You can go ahead and turn with
me to Judges chapter 19 if you would. As we've already established,
the book of Judges beginning in chapter 17 gives us the account
of Israel's idolatry before God ever sent the first judge. Our
last three studies along with chapter 19 and chapter 20, shows
us what happens when the Lord removes his hand and allows people
to do what seems right in their own eyes. With that said, the
story before us tonight is not a pretty one. It shows us just
how far man is capable of falling when God Almighty is ignored
and neglected as God. As I begin to study chapter 19,
read this chapter, I searched diligently to find a comforting
gospel message so that I didn't, for the fourth time in a row,
talk to you about idolatry and man's evil nature. We've seen
a great deal of that in the last three studies, and this chapter
is somewhat the climax to how evil man really is when left
to himself. The tragedy that we read about
in Judges chapter 19 exposes clearly the depravity and the
perversity of the human heart in all of us. And the chapter
clearly summarizes the spiritual estate of Israel, and again,
shows us that with no king, people did what they thought was right. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but it's not right. And the end thereof are the ways
of death. Now, we understand that there
was no government, no judicial rule, no spiritual influence,
and that Israel's idolatry was caused by much more than just
not having an earthly king. The real problem was there was
no king of kings in their hearts. Israel's plunge into the depth
of idolatry was the result of forgetting the only true God,
the God that delivered them out of Egypt, the God that freely
gave them a land that He had promised them and He led them
to it. And this is the same problem
in the world today, the problem with the world and its religion.
They've forgotten God. Men and women have made their
work, made their supposed righteousness an idol that they worship. So in reality, they worship themselves
instead of God. All their problems are a result
of rejecting God as God. You know, men laud and applaud
their assumed freedom to accept or reject the Lord Jesus Christ.
You hear it a lot today. Oh, I accepted Jesus as my personal
Savior. Oh, did you? Or did the Lord accept you? The
believer says, I'm accepted in Christ. That's the only place.
No acceptance from God apart from Him. And they believe and convince
themselves that they're the captain of their own salvation and their
own destiny. And the result's always the same.
They do what's right in their own eyes. It's a way that seems
right, but it's not right at all. Charles Spurgeon once said,
a self-made man is poorly made. Boy, that's true. And I'll add
this, a self-made man has made himself his idol. Judges chapter
19. I wanna read this whole chapter. It's 30 verses, but pay attention
as we read it together. Verse one. And it came to pass
in those days when there was no king in Israel, that there
was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of Mount Ephraim,
who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem, Judah. And his
concubine, played the whore against him, and went away from him unto
her father's house to Bethlehem, Judah, and was there four whole
months. And her husband arose, and he
went after her to speak friendly unto her, and to bring her again,
having his servant with him, and a couple of asses, and she
brought him into her father's house. And when the father of
the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. And his father-in-law,
the damsel's father, retained him, and he abode with him three
days. So they did eat and drink and
lodged there. And it came to pass on the fourth
day, when they arose early in the morning, that he rose up
to depart. And the damsel's father said
unto his son-in-law, comfort thine heart with a morsel of
bread, and afterward go your way. And they sat down and did
eat and drink, both of them together. For the damsel's father had said
unto the man, be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night, and
let thine heart be merry. Now let me just throw this in.
They're having a good old time. They're partying it up a bit.
They're drinking and being merry. And verse seven, when the man
rose up to depart, his father-in-law urged him, therefore he lodged
there again. And he rose early in the morning
on the fifth day to depart. And the damsel's father said,
comfort not heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon,
and they did eat both of them. And when the man rose up to depart,
he and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the
damsel's father, said unto him, Behold now, the day draweth toward
evening. I pray you, tarry all night.
Behold, the day groweth to an end. Lodge here, and thine heart
be merry, and tomorrow I'll get you early on your way, that thou
mayest go home. But the man would not tarry that
night. But he rose up and departed, and he came over against Jebus,
which is Jerusalem, And there were with him two asses saddled,
his concubine also was with him. And when they were by Jebus,
the day was far spent. And the servant said unto his
master, come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city
of the Jebusites and lodge in it. And his master said unto
him, we will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger.
This is not of the children of Israel, that is not of the children
of Israel will pass over to Gibeah. And he said unto his servant,
come and let us draw near to one of those places to lodge
all night in Gibeah or in Ramah. And they passed on and went their
way and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah,
which belonged to Benjamin. And they turned aside thither
to go in and to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down
in a street of the city, for there was no man that took them
into his house to lodging. And behold, there came an old
man from his work out of the field at even in the evening,
which was also of Mount Ephraim. And he soldiered in Gibeah, but
the men of that place were Benjamites. And when he had lifted up his
eyes and saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city, and
the old man said, whither goest thou and whence comest thou?
And he said unto him, we are passing from Bethlehem Judah
toward the side of Mount Ephraim from thence I am. And I went
to Bethlehem Judah, but I'm now going to the house of the Lord,
and there is no man that receiveth me to house. Yet there is both
straw and provender for our asses, and there is bread and wine also
for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is
with thy servants. There is no want of anything.
We've got everything we need. And the old man said, peace be
with thee. Howsoever, let all thy wants
lie upon me, only lodge not in the street. So he brought him
into his house and gave pervender unto the asses, and they washed
their feet and did eat and drink. And now as they were making their
hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of
Belial, set the house Beset the house round about and beat at
the door and spake to the master of the house The old man saying
bring forth the man that came into thine house that we may
know him Now they're not talking about just getting acquainted
And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them and
said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly,
seeing that this man is coming to mine house, do not this folly. Behold, here is my daughter,
a maiden, and his concubine. Them I will bring out now, and
humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you. But
unto this man do not so vile a thing. But the men would not
hearken to him. So the man took his concubine
and brought her forth unto him, brought them forth unto them.
And they knew her and abused her all the night until the morning. And when the day began to spring,
they let her go. And then came the woman in the
dawning of the day and fell down at the door of the man's house
where her Lord was until it was light. And her Lord rose up in
the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to
go his way. And behold, the woman, his concubine
was falling at the door of the house and her hands were upon
the threshold. And he said unto her, up and
let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up on his
ass and the man rose up and get him unto his place. And she's
dead. And when he was coming to his
house, he took a knife and laid hold on his concubine and divided
her together with her bones into 12 pieces and sent her into all
the coast of Israel. And it was so that all that saw
it said, there was no such deed done or seen from the day that
the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until
this day. Consider of it, take advice and
speak your minds. On the website, Sermon Audio,
where we post our church's sermons, I found 460 sermons on this chapter. Some of the titles were as follows.
A New Sodom, A Bloody Stump in the Mail, The worst story in
the Bible. One titled it, Moral Decay, Moral
Chaos, Moral Meltdown. One titled their message, Rape
and Murder. Another, Rock Bottom. Another,
As Bad As It Gets, The Darkest Hour, How Dark the Heart. One
titled it, A Rated R Sermon. lewdness, horror, so sick. Now this chapter was so perplexing
to some that preached from it, that they just simply entitled
it Judges chapter 19. I read some commentators who
actually said this chapter should be skipped over, that it shouldn't
even be read. And some say that it should have
been left out of the Bible. Well, that's pretty absurd. shows
you just how few really know something about the depravity
of man who is dead in sin. Well, that shouldn't even be
in the Bible. You don't know much about yourself
to say that. And we don't make any apologies
for God, the Holy Spirit. Are we gonna ignore what God
has included in the Word of God? First, we don't know better than
the Holy Spirit. And secondly, all scripture is
said to be given by inspiration of God and is profitable for
reproof and correction and instruction and righteousness. Judges chapter
19 is no exception. Thirdly, we don't ignore what's
included in the word of God because the whole word of God is vitally
important. We need to know what happens
when people forget God. We need to know that there's,
that there's circumstances and that there's things that happen
when people forget God and do what's right in their own eyes.
There's no limit to how far we can fall if God leave us to ourselves. And as I said, Judges chapter
19 doesn't paint a pretty picture of men and women's nature, but
it's a true picture. but all of it is given to be
profitable, and all of it is given for reproof and correction,
and all of it is given for instruction and righteousness. And I can
sum it up in just a few words for you. Men, women, sinners
need Jesus Christ. One thing in particular that
these final chapters and judges has done for me personally, is
they've opened my understanding a great deal more as to how the
depravity of man has made idol worship prevalent in religion
today. Folks wonder why modern day religion
carries on the way it does. We wonder why this world is in
the shape that it's in. because of the evil in man. There's
evil in the world because there's evil in man. Men have forgotten
God. They don't have any need. They
do what's right in their own eyes and they don't need Christ. Now in reading and studying this
chapter, we could go on and on about how horrific things have
gotten in Israel and in our world today, and they have, but not
tonight. I simply read you the chapter
to show you again the state Israel was in. But right in the middle
of this horrific story, which is true, we see the gospel. So I've titled the message tonight,
The Wayfaring Stranger and His Journey. And that wayfaring stranger
is the believer. Wayfaring means one traveling. Wayfaring means wandering, roaming,
Migrating, one who is wayfaring is one who is just passing through. Strangers, when the Lord delivered
Israel out of Egypt, he instructed them that after they ate the
Passover, that he would pass through the land of Egypt that
night and smite all the firstborn in the land who didn't have the
blood on the door. We call it the Passover. But
do you remember what he told them? He said, with your loins
girded, Have your shoes on your feet, have your sandals latched
up, have your staff in your hand for this is the Lord's Passover
and you're gonna quickly leave this place. God is gonna deliver
you. God is done with Pharaoh and
Pharaoh is gonna let you go. So you be ready to go. You be
ready to soldier into that land that flows with milk and honey
that I've given to you. I'm taking you to that length. So you be ready to go. You know,
the Lord Jesus told His disciples when He sent them out to preach,
He said, take nothing for your journey, neither staffs nor script,
neither bread, neither money, and neither have two coats apiece.
Why? Because the Lord is going to
provide for you everything that you need. That's what Judges
chapter 19 is all about. Look at verse 20 again here in
Judges chapter 19. And the old man said, peace be
with thee. Howsoever let all thy wants lie
upon me. Only judge, only lodge, excuse
me, not in the street. You know what a word of comfort
that is. Only God in Christ can speak
such a word of comfort as that. Our Lord Jesus said, peace I
live with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world give
it. Give I unto you, let not your
heart be troubled and neither let it be afraid. John 14, 27.
In John chapter 16, verse 33, the Lord said these things, have
I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the
world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have
overcome the world. In Matthew 11, 28, you know the
passage well. He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Oh, if
you've got rest, you've got peace. And if you've got peace, you've
got rest. They're synonymous. He said, take my yoke upon you
and learn of me for I'm meek and lowly in heart and you shall
find rest under your souls for my yoke is easy and my burdens
light. Men today are preaching peace.
You'll hear that word a lot in the sermons of preachers. Religion
today is claiming peace, but they say peace, peace when there
is no peace. The words there is, is italicized. The message is actually peace,
peace, when no peace. And that's what we have. They
say there's peace when there's not. Peace is found in one place. I know you know that. Don't ever
forget that. And don't ever just take it for
granted that you do know that. What a wonderful, wonderful token
of God's grace to reveal to us that Jesus Christ is our only
peace. There's no peace anywhere but
in Him. Peace is given one way. Christ
said, I am the way. I am the truth and I am the light.
Other than that place and that way, there is no peace. That
place and that way is in Christ. And when it comes to this peace,
I was given a new revelation this week. Now, not a revelation
that is new, but a revelation that was new to me. Peace can
only be found in Christ by those who have been made righteous
in Him. You know, in the gospel narratives, I begin to search
the concordance for the word peace. And in the gospel narratives,
the Lord never uttered the words, peace be unto thee. until after
His resurrection. I got to thinking about that.
You know why? Because there is no peace. There could be no peace
given until God accepted Christ's finished work. There's no peace
for the chosen sinner or anyone else until Jesus Christ finished
His work of righteousness for them and God accepted that work. No peace. Jesus Christ is the
Prince of Peace. And in verse 20 of our text,
we have a picture here of the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to
the wayfaring stranger. And it's a beautiful picture,
I'm telling you. In verse 20, the old man said,
peace be with thee. And then he goes on to say, let
all thy wants lie upon me. Only lodge not in the street.
In other words, don't lodge in this world. That's what these
streets, and give you a picture, this world in all its wickedness. We've seen what happened by those
men in the street. If you lodge in these streets,
if you lodge in this world, you're going to die. It's just that
simple. And that's what Christ is saying
to his people here. He says, let all your wants,
let all your hope, let all your peace, let all your righteousness,
forgiveness, eternal life, grace, faith, all your needs lie on
me. Are you a wayfaring stranger? If so, Christ can and will supply
all your need. for he's the one thing needful.
Now, that word wants in verse 20 means deficiencies, impoverishment,
lack, destitution, poverty, everything that we by nature and because
of sin possess or don't possess, however you want to look at it.
And the Lord Jesus says, let it all be on me. I'll provide you all that you
don't have. and that God requires. All of
it, every bit of it. I'll supply all your need. In verse 15, we saw that this
man and his wife, his concubine, whatever she was, there's argument
about that. Personally, I think it was his
wife because her father was called his father-in-law, whatever she
was, in verse 15, they turned aside thither to go in and to
lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down
in the street of the city for there was no man that took him.
that took them into his house to lodge him. Now, when this
Levite got to Gibeah, there was no place to abide. No one showed
any hospitality to him. This was and still is a basic
tenet of grace in the Far East. It was a custom. In Eastern custom,
it's actually a law punished by a fine. It was a custom to
take a stranger into your house and supply all the needs at absolutely
no cost to him. And in Israel, it was a mark
of the child of God and it pictured the grace of God towards sinners.
There's a man out on the street, you take him in, you feed him,
you give him a place to lodge safely. But no man took this
man and his wife into their house to lodge them according to verse
15. They remained in the street with
no place to stay until this older man approached them. And look
at verse 16 again. And behold, there came an old
man from his work out of the field at Eden, which was also
Mount Ephraim and he sojourned in Gibeah. But the men of the
place were Benjamites. And when he had lifted up his
eyes, he saw this wayfaring man in the street of the city. And
the old man said, whither goest thou? And whence comest thou?
And he said unto him, we're passing from Bethlehem Judah toward the
side of Mount Ephraim from thence am I. And I went to Bethlehem
Judah, but now I'm going to the house of the Lord. And there's
no man." Now look at this. There's no man that receiveth
me to house. Now, if you have a marginal Bible,
my marginal Bible, that word receiveth means to gather. This man's not knocking on doors
asking for a place to stay. He's waiting in the street for
someone to come and gather him. And his safety is found in going
into their house, as the custom was. No man gathers him, but
this old man does. You see the picture here? Look
at what this wayfaring man says to the old man in verse 19. He
says, yet there is both straw and preventer for our asses and
there's bread and wine also for me and for thy handmaiden and
for the young man which is with thy servants. There's no want
of anything. We've got everything we need.
We won't be a burden to you. We just need a place to lodge
safely. And that's when the old man says,
peace be with you. He said, howsoever, you're wrong
about one thing. Let all thy wants lie upon me. There's no need for you to provide
for yourself, I'm gonna take care of everything. Only lodging
out in the street. Now I want us to briefly consider
five questions tonight. Where was this wayfaring man
found? What was his state? Thirdly,
where was he from? Fourthly, where was he going?
And five, how was he gonna get to where he was going? And I
think if we answer those questions from this chapter, we'll see
the gospel. So first, where was this man
found? He's on the streets with no man to take him in. He
was not in a good place. Does it sound familiar? This story is very similar to
the story of the Good Samaritan. A man was left for dead on the
side of the highway. A priest came by. He didn't do
anything for him. A Levite came by. He didn't do
anything for him. Couldn't help him. But the Samaritan,
the one who was despised among the Jews, that passed by, he
helped him. That's why he's called the Good
Samaritan. And so is this old man in this story. In Luke chapter
10, that Samaritan who's called good had compassion on that man.
And you remember what he did? He dressed his wounds with oil
and wine, picturing the word of God and the spirit of God.
And he took him to the inn and he paid his bill in advance.
And he told that innkeeper, he said, when I come back, if there's
any further expense, I'll take care of it. In other words, let
his needs fall on me. Let all his names fall on me.
And that's where you and I are. Do we see that we're wayfaring
strangers? We've turned into a city, we're
living on the streets. As a result of our sin, we've
been left for dead. No one takes notice of us, but
a hated Samaritan and one who's old that no one gives much attention
to. We're in desperate need of such
a one who says, let all thy wants lie upon me. That man in Luke
chapter 14 who threw a great banquet, remember? And he invited
all those who with one consent begin to make excuse. Well, I
bought a new car, I gotta go drive it. Well, what'd you buy
it for if you didn't drive it first? I got married, and you know how
women are, you know, pitiful excuses. And the master of the
house, being angry, told his servant, he said, go out quickly
into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in the
poor, bring in the blind, the maimed, the haught, all of them
in bad shape. Boy, that's you and me. And this he did, and there was
still room. And then the master of the house said, go out into
the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in. You know
who that's talking about? Street people. Wayfaring strangers
like you and me. Bring them into my house, he
says. You know, men and women are under
the impression that they can provide for themselves, but they
can't. Not the perfection that God requires.
This wayfaring man said, I've got straw, and I've got provender,
and I've got bread, and I've got wine enough to take care
of me and mine. But the Lord says, no, you only
think that you do. You don't at all. I'll provide
all your wants, all your need. They lie upon me. We're under the false impression
men are, men and women, sinners, that they can provide something,
do something, have some effect on their salvation. And the Lord
says, left here, you're gonna die. You better come with me. Bartimaeus, he sat by the wayside,
the highway side. What was he doing? He was begging.
He sat by the wayside begging. That's what beggars do, they
beg. He was blind. He couldn't work, he couldn't
sing, and we're spiritually the same. Just beggars on the street
waiting for someone to gather us. Boy, I love that word, gather
us. What a picture of us setting
the beggars that we are with our beggar cloaks and begging for everything that
we don't have and everything that we can't provide for ourselves.
That word, the word is receiveth, but as I said, it means gathers.
We don't receive the Lord either. I don't know how that ever started. The Lord gathers us unto himself. I received Jesus, is my personal
saying. I accepted Jesus, all know. No,
we don't accept Jesus. God accepted us in Christ. We
need someone to come get us. We need someone to gather us.
We need safe lodging or we're gonna die in the streets. To
his sheep, the Lord Jesus said, for I was hungry and you gave
me meat and I was thirsty and you gave me drink and I was a
stranger and you took me in. And then he went on to say, in
as much as you've done these things unto the least of my brethren,
you've done it unto me. That's what we do when we preach
the gospel. We preach to the wayfaring stranger
who's destitute in the streets. And they need to be gathered
in. They need to be gathered into the sinner's safe haven
and refuge, which is Jesus Christ. He's the city of refuge. He's
the ark of Noah. All that are in him are safe
from the wrath of God. And this is where this man was
found. This is where we're found. Secondly,
what was this man's state? Well, he was a traveler. He was
a wayfaring man. That's what wayfaring, a wayfaring
man is. He's a man on a journey. He's
one who's just passing through. We're just passing through. This isn't in our home. This
man wasn't a resident or a citizen. He was a stranger in this town,
this city. A pilgrim, a sojourner who is
to pass the time of our sojourning here with fear and faith under
Christ is what the scripture says. Look at Hebrews chapter
11 with me. Hold your place here in Judges.
Look at Hebrews 11 verse 13. Who's a pilgrim and a sojourner?
These all died in faith. not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and
embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims
on the earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country." Those who say what
things? That they're strangers and pilgrims.
They know what they are. They're just passing through.
This isn't our home. We know that. For they that say
such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And surely,
if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came
out, they might have had opportunity to have returned, but now they
desire a better country. That is a heavenly gift. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. The wayfaring strangers are looking
for a city whose maker and builder's God. This is every believer's
state in this world. The Lord pries our fingers from
this world and causes us to look for that heavenly city whose
builder and maker is God. This man wasn't a citizen of
this land, neither was the old man. Did you notice that? They
were both from the same place. They were both sojourners. The
old man had come to this place to work in the field. I thought
about that. The Lord Jesus Christ came to this place to work in
the fields where the true harvest was. That's the picture of Christ. Thirdly, his home wasn't here
either, by the way. The Lord Jesus, it wasn't his
home. Thirdly, where was this man from? Well, back in Judges
chapter 19, look at verse 17. The old man asked this wayfaring
man, he said, whither goest thou and whence comest thou? And the
wayfaring man, he answered his second question first. In verse
18, he answered, we're passing from Bethlehem, Judah, but now
I'm going to the house of the Lord, he said. He was from Bethlehem,
Judah. He was from Bethlehem, which
means the house of bread. He was from Judah, the house
of praise. And what this man is actually
saying is whatever believer says, is I'm coming from praising God
in the house of bread. That's where I'm from. You see,
when the Lord finds us on the street, destitute as we are,
he puts us in the church, in Christ, where his bread is. Jesus Christ is the bread of
life. We feed upon Him and He sustains
us and He gives us life. The Lord said, I'm the bread
that came down from heaven. Christ is our life. He's our
Bethlehem Judah. That's where we come from. We're
in the house of bread when we're in Him. And this man was also
called a Levite. We are Levites. You remember
the Levites were called into the priesthood. They weren't
given a land of inheritance. They were given cities, and many
of those cities were called the cities of refuge. And friends,
we're of the priestly tribe who has Christ only as their refuge. We praise Him in the house of
bread and the city of refuge because Christ is our dwelling
place. In Him we live and move and have
our being. That's where we're from. Fourthly,
where was this man going? He's going to the house of the
Lord. Where are you going? I'm going to the house of the
Lord. That's where wayfaring strangers
go. The Lord Jesus said, 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 prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive
you, gather you unto myself, that where I am, there you may
be also. I've said this time and time
again, heaven is only heaven because Christ is there. Where
I am, there you'll be also, that's heaven. If the Lord Jesus Christ
took up residence in Madisonville, Kentucky, and in many ways He
has, then heaven is Madisonville, Kentucky, because that's where
Christ is. Heaven is heaven only because
that's where He is. Paul said, for we know that if
our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God, a house made not with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly
desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. But now they desire a better
country, that is unheavenly, where God is not ashamed to be
called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city." That's
where I'm going. Heaven's our destination. Physical
death is not the end. It's simply a departure. Death
is a promotion for to die is gain. Isn't that a promotion?
If to die is gain, then death's a promotion. And all of us are
getting promoted. To Him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am
set down with my Father in His throne. I didn't get a chance
to research it any, but not on His throne, it says in His throne.
I believe there's something to that. Yeah, I know this, God's
throne is Christ. To be in Him, I'm on His throne. Lastly, how do we get there? Jesus Christ is the way. He's
the truth and the life, and no man, no woman, no sinner cometh
to the Father, say it, but by me. That's the only way. But by him. Let all thy wants lie upon him. He's made unto me all that I
need. Jesus Christ has made to me all I need, all I need. Wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, redemption. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. All my wants, all my needs are
provided by Him. Isn't that a wonderful gospel
message? Right in the middle of all that mess, And we have
the gospel in the middle of all this mess around us. The Lord
didn't have to save us, but He did. But He did. And it's only by
mercy and grace that He did so.