Now if you would, let's open
our Bibles to the book of Nahum once again. This time, Nahum
chapter three. Nahum chapter three. The title of my message this
evening is No Healing Without Christ. No Healing Without Christ. And I took that title from the
last verse of chapter three, where God, by the prophet Nahum,
informs Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire, that wicked, unbelieving,
idolatrous nation, that there is no healing of thy bruise. Thy wound is grievous or fatal. That's what that means. No healing. The book of James
in chapter one speaks of sin and the temptation of sin. That's
our problem, sin. We all have a fatal disease,
a spiritual disease. It's not physical, it doesn't
run through the physical blood as some believe it does, it doesn't.
You know, that's why some religions won't take transfusions, physical
transfusions, because they think sin is like a germ or some kind
of a physical amoeba in the blood. It's not what sin is. Sin is
a spiritual matter. It's spiritual depravity, spiritual
deadness. It's of the heart. We've spoken
of that quite a bit. But it's a disease that we all
have. We fell in Adam. And we're born dead in trespasses
and sins. And when we're born, that's the
way we're born. That's what we mean when we say man by nature. It doesn't mean you're born innocent
and then God shoots a vial of sin into you, or you're born
innocent and then you make your first choice, and if the first
choice you make is sinful, then you're a sinner, and if it does
not, then you're holy or righteous or something. No, no. People
need to read their Bibles on that subject, don't they? and
stop speculating. But we're born that way. Born
of Adam. But that's a disease we all have.
And it is an incurable disease. It's a grievous disease. It's
fatal. And James spoke of that when
he talked about temptation. He says in James chapter 1 verse
14, let me just read this to you. He says, but every man is
tempted when he's drawn away of his own lusts. Now, what is
lust? Lust is an unlawful, sinful desire,
isn't it? Anything that we desire that
is sinful, that is opposed to God's glory and God's holy law
and God's way is lust. That's what that is. Paul used
another term for it in Romans chapter seven. He called it evil
concupiscence. We don't use that term anymore,
but that's what that means, isn't it? It's an unlawful desire.
And he says, when any man is tempted, that is tempted to sin. He's not talking about testing.
You know, God tests us, but he tries our faith. But this is
temptation to sin. He's drawn away of his own lust
and enticed. And then it says in verse 15
of James chapter one, it says, then when lust hath conceived,
that is when that lust fulfills itself, It bringeth forth sin. Now more sin, he's not saying
that it wasn't sin before, it's sin before, but it just adds
more sin. Sin upon sin upon sin, isn't
that right? Listen to this. And he says,
and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Sin when it reaches its goal. What is the goal of sin? Death. Now chapter three of the book
of Nahum is an example of sin when it's finished. This is a
description of the destruction, God's judgment upon Nineveh,
that terrible enemy of Israel and Judah. And it shows what
happens, how sin reaches its goal in this incurable disease. If some way, if in some way God's
way, the only way it's not cured. And I say it's incurable because
man can't cure it. Man can't do anything about it.
Man can't cure it with religion. He cannot cure it with works.
He cannot cure it with ceremony, good intentions, even tears of
remorse, and sorrow will not cure this problem, this disease,
this spiritual disease. In fact, the only thing that
can cure this problem, and it's stated up there in chapter 2,
and as we read through chapter 3 here, this is what we have
to keep in mind. The only thing that can cure
this incurable disease, this deadly disease, is medicine from
heaven. And that medicine from heaven
administered by one who called himself the great physician,
the Lord Jesus Christ and his blood. That's the only way this
can be cured. On earth, there is no cure. It's
a fatal disease. It'll finish every one of us.
And that's what he's talking about when he says there is no
healing of thy bruise. Thy wound is grievous. My friend,
without trusting the Lord, without turning to God in Christ, without
Christ, there is no healing. So this is a hopeless chapter.
You read through it, I mean, it's so negative. It's a dark
chapter. But it's to be read in light
of the whole prophecy. And you remember back there in
chapter 2 and verse 2, he spoke, after having spoken of good tidings
of peace, And he said in verse two of chapter two, for the Lord
hath turned away, which literally means restored the excellency
of Jacob and the excellency of Israel. What's he talking about
there? He's talking about, that's a
prophecy of the coming of Christ. You see, there were times when
there was somewhat of an earthly temporal excellency restored
to the nation, especially that passage that Brother Bill just
read in Jeremiah 30. We're gonna refer to that in
a moment. Because he speaks of bringing his people back out
of captivity. But you know that was temporary.
It wasn't long until the old disease come back in and brought
the nation down again. And after this great enemy Assyria
and Nineveh was destroyed, it wasn't long then another great
enemy raised up. That's what the next prophet
Habakkuk speaks of, talks about the rise of the Babylonian. and
how they eventually destroyed the southern kingdom and destroyed
the temple of Solomon. What's he telling us? He's telling
us there's no cure in the hands of men, by the power of men,
the wisdom of men, the riches of men, the goodness of men,
which there is none. There's no cure there. Let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory
in his might. You can exercise till you're
just in the prime of health, but you still cannot cure this
disease, this bruise. It's a grievous sin. And so in
order for us not to be finished off with sin, we need someone
who's powerful, righteous and holy, willing and able, one who's
appointed by God to put away this problem, to cure this problem
of sin, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He states emphatically
here in verse 13 of chapter 2, he says, behold, I am against
thee, saith the Lord of hosts. God hates all the workers of
iniquity. That's what the scripture says.
That's what it says. That's why if we speak of the
love of God, we must speak of it of the love of God in the
redemption of sinners by Christ for herein is love. Not that
we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Today they speak as if God is
not against anybody. Right here He says it in chapter
2 and verse 13, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts. You know what that Lord of hosts
means? That's the Lord of a great army that cannot be defeated.
That's what that means. That's invincibility. Here's
one who is against these people who cannot be stopped, who cannot
be defeated. No matter what you do, Nineveh,
you can't do it. And I made this statement. When
God is against you, no one can save you. Do you realize that? But now on the other hand, when
God is for you, No one can destroy you. That's so. You can't even destroy yourself
when God's for you. Did you know that? You know,
man, if left to himself, you know what we'll do? We'll destroy
ourselves. That's our plight. That's that
problem of sin. If left to ourselves, if left
to our own decisions and our own wills, we'll destroy ourselves. But God, if he's for us, he won't
let that happen. So the only way we as sinners
can ensure and know that God is for us is how? How is that
possible? It's in the excellency of Jacob
and the excellency of Israel. That's Christ. If God is for
us, that means I'm in Christ. That's what that means. Listen,
let's just read through chapter three. Here's the third description
of Nineveh's fall. He says, woe to the bloody city.
That's a murderous city. characterized by bloodshed and
cruelty. At woe there is an announcement
of impending doom, just like the Lord stood against the Pharisees
and said, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees. Sometimes woe
was an expression of grief. You remember Isaiah said it's
an expression of sorrow. He said, woe is me for I'm undone,
I'm cut off. But here it's an expression of
doom. It's an expression of wrath and justice, woe unto you. He
says this city is all full of lies and robberies, characterized
by lies, characterized by robbery, which means plundering. They
would befriend nations and cities and then destroy them and plunder
them. It was a deception. It's like
false religion. It's a deception. They draw you
in with their deception of righteousness and their deception of holiness
and goodness, but they destroy you and they plunder you. He
says, the prey departeth not. They had an unquenchable thirst
for prey. They couldn't get enough. That's
what he's saying. Verse two, he says, the noise
of a whip and the noise of the rallying of the wheels and of
the prancing horses and of the jumping chariots. See, all these
things that represent their power. He says in verse 3, the horseman
lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear. There's
a multitude of slain and a great number of carcasses, and there
is none end of their corpses. They stumble upon their corpses.
What a description, a vivid description of all the sights and sounds
that would accompany their defeat and their destruction. And therefore,
even in the midst of all this military power, let not the mighty
man glory in his might." That's what he's saying here. No matter
how big and strong and numerous they are, the Lord of hosts is
against them. You see, there's no safety in
numbers here. There's only one number that
counts, and that's Christ. That's what he says, if God be
for me, who can be against me? That's what Paul wrote in Romans
chapter 8. He's talking about a people who stand in the person
and finished work of Christ, who trust in him. It's God that
justifies, he said. It's Christ that died. He's my
hope. He's my protection. He's my bulwark. He's my stronghold. And look
at verse 5 here. And he tells them, he says, Behold,
I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts. He says it again.
Look at verse four. He says, Because of the multitude
of the whoredoms and of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts,
that selleth nations through her whoredoms and families through
her witchcrafts. That's because of her wickedness.
This is why God's doing this. It's not just some kind of a
tantrum. It's not just some kind of a
show here. There's a reason for this. Why does God send people to eternal
damnation? There's but one reason, because
of sin. And here, the multitude of the
whoredoms of the well-favored harlot here. That's an interesting
phrase. Again, they lured nations and
then they harmed them. You can read about that in 2
Kings chapter 16 where King Ahaz, he was a king of Judah, he was
attracted to Assyria and he sought their help. And when he got it,
years later she came down to destroy him. And that's what
happened. They practice sorcery, but here
he describes the allurements of riches and power to lure nations
to their doom. It's a good picture, as I said,
of false religion and its allurements and its promises of heaven and
blessings and prosperity, but brings sinners to their doom.
You see, King Ahaz, what should he have done instead of seeking
an alliance with Assyria? He should have led the people
to trust the Lord, the Lord of hosts. Look at verse five. Behold, I am against thee, saith
the Lord of hosts. and I will discover or I will
expose thy skirts upon thy face and I will show the nations thy
nakedness and the kingdoms thy shame." God will expose their
shame and depravity and judgment. Reminds me of Adam and Eve when
they covered themselves with fig leaf aprons trying to cover
their shame, hide their nakedness. And God exposed it. He said,
that won't do it. He said, it's going to take something
else to cure this problem that you've gotten yourself into,
Adam. This sin problem. It's an incurable disease. Fig
leaves won't do it. Religion won't do it. What's
it going to take? The blood of the lamb. What a great act of
grace when God exposes us in conviction and drives us to Christ. salvation for cure look at verse
6 he said I will cast abominable filth upon thee and make thee
vile and will set thee as a gazing stock he's again he's going to
expose them he's it's like it's the literal picture here is like
somebody throwing dung on him that's what he's talking about
think about that No wonder the Apostle Paul, when the Lord convicted
him of his sin, he said, I count all things but dumb that I may
win Christ. Everything else is worthless.
Even the best that men can muster and have and look to, it's all
worthless because it won't help. It may cover up the problem for
a while. It may impress men for a while. It may gain you some influence
and some power here on earth. But in the end, what's it going
to do? You're going to be a gazing stock. It's going to be exposed
before the whole universe who you really are. You see, that's
why we must be found in Christ. And you know what, Paul, one
of the things I believe that Paul's saying in Romans chapter
7 when he talks about, you know, when I sin, it's not I, but sin
that dwelleth in me. And then when he talks about
Christ in him and he talks about that I live this life by the
power of the Son of God, yet not I, but Christ in me. You
know what he's saying? He's simply saying that when
you look at me, you're not seeing the real me. You see a lot of
faults, a lot of problems, You see that. But that's not the
real me, because the real me is going to be revealed at judgment
in Christ. That's who I am. That's how I'm
identified. That's what a believer is. Well,
here's what he's saying to Nineveh. He said, I'm gonna expose the
real you. You've got all this power and
all these riches and all this army, and people are really impressed
with you. They may say you're one of the
eight wonders of the ancient world or seven wonders of the
ancient world, but he said, I'm gonna expose you for what you
really are. And I thank God that we can have
confidence, the book of John, 1 John says in chapter four,
we can have confidence now and at the judgment because to be
found in Christ, to be found in Christ is utter glory and
safety and peace. Look at verse seven. He says,
and it shall come to pass that all they that look upon thee
shall flee from thee. And say, Nineveh is laid waste,
who will be moaner? Whence shall I seek comforters?
For the world would rejoice at Nineveh's falling, no one would
be there to mourn. In verse eight, here's the last
description of their fall, beginning there. He says in verse eight,
art thou better than populace know? Now that word there, that's
a difficult verse to translate, but literally what he's saying,
it's the name of a city. And it's called No-Ammon, No-Ammon,
A-M-M-O-N. And it's the city of the god
Ammon. And he's talking about a city
that you may be familiar with if you studied ancient geography
and it's called Thebes, it's in Egypt. And that city was an
Egyptian capital and Assyria had conquered that city, it was
very populous, very much populated. The Assyrians had conquered it
and laid waste to it. And what he's saying, are you
any, and that was God's judgment upon Egypt, upon Thebes for their
sin. And what the Lord is saying here
through the prophet is, do you think you're better off than
them? You conquered them. God used you to judge them. Do you think you're better than
them? He says, he says, art thou better than populous? No, that
was situated among the rivers. They had rivers just like Nineveh
had the Tigris River. They had rivers, the Nile River,
they had tributaries that supplied them and protected them, made
them rich, that had the waters round about it, whose rampart
was the sea. They were on the seashore and
that was a defense for them. And her wall was from the sea.
He says in verse nine, Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength,
they were allies, and it was infinite, put another place,
and Lubam were thy helpers, all these allies, are you any better
than them? You think you're going to escape
the judgment to come? Allies did not guarantee her
safety, her strength, her position didn't guarantee it, nothing's
gonna stop it. Now hold on to that thought,
I'm gonna come back to it, but look at verse 10, he says, yet
was she carried away, she went into captivity. She was destroyed. Is there any doubt that God will
punish sin? Is there any doubt without Christ
there is no hope? That's what the lesson for us
is. He says, her young children also
were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets. That's
how terribly cruel the Assyrians were when they conquered a city.
They even killed the children. And they cast lots for her honorable
men, they gambled for them, and all her great men were bound
in chains. Verse 11. You see, that same
cruelty would befall Nineveh. And he says in verse 11, thou
also shalt be drunken, thou shalt be hid, thou also shalt seek
strength because of the enemy. They're going to be drunk, not
drunk on alcohol, but they're going to be like drunk by their
enemies. We're gonna drink you up. That's
what he's saying. And he says, even though you'll
seek strongholds, look at verse 12, all thy strongholds shall
be like fig trees with the first ripe figs. They say that on a
fig tree, when those figs get real ripe, you don't even have
to pick them, they just fall off. And what God is saying here
through Nahum, he's saying that you're gonna be like those fig
trees. It's not gonna be a hard task here for the Lord. It's
just like, it's like figs falling off the tree. You don't have
to put out any effort. To destroy this city, if they
be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouths of the eater."
Don't even have to pick them up, they'll fall right into the
mouth. This is how easy the Lord of Hosts is going to take care
of this great invincible army called Assyria and Nineveh. There's no defense found among
men against God who is against them. And all their strongholds
and refuges would be as just as weak as a fig loaded with
ripe fruit, ripe for judgment. Look at verse 13. He says, behold,
thy people in the midst of thee are women. What he's talking
about is they're weak like women. Now, I don't mean to insult you
ladies, but they just didn't use women warriors back then. And that's what he's saying.
All your strong men will be like a bunch of scared women. He says,
the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto them. They
won't have to break down the gates. They're going to walk
through and destroy the seed just like they have an open door
invitation. The fire shall devour thy bars,
all the things that would protect you. Verse 14, draw thee waters
for the seeds, fortify thy strongholds, go into clay and tread the mortar,
make strong the brick, Ken. Draw your water, get plenty of
supplies, build your strongholds, make bricks, put them up. Verse
15, there shall the fire devour thee. Right there where you have
your greatest defense, the fire will devour you. And I thought
about this. when it comes to standing before God without Christ. Now listen to him. When it comes
to standing before God without Christ, what does man use for
his greatest defense? Nobody will sit and talk about
how big their bank account is. Think about it. Standing before
God at judgment and being faced with this question, why should
I allow you to enter into the gates of heaven? well nobody's
gonna say well i had the biggest bank account or i won the most
ball games or or uh... i had the on the most like what
what is man's greatest defense you know what it is his works
his religion And I saw that as a spiritual illustration here,
when he talks about, you know, draw your waters, fortify your
strongholds, right there where your greatest defenses are, that's
where God's wrath is gonna devour with fire. And I thought about
those preachers in Matthew 7, Lord, haven't we prophesied in
your name? Haven't we cast out demons? Haven't
we done many wonderful works? And he said, depart from me,
you that work iniquity, I never knew you. You see, man's most
greatest defense will not work. Again, let not the wise man glory
in his wisdom or the mighty man in his might or the rich man
in his riches. Let him that gloryeth, glory in the Lord. He says there,
verse 15, there shall the fire devour thee, the sword shall
cut thee off, it shall eat up like the canker worm, like the
locust, that's what that literally is. Remember, Joel spoke of a
great locust plague. Make thyself many as the canker
worm. Try to muster up your troops
and get as many as you can. Make thyself many as the locust.
Verse 16, thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars
of heaven. Wealth, that's what that's talking
about. Wealth, get all the wealth you can get. The canker worm
spoileth and flyeth away. It's going to be devoured too,
just like the It's gonna be, listen, anything, the grass withereth,
the flower thereof fadeth away. It won't save you, wealth won't
do it, religion won't do it, great armies won't do it. Verse
17, he says, thy crown are as the locusts, thy nobles, that's
what he's talking about, thy captains, the captains of the
army, as the great grasshoppers which camp in the hedges in the
cold day, but when the sun ariseth, they flee away. Like locusts,
they say they rest Comfortably at night in the cool, but when
the Sun comes up and the heat of the day they scatter That's
what's going to happen when the son of God's wrath and his holiness
comes up. They're gonna flee away He says
and their place is not known where there you won't even be
able to find them What a picture verse 18 thy shepherds slumber
O King of Assyria even your wise men who are supposed to be your
counselors and your guides your preachers your spiritual advisors
O king of Assyria, thy nobles shall dwell in the dust, thy
people scattered upon the mountains." You see, the shepherds are not
supposed to scatter people, they're supposed to gather people. That's
why Christ is the great shepherd, he calls his sheep into the fold.
And his under-shepherds, the pastors and the evangelists and
the elders, they're to preach the way of Christ of keeping
the sheep in the fold. But he says they're going to
scatter you. People scattered upon the mountains and no man
gathered. Verse 19, there is no healing of thy bruise, incurable. Thy wound is grievous, all that
hear the brute of thee. that is beating on the breast,
shall clap the hands over thee, for upon whom hath not thy wickedness
passed continually. No healing without Christ. Now two things, I want you to
turn to Jeremiah 30. And I want you to look at something.
Now God had already revealed through Nahum, as we said, and
I preached on this last time, Now he's gonna restore the excellency
of Jacob and the excellency of Israel, that's Christ. Now there's
some other applications to the nation in a temporal, physical
way, but ultimately the restoration of the excellency of Jacob and
the excellency of Israel comes in the salvation of God's elect
spiritual Israel out of every tribe, kindred, and nation through
the Lord Jesus Christ, for he is our excellency. We don't have
any excellency but Christ. And that's why we must be found
in him, the glory of his, think about his excellent person. The glory of who he is. Man of
sorrows, what a name, for the son of God who came, ruined sinners
to reclaim. Hallelujah, what a savior. He's
God-man. Think about the excellency of
his offices, prophet, priest, and king. He's called the Alpha
and the Omega. That's the alphabet of God. Everything
God has to say to his people comes through Christ. He's the
Word of God. He's the living Word, the incarnate
Word, the subject of the preached Word. Think about the power and
the excellency of his finished work on Calvary to put away our
sins by the sacrifice of himself. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. being made sin for us, Christ
who knew no sin. Think about the excellency of
His righteousness. Oh my soul, people talk about
standing before God in a righteousness that God enables them to produce.
And think about this, Adam, Adam's righteousness before the fall
is not even to be compared to the righteousness of Christ in
which we stand, that righteousness imputed to us. Adam's righteousness
was a creature righteousness, subject to change. Our righteousness
is Christ, not subject to change. For he is the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end. He is the first and the last.
He is he who, which is, which was, which is to come. He is
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, forever. We can stand
before God, clothed in a righteousness that is everlasting. The righteousness
of God, that's what it's called. That's our excellency. So he's
going to restore that to Jacob and Israel, Jacob being the name
of their shame, sinners saved by grace, Israel being the name
of their glory, princes, children of God, those who have prevailed
with God. And how do you prevail with God?
By looking to Christ and pleading Christ. Well, over here in Jeremiah
30, Brother Bill read, He's virtually saying the same thing to Israel
that he said to Nineveh with one exception. And you know what
that one exception is? Well, first of all, the exception
is not that Israel is better than Nineveh. That's not it. In fact, if you
read the whole chapter there, you'll find out, and there's
other chapters in the book of Jeremiah which talk about the
sinfulness and the depravity and the unbelief and the rebellion
of Israel and Judah. In fact, at the time of Jeremiah,
which was during... Jeremiah prophesied in the last
days of Judah before the Babylonian captivity and during that first
wave. And they wouldn't listen to Jeremiah. You know Jeremiah, they call
him the weeping prophet. Because why? The people wouldn't
listen to God's word. They threw him down a well. Made
his pulpit in a well, because they didn't want to hear him.
There were many false prophets in this day who cried, peace,
peace, when there was no peace. Jeremiah mentions that two times.
And Jeremiah got so frustrated with the people that he said,
I'm just going to quit. I'm not going to say anything more to them.
But he couldn't stop. Remember he said, the word burns within
me like a fire. I can't withhold. But the exception between Nineveh,
whom God was against, and Judah here, Was what? Well, the picture
here in the language is this. This is the one exception. The
sovereign grace of God. That's it. What Judah is promised
by Jeremiah that Nineveh didn't get through, is not something
they earned or deserved. It was something God purposed
to give them. Look at verse 12. What did he tell Nineveh? Your
bruise is incurable. Jeremiah 30, 12. For thus saith
the Lord, thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous. Isn't
that the same thing he told Nineveh? You've got a fatal disease, friend. He goes on, he says in verse
3, there is none to plead thy cause that thou mayest be bound
up. Thou hast no healing medicines. There's no cure. What was Israel's
problem? What was Judah's problem? They
sought healing medicines in their own works, in their own power,
in their religion. But God says, I have a purpose.
And it's a purpose of grace. And He said, I'm going to save
thee. I'm going to save thee. He says in verse 17, I'll restore
health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith
the Lord. Because they called thee an outcast,
saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after." Nobody wants
them. That's what that means. And God made good that promise
to the nation in a temporal, earthly way when he brought them
out of the Babylonian captivity. But the ultimate promise is not
to that nation, but to a spiritual nation. Now turn to Luke chapter
13. And here is the lesson that holds
true for God's people when we read and understand God's judgment
upon sin against any nation or any individual. Now here's the
attitude right here. We read about Nineveh. Somebody
said those Ninevites got exactly what they deserved. You're exactly
right. They got exactly what they deserved. But look here, look at Luke 13
and verse 1. There were present at that season
some that told him, told Christ, of the Galileans whose blood
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifice. That's speaking of
a time in history when Pontius Pilate, sent his henchmen in
to destroy these people who were sacrificing. And he mingled their
blood with the sacrifice. It was a slaughter. And some
told him of that. And verse 2, and apparently they
told him that with this attitude. We know what happened to those
Galileans. They deserved what they got. But we don't. And Jesus answering, look at
verse 2, and said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans
were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things?
They must have been great sinners to get what they got. And then
he says in verse 3, I tell you nay. No, that's not the case. Oh, they were great sinners,
but what about me? What about you? Nay, but except
you repent, you shall all likewise perish. That's the lesson of
Nineveh. That's the lesson of Sodom and
Gomorrah. Look at verse four, he says,
or those 18 upon whom the tower of Siloam fell. One of these
disasters was an act of sinful man, Pontius Pilate did. Here's
what men would refer to as an act of nature. This tower in
Siloam fell and slew 18 people. That's what we call disasters.
That's what the insurance company calls acts of God or accidents. And he says, slew them. Think
ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? Do you think that the reason
that happened to them because they were the greatest of all
sinners? And he says in verse five, I tell you, no, but except
you repent. You shall all likewise perish. That's the lesson for me and
you. When these things happen, when
these things go down, where is my hope? What if God would give
me what I deserve and what I've earned? Where would I be? I would perish like Nineveh.
I would perish like Sodom and Gomorrah, deservedly so. Why? Because sin, when it's finished,
brings forth death, and that justly. The wages of sin is death. Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldst
mark iniquities, who would stand? Me? You? No, sir. We have an
incurable disease, an incurable bruise, It's grievous, it's fatal. There's no hope for any of us
except God's grace in Christ. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. The well, they don't need the
physician. He came to call sinners to repentance. God was just in doing what He
did to Nineveh. God was just in what He did to
Sodom and Gomorrah. And God will be just in whatever
He does to me and to you. And even if He saves me by His
grace in Christ, He'll be just in doing so. But not because
I'm getting what I deserve. It's because of Christ and Him
crucified and risen again. That's the issue. There's no
healing without Christ. There's no salvation without
Christ. There's no life or righteousness
or forgiveness or glory without Christ.