Judges tonight, Judges chapter
one. So we go through this great book
of Judges. It certainly has its high points,
but we also notice that it also has some low points. And some
of that is brought out in this chapter. It certainly does share
with us the depravity of man and besides that, the total depravity
of man. But I'd like to start here with
verse 20. We looked at that just a little
bit last time, and I'd like to bring out a couple of more thoughts
or maybe just repeat some thoughts about this. It was this Sons
of Anak that we read about over there in the book of Numbers
that the children of Israel had a real issue with. Those 10 tribes
came back with a report that they probably could not take
these guys. And then we find out here Caleb,
a man of faith, a man that God gave faith to, was able to deal
with it in one verse of scripture, he took, expelled thence the
three sons of Enoch. The problem that we find so often
is that the folks that said they would go up and take care of
the problem and came back with an evil report just did not have
the faith of God's elect. Verse 20, it says there, and
they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said, and he expelled
since the three sons of Enoch." Now, just a reference about those
10 tribes that came back, or 10 men that came back with an
evil report, these were the troublemakers, really, in the camp, the 10 spies,
and they could not see the deliverance by God because of their natural
state. And they were depending upon
the arm of the flesh to deliver them. And we find that that will
never do it. And just along that thought,
would you turn with me to the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter
32. We've looked at this passage
of scripture a couple of times recently because it shares so
much truth about the position that we have in Christ Jesus
our Lord. In the book of 2 Chronicles,
chapter 32, and there's a great king, the king of Assyria, his
name is Sennacherib, is coming up against Judah. And it tells
us in chapter 32 of 2 Chronicles, in verse one, after these things
and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib, king of Assyria,
came and entered into Judah, or invaded Judah, and encamped
against the fence cities, and thought to win them for himself.
So he had these ideas about coming in and invading Judah. He is
going to take this place, he's going to make it his own. And
then in verse two, when Hezekiah, and he's the king of Judah, saw
Sennacherib was come, that he was purposed to fight against
Jerusalem, he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men
to stop the waters of the fountains. which were without the city,
and they did help him. So there was gathered much people
together who stopped all the fountains and the brook that
ran through the midst of the land, saying, why should the kings
of Assyria come and find much water? Also, Also, he strengthened himself
and built up all the wall that was broken and raised it up to
the towers. Another wall was out and repaired
Milo in the city of David and made darts and shields in abundance.
And he sent captains of war over the people and gathered them
together to him. in the streets of the gate of
the city and spake comfortably to them, saying, Be strong and
courageous, be not afraid, nor dismayed, for the king of Assyria,
for not all the multitude that is with him, for there is more
with us than with him." Now it's interesting that the Lord called
on him to do many things in preparation, but that's not what he's trusting
in. He is, you know, our daily life, what some of the preparation
that we do or could do. We read our Bible, we could pray,
we could be with believers of like faith and comfort each other
in the Lord and all of these things, even as we do here on
Sermon Audio and on Zoom. And we go through all of this,
but truly we know where our strength comes from. It's not in those
things. It's good to be prepared, but
our strength is not in there. And Hezekiah brings this out. He tells us there in verse 7,
be strong and courageous and be not afraid nor dismayed for
the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with
him, for there is more with us than with them. And with him,
and I looked at those 10 spies that went in there and came back
with a report about the the sons of Anak being great giants, they
just were trusting in the arm of the flesh. Hezekiah brings
this out, for him is an arm of the flesh, but with us is the
Lord our God to help us. These are trusting in the arm
of the flesh, and we just see that. I saw, look back, and I
can see that in my own religious life, trusting in the arm of
the flesh, trying to get things done for God. And then we find
out that when God saves us, we have a greater defense than we
ever thought. Preparation is good. Having a
defense is good. But to Him is the arm of the
flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight
our battles. and the people rested themselves
upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. Now why did these rest
upon the words of King Hezekiah? Because he used the word of God.
That's what we truly rest on is the word of God. And we'll
see that as we travel through this passage of scripture in
the book of Judges. So Hezekiah brings out their
trusting in the arm of the flesh, because they have many, because
they have great, because they have all of these things of war,
they're going to win the battle, and yet they didn't take into
consideration what was going to happen here, and that is the
Lord would give them deliverance. And we find that that principle
is found throughout the scriptures. Also with regard to those 10
spies, I'm reading a book of the exposition of Ruth by an
old Scottish preacher, and a thought he made in there was there are
too many even of the professors of true religion who have no
other reason for professing it but the public confession of
it among the people of whom they belong. So it's easy when you're
among people that you agree with to make a confession, but these
folks came back with an evil confession. God could not do,
God could not win, God was unable to lead the people, and now we
come back here to the book of Judges, and in one verse of Scripture,
sums up all that those 10 tribes couldn't do. One man, Caleb,
goes up against those sons of Anak, and we find that the feat
is made, and they win, and then we go on. So let's go back to
the book of Judges again and pick up some thoughts there in
the book of Judges. And there in chapter one, as
we travel down, we've looked there just a little bit at verse
20. Let's go on as we find out what
happens in this. There are several times in this
verse of scripture that the term neither did is mentioned. And
I hope to kind of sum up this whole, the rest of this chapter
tonight, but it may not happen. In the remaining verses of this
chapter, we see many of the tribes of Israel leaning on the arm
of the flesh, and they're not able to win against these people
that are in the land. Now, the Lord had already told
them, we've read this in the book of Numbers, but we'll also
find it in the second chapter of the book of Judges, that if
they do not go up and do not defeat these people, they will
be a thorn in their flesh and a thorn in their eyes. It will
be a real problem for them, and we're gonna find that that truly
happened, and it led many of those Israelites off into paganism,
into idolatry, and they followed after those things. and turned
away from the Lord. Well, the reason they did that,
they didn't have a heart to love the Lord to begin with. But as
we look at this, we find that these things happen. And we also
find from our standpoint that faith must be tried. It can only
be proved by trial. Faith is too often counterfeited
and it takes trials on of one sort or another from the Heavenly
Father to demonstrate what is real faith. Now, if it's real
faith, it is given of God. If it is not real faith, it is
the arm of the flesh, and we'll trust it until our dying moment,
unless the Lord should intervene and bring us out of that nonsense.
It is nonsense. But it is our nonsense. Now God
has a faith that he gives, and that faith will stand a trial.
That faith will stand a test. That faith will be the same test
that Abraham was given. take your son up there. By faith
he did that. And we find out by faith Abel,
his faith was tried. I'm sure that there was some
interaction between his brother and said, what are you doing
offering one of the best sheep you have? When you can have this,
I'll help you out with that. Well, his faith was tried and
he said, there's only one faith that is God's faith and that
is he requires a lamb, and he requires shed blood of a lamb.
So this is so important. So the trials of our faith are
always coming along, and they are for our benefit, and they're
to share with us, do we stand in the faith or not? As I think
Brother Loren brought out many years ago, it's a heart check,
all right? We have two of those spies that
came back with a good report. They had faith in God. Their
faith was really tried that day, because they were gonna be stoned
to death. That whole group was ready to stone them to death.
And so, we have that the faith of God's elect is often tried
in many ways, and yet, by God's grace, we have that faith given
to us, and we come out. So, as we look here in these
verses, In the book of Judges here, it said in verse 21, and
the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that
inhabited Jerusalem, but the Jebusites continued to dwell
there. And then it tells us in the, dropping down in the book
of verse 27, neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants. of
Bethshean, and it tells us there in verse 29, neither did Ephraim
drive out the Canaanites, and neither did Zebulon drive out
the inhabitants of Kitrin, and neither did Asher drive out the
inhabitants of Akko, and the rest of that. And we find out
in verse 33, neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants. Well,
you know, as we look at this, we find out that the Lord has
so written about this in the word of God, that if there is
success, it is from God. If there is faith, it is God's
faith to us. And we find out that these folks,
even as Abraham, when we read in the New Testament, as well
as in the Old Testament, we're gonna find out that God has always
shared this with regard to his people. And I just wanna direct
your attention to a verse of scripture or two over in the
book of 2 Corinthians. We see here that what happens,
that these folks could not say, we are of the, we're of the children
of faith. They could not say that. They
had to say, we're the children of flesh. You know, Abraham only
took one of his sons up on that mountain. He had two sons, but
he only took one up there. Now he's commanded to take him
up there, but he only took one. And the child of the flesh stayed
back. He was not a participant in that.
And once again, we find that God required a lamb, required
blood, and he had that. So let's turn over here to the
book of 2 Corinthians 2, and we find the benefit that God
gives to his people and every one of his children. Now, you
know, sometimes I look at the Apostle Paul and I just say,
man, I wish I was like him. He was able to just have courage
in every, seemingly every time he needed, he had courage and
everything else. And he went places and he did
things and he preached the gospel and he was faithful. And we have
the books written about his, what he did for the Lord. And
then I read about him writing about himself. And he says, oh,
wretched man that I am. Now I don't see that in him,
but he did. And that's just the way we are. We see the benefit
of God's faith in others, but we come back and say, oh, wretched
man that I am. Well, look here in the book of
2 Corinthians 2, and there in verse 14, 2 Corinthians 2, verse
14, and we read this. It says, now thanks be unto God. Now that's what Joshua and Caleb
could say. The rest of the host couldn't
say that. They did not believe God. They
were trusting in the arm of the flesh, and they saw that their
arms were just too short. Their flesh was too weak. They
could not go against those sons of Anak, and Caleb was able to
do that. And the record is all by himself,
he expelled those. So what a statement. All right,
now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph
in Christ. Now, God is just not out there
to save us for today and drag us behind the boat tomorrow.
He always causes us to triumph. Now, it's not to say that He
will not try our faith, because He does that. But it is for our
benefit. If it is faulty faith, You know,
I used, I've told I think everyone here, I went to my pastor one
time thinking I was lost and before I left, I was called to
preach. Well, he didn't know how to deal with this. He didn't
know how to deal with the issue. I didn't go for that reason.
I went for help. Well, we find out when God's
lost sheep actually want help, he's gonna send them help. and
he turns that whole thing around, we find here, now thanks be unto
God which always causes us to triumph in Christ and maketh
manifest the savor of his knowledge to us in every place. So Caleb,
what a statement, he always causes him to triumph. And then in the
same book in chapter nine, in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter
nine, Turn there with me if you would. Second Corinthians chapter
nine, and we read a similar passage of scripture, chapter nine and
verse eight, as we think about what was going on in that area
at that time during the judges. And this is not the worst of
times yet. This is stuff that was going
on during Joshua's period. And we're going to get in chapter
two, and there's a whole generation that came on who knew not Joshua,
nor the elders, and they did every man what was right in their
own eyes. And I wonder what's going on here. Every man was
doing what was right in his own eyes. It hadn't changed, but
it's going to get worse. Well, here in 2 Corinthians 9,
verse 8, God is able to make all grace abound toward you,
that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things. God is great to
provide all sufficiency in all things. You know, Caleb, I look
at him, what a gentleman, what a believer, and yet he would
quickly go right back and say, it was not me. It was the faith
that God gave me. It wasn't me, it was the sufficiency
that God gave me. And this is what we find out.
And then he goes on to say, may abound to you every good work. So Caleb is what an example he
is. The other 10 are an example of
the arm of the flesh. Caleb and Joshua are the example
of the arm of the spirit, the work of God, and what he has
to do. And then in chapter eight of
the book of Romans, we've read this several times, recently,
but I want to read it again because it shares so much. If God would
give his own son. If God gave his own son, since
God gave his own son as a payment for our sin, as the fulfillment of the covenant
of grace, here in the book of Romans chapter eight, verse 32,
we read this about God's great gift to us. He said, he that
spared not his own son, he redeemed his people by the blood of the
lamb, and he spared him not. He is the one that brought out
all of that great wrath and placed it upon his son. He that spared
not his own son. I didn't look up that word spared,
but I'm convinced that there is a whole lot more there than
we think about. He could not spare his own son. He must inflict upon him justice
as the substitute for his church, for his people. He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, all the church,
all the elect, all those that Paul's been writing to, the brethren,
the saints that were in Rome, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? The children of Anak are nothing. He shall freely give us all things. What a blessing it is to find
out, and no doubt Caleb found this out too, the battle was
not his, the battle was the Lord's. And what is it when it comes
to revealing the gospel today? What is it when it comes to having
people born again? It's completely out of our hands.
It's not something that we are going to be dealing with. So
the Lord, Did us a big favor. It's not up to you. I am the
one that wins the battle. And he says, and I'll freely
give you all things. I'll give you all things. I'll give you every city. Now,
those who didn't take the city, we're just demonstrating that
they are those like the seed that fell on the stony ground. They had a semblance of religion. Now, let me find that passage
of Scripture. I wrote it down, I know. It's
in the book of Mark. It's the one I want to go to. Oh, well, let's go, there's two
counts, one in Matthew, and I wrote the one in Matthew down. So let's
go over to the book of Matthew chapter 13. In Matthew chapter
13, we have a lot of issues here as we find, and it's not for
us to judge at all. When we see this happen, we too
rejoice. and we can't know the heart,
but eventually we see them leave, we see them depart, and it breaks
our heart that they would depart. So we're not gonna judge them
when it starts, but it sure does break our heart. And I can feel
with Joshua and Caleb, and I can feel with Moses and with Aaron,
when those 10 tribes, 10 representatives of those 10 tribes came back
with an evil report, when they appeared to be okay. You know, they would all say,
as Jesus dealt with a lot of people, we be of our father Abraham. We be of Abraham's seed, and
rightly so. They were of Abraham's seed,
but they were the children of Ishmael and not the children
of Isaac. All right, here in the book of
Matthew chapter 13. There is a wonderful parable
given here that has been so often maligned because it's been made
often, this is different ways people are saved or different
stages, they're all saved, but there's only one here that's
ever saved. Now I am convinced that it may
look like sometimes that we are stony ground believers, but if
God intends for stony ground believers to ever be saved, he's
gonna move them to good ground. That's the only way. He's not
gonna take stony ground believers. He is gonna move them to a place
where they will hear the gospel and it will be effectual to them.
We can say that Saul of Tarsus was a stony ground believer.
He was really hip on his religion. He'd had some kind of experience. Well, notice here with me as
we read in verse 20, Well, look at there, we have somebody. When Moses chose those 12 men
to go into the promised land and spy it out, I don't believe
he had any idea whatsoever that they were gonna come back with
what the report that they had. I think he had confidence that
they would go in, they would come back with a report because
he had been speaking for all this time of the property that
God had given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is God's promise
to us. What more do we have but God's
word on any issue? God's word is, God is going to
give you this land. And they came back with that
report and Moses and Aaron were distraught. Well, they had seemingly,
excuse me, seemingly they had received the word and Anon with
joy received it. Yet hath he not root in himself. Now that is the key. If we have
it in ourself, we're gonna fail at the first. And all of those
guys had that. They were trusting in themselves.
They were trusting in the army that they had. They were trusting,
and they were not trusting in the Lord. So we have, hath not
root in himself, but dureth for a while. Oh, for two years they've
been traveling together. And when they're announced that
they're gonna be the ones to go in and spy out the land, my goodness,
I am somebody. I am somebody. And I can just
see Joshua and Caleb say, why me? Should send someone else
in. But these guys are somebody,
and they go in, and they dureth for a while, for when tribulation
or persecution arises, because of the word by and by he is offended. And they leave. They're offended
at God's word. We cannot go into this land.
And so it just continues on downhill. And we find that they came back
with that report. Joshua and Caleb came back with
a good report. And this whole thing is carried
over clear into the book of Judges, and we see the effect of this
in natural man. They could not and they would
not put out these hosts of people and all their religion. Now,
we've mentioned before that they got there and they liked it,
or they would have got rid of them. The people who got rid
of it said, this isn't my hope. This isn't my deliverance. This
isn't my salvation. This image or that grove or this
incense, that's not it. They were the ones that also
said, going through the 40 years in the wilderness, that ram over
there they just slaughtered is not my redemption. Now it pictures
my redemption, but it's not my redemption. And there were many
that said, this is it. This is it. And the Lord shares
with us in the New Testament as he did through the Old Testament.
It's not by the blood of bulls and goats. This is not what it
is. You must have a circumcised heart. And that's just another word
for being born again. You must be born again. So they
move through here and they come up with this. And we have those
many of them, stony ground, recipients to the word and on for a short
time, things went well. And then when it came, they left. They despised the Word of God,
they walked away from the Word of God, and our only prayer is
that God would eventually say, well, he is one of mine, and
I will bring him under the sound of the gospel, but he's the only
one that can. His people, and because of the trustworthiness
of saving his people, he gives them his faith to trust him. Now, when that faith is from
From him, and it's worked out in us, from our view, it is our
faith that he has given us. If we have faith as a grain of
mustard seed. Now, I was talking to a young
man the other day, and he had a message. Mustard seed faith. Have you ever heard a message
on mustard seed faith? Well, it used to happen all the
time. Mustard seed faith. If you have faith as a grain
of mustard seed. Well, that's not what the Lord's talking about
in that passage of scripture. He said, if you have faith as
a grain of mustard seed, you can say to Mount Hoodbee, you're
moved and it would be moved. He said, just as he tells us
when it talks about, hardly shall a rich man enter into the kingdom
of heaven. It's as likely for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle as it is for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of heaven. And then he goes on to say with, man, it is impossible. But with God, everything is possible.
Anything is possible. So he's not saying, if we have
the faith of the grain of mustard seed, just look what we would
do, but we don't have any of it. It has to be given to us.
Faith is a gift of God. We don't have any faith, but
when he gives us faith, it's a whole lot more than a grain
of mustard seed. Why? Because we believe God and
believe his word. It's what we are settled on,
his word. This, this impossibility with
men. Now in the, turn with me to the
book of Mark chapter 10. I just want to read part of that
because there's two or three words that are not in the original
language. It's been supplied in there. Many say make it easier
to understand, but I think it has confused many at this point.
Here in the book of Mark chapter 10, verse 23. Mark chapter 10
and verse 23, we have these words as it shares, and it was astonishing
to the disciples. You know, he said, how hardly
shall a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven? Well, I don't personally
think he's talking about people who have lots of wealth. I don't
think he's talking about people who have a lot of self-righteousness. They're rich in their own righteousness.
And that's impossible to enter into the kingdom of heaven unless
we're stripped to that, just like God stripped Adam and Eve
of those leaves that they had covered themselves with. He didn't
put the skin over them. He stripped that off and then
covered them with skins. And I heard a good point last
night. I was listening to a message and he said he didn't take the
wool of that lamb either and make a coat out of it. He took
the skin of that lamb. That meant there was death. There
had to be the death of a lamb and that was used to cover Adam
and Eve. Here we find that the children
that he'd been working with and the disciples, Jesus looked around
about him and said unto his disciples, how hardly shall they that have
riches enter into the kingdom of God. And his disciples were
astonished at his words. Verse 24, but Jesus answered
again and said unto them, children, how hard it is for them that
trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God. Now, if it's
trusting in physical riches, okay. Well, I think too, it's
trusting in our own self-righteousness. We will never get there. It's
an impossibility. Those 10 were trusting in their
riches and it failed them on all sides. Two of them were not
trusting in their self-righteousness, they were trusting in the Lord.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." And again,
they were astonished, out of measure. You know what that means? They're talking to each other
about, what does he mean about this? Saying among themselves,
who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them says,
with men it is impossible. Now that word, it is, is in,
not in the original. It has been put in there for
us. Just read this without the it is. With men, impossible. I think there's more emphasis
there than when you read it. With men, it is impossible. With
men, impossible. But not with God, for with God,
all things are possible. So with men, impossible. It's
impossible for those 10 to come back with a good report. It's
absolutely impossible. They couldn't come back with
a good report. They came back with an evil report because it
was a reflection of their heart. It came back with an evil report
because they'd never had conversion. They'd never had the new birth.
And the two that came back with a good report was because of
the faith of God's elect. They were God's chosen vessels.
And that's why they did that. And so as we follow the children
of Israel, here in the book of Judges chapter one, we find out
how many different groups of them, how many different tribes
of them could not, would not expel those that God had told
them to expel. And if you don't kick them out,
and destroy all of their idolatry and gods, then it is going to
be a thorn or a prick in your eyes and a thorn in your sides.
And it isn't two generations, and it is absolutely that very
thing. And then we have Every once in
a while, we'd have a little revival meeting. Now, I think there were
a few that understood, and a whole bunch of them were just, we're
having a bad time here, and we'd like to have it better. We'd
like to have two chickens in our pot in a Model A in every
garage. And as soon as they got that,
they went back to their old lifestyle again, because they did not have
a change of heart. All right, as we follow this,
In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6, Hebrews chapter 11 and verse
6, we find the only answer that can be given to many of the experiences
that we see among people who make a profession of faith and
then after a difficulty, after a trial, after whatever happens,
and they just leave There's only one explanation. That is God
never gave them grace. God never regenerated them because
he will not allow them to leave if they are regenerate. So we
have those stony ground hearers. And for a season, look, and it
is not our business to make a judgment call and say, I don't think they
got it. I don't think they got it. I don't think they got it.
After they leave, we can say, well, if they had been of us,
they'd have continued with us. But since they didn't continue
with us, they're not of us. God says that's the sign. If
they leave and get involved back in their religion again, that's
the sign. We pray that God will deal with
them according to grace. It doesn't mean that they've
sinned away their day of grace. It just, we find out that that
is done when they die. There's not gonna be any change
after that time. But up to that time, there's always God's grace. And if he choose before the foundation
of the world to save them in the last three seconds of their
life, that's his business. But from our standpoint, we make
a judgment call and we say, we've had a gospel preaching and the
God apparently worked in them and they stayed with us for two
or three or four or five or six or 10 years and finally they
said, I can't take it anymore, I'm leaving. Well, what did we
find with the children of Israel? We have 10 representatives says
we can't take it right off. And then their descendants say
we can't take it either. And we're not gonna do what God
said, told us to do. We're not gonna expel these people
and we're not gonna get rid of their religion. Their wives,
I mean, their girls are beautiful and the men are handsome and
we like their religion because we are reunited on that. Well,
look here in the book of Hebrews chapter 11. In Hebrews chapter
11, We read these words, Hebrews chapter 11, and there in verse
six, Hebrews 11, six. Now there were a lot of those
Israelites that did not please God. There was the descendants
of Abraham. They were descendants of Isaac. They were the descendants of
Jacob. And you know what Jesus told a bunch of the descendants
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob during his time? You are of your
father, the devil. Now he never says that about
any of the elect, because the father of the elect is not the
devil. He doesn't trade places with us. We find out you are
of your father, the devil, and they swore, they would have,
in the days of Ezra, they could have brought out their book and
said, see, I am a Levite. Right there. He traced my line
right back to Levi. In fact, I can go clear back
to Adam right there. They could prove it. But when
it came to reality, they knew not the first thing about grace. And when Jesus, I heard a man
tonight, I think he said, if Jesus hadn't said a word, he'd
have been popular among everybody. But as soon as he opened his
mouth and started teaching about God and God's salvation, he was
on the marked list, the hit list instantly. And they had it in
their mind that sometimes they're gonna get rid of him. Well, in
God's providence and purpose, they did, but it was to our advantage
that all happened. All right, here in the book of
Hebrews chapter 11 and verse six, but without faith, it is
impossible to please. And the word him is in italics.
You cannot please God without faith. And it's not our faith. Our faith is worthless. We can't
do anything with it. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is. Now, where did we get that? We
get it from God. It's belief that's given to us.
And that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
How did we diligently seek him? God had to put that interest
in us. It's all of God. Without faith, it is impossible
to please Him. There is no pleasing God without
faith, and that faith is God-given. So as we follow those tribes
saying, they didn't, they didn't, they didn't, they couldn't, they
couldn't, they couldn't, they are absolutely not pleasing God. And no, God is merciful. and
longsuffering to even those that are ordained to be vessels of
dishonor. And the time will come when that
will be taken care of. Now, back there in the book of
Judges chapters one verses 22 through 26, let's just go back
and review that for a moment. In the book of Judges chapter
22, excuse me, chapter one, Judges chapter one, In verse 22, in the house of Joseph, they
also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. I like that. We enjoy that. How God spoke
here. And what was it that they believed?
Yes, they believed the Lord, but what was it they really believed
about the Lord? They believed His word. They believed His word. They
believe the word of God. God said, I will be with you
and you shall defeat them. And they believe God's word.
Well, keep your finger right there and travel clear over to
the last book of the New Testament, the book of Revelation. And it's
interesting here, as we think about this, that the success
of Joseph is particularly marked in the cause of it. The Lord
was with them. That's the success. And that's
the success of a church. The Lord is with them. The success
of the disciples on the day of Pentecost. That was a, you know,
stand back and look, all of those people that are opposed to them,
says, look what happened there. 3,000 people joined up with them
in one day. What's gonna happen if that continues
on? Who's gonna support the temple and the synagogues? Well, they
looked at it totally different, but the children of God, they
rejoiced in all of those that God saved by his great grace.
Well, here, as we think about this, the Lord was with them,
and to them as well as to us, we can say that the word of God
was with them. All right, notice with me here
in the book, the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation.
It's such a revelation of Jesus Christ here in chapter 19, verse
11. Now this is, what is it we trust? We don't have God coming down
like he did to Moses or to Mount Sinai. God is a spirit and they
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. How
can you do that if you're not quick and you can't? You can't
please God. Well, here it tells us in the book of Revelation
chapter 19 verse 11, and I saw heaven open and behold a white
horse and he that sat on him was called Faithful and True.
Well, we know right away who this is. Faithful and true, this
is the Lord. And in righteousness, he doth
judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written which
no man knew but himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. Now that's what God uses with
us. What is it that we believe? It
isn't because we saw the Lord out by a clothesline somewhere.
It is his word that we believe. It's the word that he gives to
us and reveals. This is the truth. Will you also
go away? He says to his disciples, thou
hast the words of eternal life. It is the word. And so when we
find this one tribe, this Joseph, go up and defeat because the
Lord was with him, they trusted his word. And in doing that,
you're trusting the Lord. So we have his word. And his
word, when we read it here, it is just as valuable as if we
were in the presence of the Lord when he spoke it, or when he
demonstrated, or when he raised someone from the dead, or when
he healed somebody, we're there witnesses of his word. And by
faith, we believe it, that it actually happened just like it
is recorded. And so when we follow here in
the book of Judges, there is so many of them, they didn't
do it, they didn't take the people, they refused to take the people.
Neither did they, neither did they, neither did they, neither
did they, and neither did they five times, I believe it is,
in the latter part of that chapter. What was it? Oh, they just weren't
strong enough. No, that wasn't the issue. The issue is, The Lord had not
revealed himself to them. If they had any inclination at
all, it was only because they had a religious affinity to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, and just as the Lord spoke so often to the
Pharisees during his own time on this earth. If you believed
Abraham, you'd believe me. Abraham saw my day and was glad.
And they take up ready to stone him because he makes himself
older than Abraham. How can you say that? Well, if
they believed Abraham, you'd believe me. If you believe Moses,
you'd believe me. And that's just the way the word
is. The word is so carefully written by almighty God that
we will take his word as absolute fact. And so it is, any victory
we have is because of his word and because of his work in us.
We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. That's the new
birth. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which he hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. So Caleb, the only reason he did it was the Lord was with
him. This tribe, Joseph, you know, Joseph had two sons and
we follow most of the time, there's gonna be two tribes that make
up Joseph. Well, here we have Joseph and
he goes up, the Lord was with him. What does that mean? They
trusted the word of God. He said it, we can take it to
the bank. And so through the rest of this
whole chapter, we find the failure of natural man to ever be appropriated
anything spiritual And at best we can only be stony ground hearers,
and for a season appear to rejoice, and after a while, because of
trials or tribulations, it passes off." What does it do to a believer?
Trials? Tribulation? What does it do?
Trust the Lord. Trust the Lord. Trust the Lord. It causes that to happen. Faith
will be tested. We'll find out very soon whose
faith is it. Is it his faith or our faith?
And we can just go, you know, I'm not very strong here, but
he is. Those under that king are trusting in the arm of the
flesh. And our God is not that way. All right, we're gonna stop
there, and I ask that you go ahead and read ahead. Chapter
two, as we look at chapter two, and in that whole section of
the scriptures, we find out how God is dealing again. This whole
book is about God's dealing, and a whole bunch of people don't
know the first thing about God, but those who do, God blesses
in such a great way. For whatsoever is born of God
overcometh the world, And this is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. First John chapter five and verse
four. So it's the faith that God gives
us that allows us to overcome. We'll stop there for tonight.
Thank you for your time.