KJV Sermon Outlines

RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES

INTRODUCTION: THE WORLD IS PASSING BY US EVER SO QUICKLY! THE PRESS AND THE MEDIA EXPRESS THEIR VIEWS OF THE CURRENT STATUS OF MAN-KIND. EVERY MAN OR WOMEN IS DOING THAT WHICH IS RIGHT IN THEIR OWN EYES. BUT THERE IS A GREAT CONSEQUENSE FOR THIS PHILOSOPHY.

TEXT: JUDGES 21: 25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

FAMILY FEUD LEAVES 69 BROTHERS DEAD!
POWERFUL GOVERNMENT LEADER CAUGHT IN “LOVE NEST.”
GANG RAPE LEADS TO VICTIM’S DEATH AND DISMEMBERMENT.
GIRLS AT PARTY KIDNAPPED AND FORCED TO MARRY STRANGERS.
WOMAN JUDGE SAYS TRAVELERS NO LONGER SAFE ON HIGHWAYS.

Sensational headlines like these are usually found on the front page of supermarket tabloids, but the above headlines actually describe some of the events narrated in the Book of Judges.1-1 What a contrast they are to the closing chapters of the Book of Joshua, where you see a nation resting from war and enjoying the riches God had given them in the Promised Land. But the Book of Judges pictures Israel suffering from invasion, slavery, poverty, and civil war.
What happened?

I. A NEW GENERATION (GENERATION X)

A. APATHY

1. UNCONCERNED

2. INDIFFERENT

3. DULLNESS

4. PASSIVENESS

B. APOSTASY

1. FALLING AWAY FROM

2. DEFECTION

3. DESERTION

4. ABANDONMENT

C. ANARCHY

1. LAWLESS CONFUSION

2. CHAOS

3. DISORDER

4. TURMOIL

The nation of Israel quickly decayed after a new generation took over, a generation that knew neither Joshua nor Joshua’s God. “And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, that He did for Israel . . . and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:7, 10; and see Josh. 24:31). Instead of exhibiting spiritual fervor, Israel sank into apathy; instead of obeying the Lord, the people moved into apostasy; and instead of the nation enjoying law and order, the land was filled with anarchy. Indeed, for Israel it was the worst of times.

II. Deuteronomy 6 outlined the nation’s basic responsibilities:

A. Love and obey Jehovah as the only true God (vv. 1-5);

B. Teach your children God’s laws (vv. 6-9);

C. Be thankful for God’s blessings (vv. 10-15);

D. Separate yourself from the worship of the pagan gods in the land of Canaan (vv. 16-25).

E. Unfortunately, the new generation failed in each of those responsibilities. The people didn’t want to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33); they would rather experiment with the idolatry of the godless nations around them. As a result, Israel plunged into moral, spiritual, and political disaster.

III. One of two things was true:

A. Either the older generation had failed to instruct their children and grandchildren in the ways of the Lord,

B. Or, if they had faithfully taught the new generation and they had refused to submit to God’s Law and follow God’s ways. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Prov. 14:34).

The Book of Judges is the record of that reproach, and the first two chapters describe four stages in Israel’s decline and fall.

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