A Call for Godly Resolve

Intro: What is the thing God is calling you to do that you don’t really WANT to do right now?

Maybe your first thought when I ask that question is, “I don’t even understand what God is calling me to do...”

I get that… sometimes we’ve mystified this idea of calling too much… but really, it’s simply obeying all that Jesus commanded us through his word.

Whatever it looks like to APPLY the way of a disciple to YOUR life... that’s what he is calling us to do.

Maybe it’s something that God has just revealed to you through time in his word… either through reading it on your own or hearing it preached.

Or if you’ve been around Oak Hill for a few months, maybe it’s something that was revealed when the Discipleship Pathway Self-Assessment… that is a tool that is designed to help you take the next steps in what God was calling you to be and do as a disciple.

Maybe God has revealed a sin habit in your life that you're scared of letting go…

And you WANT to get rid of it, but deep down inside, your not sure what your life will be like without that habit.

Maybe God is calling you to open up more during mutual ministry time at Gospel Community to confess sinful patterns or temptations or weakness in some area...

But that requires vulnerability… which is uncomfortable or even scary...

Maybe it’s just the idea of committing to a Gospel Community in the first place… which would mean getting into messy relationships and reordering your priorities… and to be honest, you just don’t feel like it.

Perhaps God is calling you to intentionally disciple a person who is younger in the faith... and that seems overwhelming to you…

or maybe you know you need to ask someone to disciple you and you are afraid they will reject you...

Maybe you have a neighbor that God wants you to share Jesus with and the idea of starting that conversation terrifies you.

Or maybe it’s a fear of commitment… you are afraid of committing to membership at our church... or any church for that matter…

Perhaps God is calling you to serve in ministry or to step into leadership… and you are scared of what that will cost you.

What is it for YOU? Do you have it in your mind yet? What is the thing God is calling you to do that you don’t really WANT to do right now?

There are so many things that can keep us from God’s plan for our lives: fear, self-protectiveness, emotional scars, selfishness...

And if we are going to take the next step of his call on our lives, we are going to need godly RESOLVE.

The Title of today’s sermon is “A Call for Godly Resolve”...

Because resolve can be hard to come by… and resolve is absolutely essential to following Jesus.

Now when I say godly resolve, I want you to know what I mean… I mean...

Decisiveness to do God’s will...

Courage and motivation to take my next steps of faith...

Spirit-empowered Grit and perseverance when the going gets tough.

If we are going to take the next step in God’s call on our lives, we are going to need godly RESOLVE.

In fact, I would suggest that if your Christian walk does NOT require resolve, you aren’t walking with Christ.

You see, we need to understand that the Christian life is a very REAL spiritual battle for OUR souls and the souls of men and women...

In this sermon series, we are learning how to seek God’s merciful rescue to break the cycles of our rebellious sin.

And that requires that we wage an all-out WAR against the powers of darkness… in the power of the Spirit who indwells us...

And that can be HARD… because our enemy is sneaky.

If Satan can’t trap us in cycles of overt sin patterns, he will sideline us in the battle with FEAR… with DISTRACTION… with COMPLACENCY… and SELFISHNESS...

Sin cycles are not just about doing things that we should NOT do… sometimes they are about NOT doing the things God has called us to do… not taking our next steps in following Jesus…

And we need godly resolve to enter the battle and break the cycles of sin in our lives.

So today, from the experience of Deborah and Barak, we are going to see how God uses his PEOPLE to help produce the resolve we need...

Here’s our Big Idea for today:

Big Idea: Your resolved participation in God's battle will influence the resolve of the people around you.

Your Bibles are open to Judges 4… we are going to cover chapters 4-5 today… just to catch you up to speed on the context...

The book of Judges spans the time after Joshua died to the time of the first Kings of Israel…

Joshua had first led the people of Israel to START conquering the land of Canaan… the Promised Land.

And yet, by the next generation, complacency and compromise had set in. They were supposed to devote the inhabitants of Canaan to destruction...

God KNEW that if they did not rid the land of these idolatrous people… if they didn’t fight his battles... Israel themselves would enter into their idolatry…

But Israel did not do what God called them to do.

And surprise, surprise… by the third generation, they were worshipping the Baals and the Asheroth...

So the cycles of rebellion and rescue began… [show RRR diagram]

We’ve seen three of those cycles so far…

Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord… they rebelled..

God gave them Cushan Double-Evil of Mesopotamia as their consequence...

They cried out to the Lord and God raised up Othniel as their deliverer.

And the land had rest for forty years.

Then again, Israel rebelled...

God gave them Eglon and the Moabites as their consequence...

They cried out… and God raised up Ehud as their deliverer.

And the land had rest for 80 years.

Then we get this little note about Shamgar… he defeated 600 Philistines...

And it seems that Shamgar was a judge DURING the time we are studying today.

That brings us up to chapter 4:1… we’ll take this section by section today through chapter 5… to see the necessity of godly resolve...

Read 4:1-16

Your resolved participation in God's battle will influence the resolve of the people around you.

Today we are going to see three ways we participate in God’s battle with godly resolve… and three ways that influences the people around us.

1) Your resolved presence influences others to enter God's battle. (4:1-16)

Explain: Verses 1-5 set the scene…

The rebellion/rescue cycle is on another spin around the circle… [show RRR diagram again]

The people of Israel AGAIN did what was evil in the sight of the Lord… they took that season of peace and testing during the 80 years after Eglon’s defeat... and they gave into idolatry again.

So God raised up Jabin, King of Hazor...

Now Jabin, King of Hazor is the name of ANOTHER powerful King who Joshua defeated in Joshua 11.... in fact, Joshua decimated this king and this city… which sometimes causes confusion for people studying the book of Judges closely.

But in Judges 4, this is likely a distant relative from a later generation who was from around that same area where Hazor had been…

He was probably listening to family stories around the campfire one night about that old warrior Jabin... and he thought… “You know… I could probably gain some power if I associate myself with this Jabin guy from our common ancestry…”

So he likely assumes the name Jabin… and in God’s providence, he’s able to organize the Canaanites and gain significant military strength: 900 chariots…

It’s kind of like having 900 Sherman Tanks in WWII. It’s a major military advantage.

So he finds himself a commander for his army… Sisera… he’s a mercenary, possibly from Philistia… where the Philistines are from.

and he begins to oppress the Israelites for 20 years.

So let me recap that for you because this is really important to our understanding of the narrative: Jabin King of Hazor is the remnant of an evil, but already-defeated foe of Israel… who is trying to get back what was already lost.

He has some temporary success… but in the grand scheme of things, his time is short: God will bring his reign to a decisive end.

Now before we get into that part of the story, I want to point out how our battle is similar.

According to Ephesians 6, we fight REAL… EVIL rulers and authorities who wage war against our souls…

They have been defeated through the cross of Christ…

They will one day be finally dealt with at the day of judgement...

But in the present, they are trying to regain what little power they can before they face their end.

I want you to know… I’m not allegorizing here…

Jabin and Sisera were real, evil rulers who inflicted REAL harm on God’s people at that point in history...

But the powers of darkness that stood behind those REAL historical figures are still up to the same schemes in our world… and in our lives… today.

Don’t underestimate that… it’s not spiritualizing to make that application…

We are in a REAL spiritual battle.

Our society and culture is entrenched in idolatry and cycles of sin… they are enslaved under the domain of darkness...

Maybe YOU have even given into those same cycles..

The enemy of our souls fights hard against us… he wants to take US down along with the people around us...

But God has called his church to enter the battle.

Jesus promised that the gates of Hell will not prevail against his church as we mount our attack.

What we are doing this morning isn’t some cute little tradition… it’s warfare.

And yet often we are timid about the battle… sometimes we are unsure if we want to… or even SHOULD take part in it...

And so God gives his church Spirit-filled leaders to remind his people of His presence with them.

God was going to be WITH Israel in their battle against Jabin and Sisera… and they would be reminded of his presence through the godly resolve of a woman named Deborah.

So Deborah is the judge at the time… she would sit under her palm tree and settle the national disputes of Israel…

If you are familiar with the President’s “Situation Room,” that’s the type of disputes Deborah is dealing with under her palm tree.

This is a wise, godly national leader to whom God speaks… she is a prophetess… and she hears a word from the Lord...

So she receives a prophecy one day: This guy named Barak from the tribe of Naphtali is supposed to assemble 10,000 troops because the Lord is going to deliver Sisera and the Canaanite army into his hands.

That’s GREAT news after 20 years of cruel oppression, wouldn’t you agree???

So she summons Barak… but Barak is... less than confident… Look at verse 8 again, “Barak said to her, [fearful/weak sounding] “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”” (Judges 4:8, ESV)

Not exactly the Poster-Boy for Resolved Magazine, is he?

Here’s this would-be General who is basically saying, “If you hold my hand the whole way, I’ll do what God is asking.”

Now there are a lot of cultural dynamics at play here in the writing of this story...

On the one hand, this story is a celebration of the value of women in the people of God.

Deborah is a godly and gifted woman whom the Lord uses mightily in his plan.

She upends the typical view of women that was held in that culture that women were “less than” in value or skill.

On the other hand, that cultural view is still in play… because the readers… and even Barak… would have seen this as a shameful request.

It’s likely he would have felt a little shame in making a request like this.

In fact, Deborah acknowledges the shame when she says, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman...”

In other words, God is going to use what the culture deems as WEAK… as LESS-THAN... to shame the strong.

That’s a major theme in the book of Judges.

The Bible is not AGREEING with that assessment that women are less-than or lack certain skills…

The Bible is clear that men and women are EQUAL in value while DIFFERENT in responsibility.

But God is using the cultural idea of the woman’s “less-than” status to make sure that HE gets the glory.

Notice… Barak won’t get the glory… but we will see later that neither will the woman… in the end, the LORD gets the glory.

The Lord is affirming that the battle belongs to him...

He uses things that are considered WEAK in our culture… scared generals and those who are culturally “less than” to shame the strong… to show that the all-surpassing power belongs to HIM and no one else.

But here’s what I find interesting: Barak shows a severe lack of resolve… a hesitation in his willingness to obey God… But instead of Deborah saying, “Fine! I’ll do it myself!” She says “I will surely go with you.”

That is so Spirit-Filled. It’s so merciful and patient and kind.

Deborah’s resolve has a profound influence on Barak’s resolve. Her resolved presence influences Barak to enter the battle.

It’s TRUE that Barak ONLY REALLY NEEDED the Lord's presence to win the victory... but he needed Deborah’s presence to even get to the battle...

He needed her to be the flesh-and-blood reminder of the Lord's Spiritual presence.

Here is this woman who hears from God… she is a prophetess… one through whom the Spirit of God speaks ...

And SHE is going to be the flesh and blood reminder of God’s presence to Barak as he heads out to battle.

Now, before we throw shade on Barak... how many times have you ever needed someone to hold your hand in order to do what the Lord wanted? Be honest.

I mean, I’m like Barak all the time… and Katy’s my Deborah...

I mean, far too often I’m like, “I don’t really know if I feel like fighting the battle today… I don’t really know if it’s worth it… or if I can do it...

It’s a lot easier to give into my fleshly desires...

It’s a lot easier to distract myself with other things than what the Lord is calling me to do...

And in the comforts of my home, I’ll say these things to my own shame...

And in comes this godly, Spirit-filled woman who looks at me and says, “The Lord is with you. And I am with you.”

She’ll say, “I’m on Team Ben.” And hearing those words is like a big breath of fresh air...

Not because I know I need her… but I know I need the Lord, and her resolved presence reminds me that the Lord is with me.

Spouses… we need to be that for each other.

Sometimes for me this comes from the other elders… or my Gospel Community… or other pastor friends in the GCC that I have...

I’m telling you… it takes an army to get me going sometimes...

I’ll boast in that weakness… Because it’s in our weakness in the battle that the power of God is proven.

God allows for us to need others to enter the battle with us…

In fact, he’s given us the church SPECIFICALLY for that reason… that we would lock arms and wage war against the domain of darkness TOGETHER!

He has NOT given us the church so that a select few could be in the battle while the rest sit on the sidelines and be consumers.

He wants us ALL to get into the battle.

And some will choose not to… we’ll see that in chapter 5… but many will choose to join.

So Deborah goes to provide a resolved presence for Barak…

And he collects his 10,000 troops...

And then we get this little side-note about Heber the Kenite.

It seems out of place, but it sets up the later part of the story that we didn’t read yet.

Heber has separated himself from the people of Israel… he’s TRYING to sit on the sideline and watch how this whole power struggle between these two nations plays out…

He’s made alliances with BOTH sides… he’s tried to hedge his bets… which is TREASON by the way.

And then after we hear about him, we return to the Battle scene.

The Mercenary General, Sisera, hears about Barak’s 10,000 troops… so he musters up all 900 of his chariots that have subdued Israel for the past 20 years...

This is the show-down...

And AGAIN Barak freezes.

Deborah has to encourage Barak AGAIN in the moment of the battle.

She says, “UP! The Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you????”

That’s resolved presence.

She doesn’t give up on Barak… she directs his focus to what the Lord is doing for him AGAIN...

And again it inspires him… and he gets up and defeats Sisera and kills ALL of Sisera’s men.

Understand: encouragement toward godly resolve is not a once and done thing...

We need it again and again and again.

And that’s why resolved PRESENCE is so important.

It’s about being WITH one another in the midst of the battle.

Maybe not on the battle-field itself… notice, the text doesn’t say that Deborah picked up a sword and fought Barak’s battle herself...

But on multiple occasions her presence influenced his resolve.

This is the way of Jesus...

Jesus did not just encourage his people to obey God from afar… he didn’t stay in heaven and call in his commands...

Jesus entered into the battle with his people… he came to earth to become the REAL flesh and blood presence of God with his people.

In fact, Jesus went even further than Deborah could… as the Lord himself, he fought and WON the victory FOR his people… by dying on a cross and rising again...

and then promised his continued presence with them by his Spirit in the battles that remain.

And the WAY his Spirit is with us is through his indwelling of Christ’s CHURCH.

Not JUST through his indwelling of us as individuals… but through his indwelling of his entire body, the church.

Just like Spirit-Filled Deborah encouraged resolve in timid Barak to enter the battle, we need other Spirit-filled believers to encourage resolve in us.

And we need to encourage resolve in them.

That can only happen through the ministry of PRESENCE.

It can only happen when we commit to be WITH one another…

When we are present WITH each other, we can leverage Gospel Accountability to put sin to death.

We can be honest with our fears and sinful desires and lack of motivation...

We can remind one another: The Lord is with you and has delivered the battle against the powers of darkness into your hand.

That’s why we are so insistent on Gospel Communities here at Oak Hill… because we are in a BATTLE.

We NEED the resolved presence of other believers in our lives.

I need my wife… I need the other elders… I need my Gospel Community… NOT as my ultimate source of power… but as those who will REMIND me of the ultimate source of power.

So who is it for you?

Don’t try to be some Lone-Ranger Christian...

You aren’t above needing others in your fight against sin.

If you are honest, your resolve can falter just like Barak...

Trying to do the Christian life alone will lead you to be more like Heber the Kenite than Barak... sitting on the sidelines… enjoying a peace-treaty with God’s sworn enemy.

Now speaking of Heber, we are now at the point in the story is where the information about him becomes relevant.

[read 4:17-24]

Now I couldn’t help but share this… Keith Martin sent me this when I started preaching Judges...

“When I say I want a biblical wife:

What people think I mean: I want a wife who is passive and subservient.

What I really mean: I want a wife who is totally willing to drive a tent spike into a tyrant’s head should the opportunity arise.”

I told him this could also apply to raising biblical daughters, of which he has 3.

In reality… Jael is a celebrated woman in the scriptures.

On first glance, her act seems sneaky… even treacherous… but the Bible celebrates her.

Biblical womanhood… while complimentary to biblical manhood in nature… is anything but passive.

At the same time, she wasn’t always like that. She needed something to push her in that direction.

She lived in the house of Heber the Kenite… their household had purposefully escaped the conflict to sit on the sidelines.

But as Barak decimated Sisera’s forces and pursued him to deliver the final blow, she decides to join forces with the Lord. And here’s what we see...

2) Your resolved persistence influences others to join forces in God's battle. (4:17-24)

Explain: Now Deborah had promised that God would deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman… and we kind of expected it to be her.

She had influenced so much of the story so far...

But here God uses an even more unexpected character… Jael.

She’s a woman…

She is a Gentile… she’s NOT an Israelite, but a Kenite (descended from Moses’ FIL)...

Her husband is in cahoots with Sisera, the enemy.

And to do what she does, she has to break all kinds of cultural traditions and laws. Her activity would be SO unexpected to a Jewish reader.

She has to let a man in her tent which was a big cultural no-no… she basically seduces him.

She has to go against her husband’s choices.

She has to feign hospitality and be treacherous.

She has to murder someone her husband had vowed to protect.

This is SO unexpected… not what we would NORMALLY celebrate… But in the end, she was on God’s side of the battle… and that’s what mattered.

She gave Sisera what his sin deserved.

And yet I have to ask as I read this... why now? Why does Jael enter the battle NOW?

Verse 17 says there was peace between Jabin and Heber… there was some sort of covenant between them which meant Sisera had likely been to this tent before.

Some scholars even speculate that Heber is the one who tipped Sisera off that Barak had 10,000 troops ready to attack.

So why does Heber’s wife, Jael, decide to attack now?

I believe it is this: Because Barak had done such a thorough job in the battle… he persistently pursued every last man. And the victory was SO clear.

There was no more sitting on the sidelines… it was time to choose sides before it was too late.

Her husband had made an evil choice in siding with Sisera, but this was her chance for redemption. And she took it.

So track this:

Deborah’s resolved PRESENCE influences Barak’s resolve to enter the battle.

Barak’s resolved PERSISTENCE to devote Sisera’s army to destruction influences Jael’s resolve to join forces in God’s battle.

Resolve influences resolve like dominoes set up in a row… as on starts moving, they all move.

Your resolved persistence influences others to join forces in God’s battle.

We see this in Jesus. He won the victory by enduring to the end.

He persisted… even through the cross and the grave… he defeated death...

He himself crushed the head of our enemy, the serpent… HE delivered the mortal wound...

And he pursues him still today… until the full number of his people are saved from his grip.

He’s coming again and all of his enemies will be put under his feet.

And Christ’s persistence to the end DEMANDS that we choose sides.

Like I said last week… the resurrection DEMANDS a response.

If it only affects one day per YEAR, or even one day per WEEK then it doesn’t mean ANYTHING...

If Jesus rose from the dead… ascended and is returning…

If he left his Spirit with us until the last remnants of the battle are over…

Then we MUST choose sides.

Listen: Now is the time for YOU to join forces in God’s battle.

If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines… it’s time to start fighting.

You can’t make peace with the enemy… the prince of this world… and consider yourself a follower of Jesus.

You can’t stagnate forever and refuse to take the next steps of following Jesus and still consider yourself his disciple.

You are either for Jesus or against him. There is no in between.

If your version of the Christian life does not require godly resolve, then it is not the Christian life you are living.

And if you need MORE resolve… we totally understand.

Look around you: we aren’t perfect, but there are so many people in this room who are giving themselves wholeheartedly to Christ and his Kingdom being built through the church.

Let THEIR persistent resolve influence YOUR resolve.

Now, if you DO find yourself fighting in the battle with godly resolve… day after day waging war against sin in your life… Calling others to join the side of Jesus who has won the victory over Satan, sin and death...

Then rest assured: your resolved persistence WILL influence others to join forces in God’s battle.

Your fight against your own sin will show your kids what it looks like to confess and repent.

Your vulnerability to open up in accountability will inspire others to do the same.

Your willingness to apply the gospel when you see sin in someone else’s life can influence them toward repentance.

Your proclaiming the gospel to an unbeliever you see is bound in the Kingdom of darkness can open their eyes to turn and see their deliverer in Jesus.

Your persistence in God's battle is a testimony of God's victory in your own life, and will draw others in.

In fact, it’s important… when we see God’s victory in our lives… to learn how to tell that story.

The Battle is over… Jael has presented Sisera to Barak… and so Deborah and Barak break out into a song of praise!

In fact, they basically retell the whole story of chapter 4 again.

Read 5:1-31, briefly explaining along the way

We aren’t going to dig very deep into all these verses today… they basically describe what happened in chapter 4 in more poetic terms…

But what we see is what happens after resolved presence and resolved persistence have resulted in a victorious battle:

3) Your resolved praise influences others to remember God's battle. (5:1-31)

Explain: When we come to a text like this, we should ask this question: Why?

Why, when we already have chapter 4, would the author recount the story all over again in poetic terms? Because... we need to remember God’s battle.

Israel kept entering into cycles of sin… and they needed to remember that GOD had won their peace.

HE had won their rest.

The time of peace they were now experiencing would also be their time of testing… the battle would come around again...

And before they were tempted to join sides with the enemy again… to worship his idols... they should think twice and remember what GOD did through Deborah and Barak and Shamgar and Jael.

THAT’S why they are singing. So that Israel would REMEMBER God’s battle.

And not only should they remember… they should PRAISE.

Notice that Deborah and Barak and even Shamgar and Jael are celebrated… but GOD receives the glory… to HIM belongs the praise.

Praise through song uniquely helps us remember that the battle is won by the Lord, even when the remnants of the battle are still raging.

Our praise must be filled with the victory of Jesus...

That’s why we pick the songs that we do here at Oak Hill...

It’s not because they are trendy or on the top 100 Christian hits chart.

It’s not because they make us FEEL good…

They aren’t ME-CENTERED… they are JESUS-CENTERED.

They are about the one who lived and died and rose again to secure our victory...

They are about his presence with us and his glory before us.

They are about the GOSPEL...

Apply: And like Deborah and Barak, we SING... we CELEBRATE... to remember what God's battle!

This is our third goal for this series: that we would CELEBRATE the gospel because we see its great value in place of our sin!

If we don’t learn to celebrate… to praise… then our hearts will be drawn after the idolatry of the culture around us.

PRAISE for God’s character and work in the gospel focuses our attention on the supreme worth of God and what he has done so that we don’t go after other gods.

Our hearts are captivated in awe so that we will do ANYTHING for this God...

We will build our lives upon his love for us… we will follow him anywhere.

And our praise doesn’t just do that for our OWN hearts… it does that for the people around us...

Sometimes we are so in the middle of the battle that the best we can do is listen to the praise of others… if you are there sometimes, that’s OK!

Soak it in… and allow it to refresh your soul to keep fighting!

And then, when you can, let your voice rejoin the song!

Deborah and Barak’s duet is recorded for all peoples for all time so that they will remember how God wins his battles.

When we sing praise, the Bible says that we address ONE ANOTHER in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs… making melody in our hearts to God.

We are singing to GOD for the benefit of one another...

Apply: So I’ve asked you this many times before: how is your PRAISE influencing the people around you?

When we sing as a church, can people see on your face how much you value what God has done for you in Jesus Christ?

Are you willing, in full voice, to retell the story of Christ’s victory through songs of praise again and again?

Praise is so important in breaking the cycles of sin. We have to learn to celebrate God’s victory so we are ready to fight another day.

So… that thing from the beginning of the sermon that God is calling you to do that you don’t really WANT to do… where’s your resolve meter right now?

If you are really resolved, GREAT! Let others in on that. Let it be contagious to the people around you.

Tell people what God has called you to do and invite them in with you.

If you are like, “Yeah, not so much.”

Then admit that to someone.

Like Barak, go to someone in your GC and say, “I know God wants me to take my next step of following Jesus, but I’m really hesitant…

Name the thing that is what is holding you back… and ask that person, “Would you be WITH me in this? Would you pray with me? Encourage me? Hold me accountable?”

We all need that.

Maybe you are like Jael… and you’ve tried to live on the sidelines… but you see today that it’s time to get in the battle.

Turn to Jesus and see his victory… by the power of his Spirit, get on his side.

And then praise. Because HE HAS won the victory… and HE WILL win the battle.

Fill this room with songs of Jesus’ victory in your life.

Let’s pray and then do that right now: