Let's open our Bibles, please, to the book of Judges. Book of Judges, chapter 3. Begin reading with verse 5. And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons and served their gods. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served Balaam and the groves. Therefore, the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sewed them into the hand of, and I'm not even gonna try to pronounce his name, but King of Mesopotamia, and the children of Israel served that king eight years. And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel and went out to war. And the Lord delivered that king of Mesopotamia into his hand, and his hand prevailed against that king. And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel, the son of Kinez, died. Father, we come tonight, and as we attempt to learn from this young man. May you help us to present thy word faithfully, and may we look at him as an example for us to follow. And even upon his death, there are lessons that we can still learn. I pray that you would speak through me to your people in Jesus' name. Amen. For several years now, we've been looking at different Bible characters. For the last year, year and a half, I found a website that listed every single name in the Bible with a brief description of who or what they were. So I switched to that list to keep me in line, and we're down to the Os. And as I go through, I skip over a lot of names that are only mentioned one time, and we have no idea what they were or anything else. But as I got down to the Os, I looked at several people in that list of Os, And I like to... pick out characters that are lesser known, perhaps, than some of the other characters, because personally, I can identify more with some of the lesser known characters than I can men like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and even King David. I can read about Elijah and I can learn a lot from Elijah, but in my personal life, I don't feel very much like Elijah most of the time. I read of Abraham, the friend of God. Most of the time, I don't measure up to Abraham. I read of Moses, the only man that ever spoke face to face with God. The only man that ever saw the hinder part of God's glory. And I read Moses and I learn from Moses. Most of the time, I don't feel that I measure up anywhere near to the level of Moses. These men were great and famous. I don't think I will ever be either. So I go to lesser-known people, people that Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1. Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and I feel very comfortable in this group, Paul said that God had not chosen not many wise, mighty, or noble among the church there at Corinth. Instead, God chose the foolish, the weak, the base, and things which were despised. I can fill it home with not being wise, mighty, or noble. I can fit right in with foolish, weak, base, despised. Othniel would fit somewhere in between those two groups, but he's not one of the major characters in the Bible. And so while he may not be a major character, there are a few things that I think we can learn from, particularly the last point. when we see his death and what happened. First question I thought of is who is Othniel? Well, the Bible tells us, both in Judges and in Joshua, that he was the nephew of Caleb. Who was Caleb? At the time that this book was written, Caleb was probably still alive and still had an influence over part of Israel. If you don't remember Caleb, he was one of the 12 spies that went into the Promised Land and came back and gave a report. Ten of the spies said, we cannot do it. Joshua and Caleb both said, if God be for us, we can. If God goes with us, we can. And so Joshua and Caleb became the only two men out of two and a half million people that were allowed to enter into the actual promised land. Caleb was a great man of faith. Caleb was a man that was willing to trust God no matter what the circumstances look like. The ten spies said there are giants in the land. And we'll see in just a second when Caleb was 80 years old. Think about that. 80 years old. Children of Israel are in the promised land. They are dividing the land up by tribes. Moses had promised Joshua and Caleb their own plot of land individually rather than just a plot in their particular tribes. So when it comes time to pick out their plot, 80 years old, Caleb says, I want that city and I want that parcel of land because that's where the giants are that Israel was so afraid of. That's where the giants are that Israel refused to go in. I said 40 years ago God could deliver those giants. And now at 80, I'm going to prove to you that God could indeed. And so at 80 years old, he could have chosen any plot of land in the entire region of Canaan, but he chose the city where the giants lived to show that God could still defeat them. Talk about a man of faith. Othniel grew up under the influence of Uncle Caleb. Sometimes we wonder what influence we have on people. I believe that family does or at least should matter in our influence. If I can't influence my own family, how can I influence the world? I didn't say save my family. But I should have influence that when they look at me, when they are around me, I have enough influence that they respect me and at least listen to what I say. Caleb had influence over Othniel that carried on into the life of Othniel. Now, I put number two in here just for fun. Caleb was single. I'm sorry, Othniel was single. Caleb had a daughter about the same age as Othniel. Don't know anything about her looks. Don't know anything about her intelligence. Don't know anything about anything other than Caleb, in Joshua chapter 15, Caleb made an offer. And he said, he that smiteth, courgeth sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Aksah, my daughter, to wife. Now, I put this in for funny. As a father, I have one daughter. As a father, I'm not sure that I would say whoever goes out and defeats the enemy can have my daughter to marry. That's basically what Caleb did. Anybody that defeats the enemy, I will give my daughter in marriage. Still going back to Joshua 15, 17, Aphniel, the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it, that is the city, and he gave him his daughter to wife. How many of us would be married if we had to go out, fight a war, and win in order to get our wife? I had to do something similar, not exactly the same, I had to ask Kathy's dad for permission to marry her. None of you had the privilege of meeting Jack, but I'm telling you, I think I would have almost rather faced a den of lions than have to ask Jack for permission to marry his daughter. I did. For the life of me, I don't know why he said yes. And years later, he couldn't remember why he said yes. But 52 years later, we're still together. But I can think of this and, okay, you want my daughter? Not only do you have to ask, you have to go out and win a war. you have to go out and fight. And the city that he had to fight was also a city that was probably inhabited by giants. We put that together because of its location and the genealogy that is associated. You want my daughter? Go fight. Go defeat that city. Go kill those giants. And if you survive, I'll give you my daughter in marriage." Othniel fought and won and married Caleb's daughter, which would be his cousin. And we'll get into that sometime, but back then, that was perfectly legal and moral and genetically okay back then. But how would you like to get your wife by fighting a battle? Would it be worth it? Don't answer. Smart man. Number three. Notice the wickedness of the day. Still staying in Judges here. Look in in verse 6 of Judges chapter 3. Look in verse 6. They let down God's law of marriage. I have not always taken this position. But many years ago, many years ago, I came to the position that as pastor, I will not marry two people Maybe I better clarify. I will not marry a man and a woman. Two people could be, yeah, you know. I personally will not marry a man and a woman who are not both saved and who both have the same doctrinal foundation. I didn't always practice that. In my early years, the couples that I married, 50% of them ended up in divorce. And I began looking and trying to figure out what is wrong here. And slowly, I came to the position Not only must they both be saved, they both must be members of sister churches who believe in practice like we do. I know I have some good friends who will marry anybody. They'll marry, you know, a Catholic and a Baptist. They'll marry a Hindu and a Muslim. They'll marry almost anybody they will give an account to God. But I have seen so many people destroyed because of who they married. I had a lady, this was back Wow. Prehistoric times. She married against everybody's advice. She married a lost man against everybody's advice. Everybody told her you're making a mistake. Everybody told her you're violating God's law. Everybody told her She married him anyway. Years later, she came back to me, and she said, I made a mistake. And it's like, duh. How many times were you told? They ended up, he had more women than Percy has candy bars. They ended up in divorce, and that's when, after the divorce, she came to me and said, pastor, well, I wasn't her pastor, but she said, if you ever need an example of somebody that made a mistake, feel free to use me. And I looked at her and I said, honey, I've got so many examples of people that ignored God's word, ignored God's instructions. I've got more examples of shipwrecked marriages. I've got more example of wrecked homes. I've got more examples than I can ever count. I don't need another example, sorry. You see, when we start letting down our standards on marriage, we're inviting trouble. Now, I know, I've heard it for over 50 years, because I was hearing this even before I got married. Well, I know what the Bible says, but he'll change. I remember I was teaching high school years ago, and I don't remember what book we were studying, but it dealt with marriage, and I was bringing out how that the Bible is very clear. Christians only marry Christians of like faith and practice. One of my students raised her hand. She said, Mr. Ellis. And I said, yes. Her name. She said, my mom married a lost man and God saved him. So I disagree with you. And I was a lot younger and didn't have the patience I do now. I said, just because God in grace saved your dad doesn't make it right. It's never right to disobey God's Word even if God in grace saves that person. It doesn't do away with the fact that you disobeyed God's Word. So in that verse, they compromised on marriage. In verse 7, they did evil in the sight of the Lord. They didn't just flirt around with evil, they did evil. And they did evil in the plain sight of God Himself. There was no fear of God. There was no fear of God's Word. There was no fear of consequences. They did evil. and they did it in the sight of the Lord, knowing what they were doing, and knowing what God said about it, they did evil anyway in the sight of the Lord. Not only that, but in verse 7, they forget the Lord their God. We are living Well, we're not living. We are seeing a generation of people who do not know the Lord. And I take that, I mean that very seriously. They have forgotten the Lord. Even the ones that grew up in church, they have been so influenced by the world that even though they grew up in church, they have forgotten the Lord. He's not in their thoughts. He's not in their actions. Not only that, but they went even farther and served Balaam, who was one of the false idols of their day. They served Balaam and the groves. They went from serving God to now forsaking God, forgetting God, and worshiping outright idols. Folks, America is right there today. If you don't believe it, see if you can get permission to sit in some of the classes in public schools and hear firsthand what's being taught. I mentioned this morning, some of us were talking after church. They are teaching kindergartners. What is that, five, roughly five years old? that if you want to be a girl, you can be a girl. Somebody sent me a cartoon, and it was taken back in the early, taken from the early 1900s. Not the cartoon, but the story of it. This little girl is sitting there beside her mom, her mom is knitting, and the little girl says, Mom, I think I'm a boy. And the mom looked over and said, no, you're not. Kept right on knitting. No discussion, no, well, what makes you think that, honey? Why do you think you, what can we do to help you express your feelings? Mom just looked over and said, no, you're not. End of discussion. But that's not so now. We are now worshipping the gods of transition. We are now worshipping the gods of homosexuality. We are now worshipping the gods of total indecency. I'm almost scared to go to Kroger's anymore. I'm scared of what I'm gonna see before I get out of there. They compromised in marriage. They forsook God and did open, deliberate, willful, knowing evil. And they didn't try to hide it or cover it up. And then they forget God. And then they soon were worshiping idols. That was the circumstances Othniel lived in. He lived in a generation that had totally forgotten God. In verses 9 and 10, Othniel did that which was right in the sight of God. But I want to notice in verse 9, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord. Now if you read back through Judges, things got really, really bad before the children of Israel began to pray and ask God for help. I have told many people I have told several of our own members, I've told friends, I've told family, I've told multitudes of people, what is God going to have to do to get you to pray and ask for him? What is God going to have to do Things got really bad for Israel. The king put them under bondage. And when things got so bad is when they begin to pray and call out to God. And when they begin to pray and call out to God, God raised up a deliverer in verse 9 who delivered them, but not until they began to pray and call out to God. Ocneo, when called of God, defeated the enemy, in verse 10, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. Without the Spirit of God, Ocneil would not have been able to win. He won because the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. And that's the only way you and I will ever win this spiritual battle. Now, in Judges chapter 3 and verse 12, Well, verse 11, Ahmael died. Immediately after his death, verse 12, the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord raised up another enemy. who put them in bondage. And in verse 14, they served Eglon for 18 years. No sooner had Othniel died than the people forsook the very way that he had taught them. Now, I want to bring this down to 2024. And I have seen this in churches that I would never, never, never have believed, never have believed. They call a pastor. He preaches the Bible strong. He stands firm on the word of God. He not only preaches, but he indoctrinates. And there's a huge difference between preaching and indoctrinating. And while he's there, the church follows. And in many cases, I think of one church particularly, God was blessing, they were growing, they were growing, God was saving, God was adding to the church, and the church was doing great. God was blessing abundantly. The pastor had some major, major, major health problems that forced him to resign as pastor. Compared to him, I don't have any health problems at all. He dies or the pastor moves him somewhere else. In that church where one church I'm thinking of, the pastor spent almost 30 years And I knew him. He was as straight as an arrow, stood on the word of God. They called another man who, to this day, I can't even shake his hand if I see him. When they called him, I knew they made a big mistake. It wasn't long until he got an opportunity for a better position. And they called another pastor. Now that's three pastors. One, two, now number three. And the last I heard He was leading the church to be open to homosexuality, lesbians, and I'm sure by now he's probably including transgenders. And his logic is, well, we want them to know we love them. And what shocked me is the church went right along and never even questioned it. I know what they were taught. I knew their first pastor knew him well. Second pastor, he was a good fake. And I'll leave it there. I believed this, but he really didn't. And by the time they got to pastor number three, they were openly inviting gays, lesbians, and like I said, I'm sure by now, they probably have opened up for trans. And it started with one man having a major brain tumor that left him in a totally unstable mental condition, and he stepped down in that church that was known throughout that whole community, now is not even close, not even close to what they once believed and taught. They began to compromise on doctrine. Well, election really isn't that important, and I know election can be very, very hard. That's why I said this morning, don't try to figure it out because none of you are smart enough to figure out what God and His sovereignty chose to do. None of us are smart enough to figure it out. It's there, I believe it, but if you said you have to understand it, I would fail miserably. Ocneil was a great great man who won a great, great victory, but as soon as he died, the children of Israel went right back to their same old sins. Which comes to me. How many of you know And you can raise your hand on this one. Which one of the churches that the Apostle Paul started is still in existence today? Do you know which one is still in existence today? 2,000 years later, which church that Paul started is still in existence today? Anybody know? None of them. Not one single church that the Apostle Paul started and taught and nurtured, not one of them is in existence today. The seven churches in Revelation, the seven churches of Asia, Not one single one of those seven churches are in existence today. Even in Revelation, God threatened to remove the lampstand from one of the churches He threatened to spew one of them out of their mouth. Why? Because even in the days of the Apostle Paul, in the days of the Apostle Peter, in the days of Deacon Stephen, in the days when they were still alive and still preaching, the natural tendency is always to depart from the truth. And so every one of those churches departed from the truth and ceased to exist. God's church didn't cease because God always raised up other churches to carry on the doctrines. But those individual churches died. Now, here's my question. Was Paul and Peter and the other apostles, were they failures because the churches they started departed from truth? And the answer should be very simple. No. They were faithful but you can't control what people do when they're no longer under your control and influence. I used to criticize pastors when I was young, knew everything. Wow, their kids got married and dropped out of church And then I finally realized, same thing with some of our members. My wife and I were talking recently about people over the years. All you can do, all I can do, all we can do is preach the word, stand on the word, fight for the word if necessary, and then what they do with it is between them and the Lord. I can't make you serve God. I can warn you, I can tell you, but if you reject it, you and you only will give an account to God for the deeds you have done. Father, we come at this time