When my soul is disturbed with
sorrow, When my heart is burdened with sin, Jesus opens His arms
of mercy. And He tenderly takes me in. There is peace in the time of
trouble, There is peace in the midst of
the storm. There is peace though the world
be raging In the shelter of His arms. There are storms that we all
encounter. Do not fear, they will do you
no harm. In the Lord you will find protection
In the shelter of His arms in the time of trouble. There is peace in the midst of
the storm. There is peace though the world
me raging in the shelter of his arm. Though the world all around be
raging, And it's filled with many alarm, Trust in Jesus, for
He will keep you. in the shelter of His arms. There is peace in the time of
trouble. There is peace in the midst of
the storm. There is peace Though the world
be raging in the shelter of His arm. Would you turn with me to Genesis
Chapter 49? I've entitled this message, I'm
going to attempt to bring tonight, a message of extremes. A message
of extremes, and I hope you'll understand that by the end of
this message. Let's read verses five through
seven. Again, you'll remember Jacob
is giving his prophecies regarding his sons. And look what he says
about Simeon and Levi, verses five through seven. And Jacob's
talking about his boys, Simeon and Levi, and he says, here's
his testimony concerning them. Simeon and Levi are brethren. He's not just talking about blood
brothers, he's saying they're both alike. They have the same
point of view. They have the same actions. He
says instruments of cruelty. are in their habitations. O my
soul, come not thou into their secret. Unto their assembly,
mine honor, be not thou united. For in their anger they slew
a man. They were murderers. And in their
self-will they digged down a wall. They broke down homes to plunder. Cursed be their anger, for it
was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide
them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Now, why does Jacob
speak so harshly here about his boys? Because he doesn't have
anything good at all to say about them, does he? I mean, this is
a harsh harsh description of his two sons. I mean, he says
these fellows are worthless. That's what he says about his
two boys. They're absolutely worthless. They're wicked, cruel,
evil individuals. That's what he has to say about
them. Now, he's referring to something that took place in
Genesis 34. Now, I'm going to read this chapter. Let's turn
there. It's a dark chapter, but we need to read it to understand
why Jacob said what he said. Genesis 34, and Dinah, the daughter
of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters
of the land. And when Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite,
prince of the country, saw her, he took her, he lay with her,
and he defiled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah,
the daughter of Jacob. And he loved the damsel and spake
kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem spake unto his father
Hamer, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. And Jacob heard that
he defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his cattle
in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they were come.
And Hamor, the father of Shechem, went out unto Jacob to commune
with him. And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they
heard it. And the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because
he had wrought folly in Israel, in laying with Jacob's daughter,
which thing ought not to be done. And Hamor communed with them,
saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter. I
pray you give her him to wife, and make you marriages with us,
and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto
you, and you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before
you. Dwell and trade therein, and get your possessions therein.
And Shechem said unto her father, And unto her brethren, let me
find grace in your eyes, and what will you shall you say that
I'll give? Ask me never so much dowry and
gift, and I'll give you according as you shall say unto me, but
give me the dance to wife.' And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem
and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he defiled
Damie their sister, they had a plan. We cannot do this thing
to give our sister to one that's uncircumcised, for that would
be a reproach unto us. But in this will we consent unto
you, if you will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised,
then will we give you our daughters unto you, and you will take your
daughters to us, and we'll dwell with you, and we'll become one
people. But if you'll not hearken unto us to be circumcised, then
we'll take our daughter, and we'll be gone. And the words
please Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son, and the young men deferred
not to do the thing because he had delighted Jacob's daughter
and he was more honorable than all the house of his father. And Hamor and Shechem, his son,
came unto the gate of the city and communed with the men of
their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us. Therefore
let them dwell in the land and trade therein. For the land,
behold, is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to
us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. And herein
will the men consent unto dwell with us, to be one people, if
every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. Shall
not their cattle, and their substance, and every beast of theirs be
ours? Only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with
us. And unto Hamor, and unto Shechem, his son, he harkened
all that went out of the gate of the city. And every male was
circumcised, all that went out of the gate of the city. And
it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that
two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took
each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew
all the males." They murdered everybody there. They slew Hamor
and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and they took
Dinah out of Shechem's house and went out. The sons of Jacob
came upon the slain and spoiled the city. They plundered the
city because they defiled their sister. They took their sheep
and their oxen and their asses and that which was in the city
and that which was in the field and all their wealth and all their
little ones and the wives took their captains and stole even
all that was in the house. And Jacob said to Simeon and
Levi, you've troubled me. To make me to stink among the
inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites,
and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together
against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed. My house, they
said, should he deal with our sister as with an harlot? They
justified what they did. But obviously, Jacob was very
angry over what they did. It's true what Shechem did was
dark and sinful and horrible. Not even something you even want
to talk about. But do you know that what Simeon and Levi did
was even worse? The way they murdered all these
people and they plundered these homes in order to, quote, get
revenge. And they took everything. They
were murderers and they were thieves. What Jacob is saying,
he's referring to this that took place some 40, 45 years before
this prophecy he gives. This is how long ago this had
taken place. And here's what he has to say about them. Back
to Genesis 49. Simeon, verse 5, Simeon and Levi
are brethren, instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
Now, what he's talking about is how they had plundered these
homes of Shechem and Hamor and that city they plundered. They
took what belonged to them. And in their house was the spoil,
the stuff they had stolen. That's what he's talking about
when he says instruments of cruelty are in their habitation. Then
Jacob says regarding these two boys, Oh, my soul, come not thou
into their secret. Unto their assembly, my honor,
be not thou united. You better not join their church,
for in their anger they slew a man. Actually, they slew many
men. And in their self-will, they digged down a wall. They
broke down the walls to plunder the house, to murder everybody
in the village and take all they had and take their wives and
children. Now, Jacob says, Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,
and their wrath, for it was cruel. I'll divide them in Jacob and
scatter them in Israel. Now, once again, we're given
a look at fallen human nature. And there are two words used
to describe fallen human nature in this prophecy regarding Simeon
and Levi. Anger. And self will. Anger, he said, cursed be their
anger in their anger, in their wrath, they slew a man, cursed
be their anger. Now, you know what anger is?
Everybody here has been angry before. Mad. Angry at the way
we were treated. Angry at the way we were perceived. Angry at the way we're done.
We're mad. And I'm sure we've all believed
we were justified in being angry. And no doubt on some levels we
were justified for being angry. I'm not going to deny that. But
when you're angry, now I want you to think about this. When
you're angry, when you're mad, ultimately, who are you mad at? When you're mad, who is it you're
really mad at? Who is ultimately, let me answer
that by asking this question. Who is ultimately the first cause
behind everything? Proverbs, chapter 16, verse 28
says the law is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing
thereof, everything that's black, all the stuff that happened that
made us mad and everything, all the It all was arranged by Him. The whole disposing thereof is
of the Lord. Whether we realize it or not,
anger is directed against Him. Now, here is fallen human nature's
problem. No love for God. No trust of God. Actually angry
with Him. Mad at Him. Listen to me. Anytime
we get mad, there's one we're mad at. Oh, we think it's the
secondary causes and the other causes, but there's one cause
that we're privy to that. We're mad at him. Because by
nature, this is all human nature, we really have no love for God,
no trust of him. You know, I read in the paper
about that fella that killed those three little Amish girls
up in Pennsylvania this week. It was such a gruesome, sad story. And he wrote a letter, and he
talked about something that happened in the past. He said, I hate
God. I'm mad at God, and I hate him for what he let it took place.
And the thing that is, we look at that and we think, oh, that's
terrible. But you know, you and I have been guilty of the exact
same thing. I'm not just getting on this
fellow. I'm talking about me and you. We have been guilty of the exact
same thing. Hating the Lord God. Now, there is a God I realize
that nobody's mad at. He's the one who can't control
anything and things that happen, and he can't stop them, and he's
tied to man's will. And that God nobody's mad at.
Who's going to be scared of that God? I'm not scared of that God. I like all one man. God is warning
us one time, God's going to send you to hell if you don't straighten
up. He said, I won't let it. He said, what do you mean by
that? He said, well, if he can't save me unless I let him, he
can't send me to hell unless I let him. And you know, that
makes sense, doesn't it? That makes sense. Nobody's afraid
of that God. But the God of the Bible, every
man is mad at by nature. The Scripture says in Romans
8, 7, the carnal mind, the fleshly mind, the mind that we have by
nature, is enmity, is hatred. That's the word, hatred, hatred
of his God. Now, there's the first word to
describe Simeon and Levi, anger. And the second word is self-will. In their self-will, he said,
They dig down a wall. Here's what's so bad about sin.
We do what we want to do. You know that thing you did?
You know why you did it? Because you wanted to. Regarding
everything we do, people do exactly what they want to do. When they
dug down that wall and plundered that place and killed those people,
they were doing what they wanted to do. And that's what makes
sin, sin. It's people doing what they want
to do. We can't blame the devil for
our sin. We can't blame the sovereignty of God for our sin. Our sin is
willful sin. And that is why it is so evil. You see, you've never really
confessed your sin until you have acknowledged your full responsibility
in it. It's my fault. I did what I wanted
to do. Now, that's what true confession
is. You come before God and you say, guilty. Guilty. It's my fault. I did what I wanted
to do. That's the crime of it. I did
what I wanted to do. As long as it's somebody else's
fault, as long as it's your mom and dad's fault, or as long as
it's your wife's fault, or your husband's fault, or the way somebody
treats you, or your environment's fault, you've never confessed
your sin. But when it's all your fault, that's when you confess
sin. Self-will. Now, that's a dark
passage of Scripture, isn't it? It's a dark passage of Scripture.
And remember, I entitled this message, message of extremes,
and we see extreme wickedness in this passage of Scripture.
But I want to show you another extreme in this passage of Scripture.
I wonder if anybody noticed this when I read it. Look in verse
six. Oh, my soul, come not thou into
their secret, unto their assembly. Mine honor. Be not thou united. What is Jacob talking about when
he speaks of mine honor? Mine honor be thou united. The word honor is the word that
is generally translated glory. It's the precise same word used
when Moses said, I beseech thee. He's speaking to God. He says,
I beseech thee, show me thy glory. So when he's saying my honor,
Don't be united to him. He's saying, my glory don't be
united to him. Now, what in the world is Jacob
talking about when he speaks of his glory? Glory is the worth
of something. It's the splendor of something.
It's the excellency of something. When we speak of glory, we speak
of that which gets the credit or the honor or the praise for
something. If I did a job. If you didn't help, who gets
all the glory? I do. If you help, we share the glory.
But if I did it by myself, I get all the glory. Glory has something
to do with who gets the credit, who gets the praise, who gets
the honor for it. Now, when Jacob speaks of his
glory, he talks about my glory, my splendor, my excellency, my
weight, my worth. What in the world is he talking
about? I mean, Jacob, if you look at him, Jacob is not a very
honorable character, is he? I mean, you could go on and on
with examples of where you'd say, where in the world is Jacob
coming up with my honor and my glory and my splendor and my
excellency? Strange words out of Jacob's
mouth. Look at Jacob's own testimony concerning his own life. Look
in Genesis 47, verse 9. And Jacob said unto Pharaoh,
here's his summary of his life. The days of the years of my pilgrimage
are 130 years. Few and evil have the days of
the years of my life been and have not attained unto the days
of the years of the life of my fathers and the days of their
pilgrimage." When Jacob speaks of his honor,
what's he speaking of? Now, does any man, natural man,
Again, this dark view of Simeon and Levi, but let's talk about
all men in general, all men as they're born into this world,
all men by nature, the way you and I were born into this world.
Does any man have any glory? All a man. Does he have any excellency? Does he have any, does he deserve
any credit for anything? Now I want us to look at several
scriptures, and these are scriptures that are familiar to you, but
let's first look at Genesis chapter six. Verse 5, And God saw that the wickedness
of man, this is man in general, all mankind, was great in the
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil, nonstop. Now that's God's description
of what you and I are by nature. only evil continually. Look over
in Job chapter 15. Job 15, beginning in verse 14. What is man that he should be
clean? And he which is born of woman,
that he should be righteous, behold, he put of no trust in
his saints. Yea, the heavens are not clean
in his sight, God's sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water. You remember Jeremiah 17, verse
nine, when it talks about our heart. Here's another description
of man's heart. The heart is desperately wicked. Deceitful above all things, who
could know it? What about Paul quoting from
the Psalms? It's the universal testimony
of Old Testament and New Testament. He says, for it's written, there's
none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeks after God. They've all gone out of
the way. They together become unprofitable. There's none that
do it good. No, not one. The carnal mind, I've already
quoted this. The carnal mind, this is the mind that you and
I were born with. The carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can it be. I could go on and on, but this
is the picture the Scriptures presents of men, of me and you.
Honor. Glory. What's Jacob talking about
when he says, my honor, my glory? Now, I can't possibly tell you
what all it means, I really don't know, but I can tell you who
it is. I can tell you who it is. It
is the honor and glory of Jesus Christ. And that's what he's
speaking of, the honor and the glory of Jesus Christ. Is Jesus
Christ glorious? Does he possess in himself honor? When we speak of credit, does
he have all the credit coming to him for the salvation of the
sinner? Scripture does say he by himself, with no help from
him, he by himself purged us of our sins. Now, he has honor. He has glory. He has excellency. He has dignity. Oh, the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, His glory is seen in two
different ways. First, you remember there in
John chapter 17, verse 5, when He said, Father, glorify Me with
the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. Now, that's
the glory He has that's essential to His person. He has glory because
He is glory. He is the glory of God. He is the sparkling of deity. He is all that God is. He is
in what glory, what honor there is. in his person because of
who he is. Oh, his glory. That's why I said,
glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I
had with thee before the world was. Now, there's the glory that
he has as God the Son. And there's also the glory that
he achieved or merited or earned as the savior of sinners. Turn
with me to First Peter, chapter one for a moment. Verse 9, Receiving the end of
your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation
the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied
of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ. Oh,
who can describe the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ on the
cross when he was made sin? Who can? It's way beyond me. But look what he says next. And
the glory that should follow. There is glory that he achieved
as the savior of sinners that he would never have had had he
not gone to the cross. That's why he went, to glorify
himself. Now, I want you to think about
this. Just think of you. Just think of yourself. What
glory will he get when you stand before God? Perfect. What glory will he achieve from
that when you stand before God? Do you know how sinful you are?
Do you know how weak you are? When you stand before God, absolutely
without fault, perfect, just like Christ, conformed to his
image, How much glory will he get from that? Will he get all
the glory? Oh, you know he will. He'll get
all of the glory for that. Now, beloved, this glory he gives
to his people, this glory that he achieved. Remember, Jacob
spoke of mine honor, my glory, this glory that he achieved.
This glory he has as his person, his glory achieved from the cross,
he actually places upon and gives to his people. Turn with me to
John 17. Verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word,
that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me, and the glory which thou
gavest me I have given them." If Jesus Christ the Lord gave
me His glory, you know what that means? I've got it. I have it. It is my possession. The glory I've given Him, if
He gave it to me, I've got it and it really is mine. Now, how
much glory, how much honor Does Christ have in himself? Why, it's so glorious, we can't
even begin to describe it, can we? The glory that Jesus Christ
has, the honor that he has before the Father. How much honor does
he have? No way I can describe that. The
glory of this person, that glory that I'm speaking of, is mine. It's not just as if it's mine. It is. How can I have this glory? I
can say the same thing when Jacob speaks of my honor, my glory.
Every believer can make the same claim. We can talk about my honor,
my glory. It's the same thing. How? How can that be? Well, the scripture
answers this question. And it's found in this passage
that we just looked at in John chapter 17, look in verse 21
again. That they all may be one as thou,
Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in
us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me and the
glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be
one even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me."
Now, what our Lord is talking about is oneness, union with
Himself. You know, this is mysterious.
I know what it means. Do I comprehend it all? Of course
not. Now, I could be one with Christ, but the Bible says we
are one with Christ. If I'm one with Christ, That
means when he kept the law, I did too. It means when he honored
God, I really did too. When he went to the trees, I
went right there with him. All he is, I am. All he did, I did. Where he is,
I am. I'm one with him. Now that's
my hope. That's my glory that I'm speaking
of. Now we actually have the excellency
of his person, his righteousness by imputation. And what is meant
by righteousness by imputation? You know, this, this book just
keeps getting bigger to me, more glorious, more awesome. Turn
with me to Romans chapter four. Verse 5, But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness, even as David also describes
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness. Without their works, saying,
Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are
covered, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute.
Now, His righteousness is mine by imputation. You know what
that means? God makes me righteous. He doesn't
look at me sinful and then, well, I'm going to count Him righteous.
It doesn't work that way. I'm righteous in Christ by union
with Him. I am righteous in Christ. Therefore,
he infused righteousness to me. I am in union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. I am my beloved and he is mine. I am righteous before God because
Christ's obedience is my obedience. And therefore, God says he's
righteous and he infused righteousness to me. You know why he infused
righteousness to me? Because I am righteous in Christ.
That's why. He wouldn't impute righteousness
if he wasn't there. Christ is my righteousness before
God, and he imputes it to me. We're righteous by imputation. We have his righteous nature.
Now, think about this. We have his righteous nature
given to us, imparted to us. Turn with me to Psalm 45. Verse 13, and this is the description
of every believer. The king's daughter. Is all glorious. And what's that next word? Within. And that's God's description
of the king's daughter, all glorious within not. Righteousness is
not just to cover it on the outside. It's something that goes inside. And the king's daughter is all
glorious within. And this is a reference to the
holy nature. Let me show you this in the Psalms.
Turn with me to Psalm 30, verse 12, the new nature. Psalm 30,
verse 12. I never, I always wondered what
what David meant by this. Verse 12. to the end that my
glory may sing praise to Thee. You know, when I praise God,
truly praise God, who is it that praises God? It's my glory. It's
my nature given to me by God, my glory. Look in Psalm 57, verse
8. Awake up, my glory! Awake, psaltery and harp! Myself
awake early. Have you ever said that? Wake
up, my glory, my glory. It seems dormant. Wake up, my
glory. Look in Psalm 108. Verse one. Oh, God, my heart is fixed. Boy, don't you want a fixed heart,
a settled heart, settled on the foundation, not going to be moving
back and forth. He says, my heart is fixed. I will sing and give
praise. How? Even with my glory. That's the same word that Jacob's
talked about when he talks about my honor, my honor, my glory. This glorious glory, this nature
is the Holy nature, the new nature, it's mine. He gave it to me.
It's mine. He will give grace and he will give glory. This
is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is what Paul calls in 2
Corinthians 4, 17, that exceeding and eternal weight of glory. You remember what he says about
this exceeding eternal weight of glory? Turn with me there
for a moment to 2 Corinthians 4. I want you to see this. He speaks in verse 17 for our
light affliction. Which is but. For a moment. Worketh for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. I'm talking about having glory, exceeding
the eternal weight of glory. And if you're a believer, you
have this exceeding eternal weight of glory. You can say this just
as truly as Jacob did when he said, my honor. He talked about
my honor, my glory. Every believer possesses this,
my honor, my glory. Now, how can I know? You talk
about an exceeding eternal weight of glory, I don't see halo over
anybody's head in here. You don't see halo over my head,
do you? What are you talking about this glory? How can you
see it? How can you know if you actually
possess this glory? Now, I can tell how some... This is how you can know if you
personally possess this exceeding eternal weight of glory. Like
I said, it's not a halo over your head. It's not something
you see like that. And this is how you can tell if you possess
this glory. by what you glory in. That's how you can tell. You're
going to glory in something. What do you glory in? Now, there's two scriptures that
come to my mind. But of him or you in Christ Jesus,
who God has made into us wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and
redemption, that according as it's written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord. Now, are you glorying in the
Lord, boasting in the Lord, as your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption? Another scripture that comes
to my mind when I think about that is Galatians 6.14. Paul says, God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
Paul, he's an apostle. He's a man God used to write
at least thirteen books in the Bible. He's probably, in my opinion,
he doesn't know it, but as far as me, he knows it. Well, he's
a great man, isn't he? I know the Lord said none are
greater than John the Baptist, but I say Paul is right up there
on the same level with him as far as by grace what the Lord
used him for. I mean, he was some kind of man. Yet when he
gives this testimony regarding himself, what does he say? God forbid that I should glory,
that I should boast, that I should take credit in anything save
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom? I love the way he says,
by whom. He doesn't say by what, but by
whom. The only cause that I have is the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's it. Is that all? You heard me. You heard me. That's
it. And in glorying in the cross,
there's one reason why I glory in the cross. Because I have
this glory in me. Christ in you. That's my glory. The hope of
glory. Now, you can see why this message
was called the message of two extremes, right? Sin in, leave
out, void. That's extreme sin, isn't it?
That is dark. You don't even like to think
about what took place. It's extreme sin. But we also see extreme
grace, where Jacob can actually say, speak of mine honor, my
glory. Now, our flesh, that describes
what we are by nature. But beloved, if I'm a believer,
I have Jesus Christ in my heart. living in me, dwelling in my
heart by faith. That's my glory. That's why I
believe. Thank God for His extreme grace. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank You for our glory,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, what confidence it fills
us with that His righteousness is our righteousness, that we're
united to Him. Lord, all we can do is say thank
You and praise You for Your grace. Oh, Lord, bless us indeed for
Christ's sake. In His name we pray, Amen. I would like to sing the first
and the last verse of One Day. I've had this chorus on my mind.