Jephthah-The Hammer (Part B)

Have you ever met someone was trying to wedge himself into a testimony of words I really don't deserve.

They want to be known as may be the leader, the wise one to go get counsel from and they do what they can to to draw people to themselves just the did nothing but escape route folk and his leadership abilities were such that those who were failures who themselves are outcast.

They came to him.

This is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville.

Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Genesis. Please stay with us after today's message more information about cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Jephthah the hammer is the title of Pastor Rick's message will be teaching in Judges chapter 11 today God cannot always work with pleasant folk needs someone that's willing to stand up the things that others don't want righteous people to stand up to an indomitable spirit. Otherwise you will not dominate me you will not dominate my spirit with your sin or your blasphemy. Whatever. In the end, I will be worshiping the Lord so is judgeship great service to the nation save countless lives.

The promise land people we know as the Jews did not accommodate era and he did not accommodate emotionalism. And if you do this in your own life if you refuse to accommodate emotionalism and era you will be labeled by someone or some group you will be wrong and if you're one of those people that is easily excited and is and and and let's step excitement run away with your behavior and you're good with that. You are like a man like Jeff is going to be rain on your parade my own life.

There are a lot of things I just flat out don't like that people have come up with holidays is one of I don't like I don't mind of others like him.

I don't judge them, but I'm not going let anybody force me to skip along something that I don't have to skip to and I made many an enemy over the year. This is why I like this guy. I think I can tell you how many times a bid in an environment where someone is popped up all the awesome dude awesomeness to this is in no way over-the-top and I would know they don't like you should not playing along this have to be something that is sinful is just something that seals your freedom. I don't want to be a person that lays on laser trip on people as as we used to say colloquially, I don't want to lay my burden on someone else. I want to be that guy. But I also don't want to be the guy someone else lay something on what we have a customer around here and if you don't do this. What if I don't do it. What I don't love you.

I do love them birthday parties going bother hey we want to learn to like being this way, here's here's an example and get back on Texan women. There was a time when there was a baby coming that they would have a baby shower, but Scott is an appropriate name for anything with a little baby but anyway and all the ladies would go and and be at the ladies with the baby shower, and the men would have free time they could go hunt. They could eat earthworms they can do anything they wanted to do notice within the last few years.

Somebody's trying to put an end to this. They now have a cubbyhole for all the men to gather in and open the little window and they put in ships and soul and they close it back now if you like that, that's fine.

But if I don't like it don't you try to come against me about this is all fine with these incidental things are probably people of the tuning into just turn this off long time ago when I mentioned birthdays and that said I don't want to hear it and that's my point is the very point we have no right to lay on other people, our standards, regardless of how much of a thrill we get out of it and this man typifies this this case is worse and that he was wrong before birth before he was even born.

Things went wrong for him again. Judges chapter 11 verse one nudge after the Gilead I was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot Gilead begot Jeff as part of his life, tragedy was the son of a father who was unfaithful. How do you as a man be taught to be a man by a dad whose unfaithful by a dad who did not take the time in spite of his mistake to take steps to make it right because look at verse two. Judges 11 Delia's wife, more sons, and when his wife sons grew up. They drove Jeff out and said to him you shall have no inheritance in our father's house. You are the son of another woman will read about. Their names are not listed in Hebrews 11, but Jeff that is so before birth. He had unfaithful father, but it gets worse for him. Not only did he have a father that trampled upon his marriage vows, but he had an unclean mother as well. Jeff, it was a child of shame, something that he was on the blame for that and stop people from stoning him, not with rocks but in their heart with their words. What a miserable childhood. It must've been.

He was a fragment of a home that never was. Now, if you've been born and raised in a fine home, you can appreciate this when I think of my childhood which stands out to me the most is my parents love more than anything and everything else speckled, good, bad, that parental love is always right. My father you know he had a scowl when he was upset he had a scowl and he wasn't and he wasn't upset. He was a loving man and I appreciate my dad and my mom more and more as time goes by.

I tried to think about too much in the pulpit. I don't break down this man just the did not have that is cheetah didn't get it.

How would you like to have a mother who was a professional outcast. How would you like the whole village to know that that's your mom you are her son, and you don't have a father.

Then when he got old he stole his inheritance from as critical to tough way to live. And yet he did not allow his un-savory upbringing or lack thereof to spoil the rest of his life. Quite the contrary. How many people snarl, snap at other people at the church. I'm not going back to Hatcher's a big ditty told me they'd I'm not going to church every dead bitter sour folk need to grow up. Life is much bigger than that life is much bigger than any moment in our time where our feelings are hurt and less and less you want to be petty and stay there now that I'm not preaching did not love knowingly to anyone here, but if I am than the look received from the Lord. But there certainly are people that each one of us know that our petty and they will not let some past experience slide and not only are they the worse off for put anybody else who happens to be stuck with them and so harsh. Adversity came to this man from before birth and it came to him as an adult came to him from from four corners of his life. First, it was his family at this critical place we would use touched on that it came from his tribesmen. The people in his neighborhood could not escape from them in their judgment ally.

He received adversity from aliens and compatriots like no matter where he was, he found himself assume somebody was against him great lessons in this and outcast who escaped and survived that we read verses one into which talked about his birth, his siblings, but look at verse three. Then shift the fled from his brothers and 12 in the land of tall and worthless men banded together with Jeff, the and went out reading with him now if you're not careful you would think that he is turned into some sort of a bandit that is far from the case, worthless man that banded to him are really men who were bankrupt or unemployed, and subsequently they too were outcast and so here's just the broke his inheritance gone. No name would enter into an environment where this was critical, and yet God was using him. God was using these unjust hardships that were heartening him up. God was using those hard hardships for God's purposes. It reminds us of Romans 828 we all know this verse says, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God. Those who are called according to his purpose just to love the Lord comes out of this brief chapter, and bit about him comes out his words comes out in his life were very clear about this, and this is why the dropout from society made their way to him home to be a soul like that if you ever met someone was trying to wedge themselves into a testimony of words they really don't deserve. They want to be known as maybe the leader, the wise one to go get counsel from and they do what they can to to draw people to themselves just the did nothing but escape route folk and his leadership abilities were such that those who were failures who themselves were outcast. They came to him, they were not roles.

There were men who failed there were men who had nothing but discovered someone in Jeff to and they became somewhat this rating. These rating bands of men. This was common in those days, other villages would put together rating parties and they would come and they would steal from the weaker villages. Jeff they had figured out better to strike first is better to take it to them rather than they bring it to us.

Not like these people who are in really an imaginary world you know it. No more nuclear proliferation on this quake up once man has discovered it is going to have it in you going around acting like you can put him back in the barn is it's ridiculous. We say this about, you know all the shootings, whether they happen in gun free zones. Let's make some guns free to people who can carry them into those old we will have these tragedies anymore. Well I'm trying to bring out the illogic of people in the logic of Jeff so unlike reckless Abimelech before him who brought around himself were told this in Judges 950 brought men basement to himself, but that was not the case with this man. So, it soon became well known that you want to trifle with Jeff you want to go pick a fight with him want to read again from Hebrews Chapter 11. This is again about the heroes of faith, but Jeff's name is in this number and these lines apply to him. It says in Hebrews 11 versus 3234 and am taking excerpts from those verses assess for the time would fail me to tell of Jeff through faith subdued kingdoms out of weakness were made strong became Fallon in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

All of those fit him, but the outstanding one for me is out of weakness made strong.

There's room at the cross. Not only for every sinner to receive salvation but to receive the Holy Spirit.

And when we receive the Holy Spirit we received during the mess we receive power Jesus a tarry in Jerusalem till I come.

And you shall receive power, and you shall be witnesses and we lose sight of this. But Jesus doesn't. You may walk around. I don't feel the spirit. Jesus is not saying that he strike there. How many days had to go by for this man to be miserable and yet all the time God was forging in him what he needed to save the people who were being bullied because of their apostasy. Then there was the tribe that cast him out. Here is Jeff the who, if he had not been cast out. Incidentally, he would not of had the chance to make men out of men who were failures verses four and eight or four through eight in Judges Chapter 11 came to pass after time that the people of Amazon made war against Israel. Incidentally, modern-day Jamon is Jordan east of the Jordan River, the nation, the kingdom of Jordan continues and so it was when the people of Amazon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jeff there from the land of top well why do they have to do that, simply because of the family members know they were part of getting him out of their village continues then they said to Jeff that come and be our commander that we may fight against the people of Amazon so just the said to the elders of Gilead, did you not hate me and expel me for my father's house, why have you come to me now when you are in distress, and he's calling it like it is he's holding them accountable. You people hated me you couldn't wait to be rid of me. My own father's house. You know what that means, because you are all beneficiaries of this culture.

Not me though I am an outcast and now you come to me. Why do you come to me. Verse eight the elders of Gilead, said to Jeff book. That is why we have turned again to you now that you may go with us and fight against the people of Oman and PR ahead over all the inhabitants of Gilead see those bands in verse three worthless men banded together with Jeff that I went out rating with him.

He was building up a testimony word was getting around that Jeff and his men was one posse, you did not want to have coming behind you, coming up behind you. These men recognize that God was making this man into a judge. That's why they're saying we want you to be our commander from Castaway to Cmdr. You might not of liked him which you were going to respect him.

I think the church should be that way.

If Christians were that way in the workplace is people despised us because of the salt. The righteousness upon us, they would respect us. We see more converts we had left less problems and in our communities.

You want to change the way people behave change the way they think about God but the church is often spoiled her testimony by doing everything on everything, but so often the church just ignores simple things of Scripture and does it their way, and in one of the big ones is casting pearls before swine. The world does not understand the church when we preach a message to her without the Holy Spirit, she just sees hypocrisy. She sees someone preaching an ideal message that they wish was sober when they look at the preachers of the message. They say this is a fraud. In the end, the woman who rides the beast in the book of Revelation is discovered to actually be a fraud and she is trampled by the beast. They hate her so when the church again is clear about who she is and what what is the church is the bride of Christ was supposed to preach Christ all the other stuff comes with that the righteousness to commandments the morals all those things are a part and a and indivisible part of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But the church all often times extracts from parts of the gospel and puts it upfront before Christ and then you have judges we don't see too much. Now they've abandoned it. Rightfully so, but trying to say you have to have the word of God and the court solicited a lost flight from the very beginning, God is never called us to that and it was a better way to fight the fight.

I know I've said this before but it needs to be said again. Had they simply said I assist Hebrew literature. They were one that would've been that because everybody else's literatures in their but no they had to show how righteous they were disputing that they are honest and decent clean folks love the Lord will be in heaven. But on this item on this line item. They were wrong and the result is we had right to a righteous judge, no longer on the bench. Just when we need him. We have to learn to fight distinct spiritual warfare does not come natural to carnal people at what what we are by nature and so the Chiefs they come to him and of course he says all right I'll be the commander before I get to verse 11 oh I want to come to the next group of opposition were talking now the four corners that were against him, his family would discuss them. We discussed at the tribal elders and now we come to the ammonites themselves. They were Israel's chief tormentor in Jeff this day we read about it again. Verse four came to pass after time that the people of a mom made war against Israel.

Okay, we've we've got that established. This was going to be a bloodbath in the end, but who is going to prevail, that meant everything to one survival. And God answered the face of lies that came through these adversaries through this man Jeff the who. A lot of people were uncomfortable with. And we find it Jeff that in the church. Many Christians are prepared for that. There used to pushovers.

They used to people agreeing with no matter what, regardless of what silly emotional thing. They come up with.

They used to people agreeing with them making a treaty with them tolerating them. But what they cannot stand to someone saying no can't take that they often leave or they stay and they become and Absalom at the gate or some variation of a troublemaker within God's house and they do this as though they justified because their feelings were hurt. This is a message that if you get in your church know that other churches not all of them, but a great many of them are not preaching this.

They cannot say it to their congregations why the congregations are so incredibly guilty to be an uprising who wants that Monday morning. What pastor wants to wake up to it.

Congregational split or uprising. I think Congregational splits of despicable should never have happened. For this reason you didn't like that place.

You should've been long gone.

What you should not of done is hung around to amass the following. And when you split and you take people you're saying. I stayed when I didn't like it, until I had enough to move in even if that's not the case that how it looks. Yet you can't change these things which that doesn't mean you let these things change.

You as a God's answer to the lies of Amnon which will get to in a moment was the hammer. That's how God was going to deal with these people see the ammonites. They settled down in the corner of the promise land that was not theirs. This is the where the Gilead you know Manasseh Gad half the tribe of Manasseh, Gad and Ruben.

They stayed on the east side of the Jordan. While these from Amann had claimed a section of that land for themselves. They had a grudge towards Israel there grudge was this that land was never theirs and they didn't like that Israel got it, not them, but this is 300 years ago. That's when it all happened when Moses was still leading the nation of Israel is a live nursing the grudge any of you nursing a grudge making it comfortable making sure it has everything it needs to stay healthy and strong.

The nurses thing to help the vindictive spirit is a lying spirit is something all of us meet. You must be on guard against in the best way to do that is is start off by believing what God said and embracing it. Vengeance is is of someone's dealt wrong with you, he'll deal with that most of the time is not our place to deal with this and even in the administration of justice. It's the administration of justice is not revenge is not a satisfaction of some urgent side to prevail. So here is a concise overview of What Was Taking Pl. in Judges chapter 11 in verses 16 through 22 when the ammonites's came and said this is our land. You stole it from us. Jeff the who is now the judge and the commander of the people he schools them. In the Old Testament. You can read that verse 16 through 22 and then the response of them with spoils. If you want to victory through your God, you would claim that has your God's will. Will we won this to our God, and it is our God's will that this land be ours the victor go the sport. That's how the game is played.

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