I direct your attention now back
to 2 Samuel chapter 14. We're going to look at the last
part of the recorded history of this episode in David's life,
and I've entitled the message, The Burning Fields. The Burning
Fields. Now, one thing as you read through
the Old Testament history, And I think it's good for all of
us to be reminded of is that we're not just reading history. We're reading redemptive history,
God's history. And in that redemptive history,
we see there is a direct correlation and connection to the promise
and prophecy and ultimately to the person and finished work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we read this morning concerning
Christ and the written word, when he spoke to the Pharisees
in John chapter 5 and verse 39, and said, search the scriptures,
for in them you think you have eternal life, and there they
which testify of me. Paul wrote to Timothy about the
scriptures, the God-breathed, verbally inspired scriptures,
he said, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. How so? It is in the power of
the Holy Spirit to bring us to the truth and to bring the truth
to us in revelation where we see the glory of Christ. And
just to remind you of this, I have referred to this passage quite
often, but if you want what I believe to be, if not the best, one of
the best summations of redemptive history and how all the Old Testament
history is to be viewed, You'll find that in the book of Isaiah,
chapter 46. And if you haven't marked that
in your Bible or written it down somewhere, do that and read it
every now and then. Because it kind of sums up the whole thing.
It's kind of like a, you know, you used to write papers in school
and they'd always want you to write a theme statement. Well,
this is the theme statement of the Old Testament. And it begins
in verse 9 of Isaiah, chapter 46, where he says, remember the
former things of old. Now, this was written about 700
years before Christ actually arrived on this earth. And so
we have a lot more history to look at than what Isaiah did.
But it's still the same theme. It's still the same message.
So, remember the former things of old. For I am God, and there
is none else. In this redemptive history, God
identifies himself as the one true and living God. None beside
him. I'm God, there's none like me,
none to be compared with him. And look at verse 10, declaring
the end from the beginning. That's predestination. That's
what that is. Now, I'll tell you, if it said
declaring the beginning from the end, then it wouldn't be
because, you know, we can do that. I can declare the beginning
from the end because you see things as they happen. But God
declares the end from the beginning. Isn't that amazing? And he says,
And from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
My counsel shall stand. God works all things after the
counsel of his own will. And I will do all my pleasure,
verse 11, calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that
executed my counsel from a far country. That's referring, I
believe, in prophecy in Isaiah's time to a man named Cyrus, who
would eventually deliver the kingdom of Judah from the Babylonian
captivity. There's an amazing thing right
there I'm going to bring to your attention in just a moment. He
says, Yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it. I will also do it. Isn't that
something? I mean, this is no ifs, ands,
or buts here. This is not conditioned on me and you. This is God working
His will. But now here's the kicker. Here's
the summation of it all. Here's the purpose, verse 12.
Hearken unto me, you stout-hearted that are far from righteousness,
you proud, self-righteous sinners." That's us by nature, far from
righteousness, no matter what we do or what we think or say.
I bring near my righteousness. Now, how does he do that? It
shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry, and
I will place salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory. That's
Christ right there. That's a good description of
the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work. That's God's salvation. Remember, we talked about it
this morning, Simeon, in Luke chapter 2. When he held that
babe in his arms, he said, I'm ready to depart, mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. God says, I'm going to bring
my salvation near. That's Christ. And my righteousness,
who is that? That's Christ. Who did he place?
How did he place salvation in Zion, his church for Israel,
his Lord Christ, the builder of the church? And he is the
king of kings. The hymns that we sang tonight
all emphasize the kingship, the lordship of Christ. The last
one we're going to close with emphasizes that. It talks about
the babe in the manger, but the manger cradles a king. Not just
an infant that we can admire one day a year, as some people
do. It has nothing to do with that.
This is the Messiah. And that's what redemptive history
is all about. Well, you know, as you look through
these passages, I find it amazing how God, in His sovereign wisdom,
and think about this now, He uses even unbelievers. He uses even unbelievers. both
to speak truth, and they do it unknowingly now. You know, many
times an unbeliever in the scripture will say true things and really
don't even know the impact of what they're saying. I'll give
you some examples of that. So unknowingly speak the truth.
I'm talking about gospel truth now. I know even unbelievers
can tell a lot of things that are true. I'm not saying they
can't, but I'm talking about gospel truth here about Christ
and about the things of God's grace. And he even uses unbelievers
to even typify or illustrate the great truths of his sovereign
grace in the salvation of sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's amazing to me. That's God. Isn't that something? I mean, that's the kind of God
we serve. And you can think of examples
of that. For example, you could go by,
we won't go back in all these, but think about Balaam. whose
one goal was to destroy the nation Israel by getting them to intermarry
with the heathen idolaters, trickery, and he did it in the name of
God, and he spoke much truth, but he didn't know the truth,
didn't know the Lord. And if that's not enough to convince
you of that, even Balaam's ass spoke the truth. Think about
that. But you know over there in Isaiah
46 that we read, that bird from the east, that ravenous bird
from the east, that was a man named Cyrus, King Cyrus. And
he's even called God's anointed because he was anointed of God
with physical power and authority to be a deliverer of the physical
kingdom of Judah from the Babylonian captivity. He himself didn't
know the Lord. He was an idolater. But God used
him for his purposes. And let me read you some of the
words of King Cyrus, this unbeliever, in 2 Chronicles 36, 23. Just
listen to this. Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia,
and here's what Cyrus said. All the kingdoms of the earth
hath the Lord God of heaven given me. And he hath charged me to
build him a house in Jerusalem." That's referring back to the
fact that Cyrus allowed Jews to go back into Jerusalem and
rebuild the temple. We studied that about the gates.
Well, it was King Cyrus who delivered them from Babylon and allowed
them to go back there to do that. And he says, which is in Judah,
"'Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God
be with him, and let him go up.'" Now, that's spoken by an unbeliever.
That's amazing. But you see, that's the power
of our God. We could talk about Nebuchadnezzar, King Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon, even before Cyrus. You're probably familiar
with Daniel chapter 4, verses 34 through 35, where it says,
At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven,
and mine understanding returned unto me. And I blessed the Most
High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever. whose
dominion is everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation
to generation? Who's saying these things? Nebuchadnezzar,
an idolater. Now, you might read some commentators
who say they believe Nebuchadnezzar was a born-again person, a saved
person. But I'm going to tell you something
now. There's no evidence of that in history. And even though God
brought him down for his purposes and gave him these words, I'll
tell you what, if Nebuchadnezzar If he followed the true and living
God, I guarantee you the whole kingdom of Babylon would have,
because he would have made it a law. And so he says, And all
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he
doeth according to his will among the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or
say unto him, What doest thou? Spoken by Nebuchadnezzar, an
unbeliever. The Pharisees, who openly opposed
our Savior, And his people. It says in Luke 15 to the Pharisees
and scribes murmured. That means they complained. Saying
this of Christ, this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.
Truer words were never spoken. This man receiveth sinners and
even spoken by the Pharisees in their complaint. They spoke
the truth, didn't even know what they were saying, but we do.
by the power of God's Spirit. We know what they were saying,
and we thank God for it, that he receives sinners, and each
with them has fellowship with him, because that's what we are,
sinners saved by grace. Caiaphas, the high priest who
was intent on destroying Jesus of Nazareth, made this comment
in John 11. and verse 50, when he said, Nor
consider that it is expedient, necessary for us, that one man
should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish
not." True words from an unbeliever, Caiaphas. Christ had to die for
his spiritual nation. And then he said this in another
place, or it speaks of the chief priest rather, not Caiaphas,
but which Caiaphas was. Mark chapter 15 verse 31 says
likewise also the chief priest mocking said among themselves
with the scribes he saved others himself he cannot say true words
Christ could not save himself from the death that he died on
the cross why because he was there to save others his sheep
and he said I must he said I lay down my life for the sheep and
I must have them Well, the Bible says in Psalm 76, verse 10, it
says this, Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, the remainder
of wrath thou shalt restrain. God works all things after the
counsel of his own will. Proverbs 19, verse 21, says there
are many devices in a man's heart, nevertheless the counsel of the
Lord, that shall stand. Isn't that something? Well, we
find that all through the life of David here, don't we? Remember,
this life of David, we're studying him as a type of Christ. We're
studying him as an example of sinners saved by grace. But all
through his history, his children, his friends, his kingdom is interjected
here, and we read stories about them. And even though they in
and of themselves may be unbelievers, ungodly men, ungodly women, believe
it or not, we can find spiritual truth right there. Find it in
the case of Absalom. Look at verse 21 of 2 Samuel
14. Now, you know what happened here,
how Joab, David's captain, got that wise woman from Tekoa to
come and tell David a story, a fable, as it were, a proverb
or a parable, and it inspired David. He didn't get upset or
angry, but it inspired David to go and bring Absalom, his
son, who had been away from him probably around five years, but
to go and get him, fetch him, and bring him back into the kingdom,
which was a reconciliation. So he brought Absalom home again.
So it says in verse 21, the king said unto Joab, Behold, now I
have done this thing. He said, Go therefore, bring
the young man Absalom home, David's son. Now Absalom wanted to be
king. We find out later that he wanted
to be king at the expense of his father's kingdom, at the
expense of his father's glory. That cannot be done. Of course,
we know who was ordained to already be king in God's mind, in God's
purpose, and that was Solomon, the man of peace. Solomon would
be the successor to David's throne. And it would be in a way that
would honor David and glorify him as the king of Israel. But
Absalom wanted the throne, so here he is brought back into
the fold. It says in verse 22, Joab fell
to the ground on his face and bowed himself and thanked the
king. Joab was so happy about this. And Joab said, Today thy
servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord,
O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his
servant. Now, it says in verse 23, So
Joab arose and went to Gesher. That's where Absalom was. He
brought Absalom to Jerusalem. So David brings Absalom home.
Now we find later on, we'll read here that it wasn't David brought
him home. He forgave him. There was a reconciliation, but
it wasn't. It was just a partial reconciliation. It was kind of
like at arm's length. We'll bring you back. But he
didn't see the king. He didn't come into the presence
of the king. And I thought about that when when I read this, because
you know, aren't you glad that when God saves us in Christ,
that he doesn't just bring us at arm's length, that he fully
restores us and more into the kingdom of his dear son. He fully
embraces us with his love in Christ. And I thought about Hebrews
chapter 10, which is one of my favorite passages over here,
where it talks about communion with God. This is what Absalom
did not have. He didn't have full communion
with his father. Now, you know, you remember we
talked about how David brought Absalom back without justice
being carried out. David was forced to show mercy
and compassion without justice, because that's all man can do
to the guilty. That's all man can do. Remember,
we talked about that, how it's impossible for man to show mercy
and compassion to the guilty with justice being honored. If
we're going to show mercy and compassion to the guilty, it
has to be without justice, because justice demands the penalty for
the crime. The just penalty for sin is death. The just penalty for Absalom's
crime was death. So David had to pervert justice
in order to let him go. And so that's a great testimony
of how only God, only God, remember, only God can devise a way to
show mercy and honor justice. to show grace and love and honor
his truth and righteousness, and that by Christ. So here's
Absalom coming back, but he's at arm's length. He doesn't have
full access, unhindered liberty to come into the presence of
the king. David wouldn't see him. And look here in verse 19
of Hebrews chapter 10. Now look at what we have. We
guilty sinners, by nature and by practice, here's what we have
with our Heavenly Father through Christ. It's not a partial reconciliation. He says in verse 19 of Hebrews
10, he's talking about the results of the blood of Christ. He says,
having therefore, brethren, boldness, liberty, assurance to enter the
holiest by the blood of Jesus. by the blood of our Savior. We
ought not feel timid. We ought not be afraid to come
into the presence of God in prayer, in worship, in communion, in
service. And the reason we ought not be
timid or afraid or apprehensive is, and there's only one reason
now, it's the blood of Jesus Christ. Remember what I said
this morning. That's why he came into the world.
That's why he was born a babe in that day, because he had to
have blood to shed for the complete payment of the justice of God
against my sin and against your sin. So he says, by a new and
living way, which he, Christ, hath consecrated for us through
the veil, that is to say his flesh. So we can draw near unto
God. Remember what we said about redemptive
history there in Isaiah chapter 46, God said, I bring near my
righteousness, it shall not be far off. So here's Absalom coming
back into the kingdom by the decree of his father, but he's
still far off. He's still not near as we are
to our father, our heavenly father in Christ. And that just goes
to show you how that any show of mercy without justice is totally
incomplete and imperfect. It might last for a while. It
might go along for a while. But it's really incomplete. It's
really improper. You see, only God can save sinners
in such a way and be a just God and a Savior in doing so. So
think about this. Look back at 2 Samuel 14 now.
You see, think about how much and how God has fully and freely
forgiven us in Christ. The problem with man is that
he can have boldness, boldness in religion, but his boldness
is based upon things that are sinful. It could be his religious
exercises. It could be his baptism. It could
be his church membership, be his works. And we're going to
see in just a moment, well, God in salvation or in judgment is
going to burn all that up. He's going to burn it all up.
Well, look at verse 24 of 2 Samuel 14. It says, And the king said,
Let him turn to his own house and let him not see my face.
You see, in Christ, we see the face of God, the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. You remember that 2 Corinthians
4, 6. So Absalom returned to his own house and saw not. the
king's face. Oh, my. So that's the remaining
resentment over the crime. But God holds no resentment or
grudge against us in Christ. In fact, you go back to Hebrews
10 sometime on your own. You remember that verse 18? He
said, I will remember their sins no more. I'll never bring it
up against you again. It'll never be against. Who shall
I anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justify. Look at verse 25. But in all
Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his
beauty. Absalom must have been a real
good looker. Nobody in Israel was praised
like Absalom for his beauty. For from the sole of his foot
even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
And when he pulled his head, now that's just a way of saying
when he cut his hair. I was thinking about going into
Jim Smallwood this past week. He cuts my hair. I said, would
you pull my head? See what he would say. He said,
what are you talking about, pull your head? Hit you in the head
with a pole? No, that's just a way of saying
he cut his hair. And he said, for it was at every
year's end that he pulled it, he cut it. Because the hair was
heavy on him, therefore he pulled it. He weighed the hair of his
head and 200 shekels after the king's weight. Somebody said
it was about four or five pounds of hair, so I don't know. But
he must have been real proud of it. I mean, to even weigh
it? I mean, why would you weigh your hair? But, you know, this
vanity, that's what you're seeing here, this vanity. And so in
verse 27 it says, and unto Absalom there were born three sons and
one daughter whose name was Tamar. He named his daughter in honor
of his sister, remember, who Amnon raped. And it says she
was a woman of fair countenance. Now, much is made of Absalom's
physical beauty here, and it's important later on when he rebels
against David on the throne, because many people are drawn
to Absalom for that very reason. And what does that teach us?
It shows us how people are often deceived by appearances. I think about our Lord instructing
his disciples in John chapter 7 and verse 24. when he said,
look not on the outward appearance. He said, judge righteous judgment.
Look not on the outward appearance. Don't judge things by what you
see. Even the world has a saying about
that. You can't judge a book by its cover. And that's so.
But that's long before the world ever come up with that. It was
always a truth set down. What caused Eve to be deceived?
She saw that it was good in her eyes. And that's what, you see,
the Bible teaches us, don't ever be deceived by appearances. You
remember in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, there in verse 13, when he
talked about false apostles, and he says, such are false apostles.
They come claiming to be ministers and preachers of righteousness.
They're ministers of Satan and don't be deceived. He said, Satan
himself appears as a minister of righteousness. He appears
that way. But you see, that's why you have
to test all things by the word of truth. Christ said of the
Pharisees, they appear righteous unto men. They weren't righteous. The Bible says there's none righteous,
no, not one. I can tell you right now, as
I said in the last message, when I heard the preacher say, he
said, when you're looking at me, you're looking at the very
righteousness of God. Well, that's true because we're
righteous in Christ. We are really actually righteous. We who know Christ, we're righteous
in Him. Listen, my sins were charged
to Him. His righteousness charged to
me. It's mine. My sins became His. as they were
charged to him. His righteousness is mine as
it's charged to me. But now you can't tell that by
appearance. By looking at it, it's not the
outward appearance. It's only by the testimony of
the spirit in his word that we believe that that's why we walk
by faith, not by sight. So much is made of Absalom's
appearance. Not much is made of his heart.
The state of his heart. Because it's pretty apparent,
and this last episode shows it. Look at verse 28 here, in 2 Samuel
14. It says, verse 28, So Absalom
dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face.
Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the king. He's wanting Joab to intervene
here and get him in the presence of the king. But he would not
come to him. Joab wouldn't listen. And when
he sent again the second time, he would not come. Joab still
would not listen. Therefore he said unto his servants,
See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there." Now,
you've got to understand this was something valuable to these
people. Having a barley field, that was
very valuable. That was a precious possession.
And he says, go and set it on fire. Absalom told his men, go
set Joab's barley field on fire. And Absalom's servants set it,
set the field on fire. And then Joab arose and came
to Absalom. Well, what happened here? Absalom
got his attention. Joab listened and he came to
Absalom unto his house and said unto him, wherefore have thy
servants set my field on fire? And Absalom answered Joab, Behold,
I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee
to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Gesher? It had
been good for me to have been there still. Now therefore let
me see the king's face, and if there be any iniquity in me,
let him kill me." Well, think about that. If there be any iniquity
in me. He just set a fellow's field on fire and burned it up.
If there be any iniquity in me. Five years before, he had Amnon
killed in a way that shouldn't have happened. He was a murderer.
You say, well, Amnon got what he deserved. Yes, but do we all
get what we deserve? If we did, where would we be?
Oh, Lord, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, who would stand?
We're not here seeking the Lord to give us what we deserve. We're
here seeking his mercy. We're here seeking his grace
in Christ. And so, if there be any iniquity in me, well, what's
Absalom doing here? He said, well, I want you to
go to the king and say, why did you bring Absalom from Geshur?
And now you won't even see him. Why? You should have just left
him there. So bring him here, and if there's any iniquity,
then kill him. Well, Absalom knew that David was hindered.
David was hindered by his own sin. He was hindered by his own
conscience. What had he done and not been
killed? So it looks in verse 33. So Joab came to the king
and he told him what when and when he had called for Absalom,
he came to the king and bowed himself on his face to the ground
before the king and the king kissed Absalom. That's the greeting. That's that's it. Well. This is this is an amazing story.
It. Describes an imperfect reconciliation. And we, like I said, we've already
seen how David pardoned and forgave Absalom without justice. Only
God can show mercy and justice at the same time, and he does
so in Christ. Absalom sought to get that audience
from David twice. So when he failed, he went to
Joab twice. When he failed, he burned his
field up. The king's son called for Joab, and Joab wouldn't listen. So Absalom burned his field.
There's an arrogant spirit of rebellion and self-righteousness
still here in Absalom, and it'll bring him a lot of problems,
and David a lot of problems later on. But there is a gospel illustration
here for us, and that's this. When the true Son of God calls,
when the King's Son calls, we had better listen and follow.
And that's what this teaches. God said, come to my son. Didn't he say that? At his baptism,
he said, he spoke with an honorable voice. It says, this is my beloved
son. Hear ye him, follow him. God sent his prophet, John the
Baptist to speak in his place. And he pointed to Christ, come
to Christ. Worthy is the lamb. I'm not the
Savior, John said. Don't follow me. I can't save
you. Don't come to me. Christ can. I can baptize you,
but he can bring about the new birth. He can baptize you with
the Holy Spirit and with fire. Fire. Remember that? He said
he can baptize you with fire. Every child of God that is born
into the kingdom is born of the Holy Spirit and baptized with
fire. That's the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. That's the new birth. And it is a fiery matter. like
burning up a barley field. God, the Holy Spirit, says, come
to Christ. Are you listening? How? How does he burn our own fields? That's the question. You know,
it's interesting to note how many times in Scripture references
to salvation and to judgment is likened unto a farmer and
a field and growing things. that kind of atmosphere, that
kind of illustration. I think about it, you know, the
first recorded historical event of men coming to worship God,
seeking acceptance involved one of a farm. You had Abel, who
was a shepherd. And then you had Cain, who was
a farmer, a tiller of the field. And that field represented Cain
coming before God by his own works. And God wouldn't have
it. Abel brought the blood of the
Lamb, which typified Christ. And you can go on down through
the scriptures and you'll see various illustrations like that.
I think about Paul in Romans chapter 7 talking about an unbeliever
who's trying to make himself righteous. And here's how he
puts it. He said, for when we were in
the flesh, the motions or passions of sins, which were by the law,
did work in our members to bring forth fruit like a like a fruit
farm, like a field grown fruit. But it was fruit unto death,
because without Christ, that's all our works are. That's all
we are is sin and death and damnation. Then he said that we're married
to another. We're married to Christ. Not
in order that we should be stagnant, not in order to give us an excuse
to sin, but that we should bring forth fruit unto God. That's
God's vineyard. That'll never be burned up. But
all of man's vineyards, all of man's works, all of man's refuges
shall be burned up. First of all, let's talk about
the matter of salvation, how God burns our barley fields as
it were. First of all, we know that at
the cross, All our sins were burned up under the fire of God's
wrath upon Christ. When he was made sin for us,
Christ who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. They were burned completely up.
He drank damnation dry. Do you realize that? You realize
that if you're in Christ, you will never have to stand before
God and face damnation. because you are justified in
him. As I said, you have a righteousness that will stand the test of God's
judgment. Scripture says that God commands
all men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day
in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom he hath ordained, in that he hath given assurance unto
all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Oh, that I
may know him, and be found in him," Paul said, not having my
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith, or the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Because it will
stand the test. It will stand the fire, just
like the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
walking around in that hot, fiery furnace. There was a fourth man
there, Christ, and he's the one who kept them from being burned
up, like this barley field was burned up. Joab's barley field. The king's son has called. You listen. And he made an end
of sin. And think about this. Turn over
to the book of Zechariah. See if you can find Zechariah.
Zechariah chapter 3. In Zechariah chapter 3, we have
that great dream, vision that was given to Joshua the high
priest in verse 1. Zechariah 3, it says, he showed
me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord.
And Satan, now that's the accuser, standing at his right hand to
resist him or to accuse him. And the Lord said unto Satan,
the Lord rebuketh thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen
Jerusalem rebuketh thee. That's election, electing grace.
And then he says, is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? That's redeeming grace. God chose
us, gave us to Christ. He redeemed us from the burning
fire. plucked out of the fire, and
then that illustration goes on, how Joshua was clothed in his
filthy garments, and he said, take those filthy garments away,
that's his sin, and give him a change of clothing, give him
a new garment, that's the righteousness of Christ. The command of the
gospel is to repent or burn, that's simply it, I know that's
not Language that the modern world likes to hear. They say
that's threatening. But let me tell you something.
Without Christ, there is nothing but damnation, condemnation,
and perishing. But then go on. In the new birth,
when the Holy Spirit comes to God's people in time, He's going
to burn all our fields, all our works, all our refuges, all that
we trust in but Christ, all our hopes. all our confidence. That's what Paul said when he
wrote in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 3. He said, we are
the circumcision which worship God in spirit and rejoice in
Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. And then Paul described
in essence what his barley field contained. He was a Hebrew of
Hebrews, of the tribe of Benjamin, as touching the law of Pharisee.
All of those things that he had cultivated in his life. that
he had confidence in, that was his righteousness before God,
and they all got burned up in the fire of the glory of God
in Christ when God showed Paul his sin, showed him his depravity,
and drove him to Christ for salvation. Our barley fields would be burned
up in the matter of faith because our faith will be tried by fire. And let me tell you something,
child of God, God will never let us go. And even though when
we in our flesh and in our minds, when we get away from His Word
and from the worship of God and what we're supposed to be thinking
about and doing in His way, whatever gets in the way and hinders us,
someday God's going to burn it up. He's going to burn it away.
And what the Bible calls that burning away the dross, burning
away and refining the gold, refining the silver, just like a silversmith
or a goldsmith, refining all of that. He's going to burn it
up. How He'll burn it up, I don't know. He may, and hopefully he
may, just wakes us up and makes us realize, hey, what's really
important here? What really means something?
What's really eternal? All flesh is grass, and the flower
of grace, it's going to fade away. The things of this world
are going to melt with a fervent heat. What's really important? Hearing the word of God, worshiping
Christ. fellowshipping with the people
of God, and I'm going to tell you something, everything else
is going to burn. Everything you're holding on to, everything we hold on
to, everything that hinders us in our walk of faith, everything,
it's going to burn up. It's going to burn up. And then,
in the matter of judgment. And this, this is where we look
to the cross. Because you see, in Christ we've
already been judged. In Christ our sins have already
been burned up. But for those who come to stand
before God without Christ, what's going to happen? They're going
to be there, all their fields are going to be burned up, everything
they trusted in, all their works, all their assurances, and that
too late. And that let's conclude. Look
back over at Hebrews chapter 12 that Brother Joe read. When the king's son calls, we
better listen. That's the lesson. Now he says here how we've come
to, not to Mount Sinai, the law and all of its threatenings,
but we've come to Mount Sinai, to the heavenly Jerusalem. And
he says in verse 25, look here in Hebrews 12, see that you refuse
not him that speaketh. Just like Absalom spoke to Joab
twice. Joab didn't listen. What happened?
His barley field was burned up. Well, see that you refuse not
him that speak. Who's he talking about? Talking
about Christ who's speaking. He says, for they escape not
who refused him that spake on earth. Now that's referring to
Mount Sinai. Much more shall not we escape if we turn away
from him that speaketh from heaven. And you remember what John said
there in John chapter three, he that is of God speaks the
word of Christ is from heaven. And he speaks the word from heaven. It says in verse 26, whose voice
then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, Yet
once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this
word yet once more signified the removing of those things
that are shaken as of things that are made, that those things
which cannot be shaken may remain." Joab's barley fields were burned
up. It could be shaken. Anything you trust in, anything
that hinders you can be shaken and removed. There's only one
thing that cannot be moved, and that's the salvation that God
freely gives us in Christ. Just like a tree planted by the
water, I shall not be moved. The flower will come forth. And he says, wherefore, receiving
a kingdom which cannot be moved. Now, this world, you may think
it's a kingdom, but it can be moved and it will be moved. But
receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved, let us have grace. As Joe said, hold fast, stand
fast, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and
godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. He's a consuming fire to
all who come before Him and stand before Him without Christ, without
the blood, without righteousness. But my friend, in Christ, none
of us shall be moved. All right.