A Cubit Length
by David McGovern
February 23, 2025 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Judges 3:15-21, Exodus 30, Genesis 6

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-mcgovern--a-cubit-length
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Judges chapter 3 and verse number 15 we're going to read about six verses of scripture if that's all right with you but when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord the Lord raised them up a deliverer Ehud the son of Gira a benjamite a left-handed man and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto the iglon the king of Moab but Ehud made made him a dagger which had two edges of a cubit length everybody say of a cubit length and he didur it under his reignment upon his right thigh and he brought the present unto iglon king of Moab and iglon was a very fat man sometimes the Bible just tells you how it is no no punches pulled here iglon was a very fat man and when he had made an end to offer the present he sent away

the people that bear the present verse 19 but he himself turned again from the quaries that were by a gilgal and said I have a secret errand unto thee O King who said Keep silence and all that stood by him went out from him and Ehud came into him and was sitting in a summer parlor which he had for himself alone and Ehud said I've got a message from God unto thee and he arose out of his seat and eood put forth his left hand then took the dagger from his right thigh thrust it into the belly of iglon I need to confess something this morning to this congregation I've got to come clean with you I've been carrying a weight for a couple of years now and I just can't bear the guilt in the shame any longer and since confession is not only

good for the soul but it's a biblically required mandate for healing and restoration and forgiveness here goes I stole a bottle of superglue from Lowe's I feel better I got that off my chest well you didn't have to clap you didn't have to clap at that but Don't Clap yet okay you'll clap in a minute I'm a thief but I do thank God there's biblical precedent in the gospels for Jesus allowing a thief to get into heaven and all my fellow criminals Said Amen to that and those that didn't amen that well such were some of you just don't want to admit it but your suit's not fooling me today I know some of you lived a life before Jesus amen but let me just explain to you as I set the stage for what I'm preaching today I'm preaching a cubit length on

this Mission Sunday and I'm going to give you some context to this criminal confession by firstly saying I did go back and pay for the glue you can clap it that part because I made it right but here's the story in the scenario in 2020 my wife and I were celebrating 15 years of marriage we planned a trip to Hawaii and we were ready to go and then it was 2020 and then so that didn't work out and so we planned it again for 2021 and then 2021 happened and so that didn't work out either so in 20122 we are now finally able to take our 15-year anniversary trip we are mere hours from our trip and I decided to go on an early morning bike ride and somewhere on a bike ride in the San Fernando Valley in the northern portion

of Los Angeles I lost my wallet probably some I was going to need in order to travel so I'm going to spare you all the details of my frantic wallet finding Expedition which involved my daughter anave and I backtracking all of the miles in the car twice trying to Ping the tile card in my wallet a trip to the LAPD substation the calls to the hotel and the Airlines and the TSA trying to somehow figure out if there were a way that I could possibly travel for seven days without any identification or methods of payment we get about two hours into the search time is running out and I finally get a ping on my wallet the good news my wallet's been found the bad news it's somewhere in a large shopping plaza so anab and I we go to every store in every

restaurant and every Bank in the center we even dug through trash cans it's not our finest day all of this to discover that some well-meaning yet simpl minded individual had found my wallet and bypassing 20 stores and two Banks and eight restaurants and a Starbucks and a Jamba Juice and a cold Stone had thoughtfully slid my wallet through the mail slot of the only vacant storefront in this entire shopping plaza and through padlock glass double doors we could hear the jingle of my tile locator card in my wallet and there we saw my wallet lying on the floor on the other side of the glass door tried to slide my arm into the mail slot that did not work anave tried is try try as she might she was just a bit short so I remembered I've got a golf club in my car and

so I try to get the golf club and I'm trying to shimmy up this wallet you know alongside the glass and just get it up enough to where we could reach in and grab it and it just Mr Allan it just wouldn't work try as we might we just kept falling short and then Ana had an incredible idea I've never been more proud of my daughter she said Daddy what if we put a little superglue on the top of the grip of the golf club and we put it upside down and plopped it on top of the wallet and let the superglue fuse up to the wallet and then we could pull the wallet up and out and I've have never she clearly she gets her brains from her mom and I kissed her I said you're a genius and we went to Lowe's down

the street and we found superglue and I run to the checkout register to buy the super glue only to remember that I don't have a wallet but this is our last hope our flight's leaving our trip is on the line I look at the super glue I look at the door and I had a choice right there I had a choice mistakes were made right I mean I had a choice I looked at the glue I looked at the door you can judge me all you want that's all right I'm getting on a plane in a couple hours and I'm going back to LA judge me go for it all right but I had a choice to make I probably could have thought this through a little better I probably could have talked to a manager or something I wasn't thinking straight I

had a choice to make right then and there and I looked at the glue and I looked at the door and then I looked at the Lord and I asked for forgiveness preemptively and I close my eyes and I I've never stolen anything in my life and I walk out the door of Lowe's with crazy glue in my hand and fully expecting to get tackled by security we run like Bandits Amen to the car and we speed off and some of you know that life you know that life and you know but I don't know that life my hands are shaking I've got sweaty you know sweat on my forehead but we get back to where the wallet is I put you know the glue on the deal and stick it to the wallet it worked like a charm arm I got my wallet

back and then of course we drove to Lowe's and paid for it and I repented of my temporary sin it was a temporary sin I created a new category of sin right now it was a temporary sin but I just had to get that off my chest I had to confess that on a Sunday afternoon my premise today as you probably figured out on your own is that sometimes try as you might you just can't reach it on your own you're close you're right there but it's a cubit short you can see it you can sense it but you're just a little short there are times when you need something there are moments in your life where try as you might you just don't quite measure up you just can't quite get what you're reaching for you there are moments in your life

where you need a little help you need a little resource you need an assist you don't need much you just need a little help to extend your reach ehu did not need the whole arsenal he just needed a dagger it was a small blade of a cubit length it was nothing big it was nothing fancy it was just a cubit it's just a cubit that's all all he needed he was a cubit short of his goal he was a foot and a half shy he didn't need the whole tool chest he didn't need the whole arsenal you don't need the most expensive resources and you don't need all the fancy tools sometimes there are moments when you're so close to changing the world there are moments when you're so close to making an impact in the kingdom of God and in

the world that you live and in the city that you live and you don't need all the fancy you just need something to give you that that extra cubits worth of reach perhaps you're here today this Sunday because you're trying but you feel a little short you're trying but you need a little help just a cubit length God's brought you so far but you need this little nudge you need this little encouragement of a cubit length God has blessed you beyond measure but you need that little breakthrough today you need that altar of a cubit length today you come to this service this morning God's working on you but you're still at war with yourself and you're still wrestling with some doubts and maybe wrestling with some insecurities today you just need that Cubit voice from God just the still Small Voice you don't

even need the booming voice as nice as that would be you don't need the whole earthquake and the fire you just need that whisper just just that little voice from God to come in just that cubit voice of God to come in and say it's going to be okay and I've got you and I've got your family and I've got your future and God maybe God's done a work in your family but God's done a work in your kids and God's done a work on your spouse and try as you might you're reaching but it just seems slightly out of your grasp you're you're not defeated but maybe you're fighting discouragement today you you're not backsliding but maybe you're battling some stuff today you don't need the whole program on a Sunday you just need a little power you're not at the

end of your rope you're just at the end of your reach it's a cubit length you can get close you can almost touch it you can almost possess it God's brought you so far already but it's just that without that Cubit of help you can't get your hands on it you don't need the biggest tool just a little dagger just a cubit just just just just just a little bit but without it you won't get there Center Point God's been good to you God's been so good to you it's evident I look around this Sanctuary today and I see the goodness of God in the land of the Living God has been good to this group of people I see a church an Apostolic Church in this city I look Beyond just the resources they're nice I look Beyond just the facility and the property

they're nice this is an amazing property but God I look at the people here today and I say God's been good to you amen you're you're you God has brought this church so far I've got to hear a little bit Bishop the priest and the story of Centerpoint just a little bit from Pastor Allen and it is evident how far God has brought this church and how much God is using this church and positioning this church for the Elkin to make an impact in our world today you've got a vision not just for Murphy's Burrow but you've got a vision for global missions and you've got a vision for North American missions you're reaching out and you're helping my city you're reaching out and you're helping missionaries in Greece and all over the world today and I'm here to tell somebody

God's been good to you you're not at the end of your rope you're not even close but I tell somebody today that you're at the end of your reach you can't go any further than this without a little bit more your Ingenuity is good but it's a cubit short your creativity is high but it's a cubit short your ability is strong but it's a cubit short your Unity is admirable but it's a cubit short your efforts are excellent and this is an excellent place this is a church of Excellence but I'm preaching to somebody today it's still a cubit short your arms and your hands will not take you any further than this to reach your god-given place to reach your god-given vision to conquer the enlarged principalities and powers of this region to build a church that can set free the captives of Middle

Tennessee to build a church that's going to affect a nation and affect a world we're going to need everybody in this room reaching just a cubit more everybody in this room serving just a cubit more everybody in this room giving just a cubit more everybody in this room lining up just a cubit more and saying how can we make a difference we're going to need a cubit more commitment today we're going to need to be a cubit more connected to the body today I need a cubit more Holiness we need a cubit more Unity I've got to have a cubit more love a cubit more giving a cubit more reaching we need a cubit more Bible studies being taught we need a cubit more preaching points being launched it's a cubit length it's a cubit length it it's you don't need the whole you

it's just a cubit and it was this way for Ehud can I tell you today the Book of Judges is the most schizophrenic book in your Bible I'm telling you the predictable patterns of behavior of the people of Israel at this juncture in their history if you read judges man it is equal parts exhilarating and exhausting here's judges The Cliff Notes God delivers his people God blesses his people his people turn to sin their enemies enslave them they come to their senses they cry out to God God raises up a person to deliver them God delivers his people God blesses his people his people turn to you get the idea this goes on for generations and so in the story of Ehud we find this cycle repeating itself yet again the children of Israel now have turned to sin again they've rejected

God and now their sin has caught up to them and they're living yet again under the thumb of an enemy King and under the occupation of an enemy Kingdom and this particular enemy this particular King was a moabit named iglon and iglon according to what we read was a large man specifically iglon had a very large belly and this story takes place in the city of Palms which is Jericho so this is where the walls of Jericho fell down and yet with remnants a place of Victory no I mean eood is commissioned by God and they've been in bondage now to this swollen fattened sinful Kingdom for 18 years and God raises up eood to deliver his people now Ehud was not a king ehod was a judge but you know the judges in the Bible were pretty bad dudes

and he was a benjamite and he was from The Tribe of Benjamin Benjamin was the youngest of the tribes and Benjamin was the second smallest of all the tribes of Israel and Ehud Not only was Ehud a benjamite but Ehud was a left-handed benjamite at that meaning Ehud was one of only 700 left-handed men among the 34,000 men in The Tribe of Benjamin no Ehud was not the biggest Ehud was not the oldest Ehud did not have the most training eh who did not have the most resources eh who didn't even have use the right hand he didn't have a big sword he just had a dagger just a cubit length he didn't even use the same hand he didn't do things the same way that 98% of the rest of the tribe of Benjamin did you might feel underqualified at kinds now you've got

a great church here today but I know how it is you know how it is Pastor you know how it is you never feel like you're able to make a big enough impact it doesn't matter how many how H how many seats you have in this sanctuary and how many spots you have in the park you never feel like you have enough to make an impact we're doing our best I get I look forward to the time I told your pastor this I look forward to the time where I can just get to Pastor a church again we've been doing nothing but fire relief for a month and a half almost two months now and I it just never feels like enough I step back and I see what we've done I'm thankful for it amen but it's you never feel

like you're able to make a big enough impact this is a great church you've got resources but you may not have all the resources you need you may not have all the properties and all the finances that you desire you might have to do things a little different sometimes that 98% of the rest of the churches in your region you might feel like a left-handed benjamite sometimes but Ehud knew something and I think we apostolics know something this morning Ehud said this king is large this king is swollen but I have the power to bring him down I can bring freedom and deliverance to this city because God is with me and God has called me and God has Raised Me Up and raised this church up for such a time as this we can bind together we can work together and we

can bring freedom into this community yes iglon is a big problem and in order to accomplish this task I'm going to need a little more but I don't need much I just need a cubit length so eood makes a dagger a cubit length because a cubit was enough to pierce through the belly of the Beast and strike a fatal blow to the wickedness that had its thumb on Israel my resources might be limited my hands might be limited my ways and means might be limited but if you just give me a cubit you just give me a little help you just give us a little more the territory is hostile but we can take it the powers of this city are wicked but we can take it the belly of darkness is swollen in this generation but there's a church in Murphy's bur that's getting

a hold of a cubit today and saying we can pierce it we don't need much just a small small blade just a cubit more just a little more we can cut down the enemy I don't need the whole spear I don't need the sword I don't need the whole arsenal I just need a cubid I just need a cubid I don't have to have the biggest and the best and the latest and the greatest as nice as all that would be all we need in Murphy's Burrow today is a few people that say I'll get behind the vision I'll get behind the vision I'll get just a cubit more faith just a cubit more vision Vision just a cubit more effort just a cubit more prayer and fasting just a cubit more power just a cubit more worship just a cubit more commitment you're here

today and you're your pastor mentioned this if you're a guest here today we're happy you're here there's no pressure on you to give but if you're a member here today this is your Cubit this is your Cubit right here this is that little extra that you needed to get a hold of this and say with just a cubit we can bring down the forces of the enemy in this generation with just a cubit we can push back the darkness in this city and in this region just a cubit can silence the enemy just a cubit can Dethrone a wicked King just a cubit can end the reign of unrighteousness in a city and set the captives of a region free just a cubit just a cubit you don't you might not have millions to give to missions and feel like once I get

give Millions to give to missions will really affect the world you don't you might not have that today if you have it give it that'd be great but if you don't have it this is your Cubit right here you don't need the whole arsenal it's just a cubit when God gave Moses the dimensions of the incense alter in Exodus 30 he told him to make it a cubit wide and a cubit long and sweet incense would be burned at that altar morning and evening to remind the children of Israel that their prayers were pleasing to the Lord it is said that the aroma from the altar of incense could be smelled a quarter mile away hey just a cubit of an altar can affect the atmosphere of a neighborhood you can change your neighborhood with just a cubit you go home and you buil some

altars at home you can change the whole dynamic of your city when God gave Noah the dimensions of the Ark and genes 66 there was specific dimensions and to make an opening a window some translation say a roof one cubit from the top it was that one cubit that God would use to allow enough sunlight and wind on that Ark to sustain life it was that one cubit that Noah would open and send out the Raven three times and send out the dove it was that one cubit that Noah got his answer from the Lord when the dove did not return hey your answer is when you just keep doing what God has called you to do it doesn't feel like a whole lot but it's just a cubit today just a cubid is all we need just a cubid can give us this city

just a cubid so ehu took that little that blade that limited resource he took that little tool and he took that that Cubit long dagger Pastor West ly and he plunged it into the belly of iglon and the swollen power of that city fell on its face and Ehud sneaks out of the city he rallies the men of Israel together and they March back triumphantly into the city of Jericho and they wipe moab's massive Army off the face of the Earth with just a cubit musicians are coming this morning I won't be much longer there was another point in history 1200 years down the line from Ehud Israel is under occupation once again living under the oppression of a fattened and swollen enemy God raises up another unlikely candidate he doesn't come on a white horse he doesn't come riding on the clouds

he came in a Dusty stable not raised as a soldier to overthrow government that raises a carpenter to offer a tool we couldn't do it on our own we tried we tried but we just were a cubit short we couldn't get there by ourselves we tried religion tried it really did but it came up short the law tried it tried really hard but it came up short you could obey all the rules and still come up short so a tool was needed can I tell somebody today that that's what Calvary was the cross was a tool it's not glamorous it's not fancy it's a it's a rudimentary tool it's it's a simple tool he didn't come on a White Horse no not yet he didn't come riding on the clouds No not doing that yet he didn't call down angels yet he

said not yet first things first that big day is coming I'm coming back with all of my glory but not yet Jesus said the big resources are coming The Big Revival is coming but first things first to break the back of hell I just need a basic instrument to end the reign of outsized enemies and principalities I just need a simple tool it wasn't Grand this cross but when crucified flesh met this simple instrument when a submitted will met this basic tool when a surrendered flesh went to a rugged cross it was enough it was enough and that tool pierced the belly of Hell pierced the belly of sin pierced the belly of death it pierced the belly of grave Wes it pierced the belly of dead religion and the Earth Shook and the veil was torn hey when your submission meets Calvary today when

your surrender touches the cross today when when you come to an altar today and you kneel at the feet of Calvary when your crucified flesh gets a hold of this simple tool when you can say not my will but thy will be done I'm telling somebody today in this house that God can do a work in your life the length of a cubit and that's all it's going to need to bring Revival into your family to bring restoration into your home to bring Revival into your neighborhood amen when we just realize that all we need is Jesus when we just realize today that if I bring my Cubit Worth to an altar today and I say God use me use my family use my hands I may not have the biggest tools in the Arsenal but God I can get a

hold of a cubit today and that Cubit will be enough as long as God is in it that cubit's enough as long as the anointings on it that cubits enough I'm preaching to this church today that says in Jesus name I just feel to Proclaim this today I feel to just just prophesy this in Jesus name God's going to use this church amen he's going to use this church not just to affect Murphy's bur but to affect the world you're already sending out missionaries and I already have sent out missionaries I believe there's more I believe there's more Church plants coming I believe there's more daughter works coming it's just a cubit it's just a cubit but God can use that Cubit Murphy's Boro God can use that Cubit Center Point and turn this world upside down upside down upside down I don't

know what your story is today as we all stand I'm getting ready to call this altar call maybe you're here today you've been trying you've been making an effort but you feel just a cubit short maybe you're here today you've never received the Holy Ghost and you've tried you've been to church after church and you've visited place after place and it's just not it's helped but it hasn't been enough I'm here to invite you today to come to this altar God can fill you with his Spirit today you can experience something in this house today that can bridge that Gap amen that can cross that divide today that get you to that place where you say I never I never experienced anything like that I came this far but it wasn't enough that's what the Holy Ghost is amen If you experience the

Holy Ghost in This Place today God's going to bridge that Gap in your life you can experience that today if you've never had the Holy Ghost maybe you're here today and you're healing from the past and you've you you've experience some healing and some help but it just you just need that extra push you just need that extra Touch of God God that's what this altar is today it's just a cubit of an altar it's just a cubit of an altar but I believe that one altar calls enough to bridge that divide to get you to that place of healing amen some of you today you you've come far but you're still Bound by a couple things God's delivered you from some things but you're still Bound by some stuff I don't I don't know maybe it's maybe it's not an addiction maybe it's just

you're bound by your by guilt and by shame from Years Gone by where you haven't been the person that God desired you to be and you're wrestling with shame that's not of the Lord but you know what you need today you just need to come to an altar amen you've come far but it's just not enough but you're going to come to an altar today Lift Your Hands to Heaven and say God I just need that cubic bit of healing I just need that cubic bit of forgiveness I just need that Cub cubic bit of restoration I believe it's going to happen today in Jesus name your family here today A man of God here today you just you you've come so far but you just need that little push that little nudge that little extra cubit's worth and you're here today you've been

coming but God's been calling you know God's calling you that's why God sent me all the way from LA to preach this message to somebody in this room that God's been calling you and you know what you need to do you need to come to this Altar and just give God that Cubit worth of commitment God God that Cubit worth of consecration say God now is the time for me to go all in give you everything going to open these altars today if you need to touch a God in your life I want you to come if you need healing in your body I want you to come if you never receed the gift of the Holy Ghost today I want you to come God's going to touch you God's going to heal you God's going to fill you today in Jesus

name there's somebody else in this room today and this service is a lot more plain for you this service is a lot more clear for you it's just about missions and God's been dealing with you about this right here this is your Cubit I want you to come and I want you to pray God give me a god number your pastor's going to come and do this but I've done enough of these to know what this looks like I give me a god number not a me number a god number Put It In My Heart Lord speak to me it's got to be a work of the spirit today amen God wants to use this church to bring down some principalities and some Powers God wants to use this church to defeat some wickedness in this world to plant some points of light in

dark places to get the Gospel of Jesus Christ taken to the Far Corners of the Earth how many believe today that God can use Centerpoint to take the gospel of the world over so this better be a work of him today that I want to be led by God today I can't make this about me this has got to be about him so you need to come to an altar and you need to say God put a number in my heart you give me the faith to give it and all if you're here today and you need healing and restoration not in your body but in your spirit there's a cubit in this Altar for you today there's a cubit in this Altar for you right now you've read the books you've been in the sessions you're almost there you just can't

reach it on your own come get your healing today there's healing in this altar right now in the name of Jesus God's doing Restoration in this house today I believe it in the name of Jesus right now in the name of Jesus right now if you're here in this house and you feel called of God come to this altar right now say God I'm going to give you a cubit more myself this year Cubit more of me today God I'm giv you a cubit more of my heart Cubit more of my hands and my feet in the name of Jesus what a beautiful touch of the Lord is already in this place today amen God's working and God's moving we're going to worship for just a few moments but I want us to lift our hands and just begin to pray out loud all across

this house and