Case Made: Judges 11:12-28

now your brother So I was just sitting there

thinking about how after today, we're going to

leave behind the book of Judges for a while through

Easter. And man, Easter is literally right around

the corner. Resurrection Sunday is coming fast.

And it occurred to me that this message, at least

the first kind of action point in the conclusion,

really speaks about and touches on the crucifixion

and the resurrection. And so this is sort of

the first of the Easter messages. As I wrote

it, I kind of just was, I felt like I was following

the leading of the Lord. And I'm like, wow, I

didn't even realize exactly how connected those

two things are. But I think you'll see it very

clearly when we get there. Before we begin the

sermon today, I want to share with you just a

little story, a little moment, if you will, in

my life prior to becoming a Christian. When I

was a young man, my brother and I were very much

at odds. I was the physical, run around, stay

out until the street lights come on, and sometimes

a little later than that and get in trouble.

Fighting and sports and that kind of thing. I

didn't play a lot of organized sports in school

because in junior high I messed up my knee, or

at least thought I did. And so then I didn't

want to have to get a knee replacement by the

time I was 25. I didn't play a lot of organized

sports, but I did play a lot of sports. Like

every day, seven days a week, we were playing

in the yard, playing something. And it wasn't

always an organized sport, but some kind of game.

My brother, on the other hand, was very much

the intellectual. He's four and a half years

older than me, and so by all rights should have

been bigger, probably stronger than me and like

that, but that really wasn't the case. And so

we fought constantly as I was growing up, and

I sort of pushed him to do whatever I wanted.

And it was sometimes got a little violent, but

never anything like broken bones or anything

like that, but definitely cuts and bruises and

that kind of thing. And so I was also kind of

the bully in the neighborhood with the guys in

the neighborhood until a guy moved in that was

bigger and wasn't going to take it anymore. And

then we fought like cats and dogs for probably

about a year. And then finally he moved away.

And so then I got kind of got my position back.

And by that time we were all kind of getting

to be teenagers and getting past that stuff anyway.

So my brother and I were at odds all the time.

There was a guy in our neighborhood who was,

he weighed over twice as much as the two of us

combined. And he was a football linebacker, played

most of his senior year with a broken arm and

still was incredible. He was an incredible football

player. He later went on to play semi -professional

football with the Toledo Thunder back in the

day. I don't know if anybody remembers him, but

anyway. And he came down to my house because

I had gotten in an argument with his younger

brother. And it was going to go to blows, but

he didn't want to fight because even though he

was bigger than me, he didn't want to get hurt.

So he went home and got his brother. So his brother

came down, and his brother, who was, again, probably

four times my size. I weighed probably a little

under 100 pounds, and he weighed a little over

400 pounds. So he was four times my size. He

was really, really big. He was like 6 '4", 5",

and almost that big wide. I mean, he was just

gargantuan. And he said, You know, you're going

to apologize to my brother, or I'm going to pound

you in the ground, basically. And I'm looking

at this gigantic guy, and I'm going, like, there's

no way this ends good. My parents were not home.

So I didn't know what to do. So I ran in the

house, and I got my brother, of all things. I

said, we need to call Mom and Dad. We need to

call Mom and Dad. I'm in trouble out here. These

two guys are down here. They're going to beat

me up. And Tom, my older brother, who, again,

is four and a half years older than me, would

probably weigh about 10 pounds less than me.

He said, I'll take care of it. We went back outside.

And there they're standing there, this guy and

his brother. Between the two of them, they weigh

close to 600 pounds. I'm 165, 165 foot. I'm about

5 '5 at that time. And my brother said to him,

he said, if you want to fight, we'll fight. And

he said, and I think it's pretty much a foregone

conclusion. You're going to kick our butt. But

I will guarantee you that. you're going to wind

up muddy and bloody. I guarantee it, 100%. I'm

going to hurt you. You may beat me up, you may

put me in the hospital, you may kill me, but

I guarantee you, you will get hurt. And the guy

looked at my brother, who was, again, less than

a quarter of his weight or whatever, and he said,

it's not worth it, let's go home. And that moment,

my brother and I found peace. And we never fought.

physically after that ever again, even though

I was still for sure tougher than him and more

physical than him. I never coerced him after

that. Now, I could have probably done the same

thing, right? I could have probably said the

same thing, and it might even have been more

true because I was more physical. I had fought

more fights, had more scars. I probably could

have said that, and it probably would have been

more true than when my brother said it, but I

didn't say it. So here's the problem. If you

are the winner, and you do not declare yourself

the winner, or if you can make it so that the

winner doesn't want to fight, then you become

the winner, right? So that guy didn't want to

fight. He didn't want to take the risk of getting

seriously injured. And so then he just went home.

And if you won't claim it, if you won't understand

it's true in that moment, then it maybe isn't

true, right? So I could have backed down, apologized,

even though I truly was not in the wrong. You

know, I could have went in and think, well, we'll

see what happens. And I could have just jumped

the guy, jumped on him and started doing whatever

I could, you know, to cause some damage or whatever.

And we'd have both wound up damaged and I'd have

gone to the emergency room for sure. But my brother

handled it in a way that we won the fight before

we had to fight. And he knew that was possible.

I don't know how. And it worked. So what I'm

saying to you is that is the position that we

are in as Christians. And we're going to see

this in the text today very clearly exhibited.

And we're going to, I hope, learn some lessons

about how to apply it in modern day life. So

it's kind of a fun sermon. It's different. I

would tell you it's a little different than anything

I've written in a long, long time. To the point

that I'm providing a little handout later today.

and I'll tell you about that later. So grab your

Bibles if you would, maybe get a little excited,

hoot, holler, and go with me to Judges chapter

Judges 11 · chapter mention

11. Thank you very much. You'll notice on the

board that the title is Case Made, and so what

we're going to see is Jephthah. You'll recall

that he's kind of a bizarre judge. On the scale

of all the judges, he's a little different than

everybody else. He was an oddball, cast out,

that kind of thing, but he's back now. Judges

11, beginning in verse 12, it says, Now Jephthah

sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon,

that's the bad guys in the story that's been

persecuting them, saying, What is between you

and me that you have come to me to fight against

my land? The king of the sons of Ammon said to

the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took

away my land when they came up from Egypt, from

the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan,

therefore return them peaceably now. So he gives

him an out. If you give those lands that we claim

back, then we don't have to fight. So just surrender

all those people to us and all that property

to us. But Jephthah sent messengers again to

the king of the sons of Ammon. And they said

to him, this is what the messengers said, Thus

saith Jephthah, Israel did not take away the

land of Moab, nor the land of the sons of Ammon.

For when they came up from Egypt, and Israel

went through the wilderness, to the Red Sea and

came to Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers to

the king of Edom saying, please let us pass through

your land. But the king of Edom would not listen.

And they also sent to the king of Moab, but he

would not listen. So Israel remained at Kadesh.

Then they went through the wilderness and around

the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came

to the east side of the land of Moab and they

camped beyond the Arnon. But they did not enter

the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the

border of Moab. And Israel sent messengers to

Sihon, king of the Amorites, or the Amorites,

as some people pronounce it. The king of Heshbon

and Israel said to him, Please let us pass through

your land to our place. But Sihon did not trust

Israel to pass through his territory. So Sihon

gathered all his people and camped in Jehaz and

fought with Israel. So the first two people,

he said, let us pass. They said, no, we won't

let you pass. One of those was Ammon, the guy

who's now accusing them, right? But then when

they came to the other one, they said, well,

let us pass. And he said, we'll not let you pass.

Not only did they not let them pass, but they

marshaled out force. They came out to fight.

They didn't just say you can't pass like the

first two did, but they said, we're going to

fight. So they attacked Israel. Okay. So verse

21, the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and

all his people into the hand of Israel and they

defeated them. So Israel possessed all the land

of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.

So they possessed all the territory of the Amorites

from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and from

the wilderness as far as the Jordan. Since now

the Lord God of Israel drove out the Amorites

from before his people Israel, are you then to

possess it? So in other words, he said, We didn't

take your land. We took this other land over

here that belonged to this other country, and

God gave us an incredible victory. And if God

did that, then who are you to say that we can't

have this land? Basically, there's an international

law. It's a victory of war, right? So they won

the land. So of course they can keep the land

because they won it in combat. Their soldiers

shed their blood in order to win those lands,

okay? And so he's arguing we have a right to

the lands that we won in war, that were not your

lands. Since now the Lord, the God of Israel,

drove out the Amorites, he said, from before

his people Israel, are you then to possess it?

24. Do you not possess what Chemosh, your God,

gives you to possess? Now that's the God of the

Ammonites, right? One of them. Okay. So whatever

the Lord, our God, has driven out before us,

we will possess it. Now, are you any better than

Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab? So basically,

this is a pretty big -name guy. We don't have

to get into it too deeply. Balak was a powerful

king, built powerful armies, and never laid claim

to the lands in question. Does that make sense?

So he could have. If anybody was going to, he

could have taken those lands and said, well,

by justice, they belong to us, or they at least

don't belong to Israel. But he didn't. Did he

ever strive with Israel? Or did he ever fight

against them? Well, Israel lived in Heshbon and

its villages and in Eroer and its villages and

in all the cities that are on the banks of the

Arnon 300 years. Why did you not recover? them

within that time so he said it's been 300 years

now no one has ever laid this claim on these

lands that we rightfully took and now 300 years

later you're trying to lay a claim on them so

that's like a claim on statute of limitations

right so your time was a long time ago if you

wanted to say that we took your lands i therefore

have not sinned against you but you are doing

me wrong by making war against me may the lord

The judge judged today between the sons of Israel

and the sons of Ammon. So who is he asking to

make the decision in earnest based on the evidence?

Who is he saying? I want somebody to make the

decision of who's right here. And he's saying

God. I want God to make the decision of who's

right here. And then it says in verse 28, But

the king of the sons of Ammon disregarded the

message which Jephthah sent him. Now that actually

technically ends our text for the day. But I

do want you to see one thing that follows immediately

after that because it's a confirmation. So in

verse 29 it says, Now the Spirit of the Lord

came upon Jephthah so that he passed through

Gilead and Manasseh, and he passed through Mizgah

and Gilead, and from Mizgah of Gilead he went

on to the sons of Ammon. So this is what happens.

Jephthah says, Here is a systematic argument

of why what you're saying is not true. Your revisionist

history will not stand. Your God did not give

these lands to you. Our God gave these lands

to us. Not only that, but if you were going to

complain, you had 300 years to do it, and you

never have. And all these other kings who came,

and some of them were powerful enough to complain

and possibly do something about it, they never

said this. You're just making this up, basically,

is what he's saying. God, decide between us who

is in the right today. And then God's response

is, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Jephthah.

So in this dialogue between Jephthah and the

king of the Ammonites, there is a legal and a

historical debate going on. This is happening

in the United States of America and the world

over today. People want to rewrite history. People

want to use their own logic. People want to redefine

things to say that they are not what God has

made them to be, not what they have always been.

Things are new, different. Today we have the

authority and the power to make something different.

So we're going to do it. This is our agenda,

right? And you don't have to succumb to it. You

don't have to give in to that method. You can,

like Jephthah, act as a diplomat and figure it

out. So let's look briefly at the structure of

his argument. The first one is he makes a historical

claim. So this revisionist history. that the

king of Ammon is trying to say that they have

a right to these lands. He says, that's not true.

You're just making that up. That's not the way

it went down. We didn't steal your lands when

we came out of Egypt. In fact, we went around

your lands because your people said that we could

not. Instead of fighting, we went around your

land. We didn't take any land from you. We took

all the land that we took from Sihon. The Amorites

had previously conquered that territory from

other people, yes. But because we conquered them

and took their lands, we have a right to what

we conquered and took. That's the way it works.

Secondly, he makes a theological claim. He says,

hey, doesn't your God give you what your God

gave you? You take it. So our God gave this to

us and we're entitled to keep whatever our God

gave to us. That's a theological claim. And then

third, he makes a legal claim. In this case,

statute of limitations, but there are other possibilities

here. So he says, it's been 300 years. There

were powerful kings that came before you. You

have forfeited your right to claim this territory

by waiting 300 years to try to claim it until

now. Never in history anywhere for 300 years

has anyone ever said that this land belonged

to you and not us. You can see then, logically,

if you were a judge sitting on a bench and somebody

made those arguments in front of you, you would

say, yeah, that makes sense. They've made pretty

good arguments, right? There's pretty good arguments

there. They were not only legitimate, they were

the only legitimate claims. The revisionist history,

it's just ridiculous. Jephthah's defense was

grounded in verifiable history. Longstanding

occupation. There were people that were living

in that land that called themselves Israelites

that had been there for 40 generations since

the time that Israel had taken the land. Notice

in the final communication then, there is a call

for intervention. He says, I appeal to the higher

court. I have not wronged you, but you are doing

me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord...

The judge decide the dispute this day between

the Israelites and the Ammonites. And you can

say the same thing for yourself. Let the Lord,

the judge, God of heaven this day decide the

dispute between his people and the people and

systems of the world. Is it a legitimate call

to God to intervene? Does he have a right to

do that, to appeal to heaven? Well, when two

parties reached an impasse in ancient politics

and diplomacy or whatever, they would call upon

somebody outside themselves to mediate this.

And when you're having a problem, especially,

let's say, if you're having a problem with another

Christian, for example, who's going to settle

it if not God? And I submit to you that the problem

that exists between God's people and the world

has actually already been settled. And yet, people

are acting like somehow we're the underdogs,

that Christians are going to not... claim the

territory that God has laid out for them. And

that doesn't make any sense. Jephthah has been

truthful in his historical account. And he's

even attempted to settle the matter peacefully

by sending the messengers in the first place

and communicating it out and so on. He didn't

just say, I'm going to summon up an army and

kill everybody. But because he had done that,

tried to settle it, make it right, justly, and

peacefully. He can now confidently ask God to

come in. So this is the problem. Sometimes people

in the world, instead of trying to settle it

peacefully, as Christians, we're going to get

all snarky ourselves. If I say just the right

thing or I do just the right thing, I can get

them to back down, right? But then the problem

with that is what? Now you don't have a legitimate

concern to ask God to come in and settle it for

you because you have behaved in a way that's

not godly. Interestingly enough, Jephthah stands

out in the book of Judges because he is the only

major judge who leads with a legal and historical

defense. They called him for what? What did they

call him for? To defend them against the Ammonites.

We need you. We kicked you out, yes, but clearly

you're a good warrior. You've got all these guys

gathered around you, so you're a good leader,

and we need you. We need you to come and rescue

us from the Ammonites. And the first thing he

does is attempt a diplomatic solution. Gideon,

for example, you recall we studied him a little

bit. Gideon was a little different. Jephthah

is bold and confrontational with his words here

and using diplomacy. Gideon really, the whole

time you see him as a judge, he only used diplomacy

to de -escalate internal conflict. There was

a civil war brewing. People were upset, the Ephraimites

especially. In Judges 8, we learned about this.

They were upset and complaining that he didn't

involve them in fighting. And so then you see

Gideon flatter them and tell them, what have

I accomplished compared to you? Aren't the gleanings

of Ephraim's grapes better than the full vintage

of Abiezar, the house that Gideon was from? Jephthah

uses truth and law to stand his ground against

an enemy. Gideon uses humility and tact to prevent

a civil war. So that was the closest thing that

we have to another diplomat. You remember Deborah?

We read about Deborah, right? She was the one

who sat under the tree and did the judging of

the Israelites, whatever. And then the war was

going on. And what did she do? She called up

Barak. She said, go get a great army. God is

going to give you a great. And then she began.

He said, well, I'll go if you'll go with me.

And she said, okay, well, I'll go. But she wasn't

a fighter and she didn't lead the army. But she

did tell them what God told her to tell them.

So she wasn't a diplomat. And those were two

really good judges. But neither one of them did

this, what he did. Remember who he was? Kicked

out by his people, living surrounded by worthless

men. Now he comes back as a leader of Israel,

and what is he doing? So not only is he the Redeemer,

the Savior, and the judge for the people of Israel

in this day, but on top of that, when they brought

him back, he's showing signs of redemption. He's

making arguments that say, but we have God on

our side. So why would you be afraid in the first

place? What does that sound like? Remember David

and Goliath? We haven't read about him yet, but

you've got Samson. Samson is maybe kind of like

one of the worst judges. Everybody likes his

story, but he's kind of one of the worst. And

everything that he does, there's no diplomacy.

He plays tricks. He gives riddles. And then all

of his fighting, he essentially does it himself.

He doesn't lead the army. He doesn't organize

men. He's not a diplomat, a leader, or a servant

even. He just goes and beats the Philistines

up until the sun goes down. And then he gets

up and does it again the next day. Right? So

connecting Jephthah's ancient diplomacy to our

role as ambassadors in Christ, then there is

a picture here. There's a powerful thing here.

First things, seeking first the kingdom of God

should affect us daily. You should get out of

bed tomorrow and go like, okay, what does God

want me to do today? What does God want to see

happen in my life today? And living like that,

then you're going to experience opposition. As

ambassadors, we then look at that opposition

coming against us, and I would say we'd be better

off to follow the model of Jephthah than the

model of even Deborah, who listened to the Lord

and delivered the message. Or Samson, who went

out and beat the snot out of God's enemies. We'd

be better off to follow Jephthah's model and

let the Lord decide. And what will He decide?

Like Jephthah, we should lead with words, We

offer terms of peace, which is the gospel, before

there is ever a judgment. We appeal to divine

intervention. Can we ask God to intervene while

still trying to reach people? You realize you're

going to suffer. Some of you are experiencing

suffering now. I've been experiencing suffering.

And so the point is, we're going to suffer. And

in the midst of that suffering, can we still

be trying to reach people for God and yet call

out for God, make an appeal to God? What if we're

being treated unfairly? Someone's coming against

us. 1 Peter 2, 19 -20 says, For this finds favor,

if for the sake of conscience toward God a person

bears up under sorrow, when suffering unjustly.

For what credit is there if when you sin and

are harshly treated you endure it with patience?

But if when you do what is right and suffer for

it, you patiently endure it, this finds favor

with God. Ultimately, we should be acknowledging

the judge. The judge. It doesn't matter what

public opinion says. It doesn't matter what social

media says about you or your grade card or your

paycheck. We should be recognizing the judge

of the universe. We should take the burden off

of our own shoulders and say, Lord, you see the

hearts, you decide the outcome. But notice our

appeal is dissimilar from Jephthah's appeal.

There is a pretty radical difference. His was

about territorial victory. That meant wealth.

It meant power. It meant crops. It meant safety.

That's the kind of appeal that he was looking

for from God. He wanted God to deal with the

people that were coming against him. Our appeal

is for spiritual clarity or protection. Jephthah's

court case ended in the destruction of the Amorites.

Our court case is handled by Jesus who literally

died for all of the people who are persecuting

us. So when someone's coming against you and

you beg God to squish them like a bug, your prayer

is inaccurate, at least. Because God died that

they might be redeemed. We appeal to God not

necessarily to destroy our enemies, but to restrain

evil so that the gospel can go forward. 1 Timothy

2 says it this way, First of all, then, I urge

that in treaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings

be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all

who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil

and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

This is good and acceptable in the sight of God

our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and

to come to the knowledge of the truth. Have you

ever been in a situation where someone is coming

against you, doing something to you, saying something

about you, hurting you in some way? and all you

wanted to see was them stopped? That's all I

want to see? And did you pray, Lord, stop them?

Do you realize that if they were saved, truly

saved, if they were followers of the Lord Jesus

Christ and God saw the damage that they were

doing, God would stop them, but He'd stop them

in a holy and completely different way. I guess

there's a real question today. During COVID,

there was a pastor down south in Louisiana they

chose not to close their church, to not stop

worshiping. And Louisiana was one of the states

in which you were actually really supposed to

do that. You were supposed to stop. And up here,

we just had pressure to stop. We never had the

law telling us that we had to stop, and we didn't

stop worshiping God. So protesters came out and

surrounded his church building because they were

still worshiping. Now, that's as comical as you

can ever say. You can't go in the church building

and worship Jesus because you're going to spread.

the virus from people to people. But you can

stand outside the church building in huge mobs

and protest worshiping because you're not going

to spread the virus while that's happening, right?

So anyway, protesters surrounded the church building

and told that they couldn't go inside and worship

because they were breaking the law. The whole

thing is comical. So the pastor came in the church

van at about two mile an hour and somebody stepped

in front of the church van and either they hit

the van or the van hit them or whatever. And

then he went ahead and parked, went into church

just like normal, and everything was fine, except

then he got arrested because he hit somebody

with his vehicle. The question is, is God going

to intervene on behalf of his people? Because

as they persecute us, it seems like it really

stops the gospel from flowing. If you take the

most outspoken Christian people, it seems like

they get the most opposition, right? Now, sometimes

it's because they're outspoken in a way that's

insulting, and that's going to brook opposition.

But oftentimes it's not that. It's like facing

difficulty. So is God going to redeem? Is God

going to intervene? Is he going to defend us?

And the Bible says this, and will not God bring

about justice for his chosen ones who cry out

to him day and night? Will he keep putting them

off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice

and quickly. That comes from Luke 18, and it's

out of the end of the parable where Jesus is

talking about the woman who had to keep going

after the judge who wouldn't listen. And she

kept begging him and begging him. And Jesus says,

God will hear and God will deliver justice. I

urge you that in treaties and prayers and petitions

and thanksgiving be made behalf of all men. And

God will hear. God will deliver justice. In Psalm

91, it says that God is our shield. I won't go

through and read it, but basically from beginning

to end, it says that the one who trusts in God,

God will intervene on their behalf. In Zechariah

2 .8, it says, whoever touches you touches the

apple of his eye. Now, this is really cool. By

the way, I encourage you to go and read this.

We're not going to do it right now for the interest

of time. In Zechariah 2, you'll see the situation.

God's people were unfaithful. That's what was

happening. And God used the peoples around them

to punish them because they were unfaithful.

That's what was happening. That's starting to

kind of sound present day right there, right?

And then it says that God would then punish the

people that he used to punish his people because

it says that when somebody messes with you, they

mess with the apple of my eye. You see? So when

someone's coming against the church, when someone's

coming against the gospel, when someone's coming

against the truth, when someone's coming against

you, First of all, check yourself and make sure

that you're not provoking it and causing the

problem, right? Because then you could cut it

out. You could stop that from happening, right?

But sometimes people are going to come even when

they shouldn't come. And sometimes people are

going to come when they should come. And either

way, they're going to suffer for it because God

is going to bring about justice on the person

that comes against his people because we are

the apple of his eye. Whoever touches you, God

says, touches the apple of his eye. This emphasizes

that God is sensitive to how His ambassadors

are treated. So what can we do about it? If God

is our defender, then He is our action plan.

And our action plan looks different than the

world's action plan. We relinquish the right

to vengeance. Leave room for God's wrath. If

we try to defend ourselves with anger, then we

will get in God's way. And if God takes a good

hearty swing at one of your enemies, and you

get in the way, guess who's going to get hit?

Leave room for God to do what it is that God

wants to do. You don't need to do it yourself.

All the greatest victories of the Old and New

Testament are in God intervening, not in mankind

doing something special. We focus on the mission.

Since God is handling the defense, we can focus

100 % on the embassy, on the ambassadorship.

We can be kind to people who are unkind to us

because we know our case is in the hands of the

best lawyer in the universe. We can pray for

boldness, not just safety. In Acts 4 .29, when

the early church was threatened, they didn't

pray for the enemies to disappear. They didn't

pray to rain fire down on them or anything like

that. They prayed, Lord, consider their threats

and enable your servants to speak your word with

great boldness. That's what we need, great boldness.

So this becomes like an action plan for us. If

you're facing a situation in which you're being

wronged while trying to live for God, your prayer

might sound something like this. You might say,

Lord, you are the judge of the earth. I am here

as your ambassador seeking to honor you and my

family. And I have tried to speak truth and peace,

but I am meeting resistance. I appeal to you

to intervene, not for my pride, but for your

glory. Protect my heart, restrain the hand of

the enemy, and let your kingdom come in this

situation. Now that isn't what it usually sounds

like, right? It's more like, Lord, I'm suffering

here. And you know I'm a good guy. You know I'm

a good girl. I need you to intervene. I need

my sickness to go away. I need my finances to

get better. I need my words to be heard. I've

been trying to tell them, boy, if only they were

here to hear this sermon, they could get all

fixed up. Right? That's what it usually sounds

like. Do we have a position from which to come

that we can entreat the God of the universe and

have a reasonable expectation that He will intervene?

We have to move from a defensive posture to a

legal one. Stop woe is me and making excuses

and start thinking about, as an ambassador of

Christ, your territory is your soul, your peace,

and your divine calling. Here is how you can

use Jephthah's three -point logic, I just gave

it to you, to shut the door on the enemy. Number

one, you can make it a historical argument. Jephthah's

argument was like this. We didn't steal your

land. We received it from a definitive victory

over the Amorites over 300 years ago. Your argument,

my argument, sounds like this. You claim we belong

to the kingdom of darkness. You want me to be

ashamed. You want me to do something stupid with

my time. You want me to give in to temptation,

etc. However, the historical record of Colossians

2, 14 -15 shows that the legal debt was nailed

to the cross. You have no legal standing to attack

me for my past. That territory was bought and

paid for by Jesus Christ. The right of conquest

belongs to Him, not to the world or my old self.

I am a new creation, and the old boundaries no

longer apply. Or, and or, you might make the

theological argument, the higher authority. Jephthah's

logic was, whatever the Lord our God has given

us, we will possess. He challenged the enemy

to respect the boundaries set by the supreme

authority. Our argument, Matthew 6, 33, Seek

ye first the kingdom of God and all these things

should be added unto you. If God has assigned

me a mission, a family to honor and a kingdom

to seek, then any spirit or worldly system trying

to stop me is actually contesting God's sovereignty.

Do you realize? That you have no sovereignty

unto yourself? You were created to represent

God. You were created to be a deliverer of the

truth that God ordained. If you're delivering

your own truth or your own idea of the truth,

you're nothing but a liar. Because the only truth

that is eternal is the truth of God. We say,

I am occupied by the Holy Spirit. If you, and

you could be talking to Satan or fear or evil

spirits, anxiety, the world system, whatever.

If you want me, if you want to evict me from

my peace, then take it up with my landlord. Since

God has granted me every spiritual blessing in

the heavenly places, that's Ephesians 1 .3, your

gods, which are money, status, anxiety, concerns

of life, whatever they may be, have no jurisdiction

here. and or you might make a legal argument

concerning the statute of limitations. Jephthah

said, why did you not deliver them within the

last 300 years? You never even tried. For 300

years you never claimed this, and now all of

a sudden you're claiming it? The enemy often

waits until we are weak to bring up claims from

years ago. I'll never forget, I was driving home

from Radio Shack one night. I was not a Christian

at the time. I was very, I was... It was in my

searching period. And I was on the expressway,

I -280, coming south toward the... I don't even

know if the Wales Road exit existed there. I

think I was going to the Woodville Road exit.

I think it was pre that exit existing. And in

my mind, I flashed back to something that I had

said to Sherry. We were not married at the time.

She was pregnant with Alicia. And I was so stricken

with how stupid I was, how mean I had been, how

worthless I was in that moment. And I was like

a post -traumatic stress disorder vision, right?

I'm a flashback. And just then my car hit a patch

of black ice. And I, for the first... half a

second of my car spinning out of control at 65

miles, 60 mile an hour. I was probably speeding.

It was 55 there, but I'm pretty sure I was speeding

60, 65. And my car started to spin out of control.

And for the first half a second, I did not respond.

I didn't do anything. I didn't turn the wheel.

I don't think I realized I was so back in the

moment of how stupid and ignorant and mean I

had been to say what I had said that I did not

even begin to respond. And in a snap, in a flash,

In an instant, I realized my car is spinning

out of control. And I began to try to steer into

the skid. And my car went around and it bounced

off the concrete in the middle there, the divider.

And then it went around the other way and it

bounced off the concrete again. And then finally

skidded to a stop or slid to a stop on the side

of the road. And the front bumper from that time

on, I owned that car. The front bumper was always

pushed to the left and the back bumper was always

pushed to the right. And you go down the road,

it looked like you were going sideways the whole

time like a crab, right? I could have died. I

was literally on the pathway. I was not wearing

my seatbelt. I could have died. Because in that

moment, I was wrapped up in the worthless, stupid

thing that I had said. The enemy loves to bring

it up at the moment that it will cause you the

most damage. The moment that you feel called

to go and do something for the Lord. God wants

you to clean, to work, to serve, to give, to

pay. To become a member, to be baptized, to be

witnessing, to share the gospel, to whatever.

God calls you to do something and you start to

move to go to do it. And right then, God, the

enemy wants to throw up something that will stop

you. And you say back to him, my identity in

Christ was established before time began. It

wasn't just when I prayed to accept Jesus. You

say, why do you now come at me with accusations?

By failing to successfully contest my ownership

when I was created in my mother's womb and at

the altar when I gave my life to Christ and every

time I ever prayed and saw God do miracles and

every time I ever cried out in anguish and God

comforted me. By failing then, you've lost all

rights here. I stand on the ancient landmark

of God's eternal election. And then make that

final appeal of Jephthah. He said, let the Lord

judge and decide this dispute. And you do the

same. Because we are the elect, Scripture promises

that no weapon forged against you will prevail

and you will refute every tongue that accuses

you, Isaiah 54. This is our heritage as servants

of the Lord. Now, I understand it's fully possible

that you may be sitting in this room not actually

a Christian, not actually having surrendered

your life to the Lord. You cried out, Lord, Lord.

You said words, but it didn't do anything. You

didn't actually mean it. You didn't submit your

life. Or not actually dedicating yourself to

following the Lord, in which case then maybe

your heritage as servants of the Lord is something

different. It's a one foot in both worlds mentality.

But in reality, if you are a follower of the

Lord Jesus Christ, you've become part of a family

that holds all the power, all the resources,

all the success, all the victory, all of eternity.

God is still on the throne. And if you are God's

child, you will inherit everything that God has

for you. In time when Arden was still young,

we went out in the side yard and tried to fly

a kite. We couldn't get the kite to go up in

the air. The wind was blowing pretty decent,

but it was kind of gusty, not steady, and we

couldn't get it to go up in the air. And so we

took it out into an open field that was two fields

over. Not our field. We didn't own the field.

Two fields over, and we tried to get the kite

to fly. Do you remember this by any chance? Yeah,

it was a long time ago. So we're out there trying

to get this kite to fly. It'd go up, and it'd

fall back down. Basically, what we were looking

for was this. a long strand of wind because you

get it up there then even after that if it's

kind of gusty back it'll still stay up because

it'll start to drop and then the wind will push

it up again but we just couldn't get the kite

to fly up into the sky with consistent wind so

we were trying to find bigger open area right

so this guy comes out and he says um what are

you doing i mean like I don't think there's really

an answer to that question because here we are

standing in the field running back and forth

with a kite. I'm all sweaty. The kite's been

up and down and up and down. He walked a quarter

mile practically to get out there to talk to

us. He clearly saw us trying to fly the kite.

So I took him to mean that we were not allowed

to be trying to fly the kite there because he

said, what are you doing? And I said, we're trying

to fly a kite. And he said, well, this is not

your land. And I said, yes, that's true. It belongs

to, and it wasn't his land either. Right? But

it belonged to a guy. And I knew the guy. And

I didn't think the guy would actually have a

problem with us being on his property. Otherwise,

I wouldn't have been there. And he said, you

can't be out here trying to fly this kite because

this is my son's land. And I said, well, I know

him. And I named him. And I said, and I don't

think he would have a problem. But if you think

he would, we'll quit. It's fine. I said, but

I also want to say to you that we're not causing

any harm on this land today. And I think ultimately

this land belongs to God. Not to you, not to

your son, and not to me. It actually belongs

to God. And I think God would not mind if we

were out here, especially because we're not hurting

anything. And he got tears in his eyes. And he

says, well, I think if you want to really fly

the kite, you should probably take it to a park

because even here you're not getting enough air.

And I said, yeah, we're figuring that out too.

And he walked back to his house. We walked back

to our house. We did not go and fly the kite

because we were short on time for some reason.

I don't remember what it was. Now I had five

more conversations with that man after that.

That man had served in World War II, and during

World War II he had given his life to Christ.

And for the decades following, he had not lived

for the Lord. But in the five conversations that

we had after, he came over, I was using my burning

can. He came over while I was raking leaves.

He came over and gave us tomatoes from his son's

garden, which I thought that was super comical

actually. He didn't ask his son. He just thought

his son would want us to have the tomatoes. Pretty

funny. But anyway, in those five conversations,

he drew close to God and began, he went back,

back to church. And like, not our church, but

back to his son's church. You see? This is our

heritage as servants of the Lord. Look around.

You see those clouds? Those are your clouds.

You see that sun and the stars? If you're a follower

of the Lord Jesus Christ, that belongs to you.

Now, it's messed up right now, but eventually

it's going to be awesome. It's going to be better

than anything that we've seen. And it's ours.

The Jephthah pattern is a universal spiritual

language defense. Whenever the evader is an external

enemy or an internal struggle, or you're not

even sure who or what it is, the three arguments

of history, authority, and either statute of

limitations or jurisdiction, they still work.

And they always will. I'm going to give you one

example. We're in the closing now. I'm going

to apply this to a new set of variables, such

as maybe like anxiety or mental oppression or

financial lack or broken relationships. Say the

situation is you're facing a spirit of fear or

a season of lack that claims you will never have

enough or never be safe. Anybody ever have that?

Sounds like really common, right? Jephthah pointed

to the specific moment the land became Israel's,

the defeat of Sihon. The Christian points to

the resurrection. The summary is this. Fear,

you claim, I am a victim of my circumstances.

But the historical record of the empty tomb proves

that death and lack were defeated. Since I am

in Christ, I have inherited his victory. You

are trying to occupy a territory that was legally

transferred to the kingdom of light 2 ,000 years

ago. I hold the title deed of peace. See how

that argument works? Or a theological argument.

The world's system Culture, peer pressure, or

debt tells you that you must bow to its rules

to survive. Jephthah asked why the Ammonites

didn't just stay in the land their god, Chemosh,

gave them. He established that Yahweh's jurisdiction

is where he stands. Our summary, the world system,

you have your own territory. So people like want

to do things on Facebook, there's plenty of room

for them to do that. They want to go have sex

outside marriage behind closed doors, they can

do that wherever. They want to go talk a certain

way, use a lot of cuss words, take the Lord's

name. There's place for that in the world. But

it's not here. It's not with me. Because I belong

to the Lord. My life is governed by the law of

the spirit of life, Romans 8 .2. Since I seek

first the kingdom, Matthew 6 .33, I am under

the provision and protection of heaven. You have

no legal right to impose your laws of stress.

and compromise on a citizen of the New Jerusalem,

I answer to a higher court. You see how that

works? These are actual, legal, diplomatic arguments

that hold. Lastly, self -accusation or a spirit

of shame brings up a mistake from 10 years ago

to argue why you don't deserve God's blessings

today. Jephthah asked why they waited 300 years

to complain. If it was really their land, they

should have spoken up centuries ago. And you

say, shame, you're bringing up a debt from a

decade ago, but I've been walking with God, honoring

him and being cleansed by the blood daily. Why

did you wait until I was stepping into a new

calling or something big was happening in my

life? Why would you wait until then? By God's

law of justification, that debt was canceled

the moment I confessed it to the Lord. Your silence

for all these years proves you have no claim.

Case dismissed. There comes sermons a lot of

times where we ask ourselves, what's our part?

What are we supposed to do? And the answer is

simply, honor your foundation. I will honor,

obey my parents, recognize that God uses my roots

to stabilize my future. I will value the treasure.

I will joyfully trade worldly distractions for

the hidden treasure of Christ's presence. And

I will appeal to the judge. When I am wronged,

I will not seek vengeance. I will present my

case to God and trust Him to intervene on my

behalf. At 1 .27, those of you who are in the

texting group are going to get a text that has

the three -part summary. for these arguments.

How do you use it? The motion of history, the

motion of jurisdiction, and the motion of possession.

How do you use it to win when you're facing those

difficulties? And on the back side, you're going

to get that summary about four minutes later.

You're going to get a text, if you're getting

texts, that's going to have that summary of what

we do day in and day out. And you can just say

it this way if you want. I'm going to be found

faithful to God. And when somebody comes against

me, I'm going to leave that in God's hands. And

then I'm going to make an appeal to God that

I may be found faithful in sharing the gospel

and continue after I suffer whatever I'm going

to suffer. You could do it that way if you want.

But I submit to you that Jephthah gives us a

little bit more detailed pattern, steps you can

take, how you know that you can be vindicated

in the court of the spiritual realm. You can

make an argument and know for certain. That you

have submitted your life into the hands of Jesus

and Jesus will decide in your favor. Now you

say, well, if I'm doing wrong, I'll still suffer

the wrath of God. I'll still struggle. I won't

lose my salvation, but I'll still struggle, right?

And that's true. It's true. You will. And then

the beauty of that is those who God uses to punish

you will then be punished themselves because

you are the apple of his eye. You see? God is

not going to desert you. He's not going to leave

you. He's going to fulfill His promises. He will

bring to a conclusion in you that which He has

begun in you. If indeed He has begun it. Are

you here today and you can say that I know that

Jesus Christ is Lord? He tells me what to do

and I do it. Yes, I get it wrong sometimes, but

I know He is Lord. And He is Savior. He has paid

the price for my sins. My debts were nailed to

a cross almost 2 ,000 years ago. And by virtue

of that, I will spend eternity in heaven with

God. Can you say that and know that's true? Because

if it is, then everything that you see, including

the enemies that come against you, have been

given over and will be given over eternally into

your possession. You will not lose. Now, if that

is true, why not make the argument? Why not start

with diplomacy? Someone comes against you, start

with... I'm a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I just want you to understand right now that

I'm praying to God for you. I'm asking God that

you would be saved. I'm asking God that He would

intervene in your life. And then you beg God

to make you bold. And when you face anxiety,

temptations, distractions, whatever, just say,

no, those things have no power over me because

my case was decided almost 2 ,000 years ago on

the cross. Do you need to cut some things out

of your life in order for these things to be

true? Maybe. Repent. Turn to the Lord. Do you

need to add some things in that God would call

you to? Maybe. If so, repent. Turn to the Lord.

Prepare yourself. Because the attacks won't stop

coming. But by understanding Jephthah's logic,

we learn that we don't have to feel strong to

be protected. We simply have to know our rights

as children of God and claim them as members

of the kingdom. That's what I'm asking you to

begin to do today, tomorrow, and for the rest

of your life. I ask the praise team to come forward

and lead us in our final song. If you're here

today and... You're giving your life to Jesus

Christ and following him for the first time ever.

Then as we sing this song, you come and say,

that's me. I want to follow Jesus. You're here

today and say, I'm already a follower of Jesus.

I know something that God wants me to do or not

do. I've been trying, but I've not been claiming

my position. I've not been claiming my right

to the child of God. I've not been claiming the

victory. And I intend to do that. Beginning today,

then you come. However else the Lord might be

speaking to you. Whatever he's calling you to

do. If you need to say, that's me, I'm going

to be back, then you say that to the Lord in

your heart, and then if he needs it too, you

come up here and you say it to us. Would you

stand with me and sing this song? As we sing,

if the Lord is urging you to respond, you respond.