Well, good evening and welcome
to our continuing study of the book of Judges. We're in Judges
chapter 12 today, and we're going to be looking at the first seven
verses of this Judges chapter 12. We're going to come to the
final words about our friend Jephthah, who's been judge. And
it seems like he's been judged longer than what it says, but
he's going to be judged for six years. Would you open your Bibles
tonight and turn with me to the book of Judges chapter 12, and
I'd like to read verses 1 through 7. Judges chapter 12 verses 1
through 7, And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together
and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passest
thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst
not call us to go with thee? We will burn thine house upon
thee with fire. And Jephthah said unto them,
I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon,
And when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. And
when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands
and passed over against the children of Ammon. And the Lord delivered
them into my hand. Wherefore then are you come up
unto me this day to fight against me? Then Jephthah gathered together
all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. And the men of
Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, ye Gileadites are
fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.
And the Gileadites took the passage of Jordan before the Ephraimites,
and it was so that when those Ephraimites which were escaped
said, let me go over, that the men of Gilead said unto him,
art thou an Ephraimite? And if he said nay, then said
they unto him, say now Shibboleth. And he said Sibboleth, for he
could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him
and slew him at the passages of Jordan. And there fell at
that time of the Ephraimites 42,000. Now the final words with
regard to Jephthah, verse seven, until we get to the New Testament
in Hebrews chapter 11. And Jephthah judged Israel six
years, then died Jephthah the Gileadites, and was buried in
one of the cities of Gilead. That will be our reading for
tonight, as we're just, goes on to the next three judges in
the remainder of this chapter, and we'll deal with that at a
further date. It's interesting as we look at
this, that we find a lot in the Bible about this group of people
called the Ephraimites. Now remember, Ephraim, Manasseh
and Ephraim were the sons of Joseph. and they inherited Joseph's
part in the land. In fact, it almost was like a
double inheritance because Joseph, there's not the tribe of Joseph,
but there is the tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh. And these are the
sons of Joseph, the grandsons of Jacob, Israel. And there's
a lot said in the Bible about them, about the Ephraimites,
and some of it is not very complimentary. Now there is one bright, star,
if I could put it that way, about the Ephraimites, and that was
Joshua. He was of the tribe of Ephraim. Caleb was the tribe
of Judah. So, we go back there and look at that, and we say,
what a person that would follow the Lord, bring back those two,
bring back a report that God is able to put aside all of the
things in the land that would hinder them, and he would give
them the victory, but the 10 others said no. Well, look with
me, if you would, in the book of Judges. We're going to read
a couple other verses in the book of Judges that share with
us some insights, some words about Ephraim. In the book of
Judges chapter one, the book of Judges chapter one, we read
this with regard to Ephraim. Judges chapter one, Verse 29,
Judges chapter one, verse 29, neither did Ephraim drive out
the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwelt
in Gezer among them. Now, this is a little bit of
insight about Ephraim. They didn't follow the word of
the Lord. They didn't follow what he said to get rid of all
of these folks that were inhabitants of the land. And we know exactly
what happened if you're gonna leave some of the enemy within
the area that there's gonna be intermarriage, and there's gonna
be children born to these folks, and some of these folks are gonna
follow after the religion of these inhabitants, the Canaanites
that were in the land, and no doubt that did happen. In the
book of Judges, again, we find in chapter eight, Judges chapter
8, verse 1, we have again that earlier in the time of Gideon
being judge of Israel, that Ephraim once again brought up this accusation. And the men of Ephraim said unto
him, unto Gideon, why hast thou served us thus, that thou callest
us not when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they
did chide with him sharply. Now, if we remember, we go back
to the book of Judges, chapter eight, and we read there, chapter
seven and chapter eight, we read there about Gideon. Now, Gideon
went and prepared to go into battle with a great army. And
we find that the Lord said, there are too many there. So he had
Gideon take them down to the creek. And then we ended up with
a much less sized army. And then the Lord said, again,
there's too many here. And if we don't, if something
doesn't happen and you go into battle with this many, you're
gonna brag on what you did. So eventually it was cut down
to 300 men. Now at that time, Ephraim was
not in the equation, but they argued that they should have
been in the equation, and God had made the choice of how many
would be in that number, how many would be in that host of
army that would go up against all of this great horde of Midianites. Now the Lord gave them a great
victory, and it was the Lord's victory, and Gideon and the 300
could not say, look what we've done. But the Ephraimites here
find fault because they're not invited to go into battle. And
how often, that is so true, even today, and we'll look at a few
thoughts of that in just a moment. Over in the book of the Psalms,
it's mentioned again about Ephraim, and I'm just picking out a few
verses of scripture that bring up this subject of this particular
tribe, and their unfaithfulness in many ways. And there's such
an illustration of that very thing. In the book of Psalms
78, and there in verse nine, Psalms 78 in verse nine, it says,
the children of Ephraim, Psalms 78, verse nine, the children
of Ephraim, now notice this, being armed and carrying bows. They are prepared for battle.
They have the armament for battle. They have all that is necessary.
but it tells us in the last few words of this verse of scripture,
turn back in the day of battle. So they had no heart for the
battle and even though prepared and looked like they would fight,
they didn't. And what a statement it makes
about this tribe of Ephraim and the Ephraimites. And then if
you would also look with me here in the scriptures to the book
of Hosea. Now in the book of Hosea, Ephraim's
name is found 37 times in 32 verses, and most of the time
it's not very complimentary. Now, I haven't made a study of
Ephraim throughout the Old Testament, and there are many, many verses
that mention his name. I'm not exactly sure of all that
it means, but here we find some verses of Scripture that share
with us the from God's viewpoint through his prophet Hosea about
these folks. So if you'll turn with me to
the book of Hosea, I'm just gonna pick out three verses of scripture
that are in the book of Hosea that share with us some of the
way that Ephraim is. The book of Hosea, and in chapter
seven and verse eight, Hosea chapter seven, verse eight, we
read this. Ephraim hath mixed himself among
the people. And then we find the Holy Spirit
shares this information about this tribe, about these Ephraimites.
And there are the folks that came out, sharp criticism to
Gideon because they were not invited. And then we have in
chapter 12 of the book of Judges, our study for tonight, we have
this group of people, the Ephraimites coming out and sharply criticized
Jephthah for not inviting them to go along and fight the Ammonites.
And then we find that to correct the matter, Jephthah did invite
them, but they would not come. Well, they say one thing and
do another, and that's what we find here in Hosea chapter 7
and verse 8. Ephraim hath mixed himself among
the people. Ephraim is a cake not turned. So, I don't know about you, but
I don't care for hot cakes that are only cooked on one side,
and they're gooey on the other side, and that's kind of what
we have here. They are unsettled, they mix
themselves, they say one thing and do another, and we just find
that there's a serious problem with this group of people. And
also in the book of Hosea, just the next chapter, if you turn
with me to, excuse me, the chapter 9, two chapters over, chapter
9 verse 16, we read this about the Ephraimites. It says, Ephraim
is smitten. Their root is dried up. They
shall bear no fruit. Yea, though they bring forth,
yet shall I slay even the beloved fruit of the womb. This is God's
statement about the Ephraimites. Ephraim is smitten. Jacob have
I loved. These all have I hated, and here
we have a whole group of people that are put into that category
also. And then finally, in the book
of Hosea, chapter 12, if you turn with me to Hosea chapter
12, and there in verse one, it tells us here about Ephraim.
They like wind pudding, it tells us here. Ephraim feedeth on wind. Hosea chapter 12, verse one.
Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind.
He daily increaseth lies and desolation, and they do make
a covenant with the Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt."
What a statement is made here about their sustenance, it's
wind, there's no benefit to it, and then they also says they
make a covenant with the Assyrians, they daily increase with lies,
All of these are very non-complementary things that are said in the Bible
about these Ephraimites. Well, when we turn here, we find
that they just demonstrate what natural man does as a result
of the fall. They are good representatives
of natural man, what we were by nature. So if you'll go back
with me to the book of Judges chapter 12, Judges chapter 12,
and there in verse one, we'd like to go through these verses
kind of one at a time and look at some of the things that are
brought out. It talks us here about these Ephraimites and they
come up against Jephthah and they threatened to burn him and
his house. And there continues as in the days of Jephthah, Ephraimites,
fill our days too. Those who will not join in the
conflict yet will find fault with those who do. You went into
battle, you didn't invite us. Given the opportunity, we didn't
go into battle. What a statement that really
makes. There are those who still think nothing can be done without
them. No one is indispensable. I remember hearing of a dear
friend of mine who pastors a church, and there was some people that
left the church, and they told him, you're going to miss our
tithes. Well, what arrogance that is. And yet, we found out
in visiting with that pastor friend, they didn't miss their
tithe. In fact, the Lord gave them more than they were getting
before those folks left. So what a statement, arrogance.
I remember here, many years ago, there was a couple that attended
for two or three Sundays, and he wanted to have some coffee.
I went to visit with him in a coffee shop, and he says, you don't
know what a blessing we'd be to your church. Well, my friends,
I don't mind being a blessing to the church, but we're sinners
saved by grace. It's not a point of arrogance
that we're gonna add anything to the church. Christ adds his
people to the church, and he adds his blessing. Most betray
themselves by a few words. You know, Jephthah didn't have
to say anything when those folks come up there. They betrayed
themselves by their own words. They betrayed them by their nature,
mouth opened up and it spewed out those things. Why didn't
you ask us to go with you when he had already done that? It's
not enough to be related to Abraham or to Israel. We want to be involved
and we were not involved and they were not involved by their
own choice. Their words betrayed them and
we don't really ever have to lay a trap. to find out what
people believe. It's not gonna be very long.
They're gonna tell us what they believe. My grandmother was a
Christian, and that just said, my goodness, what a statement
that made. They didn't even know what they
said and how they beguiled themselves and lied about themselves. In the book of Galatians, as
we think about those who stand on the gospel, they will soon
reveal their hearts. to discover where they stand
on the gospel. It won't take long for them to
reveal their hearts. It won't take long for them to
share with what they believe in their heart about the gospel. And I'll never forget visiting
with a man one time, he said he was the person that broke
the mold because he was saved without ever hearing the gospel.
Well, that's just too rare. He was the rare one, but it's
too rare. And I'll never forget Brother Henry Mahan shared with
me about Roth Barnard when he asked a lady one time when she
was saved, oh, I've always been a Christian. And he said, that's
just too long. So they betray themselves by
what they say. Don't have to set a trap, they
just do it. And it doesn't take long for
them to bring that out. In the book of Galatians, if
you'd turn with me to the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter
1. Galatians chapter one, Brother
Lauren read this passage of scripture in preparation for his message
upon Hagar and Sarah, and it just fits as we think about this. It says there in Galatians chapter
one, verse six and seven, Galatians chapter one, verse six and seven,
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ to another gospel. which is not
another, but there be some that trouble you. They don't have
to open their mouth. You don't have to set a trap.
They just shared. They perverted the gospel and
brought the law in. And once that happens, once they
start advertising that, they betrayed themselves. They show
that they're truly an Ephraimite in heart. They pervert the gospel
of Christ, and anything that perverts the gospel of Christ
is going to be termed, in my estimation, an ephraimite. They
just cannot handle the truth. Well, again, if you look with
me in the scriptures in the book of Titus, In the book of Titus
chapter one, Titus chapter one, as we find that the New Testament
is filled with these warnings about those who would come up
and insult the gospel. Those who would come up as Ephraim
did, as Ephraimites did there with Jephthah, you didn't ask
us, he said, yes, I did, and you would not come. Well, it's
just a common error on people's part. Their heart is not in it. In the book of Titus chapter
one, verse 10, For there are many unruly and vain talkers
and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision. Many unruly
and vain talkers and deceivers. It's just interesting that those
Ephraimites came out against Jephthah and said, we're gonna
burn your house down with you in it. Can you just see the veins
in their neck? a body sticking out with anger
and madness against Jephthah and the success that God had
given him and those that were with him. The Ephraimites were
invited to go along in this. In fact, Jephthah encouraged
them because they were in great strife, but they refused to come.
They had their bows, they had their armament, but they turned
back in the day of battle. Well, here it tells us going
on in the book of Titus chapter one and verse two, 11, it says,
whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching
things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake. Now, we're
going to find out that Jephthah was led by the Holy Spirit to
stop their mouths over there in the book of Judges, chapter
12. And then in verse 12, of this passage of scripture, it
says, one of themselves, even a prophet of their own said,
Cretans are always liars, evil beasts and slow bellies. And
how that could be said with regard to the Ephraimites in the days
of Jephthah the judge, the judge appointed by the Lord to come
and deliver Israel from the troubles they were in. Oh, in the book
of Revelation, We find another statement made here with regard
to those who say one thing and do another. They're prepared
for battle, but they turn away. They say they will eat the food
of the gospel, and yet they are satisfied with wind pudding.
In fact, it reminds me so much of that passage of scripture
over in the book of Isaiah, where it says, we want your name, but
we don't want your bread and we don't want your clothing,
but we want your name so that we'll be legitimate. Well, the
Ephraimites didn't want the name of Christ, and they didn't want
his bread, and they didn't want his clothing, but they wanted
to be considered as one of the tribes of Israel. Here in the book of Revelation
chapter two, verse two, the scriptures share this. I know thy works,
and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them
which are evil. And thou hast tried them which
say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars. They say they are apostles, and
are not. How did they betray themselves?
How were they found out to be liars? They lied about the gospel. They lied about Christ. They
lied about the most important thing. They always brought in
things that are not scriptural, and we find that with regard
to those that were in that were in the church even, that lied
about Christ, that said, you know, yes, it's pretty good that
you have this, but you must add law. You must add these other
things to it. Without circumcision, you cannot
be saved. What a lie has been brought out
through those whole things. And then if you will turn with
me back to the book of 2 John, 2 John chapter one and verse, Well, maybe this is, I must have the wrong verse. Well, I wrote down who confessed
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. And that's such
a statement made with regard to the Ephraimites. Let's go back to the book of
Judges chapter 12. Back to the book of Judges chapter
12. There in verse 1. It says here, the Ephraimites
were very upset. We will burn your house with
you in it. Nothing is much worse than a
graceless religious zealot, and we find that found in Saul of
Tarsus, and we'll be speaking about that momentarily. As the
Lord Jesus shared with us in the book of Matthew chapter 15
and verse eight, these people draweth nigh unto me with their
mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far
from me." It's not what is said, it's what is in the heart. That
is what we find. And in the book of Mark, would
you turn with me to the book of Mark for just a moment, and
then we'll be back here in the book of Judges. But in the book
of Mark, the book of Mark chapter 7, Mark chapter 7 and verse 6,
we read this, Mark chapter 7 verse 6, And he answered and said unto
them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written,
This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is
far from me. Isaiah prophesied about that
many, many years before the Lord Jesus brought it out, but it's
still the truth. Prophesied unto you hypocrites,
as it is written, this people honoreth me with their lips.
We are of the tribe of Ephraim. We are of Israel. We are of Abraham. And then their
heart was far from me. They would not come when Jephthah
asked him to come and help. Going back over now, back to
the book of Judges, and I think we'll spend a few moments over
here. In the book of Judges chapter
12, in Judges chapter 12, we have these words, verse two,
Judges chapter 12 and verse two, it says here, and Jephthah said, unto these folks, he asked for
help of these very folks. When I called you, you delivered
me not out of their hands. Verse two, Jephthah said unto
them, I and my people were at great strife with the children
of Ammon, and when I called you, you delivered me not out of their
hands. They had a deaf ear to the plea
of Jephthah for help. Why didn't you call us? I did. You would not come. You were
ready for battle. In the day of battle, you had
your bow and you had your armament. but you turned away in the day
of battle. And then it tells us in verse three, And when I
saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life into my hands and
passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered
them into my hand. Now, when we read the Lord delivered
them into my hand, we're not going to go at the first part
of this and say that Jephthah is bragging on what he did. He
just shares with us, the Lord delivered me and he used me and
these folks to deliver Israel from the hands of the Ammonites.
but it was still all of the Lord. The Lord was in charge of this.
The Lord was the God of their salvation. The Lord delivered
them, and there's no boasting in what they did themselves.
Now, if we look here in verse four, five, and six, we find
that Jephthah and his men fought with the people of Ammon, or
excuse me, of the Ephraimites. They were so put out, and it
appears that those Ephraimites came ready for battle. They came
to burn his house down. They came ready for battle. And
so Jephthah called up his army of the Gileadites, tells us here,
Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and they fought
with Ephraim. We've done enough, we've had
enough, this is enough. You come up and say and make
false accusations, you make lies about the gospel, you're satisfied
with yourself, you're satisfied with your wind, you're satisfied
with everything except Christ, so we're gonna go into battle
with you. And the men of Gilead smote Ephraim. how glorious that
God blessed Ephraim, excuse me, blessed the Jethwa and the Gileadites
over the Ephraimites. They are the enemy, and they
keep bringing this up, and nothing's gonna change their heart about
this. They're gonna continuously find fault, and they're always
gonna be a threat to the Gileadites. And they said, ye Gileadites
are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites. That's about
the lowest thing they could say. You are of your father. There just not much lore could
be said by the Ephraimites towards the Gileadites. What did they
tell Jesus? We be not born of fornication. Not much lore could be said in
their accusations about the Lord. And verse five, the Gileadites
took the passages of Jordan. Now it appears that they were
very close to the Jordan River, and there was one way of escape
for these Ephraimites. Now, I've never been over there.
I've never seen the Jordan River in real, only seen it in pictures,
and that's not half of it. I don't plan on going over there.
I'd much rather see the Colorado River before I ever saw that
place. There's so much religious worship of the place and not
of the person that was there. The Gileadites took the passages
of Jordan before the Ephraimites. Now it appears that there's a
place here. It doesn't tell us whether the river was at high
stage or not. but it appears to be that this
is the one place that they could safely cross over the Jordan
River and get out of there. And the Ephraimites headed there,
but we find out the Agileadites had already got there first.
God's providence. God's providence. Now, they're
all going to meet at one place. The Agileadites and the Ephraimites
are going to meet at one place, and that is the Jordan. You know,
it's interesting that everybody in the world, without exception,
we all are going to meet at this one place, and that one place
is death. We're going to cross over. I
like the imagery that is brought out about crossing over Jordan.
Well, we are going to meet that day. We're all going to cross
at the same place. It's always going to be at death.
And we'll talk about that in just a little bit. They put Ephraim
to flight. He could not stay, stand, or
persevere in the day of battle. And we know that at least 42,000
Ephraimites headed for the passages of the Jordan. There in verse
15, or verse five, and the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before
the Ephraimites. And it was so that when those
Ephraimites, which were escaped, said, let me go over, that the
men of Gilead said unto him, now isn't this interesting, that
they stayed there, they waited there, the Ephraimites showed
up there, and they asked him one question, are you an Ephraimite? And you know, these 42,000 men
denied their heritage. They denied their tribe. They
denied that they were related to Jacob. They denied that they were related
to Abraham. When it come, push come to shove,
they denied everything that they believed just to save their neck. What a statement is made here.
Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said no. Now here's the
test that came up. Here's the test. These folks headed for one place,
place on the Jordan, they met at just one place, and now they're
requested to pronounce one word. Here is the password. Said unto them, then they said
unto him, say now Shibboleth. Now, there's two words here that
are used, shibboleth, and the answer by the Ephraimites was
sibboleth. Now, the words mean the same
thing. There's no difference in definition.
Flowing river or swift stream, that's what these words mean.
But it tells us that the requirement was to say shibboleth, and they
could only say sibboleth. The same pride in evangelicy
is evident today. The Word of God declares Christ
died 20 centuries ago and secured the salvation of the elect, and
we're going to have people that can't say he died for his people. They will say he died for everybody.
Well, religion teaches man has a part in salvation by their
will, decision, or works. They are accusing Christ of not
allowing them to have part in their salvation. They cannot
say it. In verse, it says, let us go
over And are they out of Ephraimite? No. Well, say Shibboleth then. And the response was always Shibboleth,
for he could not frame to pronounce it right. It is evident that
they could not, and some commentary said they would not say it. They knew it, but they wouldn't
say it. That meant that they would be down on the same level
as the Gileadites, and they're never going to do that. We're
better people than that. God, I thank Thee that I'm not
like other men. I'm not like the Gileadites,
and I will prove it. I will not share with them their
word for a swift river. I'll keep my word about the swift
river, and that is Sibyleth. could not frame or pronounce
it. It is evident that they could not or they would not. They all
came to one place. They all refused or could not
or would not say Shibboleth, and they all died there. It tells us there that in verse
6, for he could not frame or pronounce it right, so they took
him and slew him at the passages of Jordan, and there fell at
that time, the Ephraimites, 42,000 soldiers. A single place in Scripture that
records those who are given the gift to say shibboleth is found
over in the book of Matthew, chapter 25. Turn with me, if
you would, to the book of Matthew, chapter 25. What a statement
is made here in the book of Matthew, chapter 25, about those who could
not or would not say shibboleth. or they could not and would not
say grace. We're saved by grace. In the
book of Matthew chapter 25, we find this great end, and it's
a statement that the Lord makes about that day, that great day,
when there is a resurrection of the just as well as the unjust,
The Bible knows nothing except that. The general resurrection,
just and the unjust. Daniel speaks about it, find
it in the New Testament, and there's been a lot of creative
writing, and I say that creative because it's not scriptural,
about the end times. follow the scriptures, and you'll
find out that there's a general resurrection in the end. And
here is a picture, a type, about that very thing, and it's found
in the book of Matthew, chapter 25, verse 31. When the Son of
Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with
him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." Now, he
doesn't have to sit upon a physical throne. He's been sitting upon
the throne of his glory. He is in charge. He has the authority
here. No one is going to change. They're
going to come up to this position, they're going to answer Shibboleth
or Sibboleth, and those who answer Shibboleth can't believe that
God granted them the grace to say it. They had nothing to do
with this. It was God that granted this
blessing. And before him shall be gathered all nations, verse
32, and he shall separate them one from the other as a shepherd
divides his sheep from the goats. Now there's a whole bunch of
the folks that are there, can't tell the difference. But God
does, Christ does. He separates them out. He knows
those he died for. I lay down my life for the sheep.
He knows the sheep and he separates them out. It's hidden from us. It's known by him. He knows those
that are his. They're separated as a shepherd
divides his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
the right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. And then he goes down through
a list here. I was hungry. I was thirsty. I was a stranger. I was naked. I was sick. I was in prison. I was... Now, that was the words
of the Lord. And he truly brings that out
here. Then shall the righteous say
unto him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee in these conditions? When did we see that? When did
we do that? What was it? Not once do they
bring out, I had faith, I believed, I did that, I was the reason,
I the one that chose God, I'm the one that chose the gospel.
They had nothing to say about that because they knew that they
had been drawn out of darkness to his marvelous light. There
was nothing that they could do to appropriate everlasting life. It's not in us. We're dead in
trespasses and sin. So they just agreed with the
Lord that salvation is of the Lord. And all that they did was
by the grace of God. And then it tells us here, Verse 41, now he doesn't bring
up any of the stuff He just simply says, depart from
me, you cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels. His mind is already made up. He didn't have to listen
to their excuses. He knows where they stand already.
They are like the Ephraimites. They can say as much as they
want to about the good things that they've done. And they can
even say, you didn't invite us to go into battle. And yet they
know in their heart, they were. God had, as Jephthah did, told
him, and they refused, you would not come to me that you might
have life. They shall say, depart from me,
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared from the devil, and
his angels. And it goes down here to say,
I was a hungered, I was a stranger, I was thirsty, I was naked, I
was sick, and you visited me not. Then shall they also answer
him, said, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, or a thirst,
or a stranger, and so forth, and so forth, and did not minister
unto thee? When didn't we do that? We did
that. We worked hard. Not everyone
that saith, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And it's not because we've done anything. It is because we've
done nothing. Our physical birth was left up,
not to us, but unto our parents. And our spiritual birth is not
up to us. It's unto the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
And we will agree with him once he has given us the new birth.
There is no argument with God about that. We just have been
shown where we came from. Sinners saved by grace. So they
start talking about, and they just cannot say grace. They're going to say Sibyleth.
They're going to say works. They can't get their mouth around
it. They are always involved in their
own salvation. And they will brag about it to
the very last breath. and they will come to that river
and they will die like everyone else that comes to that river
but this is what they will hear depart from me ye that worked
iniquity depart from me into the pit depart from me ye cursed
into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels
And then it tells us there in verse 46, and these shall go
away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into ever to
life eternal. So this is the final. Those who
can say grace, because it is by grace. Those who can say not
of works lest any man should boast. All of those things are
granted by grace. To be able to say shibboleth
is a gracious act of God. to say Sibyleth is a natural
response. It is just what we get by nature. Now over in the book of Mark,
turn with me to the book of Mark. Book of Mark here, chapter seven,
Mark chapter seven. Now it tells us here in Mark
chapter seven that the Lord is going to be dealing with a man
who is a deaf mute. He can't hear and he can't speak.
In Mark chapter seven, verse 31. and again departing from
the coast of Tyre and Sidon, he came into the Sea of Galilee
through the midst of the coast of Decapolis. And they bring
unto him one that is deaf and had an impediment of his speech,
and they beseech him to put his hand upon him." Now, this is
just the way religion is. I've got it already figured out.
I just cannot tell you how many times I've had people tell me
that I'm wrong when I leave people alone with the Lord. You should
get a confession out of them. You must close the deal. It's
like a car salesman. Close the deal. It's like a furniture
salesman. But this is not a car dealer
deal or a furniture deal. This is salvation, eternal life,
and that must be turned over to the Lord. So it doesn't matter
what we think, how it's done. It is going to be done by the
Lord as he does it. In fact, it says here, They gave
him and says, put his hand on him. That's all that's necessary
and then we'll leave. Well, Jesus took him aside from the multitude. He took him out of the way of
the people. He went off alone with this man. Now this man has some conditions.
That is he can't speak and he can't hear. This is probably
a natural disorder that he has, and yet we find it is so typical
of us when we're born into this world, we cannot hear the gospel
and we can't speak the gospel. We're tongue-tied. We just gonna
go to works, works, works. And he took him aside from the
multitude and he did something that is, you know, he did something
that, well, you and I would not want spit on us. is so unnatural. Well, salvation is not natural. It is supernatural. Salvation
is a miracle. It's an act of grace. It is how
God saves his people, and it's so contrary to the way we think
it should be done. By nature, we have it all figured
out, just like that leper in the Old Testament. I thought
he would do this. Well, he thought wrong, and we
do think wrong. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is by grace and grace alone. So all our thoughts that we have
and preconceived ideas that we have about this are always wrong. We cannot think a spiritual thought
because the scriptures, the Bible, is a spiritual book and the natural
man receiveth not the things of God because they are spiritually
discerned. So all our thoughts of how things
should be done and the way God does it is so contrary to our
thoughts. Well, just read this with me.
put his finger in his ears, and he spit and touched his tongue. Now, I don't know about you,
but that just doesn't seem right, does it? Well, that's right with
God. God is sovereign over this. He is sovereign over salvation.
He does it as he sees fit, as he pleases. And he, looking up
to heaven, he sighed and said unto him, epaphtha, that is,
be opened. And straightway his ears were
opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed. And notice
this, he spake plain. You know what he could say now?
Shibboleth. All of grace, all of grace. Salvation
is all of grace. He had been taken away that Sibyleth
and given the grace of God to believe. All of the fruits of
the Holy Spirit now are his. He realizes that he believed
because it was given to him. He repented because it was given
to him. All of the sweet blessings of grace, all of the sweet blessings
of the covenant of grace are given to us because of Christ.
And then finally, if you'd join me back in the book of Judges,
just read one verse of scripture, and with this we'll close, and
we'll close on what the Bible has to say in this section of
scripture about Jephthah, the judge of Israel, God's appointed
man. He's been God's appointed man.
And Jephthah judged Israel. Judges chapter 12, verse seven.
And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the
Gileadite and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead. That's
the end. Now we know by what the Lord
gives us, the information he gives us about Jephthah, that
he crossed over and heard, welcome thou good and faithful servant
We may say he did some very terrible things, he made a bad vow and
all that, but we also find out that he was given the information
by the Lord in that day. Welcome, thou good and faithful
servant, to the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. And we say amen. So I leave you with this. Is
it sybilleth or sybilleth? Is it grace or is it works? With this, we'll close tonight
and we'll pick this passage up in the book of Judges at the
next appointed time. May God bless you.