The End of the Rope: Judges 21:1-8

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.

Judges 21 · chapter mention

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

Judges 21:1–8

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.