All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to Genesis 34. Genesis 34, I'd like to say I
thank the Lord for His mercy to our brethren, to many down
in Florida that the Lord was pleased to deliver in this big
storm. A man loved of God, Jacob have
I loved, that's what the Lord said, has by the grace of God
suffered much. For the glory of God and for
his and our benefit, for our teaching, admonition, whom the
Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every one that he receiveth. Jacob was given God's blessing
through his father, Isaac. He suffered the hatred of his
brother because of it, but God gave reconciliation. He was cheated
by his uncle, made to work 14 years to have the hand of the
woman that he loved, but the Lord, through the sons, or to be the heads of the 12
tribes of Israel, pictures of the whole church, the bride,
the elect, the chosen, the remnant of God. And God was pleased to
wrestle with Jacob. But from that encounter, he was
the man truly blessed. The Lord asked him his name. He admitted, my name's Jacob. I'm a trickster. I'm a liar.
I'm a cheat. That's all men, all women by
nature. God blessed him, told him, he
said, your name is Israel. You are a prince with God. Touched
the hollow of his thigh and he halted on his thigh, made to
remember that he is in himself nothing but weakness, constantly
in need of the Lord. And now Jacob is found to buy
a parcel of land a place called Shalem. It's a city of Shechem,
paid a hundred pieces of money. Margin says lambs. I don't know
if that means that was the price of the lambs, but anyway, he
erected an altar in that place and he named it El Elohi Israel,
the God, God, the God of Israel. Jacob was a man that knew God. He was a man that worshiped God.
He was a man, for Christ's sake, who received Jacob's worship. And now, Jacob, in this place
in Shechem, is going to experience one of the hardest things, one
of the darkest things that could ever happen to a parent. He's gonna have one of his children,
taken and defiled. But in this revelation, in this
chapter, we behold the glorious gospel of God's free grace in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray that in this chapter,
that the Lord gives us eyes to see and ears to hear and understanding
heart to recognize the truth as it is in our blessed Savior. Now, I want us to read this.
Now, this is a tough chapter to read. I mean, we're gonna
be dealing with some things that are very, but for the grace of God, difficult
to understand. I mean, there's some things that
go on in this chapter that's just hard to perceive, but nonetheless,
this is the Word of God. And we bow, we bow. The scripture
says in verse one, and Dinah, the daughter of Leah, she bare
unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. Now here, here's Leah's daughter. Leah was the first wife given
to Jacob, because she was the oldest. Jacob worked seven years
for Rachel. He thought he was gonna get Rachel
and he got Leah. Worked seven more years for Rachel. And he
got Rachel, that's what he wanted. So he worked 14 years before
he got Rachel. But he was married to Leah, he
married her. And this is his wife. And Leah
has a daughter by Jacob. But this young lady right here,
now just, we got to look at this thing and see it in light of
the gospel. I've told you before, if this
is just history, well it might as well be a novel. It's just
history, it's just for entertainment. This is not for entertainment.
This is relative to us, right here. So if we don't see the
gospel of God's free grace in here, we've missed it. If you
don't see the glory of Christ in every book, every passage
of Christ Jesus the Lord, you've missed it. You've just heard,
you've heard nothing. These scriptures, according to
the Lord, these scriptures speak of me. That's what he told those
two on the road to Emmaus. In all the scriptures, he expounded
unto them, in all the scriptures, those things concerning himself.
Now Leah, the mama of this young girl, Dinah, has this girl. And here, what she does, humanly
speaking, She's inquisitive, very impressionable. But she
is a picture of all men and women by nature. Let me show you what's
happened. This young girl, her great-grandfather,
I would say, Abraham, Abraham had told, hold your place right
there, turn back to Genesis 24. Genesis 24, Abraham was going
to send his servant to go get a wife for his son Isaac. And here was the rule that Abraham
gave his servant. Genesis 24, verse three, concerning
getting a wife for his son, he said, I will make thee swear
by the Lord, the God of heaven, by the God of the earth, thou
shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites
among whom I dwell. Jacob, I mean, Abraham told his
servant, don't go and get a wife of the Canaanites. Don't do it. And then whenever Isaac, the
one that Abraham sent in service to get a wife for, whenever Isaac
grew up, he was married to Rebekah, and he had a son. His son's name's
Jacob. He's gonna send his son, turn
over to Genesis 28.1. He's gonna send his son out. He said, now
you go and you leave here, Genesis 28.1. And Isaac called Jacob. Blessed him, charged him, said
unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Now, Jacob's got a son. I mean, a daughter. And I can
tell you, I know. He taught his kids. He knew God. And they were in a land that
they were not of. God had given them an inheritance
in Canaan, but Canaan had not been obtained yet, possessed
yet. And now here's this young girl,
Dinah, the daughter of Leah, and she goes out to see the daughters
of the land. Now this was the only daughter
of Jacob, and she did that which was very dangerous, and a high
price was paid for it. I'm just going to say something.
Any of you have your children here, you've got children home
or something, teach your children. Be aware, be aware, be careful,
be careful. Know this, this world is not
always for you, not ever for you. Be careful. The scripture
says, verse two, and when Shechem, the son of Hamar, the Hivite
prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her
and defiled her, humbled her, the margin says. Being where
she should not have been, the evidence of the fall, the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life was
found. It says that the rich kid of
the city, now that's who it was, It says when Shechem, this is
the son of Hamar the Hivite, and Hamar was prince of the country.
This is the prince of the country's boy. Pride of his daddy and mama. He's the one to be the big man
on campus. The son of the prince of the
country seduced this young girl. And whatever the circumstances,
whether he forcibly took her, whether it was with consent.
They figured that she was probably 15, 16 years old at this time.
And whatever the circumstances, it was wrong. Now here's a young
girl. She's a picture of us. And she's
been seduced. She's been defiled. Now here's
the picture. Here's the picture of man's fall
in the garden. This is what has happened. This
smooth-talking young man, a picture of Satan dealing with Eve, this
is what he's done. He talked his way into having
his way with her, and the result was disastrous. And she was humbled. And the effect of that humiliation
would affect her whole family. Something like this happens.
It don't happen to just one person. Everybody is affected. Romans
chapter five and verse 19, talking about one transgression, one
transgression, just one transgression in the garden. For as by one
man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous. This young girl, she just wanted
to go out and just see how the other half lived. I just wonder
what they do. I wonder how they do it. I wonder
what their ways are. Well, she went out and she found
out. But that's us. That's us in the garden. Eve
started talking to Satan. As God said, you're not going
to die. God knows in the day you eat,
you're going to be as God's. Knowing good and evil. Verse 3. And his soul clave unto
Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. And he loved the damsel, and
spake kindly unto the damsel. Now, here's an amazing thing. It says Shechem, that's the son
of Hamar, the prince of the country, he clave unto Dinah. He did cling or keep close, and
he loved the damsel. Now you know, unless you know
what the word means here, and that means you don't know what
it means. Vines analytical concordance. So this word may refer to an
erotic but legal love outside of marriage. What he's saying
is there's no laws broken, but it was an erotic love outside
of marriage and signify no more than just lust. I've had people
ask me one time, do you believe in love at first sight? I said,
humanly speaking? Now, if you're spiritually speaking,
when the eyes are given, I can understand, yes. Do you believe
in love at first sight? No. No. You have to know somebody. You have to know somebody. You
learn somebody. You learn. You don't love. Lust
at first sight? Yeah, I believe in that. He lusted
after this girl. And he spake kindly unto the
damsel. It means to the heart, but it was right after he defiled
her. Concerning true love, hold your place and turn to 1 John
4. First John for people that, you know, everybody talks about
I love, I love, I love. Let me tell you what God says
about love. Now, just, it doesn't matter
what we call it. You can use the word love. He
loved this girl, he just kept, he just lusted after her is all
he did. Young girl, 15, 16 years old. New girl, new girl in town. I don't think I've ever seen
you before. Hey, I'm Shechem. 1 John 4, verse 7 to 12. This is love. Now, listen to
what the scripture says concerning love. 1 John 4, 7 to 12. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and
knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten Son
into the world that we might live through him. Notice here,
love gives, love gives. That's what it says. This was
manifested, you know, in this was manifested the love of God
toward us because that God gave his only begotten Son in this
world. Here in his love, verse 10, not that we love God, but
that God loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for
our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us,
we ought also to love one another. No man has seen God at any time.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected
in us. So love, love gives, love gives. This guy took, he took. He said he loved her. he lusted
after. Shechem, verse 4, spake unto
his father, Hamar, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. Now, here, Shechem, the son,
resorts to the tactics of this world. What did he do? He was appealing to the arm of
the flesh. He spoke to his father, and this
is what he said, Get me this woman. Get me this damsel. Whatever
it takes, make it happen. I remember years ago, the first
time I ever heard this, name it and claim it. Call it like
it is. Get me this damsel. That's the
language of this world's religion. The thing I noticed, that there
was no mention of seeking God's forgiveness, Seeking Jacob's forgiveness. Or Jacob's permission. Or even
asking Dinah's forgiveness for what he had done to her. No appearance
of humility. This is the way of the world. Is what I want. Get it. Beware of false prophets. Beware,
beware. You wonder why I bring that up
so much. They make merchandise of men's
souls. Beware. Get me this damsel to wife. Boy, I thought about it when
I just read it just then. I thought about that boy talking
to his daddy like that. Chuck, what would your dad have
done? You'd talk to him like that.
Or yours, or mine. And Jacob heard that he had defiled
Dinah, his daughter. Now, his sons were with his cattle
in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they were come. Now, here's what we got. Here's
where we are. Here's a young girl. She's a
picture of us falling in Adam. She was impressionable. She was
vulnerable. She was where she shouldn't have
been. And she was defiled. She's polluted. That's us by nature, polluted.
And here's the one that's polluted her. And he wants her. He wants
her. You get her for me. You get her. It's Satan's desire. He wants
the people of God. Not what? That he might do good
for them? No, that he might take them from God. That's what he
wants. He'll never get them. But that's what he wants. You
get her for me. Jacob heard, verse five, that
he had defiled Dinah his daughter, his sons with the cattle in the
field. Jacob held his peace till they
were come. Now here, again, there's no mention of why Jacob held
his peace, but turn to Psalm 39, one and two, the Spirit of
God moved David to pin something about holding your peace. Let's
read that. Psalm 39. Psalm 39. One and two. I said I will take heed to my
ways that I send not with my tongue. I will keep my mouth
with a bridle while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with
silence. held my peace even from good,
and my sorrow was stirred. There's a time to be quiet, time
to talk, time to be quiet. That's what Ecclesiastes said.
You remember when the Lord stood before Pilate? Pilate accused
him, and the Lord didn't answer him anything. The Lord was there
doing his will, doing the Father's will. Well, here's Jacob. He
doesn't say anything. He's heard that his daughter's
been defiled. And possibly he was very distressed,
held his peace as one astonished at what had happened, maybe not
knowing exactly what to say. But he held his peace until his
sons were there. And there could be a family discussion. Verses 6 to 10. And Hamar, the
father of Shechem, went out unto Jacob to commune with him. And
the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it,
and the men were grieved. They were very wroth, because
he had wrought folly in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter,
which thing ought not to be done. And Hamar communed with them,
saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter. I
pray you, give her him to wife. and make you marriages with us,
and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto
you, and you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before
you. Dwell and trade therein, and
get your possessions therein. Now before us, we've got a picture
by a man who is fit picture type of this world's religion. What's
he doing? He's going to come and strike
a deal with Jacob and his family. That's what he's going to do.
The sons of Jacob, I see in this picture, because I know and you
know what's going to happen, they're a fit picture of the
law. They were grieved. That means they were vexed to
heart and they were very wroth. They burned with anger. because
of the folly that had been done. Now here's the defiled sister.
Here's the one that has taken her, defiled her, a picture of
Satan. Here's Shechem's daddy, a picture of false religion.
He's gonna come and work a deal. That's what he's gonna do. He's
gonna work a deal. And so Hamar, the daddy, makes an effort to
turn the whole course of the offense into a conversation about
love. Now this girl has been defiled.
He has raped her. He's raped her. You say, well
it might have been consensual. She was underage. I don't care
what you call it. He took her. He took her, he
lay with her, he defiled her. He did it. And now, We're not
gonna talk about justice, we're not gonna talk about the law,
no, we're gonna talk about love. Hamar, verse six, the father
of Shechem went out to Jacob to commune with him. The sons
came out, they heard, they were grieved, they were wroth. Hamar,
verse eight, communed with him, saying, the soul of my son longeth
for your daughter. I pray you give her him to wife. What he does is he begs Hamar,
The daddy, he makes every effort. Let's make this thing out to
be about love. Love. But love at the expense
of God's honor is hatred toward God. We're gonna
talk about love, love. Let's don't talk about God's
justice. Let's don't talk about the law being satisfied. Let's
don't talk about, let's talk about love. Hold your place and
turn to Proverbs 7. Proverbs 7. You talk about, we've
looked at this so many times, but it was so fitting. Here, as a picture of a harlot,
is a picture of false religion. Proverbs chapter 7, verse 6 and
7, talk about this harlot. At the window of my house, I
looked through my basement, my casement, and beheld among the
simple ones, I discerned among the youths a young man void of
understanding. Passing through the street near
her corner, and he went the way to her house in the twilight,
in the evening, in the black and dark night, and behold, there
met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, subtle of heart. I could go back to Revelation.
We could read about Mystery Babylon. harlot, false religion, drunk
on the wine of God's saints, hates them. Well, what happens? Verse 13, so she caught him,
kissed him, with an impotent face, said unto him, I have peace
offerings with me this day. I have paid my vows, therefore
came I forth to meet thee diligently, to seek thy face, and found thee.
I've decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, Carved works with
fine linen, Egypt, I perfume my bed with myrrh, aloe, cinnamon.
Come, let us take our fill of love till the morning. Let us
soulless ourselves with love, for the good man is not at home.
He'd gone to a long country. She's a harlot, not faithful. There's nothing faithful about
her, nothing. Verse 21 to 26. With her much
fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of
her lips forced him. He goeth after her straightway
as an ox going to the slaughterer, or as a fool to the correction
of the stock, till a dart strike through his liver as a bird hasteth
to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. Hamar, he comes to Jacob. Let's work a deal here. We can work this thing out. going
to negotiate. We can profit from this thing.
You know a little good comes out of everything. Our sons and
daughters can marry each other and you dwell with us and we'll
trade and we'll all get possessions. In Hamar's mind this thing's
going to work out great and we're all going to be better off because
of this. Let's look at the bright side
of this thing. This is the of false religion. We're all in
this thing together. We're all working for the same
end. We just got to live and let live. But when dealing with
this world, listen, hold your place, turn to Deuteronomy 7.
Deuteronomy 7, 1 to 4. We sit here and compromise, try
to compromise, this, that, and the other. Deuteronomy 7, 1 to
4, when the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whether
thou goest to possess it, and has cast out many nations before
thee, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites,
the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, seven nations
greater and mightier than thou, when the Lord thy God shall deliver
them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy
them. Thou shalt make no covenant with
them, nor show mercy unto them, neither shalt thou make marriages
with them. Thy daughter thou shalt not give
unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son
from following me, that they may serve other gods. So will
the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee
suddenly." Let's strike a deal. We'll give you our daughters,
you give us your daughters and sons. We're all gonna be better
off. It's gonna be a good thing. And
then Shechem said something that was all exposing when it comes
to the tactics of false religion. Now, if you miss anything else,
and you don't miss this, Shechem, the daddy, said something in
verses 11 and 12. And Shechem said unto her father,
he said unto Jacob, and unto her brethren, Let me find grace
in your eyes. What you shall say unto me, I
will give. Ask me never so much dowry and
gift, I will give according as you shall say unto me, but give
me the damsel to wife. Now what did he just say? Let
me tell you what it was. He wanted to find grace in Jacob's
and his family's eyes. I want to find grace in your
eyes, and I'm willing to pay for it. You tell me what it's going to
cost for me to find and obtain grace in your eyes. Now, if you think that this is
not the way of this world and its religion. I saw a sign at a church that
I know good and well does not believe the truth of God's free
and sovereign grace. They do not believe that salvation
is of the Lord. They believe it's of man's will,
man's free will and man's way and man's choosing. Man's got
to do something. I know that's what they preach
there. I know it is. And they got a sign out there
and it says salvation is all of grace. And I know good and
well they don't preach that. They do not believe that grace
is grace. They think that you have to earn
it. That's what Hamar said. I want to find grace in your
sight. What's it going to cost me? Grace? If grace is by works, then it's
not grace. You name the price. Man, by nature,
hates the truth of God's free and sovereign grace. And he's
going to hold on to his own works. He's ever going to believe, unless
God gives him a new heart, that he's the author and finisher
of his salvation. This is what I want. I want grace
and I'm going to pay for it too. You name the price, I can handle
it. I can do it. Verse 13, and the sons of Jacob
answered Shechem and Hamar his father deceitfully and said because
he had defiled Dana or Dinah, their sister. I'll go on, but
I'm going to stop right here for a second. I want grace. That's what Hamar
said. I want grace. Name your price. Go ahead. I can handle it. I'm
a big boy here. I can handle it. And the sons
of Jacob answered him and answered him deceitfully. Here's a biblical truth set forth. This is a biblical truth set
forth. The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamar, his father,
deceitfully. Now, in the context of what they
were doing, they had defiled their sister. This boy defiled
his sister. And they answered him according
to what he wanted. I want you to hold your place
right here and turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. Second Thessalonians 2. And while we're turning here,
I want to remind us that we're getting ready to read out of
the Bible. You say, well, Marvin, that's
obvious. I know it's obvious. And when we read what we're getting
ready to read, I want us to remember that we're reading God's word.
2 Thessalonians 2, verses 1 to
12. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that you be
not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled neither by spirit, by
word, nor by letter from us, as that the day of Christ is
at hand. Let no man deceive you by any
means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,
who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God,
or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple
of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that
when I was yet with you, I told you these things, and now you
know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work. Only he who now letteth will
let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that
wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit
of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming,
even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all
powers and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, and for
this cause. Now, what was the cause? because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved. And for this cause, God shall
send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that
they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness. Now, here's something that I
want us to truly Understand. Men talk about this Antichrist. They're looking for an Antichrist.
And scripture bears out while everybody's looking for one man.
The Antichrist is not one man. I'm gonna give you the scripture.
I'll give you the scripture. Turn to 1 John 2. 1 John chapter
2. Antichrist is a spirit. It's a spirit within the unbeliever. 1 John 2. 1 John 2, verse 18, 19. 1 John 2, 18, 19. Little children. It is the last time, as you have
heard, that Antichrist shall come. Even now, there are many
antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. Now
concerning these antichrists, now what did they do? Well, they
went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been
of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went
out that they might be manifest that they were not all of us. Listen, antichrist, is a spirit
within an unbeliever. Brother Henry, I told you what
Brother Henry said. Man by nature is not anti-religion. He's not
anti-morality. He's not anti-good works. But
he's anti-Christ. Because salvation is of the Lord
only without man's input. That's what they're against.
And because the scripture says in 2 Thessalonians 2, because
they would not receive the love of the truth. God gave them strong delusion
that they should believe a lie. The sin of Antichrist is that
they do not love God's Word. They do not love God. They have
pleasure in unrighteousness. They're pleased with their wickedness.
And just as the Lord God promised he would do in 2 Thessalonians
2, he was pleased to do here. He sent Nahar and Shechem and
his group, strong delusion that they should believe a lie. Brethren,
now listen to me. God is not the author of sin. Now you know that. He's not the
author of sin. But if he's pleased to leave men alone in their rebellion
and in their delusion, God's just. And don't question him. Don't
question him. I know exactly what goes through
the mind because I can sit here and I can even, in my stupid
flesh, I can understand that. Where somebody'd say, no, that's
not fair. Don't do it. Don't dodge. Paul said, who art
thou, old man, that replies against God? Who are you? Who are you? God, keep me from the stupidity
of myself. If God is pleased to leave someone
alone in their rebellion, he will. What did he do to Pharaoh? He said, for this reason I raised
you up, that I might show my power. What did he do? He drowned him in the Red Sea.
Don't question God. Nahor and his brethren, what
did they want? What did they want? We want to
find grace in your eyes. What's the price? You name the
price. That's what I want. Give me what
I want. Back in Genesis 34, verse 14
to 24. This is what Nahar wanted. This
is what he wanted. What's it gonna cost, Brian?
What's it gonna cost? Okay, the boys said, in verse
14, they said unto him, we cannot do this thing to give our sister
to one that is uncircumcised. That were a reproach unto us,
but in this will we consent unto you. If you will be as we be,
Every male of you be circumcised, then will we give our daughters
unto you, and we will take your daughters to us. We will dwell
with you, and we'll become one people. If you will not hearken
unto us, be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, we
will be gone, and the words, please, Nahar, Hamar, I'm sorry,
and Shechem, Hamar's son. And the young man deferred not
to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter,
and he was more honorable than all the house of his father.
And Hamar and Shechem, came unto the gate of the city, and communed
with the men in their city, saying, These men are peaceful with us.
Therefore let us dwell in the land, and trade therein for the
land. Behold, it is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters
to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein
will the men be content unto us to dwell with us, to be one
people, if every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. And listen to this, now he's
gonna open up his real meaning, Neil. Shall not their cattle
and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? I'm talking about winners on this.
All we got to do is just be circumcised. We'll be circumcised, we'll find
grace in their eyes, we'll get their daughters and our sons
will get their daughters and vice versa and then we'll trade
and we'll have peace and we're gonna get it all. All we gotta
do to find grace is just one thing, just be circumcised. That's what he wanted. Tell me
what it's gonna take to find grace in your eyes. Simeon and Levi said, all you
gotta do is just be circumcised. That's all you gotta do. Well, you know, it's an amazing thing. Just be circumcised and everything
that you want, lock, stock, and barrel. Men are standing in pulpits
today telling people, all you gotta do is just do this or do
that. That's what God wants you to do, and God's going to give
you everything. Just walk down the aisle. You'll get it. Just
be baptized. Just be circumcised. Just speak
in tongues. Just do this. And you're going to have it.
Just by your exercise of your free will, then go on with your
happy-go-lucky life. And that's all you got to do. That's all you got to do. And
you'll have everything right now. We're going to have everything
now. And in the end, we'll have heaven. We'll have grace. Everybody that dies goes to heaven.
I've never been to a funeral where a preacher stood up and
said, this person is in hell right now. They never said it. That's why everybody always goes
to be in a better place. They die, they didn't, they showed
no interest, no love of God, no interest in God's gospel.
Nothing for the things of God, but they're in a better place
now. Really? Well, tell me what it's gonna
cost. For me to find grace, here it
is, be circumcised. Okay, well here comes the day
of judgment. And here's these two boys, a picture of the justice
of God. For those that would have things
at the expense of obeying God, obeying God's word. Verse 25,
it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, two
of the sons of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Dinah's brethren, took
every man his sword and came into the city boldly and slew
all the males. And they slew Hamar and Shechem
his son with the edge of the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's
house and went out. The sons of Jacob came upon the
slain and spoiled the city because they had defiled their sister.
They took their sheep, their oxen, their asses, that was in
the city, that was in the field, all their wealth and all their
little ones and wives and took them captive and spoiled even
all that was in the house. Now, three days after being circumcised,
the sons of Jacob, those who administered justice. That's where I see a picture
of God's law, God's justice, God's judgment. They administered
the due reward of what had been done. And every male in that
city, that's what they wanted. That's what we want. And in doing
so, The scripture says that they rescued their sister. They went
in there and killed all the men. And they took their sister. Because she had been defiled,
they took her out. The scripture declares in Matthew
25. I'm going to wrap this up. Matthew 25. Here's the day of
judgment. Matthew 25, verse 14. The sheep
and the goats have been divided. The sheep are on the right hand,
the Lord left is the unbelievers. Then shall he say unto them on
the left, depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels. You know, these men got exactly, exactly
what was deserved. They had defiled this young girl.
They'd broken God's law. And justice was administered.
And it shall be, too, for all that's found without Christ.
But let me tell you the good news. Here's the good news. All
everlastingly loved of God, justice and judgment which was due us
because there's not one in this congregation in themselves that's
worth shooting. None of us. We're all by nature
rebels against God. We're all Hamars. We're all Shechems. That's us by nature. There's
none good, not one, but God who is rich in mercy. The Lord Jesus
Christ went to the cross, turned to Colossians 2, and I will,
I'm getting ready to quit. Colossians 2, here's what's happened. Colossians chapter 2, verse 13
to 15. For those that God Almighty has
chosen to show mercy, those he chose in his beloved son, those
for whom the Lord bore their guilt at Calvary. He who has
made sin for us, bore the guilt of sheep. Colossians 2.13, and you being
dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. Now listen, I'm going to tell
you something right now before I read the next verse. I'm telling
you, we're all just as guilty and in ourselves deserving of
the justice of God. We deserve what Simeon and Levi
gave. That's a picture, that was a
title. We deserve that. Why? Because we're guilty too.
But the scripture says, 13 again, you being dead in your sins,
in the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross, and having spoiled principalities and powers made an open show
of them, made a show of them openly, triumphing over them. And these men came in and they
handled it. They handled it. And I'm telling
you in the day of judgment, all that's not found in Christ, those
that are found clinging to their free will decision, I know I'm
saved because I, ABC, whatever, clinging to what you think you've
done, clinging to what you think you've done by grace. I'm telling
you, in that day, God's gonna handle it. Mark it down. I'm not trying to scare you.
I'm just being honest with you. I can still say it right now. We're
still standing here. We're still here. But there's coming a day
when we're gonna stand before God And we can sit here and make
fun of him and laugh at him, think this is stupid, and I'm
not going to believe that mess. I don't know where he came up
with that. But I'm telling you, there's coming a day, and it's
going to be settled. It's going to be settled. Verse 26 says, They took Dinah
out of Shechem's house. God delivered us from so great
a death, and doth deliver. And whom we trust, he will yet
deliver. Verse 30 and 31, and Jacob said
to Simeon, Levi, you've troubled me to make me stink among the
inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the parasites.
And I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together
against me and slay me. I shall be destroyed, I and my
house. And they said, should he deal with our sister as with
an harlot? Two things, two statements and
I'll hush. Number one, the law of God cannot
be compromised. That's the first thing. The law
cannot be compromised. Where sin is found, justice demands
judgment, because God is just. Secondly, God's a savior. He's
a savior. He's just God and a savior. Jacob
told his sons that they'd troubled him with their actions, and he
was worried about his reputation, fearful that the people of the
land were gonna kill him, and it's all in his house, but those fears
were unfounded. God told him, I'm going to be with you. I'm
going to bless you. Your posterity is going to be,
told his grandfather this. Abraham told his grandfather.
Put the stars in the sea. Can you count them? That's going
to be your seed. He was afraid they were going to come in and
kill him. These actions proved that Jacob,
like all of us, where the flesh is ever present with us. And
it still plagues us till we leave this world. Remember this too.
Though Jacob feared and questioned God, questioned the justice that
had been served. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Jacob, he questioned, told his
boys, God made me stink in the eyes of these people. They're
going to come in and kill me. They're going to kill everybody after
what God had told him. I just got to read this first
verse in this next chapter and I'm hushed. And God said unto Jacob, Arise,
go up to Bethel and dwell there, and make there an altar unto
God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of
Esau thy brother. Sit there and gripe and complain.
And my reputation shot. You've made me stink in everybody's
eyes. They gonna kill me. Those boys
told me they gonna treat our sister like a harlot. And God
told Jacob, you go to Bethel and build an altar and worship
me. And he did. May God bless this
to our hearts for Christ's sake.