I'm going to be using two texts
this morning. The first is in Hebrews chapter
11, verses five and six, talking about the translation of Enoch. And the second one is in Colossians
1, which I read to you earlier, verses 12 and 13, delivering
us. from the power of darkness and
translating us into the kingdom of His dear Son. The title of
the message this morning is A Godly Translation. The word translate, translation,
and translated in all three of its forms appear but three times
in the Holy Scripture. Now, I say three times because
in one verse in Hebrews chapter 11, it appears three times. But
in three places, I guess, I should say, in the Holy Scripture. It
appears once in 2 Samuel chapter three in verse 10, talking about
the kingdom of Saul being translated to the kingdom of David. And
then in Colossians 1, 12, and 13, talking about being translated
into the kingdom of God, and in Hebrews 5 and 6, talking about
Enoch being translated, that he should not see death. Now
it's obvious that in all of these texts, he's not talking about
a translation or interpretation of language. That's obvious,
so I'm gonna leave that out of the definitions that I'm gonna
give you from the dictionary. The word translate, in everywhere
it's used, means to convey from one place to another. Or to convey
from one form to another. Sometimes it's used and means
to convert. In other places it means to move
from one place to another. And it literally means to carry
a cross. Translate. Translate. And so I want to talk to you
about a godly translation. A godly carrying a cross. A godly moving from one place
to another and from one form. to another. Now we'll begin in
Hebrews 11 where the Holy Ghost is inspiring Paul to speak by
example of God's word of faith. This is what some call the roll
call of faith. He goes down and he shows you
all of these men who were believers and who exampled that God-given
faith, that gracious faith that God gives to all his own. And make no mistake about it,
faith is the gift of God and it is the work of God in us. In all who believe. You're not
gonna believe unless God gives you faith. And unless God works
in you to enable you to believe. Now Christ had some followers
They didn't all follow him because they loved him or believed him
to be the Christ. Some just followed him in amazement
to see these miracles that Christ performed. He did things that
no man can do. He raised the dead. He cleansed
the lepers. He healed the men with palsy. He caused the paralyzed man to
stand up, take up his bed, and walk. He did things that no man
could do. And they had just saw him on
the side of a mountain take a few fishes and a few loaves and feed
5,000 men, not counting the women and children. Thousands from
a few fishes and a few loaves. And then when they were done,
they sent somebody around and they picked up all the leftovers.
And I made them feel like 12 baskets full of leftovers. And
so these men, and he went away from them. They were going to
take him by force and make him king of Israel. And he just got
out of their presence and went somewhere where they couldn't
find him. And he sent his disciples across that sea, and you all
know the story there. They were caught in a storm in
the midst of that sea in the middle of the night, and he come
walking on the water. So when they got on the other
side, these men who had saw him feed all these people with fishes
and loaves, They came around on the other side to follow him
some more and to see other things. And he said, you didn't follow
me. The reason you followed me is for food. It's for the benefits. That's why you're following me.
You don't love me. You don't know what I'm preaching.
You don't understand what I'm saying. You just want the benefits.
And most of the time, I'm telling you, people who profess to believe
in Christ, they're following him for the benefits. They don't
know anything at all about sin, about the glory of God. They
could care less about his justice. They don't understand his justice
had to be satisfied. They don't understand that it
takes a new birth. They don't understand any of
these things. They just want the benefits. They want the benefits. In John 6, 29, Jesus answered,
they said, what should we do that we might work the works
of God? He said, this is the work of God, that you believe
on him whom God has sent. Faith is the gift of God, and
it's the work of God. It's the work of God. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. All right, but what does faith
do? What does faith do? He's giving
you by example all these things. What does faith do? What effect
does the gift of faith have on those to whom it's given? Is
faith just something you do one time, I believe, and
that's it from now on? You just keep going back to that
time? Well, I believed, I did this and I did that. A lot of
folks do that. You talk to them about believing
God and they'll take you right back to the place. I can tell
you the place, tell you the hour, they'll start telling you all
about it. What does faith do? Well it says
in Ephesians 2.10 where his workmanship, this is his work, where his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. What are these good
works? Believing. That's a good work. Believing. Love is another good work. He
that loveth not knoweth not God. God is love. Worship and prayer, that's two
more. Submission and obedience. All right, so what does all of
that, these good work were created in Christ Jesus on two good works
which God has before ordained that we walk in them. If you're
gonna walk with God, you're gonna walk by faith. Isn't that what
he's telling us here about Enoch? Before God translated him, he
had this testimony. He pleased God, but without faith,
it's impossible to please God. So what does all of this have
to do with the translation of Enoch? Well it says here in Hebrews
11 verse 5, by faith Enoch was translated that he should not
see death and he was not found because God had translated him
for before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased
God. But without faith it's impossible
to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Now using the dictionary definition
of the word translate, Enoch was conveyed from one place to
another. He didn't see death as most of
us will. Enoch did not. He didn't see death. God just
come down and took him. And he carried him into glory.
He conveyed him from one place to another and from one form
to another. One day he was here and the next
instance he was in the presence of God. He didn't suffer any pain. He
didn't go through months of agony, God just took him. Just took
him. Elijah, he's another one didn't
see dead. He crossed that river and got
on the other side and he told, took his mantle off and gave
it to Elisha and Elisha stood there and watched and the chariot
of God come down and took him in the glory. Translated him,
conveyed him from one place to another. He was not found. Men sought
for him. They knew who he was. He had
a ministry. He had a ministry. He was one
of those sons of God set apart to minister to men. You can read
about it over in the book of Jude. He talks about his ministry. He talks about his preaching
to men. He was a preacher and they sought
for him. You come up here every Sunday and you expect to see
me up in this pulpit or somebody that I've called and invited
here or appointed from the congregation. You expect to see the preacher.
I'm coming up here. I want to hear what he's got
to say. I want to go in the Bible. I want to prove those things
which I hear. You expect to see me. Well, that's
what they did with Enoch. He was a preacher and they came
out to hear him. And one day they came and he
wasn't there. And they said, where's he now? I don't know,
I haven't seen him. And they started looking for
him and they couldn't find him. Oh, where's he at? God took him. God took him. That's going to
be true of me one of these days. You're going to come in here
expecting to find me and I ain't going to be here. I ain't going to be here. He wasn't found because God had
translated him. He carried him into glory. Now
let me tell you something. There's nothing in this work
of salvation that you can do apart from God. Nothing. Nothing. Without me, Christ said,
you could do nothing. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
I wonder if we really believe that. We don't act like it. We sure don't act like it. I
tell you, when it comes right down to it, and God tries you, you find out
just how little faith you have. But isn't it a wonderful thing
that you have it? That you have it. It's not how
much faith you have. It's just the fact that you have
it. And what faith looks to, who
it looks to, who it depends on, who it trusts, that's the strength. And that's the comfort of the
trial. But all this thing, how easily
we want to think about how strong our faith is. Your faith ain't
a speck in the wind. It's just so tiny, so tiny. Without me you can do nothing.
Now what I propose to do this morning is to show you that the
whole of the work is due to a godly translation. It's not just when
you come to die. And it's not, as he says over
in Colossians 1, it's not just when you're born of God. But
this translation started way back yonder in the beginning,
just using the dictionary definition of the term. There has to be
some definition of terms in order to understand what the word means,
isn't there? You have to understand what it
means. So first of all, let's look at the believer in the very
beginning of his salvation. What happened back yonder? Well,
God proposed to make man in his own image. He said, I'm going
to make him upright. I'm going to make him in my own
image. And God said, I'm going to put
him on a conditional footing. And I'm going to tell him, everything
your heart could desire is here in my garden. Everything. Help yourself, but don't eat
of this tree. And the day you eat of that tree,
you're gonna die. God put man on a conditional footing. And
God knew when he put him on that conditional footing that man
was gonna fall. But God chose a people. He chose
a people to save from that fall for the glory of his name. And so he translated you. out from under that federal headship
of Adam and put you under the federal headship of Christ. Isn't that what the scriptures
teach in Ephesians chapter one? Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. Now listen, in Christ. according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him being loved,
having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will,
in whom we're accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sin. And this same God has
abounded toward us in all wisdom and knowledge of His Son. This
is God's redemptive will. God translated us, moved us from
one place to another. Now listen to me, it says, by
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and
so death passed upon all men. Well, why didn't it pass on you? Why isn't it going to take you
to hell? Who intervened in your
life? What happened to you? How come
you and not everybody else? Because God translated you out
from under one headship. I'm talking about in the beginning,
before he ever created a man. Isn't that what I read to you
in Colossians 1? He is the beginning. He's the head of the body of
the church who is the beginning. And God put us, took us out from
under Adam's headship and put us over here in Christ. Paul wrote Timothy and he said,
God hath saved us. Hath, in the past, somewhere
in the past, saved us. And then he called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. You see, that's a translation,
isn't it? According to the dictionary.
He took us from one, conveyed us to another. Moved us from
one place to another. And do what you will and say
what you will. The book of God sits before men
and eternal salvation. That's all of God and all of
grace and all for His glory. Every part of it glorifies God. Every part. Nothing in there
to glorify you. Well, where's man's glory? Christ
is His glory. God is His glory. And salvation is God's everlasting
will. and the good pleasure of God
who's predestinated us unto the adoption of children. And those
who obtain this inheritance in time, obtain it according to
Ephesians 111, they obtain this salvation being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. All right, second. God translated
to us from the beginning by making his son our federal head and
representative. Ephesians 4, Paul tells us the
purpose of the preaching of the gospel and of the purpose of
the pastors in every office given to the church. He says in verse
12, for the perfecting of the saints. Where did that happen? Sitting under a pastor. Now what
does that say? Read it, read it for yourselves,
I ain't making it up. The ascended Lord, he rose from
the dead, stepped onto that cloud with his angels, and was taken
up into glory. And that ascending Lord gave
to the church the gifts of what? The prophets, and we have the
prophets. Why? Because he gave them to
us. And the apostles, we have that in the New Testament. And
we get them, God gave them. And evangelists, those men who
go into foreign nations and carry the gospel out, and pastor teachers. And he gives them for what? Here's
what it says, for the perfecting of the saints, the maturing of
the saints, and for the work of the ministry, and for edifying
the body of Christ, until we all come into unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man. You say a man can be perfect?
He can in Christ. Now listen to this. Under the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Do you see yourselves this morning
in Christ? Is that how you walk? Is that
how you live? Is that how you worship? Can you see yourselves
in Him? That's where God translated His
people. They're not under Adam. They're
under Christ. And we ought to see ourselves
in Him. We ought to walk seeing ourselves in Him. We ought to
worship seeing ourselves in Him. We know that the Son of God has
come and given us an understanding that we may know Him that's true.
Now listen, and that we're in Him that's true. Is that how
you see yourselves? In Him? Is that how you walk? Is that how you love? Is that
how you act? We see ourselves in Him. If it wasn't for Him,
where would we be? We'd be cursed forever. Cursed forever. But God chose
the people. Does that make you mad that God
chose you? Boy, it don't make me mad. If
he hadn't chosen me, I'd have never chosen him. I'd be doing
everything in my power to go to hell. Everything. And he just like a... Somebody said, well, yeah, that
just makes a man a robot. That's what they told Paul Mahan.
And Paul said, well, you need to think about something. You
rather have God up there pulling the strings on you, or can you
see yourself pulling the strings on God? I'd rather be the robot. I'd rather be the puppet. May
God pull the strings. If he don't pull them, I ain't
gonna be able to do anything. That's what Christ said, isn't
it? Oh, make me his puppet. It's for the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, the calling out of God's elect,
and for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come
into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure, the stature, the
fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to
and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine. by the
slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie and wait to
deceive. But speaking the truth in love
may grow up in him. Now listen, grow up in him in
all things which is the head, even Christ. That word head is
talking about our federal head. from whom the whole body fitly
joined together, that is, made one with the head, and compacted
by that which every joint supplieth. According to the effects of working,
the measure of every part maketh increase of the body under the
edifying of itself in love." In other words, putting into
that body its members, its members, and making them one with its
head. The church is his body, and the
body and the head are one. In Colossians 1.18, it said,
he is the head of the body of the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have
the preeminence. Now, there's two federal heads
in the Bible. Adam is the federal head of the
whole human race, and Christ is the head of his church. And
in Romans 5.12, he uses these two men. to declare what salvation
is. By the one man Adam, sin entered
into the world, death by sin, and death passed upon all men.
Romans 5, 18, therefore as by the offense of one, judgment
came upon all men to condemnation, even so, by the righteousness
of one, a free gift came upon all men. Who are these all men?
All who are under that first federal head, all who are under
that second federal head. All men in Adam died. They were
condemned. The wrath of God poured out on
them. They're under the curse. All
those under Christ, every last one of them, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men, that is all his people. under justification of life.
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. God moved
us from being under one head to being under another, and Christ
is our federal head. And as surely as condemnation
has fallen upon Adam's sons, even so shall the free justification
and righteousness of God come upon all those represented in
Christ. All those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world, all those that God made an everlasting covenant for and
appointed Christ the surety of that covenant, every last one
of them are gonna be called, regenerated, given the ability
to persevere, and they're gonna die in the faith that God gave
them. And in his own time, he's gonna
raise them from the dead, and they're gonna live with him forever. When Christ came into this world,
he came into our flesh. He appeared to us as God and
man in one person. In one person. And this he did to manifest himself
as our head, as our representative and substitute, and of us being
one with him. Paul tells us in Galatians 3.28,
there's in him. There's neither Jew nor Greek,
there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female.
You're all one with him. You're one with him. Oh, what a glorious, gracious,
and loving thing has God done for us by moving us from one
standing to another. Think on it. My first reaction
to election was, well, that can't be. Well, that wouldn't be fair. That'd be like that man down
there convicted of triple murder. And he stands up because they
won't let him eat his food in a certain place. Well, that ain't
fair. You forfeited all that in the fall. In Adam all die. Even so, in
Christ shall all be made alive. And so much as this headship,
the very core of our salvation that Paul tells us in Ephesians
2, 6, that he's raised us up together and made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And he tells us in In
Colossians chapter three, he said, if you then be risen with
Christ, is that our hope? Is that how we see ourselves
in him? If you then be risen with Christ,
set your affection on things above, not on things of this
earth. Or you're dead. You know when we realize that?
About a week before we die. You're dead. Somebody called me on the phone
the other day and they said, so you think this cancer's gonna
take Kathy into glory? And I said, well something's
gonna take us. If I live another 15 years by
the grace of God, what's that? Huh? You know, on a computer,
when you load something up, it has a little line. It starts
over here, and it starts filling that line. And when it gets completely
done, that line's full. Take that little dot of 15 years
and compare it to eternity on that line. It wouldn't even show
up. But boy, we make a big deal out of it, don't we? You know
why? Because our heart's still here.
That's why. That's just the truth. Our heart's
still here. You're dead, he said, but your
life is hid with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then we shall appear with him in glory. God translated us, moved us from
one head to another, established our standing in Christ, who is
all in all. And then thirdly, there is in
the scriptures another translation spoken of, and this translation
carries the definition of conversion. Colossians 1-12, giving thanks
unto the Father, which hath made us meet, that is, given to us
the ability to be partakers of the inheritance of enlightened
saints, who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son. By an act of divine power and
grace, God has delivered us from the tyrannical power of sin and
darkness. It's beyond our imagination as
natural men to see ourselves in darkness, but that's where
we were. That's how we were born. That's
how we walk. We're alienated from the life
of God through the darkness that's in us. We're filled with darkness. Christ said, if the light that
be in you, all those things you think you know, if that's all
darkness, then how great is this darkness? Where are you going to go to
get wisdom? Where are you going to go to get light? The one light
that's in you is darkness. Where are you going to go for
light? God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts. To do what? To give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God shines that
light. It's by an act, I'm telling you,
by an act of divine power and grace, God has delivered us from
this power of darkness and carried us into the kingdom of his dear
son, moved us from one place to another, taken us out of the
darkness and put us into the light. The curse of our Adam's fall
has left us in a state of sin and darkness. walking in the
vanity of our minds, having our understanding darkened, being
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that's
in us. And Satan and his false spirits, being the rulers of
the darkness of this world, they work in men, deceiving and beguiling
men to do their will, and they do it. Paul said, you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein you walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, that spirit who now worketh in the children
of disobedience. He works in men, convincing them
that they're preachers. He works in men, convincing them
that they're holy. Isn't that what Korah told Moses,
saying that the people are all holy? That's what they think. Why do they think that? Because
they don't know God. They have no light. Run out there
and print on that church and they're so proud of it. This
is a holiness church. If you know what that means,
that means they believe that they're holy in themselves, holy
by something they've done. That's why Moses fell on his
face when they came to him and told him. Man without God is no match for
Satan. He's got no natural resistance
to false religion and Satan takes him captive at his will. It's absolutely necessary that
God intervene on the part of the sinner or he'll die in his
sins. How does God intervene? First
of all, in the everlasting purpose of grace. God purposes to save
him, he's done that from all eternity. Secondly, in the substitutionary
sacrifice and righteous obedience of his son, the son came down
and accomplished that salvation which God had purposed. In the
volume of the book, it's written of me, I come to do thy will,
O God. What will? His redemptive will.
And then thirdly, by his gracious providence, Boy, we grumble about
God's providence more than anything, don't we? Huh? God's providence. We complain about the providence
of God, which is arranged for His glory and our good, and we
just grumble and grumble and grumble about it. Nobody's going to be translated
into the kingdom of God, dear son, without hearing the gospel
of Christ. And this hearing, listen to me,
this hearing is providential. God arranges your hearing and
my preaching. How shall you hear without a
preacher and how shall he preach except he be sent? This is a
godly arrangement. You come in here, this is not
a freak thing, this is not an accident. This has been arranged
of God. And it may be arranged as a judgment
of you. And it may be arranged as an
act of grace. But either way, it's arranged
of God. It's not something you did, not
an accident. It's the providence of God. And
we grumble and grumble and grumble about His providence. This hearing is providential,
it's arranged of God and graciously sent to men and made effectual
by the Spirit of Christ. I know your election of God.
When I preached to you, my preaching didn't come in word only, it
came in power. It came in the Holy Ghost. John said of them that received
the Lord, he said to them gave he power to become the sons of
God. Who gave them power? God did. I asked Don one time, I said,
does that word power have to do with authority or permission?
He said, yes. Has to do with both. Has to do
with both. Even to them that believe on
his name which were born, not of blood, nor the will of the
flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. This translation is a very real
and powerful work of God in His elect, taking them from the servitude
of one power and bringing them into the obedience of another.
You read about it over in Romans chapter 6. Paul speaks of the disobedient
rebels who would not bow to Christ nor receive His gospel, saying,
But that which bare thorns and briars is rejected, and nigh
unto cursing whose end is to be burned. Now watch this, Hebrews
6, 9. But beloved, we are persuaded
better things of you, now listen, and things that accompany salvation. You ever think about that? There's
things that accompany salvation. God saved us way back yonder
in eternity. And He saved us when Christ died
on that cross. He saved us when He raised Christ
from the dead and He ascended into glory. And He saves us there
by His intercession in glory. But He
also saves us here in this world. And when He does, there's things
that accompany that salvation, because they're just as much
ordained as your salvation. God has from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Love accompanies salvation. John
said, everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God. Faith, whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ, he's born of God. That's the gift
of God. It accompanies that salvation,
faith. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Love and faith and then worship. Paul said we're the
circumcision which worship God in the spirit. That accompanies salvation. A
saved man worships God. He worships Him in his home and
he worships Him in the gathering together of his saints. He worships
God. His heart is set to worship God. He has nothing but praise and
thanks to be given to God. He looks forward to singing His
glory, singing hymns that glorify God, expressing his own love
and his own understanding. Worship always accompanies the
salvation of God's elect, both private and public. And then
prayer. That accompanies a man who's
been saved. Saved man prays. They looked
at old Saul of Tarsus, that old rebel, and they said, behold,
he prayeth. Huh? Don't look at that like
America, do we? But it is. It is. And it always accompanies true
salvation. That man prays. He prays. And then repentance. There's
something wrong with a man who does not have the spirit and
attitude of repentance all the time. He hears a message and
I'm preaching about sin and I'm talking about sin and what it
does and what it is. And he just looks on himself
and repents of what he is. And he does it every time he
hears it. He never gets hard to it. He never just looks at
it and says, well, I know that. No. No, it just stirs it up and
makes him to see again what he really is. There's things which accompany
salvation, and apart from this regenerational translation, no
man can truly do these things. And then lastly, There's a translation
in the end of man's life where he's carried into the presence
of his Savior and Lord. Enoch was translated. God carried
him directly into glory. He moved him from one place to
another. And by the power and presence of God's Holy Spirit,
it said of the believer to be absent from the bodies, to be
present with the Lord. How's he going to do that? God's
going to take him. God's gonna take it. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath
no power. No power. We've got nothing to
fear with the grave if we know Christ and we know God. We see
ourselves in him and we worship God for having put us in him.
We've got nothing to fear by the grace. It's just an open
door into glory. That's all it is. That's all
it is. Oh, may the Lord make it so in
the hearts of us all. Father, we thank You for Your
wonderful, amazing Word. The Word that You've caused Your
Spirit to impress men and anoint men to write. Breathe through them the very
testimony of God. We thank you for it. We thank
you for a godly understanding. How often we've opened that book
with total ignorance, not understanding anything it says. And what a
blessing is it now to go even into the Old Testament and see
and understand those things written of God. Take your word that was
preached here this morning. It's only you can do. And if
it's your will, I pray that you'll translate those who are here
today and move them from one place to another. I ask you for
Christ's sake, amen.