now your brother So I was just sitting there
thinking about how after today, we're going to
leave behind the book of Judges for a while through
Easter. And man, Easter is literally right around
the corner. Resurrection Sunday is coming fast.
And it occurred to me that this message, at least
the first kind of action point in the conclusion,
really speaks about and touches on the crucifixion
and the resurrection. And so this is sort of
the first of the Easter messages. As I wrote
it, I kind of just was, I felt like I was following
the leading of the Lord. And I'm like, wow, I
didn't even realize exactly how connected those
two things are. But I think you'll see it very
clearly when we get there. Before we begin the
sermon today, I want to share with you just a
little story, a little moment, if you will, in
my life prior to becoming a Christian. When I
was a young man, my brother and I were very much
at odds. I was the physical, run around, stay
out until the street lights come on, and sometimes
a little later than that and get in trouble.
Fighting and sports and that kind of thing. I
didn't play a lot of organized sports in school
because in junior high I messed up my knee, or
at least thought I did. And so then I didn't
want to have to get a knee replacement by the
time I was 25. I didn't play a lot of organized
sports, but I did play a lot of sports. Like
every day, seven days a week, we were playing
in the yard, playing something. And it wasn't
always an organized sport, but some kind of game.
My brother, on the other hand, was very much
the intellectual. He's four and a half years
older than me, and so by all rights should have
been bigger, probably stronger than me and like
that, but that really wasn't the case. And so
we fought constantly as I was growing up, and
I sort of pushed him to do whatever I wanted.
And it was sometimes got a little violent, but
never anything like broken bones or anything
like that, but definitely cuts and bruises and
that kind of thing. And so I was also kind of
the bully in the neighborhood with the guys in
the neighborhood until a guy moved in that was
bigger and wasn't going to take it anymore. And
then we fought like cats and dogs for probably
about a year. And then finally he moved away.
And so then I got kind of got my position back.
And by that time we were all kind of getting
to be teenagers and getting past that stuff anyway.
So my brother and I were at odds all the time.
There was a guy in our neighborhood who was,
he weighed over twice as much as the two of us
combined. And he was a football linebacker, played
most of his senior year with a broken arm and
still was incredible. He was an incredible football
player. He later went on to play semi -professional
football with the Toledo Thunder back in the
day. I don't know if anybody remembers him, but
anyway. And he came down to my house because
I had gotten in an argument with his younger
brother. And it was going to go to blows, but
he didn't want to fight because even though he
was bigger than me, he didn't want to get hurt.
So he went home and got his brother. So his brother
came down, and his brother, who was, again, probably
four times my size. I weighed probably a little
under 100 pounds, and he weighed a little over
400 pounds. So he was four times my size. He
was really, really big. He was like 6 '4", 5",
and almost that big wide. I mean, he was just
gargantuan. And he said, You know, you're going
to apologize to my brother, or I'm going to pound
you in the ground, basically. And I'm looking
at this gigantic guy, and I'm going, like, there's
no way this ends good. My parents were not home.
So I didn't know what to do. So I ran in the
house, and I got my brother, of all things. I
said, we need to call Mom and Dad. We need to
call Mom and Dad. I'm in trouble out here. These
two guys are down here. They're going to beat
me up. And Tom, my older brother, who, again,
is four and a half years older than me, would
probably weigh about 10 pounds less than me.
He said, I'll take care of it. We went back outside.
And there they're standing there, this guy and
his brother. Between the two of them, they weigh
close to 600 pounds. I'm 165, 165 foot. I'm about
5 '5 at that time. And my brother said to him,
he said, if you want to fight, we'll fight. And
he said, and I think it's pretty much a foregone
conclusion. You're going to kick our butt. But
I will guarantee you that. you're going to wind
up muddy and bloody. I guarantee it, 100%. I'm
going to hurt you. You may beat me up, you may
put me in the hospital, you may kill me, but
I guarantee you, you will get hurt. And the guy
looked at my brother, who was, again, less than
a quarter of his weight or whatever, and he said,
it's not worth it, let's go home. And that moment,
my brother and I found peace. And we never fought.
physically after that ever again, even though
I was still for sure tougher than him and more
physical than him. I never coerced him after
that. Now, I could have probably done the same
thing, right? I could have probably said the
same thing, and it might even have been more
true because I was more physical. I had fought
more fights, had more scars. I probably could
have said that, and it probably would have been
more true than when my brother said it, but I
didn't say it. So here's the problem. If you
are the winner, and you do not declare yourself
the winner, or if you can make it so that the
winner doesn't want to fight, then you become
the winner, right? So that guy didn't want to
fight. He didn't want to take the risk of getting
seriously injured. And so then he just went home.
And if you won't claim it, if you won't understand
it's true in that moment, then it maybe isn't
true, right? So I could have backed down, apologized,
even though I truly was not in the wrong. You
know, I could have went in and think, well, we'll
see what happens. And I could have just jumped
the guy, jumped on him and started doing whatever
I could, you know, to cause some damage or whatever.
And we'd have both wound up damaged and I'd have
gone to the emergency room for sure. But my brother
handled it in a way that we won the fight before
we had to fight. And he knew that was possible.
I don't know how. And it worked. So what I'm
saying to you is that is the position that we
are in as Christians. And we're going to see
this in the text today very clearly exhibited.
And we're going to, I hope, learn some lessons
about how to apply it in modern day life. So
it's kind of a fun sermon. It's different. I
would tell you it's a little different than anything
I've written in a long, long time. To the point
that I'm providing a little handout later today.
and I'll tell you about that later. So grab your
Bibles if you would, maybe get a little excited,
hoot, holler, and go with me to Judges chapter
11. Thank you very much. You'll notice on the
board that the title is Case Made, and so what
we're going to see is Jephthah. You'll recall
that he's kind of a bizarre judge. On the scale
of all the judges, he's a little different than
everybody else. He was an oddball, cast out,
that kind of thing, but he's back now. Judges
11, beginning in verse 12, it says, Now Jephthah
sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon,
that's the bad guys in the story that's been
persecuting them, saying, What is between you
and me that you have come to me to fight against
my land? The king of the sons of Ammon said to
the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took
away my land when they came up from Egypt, from
the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan,
therefore return them peaceably now. So he gives
him an out. If you give those lands that we claim
back, then we don't have to fight. So just surrender
all those people to us and all that property
to us. But Jephthah sent messengers again to
the king of the sons of Ammon. And they said
to him, this is what the messengers said, Thus
saith Jephthah, Israel did not take away the
land of Moab, nor the land of the sons of Ammon.
For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel
went through the wilderness, to the Red Sea and
came to Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers to
the king of Edom saying, please let us pass through
your land. But the king of Edom would not listen.
And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he
would not listen. So Israel remained at Kadesh.
Then they went through the wilderness and around
the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came
to the east side of the land of Moab and they
camped beyond the Arnon. But they did not enter
the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the
border of Moab. And Israel sent messengers to
Sihon, king of the Amorites, or the Amorites,
as some people pronounce it. The king of Heshbon
and Israel said to him, Please let us pass through
your land to our place. But Sihon did not trust
Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon
gathered all his people and camped in Jehaz and
fought with Israel. So the first two people,
he said, let us pass. They said, no, we won't
let you pass. One of those was Ammon, the guy
who's now accusing them, right? But then when
they came to the other one, they said, well,
let us pass. And he said, we'll not let you pass.
Not only did they not let them pass, but they
marshaled out force. They came out to fight.
They didn't just say you can't pass like the
first two did, but they said, we're going to
fight. So they attacked Israel. Okay. So verse
21, the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and
all his people into the hand of Israel and they
defeated them. So Israel possessed all the land
of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites
from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and from
the wilderness as far as the Jordan. Since now
the Lord God of Israel drove out the Amorites
from before his people Israel, are you then to
possess it? So in other words, he said, We didn't
take your land. We took this other land over
here that belonged to this other country, and
God gave us an incredible victory. And if God
did that, then who are you to say that we can't
have this land? Basically, there's an international
law. It's a victory of war, right? So they won
the land. So of course they can keep the land
because they won it in combat. Their soldiers
shed their blood in order to win those lands,
okay? And so he's arguing we have a right to
the lands that we won in war, that were not your
lands. Since now the Lord, the God of Israel,
drove out the Amorites, he said, from before
his people Israel, are you then to possess it?
24. Do you not possess what Chemosh, your God,
gives you to possess? Now that's the God of the
Ammonites, right? One of them. Okay. So whatever
the Lord, our God, has driven out before us,
we will possess it. Now, are you any better than
Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? So basically,
this is a pretty big -name guy. We don't have
to get into it too deeply. Balak was a powerful
king, built powerful armies, and never laid claim
to the lands in question. Does that make sense?
So he could have. If anybody was going to, he
could have taken those lands and said, well,
by justice, they belong to us, or they at least
don't belong to Israel. But he didn't. Did he
ever strive with Israel? Or did he ever fight
against them? Well, Israel lived in Heshbon and
its villages and in Eroer and its villages and
in all the cities that are on the banks of the
Arnon 300 years. Why did you not recover? them
within that time so he said it's been 300 years
now no one has ever laid this claim on these
lands that we rightfully took and now 300 years
later you're trying to lay a claim on them so
that's like a claim on statute of limitations
right so your time was a long time ago if you
wanted to say that we took your lands i therefore
have not sinned against you but you are doing
me wrong by making war against me may the lord
The judge judged today between the sons of Israel
and the sons of Ammon. So who is he asking to
make the decision in earnest based on the evidence?
Who is he saying? I want somebody to make the
decision of who's right here. And he's saying
God. I want God to make the decision of who's
right here. And then it says in verse 28, But
the king of the sons of Ammon disregarded the
message which Jephthah sent him. Now that actually
technically ends our text for the day. But I
do want you to see one thing that follows immediately
after that because it's a confirmation. So in
verse 29 it says, Now the Spirit of the Lord
came upon Jephthah so that he passed through
Gilead and Manasseh, and he passed through Mizgah
and Gilead, and from Mizgah of Gilead he went
on to the sons of Ammon. So this is what happens.
Jephthah says, Here is a systematic argument
of why what you're saying is not true. Your revisionist
history will not stand. Your God did not give
these lands to you. Our God gave these lands
to us. Not only that, but if you were going to
complain, you had 300 years to do it, and you
never have. And all these other kings who came,
and some of them were powerful enough to complain
and possibly do something about it, they never
said this. You're just making this up, basically,
is what he's saying. God, decide between us who
is in the right today. And then God's response
is, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jephthah.
So in this dialogue between Jephthah and the
king of the Ammonites, there is a legal and a
historical debate going on. This is happening
in the United States of America and the world
over today. People want to rewrite history. People
want to use their own logic. People want to redefine
things to say that they are not what God has
made them to be, not what they have always been.
Things are new, different. Today we have the
authority and the power to make something different.
So we're going to do it. This is our agenda,
right? And you don't have to succumb to it. You
don't have to give in to that method. You can,
like Jephthah, act as a diplomat and figure it
out. So let's look briefly at the structure of
his argument. The first one is he makes a historical
claim. So this revisionist history. that the
king of Ammon is trying to say that they have
a right to these lands. He says, that's not true.
You're just making that up. That's not the way
it went down. We didn't steal your lands when
we came out of Egypt. In fact, we went around
your lands because your people said that we could
not. Instead of fighting, we went around your
land. We didn't take any land from you. We took
all the land that we took from Sihon. The Amorites
had previously conquered that territory from
other people, yes. But because we conquered them
and took their lands, we have a right to what
we conquered and took. That's the way it works.
Secondly, he makes a theological claim. He says,
hey, doesn't your God give you what your God
gave you? You take it. So our God gave this to
us and we're entitled to keep whatever our God
gave to us. That's a theological claim. And then
third, he makes a legal claim. In this case,
statute of limitations, but there are other possibilities
here. So he says, it's been 300 years. There
were powerful kings that came before you. You
have forfeited your right to claim this territory
by waiting 300 years to try to claim it until
now. Never in history anywhere for 300 years
has anyone ever said that this land belonged
to you and not us. You can see then, logically,
if you were a judge sitting on a bench and somebody
made those arguments in front of you, you would
say, yeah, that makes sense. They've made pretty
good arguments, right? There's pretty good arguments
there. They were not only legitimate, they were
the only legitimate claims. The revisionist history,
it's just ridiculous. Jephthah's defense was
grounded in verifiable history. Longstanding
occupation. There were people that were living
in that land that called themselves Israelites
that had been there for 40 generations since
the time that Israel had taken the land. Notice
in the final communication then, there is a call
for intervention. He says, I appeal to the higher
court. I have not wronged you, but you are doing
me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord...
The judge decide the dispute this day between
the Israelites and the Ammonites. And you can
say the same thing for yourself. Let the Lord,
the judge, God of heaven this day decide the
dispute between his people and the people and
systems of the world. Is it a legitimate call
to God to intervene? Does he have a right to
do that, to appeal to heaven? Well, when two
parties reached an impasse in ancient politics
and diplomacy or whatever, they would call upon
somebody outside themselves to mediate this.
And when you're having a problem, especially,
let's say, if you're having a problem with another
Christian, for example, who's going to settle
it if not God? And I submit to you that the problem
that exists between God's people and the world
has actually already been settled. And yet, people
are acting like somehow we're the underdogs,
that Christians are going to not... claim the
territory that God has laid out for them. And
that doesn't make any sense. Jephthah has been
truthful in his historical account. And he's
even attempted to settle the matter peacefully
by sending the messengers in the first place
and communicating it out and so on. He didn't
just say, I'm going to summon up an army and
kill everybody. But because he had done that,
tried to settle it, make it right, justly, and
peacefully. He can now confidently ask God to
come in. So this is the problem. Sometimes people
in the world, instead of trying to settle it
peacefully, as Christians, we're going to get
all snarky ourselves. If I say just the right
thing or I do just the right thing, I can get
them to back down, right? But then the problem
with that is what? Now you don't have a legitimate
concern to ask God to come in and settle it for
you because you have behaved in a way that's
not godly. Interestingly enough, Jephthah stands
out in the book of Judges because he is the only
major judge who leads with a legal and historical
defense. They called him for what? What did they
call him for? To defend them against the Ammonites.
We need you. We kicked you out, yes, but clearly
you're a good warrior. You've got all these guys
gathered around you, so you're a good leader,
and we need you. We need you to come and rescue
us from the Ammonites. And the first thing he
does is attempt a diplomatic solution. Gideon,
for example, you recall we studied him a little
bit. Gideon was a little different. Jephthah
is bold and confrontational with his words here
and using diplomacy. Gideon really, the whole
time you see him as a judge, he only used diplomacy
to de -escalate internal conflict. There was
a civil war brewing. People were upset, the Ephraimites
especially. In Judges 8, we learned about this.
They were upset and complaining that he didn't
involve them in fighting. And so then you see
Gideon flatter them and tell them, what have
I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings
of Ephraim's grapes better than the full vintage
of Abiezar, the house that Gideon was from? Jephthah
uses truth and law to stand his ground against
an enemy. Gideon uses humility and tact to prevent
a civil war. So that was the closest thing that
we have to another diplomat. You remember Deborah?
We read about Deborah, right? She was the one
who sat under the tree and did the judging of
the Israelites, whatever. And then the war was
going on. And what did she do? She called up
Barak. She said, go get a great army. God is
going to give you a great. And then she began.
He said, well, I'll go if you'll go with me.
And she said, okay, well, I'll go. But she wasn't
a fighter and she didn't lead the army. But she
did tell them what God told her to tell them.
So she wasn't a diplomat. And those were two
really good judges. But neither one of them did
this, what he did. Remember who he was? Kicked
out by his people, living surrounded by worthless
men. Now he comes back as a leader of Israel,
and what is he doing? So not only is he the Redeemer,
the Savior, and the judge for the people of Israel
in this day, but on top of that, when they brought
him back, he's showing signs of redemption. He's
making arguments that say, but we have God on
our side. So why would you be afraid in the first
place? What does that sound like? Remember David
and Goliath? We haven't read about him yet, but
you've got Samson. Samson is maybe kind of like
one of the worst judges. Everybody likes his
story, but he's kind of one of the worst. And
everything that he does, there's no diplomacy.
He plays tricks. He gives riddles. And then all
of his fighting, he essentially does it himself.
He doesn't lead the army. He doesn't organize
men. He's not a diplomat, a leader, or a servant
even. He just goes and beats the Philistines
up until the sun goes down. And then he gets
up and does it again the next day. Right? So
connecting Jephthah's ancient diplomacy to our
role as ambassadors in Christ, then there is
a picture here. There's a powerful thing here.
First things, seeking first the kingdom of God
should affect us daily. You should get out of
bed tomorrow and go like, okay, what does God
want me to do today? What does God want to see
happen in my life today? And living like that,
then you're going to experience opposition. As
ambassadors, we then look at that opposition
coming against us, and I would say we'd be better
off to follow the model of Jephthah than the
model of even Deborah, who listened to the Lord
and delivered the message. Or Samson, who went
out and beat the snot out of God's enemies. We'd
be better off to follow Jephthah's model and
let the Lord decide. And what will He decide?
Like Jephthah, we should lead with words, We
offer terms of peace, which is the gospel, before
there is ever a judgment. We appeal to divine
intervention. Can we ask God to intervene while
still trying to reach people? You realize you're
going to suffer. Some of you are experiencing
suffering now. I've been experiencing suffering.
And so the point is, we're going to suffer. And
in the midst of that suffering, can we still
be trying to reach people for God and yet call
out for God, make an appeal to God? What if we're
being treated unfairly? Someone's coming against
us. 1 Peter 2, 19 -20 says, For this finds favor,
if for the sake of conscience toward God a person
bears up under sorrow, when suffering unjustly.
For what credit is there if when you sin and
are harshly treated you endure it with patience?
But if when you do what is right and suffer for
it, you patiently endure it, this finds favor
with God. Ultimately, we should be acknowledging
the judge. The judge. It doesn't matter what
public opinion says. It doesn't matter what social
media says about you or your grade card or your
paycheck. We should be recognizing the judge
of the universe. We should take the burden off
of our own shoulders and say, Lord, you see the
hearts, you decide the outcome. But notice our
appeal is dissimilar from Jephthah's appeal.
There is a pretty radical difference. His was
about territorial victory. That meant wealth.
It meant power. It meant crops. It meant safety.
That's the kind of appeal that he was looking
for from God. He wanted God to deal with the
people that were coming against him. Our appeal
is for spiritual clarity or protection. Jephthah's
court case ended in the destruction of the Amorites.
Our court case is handled by Jesus who literally
died for all of the people who are persecuting
us. So when someone's coming against you and
you beg God to squish them like a bug, your prayer
is inaccurate, at least. Because God died that
they might be redeemed. We appeal to God not
necessarily to destroy our enemies, but to restrain
evil so that the gospel can go forward. 1 Timothy
2 says it this way, First of all, then, I urge
that in treaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings
be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all
who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil
and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
This is good and acceptable in the sight of God
our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and
to come to the knowledge of the truth. Have you
ever been in a situation where someone is coming
against you, doing something to you, saying something
about you, hurting you in some way? and all you
wanted to see was them stopped? That's all I
want to see? And did you pray, Lord, stop them?
Do you realize that if they were saved, truly
saved, if they were followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ and God saw the damage that they were
doing, God would stop them, but He'd stop them
in a holy and completely different way. I guess
there's a real question today. During COVID,
there was a pastor down south in Louisiana they
chose not to close their church, to not stop
worshiping. And Louisiana was one of the states
in which you were actually really supposed to
do that. You were supposed to stop. And up here,
we just had pressure to stop. We never had the
law telling us that we had to stop, and we didn't
stop worshiping God. So protesters came out and
surrounded his church building because they were
still worshiping. Now, that's as comical as you
can ever say. You can't go in the church building
and worship Jesus because you're going to spread.
the virus from people to people. But you can
stand outside the church building in huge mobs
and protest worshiping because you're not going
to spread the virus while that's happening, right?
So anyway, protesters surrounded the church building
and told that they couldn't go inside and worship
because they were breaking the law. The whole
thing is comical. So the pastor came in the church
van at about two mile an hour and somebody stepped
in front of the church van and either they hit
the van or the van hit them or whatever. And
then he went ahead and parked, went into church
just like normal, and everything was fine, except
then he got arrested because he hit somebody
with his vehicle. The question is, is God going
to intervene on behalf of his people? Because
as they persecute us, it seems like it really
stops the gospel from flowing. If you take the
most outspoken Christian people, it seems like
they get the most opposition, right? Now, sometimes
it's because they're outspoken in a way that's
insulting, and that's going to brook opposition.
But oftentimes it's not that. It's like facing
difficulty. So is God going to redeem? Is God
going to intervene? Is he going to defend us?
And the Bible says this, and will not God bring
about justice for his chosen ones who cry out
to him day and night? Will he keep putting them
off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice
and quickly. That comes from Luke 18, and it's
out of the end of the parable where Jesus is
talking about the woman who had to keep going
after the judge who wouldn't listen. And she
kept begging him and begging him. And Jesus says,
God will hear and God will deliver justice. I
urge you that in treaties and prayers and petitions
and thanksgiving be made behalf of all men. And
God will hear. God will deliver justice. In Psalm
91, it says that God is our shield. I won't go
through and read it, but basically from beginning
to end, it says that the one who trusts in God,
God will intervene on their behalf. In Zechariah
2 .8, it says, whoever touches you touches the
apple of his eye. Now, this is really cool. By
the way, I encourage you to go and read this.
We're not going to do it right now for the interest
of time. In Zechariah 2, you'll see the situation.
God's people were unfaithful. That's what was
happening. And God used the peoples around them
to punish them because they were unfaithful.
That's what was happening. That's starting to
kind of sound present day right there, right?
And then it says that God would then punish the
people that he used to punish his people because
it says that when somebody messes with you, they
mess with the apple of my eye. You see? So when
someone's coming against the church, when someone's
coming against the gospel, when someone's coming
against the truth, when someone's coming against
you, First of all, check yourself and make sure
that you're not provoking it and causing the
problem, right? Because then you could cut it
out. You could stop that from happening, right?
But sometimes people are going to come even when
they shouldn't come. And sometimes people are
going to come when they should come. And either
way, they're going to suffer for it because God
is going to bring about justice on the person
that comes against his people because we are
the apple of his eye. Whoever touches you, God
says, touches the apple of his eye. This emphasizes
that God is sensitive to how His ambassadors
are treated. So what can we do about it? If God
is our defender, then He is our action plan.
And our action plan looks different than the
world's action plan. We relinquish the right
to vengeance. Leave room for God's wrath. If
we try to defend ourselves with anger, then we
will get in God's way. And if God takes a good
hearty swing at one of your enemies, and you
get in the way, guess who's going to get hit?
Leave room for God to do what it is that God
wants to do. You don't need to do it yourself.
All the greatest victories of the Old and New
Testament are in God intervening, not in mankind
doing something special. We focus on the mission.
Since God is handling the defense, we can focus
100 % on the embassy, on the ambassadorship.
We can be kind to people who are unkind to us
because we know our case is in the hands of the
best lawyer in the universe. We can pray for
boldness, not just safety. In Acts 4 .29, when
the early church was threatened, they didn't
pray for the enemies to disappear. They didn't
pray to rain fire down on them or anything like
that. They prayed, Lord, consider their threats
and enable your servants to speak your word with
great boldness. That's what we need, great boldness.
So this becomes like an action plan for us. If
you're facing a situation in which you're being
wronged while trying to live for God, your prayer
might sound something like this. You might say,
Lord, you are the judge of the earth. I am here
as your ambassador seeking to honor you and my
family. And I have tried to speak truth and peace,
but I am meeting resistance. I appeal to you
to intervene, not for my pride, but for your
glory. Protect my heart, restrain the hand of
the enemy, and let your kingdom come in this
situation. Now that isn't what it usually sounds
like, right? It's more like, Lord, I'm suffering
here. And you know I'm a good guy. You know I'm
a good girl. I need you to intervene. I need
my sickness to go away. I need my finances to
get better. I need my words to be heard. I've
been trying to tell them, boy, if only they were
here to hear this sermon, they could get all
fixed up. Right? That's what it usually sounds
like. Do we have a position from which to come
that we can entreat the God of the universe and
have a reasonable expectation that He will intervene?
We have to move from a defensive posture to a
legal one. Stop woe is me and making excuses
and start thinking about, as an ambassador of
Christ, your territory is your soul, your peace,
and your divine calling. Here is how you can
use Jephthah's three -point logic, I just gave
it to you, to shut the door on the enemy. Number
one, you can make it a historical argument. Jephthah's
argument was like this. We didn't steal your
land. We received it from a definitive victory
over the Amorites over 300 years ago. Your argument,
my argument, sounds like this. You claim we belong
to the kingdom of darkness. You want me to be
ashamed. You want me to do something stupid with
my time. You want me to give in to temptation,
etc. However, the historical record of Colossians
2, 14 -15 shows that the legal debt was nailed
to the cross. You have no legal standing to attack
me for my past. That territory was bought and
paid for by Jesus Christ. The right of conquest
belongs to Him, not to the world or my old self.
I am a new creation, and the old boundaries no
longer apply. Or, and or, you might make the
theological argument, the higher authority. Jephthah's
logic was, whatever the Lord our God has given
us, we will possess. He challenged the enemy
to respect the boundaries set by the supreme
authority. Our argument, Matthew 6, 33, Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and all these things
should be added unto you. If God has assigned
me a mission, a family to honor and a kingdom
to seek, then any spirit or worldly system trying
to stop me is actually contesting God's sovereignty.
Do you realize? That you have no sovereignty
unto yourself? You were created to represent
God. You were created to be a deliverer of the
truth that God ordained. If you're delivering
your own truth or your own idea of the truth,
you're nothing but a liar. Because the only truth
that is eternal is the truth of God. We say,
I am occupied by the Holy Spirit. If you, and
you could be talking to Satan or fear or evil
spirits, anxiety, the world system, whatever.
If you want me, if you want to evict me from
my peace, then take it up with my landlord. Since
God has granted me every spiritual blessing in
the heavenly places, that's Ephesians 1 .3, your
gods, which are money, status, anxiety, concerns
of life, whatever they may be, have no jurisdiction
here. and or you might make a legal argument
concerning the statute of limitations. Jephthah
said, why did you not deliver them within the
last 300 years? You never even tried. For 300
years you never claimed this, and now all of
a sudden you're claiming it? The enemy often
waits until we are weak to bring up claims from
years ago. I'll never forget, I was driving home
from Radio Shack one night. I was not a Christian
at the time. I was very, I was... It was in my
searching period. And I was on the expressway,
I -280, coming south toward the... I don't even
know if the Wales Road exit existed there. I
think I was going to the Woodville Road exit.
I think it was pre that exit existing. And in
my mind, I flashed back to something that I had
said to Sherry. We were not married at the time.
She was pregnant with Alicia. And I was so stricken
with how stupid I was, how mean I had been, how
worthless I was in that moment. And I was like
a post -traumatic stress disorder vision, right?
I'm a flashback. And just then my car hit a patch
of black ice. And I, for the first... half a
second of my car spinning out of control at 65
miles, 60 mile an hour. I was probably speeding.
It was 55 there, but I'm pretty sure I was speeding
60, 65. And my car started to spin out of control.
And for the first half a second, I did not respond.
I didn't do anything. I didn't turn the wheel.
I don't think I realized I was so back in the
moment of how stupid and ignorant and mean I
had been to say what I had said that I did not
even begin to respond. And in a snap, in a flash,
In an instant, I realized my car is spinning
out of control. And I began to try to steer into
the skid. And my car went around and it bounced
off the concrete in the middle there, the divider.
And then it went around the other way and it
bounced off the concrete again. And then finally
skidded to a stop or slid to a stop on the side
of the road. And the front bumper from that time
on, I owned that car. The front bumper was always
pushed to the left and the back bumper was always
pushed to the right. And you go down the road,
it looked like you were going sideways the whole
time like a crab, right? I could have died. I
was literally on the pathway. I was not wearing
my seatbelt. I could have died. Because in that
moment, I was wrapped up in the worthless, stupid
thing that I had said. The enemy loves to bring
it up at the moment that it will cause you the
most damage. The moment that you feel called
to go and do something for the Lord. God wants
you to clean, to work, to serve, to give, to
pay. To become a member, to be baptized, to be
witnessing, to share the gospel, to whatever.
God calls you to do something and you start to
move to go to do it. And right then, God, the
enemy wants to throw up something that will stop
you. And you say back to him, my identity in
Christ was established before time began. It
wasn't just when I prayed to accept Jesus. You
say, why do you now come at me with accusations?
By failing to successfully contest my ownership
when I was created in my mother's womb and at
the altar when I gave my life to Christ and every
time I ever prayed and saw God do miracles and
every time I ever cried out in anguish and God
comforted me. By failing then, you've lost all
rights here. I stand on the ancient landmark
of God's eternal election. And then make that
final appeal of Jephthah. He said, let the Lord
judge and decide this dispute. And you do the
same. Because we are the elect, Scripture promises
that no weapon forged against you will prevail
and you will refute every tongue that accuses
you, Isaiah 54. This is our heritage as servants
of the Lord. Now, I understand it's fully possible
that you may be sitting in this room not actually
a Christian, not actually having surrendered
your life to the Lord. You cried out, Lord, Lord.
You said words, but it didn't do anything. You
didn't actually mean it. You didn't submit your
life. Or not actually dedicating yourself to
following the Lord, in which case then maybe
your heritage as servants of the Lord is something
different. It's a one foot in both worlds mentality.
But in reality, if you are a follower of the
Lord Jesus Christ, you've become part of a family
that holds all the power, all the resources,
all the success, all the victory, all of eternity.
God is still on the throne. And if you are God's
child, you will inherit everything that God has
for you. In time when Arden was still young,
we went out in the side yard and tried to fly
a kite. We couldn't get the kite to go up in
the air. The wind was blowing pretty decent,
but it was kind of gusty, not steady, and we
couldn't get it to go up in the air. And so we
took it out into an open field that was two fields
over. Not our field. We didn't own the field.
Two fields over, and we tried to get the kite
to fly. Do you remember this by any chance? Yeah,
it was a long time ago. So we're out there trying
to get this kite to fly. It'd go up, and it'd
fall back down. Basically, what we were looking
for was this. a long strand of wind because you
get it up there then even after that if it's
kind of gusty back it'll still stay up because
it'll start to drop and then the wind will push
it up again but we just couldn't get the kite
to fly up into the sky with consistent wind so
we were trying to find bigger open area right
so this guy comes out and he says um what are
you doing i mean like I don't think there's really
an answer to that question because here we are
standing in the field running back and forth
with a kite. I'm all sweaty. The kite's been
up and down and up and down. He walked a quarter
mile practically to get out there to talk to
us. He clearly saw us trying to fly the kite.
So I took him to mean that we were not allowed
to be trying to fly the kite there because he
said, what are you doing? And I said, we're trying
to fly a kite. And he said, well, this is not
your land. And I said, yes, that's true. It belongs
to, and it wasn't his land either. Right? But
it belonged to a guy. And I knew the guy. And
I didn't think the guy would actually have a
problem with us being on his property. Otherwise,
I wouldn't have been there. And he said, you
can't be out here trying to fly this kite because
this is my son's land. And I said, well, I know
him. And I named him. And I said, and I don't
think he would have a problem. But if you think
he would, we'll quit. It's fine. I said, but
I also want to say to you that we're not causing
any harm on this land today. And I think ultimately
this land belongs to God. Not to you, not to
your son, and not to me. It actually belongs
to God. And I think God would not mind if we
were out here, especially because we're not hurting
anything. And he got tears in his eyes. And he
says, well, I think if you want to really fly
the kite, you should probably take it to a park
because even here you're not getting enough air.
And I said, yeah, we're figuring that out too.
And he walked back to his house. We walked back
to our house. We did not go and fly the kite
because we were short on time for some reason.
I don't remember what it was. Now I had five
more conversations with that man after that.
That man had served in World War II, and during
World War II he had given his life to Christ.
And for the decades following, he had not lived
for the Lord. But in the five conversations that
we had after, he came over, I was using my burning
can. He came over while I was raking leaves.
He came over and gave us tomatoes from his son's
garden, which I thought that was super comical
actually. He didn't ask his son. He just thought
his son would want us to have the tomatoes. Pretty
funny. But anyway, in those five conversations,
he drew close to God and began, he went back,
back to church. And like, not our church, but
back to his son's church. You see? This is our
heritage as servants of the Lord. Look around.
You see those clouds? Those are your clouds.
You see that sun and the stars? If you're a follower
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that belongs to you.
Now, it's messed up right now, but eventually
it's going to be awesome. It's going to be better
than anything that we've seen. And it's ours.
The Jephthah pattern is a universal spiritual
language defense. Whenever the evader is an external
enemy or an internal struggle, or you're not
even sure who or what it is, the three arguments
of history, authority, and either statute of
limitations or jurisdiction, they still work.
And they always will. I'm going to give you one
example. We're in the closing now. I'm going
to apply this to a new set of variables, such
as maybe like anxiety or mental oppression or
financial lack or broken relationships. Say the
situation is you're facing a spirit of fear or
a season of lack that claims you will never have
enough or never be safe. Anybody ever have that?
Sounds like really common, right? Jephthah pointed
to the specific moment the land became Israel's,
the defeat of Sihon. The Christian points to
the resurrection. The summary is this. Fear,
you claim, I am a victim of my circumstances.
But the historical record of the empty tomb proves
that death and lack were defeated. Since I am
in Christ, I have inherited his victory. You
are trying to occupy a territory that was legally
transferred to the kingdom of light 2 ,000 years
ago. I hold the title deed of peace. See how
that argument works? Or a theological argument.
The world's system Culture, peer pressure, or
debt tells you that you must bow to its rules
to survive. Jephthah asked why the Ammonites
didn't just stay in the land their god, Chemosh,
gave them. He established that Yahweh's jurisdiction
is where he stands. Our summary, the world system,
you have your own territory. So people like want
to do things on Facebook, there's plenty of room
for them to do that. They want to go have sex
outside marriage behind closed doors, they can
do that wherever. They want to go talk a certain
way, use a lot of cuss words, take the Lord's
name. There's place for that in the world. But
it's not here. It's not with me. Because I belong
to the Lord. My life is governed by the law of
the spirit of life, Romans 8 .2. Since I seek
first the kingdom, Matthew 6 .33, I am under
the provision and protection of heaven. You have
no legal right to impose your laws of stress.
and compromise on a citizen of the New Jerusalem,
I answer to a higher court. You see how that
works? These are actual, legal, diplomatic arguments
that hold. Lastly, self -accusation or a spirit
of shame brings up a mistake from 10 years ago
to argue why you don't deserve God's blessings
today. Jephthah asked why they waited 300 years
to complain. If it was really their land, they
should have spoken up centuries ago. And you
say, shame, you're bringing up a debt from a
decade ago, but I've been walking with God, honoring
him and being cleansed by the blood daily. Why
did you wait until I was stepping into a new
calling or something big was happening in my
life? Why would you wait until then? By God's
law of justification, that debt was canceled
the moment I confessed it to the Lord. Your silence
for all these years proves you have no claim.
Case dismissed. There comes sermons a lot of
times where we ask ourselves, what's our part?
What are we supposed to do? And the answer is
simply, honor your foundation. I will honor,
obey my parents, recognize that God uses my roots
to stabilize my future. I will value the treasure.
I will joyfully trade worldly distractions for
the hidden treasure of Christ's presence. And
I will appeal to the judge. When I am wronged,
I will not seek vengeance. I will present my
case to God and trust Him to intervene on my
behalf. At 1 .27, those of you who are in the
texting group are going to get a text that has
the three -part summary. for these arguments.
How do you use it? The motion of history, the
motion of jurisdiction, and the motion of possession.
How do you use it to win when you're facing those
difficulties? And on the back side, you're going
to get that summary about four minutes later.
You're going to get a text, if you're getting
texts, that's going to have that summary of what
we do day in and day out. And you can just say
it this way if you want. I'm going to be found
faithful to God. And when somebody comes against
me, I'm going to leave that in God's hands. And
then I'm going to make an appeal to God that
I may be found faithful in sharing the gospel
and continue after I suffer whatever I'm going
to suffer. You could do it that way if you want.
But I submit to you that Jephthah gives us a
little bit more detailed pattern, steps you can
take, how you know that you can be vindicated
in the court of the spiritual realm. You can
make an argument and know for certain. That you
have submitted your life into the hands of Jesus
and Jesus will decide in your favor. Now you
say, well, if I'm doing wrong, I'll still suffer
the wrath of God. I'll still struggle. I won't
lose my salvation, but I'll still struggle, right?
And that's true. It's true. You will. And then
the beauty of that is those who God uses to punish
you will then be punished themselves because
you are the apple of his eye. You see? God is
not going to desert you. He's not going to leave
you. He's going to fulfill His promises. He will
bring to a conclusion in you that which He has
begun in you. If indeed He has begun it. Are
you here today and you can say that I know that
Jesus Christ is Lord? He tells me what to do
and I do it. Yes, I get it wrong sometimes, but
I know He is Lord. And He is Savior. He has paid
the price for my sins. My debts were nailed to
a cross almost 2 ,000 years ago. And by virtue
of that, I will spend eternity in heaven with
God. Can you say that and know that's true? Because
if it is, then everything that you see, including
the enemies that come against you, have been
given over and will be given over eternally into
your possession. You will not lose. Now, if that
is true, why not make the argument? Why not start
with diplomacy? Someone comes against you, start
with... I'm a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I just want you to understand right now that
I'm praying to God for you. I'm asking God that
you would be saved. I'm asking God that He would
intervene in your life. And then you beg God
to make you bold. And when you face anxiety,
temptations, distractions, whatever, just say,
no, those things have no power over me because
my case was decided almost 2 ,000 years ago on
the cross. Do you need to cut some things out
of your life in order for these things to be
true? Maybe. Repent. Turn to the Lord. Do you
need to add some things in that God would call
you to? Maybe. If so, repent. Turn to the Lord.
Prepare yourself. Because the attacks won't stop
coming. But by understanding Jephthah's logic,
we learn that we don't have to feel strong to
be protected. We simply have to know our rights
as children of God and claim them as members
of the kingdom. That's what I'm asking you to
begin to do today, tomorrow, and for the rest
of your life. I ask the praise team to come forward
and lead us in our final song. If you're here
today and... You're giving your life to Jesus
Christ and following him for the first time ever.
Then as we sing this song, you come and say,
that's me. I want to follow Jesus. You're here
today and say, I'm already a follower of Jesus.
I know something that God wants me to do or not
do. I've been trying, but I've not been claiming
my position. I've not been claiming my right
to the child of God. I've not been claiming the
victory. And I intend to do that. Beginning today,
then you come. However else the Lord might be
speaking to you. Whatever he's calling you to
do. If you need to say, that's me, I'm going
to be back, then you say that to the Lord in
your heart, and then if he needs it too, you
come up here and you say it to us. Would you
stand with me and sing this song? As we sing,
if the Lord is urging you to respond, you respond.