What comes to your mind when
you hear the words, God forbid? Have you ever considered that
phrase from the Bible? You know, those two words put
together, God and forbid, they appear 23 times in the scripture. And when they do, they're used
as a major contradiction as to what was said right before them. and what follows them. And when you understand what
the phrase God forbid means, you'll find that all through
the book, all through this book, the Bible, there are many things
that God forbids. This morning, I want to look
at six of those, six ways the phrase is used and how it shows
us something of ourselves and something of the God with whom
we have to do. And may God be pleased to reveal
these six things to our hearts in a way that we've never seen
them before. So what does the phrase God forbid
mean? Well, in the Old Testament, this
Hebrew phrase means far be it, or be it far from thee. and thee being whoever it's referring
to, whether God or man. It means by no means. It means not by any stretch of
the imagination. In the New Testament, the Greek
phrase, God for me, it means not in the least. Banish the
thought. Absolutely and assuredly not. Never, no never. Or may God reject
to this. In other words, it means an emphatic
no. I suppose this would be a way
you would say it in terminology that we understand. No, absolutely
not. I heard that a lot growing up.
And I've said it a lot as a grown up. It's a forceful no. It's a assertive no. It's a decisive
no. It's a conclusive no. It's an
unmistakable no. When my mother used to tell me
no, I knew she meant no because she told me. When I say no, I
mean no. It's a strong and a powerful
no. It's an insistent. No. And when
the Word of God says, God forbid, I certainly desire to know what
it means, because I want to know what God forbids. So let's look at the six instances
together and consider them for a few minutes. First, turn with
me, if you would, to Genesis chapter 18. I'm gonna turn you
to six different passages this morning. But let's begin here
in Genesis chapter 18. And the first thing I desire
for us to see is the holy justice of God. We hear a lot today about
the love of God, but very little about the holiness and the holy
justice of God. And here in Genesis chapter 18,
we had the story or the occasion where the Lord appeared to Abraham
and informed him that he and his wife were going to have a
son in their old age. And if you remember, Sarah laughed.
Sarah in her tent laughed when she heard that. And the Lord
asked this question. And we would have laughed too
if we were 90 years old and our partner was 100, wouldn't we?
But the Lord asked this question, is there anything too hard for
the Lord? You know the answer to that.
Nothing is too hard for the Lord. He can do anything. He can do
everything. And in verse one tells us that
the Lord appeared to Abraham as he sat in his tent's door. And then in verse two, we're
told that Abraham lifted up his eyes and he looked, and lo, three
men stood by him. And Abraham bowed himself toward
the ground. Then in verse three, Abraham
addresses these men as Lord. Now, which one was Lord? I believe
all three. This no doubt represents God
in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Now look down at verse 20. And if you remember this occasion,
Abraham made them a meal, prepared a meal, so these men were in
human form, or God was in human form. And in verse 20, the Lord
said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because
their sin is very grievous, I will go down and see whether they
have done altogether according to the cry, and that means the
report, the report of it, which is coming to me, and if not,
I will know. And the men turned their faces
from fence and went towards Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before
the Lord." Now, let me just say this. Men and women's sins, we'll
find them out. We can hide things from one another,
and we can even convince ourself of some things that are not so,
but God knows. He knows everything. Now, the
way this verse reads, it kind of appears to me that the two
of these men turned and went towards Sodom, but one of them
stayed. And again, I see a picture there. God the Father and God the Holy
Spirit are going to execute judgment upon the wicked Sodom, but God
the Son stays to mediate with Abraham. That's a beautiful picture. There is but one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And that is what the Lord and
Abraham do. Abraham seeks the Lord for mercy
for Sodom. Because that's where his beloved
nephew Lot resides. And the Lord is his mediator,
is his go-between. That's what a mediator is. One
who mediates between one party and another. So the Lord is his
mediator, his go-between, stands with him to hear his pleading
petition. And notice the question that
Abraham asked in verse 23. And Abraham drew near and said,
will thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there
be 50 within the city. Verse 24, will you spare Sodom
for 50 righteous? And then in verse 25, Abraham
says, that be far from thee to do after this manner. God forbid,
God forbid. Be far from thee to do after
this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that be far
from thee. God forbid, by no means, never,
no, never, not in the least, assuredly not, banish the thought,
no, no. Friends, God will by no means
clear the guilty, but hear me when I tell you that, and rest
assured, that God will by no means slay the righteous with
the wicked. That'd be far from Him. Why? Abraham answers right here. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Yes, he will. He always does
what's right. God doesn't do just what is right. It's right because God does it.
Now that's a, A cute little saying, I know, but it's the truth. It is the truth. It's right because
God does it, and it's right because His holy justice demands it. That's the first point here.
His mercy and His compassion on the righteous, those made
righteous in Christ, proves it to be so. The wise man Solomon
testified to that in Proverbs 17, verse 5. He said, He that
justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even
they both are an abomination to the Lord. The holy justice
of God will not by any means allow those that have offended
His justice to go without condemnation. Yet the same holy justice of
God will not allow one who is righteous to face that judgment
and condemnation. And you know the rest of the
story. Peter reminds us of what it is. Let me read a couple verses
here. In 2 Peter chapter two, beginning
in verse six, Peter writes, and turning the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making
them an example unto those that should after live ungodly and
delivered just lot. vexed with the filthy conversation
of the wicked. For that righteous man dwelling
among them and seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from
day to day with their unlawful deeds." Now listen, I find that
amazing because Lot was a scoundrel. Lot was a covetous, selfish man. His heart always leaned toward
Sodom. But God calls him godly. He calls
him righteous. He calls him a just man. He's found in Christ. And Peter
wrote, the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations
and to reserve the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished. And that's because the Lord is
holy and the Lord is just. And God forbid he will by no
means clear the guilty or punish the innocent. And that is why,
dear friends, we must be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
in Him, in Him alone, that we're made holy and just before God. He is both just and justifier
of those that believe. Oh, I plead with you to this
day to bow to Christ. Come to Christ. Now, turn with
me to Joshua chapter 24. We've been studying the book
of Joshua, we're not that far along yet, but in the 24th chapter
of Joshua, I want you to see the second thing that God objects
to, and that is putting anything and anyone before Him. These are valuable lessons for
us. And I might add, not even self. You know, every professing believer
carries with them grave clothes. You remember when Lazarus came
out of the tomb, he was all wrapped in grave clothes. Well, we carry
a whole lot of grave clothes with us when we come out of the
tomb of death, when God calls us out. We carry with us way
too much wheel worship, loving ourselves even more than we love
Christ, grave clothes. We cling to a great deal of pride,
thinking ourselves to be something when we're nothing. Grave clothes. We trust way too much in what
we do and way too little in what Christ has done for us. They're
grave clothes. After all, without Christ, we
can do nothing, but we can do all things through Christ which
strengthen us. And God is a jealous God. In verse 13 here, Joshua 24, Joshua tells the nation of Israel,
who are very accurately pictured of us, that God had given them
a land for which they did not labor, cities that they did not
build, vineyards and olive yards which they planted not. And then
in verse 14, Joshua told these wishy-washy, stiff-necked people
of Israel to now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity
and in truth, and put away the gods which your father served
on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve ye the
Lord. And if it seem evil unto you
to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether
the gods which your father served that were on the other side of
the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord." Now look at what the people say, verse
16. And the people answered and said, God forbid, perish the
thought, far be it from us, by no means that we should forsake
the Lord to serve other gods. For the Lord our God, He it is
that brought us from the house of bondage and brought our fathers
out of the land of Egypt and from the house of bondage in
which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in
all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through
whom we passed. And the Lord drove out from before
us all the people, even the Amorites, which dwelt in the land. Therefore
will we also serve the Lord, for He is our God." Now, a sinner
who is not in Christ cannot serve the Lord. Why, Joshua tells us
right there in verse 19. You cannot serve the Lord, for
He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not share His glory with
another. God will not. If a sinner is
not in Christ, He will not forgive your sin. Why does He forgive
our sins? The same reason we forgive other
people's sins, for Christ's sake. Verse 20, if you forsake the
Lord and serve strange gods, then He will turn and do you
hurt and consume you after that He hath done you good. You know, when you look back
on your life providentially, God has done all of us good in
one sense of the word. It's His earth on which we live. It's His air that we breathe.
It's His ground in which bears forth grain for bread. It's His
Son that gives us light and life. It's his rain and water from
which we drink. That's what our Lord said. He
said, for he maketh his son, whose son? The Lord's, God's. He maketh his son to rise on
the evil and on the good, and he sendeth rain on the just and
on the unjust. Matthew chapter 5, 45. Now look
at verse 21. And the people said unto Joshua,
nay, but we will serve the Lord. And Joshua said unto the people,
you are witnesses against yourselves that you've chosen the Lord to
serve him. And they said, we are witnesses. Now therefore put away, said
he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart
unto the Lord God of Israel. And the people said unto Joshua,
the Lord our God will we serve, and his voice we will obey. God
is a holy God and God is a jealous God. He won't tolerate anything
less than full surrender. He won't share His glory with
another. Christ will be all or He'll be
nothing to you. Trust in Him fully or you'll
find no peace or rest at all. To be God's servant with his
child, to be his servant and his child, it's all or nothing. Which takes us immediately to
our next point. It's a continuation of this second
one. Thirdly, men and women reap what
they sow. Turn with me to 1 Samuel 2. Just
a book or two over. Judges 1 Samuel chapter 2. You remember the story of Hannah.
Hannah was barren. She prayed to the Lord to give
her a son, and the Lord gave her a son, and she named him
Samuel. And what did she do? She gave
him to the Lord after he was weaned and reached a certain
age, he served in the temple with Eli the priest. And you
remember Eli, he had two wicked sons. Oh, they were so wicked. And verse 12 tells us that. It
says, now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They knew not
the Lord. Now, Belial simply means without
profit, worthless, wicked, evil, Naughty, ungodly, and they were
all these things. In verse 22, we read, Now Eli
was very old, and he heard all that his sons did unto Israel,
and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation. Can you imagine? And he said
unto them, why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil
dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons, for it is no good
report that I hear. You make the Lord's people to
transgress. Not only do you transgress, but
you're making others transgress. But Eli's sons made themselves
fat, and they personally profited from the offering of God's people. There are a lot of harling preachers
in the world today that do just that. Now, in verse 30 we read,
wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy
house and the house of thy father, speaking to Eli, should walk
before me forever, but now the Lord saith, be it far from me,
by no means, perish the thought, no, never, no, never, I forbid,
for them that honor me, I will honor, and they that despise
me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come that I
will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that
there shall not be an old man, in thine house. God will by no
means honor those who dishonor him. And Eli, who is now 98 years
old and nearly blind, we're told in a later chapter, set by the
wayside, trembling for the safety of the ark. He was a man of God. but he refused to do anything
about his wicked sons. And he's sitting there waiting
for messengers to bring him news of the battle with Israel against
the Philistines. And it was then that a messenger
came and told him that the Israelites had fled before the Philistines,
that his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas were slain, and that
the Ark of the Covenant had been taken. And when he heard that
the ark of the covenant had been taken, he fell backward on his
seat and died, the scripture said. Not because his sons perished,
but because the ark of the covenant was taken. And it seems as though
Eli was not surprised at all that his sons were killed. Why? No doubt he had expected that.
He had heard what the Lord said. Men are gonna reap what they
sow. Therefore, in the end, God's judgment fell upon Eli and his
sons. And friends, men and women do
reap what they sow. Turn over just a few pages to
1 Samuel 12. 1 Samuel 12, just a few pages. The fourth thing that God forbids
has to do with the message of God's preacher. This is the message
of God's servant. Look beginning in verse 20 with
me. And Samuel, God's prophet, said
unto the people, fear not, ye have done all this wickedness,
yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord
with all your heart." You know, that is our message. God's elect
are but sinners still. Man in his best state is still
a sinner, altogether vanity. We're so prone to wonder, we're
so prone to leave the God that we love, we're so prone to sin.
But we cannot turn aside. There's no place else for us
to go. We've got to continue to serve. So the message of God's
servant is, verse 21, and turn ye not aside, for then should
ye go after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver for
their vain. If we turn aside from the Lord,
there's nothing but vain things that await for us. So we must
press on toward the mark of the high calling in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and here's why. Verse 22, for the Lord will not
forsake His people. Why? For His own great namesake,
for His great namesake, because it hath pleased the Lord to make
you His people. How amazing is God's faithfulness
to His people. And it's the responsibility of
every preacher, every God-called preacher, not hirelings, but
God-called preachers to proclaim these things to the children
of God. Look at verse 23. Moreover, as
for me, God forbid, be it far from every called preacher, that
I should sin against the Lord, how, preacher, in ceasing to
pray for you? but I will teach you the good
and the right way. Now this is the burden of the
Lord that we talked about last Sunday, last week. God gives
his preachers a burden, a heart to pray for his people, to teach
them concerning the things of Christ. And he does so that we
may grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. Verse
24, only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth. That being in the
gospel, in Christ, that's our message. Serve Him in truth.
With all your heart, consider how great things He had done
for you. And when we hear the gospel,
we can't help but to consider the great things that God has
done for us. That's why it's the gospel. That's
why it's good news. Verse 25, but if ye shall still
do wickedly, Ye shall be consumed, both ye and your King." You know,
those who do not bow, those who reject Christ, shall be consumed,
and those whom they follow, both them and the King of their heart,
whoever and whatever that may be, But Christ is the King of
kings and His sheep follow Him. Isn't that what He said? I'm
a good shepherd, my sheep follow me. You see, the message of God's
preachers is turn you from your sin. Don't turn from God, turn
you from your sin. Trust Christ and it'll be well
with your soul. Why? Because He's put away your
sin. He paid for your sin with the
shedding of His own blood. Okay, now turn with me to Romans
chapter three. Romans chapter three. The fifth
thing that we see in these God-forbids is the immutability of God. That's a big word. It simply
means God doesn't change. It's talking about His unchangeableness. Perish the thought that God would
ever change. God cannot and God will not change. He's the Lord who changes not.
He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's not subject
to change by man's unbelief. Romans 3, look at verse 3. Paul asks this question. For
what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the
faith or the faithfulness of God without effect? Verse four,
God forbid. Shall the creature's unbelief
change his creator? Well, when you say it like that,
it's ridiculous to think so. Does God's faithfulness become
less affected just because we don't believe him? God forbid. Perish the thought. Never, no,
never. That's what folks today seem
to think, though. God can't save you unless you
let Him. God can't save sinners apart from their will. God forbid. Perish the thought, assuredly
not. Well, you've got to give Him your heart. He don't want
it. Don't want it. You have to let
Him have His way. Well, He has His way in the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Without you giving
Him His way, I had someone tell a friend of
mine that if he didn't believe in Jesus, that God could do nothing
for him. Well, it's just the opposite.
If God doesn't do something for the sinner, that sinner can't
believe. The Jews of old disregarded the
promises of God. They didn't believe the prophecies
of the Messiah. They despised and they rejected
Him when He came and they sought acceptance through their heritage
and through their rituals. Did that make void the promise
of God concerning Christ? No. Perish the thought. God forbid. Did that make God's
covenant void with Abraham? No. Has the salvation of sinners
by grace through faith been abandoned? and made ineffective because
sinners don't believe? God forbid. Banish the thought. God remains true. Look at verse
four. Let God be true and every man
a liar. And then the Apostle Paul quotes
David. God is just in his judgments. He always does what's right.
It's right because he does. God is upright in all that he
does. God is a God of righteousness.
He always does what's right. God will prevail regardless of
what sinful men say or do. Now, I know it's discouraging.
It's discouraging to me. Everywhere you look, every person
you hear talk anymore talks about God just almost the opposite
of how he's revealed in the scriptures. And it's disheartening. But he
don't change God. God is immutable. He's unchangeable. Then lastly,
the sixth thing that none can deny is that salvation's of the
Lord. Turn over to Romans chapter nine
with me. Romans chapter nine, look at
verse nine. Romans 9, verse 9, Paul says,
for this is the word of promise. What is this word of promise?
At this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. That's
what we looked at in Genesis 18. You know, the birth of Ishmael
by the handmaid was a course of nature, but the birth of Isaac
was by promise. Ishmael represents those born
after the flesh and Isaac represents those that are born of the Spirit. Isaac represents those born of
God, the children of God. And Paul continues in verse 10
and he says, and not only this, but when Rebekah, also had conceived
by one, even by our father Isaac." And this is just further proof
that salvation's of the Lord. Verse 11, for the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand not of works, but
of Him that calleth. You see, the choice to own Jacob
as an object of mercy, was made before the children were ever
born. The choice was made before they had done any good or evil.
God didn't look ahead in time and see that Jacob would be good
and that he would choose God. If anything, Jacob was the worst
of the two. The choice was made according
to the purpose of God. This is the source of all mercy.
that being the sovereign will and purpose of God. Verse 12,
it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. Esau
being the elder and Jacob the younger. As it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And boy, that upsets folks. Men
say that what Paul meant there was that God loved Esau less. Well, if that's what God meant,
that's what God would have recorded. But that's not what he said.
He said, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And you
know what I say to that? God forbid. Perish the thought,
put it far from your mind. Those who have some understanding
now of God's holiness and man's sinfulness, understand why God
would hate Jacob or love Jacob and hate Esau. I understand how
God could hate me. I do. But how could He love any
of us? God's love for Jacob is His love
for all His people is in Christ and in Christ alone. No love
and forgiveness apart from that. Paul went on to say, for I'm
persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us,
God's people, from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Now look at verse 14. What shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid, perish the thought,
be it far from thee to think such things. Does not loving
Jacob and hating Esau before they were born imply that there's
injustice with God? Perish the thought, by no means,
far from it, God forbid. Is it righteous for God to love
one who has done no good and to hate one who has done no evil? No, it's his prerogative. What is the apostle's answer? God forbid. And that's all that
he says, God forbid. God forbid that anyone should
charge God with such folly. All that God does is consistent
with the perfection of his character. God forbid these six things,
much more, but especially these six. First, God forbid that we
question his holy justice. He always does what's right.
Secondly, be far from us, any of us, to deny that God is not
a holy and a jealous God. God will not share His glory
with anyone or anything. Perish the thought. Thirdly,
God forbid the thought that man does not reap what he sows. Be not seen, God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, he shall
also reap. Oh, you plant corn, you get corn.
You don't plant anything, you don't get anything. Fourthly,
By no means should God's preachers not pray and preach to God's
chosen people the unsearchable riches of Christ alone. What
think ye of Christ? That is the question we ask in
our preaching. What do you think of him that
loved you and gave himself for you? Is he everything to you
or is he nothing to you? Is it nothing to you that pass
by and see Christ hanging on the cross to put away your sin? And then fifthly, God forbid
that any question his immutability and unchangeableness. He is faithful that promised. He's always been. He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. And lastly, may we never think
or believe that salvation is not of the Lord. Salvation is
of the Lord. God forbid, and God allow us
and enable us to believe these things, for God's glory are good
and for Christ's sake. God forbid, next time you hear
those two words, maybe we'll have a little better understanding
of what they mean.