Still a very dark time in Israel's history as
the Israelites have brought about punishment
on the tribe of Benjamin. We are in the last
market, the last chapter of the book of Judges.
And it's been quite a lengthy journey with a
break for a couple of holidays. And now we look
at, we finally move into the last chapter of
the book of Judges. I'm going to go to the text
and read it. I know it's kind of a dark text,
but at the same time, it teaches us something
desperately needed in the world today, and perhaps
for always. And so maybe give me a little hooter,
holler, amen, as we go to Judges chapter 21.
Thank you very much. We're only going to read
the first eight verses, which means we have more
of this dark story to unfold next week. But here
we go, Judges 21, verses 1 through 8, and it
says as follows. Now the men of Israel had sworn
in Mizpah, saying, None of us shall give his
daughter to Benjamin in marriage. So the people
came to Bethel and sat there before God until
evening and raised their voices and wept profusely.
So a couple things you need to understand in
the background context of the verse. First of
all, this is coming off the massacre. And I'm
calling it a massacre intentionally. It is not
even a vindictive justice action, right? They
went from responding to the wickedness of the
men of Gibeah. They eventually wipe out Gibeah,
all men, women, and children, wipe them off totally,
and then it spreads, and they go town to town
and kill, bless you, everyone in the tribe of
Benjamin. And so essentially everyone in the
entire tribe has been wiped out for the sins
of that view. At least that's allegedly the reason.
During that process, they promised that they
would not give their daughter to Benjamin in
marriage. They would isolate the tribe of Benjamin
and not let them have their daughters anymore.
That's a pretty stiff punishment, not being able
to marry into the other tribes. Benjamin was
going to be in trouble anyway. We know that 600
men fled from the fight and they're hiding out
in the hills. They are all that remains of the
tribe of Benjamin. And they are men. And the
problem with men, when they're just men, is that
they can't do certain necessary things to propagate
the race. by themselves, and so the tribe of
Benjamin is doomed to die out, because there
are 600 men with no wives. In response to that
situation, the people come to Bethel. Now Bethel
and Shiloh sit right up next to each other, and
that's where the tabernacle is during this day.
And so they gather around the open country, around
the tabernacle, and they are begging God, thinking
how horrible this situation is. And they said,
why, Lord God of Israel, has this happened in
Israel that one tribe is missing today from Israel?
In other words, it is destined at this point,
there's nothing to stop it, that the tribe of
Benjamin will cease to exist and will be 11 tribes
instead of 12 tribes. And it's a terrible, terrible
thing. Now, if you were God, you're not, and
nor am I. But if we were God, we would know for
sure the answer to that question. And here's
the amazing thing. Having worked through the
book of Judges, I think you do. I think you do
know the reason why. They beg God and say, why,
Lord God of Israel, has this happened in Israel
that one tribe is missing today from Israel?
And I ask you, why? Well, the answer is, on the
surface anyway, the sin of Israel, right? We
know that the book says over and over again.
God just says over and over again that they did
what was right in their own eyes. Now God doesn't
answer, which is interesting. He doesn't say,
well, this happened because of your sin, you're
being judged or whatever. At least it's not recorded.
It's possible that they could not hear him. But
they did hear him back when they were wiping
out Benjamin and the last day, and he said, go
for today, I will give that in your hands. And
they did go. But there is no recorded response
here. Beginning in verse 4, it says, And it came
about the next day that the people got up early
and built an altar there and offered burnt offerings
and peace offerings. And so they're trying to
mend their relationship with God to some extent,
at least by the offerings. I submit to you that
they are still practicing, as we talked about
last week, syncretism. God did not call for these
offerings. These are not ordinary, scheduled
offerings. God did not answer their prayer. God
did not ordain that they should wipe out the
tribe of Benjamin. Verse 5. Then the sons of
Israel said, Who is there among all the tribes
of Israel who did not go up to the Lord in the
assembly? So notice the tag -back question on
to the previous question. None of us shall give
their daughter to Benjamin in marriage. That's
what we promised. Now they're saying, Who is
there among all the tribes of Israel who did
not go up to the Lord in the assembly? And initially
it sounds like, Okay, well maybe if they didn't
come up and they didn't make that commitment,
then they could give their wives. to the tribes
of Benjamin, and the tribe could be saved. It
sounds like they're looking for a solution. But
God has not given them a solution. They're sort
of brainstorming a solution in their own ability,
if you will. It says, For they had taken a solemn
oath concerning anyone who did not go up to the
Lord at Mizpah, saying, He shall certainly be
put to death. Okay, now we realize they're not
looking for somebody who didn't go up to give
their daughters to... Benjamin, they're actually
looking for somebody more to wipe out. They wiped
out the entire tribe of Benjamin, and now they're
looking to wipe out anybody that didn't come
to help in the participation. They didn't participate
in the wiping out of the tribe of Benjamin. They
made an oath that they would not give their daughters
to the tribe of Benjamin, and apparently they
made an oath that said that they should certainly
put to death anyone who does not come and help
at the battle. Now notice this means that if
they didn't fight against them, I'm talking about
that, notice they just didn't come and kill alongside
of them. And that means they could have just
abstained. They said, well, we don't agree. We
don't think that Israel should be attacking Israel.
We think that we also have problems. There is
in our lives some sin. We don't want to go kill
our brothers for their sin because we also have
sin. What we think is we should all be repenting
and turning to God. That's a possibility. And
that possibility would still have resulted in
the place that we are at the end of verse 5.
He shall certainly be put to death. Which means
if you lived as a tribesman in the day that we're
talking about, when they massacred first over
40 ,000, and then that day they turned around,
that was amongst the Israelites, turned around
and massacred another 25 ,000 Benjamites. So
when 65 ,000 dead men fell on the ground, if
you lived in that day and did not participate,
your tribe did not participate in that battle,
even if it was because you were trying to be
faithful to God, there would be a decree that
you would be put to death. That's pretty extreme.
And it also looks a little bit like an answer
to the question of why, Lord God of Israel, has
this happened in Israel that one tribe is missing
today from Israel? Verse 6 says, And the sons
of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin.
So now they're like, oh, we're so sorry that
your tribe is almost wiped out. Even though we
did it, we're really sorry how bad off things
are for you now that it looks like it's going
to be over for the tribe of Benjamin. The sons
of Israel were sorry for their brother Benjamin
and said, Today one tribe is cut off from Israel.
What are we to do for wives for those who are
left? Since we have sworn by the Lord not to
give them any of our daughters as wives. Bottom
line, there are 600 soldiers. healthy, strong,
some of the best soldiers in all of Israel. They're
hiding in the hills. And if they could have wives,
there'd be 600 couples that could propagate the
tribe of Benjamin. And they're thinking along
that line. We could solve this problem if we
could just find them wives. And they said, what
one is there of the tribe of Israel that did
not go up to the Lord at Mizpah? And behold,
no one had come to the camp from Jabesh Gilead
to the assembly. And so now they set their eyes
on Jabesh Gilead. And you can imagine that they
are looking to, one, wipe them out because they
didn't send anybody up to help in the battle.
But two, it's in their mind that maybe they could
get some wives for the Vengemites because those
people didn't make a promise. So we're going
to kill all of these people. And I'm kind of
giving you a little bit of a flash forward of
the story. We're going to kill all these people.
But amongst them, we hope to find some wives
that we can give to the Benjamites. We're not
talking about romance. We're talking about essentially
slavery, so they can go and be latched onto the
600 Benjamites and propagate that tribe again.
That's the end of our text today, but I want
you to see what's happening here. First of all,
notice that they were God's people, that everybody
that's involved in this story is part of the
supposed kingdom of God. part of the supposed
nationality that God has chosen for himself.
So they are the descendants of those who walked
across the Jordan, parted by God, who walked
across the Red Sea, who wandered in the wilderness
because of their unfaithfulness, a whole generation
dying off except for two men, and then finally
came in, defeated Jericho by marching around
in faith and howling out and playing the instruments
on the last day, took all the land, which is
very prosperous, under Joshua. But they haven't
completed the job. But they had great success.
These were God's people. They added syncretism.
That is to say that either A, they added things
to God worship. False God worship, maybe will
to God worship. Or they worshipped false gods
as if they were worshipping God. They added syncretism.
And they added idolatry to their lives. Some
of them just walked completely away from God
and started worshipping false gods. They did
not complete the charge of God to secure the
land. They did not make sure that they taught
their children God's ways and God's words. They
found fault with others while ignoring their
own sins. They aggressively dealt with family
who had transgressed while transgressing themselves.
And then they grossly exceeded the mandate to
deal justice and violence against the Benjamites
for the evil that they had perpetrated. And not
only killed the men who committed the crime,
but all those who defended them. And then all
the women and children that they left at home.
And then all the men, women, and children in
all the villages of the entire tribe. Many of
whom probably didn't even know what was going
on until the Israelites showed up and killed
them. The sermon today is called The End of the
Rope. Sometimes you can see the end of the rope.
The truth is, we live at the end of the rope.
Sometimes you don't see the end of the rope.
Sometimes you do. But that's where we actually
lived. And see that in this sermon, in this text,
broken down into three points you're about to
see, that sin, unchecked, will put you at the
end of the rope. Which is bad. But the worst
of it is that sin, unchecked, will put you at
the end of the rope, unsecured. We read Judges
21, 1 -8. I'll talk first about the civil war
that has just taken place. Benjamin is nearly
destroyed. They made an oath that now created
another problem. They'll destroy anyone who didn't
go out, as well as they will not turn over any
wives to the Benjamites. Why, oh Lord, they ask,
has this happened to Israel? That's the moment
that they realize they are at the end of the
road. They have created a situation. They don't
want to admit that they're the ones who did it
wrong necessarily, but they have created a situation
in which one tribe of Israel will seek to exist.
As they reach the end of the road, they cry out
to God. Not for a solution. Not even for a deliverer.
We'll talk about that in a second, like a judge.
Not even for somebody to lead them in righteousness,
to save them from their plight, but really just
to know why. First point then is we all live
at the end of the road. Dependence on God is
not a crisis. I'll never forget, I was attending
Bible college. I've not actually had this conversation
before. I was attending Bible college in Michigan.
I went on my nutrition, what we call a nutrition
mission trip. Nutrition and human sciences mission.
It was a biology class. We went into the UP,
and while we were there, we learned how to read
signs in blood. We learned how to identify different
forms of blood and nature. We dug into fossils.
I learned how to do acupressure. It was five
days and all that. Four credit hours for my degree
in Bible college. While I was there, a man who
had become famous for a renown in the back of...
Dr. Martin, because he had pioneered and also
trained another 35 people, I think it was, to
do the same thing, to read people's blood. So
in other words, you would look at your blood
under a microscope of 400 times magnification,
and they could look at the shape of your cells,
and it would tell you something about the person,
their health condition, or whatever problem.
And I had a hard time. I had to do my own blood,
and I was trying to learn how to do this process,
put it on the microscope, put it at the right
magnitude, and I couldn't get my blood to show
up, and I couldn't compare it to the many, many
slides, there were a thousand slides. And so
Dr. Martin came over, and we were in a hotel
room, because we were on a mission for a hotel
room, and we were all gathered around these two
hotel rooms that were adjoining, there was like
25 of us. And I could not get my slide to show
up, and so he came over, and he's like, there
it is. And he goes, I took in a little breath.
like what he saw was important. He's looking
at my blood and he went, what can that possibly
mean? That doesn't sound good. Maybe there's
something wrong with my blood. A few minutes
later, Dr. Mark led me outside the hotel room
and he got me away from everybody else and shut
the door to the hotel room while I was continuing
to work on the project and he said, I just wanted
to talk to you about what I see in your blood.
And the microscopes that we have were really
expensive and they could take a picture. He had
taken a picture and he printed the picture out
and he brought the picture outside with him and
he showed me the picture. And then he showed
me the picture that it compared to in the pictures
that we had, which was, I don't know, hundreds
at least, if not thousands of pictures. And the
picture showed that I had advanced prostate cancer.
Based on the shape of my cells, I had advanced
prostate cancer. And he said, based on what we're
seeing in here, so this preliminary, right? So
you would have to go to a hospital, get tested.
There are tests for this and that compared with
this. But the amazing thing about the science
that we're using is that it's growing. Why? Well,
it's inexpensive, right? It just drops your blood,
it costs a slide, a few bucks, whatever. You've
got to have an expensive microscope, but other
than that, a few bucks, right? And it advanced
diagnosis things that people can't get tested
for easily. They can be tested, but it's more
expensive or lengthy. And he said, so as soon
as you get back from this mission trip, I want
you to make, in fact, you should call today and
make an appointment with your doctor to be tested
for prostate cancer. Because I'm telling you
right now, with a relatively 100 % certainty,
This is the guy who taught biology class, but
he also taught counseling and a bunch of other
things. This guy had something like 20 -some
doctorates, like doctorate degrees. Like, he
had PhD times 23, right? This guy was one of
the most intelligent guys alive in Michigan at
the time. He had been a member of MENSA, which
is the genius organization, since he was, like,
pre -teen, right? He led mission trips all over
the world. He trained three dozen other people
to do this. He was training us in our class.
I had great respect for him. I believed what
he was telling me. And so I didn't go back in
the room. He said, I can see that you're stricken
by this. He said, I want you to take some time
and pray. It's the time of the Bible. It's a
very Christian organization, Christian college
I was at, Christian command. So take some time,
pray. It's the time of the Bible. And then I
would turn back. I would finish up the lesson,
whatever, and then get a good night's sleep.
call first thing in the morning, call your doctor,
because they do have treatments for this, but
I'm telling you, with the shape of your cells,
it's advanced, and you need to get on it, like,
right now. At that moment, I realized that for
however long, weeks, months, or years, I had
been living at the end of my rope. Advanced cancer
means you've had cancer for a while, right? So
I went away. And I was walking around this property,
some wood by there, next to a little hotel we
were staying at. A motel, I guess. It cogs all
the doors. We're facing out to a parking lot.
Anyway, and I'm walking around. I'm talking to
God. And God took me while I'm walking around.
He said, so what has changed? And I said, well,
I have prostate cancer, and I might die from
it. And as soon as I said, I might die from it,
I thought, well, you know, like, that's really
not that new. I've done a lot of things in my
life that I might die from. And I remembered.
Paul saying, you know, to live is Christ, to
die is gain. So maybe that's not that big of
a deal. And God said to me, he said, so what
has changed? And I said, well, I might be sick.
Then I thought to myself, but yesterday I had
this whatever it is. And last year, probably,
I probably had this for a couple of years. And
I'm thinking, like, so really today, in this
moment in time, the only thing that changed was
I became aware. That's literally the only thing
that changed. And I thought about that, and I
thought, if we become aware that we're living
at the end of the road, then two things are true.
One, we were already living at the end of the
rope, so nothing has really changed except in
our awareness. And two, we now have an awareness
of something that we could have been aware of
all along. And the truth is, I discovered in
that moment in a very organic way, without really
getting into the Bible and understanding it in
this chapter or whatever, that I was living at
the end of the rope already. And Dr. Martin saying
that you have prostate cancer and are probably
going to die from it if you don't jump right
on it, and maybe even then, really didn't change
anything at all. And so by the time I got done
praying and talking to God for about a half hour
and 45 minutes, after that I went and played
basketball. And I want to tell you, I played
some of the best basketball I ever played in
my life. I'm not even a good basketball player.
I was making three -pointers left and right and
left and right. The whole time I'm thinking to
myself, I'm on the end of my rope. I'm barely
surviving it. I could be dead from prostate cancer
in three weeks and I'm sinking three -pointers
like I could be a pro basketball player. And
I don't have any pain. So that's probably not
the worst place to be, right? So I got back to
town, and over the remainder of this trip, I
prayed about it and so on. And Dr. Martin did
tell me a number of things. There was a diet
that he suggested that I get on right away. And
I immediately got on that diet when I got back
to town. But what I did not do is I did not immediately
call my doctor. And so for about a year, I lived
with the understanding that I probably had advanced
prostate cancer. And then I went back home. I
didn't tell my wife. I didn't tell my daughter
until that time. I didn't tell my friends at
church. life group, whatever. I didn't tell anybody.
And I continued to pray about it. I continued
to eat the diet that Dr. Martin had told me to
eat. Eventually, I had to have a physical. I
don't remember what it was. I was for a job.
I had a physical. I went in and I told my doctor
about that. And my doctor tested me for that.
And she said, no, you don't have prostate cancer.
You have some of the precursors for prostate
cancer, but you don't have prostate cancer, so
you're not going to die from prostate cancer.
But anyway, for a year, roughly, I lived believing
that there was a good possibility that I had
it, and it was really going to be up to God whether
I live or die. And I'm telling you today, it
is like that every single day. You don't understand
that with the... Speaking mathematically, just
speaking mathematically, somebody in this room
probably has cancer developing in their body
right now. Somebody in this room has some other
kind of significant illness developing. You live
in this life. This is it. We live in a fallen
world full of fallen stuff, fallen people. Somebody
in this room will probably face a gun in the
next month. Somebody in this room will probably
be in front of a car in the next month. I'm not
prophesying this thing. I'm just saying statistically
it's true. Right? And so we are blessed as a
church to have an amazing provision of God. When
we were toward the end of automation, we looked
at some of the statistics. And there was a time
where the early planting of new heights, where
the unemployment rate in East Toledo was double
-digit, around 11 -12%. And we look back at the
previous four years. And for the four years previous
to that, where the unemployment had been between
9 % and 12%, we had never had a time where anybody
in the church had been unemployed for any length
of time. As soon as they start looking for a
job, they find one. Just like that. Everybody
would get employed that wanted to be employed.
Talk about that. In a church of 50. Understand
that the church significance at 50 is that you're
the same size church as 60 plus percent of all
churches in the United States of America. We
are not a small church. Okay? So 60 percent of
the churches in the United States of America
are our size. And in churches all over the United
States of America, pastors perform funerals for
members of their church who pass away. At this
point in time, in the history of New Heights,
having planted New Heights for 22 years, and
constituted for 10, I have not done enough funerals
for church members to get off my fingers. That's
statistically not right. Don't kid yourself and
think the fact that we are not dying or unemployed
or sick or struggling or something like that
somehow means we are not living at the end of
our rope. We are completely dependent day in,
day out on God. You are dependent on God for
your strength. You are dependent on God for your
life. We say strength, power, love. We are dependent
on God for all of those things. For his provision.
You can say, well, I have a job, and I can pay
my rent when the time comes. Between now and
when your rent or your mortgage is next due,
you can lose your job, you can lose your life,
you can lose your family, you can lose it all.
You are dependent on God for his provision. You
can spend all that you have thinking you have
it all coming in again, and it just doesn't come
in again. That's why it's so foolish when humans
live outside their means and are living paycheck
to paycheck. Hear me now. If you are living paycheck
to paycheck, stop it. Tithe, write a spending
plan, and in your spending plan put away a minimum
amount of expenses because there are expenses
that are yet coming and you cannot count on paychecks
that are yet coming. That's not how life works.
And so God can provide for you and you can live
hand to mouth from God, but while you're doing
that, you certainly should not expect that the
provision, strength, and blessings of God that
we are receiving somehow says, That we are not
at the end of our rope. We are at the end of
your rope. We are dependent on God for wisdom.
We are dependent on him for protection. We are
dependent on him for tomorrow. Jesus said, and
we read this last week, apart from me, you can
do nothing in John 15, 5. There's a saying, by
the way, that's attributed to Thomas Jefferson
primarily that says that when you reach the end
of your rope, you should tie a knot and hang
on. except that Thomas Jefferson never said that.
It was also attributed to Theodore Roosevelt,
who never said it, or at least wasn't the originator.
He probably did say it. And Franklin Delano Roosevelt
also said it, but he was not the originator.
Abraham Lincoln may have said it, they're not
sure, but he was definitely not the originator.
And Ben Franklin may have said it, but he didn't
originate it. In fact, the first time it was
ever recorded in print was in 1923, and... more
than half of those men were dead by now. So they
did not originate it. What it shows us is that
people know that it happens that you come to
the end of the rope. The actual saying, by the
way, the end of the rope, comes from the idea
of an animal being tied. And the animal can graze
on the ground and pick up whatever food and whatever
travel around, but when he gets to the end of
his rope, he can't go any further. So there's
no more fresh grass to be harvested. That's where
the saying actually comes from, but that's not
the common way that people use it because this
saying that says if you reach the end of your
rope, which is the extent of your resources,
tie a rope and hang on, altered the meaning.
And it's attributed probably from the western
United States, but they adapted it and they had
animals that were tied up and they said, well,
you can't get any more fresh grass because at
the end of this rope. The end of my rope is not
the end of God's resources. It's okay to realize
that you are at the end of the rope. The Christian
life is not about getting more rope. It's not
about getting up tomorrow and knowing that you've
got money in the bank to cover retirement, illness,
bills paid, generosity, etc. It's not about getting
up tomorrow and knowing that you've got a job
to go to. The Christian life isn't about having
enough rope. It's about knowing who holds the
rope and who holds the climber. But there is
a dangerous way to realize that you're at the
end of the road. And that's what they have done.
They took certain steps to arrive at a recognition
that they were at the end of the road. They said,
oh, no, Private Benjamin is now going to be gone.
Right? That'd be like if we said to the Beavers,
we're now going to be gone. Right? Or if we now
said, well, the show is just going to be gone.
Not just gone from our fellowship, but gone from
the world. Killed all of them, God forbid. Right?
We're just gone. We'll never see them again.
Never talk to them. That'd be horrible. And we
would realize in that moment that we're at the
end of a rope. Do you not understand? You're
at the end of a rope now. You're going to get
in your car. You're going to go to the doctor.
Something could happen. Sometimes then we see
the end of the rope. We start to realize that
we are there. We don't like the idea of what
seems likely to come next. We think, oh, this
is not good. I don't want that to happen. So
it's a wake -up call. And we say, we need a deliverer.
I'm at the end of my rope. I don't want to see
someone so sick. I don't want to see a bill come
that I can't pay. I don't want to pay that money.
I don't want to lose that job. I don't want to
fight with my wife or my kids. I don't want to
be old and not have sports ability or no true
romance. You start thinking, oh no, we need a
deliverer. I submit to you that living at the
end of your rope and recognizing that you are
at the end of your rope is all about knowing
you need a deliverer. But you don't just need
a deliverer one time to get you off the end of
the road. That isn't even how that works. What
you need is a deliverer who can secure you despite
the fact that you're living at the end of the
road. The next thing to see in the text, then,
is that sin can leave us on the end of the road
without security. In fact, That's what it means
when it says the wages of sin is death. They
ask why. Why has this happened? But really they
need to consider how they got to that point.
Because it's pretty obvious why it happened.
Their problem didn't start with a crisis. They
didn't go, oh no, we've got a tribe that's disappearing.
We've got to do something. It started with one
man. One man's concubine and the concubine being
put to death, right? But did it really start
there? This crisis started there. But really,
the problem started in the fact that they were
not faithful to God. That the whole nation had
added in all of this evil and wicked behavior
that needed to be dealt with. Starting by, they
needed to realize they were already at the end
of the rope. So the situation goes like this.
And James writes similarly. James 1, but he uses
different words. First it starts with compromise,
then it becomes a pattern, then it becomes a
consequence, and then finally you have a crisis
in which you realize you are dangling, barely
holding on to the end of the road. Sin, unchecked,
eventually puts us in places that we never intended
to be. Which is why we talked about it the last
two weeks. Don't do that. Don't stuff your sin
in a closet, keep it in a bright box, or carry
it around in your pocket. squash it, destroy
it, repent of it, and turn to God. We ask God,
why did you let this happen? But sometimes the
better question is, God, where have I stopped
following you? Don't blame God for the destination
when you've been ignoring his directions. There
may be legitimate evils. There may be legitimate
injustice, but even a legitimate cause does not
make us right if we have sinned and we are not
following God and bringing about the justice.
That's what we saw last week. So what do we do
when we finally reach the end of the road, we
realize we're at the end of the road, we finally
see it, what do we need to do? And the answer
is simple. Stop living For yourself. You're the
one who got you there. You're the one who put
you there. God can do better. Then, live for
God at the end of the road. Paul writes in Romans
14, for if we live, we live for the Lord. The
answer isn't find more road. It is trust God.
If I'm living for myself, I need the next thing
to go my way. I can't tell you how many. I'm
living for myself, and I'm thinking, man, I don't
want that to happen. And I start scrambling,
trying to make sure it doesn't happen. I'm sweating,
charging around my house, trying to make sure
I'm not late. Right? I'm scrambling, trying to
fix the car at the last minute so I can get where
I gotta get. I'm beating myself up mentally,
deciding whether or not to call. or to talk to
somebody that's heading into crisis because I
see it coming, but they're not going to want
to hear from me. It's going to turn into a conflict,
and I'm stressing. I need the next thing to go
my way when I'm living for myself. But if I'm
living for God, I can trust that God is still
in charge whenever things don't seem to go my
way. Living for God says I need control. I need
justice my way. That's what they did. I need
security. I need to know what's coming next.
But living for God says, He's in control. He
will judge rightly. He is my security. I don't
have to know tomorrow. Can you do that? Can you
think right now, look, I don't have to know how
tomorrow is going to go exactly. You've got a
plan already. You know if you'll be working.
You might even think about what you'll have for
lunch. You know what time you're going to get
off. You've got a calendar for this week. But
what if Jesus comes again before 5 p .m. tomorrow?
Or what if a real tribulation of some kind breaks
out in the world? Another pandemic. People rewrote
all the kinds of things they were clinging to
that were making them feel comfortable thinking
that they weren't hanging on the end of the rope
during COVID. And pretty soon it's like, kids
don't have to go to school. Yes, kids have to
go to school every day. If you don't go to school,
you've got to come to Columbus for a meeting.
You miss school, you're going to come for a meeting
because your kids cannot miss school. Oh, there's
a pandemic. Your kids don't have to go to school.
And you can say, well, yeah, they all went to
school online or whatever, but Arianna was in
kindergarten, and not one time the entire semester
was her entire class online. And only half of
the class ever showed up online at all. And all
of them became first graders. We say, this must
be, and then something changes. And we say, oh,
maybe it doesn't have to be. Why? Because we
know we're living bangling on the end of the
road. You will all be there due to work tomorrow
morning between 7 a .m. and 10 a .m., right?
You'll all go to work. But if one of your family
members goes tonight to the hospital in an emergency,
you'll probably call off. But you'll be there
unless something more important happens. And
the something more important reminds you that
you are hanging on the end of the rope now. And
sometimes it events in our lives. Open our eyes.
When you live for yourself, the end of the rope
looks like the end. You're like, oh no, I'm crashing,
right? Or like the Wicked Witch, I'm melting,
I'm melting, right? That's what you do under
difficult stress, under difficult times, temptations,
trials, tribulations, things that are right.
You start throwing a fit or you start... falling
down like I can't get up, and you start isolating
from other people, I can't help anybody, I can't
help myself. All of those things are because
you did not realize going into that crisis that
you were dangling on the end of the rope. And
suddenly you realize you're on the end of the
rope, and you're like, oh no, I'm going to fall.
But when you're living for God, the end of the
rope became the beginning of dependence, and
it continues to be. You realize day in and day
out that you're living on the end of the rope
depending on God. And instead of letting go,
instead of crying, I'm melting, I'm melting,
you say, this is tough, but I got this somehow.
I don't know. God knows what he's doing. I'm
trusting in the Lord. That brings us already
to the first part of our conclusion. It won't
take long. We're making good time today. I'll
ask you a question. Who holds the climber and
the rope? You say, well, the rope is tied off
at the top, and the climber holds himself. If
the climber holds himself, how long will it be
before the climber falls? Well, it varies person
to person, doesn't it? The stronger climber takes
longer. You say, well, if I had the strength
to do so, I would just tie the rope around under
my arms. I would dangle there until somebody
comes and gets me. Did you know that if you tie
yourself in a rope and hang from the cliff, you
will die? It's true. You cannot tie a rope around
under your arms or... whatever, you will die.
And I'm not talking about you'll starve to death
or die of thirst eventually, although those things
would be true too. But there's a thing called
crush syndrome. Your body cannot sustain its
own weight on the parts of your body that you
would tie the rope to. Right? If you manage to
tie it around your wrist and hang by your arms,
you will die. If you tie it around your feet
and hang by your feet, you'll die. If you tie
it around your chest and hang by your chest,
you'll die. You cannot tolerate that weight that
way. You can handle it on your feet walking.
You can handle it sitting down, but you and I
both know you can't even handle it sitting down
for long enough to survive that. Right? You sit
down for six, eight, ten hours, it starts to
hurt. Parts of your body start to ache. Now do
that for a couple days and you'll be dead. Your
body's not made to do that. It's made to move.
It's made to sustain the weight the way it's
designed. Who holds the climber on the road?
Maybe you are strong right now. You're actively
sustaining the most important things in your
life. We got this. It's going on. Maybe you're
in a place where you have and make choices about
how to apply resources and to reach goals. I'm
going there. I'll be there at that time. I've
got the money. I don't got the money. I'm going
to pay it. I'm not going to pay it. I'm going
to buy this, keep it. That'll save me some money.
I'm not going to eat out. I am going to eat out.
I'm not going to take medicine. I am going to
take medicine. You're in a strong place. You're
able to apply resources and reach goals. Perhaps
so strong that you can begin to deny that you're
at the end of the rope. You say, no, I'm doing
okay. And so when you hear at the end of the
rope, you think, well, if somebody reaches there,
yeah, they got a real problem because I'm not
at the end of the rope. But actually you are.
Consider the example in our text of a nation
of a people blessed by God with a land of plenty
and living by their own standards instead of
God's. They arrived at a place where all they
could do. is ask God why. And I don't know why
God didn't answer. I know that he did answer
many times before this, but he doesn't answer
right here, or they don't hear him one or the
other. And I submit to you that if you continue
living as if you can do it, living as if you've
got this, you don't know how, but you'll pull
through. You're going to pull it off somehow.
If you continue living like that, not living
dependent on God, you too will arrive at a place
where you ask yourself why. How many people got
a college degree, became successful in their
field, only to be diagnosed with cancer a few
years later? Or get killed in a car accident?
Doctors get killed in car accidents? People who
are successful in life die before they can put
to use their success. Don't. Realize that you
are living at the end of the world today and
instead say, how must I live since I am dependent
upon the one who created me? Maybe you're waiting
for the other shoe to drop. You're like, I kind
of get what you're talking about. Right now things
are okay, but I'm kind of wondering how they're
going to fall apart. Or how they're going to
stay together. The truth is, we all deserve the
falling apart. And the Bible says, all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God. What it means
is that if pure justice, just justice of God
were delivered, you and I would all go to hell
for an eternity. That's the justice that we deserve
for our lives, for our sinful nature, for falling
to our desires, for not pulling up and doing
what we said we would do, for not teaching our
children about God, for not making God the number
one priority in the house, for not mentioning
God while we're on the job, for taking things
that don't belong to us at times where it was
no big deal. It just goes on and on and on. Our
sinful nature guarantees that what we actually
deserve is for everything. to fall apart. But
the grace of God is that He is willing to hold
everything together for you and for me. There's
no time for worry or regret or unfaithfulness.
You will stop getting this feeling, feeling like
it may fall apart at any time when your steps
are ordered in God. When you're making your decisions
based on what God wants you to do and your eyes
are on God rather than The blessings and the
possible results, good or bad. Stop thinking
about, I want this. Start thinking about, what
does God want from me? Maybe you've experienced
enough trouble that you can't imagine things
getting any better. You totally resonate with
the idea of anything on your own. You've got
a particular problem that seems insurmountable
to you. I don't understand how we're ever going
to get there. God can do a miracle, but he's
not doing it. So how? ever does this work itself
out. Maybe you come to the place where you're
asking, why is that happening? Maybe, like the
Israelites, you're asking, why has God allowed
this? Before you only ask, why has God allowed
this, ask yourself, am I walking in his will?
Have I been living for him, obeying him, trusting
him, seeking his justice rather than my revenge,
following his direction rather than my desires?
Because the issue isn't whether the rope will
eventually run out. That's not the issue. Or
whether you will run out of strength and fall
off the rope. That's not the issue. The rope
will run out. The strength will run out. The
resources will run out. Our understanding runs
out. Our control runs out. God doesn't run out.
God alone doesn't run out. If you owned all the
cattle on a thousand hills, if you owned every
corporation, in the United States of America
so that you own so much wealth that they couldn't
calculate the number from the exponent 10 times
what power to calculate your wealth, you would
be poor compared to God. The psalmist doesn't
write God owns the cattle on a thousand hills
because God is wealthy. His point is God is not
limited in resources whatsoever. And you and
I are. The end of the rope is not, nor will it
ever be, the end of God. So don't live your life
trying to make sure that you never reach the
end of the rope. Because you're already there!
Live so that when you are at the end of the rope
and realize it, your natural response will be
to trust God. The moment something happens that
shakes me, that turns my attention to the fact
that I'm hanging on to the end of the rope instead
of whatever else I was focused on, I'm going
to take my eyes off the end of the rope and put
them back where they belonged in the first place,
which is on the God of the universe and the salvation
that only he can provide. See, they've been through
this before. I'll give you a couple excerpts.
Judges 8. As soon as Gideon died, the people
of Israel turned again and poured after the Baals.
Judges 6 recounts that God has done for Israel
and then says, But you have not obeyed my voice.
And the people of Israel again did what was evil
in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. Judges
3. But when the people of Israel cried out to
the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer. And
the people of Israel did what was evil in the
sight of the Lord and served the Baals. Then
they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers,
and the results of the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Israel, and he gave them over
to plunderers. This is essentially the answer
to why are we at the end of the rope. It's all
over the book of Judges. We're there. We're at
the end of the rope because we abandoned God.
As a race, by that I mean as humans, there is
only one race. Despite what someone else might
tell you, you can argue it if you want. Bottom
line is there is only one race. It's the human
race. I don't know if you know this or not, but
the concept of race was invented by Darwin. It
was invented to prove that there are inferior
people with darker skin who are closer to baboons.
Because Darwin was a bigot. And then, the United
States of America tried to build their entire
educational system built on the theory of which
was that dark -skinned people are somehow closer
to apes than light -skinned people. It's ridiculous.
There is one race, the human race. Bottom line
is this. We abandon the Lord God. As humans,
in Adam, and then individually, you and I have
sinned. But now, at the end of the road, there
is security in Christ, the second Adam, Jesus
says, he holds us. He says, I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Romans
8 talks about how nothing can separate us. Paul
declares that neither death nor life, angels,
principalities, things present nor things to
come, nor any other creature can separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus. The end
of your rope is not the end of Christ's reach.
Philippians 1 .6 says, He which hath begun a
good work in you will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. Christ finishes what he started.
It's a two -step action plan. Number one, I want
you to realize today that you are at the end
of your rope. And you will stay there. You belong
there. It is justice that you should be there.
However, it is not mercy that you should fall
from there into the pits of... hell to remain
for eternity, but rather it is mercy and forgiveness
and grace by the holy God of the universe that
in Christ we should be secured for an eternity
and spend an eternity in heaven with God. You're
at the end of your rope. What you need is security.
And where you will find it is in Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, who lived and died. Let me ask
you a question. Was Jesus at the end of his rope
when he was hanging on the cross? No. Jesus was
God and he has never been at the end of his rope.
Because if there ever was a rope and God was
ever attached to it and never reached the end
of it, he just made more. He's God. He could
have called thousands of angels to rescue him
off the cross. He willingly laid down. He didn't
kill him. He willingly laid down his life that
we might be saved. He willingly laid down his
life that sins might be paid for. Not so that
you can have more room. Not so you can feel like
you're not on the road. Not so you can feel like
you're not hanging on the bottom of the road.
Or that at any moment tragedy might strike. So
you can be full of worry and anxiety and regret
and depression. No! He did it. So that you could
be secure in this life and for eternity. Life
may be at the end of the rope, but it is not
at the end of God. And there is no end of God.
Before we met Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,
we too were subject to the wrath of God. We were
at the end of our rope. There was no security.
A famous Puritan preacher once preached a sermon
and the Puritans were very devout. That's why
they're called Puritans. They're pure Christians
in their estimation. Right? Everybody called
them pure Christians. He preached a sermon and
he said it's called Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God. And in that sermon he described them
and everybody, all of us, as if you were standing
on a ledge and your toes are on a ledge. The
ledge is only just big enough for your toes.
You're standing with your hands to the wall.
This is how you're living. And if at any moment,
anything at all changes, slight vibrations, any
sign of weakness, a breeze blows, you're plummeting
to hell. That's a new meaning for life. The one
that's walking down the street right now needs
to live. It does not cost Christ his Lord and
Savior. If he gets shot in the head, if he gets
hit by a car, if he dies from cancer in a few
weeks, He's going straight to hell. But you and
I, if you know Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior,
to live is Christ, to die is gain. And we are
secure. I'm asking you to be secure. Not because
you're not at the end of the road, but to realize
that your life, my life, all of our lives are
at the end of the road. wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Will you have it? If you haven't,
or if you've been pretending not to have it,
I would suggest that you do. I would implore
you to do it. And say, I will no longer live
for me, because if I add the rope, as long as
I can add it, I'll still run out. If I rely on
my strength, as long as I can be strong, I'll
still go now. My life will be like a rollercoaster
ride and someday, someday they'll tell me that
I had advanced cancer. And in that moment, I'm
going to need a savior. And I will now realize
I need one right now. And you cry out to God.
Don't say, God, why, God, why? You know why.
Because you lied. You stole. You cheated. Whatever.
You didn't look in his direction. You didn't
desire him. He didn't follow his ways. He didn't
teach your kids, your friends, your church members
to follow his ways. He didn't step up. You know
why? Because he was the God of the universe.
Let him be in charge of your life. And let him
secure you. And all the while you're here, you'll
still be on the end of the road. But you'll be
secure. And when you leave here, you'll no longer
be on the end of the road. You get to go where
the road is manufactured. I realize it's kind
of a rollercoaster. Sometimes in the beginning,
something's going to go wrong, and it does, or
it doesn't. I'm going to tell it something, and
it's not happening, or whatever. Or it really
is a video, and I'm really feeling screwed on
what to do about it. I need a Savior. I've got
to swing your act. I need a Savior. I need you,
Jesus Christ, not to fix your problem, but to
secure you off the edge of the road. I cry out
to you. I need you to pray for me. I need you
to be my Lord. in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.