Judges 9:1

The Book of Judges was one of my favorites when I was teaching junior high because there's always all kinds of fun stuff—blood and guts and all things that keep junior hires engaged. It's great when you can see that you have their attention, because junior hires can lose interest pretty quickly.

Judges chapter 9 comes right after Judges chapter 8, which follows the previous two chapters that were all about a guy named Gideon. We will see a little bit about Gideon's family as we go through this. It all takes place in a place called Shechem. Shechem has a long biblical history; it has historically been a place where people have recommitted and committed to the Lord. We first see it in Genesis chapter 12, where God promised Abram, before he was Abraham, that all of this land would be his.

Shechem is also a city of refuge where you could flee if you needed a safe place, such as in cases of inadvertent killing or manslaughter. In Joshua chapters 8 and 24, it is where the Israelites recommitted themselves before the Lord to follow Him. In John chapter 4, we see Shechem again, where Jesus speaks to the woman at the well. So, Shechem is an important place where everything is taking place today, and we are going to meet a fellow named Abimelech.

Let's start with Judges chapter 9, verse 1. It says, "Now Abimelech, the son of Jeroboam, went to Shechem to his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family, 'Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, which is better for you, that all 70 sons of Jeroboam rule over you or that one rule over you? Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.'"

Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, as we approach Your Word this morning, I pray, Lord, that You would help us to approach it confidently, knowing that through the Holy Spirit we are able to understand and apply it. Lord, help us to approach it humbly, understanding that we do not...

Us knows the depth of Your word, Lord God. We just tend to scratch the surface and find a few new things each time. I pray that it wouldn't just be things that we hear or things that we learn, Lord God, but that we would take that radical step into things that we actually apply and things that we do. So, Lord God, be glorified in Your people this morning as we dig into Your word. Thank You, Jesus, for all that You've done for us. We pray these things in Your name. Amen.

All right, so the stage is set here. Abimelech, one of the sons of Jeroboam—Jeroboam is another name for Gideon—goes to his mom's house and speaks to the whole family. He asks, "Is it better that all seventy of Gideon's kids rule over you? Wouldn't it be better if it was just me? Wouldn't that make more sense?" He wants to know if it is better for him to rule them or for everybody to rule them.

Now, why is the question even coming up over who is going to rule them? Throughout the book of Judges, we see a pattern where God raises a judge. The judge is godly, the people remember, and they thrive. Then the judge dies, and everybody forgets, leading them right down the drain. This is what we see happening here. At the end of the last chapter that Myles went through last week, in chapter 8, verse 27, it says, "And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in the city of Orpah, and all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family."

As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal Barith their god. The people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of their enemies on every side. They did not show steadfast love to the family of Jeroboam, that is Gideon, in return for all the good that he had done for Israel. The people have already left God; they have already walked away. So, the chances of them choosing a good leader are pretty low.

We will see how this plays out here in verse 3. It says, "And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, 'He is our brother.'" They gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal Barith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows who followed him. So, Abimelech's total qualifications that are listed out here are simply that he is like us.

Just like us, we should have rules, because he is just like us. The other thing they provide him with is seed money to start out with. It is not just any seed money; they decide to go to the temple of Baal Barith, which is Baal of the Covenant. They go to an idol's temple, take money from there, and say, "Use this to start your kingdom, buddy. Use this as you head out to rule."

The interesting thing about Baal Barith, which means Baal of the Covenant, is that one of the names the children of Israel have used for God is the God of the Covenant, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They have already taken the attributes of God, the provision of God, and one of God's names, and applied it to their idol. This shows how quickly the children of Israel fall away after the death of Gideon.

In verse 5, Abimelech went out to his father's house in Orpah and killed his brothers, the sons of Jeroboam—seventy men on one stone. However, Jotham, the youngest son of Jeroboam, was left, for he hid himself. All the leaders of Shechem came together, along with all Bethmelio, and they made Abimelech king by the oak at the pillar at Shechem.

Abimelech's first action was to take his money and hire worthless and reckless fellows. They headed out, and he returned to his father's house to slaughter all of his siblings, except for one who was in hiding. This is quite an auspicious start, right? He thought, "What am I going to do?" The manner in which he killed them is significant; it says he killed them all on one stone. He brought them together and basically sacrificed them on one stone in front of all the people.

What were the people doing? Nothing to stop him. They were part of the whole thing. By allowing this to happen, the people showed that they were no different than Abimelech. Abimelech was made king in the exact place where Joshua told the people, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." In that same place, where Joshua made that iconic statement and recommitment, the children of Israel turned away from their commitment to serve the Lord.

Of Israel say, "Oh, we're going to serve Abimelech." They keep taking things that are due to the Lord and giving them to other people. So they choose Abimelech.

Point number one in your outline, if you are taking notes today: a people that turns their back on God will get exactly the rulers that they deserve. They have rejected God, they have chosen Abimelech, and they are going to get Abimelech good and hard as we see this going forward.

Jotham, the one surviving son, steps out. When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood at the top of Mount Gerizim. He cried aloud and said to them, "Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you."

The trees once went out to anoint a king over them. They said to the olive tree, "Reign over us." But the olive tree said to them, "Shall I leave my abundance, which gods and men honor, and go hold sway over the trees?" Then the trees said to the fig tree, "You come and reign over us." But the fig tree said to them, "Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?"

Next, the trees said to the vine, "You come and reign over us." But the vine said to them, "Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?"

The trees are seeking a leader; they want a tree to rule over them. The first place they go is to the productive, healthy, and nourishing trees. They go to the best trees and say, "Hey, olive tree, why don't you rule over us?" The olive tree responds, "I'm busy. I am here producing olives for the worship of God and the honor of men."

So they decide to find another one. They go to the fig tree and say, "You rule over us." The fig tree replies, "I've got a job. My job is to produce sweetness and bless and nourish people." Then they go to the grapevine and say, "You rule over us." The grapevine responds, "Should I stop producing wine which brings joy or cheer for God and men?"

The trees they approach—the olive, the fig, and the grape—are all cultivated by people. They are all planted on purpose, grown with a purpose, and are useful plants. I don't know about you all, but we've had a very wet spring, and I have a lot of plants popping up that I have not cultivated.

There is an abundance of plant life, most of it not cultivated. The trees that are cultivated exist for a purpose, and each one of them reflects on the call to rain. They say, "The call to rain is a call to leave what I was created to do. You want me to come rule over you, but that's not what I was meant for. That's not what I was built for. That's not what I was created to do." We have no time for lesser things. God has given us a purpose, and we are fulfilling that purpose.

As I thought about this, I began to reflect on my own purpose. I grew up in a different church background than the one we share here. My upbringing was in a more formal setting. When I consider what we are created to do, or what is the chief end of man, I immediately think, "Oh, the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." This is from the Heidelberg Lesser Catechism that we learned relentlessly during my childhood.

So, what is my purpose? My purpose is to enjoy God and glorify Him forever. God will give us a purpose, and He wants us to walk in that.

In verse 14, it says, "Then all the trees said to the bramble, 'You come and reign over us.'" The bramble responded, "If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon." The trees turn to the bramble because it is the only option left. They have exhausted all the good choices and say, "Hey, you come rule over the trees."

Brambles aren't trees; they are bushes. They aren't even good bushes. They are just thorny, nasty, grubby things that produce pain and injury. They provide no shade and are a nuisance at best, a hazard at worst. These are the things that grow up after the rain that we try to get rid of. There is no honor, no nourishment, no sweetness, and no joy for God or men in brambles. They are eradicated by civilized people.

Point number two in your outline, if you are taking notes: our purpose comes from God. Living it produces joy in us as we serve others. All of the fruitful trees had a purpose from God, and they were following that purpose.

Our purpose comes from God, and living it produces joy in us as we serve others. God doesn't give us a purpose that is self-focused; He gives us a purpose that is focused on others.

In the context of making choices, instead of making a good choice, people often make a poor choice. The bramble has nothing to offer except that it is the only option left. This leads to the question: what happens in our lives when we are trying to decide something, and it seems like all the good choices have said no?

The first thing to consider is that we should examine the question we are asking. Sometimes, we ask questions that don't have good answers. In Joshua chapter five, if you want to read it, Joshua is preparing to fight Jericho. We all know the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. As he wanders around at night, he encounters an armed man and asks, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" The response he receives is simply "No." This is surprising because he asked an either-or question, and the answer was neither. The man identifies himself as the commander of the Lord's army. Joshua then falls on his face and worships because God provided him with a different question. The question he was asking was the wrong one.

Sometimes, we have good questions, but we ask them from the wrong motive. James chapter four, verse three, states, "You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your own passions." We all have examples of things we have prayed for that were either selfish or misguided. Along with Garth Brooks, we can be thankful for unanswered prayers at times.

The last thing we need to do is find a better question. If all the answers seem to be bad, we are probably asking the wrong question. If all the good trees say, "I don't want to do that," and we are left only with the brambles, we should probably just walk away from it.

This also raises the question of why people are so worried about finding another leader. Why do they even bother choosing a leader? They are supposed to be led by God. Fortunately, we have a good answer for that in First Samuel chapter eight, where the people...

The people came before Samuel and said, "We want a king." Samuel replied, "No, you don't want a king. We're led by God." But they insisted, "No, no, no. We want a king." Samuel then prayed to God, expressing his concern, "God, they want a king. They're rejecting me." God responded, "No, no, no. They're not rejecting you; they're rejecting me. They are looking for leadership because they don't want my leadership."

To be fair, part of the problem was Samuel's sons. God had anointed Samuel as a prophet, and Samuel assumed that, as a prophet, his children would naturally be great leaders. He appointed his sons to positions of authority, but they began to mess things up. The people grew frustrated and said, "We don't want to deal with this anymore. We want a king like everyone else."

Samuel then explained to them what a king would do. He outlined a list of consequences that I found fascinating. The king would take their sons for his wars, multiply ministers and bureaucracies, build his wealth on the backs of their children, take their daughters for his luxuries, seize their best land for himself and his supporters, take the fruit of their labors for his gain, and enslave them through taxation. He warned them that they would cry out to God for deliverance, but none would come because they chose to submit to a king instead of submitting to God.

Samuel laid all this out for the people, who wanted an earthly leader for two reasons: to be like all the other nations and to go before them and fight their battles. They desired a leader to conform to societal norms, not wanting to stand out or be peculiar, even though Jesus teaches that they will always be set apart as His body. They wanted someone else to fight their battles, preferring not to take personal responsibility for deciding when to engage in conflict. They wanted a king to make their decisions for them and to be like everyone else.

God instructed Samuel to obey their demand and give them a king. This illustrates that earthly human government is often founded on people refusing to be led by God. For the followers of Christ, we need to look past human government to heaven for our leadership. Does this mean we should disregard everything the government says? No, we are called to submit. However, our ultimate guidance, our ultimate orders, and our ultimate responsibility lie with Jesus, and that must supersede everything else.

We cannot outsource our responsibility to follow Jesus. We need to practice the things that we are called to do in Galatians chapter 5, verses 22 and 23. Some of you will have this memorized, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. That's what we are called to do.

Now, getting back into Judges chapter 9, in verse 16, Jotham says, "Now, therefore, I love, I absolutely love how he does this." As someone who tends to be sarcastic, I appreciate that this is included. He continues, "Now therefore, if you have acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt with Jeroboam and his house and have done to him as his deeds deserve, for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you from the hand of Midian, and you have risen up against my father's house this day and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem because he is your relative."

He goes on, "If then you have acted in good faith and integrity with Jeroboam and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-Millo, and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-Millo and devour Abimelech."

Jotham ran away, fled, and went to Beer, living there because of Abimelech's brother. This is some beautiful Holy Spirit-led sarcasm and trolling, which I think is fantastic. He says, "Hey, if you guys have done well, if you have done the right thing by slaughtering the rest of my family after our father has fought, died, and protected you, then great, enjoy it. Enjoy Abimelech and let Abimelech enjoy you."

The thing to notice here is who Jotham indicts. He doesn't make this speech against Abimelech. He is not looking at Abimelech and saying, "I saw what you did." Instead, he is looking at the people. The responsibility he places is on the people for their choice of Abimelech and for the actions that Abimelech took. We bear the responsibilities for the choices of the leaders that we choose. While some may say, "I didn't vote for fill in the blank," I'm sure not everybody in Shechem was excited about Abimelech.

But they were all called out by Jotham, and we will see they all suffer because of him, because they made that choice. Bimelech, it says in verse 22, ruled over Israel for three years. God sent an evil spirit between Bimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Bimelech. This was so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jeroboam might come, and their blood be laid on Bimelech, their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers.

The leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way. It was told to Bimelech. So, God sends an evil spirit here between Bimelech and the people. The other place where we see this exact wording is when God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul as Saul has turned away from Him, and the kingdom is getting ready to be handed over to David. We see this conflict breaking out. God's purpose is going to win out through all of this. If they were following God, this would not happen.

God is using both rebellious groups. He is using the rebellious government to punish the rebellious people and the rebellious people to punish the rebellious government. We see these things going back and forth. In verse 25, it talks about the leaders of Shechem putting men in ambush against him on the mountains, and they robbed all who passed along that way. It was told to Bimelech. They started engaging in economic terrorism, affecting the money. They were waylaying people, taking the cash, and attacking the trade routes. Suddenly, Bimelech hears about it.

Then, in verse 26, Gael, the son of Ebed, moves into Shechem with all his relatives. The leaders of Shechem put confidence in him, and they went out into the field, gathered the grapes from their vineyards, trod them, and held a festival. They went into the house of their God, ate, drank, and reviled Bimelech. This new guy shows up, and they think he’s pretty cool. They trod the grapes and had a big party in their idyllic temple, enjoying themselves and loving Gael while reviling Bimelech.

Gael, the son of Ebed, said, "Who is Bimelech? And who are we of Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jeroboam, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem."

But why should we serve Him? Why would the people choose to follow Abimelech? If the people were under my hand, I would remove Abimelech and say to him, "Increase your army and come out." Who is this guy, Abimelech? I think you should serve me and my people. All of a sudden, the people are intrigued; they didn't like their current leadership. So, they choose a new one to get rid of the one they had selected previously.

People are fickle, and our opinions change rapidly. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, and the people were crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." In effect, they were saying, "This is the king that God has brought to us." Then, within a week, they were all in the same area screaming, "Crucify Him!" If we are driven by public opinion, we will not be productive in any of our purposes. Proverbs 29:25 says, "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe."

The temple is full of people who continue to follow God despite ungodly circumstances, ungodly rulers, and all kinds of wickedness. The principle is clear: we are called to live as godly people, regardless of the situations we find ourselves in. We are called to be godly people.

Now, Gael, the son of Ebed, is rising up in Shechem, while Abimelech, who is in another area, is waging conquest and engaging in various activities. In verse 30, when Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gael, the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. He sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, "Behold, Gael, the son of Ebed, and his relatives have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you. Therefore, go by night, you and the people who are with you, and set an ambush in the field. Then, in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. When he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them as your hand finds to do. However you see fit, you can do whatever you want."

We see leaders and politicians conspiring, backbiting, and fighting, going back and forth. The people here are expressing their dissatisfaction with the last guy.

We like the new guy. Well, it's just an entire mess. How can a political system be this bad? Interesting, huh? Broken people do broken things. That is the history of humanity.

So, Abimelech's minister, who is in charge of the city, sends a message to Abimelech. Abimelech responds, "Okay, well, we're going to take care of this." In verse 34, Abimelech and all the men who are with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies. Gael, the son of Ebed, went out and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city. Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush. When Gael saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Look, people are coming down from the mountaintops." Zebul replied, "You must take the shadow of the mountains for men."

They went out in the morning, and Abimelech's army was coming down the hill. Gael insisted, "No, that's an army." Zebul dismissed him, saying, "That's just a shadow. Don't worry about that. There's nothing to worry about here." Once again, there was lying, deception, and intrigue.

Then Gael spoke again, saying, "Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the diviner's oak." Zebul responded, "Where's your mouth now?" I love how the Holy Spirit puts it: "Where's your mouth now, bud? Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Are these not the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them."

Gael went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him. Many fell wounded at the entrance of the city gate. Abimelech lived at Aruna, and Zebul drove out Gael and his relatives so that they could not dwell in Shechem.

So, what do we see? We see Abimelech now coming down to fight with, who does it actually mention here? In verse 39, it mentions Gael and the head of the leaders of Shechem. These are the same people who had chosen him, the same people who said, "Oh yeah, we want this guy to rule over us." Now they are actively fighting against him. Three years into his rule, and now they are experiencing all this chaos and heartache.

Point three in your outline, if you're taking notes: ungodly choices will pay ungodly dividends.

When we make ungodly choices, there is an ungodly price to pay, and there is an ungodly fruit of those things. Abimelech is now living in Aruna. Zebul has driven out Gael, and on the following day, the people went out into the field. Abimelech was told about this. This is not an army going out; these are regular people going out to the field to plant, to grow, to provide food for their families, to do all the normal things necessary for survival.

Abimelech hears about this, so he takes his people, divides them into three companies, and sets an ambush in the field. He looks and sees the people coming out of the city, so he rises against them and kills them. Abimelech and the company that was with him rush forward and stand at the entrance of the gate of the city while the two companies rush in upon all who are in the field, killing them. Abimelech fights against the city all that day. He captures the city and kills the people who are in it. He razes the city and sows it with salt. Abimelech comes in, kills everyone, and wipes everyone out. That wasn't enough; then he razes the city, taking it down to its foundation. He sows the land with salt, and it would be 200 years before Shechem was rebuilt. They chose the bramble, and now they are receiving everything that Jotham warned them about.

But it's not finished yet. In verse 46, it says when the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the tower of Elbereth, or Baalbereth. Abimelech went up to Mount Zalman with all the people who were with him. Abimelech took an axe, cut down a bundle of firewood, and laid it on his shoulder. He said to the men who were with him, "What you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done." So every one of his people cut down a bundle and followed Abimelech, putting it against the stronghold. They set the stronghold on fire over them, resulting in the deaths of all the people of the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women.

Ungodly choices will indeed pay ungodly dividends. They head out, go up to the hills, gather firewood, and come down, deciding that the best thing they can do is to burn the remaining refugees from Shechem to the ground. It costs the lives of an entire city—men, women, and children—because they chose Abimelech.

But you see, that's not it. It's not that they chose Abimelech; it's that they rejected God. When a people reject God, there are no good choices left. It doesn't matter how attractive one option looks because, hey, he's just like us, or how another guy shows up and says, "Well, no, I represent the old way of doing things." It doesn't matter. When a people reject God, there are no good choices left.

So here it looks like Abimelech is unstoppable, but the thing we know is that the judgment of God is unavoidable. In verse 50, it says, "Then Abimelech went to Thebes and encamped against Thebes and captured it." But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women, along with all the leaders of the city, fled into it and shut themselves in. They went up to the roof of the tower, and Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it. When he drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire, he thought, "Hey, they've got this whole town there all hiding in there. I think I'm going to burn them all out again."

Then God causes something interesting to happen. In verse 53, a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. He called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, 'A woman killed him.'" His young man thrust him through, and he died. When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone departed to his home.

Abimelech, the erstwhile king of Israel, is killed because a woman, who was up there defending her children, dropped a rock. I love the fact that he was worried about people thinking a woman killed him. It's like, dude, you have bigger problems. See, Abimelech is so worried about his cause of death that he has clearly forgotten there is something after death. He is not looking at any possible repercussions later on; he is only thinking about right now. He is worried that his legacy is going to be that a woman killed him. No, dude, your legacy is that you are a horrible person who wiped out entire cities, men, women, and children.

And yet, the blame is not on Abimelech. The blame, as illustrated by Jotham, is on the people who chose him. In verse 56, it says, "Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. And God also made the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads. And upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jeroboam."

So it all wraps up: God used the evil ruler to punish the evil people and the evil people to punish the evil ruler. What does any of this mean for us? Well, what occurred to me first is that the main problem is not Abimelech. Abimelech is a problem, absolutely. He is a problem. But the real problem was the people who had turned away from God. They had turned away from God.

It wasn't that they had elected the wrong man; it was the fact that a nation that turns its back on God is left only with bad choices. The state of the nation is a reflection of its people. The state of our nation is largely a reflection of us, the church. We are called to be salt and light. We are called to be those who influence culture. Yet, when we were called to go and make disciples, a lot of times we have stayed put and stayed quiet.

So the problem, in the words of that great contemporary prophet, is, "Hi, I'm the problem. It's me. It's my fault." I get distracted so easily by things that are unimportant. They look important when I take my eyes off of Jesus. I take my eyes off of Jesus, and all of a sudden, it's like, "Oh no, this is a problem," and "Oh no, that's a problem."

Right now, at home, my freezer is dying. I'm not even kidding you. I got an alert, and I'm looking at it and watching the temperature go. Rather than just be surprised, now I can watch it slowly happen. It seems like a really big problem until I put my eyes back on Jesus and realize, "You know what? I can trust in my Lord, and I don't have to worry about things like that."

Will there be time to save the stuff in the freezer? Absolutely. Do I have another freezer? Yes, I have another freezer. Is this going to be an inconvenience? It's going to be an inconvenience. But it's not that big a deal, because when I put my eyes back on Jesus, all of the cares...

Of this world go strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace, as the hymn tells us. Our world is going to present us with a myriad of issues and problems, and they're going to look big until we put our eyes back on Jesus. The issue at the time of Shechem arose from the people forgetting God. As it says in chapter 8, verse 33, as soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god.

We are human beings, and it is easy for us to forget what God has done. We have to constantly remind ourselves. The commands that we've been given are to love God and to love others. Anything else is failing on our part. Jesus further refines the call to the church in Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 and 20. He says, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age."

It is the great commandment, it is the great commission, and it is our marching orders as the church. We are to go and make disciples. As we go and make disciples, we change the world, not by changing the world, but by changing individuals in the world. We go to them, we tell them about Jesus, and the Holy Spirit ignites that spark in their heart. All of a sudden, their life is changed, and it has this ripple effect.

We so want it to be easy; we want to outsource it. We want to say, "Well, I voted for the right guy." But no, you voted for the wrong guy. I voted for the right guy. We want to have this argument back and forth when it doesn't change the command that God gave to His church to go into all the world and make disciples.

In order to do that, we are going to need help. We cannot do this on our own. We need to remember who we are. We are all sinners. Every one of us has broken the law, and we have earned the punishment that is laid on us. We need to remember that we need a Savior. There is a way out; there is a Savior available, and that's Jesus. We are unable to save ourselves. We need to remember that our Savior died for us. Jesus died on our behalf, paying our penalty, and we need to remember that He rose again on the third day, defeating sin and death.

And it says that He sits at the right hand of God the Father and makes intercession for us all the time. Why does He make intercession for us all the time? Because we need it all the time. We remember these things primarily through the sacrament of communion.

So the worship team is going to come up. Ushers, if you didn't get a communion cup, raise your hand and they'll bring you one. Actually, guys, if you want to bring me one, I forgot to pick one up on the way in. Like I said, I'm the problem.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul lays out communion and how it's going to work. We are going to start in verse 27. It says, "Whoever therefore eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself." This is why many of you are weak and ill, and some of you have died. But if we had judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

I grew up, like I said earlier, in a very formal church background. If you are not a member of the church, a card-carrying, paper-having member of the church, you are not allowed to take communion because of this passage, which I think is largely a distortion of the heart of this passage. Membership in a church does not make you right before God.

When it talks about discerning the body, what is the body of Christ? The Catholics would tell you that the discerning of the body means that you understand this actually physically turns into the body of Jesus in your mouth. I don't think Scripture supports that. Discerning the body of Christ—what is the body of Christ? We are the body of Christ. When we understand that I take communion not to get something, but because of who Jesus is and who He's created me to be, we can truly appreciate its significance. If we judge ourselves truly, we will not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so we may not be condemned.

The understanding is that we need a Savior, and accepting Jesus as our Savior is what makes us the body of Christ. My son was telling me a story about his experience at work. He spoke to his boss and asked, "How do I get to where you are? How do I get a position? What do I need to do to do my job better? What do I need to do to advance? What do I need to do to really go forward in this company?"

His boss responded, "You need to work really, really hard, and you have to stay focused." He then gave my son a list of things to do. The ironic thing is that his boss holds his position in the company because his dad is one of the owners, which we both laughed about. This made me think: how often do we do that? How often do we go to people and ask, "What do I need to do to be saved?"

The common response is, "First, you need to stop drinking, stop cursing, and avoid hanging out with people who do those things. Once you're good enough, you can come to Jesus." But the truth is, if you want to come to Jesus, just come to Him. That's the first step. Everything else happens later; that's sanctification. The first thing we need is Christ.

So often, we forget that it is our Heavenly Father who brought us here. It wasn't our own works or understanding. We are not looking for perfection, because that is found in Jesus. Instead, we should be looking at the brokenness within ourselves and recognizing that we needed, and still need, a Savior.

Romans 8:1 says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death."

We are going to worship together for a little bit. I would ask that during this time, you sing and pray, asking the Lord, "What do I need to know right now? What do I need to be comforted in? What do I need to be confronted in? Lord, I just want to spend this time with You."

After worship, we will take communion together. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:23, "For I received from the Lord that which I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took..."

Bread and we had given thanks. He broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Let's take the bread together.

Thank you, Jesus, for the sacrifice that you made on our behalf. Thank you for being the perfect sacrifice that we could never be. Thank you for taking my sin upon you and paying my penalty. Thank you for that, Jesus.

In the same way, Paul continues. He said he took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as long as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." Let's take the cup together.

Thank you, Jesus, for a new covenant. Thank you for the freedom that we find from sin and death. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the sacrifice that you made, the freedom you purchased, and the covenant that you wrote for us, Lord, where we can stand before you, being given your holiness and your sinless covering over us.

Lord Jesus, help us keep our eyes on you. Thank you, Jesus.