Once again, if you would, join
me in this glorious book of Judges tonight. And we're in chapter
6, and I would like to begin reading with verse 16, and pick
out a few things in here that look very blessed. The way in which God blesses
his people is brought up in this book of Judges, chapter six,
and there in verse 16, we're gonna spend a little time on
that. And we're gonna look at that sacrifice that Gideon offered. And the angel of the Lord says,
put it on this rock. Now that word, this, is only
used four times in the Hebrew in the Old Testament. It's a
very limited amount of times. It's very specific. And so it's
going to be on this rock. And then that rock, there's so
much to be said in the Bible about a rock. And then we're
going to look, hopefully if we have time, at how God demonstrated
his acceptance of that sacrifice, just as well as he demonstrates
the acceptance of the sacrifice of our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. So as we dive off in here, beginning with verse 16,
it tells us, and the Lord said unto him, unto Gideon, surely
I will be with thee. Now whether Gideon felt like
that, that he was with him or not, it doesn't matter. What
a blessing it is for the God of heaven to say to the church,
I will be with thee. Now there may be days that it
doesn't feel like that, but that doesn't matter. We're very frail. We're very fickle, but God is
omnipotent. God is omniscient. God is all
things to his people. and he is the one that can say
and fully demonstrate and carry out to the fullest degree I am
with thee. As he told Gideon there, the
Lord said unto him, Jovah said unto him, surely I will be with
thee and thou shalt smite Midian as one man. So we have this prophetic
statement made by the Lord of glory that Gideon is going to
be God's use. God's going to use him to get
rid of the Midianites. And what a blessed thing it is.
But we're going to find out in the end, it was the Lord that
took care of it all to begin with. Well, there's a couple,
three, four verses I'd like to look at here in the Old Testament
as well as in the New Testament that gives us that thought of
God to his people. What is God to his people? As
we find he is to Gideon here and in the book of Isaiah chapter
41. If you turn there to the book
of Isaiah chapter 41, we find here that God is to His people
this very thing that He shared with Gideon, I will be with you. I will be with you. And that
is not dependent upon our position or our frame of mind or our thought,
it is God telling us that. So here in the book of Isaiah
chapter 41, Isaiah chapter 41, and there in verse 10, we read
this, Wherever we are, wherever God's people are, in what country,
in what situation, as we find in the scriptures, God is with
them. God is with us. High times, low
times, valleys, mountains, God is with us. And that is such
a blessing to know I like what I hear sometimes those soldiers
saying, I got your back. Well, God's got her back. God's
got her front. God's got her top. God's got
her bottom. God's got her side. God is over his people. He is
the true comforter of his people. All right, here in the book of
Isaiah, chapter 41, verse 10, fear thou not for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I think it was Mike and I were
talking on Sunday about that servant of the prophet that couldn't
see the protection that God had sent to his servant. And he prayed
that open his eyes that he might see. And when his eyes were opened
by the Lord, he was overwhelmed. by the protection that God had
granted one prophet and that servant there at that time. So
we just cannot measure what God has taken care of his people
and how he does that and how he protects his people. And he
goes on and says, I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee.
Yea, I will uphold thee with my right hand of my righteousness. So this is a promise that God
has made to the church. This is a promise that God made
to individuals, members of the church in the Old Testament,
but as a corporate body. The same is true. I will be with
you, and I'll carry you. And in keeping that thought in
mind, just move to the 43rd chapter of the book of Isaiah. Isaiah
43, verses 1 and 2, and we have the same thought that the Lord
is blessing His people with. Isaiah has a lot of strong things
to say about Israel, national Israel. But when he talks about
the church, he says, I'll be with you. I will be with you. I am your God. I will be with
you. Here in Isaiah 43, verse one,
but now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he
that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I love what Isaiah said, if it
was not for God leaving a very small remnant. Now the only reason
that there is a remnant is God left a very small remnant. And
if it wasn't for that, we should have all been as Sodom and as
Gomorrah. So he says here, I have redeemed
thee. Now when we look at that from
a spiritual context, he's talking, I looked there at Jacob and Israel,
you know, we do not get rid of our old nature when God saves
us. we still have the flesh and that flesh will be with us until
that moment we pass from this life to the next and our spirit
goes to be with him as to be absent from the body is to be
present with the Lord when the Lord comes back and that body
is raised as his body We won't have that conflict anymore. And
we won't be known by two names. We'll not be known as Jacob and
Israel. We'll be known as the Lord our
righteousness. There, all right. He that form
thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have
called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. When thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee. When thou through
the rivers, what metaphors the Lord uses here in this passage
of scripture, as so many others, as his ultimate care of his people,
that he will take care of them. He will lose none of them. And
you know, if we pass away in one of those rivers, it is appointed
unto God that that was the moment we pass away. It's not by mistake. It's not that God took our life
that way because we did something wrong. You know, if God took
care of all His people's sins at the cross, He will never ever
in this life bring them up. He will never punish His people
for sin. And you know, I don't know about
you, but that's comforting to me. That Jesus was punished for
my sin, and God will not do that twice. Though when thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers
they shall not overflow thee, when thou walkest through the
fire. What metaphors he used from trial to trial, to test
to test. Thou shall not be burned, Neither
shall the flame kindle upon me. Wow, that lends itself a whole
lot to a story or an account we just heard in the book of
Daniel. It was seven times hotter than
it had ever been heated before. But they came out and didn't
have the scent of fire on them. So the Lord protected them. And
in a spiritual sense, he does that for you and for I, for every
member of his body every day. It's not, we're going through
this life haphazard. It is, we have God's care over
us every day. All right, if you'll travel with
me to the book of Matthew, the book of Matthew chapter 28, what
a blessed statement is made here by the Lord, just as he enters
back into glory, as he leaves this earth to return unto his
father. This is what he tells us. Now
we are given a commission here as people, as believers, to take
the gospel to every nation. As God opens the doors, as God
gives us opportunity, that's our responsibility. We're not
responsible for the births, We're responsible for casting out seed. We're not responsible for the
sprouting of the seed. We're not responsible for the
amount of seed that grows. We're not responsible for the
number of seeds that are going to be as fruit. We are responsible
for scattering the seed. And when we scatter it, we know
from God's word that some of it is going to fall on deaf ears. In fact, three quarters of the
seed in that account, that parable fell on deaf ears, non-productive
ears, ears that were not opened. But that seed that did fall on
good ground is going to be productive. God's gonna germinate it. God's
gonna bring it out. Well, here, as he's telling us,
verse 20, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded
you. And then he leaves this, last
words in the book of Matthew, he leaves us these words, and
lo, I am with you always. Now, our dear friend used this verse of scripture,
maybe a little nefariously and said, that's why I didn't like
to fly. Lo, I'm with you always. Well,
the meaning of this, I will be with you always even to the end
of the world. Amen. Brother DJ told us about
the love. So I will be with you always. That's what he's telling his
disciples just prior to them being told to go into Jerusalem.
And then we have the book of Acts before us. In the book of
Acts chapter 11, Acts chapter 11, After the dispersion due
to Stephen, I believe that is here, Acts chapter 11. Let's
just go over there. Acts chapter 11 verse 19. Acts
chapter 11 verse 19. Yeah, after the persecution that
arose after Stephen, many believers were scattered on purpose. God had some sheep somewhere,
and we find that right here where he's going to have those sheep.
Now, if there is a church, there's sheep. If there's no church,
take it to the bank. There is no sheep. If there is
a missionary, there's going to be some sheep. I mean a scriptural
missionary. There's going to be some sheep. God doesn't send
them off into a law law land. There's going to be some sheep.
So here, now, they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution
that arose about Stephen travel as far as Phenicia and Cyprus
and Antioch, preaching the word to none but the Jews only. Here we have that prejudice that
we're going to be dealing with in the book of Acts. quite a
bit, prejudice against Gentiles. And some of them were men of
Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake
unto the Gentiles, the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. Now
they had the same message. They're dealing with the same
kind of people, lost people, people without Christ. Notice this, verse 21, and the
hand of the Lord was with them. That's exactly what he told Gideon. My hand is with you. That's what
he told the church there in Isaiah. My hand is with you. And here
he says, and the hand of the Lord was with them and a great
number believed and turned unto the Lord. What a sign of God's
great presence here to these people as the hand of the Lord
was with them. As the Lord shared with Gideon
there, I will be with you. And this problem that we have
here in this land is not going to be a problem very much longer.
Now there's going to be some tests that he gives him. There's
going to be some things he has to do. But the ultimate is they're
going to be gone. Those Midianites are going to
be out of here. That's God's promise to them. Well, let's
go back to the book of Judges chapter six and pick up with
verse 17 there. In the book of Judges chapter
six, verse 17, we have these wonderful words that God left
and as Gideon is moved to say too, he said there, And Gideon,
verse 17 of Judges chapter 6, and he said unto him, if now
I have found grace in thy sight. Now, he did not say that I am
a good person, therefore I should have grace. It's the same thing
that we read about Noah. Noah was a critter. until God
saved him by his grace. And so it is with Gideon. I am
almost convinced that before the Lord came to him with salvation,
he was going to be right over there with that altar of Baal
and that grove offering sacrifices just like the rest of the folks,
just like his dad was doing. And the Lord saved him out of
that nonsense. And you know what? He can't go
back. You just can't go back. You cannot go back. So he said,
if I found grace in thy sight, then show me a sign that thou
talkest with me. Show me a sign that thou talkest
with me. Show me evidence. Show me a sign. Now this same word is used several
times in the Old Testament and a couple of them are just fantastic
places to go because they are signs that we still get to see
today. Over in the book of Genesis, just remember this, show me a
sign, show me evidence. You know, and the Lord is always
pleased to show evidence of himself. All we have to do is open the
word. That's what we have today. We don't have to have God come
down and speak into our ear as he did with the angel of the
Lord. He didn't have the Bible. I don't
think Gideon had the books of Moses, but he certainly had God
come to him and speak to him. And the message that God gave
to Gideon is no different than what God would give to us. We're
not gonna have a message for him and a message for us. We're
gonna have the same message. The same gospel is going to be
brought in Old Testament, New Testament, any era during that
time. So he said, show me a sign and
God is gracious. He shows us from his word that
he is God and beside him there is none else. Well, here in the
book of Genesis chapter nine, we have God that in the Hebrew,
We have the same word used here with regard to this sign that
God gave only in this passage of scriptures called a token.
And this token is still evident today at certain times, particularly
after a rain. Here in the book of Genesis chapter
nine and verse 12, it says, and God said, this is the token of
the covenant. This is the sign of the covenant. This is what Gideon asked for. Show me a token, show me something. And God is gonna be so gracious
to Gideon to show him a whole lot. just like he does for us. He
shows us a whole lot about himself, what great God he is to the church,
how gracious he is to the church, how much he's done for the church. So here it goes on, and it says
here in verse 13, and I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall
be for a token of the covenant between me and the earth. I have
the rainbow. I've put it in the sky. Now,
you know, probably this has never been seen before, but now we
have a token of the covenant with God made with the earth.
I'll never do this again in this manner. So we have a token. We
have a sign. We can take it to the bank, whether
it is a very thin, whether it's abroad, whether it has brilliant
colors, or whether it is a little bit washed out, whether it's
over our head or far in the distance, we have a token of God's covenant
with this earth. And it's a promise that he made
to us. Now, Gideon is asking for the same thing. I want a
token. I need something. He was threshing
out wheat by a wine press hoping not to get caught, because if
he got caught, that food's gonna be taken from him. He is in pretty
rough condition when it comes to life going on in that area. So we have this token that God
gives. And one more time, over here
in the book of Numbers chapter 14, the same word is used, but
it has to do with God dealing with Egypt. And here, the Israelites
could go back on this and say, look what he did. Well, most
of them saw what he did and didn't make any difference. Here in
the book of Numbers chapter 14, Numbers 14, and there in verse
22, we have this recorded for our benefit as well as theirs.
Numbers chapter 14, 22, because all those men which have seen my glory and
my miracles. Now that word miracles is the
same word that we found over here that Gideon asked for, show
me a sign. And here these miracles were
for signs, which I did in Egypt and the wilderness have tempted
me now these 10 times and have not hearkened to my voice. They
were a sign. How many times do we find that
the Pharisees asked the Lord Jesus, if you be the Messiah,
if you be the Christ, show us. Well, what could he do next?
By what he's done and by what he said, he has proven that he
is the Messiah. But if their eyes are not open
and their ears are stopped up, they could not see him. They
couldn't see Jesus in Jesus. So, those who understood, they
understood that this sign This token, this miracle, meant something. God was in it. God was involved
in it. So, hear this word miracle. This is the sign that we find
over there. All right, let's go back to the book of Judges
again. Book of Judges there in chapter
six. Judges chapter six. And as we
look at verse 18 now, verse 18. Judges chapter six, verse 18. This is the cry of Gideon, depart
not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee and bring forth
my present, bring forth my present, my gift, my offering, my tribute. That's how that word is translated
in other places. Bring forth my present and set
it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until
thou come again. Now that's grace. What a wonderful
statement about the grace of God. Yeah, I'll wait. Gideon,
please stay. God says, I will. Now, I don't
know how long it takes to go out and get a kid, a young goat, dress it out, cut
it up, cook it, make some bread, bake it. But the angel of the
Lord is gonna be there more than 15 minutes. Now he knows exactly how long
it's gonna take. God knows all things. But there
is a period of time here that the angel of the Lord is waiting
and Gideon is working. And he is preparing this. It
says in verse 19, and Gideon went in and made ready a kid.
and unleavened cakes and ifa flour and the flesh he put on
a basket. Now I read one of the commentaries
that said probably this was kebabs that he made there. Might have
been, that's very traditional in that part of the world is
to have kebabs. It's been baked or cooked or
over an open fire or something for some time. And he brought
out these unlay oven cakes, that ifo flour, the flesh he put in
a basket, and he put the broth in a pot and brought it out into
him under the oak and presented it. Now, I don't know whether
Gideon was surprised or not, but the Lord didn't eat that
food. He's going to ask Gideon to do something very special
with that food. He says, and the angel of God said unto him,
take the flesh and unleavened cakes and lay them upon this
rock. You know, in my mind's eyes,
I thought, oh, it's just a... Well, I looked that word up and
that word means a craggy rock, a lofty rock, a fortress, a stronghold. So it's a little bit bigger than
I imagined. But the Lord asked, the angel of the Lord asked him
to put that food, put that, take the flesh and the unleavened
cakes and lay them upon this rock. Now he was very specific. He didn't ask Gideon to put it
on a rock of his choice. Because you know it had been
the wrong rock. We need God's choice in this. We need God's
rock. And that is so apparent. We need
God's rock. We need God's gospel. We need
God's sacrifice. We need God's son. We need God's
choice. And the thing that we deal with
so often is people that don't want God's choice and they don't
want God's offering and they don't, but God said, put it on
this rock. Now that word, this is found
four times in the Old Testament. That's all it's found. And it
has to do... Would you turn with me? I would
like to read. We've already read one of those
passages. That's here in Judges chapter six and verse 20. Lay
it upon this rock. The other three places that it's
found in the Old Testament is number one found in 1 Samuel
chapter 17. 1 Samuel chapter 17. In 1 Samuel
chapter 17, we're dealing with David here. And we're dealing with a very
specific enemy. 1 Samuel chapter 17 and there
in verse 26. And David spake to the men that
stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth
this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? For
who is this?" That's that same word. He is a very specific causer
of reproach. He is a very specific man that
has come to challenge the God of Israel. Now, he doesn't realize
it's not even a contest. He thinks it's going to be a
contest, but it's not a contest. There hasn't been one contest
with God. God is not on the bartering table. God is going to be victorious.
He's never cried uncle. I heard that in the message the
other day. God has never cried uncle. That's the truth of the
matter. He's never been in a position
that he had to, because he's all powerful. He says, take it
away the reproach, who is this uncircumcised fellow? Who is
this uncircumcised? This very special uncircumcised. You know, this guy can represent
so much. against the church. And we find
that Jesus Christ, as David, as a representative, as a picture,
as a type, and a shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ, he represents
this Son of God. He is going to be victorious,
even though he doesn't look like he's victorious. He's just not
built for the task. And in the armor Just doesn't
fit him and on and on it goes. There were so many people that
found fault with the Lord Jesus because he was a friend of publicans
and sinners. Now, if he'd have been a friend
of Pharisees and scribes, he'd have been in like Flynn. But
since he was a friend of publicans and sinners, he was an outcast. He was a glutton and a wine-bibber. All the names that they could
call him, they called him. So here we have, who is this
that he should defy the armies of the living God? And so David
goes to take care of him. Now it's just like we find with
Gideon. Gideon's gonna take care of the
Midianites, but God is gonna be the one. And so it is here,
God took care of this oppressive, this Philistine that came up
against the armies of the living God. That's a nice way, blessed
way, gracious way that David spoke about his God. He has defied
the armies of the living God. All right, let's look at another
one. It's over in the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 8 verse
16 we read again about this word this four times in the Old Testament
now the word this is used many many times but this particular
Hebrew word translated this is found four times in the Old Testament
and this is the second time Daniel chapter 8 verse 16 We read these
words, it says, and I heard a man's voice between the banks of the
Uli, which called and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the
vision. Make this man understand the
vision. Now I'm so thankful that God
gives somebody to understand the vision. He didn't have to
give anybody, but he gave this man. Now, we can see so much
here about our Savior, the Lord Jesus. He is this man. He is
this one. He is God's man. So, again, it's
a very specific individual that Gabriel was to make this man
understand the vision. And then, over here in the book
of Zechariah, the book of Zechariah chapter 2. Zechariah chapter
2, we read here the same word This is the last time it's used.
There in Judges is the fourth. We read that first of all. Zechariah
chapter two, verses one through five. But wait, verse four has
the word in it that we're looking for. And it talks there. This, oh my goodness. Daniel chapter eight, verse 16. I want Zechariah. It went backwards
with me. Let me change here. Zachariah chapter 2. This has
some buttons on it. I wish I knew what One does what
I wanted to do when I wanted it to do that. Anyway, Zechariah
chapter 2, verses 1. I lifted up my eyes again and
looked, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.
Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said to me, To measure
Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is
the length thereof. And behold, the angel that talked with me
went forth, and another angel went out to meet him. And said
unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem
shall be inhabited as towns without walls. for the multitude of men,
the cattle therein, talk to this, speak to this young man." Very
specific. If we carry this over to the
New Testament, we find out there's none other name given under heaven
whereby we must be saved. It's this man. It's this salvation. It is this rock. It is this blood. It is this gospel. So it carries
through to the New Testament. So we have this man. And then
it tells us there, put it on this rock. Now, the Bible, Old
and New Testament, is just filled with ways that God has given
us an inside track and a blessing about himself, and he uses the
term rock. There's just no end to the ways
that he uses that as a blessing for the church. I like what,
I think it was Moses in Deuteronomy said, their rock is not our rock. They have that other gospel,
which is not a gospel. That's the same thing that Paul
brought out to the Galatians. You have, that's another rock.
This is the rock. Christ is the rock. All right,
let's look at a few verses of scripture that deal with this.
The use of the rock in the Old Testament, as well as the New,
is a gospel word. Rock is a gospel word. And only
one rock, only one substitute, one offering, one altar, and
this metaphor is for the strength of salvation. When he talks about
a rock, it's not a puny rock. Now, when he talks about Peter,
Peter's a little rock. But when he talks about himself,
that's a big rock. That's the rock of Gibraltar rock. That's
a giant rock. Upon this rock, I'll build my
church. Peter, you know, and people jump
to conclusions, says, well, his name is Rock, and his name, he's
using Rock, so that must mean he's gonna be the one that the
church is gonna be built on. What could be farther from the
truth How far will we go downhill when we don't have anything?
All right, let's just look at a couple of verses over here,
this rock. In the book of Numbers chapter
20, Numbers chapter 20, it is so interesting to go back here
and find out when those people needed water. The Lord didn't lead them up
to a spring, the Lord didn't lead them up to a river, the
Lord didn't take them to a lake. He took him to a rock, a flitty
rock. I mean, this is an impossible
situation. There's no way in this world.
Those people, what in, this guy is stupider than we thought.
Kind of like my feelings about Brother Henry. He's been in the
ministry 35 years. I've been in it for 10 years.
I'm smarter than he is. He's just bum stupid. Well, as they
come up to this, Deuteronomy chapter 20, we read about this
very situation in verse eight, it says, take the rod and gather
thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak
ye unto the rock. Now this is no small rock, this
is a rock. before their eyes, and it shall
be give forth is water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water
out of the rock. Now this is a miracle. This is
not common. This is a miracle. So thou shalt
give the congregation and their beasts drink. Now in that same
chapter, drop down to verse 10. And Moses and Aaron gathered
the congregation together before the rock and said unto them,
here now ye rebels, must you fetch you water out of this rock? And then in verse 11, and Moses
lifted up his hand and with his rod, he smoked the rock twice
and water came out abundantly and the congregation drank and
their beasts also. Now, the word abundantly means
something. We got a river of water flowing
out of a rock. What a picture we have here.
Now, the Apostle Paul picks this up in the book of Corinthians
and says, that rock that followed them, that rock is Christ. And
the translators put a capital R on that rock in the book of
1 Corinthians. So we have this rock, what a
blessed rock it is. And he told, tells us in Deuteronomy
chapter 32. Now this again is an impossibility
unless the Lord is in it. It tells us here in the book
of Deuteronomy chapter 32, Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse nine, Deuteronomy
chapter 32 in verse nine, it says, For the Lord's portion
is his people. Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse
9. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
He found him in a desert land, in a waste-toweling wilderness.
He led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple
of his eye, as an eagle stirreth up her nest, flutterth over her
young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on
her wings, So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no
strange God with him. He made him ride on high places
of the earth, and he might eat the increase of the fields."
Now notice this, what a metaphor this is, and he made him suck
honey out of the rock, and the oil out of the flinty rock. What
a metaphor. Where does our honey come from? Out of the rock, the Lord Jesus. Where does our oil come from?
Spiritually, the oil of gladness, all those wonderful gifts, comes
out of the flinty rock, out of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we
have this wonderful picture. Psalm 40. We'll just jump ahead
here. Psalm 40, one of my favorite
psalms. It speaks so much of me. Psalm 40, verse one. I waited patiently for the Lord
and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also
out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet
upon a rock, and established my goings." So when he saves
us, he just doesn't stick us back in the quicksand. He sets
us on the solid rock. He puts us in Christ Jesus, the
Lord. We read about he's a shadow of
a great rock in a weary land. The metaphors about this rock
that we find in the scripture are so pleasant to the church. It's the strength of it. It's
the longevity of it. It is the massiveness of it. It just goes on and on. It's
like some of these basalt cliffs that we have around here. Just
grand. Grand. And then we read over in the
book of Matthew chapter 7, you know this account here about
a wise man and a foolish man. Well, over here in the book of
Matthew chapter 7, we read this statement, the Lord gives us
with regard to a rock. It says here in Matthew chapter
7 verse 24 and 25. Matthew chapter 7 verse 24, it
says, Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit hath
to say to the churches. An open ear and an open eyes
are a blessing from the Lord. That's just what we find. And
I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon
a rock. And the rain descended, and the
floods came. More metaphors about the trials and tests of this
world. And the winds blew and beat upon the house, and it fell
not, for it was founded upon a rock. Well, we go ahead and
read about what building a house on the sand is on our own religion,
our own self-righteousness. It will not stand. Upon this
rock I'll build my church, Jesus said. And the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. Nobody is going to overthrow
this. Until the Lord comes, there will be people who believe the
gospel. A remnant according to the election
of grace. But there still will be a people
that believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today I was
asked, what would you say to someone who come and said that
they were saved? And I says, well, the first thing I ask is,
where did you hear the gospel? Well, I heard it when I was 16
years old and I went and believed the gospel and I says, well,
what gospel was that that you heard? Was it the gospel that
Jesus died for everybody? Yeah. Well, I said, that's not
the gospel. That's not the gospel. That's a false gospel. The gospel
that Jesus died for the sheep. Now that's the gospel because
it is secure. There's a hope in that gospel.
So upon this rock, the gates of hell will not overshadow,
overpower. We all drank, they all drank
from that spiritual rock, and that spiritual rock was Christ.
So, the symbol that, and let's just go back quickly, we're about
out of time here. But go back quickly to the book
of Judges, and we find what the angel of the Lord did with that
offering that he brought. kid and those loaves of bread
and that broth. He was told to put it on the
rock, told to put it on this rock. In the book of Judges,
Judges chapter six, there in verse 21, Judges chapter six,
verse 21, then the angel of the Lord, well, it says there in
verse 20, take the flesh and unleavened cakes and lay them
upon this rock and pour out the broth, and he did so. Then the
angel of the Lord put forth the end of his staff that was in
his hand and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and
there rose up fire out of the rock and consumed the flesh and
the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed
out of his sight. Now, what did it mean when he
did that? Accepted. This is an acceptable
sacrifice. Accepted. We're gonna find that
that is how God accepted sacrifices. It was how he accepted a sacrifice
in Elijah's day. Pour all the water on you can
pour. Cover it up. And fire fell from heaven and
consumed that sacrifice. And by that, he identified who
his people were. who his prophet was, was not
the prophets of Baal. They weren't even in the contest.
They weren't even in the contest. They may have both had the same
ox, same type, same size, same color, same everything. They
may have dressed it the same. They may have put it on the woods
the same, but they weren't in the contest because prophets
of Baal have no inside track to God. This prophet, Elijah,
was directly there because of God. and God consumed that sacrifice. Now how do we know that God was
well pleased with the sacrifice of his son? He consumed him. He consumed the sacrifice. He put away sin forever by the
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. And we'll pick this up at another
time as we stop here.