The book of Hebrews, before we
get over to the book of Judges, turn with me to the book of Hebrews.
We think about this, that the faith that God gives, it causes
the church to trust the great God of heaven, even in the most
dire situations. Now, when we get over to the
book of Judges tonight in chapter nine, we're going to run into
some real situations. And we're not going to read that
whole chapter. We're going to let that be part of your assignment. And we're going to spend our
time on four or five verses over there. But here in the book of
Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1, 2, and 3, we find these words
about faith. God's faith to his people, the
faith of Jesus Christ that has been given to us, it is a fruit
of regeneration. Faith is a fruit of regeneration. It's not something that we come
up with that God honors by giving us regeneration, but it is a
fruit of regeneration. Repentance and faith, all the
other gifts of the spirit are fruits of regeneration. Here
in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1, now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And when
we get to looking at the scripture, we are given grace to believe
what God has to say about something. Now, just for a second, let's
digress, and you know we follow the apostles when they saw that
man born blind. They had their conclusion, but
we have the Lord bringing up, this is the reason. He was born
blind for this purpose. that I might show my power. And
then when we find Lazarus, the Lord could have healed him from
a distance or he could have got there sooner, but he didn't.
He chose not to. And I'm sure the disciples were
a little bit concerned why, and even the sister said, if you'd
have got here sooner, they had that whole mindset. Well, the
Lord got there at the right time. And we're going to find that
throughout the scriptures that the Lord doesn't do things by
accident. He doesn't do anything. And he's
going to have a king raised up over a group of people in the
ninth chapter of the book of Judges that we think is, how
could he ever be there? And yet we're going to find out
that God put him there for a purpose. All right, it says in verse two
of this 11th chapter, for by it the elders obtained a good
report. You know, I think of those 10
that came back with a good report. When I look at this, there was
not a scintilla of difference between those people from when
it came to an inheritance standpoint, from a relationship with the
Abraham standpoint, with a relationship with the law standpoint. But
the only difference was God gave two of them faith, and he did
not give faith to the others. And the whole ruckus that took
place as a result of that, 38 more years of wandering around
in the wilderness as a result of that, and yet we find those
two, I don't find a record or an account in the scriptures
that they complained about those 38 years. They were satisfied
with God, and that's what the church gets to be, is satisfied
with God and how he does his business. And then in verse 3,
through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by
the Word of God. So the first creation was framed
by the Word of God. Everything that we see was created
by God. He's the first purpose of all
things, and we're going to find out that's what he does when
he saves his people. He has to be the first cause.
So it goes on to say, so that things which are seen are not
made of things which do appear. So God did not ask permission
for the solar system to go into its being. He created it from
nothing, absolutely nothing. There was nothing about, except
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And they
exercise their purpose, they exercise their power, they exercise
themselves, and we have the creation given. And that's the same thing
that happens when God saves his people. In the next chapter,
chapter 12, if you would, we find this, in chapter 12, and
verses one and two, wherefore, Hebrews chapter 12, verse one,
wherefore, Seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witness, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us. Verse 2, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. It's going to take
the faith of God's elect, it's going to take the faith of Jesus
Christ to look at some of these things contained in the Old Testament
as well as in the New Testament and see that God is behind it
all. He has a purpose in this, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. So
even he, and all that was required of him, even he, in his every
beating that he went through, all the maliciousness that was
against him, the spitting upon him, the cattle nine tails, He
looked at this as the purpose of God and with joy, he went
through it. So for the joy that was set before
him, he endured the cross and all the things that were there.
So as we look at this, this Judges chapter nine, this chapter is
truly a passage that stresses, if we have not faith given by
God, we will not view that God is behind all things. We're going
to say the devil is, we're going to blame it on something else,
but we find here that God is behind everything, and he shares
that with us. And let us go, if you would,
to the book of Judges, chapter nine. The book of Judges, chapter
nine. And as we pick this up, I think there's four or five
verses that we want to read in this ninth chapter. We spent
some time earlier In part of this chapter and we
looked at last week those that One son of Gideon brought up
the olive tree the fig tree the great bush and Then the bramble
and it appears that these people would rather have bramble They'd
rather have this man rule over them and yet we find out that
Nothing happened without God's eternal purpose. So here in the
book of Judges, chapter 9, and let's start with verse 22. And
on our way there, I want to read this. This came out of a book
that I was been reading. It said, it should fill us with
joy that infinite wisdom guides the affairs of the world. Infinite
wisdom guides the affairs of the world. All the nonsense that
goes on in every generation, in every century, in every millennium,
since the creation and man fell, all of that has wisdom guides
the affairs of the world. Many of its events are shrouded
in darkness and mystery. And when we read some of the
passages of scripture, we find, how does this work? We can't
see the end from the beginning as God does. How's that going
to benefit? How's that going to be a blessing?
It's not for us to discover all of that. It's for us to know
that everything that passes through this world is there by divine
appointment. And God has purposed it. He's
doing exactly what he purposed to do. And so let's just trust
him. We can't figure it out, we can't
dissect it, we can't diagram it, but it's a mystery. But we
have this mystery and there is inextricable confusion sometimes
seems to reign. Often wickedness prevails and
God seems to have forgotten the creatures that he made. Our own
path through life is dark and devious and beset with difficulties
and dangers. How full of consolation is the
doctrine That infinite wisdom directs every event, brings order
out of confusion and light out of darkness. How that comforts
the church to know that all things work together for good to those
who love God, who those are called according to his purpose. Now
we can say that's not for the lost person, that's not for the
goats, but it is for the sheep. And we're gonna find a few of
the sheep along. We're gonna find a remnant according
to the election of grace. And last week we looked, I believe,
at a man that knew the gospel and he presented that word that
God had given to him and then we don't hear from him again.
It's not the messenger, it is the message. Paul died, Peter
died, John died, but guess what? We still have the word that the
Holy Spirit gave them, and we call it our Bible. Moses is dead. Samuel, all the rest of the writers
are dead, but we have their word. Now in Judges chapter nine, I'd
like to read verses 22, 23, and 24. And then we're going to the
last two verses of this chapter, and you can pick up those rest
of those verses. It's just, oh, it's just natural
man in the depths of sin and despair that is brought out in
this world. And yet through the whole thing,
we find out God is the overriding factor. He alone can bring good
out of evil. We can. When we try, we're gonna
have a trouble. All right, here it says in Judges
9, verse 22, when Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men
of Shechem. And the men of Shechem dealt
treacherously with Abimelech, that the cruelty done to the
threescore and 10 sons of Abimelech So in this passage of scripture,
we have the rest of the chapter summed up here. This is the consequences
as a result of what this man did to the children
of Gideon and the wrong that was exercised there. Now, in
that verse 22, there is a word reigned. Now, many times we find
the word in our translation reigned. I forget if there's 300 times
or something like that. that that word reigned is found
in the Old Testament. But this particular Hebrew word
is different than all the rest of them. This particular Hebrew
word is used twice in the entire Old Testament. And it doesn't
mean what we commonly think of reign. David reigned. He was
ascended to the throne. He was king over Israel. Now,
it looks like that this man was only given a position over a
few people here, not all of Israel. This Hebrew word is quite different
from the other words that we find even here in the book of
Judges and elsewhere. This word is the reign of a king
is designated. It means to exercise dominion,
to be a chief or a captain over a people. And the other times
we find is to ascend to a throne, is to be ascend to a ruling.
So what we have here is he is brought out. He took this place. He took this position. He raised
himself to that elevation in the eyes of the other people,
and he was one that was pushing the whole thing. I like David. We follow David, he was made
king of Israel, but he wasn't seeking that position. He was
out there watching the sheep fold of his father. And the prophet
said, is there not someone else? Because he'd went through 11,
is it? 11 brothers? And said, is there
another one? David's not there, he's not brawny,
but the Lord ordained him and made him king. It suggests through,
as we read Judges chapter nine and verse six, that the Canaanites,
men of Shechem and the house of Milo, had made him their king,
yet he was not king over all of Israel. And 336 times in the
Old Testament, the word translated reign has a meaning to ascend
to the throne, to induct into royalty. And the only other place
in the Old Testament that this particular word is used again
is translated power, and that's in Hosea chapter 12 and verse
4. All right, as we look at this, we find here that Abimelech reigned
three years over Israel. He reigned as it said there,
but it appears as we read the verses of scripture, it was a
few people that were in Israel and God sent an evil spirit.
Now God has done this in the past and he will do it in the
future. God permits people in their worst
condition. God permits, he raises his hands
of restraint. He allows people to do to themselves
what they normally would do anyway. And this is true about the crucifixion
of Christ. God raised his restraining hand. from a people that he would normally
have restrained, but this is the purpose of God that his son
go to the cross. So he raises his restraining
hand somewhat. We find that the Lord has used
this subject a number of times here in the Old Testament. And
some of them we say, how could that be? I don't know, but by
faith I believe it, that God would use His great power and
His great purpose to do things we can't understand. And we've
mentioned many times in the past, we do not want a God we can understand.
That was one of the things Nancy and I noticed when we were in
Ephesus or in Istanbul, that those people that are worshiping
different gods, they understand him because they're almost all
human in some sort. They have human characteristics.
They have human frailties, they have human sin, they do human
things. And so the people could understand
that to a great degree. Well, our God is not to be understood. The only thing we know about
him is revelation. how he reveals himself in the
scriptures. Would you turn with me to the
book of 1 Samuel, chapter six, or 16, 1 Samuel. In many ways,
God removed his restraining hand, and he's gonna do this in times,
and we're gonna say there are a number of contradictions. Commentaries
will bring this up. There's a number of contradictions
in the scripture. There is no contradictions in
scripture. The only thing that we have a problem with is how
we view the scripture. And sometimes it's the word.
I was talking to someone the other day and I said, you know,
it's amazing that there'll be three or four different Greek
words or Hebrew words and everyone has been translated to the same
word. I wish they'd have just had a
little differentiation there so that we'd know they're different
words. And the only thing that we can do is look up in a book
and say, that's a different word. That's different. That doesn't
mean the same thing. Well, here in the book of 1 Samuel
chapter 16, join me there in 1 Samuel chapter 16, as we find
that Lord sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and those men
that he was ruling over and is eventually going to lead to Abimelech's
demise. All right, here in the book of
2 Samuel, 2 Samuel chapter 16, excuse me, 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel,
I'm sorry, 1 Samuel chapter 16 and verse 14. Verse 14, but the Spirit of the
Lord departed from Saul. Now, I find as we come to the
end of Saul that he probably didn't know the gospel. He's
put into a position by God to rule for a period of time, but
he didn't have faith in God and God does not take his spirit
from his people. It says, the spirit of the Lord
departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled
him. So explain that. I can't explain it. But I know
this, it's what is true. And God has given us faith to
believe the truth. I cannot dissect it. I cannot
put it on the board and say, this is what it is. And I'm not
going to be foolish enough as some commentators and come up
with some ridiculous notion that this is a mistake by God. And
he really didn't mean that. How often do we hear that? My
God wouldn't do that. Well, this God does. It tells us there, and Saul's
servant said unto him, behold, now an evil spirit from God troubleth
thee. Let our Lord now command thy
servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man who is cunning
player and a harp, and it will come to pass that when the evil
spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand
and thou shalt be well. Who is appointed the harp player? David. David is appointed the
harp player. Now, David is a man after God's
own heart. David has been, or he's already
been set aside as a king. Samuel set him aside as king.
He was put out as king before he ever got to sit on that throne.
And we find out with the Lord Jesus, he was king before the
foundation of the world, he was king during time, he was king
during his life, he's king now, he's forever king. And as it
brings out here in the scriptures. So the spirit of the Lord departed
from Saul and now we have this part playing out that the best
heart player in all of Israel is brought to him to play music. Now Saul is going to make advances
and try to kill that boy several times, but he, like the Lord
Jesus, was protected. God protected Jesus from being
a life being taken. He sent him off into Egypt before
his life could be taken by Herod. So he's protected. During the
time of the ministry of the Lord Jesus, he escaped a number of
times through the crowd. They were willing to stone him
or throw him over the brow of the hill, and he was protected
by the purpose of God. Again, if you would turn with
me to the book of 1 Kings chapter 12, 1 Kings chapter 12, we find
here that in the process of time, God sent a prophet. He sent a
prophet, and he told him to rip his cloak into 12 pieces and
put 10 over here and two over here. And he says, we're going
to divide the kingdom. The kingdom is going to be divided.
There's going to be a king over 10 tribes. There's going to be
a king over two tribes. Well, in the purpose of God,
there has to be a means by which he did that. And here we read
in the book of first Samuel chapter, excuse me, first Kings chapter
12. I think I'm at the right place here. 1 Kings 12, verse
15. Okay, now Solomon has died, his
son Rehoboam is on the throne. And some of the older men in
the kingdom come. Now it's already been set aside.
God has already decreed that there's gonna be 10 tribes and
two tribes. And we're going to find out that the 10 tribes really
go off into oblivion. There is really no need for them
anymore. Why? Because they are going to
sin against God. He's going to take them off into
captivity. There's one tribe that he is very interested in.
That's the tribe of Judah. And that tribe is going to be
under Rehoboam and later the kings of Israel, descendants
of David, and the Messiah is coming through that tribe. The
rest of them, they have, I regarded them no more. They're not part
of my plan. So he sends them off that way.
And then it tells us here, and they spake, verse 14, then spake
they to them after the counsel of the young men, my father made
your yoke heavy. The old man says, reduce the
taxes, don't be as oppressive as your father was. And I think
that the people generally loved him because there was great peace
during his reign. But now his son comes along and
he has been petitioned by the old people not to have this kind
of reign. And if you do that, you'll keep
your kingdom together. Well, the young man come up and
says, tell him you're going to tax him more. Tell him that your
finger is going to be as the thickness of his thigh. And 10
tribes says, we're not going to have it. It goes on here,
wherefore the king hearken not unto the people for the cause
was with the Lord. Well, we say, it would be only
right that he reduce the taxes. It would only be right that he
goes along with the older men's ideas. It would only be right.
And then we read here. What does it say? For the cause
was from the Lord that he might perform his saying, which the
Lord spake by Ahijah, the Shilonite, unto Zerubbam, the son of Nebat. Now, Zerubbam's been down in
Egypt. He's been afraid for his life, and now he's brought back
and made king over 10 tribes. Why did this happen? It says
right there, for the cause was from the Lord. What do we do
with that? Believe it. Just as he sent those evil spirit,
but they're in the book of Judges. We find here that he did something
with Saul. Now he's done something with
Jeroboam and Rehoboam and the 10 tribes. Now this King Rehoboam
wants to say, we're going to have a task after him. And a
prophet comes and said, leave it alone. This is gone. God moved
this direction. All right. In 1 Kings chapter 22, would
you turn there with me? 1 Kings chapter 22, we find the
same principle is carried out through the scriptures. Now,
his ways. 1 Kings chapter 22. Chapter 22,
verse 22. Now this situation arises and
there's a need for some prophets to lie to the king. And here
we have it. The Lord said unto him, this
is one of the spirit that stood before the Lord in verse 21,
I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, wherewith?
Now the Lord says that for our benefit. I mentioned to a young
man today, God didn't have to go into the Garden of Eden and
ask them where they were because he didn't know where they were.
God always knows what's going on and he knows the purposes
here. And he said here, how are you going to do that? And he
said, by the permission of the Lord, really, I will go forth
and I'll be a relying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, thou shalt persuade
him and prevail also, go forth and do so. And in verse 23, it
says, now therefore behold, the Lord hath put a lion spirit in
the mouth of all these thy prophets and the Lord has spoken evil
concerning thee. So we have a bunch of prophets
of a king given a lion spirit and they're going to tell lies
to the king. Well, he didn't have to move very far in them
to cause them to bring lies. It's the nature, but he has it
mentioned here. This was God's purpose. Have prophets that are lying
about God? You know, we're going to read a verse of scripture
over in the New Testament that God sends strong delusions. Why? Because it's his purpose. Why would he send strong delusion
to people? Because that's what he wants
to do. And I'm not going to say, my
God wouldn't do that. I want to say, my God does that.
He's the one that ordained that. So we have this, I'll give them
a lion spirit. If you'll turn with me over to
the book of 1 Thessalonians, excuse me, 2 Thessalonians, 2
Thessalonians chapter two. Why in the world the Lord does
this? For His purpose. He is God. He is in charge. He has everything in order. And
even though it looks like there is no order, He is absolutely
orderly. He is not the God of confusion.
He's the God of purpose. So in 2 Thessalonians 2, and
verse 11 and 12, 2 Thessalonians 2, we have here that the Lord,
I mentioned this and we're gonna read it. In verse 10, it says,
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, in them that
perish, because they receive not the love of the truth that
they might be saved. And for this cause, God shall
send them strong delusions." God shall send them strong delusions. And this is God's purpose in
the matter. He's going to cause them to believe
things that are not true. They're going to believe things
that are not scriptural. And he goes on to say that they
should believe a lie. that they all might be damned
who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
You know the point I'm thankful for? Except for the grace of God.
There go I. I know for a period of time that
I was telling a lie about God. I'm thankful that he had me in
mind in the council halls of eternity and that he was going
to stop me just like he did Saul of Tarsus. There was long suffering
God extended to Saul of Tarsus, just like the rest of us, that
he didn't wrap us up and condemn us instantly. So this whole thing,
it's strong delusion. Now, if you would, join me back
in the Old Testament again. There's an interesting passage
of scripture in the book of 2 Samuel 24. 2 Samuel chapter 24. In 2 Samuel chapter 24, we have,
the Lord has told the kings of Israel, do not number the people. And in 2 Samuel chapter 24, and
verse one, It says here, 2 Samuel chapter
24 in verse one, how God can work out his purpose in this
kind of activity is known only unto God, but he is still the
God. He is absolute God. Here in verse
one, it says, again, the anger of the Lord was kindled against
Israel and he moved David against them to say, go number Judah. Israel and Judah, go number Israel
and Judah. As we follow this down, I think
in verse 17, we have a, and David spake unto the Lord
when he saw the angel that smote the people and said, lo, I have
sinned, I have done wickedly, but these sheep, what have they
done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be
against me and against my father's house. Now in verse 1 it says,
the Lord moved on him to do this, and in verse 17 David said, I
have sinned in doing it. Now keep that thought in mind
and go to 1 Chronicles chapter 21. 1 Chronicles chapter 21. An evil spirit came between Abimelech
and those people he's reigning over, and it's going to mean
his demise. God works all things after the counsel of his own
will, and there's nothing that goes on that he has not purposed. In First Chronicles, chapter
21, we read this interesting verse of scripture when we just
read that the Lord appeared unto David, or the Lord called David
to number the people. In First Chronicles, chapter
21, verse one, I cannot bring these together, but I have to
believe them. And Satan stood up against Israel
and provoked David to number the people, number Israel. On
one hand, we have the Lord. On the other hand, we have Satan.
And the only way we can bring this together is the Lord purposed
Satan to do this. The Lord works in mysterious
ways his wonders to perform. And he did exactly what he had
purposed to do. And God can only bring good out
of sin. David said to Joab and the rulers
of the people, go number Israel. And he went. And then in the
conclusion of the whole matter, he said, Lord, I have sinned. And why should these people suffer? Put the punishment on me. What
a statement. So turn with me now back to the
book of Judges, and let's look at the last two verses of this
book of Judges, chapter nine. Judges chapter nine, the last
two verses. Verses 56 and 57. Judges chapter nine, verse 56. We read these words. Thus God
rendered the wickedness of Abimelech. or repaid the wickedness of Abimelech,
which he did unto his father in slaying his seventy brethren.
Verse 57, And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render
upon their heads, And upon them came the curse of Jothun, the
son of Zerubbabel." This is the last time, the only other time
after we find that his name, Jothun's name, is mentioned in
the scripture. He's off in a far country. His word has been mentioned,
shared, preached, and now we have the result of that. We have the development of the
events and they appear, if we're overlooking them and not paying
any attention, they appear to be overruling the providence
of God, but they are the providence of God. He has purposed this. I don't understand it. I don't
understand how God could save me. How could God save anybody? And then how could he be involved
in his creation to such an extent that he'd be involved in them
to save his people from their sins and those that are without
grace, he puts them into a position to rise up against each other.
And then he could say, he rendered evil, wickedness upon Abimelech. I use those guys to do this to
Abimelech. In verse, God rendered God one,
One translation said, God repaid. Now, it's interesting, in the
book of Proverbs, chapter 16, would you join me there? As we
think about this all and try to put it together, in the book
of Proverbs, chapter 16, and I've had some good friends
fuck against this verse of scripture because their God would not do
this. And it says here in Proverbs chapter 16, the Lord hath made
all things, okay, I can believe that, for himself even. Proverbs
chapter 16, verse four, the Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. The Lord has made all things.
And he brings us out over in the book of Romans where he said,
well, Isaiah and Romans both, where he said, does not the potter
have power over the clay of one lump to make some vessels to
honor and some to dishonor? Doesn't he have the right to
do that? He can do with his own as he pleases. And here we find
that God works all things out, that he has made all things for
himself. Yeah, even the wicked for the day of evil. That's God's
purpose. We're kind of like the blackbirds, the dead blackbird. Thank God he put a few on the
fence. We don't have boasting in ourself. We don't have boasting
in our religion. We don't have boasting in our
faith. We have boasting in God that he would do that very thing,
raise some people up for his glory and save them by his grace. He spent lots of times through
the Old Testament showing us who's in charge of the matter.
And as we move on, we find out the same thing is done. And back
up one book, the book of the Psalms. Back up to the book of
the Psalms. Book of the Psalms, Psalm 76. This subject is throughout the
Old Testament as well as the New Testament. When we get to
the New Testament, why do people get sick? We can say today, why
do people get cancer? Why do people get a cold? Why
do people get a toothache? Why, why, why? Well, we know
number one, the cause is sin. The fall causes all this stuff.
But what happens when God brings his cancer, when God brings his
disease on his people? I mentioned in a message, that
hurricane that went through Western North Carolina, That wasn't Satan's
hurricane, that was God's hurricane. Now I cannot understand why he
would tear up some of God's people. I just don't understand that.
But I have to believe that God rules over the weather just like
he does over kings. It is his weather. All right,
here in the book of Psalm, Psalm 76 and verse 10. Surely the wrath
of man shall praise thee. Psalm 76, verse 10, surely the
wrath of man shall praise thee. Everything shall redound to the
glory of God, even Lazarus' death, even a blind man, even a cripple
man at the pool of Bethesda, even a cripple man in the book
of Acts chapter three. That whole scenario is played
out And Peter is gonna preach two outstanding messages, one
to the people and one to the rulers of that place. Two gospel
messages as a result of one man God put in their path. And I
think I mentioned Sunday, how many times Peter and John passed
that man and never paid any attention to him. This day was the right
day. This is the day appointed by
God. This is the day that God decreed their paths would meet
and we find when it pleased God. All right, Psalm 76 verse 10,
surely the wrath of man shall praise thee. Even in the wrath,
the sin of man, it shall praise God. And then in the book of
Romans, Romans chapter nine, we have two other places we wanna
go and then we'll close. But in the book of Romans chapter
nine, Romans chapter 9 is just filled with the same kind of
thoughts that we've read through the Old Testament. The same things
that happened there in Israel at the time of Abimelech. The
same purposes of God is going to be carried out. And when we
get to the next chapter, we're going to have two judges raised
up. God's going to raise up His judges
up. Well, here in the book of Romans
chapter nine, in verse 22, we read these words, and this is
just part of the whole book of Romans chapter eight, nine, 10,
11. Well, the whole book of Romans, no, the whole New Testament,
no, the whole Bible. It's just part of what we read.
It says here in Romans chapter nine, verse 22, what if God,
now just let that sink for a moment, it's God, what if God, willing
to show his wrath, and to make known his power, make his power
known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction. What if God, that he might make
known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which
he hath afore prepared unto glory? So he has these, that he is going,
he's longsuffering to them, I'm thankful he was long-suffering
to Saul of Tarsus in a different way, but he's long-suffering.
He just doesn't throw him into the pit instantly. They on and
on they go, and they're filling out the purpose of God. And he
said, he endured with much long-suffering, the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction. Now in the last reading we'd
like to make is found over in the book of Revelation chapter
19. The book of Revelation chapter 19, it was, a blessing early in the year
to go down to North Carolina and get to visit with Gary Shepard.
It's like sitting at a professor's feet. And he brought this up,
and I just thought, you know, you wouldn't think that we'd
say hallelujah over this, but we will. In the book of Revelation
chapter 19, verses one through six, the word hallelujah is mentioned
four times. which means praise ye Jehovah
or praise the Lord. Now this is really praise the
Lord, it's not a button. It's not a curtain saying. It
is really praising the Lord. And there are various groups
that are mentioned here that are praising the Lord. Now you
know what they're praising the Lord over? Lost people being
put in hell. The great whore put in hell,
which burneth forever and ever. And at that day, The church is
going to say, you have done all things well, even this. All right, book of Revelation
chapter 19, beginning with verse one. And after these things,
I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Praise Jehovah.
Salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God. What a statement is mentioned
here. For the true and righteous are
his judgments. For he hath judged the great
whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication. Now, to
me, the great whore is not the Catholic Church. It's just religion
in common. It's what we fall for by nature.
And thank God he pulls his people out of that nonsense. What I
heard about Muslim, Islam, and Jewish religion, and Baptist
religion, you could throw them all up in the air and come down,
there wouldn't be a nickel's worth of difference in what they
believe. They all believe in free will, and they all believe
that they're in charge of their own salvation, and that anytime they
can just decide to be. Well, here it says, for true
and righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the great
whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and
this is spiritual fornication, this isn't sexual fornication,
earth, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hands.
God avenged the blood of the saints. And again, they said,
hallelujah. And her smoke rose up forever
and ever. And the four and twenty elders
and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on
his throne, saying, Amen, Hallelujah, or Praise the Lord. The whole
scene is before a pit. And verse five, and a voice came
out of the throne saying, praise our God, all ye his servants
and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it
were a voice of a great multitude and a voice of many waters and
the voice of mighty thunderings saying, praise Jehovah for the
Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Where are they gathered around?
At this scene, where God disposes of all religious people, all
non-elect, all goats, and the church, God, all beings of heaven,
say, praise the Lord. I was taught that I'm going to
cry over all my family that I didn't witness things. that I'll be,
he'll be, punishment will be taken out of me. It's not true.
In the end, the church is gonna say, praise the Lord. In the end, the children of Israel
are gonna say, praise the Lord for the events that happened
to us. The thief on the cross, he is quite an example. You know,
who he killed, what did he do? He's called a thief, he's called
a murderer. What did he do to warrant that position of being
on a cross? Well, in the end, he was able
to look back and says, I would have never heard the gospel if
I hadn't been in this position, nailed to a cross with the Messiah
in the middle. And so he could go out of this
life saying, thank you, Lord, for all you put me through. And
Israel is gonna say the same thing. And all Israel shall be
saved, all the church shall be saved, even at the expense of
all national Israel. The gospel will be declared.
So hallelujah, praise ye Jehovah, praise the Lord, even though
it looks at times so difficult for us to comprehend or to understand,
in the end, everything, will redound to the glory of God the
Father. And the next chapter, we get
two judges, and they're gonna rule for a period of time, and
their amount written about them is about this long, about two
and a half inches of scripture. Solid, but they were raised up
by God, they ruled, and they had peace for 22 years, I think
one of them did. And you know what happened as
soon as they quit reigning? They were dead. They went right
back to Baal worship. We're gonna stop there for tonight,
and Lord willing, we'll pick up with chapter 10 next time
as we open up the book of Judges.