Well, I was listening to a message
this week by an old pastor called DJ Ward. And he mentioned this
text. And I thought, man, I've got
to preach on that. I kind of looked and said, is the ink still
dry there? This is, oh my. It's one of those,
I didn't see it until I saw it. Right? My. I pray this will be
a blessing to you. I really pray this message will
be a blessing to you. It's called the Strong Tower.
Turn, if you would, to the book of Judges. The book of Judges,
chapter 9. We know, as the Holy Spirit has
taught us, and Brother Norm brought out in a conference, that the
law and the prophets, they testify of Christ. They testify of him. He's all through the Old Testament
in pictures, types, and shadows. At one time when I was in religion,
I believed the Old Testament was more just history. But when
the Lord Jesus Christ saved my soul and revealed to me the truth
of the gospel, that salvation's all in him, because I used to
think it was by my works. One thing he shows we who are
his people is that he's everywhere through the scripture. This book
is all about Christ. As an old preacher friend of
Barb and Jim said, it's a hymn book, H-I-M. Bill said that. It's a hymn book. It's a hymn
book. My oh my. Strong tower. And God's
preachers, beloved, we proclaim Christ without apology. Christ is the one thing needful
for your soul and for my soul and for anyone who will hear
this message. Christ is the one thing needful. Paul said, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it's the power
of God unto salvation to both the Jew and the Gentile. So the
gospel preacher, we're sent on a mission. We're not sent to
tell you how to live a better Christian life. or things you've got to do to
keep yourself being safe, because that's just all false stuff.
I'm sent to preach Christ, and Him crucified. And it's the Holy Spirit of God,
which I marvel in, that takes these words, and somewhere between
you and I, the Holy Spirit takes those words, and He comforts
your souls. Now, He's already comforted my
soul, And then he takes the words of the preacher and comforts
your soul. Isn't that amazing? Oh, it's
absolutely amazing. And who gets all the glory? God
gets it all. I'll tell you what, he gets it
all. I'm just one sinner telling other sinners where to find bread.
That's all I am. One sinner telling other sinners
where to find bread. It's in Christ. Are you starving? Are you hungry and thirsting
for righteousness? Look to Christ. Look to Christ and Him alone.
There's only one Savior of sinners, and His name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the way, the truth, and the life. And what did He
come here? What was the mission that He
was sent upon when He was sent to this earth? He was sent to
save His people from their sins. And praise be to God, He did
it at Calvary's Cross. He cried, it is finished. It's
perfect. It's perfect. The work's done.
All we do is look to Christ now by faith, by God-given faith.
We're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, given faith to
believe, and now we love the Savior, don't we? Oh, we just
love him. We love him to pieces. My! But our love for him doesn't
even compare to his love for us. Isn't that amazing? Think of the person you cherish
the most in this world, that you love the most. And that love
doesn't even compare to the love of God in Christ for his people.
That's amazing. I'll tell you why. Praise be
to God. Our Lord Jesus Christ by himself
has obtained eternal salvation for us, for his people. It's done. It's done. It's a work in progress. Is there
anything for us to do? Nope. We just look to Christ, don't
we? We just look to Christ, that's all we do. By faith, by God-given
faith that comes through an operation of God, you must be born again. And he offered himself up by
the shedding of his precious blood. He offered himself up,
Christ offered himself up for the sins of his people. And what
do we say? Hallelujah. What a Savior. What a Savior
is Jesus Christ our Lord. Praise the mighty name of Jesus.
Now here in Book of Judges, I pray the Holy Spirit illuminate these
scriptures for us. And Lord willing, we'll see that
Christ is a great tower of refuge for his people. He's a great
tower of refuge. In this chapter, we see the record
of the treachery of Abimelech, the illegitimate son of Gideon,
born to Gideon Gideon's Shiamite concubine. This narrative before
us might be entitled, The Wages of Sin is Death. The Wages of
Sin is Death. Bimilac, discounting the words
of his father, look in Judges 8, verse 23. Bimilac had discounted
the words of his father, In verse 23, where we see Gideon proclaim
this. And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither
shall my son rule over you, the Lord shall rule over you. We need no king but Christ. We need no king but Christ, beloved. Now the men of Israel wanted
Gideon to rule over them. But we see by Gideon's answer
that it's evidently apparent that there is a spirit of idolatry
in Israel. We must be careful not to lift
men up to where they're not to be, even God's preachers. We're but safe sinners. We're
but safe sinners. My oh my. Gideon again in verse
23 brings forth that there's only
one king over Israel. And by them desiring a man to
rule over them instead of God, they're denying the government
of God. They're denying the rule of God. There's nothing new under
the sun, is there? Man's still doing that today,
aren't they? So they've all of their will. They've all of their
supposed free will over God. And in their hearts they say,
like we said before we were saved, we're not going to have this
man rule over us. So these folks are saying, we're not going to
have God rule over us. My, oh my. In Gideon, verse 23,
Prangler brings forth that God rules over them. He said, the
Lord shall rule over you. See, no matter what man thinks,
no matter what man says, no matter what man does, God's still ruling
right now, right now, right now. Do you know that absolutely nothing
catches our God by surprise? Nothing that's occurring in this
world, nothing that shall occur in this world will ever catch
our God by surprise. He knows the end, the beginning. Isn't that comforting? That our
Savior rules over all and nothing, absolutely nothing, not even
things that happen in our lives will catch Him by surprise. Nothing. My, oh my. Let's read Judges
chapter 9 verses 1 to 21 to start. And Abimelech the son of Zerubbabel
went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren and communed with them.
This is after Gideon had said that he won't rule over them,
neither will his son. And communed with them and with
all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,
Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, whether
it is better for you, either that all the sons of Jeroboam,
which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that
one reigns over you. Remember also that I am bone
and your flesh. I'm the same people as you."
What's this guy doing? He's scheming to be king, isn't
he? He's scheming to rule over them. And his mother's brethren
spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem, and all these
words, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech. For they
said, He's our brother. He's one of us. He's one of us. And they gave him three score
and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-bereth,
wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons which followed
him. That's he hired a bunch of hooligans. He hired a bunch
of hooligans. And he went out, and he went
unto his father's house at Ofra, and slew his brethren, the sons
of Jeroboam, being threescore and ten persons upon one stone,
notwithstanding, yet Jotham, the youngest son of Jeroboam,
was left, for he hid himself. So he went and slaughtered them
all, except for one. And all the men
of Shechem gathered together in all the house of Milo and
went and made Abimelech king by the plane of the pillar that
was in Shechem." So here he is. He got what he wanted, didn't
he? Oh my. And when they told it to Jotham,
he went up and stood on top of the Mount Gerizim and lifted
up his voice and cried and said unto them, now he's going to
prophesize, What's going to happen to that Abimelech fellow? Hearken
unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. Remember,
he's the only one left. The trees went forth on time
to annoy the king over them, and they sit unto the olive tree,
rain thou over us. But the olive tree said unto
them, should I leave my fatness? Wherewith by me they honor God
and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the tree
said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig
tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, my good fruit,
and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto
the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine said unto
them, Shall I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and
go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto
the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble said
unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then
come and put your trust in my shadow, and if not, let fire
come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon. Now, therefore,
if ye have done truly and sincerely, and that ye have made of Emma
a king, and if ye have dwelt well with Jeroboam in his house,
and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands,
for my father fought for you, and had ventured his life far,
and delivered you out of the hand of Midian, so Jeroboam He
had went and fought for these folks. And we see he delivered
them out of the hands of the Midians. And ye have risen up
against my father's house this day, and have slain the sons,
threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech
the son of his maidservant king over the men of Shechem, because
he is your brother. If ye then have dealt truly and
sincerely with Jeroboam, and with his house this day, then
rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you.
But if not, let fire come out of Abimelech, and devour the
men of Shechem, and the house of Milo, and let fire come out
from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Milo, and devour
Abimelech. And Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer, and
dwelt there for fear of Abimelech his brother. So we see in that
text that the Bemlech sought to make himself king. Now he's
being made king by the men of Shechem after the passing of Gideon.
And the people wholeheartedly embraced the worship of Baal
at this time. They had gone on a whoring after
Baal. Baal worship. Oh my. Turn back to chapter 8. And look
at verses 32 to 35. Look at this. Gideon, the son
of Joash, died in a good old age, verse 32, and was buried
in the sepulchre of Joash, his father, and Ophrah of the Abyssinites. And it came to pass, as soon
as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel, look at this,
turned again and went a-whoring out to Balaam. There they go.
They're off. Soon as Gideon reads the picture,
there they go. and made Baal-baroth their god. And the children of Israel remembered
not the Lord their God, who had delivered them out of the hands
of all their enemies on every side, neither showed they kindness
to the house of Jeroboam, namely Gideon, according to all the
goodness which he had shown unto Israel. So their allegiance is
firmly set on Baal. We see that from that text, don't
we? Their allegiance is firmly set upon Baal. The memory of
what Gideon did to Baal and Ashton was no longer, was a pleasant
memory for them. They didn't want to think about
what Gideon had done. And like the rest of Israel,
they desired a king to rule over them. Now Abimelech, he's just a man.
He says, I'm just the man for that job I am. We saw him, he
self-promoted himself, didn't he? I'm the man for that job. Well, God let it happen, didn't
he? God let it happen. Like the rest
of Israel, they really desired a king to rule over them, and
Abimelech was just the man for the job. Knowing this desire,
Abimelech again set before them a logical proposition. I'm bone
of your bone. I'm flesh of your flesh. You
should make me king. You should make me king. And
the Shemites, they were in agreement with Abimelech. They thought,
wow, this is a great plan. This is a great plan. And immediately,
what did they do? They went to the wealth of their
god. Look at verse 4 in Judges chapter 9. They went to the wealth
of their god, their false god. They went and did this to finance
the overthrow of Jeroboam's sons. Overthrow the house of Gideon.
Look at verse 4 of Judges chapter 9. And they gave him three score
and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Bealbareth, wherewith
Abimelech hired vain and light persons which followed. So they
said, here, here's your money. And what's Abimelech do? He goes
out and hires a bunch of hooligans. That's what vain and light persons
mean there. Just a bunch of hooligans. Go
on. Mercenaries, basically. Fighters
for hire. My oh my. And they followed him. With the money, again, Abemek
hired a bunch of hooligans to do the dirty deed with him. And he went with them and they
slew Every son of Gideon save the youngest one, Jotham. And then he slew him and he stacked
him up like cordwood on a stone. Stacked him up like cordwood. Brother Neal, I had that picture
you told me about your dad in the Battle of the Bulge. And
he said, Neal said his dad was telling him that they stacked
up bodies according to the states they were from. My oh my, that's
what I had pictured in my mind when I read this. Stacked up
because they froze in the wintertime. Brother Neil said, his dad said,
they froze in the wintertime so they couldn't bury the bodies.
So they stacked them up like cordwood. That's what this happened. He killed all those brothers
and he stacked them up like cordwood. On one stone. Now, one commentator,
actually Brother Tim James, says the stone may have been in close
proximity to the altar that Gideon had built and named Jehovah Shalom,
or the Lord Send Peace. And after they had done this
murderous act, after they had slain the sons
of Gideon at the house of Milo, they failed to kill one. There was still one. Still one
left. My oh my. And he stood top of
Mount Gideon and prophesied of their ultimate failure, which
we just read. Now the olive tree and the fig
tree refer to Gideon, who those had asked to rule over them,
but he refused. He refused. The bramble, a product
of Eden's curse by the fall, is Abimelech, whom they chose
to be their king. And Abimelech's world didn't
last long before the Shemites were ready for a coup. And how
were they made ready for a coup? Well, they were sent an evil spirit
into their hearts from the Lord. How do we know that? Look at
verses 22 to 29. When Abimelech had reigned over
three years over Israel, then God sent an evil spirit between
Abimelech and the man of Shechem. And the man of Shechem dealt
treacherously with Abimelech. Now God permitted and gave commission
to Satan, the evil spirit, to go among them. And he stirred
them up. Stirred up suspicions, jealousy,
hatreds. See, that's what he does. Stirs up that stuff. But God
allowed him to do it, see. He couldn't have done it unless
God allowed him to do it. And either it was Satan or another
spirit sent, though, that went and was allowed to do that. So seeds of discord and contention
among them. See, God had given them up to
their own hearts, hadn't he? That's just like natural man,
right? What does God have to do for a man to go to hell, or
a woman to go to hell? Just leave him alone. What does God have to do for
a believer to go to heaven? Everything. Everything. My oh my. So he just gave them
up to their own hearts, their own lusts, to think ill of one
another, to grow jealous and mediate revenge. Look at verse
24 to 29. that the cruelty done to the
three score and ten sons of Jeroboam might come, and their blood be
laid upon Abimelech, their brother, which slew them, and upon the
man of Shechem, which aided them in the killing of his brethren.
And the man of Shechem set lairs in wait for him in the top of
the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way
by them, and it was told Abimelech. And Gael, the son of Ebed, now
here's another guy, here's another guy, he's gonna raise up against
the Bemelech, came with his brother and went over to Shechem, and
the man of Shechem put their confidence in him. And they went
out into the fields and gathered their vineyards and chowed the
grapes and made merry and went into the house of their god and
did eat and drink and cursed the Bemelech. So the very people
that he had behind them, now they're cursing them. Why? Why? Well, we see again, Verse 23,
then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the man
of Shechem, and the man of Shechem treacherously with Abimelech.
My oh my. And Gael the son of Ebed said,
who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve? Who is
that fellow that we should serve him? What? Who does he think he is? See what's happened? Oh, my beloved. Who does he think
he is? Is he not the son of Jeroboam?
And Zubo, his officer, served the man of Hamer, the father
of Shechem? Why should we serve him? Why? See? See the unrest
that's now being stirred up in these folks? Oh, my. And would to God that these people
were under my hand? Now Gael said, well, if these
people were under my hand, you see, then will I remove a bemelech? I'd get rid of a bemelech. If
I was in charge, I'd get rid of a bemelech. Oh, yeah. And
then there'd just be more problems, wouldn't there? My, oh my. And he said to Abimelech, increase
the line army and come out. Now, this plot to kill Abimelech
backfired because Abimelech was made aware of it. And Gaal and
his company were routed. Afterwards, they hid in the Temple
of Baal. So what they did was, They hid in this temple, a bell. Now we're going to see a contrast
between this temple and between a strong tower that's mentioned
later on. People who are in religion and
people who think they can be saved by their own works are
putting their trust in either themselves or a false god. Here's these guys, they worship
in idols. And they go into this temple
of Baal, and you know what happened? Bemelik burns it to the ground.
Burns it to the ground. Killing upwards of a thousand
people at that time. Look at verses 45 to 49. And Bemelik fought against the
city all that day. And he took the city and slew
the people. These are the people that are with Geal. That were
there and beat down the city and sewed it with salt. My. And when all the men of the
Tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into the hole of
the house of the god Bereth. And it was told to Bimelech that
all the men of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together. They
probably had their wives and their families in there with
them. And the Bimelech got him up to
the Mount of Solomon He and all the people that were with him,
and the Beneluk took an axe in his hand and cut down a brow
from the trees and took it and laid it on his shoulder and said
unto the people that were with him, what you have seen me do,
make haste and do as I have done. And all the people likewise cut
down every man his brow and followed the Beneluk and put them to the
hold. set the whole on fire upon them, so that all the men of
the Tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women,
burned them all up." What a picture we have there of a false refuge of religion. Henry Mahan said in a message
I listened to a long time ago, he said, I'm going to tear down
your refuge of lies. And he was talking about men
thinking they can save themselves. That's what God's preachers do,
don't we? We tear down the refuge of lies that people set up. Well,
I'm saved by my baptism. That's a refuge of lies. I'm
saved by praying a prayer. That's a refuge of lies. I'm
prayed by walking an aisle, that's a refuge of lies. When my preacher
told me I was saved, that's a refuge of lies. You must be born again. You must
flee to the one tower of refuge, the Lord Jesus Christ and him
alone. And he's the only hope for sinners.
We're gonna see that later on in our text here. He's the only
hope for sinners. So Abamelech, he wasn't done.
Those people, they fled to that town of that false god. And Abamelech
and his crew got a bunch of wood, put it all around there, and
just burned him up. Just burned him up. Isn't it
amazing the things that men will do to men and women and children?
We think, oh, things have changed. No, they haven't. No, they haven't. Man is still as barbaric as he
was in these times. Think of how, I've often thought
of this, think of how bad it would be without the restraining
grace and hand of God. Oh my goodness, my goodness. Praise be to God, the love of
God reigns supreme, doesn't he? In that there is a high tower
that we can flee to. There is a strong tower that
we can flee to. And his name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, next we see in our text here that Abimelech went,
in verse 50, he's not through yet. He's going to go to a neighboring
town of Thebes that harbored more of his enemies. He's thinking,
I'm going to go over there, and I'm going to raise that land
there, too. I'm going to teach these folks a lesson. Oh, my. Remember, Jotham had
prophesied of his demise, hadn't he? Oh, my. Well, this time, as he's
going through there and wrecking havoc, there's a people that
fled to a strong tower. Have you fled to a strong tower? I have. His name's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Have you fled to that strong tower? the only strong tower
that will save us from the justice of God and the wrath of God and
save us from our sins. Do you remember there were cities
of refuge placed all around Israel and the avenger of death would
chase that person all the way to the gates and once they entered
those gates, once they entered the city of refuge, what happened?
They were safe, weren't they? They were absolutely safe, nothing
could touch them until the death of the high priest and they could
be released. My oh my, the death, now think of that, the death
of the high priest. Who's that picture? The death
of the high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings
and the Lord of Lords. So let's now read from Judges
9 verses 50 to 57. Then Abimelech went to Thebes
and then camped against Thebes and took it. But there was a
strong tower within the city. Look at that. A single strong
tower. Now these cities often built
these strong towers. in the middle of a place where
people could flee to that. So that if the city fell, then
they could find refuge in the tower. Now, those folks over
in the other city, they thought they could seek refuge in that
tower, in that one that was the Temple of Baal, right? But they
found absolutely no safety there at all, did they? That pictures
again. That pictures people taking refuge
in false gods. False gods. Idols. Look at this. But there was a
strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men
and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and
got them up to the top of the tower. Now those that they were
shut in. Do you remember the ark? Who
shut the door on the ark? Christ did, didn't he? Or God
did, didn't he? God did. And everybody who was in that
ark was safe, weren't they? All mine. And Abimelech came to the tower
and fought against it and went hard to get under the door of
the tower to burn it with fire. He wanted to burn it down just
like he did the other one. Look at this. And a certain woman
cast a piece of millstone upon Abimelech's head and all to break
his skull. Then called he hastily unto the
young man, his armor-bearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword,
and slay me, that men say not of me. A woman slew him, and
his young men thrust him through, and he died. See, that was a
disgrace back then, if a man was slain by a woman, especially
a great warrior. My, oh, my. They didn't meet
the women in Britain, did they? The ones that rode in chariots
against the Roman legions and slaughtered a whole bunch of
them. My oh my. My oh my. And when a man of Israel saw
that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.
Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto
his father, in slaying his seventy brethren. And all the evil of
the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads. And upon them
came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jeroboam. Remember he
cursed them? It all came to pass. It all came to pass. Take note
in verse 53 that while Abimelech was trying to knock down the
door, a woman took a piece of millstone, threw it from the
top of the tower, and fractured Abimelech's skull. And again,
he not wanting to be remembered as being slain by a woman, Abimelech
had his men kill him. Listen to this in 2nd Samuel
chapter 11 verse 21. He didn't get his wish. 2nd Samuel 11 21. Who smote Abimelech
the son of Jeroboam? Did not a woman cast a piece
of millstone upon him from the wall that he died in Thebes? Why went ye nigh the wall? Then
say thou, thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. He didn't
get what he wanted, did he? God recorded it. God recorded
it. And there's a reason why God
recorded it, beloved. We see in verses 56 and 57 that
Jotham's prophecy was fulfilled and Abednego's reign was recalled
in infinity. Thus God rendered the wickedness
of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, and slain his seventy
brethren, and all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render
upon their heads. And upon them came the curse
of Jotham, the son of Zerubbabel. Now there's a wonderful lesson
for us. There's a wonderful lesson for us in this portion of scripture.
We see that the, have you ever noticed sometimes you look around
and you think, man, the enemies of God, they're prospering in
this world. They're prospering in this world. You know what
David said of them? I went to the temple and I knew
their end. My, I knew their end. They may
prosper now, but if God doesn't save them, they're going to go
to a Christless eternity in hell. My, oh my. So we see here that In this world, we may sometimes
be distressed, and men around us and women around
us may act like Jehovah does not rule over them, but it doesn't
change the fact that he does. That he does. He's supreme. He's sovereign. He's almighty.
He's sovereign over all things visible and invisible. all things. The brave man want
a God who they can control, or one who's at their beck and call.
But they do not want an absolute ruler over all the universe,
and that's what God is. That's who the God of the Bible
is. He is an absolute ruler over all things in this universe,
including us. As one man said, there's not
a maverick molecule in all the universe. There's not one molecule
that's going, I'm going to go way over here and do that. Nope. Everything is ordered by God.
He's so sovereign. I don't think we totally understand.
I know we don't. I know I don't. I believe it,
though. By grace of God, I believe it.
Prayed man, they don't want, they say, we don't want this
man ruling over us, just like they did the Christ. Crucify him! Crucify him! And
some people say, well, I would never have done that. I would
never have done that if I'd been there. We all would have, in
our unregenerate state. Enough of that stuff. All of us in our unregenerate
state would have said that. But praise be to God, now we
worship and praise the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And the Benelux was was wholly
suited to be their king because had not the Israelites said we,
away with him, Christ away with him, we have no king but Caesar. So Abimelech was suited for them,
weren't they? Gideon had told them that there was only one
king. There's only one king and he's the king of kings and the
Lord of lords. He rules over all. He's the king
of the universe, beloved. But one day, everyone will face
him and everyone will see him. Man-made religion is nothing
but will worship. How do we know that? Turn, if
you would, to 2 Thessalonians. Man-made religion is nothing
but will worship. It wants to dethrone the one
true living God. That's what it wants to do. But God shall never be dethroned.
God shall never abdicate his throne, beloved. Never. Never, ever, ever. My, oh, my. Look at this. See, men make an
idol of their free will. They exalt their free will over
God. But look at what it says here. The efforts of religion
are designed to exalt and honor man and not God. Second Thessalonians
chapter 2 verses 2 and 3, 2 to 4, or I mean 3 to 4. Let no man deceive you by any
means, for that day shall not come except there come a following
away, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,
who opposes and exalted himself above all that is called God. That's what false religion does.
That's what man's will does. or that is worship so that he
as God sits in the temple of God showing himself that he is
God. My, what a statement. See, Antichrist, the spirit of
Antichrist seeks to exalt itself. Oh my. showing himself that he
is God. How long has the spirit of Antichrist
been with us? Ever since the days of John. Ever since the
days of the apostles. John said there's many Antichrists
among us. It's the spirit. So let we who are the people
of God remember that Jehovah Jesus, the savior of his people,
he's absolutely perfect. He's perfect. He is the strong
tower to whom we can flee. He's the only refuge of men and
women's souls. And he shall serve his people
from their sins. He declared it is finished. He's
done it. The work is finished. And think
of this. Shall not he who is perfect perfectly
prevail? Right? He's perfect. He's sinless. He's the God-man mediator. Shall
he not perfectly prevail? Yes. He shall not fail, Isaiah
says, of the Messiah. That's Christ. Why? Because He's
perfect. He's absolutely perfect. It's
wonderful. My oh my. And shall He not perfectly save
His people? If He's perfect, shall not His
salvation be perfect? And if He saved the people, shall
they not be saved perfectly? But we're sinners, yeah. Yeah,
we're sinners to the core, from the top of our heads to the bottom
of our feet. But rejoice, beloved, we who
have been born again by the Holy Spirit of God, we're in Christ. We're in Him. So that God says, I don't remember
your sins no more. I don't even, I don't even, what? I don't remember that. Oh, this
is wonderful. Jehovah is perfect. Christ is
perfect. Let the pot sheds of the earth
strive with the pot sheds of the earth, but woe unto him that
striveth with his maker. Woe unto him who strives against
Christ, against God. And did not Abimelech strive
against God? Gideon said, there's only one
ruler over you, and that's Christ, that's God, that's Jehovah, the
Lord. You know, sometimes the flock
of God may seem diminished at any given time. Sometimes even
decimated. But God, the perfect one, will
have his men stand on Mount Zion and declare that no weapon formed
against his people shall prevail. Isn't that wonderful? He's going
to keep his people. He's going to keep his church.
And one day he's going to take us all home. Let's look again at verses 50
to 53. Then went Abimelech to Thebez,
and camped against Thebez, and took it. But there was a strong
tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and
all the other city, and shut it again, shut it to them, and
got them up to the top of the tower. But Abimelech came under
the tower and fought against it, and went hard under the door
to the tower to burn it with fire. You see, men through the
ages have sought to destroy the church of God, haven't they? They've sought to destroy the
church of God, but to no prevail. This strong tower pictures Christ,
and all those people in it picture Christ, or picture God's people,
the church in Christ. so that no weapon shall prosper
against God's people. No weapon at all. And a certain woman cast a piece
of millstone upon Abimelech's head and break his skull. Here we see the end of Abimelech.
The end of Abimelech. But in these verses is a picture
of the church. in the world under the assaults
of the forces of hell. The word Thebes means whiteness,
but comes from an ancient word that means fine linen bleached
white by a fuller. Bleached white. Come let us reason
together, saith the Lord. For your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Washed in the precious blood
of Christ. Malachi says this, behold, I
will send my messenger, and that's the Messiah, and he shall prepare
the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek shall certainly
come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom
you delight in. Behold, he shall come with the
Lord of hosts, but who may abide the day of his coming? And who
shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire
and like fuller's soap. Full of soap, make you white,
make you white as snow. Make your clothes white as snow.
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. And he
shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver
that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
How can a sinner offer an offering to the Lord in righteousness?
Only in Christ. Only in Christ, beloved. Then
shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the
Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. Malachi
chapter three, verses one to four. The children of God reside
in Christ. The born again blood washed people
of God reside in Christ, who's made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. As Paul said, he's our all in
all, isn't he? He's everything to the believer. Turn if you
would to Psalm 61. Psalm 61. Psalm 61. Oh, Christ is a tower for us. Proverbs says this in Proverbs
18.10, it says, The name of the Lord is a strong tower. Remember
what these people fled into? They fled into a strong tower,
didn't they? The name of the Lord, Proverbs 18.10, the name
of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. Safe in who? Safe in Christ.
Safe with the Lord. Look at this in Psalm 61 verses
1 to 3. Hear my cry, O God, attend unto
my prayer. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a
shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy. That's what the
Lord is to his people. He's a strong tower. We have
a picture of that here, don't we? These people all fled from
their enemy into a strong tower, into a strong tower. But who's
the heroine of the story? Well, we see it's a certain woman.
Tim James brings forth that this is a picture of the church, the
bride of Christ, the bride of Christ. She will be declared
victorious, conquering, and still to conquer. She stands with her
bridegroom, the Lord of Glory. It says in Revelation 6, 2, And
I saw, and behold, a white horse. And he that sat on him had a
bow, and a crown was given to him. And he went forth conquering
and to conquer." We're more than conquerors in Christ, beloved.
Isn't that wonderful? Oh, it's wonderful. Also in the
text, we see the weapon that the woman used to slay Abimelech
was a piece of stone. A piece of stone. Turn if you
would to Matthew chapter 21. A piece of stone. A rock. A piece of millstone. Look at this in Matthew 21 verses
42 and 43. Matthew 21 verses 42 and 43. My, oh my, what a Savior, what
a Redeemer is Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus saith unto them,
did you never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders
rejected, the same has become the head of the corner? This
is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. Therefore,
say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from
you, and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. And
whosoever shall fall upon this stone, that being Christ, shall
be broken. But on whomsoever it shall fall, it'll grind them
to powder. And then over in Mark chapter
9 verse 42, the Lord said, And whosoever shall offend one of
these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that
a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were cast
into the sea. The stone is the gospel. The preaching of Christ and Him
crucified. You know what? That's a rock
that always hits its mark. It is. It is. It always hits its mark. It landed
on the head of a Bamalek. Go back to Genesis, Genesis chapter
three, and put your finger in Hebrews chapter, Hebrews, no, Romans chapter 16. Last two places we'll turn to. Genesis, over in Genesis, it
says there in Genesis 3 verse 14 and
15, Genesis chapter 3 verses 14 and 15, And the Lord God said unto the
serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all
cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly
shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life. And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. Who is
the seed of the woman? That's Christ Jesus our Lord,
right? It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. So Christ will bruise the head
of the serpent. But Christ's humanity is humanity
when it says, thou shalt bruise his heel. That's just speaking
of Christ's humanity. Christ crushed Satan. It shall bruise thy head. What
fell on Abimelech? A stone, a millstone. What did it say over there in
Matthew? Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken,
but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to power."
My, oh, my. Speaking of Christ, beloved.
Speaking of Christ. And over in the New Testament,
in Romans chapter 16, turn if you would there, and look at
what it says here. Romans chapter 16, verse 20.
This will be the last place I have you turn to. Almost finished. Romans chapter 16 verse 20. And
the God of peace shall brew Satan under your feet shortly. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, amen. He's defeated
Satan, hasn't he? He's crushed him. He crushed
him at Calvary's cross. And were it not for the overpowering,
overruling power of our Lord, we as God's people would never
have any rest. Do you know that? If it wasn't for God's overruling
and by His power, we'd never have any rest. Who's our rest? Christ. Amen, sister. Christ
is our rest. We've been given a rest, haven't
we? We've been given a hope. hope. Hope of righteousness,
right? We're going to see Christ. We're
going to see him one day in all his glory, in his majesty. We're
going to see him face to face. Oh, what a day that'll be. Oh,
the battle's not ours, beloved. The Lord Jesus Christ always
gives his people peace in the midst of their enemies. Always. The battle's not ours. He had
to feed Satan, he already has at Calvary. Lord said, these things have
I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. So where's
our peace then? Christ is speaking to his disciples
and he says, in me you'll have peace. There's no peace outside
of Christ, is there? There's no peace outside of having
all our sins forgiven by the precious blood of Christ, is
there? There's no peace at all. But in Christ there's peace,
isn't there? Oh, there's such wonderful peace in Christ Jesus
our Lord. He said this, these things have
I spoken unto you, that you may have peace. In the world you
shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I, this is the
master, this is God in the flesh saying this, have overcome the
world. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you. These words, Oh, the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. In Romans 16, 20, look at
that. And the God of peace shall bruise
Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you. Amen. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ. You know what that implies, beloved?
Let us leave here thinking about this. This implies a constant
supply of grace. A constant supply of grace for
God's people. Constant. How is it communicated
to us? Through Christ. Through Christ
Jesus our Lord. So whatever situation we go through, there'll be grace for it. Somebody says, well, I don't
have dying grace right now. Well, you're not dying, are you? Didn't
Jim used to say that? He said, God will give dying
grace when you're dying. It's true. It's true, beloved. God will give us what we need
when we go through these circumstances. And he has proven that to us,
beloved. He has proven that to us. My oh my. We need God's grace
to redeem us, and he's redeemed us by his grace. We need God's
grace every moment to believe, to stand, to live, to love, to
preserve, and to die. And he says, my mercies are new
every morning to you. My grace is sufficient. So let
us always remember, beloved of God, Jehovah's perfect. And Jehovah,
who is perfect, is our salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our
salvation. He's perfect. He's perfect, beloved. Oh, my. Glory, honor, and praise
and blessings be to our great God and King, the Lord Jesus
Christ.