The Sinner And His End

If you will, turn with me to Judges chapter 9. Brian said to me a few minutes ago, he said, I read through those verses. He said, it's a difficult read. And surely it is to make sense out of the text. Judges 9 gives the account of one of Gideon's children by a concubine. A concubine was considered in ancient society as a half-wife. Most commonly, she was taken from the handmaids or the meanest lot of women. What I mean by that is just absolute poverty, sometimes sold into servitude.

She was not assigned to any kind of management role in the house whatsoever with the children or anything else. And none of her offspring were to be heirs of the master's house. In that society, she was not considered a harlot, but more or less served the same purpose. You can't find anything with these concubines that they contributed to the master's house except the bed.

That's the only thing you can find. You can look them all up. I looked up several examples in the scriptures. Their only contribution to the house was the bed. And I don't know why God permitted such things except this, to typify those who hear and make false professions of faith and whose doing so is called plainly adultery in the scripture. That's what I see.

It's socially acceptable. Folks come in and make a false profession of faith, it's socially acceptable. It's acceptable in that assembly, wherever it is, that false profession of faith. But it doesn't make them an heir of God. And this is what I believe he's being typified here.

Paul said in Ephesians 5.32, this is a great mystery. Talking about the husband and the wife. It's a great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Our all-wise God can arrange even our sinful acts and traditions to typify the work of the ministry and illustrate it. He does so. And Gideon's a judge in Israel, which seems to me to typify pastors. They're not kings to lord themselves over God's heritage, Peter says, but are to rule to take the oversight thereof as examples to the flock. That's how they're to rule. They rule in grace. They rule in love.

Now, with this in mind, I want you to try to follow me and what I'm going to say today, because you're not going to find it in any commentary. I dare say if you listen to every great preacher that's on the air, you won't find it in a single sermon. I struggled and struggled to find this lesson here, and I believe I have that lesson.

Pastors, or preachers, if you will, begat spiritual sons and daughters. Isn't that what Paul said? He tells them plainly. He's talking to the saints at Corinth, and he said, you may have 10,000 instructors in Christ. You've got a library of books. You've got men on the internet. You've got all kinds of instructors out there. You may have 10,000 instructors, yet you don't have many fathers.

That's what he's telling them. And he's telling them this in love. He's talking to them as children. And he said, you don't have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus, I have begotten you through the gospel. Pastors produce many children. They produce many children.

And I believe that's what this whole thing about Gideon and the many wives are. It's not telling us to have multiple wives is okay with God, but he's using our sinful traditions and what's acceptable in society to illustrate something else. And I believe this is what he's illustrating. I can't make any sense out of the passage apart from this.

Believers are born again of incorruptible word, Peter says, and this is the word which by the Gospels preached unto you. This is how children are born of God, through the preaching of the Gospels. Let me tell you something. This act, though it be by man, is accomplished in men by the Spirit of the living God. Our Lord confirming the new birth and stating it Clearly, Nicodemus said to him, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. In a spiritual sense, preachers begat many children by many wives, but spiritually speaking, not all of what they receive produces the heirs of grace. Being born of God is a new man being produced in you.

As the seed of God was put in Mary, even so the gospel seed is sown in the believer. Turn with me to Galatians chapter 4. I want you to see that this is not your pastor overreaching a subject and going to the extreme with a typical text. Galatians chapter 4 is addressing a people Paul believed were heirs under his ministry. But men were giving him reasons to doubt it.

And he writes this in Galatians 4.19, my little children. He was convinced that they were. And he said, my little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. How is a man born of God? He's born of God when Christ is formed in him. All of a sudden he discovers Christ is everything. Christ is all. There's nothing else. Believers, now I want you to hear me and listen to me this morning just as close as you can, and we'll talk about it if you have questions. But believers are not mystically transformed into some kind of a spiritual powerhouse. That's just not so. They're not a new creation in the sense that they're a new man. Religion has preached this for years, but it has no scriptural foundation.

What the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, Now if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. How's he a new creation? How are old things passed away and all things become new? Because he's in Christ. He's discovered his union with Christ. Christ is all.

He don't have anything to contribute. We are together, it says in Romans 3, become unprofitable. What's that mean? There's nothing in here to use. This is an old man. And he said, take off the old man. Quit trying to use the old man. Quit trying to supercharge him. Quit trying to do this and trying to do that. You consider that old man dead. He's gone. He's dead. All your hope rests in Christ.

You see what I'm saying? That's what it means to be born of God. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. It's not a makeover, it's not a reform or a recreation. It's Christ in you, the hope of glory. And it's not a new nature. It's a new hope. A new man created of God in righteousness, Paul said, and true holiness. Now, there's no way you can look at yourself supercharged or not, and say, you have true holiness. I'm as holy as God. That's what that word means. Huh? You can't do it. The only way you can do that is by some perception of your union with Christ. So what about the believer's walk?

Well, Colossians 2.6 said, as you therefore receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. That's what Paul said to the Galatians. You began in the spirit, what happened? Who hath bewitched you? Who drawn you away? As you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord so walk ye in him. How did you receive him?

As a poor, bankrupt sinner. Condemned of God. You got on God's side with your own condemnation. You justified God in your own condemnation. There's nothing in me. And you look to Christ. Now, he said, walk that same way. Walk that same way. Walk in his righteousness. Walk in his accomplished redemption. Walk in him. Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as you've been taught. Our salvation is solely based on our union with Christ. That spiritual union is manifested by the Spirit as Christ is revealed in us. And we begin to rest our souls on Him. This was the whole point in preaching.

I'm not preaching to you hoping that all of a sudden something's going to happen to you and now you have the ability to walk a straight path. You're not going to walk a straight path. You're going to constantly follow. And I wonder this morning how many souls there are who are waiting for some kind of a change, some kind of an experience, some kind of feeling, some kind of a change, because that's what they've been hearing. Oh, that this poor sinner might say with Paul, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I might win him, that I might win him, not having be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, that righteousness. Now then, this is not what happens in all men. Some hear and conceive something else.

A birth of sorts takes place. But it doesn't produce heirs of grace. It produces a false hope. It has a great name, but it's a name only. Abimelech was a great name. Did you know that? His father, the king. What a name. But it was name only. Abimelech is a picture, now listen to me, you're talking about a hard text to read. This is the only way you're going to make any sense out of it.

Abimelech is a picture of the old man. Natural man is the old man. He's called the old man because he's been around since the beginning. He's called the old man because he has nothing in common with the new man. He's nothing but the child of a concubine.

But he's fully persuaded that it's his destiny to be king. And that natural man, he's going to rule. I'll decide. I'll decide my own destiny. I have a free will. Nobody but the king has a free will. Now, I have five things I want us to see in these verses this morning. First is this, the mystery of iniquity. Seven children fathered by Gideon were many wives, 69 of which seemed to have been model citizens. Doesn't have anything to say about them. But one rises up and murders the rest. He becomes the death of all the rest.

What a mystery sin is. Sin's not just a transgression of the law. It's not just what you did. It's not, Henry used to say, stealing a watermelon out of somebody's patch. It's a nature. It has a mind. That nature produces a mind, the scripture said, that's enmity against God. It's hostility. It's hostile. It's ready to resist and rebel.

And the natural man, the scripture says, we're talking about the old man, the mystery of iniquity. The natural man, that fallen man in Adam, ruined by the fall, that man under sin, the natural man, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. If he did, he'd be born again. But he won't have it. Why? It's foolishness unto him. Foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned.

That old man wants to be king, and he goes to an assembly where it's okay for him to be king. He goes to Shechem. What's in Shechem? That's the house of Baalbarith. That's the house of their false god. That's where he goes. And they're perfectly willing to make him king. Let him be king. Let him be king. He stands up and gives his testimony, gives his speech, campaigns for the office, and they said, it's yours. You can have it. Now, this is where the real mystery begins with sin. In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul calls it the mystery of iniquity. And he said it doth already work. It was already working in his day.

Men were absolutely convinced that they were justified in the death of Christ. And because they saw themselves justified in the death of Christ, they justified themselves persecution of the church, and in the death of the apostles, and anybody who dared preach against Judah. Bimelech goes to Shechem, where folks were willing to... Down at the altar of Baalbareth, they were willing to let him be king.

They listened to his testimony, patted him on the back, He said, I'm flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone. You don't want these guys ruling over you over here. So I'm the one for the job. And they said, great. We'll make you king. Isn't that what these churches do? Pat you on the back and let you be king, don't they?

And there he reasons with them. In 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 4, Paul describes this falling away, this mystery of iniquity, saying, it sitteth in the temple of God, that's the body, showing that he is God, deciding his own destiny, making his own qualifications, setting his own standards, reasoning with his own ambitions and selling others on his right to rule. Iniquity is a mysterious work, isn't it?

Where do men like Charles Manson come from? And others. I mean, there's many. Where do these people come from? Iniquity is a mysterious work in that it's camouflaged in religious reasoning and it's made to look and seem right to men. That's the mysterious work. The mystery of iniquity is also seen in its results.

The second thing our Lord says that comes out of the heart of man, what was the second? Evil thoughts was the first thing. What was the second thing coming out of his mouth when he's talking about The heart. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. What was the second word?

Murder. Huh? Oh, you mean that potential's in me? Absolutely. Absolutely. I don't care what the sin is. I don't care how gross it is. I don't care how it affects the way you see it right now. That potential is in you. That sin. It's a nature. It's a mystery. I wouldn't do that. Yes, you would. Sure you would. I did things in my life that early in my life I would have bet the farm I wouldn't have done it. I was so against it and so turned off by those things. But get in the right situation around the right people and see what you do.

Every soul's subject. To his evil reign is murder, everyone, the old man. They're all going to die. The second thing I want you to see here is a remnant preserved by the election of grace. Jotham was Gideon's youngest son. He wasn't killed with the rest of them. He hired thugs to do it. Everybody knew who they were. How come Jotham didn't die? Scripture said he hid himself. Isn't that what believers do? We hide in Christ. I love to hear Moose Park sing about the hiding place. The law is no hiding place. And I'm going to tell you something. God has a people.

They're chosen of God to salvation by sanctification of the spirit and belief in the truth. Every one of them undergo conviction of sin and of righteousness and of judgment satisfied. They believe the truth, they undergo the conviction of the spirit, and they know what sin is and what it'll do, and they hide. Well, how can a sinner hide from sin in Christ? It's the only place you can in Christ, in God.

And Jotham's not a judge. He's not a prophet. But he gets involved in the ministry. Does he not? He didn't have to. He was hiding. Nobody knew who he was or where he was. Nobody bothered to count. They didn't realize that they missed one either. And that's the way it is with the believer. Nobody in this world even knows who he is. He's strange to a minute. They won't even admit that he exists. But Jotham, he can't stay in hiding. He gets up on Mount Gerizim, and he preaches a sermon. He gives a testimony. And he tells those men in Shechem exactly what they did.

You're involved with making this evil man king. That's what you're doing. You're not doing God a service. You're not worshiping God. You've gone astray. And if this man is everything that you say he is, then you enjoy the blessings of it. But if not, you better know this. The vengeance of Gideon is going to fall on you. Your sin is going to find you out.

That's what he's telling them on the mountain. And then thirdly, God shows to us the end of all those who promote, elect, and support the old man's reign. A fiery death in the synagogue of Satan. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 2. I want you to see this. Over in the book of Revelation, the Holy Ghost lumps all of false religion into one figure. And he calls this assembly those who are of the synagogue of Satan. John's writing to the church of Smyrna And he says, I know thy works. This is the spirit. And he's speaking to them through the gospel.

And God's telling them, I know your works, and I know your tribulation, and I know your poverty, but you're rich. God ever reveal that to you, your poverty, but you're rich? When I'm weak, then am I strong. When I'm poor, then I'm rich. All my riches are in him. And he says, I know these things, and I see them. And then watch this.

And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews. You know if you stand up and make a profession of faith and it's a false profession, that's blasphemy. Isn't that what that's saying? I know the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, but they're not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. And that's exactly what our Lord told those Pharisees. You're of your father, the devil. That's who you are.

Abimelech, when challenged by Shechem, burn them alive in the house of their god. They flew into their refuge. They flew into that house of Belberith. They flew into that refuge, that religious refuge. And Abimelech went over and cut down a big bough on a tree. And he said, everybody in his army, you go do the same thing. And they piled that wood up there and burnt them people in their god's house. Burn them alive.

Over 1,000, wasn't there? That was men and women. Well, why would they even challenge this man that they made king? Why would they do that? It says, then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech. They didn't like what they saw. They didn't like this king that they made. And there was a division. It caused a deadly division.

And I'm going to tell you something. This is of the Lord. Nobody's going to get away with anything. I hope you don't make a religious profession of faith believing you're going to get away with something. You're not getting away with anything. Every transgression and sin is going to receive a just recompensive reward.

That's what it says over in Hebrew. And then fourthly, I want us to see the preaching of the gospel as it brings to an end the reign of the old man. This is the old man. What are you talking about, preacher? I'm talking about you and me, the old man. Oh, we wouldn't do those things. Sure you would. The full potential of sins in every one of us, we're born with it. But I want us to see the preaching of the gospel as it brings an end to the reign of the old man. He doesn't reign in believers. In verse 52 of our text in Judges 9, we see Abimelech, and boy, he's after these men.

And they run into a strong tower. They run into their refuge, this big old tower. And he said, I'm going to do to them exactly what I did to those men down in Chicum. I'm going to set it on fire. And so he charged hard at the door, and he's going to fire it up.

What happened? A certain woman at the church, a certain woman, what happened? She took a piece of millstone, and she walked right over there to the edge of that tower, and she saw a venelet down there, and she dropped that piece of stone. Isn't that what happens when the gospel comes in power? It crushes Satan's head.

It shows us the death of the old man in Christ. Let me show you something over here. I'll just read it for you. You don't have to turn over there unless you want to. In verse 14, the gospel's a person. I guess by now you realize that. I've been preaching that for 20 years. I hope you do. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same.

Now watch this. That through death he might destroy him that had power of death, that is the devil. How did he do that? He killed the old man. I'm crucified, Paul said, with Christ. I'm crucified. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. That's my hope. I'm alive in Christ. The old man died. That's the story of the sinner and his end. That's the title of my message this morning, The Sinner and His End. And when Israel saw, now watch this, when Israel saw Bimelech was dead, what happened?

They all departed, everyone, to their place. What place? That place of grace, that place where they were appointed as heirs. They went to their place. He said, don't be upset. Because I'm going away, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go away, I'm going to come again and receive you under myself that where I am there, you may be also. He's the place. He's the place.

When am I going to be able to walk with God in harmony and rest again? When I see the old man dead. He has to die. has to die. You can't keep remodeling him. You can't keep hoping in him. You can't keep looking to him. Just understand that he's dead. He's condemned of God, and he's dead. When did he die? He was crucified on Christ. He died on the cross. But Christ's death ain't the end of the story. Third day, he rose again, didn't he? He rose again. All right.

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