Sorry. That's the next one. Or another one. ? From every stormy wind that blows
? ? From every swelling tide of woes ? ? There is a calm,
a sure retreat ? ? Tis found beneath the mercy of God ? There is a place where Jesus
sheds the oil of gladness on our heads. A place that all besides
more sweet. It is the blood bought mercy. ? There is a scene where spirits
blend ? ? Where friend holds fellowship with friends ? ? Though
sundered far by faith they meet ? ? Around one common mercy they
share ? A whither could we flee for aid
When tempted, desolate, dismayed? For how the hosts of hell defeat
At suffering saints no mercy seen? ? There on eagle wings we soar
? ? And sin and sense molest no more ? ? And heaven calms
down our souls to greed ? ? While glory crowns the mercy of God
? All right, brethren, I'm going
to read our text. It's a lengthy chapter in Judges
3. Judges 3 is where I'll be preaching
from. Verses 12 and I'll read through
31. I'm not going to read every verse
in the sermon, in the message, so I'll read it here now. And the children of Israel did
evil again in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord strengthened
Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel, because they had done
evil in the sight of the Lord. And he gathered unto him the
children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel and
possessed the city of palm trees. So the children of Israel served
Eglon, the king of Moab, 18 years. But when the children of Israel
cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud,
the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left-handed. And by him
the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon, the king of Moab. But Ehud made him a dagger which
had two edges of a cubit length, and he did gird it under his
raiment upon his right thigh. And he brought the present unto
Eglon, king of Moab. And Eglon was a very fat man. And when he had made an end to
offer the present, he sent away the people that bear the present.
But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal,
and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king, who said,
keep silence. And all that stood by him went
out from him. And Ehud came unto him, and he
was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself alone.
And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose
out of his seat. And Ehud put forth his left hand,
and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into
his belly. And the haft, that part where
you hold the sword, also went in after the blade and the fat
closed upon the blade so that he could not draw the dagger
out of his belly and the dirt came out. Then Ehud went forth
through the porch and shut the doors of the parlor upon him
and locked them. When he was gone out, his servants
came, and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlor
were locked, they said, surely he covereth his feet in his summer
chamber. And they tarried till they were
ashamed, and behold, he opened not the doors of the parlor.
Therefore they took a key and opened them, and behold, their
lord was fallen down dead on the earth. And Ehud escaped while
they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto
Sirath. And it came to pass, when he
was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim. And
the children of Israel went down with him from the mountain, and
he before them. And he said unto them, Follow
after me, for the Lord hath delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into
your hand. And they went down after him
and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab and suffered not
a man to pass over. And they slew of Moab at that
time about 10,000 men, all lusty, all fat, and all men of valor,
and there escaped not a man. So Moab was subdued that day
under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest fourscore or
80 years. And after him, was Shamgar, the
son of Anath, which blew of the Philistines 600 men with an ox
goad, and he also delivered Israel. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord,
we thank you, Father, for this word. We thank you, Lord, that
we see your son and your gospel in all the world. and that you
bless and comfort the hearts of your people with this word. By this word, you defeat all
our foes, all our enemies, and by this same word, you do encourage
and strengthen our hearts and give us life by our Savior. Lord,
we thank you for this grace. We thank you for this body and
this family that we have together with one another. And Lord, we
pray that you would indeed bless this word here, that you would
bless the people gathered here, that you would bless this body,
that we would hear and rejoice in Christ, that you would indeed
bless others to have a heart and a desire to come and be fed
with the Lord Jesus Christ. that they would rejoice in this
word and that you would indeed settle your body and strengthen
us and grow us together in the grace and knowledge of our Savior.
Lord, we pray for our brother Scott, who is not feeling well
today. We ask that you would heal his
body, that you would give him strength. We pray for others,
Lord, who listen in regularly, that you would help them with
their ailments and their difficulties, and that you would strengthen
them. But most of all, Lord, open our ear and help us to hear
the gospel and to rejoice in Christ Jesus, who alone saves
his people and delivers them from their sin. Lord, we do thank
you for the advertisements and the ideas with which you bring
to our minds, Lord, that you would bless the sending forth,
bless the advertising, bless the word going out that we are
here and that you would cause some poor soul to be interested
to come and visit and be settled here with us. It's in Christ's
name that we pray and give thanks. Amen. Let's sing 263, a shelter in a time of storm.
263. The Lord's our rock, in Him we
hide, A shelter in the time of storm. Secure whatever will be
time, shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a rock in
a weary land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a rock in
a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm. A shade by day,
defense by night, a shelter in the time of storm. No fears alarmed, no foes affrighted,
a shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary
land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary
land, a shelter in the time of storm. The raging storms may
round us beat A shelter in the time of storm We'll never leave
our safe retreat, a shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary
land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary
land, a shelter in the time of storm. O rock divine, O refuge
dear, A shelter in a time of storm. Ye thou our helper ever
near, shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a rock in
a weary land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a rock in
a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm. Thank you. I don't know if we
ever sang that here at church. Yeah, I've been singing it at
home, but I don't think I sang it here. I sang it this morning. All right, we're going to be
in Judges chapter 3, covering verses 12 through 30. Now, to begin, we have here in
this text something that is a common theme to the book of Judges. It shows that the people of God
need salvation by a Savior which in this book is called a judge.
That word means savior. And a judge in this book is someone
that is elected of God, chosen by God to deliver or save his
people first from their oppressor and then secondly from their
own sin. So the Savior destroys, defeats
our enemy and delivers us, gives us life in himself. And while this judge lives, you'll
notice the theme that while the judge lives, he administers,
he and sometimes she, administers or oversees a period of peace
and rest for the people of God. And so once again in this passage,
we're reminded that we need a living Savior, an ever living Savior,
meaning one that does not die, and does not change, one who
does not leave us to ourselves. And so our Savior saves his people,
destroying our enemy, destroying our oppressor by the word of
God. And he restores the people. He teaches the people and comforts
them by that same word of the Lord. And so we'll see here that
the word of God, it kills the enemy, it defeats our foes, And
that same word gives deliverance to the people, gives them life
and peace and rest in that word. And so I've titled this, The
Word of Our Deliverance. And so first, we'll see Christ,
the eternal Savior. This is a blessing. Now, if you
were reading in Judges chapter 2, if you were to go back to
verse 10 and read that to the end of the chapter, you would
see that there is a pattern shown. And it's a pattern repeated throughout
this book that exists between each judge. That is that every
time a judge would pass away, the children of God would rebel.
They'd go back to their old ways. And so God would raise up an
enemy, strengthen that enemy, and subject the people to that
enemy so that they felt their oppression, and they felt their
need of salvation. And they'd grown under that oppressor. And then God would help them. He would raise up for them another
judge. And everything would go back.
the enemy would be defeated, and the people would have rest
until that judge died again. And then it would all begin again,
that same cycle. So I'm just going to read verses
18 and 19 from chapter 2, and you'll see enough of that pattern
here. When the Lord raised them up
judges, then the Lord was with the judge and delivered them
out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For
it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason
of them that oppressed them and vexed them. And it came to pass
when the judge was dead that they returned and corrupted themselves
more than their fathers in following other gods to serve them and
to bow down unto them. They ceased not from their own
doings nor from their stubborn way. And so we pick up here in
verse 12, Judges 3, 12, and the children of Israel did evil again
in the sight of the Lord and the Lord strengthened Eglon,
the king of Moab, against Israel because they had done evil in
the sight of the Lord. And we're told in verse 14 that
they served Eglon, the king of Moab, for eighteen 18 years they
were in subjection. Now this word is given to you,
the people of God, it's given to show us the glory of Christ
our Savior, to show us our eternal living Savior, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. And we need a living Savior.
We see this pattern. We see every time their judge
or their Savior died, the people went right on back to their old
wicked ways. But as long as that judge lived,
the people didn't fall away. They didn't turn back to their
own ways. And so we, brethren, have been
given a living Savior, an eternal Savior, an eternal salvation
that shall never change. And nor will you. You are ever
in the hand of your God who loves you and raised up a Savior for
your life and has given you the promise of life in Christ Jesus. And so He's the one that gives
us life. He ever preserves us, helps us,
and intercedes for us. And whenever that judge died,
the people went right on back to their own doings and their
stubborn way. And so God showed us this pattern
and shows us Christ, an eternal Savior. and eternal salvation. And He died once and defeated
all our foes, all our enemies in that death. And He delivered
us from their rule and power and put away our sin and gives
us life in Himself. And He did this by having the
authority and power of God for this to be a lasting eternal
salvation. Now turn over to Hebrews and
we'll see this. Hebrews 7 And we're going to look at verses
21 through 27. Here in this passage, in Hebrews
7, the Spirit is teaching us of the eternal salvation that
we have in Christ, and that He's a high priest forever, and not
like the order of Aaron, where Aaron died, and then Aaron's
son took over, and Aaron's son died, and they were raised up,
and they died as well. But it's a parallel passage that
shows us the eternal salvation of Christ. So verse 21, those
priests, Aaron, of the line of Aaron, were made without an oath.
But this, with an oath, it's according to promise, the promise
of God, by him that said unto him, the Lord swear and will
not repent. He will not change his mind.
Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And
Melchizedek, just so you know, it's in Abraham. He met Abraham in the way when
Abraham returned from the battle. And Abraham's sacrifice to Melchizedek,
the high priest, who is a picture of Christ, having no beginning
and no end. He's eternal. By so much was
Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they, those of
Aaron, truly were many priests, because they were not suffered
to continue by reason of death, just like the judges in our book.
They died eventually. But this man, because he continueth
ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood, and he is an unchangeable Saviour. Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Brethren, you have
a sure more sure word of prophecy revealed in Christ, this salvation,
this hope you have in the Lord Jesus Christ shall never shall
never fall apart. It will never come to an end.
You have an eternal salvation in this High Priest, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the Savior that died once and shall never
die again. You have a lasting salvation. You will not go back to your
false and dead ways because you live forever in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And verse 26 says, for such an
high priest became us. He's necessary for us, who is
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher
than the heavens. He died once, and God raised
him from the dead, never to die again. And you died in him and
have been raised to life in Christ. And our Lord is now seated on
the right hand of the throne of God. And he needeth not daily
as those high priests to offer up sacrifice, first for his own
sins, and then for the people's. For this he did once when he
offered up himself. And so our Savior is given by
God for this eternal purpose, your eternal life and salvation. That's good news. That's glorious
good news for sinners who cannot save themselves and have no righteousness
in this flesh, but our righteousness is the Lord Jesus Christ. And
so our Lord tells us, I am come that they might have life and
that they might have it more abundantly. He's speaking to
you that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. He's
speaking of his sheep that hear his voice and believe him. And
to this end, Christ came and destroyed the authority that
our enemy had over us. He weakened and destroyed his
grip that was upon us. And he's put away our sins so
that there's nothing hanging over our heads. There's no debt
that we owe. It's been paid by the blood of
Christ. He's paid our debt, He's put
away our sin, He's made us righteous in Himself, and He's raised us
from spiritual death and being outside of the family of God,
and He's given us life in Him and made us partakers of this
salvation. And He's given us His Spirit
that dwells in us, revealing these truths and this hope in
us. In verse 12 our Lord said, I
am the light of the world, he that followeth me shall not walk
in darkness, but shall have the light of life. And this he sovereignly
gives to his people. by the promise made to us in
Christ himself. All right, so that's the pattern
that's being witnessed here. And now I want to speak to you
about what the scriptures show us here concerning the word of
our God, which is spoken unto you, that word which destroyed
your enemy, defeats all the enemies of God, and at the same time,
that word gives you life. gives you salvation, rallies
you to Christ, who is lifted up and exalted before our eyes
in the preaching of the gospel. So in the appointed hour, according
to the purpose of God, he strengthens our enemies. He strengthens that
hand. He brings us to be oppressed
in ourselves, to know I'm the sinner. I'm the guilty sinner
against a holy and a righteous God. Lord, how can a guilty sinner
be just with God? Lord, how is it that you save
sinners? Well, the Lord appoints that
hour. He brings that hour for every
one of his people so that we feel our need of his salvation
and we cry out to him for deliverance from our oppressors. Now look
at verse 15, Judges 3, 15. But when the children of Israel
cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud
the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left-handed, and by him
the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon, the king of Moab. And so this seems to be something
that was a normal occurrence, and they sent it by this guy
Ehud, not knowing what was going to be done. I don't even know
how much Ehud understood what was going to be done at the time.
But the people were serving their cruel oppressor, and they sent
a present to him. And so God raises up for the
people a savior. He's appointed this hour and
he raises up a savior in Ehud and we see pictures of Jesus
Christ in this man, Ehud. His name means, I will give thanks,
I will be praised. And he's the son of Gerah and
Gerah means a grain. And it signifies a scraping or
a scratching as well with that grain. And we're told that he's
a Benjamite. And the name Benjamin means son
of the right hand. Son of the right hand. And so
we see in Ehud's name and description a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ
when he was come in the flesh, when he was come as your mediator
and your savior to deliver you from your enemy and to put away
your sins and to give you life in himself. And so when Christ
came in the flesh, We see Him giving thanks and honor to His
Father in all that He does. And because He served the Father
obediently, perfect in all things, God hath exalted Him. And we
praise the name of our Savior. And we also see that when He
came in the flesh, the words He spoke, His very presence being
here scraped against the grain of man-made self-righteous religion,
things that could not save. And we know that he is now seated
on the right hand of the throne of God. And so we see pictures
of our Savior in this Ihud, this Ihud. And so the time of our
Lord's flesh here on the earth, we call that His humiliation,
when He was humbled, Almighty God taking upon Him the weakness
of this flesh, it's His humiliation, and that's what's being alluded
to when they call Him a man left-handed. In the original, And you could
see this if you have a King James with a margin, it'll describe
that word left-handed as meaning one who is bound, one who is
impeded on the right. He's bound and impeded on the
right. And it describes the grace of
our Savior, who laid aside the glory which he had with the Father,
to come in this flesh, being bound and impeded in the weakness
of flesh, hiding, disguising that glory, to come, so that
the people would turn against Him, and they despised Him. Otherwise,
they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory, if they knew
who He was. But He came bound. laying aside
what he had on the right hand of the throne of God in the bosom
of the Father, to come and be your Savior, weakened, despised,
hated by his own people, a babe lying in a manger, one who's
poor and lowly. And so that's the picture that
we're given here in the man left-handed. Now in this text, let's read
verses 16 through 22. We're gonna read a good chunk
and then we'll talk more about it when we're done. It says there
in verse 16 that Ehud made him a dagger, which had two edges
of a cubit length. I believe that's from about the
elbow to the finger. And he did gird it under his
raiment upon his right thigh. And he brought the present unto
Eglon, king of Moab. And Eglon was a very fat man. And when he had made an end to
offer the present, he sent away the people that bear the present."
So nothing has happened yet. Ehud comes and Ehud goes. But as he was going, it says
that he turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal. So he had made it some ways out. The ceremony of the present giving
was already done. He had that dagger with him,
but it wasn't until he saw the quarries, which is believed where
they would carve out the stone for the idols, the idolatry that
they practiced there, and then the spear came upon him. The
Spirit came on him and he went back and said, I have a secret
Aaron unto thee, O king, who said, keep silence, don't say
anything now. And all that stood by him went
out from him. You can see how the hand of God
is lining everything up perfectly, everything for this deliverance
of his people, just like with Christ. And Ehud came unto him,
and he was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself
alone. And Ehud said, I have a message
from God unto thee. He declared the word of God to
him, and Eglon was interested and rose up out of his seat to
hear what the message was. And Ehud put forth his left hand,
and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into
his belly. And the haft also went in after
the blade, and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could
not draw the dagger out of his belly. and the dirt came out. Now, there's two things that
I want to speak about with you from this passage. One is the
glorious salvation which is accomplished for you, his people, by your
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And then the other, the second
thing, is the power of this Word, which is a saver of death unto
death against your enemies, against them that hate the Lord And as
we'll see, not in this passage, but as we get to a few more verses,
we'll see how that same word is a saver of life unto life
in the people of God. And you that hear it and rejoice
in your Savior. So Eglon, king of Moab, he is
the enemy of God and the enemy of God's people, and therefore
he must be destroyed. And you notice that in salvation,
the Lord always destroys the enemy first. He puts them down. He destroys the enemy. The serpent's
head must be crushed. He must stamp out the enemy,
destroy him, and put him away, silence him against the people. And so then, after destroying
the enemy, then he delivers the people from the hand of their
enemy. And so this is true of sin and
death, which entered into the world by one man, Adam. When
he sinned, the evil one was there, present in the garden. But sin
wasn't in the world. It wasn't in the one who had
dominion over that world, Adam. It wasn't until he sinned that
death entered into the world. And then we all were corrupted
and ruined in Adam. And we died in him. That sin
and that that law of sin and death is what then came upon
us and ruined us and we came forth dead in trespasses and
sins so that even to this day when a new child is born they
come forth speaking lies even from the womb. We're all sinners
dead in trespasses and sins. Therefore We also see that we
cannot keep the law of God, which is perfect and holy and just
and right. But we can't keep it because
we are sinners, defiled and ruined. And we, therefore, are under
the curse of the law by nature in that we can't keep it. And
therefore, death is our lot under the law. And that curse there
is the second death, that eternal death, that eternal punishment
of God for sinners. And so the curse stood opposed
to us inheriting that eternal inheritance, inheriting eternal
life in the Lord. It stood opposed to us. We didn't
hear the Word of God and we had no part in the Word of God until
the Lord delivered us and made us to hear that word by his grace. And so the way he did that was
sending his son in the flesh, who came and put that word, or
declared that word and destroyed our enemies and declares this
word of salvation unto us. And so turn over to Colossians
2. Colossians 2. Here we see what our Savior wrought
for us in the weakness of His flesh, in fulfilling the promise
made unto Abraham and all his children in him. Colossians 2.13 And you, being
dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross. His death put all that away for
us. It took all that was standing
in the way, preventing us from hearing and receiving that inheritance. And, verse 15, having spoiled
principalities and powers, all our enemies, He made a show of
them openly. In other words, He made a public
spectacle of them. He shamed our enemies. He destroyed
our enemies. He defeated them and put them
down, triumphing over them in it. And so Christ, the Word of
God made flesh, came and fulfilled all the Word of God's promise
to His people, saving us by that promise. And He did this by his
word of power as a dagger, which put to death our enemies, that
destroyed them, overthrew them. And then by that same word, he
calls his people, as we'll see in a few verses from here, the
trumpet, when the trumpet blew. So here's the dagger, which kills
and destroys our enemy. And it's the word that summons
us, that calls us out of darkness and from our rebellion to rally
around the Lord Jesus Christ and rejoice in Him, walk by faith
in Him. So first it comes as a destruction
of our enemies. Verse 16, I'll just read that
one. But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit
length, and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh. And so when Christ came, He had
the authority of God as our mediator and Savior to destroy our enemies. He had the authority of God to
do what he did. and delivering us from the hand
of our enemy and giving us life in himself. The dagger was under
his raiment on his right thigh. It was the means of our deliverance.
And so in Revelation 9, 15, and 16 we have a picture of this.
It says, out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword. that with it he
should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod
of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and
wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. And so this same Jesus comes
the conquering king, and none can stop him. None can stay his
hand or prevent him from accomplishing his will and purpose to save
you, his people, to deliver you from your oppressors. And so
when he died on the cross, he had the authority of God to do
what he did, to die in our place, to die as our sin substitute
and to put away our sin and to obtain eternal redemption for
us. And we know he has the authority
because God raised him from the dead. Now having destroyed our
foes there on the cross, having severed that power, having broken
that reign that they had over us and delivering us from our
enemy, what does he do? He sends forth that word. which
conquers the people, which destroys the enemies of God and encourages
and comforts and builds up, saves the people of God when they hear
that word. Now we see that difference over
in 2 Corinthians 2. Let's go there to 2 Corinthians
2. We see here a picture of our
Lord sending his word out in every place, making known what
Christ has accomplished for his people in the death of himself.
Psalm like Eglon, who hear it, it's their death. They are destroyed
by that word, and their dirt comes spilling out all over the
ground. Because when that word comes,
they rise up to hear it. There's an interest in hearing
what the message of God is, but it strikes their self-righteous
pride. It strikes their fatness of their
own self-righteousness, and they can't let it go. They're offended
by that word. It's like the rich young ruler
who heard what Christ said and was offended by it and went away
sad because he was a wealthy man, rich in works, rich in religion,
rich in self-righteousness, and it slays that one. It kills them. It puts them to death. But to
others who are chosen of God, they do hear. because they are
poor and they have nothing in themselves. They have no works,
no righteousness to boast of before God. And so verse 14,
it says this here. Now, thanks be unto God, which
always causeth us to triumph in Christ and maketh manifest
the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. We make known
the savor of his knowledge in every place through the preaching
of the gospel. And when you speak of Christ
and glorify him you're making known the savor of his knowledge. That which delights our God and
pleases him, we're just declaring our Savior, what he's done for
us. And it's a sweet picture of preaching the gospel. For
we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved
and in them that perish. To the one we are the savor of
death, unto death. Eglon heard that message from
God, and it slew him. It put him to death. And his
filth, that which he trusted in and was content in, spilled
out all over the place. And so he died. And that word
never came out of him. It slew him forever. He was eternally
dead from that day. But we read of some who are called
the others, who do hear it. or second half of verse 16, and
to the other, the saver of life unto life, and who is sufficient
for these things. For we are not as many which
corrupt the word of God. We declare this truth to all
men, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God
speak we in Christ. Now, due to the way the Lord
worked this whole thing, Ehud was able to escape unnoticed. people were confused. They didn't
know what was going on and it's a picture of our Savior who rose
from the dead being uncorrupted. He was delivered from that grave.
He was delivered from death and never to die again just as we
see with Ehud. Now go back to our text in Judges
3 and let's pick up in verse 27 and read to verse 30 and then
we'll talk about that. It came to pass, when he was
come, that he blew a trumpet, and the mountain of Ephraim and
the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and
he before them. And he said unto them, Follow
after me. Just like our Lord, follow me. For the Lord hath delivered your
enemies, the Moabites, into your hand. And they went down after
him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not
a man to pass over. You know, they believed the word
of victory. They heard the trumpet. They
believed what Ehud said. And they were rallied to it.
And they went in faith to destroy their enemies. And they slew
of Moab at that time about 10,000 men, all lusty, all fat, and
all men of valor. And there escaped not a man.
You know, after that word came, they obtained that victory for
themselves. They received, they heard and
believed that victory, and they went and obtained it. So Moab
was subdued that day under the hand of Israel, and the land
had rest four score years, or 80 years. And so, you know, when
that trumpet blew, when Ehud got back to the Mount of Ephraim
and he blew that trumpet, we know Israel was in rebellion. They were living in sin and in
darkness, but they heard. They heard the Word and believed,
just like our Lord does for us. We are all sinners and trespassers
and dead in sins, and that Word blows, that Word comes forth,
the Gospel sounds forth, and when the Spirit comes upon us,
we hear that Word. and receive it, and believe,
and are called out of our sin, and death, and darkness. And
so they forsook their stubborn way, that they were walking in,
and they went under the banner of life and salvation, and slew
their enemies. And so it is that we preach Christ
Jesus, the eternal Savior, And He has obtained for us the victory
over our enemies. And the Lord, by His Spirit,
separated you out to hear this word, sanctified you to hear
this word, and to receive that word, and to believe what has
been declared to you in the Lord Jesus Christ. And by His grace
and power, you do follow Him now, believing that He has conquered
your enemies, that he has obtained for you victory in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so they went forth, and as
we do now, slaying the enemies of our own heart. We're delivered
of our sins in the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, they slew of
Moab about 10,000 men, all lusty and all men of valor, and their
escape not a man. Sounds like the sins of our own
flesh, which Christ has overcome. They have no power, no authority
over you anymore. They're not dictating whether
or not you shall receive that second life, that eternal inheritance. You have obtained it in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You have no fear of the second
death. You have no fear of the punishment
and wrath of God, which comes against the inhabitants of this
world, who are yet his enemies, because you are sons and daughters
of the true and living God. and you have the victory in the
Lord Jesus Christ. We follow after him. He that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life. We are justified by his righteousness. We are born again by the grace
of his spirit given unto us, forming us in Christ, making
us partakers of his grace, so that all who believe him have
the forgiveness of sins. and know, are made to know that
their enemies are put away, that they're silenced, and that in
that day we shall have a glorious resurrection in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Believe Him and enjoy the peace
and the rest which He has obtained for your souls. He is the eternal,
almighty Savior, and this is the word of our deliverance,
brethren. All right, let's close in prayer.
Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, for this word of deliverance.
We thank you for the glorious good news of our Savior, who
lives forever, who took upon Him this flesh, came in weakness,
bound in it, and impeded by it. Lord, but it did not stop you.
You came and overthrew all our enemies. and obtained eternal
redemption for us by your grace. And Lord, we thank you that as
your word came forth, we did not die like so many, but rather
were given life. And it's all by your grace and
mercy, Lord, that you work this in us. We thank you, Lord, for
this mercy. pray that you would help us to
to rejoice in it following after our Lord believing that you have
already gained the victory for us in our Savior Lord help us
to walk in this truth in faith and Lord bless our brethren gather
your people together under the sound of this word it's in Christ's
name we pray and give thanks amen Let's all stand and sing 288.
Let's sing of that wonderful piece that Eric just preached
to us about, the wonderful piece 288. Verse 4 verses. Far away in the depths of my
spirit tonight grows a melody sweeter than song. In celestial like strains it
unceasingly falls, O'er my soul like an infinite calm. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, In fathomless pillows of love. What a treasure I have
in this wonderful peace, Buried deep in the heart of my soul. So secure that no power can mine
it away, while the years of eternity roll. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, in fathomless billows of love. I am resting tonight
in this wonderful peace, resting sweetly in Jesus' control. For I'm kept from all danger
by night and by day, and His glory is flooding my soul. Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, In fathomless billows of love. And methinks when I
rise to that city of peace, Where the author of peace I shall see, That one strain of the song which
the ransom will sing In that heavenly kingdom shall be Peace,
peace, wonderful peace Coming down from the Father above Sweep
over my spirit forever, I pray, In featherless billows of love. Thank you.