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406, song number 406, who is on the Lord's side? That's song number 406, who is on the Lord's side? Song number 406, who is on the Lord's side? Who is on the Lord's side? Who will serve the King? Who will be his helpers, other lives to bring? Who will leave the world's side? Who will face the foe? Who is on the Lord's side? Who for him will go? By thy call of mercy, by thy grace divine, We are on the Lord's side, Savior, we are thine. All right, we are on song number 406 on the second, who is on the Lord's side? Not for weight of glory, not for crown and palm, Enter we the army, raise the warrior's song, But for love that claimeth, lies for whom he died, He whom Jesus nameth must be on his side. By thy love constraining, by thy grace divine, We are on the Lord's side, Savior, we are thine. Jesus, thou hast bought us, not with gold or gem, But with thine own lifeblood for thy diadem, With thy blessing filling, each who comes to thee, Thou hast made us willing, thou hast made us free, By thy grand redemption, by thy grace divine, We are on the Lord's side, Savior, we are thine. Fierce may be the conflict, strong may be the foe, But the king's own army, none can overthrow, Round his standard ranging, victory is secure, For his truth unchanging makes the triumph sure, Joyfully enlisting, by thy grace divine, We are on the Lord's side, Savior, we are thine. All right, with that, we'll have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be back here this evening. I pray that you just allow us to hear your word with open ears and open hearts, so that we can apply the sermon to our lives. And I pray that the word will prick our hearts to whatever we have to listen to. And fill Pastor Shelley with the Holy Spirit so we can preach the word with boldness. And let this service glorify your name as we worship you. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, for the next song, song number 170. 170, hallelujah, what a Savior. That's song number 170, hallelujah, what a Savior. 170. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Man of sorrows, what a name for the Son of God, Who came through in sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Marrying shame and scoffing rude, In my place, condemned, He stood, Sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Your guilty, vile, and helpless, We spotless Lamb of God, Was He full atonement? Can it be? Hallelujah, what a Savior. Lifted up, was He to die? It is finished, was His cry, Now in heaven salted high. Hallelujah, what a Savior. When He comes, our glorious King, All His ransom home to bring, Then anew this song we'll sing, Hallelujah, what a Savior. Thank you so much for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you need a bulletin, lift your hand nice and high. We can get you guys a bulletin. We are starting a new Bible memory passage, Revelation chapter 1. As a reminder, if you did complete Psalm 146, we're going to have prizes for you next week. Also, if you, for whatever reason, were really close to finishing this and you didn't, you got a double grace week, so you can still have a chance there. Also, on the inside, we have our service soul winning times, our church stats. Make sure to please submit that to your tribe captains, whatever your soul winning numbers are throughout the week. Also, we have our prayer lists. Make sure to be in prayer. Cleburne soul winning marathon. Thanks to all who prayed for us and who participated. We had a great day and a lot of salvations there. We'll pray that those people are inspired to serve God. Upcoming events, again, reminder, March 15th is our Old West Wednesday, April 1st. We're doing a Dallas, Texas, soul winning marathon. It's definitely great to go even just really close by just Dallas because it's a very receptive area. I think sometimes we take for granted the fact that we have a lot of great receptive areas around us. I encourage you to try and participate. Even though it's not a far drive, it's definitely often a very receptive area when we're going into the Dallas area. Also, the Bahamas is another great area of receptive for doing the hard work of soul winning. So if you're able to take the time off or visit, it's definitely life changing as far as being able to preach the gospel to people that are a lot more receptive. It's definitely going to make you a better person to travel and to go to different areas, see that the world doesn't live in as much luxury and richness as we do here in America. Of course, even though the Bahamas is a cool destination spot for travelers, we're not staying at the resort, folks. Just the island, it's still an impoverished nation. It's still not super cool or anything like that. It's a poor country, like all of them, and we're going to be going up and down the streets preaching the gospel. What makes it awesome for us is the soul winning. Going out there and preaching the gospel, and I'm really excited about the opportunity. Also, just as another quick reminder for soul winning, I did put the Preserved Bible, our YouTube link, on the front of our website. So if you're out there soul winning, I know some people are wanting to share the film already with individuals. You can say, hey, just go to the front page of our website. It's also on the documentaries tab of our website as well. We are also working on an additional handout that we can give out soul winning that's going to have the film featured on it as part of our handouts, as well as a gospel presentation video as well. So I'm excited. We're working on those and going to make them. Hopefully in a few weeks, we'll have an additional option as far as soul winning is concerned. And we're also still working on getting DVDs and everything like that created and made for our film so that we can share that physically when you want to hand out those discs and everything. So just please be patient with us on that. But we are working on it. Hopefully we'll get those pretty soon. And there is still a chance. I know some people already caught a lot. Almost everybody caught the callback in our film. And a lot of people emailed in and the top 10 are going to get a prize on that. But almost no one's caught our actual, it's considered an Easter egg. And I think people were confused. Easter egg is something that's going to happen in the future. A callback is to something in the past. So lots of people figured out the callback. We made that one more easy and obvious. But the Easter egg, I tried to bury it in there. Now, some people are coming up with crazy stuff. They're like, well, you had like a globe. So is it like a flat earth expose or something? You know, and they're like, well, I saw like this picture of Jesus. Is it about the, it's like, no, it's not. Like if you have to wonder if it's the Easter egg, it's not the Easter egg, okay? Like there's no doubt what the Easter egg is. If you found the Easter egg, you know for a fact, it's like being saved. You know that you're saved, okay? If you're like, I think this is the Easter egg, you're wrong, okay? So when you see it, you're like, okay, that's obviously for sure 100% the Easter egg. But there's still an opportunity. If we don't have 10 prizes, we don't have 10 prizes to give out. But if you can find it, it's out there. And so I just wanted to at least make mention of that. That's pretty much all I have as far as announcements are concerned. We'll go ahead and go to our third song, 176, Jesus Loves the Little Children, 176. That's 176, Jesus Loves the Little Children. So kids, if you know the song, lift up your voices, let your voices be heard for Jesus Loves the Little Children. Song number 176, we're gonna sing the song twice, okay? 176. Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. On a second. Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. All right, good job, everyone. Now let's turn to our Bibles as the offer play goes around to Judges chapter 19. Judges chapter number 19. Judges 19, the Bible reads, and it came to pass in those days when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of Mount Ephraim who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehem Judah. And his concubine played the whore against him and went away from him under her father's house to Bethlehem Judah and was there four whole months. And her husband arose and went after her to speak friendly under her and to bring her again, having his servant with him and a couple of asses and she brought him into her father's house. And when the father of the damsel saw him, he rejoiced to meet him. And his father-in-law, the damsel's father, retained him and he abode with him three days. So they did eat and drink and lodge there. And it came to pass on the fourth day when they arose early in the morning that he rose up to depart and the damsel's father said unto his son-in-law, Comfort thy heart with a morsel of bread and afterward go your way. And they sat down and did eat and drink both of them together. For the damsel's father had said unto the man, Be content, I pray thee, and tarry all night and let thy heart be merry. And when the man rose up to depart, his father-in-law urged him, therefore he lodged there again. And he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart. And the damsel's father said, Comfort thy heart, I pray thee. And they tarried until afternoon and they did eat both of them. And when the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the damsel's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draweth toward evening. I pray you, tarry all night. Behold, the day groweth to an end. Lodge here that thy heart may be merry and tomorrow get you early on your way that thou mayest go home. But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem, and there with him two asses saddled, as concubine also was with him. And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent, and their servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn into the city of the Jebusites and lodge in it. And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger that is not of the children of Israel. We will pass over to Gebaiah. And he said unto his servant, Come, and let us draw near to one of these places to lodge all night in Gebaiah or in Ramah. And they passed on and went their way, and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gebaiah, which belongeth to Benjamin. And they turned aside thither to go in and lodge in Gebaiah. And when he went in, he sat him down in the street of the city, for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging. And behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at Even, which was also of Mount Ephraim, and he sojourned in Gebaiah. But the men of the place were Benjamites. And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfairy man in the street of the city. And the old man said, Whither goest thou, and whence comest thou? And he said unto him, We are passing from Bethlehem Judah toward the side of Mount Ephraim, from thence am I. And I went to Bethlehem Judah, but I am now going to the house of the Lord, and there is no man that receiveth me the house. Yet there is both straw and preventer for our asses, and there is bread and wine also for me, and for thy handmaid, and for the young man which is thy servants. There is no one of anything. And the old man said, Peace be with thee, howsoever let all thy wants lie upon me, only lodge not in the street. So he brought him in into his house, and gave preventer unto thy asses, and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink. Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may know him. And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay my brother, nay I pray you, do not so wickedly, seeing that this man is coming to my house, do not this folly. Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine. Them I will bring out now, and humble you them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you. But unto this man, do not so vile a thing. But the men would not harken to him. So the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them, and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning, and when the day began to spring, they let her go. Then came the woman, in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house, where her lord was, till it was light. And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way, and behold, the woman, his concubine, was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. And he setted her up, and let us be going, but none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place. And when he was come into his house, he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coast of Israel. And it was so that all that saw it said, there was no such deed done, nor seen from the day, that the children of Israel came up, out of the land of Egypt, unto this day. Consider of it, take advice, and speak your minds. Let us pray. Father, thank you for this church, and thank you for all the souls that were won to Christ this weekend. And we just pray that you'll fill Pastor Shelley with your Holy Spirit, and give him boldness to preach tonight. Please allow us to gain some wisdom out of your word this evening, that we may become better Christians, and serve you more efficiently. And we just thank you for the precious blood of your son, that covereth all of our sins, that has sealed us under the day of redemption. And we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Judges chapter 19, I guess that's the only chapter we know in the Bible. And so we can go ahead and read it again. Someone joked with me, they said, I guess that's the only thing we preach about, right? And I said, well, I just want to pick a chapter Brother Nick knows how to read, so I'm just kidding. Judges chapter 19 is obviously it's kind of a gruesome chapter. And, you know, there's a lot of application that you can always take from any chapter in the Bible. And I've preached a lot on Judges chapter 19. We did a Bible study through the book of Judges. But I think what I'm going to preach this evening is something I haven't really touched on before. It's something that I haven't really talked about before. And it's just cool how the Bible often has a lot of different layers to it. And there's a lot of different things that we can learn. But I want to kind of go back to a little section here where we see the man traveling with his concubine. It says in verse 11. And when they were by Jebus, the day was far spent, and the servant said unto his master, Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it. His master said in them, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger. That is not of the children of Israel. We will pass over to Gibeah. And he said unto his servant, Come and let us draw near to one of these places, the lodge all night, and Gibeah o'er in Ramah. And they passed on and went their way, and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin. And they turned aside thither to go in and to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city, for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging. And behold, there came an old man from his work out of the field at Even, which is also of Mount Ephraim, and he sojourned in Gibeah, but the men of the place were Benjamites. And when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw a wayfaring man in the street of the city, and the old man said, Whither goest thou, and whence comest thou? And he said in him, We are passing from Bethlehem Judah toward the side of Mount Ephraim from thence I am. And I went to Bethlehem Judah, but I am now going to the house of the Lord. And there is no man that receiveth me to house. So just just pause for a moment. If we pay attention to the story, we have a couple characters. Verse one tells us that there was a certain Levite. So we have a Levite, and then we have his concubine. And another phrase for her is just a wife. A concubine you know in the Bible is just kind of a catch-all phrase in my opinion for every unideal situation where you're basically not a formal wife. You could be any variation of an informal wife, common-law marriage, girlfriend. Essentially, concubine just means one you lie with. In this particular case, it's kind of more like a common-law marriage or one in which they've lived together. They kind of consider each other husband and wife, but there's something lacking in the formality of it. That's why she's more labeled a concubine rather than just a straight wife. And these two characters according to the scripture are headed to the house of the Lord. They're going back to the house of God. They don't want to stay in Jebus, which is actually Jerusalem. That was what Jerusalem was, but at the time it's not Jerusalem. It's more a heathen nation. It's not really of the children of Israel. And so they refuse to stay in Jerusalem. They travel a little bit side outside of Jerusalem and they're staying in Gibeah. There's an old man that is willing to receive them because nobody else really would receive them. Verse 19, Yet there is both strong povender for asses, and there is bread and wine also for me and for thy handmaiden, for the young man, which is with thy servants. There is no one of anything. And the old man said, Peace be with thee, house over let all thy wants lie upon me. Only lodged not in the street. So he brought him into his house and gave him povender under the asses, and they washed their feet and did eat and drink. Now what I want to illustrate about this story and what I find fascinating about Judges chapter 19 is I believe that when you study this portion of scripture, it's going to be very clear to you that the gospel of Jesus Christ is mentioned throughout this chapter. And if you think about it, what's really interesting is they end up having all of their wants met by this this other man. And what's interesting is kind of if you think about the end of Christ's life, they have to celebrate the Passover. And what do they do? They go into the town and someone's already furnished all of their Passover meal that him and his disciples are going to have the night before Christ's crucifixion. And essentially all of their wants, all their needs are met by this stranger, by this other person that's allowing them to simply furnish their needs. And it reminds me of this story, how they come into this town and essentially they have someone else providing them their wants and needs. Look at verse 22. Now as they're making their hearts merry, also notice this, that they enjoy this meal. They're having a good time. It's really a good evening. And if you think about it, the Last Supper of the Lord Jesus Christ is a special moment between him and his disciples. They're enjoying one another's company. It's a little bit somber of an evening in the sense that for Christ and his disciples, he's kind of alluding to the fact that something big is going to happen, but the disciples aren't necessarily entirely sure what's happening. You know, it kind of gets a little, the mood is definitely set by the fact that Christ is talking about someone's going to betray them. And you know, this night ends up getting spoiled as well. As we see here, it says, now as they're making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house roundabout and beat at the door and spake to the master of the house, the old man saying, bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him. So we have this story of them having a good evening, yet a certain band of sons of Belial come and they make their demands and they want to take the man out of the house. Now the master of the house makes an interesting offer in verse 23. It says, the man, the master of the house, went out unto them and said unto them, nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly sing that this man is coming to mine house, do not this folly. Behold, here is my daughter, a maiden and his concubine, them I will bring out now and humble you them. And do with them what seemeth good unto you, but unto this man do not so vile a thing. But the men would not hearken to him. So the man took his concubine and brought her forth unto them and they knew her and abused her all the night until the morning and when the day began to spring, they let her go. Now, when reading this story, carnally speaking, it's gruesome, it's horrifying, it's perplexing. Why would this man simply offer his concubine to these savages, to these sons of Belial? But if you think about it, what's interesting is, even though this is a gruesome, horrible event, nothing that should ever happen, it's not a recommendation. Men should never forfeit their wives over to a bunch of, you know, sick, depraved Belial, sons of Belial like this. Yet we have a picture of the gospel. And really, if we kind of think about our players here, we have a Levite and we have this woman. And if we think about the gospel message, you know, what does a Levite kind of represent in the Bible? Well, he represents the law. He represents essentially the laws of God. But here's the problem with the law, is that the law can't bring salvation. The law can't bring you anything. The only thing the law can do is this, condemn you. And if you think about it, the Levite brought his concubine under the men and was simply just condemning her to the men. And if you think about it, the gospel message, we have the Lord Jesus Christ pictured by this woman, and we have the Levite picturing the law and the law condemning Jesus Christ and bringing him to the wolves, not by anything that she did wrong, not by anything that Jesus Christ did wrong, but rather as a substitution and taking on that condemnation. Now I want you to go to 2 Corinthians, keep your finger, we're coming back, we go to 2 Corinthians, chapter number three. So point number one of the gospel in the book of Judges 19 is that both this woman and Jesus were condemned by the law. She was condemned by her Levite. He is condemned by the law. Now 2 Corinthians, chapter number three, I want to just read a little portion here. Look at verse number five. The Bible says, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. Who also have made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit. Notice this phrase, for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. Notice that the Old Testament law is denoted as what? Something that kills, something that condemns. It says in verse seven, but if the menstruation of what? Of death. Written into graven and stones is glorious so that the children of Israel cannot steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away. How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the menstruation of condemnation be glory, much more that the menstruation of righteousness is seen in glory. Now of course, in 2 Corinthians, chapter number three, it's making a distinguishment between the Old New Testament and saying, if the Old Testament was great, and if the law was great, how much better is the New Testament? And of course, why is the New Testament so much better? Well, the Old Testament was simply the menstruation of death. It was a menstruation of condemnation, meaning that this, what it delivered was a punishment. And if you think about it, law doesn't bring life, law brings punishment. If you don't do this, here are the consequences. If you don't do this, here are the consequences. Right? When we think about law, law doesn't bring you life, law gives you the boundaries, and law gives you the punishment. And for the wages of sin, it's death. And of course, just like this Levite offering up this woman, I mean he didn't have any, he didn't offer any salvation. He didn't offer any rescue plan. He didn't step in and rescue his wife, and save the day, and fight the sons of Beeler. Why? Because the law will not fight for you. The law will not give you salvation. Those who seek salvation of the law, the only thing the law will do is condemn you. The only thing the law will do is bring you death. The only thing the law will do is leave you high and dry, and allow you to fend for yourself, and answer for yourself, and you're going to be found wanting. Those who trust in the law for salvation, those who are trusting in their works for salvation, will receive death. There is no salvation in the law. The law says be perfect, but we can't be perfect. The concubine was certainly not perfect, and just as the concubine is delivered by the Levite, Jesus was delivered by the law as well, having to become a curse for us as the Bible says, and that curse was from what? It was from the law. The law brought a curse on those who transgressed, and that transgression of ours was laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and he had to take this horrible transgression for us. 1 Corinthians 15, just flip the page to the left, almost a page or two, very close. 1 Corinthians 15, look at verse 56. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. Notice that the law is what's bringing sin, it's bringing death, it's bringing this evil, and of course that is the same when it comes to this Levite basically bringing his concubine out, and talk about a sting. You know, it's hard to read that portion of scripture, just the awfulness of it, and of course we're supposed to realize that what Christ did for us was gruesome. You know, what Christ had to endure and being condemned unjustly, the just for the unjust was a horrible thing, it was an ugly thing, there was awfulness associated with it. You know, when we read the ugliness of Genesis chapter, I'm sorry, Judges chapter 19, we're supposed to remind ourselves of that's the ugliness of our sin being put on Jesus Christ. And you say, oh, how awful for this woman to be delivered up. Yeah, but how much more awful was it for us to have Jesus delivered up for our sins, and the ugliness and the evil that's associated there. Another thing that's interesting about this condemnation, if you go if you would in your Bible to John chapter 18, go to John chapter 18. So number one, when we see the gospel in Judges 19, is that both they were condemned by the law, but here's another thing that's interesting. They were both abused all night. They were both, the Bible says that the concubine was abused all the night by her attackers, by these sons of Belial. But you know, the same thing applies to the Lord Jesus Christ, who also was abused all the night. And if you look at John chapter number 18, I want to actually read kind of all these real quick, just to kind of show you. It's going to, it actually is recorded in all four gospels. John 18, look at verse 20. Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort, and the secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? Ask them which heard me. What I have said unto them, behold, they know what I said. And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? Jesus answered him, if I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil, but if well, why smitest thou me? Notice that Jesus Christ in the night is being surrounded by attackers. Of course, these men are sons of Belial, nonetheless. And what does Jesus have to endure? Just smiting of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did he deserve that? No. Go if you would to Luke chapter 22, go to Luke chapter 22. Our Lord and Savior, who created the entire heavens and the earth, gave us all the joys of this life, food for every day, is being smitten by his own creation, being smitten by those who claim to believe in God. How blasphemous, how wicked, how satanic. Luke chapter 22, look at verse 63. And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face and asked him, saying, prophesy, who is it that smote thee? And many other things blasphemously spake they against him. Your Lord and Savior had to endure all night, just getting hit. Who hit me? And you know what Jesus knew hit him. Who hit me? Who hit you? Prophesy, tell us. He just had to sit there and just take it all night. Just like this poor woman, just being abused all night. Jesus Christ had to be abused, just all night. And what makes it worse for Jesus is the fact that, you know, as a woman, she did not have the physical strength or ability to get out of that situation. But Jesus could have gotten out of it any moment. Jesus had the capability to end it right there. Jesus could have just thought it, and they would have fallen down dead. Yet he didn't. He endured the abuse all night. Mark Chapter 14, I want to show you again. Mark Chapter 14. Let not these words just, you know, skip over when you read them in your Bible. What the Lord Jesus Christ endured for us. Mark Chapter 14, look at verse 65. The Bible says, and some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to buffet him. That means to punch him, hit him, smite him, and to say and prophesy. And his servants did strike him with the palms of their hands. Just all they just spitting on him, smiting him, covering his face so he can't see. Just a torturous night. I mean, it's the Lord Jesus Christ being buffeted, being attacked by the chief rulers, the chief priests, the chief leaders of his sanctuary, he's in the house of God with the supposed priests of God and they're smiting him and beating him. I mean, what an ugly experience. Go to Matthew 26, Matthew 26. And we see all four gospels recording the same thing. The beating, the abuse, all the night. Matthew 26, look at verse 67. Then they did spit in his face and buffeted him and others smote him with the palms of their hands saying, prophesy unto us, thou Christ, who is he that smote thee? What a bunch of jerks. What a bunch of reprobates. Think about the people that literally hit Jesus in the face and spit on Jesus. I mean, how can you get much lower than that? And they did it all night. Look at chapter 27, verse one. When the morning was come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. So, you know, they did it all night until the morning to lead him away. Just like this poor woman was abused all the night and it wasn't until the night was done, till the dawn of the day, they let her go. They let her go to do what? To die. Just like they let what? Jesus Christ go to die. Go back to Judges chapter 19. Go back to Judges chapter number 19. Look at verse number 25 again. But the man would not hearken to him, so the man took his concubine and brought her forth under them. And they knew her and abused her all the night until the morning. And when the day began to spring, they let her go. Then came the woman in the dawning of the day and fell down at the door of the man's house where the Lord was till it was light. And her Lord rose up in the morning and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way. And behold, the woman, his concubine, was fallen down at the door of the house and her hands were upon the threshold. And he said unto her, Up and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her upon an ass and the man rose up and got him under his place. So she comes to basically fall down at the door and she dies. And it's so awful, it's so gross what happened that this man doesn't even, he doesn't even stoop down. He can't even look at her. He's just like up. I mean, think about how harsh these words are. Just after that horrible experience, then he just says up, let us be going. But you know, to me, it illustrates just the ugliness of this abuse. And you know, it's not this woman's fault. Okay, we understand that. She's a victim 100% and it's horrible and it's awful. But you know, it can still be, it's so gross that you just don't even want to look at her though. Just because it's just so ugly and it's so awful to even think about. And really, that's what the Bible teaches. Go to Isaiah 52 about the whole experience is that it's just so ugly. It's so awful and so damaging that you don't even want to look at it. You don't even want to see this. It's nauseating. It's difficult to bear. And the Bible talks about this with the gospel of Jesus Christ, that when Jesus Christ died on the cross and he went through all that suffering, it was not something that was enjoyable. It was not something that you would have wanted to see. It's not something that you would find pleasant. Says in Isaiah 52, look at verse 14. And as many were Estonied at thee, his visage was so marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men. Now the word visage is just simply a word meaning face. It's saying that his face was so distorted and so can contorted from the abuse. You know, if you've ever seen someone, which God willing you haven't, but if you've ever seen someone beaten in the face just so much, their face will swell or it'll get so distorted that you can't even recognize the person anymore. The Bible is saying Jesus Christ was beaten so badly, so awful that you couldn't even tell that it was him anymore. Saying his visage was so marred more than any man and his form, meaning the structure of his face was just so altered, so destroyed by all the beating and the suffering that he had to go through. You couldn't even tell it was him anymore. That's how much he got beaten to a pulp. Chapter 53 verse one. Who hath believed our report to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire. The Bible is saying that when Christ, it's trying to illustrate when Christ is on the cross, his face had lost all form to it. There wasn't even, you couldn't even really see the form. You wouldn't even just recognize this as Jesus anymore because it's like there's no form anymore. It's just a bloody mess. It's just swollen and beaten and just, it's just, and notice there's zero beauty anymore. It says there's no beauty. There's nothing about the crucifixion that anybody would want to look at. It's just ugly. It's just awful. It's just gruesome. Just like the idea of this woman being abused by these men. I mean, you don't even want to talk about it. You don't even want to think about it. It's just so awful and so ugly. And the Bible is trying to say, this is what it was like with Jesus on the cross, folks. Your Lord and Savior had to get through so much beating and bruising and just awful, just horrific, just evil for you. And when on the cross, there's nothing about it that carnally would matter. Verse three, he was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Just like this man, he can't even look at this up. Let us be going. It's like you can't even look at Jesus. It's so awful. It's so ugly. But you know why it's so ugly? It's your sin that you're looking at. It's our sin that makes it so ugly and so evil and so gruesome and so gross. It wasn't Jesus. That was Jesus taking the beating we deserve, taking the evil that we deserve. Verse four, surely he hath borne our grief and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our sins, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes, we are healed. The Bible says, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. You know what I find interesting about that verse? Show me in the Bible where the concubine taught. Wouldn't you think like if the Levites, you know, saying like, hey, let's bring you out here. Don't you think you would have been like, ah, no. Don't you think that woman would have screamed or said something or we have nothing. She never talks. And the Lord Jesus Christ, hey, prophesy, prophesy, prophesy. He didn't do it. He didn't say it was you, loser. It was you, Caiaphas. Of course it was. He knew. You know, he didn't even open his mouth. He just took it. He just took the beating. He took the evil. He took all of the iniquity of us all upon himself. And he didn't even open his mouth. He just suffered. And a few times he opened his mouth to say things like this. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Wow. Jovi would back to judges chapter 19 for a second. Point number one is they're both condemned by the law. Point number two is they're both abused all night. Point number three is that they're both a substitutionary death. Point number three is that they were both a substitutionary death. Look at chapter 20, actually, and look at verse five. And the men of Gibeah rose against me. So this is the man explaining the situation. And beset the house round about upon me by night. And thought to have slain me. And my concubine have they forced that she is dead. Notice, if you read the story, they didn't want the concubine. They weren't interested in the concubine. Who was it that was going to get the abuse and the death? It was the man. But who ended up suffering? The woman. She was the substitute for him, just like the Lord Jesus Christ is our substitute. We deserve the abuse. We deserve the death. We have the evil set upon us. Yet as a perfect substitute, she was the substitute for him. Just as Christ is our substitute and took all the evil. But be it known, someone had to go through the evil. Someone had to go through the shame. Someone had to go through the embarrassment. Don't you think this was embarrassing? I mean, for this woman, you think she really wants to tell anybody about that story? What happened to her? She wants to go through the details of that embarrassment, shame, reproach. I mean, it's horrible. You know, the Bible talks about the Lord Jesus Christ despising the shame. Despising it. It's not like Jesus thought, oh, that's cool. Hated it. Hated it. And you know what? This woman, I guarantee, hated it. Every moment, every second of this. But you know what? The ugliness of that is to illustrate what Jesus had to do for us and the substitution he made in our place. Go to 1 Peter. Keep your finger because we're coming back. Go to 1 Peter, chapter three. 1 Peter, chapter number three. And I don't care how good you think you are. You deserve death in hell. You deserve horrible destruction and gruesome evil. And you know what? Your Lord and Savior took all that for you. He took every ounce. He took every beating. He took every whipping. He took every thorn. He took it all. He took all the shame, the mocking. He took all the spit you deserve in your face. You know, God talked about Moses's sister deserving to be spit in her face for her sin. You think like, oh, I don't deserve that. You know, according to the Bible, we deserve to be spit in the face for our sin and beaten and killed and go to hell. And Jesus decided to take all of that for us. Just like this woman taking the horrible evils that happened to her. 1 Peter, chapter number three. The Bible says in verse 18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, notice this, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ was the substitution for us, the just for the unjust, just as this woman. She didn't deserve any of this. Obviously, in the story, we realize she's not the greatest wife. She's not a wonderful woman, necessarily. She's a sinner just like the rest of us. But you know what? Did she deserve the evil that happened to her? Absolutely not. And yet her sacrifice illustrates the same as Christ's sacrifice for us. Think about this. These men are implacable. They will not just let it go. Someone is going to have to take the sacrifice. So she sacrifices herself for him, just like Christ sacrifices himself for us. Someone had to take the evil. God is just God cannot just allow sin to go unpunished. Someone had to experience it. And you know what? God looked down from heaven and said, You know what? It's either y'all or him. And he loved you so much, he was willing to allow his son to take that evil. You know, we look, I often think about Judges 19 and kind of a story of like, Wow, how did this guy do this? But if you think about it, how about this woman being willing to sacrifice herself just so he wouldn't have to go through it? Just like Christ is willing to go through that evil for us so that we wouldn't have to go through those evils. That's what God's love really is. You know, John 3 16 is about God being willing to allow his son to go through evil for you. It's not his toleration of your sin. It's not that he likes yourself. It has nothing to do with any of that. It's not that he likes who you are right now. You know, people get confused about what the love of God is. The love of God was him willing to allow his son to take your place in a gruesome, horrible death that you deserved. So you might not have to do it so that you have the opportunity to escape it. There's not even any certainty in it. Because some people still reject, some people still don't even believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, him having gone through this evil for them. If we go back to Judges chapter 19, go back to Judges chapter number 19, what happens after the death? Well, the Bible says in verse 29, and when he was come into his house, he took a knife and laid hold on his concubine and divided her together with her bones into 12 pieces and sent her into all the coasts of Israel. And it was so that all that saw it said, there was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day. Consider of it, take advice and speak your minds. Notice this was the most unique event that's ever happened. And it was spread to all the nations of Israel. And so if you think about this, they're both divided for all of Israel. We have point number one, they're both condemned by the law, they're both abused all the night, they both are a substitutionary death, and they're both been divided for all of Israel. Now go over to John chapter number six, John chapter number six, this woman is cut up into pieces and then shipped out to all the 12 tribes of Israel as a message to them. And if you think about it, the Lord Jesus Christ's death was specifically so that he could then have his death be shipped out to all the nation of Israel. And even beyond that, but of course he specifically is for the nation of Israel. Look at John chapter six, verse 51. The Bible says this, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. You know what, he gave his life, he gave his flesh up for the life of the world. Just as this woman is giving up her flesh, her body is a sacrifice and it's shipped out onto the entire nation is the same picture of Christ dying for what? For the entire nation and then being divided for all of Israel. Go to Matthew chapter 15, go to Matthew chapter number 15. Also the Bible makes it abundantly clear that the Lord Jesus Christ, he came for specifically Israel. Says in Matthew 15, look at verse 24. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So the Lord Jesus Christ had a dedicated mission and the Bible makes it clear, he went to all the tribes. He journeyed to all of them and he traveled abundantly to them and his death was for the nation of Israel. His death was for the children of Israel and of course his death extends beyond just the nation of Israel. But if you think about it, he is, his death is going to make a cataclysmic difference in their world. You know, they're just living their lives, the nation of Israel is living their lives and then all of a sudden they just get mailed a leg. They just get mailed an elbow. It's like, what in the world? That's gonna be pretty radical. That's gonna make a pretty big change and it was sent out into 12, right? Well, what happens at Christ's death? At Christ's death, what is the important thing that happens? The 12 disciples preach the death of Jesus Christ. Just like this man sent out the 12 messages of death, we have the 12 disciples who are supposed to go out and preach the death of Jesus Christ and say there's no deed that's ever been done like this before. The gospel of Jesus Christ, Christ and him crucified. Go to 1 Corinthians, chapter number one. 1 Corinthians, chapter number one. A symbol of the fact that we have 12 disciples, a symbol of the fact that their message is to go and to reach the children of Israel. With what message? The message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The death of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians, chapter number one. Look at verse 23, the Bible says this, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness. Notice, what is the message that they had? Hey, think about this, they got in the mail, they got just a message of death. Here's a woman that's been chopped up into pieces. Just like the disciples going out, what was their message to try and rally the troops? Christ crucified, Christ's death. The gruesome, awful, evil, horrific death of Jesus Christ. Chapter two, in fact, if you look at verse number two, the apostle Paul, of course, he's being a little bit exagative here, but he still makes his point that he doesn't want really any other message to be the emphasis. Look at verse two, for I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and am crucified. Now, you know why that's interesting to me with this chapter? Is because think about this, whenever he sent this box, what's the only thing he's gonna know among them? This lady died. I mean, there wasn't a lot going on. In fact, they came and they're like, tell us what happened. All you did was just ship us a body part, and it was weird, you know? And it's just like the apostle Paul. It's like, hey, all I came here, the main emphasis, the message I came here to give you is that Christ and him crucified, just like this woman. And of course, from that spurs a movement of people to get saved, of people to want to learn more about the Lord Jesus Christ. And really what it shows is a unity. Go back to Judges chapter 19. And in fact, let's look at chapter 20, verse one. Then all the children of Israel went out and the congregation was gathered together as one man. Notice that the death of this woman brought everyone together in perfect unity as one man. Just like the death of the Lord Jesus Christ is what unifies us and brings us together, united and knit as one man. And our rallying point is what? The death of Jesus Christ. That is our single unifying factor. And we have the unity of Israel. So number one, this woman and Judges chapter 19 and Jesus Christ, they're both condemned by the law. Number two, they're abused all night. Number three, they were a substitutionary death. Number four, they were divided for Israel. And number five, they united Israel. They united Israel. And of course, we have a unity factor with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Go to Ephesians chapter number two, Ephesians chapter number two. Now, what we understand is that they are not all Israel which are of Israel. Who is true Israel? It's those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you understand this chapter, I'm not going through all the details here, but if you studied, not everyone that was in Israel actually came. There was some people that didn't. So really the essence here is those who believed the gospel is a picture of the unifying and rallying of the saved. Yet in the New Testament, we realize that it's not a physical lineage. It's really a spiritual lineage. Those who are Israel, those who are Jews are those who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. And they are one. They have been unified. We have been brought together. Ephesians two makes this clear. Of course, written to the Gentiles. Look at verse 11. Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain, notice this, one new man so making peace. Notice how they were gathered together as one man, and Christ's death brings us all together as one new man making peace, and that they might be reconciled both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you, which were far off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. So according to the scripture, we've been unified and rallied together through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you think about it, what is that unity? What's the purpose of it? Go to Romans 8, and I'll finish this evening. Go to Romans chapter number 8. But if you think about our story, of course, I'm not gonna read all of Judges 20 as well, but what happens in Judges 20? They're rallied together for one specific purpose, to fight. They are rallied together and unified, and what gave them the zeal? What gave them the purpose? What gave them the drive? It was the death of the woman. And you say, what is the zeal? What is the drive of Christians today? It was the death of the Lord Jesus Christ that rallies us together. It's what gives us our faith. It's what gives us our strength. It's what's our rallying cry. It's what makes us fight. It's what gives us courage. It's the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you read the story, they lose battles. They lose fights. They are discouraged, but you know what? They are constantly rallying around the death of this woman, just like we're rallying around the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because we'll never forget what he did for us. Just like they're never to forget what happened to this woman. They're not allowed to let it go. They're not allowed to just live their lives. Well, let's just keep going on with their lives. No, no, no. It's impacted my life forever, and we're gonna fight this battle. And you know what? We as God's people and as Christians need to say, we're not gonna let that death go. We live our lives for that death. We fight for that death. We are rallied together as one man for that death. Romans chapter number eight. Look what the Bible says in verse 31. What shall we say to these things if God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Saying if God is willing to sacrifice his own son for us, what in the world would God hold back? I mean, if there was anything that God would hold back from us, it would have been his own son. But it's saying if he was willing to deliver him up, what would God withhold from us? If God is on our side, not willing to withhold anything from us, how could we ever have failed? How could we ever lose? The Bible says, verse 33, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also make an intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for thy sake, we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. You know what? No matter what happens to us, we are conquerors. We are victors. No matter what evil, God still loves us. Why would you ever stop? Well, I don't know if God's for me. Christ died for you. You know, no matter what happens to you, Christ died for you. Well, I lost my spouse. Christ died for you. Well, I lost my kids. Christ died for you. Well, I lost my job. Christ died for you. Well, I lost my health. Christ died for you. You know what? No matter what happens in your life, you are a conqueror and Christ died for you. And we are supposed to rally around the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we are supposed to fight until the day that we die. And we are more than conquerors. Don't let the world discourage you. Don't let the world get you down. Let us always be rallied together with the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, hey, persecution? Nope. Famine? Nope. Nakedness? Peril? Nothing can stop God from loving me. It's already happened. I'm already saved. I'm already justified. I'm already called. I'm already glorified because of what Jesus Christ did for me. Why would I ever stop fighting for him? Why would I want to be the people that stayed home from the battle in Judges chapter 20? I am going to sit there, and I don't care who goes down. We're going to fight for Jesus because you know what? He went down for me already. Look what does the Bible say in verse 38? For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. When you realize what Jesus already did for you, when you realize the gospel message, you realize nothing, nothing, nothing can stop the love that Jesus has for us. It's already happened. Nothing can stop it. I'm his son. I get to go to heaven for all of eternity. I never have the taste of death in hell. I won't even see it. As soon as I die physically, I'm with the Lord Jesus Christ for the rest of my life. And the short duration I have in this earth, why would I not spend every ounce of it fighting for him? And when we read the gruesome story in Judges chapter 19, don't think about all the carnal stuff. Think about the spiritual thing, what Christ did for you. When you realize what Christ has done for you, us dedicating our lives, as Romans 12 says, is a reasonable service. I mean, how can we even compare any sacrifice we make? How can we even compare to what Jesus did for us? And we should be motivated and rally together and become one man and fight for Jesus and always look to the cross and allow that to motivate us for the rest of our lives. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father, so much for the gift that you gave us, your unspeakable gift of your son. Thank you for allowing him to go through such a gruesome, awful, horrible, substitutionary death for us. I pray that we would never forget what Christ has done for us, how awful and evil he had to suffer for us. I pray that we'd be reminded of his fight for us so that we too could come alongside and be a partaker of Christ's sufferings, that we would be willing to go out into a battle for the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we could constantly fight for him and constantly reassure ourselves and know there's nothing that can separate the love that you have for us. There's nothing you would hold back from us, that one day we'll also be glorified with your son. And I thank you so much for what you've given us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. 55, Psalm number 55, when the roll is called up yonder. That's Psalm number 55, when the roll is called up yonder. Psalm number 55. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more, and the morning breaks eternal bright and fair, when the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. When the roll is called up yonder, when the roll is called up yonder. When the roll is called up yonder. When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. On that brightened cloud, this morning, when the dead in Christ shall rise and the glory of his resurrection share when his chosen one shall gather to their home beyond the skies and the role is called up yonder I'll be there when the roll is called up yonder when the roll is called up yonder when the roll is called up yonder when the roll is called up yonder I'll be there let us labor for the master from the dawn to setting Sun let us talk of all his wondrous love and care then when all of life is over and our work on earth is done and the role is called up yonder I'll be there when the role is called up yonder when the role is called up yonder when the role is called up yonder when the role is called up yonder I'll be there God bless you are dismissed this evening take care