Well, good morning. And as Mark
said, it's good to have Bill here. We just wish we had him
here with his voice. So my condolences, but I covet
your prayers as I try to stand in this morning. The title of
today's message is Strongholds and Imaginations. And later I'll
be directing your attention to a familiar New Testament passage
that deals with this subject. But I want to begin first by
considering an Old Testament text that I selected for today's
message. The first nine verses of the
book of Nahum, if you want to be turning there. While you turn,
it's interesting. If you've heard me preach from
this book in the past, you've probably heard me pronounce it
Nahum. And that's the way I learned to pronounce it growing up was
we learned the books of the Bible, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk. Well, I heard recently a preacher
preach from this and he called it Nahum. And so I looked it
up and I've been pronouncing it wrong all these years. So
I'm going to try to do it right today. But if I get mixed up,
you'll know I'm still talking about the same guy. So a stronghold
It is a biblical term that's not commonly used in our day,
but know this, it simply refers to that which is assessed to
be strong enough to trust in for our safety. It refers to
a place of refuge and protection, and a stronghold. It was often
used in the Old Testament to refer to mighty fortresses. And
these fortresses were places designed to provide for the safety,
the peace, the provision, and the protection of a citizenry
from warring enemies. As history has shown, not all
so-called strongholds proved to be strong enough to hold.
They were presumed to be trustworthy, for they were intended, they
were built to withstand any and all assaults, but many such fortresses,
though intended to be strong enough to hold, they did not
live up to that name. That is, it was imagined, strongholds
and imaginations. It was imagined that they were
indeed trustworthy strongholds, but the reality proved otherwise. Well, just as there were physical
fortresses or strongholds, the term stronghold was also used
in the Bible to refer to a spiritual fortress, a refuge, or a place
of safety believed to provide eternal security, safety, peace,
and provision, a refuge from the just wrath of God against
our sins. And so with that, my objective
today is that we could all evaluate, using God's word as our standard,
whether or not my stronghold, whether your stronghold, is it
a real one, or is it only imagined to be real? And this being a
matter of eternal consequence, it's certainly worthy of our
serious consideration and attention. Let me briefly share a little
background on the book of Nahum. The Bible really doesn't tell
us much about the prophet, but as we'll see from today's text,
Nahum does tell us much about God, about who he is and about
what he's like. The subject of his prophecy,
as recorded in this book, is established in the very first
verse there, as it's called, The Burden of Nineveh, the book
of the vision of Nahum. A vision which occurred, which
concerned, excuse me, Nineveh, which was a chief city and the
royal seat of Assyria. So the entire book deals with
the burden that Nineveh would most certainly bear, meaning
their very destruction as described and declared by the prophet Nahum.
Now, you know, when we think of Nineveh, most of us recall
the story of Jonah. Years earlier, God had sent the
very reluctant to go prophet Jonah to Nineveh, And once he
finally got there, at that time, Jonah declared to them that their
wicked city would be overthrown within 40 days. But as we learn
from the book of Jonah, Nineveh repented, and God spared them
the fulfillment of Jonah's decree at that time. But here now in
the book of Nahum, some 100 years later, Nineveh had clearly repented
of their repentance, so to speak. the repentance that was prompted
by Jonah's visit. And they had, in short order,
they turned back to their idols. Nahum chapter three describes
how Nineveh had become a cruel or bloody city, it says, full
of lies and robbery. In short, it had become as wicked
and evil as ever. And so God sends them the prophet
Nahum, who unlike Jonah, he was not sent to warn them, but instead
to declare to them the certain the irreversible sentence of
God's wrath upon them. Nahum's prophecy describing,
see here, Nineveh's complete and total destruction. Now the
Ninevites, they had what they considered to be a real physical
stronghold, a fortress that could not be penetrated. They were
confident that they could withstand any assault, and it's believed
that that confidence in large part stemmed from their strategic
location on the Tigris River. They thought the river provided
them a natural protective boundary. And yet, when God Almighty's
appointed time of wrath came, he used another pagan army to
invade and destroy them. But that army's successful destruction
of Nineveh's fortress or stronghold came from the very river that
Nineveh so relied upon for their protection. God brought about
an overwhelming flood. which their fortress was not
strong enough to hold or withstand. And you know the lesson there
is nothing of our own construction, physically or spiritually, can
withstand the certain execution of the just wrath of Almighty
God. Let's begin by reading these nine verses, first nine verses
in chapter one of Nahum, and I'll comment as we go. Beginning
in verse 1, we read the burden of Nineveh, the book of the vision
of Nahum the Elkishite. God is jealous, and the Lord
revengeth. The Lord revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. So right
off, Nahum begins to declare some vital knowledge concerning
who God is and what God's like. I want you to see here two unmistakable
truths that we need to keep in mind concerning the true and
living God. And the first one is it says
God is jealous. That means God will not share
his glory. You know, God's jealousy is not
a negative trait as we would often view jealousy. We would
think it's akin to the sin of envy. Rather, this describes
God's determination to not share His glory. You know, that's God's
chief design in everything that He does, that He might receive
all glory. That means that He might be revealed
as He truly is. And that revelation in contrast
to how sinners such as we naturally might imagine Him to be. He's
jealous. He's jealous for the honor of
His glory, and He will not share His glory. And secondly, we see
here from verse two that God's a God of wrath. You know, in
our day, we love to major on God being a God of love, but
the Bible's full of the truth that God's also a God of wrath.
He will be vindicated in executing vengeance against all sin and
on those who stand opposed to his own glory, of which he's
so jealous. He will receive glory, both in
showing mercy and in the manifestation of his wrath. Continuing in verse
3, the Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not
at all acquit the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm and the clouds are the dust of his
feet. He rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry and dryeth up all
the rivers. Bashan languisheth and Carmel
and the flower of Lebanon languishes. These places were cities and
areas known for their fertility. But Nahum, he's describing how
almighty God can dry them up. The mountains quake at him and
the hills melt and the earth is burned at his presence. Yea,
the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before
his indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness
of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are thrown down by him." Now, I want you to take
note of some attributes we see in these verses of God. First,
it says the Lord is slow to anger. While his jealousy for his own
glory, it's manifested in his fury, yet he's also a patient
God. He's forgiving. He's long-suffering
toward sinners. His judgment is often delayed
as it was with none of them. As is written in 2 Peter 3, 9,
This is written to those who have been described in the context
here as the beloved of God, meaning the everlasting objects of his
love. He says to them, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise,
as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward,
not willing that any, any of usward, any of the beloved of
God to whom it's written here, not willing that any should perish,
but that all, all of them shall come to repentance. So we see
that the God of the Bible, he's a jealous God whose wrath shall
be executed, but also he is patient, he's merciful, and he's a gracious
God. And then secondly, note from
verse three, he's also great in power. Our all-powerful, omnipotent
God, he can and he will do all that he's determined to do according
to his own good pleasure and his infinite wisdom. Thirdly,
it's declared to God he will not at all acquit the wicked.
Just as we're told elsewhere, he will by no means clear the
guilty. In other words, God is just and his justice shall be
satisfied. The just penalty of death, due
unto sin, it shall be executed. Fourthly, notice in these verses
it's declared and further elaborated upon how all powerful God will
have his way. See, not only can God do, but
He shall do as He pleases. He's totally sovereign and in
control of everything that takes place. He has His own way, as
we read in Psalm 135, 6. Whatever the Lord please, that
did He in heaven and in earth, in the seas and all deep places. We worship a sovereign God who
will have His way. As we continue in verse 7, we
read, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he
knoweth them that trust in him. So we see the Lord, he's not
only jealous, a God of wrath, patient and all powerful, just,
by no means clearing the guilty, a sovereign God that's going
to have his way, but here Nahum declares the truth that God is
good. As Christ said in Matthew 19,
17, there's none good but one, that is God. And this singular
goodness is reflected in the truth that the Lord, you notice
that's all caps, is Jehovah God who saves. He is the only trustworthy
stronghold and refuge from the just wrath that's due unto sin. And to whom is the Lord a stronghold? Well, to those he knows, and
that's speaking of an intimate knowledge. These are those he
knows as the objects of his everlasting and redemptive love. Those who
will see without fail, by virtue of the blood-bought gift of faith,
they will place their trust in him as their one and only stronghold. As a hymn writer put it, a mighty
fortress is our God. We'll continue now in verse eight
we read, but with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end
of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. What
do ye imagine against the Lord? He'll make an utter end, affliction
shall not rise up the second time. So here Nahum is prophesying
how an overrunning flood of the Tigris River will make an utter
end of Nineveh. And so he poses this question,
what do ye imagine against the Lord? I think he's both asking
a question and at the same time, he's exposing the folly of any
answer they might come up with. In the wording of the question,
he exposes that whatever they might hope for, for deliverance
from the certain wrath of Almighty God, that it shall not stand
because it's an imagined hope, an imagined stronghold. Whatever
they might trust in sees a product of their own imagination, an
imaginary refuge that shall not stand. That word that's translated
imagine there, it can be defined as the conception that one has,
but it also carries the connotation of that which is invented or
fabricated as a fabricated lie. In other words, it's not real,
but imagined. In reality, where one places
their trust for safety, protection, provision, refuge. It's either
in the one true stronghold that shall prevail or else it's an
imagined one, a figment of one's imagination that shall tragically
prove to have been a false refuge. Now turn to that New Testament
passage I mentioned, 2 Corinthians 10. You know, any who consider
themselves among the saved, who think they're going to heaven,
Well, they likewise have some basis for making that judgment.
And the ground or the basis of their salvation is essentially,
that's their fortress. That's their spiritual refuge.
It's where their hope is. That which they believe, see,
shall find them safe and secure from God's wrath against their
sins. It's their stronghold. But here's a question we need
to ask. Is my stronghold? Is your stronghold? Is it real
or is it imagined? And I think this passage in 2
Corinthians 10 will help us get to that. It's not a question
we ought to take lightly because according to God's word, see,
the first natural place of spiritual refuge for all sinners is one
that by God's grace, it needs to be pulled down and cast aside
at some point. You know, when I make that statement,
I often think of those who are raised under the gospel. You'll
see later, as I describe my former doctrine, my doctrine exposed
I was resting in a false refuge. But what about kids that grow
up under the gospel? And they give mental agreement
to it. They're taught a right. The gospel of God's grace in
Christ. Well, you know, even they, they start out resting
in an imagined stronghold. Because when they get serious
about religion, they may have been hearing the gospel. It's
coming in. They may be giving mental assent. if and when God
begins to work with them, well, their first inclination is to
say, you know, I want to go to heaven. What do I need to do
now in order to be saved? Having been taught all along,
you can't do anything to save yourself. The question itself
exposes that false stronghold that we all begin with. So we
all begin placing our initial trust in the stronghold of our
imagination. and that which shall prove to
be untrustworthy and false, that shall not stand up against the
wrath of God." So with that, let's look at this passage in
2 Corinthians 10 that addresses strongholds and imaginations.
It's akin to the physical warfare that Nineveh face, there is a
spiritual warfare that's being spoken of here in 2 Corinthians
10. So let's pick up with me in verse 3 where we read, For
though we walk in the flesh, this is Paul writing, we do not
war after the flesh. Paul then here is referring to
a spiritual warfare rather than a physical one. And he continues
saying, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're
not guns and knives and spears and swords. The weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down
of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. I think, as I said earlier, I
think we can see keys to understanding whether or not the Lord, the
one true and living God, is truly our stronghold, or whether ours
is a false refuge, not one worthy of our trust. So first, let me
cover just some irrefutable truths from Scripture that I think will
assist in our understanding of this passage here. And you won't
have time to turn there, but if you'd like, you can jot down
these references if you want to look them up later. First,
I want us to acknowledge, as God declares in Ephesians 2-1,
that all are born spiritually dead in trespasses and sin. He says, Are you, hath he quickened,
made alive, given spiritual life to, who were born dead in trespasses
and sin? And being spiritually dead as
we come into this world, we do not begin with the faculties
of spiritual life. as Christ described them, spiritual
eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear and a spiritual heart
and mind to understand and embrace the truth of the gospel. Christ
told Nicodemus, he said, you must be born again in John 3,
7, a spiritual birth. You must be born of the spirit
of God in order to discern the things of God. And until we're
born of the spirit in that initial state of spiritual death, we
do not know God as he is. We can know a lot about him,
but we don't know him in the way that those who come to a
saving knowledge of him possess. As God declares through the Apostle
Paul in 1 Corinthians 2.14, he said, the natural man, that is,
what we are naturally, how we're physically born into this world
before spiritual life, the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. It
takes spiritual life. And as Paul told the Greek philosophers
on Mars Hill, as recorded in Acts 17.31, He begins that with,
God now calls on all men everywhere to repent. As Christ told his
hearers in Luke 13 3, he said, except you repent, you shall
all likewise perish. Now I'm reminding you of these
things from the broader context of all of scripture to help us
understand this passage on strongholds and imaginations. And I want
you to think with me, if by one's own assessment, they've never
held imaginations, or a stronghold that they perceive needed to
be cast aside, pulled down, then there would be no need for their
initial repentance as commanded by God, the repentance that always
accompanies God-given faith. All those who are saved at some
point are brought to repent of having before trusted in an imagined
stronghold, an imagined way of salvation that if we persisted
in, would tragically lead to our eternal demise, continuing
on what Christ called the broad way that leads to destruction.
As we so often quote, and as I quoted last week from Proverbs
14 and 16, there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death. What seems right is
not. So if you're truly among those
who have already been given spiritual life, Here's some undeniable
evidence. By God-given faith and repentance,
you too will have cast aside that which you once mistakenly
had imagined would find you in God's favor. You have been given
the gift of faith. It always results in repentance.
When we turn to God in faith, we're turning away from something
else, from ever having trusted in anything other than the Lord
Jesus Christ and his finished work as our stronghold. You know,
now some will insist, as I did as a young religious man, well,
I was brought up in a Christian church, quote, Christian church,
and I've always looked to Christ as my savior. I certainly thought
I did. But listen, If your religious world's yet to be turned upside
down, know this, that gives evidence that you've not yet experienced
true God-given faith and repentance according to God's word. If you
can't identify that which you sinfully and mistakenly once
trusted in for your salvation as that which you have now cast
aside, then dig deeper and pray that God will be merciful to
you. You know, one may presume to be trusting in the Lord as
I once did, at least as I sincerely imagined him to be. But unless
God's spirit opens our eyes to repent of that which we all naturally,
but mistakenly, initially assumed to be a safe refuge, then you
best be seeking to understand how your way is a flawed way. Seek the Lord while he may be
found, the Lord of this Bible. You know, I would have insisted,
I'm trusting in Jesus Christ as my savior. But I've came to
find out that it wasn't the Christ of this Bible, and I'll show
you that as we go forward. 2 Corinthians 10, I think, is
very instructive toward this end. He writes that the weapons
of our warfare are mighty through God. That, as Jim preached in
the 10 o'clock hour, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. He's speaking of a gospel ministry
when he says this here. This is the same Almighty God
that we read about in Nahum chapter 1. And when God's gospel is made
effectual by God the Holy Spirit, the result is the pulling down
of the stronghold on which we previously trusted. The Spirit
exposes to us that what we had presumed to be a good hope, a
safe refuge, was an imagined one, a refuge of lies as God
puts it through the prophet Isaiah. And we'll look at that passage
in a moment as well. The sense of 2 Corinthians 10, 4, and 5
is that the pulling down of strongholds involves, as we read in verse
5, the casting down of imaginations. And every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. This is some full
language. There's a lot in that verse right
there that's very revealing. That which we imagine, our concept
of God, of Christ and his work, which we imagine by nature, it
must be cast down. So how is it exposed to us that
we've been trusting in an imagined stronghold rather than a real
one? No one knowingly trusts in that
which is a lie. Well, it's that which we currently
trust in. something that could be said
to exalt itself against. That means in opposition to the
knowledge of God as he's revealed in the scripture. We read in
Nahum how God is, he's jealous, he's a God of wrath, patient,
all-powerful, just, by no means clearing the guilty, a sovereign
God who will have his way, a good God, merciful and gracious, a
true stronghold to those he knows in his redemptive love. who in
time are irresistibly drawn to trust in Christ alone for all
their salvation. So does the ground or basis as
we see it of our own salvation, does it stand in opposition to
God's chief design to reveal himself as he truly is, his glory,
according to the scripture? This thing about knowing God
is a big deal. Because his glory, what he is
like, that is his chief design in everything that he does according
to the scripture. And that includes in the saving
of sinners. It's paramount in the saving
of sinners. As Christ prayed in John 17 3, and this is life
eternal that they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent. God's jealous of the honor of
His glory, the revelation of who He is, and His greatest glory,
His redemptive glory. You know, we learn a lot about
God and His glory from nature. The sun rises every day and we
see God's faithful. But we see something in redemption
that's revealed in the person and redemption work of Jesus
Christ, of His glory. His, the bit largest and most
complete manifestation of His glory. As we read about that
in 2 Corinthians 4, 6, for God who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, this almighty God who spoke the world into
existence, who said, let there be light, and there was light.
This God, it says, by the same power hath shined in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, where? In the face, that means in the
person and finished work of Jesus Christ. Well, the last part of
verse 5 in 2 Corinthians 10 should help us discern if our thoughts
are among those false notions that would stand against or opposed
to the knowledge of God as he is, as we just read, as he's
revealed in the face of the person and work of Christ. And I love
that last phrase. It says, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. And we can learn a
lot from that. The sense here is that any imagined
way of salvation that opposes knowing God as he is, it would
be manifested by thoughts that salvation is at least in some
way or to some degree based on something other than, or something
in addition to, the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice
it reads, every thought, and the obedience it's speaking of
is Christ obedience, as a substitute and assurity for all those he
came to save, as the scriptures describes it, and obedience even
unto the death of the cross. Christ perfectly satisfied God's
holy justice. by rendering as a substitute
for his people a perfect righteousness, whereby God manifest or reveals,
see who he is, he reveals this, how he can be both a just God,
who shall by no means acquit the guilty, and still be a good
God, a merciful and a gracious Savior. The righteousness of
God, see, refers to the satisfaction Christ, God the Son, rendered
to the holy and strict law and justice of God the Father. He
satisfied God's justice as a representative and as a substitute. On behalf
of all those he knows, those objects, see, of his everlasting
redemptive love, those for whom he came and for whom he lived
and died. Those who shall accordingly in
each successive generation, they're going to put their trust solely
in Him. That's getting toward that every
thought we read. Solely in Him and His finished
substitutionary work, Christ's perfect, sinless obedience and
satisfaction to God's justice was rendered. He perfectly obeyed
the law in the room instead of others, but He did so on the
behalf of guilty sinners. So he had to die. He had to die
in their place. You know, God's wrath against
sin will be poured out and it's going to be poured out on, either
it's going to be poured out on you or it's poured out on your
substitute on Calvary's tree. Christ God the Son experienced
sin in their place. He experienced the full and the
just wrath of God the Father against their sin, their past
sins, their present sins, their future sins, sins they don't
even know they've committed. Christ paying see in full the
just penalty of death for their sins. All the sins of all those
that were given to him by his father in electing grace. All
those for whom he lived and died. Well, as your every thought,
and when I say that, that's not our every waking thought about
everything. But it's our thoughts in this
context. Every thought as it concerns
your ground of acceptance before God. So in this context, it's
every thought that pertains to the stronghold of your salvation. Have they brought into subjection
or captivity to the obedience of Christ alone? You know, if
you presume to be saved based upon anything other than Christ's
righteousness having been imputed or counted unto you, that work
of obedience unto death on your behalf, then know that would
represent an imaginary stronghold. And imagine, not a real way of
salvation that shall not stand. That would not be the Lord God
who saves. That would not be the stronghold
as described in Nahum 1 7. Well, just as Nineveh experienced
an overrunning flood of God's wrath and their physical destruction,
God through the prophet Isaiah, he speaks of the flood of his
sure and certain wrath against sin at the spiritual judgment. A flood from which none can hide. Hear these words from Isaiah
28, beginning in verse 14. Wherefore, hear the word of the
Lord, ye scornful men, that rule the people which is in Jerusalem.
Because ye have said, we have made a covenant with death, and
with hell are we at agreement. In other words, we made our peace,
and we have our stronghold that will keep us out of hell. And
with hell are we at We had agreement, he says, when the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, they say, it's not coming to us. I'm
okay. For we have made lies our refuge. Now, the prophet is declaring
that their refuge was false. No one knowingly would say, I'm
going to believe a lie and make that what I place all my hope
and trust in. But he's exposing here that,
yeah, you have a refuge, but it's a refuge of lies. Just as
he says, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. They're
saying we've hid ourselves. We're covered against God's wrath.
He's saying it's under falsehood that you've done so. Therefore,
thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion. Now that's the
true church of God, he said, for a foundation of stone. a
tried stone, a precious cornerstone, listen, a sure foundation. He's speaking of Jesus Christ,
and he that believeth shall not make haste. It won't be in vain. See, Christ is worthy of our
trust. He is the true stronghold. He's
not a false or vain refuge. Then he continues in verse 17
saying, judgment also will allay to the line and righteousness
to the plummet. So we see here he's speaking
of judgment. And he's saying, just like that carpenter's plumb
line, by which he measures a perfect vertical line, he says, righteousness,
that's the obedience unto death of Christ, in which our every
thought is to be brought captive to. That death made in perfect
satisfaction to God's justice, he's saying that's the plumb
line, that's the standard by which God shall judge. You must
have a righteousness equal to that of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you can't produce one. You need God's mercy and grace
in having produced one for you, and God having graciously accounted
that to you by amputation, just as he accounted your sins by
amputation to Jesus Christ. I loved that exchange. He died for sins that he had
no part in producing, that those for whom he died would have a
righteousness they had no part in producing. And I forgot where I left off
here, did I? I think I had this. Hell shall sweep away the refuge
of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place, just
like water going in every crevice and crook. And your covenant
with death, it shall be disannulled. And your agreement with hell,
it shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it." He's
saying that only this sure foundation, this cornerstone, this precious
stone, Jesus Christ, will find you safe from the just wrath
of God. As we learn from Nahum, God is
jealous. He's a God of wrath. He's patient. He's all-powerful.
He's just. He by no means will acquit the
guilty. He's a sovereign God who will have his way. And so
we should ask ourselves if our way of salvation is consistent
with knowing God as he so described. You know, there are many variations
of salvation doctrine that fall in the category of imaginations
that need to be, and if God is gracious, that will be cast down
when God's pleased to save a sinner in the day of his power. You
know, like so many, I too once, I really thought I was trusting
in Jesus Christ. And yet, my doctrine, in hindsight,
so obviously had me not bringing every thought to the captivity
of the obedience of Jesus Christ. And here's how I know. If you
asked me then, are you trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior,
I'd say absolutely, yes. then if you're trusting what he did,
why is anybody going to hell? I'd say, oh, but, and when I
add that but, that just exposes, not every thought was captive
to the obedience of Christ. I'd say, but you've gotta do
your part. You gotta do this, you gotta do that or the other,
but mine was the exercise of faith, believing something. Well, that's a refuge of lies.
In hindsight, I know that my thoughts, my doctrine, you see,
in believing that even one sinner for whom Christ died could perish,
it gave evidence that I was just like every other spiritually
dead sinner by nature. Our initial stronghold sees always
an imagined one. The God I worshipped at that
time, he certainly was not just. Here I had I believed he died
for the sins of everyone who ever lived. Listen, I even thought
he died for the sins, as most do, of people who never even
graced the entrance of a church door, okay, who have no interest
in religion whatsoever. Now, most of so-called Christendom
today, just like me, they would say, well, we know that's a lost
person. They're going to perish. And
yet, we figured that God poured out his infinite wrath on Jesus
Christ. And you know, in our spiritual
blindness, it didn't bother me that I thought that way. I couldn't
see it. That's what it is. That's why we need life. See,
I figured God would just send most of those folks on to hell
for whom Jesus died. As I said last week, what an
unjust monster existed in the evil imagination of my natural
and very religious yet spiritually dead heart. You know, I don't
think there's any greater evil that's so diametrically opposed
to God's glory than that which is found in our false religious
notions. You know, certainly every thought
of mine at that time had not been brought into captivity to
the obedience of Christ. But I thank God that under the
preaching of this very gospel of God's sovereign grace, as
Jim pointed out in the 10 o'clock hour, where his righteousness
was revealed, he gave me life. And through his spirit, he pulled
down the former stronghold whereby I had assumed that salvation
was ultimately in some way had to be conditioned on me, at least
in part, not solely on the finished work of Christ and his obedience
unto death, on the cross. In other words, every thought
hadn't been brought captive. Well, thankfully, those imaginations
were cast down, and I pray that's the case or will be the case
with all who hear this message as well. If you go on over to
Nahum chapter 3, the prophet declares unto Nineveh in verse
12, he said, all thy strongholds shall be like fig trees with
the first ripe figs. If they be shaken, they shall
even fall into the mouth of the eater. They'll fall right off.
They will not stand. And then two verses later in
verse 14, he speaks, I think, with a bit of sarcasm or irony
when he says, draw thee waters for the siege. Fortify thy strongholds. Go into clay and tread the mortar. Make strong the brick kiln. There
shall the fire devour. The sword shall cut thee off.
It shall eat thee up like the canker worm. And he goes on describing
their sure destruction. But, you know, it's sad. Often
when folks are confronted with the truth of God's gospel, the
necessity of bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience
of Christ, so as to look to him alone for all salvation. Men and women will do, as Nahum
kind of suggested to the Ninevites, they'll cling to their own imagined
stronghold. They'll go about trying to fortify
their strongholds. If they're trusting in their
faith, they will try to bolster up their faith. If they're trusting
in their good works, they'll resolve to do more good works.
And that only makes them more entrenched in a false way as
they strive to be sure that they're truly doing What they mistakenly
imagine will find them favored with God, when nothing but righteousness
will fit the bill. What they think would remove
his wrath against their sin. But as with none of us such imagined
strongholds, these refuges of lies, they shall not stand against
the flood of God's just wrath. Well, what will it be for you? To use Nahum's word, will you
imagine against the Lord? Did anything other than or anything
in addition to that perfect satisfaction to justice that Christ rendered?
Will anything else find you safe from the just wrath of an all-powerful
God? And you see, there's good news. Not only did he endure our wrath,
but he gave us a perfect righteousness. You see, as Bill often used that
illustration, it's not like somebody just went and paid the debt for
you at the bank. They also put a million dollars in your account. See, there's good news. Christ
endured the full wrath of God, due unto the sins of all those
for whom he died. He won't save anyone at the expense
of his justice. He cannot, see, he can't deny
himself as he is, as both a just God and a savior. If you truly
trust in Christ for all of your salvation, then you, like me,
you know it's by God's grace in Christ. It's seeded by his
blood-bought gift of faith. And thereby you can know that
the Lord, the one true and living God, is truly your stronghold.
And that's a real stronghold, and that's worthy of our trust.
Mark.