You join me in the book of Judges
tonight, Judges chapter 11. We've progressed that far and
we want to look at this chapter 11. It's 40 verses long and it
has a great deal to do about another judge. And his name is
Jethfah. And as we progress through this,
we'll notice some interesting things about him. But from the
very beginning, we have some very interesting things said
about this man. I'd like to read a few verses
here, and then we're gonna spend our time on verse one. Verse
one of Judges chapter 11. Now Jethfah the Gileadite was
a mighty man of valor, and he was the son of a harlot, And
Gilead begat Jephthah. And Gilead's wife bare him sons. And his wife's sons grew up,
and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt
not inherit in our father's house, for thou art the son of a strange
woman. Then Jephthah fled from his brethren,
and dwelt in the land of Tod. And there were gathered vain
men to Jephthah, and one out with him. came to pass in the
process of time that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. And it was so that when the children
of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to
fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tod. And they said unto Jephthah,
come and be our captain, that we may fight with the children
of Ammon. And Jephthah said unto the elders
of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father's
house? And why are ye coming to me now,
when ye are in distress? And the elders of Gilead said
unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou
mayest go out with us, and fight against the children of Ammon,
and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead, And Jephthah
said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to
fight against the children of Ammon, and the Lord deliver them
before me, shall I be your head? And the elders of Gilead said
unto Jephthah, The Lord be witness between us, if we do not according
to thy words. Then Jethro went with the elders
of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them.
And Jethro uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpah. Well,
we're going to stop there. There's quite a number of more
verses in this chapter, but we'd like to spend our time tonight
specifically on verse one. In verse one, we find out some
interesting things about this man. We find out that he is a
natural born leader, if we can use that term, it tells us there.
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor. He'd already proved himself in
many ways as being someone who could take care of himself probably
as well as some enemy. Now this word translated mightiest, or is often
translated mightiest or strongest. He's a mighty man of valor. And
in the places we're gonna go tonight, we find out he is called
the mightiest. And in another place, he's called
the strongest. So that's the comparison that
we have. Now we're gonna find out that Jethro has a lot about
him that is typical pictorial of our savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. that he had, the Lord was said, they said to him, we
be not born of fornication, and insinuating you are. So, and
we find out with regard to Joshua that he has a background that
many people wouldn't want, but we find it recorded here in the
Bible. Turn with me if you book to the book of First Corinthians,
excuse me, First Chronicles. First Chronicles, in First Chronicles,
Chapter 11, 1 Chronicles chapter 11 and verse 17. This same word
is used here with regard to Jephthah was a mighty man, a mighty man. Here it is depicted as the word
mightiest. In 1 Chronicles chapter 11 and
verse 17, David, who was king of Israel, he longed and said,
Now he's in a time when he doesn't get everything that he wants.
He's on the outs. And he said he longed that one
would give him a drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem
that is at the gate. Now he's very specific about
what he would like to have. He'd like to have a drink out
of the well of Bethlehem. And it says, and the three break
through the hosts of the Philistines. and drew water out of the well
of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it, and brought
it to David. But David would not drink it, but poured it out
to the Lord, and said, My God forbid me that I should do this
thing. Shall I drink the blood of these
men that have put their lives in jeopardy? For with the jeopardy
of their lives they brought it. Therefore, he would not drink
it. These things did these three
mightiest." What a statement is made here about these three
men. They're the mightiest. And that's the same word we find
over here with regard to Jephthah. He is a very, he's a mighty man
of valor. And in another place, this word
is used, it's found in the book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs,
and it has to do with regard to a lion. In the book of Proverbs
chapter 30, we read this about the same word about Jephthah
being a mighty man. He is the chiefest, he's the
mightiest, he is the strongest. And here in the book of Proverbs
chapter 30, in verse 30, we read these words about the same word. A lion which is the strongest
among beasts. That word strongest is the same
word. So if we keep these words in mind about Jethro, we find
out that this person has been chosen for this task because
he has great qualifications. And as we go through this chapter
and look at these qualifications with regard to Jethro, we're
reading about the Lord Jesus. The qualifications of the Lord
are the highest. There is nothing superlative
about greater than He is. He is the greatest. He is the
mightiest. He is the most powerfulest. And
so, these words give us some insight. As we read about Jethro,
we find them give an insight about the antitype, the fulfillment
of this. And it says, a lion, which is
the strongest, Proverbs 30, 30, a lion, which is the strongest
among beasts, and turneth not away from any. And I think that's
going to speak about Jethro, but we also find in that verse
of scripture, the Lord didn't turn away from any either. He
faced all commerce. And even when he was arrested
and taken, he declared unto them, and he told Pilate the same thing,
you can't do anything that I don't give you permission to do. So
he was in charge all the time. And we find with regard to Jephthah
that he has run off. Well, the Lord was, he came unto
his own and his own received him not. Came into the world,
world knew him not. So Jephthah is in that position
too. And then the word valor. There's a verse I want to read
in the book of Exodus along this same line of valor. He's a mighty
man of valor. In the book of Exodus, this word
again is used, the word valor, translated just a little bit
differently. In Exodus chapter 14 and verse
nine, we read this about this word valor. It tells us here
with regard to Pharaoh and that word army is the same word, mighty
man of valor. So we could just simply say that
Jethro was a mighty man in the army. He has an army. Well, if
we read about his kind of army, it's a bunch of misfits. And
we read about the church, a bunch of misfits. They're not looked
at with great admiration by the world. They're looked at as oddballs
and they're in such need, they need religion and all this stuff.
So, and I'm reminded of that passage of scripture over there
with regard to the patriarch that said he took the ring-streaked
and the speckled. He left the clean ones with his
father-in-law, but he took that as his payment. Well, truly,
that's the statement about the church. We are ring-streaked
and speckled. We are oddballs. We're misfits,
ne'er-do-wells, and yet the chosen of God the ones that the Lord
has a pleasure in being with. Well here in the book of Exodus
chapter 14 and verse 9 says, but the Egyptians pursued after
them all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and
his army. Jephthah is a mighty man of the
army, mighty man of valor, and overtook them in camping by the
sea, besides Piraeus, before Baal Zephon. So, and we know
the rest of the account here, all of Pharaoh's army is going
to be destroyed, but we wanted to look at that. If Jephthah
is a mighty man of valor, He stood out. He was quite conspicuous
about his appearance and what he could do. Now, whether, maybe
I should say, maybe he didn't stand out, but he really had
the ability of standing out. The Lord never stood out, but
he had the great ability of standing out. Well, going back to this
passage of scripture in the book of Judges, chapter one, I've
never spent an entire lesson on this subject, but it is brought
out here in the word of God, and I want to spend some time
on this subject, because there's a lot said in the Bible about
this subject. In the book of Judges, chapter
11, verse one, we have his pedigree. We have Justus' pedigree here
in Judges, chapter 11, verse one. And you know, to many people,
this is a pretty spotted pedigree. When it comes to his father,
his father could trace his line back to Adam. Every Jew could. they could go right back to their
father, Adam. And you know, we can too, because
that's what the Bible says about it. We don't have to go from
step A to step B to step C. I remember a preacher saying
one time, if you come up to a river and there's a herd of cattle's
footprints on this side of the river, and if you go over to
the other side and there's a herd of cattle's footprints coming
on that side of the river, you can be pretty well assured that
they made it through the river. Some of them did. Well, the Bible
tells us that we're all the descendants of Adam. And I don't need to
have a lineage back there. I can trace my lineage. I've
never done it, but I've had family members do it. And, you know,
in a lot of ways, it's a waste of time. And there's no good
about it. Well, anyway, Joppa, his father,
Gilead, could go back to Adam. And if it can, and since it does
go back to Adam, we find out that Jephthah is a sinner. This
whole section is ruined by the fall. There's a statement made
here about being ruined by the fall, and that's really the first
thing that preaching the gospel has to do with, ruined by the
fall. And it says, Jephthah's dad was
Gilead, But then we find that there is also a colored part
about his background. Now, it doesn't say the experience
or all the things that took place like we do and find in other
places, but it says that he was the son of a harlot. That Jephthah
was a son of a harlot. And you know, there is no mistake
that this is not a good thing And yet the Lord is gonna use
things just like this throughout the scriptures. We're gonna look
at a few of these things. We find out in the book of Genesis,
would you turn with me to the book of Genesis? Genesis chapter
38, we have Judah had a couple of sons and they married a woman. And they died. And under Jewish
law, the next son-in-line was supposed to marry and raise up
seed. Well, here in the book of Genesis chapter 38, Genesis
chapter 38, and there in, starting with verse 15, Genesis chapter
38 and verse 15. And when Judah saw her, now,
what in the world is he out here doing this for? God alone, and
I say this with emphasis, God alone can bring good out of evil.
When people try to correct that and make good out of evil, it's
never going to work. But God alone can take bad things
and turn it into good. We're going to find out that
there's at least two that played a harlot in the line of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And here's one of them. Now Judah
is direct line in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is one of the 12 sons of Jacob and is through this line we have
in the book of Revelation, the line of the tribe of Judah. Judah
is directly in line. He's the one that is going to
bring the next seed in that would be in the line of the Lord Jesus.
And it says Judah was out here flying the world And he thought
her to be a harlot because she had covered her face. Now this
is his daughter-in-law. She's been married to his sons,
and she has waited around for the fulfillment of another brother
to marry her. And so she just says, well, and
Judah comes along. And it says in verse 16, and
he turned unto her by the way. Now, I can't help but think that
this is a whole lot like Jephthah's dad. There's no good thing about it.
He's already married. He's got children by his wife,
but this is here, and it says he turned unto her by the way
and said, go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee, for
he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law, And she said,
wilt thou give me that thou mayest come unto me? And he said, I
will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, wilt thou
give me a pledge till thou send it? And he said, what pledge
shall I give thee? And she said, thy signet and
thy bracelets and thy staff that is in thy hand. And he gave it
to her and came unto her and she conceived by him. So he gave
a pledge, I'll bring a lamb over here, pay the price, but until
then, here is the down payment, or here's the collateral. And
she arose and went away and laid up her veil from her and put
on the garments of her widowhood. And Judah sent a kid by the hand
of his friend, the Adulamite, to receive his pledge from the
woman's hand, but he found her not. Then he asked the men of
the place, saying, where is the harlot that was openly by the
wayside? And they said, there is no harlot
in this place. And he returned to Judah and
said, I cannot find her. And also the men of the place
said that there is no harlot in the place. And Judah said,
let her take it to her, lest we be shamed. Behold, I send
this kid and now it's not found her. And it came to pass that
about three months after that it was told Judah saying, Tamar,
thy daughter-in-law has played the harlot. And also behold,
she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, bring her forth
and let her be burnt. And when she was brought forth,
she sent to her father-in-law saying, by the man whose these
are, am I with child. And said, discern, I pray thee,
whose are these, and the signet, and the bracelets, and the staff.
And Judah acknowledged them and said, she hath been more righteous
than I because I have gave her not to Shelah, my son, and he
knew her not anymore." Well, if we drop down to verse 29,
it came to pass as he drew back his hand that behold, his brother
came out. Now she's going to have twins.
One of them is in the direct line of the Lord Jesus, one of
them is not. He's a cousin along the way.
How hast thou broken forth this breach be upon thee? Therefore
his name is called Phares. And afterward came out his brother
that had the scarlet thread upon his hand, and his name is called
Zerah. You know, I've watched three
children being born. I didn't get to watch Nathan.
The doctor wouldn't let me be in there. It wasn't the time that
they did that. But I watched the others. I don't
know how this happened. I don't know how one son stuck
his hand out, He brought it back in, and his brother's born first.
I don't have to know how. I know it happened, because it's
written in the Word. There's things that happens in
the Word. I just have to believe by faith. Go to the book of Hebrews,
chapter 11, and you just understand that when God speaks, take it
to the bank. Well, anyway, this son is born.
His name is Pharaoh. Now, travel with me way over
to the New Testament, if you would, to the book of Matthew. Book of Matthew, chapter, Matthew chapter 1 and verse 3,
Matthew chapter 1 and verse 3. Now both of those sons are mentioned
here. but only one is in the line,
directly in the line. In verse three, and Judas, that's
Judah, that's that son of Israel, that's one of the 12 sons of
Israel, begat Pharaohs and Zerah of Tamar. We just went over there
and read that account. Right here in the middle of the
genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ is this lady mentioned, her two
sons are mentioned, and Judah is mentioned. Now, if we read
the next verse, it says, So here's the line going down,
and if we follow, we get to verse five. Salmon begat Boaz of Rahab,
and Boaz begat Obed of Ruth, and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse
begat David. Well, here we are, on the trail
down to the Lord Jesus Christ. So in this whole mix, God used
that incident to bring the person who would be in direct line of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're going to find out that
this line is made up of some very imperfect people. The line
of the Lord Jesus is made up of sinners. The line of the Lord
Jesus is made up of fallen children of Adam. The line of the Lord
Jesus is made up of people ruined by the fall. Now, there's only
one in that line that is perfect, only one in that line that has
righteousness, and that is the end of the line, and that's Jesus
Christ the righteous. Now, you know, we don't find
much about Mary's other children. We find a few of their names,
but we don't find any of her grandchildren's names or her
great-grandchildren's names. It doesn't make any difference.
We don't need that. But we do have the end of this
special line, and his name is Jesus. And his name was called
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. So this
man right here brought him to this world through the relationship
between Tamar, who played the harlot, and Judah, who went unto
a harlot, is in the same condition that we read about Jephthah in
Judges chapter one and verse one. Now, this message continues
on. You know, we get to the book
of Joshua. I've had preachers say that Rahab
was not really a harlot. That was just a word that was
used. Well, that's not what God had to say. Let's turn over there
to the book of Joshua chapter 6. Joshua chapter 6. In Joshua chapter six, we have
this word shared with us about Rahab. Now remember, by the providence
of God, how come those two spies went to her place? By the providence
of God, by God's good purpose. She was a chosen one of God. She was one of his lost sheep.
She was one that God had loved with an everlasting love. There's
very few in the city that have those credentials. There's very
few in the city that have had God loving them from eternity,
whose names are written down in the Lamb's Book of Life from
eternity, but Rahab is one of them. And look at her lifestyle. This is who God saves, is sinners. Well, in the book of Judges chapter
one, Judges chapter six, excuse me, chapter six and verse 17.
Joshua, yes, Joshua. Joshua chapter six and verse 17. There we go.
And the city shall be accursed, even it and all that are therein
to the Lord only. Now, if God could have simply
said, let all them be accursed. because we're going to find certain
towns and cities in this land that are conquered, that were
accursed. We don't have one person in them
that have this little caveat that he's going to deliver them.
Why did he deliver Rahab? Because she was one of his sheep,
one that he's going to die for, one that he has paid the price
for really from eternity past. The covenant of grace is on her
behalf. So it says only Rahab, Now, why do we have this comment
about her? Rahab the harlot? Because God
saves sinners. God saves sinners. She's not
proud of her background, I'm sure, because she's going to
get married, and she is going to be in the direct line of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Her offspring will be in the
direct line of the Lord Jesus Christ. So Rahab the harlot shall
live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she
hid the messengers that we sent. Now, it doesn't tell me in that
verse of scripture that those folks were in the covenant of
grace, but out of God's goodness, he delivered them. Now, maybe
they're gonna be saved eventually. I don't know, but I know this
about Rahab. She was, she was in the covenant
of grace. She was one of the sheep of the
Lord Jesus. Now travel with me, if you would,
over to the book of Hebrews. Book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 11. In Hebrews chapter 11, we read
about this lady. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse
31. Now we don't have this much information
about Jephthah's mother. We do have the same comment about
her. We don't even know her name.
She's not in the line of the Lord Jesus. It's not that important,
but we do have her son's name, and her son is going to be a
judge in Israel. He's going to have the qualifications
necessary, just as we find with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He came, he was perfect in every way. He was born of the Virgin
Mary, but the Virgin Mary needed salvation just like you and I
did. And she was willing to admit
that. All right, here in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11,
verse 31, it says, by faith, the harlot Rahab. You know, a
young man I've been discussing faith with, it's so difficult
in our natural state to think that God would have to provide
that. We always, by our own nature,
by our fallen nature, want to be the provider of faith. And that gives us a little inside
track, because I am pretty good. Now, there are a whole bunch
of people in the world that are not as good as I am, because they don't exercise
their faith, but I did. Well, once the Lord saves us,
we find out it was not my faith. It's faith given to us. Hebrews
chapter 12, verse 2. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. All right, let's read this. By
faith the harlot Rahab. You know what? We find that same
exact word with regard to Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, We just
go down to the same exact word. By faith, the harlot Rahab perished
not with them that believed not when she had received the spies
with peace. What a statement is made here. That's the whole reason for everything
that took place back there. That's why those two spies were
directed to her house. And she spared. And how did she
identify the place where she was? a scarlet thread, and that's
the same color we find so often in the scripture about redemption.
She came under the blood. She came under the blood of Christ.
So this word is found here. And as we follow this through,
we find again that this word is used in the book of Revelation. Now, there's much said in the
Bible about physical harlotry and physical adultery and that
sort of thing, but there is so much more said about this action
towards God that we would practice fornication with God's Word and
with His grace, that we would look at that as just, well, turn
with me to the book of Revelation, if you would. The book of Revelation,
chapter 17. The same word that we're looking
at here, carries with it the meaning of to be unfaithful to
God, figuratively, to be unfaithful to God. And we're gonna find
that mentioned with regard to Israel a number of times, that
they were unfaithful to God. They had no faithfulness to God. Well, hopefully we'll have time
to get to a whole book that is dealing with that. So Book of
Revelation chapter 17, Book of Revelation chapter 17, verse
one, And it says there, and there came one of the seven angels
which had the seven vials and talked with me saying unto me,
come hither and I will show unto thee the judgment of the great
whore that sinneth upon many waters. You know, in the past,
many of the old authors wrote and said, that's the Catholic
church. No, it's like the Catholic church. It's the false church,
it's the false gospel, it's all that's false. They're just a
breed of that, a brand of that. I made a comment to a young man
the other day and said about 99.9% of all the gospel that's
being preached in the United States is a false gospel. And
his comment was, I've never been called a false preacher before.
Well, I don't know how he got to that point. I was putting
him in that 0.1%. But he doesn't know the gospel.
So it's not just the Catholic Church. It's not just the Jehovah's
Witnesses. It's not just the Mormons. It's
the Baptists. They're the worst. They knew
better. They should know better, but they don't know better. They're
all sinners. So here we have this great whore that is mentioned
here, and she sits on many waters, and that's not talking about
the ocean. That's talking about this entity has been spread throughout
all the world, and who's the carrier? Who's the carrier? Natural man. That's the carrier. What was that gal's name in the
eastern seaboard a hundred and some odd years ago that was carrying
a disease and she didn't seem to have it herself? Malaria Mary or something. Typhoid
Mary. Typhoid Mary. She carried it,
but she didn't have the signs herself. She passed on. A lot
of people died as a result of it. Well, who's the carrier for
this situation that we're in, that's us, natural man. If God
does not intervene with us, we'll go to our grave, believe in a
false gospel. It'll just be the normal thing
to do. And there is no hope in the false
gospel. There's only hope in Jesus Christ.
Well, in this 17th chapter, if you look down at verses 15 and
16, as we think about the pedigree of Jephthah, we read about his
pedigree all over. everywhere. If it hadn't been
for the intervention of God, he would have had nothing. His
father is of the son of Adam, and his mother is a harlot, unfaithful,
and we're in the same boat. Our dad son of Adam, and our
mother, unfaithful. And we're unfaithful as a result
of it. In book of Revelation chapter 17 verse 15, and he that
saith unto me, the waters which thou sawest, where the horses
are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. So the world
has this problem. And the ten horns which thou
sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore and shall
make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn
her with fire. If we look at that beast that
had the 10 horns, we're looking at a picture of Christ. He's
the only thing. Mike brought out on Sunday, and
he's gonna be bringing it out more, that they overcame sin
by the power of the blood. That's all. Overcame Satan by
the power of blood. We don't have the ability of
dealing with it ourself. It takes the power of the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus shares with us in the book
of Matthew, how blessed this is in the book of Matthew. As
we think about Jethro and his lineage, his pedigree, his mother
and his dad, here in the book of Matthew, chapter 21, we read
these words that Jesus said with regards to the people that's
going to be in his kingdom, that's going to be in his church. In
Matthew chapter 21, verse 31, we read this. This is what the
Lord Jesus had to say about who makes up his church, who he redeems. It says here in Matthew chapter
21, verse 31, whither of them twain did thy father, whither of them twain did the
will of his father? And they said unto him, the first.
And Jesus said unto them, verily I say unto you, that publicans
and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came
unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. But
the publicans and the harlots believed him. Why do they believe
him? Same thing we find in Acts 13,
48. Those ordained to eternal life believed. And how often
we find that the mark of those who believe have a terrible sin
condition. unfaithfulness. We are unfaithful
by nature to God. By God's grace, we are made faithful
to God. So it says, but the public seems
hardest to believe him and ye, when ye have seen it, repent
and nod afterward that you might believe. So here's the terrible
condition. The Pharisees, the righteous,
those who have elevated positions, who look at themselves, trust
in themselves for their own righteousness, they're not even in the kingdom. But those who are in the kingdom,
publicans, sold themselves out to Rome, collect money from the
Jews. Keep part of it for their pay.
They're hated, hated, hated because they are part of the Roman system. And the harlots, unfaithful. And yet the Lord
says, these are the folks that come in at my invitation. They're the ones that come in.
So the publicans, harlots, go into the kingdom of God before
you. And you remember the woman in
Luke chapter seven? It doesn't tell us exactly her
background, but by implication, by the words of one of the Pharisees
there, in the book of Luke, the book of Luke chapter seven, Luke
chapter seven, verse 37. In this place, we just find out,
and thank God, verse 37 of Luke chapter seven,
and behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she
knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought
in an alabaster box of ointment. and stood at his feet behind
him weeping and began to wash his feet with tears. What was she weeping about? My
goodness that I would be forgiven of my sins. Here is all my salvation
and here's all my hope. This is him. She got to see him. She got to anoint him with an
alabaster box of ointment. Now this brings up of issue by
the Pharisee that owns the house that has invited Jesus to have
dinner with him. Now, this woman is not invited
in by the Pharisee. He would have nothing to do with
that. She came in by her will, and she was made willing in the
day of God's power with her. But notice with me in verse 39,
but now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake
within himself. Now that's an interesting statement
there, he spake within himself and Jesus heard every word. He
knew what was going on in his mind. He is omniscient. He is omnipresent, and he is
omnipotent. And he said here, within himself,
saying, this man, looking at Jesus, if he were a prophet,
if he was what he said he is, if he was that prophet that Moses
spoke about, If this man, if he were a prophet,
would have known who and what manner of woman this is that
touches him, for she is a sinner." Now, I think he's summing up
in there, she has that same issue that Jessalyn's mother had. She
was a harlot. But the Lord was gracious to
her and saved her. And she came in and the question
comes up about this. And she said, he said, she's
doing this for my burial. She understood more about what
was going on here than anybody else in the house. The Pharisee
didn't understand that. The Pharisee couldn't get to
that point. So he had a problem with Jesus because if he really
knew who this woman was, well, Same thing could be said about
us. Oh, you're that bad, huh? Well,
you're worse off than I am. That's what the world has to
say, religion has to say. And in John chapter 8, John chapter
8, in John chapter 8 and verse 3, how this worked out. You know,
normally this woman would have been brought to the place to
be stoned to death and never passed by Jesus. I wonder how
many had been taken out and stoned to death for her lifestyle. Here
is a woman taken in adultery in the very act of adultery. It says there, the scribes and
the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and
when they set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this
woman, what a sham word there is. They no more knew him as
master, and they wouldn't call him master in their heart. They didn't know him as that.
Say, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act.
Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be destoned,
but what sayest thou? Well, we know the account, and
before it's over with, they're all gone, and she's there alone,
and neither do I charge you. Well, how profitable it was for
her to be brought that way, and it's the way God always turns
things out. He's always going to get the
sinner in the presence of the Lord to hear his wonderful truth
of the gospel. They brought this woman to this
point. Now, one other verse I'd like
to read. We're not going to get to the
book of Hosea tonight. We'll have to do that next week.
But the book of Hosea is just full of a man asked by God, commanded
by God, instructed by God to marry a harlot. And then the incidences that
take place, and that shows us just almost step by step in Hosea's
life, how he won her over. just like Christ does for us.
Alright, we'll get to that next time, but I want you to turn
with me to the book of Luke. The book of Luke chapter 5. Our
time is about up tonight. Luke chapter 5. Just think of
Jessica's mom. She no doubt had a great care
for her son. Loved him. Her lifestyle was
not appropriate, but neither was Jessica's dad's lifestyle. Very inappropriate to go to her.
But there's a child raised up, just like we find with regard
to Judah. But here in the book of Luke, chapter 5, we read these
words, chapter 5, verse 27. Chapter 5, verse 27, and after
these things he went forth and saw a publican named Levi, now
this turns out to be Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom,
and he said unto him, follow me. And he left all and rose
up and followed him. That is the factual call. He left his lucrative business. He left his employment. And he
left all, rose up and followed him, and Levi made him a great
feast in his own house, and there was a great company of publicans
and others that sat down with him. But their scribes and Pharisees
murmured against his disciples, saying, why do you eat and drink
with publicans and sinners? And Levi's in the middle of that,
Matthew's and Levi, he is a publican. And Jesus answered and said unto
them, they that are whole, need not a physician, but they that
are sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance." That's the ministry of the Lord Jesus.
I came to call sinners. And that's his business. And
we're going to find out that's who makes up the church. There's
nobody in the church that's not a sinner. And I've yet to find
someone who did not admit that they were the greatest, chiefest
of sinners. I love what Brother Tim James
said back there at that meeting I was at. He said, Paul said
he was the chiefest of sinners until I came along. And Tim said,
I'm that now. So I think that's the place that
every believer comes to. I'm the chiefest of sinners.
So we'll stop there tonight, and we'll pick up this next time,
and we'll be looking at the book of Judges, and then going to
the book of Hosea, because it has much to say about this subject.