Turn with me to Genesis chapter
11, please. Genesis chapter 11. There are over 7,000 languages
spoken in the world today, something like 7,200, give or take a few. But there was a time when there
was only one language, just one. Now, many linguists have been
asked where all the different languages come from today, and
they can't answer that question. They say, I don't know. But I do. We're told right here
in Genesis chapter 11, verse one, look at it. And the whole
world was of one language, the word means lip, just one lip,
and one speech, one word. Now, what does the story of Babel
really teach us and tell us? Have you ever really thought
about it? Where did all these languages today come from? Well,
our story takes place some hundred years after the flood, after
Noah and his family left the ark. and is believed at this
time on Earth, in the time of Earth's history, after God had
destroyed all but one family, eight souls, that there was 30
some thousand people on Earth at this time. Now, I don't know
who worked that out in their mind, but that's what the Bible
scholars say. You know, that's only 10,000
more than the population of Madisonville. So what is the story of the Tower
of Babel about? What's it all about? It's about
Babel, Babylon, that includes Babylon. And it means confusion. Did you know that? The word means
confusion. I've titled this message of the
Tower of Babel, The Height of Confusion. That's where we're
at today, in the height of confusion. Believers are, but unbelievers
are. This world is. When it comes to the gospel,
when it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, when it comes to true
salvation, not salvation as man declares it to be, but salvation
as God declares it to be in this book. When it comes to the work
of righteousness, that perfect righteousness that we must have
in order for God to accept us, most are all speaking in a different
language. That's exactly what's taking
place in religion today, confusion. And we're at the height of it. No wonder so many men and women
in religion today are confused about so many things. Why are
the things of God, His Word, the Gospel, salvation in the
Lord Jesus Christ, so confusing? Well, when I read this book,
it seems pretty plain and simple to me. Now, am I a genius? Am I bright beyond my years? No. No, no, and most of you aren't
either. It's because God has given us
eyes to see. God revealed the truth to us,
and we don't see anything else but the things that we see. We're
one language. One religion believes this, and
another religion believes that, and denominations within certain
religions don't believe the same things. Just Baptist church alone,
you got first, second, third, and I don't know, maybe fourth
and fifth by now, Baptist churches. We believe just a little different.
Well, we don't, do we? We believe the same thing. We
believe the truth. We speak one language. We can only understand this modern
religious world and circumstances where we find ourselves in, in
the light of the history recorded in the early chapters of the
Bible, the book of Genesis in particular, and other select
passages of the Old Testament. And I've heard it said many times,
if you're wrong about the fall, if you're wrong about the fall
of man, then you're wrong about it all. And that's so true. The
Old Testament is not something that we take and throw away now
that we have the New Testament. It shows us what occurred and
why it occurred in the New Testament. The Bible, the Word of God, is
the only book ever written that deals with sin and deals with
sinners and life and death and salvation and God and Christ
as they truly are. We've got so many translations
of the Bible now that, and some of them have changed the meaning
of the scriptures. Shame, they'll be cursed according
to the word of God. Anybody that adds anything good
or takes away anything from it, let them be accursed. It's the only book that shines
any real light on these subjects. And it's only because God is
telling us how He has done things and is doing things. This Word
came from God Himself. Now, do I believe the King James
Version's infallible? No, I do not. Men, there's some
things they messed up too. But God sees to it that His people
knows the truth. Man is born dead and trespasses
in sin. Do you believe that? It's the
truth. How else can you explain your inability to come to Christ
and to love Christ and to worship Christ as you ought? Man has
no will or ability to save himself. Don't you wish everybody knew
that? They'd stop trying to save themselves and lean on Christ
alone to save them. Men don't have any idea or comprehension
of how to save themselves. The loss of this world are at
the height of confusion. Why is this world the way it
is? Why the confusion? Why the trouble? Why the misunderstanding? Understandings,
let me put an S on that. The unhappiness, why the misery,
why the wretchedness? Sin, sin's the reason. And because of sin, man is born
feeling entitled and full of pride. You once were, you still
are. I once was, I still am. But we ask God and we trust in
God to deliver us from it. Pride will cause a man to think
only of himself. That's why pride comes before
a fall. That's why God, above all things,
hates a proud look. Fallen and dead sinners seek
not the glory of God. Why? Because they seek their
own glory. And it's all a result of sin. God made man in his own
image. God put him in paradise. God
provided everything for him. Why do things go wrong? The Bible
tells us most don't know because most don't read it. And even
if they do read it, they don't believe it. Have you ever had
people say silly things like, well, yeah, that's what the Bible
says, but I believe. It don't matter what you believe.
In there for years, we had the little bumper stickers that said,
God said it, I believe it, that settles it. Listen, God said
it, that settles it. It don't matter if you believe
it or not. God said it. We better get ready to deal with
this God who said these things. It was man that rebelled against
God. God didn't just wake up one day
and say, I've had it with these idiots. Man rebelled against
him. It was man that began to doubt
God. It was man that turned to himself and said, you know, I
think I'll work this thing out on my own. It was man that began
to admire himself. It was man that endeavored to
cover himself when man fell. Where are you, Adam? I hid, I
hid. Why did you hide? I was naked.
How did you know you were naked? Who told you you were naked?
Man thought he had the ability to live in this world without
God. He puts his faith in anything
and everything but God. This is the reason for the problem
and confusion that there is in the world today, and we're at
the height of it. God's not gonna stand for it.
Salvations of the Lord. God is not going to share His
glory with another. But men believe they deserve
some glory by doing something good themselves. You can't do
anything good. There's none that doeth good.
Well, I seek God. There's none that seeketh after
God. And this is why spiritual confusion's
at an all-time high. The believer is made to confess
now, and one day very soon, the unbeliever will be made to confess,
listen to these words, Daniel 9a, you don't have to turn there.
Our Lord, oh Lord, excuse me, to us belongeth confusion of
face to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we've
sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies
and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. And neither
have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in His laws,
which He set before us by His servants, the prophets." That
sounds like a charge against man. And that's what it is. Not God, for God's not the author
of confusion, but of peace. 1 Corinthians 14, 33. For where envying and strife
is, there is confusion and every evil. James 3, 16. Now I want to show you a passage
of scripture that shows us something of our rebellious depravity. Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter
18. Hold your place in Genesis 11. We'll come back. But look
at Jeremiah chapter 18. right after the book of Isaiah. Jeremiah chapter 18, and look
at verse 11. God here is speaking through
Jeremiah to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
It tells us that right there in verse 11. Therefore, go to
speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
saying, thus saith the Lord, behold, I frame evil against
you. That's what God said. I frame
evil against you and devise a device against you. That sounds like
condemnation, but notice this. He's not through talking. He
says, return ye now everyone from his evil way and make your
ways and your doings good. Now, let me tell you right in
the beginning, you can't do that unless God enables you to do
that. Now, look at their response in verse 12. This is their response. And they said, God said, Make your ways good. And they
said, there is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices
and we will, everyone, do the imagination of his evil heart. My dad would call me, if I did
something like that, a dummy. What confirmation this is to
what Jeremiah had just said in chapter 17, verse nine, that
the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Let me tell
you, only God can. Only the Lord can. Psalm 53 too. God looked down from heaven upon
the children of men to see if there were any that didn't understand,
that did seek God. Every one of them has gone back. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. in Genesis chapter six, verse
five. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it
repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it
grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy
man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man
and beast and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for
it repented me that I have made them. That sounds like a declaration
of condemnation, but the next verse is, but Noah. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. But David, but Sharon, but Linda,
but Shelly, but Steve found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Every
imagination of man's heart was evil. Not many, not most, but
every. Not a single imagination that
was not evil. Every thought of man's heart,
only evil. Not sparingly a thought of evil.
Not frequently a thought of evil. Not more than not and not less
than more. Only, only, only evil. Not 50% of the time. Not 75%
of the time. Not even 95% of the time. And certainly not ever, but continually
evil. Constantly evil. Without interruption
evil. Perpetually evil, continually
evil. And God said, I'm gonna destroy
the whole lot except for one man and his family, eight souls
in all. And that is exactly what God
did. God always does what he says
he's gonna do. Unless he decides to change his
mind. Men brought this condemnation
upon themselves. And in the flood, God sent condemnation
on the world. And there was a new start, so
to speak. Allow me to talk that way just
for a moment. A new beginning, a new opportunity, so to speak. But sin was still in the earth.
Why? Because sin was still in the
man. Though Noah and his family, his wives, his sons, their wives
were saved from the flood, they had not been saved from sin.
Sin was still in them, therefore still in the world. Now they
set their feet on a renewed earth, but not with a renewed heart.
And yes, a renewed earth, but not a new heaven and earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness, Mankind was still falling in sin. Still
was. You know, I hear religious people
today say things like, well, you know, I'm just confused about
this or confused about that. Then they're told by others,
most of the time they're preachers, well, brother, sister, just follow
your heart. Don't you do it. Don't you do
it. It'll only lead to more confusion. Jeremiah already told us about
our hearts. The Lord said, if the blind lead
the blind, they'll both fall into a ditch. Now, I'm not a
very bright man, but I'm not gonna follow a blind man anywhere. And from Genesis chapter six,
where we read about man, all the way to Genesis chapter 11,
that we're looking at now, men and women did not learn the lesson. Still haven't. except for those
that God has divinely intervened in their lives. Confusion still
reigned in the heart of the fallen, and it still reigns today. The
seed of enmity was and still is there. Men and women by nature
hadn't learned a thing. And that's still the case today. Men and women still do what they
always did. They're still trying to do something
to save themselves. Now, back Genesis 11, look at
verse two. In verse two, and it came to
pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain
in the land of Shinar, I believe how that's pronounced, and they
dwelt there. The land of Shinar is right dab
in the middle of Babylon. And as you may or may not know,
Babylon in the scriptures represents man's religion of works. Let me read that to you. You
don't turn there. You don't have to turn there.
Revelation chapter 17, verse four, we're told about a woman.
And it says, and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
color and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having
a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness
of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name
written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots
and abominations of the earth. And John wrote, and I saw the
woman drunken with the blood of the saints. and with the blood
of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, he said,
I wondered with great admiration." Now, let me just say this right
up front. John didn't actually admire this
woman who was on the beast that did these horrific things. Instead,
he marveled or was astonished by her. John was shocked, deeply
shocked and disturbed by the sight of her representing a corrupt
and powerful religious system. You see, she pictures false religion. John did not find her attractive
and admirable in any way. The description of the woman
emphasizes her outward beauty and luxurious clothing, which
further contrasts her moral depraved actions. And here we see the
deceptive nature of false religion. Oh, it just looks so beautiful. Got the big buildings all decked
out with the steeples and Everything goes on in the inside,
just seems so beautiful, beautiful music. Deceptive at the height of confusion. And here in Genesis 11, verse
3, it says, and they said one to another, go to, let us, let
us, let us make brick and burn them thoroughly. And they had
brick for stone and slime had they for mortar. And they said,
go to, now look, let us, let us build a city and a tower whose
top may reach into heaven. And let us make us a name. Lest we be scattered abroad upon
the face of the whole world. Did you notice their language?
It's the same language in religion today. Go to, let us, let us. Let us make brick. Man's determined
to do something to save himself. We're gonna build with man-made
bricks, they say. We're gonna make our own bricks.
We don't need God. We don't need the stones God
provides in the earth. We're gonna make our own bricks.
We're gonna do it our way. I found it interesting that the
root word in the Hebrew language for man-made and man-made bricks
means to purge and purify. It means to make white, grow
white, making yourself white, referring to moral purity. That is what men and women are
building with today. They're purging themselves by
their own works and their own will, and they're purifying themselves
by a work of their own hands. And it started back with cane. Did you notice that these bricks
were going to be held together with a petroleum-based substance,
fitly named slime? It's the slime of human works. Slime of human works. It was
more of the same in verse four. They said, let us build a city
and the tower whose top they reach to heaven. Let us make
a name. What they meant was let's make
a name for ourselves. That's what most of these big
mega churches are trying to do. They're trying to make a name
for themselves. And this wasn't just a city and
a tower. It was going to be their temple.
When these men built this city, tower, and temple, their hope
was that God would descend and bless them, and they would ascend
and become like gods themselves. And this construction that they
were doing was not an innocent enterprise. This was to be the city, the
tower, and the temple of man. That's what modern day religion
is. It's the city, tower, and temple of man. They're saying,
let us, there's nothing we can't do. We can do anything and everything.
No, God can, but you can't. And you're
at the height of confusion. That's what modern day religion
is. And there's nothing, they're saying, let us, there's nothing
we can't do. We can do it, we can do it. Like
that rich young ruler, he came to the Lord Jesus and said, good
master, what good thing must I do to be saved? It's all about
being good. It's not. It's all about being
a sinner. It's all about being bad. It's
all about needing help. Psalm 10 verses three and four,
for the wicked boasted of his heart's desire and blessed the
covetous whom the Lord abhorred. The wicked through the pride
of his countenance will not seek after God. God is not at all
in his thoughts. Let us make a name simply means
let us do something that we can take credit for. It's called
salvation by works. Now listen, if you put a work
anywhere in salvation, you've made it the religion of Babylon. If you put a work in the beginning
of salvation, something that you need to do before you can
be saved. And that's what they tell you.
Oh, you have to accept Jesus to be saved. You, you have to
give him your heart. You've got to let go and let
God, you've got to stop doing something where you can't keep
doing that. That's the religion of Babylon. If you have to put
a work in the middle of salvation, then your religion is of Babylon. If you claim that you need to
improve, well, you know, I got to straighten up and fly right. Well, one problem with that,
you ain't, you're crooked and you don't have wings. Oh, the harder you work, the
greater your reward, the bigger your crown, the larger your mansion,
your, your, your, your. It's the false religion of Babylon. And it's in verse five that we
see exactly what this story is all about and why we have the
confusion today in man's religion. It's all about God intervening. God interrupting. to accomplish
his sovereign omnipotent will and purpose. Verse five, and
the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the
children of men built. Now, it's written that way to
accommodate for our lack of understanding. The Lord could see what was going
on from right where he was, upon his throne in heaven. He didn't
have to come down so he could get a better look. All things are naked and open
before Him. Why do we think we can hide things
from God? He didn't have to come down to
see these things. And how long-suffering our Lord is with the arrogance
and the ignorance of man. Man said, we're gonna do this,
and we're gonna do that. And never once did they say,
if the Lord will. If the Lord will. The Lord came
down. I'm so glad that the Lord comes
down. Aren't you? He came down in love,
He came down in mercy, He came down in grace for His elect people. Verse 6, And the Lord said, Behold,
the people is one, and they have all one language. And this they
begin to do, and now nothing will be restrained from them,
which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there
confound their language, that they may not understand one another's
speech." And that's exactly what happened. And that's why we have
so many languages today. Now, can you imagine all of a
sudden people couldn't understand one another? And your neighborhood
friend, I can remember being a boy, lived in the same neighborhood,
most of my, and had some good, good friends. Best friend. Can
you imagine, for no apparent reason, all of a sudden your
best friend speaks to you in a different language? And you
don't have any understanding of what he's saying. What did
you say? He may be talking to you in Russian. All communication
comes to an abrupt stop. Verse eight, so the Lord scattered
them abroad from fence upon the face of the earth, and they left
off to build the city. They couldn't build that city
anymore, they couldn't talk to one another. You just tell a man, go over
and get me a brick, and he's looking at you like. Therefore, now look, therefore
is the name of it, this place called Babel, Babylon, Confusion,
if you've got a, what do you call it? The kind of Bible
that puts a little word next to it, you'll see, that's what
it is. What an appropriate name for the language of men, confusion. What an appropriate name for
the religion of men, the Tyre of Babel, the height of false
religion, the height of confusion. That's what false religion is.
Confusion at its highest. The confounding of the religion
of Babylon doesn't, never, it never gets around to answering
how a sinner like you and me can be saved. It's like preoccupied
with everything else. Too many confusing, other confusing
things for, to consider and to argue and to debate. And I don't
know if you've yourself experienced this yet or see this, but I have
learned that most people, when they want to argue and debate
the scriptures, they're not interested in changing. You're not gonna
convince them that they're wrong. They're trying to change you. They're at the height of confusion
if they think they can. Because God's not gonna let us
go. The language of, Babylon cannot be understood, neither
can it understand the language of the gospel. That's why we
have the mess that we have today. And we must never forget that
a spiritually dead sinner cannot hear the true gospel, regardless
of how clearly and plainly it's preached, until God give him
life. Now I'm gonna try to wrap this
up and show you that. Until we're given ears to hear,
eyes to see, heart to believe, We're not going to see it. We're
not going to believe it. We're not going to speak one
language. Look at John chapter 6. I'll
try to hurry. This is so good, so worth us
looking at. Here the Lord has just preached
the truth. You know, He was the truth. What
did He preach? He preached Himself. John chapter
6. He's the only way to God. And
I don't want to say too much while you're turning, because
I want you to hear me. It's the truth that is necessary to give
one who is spiritually dead life. Now, the Lord had just preached
this wonderful message. In verse 37, the Lord preached
election. Do you believe in election? Yes,
I do. Because the Lord believed in it. The Lord preached it.
In verse 37, he said, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me, and him that cometh to me, I'll in no wise cast out.
That's election. In verse 40, the Lord preached
effectual atonement. He said, and this is the will
of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth
on him may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the
last day. That's effectual atonement. In verse 34, the Lord Jesus preached
total depravity. Verse 44, no man can come to
me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I'll raise
him up at the last day. And then the Lord went on to
tell them many things about Himself being the bread from heaven and
salvation itself, and it could only be received by partaking
in Him. Eat of the bread of life, you'll
never die. Now look at verse 59. These things said he, the
Lord Jesus, in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Now
look at this, verse 60. Many therefore of his disciples,
professing believers, disciples, when they heard this, said, this
is a hard saying, who can hear it? Now, I've read that so many
times and thought, well, that just means difficult and hard
to understand. But that word hard here goes
much further than that. In other words, it means harsh. It means rough. It means stiff
and stern. It means offensive. It means
even cruel. In other words, who can be expected
to believe this? That's what they were saying.
This is a hard thing. How can you expect any of us
to believe this? These things are offensive. So allow me to ask you, do these
things offend you? That's what they're saying. This is offensive. Verse 61,
when Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples Not the Pharisees,
not the scribes, but those who professed to believe in Him murmured
at it. He said unto them, does this
offend you? What and if you shall see the
Son of Man ascend up where He was before? In other words, you'll
really be offended when you see that. And then in verse 63, the Lord
Jesus said this. It is the spirit that quickeneth.
It's the spirit that maketh alive. The flesh profiteth nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they're spirit and they are life.
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from
the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray
him. And he said, therefore said I
unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given
unto him of my father. In other words, God got to make
you believe this. God's got to make this to where
it ain't offensive to you anymore. Or you'll be offended the rest
of your life. And you'll really be offended
when you see me going back to where I came from. And verse 66, from that time
many of his, who? Disciples. Went back and walked
no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve
his closest friends, will you also go away?" And then Simon
Peter answered him and said, Lord, to whom shall we go? That's
what every believer's gonna say. Where else are we gonna go? You
have the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now, here's
the point that I've been endeavoring and trying to make. It was and it is necessary. Necessary that we must be given
life. We'll have it no other way. We
must hear the gospel as sinners, not as those that are well and
are whole. Those who are well have no need
of a physician. You're gonna have to hear the
gospel as one who's in need. It is necessary that we must
be given life. These things may seem harsh to
others, but they're absolutely necessary for one dead to hear. It may seem to be harsh and hard,
offensive to one that's dead, and I'll say it once more, but
to one who knows they're dead, who God has shown is dead, it's
necessary. No other way to life. And it's
the language of life. It's the language of life. Not
one of confusion. The true gospel language is still
one message. The confusion of Babylon is found
in all the others. What is the one single language
of the gospel? One last place. Last place I'll
turn you. Colossians chapter 3. Look at it. That's just too good to hurry
through. Colossians 3, verse 9. This will
be the last verse I turn you to. Hopefully. Verse 9. Lie not one to another,
seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and that
ye have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after
the image of him that created him. Verse 11, Colossians 3. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or
free. Now look at the last words of
the verse. But where Christ is all and in
all. What is this language? What's
the message of this language? What is the subject of this message
of salvation? Christ is all and in all. He's the only means of salvation.
And when you say that, you said it all. Only a believer can understand
this language. Anything contrary to this statement,
Christ is all and in all is the language of Babylon. Christ is
all that God is. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Christ is the Word. Christ is
the Beloved in whom we are accepted. Christ is all in election. We're
accepted in Him, the Beloved of God. Christ is all in salvation,
salvations of the Lord, by no other name. by which we can be
saved. Christ is all in redemption.
He purchased me with His precious blood. No other way I could be
purchased. Without the shedding of blood,
no remission of sin. Christ is all in justification. He justly died that I might justly
live. Christ is all in faith and repentance.
Christ is all in regeneration. Do you know when you're regenerated?
When you see that Christ is all in and all. That's when you're
regenerated. Until you see it, you're not.
Christ is all our hope. He's all our insurance. Christ
in you is the hope of the Lord. If you depend on your works at
all, then you've not heard or understand the gospel language.
Christ is all. He's all that God requires. He's
all my entrance into heaven. There ain't no golden ticket
into heaven. If there is, it's crimson red. the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the language of the gospel and every believer knows it.
Do you know this language? Do you know this Savior? Or are
you at the height of confusion? Let me read you a verse in closing. You don't need to turn there,
but listen closely and carefully. Found in Zephaniah chapter three,
verse nine. For then will I turn to the people
a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the
Lord to serve Him with one consent." Now, is He going to turn that
to all the world? No. He's going to reveal it to
those that He's given this pure language. That word pure means bright,
chosen, clean, polished, purified, and purged. Not man-made, as
we read earlier. Not man-made and purified and
purged by man, but by God. God turns this pure language
to us. Only then do we call upon the
name of the Lord. Only then do we serve Him with
one consent. You know what the word consent
means? It means in agreement. Are you in agreement with this?
Brother Davey, can you speak this language? Well, I've been
in every endeavor for many years now. So you ask yourself that
question. Can you speak a little of it
for me now, Brother Doug? Yes, I can. You ready? Christ
is all and in all. In all the world? No. In all
who speak this way. Do you understand me? You will if God's taught you
this language. And if not, may God be pleased
to teach it to you now. Amen.