First look at verses 1 and 2.
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 bared 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." Here's the first thing. Jephthah was the bastard son
of a whore. Me too. You too. Our whole race is going to whore
in after another God. And we have no right to life
in this world. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity. And in sin did my mother conceive
me. Here's the second thing. As the bastard son of a strange
woman, Jephthah all his life long had to bear the pain and
the shame of his mother's base bestial immorality. Much more needs to be said just
on that. than I'm going to say tonight
or any other time. We're living in a society where
religion has degenerated to such a degree that adultery and fornication,
along with homosexuality and every other kind of imaginable
bestial behavior, and I mean bestial, and I'm insulting the
beast. because they know no better,
had become commonly accepted and looked upon with acceptance. Don't let that happen with you. Jephthah had to bear the shame
of his mother's base, bestial immorality. He was cast out from
his brethren and cast out by his brethren. Me too. You too. This is how God describes
us. Aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. Strangers to the covenants of
promise. You hear preachers all the time
read the book and pervert it and twist it around and make
them say what they want to and they say this is to you. All
you have to do is claim God's promise and it's yours. Not if
it's not made for you. Love is not made to you. And
you, by nature, like me, by nature, we all are strangers to the promises
of God and have no claim to them. Not one. No claim to life. No claim to health. No claim
to prosperity, no claim to peace. Strangers to the covenants of
promise. Aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. That is, foreigners. These things
are things about which we know nothing, upon which we can make
no claim. We have no rights. Not before
God Almighty. Those things are for the children
of God. Those things belong to those
who are united to the living God by faith, and that no man
has by nature. We were strangers to the covenants
of promise, having no hope. One of the most difficult things
on this earth to do in trying to preach the gospel is not just difficult, Darwin,
it's impossible. Convince folks they don't have
any hope. No hope. But God loves everybody. If you can find hope in that,
you're a fool. If he loves everybody and somebody goes to hell, tell
me where the hope is. But God wants to save everybody. If you
can find hope in that, you're a fool. If God Almighty wants
to save everybody and somebody goes to hell, there's no hope
in that. But Jesus died for everybody. That means there's hope for everybody.
If you find hope in that, you're a fool. You're a fool. You may
as well worship that bench and call it God and Jesus Christ
and your Savior, because if He died for everybody and somebody
still goes to hell, there's no hope in that. There's no hope
in that. Oh, no. No, no. There's no hope for anybody
except the sinner who looks to Jesus Christ alone as his Savior. following the example of his
mother, following the example of his mother, following the
example of his mother. We all do. And so will your sons
and daughters. So will yours. Jephthah lived
as a rebel, leading a band of vain idolatrous, rebel, ungodly
men. Look at verse 3. Then Jephthah
fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob, and there
were gathered vain men, ungodly, idol-worshipping, perverse, wicked,
vile men. That's the only kind of folks
we gather around us by nature. Only time we ever gather around
us. Gathered to Jephthah and went out with him. So it is with
you. So it is with me. Wherein in
time past you walked according to the course of this world. No exceptions. No exceptions. The wicked are estranged from
the womb. They go astray as soon as they
are born, speaking lies. If you imagine that there is
some goodness in your sons and daughters, some goodness in your
mama and daddy by nature, some goodness in wife or relative
by nature, And you say, oh, don't tell me that that person's not
going to heaven. I never met a better person than
that. That's not what you're really saying. That's not your
real concern. No, no. You're saying I ain't
that bad. No, don't tell me I'm not fit
for God's acceptance. Don't tell me I'm not fit to
be accepted of God. I know I'm a good man at heart. I'm a good woman at heart. I
know I do some things I ought not to do. I may have murdered
a few people, but at heart I'm good. At heart. And that's how all men think
of themselves. I can't tell you how many times
I've had folks get upset with me because they hear the gospel
preached. And they go, well, preaching what he does, he said,
my daddy's lost. He said, my mama's in hell. He said, my next
door neighbor is a lost person just because they worship an
idol. And I know they're good. I know they're in heaven. What
you're really saying is, I'm not concerned about them, but
I know I'm good. And you're not. We are all estranged
from the womb and go forth as soon as we are born speaking
lies. That's our nature. Look at Scripture again, back
in Judges chapter 11. Jephthah, you remember, was cast
out by his brethren. Hold your hands here in Judges
11 and turn back to Deuteronomy chapter 23. I'll show you something else about
him. Jephthah, by the law of God,
by the clear, unmistakable was excluded from the commonwealth
of Israel. Me too. You too. Deuteronomy 23 verse 2. A bastard
shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, even to his tenth
generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the
Lord. That takes in a whole long list of descendants to the 10th
generation. You see, the law of God shuts
you out from his kingdom, his holiness, his justice, his truth. The law of God is blind. to everything you do by which
you think you make yourself good. Read the passage in Ezekiel's
prophecy in chapter 3 and in chapter 33. He said the righteousness
of a man will not deliver him in the day that he commits transgression. No matter what you've done, your
righteousness won't deliver you. And blessed be his name, he declares
the iniquity of a man will not destroy him. Not he who looks outside himself
for hope, looks outside himself for righteousness, looks to Jesus
Christ alone for acceptance with God. Back here in Judges. This man Jephthah was beloved
of God. This man, by nature, a bastard. By nature, rightfully shut out
from the house of Israel. By nature, rightfully barred
from the kingdom of God. By nature, unfit for anything. By nature, a rebel and a leader
of rebels. But this man, Jephthah, was beloved
of God. chosen in Christ and ordained
as an instrument by whose hand God would save his people. Behold, I have loved thee with
everlasting love, God says. Therefore with lovingkindness
have I grown thee. He said, Before I formed thee
in the belly, I knew thee, and sanctified thee to be a prophet
unto me." A prophet unto the nations. Here's the sixth thing. Look in verse 29. At God's appointed
time, the Spirit of God came upon Jephthah. You see that? The Spirit of the Lord came upon
Jephthah. It doesn't say Jephthah found
the Lord. It doesn't say Jephthah was looking
for the Lord. It doesn't say Jephthah got God
to turn his way. but rather it declares the Spirit
of the Lord came upon Jephthah. And that's exactly what happens
when God saves his people. He says, when I pass by thee,
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, and thou becamest mine. You hath he quickened, who were
dead in trespasses, hath You, who were by nature children of
wrath, just like everybody else, who in time past walked after
the course of this world, who had your conversation with the
vain men of this world. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, hath quickened us
together with Christ. Why do you reckon it is you're
sitting here tonight? Why do you reckon it is? Look
to the rock from which you're hewn, the hole of the pit from
which you've been dug, and don't forget it. Don't forget it. Why? Because God sent His Spirit
to you. Because God would not leave you
to yourself. No other reason. The Lord God
poured out His Spirit upon Jephthah and exalted him. to the highest
dignity and usefulness among his people. This man who was vain, who had no claim
to life and no claim to citizenship, this man who was cast out by
law as well as by the haughtiness of his brethren, cast out from
his family, cast out from the inheritance, this man who was
a leader of idolatrous, vain rebels. This man who gathered
around him godless, wicked men and led them in their godless
wickedness. This man now made a judge in Israel, made
to be one who is of highest usefulness in Israel. directing Israel to
God's promise and God's word and God's goodness and God's
grace and God's inheritance, all of which were but pictures
of Jesus Christ and His grace. That's what God's done for you. Imagine that. He takes such things
as we are and makes us instruments of good. But that's not all.
Jephthah was one of God's. As such, he prospered in all
that he did. Let me put that another way. He was prospered in all that
he did. God made everything good for
Jephthah. even the shame he bore. God turned for his good. He was
prospered in everything. His name is recorded among the
honored men of Israel. You find it mentioned in Hebrews
chapter 11 verse 32. Along with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. Along with Abel, and Noah, and
Enoch. Along with Samson, and Barak,
and Gideon. Jephthah is held high. Rejoice, you chosen, redeemed,
and called sinners. You who believe on the Son of
God, do you trust Him? Your name is written in heaven. And the fact that you trust Him
is the evidence that your name is there. Here's the seventh thing. by the grace of God bestowed
upon him, by the faith in Christ that was wrought in him. We're
told in this 11th chapter that Jephthah, or in Hebrews chapter
11, that Jephthah subdued kingdoms and wrought righteousness. Wow! Now how are you going to
put me through with that? Thou hast redeemed us unto our
God out of every nation and kindred and tribe and tongue, and hast
made us kings and priests unto our God. Greater is He that is in you
than he that is in the world, because of him that is in you.
Because of the faith he's wrought in you, and the faith of him
who is in you, this is the victory that overcomes the world, subdues
all the world. And you know what? It never seems
like it. It never seems like it. But when
this day is done, And when our struggles here are over, we shall
understand that Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, by His obedience
unto death as our substitute, crushing the serpent's head,
has made us, now listen, more than conquerors through Him that
loved us. Never will forget, first time
I began to get some understanding of that, My old friend, Brother Harry
Graham, I was 19 years old, sitting on the hearth in his living room.
His wife and shovel were over discussing fixing roads to corn
or something, and Harry and I were sitting there talking. And I
quoted that passage in Romans 8. He said, you know what that
means? I said, well, what means? Well,
it means to be more than conquerors. And I said, I guess it means
we're conquerors in Christ. He said, that's not what it's
saying. He said, you're more than conquerors. ought to be
more than a conqueror. That means he against whom your
warfare is has been so thoroughly whipped that he'll never rise
up against you with power again. I've whipped a lot of fellas
in my days, both in legitimate competition and in the streets.
But you know what? I never whipped one that I hadn't
looked for until I got to be a grown-up man. I never whipped
one. I didn't look for them all the
time to sneak up on me and take advantage and whip me sooner
or later. Never. If he couldn't do it,
he'd gather somebody else around. And often did. And often did. Because I never really whipped
anybody. Jesus Christ, my mediator and
surety. has thoroughly vanquished death,
hell, and the grave, and the prince of darkness, so that Satan
has no power against those whose names are written in the book
of life of the Lamb. And he wrought righteousness. Now when did you ever do anything
righteous? The Lord God tells me, 1 John chapter 3, that that
new man in me never does anything else. That which is born of God,
what does He say? Doeth righteousness. Understand,
Paul said, when I sin, there is no more I that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me. That ain't me. That ain't me.
This new man in me is Christ Jesus the Lord and walks before
God in righteousness. No outward condition, be it ever
so base, can hinder God's purpose or thwart His free grace. Move
on. Judges chapter 11 again. Look
at verse 27. Jephthah feared God, and he believed
Him. Jephthah uttered all his words
before the Lord in Mishpah. When we learn to believe We won't
need any other counselors, and we won't need any other comforters. I see you smile, you've been
there, haven't you? We try to comfort him, can't.
He does. Jephthah uttered his words before
God. And I want to tell you something.
As long as you keep uttering them before men, you won't utter
them before God. But if you pour out your heart
to God, you won't have a need to pour it out to men. No need. Jephthah's faith was evident
in ascribing to Israel's God all the conquests that Israel
had made. These enemies came before him and they said, what
are you doing possessing our land? We want you to give it
back to us. And Jephthah said, what are you
talking about? It ain't your land. So we came, our fathers
came, we said we'll go through this, this, that, and you wouldn't
let us. And we just circled around you. God took care of us and
we went here and there. No, no, you can't go there. And
we circled around. And finally, you came out against us. And
God conquered you and gave us your land. Go take the land your
God gives you. That's exactly what he said.
He said the Lord did this. Not something we did, not some
mighty thing we did. God gave this to us. The Lord God of Israel
delivered Shihon, he said in verse 21, and all the people
into the hand of Israel. And they smoked them. So Israel
possessed all the land of the Amorites and the inhabitants
of that country. Verse 23, so now the Lord God
of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people
Israel. What did he say? You shall spoil
them? He has dispossessed them. Look in verse 27 again. Jephthah
called upon the God of all truth to judge between Israel and Ammon. I had called just recently to
write to a friend who is discussing with me some git-gat folks have
made, said, you know, just nonsense, slanderous accusations, things
that know not to be true. Jephthah said in verse 27, the
Lord judge thee. Judge this day between the children
of Israel and the children of Ammon. Hold your hands here and
turn to 1 Corinthians 4. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Let me tell you what to do when
you hear someone who might have said something, did something
concerning you. Now, if they do it to your brother,
your sister, Defend them immediately. But you, don't defend yourself. Don't do it. Don't do it. I know
you may say, well, if there wasn't something there, he'd sure defend
himself. Well, it might be true concerning politicians, but not
concerning God's people. Listen to this. 1 Corinthians
4. Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ, stewards
of the mysteries of God. Verse 3. But with me, it is a
very small thing that I should be judged of you, or anybody
else, and everybody else, or of man's judgment. Yea, I don't
even judge my own self, 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. Folks sometimes try to draw you
into debate and argument and fuss. And so you need to defend
yourself. I'm prepared to wait. How about
you? I'm prepared to wait on God to
make manifest what I am in Christ. and make manifest what you're
not, about you. Here's the ninth thing, verses
32 and 33. The Lord God honored the faith
by which Jephthah honored him, delivering the Ammonites into
his hands. Jephthah passed over unto the
children of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered
them into his hands. Oh, how often I've seen that.
God said, them that honor me I will honor. Let me tell you what I've never
seen. Tell you what I've never seen. I'm 56 years old. I've never
seen a man or woman who suffered anything of any significance,
any loss of any kind, because he worshipped and served his
Redeemer. Never seen it happen. I've never
seen it happen. I'm not saying it's never happened.
I know there have been martyrs. I know folks have been in prison.
I'm telling you what I've never seen. I have never seen it. You
know God made a promise to Israel? They were required to go up and
keep all of those annual feasts in Jerusalem. And you know who
was required to go? You remember who was required
to go? Every man in the nation. And this is why they're living
amongst folks who coveted everything they had. This is why they're
living amongst folks who would send raiding parties in and take
their wives and children at the drop of a hat. He said, every
man go out to Jerusalem, stay there for seven days. And do
you know everybody around them knew they did it every year?
And you know what God promised? He said, I'll fix it so they'll
want anything you've got, you know, seven days. Him that honoreth me, I will
honor. Here's a tenth thing. Jephthah
made a vow, and he said, I cannot go back. You can read about it in chapter
11, verses 30 through 40. For the sake of time, just refresh
your memory. That for which Jephthah is most
commonly known is this vow, and he's criticized by many for making
it. He says it's a rash vow. Rationale. I did a little research. Most
everybody speaks of Jephthah's rationale. You read this chapter. It doesn't
look to me like he was rash at all. Jephthah was thoroughly
calculating when he made this vow. He spoke plainly to God
concerning that which was needed for Israel. Not needed for Jephthah. Needed for Jephthah as the judge
in Israel. And he said, Lord, you give me
conquest over these, the enemies of your people. And the first
thing that meets me when I get home, coming out the door of
my house, I'll give it to you. It surely is the Lord's. Quite
literally, he said, I have surely given it to the Lord for a burnt
offering. Now, folks think that Jephthah
then took his daughter and killed her. This was a terribly painful sacrifice
that Jephthah made. Painful to him. The one who met
him when he came home was his daughter. I can understand a
little bit It was his only child. His cherished daughter. But the vow he made was more
painful for her than for him. More painful for her. You see,
he made the vow she had to live with. She was a remarkable child. She was delighted to live with
it. She encouraged her father to keep his vow, but she had
to live with it. As I was preparing this message,
I thought to myself, man of thy faith could save me into that,
couldn't she? You chose this life, I didn't.
You chose this way, I didn't. Far more painful for the child.
Most fail to understand what's implied here. The fact that Jephthah
is mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, specifically with regard
to this event, by which he subdued kingdoms and wrought righteousness,
it's all right here connected. You cannot in any way separate
Jephthah's vow as an act of unbelief and make his act of conquering
the Ammonites an act of faith. The two are connected together.
He said, Lord, you give me the conquest over these Ammonites
and surely whatever comes out my door, when I go home, I have
given it to you. A burnt offering forever. But
what on earth did Jephthah do? Jephthah did not own his daughter's
life. That wasn't his to give. This
vow was a personal vow between Jephthah and God. And her soul
belonged to God, not to Jephthah. Jephthah could not have made
a human sacrifice. That would have been an abomination
to God, as is represented throughout the scriptures. Besides that,
in order for him to do so, not only would he have offered a
human sacrifice, he would have to have intruded on the priest's
office to make the sacrifice, and by that, all men who ever
did it were judged instantly and violently by God Almighty.
No, no, Jephthah didn't sacrifice his daughter. Turn back to the
book of Leviticus, let me show you. The book of Leviticus. If Jephthah had been coming home,
and he had a pet dog, and that dog ran out to meet him, he couldn't
offer that on the altar, could he? To do that would be to pollute
the altar. Much more to offer the blood
of his daughter. That's not what I'm talking about. But the fact
is, there was no need projected to offer his daughter as a physical
sacrifice to God. Because by his law, the Lord
God gave specific laws providing redemption for every need of
his people in this world. Redemption in every circumstance. Redemption within the reach of
all. Even on the great sacrifices. If you can't bring the lamb,
go out and catch some pigeons. It'll be alright. Read the first
chapter of Leviticus. It doesn't matter how poor you
are. Redemption within the reach of all in the land. Redemption
for every sin committed by His people. Redemption all pointing
to one great sacrifice, Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom we have
redemption from all things. Leviticus 27. Look at this. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
When a man shall make a singular vow, The persons shall be for
the Lord. A man says, I have given my child
to the Lord. I've given my son to the Lord. I've given my daughter to the
Lord. The person shall be for the Lord by thy estimation, verse
three. And thy estimation shall be of
the male from 20 years old even unto 60 years old. Even thy estimation
shall be fifty shekels of silver after the measure, after the
shekel of the sanctuary, according to the measure of my house. If
it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. And
if it be from five years old even to twenty years old, then
thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for
the female ten shekels. But still, according to the measure
of my house. Redemption accomplished according
to the measure of God's law and God's justice portrayed here
in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Really was this. Do you remember
what Hannah said when she asked God to give her a son? Remember
what she said? She said, Lord, give me a son
and I'll give him to the Lord all the days of his life. That's
what Jephthah did here. He said, I'll offer up the first
thing that comes out of my house, and it shall surely be the Lord's. I will offer it up for a burnt
offering by redemption according to the law of redemption. He
said exactly what we are taught to say to our God because of
his marvelous grace in saving our souls. Come, see the works
of God. He's terrible in his doing toward
the children of men. He turned the sea into dry land. They went through the flood on
foot. There did we rejoice in him. 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. I will
go into the house, thy house, with burnt offerings. I will
pay thee my vows." I'll offer my praise to God. Jephthah's
daughter, we know, was not killed. Not by her father's hand. Not
at this time. Because you read through the
end of the chapter, get down to verse 40, and you find out that the
daughters of Israel went up to the mountain where Jephthah's
daughter lamented her virginity, and there they rehearsed. The word lament in verse 40,
it means to rehearse, or to say again, or to speak to. And it's
translated in Judges 5 verse 11, rehearse, just that way.
They went up and spoke to Jephthah's daughter. about her life of devotion
to God forever. You say, well, how can that be
such a great sacrifice? With the Jewish women who believed
God, there was one thing constantly before their minds. For those
who believed God, they understood that God had promised the seed
of woman to come into this world, by whom redemption would be accomplished,
and every believing woman had hope, just maybe, I might be
the one through whose womb he comes into this world. But to
be reserved, as every father in Israel had the right to do
and lawfully did, to be reserved in perpetual virginity and never
given to marriage was, to all outward appearance, to dash that
hope in the dust. That's what Jephthah did with
his daughter. He said, and this is the last thing I'll have to
deal with, I've opened my mouth to the Lord. And I cannot go
back. Little girl, no matter what you
say, pro or con, I can't go back. Dear wife, no matter what you
say, pro or con, I can't go back. I can't go back. But that word
translated cannot, oh what an instructive word it is. I looked
it up and I was a little surprised to see everything involved in
the Shades of Meaning. Jephthah said, I'm not able to
go back. Me too. Because my God has sworn,
I will give them one heart and they shall not depart from me.
Jephthah said, I have no power to go back. No power? I cannot go back! I don't have
the power to do it! As much power as there is in
my wicked heart to do evil, I have no power to undo God's purpose,
God's work, and God's grace. Jephthah said, I cannot be prevailed
upon. I cannot be forced by any means
or any influence to go back. Because Satan no more has power
to harm me. Because my God has promised there
shall no evil happen to the just. Because my God declares it shall
be well with the righteous. And Jephthah said, I will not
go back because I cannot go back. I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish. He said, I will not go back because
I cannot go back, and I will not go back because I've got
nowhere to go. Lord, to whom shall we go? I've tasted that the Lord's grace
shall save you. Where else are you going to find
this? I can't go back because I've got nowhere to go. You say,
well that's awfully presumptuous to talk like that. I don't think
so. I don't think so. Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace who trusts in thee, whose mind is stayed
upon thee. John Newton wrote these words. Let me give them to you and I'll
quit. When any turn from Zion's way,
alas, what numbers do? I think I hear my Savior say,
wilt thou forsake me too? O Lord, with such a heart as
mine, unless you hold me fast, I feel I must, I shall decline,
and prove like them at last. Yet you alone have power, I know,
to save a wretch like me. To whom or whither could I go? If I should turn from thee, beyond
a doubt I rest assured. Thou art the Christ of God, who
hast eternal life secured by promise and by blood. The help
of men and angels joined could never reach my case, nor can
I hope relief to find, but in thy sovereign grace. no voice
but thine can give me rest, and bid my fears depart, no love
but thine can make me blessed and satisfy my heart. What anguish
has that question stirred, if I will also go? Yet, Lord, relying on thy word,
is it all right to do that? Relying
on thy word, they shall never perish. No man plucked you out
of thy hand. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Is it all right to rely on his
word? Is that all right, Arthur? I answer humbly.