talk tonight about the Bible
contradicting itself. Lots of people say it contradicts
itself. That's why they don't believe
it, because there are seeming contradictions. They refuse to
believe it. I remember years and years ago,
over in the book of Acts, I was reading years ago, and it says
where Paul was sitting down on the Damascus Road, one place
it says, and they all heard, And another place, it says, you
know that nobody heard but saw. And I said, boy, how in the world
could that be? One place says nobody heard. Another place says,
you know, they all heard. And I tell you how I wrestled
with that. I wrestled with that. I said,
boy, you know, one place it says that they heard when he was sitting
down on Damascus Road and our Lord Jesus spoke to him. Paul
said he spoke to him in the Hebrew tongue. Christ spoke to him in
the Hebrew tongue. And then when he stood up to
testify about it, he says that he heard, that what it was is
to be like somebody, me, if I was on the telephone, and they were
speaking only to me, the rest of you could hear a voice, but
you couldn't tell what the voice was saying, you'd just hear a
sound. And that's the way I come to
the conclusion of that. And another seeming contradiction
that bothered me one time is that when I read where God kept
Abimelech back from sinning against him when he had Sarah, Abraham's
son. He took her into his house. And
it was Abraham's fault for it. And he took Sarah into his home. And God came to him and told
him, said, If you touch her, I'll kill you. And he went to
Abraham and said, Why did you tell me? Why didn't you tell
me his wife? He said, You just about made me commit a sin here.
And the scripture said God kept Abimelech back from sinning against
him. Well, I went immediately to think this, and that's been
years and years and years ago. Immediately, I said, if God could
have kept Abimelech back from sinning against him, why didn't
he keep Adam back from sinning against him? But there's two
different answers to that question. Had we only knew God as the Creator,
and we'd only stood in Adam, and we'd stayed in paradise,
Adam would have always been subject to fall. And then we'd have still
always fell in it. But we would only know God as
Creator. And then when Adam sinned, had
God just punished him, and banished him from the garden, and made
no promises of a Messiah, then we wouldn't know anything about
grace, justice, love, mercy, forgiveness, righteousness. We wouldn't know God as He is.
We'd only know Him as one way. instead of all of his attributes
manifested in his blessed Son and the salvation of sinners
like ourselves. So I said all that to say this,
that a lot of people see contradictions like that, seeming contradictions,
and they refuse to believe. And it was because of what the
Jews saw as contradictions in the Bible that they rejected
the Lord Jesus Christ. They said he was despised and
rejected. And you see, they understood that the Messiah, that Christ,
was going to come with power and glory and set up a kingdom
and rule and reign. And a lot of people are preaching
that that's yet going to happen one of these days on the earth.
But our Lord Jesus Christ, you see, He did come. And He did
come with power. And He did come with glory for
those that have eyes to see. But they didn't come as they
thought He should come. And let me show you what I'm
talking about. You keep Isaiah 53, and look over in John chapter
7. John chapter 7. And one thing, you know what,
I've said this, I've come to the conclusion, what I don't
understand is my fault. And I also know this, that if
the Bible had said that Jonah ate the whale, I'd believe what
the Bible said. Instead of Jonah eating the whale,
I'm going to believe it whether I understand it or not. And the
false with me is not with God's Word. The false with my understanding
is never with God. The false with my blindness,
it's always our fault. It's never God's fault. We would
know more if we sought more and prayed for more. But look what
it says here. The Lord Jesus, the rest of the
scriptures, these Jews did to their own damnation. Look what
it says now here in John 7, verse 2. Now the Jews' feast of Tabernacle
was at hand, and his brethren, our Lord Jesus Christ's brethren,
his brethren after the flesh, Jude was one of them, James was
one of them, we don't know how many others he had, but he had
sisters. And his brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence,
and go into Judea, that thy disciples almost may see the works that
you do. For no man does anything in secret
that he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these
things, show thyself to the world. Now watch this. For neither did
his brethren believe in him. They saw miracles. They saw works.
They said, you're going to let everybody else do it. You do
this stuff here, and we know you want to be known. We know
you want everybody to know what a great person you are. Then
our Lord said to them, My time is not yet come. It's not time
for me to be manifested yet, but your time's already ready."
And look what he said down here in chapter, verse 40 of John
chapter 7. This is what they said. In verse
40. They didn't come because Christ
didn't come. That's why, you know, when our
Lord ascended to glory, the disciples asked Him, said, when will you
restore the kingdom to Israel? They was expecting the great
kingdom to be restored to Israel. And then look what it said in
verse 40, Many therefore of the people, when they heard this
saying, said of a truth, This is the prophet. This is the one
that our Moses talked about, the prophet, in Deuteronomy chapter
8 verse 50. Others said, This is the Christ.
But some say, shall Christ come out of Galilee? See how they
contradict? They say, well, if this is the
Christ, how's he going to come out of Galilee? Has not the scripture
said that Christ cometh to the seat of David out of the town
of Bethlehem where David was? Now watch this. So there was
a division among the people because of him. Because some said he'd
come from here, some said he'd come from over there. And so
they couldn't believe on him, wouldn't believe on him for that.
So there was a division among the people. I'm going to tell
you something. I thought about this today. There's a division. I have a
division with people over Christ. I have a great division with
some people over Christ, over how they view Him and how they
present Him and how they preach Him and how they beg people to
receive Him and accept Him. I have a great division over
who Christ is with lots of people. And then some of them would have
taken in verse 44, but no man laid hands on Him. Then came
the officers to the chief priest, because back up in verse 32,
you'll have to look at it, but they sent some officers to apprehend
the Lord Jesus. And then came the officers to
the chief priest and Pharisees, and they said unto him, Why have
you not brought him? The officers answered, Never man spake like
this man. Then answered the Pharisees,
Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers of the
Pharisees believed on him? But this people who know not
the law, they're cursed. When the scripture says, you're
cursing as everyone that continues not in the things of the law
to do. And our beloved Nicodemus said
to him that came to Jesus by night being warned him, doth
our law judge any man before hearing of what he doeth? Then
said unto him, Art thou so of Galilee? Search and look, for
out of Galilee arises no prophet. So I mean, they, you know, because
he comes from Galilee, he's born out of Nazareth. That's why,
you know, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? So they
had these, all these, and they rested and twisted the scriptures
to their own damn nature. And look what our Lord said in
John 6, 41. I should have told you to stay over there. John
6, 41. I'm sorry I didn't tell you to
stay over there. And look what our Lord said now,
talking about And that's why we say, to whom? That's why Isaiah
said, to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? And these
folks would just twist the scriptures to their own damnation. The Jews,
verse 41, the Jews then murmured at him because he said, I am
the bread which came down from heaven. Murmured at him, John
6, 41. And they said, is not this, how's
he talking about coming down from heaven? Is not this Jesus,
the son of Joseph? whose father and mother we know,
how is it then he said that I came down from heaven? See how these
things contradict how they say it's contradictions? Jesus therefore
said unto them, murmur not among yourselves. Just quit that murmuring. Quit that worrying, quit that
pondering about this. Just forget it. And here's why
I told them why they couldn't murmur. Because no man can come
to me except the Father which I send to draw him. You won't
have a clue who I am. You won't have a clue what I
can do. You won't have a clue the power I've got. You won't
have a clue of my glory. You won't have an idea of my
power and my rights and my authority until my Father draws you to
me. And I'll raise him up at the
last day, because it's written in the Prophets, if you all understood
the Scriptures, that they shall all be taught of God. Everyone,
therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the Father comes
unto me. He said, if you all just quit
murdering, because no matter what you say, if my Father don't
teach you, you ain't going to know. You ain't going to know.
Now, let's go back over here in Isaiah 53. I'm going to, by
God's grace, I'm going to show you some contradictions. and
show you how, really, they're not contradictions, and they
harmonize. See, the Old Testament, the Old Testament plainly, plainly
told that the Lord Jesus Christ would be both, that Messiah,
when He come, would be both God and He'd be both man. That's
what it said. It told us that all the way through
the Old Testament, automatically told us that He's going to be
a man, by the promises made in Genesis 3.15. But it also talked
about that He's going to be God. God would come into this world
in the person of a man. Unto us, a son is given. Unto us, a child is born. A child
and a son. And also, you see, then not only
would he be both God and man, and that's what they couldn't
understand, and then that he would be exalted God would exalt
him, he'd be highly exalted, and yet at the same time he would
be debased and humiliated. That he would be most master
ever, but he would be the master. And yet at the same time, not
only would he be the master, but he would be the servant.
That he would be the priest that would offer the sacrifice. And
that he himself would be the sacrifice that he offered. That he would be a prince, and
then he would be subject to the princes of this world. That he
would be involved in death and die, and yet by death he would
overcome everything that death's power could possibly hold over
him and his people. The Old Testament told us that
he would be rich, that the earth and the fullness
of it would be all of his, and that he would be a king of voice
and power, and at the same time that he would be poor as a church's
mouse. That he would be a king, and
yet the kings of the earth. his stand in their presence and
keep his own mouth shut. And yet, as a king, he'd also
be a glorious conqueror. Then it talked about he'd be
a man of Greece, great Greece. He would be a man of infirmities,
that he would be unknown, that people would object to him, they
would reject him and humiliate him. Now how in the world can
he be all of these things at the same time? How can he be
rich and poor, exalted and debased, received and rejected? How can he be king and subject
to kings? How can he be master and servant
at the same time? How can these things happen?
Look what is said here in Isaiah 53, in verse 2. He said he shall grow up before
him as a tender plant. Grow up before who? Before God
as a tender plant. A tender plant. A plant so tender
and so precious and just like a suckling babe. And yet, look
what he says, for there will also be a root out of the dry
ground. How can it be a tender plant?
Grow up before there's a tender plant, yet still be as a root
out of dry ground. How can that be? And here is
this tender plant, this suckling, and a root out of dry ground,
and yet he is fruitful. Look what it says down in verse
10, the last part of the verse. And the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in his hands. How can there be a root out of
dry ground and yet be fruitful? Something that comes out of a
dry ground don't have no root, has no life, but yet here he
says it comes a root out of a dry ground, and yet the presence
of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. And then look what
he says there also in the last part of verse 2. He has no form,
no form that you can see. He don't come into view good. He has no comeliness. And then
when we look at him, There's no beauty about him. No beauty
about him. And yet, beloved, God says that
he saw a beauty about him. David said this, I want to see
the king in his beauty. And God saw a beauty about him.
And look what he said here in verse 11. What did he call him? He said, by his knowledge shall,
this is what God said about him, shall my righteous servant. That's
what God called him. He was no former beauty about
him, but God said, this is my righteous servant. I'll tell
you, beloved, no matter what men thought about Him, and that
was a time we saw no form about Him. You sent Him forth and you
didn't see Him come into view. There was no structure to Him.
There was no power to Him. There was no beauty about Him.
No beauty about His holiness. No beauty about His power. No
beauty about His grace. We didn't see it. And yet God
turned right around and said, He's my righteous servant. Then
look what it said in verse 3. He is despised and rejected of
men, for they are in sorrows and acquainted with grief." And, oh, beloved, we hear that
same word. You know, Peter hit his face, John hit his face. We're despised and we're ashamed
to not get This is the one that God appointed to be the Messiah,
the only way that man can be accepted of God, the only way
that God will receive a man is through this blessed person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what God said about him
in verse 13 of chapter 52. Behold, my servant shall deal
prudently, he shall be exalted in his toll, and be very high. And yet at the same time, look
what he said, Then they'll stand astonished at him. Because when
you look at him, he's so marred more than man in his form, more
than the sons of man. Then he turns around and sprinkles
nations. How can this happen? God's blessed
Savior. God's blessed Son. God's only
begotten Son. Then look what he said back over
here again in verse 4. We esteem him smitten and stricken
God, you say, God did this to him. Ah, stricken, smitten of
God. And then God called him the son
of his love, the only begotten son. He said, this is my beloved
son, in whom I'm well pleased. This is my begotten son. I smote
him, and yet he turns around and calls him the son of his
love. He smote him and smitten him and afflicted him, and yet
God turned around and said, I want you to hear nobody but Him. So how can He smite him and yet
at the same time say, this is the son of Moloch? You see, out
of the mind of a Jew and out of the mind of just a natural
man, these things don't make sense. And then look what they
said in verse 8. It says that he was cut off,
middle of the verse, he was cut off out of the land of the living. Oh my! Suffering under death. Suffering under death. There,
beloved. His soul was smitten of God and
he suffered under death. And yet, look what it says in
verse 10 again. It says, The Lord shall prolong
his days Cut off out of the land of the living? And then God turns
around and says, He cut off out of the land of the living, then
I'm going to prolong His days? I'm going to be cut off and yet
have long days? Yet He's ever-living. And then
look what it says again in verse 8. He is taken from prison in
judgment. And who shall declare His generation?
Now what does that mean? That means who's going to stand
up and tell about his genealogy? Who's going to stand up and identify
with him and say, I'm part of his family, I'm one of his children?
I mean, did his mother stand up? Did his brother stand up?
Did anybody stand up and declare his generation and said, oh,
I'm kin to him, I'm related to him? Did anybody stand up and
say, listen, this was the son of David, this was Abraham, and
go right down to the genealogy and say, now listen, you know
what you just did? Who declared his generation?
Nobody stood up and said, we know where he come from. We know
his lineage. And yet, beloved, look how many,
he was without a generation, but look what it says in verse
10. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, now
listen to this, yet he shall see his seed. He don't have no
generation, nobody to tell him, but he said he shall see the
tremendous soul and see his seed and be satisfied. He saw many
seeds, even though he was cut off. Oh my, ain't that what he
said? He shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied by my, by his knowledge, and my
righteous servant justify many? Nobody will stand up and declare
his generation, but he stood up and declared his generation,
said I shall see his seed, numerous seed. Look what it says here
in verse 4. Oh my, he was rejected and beaten. surely hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Oh my, but he was wounded, and
for our transgression bruised, for our iniquities beaten, and
our place, chastisement of our peace was upon him. And yet God
said he prospered him. He prospered him. How could he
prosper him? He stole him high and exalted
him, and yet at the same time he's rejected and beaten. Oh,
my. And then it says up there in
verse two, he grew up and grew up as he had before him as a
tender plant. And yet, beloved house in the
world, can he be growing up? Yet he's the eternal son of God. How can he be the one growing
up and he's the eternal son of God at the same time? The Scriptures tells us, you
know, there in verse Two, that there's no beauty that we should
desire, and yet the scriptures tells us that he's to desire
all the nations. All the nations after you come.
There's people from every nation that desire the Lord Jesus Christ. There's people in Mexico that
desire Christ. People in China that desire Christ.
There's people wherever you go on this planet that are desiring
Christ. In Africa? Nation after nation after nation. Even over there where they got
them pagans, where they wear them awful rigmarole and dress
like women, and everybody calls them father. I'm telling you
something, even there there's people that truly desire the
Lord Jesus Christ. And yet there was no beauty that
they should desire Him. Oh my. What they're saying is
there was nothing about Him that would say, oh what a glorious
man. What a beautiful man. That's
what they talked about David. David was ruddy. His complexion
was great. And they talked about how beautiful
he was, that he was altogether lovely, but here it says there's
no beauty about him that we should desire. And he is called this
tender plant, and yet he bore and endured an awful, awful storm
from God's judgment. And it says there in verse 5
that he was wounded unto death. for our transgressions, bruised
for our iniquities. And those wounds, those wounds,
Zechariah said this, there's a fountain open for uncleanness. And these wounds were fountains
open. There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's
veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty
soul. Stains. And look what he said
here in verse 6. The Lord, we turn to everyone
to our own way, and then look what it says. The Lord laid on
him the iniquity of us all. Now, you wait a minute. Jehovah
the Lord. That word there, Lord, means
Jehovah. And yet, beloved, he was Jehovah himself. Jehovah
himself. The Lord said, I'm my Lord. He
said it in my right hand. Jehovah laid on him the iniquity
of us all, and he himself was Jehovah. Martin Luther sat at
his desk one day, and he sat there and he pondered
and he pondered and he pondered about Christ dying on the cross.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And yet, he purchased
the church of God with his own blood. Whose blood? The blood
of God. And Martin Luther sat there and
pondered and pondered and pondered. And he smacked on his desk and
he says, God? Killing God? God, who has all
life, dying by the hand of God Himself? Who in the world could
ever understand that? Huh? And, O beloved, our Lord
Jesus Christ here was helpless in the hands of men and devils,
and infinite in the hands of his persecutors, and yet he was
omnipotent and delivered others from oppressors. Look what he
said in verse 7. He was oppressed and a victim, yet he opened not
his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
shearer, as a slaughter, and as a sheep before a shearer's
dung, and he opened not his mouth. That's what they said on the
cross. He said to others, himself he cannot say. Then he turned
around and looked at that thief and said, today you'll be with
me in paradise. I'm going to tell you something. You imagine anybody that goes
to court, stands in a court, been put on charge, and been
standing before your judge, standing before the standing before the
priest, and then standing before Herod, and then standing before
Pilate, and you're standing before these people, and you know that
no—have you ever known anybody that didn't stand up and have
a lawyer or somebody to plead their case? When our Lord Jesus
Christ stood there, He did not open His mouth to defend Himself
at all. Do you know what it would take
for a man He spoke volumes because our Lord never defended himself
in any way. He said, I'm here in his mind
and his purpose, and in the will of God, I'm here because I'm
supposed to be here. I'm here as a lamb to the slaughter. And I'm not going to open my
mouth and defend myself. I'm not going to talk about my
holiness. I'm not going to talk about my righteousness. I'm going
to talk about my worth. I'm not going to talk about my
miracles. I'm not going to talk about my sinlessness. I'm not
going to say anything. And the only thing I'm going
to say when Pilate says, I've got powers to let you go, he
says, you've got no powers except my Father give it to you. That's
the only thing he said. Didn't open his mouth. And yet,
beloved, those men that he was subject to and yielded up to,
he said, I can call twelve legions of angels. And if my kingdom
were of this world, I've got people that would fight. But
my kingdom's not of this world. And then look what it said in
verse 12. It says here that he was, last
part of the verse, that he was numbered with the transgressors.
And he bared the sin of many and made intercession for the
transgressors. Now let me tell you something,
beloved. Though he was numbered with the transgressors, and he
bared the sin of many, yet he had no sin of his own. He said,
Which of you convinces me of sin? And yet, they said, with
our own mouth we heard him blaspheme. And all the sin that he had was
somebody else's. There's no deceit in his mouth. And he was dying in weakness.
Look what it says there again in the middle part of verse 12,
"...because he hath poured out his soul unto death." Oh, he
died in weakness, but yet look what it says, "...he shall divide
the small with the strong." And what that means is, the strong
will be his prey. The strong will be his prey.
He died in weakness, yet the strong He don't count him as
nothing, as nothing in his strength. And in his strength, he destroyed
death. Now, I'll tell you something,
beloved, there's only one man who can wear a coat that seemingly
everything contradicts about him. Everything contradicts about
him. There's only one person. who
can wear a coat like this. Only one place these contradictions
harmonize, and that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look over
in 1 Corinthians 1 with me for a minute. That's why I said, you know,
they ask you all these questions. And he said to them, they said,
whose son is he going to be? They said, well, David's son.
He said, well, if he's David's son, why does David, by the Holy
Spirit, call him Lord? If he's David's son, how can
he be David's Lord? And they said, that can't be. He can't be David's son and David's
Lord. But he was David's Lord and David's
son. And Abraham saw his day and rejoiced
in it. I tell you, all of these things
harmonize in our Lord Jesus Christ. First Corinthians 122. The Jews
require a sign. If you're the Christ, show us
a sign. Give us a sign. No sign's going
to be given to you except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And
the Jews Greeks seek after wisdom. Oh
my, there's no wisdom. How in the world can there be
any wisdom in one man bearing the sin of somebody else? How
can a man be weak enough to die and suffer death, and at the
same time, man is a common criminal, how's he going to save me? There's
no wisdom in that. No power in that. Nothing. And don't listen to what he says.
But, to us, Christ crucified. Let the Jews stumble over it.
Let them rest the Scriptures. Christ can't come out of Galilee. Christ can't come from Nazareth.
Christ wants to come set up a kingdom here. And let the Greeks say,
well, it's foolishness. This cross and the bearing of
other men's sins is foolishness. But unto us which are called,
whether we are Jew or whether we are Greek, Christ, He's the
power of God. He's the power by which God created
this world. He's the power by which God upholds
this world. He's the God by which God created
everything that's in this world. Not only that, but He's the wisdom
of God. God's wisdom seen in His justice,
and His wrath, and His love, and His mercy, and His substitutionary
death, and His sin bearing, every way the wisdom of God is seen,
how that He can be just and justify the ungodly. And, oh beloved,
listen, he goes on to say, he's the wisdom of God personally, He was the wisdom of God in creation.
He's the wisdom and power of God in salvation. He's the power
of God. If you're going to be saved,
it's Christ and His power to save sinners. If you're going
to ever see the wisdom of God in the salvation of your own
soul, you're going to see the wisdom of God in Christ, how
that God can save you and save you justly so. Oh, you're going to see it. And
I tell you, I was reading today where Paul said, this is one
thing I do. I want to apprehend. I want to apprehend. I want to
get it in my brain. I want to... You know, you read
something and you say, well, I'd like to apprehend. I'd like
to understand. I'd like to get that. Paul said,
I want to apprehend this one thing. Why Christ apprehended
me? How can it be? How can it be
that thou, my soul, should die? Thou, my Christ, should die for
me? And he said, I want to know, understand why Christ laid hold
on me. And he said, but I've never apprehended
it yet. Have you ever figured out why Christ laid hands on
you yet? Why did He do it? Why did He
apprehend you? Why did He come and put your
sins away? Why did He call you? Why did
He lay hands on you? Why did the Holy Spirit bring
you? And I'll tell you what, whatever the only issue God's
had is, That Christ is the wisdom and power of God. Everything
God's done for me, He done to cause through and by the Lord
Jesus Christ. Huh? And I say He's the power
and wisdom of God in Salvation 2 and in the Gospel. I want you
to see one thing and then I'm done. Luke 10. Luke 10. Oh, my. He's the wisdom of God to us
personally. I've seen that's the wisdom of
God. How in the world can God save me in Christ? How can God keep me in Christ?
How can I be sinless in Christ? Now, look what it said here.
In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in
spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent
that hath revealed them unto babes, for even so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me
of my Father. And no man knows the Son, who
the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son,
and to whom the Son will reveal Him. And He turned to His disciples. Now listen to this. Turn to His
disciples and sin privately. You fellows gather around me.
I want to tell you something. I want nobody to hear this but
just you two. All of you all. That's what He said. I want Peter,
James, John, Matthew, Thaddeus, Thomas, gather around here, I've
got something to say to you. And they gather around and he
says, blessed are your eyes, which see the things that you
see. For I'm telling you, I'm going to tell you this, that
lots of prophets and lots of kings, David, Hezekiah, Josiah,
Prophets after prophets, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Samuel, have
desired to see the things that you see and never saw them, and
to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them. And
oh, beloved, bless the Lord if you have eyes to see and faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a work of God,
if you have eyes to see. know how many people they've
never seen?