to respond in deep reverence and worship for all he has accomplished in Christ.

Lord, I'm thankful for the book of Judges. I pray, Lord, that you would wake us up wherever we're asleep. May we be people, individually and collectively, who are awake, fully awake, to all that you're doing. I pray that this church would be marked by discipleship of the next generation. I pray that you would root out the compromise in our midst. Use the Community Groups in this church and push out the compromise, Lord. I praise you for the full extent of your faithfulness, God. We love you. We sing to you. In Jesus' name, amen.