That's a good hymn, isn't it? It certainly went well with that
Scripture reading, didn't it? I don't recall us singing that
before. 2 Chronicles chapter 13 now.
Let's read verses 10 and 11 again. 2 Chronicles 13, verses 10 and
11. But as for us, The Lord is our God, and we have
not forsaken him. And the priests which minister
unto the Lord are the sons of Aaron. And the Levites wait upon
their business. And they burn unto the Lord every
morning and every evening, burnt sacrifices and sweet incense
The showbread also set they in order upon the pure table, and the candlestick of gold with
the lamps thereof to burn every evening. For we keep the charge
of the Lord our God, but ye have forsaken him." Now I remind you once again how
that Israel throughout the Scripture represents the professing people
of God. That is, those who profess to
believe God, the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
is Israel, the God of Jacob. But the Scripture says they are
not all Israel which are of Israel. Neither is he a Jew, which is
one outwardly." That's what the Romans said. And Israel represents, in a more
clearer way, all people who profess to believe God. All professing
believers in the God of the Bible and Jesus Christ. the Christ
of Scripture. And as I quoted, all Israel is
not of Israel and all of Israel is not Israel and neither is
he a Jew which is one merely outwardly or professing or looks
the part, neither is he a believer who just merely says so, professed
to be so. But there is a remnant Scripture
said, Romans said, a remnant, that is a percentage, a tenth
if you will or something, a remnant according to the election of
grace, that is the true people of God whom he chose, whom he made his
people. Now the tribe of Judah, the tribe
of Judah from which King David came, and as we said, the son
of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, was one small tribe or remnant
out of twelve tribes of Israel. And yet Judah represents, in
this story, the true people of God. Judah was outnumbered two to
one. You read with me, there were
800, now this was just men. You can imagine how many wives
there were, and family. 800,000 to 400,000. And they
gathered together to do battle. They fought one another, Israel
and Judah. Two to one, Israel against Judah. And yet in the end, you read
the end with me, half a million. where the vast majority of those
Israelites were slaughtered. The Lord killed them. Now, both sides claimed to believe
the same God, didn't they? Both sides. But only one side
did. It's evident, isn't it? Only one side believed and worshipped
the true God in the way in which God said to worship. Now I believe
that this story is more relevant to our day than any other time
because there are more people. There are more professing believers. There are literally millions
if not billions the world over who profess to believe the God
of this Bible. and so many, so very many, which
profess the name of Jesus Christ. Yet I believe that it is the
same now as it was then that there is but a remnant according
to the election, that is, according to God's sovereign electing grace,
a remnant who believe and worship the true God and His true Christ
in the true way that he is to be worshipped. Now that's what
we're going to get out of this story. If you hadn't already,
if you read it with me, I... Come on now, we don't have any
place to go, do we? Are you off tomorrow? Are you
off work tomorrow? Most of you? Well then, this is it. This is
the day. This is all there is, folks.
There may not be a tomorrow. As I said, I believe today there
is, as then, There is only a remnant, according to God's sovereign
electing grace, that knows, believes, and worships the true God and
his Christ. Now everyone says they do. They
say, people all around us that say they do, worship God, worship
Christ, we say it. How do you know? Doesn't it behoove
us to know that? Huh? There's a sign out here on 220
South Business on a so-called church that says, One Lord, One
Faith, One Baptism. Meaning that anybody can come
in here, we just receive anybody because really we all believe
the same thing. Do we now? Do we? Do we? Well, I hope we're going to find
out. I hope we're going to find out from this scripture. It behooves
us to know. Who does? Who worships? Who knows? Who believes the true God and
His Christ? Who does and who does not? How
does one know? How does one know? Is this important? Is this important? Are we just, you know, splitting
doctrinal hairs here? Is it just important so you have
the right theology? Huh? Come on now. John 17.3,
our Lord said, this is eternal life. This is salvation. This
is the difference between being alive unto God or dead. That
you might know Thee, the only true God. Why did Jesus Christ
say that? Because there are false gods
by the millions. And Jesus Christ whom God sent,
there's but one. One. One Lord. One faith. One. And our Lord said it is
life. It's not just a matter of doctrine. It proves if you're dead or alive. And if you're saved or not. This is salvation. Alright, Abijah. This man, Abijah, is king of
Judah. Now he himself is an enigma.
If you read his story, if you went up and looked it up, I did.
I wanted to find out more about the man. I don't like to repeat
any man, you know, say much about anybody in scriptures if I don't
know something about them. He's an enigma. As so many were. Solomon was an enigma. Enigma meaning somebody that's
hard to figure out. Nevertheless, this man's profession
and his declaration to all of Israel is mine. It's ours. It's yours, I hope. Isn't it
yours? Those of you who read it with
me and understood what you read. All right, let's read verses
4 and 5. Now, Abijah stood up upon Mount Zimmerom, which is
in Mount Ephraim, and said, he stood up on a mountain and he
made this declaration to all of Israel. Now, there were over
a million and a half people listening to this. I'd like to have that audience
just one time. I believe I preached this message
right here. But he preached or declared this to over a million
and a half people, counting his own, maybe two or three million,
if men, women, and children were there. And he said this, verse
4, Hear me, thou Jeroboam. He directed it at that imposter
and all Israel. Hear me. Ought ye not to know? And I've been accused of, you
know, hollering too much, and not by you, mind you, not by
most of you anyway, and sounding mad. But how do you stand on
a mountain and say this to two million people without shouting
it? The fellas are going to blow some trumpets later on. Have
you ever blown a trumpet? Have you ever blown a trumpet?
Unless you really know what you're doing, you cannot make a sound
out of it unless you blow that thing. And a trumpet of warning is only
one way to sound it, and that's loud. Why? You're trying to wake
people up. You're not playing taps to put
them to sleep. And our generation needs to hear
a loud trumpet. I'm not trying to put them to
sleep. I'm not crying, peace, peace, because there is no peace. Our God said that. There's no
peace to the wicked. Hear me! Ought ye not to know that the
Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever. You ought to know them. That's
what he said. He's saying you ought to know them. It's plainly
revealed in Scripture. History tells us this. Everybody
tells us this. Ought you not to know? And Paul said this later on. He says, have they not heard? Yea, barely. The sound has gone
throughout the world. The world ought to know. And
they do. They're without excuse. Romans
says they're without excuse. That God Almighty hath given
this whole ball of dirt to Jesus Christ. He's King of kings and Lord of
lords. But one king, all the rest are
impostors. You notice how he addressed this
to old Jeroboam. Not afraid of that man. He's
an impostor. Hear this, he said, don't you
know? Ought you not to know? Have you not read? Our Lord kept
saying that, didn't He? Have you not read? You do err
not knowing the Scripture, nor the power that is the authority,
the reign, the rule, the sovereignty of God. That's what Christ said.
That sums up all error, all heresy today. Men don't know God's Word
and don't know God's power. Hope they not to know why the
heavens declare it, the firmament showeth it. Day unto day others
speak, night unto night knowledge, though they are without excuse.
The wrath of God is clearly revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness
of those who hold the truth in unrighteousness. God has been saying it from the
outset. I have given this whole thing into my son's hands. Now kiss the son. Psalm 2, the
psalms start out that way. David, whose son is he? Whose son is Christ? Whose son
is Jesus? David said, the Lord said unto
my Lord. David said, the Lord said to
my Lord, I will declare the decree, thou art my son. And he says he gave it in a covenant
of salt, in a covenant before the world began. God said to
Christ, ask of me, I'll give you the heathen for thine inheritance,
the other most parts of the earth. And so in Psalm 24, it says the
earth is the Lord's. Who? Jesus Christ. And the world
and inhabitants thereof. The earth and the fullness thereof,
and the world and inhabitants thereof. All souls are mine,
Jesus Christ said. God has given me authority over
all flesh, Christ said, that he should give heath. It's in
His sovereign right, in His sovereign hand to give life to as many
as God gave Him. Bow. And to this end, Romans
14 says, to this end, Christ both died and rose and revived
that He might be Lord both of the dead and the living. He is
every man and woman and boy and girl's Lord and King whether
they know Him or not. And Abijah goes on and says,
ought ye not to know? Yet this imposter, he says in
verse 5, verse 6, this Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, the servant
of Solomon, the son of David, he's no true son, he's risen
up and hath rebelled against his Lord. Again, in the words of Abijah's
grandfather, great-grandfather David. In his words, years before,
the kings of the earth have set themselves and the rulers taken
counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. And there have been many imposters
in the name of the Lord, even. False Christ, our Lord himself,
warned of it. We're going to look at that in
Matthew 24 real soon. He says, many false Christs shall arise. And vain men, verse 7, he says,
they are gathered unto him vain men. You know what vain, vanity
is, don't you? Someone who is vain, that means
they like the way they look, they like the way they sound.
They want people to think they look good and sound good and
they are vain men. Well, vain men who are in it
for their name and their glory and their honor and their works
and their posterity. Our Lord said that incredibly.
Our Lord said, I am coming in my Father's name and you don't
receive me. He said, let a man come in his own name and you'll
just fall all over. Not you, not you. I'm talking
about the world as he is. Vain men. And he said, Children of Belial,
that is evil men, read on, verse 7, they have strengthened themselves
against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young
and tender-hearted, could not withstand them. As we've said
before, that's why people love Christmastime, you know, baby. Isn't he sweet? Sweet little Jesus. Everybody
gets emotional over sweet little Jesus. He says in verse 8, And now ye
think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hand of the
sons of David? Man has been in rebellion against
God for many years. That's where it started in the
garden. It started with that imposter named Lucifer, son of
the morning, right? Just like old Jeroboam. And he convinced Adam and Eve
that they could be like God, too. They have a free will. And
God's violating their free will. How dare God be God when you
can be? That's how this whole thing started
for them. Isn't it? You've read it. That's
how it all started. And so the man and the woman
believed the lie. And we can be like God. Oh no, you're never
going to get low. You're going to be like a beast
after this. If you raise your fist against
God, you're going to be like an animal. Like old Nebuchadnezzar,
remember? He said, I look what I've done.
Look who I am. And God, in mercy, brought him
down low. And he became like a beast. And
his fingernails grew out. And his hair grew long. And he
ate grass until he knew. Man is a beast until he comes
to find out that the Lord God dwelleth, or reigneth, over the
kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, that he
does according to his will in the armies of heaven, but not
just there, among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay
his hand, because he's God, and say unto him, can't even talk
back to him. He's not going to give an account of his matter.
That's what makes him God, he said. Nebuchadnezzar said, I
finally came to my senses. Bless God. Now I know. Now I know. God. A man is not in his right mind
until he knows God. Isn't this a good way to begin
the new year? We're going to begin with God.
That's how this whole creation started. In the beginning, God! He began to declare, scriptures
began to declare who God is. What? God! You mind me hollering that, huh?
How do you say that? How do you declare such a one
as this? How? Huh? Somebody tell me. They said of Christ, he spoke
as one having authority. How's that? It ain't mailing
him out, mincing words, and changing his voice into a ministerial
voice, and turning to the fourth chapter of the first book of
Corinthians, as you heard in your reading, and we shall read
what the Lord... And he said, if any man speak,
let him speak as the oracles of God. Didn't he? If not, get
out of here. Our generation, more than ever,
needs a wake-up call, don't they? And as I said, I'm more determined
than ever on this radio. We'll give them a few more, just
a few more times on that radio. I'm going to shout it out, folks.
I'm going to tell it like it is. Bless God. By God's grace. Barnard used to say, I'm not
trying to entertain sinners on their road to hell. Trying to
get people lost, he used to say. He said, I'm trying to kill their
God. Trying to kill their God. First thing has to be done. Got
to kill their God. Got to break down their idols.
Got to tear out their foundations from under them. All their false
refuges. Bring them down in the dust.
The salvation of Saul of Tarsus was a violent thing, wasn't it?
The Lord put his face in the dust, didn't he? until he realized
that whoever brought him off his high horse is God. And God did the same for many
of you who brought you off your religious high horse. And that's
all religion does, is puff us up. It makes us self-righteous. Well, he said in verse 8, he
said, You be a great multitude. You outnumber us two to one,
he said. And you think there's strength
in numbers, don't you? Looks like the whole world is
with you and against us, doesn't it? And you've got these golden
calves you've made, Jeremiah made for you. These gods that
he made up. Do you know that story? Did anybody
look that story up? You know, these sinner references
are real good. That's why they're written. There
were men of old who took Hours and hours and hours and hours
and hours and hours and hours searching the Scripture to see
what it was speaking of, what account, what story. And they
went back and searched these Scriptures and wrote them down
so you can just, oh, there it is, and turn real quick. There have been times when I've
spent as much as 45 minutes looking for one verse of Scripture I
need. So you can turn to it in five seconds and look at it or
quote it to you. Why? This is good. You're comparing spiritual things
with spiritual things, Scripture with Scripture. That's why. Jeroboam,
Jeroboam, this false king, God said there's one place to
worship. God said there's one place to
worship, and that's in Jerusalem. That's where the tabernacle was.
That's where the high priest was. God said there's one way.
One place I've put my name there. Now, everybody's got to go there
to worship. And you know exactly what that's talking about. Who?
All right. Gerald Boehm said that's not
convenient. That's what he said. He said,
besides, if everybody believes there's one way, they'll quit
following me. So Jeroboam said, I'll make me
some gods and I'll put them in this city, real close, real convenient
for everybody. I'll put them in this city and
that city, places that God did not sanction, that God did not
bless. These golden calves. He made
up gardens for the people for convenience sake. Now, he said,
now, here folks, here, come. And he made feasts. He said,
we'll have a big shindig. We'll have a 25-piece orchestra
playing. We'll have a gospel quartet.
Come one, come all. And they did. And they quit going
to Jerusalem. And they quit worshipping God
the true way. And they rejected the true King
of Israel. and they start following an aposter.
Has this ever been more relevant? Huh? Religion for convenience. Made-up gods. As I said to you
before, that you can't believe. Brother Roy, I read that article
you gave me out of the New York Times. Just when you think it can't
get any worse, it just gets two times worse. That they're making scriptures
fit anybody and everything. Just make it palatable to people. Change it. Do anything they can
just so people will read it. Folks, this thing is winding
down. This is a good message for this
time. This might not be the beginning
of a new year. It might be the end of it all. That's what we look forward to. We're not looking forward to
the new year, per se. We're looking forward to His
coming. Hasten the coming of the Lord.
It means hurry, come quickly, Lord. This thing is getting worse
and worse. They've made void your law. Isn't
that what David said? Lord, it's time for you to work.
They've made void your law. They're twisting it and corrupting
it and perverting it, Lord. The prophets Jeremiah wept over
them. Now, there are many, lots of
them. They made up their gods. And
he says in verse 9, he says, whoever wants to be a priest
could. Whoever, Jeroboam made up some priests. He made priests.
Now, do you understand what's wrong with that, folks? Who makes
a priest? Who made the apostles, the prophets? Who said that the priests were
to come from the tribe of Levi? Who said first, before Levi,
said Aaron is the man? He's the only one. Who said that?
God said that. Some fellas named Korah stood
up and said, hey, we could be priests. No, you're not. Jeroboam, and you read the story
again, it says he made the lowest of the people priests. Doesn't that pretty much describe
these fellas today? Hollywood accurately depicts
these fellas as a bunch of wimpy, worthless, no-nothing, no-good hirelings, because that's what
they are. It says that Jeroboam raised
up high places, that he had elaborate cathedrals with low men in the
pulpit. and golden calves. And he said, he went on to say,
and you've cast out, verse 9, you have cast out the priest
of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, the Levites have made you priests. You've cast out the true prophets
and priests. You won't have them. That's what Stephen's message
was, wasn't it? That's all Stephen preached in Acts chapter 7. You know that? That's all he
preached. You say you're too hard. That's all Stephen said.
That's all he said. And they stoned him to death.
Isn't it? That's all he said. Read it. He stood up and he said,
you stiff-necked and hard-hearted people. He said, which of the
prophets have not your fathers killed? And they took up rocks
and banked his brains out. And if it were lawful today,
they'd do it to us. Cast out the true prophets. Why?
They come in God's name. That's all they're doing is telling
the truth. And they become everyone's enemy. Incredible, isn't it? Incredible. And they worship and they serve
and they talk about and they consecrate themselves and do
all they do. to them that are no gods. They're
believing, they're worshiping, they're talking about, they're
serving somebody that's not God at all. They're praying unto
a God who cannot say Isaiah said, but as for us. Let me see you smile here, okay?
But as for us, but God, who is rich in mercy,
and you, yes, us, who were dead the same way, worshiping the
same false gods in the same darkness even as others, but now, but
God, but now, as for us. The Lord is our God. If you want to give a CD to somebody,
this is it. Alright? The Lord is our God. I'm talking about Jehovah. Anytime
you see the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, that
means Jehovah. Every time. Jehovah. Who's Jehovah? He's the one true God, the living
and true God, whom he made known himself to Moses. He said, nobody
knows me but you now. The whole world has their gods
and thinks they serve me if they don't know me. But God said,
I'm revealing myself to you, Abraham. Abraham didn't know
him. Abraham was an idolater, 75 years
old, set in his ways. Thought he knew God. But God chose Abraham, called Abraham,
revealed himself to Abraham. Opened his blind eyes, his deaf
ears, his dark heart and enlightened it. Revealed himself to him and
in him. I am Jehovah. You are no man. Jehovah means the Eternal One,
the Self-existent One. We looked at that, didn't we,
in Exodus. Remember that? Oh, I loved that. I remember that
so well. Jehovah means the Eternal Self-existent One. Meaning, before
there was anything, I am. And in need of no one. Answering
to no one. Depending on no one. Nothing
he says, does or is depends on anything. That's our God, Jehovah. Their God depends on them to
let Him be God. No, no, no. Jehovah's our God.
Right? Now this is our, I'm preaching
for us. I said to one of you one day,
I said, one of you who was saying something about the radio program,
how much you enjoyed it and all. You know, we don't get much response. Most response I get is from you.
You tell me how much you enjoy it, so it may just be for you.
Or to add to the condemnation of those who hear it. Make them
accountable for what they have heard and rejected. But it may
be just mostly for you. Prepare your hearts for worship
for Sunday morning and to further confirm it in your hearts and
minds. And you tell me that, and I told this person, I said,
you know, I'm just preaching across the airways, and I get
up here and stand, and I'm preaching for you, not so much to you and
at you, but for you. I'm saying what you want to say
to your parents, to your fellow workmen, your family. Aren't
I? I'm saying to them what you would love to be able to say. Aren't I? Aren't I, Teresa? And
you tell them, listen, this is what I believe, don't you? This
is what I believe. Turn it on, please, listen. As for us, you say, us, Rehoboam
was preaching on behalf of Judah. He said, Jennifer, Judah, as
for us, you and me, Jehovah is our God. And He is God. Doesn't just want to be. He is.
Always has been. Always will be. Doesn't matter
what anybody says about it. Doesn't matter what anybody does,
ever. Doesn't matter what happens. He's the one who made it happen.
That's our God. Jehovah. That's for us. And we have not
forsaken Him. What does that mean? Well, meaning
we have not forsaken the true worship of Him. We've not forsaken the true worship
of Him. We still worship the same God
in the same way as He told us in the beginning. We still hold
fast the beginning of our confidence, steadfast to the end. Stay with
me a few more minutes, okay? We still worship God the same
way that He told us to worship from the beginning, that He told
Abraham to worship from the beginning. The same God is worshipped the
same way by his people in all generations. There is no cultural
worship. There is no geographical worship.
There is one way to worship because there is one God. And we are
going to see it right here. All right? We are going to see
it. All right? The Lord is our God, the God
of Israel, the eternal I Am, the self-existent, unchangeable,
omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God. The Lord Jesus Christ is
our God. Not just the Son of God, though
He is, He's very God of very God. I don't understand it. I don't either. That's what I
believe, don't we? That's what we believe. We believe
that Jesus Christ is the Lord our God. We say with Thomas,
He's the Lord our God. No, He's the Son of God. Yes?
Yes, He is. But He's God. He's our Father,
the Heavenly Father. How can this be? I don't know,
but it is. But He is. he that cometh to
God must believe that he is." Jesus Christ is the God, very
God of very God, Lord indeed, not just in name only. He's not
our