Would you join me tonight in
the book of Judges chapter 13? Judges chapter 13. We'd like
to look at the response of the events that the angel of the
Lord allowed Manoah and his wife to see. And there's such a contrast
between the reaction of Manoah and his wife. And I think that
we certainly have a picture here of the contrast between the natural
and the spiritual. Not to say that Manoah wasn't
saved, I'm just saying he's sometimes, at this point, he's kind of an
example to us of the natural. And in regards to that, we've
noticed here, after this great event, we've seen the angel of
the Lord perform wondrously. and consume the sacrifice that
Manoah brought, and the meal sacrifice and the sacrifice,
the burnt offering sacrifice, and in all of that goes up in
a whirlwind, ascended back to the Father as a result of the
consuming of that burnt offering. And then we notice here in verse
22, verse 22, Manoah is speaking to his wife
from a physical standpoint. She's the only one in the area.
And we also want to keep in mind the terrible conditions that
are going on in Israel at this time because of Israel's unbelief,
their idolatry, and we just see a very small remnant, according
to the election of grace, dealing with the situation that the angel
of the Lord brought. The very first thing that the
angel of the Lord or the pre-incarnate Christ mentions in this dialogue
is that she's gonna have a baby. And we'll see that happen at
the end of this chapter. The Lord is gonna bless her with
a child and we know him as Samson. In verse 22, and Manoah said
unto his wife, we shall surely die because we have seen God. We shall surely die. What an attitude that Manoah
has here. And you know, as we look into
the scripture, we find that Manoah is reflecting so much about our
natural being, our natural person. And we all know that, well, as
the scripture says, it's appointed on a man who wants to die. and
after this, the judgment. But as we find, when Noah said
these things to his wife, he's also bringing up an interesting
verse of scripture in the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, verse
30. Would you turn there with me
to the book of Hebrews, chapter 10? He's bringing up the subject
of what he saw, what he heard, what he observed as the angel
of the Lord consumed that sacrifice. He first, I believe, from the
context, he wanted to offer it for a meal, and the Lord said,
I will never accept that, but if you offer it, as a burnt offering,
it must be unto the Lord. So here in the book of Hebrews,
Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10 there in verse 30 and 31,
we read these words. It says, for we know him that
hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith
the Lord. And again, the people shall judge
his people. Two phrases in this verse of
scripture are Old Testament quotes. You know, I find comfort in it
that there's no address given. And sometimes we're caught that
way. We just don't know where it says it. We could find it
if necessary. But in verse 31, it is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And I think
that Manoah is reflecting this thought here, as he said, we've
seen God, we're gonna certainly die. We have broached this very
thing about God. He's allowed us to see him, but
the consequences is that we are going to die. Backing up in the
book of Hebrews, if you would, to chapter four, Hebrews chapter
four, we find this thought given to us by the Holy Spirit with
regard to the subject that we're upon. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 13, but
all things are naked and open unto him, unto the eyes of him
with whom we have to do. So as we go through this passage
of scripture, we're going to find out that God most certainly
knows what's going on here. And besides that, God has most
certainly purposed what's going on there, and God has most certainly
predestinated what has going on here. So he's very much involved
here. And yet we find here that when
we're dealing with God, he knows everything that is going on about
us and about the situations around us. So there's no creature that
is not manifest in his sight. And there is one place where
we all certainly will meet God. I had an account today, and I
just stayed out of it, about Jesus standing behind a young
man that was in a motorcycle wreck and putting his hand on
his chest. How do you argue with that? I don't. I do know this,
though. The only way that God speaks
to his people today is through the Word of God. So we're going
to look into the, we'll look into the word, we'll find out
what God has to say to us, and that is so true. It is a dreadful
place. It is, and by nature, we turn away from it. Death. It's not something that, as a
normal condition of our life, that we are anticipating. Now,
it doesn't mean that we're not prepared for it, and I do like
this, and I shared that with that young man today. That old
preacher's words about a believer is not fearful of death, it's
just how it's gonna happen, sometimes we get concerned about. Is it
gonna be cancer? Is it gonna be a stroke? Is it
gonna be falling asleep at night? And so that, to me at least,
is the concern. How are you gonna do this, Lord?
Well, it's still in His hands, and He'll take care of it appropriately. The place is death will meet
God. Everybody will meet God at this
point. Now we know that in this life,
every elect person is going to meet God. And in this life, God
overshadows and over, moves in mysterious ways over all people
in all the earth. But there isn't that recognition
that they've met God. It's just incapable. But in that day, they will have
met God. Going to the book of Hebrews
again in chapter 9, verse 27, passage of scripture that we
often refer to because it is so true and it tells so much
about our time. And, you know, I have not talked
to very many of the men in this church since that they said,
you know, I should be dead. The foolish things that we did,
and I don't know what the ladies did, but I know what the guys
do, stupid things, foolish things, death-defying acts. And God had
every right to take our life in any of those, but we find
out that we are really invincible. Is that the word I want? Invincible
until the appointed time. And we must hear the gospel. So we're not going to die ahead
of time. We're not going to be killed ahead of time, even though
in retrospect we say, I should have died there. That crash should
have killed me. That crash should have... And
anyway, it is here in the book of Hebrews chapter 9, verse 27,
and as it is appointed unto men once to die, there is an appointment. that it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this, the judgment. So there will be
no parleying, there'll be no trading, there'll be no offers,
there will be no, well, God, isn't there, I remember at the
close of a school year one time that I had a lot of kids in the
class come to me and say, Mr. Wells, do you have some extra
credit that I can do? And I says, I'm not going to
give you extra credit when you won't even do credit work. So
trying to trade with God is not going to work. We can't do the
credit work. So there's no extra credit work
to do. But after this, the judgment. And, you know, Solomon brought
this subject up over in the book of Ecclesiastes. Would you join
me there in the book of Ecclesiastes? In Ecclesiastes, there is this
passage of scripture that shares with us that this subject has
been known through all ages. In the book of Ecclesiastes chapter
3 and verse 2, we're going to die. Yes, we are. we're going
to find out that Manoah's not going to die at that time, but
he did die eventually, and so did his wife, and so did their
son Samson. But here it tells us in the book
of Ecclesiastes in verse one and two, for everything there
is a season. and a time for every purpose
under the heaven. So God has a time for every purpose
that he's ever purposed, and it will be carried out directly
according to that purpose. There is a time to be born. So
the day I was born was actually set up before the foundation
of the world, and it was discovered in time, and a time to die. Now, we can really look back
at people that we've known and say it was their time to die.
I was talking to that young man today and he had two sons run
head on in a motorcycle wreck and throw both of them off and
nearly killed them both. And I says, well, there's one
thing about it. It wasn't their time or they'd be dead. They
should have been. It's just foolishness. But anyway,
ambulance, time in the hospital and recovery. There is a time
to die. A time to be born, a time to
die, a time to plant, a time to pluck up that which is planted.
Now it's interesting that this section of scripture was turned
into a very popular song during the 70s, and most people don't
realize it came out of the book of Ecclesiastes. It's catchy.
Well, so is Ecclesiastes. In the book of Deuteronomy, we
have this recorded about Moses. In the book of Deuteronomy, there
in chapter 34, Moses has come to the end of his life. And we
find that Moses is caused to die. God brings death upon him. He's up on the mountain. He still
has strength. He's 120 years old. He's been
a servant of the Lord. He's been one to lead Israel.
He's been one to get upset with Israel. And yet he's not permitted
to go into the promised land. He's able to look into it. And
we know from a picture standpoint why he couldn't go into the promised
land. He represented the law. And my goodness, if we have any
understanding at all of the law, we don't want that to be our
guide of life. We want grace. So here it tells us, so Moses,
the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab. Now
notice this, according to the word of the Lord. So it was Moses'
time. He took him up on the mount.
There he died. He was buried by God Almighty
so that he couldn't be turned into an idol. It's the only thing
in all the world that will lend peace at this time, and there
is only one thing that will lend peace for this time. If we're
going to go, and we will go, through this valley of the shadow
of death, and there's only one way in creation, God's great
work, and that is when God comes to a person and separates them
from the rest of the folks We're not treated like everyone
else. We're separate from others, and
it reveals the mighty work of Christ to us. Now, that's the
only thing that can take the sting of death, that he reveals
the mighty work of Christ on our behalf. And anything that
is brought out that God does on our behalf is certainly going
to reveal what I think that Manoah felt, his sinfulness before God. And it is when God sets us aside
or brings us aside or separates us from others and reveals the
work of Christ to us and in us, it is then we realize what an
incompete we actually are. And then we have reason to think,
I will surely die. But we find out at that point,
and Manoah's wife is going to bring that subject up, but before
we get there, we want to continue on here in this. The only sight,
the only thing that we have is the sight of Christ. He reconciled,
God reconciled the world unto himself. So in that separation
that he gives us from everybody else, sets us aside from everybody
else, tends to us and deals with us. over everybody else, that
we have that peace, that we can meet God on good terms. And he
has brought this reconciliation. He's brought friendship back
between a man and almighty God. Now God's the offended party
and we're the offending party. So we're begging for mercy that
God would be friends with us again. And that revelation comes
in the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, if you'd
join me there, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, this is brought up
about this reconciliation, and that's the ministry that we have
is preaching Be you reconciled to God. Here in 2 Corinthians
5, verse 19, it says, to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. Now, he's not reconciling everybody
in the world, but he's reconciling those he separates from the world.
He separates his people out of the world. He knows their name.
He calls them. They follow him. But they are
being reconciled. It says, reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath
committed unto us the word of reconciliation." So the gospel
is really the word, a word of reconciliation, peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. So we find that Manoah reflects
to us, because I've seen God, I'm gonna die. Well, we're gonna
find out it's just the opposite. If we meet God in death, and
that's the only time we'll meet Him, then it will be serious.
If God permits us to meet Him in this life, like we find that
He appeared unto Manoah and to his wife there in the book of
Judges, if God meets us in this life and separates us from all
the other folks out of all the world, and deal with us according
to his good purpose and grace, we find out that there is a God
that is merciful, and there is a God that is gracious, and there's
a God that's not going to kill us with the second death. Going
over to the book of Revelation, it talks, this shall be the second
death, and that's when death and hell are cast into the lake
of fire. So he will never touch his people with the second death.
Now he will touch us with the first death, and that first death
is our gateway into the entrance of eternity and into his presence
that we can see, feel, hear, taste, and everything else from
a spiritual standpoint. Paul was able to say, And I think
that this is so important as we look at this subject, and
that is for I am now ready to be offered. Paul came to the
point in his life that he said, I'm ready. My life is close to
the end. I'm ready to be offered, and
the time of my departure is at hand. And we find that Joshua
brought this up. Turn with me to the book of Joshua,
if you would. Joshua chapter 23. In Joshua
chapter 23, we find God speaking through him and covering so many
subjects in that one verse of scripture, Joshua chapter 23
and verse 14. He recognizes he's approaching
the end of his life. Now I can say with authority
that I'm much closer than I was 15 years ago. I don't know when it will happen,
but I'm much closer than I was, even at the best, 10 years, 15,
probably not. But here the Apostle Paul, and
I don't think he was all that old, said, I'm ready to be offered. Now he has been told that he's
going to be offered. And here in the book of Joshua,
chapter 23 and verse 14, it says, behold, this day I'm going the
way of all the earth. I'm going to die. And ye know,
and I just love his attitude, that he speaks to the people
knowing full well that he's going to die. He's not preparing for
his funeral. He's not preparing that it's
a sad day for me. He says this. And ye know in
all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing hath
failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake
concerning you." Not one thing has failed. What a testimony
we have of Joshua and how he looked at things even approaching
that very day of his death. One thing we can count on, God
has never failed. One thing we can count on, he
has given us everything that he promised. Not one, as he goes
on to say there, and not one thing have failed thereof. So
whatever the Lord has promised, he has power to deliver and he
shall deliver to his people. Now I've had people say to me,
I don't know whether I have dying grace. And you know, I've said
this to them, are you dying? I don't think so right now."
He says, well, you don't need it right now then. Dying grace is
for that day when we meet that. And so we find there that even
as David said his last words there in the book of 2 Samuel, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. What a thing to rejoice on in
your day of passing from this life into the next, that he has
not failed one word, he has fulfilled everything he would say, he has
power to do what he said he would do, and then we find out, he
hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
and sure, for this is all my salvation and all my desire.
And he didn't have anybody, he didn't ask anybody that we have
record of, say, put on my headstone, good King David. We have him
simply saying, the Lord is my salvation. The Lord is everything,
all and in all, and he has been with me everywhere. The last
enemy that shall be destroyed is death. And we really find
that that enemy was destroyed at the cross. We may have those
apprehensions about meeting that day, but when God brings us to
that day, he will take away the apprehensions, and God will bless
us as he did, I believe, did Paul. Going back to the book of Judges
now, chapter 13, we find the opposite comment is made by Manoah's
wife. The opposite. We've seen God
and we're gonna die. She said, oh, no, no, no, no,
no. No, we can't die. We're not gonna die because we
saw God. There's three reasons we can't
die, because we saw God. So here in the book of Judges
chapter 13 and verse 23, we have Manoah's wife's comment, and
I can't help but think that she's really representing the church
here. She's sharing with us what the church knows about this subject. She's sharing with us what the
Holy Spirit teaches the church about this subject. By seeing
God doesn't mean we're gonna die. By seeing God means we're
gonna live, as it goes on there in verse 23. But his wife said
unto him, if the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have. And she mentions three things.
He would not have, if he's going to kill us, Manoah's order says
we're going to die because we saw God. Well, that's a natural
process that we're going to die, but it doesn't mean we're going
to die because we saw God. It means here, as she brings
out, and as the gospel brings out, and as the church speaks
about every time they get together, here's three things, three reasons
God's not going to bring judgment upon his people. He has said
this, He would not have received a burnt offering and a meal offering
at our hands. Now he's going to kill us. He
wouldn't have received this. And how did we know that he received
it? He consumed it with fire and
ascended back to the father. He was involved in this. And we really see in this picture,
the consumption of our sin, the putting away of our sin by the
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Manoah's wife brings out these
truths. It's been revealed to her, these
truths, that the Lord was pleased not to do, not to kill him, but
the Lord was pleased to give them these three things that
the church hangs on every day. We depend completely, not on
our works, but upon the finished work of Christ, on the burnt
offering that He gave, of the satisfaction of that offering
to Almighty God. We depend on that. And because
that happened, He's not going to kill His church. He's not
going to kill his people. We have seen God, and he says,
welcome, thou good and faithful servant. So the church knows
these three things, and we'll know why that she mentions. And
we'll just go through here, and then we'll pick up a few verses
that deal with all of these thoughts. And it tells us here in verse
23, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat or
meal offering, a grain offering, at our hands, neither would he
have showed us all these things. He would not have opened our
eyes to understand. He would not have revealed to
us the truths that are here. And thirdly, nor would Nor would
at this time he have told us such things as these. So he would
not have had accepted our burnt offering. He would have not,
as we find there, he not has showed us, he not revealed these
things. And thirdly, he would not have talked to us like he
just talked to us. So we have three things, and
that's what the church is dependent upon. And we relish in and delight
in that God is pleased to give to the church the benefits of
the burnt offering. He is pleased to forgive their
sin, our sin as a result of him going to the cross. And if we
go over to the book of Genesis chapter eight, we read there
about Noah's offering. a sweet-smelling savor." Now,
if that offering was a sweet-smelling savor, and God said, well, let's
just go over that. I want to read what God had to
say about this. We benefit from it every day. that what God had
said here in Genesis chapter eight. In Genesis chapter eight,
verse 20 and 21, we read these words. After the flood, after
the ark is settled, after Noah gets off the ark with his family,
all the animals are released, after the earth is in production
again, we have that Noah offered a sacrifice and he said, I'm
in judges. Let me get over to the book of
Genesis. Genesis chapter eight, verse
20. It says here, and Noah built
an altar unto the Lord and took of every clean beast and of every
clean fowl and offered burnt offerings on the altar. What
Noah offered was a clean sacrifice. It was permitted for food. It
was permitted for the sacrifice. And here we find a picture of
Christ. And then in verse 21, and the Lord Jehovah smelled
a sweet savor. And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground
anymore for man's sake. For the imagination of man's
heart is evil from his youth, neither will I again smite any
more every thing living as I have done." So he makes a promise
here, and when we see the rainbow, we have the agreement testified
in the heavens that this is a promise that he will keep. Now, God says,
I will not again curse the ground. He was pleased to smell a sweet
savor, a sweet smelling savor. And I will not curse the ground
for man's sake. And I'm thankful as we carry
that on into New Testament times, I will not curse the church for
Christ's sake. I have reason to give them good
and not evil. I have reason to bless them.
with the benefits of the covenant benefits of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to read again a few
verses over in the book of Hebrews because it shares so much about
this subject in the book of Hebrews. It takes the Old Testament and
puts it into New Testament eyes. Brother Henry mentioned that,
the Old Testament with New Testament eyes. We get to review that.
If you ever have an opportunity of looking at a book that has
all the Old Testament verses in the New Testament, you'll
find out about half of the New Testament is made up of Old Testament
scripture. They quoted it and then brought
the message from it. That's exactly what we do from
Old and New Testament. All right, here in the book of
Hebrews 7, verse 27. Hebrews 7, verse 27, who needest
not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice for his
own sins and then for the people's, for this he did once when he
offered up himself. Honey, my beloved husband, my
delightful person, one's going to help me bear a child. I want
you to know that this man of God is not going to consume us
because he's accepted the burnt offering. He's not going to put
us in jeopardy because he's accepted Christ as the burnt offering.
As it goes on to say, he offered when he offered up himself. The
sin of his people was imputed to him, and he paid the very
last farthing for that. Chapter 9 of the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews chapter nine, there in verse 26, we have this mentioned
as it catches up the Old Testament for us to review, why did they
have the high priests? How often did they do what they
did? Did they have to offer sacrifice
for themselves and then for others? And we find, yes, they did, yes,
they did, and yes, they did. But this one, Hebrews chapter
nine in verse 26, for then must he have often have suffered since
the foundation of the world. But now, once in the end of the
world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. So because there was the sacrifice
of himself, he can say with delight, I will not kill you. Now, we'll pass through the valley
of the shadow of death, but there will be no second death. There
will be no eternal separation from God. Abel offered a more
excellent sacrifice and he had the testimony. that God was pleased
about it. Why? Because it pictured Christ
and God the Father is pleased with the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus. So when Manoah's wife said, I'm sorry, honey, but he's
not going to kill us. because he would not have accepted
the burnt offering. But since he did accept the burnt
offering, he's at peace with us. We're no longer being avenged. We're no longer being after.
God's not after us, he's settled. And we are settled by the precious
blood of Christ as a lamb without spot and without blemish. Also
in that, verse of scripture, we find he would not have showed
us all these things. And that word showed us is being
given the ability to see. Now, so often we find in the
scripture that physical blindness is a type, is a picture of spiritual
blindness that we're born with. By our nature, we're truly spiritually
blind. We cannot see spiritual things. I don't care how we define it,
or how it's defined, or how it's pictured, or how we describe
it, or how much scripture we read, or how often we twist arms,
we cannot reveal spiritual things to anybody. In fact, we find
out that we can't even reveal it to ourself. We cannot reveal
the scriptures to ourself. we're going to find out that
the same person that revealed it to us in salvation is the
same person that's revealing it on an ongoing basis. Our nature
in this area is all dependent upon God's ability to give us
sight and perceive. So she brings up this subject.
She said, if God was going to kill us, he did not reveal these
things to us. We'd have not seen these things. We'd have not seen
a burnt offering. We'd have not seen the Lord of
glory. We'd have not seen the angel of the Lord. We'd have
not had any of that happen to us. And truly what a blessing
it is that God does that to us. He gives us sight. When the Lord
Jesus speaks to Peter, and I don't know how many times we've used
this verse of scripture, Mike and Mike use it, Lauren uses
it, we just go over here. Flesh and blood hath not revealed
the Son to you, but my Father which is in heaven. She's saying,
In an Old Testament way, flesh and blood did not reveal this
unto you, but we got to see. We got to see spiritual things
here. The blind man. Over in the book of John, let's
just go to the book of John chapter nine, and we have a blind man
there that was blind from his youth, or from his birth. What
a statement that we're just blind. We just cannot see spiritual
things. We can see historical things.
We can see Jesus born, we can see Jesus living, we can see
Jesus baptized, we can see all those things, but we cannot get
past the physical. It is always physical. We cannot
get past it. We have to have sight given to
us. And so she shares with us, he
would not have showed us all things. He would not have revealed
this to us if he was going to kill us. And in the book of John
chapter nine, verse 25, we read, These words, John 9, verse 25,
it says here, he answered and said, whether he be a sinner
or no, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas
I was blind, now I see. So what a difference he has been
given here. Well, as I was blind, now I see. She's saying the same thing.
God would have not been pleased to leave us alive if he had not
revealed these things unto us. We got to see God. Manoah recognized
that. We saw God and are alive. We're going to die though. She
said, we saw God. That's one good thing. It just
means to us that God is pleased to let us see some things that
we've not seen by our natural eye. In verse 32 of the same
chapter, we have this happen too. Since the world was, it
not heard that any man open the eyes of one that was born blind.
What a statement. No man can open the eyes of a
blind man. Now doctors can do miracles with
the eyes, but God has to do the miracle with the spiritual eye.
And no man can do this. Men try, men are working at it. They're trying to get the job
done, but it can't happen. It is only an activity that God
gives. All right, and then in the same
chapter, verse 39, John 9, verse 39, it says, and Jesus said,
for judgment I come into this world, that they which see not
might see, and they that would see might be made blind. And
the next verse of scripture, and some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words and said unto him, are we blind
also? And Christ could be easy going, yes, yes. I have not been revealed
unto you. Where I was blind, now I see. Spiritual blindness. is so overwhelming. Spiritual blindness is so complete
that unless he raises us from the spiritual dead, gives us
the spiritual birth, the new birth, we'll never see anything
spiritual and we'll never meet God on any positive terms. But as a result of his death
on the cross and his promise to reveal himself to everyone
that he has ever chosen before the foundation of the world,
We get to see things. They saw Christ. Mount of Transfiguration. And
you know what? Everyone that reads about that
transfiguration on that mount get to see exactly by faith what
they saw by sight. We get to see the real, true
Son of God on that mount. The Pharisees were blind. by,
from a spiritual standpoint, but Jesus said, I can deal with
blind people. I can heal their blindness. And
he did, as we find it carried out. Flesh and blood, they're
just physical, have no ability, but we have Jesus Christ. He gives us that ability. And
that's what he said to Peter in Matthew 16, verse 17. Flesh
and blood hath not revealed this unto you, but my Father which
is in heaven. And then Manoah's wife said this,
we have seen God, a miracle of God's grace, and to get to see
God is very good. That's summing up what she had
to say when we would not have got to seen this. And the last
thing that she brings up here, he would not as at this time
have spoken unto us these things. We would have never heard him.
would have never seen him. And we would never have the acceptance
that we have in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ if he
was going to kill us. But because he's going to give
life, he's going to give us these three things. Very specifically,
The first thing that we have to go to in that book of Judges,
chapter 13, can you imagine the tragedy if God had killed Manoah
and his wife because they got to see God? And in chapter 13,
verse two, the God Almighty has already told Manoah's wife, you're
gonna have a baby. She said, my goodness, he can't
kill us. I've got a promise given to me.
I'm going to bring a baby into this world. I've never had a
baby and I'm going to bring one into this world. So she just
simply says, he can't kill us. His promise has said he can't
kill us. Now we're going to die in time,
but it's not going to happen before that baby's born. Well,
we just find that that's what a wonderful principle that God
has for his church, that we're going to die anyway. But what
a beautiful statement. I will keep my promise first. There shall be a birth. there
shall be a birth that God gives us. The Lord is not slack concerning
this promise, as some men count slackness. He's just not able
to do what he said he would do. But his long-suffering to usward,
his promise, his long-suffering to usward, not willing that any
of the usward, the elect, who this book was written to was
the elect, not willing that any should perish, but all that should
come to repentance, they will be born again. He will not take us out of this
life first. If he has marked us out in the
Lamb's book of life, he will not take us out of this life
first. So if he were to kill us, there
would be no blood shed for us. No incarnation needed to be performed. No names written down in the
Lamb's Book of Life. No one given to Christ. No faith
would be given. No justification made. No call
given, no gospel would ever reach the ear. No redemption made,
a ransom price. No ransom price was paid and
on and on and on the list goes of things that would not have
taken place if he had been pleased to kill us before the great work
of the cross had been applied to us. So Manoah's over here
saying we're gonna die and she just simply steps into the breach
as the church does and says, let me share you the truth. And
you know, I can't help but think that he said, amen. Because the
very next passage we have is a baby's born. And I think he
was as elated about that as she was. And a promise was made to
both of them. So she just brought up, there
would not have been the acceptance of the burnt offering. He would
have not showed us these things and he would have not spoken
these things. But since he did, we're okay. And a baby's gonna
be born. We'll stop there for tonight
and we'll pick this up another day.