 Even to bear Sheba with the land of Gilead under the Lord in Mitzvah. And the chief of all the people, even of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God. 400,000 footmen that drew the sword. Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mitzvah. Then said the children of Israel, tell us how was this wickedness. So verse three could be a little confusing, but basically you have the 400,000 men or it's the children of Israel asking what happened. It's not the men of Benjamin. So it just says oh by the way that Benjamin knew this was happening. Benjamin knew an army was gathering. So basically the tribe of Israel, they gathered together from all the tribes. There's 400,000 men of war here. And it says they want to know what happened. In verse four. And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came unto Gibeah that belonged at the Benjamin, I and my concubine to lodge. And the men of Gibeah rose against me and beset the house round about upon me by night and thought to have slain me and my concubine, have they forced that she is dead. So he didn't really tell the whole story there. He didn't really tell, he's not really making himself the coward that he actually was. But he did say what the major thing that happened. But of course you know when you tell the story from your own perspective, you're not going to put yourself in bad light. Look at verse six. And I took my concubine and cutter and pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. Behold, you are children of Israel. Give here your advice and counsel. And all the people arose as one man saying, we will not any of us go to his tent. Neither any of us will be turned into his house. But now shall this be the thing which we shall do unto Gibeah. We will go up by lot against it. Basically saying we're going to go up in chosen groups against it. Maybe they draw lots or they're going to choose. We see how they do it in a few verses. But they're going to go up one group at a time against it. And we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel and a hundred of a thousand and a thousand out of ten thousand to fetch victual for the people that they may do and they come out of Gibeah of Benjamin according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel. So of course, we remember from last week in Judges chapter 19 whenever you hear this word folly in the Bible, folly or lewdness, especially the word folly, what we're talking about here, remember two Sundays ago the sermon on all sins not being equal in the Bible, folly is serious, grievous sin. So what these men did by, you know, murdering and forcing this woman and killing her was folly. Okay, this was the worst type of sin. Look at verse 11. So all the men of Israel gathered against the city, knit together as one man. So again, you see that they are all united here. So we have the united tribes of Israel going on here. They heard what happened. They were appalled and they're all going to war together. Now, I mean, just a side note, you can hardly say that about the United States of America. You can hardly say that we're united on anything, you know, in this country. Especially, you know, I told you there would be parallels to Judges 19, 20 and 21 to the United States and our country that we live in. We can't even unite on what is folly anymore. We can't even unite on, I mean, we have pretty much on the other hand, we have pretty much accepted all sorts, all kinds of perversion in this country. So we are not united in this country as, you know, look, Israel was not in a good place morally. Keep that in mind. We're going to see that in the coming chapter. But basically they were not in a good place morally, but they were at least united on this. They were united on this type of folly for sure. We can't say the same. So we'll apply that towards the end. Look at verse 12. And the tribes of Israel sent men throughout all the tribe of Benjamin saying, what wickedness is that has done among you? Now therefore deliver us to the men, the children of Belial, which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not harken to the voice of the brethren, their children of Israel. Look, it doesn't even say that Benjamin thought about it for a while. It doesn't even say that they had a counsel, that they got together and thought, well, should we give them up or not? No, they were just like, no, we're not giving these men up. Look at verse 14. So when you see the next events of this chapter, remember that Benjamin had a chance here. They had a chance to put away the evil from amongst them. They had a chance to turn away from, you know, the wickedness and the folly. Look at verse 14. But the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah to go out to battle against the children of Israel. So not only do they not turn them in and give them over, but they're like, no, we're going to fight for them. We're going to fight for them. Look at verse 15. And the children of Benjamin were numbered at that time out of the cities twenty and six thousand men that drew the sword beside the inhabitants of Gibeah which were numbered seven hundred chosen men. Among all these people were seven hundred chosen men left-handed. So remember what that means. It means that they were, you know, extra skilled. They were very skilled warriors. They could fight with either hand. Everyone which slings stones and in hair breath and not miss. So now from verse 16 on we see the details of the battles. We see the details of the battles. So basically Israel has come up against Benjamin. They've gathered four hundred thousand men against Benjamin's twenty six thousand men. I mean that's quite a difference in numbers there. So they're gathered against them. They're going to start to fight against them. And Benjamin's going to fight. They're not going to turn these men over. Look at verse 17. So now we see the details of these battles as it starts. And the men of Israel besides Benjamin were numbered four hundred thousand men that drew the sword. All these were men of war. So again four hundred thousand. And the children of Israel rose and went up to the house of God and asked counsel of God and said which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin. And the Lord said Judah shall go up first. So they prayed first. They asked for God's guidance first. So that's good. Look at verse 19. Judah was chosen to go up into battle first. There's the lot. So how did they choose lots? They asked God to choose for them. And God chose Judah. Look at verse 19. And the children of Israel rose up in the morning and acamped against Gibeah. And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin. And the men of Israel put themselves in a ray to fight against them at Gibeah. So this is great. They went. They're fighting. They're literally fighting evil. They're literally fighting looking evil in the face. They go. They gather together as one man. The Bible says again and again and again. They're totally united. They know that this was folly. They know that this was wrong. And then they go and they ask God. They pray to God. They pray to God. And God says send Judah first. And then verse 21. And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day, 20 and 2,000 men. So these 26,000 men come out and they fight Judah, which we don't know exactly how many there were, but they kill 22,000 of them and they lose the battle. So you're like what in the world? You're like how? I mean they lost. So they lose the battle the first day. And what do they do? Verse 22. And the people, the men of Israel encouraged themselves and set their battle array again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day. Verse 23. And the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until even and asked counsel of the Lord saying, shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the Lord said go up against him. And the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again 18,000 men. All these drew the sword. They go up, they lose the first day, they lose 22,000 the first day, they go up, they pray again. And then God says go against them again. So they go the second day and then they lose another 18,000 and they lose the battle the second day as well. So far they've lost 22,000 plus 18,000, they've lost 40,000 men in these first two days. I mean they basically, you gotta think about these numbers when we're reading the Bible here. They basically lost the Vietnam War in two days. The United States lost 60 some thousand men in the Vietnam War over a period of, I don't know, several years depending on how you look at the start and beginning of the start and ending of that war. But they lost 40,000 men, two-thirds of the number that we lost in Vietnam in two days in hand-to-hand combat. This is a bad situation. So what do they do? So what do they do? Look at verse number 26. Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up and came under the house of God and wept and sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until even and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. So what do they do? They prayed harder, they fasted and they offered sacrifice to the Lord. That's what they did. You didn't see them blaming the Lord. You didn't see them doubting the Lord here. They just went and they continued. They prayed again, they fasted again and they offered sacrifice to the Lord. Look at verse 27. And the children of Israel inquired of the Lord. Here they pray again. For the Ark of the Covenant, God was there in those days. And Phineas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days saying, Shall I yet again go to battle against the children of Benjamin, my brother, or shall I cease? And the Lord said, Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand. So look, first of all, they go and they pray again and they ask God again. Which, you know, I mean, before you go to battle, before you go to war, you should probably be asking God every time. You should probably be inquiring of the Lord, praying over situations like that. But the answer I want to point out, that the answer this time is different. The answer this time is different. Because the first two days, God never told them. God never said, Go and you're going to win. He never said that the first two days. He just said, Go. He just said, Go up. He said, Go first. But this time he says, Go up. For tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand. So God tells them this time, not only go, but tomorrow you will win. God tells them that they will win. Before, look, before, he just told them to fight. He just told them to go out, go up to battle. That's the question that they asked. That's the question he answered. This time God tells them you will have victory this coming day. So now the tactics also change. So let me explain the tactics that happen here. Verse 29, And Israel set liars and wait round about Gibeah. That means they sent men in secret, hiding, hiding around the city. And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day and put themselves in array against Gibeah as at other times. In array, meaning the armies were out in front of each other. Everything was visible. They were in array in formation against each other. Okay, verse 31. And the children of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city. And they began to smite of the people and kill, as at other times in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God and the other to Gibeah in the field about 30 men of Israel. And the children of Benjamin said, they are smitten down before us as at the first. But the children of Israel said, let us flee and draw them from the city under the highways. So this is important. So what they did was they set liars and wait. They set these men that hid around the city. And then they set themselves in array outside of the city just like they did before. So they appear to be doing the exact same thing that they did the first and second day. The army of Benjamin comes out, they fight, and then in verse 32 the men, they fight until about 30 of them are killed and then they flee, they run. They run away. So they run away to draw Benjamin away from the city. Well, whose raid at the city? The liars and wait. They're trying to get the army of Benjamin away from the city. Look at verse 33. And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and put themselves in array at Baltimore and the liars and wait of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah. So now they get far away. Benjamin is chasing them. They're chasing this army that they think they've got on the run. And then the army turns and faces them and starts to fight them. And at the same time, now they're away from the city, the liars and wait get up out of their place and move into the city. And there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of Israel and the battle was sore. But they knew not that evil was near them. So basically they drew them away from the city and moved away from the city. They put their best men in the front of the battle now. So basically what happened was they were chasing this fleeing army and then they set up their 10,000 best men in front of the army that was chasing them. All in the meantime, this other, the liars and wait are heading into Gibeah. It is an ambush. Now that the army is out of Gibeah. Look at verse 35. And the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel. The children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamin that day 20 and 5,000 and 100 men, all these drew the sword. So how many was there in the first place? There was only 26,000 in the first place. So now there's only a few hundred left. They basically destroyed the entire army at this point. So the children of Benjamin saw that they were smitten. They were beaten. For the men of Israel gave place to the Benjamites because they trusted unto the liars and wait, which they had set beside Gibeah. And the liars and wait hasted and rushed upon Gibeah. This is where they go into the city. And the liars and wait drew themselves along and smote all the city with the edge of the sword. So they rushed into the city and they attacked it when the army was gone. Verse 38. Now there was appointed a sign between the men of Israel and the liars and wait that they should make a great flame with smoke rise up out of the city. So this was all part of the plan. They were to go into the city. They were to draw, you know, of Israel was to draw Benjamin out. And then, you know, they were to destroy them. They drew them out to destroy them with their, you know, their best men. And they drew them so far away from the city that these people, the liars and wait, were able to go in there. And then as soon as they got in there and smote the city and destroyed the city, they were to burn it with a great fire so they could see that the... I mean, they were showing signals to each other. You know, so they're like, hey, the city is destroyed. We have taken the city. So now they see it. And the men of Israel retired in battle. Benjamin began to smite and kill the men of Israel about 30 persons where they said, surely they're smitten down before us as in the first battle. So now they're, you know, they look back. Look at verse 40. But when the flame began to rise up out of the city with a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked back behind them. And behold, the flame in the city ascended up to heaven. And when the men of Israel turned again, the men of Benjamin were amazed for they saw that evil was come upon them. Therefore, they turned their backs before the men of Israel under the way of the wilderness. But the battle overtook them, which came out of the cities and them which came out of the cities and was destroyed in the midst of them. So basically they're completely surrounded now. The men are coming out of the cities. They drew them out in the open away from their city and they're completely destroyed. Verse 43. Thus they enclosed the Benjamites round about and chased them and trod them down with ease over against Gibeah toward the sun rising. And there fell of Benjamin 18,000 men and these were men of Valor. And they turned and fled toward the wilderness under the rock Rhymon. And they gleamed of them in the highways 5,000 men and pursued hard after them unto Giden and slew 2,000 of them so that all that fell in that day were 20 and 5,000 men that drew the sword. All these were men of Valor. So we kind of got that. The way this story plays out here is they kind of tell you that 25,000 were killed right away. Then they tell you the details in the following verses that this is how those 25,000 were killed. There was 18,000 killed and then there was another 2,000 killed. And so it kind of tells you right away that they were smitten. It gives you the answer. It kind of gives you what happened right away at the beginning. And then it tells you and it happened this way basically. They were 18,000, 2,000 more were killed and then overall we end up with the same number. So about 25,000 were killed in verse 46. But 600 men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock remnant and abode in the rock remnant for months. And the men of Israel turned again upon so 600 of these men get away and they go and they hide in the mountains in this rocky place in the mountains. And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin and smote them with the edge of the sword as well as the men of every city as the beast and all that came to hand. Also they set on fire all the cities that they came to. So let's keep in mind what happened here. So basically what happened was they destroyed the entire army of the 26,000 men of valor that were defending Benjamin. All the men that were out to war against the 400,000 were completely destroyed except for these 600 men who were raped to the mountains or rock remnant or this rocky place. And then after this it no longer became just about Gibeah they actually went to all the cities of Benjamin. Remember Benjamin is an entire tribe just north of Judah. It's an entire tribe, it's not a city. Gibeah was a city inside Benjamin. So Gibeah was one city. So now they turned and they went and they set fire and they killed everything. Talk about justice. They basically destroyed the entire tribe of Benjamin in this story in Judges chapter 20. They killed everything except these 600 men. So Benjamin paid a heavy price for supporting evil and not giving up evil. So what can we take from this mess that I'm kind of leading you right into it. Look back at verse 13 and 14. So they were presented look back at verse 13 and verse 14 where the Bible says now therefore deliver us the men the children of Belial that are in Gibeah verse 14 but the children of Benjamin themselves together out of the city let's go to battle against the children of Israel. Let's talk about defending evil for a few minutes. Because that's what the children of Benjamin or the tribe of Benjamin did here. They were presented with what these men of Belial had done and instead of turning them over they chose to stand with them. They chose to stand with them. Now turn to 2 Samuel chapter 20. There was a similar situation where someone was given a similar choice about this in the Bible but the results were very different. Go to 2 Samuel chapter 20 and look at verse 19. Remember Sheba remember Sheba and this was the man he was the son of Belial as well and he turned on David and Joab pursues after him and then Sheba gets into a city he gets into a city and he's behind these walls and Joab is he gives the city a choice. And in verse 19 look what it says in 2 Samuel 20 I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel thou seekest to destroy this is a woman who has come out to speak to Joab thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel will thou swallow up the inheritance of the Lord and Joab answered and said far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy the matter is not so but a man of Mount Ephraim against the king even against David deliver him only and I will depart from the city and the woman said unto Joab behold his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall then the women went into all the people in her wisdom and they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bicri and cast it out to Joab and he blew a trumpet and they retired from the city every man do his tent and Joab returned to Jerusalem under the king look they threw his head over the wall and it was over it could have happened to the children of Benjamin instead the tribe of Benjamin decided to support these men and defend these men you say yeah but the tribe of Benjamin was they sided with the wrong people turn to Leviticus chapter 20 don't get too excited it's not what you think but I mean the point is the same they were defending these people but you say yeah but were they all sons of Belial every single person in Benjamin was this really necessary look at Leviticus chapter 20 and verse number one look at verse number one look if you say that it sounds harsh what happened to Benjamin in Judges chapter 20 read this I mean listen to what the Bible says then the Lord spake unto Moses saying again now shall it say to the children of Israel whosoever he be of the children of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel that giveth any of his seed unto Molek he shall surely be put to death the people of the land shall stone him with stone so this is the God this is the God that Manasseh got tied up with and they sacrificed their children to this false God and the Bible here is saying foreseeing that they're going to be around you know these neighbors that do these wicked things and it says look if any of you do this so God makes a law it says if you sacrifice your children to this false God it's like you know that's the death penalty is what the Bible is saying here he says and I will set my face against that man and we'll cut him off from amongst his people because he had given his seed unto Molek I mean basically the entire tribe of Judah of Benjamin got the death penalty and this is why I will set my face against that man we'll cut him off from amongst his people because he had given his seed unto Molek to defile my sanctuary and to profane my holy name you're like okay sounds right they sacrificed their their children to a false God yeah that sounds right it sounds fitting but wait there's more look at verse number four so this man that sacrificed his children to Molek you know I mean he was punished with the death penalty look at verse four though and if the people of the land do anyways hide their eyes from the man when he giveth of his seed unto Molek and kill him not then I will set my face against that man and against his family and we'll cut him off and all that go a whoring after him to commit hortom with Molek from amongst their people so it's saying look it's not only that guy that's guilty it's anybody that saw him do that and did nothing they're guilty too that is Benjamin that is Benjamin so look they will be judged the bible is saying here with this folly with this lewdness with this perversion with murder and they murdered the woman he said that if you defend that it's not only defending it like defending it was even further but they saw it and they did nothing about it they're just as guilty that's what the bible is saying here you're like uh-oh you're like uh-oh you're already applying this to yourself I can see you're already applying this to our country look folks this is how it works look nations no matter what a politician in a speech will tell you nations don't have souls nations don't have souls they are judged here nations are judged on this earth nations are judged I mean haven't you seen that in the book of judges again and again and again nations are judged on earth people people are judged eternally through their soul either going to hell or going to heaven but look nations are judged here they pay here but that shows another point the followers will be judged in a nation the followers will be judged by the actions of the leaders of a nation I often kind of wonder if these sons of Belial in gibbia often kind of wonder if they were the rulers of the city I mean that's just an opinion of mine like why in the world wouldn't they have given them up I mean there are only 26,000 men it doesn't even make logical sense you see a 400,000 person army coming at you I mean just logically self-preservation you would think that it makes me think that either there was a lot more sons of Belial in Benjamin which was probably true or these were the sons of Belial were the people that were in charge the people that were making decisions it's one or both of those two in my opinion but look the point is that the followers of a nation this entire nation was judged by the decisions that were made by the leaders that decided to not give up these wicked people so look I mean sin in general I mean we could apply it to sin in general that sin in general I mean it's true of nations it's true of families judgment will hit others judgment will hit others more than the individual just in general families are destroyed churches are destroyed eventually I mean entire nations are destroyed through sin so that brings me to my second point which is this sin doesn't just affect you sin doesn't just affect you now this is a whole doctrine right here but turn to Deuteronomy chapter 24 are you saying that I could be punished for the sins of others no that's not what I'm saying and that's not what the Bible teaches but you know it could be twisted wrongly so we need to understand this properly look at Deuteronomy 24 verse 16 the Bible says that you will not be punished for the sins of others I'm not talking about judgment on a nation I'm talking about individual sins you will not be punished individually for the sins of someone else the fathers shall not be put to death for the children neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers every man shall be put to death for his own sin this is saying look that your sin will cost you cost you judgment personally and other people aren't going to be punished for your sin so you say how could your sin affect others we'll turn to Exodus chapter 34 so remember the fathers shall not be put to death for the children neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers every man shall be put to death for his own sin look at Exodus 34 7 and this could really confuse people but I want to explain it to you look at verse number 7 so how in the world could your sin affect others if others aren't punished for your sin well here's how Exodus 34 7 keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin that will by no means clear the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children upon the children's children onto the third and the fourth generation now you need to underline these words in your bible the iniquity of the fathers the iniquity of the fathers so other people aren't punished your family aren't you know other people aren't punished for your sins only in the sense that you pass that iniquity onto them that you give them that iniquity so look if a father is a drunk and he raises his children and he's a drunk there's a good chance that iniquity is going to be passed on to his children and then when the child when the son becomes a drunk too he's going to be punished for that sin for his sin it's the same concept as the sins of Jeroboam on a national level Jeroboam took the entire nation into idolatry but the nation in generations and generations and generations and generations later they kept that iniquity going in their lives and they were punished that nation they were punished for their own sin they were punished for that sin they weren't punished for what Jeroboam did but they inherited that iniquity from him they were taught that through their leadership and you can do the same thing in your family your children aren't going to be punished only in the sense that you will pass your iniquity on to them and then they'll be punished for their own sins which they learned from you that's how the iniquity it doesn't say visiting visiting the punishment of the fathers that's not what it says upon the children it doesn't say visiting the punishment of the fathers it doesn't say I'm punishing the children for the fathers that's not what it says it says the iniquity of the fathers to them that hate me the iniquity of the fathers is going to be passed on to the kids I mean the Bible is just telling you what's going to happen here God is just telling you how your sin is going to God is basically telling you here how your sin is going to destroy generations of your family have a nice day is talking to you about the seriousness of sin I mean for generations generations leadership matters and I guarantee you that the sin in Gibeah that the sons of Ohio in Gibeah was not an isolated incident in that nation in Benjamin I guarantee you they weren't even appalled they weren't even appalled the whole nation all the other tribes all the other tribes were like we are like one man let's go to war but Benjamin was like no that's the way we roll here they knew that perversion and wickedness and murder and all the stuff in Romans 1 it was there and they were going to defend it and their whole nation they defended it with their lives they weren't even considering throwing any heads over the walls they weren't even considering it so look the entire nations are judged on this earth and that's what happened in Judges chapter 20 so finally finally let me shift gears and give you one final thought on this story I've always wondered when I read Judges 20 especially the first few times I read it many many years ago I was wondering why did they lose you ever wonder that when you read this why did they lose the first two battles I mean wouldn't it have been such a better story they just would have went to war and just completely destroyed them and everybody the good guys win the white cowboy hats win and the black cowboy hats all lose but instead they go and they pray and God tells them to go up and they lose 40,000 men for two battles before God gives them the victory you ever wonder why that is it's interesting though they weren't given the victory right away it's interesting that they didn't lose faith it's interesting that they didn't lose faith as a matter of fact they kept praying and as they lost they prayed harder and as they lost they added more things and they started fasting then they started sacrificing I mean they were pleading with God to just tell them what to do but what God told them to go and they went the first two times and they said they would win just for the record he just turned to Mark 16 he didn't say that they would win turned to Mark 16 and verse number 15 he didn't say that they would win and it's funny because it's exactly the same thing that he tells us so he didn't say you know you're going to win this huge victory tomorrow go up against them and you're all going to be heroes and all this kind of stuff and he said unto them go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature in Gibeah when they went up to battle the first two days he just said go that's all he said and look that's exactly what God tells us he just says go he just says go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature so you can be rich so you can have a big house even so I can bless you with all kinds of money no so other people can be saved that's it that's it we really misconstrued this whole thing and don't ever let the fact that I come up here and preach the Bible and the Bible talks about the fact that if you do good things and do what you're supposed to do there's rewards for you in heaven and all this kind of stuff here's the thing he just said go he said go and preach the gospel so other people can be saved it didn't even mention anything about you I mean as far as Mark 16 15 goes for you personally it's just a command that's it there's no and then you know whatever I mean look this is why people get so easily discouraged this is why people get so easily discouraged because they're like you know what I'll go I'll go as long as everything is perfect I'll go as long as everything the way I want it to work out in my mind works out I'll go look I'll go as long as it doesn't cost me anything there's no mention of you it's just a command to you people get saved you're just supposed to go you just go and you let God work out the details because here's the thing here's the thing you say what isn't there you know isn't there blessings for the Christian here's the thing folks here's the thing I hope so I hope you're blessed you know in your life and I hope that you know if you do things God's way and there's not persecution going on you know it's going to work out for you and you're going to be the best blessings in your life I hope that that is the case with you but here's all we really know here's all we really know and our only guarantee in the Bible is that eventually we win that's all we know what about the guys you say this was a great victory third day they finally got it what about the twenty two thousand what about the eighteen thousand they didn't did they get a blessing here on Benjamin they died probably in a horribly painful way but eventually they won eventually they won and eventually the blessing that they have is more than any blessing that anybody that didn't die will have turn to Revelation chapter two look there is so many people look those guys killed on the first and second day look they didn't win on earth they didn't win on earth all the martyrs think about all the martyrs and all the horrible stories about you know the disciples themselves they live lives of poverty and misery and pain and suffering only to be killed in horrible ways they didn't win on earth they didn't have a sports car they didn't have a huge house you're like there's your prosperity gospel right there but they won but they won and they won big but they didn't win on earth this is the problem with the prosperity gospel and I don't want to give away Sunday morning sermon but I mean this is the problem you're only guaranteed to win in the end anything else is just bonus because these guys didn't win on earth all the blessings all the rewards look at Revelation two ten look at Revelation two ten fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer it's saying look you're gonna suffer some of you are gonna suffer I doubt that any of us are gonna suffer like Christians in the past have suffered but look some of you can suffer behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried you shall have tribulation ten days be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life look these guys all these martyrs all these men that gave their lives for the cause of Christ look that all these ones that just I mean can you imagine can you just compare the situation that we're in today with what some with what these Christians went through with what the disciples and all the other martyrs and even these men that went to war against Benjamin can you imagine what they went through and look at us today and they just didn't stop there was never a question they just kept going they just go ok they went and they died and they got a crown of life I mean they won big but they just kept going I mean lack of faith now today lack of faith on the other hand Christian today lack of faith defines the Christians life today lack of faith defines the life of the modern day Christian I mean can you imagine I mean throughout last year what do we see soul winning what do we see soul winning just nobody goes to church anymore nobody goes to church anymore and yeah they're going to false churches and we understand that but I mean even saved Christians they just quit going to church they just stopped it's just lack of faith you know I look what you do is your individual choice but it's nothing but a lack of faith that's all it is that's all it is there is no other way there is no other way of wrapping that package up it's just it's a lack of faith defining people's lives period and here you had men in the Bible that there was just nothing that would stop them God said go and they went and they died every single single disciple except John that God said go and they went for years and years and years and they all died and you just look at like one tiny little thing happens like bloop and we just don't go we just stop going it's pitiful but look the thing is this the thing is this a life run on faith is so simple a life run on faith is so simple I mean if you have a life run I mean compare the two I have a life run on lack of faith and I have a life run on faith so I have a life run on lack of faith it's like go or not what do I do what's happening what's going on should I do this or just a life on faith just go just go what's going on I don't know go is it cold it's 46 degrees go there's thunder I mean it's sprinkled today go I mean that wasn't even rain I mean just go every time go that's what we're supposed to do but everything is a choice for those that run their life with a lack of faith is this perfect it's not perfect is everything going to work out will I be rich how could you live that way I mean I feel sorry for the modern day Christian that lives their life that way I mean the gospel is simple Jesus is command right before he left earth is simple go I mean what in the world people are Levites that's the problem it's not that they don't know I don't understand what go means it's their cowards their cowards they're cowards because they just don't have faith that what God says is I mean whatever you're not guaranteed anything in this life I mean I don't even like thinking about look I've received a lot of blessings in my life from God and so have you but here's the thing I don't even like thinking about it other than appreciating it and I certainly really don't ever really like thinking about rewards in heaven look that's my personal choice you don't have to be that way but the reason that I don't like thinking about that is because look I don't need that I appreciate that and I look you know what you know what it is it's cold out here I'm getting rewards for this you know I don't think that way because I don't deserve any of it I don't deserve any of it I don't want to be focused on it and you know what here's another thing you know what it is it's faith it's faith because I know I have faith to know that whatever those rewards are or whatever I've done or haven't done that whatever God does is going to be fair for me that whatever God doesn't bless me with is just going to be the right thing it's going to be fair because I don't even I can't even imagine that kind of fairness so I mean I don't feel like I deserve anything if there's blessings if there's rewards I'm thankful for all that but God it's going to be I have faith that it's just going to be worked out what in the world I mean how could you have saved people that believe the bible that have such little faith I really don't get it I mean who cares you know look this is a great place to be I'm telling you join me who cares what's happening in the world we just go we just go because there's always going to be the guy standing there that needs to know how he can go to and who in the world is going to tell him I mean it's logical that we go and here's another thing one last point when you do get to victory you say man I haven't gotten any and nobody here could say this nobody here could say this but think about these guys that died in the battle on the first day and died in the battle on the second day or anybody throughout history or in the future that will be killed for the cause of Christ think about these people and you're like man you're like man I mean think about this we used to run the mile in school for the physical fitness test twice a year we'd have to run the mile and it was just painful anybody have to do that you run the mile four laps around the track and you run as fast as you can to try to get a good time and all this and it was just painful but you know what it felt so good when you were done it just like doing something that's hard is just like the victory the victory is that much sweeter once you get there you know I kind of feel like you know I mean over the last year and a half or the last year and six or seven months or whatever it's been as a satellite look I want to be honest with you this has not been easy this has not been an easy thing to do to work a full time job and then run this ministry and preach and do all this stuff especially I'm not very experienced at it but the thing is I just tell them that it's hard in the sense that it's going to be so much sweeter because it was hard and I just know that that's how God works I mean the crown of life you know probably not going to get one of those probably not going to be killed for the cause of Christ but these guys that had the hardest time on earth and that just never stopped they went through can you imagine if somebody was saying we're going to kill you if you go to church if you go to church we're going to kill you if you open your Bible in your house and teach your kids we're going to kill you and then you do it anyway I mean that's hard that's faith that God's going to take care of you by throwing by realizing that those blessings look they just didn't realize the blessings they didn't realize the promises on earth the Bible says but look I guarantee you for those men that it's that much sweeter because the only thing that we're guaranteed folks is that we win and we will win but we just have to keep going we just have to keep going the story continues next week