What's my soul was astray from that heavenly way ? I was wretched and vile as can
be ? But my Savior in love gave me peace from above ? He reached
down His hand to me ? When Christ Jesus reached down for me ? When he reached way down for
me ? ? I was lost and undone without God or His Son ? ? But
He reached down His hand for me ? ? I was near to despair when He
came to me there ? ? And He told me that I was now free ? Then
He lifted my feet, He gave me gladness complete ? He reached
down His hand for me ? When Christ Jesus reached down for me when he reached way down for
me. I was lost and undone without
God or his Son when he reached down his hand for me. Now my heart ? Doth rejoice since
I heard his sweet voice ? Now in the tempest to him I now plead
? Better lean on his arms safe secure from all harm ? Since
he reached out his hand on the way down ? When Christ Jesus reached down
for me ? ? When he reached way down for me ? ? I was lost and
I'm done without God, oh son ? ? But he reached out his hand
for me ? I love that song. Reminds me of the Darlins on
the Andy Griffith show. Andy was playing with them one
time and they said, what do you want to play, Sheriff? And he
said, what about, let's play that one, let's dance till our
stockings are hot and raveling. And Darla said, not that one,
Daddy. That one makes me cry. That one
makes me cry. And Larry, thank you for that
encouraging message, brother. I love preaching that gives me
some hope. A sinner like me, God reached
down his hand for me. Way down, way down. I've often
heard preachers say, and I've said it myself, but I've heard
folks, preachers say that, I believe the Lord's given me a message. Well, I know this much, as Larry
said last night, if he hasn't, we might as well sit down. Because if you hear from only
me this morning or from us when we preach, then it won't profit
you a thing. But I do say with confidence
this morning that I have a message from God for you. So turn with
me, if you would, in your Bible to the book of Judges, chapter
3. If you find the book of Joshua,
it's the Old Testament book following the book of Joshua. Judges, chapter
3. Before we begin reading, I want
to give you just a little bit of background from the book of
Judges. First of all, the word Judges
in the Hebrew language means defender. It means deliverer. That's very important. After
400 years of Egyptian slavery and bondage, God delivered Israel
with a mighty hand. You remember that story, the
book of Exodus. God sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh,
and he said, let my people go. Pharaoh said, I don't know the
Lord, and I'm not going to let your people go. But he had, as
Larry said, had a change of tune, didn't he? Changed his tune. God sent those plagues, and at
the end, Pharaoh said, go, get on out of here. And everyone
knows that story. God raised Moses up to be a deliverer
for the people of Israel. And after Moses died, God raised
up Joshua to deliver Israel from all the enemies in the land of
Canaan that God gave them to possess. And then Joshua died. And God raised up judges. He
raised up deliverers. He raised up defenders. And those
judges are no doubt a very appropriate picture of the Lord Jesus Christ,
our great Deliverer. But as you know, there's no perfect
type or picture of the Lord Jesus. These judges like Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, right on down through Moses and Joshua, they were all
just men, just men. And as men do, many times they
fail. And they always die. I'm here
to declare to you this morning that we have a deliverer that
never dies. Never dies. One other thing that I want to
tell you concerning the book of Judges is that there's a pattern,
you can read chapter two at your leisure, and there's a pattern
here concerning the nation of Israel, concerning the Judges,
and God Almighty that occurs over and over and over again. God would raise up a judge. He
would bless Israel. Israel would prosper through
that judge, both spiritually and physically. And then that
judge would die. And soon after, Israel would
do evil in the sight of the Lord, and they would begin to worship
the false gods of the nations around them. And Moses wrote
in chapter two, verse 17, he said, he called it that they
went a-whoring after other gods. And that's exactly what they
did. Then God would allow their enemies to overtake them and
put them right back into the slavery and bondage that they
were in before. Israel would then cry unto the
Lord, and the Lord would hear their cry, and he'd have compassion
on them, and he'd send them another judge, a deliverer, a defender. And the process would start all
over again. Now, I can't help but Think about
how long-suffering our Lord is. My, isn't He long-suffering with
even us? The psalmist said, but thou,
Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering
and plenteous in mercy and truth. I am so thankful that He is.
Now, look at Judges chapter three with me, beginning in verse 12. It says, and the children of
Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord
strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel because
they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. And he, now either
God or Eglon, ultimately God, God's behind everything. He says
he's the first cause of everything, isn't he? God is. It said, He
gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went
and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. So the
children of Israel served Eglon, the king of Moab, 18 years. Here they are right back in slavery
and bondage again. And it's here that our story
this morning really begins. We see that a Moab king named
Eglon had now held Israel captive for 18 years. And the children
of Israel find themselves, as I said, right back in the same
place that they were in Egypt in bondage and in slavery. And isn't that a real appropriate
picture of our bondage in and to sin? Boy, I tell you, sin
is just that. It's bondage and we're in slavery
to it. So, verse 15, we see that the
children of Israel cried. Now that word there is a strong
word. In the Hebrew language, it means
shrieked. It means wailed, wept uncontrollably
unto the Lord. And the Lord raised them up a
savior, a deliverer, a defender, a judge. And Ehud, the son of
Gerah, a Benjamite, a man left-handed, and by him the children of Israel
sent a present unto Eglon, the king of Moab." So what we've
got here is that God raises up a judge, a deliverer, again. And it was then that Israel received
instruction from the Lord, no doubt through this man Ehud.
He was God's deliverer on how to proceed, and this was how.
They would prepare a gift, a present. We're not told what that present
was, it doesn't really matter. But they took this present to
Eglon, the king of Moab. And that appealed to him, you
know that it did. No doubt a gift would appeal
to his sinful, lustful desires, his own self admiration, pride
and arrogance as their king. And Ehud, while they were making
this present, though we're not told what it was, Ehud, he made
a dagger It says here, a cubit in length, 18 inches long, that
had a two-edged sword, a two-edged blade. And according to verse
16, Ehud hid it under the clothing of his right thigh because he
was left-handed. In other words, he had it hid
here so that he could draw it with his left hand. So, Ehud
and the people that he chose to go with him took this present
to the king. And according to verse 20, Eglon
the king was sitting in his summer parlor. I mean, he's a king. I thought about that summer parlor. It was a place that was made
especially for him where he could go and get away and rest and
even take a nap. as we'll see in a moment. And
verse 17 says that they brought the president to Eglon, king
of Moab, and Eglon was a very fat man. It appears that after
the present was delivered that Ehud, the deliverer, the judge,
and those who delivered the gift were headed back to their houses,
but Ehud made it as far as the quarry. Now, the quarry here
was the place where the slaves of the Moabites made the idols. They carved out the numerous
deities and idols that the Moabites worshipped. And I'm not sure
what seeing these idols did to Ehud, but it definitely had an
effect on him. And he immediately stops in his
tracks, and he returns to Eglon, and in verse 19, he says these
words. He says, I have a secret errand
unto thee, O king. Now that word Aaron there simply
means a word. I've got a secret word unto you. And this, as I said, got the
king's attention. So Eglon told all of his servants,
he said, be quiet. I want to listen to what this
man has to say. He's got a secret word for me. And then he wound up making them
leave altogether. Now I just want to point this
out. in passing, Ehud, God's judge, God's deliverer, is now
alone with the king. That didn't happen. You know,
the king was surrounded by servants and guards and all that, but
now they're all gone, and God's deliverer is alone with this
king. God's deliverer is alone with
the enemy. God's savior is there with a
two-edged sword. to deliver his people. And Ehud,
God's deliverer, God's savior, God's judge says in verse 20,
I have a message from God unto thee. I have a message from God
unto thee. And the king arose out of his
seat and God's deliverer delivered his message. God did have a message
for Eglon. And God has a message for you
this morning. Look at verse 21. And Ehud put
forth his left hand, and he took the dagger from his right thigh
and thrust it into his belly. And the haft, at least nine inches
of that 18-inch blade, also went in after the blade, and the fat
enclosed upon the blade so that he could not draw the dagger
out of his belly, and the dirt came out. What a picture here,
friends, we have of the believer's salvation. Ehud, God's deliverer,
as a type of Christ, slays the king of our hearts called sin,
and he leaves it to die alone. That's the message of the Lord.
God has sent a deliverer, one that never dies. to deliver us
from the bondage of slavery, the slavery of sin. He said,
I have a message from God. This message is from God. And
to Eglon, it was a message of death. God has sent us a message,
all of us. All of us. There's not a human
being alive that God has not sent this message to. Now some
might say, I've never heard God with an audible voice. I've never
seen a vision. I've never had an angel, a messenger
of God appear unto me. Neither have I. But I have received
a message from God. There are many people in this
world that have never heard the gospel preached. But God, as
their great Creator, has spoken to all His creation, has He not? Isn't that what Paul said in
Romans 1? This message is seen in His creation. God's sovereign power and salvation
being understood by the things that are made, things that are
created. Even His eternal power in Godhead
so that all are without excuse. You can go out tonight and look
into the skies and see the stars in the galaxy displayed in their
majesty. And friends, it takes the same
power to create light in you that it does to create light
in the stars. Oh, we can look at the stars
in the sky and be without excuse before God Almighty. That's God's
message to you. It takes the same power from
God to save a wretched sinner as it took to speak the universe
into existence. When God said, let there be light,
and there was light. Same power that God speaks into
our hearts, that the light of the glorious gospel might shine
and enlighten a sinner. Same power. Paul told Timothy,
he said, for the time will come when men and women will not endure
sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves
teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their
ears from the truth, and it shall be turned into fables, fiction,
lies, man's imagination. And people hear what they want
to hear. Have you figured that out yet?
That's why there's Buildings on every corner in every town,
every state that call themselves churches. Someone will tell them
what they want to hear. And they'll find somebody that
will. God's message, friends, is found
in creation. You can see it. God's message
is found in this book. This book has a message from
God for you. It's a message of love. It's
a message of grace. It's a message of forgiveness.
It's a message of substitution. It's a message of a blood sacrifice. It's a message of a mediator.
There's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. What think ye of him? It's a message of Jesus Christ.
It's a message of Him crucified. And it's the only way that sinners
can be reconciled to God. I remember Paul's dad telling
me years ago, seemed to take some interest in me as a young
preacher. I don't know why, but he just
did. But he said every outline of a message ought to have this
outline within it. First of all, God is holy. God will by no means clear the
guilty. The soul that sins, it shall
die. The wages of sin is death. That's true, isn't it? That's
what this book declares. This ain't the loving Bible,
it's the holy Bible. He's a holy God. This is his
holy word. God is holy. Second point of
the three that he gave me is that you're not holy. You're
unholy. You're depraved. Your heart is
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Only God
can know it. Do you agree? The third point is how is this
holy God and this unholy sinner going to be reconciled together?
Just one way. We only have one message, don't
we? Same message. Whether you hear Paul preach
it, Larry preach it, Darwin preach it, Me attempt to preach it,
it's the same message. God has a message in this book
for you. We've all sinned against God. We've all followed after
idols. We're a mess just like Israel
is. You know, like I said, you read
the second chapter of Judges here and you'll find yourself
shaking your head going, what's wrong with these people? And if it wasn't so sad, it would
be funny, wouldn't it? Man, that's a picture of us.
We're a mess just like it. We're prone to wander, as I tried
to sing. We're prone to leave the God
that we love. And God sent a deliverer. God
sent a judge. Christ is God's Savior. And how
did man respond to that? With their wicked hands they
took and crucified and killed him. We killed the very one and the
only one that could save us. When the believer's sin was found
on the Lord Jesus Christ, God killed him in our stead. And
that's the gospel message. Will you hear this message? I
remember hearing Brother Mahan in a message he preached one
time, was talking about a little boy that was in a church where
he went to preach. And after the message, his dad
asked him, did you hear Brother Mahan's message? And the young
boy, I don't know, seven or eight years old, he said, well, I tried
not to, but I did anyway. You know what? That's exactly
what happened to me. I could not come to God. I didn't
have the ability. I would not come to God that
I might have life. I wouldn't listen to his message,
had no interest in it. No interest in it. Not until
God gave my deaf ears hearing. Recently baptized a young man
in our church. I say young man, he's 49 years
old. He was raised in our church. And when he came to me after
the services that day, he said this, I'll never forget it, as
long as I live. This is just a couple, three
weeks ago. He said, you know, David, I was raised in this church,
I've heard this message all my life. And he said, they were
just words. Just words. He said, but now
they're life. To those of you that God has
revealed himself, you agree, you know what he's talking about,
don't you? All these were just once words, but now they're life. Oh, God help us to trust in our
Savior. Men and women try not to hear,
but some do anyway, because God's gonna see to it that all his
chosen people do. How shall they call on Him in
whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him in whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? I have a message from God to
you. Will God enable you who are yet without Christ to hear?
Oh, that's my prayer this morning. I sure do pray that God gives
you hearing ears. God sends His message through
creation. God sends His message through
this book. God sends His message through
providence. You know what providence is.
It's God doing in time, in providence, what He purposed in eternity. I know you know this, but I'll
tell you again. There's no such thing as luck.
There's no such thing as chance. There's not. Those are two words
that anymore just crawl all over me. Somebody says, oh, I sure
am lucky. I'm like, oh, no, you're not. All things are done on purpose,
according to God's will and purpose. Paul said all things are predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things. How many? All of them. all things after
the counsel of His own will, Ephesians 111. Everything that
comes about in time, God purposed in eternity. Everything. Everything. God speaks to us through adversity. I know some of you have figured
that out. God's revealed it to you. You
didn't figure it out, God revealed it to you. David said this, he
said, it's good for me that I have been afflicted. Well, how is
that good, David? He said that I might learn thy
statutes. That word statute there means
appointments. It's good for me that I've been
afflicted that I might learn God's appointments. It was God
that sent the affliction. Through adversity and trials,
we know that God has appointed them and sent them, and they're
all for our good. All of them. Somehow or another,
good for our good. God speaks to us through sickness.
God speaks to us through death. It's appointed unto men once
to die, and after that, the judgment. And it's God that does that appointing. God speaks to us through health.
It's in Him that we live and we move and we have our being.
Ehud told Eglon, he said, I've got a message from God unto thee. To Eglon, it was a message of
death. To some, the gospel is a savor
of life unto life, and to others, it's a savor of death unto death.
The question this morning is, which is it to you? What think ye of Christ? Who's
on the Lord's side? We have a message from God to
you. You heard it from Paul and Larry last night. You hear it
every week from your own pastor. God speaks through so many things. Yesterday I was admiring Darwin's
garden boxes. I don't know what you call it.
There's a name for them. Is that what they're called? Okay. You've seen them. Anyway, I was
thinking about those vegetables out there growing. Next time
you see a fruit tree, next time you see tomatoes growing on a
vine, whatever, remember this, Christ is the vine that produces
the fruit. Without Him, the scripture says
we can do what? Nothing. How much can we do? Nothing. The Lord's revealed
that to you, hadn't He, Larry? Without Him, we bear no fruit. God speaks to us through the
fowls of the air, doesn't He? Why? Not one sparrow falls to
the ground without His knowledge and without His permission. You
know, a lot of times this time of year you'll see birds, thousands
of them. Thousands of them. You know,
it looks like some kind of a graphic art design in the sky. And not
one of them falls to the ground, that God doesn't, is not behind. My God speaks through so many
things, but God speaks through the foolishness of preaching. And it's called foolishness because
it's foolishness to the world, but it's not foolishness to us,
is it? through his preachers, by the
means of preaching that God saves those who believe. You know,
David, he had a Nathan. And David heard his message. That Ethiopian eunuch, he had
a Philip, didn't he? And he heard Philip's message.
Lydia had a Paul. And she heard his message. But
Felix also had a Paul. Same Paul. But he didn't hear. Who makes the difference? Who
makes the difference? It's God who makes you to differ.
God sent Paul to Agrippa, King Agrippa, and Agrippa didn't hear
him. Agrippa said, thou almost persuadest me. Friends, almost
might as well be a thousand miles away. God's message is distinct
and there's no almost, there's no maybe, there's no uncertainty. Except you repent, you will perish. Well, brother, you're a little
dogmatic. No, I'm not. The Word of God
is. Except you be born again, you shall not see or you shall
not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Isn't that what the Scriptures
say? You shall not. Except your righteousness exceed
that of the Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom
of God. except you be converted and become
as a little child, you shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
The Lord Jesus told Pilate, he said, a man can receive nothing
except it be given him from above. Salvation is of the Lord. Five
words. And it is. Look at verse 21 again
with me. And Ehud put forth his left hand,
and he took the dagger from his right thigh, and he thrust it
into his belly. And the haft also went in after
the blade, and the fat enclosed upon the blade, so that he could
not draw the dagger out of his belly, and the dirt came out.
Now, Eglon here is described as a very fat man. Now I don't want to offend anybody
this morning, but Eglon is a picture of all of us by nature. He was
a very fat man. By nature, you and I are very
fat. I was thinking as I was preparing
this, the Bible's not politically correct, is it? God doesn't have
to be politically correct. Eglon was not said to be a big
man. People used to say that about
me. I was about 100 pounds heavier
at one time. They said, he's a big man. I
knew I was when my pastors called me tiny. When people call you
tiny, that don't mean you're small. Kind of the opposite. But Eglon, he was Very fat man. And what a picture that is of
us by nature. We're so full of sin. We're so
full. We're very fat with sin. We're
very fat with self-righteousness. We're, by nature, we're satisfied
with our fatness. Satisfied with the girth of our
arrogance. Satisfied with the obesity of
our pride. satisfied with the fatness of
our idolatry. But when our judge and deliverer,
the Lord Jesus Christ, came and he slew our sin, and he put it
away with that two-edged sword, and that's how he does it, through
this book. And that two-edged sword couldn't
be removed until all the dirt came out. The Hebrew Bible refers to the
word dirt there as food. All the food that very fat egg
lawn had eaten came out. I was thinking this morning when
Christ laid our sin, all the iniquity that we drank like water
and all the filthy, self-righteous impurities that we gluttonously
eat came out and it was put away. Aren't you glad? This is the purpose for which
Christ came. It's a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save who? Sinners. Are you a sinner? Do you see your need? Those that
are well have no need of a physician, but those that are sick, those
that are fat with sin certainly do. And that's what our mighty Deliverer
has done for his people. Oh, friends, I've got a message
from God for you. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. While we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. Christ died for the ungodly.
That's God's message to a convicted sinner. To the lost and dying,
this gospel message is the good news of substitution. Christ
doing for me what I could not do for myself. In order to be
accepted, it's gotta be perfect. I don't know much about perfection,
I'm telling you that. I know that I don't have it.
And I know that it's Christ that has to give it to me in order
for me to be accepted before God. Oh my, this is a message of substitution,
satisfaction, and salvation accomplished to those who seek not Christ,
but rather opt for the idols of their own merit. This messenger
is out to kill, to take no prisoners. Mr. Barnard used to say, if I'm
gonna show you my God, I'm going to kill yours first. And that doesn't sit well with
the religious multitudes, but it's nonetheless true. Once the
Word of God finds its target, it does not go away. Verses 21 and 22. Men have no
control of what the Word of God does to them. It's a well-placed
dagger that cannot be removed. It's a two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and
marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the
heart. The Lord Jesus, who is the Word of God, puts away our
sin by himself, just as Ehud put away Eglon by himself. The law of sin and death has
no hold on Christ. He knew no sin, but was made
sin that we might be what? Made the righteousness of God.
Where? In Him. And these are all things that
you know very well. You hear them all the time. And
we never get tired of hearing them, do we? Tell me one more
time how Christ put away my sin. That's what I want to hear. Death couldn't hold the Lord
Jesus. The grave couldn't keep Him. Look at verse 23. Then Ehud, God's deliverer, went
forth through the porch and shut the doors of the parlor upon
Him. and locked them. And when he
was gone out, his, Eglon's, servants came, and when they saw that,
behold, the doors of the parlor were locked, they said, surely
he covereth his feet in his summer chamber. He's taking a nap. He's
covered up, and he's taking a nap. And verse 25, and they tarried
till they were ashamed. And that just simply means they
were confounded. They didn't know what to do. And behold,
he opened not the doors of the parlor. Therefore they took a
key and opened them. And behold, their Lord was fallen
down dead on the earth. And Ehud escaped while they tarried
and passed beyond the quarries and escaped unto Sarah. I think that's how you say that.
Do you know what the name Ehud means in the Hebrew language? United. His name gives strong
reference to our English word, union. When Ehud escaped to Sarah, that's
talking about Mount Ephraim, which is often referred to as
the mountains of Israel. And when the Lord Jesus died
in the sinner's room instead, He arose from the dead, and we,
His people, were united with Him. The Lord Jesus ascended
into the mountain of Israel at the right hand of God, and the
child of God, by their union with Christ, was united with
God. We're one with Him in Christ. Verse 27, and it came to pass
when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of
Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from
the mount, and he before them. And Ehud said unto them, follow
after me, for the Lord hath delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into
your hand. And they went down after him,
and he took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not
a man to pass over. And they slew of Moab at that
time about 10,000 men, and there escaped not a man. So Moab was
subdued that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had what? God's Deliverer, the Lord Jesus
Christ, He subdues and He destroys our great enemy of sin. And the
children of God have rest. Are you resting this morning?
I mean really resting. That's what you've heard from
these men last night and again this morning. There's nothing
that we can do to appease God. It has to be perfect. But the
Lord Jesus Christ provided for us everything that God required
of us. It's called substitution. When
Paul talks about Jesus Christ and Him crucified, that's what
it's talking about. He's God who became a man, and
He died in His chosen people's room instead. And that's the
only way that you and I can ever be saved. What a message. I've got a message from God for
you. The Lord Jesus said, come unto me, those of you who are
weary and heavy laden with your sin, and I will give you rest. Rest. He gives us rest by putting
away that sin, our sin, by the sacrifice of himself. Now if
you believe this message, as you've already heard, flesh and
blood didn't reveal it to you. But God, the Father which is
in heaven did. It's God who makes you to differ,
dear friend. And let me say this in closing
to those of you who are yet without Christ. Won't you come to Him? Won't you bow to Him? There's
no promise of tomorrow. Why, Eglon is a witness to that. Well, may God be pleased to cause
you to hear this message that's from Him. It's from Him. And
may He enable you to believe it. And may He enable you to
come to Christ and enable you to have that rest. There's nothing
like it. No rest like it. May God be pleased
to make it so. Thank you, brother.