The Sword Goes In… | Sunday, February 18, 2024

God always answers prayer. Sometimes He says no, and in time, you learn to thank God for those no's. At other times, He says wait, which is really hard for me because I'm a pretty impatient person. Then there are times when He says go. We just need to learn to wait upon Him, which is not easy. You can pray for me as I seek to constantly wait upon the Lord.

One more thing before we get into the Scriptures: as I've been sharing for several weeks, we need your help. Garrett talked about it in the announcements this morning. Beginning March 31st, which is Easter, we are planning to have three services here on Sunday morning. We will have a really early service for our early risers at 7:30 AM, followed by services at 9:00 and 11:00 AM. However, we need your help to be a part of the teams that will welcome people.

Why are we doing this? What is the point? As you can see, there are seats here in the sanctuary during the second service, but it is crowded. We have new people who come every single week, and God is continuing to bring new people here to the church. We rejoice in what He is doing. We desperately need God to do a work here in San Diego County, and we believe that we are a part of that work at Cross Connection Church. There are other churches and pastors in this area who are also seeking to do that. Those churches are growing too, and we praise God for what He is doing.

We have a community that needs to be reached. Within ten miles of this building, there are about a million people, many of whom are not connected to Christ. We want to see them come to know the Lord. One of the ways we do that is through what we do here on Sunday mornings, so we need your help to fill the service positions. If you look in your bulletin, there is a card that says "Become an Essential Worker." How many of you remember the essential worker thing? We need you to plug in and be a part of our essential teams here at the church.

What happens here on a Sunday morning is not just me and the pastors; we have so many people serving in different areas, and we need your help with this. I believe that God wants us to reach our community. More and more every single week, I am convinced that the absolute best thing for our families and our kids is for them to grow up in a strong church. Now, I’m a little biased; I think this is a good church, and I’m pretty sure of that. We want to reach our community, and the kids in our community are desperately in need of this.

We are in need of the good news of the gospel, and we need your help in the children's ministry in all kinds of different ways. I think everybody here knows and recognizes that there is an assault on the family and on kids in our culture. This was really driven home last night. I have been seeing some advertisements on social media for a documentary that has come out called "The War on Children." Elon Musk, who I follow on Twitter, posted it for free last night on his Twitter account. You can watch "The War on Children" documentary for free; it's two and a quarter hours long, and it's incredibly depressing.

What it does is show you just what is actually happening. You can go to CCchurch.com/waronkids; I made a link there that will take you to it. It's free this week on his Twitter account. Don't look now; you can't watch it now, but it will make very clear to you what is happening.

Now, here's the temptation: when you see this, there's the temptation to think that this is some sort of conspiracy, that some cabal of mean people behind closed doors is trying to attack kids. No, it's just demonic. That's what it is. The enemy is seeking to destroy; that's what he does. He seeks to steal, kill, and destroy, and that is exactly what is going on in our culture.

One of the challenges in seeing some of this stuff is that we immediately assume that the answers to this are legislative or political. I'm not convinced that's the case. Now, that's not to say that legislation and politics are not important; I think they are. I want to show you something that a friend of mine, Dr. Andrew Walker, put together. You can go to CCchurch.com/goov; I made another link for this. He put out a document a couple of weeks ago. He's a friend of mine from Kentucky, and this is a PDF document that talks about how Christians should be involved and engaged politically in the world. What has God called us to? It's a great document, and you can get it for free if you go to that website.

I do have hope when I look at the things that are happening in our culture. I have hope because our God is good, and He is still on the throne. If you consider history and look at what has happened in times past, God does work even in dark times. You don't even have to look that far back in history; this church is the product of a move that God made here in Southern.

In California during the 1960s and 1970s, there was a movie that Greg Laurie put out last year about the Jesus People, and this church came out of that event. Some of you became Christians because of that. At that time, you were hippies; you're no longer that, but praise God!

I have hope because God moves in difficult and dark times. Our ultimate hope is in God, who has chosen to use His church to reach a dark and distasteful world, to be salt and light to a world that is in desperate need. A lot of people think that California is hopeless and unredeemable. We all have friends, neighbors, and people who used to be a part of this church who left the state because they think it's just hopeless and unredeemable. I don't think that is the case. I'm not planning on leaving; I hope to stay here for a long time, and I hope that we can see God move in a big way.

I do travel quite a bit, and I have found on a number of occasions recently, as I travel, that I will have conversations with different pastors and Christian leaders in other states. They often say to me, "Are there any Christians in California?" When I introduce myself, I say, "I'm Miles; I pastor a church in North San Diego County in California." Without fail, multiple people respond with surprise.

I love to respond by telling them, "You do realize there are 40 million people in California? It is the fifth largest economy in the world." This means there are a lot of Christians in this state. I enjoy telling my friends when I meet them in places like Kentucky or Tennessee, or those serving in Mississippi or Alabama, that there are more Christians in California than there are people in your state. God moved in a mighty way here in Southern California in the last part of the last century, and it had major implications for the world. That can happen again, and I want to encourage you that it can happen.

Again, one of the difficulties in that whole conversation I have with people when they ask, "Are there any Christians in California?" is that I respond, "Well, there are more Christians in California than there are people in most states in America." Many times, we misjudge the size or the greatness of things, and it's easy for us to do because we have a perspective problem.

I have a picture to illustrate this. Looking at it, one Lego figure seems bigger than the other, although in the next picture, they are the same size. Why is that? It's a perspective issue. This is a problem when we come to the Bible as well; we have a perspective problem. We are going to see this as we study through the Book of Judges. I already sense that it's happening as I talk with some people about us going through the Book of Judges.

When we talk about the nation of Israel, the people of Israel, and the Book of Judges from 3,400 years ago, we often look at the nation of Israel through our 21st-century American conception of a nation. What do I mean? We live in a nation of 340 million people, so when we hear "nation" and we hear of a judge who delivers the nation of Israel, we think on the scale of 340 million people.

However, when we really take a look at what we understand about the nation of Israel in the 14th century BC, which is the time period of the Book of Judges, the nation of Israel was probably less in population than the county of San Diego. There are 3.4 million people who live in San Diego County, and there were probably somewhere around that population or less who were the children of Israel living in a land mass that's just about double the size of San Diego County.

So, about the population of this county living in a place twice the size of this county is what we find when we come to the Book of Judges. What's the point of this? Why is this even important to consider? It's important to recognize that the judges that God used to deliver the nation of Israel were operating in a context that is vastly different from our own. When we hear "nation," we think of a huge expanse of 340 million people, imposing our understanding on something that happened 3,400 years ago.

Judges delivered the nation of Israel. We think of a huge, extraordinary spiritual man or woman of God, but in reality, what we have are localized problems and ordinary, average individuals that God used to bring about deliverance for the people of God in that area. At the time of the judges, 3,400 years ago, the nation of Israel was a relatively small, regional, tribal people. They were divided into counties, if you will; they had the county of Judah and the county of Benjamin. We call them tribes, and these individuals would be invaded by people who were in and around them, and then they would be delivered by a judge.

The judges were not extraordinary standout rulers or leaders; they were ordinary people dealing with local problems. Why is this important? For this observation, point number one, if you're taking notes: the Scriptures teach us the value of personal responsibility. Here’s a new word that you may not know: subsidiarity. Personal responsibility and subsidiarity are important concepts, and as we go into the Book of Judges and start to talk about the actual rulers that God raised up—men and women who God raised up to deliver Israel—this will be important for us to understand.

Personal responsibility is something we kind of understand. Many of you are parents, and you know that when you have your children at home, you want to teach them personal responsibility from a young age. My wife and I, from the time our kids were very small, agreed that we were not raising children; we were raising adults. We wanted to teach them personal responsibility, which meant teaching them how to put their toys away, to put their dirty clothes into the hamper, to make their beds in the morning, and to brush their teeth—all without us constantly nagging them. We were trying to instill in them a sense of personal responsibility.

They have gotten a little bit older now, and we are still trying to teach them this important value. Why? Because we are raising adults, and we want them to be responsible individuals in the world that God is going to call them to lead one day.

Now, this idea of subsidiarity is something that we may not necessarily understand, although it is connected to concepts we do understand. The word subsidiarity is something that philosophers and theologians within the Roman Catholic Church have discussed for a very long time. However, the concept shows up in Protestant teaching as well, though not always connected to the word subsidiarity. It does appear in our discussions.

Founding documents of our country emphasize the idea of "for the people, by the people." The Ninth and Tenth Amendments of the Constitution in the Bill of Rights discuss this concept, stating that the federal government, according to the Constitution, is to have ascribed powers. Anything that is not enumerated or given to them as ascribed powers is handed down to the people at the local level. This principle is known as subsidiarity.

Subsidiarity is the concept that individuals are meant to rule and guide their own lives. It suggests that social decisions should be made locally first, starting in the home and then extending to the family and community, and finally within the neighborhood. This local approach is foundational.

From this idea also emerges a very Protestant teaching known as the doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate. This doctrine asserts that lower officials are to restrain higher officials. These two concepts—subsidiarity and the doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate—work in tandem.

We see these principles rooted in the Book of Deuteronomy, which is frequently cited by our founding fathers. The ideas of subsidiarity and local governance are derived from what we find in the Scriptures.

Why does this matter? As we consider the nation of Israel during the 14th century BC, we observe their slide into idolatry and immorality. This decline leads to crises and chaos, resulting in oppression from their enemies. When they cry out to God, He delivers them through a judge. It is crucial to remember that the crises faced by the children of Israel were regional and local issues. The deliverers that God raises up are often average and ordinary people.

This is key for us because one of our significant problems is that we tend to view all problems as big problems. We perceive these large issues through our own smallness and often feel powerless to effect change.

That’s going to be the temptation if you watch this documentary. Last night, as I watched the two-and-a-half-hour-long documentary, there were times when I thought, "What on Earth are we supposed to do about this?" In the last 15 minutes of it, I found myself hoping that they would say, "Hey, this is what we should do." I hate to break it to you, but they’re not going to say that because they’re not exactly offering answers. They’re saying, "Hey, there’s a big problem," but in reality, our big problem is that we think these problems are way too big. In reality, there are a lot of little problems in local areas that need to be dealt with by people—people who know the truth, seek to live according to the truth, and understand the principles of truth, goodness, and beauty as objective.

They understand that morality is real, and lives that do not live in accordance with morality but instead give themselves over to immorality and idolatry, serving things that are immoral, will bring chaos. If you’re a Christian today, you’re going to be able to have some sort of impact to do something about this. One of the things that I emphasized greatly for a number of years was when I taught a class at a local Bible college up the road. I taught a class on church leadership, organizational leadership, and church planting. One of the points I would teach every time was this: responsibility flows to those who show up, and authority falls to those who take responsibility.

I can’t even begin to express how important this concept is to me. This is key to my philosophy of leadership, life, and ministry. Responsibility flows to those who show up. We think that responsibility goes to those who are qualified, trained, and have unique giftings, abilities, and talents. No, responsibility flows to those who show up, and then authority falls to those who simply take responsibility. What we discover, I think, when we look at the Book of Judges, is that there are a few standout people who stand out because they showed up. That’s about it. What we’re going to discover is that they had all kinds of problems. I just have to mention one name to point this out: Samson. He had all kinds of problems.

We'll see him in about 10 to 15 weeks or so. It will be a while. Responsibility flows to those who show up, and authority falls to those who take responsibility. The challenge is, and we'll see this in the Book of Judges, that when we see issues and problems that need to be solved within the family, on our street, in our neighborhood, in our community, in our region, our county, our state, or the nation, or even the world, these problems seem so massive to us.

However, most big problems are actually local problems that need to be dealt with at the local level. We live in a mass media and social media age that takes local problems from other places and amplifies them to the point where we think they are big, insurmountable problems. We all know this because we've all experienced it. For instance, we had some rains a couple of weeks ago, and there was some flooding in Mission Valley. There's always flooding in Mission Valley; you can get just an afternoon of sprinkling, and there's flooding.

How many of you have ever received a call from a family member who lives out of state, asking if you are okay because they saw on the news that there was flooding? You might respond, "Well, that's kind of far from me." But what happens in the mass media and social media age we live in is that small local problems are amplified to the point where we perceive them as devastating crises affecting all of us.

Most of these issues can be dealt with at the local level through subsidiarity. Many things that people get freaked out about in our culture can actually be handled by one or two people just taking responsibility and taking care of it. One of the key things that I hope we come away with as we study through the Book of Judges this year is a renewed awareness that you must take responsibility where you are. Use the gifts, talents, abilities, and experiences that God has given you to accomplish His purpose for such a time as this.

In many ways, American Christians have become apathetic and indifferent to the issues that are right in front of them. We will see this very clearly as we get into the Judges. So, you can open your Bibles. If you don't have one, you can raise your hand, and one of the...

Ushers will bring you to Judges chapter 3, which is the seventh book of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges. As we get to Judges chapter 3 this morning, we are introduced to the first judge, who some commentators say is the ideal judge. Although we already know his name because we've considered him previously in Judges and in Joshua, we won't spend a lot of time on him. However, there are some things we learn about the Book of Judges from the story in Judges chapter 3, beginning at verse 5, that are helpful for comprehending and understanding the whole text.

Judges 3:5 states, "Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites." They took their daughters to be their wives and gave their daughters to their sons, and they served their gods. Key underline highlight: the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served Baal and Asherah. Therefore, because of this, the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Mesopotamia. The children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim for eight years.

When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord delivered Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, into his hand, and his hand prevailed against Cushan-Rishathaim. So the land had rest for forty years. Then Othniel, the son of Kenaz, died.

We've already talked about Othniel, so we won't spend a lot of time on what happens here in this passage. However, it presents for us the cycle that makes up the seven sections of the Book of Judges, where we see these important judges rise to the surface. The cycle is always the same, and it is very clear here in this passage. It always starts with the idea that we read in verse 7: the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. Each of the seven sections, where we will be introduced to different judges in the book, begins with "the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord." We see it here in verse 7 of chapter 3.

We saw it in Chapter 2:11, and we'll see it again in 3:12, 4:1, 6:1, 10:6, and 13:1. All of these sections begin with, "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord." However, the cycle begins before that and goes through ten different steps.

First, the children of Israel dwell among their enemies. Then, they begin to engage in covenants, contracts, and marriages with their enemies. After that, they are seduced into idolatry by those enemies. This stirs up God's anger against them. God then passively punishes them through their enemies. When they cry out to God, He raises up and empowers a delivering judge. God delivers them, and the people serve Him as long as the judge is alive. Once the judge dies, the cycle starts all over again. The children of Israel do evil in the sight of the Lord.

It is a very simple cycle, but it is such an important one for us to observe, recognize, and understand. Why? Because all these things were recorded for our instruction, even for those of us living at this time, 3,400 years after they did.

The observation here is very simple. Point number three, if you're taking notes: patterns in the past are predictive of the future. I know, mind-blowing! I spent a lot of time thinking about that one. No, not really. You might think that's not very amazing. Well, no, it's not intended to be amazing, but it's true. Patterns in the past are predictive of the future.

We all know this in some way. At a very personal level, we've all done certain things more than a few times, knowing we shouldn't do this. After the effects of it, we think, "I shouldn't have done that," because we knew exactly what would happen. Patterns in the past are predictive of the future.

We know this is true because we live in an ordered and orderly universe. There are certain effects that we can expect from certain causes, and it's always the same thing over and over again. Patterns in the past are predictive of the future.

A few weeks ago, I shared something that is kind of the saying of our day: play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Prizes, patterns in the past are predictive of the future. Idolatry and immorality led to devastation and despair 3,400 years ago. What do you think it will lead to today? You might say, "Well, yeah, I get it. Living in 2024 in the United States of America, there's a lot of immorality, but we don't really have idolatry."

However, watch the documentary or maybe you tuned in to the Super Bowl last week. It's all around us. What are idols? At their most basic and fundamental level, an idol is something that someone devotes themselves to, values, worships, or trusts in that is other than God. You are devoted to, you value, or you trust in something other than God. The children of Israel, 3,400 years ago, served idols and committed immorality, and it led to devastation and destruction. The same thing happens over and over again.

If you sell yourself to idols and immorality, then you will sell yourself into slavery to that thing. It will become the thing that dominates your life. Some of you who have sold yourselves to immoral patterns of addiction in the past know this so well. You remember what it's like to be a slave to that thing that you've presented yourself to.

We could say, "Well, God punishes that person because they've done that." Yes, and the way that He punishes them is by allowing them to be given over to that. Romans chapter 1 talks about the people who have given themselves to idolatry and immorality, and in that passage, three times it says, "God gave them over to it." God allowed them to be given over to that thing. They were given up to uncleanness, they were given over to vile passions, and they were given over to a debased mind.

This is the cycle we see in Judges 3:5-1, and it is the same cycle that we will see a number of times more in the text. In fact, it is the same cycle we will see in the very next section. Right about the time that AAL died, after the children of Israel had experienced 40 years—a couple of generations—of rest from their enemies, AAL died. What do you think happened? Look at verse 12: "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord."

The cycle is going to begin again. The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, against Israel because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. Eglon gathered to himself the people of Ammon and Amalek, and they went and defeated Israel. They took possession of the city of Palms, and the children of Israel served Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years—almost an entire generation.

Eglon, what a name! In the original Hebrew, the name Eglon is a play on words connected to a round cow. If you look down at the end of verse 17, we are told a little editorial note: Eglon was a very fat man. Now you have a picture; it's like Jabba the Hutt. That's what I think of when I picture Eglon, king of Moab. He was a very fat man. This text gives us an indication that whoever it was who penned the Book of Judges—many people believe it was probably Samuel, a later judge who we will meet in the next books—had a little comedic streak. There is some satire and some pretty funny things in this passage. In fact, this passage is one that junior high pastors love. Middle school boys enjoy passages like this because Eglon was a very fat, Jabba the Hutt man, and you can just imagine waiting for Luke Skywalker to show up.

The second thing we see here is that this fat cow from Moab gathered the people of Ammon and Amalek. We have three nations mentioned here: the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Amalekites. If you read the first five books of the Bible, you will already be introduced to these groups. In the Book of Exodus, as the children of Israel were leaving the region of Mount Sinai or leaving Egypt to come to Mount Sinai, they were confronted by the Amalekites. They were the first enemies that came and fought against the children of Israel in Exodus 17. The Book of Deuteronomy tells us what the Amalekites did that was unique. It says that the Amalekites, the children of Israel, were told to remember what...

Amalek attacked you when you came out of Egypt. They came and attacked the edges of the camp of Israel, targeting those who were stragglers, the weak ones. Because of this, many Bible commentators and scholars connect Amalek to the flesh. He is sometimes seen as a type or picture of our flesh that exploits our weak points, attacking the areas at the edges of our lives and taking us captive.

The children of Israel are told by Moses in the book of Deuteronomy to remember what Amalek did to them. When they come into the Promised Land, they are to utterly destroy Amalek. However, they do not follow this command, and we will see that when we get into Samuel. Amalek will continue to be a problem for the children of Israel for a very long time.

First, we have the Amalekites, then we have the Moabites and the Ammonites. The Moabites and the Ammonites are first introduced in Genesis chapter 19 because they are the descendants of a relative of Abraham. Abraham had a nephew named Lot, who lived around the region of Sodom and Gomorrah, not a good place to live—like Sin City, amplified. Ultimately, God came and destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but before He did, He rescued Lot and his two daughters.

After Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, Lot's two daughters seemed to assume that the entire world was destroyed and that they were the only ones left—just they and their dad. They concocted the idea that it relied upon them to repopulate the world, and all they had was their father. So, they got him drunk and had an incestuous relationship with him. The product of this relationship was Ammon and Moab.

You can already see the picture developing here: wickedness, evil, debauchery, and immorality in the flesh in Moab, Ammon, and Amalek. They come and fight against the children of Israel. When they fight against the children of Israel, they defeat them and take possession of the city of Palms, which is the city of Jericho.

The nation of Israel is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the Jordan River to the east. Sometimes you even hear in our culture today the phrase "from the river to the sea." This situation was relevant 3,400 years ago, and it still resonates today.

The east side of the Jordan River is where the Amalekites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites lived. Because of Israel's sinful idolatry and immorality, the easterners came into the land, began to destroy, and conquered. They took the city of Jericho, which, if you remember in Joshua, was the first city that the children of Israel had taken and consecrated to God. This reminds us that some of those places we think are points of victory for us or secure, often those are the things we guard the least. Let him who thinks he stands take heed when he thinks he falls.

The Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Amalekites came and took the city of Palms, Jericho, and Israel served the fat cows of Moab for nearly a generation. In verse 15, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. By him, the children of Israel sent a tribute to Eglon, the king of Moab.

Ehud made for himself a dagger, which was double-edged and a cubit in length. He fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh, many scholars think on the inside of his right thigh. He brought the tribute to Eglon, king of Moab. Eglon was a very fat man, and when he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute with him. However, he himself turned back from the stone images that were at Gilgal and said to Eglon, "I have a secret message for you, O King." Eglon said, "Keep silence!" So all who attended him went out from him.

You can't help but feel what's coming here, can you? Like I said, middle school boys love this passage of Scripture. The first thing to note here, though, is in verse 15: "But when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord." That word "but"—maybe circle it in your Bible—causes me to wonder: Would God have delivered sooner if Israel had cried sooner? Perhaps we can't know, although I kind of think I know. I think that our deliverance is often delayed because...

We dither and delay, caught in self-loathing and defeat, and you wonder, why do we wait? Sometimes it's pride. Other times, we wait because of self-pity, embarrassment, or shame. We may feel we lack the ability or power to change our situation, or we might think we deserve what is happening to us. I don't know exactly what it is, but I shared a verse last week from Isaiah 30, where it says God waits to be gracious to you. It’s as if the Lord is just waiting for us to come to Him; He is compassionate to those who turn to Him.

In this passage, the children of Israel turn to God, but it doesn't necessarily say that they repent. They simply cry out to God because things are difficult. This is a natural impulse for humans, as God made us to search for Him. When things are going badly, we cry out to God. Yet, there are times when we wait and delay.

The Lord raised up a deliverer: Ehud, a left-handed man from the Tribe of Benjamin. There is an interesting play on words here because the name Benjamin means "son of my right hand," yet he was a left-handed man from the tribe called the son of my right hand. Bible commentators and scholars have long debated the meaning of this left-handed man.

One way to look at the text through our 21st-century eyes is to think that left-handed simply means left-handed. There is a minority of left-handed people in this room and throughout the world, but that is probably not the intended meaning. Some scholars suggest that he may have had a disability or an injury to his right hand, which forced him to use his left hand. However, this interpretation likely would have tipped off the people from Moab, making them inspect him differently when he came to see the king.

What is likely meant by this is that, in ancient times, even among the children of Israel, there were certain warriors trained to be strong with their left hand. This training enabled them to excel in battle in specific ways. In fact, we will see later in Chronicles that there was a group of warriors from Israel who were better with the sling in their left hand than many other warriors were with their right hand. It’s reminiscent of The Princess Bride, where one character could fight with his left hand.

He was not left-handed, but there is something about this individual that sets him apart—something that uniquely suits him for an opportunity. I am convinced that this is true for us as it is for him.

Point number four, if you're taking notes: God has uniquely enabled you to be effective for His exploits. I know that a lot of you don't believe that, but it is true nonetheless. You see, a lot of times we look around at the people around us and say, "Oh, I can see how that person over there is suited for great things," or "I can see that that person has a mind, or they've got an ability, or they've got some unique talent." We think they are the ones that God is going to use, and we immediately look at ourselves and say, "Well, I could never."

However, I am convinced that the more I get to know God, His Word, and the people of God, the more I realize that every single one of you has been gifted, enabled, and empowered by God in unique ways that are not the same as the ways He has gifted and called me. He has placed each of us into His body for a specific purpose and task that He has for us. He has uniquely enabled you to be effective for His exploits.

God raises up people at certain points and in certain places to accomplish His purposes as He enables and empowers them to be effective. The key here is not your inability or ability; it is God's power working in and through you. The Lord raised up this judge, and the Lord empowered this judge. He raises you and me up and empowers us as well to do great things. It has been said that one with God is a majority.

Have you ever thought or wondered why you were born in this place or at this time? I certainly have. I believe that God placed you and me in this place and at this time for a purpose. The judges were ordinary people, but God placed them and empowered them to endeavor to accomplish great exploits for His purpose and plan. You may not recognize at the beginning what the specific gifting or enabling that God has given you is, but it is there.

You may not even fully see the task that God has set before you, but it's still there, and He has something for you to do. This is illustrated in the early life of Jeremiah. If you read about the Prophet Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 1:5, God says, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I sanctified you; I ordained you to be a prophet to the peoples."

We look at that and say, "Well, that's Jeremiah. He was a prophet; God wanted to use him. He couldn't possibly use me." Well, now you sound like Jeremiah because after God said that to him, Jeremiah replied, "Lord God, behold, I can't speak; I'm nothing." We all feel that way when the Lord says, "Come, I have something for you to do."

Ehud made for himself a dagger; it was a two-edged sword about a cubit, or 18 inches, in length, and he fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. He had a two-edged sword, and for the Bible nerds in here who know the New Testament, Hebrews 4:12 says, "The word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword." So there's a connection here that is important. He hid it in a place that he hoped they would not look, and they did not look because they were a bunch of fat numbskulls.

Now, they still dominated the children of Israel for 18 years, so they weren't completely deficient, but they didn't think to look and fully inspect this guy who was coming in to see their king. Ehud risked everything because if they had caught him, they would have executed him on the spot and probably killed his family as well.

He brought a tribute to Eglon, King of Moab. Now, Eglon was a very fat man. What do you think you bring as a gift to a very fat man? Absolutely, some good Jewish falafel for sure. When he had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people, but he himself turned back and said, "I have a secret message for you, O King." The king, kind of cleaning off his fingers, replied, "Oh, I can't wait to hear the special message. Bring it."

He put out everybody, and verse 20 tells us that Ehud came to him while he was sitting in the upstairs of his cool private chamber, probably a rooftop patio, which was the norm at that time and in many places throughout the Middle East today. He was seated in his private chamber on the rooftop of his palace.

In the city of Jericho, Eglon arose from his seat when Ehud said, "I have a message from God for you." Ehud reached with his left hand and took the dagger from his right thigh. He thrust it into Eglon's belly, and the blade went in to the hilt. The fat closed around the blade, and he did not draw the dagger out of his belly. The entrails came out. The middle schoolers love it; the King James Version says that the sword went in and the dirt came out. It's gross, but it illustrates a point.

Afterward, Ehud went out through the porch, shut the doors of the upper room behind him, and locked them. I don't want to over-spiritualize or over-analyze the text, but remember, the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. When the Word goes in, the dirt comes out. It has a cleansing and purifying work. That's a new word I like: "cleansy."

When he had gone out, Eglon's servants came to look upon their king. To their surprise, the doors of the upper room were locked. They said, "Oh, he's probably attending to his needs in the cool of the chamber." They thought it was kind of stinky, so they decided to give him some peace. They waited until they were embarrassed. After a long time, they thought, "Man, this is taking a while. We should maybe go check on him." But still, he had not opened the doors of the upper room. Therefore, they took the key and opened them, only to find their master fallen dead on the floor—a big, stinky mess.

Meanwhile, Ehud had escaped while they delayed. He passed beyond the stone images and escaped to Seraiah. When he arrived, he blew the trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mountains. He led them, saying, "Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hand."

They went down after him and seized the fords, the crossing points of the Jordan River, where the Moabites, Ammonites, and Amalekites would have gone back to their homeland. They did not allow anyone to cross over, and at that time, they killed about 10,000 men of Moab—all stout men, which likely means fat men of valor. Not a man escaped, and so Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel.

The land had rest for eighty years.

Point number five: Do not underestimate what can be accomplished when you show up. I was in my teens, around fourteen or fifteen years old, when I heard the invitation here at this church. I grew up in this church, and I heard the invitation to show up, to show up and help out. I did. I showed up and I helped out.

One of the things I used to do as a fourteen or fifteen-year-old kid here at the church was fold bulletins. Now we have a machine that does that. You've seen that sign: "Hey, you might have a job that robots will do in the future." Well, I did fold bulletins, and I thought, "I can't do much; I'm fourteen or fifteen years old." But I could fold a bulletin; that was no problem.

It did not take long, from the time I was fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen, until I was nineteen, serving at the church. In a very short period of time, as I showed up, responsibility fell to those who show up, and authority flowed to those who took responsibility. The next thing I knew, as a nineteen or twenty-year-old kid at the church, people would come in and ask questions about something, and they would say, "Oh, go talk to Miles; that's his responsibility."

People who were twice my age would come and ask me what to do. I would wonder why they came to talk to me, and they would say, "It's your responsibility." I would think, "How did that happen?" Responsibility flows to those who show up, and authority falls to those who take responsibility.

An amazing thing happens when you're in that position where you show up and feel uncertain about what to do. You really rely upon God. Here’s the awesome thing: when you stand up and show up, God shows up. He enables and empowers you by His Spirit to do great exploits that you and I could never do on our own.

Then, the amazing thing happens: God begins to open new doors for you into things that make you wonder, "How on earth did I end up in this place doing this thing?" I guarantee if you talk to Larry—and I encourage you to do so—he probably has hundreds of stories like that.

The exact thing happened because he was nothing more than a teenager who started serving the Lord one day. The next thing you know, you're in other countries serving the Lord and sharing the Gospel with people. You might wonder, "How did I get here?" and then realize, "I have no idea." But God says, "I have great things that I want to do through you." It doesn't matter how old or how young you are; He wants to use you for His kingdom.

If you want to see a transformation and a change in you, in your family, in your extended family, in your neighborhood, in your business, on your school campus, or at your construction site, it starts right there with you—in that small thing, in that small place. When you say, like Isaiah, "Here am I, send me," you may not know what you're going to do or how you're going to do it. However, the eyes of the Lord look to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself mighty on behalf of those who simply say, "I could try."

Would you take this out of your bulletin for a moment? This is crowd participation, and I know I'm going over time—it's like executive privilege. Would you hold it up? I want to see that you have this. Okay, hold it up. What's on the front of here? Plug this thing right here. Most of you have one of these; it's pretty powerful. It does a lot of amazing and dumb things, but a lot of amazing things—phenomenal things.

Guess what? It's completely and totally useless if it's never plugged in. That's the same for every device that you have at home that takes power. It has amazing things that it can do, but it is completely and totally useless until you plug it into a source of power. Then it accomplishes amazing things.

You are like that device—totally useless but with phenomenal potential power. As you plug into God and His body, the Church, and you serve, God will do great exploits. It may seem like something incredibly simple, like doing something machines do now, folding a bulletin, or handing out a doughnut.

Worry we will never get a machine that hands out donuts; we're always going to use people. But we sure need you. If you want to see a transformation in yourself and in your culture, we need God to work through His church, and it starts in very simple ways. He who is faithful in the little things, God gives to them greater responsibility and opportunity.

We need your help because we are in a desperate time. Eglon looks like a little chicken, but he was a big fat man in comparison to the problems. However, they are local problems, and they are things that God has gifted and called each of us to be involved with. Would to God that we would stand up and show up and see God show up powerfully in and through us.

The answer to the questions and the solution to the problems that we are facing in our culture are not political; they are not economic; they are spiritual. We need people filled with the Spirit of God to address those things, and it starts in the most simple and small ways as you begin to serve.

I am going to continue to challenge you with this for many weeks because we need your help. Would you stand with me as we close in prayer?

God, thank You for Your Word. It is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It cuts deep and exposes the thoughts and intents of my heart, but it also cleanses us. Would You purify and cleanse us, renew our minds, and transform us? Help us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by Your Word and by Your Spirit at work in us so that we shine brightly in a dark world.

It seems so dark at this moment in time. God, do a work in us, we pray. We ask this today in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." Amen.