Let me ask you to imagine the following scenario. It's the middle of the week, you're about to have your quiet time, but you're thinking about something else. Now, I know that would never happen to you, but it does happen to me. A problem is on your mind, your Bible's sitting there, it's still closed. Maybe it has to do with an important relationship. You're thinking, man, I'm upset at this conflict. in our family, or with a friend, or this tension at work, or trouble in the church. Or maybe you're thinking about a serious illness or suffering, accident, an operation, financial hardship, uncertain future. Why is this happening, Lord? What is it good for? Or maybe you're thinking about something in the news. You've just seen Something in the news about the war between Israel and Hamas. It's particularly depressing that there's so much suffering that comes with war. Hunger and homelessness and powerlessness and despair. Death of innocent civilians and the poor. You're troubled by these things. Then you look over at your Bible and you think, yeah, okay, just in time. God's word has the answers. What chapters in my Bible reading plan? Judges 4. Here we go. So open it up with me. Judges 4. We come to the scripture for answers and we bring our questions. Let's read this chapter together. Help me, Lord. Give me answers to these questions about conflict and suffering and war and trouble in the world. After Ehud's death, the Israelites again did what was evil in the Lord's sight. So the Lord handed them over to King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Hagoyim. Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots, ruthlessly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help. Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth, was a prophet who had become a judge in Israel. She would hold court under the palm of Deborah, which stood between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to settle their disputes. One day she sent for Barak, the son of Abinoam, who lived in Kadesh in the land of Naphtali. She said to him, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, commands you. Assemble 10,000 warriors from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, commander of Jabin's army, along with his chariots and warriors to the Kishon River. There I will give you victory over him. Barak told her, I will go, but only if you go with me. Very well, she replied, I will go with you, but since you have made this choice, you will receive no honor. For the Lord's victory over Cicero will be at the hands of a woman. So Deborah went with Barak to Kadesh. At Kadesh, Barak called together the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, and 10,000 warriors marched up with him. Deborah also marched with them. Now Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Moses' brother-in-law, Hobab, had moved away from the other members of his tribe and pitched his tent by the Oak of Zionaim near Kadesh. When Sisser was told that Barak, son of Abinoam, had gone up to Mount Tabor, he called for all 900 of his iron chariots and all of his warriors, and they marched from Harosheth Hagoyim to the Kishon River. Then Deborah said to Barak, get ready. Today the Lord will give you victory over Sisera, for the Lord is marching ahead of you." So Beric led his 10,000 warriors down the slopes of Mount Tabor into battle. When Beric attacked, the Lord threw Sisera and all his charioteers and warriors into a panic. Then Sisera leaped down from his chariot and escaped on foot. Barak chased the enemy and all their chariots all the way to Harosheth Hagoyim, killing all of Sisera's warriors. Not a single one was left alive. Meanwhile, Sisera ran to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because Heber's family was on friendly terms with King Jabin of Hazor. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, come into my tent, sir. Don't be afraid. So he went into her tent. And she covered him with a blanket. Please give me some water. He said, I'm thirsty. So she gave him some milk to drink and covered him again. Stand at the door of the tent, he told her. If anyone comes and asks you if there's anyone here, say no. But when Sisera fell asleep from exhaustion, Jael quietly crept up to him with a hammer and a tent peg. Then she drove the tent peg through his temple and into the ground, and so he died. When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael went out to meet him. She said, come, I'll show you the man you're looking for. So he followed her into the tent and found Sisera lying there dead with a tent peg through his temple. So on that day, Israel saw God subdue Jabin the Canaanite king, and from that time on, Israel became stronger and stronger against King Jabin until they finally destroyed him. What on earth? For heaven's sake, Lord, isn't your word supposed to answer my questions? I'm troubled at the war in the world, and then I read this. There's tension in my family and conflict in my relationships. I'm suffering. Is this supposed to be the good news I should share with those around me? For heaven's sake, literally, what does this text mean? Now. If we're willing to admit it, we Bible-believing Christians sometimes have problems with the Bible. Now, we know that this book provides true answers to all of life's problems. It answers all the important questions. And on the other hand, there are many passages in the Bible that, can I say it openly, we'd rather skip. We've got some people in this room that have been Christians a long time. Has anyone here ever heard a sermon on this text? Raise your hand. Oh, there we go, that is great. That's surprising though. Especially these many passages about wars and battles and extermination of villages and cities and peoples, violence and punishment, we don't understand. Well, or you could even say it's kind of, it's maybe worse than that. We do understand, but we can't make sense of it. And these are not secondary issues. That's absolutely central. What is the issue? Who is God? What is he like? Is he vengeful? Is he waiting to punish you? Does he always forgive? Those questions are very, very important. I have good news for you. Bible-believing Christians don't have to shy away from these questions. We may and we should ask these questions honestly and openly, of course. Because it's about God himself, we ask them respectfully and not impudently and disrespectfully. We ask them in a believing heart, and not accusing and doubting. We ask them humbly, knowing that we are small and sinful, and therefore there are a lot of things that we don't understand that make perfect sense. But we should ask the questions openly. Look them in the face, and that's what we're gonna do today. You've already heard the title of this sermon, For Heaven's Sake, What on Earth Does That Mean? This isn't the only passage in the Bible that makes us ask that question, does it? So we're gonna have an interesting experience with the word of God today, and an important one, because this passage isn't an exception. There are many, many texts in scripture that we don't understand. No one who honestly reads the Bible to get answers for everyday life understands everything immediately. Amen? That's right. Some passages are like clear water and fresh bread for the soul, and others give us trouble. But I assure you, even in the texts that give you trouble, the Word of God keeps its promise. These are indeed words of eternal life. Heaven and earth will pass away, but these words will not pass away. It will remain forever. And this text that seems so difficult and irrelevant and problematic is actually good news from the Lord. And it's not complicated. This sermon began in our family worship when our children were four, five, and six years old. We were reading Pilgrim's Progress together. In the book, Christian stays with some believers that are encouraging him and helping him. After they encourage him, they take him to the storeroom and give him armor and a sword, and then they show him some of the other weapons there. They show him Moses' rod. What did Moses do with his staff? calmed, he departed the Red Sea and turned water into blood, and they showed him a hammer and a tent peg with which Jail killed Cicera. Pitchers, trumpets, and torches with which Gideon put to flight the armies of Midian, the jawbone with which Samson did such mighty feats, the sling and the stone with which David killed Goliath, and the sword also with which their lord will kill the man of sin in the day that he shall rise up to the prey. They showed him besides many excellent things with which Christian was much delighted." Our kids said, hammer? Tent peg? We never heard that story. So we told them the story and explained it. It's really not hard to understand. Four, five, and six-year-olds can understand it. John Bunyan, interestingly enough, had no problem with Judges 4. Jail killing Cicero is one of his favorites. Well, it's probably not one of our favorites, but that's because we read the Bible the wrong way. John Bunyan understood this passage. It's about the gospel. It's the message of Jesus Christ, and that's why it inspired him. Difficult passages in the Bible aren't hard to understand if you look through the right lens. And the right lens is this one. The whole Bible is about the gospel. The whole Bible is about the gospel. See, I used to teach Old Testament in Europe, and I did this with my students. I started the course by saying, answer this question for me, it was the first homework assignment, what passage in the Bible do you just not get at all? And of course, they would have to list those passages or that passage. And the last assignment was, okay, go back to that passage that you didn't understand and preach the gospel out of it. My job was to give them enough tools to do that. Usually it worked. Difficult passages in the scripture aren't hard. If we look through this lens, it's all about the gospel. It's all about the gospel. That's my first point. Every text always preaches the gospel. Look, we're trying to understand the Bible. We want to hear what God is saying to us. We want to really hear it, understand it. And our problem with a text like Judges 4 is that we don't really understand. We don't see how it helps. When I said, oh, for heaven's sake, what on earth does that mean? Nobody said, what's his problem? This chapter is simple, I understand it. I know how to apply it. No, everybody said, yeah, that's a good question. I don't really get it either. Now, Jesus doesn't leave us in trouble here. He has taught us how to read the scripture. Gives us a simple lens by which we can understand it. Turn with me to Luke 24. In Luke 24, Jesus has just been raised from the dead, and he is talking to the disciples. And if you really want to understand the scripture, this passage will encourage you. He appears first to two disciples as they're walking and talks with them. Look around verse 30. He realizes they don't understand the scriptures, We know what that's like. So he corrects them and he teaches them. Now, look what happens in verse 30. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them and their eyes were opened and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures? Did not our hearts burn within us? Man, that's our goal today, church. When the Lord opens his word to you, it's exciting. It's not, okay, yeah, I get it. It's, wow, look at that. That's amazing. Didn't our hearts burn within us when he talked to us on the road and opened to us the scriptures? It's not just new information that you didn't have before. It's a whole new way of seeing. The scriptures get opened. They were closed before. He opens them. How does this happen? He changes us. Look down at verse 45. Same kind of thing. He opened their minds to understand the scriptures. So, verse 32, the disciples say, their hearts burned within them when Jesus opened the scriptures to them. And just like their physical eyes were suddenly opened to see Jesus as he broke the bread, just before he vanished, their spiritual eyes were opened to see and hear his word. And in verse 45, we have the same thing. Jesus opens their minds, the minds of the disciples, to understand the scriptures. That's what we need too. Now, pay attention. How did this happen? What was the key that opened their minds? Look what Jesus said to them. What did he teach them? Verse 27, just before they say he opened our minds. Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And in verse 44. He said to them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds. You want the scriptures open to you? You want your mind opened to understand the scriptures? Learn how the scripture talks about the things concerning Jesus. Understanding that everything written about him has been fulfilled is the key to understanding the Bible. That's this point here in the sermon. Every text always preaches the gospel. Now, we'll see this more closely when we look at our text, but this doesn't mean you just need to identify somebody in the story who's like Jesus, as if you were supposed to read Judges 4 and say, oh, maybe Jail is Jesus and Sisera's the devil, but then who's Barak? Nor is Barak supposed to be Jesus. The point isn't to identify somebody with Jesus as a person. The whole story is about the gospel. Every part of the story, every theme, every heart attitude, every action, every person points to the same theme and heart attitude and action and person in the gospel story. Let me give you a couple examples. I'm gonna do what Jesus did, or tried to, and interpret to you in all the scriptures the things concerning him. That should help us understand Barak and Jael and Sisera. Let's take example number one from John 2. You don't need to turn there, but if you want to, it's in John 2. Remember when Jesus drove the money changers and the tradesmen out of the temple? John tells us the following in chapter 2, verse 14. In the temple, Jesus found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons and the money changers sitting there and making a whip of cords. He drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and oxen. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables and he told those who sold the pigeons, take these things away. Get these things out of here. Do not make my father's house a house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for your house will consume me. That's a quote from Psalm 69.9. Now, think about this with me. Does Psalm 69.9 say, the Messiah is going to come and zeal for God's house will consume him? No. It says, zeal for your house has consumed me. Who's me in Psalm 69? Who writes Psalm 69? Anyone want to take a guess? Is it Jesus? It's David. Oh wait. Zeal for God's house is consuming whom? Well, it's consuming David. But not just David because Jesus is the son of Who? Of David. So he's the king like David, he's the root of Jesse, and therefore everything we admire in David is gonna be even more true of the Messiah, of course. That's what it means that Jesus fulfills these expectations, right? What would it be like if the Bible said, well, a king is gonna come in David's line and he'll be almost as good as David was? Man, that would be bad news. No. Jesus, as David's son, is going to be better than David, is better than David. He fulfills all the good things that David embodied, only better. And he has none of David's character flaws. So when we read, zeal for your house has consumed me, we understand. Yeah, the Bible's talking about David. But God's telling us, because Jesus is the Son of David, or the Messiah is the Son of David, the Messiah is going to be even more zealous. David was zealous for God's house. Jesus is going to be much more zealous. David was a little consumed with that zeal. Jesus is going to be totally consumed. And that's why the disciples remembered that it was written when they saw Jesus' wrath against those who defiled the temple, Jesus is a fulfillment and David is just a shadow. Now that's a greatly encouraging truth because what's David's zealous for? His zeal for God makes him good, makes him a great king. It means that he cares about God's honor. It makes him a great warrior who protects and redeems his people. So if Jesus is even more zealous, that's good news for me in the middle of my trouble. Take another example. In Luke 13, some people warned Jesus to flee from where he was because Herod was about to kill him. And Jesus is determined to go to Jerusalem anyway. He knows he's going to die there, but he's going there. And he explains it this way. In Luke 13, verse 33, I must go on my way all the way until I finish my course. For it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. He mourns over Jerusalem right after that. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets. So where in the Old Testament, guys, does it say that Jesus has to die in Jerusalem? Where does it tell us that he has to fulfill prophecy by dying there? And the answer is all over. All over. Where and why do the prophets experience opposition or even be killed? Well, it's not because they're unwise or too radical or they say things too directly. They are persecuted because they tell the truth. And people don't like to hear the truth. Any humble person want to say amen to that? I don't like to hear the truth. I mean, I like to hear the truth if it's nice. But if the truth is that I'm out of line, there's something in my heart that says, Just say something nice to me. We don't like to hear the truth. Our old nature rebels against that. We like to hear comfortable things, not uncomfortable things. We want to hear that we're doing great, even if we're not. So what's the Messiah going to be like? Well, he's going to tell the truth even more directly. Even more truth, with less fear, even clearer, and more God-focused. How are people going to react to all that more, more, more? They're going to kill him, right? If a little prophet comes and tells a little truth and people are angry at him, and then a big prophet comes and tells a lot of truth, well, people are going to be more angry. Well, of course they're going to kill Jesus. How could it be anything else? And where were these prophets persecuted? Well, at the capital city, because they spoke to those in power, those in political power and those in religious power. So where's the Messiah going to die? Of course, at the religious, at the power center, at the religious power center, at the political power center in Jerusalem. Can't be anywhere else. No verse says right out, the Messiah's gonna die in Jerusalem. But it's said in hundreds of verses, over and over and over, because every prophet's story teaches the gospel. It shows us what we're like, how we respond to God. It demonstrates that we don't like him telling us what's wrong with us and calling us to repentance. People, if God doesn't change our hearts, we will kill him. Then we'll stiffen our necks and harden our hearts, refuse to repent, and go down to hell shaking our fists at God for being so upright. Amen? That's right. That's who we're like. We need salvation. We need someone to change these stubborn and self-justifying hearts. We're in trouble. We can't save ourselves. We need God's grace. This is the way it is with every passage in the Bible, whether it's a story, or a psalm, or a prophecy, or a law. Everything is always teaching the gospel. It's always telling us who God is, and who we are, what our trouble is, and what the way out is. And that's also why it's so important to let the passage speak and listen carefully. That helps us understand what aspect of the gospel message is being taught here. Is God teaching us how evil we are? That's part of the gospel. Or how just and righteous He is? That's part of the gospel. Or how powerful He is? That's part of the gospel. Or how gracious He is? That's part of the gospel. Or is He instructing me how to live? That's part of the gospel. Is He warning how my enemies are going to oppose me? That's part of the gospel. Or how He's going to redeem us from these enemies? That's part of the gospel. The gospel has many, many aspects And every Bible passage teaches the same gospel message, but every one with a slightly different aspects emphasized, and that makes the message fresher and more interesting and more applicable. Now, so that's point one. It's always about the gospel in every text. Let's go back then to Barak and Jael. Let's apply this to them. We know we're gonna come to Jesus at the end, but not so fast. Let's listen to the message of the text first. What does the Bible passage say? Then we'll connect that to the gospel and apply it to our lives. So we start with Judges 4. What does this passage say? Well, let's get the big picture first. What's this whole story about? It's not hard. It's about war. Does the Bible teach us anything about our life in faith that has to do with war? Yes? No? What does it teach us? We're in a spiritual war. So this is a war story. We shouldn't expect that a passage on war is going to read like life in a dream world with no problems. The whole point of a war movie, or here, a war story, is not to show that life is sweet and comfortable. It's to show some things are worth fighting for, people, and some things are worth fighting against. It's to show how important sacrifice and devotion is. It's to show that the victory is worth it all. And that's the frame of this story here, too. It's a war story. Now, this story has a number of elements that make it a particular kind of war story. First of all, Barak and Sisera are not just two soldiers, you know, side green and side red or whatever. The author doesn't tell the story that way. It's not, oh, and this guy went out and fought against that guy and, you know, they beat each other up. No, no. This is like a classic Western where you see right away who's the hero and who's the villain. Any Western fans here? How do you tell who's the bad guy? He wears a black hat. So before he's even opened his mouth, you're thinking, watch out. Now that's what this is like. Who's Sisera? He's the bad guy. He's warring against God. Hello? He's oppressing God's people. And here comes Barak. He's the good guy. This story's meant to be told around the fire, and Barak, and all the kids go, yeah! Right? So, this is a good guy, bad guy story. Second, where did Barak's military help, when did it come? Well, it came when Israel cried for help. They were in trouble, in deep trouble. They called out to God and he delivered them through Barak. So, again, we're supposed to understand, here comes Barak, he's gonna rescue. Third, Barak followed God's call with faith. I find this a pretty interesting point. Now, we read in Hebrews 11, well, time would fail me to tell you all about all the faith of Barak and everything. I mean, this is the guy that, like a little wimpy boy, he says, oh, I'll only go if you go with me. But in the big picture, he does follow God, and he fights for his cause, and he exercises faith. Does that encourage you? Is your faith always heroic and strong? Well, mine's not. Sometimes I'm kind of like Barak. Oh, come along if somebody holds my hand. And what does the Lord say? That's good enough. Come on, we'll win with you. Oh, thank you, Lord. Barak is a hero, but he's a flawed hero. And there are lots of good stories where the hero is flawed. This is one of them. Fourth. The scene with jail is full of irony. It's calculated to mock and ridicule God's enemy. Here's the man with 900 iron chariots. What's the equivalent of an iron chariot today? What do we call them things? Tanks, thank you. So here's this guy with 900 tanks. What happens to him in the end? He's running away on foot. He runs to the wife of his ally, okay? Hide me! And she takes him in and gives him hospitality. He wants a drink of water. No, no, not good enough for you, I'll bring you some milk. And then this woman kills this mighty warrior with a tent peg and a hammer. Now can you imagine somebody going into war like this? Watch out, I got my tent peg, I'm dangerous. It's ridiculous. This guy with 900 iron chariots gets killed with a nail? I mean, whose tools are these? Are these men's tools? These are women's tools. I mean, it'd be like today if we said, boy, she really got him. Could you kill somebody with these? Theoretically. If you killed a soldier with these, would he want everybody to know? No, hide that fact, don't let anybody know. I got done to death with knitting needles, my goodness. So forcefully that she impales him to the ground. Mighty man with 900 chariots is killed with something that's not even a weapon. Oh my goodness. So, the story is mocking Cicera. Fifth, Jael is resolute, committed, determined, full of faith. She understands what's at stake. She changes sides. I'm on the wrong side. Yeah, Cicera's my ally, or my husband's ally. He's a loser. I'm going to get on God's side. Sound familiar? Anybody here ever changed sides before? Boy, if you haven't, you better change sides now. Get on God's side. None of us are born on God's side. There's something that has to happen to us. It's called conversion, where we come over to God's side and say, yeah, no, no, I'm going to be on the other side. I repent of being on the wrong side. That took some courage. What if Sisera had woken up? What are you doing with that tent peg? Who, me? What if one of his soldiers had shown up at her tent door? No, she's a heroine of faith who defeats the enemy with mockery and derision. That's good news. That is the good news. Now, every one of these dynamics in the story teaches us part of the gospel, the message of the cross. So, Cicero was the villain and Barak was the hero. That was our first point. This is a good guy, bad guy story. Now, let me ask you what I asked my kids 23 years ago. Who's fighting against you? Who's your enemy? Who? Satan. Any other enemies? That's about the answer my kids gave at that time too. The devil, the demons. And then they kind of got stuck. And the oldest one said, the old nature. That's the most dangerous enemy. If we only had the devil to fight against, we'd be sitting pretty. We'd be like Jesus. No, the worst enemy is the traitor within. The world, the flesh, and the devil, or the way we usually get it. We start with the devil, but then we have to realize it's not just the devil. The world system out there is also trying to do us in. And then we finally come to the most dangerous one and we say, you know what? And I'm like that too. What's the status of these enemies? They are defeated. If you want to paint the story, we're at the point in the story where Sisera is running away and he is fleeing and beaten. He's not dead yet. The battle is still going on, but it's over. It's like those last parts of the football game where the score is 52 to eight or whatever, you know? Okay, the clock has not run out yet, but it's over, right? And the commentators start to say, well, you know, this was too bad that this team lost. Well, the game's not over. No, it's over. That's the place where we are in our Christian lives. It's over. Okay, yeah, we have to die, and we got some years to go, but it's over. We won. Keep fighting, but they're routed. Our hero, the hero, who's much better than Barak, has completely beaten the enemy. What was our second point? God sent Barak as the answer to Israel's cry for help. Well, let's start with the cry for help. How do we begin this sermon? Serious needs we were thinking about before we opened the Bible. Conflict in relationships and suffering and hatred and war and evil in the world, including in my own heart. Israel cried for help. I do too. I cry for help. God delivered Israel and he will deliver me. In fact, he hasn't delivered us. He has delivered us in a much mightier way. In Judges 4, God sent a wimpy man and delivered his people. In the New Testament, he sends his perfect, courageous son. His answer to our cry of help is amazing. We also saw Barak's faith was weak. That's our third thing we saw in this passage. But God used him anyway to defeat the villain totally and completely. Well, man, Jesus' faith was strong and perfect. And therefore, even when my faith is like Barak's, he wins. His victory over the much more powerful enemies is total and complete. He wins, and therefore I win with him. Hallelujah. We also saw this story mocks our enemy, right? The Bible teaches us to mock our enemies by trusting and rejoicing in Jesus' victory. Should we feel sorry for Satan when he's beaten? No, that's absurd. That's ridiculous. No, when Satan and the world and our flesh are shamefully put down, we should say, yes, we rejoice. Who kills Sisera? Think about this. His ally's wife. Who's going to finally defeat the devil? Who? We will. And they, the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down. They have conquered him by the blood of the lamb. Who's they? The former allies, right? The people that used to be on Satan's side and fight for him. No, we have conquered, or we will conquer in the end by the blood of the lamb and the word of his testimony. We also saw, last point, Jael fought resolutely on God's side. That's encouraging, but why? Well, yeah, it encourages us to follow her example. That's important. But primarily, she points us to what Jesus has done. His resolution, his devotion, his commitment, his victory. He's the savior and the helper. Barak and Jael are role models, but they're mostly shadows. of Jesus Christ, the victor and redeemer. Now, let's look back and see where we've come. We started out with a passage we didn't understand. How on earth is the gospel news in this war story? And now we realize, well, of course it is. Christ is our captain. He's won the victory. He has redeemed us. John Bunyan is right. This is an excellent story. Every Christian should be much delighted with it. Now, let's apply this, and I'll close with this, to the problems and needs that we began with. The story of Barak in jail answers everyday questions excellently because it points to the gospel. The gospel's the only answer to every problem. It's always the gospel, always the message of Christ, the message of his cross. So we started with relational trouble, right? Cicero was the enemy that Barak had to conquer. Who are the enemies when it comes to relational trouble and conflict? Why do we have family problems and strife and tension? My wife and I were sitting in different seats this morning and we were asked kiddingly, have you had a fight? And the answer was, well, not this morning, but yes. And I'm ashamed to say after How many years now? 33 years? 32 years coming up on it. We still fight, sinfully, ugly, selfishly, stupidly, angrily. Why? Where does that come from? James says, doesn't that come from the lusts at war in your members? What's the real trouble in these relationships, not just our marriage, but every relationship we have? The sinful heart. You covet and can't get what you want, James says, so you fight and quarrel. We all know that attitude. This is the spiritual battle. We got to conquer lust through the gospel. How? Repenting, believing, trusting in the finished work of Christ. Just like Sisera oppressed Israel, our passions and desires enslave us. And thank God there's a solution, the cross, where Christ conquered our sin. and in his resurrection gave us a new nature. Is this passage about that? Oh, yeah. Is that what I need when I'm faced with relational tension? It's exactly what I need. What about sickness and suffering? And here, too, the real problem is the internal one. Look at Job. What better example is there? Job is in big, big distress throughout the entire book, but what is the distress? Well, it's actually not his suffering in itself. We never read in Job, for example, about how horrible it was that he lost all of his children. Really? What do we read about? I don't understand you, God. What are you doing? That's what makes that loss not just hard, but terrible, right? If we don't understand what God is doing, oh, then suffering becomes unbearable. When God speaks at the end to Job, God finishes, and Job's situation hasn't changed at all, but he's at peace. He's still sick, he still lost all his children, he still is poor, nothing has changed except Job. Now I see, it's okay. and he's content. If we can understand and can believe that God has a good purpose in our suffering, the real problem is solved. How do we get there? Jesus conquers our sin. There's no other solution. this world has to offer. The gospel gives us quietness and trust in the veil of tears and the promise that God will take us to himself for all eternity, wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for former things have passed away. In this world, we can have peace. In the coming world, we can have no suffering. What about political troubles, war and hatred in the world? What's the answer to that? The gospel. Is there any power in the world that can bring a Palestinian and an Israeli to the table of brotherhood? There's one. What is it? It's the gospel. Can a Palestinian and an Israeli both get converted and share the Lord's Supper together? Oh yeah, and enjoy it, and embrace each other, and not have hearts full of revenge and hatred. What power is stronger than bombs and wars and hatred and revenge? Only the gospel. What is the power that solves Death and suffering, it's the power of the cross. It replaces hatred and anger with love and joy. It replaces bitterness with forgiveness and healing. The external hardship of war that we see in the news, that's not the real problem. The real problem is the godless, rebellious heart. The real problem is not that these people hate each other, but that they both hate God. The problem is that the whole world is God's enemy. And I can say, and you can say, yeah, I was too. And I hope if you're still saying, well, I am too, let this be the day that you change sides. Those who come to Christ will experience liberation and victory over their own wickedness. For all these needs, we have the gospel on every page of the Bible, even in a passage like this. We have the good news. Hallelujah. We can apply it to our own lives. We can share it with everyone, friends and enemies, colleagues, family members. Therefore, church, rejoice in your salvation and your Bibles. Wherever we don't understand something, The gospel is there just as plain as can be. Amen. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you that this is true and that no matter where we are in your word, it's always about this same incredible story. We're going to celebrate it now as we come to your table, but we've been hearing it all morning. And we come to this table, Lord God, as people who are just like Sisera in our own hearts, just like Barak, weak in faith. We need your grace. We need the gospel. We thank you so much that you've given us this gospel. Raise our hearts now to rejoice in it. Make them burn within us as we consider what you have done. In Christ's name, amen.