turn with me in your Bibles again
to Judges chapter 11 hold your place there we'll be
coming right back to it but look in Hebrews chapter 11 Hebrews
chapter 11 go down to verse 32 in Hebrews
chapter 11 The writer says, and what shall
I say more? For the time would fail me to
tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah,
of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets. Jephthah is
mentioned in this hall of faith. There's something about him that
made Paul, the writer here, mention Jephthah's name. He's mentioned
also again in 1 Samuel chapter 12. Turn there with me please. 1 Samuel chapter 12. Just a few books over. you have Judges, Ruth and then
1st Samuel 1st Samuel chapter 12 and verse 11 and the Lord sent Jerebabel and
Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the
hand of your enemies on every side and ye dwelt safe He's mentioned
again here as one of the judges in the book of Judges. Now in the book of Judges there
was no king in Israel. Now they tried to make a king
at one time but it didn't work out. God gave them deliverers,
judges, saviors if you will. When they got themselves involved
in sin and idolatry, God sent the armies of the people they
left. Instead of getting rid of them
like God told them to when they went into the land of Canaan,
they left them there and God told them, now if you leave them
there, they're going to cause you to be idol worshippers and
your sons and daughters will marry into them you'll intermingle
and there was this problem there was no king in Israel and everybody
did that which was right in his own eyes that's just plain anarchy
isn't it? Everybody did that which was
right in his own eyes. Seems like that's happening a
lot around these United States today. Everybody doing that which
is right in his own eyes. They didn't destroy the enemies.
They mingled with the enemies. They were subdued by their enemies. and James said it this way in
the book of James chapter 1 we're tempted of our own lust and entice
and when our lust brings forth sin, sin brings forth death,
destruction Jephthah here is a type, well
actually he's two different types as we'll look at it he's a type
of all sinners And he's a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
a type of all sinners. It says here in 11.1 that Jephthah
the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor and he was the son of
an harlot. And Gilead begat Jephthah. He was the son of a harlot. He was a mighty man. And our
God is mighty to save, isn't he? He's a mighty man, the God-man,
mighty to save. He is the mighty God. He is the
God-man. But here we have a man who is
called a mighty man. There was some might, some ability
about Jephthah, and that's what caused the Gileadites to call
him back. he had a lowly questionable birth
he was the son of a harlot I'm trying to think of the passage
there is a passage in scripture that tells us that this type
of person well I can't find it now I just
thought of it but the person who was a son of a harlot for
four generations or five generations, I can't remember which, but they
could not even go to the temple to sacrifice. He was an outcast. He was forsaken. He had a lowly and questionable
birth and didn't that happen to our Lord? He was virgin born. Joseph was
minded to privately put her away. Because she was with child and
he didn't know exactly what happened. And that's when the Lord said,
now you call his name Jesus. For he shall save his people
from their sins. This is my child. This is my
son. The Holy Spirit had overshadowed
her. And she knew that. But he was
minded to privately put her away because she was with child and
having no husband. there was a time that Jesus Christ
had a discussion with the Pharisees and religious leaders of his
day and he was talking about the fact that they were not sons
of the covenant they were not sons of the doctrine and they
said while we may not born of fornication as if to say what
about you Jesus Christ I wonder if they were What did they say? Putting a slam against the Lord
Jesus Christ? Actually they were talking about
the law. We be sons of the law. Sons of Moses. Sons of Abraham. And the Lord said, if you're
sons of Abraham, then you ought to believe on me. And that's
just the way it is. If you are a son of Abraham,
you will believe on Jesus Christ. He was an outcast. The Lord Jesus
came unto his own. His own received him not. He
was despised and rejected of men, Isaiah said. Jephthah was
a type of the Lord, but he was also a type of all who are sinners. He was born in shame. In sin did my mother conceive
me. In iniquity did my mother conceive
me. Shapen in iniquity. In sin did
she conceive me. He lived in that shame all his
life. Nothing he could do to change
it. Nothing we can do to change the shame of who we are. Sinners
before a holy God. Not one thing we can do to change
that. He was a stranger from the covenant. There's the verse I was looking
for. Look with me to Deuteronomy chapter 23. Deuteronomy chapter
23. I said the 5th or 6th generation.
It says here the 10th generation. Deuteronomy chapter 23 verse
2. A bastard shall not enter into
the congregation of the Lord, even to his tenth generation
shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord. He was an outcast. He couldn't even go to the temple
to worship with sacrifice. He was a bastard child. He was
a stranger to the covenant. According to chapter 11 of Judges
verse 3, Jephthah fled from his brethren and dwelt in the land
of Tom, and there gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out
with him. He was a rebel. He was thrust
out, so he said, okay, if I'm going to be thrust out, I'll
just be a rebel. That's what we are before God,
isn't it? Aren't we rebels? Aren't we rebels? Aren't we shameful? Aren't we
sinners? Does that ever change? To the
10th generation, does that ever change? For all time, does that
ever change? Unless Jesus Christ changes it
for us. And he did. He did. That's the good news. That's
the gospel. Rebels. become one with Christ
sinners become white as snow the bastard the one without a
father in Jesus Christ has a father what a blessing it is to know
Jesus Christ and what he has done for us he was a rebel but
I want you to note this He was chosen of the Lord. God chose
Jephthah. Oh, the men of Gilead thought
they had. They were the ones that called him back up and said,
come, lead our army. God said, no, I want Jephthah
there. I want Jephthah to lead my people. I want Jephthah to
be my deliverer. And he took a sinful, rebel,
bastard man and made him a judge over Israel. Only God can do
something like that. Only God can do something like
that. He was chosen of the Lord. God committed His love toward
us. And while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God loves
us. He loves His people. And God
gave Himself for His people. Our Lord that came to save sinners.
He came to save those rebels. He came to save those bastards.
He came to save those blind, those captive, those prisoners,
those lame, those who could not, those deaf. God came to save
those kind of people. He came to save the weak. He came to save the ungodly. I thank the Lord. He came to
save me. And I'm like Paul, I have to
say I'm the chief of sinners. Oh, the awfulness in my mind
and my heart and my actions. But He came to save me. And you
know what? He won't fail. Oh, that gives
me hope. That gives me a blessing like
you wouldn't believe. He'll not fail in the saving
of me. He's able to keep me right up
until the time that He calls me into glory. However He calls
me. He calls me into glory and I
will be with Him for all eternity because of what He did. What
He did. Nothing that I could do. Jephthah was an outcast and forsaken. We read in these first few verses
a while ago. An outcast and forsaken. I want to show you two verses.
Hold your places there. Go to Jeremiah chapter 30. Jeremiah chapter 30. Jeremiah chapter 30 look down
at verse 17 God is speaking to his people and he says for I
will restore health unto thee I will heal of thy wounds saith
the Lord because they called thee an outcast saying this is
Zion whom no man seeketh after You read a verse of scripture
that says, no man careth for my soul. That was our Lord Jesus
going to the cross. No man careth for my soul. If they didn't care for him,
do you think they would care for you? This world is not our
home. We are strangers and pilgrims
here. We look for a city whose foundation
and whose builder is God, whose foundation is not made with hands,
whose builder is God. We look for something far better
than any of the wise, the wisdom of this world could offer. We're
looking for something far better than any of the power, the political
powers or whatever power that this world could offer. We're
looking to Jesus Christ and Him alone. That thrills my soul, doesn't
it, Jim? We go to him because he has the
words of life. Where else would I go? He is life. Where else would
I go? This outcast, Jephthah, is called
back. He is an outcast no more. And
he attracted these outcasts. He attracted vain people. It
says here in verse 3, And there were gathered vain men to Jephthah,
it says. What about our Lord? The Pharisees
stood over there and said, This man receiveth sinners. I can
hear the snarl in their voices. Well, I'm glad he does receive
sinners, aren't you? Because that's what I am. And
these sinners, they said, well he eateth with sinners. Those
sinners drew near to him. Why? Because they realized that
this was the Lord of Glory and the only love and salvation they
would ever have was standing right in front of them. Right here, the Lord of Glory. The only salvation, the only
life, the only union with God, the only righteousness we'll
ever have is standing right here before us. In the person of the Spirit of
God in Jesus Christ who said he would be there in the midst
where two or three are gathered. all those people who were nothings, all those publicans and sinners,
all those harlots, all those demon possessed, all the beggars,
the blind, the sickly, the lepers, all those that were not many
mighty, not many wise, not many noble. And the reason being that all
the glory would go to Jesus Christ all the glory would go to God if we had something to offer
God let me put it this way I know myself I know the pride that
I have I know the vainglory that I have and speaking for myself
If there was something that I could have done to promote my salvation,
I'd be bragging about it. But there was nothing. Not one
thing. Isn't it interesting? In verse 6, that they called
Jephthah and said, come. be our captain there is a captain of our salvation
he's perfect Jephthah was made a captain of
the people he was not perfect he was a man just like you and
me but I want you to look down in
verse 11 the end of the verse And Jephthah uttered all his
words before the Lord in Mizpah. He was a praying man. He was a praying man. Our Lord spent many, many hours
in prayer, didn't he? He'd go up into the mountain
to pray. He'd lead the disciples and go and pray. Sometimes he'd
take the disciples with him, like the Garden of Gethsemane. but he was a praying man and
he taught us how to pray and we know the words our father
which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come
on earth as it is in heaven thy will be done we know the words
to what is commonly called the Lord's prayer that's actually
the disciples prayer he taught us to pray like that Here Jephthah has communion with
the Lord. He's called the captain of God's
people. He has communion with the Lord. And interestingly,
we didn't read this passage, but from 12, verse 12 on through
28, he gave the enemy that came up, the children of Ammon, he
gave them an opportunity to hear the truth of what really happened
when Israel crossed over into Canaan's land. They said, this
land belongs to us. We want it back. Jephthah said,
no. When we came over this end of
your land, we could not go through Midian. We could not go through
Moab. We had to go around it because
you wouldn't let us through. And then you decided to fight
against us. And we whipped you boys. And
we took the land. And the land now belongs to us.
God gave it to us. He taught them a spiritual lesson. He gave the enemy an opportunity
to surrender. They would not surrender. Our
Lord is the ambassador of peace, isn't he? He is our peace. He is the Prince of Peace. And in verse 29, if you'll look
there with me, in verse 29, then the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Jephthah. He was Spirit filled. He was
Spirit filled. The Spirit came upon him. That's what our Lord said when
he preached that first message in Nazareth. the spirit of the
Lord is upon me to preach the glad tidings, the gospel to the
poor, to the needy, to the imprisoned, to the captive, to the lame,
to the blind, to the deaf and the gracious words that he
gave them that day the spirit of God was upon him But look at verse 30. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto
the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children
of Ammon into my hands, then it shall be that whatsoever cometh
forth of the doors of my house to meet me, then I, when I return
in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's
and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. Let your yea be yea, your nay
nay. It's better not to vow than to vow and not keep it. Jephthah made a vow to the Lord
whatever comes out of my house when I get back from the victory it will be yours Lord and he
says here and I will offer it up for a burnt offering I'm not
going to try to go into the doctrine. I don't understand everything
that I read from this point on. I don't understand all about
it, but I do know this. Brother Milton Howard said this.
I do know this. If we are not willing to give
up everything when we come to Christ, then we're not coming
to Christ. You see, Jephthah, when he got
home, the first one who met him was his daughter. His only child. And he said, he rent his clothes
and said to her, you've troubled me. The daughter, being a faithful
daughter, said, Lord, said, Father, whatever You vowed to the Lord,
go ahead and do it. Don't break your promise, don't
break your vow with God. Don't break it. She was willing to give up her
life if need be for the cause of the Lord, for God himself. He was willing to give up his
own daughter. for God himself. Turn with me
to Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8. Let me see if
I can just sum this up just shortly here. In Mark chapter 8. While you're turning there in
Mark chapter 8, there are some that believe that there was an
escape clause in the way that Jephthah said things. And so
there would be no offering, no burnt offering. God wouldn't
allow, would he? The offering of a child in fire? Manasseh did that. He offered
his children in the fire. God is not into that kind of
thing. How could Jephthah be called
a man of faith? that escape clause would allow
him to get out of this thing. Some believe that because of
the vow that Jephthah kept his vow and actually sacrificed his
own daughter. I don't know which way to go
on it. And I didn't come to preach to you a message that shows you
exactly which way to go on it. Go on it. I do know this. Look
in Mark chapter 8 verse 35. The Lord Jesus is speaking and
says, For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake in the Gospels, the same shall
save it. For what shall it profit a man
if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall
a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. Whosoever shall lose his life
for my sake and the Gospels, the same shall save it. The life
is important here. This is what it's all about. Remember this man was a mighty
man of valor. Remember that human sacrifices
were forbidden in God's law and that this man couldn't even go
to the temple to the 10th generation. Remember that this man was filled
with the spirit And remember that he had a submissive daughter. She was willing to do what he
had vowed to the Lord. You see, in closing let me just say it this
way. She was the Lord's bride. She belonged to him. She was
chosen by him. She was one of God's people.
She believed the Lord. She believed what God was doing.
She was a bride. She was a bride. And however
it goes, she was his bride. However it goes in our lives
today, we are the bride of Christ. The church. God's people. No matter how it goes, whether
life or death, we belong to the Lord. Paul said it's far better
to go be with the Lord than it is to reign here. But to remain
here may be good for you. But much far better to go and
be with the Lord. And we know some who are already
there, don't we? And what a blessing. We wouldn't
bring them back for the world. I can just see them. sitting
at the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ praising God all eternity
never doing another thing wrong no pain no sorrow nothing wrong
for all eternity praising and honoring the Lord Jesus Christ
Jephthah was in the Hall of Faith. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your word today, though there are some things that we still
will not be able to explain. Yet we know, Lord, that these
are things that you do. This was your providential care. This was for our good, and so
are all the things that come to our lives. May we be trusting
souls. May we just believe our Lord.
May we believe that He is in control and it's His power that
controls it all. And Lord, may we walk with You
day by day in union with Jesus Christ. And may we be willing
to lose our life for the gospel. for your sake
that we may gain life. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Number 125 in your hymnal. Let's stand and sing it together.
Jesus paid it all. I hear the Savior say, thy strength
indeed is not. Child of weakness, watch and
pray. Find in me thine all in all.