Let's open our Bibles tonight
to Judges chapter 11. Judges chapter 11. Here we read about a man who
makes a great sacrifice. Sometimes when we are very proud,
and thinking very highly of ourselves because we have done something,
given something that was costly, we think we have really made
a sacrifice. And the fact is, I don't suppose I've ever sacrificed
anything to God. Maybe he'll let me remedy that
before I leave here. But this man, Jephthah, made
a sacrifice. I want to talk to you about Jephthah's
sacrifice tonight. Our great God delights to use
the weakest, most insignificant things for his service and for
the benefit of his people, the interest of his kingdom. Not
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble
are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not. bring
to naught the things that are. And the reason he uses such things
is that no flesh should glory in his presence. We have this
treasure, the treasure of the gospel, the treasure of the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in Christ Jesus. We have
this treasure in earthen vessels, in pieces of broken clay. earthen vessels. God has put
the light of the gospel in earthen vessels like you and me, broken
clay pots like us, to carry it to other people in this world
that the excellency of the glory may be of God and not of us. Nowhere is this more clearly
exemplified than in this man Jephthah here in Judges chapter
11. His name, Jephthah, means one
that will open. And truly the things he recorded
by the pen of inspiration about this man open our eyes in some
measure to God's wondrous ways in this world. Hold your Bibles
open here to Judges 11, and I'm going to get down to Jephthah's
sacrifice in a little bit. Along the way, I want to tell
you several things about Jephthah. And I hope as I do, I'm telling
you several things about you. And I know I'm telling you several
things about me. Number one, Jephthah was born in shame. He was the bastard son of a harlot. Now, Jephthah the Gileadite was
a mighty man of valor. And he was the son of a harlot.
and Gilead begat Jephthah, and Gilead's wife bare him sons,
and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah,
and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house,
for thou art the son of a strange woman. David said, Behold, I
was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. This man Jephthah was born in
shame. You too, me too. Shapen in iniquity, conceived
in sin. Sin is where we began in this
world. Sin is what we are in this world. Sin is what we do in this world. Nothing else. Nothing else. There is not a good thing in
you, not a good thing in me, not a good thing performed by
us. Sins by name, sins by middle
name, sins by last name. Sin, that's all. Number two. As such, being born in shame,
the bastard son of a harlot, Jephthah bore all his life the
pain and shame of his mother's base bestial immorality. He was cast out from his brethren
by his brethren. Me too. Aliens from the Commonwealth
of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope without
God in this world. That's where we were when God
sought us and found us by his grace. Following the example
of his mother, Jephthah lived as a rebel, leading a band of
vain men, vain men, empty men, meaningless men. worthless men. Judges 11 verse 3. Jephthah fled
from his brethren and dwelt in the land of Tob and there were
gathered vain men to Jephthah and went out with him. Me too. Wherein in time past Ye all walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in time past. Now listen to this, all of us. This is how we lived in the lust
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind. in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of our flesh. That's how we all lived. Some
here lived in moral uprightness. I suppose most of you did all
of your lives. You didn't violate laws. You weren't drunks. You weren't
dope addicts. You lived in moral uprightness. kind of folks that people would
brag about. We raise our children to do so.
When our daughter came into this world, there was just never a
thought of her not going to school, finishing school, going to college. That wasn't even a discussion
in our house. This is what you do. You're going
to go and make something of yourself. And she's always been very Pleasant
and honoring to us always has been thankful for I never spent
five minutes concerned about where she was what she was doing
But she too Lived in the lust of her flesh In the lust of her flesh just
like her daddy did who never did anything but what was wrong In the lust of our flesh you
see all of us by nature are live to please ourselves. We live
unto ourselves, for ourselves, to please ourselves. Some folks
please themselves with the high road of morality and uprightness
and refinement and others with the low road of debauchery and
ungodly behavior and all live according to the lust of their
flesh, children of wrath, just like everybody else. Children
hating God. Children under the sense of God's
judgment upon them, rightfully so. Because we live in the lust
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind. That's the nature of man. The
wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon
as they're born, speaking lies. But even here I see God's grace
upon my soul. Grace set upon me long before
I had any desire for grace or knew anything about grace. Had
it not been for the distress of my soul, distress into which
I bought myself by my own wicked hands and my own ungodliness,
Distress that brought me to the pit of despair. Distress that
brought me to a sense of nothingness in myself. Had it not been for
a tormenting guilty conscience, I would never have come to Christ
for mercy. Nobody seeks mercy who doesn't
need mercy. Nobody comes to Christ who doesn't
need Christ. Only the dirty need cleansing. Only the dirty. Shelby and I
left Alaska last Thursday evening late. We'd been up since early
in the morning and left about 1.30 on Friday morning to come
home, and we spent the rest of the day until about 5.30, got
in Lexington about 5.30 Friday afternoon, spent the whole day
in airports around a lot of people, and just in the airplane around
a lot of people, crowded up. When I got home, there's one
thing I wanted to do real bad. I want to take a shower because
I was dirty and I just felt dirty. And taking the shower relieves
some of the sense of filth. You understand what I'm saying?
Only those who know themselves dirty before God will plunge
into the fountain drawn from Emmanuel's veins and washed themselves
white in the fountain of his blood. No one else will. Jephthah was by God's law. Turn
over to Deuteronomy 32 for a minute. I'm sorry, chapter 23. Chapter
23, not 32. Jephthah was by God's law excluded from the congregation
of Israel. Deuteronomy 23, 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. Why does God make
such a distinction? Why does God make such a distinction
concerning this man and others like him? The distinction that's
here made between the children of a married couple and the children
of fornication is uniformly maintained and decidedly marked throughout
the scriptures. Not for the shame of the child. For the shame of the parents
who under such circumstances bring the child into the world.
I know that we, these days, we like to pretend there's nothing
wrong with anything. God says things the way he says
them on purpose. He gives them to us in his word
on purpose. The book of God shows plainly
that the marriage of a man and a woman is that which is used
in scripture to typify the union that exists between Christ and
his church. And throughout the scriptures,
fornication is presented as a horribly debasing evil thing never to
be looked upon casually. Now, I want to say this. Are
you kids listening to me? Are you listening to me? Please
listen to me. Listen to me. Listen to me. Fornication
is a horribly debasing Thing. Never to be looked upon casually.
Never. Never. It debases humanity. No man who loves a woman will
shack up with her like a dog. He loves himself. No woman who
respects herself will shack up with a man like a dog. It's not
going to happen. Not going to happen. But we live
in the 21st century. I don't care if you live in the
3000th century God's Word doesn't change Decency doesn't change
But we have many instances like this in the Word of God In which
the Lord God goes out of his way to show us that Christ is
the Savior of sinners Don't ever Don't ever Don't ever give any
Acceptability To the wicked behavior of ungodly men, but don't ever
lie act like you're any better Don't ever act like you're any
better and don't ever think you are And hope that you know it Because
Christ came here to save sinners And he won't save anybody else
He came here to save folks like Tamar and a Moabitess woman,
and Bathsheba, and that woman in John Chapter
8, taken in the very act of adultery, and folks like the one talking
to you now. Merle, he came to save sinners. If you don't fit
that, you'll never get in his kingdom. Same's true of Charlotte,
and same's true of Shelby. Christ came to save sinners.
And he goes out of his way to give us example after example
after example in the book that he came here to say just such
things as we find here in Jephthah and his family. Publicans and
harlots are not disqualified from participating in the mercies
of God in Christ Jesus. Sin doesn't. Sin doesn't disqualify you for
God's mercy. That's the one thing that qualifies
you That's the one thing that qualifies
you Though despised by everyone else
Jephthah was loved of God Chosen in Christ Ordained by
God to be an instrument by whose hand He would save His people. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? God had all these sons of Gilead.
He had all these other men in Israel. And this one man who's
known by everybody to be the son of a harlot. One man, everybody
knows his brothers threw him out of the house. One man who's
utterly contemptible. God said, that's the one I'll
use. That's the one I'll use. So it has ever been his way and
is to this day. Oh, the Lord hath appeared of
old unto me saying, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. Before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee. And before thou camest forth
out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations. God passed by all the proud sons
of Gilead. Jephthah, the son of a harlot,
was chosen. so much we could learn from that,
learn this for sure. Never overrate the things that
men in this world strive for and cherish by which they think
they distinguish themselves from other men. Don't rate those things so high.
Don't give those things such a great, position in your mind. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't
overrate anything that distinguishes one man from another except God's
distinguishing grace. That's all. That's all. God's
mercies are not bestowed upon us because of our merits. God's
mercies are bestowed on us because of his pleasure and nothing else.
Then look at verse 29 in Judges 11. In God's appointed time,
the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. When I passed by thee, and looked
upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love. And I spread
my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness, yea, I swear unto
thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God. and thou becamest mine. God comes
to chosen sinners at the appointed time of love and pours out his
spirit upon them, giving them life and faith in himself, drawing
them to faith in Jesus Christ and bringing them effectually
to the Savior's arms. The Lord God poured out his spirit
upon Jephthah and exalted him to the highest dignity and the
highest usefulness among men. Jephthah was one of God's. Jephthah was one of God's. And as such, David, he was prospered
in everything. He was prospered in everything.
Everything he did was prospered. Even when he led his band of
vain men, God was prospering Jephthah according to his purpose. You see, Jephthah's name was
recorded among the honorable of Israel, written in the Book
of Life of the Lamb from the foundation of the world. Now
there's something to rejoice in. Not the kind of car you drive,
not the clothes you wear, not the house you live in, not your
bank account, not your degrees, not your name, but the fact that
your name is written in heaven. My name is written in glory.
My name is written in glory. God Almighty penned it there
himself before the world began. In the spirit of God that was port
de projector, That's the same spirit by which God exalted his
son as a man poured his spirit upon him without measure It is
the same spirit God gives to each of his own Dividing the
spirit severly to each one in his church as he will giving
us gifts to serve him in his church and kingdom as he will
By the grace of God bestowed upon him by faith in Christ Jephthah
were told in Hebrews 11 subdued kingdoms and wrought righteousness. The Ammonites were brought down
to Jephthah's feet. Those people who would have destroyed
Israel were brought to Jephthah's feet to bow to him. This man
Jephthah subdued kingdoms and wrought righteousness. What? But Brother Don, you've
told us repeatedly we can't do anything righteous. No, you can't. But as you walk by faith in Jesus
Christ the Lord, you walk in this world in righteousness and
subdued kingdoms so that the world doesn't rule you, but you
rule the world. Your passions don't rule you,
but you rule your passions. The evil that's in you, that
would destroy you, shall soon be made to bow to your feet.
And Satan himself, you shall tread under your feet. No outward
condition, be it ever so base, can hinder God's purpose or thwart
His free grace. Look at Judges 11 again. Jephthah
feared God and believed his word. Look at verse 9. And Jephthah said unto the elders
of Gilead, if you bring me home again to fight against the children
of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them before me, shall I be your
head? And the elders of Gilead said
unto Jephthah, the Lord be witness between us. If we do not so according
to thy words, Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead and
the people and made him head and captain over them. And Jephthah
uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpah. Now, his
faith is evidence in his ascribing Israel's conquest to the Lord.
He speaks, sent messengers to Ammon. Ammon coming against him
said, you folks came and stole our land. And Jephthah said,
it wasn't your land. He said, God gave it to us. Long
before you ever grew up there, God gave it to us. And you've
been living there by our good graces all this time. And the
Lord subdued the land before us. It's ours. Even so, you and
I, God's people, are a people who belong to God from eternity. Before we were possessed by Satan
as a result of the fall, before we were taken captive by Satan
at his will, we were God's property. And when the Lord Jesus comes
to redeem his own, to save his own, he brings back to himself
that which was his property from eternity. Jephthah called upon
the God of all truth to judge between Israel and Ammon. Look
at verse 27, the Lord judge, the Lord, the judge be judged
this day between the children of Israel and the children of
Ammon. He said, let God judge. I'll be happy with that. Let God judge. I'll be happy
with that. Turn to 2nd Corinthians, 1st
Corinthians chapter 4, 1st Corinthians chapter 4. I recommend two things to you
that will help you a great deal in this world. Don't pay too
much attention to the judgment of men concerning yourself. And don't ever exercise judgment
with regard to others. A friend recently asked me, do
you believe King Saul was saved? And I said, well, I have an opinion
about that, but I'm not going to tell you what it is. How come? I said, what's your
reason for asking the question? I'll tell you the reason. I'll
tell you the reason. Just in case you hadn't caught
on to it yet, I'll tell you the reason. The only reason you ask
the question is so you can decide whether somebody else is saved
or not. That's the only reason you ask the question. And Bill
Rodder is none of your business. That's none of your business.
Well, I think I know who's saying who's not. Well, you think wrong.
You don't. You just don't. We can inspect fruit. You could
have had good eyes and a good nose, but you don't. God tells
us plainly, let the wheat and the tares grow together until
the harvest time. How come? Because you can't tell
the difference. Let the sheep and the goats stay
together. I'll separate them because you
can't tell the difference. You can't tell the difference.
Leave it alone. Don't set in judgment over others. God will take care of that. God
will take care of that. Man professes faith in Christ,
treat him like he's one of yours. Treat him like he's one of yours.
And don't be too concerned when others set in judgment over you.
Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Paul had come to the Corinthians. God had used him to establish
this gospel church here in Corinth. And then there was strife and
division. Folks came and some would go listen to Paul preaching.
When Paul wasn't there, they'd go listen to Apollos. When Apollos
wasn't there, they'd go listen to Peter. And some said, we're just Christians.
We follow Jesus. And yeah, all this bickering
and fussing and division and pretense of godliness. And all
the while, they decided, well, really, Paul, he's questionable. He's questionable. These false
teachers came in and said, Paul, he's not being sincere. You folks
ought not pay too much attention to him. Now watch what Paul says.
Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards
of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards
that a man be found faithful. But with me, It is a very small
thing that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not mine own self. That's a pretty good response.
I give it a lot. I give it a lot. I know you folks
don't think this. You give me such accolades. You embarrass me. But not everybody
has the same opinion. Your pastor, you do. And every
now and then, I get Kind of nasty letters. And folks have made
some judgments concerning me. One fellow, I forgot where he
was, somebody, Dan Park sent it to me on the internet. Some
fellow down in, somewhere in Kentucky. He said, he said, Mahan's
dead and Fortner's lost his mind. He's lost his mind. And how do
you respond to that? I don't. My soul, I consider
the source. Small thing to me, I'd be judged
of you, of man's judgment. What men think about me doesn't
matter. What men think about you doesn't matter. Not before
God. What men think about our spiritual
state doesn't matter. What men think about our spiritual
work doesn't matter. What men think about our standing
before God doesn't matter. That's got nothing to do with
anything. Only matters what God says. I read on what it says.
For I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified,
but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore, judge nothing
before the time. Judge nothing before the time
until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of
the heart, then shall every man have his praise of God." There's a day coming when everything
will be set in its true light. There's a day coming when Rex
and Don are going to be set in their true light before God and
the universe. There's a day coming. I'm prepared
to wait. I don't need to defend myself
before anybody else. All right, back to Judges 11.
Verse 32. God honored the faith of this
man that honored him. Look at verse 32. So Jephthah
passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them,
and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he smote them
from Eor, even till he come to Mineth, even twenty cities, unto
the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus
the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of Israel."
Jephthah honored God, believing Him. Haven't you heard
this? The only way you can honor God
is to believe Him. He honored God believing in him. And this is God's word. Him that
honoreth me, I will honor. He always has. He does now. He always will. Him that honoreth
me, I will honor. Now look at verse 35. Jephthah opened his mouth to
God and declared, I cannot go back. Now that for which Jephthah
is most commonly known is this vow. And the fact that he conscientiously
kept it, though it was terribly painful for him to do so, even
more painful for his cherished daughter. Most people look upon
this vow as a weakness and consider Jephthah's keeping it as a matter
of great weakness, a great failure in Jephthah. I was disappointed
reading Hawker on this passage just a little while ago, and
he said this was a weakness of Jephthah's faith. But the fact
is, God the Holy Spirit tells us in Hebrews 11, verse 32, that
Jephthah conquered Ammon And it was an act of faith by which
he did so. This man, Jephthah, subdued kingdoms
by faith. And the faith he's talking about
is what we have right here in front of us in Judges chapter 11. Nonplussed
was mentioned. And the vow that Jephthah took
was at the very core of what he did. The vow he took with
regard to his daughter was at the very core of what he did.
Now, let's look at the vow and see what Jephthah did. verse
30 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 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
so Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight
against them and the Lord delivered them into his hands and He smote
them from Aor even until you come to Minneth even 20 cities
under the plain of the vineyards with the very great slaughter
thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children of
Israel verse 34 and Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house
and behold His daughter came out to meet him with timbrels
and dances. He'd been gone a long time. And
word got back to his house before he got there. God had given a
great victory. Jephthah has conquered Amman.
Jephthah has delivered Israel. And he comes back home, and his
daughter just can't wait to see him. And she comes out with timbrels,
and she's dancing, just like she's proud of her daddy. Came out with timbrels and dances,
and she was his only child. Beside her, he had neither son
nor daughter. And it came to pass when he saw
her that he rent his clothes and said, alas, my daughter,
thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that
trouble me. Well, she hadn't done anything.
Trouble because she's my daughter. trouble because now I've got
to consider you as I keep my vow to God. For I've opened my
mouth unto the Lord and I can't go back. Verse 36, listen to
her response. And she said unto him, my father,
if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according
to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth. For as much
as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even
of the children of Ammon. And she understood what he had
vowed. I know that because verse 37, she said unto her father,
let this thing be done for me. Let me alone two months that
I may go up and down upon the mountains and bewail my virginity,
I and my fellows, my companions. And he said unto her, go. And
he sent her away for two months. And she went with her companions
and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to
pass at the end of two months that she returned to her father,
who did with her according to his vow, which he had vowed,
and she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel
that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter
of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days in a year. Jephthah's fidelity in keeping
this vow is remarkable. But people ask, did Jephthah
really sacrifice his daughter? By that, they're asking, did
Jephthah take her to the house of God and offer her blood on
God's altar? Of course not. Of course not. I know that for a number of reasons.
If Jephthah's dog had been the first thing come out of his door,
he wouldn't have offered his dog on the altar of God. That
would be to pollute it, let alone to offer human blood. A more
literal translation of Jephthah's vow in verse 31 would be this.
It shall be, it shall belong to the Lord and I will offer
it instead of a burnt offering. Young's literal translation reads
just this way. I have offered up for it a burnt
offering. Your modern King James version
reads like this. It shall belong to the Lord. Now, how can you be so sure,
Brother Don, that Jephthah didn't literally sacrifice his daughter?
Let me give you four reasons. I'll wrap this up. First, this
was a personal vow. It was a personal vow. A vow
that Jephthah made to God. A vow that Jephthah alone could
fulfill. And in fulfilling the vow, he
could not take that which did not belong to him and offer it
to God. Can't do that. Can't do that.
And his daughter didn't belong to him. She belonged to God. She belonged to God. As her father,
it was Jephthah's rights in those days to give her or
not give her in marriage. Now, I like to think, before
Faith got married, someone asked me years ago, when Faith was
still a young lady, said, if Faith started to marry somebody
and you disapproved, do you think she'd listen to you? And I said
to them without hesitancy, I believe she would. I believe she would. I think she'd trust me that much.
But whether she would or not really doesn't make much difference
as what I'd like to think. I'd like to think that was the
case. We still have a custom when we start to marry a young
lady to a man, I'll ask, who giveth this woman in marriage?
And her daddy or her brother or somebody will say her mother
and I, something of the kind, so that we sort of go through
the ceremony just as though daddies did that. But in 1 Corinthians
chapter 7, the Apostle Paul, referring back to these very
same customs that were practiced in this day, speaks of a man
keeping his virgin, keeping his daughter in her virginity. And
a man could give his daughter to be married or not give his
daughter to be married. That was his decision, not hers. That was his decision, not hers.
And Jephthah could certainly have done that, but Jephthah,
here commits this requirement that she remains celibate all
the days of her life. Besides, there was no reason
for Jephthah literally to offer his daughters a sacrifice because
God provided redemption even for an animal that was unclean
under the law that had been committed to the Lord. Jephthah, if he
had taken his daughter and offered her for sacrifice, he would have
been performing the work of a priest and it would have polluted God's
altar with human blood, both of which things God would require
man to be cured for doing. So no, Jephthah did not literally
sacrifice his daughter. What Jephthah did was committed
her to God in perpetual virginity. He did exactly what we're taught
to say to our God because of his marvelous free grace in Christ. Turn to Psalm 66. Psalm 66. He says, I'll offer her up to
God. That first thing that comes out
my doors, I'll offer it to you as a burnt offering, instead
of a burnt offering. Psalm 66 verse 5, come and see
the works of God. He is terrible that he's doing
toward the children of men. He turned the sea into dry ground,
a dry land. They went through the flood on
foot. There did we rejoice in him. He ruleth by his power forever. His eyes behold the nations.
Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Verse eight. Oh, bless our God, ye people,
and make the voice of his praise to be heard, which holdeth our
soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. For thou,
O God, hast proved us. Thou hast tried us as silver
is tried. Verse 13. In light of this, I'll
go into thy house with burnt offerings. I'll pay my vows. I'll pay to thee my vows. which
my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken when I was
in trouble. I will offer unto thee burnt
sacrifices of fatlings with the incense of rams. I will offer
books with goats. What's all that talking about?
Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what
he hath done for my soul. We offer to God as a burnt off
in the calves of our lips in praise. And one more thing. This
ordinance was kept in Israel every year. Jephthah's daughter
apparently lived quite some time after this, and they bewailed
her virginity in the mountains around Israel every year for
four days. Kept in perpetual virginity. What kind of sacrifice is that?
Jephthah was an Israelite indeed. He believed God. He believed
that the woman's seed would come. And the woman's seed would come
through Abraham's sons. And he was one of them. And every
man hoped that the woman's seed, the Messiah, the Redeemer, would
come through his family. And every woman in Israel who
believed God hoped that the Messiah might come through her or through
the fruit of her womb. But to be reserved in perpetual
virginity precluded such blessedness from this woman and precluded
such hope from Jephthah. And this woman was kept in her
perpetual virginity unto God until the day of her death because
Jephthah said, I've opened my mouth to God and I can't go back. And she said, Daddy, that's all
right. That's all right. That's the
way we would have it. This is how God would have us
serve him. Let me see if I can illustrate
what I'm saying best I know how. As you know, we have one child. She was born February 2nd, about
1 o'clock in the morning, a little after. I was scheduled to preach
that morning. I got home about 4 or 5 o'clock
in the morning. and preached that morning. Before
she was born, as soon as we found out we're having a child, her
mother and I deliberately, with earnest heart, gave her to God. When she was born, first thing
we did, deliberately, with earnest heart, is give her to God and
committed ourselves to serve him with her. and everything. And I've never regretted it.
I've never regretted it. It means you can't do some of
the things other folks do. It means you can't have things
other folks have. It means you don't have any time
of your own. It means your family doesn't get your time like you'd
want them to. It means lots of things, lots of things. But this
is what God's appointed, and this is what we just must. Well,
I had folks tell me lots of times from young man, well, you need
to let your daughter be a child. You need to expect this from
me. Don't expect her to grow up so quick and all that. And
I just kind of smile at them and thank them for their advice. And while I was saying thank
you, I said, I wish you'd just shut up and keep your opinions
to yourself. But I tried to be nice most of the time. Not always,
but most of the time. And what do you do? You go on and serve God with
what God's given you. with devoted heart for His glory. That is to say, you lay everything
at His feet, everything and everybody, and worship Him. Who would do
otherwise? I'll take the cup of salvation
and I'll call on the name of the Lord as long as I live. because of his goodness to me
and his Israel. Amen.