We are in Romans chapter 9, and
we are dealing with a concept, if you look up on the board,
called the remnant. And you'll see that in your outline if you
make your way down to verse 27. And I want to continue developing
that as we talked about it last week because of a necessity to
realize how terminology in the scriptures runs from the Old
Testament through the New Testament without a break. What I said
last week was that sometimes we make a mistake in defining
terms and what we do is we take a word and we'll try to acquire
the definition of the word and then we will use that definition
all the way through the scriptures as if that's a lawful method
of interpretation and it's not. No one ever always uses one word
the same way in different contexts all the time. Very seldom will
you use a word that doesn't have several shades of connotative
meaning. Not denotative. Denotative means
the original meaning, the fundamental meaning. Connotative means that
it has application given to the context in which it's used. And
so on the one hand, the word hot can mean very hot. On another
hand, the word hot can mean something dazzling or wonderful. On the
other hand, the word hot can mean something that is dangerous
in terms of possession. And so there are several different
connotations that a word can be used with are for, and that's
the same way with the scriptures. You have to be careful to know
how the Bible uses words in their context. When you think about
that statement, the first thing that comes to mind is diligence.
In other words, if you are going to be a student of the scriptures,
and I'm not going to make this a long drawn-out diatribe, but
if you're going to be a student of the scriptures, you have to
set your heart to diligence. You can't be slothful in the
word and expect to prosper in terms of your understanding.
The second thing you're going to learn if God's teaching you
is that you cannot ultimately borrow knowledge from someone
else and acquire assurance from it. Let me say that again so
that that can come home. We all learn from each other.
There is nobody who is self-taught ultimately. On the other hand,
there's no one that is exclusively taught other. There is a mechanism
within us by which we can learn. That's part of the communicable
attribute that God gave to us by which we can have fellowship
with him. He allows us to learn. And therefore,
there's a sense in which you have the capacity to be taught.
But you also must be taught by others. Jesus said in the Gospel
of John chapter 4, other men have labored and you have entered
into their labor. Nothing started with you and
nothing will end with you. And it's so important for you
to know, therefore, that you're not autonomous in your labors.
All that you have acquired, you have acquired because someone
else has gone before you and laid a foundation and built to
a certain level and you are either simply benefiting from that level
or building on that level. So that you can never say, I
got this all by myself. It just never works like that.
We are all interdependent upon one another according to the
gifts that God has given us by which we grow and mature and
progress in our walk in Christ. Am I making some sense? That's
absolutely true. And here's the fundamental rule
for growth and maturity in Christ, humility. Without humility, you
can't learn anything. And particularly God's word,
God will not open his word to you if you're not humble. If
you're arrogant, if you're proud, if you're self-righteous, if
you have a sense of self-knowing, if you think that you can enter
into God's divine mysteries and unlock truth all by yourself
because you have a fairly high IQ, you will find that God will
shut the door on you. The Bible is very clear. God
resists the proud, gives grace to the humble. And when it comes
to divine revelation, divine revelation is given to those
who stoop, not those who stand, those who stoop. Divine revelation
is given to those who weep. Not those who presume, those
who weep. John wept in Revelation chapter 4 because the seven seals
weren't broken and he understood the implications thereof. So
when it comes to God's Word, you have to slow down. And understand it's going to
be a lifetime for you to even comprehend the fundamental truth
of the gospel. I laugh all the time when people
tell me, oh, they got this in the Bible. I got that. I'm moving
on to higher things now. I doubt very seriously if they
got it, if they're moving on to higher things. Because everything
is connected to everything else and dependent upon everything
else. And if you're going to have a sturdy house, you're going
to make sure that your foundation is solid. And if that house is
going to last for a century, you're going to go back and check
that foundation continually to make sure it can withstand the
storms. Am I making some sense? And therefore, with the Church
of the Living God, we never get over Calvary. We never get over
the cross. We never get over the death,
burial, and resurrection of Christ. Everything concerning divine
truth flows from Him. And if you're going to know anything
about the mysteries of this grand, infinite, ineffable God, you'll
know them through the crosswork of Jesus Christ. Christ is the
revelation of the invisible God. All that we're going to ever
know about the Father, we're going to know through the Son. And to the extent
that you get away from the Son, you've gotten away from the Father.
And if you get away from the Son and the Father, you don't
know God. The goal of the Christian is to keep his eyes on Christ.
And to the extent that you keep your eyes on Christ, the Spirit
of God will reveal to you God's glory from glory to glory to
glory to glory until you see Him face to face. That's the
key to making it through this life. So it starts with Christ
and it ends with Christ. And when it comes to God's truth,
God's truth is one. While it has many facets, it's
one truth. You don't really find in the
scriptures the concept of doctrines. plural in the New Testament.
The term doctrine is one. One doctrine is called the doctrine
of Christ, the doctrine of God. Out from it are many facets of
this one doctrine, which is the doctrine of Christ. And we can
learn those things, but they're never to be disjointed from this
reality. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians
2, verse 2, I'm determined to know nothing among you except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Well, Paul, that's a little bit
of knowledge. I beg your pardon. Try to exhaust Jesus Christ and
him crucified. It's an infinite revelation of
an awesome God in an infinite condescension to save hell-bound
sinners like you and me, and we'll be thinking about that
for all eternity. You know the Bible says that
John saw a lamb in glory. He was wounded in his side. Do
you know then for all eternity we will be fixated on a crucified
Christ? You see what I'm getting at?
So if God's not going to forget the crucified Christ, we better
not forget him. And so as we're dealing with
this concept of the remnant, what I said last week was the
concept of the remnant, and it may be in your outline, yes it
is, down at verse 27 in your outline. Do you have your outline?
Notice it, the remnant principle. I'm not going to go over the
passages that we dealt with last week in the Old Testament. I'm
just going to reiterate the threefold application that's there. The
remnant are leftovers. You guys know that. We talked
about the garment pattern. You have a pattern that you are
going to make a sweater or some clothing. And you buy a large
volume of material. And once you make your pattern,
you have what are called the what? Remnants. That's the leftovers. We also said that the leftovers
are the remnants are not necessarily something that you are to consider
in terms of numerical value or in terms of quantitative value.
Because you can have more of the remnant than the original
material for the pattern. You guys understand that? So
when you deal with the term remnant in the scriptures, you're not
necessarily dealing with volume. You're dealing with position
or dispensation. Remnants are always the leftovers. so in our text in our outline
we have the leftovers they are the last and they are either
protected or punished and what that means is when you use the
term remnant don't think of the term remnant as always applying
to God's people because the remnant is might very well be those that
God is planning on punishing. We learned that last week too,
didn't we? Ezekiel chapter 5, God says He will give the remnant
over to the sword and to the famine and to pestilence and
destruction. We're going to see that in two
places in the book of Revelation tonight. So keep your hand at
Romans 9, go with me to Revelation 12. We started this last week
and I want to make sure that we deal with this tonight so
that you can see the concept. So the remnant is either protected,
and that would be in reference to God's people, or the remnant
are punished, and that would be in reference to those who
are the wicked, the ungodly, or those who are considered rebels
against the truth of God. And we'll see how this works.
We were in Revelation chapter 12 last week. This is a very
pivotal text, and we started off dealing with the opening
aspects of Revelation chapter 12. By the way, don't be Afraid
of revelations, the book of the revelation. The book of the revelation
is simply the heavenly counterpart of the earthly discourse of human
history. The book of the revelation is
simply the heavenly counterpart to the earthly unfolding of history
as we know it. In other words, there is a corresponding
factor between spiritual things and earthly things. between heavenly
things and carnal things. There's always a spiritual reality
behind what you see. And this is the one thing that
the true and the living God impresses upon us. Everything is not merely
what you see. The true and the living God who
cannot be seen with the naked eye. He can only be comprehended
by faith when God gives you saving faith and reveals God to you
in the person of Christ. Now you who are a child of God
walk by what? And we live by what? Faith. And
we die in what? Faith. So faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The eye of
faith can comprehend realities that are not seen empirically. That's how we live. Isn't that
right? That's how we live. And it's as if it's absolutely
visible to us who believe God. We see Him by faith. We comprehend
Him by faith. And so understand that when you
hear the empiricists, these are your teachers, your professors,
your college professors, and your scholars impressing upon
you that the only thing that is real is what you see, tell
them or ask them, do you see everything? Because to make such a bold statement
is to imply that you see everything. If that which is seen is all
there is, I better see everything. which means that I'm omniscient.
And we know that we're not. This is why Darwin was turned
upside down on his head with his evolutionary garbage, because
he was ignorant of the larger scope of the human makeup, not
having been exposed to the kind of volume of magnification that
the telescope and the magnifying glass allows us to be able to
see as we can look now into the DNA. As we now can look into
microcosms, as we now can look into subatomic particles, and
we can see the intelligence of God in things that cannot be
seen with the naked eye to almost the infinite degree. When you
don't know that, you think you know something, but in reality
you don't know anything. And think about this how God
has already told his people from the beginning of time how things
are. And by faith we've already leaped
to the end of the program believing God when the empiricists are
still coming to discover what we already knew by faith. See
what I'm getting at? So you can jump to the front
of the line by faith or you can struggle wallowing in the dark
of empiricism and rationalism waiting for your philosophers
to discover what we already knew God had already said in the beginning.
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth in Revelation
chapter 12 we are dealing with a spiritual dynamic that actually
corresponds with the birth of Christ which was somewhere around
7 BC and we saw in verse 1 and there appeared a great wonder
in heaven a woman clothed with the Sun the moon under her feet
and upon her head a crown of 12 stars we identified her as
the Church of the Living God that first century church which
was that group of believers who were waiting for the Lord Jesus
Christ. This would be primarily but not exclusively those who
were of the Jewish stock because the Old Testament ministry was
held up primarily by the Jewish people. So Jesus came through
the Jewish people, right? He was born of a woman made under
the law to redeem those that are under the curse of the law.
And so we see this heavenly woman in verse 1 and then verse 2 tells
us she was pregnant. And she, being with child, cried,
travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared
another wonder in heaven. Behold, a great red dragon."
Who did we identify this as? Satan. That's unarguable. With
all of the various interpretations given in the scriptures concerning
the Book of Revelation by different expositors, every expositor agrees
that the symbol of the dragon represents the devil. So this
is a sort of unequivocal interpretation. The dragon represents the devil. is going to be explained in a
passage coming up so that we have this Nemeseen enemy called
the devil the dragon seeking to do what kill the man child
isn't that right look at what it says in verse 4 and his tail
drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast him to
the earth and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready
to be delivered for to what devour her child as soon as it was born
who is that child And she brought forth a man-child who is to rule
all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up unto
God. What do we call that? The ascension. Not the resurrection,
the ascension. The resurrection is merely coming
up out of the ground. The ascension is when you go
to glory. So what we see here is how that when Jesus entered
into the womb of Mary, the devil was already trying to kill him.
And we understand that by the historical account, Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John. Isn't that right? He had to flee
to Egypt until Herod, who was the earthly instrument inspired
by the devil, died. Then he was allowed to come back,
live and grow. And yet the devil still pursued
him, didn't he? Only this time through the rulers
of the church. And this is why we say the gospel
is Christ versus religion. That's what Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John are all about. Christ versus religion. Because they constantly tried
to kill our Savior. from his youth from his youth
and the text tells us that he was caught up to God and what
the revelation is saying is even though they put him to death
in the flesh he was still successful because his death in the flesh
was part of God's plan so he rose again from the dead ascended
to glory and so he is out of reach of the dragon listen to
verse 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness now who is this
woman the church where she hath a place prepared of God that
she might be fed there for a thousand two hundred and three score days.
Now one of the things I told you before in order to understand
any passage you have to look up other passages in relationship
to that passage and you know the way to comprehend the book
of Revelation you must know the Old Testament. It's imperative
that you understand that the book of Revelation is a recapitulation
a restatement of facts that transpired in the days of the Exodus account
and the Wilderness account and without understanding the Exodus
and Wilderness account, all of the terminology in the book of
Revelation is vague and nonsensical. But once you can go back and
realize that what God is doing in the book of Revelation is
giving us a new Exodus. Just as Moses brought the children
of Israel out of the wilderness, Jesus is bringing his people
out of sin's darkness. And so as it is said in Exodus
chapter 19, God said, I brought you out on wings of eagles and
brought you to myself. So the same language is being
used here concerning the church. Why? Because the Old Testament
church is done and the New Testament church is started and they are
parallel. This is why we've been talking
for the last several weeks that the language concerning Israel
and the Jews and being circumcised and being part of the covenant
people and being Abraham's children, all that language is carried
over to the church because the church is the fulfillment of
that which was promised in the Old Testament. This is why the
New Testament writers can freely use the language of the covenant
people of God in relationship to Jews and Gentiles. This is
a corner that we are turning in Revelation in Romans chapter
9, isn't it? Where Paul takes the book of
Hosea, which is dealing exclusively with Judah and Jerusalem, and
makes application to the Gentiles. A people that were not a people
have now become my people. And I'm going to show you some
passages on that again tonight. But when we see this woman fleeing
into the wilderness, this corresponds with that first, I want you guys
to get this, the first century church. when Jesus gave commission
to the Apostles he didn't tell them that they were going to
have a wonderful life and they were going to build big massive
ministries and everybody was going to be able to we're going
to follow them and love what they said he didn't say that
he says you're going to be persecuted you're going to be hated for
my name's sake watch this by all men you're going to be put
to death for the gospel sake so the early church was poised
and taught by Christ himself that persecution would be the
hallmark of their ministry. Not prosperity. Persecution. The first 200 years of the early
church was persecution. It wasn't prosperity. If you
read the Book of Acts, everywhere the apostles went, they were
persecuted. So when you read Matthew chapter 24, the Olivet
Discount, Jesus says, I want you guys to understand the way
the gospel is going to be sown by your ministry is by your suffering
and dying for my cause. Except the seed go into the ground
and die, it abides alone. But if it dies, it'll bring forth
much fruit. So you have to understand that the first century church
was called to suffering. order for the gospel to spread
and the book of Acts underscores this you do know the book of
Acts right and it underscores this everywhere the Apostles
preached they were persecuted primarily by who the Jews and
they were pushed out of the regions of Jerusalem Judea Samaria and
then the uttermost parts of the world how did they get out there
persecution God used persecution to urge the church out. It would
have never left without persecution. You know, sometimes you won't
do the will of God until he just puts some heat up under your
pants. It just won't happen. You do know that, right? You
won't pray until God causes you to get into some kind of trouble.
Now all of a sudden you're praying. All right, we'll leave that there. Verse 7, and there was war in
heaven. Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon and the dragon fought and his angels And they
did not prevail, neither were their place found any more in
heaven. What happened to the dragon?
The verse tells us, the next two verses tell us, and the great
dragon was cast out. Do you see that? Mark that, that's
a time piece right there. That's a time piece. He wasn't
cast out at the end of time. Contrary to most of your interpreters
and your preachers who buy into a a particular Eschatological
scheme with the book of Revelation the devil wasn't cast out of
heaven at the end of time He doesn't get free access to Rome
into God's presence today. That's bad hermeneutic First
of all Jesus prophesied about the devil falling from heaven
like lightning in Luke chapter 10 He says I see him falling
then he declared his fall in John chapter 12 verse 31 when
he says if I be lifted up I'll draw him in unto me now is the
judgment of this world now is the prince of this world what
cast out when was he cast out at Calvary I'm helping some of
you he was cast out at Calvary in other words what happened
at Calvary was this when God in Christ had accomplished eternal
redemption for his people No possibility of accusation could
now be heard on the part of the devil against God's saints, since
Christ was their substitute, since he was their righteousness,
since he bore the wrath of God and satisfied divine justice
and vindicated God's holiness. No more could the devil go before
God and say, see what Jesse is doing. God closed the courtroom
door. He disbarred the devil. He told
him his license is revoked, and all the devil can do is come
down here now and get in your ear, but he can't get in God's
ear. God's not hearing cases anymore.
When his son rose again from the dead, you know what the Bible
says? He died for our sins and rose again for our what? Justification. You know what justification is?
Justification is when God looks at his holy law, he sees that
you have obeyed every precept of the law required on your behalf. He looks, he says you can't be
guilty because I'm looking at justice and justice says you're
righteous. Now my righteousness was imputed
by Jesus Christ who took my place. But God's holiness says I'm good
with Jesse. Why? Because of Jesus Christ.
Which means even though someone would seek to accuse me, this
is Isaiah chapter 54 verse 17, no weapon formed against you
shall prosper. Every tongue that rises against you in judgment
you will condemn. This is the heritage of my saints
and their righteousness is from me. What that means is no one
can condemn me. Since Christ already put away
my sin there is therefore now what? To them that are aware
See in Christ Jesus. There's no sin That's what John
said in 1st John chapter 3 in him is no sin at all And if I'm
in Christ, I don't have any sin Why he who knew no sin became
sin for us that we might become what the righteousness of God
in him And if God sees me and he sees Christ in me and he sees
me in Christ. He cannot see my sin Christ said
on the cross, it is finished. The debt was paid. Justice was
satisfied. What I appear before God to be
is nothing but righteous. So the devil has no argument.
He has no indictment. He has no case against me. In
fact, heaven's doors were shut at Calvary. When he rose again
from the dead, God shut the door. God doesn't hear the arguments
of the devil. He did before Christ went to Calvary Street. We saw
this in the book of Job chapter one, isn't that right? Roaming
around, come before heaven, and said, God, you know, if it wasn't
for the fact that you put a hedge around him, well, God puts a
hedge around all his people. I thank God for hedges, don't
you? You better thank God for hedges. If you didn't put a hedge
around him, and God did put a hedge around him, but he put more than
a hedge around him, he put a spirit in him, he raised him from the
dead, he gave him life and faith in Jesus, and he proved to the
devil that Job loved God. And so the devil was able to
do that before Calvary, but after Calvary, guess what? He was cast
out of heaven and he's down here now. Are you guys hearing what
I'm saying? He's down here now. I'm saying
this for those of you who have a weak conscience and have been
taught wrong about the power of the devil. He has no authority
to stand before God and condemn you anymore if you're in Christ
Jesus. Justice cannot twice demand, not first at my dying surety's
hand and then again at mine. That would be double jeopardy.
God can never send me to hell for my sins since Christ already
died for them. Isn't that good? It's crazy this idea that God
will send you to hell when Christ already died for you if you don't
believe on him. Then why did he die for you?
It's ridiculous. He didn't accomplish anything
if you can still end up in hell when he hung on Calvary Street.
He loved you. He died for you. He put away
your sin. He established eternal righteousness
for you. He did all this for you in the
sight of God and then because you don't accept him then you
go to hell. That's failure. Let me make that plain because
I can tell some of you don't get it. God is wise and if God
is powerful and if the cross is a testimony of God's wisdom
and power and it is 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18 for the cross
is both the wisdom of God and the power of God if God is all
wise and God is all powerful and the cross is the wisdom and
power of God if anyone for whom Christ dies ends up in hell after
God himself has undertook to intercede for him God is neither
wise nor powerful I'm gonna leave you with that now listen to what
the language says in verse 10 after that he was cast out into
the earth and his angels were cast out with him I heard a loud
voice in heaven saying now is come salvation see it and strength
and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the
accuser of our brethren is what which accused them before our
God day and night, and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives
unto what? This here, saints, is the epithet of the whole New
Testament era. Wherever they went, they preached
Christ, they were persecuted for it, but because God had poured
the love of Christ in their heart, they were willing to suffer and
die for his name. In other words, they believed
the gospel. They loved not their lives, what? Unto the death.
Think about that now. You say you love Jesus. You say
you believe in the gospel. And then some knuckleheads come
along and say, I'm going to try you. Do you believe? If you do,
I'm getting ready to cut your head off. Here we go now. See what I'm saying? See what
I'm saying? Now it goes on to say in verse
11, verse 12, therefore rejoice ye heavens. Do you see the phrase
heavens? That's a metaphorical term for true believers. Please
understand that. Remember we're dealing with what
in the book of Revelation? Symbolism, metaphor, hyperbole. The word heavens is a synonym
for believers. The Bible tells us in Ephesians
chapter 2 that when God who was rich in mercy wherewith he loved
us even while we were dead in trespasses and sins he hath quickened
us together with Christ and caused us to be seated where? Where is the believer? Isn't
that what Philippians chapter 321 says? Our citizenship is
where? I want you to think about this for a moment, because I
can take you to a Bible verse and show you that what I'm saying
is true. This is in Isaiah. You'll see it in Isaiah chapter
65, and I'll take you there to show you. Heaven is a synonym
for true believers, just as the earth is a synonym for those
who will perish under the wrath of God. When Jesus came doing
ministry, this is in John chapter 8 through 10, Think it's in chapter
9. He told the Jews who didn't understand
his gospel He says here's the reason why you don't understand
what I'm saying is because I'm from above and you're from beneath
I'm from heaven and you're from the earth He that is of the earth
only understands what? Earthly things. He that is from
heaven comprehends spiritual things. And so when this is called
in Greek, or not in Greek language, but in language, in semantic
language, a synecdote, a synecdotal phrase is when God uses a word
that is associated with a concept, it represents the whole of the
concept. For instance, When we partake
of the Lord's table once a month, some people do it every week.
We do it once a month. Most churches do it once a month.
What Jesus told us to do is to drink the what? What's the word? Hold on. What's the word? No,
no, no. The cup. This cup is the New Testament
in my blood. Drink ye it as often as you remember
me. Isn't that what he says? Take
this cup and what? Drink. Now, I haven't drunk a
cup yet, and I've been saved almost 30 years. I've drunk the
contents of the cup, but not the cup. You guys understand
what I'm saying? We use this kind of phraseology
all the time. It's called a synecdotal concept. Synecdotal means you
take the part and represent the whole, or you take the whole
to represent the part. It's an economy of terms, but
you gotta think. See, this is what I meant by
connotative phrases versus denotative phrases. If we took drinking
the cup literally, we'd all be dead. We've got to think, don't
we? We've got to think. We've got
to think. And so it is when it talks about
the heavens. Believers are said to be in heavenly places in Christ. So when it says, rejoice ye heavens,
it's really talking about believers and ye that dwell in them. Woe
to the inhabitants of the earth. See the antithesis? up there
and of the sea for the devil has come down unto you having
what great wrath because he knows that he has a short time now
watch the next three verses four verses because they will open
up what we are dealing with in terms of the remnant concept
and when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the what he
persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child who is that
woman she was the first century church Now watch the language. And the woman was given two wings
of a great eagle. Isn't this the Exodus account?
Exodus 19. That she might fly into the what?
This is deliverance from spiritual Egypt into the spiritual wilderness. In fact, saints, all of us are
still in the wilderness. Until we die and go to glory
or until Christ comes again, you and I are on a wilderness
sojourn. Listen to the language. where
she is nourished for a time and a times and a half a time from
the face of the what now without getting into the eschatological
implications of the time times half a time because that would
take up our study all I want you to grasp is the largest scope
of the analogy she's been delivered into the wilderness by wings
of grace in order to be what nourished while the devil is doing what
pursuing her The implication is the wilderness for her is
a safe place. Isn't that right? Where God meets
her by his grace and sustains her through her journey. And
this is why I tell people all the time while there were a lot
of sinful tendencies that are connected with the 40 years of
the wilderness sojourn of Israel. Remember Israel sojourned in
the wilderness for 40 years? It took 40 years for Israel to
get to know God. And if you go back to Exodus,
what God told Moses to tell Pharaoh was this, let my people go that
they may worship me. The wilderness is a place of
separation unto God. You are being delivered out of
the world system, out of the house of bondage, out of that
old carnal sinful state, into a dimension where it's just you
and God. In the wilderness, you learn
God's precepts. In the wilderness, you learn
God's ways. In the wilderness, you learn
God's revelation. Children of God, you need to
be in the wilderness, because everything in this world will
distract you from Christ. If God doesn't take you into
the wilderness himself in order to meet with you and commune
with you and to teach you who he is and reveal himself to you
in an undivided attention, you'll never get to know God. I told
the saints this before, and you guys, if you're listening to
the radio program, we're already in the land of Canaan, aren't
we? But I told you, look, the land of Canaan ain't no place
of great joy. The children of Israel had more
trouble in the land of Canaan than they did in the wilderness.
I want my Canaan experience. You better grow up first. Because
when you find yourself in Canaan, there are a whole lot of battles
to fight. Are you hearing what I'm saying? And so God in his
mercy endured them for 40 years, but they learned a lot about
God, didn't they? God gave him his laws. God gave
him the temple sacrifices. God gave him his precepts. God
gave them enough for them to understand what we call the gospel
so that by the time they went into the land of promise they
had everything necessary to fight the battle in the land of promise.
Am I making some sense? I'm trying to help you. It's
so very important for you to see that what we're dealing with
in the book of Revelation is actually a parallelism to the
Old Testament history. So now watch this next couple
of verses here. This is quite interesting. the serpent cast out of his mouth
water as a what after the woman in order that he might cause
her to be carried away of the flood where do you read about
floods in the Bible in the Old Testament in the Genesis account
with God bringing a flood All right, here's another principle,
and I'll just share this, because I know that a lot of you don't
know this. In the book of Revelation, we have what are called parallel
facsimiles, where you have this dualism, where on the one hand,
God manifests himself, and then on the other hand, the devil
manifests himself, seeking to deceive the people by executing
or exercising attributes just like God. Now, you know the devil
is nothing but a great mimicker of God. So God brought a flood,
so here comes the devil bringing a flood. And you'll see these
what we call parallelisms running all through the book of Revelation.
The devil comes as an angel of light. Why? Because God has ministers
of light. The devil is a false prophet.
Why? Because Christ is a true prophet. And so you see these
parallels running through the scripture, and this is just one
of them. However, when you go through the Old Testament again,
you'll find out that a flood type was also used in the Book
of Numbers when Moses and Aaron were being accosted by Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram. Remember when Korah, Dathan,
and Abiram said to Moses and Aaron, you know, you guys take
too much on yourself. All of God's people are rulers.
And we think you need to divide up the authority among all of
us. It's time for us to start a democracy here. We need to
become a democratic party now. And I think the people need to
vote who they want to be in leadership. As soon as you do that, you lose
God's will. As soon as your church starts becoming democratic in
its process, God's out the door. I guarantee you that right now.
And so what Moses did was fall on his face and say, I'm going
to cry out to God because something happened to your heart. It was
bad. Whatever happened to your heart
was bad. Moses fell on his face immediately. Lord have mercy
on these people. You know what God says? Uh-uh.
Get up. Tell them to meet me in the morning. Remember that? If you don't it's
number 17. Tell them to meet me in the morning.
In the morning I'm gonna do something so profound you'll know that
it's from me. You're going to understand that
I am the one who raises up and sets down. I'm the one who calls.
I'm the one who ordains. I'm the one who establishes leadership.
Leadership is not established by a democratic process. You
do that and you won't have a gospel church ever. It will always be
a social club. I'm stepping on toes, but I'm
telling you the truth. So then what God did was say, OK, now,
Moses, you tell everybody who's on the Lord's side, get over
to the right. And everybody who's on Corradathan
on the Democratic side, y'all get over to the left. And you
know what he did? He did what our next verse says.
Look at it for yourself. I want you to see it. I'm at
verse 16. And the earth helped the woman. How? And the earth opened her
mouth and swallowed up what? The flood which the dragon cast
out of his mouth. Do you remember what God did?
He opened up the earth, swallowed him up alive. and closed the
ground back up too. Nice clean burial. So they can
go on about business as usual. You guys remember that? What
was that flood? David says, the floods of ungodly
men have sought to swallow me up. Several times in the psalm
the floods of the ungodly the floods of the ungodly read it
for yourself psalm 22 Jesus said this in the spirit of Christ
in the mouth of David. They tried to encompass me They
tried to swallow me up daily their fighting would have consumed
me if it had not been for the Lord. That's the psalmist The
floods of ungodly men. What are those floods? They're
false doctrines. They're false teachings. They're the worldliness.
They're all of the carnal apparatus that the devil uses to trip you
up and to send you to hell. Am I making some sense? And I'm
giving you the short order interpretation, but I'm here to tell you, I'm
giving you the God honest truth. And if you don't believe it,
you can go back and get our long series on the book of Revelation,
about 77 CDs, and listen to it for yourself. We did a full expository
development of it. All I've ever wanted to help
people comprehend was this that the book of Revelation is not
saying anything different than the rest of the revelation It's
all one revelation and it's the revelation of the glory of God
in Christ That means God rules all the time everywhere Now listen to the next verse
and The dragon was angry with the woman and he went to make
war with the what? Oh There we go with the remnant,
we're back at the remnant of her what? Seed. That means her
children. Now if I, as I told you chronologically,
we are dealing with the first century, we are dealing with
that period in which Jesus was born, he lived, he died, he ascended
to glory, he gave his Holy Ghost to the church, that first century
church then is preaching the gospel, the enemy's persecuting
the first century church, isn't that right? His goal is to destroy
the remnant. Now, remember what I said, and
I think I have to help you here with a sense of the distinction
between the two covenants, because you're not going to understand
this if you don't. When you read the word end times,
or last days, don't always read into that the last of the last
of the last days. Because the term last days can
apply to the Old Testament as well as to the New. In other
words, Calvary was in the last days. Jesus came in the last
days. He came in the end of times. You guys following me? He came
in the end of times. I'm glad to show you some of
these verses because I can tell some of you never heard this
before. But you should have heard it, especially if you've been
a Christian any time. So go with me in your Bible.
Keep your hand here. Go with me in your Bible to Hebrews chapter
1. Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1 I quoted this
last week but I'm going to quote it again if you can bear with
me we got about 25 minutes left and I want to make sure you get
this I'm in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 and then verse 2 will explain
it again God who at sundry times that is in many different periods
of time from the beginning of time up to the present moment
of which the writer is writing God in sundry times and in diverse
manners that is in different ways spoke in time past unto
who the fathers you know the fathers are the Old Testament
prophets David Moses Noah Lamech all of those Old Testament Saints
Abraham listen to what he says he spoke to the fathers by the
white prophets verse 2 half in these last days half in these last days spoken
unto us by who okay well how did he speak to us by his son
in these last days is the writer talking about our time or is
he talking about his time His time. His time. I'll show you what I'm saying.
Keep your hand here. Go to Hebrews chapter 7. Actually, it's Hebrews chapter
9. Are we there? I'm going to start
at verse... 24 to set a context for Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands Which
are figures of the truth, but into heaven itself now to appear
in the presence of God. Here's the next phrase Circle
this for us. You know what? That's called
representation In other words Saints We must have a mediator
You can't talk to God alone you've got to have someone who can represent
you whom God himself listens to and only one God listens to
is his son he's gone into heaven for us as our representative
as our high priest as our surety as our brethren he can speak
in our behalf and things get done now listen to the language
now yet nor yet that he should offer himself did I finish that
yes let's see here yeah for us nor yet should he offer himself
often as the high priest entered into the holy place every year
with blood of others he's contrasting the ironic priesthood with his
once-for-all sacrifice on Calvary Aaron offered sacrifices every
year year after year after year after year his sons offer sacrifices
every day in the morning and in the evening Jesus offered
one sacrifice one time. This is the contrast. Why? Because
all the Old Testament sacrifices were only a type of the reality
which is in Christ. Which means the blood of bulls
and goats could never put away sin. Did you guys get that? Now listen to the language. Nor
yet that he should offer should offer should offer himself as
the high priest Entered into the holy place every year with
blood with the blood of others for then he For then must he
often have suffered since the foundation of the world now watch
this but now once in the end of the what is that what your
Bible says in the end of the world in the end of the world
hath he appeared." When did Christ appear? A.D. 7, B.C. 7, all the way to A.D. 33. Which means for 36 to 37
years Jesus was in the world. The text tells us chronologically
these are called the end times. He appeared in the end of the
what? Now, to help you a little bit
more in terms of the grammatical construction here, it's the Greek
word aeon. Aeon. And it's the Greek word
for ages. Sometimes you will see the word
world, and it's translated several ways. Sometimes it's translated
cosmos, like in John 3.16. Sometimes it's the Greek word
cosmos, and sometimes it's the Greek word aeon, which we get
ages. And what ages are are dispensations. dispensations. Christ came in
the end of the Old Testament age. Listen carefully to me. The Old Testament age in terms
of the redemptive scheme in relationship to Israel began with Abraham. Abraham received promise from
God that he would have a seed, singular. That seed is who? Christ. But to get to that seed he had
to have many seeds. beginning with who? Isaac. Abraham
was called by God precisely 2,000 years before Christ came. So
for 2,000 years, we have the gospel operating in the life
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the 12 tribes. At the end
of that 2,000 year period, Jesus was born according to the historical
archives not in AD 1 but 7 BC 7 BC Which means when he died
he wasn't 33 years old He was 37 or 38 years old when he died.
He he was born three years before AD 1 You can do to search yourself
you find this to be true. I don't know why pastors keep
saying 33 years old he was born three years before the records
show this the Roman archives show this and The historical
archives show this. It was impossible because of
who reigned in the Roman Empire at that time for Jesus to be
born any later than AD 7. So he was born BC 7, three years
before AD 1. And then in AD 33, he was crucified. The point being is he was born
at the end of that whole hope and promise that was given to
the Jewish people. By the time Jesus appeared, the
Jewish people's ministry terms of what God had purposed for
them was done. So the Bible tells us in Galatians
chapter 4 Jesus Christ came in the fullness of time. Am I helping
you? He came in the fullness of time.
God didn't just say okay I think this is a good time to come come.
No he came at the right time which was the end of the Jewish
age. It was the end of that Old Testament
ceremonial legal system that was set up by God through Moses
for the children of Israel. And this is why Christ's first
coming was so radical in relationship to the Jewish people because
he was a threat to their whole system. He was saying to them,
the temple is not the place that God's people are going to worship
anymore. He told the Gentile sister, one of those dogs eating
the crumbs under the table, Even before the work of Christ was
accomplished on Calvary Street. He says the hour is coming sister
When they that worship God will worship him spirit and truth
They will need the worship in Jerusalem nor in these mountains
where you say our father Jacob worships Do you know how radical
a statement that was in the days of the Jews? You know what? He
was saying to them. The temple is irrelevant. I That
piece of real estate over in Palestine that everybody's fighting
over and want to put another temple up on it. And I think
ignorant Christians are trying to help propagate that too. It's
totally irrelevant to the gospel. He says, they that worship me
will worship him in spirit and in truth. What that means is,
in every nation, kindred, tribe and tongue, where sinners who
see the glory of God in the face of Christ through the preaching
of the gospel, bow the knee to him. That's where the Spirit
of God is. Nobody going, flying all the way to Palestine and
getting on a bus and riding up to the Dome of the Rock and hoping
that someday... No, that's... Listen, if you
are carnal, you are thinking earthly. you are missing the
gospel you are totally missing the gospel because the gospel
is about spiritual realities in the person of Christ and this
is why they killed the first New Testament martyr whose name
was what you know why they killed him because Stephen preached
Christ and they said Christ speaks against the temple and against
the law we got to do away with him read it for yourself Acts
chapter 7 The Jews were so enamored with their temple. By the way,
so were the disciples. Remember the last time Jesus
was in Jerusalem? The last time. As they were leaving,
the disciples said, Lord, look at all these buildings. Look
how gorgeous these works are. Matthew 24, Mark 13. Look how
gorgeous these works are. They were enamored. They were
proud of that Herodian temple. That Herodian temple was larger
than Solomon's temple. and it was filled with more gold
and silver than Solomon's Temple. The disciples were proud. Look
at this gorgeous building. Jesus said, take a good look,
fellas. Take a good look. Not one stone shall be left upon
another when I'm done. And here's the reason why. You
can't maintain and support a legal works religion that said we are
looking for Christ to come then also believe in a Christ who
came to put away that old legal system and give us the reality
of which that legal system pointed at the same time you can't have
the old and the new you can't have the type and the reality
you can't have the symbol and the substance either you're going
to have the person are you going to have the picture and the Jews
still wanted the picture and God had given the reality that
is the person to those who believe the gospel And this is what the
whole book of Hebrews is all about. Warning Hebrew Christians
not to return again to legal religion. For to go back to the
temple is to say that Christ did not come. To go back to sacrifices
and offerings is to say that he did not offer himself one
time. To offer a sacrifice of blood
is to deny the finished work of Jesus Christ on the behalf
of guilty sinners. You cannot preach Moses and Christ,
too. You can't preach works and grace,
too. You can't preach faith and law, too. Either it's the gospel
or it's your own good works. And we got this going on in the
church today, too. Christ plus. No such thing as
Christ plus. Christ is all. Amen. Or nothing
at all. If you need more than Christ,
you don't have him. So you see that the text tells
us that Jesus came in the end of the world. Isn't that right?
And I'll tell you, go with me one more place. I'll show you
one more. Go to 1 Peter. I think Peter talks about this
too. Here we go. I'm in 1 Peter chapter 4. 1st Peter 4 Peter is talking
to the suffering Saints as well. They're being very very much
persecuted very persecuted These are primarily Jewish, but not
exclusively Jewish Christians and Peter was the minister to
the circumcision as Paul was to the uncircumcision. Isn't
that true? His ministry was primarily to his Jewish brethren Paul's
ministry was primarily but not exclusively to his Gentile brethren
That's what the Bible plainly says. And so Peter is writing
to the scattered saints abroad who have been persecuted. And
here's what he says. Now listen to this language.
For as much then as Christ has suffered in the flesh for us,
arm yourself likewise with the same mind, for he that has suffered
in the flesh has ceased from sin. Isn't that what I told you
the nature and context of the early church was suffering? Verse
2. That he no longer should live
the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the
will of God. Did you guys get that? That's the call of the
gospel. It's to God and to his will.
For the time past of our life may be suffice or suffice us
to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lasciviousness. That's uncleanness, folks. That's
all of the debauchery and the vileness of our unsaved state
when we didn't know God and we lived lawless lives of lust and
excess of wine and revelings and banqueteens and abominable
idolatries. And they think it's strange that
you don't run with them anymore. What's with you, man? God's called
me. How come you don't run with me? Because God's called. And
God's party is a whole lot better than your party. I don't have
any sorrows when I go to God's party. I go to your party and
somebody want to hit me over the head and take my wallet.
But in God's party, I'm safe. Plus, God called me. Listen to
it. And they speak evil of you. they
shall give an account to him that is ready to judge the quick
and the dead for for this cause was the gospel preached also
to them that are dead that they might be judged according to
men in the flesh but live according to God in the Spirit look at
verse 7 but the end of all things is at hand do you see that be
therefore sober and watch in the prayer why did he say but
the end of all things is at hand I'll tell you exactly why The
book of Peter, this is where a chronological interpretation
comes into view. We have several modes of interpretation
that are necessary to get a comprehensive interpretation of scripture.
So sometimes you may not be aware that certain of the epistles
were written at different chronological periods. The epistles were written
as early as AD 50-51 and as late as AD 66. 80 50 51 80 66 Peter's epistles were written
in the earlier part of the 60s 80 60 61 62 63 and Peter knew what the Lord
had told him just like Paul knew what the Lord had told him and
that's this that Jesus is going to destroy the temple in Jerusalem
that one once he saw Jerusalem encompassed about by armies and
know that its desolation was not. The Apostles knew that there
was an imminent judgment that would come upon Jerusalem to
destroy the temple and forever end the contention as to whether
or not he was the Son of God. See as long as and I'm gonna
hit this will help some of you who are still enamored by a Jewish
mode of interpretation rather than a Christocentric mode of
interpretation. And that's this, the Jews do
not believe in the New Testament because they understand logically
to accept the New Testament is to recognize that the Old Testament
is obsolete and done away. You can't say something is new
and that which is old is still valid if we have a new succeeding
the old. Those Jewish people then recognize
that if they embrace the New Testament epistles, those New
Testament writings are going to expose the invalid argument
that they have that the Old Testament is still relevant for redemption
and justification and salvation. See, they believe in salvation
by works without argument. They do not believe in salvation
by grace. They do not believe anyone can
be saved by the substitutionary alien foreign righteousness of
another. They also deny Jesus Christ as
God. They do not accept him as Messiah.
And therefore they logically reject the New Testament. I would
too, if I was a legalist. Because the New Testament is
clear. By the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified in
God's sight. God has made manifest his righteousness
apart from the law and apart from the prophets in the person
of Christ. Now these are two contradictory
messages, aren't they? So when you have a message that's
saying you are saved by works, and you got a message that's
saying you're saved by grace, and they are diametrically opposed.
Didn't we learn this a couple weeks ago? I'm not a pluralist.
I don't believe in relative truth. I don't believe you have a truth,
and I have a truth, and she has a truth, and they have a truth.
And as long as you believe your truth, you cool. No, look. Either
I'm wrong and you're right, or I'm right and you're wrong, or
we're both wrong. But we can't both be right. Did you guys hear what I just
said? Because you hear this all the time. Well you know that's
your truth. There's only one truth. There's only one truth. What do you mean your truth?
That's your reality. There's only one reality. Christ
is that reality. And so everybody shut up to deal
with Christ. Everybody shut up to deal with
Christ. Who he is and what he did and what he said. And in
this compromising age, we're willing to live with everybody
being in their cubicle, having their own truth. Well, girl,
you can have your own truth. I have my truth and everybody
had it. Everybody has a truth, but it is not the truth. And
therefore, their truth is a lie. And so when we try to hold to
these pluralistic views, Well, you know God can save the Jews
through the law and he can save the Christians through grace.
You're saying that God's a liar. No man can come unto the Father
except through me. See what I'm getting at? See,
when you listen to Jesus carefully, Jesus shut everybody up to him.
And then he said in John chapter 10, everybody else was a thief
and a robber and they came in through another way. Man, that's
bold. Isn't that bold? See what I'm
getting at? See what I'm getting at? So you
can't, once you start buying into the pluralism and the relativism
that goes on in your colleges and your schools today, you're
gonna deny the gospel. You're just gonna deny the gospel.
I know that's a challenge, but it's true. And so the apostles
knew, they knew that the imminent end of the Old Testament was
gonna occur. I'll give you one more passage.
Go with me to Hebrews chapter eight. I'll show you this in
Hebrews. Am I boring you? No. Okay, good, because I'm not
here to entertain you. I'm not here to make you laugh,
make you feel good. I'm here to tell you the truth.
And if you're bored with the truth, then somebody got a problem.
Maybe me, maybe you, but somebody got a problem. But if you think
it through, if you think it through, you'll be able to benefit from
what I'm talking about, even if you don't agree. Hebrews chapter
8 show you something in Hebrews 8 and this is what the writer
to the Hebrews said in relationship to this covenant thing and and
then we'll we'll look at a couple of other verses and we'll close
I'm Hebrews chapter 8 he closes out in Hebrews 8 this way now
I'm going to start over in verse 7 and go through verse 13 because
I need you to get a context are we there he said for if that
first see that word first covenant see he believed in the first
covenant didn't have been faultless then should no place have been
sought for the second. Now hold on now, this is why
the Jews don't like the New Testament. If the first covenant was effective
enough to put away your sins, why did God establish a second
covenant? And why did God talk about the second covenant way
back in the midst of the first covenant? Jeremiah chapter 31
in Ezekiel 36 he says I will make a new covenant with them
not like the covenant I made with their fathers I will make
with them a new covenant in those days in those days I'll take
out that stony heart I'll put in a heart of flesh in those
days I will give them a new spirit in fact I'll give him my spirit
in those days I will write my laws on their hearts and on their
minds and they will do them those days I will take away their sin
now watch this and remember it no more that's good news to a
sinner I'll tell you why it's good news cuz God said he'll
do it I had to put that one in cuz
sinners love to get in on what God said he's gonna do it didn't
say we'll do it God said I'll do it I will take their sin away. I will take out the stony heart.
I will put in a new spirit. I will put my laws in it. And
I will remember their sins no more. Isn't that good? Now that's
what we call the New Covenant. Now listen to me. That's not
found in the Old Covenant. Nowhere under the Old Covenant
did God ever promise that He would never ever remember your
sins. In fact, the opposite. Every
year that whole bag of sins had to be brought up again. This
is why Jesus says, by the works of the law, no flesh shall be
justified in my sight. John said in John chapter 1 verse
17, Moses brought you the law, but grace and truth came where? Through Jesus Christ. See what
I'm getting at? Now watch the language here. This is very important.
Watch it now. If that first covenant had been faultless, then should
no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault
with them, he said, behold, the days come, said the Lord, when
I will make a new covenant with the house of what? And with the
house of what? Now remember what we learned?
Israel and Judah actually represent Jews and Gentiles. Ain't that
what we've been learning? I'm gonna take you back there
next week because I only got five minutes. I want to make
sure that I go to Acts chapter 15 to tie this knot. Whenever
the Israelites and the Judahites come back together in Old Testament
prophecy, What it's foreshadowing is the influx of the Gentiles
into the covenant to make up all of Israel. Isn't that what
we've been learning? All right, let's go on. Now,
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the days when I took them by the hand and led them out
of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant.
And I regarded them not, said the Lord, for this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel After those days said
the Lord I will put my laws into their mind write them in their
heart and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people
there it is again and They shall not teach every man his neighbor
said every man his brother saying know the Lord for all shall know
me from the least to the greatest For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities. I will
remember no more. Ah, that is the great revelation
that God brings to the heart of the redeemed sinner himself.
Something that no man can teach you. No man can teach you the
forgiveness of sin. No man can tell you that God
has forgiven your sins. Only the Holy Ghost can speak
comfort to your soul. Only the Holy Ghost can speak
peace to your heart. Only the Holy Ghost can tell
you that Christ was your righteousness. Only the Spirit of God can assure
you that Christ died for your sin. No man can teach you that.
And when He, the Holy Ghost, has come, He will take the things
of mine and show them unto you. He will not speak of himself.
He will glorify me. He will convince the world of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment That's the work of
the Holy Ghost He does it through teaching and preaching but the
Holy Ghost is the one that becomes your paraclete and speaks peace
to your soul That's why you believe on him and trust him because
the Holy Ghost did that no man can give you peace. I Are you
guys hearing me? No man, listen to me now, no
man can give you peace. That is the prerogative of the
Prince of Peace himself. Only Jesus can speak peace to
your heart, and that's part of the new covenant. I will give
them my peace. You know what Jesus said, John
16, 33? Peace I leave with you. Not the peace of the world, but
my peace I give unto you. Is it a relevant question? that's right no doubt about it
now listen to this language here verse 13 as we close it out in
that he said a new covenant he hath made the first old now that
which decayed and waxes old is what ready to vanish vanishing
away what's vanishing away that old covenant If that old covenant
is vanishing away, guess what else is vanishing away? The temple.
Because the temple and the covenant are the same. If the temple is
vanishing away, guess what else is vanishing away? Sacrifices
and offerings. If sacrifices and offerings are
vanishing away, guess what else is vanishing away? The priesthood.
If the priesthood is vanishing away, guess what else is vanishing
away? The high priestly system under Aaron is vanishing away.
Why? Because it's all fulfilled in
the person of Christ. Christ you get all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and you're completing him but if you look
to the temple if you look to sacrifices if you look to the
high priest and I'm talking Catholicism now because Catholicism dug up
Moses 400 years after the resurrection and started the whole sacerdotal
system all over again stuck a high priest up there with his subordinate
priest and And they're still telling people that Christ didn't
die once for all, but he dies every time we observe the Eucharist
and puts that bread in your mouth and that cup in your mouth, he
actually turns into the blood and body of Christ. That's an
abomination. It's absolute idol worship. And
people by the millions believe that they are actually imbibing
the blood and body of Christ. They believe that. They believe
that and they definitely believe in salvation by works under Catholicism. They have to Because the whole
system has dug Moses up all over again and Aaron to the rejection
of the gospel This is why I'd say to people all the time I'm
gonna close here I said I was gonna go x15 I'll do this next
week if you show up God does not save people through
lies God is not a liar and he doesn't
use lies to save people he only uses the truth and he has deposited that truth
into his church beginning with his apostles He told them to
give his message to faithful men who would bear it faithfully.
How on earth then can we assume that God is saving in systems
of religion that deny the gospel and the efficacy of Christ and
his nature and his deity and his work and somehow they're
still being saved? You've been deluded. Totally
deluded. And if you love people who are
in false religion, what you would do is simply tell them the truth
instead of leaving them believing that they're saved by something
they do and saved by something that God did. And if truth be
told, you would go to the priest and really press him on it. We
have some DVDs on that. Many of our priests don't even
believe it themselves. This is what Luther found out.
Once God opened his eyes, he was an Augustinian monk of the
17th century. And when he continued striving
futilely to try to get right with God by his own good works,
he almost went crazy trying to clean up his act, trying to wash
himself, trying to purge his sin, trying to confess his sin.
He almost went into a nervous breakdown trying to confess all
of his sins. His spiritual father said, man,
look, you ain't got to do all that. Just kind of go through
a few Hail Marys and get on about your business. I don't want to
sit here and listen to your thousands of sins anyway. I'm tired, you
tired. That's what works religion does.
It just wears you out. First of all, to be able to confess
all your sins, you must be omniscient. I didn't confess all my sins.
Oh really? Oh really? You didn't confess all your sins?
Oh really? You mean you know every one of
your sins? Job told me his sins were infinite
and he's a better man than you and if our sins are infinite
that means we cannot find them all out to confess them I'm just
trying to help people see what I'm getting at we're deluded
thinking that we can get right with God by all of this nonsense the simple way of salvation is
by looking to Christ alone hearing what he says Believing who he
is and what he did and by faith resting in him as your Savior
That's your only hope because you're a sinner Till you hit
the dust. I want you to know that you might
be saved, but you're a saved sinner Otherwise you don't need a high
priest and if we have an eye priest that ever lives to make
intercession for us He's making intercession for something And
if the Bible tells me in 1 John chapter 8 and 9, if I confess
my sins, he's faithful and just to forgive me of my sins and
to cleanse me from all unrighteousness, that means there's something
that I have to do, and that is acknowledge who I am, like David
acknowledged who he was, and Paul acknowledged who he was.
Paul says, I'm the chief of sinners, not was, am, but I've got a high
priest who ever lives to make intercession for me. So I take
it to him, and I leave it with him, because I know the Father
hears him. And I'm going on about my married business. Am I making
some sense? All right, we'll take this up
next week. Father, we thank you for this
time. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the truth as
it is in Christ. Give these folks traveling mercies, but may the
words sink down deep into their soul. If anyone here is lost...