We begin tonight in our study
of Judges in chapter 13. If you'd turn there with me,
please. Judges chapter 13. Verse 1, And the children of
Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord
delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. If you have a marginal Bible,
you may see that that phrase did evil again means added to
commit. What was this evil that they
again added to commit? Idolatry, idolatry. Idolatry was an evil that they
committed over and over again. And it's the same today, even
among professing believers, We're all guilty of it. And you may
say, well, Brother David, I don't commit idolatry. I don't worship
a graven image. I don't worship a statute. I
don't worship a carving. Well, before you say that you
don't commit idolatry, you might first consider the definition
of what it is. The definition of an idol is
an image or representation of God and used as an object of
worship. An idol is just that. Sadly,
we all have idols that we worship in one way or another. I suppose,
though, the biggest idol that men and women worship today is
the idol of self. The idol of self. That word image
comes from the word imagination. It means creativity or vision,
inspiration, invention. It's man's fallen imagination
that causes them to form new ideas and create images or concepts
of things that do not exist. Men make a god of their imagination
and most of the time it's themselves. Mainly self becomes their god. In Psalm 50, the psalmist wrote,
the mighty God, even the Lord has spoken. And what did he say?
What did God say? He said, these things has thou
done, and I kept silence. Thou thoughtest, you imagined
that I was altogether such a woman as thou said, but I'll reprove
thee and I'll set these things in order before thine eyes. Now
by nature, naturally speaking, all of us, All of us, the best
of us, every man and woman at his or her best state is altogether
vain, altogether vanity, altogether, completely, wholly, and singularly
vanity. And the word vanity of which
all of us altogether are means empty and unsatisfactory. full of self-conceit, self-obsession,
self-love, and self-admiration. Self. Narcissism, self-love,
egotism, pride, haughtiness, arrogance, pretension, and the
list just goes on and on. We imagine God to be like us.
We imagine ourselves to be like God. The biggest idol in the
world today, I believe, is self. And we again and again imagine
God to be like us when he's the complete opposite of us. God's
holy, we're unholy. God is righteous, we're unrighteous. God is right, we're wrong. God
is love and we're hateful by nature. God is merciful and gracious
and we're unmerciful and gracious. God is forgiving and we're unforgiving. And if we don't see ourselves
as these things, then we've yet to see what we are in God's sight. You know, we'll never see the need of salvation.
Redemption, that salvation and redemption that only Christ can
provide for us. And that's what redemption is.
It's the saving, the freeing from sin, to be free of sin. What redemption, what salvation
that is. It's the recovery of what we've
lost. It's the exchange of one thing
for another. It's the paying back or the paying
off or the clearing, the fulfillment of our sin debt, the paying in
full of our wages of sin. It's the satisfying, it's the
carrying out, it's the achievement, it's the squaring of debt, as
we say, to the law and justice of God. And every true child
of God will admit that they're vain sinners. We, who have made
themselves nothing short of idols. And we worship ourselves, and
when we worship ourselves, we think that we can obtain this
redemption, this salvation by something that we ourselves do.
There are many people that think they're believing in Christ is
what saves them, but something happened before we believed.
God had to first give us life. The repeated actions of Israel's
idol worship is the proof that we cannot do anything for ourselves
and that we need the judge, we need the deliverer, we need the
Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, we need to stop
comparing ourselves with one another. We need to set our standards
higher than that. And we need to ask God to show
us what we are in His sight. And God says, be ye holy as I
am holy. Now, how are we gonna accomplish
that? How are we gonna do that? Well, we aren't. Only God can. Only God can. That's what the
book of Judges is teaching us. It's all the book of God does.
And until God reveals that to us, we will again and again and
again. be delivered to our enemies of
whom the last enemy is death, an eternal, everlasting spiritual
death. As we will see in the story of
Samson, the same thing as with the other 11 judges that we've
looked at, God's judges, God's deliverers, those whom God was
pleased to use to deliver Israel, to raise up. They, along with
us, need Thee, Judge. They need Thee, Deliverer. They
needed the Lord Jesus Christ, like Israel, who pictures us
so well in the Old Testament Scriptures. You and I, who are
idolaters, who commit idolatry over and over and over again,
they picture us so well. And you know, every time we start
a new chapter or a new story in the book of Judges, it says
what verse one says, they did evil again. That's us. We do evil again, over and over
and over. Until the Lord delivers us from
ourselves, we'll never have peace and rest. And if not, we too
will be delivered in the hand of our enemies for much longer
than 40 years. Friends, these things were written
for our learning, That's what the Old Testament, that's what
the New Testament says about the Old. They were written aforetime
for our learning. May God be pleased to teach these
things to us. But again tonight, we see that
the Lord is merciful and the Lord is gracious and He's so
long-suffering with us. Aren't you glad? In Christ He
is. Look at verse two. And there was a certain man of
Zorah, of the family of the Dantes, whose name was Manoah, and his
wife was Baran and Baranah. I've titled this message tonight,
When Christ Comes to You. When Christ Comes to You. You
know, he doesn't come to everyone. And you and I certainly don't
come to him, not until he first comes to us. Why do we love Christ? Because He first loved us. Why
do we choose to have Christ as our Lord and Savior? Because
He first chose us. He had to give us life. Dead
man doesn't choose anything. Now, did you notice that Manoah
was a certain man? And his unnamed wife was a certain
woman. And the Bible over and over again
tells us about certain men and women. And it came to pass that
as he, Christ, was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind
man sat by the wayside begging. You know who that was, Bartimaeus.
At the pool of Bethesda, there was a certain man there who had
an infirmity for 38 years. You remember what the Lord did
for him? He said, rise up and walk, and he rised up and walked.
Now a certain man was sick named Lazarus of Bethany, the town
of Mary and her sister Martha. And we know what the Lord did
for Lazarus. He who was four days dead was
raised from the dead. In Acts chapter three, verse
two, we're told about a certain man lame from his mother's womb,
never had walked. He was carried, whom they laid
daily at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful, to
ask alms of them that entered into the temple. And the Lord
raised him up. There was a certain man in Caesarea
called Cornelius, a centurion of the band, called the Italian
band, a devout man and one that feared God with all his house,
which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always. And we know the Lord saved him.
And there said a certain man at Lystra, impotent on his feet,
being a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked. The
same heard Paul speak, who steadfastly beholding him and perceiving
that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, stand
upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked." He
didn't just stand, but he leaped. There are certain men and women
that the Lord purposes to save and he saves them. That word
certain means specific. It means determined. It means
particular. Is our redemption particular? Oh, you better believe it. You
better believe it. There are certain, specific,
determined, particular men and women whom the Lord certainly,
specifically, and particularly determines to save. And there
are others whom he doesn't. Why do folks have a problem with
the Lord having mercy on whom he'll have mercy? And have problems
with hardening those that he doesn't have mercy on? There
was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine
linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain
beggar named Lazarus which laid at the gate full of sores. And
he desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich
man's table. And the dogs came and licked
his sores. And it came to pass that the
beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.
And the rich man also died." You see, death's coming for all
of us. And he was buried. And you know the rest of that
story. but a certain man named Ananias. You remember him in
Acts chapter five with Sapphira, his wife sold a possession. They
kept back part of the price. God knows everything. God sees
everything. We're not hiding anything from
him. In Acts 20, there's said in a window, a certain young
man being fallen into a deep sleep. And as Paul was long preaching,
He sunk down with sleep and fell down from the third loft and
was taken up dead. He was a certain man. In one sense of the word, all
of us are certain men and women that God saves or condemns. The
real question is, which are you? All of us. The proof is found
in what you do when Christ comes to you. When Christ comes to
you. there was a certain man named
Manoah. The name Manoah means the same
thing as Noah. It means rest. Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Noah found rest in the eyes of
the Lord. You see, if the grace of God
finds you, rest finds you. That's the only true rest there
is, in the eyes of the Lord, by the grace of the Lord. Look,
verse three again in our text, and the angel of the Lord appeared
unto the woman and said unto her, behold now, thou art barren
and barest not, but thou shalt conceive and bear a son. Now
I don't wanna hurry past this verse. May God be pleased to
teach us something here. First, did you notice that when
the Lord came and appeared, He appeared unto the woman. He didn't
appear unto Manoah. What can we learn from that?
Well, when Christ comes, He appears only to this woman, meaning,
that He appears to His wife, His bride, His church. That's
who the Lord comes to, those certain men and women who are
made and caused to believe and trust in Christ, revealing Himself
to be their, His bride, the church. Who is this Lord that comes to
the church? Well, you remember when the Lord
asked His disciples who men and women said He was, they had several
answers. You know why? Because men and
women have various opinions of who Christ was, and they still
do today. I hear men and women describe
their Lord, and I think, well, that's not my Lord. That doesn't
sound anything like my Lord. That's not the Lord that this
book declares, not Him at all. I find it very interesting that
in the scriptures, many times the Lord made Himself known to
women. What a picture of Christ revealing
Himself to His bride, His church. Who is the Lord that comes to
his church? Well, when that disciples answered
the Lord, they said, some say that you're John the Baptist,
not the Christ, but the Messiah's forerunner. And some say that
you're Elijah, that great prophet, and others say you're Jeremiah,
or one of the other prophets of old. And then the Lord said,
who do you say that I am? You see, that's the issue. That's
the issue for all of us. What think ye of Christ? Who
do you say that he is? And Peter, without hesitation,
said, thou art the Christ. the Son of the living God. And you remember what the Lord
said? Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. You're blessed, you're
a blessed man. Why? Because flesh and blood
hath not revealed this to you, but my Father, which is in heaven. And again, we see who, when we
see who Christ is, it has to be revealed to us. You can't
figure it out on your own. Naturally speaking, we think
he's just like us, as we read a moment ago. And we always will,
unless and until he divinely intervenes. What did the Lord
tell Peter after he possessed what he believed? And I say also
unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock, upon this
profession of who Christ is, I will build my church and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The church, the bride
to whom Christ comes is always made to believe and made to trust
in him as the rock, the sure foundation on which we safely
abide. We build our house upon the rock
and the winds and storms of life can beat against it and it stands. It's upon the profession of who
Christ is that the church is built. Who is he? He's the Christ. He's the Anointed One. He is
the Son of God, and He's God the Son. He's Jesus Christ, the
Anointed Savior, who will save His people from their sin. Not
who might, not who wants to, not one who is trying to, but
He shall save His people from their sin. Has this Christ come
to you? Or is it another Jesus? The scripture
talks about another Jesus. Is it another Jesus in whom you
trust? Do you dare venture your soul
on one who's just like you? Do you dare trust in one who
cannot save? We better not. No, we sing on
Christ, the solid rock I stand. Why? Because all other ground
is sinking sand. What more can be said than to
you God has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled. We've come to Christ as our only
refuge. Only because he first came to
us. We didn't initiate it, God did. And we as his wife and his
bride in the church are made willing to come only after he
first comes to us. only after he gives us life. And Paul in Ephesians 5 said,
this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and
the church. Nevertheless, let every one of
you in particular so love his wife, even as himself, and the
wife see that she reverence her husband. Christ loves his church
and she reverences him. Secondly, when God comes to us,
he makes himself known in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation's in a person. Salvation's
not in a doctrine. Salvation's not in the doctrine
of election. Salvation is not in a work that
we do. Salvation is not in a will that
we exert. Salvation's not even in preaching. Preaching is the means to salvation. Salvation is in the person, the
Lord Jesus Christ and the righteous work that He did for His people.
It's not of Him that will it. It's not of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. God shows us mercy, but it's
only in Christ. Look down at verse 11 here in
Judges 13. And Manoah arose and went after
his wife and he came to the man and said unto him, art thou the
man that speakest unto the woman? And he said, I am. I am. Moses asked, who shall I tell
them that sent me? And God said, I am, but I am. Tell them, but I am sent you.
The ever present God. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
that appeared to Manoah and his wife. Look down at verse 22.
And Manoah said unto his wife, we shall surely die. Well, why? Because we've seen God. No man
can see God and live. They saw God in the person of
a man. He was the God-man, the Lord
Jesus Christ. No man can see God and live except
that man be the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you seen Christ as he really
is? If you do, then he's come to
you when Christ comes to you. It's God who initiates Christ
coming to sinners. It's a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation. It's worthy to be believed. It's
worthy to be bowed to. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. The third thing we see here is
who it is that Christ comes to save. Again, verse three, and
the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman. Now I'm sure
that Manoah's wife had prayed for a child, even though we're
not told. But even if she did, that's not
why the Lord came. You know, we see it on bumper
stickers and signs, you know, prayer changes things and all.
It's the Lord that we pray to that changes things. Many, no doubt, in the days of
the judges, prayed for a child, especially for a son, because
that would be who the Messiah would come. The Lord had said,
through the woman's seed. So every woman desired to have
a son. They had hoped that their child,
their son, would be the Messiah. But many prayed in that day whose
prayers were not answered. So that's not the reason our
Lord came. Our Lord's coming to a sinner.
It's his doing. Look what he tells her about
herself here in verse three. And he said unto her, behold
now, thou art barren and bearish not, but thou shalt conceive
and bear a son. The Lord knows our need. That's why he came. He came into
the world to save sinners. And he reveals to us what we
are before he does. I don't know of anyone that the
Lord has actually saved that that wasn't the order of it.
He shows us what we are. We see what we need. And then
he gives it to us because we beg him for it. Manoah's wife is said not only
to be barren, but described as one who bears not. That simply
means that she could now nor ever, past or present, have a
child. It immediately comes to mind
all the women in the scripture that were barren and yet by the
divine intervention of God were given great men of God as sons. And this is a picture of salvation
being of the Lord, salvations of the Lord. Sarah was barren,
but God gave her Isaac. Rebecca was barren, but God gave
her Jacob. Hannah was barren, but God gave
her Samuel. All men greatly used of God.
Elizabeth, in her old age, was barren. But God gave her John,
called the Baptist. These were all miraculous births. But the most miraculous birth
of all was the birth of Christ by a woman named Mary, who was
a virgin. Yet in every case, these women
are examples and types of the supernatural work of the new
birth by God. You know, People say I've been
born again, but when you're born again, you're
really born again. You're made a new creature and
old things are passed away and all things have become new. And
your heart and your mind is set on Christ. He's your everything. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name, which were born not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. And the Word, Jesus Christ, was
made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory of the only begotten of the Father, who is full of grace
and truth. He's full of truth, he is truth
and he is grace. Now the record of Manoah and
his wife is the revelation of what salvation is. Barren, that's
what we are, we're barren. No life within us, no ability
to produce life within us. This is the right description
of what you and I are, barren. We're barren and we can produce
nothing. There's nothing within us that can change us. We cannot
come to God unless he comes to us. Religion has endeavored to
change that, but God's word still stands true. Salvation is of
the Lord, not by works of righteousness that we do. You know, people
say, you know, if you can turn right and go straight and straighten
up and fly right and all this, you can't do it. Can't do it
no matter how hard you try. Or you may do it for a few minutes. We're utterly ruined. Ruined. Not slightly injured by the fall. Adam just didn't stump his toe.
God said in the day that you disobey me, you shall surely
die, and die he did. We were killed, we're spiritually
dead. And you know what? Soon our flesh
is gonna follow. Everything about us is fouled
up. We don't have the power to change
it. We don't seek God for help. There's none that seeketh after
God. We don't, not until He comes to us. When He comes to us and
shows us what we are, reveals what we are, that we're barren
and without life, then He gives us the want to, the will to seek
Him. Made willing in the day of His
power. You will not come to Christ that you might have life. Who
made the difference? God made the difference. That's what Christ does for us
when he comes to us. By nature, we're hostile to God.
Our mind is enmity. That's what the word means. We
will not have him to rule over us. What about your will? I will not have him to rule over
me. I'm gonna be my own boss. I'm gonna be my own God. I'm
gonna do my own thing. He makes us willing for Him to
rule over us. We're worms and maggots on the
dung hill. That's not very nice. That's
what God said. We're thirsty for glory and we
drink iniquity like water. God is not at all in our thoughts.
We openly declare, no God for me. There is no God. And I hear people today talk
about a higher power. They think that higher power
is themselves, not God. There's something out there that's
doing all this, but it's not God. I won't have Him. Ain't
no God for me. I'm not gonna have Him rule over
me. And we're a stench in the nostrils of God. That's why Christ came to us.
He determined and purposed before time ever was to be merciful
to some in this horrible condition. And we can no more change our
corruption than an Ethiopian can change the color of his skin
or a leopard can change his spots. We're all together vanity. all together within ourselves
and all together as a group, vain, vanity. I'm just telling you what God
says. He says it about me too. Surely men of low degree are
vanity and men of high degree are a lie to be laid in the balance. They are altogether lighter than
vanity. We're not only altogether vanity,
we're so much worse than that. We, when weighed in the balance
of justice, we're found wanting. We come up short every time.
We wreak of filth and rot. We're on the dunghill. You know
what a dunghill is. But when Christ comes, he raiseth
up the poor out of the dust, and he lifts up the beggar from
the dunghill. And what does he do with them?
He sets them among princes. and He makes them inherit the
throne of glory. Makes us willing. We won't be
kicking and screaming as the Lord takes us to heaven. No,
we'll be going willingly and we'll be going thankfully. But
He makes us inherit the throne of glory. How does the Lord do
this? For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's. It all
belongs to Him. He can do anything and everything.
And He set the world upon them. Now that's God. That's our Lord
Jesus. Our Lord can do whatsoever He's
pleased to do. You know the verses. Our God's
in the heavens. He's done whatsoever He's pleased
to do. Whatever the Lord pleased that
did He. And in heaven and earth and seas and all deep places,
He's the Lord. He's God, He's almighty. And
until the Lord came to us, we were condemned and we were waiting
execution by the law and the justice of God. We've found guilty,
we've found wanting, we've condemned. Our sentence is death, eternal
death. But He raises up the poor out
of the dust. And He lifts up the beggar from
the dung heap and sets him among princes. Until the Lord came to us But
when the Lord comes to us, we're barren and embarrassed not. Nothing short of a sovereign
God can do anything for us. Tim James said it this way, we're
plumb dead, graveyard dead. We are graveyard dead, aren't
we? Manoah's wife was barren and
she could do nothing about it. Neither can we. We can't do anything
about it. Only God can. That's what these
verses are teaching us. Manoah's wife was confronted
by Christ. He appears to us today in a singular
way. He appears to our hearts. He gives his life and then faith
to believe in him. We're saved by grace through
faith, and that faith and that grace is God's gift to us. He
gives us sight and faith through the preaching of the Word of
God. And if you see Christ, you'll see what you are. And what will
you do? You'll take sides with God against
yourself. That's what you'll do when Christ
comes to you. Oh, what a salvation is this,
that Christ liveth in me.