Neither he that loveth not his
brother." Turn with me to Revelation 22.
Revelation 22. John had beheld the tree of life,
the vine himself, in whom all of God's sheep have been grafted
by the mercy and grace of God. This tree, Christ the tree. In him, life is found. John 10.10 says, The thief cometh
not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come
that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly. That is, exceeding in measure
abundantly. Now, I want us to consider In
verse 3, I've looked at this verse and
I'd like to just deal with a portion of it. The main part that I want
to deal with is found in the first line, and there shall be
no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall
be in it. in that day. Now you know you're
looking at this point. You're looking at New Jerusalem.
You're looking at the heavenly Jerusalem. You're looking at
the church who is the city of God. The church, the bride, is
the city. The Scripture says there will
be no more curse, no more accursed thing. Everything that is contrasted
to God's glory and God's honor and God's mercy and God's compassion,
everything that is contrasted to God's honor now shall be gone
then. And there shall be no more curse. Now, if we were just looking
in Genesis And I want us to go back. It's here we are. This
is the last book, the last chapter of the last book. And to find
out what God has put away, we go back to the very beginning.
To find out the meaning, what will then be absent, that is,
the curse. We need to go back to the pronouncement
of that curse. Now turn back to Genesis 3. Genesis
chapter 3. I tell you, if God ever shows
a man what happened in the garden, the redemption by the blood of
Christ becomes a precious thing. The pronouncement before I read,
and I'm going to read Genesis 3 verses 13 to 19, but the pronouncement of a curse. By the Lord God Himself is, for
one reason, disobedience. I told you before, when my kids
were growing up, this was the rule. For a mistake, you will
not get punished, or you won't get a spanking. I told them last
week that y'all never had time out. Time out was in a in a bedroom
and Dad was getting ready to take care of it. They had time
out, but it didn't take but about 45 seconds. Time out was over. And after I took my belt off
and spanked them and hold them, love them, tell them why I had
to do that. That's the scriptural way. If
you want to know how to discipline children, you spare the rod,
you'll spoil the child. Don't be taken back and say,
well, the blueness of their wounds. I don't want to do that. Let
me tell you something. The biblical way of disciplining children
is punishment. I'll deal with that later. Disobedience. Never for a mistake
did I spank my children, but for disobedience, always. Sometime I set them off more
than I should have. Genesis chapter 3, verse 13,
says, And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that
thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent
beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed. Above all cattle, above every
beast of the field, upon thy belly shalt thou go, and thus
shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall
bruise thy head, thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman, he
said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception.
In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall
be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee and unto Adam.
He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and
hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou
shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow
shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life, thorns also,
and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the
herb of the field in the sweat of thy face. Shalt thou eat bread
till thou return to the ground, for out of it was thou taken.
For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Now, that's
what happened when Adam and Eve ate of that forbidden fruit,
when they disobeyed God. Now, I want you to notice something,
and in just a moment I'm going to tell you what exactly a curse
is. But for this moment, There were
two curses pronounced in that passage that I just read. Two
curses. Number one, there was a curse
upon the serpent. Scripture says, verse 14, God
said to the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art
cursed. The second curse was pronounced
in verse 17. And unto Adam he said, Because
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten
of the tree of which I commanded thee not, thou shalt not eat
of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake." Now, I will ask you
this. Are there any other curses pronounced
in that passage of Scripture? No. But what about Adam and Eve? Was it a curse pronounced? upon Adam and Eve? No. God's objects of mercy. Now, I will say this before I
go any farther. Are there any human beings under
the curse of God? Yes. Yes. But my question at
this point is, was Adam and Eve, those two people, Were they cursed
by God? No. God has never cursed the objects
of His mercy. And I'm going to show you something
that to you that believe, this has got to be one of the most
amazing passages of Scripture that you'll ever read. I'm going
to deal with the verse of Scripture that says, He hath delivered
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. I'll
deal with that scripture in just a minute, but I'm going to show
you something. To you that believe, this is absolutely amazing. You're
talking about amazing grace. The question is, has God ever
cursed the objects Adam and Eve, in this passage of scripture,
set forth? as objects of God's mercy. Has
God ever cursed His people, or has His people ever been under
the curse of God, of which I'll tell you what a curse is in a
second? Has God's people ever been under
His curse? Turn with me to Numbers. Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Numbers 22. Numbers 22. In verse 12, Numbers 22, verse
12, Balak, an evil man, tried to hire a
guy named Balaam to curse the people of God. Numbers 22, 12, ìAnd God said
unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them.î Thou shalt not curse
the people, for they are blessed. Turn to Numbers 23, just turn
over a page. Numbers 23, verse 8 through verse
12. Here's Balaam speaking. He says, How shall I curse whom
God hath not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom the
Lord hath not defied. For from the tops of the rocks
I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Lo, the people
shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned, or that is,
not be regarded among the nations." Who can count the dust of Jacob
and of the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the
death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. And Balak said unto Balaam, What
hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies,
and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. And he answered
and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord
hath put in my mouth? God Almighty had said through
this man, Balaam, the people, in verse 9, shall dwell alone. What does that mean? Turn over
Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy, the next one over.
Deuteronomy 33 and verse 28. Deuteronomy 33, verse 28. It had just said, where I just
read it, it says, the people shall dwell alone. What does
that mean? Deuteronomy 33, 28 gives us the
answer to that statement. Israel then shall dwell in safety
alone. The fountain of Jacob shall be
upon a land of corn and wine. Also, his heavens shall drop
down due. Right there in that same book,
Deuteronomy chapter 23. Deuteronomy 23, verse 5. Now,
this is very important. Because I want to show you something
about God's character. Deuteronomy 23 and verse 5, Balak had told Balaam, Curse
him! Curse those people! Put a curse on them! Deuteronomy
23, 5, Nevertheless, the LORD thy God would not hearken unto
Balaam, but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing
unto thee, because the LORD thy God loved thee. How, Balaam said,
can I curse those that God has blessed? How can I pronounce
a curse on somebody that God has not cursed? If Almighty God has ever pronounced
a curse, and we are getting to the explanation
in just a minute. If God has ever pronounced a curse, That
curse is going to stand. If God has ever purposed to show
mercy, that mercy is going to stand. How do I know that? Psalm 3311 says, "...the counsel."
That is, the plan, the prudence, and the advice. The counsel. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever. That is, it abides and it continues. The thoughts of his heart to
all generations. If God has ever purposed to do
anything, does it ever change? No. How do you know that? He said, I change not. I never change. I never change. God has never changed in one
thing. God has never changed in a thought,
in a purpose, in an action. God never changes. Never. God cursed. He cursed the serpent
because he beguiled Eve. Because thou hast done this.
Eve says, the serpent beguiled me. God said, because you did
that. You are cursed. The serpent drew her in by deception
to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. God cursed the serpent. God cursed the ground, the earth.
Why? For Adam's sake, he said, because
of what you've done, because of your action, or on account
of you, because of sin, the earth is cursed. See, everything which
was created by Almighty God for Adam's pleasure and comfort was
now going to be his place of toil. Thorns and thistles, famines,
earthquakes, pestilences, hurricanes, Somebody said, well, it's a big
hole in the ozone layer. Well, that may be the second
cause. The first cause is God. He does all things after the
counsel of His own will. Why is this earth going through
all of this stuff? Because of sin. Because God has
placed a curse. And God has cursed all mankind
whose names are not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life. They
are under the curse of God. Turn over to Revelation 20, chapter
20, verse 11. We dealt with this a month or
so ago on the great white throne judgment. John says, Revelation
20, verse 11, ìI saw a great white throne, and Him that sat
on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and
there was found No place for them. That is, no place to hide.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and
another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to his works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. But the question is, and I've
brought this up before, but I want you to see it again. When was
that book written? When was the book of life written? Just turn back to Revelation
17 and 8. Revelation 17, 8, The beast that
thou sawest was, and is not, and shall descend out of the
bottomless pit, and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth
shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life
from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that
was, and is not, and yet is. All mankind outside of those
who were the objects of God's mercy, are under the curse of
God. Look at Genesis chapter 4. Genesis
4 verse 9. Let me show you a man born just
like every other man. Conceived in sin. Came forth
from his mother's womb speaking lies. Name was King. Genesis 4, 9, And the Lord said
unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? He said, I know not. Am I my brother's keeper? And
he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood
crieth unto me from the ground, and now art thou cursed from
the earth. Brothers, God says, When is now?
Now is now. Has now ever changed with God? No. God is the eternal
God. He said, I am thee. If it's right
now, if it's right now, let me tell you what it's always been
to God. Right now. It's always been right now to
God. He said, I don't change. I am that I am. Now art thou
cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy
brother's blood from thy hand. Turn over to Genesis 12. Genesis
12, verse 1. Genesis 12. Now, the Lord had said unto Abram,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from
thy father's house, into a land that I will show thee, and I
will make of thee a great nation. And I will bless thee, and make
thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless
them that bless thee, and I will curse him that curseth thee,
and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Here is the point. God has either
blessed or cursed every man from the foundation of the world. God Almighty, considering them
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, how God considers every
man. He considers every man in one
of two ways. He's either chosen to show mercy
and grace and compassion, or He has created that man under
the curse. You'd say, now wait a minute.
Wait just a minute. Buddy, you've bumped the line
now. You have really gone over the edge now. Before I read this Scripture
in Romans chapter 9, I want to tell you what the curse is. What
is the curse? You are cursed. To be cursed by Almighty God
is to be found in a place or a state where God Himself has
not provided for redemption. Where Almighty God, that is what
it is to be under the curse. of Almighty God. No pardon, no
mercy, no grace, no forgiveness. Would God do that? Would God
actually make one person to be an object of mercy and make another
one to be an object of His curse? Would God do that? Well, let's
just go to the Word of God. Let's just ask God. Let's turn
to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. And let's just
see here again, what does God have to say? I know many have
said for a long time, I tell you, those people down at Katie
Baptist Church, you know, they've got that, I mean, that old stuff. Man, they are just, you know,
they don't have any love and compassion and all. Do you know
why people are so mad? It's because you've been truthful
with them, Brother Scott. been truthful. My question is
this. Number one, if we didn't preach
this, would it change the Word of God? Just say, I'm just not
going to preach that. I'm just not. Did it change? Did it change the Word of God?
No. I'm telling you, this is the way God is. This is the way
God said that He is. Is He a God of love? Yes. God
is a God of love. But Almighty God is a God that
is just and His love is never shown at the expense of His justice.
God Almighty shows compassion and mercy to whomsoever He will
and whomsoever He will. Romans chapter 9 verse 15, For
he saith to Moses, Romans 9 verse 15, you want to see this. I will
have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath He mercy on whom
He will have mercy, and on whom He will, He hardneth." Now, I'm
going to read some more, but I want to tell you what that
word hardneth means. As I've said before, get a concordance
and look it up and see what this word means. Hardneth means to
render stubborn. to render stubborn or to make
dry. The Scripture says, Therefore
hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and on whom He will. God. He. God. God makes stubborn. God leaves a man to Himself. Thou, verse 19, will say then
unto me, well, why doth He yes, find fault? For who hath resisted
His will? Somebody would say, well, then,
Well, if it's God that does everything, then I mean, how am I going to
do anything about it? And they're saying that out of
arrogance instead of just crying out to Almighty God, God have
mercy on me. Paul says, verse 29, But, O man,
who art thou that replyest against God? Shalt the thing formed say
to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Let me tell
you what the problem is. There are men that are standing
in pulpits today that are doing nothing more than just mealy-mouthing
around and trying to preach this little impotent God who is no
God whatsoever. Trying to make God as they say
God is. Trying to do something. Trying
to save somebody if they'll just let Him. And I'm telling you
that the God of this Bible is God Almighty that says, I will
have mercy on whoever I have mercy on. I'll have compassion
on whomsoever I'll have compassion. And whomsoever I will, I'll make
you stubborn. Now, that's the God of this Bible.
And men stand up and they say, I'm not going to have that God
to rule over me. Oh, yes, you will. Yes, you will,
too. Yes, you will. You stand up and
raise your face and raise your finger and say, I am not going
to hear that. Yes, you will. Yes, you will. Verse 21, Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor? and another under dishonor? Can't
God do that? What if God, willing to show
His wrath and to make His power known, endures with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted? Now, if you've got a Bible, and
if your Bible, in the word fitted there, if it's interpreted for
you in the middle part there, it says, What if God, willing
to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vassals
of wrath made up to destruction, and that he might make known
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had
aforeprepared unto glory? My question is this, does God
have the right to do whatever He wants to do. Yes, He does.
Yes, He does. Who do we think we are? We act
as if this is no big deal. I'm telling you, men and women
alone act as though this is no big deal. I'll just take it or
leave it. It's no big deal to me whether
I hear the Word of God. It's no big deal whether I serve
Him. It's no big deal whether I worship Him. Well, one of these
days, it's going to be a big deal. It'll be a big deal then. I tell you, these men that are
standing up and preaching this little impotent nobody, he's
no God at all. God that is not God is no God
at all. I rebuke him. This God that's trying to make
somebody, you know, If you'll just willingly come down, I'm
telling you, this God is God. The Scripture says, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, the lawgiver, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree. when the Lord Jesus Christ hung
on the tree on Calvary, and Christ was made a curse. He was made
a curse. There was no getting out of it
for Him. To be under the curse of God,
there's no redemption. No out. He was cursed. But you know who He was cursed
for? all that Almighty God had ever set His affection on. Either
God's going to curse a man in Himself, or He's going to curse
him in Christ. Everyone that hangs on a tree
is cursed. You that believe. You were there
with Him. Everyone that hangs on a tree.
Everyone. Everyone that hangs on a tree.
He hung on the tree. He sure did. And if you are one
of His, you were there with Him under the wrath of Almighty God
in a substitute. Our judgment was found in Him. All of God's elect were judged
by God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But as to Adam
and Eve, the serpent was cursed and the earth was cursed. But
what happened to Adam and Eve? What do we find for them? I'll
tell you what they found. They found mercy. Mercy. Did they deserve God's wrath?
Absolutely. If they didn't deserve God's
wrath, then mercy is not mercy. Mercy is God not giving a man
what he deserved. You never make light of the penalty
of the seriousness of sin. Christ was made sin. But never
forget the indescribable mercy and compassion of God toward
all that He is purposed to redeem. I don't doubt that one second
when Satan heard the curse that was placed upon him, he figured,
I'm sure, the next thing that's going to come out of God's mouth
is God's going to curse Eve and going to curse Adam. That's not
what happened. What happened? Back in Genesis
3, the Lord said unto the serpent in verse 14, Thou art cursed.
And the Scripture says in verse 15, He said to the serpent, I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, thou
shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman, He said, I will
greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow shalt
thou bring forth children. and thy desire shall be toward
thy husband, and he will rule over thee." Now, this is what
God said to the woman. He just told the serpent, He
said, I have cursed you. There is no redemption for you. The
Lord Jesus Christ did not come into this world to redeem Satan
or angels. He came into this world to redeem
sinners, elect sinners, chosen sinners. This is what God said
to Eve. He said, I am going to put enmity
between the serpent and your seed. This is what God Almighty
said. Paul says in Colossians 2 verse
15, "...and having spoiled principalities in power, He made a show of them
openly, triumphing over them in Himself." God's curse upon
the serpent, I'll tell you what it did. It ushered in the indescribable
blessing and mercy upon God's elect. Mercy! Mercy! God told the woman, I'm going
to greatly multiply thy sorrow in thy conception. Now, ladies, the reason that I cannot speak
of the pains of childbirth is because I've never had a child.
I heard someone say, if a man Had a child, it would only be
one. I know. I don't know by experience,
but I know somewhat. You ladies that have had children,
that bearing children is a painful experience. I understand that.
I understand it as much as I can understand it. You probably shed
a lot of light on that. I know that. But listen, and
I am not making light. of childbirth because I know
that it is a painful experience. But if all that God was saying
to Eve right here was this, because you ate, you're going to have
some discomfort in having children, then that was not a real bad
thing. I'm not making light of it. But
if that's all that happened right here, so the question is this,
what did God actually say to Eve? God had just cursed the
serpent. There's no redemption for you.
You'll be found in the lake of fire. What did He actually say
to Eve? Because of what she had done,
what was God going to do? He said, I will greatly multiply
thy sorrow in conception. What was her sorrow? Now this
is very interesting. Look at this Scripture. Genesis 3, verse 16. Unto the woman He said, I will
greatly multiply thy sorrow. Now just look at that first word.
I will greatly multiply your hurt, your worrisomeness, and
your pain. It's what that word sorrow means. What sorrow had to be overcome
for her conception? Her sorrow. And what was going to have to
happen for her to bring forth spiritually healthy children
that was going to be marred now by sin? What God is to Eve here
is a picture of the church. the Bride of Christ, the Mother
of us all. Eve is being spoken to by God. God cursed the serpent, and He
told Eve, He said, I'm going to greatly multiply thy sorrow
and thy conception. What had happened? Well, she
was separated from God. Remember, Eve here is a picture
of the church. She is now separated. Her iniquities
have separated between you and your God, and your sins have
hid His face from you, that He won't hear you in your state. He said, I'm going to greatly
multiply thy sorrow and thy conception if she's going to bring forth,
if God is going to bring forth healthy children, His people,
out of His bride. Out of the church, as Paul says,
the mother of us all, what's going to have to happen? He said,
I'm going to greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception.
Her sorrow was her pain, her hurt, her worrisomeness. That's
what sorrow means, first sorrow. It actually was multiplied, but
it was multiplied in another. She had a problem. She was going
to have to bring forth in sorrow conception. Psalm 116 verse 3 says of the
Lord Jesus Christ speaking, He says, "...the sorrows of death
compassed Me, and the pains of hell gatholed upon Me." Gatholed
means found Me. The pains of death found Me. And he says, I found trouble
and sorrow. Psalms 116, 3. I found it. It found me and I found it. The
Lord told the woman, He said, I am going to greatly multiply
thy sorrow and thy conception. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
say? Psalm 18, 4 and 5. The sorrows of death encompassed
me and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows
of hell encompassed about me the snares of death. prevented
me or met me. He made her sins be His sins. Her sorrows was His sorrows.
Her problem was His problem. She got a problem, the Lord said,
I'll make it mine. That's my problem. Her problem,
her sorrow was greatly multiplied in another for her to bring forth. And then it says, In sorrow shalt
thou bring forth children. Now here again, I just, you can
take my word for it if you want to. Or you can get a concordance
and look this up. See the first word sorrow? Unto
the woman said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow shalt thou bring forth.
That's two different words. They're not the same word. The
second sorrow. is different from the first sorrow.
The first sorrow is worrisomeness, hurt and pain. The second sorrow
means an earthen vessel. An earthen vessel. He says, in
sorrow, or in an earthen vessel, the Word made flesh. He came
into this world, a man, made flesh, made flesh. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word
was made flesh. How is God going to bring forth
children out of His church, out of His bride? Well, He is going
to greatly multiply her sorrow, but Christ is going to bear it.
And His sorrow, in an earthen vessel, thou shalt bring forth
children. An earthen vessel in the person
of the man. Christ Jesus The church shall
bring forth through him, by him, all of God's people. And the scripture says of God
speaking to Eve, ìAnd thy desire shall be to thy husband.î That
is not hard to figure out, is it? Your desire. Now, you talk
about a blessing. You think God had just cursed
Satan. And he cursed the earth. This is what he said to Eve.
This is what he actually said to her. Unto the woman, I will
greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception in another. You're
wrong, he told her. You're wrong. You rebelled against
me. But I provided a substitute for you. I provided redemption
for you. I blessed you. I cursed the serpent. I cursed
the earth. But I blessed you. In an earthen vessel, thou shalt
bring forth children. In thy desire, your hunger, your
thirsting for righteousness is going to be to your husband. Your longing shall be toward
him in whom I have chosen you, the one who is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. And he shall rule
over thee for the blessing. I'm going to make you to bow.
I'm going to give you a heart to bow to Him. He's going to
rule over you in love, in mercy, and in compassion. You're going
to bring forth children. Well, I'm going to stop right
there. I've got about three more pages
of notes. That's okay. We'll just pick up right there.
The question, what is it to be under the curse of God? For God
not to provide redemption. Does God have the right to do
that? Yes, He does. Have God's people
ever been under His curse? never. God Almighty has always
looked upon them in mercy. God has the right to make one
vessel unto honor, another unto dishonor. Next time, Lord willing,
we will pick up in what God said to Adam. And then I want to deal
with the curse of the earth. What happened? And the anticipation
of what the earth looks forward to. I'm going to show you some
Scripture where the earth is anxiously awaiting the redemption
and the manifestation of the people of God. The earth itself
was cursed, but the Scripture says, not without hope. Amazing
passage of Scripture. More than I deal with in this
verse. I hope that was of help to you.
Our Father, we thank You for Your mercy and Your grace. We thank You for the peace that
You give us to know that, Lord, You have not left us to ourselves. God, we ask Your mercy and blessing
upon the Word of God. We know that You promised that
this Word is not going to return void. It is going to accomplish
the purpose for which it was sent. Lord, I thank You for the
calling out of your people. I don't know who your people
are, but I know that the preaching of Christ and redemption by His
blood, justification freely by grace, is the message by which
you're going to call out your people. Bless our hearts to the
understanding of your truth for Christ's sake. Amen.