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"Moment of Truth"
Not long ago FOX TV began broadcasting a television program called
“Moment of Truth.” It’s a show that wrestles with whether or not
anyone is ever willing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth.
Contestants are hooked up to a state-of-the-art lie detector in
order to determine whether or not they are spinning lies while
asked a series of questions. If contestants keep telling the
truth, they’ll ultimately win $500,000. To add a little drama,
the show mixes spouses, family members, friends, and co-workers
into the audience. Here are a few of the questions that have
been asked in recent episodes:
Have you ever lied to get a job?
Do you like your mother-in-law?
Have you ever stolen anything from work?
Would you cheat on your spouse if you knew you could get away with it?
As one person on the show noted: “This is the first game show where
you already know all the answers!” But despite their foreknowledge,
contestants find the game difficult. This is the genius of the show –
FOX executives know that humans are depraved and lack integrity.
As the story begins in our Thy Kingdom Come series today,
we have entered the Dark Ages for the Children of Israel. And it’s
all because they are depraved and lack integrity.
It’s a stunning turn of events. Last week, Israel is in its glory,
as it finally enters the Promised Land. Then, the Lord gives them
a miraculous victory over the city of Jericho. The people of Israel
are on track to become God’s blessed people in the blessed land He
has promised them for so long.
And in order to achieve this, God warns them about one thing. JUST
one thing. “Whatever you do,” He says, “Do NOT, NOT, NOT begin to
inter-marry with the people of the pagan nations you are conquering.
If you do, it will be bad. It will lead you into their idolatries.
You will fall away from me, and begin to worship the idols of your
spouses. So, don’t do it.” For the Children of Israel, this was
THEIR moment of truth.
So, what did they do? Well, listen to the opening verses of our
story today: “The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites,
Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. They took their daughters
in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.”
It’s as if the people of Israel were faced with THIS question. “Would
you cheat on God, if you thought you could get away from it?” And the
answer, sadly, was a strong “You betcha!”
And, so began the dark ages for the nation of Israel. Rather than
controlling the land God had given them, they were controlled by
the pagan forces around them. Rather than living peacefully in the
land God had promised them, they were living in fear over the threat
of war and violence.
Rather than being the strong, God-fearing people who had
entered the land, they had become a weak, insignificant,
idolatrous people. As verse 7 declares, “The Israelites
did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD
their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.”
In the dark ages of the Judges we see how the sinful nature
of humanity constantly brings God’s people into trouble. They
are weak and vulnerable, so they end up constantly wearing a
bulls-eye and are constantly the target of attack by the
nations around them.
However when things get bad enough, something happens. The
people, hurt by the plundering and suffering, finally come
to regret what they had done. But regret isn’t repentance.
Regret is discovering that your deeds have consequences. Regret
is wishing you hadn’t been caught. Regret is the thought that
you will have to be more careful the next time.
And so, God isn’t interested in your regret.
Up ahead in chapter 10 of Judges, we have an instance where
the people of Israel send their regrets to God, and God sends
their regrets right back to them. He says, “Look, you’ve
been so interested in these other gods; let them save you.”
And the dark ages got darker. Until, finally, the pain was
too much. Finally, the people repented.
Repentance is much more than regret. Repentance is discovering
that you don’t want to be what you are anymore. Repentance is
the desire to change and never go back.
Repentance is the “Moment of Truth.” It’s no lies – no deception.
It’s that moment of clarity, when you see that the life you
really want – the kind of life that has blessings, love, and
peace – means that you can’t remain the same person you are.
This “Moment of Truth” – is the awareness that something deep
inside of you has to change, and you have no power to change it.
And so, the people of Israel “cried out to the Lord,” And the
text says, God heard their cries, and “raised up for them a deliverer.”
And the deliverers were called Judges. Now when we say, for
example, that Othniel, or Ehud, were judges, we don’t mean
that they were black-robed jurists sitting behind desks,
hearing cases. The judges in this period of time were very
different. They were political, military, and religious
people that God raised up, to help His nation.
They organized the people to fight battles – they were generals.
They led the people as rulers – they were presidents. And they
guided the people in their worship of God – they were pastors.
And while the people accepted the leadership of the Judges,
God blessed them. The Judges were God’s leaders. And when they
listened to God’s Word through the Judges, “the land had peace,”
as the story, today, says. What they needed and what God gave
them through the Judges was a strong dose of being “Biblically
Literate and Doctrinally Sound.”
By not remembering or listening to what God said, the people
of Israel inevitably and consistently fell back into bad choices,
sinful life styles and all of its consequences. They cycled
between unfaithfulness, repentance, and deliverance. They
did this for generations.
Faithfulness to God’s Word is HUGE here. The reason that the
cycle of the Judges was such a dark age is because the Children
of Israel would not remain faithful to God’s Word.
I’ve heard people say: “Look, doctrine isn’t important. I think
people need to have an experience with God. I think people need
to know how to relate to God. I don’t think we should pay so
much attention to doctrine.”
Well, imagine you visit your doctor. You say to the doctor, “I
have a pain in my stomach.” The doctor says, “Well, you know, I
don’t pay much attention to medicine. I took that stuff at school,
but I haven’t paid much attention to it. What I’m into is ‘bedside
manner.’ I want people to feel comfortable around me. So, why don’t
we just cut you open and see what happens?” Doesn’t sound so good
does it.
You see, God comes to us through doctrine – through His Word. And
doctrine is nothing more than TRUTH. In fact, doctrine is GOD’S
“Moment of Truth.”
It’s when He brings us to the Truth of His Word – the TRUTH that
we are sinful, the TRUTH that we are in need of deliverance,
the TRUTH that there is no deliverance apart from Him.
Have you had any moments of truth, lately?
Have you had any moments of realization about just how sad you are,
or just how angry you are, or just how helpless you are? Have you
had any moments of truth about how deeply sin had taken hold of you?
Have you had any moments of truth, lately about just how much control
your money has over you, or how powerless you are in the face of
depression, or illness?
Have you had any moments of truth, lately, over the direction of
your life – how empty it seems, how directionless you feel, how
controlled by other forces you feel?
You need the moment of GOD’S Truth. You need His moment of truth
in your life. You need His moment of truth… at the cross of Jesus Christ.
Here is a real moment of Truth. And the moment of truth HERE is
that your will, your pride, your stubbornness, your fears, your
arrogance, your control needs to die. It needs to die here with Christ.
Human nature is depraved and lacks integrity, and needs to be
crucified and buried with Christ. Now, THAT’S a moment of truth.
But, the moment of truth at the cross, is also that THERE, we are
recreated. THERE we are forgiven and renewed. And then we are presented
with a whole new life, full of wonderful possibilities.
Christ’s resurrection guarantees that our hope for a new, and
abundant life is not just a wish, but a reality. Christ’s
resurrection guarantees that you don’t have to keep living
the way you are. Christ’s resurrection guarantees that when
you trust this, when you believe this, you will live each
minute in the moment of God’s Truth.
The Children of Israel kept forgetting to do this. And they
kept falling into weakness and sorrow. Their story is here
in the Bible today, so you won’t do the same.
Put away the fear. Put away the pride. Put away the control.
Take it to the cross, and let it be crucified and buried.
And let God be God.
Now, relax, and abide in this moment of life God has given you –
this moment filled with His forgiveness, His love, His power, and His peace.
Amen.
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