The Lord our God is portrayed
and described as our shield, our defense, our rock, and our
refuge. Particularly in the book of the
Psalms, we see our great God spoken of in these terms. The Psalms are such a blessed
portion for God's pilgrims. Most always turn to the Psalms
when our hearts are heavy. We must always turn to the Psalms
because there we go with the man after God's own heart into
his closet and I think often unconsciously we turn to the
Psalms because as we go with David into his closet we're allowed
to say amen in our hearts to what David says to God, because
he speaks plainly and honestly what we wouldn't think about
speaking, but what we feel in our souls. How often have you
thought, but would never say, why have you forsaken me? How
often have you thought, but would never say, why, Lord God, how
long will you cast us off? How often have you thought, but
would never say, that God, your ear is silent. We go to the Psalms because there
we can at least enter into the experiences of such a man. But as you do, don't go there
just thinking to yourself, well here's somebody who's going through
what I've gone through. Go there seeking to take refuge
in God. as David took refuge in God and
if you can find out by experience that Jesus Christ our God and
Savior is our great defender our great defender if you can
find it out by experience that will calm your nerves and settle
your soul and give you peace better than anything a doctor
can prescribe He is our great defender. Listen to the scriptures. Returning, if you will, to Psalm
62. I'll let that serve as an introduction to the message. David's son Solomon learned his
father's wisdom, at least in some ways. Solomon said, the
name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous, those who
have been made right by God, run into it and are safe. The psalmist said, thou art my
hiding place and my shield, I hope in thy word. I recall years ago, Brother Larry
Chris, he won't mind me telling you this, this was a long time
ago before any of y'all, well you might have met him by then,
but it was a long time ago. We were at Fairmont, West Virginia
together and Larry was going through a tough, tough time and
I thought he was going to lose his mind. I really did and I
thought I don't know how on earth he was going to make it and he
looked worse than he seemed to feel. He was going through a
tough time. We were sitting out at the motel
late at night talking and I said to him, I don't know what on
earth to tell you to do except go bury yourself in Christ. Oh, but now that's the best thing
you can do. That's the best thing you can do. Go bury yourself
in him and in his word. Blessed be the Lord my strength,
which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight. My goodness
and my fortress, my high tower, my deliverer, my shield, he in
whom I trust. Again, the wise man says every
word of God is pure. He is a shield to them that put
their trust in him. As he is our shield, so God is
our defense, the psalmist says. For the Lord is our defense,
the Holy One of Israel. He's our King. But the Lord is
my defense. My God is the rock of my refuge. Now I want you to take this one
thing home with you tonight. I pray God the Holy Spirit will
really teach us this. The Lord Jesus Christ, our great
God and Savior, is our great defender. The defender of our
souls. Look here in Psalm 62. Let's read the title together
too. To the chief musician to Jeduthun. That word Jeduthun,
I'm not sure I'm pronouncing it right but I know the meaning.
That word means to praise or to cause to praise or to give
praise and hear the Holy Spirit Calls us by the pen of David,
by the experience of David, by the experience of one who was
but a representative of God's elect in this world. He calls
us to give praise to God. He gives reason to. In the midst
of trouble. In the midst of trouble. In the
midst of difficulty. In the midst of trial. Look what
he says. Truly my soul waiteth upon God. From him comes my salvation,
he only. He seems to say David I've tried
some others but they weren't any good. I've looked for rest
somewhere else but didn't find it. I've leaned elsewhere but
I found nothing to give me hope. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. But he doesn't stop there. How
long will you imagine mischief against a man? You shall be slain,
all of you, as a bowing wall shall you be, as a tottering
fence. They, the ungodly, those who
oppose God's people, they only consult to cast him down from
his excellency. They delight in lies, they bless
with their mouths, but curse inwardly. I'm not looking for something
to say, think about it. They speak blessings with their
lips, but they curse inwardly. Verse 5, my soul Smart thing to talk to your soul
sometimes. My soul? In the midst of these
folks? How on earth do you behave? Wait
thou only upon God. For my expectation is from Him.
Look at verse 6. He only is my rock and my salvation. Now notice his growth. Just a
couple of verses, he's grown a lot. I shall not be moved. Do you see that? Up there in verse 2, he said,
I shall not be greatly moved. He seems to say, wait, if God
only is my rock, God only is my salvation, God only is my
defense, I shall not be moved, period. God's my salvation and
my glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you
people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Now let's see an illustration
of that. Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7. As we look at verses 24 through
30, I want to show you three things, but I'm going to deliberately
spend the bulk of our time with the first one. Here it is. In
verses 24 through 28, we see the Lord Jesus Christ acting
as our great defender. Look at verse 24. When the messengers
of John were departed, The Lord Jesus began to speak unto the
people concerning John. What went you out into the wilderness
to see? A reed shaken in the wind? But what went you out for to
see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously
appareled and live delicately are in king's courts. But what
went ye out for to say, a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much
more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare
thy way before thee. For I say unto you, among those
that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than
John the Baptist, but he that is least in the kingdom of heaven.
of the kingdom of God is greater than he. Our Lord seems to have
sensed that those who had heard his conversation with John, or
with John's disciples rather, might as sinful men are wont
to do, be a little suspicious about John. They might put a
bad construction on the conversation they had heard. He seems to have
read the thoughts of their hearts and What he read wasn't good. Perhaps the fact that John was
imprisoned, sitting in Herod's prison, waiting to die, caused
the multitudes to look upon him with suspicion. After all, he
wouldn't be put in prison if he hadn't done something wrong.
He wouldn't be there if there wasn't something wrong. Surely
God wouldn't do this to his servant. his faithful, look at all these
other prophets around us, look at all these other teachers around
us. Perhaps the question he sent his disciples to ask the Lord
Jesus, being asked in a public manner, and answered in a public
manner, caused those who didn't know John and didn't know Christ
to look upon him with suspicion. Perhaps even those who did know
the Lord Jesus began to look upon John with suspicion and
say, well, you know, he He's unstable as water. This man's
faith has begun to fail. He's unsteady. He's wavering
at the last when he ought to be strong. Whatever their thoughts
were, they were obviously thoughts of unwarranted unkindness, harshness,
and evil with regard to John the Baptist. Now whatever the
reason for all those things was, I don't know. We're not told.
I suspect the things I've said so far are easily justified from
other passages in the scriptures relating to this same event.
Whatever the reason was, our Lord Jesus immediately took up
John's calls. Just as soon as he had departed,
the Lord seems to have heard them thinking, uh-huh. I always
thought John was like that. I always had my suspicions. I
mean, after all, men run around here and Dressed like he did. Looked like a wild man. Untamed,
uncivilized, uncouth. I never was deceived by him.
The rest of the folks were, but not me. He seems to have heard their
thoughts. And without a moment's hesitation, like a faithful friend,
the Son of God takes upon himself the defense of his faithful servant. Oh, there's much to be learned
from this. Blessed are those who have Christ for their friend, and blessed are those who follow
his example as friends to others. I have to be honest, I want to know he's my friend first,
but I want to be a friend like Blessed are those who know him
as their friend and blessed are those who follow him as such.
A friend loves at all times, especially when you need him.
That's what the word means in Iran. A brother is born for adversity. That's exactly it. A friend is not in a camp unless
you can count on him when you need him. The brother is of no
use unless you can count on him in adversity. Everybody will
be your friend when things are going well. Everybody will be
your friend when everybody speaks well of you. Everybody will be
your friend and act as a brother to you when everybody claps their
hands whenever you come around. But a friend is a friend indeed.
A brother is one born for adversity. A man that has friends must be
that kind of friend. He must show himself friendly. I have on occasion heard folks
murmur and complain and whine and carry on. Nobody seems to
like me. Nobody invites me to this. Nobody does me this. Everybody
neglects me. Well, a man that has friends
must show himself friendly. But there is a friend. Oh, thank
God there's a friend that sticks closer than any brother you ever
met. The Lord Jesus Christ pleads John's calls and he does so earnestly
with the strong, firm, unquestionable language of a loyal, faithful
friend. I got a piece of correspondence
not long ago, just recently from someone who had written to me
about another friend, another pastor, and said folks down here
are saying And I didn't sit on it five seconds. I wrote him
back and I said, it ain't so. I've known this fella for 30
years. It just ain't so. Men are just slandering his name.
That's exactly how our Lord defends John. Well, shouldn't you sit
back and weigh the evidence? No. No. Shouldn't you at least
hear what folks have got to say? No. Our Lord immediately takes
up John's calls as a loyal friend, faithful friend, unhesitatingly. He said, what did you go out
to say? He took upon himself to silence the suspicious thoughts
and the doubts that men had in their minds concerning John the
Baptist. He said, did you think he was
a reed? When you went out to hear this
fellow preach, did you think you were going out to hear a
man who was just a reed shaking in the wind? A man who was one
of these puppet preachers, one of these puppet politicians who
holds his finger in the air and wants to see which direction
the wind's blowing and that's where he's going? He said, John
wasn't a reed. This fellow was not some wavering,
unstable, shaky thing. But rather, this man was a prophet,
a great prophet. A great prophet, such a great
prophet, there hasn't been one like him before or since. Our
Lord said John wasn't one of those men living in luxury, courting
the favor of men, particularly of powerful men. He didn't hang
around the king's palace, groveling for the king's smile, hoping
the king might tip his hat toward him. John was God's prophet and
acted like God's prophet. Indeed, John was much more than
a prophet. John was one of those prophets.
In fact, he is the only prophet, except Christ our prophet, of
whom the prophets spoke. He's the only prophet, except
Christ our prophet, of whom the prophets spoke. Malachi spoke
of him, and our Lord quotes Malachi, says, Behold, I send my messenger
before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
John the Baptist was that Elijah who was to come to prepare the
way of Christ and to prepare the hearts of the people for
Christ turning the hearts of the fathers unto the children
and the hearts of fathers and children both to the Son of God.
And then our master said among those born of women there is
not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. What a remarkable picture. Our
Lord takes up John's cause. He defends his name. He defends
his reputation. He defends his character. In
the teeth of men who obviously were holding him in suspicion.
And he defends him to such a caliber, he speaks and says, now listen,
don't you even think about questioning who this fellow was. He's a prophet
like you've never heard and you'll never hear again. Among those
born of women, there's never been a prophet like John. Just
a few years earlier, John the Baptist was the best known preacher,
the most popular preacher, the most highly esteemed preacher,
had the biggest crowds, had more folks following him and talking
about him than anyone else. Just a few years earlier, men
and women would walk for miles at a time just to go sit down
and hear this fella preach. They'd never heard anything like
him. Never heard anything like him. Oh, what a preacher John
is. In fact, Matthew 3, 5 tells us
that all of Jerusalem and Judea went out to hear John and were
baptized with him. Now that doesn't mean literally
everybody there. But it was such a big crowd,
such an overwhelming number that it just, man, everybody's following
John. Everybody, everybody's listening to John. Everybody's
become John's disciple. But things change in a hurry,
don't they? Now he's in prison. And the very same folks who were
praising him are cussing him. The very same folks who have
been baptized by him now are waiting to see what hell's going
to do with it. The very same folks who had spoken so highly
of him now are standing around talking about him. John the Baptist was held in
contempt by all, deserted by all, friendless and alone. Very few were now willing to
be identified with him. The only thing awaiting him was
execution. But he was not deserted by that one whose name is the
mighty God. John could still look on the
Lamb of God and say what all God's people can say in all ages
and circumstances. This man, this God, this Savior,
no matter what's happened out here, this is still my beloved
and this is my friend. This is He. Jesus, what a friend
for sinners. Jesus, lover of my soul. Friends may fail me, foes assail
me. He, my Savior, makes me whole. John the Baptist had in the Son
of God a friend who never failed him and who never forsook him. He is that friend who says to
all his Jacobs, I am the Lord, I change not. I will never leave
thee. nor forsake thee, fear not, I've
redeemed you, I've called you by thy name, and you're mine,
when you pass through the waters, they won't get up too high for
you, and when you pass through the fire, it won't cause you
to have any injury, but I'll be with you, I'll uphold you,
I'll sustain you, I'll hold you with the right hand of my righteousness,
fear not Jacob. Now, let me see if I can put
some shoe leather on this. Do you know what it is to be held in suspicion, particularly
by folks who have no reason? Do you know what it is to be
slandered, falsely accused of evil, to have your name evil
spoken of, to have your character assaulted? The fact is there
are few of God's children who passed through this world without
experiencing that. There are few. Noah had a boy named Ham who
uncovered his father's nakedness and sought to show it to everybody. Moses was the object of much
slander in Pharaoh's house. But that slander in the house
of Israel was more bitter, and the suspicions of Miriam and
Aaron were even worse. Joseph's brethren, Joseph's brethren
constantly were envious of him, spoke evil of him, betrayed him,
sold him into slavery. David was maligned by Saul, betrayed
by Ahithophel, cursed by Simeon, And his own son brought him to
shame. He said, well, David shouldn't have acted like he did. You find
me anybody who's ever lived like David did. Man after God's own
heart. You and I don't begin to measure
up. Jeremiah was falsely accused by the house of Israel. Here's
a prophet, Bob, who spent his life praying for and serving
a nation that wound up putting him in a dungeon and wanting
to kill him. John the Baptist was praised as a great prophet
one day and accused of being one possessed of the devil the
next. Our Lord Jesus himself was slandered, maligned and falsely
accused, betrayed and looked upon by the multitude as one who was vile, reprehensible. A glutton, a drunk, the constant
companion of sinners. Every time I see him, there's
a harlot around him. Or there's something. Boy, you
better watch out for him. Every time I see him, there's
another publican around him. Every time you see him, there's
sinners around him. Where there's smoke, there's
fire. No, where there's gossip, there's a liar. The woman who came to the Savior
with an alabaster box of what? Spatula, very precious, and anointed
him for his burial. Of all the works done by all
men in all ages, this alone our Lord identifies as the greatest
thing a person ever did. He's remarkable. He's wherever
the gospel is preached. Folks want to hear about you
from now on. But when she did, Judas began a slander and the
rest of the disciples joined in, suspicious of her motives. Look at this woman. Look at this
waste. Paul was accused of being a self-serving
false prophet, a promoter of licentiousness, a wicked man. When he was at Corinth, when
he ministered to the Corinthians, somebody came in behind him and
said, now wait a minute, wait a minute. Let's look at Paul's
credentials. Let's remember who he was. He
wasn't among those original 12. He didn't go through what they
went through. Now, Paul may have some truth,
but Paul, you better watch him, you better watch him. You're
reading that into it. No, read the 11th chapter of
1 Corinthians. Read the whole book. The Corinthians
had been turned aside to look with suspicion on Paul. The Galatians
the same way. He said, you would have plucked
out your eyes and given them to me now. You question whether
or not God's ever spoken to you by me? These things are not easy
to bear. In fact, there are few trials
more difficult to endure The fiend of hell is called the accuser
of the brethren. Because Bob, at least in part,
because he knows that false accusation is the choice weapon of his kingdom
against God's people. It's the weapon he uses most
frequently against our souls. He knows that a man's character
is the point at which he is most easily most painfully and most
permanently wounded. Now you listen, I'm not just
talking off the top of my head, I'm telling you something you
need to hear. A person's character is the point at which he is most
easily, most painfully and most permanently wounded. Satan knows
that men and women who seek to honor God are sensitive about
maintaining an honorable name, not for their praise, but for
his, seeking to live blamelessly before others, and therefore
he most often assaults us at that point. J.C. Ryle put it this way, he said,
slanders are easily called into existence, greedily received
and propagated, and seldom silenced. Has that been your experience?
Has that been your experience? I recall hearing slanderous accusations
against men when I was 21 years old that persist to this day
that I know are not so. They persist to this and are
constantly promoted. Lies and false accusations are
the devil's chosen weapons by which he tries to injure the
Lord's people, seeks to destroy a person's usefulness, and disturbs
our peace. Therefore, knowing these things,
by bitter and painful experience, there's nothing more comforting
and assuring than this. our advocate he's not just our advocate with
the father Lindsay he's our advocate he's our defender as he immediately
takes up John's calls listen to me now Merle Hart he's taken
up your calls before you ever came into this world and he'll
constantly plead your calls and when he's done with this world
Not only will he defend his own in that way which is best for
the interest of his kingdom, best for their souls, and best
for God's glory, he will when he's done show to all the world where he is approved of by God
in him. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
4. 1 Corinthians 4. I said, Pastor, what do you do
when folks slander you? I'll tell you what I do. Somebody
comes to me and says something about Benji Campbell. Starts
to say something. They don't get the sentence out. Nah. I know that man. You don't
know him. Nah. How come? Because that's what
friends do. That's what friends do. No, I
ain't gonna listen to it. Got that stuff you act about,
go somewhere else and don't talk to me about it. Ain't so. Just
ain't so. Well, what about yourself? Don't
ever say a word. Don't try to defend yourself
about anything. Don't try to defend your name
and your honor. Don't try to defend your character and your
reputation. All you're going to do is make things worse. You
start stirring up the barnyard and it gets to stinking bad.
Just leave it alone. Just leave it alone. And wait. Wait. Every now and then I'll
get done preaching somewhere where I haven't been before.
Sometimes where I had been before and somebody comes who hadn't
been there before. Oh, just get furious. And start to just take
off, you know. especially the preachers, this
is what I tell them, I'll meet you at the bar of God and we'll
find out. Is that fair enough? I'll meet
you at the bar of God and we will find out. Look here in 1
Corinthians 4, Paul says with me, it's a very
small thing. that I should be judged of you
or of man's judgment. I don't give a flip what you
think of me in reality. Your condemnation and your accusations
and your slanders are meaningless to me. In fact, he said, I judge
not my own self. I don't even sit in judgment
over myself. For I don't know anything by myself. I know nothing
by myself. But I'm not hereby justified
Oh no, the fact that I say to you, I don't know what you're
talking about, I don't know that I've done what you said, I don't
know where I'm guilty in this regard, that doesn't justify
me. But he that judges me is the
Lord. Look at verse 5. Therefore judge
nothing before the time till the Lord come. who will
both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will
make manifest the counsels of the hearts, then shall every
man, you and me too, have his praise of God. Every one of his. Every man will be set in true
light. Every man. All right, now secondly, in verse
28, Our Lord teaches us that we live in an age of peculiar
blessedness. In the last part of verse 28,
he says, blessed is he, I'm sorry, but he that is least in the kingdom
of God is greater than John. Now there's no question this
has reference to our Lord Jesus himself personally. He who is
greatest became the least. He who knew no sin was made to
be sin. He who is life was made to be
death that we might have life in him. He who is God assumed
our flesh and our nature and dwelt on this earth and our substitute
died in our stead and rose again. He that is least in the kingdom
of God is greater than John. But in the context it appears
here that our Lord is talking about more than himself personally.
He's talking about his disciples in this gospel age. The words here speak of the peculiar,
distinctive privilege that's ours as God's children in this
age. Compared with the saints before
the coming of Christ and his crucifixion and his resurrection,
compared with them, we have a distinctly greater advantage. A distinctly
greater advantage. Now our Lord is not suggesting
that we have greater faith. Read Hebrews chapter 11, that's
that. He's not suggesting that we're
more gracious. Not at all. He's not suggesting
that we're more faithful or have stronger faith. Not at all. What
he is saying is this. In this gospel age, believers
have superior light and revelation. You see, those men, prior to
the crucifixion, saw things, but they only saw through a glass
darkly. Not one of them had exact, precise
knowledge of gospel revelation as we do in this day when God
has given us his complete revelation in Christ. And this is exactly
what God said in the covenant, isn't it? He said, children,
a child shall lead them. He said, there are no more need,
prophet or priest, saying, know ye the Lord, for they shall all
know me from the least of them to the greatest of them. So that
in this gospel age, the newborn babe, being taught of God, to
understand the substitutionary work of Christ plainly, distinctly,
and clearly, sees and understands things that the oldest saint
in the Old Testament didn't see clearly. Let me show you this
from the scripture. Turn to Ephesians 1, I'm sorry, Ephesians 3. Now I don't suggest by any means
that those believers of old did not know and believe the same
gospel. They did. But they saw things dimly. They didn't see things crystal
clear. They saw them as a haze. Let
me see if I can put it this way. I recall when Faith was, I think
she was nine years old when she first got her glasses, got glasses,
had to stop wearing them. We didn't realize she couldn't
see. She came home, we were living over in Junction City and she
had her glasses on. She was just standing at the
door one day. And she said, Mom, I didn't know
leaves on trees had shapes like that. All she had ever seen was
a green blob out there. She saw a tree. She saw green
and brown. But she didn't see shape and
distinctness with clarity. But now she's got glasses, she
sees. In the Old Testament, they saw
the fountain. We see the fountain opened for
sin and uncleanness. They saw the veil. We see the
veil rent in two. They saw that there was a holy
place. We enter into it. They saw that
there was a mercy seat. We have met with God at the mercy
seat. This is exactly what God promised.
Look at Ephesians chapter 3, verse 1. For this calls I, Paul,
the prisoner of Christ for you Gentiles If you have heard of
the dispensation of the grace of God which is given to me to
youward, have it by revelation he made known to me the mystery,
as I wrote before in a few words, whereby when you read you may
understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other
ages, look at it, was not made known to the sons of men as it
is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the
Spirit. that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same
body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel, whereof
I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God
given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Look in
Colossians chapter Paul is picking up this same
theme. In verse 25, whereof, I am made a minister according
to the dispensation of God, which is given me to you, or given
me for you, to fulfill the work of God, even the mystery, which
hath been hid from ages and generations, but is now made manifest to his
saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. Christ in you, the
hope of glory. Peter says the same thing, 1
Peter chapter 1, verse 10. Talking about this great salvation
we look for and expect from Christ, of which salvation the prophets
have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
should come to you. He said when Isaiah, wrote Isaiah
53, Isaiah wrote about the grace coming to you by Christ the substitute,
but he was inquiring and searching diligently concerning that of
which he spoke by inspiration. Searching, verse 11, what or
what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify when it testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow unto whom it was revealed. that
not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the things
which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the
gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore, gird
up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for
the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. we live in a day of peculiar
blessedness. God has given us the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the complete inscripturated
revelation of Christ in the Bible, the book, the book, the book,
and more than that He has opened our hearts, Lindsay, and given
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of his darling son. Now then, look at verses 29 and
30, and learn this. All who are privileged to hear
this gospel all who hear it, that means you and me, no exceptions, no exceptions,
everybody here, everybody here, are you listening? Will either
justify God or reject the counsel of God against themselves to
the damning of their All the people that heard him,
heard John the Baptist, and the publicans justify God being baptized
with the baptism of John. Being born of God's Spirit, convinced
of our sin, of our guilt, looking to Christ, all true believers
justify God. James read it in Psalm 51 a little
while ago, that thou mayest be just when thou speakest, clear
when thou judgest. If God sends you to hell, he's
right. If God sends me to hell, he's
right. If God sends our sons and daughters
to hell, he's right. He's right. Years ago somebody
said to me, he said, what you preach is so, my daddy's in hell
and I'm not going to listen to somebody tell me my daddy's in
hell. You want to join him? Whatever God does is right. It's
right for God to punish sin. Punish you and me for sin. It's
right. And every child of God will justify
God. Everyone up. And will justify
Him in the forgiveness of sin too. Oh my God, it's right for Him. to forgive my sin, because he
punished my substitute. It's right. We justify him in
believer's baptism, symbolically confessing that this is how God
can be just, a just God and a savior, by the death, burial and resurrection
of his dear son as our substitute. Self-righteous rebels, however,
despise, cast off, reject the counsel of God against themselves.
The Pharisees and lawyers reject it. That word is they despise. Hate it. Hate it. Cast off. Like you'd have a heap of rubble
laying on you on a building that's fallen in and you cast it off.
Cast it off. The counsel of God against themselves. That's what it is to walk out
of here in unbelief. And God says, you'll eat the
fruit of your own ways. Will you justify God? Or will you cast off his counsel? Amen. All right, let's leave
it to him, if you will.