All right, good morning, brethren.
For those of you that don't know me, my name is Eric Lutter, and
I'm the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of the Ozarks in Springfield,
Missouri. And Darwin asked me to come and
be with you while he's away, and so I look forward to being
with you, brethren. I really feel a closeness and
a kindred spirit with you, and I'm thankful for you all, and
I pray the Lord bless the services this morning and he blessed your
heart with his word. I'm going to be preaching from
Judges one, the book of Judges. One thing that the child of God
knows is made to know in themselves is that we're brought to see
that I'm weak. I'm weak. I'm sinful. And if
my God looks to me for righteousness brought by my hand, by my flesh
and my works in order to obtain eternal life with him, I know
that I shall come short of the glory of God. And that brings me to know my
weakness and my frailty and my my undoneness before God who
is holy and righteous and perfect and just in all his ways. But
the word of God shows us, he declares to us that there is
salvation for sinners. There's salvation for sinners
who in themselves are unrighteous and unworthy. of life with Him. He's gracious and merciful and
He's provided salvation, full, free, grace, salvation in His
Son, Jesus Christ. And that's what we see here in
the text this morning. We see a picture of our Lord
and Savior who turns to His brethren whom He loves, whom He will have
to be with Him in eternal glory, being made
everlasting righteousness in their Lord and Savior, the God-Man
Mediator, Jesus Christ. Let's read the text. This is
what's being declared to us, our salvation, here in this text.
Judges 1 verse 3, And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, come
up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with thee
into thy lot. So Simeon went with him." This
portion in Judges is not any different from any other portion
in scripture in that it speaks and reveals to us the Lord Jesus
Christ. We see in Judah a type of our
Lord. We see a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ who blesses His people with an inheritance in Him. Our inheritance is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. All that we have of God is directly
tied and wrapped up in Christ. In Christ, there is salvation. In Christ are all the blessings
of God. Outside of Christ, there is no
peace with God, there's no fellowship with God, there's no blessings
of God. In Christ, we have everything
of our God. All the goodness, all the blessings,
all the glory of our God is found in his son, Jesus Christ. This blessing is manifested to
us, it begins, especially for the church, the heathen, the
Gentiles, it begins with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was crucified for our sins. It's made known to us, it's seen,
it's witnessed in Christ's death, who willingly laid down his life
for the sheep, for his people whom he loved. And that's how
this book begins, Judges chapter 1 verse 1. It says, now after
the death of Joshua, there Joshua is a picture of Christ. Even
his name is the exact same name as Jesus in the Greek. It's Yeshua,
Joshua, and that's what our Lord's name is, Yeshua. And so it wasn't
long after his death that the people of God, the people of
Israel, began to cry out to the Lord, to seek the Lord, to seek
his face. And it says in the rest of verse
one, it came to pass, after Joshua's death, it came to pass that the
children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, who shall go up
for us against the Canaanites first to fight against them?
And the Lord said, Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered
the land into his hand. And so we're seeing here, this
Judah is a picture of Christ whom our God has appointed. unto us has provided for His
people to go up before us, to go through that veil first, to
lead the way because He is the way and He's the one that makes
known to us the glory of our God. He makes known to us the
Father. He reveals what this word is
saying to the people of God. If you don't see Christ, you're
not gonna see what God is declaring to His people. We're not going
to see the kindness and the grace of our God toward us in his son,
Jesus Christ. Our Lord is even called the Lion
of the tribe of Judah in Revelation 5, verse 5. So this Judah is
a picture of Christ. And Judah is lifted up before
the eyes of the people. so that we know that he's the
one whom God has appointed. He's the one whom God has raised
up and sent to save his people. And so all this foretells of
our Lord's coming. It all speaks of Jesus Christ. Jacob, when he was giving out
the blessings to his people, to the tribes, the 12 tribes
of his sons, he said of Judah that unto him, shall the gathering
of the people be." That's Christ. That's who the people of God
are gathered to. We're gathered to Christ. And it was said of Judah, that's
who the tribes will be gathered to, which we see in David, who
is also a type of Christ, but David came from Judah's loins. And so the Lord said, Judah shall
go up. Behold, I have delivered the
land into his hand. You know, all these details,
when you just casually read the word of God, they seem like little
minute details that don't have any real relevance to me. Why does God say these things? Why am I reading this word here? But they speak of Christ. And
even when it says, Judas shall go up, it's a picture of the
resurrection of our Savior who was lifted up, who was raised
from the dead before the eyes of the people that we should
glory in him and give him all the honor, the praise, the glory
for what he has done for me. an unworthy sinner, undeserving
of His grace. And that's what you, who have
no hope, no strength of yourselves, no righteousness to boast in,
you're thankful, made thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ that
God should send His own Son, that He should come into Myla,
taking upon Him the likeness of this sinful flesh, and that
He should lay down His life for a sinner like me, and be merciful
to me, and give me life in him, and give me hope in him, and
faith, and joy, and gladness in what my Savior has done. This
is what Peter said. Turn over to Acts chapter five. Acts chapter five in verse 30. We had seen back in our text
where the Lord said, Judah shall go up. Judah shall go up. Behold, I have delivered the
land into his hand. And I tell you, this is Christ.
It's speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Peter, standing up
before the Jews, in Acts chapter five, verse 30, he said, the
God of our fathers raised up Jesus. Just like God had raised
up Judah. He raised up Jesus. Ye slew and
hanged him on a tree. That didn't frustrate the will
of God. It didn't deter God from what
he had purpose to do. This was exactly according to
the determinate counsel and will of Almighty God. Him hath God
exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior for
to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And
we are witnesses of these things. And so is also the Holy Ghost,
whom God hath given to them that obey him. So that God has made
us to bear witness of our God and Savior, to bear witness of
the salvation of God, to bear witness of how God will be approached
that we come not in our own strength, not in our own righteousness,
not in our own works, but we come in the one whom he has lifted
up and exalted before our eyes, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one in whom we have
hope and stand before you, having confidence not in this flesh,
not in ourselves, but in our God who spoke and declared his
son to us, making us to know that if you will approach unto
me, if you would have eternal life, look to my son, look to
my servant whom I've sent. I've given him everything. He
shall prosper in that which he has come to do to save my people
from their sins. And you that hope in him, you
have a good hope. You have a good hope because
he has made you righteous, not because of anything you've done,
but because he is righteous. And in him is life. And he gives
it to whomsoever he wills. And he makes his people to know,
Lord, Not me, not for my righteousness, not for my goodness, but to thy
name be glory, power, honor, and praise. And when they heard
that, when the Jews heard that, they were cut to the heart and
they took counsel to slay them. They wanted to put those men
to death for preaching, not our righteousness, but the righteousness
of Christ. And they tried to prevent them
from taking possession of the land, if you will, taking possession
of the people of God, going forth and declaring this word that
the people of God would be brought out of darkness and brought into
the light. They tried to fight against them
and prevent them, just like the Canaanites probably tried to
do, well, not even probably, did try to do in trying to prevent
Israel from taking possession of the land which God had given
to them. And so Judah has the authority
given to him by God. He's been appointed by God to
go into that land and take it. And that's what our Savior says
to his disciples, all power, all power is given to me in heaven
and in earth. And I'm going forth doing the
will of my father in heaven and in earth, nothing stopping him.
so that he's going to save his people, he's going to have his
people, he's going to cause his people to hear, not with the
hearing of the ear of flesh, but hearing by faith, the hearing
of faith, whereby we hear what our God has done for us and are
given faith to believe on him. And so this brings us to our
text, where we see a picture of Christ in Judah, But we see
Christ who speaks to you, who are weak, who are broken, who
are poor, who have no righteousness of yourselves, who have nothing
to boast in before God, who need mercy. And Christ comes and declares,
look to me, believe on me. I've provided everything for
my child. There's nothing left for you
to do. Just rest. rest in the Savior,
rest in the Son. And so he brings us into his
lot. He brings us into his lot, his
inheritance, his glory with him so that we find our all in him
and he puts away our sins and he conquers our enemies and subdues
them and drives them out before us that we may have comfort and
peace with our God. And so he says in verse three,
it says in verse three, Judas said unto Simeon his brother,
come up with me into my lot that we may fight against the Canaanites.
And in the scripture, the Canaanites are always a picture of our sin.
They're always a picture of the enmity in this heart against
the true and living God. They're always a picture of corruption.
And he says, we'll destroy them. will destroy those Canaanites.
They'll have no power, no authority over you. They'll not prevent
you from entering your inheritance because I'll subdue them, I've
subdued them, I've put them to flight. And I likewise will go
with thee into thy lot. And so Simeon went with him. And so we're given to see here
in Judah that in turning to his brother Simeon and saying, come
up with me into my lot we see what kindness and graciousness
is spoken to Simeon. You see, Judah was the more powerful
brother. He was the greater of the tribes. There were many men in Judah. They were a strong tribe. There
were many in their tribe, but Simeon was a weak tribe. And Simeon was brought down very
low. Simeon was the second son of
Jacob and Leah. We're told that Leah conceived
again and bare a son and said, because the Lord hath heard,
I was hated. He hath therefore given me this
son also. And she called his name Simeon. And the name Simeon means hearing
or man of hearing. Now Simeon, had a brother named
Levi, and Levi means joined, and that's what Simeon did. He
joined himself to Levi, and the two of them did very wickedly
in Israel. They sinned very, very wickedly
in what they had done so that their father, Jacob, was grieved
with them. They took it upon themselves
to take revenge on their sister, Dinah. There was a man named
Shechem who loved Dinah very much, but he took advantage of
her. They weren't married, and he
defiled her, and that was wrong. That was wicked of what Shechem
did to Dinah. He ought not to have done that,
but he wanted to marry her. He wanted to marry her. It says
that his soul clave unto Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he
loved the damsel and spake kindly unto the damsel. And so he asked,
well, what can I do that I may marry her? I want to marry Dinah
and make her my wife. I love her. And Simeon and Levi
spoke deceitfully. They said, well, if you get circumcised,
you and all the men who you have the rule over, if you circumcise
the men, then you can marry Dinah. And so they agreed to do that.
This is grown men agreeing to be circumcised. And on the third
day, when they would have been sore and weakened, Levi and Simeon
went in there and they slew all the men. They deceived them and
they slew the men. And Jacob was worried because
he said, you've made me a stench. and the nostrils of the other
people around, because they're gonna hear what you've done,
and what you've done is wicked. And so when Jacob came to bless
his sons when he was going to die, he said, Simeon and Levi
are brethren, instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
Oh my soul, come not thou into their secret, unto their assembly. Mine honor, be not thou united. For in their anger they slew
a man, and in their self-will they dig down a wall. That's
man's will. Man likes to boast about their
free will. And all our will is is bound in darkness, bound in
enmity, bound in hatred against God, bound to do that which is
not righteous but evil. And so in their self-will, they
dig down the wall. That's what we all do, if left
to ourselves. Cursed be their anger, for it
was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide
them, or I will take out a portion for them from within another,
in Jacob. And I will scatter them in Israel,
so that they're absorbed into the tribes that they are placed
into. Well, we're like Simeon. By nature,
we are like Simeon, because we are sons and daughters of Adam,
who sinned against God, who rebelled against God, and we being yet
in Adam, in his loins, his seed in him, when he sinned we sin
because when he became corrupt, we were corrupted in him. Everything
in him was defiled and corrupted so that we come forth sinners,
rebels, enemies against the true and living God. We united ourselves
with the evil one. We went into darkness. We went
into rebellion. We became enemies of God and
we brought ourselves under the curse of God. And when we try
to work a righteousness for ourselves, we bring that curse upon us because
our hands are filthy and vile and we do not know how to approach
God, not according to this nature. And so we'll perish in our sins
because we can only come short of the glory of God. But God
has provided salvation in his son, Jesus Christ. so that he
doesn't look to you for righteousness. He looks to his son whom he's
provided, who came as the shorty to save his people from their
sins, to pay the debt which we owed. And he paid it all for
his people, sufficiently, to the full, so that there's nothing
left for us to bear, because Christ bore the whole of it in
our place. In Romans 3, 21 and 22, It says
that Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God without the law, is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets. So that the law
and the prophets here, just as we see in Judges, it's all pointing
to Jesus Christ. Look to him, look to him, flee
to him. God has provided refuge from
the wrath of God in his son, Jesus Christ. even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all them that believe, for there is no difference. There's nothing
in this flesh that recommends one of us over another one. We're
all equal in that we're sinners, defiled, unworthy, but he's provided
salvation for all who look to the son. And that's the manifestation
that we are the children of God. That is the faith which he gives
in us, which he reveals in us whereby we look to Christ our
Savior. And so the first true blessing
of Jacob, it fell to Judah. It fell to him who was the lineage
through whom Christ should come, through whom Christ should spring
forth to save his people. And when it came time, for the
lots to be given out, Joshua was appointed to do it. And it
says that the second lot came forth to Simeon, even for the
tribe of the children of Simeon, according to their families,
and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children
of Judah. Don't do it now, but in between
services, if you look at the back of your Bible, some of them
have maps. And if you look at the maps where
it shows you the 12 tribes of Israel, you'll see that Simeon
is right, completely dead center of Judah. It's completely enwrapped
by Judah, so that it's the only tribe in all of Israel that is
entirely surrounded and encapsulated by another tribe. There's other
tribes that have other ones around them, but Simeon is the only
tribe that's within Judah. completely another tribe, which
is Judah. It's completely surrounded by
Judah. And that's how the people of
God are. We are entirely enrobed with
the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We're entirely protected by him
on all sides. There's no connection to the
outside except through Judah alone. And so Judah, being a
type of Christ, turns not to Reuben, who's a picture of our
corrupt flesh in Adam, but he turns to the second born, the
man who hears. He turns to the man of hearing,
picturing the new man, which is born of the seed of Christ,
who hears the voice of Christ, who hears the voice of the Savior,
so that the stronger, the mightier, says to the brother who is weaker
and unable to obtain his inheritance for himself, He says, come up
with me into my lot, and we shall fight against the Canaanites.
And I'll come with you into your lot. And Simeon heard and Simeon
rejoiced and said, oh yeah, that's wonderful, thank you, I'll go
with you. I'll go with you because it may not seem like it now or
it may be hard for us to see, but Simeon would have had to
go through the wilderness there that was appointed to Judah.
He would have had to do what Judah had to do in taking his
own inheritance. And before he could ever get
to his inheritance, he would have been fighting Judah's war.
He would have had to do what only Judah could do. And he would
have been destroyed by the time he got to his inheritance because
he's the weaker brother. He's a smaller tribe. He's insufficient
for the task that was before him. And Judah turns to him and
says, don't worry. Don't be afraid. I'll help you. I'll bring you into your inheritance.
You'll go with me into my lot, and we'll fight against the Canaanites
together. And I'll come with you into your
lot. I'll secure your inheritance for you too, brother. I'll take
care of you." And Simeon rejoiced in that. And that's what the
people of God do as well, like Simeon. There's many in the world
who hear of the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and they say,
no thanks, I got this. You do you, I'll do me, I'll
take care of what I need to take care of, don't worry about me.
And then they go off and get whittled down, mowed down in
their sin and they're destroyed and they never enter the inheritance
of God prepared for the saints before the foundation of the
world in his son, Jesus Christ. But all those who say, yes, Lord,
help me, Lord, bring me. Be merciful to me, Lord. I cannot
bring myself into that inheritance which you've promised to your
people. Take me, Lord. Take me into your lot. And bless
God, he came into our lot. He took upon him the weakness
of this sinful flesh. He brought himself low that he
might be a fit and perfect sacrifice for you who do not have the strength
or the ability to save yourselves. Paul said it this way in Romans
6, he said, for if we have been planted together in his likeness
of his death, in the likeness of his death, we shall also,
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him. that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. And so Christ carries his people. We have the victory over all
our enemies because he's defeated them. He's destroyed our enemies
and all who stand opposed to him. Paul said it this way in
Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I
live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me." For me. So we're like
Simeon. We're that weak brother like
Simeon. And Christ, like Judah, says, come up with me. Brother,
don't worry. Don't fear, I've provided everything
for you. He came into our lot and being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. And so we find that
we're like that, we're so weak in ourselves, we're like that
thief who hung on the cross next to our Lord, beholding that he's
come to the end of himself, there's nothing he can do to work a righteousness
for Christ. He has nothing. He's a sinner,
he's condemned to die, he's getting justly as he deserves, and he
beholds Christ. And the Spirit gives him faith
in that hour, to behold, this is the Savior. This one is the
Lord of glory, who's come to save his people from their sins,
and he's reduced to nothing but a mercy beggar. And that's what
our God does for each of us. He reduces us down so that there's
nothing of us except a mercy beggar who needs grace and mercy
from their God. And he said, Lord, remember me. Remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. And Jesus said to that mercy
beggar. And so he says to every mercy beggar who cries out to
him for mercy. He says, verily I say unto thee,
today shall thou be with me in paradise. And so you that believe
Christ, rest in him, be comforted in him. He says, let not your
heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. And whither I go, ye
know, and the way ye know. Because the way is Christ, and
he is our inheritance. And so, praise God. And if you
trust him and look to him, thank God for that, because that's
his work of grace in you. And if you're brought low, and
brought to shame in yourself and brought to nothing in yourself,
thank God, thank God and look to Christ, trust him because
that's his mercy to bring us low and to make us see our need
of him. So I pray the Lord bless that
word to your hearts, amen. Let's close in prayer and then
we'll be dismissed. Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, for
your grace and your mercy. We thank you for the salvation,
the full, rich, free grace of our God in Christ Jesus, our
Lord. Father, turn our hearts to him.
Make us to see our need of him. We pray that you would bring
this word into our hearts, cause us to hear it and to hear Christ
and look to him alone. Bless us now and bless us in
the next hour. We pray this in Christ's name,
amen.