Let us return then to Judges chapter 3. And let us choose our text there at verse 20. Judges chapter 3 and from verse 20. And Ehud came unto him, and he was sitting in a summer parlor, which he had for himself alone. And he who said, I have a message from God unto thee, and he arose out of his seat. And tonight we want to meditate upon these words in context and seeking God's blessing upon our coming together. The title I want to give to the sermon is Message from God. taken directly from our text that Ehud said to Eglon, I have a message from God unto thee. Let's try and put some historical context into where we are in Judges. We believe that Israel began the conquest to take possession of the promised land in about 1406 B.C. And Joshua, we do believe, died around 1390 B.C. And the conquest took about seven years, we know from the Word of God. By the time that Ehud began his judgeship and leadership over Israel. Israel would have been in the Promised Land for about 100 years during the third year of Ehud's judgeship. So we're coming up to a point here in Israel's history when they were about to be 100 years in the Promised Land. And for 26 of that years, they were under bondage. And during that hundred years, they had two national apostasies and backslidings, and they were delivered twice by the hand of God. And again, all of this should have caused Israel to realize how good God had been to them. and how gracious He had been towards them, but they seemed to forget how gracious God had been to them and how blessed the way that He had treated them. Well, we find here again as we look at Eglon that Israelites had sinned, and they had turned away from the living God. And as a result of this, God had strengthened Eglon, and He put them under oppression for some 18 years. And following their cry to the Lord, the Lord raises up a deliverer, a judge again, a Savior, Ehud, a left-handed man, a man from Benjamin, And we know that ultimately he assassinated or murdered, if you like, Eglon. He was the leader of Israel at this time, and he was the one, along with others, who were appointed to go to present their annual tribute to their suzerain, to their master, to Eglon. And he went with a party, to Jericho, to that place that had once been so famously won for the Israelites by Joshua and that generation. But now Eglon had put his camp there. and set his headquarters there. So it was, in some sense, a humiliation for Israel to go there and to present this tribute and this prize and this present to their master that hated them. And as he was there, he asked those who accompanied him to leave. And he had an appointment with Eglon alone. And Eglon was in his summer house, and he was told, I have a message from God for thee. And as he was delivering this message, he reaches to his right side and takes out a dagger and inflicts judgment upon their enemy, Eglon, who almost instantly falls down Well, that is briefly the deliverance that we're looking at, the Judge Ehud and the oppressor Eglon. And as I said at the beginning, we want to focus upon these words that he said to Eglon before he inflicted the judgment of God I have a message from God unto thee." And we want to look at this message and see how this message from God was relevant in a number of ways, in a number of ways, and at least three ways, and three ways that are relevant to us today also. You see, when Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee, this message was also a message for the people of God. And the message was to the people of God that the Lord gave Eglon power. Verse 12 tells us that. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord strengthened Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel." So when Ehud was delivering a message to Eglon, He was also delivering a message to the people of Israel, and that the people of Israel might realize that the very fact that Eglon was ruling over them for the past 18 years was a message from God to the people of God, that they might realize that Eglon had been strengthened and encouraged to do what he did by the will of God. God was speaking to the people of Israel at this time. Now we notice here that he was a king of Moab, and that he gathered with him the children of Ammon and Amalek. And they went and fought against Israel, were told, and went and smote Israel and possessed the city of palm trees. Now these names, these names Moab and Ammon and Amalek, they might not mean much to us today in the 21st century, but there is a real lesson behind these names. And if we stop to ponder and to think upon them, they are teaching the people of Israel lessons. Moab and Amalek. or Moab and Ammon, I should say initially, who were they? They were the children of Lot by an incestuous relationship with his daughters. You remember the time after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? Lot was rescued and his daughters, and they went to live in the mountains. And the daughters said to themselves, there's no man here for us. In other words, there's no husbands for us here. There's no hope of a family here for us. How are we going to have children? Let us get our father drunk. And let us lie with our father, and let us have children by our father. These things are not pleasant for us to think upon. We would rather discount them, but friends, we find them in the Word of God. And the Moabites and the Ammonites, they were descended from Lot. And if we look at Amalek, they were descended from Esau. Esau, who was a profane individual, part of Abraham's reprobate line. And therefore, what is the lesson, surely, that we're meant to derive from the fact that the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Amalekites all gathered together against Israel? Does it not remind Israel of their sinful past, of their sinful heritage, where they came from? Is it not true here that God, in some sense, is using the sins of the past and returning them to scourge the sins of the present? This is what's happened. The people of God had forsaken God, and therefore, friends, those things that happened way back were now being used in some sense to chastise the people of God. God was reminding them of their heritage, of their ancestors, and how the covenant people of God behaved long ago. And these people who were raised up to punish them, were there as a result of sins that had been committed by the covenant people of God many, many years ago. And this surely brings to our attention what we find in the Word of God. In Numbers chapter 32 and at verse 23, when it says, and be sure your sins, your sin will find you out. We do believe in a full and free gospel, and we do believe telling people, no matter who they are, and no matter their past, no matter their sins, no matter their background, we firmly and fully believe that when we preach the gospel in its purity to people, and we tell them to repent and to believe upon the Lord Jesus, we tell them, friends, that their sins shall be indeed forgiven. There's no question about that. We do believe that we have a divine warrant in the Word of God to preach such and to tell all persons to come and to believe upon the Lord Jesus, and they will know the wonder and the beauty and the glory of having their sins forgiven. But, friends, although our sins may well be forgiven, yet it is true. that the ongoing consequences of our sins can follow us. And what we've done before we have come to Christ, these sins, although they are forgiven, yet on many occasions there may be ongoing consequences. And this should cause us, friends, to hate sin and not to dally with it and not to think lightly of it. But we should hate it and we should utterly, utterly forsake it and to see it for what it really is. Here we do believe that the Lord was using the sins of former covenant people. to chastise his present covenant people. We can apply this to ourselves, friends, if we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. We should use our memories. We should think upon our former lives. We should think of our days of unbelief. We should think of what the things we've committed, and as we look upon them, and we bless God that our sins indeed are forgiven, but nevertheless, in some sense, our past should humble us, because our past is not glorious. The days that we lived in unbelief and rebellion against the living God, as we look upon these things, they should humble us, and we should be delighted that the Lord indeed has cleansed us from these sins. And also, as we use our minds and memories profitably, we should count our blessings. Oh, that we should rejoice that our sins are indeed forgiven in Christ. And we should realize that God indeed has been wonderfully gracious unto us, and the fact that very often Our past sins have not followed us on. God, in His mercy, has not sought to follow on. Here on this occasion, it does seem to have happened. But surely we recognize that as we look at our lives and as we grasp the wonderful spiritual blessings and privileges that are ours now, and we bask in what we enjoy in the Lord Jesus Christ now, it should make us count our blessings and to name them one by one. And furthermore, the fact that we look back upon these things should cause us to be determined to learn from the past, Commandment number two tells us that God visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and to the third and fourth generation of them that hate Him, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Him. Now, that part of the commandment does not teach us that God punishes the children for the sins of their fathers. That's not what happens at all. Rather, that commandment is teaching us that when the father sinned and when they commit sin against God, the effects of their sin are felt in future generations. That's what it's telling us. And that's what happened here. The effects of their sin were visited. They were felt upon by that generation. Well, friends, as we look upon our past, and if we do believe that the consequences of our sins are ongoing on some occasions, can we not, as it were, turn it round? If we do believe that our sins are, in some sense, visited upon us, can we not say that our acts of righteousness also are visited upon us? And therefore, if we seek to faithfully serve the Lord in our day and in our generation, can we not look forward to the Lord to send forth His blessing? Of course, we can. We most certainly can. If the people of God are seeking to serve the Lord their God in their day and generation, and if it's a difficult time to serve the Lord their God, and if they find themselves being on their own on many occasions, do you not think that God will honor and bless that witness? We're not for one minute thinking we are perfect. Far from it. But friends, we do believe that we are living up to the light of the Word of God, and we're seeking to serve God in this wicked and corrupt generation. Do you not think that God will bless that? Of course, we do believe He is a gracious and a merciful God. And therefore, friends, we want to encourage ourselves as we seek to serve Him with the light that we have. We do not know the results. We do not know what we'll do when we go out And we seek to spread the gospel. We give a tract here or a tract there. We put something through a letterbox. We don't know ultimately what will be the end result. But if we are seeking to be faithful, God does not overlook these things. We might never reap an award or a blessing in our day. That may be the case, but who's to know when the blessing will come? And who's to know who will reap what we have sown? And therefore, let us be encouraged." And if this was a message for Eglon, it was certainly a message for the people of Israel. that they would realize that Eglon had only been strengthened in order to chastise them. Well, we notice here also when he says, I have a message from God unto thee, that this indeed was a message for God's enemies, for God's enemies. In verse 25, we are told, towards the end, and behold, their Lord was fallen down dead on the earth. They had waited for a long time before they went in, and when they did go in, what did they find? They found that Eglon was dead upon the earth. You see, we notice here that Israel indeed was wicked, and they were being chastised by the Lord. But Eglon was worse. And the Lord indeed had visited him and his people. And the thing we are to notice here, friends, that this was a message for God's enemies. You know, Israel was called to repentance. This was the very essence of what God was doing in his dealings here. It was ultimately to call Israel to repentance that they might see the error of their ways. But notice, friends, there was no call to repentance to Ehud. No call to repentance to the Moabites or the Ammonites or the Amalekites. It was simply judgment. That's what it was. There was no mercy in it whatsoever. There was no room for repentance. I know there is a great debate amongst commentators regarding Ehud. Was he a murderer or was he an assassin? Or what was he? Was he a judge? Was he acting under orders from the Lord as such to do what he did? Well, commentators are divided over the matter. But surely if you would say that he was an assassin and a murderer, does it not detract from what he did? I'm of the opinion that I do believe in some sense he was acting under the direct order of God himself. Now, we might find that unpalatable. But what we say, we always realize that, shall not the judge of all the earth do that which was right? And here was someone who was a wicked individual, and God was executing judgment upon him. And God is not someone whom answers to us. He does as he pleases. And whatever our opinion regarding Ehud, It should cause us to tremble and to realize something of the great God that we're dealing with. He's not to be trifled with. He is someone that we are to reverence and to respect. You notice that, friends, when Ehud says to him, I have a message from God unto thee. We are told here in that verse, in our text in verse 20, and he arose out of his seat. This has been recorded for us that we might realize that this large and this fat man who was sitting down, when he heard that there was a message from God unto him, he rose up. He showed some reverence, and he showed some respect. Exactly what he thought of this God, we do not know. But the point is that Scriptures want us to realize that this man, who was incredibly fat, had to rise up from his seat. And that would cause him no small amount of inconvenience and effort. But he did believe that he was receiving a message from God. And it wasn't for him to sit down. It wasn't for him to be in a slovenly manner. He believed he was going to get a message from God and therefore he was going to stand up and show some kind of reverence and some kind of respect to this God and to this message. Do we realize that The Word of God is a message from God for us, that the whole of this book is a message from God. This is not the minister's message. This is not the church's message. This is not the church's word. This is the word of the living God. This is a message from God. And ultimately, of course, the gospel is a message from the living God. This is God's final and complete revelation to mankind. This has come from heaven itself. This has been authored in heaven. This is God's great Word and last and full and final and complete Word to mankind. And therefore, friends, does it not behove us to treat this message with reverence and with respect? Should we not come to the house of God prepared? Is this not something that's required of us? Here we are gathered together in the name which is above every name, that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we are under His word. Here we are seeking to receive a message from God. Have we in any sense prepared ourselves for this? Have we come out of our seats as such? Or does this pagan show us up? He was one who put out some effort and showed some outward reverence and outward respect for this message. And this message to him was a message of death, a message of judgment, a message that he was going to be ushered into eternity without any hope of repentance, without any hope in this world. He was gone, moments. And as he was there, he stood before Ehud. And it may well be that Ehud, being a left-handed man, was able to salute his suzerain, and as he did that, Ehud got up, and he had no thought or no thought of danger whatsoever. Here was Ehud before him saluting, and as he got up, Ehud would use his left hand and take his sword or dagger from the right hand and thrust it into him. Suddenly, rushed into eternity. If this man showed reverence and respect for that message, friends, that message from God, that terrible message, how much more reverence and how much more respect should we show? Is it not true that we deserve exactly the same as Eglon does? Yet, the message that comes from heaven to us, friends, in its fullness in the Lord Jesus Christ, is not a message of condemnation. It is not a message of death. It is not a message of damnation. It's a message of life. It's a message of grace. It's a message of mercy. This is what it is, friends. Oh, that we would grasp this, that we would see our terrible plight before God and the glorious and wonderful provision that He has laid on for us in Christ. For God so loved the world. We're not afraid to quote it again. For God so loved the world. That's the message of the Christian gospel. that God is love and He has showed the full extent of His love in sending forth Jesus Christ? Should this not cause our ears to prick up? Should we not listen, as it were, for eternity? when we have this wonderful, glorious message of the love of God shown in the incarnation of the Son of God and in His death and resurrection. Oh, friends, should we not have a thousand tongues to sing this glorious message? Should we not open the windows and proclaim this to all who will hear a wonderful, glorious message from God, not a message of condemnation, but a message of grace, a message of mercy to every single one of us, to all who will hear. That's the message. That's a glorious message. And friends, it surely behoves us to stir ourselves up and not to think, It's the gospel again. We've heard this so often before. Have we lost the ability to delight in the grace of God? You know, friends, I'm sure you do. I'm just going to remind you. You know, friends, there's no message of hope for the angels that have fallen. There's no gospel for them. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't take upon himself their nature. When they fell, black as darkness is reserved for them, but not for sinful mankind. No, God in Christ is out there to reconcile us unto himself. That's the message, a message that he who didn't get And that's a message that all mankind is to receive. Go, preach the gospel to the ends of the earth, and lo, I am with you until the end of time. That's what he says in the Word of God. And you know here, Ehud was prepared by God ultimately for his task and his role. He was a left-handed man. And in Latin, it's sinister. That's what a left-handed man is known in Latin. And we might think to ourselves as Ehud stood before him and saluted him and outwardly respected him, yet he was going about to instantly kill him. There was some kind of falsehood in Ehud. There was some kind of deception in him, we might say. He was showing outward respect to Eglon, but secretly he was waiting for that opportunity to slay him. You know, the message that God has given to us from heaven, there is no underhand message here. There is nothing slight of hand in this message. In other words, friends, I wish to impress upon you that the gospel message, that glorious message that has come from heaven, is indeed a well-meant message. It is a genuine message. It is real. It is honest. There's no sleight of hand in this message from God. The message is genuine. If we will repent, if we will believe, we shall receive eternal life. That's the real message. That is true. That is genuine. Whatever your opinion of Ahud, He ultimately wanted the destruction of Eglon. But the message from heaven is ultimately, in some sense, God wants, seeks, desires, if you like, the salvation of sinners, and He is glorified in the salvation of sinners. And therefore, we are to treat that message as an indication of the mind and the will and the heart of God. It's real. It's genuine. We don't say for one minute that all shall be saved. We don't say that. We don't believe that. But nevertheless, friends, we believe in the in the gospel, that it is a well-meant, genuine, sincere offer to all who will respond unto it. There is nothing underhand in the message from heaven, in this good news of the gospel. And finally and thirdly, We might notice, as we continue to focus on these words, I have a message from God unto thee. It was a message of encouragement, as well as being a message to the people of God, reminding them of their sinful past, and as well as being a message of judgment to the enemies of God, reminding them that their end will be in view. But it was also, thirdly, a message of encouragement. Because in verse 30, we're told here, after the fighting, so Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel, and the land had rest fourscore years. For 80 years, the land had rest. And the word here, rest, is peace. It's shalom. And it doesn't simply mean the absence of war or civil unrest. It means that, but more than that. It means a state of blessedness. a state of covenant blessedness. This is what the Israelites knew. After God had sent them the Deliverer, and after he had subdued his enemies, they entered into a wonderful period of four or eight decades. fourscore years, 80 years of peace, of blessedness, of felicity, of happiness in the promised land. And God had surely visited them and given them what they needed and what they really wanted. Well, we can surely apply this to ourselves. Is this not one of the fruits of the gospel? Is this not what every Christian in some sense experiences when they begin to follow the Lord Jesus Christ? The hostility between themselves and God is removed. Their conscience is now at peace. They're never troubled the way they were before. And they've entered into a period of peacefulness when they have stopped kicking against the goats, or the goads, as it was in Paul's case, when they've laid aside all their resistance and rebellion, and when they have begun to embrace Christ and to follow Him and to see that His way is the best way. Is it not true, Christian, you know something of this? Peace, wonderful peace. Oh yes, you'll have your disappointments, you'll have your fighting against the world, the flesh, and the devil, but oh, it's nothing like the fight you had against the living God. Is that not true? You can fight the world, you can fight the flesh, you can fight the devil with the help of the Holy Spirit that's in you by regeneration. And this, is this not something you've known and experienced? Peace. Peace with God. And also the peace of God. Oh, what the world would love to have. Oh, what the world would love to possess, and in some sense is seeking for, but it will never find it because it's only to be found in Jesus Christ. as the people were never going to be happy in the land until they served the Lord? They were never going to know peace from their enemies until they had God, as it were, their leader, their captain, and the one they follow? Is this something you know, Christian? This is from God. And in amongst this, terrible moral and spiritual decay, God brings peace. Peace. Wonderful, divine peace. Shalom. And this is what we have in the gospel. This is what Jesus Christ brings to all. Wonderful, glorious peace. I know that we would know more of it And this truly is a message of encouragement to us. This is what God brings. And this is our portion in and through Jesus Christ, the Lord. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. Amen. And may God bless his word to us. Let us pray together.