Love Worth Finding

Guest (Male): Listen closely as Adrian Rogers reveals the importance of a man who keeps his word.

Adrian Rogers: Here was a man, a man of strength, a man of steel, a man who refused to be shackled by the past, a man who refused to be bound by his enemies, but a man who was bound by his word. Now, if there's anything that the men of this generation need to learn, it is to keep your word.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the timeless teaching of pastor and author Adrian Rogers. There's a great and present need for men of character, integrity, and strength. Judges chapter 11 tells the story of Jephthah, a mighty man of valor. In part one of today's message, we learned that he was a man of character in the face of difficulty. Jephthah's undesirable origins meant he did not have any sort of upper hand in life. Yet, he rose to the occasion. He also showed confidence in the face of danger as commander of the Israelite army. Before the battle ever began, Jephthah prayed to the Lord and asked for strength.

If you have your Bible, turn to Judges chapter 11 as Adrian Rogers shares more about becoming men of strength.

Adrian Rogers: America is in trouble because America's homes are in trouble. And America's homes are in trouble because men have failed to be the men of God that they ought to be. We're going to study about a man today who was a real man, and he was a man of faith. His name was Jephthah. Now, most of us have not heard of Jephthah, but God has heard of him. And when God wrote in Hebrews chapter 11 of the great heroes of the faith, he listed this man's name in verse 32. Didn't tell anything about him, but just says Jephthah was one of these mighty men.

And now we're going to look at him today, and we're going to find out the marks of his character, what made him such a mighty man, a man of steel, a man of strength. What was his character like? He was one of a handful of men that God put in the Hall of Fame there in Hebrews chapter 11. Well, we're in Judges chapter 11 and I begin reading verses 1 through 3. Now, Jephthah, the Gileadite, was a mighty man of valor. Right away, we know something about him. He was a man of strength, a mighty man of valor.

And he was the son of an harlot. And Gilead begat Jephthah, and Gilead's wife bare him sons, and his wife's sons grew up. And they thrust out Jephthah and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit our father's house, for thou art the son of a strange woman. And Jephthah fled from his brethren and dwelt in the land of Tob. And there were gathered vain men to Jephthah and went out with him. Now, here is a man. Anybody ever had a background that he could use for an excuse? It was Jephthah. I want you to see his character in the face of great difficulties.

Listen. You need to learn today to be unshackled by the past and say, I can be what I ought to be by the grace of God today. Now, here's something else about this man that I want you to notice. Not only his character in the face of difficulties, but I want you to see his confidence in the face of danger. His confidence in the face of danger. Now, look in verse four. And it came to pass in the process of time that the children of Ammon made war against Israel. And it was so that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob.

Now, he must have already had a reputation now for being a good and honorable and a strong man because they said, Send for this man that we cast out. And they said unto Jephthah, Come and be our captain that we may fight with the children of Ammon. And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did you not hate me and expel me out of my father's house? And why are ye come unto me now when you're in distress? And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore, we turn again to the now that thou mayest go with us and fight against the children of Ammon and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If you bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon and the Lord deliver them before me, shall I be your head? I mean, if you bring me back to battle and I win the battle for you, will you follow me? Will I be your leader? And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The Lord be witness between us if we do not so according to thy words. Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead and the people made him head and captain over them. And Jephthah uttered all his words before the Lord in Mizpah.

You can tell right now here was a man who had great confidence in God. He was a man of faith. I don't have to worry about it. I don't have to uh think about it or apologize about it, stutter, stammer, or or wonder about it. I know that I know that I know that I know he was a man of great faith because he's listed in Hebrews chapter 11. These are the men of faith. Here was a man that somehow out of a out of a bleak background, out of people hating him and despising him, even his own flesh and blood, had somehow seen God.

I mean, he he somehow had an insight into the things of God. And he had character in spite of difficulties, and he had confidence in spite of danger. I mean, he uh the foe did not phase him. He's not fettered by his fear. Fear is a dark room where negatives are developed. But this man had faith. Two things I want you to see about Jephthah already we've seen. Number one, he was not bound by the past. And number two, he was not bound by the foe. Not bound by his enemies, not bound by danger. There's something about this man.

He could unshackle himself from the past and refuse to let present dangers intimidating. I wonder what dangers are facing you right now. I wonder if you can know to get on your face before God, tell God all about it, and remember that greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. That's what a man of strength is. But here's the third thing, and I want us to focus even more tightly on the third thing. I want you to see not only his character in the face of difficulty, his confidence in the face of danger.

But I want you to see and listen carefully his commitment in the face of disappointment. His commitment in the face of disappointment. Now, I 'm going to read an extended passage, but I want you to listen to it carefully. I'm going to begin in verse 29. Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh and passed over Mizpah of Gilead. And from Mizpah of Gilead, he passed over unto the children of Ammon. Now, watch this. And Jephthah vowed a vow. That is he made a promise unto the Lord and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be that whatsoever cometh forth out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon shall surely be the Lords and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

Now, God, these Ammonites are wicked and they're cruel and they're fierce. Lord, I need your help. And God, I'm going to make you a solemn promise. Lord, if you will give me the victory, if you will allow me to come home victoriously, the first thing that comes out of my house to meet me when I come back, whatever it is, that's yours, Lord. And it will be offered up to you. Then verse 32. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them, and the Lord delivered them into his hands. And he smote them from a roller even unto thou come unto Minnith, even 20 cities and unto the plain of the vineyards and so forth.

And then verse 34. And Jephthah came to Mizpah unto his house and behold Are you watching? And behold his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances. And she was his only child. Beside her, he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass when he saw her that he rent his clothes and said, Alas, my daughter, thou hast brought me very low and thou art one of them that trouble me, for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord and I cannot go back. And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth, for as much as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.

Have you got the picture? Lord, I need you. Oh God, I'm in a battle against my enemies. God, I want to make a promise to you, a vow. Lord, if you will give me the victory, I'll sacrifice the first thing that meets me and comes out of my house when I get home. God gives him the victory. And then when he gets home out of the house, dancing and leaping with joy is his beautiful daughter. Can you imagine the situation? What would you have done? What what is all of this about? I know your mind is going 10,000 miles an hour if this is the first time you you've ever really noticed this passage of scripture.

Well, let me relieve your mind and tell you that this is not human sacrifice. And Jephthah, from my study of the word of God, did not kill his daughter. No man would have made a vow concerning human sacrifice if he had been a man of God. Now, look at it in context, and we're slowing down here a little bit, but it's important that you see this. Look if you will in verse 29. Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah. Now, whatever he's saying, he's saying with the anointing of almighty God upon him. He remember this, that he was a man of faith and he was led of the spirit.

Now, the Bible expressly condemns human sacrifice. Now, had this man been an ungodly man and had this been a thoughtless promise and not a promise impelled and led by the Holy Spirit, then we could say, Well, perhaps he carelessly and thoughtlessly promised to sacrifice for a burnt offering anything and now he had to kill his daughter. Put in your margin Deuteronomy chapter 12 and verse 31. That's one of the verses in the Bible that deal with human sacrifice and shows that God has strictly forbidden it. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God for every abomination to the Lord which he hateth have they done unto their gods, talking about the Canaanites.

For even their sons and their daughters, they have burnt in the fire to their gods. God said, don't do that. So we know that Jephthah was led of the spirit of God, and the spirit of God would never lead Jephthah to contradict the word of God. Well, what's the answer to this? Well, look if you will in verse 31 and here's the clue. Here's what Jephthah said, And it shall be that whatsoever cometh forth out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the children of Ammon shall surely be the Lords and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.

Now, look at the word and, a n d. That same word may be translated and is translated or. Let's read it this way. When I return in peace from the children of Ammon shall surely be the Lords or I will offer it up for a burnt offering. That is it's going to be consecrated to you, Lord, for your service or it'll be a burnt offering. Cuz he didn't know what was going to come out of the door. So he's just simply saying, Lord, the choice is yours and I can trust you. What comes out of the door, it'll be consecrated to you or it'll be a burnt offering in God.

I can trust you to do the right thing. The spirit of God was upon him. So his beautiful daughter came out of the door. And he kept his vow. He consecrated her to the Lord. We say, Pastor, what was why then was that such a great disappointment to him? Here was a man of family man who'd not really known the joys of a family when he was a child. Here was a man who had hoped like every Hebrew that he would be a part of the line of Messiah, but the Savior would be in his descendants.

And what girl in Bible times did not have the true value of being a a wife and a mother? But he gave his daughter over to being a perpetual virgin. That is her life is to be separated, never to get married, but to serve the Lord. And Jephthah knew that he would have no grandchildren. Look in verse 37 and she said to the father, Let this thing be done for me and let me alone two months that I may go up and down upon the mountains and bewail my virginity and my fellows. That is I'll never know the joys of a home and a baby.

And he said go, and he sent her away for two months. And she went with her companions and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains. And it came to pass at the end of two months that she returned unto her father who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. And she knew no man. And it was a custom in Israel. That is that someone would be set aside to perpetual virginity, to serve the Lord. I guess the counterpart of that today we would look on this son that we call nuns. Verse 40 says and that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah.

They don't speak of her as dead, but as living in the word. Lament here may be translated to talk with. They went yearly to see her, to talk with her. And what I'm trying to say is this, that here was a man, a man of strength, a man of steel, a man who refused to be shackled by the past. A man who refused to be bound by his enemies, but a man who was bound by his word, by his word. Now, here it is. Character in the face of difficulty, confidence in the face of danger, and friend commitment in the face of disappointment.

Now, if there's anything that the men of this generation need to learn, it is to keep your word. Keep your word. Listen to this scripture. Numbers chapter 30 verse two. If a man vow a vow unto the Lord or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. That's why he was a strong man. Listen to Deuteronomy 23 verses 21 and 23. When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it, for the Lord thy God will surely required of thee and it would be sin in thee.

But if thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin to thee. God says you don't have to make the promise, but if you make it, you'd better keep it. You keep your word. Verse 23. That which is gone out of thy lips, thou shalt keep and perform even a free will offering according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God which thou hast promised with thy mouth. You say, Pastor, what if a man does make a wicked vow, a wrong vow? Should he keep a wrong vow? Absolutely not. If you make a wrong vow, a wicked vow, it was wrong for you to do it and you need to repent of it.

But if you make a righteous and a holy vow, you need to keep that vow. I'm telling you what we need today are some men of strength who keep their word. Men of their word. Think of the promises that people make. Think of people who join churches and promise to be faithful to their church and they're not. Think of men who stand at the altar and promise to be faithful to their bride till death. They break their word. Think of men who break their word to their family and their friends and the children. Think of politicians who stand up and take an oath of office with their hand upon the word of God and become dishonest liars.

Think of people who make commitment to the lordship of Jesus Christ and they don't keep their word. I'm telling you sirs now what we need today are some men, men not shackled by the past, men not fettered by the enemy, but men who are bound to their word. Lord, I thank you. I thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for this man Jephthah who because he believed your word kept his word. God, give us men who will stop making excuses. Give us men who are not intimidated by the enemy and give us men who will stand by their word and their promise to their church, to their family, to their children.

And yes, Lord, to you. And help them to do it as Jephthah did when the spirit of God came upon him by your might in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, the reason that Jephthah was a man of faith was he knew the Lord. Now, faith is the gift of God. You don't manufacture it. Don't say, Well, it's not my fault. If I don't believe it is your fault if you don't believe because God had dealt the measure of faith to every man. Whosoever will may come. Salvation is the gift of God and the faith to believe for salvation is the gift of God.

So what is the good news today is this. If you want to be saved, you can be saved. Whosoever will may come. You say, Well, I need faith. God will give it to you. Just say, God, I want you. Help me to believe you. And he will. He will. Now, the Bible says, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now, that word believe doesn't mean just intellectual belief. It includes that, but it means trust, trust, commitment. Trust him. Commit your life to him and you'll be saved. To be saved means that your sins are forgiven, buried in the grave of God's forgetfulness.

Hallelujah. Gone. To be saved means that the Holy Spirit of God comes to live in you to give you power and strength and purpose and peace and joy and companionship. You're never alone. The darkest night, the most lonely road, he's there. And to be saved yes means that we'll go to heaven. Heaven's not some model and sentimentality. It's a real place. Jesus said, I go and prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also.

And if you pray a prayer like this, God, I know I'm a sinner. I cannot save myself. I know that you love me and you want to save me. Jesus, I believe you're the son of God. I believe you paid my sin debt on the cross. I believe that God raised you from the dead and I trust you now to save me. Say, Lord, save me. Lord, save me. And he will.

Guest (Male): Well, if you've prayed to receive Jesus Christ just now, we would love to celebrate with you. Go to our Find God's Love page at the website and you'll discover insights about your new found faith and you'll also see an opportunity there to take the next steps in your walk with God. Go to lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says Find God's Love. Welcome to his Forever Family. We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message in its entirety, call us at 1 877 Love God and mention the title Men of Strength.

This message is also part of the insightful series Bring Back the Glory. For that complete seven message collection, call 877 Love God or you can order online at lwf.org/radio or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. You may not know when you go to our online store, you can also purchase our new Bible studies much like this message. Now, if Jephthah's story tells us anything, it's how crucial it is to be people of prayer. Focus on your prayer life today. Men of strength are men of faith and it's impossible to have faith if you're not a man of prayer.

We're so glad you joined us today and we hope you'll tune in next time for more from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding. We love the way this listener described why he continues to tune in to this ministry. He said, Brother Rogers has a way of making things easy to understand. He breaks things down to the nuts and bolts in such a way that I not only understand, I feel the motivation to do. We love Worth Finding. We love to inspire and equip you with messages and resources for your daily Christian walk. And when you donate to the ministry this month, we'd love to send you a copy of the Bible study Jesus, America's Hope.

Are you concerned about America and wondering how to respond at the day is that we live in? This study from Love Worth Finding Ministries based on Adrian Rogers' messages offers a biblical perspective on our role as Christian citizens. Explore how repentance and the love of Christ can bring healing to America through this study. If you'd like a copy, call the gift at 1 877 Love God.