This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

We're back to this incredible epistle, 1 Thessalonians, where Paul writes this epistle to this beloved church, and he gives thanks to God. He tells them, always, for all of you, and he does this because he remembers some things, and he knows some things, and he remembers, without ceasing, their work of faith, their labor of love, steadfastness of hope. And then he knows that these brothers, beloved by God—he knows, first of all, they're beloved by God, and secondly, he knows they are the elect of God. The reason he knows that is not because he was able to peek into the secret counsel of God and read that into the secret counsel of God, but rather, he knew that he could read their election through their effectual calling, and he could really affirm and confirm the effectual calling by what it produced in them, namely, all of these virtues, all of these wonderful evidences of grace that he lists in the rest of this chapter.

We began to look at this together the last few weeks. Tonight, we come to verse six, and I want us to zero in on this clause: “having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit”, and we'll pick up the rest next Lord's Day, Lord willing. Having received the word, he says, "'For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, having received the word,'" and that gospel coming, coming in power—he said—"'produced in these people a receiving of the Word.'" You need to see the connection.

Now, what does this little phrase, having received the Word, mean? What does it mean? There are two main words used in the New Testament that can be translated as receive or receiving or received. One of them simply means to accept something, to take something into one's possession without any indication of how it is taken. That Greek word is the Greek word *lambano (λαμβάνω )*. You might receive, for example, a ticket from a police officer when you're stopped. I doubt that you'd receive that with joy or any relish. You just simply receive it. One word in the New Testament that means simply to take something, to receive it, you accept it regardless, *lambano (λαμβάνω) *.

Another word is used which has a strong, strong overtones of receiving rather with delight. To receive with delight. It's a welcoming, appropriating reception. That's the word *dexamenoi  (δεξάμενοι )*, and that's the word that is used here by Paul under inspiration—to accept an offer deliberately, readily, to accept something with open arms, to welcome it, to rejoice in it. He said you received with a welcoming, with an appropriating reception, the Word. In much affliction and with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

This is the word used when it speaks of Simeon in the Gospel of Luke, chapter two, verse 28, translated took—he took, he *dexamenoi  (δεξάμενοι )*, he welcomed, he received with delight—Him, the babe, Jesus, into his arms and blessed God. You recall when Mary and Joseph brought Christ up to the temple according to Old Testament law and Mary came with her sacrifice and he, Simeon, received the babe into his arms. There was a welcoming reception and then that wonderful burst of praise to God for His so great a salvation. That's the word.
Same word is used in Hebrews 11:31, where Rahab, we're told, welcomed the spies. She received the spies. She didn't simply open her door for them. You remember, she cared for them. She hid them. She welcomed them into her home and it was an appropriating reception. Same word used in Acts, chapter three, in verse 21, where it says of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom heaven must *dechomai*—receive, welcome—until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. How had heaven received our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, He was received with joy, with delight as the King of Glory.

Well, that's the word used and it's in that connotation that Paul says here, having received, having received, having welcomed, having welcomed. You received, you welcomed with open arms. Your hearts, in fact, went out and embraced with an appropriating reception. What? Well, notice the word: having received, the Word, the Word. Now, we could spend, really, three, four weeks on just this little phrase, the Word. It's the very word used for the title of our Lord Jesus Christ in John 1:1, *Logos (Λόγος) *. "In the beginning was the Word, the Logos, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." But here, in this passage, as in many others, the term here, *Logos (Λόγος) *, or that phrase, the word, speaks particularly in context of the message of the gospel, the saving message.

Many usages, but here and elsewhere, it means the message concerning salvation, the attainment of salvation, the obtaining of salvation in the kingdom of God through the person Jesus Christ. It's a message that comes declaring man's absolute ruin by the fall. It's included in that message. It's a message which comes declaring man's redemption by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Mediator. It's a message that comes declaring the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. It's a message that comes with overtones demanding repentance and urging men to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's the message that Paul proclaimed wherever he went, the message of the gospel. In fact, it's the word used in 1 Corinthians 1:18 for the—some translations have it the message of the cross, but it is—the Word of the cross, the *Logos (Λόγος) * of the cross. He says, "For the Word of the cross is foolishness"—he's referring to the message of the gospel. It's foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is what? It is the power of God." It's the same word used in Colossians 1:5, where we read, "because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth"—and then he specifies—"the gospel," the message of the truth of the gospel. It's the gospel.

Now, going through the Scriptures and finding these references to the word or message of the gospel, then we must ask the question: what did that word or message contain? What is bound up in that Word, in that message? And the only way to find out is to go to the men that preached it. And when you turn to the book of Acts, for example, you turn to the epistles, you find that it was a distinct message. It was a distinct message that had specific ingredients. And you find out also that it was a final, absolute, unalterable message.

So final, so unalterable that the apostle Paul said to the Galatians in chapter one—you remember that passage—he said, even if I come back to you or you have an angel stepping out of heaven and proclaiming to you any other gospel, an *heteros (ἕτερος) * gospel, another of a different kind gospel, any other word, any other message, he says, let him be anathema, let him be accursed. And then he says, again, I say unto you, let him be accursed.

So when Paul says that these people received, they welcomed with delight—they welcomed with an appropriating reception—the word, he was speaking of nothing less than that message that comes from God with specific ingredients concerning the rights of God, the sin of man, the redemption of God exclusively in Christ, and the demands of God for repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That message committed once and for all for the salvation of sinners. This is what Paul is talking about.

And he says, these people here, there in Thessaloniki—he says, they received the Word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Now notice, he says, having received the Word, the *Logos*, having received the Word—not part of it, every word is inspired—not part of it, not a fraction of it, not most of it, not two-thirds of it, but you received the Word, the entirety of the message, all of it, the full counsel. They received all of it.

You know what that means? That means that they received the negative aspects of that message as well, the negative aspects of that message. And part of receiving the message of the gospel is accepting the bad news that it contains as well. That's the backdrop, the bad news, the bad news concerning man's absolute ruin by the fall. No one receives the word who doesn't welcome—even though it's painful—to welcome that terrible indictment that comes from heaven saying, "Thou art a guilty, wretched, vile rebel, a hell-deserving sinner." And until you know this, you haven't received the entirety of the message.

You see, there's no receiving the Word apart from receiving the awful overtones of man's judgment, the terrible scandal of the cross, that in the bloody form of the Son of God, you find the only hope of salvation. The terrible scandal of the cross, the terrible stumbling block, this thing that was to the Jews, that He who was God became weak, was crucified through weakness. He, though being rich, yet for your sake became poor so that you through His poverty might become rich—2 Corinthians 8:9. And yet they received the whole thing, all of it. That message concerning God's way of saving sinners, and they received it into their heads in the knowledge of it. That's involved in receiving it, to receive it into the head, but also to receive it into their hearts.

That's what also took place in the effectual belief of it, and then into their lives in the practical obedience to it, the surrender of the will, the submission of the will. That's what happened here at Thessaloniki. They received the Word—head, heart, and hands—the entirety of the person, they received the Word. Now, to receive the Word in the biblical sense means nothing less than that, beloved.

And may I draw several observations by way of application at this point before we continue, before looking at the little phrase, how they received it in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit? What is the first indication that God is making His Word come with power and the Holy Spirit into the heart of man? What is the first indication? And the first indication, beloved, by way of application is that he begins to warmly embrace the Word. That's the first indication. He begins—the sinner begins—to warmly embrace the Word.

That is bound up in the meaning of the word, *dékhomai (δέχομαι) *, to welcome with open arms, with joy, with delight, and appropriating of the word with that kind of attitude. The first indication of the effectual calling of God is the hearty embrace of the word. Let me illustrate this from a passage of scripture that joins these two together beautifully. In John 6:44 and 45. Remember that passage? We studied it together. Our Lord says, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day." Well, how does God draw? How does He draw? How does God draw men to Himself? That drawing without which men will not come, cannot come.

Well, how will He draw? Does He draw by some kind of a magical coercion? No, He draws by a way that is mysterious to us, but it's not magical. For notice the next words, "For it is written in the prophets, or it is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." When a man begins to hear and learn from the Father, he is not far away from coming to Christ. So how does God draw? Well, God draws by causing the word to come with power and causing sinners then to begin to welcome the word. There's that warm embrace.

One of the most blessed signs to me as an undershepherd that God is beginning a work of grace is when I see someone who has been so indifferent to the word of God, so indifferent, so laid back, so, well, who cares attitude, to see that person beginning to search the Word earnestly, earnestly, and begin to cry to God that he'd understand the scriptures. Oh, I have high hopes for that person. I don't care how long it takes God to do the work of revealing His Son. He knows what He's doing. You could tell they're hearing, learning from the Father, and when they begin to hear and learn from the Father, won't be too long before they're drawn to the Son.

And that's what Paul recognized in these beloved people there in Thessaloniki. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, he tells them, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with full assurance, just as you know what kind of man we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord. Why? Having received the Word. Having received the Word. The first indication of the effectual call is a warm embrace of the Word of God, a warm embrace of the word of God.  Several examples. We have the principle stated in John 6. Let's look at several examples in the book of Acts where this very word, having received the word, is used. Acts chapter eight, turn with me very quickly. Acts 8:14. I want us to see this together. This is really important for us.

Acts 8:14. We read there, "Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had"—what? See, the same expression—"received the Word of God." Now, what does it mean, received? Does it mean they simply were exposed to the preaching of the apostles? No, for the same strong word is used here, *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*. They welcomed it with delight, with an appropriating reception. They appropriated the word of God from the heart. They welcomed it.

You can read about it beginning with verse five. If you go, if you back up in the same chapter, they welcomed it. Now, Philip, verse five. "Now, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching Christ to them. And the crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was being said by Philip." Now, go to verse eight. "So there was"—what?—"great joy in that city." There was a warm embrace. There was joy, exuberance, the reception of the word of God.

You see the Father drawing, how? Not magically, in mysterious ways that we cannot put down and trace them out. One, two, three, four. Yes, for the scripture says the ways of the Spirit are like the wind, right? There's an element of mystery, but it's not magic. It's by the means of the Word of God, the living, active Word of God applied, the power applied through the Spirit. And so as the Spirit of God worked in Samaria, people received the Word, and then these blessed fruits followed.

It's the same word used of the Bereans in Acts 17, while we're still in Acts. Acts 17: 11, we read, "Now these were more noble-minded"—Acts 17: 11, with reference to the Bereans—"now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessaloniki, for they received the word with great eagerness." They received the Word. Same thing, same expression. They welcomed it. They appropriated it to themselves.

And now the Scripture states categorically, and I want us to look at it so that there would be no confusion in anyone's mind. This is crystal clear in scripture. The Holy Spirit-inspired record, 1 Corinthians 2:14, is the text that uses the same word, the same word, *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*, where we read, "But a natural man"—the natural man, what is that man? It's the man devoid of the Spirit's operation. The Spirit's operation. Here's the Word. The natural man does not, what? dékhomai (δέχομαι). Does not accept. Does not receive with delight. Does not embrace from the heart. There's no warm embrace. The depths of the Spirit of God. He does not receive the depths of the spirit of God. There's no joyful, delightful, warm embrace of the things of the Spirit. The natural man, the man who's yet a stranger to the working of God in grace, he does not receive the Word. Oh yes, he may be exposed to the Word. He may even have the Word fall into his mental categories. In fact, he may be able to give back the plan of salvation as he heard it. He may be able to give back some of the substance of the word, but the word used here is that same word, dékhomai (δέχομαι), to welcome, to receive into head, heart, and life. And the Bible says he can't, he can't do that. He says the natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, why? They are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are what? Spiritually examined."

There must be an ability to embrace the Word this way, and this ability is nothing less than the mighty, powerful working of God the Holy Spirit Himself. And so the lesson of this text is tremendous for us. And let me pause and address the parents here in our midst. As you pray for your kids, as you pray for your little ones, what should you consider some signs that God may be beginning the work of grace in them? What should you take as a sign? I believe here's a good one: when those kids begin to show an independent thirst and hunger for the Word of God, they begin to welcome the Word of God with a warm embrace. And you find that even when they know you're not checking on them, and you look out the corner of your eye sitting in a service like this, and you see them sitting beside you or sitting in front of you or behind you, you see them with their mouths open drinking in the preaching of the Word. When you find them of their own accord reaching out after the Word of God, that's when you ought to begin to give thanks to the Lord when you pray for your kids. That's maybe God beginning a work of grace.

Not when they can parrot something. That may be nothing but the work of producing little Pharisees. Not when simply they can model it, but when it is evident that they begin to truly receive it with joy, and there's that warm embrace, and there's that insatiable desire for it. Have you received the Word? Are you receiving the Word this evening, tonight, as you hear? Is your heart reaching out? Are you welcoming it with a glad appropriation? Or are you simply being exposed to it? Are you really receiving it with joy, or are you just can't wait for the service to end? The first indication of God's effectual calling is just that.

Secondly, second application from this little phrase, the primary characteristic of a true Christian is that he has submitted to a specific body of truth. He has submitted to a specific body of truth. Having received the Word, you received it as it came is the implication. You didn't pare off any of the rough edges of the Word, of the message. You didn't tamper with it. You didn't water it down. It wasn't like a spiritual buffet—well, I'll take this, but I'll leave that out. You didn't bring it through the sieve of human understanding. You didn't press it into the mold of human prejudice. You didn't try to shape it after the disposition of carnal desires. No, no, no. Paul said, just as it came to you, you warmly embraced it. And you didn't seek to alter it one bit. That's the reception that he's talking about.

That's a genuine child of God, a man who, among other things, has been exposed to a given message and has embraced that message in total and completely embraced it, and he has sought to receive it as it is, not alter one iota of it. A Christian is a man who has submitted to and embraced a different course of authority, even the Word of truth. Notice what our Lord said in John 17, where He prayed for His own. In praying for His own, He gives us some beautiful descriptions of a Christian, and this is one of them.

In John 17:6-8, we read the following. Our Lord is speaking, I have, or praying—"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word." Just as I gave Your Word to them, they kept it. They kept Your word just as I gave it to them. They received and kept it. Now, verse seven: "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them, The words, the specific words—not just thoughts—but I've given unto them the very words that You have given Me, and what? What's the next phrase? "And they received them." Not some of them, not portions, not bits and pieces, but all of them. That's the Lord's description of a Christian, of a disciple. He has received the words of God. He's embraced the words of God. He seeks by the grace of God to keep the words of God. Fully, completely, all of it.

You don't get to pick and choose. They don't judge those words. They submit to those words. They align their lives with those words. They regulate their lives by the word of God, and under the word of God. They don't tamper with the word. They don't tamper with the message to bring it in line with their thoughts, but they seek to bring their thoughts in line with the message. They don't seek to bring the word to be subject to their own judgments, but they allow their judgments to be subject to the word. They're constantly reforming, aligning with the word, conforming to the image of Christ.

Let me ask you something this evening, dear child of God. Are you convinced—are you convinced—that if you throw off the absolute authority of the Scripture, you have no grounds from now on to even claim that you're a Christian? And I really, I feel myself compelled to speak a word of warning to us as God's people. There's even in our evangelical circles, emerging not a great big red ax over the doctrine of the absolute authority and the inspiration of the Scripture, but you know what there is? There's a little dim gray question mark way up in the right-hand corner, as it were.

Do you see the difference? If somebody came to you this evening after the service with the Bible and had a great big thick red marker and put a big red ax over the whole thing and says, now that's what you ought to do with your Bible, just cancel it out. It is not trustworthy. Discard of it, just get rid of it. It's not trustworthy. I mean, your eyes would be up in horror, wouldn't you? But now if he held it out and said, the whole thing is the Word of God, but a little fuzzy gray question mark over a word here, a word there, and this and that and the other, right-hand corner, you may be tempted to kind of overlook that as pretty harmless, and I feel that's what's happening even in evangelical circles. Little fuzzy question mark.

Oh, yes, that the Bible, you know, seems to teach fiat creation, that God actually broke in and created life, created everything out of the womb of nothing, but there's a question mark. There's a question mark. Maybe the Genesis account of creation really isn't that literal. Maybe it's not that reliable. Maybe evolution is real. You know, God is behind it, but maybe it is, maybe not. The Bible seems to teach this, but, beloved, listen, a Christian is someone who has received the Word as it has come to him in its totality with all of its difficulties as well as with its promises of joy and blessing, and I don't want to belabor the point, but I do want to state it sufficiently to make the point.

Would to God, would to God, that it could be said of us every time we opened the Word, we opened the Scriptures, every time the Scriptures are proclaimed and read. Now, what Paul could say of these people as he does in 2:13—we'll enlarge on it, Lord willing, more when we come to that. Notice what he says. Same letter, 1 Thessalonians 2:13. Would to God, this could be said of us every time we opened the word of God. 1 Thessalonians 2:13: "And for this reason, we also give thanks, we also thank God without ceasing that when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the Word of God, which also is at work in you who believe."

What a wonderful thing for a servant of God to be able to say that about a congregation. And he says, this is what makes me thankful to God above all else, that when we came saying, thus says the Lord—now remember, Paul simply opened up the Scriptures, the Old Testament Scriptures. Remember the setting of this in Acts 17, the birthing of the church? He went into the synagogue, he reasoned out of what? Out of his own, you know, imagination? No, no, out of the Scriptures. Verse by verse, phrase by phrase. But he said, when you people saw me, going through the scrolls, and proving from the scrolls that Jesus was the Messiah, you saw beyond the scroll and the parchment, you saw beyond the messenger, you saw the God who made you. Receive the word with joy.

He says, thank God you received it as the Word of God. And I trust, beloved, when you sit here Sunday by Sunday and see beyond the black book and beyond the messenger, and you receive it as the Word of God. Do you? If you do, do you know what's gonna happen? You're gonna be an imitator, an example. And from you, the Word will sound forth. And all these other effects will follow if you have the cause, having received the Word of God.

Two principles, then, I see in that phrase. The first indication of the effectual call is a warm embrace of the word. Secondly, a Christian is one who received a definite body of revealed truth, all of it. And the third thing, I'll only touch on it briefly, because I do wanna get to the little phrase "in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit."

Thirdly, the only hope for such a reception of the Word in ourselves and others is what? The only hope to have that kind of reception of the Word, that warm embrace, in us and in others, is the mighty, the mighty work of the Holy Spirit. There's no other way around it. The mighty work of the Holy Spirit. Paul says, our gospel came in power, you received it, and the two are inseparable. If it doesn't come with power, it will not be received like this. Or it may be received in the first sense of that other word, like *lambano (λαμβάνω )* I received a ticket begrudgingly. I'll admit that's true, but it won't be received with the warm embrace and appropriation.

Why? Because the Bible tells us, "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him." Well, let's press on with the remaining time that we have.
What circumstances attended that reception of the Word? What circumstances attended the reception of that Word? Paul touches on them here, there are two. He said, having received the Word, how? This is the first one, in much affliction. That's the first set of circumstances. And the second one, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Someone said, and I quote, it's a good reminder, "an age out of fellowship with martyrs is neither noble nor blessed, however prosperous." End of quote. It's hard for us to understand this little phrase, having received the Word, in much affliction. Much affliction. It's hard because most of us, for the most part, do not know experimentally what much affliction means. This is the word used throughout the length of scripture, translated in some places, tribulation. It's the Greek word that we're familiar with, *thlipsis (θλῖψις) *. *Thlipsis (θλῖψις) *. It means to crush, to press, to compress, to squeeze. Which is from the Greek word, *thlao (θλάω) *, to break, trouble, tribulation, affliction. Often a metonym for evils, by which one is pressed, calamity.

Paul, and it's strange to say it, but Paul assured all of his converts that just as surely as they had a common lot in their sinfulness, common lot in their Savior, in their hope of heaven, he always assured them that they're going to have a common lot in their affliction, in their suffering. Notice what he said, new converts there, Acts 14. From a human perspective, what a strange thing to tell a bunch of new converts. If you want to get them discouraged and send them back to the leeks and onions and garlic of Egypt, just tell them what Paul told them. What a way to confirm the disciples.

But look at this, Acts 14: 22. Well, let's back up to verse 21. In verse 21, Luke, under inspiration, said this, that they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, places where they preached the Word of God before. Now, verse 22: "strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'Through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.'"

I thought you'd go to new converts and tell them how wonderful it is that everything, you come to Jesus, and everything's gonna be blessed and happy and joyful and peaceful, and it's gonna be, I mean, a smooth ride, a smooth sailing, a walk in the garden. You receive Christ, and you're just gonna be like sitting by the French Riviera, putting your feet up, sipping iced tea. No, no, they went back and strengthened the souls of the disciples by telling them the truth, saying, roll up your sleeves. Through much affliction, you will enter the kingdom of God.

He told the Philippians, in Philippians 1:21, it has been granted, it was a gift of grace to you, not only to believe in His name, but to suffer also for His namesake. He told these Thessalonians in this first letter, chapter three, verses three and four, I'll only read them because we hope to come to them eventually and expound them, "so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction, just as it happened, and as you know."

How could Paul be so sure that everywhere he went, he told these people, sooner or later, face it, you're gonna have a tough time? You're gonna face it. On what basis could he make such an assertion? And I believe, personally, he had conveyed to him the words that our Lord said to His disciples shortly before He went back to heaven.

Remember what those words were in John 16:33: "In the world, you have, *thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, you have tribulation, *thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, afflictions, but take courage; I have overcome the world." And if our Lord Jesus says to His own, "you have tribulation," then Paul had no qualms that wherever he went, saying, listen, sooner or later, if you're not in the crucible now, you will be in it, you will— and remember the word, **thlipsis (θλῖψις)* tribulation or affliction comes from a word which means to put pressure upon, to squeeze, to press. That's what affliction is. It's experiencing the vice-like jaws of pressure.

The pressure may sometimes come through actual physical abuse. That's what happened to those early converts. You remember Paul had been, hardly had been long enough to establish residence when affliction started. They grabbed the fellow who was taking care of him, being his host, they wanted to abuse him, and he had to give them some sort of a surety, sort of a payment to get them off his back, and Paul had to leave town quickly. The gospel was planted in the midst of affliction, persecution. These people knew experimentally that through much tribulation, they had to enter the kingdom of God, and it would seem according to the words of our Lord that just as all believers have a common lot in poverty of spirit, in meekness, in mourning, in hungering, in thirsting, He says in the last beatitude in Matthew 5: "'Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.'"

Now, there are times when perhaps that pressure does not come so much with physical abuse, but it comes, how? It comes through the pressure of what? Being cut off, ostracized, canceled out, pressured out of the circle of friendship, and it's a terrible commentary in Human Depravity how people can be so nice and yet make it obvious that they're so called to us. That's affliction, that's real affliction, that's real suffering.

In fact, I think the suffering of rejection is perhaps the deepest form of suffering there is, is that the inner suffering and affliction that comes with it, why? Because you see, the Christian exposes the world, the worldling, because of his culture pattern, because of the common grace of God restraining in society, he may not feel free to pick up a stone, his culture, his society said, well, you must, you know, smile, but in his heart, you sense the pulse of his heart as well as see his mocking, empty smile, his heart is a heart that says, if I could, I would pick up a stone.

Scripture says all Christians will have a part in that one way or another, the affliction, the tribulation of rejection, openly, overtly, or covertly, it matters not, and perhaps this is why this church was so influential, how the word sounded forth. For you see, when people are recruited in time of war, they don't join the army to see the world through, you know, a vacation or a portal, the 19-year-old who signs up, who knows, who knows in six months' time where he's going to be, and you may not get so many volunteering, but those that do, they know what they're in for, and they make better soldiers.

 And in the history of the church, one of the great principles that unfolds is this, that when the church of Jesus Christ has been at war, and the lines have been clearly drawn, and the forces of hell and darkness have been arrayed against the people of God, and the persecution and affliction break up above ground, you don't have as many, quote, volunteers. Those that know that they're in for blood, possibly for death, they make far better soldiers. And, beloved, it may be true—many of us, where we are, are going to be called upon to prove the reality of our profession, our faith, our reception of the Word, by seeing if we still welcome it in much affliction, however way that comes. Because you know what affliction does? Affliction reveals whether or not you're merely retaining the word on the surface of the life, or whether you've received it into the very fiber of your being.

And, young people, you face this in your university classes, on campus, day in and day out. You have this **thlipsis (θλῖψις)*, the pressure, to conform or be canceled out, and here's what affliction does. Affliction reveals whether or not you've merely retained the Word on the surface of life, or whether you've embraced it, received it into the very fiber of your being. Let me give you chapter and verse to prove that statement. Please turn to Matthew 13.

Matthew 13—and this struck me so forcibly in preparing for tonight. Notice the parable of the sower, and it says that those that received the word on the rocky places, stony ground, that they received the Word with joy. You know, it's interesting. They received the Word with joy. Do you know that the word translated "received" is not the word *dékhomai (δέχομαι)*, it's *lambano (λαμβάνω )*, *lambanō*. They welcomed it, but not with warm embrace, and they're exposed a little bit later, so there's this initial excitement, the surface excitement, forgiveness, eternal life. Oh, wow, this is glorious.

What happened? Well, the sun rose. It wasn't long before the sun beat down upon the little plant. It shriveled up, withered. What happened? It died, it's gone, and our Lord is going to interpret this parable, and then He says in verse—notice verse 20 and 21 in Matthew 13—"And the one on whom the seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy—*lambanō*, right? Not *dékhomai *—and yet he has no root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away." See what happens?

It's the picture of the one who receives the Word, retains the Word, but he's not to the roots of his being attached to the Word, and when the sun of tribulation, persecution arises, what does it do? It reveals clearly that there was no root, no root. There was retention, but no root, and when persecution arises because of the Word, because of his association with the Word, with Christ—but will you identify with Christ if it means your skin, your wife, your children, your life, your possessions, your work? Wait, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'll save my skin. You can have my Jesus. You can have my Jesus.

I'm deeply concerned for professing Christians whose whole Christian experience has not a single trace of self-denial, not a single trace. They can never say no to a plan, to pleasure, to anything for the sake of Christ. I fear that they are merely retaining the Word, and when the real tribulation, persecution comes because of the Word, they'll fall away. Beloved, let's not wait till it rises to see whether or not we have roots, but let us ask the Lord to show us, Lord, have I truly received the Word?

Well, they received it in much affliction, and all the affliction did was prove that they are truly, really, they have received it, and then you have this wonderful contrast. I just couldn't believe this. This was incredible. My eyes just opened up. Here's the way that this ought to—I mean, you ought to translate it literally this way: having received the word in much affliction, the Greek word, the next Greek word translated "with" is *meta (μετά) *, and really, you can translate, and it ought to be translated here this way: having received the word in much affliction along with, together with—together with—the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Now, whoever heard of such a foolish, unbefitting couple as affliction and joy? I mean, we've come across this, but it just struck me even more. You know, sometimes you see a couple coming down the street and he's like six foot seven and she's four foot eleven, and you say, how in the world did these two people get together? I mean, it just doesn't quite fit, you know, on a human perspective, in a visual way. Well, here comes affliction down the street, and the long side of her is what? Joy, joy. How do you get those two together? You just don't look like a good match. Well, you see, God delights to put things together that only God could ever think to put together. So we might, you and I might, put affliction with a word like endurance—having received the word in much affliction with endurance of the Holy Spirit. Or we might put together having received the word in much enthusiasm and joy. They fit together. But affliction and joy? How do you get those two together? Well, you see, God just likes to put together things that we human beings would never put together.

Who would ever have thought of God becoming a man, right? And choosing to breathe His first breath amidst the acrid smell of a stinking stable. Who would ever have dreamed of a thing like that? What does God put together? Deity and the smell of dung. And God joins them together. You see, His ways are not our ways—"as the heavens are high above the earth, so His thoughts are above our thoughts and His ways are above our ways." And now He wanted to bring these Thessalonians into joy. How does He do it? He doesn't do it by stepping up the anti-poverty program, giving double benefits of welfare—no, no. He lets them come to the Christian faith in the crucible of suffering.

Why? Because He knows that there's an inseparable relationship between joy and affliction. You say, I don't understand. Well, stick with me just the remaining few minutes and I hope maybe you will. You see, the Word that came to them offering salvation in the Lord, demanding absolute submission to Christ—that's the Word which, when they received it, led them into the arena of suffering and affliction. The moment they received the Word—you read about that in Acts 17—the Jews became jealous, began to persecute them and afflict them and harass them. Why? Because they received the Word about Jesus Christ and about the gospel. But that Word to which they adhered, even though it meant affliction, was also a Word that promised something.

What did it promise? "I will never leave you nor forsake you." A Word that promised, "He that has the Son has life." A Word that declared that "their sins, iniquities will be remembered no more." A Word that says, "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; so I go to prepare a place for you." A Word that says that there's a glorious inheritance of the saints. So for the first time, they had that in the midst of suffering, which they never had in the midst of peace.

Sure, everything was going fine. Thessaloniki was a thriving port city. No doubt, many of these people were feeding on the affluence of the city in a state of idolatry. And now they turn from their idols to serve the living and true God. And they enter into the crucible of suffering and yet joy. Why? Well, for the first time, they had something the idol could never give them. They knew what it was to say, Abba, Father. They knew what it was to say, Hallelujah, found Him whom my soul so long has craved. They knew what it was to say, my sins are gone, gone, gone—yes, my sins are gone. All of them.

No need to come before the idol day after day, week after week, hoping, yearning somehow to get a little bit of peace of conscience. Now in the midst of persecution—I mean, you make them look up and say, Father, the persecution really drives them to look up and say, Father, I thank You that through the blood of Your Son, my sins are gone forever. And they are buried in the depths of the sea. See, that's why they had joy. In the midst of affliction, the affliction came because of the Word, but the Word brought with it the very thing that raised them above affliction and gave them joy in the Holy Spirit.

Does man reject me? It's all right, because God accepts me. And that's a cause of joy. Does man take my earthly inheritance? That's all right. God has prepared for me a heavenly, glorious inheritance that produces joy. Does man frown upon me? That's all right, as long as God smiles upon me, and that produces joy. God is for me, no matter who is against me, and He will right all wrongs—sorrowful yet rejoicing.

So you see, in the midst of affliction, joy. What kind of joy? Oh, he tells us, joy of the Holy Spirit. Oh, the tremendous lesson in this, and I say it tenderly to some of us who may be sitting here tonight feeling, if I only could find the secret of joy. If only I could find the secret of joy. Beloved, here it is. Here it is, beloved. Here it is.

Joy doesn't have one atom to do with your circumstances. Let me say that again. Joy doesn't have anything, not even one atom to do with your circumstances or with your possessions or with having someone in your life or not having someone in, or anything that relates to this life—not a single thing. Joy has solely to do with your relationship to God, to Christ, to heaven, to things eternal, and to the world to come. Joy has nothing to do with what you have here and now. Happiness does. Happiness does. Happiness has everything to do with what you have here.

Now, thank God, in various instances, He gives His children not only joy but happiness as well. Happiness is based upon pleasant circumstances, being around pleasant people, living in health, living in relative prosperity, and the world can have happiness as well as sorrow, but the world can never have joy. Joy is a quality produced by a right relationship to God. That's why it says the fruit of what? The Spirit. The Spirit is joy. Nobody else can give it but God the Holy Spirit. No one else.

Therefore, no one has this gift of joy except the person indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And when he's got it, it's not depending on circumstances because it's the result of what? A right relationship to God, the world to come, spiritual realities. That's why you read in the book of Acts after they let loose Peter and the others, after beating them, in Acts 5:41, what do we read? "So they went on their way from the presence of the Sanhedrin, how? Rejoicing. Rejoicing. Rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for the name."

And this is what has got the ire of unregenerate men up to its boiling point. Whenever there's open persecution, the more they persecute the people of God, the more joyful the people of God become. And they can't get it. They can't understand it. They can't understand this. Why? Because they think if we take away things, we'll kill that fanatical joy. So they take away possessions. And guess what happens? Their joy rises a few degrees. They take away loved ones. Their joy rises a few more degrees. They take away life itself and they die doing what? Like so many of the martyrs, they die, what? Singing the praises of God.

Why? Because all men can do is release them from the prison of this body to go into the presence of God. Oh, beloved, you know, anything of the joy of the Holy Spirit, it has nothing to do with things, circumstances. That's how these people receive the Word, in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit. Oh, may God grant that as they thus receive the Word, that we too, by the grace of God, shall receive the Word.

Every time we open this book, have you received the Word? Are you receiving, welcoming the Word in a warm, hearty embrace? Or are you simply tolerating it, simply retaining it up here in the head until such a time it will be convenient to flop it off? May God grant that we shall be receivers of the Word, that it may be written of us, having received the Word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit.

And may it never be said that when tribulation and difficulties arose, they fell away. May God deliver us, each and every one of us, from fair-weather Christians. May we serve our Lord, if necessary, even when it means the sealing of our witness with our own lives, to serve Him faithfully, to serve Him consistently, and to serve Him with delight.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

The time has come for the public ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ to culminate in the cross. It has reached its climax, and He will now present Himself as the King of Israel in the most public and most official way. This is one of the very well-known events in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ on this earth, known as His triumphal entry. But while it is well-known, it is also an event that has often been misunderstood. Because while it is true—and it is—that our Lord clearly presents Himself here and meant to present Himself as the King of Israel, He knew all along that He was also presenting Himself as the Passover Lamb of His people. Behold the Lamb of God.

He entered Jerusalem this day not expecting that there would be massive national repentance and that Israel would embrace Him as her Savior King, but He understood this entering into Jerusalem will ultimately lead to His death on a cross. This is His first step towards the crucifixion. What He's doing here, He's doing it in a very deliberate way. Very deliberate. The purpose of what He's doing, the timing of what He's doing—it is all in accordance with the divine plan that is unfolding with precision.Can't help but think of His selflessness, His love for us—love so amazing, so divine—love for us that is utterly selfless, sacrificial.

He's enjoyed two great days in Bethany among friends. They held a dinner in His honor, and there you remember He was anointed by Mary, an expression of her love, her devotion, her understanding of His mission. The next day, great crowds come out to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead, and to see Jesus, and many believed. And so the shepherd is seeing His sheep gathered to Him, even those for whom He would soon lay down His life, gathered to Him. It had to be a two days of great satisfaction to Him, great joy, peace, rest.

But now on this Monday, He willingly leaves this place of rest and joy to enter Jerusalem and to do it in a way that would ultimately lead to the cross. So we come to the triumphal entry of Jesus, and as we come to this account, there are some issues that we come face to face with that you can't really avoid if you really study the Word of God. And I have to tell you that in my study this week, when you consider all of the Gospel records about this final week of His life, and when you read all of the faithful, godly expositors and scholars, you discover there's disagreement about the timing.

What day did this occur on? Some actually say—some minor position—but some say, well, it took place on the Sabbath, that it was on a Saturday. Most have said that this occurred on Sunday, Palm Sunday. Thus we have Palm Sunday, the observance of the idea that He entered Jerusalem on a Sunday. Some have said this happened on a Monday. So much disagreement about the timing among godly expositors, so many arguments involved, so much counterpoint, that we literally could have spent the entire day today just talking about timing and setting forth the various arguments and presenting the various positions.

And I have to tell you, in preparing this week it was difficult to decide exactly how I wanted to approach it, because I do like to think through these issues together with you. But after thinking about it prayerfully, I don't think that would be the most profitable use of our time. There are few places where this is going to really affect the interpretation in a very, very insignificant, minute way. And I believe when you see so many godly people taking different positions, that's always an indicator to me at least that there must be something here more central that the Holy Spirit intended for us to lay a hold of. And that's what we want to do. That's where I want to spend our time—not talking so much about the timing of the events as getting to the meat that is found here and learning really together what our Lord really wants us to understand, wants us to learn.

I will say however, however—parenthesis—that after looking at the issues, the position that I've reached is that our Lord entered Jerusalem on Monday, 10th of Nisan, and that He was crucified on Friday, the first month of the year, their year, Nisan the 14th day. Now, if you want to do more study on your own and you want to really look into this further, I encourage you to do that. I think this is the case for this position that has been set forth thoroughly, convincingly, and thoroughly by Harold Hohner, H-O-E-H-N-E-R, in his book *Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ*. And so, if you are interested in it, you can get that book and look into it—*Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ*—connecting it to the prophecy in Daniel 9 and so forth.

But following this timeline, let me set forth the events that we're going to meet with in the four Gospels as we look at this final week of our Lord's life leading to His crucifixion and then the resurrection. So here's the timeline. On Saturday evening, Jesus is anointed at Simon the leper's house. On Sunday, a great crowd comes out to Bethany to see Lazarus and to see the Lord. On Monday, our Lord enters Jerusalem. He visits the temple, looks around, and then returns to Bethany. The day that He enters Jerusalem is Nisan 10. And this is a significant day because it is the day when the lambs were selected for the Passover. And we'll talk about that in a minute more today and next Lord's Day, Lord willing. On Tuesday, He leaves from Bethany to come again to Jerusalem and curses the barren fig tree and cleanses the temple. The religious leaders begin to seek how they might destroy Him, and then He goes back to Bethany.

On Wednesday, the disciples see the withered fig tree, the tree Jesus had cursed. At the temple, Jesus has a day of controversy with the religious leaders of the Jews. That afternoon, Jesus makes His way to the Mount of Olives, and there He gives that well-known discourse, the Olivet Discourse. He predicts that in two days He'll be crucified at the time of Passover, and it was on Wednesday that Judas plans the betrayal of Christ with the religious leaders.
On Thursday, He had His disciples prepare the Passover lamb. They observed the Passover meal according to the Galilean time frame. We're going to talk about this as we get further into it. The Judeans reckon time differently than the Galileans, and so literally there were two Passover observances, one on Thursday and one on Friday. Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples on Thursday. They had their Passover meal in the upper room, and leaving the upper room, Jesus had a discourse with His disciples and then He offered intercessory prayer for them.

Then they get to the Garden of Gethsemane, and there Jesus suffers in agony as He contemplates the cup that He will soon drink—the cup that awaits Him, the wrath of God. Later that night, He's betrayed, arrested, and during the night He is tried, first by Annas and later by Caiaphas, with the religious leaders. Early in the morning on Friday, Jesus is tried by the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod Antipas, and then Pilate again, and then He was led to the cross and was crucified at 9 a.m. Six hours later, 3 p.m., at the very time when the Passover lambs were being slaughtered, sacrificed, He died. He gave up His spirit, and He was buried later that day.
On Saturday, His body is lying in the tomb during the Sabbath, and the Pharisees secure Roman guards to keep watch of the tomb. Then Sunday, Christ was resurrected from the dead, fulfilled the type of the offering of the firstfruits which was offered the day after the Sabbath. He is the firstfruits of those who will be raised from the dead. This is what we're going to see in this final week from Monday to Sunday, Lord willing.

You'll notice when it comes to the triumphal entry itself, John gives us in his account a rather brief summary of this day compared with the synoptic Gospels. So we're going to keep our attention here in John's account. So if you want to look at more of the details of His triumphal entry, you'll find them in Matthew 21, Mark 11, and Luke 19. But this morning we're going to focus, and next Lord's Day, Lord willing, we're going to focus particularly with some cross-references, but particularly on John's account.

And there are four things that we want to consider together as we begin to really look into this account of the triumphal entry of Jesus. Number one, we're going to look together at the manner of His coming. And secondly, we're going to look at the meaning of His coming. Thirdly, at the message of His coming. And fourthly, the misunderstanding of His coming.

So let's begin this morning with the manner of His coming. That's all we will do this morning, the manner of His coming. And we'll pick it up where we leave off today, next time, Lord willing. The manner of His coming, and this is bracketed by verse 12 and verse 15. Let's look at these verses together now.

"On the next day, the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, 'Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.' And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, 'Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt.'"

The manner of His coming. He entered Jerusalem on this day, Nisan 10. And the first thing I want to point out here is that He came as a King. The manner of His coming, He came as a King. He came as the King. He came in such a way that it was evident He was and is the King, the King of Israel. Everything about His entry was designed to point to Jesus as the true and promised King of Israel.

The way He rode into the city, He came in on a young donkey, a colt. The disciples found this colt. Jesus told them that they would. He gave them specific instructions. He sent them into a village, and He said that they would find it there, and they did, and were told in the other accounts that this colt has never been ridden before. And you know, kings don't use used things, they don't. And so in keeping with royalty, this colt has never been ridden before until Jesus Himself rode it into the city. And so this colt was especially set aside for this purpose, this royal purpose.

And what Jesus does here is a literal fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy given to us in Zechariah 9 and verse 9. John notes that in verse 14, Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it as it is written, quoting Zechariah 9:9. Verse 15: "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." And so when He came in riding on this donkey, it was a literal fulfillment of the prophecy concerning Israel's King.

The prophecy there in Zechariah 9:9, we read the following: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Lowly and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a pack animal." And so He comes in such a way as to say, this is the King of Israel. This is the long-awaited King.

We also note, we need to note, not only does He come in a way that really displays Him clearly as the King, but the way that He entered spoke of what kind of a King He was. It spoke of what kind of a King He was. He doesn't come with a sword. He doesn't come as a King might enter with a sword, with pomp, with power. He doesn't come riding on a horse ready for battle. He doesn't come riding on a chariot. Rather, He comes humbly. He comes peaceably, not to conquer with a sword, but to conquer by His shed blood. The blood of His death.
And so, the way that He rode in, He said clearly that He was the King.

Not only that, but the way that the crowds were treating Him. Also, if you look at all the accounts, the picture that really emerges is that Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem from Bethany with people, with an entourage of people. And after He's seated on this colt, they begin to break out in praise. There is this enthusiasm. And in fact, they're so excited, they're so enthusiastic, they put their garments on the colt and then they begin to lay their garments before Him.

As He makes His way down the Mount of Olives, they begin to lay their garments in front of Him. And then John tells us these palm trees are being waved. And by the way, palm branches—not trees, rather, branches—in the Scripture are a symbol of joy. We find them in Revelation 7:9. They're throwing down these branches before Him, a symbol of joy. You are our deliverer. You are the source of joy. You are our triumphant King.

The chief priest had already said, if you see Jesus anywhere, report to us because we want to arrest Him. We're going to arrest Him. Well, they had long forgotten this warning and they were caught up in the emotion, the hysteria of the moment. The entire place is lit up with enthusiasm, with expectation. The long-awaited hour has now come. The Messiah from God has come to us. And they are literally paving the way ahead of Him, ahead of His entrance, His path for His entrance. And they are receiving their King with open arms.

Spurgeon makes the observation that it's not insignificant. He said it is significant that John is the only one of the four evangelists who mentioned the palm branches. Others refer to branches, but not particularly palm branches. And he makes the connection. He says, and it was to John that the vision was given in Revelation 7:9 of the great multitudes which no man could number, of all nations, kindred, and people, and tongue, who stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried out with a loud voice saying, saying, salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

So you have this group of people now coming with Jesus from Bethany to Jerusalem, laying their garments before Him, palm branches, this excitement, this joy, jubilance. And then you have now another group coming out from Jerusalem now to meet Him. And together now, you have this outbreak of praise and enthusiasm as Jesus makes His way into Jerusalem. And they're shouting. They're shouting what? What are they shouting? A portion of Psalm 118.
When they began to shout, verse 13, John 12, "Hosanna! Blessed"—blessed— "is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel." And the verb "began to shout" is in the imperfect tense. And it really pictures the crowd beginning to shout, kept shouting, crying out, and continuing to shout over and over and over and over again the following Old Testament passages.

Of course, the bitter tragedy, the ironic, the tragic irony is that here the Jewish crowd is welcoming the long-awaited Messiah and King, but only a few days later the same crowd would cry out—using the same verb, imperfect tense—away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. John 19:15. The fickle crowds went from crown Him to crucify Him.

But here they're shouting a portion of Psalm 118. When they began to shout, verse 13, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel." Psalm 118, verse 25 says this: "O Yahweh, save! O Yahweh, succeed! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh; We have blessed you from the house of Yahweh." And so they're shouting out scripture that has to do with the coming of the King of Israel.

And by the way, Psalm 118 was the benediction psalm for the Passover meal. So even the very scripture that they're citing, that they're shouting, that's going on is a foreshadowing of the very purpose for which our Lord was coming. He had come to be what? Our Passover lamb. He had come to be our Passover sacrifice, coming not only to present Himself as the King, but to present Himself as well in a moment, as we will see, as the lamb, the Passover lamb, the Lamb of God.

And so you have the celebration, people enthusiastic. They're shouting out with joy, Psalm 118, verse 25, "Hosanna." And by the way, the word Hosanna means save, please. Save, please. Or save now. Lord, save, please. Or save now, Lord. But this word, as it began to be used, pretty soon it came to mean not only would you save, but salvation is here. Salvation has arrived.
John Piper, illustrating this, said, and I quote, "it's like if you could swim and you fell into a pool of water and you were saying, someone please save me. That's how the word was first used. But as it came to be used, pretty soon it would be what you would cry out after the life preserver has been thrown to you already. And now you say, I am saved. Salvation has come. Salvation has come."

And so Jesus is making His way into Jerusalem. This is what they were shouting. Salvation is here. Salvation has come. Here is the King of Israel. He is—here comes our Savior King.

Now the people did not understand what they were saying. Most of them didn't. They had no idea really exactly what they were saying. Because as we know, by the end of the week, most of the crowd will turn against Him and they cry out for His crucifixion.

But nonetheless, God designed this. God designed this to magnify His Son, to exalt His Son. These people were speaking true words, whether they realized it or not. And as we've already seen, haven't we, that God can be at work in someone's mouth, that they would say what's right, even though they don't fully understand it or absorb it. And we saw that in the case of who, you know, Caiaphas, right? When he prophesied the death of our Lord for the salvation of the people, and Caiaphas had no idea what he was saying truly, the full meaning of what he was saying.

In the same way, they're speaking here true words, proclaiming Him to be the King of Israel, proclaiming the fact that He had come to usher salvation, to bring salvation. Powerful words. In fact, these words disturbed the Pharisees, so much so. And some of the Pharisees were present; they were witnessing this, and they were utterly disturbed, offended, in fact.

And in Luke 19, verse 37, we read, "And as He was going, they were spreading their garments on the road. Now, as soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God, rejoicing with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, saying, 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.' And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, 'Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.'" Jesus, do you hear what they're saying? Do you hear? Do you hear what they're saying about you? They're proclaiming you to be the King of Israel. Do something about it, rebuke them.

Listen to how Jesus, in verse 40, responds: "But Jesus answered and said, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the stones will cry out!'" Stones will cry out. In other words, they're not saying anything wrong. What they're saying is exactly right. It is true. And if these were silent, creation itself would cry out.

So this is designed by God, this is deliberate, this praise that should be given, and God has designed in such a way that Israel will be without excuse. Jesus is coming, just as it was prophesied that He would come, and He's coming in such a way that it screams out, here is your King. Behold your King, O Israel. The way that He's riding in, the way the crowd is responding to Him, clearly, clearly screams, this is your King. This is the King.

So He came as the King, the manner of His coming, the way that He comes, also speaks in another direction. He came not only as the King, but He also came as the Deliverer. He came as the Deliverer. We said earlier that He came in such a way that it not only said that He was a King and the King, but also what kind of a King He was. The way that the Holy Spirit interprets this event through John speaks of this fact, and I want us to see it this morning.

You will notice if you look back at the prophecy of Zechariah 9 and verse 9 and compare it with the verse as the Holy Spirit gives it through John, in John chapter 12, you will notice there's a slight difference. And it was deliberate. Look at verse 15. How does it begin? What are the two words? Fear not. Fear not. "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." Fear not.

But if you read Zechariah 9:9, you don't find "fear not." Zechariah 9:9 begins how? This way: "Rejoice greatly." Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Don't believe any of the liberals. Say, ah, you see, a mistake. No, no. This was deliberate. This was deliberate. Let me explain.
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, lowly and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a pack animal." Zechariah says rejoice greatly, but here the Holy Spirit interprets this event in the light of Zechariah 9:9 and says fear not. Fear not.

Why does He say fear not? Because this is the nature of the joy that the King brings. This is the nature of the joy that the King brings. He brings deliverance from the wrath of God. He brings deliverance from the wrath of Almighty God. The wrath that we looked at Good Friday, that really expresses the character of God. He is the God of burning holiness and inflexible justice.

This is the nature of the joy that the King brings. He brings salvation from sin. He brings salvation from the judgment of God upon sin. And this is what Zechariah says when he goes on to say He's righteous, endowed with salvation. "Behold, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation." This is why the people are to rejoice. Not because He's bringing political deliverance, throwing off the Roman tyranny. No, no. As He entered Jerusalem, that's not the case. It's because He's bringing spiritual deliverance, not political deliverance. He's coming to accomplish salvation.

And all of those for whom salvation is accomplished, they no longer have any reason to be afraid whatsoever. Why? Because their sins are forgiven. They are right with a holy God. They're no longer under the wrath of God. They're no longer under the judgment of God. They are right with God, with the holy God, the thrice holy God, through the death of the Passover lamb, being clothed with His righteousness.

Now they are at peace with God. Whereas before there was enmity with God, now there's peace with God. No longer fearing the wrath of God. No longer having to fear the judgment of God upon their sins. So now they can rejoice and rejoice greatly—yes, in the language of Zechariah 9:9. But you could also say they don't have to be afraid anymore. Fear not. No reason to be afraid, because not only is your King here, but He is the Savior King and He's come to deliver you from your sins and from the wrath of God and put you at peace with God, reconciled with God, adopted by God.

So He comes as the King, He comes as the Deliverer, and thirdly and gloriously, He comes as the Lamb. He comes as the Lamb. The manner of His coming says that He's come to present Himself—this is deliberate—as the Passover Lamb.

You remember when John the Baptist first pointed out the Lord Jesus Christ? How does he speak of Him? John chapter 1 verse 29: "Behold," — what did he say? — "The Lamb of God." "Behold, the Lamb of God." And what does that mean? "Lamb of God." "Behold, the Lamb of God." Well, the Lamb sent by God, the Lamb chosen by God, this is the Lamb of God's choosing, this is the Lamb of God's electing choice. Now He's our Lamb—our Lamb in terms of the benefit of His death—but He is God's Lamb in terms of His being chosen to lay down His life on our behalf, our substitute.

If you look over to 1 Corinthians 5, 1 Corinthians 5, one of the things that I see in this passage is how practical theology is, how practical doctrine is. Here's Paul, 1 Corinthians 5, having to deal with a very practical matter in the Corinthian assembly. There's this open sexual immorality going on, the church is not dealing with it properly, there's no church discipline, and so here he is dealing with a very practical matter, and yet how is he going to deal with this very practical matter? Now follow closely. He's going to deal with it in a very theological, doctrinal way, and that's an important principle for us.

You see, doctrine applied is how the church is to live. Doctrine applied is how the church ought to live. Doctrine understood, doctrine known, then doctrine applied. That's why we strive by the grace of God not only to be a Bible-believing church, but a Bible-living church. Doctrine applied, that's how we live.

So he's dealing with immorality, and I mean we've got to stop and think about that. How would you deal with an immoral situation? It ought to be the same way, doctrine applied. Look at what he does in verse 6: "Your boasting is not good." They'd actually taken the situation, turned it into something that they were glorying in. Now we could speculate, we don't know exactly how. Maybe they thought of themselves as being very patient or very loving. I don't know how they thought of it exactly, but in some way they were boasting in the fact that this man was still present in fellowship, still living in this way, and they're boasting in the fact that they are the church of Jesus Christ, and all of this is going on, and Paul says it is to their shame.

Pastor MacArthur put it this way, quote, "Look where your arrogance and your boasting here have brought you, because you still love human wisdom and human recognition and the things of the world, you are completely blinded to the blatant sin that will destroy your church if you don't remove it,"
 
"Your boasting is not good," verse 6. "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump." Stop here for a moment. Passover. Passover. Nisan 14. Do you know what began at the same time, then went on for seven days afterwards? It was the feast of what? Unleavened bread. Unleavened bread. We'll talk about that next week, Lord willing. We'll deal with it next week, but here it is. Unleavened bread.

But what Paul has in mind here, the Passover, he says in verse 7, "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ"—what does he say?—"our Passover lamb also was sacrificed." Christ, our Passover Lamb, and everything going on in His life, in His ministry on this earth, all of it—what?—fulfilling Scripture. Fulfilling Scripture. All righteousness must be fulfilled, right? He's our substitute. All righteousness must be fulfilled. Walking according to His Father's plan, doing what He's doing at precise times, precise reasons. Scripture is deliberately being fulfilled. Deliberately.

And in fulfilling the Old Testament Scriptures, He is fulfilling the types, the foreshadows, pictured in the Old Testament. And on the 10th day of Nisan, according to the biblical observance of Passover, on the 10th day, the lambs that were to be sacrificed for Passover were selected. Selected. And for three days, those lambs would be kept with the families, and then they would be sacrificed on the fourth day. And so on Nisan 10th, they're chosen; Nisan 14, they are sacrificed.

On Monday, Nisan 10, Jesus made His way into Jerusalem, and realize that on that day, that very day, thousands of lambs were driven into the city of Jerusalem for selection. Thousands. So it's not unreasonable, in the least, to think that as Jesus made His way into the city, that before Him would have been lambs coming into the city, driven into the city. Behind Him, there would have been lambs driven into the city. Perhaps even surrounding Him, along with the crowd, would have been lambs driven into the city.

And so as He made His way into the city of Jerusalem, you have not only the King, the Deliverer, but here is the presentation of God's selected Lamb. The Lamb of God. Our Passover Lamb.

James Montgomery Boyce captures this beautifully. He says, and I quote, "It was on that day that the thousands of Passover lambs that were to be sacrificed were taken up to Jerusalem and kept there three days in the homes of those who were to eat them. Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us that one year a census was taken of the number of lambs slain for Passover and that the figure was 256,500. 256,500. In other words, with numbers this large, lambs must literally have been driven up to Jerusalem throughout the entire day." He goes on to say, "Consequently, whenever Jesus entered the city, He must have done so surrounded by lambs, Himself being the greatest of lambs. Four days later, at the time the lambs were killed, Jesus Himself was killed. He laid down His life, thereby becoming the ultimate Passover Lamb on the basis of those of whose shed blood the angel of spiritual death passes over all who place the trust in Him."

Can you see why the Holy Spirit says, fear not? Fear not. There's a spiritual angel of death. The wrath of God is upon sinners. But don't be afraid because the Lamb is here. The selected one is here. The Lamb whose blood will deliver you, the Lamb who brings salvation, the Lamb who is also the King.

I want to ask you this morning, is He your King? Is He your King? Have you received Him for who He really is? Is He your King? Is He your Savior King? And you cannot divide up Jesus. You cannot divide Him up. You can't cut Him up into pieces and only respond to aspects of His person and of His ministry that you're comfortable with, that you can live with. Jesus is both Lord and Savior. He is King as well as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
And so when someone comes to Christ, they come to Him not only looking at His sacrifice as the answer for their sins—His shed blood for the remission of their sins—but they also at the same time recognize Him as their King, the Lord, their Master, their Sovereign. They come losing their life to gain His. They come bowing before Him, and they come counting the cost and realizing they are not worthy to be His disciples if they won't take up their cross and follow Him daily.

When was it? When was it in your life? What was the time? What was the day when God impressed upon you that you were lost, facing His wrath, because you are a wretched, vile sinner, unable to deliver yourself? But you understood that God has provided the Lamb for Himself, that God took the step necessary to deliver you from God—God from God—and from His holy and just wrath, that He chose His own Son, that He would come to this earth and live a sinless life, and then die a horrible death on the cross, bearing our sin, bearing our shame, bearing the wrath of God to deliver His people from their sins. The Passover Lamb of God.
And you saw this, so that you look not to yourself, but to Him alone for forgiveness of your sins. And you came not standing up, but you came bowing down, not still in control of your life, but losing your life, not wanting your own way, but surrendering your way to Him. You came to Him as the Lord who saves. When has it ever happened in your life? Has it happened? Do you realize that you could have intellectual knowledge that Jesus is the Savior and not know Him? And no one knows Him. No one knows Him who hasn't lost their life to Him.

Are you like the crowds that came out singing Hosanna, but later crucify Him? Maybe you have a surface enthusiasm about Jesus, or maybe you just have a surface allegiance to Him. And you come here Sunday after Sunday. Maybe even you come in midweek and you name the name of Christ and the label disciple is given to you. You have a name that you're alive, but in reality you're dead. And though you're called a disciple, you're not a disciple. Your life exposes you.

Listen carefully. You can know who you really are if you just take an honest stock of your fruit, as we learned last Sunday evening. And there are many, the Bible tells us, many, not a few, many according to Jesus, Matthew 7, who will one day say to the King, Lord, Lord, have we not done all these things in Your name? Have we not preached in Your name? Have we not performed this and that in Your name? Haven't we done this? Haven't we done that? And He will say to them, "Depart from Me." And here's such a key statement: "You who practice lawlessness." So you said you knew Me, but your life told a story. And for a while you said I was your Lord, but you lived for your darling sin, your darling idol habitually as a practice. "Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."

And what did He say? I—and what's the next word?—never, never knew you. You were never, ever Mine, never. "I never knew you." You may have sang hosannas. You may have clapped your hands. You may have said you were My disciple, but I never knew you—never, ever. "Depart from Me."

Here He is presented to Israel in a formal way according to Scripture. This is your King. This is your Deliverer. This is God's Lamb. But most of them couldn't see it. Most of them didn't understand it. Most of them never responded to Him in that way. Yet Paul was able to write 1 Corinthians 5:7 that Christ is our Passover Lamb. Whose? Those who have repented and look to Him as their Deliverer.

Next time we're going to come back and we're going to understand this in greater detail. We're going to look at the Passover and see how Jesus is our Passover Lamb. We want to really flush this out. This is really critically important. But today the most important question facing each and every one of us is, is He your Passover Lamb? Are you—or are you still under the wrath of God?

Let us not be like those in the crowd that day. Let us truly know Christ within our hearts. Let us not merely sing to the Lord with our lips. Let us not merely profess His name. Let us not merely put our coats in front of Him and our palm branches. Let us truly, genuinely love Him. Let us put our trust in Him. Let us be repenters who have turned away from dead religion. Let us be true believers who by faith embrace the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us receive His salvation. He is endowed with salvation. He is the King who is the Deliverer. And He is not a reluctant Savior.

Let us lay down the coats of our lives before Him. Let us lay down the branches of our wills to do His bidding, to obey Him. Let us receive Him into our lives. Let us rejoice and receive our King into the palaces of our hearts. Let Him be enthroned in our lives. Let us receive Him and incline our will to Him.

Corrie Ten Boom, a brave Dutch woman, saved many Jews from the Nazis during the Holocaust. A devout follower of Christ, she was asked if it was difficult for her to remain humble. And I love her reply. It was simple but salient. Quote, "When Jesus rode into Jerusalem that day on the back of a colt, and everyone was waving palm branches and throwing their garments on the road and singing praises," she said, "do you think for a moment it ever entered the head of the donkey that any of this was for him?" And she concluded, "If I can be the donkey on which Jesus Christ rides in this world, I will give Him all the praise and all the glory."

Child of God, you and I are like that colt at best. The only good thing about our lives is the One who rides upon our lives—the King, the Lord. And lest any one of us think that any praise or any glory is going to us when we do something in the name of the Lord, it is going to the One riding upon our souls by His grace. Let us lay low. Let us be humble and faithful in carrying Christ our King. And may He increase and may we decrease.
Oh, but let us be sturdy colts. And let it not go into our heads, for apart from Him we could do—how much?—nothing. Because I am what I am by—what?—the grace of God.

This is the entrance of the great King into Jerusalem to begin the last week of His earthly life. The sinful heart can be very interested in Jesus. The sinful heart can be very religious until Jesus exposes false religion. False coronations of Jesus go on all the time, don't they? Well, this was one for the most part. But this had a divine intent and purpose. Didn't justify it. Didn't make hypocrisy right. But God used it to bring about His purpose in the giving of His Son.
God is in charge of everything. His timetable is perfect. And in the future, the Lord Jesus, who entered Jerusalem humble and lowly, will return to earth. But it's not going to be riding on a colt, the colt of a donkey. He's going to come back riding on a steed, a white steed, according to Revelation 19, coming out of heaven, followed by the armies of heaven in white, riding on white horses in an astonishing unleashing of the glorious holy powers of heaven on the earth, led by none other than the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

And when He arrives, He will destroy the ungodly in a massive judgment that will sweep across the planet. And then He will establish His throne in Jerusalem. And He will reign there for 1,000 years in the millennial kingdom. And beyond that, forever and ever, because of His kingdom, there will be no end throughout all of eternity in the new heaven and the new earth.
But here He arrives in Jerusalem riding on a lowly donkey. Yes, He is the true King, King of kings and Lord of lords, Son of Man and Son of God, Messiah, Savior, Deliverer. And no monarch, no president, no leader, no prime minister in all of human history remotely compares to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is none so magnificent. There is none so powerful, so wise, so sovereign, just, pure, holy. And all of the elite and all of the monarchs of all of human history collectively, together, stacked on top of each other, wouldn't go high enough to touch the hem of His all-glorious garment.

And when you surrender and submit to Him, the true King, the only King, when you put your trust in Him, you will, as a true believer, say, Lord, give me what You want me to have. Reign in my life according to Your will and not mine. "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Behold the King, the Deliverer, who comes, the manner of His coming.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

When I come to this account in Luke, Luke's Gospel, this account of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, there are four things that really stand out, that jump right out of the text, that we cannot ignore, we cannot escape. And as we walk through these twelve verses this morning, I want us to keep our eyes on the lookout for these four things by way of introduction, because they permeate these verses. In fact, they run through the entirety of the chapter. And so, four things that will stand out this morning throughout the entire chapter.

The first thing to set the stage for us, that we need to be on the lookout for and keep in mind as we begin to take this portion of the Word of God verse by verse, I want you to recognize with me in these verses that none of the disciples—first of all, none of the disciples—expected the resurrection of Jesus. Not a single disciple expected the resurrection of Jesus. Now, that's important because that says to me that the idea that they would make up a resurrection story, or that they would fake a resurrection, is contrary to every account we have of their thought process, of their words, of their attitudes, of their mindset, directly following the death of Jesus and even directly following the resurrection of Jesus.

We don't find, we don't have here a group of people who so want to believe in a resurrection that they would actually come up with one, that they would create one, that maybe even they would take a set of facts like an empty tomb and then somehow exaggerate it into a resurrection story. That's not what we find here. That's not what we have here at all. We have people who did not expect it, and in fact, as we will see when they first were met with it, they did not believe it. They didn't believe it.

The second thing I want us to notice is our Lord's work in them. I want us to notice our Lord's work in them. I'm talking about the disciples of Jesus, those who truly believed in Jesus in this account. Our Lord's work in them, His commitment to them is greater, and we need to keep that in mind. His work in them and His commitment to them is greater than their own faith or understanding. And I love this. God does not cast them away due to their lack of faith or understanding when it comes to the resurrection. They didn't understand, they didn't initially believe, but our God did not cast them away.

Instead, what does He do? What does He do? He takes the initiative to make sure that they get the resurrection, to make sure that they understand what took place, what has happened, to make sure that they believe in what took place, what occurred. Our God is taking the initiative throughout this entire account. He's taking the initiative to make sure that His people believe in the resurrection. And that tells me that His work in them, His commitment to them is not explained by them, but by Him. By Him. Salvation is the Lord's work. Salvation is the Lord's work. He is the author of it, and He is the finisher of it. He's the perfecter of it. He's the author and the finisher of our faith. So they don't expect it. God makes sure they're going to get it.

The third thing I want us to notice together is that He, God, takes pains to make sure that their faith in the resurrection is tied to the Scripture; old Testament Scripture and the words of His own beloved Son. Throughout this entire account, God is taking great pains to connect their faith in the resurrection with His words. They're going to meet with some astounding experiences, but every time they meet with these experiences, what does God do? And this is really incredible. He ties their faith, not to the experiences, but to His own sure word. Always.

And the fourth thing that I want us to notice is that the disciples must believe in the resurrection. If they are going to follow Christ, they must know and believe that He's not dead, but He's alive. He has been raised from the dead. Bodily raised from the dead. Even this morning as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, I want to remind us we're not celebrating some concept. We're not celebrating some religious idea. The message of Easter is not new beginnings. We're celebrating what is real, historical fact. He was bodily, physically raised from the dead.

Jesus of Nazareth died and three days after they placed Him in a borrowed tomb, He came out of that tomb alive, physically, bodily, victoriously, triumphantly. It is a fact and God wanted His people to know that. And in fact, if they're going to be followers of Jesus, committed followers of Jesus, they had to know it, they had to believe it, they had to embrace it. That Jesus was raised from the dead bodily and never to die again.

So they don't get it. God makes sure that they are going to get it. God takes the initiative. He ties their faith in the resurrection to His word and they must get it. They must believe it. Now, those four observations that we see throughout, really, these verses and throughout the chapter have lasting meaning for every believer in this place. Lasting meaning for every single believer in this place. It reminds us that God's work in us is not explained by us, beloved. It's not, but by Him. And God's work in us is greater and more certain than our expectations, than our faith, than our understanding, than our maturity.

Aren't you grateful that God doesn't cast you away when your faith is weak? Aren't you? When your understanding is limited, He doesn't cast you away? When your expectations are far too low based on God's promises, aren't you glad that He doesn't cast you away? That He doesn't let go of you, believer, but His work in you is certain? And what He has begun, He's doing, and He will indeed finish. Aren't you grateful for that this morning? That God is doing more in our case than we will ever understand? That He has done more than we'll ever understand? That He's doing more than we will ever understand? That He's at work in us?

It also reminds us in this place today that where God wants our faith stationed and anchored—where's that? Right here. In His Word. He wants our faith stationed, anchored in His all-sufficient Word. You see, I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because I believe the Bible. And the Bible is God's Word. He says it, that settles it. That's it. It's His Word. It's all-sufficient, inerrant, infallible. He wants our faith stationed, anchored in His Word.

And even where we meet with experiences—see, I know that the Lord has transformed my life. At the age of 19, I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. He transformed my life. But let me tell you this: my faith is not anchored, is not tied to my experience. It's not. My faith is tied to the Word of God. That's where He wants my faith anchored. It's what God wants.

It also reminds us in this place today that the resurrection of Jesus is not an aside. It's not a throwaway item when it comes to the Christian faith. Beloved, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is central. It is essential. It is non-negotiable. That's it. Non-negotiable. Period. Paragraph. No ifs and buts. If you don't believe that Jesus was raised from the dead bodily, you are not a Christian. That's it. You're not. You cannot be a Christ follower and deny the bodily resurrection of Christ.

Because He was raised from the dead, we know He was who He said He was. Because He was raised from the dead, we know that He accomplished what He said He came to accomplish. Because He lives, all the sins of all of those who trust in Him have been completely forgiven. If Christ was not raised from the dead, we are still in our sins. And because Christ was raised from the dead bodily, we know that one day we're going to be living with Him forever and ever. We are alive now spiritually, but we're going to live one day with Him physically.

And I want to remind us that our hope as believers is not just eternal life in the present, but we know from the Word of God that one day we're going to have a body, a new body, that matches the new us. Philippians 3:20-21, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by His working through which He is able also to even subject all things to Himself." We too will experience one day a physical resurrection, and we're going to live body and soul with our Savior in the new heavens and the new earth forever and ever. That's the hope of the Christian.

Because He lives, our King not only rules in the present from the heavens, but He will rule forever and ever and ever. And we live in the expectation of His return. Because Jesus lives, there is no sting and death for all those who are in Christ. When we die, we go to sleep in death. We close our eyes and we open them in the presence of God. Because Jesus lives, we know the power of sanctification. The same power that raised Him from the grave is the power at work in our lives now, transforming us from glory to glory into the image of Christ.

Beloved, this is not a throwaway doctrine. This is at the heart of the Christian faith. 1 Corinthians 15:14, "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain." I mean, if Jesus wasn't raised from the dead, then I'm going to stand here right now and say, Church, dismissed. Just go home. No need for a message. No need to sing. No need to sit here.

1 Corinthians 15:17, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is” – what? – “worthless” – Empty. Empty. Worthless – “you are still in your sins." If Christ has not been raised from the dead, every person in this room still is unforgiven. You're still laden with all your sins. And we saw Friday that we have a God who is a God of burning holiness and a God of inflexible justice. So this is the most important matter we could ever consider on this Sunday.

This morning, what we witness in these 12 verses is how God begins to establish the faith of His people in the resurrection of Jesus, and we see really the transforming power of the resurrection really at work in the lives of His people. What we have is not, strictly speaking, an account of the resurrection itself. You'll notice by the time they discover the resurrection, it has happened already. The tomb is empty. Jesus is not there. So this is not, strictly speaking, an account of the resurrection itself. Luke doesn't describe that. In fact, none of the gospel writers describe the actual resurrection of Jesus. What he's describing is the aftermath of it, as the people of God come in contact with the knowledge of it, how they initially respond to their knowledge of the resurrection. That's what we have here the initial response to the resurrection of Jesus.

This morning I want to point out in these 12 verses six responses on the part of the disciples. Six. Six responses to the death and then the resurrection of Jesus. So the first thing I want us to see together as we look at the response to the resurrection of Jesus, number one, devotion, verse one. Devotion. So I'm going to use words to describe the response of the disciples to Jesus. The first one is devotion. "On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared."

Now, the word day “they” in that verse, verse one, refers back to the previous chapter, chapter 23 and verses 55 and 56. "Now the women, who had come with Him from Galilee, followed and beheld the tomb and how His body was laid. Then after they had returned, they prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment." Next verse: "Now on the first day of the week"—that's Sunday—"at early dawn” – these women – “came to the tomb bringing the spices which they,” – those women, – “had prepared."

These women had witnessed, we know from the parallel accounts, Joseph of Arimathea taking care of the body of Jesus, the burial of Jesus. They had already determined that, you will remember, they were going to come back after the Sabbath and do a better job of preparing His body, anointing His body. And so what did they do? Well, they returned to the tomb. When do they do it? The text says early Sunday morning, at dawn, at daybreak, the earliest part of the day.

Well, why were they coming? Well, to prepare His body. Well, they have no expectation of a resurrection. So they come to prepare the body, they're expecting a body there, right? So there's no expectation of a resurrection. But what motivates them to come? What motivates them to come is love. Love.

And I want to say this, I want to say this to us to remember as we look at these verses: these true disciples, even though their faith was weak, these women, and their understanding was off, you still see the marks of genuine faith. You still see that. You still see the marks of genuine salvation. How? They loved Jesus. They loved Jesus. That's what motivates them on this early Sunday morning. They're going back to prepare the body. Why? They love Him. They love their Savior. They love their Lord. And they're devoted to Him even when their hopes have been crushed. Devoted to Him even as they are overwhelmed with grief. And so their faith is weak, their understanding is under-informed, nevertheless they loved Jesus. We see devotion. So these women are devoted to their Savior. And we can learn a lot from them, from their devotion to the Savior also.

The second response that we see to the death and then the resurrection of Jesus is discovery. Discovery, and that's found in verses two and three. "And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus." So they make their way to the tomb early Sunday morning, and they discover something. They find something, and there's something also that they don't find.

What do they find? Well, they found the stone rolled away. They didn't know, by the way, a Roman guard had been stationed at the tomb. That happened on the Sabbath day when they were resting, and they had no knowledge of that. In fact, the women were wondering how they're going to get the stone out of the way to prepare the body. We know that from Mark's Gospel, 16 and verse 3. They arrive at the tomb, the stone is rolled away, and we know from Matthew's account that there was an earthquake, and we know that an angel rolled away the stone, Matthew 28:2. So they're not aware of this, and they just find the stone rolled away.

And they find in verse 3, going in, what do they find? Well, they find the body of Jesus is not there. The body of Christ is gone, which leads to the third response we see as they initially encounter the knowledge of the resurrection, and we see that in verse 4: perplexity. Perplexity. Devotion, verse 1, they come motivated by love to prepare the body of Jesus. Discovery, they discover the stone rolled away, and they also discover that the body is no longer there, and that leads to perplexity, verse 4: "It happened that while they were perplexed about this"—they were perplexed about this.

Luke, under inspiration, is telling us about their emotional, mental reaction to what they found, and he tells us they were perplexed; ‘Aporeisthai’ is the Greek word, not knowing how to proceed, not knowing how to speak, or act, or to determine. That is, to put it in the vernacular, is they were at a loss. They were confused. They don't know what to make of this. They had no explanation for this. They had no idea what had happened, and the word translated perplexed is used in John 13:22. Remember in that scene, the upper room, Jesus tells His disciples that one of them is going to betray Him, and we read there they were perplexed about that. They didn't understand it. They were confused.

A form of this word is used in the book of Acts, Acts 25:20, when Festus presents Paul's case to Agrippa, and he admits he doesn't know what to do with the charges brought against Paul. He's perplexed—same word about it. And also a form of this word is used in the book of Galatians. When Paul says to the Galatians, in Galatians 4:20, that he is perplexed about them.

So far from expecting a resurrection. When they first meet with the evidence of the resurrection, they don't make any connection at all. They don't see a stone rolled away in an empty tomb and think, ah, resurrection. That's not what comes to their mind. No, they see a stone rolled away, they see an empty tomb, and frankly what they're thinking is, someone must have stolen the body perhaps. They're confused. They're perplexed. They were befuddled. They don't know what to do with this. Utterly baffled by what they find, which leads to the fourth, the fourth response, verses 4 through 9: clarity.

Devotion, discovery, perplexity, and now clarity. Verse 4: "And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing, and when the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, 'Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” And they remembered His words, and when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest."

Now under this heading, clarity, I want us to see several things to see about this clarity. I want to say a few things about this clarity. Number one, this is gracious clarity. This is gracious clarity. God is having mercy upon them. God is having pity upon them, isn't He? God is doing this. This is God now. God is doing this. This is God's message to them.

And remember what angels are, right? They're messengers. They're holy messengers. They're messengers of the living God. They are dispatched from the presence of the thrice-holy God. They didn't come on their own initiative, right? They didn't come in some independent fashion. You don't have like two angels, you know, saying to one another one day, you know, we're bored. How about we kind of go down and just explore and see what's... No, no, no. These angels are sent deliberately by God to do His bidding. And so they are His messengers, they are His mouthpiece, and they are giving His message, and God is giving them a clarifying word about what they are witnessing.

He doesn't owe this to them, does He? This is God loving them. This is God instructing them. This is God guiding them. This is God establishing their faith, fortifying their faith, pouring steel in their faith. This is God taking initiative to make sure that His people get what they are witnessing, that they grasp it, that they understand it, that they don't miss it. And oh, this is gracious, beloved. This is gracious.

We did not deserve Jesus. We did not deserve His coming. We did not deserve His living. We did not deserve His dying. We did not deserve his any explanation concerning Him, and we didn't deserve an explanation of His resurrection. And yet, yet, God gives and gives and gives and gives and gives and gives. He's gracious, and that includes the graciousness to guide His weak people into an understanding of what He has done for their soul. That's what He's doing.

Let me show you and tell you what I've done for you, My people. So this is gracious clarity, but this is also striking clarity. Striking. I mean, God does this in a memorable, striking fashion. How? By sending these two angels, because, I mean, look at this, verse 4, their dazzling appearance is noted. They “stood near them in” – what? – “Dazzling clothing”. I mean, their close proximity to the holiness of God, the brightness of the holiness of God, and here they are now.

So God gives them a visual aid to help them understand where this message is coming from, where this information is coming from. So these angels have a human form and appearance, and yet their dazzling appearance also says they're not mere creatures like men. They are created creatures, but they are from the presence of God. They're angels coming to do the bidding of the Sovereign One. So moving is this that the women have a sense now of fear. They're terrified, they're frightened, verse 5, – “and they bow their faces to the ground”. They are now, they realize this is God's doing. This is from God. This is from God.

So there's this heavy, thick sense of the presence of God, and God is making sure that this is memorable, it's striking, driving this message home. So you have this clarity, gracious clarity, striking clarity, but I want us to see also that this is a quizzical clarity, a quizzical clarity. God leads these women into this knowledge through a question, and it's a memorable question. The angel says to them in verse 5, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead?" Don't you love that? Don't you love that? "Why do you seeking the living One among the dead?" It's sort of like a gentle rebuke, isn't it? It almost has a tinge of humor in it.

Didn't you? Didn't you hear Jesus? Weren't you listening? Didn't you know He was going to be raised from the dead? Well, why are you in a graveyard? You're in the wrong place, aren't you? If you want to find the Living Savior, well, He's alive. "Why are you seeking the living One among the dead?" So God wants to be sure at the same time through these angels, He wants to be sure His people don't miss it. So you have emphatic clarity as well. Emphatic clarity, because now He just states it. He just states it. Not just a question. He states it in verse 6. "He is not here, but He has risen." He is risen.

God is so kind through these angels. He doesn't leave any room for misunderstanding. No wiggle room whatsoever. He puts it in a memorable way, but then He puts it in an unmistakable, simple, straightforward statement. "He is not here, but He has risen." He is alive. Alive. But now notice something, and this is what I mentioned earlier about tying their faith to His Word. The Old Testament Scripture, we'll see that later. You see that in the chapter. But here are the words of His Son particularly in verse 6, and so we call this refreshing clarity.

This is refreshing clarity. "Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered"—and that takes us back to the Old Testament Scripture, right? To Isaiah 53—"He must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third day rise again."

This is refreshing clarity as God, through these angels, refreshes their memories. He wants to make sure their faith is tied to His words, the words of Christ. The words of Scripture. In Luke 9, we read that Jesus told them earlier, verses 18 to 22. He tells them after He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered John the Baptist, and some say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets of old. And in verse 20 of Luke 9, He says, "And He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' And Peter answered and said, 'The Christ of God.'" But He warned them and directed them not to tell this to anyone, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day."

I mean, this is something that Jesus had mentioned again and again and again. And this entourage of women were around Him, were around the disciples ministering to their needs constantly. So He told them in unmistakable terms, but they had forgotten. He told them on more than one occasion, but they didn't remember. And so here they are, though they are devoted to Him, when they discover this empty tomb in the absence of the body of Jesus, they are perplexed instead of actually believing.

And so God graciously gives them this clarifying word in a memorable, striking, quizzical, but emphatic fashion. "He is not here, but He has risen." Don't you remember? Don't you remember His words? And so what does He do? He refreshes their memories. Don't you remember what Jesus told you when you were in Galilee? You followed Him all the way from Galilee? Ladies, don't you remember what He told you?

So we see devotion, talking now about responses to the initial encounter with the knowledge of the resurrection. Devotion. We see discovery. We see perplexity. We see clarity. But now we see something else that's actually sad. We see unbelief. We see unbelief. Look at verses 10 and 11. You see, these women received this clarifying word from God in verse 8. They remembered His word. When they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest, not just the eleven, but to all the gathered disciples, all those followers of Jesus beyond just the apostles. So they shared it with everyone.

Verse 10: “Now Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James and the rest of the women with them were there; they were telling these things to the apostles.” This is really amazing, isn't it? Amazing. It's amazing that, first of all, that the first people—I mean, this is a message by itself—who had knowledge of the resurrection given by God in this fashion were these women. What an honoring, exalting thing that this was, that women would receive this first testimony, that they would be the first ones to be able to report the resurrection. They were the first messengers of the gospel.

Then they go and report the resurrection to these men, these men who were chosen by Jesus to be the foundation for the church moving forward. I mean, these are—think about this, this is stunning—these are the leaders of the Lord's church. These are the men who have been especially prepared by Him to lead His church into the future. And they're told this report by these women that He's been raised from the dead, and yet they meet with this report of the resurrection. And what's the response? They don't believe. They don't believe. Stunning. They don't believe.

It reminds us again of our weakness, of the fact that salvation is not our work. It's God's work, that what God has done in our case is greater than anything that could be explained by us. Salvation is mercy. It's grace. And their weakness is a testimony of that. In fact, we're told in verse 11 what their attitude was. Look at their attitude, and this is, like, stunning. “But these words appear to them as” – what? What do you have in your Bible? – "nonsense." “Nonsense,  and they were not believing.” ‘Lēros’ is the Greek word translated in the LSV, nonsense, idle tale, tattle, pure nonsense. That is, oh, you know, these ladies have been probably under great stress, and they have been very sad, and their emotions got the better of them, and it must be their imagination. It must be.

You know, I don't know what they were thinking exactly, the apostles. I don't know how they explained this, but in some way they took this to be made up like an idle tale and nonsense. They flat out don't believe it. They don't. But the twelfth verse tells us something more encouraging. There's someone who is, in hearing this report of the empty tomb—well, look at his reaction. Something in these words that drives him to, and this is our last word, hope, hope.

“But Peter”. – I love that. – “But Peter stood up and ran to the tomb”. We know from John's account, it tells us that also the apostle John was with him as well. They “ran to the tomb; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen wrappings only. And he went away by himself, marveling at what had happened.” John tells us that as soon as he himself walked into the tomb and saw what he saw, he followed Peter in, and he tells us he believed. John believed. Peter is ‘thaumazōn’, marveling, to be struck with awe, amazement, astonishment.

I don't know what point he comes to full grips with what he has seen and just everything coming together, but at this point, he is pondering at least what he has witnessed, and he is amazed and gripped by it. You talk about evidence of genuine faith even when there's enormous weakness. Talk about evidence of genuine love for Jesus even when there's a weak understanding. Peter is exhibit A.

Here's a man who has denied the Lord three times. Here's a man who, when he hears the news of an empty tomb, cannot stay in his place. He must go. He must see. He rises, he runs, he runs to the tomb. Why do you run to the tomb, Peter? Well, because you see, he does love the Lord Jesus. He finds the grave closed, and he returns amazed by what he has seen.

With the remaining time that we have, I want to ask a few questions by way of application and implication. What do we see in these verses? What do we have in these verses? What do we see here?

Beloved, we see an almighty and altogether gracious God tenderly leading His people into an understanding that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior, is not dead, but He has been raised from the dead just as He’s promised. His work is greater than these weak little ones that He has saved. They don’t understand. They don’t get it. They don’t remember. They don’t believe. But He Himself has granted them genuine faith. Though it’s not a perfected faith yet, what He has begun, He will complete. He will complete.

And here He is, a tender Father, leading His people into an understanding of what He has done to save them. They will get it because He’s going to make sure they will get it. They must get it. And this is just the beginning of them getting it. For beginning in verse 13, the Lord Jesus will take the initiative to make sure they get it too. One of the most astounding passages we’ll ever read as Jesus teaches about Himself from the Old Testament scripture on the road to Emmaus.

So this is what I ask each and every one of you this morning. Have you gotten it? Have you gotten it? Do you believe that Jesus is not dead, but alive? Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, God the Son? Do you believe that He came from heaven to earth, the eternal beloved of heaven, Son of God, took to Himself a sinless human nature, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life on this planet, on this sin-sick planet, lived a sinless life, then died on a cross as our substitute, as a substitute for sinners like us?

Do you believe that God the Father poured out His wrath upon His own beloved Son so that everyone for whom Christ suffered, everyone who trusts in Christ as Savior and submits to Him as Lord, is and will be forgiven? Do you believe that? So that there’s no condemnation for us. Do you believe that three days later, He rose victoriously from the tomb?

When these women came to take care of His body, they found an empty tomb, and the explanation for the empty tomb is not a dream, it is not a made-up story, it is not a fake resurrection, but Christ is indeed alive. And that, in fact, He has made many appearances over 40 days, and then He ascended back into heaven. The same Jesus who ascended back into heaven is coming back again. Do you believe that? Do you?

And can I say something to you as well? Though your faith in Christ may be weak, child of Christ, child of God, though your faith in Christ may be weak, may lack understanding in some places, every truly saved, genuinely saved person in this place, you not only believe in the resurrected Jesus, but you love Him. You love Him. And the resurrection is not something that you celebrate once a year. The resurrection of Christ is something you celebrate every single day because you know why? The resurrected Christ has transformed your life. That’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You see the difference in your life, in a transformed life, that the resurrection has brought to pass. You see, you just don’t know about Him. You know Him. You know Him. You’ve come to know Him by faith, and now you love Him, and you have a relationship with Him. You have fellowship with God through faith in Christ, through the person of Christ, and the resurrection means that your life has been transformed, radically transformed from the day you met Jesus for the rest of your life. You live for Him every single day. You rejoice in His life every single day. You rest in the finished work of His death and resurrection every single day. Is that your story?

I really have a great compassion for those people who come to church twice a year. They’re known as CEO, Christmas Easter only. Well, they might come to church when they’re in trouble. When trouble hits, well, time to get to church. Listen, I don’t condemn you if that’s you sitting here this morning. I don’t, I don’t. I’m so thankful and so glad you’re here. I am, but I call on you today to move from knowing about Jesus to placing your faith in Jesus as the Lord of your life who saves you, and He will save you. He will forgive your sins, and He will transform your heart from someone who had no real interest in Him or a passing interest or a passing curiosity to someone who now loves, adores Jesus, devoted to Jesus.

And if you were to ask believers in this place, they would say something like this. My faith is still weak at times. I still lack understanding in so many areas, so many places, but what I know as a reality is a love for the Son of God that God has produced in my heart that does not let me go. And He will do the same for you. And no longer would Jesus be for you twice a year interest or just when you’re in trouble, but He becomes your life.

It’s only when you can say that to live is Christ, you’ll be able to say that death is what? What, church? Gain, ‘kerdos’, profit, profit. Death is gain, but only when you can say, Jesus is my life, and so I invite you this morning to make Jesus your life. The resurrected Jesus, He really is alive, and you can really know Him by God’s grace.

The gospel commands men and women everywhere to repent, that is to turn from life as you’ve known it, living in your sin, living in your alienation, in your estrangement from God. You repent, you turn from that life, and you believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible gives us this promise that whoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is saved. Would you believe this morning? Would you call out to the Son of God, the living Son of God, and ask Jesus to save you?

What a Savior He is. What a marvelous Savior He is. And how does the resurrection change everything? The transforming power of the resurrection? Well, turn to Hebrews 2. I love this portion of God's word, the implication of that day, the power, the transforming power of the resurrection. Easter changes everything. Chapter two, two verses that describe that for us, how the resurrection changed everything. Verses 14 and 15: "Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."

Beloved, the resurrection changed people. The resurrection changed people from fearful slaves to fearless sons—fearful slaves to fearless sons. You see, this text tells us that Jesus took flesh, He became human so as to die for our sins in our place and then rise again and through His death destroy the greatest weapon and instrument of fear that Satan had—fear of death. Jesus broke the back of all false religion that used the fear of death to keep people enslaved. How? How did He do that? Answer: the power of the resurrection.

The power of the resurrection is freedom from the bondage to the fear of death—freedom. See what made Peter and John, Peter who denied Jesus, Peter who denied Jesus and these disciples who had fled, they shrank back cowardly and fled, what made those cowards such bold witnesses 50 days later before the Sanhedrin? What made them like lions, bold lions? Answer: the power of the resurrection.

Chapter and verse, Acts 4:33: "And with great power the apostles were bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." Wow. From fearful slaves to fearless sons. What gave Paul, someone who persecuted Christianity, such boldness to face all of his persecutions? Answer: Philippians 3:10, "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death." Fearful slaves had become fearless sons.

You see, this means in every generation in these 2,000 years plus, the same power that made those timid fishermen become unstoppable witnesses is present. It has been present, and the growing amount of time between today and the resurrection of Jesus, the date of Christ's resurrection, has not diminished that power, has not made it fade into a memory because it is omnipotent power. It's renewed and present in every generation.

The truth of the resurrection means this: everyone who embraces Jesus as Savior and King is delivered from the fear of death in two ways. First, if you know your sins are forgiven by the risen, exalted Christ, then you literally have living proof that you're forgiven and that your physical death will not be the end of you. That's why Paul says this: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." And when losing your life is no longer the greatest threat, the greatest fear—ah, beloved, you are an awesome weapon in the hand of God. You are an awesome weapon in the hand of God.

In fact, Revelation 12 describes how Satan is defeated. In verse 11, we read, "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their witness, and they did not love their life even to death." You can't stop a group of people like this. That's the first way. The power of the resurrection delivers you from the fear of your physical death because you know your sins are forgiven. And if you die, blessed be God, it's gain. I'm gonna be with Jesus. It's not the end. It's simply continuation, but amplified continuation of intimate, perfect communion with Jesus—communion now perfected.

But there's a second way the power of the resurrection works. Christians who embrace Christ are not only not afraid of physical death—not only we're not afraid of our physical death—they are not afraid of personal death to a worldly life. Let that grip you. We're not only not afraid of our physical death, but we're not afraid of personal death to a worldly life. In other words, we're not afraid of losing life.

Let me explain. You see, when you're a slave to this life, all that matters is that you gather up the experiences of this world as quickly as you can, as much of it as you can. You know, life is short. I gotta live it up. You must get what this world has: riches and children and marriage and family and fame and achievement, promotion, success and status and possessions and love and sexual pleasure and power and other pleasures. And you must get it. You must get it all. You must get it and you must get the money so you can get it. And you must get it while you still have time—ideally, while you're still in your youth and health and you still have years. And what is that, if that's all you live for? Slavery. Slavery.

Paul says, when you become a Christian, God crucifies the old life in you. He puts the resurrection, eternal life of His own Son into you by His Spirit. And you know that new life is not an earthworm life burrowing through this world, scavenging this dying world for crumbs. You know what it is? Colossians 3:1, this new life: "If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above." This is where your mind is set as you live here and now. You live here in the light of there. You live now in the light of then. Your mind is set on the things of above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

When you have new life, Romans 6 says, that we were buried with Him through baptism—through immersion—into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in what? “newness of life." That's what He puts into you.

And 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, "And He died for all, so that they who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." And Galatians 2:20, Paul says those words: "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

You see, beloved, in fact, it's everywhere in Scripture, cover to cover. Believers are those who get new life, God's life. And believers are able to experience a continual death to the world, to a worldly life, to a selfish, self-centered life, to a life lived only for this life. And why can they do that? Because of the power of the resurrection.

The power of the resurrection says, die to that life and you'll really live. Try to have the old life, try to grab at that life, and you will experience a living death. That's why the most repeated words of Jesus in all of Scripture—six times repeated—"Whoever desires to save his life in this world will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." The power of the resurrection.

You see, if I'm not only unafraid of my physical death, but if I am unafraid of dying to what the world tells me, what life is really about, then nothing can stop me from sharing this message of life and light and love with the dying world. I am the freest soul on earth. Free from the fear of death and free from the fear of missing out. Free from being chained to my own appetites and low earthly desires, I am the freest person in the world.

Now, unleash an army of these people in every generation with the power of the resurrection. And you know what you end up doing? You turn the world upside down. You change the world. Because these people are living embodiments of the power of the resurrection. 2 Corinthians 4:10: "always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." The resurrection changed the world. But it didn't change it in the abstract. It didn't change it by accident. It changed it because it changed slaves, fearful slaves, into fearless sons.

Easter's not just a nice Christian holiday. It's quite simply the most important day in human history. But then it has to go deeper than that. It has to go deeper than simply acknowledging that. Have you been delivered from the fear of death? I don't mean, are you blasé about death? None of us is. I don't mean, well, I'm not trying to not think about it. No, no, is death still really an unthinkable thing to you? A deep unknown contemplated with momentary horror?

If that's you, then you need to come to Him who went there and back again. And then have you been delivered from the fear of losing life, the fear that life would slip away through your fingers if you give it to Jesus, that you won't know who you are anymore, that you won't be the person that you wanna be if you give your life to Jesus? If that's your fear, then let me say to you this morning, you've not yet experienced the power of the resurrection because when Christ is yours and you are His, you know the paradox from the inside out. You know that when you die to yourself, you really live. And when He takes your place and His life is your life, it's death—it's a death and a resurrection that you wanna have.

“You are giving up what you cannot keep and gaining what you cannot lose”, Jim Elliot. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you must still come and embrace the risen Jesus as your King. I beg you, do it today. Today. Today is the day of salvation. Receive the risen King as the end of your old life and the beginning of the new one. That's how you go from being a fearful slave to a fearless son or daughter. Be free from the fear of death and let the power of the resurrection transform you as it transformed those first disciples.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

We are considering what may be called Paul's paragraph of praise and thanksgiving to God for these beloved Christians in Thessaloniki, these Thessalonians. Beginning with verse 2, going down all the way to the end of the chapter, verse 10, and you look at this portion of the Word of God that we've been really studying together. In verse 2 He says, "We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers." And as Paul gives thanks, He does so, verse 3, “remembering” certain things. And verse 4, “knowing” certain things. And the things which He remembered we have studied together.

You remember those three crown jewels, their work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope. And the things which He knows, well, we will begin considering this evening. The things which He knows, number one, He knows that they are beloved by God. And number two, He knows their election, God's choice of them. We will then consider in the weeks to come, Lord willing, how He knew that they were beloved by God and how He knew that they were the elect of God. But tonight our focus will be the little phrase in verse 4, verse 4a, knowing brothers beloved by God. He says your election.

Well, let's begin with the first part of this phrase, knowing brothers beloved by God. Now just as other certain words become particular words to describe the children of God, so this little phrase here in verse 4a, beloved by God, is a description of the people of God and belongs to no one else. No one else. The word holy, ἅγιος , and or the word saints became a term applied to the people of God and was never used of anyone else.

As you read the New Testament, New Testament letters, you find phrases like this, for instance, in Romans chapter 1, verse 7, "To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints," ἅγιος, set-apart ones. You see the word saints and the word beloved of God are two particular descriptions of the people of God there in Rome and wherever they are found. In Colossians 3, verse 12, the Apostle says, "So as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." There are the three terms used only of the people of God, elect, holy, beloved, and they're not used of anyone else. He uses these words in a similar way in 2nd Thessalonians 2:13 where He speaks of the people of God as brothers beloved by the Lord.

Now what conclusion do we draw from this? Well, the very obvious conclusion, very obvious, that if a particular people are given a particular title and no one else is given that title, well that title applies only to them and must signify something that's true of them but true of no one else. So if the people of God are called saints, the word saint becomes a particular title for those who are born of the Spirit of God. Now the same way with the phrase beloved of God or by God, it is used only of those who stand in a state of grace. They are the ones who are beloved by God.

Therefore we conclude that in a special way only the people of God are beloved by God in this very special way and blessed be His name, all the people of God with all their weakness and all their failures and all their struggles are beloved by God. Now this conclusion immediately poses a problem to many of us particularly in this day and age in our generation. Why? For we have for many years thought of God's love simply as a general attitude of goodwill and benevolence to all men without any distinction and without any varying degrees. That God loved all men in the same way and that to question that was in essence to question the truth of the Bible.

My objective this evening is simply to expound those words biblically and it is this, my objective this evening by the grace of God to seek to demonstrate from the Word of God that God's redemptive love is a special kind of love to a special group of people which attains special ends and objectives. And we need to do this because it is right here in the Word of God. These are not just words. They're inspired. That when Paul could write to the Thessalonians and say knowing brothers beloved by God that He was calling those Christians there in Thessaloniki beloved by God in a sense that they were the object of a particular peculiar distinguishing redemptive love of God in a way that others were not.

That's my objective, with God's help. How am I going to seek to obtain that objective? Well, twofold way. Number one, first of all, I want to establish by the grace of God the fact and have you look at a number of scriptures with me to see that there is indeed a distinguishing love taught in the Bible in a general way. And by distinguishing, distinguishing love, I mean a love that makes differences. And then secondly, to establish that this distinguishing love that God has to His own people is the love that is inseparably joined to His elective purposes or electing purposes.

First of all then, can we establish the fact that there is in the scripture clear indication of a different kind of love that God has in different relationships? Well, let us look at this together. The distinguishing love taught in scripture. Distinguishing love taught in scripture. First of all, illustrated from human experience. Suppose I were to say to you in the course of half an hour a conversation, I love the color green. Now, we might move to the subject of food and I might say, well, I love bone marrow. Then I might move in our conversation and talk about where I grew up in Lebanon and say, well, I love the mountains there in Lebanon. And then in the course of conversation, an opportunity comes up and I say, well, I love my wife. And then in the course of the conversation, we might be discussing our Lord and I might say, I love my Savior.

Now, in the course of half an hour, I said I love the color green. I love bone marrow. I love mountains. I love my wife. I love my Savior. All the way from color green to my Savior. Now, it's obvious to you, I trust, and you understand when I communicate to you that the love I have to the color green is qualitatively different from the love that I have for my Savior, from the love that I have for my wife. You would never put the same meaning on the word love when I say I love my Savior. I love the color green. Now, I do have an attachment and affinity to the color green, but you would not put the same meaning on the word when I say I love my Savior. I would never die for the color green. I would never bear reproach for the color green. I would never give of my substance and my time and my energies and, if necessary, of my blood for the color green. By the grace of God, by the grace of God, I'd like to believe that I would do that for my Savior.

So you see, even in human conversations, there are degrees of love. There are different kinds of love, and we see this clearly taught in Scripture. First of all, consider that in the Lord Jesus there were different kinds of love expressed to different people. It is said, you remember, in that account in Mark 10, our Lord looked upon the rich young ruler and looking at him, Mark 10 verse 21, "Jesus loved him." Right? That means that our Lord felt something toward this man, this young man, when He looked at him that He did not feel prior to looking at him, and He felt something to him that He didn't feel to other men who were walking around, or else language loses its meaning. Right? If our Lord had the same affection to every young man in that area, then it absolutely makes no sense that Mark should say, "and looking at him Jesus loved him." If it's all the same across the board. You see, that was a particular kind of love directed to a particular person.

Then we read in John 11 verse 5, and the text that we read, that we studied together not too long ago, that "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." Now, if the love that He had to them is the same love that He had to all men, then John is telling us something that makes no sense whatsoever. Why tell us that He loves Martha, her sister, and Mary, and Lazarus unless Jesus loved in a special way Martha, Mary, and Lazarus? And turning to John 13, you have a similar passage in verse 1, that familiar scripture: "Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing His hour had come that He would depart out of the world to the Father”, now notice, “having loved His own who were in the world”, “having loved His own who were in the world," separating His own from the world in general, a love which is directed to His own in particular, "having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them," He loved them, excluding others with this kind of love. Whatever love He had to others, this kind of love was directed to a specific group of people, and it says “He loved them to the end.”

Turn to Revelation chapter 3, and by the way, this is by no means an exhaustive list, this is a suggestive list. There were many passages, I have to select a few. Revelation 3 verse 9, the Lord is speaking as He gives these letters to John to send to the seven churches, this one addressed to the church there in Philadelphia, verse 9: "Behold, I am giving up those of the synagogue of Satan, those who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them come," that's one group of people, "and bow down before your feet and make them know that I have loved you." He says, I'm gonna do something to convince men that I have a particular love for you as My particular people. Down in verse 19, you have a similar thing, our Lord speaking these words to the church at Laodicea, and He says in verse 19, "Those whom I love," setting off a group, those whom He loves, He says, "I reprove and discipline." Does He reprove and discipline all as His children, as we shall see a little bit later? No. Therefore, He has a peculiar love to those who are His own. And then we're told of the disciple whom Jesus loved, the beloved disciple John.

Now, what do all of these references in the life of our Lord tell us? Well, they tell us that our Lord had different kinds of love to different people. They tell us that, that much then, and that's the only conclusion that I want us to draw at this point. Now, is it true of the Father? Does the scripture attribute to the Father a different kind of love to different individuals or groups of people? Yes, the scripture says that the Father has a special love to His Son. We know that, the scripture declares it. John 3:35, "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand." The Father loves the Son. The Father has a special love for His Son which has moved Him to give to Him as the mediator all things, all things are entrusted to Him. In John 10:17, you find a similar reference where our Lord says, "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again." And here is a special love because of the self-sacrifice, the laying down of His own life. My Father, He says, has a peculiar love to Me in light of My willingness to lay down My life and to take it up again.

And then the scripture teaches not only that the Father has a peculiar love to His Son, but He has a special love to His people. John 17, that high priestly prayer of Jesus, our Lord is praying, and this is His petition, verse 23: "I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know," the world is one group, right, those for whom He prays are another group, "and He says that they may be perfected in unity so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You have loved Me." So His prayer is that the world may recognize that the Father has a special love to His people, that's His petition.

And then, of course, John 14, you have a number of references, one of them is in verse 21: "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him," will reveal, will manifest Myself to him. I don't want to multiply verses, but I want to give you enough to let you know that this is not some kind of a truth that is hidden off in a corner, that there's, there's, there is a real sense, in a real sense, there is a distinguishing kind of love revealed in Christ's own life to others, revealed in the Father's love to the Son, revealed in the Father's special love to His people.

2 Corinthians 9:7, you're familiar with this verse: "Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart," with reference to giving, "not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." God loves me as a giver when I give cheerfully. He loves me in Christ, but there is that love here expressed when I give cheerfully. But if I give grudgingly, under compulsion, He doesn't love me as a giver because I'm not being cheerful, not giving from the heart. But when you give with the attitude, bless God that I have life and breath and salvation and all that is given me, Lord, what a joy to give You from what You have given me because it's already Yours to begin with, and God says, I love that kind of a giver. You see, God has a distinguishing love directed to certain people in different circumstances.

And then that familiar text in Hebrews 12 verse 6, where the scripture tells us, "For those whom the Lord loves," what does He do? “He disciplines.” He disciplines, it's an expression of His love. "He disciplines and He flogs every son whom He receives." There's a special love for His children which leads Him to discipline them. And then He says in verse 8, "But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children, not sons," indicating that not all are disciplined by the Lord. It's only those that He loves with a peculiar love that are disciplined by Him. Well, there's a difference made, some that He loves that He disciplines, others that He doesn't love with that special distinguishing love, He doesn't discipline them, and they're not sons, in fact, they are illegitimate children.

Do you get the feeling, beloved, the drift of all of these passages? They teach and establish the fact that there is indeed taught in Scripture a distinguishing love of God. There is a separating or a marking off by differences in the love which God has to different kinds of people in different kinds of situations. The idea that because God is love, He has an identical affection to all men irrespective of their condition is an unscriptural concept.

Well, now, having, I trust, established the fact that there is a there is in general a distinguishing love, I want to, in the second place this evening, to demonstrate that there is a distinguishing love of God to His own elect people. For notice in our text, these are the two things that Paul joins together. Next Lord's Day we will look at the last part, "knowing, brothers beloved by God”, what “your election," distinguishing love, and here's the point that I want to make based on the scripture: distinguishing love inseparably joined to God's electing purposes. You see, Paul joined them together, these two thoughts, these two truths, that the special object of the love of God and the special object of the electing purpose of God, these are to join together in our text, and they are joined in the biblical concept throughout the entire breadth of Scripture, and what God joins together let no one separate.

Will you turn with me to what I really feel are the two key passages, or believe the two key passages, in the Old Testament which teach in the history of God's people, ancient people, this tremendous truth, that the distinguishing love of God, that God has to His chosen people, these two things are joined together, election and distinguishing love, and they're inseparably joined. And, of course, you have to turn to Deuteronomy 7, right? Deuteronomy 7, the context is clear. God is exhorting His people to obedience, promising that if they obey, blessing will come, if they disobey, the curse will come, and now He's trying to give them motive for obedience, and He tells them in verse 6, we read, "For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God; Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for His own treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth." So here are all the nations, and God says, I set My choice on you, Israel, I set My choice on you.

Now notice verse 7: "Yahweh did not set His affection, He did not set His love on you nor choose you," do you see the two thoughts joined together, set His affection, love upon you and choose you, distinguishing love and particular election inseparably joined right there in the text, verse 7, "Yahweh did not set His affection on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because Yahweh loved you." As God is trying to humble Israel to move her with motives to obey Him, Moses says, now look, God has chosen you to be a special people above all the peoples, and He didn't do it because you were greater, He didn't do it because you were more in number, but He loved you and He chose you for one reason and one reason only. What is it, Moses, tell us? He loved you. He loved you. What do you mean? The only cause is that God chose to set His love upon them. Is that it? Is that the only cause? Precisely, precisely, that's the only reason He gives. Verse 8: "But because Yahweh loved you," that's the only reason that He gives. And because He loved Israel, He chose her for a particular purpose. He chose Israel because He loved Israel. He chose Israel in spite of Israel. So you see, the concepts of distinguishing love and sovereign election are joined together.

Turn with me, while we're in that book, to chapter 10, and you will see the same thing in chapter 10, Deuteronomy, verses 14 through 16. Again, we have an exhortation to obedience in verse 12, and now He's trying to give them motive to prompt them to obedience, and listen to the motive, beginning in verse 14: "Behold, to Yahweh your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. Yet on your fathers did Yahweh set His affection to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. So circumcise your heart and stiffen your neck no longer." Oh, He says, Israel, Oh Israel, be humble, lay low, and be brought to a place of obedience from the heart as you behold the distinguishing love of God which was joined to the particular election of God. "Yahweh set His affection to love you, He chose your seed after you." And so you see, the whole concept of God's distinguishing love and particular election joined together in the whole history of Israel.
So that when Paul is writing about God's dealing with Israel in the New Testament, in that well-known passage in Romans 11 verse 28, we read, "From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of” what? “God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of their fathers.” Why? “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." They will not be rescinded.

You see the two joined together? Now, what is God doing today? Well, because of disobedience, Romans 11:25 and 26, "a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentile has come. And so all Israel will be saved." God's focus of concern right now is His Church, the called-out ones, the called-out body of His own. And how are they described in Scripture? Well, turn to Colossians 3 and we shall see these two thoughts joined together.

Like Moses with Israel in the Old Testament, Paul is exhorting believers to Christian duty and He seeks to arm them with motives by reminding them that they were the objects of distinguishing love and particular election of God. Verse 12, Colossians 3 and verse 12: "So as” what? “The elect of God.” As the elect of God, “holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." He says now if you remember what you are, this will arm you with motives to be what you ought to be or better, to be what you are. Remember what you are, Paul says, and when you remember what you are, you'll be armed with the most powerful motives to be what you are.

Well, what am I? What am I? You're the beloved of God. You're the beloved of God. You're the elect of God. Oh, you mean God set His love upon me? Why? Let me tell you why. Because He set His love upon you. And being pressed down in humiliation that God in His sovereign grace and mercy should love me, me, when He may have made up His bride, the church out of many others. What does this do? When I'm pressed down in humiliation realizing all of this, me, why me? What does this do? It arms the child of God with great motives for humility leading to obedience to the will of God.

2 Thessalonians 2:13, "but we should always give thanks to God for you brothers beloved by the Lord because God has chosen you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." Again, the particular love of God, the particular election of God joined together inseparably. And of course the classic passage showing these two joined together, Ephesians 1:4 through 6, "just as He chose us”, chose us “in Him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the” goodness of our works? According to the what? “According to the good pleasure of His will. To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved."

And so we see in these passages that I try to bring to bear upon 1 Thessalonians 1:4 that when Paul wrote to those Thessalonians and said, "knowing brothers beloved by God your election," he was not speaking of that general love of God that God has for all His creatures. The Lord spoke of that general love of God back in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 where He said in verse 45, "He,” God, “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." That's the common grace of God, the general love of God.

Acts 14:17, Paul says, "He,” God, “did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons filling your hearts with food and gladness." That's the general love of God. So no, no, He's not speaking of that, of that love that He mentions elsewhere. He's not speaking of the peculiar love that Paul is talking about concerning the elect. That peculiar love spoken of in John 10 where our Lord says in verse 14, "I'm the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me. I lay down My life for the sheep and I have other sheep which are not from this fold. I must bring them also and they will hear My voice and they will become one flock with one Shepherd." It's the peculiar love of the bridegroom to the bride.

And Ephesians 5, that text often read at weddings, 25 to 27, "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for” who? For everybody? For the church, “for her”, the church, “so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her”, the church, “by the washing of the water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her Glory, having no spot or wrinkle." You see, that love with which the Thessalonian believers were loved was a distinguishing love. It was a dying, sacrificial love. It was a conquering love. It was the love spoken of in Jeremiah 31 verse 3, "I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness." That's a love that is eternal, beloved, a love that is immutable, a love that is efficacious. "Therefore I have drawn you."

It's a love that not only provides redemption, but quickens, quickens a dead sinner. Paul says in Ephesians 2:4 and 5, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, He made us alive. He quickened us together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved." Has God quickened all men? Has He quickened all sinners? No, He quickened some.

This is a love that quickens the sinner. This is a love that releases the sinners. Revelation 1:5, "To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood and has made us to be kingdom priest to His God and Father, to Him be the glory, the might forever and ever. Amen." This God who loves, who loves inexplicably, who loves without explanation, who loves unexpectedly, who loves invincibly, this God who loves immutably, without change, this God of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is at the center of the target of the source of our salvation.

Salvation is only explained by God and His love for us. The scripture contains the theme of God's love for unlovely sinners. How did God express undeserved, unsolicited love for sinners? What did He do? Well, let me sum it up in one phrase for us. Here it is, and you've heard this before: God gave what was most precious to Him, and He gave that which was best for you and for me. God gave what was most precious to Him, and He gave what was most precious to Him, and He gave what was best for you and for me, child of God.

Let me conclude this evening by seeking to establish the practical use of this. Of what practical use was it to write to these people there in Thessaloniki, little babes in Christ? We think about it, little babes in Christ. You say, shouldn't they be concerned with other more practical things than beloved of God, your election? Aren't those mysteries for the theologians, sovereign election? Predestination? Well, apparently Paul didn't think so.

I mean, they were clear on sovereign election, but they were confused on what? Eschatology. Paul had to straighten them out on the rapture, but he didn't have to straighten them out on election. They were crystal clear. I find that interesting. They knew that God saved them, and He saved them on purpose, and He saved them because He loved them with a special love. We're bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren, that God has chosen you from the beginning.

This was a glorious truth.

Now why? Of what practical use is the doctrine of God's particular, distinguishing love for His own? How is that relevant? Well, let me establish very briefly its practical use for the Saints of God. Paul, writing to these Christians in Thessaloniki, and he says in verse 4, "knowing, brothers beloved by God”, beloved by God, brothers beloved by God, “your election." What effect should that have? I mean, some young believer sitting there in Thessaloniki, listening to Paul's letter read by one of the elders perhaps, and he hears, beloved by God. God has a peculiar love to me in Christ. He has a love that I set His affection on me and has chosen me.

What should this do?

I want to suggest it should, number one, it should have its effect of producing deep humiliation in the heart of the Saint of God. It should have its effect of producing deep, deep humiliation in the heart of the Saint of God. That's why God spoke that way to His ancient people. He said, look, there's nothing in you that moved Me to choose you. In fact, it was quite the opposite. In the moment Israel forgot that, she became decadent, as a nation. When she began to think, well, God chose us because of something we were. And no longer walked in humility, recognizing God chose them simply because He loved them of His own sovereign will, sovereign choice.

Israel became proud and haughty and arrogant, and God brought judgment upon Israel again and again. And God said, look, I'm not going to let you choose Me. God brought judgment upon Israel again and again. And decadent Judaism comes to all of its apex in the incident of the man who stands in the temple, lifts up his face to heaven and says, I thank You that I'm not like other men. Why? Well, God, it's obvious why You chose me, isn't it? Why, it's so clear to me and I hope it's clear to You, God. And if it isn't, let me just clue You in, God. You did a wise thing when You chose me to be part of Your family, the family of Abraham. I'm not like other men.Isn't that what he was saying? He was just reminding God that He did a wise thing when He chose him.

Whereas the true sons of Abraham are like that publican who beat upon the breast and see nothing but wretchedness and sin and dare not to look up to heaven, but wonder of wonders, they see that there is grace available. And he cries, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I know of nothing so humbling to the pride of the human heart than to realize that God has set His love upon me. Not because He foresaw what I would be. Not because He saw something in me that distinguished me from others, but He set His love and affection on me according to the good pleasure of His will.

Paul wanted these saints to walk in the grace of humility, that virtue that's called by many theologians the crown of all virtues, the basis of all virtues: humility.

Remember, every time you wake up in the morning, train your heart and your mind to ask these two questions: What do I deserve, and what have I received? And then it would be, to the saints of God, the basis of comfort and assurance, secondly. The basis of comfort and assurance. For you remember, those Christians were getting kicked around there in Thessaloniki. Little babes in Christ, and they were getting persecuted. They were getting bullied and abused.

And that's why Paul sent Timothy to find out how they were doing. He was concerned about them under pressure, the pressure of persecution and suffering. And that's what prompted him to write a letter when he received the report that in spite of the pressure and the persecution that were going on, they were going on with God. And he wrote this letter. What comfort does that bring? Well, I am beloved of God. I'm chosen by God. If I've been on His heart from eternity as the object of His love and as the subject of His electing purpose, I can look anybody in the face and say, “Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies, who is the one who condemns. Christ Jesus is He who died. Yes, rather, He was who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us, who will separate us from the love of Christ. Will affliction or turmoil or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?" (Romans 8:33-35)

And you read the latter part of Romans eight, and it's charged through with this very concept. The recognition that Christ loved me with a distinguishing, peculiar love for reasons known only to Him will produce in the child of God the basis of His comfort. The straight, deep roots of His blessed assurance that the God who started to move toward me in eternity will not cut me off in time.

Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Oh, the love that sought me. Oh, the blood that bought me. Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold.
You've been singing that, child of God, all your life. Right, that it was grace, it was grace that sought you and bought you and brought you into the fold and blessed be God. It's grace that keeps us there because my name from the palms of His hands, eternity will not erase. Impressed on His heart, it remains in marks of indelible grace.

Yes, I to the end shall endure as sure as the earnest is given. More happy, but not more secure, are the glorified spirits in heaven. The work which His goodness began, the arm of His strength will complete. His promises, yea, and amen, and never was forfeited yet. Things future, nor things that are now, nor all things below or above, can make Him His purpose forgo or sever my soul from His love.

Beloved, that's comfort. That's solid comfort. But God has a distinguishing love to me in Jesus Christ, and in closing, to any of you who are not savingly joined to Christ, I trust that this doctrine will send an air of conviction to your heart. Listen carefully. God's love has been expressed in a general sense to the world, providing a Savior. But what is His present attitude to men who remain in unbelief? Listen to the scripture. Let the scripture answer. John 3:36, the words of Jesus: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." The wrath of God abides on him.
God in love made provision for sinners, and He bid sinners to flee to His Son. But if sinners do not flee, don't think that the canopy of His love is above your head. The scripture says, "The wrath of God abides on him that does not believe."

Psalm 5:5. "You, Yahweh, God, hate all workers of iniquity." Psalm 7:11. "God is a righteous judge and a God who has indignation every day." And the reference is with the wicked. He's angry with the wicked. Romans 1:18. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness." And you remember the words of Paul in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 3, that “all of us were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” That's what John the Baptist meant when he said, "Flee from the wrath to come that hangs over your head." Flee to Christ for mercy.

Oh, dear young person, adult outside of Christ. God in His goodness, God in His benevolence, sends rain and food and provides you with many good things. Romans 2, 4 says, "the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience." And remember there in scripture, there in Romans 2 and elsewhere. But He says, remember, the whole aim of the goodness of God is to lead you to repentance. Though His wrath hangs over your head, in His mercy, in His kindness, He withholds His wrath and in the meantime showers His benefits upon you. To what end? Why? To make you wake up to your folly. That seeing a God who could judge you in this moment, in this instant, has withheld His judgment in mercy. This should cause you to fall on your face crying out, "Oh, God have mercy. God have mercy." The kindness, the forbearance, the patience of God should lead, Paul says, to repentance.

And so to you outside of Christ, this doctrine should cause conviction to your heart. To think of the love of God as separated from Christ is unscriptural nonsense. Unscriptural nonsense. God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son, His love is joined to the Savior. “God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him.” The only comfort in John 3:16 is for a believer. One who believes. To draw comfort from a love that you think is just a general ooze of sentiment, syrupy sentiment, while you remain in impenitence and in unbelief is to butcher the word of God and bring your soul into jeopardy.

But it not only should strike conviction for any of you here who are tonight conscious that you're not in Christ. Oh, what a glorious doctrine that Jesus laid down His life for His sheep. And who are sheep? Those who see themselves in desperate need of the great shepherd. Who see themselves destitute of any righteousness. Who realize that only the righteousness purchased by the bloodshedding of the great shepherd will do. Do you see yourself in that place? No righteousness of your own, no hope in yourself. Then I have good news for you. Then the great shepherd stands ready and He says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)  I'll save you with an everlasting salvation.

That's a wonderful gospel to preach, isn't it? That's a wonderful gospel to proclaim. The gospel of the great shepherd who dies for His sheep, who gathers His sheep, who keeps His sheep, who feeds His sheep. Will you be gathered tonight? He says, repent. He says, believe. He says, come. Oh, may God grant that you find discovery, the discovery of the love of God as you are in Christ Jesus. And the only way sinners get in Christ Jesus is to repent and to believe. May God grant that this doctrine shall have its desired effect upon the sinner who's out of Christ and upon us who are in Christ Jesus. Who are children of God, beloved of God.

I didn't even get a chance to really begin to scratch the surface, expound the thought beloved of God. But let me say this in closing. Just meditate tonight. Meditate in closing. Just think about this. Meditate, ponder, muse on this. Meditate on the infinite chasm, infinite chasm between man and God. And then if you can, stretch infinity even more. Because it's not a chasm between God and man, but between a holy, holy, holy God and sinful man. And what bridges that infinite chasm? Beloved of God. Beloved of God. Oh, the love that drew salvation's plan. Oh, the grace that brought it down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary.

Brothers, beloved of God, may we revel in His love and may that love produce in our hearts such a love for Him that we shall obey Him and serve Him and extol Him and bear witness to Him that others may know of that love and find refuge under the canopy of the love of God that is in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Last week we began to look at this section in John chapter 12, the first eight verses, and we saw the occasion, the exact occasion: six days before Passover, you have this feast in Bethany in the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we looked at, then, the extravagant worship of Mary. What does extravagant devotion worship look like? And you remember Mary gives it to us here clearly, and notice in her response, just to remind us, her response really concerning her extravagant devotion. What does it look like? Notice her response to grace. Extravagant worship is really a response to grace.

Mary was feeling overwhelmingly thankful, overwhelmingly grateful. She had her brother back from the dead, a new lease on life, and not only just her brother, but Messiah Jesus had given her life, had given her truth, had given her salvation, so great a salvation–no more under the penalty of death, no more under the wrath of God. And, so, Mary is overflowing with joy, exceeding joy, and, overflowing with joy, she does what she does.

What she's doing, no one is forcing her to do it. She's not dragging her feet. She's not thinking, oh well, the things that I could do with this expensive perfume, but here we go. No, no, instead she's just, “this isn't even enough!” She wants to do this. She wants to do more. You see, that shows us worship is always a response to grace, always. Are you a recipient of the grace of God? Worship is a response to grace, grace, grace. God has done it, so we what? Overflow, right? God has done it, we overflow. He did it all, we overflow. “We love Him because He first loved us”, right?--1 John 4:19. You see, this is not something that we create, initiate, invent, or try to work up. We simply reflect on who God is and what He has done for our soul.

You meditate on what would my life be if God had not intervened? What would my life be if God did not initiate? What would my life be if God didn't open my eyes? What would my life be? You meditate on His salvation, on His provision, His protection, His promises, His presence, His person. And as you meditate on all of that, what wells up in you is what? The spontaneous desire to express that love. It's like a man who buys something very expensive and precious for his wife or wife-to-be to express how much he values her. And even that analogy breaks down, but you get the idea, I trust. Yes, this costs me deeply, but you are worth more, far more than the thing I'm giving you.

Now, that costliness can look very different. The costliness to you in adoring God, in loving God, in worshiping God, that costliness to you might be in time, right? It might be a costliness in time. Time always costs, doesn't it? I mean, it costs Mary. She had to make the time to plan this out, to get the perfume, to plan how she would do it, and so for you, time sacrifice is present if you're going to love God, to love Jesus. Giving time when you're tired and you'd rather rest. Time for God when it's inconvenient and it's interrupting your plans and your comfort. Time for God when it takes over personal time, family time, holiday time, time you could be earning, making money, and you give that time to God.

Instead of spending it on yourself, you take that time, you give it to being in the Word, in communion with God, or time given to prayer, or time coming to be with the people of God, to worship God, to be discipled, or time to serving another person in the body of Christ, or time evangelizing some unsaved person outside of this body of Christ. And you say, yeah, it costs me, but He is worth it. He is worth it.

The cost may be in money, right? Mary certainly spent a lot of money on this perfume [that] she could have spent on herself. She broke the flask and poured it all on Christ. Of course, she could have just put the perfume on herself, or she could have used the 300 denarii in some other way, but she gave it all to the Lord to honor Him.

Money. Yes, this could be giving to the cause of Christ, giving to the church, giving to missions, but it could also be money spent on being hospitable to other people in the body of Christ, to break bread with them, and fellowship with them, and get to know them more, maybe spending your gas money to visit another person in need, or to do a Bible study with that person, to help someone else who need help, even helping with housework, gardening, helping the elderly, the sick, the shut-in. It might be money spent on buying books for another Christian here in the body of Christ, buying a Bible for someone that you see doesn't have one. It might be spending money taking out one of the young people here and have spiritual conversations with them. It might be the money you spend on Christian education, making sure you and your children are educated in the Christian way. It costs money, but you look at it and you say, but He's worth it. He's worth it. Oh, He's worth it.

Money, time, maybe the cost would be to your reputation. You see, Mary knew that what she was about to do might be criticized. People might suspect her for having false motives, that perhaps they would cast aspersion upon her character. Maybe they would think it was unseemly for her to be there on her knees next to Jesus, putting perfume, and even more unseemly for her to show and let down her hair. Besides, she was a wealthy woman. Why was she acting like a slave girl? Costly adoration means it costs your reputation at times.

Maybe one of your friends is gonna think you're fanatic. They may think you're part of a cult. Maybe that you've lost your reasonableness. “Oh, He's got Jesus. Oh, she's into church. Going to church again? What? How many times? She's become a church girl.” “Oh, you're becoming too extreme. I mean, you read the Bible every day.” The cost might be, you know, I'm willing to be embarrassed in front of those old friends. I'm willing to even pray out loud in front of relatives who would never have thought I'd ever do something like that. I'm actually willing to even sing hymns to Christ and speak about the saving gospel of Jesus in front of others. That's gonna cost me looking important and good. Cost me that. It costs your reputation.

But what you say, like Mary, is “He is worth it. Oh, He is worth it. In fact, what I give is less than what He's worth–far less, far, far less than what He's worth.” The money, the time, the reputation, and everything else that you put in there that you can think about, it's absolutely nothing to use the language of Paul, in Philippians 3, that was read earlier in your hearing. It's all what? ‘Skubalon’--dung, excrement–compared to the surpassing knowledge of Christ my Lord, who Christ is. Mary embraced the cost because Christ was worth more to her than everything she could ever spend.

Remember the psalmist, what he says in Psalm 63:3? Remember that statement? Your ‘chesed’--”Your loving-kindness is better than life." You know what he's saying? “I take all of life, all of it, all of it, and I put it on this side of the scale and then I put You, You God, who You are, Your ‘chesed’, Your loving-kindness to me, and the scale goes down. You are still worth more, far more, exceedingly abundantly more.”

C.T. Studd was a British missionary in the early part of the 20th century and he had a famous saying, I love this, I love this. He said this–very simple–"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him." If Jesus Christ be God and He died for me, there can be no sacrifice too great for me to make for Him. It's just a cost issue–extravagant devotion.

Tragically, unfortunately, sadly, this extravagant devotion, this extravagant worship was not the only sentiment in the room. There was a different sentiment also present in that room. So from Mary's extraordinary devotion, extravagant devotion, look with me at the extreme disdain– Judas' extreme disdain–verses 4 through 6.

You know there's an old saying, one that I know you're very familiar with, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That is, what is beautiful to one person, attractive to one person, may be unattractive to another person. And the difference can't be explained by the object because the object is the same, the difference is found in the person who's actually looking.

Mary has taken an expensive perfume, ointment, something worth one year's wages and in expression, in demonstration of her love, her devotion, her adoration for the Lord Jesus Christ, and out of the knowledge that He was going to die, she anoints Him with it. She pours it on His head, on His feet, and she wipes His feet with her hair. And Jesus sees what she does and He praises her for it. It was pleasing to Him, it was attractive to Him, it was beautiful to Him. In fact, He says what she did was ‘kalos’--good, beautiful. "It's a beautiful thing," according to Mark 14:6, but the very reason that He had to defend this woman's act of worship is because there was someone else present who doesn't see it as attractive, doesn't see it as beautiful, doesn't see it as good in his sight.

There's a devil present, and his name is Judas Iscariot. He's about to betray the Lord Jesus, and He has witnessed this pure and loving act of worship and found it to be offensive. We said last week that there are those monumental moments that show the great divide between the people who truly know the Lord and love the Lord and the people who don't. You don't always have these moments. Most of the time, the fruit is demonstrated in a very natural way and in the everyday affairs of life, the flow of life, the routine of life, the mundane things of life, but every once in a while you have one of those moments where it just becomes crystal clear.

This is one of those great contrasts when you see what Jesus thought of what she did versus what Judas thought of what she did. And this morning I want us to look at the contrast, that contrast, and again as we do that, just like we did last Lord's Day, I want to ask as we do that, where are we? Where are we? Do we find ourselves worshiping Christ like Mary, the way Mary did? Or do we find ourselves in the position of the disciples? We'll look at them very briefly this morning as well, but we'll get to it. Or could it be even that there are some Judases in this fellowship today among us? You say that you know the Lord, that you are numbered as one of His disciples, but in fact true and authentic worship is not something that is beautiful to you, not something that is attractive to you, not something that you engage in.

I want to begin with the perspective of Judas. Judas. What does he see in what Mary does? What does he see in what Mary does? In fact, we're going to see his perspective about two things this morning. We're going to see his perspective about two things. His perspective about Mary's deed and his perspective based upon that of the Lord Jesus. What does he see in Jesus? Well, let's begin with his view of Mary's deed. His perspective about Mary's deed.

So here's Mary. She's poured out this expensive perfume, this ointment on the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how does Judas respond to it? Look at the text, verse 4: "But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was going to betray Him, said, 'Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?'" "Why didn't you sell it? And why didn't you give the money to the poor?" So the first thing we can say about his view of this is it was, in general, we can say it was offensive to him. He was offended. It was offensive. He looks at the deed of Mary, he looked at it, and he said that was offensive.

Remember, Christ tells us this was an act of worship pleasing to God, but in the view of Judas this is something offensive. He's offended by what she did. He recoils from it. It offends his senses. He just can't believe what he just witnessed. In fact, it bothered him so badly he couldn't contain himself. You almost get the impression that he blurts this out. We know it had to be public enough that Jesus defends Mary. The Bible tells us in Matthew 26, the parallel account, that they were scolding her, and it all begins with Judas' perspective, with his view of it. I mean, we'll find out from the other account that the disciples pick up on it, but he's the ringleader. It starts with him. He's offended.

In fact, the Bible uses another word, the word “indignant.” Mark 14:4, "But some were indignantly remarking to one another, 'Why has this perfume been wasted?'" Matthew 26:8, "But when the disciples saw this, they were indignant, saying, 'Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.'" Well, Judas started all of that talk. He was indignant.

He was offended. But why was he offended? Why? Why was he offended? Well, the second thing we could say about his perspective of it is, it was foolish to him. It was foolish to him. It offended him because it seemed entirely foolish to him. It made no sense to him whatsoever. “What a foolish deed”, he thought. He thought it to be, the word that's used in the text is what? "Waste." "Waste." What a waste. He thought it to be a waste, something to be mocked, something to be criticized.

Who would do what you just did? Who in their right mind would do this? I mean, that was his attitude, which gives you a third thing we could say about it. It was wasteful to him. It was wasteful to him. It was foolish to him. It was wasteful to him. That's the estimation of a costly, extravagant service. A waste. He deemed it, waste. Do you know a waste is the very opposite of sacrifice? Sacrifice is high cost for something that's worth it. Waste is high cost for something that's not worth it.

From a practical point of view, without the spiritual perception of Mary, without the spiritual values of Mary, this would seem to be an utter waste of money. I mean, you take something valued at one year's wages and you just squander it. You just pour it out. Just pour it out. Now was it wasteful? Was it wasteful, beloved? No. Of course not. Absolutely not. But from a lost man's point of view, it seemed wasteful–even from a saved man's point of view, wrongly influenced. Because the disciples pick up on it and it seemed wasteful to them.

Oh, but if you had the eyes of Mary, huh? If you had the understanding of Mary, if you had the values of Mary, oh, it wasn't wasteful. It wasn't far enough. And her values apparently matched the values of God because Christ was pleased with it and He memorialized it and said it would never ever be forgotten. And here we are talking about it today.

It's offensive to him, it's foolish to him, it's wasteful to him, and something else that we could say, it seemed misdirected to him. It seemed misdirected to him. This perfume, couldn't it have been used differently? Now we have to ask, “Judas, in what way is it misdirected? And what would you have her to do with it? You think it's wrong that she would express her love for Christ and pours it out on Him? What would you have her do with it, Judas? Please tell us.”

Well, this is where you see that he was a liar. What's the reason that he gives? [Matthew 26] Verse 9, "For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." Doesn't that sound pious? Doesn't it sound, like, noble and godly? But was he telling the truth? No. Thanks be to God for this fourth gospel, this fourth gospel writer, because we have insight here that we wouldn't have otherwise. We know why he said what he said. John tells us, well, the Holy Spirit tells us through John–verse 6, “Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor." Mark it down, beloved. Mark it down. Realize, just because someone talks about something, it doesn't mean that they really care about it. It doesn't.

He used the poor as his reason to be offended and upset, but he didn't really care about the poor. It wasn't really about the poor. You see, behind this seeming piety, there's actually a heart of cold disdain. Judas had no sympathy for her acts, for her worship, for her acts of adoration for Christ. And here's why. Because he has none. He has absolutely none. You see, beloved, loveless people are turned off by the love of others. Loveless people are turned off by the love of others. It nauseates them because Judas has another love and the text tells you what his other love is.

He loves what? Money. Money. I wonder, couldn't help but wonder, how many times in evangelical churches people have been upset about things that they weren't really that upset about, really wasn't what they said, it was something else. And, in his case here, it was something else, of course. “Now he said this,” verse 6, “not because he was concerned about the poor.” Why? What's the reason? “Because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to take from what was put into it.”

Can I say this? Judas was an influential person. He was an influential person. He had to be. You see him influence all the disciples on this occasion, but you also find that they'd made him the treasurer. He kept the money box. He was in charge of the funds and the Holy Spirit tells us here that having charge over the money box, he used to help himself to what was put into it. On an ongoing basis, he was pilfering, he was stealing, he was pocketing some of the money that was put in the box. And so when he says, “this could have been sold, the money been better used”, he doesn't mean better used on the poor, he means better used on who? Himself. “I could have had that. What a waste.” That's what he was thinking. “I could have had that.” So it seems offensive to him, it seems foolish to him, it seems wasteful to him, and in his view it's misdirected. This is not how it should have been used in his mind. That's his view of Mary's act, her deed, her beautiful deed, but in his eyes it wasn't, it was the opposite.

Now in that attitude, you also see his view of Christ. So not only his perspective concerning Mary's deed, but also you see here his perspective of Christ in that attitude that he demonstrated. What Judas says here reveals his perspective of the Lord Jesus Christ. It tells us two very clear things. Number one, he had no idea about Christ's true mission. No clue. No idea about Christ's true mission. He had no understanding of what Jesus had really come to do.

Now you might at this point say to yourself, “well how could he have possibly known that Mary was doing this because of His impending death? How? How could have Judas or any of the disciples known that she was pouring this upon Him out of an understanding that Jesus would soon die? I mean, could anyone have known that?” Well, do you realize they didn't go straight from Ephraim, end of chapter 11, to Bethany, chapter 12? If you read the other gospel accounts and put them together, you'll find out that before they came to Bethany, they actually first went to Jericho. That's where He met Zacchaeus. That's where He met blind Bartimaeus and healed him.

This is on their way to Bethany and on the road up to Jerusalem through Bethany, Jesus had a very straightforward, unmistakable conversation with His disciples. In fact, knowing that people out there were looking for Christ, ready to turn Him over to the Pharisees for arrest, you would have expected Jesus to kind of be holed out and just kind of walk in the shadows. But as they're walking down the road, He's out in front, nothing to hide, no fear, and He's having this conversation. Turn with me to Mark chapter 10.

This is really helpful–Mark chapter 10. This is the conversation: verse 32, "And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem and Jesus was walking on ahead of them;”--He's just leading the way–“and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful.” I mean, this is suicidal, right? “And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him." And what was going to happen to Him? Verse 33, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock Him and spit on Him, and flog Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again."

So I want to ask you, could you be any more clear than that? I mean, He has told them exactly what's coming, hasn't He? So that when Mary does this, all of those men should have had some understanding. There's going to be something going on here that is unique, there's something going on here that is special, there's something going on here that reflects an understanding of spiritual comprehension. But instead, they missed the boat, they didn't comprehend. In fact, even on the road, they didn't even grasp it. It just like flew right past them.

Look at verse 35: "Then James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying to Him, 'Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.' And He said to them, 'What do you want Me to do for you?' And they said to Him, 'Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.'" Can you imagine? He's telling them He's about to die. And they're concerned about their position.

Verse 38: "But Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?' And they said to Him, 'We are able.' And Jesus said to them, 'The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.' And hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. And calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, 'You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.'"

And He goes on telling them about His passion, about His death, and all they could do is battle amongst themselves over position. Back to John, chapter 12. So when Judas is indignant, influencing the rest, the rest hopping on his bandwagon, he reveals that he has no understanding of the true mission of Christ even though he's about to force the issue, so to speak, by selling Christ, by betraying Him.
 
But he also reveals something else and it's clear to see. Here's the other thing that it reveals. He has no knowledge of the worth and honor of Christ. He has no knowledge of the worth and the honor of Christ, the Son of God, God the Son. Stop and think about what his words did. Here she is in the sight of all, the view of all. She takes this expensive perfume, breaks the flask, pours it out on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are speaking in terms of waste. Why would you waste that? How did she waste it? On Christ. On Christ–that's the implication. Why would you waste this on Him? Wow.

What is Judas doing? He is dishonoring the Lord Jesus. He's dishonoring the Lord Jesus. If you had any insight at all into the person and the worth and the value of Jesus, you could have never uttered such words. I wonder, I wonder, I wonder, is there a Judas here today? Is there someone here this morning who could never imagine loving Christ and giving for Christ in the way that Mary did? You can't imagine that kind of enthusiasm. You can't imagine that kind of sacrifice. You can't imagine that kind of uninhibited abandon that was expressed in what she did. You think about those people who serve Christ in such an uninhibited way. How does it appear to you? How do you view it? Does it seem like fanaticism? Does it seem like that they sort of got out of their mind?

There are some of you here today that your family, they think that you've gone out of your mind, that they think you've lost it. But maybe there's somebody here this morning that that's how you think of your own family. That's how you think of your friends who have come, maybe, to know Jesus recently. Or that's how you think of someone that you know who is a Christian like you, you know, you say you're a Christian just as they're a Christian, you just don't take it that far, you say. You just don't take it as, you know, fanatically as they do.

Does it in a sense offend you? Does it seem foolish to you? Does it seem wasteful? Does it seem misdirected to you? Examine how you spend your time, examine how you spend your affections, your thoughts, your life. Are you spending yourself on Christ or does that seem wasteful? So that you spend your life on your pleasures, self-gratification–on self. Or perhaps you want a dose of religion, you want a little bit of Christianity, like fire insurance, but the thought of losing your life for Christ, the thought of spending and being spent fully on Him is foreign to you. And those who live that way, they seem to you, you know, fanatical.

2 Corinthians 12:15, Paul writes, "I will most gladly, not just gladly, but most gladly." It's not simply a willingness, it's a willingness from the heart with joy. "I will most gladly spend and be fully spent for your souls. And if I love you more, am I to be loved less?" You see, he's willing to spend and be fully spent on behalf of people who don't really even appreciate it. Why? Because he loves Jesus.

And Philippians 2:17, Philippians 2, verse 17 and following, Paul writes, "But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering”--fully spent, fully spent, right? Fully spent. “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. And you also, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me. But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be in good spirits when I learn of your circumstances. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned about your circumstances. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus." In other words, “I don't have any servant to send to you like Timothy, because most of the people I know,” Paul writes, “the people I know, they're not concerned about your welfare. They are concerned about their own interests, not the interests of Christ.” Christ's interests. Christ's interests.

May I ask you, whose interests are you concerned about? Whose interests [are] you and I concerned about? So you see the perspective of Judas, Mary's deed is not attractive to him, it's not beautiful to him, it's not good to him, it's not attractive to him, it's foolish, it's wasteful, it's misdirected, it's offensive. Why? Because he doesn't have the right perspective of Jesus, he has no understanding of the mission of Jesus, and he has no understanding of the worth, the surpassing worth and honor of Jesus.

So to spend all, take something of supreme value, and spend it all on Christ–to him, that seemed to be what a waste. Could have been better spent, how Judas? Oh, myself. Not even on the poor, he was dishonest about that. He's a thief.

Now how does Jesus respond to the scolding of Mary? Note with me, lastly, the exonerating declaration, that's verses 7 and 8, “Therefore Jesus said, ‘Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.’" We dealt with that last Lord's day, that verse. "For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me."

It's interesting, isn't it? Do you notice what He does? Let me ask you this: does Christ know the true heart and character of Judas? He does, doesn't He? He does. He knew he was a devil from the beginning. So does Christ know that Judas is not really concerned with the poor? Of course He does. But, do you notice what Jesus does here? Notice what He does here. He takes the offense at face value. And, He says in effect, “even if you are really concerned about the poor, you're still wrong on this one, Judas” and to the rest of the disciples. I mean, if I'm going to accept what you're saying, that you think it should have been sold and the money given to the poor, you're still dead wrong. What a dishonoring thing that Jesus would be put in the position of having to even say these things, but He says, you're wrong.

And what is Jesus asserting here in that statement? Well, first of all, by saying this, Jesus is asserting that He has, He Himself, has the place of preeminence–first place in everything. Towering over everything. He is the point of everything. The place of preeminence. That it was better that this should be spent on Him than on the poor because He is God.

And He also says this, He says, "For you always have the poor with you." Now, He's not in any way meaning that we should take the attitude that we don't help the poor whatsoever because the poor were always going to be here. That's not what He's teaching. We see contrary teaching to that all throughout the Word of God. We are called, exhorted, and commanded to care for the poor. What He's saying is this: there are unique opportunities to glorify Christ that won't always be available. They won't always be here. "For you always have the poor with you," which, by the way, also speaks to this utopian point of view that somehow we're going to eliminate poverty all over the world someday. It's not going to happen. This is a sin-cursed world. This is a broken world. And as Pastor MacArthur always used to say, “This is a disposable planet.”

But, He says, "But you do not always have Me." “I'm coming to the end of My time here on earth with you. I will soon be crucified, buried, and she's done this in view of that–a unique opportunity to love Me and demonstrate that love and that understanding that I've given to her. This is right. This is good. This is noble. This is beautiful. I take the place of preeminence.” That's what He's saying.

But He's also showing the primacy of the spiritual over the material, over the social. The primacy of the spiritual over the material and the social. The most important thing when you think about reaching the world, the most important thing, beloved, is not that they be fed and clothed. The most important thing is the spiritual relationship with Christ. What think ye of Jesus, right? That's the most important question. This is being lost, beloved. This is something that is an area where the church is really getting off track in recent years, especially. So much going on today in the name of social gospel, social ministry, social reform, and it's not the most important thing.

Listen to what one commentator said, "To many people, hot and eager about social reform and impatient for the betterment of the material conditions around them, the church seems nothing more or less than an irritating irrelevance. Its labor is a sheer nuisance, distracting people and turning them aside from the real things requiring to be done, inciting them to lose their way among and waste their time upon what does not really count or matter one way or the other, while its worship seems to them an absurdity that gets one nowhere. As a matter of fact, these confident critics have no understanding of what the church is doing."

In other words, the world looks at us and says, “Listen, with so many hurting people out there, with so many poor people out there, why are you people gathered together in this place listening to teaching about the Bible? I mean, that's what's really relevant that's going on in this hour. What is really relevant? Why are you here? Why are you listening to the word of God? What is really relevant that's going on in this hour of worship? What is taking place that will really mean anything? Well, why don't you gather up all your resources and go out to the community and start doing what really needs to be done? Putting clothes on people's back and food on the table. I mean, why don't you take care of the stuff that really matters?”

And the commentator said, as I just read, and I agree 100%, “they have no understanding of what the church is really about and the value of spiritual things.” Remember Matthew 11? When John the Baptist from prison sent word by his disciples and said to Jesus, Matthew 11, verse 3, “‘Are You the One who is to come, or shall we look for someone else?’ And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,’””--and now watch this–“and the poor"--you'd expect Him to say "are fed."-no–"and the poor have the gospel preached to them."

And here Jesus makes the point that these disciples who were grumbling had no understanding of the importance of spiritual things. It was better that this ointment be poured out upon the Lord Jesus Christ than it to be sold and the money given to the poor. This was more important, and beloved, it is more important for the soul to be fed than the body to be fed. And it's more important that a spiritual life be saved than a physical life be saved.

And that is not to ignore the physical needs. No, no. It is to acknowledge simply the primacy of the spiritual over the material and the social. There are things going on in this hour, here, right now, that have the potential to so profoundly impact a life. And it won't just change one life. It will change generations. And that happens every time the word of God is opened up and exposited. This living and active word, sharper than a double-edged sword. And every time this word is opened and shared and read and learned, it is the dynamite of God of salvation. This isn't a waste of time.

Worship, worship toward God is never, ever a waste of time. He is worthy of it. I'm afraid that the same kind of lack of appreciation for spiritual things is seen in many evangelical churches today. That's the attitude that's done away with preaching the Word. The attitude that's done away with Bible study. “We're too busy for those things”, they say. It just takes up too much time. “Let's be busy about the practical matters, you know.” That's what people say. In the name of striving for the practical, we have sacrificed the profound.

So, the perspective of Judas: wasteful. The perspective of Jesus: it's beautiful. She did exactly right. The poor you always have with you. You will not always have Me. That leaves us with the perspective of the disciples, the eleven. I just want to say a word about the perspective of the eleven. I mean, there's Mary, there's Judas, and there's another group witnessing all of this. Now, I just think about the contrast just to see it vividly. Mary gave, Judas stole. Mary focused on Christ, Judas turned attention away from Christ. Mary only thought about Christ. She only cared for Christ. Judas only thought of himself. Mary was pure, straightforward, honest in her loving act of worship. Judas was a liar about his true motivation.

And present at the scene were true believers who found themselves influenced in the wrong direction. The eleven disciples. Instead of joining Mary in extravagant worship, they joined Judas in his foolish scoffing and scolding. And what I want us to understand this morning, in closing, is this. Right now, in this world, there are still Marys. Right now, in this world, there are still Marys. I mean, there are enthusiastic believers engaged in extravagant worship, who will spend and be fully spent for the Lord Jesus Christ. There still are those people in the world.

And on the other hand, in this world, you still have the Judases. They're still here–externally attached to Jesus, in name known as ‘His disciples’, but with no appreciation for His worth and value because they don't know Him. And to live a sold-out life for Christ, to give our very best for Christ, is something that they can't even imagine. It seems foolish, wasteful. It seems to them fanatical.

And then sadly, there's another group of people. They're not Judases. They're saved, but they're living lives that are not as they were saved to live. They're not on fire for Christ, have no zeal for Christ. They're not sold out for the Lord Jesus Christ. And the question is, who's going to influence them?

Listen to Spurgeon, many years ago, had this to say: "Beloved friends, the Church of Christ needs a band of men and women full of enthusiasm, who will go beyond others in devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. We need missionaries who will dare to die to carry the gospel to regions beyond. We need ministers who will defy public opinion, and with flaming zeal, burn away into men's hearts. We need men and women who will consecrate all that they have by daring deeds of heroic self-sacrifice. Oh, that all Christians were like this. But we must at least have some. We need a bodyguard of loving champions to rally around the Savior, the bravest of the brave, immortals and invincibles who shall lead the van of the armies of the Lord. Where are we to get them? How are they to be produced?"

He answers, "The Holy Spirit's way to train men and women who shall greatly serve Christ is to lead them to deep thought and quiet contemplation. Thence, they obtain the knowledge and vital principle which are the fuel of true zeal. You cannot leap into high devotion. Neither can you be preached into it, nor dream yourself into it, or be electrified into it by revivalism. It must, through the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, arise out of a hard stern dealing with your soul and near and dear communion with your Savior." And then he ends with this: "You must sit at His feet. You must sit at His feet or you will never anoint them. You must sit at His feet or you will never anoint them. He must pour His divine teaching into you or you will never pour out a precious ointment upon Him."

Where are we at? Oh, Grace Chapel, where are we at? We come and go, business as usual. We sing a few songs, shake some hands, hug some people, share a little bit of our weeks. Is that what it is? Where are we at? Are we full of that kind of burning zeal that says, Lord, wherever You want to send me, whatever You want to do with me, whatever the cost, whatever the sacrifice, whatever it means, I just want to live for You. I just want to be used for Your great name. Here am I, Lord. Use me. Is that where we are?

To use Spurgeon's language, I can't preach you into it. I can't preach myself into it. You can't be electrified into it through revivalism. No, no. It's going to be when you think deeply, when you sit at the feet of the Savior, when you really contemplate who He is, what He has done for your soul, so that the Holy Spirit deals sternly with your soul and mine.

And in light of such a great, magnanimous Savior, in light of such a great sacrifice, don't you realize that He doesn't have part of you? He has it all. You are not your own. Do you realize that you're not your own? You've been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in that body of yours. Present yourself a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to Him every single day.

Oh, may God lead us, who say we're His people, to realize we really are His people. I mean, we're His, His people, set apart, bought with His blood, meant to live peculiar lives in the midst of a lost and dying generation. Not living for Him partially, but completely, entirely, fully, with all of our heart and all of our ways.

Permit me to close with one commentator. He put it this way, and I just couldn't help it, but share it with you. Concerning this account, "Oh, how I want to be like Mary. But oh, how often it is that it is Judas who so readily appears when I look in the mirror." And I would add, the disciples. He goes on to say, "Only the gospel of my Savior is sufficient for my sin. Sick soul, I strongly suspect that were Mary alive today and we were to interview her and ask her the question, ‘What is your favorite Christian hymn, Mary?’ I strongly suspect she would say, that's easy. It was written in 1707 by Isaac Watts. While Charles Wesley reportedly said he would give up all his other hymns to have written this one. Mr. Wesley wrote over 6,000 hymns. Some say he wrote over 9,000. Now the hymn written by Mr. Watts: "When I survey the wondrous cross." I love all four stanzas, but one and four are especially meaningful to me. Listen, and I'll close with this.

"When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died,  
My richest gain, my richest gain, my richest gain, I count but loss,  
And pour contempt on all my pride.  
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,  
Save in the death of Christ my God.  
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.  
See from His head, His hands, His feet,  
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.  
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,  
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?  
Were the whole realm of nature mine,  
That were an offering far too small, (because He's worth it, right?)
Love so amazing, so divine,  
Demands my soul, my life, my all."

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

In our study of this paragraph that begins at verse 2 and extends down to the end of the chapter, verse 10, we have in a very real sense what we would call Paul's prayer of thanks to God for what he discerned to be the work of God in the believers, the people of God, there at Thessaloniki. And at the very top of the list of the things for which he gave thanks to God in verse 3, we have what I have called the three crowned jewels in the diadem of Christian virtue. A Christian is one to whose life God has worked many wonderful virtues by the grace and the power of His Spirit, and yet it would seem in the thinking of the Apostle Paul under inspiration that the three crowned virtues amongst all of those which God really works in His people are those mentioned here in verse 3: faith, love, and hope. The same Paul who said in 1 Corinthians 13, "but now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love."

Well, we have gone into some detail in studying each of these separately. You recall the work of faith that he mentions here. Paul was grateful that these believers had a living trust in the living Savior that made them naturally produce works of gratitude, works done not to earn salvation, but as the fruit of salvation received by faith as a gift of God. Then he was thankful for their labor of love, that they had love to the triune God that made them engage in sacrificing, arduous labor and toil for the cause of Christ, the cause of the kingdom, the cause of the gospel. And then last time we were in this epistle together, we looked together at the phrase steadfastness of hope. They had a hope, which is not a mere wishful desire as you and I use the word hope today, but rather a confident expectation of promised blessing. And that expectation produced - epimoni- , endurance, perseverance, bearing up under the pressures to which they were subjected as young Christians.

This evening we want to look at the last two phrases in verse 3, which are very, very instructive to us. This work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope, Paul says, all of these were in our Lord Jesus Christ and before our God and Father. And in these two little phrases we have what we might call in the first place, the object and the cause of these virtues. Toward what or whom is this love directed, this faith, this hope directed? Paul would tell us in this phrase that it was directed toward none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, who causes these virtues to be found? Well, also Paul tells us here as well.

And then in the little phrase, before our God and Father, we have this sincerity and the climate in which these graces and virtues were actually worked out or exercised. Were they something that the Thessalonians just put on as it were to simply impress others and impress the Apostle Paul? No, he says they were not in the sight of men, they were not before men, but they were exercised in the sight of God. They were exercised sincerely and in a climate of God-consciousness. And that is very significant. That is very sanctifying.

So these little phrases are by no means just sort of a, you know, they're thrown in there for the sake of filler. These answer a very vital question. If you have in you today these virtues, the work of faith, the labor of love, the steadfastness of hope, where do they come from? And what will sustain them? That's the question Paul answers. If you seem to have them, are they mere sham virtues or are they the real product? Are they a cheap imitation or are they the genuine issue? Well, we can find out if we understand what Paul means in the little phrase before our God and Father as well.

So let's take the two phrases in that order. First of all, the object and the cause of these virtues, these crown jewels. Now you have, we have a little problem in the structure of this in the original, in the Greek text. Notice verse 3. It could mean that Paul is saying this: "I remember without ceasing your work of faith, your labor of love, your steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus," and the "in the Lord Jesus" phrase referring only to their steadfastness of hope. This, then, would be a commentary on the kind of hope they had; it was in the Lord Jesus.

But in the original, the word in is not there. It's supplemented. It is not there in the original. It could very well be translated of or in. It could be both. And I believe it is both, and I'll explain why. It is so structured that it could well refer to the entire passage. And I believe it is. Let me illustrate. I might say to you tonight, I'm very thankful to the congregation for the love, the patience, and the grace which it has shown to me and my family. Well, you see, the "shown to me and my family" applies to all of those things for which I'm thankful, not just the last one. All of them.

So we could read the passage this way: "Remembering without ceasing, your work of faith of the Lord Jesus, your labor of love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and steadfastness of hope of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Lord Jesus Christ." And I really believe this is the sense that Paul really communicating here for us. And for the simple reason I say this, whenever the Apostle Paul has opportunity to trace the virtues found in a Christian back to their ultimate source, He delights to trace them back to the Lord Jesus Christ as the ultimate source. The fountainhead from which all of these virtues flow down into our lives, the lives of the people of God, He is the fountainhead and He is the source. He always does that. He traces them back.

You remember in the first chapter of Philippians, Paul prayed for these Philippian Christians that they might be filled with the fruits of righteousness, which he says are, Philippians 1:11, "through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God." It is in Christ, of Christ, through Christ. Always. It's always this way. So in this passage, the Apostle Paul is attributing to the Lord Jesus Christ the fact that there was work of faith, there was labor of love, and there was steadfastness of hope. He was the source. He was the object of these virtues.

Now let's consider them together. Christ is the object of all faith. He's the object of love and the object of hope, which is commendable in the sight of God. Today, all around us, you have these inspirational spiritual gurus. They tell us that if you have faith, it doesn't matter who's the object of that faith, so long as you have faith. But if you have faith and if you have hope, it doesn't matter who's the object of that hope. And if you have love, just as long as you have love and if you have those three things, that's the way you will live successfully. You're good, good to go.

But the Bible never told you that having faith, hope, and love is the way to live successfully. For you see, the emphasis of the Bible is not upon faith itself, hope itself, and love itself as entities in themselves. But the emphasis of the Scripture is upon faith, hope, and love in terms of their object. And the thing that caused Paul to rejoice is that these beloved people had a work of faith, faith which had as its object the Lord Jesus Christ. Just faith of itself is no virtue. It isn't. It's not some kind of a magical kind of potion that if you take it and have it or you have it, all will be well with you. It is not faith in faith.

You see, you could talk about faith and hope and love in any circle today and people think, isn't he nice? He's quite religious. That's lovely. This is what even politicians and heads of state do. They talk about faith and hope and love and all the rest. And you see, everybody will embrace this and love it and say, isn't that nice? You end up with a cultural type of a religion. But you see, the emphasis of the Bible is what's the object of your faith? What's the object of your faith? You see, faith in some kind of a nebulous God or faith in the God revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ, that makes a whole difference. Nebulous God or the God revealed in Jesus Christ? Love to something that you can see to be God or love to the God who's revealed Himself in Jesus Christ? Hope, just sort of a wishful desire that everything's going to turn out all right in the end or hope that is really rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ, the hope of glory in us.

With these Thessalonians, their faith, their love, their hope had as its object the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, beloved, the Christian life is not a self-focused life. It is a Christ-focused life. It is a Christ-centered life. This life, this work of faith, this labor of love, this steadfastness of hope, where it is centered? Where is it experienced? In our Lord Jesus Christ, in Him. One of the great evidences that you've been converted is that your life is not centered on you. It's not centered on you. Faith is not centered on you. Love is not centered on you. Hope is not centered on you. It is not self-wardly focused. It is Christ-wardly focused.

Let's consider them briefly, individually.

Faith, their faith was of or in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how do we know this is true? How do we know this is true? Remember back in Acts 17? If you turn back there and find the account, the founding of the church, remember how we saw that together and considered it together? We read that when Paul came among them, he did not come with some kind of a psychological emphasis just saying, you know, well, if you just have faith in something other than yourself, then you're going to be fine. All will be well with you. You sort of needed to trust some sort of a higher power, a higher being.

Does that ring a bell? I think that's what Alcoholics Anonymous use as the term. You've got to have faith in a higher power. Now, is that what he preached? You've got to have faith in some higher power? No, no. Listen to his words. Acts 17, verses 2 and 3, “according to Paul's custom, he went to them and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and setting before them that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and saying, 'This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is that Christ,'" and some of them were persuaded, they believed.

What did they believe? They did not have a nebulous kind of faith and a nebulous kind of a concept of a nebulous God. No, no. Their faith was rooted in the God revealed in Jesus Christ, the Christ of history, who lived, who died, who rose again, who was and is the only way by which sinners could find acceptance before a holy God. Therefore, their faith, which Paul commends, had as its object that unique person, the God-man, Christ Jesus, set forth in Scripture. That Christ, by His work upon Calvary's cross, was set before them. The open tomb and His presence at the right hand of the majesty on high. He's the only Savior of sinners. And they embraced Him.

For notice, he says it was faith of or in the Lord Jesus Christ, giving to Him His full official title, which is a beautiful summary of all that He is and all that He does for sinners. That's what He says to them. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ and He uses the full title. He is Jesus the God-man. He is the Christ, the promised Messiah, prophet, priest, and King, who would teach us by His Word, who would die for us and shed His blood for our forgiveness, and who would rise and be the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is Jesus the God-man. Christ, the promised Messiah, prophet, priest, and King, and He is Kyrios. He is the Lord who sits upon a throne.

And Paul says, we give thanks to God, remembering without ceasing your work of faith of or in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their faith was an intelligent theological faith, and that's the only kind of faith that God will ever commend.

And then their love. Their love was directed to the Lord Jesus Christ. It wasn't directed to just Jesus. You know a lot of sentimental love to Jesus, syrupy love. We like to think of the man of Galilee. It was directed not just to Jesus. And I'm always suspicious of groups or movements who, they talk about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and don't give Him the full title. It wasn't just to Jesus, and it wasn't just to the Christ. They weren't just preoccupied with the fulfillment of prophecy in Jesus, the anointed one.

Their love was directed to the Lord Jesus Christ. They loved the one who sat upon the throne, who came to that throne by way of a cradle of a cross of a tomb. They loved Him for who He was. They loved Him for what He had done as the anointed Messiah, God's Son. And Paul says he gives thanks to God for their work of faith, because it was faith which had as its object the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave thanks for the labor of love, for that love had as its object the Lord Jesus Christ, and then their hope had as its object the Lord Jesus Christ.

It wasn't a confident expectation in the betterment of humanity. It was a hope that was in and of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there was that confidence that at His coming, and His triumphant coming, there would be then a full realization of all that He had purchased by His own precious shed blood. Spurgeon got this. He had a Christ-centeredness that sprung from a deep personal relationship with the Lord. He loved Christ deeply, passionately, and his sermons are filled with rapturous exaltation of Christ.

Listen to what he said so eloquently, and this is really helpful for us: "If you leave out Christ, you have left the sun out of the day and the moon out of the night. You have left the waters out of the sea and the floods out of the river. You have left the harvest out of the year, the soul out of the body. You have left joy out of heaven. You robbed all of it. There is no gospel worth thinking of, much less worth proclaiming, if Jesus be forgotten. We must have Jesus as Alpha and Omega in all our ministries." Perhaps Spurgeon never put it more succinctly than when he said, and I close with this, "If you take Christ out of Christianity, Christianity is dead." End of quote.

At the heart of his preaching was a desire to exalt Christ and proclaim Christ and Him crucified and resurrected. For Spurgeon, a sermon whose aim was not to bring the people of God to a deeper love to their Savior was a waste and a crime, he said. In fact, he said this: "A sermon without Christ as its beginning, middle, and end is a mistake in conception and a crime in execution." End of quote.

That's what Paul does here. It is in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the object. He is the source. He is the fountainhead. It is all about Him. And it's all directed to Him. But not only is the Lord Jesus the object of these virtues, He's the cause of them. He's the cause of them. Where did their faith come from? And literally, if you were to translate this as given in the original, it would be translated this way: your work of faith of the Lord Jesus Christ or from the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That phrase is found other places as well. He's not only the object of our faith, but He is the author of it. That's taught all throughout Scripture.

That familiar text in Hebrews 12 verse 2: "Fixing our eyes on Jesus,” who is what? “The author and perfecter." He's the author of our faith and He's the perfecter of our faith, beginning to end. He authors it. He sustains it. He perfects it all the way to glory. Do we not read in Philippians 1:29, "For to you it has been granted." To you it has been what? Granted. It's a grace gift that we don't deserve. "For Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him," you see? To believe in Him is a granted gift, gracious gift from the Lord, but also to suffer for His sake. And so the Lord Jesus is the author of our faith.

As Paul mentions the blessings that come to believers in Ephesians 1, he says that all spiritual blessings are stored up in Christ and they flow out of Christ. And even the faith by which we embrace Christ is one of those blessings that come as His gift.

And love? What about love? Of course, love has as its source the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 John 4:19, "We love Him because,” what? “He first loved us." “The fruit of the Spirit is love,” Galatians 5:22. Our love to Him is a result of the working of His Spirit in our hearts.

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing," Romans 15:13, "so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit, taking out of the fullness of Christ, works even in this matter of hope in the heart of the believer.

Oh, do you see, beloved, the emphasis of the Apostle Paul? Do you see it? As he looks at the Thessalonians and sees the virtues of faith that works, love that toils, hope that endures, he in no way is patting these people on the back. Yes, he's encouraging them, but he's not patting them on the back. What is he doing? He's simply delineating those things which were the evidence. The evidence is to him that the Lord Jesus Christ had become the great object of these virtues and not only the object of these virtues, but the very cause of them so that unto Christ and Christ alone would be ascribed all the honor and all the praise and all the credit.

Think of the application of this principle. It's very clear. Let me say a word to you this evening who are perhaps here, but not savingly joined to Christ. All Adam, human nature, unaided by the Spirit, can produce some cheap imitations of these virtues. We can produce something that may look like the work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope, but they are nothing but empty, hollow imitations if they are severed from a vital relationship to the source, Jesus Christ.

So I want to ask a very simple question of you this evening, and I trust you will listen very carefully. Strip away, strip away everything in your life, all the activity, all the religious activity and everything else until there's nothing left but that work that you do out of living faith in a living Lord, that work which springs out of a true love for the living Christ and that endurance that is rooted in a steadfast confidence that He's coming again. Now you see a Christian has got a lot left if you strip away everything but that. For He realizes, yes, I am laboring because my confidence is in Him because I love Him and because I know that He is coming, I endure, I bear under it. Because I love Him, I toil, because I trust Him, I work.

A very searching little book for the refreshing of one's own soul written by Octavius Winslow for the specific state of the declension of the soul, waning of devotion to Christ, and he says something in that little book that really struck me and I want to share it with you this evening, listen carefully, quote, "perhaps nothing forms a more certain criterion of the state of the soul than this. We would be willing to test a man's religion both as to its nature and its growth by his reply to the question, what think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? Does His blood daily moisten the root of your profession? Is His righteousness that which exalts you out of and above yourself and daily give you free and near access to God? Is the sweetness of His love much in your heart and the fragrance of His name much upon your lips? Are your corruptions daily carried to His grace, your guilt to His blood, your trials to His heart? In a word, is Jesus,” now watch this, “is Jesus the substance of your life, the source of your sanctification, the one glorious object on which your eye is ever resting, the mark towards which you are ever pressing? Be not offended, reader, if we remark that a professing man may talk well of Christ and may do homage to His name and build up His cause and promote His kingdom and yet rest short of having Christ in his heart, the hope of glory. It is not the talking about religion or ministers or churches nor an outward zeal for their prosperity that either constitutes or indicates a true spiritual man and yet how much of this in our day passes current for the life of God in the soul? Oh, that among God's dear saints there were less talking of ministers and more of Jesus, less of sermons and more of the power of the truth in their souls, less of I am of Paul and I of Apollos and more of I am of Christ."

Is He the source of your joys, the object of your love, of your devotions? That's the question I had to ask myself afresh. Beloved has the work of the hand somehow weaned the heart from devotion to the person of Christ? Maybe you're busy doing different things. Has that weaned your devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ? You see, Paul would never rejoice that these people were simply busy, simply loving, simply hoping. It was that their working was a work of faith in Christ, that their laboring was a labor of love to Christ. Their hope was one which caused them to endure because it was a hope of Christ. He was the central object of all of these virtues.

And oh, dear brothers and sisters, and I speak to myself as well, we must remind ourselves that these virtues thrive and develop only as they are fed by the streams of vital, vital attachment to Jesus. Am I weak in faith? Am I weak in love, weak in hope? I must go to Christ. And as I view Him as He's revealed in the Scriptures, coming from the presence of the Father, humbling Himself to become a babe in a manger, humbling Himself further to die on a tree, coming out of the tomb triumphant, going back to the right hand of the Majesty on high, as I view the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, then faith is strengthened. And when faith is strengthened, I find myself working more diligently, more earnestly, more from the heart.

As I think of Him and His love to me, my love to Him will burn with a deeper glow, and out of that there will be a more willingness to toil for His kingdom. As I think of His promise to come back again, that promise will fill me with endurance and the confidence that all will be well at the end when He comes, that the best is yet to come. But if you cut away vital heart attachment to Christ, contemplation of the person and work of Jesus Christ, you have, as it were, dried up the streams from which these virtues flow.

I confess to you this evening at times those streams were awfully, awfully low in my life and how futile it is to try to somehow pump new water into the streams. You can't do it. I can't do it. You can't correct the stream by concentrating on the stream. You've got to go back to the place from whence all this flows, vital heart attachment to Jesus.

That's why God gives us the Lord's day, one of the reasons that we might in this day as we come together pray, O Lord, O Lord, for fresh revelations of Christ, more of Christ, the worth of Christ, the value of Christ, a higher view of Christ, O Lord, for new love to Christ, new hope in Christ, new faith in Christ, more of Christ. And as God grants those, then the work, the labor, the endurance will be the blessed byproducts.

Must hurry on to the second thought and spend just a few minutes on it. In the little phrase of the Lord Jesus, or in the Lord Jesus, we have the object and the source of these virtues. And then this last phrase, what an amazing phrase, "before our God and Father”, “before our God and Father." We have what I have called the sincerity and the climate of these virtues.

Again, again, you have a problem. What does this little phrase refer to? Some say it could refer to Paul's prayer, saying in verse three, "remembering without ceasing, before God, your work of faith." They would say then that Paul just sort of stuck this on at the end to tell them that where He remembered was in the place of prayer. Others would say, well, it's just a general statement of God's omniscience. God is omniscient, He knows everything. You know, all that they did, their work of faith, labor of love, was beneath the eye of God. God sought, God took recognition of it. Psalm 139, “He knows our sitting down, He knows our rising up."

Well, there's a third possibility, and I believe this is the proper interpretation. What He's saying is that this work of faith, this labor of love, and steadfastness of hope, that only had the Lord Jesus Christ as their object and source, but the consciousness of the presence of God created in these virtues a true, genuine sincerity, and in the hearts of these people, it's what gave them that desire to continue in them—the fact that they were living in the sight of God, God and their Father, Coram Deo.

Now, these virtues were not produced for the eye of men, but rather in the sight of God, before the eye of God, before the presence of God. Remember our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount, He said, don't be like those hypocrites, the Pharisees. What do they do? Well, they do in order to be seen by men. That's why they do. They do to be seen by men. What you do, you should do for one reason, He tells them. And He tells us, remember? “Before your Father.” “Before your Father, who sees in secret”, Matthew 6. Giving, praying, fasting, our Lord emphasizes three times.

The concerns of the true Christian is what? The Father sees. The Father sees. The Father sees before God and Father. It is before God, Coram Deo. That's what concerns me. The Father sees. Well, that produces what? It produces sincerity. That produces honesty. That produces frankness. That produces authenticity. We who've been on the way a while need it. We need it desperately. You get, you see, you're walking with the Lord and it's been so many years and you're a cruise control and you get a reputation of being rather spiritual and maybe rightly so, then all you do is you keep up your reputation. You don't care about the reality of the thing just as long as your reputation is maintained.

Paul says, no, no, no. The work of faith, the labor of love, the steadfastness of hope was in the sight of God. It was in the sight of God and Father. There was a sincerity about it that carried it on even when men were not there to see. Basically, what He's driving at is that this was the climate in which they exercised them. The climate of God consciousness. God consciousness. There was this pervasive awareness of the presence of God, a pervasive consciousness of the presence of God, the eye of God upon them.

You'll notice in verse nine, it says that they turned to God from their idols. That was their conversion. And what will a true conversion produce? What will it produce? When a man truly turns to God, then He will seek to live as in the sight of God. Right? When a man truly turns to God, He then seeks to live as in the sight of God and that thought is not a burden to Him, rather it is what? A delight. A great delight. That's just another way of describing what? Let me give us a synonym. That's another way of describing the fear of God. That's what it is.

What is the fear of God? What is the fear of God? The scripture says in Acts 9:31 that "the church going on in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it continued to multiply." We're told in 2 Corinthians 7:1 to "perfect holiness in the fear of God." Hebrews 12:28, we're told to "offer to God an acceptable service with reverence in awe." 1 Peter 1:17 declares that we're to "conduct ourselves in fear during the time of our sojourn." What is the fear of God? Notice the little phrase. He says, "before our God and Father.” “Before our God and Father."

You see, that fear is not the fear that we should have if God is not our Father through Jesus Christ. If we're outside of Jesus Christ, the fear that we should have of God should be one of pure trepidation, pure dread, pure dread. Moses says in Psalm 90 verse 11, "who knows the power of your anger and your fury according to the fear that is due you?" He's the almighty God who's a consuming fire. And if you're here this evening not savingly joined to Jesus, you ought to fear God with a holy dread for He is a God of justice and wrath and anger. It is a fearful thing to fall in the hand of the living God. And yet, blessed be His name. He pleads, He exhorts, He entreats, flee from the wrath to come by coming to my Son.

But this is the fear that a child of God has. It is walking in the sight of God before God and our Father. He's our Father. It is that blessed godly fear which regards Him as our Father through Jesus Christ. And yet, He is still our God even though He's our Father. And with all His rights to our absolute devotion to the love of the whole heart, mind and soul and strength, He is our God. He is the end of our existence. He should be the object of our desire, the source of our delight. He is our God, but He's not a God against us in His wrath, but He is the God who is for us as our Father through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Now, to walk as in His sight is to walk in the fear of God. And the fear of God is that fertile soil in which holy living is produced. Where to walk in His sight and to walk in His sight is to walk in the fear of God and to have a constant regard to His demands, to His glory, to His will, to His purposes, to please Him. And that's what delighted the heart of the apostle, that these young Christians had learned to walk in the sight of our Father.

Now, that's entirely opposite to man by nature. For Romans 3:18 says that the natural man, what? "There is no fear of God before their eyes." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." If you have any thoughts of being in the sight of God, if they have any thoughts of being in the sight of God, they want to dismiss those thoughts quickly. They want to dull the conscience. They wanna get rid of it. They suppress the truth in unrighteousness. They want to stifle every remembrance that all that I am is open and naked before the eyes of Him with whom I have to do.

But to the child of God, oh, to the child of God, this is a delight. Do you find it a delight to cultivate the consciousness of God wherever you go? Do you? Wherever you are, whatever you are doing? It's like that person who said to his pastor, I just can't get out of my mind, God out of my mind everywhere I go. I just can't get Him out of my mind as if that was something negative.

That's wonderful. That's wonderful. That's wonderful if what you're doing, you want to be doing in His sight. The only time that's bad is when you try and cheat on God to get away with something. Then it's haunting. It's haunting. Isn't that right? It's a haunting thought.

You see, the child who's doing the things that pleases his father is never bothered that his father might be looking out the window. He's happy that his father cares enough to watch him. Daddy, look, look at this. Oh, look at this. Mommy, look at this. You know how children are. Now, if they're doing something that they shouldn't be doing, they look around and make sure that Daddy and Mommy aren't looking. They don't want to do that in the sight of Mom and Dad. And so the true child of God, he cherishes the thought of the presence of God, the eye of God upon him. And that becomes one of the governing principles of his life.

Like Joseph, when he was being seduced by Potiphar's wife, he said, remember, he said, "How can I do this thing and sin against God?" Well, he knew that he did what he did before God, that he lived Coram Deo. He lived in the fear of God. Oh, Potiphar may not know. My relatives, my family may not know. They're hundreds of miles away, but I am living in the sight of God. I am living before the eye of God. How can I do what is wicked? I am conscious of His eye on me. And this became one of the governing principles in the life of Joseph that kept him in that totally heathen society with no other influences external, but there was that internal influence of the fear of God within him.

Do you have that? Do you seek to exercise these virtues and live as in the sight of God and our Father? That was the thing that brought delight to the heart of the Apostle Paul, that they had this work of faith, this labor of love, this steadfastness of hope, not merely in the sight of the elders of the assembly, so that when one of the pastors was coming to visit, the wife and husband all of a sudden got all sweet and lovey, and they'd just been pouring out some words that had a lot of hostility in them, cutting words, but now all of a sudden, oh, everything's wonderful, everything's sweet.

But we want to have a work of faith, labor of love, steadfastness of hope in the sight of others, but God sees the heart, beloved. God sees the motives. God sees the attitude. You see, that's what the Day of Judgment will reveal, that nothing mattered but what He saw, what He knows. That's basically a definition of the Day of Judgment, a revelation of the truth, that nothing matters but what He saw. Nothing matters but what He saw.

That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4, verses two through five, "It is required of a steward that one be found faithful, but to me, it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even examine myself, for I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted, but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore, do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of the hearts, and then each one's praise will come to him from God."

You know, wonderful relief comes when you're seeking to live in the sight of God and the Father, wonderful relief. You're sitting with your friend, you're sitting with your spouse, you're sitting with, you know, talk about certain things you're deciding to do, and she turns to you and she says, but honey, so and so will think, but how about so and, it doesn't matter what they think. Are you in the revealed will of God doing it? Yes. Are your motives right in doing it? Yes. Do you believe it's yes? Then who cares? You do it. God knows, you know, praise God, nothing else matters. That's wonderful freedom.

Do you know that freedom, beloved? I really pity the person who's got to all times, as it were, be playing to the crowd. Well, I've got to impress this one, and that I am this, and I've got to impress this one, that I'm not this, and I've got, oh, that's terrible bondage. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. And one of the most blessed liberties with which Christ sets a person free is to live in the sight of God the Father, and if He smiles upon you, then let the world frown. Who cares? Wonderful release. Do you know that release?

And you young people in this place particularly, young people in this place, do you know that? Who cares what your peers think? Who cares what they say? Is it pleasing in the sight of God? That's what's important, isn't it? Does it please Him? That's what's important. Who cares what mere men think? Oh, what a blessed release, and I trust we know it. And if we do, then it's because God in His grace has worked the same virtues in us that He's worked in the Thessalonians.

And I trust that our somewhat detailed and lengthy study of this third verse will prove helpful to us, that we might know that which as Christians we should emulate, that which we should seek to experience by the grace of God. Thank God for this letter. A faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that will produce work, a love for the Lord Jesus Christ that will produce labor, and a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ that will produce endurance. And see them carried out in the climate of a God consciousness that will make us men and women who do not play to the crowd, who do not seek to live a role that will get us in good standing before the eyes of our peers, but that we should walk in the fear of God and in the company of the Holy Spirit.

May God bless His word to our hearts. Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

This morning, we will take a look at this passage before us. And if you have your bullets in hand, you can see the outline for the message. This message is entitled, Who Are You Living For? Who Are You Living For? The outline, as you see there, we will touch on two ways of life. And then the vital expository context for verse 36 is in the verses leading to it.

And as we go through this passage, I pray that you will give your full attention to the Word of God. When we're under the preaching and teaching of God's Word, it is not just for information. It is not just for education. It is not just for our edification, which it is, it's for our transformation. When we come under the Word of God, whether it's right now, this morning, or when you listen to preaching, when you open your Bible and read, when God's Word speaks, it's for change. It's not just information. It's not just head knowledge. It's not so that we can be delighted in knowing the God of the universe and what He’s thinking. And we love that. And these things are good. But what it's really for is change.

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And He said, He spoke, and change took place. And when you see this through scripture, when God speaks, things change. He spoke reality into existence. So when you are reading your Bible, it's so that you can change. When you read your devotion, it is not just to check a box, I did my devotion for today and I go on my way. And I can say, I did my devotion. It's for change.

And in this passage, we are going to see two ways of life. Two ways of life. And my prayer, as I've been preparing, has been that all of our hearts would change today. That we would be transformed today. That our lives would be different after we leave today. Not because of me. At all. But because of Him. Christ is all. All in all.

So we're going to begin in Mark 8:36, briefly. And then we're going to go to verse 27 and work our way back to verse 36. Let's begin. Verse 36: "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" This verse is our focus today. And it reflects Jesus' point of view on one of the two ways of life. This verse, in its context, contrasts two ways of life. An existential view and an eternal view. An existential view and an eternal view.

This verse is a question, you will notice, and it's a question for the ages. It's a question that every human being who has lived, is living, or will ever live, has to answer. The implications of this question are profound and transformative. And right from the beginning of scripture to the end, underneath this question is another question. Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Implicit in the question of verse 36 is that question. Who are you living for?

Now the contrast in this verse, we can see it's a contrast because it begins with the word for. So what is the for there for? It's because it's connected to the preceding verses. It's inextricably connected to the preceding verses. The context is critical to understand this verse. Now the context is well known, but it's not always associated with this verse. This verse is often taken out of its context, and people will be talking, and maybe it's a believer speaking to an unbeliever, who says, what will it benefit you if you gain the whole world and you lose your soul? And it's thought-provoking in that context, in that conversation. But as I say, it's often wrenched out of its context.

There's a deeper meaning here than the way that it's typically used, and we're going to learn that today. But as I said, we don't want to just learn this. It's for change, change, transformation. So this question in verse 36 that has an implied question underneath it, who are you living for, is what we're going to explore today. So to begin our exploration, for your heart and mine, we want to look at the context, this vital expository context.

So let's now look at verse 27 through to verse 30, and I'll read these verses, and then we're going to go through them one by one. Verse 27: "Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He was asking His disciples, saying to them, 'Who do people say that I am?'" And they told Him, saying, "John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets." And He continued questioning them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ." And He warned them to tell no one about Him."

Now in verse 27, you see right away that Jesus and the disciples are headed for Caesarea Philippi. They're on their way, and if you look quickly at verse 22, you'll notice that they were in Bethsaida, and they're heading north within Israel. And actually, if we're honest, what we have to really say is that this is a land that is not in Israel's hands. It's dominated by Rome, it had been dominated by Greece, and before that the Persians, and before that the Babylonians, and before that the Assyrians. It's not their land. But they're moving through, and Jesus has been preaching and teaching and doing miracles in this land, and if you glance back to the prior chapters and based on the headings in your Bible, you'll see He's been doing miracles. But they're moving north towards Caesarea Philippi.

Caesarea Philippi was a region of a lush landscape at the foot of Mount Hermon. It's a lush region, but it's a region that was steeped in Baal worship, and you can see that in Joshua 11:17 and Judges 3:5. This region had been steeped in worship for millennia, for hundreds of years. Even when it was in Israel's possession, it was steeped in Baal worship, the northern part of Israel. Under Greek occupation, the area was related to the Greek god Pan, and you may have heard of this Pan, the half-god, half-goat deity, so-called, who played the pan pipe. We get our English word panic from this god, and he was a frightful god who had a thirst for carnal pleasure. It was a place of pagan worship, a lush place at the foot of Mount Hermon, but a place of idolatry.

Under the subsequent Roman occupation after the Greeks, it was named Caesarea, after Caesar. It was named by Herod's son, whose name was Philip, and he wanted to differentiate between Caesarea that's on the Mediterranean and Caesarea up north, so he called it Caesarea Philippi, to distinguish it. So this is the setting, and we see this in verse 27. The disciples are heading in this direction, Jesus is leading them, and along the way, as we see in verse 27, Jesus asks a question: "Who do the people say that I am?" Jesus is asking the disciples for the people's perspective on who He is. One commentator says, and I quote, "Often Jesus's questions were springboards for new teaching". So He's asked this question, verse 27.

Verse 28, the disciples relate the opinions of the people, so they share. They say Jesus is John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets. The people believe that Jesus was John resurrected. Remember that he had been beheaded by Herod, and there's a story all pertaining to that. And so the people are wondering, is this John? Has John come back? Is that who this is? Or is He a prophet, an Old Testament prophet? And you can see a bit of this discourse in Luke 9:7 to 9. The people thought Jesus was special. Just like many people today think Jesus is special.

I was recently at an ultrasound, and I was talking with the ultrasound technician that happened to be Iranian. This was probably about five months ago, and through the discussion, it came out that I was a Christian, and she said, "Oh, I love Jesus. He's a messenger. He's a messenger." And I was lying there with gel on me, thinking, okay, I want to say something about this. But she's like, let me let her finish, then I'll bring up what I want to say, because I didn't want her hand to go all over. So afterwards, I started sharing a little bit about who Jesus really is. Well, the people in that day are thinking that Jesus is special, but they don't really know who He is.

And Jesus is now going to challenge His followers, His disciples, with the same question. Clearly, the people are wrong. Verse 29, "But who do you say that I am?" We see that question. "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus is asking the disciples, who am I? Who am I? What's my identity? And Peter answers. We can count on Peter. He's got an opinion. "You are the Christ." "You are the Christ."

Now in Matthew 16:15–19, in a parallel passage, there's more about Peter's answer and Jesus' response. But we'll simply state here and note here that Peter's right. It's been revealed to him by God who Jesus is. Jesus is the Christ, and that word Christ means anointed. He is the chosen one. He's the long-awaited Messiah. The Messiah's arrived. Jesus is here. He's the Christ. He's the anointed one. This is cause for jubilation.

The disciples, the Jews, were awaiting their conquering ruler, a leader like Moses or David, who would defeat their enemies. Just a few moments ago, I went through this litany of empires that had crushed this area of the world, one after the other. And there are prophecies concerning the coming of a Messiah. And Peter, under God's illumination, has identified that Jesus is Christ. But while this is true, this is Jesus' identity, it was not His purpose at that time.
And we see in verse 30 that Jesus admonishes and forbids the disciples from divulging His identity. He warns them. The word, the Greek word, is ‘epitimao’. It's a strong word, and it really speaks to Him restricting them from saying anything about His identity. But then He does tell them His purpose. Look at verse 31 and 32a. He tells them His purpose after strictly warning them not to say who He is.

Verse 31: "And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. And He was stating the matter openly. Isn't it interesting? Peter, under God, has indicated who Jesus is, and Jesus has said, don't tell anyone. And then He tells them His purpose openly. It's interesting. It's interesting.

Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man. And this is essential. This truth is essential. We've just read that Jesus is the Christ. The disciples know this. They heard it, even though they are not to repeat it at that time. And now they're seeing His purpose. But just consider the juxtaposition of knowing who Jesus is as the Christ, having this sense of jubilation, and then hearing this. That the Son of Man is going to suffer and be rejected and be killed, but rise on the third day.

First, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man, a title used here emphasizing His humanity and His humility. Secondly, and vitally, Jesus uses the word must. Don't miss that. Must. Not maybe. Must. Must what? Suffer. Be rejected. Be killed. The Son of Man must suffer. Be rejected and be killed. Yet after three days, rise again. And He was saying this publicly, openly, publicly.

The disciples were incredulous, incredulous, stunned. Here's the Christ. He has come, one like Moses or David, to overthrow in their context the Roman Empire. We're going to have our land back. He's going to suffer, be rejected, killed. One commentator notes, "This announcement stunned the disciples. If He is indeed the Christ of God as they had confessed, then why would He be rejected by the religious leaders? Why would these leaders crucify Him? Did not the Old Testament scriptures promise that Messiah would defeat all their enemies and establish a glorious kingdom for Israel? There was something wrong somewhere and the disciples were confused."
 
And you can imagine that. You can imagine it. They're confused. They're more than confused. They're indignant. And we'll see this. They expected a conquering Messiah. And we won't turn there, but I'll just give you a couple of passages for reference: Jeremiah 23:4-8 and Zechariah 6:12-13. If you read those passages, you will see prophecies of a coming Messiah who's going to rule. It's those types of scriptures they had in their minds.

So they understood His person, but not His work. They understood He was the Christ, but not what He came to do at that time. This was totally destabilizing. And we know this because of what happens next. We don't have to guess. We don't have to posit that they were indignant because we're going to see it. We're going to see it.

Look at verse 32b. "And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him." Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. The word for rebukes is the same word that Jesus had just used in sternly warning them, ‘epitimao’. Jesus had just sternly warned them not to say who He is. Now Peter uses the same word to rebuke Jesus.

Now turn to Matthew 16:22. Let's see Peter's rebuke. Because here in the book of Mark, it says that he rebuked Him, but it doesn't say what he said. What was the rebuke? What was the content of the rebuke? Matthew 16:22: "And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.'" Peter rebukes Jesus. And look at the language of this. He's speaking to the Christ, who is God. And he says, "God forbid it, Lord." Think about this. Here's a human being saying to God, "God forbid it, Lord." It is almost as if Peter doesn't understand the words he's saying.

God is sovereign over all things. Lord, ‘Kyrios, is supreme. He's actually saying, "God forbid, God." That's how indignant he is. He's losing his mind. That's how indignant he is. It's just not computing. It's not, it makes no sense. You're the Christ and You're going to be rejected and suffer and die? They're stunned.

Notice that language: "God forbid it, Lord." Has there ever been a stranger statement? Peter invokes God to forbid God's plan. The audacity of Peter. He's a follower of Jesus. He's been following Jesus. He has seen the miracles. He just identified that Jesus is the Christ. He just identified that Jesus is the Christ under inspiration. Jubilation turns to consternation and admonition. Jesus is admonishing—sorry, Peter is admonishing Jesus.

Can you sense and feel the tension? Can you imagine if you were one of the other disciples? And you're thinking just like Peter, but Peter's the one who says it. As you look at the language and as you study the text, there's almost a part of you that feels like Jesus should say, "Off with his head." Well, He's going to say something worse, actually.

Verse 23, But turning around and seeing His disciples, He, ‘epitimao’, rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind Me, Satan!"..... "for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's.’" "Get behind Me, Satan."
 
Peter had rebuked Jesus. Jesus now calls Peter Satan and directs him to "get behind Me." Get behind Me. And it's that same word in the rebuke, ‘epitimao’. Jesus refers to Peter's admonition. Jesus refers to Peter's admonition, right, forbid it, as influenced by Satan.
Now, we don't have time to go there. But when you read the broader account in Matthew, and I alluded to it already, Peter had just said that Jesus was the Christ. But in the other account, Jesus says, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but the Father in heaven. So here is Peter. He has just identified Jesus as the Christ, illuminated by God. Jesus tells him and them His purpose. Peter rebukes Jesus: forbid it. God forbid. Forbid it, Lord. And now Jesus says, "Get behind Me, Satan." Peter was having a day.
They were having a day, like no other day.

But do you see the two ways of life? You see it? Jesus is the Christ. This is His purpose. Don't go that way, Jesus. Get thee behind me, Satan. You see it? Now, I want you to notice this, because the juxtaposition of these two ways of life is in this verse.

Look at the text. "For you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." This is Jesus speaking. He's speaking to Peter. He's just told him to get behind Me, Satan. You are not setting your mind on the things of God, one way of life, the things of man, the other way of life.
 
God, one way of life, the things of man, the other way of life. Take note. Two ways of life.
This is a contrast for the ages. And this contrast is not just that these are two ways of life, and it's just two options. These are two contrary ways of life. They are diametrically opposed to one another. Setting your mind. Setting your mind.

Turn to Genesis, Genesis chapter 3. And as you turn, remember the title of this sermon. Who are you living for? Who are you living for? Two ways of life. In Genesis chapter 3, we see the origin of this. Look at verse 6. And what do you see in verse 6a? Eve is looking. She saw. And she coveted the fruit. And she took the fruit.

Who influenced Eve? What's in the first five verses of this chapter? In verse 1, it talks about a serpent. Two ways of life. That's where it starts. Genesis 3:6. Eve had in her mind God's direction. Don't eat of that tree. Or what? You'll die. She also had in her mind the serpent's temptation. If you eat of that tree, you will not die. But you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Two ways of life.

You will notice in verse 6, Eve is not saying anything. Where's the epicenter of her decision making? Her mind. Her mind. And you will notice Eve saw. Input to the mind. Input to her mind was the word of God. Don't eat of the tree. The word of the serpent. Go ahead. It's no problem. And that's input. But she looked. Input. Input to the mind. Input to the mind influences the mind.

As an old IT guy, garbage in, garbage out. Garbage in, garbage out. What do you put in your mind? What goes in your mind every day? If we were to pause and hand out sheets to everyone and say, I want you to write what you think about every day. And I want you to write what comes into your mind every day. What is your mind set on? What is your mind set on?
When you make decisions. When you consider your aspirations, your hopes. When you're working, you're at school, in your relationships, in your friendships. Are you setting your mind on the things of God or the things of man?

From the Garden of Eden to that lush foothills of Mount Hermon, to your heart and my heart, God's interests, man's interests. Setting your mind is the pivot point for your life. Setting your mind is three words in English. In the Greek, it's one word, ‘phroneo’. And it means to exercise the mind, to interest oneself. To put another way, self-interest. What are your interests? Because you see, you set your mind on your interests. That's what Peter was doing. But Jesus has just said, don't set your mind on the interests of men. Set your mind on God's interests. You see it? Jesus rebukes Peter for setting his mind on his own interests. God's interests, self-interest.

What's your mindset? What's your mindset? What's your mindset each day? As I mentioned, when you make decisions, what's your mindset? As you think about your life; you're raising your children; you're driving your car; you're on the TTC; you're at home; you've put your head down at night and before you fall asleep and you're thinking about many things. Are those God's interests or man's? Do you see how crucial this mindset is? What goes on in your mind?

So Jesus is now going to powerfully illustrate and exhort the disciples and the people as to the implications. He's called Peter out and He's indicated you're setting your mind on man's interests, not God's. Now, someone might say, okay, so what? Jesus is going to answer that question.

But before we look at that, I want you to turn to Romans 8. Romans 8. The Apostle Paul writing to the church at Rome. I love the way he articulates this very same motif. Romans 8, verse 5. Look at this text. Romans 8, verse 5, down to verse 8: "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds – the same word ‘phroneo’ –  on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit."
 
Listen carefully now in verse 6: "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God."

Peter was displeasing to God, to Jesus, so much so that He said, get behind me, Satan. And just parenthetically, the language of get behind, it's as if Jesus is saying, get behind me and go the other way. Get behind me and turn backwards. And He used that term Satan, and the Greek there is the word for accuser. In effect, Jesus was saying to Peter, you're acting like an adversary. So it's not only that you set your mind on the things of men, you're actually acting against Me.

When you and I set our minds on our own self-interest, we are not serving God, living for God, walking in His ways. Who are you living for? Who are you living for?

So now, back to Mark 8. Jesus is going to illustrate the implications of these two ways of life. In the outline, we're now at the implications of following Jesus. Mark 8:34 and 35. Verse 34: "And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.'" If anyone wants to follow Jesus, three things: deny themself, take up their cross, follow Me. God's interests.

First, Jesus' teaching continues. He summons others to listen. You notice that all of a sudden, there were disciples headed to Mount Hermon region. While there clearly were other people around, Jesus actually summons the other people. He says, come on over here. Come. He summons the crowd. He summons the crowd. He summons the crowd to listen. And it's only in this, of the parallel passages, it's only in Mark where there's this unexpected crowd mentioned. The presence of the crowd.

One commentator put it this way: "Mark alone notes the unexpected presence of a crowd up here near Caesarea Philippi in heathen territory. In the presence of this crowd, Jesus explains His philosophy of life and death" – Jesus explains His philosophy of life and death – "which is in direct contrast with that offered by Peter. And it was evidently shared by the disciples and the people. So Jesus gives this profound view of life and death to them all."  There's a crowd. Jesus is going to teach the implications.

Second, notice the word if. If. As you look at the text in verse 34. If. If anyone wishes. If. Why does Jesus say if? Because Jesus is explicating the implications of setting the mind on God's interests and man's interests. If. God's interests, man's interests. Two lines of implications are in the following verses.

Third, Jesus' next word is anyone. If. Anyone wishes to come after Me. Anyone. And it reminds us of John 3:16. Whosoever. Whosoever. Anyone. Jews. Gentiles. Doesn't matter. Anyone. Anyone.

If you're here today, you're an anyone. I'm sorry. I was just thinking all the people out there are anyone's too. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone. Not just the Jews. The Gentiles as well. Again, think of the disciples. They're Jews. Jesus has just said, "If anyone wants to come after Me." Don't miss it. Don't miss it. The Jews in that crowd would have went, what? Anyone? We're Your people. Anyone? Yes, anyone.

So already in this teaching when He says, "If anyone," this is more destabilization. Don't miss it. Don't just keep reading. If anyone. If anyone. If anyone what? What's the next phrase? Wishes to come after Me. Wishes to come after Me. The Greek here is really interesting because it's very similar to the words forget behind Me. Think about it. Someone says to get behind you, they mean get behind them. If someone says come after Me, they mean come behind Me. The language is very similar, but the nuanced difference is that this is coming behind and following Me. Not getting behind like get lost. Or go away.

The two paths of life, either one, you're going to be behind Jesus. The question is, are you going to be following Him or are you going to be going away? Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

Fourth, you see in verse 31 that Jesus, and I said it before, but just catch this, when Jesus was speaking about Himself, He said He must suffer, be rejected and killed. But note where the must is here for those who wish to follow Jesus. They must deny themselves. They must take up their cross, and they must follow Jesus. You see it? The must for Jesus is suffer, rejected, killed. The must for believers is deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. There's what Jesus must do. There's what we must do. This is not if here. The if was above that. We're now down the path of following Jesus, and that's where the must comes. Must.

Let us look briefly at each of these three elements, just briefly. Time will not permit us to really dig into each one of them. The first is to deny yourself or deny themselves. The Greek word means to utterly deny, to disown your self-interest. Deny yourself, disown your self-interest. One commentator puts it this way, and it's the same commentator I'm going to quote for this portion and the next. This commentator says, "Negatively, one must deny himself decisively, turning away from the idolatry of self-centeredness. And every attempt to orient one's life by the dictates of self-interest".

To deny yourself is to turn away from the idolatry of self-centeredness. In effect, putting yourself first. Deny that. Deny yourself. And don't orient your life towards self-interest.

Second, take up their cross represents lifting up a cross. Now, is Jesus saying that you're going to have to be crucified like Him? It says take up, it doesn't say take up My cross, it says take up your cross. Figuratively, this means self-denial. Now, you might say, deny yourself and take up your cross. Sounds like they sort of mean the same thing. Listen to the same commentator. "Negatively, the first part, deny yourself, means eschewing self-interest. Taking up your cross positively means decisively saying yes to God's will and way." So just picture this. The believer is one who is shunning self-interest, must shun self-interest. Conversely, is taking up God's interest. Gotta leave one, pick up the other. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh. Do you see that?

Believers must set aside self-interest, take up God's interest. Come what may, come what may.

The third is "follow Me." And I love the word, the Greek word means accompany, accompany Me. It's not a word we use a lot today, accompany. But it sort of gives the motif of sort of someone putting their arm around you and saying, "Let's go." Let's go together. We're together. I'm leading, you're coming with Me. Accompany.
It's a present imperative. The word for follow is a, the Greek word is a present imperative. It means keep following Me. Keep following Me. Say no to self, yes to God, follow Jesus. And keep following.

Turn to Philippians 3:7. Let's have the Apostle Paul describe this to us a little bit further. Philippians 3, verse 7: "But whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." You see it? "The things that were gained to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ." Verse 8: "More than that, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God upon faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Paul understood what it meant to follow Jesus. Count all things as loss. Self-interest is gone. Took up his cross. God's will is everything. Follow Him. Do you see the self-denial in that passage in Philippians? Do you see him taking up the life of Christ and his willingness even to suffer? Do you see Paul's devotion? It’s God. And what's the benefit? Knowing Him, the power of His resurrection, and being resurrected oneself.

If you're a believer here today, if you're a follower of Jesus, can you put yourself in this passage? Can you put yourself in this passage? Look at it again in Philippians 3:7: "Whatever things were gained to me, those things I have counted as loss." You have a great education, doesn't matter. You have great skills, you've got lots of money, you've got land, property, you're living your best life now, doesn't matter. That's not the purpose of life. Two ways of life. Now those things aren't bad, but they can't have your heart. Two ways of life.
Many of us are pursuing those things out of self-interest, and that is displeasing to God. We are to be pursuing God's interests. So all those things have their proper disposition in our lives. They're not the goal of life. Jesus is the goal of life. That I may know Him, adore Him, love Him, live for Him who saved your soul. Who are you living for? Where are you setting your minds?

Peter and the disciples, they were believers in Jesus Christ, but their minds were set on self-interest, not God's. Not God's. But by His grace, Jesus taught His disciples the mindset required to follow Him. It may sound strong that He says, you've got to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me. But that's grace. He's actually saying, you're not stuck going away behind Me, Satan. Here's how to follow Me. Here's how to follow Me. And that same Peter, who was a fisherman, gave up his job. On the day of Pentecost, he preached and thousands were saved. Peter was incarcerated, beaten. Peter learned what these words meant. He denied himself. He took up his cross and he followed Jesus, come what may.

Look at 1 Peter 4. Let's listen to Peter. Let's listen to Peter. 1 Peter 4, verse 1: "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh," – this is Peter speaking to other Christians – "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose." Notice that. Arm yourself. Jesus suffered. Arm yourself with the same purpose. "Because He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lust of men, but for the will of God."

Look at verse 12: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed." – If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you're blessed. –  "Because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you."

You see the two ways of life? Following Jesus must include disowning your self-interest, pursuing God's interests, His will, His way, come what may, and accompany Jesus through this life to glory. Believers here today, brothers and sisters here today, how are you doing in the enabling of the Holy Spirit? How are you doing in the enabling the Holy Spirit to disown your own interest and to follow Jesus' interests in every area of your life?

Who are you living for? Can you look at your life and see the denial of your self-interest and the taking up of God's interests in every area of your life? And are you doing this continually? Are you following Him? Present imperative, continual action. Conversely, if you're a believer here today like Peter in Mark 8:32, seeking Christ to do your will, seeking God to do your will, because that's what Peter had in mind, right? He wanted Jesus, but he wanted Jesus who's a conquering Jesus. He wanted God to do his will.

If you're a believer who is always praying, God do stuff for me in one way or another, you're on the wrong track. He's God, you're not. You're setting your mind on self-interest. You're setting your mind on the interests of men. And what does that do? It puts you behind Jesus. Get behind Me. What are you setting your mind on each day? What do you read? What do you watch? What do you listen to? What goes into your mind? Remember Eve saw. What goes into your mind? What's your mindset? Do you have a mindset that honors Him? How do you process life? Do you process life biblically or based on your opinion or someone else's opinion? Or on your upbringing? When you set your mind and you do, it's not like, well, we don't. We do every day, all the time. Where are we going to go? What are we going to do? Got to decide about this, decide about that. Constantly. Our minds are going all the time. What do you set your mind on?

What happened to Peter when Jesus' plans didn't fit his plans? What happened to Peter when Jesus' plans, suffer, rejected, killed, didn't match Peter's plans? Jesus rebuked Peter. If you're a believer like the Peter of Mark 32, 8:32, your approach is displeasing to God. It's worthy of rebuke. But there's hope. There's hope. As we see in verse 34, it's a call to repentance, actually. It's a call to repentance. If you want to follow Me, you must turn away from your self-interest. Pursue His will, His interests, and follow Him. That's repentance.

As Jesus continues, He continues to express more implications. Look at verse 35, and we're coming towards the end of our time. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it." Do you see the two ways of life there? Whoever wishes to save their life, man's interests, will actually lose their life. And the one who wants, then the one who is willing to lose their life, set aside their self-interest, actually gains.

This is a word for the crowd. Look at 35a, the first part of this. Implicit in this phrasing is that those who pursue self-interest are doing so to save their lives. Self-preservation. They want to control their life. They're trying to save their life, meaning they're trying to have life go the way they want. What's the outcome of that? They actually end up losing their life. Their lives are self-directed and self-preservation is what's on their heart. Their minds are set on themselves. But Jesus teaches that this pursuit does not lead to actually saving one's life. The thing they're pursuing will not result in what they're seeking.

And the word for lose, look at the text. "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it." It's almost in the English not strong enough. The Greek word under that word lose is the same word in John 3:16 translated "perish," which means utterly destroyed. It means to destroy fully and by implication in hell. Setting your mind on your interests attracts God's rebuke, and if you're a non-believer, you're headed for hell. You will perish.

If you're a non-believer here today, this is Jesus' message to you. Seeking to live for yourself to save your life is literally a dead end. Literally a dead end. But look at 32, sorry, 35b, "but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospels will save it." This is the gospel. In fact, this whole passage is the gospel. Theological, doctrinally, Jesus is preaching the gospel.

There's two ways of life. This is good news. If you repent, turn from sin and self-interest, turn your mind to Jesus. And through believing He's the Christ, and that He suffered and sacrificed and died, which He had just said, you will save your life. Put more accurately, He will save your life. You will obtain eternal life.

John MacArthur puts it this way. "This paradoxical saying reveals an important spiritual truth. Those who pursue a life of ease, comfort, and acceptance by the world will not find eternal life. On the other hand, those who give up their lives for the sake of Christ in the gospel will find eternal life."

Who are you living for? Verse 36. We're back at verse 36. Now you've seen that vital context that helps us to understand really what verse 36 means. "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" You've now seen this verse in its context. What Jesus is saying to those who set their minds on self-interest, what is Jesus saying the implication is for those who set their minds on self-interest? Even if you could have everything under the sun that you like, what good would it be if you lost your soul?

But there's a deeper meaning here in the context. The Jewish disciples were thinking He was going to take over the world. Now think about this. If Jesus doesn't suffer, be rejected, and killed, but He conquers Rome, there's no Savior. Every soul is forfeited. You see it? Did you catch that? If Jesus did what Peter said at that time and did not go to the cross, did not die, every soul is forfeited. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? That's the meaning of this verse. It has those two applications.

For the crowd and those here today that are unsaved, if you obtain everything you want, everything your heart desires, as you try to sustain and preserve your life, but you forfeit your internal soul, what benefit is that?

Alexander McLaren quoting here, "The men who live for self are dead." – Very blunt. The men and women who live for self are dead. – "As Christ has been saying, suppose their self-living had been successful to the highest point. What good would it do if they're dead?"

And if you need biblical examples of this, read the book of Ecclesiastes and watch Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, doing whatever his heart desires. Chapter after chapter. And you'll notice if you read that book as an illustration of this principle, you will see he literally says it. I set my mind to do everything I wanted to do. I went wherever I wanted to go. I did whatever I wanted to do. I built stuff. I bought lands. I did this. I did that. I had wealth beyond compare. I had everything this world had to offer. And I still had my health and I was still the king. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, says the preacher.

Read Ecclesiastes. If you want another example, in Luke 16, the rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16, you can read it there. The rich man had all that this world had to offer, ends up in hell. Lazarus was poor, took the crumbs off the table of the rich man. He ended up in heaven, Abraham’s bosom. Powerful illustrations, one from the Old Testament, one from the New.

So for the crowd, what will it profit you if you gain the whole world, you lose your soul? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? If you're here today and you're not saved, what good does it do you if your self-interest leads to hell? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. You can do that right now, today. Your life could be transformed today.

Who are you living for? For Peter and the disciples and those here today who are seeking God, you're a believer, but you're also seeking self-interest. You want God to do your will. If Jesus did your will, if Jesus did not go to the cross, we would all lose our souls. What profit is that?

One commentator put it this way, listen carefully: "One who decides to maintain a self-centered life in this world by refusing Jesus' requirements, deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Me, will ultimately lose his life to eternal ruin. Conversely, a person who will lose or deny themself, their life, their preferences, in loyalty to Jesus and the gospel by accepting His requirements will actually preserve their lives forever. If you're a follower of Jesus, you are an heir to eternal life forever with God." So, set your mind on the things of God in every area of your life.

So, as we conclude, may we all ask ourselves this question every day. Ask yourself this question. Who am I living for? When you lay your head down at the end of the day, it's quiet. Ask yourself, who am I living for? When you wake up, ask yourself that question. Who am I living for today? God has just given me the beginning of a new day. Who am I living for today? Set your mind on the things of God, not on the things of men.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

After giving general greetings to the church there in Thessaloniki, reminding these people, these precious saints, that it was Paul and his companions who were sending this letter, sending the greetings to them in this general apostolic salutation, we have then in verse 2 through 10 what is basically an inscription of thanksgiving to God for particular characteristics which mark the people in the church there in that city at Thessaloniki. And in giving to us these characteristics which caused his own heart to rejoice, the Apostle is giving to us several very valuable things which are really the fruits of the grace of God. He says in verse 2, "We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing." And then he mentions those things which caused his heart when he came into the presence of God to rejoice and to give thanks to God.

Now Paul did not rejoice as we saw together and give thanks primarily for those things which are common to all men in the common grace of God, but when he wrote to a church he was giving thanks to God for those particular things which were distinguishing marks of the special grace of God, in the saving power of God, operating in the lives of those precious people. And so we have those things in verses 2 through 10 which are in a peculiar way the fruits of grace, and in giving them to us we also have a standard by which we as a church can evaluate ourselves, a standard and a pattern to follow. We have a goal toward which we should press on by the grace of God to cultivate those fruits of grace in our lives individually and corporately.

Now at the very top of the list of the fruits of grace we have in verse 3 what we have called the three crown jewels in the diadem of Christian virtue. "Remembering without seizing your work of faith," that's the first one, and number two, "labor of love," and the third one, "steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father." And we've studied the first one already, the phrase "the work of faith," and the fact that Paul gave thanks to God that here you have people who had a faith that was not mere idle speculative faith, but it was an operative faith that really compelled them to work. And so whatever you find people who have faith that works, well, it is a fitting reason to give thanks to God for. And so, He thanks God that their work was in no way an attempt to earn the grace of God, but that it flowed out of a principle of faith.

And so wherever you find the people who have faith and works and they have them both in their proper relationship, then you have no doubt a wonderful indication that the grace of God is truly operative at work. For left to himself, you remember, man will either have a work that is not a work of faith, rather is a dead work hoping to commend himself to God by his own doing, on his own merit, which is always, always a catastrophe, or he will have a dead faith, a faith that is merely notional in the head, it resides in the head and it accepts certain facts, but it is not a living principle that produces works of holiness and obedience. But when you have both work, faith joined together, and they're always joined together whenever God does a work of grace, for "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works," then you have a cause to give thanks to God.

We then looked at the phrase "labor of love." Paul was grateful to God that these people had a love to the triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - that was more than a love that caused them to sit in a rocking chair and think warm thoughts about some higher deity. They had a love for the triune God that made them put their shoulder to the yoke of Christian duty or responsibility and produced in them labor, and you remember this word labor, kopos, is the word that is connected with the English word really travail, wearisome effort. This word means sacrificial, arduous, and sometimes even painful work. Paul gives thanks to God that these people had a love to God that, again, was not merely an emotional thing, but it was one that captivated their whole being, the entirety of their whole being, and brought them under the yoke of Christian duty, which is a delight, a delightful duty, not duty out of obligation, kicking and screaming, but it's from the heart.

Well, tonight we come to the third of these virtues that is mentioned in verse 3 in the LSB, translated as steadfastness of hope. Other translation has it patience of hope. So Paul not only gave thanks for their work of faith and labor of love, but here he says also for their steadfastness of hope. Now, as we look at this and consider this, this evening, keep in mind the word steadfastness is not describing the hope, but rather He's speaking of the steadfastness which had its roots in hope. That's important.

Now, notice the parallel through all of these three phrases. They had a faith that produced works. They had a work that was rooted in faith. They had a love that produced labor. They had labor that was rooted in love. And now he says they had a steadfastness which was the fruit of hope and a hope that produced this steadfastness. Now, for us to understand why this should be a cause of rejoicing in the heart of the Apostle Paul, we must first of all understand what the words mean. That's a basic level. He said we give thanks for your steadfastness of hope.

Now, let's define the words. Well, first of all, what does this word hope mean? Hope. For steadfastness, whatever it is, was the baby, the child of hope. Hope was the mother. Steadfastness was the child. Hope was the tree. Steadfastness was the fruit. So let's begin with the mother. Let's begin with the tree. Let's begin with that which gives birth to the other.

Now, when we use the word hope in our everyday conversations and today's culture, we usually use it in the sense of a strong wish, a strong desire. We say, well, I hope to take my vacation, go to Europe, or I hope I will graduate from high school next year. It's shaky, but I hope - I hope it's not shaky for you if you're in high school. Now, when you say you hope, what you're really saying is I have a strong desire. I have an earnest wish that such and such will come to pass. I hope my favorite sports team wins. Strong desire.

Now, we usually use the word hope in terms of the strong wish and earnest desire, but that is not the way the word hope, elpis, the Greek word, is used in the biblical context. There are in few instances cases where this word is used in terms of a strong wish, but the overwhelming, overriding use of the word elpis in the scripture is poles apart from a mere wish or mere desire. This word hope, elpis, in the scripture means nothing less than, if you want to give it a definition, a good definition, it would be something like this: a joyful and confident expectation of a promised blessing. A joyful and a confident expectation of a promised blessing.

Now, there are many illustrations of its use in this sense in the scripture, but let me take a few that are representative this evening that might help us understand what Paul meant when he said steadfastness of hope. Turn with me to Romans 5, Romans 5, where we find the same word used. Look at verses 1 and 2: "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand," — now notice, — "and we boast in hope," —elpis,— "of the glory of God, in hope of the glory of God." Paul says not only do we have the present tense blessing of being justified and having peace with God and access to God, but He said we boast in hope of the glory of God.

Now, follow closely. Put the word in there, wishful desire. Take the word hope and put wishful desire. "We boast in the wishful desire of the glory of God." How does that sound? Foolish, right? That's the worst kind of torment in all the world. A man who knows that God is holy and knows that he himself is a wretched sinner, who has reason to believe that right now by the grace of God his sins are forgiven through the work of God, through the mighty work of God in justification, yet to think that all of those sins might yet rise up against him and condemn him and press him down to the deepest part of hell, who can only say, well, I wish, I sure hope that one day I'll be with Him and share His glory, that's the most intense kind of misery, isn't it?

But now define it this way, verse 2: "through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the joyful and confident expectation of the glory of God." Right? Now, makes sense, and there's encouragement. He said we not only have this present blessing, that the condemnation of our sins is past, done away with, we have present access, yes, praise God, but above and beyond all of this we have, oh, we have a joyful and confident expectation that we shall gaze upon the glory of God as His redeemed, and we shall share that very glory. Amen.

Now the word hope makes sense. Since we're in Romans, turn to chapter 15 and verse 13. You'll find the same word used in another setting. Romans 15 verse 13: "Now may the God of” — elpis,—  “hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Can you imagine Paul trying, praying that the church would be full of people who abounded in this kind of attitude? Well, I sure hope that I'll be saved. I really sure wish, desire, hope that I belong to the Lord. I don't know, I'm not sure, and you're living every day in torment, I'm sure. Can you imagine him praying that the church would be full of people like that?

What Paul is praying is this: that the believers may abound in hope, not just wishful desire, but in joyful, confident expectation through the power of the Holy Spirit. This joyful, confident expectation of promised blessing is something that the Holy Spirit Himself produces in the heart of the believer. You find a similar reference in Galatians 5:5, where Paul speaks of the hope of righteousness by faith, in Ephesians 1:18, where He prays that believers may know what is the hope of their calling, 1 Thessalonians he says, "as a helmet put on the hope of salvation," Titus 1:2, Paul speaks "in hope of eternal life," and then the classic usage, and I want you to look at this, this one with me please, 1 John chapter 3, this is incredible, 1 John chapter 3, where the word know, to know, and this is incredible, is used as a synonym of the word hope.

1 John 3 verse 1: "See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we would be called children of God; and we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know,”— “we know,” he says, we're assured, this is absolutely certain, airtight certain, no wiggle room. — “We know that when He is manifested, we will be like Him," — not we may be like Him,— "we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this,"— what,— “elpis, fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." You get it? We know this hope. We know this hope.

So you see, the word hope is defined as a certain knowledge of future blessing promised by God Himself. There's no ifs and buts. So here you have a very simple and yet authoritative definition given by the Holy Spirit Himself, where John says that this knowledge that we will be like Him is called the hope of the believer. So whenever you come across this word in the New Testament, don't put the 21st century meaning on the word hope, but rather the biblical meaning on it: joyful, confident expectation of promised blessing. Faithful, He will be. Faithful He has been, and faithful He will be.

Now, since most of these blessings that are out there in the future will be realized at the coming of the Lord, it's no strange thing that His coming should be called what? Titus 2 verse 13: "the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior." For you see, all that is future now, salvation, almost all of it, will become ours in experience when our Lord Jesus comes from the right hand of the Father to take us to Himself, that we might be with Him forever.

And so when Paul thinks of the people there, the believers there in that city, that the Thessaloniki, he rejoices that they demonstrated a steadfastness that was rooted in this joyful and confident expectation of promised blessing. I have to say I was surprised as I got studying this to see how much this matter of hope is an integral part of saving Christianity. In fact, Paul goes so far as to say in Romans 8 verse 24 and 25, "we are saved in hope." He said our very salvation is bound up in the concept of hope. And then he goes on to say, verse 24 and 25, he says, "but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we eagerly wait for it."

Peter asserts essentially the same thing when he says, 1 Peter 1:3, "God, according to His great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." So much for the word hope, elpis. I hope you understand what the word hope means. You get the two different ways now I used it, right? When I say I hope you understand, I'm using in terms of our present use. I hope you understand what the word hope means: confident, joyful expectation.

Well, let's look at the word steadfastness. What does this word mean, steadfastness? We're familiar with this word, the Greek word, hypomonēs. We've come across this word, hypomonēs, right? We've encountered that word in our studies, particularly of James, and elsewhere in Scripture. I love this word, hypomonēs. It's that Greek word made up of two words, two Greek words, hypo, the front means under, and the other, monēs, to remain. So, simply put, to remain under. To remain under.

Literally, the word means, and in the case of the etymology, really, it doesn't lead us astray. It literally means to remain under, to bear up under, to endure. So, really, the translation, patience, is too soft, because it's passive. This word is much stronger. You see, patience is what you do when the person who's supposed to give you a ride to church is 15 minutes late or 20 minutes late. Perseverance is what you exercise as a soldier when you're injured and bleeding and waiting for rescue. And you persevere. Hypomonēs is a far stronger word than patience.

It is, you're familiar, is the word we encounter in the Philippines of an Olympic weightlifter. You know, those guys who weigh too much, eat too much, they sweat too much. They go down, they pick up this bar, and they pull it above their head to their, well, on their way up to their shoulders. And, you know, they're getting ready, and they thrust it above their head with all the energy that they can muster. You have this huge amount of weight, but there's a rule. And the rule says that for it to be valid, they must actually, when they lift it up, they must remain under it for a certain period of time.

And so they stand there, and you can see them, their bodies quivering, attempting to keep that weight above their heads until the alarm has sounded, and then they've held it for the appointed amount of time. That's hypomonēs. During that time that they are under that weight, they are doing what this Greek word describes. So it means something far stronger than sitting in a boat, marking time, waiting for something to happen as you're waiting to catch some fish. Basically means endurance, perseverance, to bear up under intense difficulty, stress.

It's the word used in Matthew 24, verse 13, when our Lord says in that context of the tribulation period, at the end of the age, He says, "The one who,” - this is the word, hypomonēs, - “endures to the end.” - Bear up under to the end. - “He will be saved." The one who endures, who perseveres, the one who's steadfast to the end, that one will be saved. It's used in 1 Corinthians 13:7, describing love. "Love endures,” - hypomonēs, in its verbal form, bears up under - “all things." 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 10, Paul says, "For this reason I,” - hypomonēs, in a verbal form, hypomenei, that's the verb. - “For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory."

Now does that mean Paul sat in jail somewhere, twiddled his thumbs, played solitaire, waiting patiently? No, it meant a day and a night in the deep, scourging, starvation, thirsting, hungering. Read 2 Corinthians 11, we see what it meant. He said, I endure, I bear up under the most intense forms of difficulty, that they may be saved. It's the word used of our Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews 12, verse 2, where it says of Him that He “endured the cross.” He endured the cross. Did it mean just patience? What did that mean? It meant an active submission to the will of God in the midst of the most intense suffering.

So you have the word hope, joyful, confident expectation of promised blessing. Steadfastness means endurance, bearing up under stress and difficulty.

Okay, now let's put them together, right? We're assembling now. Let's put them together. Paul says, "I give thanks to God when I remember your steadfastness of hope." In other words, your ability to bear up under stress and difficulty and affliction, which was rooted in a joyful and confident expectation of promised blessing. Now that tells us something, that these people in Thessaloniki were not living on easy street.

It's hard for us to interpret 1 Thessalonians against the backdrop of our North American Christianity. Here were people who were born in the midst of conflict spiritually. Remember Acts 17 when we looked at the birth of this church? Paul had been there about two weeks when there was a riot in the town. They ran him out of town, stormed the house of the young convert who was actually hosting Paul. And then when Paul writes back to them, he says, notice in chapter 2 in verse 14 of this letter, "For you brothers became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you also suffered the same things at the hands of your own kind. For you also suffered the same things at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews."

What is he referring to? He's referring to persecution. That persecution that arose and scattered the believers. He said, you're in with them. You belong in the same union of the suffering. In chapter 3 he says, I was so anxious when I knew of your sufferings and wondering if perhaps these tribulations have really turned you aside, notice verse 3, "So that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed, when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction just as it happened. As you know."

Paul rejoices that these people are demonstrating epimony, endurance, endurance, perseverance, rooted in hope, because He recognized this. He recognized this principle that brings us now to the heart of the message. This is the crux of the whole phrase. Here it is. Paul realized that perhaps nothing more clearly revealed either the sham or the reality of Christian profession as did suffering, tribulation, difficulty, hardship, and affliction. This becomes the laboratory in which the genuineness of the product is either revealed or its ingenuineness, its sham, is exposed and uncovered.

So as Paul thought of those infant professors of Christ there in that city and the suffering that was already their portion before he left them, his heart was filled with deep concern. And he said, I wonder, as I was forced to leave you and thinking about you now, I wondered, do you have the real thing? Were my labors in vain? Is all of this to be wood and hay and stubble? Was your apparent faith a genuine faith? Was your apparent attachment to Christ vital, saving attachment to Christ? Suffering comes along, persecution comes along, and said, I'll tell you whether it is.

And now when Timothy brings back the report that they're continuing on with God, that the suffering has only served to drive their roots deeper into Christ, He says, oh how I give thanks, not only for your work of faith, your labor of love, but your endurance, your steadfastness that is rooted in this hope, this confident expectation of future blessing. He said, I'm so glad that the trial, the persecution, the difficulty simply acted as a laboratory in which your faith has been broken down into its component parts and it's been shown to be the real deal, the real thing, genuine, authentic, dokimos, has character, proven character.

Now that leads us to another principle that is vitally joined to this. Paul saw in these believers the truth that that confident expectation of future blessing was that which produced endurance in present difficult circumstances. What gave them that endurance to face persecution? I mean, just babes in Christ, new believers. What would happen to you, beloved, if after a month, after you professed to be joined to Jesus Christ, you began really to get some serious consequences because of your faith? What would happen? What would happen to us under pressure? Like some face severe consequences in certain parts of the world, serious consequences. It ranges from here to here, from mild to extreme.

I mean, boycotted economically, lose their job and nobody will hire them. They go to buy food, no one will sell food to them. You see your starving kids and your crying, wife, what would you do? I mean, all you need to do is renounce Christ and all will be well. You'll have your job back, you have your tummy full again, your children's tummies full, you'll have your wife smiling again. What would you do? What do they do? Persecuted, ill-treated. You know what they did. They said, well, things may not be good now, but man, oh man, are we going to have glory when He comes? He's going to come back and He's going to right all wrongs. And in the light of what we'll have when He comes, be still my soul. Be still my soul. Let men despise, deride, when our Lord comes back again, all that He's promised will be ours. And in the light of that day, what's a little suffering here? What's a little heartache here?

So their endurance, you see, was fed, sustained, maintained by that confident expectation of future blessings, sustained in the present trial by feeding their souls upon the expectation of future blessings. As we will see later on in the end of the chapter, they were a second coming people. They lived here in the light of there. They lived now in the light of then. They lived on the edge of the return of Jesus. This is one of the clearest contrasts between the Christian and the worldling. The worldling is governed by the now. The now. Here and now. You know this, right? This is called what? Really, this is called the now generation. The now generation. That's the whole pitch in all of the advertisement, social media, social platform. This is the now generation. You've got to live it up now. Everything is now. Everything is live streamed. Everything is like real time.

I mean, you go on vacation. You go. It's like you have to keep even living your life. You always have to update. I woke up this morning. I had cereal. You post the cereal with the bowl and the picture and everything. The now generation. That's the mark of the world. It's a whole concern. The whole concern is now. And now takes in everything involved in time. You see people in the now generation. They're concerned enough about the future to take out insurance and make out wills. But their whole concern is bounded by the little parenthesis of time. And that's all time is, right? But a little parenthesis in the great expanse of eternity.

There is an eloquent description of this in the 17th Psalm. Please turn with me there. Where the Psalm is speaking of the wicked. Notice how he describes the wicked. Verse 14. Psalm 17. He's asking God to deliver him from the oppression of the wicked. And in that prayer he describes the wicked. Now watch this. “From men with your hand, O Yahweh. From men of the world." —Now watch this.— "Whose portion is in this life. And whose belly you fill with your treasure. They are satisfied with children and leave their excess to their infants."

Now take that phrase and write it as the descriptive phrase of our own generation. "Whose portion is in this life." "Whose portion is in this life." We're the now generation. You can live your life by the standards of a God whom you've never seen in terms of values. That you've never seen in terms of a heaven. That you've never seen. You can have all of that. Go ahead, they tell you. But I've got my substance now. And I'm going to live it up now. I'm part of the here and now. The now generation. The Bible says "whose portion is in this life."

That's the worldling. He lives for this life. He will save his life. But by contrast, the Christian is one who in his present existence governs everything. Not by now, but by then. By then. Not by the world that is, but by the world that is to come.

Notice that contrast before we move away from Psalm 17. So you don't have to turn back to it. He says their portion is this life. That's what he's saying. That's all they live for. This life. Their portion is this life. Listen to his cry. “As for me,” verse 15. That's their portion. That's what they live for. “But as for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake." Men of the world, their portion is now. Me, my portion is there.

See the marked contrast between the true child of God and the worldling? One has his portion now. Therefore, all of his values are determined by now. And here, all of his actions, reactions are determined by now. But by contrast, the Christian has everything now governed by the prospect of the world to come. Treasures in heaven. And that's what hypomonēs, endurance, is. Bearing up under pressure and inconveniences involved in being a child of God in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation.

The Apostle Paul describes this attitude of the Christian so beautifully, in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, I love this. When looking at all of those problems that he had. All of the difficulties that he endured. All of the challenges that he faced. And he had them. You read the extent of them in the verses prior to the one we want to mention. For example, in verse 8, afflicted, perplexed. Verse 9, persecuted, struck down. Verse 10, always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus. And verse 11, constantly, not once, not twice. Constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake.

And what does he call all of this? What does he call all of this? Verses 17 and 18: "For our momentary light affliction." What? How? He calls this momentary light affliction. Persecution, always going about like a criminal, condemned to die, troubled on every side, perplexed, buffeted, treated like the off-scouring of the world. And he says, light affliction? Light affliction? Why? Well, he tells us. He tells us why in the rest of verses 17 and 18. "It is working out for us an eternal weight of glory.” — Eternal weight of glory,— “far beyond all comparison.” — Not even a close comparison to all that I have been facing and enduring.— “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."

You see, Paul had the steadfastness, the endurance, the hypomonēs that was rooted in hope. And in light of the unseen world, everything Paul bore, everything he endured, he said, in the light of that is a momentary light affliction. Because in the light of that unseen world; weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, outer darkness, eternal hell, the torments of the damned, Paul was comparing his suffering to the sufferings of those who are strangers to the grace of God. And he says, in the light of that eternal world, the unseen world, anything that I have borne is a light affliction.

And then furthermore, in the light of what I shall know when I awake with His likeness and look upon my Savior and behold Him, this beaten, pain-inflicted body shall be released from all of the effects of sin. He said, it's just a light affliction, a drop in the ocean of the glory that is promised to me, that inheritance of the saints, that glorious inheritance of the saints.

He looks to that unseen world, and He looks at the glory that is to come. He looks at the world to come, and He looks at what He's been spared from. I've been spared from all of this: weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, the torments of the damned forever and ever. I've been spared of this. And I know whatever I endure here is just nothing compared to the torments of the damned, but also I look forward to that glorious inheritance of the saints.

Light affliction. What sustained Him in those present trials? He said in verse 18, “while we look,” was the gaze of His soul upon the world to come? It was His hope, His joyful, confident expectation as a Christian that sustained Him in the present trial. In Hebrews 11, we have this testimony born to the heroes of faith, of the faith. Hebrews 11 verses 13 and 14, we read those wonderful words: "All these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth, for those who say such thing make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own." What country? What country? The world to come. The world to come, the inheritance of the saints. That was their confidence and joyful expectation.

So what did they bear here and now? What did they bear? What did they endure here and now? Well, read the 11th chapter of Hebrews. Let me remind us of what they endured. Some experienced mockings and floggings. Yes, also chains and imprisonment. Verse 36, verse 37, they were stoned. Now watch this, they were sawn into. They were tempted. They were put to death with a sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, mistreated.

What in the world will make a man do this when all he needs to do is simply take the edge off of his witness and say, well, you know, Jesus Christ is the Savior, but you know, maybe not the only Savior. That's all he needs to do. Just take the edge off of the exclusiveness of his faith and confession of faith in Jesus Christ. All the roads, you know, as long as you're sincere. Why would men endure this? Only one reason: a joyful and confident expectation of that which was to come. It is, to use Paul's words, "working out for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison."

Beloved, if you and I haven't learned to feed upon the hope, the joyful, confident expectation of promised blessings, we will deny Him in the hour of trial. Are we too distracted with the here and now, beloved? Are we so preoccupied with this life here on earth? Maybe that's why the world to come isn't too precious to us. Maybe that's why that we can sing songs about heaven with dry eyes. That's why perhaps we can go weeks and months and not think of the glorious world to come for the saints.

Do we think about heaven? We don't think about heaven much, do we? Let me ask you, this is between you and God, how much have you thought about heaven this past week? How much have you fed your mind upon those promised blessings that will be yours when the Lord comes back and when you go and be with Him? That's the hope that should mark the believer, and what delighted the heart of the Apostle Paul was this, that these people had that hope, that hope as a living, active principle that gave birth to their endurance in the midst of hardship.

May I conclude this evening with a word of direction, just very briefly. Maybe you're sitting here tonight and you're thinking, Habib, I have to admit I don't have that hope like they have it. I have to admit it. I have to acknowledge when you asked that question during this past week, if you thought about heaven. No, I haven't. No, I haven't. The glorious inheritance of the saints, beholding His face one day, but preoccupied with things here. Stuff, the stuff of this life now, the here and now, and you know, bills, and houses, and cars, and health, and snow. It's been kind of hard for me to think about heaven. How can I have this hope that will give birth to endurance that these settled Thessalonians had?

May I be very practical, suggest a couple of things. First of all, here's how. Number one, by earnest prayer. By earnest prayer, ask God that He may give you eyes to see and a heart to understand that hope. Pray, ask the Lord that He may give you eyes to see and a heart to understand that hope. That's what Paul did for the new Christians in Ephesus. You remember, for he says in Ephesians 1, 17 and 18, "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory," — He says,— "I pray that He may give to you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the full knowledge of Him, so that, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened, will know what is the hope of His calling and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." Paul says, I plead with God that God by His Spirit would bring you, you people at Ephesus, to know experimentally the glorious hope of your calling.

If only you knew that to which God was calling you out there, if only you knew more and more, you will live so much better right here. Some may be thinking, well, but we've got to have social concern, right? Sure we have social concerns. A man's heart filled with love for Jesus and the love of Christ is concerned about the world that is now. But He who lives to the glory of God now is He who lives with the clearest vision and prospect of that which is to come. Biblical, true, vital, saving Christianity is vitally concerned with the world which is to come. And those who've served the present generation best have been those who've most lived with their eyes on the world to come.

But it's only as we pray that God opens our eyes that we know what is the hope of our calling that we should begin to understand. Will you pray this day that God may by His Spirit give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation that you may know the hope of your calling, that the truth of that to which He's called you may burn like fire within your breast. Secondly, not only we must pray, but by diligent searching out of our hope. Diligent searching out of our hope. God has given us something that even the people at Thessaloniki didn't fully have at that time. The Old Testament contains a very few beautiful rays of light breaking through once in a while about the world to come, immortality, but the scripture says Jesus Christ has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Job saw a glimmer in Job 19: 25 and 26. "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will rise up over the dust of this world. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall behold God." I know that my Redeemer lives. In latter days I'll be with Him. I will see Him. David said in Psalm 17:15, "As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied with your likeness when I awake." But for the most part, death and the world to come was foggy, misty. There wasn't that clear revelation of the hope of the believer. We have it now with incredible clarity. Christ has brought it to light.

He said in John 14, verse 2 and 3, "In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also." And all those wonderful statements in the book of Revelation, where God Himself shall wipe away tears from our eyes. He shall be with us. He shall be our God. But how often do we feed our souls upon that? It's no wonder that we're so earthbound, for we don't even diligently search out what is our hope.

Let us be found this day, beloved, this Lord's day. That's one of the benefits of the Lord's day. We've been so earthbound during the week, and much of it, I understand, is necessary. Dishes are here on earth. Doing the 40 hours a week to collect a paycheck, to buy groceries, that's an earthly task, and it's a legitimate one. And it honors God.

Now God gives us the Lord's day to get out of that routine and really refocus on Him and on the world to come. So let's take time to pray that we'll understand our hope. Let's take time to diligently search out what is our hope. And thirdly, let us engage in frequent meditation upon this hope. Frequent meditation to ponder this hope, to meditate upon it.

Paul said, "while we look not on the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen." He said, "I fix the gaze of my soul upon the world to come, on what awaits me, what is there for me ahead. I meditate upon that which is to be my portion." It says that those faithful saints in Hebrews 11, oh they looked for that city which had foundations. The gaze of their souls was upon the world to come and longed for the world to come. May I encourage you this day to make this, beloved, your spiritual exercise. Refresh your heart and your mind with what is our hope.

Now is there a word to you here this evening who are not savingly joined to Christ? There is, for the scripture says in Ephesians 2:12, all who are joined to Jesus Christ, well actually it says the opposite. Those who are not joined to Jesus Christ are what? "Without hope." They are without God, without hope. Oh they have lots of wishful desires. They say, well I hope I'll make it. God says they're without hope in the biblical sense.

You may say this evening, well I hope I'll make it, I hope. No, no, that's not biblical hope. You have no joyful, no confident expectation that you will be with Him. And unless by the grace of God you've been awakened to see your lostness, to see that your only hope of mercy is bound up in the person of Jesus, and that you've fled in repentance and faith, laid hold of Him as your only hope of access to a holy God, then and only then you can have a hope, not a hope based upon wishful thinking, but a confident expectation based upon the promises of God, the word of God.

And so I ask you as we close this evening, do you demonstrate this virtue, this steadfastness of hope? Do you find it difficult to bear up under difficult circumstances where the pressure, the heat is on? Well, when you get weak in endurance, it is because somehow we've grown weak in our hope. So the way you strengthen endurance, the way you strengthen your hypomonēs, is not to come directly at endurance and try to pump new strength into endurance. Beloved, you need to enlarge your hope. Enlarge hope. It was the steadfastness, the endurance, that flowed out of hope. And as the strength of our hope is, so the measure of our steadfastness, our endurance will be.

If Paul were writing the letter about you, about me, will He say how I thank my God for your work of faith, for your labor of love, and for your steadfastness of hope? May God grant this virtue shall be wrought in us by the same Spirit who worked it in the hearts of these young believers there at Thessaloniki.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said this, "Bigotry is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you pour into it, the more it contracts." Webster's Dictionary defines a bigot as a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinion and prejudices, obstinately devoted to my prejudices, my opinions, my ways, my prejudgments. I'm so devoted to it, I don't want more light. Obstinately devoted to my prejudices, my opinions, my ways, my judgments, my prejudgments. So much so, I am devoted to all of this that I don't want more light. I don't want it.

As the saying goes, don't confuse me with the facts. I don't want more truth. More truth, more facts might persuade me to change my mind. I don't want it. So bigotry closes and shrinks away from more light, shrinks away from more truth, so as to obstinately hold on to its views and not let go.

That's exactly what we see in our text with the leaders of first century Judaism. The Sanhedrin, you remember last time, believed that they had a problem. They were annoyed. We looked at the annoyance. They were annoyed with Jesus and what was taking place. So they thought they had a problem on their hands because from their vantage point, this man, this Nazarene was winning the day.

I mean His miracles, His signs that He was performing, I mean they were so powerful, so convincing. They could not be disputed. Many were believing in Him and so the fear was that the whole nation would believe in Him. And as a result, life as they knew it under Rome would be lost forever. This is what they were talking about in the council, the Sanhedrin. This is what they were discussing. What are we going to do? What are we doing? Verse 47: "For this man is doing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

Well, there was a man present in their midst, in that council, the Sanhedrin, who believed that he had the answer. So we move from the annoyance to the answer. And that man was the high priest that year. His name was Caiaphas. And though he was thoroughly wicked, we're going to see today that he was unwittingly used as a mouthpiece by God to proclaim the truth of God, the truth concerning the gospel. This is really incredible.

Let's look at verse 49. Let's learn something about this man, this priest, this high priest. "But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, 'You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is better for you that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation not perish.' Now he did not say this from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad."

Now you will notice verse 49 begins this way, one of them, “But one of them, Caiaphas”. One of them. Now that seems to be a strange way to refer to the high priest, also known as the great priest. Just one of them. I think the explanation may be that even though he was the high priest that year, there was another man. There was another man, his father-in-law, a man by the name of Annas, who was still really holding sway, still held a lot of influence in this council.

And by the way, the word high priest, that title high priest, ‘archiereus’, is a compound word. ‘Archi’, first in a series, the leader or ruler, the idea of rank, degree, and then ‘ereus’ refers to priest, refers to the priest that was chief over all the other priests in Israel. Now what is interesting is originally according to Numbers 35, you will see that it seems to be that the high priest was to serve for life. But by this time, it was not uncommon for a high priest to be removed from the office and replaced by another, another person appointed, another man.

Well, the Romans, in fact, did this very often. They used it like a political office, and if they felt that one man was becoming too powerful, a little bit too dangerous, they would remove him and they would replace him by another man, replace into that office. In fact, when you read here in the New Testament of the chief priests, these chief priests, when you come across that in reading the scripture, they were former high priests that were simply removed and replaced. Even though the Romans appointed Caiaphas, by the way, he was in this office longer than most, he was appointed in 18 AD and held the office until 36 AD. That's a long stretch, considering the circumstances.

Now we'll talk about that more in a moment. And I think it speaks to the fact that he was a cunning man. He was devious and he knew the art of survival. But it seems that Annas may have been serving as the president of the Sanhedrin, because even in John's Gospel you see that Annas seems to have a lead role at that time. Annas also was a vile high priest that preceded him, and he was still living, and actually you can really say that he was really the power behind the throne, as it were.

He appears in the Gospels. Annas had five sons who were high priests and also had a son-in-law who was a high priest, and that was this man Caiaphas. He was the son-in-law of Annas. Look over, in fact, to John chapter 18 for a moment. Look at what it says in verse 12. And this is, keep in mind, this is just after the Lord Jesus is arrested. In verse 12 we read, "So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him," – now watch this, – "and led Him to Annas first." They led Him to Annas first, for He was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. Now Caiaphas was the one who advised the Jews that it was better for one man to die on behalf of the people.

So Jesus is led to Annas first. Now look down at verse 24. "So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest." So He's taken first to Annas, and then when you go to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 4, this is after, of course, the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 4, turn there for a moment. This is the early stages of the church, and Peter and John brought before the Sanhedrin, the council, in Acts chapter 4, look at verse 1. "Now as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly agitated because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand”.

Verse 5. "Now it happened that on the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem." Now notice, "and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high priestly descent. And when they had placed them in their midst, they began to inquire "By what power, or in what name, have you done this?" And on the account goes. But you will notice here, Annas is mentioned first. And that tells you something about his prominence, his influence, and his power. So again, he retains a measure of power, even though he's not the high priest that year, but nonetheless, Caiaphas is the one who held that office that year, John tells us, that year, particularly John 11:49.

When he says that year, that is the year of our Lord's passion, the year of our Lord's death. So he's in this position of leadership, he's the high priest, he was a cunning man, he was a ruthless man, and he was a hypocrite as well. Go over to Matthew 26, and you get some insight into this man, Caiaphas, insight into his character, what he was like. Matthew 26 sheds light on his character. Verse 57, "Now those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. But Peter was following Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in, and sat down with the officers to see the outcome. Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death."

Now, just stop for a second and let that sink in. Let that sink in. What are they seeking? False testimony! They're actually seeking false testimony against Jesus. They're seeking anything they can find in order that they may put Him to death. But they found none. So they're seeking false testimony.

Verse 60, "And they did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two of them came forward, and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the sanctuary of God and to rebuild it in three days.” And the high priest said to Him, “Do you not answer? What are these men testifying against You?” But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, "You yourself said it; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his garments and said, "He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy, what do you think?" They answered and said, "He deserves death." Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him, and said, "Prophesy to us, O Christ; who is the one who hit You?"

Now, realize a couple of things. First of all, the death sentence against Jesus was pronounced when? In John 11. Now keep that in mind. The council gathered together and Caiaphas, as we're going to see in a moment, and what did they say? Well, this man has to die. He has to die. And they begin to make plans to put Jesus to death. So you have these trials. These trials they go through were what? Mockery. They were a mockery. They weren't real in any way. They weren't genuine. They weren't legitimate. The verdict was already predetermined. So that's hypocrisy.

In addition to that, they're seeking false testimony against Jesus. They don't care whether or not they're true. It doesn't matter. They just want something so that they can put on Him so that they can actually justify their decision that they already made to kill Him. And so that's hypocrisy, which means they're wanting to hear something. They're wanting to hear something that would lead to the death of Jesus. And yet this man, this high priest, when he finally hears something that he thinks gives him a reason to give death to Jesus, when he finally hears it, he acts like he's troubled by it. Can you believe it? I mean, look at the hypocrisy. He tears his robes and he says, Oh, we've heard blasphemy. As if he can't stand to hear it. When what he's hearing is the exact thing he wanted to hear and seeking to hear, that's what? Hypocrisy. Ugly, sickening hypocrisy.

This man, the way that he survived with Rome as long as he did, that tells you how. He's a liar. He's a hypocrite. He's a killer. He's ruthless. And you're going to see that in just a moment in his words. So he's a wicked, wicked man.

Back to John 11. This is the man we're about to listen to, Caiaphas. Now, what does he say? Well, we read a moment ago, but let's go back to it again. First of all, after listening to the going back and forth in the council, verse 49, “Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all." Now, as we're going to see in a moment, part of what he says, I need to maintain the two hand in hand. Part of what he says, he's responsible for 100%. Part of what he says, the part that is prophecy, the part that is really the proclamation of the gospel, God is responsible for.

So let's pay attention to what he's responsible for. The first thing you notice concerning his words, you notice these are proud words. They're proud words coming out of Caiaphas' mouth. "You know nothing at all." This is how he begins his speech. "You know nothing at all." Basically, he's saying, you all can just shut your mouth. "You know nothing at all, because you don't know anything. You're ignorant. You're absolutely ignorant." That's what he's saying. If you're done expressing your mind, you can all now just be quiet, because I have here what we need to clear this whole mess up. I have the answer. I have the answer.

Kent Hughes paraphrases Caiaphas this way, roughly translated, he was saying, "you fools, if you had any intelligence at all, you would see that the answer is very simple. It is better that one die rather than a whole nation. He was a cold, calculating, capable, self-sufficient, shrewd, self-satisfied, ecclesiastical climber.” Proud man.

And by the way, this isn't out of the ordinary. This is how the Sadducees dealt with one another. Josephus, a Jewish historian, talked about the behavior of the Sadducees. Now, you have to bear in mind, Josephus was a Pharisee, so maybe it colored his view a little bit, but here's what he writes in The Wars of the Jews, "the behavior of the Sadducees, one toward another, is in some degree wild, and their conduct with those who have their own party is as barbarous as if they were strangers to them. So they treat each other roughly and rudely, and you see this come out in this man's character, you know nothing at all.” Proud words.

But you know it doesn't stop with pride. They're also hypocritical words. They're hypocritical words. Verse 50, "nor do you take into account that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish." That is, he puts forward his death plan in the name of what? The greater good. He puts it forward in the name of the nation. He pretends to be a patriot. He says, in fact, you know what? It doesn't matter if a man is innocent or not. It doesn't matter if we have anything real to charge him with or not. It doesn't matter whether he's performed powerful signs or not. Don't you understand? Apparently he felt like they were being somewhat hesitant about what needs to be done. Don't you understand? It is better that one man dies, no matter how innocent he may be, than for the whole nation to perish.

So he puts forward his argument this way. Either Jesus dies or the nation perishes. And he doesn't present any other option. Either Jesus dies or the nation perishes. Now, nothing from a natural point of view could have been further from the truth. There was another option. There was another option. There was a third option. You know what that is? They could repent. They could repent. They could acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, trust God to take care of them when it came to the Romans. But that wasn't on the table. No. That wasn't about patriotism either, no matter what he says, and you know that as you understand this man's character, you get to see that this was purely selfish. This was about position. This was about position. This was a personal position which they felt was being threatened.

In fact, the discussion prior to what he says captures really what's in all of their hearts. “the Romans," – verse 48, – "will come and take away both our place and our nation." We may lose our influence. We may lose our place, our position. And so when he puts it in these terms, what he's doing is he's putting the face of nobility on what was just purely wicked. And not only does he try to make himself look better in the way he puts it, but you can see how this would be attractive to the rest who want to do the very thing that he's saying, but they also want to believe that somehow they are religious and they are God-honoring. And so they accept these words.

This puts on a good front for them too. Easy on their ears. Yeah, that's right. We're patriots. This is the point. This is the right thing to do for the nation. This is the right thing for our people, even though it's not the nation or the people in their hearts, but rather it's purely themselves.

Don't people do this today, beloved? Don't they do this today? Don't they reject Jesus with the most hypocritical lying words? They say, well, here's the reason why I'm not a Christian. Here's the reason why I reject the gospel. Here's the reason why I don't believe. And no matter what they're saying, it's not really the case. The fact is they have their little kingdom and they don't want it to be disrupted. They don't want it to be disrupted because they love their darling sin and they don't want to let it go. And they would rather hold on to their sin and lose their soul than to let go of their darling sin and have life. Things haven't changed. This is just sinful humanity. This is the wickedness of man. And this is what you see here on display. So they're proud words. They're hypocritical words.

They're also ignorant and self-destructive words. Ignorant and self-destructive words. Do you not understand? "It is better for you that one man should die for the people” not that the whole nation should perish. You see, if we get rid of Him, we won't have trouble with the Romans, with the Romans. All will be fine. If we get rid of Him, the nation won't perish.

John wrote this. God gave this to the apostle John. He wrote this after the destruction of Jerusalem. So He records this. The Holy Spirit has recorded this, and this is the height of irony. I mean, He chose the foolishness of this council that they thought that they would preserve themselves by putting Jesus, the King of Glory, to death, and yet the truth is they lost their place and they lost their nation, their freedom that they were enjoying. They lost all of that in 70 AD. The Romans seized Jerusalem. The temple was destroyed. They lost their place after they crucified the Son of God.

They were ignorant words. They weren't true from the point of view that Caiaphas spoke. He was wrong, dead wrong. How proud Caiaphas is, but how foolish. How certain he is, but how wrong. How strong he imagines himself to be, and yet he doesn'tnknow that even as he's speaking out these strong, arrogant words, "You all know nothing”. Listen to me even as he speaks like this, he doesn't know. He doesn't know it, but is being held as if by a thread in the hand of the sovereign God. As Jonathan Edwards presented the picture, “if God just lets go, he falls into hell, and yet he feels so strong and so confident.”

How influential Caiaphas is. Man, he's influential. I mean, people listen to him, but it's the blind leading the blind, and they both fall where? Into the ditch. And there are people today who reject the gospel, and how proud they are as they reject the gospel, and how certain they are that they are right, and how strong they imagine themselves to be, and how influential they are with others around them. And sometimes they're very bright people, and they have great training, and so they're intimidating if you're actually debating them or talking to them, and they are great at debating, and you would think they win the argument, they win the day, and they don't know. They don't know. But though they win an argument in their minds at least, they don't know they're going to lose their soul forever.

This is what this man is responsible for. These wicked, proud, hypocritical, ignorant, self-destructive words. But, there's a wonderful but. But in the midst of these wicked words coming from this wicked man and from his wicked heart, there was something God was doing. What a powerful God we have! They were pregnant words. Pregnant with meaning that Caiaphas himself was completely unaware of.

Do you notice how the Holy Spirit says it to us in verse 51? This is John's commentary on it under the superintending power of the Holy Spirit. "Now he did not say this from himself." See that? What does that mean, he did not say this from himself? Did he want to say what he said? Yes. Yes, he wanted to. That's not what he means. That somehow Caiaphas didn't want to utter the words that he uttered. No, no. Caiaphas is reasoning, he's thinking, speaking out of his own heart. But God guided him in such a way that the word that he chose expressed truth that he wasn't aware of. What he said had a wicked meaning from his vantage point, but what he said revealed truth from Heaven's vantage point.

Someone as well said, We not only have the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we have the gospels of Christ's enemies. Because on more than one occasion you see where the enemies of Christ expressed profound truth that they weren't aware of. They were saying what they meant, they just didn't understand the full meaning of what they were saying. And this is, this is our amazing God. And this is one of the ways that God glorifies Himself, isn't it? This is one of the ways that God shows His mightiness, His wisdom, His sovereignty, His power.

There is a throne room in Heaven. And there is a throne in Heaven. And that throne is not vacant in Heaven. There's one who is seated on that throne. And He is sovereign. And He's unfolding the circumstances and decisions and details with precision towards an end in view, His goal. This is one of the ways that God demonstrates mankind's absolute need for God, and for the Savior, and for reconciliation. Because He demonstrates how foolish we are, and how in control, how sovereign He is. God will so glorify His Son that even the enemies of Christ will be used by God to unwittingly pay tribute to His Son.

Even when they don't wish to glorify the Son, they do. They do. In Matthew 27, just give you an example of this. Matthew 27. Look with me there. Verse 41. Matthew 27:41, “In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders,” – now as our Lord is hanging on the cross, this is unfolding, –”the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel. Let Him now come down from the cross and we will believe in Him."

Did you hear what they said? He saved others! I mean they're saying it in a mocking way, but indeed He did. Indeed He had. As they mock Him, they acknowledge the truth about Him. He saved others. And even as He's hanging on Calvary's cross, what is He doing on the cross? He's saving others. He's saving others. What a glorious thing to cast in, in someone's direction. He saved others. Yes He did!

And in chapter 19, look over there for a moment of John. You see another example of His enemies unwittingly giving Him praise. John 19:16, “So He then delivered Him over to them to be crucified. They took Jesus, therefore He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. And Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews." Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, "Do not write ‘The King of the Jews’, but that He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’." Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

And so for there for all the world to see, three languages. What did it say on the cross? The King of the Jews. Indeed He is. And Pilate was used by God to pay this tribute to Him. Back to John 11. The Bible says now, verse 51, “Now He did not say this from himself.” That is, the Lord was at work. The Lord was at work overruling in such a way that though He was expressing His wickedness, yet He was paying tribute to the gospel. What an awesome God we have.

It ought to settle your heart, even with all that is currently transpiring in the Middle East, to settle your heart, God is in control. God is sovereign. The Lord is at work. Notice what else it says. “Now he did not say this from himself”. – verse 51, – “but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation.” That is, even though this man was unsaved, God used the office to declare His truth concerning His Son. This man is the high priest. So God used the man in that office to give forth this word of prophecy. Here's a man who doesn't know God, but is being used by God, nevertheless. He's a man who doesn't deserve to be in the office that God ordained, yet God is using the office.

What Pastor MacArthur writes here is really helpful. He explains that Caiaphas, "did not say this on his own initiative. It does not mean that he was forced to act against his will. He was no puppet. He was responsible for his own wicked words, but God providentially invested those words with a meaning that he did not intend. In his capacity as high priest, and hence technically by office, God's spokesman, God ordained an opposite meaning when Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation. He spoke cynical words of political expediency, claiming that Jesus must die to preserve the Sanhedrin's power and the nation's existence. However, Caiaphas unwittingly spoke prophetically of Christ's sacrificial death," – and I love this last part, – "God sovereignly turned his wicked blasphemous words into truth,"

Caiaphas thought he was saying, listen, we've got to sacrifice this one man, Jesus, in order that we all not go under and lose our privileges. That's what he thought, but he was unconsciously summarizing the gospel. One man should die for the people, that the whole nation should not perish. He was unconsciously telling us things that the scriptures tell us with a different sense.

You know there are people who prophesy in the name of the Lord, and who make true prophecies even though they themselves may not believe them. The Lord Jesus speaks about those who prophesy in His name. He will say to them, "I never knew you," Matthew 7, "depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."

That raises a question at this point for us, by way of implication. How do you want to be used? How do you want to be used? Do we realize that ultimately, when it's all said and done, every human being ever made will in some way be used to tell the truth about God? Do you understand that? Let that sink in. Every single human being ever made will in some way be used to tell the truth about God. Every human being, one day, those who are in hell will be used by God to demonstrate the justice of God, the righteous wrath of God, the holiness of God. We're all going to be used to tell the truth about God. The question is, how do you want to be used?

I thought about this as a servant of Christ, and what a miserable thing it would be to be used by God, to see others come to faith in Christ, and be someone who himself did not know Christ. Wouldn't it be horrible to preach to others and to see others saved and to see others brought into the joy of knowing Christ, others brought into the family, the kingdom of Christ, and yet you yourself not know Him? What a horrible thing.

You, no doubt, have shared the gospel with someone. Those of you who claim to know Christ, you share the gospel, but the question is, have you experienced the gospel? Many years ago, I had someone who asked if they could bring their friend to meet with me so that they could share the gospel with them, and I remember sitting in that coffee shop and sharing the gospel with that individual, that friend, that day. And that friend walked away, but guess what? The person who brought the friend came to saving faith, having heard the gospel.

Have you experienced the gospel? You told someone else about Christ, but do you know Christ? How do you want to be used? I want to be used while loving Him. I want to be used while belonging to Him. I want to be used in a way where I'm willing with my whole heart to serve Him, and I hope that's what you would want, too, as well. Listen, I'd much rather not be a servant of Christ and be a Christian than to be a servant of Christ and not be a Christian. I want to declare the truth of the one whom I love, I know, I serve.

And here's a man, he's in an office, and he's being used, but he doesn't even know God. And what does he say? He tells us why Christ would die. This is the prophecy. Look at it. Verse 51: "Now he did not say this from himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad." Why was Jesus going to die? He was going to die so that others would not perish. He was going to die not only for the children of God who belong to the nation of Israel, but for the children of God who did not belong to the nation of Israel, those scattered abroad, talking about Gentiles, Jews and Gentiles.

It was fitting the call to worship portion from scripture. Back in chapter 10:16, remember the Lord Jesus said, "I have other sheep, which are not from this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice: and they will become one flock with one shepherd." That's included too. The Lord Jesus shall die and also as a result of His death, the children of God who are scattered abroad now shall be gathered together into the family of God. So He's dying for those within Israel. He's dying for those children of God outside of Israel and He's going to die a vicarious death and that is found in this prophecy as well.

That is for the people. That little word for the people. The people. This is what Caiaphas said. Do you not understand? It's better for you that one man die for the people in their place, in their stead. It's how Jesus died. That's why Jesus died. In our place. In our stead. It was a substitutionary death.

I love what S. Lewis Johnson said at this point. He writes, "Well that one man should die for the people, the whole nation should perish not, is to summarize, Caiaphas preaches elimination, but God preaches substitution.” – I love that. He says, “we will eliminate Him in order that we may have our privileges. God says, Yes, the language is the same, but the real meaning is He dies as a substitute. Caiaphas says, Substitute Jesus in order that the nation may live. God says, Substitute Jesus as the sacrifice that men who believe in Him may justly have eternal life because the Lord Jesus pays the penalty for their sins,"

That's what we celebrate today, beloved. Jesus died so that you and I wouldn't. Not only He was going to die a vicarious death, but He was going to die a particular death, a particular death for the children of God. Did you notice how that's put? Who's He dying for? For the children of God who are scattered abroad. They are not yet children of God, and yet in the heart of God they are destined for salvation. And in that sense they are children of God. Same sense in which Jesus said, "I have other sheep, not others fold, and I must bring them also, and they're going to be one fold with one shepherd." Same meaning. Not yet a believer, not yet in the family, yet in the heart and the mind of Almighty God. It has already been planned, settled, and Christ is dying for those who will be saved.

This is particular redemption. This is definite atonement. This is actual atonement. It's not really us who have the limited atonement. It is really the Armenian who has the limited atonement, because we say all those for whom Christ died will certainly absolutely be saved. No limitation in its power, no limitation in its efficacy, no limitation in its saving ability. Those for whom Christ died will be in heaven. Period. Paragraph.

Others would have us believe that Christ died in a general sort of death just hoping that someone would take advantage of it, and so you have millions and millions of souls for whom Christ died according to them, yet they're going to be in hell one day. As Spurgeon once said,"Well they can have their atonement. I don't want any part of it. I believe that the death of Jesus secured the salvation of all those for whom He died. Period."

Isaiah 53:8. You see the scripture, plethora of scripture. Verse 8: "By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And asked for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, That for the transgression of my people, striking was due to Him?" In Matthew 1:21, "she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 20:28, "just as a Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” For many. John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life” – for who? –  “for the sheep."

Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her." The church. Titus 2:14, "who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good works." He gave His life for us, for the church, for those who know Him. He gave His life so that He might purify for Himself a people for His own possession.

And of course Hebrews 2:10: "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of On; for which reason He is not ashamed." – Now watch this. – "to call them brothers saying, I will recount Your name to My brothers in the midst of the assembly I will sing Your praise. And again” –  verse 13, – "I will put My trust in Him. And again" and I love this, "Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me." Christ is declaring, "I and the children whom God has given Me." For His brothers, for the children of God, for those that He brought to glory. He brings many sons to glory and He appears before the Father and He says, "Behold I and the children whom God has given Me." He dies for them. He saves them by His own death. He redeems them. He purchases them. He sets them free.

Caiaphas didn't know what he was saying but that's what he said. “Now he did not say this from himself,” – verse 51 in John 11 – “but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”

And then God's word says, verse 53, John 11: "So from that day on they planned together to kill Him." And as we read further, we see that the word was put out: If you know where He is, you gotta let us know. We're gonna arrest Him. You gotta tell us. And Jesus retreated until He would make His entry into Jerusalem.

And He retreats because He would give Himself voluntarily at the time appointed by the Father, which leads us now to the aftermath. Back to John 11. The aftermath. Verses 53 to 57. Now the Sanhedrin makes active plans to catch and kill Jesus. In fact, Matthew 26:4 puts it this way: "and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him." You know what I find really amazing? Think about this. A resurrected Lazarus led to a crucified Jesus. Stunning.

Jesus then made sure that He was not walking in plain sight. He takes refuge in a nearby city, Ephraim. But here's the problem. It's Passover again. It's Passover again. And by the way, this is the third Passover in the Gospel of John. Remember the first? He cleansed the temple in chapter 2. The second, He feeds 5,000, chapter 6. And this is the third Passover. This is why we know Jesus' ministry was at least three years.

Passover requires men to come up to Jerusalem, you remember. So what's Jesus going to do? And you got all this speculation. Speculation is rife and is He going to come up? Will He avoid it? He has to come to obey the law of Moses. But if He does come, He's walking into a trap. Verse 57 puts it plainly: "Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him."

But you know what? We've seen this before, right? You remember? It wouldn't happen a moment before God sovereignly or God's sovereignty decreed it. Not even one moment. When it was the exact moment, the right time, God used the stubborn unbelief of the Sanhedrin to put Jesus on the cross.

And that's why in Acts chapter 2, Peter looks at the people in Jerusalem who had consented to the crucifixion of Jesus and he says this to them in Acts 2 verse 22 and 23: "just as you yourselves know– this Man, delivered over” – now watch the language – “by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him to death." Sovereignty and unbelief.

And here as we see their plot, we see that the ways that sinful nature, wicked sinful nature, tries to sustain its unbelief. The Sanhedrin have decided Jesus is a threat regardless of whether He's the Messiah. So they set up a system to eliminate Him, to make sure they get rid of Him. Stubborn unbelief finds a way to maintain its unbelief.

Maybe you're sitting here this morning and you think, well, those were terrible, terrible people, weren't they? Well, let me tell you, they were terrible people, but let me tell you something. It's not something in the past, beloved. It's not something in the past. Think about the human heart. It does the same thing today. It does.

Remember Romans 1:18? It says people “suppress the truth in unrighteousness”. Now think about that. They actually actively suppress the truth in unrighteousness. That's the language of what? Censorship. Censorship. People make sure the truth doesn't get out and annoy them again. Remember too much light in the eye?

So what do we do? Want to make sure the truth doesn't get out and annoy us again, they think. So what do they do? We create ways of life that pretend God is not there. That we're not sinners. That Jesus really never came. Large-scale systems that include our educational systems from preschool up to university to adult education, our whole entertainment industry, our media, our journalism, much of our law today is going in this direction. Our political systems, our scientific establishments, they sustain unbelief and they eliminate God.  They make sure: don't mention God, don't refer to Him, don't pray to Him, don't expect Him, don't worship Him.

Why? Because we despise, we attack, and we want to maintain our independence, our autonomy. It's that self-interest that aggravates unbelief, and we will not have this man to reign over us, and we will not let Him take our place. And if you live in that system from the earliest age, that God does seem unreal, far away, mythical, harmless, but beloved, this unbelief is not something that God is unable to deal with. It's not some separate story that God is not writing. It's part of His story. Oh, it is, it is part of His story.

Every story needs protagonists and antagonists, good and bad, and antagonists, good guys, bad guys, heroes, villains. And so if you choose to continue down that path of unbelief, you become by your own stubborn choice the official opposition. To who? How absurd for a puny, tiny creature of the dust to oppose Almighty God.

Remember Psalm 2? Turn with me there as we conclude. We'll wrap up with this. Psalm 2, the very first verse is talking about this ridiculous posture of unbelief. "Why do the nation's rage and the people's meditate on a vain thing?" It's a vain, it's a vain and empty thing. Really, it's a vain, empty thing to oppose God. It says, "The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together” – just like the Sanhedrin, right? – “Against Yahweh and against His anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!" We don't want them to rule over us. We don't want them to rule us. They plot, they scheme the self-interest of men.

But here, the next, next verses in Psalm 2, here comes the sovereignty of God, the absolute sovereignty of God that accomplishes His will, no matter what. "He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord mocks them. Then He speaks to them in His anger, And terrifies them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." – I am doing what I want. And no one can stop it. God will triumph. And He says this to His son, in spite of all this plotting, He says to the Messiah, verse 8, "Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like a potter's vessel."

So with all of that ridiculous unbelief and opposition, and with that sovereignty of God on display, what does the psalmist advise us? Look at verse 10. "So now, O kings, show insight; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Serve Yahweh with fear And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He becomes angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him." In other words, believe in Him while you have opportunity, before it's too late. Give Him His place. Let Him take your place.

Don't fear that when He takes His place as Lord over your life, that it will be a bad thing or a negative thing, because we read in scripture His yoke is what? It's easy. And His burden is light. It will only, listen, it will only remove from your heart that which should have never been there in the first place. A corrupt nature usurping God's place, saying we will not have Him to reign over us. Unbelievable unbelief, driven by selfish stubbornness. But there is a staggering sovereignty offering you today life and peace.

A.W. Tozer said it well when he said this, "unbelief will destroy the best of us, but faith will save the worst of us."

 I want to finish this morning by asking you this, did Jesus die for you? Did He die for you? This is one of the real problems that people have with the idea of particular redemption, redemption or actual atonement. They say well we can't go to the world and proclaim Christ's death if He didn't die for everyone, but you know what's interesting is that when you see the preaching of the gospel in the New Testament, you don't find the Apostles and the disciples preaching Jesus died for you. You just find them preaching Christ died for sinners and He was raised from the dead and if you will repent of your sins and trust in Christ, you will be saved.

So here's the answer to the question of did Christ die for you? Here's the answer, do you want Him? Do you want Him? Are you willing to repent of your sins and run to Him in faith and trust in Him as your Lord and your Savior, giving Him your life? And if that is your desire, I've got news, good news for you, He died for you. He died for you. But if you don't want Him, why do you care? Why do you care? Why do you complain? If you don't want Him anyway, what, what does it matter? You don't have any great interest in His death anyway.

Anyone who wants Christ genuinely, wants the Lord Jesus, know this, you will not be refused. That's the good news of the gospel. That's the gospel that we proclaim. Whosoever will may come. And once you've come, you will realize He loved you before you were ever born and He gave Himself to save you from your sins. That's good news. So come to Him. Delay no more. This is the day of opportunity. His arms are wide open. Resist no more. Postpone no more. Rationalize no more. Give yourself to Him. Repent and turn to Him and be saved. And He will receive you. And He will forgive your sins. And He will embrace you as one of His own. And He will make you part of His family.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

It's really amazing, it's an amazing thing, how two human beings, both blessed with the ability to think, both blessed with the ability to reason, to contemplate, can be presented with the exact same information, the exact same situation, the exact same evidence. If a case is being made, they hear the exact same arguments, and yet these two people who are both blessed with the ability to think and to reason can come to completely, completely different conclusions. We see that around us every day, don't we? It happens every day—human beings exposed to the same information yet come to two different conclusions, opposite conclusions.

Think about all that's debated in our culture. People debate politics, they debate issues that are mentioned in the news about this and that and the other, and they talk about court decisions and what they think is right and what they think is wrong. They debate things that are important, they debate things that are completely unimportant, trivial. And what's often startling when you pay attention to these debates is the ability that people have to only accept the information that seems to agree with the position that they already hold.

How often it is that they come to a situation, they've already had a conclusion in their mind, and so the information that seems to accord with what they already believe—well, they accept that. They hold on to that. How often it is that they come to a situation and do exactly the same thing. And how easy it is for human beings to just sweep away the information that would expose their wrong thinking or that could lead them to a different conclusion. And that's something, beloved, that belongs to sinful human nature.

Do we realize today that only God can give an honest heart? Only God can give an honest heart. Do you realize that only God can give someone a heart that really wants the truth? And wants the truth in a way that we could describe as desperate—a desperate desire for the truth. That is, no matter what it means for me, no matter what I have to repent of, no matter what I have to recant, no matter how it would expose me and make evident that I thought wrongly about something, all that I want is God. All that I want is the truth. I just want the truth. That kind of desperate. Only God, only God can produce that in a human soul.

Because what has happened as a result of the fall in Genesis 3 is that we don't have an honest heart. We don't. We don't have an honest heart. "The heart is deceitful, above all else is desperately wicked. Who can understand it?" He does. Men are not born with honest hearts. In fact, men are born with a hopeless bias against light, against the truth. When you talk about spiritual truth especially, understand it. When it comes to the natural man, to man as he's born in Adam, what is right is objectionable to him. What is wrong is pleasurable to him.

In the language of Isaiah, right is wrong and wrong is right and sweet is bitter and bitter is sweet. Everything is upside down, everything is inverted. And so he takes all the spiritual evidence—man in his fallenness, in his Adamic nature—and he sees it all through the prism of a heart that doesn't want the truth. We've seen that before in the Gospel of John, didn't we? John chapter 3 verse 19 puts it this way: "And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. And everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds be exposed." A hopeless bias against the Light, against the truth, and all the information is sifted through this heart and through this mind that doesn't want to see the truth—a dishonest heart, a biased heart.

I bring this up this morning because we see an example of this right here in this chapter. We see the actions of Jesus, we see the attitudes of Jesus, we hear the words of Jesus, and we're going to even see Him raise Lazarus from the dead. And you have a group of people, all of whom are exposed to the same actions, the same attitudes, the same words, and the same miraculous deed. Yet what you will see in this chapter is emerging two conflicting perspectives. Some have faith, others do not. Some believe, others do not. Some, at the end of the day, are going to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; others are going to leave the scene and tell on Him, report it to the Pharisees. Same information, same evidence, but two completely different, starkly different conclusions. And the way you explain the difference in conclusion is the condition of the heart, the condition of the mind.

We'll see that this morning and next week, Lord willing. But where I want us to begin this morning, I want us to begin with the indignation of Christ to set the context. The indignation of Christ (point number one), the indignation of Christ. And I want us to return to something that was mentioned last Lord's Day because we need to be clear on this, or else we will not rightly interpret the Scripture here, this text. Back in verse 33, when it says that Jesus was deeply moved: "When Jesus therefore saw her crying, and the Jews who came with her also crying," here it is, "He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled."

There's a Greek word translated "deeply moved," and we have to figure out what it means. I mentioned it last Lord's Day; I want to come back to it because it is critical for us this morning. *embrimáomai* (ἐμβριμάομαι) is the Greek word, and this word is used in extra-biblical Greek literature to refer to the snorting of a horse preparing for a battle—the snorting of a horse preparing for a battle. Calvin views it as Jesus gearing up for the conflict as our champion in the battle against sin and death. Literally, this word means to roar, to storm with anger, to be enraged, to be indignant. It expresses indignation against someone.

And you recall last week that was mentioned concerning this verse, that I believe that has to do with indignation—that Jesus was indignant here. He was angry. There's something here that upset Him. But let me say this at this point: there are some really sound interpreters who don't agree with that—men who we greatly respect and greatly benefit from their work in the Lord. One of them is James Montgomery Boyce. He believes that the word here ought to be just understood as simply strong emotion. Here's his point, here's why he takes this position: he says there's nothing here in the context that would explain Jesus being angry. And so he sees it as just a strong emotion. Jesus is moved by the tears of Mary, moved by the tears of the mourners, he says, and so He's just feeling strong emotion here.

The problem with that is that in every other place where this Greek word is used—aside from the extra-biblical literature—but everywhere, in every place that this Greek word is used in the New Testament, you have the idea connected to it, the idea of indignation or sternness. Every other place. And I want you to see those places with me—three other places outside of John 11.

Turn with me to Matthew 9. Matthew 9:27 and following. We read there (a sweet sound to my ear, these pages being flipped, by the way, I just want to mention that, I don't think I have mentioned in a long time), verse 27: "As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, 'Have mercy on us, Son of David!' And when He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' They said to Him, 'Yes, Lord.' Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'It shall be done to you according to your faith.' And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, 'See that no one knows about this.'"  The word translated "sternly warned" is the same Greek word we have in our text, *embrimaomai* (ἐμβριμάομαι).

Mark 1:40. Mark 1:40: "And a leper came to Jesus, pleading with Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, 'If You are willing, You can make me clean.' And moved with compassion, He stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed."
Verse 43: "And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away."
The word "sternly warned" is the same Greek word.
Mark 14:5:  Mark 14:5, we read: "For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii and given to the people." And they were, what? "Scolding her."

The word "scolding" is the same Greek word—actually, in this case, translated "scolding" rather than "sternly warning." And so the previous verse, by the way, describes them as being indignant, and as a result of being indignant, they scolded her.

A. T. Robertson, in his Word Pictures in the Greek New Testament, he says this, speaking of this word, this Greek word. He says, and I quote: "It means to snort with anger like a horse. It occurs in the Septuagint in Daniel 11:30 for violent displeasure. The notion of indignation is present in the other examples of this word in the New Testament, so it seems best to see that sense here and in verse 38," referring to John 11.

By the way, notice the same word is used in verse 38 in our text in John 11, where it says: "So Jesus, again being deeply moved,"—same word—"within, deeply moved within, came to the tomb."

Another Greek New Testament scholar, Robertson, says this, and I quote: "Every other place that it is used," referring to this Greek word, "including the Septuagint translation of Daniel 11:30, where it means violent displeasure—in every other instance, there is this flavor of indignation or anger or sternness."

Another one, Alfred Plummer, the Cambridge Greek New Testament, says this of this word: in all cases, as in classical Greek and in the *Septuagint*, it expresses not sorrow, but indignation of severity. It means, number one, literally of animals to snort, to growl; secondly, metaphorically, to be very angry or indignant; and thirdly, to command sternly under the threat of displeasure. Zodiatis says the same things. He says it means to be enraged, indignant, to express indignation against someone. And so, when you say, we're just going to think of it as a strong emotion, understand that that doesn't really capture what is contained in the usage of this word in every other place where this word is used.

Every other place that it's used, it carries the idea of sternness, scolding, or indignation. So, when we come to this verse, really, one is compelled to say, if we're consistent with how this word is used everywhere else, we have to see indignation here. So that raises the question that Boyce dismisses, and that is, is there anything in the context that would explain the indignation of Jesus? If there's indignation here, is there something here that would explain His anger? And of course, His anger is always righteous anger, righteous indignation.

If there's indignation here, so what is it that would explain that? And I believe there is. I believe there's something in the context that would speak of the anger of Jesus, and we touched on it last Lord's Day. There are a couple of things offered as to an explanation that I don't completely agree with, but let me give them to you just so you can think about those things yourself.

Some say that Jesus is angry here, and what He's angry about is death itself, that He's just upset with what death does. B. B. Warfield compared it to a warrior on his way to do battle with a great enemy. S. Lewis Johnson, quoting Warfield, said, it is the opinion of Warfield that Jesus was not moved by uncontrollable grief, but irrepressible anger. And why? He was angry at the violent tyranny of death, and He was advancing against it as, "a champion who prepares for conflict, gazing into the skeleton face of the world. He saw the awful reign of death everywhere, and He was deeply disturbed". So they say, yeah, He was angry, and what He was angry about is the tyranny of death.

Some say—here's a second explanation—some say it had to do with the mourning of all who were weeping. So Jesus, they're saying, Jesus looked at the weeping of Mary, and Jesus looked at the weeping of the mourners, and the weeping of everyone else, and He was troubled because their weeping didn't reflect faith. That is, they were mourning as those who have no hope. Well, I like this one better than the first one because at least there's a direct connection to weeping. I want you to notice with me, if you just look closely at the verse, verse 33, you have to connect His being deeply moved with the weeping. "When Jesus therefore saw her crying, and the Jews who came with her also crying, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled."

So I see the deeply moved as being connected with the weeping, but the problem that I have with the second one is knowing what we know of our Savior, right? Knowing how He deals with people throughout the Gospels, I don't believe that He would have been angry with the weeping of Mary since it was a sincere weeping. She was sincere in her weeping, and this is why Beuys rejects it. Because is the Lord Jesus angry with Mary as she weeps over her brother? I don't think that's the case at all.

Which leads to the third explanation and the one that I fully embrace, and that is that this anger had to do with the mourning of the religionists, the hypocrites. There's actually a contrast in verse 33. There's the weeping of Mary, which was sincere grief, and then there's the wailing of the professional mourners, a prescribed weeping. And you remember in our studies of this chapter, right? We saw this last couple of times, and we talked about the funeral traditions in Judaism—dead Judaism at this time—how they would hire professional wailing women, the flute players. They would go through the prescribed ritual of mourning over the dead.

And I believe that Jesus saw in that the hypocrisy that really marked the entirety of this decadent Judaism at this time, embodied in the Pharisees. Plummer expresses it very well. He says, and I quote, "What was He angry at? He was indignant at seeing the hypocritical and sentimental lamentations of His enemies, the Jews, mingling with the heartfelt lamentations of His loving friend Mary. Hypocrisy ever roused His anger." And Pastor MacArthur picks up on this. He says, and I quote, "Jesus appears to have been angry not only over the painful reality of sin and death, of which Lazarus was a beloved example, but also with the mourners who were acting like the pagans who have no hope."

And I believe that's the best possibility. Let me share four reasons why.

It  fully agrees with what we know about the superficial way that Judaism handled everything, including death. Talked about last week how they, or the week before, about how they had prescribed a rending of garments for the mourners. You were to rend your outer garment a hand's breadth. And if you were mourning over a child, it would never be sewn up again. But if you were mourning over someone else, then after 30 days it was sewn up again.

You had 30 days of prescribed mourning. The first three were days of weeping. The seven were days of lamentation. So then you have 30 days of sorrow. All of it, so mechanical, so official, so prescribed, so superficial. And the professional wailing women at times would carry this out to the point where they would start pulling their hairs out. It was all prescribed. And as Jesus was angry with hypocrisy—and you will notice in the Gospel—the harshest things that He had to say, what do they always have to do with? Hypocrisy. Duplicity. The hypocritical, insincere, duplicitous external religion of the day.

This explanation connects His being moved with the weeping. It also connects His being moved in verse 38 with the same group. Look at it. Look at verse 37 first: "But some of them said, 'Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind have kept this man also from dying?'" These mourners, they come out with this statement in verse 37. And I'm going to submit to you this morning that I believe there was a mocking in the statement. There was at least, at the very least, sinful questioning in the statement.

And on the heels of that, verse 38, we read: "So Jesus, again being deeply moved within,"—same word, again, angry, indignant—"came to the tomb." So just as He would have been angry with a superficial mourning in verse 33, so now He is angry again, righteously indignant with the mocking and the questioning that came out of the same group in verse 37.  This also explains, would explain, the attitude that's present in verse 37. You see, we have to determine what are they actually saying in verse 37? What is their attitude in their words? What's coming out? What is being shown to be their attitude by their words?

This also, by the way, fully accords with what we're going to see in verse 46. Verse 45—this is after He raises Lazarus from the dead—then we read in verse 46: "Therefore many of the Jews who,"—verse 45—"Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what He had done believed in Him. But some of them..." I mean, think about this, and we'll get there, Lord willing. After all of this, after all of this, "some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things what Jesus had done." There's no doubt but that you have enemies of Jesus present in this setting. You have those with close relationships to the Pharisees now reporting back to the Pharisees about what had taken place.

And so to see Jesus indignant, angry with the religionists of the day, fits the picture. And so we see the indignation of Jesus. And now that leads us to, secondly—and I want us to see this morning—the insults of the Jews, the mocking of the scoffers. Verse 37: if we're right in our understanding of the passage, and I believe we are, then what you have here is a statement made to be insulting, to be undermining, to be mocking. Some of the Jews recognize that Jesus had a love for Lazarus. But others looked at the same actions of Jesus, there in Perea, and the attitude of Jesus expressed in His tears in Bethany, and they looked at the same things, but they had a different sentiment—different sentiment. They had an accusation that they wanted to hurl in His direction, that they wanted to cast aspersion on His character.

What exactly was their accusation? Well, I'm going to give you some possibilities. They may all have an element of truth, but some possibilities as to what they mean—the attitude—in verse 37. One, this may be an accusation concerning Christ's abilities. Verse 37, concerning Christ's abilities. You'll notice they reference the blind man: "Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind man...?" Remember back in chapter 9, the blind man? This miracle must have left a lasting impression on these people. They're still talking about it: "Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man also from dying?"

Perhaps they were still questioning the ability of Jesus to actually perform miracles. Now, I know that seems astounding that anyone could question it, but we know without a doubt that there were people who still would not attribute the work of Jesus to God, right? They would still not admit that He was doing the works of God. And so it could be that they were saying, you know, where was His power when it came to His friend? Does He really have any? He opened the eyes of the blind, but could He have not taken care of His friend?

You say, would people mock Him that way? We know that they would mock Him that way. You know where my mind is going, right? Because what did they say when Jesus was on the cross? Matthew 27:42: "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him." What were they seeing when He was hanging upon Calvary's cross? Well, they thought they were seeing someone who is powerless, impotent. They thought they were seeing someone who supposedly could save others, but when it came to Himself—well, He can't save Himself. "If You come down from the cross, we'll repent. We'll believe," mocking Him.

That's one possibility. But there's a second possibility in terms of the meaning and the attitude of verse 37. This could be an accusation not concerning His abilities, but concerning His affections. Maybe they were saying, "Look at His tears." Remember, they say in verse 36, "Behold, see, look at the tears," one group said. "See how He loved him. How He loved him." And this other group now would be saying, "Yeah, look at the tears. If He really loved this man, why didn't He keep him from dying? That's real love. Really, real love. Why did He not keep him from dying?" Well, that could be what they were doing—accusing Christ in terms of His real affection for this man. "Could not He have kept this man from dying?"

It could also be an accusation concerning Christ's actions in the third place. Now, you remember Martha and Mary both—they talked about this, no doubt, over the four days. Their brother's dead in the tomb. So that when they come to the Lord, verse 32: "When Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, fell at His feet, saying to Him, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.'" Martha made the same statement, you remember, earlier in verse 21. And you remember, we saw together, this was not a statement of accusation on the part of Mary and Martha. They know that their brother died the same day that the messenger was sent to Jesus. And this is actually an expression of faith. A statement of regret really bound up in it. "We know if You had been here," there's a willingness. "You had a willingness to help our brother. We know that You had the ability to help our brother. If You had been here, he wouldn't be dead." That's how they mean it.

But it may be that these religionists, hypocrites, have picked up on the words of Martha and Mary and filled their words with an entirely different meaning. "Why wasn't He here? Why wasn't He here? Why didn't He come? Couldn't He have saved his friend?" So that you have two groups of people who witness the same tears, same emotions of this perfect man, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. But they are seeing the same tears, coming to two different conclusions at the end of it.

Now let me ask you this morning, how do you explain the difference? How do you explain the difference? I said it a moment ago, but let me underscore it. You explain the difference based upon the condition of the heart. You explain the difference based upon the condition of the heart. You have scoffers and you have believers. And then you have a third group. They're not yet believers, but they're not scoffing.

Scoffers. Scoffers. Are there scoffers today? Are there people who see the exact same evidence that the Holy Spirit used to bring you and I to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are there people who see the exact same evidence, hear the exact same arguments, are exposed to the same, the exact same, information, but they don't believe on the Lord Jesus? Absolutely. Absolutely.

So let me close this morning with the remaining time that we have with a word about scoffers. Let's look at the individuality of a scoffer. What marks a scoffer? A word about a scoffer. And if you are a scoffer sitting in one of those chairs here this morning—now you may not be outwardly a scoffer, but maybe you sit here week after week and in your heart you are just scoffing—if you're a scoffer, I pray to God that He would help you to see yourself. To see yourself.

Because there may be a scoffer here with us this morning. There may be someone, a young person who's been brought by their parents, and that's why they're here. That's why you're here. Maybe a husband brought by his wife. That's why you're here. Maybe a wife brought by her husband. Maybe that's why you're here. A friend brought by another friend. You're not a believer, and you scoff at the truth of Christianity. You scoff at the Gospel.

And it's not a lack of information. It's not a lack of evidence that you're not a Christian. It has to do with the condition of your heart. The condition of your mind. And if that's you this morning, I pray, I pray and plead that in the grace and mercy of God that you would be able to recognize yourself. Proverbs 14 and verse 6 puts it this way: "A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none." "A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none. But knowledge," and I love this, "but knowledge is easy to one who has understanding." For someone who's been given understanding by the Lord, knowledge comes easy. But for someone who doesn't want to see, they don't see.

No matter how much information, no matter how much evidence, no matter how powerful, undeniable the evidence is—I mean, is this not powerful evidence they're about to see? I mean, how could you ignore that? Is this not undeniable evidence they're about to see? Yet they still go away scoffing, reporting it to the Pharisees. What can we say this morning about a scoffer? Number one, a scoffer takes what is harmless and uses it for harm. A scoffer takes what is harmless and uses it for harm.

If the people in verse 37 are picking up on the words of Martha and Mary, when Mary and Martha said, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died," their words did not contain any venom. Their words reflected an honest lack of understanding, a limited faith, an uninformed faith—not fully informed. They had no idea even after Jesus told them, and we'll see that next time, Lord willing, they had no idea what the Lord was about to do. But in their frailty, in their limitations, they were still expressing affection for the Lord Jesus and an affirmation of His ability to do what only God could do. They're still expressing faith, but it's still limited.

But those in verse 37 had picked up on the same language, yet their words were filled with something entirely different. There was an accusation. There was venom in what they were saying. And this is what scoffers do. They take what is harmless and they twist it. They use it in their minds to justify unbelief. Have you noticed in our times and days and our culture the attack all around us in the media, entertainment industry against the person, the nature of our Lord Jesus Christ? Have you noticed the attack on the idea that He was sinless? Divine? All of this in search of the "real Jesus" sort of stuff?

Do you notice one of the threads running through many of these things—the idea that Jesus had a romantic interest in Mary? They take the anointing of Jesus. They take the washing of His feet with her hair. They take her sitting at His feet, running to Him, falling down. They take all of these things that were expressions of a pure love for the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And what do they do? They twist it. They twist it to make it something impure. They take what is harmless and they want to use it for harm—to attack the truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ—and that's what scoffers do. Innocent words, innocent acts, innocent deeds, and they twist it to attack the gospel.

There's a second thing that we could say about scoffers, and that is, and by the way, when you think about that, I think of Titus 1:15: "To the pure all things are pure," right? "But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled." They always ascribe ill motive. But secondly, a scoffer ignores the evidence that would negate his conclusion. A scoffer would always, always ignore the evidence that would negate his conclusion. We talked about it earlier this morning. What does a scoffer do? He does what sinful humanity does. He only accepts the information that agrees with his position, the position he already holds. And he sweeps away anything else that would expose his ignorance and his error. And you see them here exactly doing the same thing. They're attacking the actions of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're saying, why wasn't He here? Why didn't He help His friend? And we've already learned He could not have been here.

Now, let me put in parenthesis, as we know, He could have healed Lazarus with a word from a distance. We know that, but the scoffers don't believe that anyway. So they're not picking up on that. So they're saying, why wasn't He here? Well, you know what? He couldn't have been here. He couldn't have. Lazarus died on the day the messenger was sent. There was no way Jesus could have been there. But we've learned it in our own experience, haven't we? That doesn't matter to a scoffer, does it? It doesn't matter that He could have been this or could have been that. It doesn't matter whatsoever. They seize on anything that they can use and they hold on to it to justify their sinful, unbelieving position.

Let me ask you, I mean, maybe this will resonate with you. You've had discussions, no doubt, with friends, relatives, people you care about, and you make every effort prayerfully to point them to Christ, to lead them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you notice how they will grasp at straws to hold on to their unbelieving position? They'll seize on anything reported in the media, any failure of any Christian leader, any failure of any believer they know, whether it makes sense or it doesn't make sense, whether it's valid or invalid. It doesn't matter. Looking for something to hold on to where a person can say, I'm justified in not believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are they doing it? Because they have a scoffer's heart. Because they have a scoffer's heart, a scoffer's mentality. This is what a scoffer does. He ignores the evidence that would negate his conclusion.

Could that be you today, my friend? Is that the kind of heart you have this morning? Not an honest heart, not a good heart, not the kind of soil where the seed falls, takes root, bears fruit, but rather a stony heart, a weed-infested heart, where the Word of God cannot take root because you're looking for reasons to stay in your place of unbelief.

There's a third thing we could say about a scoffer. A scoffer has no appreciation for the beauty that is spiritually appraised. A scoffer has no appreciation for the beauty that is spiritually appraised. A scoffer has no appreciation for the beautiful things of the gospel, no appreciation for the beautiful themes you find in Scripture, the beauty that's found in God, in Christ. That's why we're warned about casting our what? Pearls, precious things, before swine who have no appreciation—no appreciation for the preciousness, the beauty of the things that have to do with the beautiful gospel.

Even in our text here, isn't it a beautiful thing to behold that the Lord Jesus, the Creator of all things, God the Son, wept? Wept. And we talked about the different words here for crying, weeping. One is *klaíō* (κλαίω),it  has to do with wailing, and the other, the cruel, verse 36, the silent burst into tears of Jesus, out of His love for Mary and Martha and Lazarus. And some, in verse 37, were saying, "See how He loved him." They see in the tears of the Son of God something beautiful. They see in the tears of the Son of God something that speaks of His grace, His love, His sympathy, His mercy, His majesty.

And yet you have another group. They look upon the same exact expression, but they see nothing beautiful there. What they see instead is something to be bothered about. Yeah, yeah, tears, tears—why didn't He do? One group sees beauty, the other group sees something to be bothered at. That hasn't changed, has it? The things that touch our hearts for Christ, the things that move our hearts toward God—isn't it true that our people in this world are absolutely bothered by the same things that move us? I mean, it bothers them, makes them angry. In fact, that which is beautiful to us, they mock, they can't stand.

I mean earlier, just standing here and listening—listening to the voices behind me and the praise of God and the enthusiasm, the heartfelt worship. And you have people who are bothered by this. You people gather on Sunday morning and Sunday night. My goodness, once is not enough? You have to come back Sunday night? How boring is that? Then again on Wednesday, and what do you do? I mean, you come and you sing songs and spend time with each other to pray and to sit and listen to someone talk about a book. These things are beautiful to us, they're sweet. They lift us up—but not beautiful to them.

The gospel, the fact that God has given us the truth—do we have the truth? Do we have the truth? We have the truth. God has given us the truth. What is the truth? 1 Timothy 3:15, "The pillar and support of the truth in this world is the church." What is the church? The pillar and support of the truth—that God has given us the truth. The church is the people, the organism, the body, the place where if you want truth, there the Word of God is taught, there you find the truth concerning life and death and heaven and hell and sin and salvation and reality. The church, the church, the pillar and support of the truth in this world—that's why we want to come together. We want the truth. We love the truth. We follow the truth.

But the world scoffs at that idea. Truth? Like Pilate, they ask, "What is truth?" This is the heart and mind of a scoffer. He doesn't believe in truth. The only truth he believes in is his own, and so what is beautiful to the child of God annoys him, bothers him. It bothers him.

Which leads to the fourth and last thing concerning a scoffer. A scoffer—and this is very sobering—a scoffer is left with the fruit of his scoffing. A scoffer is left with the fruit of his scoffing. We're going to see that more later, but there are some people who had the privilege on this day to see something that very few people ever had the privilege to see. Can you imagine being there? Can you imagine what it was like when Jesus said, "Where have you laid him? Remove the stone," and He puts to calm the concerns of Martha, the sister, "Lord, by this time he smells."

And not as the false teachers do, not with great bravado, and not with some kind of showmanship, not singing subjective man-centered songs until our emotions get to a fever pitch—no, no—but in a very simple fashion, "Lazarus, come forth." And a dead man comes out alive.

Can you imagine being there, and having witnessed what very few people have ever witnessed? There were some who said, "We need to tell on Him. We need to go and tell the Pharisees." Still scoffing instead of believing. And you know what? If that's how they died, they are in hell right now, left with the fruit of their scoffing.

Listen carefully. By far the most terrible and just result of scoffing is a divine taste of their own medicine. Proverbs 3:34, "Though He," God, "He, though He scoffs at the scoffers." Remember Psalm 2? Remember what we read there in Psalm 2? "He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord mocks them. Then He speaks to them in His anger, terrifies them in His fury." Scoffers.
My friend, where will your scoffing take you? What will your scoffing get you? Where will it get you? According to God's Word, it will get you nothing but condemnation, eternal condemnation in hell. But you're offered life this morning. You're offered life this morning. You're offered life in the One who is the resurrection and the life. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.

Do you see the beauty in Him? Do you see the glory of God that's in His face? Do you see here even in His attitudes here in our text, in His actions, the glory of One who is God in human flesh? Do you see the Savior of the world? Do you see the One who is Lord over all? And do you desire Him?

Do you desire Him who is the truth in a desperate way, no matter what it means, no matter what it will cost you, no matter what you have to repent of, no matter what you would have to recant? You just want the truth, and He is the truth. So you'll come running to Him. And I want you to know something. Only God can give you a heart like that. It's not natural to sinful man. Only God. But God is ready and willing to give you, to give you the hope that is all bound up in the gospel—forgiveness of sin. If you turn to Him, will you scoff today? Will you go on scoffing, or will you repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? In the language of the prophet, "Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come and buy wine and milk without money, without cost."

And listen, why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? You're wasting, squandering your efforts and life on that which does not satisfy by pursuing this and that and the other. There is no satisfaction apart from Him. "Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon His name while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." This is the promise available to you today. God will abundantly pardon your iniquity and your scoffing and your sins. Turn to Him and be saved. I beg you, cease and desist from scoffing and turn to the One who is truth, the truth, the life, and embrace Him as your Lord and Savior. Lest you will reap the fruit of your scoffing—eternal damnation in hell.

Why will you die in your sin? Why will you die in your sin, when you have a Savior with arms wide open, ready to embrace sinners who come to Him by faith?

Oh, and beloved child of God, you who love the truth, you who want the truth, we who love the truth and want the truth and God opened our eyes to see and behold the truth, we ought to fall on our knees and give praise to God because you could have witnessed the raising of a man from the dead and if God had not given you an honest heart, you would have never seen the truth. I would have never seen the truth. God did this for us, for you and for me.

We ought to worship God and sing again and again and again and again, "Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon His shoulders, ashamed I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin, my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished." And accomplished it was, blessed be God, and He cried out, "It is finished." His dying breath has brought me life, I know that it is finished, forever finished.  "I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom, but I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. I cannot give an answer, why? But this I know with all my heart, His wounds have paid my ransom."

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Last Lord's day, we began to look at verse 1, and we considered the senders being Paul the Apostle, a display of the grace of God in sovereign election towards undeserving sinners. We considered Silas, Silvanus, who is really an example where we see the display of the grace of God shown in his willful willingness to submit and to do the bidding of God's servant Paul to the glory of God, and we saw the grace of God in Timothy on display in his timidity and weakness. Having considered the senders, we want to begin to look at the recipients this evening. And Paul begins verse 1 with how he regards them, and what he writes in verse 1 really reminds us of the supernatural nature of the church.

Beloved, we are living in times where there is a very deficient view of what the church is. You'd agree with me, don't you? A deficient view of what the church is. And as we begin to look at this first verse, I want you to think about your own thoughts concerning the local church. As you sit here, as you consider this together, think about your own thoughts concerning the local church. I want you to think about how you think about the church, particularly this church, this church that you're a part of. What are your thoughts about the church? How do you regard the people of God? In what terms do you think about Christian people as they gather together, as they assemble together to carry out the will of God, to carry out the Great Commission?

How do you think about the church? And compare how you think about the church with how Paul thought about the church and how he describes the church here in verse 1. That's the standard. We don't come up with our own evaluation, right? Verse 1, "Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace." And beloved, Paul's greetings were not wasteful. They were not wasteful. Oh, well, this is a classic traditional greeting back in the day. No, no, they were not wasteful. This is under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Every word is inspired, inerrant, infallible. This is God's Word.

I don't know if you ever sometimes just fly by the greeting, but let us not do that because there's meaning here. There's a depth of meaning here. How does Paul describe the church? Well, first of all, he describes the people of God here. He describes those who assembled in the local church. How does he describe them? He describes them, first of all, as a separated group of people. This is how he views the church, a separated group of people. You say, where do you get that from? It's right within that word, translated "church." The word translated "church," this word itself, ‘ekklesia,’ is the Greek word, emphasizes the electing choice of God when it comes to His people, when it comes to His saints. What is the church? It is a group of people who are chosen by God for salvation. A church is a group of people who have been literally called out by God, ‘ekklesia.’ This word, ‘ekklesia,’ is related to the word ‘ekkaleo.’ It's a compound word, ‘ek,’ out of, ‘kaleo’ is to call, therefore, it is “to call out of.” The church is made up of called out ones, elected ones.

Notice verse 4, how he describes them, "knowing, brothers beloved by God, your election” or His choice of you. His choice of you, your election. That's the church. People who have been chosen by God, called out by God. You say called out from what? Called out of what? Well, called out of the world, called out from the kingdom of darkness, called out of the realm of the unbelieving, called out unto faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, called out from to, to be set apart. They are a separated group. That is the ‘ekklesia’ of Christ. That is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are the called out ones. They are a separated group of people.

He reminds them of the true nature of salvation, that out of this international city, thousands upon thousands and thousands of people, there existed a group of people, an assembly of people, and in that large city, there existed an assembly of people who had been called out of the world and brought into the true spiritual union with God through Christ. I want you to think about the city we assemble in. I want you to think about the 353,000 people who live in the city, the largest city in York region, and then realize that gathered into local assemblies all over the city are people who do not belong to the same world system that the majority of the population belong to. But in these local assemblies, if they are indeed true churches made up of true believers, you have people who have been called out by God, elected by God, chosen by God for faith in His beloved Son. That means that the church is not simply or just a crowd. It is not just a gathering of bodies. It's not what the church is, oh, look at the crowd of people on Sunday morning. No, no. That means the goal is not just to see how many seats we can put in this room, how many chairs we can fill in. That means, in fact, if we've got a large crowd but few believers, and we refer to the large crowd as the church, and we don't think about true conversion, true salvation, true faith, then we have completely misunderstood what the church is.

If we take the common mindset about church growth movement that exists in our generation, what do you think is most rejoiced in or more rejoiced in? Do you think there's more joy over how many people showed up on Sunday or how many people are actually walking with Jesus in the midst of the crowd? What's the goal? What's the aim? Just to say we had 200 people or 300 people show up on a given Sunday, that's the goal? Because guess what, if that's the goal, if that's the aim, then let's do whatever it takes to have two or three or four or 500 people show up, and isn't that what basically has happened again and again? Let's do whatever it takes to have so many people show up, and then we'll rejoice in it and we'll call it the work of God, forgetting that there are 20,000 people who show up every time for a hockey game. They must be doing it better, right? If the goal is just how many people show up, where there are large crowds at all kinds of events, and beloved, the church is not a crowd. The church is not a crowd. The church is an assembly of the called out ones, the called out people who have been redeemed, joined to God. That's the church. And anything else, anything else is a mirage if we're calling it the church.

They were a separated group of people. But secondly, look how He thinks of them. He thinks of them as well, not only a separated group of people—He thinks of them as a strategically placed group of people. Because He notes that they are the church of the Thessalonians, right? They're the church of the Thessalonians, the assembly of God's people that are identified as existing in a particular city, in Thessaloniki. Saved out of the population of that city. Saved to exist at this particular time in that city to be a witness to that city and reverberate the gospel and their testimony throughout. There's the church that gathers in Rome, there's the church that gathers in Ephesus, there's the church that gathers in Philippi, the church here gathers in Thessaloniki. This is the people of God who are Thessalonians.

Beloved, do we understand, do we believe that we're not here by accident right now in this city, in this place, at this time, gathered together in this assembly, at this point of our lives? Do we realize there's a strategic purpose to where we're placed, where we are right now, that this is not by happenstance? We've been placed here by God for a purpose, for a reason that has to do with ministry. Do we think in those terms? Why are we here right now? What does God mean to do with us right now? He could have placed us anywhere, but He placed us right here, right here in this place, right now. It's a separated group of people—they're the church. It's a strategically placed group of people—they are the church of the Thessalonians. And thirdly, look how He regards the church, how He thinks of them: they are a supernatural group of people.

They are a supernatural group of people, and this is really the heart of the text, because He describes His church as being—look at the language—"in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

How is the church formed? The church is formed “in” God and Christ. This is the way you're separated out of the world—if you're brought into a spiritual union with God, with Christ. Wherever you find this title—excuse me—this little word translated in English "in" is the Greek word ‘en,’ with reference to Christians being in Christ, or in God, or in the Spirit.
Generally speaking, it refers to union with. This is a good way to put it. You can translate it "union with" every time you see it. In fact, you'll find it helpful to translate it that way here in our text. Let's do it in our text. Look at this: "The church of the Thessalonians —in union with— “God the Father, and —in union with — “the Lord Jesus Christ." A beautiful picture of what it means to be a Christian—to be a Christian and to be part of the church—to be in union with, in union with God, in union with Christ. Powerful ramifications.

He tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 6, you're united, you’re joined to Christ, you're in union with Christ. How can you join yourself to a harlot? And you enter into that spiritual union by virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit indwells those who have true saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll talk more about this in a moment, but notice this is not vague. The church is not made up of people who have some vague faith in God. These are people who are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. There is this biblical view of God that has been revealed by God Himself. The church is formed in God and Christ. The church exists in God and Christ. And He describes them in this way, not just to tell them or remind them of how they were formed, but also to remind them how they were now living as a result of this. The church exists in union with God, in union with the Father, in union with the Son. We live our lives with Him as the source of our life, for He is—He is our life.

It's a union that involves the whole person—the entirety of the person: the mind, the affections, and the will. All of me. To be in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ means that my mind has believed and embraced the truth about the Father and about the Lord Jesus Christ. And it also means, as well, that my affections have been drawn out to love this God and to love His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it means to be in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ means that my will has been brought subject to God and to His Son, my Lord and my Master.

To be in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is to have the totality of my being—my mind, my affections, my will, and it goes without saying, my body— to be brought captive, subject to Him, following Him, honoring Him, doing His bidding, and obeying His commands. That's what faith is. Genuine faith is the bond by which we come into this union. That's what faith is. Faith is the activity of the mind embracing the truth revealed, as well as of the affections being drawn out to the One revealed, and the will being brought subject to the Word of God who is revealed.

All three are part of coming into union with Christ. You can't have the first one. You can't have the mind embracing truth, but my affection drawn somewhere else—after something else, after other idols—and the will not being brought subject to the Word of God and being, you know, picky and choosy in terms of, I'll obey this but not that. No, no. It has to be mind, heart, and will. All three. All of me. Anything less than that is not biblical faith. Don't say you believe in Christ unless mind, affections, and will have been brought captive to Him. All of my life brought captive to Him. Anything less, anything less is a pseudo faith. It's a sham faith. It's something less than biblical faith. And will you notice that this union is with God the Father? Now, why does he use the term, the expression, "God the Father"? The concept of God as Father was hinted at in the Old Testament, but as far as its coming out into full revelation, it had to await the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work. It was our Lord Jesus who taught His disciples to pray, "Our Father Who art in heaven." This is a distinctly New Testament concept—that God is our Father.

First John 3:1, "See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we would be called children of God; and we are." All that is bound up in the Father concept of God is that which Paul says was distinctly made known to these people so that they were in union with mind, affection, and will—subject to and drawn out towards God as Father. And we all remember Galatians 4:6, "And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" And it is the peculiar work of the Holy Spirit to unveil to the broken, penitent, believing soul that He can approach God in that filial freedom of a son to a Father.
Though He is holy, though He is just, though He is sovereign, though He is above me, transcendent, high, lifted up, blessed be God in Jesus Christ, I can come, draw near and call Him Abba, Father. Paul says that distinct position and privilege of this church in Thessaloniki is that they were in God the Father, in union with God the Father. They recognized Him as the One out of whom all good flowed and unto whom all should flow in praise, adoration, and thanksgiving.

Also in this description, this description of them as a supernatural group of people, there's this description of the true nature of Jesus also here. He's described as being one with the Father, and will you please notice with me, and the English really captures it as well, the translation, Paul uses one preposition to modify the statement. Notice how it is, God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, he uses the word in, "in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," not "in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ," but "in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," reminding us that the Son is essentially equal with the Father, one in essence in terms of nature, one God existing in three persons. And also as you walk through the chapter, he then refers to the Holy Spirit more than once. So what we have here is we have a Trinitarian view of God, and this Trinitarian view of God emerges right off the bat in this chapter. Look at verse 5 for example, "for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with full assurance." Look at verse 6, "You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit." So we have God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and these people have been joined to God, to the Lord. They're in union with God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

And also in that description, the full redemptive nature and work of Jesus Christ is also described. There's so much here in this verse because He's described as the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider the name Jesus. Consider the name Jesus, Isous, Isous, Savior. He's truly human. He's the One who took to Himself a sinless humanity and lived on this earth, Jesus of Nazareth 2,000 years ago. Isous, Yahweh, saves, but not Yahweh above us, not Yahweh outside of us, but Yahweh here among us, one of us, bone of our bones, flesh of our flesh, yet sinless.

God of very God, Emmanuel, God with us, weeping, sighing, crying, bleeding, dying, standing among us, tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin. And Paul says to the Thessalonians, listen, you're in union with One who is Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. They had lovingly and firmly embraced the doctrine of the two natures in the one person, Jesus of Nazareth. Not Yahweh simply up there outside of us, above us, and beyond us, but standing among us in His true humanity.

He says, you are in union, you are in union with Jesus, that Jesus is the Lord, that Jesus who lived on this earth is the Christ, the Christ, ‘Christos,’ the anointed one, the Messiah, that Jesus is the promised Messiah. He is Jesus, but He is also the Christ, the Messiah. He's the promised One who would fulfill God's redemptive plan. And Paul tells the Thessalonians, you are in union with the Christ who binds old and new revelation together. Oh, dear Thessalonians, you are in union with Christ, the anointed One, the true prophet, priest, and king. But He is not only Jesus, God with us. He's not only Christ, the anointed, promised Messiah, but He is ‘Kyrios.’ He is the Lord, the Creator, the Sustainer, the Sovereign Ruler, King over all. He is the highly exalted One, given the name which is above every name. He is the I Am. And Paul says, you Thessalonians, do you know what your position is? Do you know? Do you know concerning your supernatural nature as a church? It's not only one of loving, receiving, embracing Emmanuel—God with us—Christ, the anointed Prophet, Priest, and King, but you are in union with the One who sits upon the throne, the sovereign, triumphant King, Lord of lords, and King of kings. Your minds have received that truth about Him. Your hearts have been drawn out to that kind of a Christ, and your wills have been brought subject, willingly from the heart, subject to Him—a supernatural group of people.

So their position is one of union with the Father and the Christ of Christian theology. Imagine with me, imagine what this would have meant sitting there in the assembly of God's people in Thessaloniki on the Lord's Day morning, and one of the elders stands up to read this letter that has come to them from the Apostle Paul, and it's addressed to the church of the Thessalonians. What is he going to say next? What is he going to say next? They're waiting eagerly. I mean, this is the one who had to leave, torn away from them, and now he writes them this letter to the church of the Thessalonians, and they're eager, sitting on the edge of their seat. What is he going to say next? How is he going to describe them? And he says, "In God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." What a position. What a privilege. A supernatural group of people. This is the ‘ekklesia.’ This is the church. People have been called out. People have been strategically placed. People who were formed by virtue of their union with God the Father through salvation and exist in union with God the Father and the Son. Not God in some vague sense, but God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

This is the church. A separated people. A strategically placed people. A supernatural group of people. Also, we can say in verse 1, they are a specially cared-for group of people. Because what he does is he prays for them. What does he pray for them? How does he bless them? "Grace to you and peace." There's so much here, and I'm going to leave that probably for next week. But he ends the letter, by the way, the same way when he says in chapter 5, verse 28, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." And earlier in verse 23 of that chapter, he says, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely." The God of peace. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.” God's grace. God's peace. Peace. What kind of peace? Peace with God and peace of God. The peace that surpasses all understanding. This is what the church is able to know and experience and live in. This is the ‘ekklesia.’ This is the called-out ones.

Now I want to move on to some of the specific implications of this at this point, beloved. First of all, there are several doctrinal implications. Doctrinal implications. And number one, number one of the several doctrinal implications: wherever there's a forsaking, wherever there is a forsaking of the revealed truth about God, you cease to have a true church. Mark it down. Wherever there's a forsaking of the revealed truth about God, you cease to have a church, a true church.

He says to the church of the Thessalonians, "In God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," and you Thessalonians never forget it. The minute you begin to cast off the Father as revealed to you in Scripture and your mind no longer embraces the truth revealed concerning Him, your affections no longer go out to Him, your will is no longer subject to Him—the minute that happens, the minute you cast off what the Scripture reveals about the Lord Jesus Christ so that your mind will not embrace it, your affections will not be drawn to it, your will will not be subject to it—you're no longer the church. You can have an empty building. You can have a full building. You can have a packed building. You're not the church. You're no longer the church. And beloved, if there's anything that I would want to cry from the housetops this evening, it's that truth that there's no church, no church where we forsake the doctrine of the Father and of the Son. That's the Word of God. That's not being narrow-minded. That's the Word of God standing in judgment over the church.

Second great doctrinal implication of this, and it is this: wherever God is rightly worshipped, wherever God is rightly worshipped and served, it will always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always be as Trinity in unity and unity in Trinity, always, always. John 4:24 says, the Father seeks men to worship Him, how? "In spirit and truth," right? What does it mean to worship God according to truth? It means to worship Him as He's revealed in Scripture.

So the Thessalonians sat there that morning, and they got this letter, and they were reminded that they are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and if the two are not one in the triunity of the Godhead along with the Holy Spirit, that's blasphemy, blasphemy. Imagine saying to Grace Chapel of Markham, "In God the Father and the archangel Michael." Absolute nonsense, absolutely ridiculous. So when Jehovah's Witnesses are trying to tell us that our Lord is nothing but the highest created being, sort of a chief angel, don't listen to their blasphemous words. It's just that—blasphemy. The church is a people in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and this was a people who worshiped God as God was revealed in Scripture. How? Father, Son, and Spirit—Trinity in unity, unity in Trinity—and wherever He's rightly worshiped and served, it will always be this way, always. First John 1:3, John says, "What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed, our fellowship is," — where? Where, John? Tell us. —"with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." You can't have the one without the other. And so 1 John 2:22–23, "This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also."

Third doctrinal implication: wherever a church is truly born, it's always, always, always the result of the work of God, always. It's God's doing, not man's doing. To be called at once at Thessaloniki—how did that happen? How did that church get formed, get born when He says, "To the church of the Thessalonians"? How did they come to be that church? Not because a few people got together and said, you know, we ought to have a church. No, no. The very word ‘ekklesia’ forbids such an interpretation; forbids it. The town Crier, as it were, came to the city of Thessaloniki. Oh, you mean Paul? No, no. He was just the instrument through which the true town Crier did His work. And he tells them about it later on. He says in verse 5, "For our gospel did not come to you in word only,” —but as it were, the true town Crier called you together, we read, —"but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full assurance." That's how they came together.

Have you heard the voice of the town Crier with the ears of the heart? Why are you here this evening? Some may be here because, well, it's a thing to do, to be here. Even Sunday morning or Sunday evening, it doesn't matter. Some may be here because your husband is here, your wife is here, your mom is here, your dad is here, your friends are here. Maybe because you've heard the voice of tradition, you grew up in that and you're here. Some of you are here because you've heard the call of conscience. The only ones who truly belong to the church are those who have heard the voice of God with the ears of the heart. You can say in the words of the hymn writer, "Vain world be gone from me to depart. The voice of God hath reached my heart." And the question is, has God reached your heart? Is that why you're here this evening? Because you heard God calling you out of darkness, out of sin, out of selfishness, and He brought you into a living relationship with His Son. And you're here this evening because you are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are the doctrinal implications. And I want to hurry to conclude with several practical implications for us. And first, what we have here is a word of instruction. A word of instruction under the heading "several practical implications." And the first one is this: one's views of God, one's views of God are the acid test of spiritual experience. They're the acid test of spiritual experience.

Beloved, the acid test of spiritual experience is not how you feel. But it's your evaluation and judgment regarding Jesus Christ and God the Father. Chapter and verse, here it is, 1 Corinthians 12:3. Paul says, "No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit." It's our confession of Christ that is a test of the validity of our experience.

1 John 4:1–2: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Well, how are you going to test the spirits? Notice what he says: "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God." You test the spirits by what? A doctrinal standard. You evaluate the professed experience by objective truths about God, about Christ. Don't forget that. You don't start with the experience and then draw a conclusion as to spiritual truth. You evaluate the experience by the biblical standard. Paul writes to them and he says, you are a church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And that which makes you a true church is that you confess God as Father, you confess your Savior and Redeemer as the Lord upon the throne, the long-promised Messiah, Christ Emmanuel, God with us. And all that theology is bound up in that confession.

Second practical implication, and this is now not only a word of instruction, but there's a word of exhortation—more than a word of instruction, a word of exhortation. And I hope that we listen very carefully. Here it is: Beloved, be content with nothing less. Be content with nothing less than being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And we must accept and receive people into this local assembly on the basis of a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But mark it down, God accepts none into that true church except on the basis of a possession of God and of Christ. If that's you here tonight, don't be content that you're in this local church if you're not in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Has your mind been opened to see the glory of that God? Has your heart been drawn to love Him? Has your will been brought subject to Him? That's the word of exhortation this evening: be content with nothing less—nothing less than being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, well, how do I get into Him? How do I get into Him? It's only as the Spirit of God is pleased to unite us to Him. Well, how does He do it? By enabling us to see our sin and repent of it, turn away from it, and to see the Savior and embrace Him. Not see Him with these eyes, but see Him with the eyes of the soul. And then the last implication is a word of encouragement. And I believe there are some who need this this evening.

The practical implication of instruction may not be, perhaps, right now relevant to you. The word of exhortation, maybe. But will you listen to the word of encouragement? Put yourself back in that assembly again in Thessaloniki, persecuted. And we're going to see that later on as we read on. They were just babes in Christ, didn't know too much, didn't have too much experience in their walk with the Lord, yet they had the fires of persecution burning. They were an afflicted church. Imagine sitting there and being told that you, part of that little, despised, afflicted group whom God, the great town Crier, had called out—you're told you are in God the Father. Think of it. God the Father. You're in union with God the Father, Creator, Sustainer of the universe. I am in union with Him. "To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father." We nobodies were called out. Babes in Christ, persecuted, rejected. We're in God. I imagine they broke into some hallelujahs before Paul got to grace and peace. Beloved, we too are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about this: infinite resources. Infinite resources. Ephesians 1:3, right? "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” Jesus. Infinite resources. The mighty God, the mighty Savior. Deliver and conquer.

Oh, what word of encouragement. What word of encouragement. All that I can ever need. Every problem that I can face. Every perplexing situation. Read Philippians 4:19 back into 1 Thessalonians 1:1: "My God will fulfill all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Oh, dear child of God, if you're in that true church, if you're in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, why are you living the way you're living if you're downcast? Why are you going around destitute, downcast, defeated? Why are you going around with, as it were, holes in your pocket and with shabby shoes—going around like a spiritual pauper? You are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Infinite resources. And God have mercy on us if we don't face collectively and individually the problems, the needs that we face in these days with a holy confidence. If we don't do that, God have mercy on us. Has God called us out and called us together as a church? Has He? Are you convinced of that? Are you convinced that we are in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ? This is the Lord's doing. If we're convinced that this is the Lord's doing, then let's have the spirit of a David who can look at all the Goliaths. We've got a whole regiment of them as we look at the days ahead in our culture, in our world, in this broken world.

What are we going to do? Are we going to be like Saul and his crowd, stand in the corner and shake? Or are we going to say, who are these uncircumcised Philistines to defy the armies of the living God? We're in God the Father. Do we understand that? We're in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We're joined to One whose resources are limitless, whose panoply for the battle is sufficient. Do we limit Him with regards to time and location and ability as we saw this morning?

God grant that we shall, as an assembly of God's people, be filled with that kind of encouragement that ought to be ours when we realize who we are in Christ. "Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace." A separated group of people. A strategically placed group of people. A supernatural group of people. A specifically cared for group of people.
And then we've looked at the implications theologically. Only as we maintain the doctrine of God, God the Father, of God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, are we a true church. And wherever God is rightly worshipped, always He will be worshipped as Trinity in unity, unity in Trinity. And wherever there's such a people, it is God's work, God's doing. He is the great town Crier that has called out His people, as Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9, "So that you may proclaim the excellencies,” —not of your little puny men who made a decision, no, but— “of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." May God give us the language of the Bible. May God give us the language of the Bible. Let me say this, when we give our testimony, we don't tell what we did, we tell what He did. He calls us out of darkness into marvelous light.

And then the practical implications. A word of instruction. The test of spiritual experience is, what does it do with my understanding of God? Is it scriptural? Then the word of exhortation: be content with nothing less than being in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And then a word of encouragement. If we're in God and Christ, all that we could ever need is there. May we reach out—and I say this reverently—tap into that infinite supply by faith.

Let me ask you as I finish this evening, what about that description? What about that description? A separated group of people? A strategically placed group of people? A supernatural group of people? A specifically cared for group of people? What about that description would not be true of this church, Grace Chapel? What is there in that description that would not be true of this church? You know the answer to that. The only thing not true of this church is the fact that they were in Thessaloniki, and everything else equally applies to us 2,000 years later. It applies to us here in this city and every other church that has existed throughout the church age. Is it true to say that we are called out, a called out group of people? Is it true to say that not only we are called out, but we have been formed by virtue of union with Jesus Christ and the Father? Are we a supernatural group of people in that sense? And is it true to say that though they were placed in Thessaloniki, God has saved us right where we are? Or we may have been saved some other place in times past, but He's moved us together so that right now we are the church of the Markhamians? Or however you want to put it. You see, this is still true of us, but do we think of ourselves that way? And then I wonder, what will we do with our reputation? Back to last Sunday's message, right?

Sometimes it's difficult to hear what people find wrong with this church—what they object to in this church, what bothers them about this church. And what I don't get to express as much as I really would like to and want to is what I see in this fellowship that I know for certain only the living God could produce. And, beloved, permit me a few more minutes. I see a lot of that. I see a lot of that. Through the years that God has given me here, I've seen the Lord do things in you, through you, around you that could only be explained by the living God. And sometimes, if I am away and people ask about this church, I tell them about this church. I tell them what a loving church this is, what a giving church this is, and more than anything else, what a faithful church this is. And the ways that you have loved us as undershepherds in this church, the ways that you've expressed love for one another when there are times of crisis and bereavements and challenges, the way that this church has exhibited the love of Jesus Christ—soli Deo gloria. And that ought to encourage us, but not in a way that we rest on it. In a way, rather, that stirs us up to continue in it and excel still more. I mean, that's who we've been. But what are we going to be by the grace of God moving forward?

Do we imagine we can live off of what we've been by the grace of God? Beloved, we can't. We can't live off of what we've been. Obedience is for today. Faith is for today. Walking with Christ is for today and tomorrow and the day after. You can't live off of what you were. I can't live off of what I was. And so what we have to ask is, is our reputation still up to date? We are known for these things, but are these things still true of us? Do we have a name that is different from the reality? Do we have a name that we're alive, but in fact, there are things that are dying? And what do you do if you have a name that no longer reflects where you are or who you are? Here's what you do. You brokenheartedly repent. You brokenheartedly repent. And you ask the Lord to make it as fresh today as it was yesterday. And you do that every single day you walk with Jesus.

May I ask you on a personal level, what is dying in your life right now? What is dying in your life right now? Where have you abandoned the principles that you were once known for? I'm talking to individuals now. I'm talking about your own walk with God. Beloved, we are just a corporate gathering. Though we are joined together by virtue of our union with the Lord, we are the corporate gathering of individual believers. And I'm compelled, beloved, to challenge us and say that we can't live off of what we've been. Praise God for what we've been, but we can't live off of that. In fact, what we've been is not perfected. What we've been has not been everything we could have been, should have been, want to be in Christ. So we can't live off of that. What is the Lord going to do here now? What is He going to do in the future? What are we ready to walk in?

But we also need to be protected and put on the full armor of God and be vigilant, watchful, and prayerful, because if you think that the enemy of our souls does not battle against a church that focuses on truth, we're gravely mistaken.

I read and understand it sometimes—why it is that, and I'm not talking now about anything specific, just in general—why is it that we can read the New Testament and understand and process that this was happening then, but we don't make the same connections now? You say, what do you mean? I mean this. Were there attacks on the truth then? What makes us think that there won't be attacks on the truth now? The churches had to battle through issues then. What makes us think we won't have to battle through issues now? Beloved, it hasn't changed. The ministry is the ministry, and the Word of God is the Word of God, and the salvation of souls is the salvation of souls, and the enemy of our souls, he is the devil, he has never changed and he never will until he's destroyed in hell. Are we ready, if need be, to persevere through much opposition? Be encouraged. The Lord has done good work in you, in us, but be challenged. That good work is to continue today and into the future. "To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you, and peace."

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

I know that you will join me this morning in saying that I am thankful as a child of God, very thankful, that God has not worked in my life only to the degree that I've believed in or only to the degree that I've understood in. There are times when God does that, true. There are times because of His training work in our life, growing us, His training work in our life, that He doesn't go beyond our faith, that He teaches us that we must believe Him, trust Him. And so there's a sense in which He teaches us by waiting until we believe Him, until we learn to trust Him. But there have been many other times when God works in our lives in a gracious way despite our lack of faith and despite our small understanding, our limited understanding, our fluttering hearts.

We look back and we're able to see how weak our faith was, how small. We're able to see how small our perspective was and yet God was at work doing great things. And I can't help but think about that when I look at these verses because it's obvious that Christ was working here in a way that went beyond the understanding of His disciples and that went beyond the faith of His disciples as well. When Jesus announced that they were going back to Judea, to Bethany in Judea, His disciples were afraid. They couldn't understand it. They thought it was an unwise decision. They thought it was a bad decision.

At first they misunderstood Him. You remember He said Lazarus was sleeping, and by that He meant that Lazarus was dead. Well, they thought that He meant that Lazarus was literally sleeping. And so they thought he's going to get better. While he's sleeping he's going to get better and recover. This is a good thing he's sleeping. We don't need to go and disturb him, let him rest. And after all, Lord, have You forgotten that they were trying to stone You there in Judea? We don't need to go there, do we? It's not a good idea.

And then He said to them plainly, "No, no, you don't understand. Lazarus has died, and I must go to awaken him." Lazarus has died. And even after they understood that Lazarus had died, even then, you remember Thomas' response, which was a response of faith. Nevertheless, Thomas says, "Well, let's go with Him so that we may also die." "Let's go and die with Him." So their perspective is, this is very dangerous. It's a dangerous decision. And they don't have any idea, even though Christ has taught them this right here in this text, they still don't understand that He's walking in the light as He's doing His Father's will.

He's exactly where the Father wants Him to be and that there's no reason for fear, there's no reason for trepidation, there's no stumbling as long as you're walking in the light. And they don't understand that. And so He's working in a way that goes beyond their faith, that goes beyond their understanding. They have no idea that He's going to raise Lazarus from the dead. They have no idea about how the power of God is going to be put on display to the glory of God. The glory of God, the power of Christ over death, the ability of Christ to give resurrection life. They don't have any understanding of this.

So He's not working according to their understanding. He's not working according to the limits of their faith. He's working according to the eternal purpose of God, what God had ordained to do. But not only do we see Him doing this work beyond their understanding and their faith, you also see the Lord doing this work. He's working beyond the understanding and the faith of Martha and Mary as well when He arrives on the outskirts of Bethany in Judea.

And that's what we're going to see this morning as we look at this text. Just to give you the overall picture to have it in mind before we delve into it this morning and next Lord's Day, Lord willing, and we'll see how we do with that. But if you were to look at the scene, we can break it up in this way. You see Jesus coming to Bethany. You see Martha coming to Jesus. That's the second scene. And then you see Mary coming to Jesus. That's the third scene. And finally, you see Jesus' interaction with the Jews. So that's pretty much what we have here in our text.
So this morning we're going to look at Jesus coming to Bethany, and then we're going to look at Martha coming to Jesus, by God's grace. And as we do this, I want you to recognize with me how they don't understand. And in fact, even after He explains, they don't fully grasp. They don't fully get it. Their faith is still uninformed. It is not fully informed. We could say it this way: they don't really believe in the fullness of what He's saying to them. They don't grasp it. They don't grasp it. Yet He's at work doing what He's determined to do.

Notice first of all with me in verse 17, Jesus coming to Bethany. We read, "So when Jesus came, He found that He had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother." Now let's stop here, and really it is striking, and there's so much richness in the Word of God, and sometimes we just really overlook it. We glance over it, and we miss certain things, and many things at times.

But notice the first thing that I want us to see together. It says, and there's a note here about the timing of the death of Lazarus, and we'll get to it. It says that when Jesus came, He found that He had already been in the tomb four days. Now look at this verse. A couple of things stand out here. One, there's a note here, at least in my mind, that expresses the marvelous mystery of the Incarnation. You see it? It's right here in the text, because it says that Jesus found. Wow! Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days.

Now He already, and we know this, don't we? He already supernaturally knew that Lazarus had died. Nobody had informed Him, but He's able to tell His disciples, when it's time to go back to Judea, two days after He was given the message that Lazarus was sick, He's able to tell His disciples He's died. And He's able to do this because He is God omniscient. He's God the Son. So He knows this, yet the Bible says that when He came to Bethany, He found. He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

And I pause here, and I marvel at the mystery of the Incarnation. There are places in the Word of God where you recognize that something unique and amazing happened when God came to earth in the person of Jesus. He still possessed all of His divine attributes, all of them. It's a huge mistake if you think that He had laid aside any of His divine attributes. He did not. Absolutely not. He was as much God on earth in the flesh as He was when He was in Heaven. But what He did do when He was on earth is He voluntarily submitted the exercise of some of those attributes to His Father. And so it could be truly said of Him in His humanity that there were times that He learned things, that He learned things through a normal means of information.

For example, Luke chapter 2 and verse 52, speaking of the growth of Jesus as a man, it says, "And Jesus was advancing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men." How does God incarnate advance in wisdom? How does He increase in wisdom? I mean, that's a mystery, isn't it? It goes beyond our puny ability to really wrap our brains around it, to fully grasp it.

And then also, what you have in Mark 13 and verse 28 and following, it says, "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." This is Christ speaking. Verse 32, Mark 13: "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."

How could Christ say that only the Father knew this, that the Son doesn't know this? And again, beloved, He's speaking of Himself in His state of humility, voluntary humility, when He was on this earth. Oh, the mystery of the incarnation. He still possessed the attribute of omniscience. Had He wanted to, had He willed to, He could have called to mind anything He wanted to, to call to mind in His humanity. And yet, in some way, He voluntarily limited Himself in order that at certain times He may not know in His humanity, as here in this case.

And I confess to you, beloved, I don't fully grasp all of that, but we do see it in the Word of God. Fully God, fully man, and in His humanness, you find Him really setting aside the use of His of certain attributes. And here it is, it says, He found that He, Lazarus, had already been in the tomb four days. In fact, notice something else that is interesting in verse 34 in our text. He said, "Where have you laid Him?" “Where have you laid Him?” Where is He? Where is His grave? Where is the tomb? "Where have you laid Him?"

And so you see the mystery of the incarnation. Something so high that's beyond us to fully grasp. And I will also add this. It is critically important, very important, and we need to underscore this, that we keep this in mind. Christ Jesus, the God-man, in His humanity, was never, ever, ever, ever in error. Ever. If someone wants to extend this to the point that they say that there were things that He was misinformed about, that He was wrong about—unequivocally, it's a no. Absolutely not.

He is God incarnate, and the only way that He selectively limited the independent use of His divine prerogatives were ways that were meant to glorify God the Father in His mission as God incarnate, as the God-sent God. He was in no way in error. His knowledge in all was perfect, but somehow in His humanity, His humanness, there was a place for learning and growth in a way that we don't fully grasp.

Well, there's a second thing, a second reason why this note about the timing of Lazarus' death is important, and it is this. It explains some things for us. It really explains some things for us. Some things that we might not understand if we just came to this passage, and we didn't know when he died, when Lazarus died. So this is important.

Remember I told you that Bethany, Judea, was a day's journey from where Jesus was, from Perea, and this is when He got the news—that's the place where He got the news that Lazarus was sick. And so they sent the messenger. If you were to go back to the account—so follow closely—they sent the messenger, that's day one. Day number one, Jesus receives the news. Jesus waits for two more days, then He travels back—that's day four. Day four. So when He arrives on the outskirts of Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb four days.

Now what does that tell you, as you read this account? Well, it tells you that Lazarus died the day that the messenger was sent, right? In fact, Lazarus may have been dead before the message ever got to Jesus, but perhaps while the messenger was en route. It's very possible. Now why is this significant? Well, one thing it tells us is that Jesus wasn't waiting in Perea until Lazarus dies. The extra two days that He spent there, He was not waiting for Lazarus to die—Lazarus had already died. So that's not the explanation for why He waits.

Well, there are reasons that aren't told to us in God's Word. No doubt there are things that we don't know about. But one thing is certain: knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing how He viewed His mission and His time on the earth, one thing for certain we could say—whatever He was doing for those two days, He was walking in the center of His Father's will. He was doing what His Father gave Him to do. It was purposeful, and there were things accomplished in those two days that were meant to be accomplished in those two days. He was here to fulfill His Father's will.

Remember John 4:34, He said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work." John 6:38, "I've come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me." We know that. But another reason this is important is to explain also the attitude of the sisters—the two sisters—when they come to Jesus. Notice what Martha says to Jesus in verse 21: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."

Now, if you don't know the timing of Lazarus' death, right, so how could you take those words if you don't have that in mind—the context? Well, you could understand her to be saying, "Why weren't You here?" Right? "It's Your fault. Why weren't You here?” I mean, if You had come when we sent the messenger, if You hadn't waited two more days, our brother would still be alive." You see what I'm saying, beloved? You could understand the words that way unless you recognize that Lazarus already died. So this is not what they're saying. This is not in any way accusing Him.

Notice that Mary says the same thing. Mary comes and falls down at the feet of Jesus in verse 32, right? When she came where Jesus was, she saw Him, fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." This is in no way an accusation against the Lord Jesus. It is not an accusation. This is in no way questioning His decisions. The reason we know that is because the sisters knew that their brother had died the day the messenger was sent. So this is very important to note for us really to grasp what's going on here in this account.

Something else is given to us here in the text, and it is the location of Bethany of Judea. Look at what it says in verse 18: "Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away." That's about three and a half kilometers, about two miles off. That's important for a couple of reasons. One, it tells us that Jesus was really in a dangerous zone. He's in a dangerous area, dangerous region. It's only three and a half kilometers away from where? Jerusalem. The hub of troubles, right? It's only three and a half kilometers away from where they were ready to do what? To stone Him last time He was there. So His disciples were not wrong when they thought that this decision, humanly speaking, was a dangerous decision. It wasn't wise at all. He's in a dangerous region.

But also this note tells us that this situation presents a strategic set of circumstances as well. This is now going to be a very public miracle. When He raises Lazarus from the dead, it tells us it's going to be a very public miracle. It's going to be a miracle that the enemies of Jesus will not be able to deny and they will not be able to ignore. In fact, because it's close to Jerusalem, when Lazarus died, many of the Jews had come out from Jerusalem to comfort the sisters. This is what you see in verses 18 and 19: "Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother."

So you have present here not only some believers in Jesus, but you would also even have present there some of the enemies of Jesus as well. Some of the Jews who were not believers, no doubt, were gathered there as well. And you see this after the miracle. The response was what? They believed, some of them. The response of others was what? Well, they went back and they informed the leaders of their nation in a way that would endanger Jesus.

So this is in the providence of God, in the sovereignty of God. This is all orchestrated in such a way that this miracle, the crescendo of the acts recorded by John in this Gospel—this is the seventh sign recorded, and the greatest one yet—this is going to be done in such a way that is absolutely undeniable, unable to be ignored by the enemies of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. In fact, you see this as they gather together for counsel after He performed the miracle. Go down just for a minute to verse 47, where we read, "Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Sanhedrin together and were saying, 'What are we doing? What are we doing? For this man is doing many signs.'" You see this? They cannot deny that something supernatural had occurred. They can't ignore the miracle. That is beyond dispute.

Verse 48: "If we let Him go on like this, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." So, the timing of Lazarus' death is given to us. It's very important that we recognize that. But also the location of Bethany in Judea, only three and a half kilometers from Jerusalem, is also important as well. It is a dangerous region. It's also a strategic place where this miracle will be really forced and thrust upon the enemies of Jesus in terms of their consciousness. They cannot ignore it. They cannot deny it.

Now there's something else that we need to be aware of as we look at these verses this morning and next Lord's Day, Lord willing. We need to know why is it that all of these people are still gathered with Mary and Martha four days after their brother died. Have you ever thought about that? Why are they still there? I mean, he's buried. He's in the tomb. Four days later, they're still there.  I mean, you know what it's like, right? In our culture, usually, you have a funeral and after the funeral, there'll be some sort of a get-together, perhaps a meal, a time to be together, and after the funeral and the meal, they'll comfort one another, but then everybody goes home. So you have the service, you have the internment, you come back, usually, for a meal together. The people comfort the grieving family, and then everyone goes home.

In fact, very often, the most difficult time for people is after the funeral because now they're left to themselves and by themselves, really, to deal with the grief, to deal with the mourning and the emptiness and the loss and all of that.

Well, that wasn't the case in the culture of Judaism. It was different, and we need to understand that because it really gives us more understanding of the context. Like everything else in Judaism, there were very specific customs for how to deal with death and funerals and sorrow and grief. It was spelled out like everything else in their lives, even down to how they ate. It's unbelievable. There were traditions and customs about how you handle death and how you handle comforting people who are in mourning, and it helps us to understand the passage. Now, I'm not going to go on forever with the Jewish customs regarding funerals, but there are a couple of things that we need to know that are helpful for us. The first thing you need to know is that mourning had an official time period in Judaism. It had an official time period. People were supposed to mourn for a certain amount of time.

The traditional mourning period was 30 days. Thirty days. And those 30 days were even broken down. I mean, the entire period was known as days of sorrow, days of sorrows. So you had 30 days of sorrow, and you had the first three days called days of weeping, and then you had the seven days called days of lamentation. So they had 30 days broken down. You're going to mourn—three days of weeping, seven days of lamentation, and then the rest, all days, days of sorrow. A funeral was a very public matter in Jewish life. In fact, it was more than a public matter. It was a community matter. The entire community really was involved. Of all the things that were important in Jewish life, how you dealt with someone who's grieving and mourning was very high on the list in terms of you expressing piety.

If you're a godly person and wanted to be a godly person, you were a person who wanted to keep the law and be a righteous person, then you were obligated to take care of those who were mourning. Alfred Ersheim, who was really an expert on these sort of things, had this to write in a book entitled, Sketches of Jewish Life in the Days of Christ. Listen to what he writes, and this is really helpful:  "As the funeral procession passed, everyone was expected, if possible, to join the convoy. Similarly, all reverence was shown toward the remains of the dead, and burying places were kept free from every kind of profanation and even from light conversation. It was held that the law of God only prescribed mourning for the first day, which was that of death and burial, while the other and longer period of mourning that followed was enjoined by the elders. So long as the dead body was actually in the house, it was forbidden to eat meat or drink wine, to put on phylacteries, or to engage in study. All necessary food had to be prepared outside the house, and was, if possible, not to be eaten in the presence of the dead. The first duty was to rend the clothes, which might be done in one or more of the inner garments, but not in the outer dress. The rent is made standing and in front, and it is generally about a hand breadth in length. In the case of parents, it is never closed up again, but in that of others, it is mended after the 30th day."

Let me just pause here. Let me just insert a thought here, and we're going to see this later in the text, and we'll see it next Sunday as well, that Christ was literally indignant over the hypocrisy that was present in the mourning. Indignant. Think about it. Can you imagine living in a culture where you were even told how to rend your garments when it came to mourning a loved one? How to tear your garment, and how some, in the case of parents, it wasn't to be mended, period. And in the case of others, it was to be mended after 30 days.

It's a really sad picture when you look at the Judaism in the day that Christ arrived on the earth—dead, decadent Judaism. Let me go on reading what Edersheim said: “Immediately after the body's carried out of the house, all chairs and couches are reversed, and the mourners sit on the ground or on a low stool except on the Sabbath. A threefold distinction was here made. Deep mourning was to last seven days, of which the first three were weeping. During these seven days, it was, among other things, forbidden to wash, to anoint oneself, to put on shoes, to study, or to engage in any business. After that followed a lighter mourning of 30 days.” End of quote.  So mourning had an official time period.

It was the obligation of those who are mourning with these sisters to remain around, especially during the first seven days of lamentation, those first three days of weeping, and the seven days of lamentation. So now you can imagine, now you understand, right? So here we are, they have a full house, four days later. But not only did the mourning have an official time period, what you also need to know is that mourning had a prescribed form. It had a prescribed form.

Let me explain. That is, along with the natural mourning, the genuine mourning of family members and friends, it was expected—it was expected, according to Jewish custom—that even the poorest family was to hire at least two flute players and a professional wailing woman. This is if you're, like, really poor. But if you're really wealthy and a family of means, then you had many more professional mourners. So present here were not just friends of the family; they were also professional mourners who were present as well.

And we can surmise from the gospel accounts that Lazarus, Martha, and Mary may have had wealth, and so we don't know how many professional mourners were present, but it may have been a significant number as well. Now, we don't know for sure, but it is true that Martha and Mary were believers, and Lazarus was a believer. But nonetheless, you can see here they were Jewish, and the way that they were going through the mourning was very, very Jewish as well.

Something else, a side note really here for us that's interesting, is that they did not, in Judaism, allow you to mourn apostates. They didn't allow you to mourn apostates. And in fact, in the case of an apostate from Judaism, people would wear white at times to convey just the opposite of mourning. Now, what that says to us is that even though Lazarus, and Martha, and Mary were believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, they were not at this point at least treated as apostates because they were still going through this mourning ritual just like the rest who live in that culture.

So here we are, three and a half kilometers away from Jerusalem, a dangerous region, but a strategic location. Christ is at work. He's working in a way that His disciples don't understand, working in a way, as we're going to see in a moment, that Martha and Mary don't fully understand. But He's nevertheless at work. He's doing the work of the Father, and the stage is set as in the midst of their mourning. The house is full, for many have come from Jerusalem, and they're going through this grieving. They're grieving the way the culture grieves.
So the stage is set now that leads us to Jesus and Martha, that encounter in verses 20 through 27. We'll begin to look at it this morning very briefly. When Martha hears that Jesus has arrived—look at verse 20—"Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary was sitting in the house." Now here we come to these two sisters again, Martha and Mary. Martha and Mary. And they act really according to their personality, and you see them here acting according to their temperament.

You know, one of the things you see in the Gospel of Luke is the difference in the personalities of these two sisters. Remember—well, we talked about that already—when Jesus taught Martha a lesson about what's really important when He was visiting in their home in Luke 10. There's Martha, you remember, she's rushing around, busy, she's serving, cooking, doing all sorts of things to be hospitable. And where's Mary? She's at the feet of Jesus. And how does Martha feel about that? Well, she's not happy about it, you remember. "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the preparations alone? Then tell her, tell her to help me" (Luke 10:40). And Jesus said to Martha, "Your sister has chosen the better part." She's chosen the better part. She's doing the right thing. She's fine. She's chosen the right thing.

And what you see in that picture is, here you have one sister who is what we would hear in our culture described as a type A personality. She's busy. She's a doer. She's out front. And then you have the other sister who's very contemplative. She's very pensive. She sits at the feet of Jesus. And she listens to the Word of God. In fact, you even see a difference in this passage here. You can see it carried out here. Because Martha comes to Jesus, and there's nothing in the account close to what you see really of Mary when she comes.

When Mary comes to Jesus, what does she do? Well, she does what she always does. She falls at His feet, right? She's at His feet. But she falls down at His feet. She falls down at His feet, broken in this case. She may have been the more emotional of the two sisters. This certainly appears to be the case. So here's the point. Martha may have gotten—it looks like she's gotten—the news first as the older sister. And she would be the mistress of the household. She would have gotten news that Jesus was on the outskirts of Bethany. And it looks like she didn't even tell her sister at this point. She just went out on her own. She took the lead. She went out to meet Jesus.

And that seems to be a correct explanation in light of verse 28, which seems to indicate that Mary doesn't even know Jesus is there. She doesn't find out until Martha comes back and tells her. She's just caught up in the loss of her brother, agonizing loss of this brother that she loved dearly. So Martha gets the news that Jesus is coming. She doesn't wait. She runs to meet Him. And here's what she does. Look at verse 21: "Martha then said to Jesus, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.'"

And there are two things I see in her words. One, I see a regret mingled with grief. Regret mingled with grief. The regret of Martha. We must look upon Martha's words as the expression of really poignant grief, regret. So one, I see regret—the regret of Martha. And when Mary comes in and says the exact same thing, what that says to me is that they were talking about this in these four days. They were in conversation about this, the two sisters. These two sisters had talked about this. What would it have been like if the Master had been here and not had been in Perea?

What would it have been like if You had been here, Lord? And she expresses here the confidence that if Christ had been present with them, their brother would not have died. That Jesus would have healed him. That confidence in Him. Now that speaks both of her confidence that Jesus Christ was willing to help them, her confidence that Christ had the ability to help them. And so she expresses not only regret, but also I want us to see that she also expresses faith. She expresses faith. She expresses faith not only in what He could have done had He been there in Bethany, but notice when she goes on to say in verse 22, "But even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You." Even though we are where we are, I know, Lord, You can offer us help from God for the situation.

Now, here's what's interesting about this. Even though, beloved, that she expresses faith, even though she expresses faith—and here's what I meant earlier in the message when I said not only our lack of understanding, but the weakness, the smallness of our faith—Christ works beyond our faith. Christ works beyond our weak faith and the smallness of our trust.  Because even though this sounds like a great statement of faith—I mean it sounds like literally she's saying whatever You would ask for, I know God will give it to You. Your Father will hear You, Lord, and He will give it to You.

Even though that sounds like this great expression of faith, it becomes very obvious as you go on to read the verses that she did not consider that Christ would raise her brother from the dead on the spot. That was not part of her consideration. And not only did she not consider it, but there has to be some weakness in her faith here. Because even when Christ tells them—we're going to see later in the passage—to roll away the stone so that He might call her brother out of the tomb, what does Mary say? What does she say? She says, hold on, wait, wait. In a sense, that's what—hold on there, Lord. He's been dead for what? Four days. By this time there'll be an odor, right? In other words, she doesn't get it, does she? She doesn't understand what He's about to do.

Pastor MacArthur on Martha, he said this, and I quote, "Although obviously heartbroken, she was not rebuking the Lord for failing to prevent Lazarus' death. The sister's message had arrived too late, humanly speaking, for Jesus to have returned to Bethany in time to heal him. Martha's words,” he goes on to say, "were simply a poignant expression of grief mingled with the faith she expressed in her statement, 'Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.' That confidence, however, evidently did not extend to Jesus' ability to resurrect her brother, as her later hesitation when the tomb was opened makes clear (John 11:39). She seems to have had faith in the Lord's power to heal, but not in His power to raise the dead. Perhaps the possibility had not even crossed her mind," end of quote.

So even though she says, "Lord, anything You ask, whatever You ask from the Father, God will give You," there's still a limitation in her mind. And that's what I want to mention here for a moment. I want to pause here and ask the question, what do you see here in her words? What do you see here in her words? You see regret, you see grief, you see respect, but also notice you see a lack of understanding and a smallness of faith. Beloved, she has limited Christ at least in three ways. Three ways.

One, she has limited Christ in terms of time. She's limited Christ in terms of time. "Lord, if You had been here," but guess what? Guess what? He's here now, isn't He? He's here now. He's standing there in front of her now. She's living in regret. She's thinking about what might have been. In her mind, there was something He could have done back there, but He can't do right now. Back then, but He can't do right now. So she has limited Him in terms of time.

Not only has she limited Him in terms of time, but secondly, she has limited Him in terms of location. In terms of location. "Lord, if You had been where? Here. Here." Isn't it interesting? I don't know for certain that they had been informed of this, but honestly, I'd be quite shocked if they hadn't been informed already about this. Do you remember when Christ healed someone on His word, right? The Roman centurion said to Jesus in Matthew 8, "Lord, I am not good enough for You to come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to this man, 'Go,' and he goes, to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." And Christ marveled at that man's faith, that he understood that, and said, "Truly, I say to you, I've not found such great faith with anyone in Israel." Do Martha and Mary not understand that, that Christ didn't have to be present? All He had to do was to be informed. And with a word, their brother would have been healed. "If You had been here," what might have been? So they limit Him in terms of location.

But thirdly, she limits Him in terms of power. In terms of power. Because she doesn't understand or consider that He's able. Christ is able, that He has the ability right now to raise her brother from the dead. Though she says, "Whatever You ask," she doesn't think in those terms. In her own mind, there are certain things, certain ways He's able to minister to them right now. But one thing she didn't consider that He was able to do—to bring her brother out of the tomb. It's not in her mind.

How do we know this? In fact, notice another indication it's not in her mind. Verse 23—we're going to see this next week, Lord willing—Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." And where does her mind immediately go, right? Does she say, "Oh, oh, I'm so thrilled, Lord. I'm so thankful. I can't wait. I know whatever You ask from God, God will give it to You. So let's go to the tomb, Lord. Let's do it." Is that what she says? Well, what did she say? "Oh, I know that he will rise again." When? When? "In the resurrection on the last day." So she doesn't think in terms of a miracle right then. She's thinking about His words as being comfort concerning what? The future.

By way of application, I wonder, beloved, I wonder. I wonder, do we ever do this? Do we ever do this? Do we ever limit in our minds the Lord in that way? Do we? Do we think, you know what? There was a time when if I had done this or done that or been more responsive to the Lord than I was, there was a time when God might have done a great work in my life. But now the time has passed. You want to know what is a wonderful thing to realize? And as I say this, I'm not dismissing at all the fact that there are missed opportunities. There are things that we look back on even after we're saved and we regret. Anybody know that to be true? But you know what is really amazing, what is wonderful? It is never too late to do the right thing. It is never too late to do what is right. It's never too late as long as you're alive, as long as the Lord gives you opportunity. It's never too late for you, dear one. To this day, God can do a marvelous work in your life if you will turn to Him with your whole heart.

And we might limit the Lord sometimes in terms of location. We have someone we're burdened about. We know their spiritual condition, and it breaks our heart. And we say to ourselves, but I can't be there. I can't go there. I can't be there to talk to them as I want to. I can't be there to minister to them as I want to. Beloved, do you realize God is not limited by location? And your prayers—your prayers are used by God. They are means that God has chosen to work through. And your prayers have an effect half a world away. God is not limited by location. God is not limited by time. God is not limited by time. God is not limited by time. Half a world away, God is not limited by location. Do you limit God not only in terms of time? Do you limit Him in terms of location? And then do you limit Him in terms of ability? Ability.

He could do this, but He can't do this. He could have dealt with this problem, but He can't really deal with this problem. You say, well, how do I do this? Well, sometimes someone tries to encourage you with the truth in the Word of God concerning something that you are going through. And you say something like this perhaps: but you don't know my situation. But you don't know my situation. You don't know what I'm facing. You don't know what I'm going through. Beloved, I know someone who does. And the One who does know what you're at and where you're at and what you're facing and what you're going through—guess what? He is Himself unlimited power. He's all-powerful.

"The hand of the Lord is not shortened, then it can't save." Thank God this is true even when we don't believe that. Thank God this is true even when we don't understand that. Just as Christ was working beyond their understanding—the understanding and the faith of His own disciples in Perea, and beyond the understanding and the faith of Martha and Mary in Bethany—so He has worked in my life and in your life beyond my understanding, beyond my small faith so many times. But you know what? It never ever honors Him for us not to believe Him. Never. May the Lord grow us in our understanding. May He grow us in our faith to understand that He's not limited by time, not limited by location, or in any way limited in His power.

And I want to finish this morning with two questions for us. Number one, do you trust that God knows what He's doing in your life right now? Do you trust that God knows—our God knows—what He's doing in your life right now? We've talked about it all morning, how He works beyond—God works beyond, Christ works beyond—greater than our faith. Do you believe He's doing that in your life right now? And do you give Him praise? For He's done that in your life all along. Can you look back at your life and see where you faced big decisions, life-altering decisions, and even when you made the decisions you weren't certain about, you wanted to do the will of God, you sought the face of God, but you weren't certain that you had it right, and yet you can look back now and see how He was guiding you every single step of the way, and He brought you to where you are right now? Do you understand that He hasn't stopped working in your life like that, child of God? He's at work in your situation this morning, just like that. Do you trust Him? Can you rest in that truth? Do you give Him praise for it, working out His plan for His glory in your life, and you know that you don't understand it all?

And perhaps you would never have even considered all that He ends up doing in your life. It wasn't even on your radar screen. You didn't even think about it. But He's done it. He's done it. Blessed be God, He's done it. We've got to give Him praise for that, beloved. This is for the glory of God. This is God's glory that He works like that.

The second question, and we already talked about it in depth, but I just want to underscore it again by way of reminder. It's a biblical practice to remind. Are you guilty of limiting Him in your mind and heart like Martha and Mary? May we ask the Lord to enlarge us, to grow us in our understanding, in our faith. Lord, oh dear Lord, grow my faith, grow me in my trust toward You. There are going to be some times because our Lord, our Father, is disciplining us and training us that He's going to teach us. Child, I'm not going any further with you until you believe Me. There are times like this in His training of us. Not because He can't, but because it's part of His training in your life.

Will you trust Me? It's a glorious truth that all of God's children can see and say amen to. You never trust God and end up disappointed, ever. You never trust God and end up disappointed. So where is God calling you to trust this morning? Where? Do you even know that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly? Do you believe it? You see this message this morning, it hits the hearts of His people because we understand these things. And I want to remind us of Paul's words in Ephesians 3:20–21: "Now to Him who is” what? Able. Able. “Able to do far more abundantly above all that we ask or understand, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

Let me summarize what Paul is saying here and that really goes by way of application to what we're learning this morning. He's saying to us, God has the power to do. And he's saying to us, God has the power to do what we ask. God has the power to do what we think or imagine. God has the power to do all that we can ask or think. God has the power to do beyond all that we ask or think. And one more. God has the power to do infinitely beyond all that we ask or think.

Far more abundantly—and Paul uses a compound Greek word you remember in our studies there in the book of Ephesians—which means surpassing, super-abundantly, surpassingly, beyond measure, exceedingly, quite beyond all measure, overwhelmingly, over and above, more than enough. It describes an extraordinary degree involving considerable excess over what would be expected. It's the highest form of comparison imaginable, this word. It means immeasurably more than, quite beyond all measure, infinitely more than.

There is no limit. There's absolutely no limit. God has the power to do beyond all that we can ask or imagine—infinitely beyond. Whatever your doubts, whatever your spiritual struggles, God can do infinitely more than you can ask or even imagine. If it is something in line with His purpose revealed in His Word, if it is something in line with His intention to make those who know and love Him into the image of His Son, there is no shortage of His power.

But maybe there's somebody here this morning that you don't know anything about this because you don't know Christ. You don't know the Lord. And maybe even you said to yourself, you know, there was a time when I heard the Gospel, there was a time when I could have come to Jesus Christ, but it's too late for me now. If that's you—if that's you, my sinner friend, my lost friend—then why are you sitting here this morning? Why? Why does the Lord have you here today, this morning? Would you this day realize that Jesus Christ came into this world, God incarnate, to live a sinless life, to die on a tree in the stead of sinners; that He was buried in the borrowed tomb; that He was raised from the dead; He ascended on high; and now the good news is being published all over the world by God's will—that there is a way for sinners to be reconciled to a holy God, and that way, His name is Jesus.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," and He will do exceedingly, abundantly beyond what you think or imagine in your life. He will breathe life into your dead soul. He will turn the light on in your heart and mind, and He will forgive your sins. And He will adopt you into His family, and He will make you joint heir with Jesus Christ. And one day, you have that glorious promised inheritance of the saints that would belong to you, and you will leave this place today forgiven, with a conscience purged and cleansed. Will you not trust Him? Will you not embrace Him? Will you not rest the weight of your soul upon Him? Will you not believe Him?
Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

1Thessalonians should stand in our memory as a reminder of the truth that God's mighty work, that God's saving work is sufficient. God's saving work is sufficient. I mean where there's real salvation, where there's real birth from above, where the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in a person's life, where there's a new creation, where there's a new nature in Christ, beloved, that work continues. God doesn't save someone only to turn them loose. We know this. And let us be reminded of it. What God begins, God finishes. What God begins, God finishes.

It's a testimony to the sufficiency of the Gospel, the sufficiency of Christ, the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit's operation, work, in a person's life. And this church in Thessaloniki, this beloved community of God's people, stands as a great testimony to the sufficiency of salvation. This church stands as a testimony to the sufficiency of the Gospel, the sufficiency of Christ, the sufficiency of the indwelling Spirit of God, God the Spirit, the reality of a new nature when the Lord really truly saves someone and transforms someone.

Because when you study, as we did last time in our introduction, how the church came to be, this beloved church, what you discover from the book of Acts, chapter 17, is that Paul did not have the opportunity to spend much time with them. You remember Paul had a witness in Thessaloniki on his second missionary journey. This was a large influential city of approximately at least 100,000 residents. So it was a large city, large Jewish population. They had their own synagogue. And from all that we can gather from the account in Acts, Paul was there for three Sabbath days, I mean three weeks preaching in the synagogue.How long he was there thereafter, we cannot be certain about, but we know that Jason had received them into his home and there was some kind of a ministry going on there during that time. But the point being, when you read the account, that he wasn't there for very long. And so when he leaves, he leaves these new believers. There they are without the benefits of, for example, the 18 months' worth of teaching and ministry that he gave to the Corinthians. They did not have that.

We learn from the book of 1 Thessalonians that after having to depart from them, he sends Timothy to them in order to find out how they're doing. He was concerned about them and the way he left so abruptly, he wanted to ascertain as to how they're doing and how they are managing. Timothy brings news to Paul at Corinth, and when Paul receives news from Timothy as to their condition, then he pens this letter under inspiration. And so that's sort of the background as you come to the book of 1 Thessalonians.

He's dealing with the people who are new in the faith. They haven't had a great amount of instruction, but he's rejoicing at what he's hearing because it is truly evident that they really did receive the Word of God with joy. It is evident that God has really done a saving work in their lives. The fruit of this church is truly an encouragement to his heart. Now that is not to say that they didn't have their issues, they didn't have their struggles. And, as we study this letter together, we're going to see that they had their struggle. Some of that came from just not a lot of instruction—simply, they were not well informed when it came to certain things. For example, one of the things they struggled with was what happens to a believer who dies before the return of Jesus Christ. What happens to a believer who dies before the coming of the Lord? If, when the Lord comes, we are alive, what will be our relationship to those who have preceded us in death? They didn't know, they didn't understand. And so he says, brethren, 1 Thessalonians 4:13, "I don't want you to be uninformed." "I don't want you to be ignorant about this." And he goes on to instruct them.

And we also learn from the letter itself that apparently they were struggling in the area of purity and sexual behavior and holiness, being sort of a pushback into the mold of their culture. And so he's going to address that in this letter. Some of them had become also idle. They weren't working, they stopped working, perhaps misunderstanding what it meant to believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ. And so, not thinking about His return in the right way, in the right kind of way—the biblical way—not only caused problems when it came to those who died in the Lord, but also some of them had begun to use the return of Jesus Christ as an excuse to stop working and just waiting. So they stopped being responsible in this earthly realm. And so he had to address that. He has to address that.

So as new believers, I mean, they were struggling with issues, but the overwhelming attitude, the overwhelming atmosphere of this epistle is a positive one. So Paul receives news from Timothy as to the well-being of these believers, that he hadn't spent a lot of time with them, and he's marveling. He's rejoicing at the clear fruit that says that their salvation is indeed genuine. As I read this letter all the way through and began to prepare, there were five words that my mind really captured. They summarized the entirety of the letter, and so we're going to do a flyover this evening a little bit.

Now there's a theme you're going to find in this letter again and again, and yeah, you're right, it's the second coming of Jesus. You find in every chapter of this book some reference to the return of Jesus Christ. So that is definitely a major theme in this book. But really, if you look at the book, if you look at it as a whole and you ask, what is the attitude of this book, what is the atmosphere of this book, I want to submit to us tonight there are five words that stand out. And I'm going to give them to you briefly, and then we're going to use those five words tonight as our study, taking this flyover of 1 Thessalonians.

And the first word is ‘affection’. Affection. And not just any kind of affection. When you read this letter, you see deep, genuine affection—the kind of affection that parents have for children, the kind of affection that makes separation very difficult. And as we'll see in a moment, Paul, in fact, describes his relationship to them much like the relationship that a mother or a father would have toward their own flesh and blood. So his affection for them is real, and it is stressed throughout the letter.

The second word is the word ‘thankfulness’. Thankfulness. But a kind of thankfulness that is very specific. It is thankfulness for the clear, undeniable evidences—the clear, undeniable fruit—of genuine salvation. It is thanking God for His work in the lives of these people, and it runs throughout the entirety of this epistle–thankfulness.

Third word is the word ‘concern’. Concern. More than once, Paul emphasizes—and he does this in the strongest kind of way—he wants to see them face to face. He longs to see them face to face. Now, why does he want to see them face to face? Well, I mean, obviously, he loves them. He cares about them. But the number one reason he wants to see them face to face is to discover really firsthand how they're doing spiritually, and it's a concern for them that creates this longing to be with them. So running through this epistle is this attitude of concern, gratefulness that they're doing well, but concern that they continue to do well by the grace of God, that they continue to grow, that they continue to advance in their walk with God.

The fourth word is the word ‘instruction’. Instruction, because the letter is instruction, and what you find in this letter is both doctrinal instruction and dutiful imperatives. There are areas where he knows they are under-informed, and he says, "I don't want you to be uninformed, brothers." And so he's going to pass on information, truth, that they need to know, and getting the report from Timothy—no doubt from that report—Paul now has a knowledge where they are under-developed, under-informed. So he wants to give them instruction, the instruction that they need. At the same time, though, this letter is a letter of exhortation. Exhortation. Throughout the letter, he's saying to them, this is how you must live, this is how you must live, this is how you must think, this is how you ought to think about this, this is how you ought to feel about this, this is how you want to decide about this, here's how you must live as believers in Jesus Christ.

So he instructs them, but then also added to that—I already mentioned it—it's the fifth word, really ‘encouragement’. Encouragement. It's a letter of encouragement. I mean, throughout the letter, he tells them about the good that he sees in them and that others recognize in them. He doesn't hesitate to tell them about the power of their testimony. He's not afraid to correct them, he's not afraid to command them, but everywhere he can, he commends them as well. One of the things that you learn from the book of 1 Thessalonians is that Paul loves to be an encourager. I mean, when he can encourage, he does, he doesn't hold back. And as we study through this book, we will see it every step of the way.

Now tonight, as you're aware, we're not going to read the entire letter, but I want to encourage you—and this will help tremendously as we study through the book together—I want to encourage you, it's a short book, read it through several times, whenever you can. Just read it through. Read it through several times, make your own mental notes about it as you walk through it. And as we come together on Sunday evenings, Lord willing, we will have a more fruitful and fulfilling study together.

But what I want to do tonight is I want to take those five words that I've just mentioned, because not only do these five words represent the attitude, the atmosphere that run throughout this letter, I really believe that these five words also represent a model for what it means to have a ministry to people. They represent a model of what it means to have a ministry to people. This was Paul's ministry to them, and if we recognize these attitudes in Paul as he ministers to the church at Thessaloniki, then I want to take from that the fact that these are also attitudes that ought to be present in me as an under-shepherd, as I strive to minister to God's people in this place. But I really don't want us to think about it tonight just in terms of us as under-shepherds, as elders, our ministry to the flock of God here. I really want you to think about this tonight in terms of your ministry to others, and that is really important.

So let me begin by asking the question, where do you have a ministry? If you're a Christian, you have a ministry. Where do you have a ministry? As we sit here this evening, as we consider this book, where do you have a ministry, child of God? God didn't save you to sit and do nothing. Where do you have a ministry? Recognize that what we're going to see tonight applies wherever you are engaged in ministry, and I'm talking about a husband's ministry to his wife, a wife's ministry to her husband, a parent's ministry to their children, the ministry you have to a Sunday school class, to nursery, the ministry you have to a friend that you are seeking to disciple and bring along in the faith, and so forth and so forth in your sphere of influence.

These five attitudes are absolutely essential to any effective ministry on any level. So this is not just for Paul and Timothy and Silas. These are not attitudes for the under-shepherds of Grace Chapel. This is for every believer. So as I examine myself on many different levels, I want to call on you to examine yourself on many different levels and ask this question: have you learned this model of ministry? So we can entitle this study, Attitudes Necessary for Authentic Ministry. Attitudes Necessary for Authentic Ministry.

And the first attitude is this: genuine affection. Affection. Affection. Genuine affection. Here's an example of it. Turn to chapter 2, chapter 2 verse 8. Actually, let's go back. Let's begin at verse 6. Verse 6, Paul writes, "nor seeking glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you. But we proved to be gentle among you,”--and he's taking them back now to the time when they spent with him, and he's reminding them of his ways–and he says, “we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. In this way, having fond affection for you, we were pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become beloved to us.For you remember, brothers, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as to not to be burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly and righteously and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and bearing witness to each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”

You see what he's saying? He says we were like a mother, we were like a father. He says, “having fond affection for you,” verse 8, “we were pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but our own lives.” Let's learn from that. If we don't genuinely love the people we are seeking to minister to, we will have no real ministry. No real ministry. Beloved, if we don't really care, genuinely care, if we don't have a genuine affection for the people that we are seeking to minister to, all we become is, at the best, some cold conduit through whom God is doing something, but we are not engaging those people in ministry ourselves. And that is something less than what God designed for ministry to be. We have to genuinely care for the people we're ministering to.

So husbands, let me ask you tonight, does your wife sense genuine affection from you? And do you express that? And wife, does your husband sense genuine affection from you? Do you express that? Parents, do you express to your children how much you care for them? Do they sense your relationship to them being one of duty or one of affectionate desire? Is there love that is running through everything you're carrying out toward them meant to be by God–ministry?

Now we've got to be careful. I mean, the application is, you know, there's ripple effects here. But now we've got to be careful, having said that, whenever we talk about affection in the context of ministry, we always must beware of over-sentimentalizing ministry or really emotionalizing it. Because let us remind ourselves that even while Paul says he longed to see them—and he does, he says that he has a strong desire to see them face to face—even though he says this, let us not forget he didn't go to see them. He sent Timothy at that time. And that says to us that while Paul had a genuine affection for this church, a genuine affection for this church, he still had to operate his life and ministry according to Holy Spirit-set priorities.

It's possible to have a genuine affection for someone, and yet at a particular time and season to delegate a ministry to them. You genuinely care for them by making sure that their needs are met, even if you can't see to it at that particular moment personally. There's still a place for that in ministry. But what I'm saying is this: just like, let's take the illustration that Paul uses—a mother, a father. Something's wrong, really, with parents who don't have genuine love for their children. Something is desperately wrong. Something's wrong with a parent who would not gladly sacrifice themselves for their children. But if a parent takes affection and they turn it into an excuse for not having a proper sense of priority as they raise their kids, if they make the child the center of the universe—let me say that again—if they make the child the center of the universe and their affection is not in any way bounded, regulated by Holy Spirit wisdom, they will not be helping the child, they will be destroying the child. You love your children desperately, but you still must deal with them in a way that is wise and holy and best for them. There will be times that you correct them, there'll be times that you say no to them, there'll be times that you set boundaries around them, and it is not a godly love that has no sense of priorities attached to it.

So Paul loves them, but at this particular time, it wasn't God's will for him to see them face to face. It wasn't. So he sends Timothy to minister to them. Nevertheless, it is still genuine affection. In fact, I think one of the reasons why he stresses his affection so much for them in this letter is because he did send Timothy, and he doesn't want them to think in any way, shape, or form, "Well, you know what? Paul must not really care about us." No, no. He wants them to know, "I truly, genuinely, love you." But at this time, it was God's will for Timothy to carry out this work toward you.

So I'm not talking about some over-sentimentalized or over-emotionalized kind of thing. I'm just asking the question: do you genuinely care for the people that you have a ministry to? And do you express that? Is your affection real? Is your heart in it? And if it isn't, then you're missing one of the attitudes vital to authentic ministry. And I really wish, beloved, I really wish that every person who didn't genuinely love the church, but finds himself in some position of ministry—I wish they would just step out and let someone occupy that position who does genuinely love the church.

The second attitude is thankfulness. Thankfulness. Paul stresses this in the opening verses. Verse 2, look at it: "We give thanks to God always for you”--for all of you–“making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father." In other words, he says, I thank God for you all the time. All the time.

Look down to chapter 2, verse 13. He stresses it again. He says, "And for this reason we also thank God without ceasing without ceasing that when you received the word of God which you have heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe."

Look at chapter 3, verse 6: "But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always remember us kindly, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith;” Verse 8, "for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God because of you, as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith?"

What is he saying throughout the letter? I thank God for you. I thank God for you. I thank God for what He's done in you, and I thank God for what He is doing in you. It's oozing with thankfulness to God for these people. Beloved, this is a proper attitude for ministry—the attitude of thanksgiving to God. Thanksgiving to God. Ministry—ministry at home, ministry with your wife, with your husband, with your children, with your friends, with those who you are trying to disciple in the church, and in every area of ministry in the church, in every area of influence in your life—thanksgiving. I'll put it this way: wherever you're engaged in ministry, let me ask this question. Do you feel blessed, or do you feel it's become a chore? Do you feel blessed? Do you feel like it's a burden? Or do you feel like you're very blessed? Are you counting all the difficulties and rehearsing those things before your mind, and it becomes weary, wearisome? Or are you taking note of all that God is doing and remembering those things in your mind so that your heart is full of joy and your prayers are full of thanksgiving to God? Notice, he keeps using words like "without ceasing," "always," "day and night." I mean, Paul is living in a continual atmosphere of joyful thanksgiving. Child of God, is that you in your ministry?

Now again, let's not think just about the church. Let's think about your ministry at home. Could we say that your home, your house—could we say that your home is a place full of thanksgiving and affection? That in your family there's an atmosphere of genuine affection and there's an atmosphere of genuine thanksgiving? Why do we give thanks? Because, simply, we recognize who the source is for all true effectiveness in ministry.

Paul understands it, doesn't he? How is it that he could be with them such a brief time, send Timothy back to them, and get such a glowing report about how they're doing? How could that be the case? How could that be so? Because God. Because God is the one who has accomplished what has been accomplished in these people. And so he couldn't help himself. He has to give thanks. That's why you give thanks. Because He is the one who does the work. He's the one who accomplishes what gets accomplished. And wherever you see good fruit, beloved, wherever you see the Lord's blessing, do you stop and really take note? I mean, if you see it in your spouse, if you see it in your children, if you see it in your Sunday school class or nursery, if you see it in a brother or sister—wherever you see the Holy Spirit producing fruit—do you stop and understand that it is not explained by us, no matter what kind of effort we put into it? It is explained by the Lord. And do we give Him thanks for it?

I think this is something especially that parents need to be aware of and concentrate on. If you see a son or daughter walking with the Lord and in their life there's a sense of integrity, responsibility, and they're committed to a life of holiness and pursuit of Christ and living for Christ, be careful. There are far too many Christian parents who pat themselves on the back and say, "Well, honey, didn't we do a great job?" Now, they would never maybe say that out loud. Hopefully not out loud. But they sort of think that way perhaps, and they're raising their children in such a way that they hope the children will turn out to be a good testimony about them, about their methods, about the way they go about raising their kids. When instead we need to realize something: there is nothing good in any person's life except it to be the product of God's grace. God's grace. He no doubt uses means. Parental training is important. We ought to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and the fear of God. But do you understand, if your son or daughter is walking after the Lord, get on your knees and give God thanks. Give God praise. He's the One who's done that. He's the One who's done that. And in church, He's the One who's done that.

We only—I only—we as elders, as deacons, as people serving, we can only take credit for the failures, not for the success. In a Sunday school class or in a nursery or whatever it is, He's the One who's done it. And as you disciple individuals, He's the One who's done it. Now Paul understood this very clearly. 1 Corinthians 3:7–9 he says this: "So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything." Reminds me of those very deep, deep words that H. P. Charles' daughter said to him: "Daddy, remember, you're nobody. You're a nobody, daddy."

"So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,"--now watch this–"but God who causes the growth.” God. “Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor." You see, he doesn't diminish the fact that there are laborers and there's work. He doesn't diminish that. He doesn't diminish that at all. But what are we? What are we? Workers. We're workers. Verse 9: "For we are God's fellow workers;"--now watch this–"you are God's field, God's building." He's the One who does the building. He's the One who gives the growth. We just have the privilege of working in the field.

The same can be said of a family just as it is said of the church. We have the privilege of being workers, but God is the One who gives the growth. Give Him thanks. Give Him thanks. What do we give thanks for? We give thanks for fruit. We give thanks for spiritual growth. We give thanks for the evidences of grace, the evidences of salvation. There's a place for boasting, but it's not boasting in self. It is boasting in who? The Lord. It's glorying in what He's accomplished. You know, I said earlier, Paul is not shy about telling the good things that he sees in them, but when he tells them the good things that he sees in them, who is he boasting in? He's boasting not even in them. He's boasting in the Lord. "Oh, look what the Lord has done. Isn't God great? I look at this fruit in you. I look at your growth, and you're doing amazing. Isn't the Lord great?"

What are the attitudes of authentic ministry? You genuinely love the people you minister to, and you minister to them in an attitude of thanksgiving, and you give God thanks for every good thing that you see God is producing in them.

A third attitude for authentic ministry is concern. Concern. He's concerned about them. And so he writes in chapter 4, verse 9, because you'll see another example of it here. He says, “Now concerning love of the brothers, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another, for indeed you do practice it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will walk properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.” Verse 13, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.” And he goes on to give them this teaching that we're familiar with concerning the rapture and the coming of the Lord for His church. And so in what context does he do this teaching? Well, he is very concerned that they understand correctly, that they understand right, that they believe right, that they live right. This is why even though he could not go to them face to face, he sends someone who will look after them, he sends someone who will take care of them. He's genuinely concerned. There's genuine concern here for their spiritual well-being. You see, this is the kind of genuine affection we're talking about. It's not just genuine affection in the context of friendship. It's genuine affection in the context of faith. Spiritual sibling-ship.

Do you really care about your people? Do you really care about them, not just on some friendship kind of level? Is your genuine affection for them about the condition of their soul? Not just to sit down and have a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy time together and you can talk easily. No, no, no. It's beyond that. Is it in the context of faith? Is your genuine affection for them about the condition of their soul? How is their walk with God? Where is their understanding of doctrine? Is their behavior one of holiness? Are they living lives that are a testimony to the world? See, that's what it means to really have a heart for the people you minister to, no matter what realm we're talking about. Is the chief focus of your concern the condition of their soul?

How many parents spend more time concerned about their child's grades or social status or reputation than they care about their child's walk with God? When's the last time you talked to your child about their schoolwork? And when's the last time you talked to your child about their soul? How much time have you spent this last year talking about issues that have nothing to do with their walk with God compared to the time that you sat down on their bed before they went to sleep and had a face-to-face conversation about the temperature going on in their heart toward Jesus?

And I'm not just talking about information. Beloved, listen, our children can spit out information and have a heart that is so far away from God, especially if they've grown up in a Christian home, sat in a Bible-teaching church, if they go to a Christian school. I mean, they can have a lot of stored-up information that has been in their mind but has never been assimilated into their own life and their own heart. And oftentimes when you talk to your kids about sermons and they give you the main points, you know, after the service in the morning, you're driving home, you say, "Oh, kids, let's talk about the sermon. Do you remember the main points?" "Oh, yes, yes." And they give you the main points, and they give you the main points very specifically and precisely. I want to encourage you to follow up by saying, "Great, that's a good outline, but what does that mean about your walk with God?" What effect is that going to have on your walk with God today and tomorrow and the day after? Are you walking with the Lord? Are you staying close to Him? Are you spending time in prayer? Are you spending time in the Word? Are you having those conversations with your kids? And, then, expand that out to wherever you have a ministry. When was the last time you asked someone in your sphere of ministry, "How's your walk with God?" Concern, affection, thanksgiving.

Fourth, instruction. Instruction. If we have genuine affection for people, if we understand that it's God who does good work in people—thanksgiving, right?—and if we have a true concern about their spiritual condition, if all those things are true, then what do we do in ministry to them? What's the chief thing that we do? We instruct. We instruct. We instruct them. We give them the Word of God. And I don't mean apart from prayer, obviously, and all the other means. But what you find Paul doing in this letter, in the letter in which he expresses affection and thanksgiving and concern—what does he do here particularly? He teaches. He teaches. He teaches them biblical teaching. If it's from a genuine heart, it's an expression of our affection for the people of God. See, it's all interconnected. It's an expression of our belief in God working in them. It's an expression of our true concern for the well-being of their soul. How am I concerned about your soul? By giving you the Word of God. How do I give God thanks for what He does in you? By trusting in the sufficiency of Scripture. And how do I show I really love you? By bringing the truth to bear upon your life.

We can put it another way. There are many people who claim in the name of Christ to have a love for the church, but they don't labor to teach the Word of God to their people. You say, "I really love my children." Well, what have you taught them? And, if you really love your kids, wouldn't you teach them the Scripture? Listen, if you love people, if you care about their soul, if you understand God's the one who does the work—well, what instrument does He use? What instrument does He use? What is that instrument that is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, that gets down between the bone and the marrow and works in a person's heart to a depth that we could never do on our own? What instrument does He use? The Word of God. The Word of God. And yet we say we care about people and we never speak truth into their life very often or sometimes. The right attitude for authentic ministry is an attitude that says, "Beloved, I will love you, I will care about you, and I will trust God's work in your life by trusting in the sufficiency of His Word in the hand of His Holy Spirit."

I want to teach the truth of God. But we know this, don't we? To be a teacher of truth, I have to be a learner of truth. Right? I have to be a learner of truth. I can't be a teacher if I'm not a student. I can't be a teacher if I'm not under the authority of the Lord Himself and if I'm not willing to be taught by others. The kind of teaching ministry that will impact people—the people that you love—is not one where you're always the teacher, but also where they can see you, that you're also a learner. When the day ever comes that I'm studying this book just to give you a message, I will cease to have the right understanding of this book.

Before I can say anything to you as God's people, it first has to speak to my own heart. God has to deal with me. My heart has to be brought to a place of submission to the very thing that I'm about to share with God's people and teach God's people. You don't teach the Word of God standing on it; you teach the Word of God standing under it or sitting under it. So that I'm never striving to stand here and say, listen, that's what you need to do. No, no, I'm saying by God's grace, here's what all of us need to do. Even when I use sometimes the "you," it's not that I haven't also been brought under the sound of God's Word myself. Here's what the Word of God says to me first and foremost, and then to you. So every bit of Bible study we ever do ought to be, ought to be, ought to be devotional.

You know people like to talk about devotional Bible study? How's your devotion? Do you have a devotional Bible study? Study Bible? What is a devotional Bible study? Well, here's a simple definition: it is studying the Word of God while you love the Lord. That's it. It's studying the Word of God while you love the Lord. And every bit of Bible study, every bit of it, ought to be devotional even when you're digging into the nuts and bolts of difficult passages. It's not out of, If it's not out of communion with God, if it's not out of genuine communion with God, listen then, beloved, close the book. It is a waste of time. This book was never meant to be just some kind of academic study like you're studying history in a classroom. This is fellowship with God. This is where we meet with God. This is where we hear the voice of God in the Scripture.

And I wonder if we don't teach our children the Word of God because we aren't learning it ourselves. What happens when you study the Word of God while you love the Lord? Oh, let me tell you. You get so excited about what the Lord is doing in your own heart and it just spills out. It pours out. It pours out. And please allow me to say this. When this happens, when you get so excited about what the Lord is doing in your own heart, when you study the Word of God while you love the Word of God and you get so excited about what the Lord is doing in your life, it just pours out. Nobody can shut you up. It is fire in your bones. So how can we have days and weeks go by in our families, in our interactions with others, where we don't talk about the Word of God? How can that happen? It's got to be because it's not pouring in. Right? Because if it's pouring in, what happens? It pours out. Can't help it. It pours out. It overflows.

Well, I must hasten to conclude. Affection, thanksgiving, concern, instruction. The fifth attitude is encouragement. Encouragement. Ministry must include exhortation. Must include exhortation. We are called not just to teach, not just to correct, but to encourage, to exhort. Whatever Paul could encourage, whatever Paul could encourage God's people for, he did. And when he did that, he was simply following the example of Christ Himself, His Lord.

And I think of a great example of this in the seven letters to the churches in Revelation. Because there, our Lord, the living, resurrected Christ demonstrates His love for His church through correction. You remember those seven letters. He corrects the churches there, doesn't He? He tells them what He sees that isn't right, that needs to be aligned or realigned. But what is also amazing about those seven letters, even when He's correcting some very serious things in those congregations, in most of those seven letters He also, what? Has commendation. Commendation. "Here's what I see in you that is praiseworthy."

Well, just to give you one example. Revelation 2. Look at verse 1: “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: This is what the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says, ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot bear with those who are evil, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, you also have not grown weary.’”
How does He begin? Commendation. “I know you're doing all these things.” Well done. Wonderful. I acknowledge them. I see them. I commend you for them.

Verse 4: “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first. But if not, I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent.” And what do you have there? Firm, stern correction. That's love too. That's love too.

But notice how He finishes. Verse 6: “Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” And what is that? Commendation. Commendation.
How much exhortation, beloved, goes on in your ministry? How much encouragement comes from your lips? Do you love those people that you serve? Do you let those people that you're seeking to minister to know that you see what God is doing in their life? We have to ask ourselves, do we see the Lord doing good things? And if the answer is yes, then we have a responsibility to encourage. If the answer is yes, then we have a responsibility to encourage, to exhort and praise and not just correct.

When was the last time you told the person that you have a ministry with—husband, wife, child, brother, sister in Christ—when was the last time you told them what you see God doing in their life? Good things that you've seen the Lord produced in them–evidences of grace, growth in areas in their lives.

And Paul is not stingy with encouragement. Read this letter and you'll see what I'm talking about. His encouragement to these people is really throughout the letter. And it has to be authentic. I'm not talking about something we put on. We're not talking about something artificial. I'm talking about something from our hearts—genuine, real.

Let our affection be real. Let our thanksgiving be real. Let our concern be real. Let our teaching be authentic. Let our encouragement be real. Beloved, make no mistake about it: if you want to be effective in ministry, those five attitudes are absolutely essential. And may the Lord, beloved, grow each and every one of us to live out those five things that we see in the apostle as he writes this letter to these believers. Take stock of your ministry.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

One of the things that is so amazing about our God, and we know about our God, is that He's multitasked. And He is a God who is doing many different things at the same time. It's not ever really as if God is doing just one thing.

I mean, we look at this account here, and we know that Lazarus is sick unto death—not ultimately unto death, as Jesus is going to raise him, ultimately unto the glory of God—but he's going to die. And his sisters sent a message to the Lord, Jesus.

Jesus is, you remember, a day's journey away. And they sent a messenger with the confidence that if the Master knows that their brother is sick, if the messenger tells Him that he whom You love is sick, that Jesus will heal him. And so they send the messenger, and Jesus receives the message, and we read here, He stays where He is for two more days.

Now, on the surface, none of this seems to make sense. You wonder, well, what is the Lord Jesus doing? What is God doing in the midst of this situation?

Well, the fact is, He was doing more than one thing—more than one thing. He's going to glorify Himself. When Jesus heads to Bethany in Judea two days later, when He arrives there on the fourth day since Lazarus died, God is going to be glorified. He's going to be exalted in the raising of Lazarus. And the disciples are going to learn something through this, that Jesus says that He's glad that He wasn't there for their sakes, for the sake of the disciples.
Look at verse 15 (John 11): "I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe." So that in the raising of Lazarus, there's something that's going to be done in the lives of the disciples. God was doing something. Our Lord was doing something.
So there's the glory of God in the raising of Lazarus, and there's a lesson for the disciples in the raising of Lazarus—more than one thing that our Lord is doing.

But there's also something else that's being accomplished that I want us to see this morning, that I want us to fix our attention to this morning. There's a lesson that He's going to pass on to His disciples that takes place before the raising of Lazarus. Look again with me at verse 7.
We read, "Then after this He said to the disciples, 'Let us go to Judea again.' The disciples said to Him, 'Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?'"

You see, this doesn't have to do with Lazarus. This doesn't have to do with Lazarus. This has to do with what? Judea. Judea. This has to do with the safety of the Lord Jesus. And by the way, this also has to do in their minds with the safety of the disciples, because when Jesus insists on their going to Judea, notice what Thomas' response is down in verse 16.
Look at it: "Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, 'Let us also go," —now watch this—"'so that we may die with Him.'" So this isn't about Lazarus. This is about something else.

And Jesus, in the midst of all of this, has a lesson for them. He says in verse 9, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." There's the lesson.

And this morning, I want us to think about this lesson, and I want us to think about it not only in terms of what it says about the life of our Lord Jesus when He was here on earth, and what it said to His disciples. I want us, beloved, to think about it in terms of what it says to us—as a church, as believers, as individual believers, and as a church together—because there's a lesson here about time, specifically about our time on this earth. It is fitting, beginning 2026, to consider this. A lesson about the time of Jesus on this earth, yes, but also a lesson about the time of His disciples on the earth, and about our time, as well, on this earth.

And I want us to consider six things that I would like to point out this morning from this text about this lesson, and the first one is this: our time as disciples of Jesus Christ, our time as believers, our time as children of God—and this is only true of children of God—our time is a classroom. Our time is a classroom. Our time on this earth is a classroom. That is, the Lord is teaching us during our time on this earth. He's teaching us.

We face things, all of us do. We face a variety of circumstances, situations. We face decisions we have to make. We face opportunities, tests, difficulties, hardships, trials, et cetera, et cetera.

And in the midst of all of it—whatever has happened in your life this week, even, whatever is taking place right now in your life—and some of these things you weren't even expecting, some of them may even have seemed strange or extraordinary, and in the midst of all of it, you need to know, beloved, that God is in control. God is sovereign. God is faithful. He's the God of lovingkindness, the God of *hesed*, as we were reminded last week. We need to remember that God is in control, that in this world of time, God is ruling. God is reigning. That you and I can really stand with confidence on this reality and the truth.

In the midst of all of this, the Lord reigns, supreme. That there's a throne in heaven, and that throne is standing, and that throne is not vacant. In this world of time, God is ruling. He rules over time. This is a freeing truth. He rules over time. He rules over the events that are taking place in time, the events in your life that are taking place in time. And when it comes to His children, in the midst of all of those things taking place in our lives in time, well, He is teaching us. He's teaching us. It's not random. Things just don't just happen. He's teaching us.

Lazarus is sick. This is a reality. He's going to die. This is a reality. He's going to be raised. It is a reality. But that's not the only thing taking place in the midst of these circumstances. So also something for the disciples to learn, and Jesus is going to teach them. So this setting is a setting of learning. This setting turns into a classroom, and there's something that Jesus has to teach them. And I think this is a great lesson for us, beloved.

The first question that we ought to ask, you and I—train your heart to do this, as I need to train my heart to do that—when anything takes place in our lives that we notice, that gets our attention, the first thing we ought to ask is, what is God teaching me in this? Naturally, we default into, why? But we need to train our hearts. What is God teaching me in this? What does God mean for me to learn through this? Whatever that is.

Jesus makes a decision, verse seven. He says, "Let us go to Judea again." And I want to emphasize, this is teaching time. This is teaching time. Because the very way—if you look at the text, especially in the original—if you look at the text, the very way that He words this is meant to turn their minds toward the danger.

I mean, think about this. He said, "Let us go to Judea again." Now, He could have said, "Let us go to Lazarus." But He didn't. He doesn't say that. He could have said, "Let us go to Martha and Mary." Well, He doesn't say that either. You say that would have turned their minds toward compassion, if He were to say, "Let us go to Martha and Mary." That would have turned their minds to compassion in the direction of concern. But He doesn't say it that way either.

He doesn't say, "Let us go to Bethany." Because even that would have evoked thoughts that were what? Nice, pleasant, right? I mean, this is where they live—Martha, Mary, Lazarus. This is where He had stayed with His disciples. He could have said it that way. But He doesn't say it that way. He simply says, "Let us go to Judea again." And the disciples know what they just left in Judea. They know exactly what they just left.

You go back to John 10, you remember, you look at verse 31: "The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him"—in Judea. So it wasn't the first time. Also, verse 39: "They were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp"—Judea. You see, this is something that's going on again and again and again. They're seeking the life of Jesus in Judea. They wanted to put an end to Him.

So when He says, "Let us go to Judea again," notice the reaction of the disciples in verse eight. "The disciples said to Him, 'Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?'" And by the way, that is in the emphatic position: "Are You going there again?" The end of the statement there—*Kai palin*—Are You going there and again? That's where it's placed, in that emphatic position. And again, Lord, You're going there? They thought this is suicidal. They thought this is something that would literally mean that He would lose His life.

That's why in verse 16, Thomas said, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him." I will talk about that in the future, Lord willing. His bravery and courage is admirable, but you'll see his perspective of it, right? This means He's going to die. That's what he thought. Judea—death.

Now, why does Jesus put it this way? Why does He bring it up the way He does in the words that He uses? Why does He do that? Because, beloved, He's teaching them something. He's teaching them something. And I want us to realize that no matter what it is that you're going through in this world of time as a child of God, as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord is at work in your life—actively at work in your life—teaching you, growing you, molding you, shaping you, conforming you into the image that pleases Him, the image of His own Son. He's committed to that end.

So before we go any further this morning, just stop and reflect on what you faced this past week or what you're facing right now in your life and ask yourself the question: What does the Lord mean to teach me through this? Because He's teaching you something.

Which leads us to the second thing I want us to see. Not only is our time a classroom, but our time is determined by God. Our time is determined by God. Jesus says something to their response. "Are You going there again?" He says in verse nine, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" Interesting statement. Now it may have been a proverbial statement. They may have said this to communicate a point in that day. But one thing is clear though: the Jews divided the day into 12 hours. And so for them, there were 12 hours of daylight. And those 12 hours were fixed. Fixed.

Man does not determine time. God long ago determined time. So Jesus is saying, listen, there are 12 fixed hours in the day, aren't there? Hasn't God fixed the time? Isn't God the One who set these 12 hours in their place? Isn't He the One who controlled all of that? Do we have any control over that? Hasn't God done that? And something you see emphasized in the Word of God is that when it comes to time, God is the Master of time. God’s the One who’s determining the time. God is the One who set the timetable. The world, beloved, is on a divine timetable. Men aren’t controlling it.

I read this week about some clock that some scientists created when atomic weapons were developed. It’s called the Doomsday Clock. Maybe you’ve heard of it before. And they move the hand ever so often to say, now we’ve got so many minutes until midnight, and so forth. But what’s amazing to me is that they keep moving it back and forth. I mean, sometimes it’s 12 minutes to midnight. At some point, it’s seven minutes to midnight. In fact, in the 1950s, it was actually two minutes to midnight. And what they’re saying is that we are now closer to some sort of a nuclear holocaust or destruction.

Listen, beloved, we know how the world is going to end. Don’t we? We know how the world’s gonna end. And where do you find that? In Scripture. You find it in God’s Word, and it’s not going to be global warming that does us in. God is in control of this world. God is in control of the times. Remember what we studied recently, Galatians 4:4, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law." When did He come to this earth? In the fullness of time, when the time arrived. Not one minute before, not one minute after.

Mark 1:15, after the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus was preaching this: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." In John 7, when His brothers were urging Him to go up to the feast and make public that He’s the Messiah, wanting Him to be more public than He had been with His claims, we read in John 7:6, "Jesus said to them, 'My time is not yet here.'" Verse 8, He said, "Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not going up yet to the feast because My time has not yet been fulfilled." Chapter 7, verse 30, "So they were seeking to seize Him; yet no man laid his hand on Him." —Why? —"Because His hour had not yet come."

And this is not just true of Jesus. Do you realize this is true of all of us, beloved? You know, don’t you, that all of your days and my days were written down by God before you lived one of them? Isn’t that what the Scripture tells us? Psalm 139:16, "Your eyes have seen my unshaped substance; and in Your book all of them were written, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was not one of them." Our times are determined by God. Our time on this earth is determined by the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. Just as He says there are 12 hours in a day—God determined that—so your lifespan has been determined by God.

This leads to a third thing that I want us to recognize from this text. This time that we have is a classroom. This time that we have has been determined by God, and therefore, flowing out of the second lesson that we see here, our time cannot be shortened. Our time cannot be shortened. And that seems to be the main point of the comparison. You can't shorten time. You can't.

The day lasts; it always lasts as long as God has ordained. We don't have control over that. You and I don't have control over that. And what He's dealing with here is the fear that His disciples are experiencing. He wants them to know that they don't have anything to be afraid of. He's walking according to His Father's will, and until the Father's time for the Son on this earth is done, is complete, until that time is finished, Christ is untouchable, indestructible. There's nothing that can happen to Him until His Father's time for Him is done.

Isn't that what He tells Pilate? "You have no authority over Me." John 7:30—we just read it a second ago—They sought to arrest Him, but they were not able to arrest Him. Why not? "Because His hour had not yet come." It wasn't God's time. It wasn't. The time is coming, Jesus told the disciples, when the night will arrive, when His time on the earth will finish, and the cross is looming ahead, but it's according to God's timetable. But until that time, He has nothing to be concerned about. He just walks in His Father's will, and He is safe.

This is the main point of the statement: there are twelve hours in the day. It is fixed. There's no shortening of it. And as long as He walks in the Father's will, there's nothing to fear.
A. W. Pink, commenting on the statement, he says this:
"The great lesson for us in these two verses is this. No fear of danger or unpleasant consequences must detour us from doing our duty. If the will of God clearly points in a certain direction, our responsibility is to move in that direction unhesitatingly, and we may go with a double assurance that no power of the enemy can shorten our life till the divinely appointed task is done."

Commenting on this, James Montgomery Boice—listen to what he said:
"An important conclusion follows from this. We need not fear what people can do to us, or let me say it another way. If the prolonging of our days is in our hands, then we must be extremely careful in all we do."

Did you grasp that? I mean, if your day is saying, if the number of your days is determined by you, then you better be very careful, very afraid. He goes on to say:
"We must be cautious if that is the case. For instance, are you sure that you really want to make that trip by auto that you have planned for next summer? Many die on the roadways. You may be safer at home. Or again, are you sure you want to eat the kind of food that's served often at local restaurants? Perhaps it's not good for you. You may want to get on to health foods. Or again, are you sure you've had sufficient medical checkups? Perhaps you should have a checkup each month, or better yet, perhaps you should just check into a hospital permanently. Above all, be sure that you do not anger anyone. The person you anger may be the kind that kills people. Be careful not to stand for anything. You see my point."

He goes on to say:
"If God is not in control, if you're in control, then be fearful. On the other hand, if God orders the duration of your days, and if nothing can cut them short, then you can be bold to serve Him as Jesus was."

Now, obviously, we wholeheartedly agree with what Boice  is teaching in the context of the full counsel of God, and he's making a point here. There is some wisdom, though, that has to be applied to that truth, and we know that from Scripture. But we have to apply that with the guidance of the Holy Spirit to say that our times are in the hand of God, and therefore it makes no difference. For example, what we do with our health is not wise. It's unwise. To say you never have to have checkups and you don't need to watch anything—well, no. There has to be wisdom here.But the fact is that if we're walking in the will of God, there's nothing to fear. That's the point. There's nothing to fear because our days have been fixed by the Lord. No cutting them short. Our time is a classroom. Our time is determined by God. Our time cannot be shortened.

And there's a fourth thing that we see here, but before we move on to the fourth thing, let me quickly say also that this doesn't just have to do with the duration of your life. It also can apply to the duration of your service somewhere.

Sometimes people say, you know, if I take this stand at work, or maybe they work for themselves and they've got a business, and they say, you know what? If I make this decision and that decision, here are the potential ramifications. Here are all the bad things that could happen to me. Listen, don't you understand, beloved? Your life is in the hand of God. You seek first God's kingdom, you obey Him, you walk with Him, and you have nothing to fear. If you're doing His will, you have nothing to fear.

Fourth, our time is not unlimited. It is not unlimited. Just like our time cannot be shortened, our time will not be extended. There are only twelve hours in a day—not thirteen, not fourteen, not fifteen. And what we see by that is we have limited opportunity. We have limited opportunity. There's a sense of urgency about our lives. I didn't say panic—not panic, not panic—but an understanding that actually time matters. It matters. Time is important.

In fact, do you know that it's a reflection of one's spiritual maturity and wisdom, what they do with their time? Jesus pointed this out in chapter 9, verse 4. He said to His disciples, you remember, "We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." My time on this earth is—it has an end. It's limited. And we must be about the things the Father has given Me to do, He tells them.

And the psalm that was read in your hearing earlier, the call to worship, Psalm 90, verse 12, Moses wrote, "So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom." What is necessary for a heart of wisdom? The understanding that you don't have forever. The understanding that you don't have forever. What is necessary for a heart of wisdom? The understanding that your days are limited. The understanding that you're to number your days, that you're to make the most of the time that you have, to redeem that time.

Why didn't Jesus leave immediately to go to Lazarus? Right away? Why did He wait two more days? Well, maybe some will say, well, He was waiting for him to die. Well, no, that's not true. We've already seen that, haven't we? Lazarus was probably dead by the time the messenger even got to Jesus. And if he wasn't, he certainly died on the same day. It was one day's travel to Jesus. Jesus waited for two days, and it was one day's travel back. And when He arrived there, Lazarus had been dead for four days. So he had to die the same day the messenger was sent.

So therefore, that's not why Jesus waited. But one reason we're learning this morning—He had a lesson for His disciples. Right? But beyond that, do you realize Jesus also had something else to do for those two days? I mean, there was something the Father had given Him to do that required Him to remain where He was.
Beloved, your time is not unlimited, and wisdom is learning to number your days and to make the most of your time, which leads us now to the fifth thing. Our time is sufficient.

Our time is sufficient. That is, God gives us enough time to do the things that He's called us to do. Our time is sufficient. Did you hear that? God gives us enough time to do the things that He , that He has called us to do. Do you believe that this morning? Do you believe that? Do you believe that God would call you to do things that He doesn't give you the time to do? Or supply the strength to do it? Or He doesn't give you sufficient time to accomplish what He has for you to do?

Luke 24:44, "Now He said to them, 'These are My words,'" —Jesus is speaking—
 "'which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms,'" —here it is— "'must be fulfilled.'" The life of Jesus on earth was not going to end until everything—everything—written about Him in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, was fulfilled.

And don't you get a sense when you read the Gospels? Don't you get a sense that Jesus was on a mission? I mean, all that He's doing, all of His decisions, marching forward on a divine timetable, on a divine clock, on a divine timetable towards an ultimate end. And I love the way it is worded in John 4:4, when He went to meet the woman at the well, "And He had to pass through Samaria." He had to pass. I mean, He's on a mission.

And then you take that lesson about our Savior, and you think about us. Does the New Testament teach us that we're to have a sense of mission? That we're to have a sense of importance—the importance of time? That we're not to be wasteful when it comes to these days that the Lord gives us?

Ephesians 5:16, you remember there in our study of that book, speaking to us, the disciples of Christ, we are called to redeem the time, to make the most of the time, because the days are evil. Colossians 4:5 says, "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, redeeming the time." Make the most of the opportunity. Only so many hours in a day. Only so many days in a lifetime. And wisdom is to redeem our time, to make the best use of our time—the sufficiency of time. God gives us the time necessary to do His will. Are we using the time wisely?

Now, let me pause here, and I want to hopefully have some boots on the ground here. I want to underscore, this becomes something very practical for us, because when it seems like you have 24 hours' worth of things to do, and only 12 hours in the day, you only have two choices. And I want us to think about that. Two choices. You have either 12 hours of fluff or junk in there somewhere, or you're not managing your time wisely.

Anybody ever feel that way? You have 24 hours' worth of stuff to do, and 12 hours to do it in? Let me ask you, what in your day, what in your schedule, is not really what God is giving you to do? What is it that you're doing that God hasn't given you to do? This becomes very, very practical. This goes to church attendance even sometimes, or as well sometimes. Just to use an illustration, midweek prayer meeting rolls around, someone says, "Well, I just couldn't be there. I had something I had to do." And beloved, listen, there are cases where that happens. That happens. And you are indeed, as you hear very often from this pulpit, providentially hindered. I know there are things that come up that just cannot be avoided.

But here's the question that we want to wrestle with, each and every one of us before God. How many of the things do we sometimes elevate to the category of unavoidable tasks that are truly things that cannot be avoided? And here's the question: Was that really on God's agenda for you? That was really what He wanted you to do? And those of you perhaps in our midst who have control over your schedule, you're in business for yourself, or you have the kind of job where you have freedom with your schedule, are you making wise choices with what you're doing? Some of these things that seem so important, is it really on the same place on God's priority list for you, as you put it?

These are all questions. This is not designed to make anyone feel saddled with guilt, but really self-examination under God to really evaluate my time in my life.

Am I—and I'm not just talking about church as well. I'm talking about time with your family when I say church attendance, but also I'm not talking about only church attendance. I'm talking about time with your family. I'm talking about time with the Lord in His Word. Does the Lord really have you so busy that you feel like you can't spend time in His Word?
"Oh, I'm so busy. There's so many things. The Lord understands. I'm not going to read. I'm not going to be in prayer. I'm not going to be in the book. I'm not going to be on my face before God." You can't find time in your schedule for time alone with God? Does God really have you that busy? How much of this represents a divine assignment? How much of this represents misplaced priority? So that's one possibility when it seems like you have more to do in a day than you have time for. How much of it is stuff that you've added and it's not God's priority for you?

But there's another way to look at this as well. That is, sometimes it is due to mismanagement of our time. It's not that we don't have enough time. It's that we don't use our time wisely and we don't learn to say no to certain things or delegate.

Something you learn over the years: some of the busiest-looking people you'll ever see in your life—some, some, not all—some are the most inefficient people you'll ever meet in your life. The reason they always look busy is because they don't know how to manage their time. They don't know how to prioritize and get things done.

There are 12 hours in a day. God has something for us to do in those 12 hours. And yes, it's true, it's true to say that they won't be cut short. There's safety, but they won't be extended. So there's priority. Do we know what it is to find from the Word of God what the priorities of God are for my life so that my life is lived in such a way that reflects wisdom? See, that requires me to study the Word of God and figure that out. Lord, teach us to number our days so that we may present to You a heart that is wise, and wisdom is reflected in how we manage our time. Our time must be used wisely. God has given us enough time to do what He's called us to do.

Couldn't help but think of Jonathan Edwards. Wrote down a list of goals so that he could walk in biblical wisdom. He called them his resolutions—70 of them. He began writing his resolutions in 1722, less than a year after he came to know the Lord Jesus and when he was about 18 years of age. Eighteen. He wrote 21 of the 70 in one sitting, and he steadily refined them and wrote additional ones for about a year, completing them in August of 1723 before he was 20.

Here are some excerpts from his finished set. Quote, "Being sensible that I'm unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat Him by His grace to enable me to keep these resolutions so far as they are agreeable to His will for Christ's sake. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory and my own good profit, in the whole of my duration, the whole of my life." He says, "Resolved, to live with all my might while I do live. Resolved, never to do anything that I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life. Resolved, to always be finding out fit objects of charity and liberality." In other words, people whom he could help financially. "Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently that I may find and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same." He said, "Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be." In other words, never give up. And then there's this one: "Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it the most profitable way I possibly can."

And resolutions are a wonderful tool, but they're ineffective if you never look at them. And so Edwards, at the beginning of his list, he writes this: "Remember to read over these resolutions once a week." Elsewhere he said, he wrote, "Resolved, to ask myself at the end of every day, week, month, and year wherein I could possibly in any respect have done better."
Beloved, a wise life is an examined life. It's a life in which opportunities to pursue biblical wisdom are not wasted. And by the way, that includes as well times of rest.

The last thing I would mention this morning as we close is that our time in God's will is a place of safety. Our time in God's will is a place of safety. And this is important for us to keep in mind.

Notice what He added here, our Lord, back to John 11 and verse 9: "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" And so here's the application—here's His application: "If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."

And it's pretty clear there's a double meaning here, right? There's a double meaning in His words. If you take the physical illustration, He's saying, when you walk in the daylight, that's not when you stumble around. So when you're walking around in the night, that's when you stumble. I've got to remember that we're pretty much used to streetlights. You drive around and there's streetlights everywhere, unless you go somewhere really away from the city. But we're pretty much used to streetlights. But in this day and age, there weren't any streetlights. And so if you're walking around at night, you can't see very much. The darkness is very dark. And that's when people stumble. That's when people would be injured.

And so He's saying, listen, I'm walking in the day. I'm walking. And here's the double meaning of His words: I'm walking according to My Father's timetable. I'm walking in the will of the Father. There's the daylight. When you walk in the will of God, there's the daylight. There's the daylight. And someone who walks in the day doesn't stumble. In other words, there's safety.
Though it may seem dangerous, though from a human vantage point it may seem risky, there's safety. There's really only one thing that any of us has to determine: Father, is this Your will as revealed in Your Word, with the principles that You've given me and Your Word in my hand? And if it is His will, there's no danger in it. There's no danger in it. There's safety in it.

Now, beloved, that doesn't mean there won't be persecution in the way of God. That doesn't mean there won't be martyrdom as we walk in the will of God. We've seen in church history. That's not what He means. It's not physical safety necessarily. There's nothing to fear when you are in the will of God, which is good, pleasing, and perfect. Don't fear him who can kill the body, right? But fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. But if now we have peace with God, there's nothing to fear. And you know, our time can't be shortened. No one can lay a finger on you. You are immortal until your time and your ministry and your purpose on earth is complete. Do we have to fear going back to Judea again? Not if that's the Father's will. Walk in the light. Walk in the daylight.

Now, here's what you need to fear. You need to fear life outside of the light. You see, you need to fear life outside of the light. And here's another meaning of the word. Christ is the light. Doesn't that come to mind when you read the light of the world, "the light of this world," verse 9? Don't you think of the Lord Jesus Christ? And He's ultimately that. And we've already seen that in the book of John, John chapter 8. And you see it in the book of 1 John as well.
To walk after Christ, to follow after Christ, to walk in His will—that's light. And that's a life of fulfillment. That's also a life of safety. Christ is God's light. And we're safe as followers of Christ. But then there are those people who walk outside of the light, outside of God's light. They don't have light in them. They're walking in darkness. They don't have proper understanding of the times. They don't know that their time, their life is in the hand of God. They don't know that their time is determined by God.

In fact, sadly, tragically, they foolishly think that they have some hand in how long it is they're going to live on this earth. Maybe there's even someone who thinks this way here in our midst, who thinks in themselves, "You know, I'm going to live till I'm 100. I'm going to make sure of it. I'm going to exercise, work out, eat healthy, eat the right thing. I'm not going to do certain things. I'm going to do everything that I can to live a long life." And then all of a sudden—boom. They're gone. Healthy a moment ago, but now dead. How foolish that is. How dangerous that is to think that you have your life in your hands.

But someone who's walking in the light understands just the opposite. My life is in His hand. My life is in the hand of God. My times are fixed by Him so that I can boldly serve Him without fear because He is in control.

I want to ask you this morning as we close: Are you in the light? Or are you in darkness? Are you in the light? Do you have Christ, the light of the world? Do you know God? Have your sins been forgiven, wiped away completely through the shed blood of Jesus on Calvary's cross? Do you know the resurrected Son of God? Do you know Him personally? Do you have a relationship with Him? Do you walk in His will?

Do you know God? Are you in the light? Or are you in the darkness, stumbling around trying to figure out the meaning of life, thinking that your life is in your hand, that you are the master of your own ship, the captain of your own ship? Is that you? Do you know that God fixes your times? Do you live your life boldly—not foolishly, not unwisely—but confidently, knowing that God has your life in His hand? And are you prioritizing your time according to the will of God revealed in His Word?

Do you say along with Moses, Lord, teach me to number my days so that I can present to You a heart of wisdom? It's not a waste of time to go to work. God has ordained that we work to support our families. It's not a waste of time to do many of the things that we do. But beyond those things, and even how we handle those necessary things, it ought to reflect our knowledge of God, our knowledge of His truth, our knowledge of the brevity of life, our knowledge of the eternity to come. We ought to be living our lives in light of eternity, beloved. That's wisdom. Is that how you're living your life?

Only when you walk in the light, only when you know the Lord, only when you know Christ Jesus, the Light of the world, will you ever be able to approach time the way that it really is. May God help us to do that, 2026. Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

So we have been considering this text together for the past two Lord's Days, and we have sought to open up the text by making some general observations, and three of them to be more specific. And I'm just going to mention them just to refresh our memory. And the first one is that this text really is universally extensive. It applies to everyone at all times. It is absolutely binding to everyone at all times, and it is definitively applied. It has to do with this matter of the transgression. This sin, the kind of sin, which is open rebellion. Open rebellion. High-handed rejection of God's word, disobedience, against a known precept of the living God.

Then we began an exposition under the specific explanation, an exposition of the negative statement of the text, where it divides itself into negative and positive. And the first portion is the negative: "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper." You remember we dealt with question number one: What does it mean to cover transgression? And it simply means, upon the discovery of sin, the knowledge of sin, upon the discovery of transgression, to refuse a full, honest confession of that sin before God. It is to refuse to seek forgiveness Godward and, where necessary, manward.

And then we dealt with the second question: What do men do to attempt to cover their sin, to conceal their sin, their transgression? And we saw biblical examples of various ways in which men attempt to cover, to conceal their transgressions. And just again, I'll mention simply the statements, the examples, the various cloaks by which men seek to conceal their transgressions: the cloak of silence in Psalm 32; the cloak of transfer of responsibility and guilt—you know, blame shifting—in Genesis 3; the cloak of rationalization in 1 Samuel 15; the covering of religious activity as in Mark 12 and Isaiah 58. And then, of course, you have the covering, the garb of misconceptions of God in Psalm 50. And then you have the covering of the framing of lies, as in the case of Cain, Joseph's brethren as well, and others.

We then considered the third question, question number three: What is the result of the concealing of transgressions? What is the result of that? And the result is stated in the simple words, "shall not prosper." End of the first part of the verse: "He who conceals his sins will not prosper," "shall not prosper." And the general meaning of the word "prosper" has to do with the concept of flourishing, faring well, succeeding, obtaining success. And so Solomon says the man who covers his transgressions, no matter what covering he uses, he shall not have success, shall not fare well, he shall not flourish, he shall not prosper. And the words have to do with those things that are spiritual blessings, without which a man cannot truly live now and without which he cannot really face the world to come.

We then consider the question: What do those words mean in relationship to the unconverted, those who are outside of Christ? And we saw from Scripture together that this meant at least a number of very frightening things. It means that they shall not prosper now, nor shall they prosper in the future. They will know nothing of a pacified conscience through the blood of Christ, nothing of the peculiar joys of the people of God. And then in the future, they shall die without the comforts of Christ and go to judgment without the protection and the advocacy of Jesus Christ. And then they will pass into the everlasting state without the presence of Christ to become an eternal exposition of the meaning of the text. And I'm talking, when I say "without the presence of Christ," I'm talking about fellowship, communion, and intimacy. "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper."

And having considered how it is that the unconverted who cover their sins and their transgressions do not and cannot prosper, we began last Lord's Day to consider the application of the text to the converted, the people of God. And we just touched—really, we introduced—the first one last Lord's Day evening. It is tragic, a tragic reality, come to think of it, that the people of God, the converted, those who are bought with the precious blood of Jesus, are also involved in this dastardly work of making coverings for their sins at times.

And let me pause for a minute and underscore what I mean when I say the application of the text to the converted, the people of God. To the people of God, I mean nothing less than those who are born of God, born from above, those who, in the language of the Apostle Paul, have been made new creatures in Christ through union with Jesus Christ.

I'm not speaking of those who have merely made a profession of faith in Christ, who have merely conformed to a religious heritage that has brought them into proximity with the people of God, nor am I referring to those who simply engage in a certain number of religious duties that are connected with the church of Christ. When I use the term "converted" or "the people of God," I mean nothing more or less than those men and women, boys and girls, who by the work of the Spirit of God through the Word, have been brought to a conscious awareness of what they truly are by nature. And what are they by nature? Lost, rebel, guilty, undone sinners, who by the same Spirit, the same Word, have been brought to that glorious discovery of God's way for pardoning sins and sinners through the work of Jesus Christ.

And by the same Word and Spirit—Spirit of God—not only have they made that discovery of their desperate need and that discovery of God's remedy for their need to be found in Christ exclusively, but they have been brought, in the language of Acts 20 and verse 21, to deep inward repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They have been constituted new creatures in Christ. That's what I mean by the converted. That's what the Bible means by the converted, the people of God, because that's what the Scripture means when it speaks of such. Now it is to such people, those who have had that new principle implanted within that commits them to righteousness and holiness and Christ-likeness—to pursue that, to have the beginnings of God's mighty work in conforming them to the moral likeness of Jesus Christ. That's who we're referring to.

It is to such people who are the recipients of such mercies, who have such glorious destiny, but—shame of shames, shame of shames—are yet guilty of covering their transgressions. And whenever they do, the people of God will find this text coming down upon them with inescapable authority: "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper." Even though he's a child of God, he shall not prosper. Last week we began to consider some of the ways in which a child of God does not prosper when he covers his transgression. And as I thought about this again this week, I really want to do so under the concept of forfeiture. Forfeiture.

Let me explain. As I was preparing for this week, I really sought a word that would most powerfully and clearly set forth the teaching of the Word of God. And the word that I was fixed upon is this word: forfeiture. Now when you forfeit something, you give up something, right? You relinquish something because of a crime or a fault or neglect. You're guilty. And so when the child of God covers his transgressions, his non-prospering is seen primarily in terms of—I want us to think beyond a loss to forfeiture. He forfeits it.

And the first one, so we can put it this way, that we looked at, we began to look at last Lord's Day, is that the—and this is perhaps most important—is this: that there will be the forfeiture of the enjoyment of God. There'll be the forfeiture of the enjoyment of God. Last week I said "the loss." I want to change that word "loss" to "forfeiture of the enjoyment of God." And we looked at that. We began to look at that together.

Psalm 51, verse 8. David, in this psalm of confession, this penitent psalm, "Make me to hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which You have crushed rejoice." See, there was a total loss of the enjoyment of God as long as he kept silent. This is the same psalmist who could say, "In Your presence is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11). And if that is true, then the opposite is true. In Your absence is full—what? Misery. And for the Christian, there's nothing more tragic, more painful than the loss of the enjoyment of God. It lies at the root of most prayerlessness and most neglect of Scripture. Because you have this mirror, you don't want to be exposed, right? So you just don't have the appetite for it. You avoid it.

In the second place—and I must say, I mean, this is really closely connected—and I was wrestling whether to keep it under the same heading, but I just want to expand on it. You can see it as a double-sided coin with the first consequence for a child of God covering his transgression. So we can put it this way: there will be, as fulfillment of this text, also the forfeiture of joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. There will be the forfeiture of joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. And they're closely connected. But I want to elaborate a little bit. This is quite important for us.

Next to love, these are the great fruits of the Spirit. One of the great truths of Galatians 5, verse 22—we read, "The fruit of the Spirit is" what? "Love, joy, peace." You see them closely connected. See how they're put at the top of the list? You find a similar centrality of emphasis in the passage, the likes of Romans 14 and verse 17. And you remember in that context, Paul is treating the whole subject of Christian liberty and of things indifferent, and what a Christian ought to do with things that are not clearly condemned by the law of God.

And in this setting, the things were external matters. And Paul wants to inject a principle that ought to govern all such discussion. And so he says this, Romans 14:17: "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking." It doesn't consist, in other words, in these external things. But, he says, this is what it consists of: "righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." “Righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”.

You see, the predominant characteristic of those who have been introduced to the kingdom of God is that they stand upon the ground of an imputed and alien righteousness in the favour of God. And they have the inward delight of joy and peace imparted by God the Holy Spirit. And when the child of the kingdom transgresses and does not flee to Christ for cleansing and have his conscience sprinkled afresh, sprinkled anew, what happens? What happens in that instance? There's the forfeiture of that joy and peace of the Holy Spirit.

A classic example, of course, is given to us in none other than David, King David. David, whose psalms are full of joy and peace, which are really the hallmark of those in the kingdom of righteousness. What happens? What happens to those commodities that are found again and again in psalm after psalm after psalm? When David sinned, you remember, we find in the language of Psalm 32 that they were the forfeiture of this joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. Turn with me to Psalm 32. Notice the language of Psalm 32, one of David's great penitential psalms. In the first two verses, he speaks of the blessedness of those whose sins have been covered by God. But then he reflects upon the misery of those who cover their own sins and will not confess them and will not forsake them.

Notice how vigorous is the language. Look at verse 3: "When I kept silent about my sin." “When I kept silent”. There was not that agreeing with God about the heinous nature of his sin. There was no confession. There was no brokenness that led to confession. There was casting over the cloak of silence, of rationalization to cover it. "When I kept silent about my sin," what happened? "My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long." Now watch this: "For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the heat of summer."

See what he said. In place of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, there was what? Misery, disturbance, and inward disruption of the soul. There was agony, inward disruption of the soul. He describes his condition in the language of groaning all day long. Groaning. Think about this. All you need to do is hear a person groan once a day and that's enough to help you really never forget it. The groan of pain, the groan of disappointment, or the news of some tragedy.

What he said, he groaned not just once a day, but the whole day, the entire day. And it was so opposite of his state of joy that he said his vitality was changed into the drought of summer. When a man cries himself until there are no more tears to come out, he has nothing but the dry sobs of a broken spirit, shattered spirit. What happened? Oh, he sinned. He transgressed. And instead of confessing and forsaking his sin, his transgression, what did he do? He covered it. He covered it. And in covering it, God said, "He who concealed his transgressions shall not prosper." And so he forfeited joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.

Mark it well, mark it well, dear child of God, no true joy and peace will ever be found but in righteousness and the true penitence that leads to righteousness. Now there's a false peace and false joy that bypasses and honours dealing with sin. The heart is deceitful. This is one of the major complaints against modern movements that claim to have a monopoly on the work of the Holy Spirit and get people all happy and joyous and excited and mushy and syrupy and all of that, you know. They do not deal with sin. They avoid dealing with sin. Replace it with an experience, seek an experience.

And as one of the writers said, it will be like having gin in your orange juice. And they talk about tingles down up your spine and when someone lays hands upon you and the feeling of what they call liquid love flowing over you. But here's the question: where is the dealing with sin? If you forfeited joy and peace because of sin, there's no way to its restoration but to go to the place where the Spirit of joy and peace was grieved and renew communication of those blessed commodities. And having dealt with those points of controversy, dealings with God, then plea that the Spirit of God will impart those graces again.

And isn't that what we find in Psalm 51? Look at the language. Psalm 51. Psalm 51. David having owned his sin, which is right after Nathan said to him, "You're the man, David," and David said, "I have sinned." Having owned his sin, and not until then, not until then, mark it, not until then. The first seven verses are preoccupied with the reality and the ugliness and the guilt of sin.

If you look at the first seven verses, what do you have? I mean, you can see him preoccupied with the reality and the ugliness and the guilt of sin. "My transgressions," he says, "my iniquity, my sin." In other words, my guilt, my wickedness, my uncleanness. Verse 7, "Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." Then and only then would he pray for the restoration of joy.

Now he dares to say in verse 8, "Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which You have crushed rejoice." Oh Lord, it was my transgression that brought the forfeiture of joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. David knew that to seek the restoration of joy without dealing with the occasions of its forfeiture was to try to make mockery of God. And dear one, you could try to encourage yourself—or to put it this way, to chuck yourself under the chin with a hundred verses from a promise box that is supposed to make you happy and feel good. But if you're covering sin, you shall not prosper in having true joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. It'd be like a band-aid solution.

Now false peace can be conjured up by the flesh as well as promoted by false prophets. You just read the book of Jeremiah and you see that Jeremiah's great complaint was every time he tried to tell people, you've warned them concerning what is impending. I mean, you've got peace, but that's not peace, he tells them. He warns them against this false peace. He says, you've got peace—well, it's not really peace. It's not the peace that is “kissing righteousness”, to use the language of Psalm 85, the psalm that was read in your hearing earlier in verse 10.

The false prophets came along and, in the language of Jeremiah, said, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14). You better fear peace and joy that are divorced from righteousness as much as you fear hell itself, because "he who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper."

Child of God, may I ask you this evening, what sin is worth the broken bones of forfeited peace? If "the joy of the Lord is our strength," in the language of Nehemiah 8:10, then the absence of that joy is what? Our weakness.

What sin is worth being so weak, so crippled? I plead with us, all of us, including myself, hear the Word of God from the pen of Solomon: "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will receive compassion."

Thirdly, the child of God shall not prosper when he covers his transgressions, because he comes to the forfeiture of access to God in prayer. The forfeiture of access to God in prayer. When the child of God sins, transgresses—particularly in the area of transgression, conscious of his area of transgression against the law of God—and he does not immediately flee for cleansing to the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, and renewing, quickening by the Spirit of Christ, one of the first ways in which he no longer prospers is precisely in this area. There's the forfeiture of access to God in prayer.

No privilege, no privilege of the child of God is of greater worth to him than the liberty of access to his God in prayer in the Spirit of Sonship. Listen to the Word of God. Galatians 4:4, "And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father." And one of the surest marks that you are a Christian, a true Christian, is that when I say something like there's no privilege of greater worth to the Christian than the privilege of access to God in prayer, your heart leaps out and says a spontaneous, Amen. It is so.

What is wealth? What is health if there's a brassy heaven? But if there's an open heaven so that when we pray, we are conscious of having access to God, entering into the most intimate form of communion possible to the sons of men here upon the earth, we are conscious of the unspeakable privilege of that access—that God hears us, God inclines His ear. He delights to hear the prayers of His children.

But, and here we must be careful to understand the teaching of the Word of God and follow closely, beloved. This is really important. Though the ground of this access to God in prayer is outside of us, in Christ, the condition of that access is a good conscience within us. Let me say that again. Though the ground of this access is outside of us, it is in Christ. The condition of that access is a good conscience within us.

Turn please to 1 John 3:21. And I want us to see this connection. 1 John chapter 3 in verse 21. We read the following, beloved: "If our heart does not condemn us” - right?- “If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God and whatever we ask, we receive from Him because." Because. Here's a cause-effect relationship. "Because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." You see it? See what John is saying?

Now John is not saying that we have built up a certain amount of merit by our own obedience that now makes our obedience the ground of access to God in prayer. No, no. It's not what he's saying. Remember, it's John who recorded the words of Jesus: "I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." It is John who said, "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:1–2). No, no. John has not forgotten his theology of the objective provision for sinners—being found in Christ and Christ alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

But John is saying that there's an inward personal condition if that access is to be enjoyed. And here it is: "If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. And whatever we ask, we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight." And what is the opposite of keeping His commandments? Well, surely it is covering our transgressions. For whenever sin or transgression is detected in a believer, the commandment of God comes home to his conscience that he is to confess that transgression. He is to turn from it. He is to acknowledge it before his God and seek cleansing in the blood of Jesus.

Therefore, when our text says, "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper," in its application to the child of God, it is saying this: Child of God, when you transgress, and rather than go through whatever kind of spiritual agony is necessary to come to true confession before God—and where necessary, before men—anything short of that, you're covering your sin. And you're covering your sin and covering your sin, you shall not prosper. There will be the forfeiture of access to God in prayer.

The psalmist stated it in those well-known words in Psalm 66:18, "If I see wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear." The Lord will not hear. If I see—that is, if I am conscious of its presence—but I throw the blanket of rationalization over it, I throw the blanket of shifted responsibility, I throw the covering of a lie, I throw the covering of refusing to drag it out into the blazing light of the law and the gospel. If I regard iniquity, if I countenance iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

Now, I did not say that God will paralyze a Christian so that he cannot say a prayer. Many of us have gone to our closet many times to say our prayers, that prayer closet, but there's been no access. There's been no experimental communion with God. Why? Because God is going to be true to His Word: "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper." And because we've covered transgression, regarded iniquity, God has refused to us the blessing of access.

There's no Christian who has walked with God for any length of time at all who does not know to his bitterness how real this is. He attempts to draw near to God and do something more than say his prayers. He wants to engage God in prayer. He wants access, and every time he gets down to serious business with God, as it were, that sin that he's been covering, that transgression that he knows he's been really covering, looms before him, really just gnawing his conscience.

Perhaps you are a living monument of the text. You're covering transgression. Oh yes, there's been some clever rationalization. There's been some very, you know, delicate, fancy footwork as you've woven your lies, perhaps as you spun out that very clever shifting of responsibility, but you're covering your transgression. You're a living monument to this text: "shall not prosper." Why? For some of you, perhaps, maybe, it's been weeks and months since you've accessed God in prayer that you once knew in the past. And now you say your prayers, but you have no access. Why? Because, beloved, God's Word is true: "He who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper."

Child of God, this text is for our warning. Is anything worth the forfeiture of access to God in prayer? Is anything worth that? Not if you've tasted it. Not if you've really tasted it.

Well, that leads us to the fourth way this manifests itself or the consequence. There will be the forfeiture of usefulness in the service of God. There'll be the forfeiture of usefulness in the service of God. Psalm 51:12–13, David again in that psalm, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation. Sustain me with a willing spirit. Then"—right?—"Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You."

The Lord Jesus said to Peter in Luke 22:31, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat. But I have prayed earnestly for you that your faith may not fail. And you, once you have returned"—that is, when you have turned again, when you are brought to deal honestly with your sin of denial—He says, "strengthen your brothers." Usefulness. "Restore to me, then I shall teach." "Once you have returned, strengthen your brothers."

When we begin to understand the clear teaching of Scripture—that every member of the body has a distinct and special function of ministry, both to the saints and to the world—what a tragic thing it is when sin is being covered, when transgression is being concealed. For whenever there is the covering of sin, there is no prosperity. You shall not prosper, child of God. There will be loss—the loss of usefulness in the service of God. There will be inability to see needs that you, under God, are able to meet. Or, if there is ability to see it, there will be no heart to meet it. And if there is ability to see and a heart to meet, there will be no enablement from the Holy Spirit to perform. And without all three, there is no true ministry.

"He that conceals his transgressions shall not prosper." The loss of enjoyment, the loss of joy and peace in the Holy Spirit, the loss of usefulness in the service of God.

Fifthly, there may be the forfeiture of assurance that one is a child of God. The forfeiture of assurance that one is a child of God. David had to pray in verse 11 and 12 in Psalm 51, "Do not cast me away from Your presence. Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation."

And again, I must say this, even though we've been studying John together and marvelous truth that we've studied again and again and again, let us be crystal clear again. The Scripture never teaches that a child of God ever falls away from grace. What God begins, He completes. We're saved forever. But my assurance that I'm in a state of grace can fluctuate due to my covering of sin.

And if we know our Bible, we know that our Scripture teaches that no Christian lives under the dominion of any sin. He's fighting sin. He's engaged in a battle. He may fall into sin, but he does not live in the dominion of any sin. Sin no longer reigns in us. It remains in us. There's the remains of sin, but it doesn't reign.

For you see, when there's a sin that's been covered for a period of time, then you have reason to begin to question, is that merely the fall of a man in grace? Or is that the revelation that there's no grace to begin with? And a man's assurance will be what? Shaken. And when a man of God who's known true assurance has that assurance shaken, he's like Bunyan's pilgrim when he lost his roll. He was filled with grief and sought it with tears until he found it again and placed it in his bosom.

If you have known a well-grounded biblical assurance based upon the sure promises of God's mercy to those who believe in Christ—an assurance based not only on the objective promises, but the evidences of a transformed life and the witness of the Spirit of God— I mean you could draw very little comfort from the objective promises when your life is questionable and when a grieved Spirit withdraws His presence in terms of His favor and power upon your life.

Now, the way you're going to start back is to hold tight to His promises when you're prepared to deal and have dealings with God concerning your sin. But you're trying to suck sweetness from the promises while you're still covering your transgression, dear one. You're turning the grace of God into a license to sin. And the conscience of a Christian when he's wrestling with some concealed transgression will try to get adjusted so it may find comfort in the promises and in the doctrine of the preservation of the saints. And that, beloved, is a butchering of the intent for which God gave those promises. They were meant to encourage us in the pursuit of holiness, not in the clinging to sin.

Am I talking tonight to someone who has known the blessed assurance of his standing—grace—but who this evening, under the convicting power of the Spirit of God, sees that the whole issue is up for questions? Why? Because sin has been covered. Sin is being covered.

In the sixth place, the child of God shall not prosper in that he will not only forfeit the enjoyment of God, forfeit joy and peace in the Holy Spirit, forfeit access to God in prayer, forfeit usefulness in the service of God, forfeit his assurance that he's a child of God. I mean, you could see the consequences. Is it worth it? But also, he will provoke the rod of God. He will provoke the rod of God.

Turn to Psalm 32. Look at verse 3 and 4: "When I kept silent about my sin, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For.” - See that little word For? It's really key.- “For day and night, Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the heat of summer."

Listen to what one commentator writes concerning this little word "for" here in this context: "'For,’ and I quote, explains why David wasted and groaned. It was retributive punishment directly from God. God's finger can crush us. What must His hand be? And pressing heavily and continuously. Under terrors of conscience, men have little rest by night, for the grim thoughts of the day dog them to their chambers and haunt their dreams, or else they lie awake in a cold sweat of dread." And he ends with this: "God's hand is very helpful when it uplifts, but it is awful when it presses down. Better a world on the shoulder like Atlas than God's hand on the heart like David." End of quote.

When you're dealing with a Christian—1 Corinthians 11—God determines that he shall not continue to cover his sin, that his sin shall be brought into the open, that he shall be brought back into the way of pursuing a life of holiness. And so Paul there in 1 Corinthians 11, dealing with the specific sins of the Corinthians, he writes this in verse 30: "For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world."

In other words, you Corinthians, by the sins you've committed, the sins you've covered, you provoke the rod of God's chastisement, God's discipline. And some of you are afflicted physically. You're weak. You're sickly. You find yourself afflicted with physical maladies. And some are, in fact, asleep. That is, they've come to death because God is so determined that He won't let you continue down that path, no longer bring reproach to His name by the sin that you've been covering.

Child of God, do you have a healthy fear of God's rod of correction? Do you fear your Father's rod? God's spankings come with sufficient severity that the child of God has a wholesome fear of the rod of His heavenly Father—loving heavenly Father.

Now, word of caution—and we've seen this before—but again, it is important to underscore here: again, not all sickness is an expression of the rod of God due to sin covered or transgression concealed. Some sickness is evidence that a man is walking blamelessly before God, and Job is the classic example. He was afflicted not because he was covering his sin, but because of his godliness—that his love for God was not circumstantial.

And so we must not say that if we see someone constantly afflicted physically, "Aha, they must be concealing sin." No, no. You ask yourself when affliction comes, "Lord, is it because I fail to judge myself?" And God wants us to know—it's like a puzzle. It's not like a puzzle. It's not like He's trying to hide it from us. He wants us to see it and deal with it and have dealings with Him.

So we ask Him, "Is this evidence of the truth of Proverbs 28:13, that “he who conceals his transgressions shall not prosper?"” “Lord, am I weak, and am I dealing with all of this because I've covered transgression?” Let us judge ourselves before whose eyes all things are naked and open.

There are other manifestations of the fulfillment of this text, and I'll close with this tonight. "Shall not prosper" with respect to the present. And time will not permit us, but anyways, I want to close by saying that, child of God, you shall not prosper with respect to future prospect as well.

You cannot be covering sin and maintaining a joyful anticipation of the return of Christ. So we can put it this way: there will be the forfeiture of a joyful anticipation of the return of Christ.

You see, the two are utterly impossible—concealing sin and maintaining a joyful anticipation of the return of Christ. The two are impossible to maintain. Turn with me to 1 John 2:28, and we'll close with that tonight: "And now, little children,”- look at it - “Now, little children, abide in Him so that when He is manifested, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming."

You see it? You know, child of God, as well as you know your own name, that there will be no rationalization, there will be no transferal of responsibility, blame shifting, there will be no equivocation. If you're a child of God, if you're a Christian, you know when your eye meets the eye of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, all coverings will be consumed and you have to face your sin honestly.

If you're not living conscious that His eye is upon you—*Coram Deo*—so you can say, "Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus, to the best of my knowledge, anything that Your Word and Your Spirit have revealed to me as transgression, as sin, my posture towards it is full and open confession by Your grace. My disposition is one of turning away from it by Your grace."

If you can't say that, then you have no joyful anticipation of the return of Jesus. When you know you have a controversy with the Lord Jesus, there's no joyful anticipation when He comes to take His church. Joyful anticipation of the return of Christ as the motivational life of a child of God—one of the most powerful motivating elements for faithfulness, for diligence in service—that is cut by the concealing of transgression in the life of a child of God.

How often the New Testament epistles make reference to the hope of His coming, and how often is the driving motive in the life of a Christian the fact that His Lord is coming. And dear one, you have no joyful anticipation of His coming if you're covering transgression—none whatsoever. And that's just a preview of the shame that shall be your portion when you meet Him if your sin is concealed.

There is a biblical doctrine of rewards for faithfulness, and there will be loss of rewards for unfaithfulness. And I don't think we can fully grasp all that is involved in this doctrine, but this much we know for sure: if I'm covering my sin, if I'm concealing transgression, I shall not prosper. For I cannot receive the full reward of a well-accomplished stewardship if my usefulness in the service of God is crippled because I conceal transgression.

If I carry out my service with no enjoyment of God because I'm covering sin, if I try to serve God while my own assurance is shaken, if I'm lying beneath the rod of God's righteous discipline, how can I serve with the freedom of a freshly purged conscience? No wonder Paul said, "I also do my best," Acts 24:16. "I also do my best"—this is Paul speaking—"I also do my best to maintain always a conscience without fault, both before God and before men." To maintain a conscience free of offense, without fault, both before God and before men. Oh, the blessedness of having a conscience void of offense to God and to my fellow men.

How can I have a conscience without offense toward God? Only by the blood of sprinkling. Only by bringing my sins, my transgressions, my shortcomings, my offenses out of my coverings and concealments, and honestly, and with true transparency and humility, cry out before the living God, "Oh God, I have sinned. I have sinned against You, and You only have I sinned." And how do I have a conscience without offense toward my fellow man? Well, whenever my confession must be horizontal, I'm willing to humble myself and make that confession to my spouse, to my child, to my friend, to my brother, to my work colleague. It doesn't matter. If I need to make it, I'll make it. Because "he that covers transgressions shall not prosper."

Maybe conscience is very active in some here tonight. And maybe there flashed upon the screen of your mind right now is that thing that you're attempting to cover. Maybe that thing that you have been concealing. Oh dear one, cover it no more. Cover it no longer. Is it worth it? Come to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness. Tell Him—will you tell Him tonight—that He's found you? Tell Him He's found you. Tell Him you're weary of living as a Christian with no conscious enjoyment of the presence of God. Tell Him you're weary of living with shaken assurance. Aren't you tired to live with a shaken assurance? Aren't you exhausted with that?
Tell Him you're weary of living with no consciousness of being used of God. Tell Him. Tell Him you're weary of dreading the coming of the Lord to take His church. And say to Him, "Oh God, grant me the promised mercy. Renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation."

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

What will you do with Jesus? That is the question. What will you do with Jesus? People imagine that they can ignore Jesus. People imagine that they can make no decision about Jesus—put Him on hold. People imagine that they can be confronted with the truth about Jesus, and if they choose to do so, choose to do nothing with Jesus.

There are some people, in all likelihood, who sit in our midst week after week after week after week. We imagine this. And they've been confronted with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ numerous times, but they've not trusted in Him as their Lord and Savior. Yet, they would not say that they reject Him. They would not say that they just don't believe the things that they're hearing concerning Him. They just imagine that they sit in some sort of a no-man's land and have time to do nothing with Him. That they can straddle the fence.

Some imagine that they could do this for a lifetime. I really don't know what they imagine exactly. I know they don't want to go to hell, if you talk to them. They want to go to heaven, but I guess they imagine they're going to live forever. So they can kick the can down the road a little bit more. And so for as long as they choose, they just choose to do nothing in their own mind with Jesus. Some actually have thought about it more than that. And they have consciously decided to put off the decision concerning Jesus. They say something like this: Well, you know, one day I would like to become a Christian. One day. One day I plan to trust in Christ. But it's just not right now. This is just not the right time for me.

Some even, in a sense, ignore the gospel by saying, I'm waiting for God to make the decision. It's in His court. You know, I just don't sense that He's called me yet. I just don't sense that He's called me to faith in His Son. So I'm just waiting for God to make this decision for me.
And what they ignore when they think that way is the fact that the gospel contains a command. The gospel contains a command. We're commanded to repent of our sins and to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're told that "today is the day of salvation." "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart." So God puts this before men in terms of a decision that they have to make, that they are to make. What will you do with Jesus?

And we know, we've studied this together, that when men do decide for the Lord Jesus, when they embrace Christ as Lord and Savior, it's only because God has been at work in His grace in a secret way by His Spirit doing the work of regeneration. That's why they desire to obey that command and to trust in Christ, to repent and believe. And yet it is still accurate to say and right to say and biblical to say that this choice is put before men.

What will you do with Jesus? Will you repent of your sins and trust in Christ as your Lord, as your Savior? Or will you reject Him? And whether you know it or not, when you do nothing with Jesus, you are doing something. Let me say that again. Whether you know it or not, when you do nothing with Jesus, you are doing something. And whether you know it or not, when you decide to do nothing, you are making a decision.

And you are being very foolish, and I say this lovingly and biblically, if you say, well, one day I would like to become a Christian. You are being foolish, according to Scripture, when you say one day, because you are not guaranteed another moment, according to Scripture. And if your life ends and you are not in Christ, you have not trusted in Him with saving faith, then you will spend eternity separated from God in a place called hell forever and ever and ever. And there are no re-do's. And there are no second chances.

The Word of God tells us that one day, every single human being who has ever lived will acknowledge the truth concerning Jesus. Isaiah 45:22 says this, Isaiah 45, 22 says this, : "Turn to Me and be saved. Turn to Me." That's a command. Turn to Me. It's a command, it's an invitation, but it's a command. "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, the Word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance."

Every human being who has ever lived will acknowledge the truth about Jesus. The New Testament equivalent of this is found in Philippians 2, in verse 9: "Therefore God has also highly exalted Him," referring to Christ, "and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee, without exception, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father." You see, either you will acknowledge the truth about Jesus as His disciple, as His follower, or you will acknowledge the truth about Christ even as you are among those who are damned forever in Hell. What will you do with Jesus? What will you do with Him?

Every human being will one day acknowledge the truth about Jesus. Jesus, now in verses 37 through 42—and especially 37 to 39—He brings people face to face with a decision that is set before them. In verses 37 through 39, He is addressing those who accused Him, you remember, of blasphemy. He tells them in these verses that there is a decision to be made. And that's where I want us to begin this morning—verses 37 through 39—and I want us to begin to consider this portion under this heading: the call for decision. The call for decision. What will you do with Jesus?

There are several things that I want us to see about this call for a decision. The Son of God is calling men to decision, and the question is, what do you see about this call? Verse 37, He says, "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me." And so the first thing that I would note about this call is that it is a confident call. This call for decision is a confident call. You know, they wanted to focus on His words; they wanted to ignore His works. And the reason they did so is because His works confirmed the truthfulness of His words.

His works demonstrated that He was worthy of the title: the Son of God. God the Son. He was indeed the Son of God. He and the Father were indeed one. He was truly God incarnate. He was truly the God-sent God. And His works demonstrated exactly that truth. And so He says to them, if you don't want to listen to My words, then pay attention to My works. Behold My works. And He says, if I'm not doing the works of My Father, if these are not good, noble, beautiful works, wholesome works, as He described them earlier—if they're not truly that—then reject Me. Walk away from Me.

Would you honestly consider My works? That's what He's saying. Would you take an honest look at My works? It's a confident call, isn't it? It's a confident call. You know, one of the things about truth is that it never has any reason to fear examination, right? The truth has no fear of examination—no reason for that. If you're speaking the truth, then it will stand up to the examination. Always. The truth indeed will set you free.

Jesus is not afraid for His works to be examined precisely because they were of the nature that He's described them to be. To be of. They were indeed the works of God. They were noble. They were God-glorifying. Something else that stands out to me in that 37th verse—when He says, if you determine that they're not the works of the Father, then don't believe. "Don't believe Me." Something you see about the Lord Jesus is He wasn't afraid to let someone walk away from Him. You see, this is exactly the case with the rich young ruler, right? Remember that encounter? Jesus loved him, but He lets the rich young ruler walk away from Him. And this needs to affect really the way we think about evangelism. This needs to affect the way we do evangelism and share the gospel. We need to know that we have the truth, that we hold in our hands the truth, that we have in our hearts the truth, the truth of the gospel. I mean, what we have in the Scripture is the God-inspired record of the words and the works of Jesus. And then you have the New Testament commentary upon those words and the works, the application of the truths that have to do with His words and His works in the epistles.

We have nothing to be afraid of when it comes to our witness to the world. We just need to speak the truth in a straightforward way, knowing that it's the truth. God's truth. God's Word. And we need to challenge men to examine it, challenge men to give honest thought to it. And we can say to them, if you don't believe it to be true, then walk away. And then we must be willing to let them walk away.

See, I'm afraid what has happened instead is the church of our generation has become a church full of salespeople. And we think that we have to sell the gospel. We think that we have to sell the Lord Jesus. You know, we have to make a good pitch. And so we press people for a decision. A decision. Parent a prayer, raise a hand, walk an aisle. We twist arms. We bring superficial professions of faith in Jesus and the evidence is left thereafter that they were not truly His disciples. No transformed lives.

We would do better to evangelize the way that the Lord Jesus shared Himself. But not only is it a confident call, notice the second thing that we notice about this call, that it's also a decisive call. It is a decisive call. I mean, He calls for a decision right then. He says in verse 37, "If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me." What's it going to be? Are you going to believe or not? "But if I do them," verse 38, "even though you do not believe Me, believe the works." If you discover that these are indeed the works of God, then believe them, which leads, of course, to belief in Him. Because notice the next part of verse 38, "so that." That's the end in view. That's the purpose. "So that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me and I am in the Father." In other words, if you find that My works are not what I've described them to be, then walk away from Me. But if you find them that they are indeed as I've described them to be, then believe them so that you may know something about Me and something about My Father. It's a decisive call.

Now notice a few things about this particular statement that Jesus makes. When He gives these words, when He says these words to these people, I want you to notice with me that these are gracious words. These are gracious words coming from the lips of the One who's full of grace. The One who's full of grace. Think about this. I mean, this is the Son of God. This is the Word incarnate. This is God in human flesh. This is the Son of God condescending to reach out to these rebellious men. These men, get the picture in your mind, they're standing there with stone in their hands ready to kill Him.

And what does Jesus do? He's reaching out to them with these gracious words, challenging them, calling them to believe in Him, to turn to Him and be saved. And He appeals to them in a way that is designed to clear away their unbelief, to clear away the debris of unbelief. And when I say He condescends, this is what I mean. He says, listen, if you're stumbling over the words, if the words would seem too incredible to you to believe, then believe the works. Examine the works. Behold the blind man who now can see. He's clearing away obstacles to bring them to the place of faith.

These are gracious words. But they're also humble words. They're humble words. One of the things that has to be challenged in us, beloved, one of the sinful things in us that has to be challenged when we look at the life of our Lord is His humility compared to our pride. Because there are men who would be offended if we're not willing to hear their words and would never consider saying, well, if my words are the issue, then set them aside, just examine the works. In other words, the Son of God is willing to be tested, have His word tested by His works. These are mere creatures of the dust. That's humility. If you're stumbling over My words, then look at My works. Gracious words, humble words.

But notice something else. Even though they're gracious and humble words, these words are non-negotiable words. They're non-negotiable words. Because whether you're convinced by His works or whether you're convinced by His words, there's a definite place of understanding you must be brought to. Verse 38, "But if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works so that you may know and continue knowing, continue to know that the Father is in Me and I in the Father." This is where you must arrive to be a Christian. You must recognize the truth about the person of Jesus. You must recognize the truth about His nature, who He truly is.

You must believe Him when He tells you what He tells you in verse 30, "I and the Father are one." And what does it mean when He says, "The Father is in Me and I in the Father" in verse 38? He means they are one, one in substance, one in essence, one in purpose. Very God of very God. And this is what you must believe in order to be saved. You must believe that Jesus is the Son of God. You must believe that He is God in human flesh, God incarnate. You must believe that He lived the life that the Bible says that He lived. That He died the death that the Bible says that He died. And that He was raised from the dead victorious. And that He is the only way to the Father. You must believe this to be saved concerning Christ.

So whether His works lead you to this understanding or His words lead you to this understanding, this is the place that you must come to. There is no other way to be saved. You cannot be saved. You cannot come to God while rejecting the truth about the Son of God, the Christ. Mormons desire us to consider them Christians. But Mormons are not Christians, are they? And why are they not? Because they do not understand the nature of God. They do not understand the nature of Christ. They would have us to believe that there are many gods.

Jehovah's Witnesses, same thing. In fact, they are false witnesses. And they would like to use the same language that you use and have you believe that they are real. They would like to use the same language that you use and have you believe that they really don't believe that much differently than you believe and I believe. But their beliefs are so different, far different than yours and mine. Aren't they? Because they deny God being one, is a triune God. They deny that Jesus is one with the Father, co-equal, co-eternal, always existing as God along with the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. They deny this. Are they Christians? Absolutely not. They are not Christians.

You see, whether by His works or by His words, this is what you must understand: that He and the Father are one. That God is one, yet He always existed as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—three distinct persons, one God. The Son of God came to earth. He lived a life the Bible says that He lived and died the death the Bible says He died and was raised from the dead. He died on the third day and is the only way to the Father. He shed His blood, and His shed blood is the only way for sinners to have their sins remitted. The only way.

And so this is a confident call. Jesus says, examine My works. If they're not as I've described them to be, then walk away from Me. But if they are as I've described them to be, then you must believe the works and understand that the Father is in Me and I in the Father. It is a decisive call.

Which gets to the third thing. You see about this call that it was a rejected call. Sadly, it was a rejected call. Though He was gracious with them, exhibited humility toward them, what was their response? Rejection. They rejected Him. How did they respond to these words? How? Again, they sought to arrest Him. They went on seeking what they sought in the first place.

Look at verse 39: "Therefore, they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp." Now, we're not told here how He eluded their grasp, how He did this. It really doesn't matter what form it took, does it? Here's the bottom line: His hour had not yet come. God operates according to His own divine timetable, right? And so they're not able to seize Him. He leaves.

But I want us to see something very interesting—the play on words here. The contrast between that statement and the preceding statements earlier in this chapter. Go back to verse 28 and look at this with me together. Jesus said, "I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, ever, and no one is able to snatch them out of My hand." Here is the Greek word. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." Verse 39: "Therefore, they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their hand." Of course, when you're in the hand of the Father, it doesn't make any difference whose hands are seeking to lay themselves upon you, does it? If you're in the hand of God, you will escape out of the hands of all of those who seek to hurt you, to lay hold of you. You're safe and secure in the hand of God, and nothing—absolutely nothing—will come into your life, child of God, without it first passing through the sacred desk of God. Absolutely nothing.

So a call to decision. And before we move on, I just want to say again today that if you are not a child of God, if you are not in Christ, if you are not a Christian, and you have sat in this place before many, many times and you've heard the gospel in this place—perhaps you heard the gospel in your home from your parents, from your husband, from your wife, from your family member, from your friend—over and over again, I want you to know that as long as you go on doing nothing with Jesus, you've done something with Jesus. There is no middle ground. If you don't believe in Him, then walk away from Him. But if you believe His works, that they are noble and beautiful and God-glorifying, then you must trust in Him, because the day is coming. You either will bow the knee and confess that Jesus is Lord as His disciple, or you will do so as one who is part of the multitudes who are damned in hell. By bowing and confessing, you will and you must.

What will you do with Jesus?

Will you please now notice with me the contrast that we see in verse 40? Now, the contrasting picture: “And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. And many came to Him and were saying, ‘While John did no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.’ And many believed in Him there.” Now, we've talked about this before, but I want to remind us of it again. See, if John wanted to record everything that Jesus did and everything that Jesus said, there was no way for him to do it.

In fact, he says in John 21:25, “There are so many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written one after the other, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” Listen also to how he put it with the purpose clause in John 20:30: “Therefore, many other signs Jesus also did in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life in His name.” John says, I didn't write everything that I could have, but what I've written is written with a design, with a purpose—that you may believe that He is indeed the Son of God, God the Son, that believing in Him also you may have life in His name.

So there's much about the life of Christ that we don't have in the Gospel of John. Yet guided by the Spirit, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he sees fit to record after this conversation—this confrontation with these hard-hearted men, ready to kill Him—this portion in verse 40 to verse 42. He went back to Perea, also known as Bethabara, to the place where John was first baptizing, and the Scripture says He was staying there, He was abiding there. And then we have a brief description of what took place.

Now why? Why does John record this? Well, why is it there? I believe one reason the Holy Spirit gives us this is that it is in such contrast—stark contrast—to what we've just read. I mean, it's night and day difference, isn't it? In verse 40, notice Jesus is welcomed in Perea. “He went away again beyond the Jordan,” we read, “to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there”—*meno*, abiding, remaining there. That is to say, He was able to stay there, to abide there, to rest.

In Jerusalem, Judea, Jerusalem—they're constantly seeking for His life, but He's able to remain here for a time. See the contrast: Jerusalem and here in Perea. And notice what's going on while He's there. Verse 41: “Many came to Him.” Many came to Him. Now, they're not coming to Him because they're settled in unbelief. They're not coming to Him because they're trying to entrap Him, find something against Him, undermine Him. They're coming to Him because they're open to faith in Him. They're seeking Him. They're genuinely interested, genuinely wanting to know who He really is. It's a marked difference—a stark difference, isn't it—between the two?

In Jerusalem, there they are, spying on Him. They're trying to entrap Him. He's walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon, verse 23, and they encircle Him like sharks. They surround Him like hyenas, and they begin to pepper Him with questions. This is the atmosphere in Jerusalem. But when He goes to Perea, oh, it's completely different. Totally different. He's able to rest, He's able to stay there, and we read, "And many came to Him," and not because they're settled in their unbelief, but because they are open to believe in Him. It's different, and I always marvel at the detail of God's Word, really. It's always marvelous. It just always—it just makes me happy when I discover these things as I read the Word of God.

Because notice what verse 41 says: "And many came to Him and were saying," notice this, "While John did what? No sign." Stunning, isn't it? "While John did no sign, yet everything John," what's the next word, "said," "said about this man was true." Do you see the contrast? You catch it?

In Jerusalem, they won't believe a thing Jesus is saying, and though they've seen many signs—the last one was the man born blind receiving his sight—they don't believe what they see. But at this time here, in this place, in Perea, what they have to go on at this point is, as Jesus comes to them, what they're remembering is the witness of His forerunner, John the Baptist, what he said concerning Jesus. And they said, "John did no sign," yet even though they had no sign of John the Baptist to go on, these people believe everything now that they met Jesus. They believe everything that John said about Jesus.

The witness of John the Baptist is effectual in their case. The words have found a home in their heart. The words have found fertile soil in their heart, and the words have become effectual in them without signs. Without works, they were willing to believe the words, which gets to the 42nd verse: "And many believed in Him there."
Despite the works, despite the words of Jesus, they don't believe in Him in Jerusalem. But now, based upon no works but the words of His forerunner and what they've experienced as Jesus is in their midst, many believe in Him.

Listen to what S. Lewis Johnson said concerning this section here. It's really very helpful for us. He writes, "Now notice the last statement, and many believed on Him there. In other words, not in Judea where they had the Bible, where they had the priest, where they had the tradition, where they had the temple, where they had the knowledge, but many of them believed on Him there," referring to Perea. In the original text, there's a bit of emphasis upon the adverb, "many believed upon Him there."

He goes on to say, "One of the saddest things is to see a congregation in which the Word of God is proclaimed in truthfulness, harmony with the Scriptures, in the Holy Spirit, accurately, and the congregation is indifferent, and lethargic, and cold, and unresponsive. And then to go to another assembly where the Word of God is not preached very strongly, where there are no real depth of teaching, it's somewhat artificial, superficial, and yet there they are—hungry, spiritually hungry individuals who are responsive to the Word." He says, "That's great, but what a condemnation it was for Judea that many believed upon Him there in Perea, just as there might be no responsiveness in Believer's Chapel," referring to the church which he's serving. And we can really easily substitute this with Grace Chapel, "but some believing on Him elsewhere. But it's very possible that there's responsiveness to the Word of God in places where they don't really have the opportunity that some of us have had. It's something to thank God for, but it's something also to weep over." End of quote.

So you have a call for decision, and the Holy Spirit sets before us a contrasting picture. People who don't believe despite the works and words of the Son of God, and people who do believe, and they've been influenced, according to this text, by the words—and no works—by the words of John the Baptist, the forerunner. And the day of decision is still with us. Still here. What will you do with Jesus?

Here we are 2,000 years later, and we have the record before us, and the time of decision is still here. What will you do with this record? What will you do with this record? What will you do with the gospel? What will you do with Jesus? What will you do with the words concerning Jesus, the words of Jesus, and the works of Jesus that have been preserved for us by God in this book? What will you do? What will you do with Christ? What have you done with Him? What have you done with Him?

In light of what we've seen today in these verses, I'd like to finish and conclude this morning with five observations by way of application. Five observations. And first of all, the first one: notice that faith—first of all—faith is something worked internally, not externally.

Faith is something worked internally, not externally. That is, if external evidence alone is what brings men to Jesus, then you would be able to say wherever you have the more powerful external evidence, then you will find greater faith, right? Greater external evidence, greater faith—that's what you would expect to find if that's what brings men and women to faith in Christ. And yet, we find right here in this text that that doesn't match up, does it?

In Jerusalem, they've seen His works. "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?" (verse 32), right? They've seen much undeniable signs, and yet they don't believe. And here you have people in Perea who have been influenced by the words of John the Baptist. They've seen no sign; they just heard words concerning Christ, seen it confirmed in their midst as Jesus is abiding there with them, and they're willing to believe.

As I thought about this, I thought, isn't it amazing? Isn't it amazing that after three years of public ministry, in spite of the fact that multitudes, multitudes, multitudes followed Jesus, multitudes were intrigued by Him, isn't it something else that gathered together in that upper room after His life, after His death, after His resurrection, as they were waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit—Isn't it amazing that there were, how many people? 120. Just 120. That's it. 120.
Not 20,000, not 30,000, not a stadium full of people—120 people. That's it. And that's after dead men had been raised like Lazarus. That's after blind men had been given their sight. Deaf people were able to hear. People who had bodies maimed by disease were made whole. And what do you have there in that upper room? 120 people. That's it.

Beloved, it's not external evidence, it's not the power of external evidence that produces faith in sinners. It's the work of God. It's the work of God in the heart that produces faith—not something set before their eyes, not something they hear with their physical ears on a physical, external level—but God's regenerating work in the heart, the ears of the heart. That's what produces faith. And that is not to say that God works faith apart from His Word being heard. No, no, because Romans 10 verse 17 says, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the words of Christ."

But what it is to say is that the Word of Christ and the works of Christ will be ineffectual; they will not produce faith in natural men apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the sinner. Faith isn't produced by something external, Beloved. It's produced by the work of the Holy Spirit, and it's an internal work. It's a heart work. And again, this is important for our thinking concerning witnessing and evangelism.

Think about how some Christians approach the subject of apologetics. They act as if somehow we're going to argue someone into the Kingdom of God. Apologetics has a place, but, Beloved, you will not bring someone into the Kingdom of God by the power of argument. The only way any argument will ever be convincing to anyone is when the Holy Spirit makes someone willing. Apart from that, all your arguments will be ineffectual, won't have any impact whatsoever.

This also gets to the idea of what you are hearing today in the charismatic circles. I'm referring to the idea of what is called as power evangelism. This is the belief that the reason why we need signs and wonders—and they must still be in existence—because this is the way that God uses to bring men to faith in His Son. They call it power evangelism.

I really want to say to such people, have you read the Gospels? Have you really read the Gospels? Because who could do more than Jesus did when He was on earth? And what do you have—120 people? And even those who followed Him because of the fireworks, right? When He fed the multitudes and did all these miracles, Jesus did not actually commit Himself to them. He did not believe in their belief. He did not entrust Himself to them. The people of His day looked right in the face of those miracles, and they did not believe Him.

In fact, as we will see next time in John 11—I mean, well, actually, you'll see it at the end of John 11—look over for just a moment. At the end of John 11, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, and the verse immediately following that miracle—look at verse 45—notice: "Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what He had done believed in Him." And I'm amazed at verse 46. Look at verse 46: "But,” not a good one, it's not a good but, “but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done." Can you imagine that? That you could be witness to such a thing, such an incredible miracle, and the conclusion you come to is, we've got to go and turn Him in. Verse 47: "Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Sanhedrin together and were saying, 'What are we doing? What are we going to do? For this man is doing many signs.'" You talk about self-condemning—a self-condemning comment. He's performing many signs, so what are we going to do?

Can't help but think, well, why didn't someone speak up and say, what are we to do? We're to believe in Him. We're to believe in Him. But no, that's not what they say. That's not even what they meant, because we're told what they meant in verse 48. Look at verse 48: "If we let Him go on like this, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." We're going to lose our place. We're going to lose our sway. We're going to lose our control, our authority. People are going to actually believe in Him. This is in the face of One who has raised a dead man, and he's been dead for four days, verse 39 tells us. No, that's not how men are brought to faith in Christ—not externally. It's internal. That's the first observation by way of application.

Second observation that I want us to notice: notice, however, having said that, that God uses means in bringing men to faith. God uses means. Now, the means are not salvific. They are simply instrumental. But He uses means. The means are unable by themselves to bring men to faith, but God has chosen to use means to bring men to faith in His Son.
God used here the testimony of John the Baptist to prepare the way to Christ on this occasion. Only God can bring men to faith, but God will do this through the preaching of the gospel, through the witness of His people, through the prayers of the saints, through our life's testimony, through the testimony of our words. God will use this to bring men to Himself.

Jesus, in John 17 and verse 20, praying for His people, He says this: "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word." Word. How are they going to come to believe? Through the means of the word. The word. Their word, their testimony, their evangelism.

So only God can bring men to faith, but how is He going to do it? He's going to do it through the preaching of the gospel. He's going to do it through the prayers of His people interceding on behalf of sinners. He's going to do it through the testimony of our lives.

Yet all of that—and this is where we can rejoice in God as Savior—all of that we recognize will be completely and utterly ineffective apart from the Spirit's work, working in the hearts of dead men. We can preach all day long and no one will be saved if the Holy Spirit does not do His mighty inward work. We are dependent on the Spirit of God. And you can live a testimony before somebody forever and ever, but if the Holy Spirit does not open their heart, they won't see, they won't understand, and they won't come.

And as that gets into your mind and gets into your heart, it will help you, Christian. It will help you because it will set you free in many ways. Believers are often frustrated. Why? Why don't they see? Why? Why don't they listen? Why don't they come? Can't they see the difference? Can't they see the difference that God has done in my life? Can't they see how the Lord has changed my life? They should be able to, but if the Lord doesn't open their heart, they won't be able to. They won't recognize it for what it really is, just like they don't recognize the works of Jesus for what they really were.

But there's a third observation I want us to notice. Notice that God can use a witness given a long time before. God can use a witness given a long time before. What a tremendous hope. What a tremendous hope. Instead of remembering the words of John the Baptist—he's gone, right?—"While John did no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true." Words spoken long before. Bear in mind, John is dead. John is off the scene, but he's still speaking. His words are still having an effect. He spoke the word of God, he spoke the truth of God, and God's truth goes on in its effect. It's unstoppable.

Though he was dead, he was still speaking, and this is what we read in Hebrews 11:4, testimony of Abel: "By faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he was approved as being righteous, God approving his gift." And then the Bible says this: "And through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks." Isn't it wonderful to know that God's word has a life of its own? Isn't it? And you know what? You can't lock it up. You can't. You can lock up the messenger, but you can't lock up the word of God.

Isn't that what Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:9, talking about the gospel? He says, concerning the gospel, "I endure hardship even to chains as a criminal, but the word of God has not been chained." The word of God has not been chained. The word of God is not chained. The word of God is not bound. It cannot be locked up.

Let me encourage you, beloved. Maybe you witness to someone, and you say, you know, I've witnessed, and I've witnessed, and I've witnessed, and I've witnessed, and there's no effect. Beloved, listen. Until the person you've been witnessing to has died, it's not over. It's not over. And God may use the words that you've spoken long after you have forgotten about it, and even long after you've gone. Even if you were to go to glory, those words can be used by God. Long after you've spoken what you spoke, long after you've shared what you've shared, God may quicken that word to their hearts many, many days, and many, many, many years after that, because God's word is not bound. God's word is not chained.

So here God is using words spoken by John the Baptist long after they were spoken.
That brings us to the fourth observation, and I want us to notice in this text—and we know this, but it rejoices our hearts to really say it. I want you to remember that the identity of Jesus is not determined by the people making the decision. The identity of Jesus is not determined by the people who are making the decision. This is really important for us to remind ourselves of.
We can ask, what is the difference between Jesus in Jerusalem and Jesus in Perea? What has changed about Him? Have His words changed? Have His works changed? No. Not at all. The difference is not in Jesus. The difference is in these two groups and what they were able to recognize. The group in Jerusalem did not recognize the truth. The group in Perea did. But He hasn't changed. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's the Savior no matter what you think of Him, and He's the only Savior no matter what you decide about Him. There's only one Savior. He is the Savior.

And I pray that the church would again get this character to Her preaching and teaching and witnessing. I pray that we would send a clear message, crystal clear message, that Jesus is not a beggar in need of your approval. We are the beggars in need of His acceptance. Jesus isn't saying, oh, oh, oh, would you please accept Me in the sense that somehow He needs us. He doesn't come to us because He needs us. He doesn't come to us—whether we know it or not—because we need Him desperately. We desperately need Him.

And it's gracious and it's merciful that the Son of God would offer Himself to those people. It's not out of need. It's out of love, out of grace, out of mercy, out of compassion, out of pity. And one group decided that He wasn't worthy to be believed and followed, and the other believed in Him. But Jesus was the same. One group was saved. The other was lost.

A fifth observation that I want us to notice. It's simple and it's on the surface, but it needs to be said. Notice that Christ is offered to both groups. Christ is offered to both groups. He was genuinely offered to the group that rejected Him as well as the group that accepted Him. And this is the wonder of God's mercy and grace to our own day, to this day.

The Gospel will be preached by God's will and design and purpose and plan. It will be preached not only to those who believe and receive Him, but to those who don't believe Him and won't receive Him. And the offer in both cases is absolutely genuine. Remember the words of Christ? "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem" (Luke 13:34), "the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you did not want."

This is the truth that's hard for us to grasp in our finite mind—that though men, because of what sin has done to us, though men cannot see, cannot understand, and will not understand the things of the Spirit of God apart from the sovereign saving grace of God and the working regeneration in their soul—even though that's true, men are still responsible to believe and they're offered the Gospel freely.

Child of God, aren't you grateful today that you're found among the many who believed in Him there? In verse 42. May your heart be filled with gratitude. You were dead in sins. You were dead in trespasses until quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit and were enabled to answer the call and embrace the grace offered in Christ. And this enabling power is no less power than that which raised up Christ from the dead.

What happened to you if you're a Christian? What happened to you if you're a child of God? You were made alive together with Christ. You were raised from the dead spiritually. You heard the voice of the Son of God, the language of John 11, and you lived. And you were enabled by that power to hear the call, to respond to the call. You were enabled by the power to desire Christ. And so you embraced Him.

Oh, child of God, consider afresh what your Lord God has done for your soul. He quickened you when you were dead in trespasses and sins. He gives you light and peace to your soul. He feeds you with the bread of life. He cures all your spiritual diseases. He quells all your manifold enemies and temptations. And He strengthens you with His grace day by day. He does all that is done in you by grace. And He will never cease working in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

What's the difference between these two groups that we've seen today? It's not explained externally. One group had less evidence than the other. The group that believed had less evidence than the group that didn't. No, the difference was in that secret work in the soul wrought by the Spirit of God that enabled men to see what another group could not see and understand what another group could not understand and believe what another group did not believe.

You see, this is in your own witnessing experience. You see the same thing if you just think about it for a minute. Isn't it amazing how you meet with people? You even sense the Lord working in you, in your witness to them. I mean, He brings things to mind, clear, cogent arguments are presented to them and you're able to articulate this with precision and they're not convinced. And they're not convinced. And you meet other people who are every bit as intelligent as the others, who may have even been from just external dealings with them. You thought they're more hardened to the gospel than others. And yet, as you begin to share, and you could tell the Holy Spirit has prepared the soul of the heart because it's not hard for them to see and it's not difficult for them to believe. And you don't need all these overwhelming apologetic arguments to convince them and they are receptive, responsive and you're scratching your head, it's like, how can this be? They see, they hear, they understand, they believe. And how did they come to believe? God worked in their heart. Have you believed? If you have, it's the Lord's work. If you haven't, the Lord calls you to decision today. Even today. What will you do with Jesus?

You see the words of Jesus. You see the words of Jesus. What will you do with Jesus? May your response be in the language of the words of the song: "Your word is living light upon our darkened eyes, guards us through temptations, makes the simple wise. Your word is food for famished ones, freedom for the slave, riches for the needy soul. Come speak to us today."
You see the words of Jesus and you see the works of Jesus. What will you do with them? What will you do with Jesus? The greatness of these words consisted in this. They were all outward signs. John's favorite word with reference to miracles: sign. Pointing to a spiritual truth, a spiritual reality. They were outward testimonies of the far more noble operations of His grace within the soul.

Just to remind us, when He gave sight to the blind, He gave sight to the blind that He might display to all men His sovereign power in giving light and understanding to the mind, that He's the light of the world. When He opened the deaf ear, He opened it so that men might know that by whom alone they can hear aright the good news of salvation and live forever. The lame He caused in a moment to walk that His people might learn that we can only move as well as and live and have our being in Him, and that without Him we could do absolutely nothing.

He cured the foul leprosy of the body in order to show that only by Him can men be healed of the far more deplorable leprosy of sin, which covers and defiles the soul. And all sicknesses vanished at His command that we might have hope in Him as the restorer of our souls. And He cast out unclean spirit that He might teach us that He alone delivered and can deliver His people from the powers of darkness.

The hungry multitudes were fed by His miraculous power to explain this marvelous truth: that He is not only the giver of spiritual life but the constant sustainer and the nourisher of it every single day, moment by moment. And He did it by small insignificant means that the excellencies of the power might be known to be His and not in the creatures, however sanctified, however blessed and used. And the winds and the waves were instantly obedient to His word that His beloved might rejoice in Him as the stiller of all spiritual waves and tumultuous madness of this world, and the ragings of Satan and his demons, and the confusion of all things.

These can roar and foam no longer than it pleases the Master. And when they foam and roar at all, it shall turn out in the end for the good of His people and the glory of His name. And the dead were raised to proclaim His power as our risen, exalted Lord and to declare that the issues also of spiritual life and spiritual death are altogether in His hand.

What will you do with Jesus? When is the time for decision? It's now. What must I do to be saved? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." Turn from your sins. Trust in Him, and the Lord will save you. And God is calling you this day. That's why—did you know that?—that's why you sit under this message today. God is calling you. Will you obey the call?

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Take your Bibles with me, and let us return one last time to the book of Malachi, Malachi chapter 4. We are concluding our studies in the book of Malachi, and it's been an exciting study, and I'm so thankful to the Lord for His Word here in this book. Starting next week, Lord willing, we will look at dealing with sin for a few messages, a couple of messages perhaps, and then following that, we will begin a new study in the books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and I'm really excited to spend that time together in the Word of God.

And the Word of God reads, "For  behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them aflame", says Yahweh of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing," says Yahweh of hosts.

"Remember the law of Moses, My servant, even the statutes and judgments which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction."

Really, if you were to look at the book of Malachi, the book of Malachi is really an affirmation of the faithfulness of God. God is faithful. An affirmation of the faithfulness of God. Now, at first reading, it may not sound like what is being emphasized here is the faithfulness of God because the book ends on the note of judgment, as was read in your hearing. But make no mistake about it. This is an affirmation of the faithfulness of God. "Great is Thy faithfulness," would be a fitting hymn to sing, to proclaim.

The faithfulness of God in His holiness. The faithfulness of God in His sovereignty. In the fact that He will rule what He has made. The faithfulness of God in terms of His power, His might, His knowledge, His wisdom. All of this being put on display through the promise of justice.
God is faithful to judge. He is the Judge of all judges. God is faithful in terms of justice.

You remember, this is one of the ways that the people have sinned against Yahweh. They had claimed that His justice was in doubt. In fact, their claim was even stronger than that. They implied that God's justice is a lie.

Malachi 2, verse 17: "You have wearied Yahweh with your words. But you say, 'How have we wearied Him?' In that you say, 'Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Yahweh, and He delights in them,' or, 'Where is the God of justice?'"

Remember that, right? God, You claim to be God of justice, but we look at our world, we don't see Your justice. We don't see it. We look at how things are for us right now, we look at the surrounding nations, and we wonder, where is the God of justice? Some justice.
Well, now Malachi ends the book, this book of prophecy, with the promise that not only will Israel see the justice of God, the entire world will see the justice of God. It's a reminder that God's judgment may be delayed, but it's never in doubt. Never in doubt. Never. Never.

James Montgomery Boyce said this, and I quote: "Because God was unchanging in His holiness and justice, it follows that the inevitability of His judgment upon the wicked is unchanging also. The final chapter of Malachi virtually shouts for us to see this, for it begins, 'Surely the day is coming.' Verse 1." And he goes on to say,  "The judgment of God may be postponed. For the most part, it has been postponed for the long years of human history—postponed but not forgotten. Delay is not elimination. Judgment will come."Judgment will come.
 
And Malachi has already declared that this judgment will be delivered. It will be delivered in the presence of the Messiah. He Himself personally will judge. He is the Judge. The day of the Lord, the final day, the great day, is the day when God Himself brings justice.

Go back to chapter 3 and you'll see it. Verse 1: "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says Yahweh of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a smelter's fire and like fullers’ soap. And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to Yahweh offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Yahweh as in the ancient days and as in former years. Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the sojourner and do not fear Me, says Yahweh of hosts. For I, Yahweh, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed."

Faithful. Faithful. Absolutely faithful in terms of the promises. You know those promises. The free grace promises that He's made concerning His people. And perfectly faithful when it comes to His promise to judge.

What we have here in chapter 4, the very end of the book, is really a restatement of those truths. It's a reaffirmation of what God has already promised.
Again and again, there's that reaffirmation here. And in fact, it would be the final word until the first coming of the Messiah would come to pass. The last word until the Elijah, who would introduce the messenger of the covenant, would come on the scene—John the Baptist.

So tonight we conclude the book of Malachi by looking at the day, the great day of Yahweh.
Verse 1: "For behold, the day is coming." Oh, the day is coming. It's coming. Delay is not a denial. It's coming. The day is coming. The great day of Yahweh is coming. Behold. And we're going to look at the day, and we're going to see this day in terms of four relationships that are associated with that day, four relationships spoken of in our text. And here's relationship number one. Again, this day in connection with these relationships.

Relationship number one: we see the day of Yahweh, the great day of Yahweh, and its relationship, first, to arrogant evildoers. The day and its relationship to arrogant evildoers. Verse 1: "For behold, the day is coming," – now watch the language –  "burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them aflame, says Yahweh of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch."

So here's the question: What will the day of the Lord mean for the arrogant evildoer? What will it mean to them? The arrogant—that is, those who arrogantly defy the living God, disregard His Word, reject His offers of mercy, ultimately then rejecting His Son. What will the day hold for all those people? All the evildoers—evildoers by nature, evildoers by choice.

Well, the text declares several things that this day will mean for them. Look at it together. First of all, it's going to be, number one, a day of certain judgment. It will be a day of certain judgment for the arrogant evildoer. The verse begins with the word, "Behold." "For behold, the day is coming." Behold—in other words, take note, take note of this. Look at this. Don't miss it. Don't bypass it. The day is coming. In fact, the day is on its way.

And then He goes on to describe what that day is going to mean for those who are being mentioned. The day is coming. God's judgment is certain. And that's something that God should be worshiped for. That's something that, if men would ever admit it, it's something that humanity really longs for in some sense. Men, of course, are twisted when it comes to the idea of justice. But mankind, in general terms, cries out for justice. Mankind realizes that wrong should be punished.

Now, man gets the right wrong and the wrong right because of the fall, because of depravity. But instinctively, he knows there must be some kind of justice in the universe. And yet, when it comes to the justice spoken of concerning the God of the Bible, man does not, in general, rejoice in it because he has a guilty conscience. Because he has a guilty conscience. He knows himself to be a sinner. He knows himself to be accountable to the God of justice.
So, he either expresses doubt that this day will actually occur, or he dreads it. Or he dreads it. He may not doubt it, but he doesn't want to think about it. He may not doubt it, but he doesn't want to speak of it. He wants to just live his life acting as if it will never come. It will never arrive because he fears it through the knowledge of his sin.

And we'll see it in just a moment, but the good news for you and for me, His sheep, is that where we stand on the grace of God—if we stand on the grace of God in Christ Jesus—there is no fear of holy justice. There is no fear of holy justice. Because God, as Holy Judge, has already judged all of our sins in the body of His Son on the tree. All of them. All of them. Every single one of them. Jesus paid it all. All. All of it.

And when the Judge has justified you, when the Judge has declared you right with Himself in His Son, there is absolutely nothing left to condemn you. Therefore, now, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. There's nothing and no one left to condemn you. There's nothing left to condemn you.

Romans 8 declares this wonderful truth in verse 33: "Who will bring a charge against God's elect?" Who? Who? Stand up. Stand up. Who is it? If you're there, you know, you want to bring a charge, bring a charge. Well, stand. Well, who? There's no one. No one.

And I love the way that Paul reasons here. He says, "God is the one who justifies." God is the one who justifies. It is God who justifies. Did you grasp that? I mean, this is incredible. It's the One who's going to judge that has declared you right with Himself. So, if the Judge declares you right with Himself, then who is left to condemn you? Who? The verdict is already in.

He goes on to write in verse 34, Romans 8: "Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died." The Judge of all the earth is the One who laid down His life for you, he's saying. "Yes, rather, who was raised," which is to say that His offering on behalf of wretched sinners was what? Sufficient. It was sufficient. It was accepted. It was successful. There's nothing left to condemn you.

Paul continues, "Who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." I mean, in every way, Paul was stacking up these explanations to say that if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, we know Him as Lord and Savior, you have no reason whatsoever to fear holy justice because it has been fully satisfied by God Himself, in your case, in the body of His Son on the tree. Period. Paragraph. Amazing, isn't it?

But if you don't stand in the grace of God, if you don't stand in the grace of God, you have every reason to fear that day, to be trembling, to be gripped with trepidation, to be overcome with fear and panic. Because men and women will then be judged, and everything that you've ever done in life has been recorded, and one day you will answer for every single one of those deeds and words and motivations. In fact, the Bible says here that that day for the wicked, for the arrogant, is going to be a day like the language of Malachi—like a furnace, like an oven, like a furnace. Malachi 4 verse 1: "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace." But beloved, it's not just a day of certain judgment. I want us to see also that it's going to be a day of consuming judgment.

Consuming judgment. Look at the text: "Burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be" – here it is – "chaff." Chaff. They themselves are spoken of here as being burned up. What that day will mean for them is absolute devastation. Everything they think that they've achieved, everything they think commends them—that is, they glory in it, they take pride in it—everything they place their confidence in, the strong towers as it were they built in their minds, everything that they currently enjoy and find satisfaction and pleasure in.

You know, I don't have time to think about God or His church or His Word, I'm just too busy enjoying my life and, you know, building my career and building my fortune and pursuing pleasures. So everything that they've enjoyed, everything that they worship in the place of the Creator that they dishonor, everything they think of as a legacy, as a future, as the reason for existence—it will all be consumed by the justice of God. All of it. All of it. All of it. All of it.

The verse describes them as completely consumed. There will be nothing, nothing left. And the day that is coming—verse 1—"will set them aflame, says Yahweh of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch." What is under the earth, what is visible to the eye, will be consumed. It'll all be gone. It's all burned up. It's like they've been thrown into a fiery furnace.
And obviously, it's not teaching annihilationism. The Bible goes on to make clear that there is eternal torment, that the lost will know in the wrath of God—this eternal torment forever and ever and ever—and not even a drop of relief. But what it is to say is that everything that they thought they've gained in this world will be completely incinerated. It is a certain judgment. It is a consuming judgment.

And thirdly, I want us to see it's also a complete judgment—a complete judgment—because what is stressed in this verse, in the verse, is that it's every single one of them.
Do you see it? Look at verse 1 again: "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace;  – and here it is – "and all" – all, it's complete, every single one – "all the arrogant and every worker of wickedness will be chaff." No one excepted. No one, no one, no one left out. No one left out. No one left out. No one, no one, no one. All of the insolence, the presumptuous, all of those who do wickedness— not one unforgiven sinner will emerge from that day without everything that they put their trust in being consumed. No one is off the hook. Not one in the whole world will escape this judgment. This is what the day means for the arrogant. This is what the day means for the evildoer.

But now we see a second relationship as we think about that day. In verses 2 and 3, we see the day now in its relationship to those who—it's a different category—who fear God, the God-fearers. And you can see the contrast. You can see the difference, the stark contrast. What will that day mean for those who fear Yahweh? What will that day mean for those who fear God's name?

Verse 2: "But"—and this is a but of distinction—"But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing, says Yahweh of hosts."

For those who fear the name of God, you see this day represents what? Vindication. It represents vindication. God will vindicate His own name. But at the same time that He vindicates His name, He will also vindicate those who have feared His name. You do realize this: that if we fear the name of God, this means we reverence the living God in this world, and we share His reputation in this world, right? So those who hate the name of God, hate you. That's what Jesus said, right? Those who revile the name of God, revile you.

And on this day, God will remember all of those who have feared His name – every single one of them  – all of those who have gladly counted it a privilege and an honor and a joy and a delight to be associated with His name—so that that day will be a vindication, not just of His name, but also of His people who are associated with His name, who are called by His name.

The judgment of God is not only certain, it is distinguishing. The judgment of God hits its target, and what is distinguished in the day is the wicked from the righteous. And what distinguishes the wicked from the righteous is, as we saw this morning, the grace of God. The grace of God. It is God's grace that has produced the difference. It is salvation that has produced the difference.

There are people who are arrogant and evildoers, and there are people who are characterized by reverencing the name of God, fearing God's name, and salvation has produced the reverence, and grace has produced salvation.

In the third chapter, as I said, this is really a repetition of what is taught earlier in the prophecy. Malachi 3:18, it says this, "So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him." That day will make a distinction. And so God gives a promise to His people that the day, that day for them will mean something quite different than for the arrogant, for the evildoer. And what will that day mean for the people of God? What will the day of judgment mean for the people of God? God-fearers? Well, first of all, it will be the dawn of righteousness for the God-fearer. It will be the dawn of righteousness.

Look at verse 2. He says, "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise." I mean like the sun rising in the morning, the darkness of the wicked world will dissipate. It will be put away, and the sun of righteousness will arise in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord. The darkness will be put away by Him, and the light of God will shine upon the people of God. The breaking of the day, the breaking of sunlight, the breaking in of righteousness will take place.

Whereas this world has been under a curse, the curse will be gone, and righteousness will dwell in the earth, and the dawn of righteousness will appear.

But it will also be a day at the same time of restoration. Restoration. Look at verse 2. "The sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings." Healing. Loss will be replaced by gain. Sickness will be replaced by health. Tears will be replaced with laughter. The scorn that has been heaped up upon the people of God by the wicked will be replaced with praise and reward from our good and gracious God.

And it's also going to be a day as a result of great celebration. It's going to be a day of great celebration. Look at the text. "And you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall." What an image that is. What a lovely image. Like a calf skips out of its stall, exhibiting its joy and its freedom and its liberation, so the people of God will skip about with joy. Delight. I rejoice to tell you tonight, you've never known a joy like the joy of that day. And it will be a special day.

One thing that's amazing about children is their sense of wonder. Have you ever thought about that? Everything is new. Everything is wonderful. Everything is amazing. And they have this awe, this wonder. When is the last time you were amazed at anything? Watch little kids amazed at every new thing, every new experience, every new opportunity, and then notice how wonder leaves our lives the longer we live in this sin-infected world. But on that day, on that day, you will meet with wonder again, and the wonder will never ever go away. Never. It's going to be everlasting.

It's going to be a day of celebration, a day of vindication as well, as we see. A day of vindication. Because He says in verse 3, "And you will tread down the wicked, for there will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing, says Yahweh of hosts." He first presents the image of them being burned up, like being put in a furnace—the wicked, that is—and then He pictures the righteous walking over their ashes. Those who have so often been walked on by the wicked will walk into eternity over the ashes of those who have been consumed by the judgment of God. That's the imagery. Triumph. Vindication.

This is why, beloved, Christians in this age are not to be characterized by seeking vengeance. That's why. That's why all the outcry you hear in our world right now, even by professing Christians, that it sounds like what we're after is some sort of vindication, some sort of getting even, some sort of earthly temporal justice in response to ways that people have been mistreated and all the rest—and of course there's a place for temporal justice. That falls in the realm of civil concern. But in terms of the concern of God's people, we have a gospel concern, beloved. Don't ever, ever lose sight of that. We have a gospel concern. It is the salvation of the souls of men and women. That's where our focus is, and we leave our mistreatment in the hands of the One who judges justly. We love our enemies. We pray for those who spitefully use us. We demonstrate the love of Christ by not responding in like manner, not reviling those who revile, not giving what they gave us, but rather loving them with the love of Jesus. This is our calling in this age—a gospel concern—because we can leave it to God to make the wrongs right, and He will one day. That's what He's picturing in these verses. One day the wrongs will be made right. They will be.

So this day of vindication will also be a day of deliverance. Deliverance. Look at verse 3, "And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet." That's vindication. But who vindicates? Notice: "On the day which I am preparing." Do you see who vindicates? Says Yahweh of Hosts. This will come to us from the hand of who? God. Our God. This represents the action of God. God will do this, beloved. Again, let me say this. Vengeance belongs to Him. Not to you, not to me. To Him. I referenced this earlier, but 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 23 says this, speaking of Jesus: "Who being reviled, was not reviling in return; while suffering, He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously." That's our calling during this age. Peter says in verse 21, "For to this you have been called." That's our calling. But God announces and encourages us and comforts us with the knowledge that the day will come when He will execute justice. It's coming.

So we see the day in its relationship to the arrogant and evildoer—a day of certain judgment, a day of consuming judgment. And then we look at this day in relationship to those who fear the name of Yahweh, and it's going to be a great day of deliverance, and vindication, and celebration, and restoration.

Well, let's look at the third relationship. Third relationship. Look at verse 4: "Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and judgments which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel." The day of the Lord in its relationship to the law of Moses.
Now, the reference—this reference to the law of Moses—well, what is its purpose? What is its purpose in this context? And I want to submit to us, there are a couple of lesser things that we can point to, and then I want to mention what I think to be the primary reason we find it here. So let's begin from the lesser to the primary.

First of all, we can say this: this reference to the law of Moses reminds us that the day of the Lord has a special meaning to the people of God. Special meaning to the people of God. Think about it. Who gave revelation to Israel? Who gave them His law? Well, Yahweh did. The I Am, Yahweh. Who is now giving them information, revelation about the day that's coming? Well, God is giving them information, revelation about the day that's coming. God Himself. Once again, they're being reminded by the very fact of revelation, by the very fact of communication from Yahweh, from God. They're being reminded of His gracious relationship that God has established with His people. And the same God who's telling them about the future is the God who gave them the law, who is in this covenant relationship with them, communicated through Moses.

In other words, Israel has been loved by God, and through this message, they're being loved by God as well. Remember how this book began, right? Chapter 1: "I have loved you, says Yahweh" – right? – I've loved you. And in their sin, what did they say? Well, "how have You loved us?" Really? "How have You loved us?" Out of all the people on the face of the planet, God was giving this revelation to them. And I think about how God has communicated to us in the New Testament. Out of all the people on the face of the earth, of all the noble, all of the powerful, all of the wise, all the movers and shakers in society, as we saw this morning in the first century, to whom did God give His word? But local churches who will receive those letters—common, everyday people. Amazing grace, isn't it? So this day has special meaning to the people of God as the people of God.

But secondly, the fact of the reference—the law of God—also confirms the truthfulness of what they received in that law of Moses. It confirms the truthfulness of what they received in that law. That law contained and included promises of blessing and cursing. Faithfulness to Yahweh means blessing. Unfaithfulness to Him means what? Curses. And if anybody's in doubt about whether that's true or not, He's pointing them to the very end of the age and He's saying, it will all be proven true. All of it. All of it. Everything I've given you, it's an expression of My love for you, and everything I've given you, you can stake your eternity on it. It's going to be demonstrated to be true in the end. You wonder where the God of justice is? You wonder? Just wait, and you will see that everything I communicated to you through My servant Moses—it's all true. That would be another reason that you find this reference.

But I think the primary reason why you find this reference is because if you ask, how do you respond to this news? How? How do you respond to this news? You're telling us about the day, the great day of Yahweh. You're telling us about what it means for the arrogant evildoers. You're telling us what it means for those who fear Your name. Now, if you ask, how do we respond to this, the answer is what? To renew covenant faithfulness. That's the answer. To renew covenant faithfulness.

You have My laws. I gave them to you through My servant Moses at Horeb. So with this news in mind, believe Me, submit to Me, obey Me, follow Me. Love Me. Notice He says, "Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and judgments which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel." He says, I want you to remember all these things. I commanded you to remember.

One commentator writes this concerning this verse, and I quote, "This command can refer to A, mental acts of remembering or paying attention to something, or to B, mental acts combined with appropriate external actions, in other words, recalling and obeying, or to C, acts of reciting or repeating something verbally." He goes on to say, "In light of Malachi's insistence on obedience, meaning B seems to be the force of this command. Recall it to mind and do it. In light of the future that's coming, believe the Lord, be loyal to the Lord, listen to the Lord, obey the commands of God."

And so the relationship with God involves the right relationship to His word. Preparing for the day means receiving His words, believing His words, and walking in His words.

Well, let's look at the fourth relationship, verses five and six—the day of the Lord and its relationship to the ministry of Elijah. "Behold",  – verse five – "I'm going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction."

I want to begin with what's in the middle of those two verses. Look at it—the idea of the hearts of the fathers being turned to their children, the hearts of the children being turned to their fathers. Isn't it interesting that out of all of the ways that Yahweh through Malachi could give voice to what repentance looks like, He describes it in those terms? The heart of fathers being turned to children, and the heart of children being turned to fathers.

The question is why? Why? Why? Well, think of the fifth commandment. It implied that the home was essentially where children are really taught. The home—begins with the home. There in the home, authority and submission, love and loyalty, obedience and trust could be learned as nowhere else. And with the word of God as guide in the home, all the ripple effects—society could be changed. We don't believe God if we don't believe Him at home. We don't really believe God if we don't believe Him in our marriages. We don't really believe God if we don't believe Him in the raising of our children. So where you find genuine faith, and genuine repentance, and genuine sorrow for sin, a genuine submission to God, where's it going to show up? Where's it going to show up? It's going to show up in what someone calls the schoolhouse of the community, which is the home. The home.

As one commentator put it, "The point is that fathers and sons would no longer live self-serving lives, but fathers will take their sons to heart, and sons will take to heart their fathers, considering the effects of their actions on one another in the course of their lives,".
So let me ask you, really, in light of this text, can you love the Lord and not love your kids? Can you love the Lord and not love your parents, kids? So where you see genuine repentance, the fruit of genuine repentance is as near to us as our nearest relationships. Don't imagine that serving God starts off way out there somewhere. It starts as near to you as your own heart, and you will know whether or not your heart is in a godly place by whether or not you care for others. And if you care for others, you're going to care for them in your own home first. This is where your ministry is first. Your first ministry is your home. Show me a society where sin is running rampant, and where selfishness reigns, and I'll show you a society where parents don't really care about their kids, and kids don't really care about their parents. And so the result of the prophet's ministry, the result that is aimed at, is a repentance that will inevitably show up at the most fundamental level—at home. And the Lord is saying that He's going to send Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day comes, verse five.

Here's what makes that statement interesting. The New Testament makes clear that in some sense, John the Baptist fulfilled that promise, and we saw that together, right, studying the Gospel of John. Jesus said so. But the question is, as we look at the results of John's ministry and we ask, was there this kind of repentance? And though there were indicators of some sort of outpouring of repentance through John's ministry—there were many, many people being baptized by John—but if you ask, was that lasting? Did it prove to be genuine?
Well, then we look at what the nation did with their Messiah, and we have to conclude that in large measure, there wasn't a genuine repentance at that time in the first coming. For if there had been, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory as they did. They would not have rejected their Messiah. And Christ seemed to imply that though John did fulfill in some sense this Elijah-like prophet—he was a type of Elijah—there is still another one who comes in the future as well.

Matthew 17, verse 11, listen to what He said there: "And He answered and said, 'Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished.'" Notice, that means that John's ministry was in some large ways rejected because they didn't recognize him and they did to him whatever they wished. "So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hand." Verse 13: "Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist."
So Christ clearly identifies John with Elijah. He came with the spirit and power of Elijah—John the Baptist—Luke 1:17. But do you notice He says, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things"?

Then we read in Revelation 11, in the 14 verses of Revelation 11, that there will be two powerful witnesses during the tribulation period. And as those two witnesses are described, there is an Elijah and a Moses kind of ministry described there.

In Matthew 17, after Elijah appeared with Christ in His transfiguration, the disciples asked about Elijah's future coming. Jesus, speaking after John's death (Matthew 14:1-2), affirms that "Elijah is coming and will restore all things."

This future expectation indicates, then, that Malachi 4:5–6 was not fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist. Israel did not accept John the Baptist as the Elijah-like restorer of all things. So another Elijah-like forerunner is yet to come before the day of the Lord. However, Jesus went on to say, "Elijah has already come." They did not recognize Him, and the disciples understood that He was talking about John the Baptist.

So here's the explanation to all of this. Though John did not fulfill Malachi 4, verses five and six, for Elijah is yet to come—John was like Elijah, one who had the same type of ministry. But, beloved, what Malachi 4 declares is that when the Elijah comes before the great and awesome day of Yahweh, that great day of the Lord comes, "he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers."

And then the book ends with what has been described as a dread, dreaded alternative. End of verse six: "Lest" Lest—that ought to arrest the attention of the reader and the hearer—"lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction."

Those who do not repent will be devoted to destruction. Did you read the language? Did you hear the language? "Devoted to destruction"? The entire land, all the earth, where there is not repentance—using the language of the Hebrew word ‘herem’—accurately translated, "devoted to destruction." Something abominable. The idea there of devoted for destruction, like something under the ban, like what would take place in a holy war. Wherever there hasn't been repentance, there will be that which is devoted to destruction.

The Lord will indeed come in judgment. And He will judge the wicked. And all the wicked who refuse to repent will be devoted to destruction. But those who know Him and fear His name—they'll be delivered from that awesome and final day of retribution.

Here's the bottom line: it's going to be distinguishing judgment. Some will be dealt with as sons, some will be dealt with as the sinners who have declared war on a holy God, and therefore God has declared war on them and devoted them to destruction.
And so I want to ask this evening in closing: where are you at in that divide? Where are you at in that divide? When you think of a day when justice will be done, when vengeance will be the Lord's, when the judgment that has been delayed will certainly arrive and will consume the Lord's adversaries—do you deny it? Do you not want to think about it? Do you doubt it? Do you dread it? Or do you know, as Romans 8:33 declares, for you, there is nothing to fear?

Nothing because perfect love, right, casts out fear. Perfect love casts out fear. You know—you know that you are loved by God in His Son, in His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, because you have bowed the knee to Jesus and you confessed Him as your Lord, as your Savior, and all of your sins have been already judged completely, entirely, fully in the body of God's Son on the tree, so that now your focus is on declaring the good news of salvation to as many sinners as you can on your way to glory, and praying that God will save many in these days. Where are you at in that divide? Young people sitting in the back, where are you at in that divide? All of us here.

If you don't know Christ, I exhort you, even tonight, as you hear this message proclaimed, I exhort you to repent. And where there's true repentance, there's fruit, there's fruit inevitably. Just as the effect of Elijah's ministry would be the turning of the hearts of fathers to their children and the children to their fathers, so if you truly repent, you—not only you, but we—will know it, because your life will be different. Your life will be different.

You will follow the Shepherd. You will love the Shepherd. You will believe the Shepherd. You will proclaim the Shepherd. Your life will be different, and it will be as near to you as your own life and your own home. If you don't know Christ, would you repent? Would you turn from your sins, and would you put your faith in the Son of God tonight?

And if you know Christ, would you wake up? Would we wake up, beloved, all of us? Would you wake up and realize what you're here for? And how long all of this lasts? Teach us to number our days, right? And what eternity is. Would you wake up? Would you live your life in the light of that great day? And would you rejoice in the thought that the day is coming when, like a calf skipping out of the stall, the Sun of Righteousness will rise on us, all His children, and the darkness will be put away by the Son of God Himself, and it will be a day of great celebration, a day of great vindication? Will you look forward to that day and live in the light of that day now? Aren't you grateful that we can? Aren't you grateful, beloved, that we can? Oh, that day, when freed from sinning, we will see His lovely face.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Other than the golden chain of redemption that's found in Romans chapter 8—the passage that was read earlier, verses 28 to 30 particularly—I don't think there's any place in the Word of God where the eternal security of the believer is more clearly presented than in these verses that we've just read. It's as if our Lord wanted to be unmistakable, clear—unmistakable—on this issue, as He gives us in this brief statement evidence after evidence after evidence that if He has saved someone, that someone will never be lost. Ever. They're saved forever.

And that's the question that's answered here in this portion of God's Word. When someone comes to God for the forgiveness of their sins by believing Him concerning His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and when they come to Him in faith in Christ, in Christ alone, the person who believes—are all of their sins forgiven? And are they forgiven in full? Past, present, and future? And are their sins forgiven forever? And will that person, without question, certainly be in Heaven after they die?

Is the salvation that is given in Christ something temporary or is it something permanent? Is it eternal? Is the believer secure once they have been given salvation in Christ? That's the question that Jesus answers in verses 28 through 30. And I don't think it surprises you to know that there are many people who say that salvation isn't something that is necessarily forever. There are many people who believe that a person can be given salvation in Christ and then sometime later forfeit it. Forfeited by their own sin or forfeited by their own lack of faith. You know, they fall away from the faith.

And what they do is they take the warning passages in the New Testament—passages that were given in order to stir us up unto perseverance, also given to warn us of empty profession—they take those passages and they twist them to teach that a person can actually lose salvation after the Lord Jesus Christ has saved them. What they ignore and what they dismiss is what the Lord Jesus Himself says here in this passage. I mean, He couldn't be any clearer on the subject. I mean, this is so ironclad, there's no wiggle room.

This morning and next Lord's Day, Lord willing, I want to point out six truths that are found in the statement of our Lord. Six truths that demonstrate the security of the believer, and we'll look at three of them this morning. And, Lord willing, next time we'll look at the other three. Well, let's begin. Let's delve into the passage. Look at the first one—the first truth that we find in this passage concerning the security of the believer. And the first one is this, I want you to see with me: the Provider of life. The Provider of life speaks of our security as believers. The Provider of life speaks of security.

In verse 28, Jesus says, “‘I give eternal life to them.’" One of the things that immediately stands out as you read that is that eternal life cannot be gotten. It cannot be obtained apart from Jesus.

Eternal life cannot be obtained, cannot be gotten apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who gives it. He's the one who gives eternal life. He's the one who provides it. He's the Provider. Without Jesus, no one has eternal life. He says, "‘I give.’" It's Me who gives it. I'm the One who gives it. We need to tell the world very clearly that you cannot come to God the Father directly. You have to come to God by way of the Mediator, the one and only Mediator. You must come to God by way of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

People say, well, I've always believed in God or I believe in God. And so I believe that one day I'll be in Heaven because I believe in God. Well, you cannot come to God directly. You can't. It's not possible. Your sins have made a separation between you and God, sinner and a thrice Holy God. And the only way to be brought to God is for your sins to be dealt with, your sins to be forgiven and to be put out of the way. And God has ordained the way. He's ordained the way, the only way that sins can be forgiven. And that is through the death of His own beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Jesus is the one who gives eternal life.

You cannot achieve eternal life on your own. Eternal life is not something that one day we'll be able to stand before God and say, well, this is what we have gotten for ourselves, God. This is something that we've achieved on our own. I worked so hard for it and here I am commending myself on my own merit before You. No, no. You didn't provide eternal life. You didn't provide eternal life. You don't provide eternal life. Eternal life is provided. It has a Provider and His name is Jesus.

John 14, verse 6. You're familiar with this verse, right? Jesus said, "‘I am the way, the truth, the life.’" And then He adds, "‘No one’"—and you know what no one means in Greek? No one. Absolutely no one — “‘comes to the Father but through Me.’" And so when Jesus says here in John 10:28, "‘I give eternal life to them,’" He's saying the same thing. And by the way, this is also a monumental statement concerning the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. What mere man could ever say, what mere man could ever say, "I give eternal life to them”? Which one of us here this morning can stand up and say, you know, "I give you eternal life. I give you eternal life"? No. Forgiveness of sin is something, and eternal life is something that only God can give. And so when Jesus says, "I give eternal life to them," let us not lose in our mind the historical reality of what we read here.

Here you have this Jewish carpenter standing before people who are questioning Him, questioning who He really is and what His identity is. And in the midst of all of this, He says, I am the one who gives My people eternal life. It's clear that He's claiming to be God. It's a clear claim to His deity. The Jews understood this, by the way. Turn with me to Luke 5 and verse 18. It was unmistakable what He was claiming to be, who He was claiming to be. Luke 5 and verse 18, we read the following: "And behold, some men were carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down before Him, before Christ. But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and led him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. And seeing their faith, He said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven you.' The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, ‘Who is this who speaks blasphemies?’” — Now watch this — "‘Who can forgive sins, but God alone?’" So when Jesus says this to this man, "I forgive your sins," they clearly understood that Jesus was claiming to be God. No mistake about it. "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

In John chapter 4, you remember—you can go there, please—John chapter 4, you recall that exchange with the Samaritan woman, the woman at the well. In the 10th verse, “Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.’" Verse 11, “She said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?’ Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst–ever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.’"

Jesus said to this woman, "‘If you knew the gift of God,’" and then He says this, "and who it is that's saying to you, 'Give Me a drink.'" If you knew who it is that's speaking to you, “‘you would have asked Him, and He would have given you this living water.’” And she says to Him, "‘Are You greater than our father Jacob…?’" And He says to her, "‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him…’" Jesus is the Giver. Jesus is the Provider. He says they will never be thirsty again. Ever. That's eternal. Forever. Eternal. That's eternal life. It's eternal life that He gives. It's life everlasting.

So the provider of eternal life is not yourself. It's not myself. It's not something you work for. It's not something you earn. It's not something you deserve. It's not something you achieve. The provider of eternal life is Jesus. He's the one who gives eternal life. And so, think about this: so if He gives it, and if you didn't get it on your own, if He gives it, then you're not the one who sustains it. Are you? If He gives it, then you're not the one who sustains it either. The giver is the sustainer. The giver is the sustainer. And so the provider of eternal life speaks of the security of the life that we receive. But notice the second truth that we have here, that we see here. Not only do you see the security of the believer in the provider of life, but secondly, you see it in the procurement of life. The procurement of life also speaks of our security. That is to say, how it is gotten. How it is obtained. How it is received—this eternal life that Jesus gives.

Notice He says, "‘I give.’" "‘I give eternal life to them.’" He says, "‘I give it to them.’" In other words, it's a gift. It's a gift. Eternal life is not something earned. It's not something deserved. It's something given. In Acts 16 and verse 29, the Philippian jailer, you remember, was afraid for his life after the Lord opened the prison doors for Paul and Silas to leave. Turn with me there, Acts 16, and you can see that together. In Acts 16, verse 29, we read, "And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your house.’ And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his household. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds. Immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly with his whole household, because he had believed in God.”

The question he had for them, the jailer had for Paul and Silas, was this: How do I have eternal life? How can I obtain it? How can I receive it? How can I get it? What was the answer? Believe. Believe. That's all. Believe. It's a gift. It's a gift that is received by faith. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” It is by grace that we have been saved, not by works, right? Through faith. It's a gift of God. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2. In John 6:27, "Do not work for the food which perishes," —you remember that passage Jesus declared, — "but for the food which endures to eternal life…"

Now, you remember in our exposition there, at first when you read that, when you hear that, you may think in terms of works. "‘Do not work for the food that perishes,’" He says, "‘but work for the food which endures to eternal life.’" But now listen to what He goes on to say in verse 27, John 6, "‘which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, set His seal.’"
Verse 28: "Therefore they said to Him, 'What should we do so that we may work the works of God?'" You tell us. You tell us that we're to labor for food that lasts forever. You remember they were following Him because He fed the multitudes. And here they are. They want to be fed again. He says, work. What work? And they asked Him, what work must we do to have this food that endures forever? What must we do? What must we be doing?

And Jesus answered in verse 29. He said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." What is the work that brings to me eternal life? To put it in those terms, He says, here's the work of God. You want to do the work of God? Here's the work of God: "Believe in Him whom the Father has sent." Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, no work. Believe. Believe. How is eternal life received? It is received not by works, but by faith. And so Jesus makes it plain that it's a gift. You don't work for it. You don't earn it. You don't deserve it. He gives it. He gives it to you. He gives it to you. And He gives it to you through faith, which is a gift. Faith being instrumental, not salvific.

Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death." Right? For the wages of sin is what? We earn sin. We work for it. We deserve it. This is the payback. Right? "The wages of sin is death" — and I love how the LSB really captures the word in the Greek — "but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." The free, gracious gift of God. I mean, you can't put it any plainer than that. It's a gracious gift. Grace. We don't earn it. We cannot earn it. We don't deserve it. But it's given graciously.

Christ came into the world, we rejoice to say, to save sinners. He didn't come to save good men because there aren't any. There aren't any. He didn't come to save men by helping them be better. Reach their full potential. No, no. He didn't say, well, I'm going to come and give to them a moral example by which they can save themselves. No, no. Or I'm going to come and teach them how to love so that they can save themselves. I'm going to teach them how to live so that they can save themselves. Absolutely not. He came to save men who could not save themselves. He came to save wretched sinners. And to put it another way, God justifies ungodly, ungodly people. He didn't justify us. He didn't justify us. He didn't declare us to be right with Him when we achieved some place of godliness. I'll meet you halfway— no, no. He justified us when we were ungodly. When we were sinners, ungodly, estranged from Him, alienated from Him, by faith in His Son, God then declared us to be right in His own sight, and He gave us the gift of eternal life.

Turn with me to Romans 4. It's a magnanimous passage. Romans 4, beginning with verse 1: "What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about — but not before God! For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.' Now, to the one who works, his wage is not counted according to grace, but according to what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes upon Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:” — Verse 7—  "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account."

And who is that man? Who is that blessed man that God doesn't take into account their sin? It's every one of us who has trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are that man. We are that one. We are the blessed one. We are the one whose lawless deeds have been forgiven. We're the one whose sins covered. We're the ones who have been counted righteous before God apart from works. We're the ones who've been given this righteousness as the gift of God, the righteousness of Christ. We're the ones who've been saved by God's Son through faith in Him.

And so the way this life is received—Jesus says in verse 28 of John chapter 10—He says, "I," "I"—He's the provider—"give" — that's how it's received. It's a gift. "I give eternal life to them." "I give it to them." It's a gift. "I give eternal life to them." And let me say just briefly about this verb "give" — ‘didōmi’ is the Greek verb. And actually, it means literally to give of one's own accord and with goodwill. It means to bestow upon. It's a bestowed gift. It's a gift of God. So not only does the Provider speak of the believer's security, the procurement of life speaks of the believer's security—how it is obtained. But there's a third truth that we see in the statement that speaks of our security. We speak of the security of the life that Christ gives. And I want us to see the third truth: the people who are given life speak of security. The Provider. The procurement. And the people. The people who are given life speak of security.

Now let me explain. What does Jesus tell us here about these people to whom He's giving eternal life, who He gives eternal life? Well, let me explain. You know, He's very specific. He says in verse 28—look at the text with me—"I give eternal life to them." Now the question is, who is He talking about here? "I give to them." Who are the "them"? Well, let’s go back to verse 27. He says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them." What is the distinguishing characteristic about them? What, if anything, sets them apart from other people? From those who don't have this life? From those who won't have this life? What really distinguishes them? Sets them apart?

You realize there's only a certain group of people on the face of this earth who have eternal life. Right? Those who have trusted in Christ. Those who have put their faith in Christ have eternal life. Now, what sets them apart from those who don't have this life eternal? Well, most people would say, "Well, what sets them apart is that they believed." Verse 27 says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them." And He says, "They follow Me." Those are the distinguishing characteristics. Right? Those who have eternal life are those who followed Him. They followed Jesus. They followed the true Shepherd.

And that's true. No one has eternal life who doesn't believe in the Son of God. And we need to be very clear, especially in our own day, clear about what this belief is really about. It's not just an intellectual assent. It's not just saying, "I believe the facts about Jesus." That's not saving faith. That's not belief. No, no. To believe in the Son of God is nothing less than—we studied this together—to hear His voice and to follow Him. Right? Obedience. But I want to add something else here. To believe in the Son of God is nothing less than to love Him. Than to love Him. If you believe in Him, you love Him. If you believe in Him, you love Him. Right? First Peter 1:8 “having not seen Him,” — what? — “you love Him.” You love Him.

In fact, when Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he said, "If anyone does not love the Lord, he is” — what? He is to be ‘anathema.’ He is to be damned to hell. He is to be —“accursed" (1 Corinthians 16:22). And God doesn't curse His sheep. He doesn't curse His people, His children. And that tells me then that every true child of God is someone who loves the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Shepherd. And if anyone does not love Him, it's because they've never been saved. They've never been saved. If anyone doesn't love Him, it's because they've really never believed in Him. Because to believe in Him is to love Him. To believe in Him is to love Him. In fact, Jesus puts it in strong terms. He tells us that no one is worthy to be His disciple who doesn't love Him more than father and mother and brother and sister, and yes, even his own life and the temporal things of this world.

So it's to love Jesus above all else and to choose Him, even if it meant the loss of all else. Give me Jesus. Take the world and give me Jesus. It means you believe in Him so that you follow Him. Verse 27, you remember: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." True believers—and we saw this extensively last time together—true believers follow the Lord Jesus. They follow Him. They follow Him. This is what the Bible teaches. So this is a distinguishing characteristic of those who have eternal life. They see Him. They hear Him. They believe in Him. They follow Him. They love Him. Right? They love Him. But Jesus doesn't say that they hear His voice and follow Him as if these people are the explanation of their own following. That's the point I want to underscore.

We follow the Lord Jesus. We follow Him. We love Him. We believe in Him. We follow Him. But now we have to ask, why do we love Him? Why have we believed in Him? Why do we follow Him? Is it explained by us? Is it? Is it? Is it that we were smarter than others? We had, you know, softer hearts than others? We were more open-minded than others? We were maybe more reasonable than others when we heard the gospel? We were more spiritually sensitive than others? Is that the reason? Is it explained by the people themselves? Unequivocally, no. Absolutely not.

Notice how Jesus explains them by a previous statement that He makes in verse 25. Let's actually back up to verse 24. Let's actually back up to verse 24, The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, ‘How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us openly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me.’” —here it is— “‘But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.’” He said, “the reason you don't believe is because you're not one of My sheep." And Jesus says in verse 27 that it is His sheep who hear His voice. It's His sheep whom He knows. It's His sheep that follow Him. And He gives—verse 28—eternal life to them. To who? His sheep.

And you know what? They were His sheep before He called them out. Not in the sense that they were already saved, but in the sense that they were already destined for salvation. Do you realize this morning, beloved—and I know you do, but I want to tell you again, I rejoice to tell you—you were one of His sheep before you ever knew Him. And in this sense, that you were already destined to know Him, destined to be saved. And you may be sitting here this morning, one who's thinking, "Well, where did you get that from?"

Well, I'm glad you asked. Back up to the opening verses of chapter 10. Let's go back to it. Verse one: "‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He brings all His own out, He goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice. A stranger they will never follow, but will flee from Him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.”

You remember in our studies of that passage, you remember we learned earlier there that the sheepfold being pictured here is Israel—Israel—and Jesus comes to Israel as their Messiah, and He calls them out in the sense that He makes Himself known. But not all that are in the sheepfold follow Him. Only those that are His sheep—they hear His voice, and they recognize His voice, and they follow Him. And in fact, Jesus may explain later on in this discussion that He has other sheep not belonging to the nation of Israel, and they will also hear His voice, and they will follow Him, and there will become one Shepherd over both Jews and Gentiles who are redeemed. Look at verse 16. Jesus says this: "And I have other sheep, which are not from this fold;” —And I'm so thankful for the next statement, how it's made. Notice what He says — "I must"—this is a divine necessity, "I must," “I must.” What does He say? — "bring them also." There's no ifs and buts. "I must bring them also, and they"—what's the next word?—"will," not may. “They will hear My voice." "They will hear My voice."

Do you see the certainty of salvation? Do you see that Jesus didn't come to this earth to provide a hypothetical salvation for a hypothetical people who may one day come to believe in Him? Oh no, no, no. It's not as though Jesus says, I'm going to give My life on the cross, and God the Father says, I'm going to give My Son on the cross and crush Him on the cross so that He may be available—perhaps someone will believe in Him. Maybe. No, no. Jesus had a people given to Him by the Father before time began who were destined for salvation, and Jesus is the Redeemer who came into this earth to save His people from their sins.

He came knowing that He had sheep—sheep from the house of Israel, sheep from outside of the house of Israel, Gentiles. He must, He says, He must bring them also, and He would bring them, and they would hear His voice, and He would be their Shepherd, and they would be His sheep. In fact, He makes it plain that He came to this earth to die for those sheep. Look at verse 11, "‘I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.’" That's the language of the cross. Verse 16, "‘And I have other sheep which are not from this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me,’” — why? — "‘because I lay down My life’” — for the sheep. That's Calvary — "‘No one takes it away from Me, but from Myself, I lay it down.’" — that's the cross — "‘I have authority to lay it down,’"—the cross—"‘and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.’" “I lay down My life for the sheep. I lay it down. I lay it down.”

You say, well, does this figure in the verses that we're looking at? Absolutely. Absolutely. Look at verse 29. Start with verse 28, "‘and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish–ever; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.’" Now look at verse 29, "‘My Father’"—and what's the next statement? Who has what? Who has what?—"‘given them to Me.’" —here it is— "given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.’" The ones to whom He gives eternal life—this is the text, I'm simply proclaiming the text—the ones to whom He gives eternal life are those who were given to Him as a gift by the Father.

Let's go to the high priestly prayer of Jesus, John 17. John 17. Look at verse 1. John 17, verse 1, "Jesus spoke these things, lifting up His eyes to heaven. He said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You.'" Now watch the language carefully, "‘even as You gave Him authority over all flesh’” —so Christ has authority over all humanity. Now what does He do with this authority? What's next? — "‘that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.’" Right? Who does the Son of God give eternal life to? Who does He give eternal life to? All those given to Him by the Father. By the Father. Verse 3, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.’"

Look down at verse 6, "‘I have manifested Your name’"—now watch the language again, it's right there—"‘to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.’" Look at verse 9, "‘I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.’" Look at verse 20, "‘I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those who also believe in Me through their word.’" Who is He praying for? He's not praying for the world. He's praying for believers. He's praying for those who have been given to Him by the Father. And He's praying for those who will come to believe through their words.

In other words, the sheep—these are His sheep. These are the ones He must bring. These are the ones who will listen to His voice. These are the ones who will be saved and receive eternal life. This fully accords with what we read in the Testament epistles, like the one in Ephesians 1, verse 3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Now, what's the next verse? Verse 4, "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…" When were we chosen for salvation? Before the world was made. He goes on to say, "that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love, by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to"—what? Our goodness, our merit, our work's righteousness? No— "according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved."

Let me show you another passage, and this is also another magnanimous passage—Hebrews chapter 2. I'm just simply letting the Scripture interpret Scripture here. Hebrews chapter 2. Let's begin with verse 9, and this is amazing, really. We read in verse 9, "But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels–Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings." What was the Father doing through the suffering of His Son? According to this text, He was bringing many sons to glory. You see it? Verse 10, "bringing"—He was bringing—"many sons to glory."

Christ's suffering is what brings many sons to glory. It is by His death on Calvary's cross, His suffering, His agony on the cross, that God's children have been brought to Him, reconciled to Him, and will be one day presented blameless before Him in glory. That's what the text says.
Look at verse 11 now, "For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,"—now this is the language of the Lord Jesus, now watch out, watch what He says—" I will recount Your name to My brothers, in the midst of the assembly I will sing Your praise.’" Verse 13, "And again, ‘I will put My trust in Him.’ And again”—listen to this—"‘Behold, I and the children whom God has,’" —what? — “‘given Me.’" You see it? Father, here I am with all these children whom You have given Me. Verse 14, "Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the seed of Abraham." Stop there. Isn't this amazing truth?

But think about this. Let this grip your mind. Not only do you have fallen men, you also have fallen angels. But there's never been redemption provided for angels. Never, never. Yet to the seed of Abraham, the spiritual seed of Abraham—for this people, reckoned to be in Christ before the foundation of the world, chosen in Him—for these, He offers help, the text says.
Verse 17, "Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the help those who are tempted." Not only has He saved us, but He is so identified with us that He's our faithful High Priest who gives us comfort in all of our struggles, in all of our tests, and all of our temptations.

What makes these people different? He says, "I give to them eternal life." "I give eternal life to them." What's different about them? Well, they've believed Christ. They followed Christ. That's true. But the reason why they believe, the reason why they follow, is because they were given to Him before time began. They are His sheep, and that speaks of their security. Now, here's the point—all of this leading to this. If the Lord purposed to save you before you were ever born, will He lose you now that He's given you life? If the Lord purposed to save you before you were ever born, will He lose you now that He's given you life? Did He purpose just to give you life for a moment, an hour, a week, a month, a year? Or is Jesus able to save? Hebrews 2:13, Behold, here I am with all the children You have given Me. What was Jesus doing? Bringing many sons to a moment of faith? Is that what He was doing? Or bringing many sons to what? Glory. Bringing many sons to glory. Glory. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound," right? "That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved," and the same grace will lead me safely home one day to glory.

So, this is what His suffering was all about—to bring many sons to glory. And it speaks of the security of God's children. But there's something else. And I don't want us to miss this. There's something else, another way that we speak, that we testify the security of the believer, and that is, we had to be redeemed. You say, what's the big deal? Think about this. We had to be redeemed. How do the people of God speak of security? Because there's nothing in them that explains the salvation that we've been given. Nothing. Nothing. Were we any different than any other people? Was there something special about us that would explain why we were given eternal life? As I mentioned earlier, were we smarter than others? Were we more moral than others? Were we more spiritually sensitive than others? Were we the explanation for why we're redeemed today? Oh, indeed not. No, no. In fact, from an external point of view, it almost seems to be just the opposite. In fact, God makes a point with us. God makes a point with us. He saved people in such a way that it becomes evident that the salvation that He gives, that He provides, has to be because of Him and not because of the people whom He saved.
 
Paul gave the Corinthian church this dose of reality. And we need this dose of reality, you and I, today. 1 Corinthians 1, right? Turn with me there. We need that. We need to remind ourselves of the essence of the gospel and all the implications bound up in the gospel. Think about your—he says, “Consider your calling, brothers,...” verse 26, “Consider your calling.” Think about your calling. Think about why you're a Christian, why you're a sheep. Think about why the Lord has called you. Think about who you were before you were called. He goes on to say, look at the text,  "there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may abolish the things that are, so that no flesh may boast before God. But by His doing"—not mine, not yours—"by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, 'Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.'"

Who has the Lord saved according to this text? Well, He saved fools. He saved fools. He saved weak people, anemic people. He saved people who didn't have nobility. We could put our arms around all of this. He saved nobodies, wretched nobodies, rebels. He saved us. He saved us. And if you just look at us, it ought to be evident that salvation is by grace. Each and every single one of us must say and preach it to our own heart. Remind ourselves, I am that I am by the grace of God. That's it. That's it. That's what Paul was saying to the Corinthian church. Don't we speak of the grace of God as redeemed sinners? And so the people speak of security because did God know what He was getting when He chose you? Did God choose the people who could save themselves, who didn't need Him? "‘Without Me, you can do’” —what? — “‘Nothing,’" right? Jesus said. Did God choose the people based on their works? Based on their parents, their grandparents? Based on what was seen in them or foreseen in them? No.

When God saw us in eternity, in His eternal mind, when God saw us, He saw people who were helpless, and He chose to save a helpless people. In the language of Romans 5 and verse 6, "For while we were still” — ‘asthenes’ the Greek word, powerless, without strength, helpless, weak—"at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." Is salvation forever? If someone is saved, will they be saved forever? Well, in closing, consider the provider. Jesus said, "I give to them eternal life." You don't provide it for yourself—He provides it. Consider the procurement. How did you obtain it? Not by works, but by faith as a gift from God. And then consider yourself, Christian. Consider the people who are given eternal life. How are you different from anybody else? You say, well, I believe. Well, why did you believe? Why did you recognize Him and hear His voice and follow Him? It's because you were one of His sheep. And when were you given to salvation? When were you given to Him for salvation? Before you were ever born. And why were you given to Him? Well, not because of anything seen in you or foreseen in you, but for a reason found only in God, period, paragraph. That is His grace, His mercy. His love alone explains why one day you will stand with Jesus when He says, "Behold, I and the children whom You have given Me."

It all speaks of the security of salvation. Next Sunday, Lord willing, we'll come back to these verses and see three additional truths that are bound up here that speak of the security of salvation. I want to ask you as we close this morning, are you saved? Are you saved? I know you're in a church gathering. I know you are in this place, but are you in Christ? Are you saved? Are your sins forgiven? Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you follow Him? Do you love Him? Listen, the invitation is given to all. The gospel is preached and proclaimed in a general fashion. If anyone will repent of his or her sin and look to Christ for life, come to Christ as Lord and Savior, He saves you and you'll be saved. Do you hear that call? Not the external call, but do you hear that call, that effectual call? Do you believe it? Will you respond to it? Will you believe in Him, knowing that it doesn't mean to just intellectually hear, agree with the facts concerning Jesus? Will you love Him? Will you come to Him by faith? There's no one who's ever trusted in Him who's ever been disappointed. Will you come to Him?

I must give the final words to Spurgeon. I'll conclude with him, and I pray this will encourage your heart. It's an extended quote, but it blessed my own heart and I want to share the goods with you. Listen to what he says, and I quote:

"If one dear saint of God had perished, so might all. If one of the covenant ones be lost, so may all be. And then there is no gospel promise true, but the Bible is a lie and there's nothing in it worthy my acceptance. I will be an infidel at once when I can believe that a saint of God can ever fall finally. If God hath loved me once, then He will love me forever. God has a mastermind. He arranged everything in His gigantic intellect long before He did it. And once having settled it, He never alters it. This shall be done, saith He, and the iron hand of destiny marks it down. And it is brought to pass. This is my purpose, and it stands, nor can earth or hell alter it. This is my decree, saith He, promulgated, yet holy angels, rend it down from the gate of heaven, ye devils. If ye can, but ye cannot alter the decree, it shall stand forever. God altereth not His plans. Why should He? He is almighty and therefore can perform His pleasure. Why should He? He is the everlasting God and therefore cannot die before His plan is accomplished. Why should He change? Ye worthless atoms of earth and ephemera of day, ye creeping insects upon this bay leaf of existence, ye may change your plans, but He shall never, never change His. Has He told me that His plan is to save me? If so, I am forever safe. I do not know how some people," he goes on to say, "who believe that a Christian can fall from grace manage to be happy. It must be a very commendable thing in them to be able to get through a day without despair. If I did not believe the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints, I think I should be of all men the most miserable because I should lack any ground of comfort. I believe that the happiest of Christians and the truest of Christians are those who never dare to doubt God, but who take His word simply as it stands and believe it and ask no questions, just feeling assured that if God has said it, it will be so."

That is why Spurgeon could sing, and I hope you and I can also sing as well:

"My name from the palm of His hands,  
Eternity will not erase;  
Impressed upon His heart, it remains  
In marks of indelible grace."

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Tonight we come to the sixth oracle, the sixth oracle in the book of Malachi. And it's a message that places a special emphasis on words, words. Really, we can title this very easily, the story of man's words. So it has to do with our words. You notice the contrast in verse 13, "”Your words have been strong against Me," says Yahweh.” Verse 16, "Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another." Those who are marked by the fear of God, they spoke to one another. The contrast could not be clearer.

Set before us are the wicked and the righteous. And what distinguishes them in this oracle particularly are their words, words. And the distinction found in their words points to the distinction that will belong to their future. The Lord says that in that day it will be manifest who the wicked are and who the righteous are, and the difference will be clear to see between one who serves God and one who does not serve God. This is a contrast found throughout the Scriptures, not just in the book of Malachi. And to put it plainly, there is nothing more revealing when it comes to man's sinfulness than his mouth. The sinfulness of man at its core is always, always a what? A heart matter. Always.

There are sins that we commit in our bodies, there are sins that we commit by our actions, but you can always trace sins in the realm of our deeds to our hearts. And the fountain that reveals what is in man's heart is what? His speech. His words.

Remember Isaiah. Isaiah saw the Lord Yahweh high and lifted up, and he became immediately aware of his great wretchedness, his great sinfulness. And how does he express it? Very familiar with those words, right? "Then I said, Woe is me," Isaiah 6:5, "for I am ruined!” –I'm finished, I'm done. “For I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts." As he became aware of his sinfulness, he's especially acutely aware of the uncleanness, the filthiness of his mouth, speech, words.

And of course we're familiar with Matthew 12:34, where our Lord says, "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they will give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." The Lord will be able to illustrate in that day, He'll be able to illustrate the rightness, the justice of His separation of humanity, the sheep and the goats, as we saw this morning. It will be able to be demonstrated by words. Words.

Matthew 15:18, "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man." Those are the things that defile the man. Or Romans chapter 3, describing humanity in its sinfulness left to ourselves, it says this, the 13th verse: "Their throat is an open tomb." I mean, they open their mouths and death comes out. "With their tongues they keep deceiving, The poison of asps is under their lips." And so the sinfulness of man expressed in the speech of man is a theme. You find it throughout Scripture.

What is also a theme found throughout Scripture is the fact that when someone has been saved, this changes—the speech. The speech changes because the heart has been what? Changed. It's always the case. And not only is there an actual change in what comes out of the mouth, there is a new awareness about what comes out of the mouth as well. There's a new desire for what goes on in our hearts and what comes out of our mouths to please God. There's that desire.

When Paul exhorts Timothy to be an example to the church, remember what he says in 1 Timothy 4:12: "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but show yourself as a model” – show yourself as a model, as a pattern – “to those who believe." – How? – "in word." In what comes out of your mouth. In speech. And then he says, "conduct, love, faith, and purity." Amazing, isn't it? He begins by saying, In your word, Timothy, in your word, in your speech, Timothy. Watch your mouth. Be a model in your conduct, but first, he says, in your speech.

And of course, Psalm 19, that was read earlier in your hearing, verse 14. We know this verse: "Let the words of my mouth, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Yahweh, my rock and my Redeemer." There's that new desire. When there's radical transformation, there's new desire—the desire found in the hearts and lives of redeemed people, ransomed people. Lord, I want not only the meditations of my heart, my thoughts, to please You, but I want my words to be acceptable in Your sight.

Colossians 4:6 exhorts the believer in this way: "Let your words always be with grace." Always. Always. Your words—always at church, at home, on the way home, at work, at school, when you're on the phone talking to one of those big telephone carriers or internet carriers—let your words always be seasoned with salt, always with grace, so that you will know how you should answer each person. What a wonderful verse. It's a good verse to put on a little card and take it with you and put it on the fridge, on your computer, on the phone.

Colossians 3:8: "But now you also, lay them all aside: wrath, anger, malice," – and then He says, "slander, and abusive speech from your mouth." So at the point of the mouth, man's sinfulness is made manifest. And when one has been saved, redeemed, ransomed by the blood of Jesus, there's a transformation, and that transformation is seen in a transformation in speech that flows out of the desire to please God and please Christ with what we say. Because now we make it our ambition to what? Please Him. To live for Him. We no longer live for ourselves, unto ourselves. We live for Him, to please Him, to honor Him.

And we see that truth demonstrated here in the life of post-exilic Israel. The outline tonight is very simple. Verses 13–15, we see the words of the wicked, and then verses 16–18, we see the words of the righteous. The words of the wicked, the words of the righteous. The words of the wicked, verses 13–15. Remember what we saw in the previous section. God, do you remember, extended a hand of mercy? What a gracious God we have. He extended a hand of mercy despite their blatant disobedience—the blatant disobedience of the nation, priests, and people.

Despite them already feeling the pain of their disobedience, God is already visiting them with discipline. God has called them to repentance, and He promised to bless them if they return. If they will return, He says, "I'll forgive." If they will return to Yahweh, He will return to them. That's the promise that we saw last Lord's Day, right? It was a promise. "Return to Me, I'll return to you." The question is, what is their mindset in response to such sweet kindness, undeserved kindness?

God says that their heart condition is one of what? Arrogance. Arrogance. Their words reveal their arrogance. The Bible says that their words are strong against God, or hard against God. They're harsh words. Harsh words. The New American Standard translates it "arrogant." The reason why is this strength of words, this hardness of words—you could say stiff words. What He's describing are sinfully bold words regarding God. Words not only of complaint, words of accusation. Words not only of complaint, but words that would say that God is not what He presents Himself to be.

This is the Lord's indictment of His people: You are guilty of arrogant, prideful words. Now, not surprising, they dispute that claim as they've done throughout the book. I mean, they don't get it. Still disputing, they're pushing back. Verse 13: "But you say, 'What have we spoken against You?'" Again, they claim no knowledge of what God is charging them with.

And so what the Lord does in verse 14, He presents proof. He presents evidence. He doesn't have to give them evidence, but He does. Well, here's what you've said. You want evidence? Here are your strong words. Verse 14: "You have said, 'It is worthless to serve God; and what gain is it that we have kept His charge and that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh of hosts? So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape.'" Their arrogance is found in their claims concerning God's character. They're thinking of God in a way, they're speaking of God in a way that is in direct conflict with what God says about Himself.

And I don't want us to miss that, beloved. We need to recognize there is what God says, and then there's what we say. There's what God says, and there's what we say. And what we say with our mouths manifests what we say in our minds and what we say in our hearts. Let me put it to us this way tonight: Where in your heart have you been questioning God's version of reality? Where in your heart have you been questioning God's version of reality? Where has God said, "This is reality. This is reality. This is the way things really are," but in your heart—maybe even with your words—you have called into question God's version of reality?

Or to put it more simply: Where in your heart have you been doubting the words of God?
Commenting on this, Pastor MacArthur writes, “These sinful priests and people had not just questioned God (chapter 2:17), violated God's covenant (chapter 2:11), disobeyed His laws (chapter 2:9), defiled His altar (chapter 1:7 and 12), and despised His name (chapter 1:6), but had openly spoken against Him. In spite of what was promised (verses 10 and 12), the people complained that obedience to God's law brought no reward (verse 14). Only the proud and wicked prospered, they said (verse 15)”.

What are they doing? Well, they're claiming that when God describes Himself as one who upholds righteousness, who rewards obedience, and who punishes evil, God is not telling the truth. God is not telling the truth. This is not who He really is, because in our experience, right, in our experience, people always appear to experience—right, in our experience, they would have said—we are now in a position of recognizing that the arrogant are blessed. Evildoers are not only prospering, but they're putting God to the test, and it's costing them nothing. They escape; in fact, they get away with it.

We can summarize what's going on in their words in two ways. Number one, they claim that humble living is to no profit. They claim that humble living is to no profit. Humble living is to no profit. It's worthless. It's of no use. To humbly serve the Lord, to submit to the Lord, to believe the Lord, to trust the Lord, they say, well, it's worthless. It's vain. It's empty. It is worthless to serve God. That's what they said. There's no gain in it. There's no blessing in it.

Now remember what we saw in the previous section. God has promised to bless them if they will turn from their sins and obey His Word, His law. But they say it's just the opposite. They say to keep God's charge—look at the next statement, verse 14—"what gain is it that we have kept His charge?" To walk in God's law doesn't bring any blessing, they're saying. It doesn't. And they say to humble oneself, to repent as God has called for repentance—look at the text—"we have walked” – and that we have walked– “in mourning before Yahweh of hosts?" is to no gain, they're saying. There's no profit in it.

And in all likelihood, they had counted their superficial mourning to be repentance. Worldly sorrow. Empty tears. They've heard the preaching, preaching like Malachi gave them. And they heard calls for repentance. And they had clothed themselves in a superficial kind of mourning. And then they wondered, why things haven't changed for us? They covered the altar with their tears, and everything remains the same. Why doesn't God regard our repentance? Repentance, right?

Now here they are claiming that to repent as God calls for or to obey God's charges—this really doesn't profit at all. It is worthless. Why are we doing this? It's not working. Calling God's character really here into question.

You want a classic example of this? Here's a classic example of this in our own day. See, this hasn't ceased, has it? Still going on in our minds. Still going on in the minds and the hearts and the mouths of people. Let me give you a classic example of this. Every time someone is presented with the truth—the truth of Scripture, the truth of God, the truth of Christ—and they say something like this: "I've tried that already. I've tried that." Ever heard that? Well, here's what the Bible says you're to do in this situation. Here's what God's Word has to say. This is what God says to you—you are to do in this situation. "Well, I've tried that. I've tried that."

And what they're saying is this: I have taken God at His Word and found it to be of no avail. I tried it. It didn't work. It didn't work. I believe God. I've repented. I've done these things, but nothing changes. Nothing is made better by obedience. There's no profit that comes from listening to God.

Now, as soon as you hear something like that—"I've tried that"—there are a couple of things that you can know for sure. Number one, this person you're talking to lacks a biblical way of estimating fruit. They lack a biblical way of estimating fruit. "I've tried that, and it didn't work. It didn't pay off." However they might say it, whatever words they might use, that's really what they mean: "I've tried that, and it didn't pay off."

And I really want to ask, what do you expect payoff to look like? What do you expect payoff to look like? What is the fruit of obedience? What kind of fruit are you expecting? If today you heed the words of God, if you humble yourself before the Lord, if you take note of what He charges, and you genuinely walk in mourning before Him, humbling yourself before Him, I wonder—what do you think the reward will be? Well, what do you have in mind?

When these people say it's worthless, it's vain, well, what did they expect? What do they consider to be profit? Gain? So when someone talks like this, they reveal that they don't have a biblical way of estimating fruit. They also reveal that they lack a godly motivation that would result in fruit. They lack a godly motivation that would result in fruit.

Where is their genuine fruit? It is when people not only do, quote, the right thing, but they do it for the right reason and with the right motivation, right? True obedience is a matter of the heart. The heart. Not just the body. And so when someone truly obeys, they have the right motivation for obedience. It's obedience from the heart. And now we're enabled. If you're truly a child of God, you have a new heart that God has planted within you, and now there's that obedience that comes from the heart. It's not mechanical, shallow, and pharisaical.

But I want you to note this tonight, beloved, as we talk about this. You cannot pursue God's glory for your gain. You cannot pursue God's glory for your gain. You can only pursue God's glory for God's glory. Mark it down. Never forget it. And there's the genuine motivation for obedience. We live our lives for the glory of God. Period. Paragraph. End of story.

The New Testament tells us, whatever we do, eating, drinking, whatever you want to put on the list, do all for the glory of God. Live to the praise of the glory of God. There is the true obedience in action. And so when someone says, "I've tried that, it didn't pay off," I really want to ask them, what did you consider to be the payoff? Was it the glory of God? Is that what you were aiming at? Is that what you really desired? And is that what you really desire? What you call obedience—does it sound like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He says, "Not My will but Yours"?

James 4:3 reminds us, "You ask and do not receive because you ask"—what?—"with wrong motives." With wrong motives – "so that you may spend it on your pleasures." You see, you're asking God for things to fulfill your own selfish desires. You're asking God for things to fulfill your selfish motivation. And when you ask like that, you're asking wrongly. You're asking with wrong motives.

And so, if you sum it up—if you sum up what they say—they say, number one, to humble oneself before God is to no profit. It's worthless, it's vain, it doesn't benefit me to listen to God's Word or to mourn before the Lord in repentance. But notice that they don't just state their problem with God on that side of the ledger; they also state it on the other side of the ledger.

Verse 15, look at it: "So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape." Humble living, they say, is to no profit. And secondly, arrogant living is to no loss.

Arrogant living is to no loss. No loss. There's no gain in serving the Lord. There's no loss in testing the Lord. The evil prosper. We call them blessed now. That is, they envy the wicked. They look at the temporal benefits of disobedience to God in the lives of some people, and they count that to be prosperity. They regard those who are truly arrogant as blessed in the moment. And then they say something very interesting when they say, they put God to the test and they escape.

Remember what the Lord said to them in the previous section? "Test Me." Remember that? "Test Me. Prove Me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Test Me. Put Me to the test and see if I won't open the windows of heaven and pour out upon you a blessing that meets all of your needs and more." Verse 10. They say, well, Your promise to live up to the testing has already failed, God. No use. There's a group of people testing You in another way, and Your words don't seem to be true. There are people testing You in sin, and they get away with it. They escape. They put You to the test, and what You say will happen doesn't happen.

I don't know about you. I'm reading this and is this not arrogant on the part of a creature? A creature of the dust? The clay? Speaking against the Potter? The Bible says you're speaking strong words when God says you're speaking hard words against Me. Are these not arrogant words? Oozing with pride? Words that ignore the grace present? The very fact that you're in a covenant relationship with God?

God has already shown grace to this people, and they don't recognize it. This ignores that God deals with His people differently than He does with unbelievers. He does. Even if they look around and they say, it seems like to me that people who are challenging God are getting away with it—and we're not. God is visiting us with discipline for our sins, and these guys are getting away with it. Do you know that God deals with His people differently than He does with unbelievers? Their words ignore the difference between what this temporal world reveals and what eternity will reveal.

That's the message of Psalm 73, right? When Asaph has a similar complaint and he goes into the temple of God, the presence of God, and all of a sudden he has a different view. He has God's view. God opens His eyes so that He sees what a slippery position the evil are actually in. These words ignore the difference between what's temporal and what's eternal. These words also ignore the sowing and reaping process that often seems slow to people who don't believe God.

Do we think that just because God exercised long-suffering, patience, and judgment hasn't come today that it's never coming? I mean, I think of my own life. All those years prior to knowing Jesus, all the long-suffering and patience of God. And do we think that just because obedient living seems to suffer in the moment that it will not be ultimately rewarded? That God doesn't see, God doesn't know, God doesn't keep record? This is what faith can see, but these people don't have faith as evidenced by their words.

This claims a knowledge and a wisdom superior to God's. God has said one thing and they're saying something else. Remember Satan in the garden? "Did God really say?" This accuses God of being someone that He isn't. Someone who actually rewards evil. These are wicked, arrogant, proud words. God brings His indictment, they dispute the indictment, God proves His charges. These are the kinds of words they've been speaking, the words of the wicked.

But now, verse 16, there's a sudden shift. A sudden change. "Then those who feared Yahweh"—I love how they're described. God-fearers, God-fearers. "Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another, and Yahweh gave heed and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name." Let us look at the words of the righteous. What is especially interesting about verse 16 is that it begins with an emphatic "Then." You see it?

“Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another”. One commentator, commenting on this, says the word "then," –, "The word “then”, as in Hebrew, is emphatic, indicating that the action described in this verse was a consequence of the preceding confrontation."

And I find that very, very helpful. Very interesting. In other words, if indeed the emphatic "then" points to a repentance at Malachi's message, then we're reminded that truly saved people can be found guilty at times of sinning against God with hard words. But, and blessed be God for this "but," what sets them apart is when they're confronted with their sinful words. When those words are brought to their attention, there is genuine conviction. There's agreement with God. There's a turning from those sins, including the sins of speech. There's a willingness to be renewed in the realm of faith.

“Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another”. Notice what characterizes the speech of the righteous now. First of all, there is fear in their words. "Then those who feared Yahweh” – reverenced Yahweh, “spoke to one another." There's reverence. There's awe. They're gripped by the awesomeness of God, the holiness of God, who God is. They have a high view of God. There's reverence for God in what they say. Respect for His majesty. Respect for His authority. Reverence for His truthfulness. Respect for His promises. Respect for His goodness.

If we were to base God's reputation on what comes out of your mouth and mine regarding God, I wonder if the reputation would be accurate. Think about this. If all we had to go on is how you talk about your life and God's governance over life, over your life, and if we examine not just the words that come out of your mouth but the thoughts that go on in your mind, how you regard the world, how you regard God's governance over your life—if we were to base God's reputation on what goes on in your heart, in your mind, and sometimes out of your mouth—would we have an accurate view of God? Would we?

What characterizes the righteous is their words reflect reverence. They're God-fearers. Not only is there fear in their words, but there's also fellowship in their words. This is all the speech, right? Fear and fellowship. Who are those who fear the Lord speaking to? You see the text?

They're speaking to one another. They're speaking to one another. And “those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another." Those who feared God are speaking with one another, with others. They're speaking with others also who fear Yahweh. God-fearers are speaking to other God-fearers. These are their companions. They love to fellowship with other God-fearers. God-fearing people. Those are they that walk together with. Their fellow believers. Their fellow God-fearers. People who respond with humility and repentance to the words of Yahweh. These are those with whom they have fellowship with. They walk with. They interact with. They practice to one another with.

I wonder if we took your circle of friends by way of application. If we took the people that you have the most in common with, those that you spent the most time with—if we listen to their words, do they honor your God? Do their words reflect reverence? Is there reverential fellowship that exists in your speech with the people who are your closest companions?

Fear in their words. Fellowship in their words. And notice also faithfulness in their words. Verse 16, "and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name." Notice what's being written down has to do with the people involved. And God pays attention to them. He hears them. "a book of remembrance written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name." The people are those He's taking account of. And it's their words that really manifest who they truly are. So that what God is recognizing in their speech is what? Faith. Faith. Faithfulness.

God's obviously relating through Malachi to us in a way that we can understand. And what He's saying is that nothing is lost on Him. We live our lives in His presence, ‘Coram Deo”. And He pays attention to everything going on in our world, including conversations. And everything we do in this world counts. Everything.

Remember what Jesus said earlier in Matthew 12:36, "I tell you," – He said on that day, the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak. God knows, and God cares, and God takes account, even down to our speech, even down to our words. And the opposite is also true. God is not only taking account of careless words, wicked words, unbelieving words, He also takes note of those who speak of Him in ways that reveal reverence and faith. And so, the Lord says, He will remember them.

These are the people who are remembered by God, which is just a way of saying God will own them, God will identify Himself with them—people who talk like this. In the book of Hebrews, turn with me to Hebrews 11.

Listen to how believers are described. We're talking about believers, genuinely saved people. And in verse 13 of Hebrews 11, we read of the faithful, men and women of faith: "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on earth. For those who” – what? – “say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one." Now listen: "Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God." He'll remember these people. He will own these people. He will identify Himself with these people. And He goes on to say, "For He prepared a city for them," right?

So, what characterizes people of genuine faith are known by what they see—without receiving the promises, but having seen them. Seen them how? Seen them by faith, the eyes of faith. And in fact, they welcome these things from a distance, from afar. They're known by what they see, and they're known by what they seek after. They're seeking a homeland. And indeed, if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God.

So, they're known for what they seek after, and all of this is reflected how? In what they say—their speech. For people who speak like this were strangers, exiles on earth. People who talk like this make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. They're known by their words. And so the Lord talks about the fact that He paid attention to them, He heard them. And then He says there's a book of remembrance written before Him of those who feared the Lord, esteemed His name. And then He says, in verse 17 of our text, "'And they will be Mine,' says Yahweh of hosts, 'on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession.'"

I love that scripture. What marvelous words of promise. What He's saying is, these are really My people. They're Mine, My people, My sheep, to use the language of John 10. People who talk like this, people who reverence Me, who fear Me in their words, and believe Me in their words—these are My people.

This is about who really knows God, and is known by God, and really belongs to God. They're being revealed by their perspective, and by their words. And so the Lord says He will deliver them, He will take note of them, He will remember them. And then He says, I will deliver them. Look again at verse 17: "'And they will be Mine,' says Yahweh of hosts, 'on the day...'" Now the Lord through Malachi is looking to the end of the ages– "'on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession.'" When the people of God are all gathered together, and the Lord's people are revealed, He says, "'and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him."

If you pay attention to their strong words—the strong, hard, harsh, arrogant words of the wicked—isn't it interesting how this passage, this section, ends? Because God is promising that every strong word they have said against Him will prove to be untrue.

Think about it: serving God is no profit, right? Verse 14: It's worthless to serve God, and what gain is it? What's the profit? Thinking about profit and loss, right? "What gain is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh of hosts?" It's the arrogant who are blessed, evildoers who are prospering. Well, will we find out one day serving God has been to no profit?

When the people who have served Him in true faith will themselves be treated as His treasure. Did you notice how the Lord puts it? "on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession." Gain, profit—are you talking about this temporal treasure that goes away? Because there's coming a day when the people who have served Me, God says, I will treat them as treasure—My treasure. They will be My treasured possession. No profit, no gain, worthless? You will be My treasure. No profit? You will be My treasure.

Is it vain, worthless, to serve God? Put emphasis on that word: serve. "It's worthless to serve God," they said. Well, will eternity reveal that it was vain to serve God? When on that day, God promises He will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him?

One day what's going to be revealed is that those who have truly served God have served Him as His children. He's not going to treat them like mere slaves. He's going to treat them as sons and daughters. Was it vain to serve God when you were serving your Father? Was it vain to serve God when your Father is sovereign over all things and will rule over all things? Was it vain, worthless, to serve our Father? Because one day God is going to treat His servants as sons. I'll spare him – “I'll spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."

Is it impossible to distinguish the righteous from the wicked? I mean, this is what they were charging, right? "God, You say that You bless the righteous, You say You punish the wicked, but when I look, it seems to me that the evildoers are prospering. It seems to me they put You to the test and it doesn't cost them anything and they get away with it. They escape. We can't tell the difference looking at the way You treat people. We can't tell the difference between the righteous and the wicked."

Well, is it impossible to distinguish the righteous from the wicked, as these arrogant people have charged? Is it true? God says far from them being indistinguishable, there will come a day when they will not only be distinguished by what comes out of their mouths, they will be distinguished by how God regards them and how He treats them.

Verse 18: "So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him." So you will again “see," He says, you shall see. You will be witness to this. You'll be able to recognize this. It will be unmistakable—the distinction between the righteous and the wicked. On the day of God's wrath, no one will wonder who the righteous are and who the wicked are.

They have spoken strong, hard, arrogant words, and the wicked stand by those words. And by the way, never forget, never forget, you can be full of religion and full of self-pity and be absolutely wicked. But those who truly belong to the Lord reveal that they belong to the Lord because when they hear what they're actually saying and God brings to their attention the wickedness of their words, what do they do? "Then those who feared Yahweh spoke to one another." They turn from their sinful speech, they repent, they turn from their sinful perspectives, and they exhort each other in the renewal of faith and they serve the Lord from the heart, with a sincere heart.

Well, beloved, final thoughts as we end this section, by way of application, just a few minutes. Number one, the difference between saved and lost people is not superficial. The difference between saved and lost people is not superficial. It is not a superficial difference, is it? It extends to the very hearts of people. It extends to the hearts of people. If the Lord has saved you, then He has changed you. He has changed you. There has been a radical shift. I like to call it a tectonic shift, a radical transformation. He's not only forgiven you and changed your standing before Him in a positional way, He has changed your life experientially.

You have a new heart and as a result, you have a brand new interest in pleasing God and pleasing Christ down to the meditation of your heart and down to the words that you use that come out of your mouth. This is what characterizes saved people. Wicked people have no such concern and the evil of their heart is revealed in the fountain of their speech. The difference is not a superficial one.

Number two, the difference between saved and lost people is perfectly, perfectly known by God, perfectly. God already knows those who are His. We may at times look around this world and wonder, but God doesn't have to wonder, He doesn't wonder. He knows all things, right? And by the way, you don't determine that reality, neither do I. People are not saved by professions of faith. Matthew 7 makes it clear. There are many who say in that day, "Lord, Lord," but they don't know Jesus, as we saw this morning. Professions don't save people, God saves people. The question is, has He saved you? He knows your true spiritual condition.

And number three, the difference between saved and lost people is on display right now. It is on display right now. In words, that's the emphasis of this text. It's on display in more ways than just words, but you can know this: it's on display by words, by words. So one of the wisest things that we will all do is to pay attention to what comes out of our mouths and recognize that all that is coming out of the mouth is a reflection of what is true in our heart.

And if we really are born again, born from above, if we really do know the Savior, the Shepherd, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and we hear things coming out of our mouths that we know the Word of God would condemn, then we obey those New Testament passages that tell us to put that stuff away, lay it aside, get rid of it—slander, obscene talk, and words that don't reverence God, words that aren't gracious and full of salt, words that do not build up and edify, words that do not believe God. Recognize the sinfulness of that speech and treat it as sin and confess it before God as sin and turn from it as sin. And as you do that, you will reveal that God has actually changed your heart, so that now you care about the meditations of your heart and the words of your mouth, and you want those things to be acceptable to God.

The final thought: the difference between saved and lost people will be unmistakable in the future when God reveals what is hidden by hypocrisy right now. The difference between saved and lost people will be unmistakable in the future when God reveals what is hidden by hypocrisy right now. I mean, you can hear a sermon like this and you can make your mind up to be very careful in your speech so that no one around you is really privy to how you really think. And this is what we need to examine. In my mind, in my heart, do I agree with God's presentation of reality?

This is what God says in His Word. What am I saying? This is the truth as God has revealed in His Word. What am I believing? Before the words ever come out of my mouth and what's going on in my self-talk, what's going on? What is going on in my own mind, my own heart? Do I believe God's version of reality or am I actually arrogantly taking issue with God? I know You say this, God, but I think this way is better. The application is far-reaching, right? He's saying that what God has presented about Himself—He's perfectly wise, that He's altogether good, constantly loving His children—so that even those things that seem difficult to us, all things, in fact, are being worked together by God for the good of those that are called according to His purpose.

When we read that in His Word, is He telling the truth? When He says we don't need to worry about what we put on and all the basic necessities of life because He cares for us and He takes care of us, do we believe this? Or are we actually in our hearts saying, I envy the wicked because it sure seems like they get ahead while all that happens with me is I suffer. I suffer, I'm disappointed, shut doors, shut doors, shut doors, pain, disappointment, no answers, no answers, and the wicked is prospering. Somehow God is mistreating me, somehow God is not being just with me.

It is possible, it is possible, beloved, for a saved person to think like that for a season, but if you are an asaph, God doesn't leave you in that condition, praise God. In His presence and with His Word, He reveals to you the sinfulness of your thinking, and then you have that emphatic "then" that kicks in. I love that. Where those who fear God, they wake up. You know what they do? They practice the one another's, right? They encourage each other with the truth that God has revealed about Himself.

That is why when you're going through a dark season, when you're going through a tough time, you don't pull away from the people of God. You need to be surrounded by the people of God so that those who fear Yahweh will speak to one another and encourage you to spur you on and press forward by the grace of God. God knows this, and He hears this, and He remembers this, and He rewards this, which is a way of saying God knows those who are His, and one day eternity will reveal it.

Aren't you grateful for the patience of our God that He has towards us? Don't you feel like Isaiah when he said, "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live amidst a people of unclean lips"? But God is patient. God is long-suffering. So thankful, so thankful.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

In this 10th chapter of the Gospel of John, we find our Lord Jesus once more, as we often do throughout the book of John, in the company of His disciples and unbelieving, hostile Jewish leaders. And the bulk of this chapter is taken up by our Lord Jesus giving a statement about Himself in the form of an analogy, a metaphor, and then one very blunt and startling assertion concerning His equality with the Father. In verse 7, verse 9 of this chapter, you remember in our studies, our Lord claims to be the true Shepherd of the sheep–the true Shepherd who is the door of His sheep.

Verse 7, "So Jesus said to them [again], 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.'"  Verse 9 again, "I am the door." So here's an analogy in which Christ likens Himself to the entrance into a sheepfold, and here is the emphasis. The emphasis is upon Him, His being the Shepherd, who Himself serves as the door of the sheepfold. You remember in our studies, He would, the shepherd that is, would literally put His body down in front of the opening, and He would be the door into the sheepfold. In other words, what Jesus is communicating is that if anyone is ever to be found in that sheepfold of lost humanity, rescued and redeemed and saved by the grace and the power of Christ, they must come through Jesus Christ and through Christ alone.

He makes that explicit in verse 9, "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." And then again, you remember in verse 11 and verse 14, He claims to be the good shepherd of His sheep. Verse 11, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."  Verse 14, "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me." And we looked at that extensively.

And we, as the under shepherds, by way of application, are to imitate the chief shepherd. There are so many hired hands around us, but true under shepherds, they imitate the chief Shepherd. I was reminded this week of something that Spurgeon said concerning this. He said, "A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.” How true that is.

So here, in this chapter, this personal claim with respect to this analogy, Christ says, "I am the true shepherd who is the door of the sheepfold, and I am the good shepherd. I am the shepherd, the good one." And then as you see this chapter unfold, you have this astounding, this startling claim in verse 30, "I and the Father are one."

Now, the Jews understood clearly that this claim was nothing short, nothing less than being a partaker in the very stuff of deity, for we read on in the following verse. Verse 31, "The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, 'I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?' The Jews answered Him, 'For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself God.'"

And, so, in this chapter here, we have our Lord Jesus setting Himself forward in this analogy—the analogy, "I am the true shepherd who is the door of the sheepfold," "I am the good shepherd"—and then you have this startling claim, "I and the Father are one." Now, in the midst of expanding upon this analogy, this metaphor, in which Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd," He speaks the words of our text to which I direct our attention this morning.

Now remember, Jesus now is in the temple during the Feast of the Dedication, commemorating the Jews retaking Jerusalem in 164 BC and rededicating the temple. The Jewish leaders, we’re told in verse 24, encircled Him like sharks, like hyenas, seeking to have something to accuse Him with. Their attitude is antagonistic, and they were accusing Him, "Jesus, stop beating around the bush, tell us who You really are. The reason we're confused is because You haven't given us enough evidence." And we looked at that last Lord's Day, and we began to consider also our Lord's answer to their accusation, where our text this morning is part of His answer.

But as we look at particularly these two verses, I want us to look at them under two simple headings. First of all, note with me what I'm calling, “our Lord's words of consolation and of promise concerning a distinct class of people whom He calls His sheep,”--words of consolation and of promise with respect to a distinct class of people whom He calls His sheep.

Look at the words of consolation and of promise–verse 27, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them," and then go to the following verse, "and I give eternal life to them." Here, our Lord says that, among the natively lost, condemned, fallen, polluted, defiled, hell-deserving sons and daughters of Adam, there is a class of people called “His sheep”, and He tells us here two things about them, two things about them.

He says, number one, "I know them"—a word of consolation—and He says, "I give eternal life to them"—a word of promise, right? Now let's just spend a few minutes parking upon those statements. Jesus says with respect to the special class of people called His sheep that He what?--knows them. He knows them. Now a literal rendering of the Greek text would be this: "I Myself know them." "I Myself know them." You see, it's not the simple statement, "I know them," in which the subject is buried in the verb, but He uses a conjunction in the Greek text, ‘kai egó’, which means, "and I Myself, even I know them."

Now why do I call this a word of consolation? Well, for the simple reason that these words, "I know them," do not mean that He simply has an awareness of who and where and what we are in His divine omniscience. That's not what it means. That's not what He's saying. You remember back in the Gospel of John, chapter 2 earlier, recorded the fact that Jesus—well, let's look at it and see just by way of reminder. Look there just for a moment, verse 23, chapter 2 of John, where John already recorded the fact of His divine omniscience.

Verse 23, "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, when they saw His signs which He was doing." Now watch this: "But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He had no need that anyone bear witness concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man."

Here, our Lord is given this divine attribute of total omniscience, all-knowingness. The reason Jesus did not entrust Himself to these who said they believed on Him was that He knew their hearts. He knew that this faith, whatever it was, was short of true saving faith that saw Him for what He truly was and entrusted itself to Him without reservation. He knew that. And as then so now, beloved, He is here by His Holy Spirit, and He knows you. He knows me. He knows us–utterly, thoroughly, completely, totally, in and out.

What David could say in Psalm 139 of his Lord is true of our Lord Jesus Christ: "O Yahweh, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar." Before my thoughts are framed in my own brain, let alone before they may be spoken with my tongue and teeth and larynx and diaphragm, God knows my thoughts–utterly, completely, totally, from afar. He knows the thoughts that have accompanied you into this place this morning. He knows the thoughts you're thinking right now as I seek to open up the Word of God. He knows whether you're thinking in your mind, “Ah, more of this stuff. I haven't recovered from the loss yesterday. I mean, more of the stuff. I've had enough of it. I can't wait till all restraints are removed and I no longer have to be dragged to a place like this and listen to more of this stuff.” If that's what you're thinking, He knows that thought–utterly, completely, totally.

So when He says, "I know My sheep," He's not referring to this knowledge of His inherent omniscience as God–very God of very God–but it is a knowing of a special, distinguishing love and affection, issuing into a saving purpose, saving provision, saving power that results in a blessed relationship. Notice verse 14 of John 10 in the shepherd-sheep imagery. Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father." I mean, you read this and it's just mind-blowing. Who can begin to conceive of that intimate, personal relationship of love and delight and affection that exists between the Father and the Son?

Really? Listen, beloved, only Deity can encompass Deity in thought as well as in power. We have no clue. We're like a little kid trying to scoop up the ocean with a little symbol. And Jesus said that He fully knows the Father and the Father fully knows Him. And it is in that sense that He says these blessed words of consolation: that among the fallen, wretched, hell-deserving sons of men, there is a people whom Christ looks upon and He says with delight, with joy and delight, "I know them. I know them. I regard them with special, distinguishing love and affection–a love and affection that frame a purpose of salvation, a love and affection that not only frames a purpose of salvation, but that actually procures, secures, obtains that salvation.”

And He says that that shepherd who knows His sheep and His sheep know Him, He lays down His life for them—the ones whom He knows He so loved that He lays down His life to the horrific torture and shame of the cross, with all of the billows of the wrath of God upon Him. And then, because there was a saving purpose growing out of that knowing and saving procurement, there's a saving power issuing an actual relationship between the good shepherd and all of these whom He calls His sheep.

Now, to be outside of the knowledge—this knowledge of Christ—is to be outside the sphere of His saving grace and mercy. If Christ cannot say to you and to me, "I know him," in this sense, “I regard him with distinguishing love and affection, with saving purpose and procurement and saving power issuing into this intimate fellowship and relationship,” if you're not in the orbit of that knowledge of Christ, then you are outside of the sphere of salvation now. And, if you remain in that condition, it will be your portion forever and ever and ever.

You may be one who's thinking, wait a minute, that's strong language. But it does not exceed the warrant of Matthew chapter 7 and verse 23, does it? Does it? Listen to the words of our Lord. To some who professed great acquaintance with Christ—they professed faith in Christ. On that day, they say, verse 22, "’Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them”--now watch these words—"I never"--what?--"knew you”--”knew you.”

Oh yes, He knows all about them, but He never knew them in the manner of knowing in our text, John 10:27–28: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them." Now He says to the many, "I never knew you," back in Matthew 7. You see, beloved, the question this morning is not, do you know the Lord? The question is, does the Lord know you? Does He know you?

He could say of a special class of people called sheep, "I know them. I know them,"--wonderful words of consolation. But then He gives this wonderful word of promise. He gives to this class of people called ‘His sheep’ eternal life. That's what the text says, doesn't it? Look at it: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them," verse 28, "and I give eternal life to them."

You see, we read these words, and we become so familiar with them. We glance over them. What is this eternal life that He gives to this special class of people whom He knows, whom He calls His sheep? What is it? Well, again, it does not mean simply eternal existence. It doesn't. That comes with the awesome reality of being made a human being. Right?

Have you ever thought, “what an awesome, what an awesome”–let me say this–what an awesome, in the truest sense of the word, not in its present cheapened sense, when burgers and rides at Wonderland are awesome. Awesome means that which legitimately creates awe, wonder, something that is majestic and beyond our conception. Think of what it means to be conceived as a human, being in the image of God—not a dog or a cat, a lion, a robin or an eagle. From that moment of conception, eternity is stamped upon the substance of your being. Everlasting existence is the part and parcel of being a human being.

So when our Lord says, "I give eternal life to them," He is not speaking of merely giving eternal existence. But rather, it is the reversal of everything that was introduced by death—the Fall. You remember God said to Adam back in Genesis 2, in verse 17, "...from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." Literally, “dying, you will die.” That's exactly what happened when he sinned, and sin entered. Separation from the life of God. Separation from communion with God, fellowship with God, intimate fellowship with the Lord. And ultimately, living out life in a cursed world. "Cursed is the ground for your sake."

Eternal life—well, what is it? It is life that reinstitutes us into a heart communion and heart fellowship with the living God Himself. Jesus said in John 17:3, "this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Beloved, eternal life is living in vital, real, intimate communion with Him here and now. And, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to begin to be fashioned into the likeness, the very likeness–the moral image of God as embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And then eventually, as we read in the book of Revelation, to dwell with Him, face to face. And all of the company of His redeemed in the new heavens and the new earth. That's to be ushered into eternal life in its consummate glory. And Jesus says, “there is a people. There is a special class of people whom I not only know, but I give as the free, gracious gift—free, gracious donation of My saving work–I Myself–again, that same word in the original ‘kai egó’—I Myself, not an institution that was established: My church, not gifts that I give to My church:its ministering servants, under shepherds, but I Myself give unto them eternal life. I Myself know them. I Myself give unto them eternal life.

And then, to make sure that we get it, He says in these two negatives—and we'll look at that more next Lord's Day—verse 28, "And they will”--‘ou mé’ in the Greek text, double negative—ou mé’--no, not never–“perish.” "They will never perish–ever; and no one will snatch them out of My hand." And the word used for snatch, ‘arpázo’, literally means to seize in its negative aspect. To seize with force, to rob, differing from ‘kleptō’—to steal secretly. This is a different word. It means to snatch and suddenly take them away. "They will never perish–ever; and no one will snatch them out of My hand."

Think of what it means to have Christ say to you and to me, “I know you”--in this sense, “I know you. And I give you, I give to you eternal life,”--marvelous words of consolation. Marvelous words of promise. Surely, if you've been thinking at all, your thought is this, “Oh God, as I hear this, do I have a right to take that word of consolation and that word of promise to myself today? Is it mine? Is it mine?” Not by a form of spiritual thievery—taking that to which I have no claim—but as the valid expression of reality. Christ saying to me this morning, “I Myself know you. I Myself give to you eternal life. You shall never perish–ever. No one will snatch you out of My hand.”

So here's the question: How can we be certain that the word of consolation and that word of promise is ours? How? By right, not by a form of spiritual thievery, but by the grace of God. That's what I mean by right. We looked at our Lord's words of consolation and promise concerning this distinct class of people called sheep.

Now, secondly, to answer this question–our Lord's words of identification–I want us to note. Our Lord's words of identification concerning this special class of people called sheep. How can I claim these words to be mine? Well, He identifies what constitutes a sheep for us, and I want us to see this very carefully.

So from the word of consolation and promise, we now see, in our Lord's words, the identification of this group of people called sheep. Look at the text. Look at the text, verse 27, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them”--that is My sheep. “But Lord, how can I tell that I'm truly Your sheep? Lord, I read this, but how? I'm sitting here listening to this. How can I tell, Lord, that I'm truly Your sheep and I'm not just a goat with a sign around my neck that says sheep?”

"I'm a sheep. Believe it. Believe it. Believe it. In spite of what you see, in spite of what you smell, believe it. In spite of what you behold, believe I'm a sheep because I've got this sign around my neck. I had it placed on my neck when I was baptized, made public confession, belonging to Christ. Believe it because I remember my baptism. And people sitting here remember my baptism. Surely I must be a sheep." No. It would take more than the sign around our neck pointing to some external ritual by which we publicly identified ourselves as a sheep of Christ.

The text here says there are two discernible, distinguishing–and I will add–infallible characteristics of all of Christ's sheep–and I will add–without exception. Let me say that again. There are two discernible, distinguishing, infallible characteristics of all of Christ's sheep, without exception. Look at the text with me. Verse 27, "My sheep”--My sheep. Did you notice what He did not say? He didn't say some of My sheep. He didn't say a few of My sheep. He didn't say the majority of My sheep. What did He say? "My sheep." All of them. "My sheep." Every single one of them. Every single one of My sheep. Every single one that I own as My sheep, whom I know, and to whom I give eternal life.

Our Lord said these two things are true of every single one of them. And I pray to God that the Word will come with inescapable grip and power, because there may be some sitting here this morning who say that you're His sheep, but these discernible, distinguishing, infallible marks of His sheep are pathetically lacking in your life.

What are they? Look at them. Look at them. Number one. Distinguishing mark number one is this: all of Christ's sheep—true sheep—all of Christ's sheep are marked, they are characterized by a prevailing disposition and practice of hearing the voice of Christ. They are characterized by a prevailing disposition and practice of hearing the voice of Christ. And I said, “a prevailing, a prevailing disposition” because our Lord speaks in the present tense verb, which can well be translated, "My sheep are continually hearing My voice." Jesus said, the sheep whom I say I know, whom I regard with distinguishing love and affection, saving plan and purpose and power—all of them—they have as their distinguishing characteristic a prevailing disposition and practice of hearing the voice of Christ, the Shepherd. Now, will you please note, I did not say a perfect disposition and practice, but a prevailing disposition and practice. It is the overarching pattern of who and what they are and do.

Now, what is this "hearing My voice"? What does He mean, "hearing My voice"? What does that mean? Well, I want to start with a negative—what this does not mean—just to clear the debris and the confusion. Number one: it does not mean that the sheep hear an audible voice of Christ, as those did in the days of His flesh. It doesn’t mean that at all. That’s not the biblical teaching. For there were many, by the way, who heard His voice in the days of His flesh who were not hearing His voice in this biblical sense. Right? So it doesn’t mean to hear the voice of Christ as in the days of His flesh.

Nor, to hear His voice as John did on the island of Patmos. You remember in Revelation 1, John said, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice” “like the sound of many water”. “I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me.” And then he has this vision of the glorified, exalted, resurrected Christ. No, no. It is not to hear the voice of Christ as John heard it. Or as Saul of Tarsus heard it on the road to Damascus, when there was a brightness above the brightness of the noonday sun, and out of that Shekinah glory of God came a voice: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he responds to that voice.

Nor does it mean—and hear me carefully now, beloved—to hear the voice of Christ in some mystical, subjective, mental impression. I often hear people—and you probably can identify with this— say something like this: "The Lord said to me this” and “the Lord told me.” What do you mean you had the Lord speak to you? What they really mean is that they had some subjective mental impression that they interpreted as the voice of Christ? No.

The voice of Christ, simply and fundamentally, is Christ speaking through His Word. Here. So when He says, "My sheep hear My voice," He's speaking of His voice as it is found in the gospel records. The voice of Christ is not only to be found in those gospel records, however, but when we pick up the apostolic writings or the apostolically approved writing.

Paul could say in 1 Corinthians 14—he could say, "The things that I write unto you are"—what?—"the commandments of the Lord." In other words, when you pick up Ephesians, Galatians, Timothy, and Jude, that's the voice of Christ speaking. And furthermore, all of the Old Testament is the voice of Christ. Peter could say–1 Peter 1, verse 11–“It was the Spirit of Christ in the Old Testament prophets that gave us those precious words that we now call our Old Testament.”

So, when Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice," the voice of Christ is bounded by the Scriptures—Genesis to Revelation. But what does it mean to really hear the voice of Christ? What does it mean? What does it mean?

Well, it doesn't mean to simply let your eyes glance over words on the pages of Scripture. It doesn't mean to simply thread the words of Scripture through your eyeballs. You know, they get through your eyeballs, and by the optic nerve, a signal is sent to the brain, and you could say, "Oh well, that was read publicly from the pulpit: 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, they follow Me. I give eternal life to them.'" Threading words through the eyes is not hearing the voice of Christ.

Nor is it simply to be able to say, I was in morning service sitting, or I was in family worship with my own family, sitting with my mom and dad. And as dad read from the Scriptures, sounds came out from his larynx and teeth and tongue, and airwaves were sent to the outer vestibule of the ear. And then they were registered on my eardrum. And then you have this: the inner mechanism sent vibrations into the cochlea, and the cochlea, with its little hair, sent vibrations into the eighth cranial nerve. And the eighth cranial nerve registered in my brain. Well, dad read from John chapter 3. That's not hearing the voice of Christ.

Nor is it hearing the voice of Christ to have earlier, Elder Philip read from Ezekiel. That's not hearing the voice of Christ. And even to pay careful attention to what is read—that's not hearing the voice of Christ in terms of what Jesus says here, particularly in John 10. Or to be very attentive as I'm preaching and trying to open up the Scriptures and let the Scripture interpret Scripture—that's not hearing the voice of Christ either, in this sense.

Well, what then is it to hear the voice of Christ? Beloved, to hear the voice of Christ begins with an eager heart disposition to know and to retain the content of our Bibles. To hear the voice of Christ begins with an eager heart disposition—an eager heart disposition to know and to retain the content of our Bibles. It is to say with David, "I opened my mouth wide and I panted, for I longed for Your commandments" (Psalm 119:131).

Or to put it in the language of Jeremiah 15 and verse 16: "Your words were found”--and I set them aside? No. "I ate them." I just ate them. Couldn't help it. I had to eat them. "Your words were found, and I did not merely taste them, but I ate them." I masticated them with the teeth of my mind and with the saliva of intense desire to know the word of Christ. I ate them. And what was the outcome? "And Your words became for me"—what?—"joy and gladness in my heart."

To hear the voice of Christ is to eagerly and increasingly desire acquaintance with the content of Scripture. But it goes beyond that. It means that there is a commitment of heart, by the power of the Spirit, to believe and to obey all that the Scriptures say to us. It means that there is a commitment of heart, by the power of the Spirit—the enablement of the Spirit—to believe and to obey all that the Scriptures say to us.

Remember, again and again, in His earthly ministry Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Seven times, you remember, in those seven letters to the seven churches, which we were expounded years ago—some years ago, some time ago—every one of them closes with these words: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Our Lord, who spoke those words, knew that among the churches were many who would hear the messenger, the elders stand and read the letters, but they did not have ears to hear. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." In other words, let him receive the words of Christ with eagerness to know them, to understand them, to respond to them in faith and obedience.

Jesus said this class of people, whom I unashamedly say I know them—this class of people to whom I give this promise, the promise of eternal life—what is their first distinguishing characteristic? The first distinguishing characteristic is that they have a pattern of a disposition to hear the words of Christ.

Now I want to ask you this morning: is that a description of you? Is that a description of you? With all due allowance that we all go through periods of dullness, and backsliding of heart, and carelessness—our hearts are prone to wander. With all due allowance to all of this, I want to ask: is that the prevailing disposition and activity of your life? Do you hear the words of Christ?

How about this past week? Just this past week—have you been hearing the words of Christ? Eagerness. Eagerness. Eagerness that pushed you beyond the daily news and the sports page to find out who won and who lost and what the stats were, pushed you beyond turning to see how your stocks are doing, pushed you beyond the smartphone, where you wanted to see if there is anything posted of likes and dislikes on your Instagram page.

What real hearing of the words of Christ marked you this past week? Can angels bear witness that they have seen you subdue all of those influences that claw for our time and our attention and our mental energy and focus? And you pushed through all of that, and you got alone with your Bible, and you said, "Lord Jesus, speak to me. I want to hear Your voice." Get honest before God. What can bear witness that this past week, that was you—somebody hearing the voice of Christ?

And then when you found a command, saying "Oh Lord Jesus, I love You." And when You said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." But, "Lord Jesus, this commandment is impossible for me. I am weak and I am wrestling." But, "Lord Jesus, You said, without Me you can do nothing. But, you said as the Apostle declared, 'I can do all things through Christ.' Lord, it's not optional. I must obey the command. Lord, help me.”

When You said, "Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away and also its lust, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.” O Lord Jesus, this is not optional.

I must not allow the world to dictate to me what I will and will not pull off the clothes rack when I go shopping today. Lord Jesus, Your word is clear. I must not let the world dictate what is modest and what is immodest. I must not let the world dictate what I should listen to and what I shouldn't listen to. I must not allow the world to dictate who and what shall influence my soul. And so I ask you, beloved, as I had to wrestle with this myself: am I echoing words that find any resonance in your experience from last Monday to this Lord's Day morning?

What about the previous week? The previous month? The Bible is our standard to regulate our lives. Listen—either let's take our Bibles and chuck them or say, ‘when Jesus said, "My sheep are hearing My voice," either that's you or you're not one of His sheep.’ That's a distinguishing, infallible mark of one of the sheep whom He knows and to whom He gives eternal life.

Now Jesus said there's a second infallible distinguishing mark of His sheep. Look at it. Look at it with me. Verse 27: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." Literally, they are following Me. They are following Me. The second discernible distinguishing trait of each and every one of His sheep is this: all of Christ's sheep are characterized by a prevailing disposition and practice of following the person and word of Christ. A prevailing disposition and practice—not a perfect one–for John says in his epistle, remember, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us"--1 John 1. But this is a prevailing disposition and practice. This is the pattern, the direction. Not perfection—direction, right? This is a prevailing disposition and practice, for Jesus said, "My sheep not only are hearing My voice, but"—another present tense verb—"they are following Me."

Now, what does that mean, "they are following Me"? Well, the word used here for "following" is that word—the Greek word ‘akolouthó’—standard word for what's involved in discipleship, ‘ akolouthó’. Remember back in Matthew 16 and verse 24, Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross." And what? Same word—‘akolouthó’—"follow Me." Mark 8, similar words. Chapter 9 of Luke, verse 23—standard word of what happens when someone commits himself to a rabbi, to a teacher, to be that teacher's disciple. He would be said to follow the rabbi and follow the master—‘akolouthó’. He would be one who follows him.

And what did that following involve? Well, it involved a radical commitment to three things. A radical commitment to three things. Number one, to follow the rabbi or the master meant you're embracing the rabbi's word to regulate all of your thinking. You're embracing the rabbi's words to regulate all of your thinking. You are convinced that the rabbi, the teacher, is the learned one. And He has gone before and wrestled with the issues of life and how one is to view every single aspect of life. And when you commit yourself to follow the teacher, the rabbi, it is a radical commitment to allow your mind to be battered in demolishing thoughts that are contrary to the thoughts of the rabbi, the master, the teacher. To undergo the trauma of having your thinking on many issues totally restructured. And to say to yourself again and again, "My thinking has been off the wall." That's what it meant to follow the rabbi, the teacher.

But it meant not only that you were committed to have the teacher's word regulate your thought, but in the second place, also it meant the teacher's word will shape your conduct. The teacher's word will shape your conduct. If you are a true disciple, a true disciple of a rabbi, teacher, people would expect that the rabbi's directives were finding expression in your sandal leather. That you would let the rabbi's word not only regulate your thinking, but also shape your conduct.

And thirdly, you would commit yourself to imitate the rabbi. You remember Jesus said in Matthew 10:25, "It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher," right? Not just to think, not just embrace the teacher's teaching, but He says, "It is enough that the disciple become, that he become as his teacher, the slave as his master."

And so when Jesus said, "I have a people called My sheep, and this is the distinguishing mark of My sheep—they follow Me," what He is saying is, all of My sheep, all of them, every single one of them, are committed—radically committed—to have the totality of their thinking regulated by My word. To have the totality of their life and conduct shaped by My word, and to have My person as their example to imitate and to follow by My grace.

Beloved, listen carefully. This is Discipleship 101. This is not a discipleship master's degree program or doctor's program. What's the Great Commission? Turn with me there for a moment. What's the Great Commission in Matthew? Matthew 28—you know about it very well, I trust. I trust. "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”--verse 18. "Go therefore,"--verse 19–"and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them"—not all the nations, but those from among the nations who profess to commit themselves to Christ as disciples through the preaching of the gospel with the great themes of sin and grace and repentance and faith. People will be brought to discipleship. They will then manifest it in the divine ordinance of baptism. So they get baptized. They believe and they be baptized. "Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Now what's the next part? Verse 20: “teaching them”--what?--“to keep all”, “to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Now, I didn't write these words. Jesus spoke them. Matthew wrote them under inspiration.

The assumption is this: that when someone has been made a disciple, the Spirit of God has so worked in them that they have a disposition, a prevailing disposition of desire to both know and to comply with whatsoever Christ has commanded. Jesus did not say, “make disciples, baptizing them and then trying to persuade them that they ought to eventually at some point take seriously everything Christ has said about every aspect of life and begin to obey it.” That's not what He said. But He said, “teaching them”--that is, all who are His disciples–”teaching them to keep all that I commanded you.”

And Jesus assumes that if they're real disciples, they are real sheep. They hear His voice and they do what? They follow Him. They follow Him. They're ready. They're ready to have their thinking disrupted, where necessary, shattered and dismantled to be aligned with Christ's will revealed in His Word. In the language of Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, they are ready to have every single structure that rises up in opposition to Christ demolished, destroyed, and have every single thought brought captive to the obedience of Christ.

And, so, when Christ talks about money and things and possessions, they don't blow it off. When Jesus says, "Don’t lay up treasure on earth," they say, "Lord Jesus, I've got to take that seriously. What does it mean with my view of money and things and laying up for this and laying up for that? What do You mean, Lord? I'm here, I'm ready, I'm willing to align my mind and my life with what You say. Lord, help me see, help me understand."

What did Jesus mean when He said, "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things"? Lord Jesus, I'm here, I'm ready to obey.

What did Jesus mean when He said, "If your right eye makes you stumble"? in Matthew 5:29– that is, if I'm led into sin by the peculiar temptation that comes through the eye gate. Then He used the radical language. He said, "tear it out," and then don't hold it with the view that you'd pop it back in again. No, no. He said, "throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." And, "if your right hand makes you stumble,"--if there's something I touch and reach for that causes me to sin, far better to cut off my hand and throw it away.

Those are the words of Jesus, dear ones. What does that mean? It doesn't mean that you're to engage in literal physical mutilation. Because if the eye is being given to covetousness or to lust, you've still got another one, right? The Lord is using a graphic figure of speech. What He's saying is, “spare no pain.” Spare no pain. Spare no pain to get rid of that which causes you to sin. And by the grace of God and the help of the Spirit, deal with it rapidly, deal with it ruthlessly, deal with it decisively. That's what it means.

Do you take the words of Jesus seriously? "My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me." My Word regulates their thinking about the danger of sin, about money and possession and life, etc. My Word regulates their thinking and their actions in male and female relationships. They don't allow the world to dictate. Christ will shape my thinking. Christ will shape my actions. Christ, His Word, will shape every facet of my life insofar as I come to understand His Word, rightly divided.

And therefore, when I come to the reading of the Scriptures, it's with that attitude: “Oh Lord Jesus, speak. And whatever You say, no matter what present thought patterns it means have to be renewed—speak to me.” To “be transformed by the renewing of your mind," Paul says, "so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect." It covers everything. I go to the Word. I hear. I follow.

Whom shall I seek for a life partner? How should I conduct myself in my singleness, in my marriage, in my relationships, in my workplace, etc.,? Lord Jesus, speak out of Your Word. And whatever You say, by Your grace, I will let it mold my thought and shape my action. And then, Lord Jesus, I take You as my pattern. When we take the Lord Jesus as our pattern, "the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked"--1 John 2:6. I challenge you, child of God, as I challenge my own heart. Look at your Savior as He was applying Himself diligently for the work to which His Father was calling Him. Remember how He did that in His life?

This is what it means: "My sheep hear My voice, and they are following Me." My Word shapes their thinking. My Word molds their conduct. And My Person is their model. And do you notice in both of these things the interpersonal element? Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me." There is attachment of person to person.

And my fear—my fear is for some who may be here this morning who have had the truth of God from your birth. You grew up in a Christian home. Do you know anything about attachment to the person of Jesus? Yes, you have the ethical standards. You grew up in a Christian home. You went to a Christian school. You attend the church every single Sunday. You perhaps even come Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You have all of the ethical standards. You've been shaped by them. You know the doctrinal framework. And you have the decent life as far as everyone looks on the outside. But where is Jesus in all of this?

Where is the passion for Him? Can you really say, "For to me, to live is"—what? Maintaining my cultural religion with good, sound Reformed doctrine standards? Doctrines of grace? No, no. "For to me, to live is Christ." To me, to live is Christ. Life means Christ to me. Knowing Him, pleasing Him, absorbing His Word, being shaped and molded by His Word. And let my life be regulated by that Word.” "I give unto them"—My sheep, those who hear My voice, those who follow Me—"I give unto them eternal life."

And so, in closing—I must close—let me make just a couple of words of, I hope, I hope, I pray, helpful application. You may ask the question: Does hearing and following make me His sheep? Does hearing and following make me His sheep? And let me tell you quickly and absolutely: no. No. Hearing and following do not constitute me one of His sheep. Hearing and following manifest the fact that I am one of His sheep.

If you're one of His sheep, your identity as sheep is rooted in God's free loving choice of you in eternity past. Jesus said in this very chapter, verse 16, "I have other sheep, which are not from this fold; I must bring them also." “The Father gave them to Me.” Remember John 17:2, “to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life." We are constituted part of that vast flock in eternity by the free, sovereign, electing grace of God. Our privileges as sheep are procured by the sacrificial death of the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep"--verse 11 of chapter 10 of John. Again in verses 15, 16, and 17.

So no, we are not made sheep by our hearing, by our following. No, our identity was settled in eternity past. All the blessings of being part of His sheep were procured by the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. And our possession of the characteristics of sheep are imparted in the effectual call of Christ. "I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice," verse 16, "and they will become one flock with one shepherd." They shall hear, they shall become.

When we've truly heard the voice of Christ effectually calling us through the gospel, we become. We become new creatures in Christ. We become such who are given the disposition of sheep who hear His voice and who follow Him. And, therefore, these words of our Lord should, for some of you here in this place, bring tremendous consolation, comfort, and assurance. You struggle with the question, "Am I really a Christian?" Maybe that's you this morning. "Do I have something more than what my mom and dad gave me? What the elders have given me? What my Sunday school teacher has given me? Am I real? I don’t know. I struggle. I mean, I believe these things. I've known these, but am I really real? Am I real?”

Well, ask yourself. If that's you, ask yourself this: Is the prevailing disposition of my life, is it one of hearing the voice of Christ and following Him? Simple question. If so, then stop your doubting. Stop your doubting. You're one of His sheep. You wouldn't be that way if His voice hadn't arrested you and called you and drew you in, and you need to go out of here, out of this place, absolutely elated and shouting this morning, "I'm one of His sheep! I'm one of His sheep! I can't believe this! I'm one of His sheep! He's my Shepherd! He knows me!"

If somebody asks you, "How do you know?" you simply tell them, "I hear His voice, I follow Him." That's it. And I don't know when I actually became His sheep in my own experience, and I can't sort it all out. I made so many false starts that I stopped counting them, but I know sitting here this morning, I'm one of His sheep because I have a prevailing disposition to hear His voice and follow Him. Be assured that only God could make you such a person.

But for some of you, perhaps, well, you ought to be greatly disturbed this morning. Greatly disturbed. Because you've reached a comfort zone where you've got a handle on the basic doctrines of the Christian faith, even the unique perspectives of the Reformed faith. You can recite them. And even your external life is relatively decent. Orderly. But if you're honest, if you're honest, you have to say when I press the question: Do you have a hunger to know the Word of God because it is the Word of Christ? And with that hunger, do you have a disposition that seeks to bend before the commands of Christ and embrace in faith the promises?
And do you follow Him, a person? Is it your heart's commitment, the pattern of your life, to have His words regulate your thoughts, mold and shape your conduct? And is Christ Himself the pattern after whom you seek to be patterned? I'm afraid to hear the answer.

Turn with me to Matthew chapter 25 as we close. There's a day coming when nothing will matter but this question: Am I one of His sheep? Here in the judgment of the nations—really a picture of what will happen on the day of judgment. This is prior to the ushering into the Millennial Kingdom, the judgment of the nations. But listen to what He says here in verse 31: "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left." The One who knows with divine omniscience who are His sheep and who are not will separate based on His infallible knowledge–sheep to the right, goats to the left.

Look at verse 34: "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom, which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'" Look at verse 41: "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.'" And upon those two words of Jesus—Come, you blessed. Depart, you accursed. Come, true sheep. Depart, you goats. Verse 46: "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

You may leave this morning and say, "Well, I mean, Habib got worked up once again. My conscience troubles me a little bit, but no need to panic. No need to be too disturbed or get too disturbed." If that's you, God help you to bring you near this day. And my prayer—my prayer was this morning—"Lord, help me to preach with the shadow of this day over my heart and over the pulpit."

A day is coming when He's going to separate—sheep here, goat there; sheep here, goat there; sheep here, goat there. Sheep. Goat. Sheep. Goat. Sheep. Goat. What will you be in that day? What will you be in that day? Will you hear those blessed words: "Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom"? Or will you hear those frightening, most frightening words human ears can hear: "Depart from Me, accursed ones"? Oh, seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

Words are very important. Words are very important, and they're very telling. The Pharisees here in this account were confused about what really defiled a person. They thought that what went into a man—that's what defiled him. He had to be careful about all the ceremonial washings and such, because if you didn't wash your hands the right way, then you defiled yourself. And our Lord Jesus addressed that in His ministry.

In Matthew 15, verse 18, you remember He said, "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from" – where? – "the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witnesses, slanders. These are the things which defile the man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."

A similar account in Mark 7, verse 20, our Lord was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, theft, murders, adulteries, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

There's nothing more telling about a person than what they say. Now think about that. There's nothing more telling about the person—a person—than what they say. What characterizes a person's speech—and here, mark it down, referring to a pattern—what characterizes a person's speech is what characterizes their heart and what characterizes their life.

Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:34, "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart."
 – What's down in the well comes out in the bucket. –
"The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment."  – And then He closes with this: – "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:25-36).

You talk about how telling a person's words are—when Jesus speaks of that final day of judgment and can say that by your words, by words men will be justified, by words they will be condemned. That speaks of the importance of words.

With that in mind, just to remind us, thus far we looked at the reality of division found in verse 19a. We've seen together where the truth is spoken in a world full of sin, in a world full of decay, in a world full of sinners. There's going to be inevitably division. There's going to be controversy. There's going to be discord. Jesus came not to bring a false kind of peace to the world. He came to be a true Peacemaker, to bring the sword of the truth of the Word of God. And as a result, He told us, there's going to be division.

We see division here more than once. There was division throughout the ministry of our Lord. Verse 19: "A division occurred" – ‘palin’, once more, more than one time, yet "again among the Jews because of these words."
So we looked at the reality of division. And also, last time we were in this text, we looked at the reason for the division. End of verse 19, we saw together that it was not—we looked at what it was not—it was not a political division. It was not because Jesus was sinning or done something wrong and just trying to cover it in the name of God. No, no, it's a peacemaking division. It's a division brought about by the truth. Look at the last few words in verse 19: "Because of these words."

Well, this morning, I want us to focus on the third heading. I want to point out from these verses the third heading: the revelation of division. The reality of division, the reason for the division. And now we will look at and consider the revelation of division. And that is in verses 20 and 21.

There's this enmity on the part of the unbelieving Jews toward Jesus. There's this battle, this war really going on, and you see it throughout His ministry, His entire ministry. But the question is, how is it again and again revealed, this enmity? How is this enmity manifested in the ministry of our Lord? We don't just need to think about the Pharisees and the Lord Jesus at this point. We need to think about lost humanity and the living God as well. It's the same thing.

The Bible teaches that there is enmity, there is hostility that exists in the heart of man, the natural man, the lost man, toward God and the things of God and the people of God. The Bible says that we're enemies of God by nature. The Bible speaks of that fact that there is in man, left to himself, hostility of mind towards God and His truth. Enmity towards God and the truth. Well, how is that hostility revealed? That's the question.

Well, there's a powerful statement about that in the book of Jude. Turn with me to Jude and look at verse 14 and following. There's this statement concerning this hostility revealed. How is it revealed, this enmity towards God? Look at verse 14: "But Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these men", – referring to the false teachers –  "saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’ These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lust; and their mouth speaks arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of their own benefit. But you, beloved, must remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, 'In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.' These are the ones who cause” – what? – "divisions, worldly-minded, not having the Spirit."

Enoch prophesied of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the final judgment. And he sees the Lord Jesus judging all the ungodly, the wicked, not only for the ungodly deeds that they have done in such an ungodly way, but also, he says, He's going to judge all the harsh things that the ungodly, ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. And so the lost world reveals its enmity towards God by what it says—words, speech. By our words, we will be justified. By our words, we will be condemned.

And here in verses 19 to 21, you see the enmity of these unbelieving Jews toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And how do you see it? Well, you see it in what they say, right? He has spoken words of truth and now they're going to speak their words. And listen again to what they say. "And many of them," verse 20, "were saying, 'He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?'"

Let's pause there and let's think about what is revealed, what kind of enmity is revealed in these words spoken by the Pharisees. There are a few things that I want to point out concerning their words, these words that were spoken in verses 20 and 21. First of all, I want us to note that these were hateful words. They were hateful words.
To say that someone is demon-possessed, to say that they are insane, I think by any standard would be considered to be harsh. Wouldn't you agree? I think again about the book of Jude: all the harsh things that the ungodly, ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. Verse 15. These are not mild words. He's demon-possessed. He's insane. No, no. These are harsh words. These are hateful words.

And Jesus Himself acknowledged that this was the attitude of the unbelieving world toward Him. The world literally hated Jesus. John 15:18: "If the world hates you, know that it has" – what? –  "hated Me before it hated you." John 15:24: "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin, but now they both have seen and hated Me and My Father as well." John 15:25: "But this happened to fulfill the word that is written in the law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'" "They hated Me without a cause."

Beloved, listen. What is the true state of sinful man? What is the true state of sinful man? What really is his attitude toward God? What was revealed when God came to earth? When you had God incarnate, God in human flesh, walking in the midst of sinful humanity, what was the attitude toward God? It's nothing less than hatred. He came to His own, His own received Him not. This is what is in the natural man toward God. Hatred. Hatred. Hatred toward the truth. Hatred toward those who belong to the truth. And Jesus says, If they hated Me, they're going to hate you. Hatred.

I'm thoroughly convinced that many of the methods being used in ministry today are being used precisely because the church doesn't understand what the world's attitude really is toward God. And the reason I say that with confidence is because there's this philosophy at work that says this: the real reason why there's enmity between the world and our message is because we just haven't said it right. I mean, we haven't done it the right way. And if we could somehow present the message in a different way, if we could put it forth by different means or put it forth in a different dress, maybe even if we could say it more nicely. I mean, if we could just say it differently, then there wouldn't be such enmity.
And what men are really saying when they think this way is men really would be open to the truth of the gospel. I mean, naturally open to the truth of the gospel if you could just say it the right way. Just, you know, soften it a little bit. Let me ask you a question. Has there been anyone who ever walked on the face of this earth who spoke truth more perfectly than the Lord Jesus? Can anyone speak the truth more appropriately, more perfectly than God incarnate? What's the answer? Absolutely not. Of course not. And did they love Him for it? Did they love Him for it?
Now, of course, those who belong to Him, His sheep, those who were being saved, loved Him for it. But those who didn't believe, didn't love Him. In fact, they hated Him. They hated Him because of the truth.

John 17:14, "I have given them Your word;" – Our Lord is praying – "and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Matthew 10:22, "You will be hated" – hated, hated – "by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved."

Now let me stop there and ask, does that surprise you, beloved? Does it surprise you? Will it surprise you if you meet with this? This attitude, this hatred? I mean, do you realize that there really is hatred in the human heart towards the true God and toward His Son and toward His word and toward His people? Do you believe that? Are you ready for that? Are you prepared for that in your workplace, at school, wherever you are?
Do you know in your own mind, in your own heart? Are you assured of this, that you could speak the truth in the most perfect way possible and still be hated for it? Because the Lord Jesus is the proof of that. Truth incarnate. Because if you don't understand that, if you think that the real problem, the real reason for this enmity is just the way you're conveying the message—now don't misunderstand, let me insert this as a parenthesis—we ought to be workmen who don't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of God. We want to present the Word humbly and in love. We're told in Scripture to do that.
But if you think that the only reason for hatred toward the message is the way you're presenting it, you will forever be trying to change the way you present it and thinking that that really is the problem, when really that isn't the problem. And what you end up doing is you end up altering the message, tampering with the message, softening the message.

Now, the natural man hates God. And that hatred is expressed in various degrees, in various ways, but it's present in the unredeemed human heart. Hostile in mind. That's how the Bible describes lost humanity. These are hateful words. They reveal the hatred that's present, the enmity between man, lost man, and a holy God.

But there's a second thing that we could say about these words in verses 20 and 21. Not only were they hateful words, they were also hurtful words. They were hurtful words: "He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?" Now, when I say they're hurtful words, I don't simply mean—exclusively mean—that they were intended to hurt the Lord Jesus in some emotional way. I mean, there's no doubt that these aren't kind words. They're hurtful in that sense, but their desire to hurt went beyond how they would impact Jesus. How they would just impact Jesus.
They were slandering the Son of God, and they were attempting to turn others away from Him. That's what they were trying to do as well. They meant, by their words, to affect the way that others looked upon Him, the way that others listened to Him. These were really malicious words, hurtful words. They were meant to hurt. They were meant to ruin. And in case you think this is just something that was directed toward the Lord Jesus, remember there were also malicious words spoken against the messenger who came to prepare the way, John the Baptist.

Remember in Luke 7:31, our Lord pointed this out: "To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, who say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.'" In other words, you can't please them either way you come to them, because the real issue is the truth. Either way you come with the truth—whether it's in a sober way or a joyful way—either way the issue is the truth, and they're going to hate you for it either way.
He goes on to say, "For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'" – The same accusation – "The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!" So they didn't just slander, they didn't just say it was the Lord Jesus who had a demon, but they also said John the Baptist had a demon.

Indeed, this is going to happen wherever the truth is spoken. Beloved, do you realize that when hurtful words are spoken against you—not just meant to hurt you, but meant to ruin your reputation, affect others who would listen to you otherwise—do you realize that you're walking in a long tradition of truth speakers? We saw it last time in Matthew, last time we were in this passage in Matthew 5:11, "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you" – and here's the key – "because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

You see, it goes even beyond, it goes even further back than the Lord Jesus and John the Baptist. This is what they did to the prophets of God. And when the truth reached its zenith, in terms of its expression—in the truth, the embodiment of the truth, the Truth Himself, the Lord Jesus—the enmity was especially intense and focused. And it was expressed not only with hateful words, but also with hurtful, malicious words. Why listen to Him? He has a demon. He's insane.

There's a third thing we recognize in these words. There were hateful words, there were hurtful words, there were also evasive words. There were evasive words. Just go through the Gospels and read these kinds of interactions that Jesus had with the unbelieving Jews, and notice this: when do the Jews usually begin to cast their insults at Jesus? When did the lid come off? It's usually when He's reduced them to a place of what? No escape.
That is, His words were so powerful, so strong, so true, so inescapable, so sound, that the only way to get around what He was saying was what? Attack the messenger. Insult Him. Insult Him. Cast scorn upon His words to mischaracterize what He was saying. It's, you know, it's an escape mechanism, isn't it? It's an evasive maneuver. If you can't deal with the truth, what do you do? You insult the speaker of the truth. This is what they did.

We saw it earlier in our studies of John, but let's go back to John 8 for a minute. I want us to see how this actually is expressed, like you see manifested—John chapter 8. You remember the whole discussion about Abraham? "Before Abraham was, I am." He tells them that their father is Satan in John 8. Notice how this is escalating, how it escalates. Look at verse 39, and we'll take it from there: "They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham's our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you are Abraham's children, you would do the deeds of Abraham. But now you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father.'"

Let's stop here for a minute. He's just spoken the truth about their attitude and their conduct, and how are they gonna deal with it? I mean, He's exposed them. How are they gonna deal with that exposure? Well, they're either going to respond in repentance—repentance on their part—or in some other way to deal with what He just said. But what did they do?
Look at verse 41. They begin with a veiled insult. See what happened here? Veiled insult. "They said to Him, 'We're not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father: God'"

Here's this veiled attempt to say that Jesus was born of sexual immorality. There's this veiled insult. And so the conversation goes on, and they go on from this veiled insult. Look at verse 48. Now they move to an open insult. "The Jews answered and said to Him, 'Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?'" This is just after He said in verse 46, "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God;  for this reason, you do not hear them, because you are not of God."
Again, He confronts them with truth, truth that they cannot escape. They cannot get around it.
And so how do they deal with it? They just now, they openly insult Him. "You are a Samaritan and You have a demon."

The conversation goes on. Verse 53, look at it. "Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?" This is after Jesus said, if anyone believes in Him, they won't see death. And so they say, are You greater than Abraham? The prophets—they all died. What are You talking about?
Verse 54, "Jesus answered, 'If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, He is our God; and you have not known Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.'" Verse 57, "So the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?'" Ha, ha, ha. What are they doing? They're mocking Him. They're mocking Him. They go from veiled insult to open insult to mocking.

And how does Jesus respond? "Truly, truly, I say to you," verse 58, "'before Abraham was, – ‘Ego eimi’ – "' I am’." I am God, I am Jehovah Jesus. "Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple." So they go from veiled insult to open insult, from mocking to violence to murderous violence. The hatred is expressed in a desire to hurt. It begins with words, but then it progresses into action. Those words are evasive words meant to escape the truth, and that's why they eventually lead to violence. They want to get rid of Him. They want to kill Him. They want to get rid of Him. They want to evade what He's saying.

Now let me pause here and ask, do we not deal with evasiveness in men and women when we declare the Word of God? Now think about that in your own experience. Are men still evasive when it comes to the truth? Does the natural man still seek to escape the truth? He does, doesn't He?
Sometimes by what? How do they do it? By twisting our words, right? By twisting our words. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone that involves the truth, the truth of God's Word, and they just continue to turn what you say in a way that you didn't say it? "No, no, no, that's not what I said. That's not what I mean." But the conversation goes on and they just continue to twist and twist.

Sometimes by ignoring our words, right? Not only by twisting our words, but by ignoring our words. You can say something to them and it's the truth, and they'll pick up their point as if you've never said what you just said, completely ignoring what they heard. They don't wanna hear it. Sometimes by what? Changing the subject, right? Changing the subject. You see an example of this with the woman at the well. Jesus is talking to her about her husband, and all of a sudden she has a question about worship. Changing the subject.

And of course, sometimes by straw man arguments. They raise up these arguments that have been used over and over again, have been disproven long ago, but they continue to raise them up because they're easy things to run to when you don't wanna have to deal with the truth and face the truth.

But then eventually, when the truth is inescapable, it comes to the point of what? Insult. Sometimes veiled, sometimes open, sometimes mocking. And then when man is free to do it, when society allows him to do it—and sometimes even when society doesn't allow him to do it—it progresses to what? Killing. It progresses to violence.

Well, these words spoken on this occasion in John 10 were hateful words, hurtful words. They were evasive words. They didn't wanna deal with what Jesus was saying. That's why they insulted Him.

But there's a fourth thing that we can see in these words. There were also demonic words. There were demonic words. The sad irony here—they accused Him of having a demon, but where does their speech come from? I mean, where did this idea come from that Jesus had a demon? Where does their murderous, hurtful spirit come from?

Well, they hated Him and they wanna hurt Him. They wanna get rid of the truth. Well, where is this attitude coming from? He's already identified it, by the way, hasn't He? Let's go back to John 8. John 8, verse 41—but let's back up to verse 39:
"They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham's our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you are Abraham's children, you would do the deeds of Abraham. But now you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. You are doing" – what? – "the deeds of your father.' And they said to Him, 'We're not born of sexual immorality; we have one Father: God.' Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceed forth and come from God, for I have not even come of Myself, but He, God, sent Me. Why do you not understand what I'm saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.'" – Now watch verse 44 – "You are of your father," – and what does He say? – "the devil." The devil. Where are these thoughts coming from? That Jesus has a demon, that He's insane, that He's to be killed—where are these thoughts coming from? Jesus says, "The devil." They're coming from the devil. It's the devil who would suggest that Jesus has a demon.

In fact, when you talk about natural wisdom, when you talk about wisdom and the judgment that operates in the natural man, do you know where that wisdom comes from? Think about our world of lost humanity. Think about the wisdom that they operate with, all around us—the world system, lost humanity. By the way, we all once operated with the course of this world, the mindset of this world. Who's over the course of this world? The Bible tells us, right? Many places. One of them is in Ephesians 2. It's the prince of the power of the air who is at work in the sons of disobedience.

But let's think about this worldly, natural wisdom. James chapter three. James chapter three. In verse 14, James says, "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth." This wisdom is not coming down from above, but is earthly, natural," – and then he says what? – "demonic." You see it? Demonic.
Let us really have this in our minds once and for all. What is earthly wisdom? It's demonic wisdom. What is natural wisdom? It's demonic wisdom. It's demonic. What are false doctrines? These false ideas about God, these false ideas about man, these false ideas about what's really important in life, these false ideas about salvation, the false ideas that are all introduced all over the world, all the time about Heaven and Hell and the non-existence of Hell in some cases. Where are these ideas coming from? The Bible calls them doctrines of what? Demons.

And so here, they're looking at God incarnate, God in human flesh, and they've come to the conclusion that He has a demon, that He's of the devil. And where did that thought come from? Where are these words coming from? The devil himself. The devil doesn't work against himself, but he does work against the Son of God. The devil doesn't work against himself, but he does work against His truth. So he also works against the Church, God's people.

Let me give you another example. Turn with me to Matthew 12. Matthew 12. Look at verse 22. I love the sound of the pages turning. A Bible in hand, the Word of God. Sweet sound, sweet sound. And I'm glad you're reading your Bibles also on the iPad as well, or whatever you're doing, so that's great. The Word of God is marvelous, however you read it, but there's something special when you hear this, right?
Matthew 12, verse 22: "Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus. He healed him so that the mute man spoke and saw. And all the crowds were astounded and were saying, "Can this man really be the Son of David?" But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons."

People are praising the Son of God. They say, He is potentially the Messiah, the long-awaited—Is this the Messiah? And the Pharisees hear it, and the Word of God tells us elsewhere that what was continually operating in their hearts was what? Envy. Envy. So they hated Him because He was the truth, the embodiment of truth, truth incarnate, and they were thoroughly jealous of the Son of God. They had envy.

They hated Him for the fact that He was worthy of praise and worship and directed men away from them, and so they were so insecure, and so they speak this honest conclusion. They say, He does this by Beelzebul, the ruler of demons. Notice verse 25: "And knowing their thoughts, He said to them, 'Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?'"
Jesus says, you know what? Your thoughts and your words are absolutely absurd. Satan casting out demons? Satan casting out Satan? You have to understand, these are not false deliverances. These are not false deliverances. These are not deceptive deliverances. These are genuine, undeniable deliverances from demon possession and oppression. People were blind, all of a sudden could see. People who are mute, all of a sudden could speak. It was undeniable, and they're saying that Satan is doing it, and Jesus said, this is absolutely absurd.
Satan doesn't work against Himself, but then He points out something else.

Look at verse 27: "And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons," – by Beelzebul – "by whom do your sons cast them out?" You see, they had disciples. The Pharisees had disciples, and apparently these disciples were involved in some deliverance sessions. How real and legitimate theirs were—there's a serious doubt—but the point that Jesus is making is that they never said that their sons were doing it by Satan. They just freely accepted that those acts were of God. But when He genuinely casts out demons, now they say concerning Him, well, that's the work of Satan. In other words, their thoughts clearly reveal a prejudice against Him.
This is why He says at the end of verse 27, "For this reason, they will be your judges." The way you've spoken of them compared to the way you've spoken to Me will judge you.

And then notice verse 28: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house? He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters." Jesus says here, I have demonstrated clearly My authority over Satan. It is impossible to plunder a man's house unless you have the strength to bind him. And so the authority of Jesus over Satan has been manifested, has been demonstrated clearly by all of these miracles, all of these healings, all of these deliverances. He has clearly demonstrated His authority over Satan.

Now, the question is, will they submit to the authority of Christ? Well, their words revealed what? Rebellion. They were absurd thoughts and absurd words. They were prejudiced thoughts and words. They never questioned their own disciples—in all likelihood, false deliverances—but they questioned His. And their words and their thoughts were rebellious in nature, refusing to submit, refusing to bow before a clear demonstration of the authority of God incarnate, which means also that their words were damning.

Look at verse 31: "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." Now, let me say this. It's possible, very possible, that you've spoken a word against the Son of God because you didn't have a clear understanding set before you of who He really is. Prior to coming to Jesus, you never really saw a clear demonstration of who Jesus is. You underestimated His person, and so at some time in your past, you've spoken against Him.

But then God does something amazing. He reveals the truth about His Son. He opens your eyes. He gives light, and you submit to Him as your Lord and your Savior, and you're forgiven, and your sin is forgiven entirely. You're adopted in the family of God.
But what do you do when there's a clear, undeniable demonstration of the Spirit of God's working in the Son of God? A clear, undeniable demonstration of the authority of God in your midst? You are now without excuse. You've seen things with your eyes that you know have never taken place in the history of the world. You know there's no other explanation but that it's God, God at work Himself, and you are settled nevertheless in your unbelief. So much so that you will call what He does as being from Satan. No hope for you. No hope for you.

You mean lost men are capable of that? Lost men are capable of knowing that this is the Son of God? And still call Him a devil? You mean lost men are capable of knowing that they're hearing the truth and still remain settled, hardened in their unbelief? Beloved, I ask today, are lost men capable of that? They are. They are. This is the depth of depravity. This is what sin has done to the human race, and this is what's being revealed in their words.

Back to John chapter 10, because you see not only their hateful words, and hurtful words, and evasive words, and demonic words. You also see these words were also dishonest words. They were dishonest words. I really believe that they knew better than what they were saying. Look at verse 20: "And many of them were saying, 'He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?'" Now watch this. Verse 21: "Others were saying, 'These are not the words of someone demon possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?'"

The dishonesty of the words of the one group, verse 20, is exposed by another group, verse 21. Now the group in verse 21, not yet believers at this time. They may become believers later. We don't know, but they're not yet believers at this time. But they were at least, you could see, they were at least fair-minded, honest about something that was really undeniable, indisputable.
That is, the only way you could ever say that Jesus was demon possessed and insane is your refusal to deal with two clear, self-evident things.

One, they're saying, have you been listening to Him? I mean, are these the words of a demon possessed man? I mean, think about it for a minute. Go through the Gospels. Go through the Gospels and read the accounts of the people who were really demon possessed. Would you say that they were eloquent? Would you say that they were in their right minds? Would you say that their reasoning was impeccable, it was sound? No, in fact, some of them were so dreadful in the way that they were living, people wouldn't even come near them.

Then you listen to the words of the Lord Jesus, and as men and women even went and listened, as they listened to Him, they marveled at what He was saying. And remember when they sent the group of soldiers to arrest Him? Remember what they said? "No man has ever spoken like this man speaks." His words were so—I mean, they are the words of God. His words were so perfect, perfect sound, powerful, penetrating, enlightening, beautiful in every respect. And you've come to the conclusion that He's speaking by a demon? How dishonest can you be with what you're hearing?
Read what He says about the Good Shepherd. Listen to the reasoning involved in what He's taught. Are these the words of a demon-possessed man? You're out of your mind. You're being dishonest.

But there's a second thing they're just not willing to deal with. And that is, you've got a man—remember the account in chapter 9? You've got a man who was blind and now he what? He sees. He sees. Is that the work of a demon? No, the reason why they say the things they say is because they just don't want to deal with the truth. So these are dishonest words.

Do you believe, beloved, that the enemies of the gospel sometimes say things that they know are not true just to avoid the truth of the gospel? Does this world that we live in say things about the church, about Christians, that they know they are not true? By and large, as a whole, they know it's not true that they say it because they don't want to deal with the truth of the gospel? I mean, there are hypocrites in the church. But you know, you often hear the statement, "Oh, all Christians are hypocrites."

Now let me ask each and every one of us. By our words, we will be justified. By our words, we will be condemned, Jesus said. Right? That's what He said. Here's the question: What do your words reveal about your relationship to the gospel? What do your words reveal about your relationship to the gospel? And when I say the gospel, I'm saying Christ. He is the gospel. As I said at the beginning, words are so important. And you know that words actually not only reveal lostness, like in this case. Words reveal also the presence of salvation. Words reveal that there's life present.
Two passages, very quickly, as we bring this to conclusion, stood in my mind. Really, these stood out in my mind, these two passages. One is found in the book of Hebrews. Turn with me there. Hebrews 11. And this is where the application—I trust that the Lord, the Holy Spirit, will bring it to bear upon our hearts.

Hebrews 11, look at verse 13. In the midst of this, description of what faith accomplishes, genuine saving faith, given by God, how it evidences itself in men and women. Look at verse 13. : "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." – Verse 14 – "For those who say such things" – you see that? Did you catch that? – "For those who say such things." In other words, for people who speak thus. Those who talk like
that.

You see? People who talk about the promises of God. People who believe the promises of God. People who look forward to the things that they will never see in their lifetime, and keep on talking about them, and believing them, and clinging to them all the way to the grave.
And people who say, "This is not my home. I'm a stranger, I'm an exile, I'm a pilgrim. I'm passing through. My one ambition in this life is to be pleasing to Him, my Master and my Lord." People who talk like that, and mean it—look at what He says about them in verse 14: "For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed, if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them."

Wow. Has He prepared a city just for some believers? Or has He prepared a city for all believers? All of them, beloved. All of them. So this kind of speech characterizes what? Believers. This is what really characterizes believers. Their mouth, their words say they are people of faith.

Let me give you an Old Testament example. Go to the book of Malachi, the book we're studying right now in our evening services. Go to the book of Malachi chapter 3. Look at verse 13. God bringing indictments against the sinful people.
Verse 13, we read the following. Now, watch this. Malachi 3, verse 13: "Your words have been strong against Me, says Yahweh." "Your words have been strong against Me, says Yahweh. But you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ You have said, 'It is worthless to serve God.'"

Now, are those the words of a believer or an unbeliever? It's worthless. It's vain. It's empty. It's meaningless to serve God. "And what gain is it" – he goes on to say – "that we have kept His charge, that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh of hosts? So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape."

It's vain. Worthless to serve the Lord, they say. It's vain. It's worthless to serve Him. Where does God reward the righteous? Where does He punish the wicked? But notice now in the next verse, verse 16: "Then those who feared Yahweh" – what did they do? – "spoke to one another." You see it? "They spoke to one another, and Yahweh gave heed and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name."

So what marked those people who feared Yahweh? What marked those people who esteemed His name? They spoke to one another. They spoke to one another. Words. They spoke to one another in a way that God saw as rewardable. He paid attention. He heard it. He treasured it. In a language that we can understand, He wrote a book. A book of remembrance was written before Him.
In verse 17 He says: "They will be Mine," says Yahweh of hosts, "on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve God."

He is saying on that great day, there is going to be a clear distinction made between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who served God and the one who didn't serve God.
But if we were paying attention, there was already a distinction, and it was found in what came out of what? Their mouth. One said, It's worthless to serve God. Why serve God? And the other spoke with one another in a way that spoke of their fellowship with God, their faith in the promises of God, their trust in God.

And for those who say such things—you see, Hebrews chapter 11— "for those who say such things", who say, we are pilgrims. We are strangers. We are sojourners looking for another kind of city, God has prepared one for them, and He is not ashamed to be called their God.

So let me ask you again: What do your words say about your relationship to Jesus? What's the pattern there? To God? To His Son? Do you praise His words? Do you speak of your love for God's Word? Do you speak of the preciousness of the things found in the Scripture?
Your words came to me, and I ate them, and they were sweet. They were a delight. Oh how I love Your law. Do you talk about God's Word? Do you praise His words? Do you proclaim His Word?

There is a relationship to God's Word found in God's people. They love it. They read it. They obey it. They proclaim it. They speak it. They speak His Word. Do you prize His Word? Do you place great value upon His Word? Do you treasure His Word?

I can never forget a testimony of a Christian in one of those places where Christianity is banned. A testimony that stuck in my mind: when she was a little girl, they would take a Bible and they would tear pages out of it. Individuals would have not a Bible—they would have a page of Scripture, and they would memorize it because they weren't allowed to have the Bible. It was so scarce that the one Bible had to be shared by many, and they had to memorize one page each. Is God's Word valuable to you?
How do we know there was enmity between Jews and Jesus? All you had to do was listen to them—hateful words, hurtful words, evasive words, demonic words, dishonest words. What does your mouth say about your relationship to God?

If your sin has found you out this morning, I beg you, repent. And I plead with you, repent. Cry out to God. Ask Him for forgiveness. Turn to the Son of God and embrace Him as your Lord and Savior. Come to Him empty-handed: Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.
Lord Jesus, You have done everything for me, and You have done what I could never, ever do. You lived that perfect life that I am required to live, but I can never live—can never, ever, ever, ever live. And You died the death that I deserve to die on Calvary's cross.
And on that cross, suspended between Heaven and earth, rejected by men, rejected by a holy God—because all of the sins of all of those who belong to You were laid upon the Lamb of God—and God the Father judged God the Son, who became the sin bearer. And on that cross He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? He died that you might live He drank the cup of wrath that you might drink a cup of mercy and grace believe upon Him ask Him to come into your life to give you a heart of flesh to take away the heart of stone and to write His words His law upon the tablets of your heart and He will do that come to Him empty handed, come all the way to Christ, don't be satisfied that your toes are right up to the narrow gate that leads to life, come all the way to Christ, enter through the narrow gate, give your life to Him, embrace Him as your Lord and Savior, He’s a merciful God, He’s a merciful Savior, your works the best that you do is filthy rags in the sight of God, in fact let me tell you my dear sinner friend the more you try to do to earn acceptance with God the more judgment you will heap upon yourself because the best that you do is tainted and tarnished your only hope is to rest on the doing and the dying of another the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Give your life to Him, He's a gracious Savior. You may be a great sinner today but I'm presenting you with a great Savior, He's mighty to save, able to save to the uttermost those who come to Him by faith.

 Let's pray.

Father in Heaven we give you thanks that salvation is not just a legal reality it's an experiential reality, you, you change your people from the inside out, you took out of us a heart of stone and you gave us instead a heart of flesh and because you've changed us Lord what's in our hearts is revealed by our lips, out of good treasure comes forth good things and yet Lord we must also confess as your people that because of the presence of the flesh the remaining corruption the struggle we have with sin there are many times that we have to in light of your holiness say with the prophet Isaiah woe is me for I'm a man of unclean lips. Lord we say things we ought not and we don't say things many times that we ought, Lord lead us in a way that our words would reflect our love for you and our belief in what you've told us and Lord may people be able by your words to know that by our words to know that we belong to you that we would speak only that which is for edification that would impart grace to the hearers as we fellowship with one another in our homes in our families Lord may there be much talk about you about your word may you indeed Lord find in our families words that you would write down and remember as we esteem your name in that book of remembrance and Lord I pray for those in this place this morning whose words would condemn them whose words reveal the true condition of their hearts whose words reveal that they don't know you O Lord may they pay attention to their own speech and recognize today their lostness and even today repent and run to the one who is willing to forgive them and save them, willing to forgive all the harsh things that ungodly people have spoken against you, O Lord have mercy we ask you this today in Christ's name our good shepherd Amen.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

This morning’s message is entitled a thinkful gratitude. And you will understand why as we go on to understand gratitude today. Thankfulness. Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers. The 19th century preacher, minister of God’s word. He was mightily used by God to proclaim Christ. He loved Christ. He served Christ and He proclaimed Christ. He preached over six-hundred times before he was twenty years old. Six-hundred times before he was twenty. His sermons sold twenty thousand copies a week and were translated into twenty languages. The collective sermons fill sixty three volumes, equivalent to the 27 volume 9th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica and stands as the largest set of books by a single author in the history of the christian faith.

The story is told of him, Spurgeon, being mugged in London. Terrifying experience for him. So he came home after being mugged, having his wallet stolen on the streets of London, and told his wife what happened. She listened to him with great care. And at the end of it, he said, "But thank God, I am truly thankful." His wife responded and said, "Really? You thank the Lord that you were mugged?" And Spurgeon responded and said, "No, I am thankful for three things." He said, "Firstly, I am thankful that they took my money and not my life. Second," he said, "I'm thankful that the wallet they took had hardly any money in it." And he said, "Thirdly, I'm thankful that I was not the thief."

There was an attitude in that man of perceiving a situation completely differently from how many people would. Many people would go through that and their first response would be some form of murmuring, some form of grumbling, some form of complaint. "Why, God?" But the attitude of gratitude exhibited by Spurgeon was something that Christians—you and I—should mimic. It was his habit, in fact, when people asked him, "How are you?" he responded, "Better than I deserve. Better than I deserve." That was his habit. And if you know anything about the kind of things he struggled with, it will make the statement all the more potent.

He believed, and I quote, "It was a heavenly thing to be thankful. After all, it was gratitude which ought to teach us, the divine object of grace." He longed for his heart to burn with the sacred flame of thankfulness. The sacred flame of thankfulness. For the world, being happy was a prerequisite to being grateful, but Spurgeon knew that God's people are always happy when they are grateful to Him. In fact, Spurgeon was so certain, he said, and I quote, "We should be ten times more full of bliss if we were proportionately more full of thankfulness."

For him, living with thankfulness was an all-encompassing commitment, whether for richer or for poorer, even in sickness and in health. He would often remind his congregation that, and I quote, "You have received all that you have from God the Father through Jesus Christ.". This truth made every enjoyment an avenue for God-glorifying attitude. That very idea is what we're going to consider this morning as we try to understand what gratitude is and how we can cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

And we need this. We need this reminder. Yes, it is something we're focused on in a concentrated way, Thanksgiving weekend, but we need that realignment so that we can be thankful by the grace of God every single day of the year. As we gather together this Thanksgiving Sunday, it is appropriate that we express our gratitude to God, that we experience gratitude, yes, but also, beloved, that we grow in gratitude, that we recommit to gratitude, that we don't allow gratitude to be something simply on the periphery.

I would hope that as long as we gather together as God's people, this local body of Christ known as Grace Chapel, I would hope that as long as we gather together, that every time we walk through that door, that there is a profound sense of gratitude in our hearts. That it should never be lost, that it should never evaporate, that it should never be something that just belonged to that sweet first time that we gathered together back in 2009, January. That we're a thankful church, full of gratitude.

You know, it's hard to imagine a church filled with gratitude that is at the same time riddled with bitterness, riddled with discontent, riddled with murmuring, riddled with malice. It's hard to imagine a church filled with gratitude and at the same time riddled with divisions. You see, where gratitude exists, griping does not. Where gratitude exists, pettiness does not. Where gratitude exists, conflicts are swiftly resolved. Where gratitude exists, the church tends to keep the main thing, the main thing.

Gratitude not only chases off several sins, but like wind beneath the wings of an eagle, it gives lift to all kinds of Christ-like virtues. When you're grateful, it returns sweetness to your prayer, it returns sweetness to your praise, to your worship. When you're grateful, it really turns our very times of devotion to a great amount of adoration and praise. When you're grateful, zeal comes back to your service to God. You love to serve the Savior. You love to serve Him. You want to serve Him. You delight to serve Him.

And when you meet a grateful man, he's serving, and he's serving, serving the Lord, and you say to him, "Thank you," he almost says to you, "Don't thank me." He's found his joy in what he's doing; rather, he's found his joy in God Himself, and therefore he's found his joy in what he's doing for the Master. A servant of Christ once said, and I quote, "When gratitude dies on the altar of a man's heart, that man is well-nigh hopeless."

You see, gratitude is not an optional extra in the Christian life. It's not icing on the cake. It's not nice but not necessary. Gratitude, beloved, is not about the mood that you're in. "I'm not in the mood to be grateful." It has nothing to do with the mood that you're in. It has nothing to do with it.

As far as the Bible is concerned, gratitude is one of the signs of being born from above. It's one of the signs of being regenerate, one of the signs of having met the Savior, of still growing in grace. At least 21 times in the Bible we're commanded to be grateful, to give thanks, to offer thanksgiving. At least 21 times. In many other places, gratitude and thanksgiving are commended. They are suggested as right, as fitting, as normal for the believer. If you're a believer, you're grateful.

And to turn it around, you remember what Paul says in Romans 1:21. The indictment on mankind is what? "For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks." Give thanks. Unregenerate people are unthankful people. That's the indictment on mankind. You see, beloved, unbelief and unthankfulness always travel together. They travel as twins. And gratitude and faith, they travel together.

Those who are unthankful are as the Israelites were when they were unthankful, murmuring, and tempted God by murmuring and grumbling against Him. In other words, gratitude is not about how you're feeling today. Gratitude is about what you believe is true about life.

Gratitude rises and falls on two beliefs. Mark it down. Rises or falls on two beliefs. Number one, the belief of what you believe you deserve. And number two, what you believe you've received. Always. And those two things, depending on whether or not you're holding them correctly, is exactly why you're grateful or not grateful. The belief of what you believe you deserve and what you believe you received.

You see, an unthankful person believes that he deserves much good and thinks he's received little of it. And therefore, he's ungrateful. "It's not fair." That's how the world thinks—I noticed on the box of pizza that we enjoyed the other day, it says, "Enjoy the better taste because you deserve it." You deserve it. You deserve it. That's how the world thinks. An unthankful person believes that he deserves much good and thinks he received little of it, if any. And so they grumble.

But a thankful man believes that he deserves nothing or very little, if any, little good and believes he's received much. So much. Those two poles are exactly why a man is grateful or not. So the question this morning for us is, how do we become a people who are grateful? How? You say, I want to be grateful. I want to cultivate gratitude. How do I do this? How do we become people who are grateful, who are sustained by gratitude, who understand what we do deserve and understand what we have received?

The Bible's answer is found here—I mean, one place of many other places in Scripture—Psalm 105. And the Bible's answer here is, as in many Scripture, is a command to think, to reflect, a command to reflect. This is very important. It's not going to come upon you like some kind of this automatic thing. You go to sleep and you wake up grateful. It's the result of what? Reflection. Reflection. And so the Scripture here tells you to think on certain things.

In fact, the Anglo-Saxon origin of the word thankful comes from this word that means think-ful. That's why we have it in the title: think-ful gratitude. Think-ful. In other words, to be thankful, you have to be think-ful, and you have to be mindful, and you have to be thoughtful, and you have to reflect, and you have to muse, and you have to consider, and consider what it is that's been given to you when you didn't deserve anything at all. In fact, you deserve the opposite. That's when gratitude rises up.

Now in Psalm 105, the psalmist begins with a description of what gratitude looks like, and we're going to really take that as a matter of fact. This is what gratitude looks like. But we're going to study the psalm beginning with verse 7 on down. But look at the initial description of gratitude, what gratitude looks like in the first few verses.

Verse 1: "Oh give thanks to Yahweh, call upon His name; Make known His acts among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Muse on all His wondrous deeds. Boast in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh be glad. Inquire of Yahweh in His strength; Seek His face continually. Remember His wondrous deeds which He has done, His miracles and the judgments uttered by His mouth, O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!"

That's what gratitude looks like. That's the experience of gratitude. When we have a grateful church, we're talking often about the things of God. We're singing of it. Our times of praise are not just methodical ploddings—they're exuberance. Your heart is overflowing with gladness, with gratefulness, with gratitude, with thankfulness.

And if we have to say in our fellowship, in our, you know, getting together or fellowship lunch, or if we're to say, "Is there a testimony here?" we're at the edge of our seat. I've got lots to be thankful for, and if you're going to give me opportunity, I'm going to share and share and share. That's an attitude amongst us of awe, childlike amazement for what God has done. That's what happens in a church filled with gratitude.

The question is, how do you get it? How do you cultivate it? Well, the rest of the psalm is a model of how to give thanks. And as we consider this model, we're going to see together four actions of God, four ways that God's people could give thanks, four things that are identified here in the psalm that God does for us. And if we think on these things, if we're thinkful, we will be grateful.

So let's look at the text. In the first few verses, 7 through 11, what does it say? I'm going to take them in chunks and get the major principle, the major truth being taught, the action of God.

Verse 7: "He is Yahweh our God: His judgments are in all the earth. He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded for a thousand generations, Which He cut with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, 'To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance.'"

And the first action towards us that, if we reflect on it, if we muse on it, if we think upon it, it causes gratitude, is this: God's promises. God's promises. Reflect on God's promises, muse on God's promises, think upon the promises of God. You see, the psalmist begins by giving thanks that Israel served a promise-keeping God. You see what he's saying in these verses? He's saying there's this covenant that was between Yahweh and Abraham, the God of Israel and Abraham.

What's a covenant? Well, it's simply an agreement between two parties sealed with an oath. The specific covenant referenced here is the Abrahamic covenant, where God said to Abraham—to simplify it—He said, "I'll give you land, I'll give you seed, and I'll give you blessing  without condition”. Without condition. A promise to him. From God's side, He said He's going to do that. He's committed Himself to do that. God committed Himself to do that.

And even though Israel turned to other gods—and we know the history—Israel turned to idol worship. Even though they worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth and Moloch, God kept His word. God kept His promise. He put Israel in the land, and when they were kicked out, taken captive under the judgment of God, He restored them back to the land. Even when exiled from the land, He returned them. He promised to be their God. He promised to be faithful to them even when they weren't faithful to Him.

God is faithful to His promise, right? As we sang earlier. And the psalmist says, Israel, Israel, think about our promise-keeping God. Reflect on Him and sing. Reflect on Him and give thanks. Give thanks to Him. Make known His deeds. It's a joyous thing. It's a happy thing. It's a blessed thing. Why? You're in a world filled with truce-breakers, filled with liars, oath-breakers, perjurers. Aren't you thankful for someone who, when He promises you something, He will never fail to do it? Aren’t you?

How many times have you been the victim of a broken promise? How many times, perhaps, you have been the perpetrator of a broken promise? But to know that there is a God who is willing to make promises to His people, and to know that He cannot lie, He cannot fail to keep whatever He commits Himself to do, is a deep, deep joy—profound joy and comfort. In a world where anything can change at any time, here we have a firm foundation. Something that you can plant your life on. There is a promise-keeping God in Heaven, and what He promises, He will keep.

Let me ask you, what promises has He made to you, beloved? To us? His beloved? Do you realize that if you are a New Testament believer today, if you're in Christ, if you have believed on Jesus Christ and received Him as your Lord and Savior, if you are born from above, if you belong to the family of God, if you are His, sealed with the Holy Spirit—do you realize your whole faith is dependent on promises? Do you realize that?

Let that grip you. Your entire faith is dependent on promises. Everything you believe is a promise. Reflect on this. This is really important. You see, if you've trusted Jesus Christ, the whole of your salvation, all the package, the whole is dependent on the fact that God said, He said in His Word, "If you call on the name of My Son, I will forgive your sins, I will pardon you, I will cleanse you, and I will give you righteousness, His righteousness. I will give you eternal life, I will give you a glorious inheritance in heaven, I will adopt you as My child and make you joint heir with My beloved Son." God said it. He said, "I will give you all of these things, and I will give it to you, all of it, on the basis of calling on the name of My Son. If you turn from your sin, you turn from self, I will save you. I will save you from sin's penalty, and sin's power, and one day, sin's presence." He promises you eternal life, a future in heaven. But you know what all of this depends on? He has to keep His Word, right? He has to keep His Word. What would happen if He didn't? Or if He doesn't? Would our whole faith not fail? Everything, everything we depend on right now is a promise-keeping God.

A side note, we take His promise concerning our salvation, and we say, "Lord, thank You." When it comes to other promises related to the here and now—provision, protection, promises like, "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common with man, but God is faithful, that He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able," and so forth—"Seek first God's kingdom and His righteousness.” “Don't worry about what you eat, what you drink," all of these things. And all of a sudden, it's like, He's a promise-keeping God. Everything we depend on right now is a promise-keeping God.

And can I say to you today, if you're outside of Jesus Christ, if you're sitting here today, and you're outside of Jesus Christ, let me tell you this. And listen, please, very carefully. God has no pleasant promises for you. There are promises for you, but they're not pleasant. And I beg you to consider Christ today.

Ephesians 2 clearly says that at that time, outside of Christ, He said, You were without Christ, “alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise.” This is the saddest statement in the Scripture: " having no hope and without God in this world." And if you continue to be without hope and without God in this world, you will be without God and without hope in the world to come.

But once you're in Christ—in Christ—and I use that phrase deliberately, because that's the New Testament's favorite phrase to describe what a Christian is. In Christ, you are in Christ. I am in Christ. You go on in Messiah by faith. And if you do that, a wealth of promises open up.
2 Corinthians 1:20, "For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes” – and “Amen to the glory of God." You see, God is under no obligation to give us even one little promise. He owes us nothing. We have no right to expect anything from Him. And yet, out of the abundance of His goodness, He has given us a book filled with hundreds and hundreds of promises. Every single promise is more wonderful than words could describe. And each one meets a critical need, a desire in our lives. There will never be a divine promise that God does not perfectly fulfill.

Somebody, in fact, counted 8,810 promises in the entire Bible. They counted, in the Old Testament, 7,706. In the New Testament, 1,104. Now, not every one of them is directed to you as a New Testament believer, but a huge portion of them are. And I would say far more than you need, than I need, to be content and grateful. Ah, beloved, if we had but three promises, five, ten from the God of all creation, should we not be joyful? Should we not be thankful? What if we have thousands from God?

In Bunyan's story of Pilgrim's Progress, the problem starts when Pilgrim leaves the main highway because he's seeking an easier path. Always, always remember that. Problems always happen when we seek the easier path, okay? But that easier path leads him into the territory of the giant—the giant named Despair. And the giant Despair takes him into the Doubting Castle, and there he's kept in a dungeon, and he's advised to kill himself. End your misery. Just kill yourself. Be done with it. And there he sits. And there he sits, looming and considering this. And for a time, it seems as if Despair has conquered Christian.

And then the text of Pilgrim's Progress says this, listen to this now. So Christian is in the dungeon. Despair seems to have conquered Christian. And now we read this:
"Now, a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half amazed, broke out into this passionate speech: What a fool am I, thus to lie in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well walk at liberty! I have a key in my pocket called Promise, that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle. Then said Hopeful, That is good news, good brother; pluck it out of thy pocket and try. Then Christian pulled it out of his pocket and began to try the dungeon door, whose bolt, as he turned the key, gave back, and the door flew open with ease, and Christian and Hopeful both came out."

Beloved, if you are thinkful enough about God's promises, you will be thankful. You will be thankful. Do you know how you do that? You have to be in the Word. You have to be in the Word enough so that the Word gets in you. And when you're in the Word and the Word gets in you, the promises of God will be in you, and then the Holy Spirit will bring them to your remembrance at the point of need.

Story is told of a dying saint who called his pastor to his side, and he said, "Pastor, Pastor, I'm dying now. It seems to me I cannot remember a single one of God's promises." And his pastor said to him, "But my dear brother, do you think God has forgotten His promises?" And the dying brother said, "You're right, Pastor. Even if I cannot recall them now, God will never forget them."

Israel was encouraged to reflect on God's promises, but there's a second thing they are encouraged to reflect on, a second work of God, action of God that begins in verse 12. Listen, look at verse 12 with me: "When there were only a few men in number, Of little account, and sojourners in it. And they wandered about from nation to nation, From one kingdom to another people. He permitted no man to oppress them, And He reproved kings for their sakes: 'Do not touch My anointed ones, And to My prophets do no evil.'"

The second action of God towards His people that, when reflected upon, brings gratitude is not only God's promises, but in the second place, God's protection. God's protection. The psalmist praises God here that this little band of Israelites, hardly armed with anything, a small family, could have immediately been overwhelmed by several hostile tribes that really should have been decimated. There was no reason for them to survive. They could have easily been absorbed, scattered, killed by a vindictive ruler anywhere in time.

In fact, just the history of the Jewish people, even to this day, is truly remarkable to see how God had protected that people—not because there's anything special in them, but in spite of them. It's just because of who He is, a God who keeps His promise. Sometimes they needed protection from themselves. You remember Abraham and Isaac, right? They almost gave their wives to pagan kings had God not intervened, but through it all, God protected His people.
He protected His people physically. He protected them from being mixed with other people, and He protected them spiritually. And Israel has survived, and they could thank God for His protection. It's a strange thing to think about protection, isn't it? We don't often think of how protected we are until we have a close call. We take it for granted. We wake up every day. We go about our business.

When you have a brush with danger, when you experience something that could have harmed you, suddenly you become aware of the importance of protection. When you're dwelling securely for a long time, you begin to relax and take things for granted. But after you have that close brush, you realize how many ways you could have been harmed, and you understand how many threats there are, how God truly has fenced you in, hedged you.

You know, those of us in our midst here have small kids. You realize how there really must be guardian angels. There's so many ways they should have been harmed and should have perished, and that's supposedly in a safe environment, and you could see the hand of God.

One of the American Native Indian tribes had an interesting way of training their young braves. We're told on the night of a boy's 13th birthday, they would take him out blindfolded into the forest. He would have already learned hunting and scouting and fishing, but his final test was that he had to be in a place in a dense forest and spend the entire night alone by himself. And so, though he lived under the blanket of his family's security for so long, there he was, placed in that dark forest with gripping, terrifying aloneness, the sound of animals. No doubt every crack of leaf or fall of twig made his heart freeze, jump.

But finally, when the light came again, dawned and the day broke, the boy would begin to recognize the trees, the flowers, the path, the surroundings, and then he would look over and see, not too far from him, the figure of a man standing watch, armed with bow and arrow. It was his father. He'd been there all night long, watching over him. And, beloved, that's really what's going on in your life and my life. Our Father is there all along, watching over us.

Listen how it is put in Psalm 33. In fact, turn with me there. I want your eyes to see this. This is incredible. Psalm 33, look at verse 13. You have here the omniscience of God, the omnipresence of God. But look at this: "Yahweh looks from heaven; He sees everything. He sees all the sons of man; And from the place of His habitation He gazes On all the inhabitants of the earth, He who forms the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works."

Here He is, God, who is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. God sees everything. God sees everyone. Picture it, even now. I mean, even now, this minute here, God is here. He knows all about you, all about us here. And He knows and He sees every single person on this planet. He knows all about them. He sees them. He looks and He sees all the sons of man, all of them, all of them. You name a country, all of them.

But notice now the distinction. Verse 18, go down to verse 18: "Behold, the eye of Yahweh is on those who fear Him." Yeah, He sees everybody. He knows everybody. But especially God is watching over His own children: "On those who wait for His lovingkindness, To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine. Our soul is patient for Yahweh; He is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O Yahweh, be upon us, As we wait for You."

God protects us from so many possible threats—physical threats, criminals, attacks, car accidents, accidents at home, at work, something going wrong fatally with our bodies. God protects us. You know what that tells you? It tells you God is watching over you. His eye is set on you. There's a, He puts a circle around you as His child. And that means nothing, absolutely nothing, will come into your life without it first passing through the sacred desk of God. He's watching over you.

But more than physical protection, He protects us spiritually. Have you ever thought of the many threats to our faith? Satan sends false teachers to divert us, confuse us, pervert the teaching of God's Word. He sends apostates to infiltrate the church who profess to know Christ in order to subvert the faith and pervert the gospel. He raises up wolves from within who pose as sheep to infiltrate the church and turn people away from true undershepherds and draw people away after themselves.

God protects you from your own faith failing. He protects me from my own faith failing, from utter despair, from unbelief. I mean, how many times have you sat there and wondered, why am I still a believer? And can I tell you, beloved, that the greatest protection that God affords you and affords me in Christ, God protects you from God. Did you hear that? That's the greatest protection that God affords you. In Christ, God protects you from God.

You know the word propitiation? It's a good word in Scripture. It's a good word. hilaskomai’ is the Greek word you find in several places, such as in Hebrews 2:17. It means, this word means the quenching of God's anger, satisfying God's holy wrath. And on the cross, Calvary's cross that day, God the Son satisfied the holy and just anger, wrath of God on behalf of all of those who put their trust in Him.

And if you're not in Christ, where do you think God's wrath, God's anger will fall? Where do you think it will fall? Where will God's holy justice fall? It falls on you. It falls on you. And my sinner friend, can I tell you, there is no enemy as fearful, as terrifying as an all-powerful God. There's no threat in all the world that you should fear more than God. There's no calamity as terrible as being the target of God's holy anger. For the Scripture is clear, "It is a” – fearful thing, – “a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God", Hebrews 10:31.

And outside of Christ, that's where you will end up unless you repent and believe in the Son of God. Because in Christ, you are protected. You are protected, you're robed with His righteousness. The wrath of God is satisfied. His anger is appeased. That's what those wonderful words mean that we read in Romans 8:38 "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Be thankful for His protection. Why should this handful of believers be here 16 years later in this place? Why? Should we not all have been scattered all over? Should we not have fallen to unbelief and despair and apostasy? Should we have not fallen into temptation that disqualified us from serving, disqualified us from service?

God has protected us. God has protected us from teaching too subtle, from adversity too difficult, the wiles of the devil. And most of all, He protected you and me from Himself. And this comes from the good hand of our protecting God, who's called in Scripture a shield, a high tower, a fortress, a refuge, a shepherd who has a rod and a staff.

And so the psalmist says, Israel, think about God's promises. Think about God's protection. But then thirdly, in a lengthy section, he gives us something else to thank God for. Look at verses 16 and following: "And He called for a famine upon the land; He broke the whole staff of bread. He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. They afflicted his feet with fetters, He himself was laid in irons; Until the time that His word came to pass, The word of Yahweh refined him. The king sent and released him, The rulers of the people sent and set him free. He set him up as lord of his house And ruler of his possessions, To imprison his princes at will, And that he might teach his elders wisdom. Then Israel came to Egypt; And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. And He caused His people to be very fruitful, And He caused them to be stronger than their adversaries. He turned their hearts to His people, To deal craftily with His slaves. He sent Moses His servant, And Aaron, whom He has chosen. They sent forth the words of His signs among them, And miracles in the land of Ham. He sent darkness and made it dark; And they did not rebel against His words. He turned their waters into blood And caused their fish to die. Their land swarmed with frogs Even in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, there came a swarm of flies And gnats in all their territory. He gave them hail for rain, And flaming fire in the land. He also struck down the vines and the fig trees, and He shattered the trees of their territory. He spoke, and locusts came, And creeping locusts without number, And they ate all vegetation in their land, And they ate up the fruit of the ground. He also struck down all the firstborn in their land, The first of all their vigor. Then He brought them out with silver and gold, And there was none among His tribes who stumbled. Egypt was glad when they went out, For the dread of them had fallen upon him.”

What's this all about? A long description of the acts of God for His people. But we can summarize this by saying the third action of God is His providence. His providence, His providence. His promises, His protection, His providence.

And He rehearses here the history of Joseph. Many years ago, when we studied Genesis, it was a thrill to study the providence of God in the life of Joseph. You remember all the events that led Joseph down there, and then led Joseph to prepare the land, and then led the brothers down there, and then led them to expand, and then to cause a new Pharaoh to come in, whose hard-heartedness set up the Exodus, and then the Exodus with all of its miracles that led Israel to go out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

And what is the name of all of this? Providence, providence. Gracious providence. We can put it this way: gracious guidance and governance of all events, including the free acts of men and women, all things being directed to their appointed end for His glory.

You study the life of Joseph, you see that God is in control over the good, He's in control of the evil, He's in control of the Pharaoh that loved Joseph, control of the Pharaoh that hated Moses, and He's in control of years of plenty, control of famine. He got Israel down into Canaan, then to Egypt, then took them out of Egypt back into Canaan. So here are these movements from Canaan as a group of 120; think about that, 120, and then you have a group of 2 million from Egypt back into Canaan.

And what is the verse that we read in Genesis 50 that Joseph says to his brothers when they're trying to make amends? Genesis 50:20, he said—you know this verse very well—"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive."

You know, I think one of the most exciting things about being a Christian is being able to see God at work. The hand of God on your life. Outside of Christ, life must seem random, chaotic, disorderly. Oh, but in Christ, you realize life is a story written by a Master Author who knows exactly what goes where, what chapter goes where—the introduction, the chapters, the conclusion—everything with precision.

And when you look at the circumstances through the eyes of faith, we can have a grateful attitude for providence. And we say with faith, God rules over all and He rules for His glory. What does it say in Romans 8:28? "We know." It's not like we think, we hope, we wish, maybe—no, no. "We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." All of it.

I'm reminded of what the Dutch reformer Abraham Kuyper said, "There's not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence in which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine." There's no part of our lives that's not under the lordship of Jesus. And that should give you comfort. Oh, the providence of God.

That's why, as we've said at the beginning, the heart of gratitude, beloved—the heart of gratitude is actually faith. It's submission. It's an attitude that says, life has been ordered by God. And what God has given is God's choice for me. And He's good. And it's for my good. And I'm grateful. I'm grateful. I'm grateful. I'm grateful. And I'm always grateful.

And I'm not always grateful for the pain of the circumstances, but I'm always grateful that that pain is being controlled by a good God. I rejoice in the purpose of the trial. I can bow the knee and accept it and rejoice in the God of the circumstance. When Jonathan Edwards died in his 50s because of a botched vaccine, Sarah Edwards, writing to her daughter Esther at the death of her husband, said this, and I quote: "My very dear child, what shall I say? A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. Oh, that we may kiss the rod and lay our hands on our mouths. The Lord has done it. He has made me adore His goodness that we had him so long. But my God lives and He has my heart. Oh, what a legacy my husband and your father has left us. We are all given to God. And there I am and love to be. Your ever affectionate mother, Sarah Edwards."

Remember Paul and Silas? Beaten unlawfully, in stocks, Philippian jail. What did they start doing? They begin singing praises, hymns to God. You see, if they had been reacting to their circumstances, they would have graffitied their stocks. Or they would have been calling out loudly, "Excuse me, excuse me, I'm a Roman citizen. This is illegal. I have my rights." But they chose to submit to God, saying, as it were, The God of my circumstances has ordained this. This is for our good and for His glory. And so real thankfulness rose.

If you just think, reflect back, think about the circumstances, the providence of God for this body of Christ. This body of Christ. The way this work of God began back in January 2009. The way you came to be part of this work of God. Even sitting right here today in your chair. Each of those is a story of circumstances ordered by God.

On a personal level, think of how God worked in your life, beloved. How He saved you. How God has moved you to different places and different churches and different means to get you to where you are today, sitting here in this place. Think of whom He's allowed you to come across, who influenced you and how, and various means that He used—the internet, social media, word of mouth, personal touch. Think of how He's brought different people into this church just at the right time.

Think of how He's used adversity to remove the dross, to purify us—church discipline, protection from divisive people. Think of how He's used trials, physical diseases, financial hardship, relational hardship, even the death of loved ones. And what has it done? God has woven it all together to bring about fruit. And need I say anything more than look around you in this room, this place, and think about the providence of God?

Have you ever reflected on that? Thanked Him for how He shaped you, for where He took you, people He used in your life, painful trials He's brought into your life, the so-called chance meetings, the exposure to the gospel, the exposure to Grace Chapel? May I exhort you, next time you go into your prayer closet, spend some time in prayer—will you go with the attitude, "I'm not going to ask God for anything, I'm just going to reflect back and thank God for all these various things"?

And as you do that, as you go through this, thanking God for the people of God, the various ministries, your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and as you thank God for the fellowship of the saints, as you thank God for your loved ones and all the good things that God has given you, by the time you're done, your heart will be so full because the perspective will be changing. Providence—a God who is ordering everything in my life for my good and for His glory.

But I must hasten. There's a fourth reason why Israel is to give thanks. Look at the last verses of the psalm, verse 39 and on: "He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to give light by night. They asked, and He brought quail, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock and water flowed out; It ran in the dry places like a river. For He remembered His holy word With Abraham His servant; And He brought His people out with joy, His chosen ones with a shout of joy. He gave them also the lands of the nations, That they might take possession of the fruit of the people's labor, So that they might keep His statutes And observe His laws." – And how does it end? – "Praise Yah!"

Well, God's provision—that's the fourth action. God's provision—that's the fourth reason to be thankful. God's provision, the psalmist says here. Israel, think about what God has provided. What did He provide? Oh, the text tells us: He provided light when we were in darkness. When we were in the desert, He provided water. When we were hungry, He provided food. When we needed a place to stay, He provided land. He even gave us houses we did not build, vineyards we did not plant. Provision.

Isn't it true that as parents, one of the things that we try to drill into our children's minds and hearts is gratitude? You give them something, and if they just take it and just look at you, you say, "What do you say?" And why do we do that? Because human hearts drift to taking things for granted.

Less wonder, less amazement, less awe if left to itself. And here's the horrible cycle of the human heart: left to itself, without the grace of God working, you have more and more, but then you have less and less gratitude. And the so-called spoiled child syndrome is exactly that—more and more and more and more, but less and less and less and less wonder.
That's what we said at the beginning: your gratitude is proportional to what you think you deserve. Do I deserve much? Or do I deserve little, if any, at all? Do I deserve much goodness?

Well, according to Scripture, Lamentations 3:22, it is of His mercies that we are not consumed. It's because of His ‘hased’ I'm not consumed. Because mark it down and let it be drilled into your head, child of God. Tell yourself, "I deserve hell. I deserve hell." That puts what I deserve exactly where it needs to be. I deserve hell.

What have I received in terms of God's provision? You and I will do well every single day to train our hearts as soon as we wake up to ask ourselves these two questions: What do I deserve, and what have I received? If you live with this idea of, like, I'm being cheated. I'm being cheated. I do deserve more. I've been so gypped. What a raw deal I've been given. If you live with this idea, I know exactly what your gratitude level is going to be.

And so we teach our children, be grateful, because if you're not grateful, you're proud. Proud people are unthankful people. And unthankful people are proud people, exalted in their own eyes, feeling that the whole world ought to be laying presents at my feet. And generally, feeling angry that other people are not worshipping the king ‘self’. And when people and circumstances fail to meet my proud expectations of what I deserve, what do I become? Very unhappy. I grumble. I murmur because I'm being mistreated, and I'm going to complain.

Spurgeon said, "You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' He says, 'You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.'"

Remember the account of Jesus cleansing ten lepers, of whom only one was thankful? But just before that, He gave a parable on servanthood in Luke 17. You remember that parable? He says if you have a slave—and an indentured slave at that time, somebody who works entirely for you, committed their life to serving you because of a debt they owed or whatever the case may be—and that slave's requirement, one of his duties, is to serve you, to attend to your needs. And He says, are you going to say to him, "Please, please, you sit down first, have some food"? He said, no, that's not how it works. He says, as your servant, his duty is to do that very thing of serve you.

And so when you come in, you say to him, Luke 17:8, "Prepare something for me to eat, and clothing yourself properly, serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward, you may eat and drink. Is he grateful to the slave because he did the things which were commanded? In this way, you also, when you do all things which are commanded of you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'"

In other words, the same way, Jesus is saying, as Christians, we don't walk around with a haughty expectation that God should be patting us on the back and saying, "Oh my, oh my, am I so blessed to have you or not? So blessed to have you." I don't need an asset to My kingdom. Rather, He says, regard yourself as an unworthy slave who is simply doing his duty for the Master.

Now, you know, according to the Word of God, that you're treasured. But you're treasured in Christ. And so if we have that attitude—"You know what? I don't have any merit. I deserve hell. God has blessed me beyond measure"—what we should then be so surprised and amazed by is the generosity and the kindness of our good Master.

And I'll let you in on a secret if you haven't come across this before. In the Scripture, Jesus says that one of the things He's going to do in the future is gird Himself and serve His servants. Luke 12:27. Let no one complain against our Lord. You see, in Christ, we're fully provided for. God is able to make every grace abound to you so that in everything at every time, having every sufficiency, you may have an abundance for every good work. And of course, Philippians 4:19, "my God will fulfill all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Would you think of how God has provided for us as a church, as individuals? But as a church, not only has He given us His Spirit, His Word, equipped His church with gifts, gifted men, gifted women. He provided the members that were needed at every time in Grace Chapel's life—the finances to support ministry, mercy, missions, direction, wisdom.

Have you ever spent time thinking of all that God has provided you with, beloved? The Bible tells you you're supposed to be content with two things: food and clothing. But has He given you more? Think of all the advantages that He's given you—your goods, your income, your house, your car. What He's given beyond even what you need—the extras, kindnesses that fill your days. Think of how many helpers He's brought your way—teachers, advisors, counselors, encouragers, exhorters.

Think of the opportunities He's given you, opportunities to grow and learn and thrive. He's given you all things that you need for life and godliness in this book. Can anyone here honestly say, "There's been a time when I lacked what I needed to be godly?" No one can say that. Contentment is learned and obeyed. So the psalmist says to us, you want to be grateful? Be thinkful. Think about God's promises to you as a people. Think about His protection to you. Think of His providence in ordering it, and think of His provision.

I love to read hymns, old hymns especially. Just read them, even when I can't sing them. So one of them, one of my favorite hymns is by Joseph Addison, titled, When All Thy Mercies, O My God. Listen to what he writes, and I'll close with this: "When all Thy mercies, O my God, my rising soul surveys." I love that word, surveys. Surveys. Surveys is a favorite word of the hymn writers. "When I survey the wondrous cross," right? Survey. Why? Why do they keep using that word, survey?

Well, because the expectation is that what Christians are going to do is what? Survey. They're going to think. They're going to meditate. Muse on. Reflect on. And so this hymn writer says, "When all Thy mercies, O my God, my rising soul surveys, transported with the view, I'm lost in wonder, love, and praise." And then he says, "Ten thousand thousand precious gifts my daily thanks employ, nor is the least a cheerful heart that tastes those gifts with joy." May it be so in this church now and always. And all God's people say? Amen.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

This text that was read in your hearing, I trust you might have noticed that there is a word repeated throughout our text that takes us to the very heart of this passage. It takes us to the very heart of what this passage addresses. It is this Hebrew word, ‘bagod’. It is translated in the LSB and the NASB, "treacherously," "dealt treacherously." This Hebrew word is translated by words, you can say, bound up in this Hebrew word, words such as "faithless," "betrayer" or "betray," "traitor," "treacherous," ‘bagod’, "faithless," "disloyalty." It means to be faithless to a principle or to a person or to a group of people. It can mean to break faith, to prove untrustworthy, to prove untrustworthy, disloyal.

Five times, mark it down, five times in seven verses, five times in seven verses we have this word. Do you notice that? Five times in these verses just read, God speaks to His people about treacherousness, unfaithfulness, traitorous. Look at them with me. Verse 10, "Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother?" Verse 11, "Judah has dealt treacherously” – ‘bagod’ – and an abomination has been done in Israel and Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god." You go down to verse 14, "Yahweh has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have"—here's our word—"dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant." And of course, end of verse 15, "let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth." And finally, verse 16, the end of it, "Be careful then to keep your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously." Five times. Five times.

All of this has to do with loyalty, with faithfulness, with fidelity. To deal treacherously in this context is to prove disloyal to Yahweh, disloyal to God by being—and here specifically—to be disloyal to the covenant that God has given. But what's particularly striking about this passage is that this loyalty to God that's on display here involves acts of disloyalty towards people, and let us not miss that. This is quite important for us to make sure that we grasp this. God is being dishonored as people are being mistreated. God is being dishonored as His people are being mistreated. People are being disloyal to God by being disloyal to one another, and God takes issue with that.

There are a couple of things that come to mind when I think about this, when I consider this passage and its teaching. First of all, by way of introduction, I think about how often we misunderstand the Mosaic Covenant. I just want to say a word about this. The Mosaic Covenant was never intended to be a means by which people earned righteousness before God. The Mosaic Covenant was not given so that people could save themselves by keeping laws, and we know that.

But it's also true to say that the Mosaic Law was not given simply or exclusively to expose sin, and I think sometimes in the New Testament context, that's how we think about the Mosaic Law, the Mosaic Covenant—that it was just given to show us our sinfulness. You hear people talk about preaching the law before you preach Christ, and so they treat the Old Testament as if its only function exclusively was to expose our sinfulness. Let me say, certainly it does expose man's sinfulness, but this was a covenant that was meant to be approached by faith, nevertheless. That is, on the part of the people who truly believed in God, who were truly regenerate, who had truly been saved, the Mosaic Covenant was an administration, it was a means that God gave by which people—His people—would walk with Him.

His will was made known to them in the Mosaic Covenant, and they were to walk with God according to these laws that had application not only to one's worship, but to the nation's life, its civil life. They walked with God by faith as they walked loyally, obeying the words of Yahweh.

Paul, in fact, gives voice to this in Romans 9:30, where he says, "What shall we say then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness, laid hold of righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith. But Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not attain that law." Why? He asked in verse 32, "Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works." You see the point?

You see, they misunderstood the law of God, and anyone who's ever tried to achieve righteousness based on law-keeping has fundamentally misunderstood—completely misunderstood—why God gave His law to begin with. Verse 32, why? Paul says, "Well, because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, 'Behold, I'm laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense, and the one who believes upon Him will not be put to shame.'"

So while the law served to show man's sinfulness—true, right, that's true—and it was intended by God to do that, it was never perfection that God expected of His people as He gave that law. It was rather loyalty that was required by the covenant, and that's what we need to underscore: loyalty.

That's why you see God being so patient with His people. If it was perfection that the covenant required, the nation would have been what? Destroyed immediately, gone immediately, perished immediately. The covenant would have never made any sense, and this is why their sins could be described in terms of what? Disloyalty, unfaithfulness. God gave commands. The commands could only be obeyed by faith, but they could only be obeyed by faith. We need to keep that in mind.

The law was to serve, to use the language of Paul, as a tutor. It is the way God would manage His people, that God had a special relationship with this nation, and through this nation would come the Messiah, the Christ of God. In Christ, not only God would save Jews, but the Gentiles. And until the Christ came, the believers—the Israel that existed in Israel (there was an Israel within Israel; not every Israelite was an Israelite indeed)—but genuine believers would walk with God as they believed His commands. And in this way, the law served as a tutor, pointing them to Christ, preparing them for the Messiah.

The genuine believers were loyal to God by obeying His laws, but those who were unbelieving, they revealed their unbelief through disloyalty—by disloyalty to God and to His Word. So as I think about this passage, and I think about treacherousness, what faithlessness means here, this disloyalty that's on display here, I think about how often we misunderstand the Mosaic law.

It's something else that comes to mind when we consider what we see here—not only misunderstanding the nature and the purpose of the Mosaic covenant, but also I think we woefully underestimate how our relationships with people—and follow closely—reflect our loyalty to God. Let me say that again. I think we woefully underestimate how our relationships with people reflects our loyalty to God.

Genuine faith is not only manifested in an individual relationship with God. Genuine faith is manifested when we believe God about how we have to, He would have us treat other people. That's how it is manifested—when we believe God about how He would have us treat each other. Do you love the Lord tonight? Do you love Him? Do you have genuine faith in Him? Really? Do you have genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Well then, if that is the case, praise God. Praise God.

But if that is the case, then you care what He says to you and to me about how you and I are to treat other people. We do. This was true in the Old Testament as well. If they were really loyal to God and loyal to the covenant of God, then they would listen to the laws of God regarding the treatment of other people. It's as simple as that. Always the vertical has impact on the horizontal, always. It's interesting, isn't it?

Up to this point, God has been talking about how this people have dishonored Him, how they are irreverent toward Him, how they profaned His name, how they disrespected Him. There's no reverence toward Him. And everything He's talked about up to chapter 2 verse 9, has to do, has had to do with how they deal with God directly. You remember that, I trust. They dishonored God by not appreciating His love for them. "How have You loved us?" God says, "I've loved you." The people say, "What do You mean? How have You loved us?" God had to remind them of His electing purposes and how He had shown a special mercy to this people. You see, that's an individual relationship with God.

And then He went on to talk about how they were dishonoring Him by what they were offering to Him as sacrifices, and how the priest had dishonored Him by what they were receiving from the people and going on in offering it, though they knew that violated the law of God, that this was not worthy of God. He talked about their attitudes in worship. Remember that? Oh, how tiresome it is. Oh, what a weariness this is. How they disdainfully sniffed at it. It's boring. Again, we have to go to the temple and present an offering to the Lord all this time, sitting and listening to the Word of God.

Up to this point, it's all been about how they're dishonoring God directly. Perhaps we could describe it that way. But now you come to chapter 2, verse 10. They're still dishonoring God. They're still dishonoring God. They're still showing their disloyalty to God. They're still irreverent toward God. Now the question is, how are they doing it, though, at this point? How are they doing it?

You see, now they're doing it by how they're treating one another. That's what's happening here. Your loyalty to God is not just on display by how you deal with Him directly, but by how you deal with other people as well, whether you listen to Him about how you treat other people specifically, how you treat your brethren. And beloved, this is so instructive for us. This is so timeless.

How many people claim to love God when they're so clearly not loving the people around them? Do you imagine that you're loyal to God when you're not loyal to the people God has placed in your life? Do you imagine that you're loyal to God, that you love God, when you don't love the people who are in your life? Do you think somehow that God is pleased with your claim to love Him when you don't believe Him about how to treat others around you?

Our love for God is proven by our love for His people. Our loyalty to God is proven by our loyalty to covenant relationships, and to be more specific, as we find here in this text, like marriage. Don't ever imagine that you're loyal to God if you're not loving your spouse, or when you've proved treacherous, faithless to the marriage covenant. And we'll get there as we study this text.

There are people in this world who are in the act right now of divorcing their spouse on unbiblical ground, and yet they claim to love God.

So here were people called to be loyal to God, loyal to each other by faith, and the God who had related them to Himself by grace, sheer grace, and He now is going to charge them with their disloyalty. That's what we have here going on in this portion in Malachi chapter 2. How does He see? How does God see? How does God see?

Well, here's the first point that I want us to see together as we begin to dig in this text of Scripture. Verse 10, I want us to see the charge of unfaithfulness declared. The charge of unfaithfulness declared. The charge of unfaithfulness. This oracle, this third oracle we find in the book of Malachi, is different from the first two in that this one doesn't begin with a question put in the mouths of the people. No, no, here the prophet Malachi himself is the questioner under inspiration.

Look at it together: "Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?" He charges them here with being faithless to one another. Faithless to one another, and in doing so profaning the covenant that God had given to their fathers, violating the covenant, proving disloyal to that covenant by their treatment of each other.

The “father” referred to here in verse 10, I believe, is God. Some commentators see the Father referred to here as one of the patriarchs, perhaps Abraham. I believe that it's God who's being referred to. Remember, in the context of this book, back in chapter 1, God says, "...if I am” – what? – “a father”,  If you're a son, if I'm a father, where is My honor? And If I am a master, where is My respect? If you're My slave, where's the fear of Me? That's sort of a mirror here in verse 10 with the idea of Father and Creator.

"Do we not all have one father?" he says. And we could also say in the second statement, "Has not one God created us?" You could also say, do we not all have one Master? But either way, whether you would say that the father here is Abraham or you say that the father here is God—I believe it is God—the fact that they have one Father and one God has created them is another way of saying this: Are we not all brothers by God's doing? That's the point. Regardless, that's the point.

Are we not all brothers and sisters by God's doing? Isn't God the one who gave birth to the nation? Isn't God the one who related us to Himself in the way that He has by covenant? Aren't we God's doing? And aren't we, as a result of what God has done, aren't we brothers? And if this is true—and it is—then how can faithlessness, how can covenant disloyalty be excused? That's the point.

Knowing that God is our Father and Creator, how can we excuse the ways that we're treating one another? How? Is this what covenant loyalty looks like? Does this honor God? Does this reverence Yahweh? Does this believe God? Does this obey God the way we're treating each other right now? Is this what obedience looks like?

Why are we sinning against each other? Why are we mistreating one another? Why are we proving faithless, disloyal toward each other? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? Unfaithfulness denies spiritual sibling-ship. Unfaithfulness denies brotherhood. Unfaithfulness profanes the covenant.

When he says there in verse 10, "so as to profane the covenant of our fathers," that is defiling it. Or you can put it this way: treating it with contempt. Treating the covenant as though it is nothing. It is meaningless, void, empty, shallow—the covenant that God gave to their fathers. Yawn at it.

God has loved His people. God has formed them as a people. God has put His name on His people, and now here they were, like the majority of the people throughout their history. They are treating this covenant relationship with contempt. And in this case, they're treating it lightly. How? By disregarding the laws that God has given them about how they were to relate to each other.

It already has been proven they dishonored God by the way they're relating to God Himself, to Yahweh Himself, but they're also disregarding God's holiness and majesty by the way they're relating now to each other. Israel, as you know, was a theocracy. It's true. I said earlier, not every Israelite was an Israelite in terms of salvation, but Israel was designed to be a believing people. God gave them His words. God gave them many spiritual advantages that, in terms of human responsibility, should have led them to salvation.

Paul talks about this in the book of Romans. He's grieving over the loss of his kinsmen, according to the flesh, and he talks about all the advantages God has given him. There's so much advantage, so much light, privilege. Romans 9:4: "who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law and the temple service, and the promises." I mean, look at how privileged they were. "whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ, according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen."

Of course, as Malachi writes what he writes, the Christ has not yet come, but everything else that Paul talks about there in Romans 9 was true at this very moment. To these people belongs the adoption, the glory of the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises, the patriarchs, and in terms of the Christ, as Malachi writes, the promise still there that the Christ is coming, Messiah is coming from their own people. How should such people respond to God, but in faith, in trust, believing Him. And if you believe Him, then you believe Him as He commands you concerning how you treat your brothers.

They're connected. They can't be compartmentalized and disconnected, disjointed. And this first reference to being treacherous, faithless, in verse 10, I want us to notice this. It seems to be a general reference, a general reference. I mean, in just general terms, in sort of an all-encompassing terms, they had proven what? They had proven faithless, disloyal.

If you had looked at any way in which they treated each other, any way in which they lived with each other, you would have found disloyalty. You would have found faithlessness, betrayal, treacherousness—business practices, family relationships, friendships, worship context. This was a disloyal, unbelieving people, faithless people. And it was the law of God, it was the covenant that exposed them as such.

Just as a quick side note, I would remind us that just as these people were exposed by the law of God, so we don't measure how we treat each other by our own standard. Keep that in mind. The way you know whether you're loyal to God by being loyal to your brethren and by loving people the way God commands—that's how you know. The way you know whether you're doing that or not is His what? His Word. His Word. His Word is the plumb line. We measure our relationships with each other by the words of God.

Maybe you look at your life, and you say, well, I don't see that. I don't see that. I don't see that I'm doing anything wrong. May I ask you this evening, have you measured what you're doing by the Scriptures? Have you? It doesn't matter what, and I say this lovingly, it doesn't matter whether you think you're guilty of mistreating someone or not. It doesn't matter. What matters is if we measure how you're living, how I'm living by the Scriptures, are you mistreating someone? That's the issue.

There are people all over the planet who feel justified in mistreating other people. It just doesn't make them right, does it? And just like these people had questioned everything God had charged them with up to this point, you could be sure there were some listening to this who said, perhaps, well, how have we been faithless toward each other? But they had. So the first thing we see in verse 10 is the charge of faithlessness announced, proclaimed, the charge of covenant disloyalty. And the second thing I want us to see now, beginning in verse 11, and that takes us to verse 16, what God has declared in general terms, now He's going to make specific. So we'll call this the charge of faithlessness described.

So we move from the charge of this faithlessness declared to now it is described. Out of all the ways that they had proven faithless to one another, there are two specific ways, two specific ways, that the Lord is going to put His finger on. And here they are. I'm gonna share them ahead of time, and then we'll make our way through them together. Number one, two specific ways. The first one is this: they were faithless because of intermarriage. And number two, they were faithless because of divorce. They're right here in the text. Intermarriage, divorce.

Tonight, we'll only have time to deal with the first: intermarriage. We'll leave the second one next Sunday, Lord willing. We'll come back, and we're going to deal with the second issue, the second way that their unfaithfulness was proven. So if anybody wonders, well, how have we been unfaithful? How have we been disloyal? God, tell us. You say we're disloyal, we're unfaithful to You and to each other. The Lord says, well, let Me tell you. I'm gonna tell you now. I'm gonna be specific.

Look at verse 11: "Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem; for” – tells them, the reason – “Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. As for the man who does this, may Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers or who presents an offering to Yahweh of hosts."

Their unfaithfulness, you see clearly, is on display through intermarriage. You say, what do you mean? Well, the law of God had made it very clear, crystal clear, that an Israelite was not to marry someone outside the nation. A heathen, a pagan, a Gentile. They were not to intermarry with the nations around them. Why? Well, because the nations around them were idolatrous. They were idol worshippers. And so, you're talking about a relationship that was a mixed relationship spiritually.

This is not about culture. Rather, this is about devotion to Yahweh. Devotion to God. It's about worship. Time and again, when the laws of God that discuss intermarriage are found in the Old Testament, time and again, idolatry is brought to the forefront. Even in our text, you see that's the case.

Look at verse 11 again. “Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh which He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. The expression, "the daughter of a foreign God," is just a way of saying a woman who worships a foreign God, an idol worshipper. A woman who was the daughter of a foreign God. And remember, Malachi is ministering at the same general time when Ezra and Nehemiah were on the scene. And when you study the book of Ezra, you get a picture of what was going on. And it is so heartbreaking. So sad. The young ladies will know what I'm talking about as they study Ezra and Nehemiah.

In fact, one of the most moving confessions of sin you will ever read is found in Ezra chapter 9. Take a moment, turn with me there, Ezra chapter 9. This is very important for us. Listen to this confession of sin. But also, as you read this, you get a sense of what's taking place in the lives of these people who have returned from exile. Temple has been rebuilt. Worship has been re-established. But the people aren't believing God. They're proven disloyal, faithless to God, treacherous, and they're dealing with God.

Listen, what's going on in Ezra 9. Look at verse 1: "Now, when these things had been completed, the princes approached me," – that's Ezra, – "saying, 'The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the land, according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hand of the princes and the officials have been foremost in this.” – What's the word? – “unfaithfulness”, – disloyalty. Is that not striking? Is that not shocking?

Now, did you see it? Do you know who's leading the way in this? The leaders. The leaders. And what does Ezra do? What does Ezra do? Verse 3: "When I heard about this matter… when I heard about this matter, I tore my garment and my robe and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard and sat down in consternation." What is Ezra doing? This is how a parent has felt sometimes, right? I can't believe this. What are you doing?

Verse 4: "Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled until the evening offering." I mean, Ezra doesn't speak until he's ready to speak, and he is deeply troubled. He can't even talk. He is—he's shocked. He's appalled. And those who care about the words of God have surrounded him, and they're waiting on him.

Verse 5: "But at the evening offering I rose from my affliction, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to Yahweh my God; and I stretched out my hands to Yahweh my God; and I said, 'O my God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have multiplied above our heads and our guilt has become great even to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder and to open shame, as it is this day. But now, for a brief moment grace has been shown from Yahweh our God, to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our slavery. For we are slaves.”

Here they are, returned to their homeland that God had given them, despite what they deserve, despite the fact that they were carried into captivity because of their great guilt but he says has multiplied above their heads. In spite of all of this, God has spared them, shown them mercy and grace, and returned them to their homeland. And it may be minimal compared to what once was, but it's far more than what they deserved.

Here they are in slavery because of what they've done. “Yet” – verse nine – "in our slavery our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us before the kings of Persia, to give us reviving, to raise up the house of our God, to restore its waste places, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. So now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments, which You have commanded by the hand of Your slaves the prophets, saying, "The land which you are entering to possess is an impure land with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and with their uncleanness." "So now do not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons, and never seek their peace or their prosperity."”

Not only don't take them in marriage, don't envy their ways, He's saying. "That you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it as a possession to your sons forever." Listen to what Ezra says next. Verse 13: "After all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt, since You our God have requited us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us an escaped remnant as this, shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape?” Oh, God, should You not completely wipe us out?"

Verse 15: "O Yahweh, the God of Israel, You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in our guilt, for no one can stand before You because of this." What is Ezra saying? God, we have no excuse. We have no excuse. Ezra knows the clear words of God in Exodus 34, Leviticus 20, Deuteronomy 7, where God's people were commanded not to intermarry. They were commanded to be separate, to insulate themselves from all the abominations of the nations around them.

And knowing that teaching, he is crushed—crushed by the audacity, the nerve of the people. After all they've suffered, after all they've suffered, they should have learned. They should have learned and received that lesson. Here they are now, back in the land, committing the very same sins. And here's Malachi, after what we read there in Ezra, and he's still having to deal with these same issues.

And what does he say about this intermarriage? Look at verse 11 in Malachi 2. He says, in effect, this is hateful to God. This is hateful to God. "Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been done in Israel and Jerusalem." What is this? This is an abomination. This is to say it is a detestable thing before God. It is offensive to God. Offensive. Ezra says the same thing. It's an abomination. It's a detestable thing. It's a revulsion.

"An abomination has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh." Verse 11, of Malachi 2. What does that mean? Now there's a back and forth about what that means in terms of profaning the sanctuary of Yahweh. As to what it refers to exactly. Does it speak of the people of God themselves? Does it speak of these foreign women coming into the sanctuary and in that way defiling the sanctuary? Does it speak of the priests who have intermarried with foreigners, then coming into the sanctuary to serve as though they've done nothing wrong? Does it speak of the people who have intermarried and now they bring their offerings to God as though they've done nothing wrong?

Well, the word "sanctuary" is the Hebrew word ‘kodesh’, and it basically means holy or holiness. And so it could refer to the place, it could refer to the people.

One commentator put it this way: "Daughter of a foreign God, refers to pagan women who worship false gods. If ‘kodesh’  refers to the sanctuary, then possibly the profanation referred to the involvement of these women in temple worship. Such marriages have been expressly forbidden because they would lead the people into idolatry, and intermarrying was a big problem.” He goes on to say, “after return from the exile, the Jews were supposed to marry within their own nation. Failures to do so were acts of unfaithfulness among themselves as well as to God. They involved both a disregard for the nation's corporate nature and disobedience to God.”

And he's right on. When these people intermarried, it was not only disregard toward God, but disregard toward the covenant community, the covenant community of God. They were inviting God's judgment upon the whole group. They didn't care. Walter Kaiser takes ‘kodesh’ to refer to the people. He says this: "As a result of entering into these forbidden marriages, Israel, from Yahweh called holy, the one chosen from all the nations to be His holy people, a royal priesthood and a special possession had profaned herself."

And Kaiser picks up on the statement in verse 11 of Malachi 2 that says, "For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh which He loves." He picks up on that and he takes that to refer to the people of God themselves. The people whom the Lord has loved, they have profaned themselves. The ones who the Lord has called holy unto Himself, taken to Himself—they have defiled themselves. Whichever is the case in specific terms, the general message is absolutely crystal clear.

What is the general message? Here it is: that intermarriage with women who worship false gods was an abomination and a profaning of what God had loved and set apart for Himself. It was an offense to God. And God hated this. When you get to verse 12, notice what else you see. And this is important. Not only is this hateful to God, this is hateful to godly people.
It's hateful to godly people. Just like Ezra hated what he saw, just like Phineas, as we saw last week, the priest, is moved by zeal for the holiness of God. God said to Phineas that he was jealous for what God was jealous for. And just like you see in Ezra, just like you see in Phineas, so you see also in Malachi. Malachi hates this, for the prophet says in verse 12, he says this: "As for the man who does this, may Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers or who presents an offering to Yahweh of hosts."

What was hateful to God was hateful to the servant of God, was hateful to Malachi. Can I ask you tonight, can you say the same? Can you say that what God hates, you hate? You're hating, I'm hating. Can you say that, that what God loves, you're loving, and what God hates, you're hating?

Pastor MacArthur writes, concerning "who awakes and answers," he says: "A proverbial expression referring to two classes of people, the active watcher who awakens people to reality and the passive hearer who answers. This proverb apparently came from nomadic people who had guards around their tents to stay awake and make others aware of danger. This signified judgment so that everyone who sins in this gross, idolatrous way would be exterminated.”

Anybody who does this, from the watcher to the one who answers the watcher, will be judged. What is standing behind this idiom is the thought that everybody in totality—the man and all of his descendants or anyone who would commit such an act—will be judged. Such is the abomination, such is the seriousness of the offense, that anybody who commits this should be wiped out so that his name is no longer known.

This is coming from the prophet. You see, not only does God hate sin, but godly people hate sin also. They hate sin also. We hate sin. And you know what? This is the wonder of the new birth. This is the wonder of salvation, isn't it? We hate sin in ourselves. Isn't that true? How many times do you feel sick to your stomach from yourself if you're a child of God? You feel like you almost want to vomit. In fact, listen, if you're walking with the Lord closely, you hate the sin in yourself more than you hate sin anywhere else.

Where should you begin to deal with sin? Well, begin within the confines of your own life, my own life. I always find it very interesting when someone is always, always as a pattern, pointing out the sin of everybody else. You just want to ask, what about you? That's where I want to begin—hating sin in my own life. But then, if we truly hate sin wherever it shows up, including our own lives, we're going to reflect God's love for what He loves and God's hatred for what He hates.

What are they doing? Well, they're violating God's commands concerning marriage. Let me say this. Before we think about the seriousness of divorce, we should think about the seriousness of marriage. If you think about it biblically, we really don't have a divorce problem. We have really a marriage problem. The reason why there are so many divorces is because people don't treat marriage for what it is. Your loyalty to God, your loyalty to God's people, will be expressed by your absolute commitment to marry someone with whom you are not unequally yoked.

Let's take a moment to see what's going on here in Malachi's day, remembering that these things happen to them as an example, "they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived" 1 Corinthians 10:11. The Old Testament is for the church. Let's bring it now into our context and let's ask this question as we bring this message to an end. Is God still displeased when people marry unbelievers? When His people marry idolaters?

When we don't love God, we don't love His church enough that what ought to be first and foremost on our marriage list—which is, will they love my God? Will they love the people of God?—that isn't first and foremost. That's tragic. And young people in our midst, listen to me, I beg you. The number one thing that you're looking for in marriage is not, is this someone whom I like? The number one thing you're looking for is this: is this someone who loves God, who loves Christ, who adores Jesus, and who loves His people?

And if you love God and if you love His people, you'll understand that. Now, if you feign love for God, if you pretend love for God, if you pretend love for His church, you won't care. But if you really love the Lord and really understand what the church is, you certainly care.

Is this not the New Testament teaching also? Well, turn with me to 2 Corinthians 6, look at verse 14. 2 Corinthians 6:14, the Apostle Paul writes, "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has a sanctuary of God" – that's who you are, the sanctuary of God, – "what agreement has a sanctuary of God with idols? For we are a sanctuary of the living God; just as God said, 'I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,' says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean, And I will welcome you. And I will be a Father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,' says the Lord the Almighty."

Those verses are not just addressing marriage, by the way. In the context of 2 Corinthians 6, they address any kind of spiritual enterprise. We don't yoke ourselves up together with unbelievers and then pursue spiritual matters. We don't do that. With that being said, listen, beloved, marriage is a spiritual matter. It is. And it's true in general terms. It is especially true in the covenant relationship that pictures Christ and His church.

And again, young people, oh, dear young people, is that the number one thing on your list when you think about who do you want to marry one day? Should the Lord have that in His plan for you? This is the non-negotiable, that they love the Lord our God with heart, mind, soul, and strength and love His church. 1 Corinthians 7:39 puts it this way, "A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband has fallen asleep, she is free to be married to whom she wishes." So here's a dear widow. She desires to be married again. She's not told to, you know, open your Bible, thumb through it until you get to page 475 and look for a name. Oh, okay, I'm going to marry Micaiah. No, no. It's to whom she wishes.

I mean, if you're devoted to the Lord and you meet someone, you desire to marry him or her, be married to him or her, but how does Paul end that verse? – "only in the Lord." Only in the Lord. Only if they are a believer, and not just a believer in name, but a believer who clearly demonstrates their faith, thus you know they are a believer.

So here is the issue in Malachi 2:10 and following. God is being dishonored, not only directly through their acts of worship and their attitudes in worship. God is being dishonored because they have not taken His words to heart. He has clearly instructed them how to treat each other. This is true in general terms, but God is putting His finger on two specific terms, and the first specific term is this: you have committed an abomination. You're marrying people who are idol worshipers. You are allowing marriage to daughters of foreign gods, and it is such a serious thing that the people are doing that Malachi gives voice to the hatred of God and says, anybody who does this—and get the picture that he gives—you see that again in verse 11, "Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god. As for the man who does this, may Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or,” – now notice this, – “who presents an offering to Yahweh of hosts.”

What an attitude. What a reckless attitude. I'm going to treat what God has said about marriage lightly with the one hand, I'm going to violate His word with the one hand, and then I'm going to bring offerings with the other hand. And God says through the prophet, if that's the bent of your heart, that someone needs to be exterminated. Someone like that, may they be cut off, may they perish.

This is so serious. This is the seriousness with which God regards the sin in the life of the nation of Israel—disloyalty, unfaithfulness. So I want to finish tonight by asking you, beloved, what about your loyalty? What about my loyalty to God? Are you loving the Lord? And how are you measuring that? How? Are you including in your measuring of that how you're treating other people in your life?

In general terms, by the words of God, measuring yourself by the words of God—how you treat other people. But in specific terms, how are you treating your brothers, your sisters? "Do we not have one Father? Did not one God create us?" Malachi is talking about God bringing Israel into existence. Obviously it's not the universal fatherhood of God. He's talking about this relationship that we know with God as a people.

So look around the church and ask then, by way of extension, as New Testament believers, am I proving loyal to God by the way I am treating my brothers and sisters in Christ? And then what about the most precious human relationship that can exist outside of our relationship with Christ, if you're married? What about marriage—your marriage? Are you proving loyal to God right there?

And young people, again, again, again, listen. When you think about dating someone or marrying someone who doesn't love your God and doesn't love His church, do you understand the weightiness of your sinful thinking? I wonder if there's somebody really listening when I think of verse 10 and the general ways that people mistreat each other. If you'll be honest, you'll recognize that you have left a trail, a historical trail of mistreating people in your life.

With your mouth you say you love the Lord, with your mouth you say you're a worshiper of God, but look at your life and there's a trail of mistreating people. I want you to remember this. Mark it down, never forget it: relational problems are devotional problems. Relational problems are devotional problems.

You say, what do you mean? I mean your relational problems only reflect your lack of devotion to God. Do you know what will transform your relationships with people? Loving God. Loving God will transform your relationships with people. Loving God is what causes someone to humble himself and be teachable. Loving God is what causes someone to keep his word. Loving God is what causes someone to have a conscience that makes integrity a reality.
Loving God is what causes someone to ask for forgiveness. Loving God is what compels someone to grant forgiveness. Loving God is what moves someone to care about others more than they care about themselves and put the interests of others before their own interests.

Beloved, relational problems are devotional problems.

So just as God, through the prophet Malachi, calls His people to repentance, I humbly say to us: if we have been disloyal to our God—measuring that question by the Word of God—may we tonight admit it and grieve over it. Oh, that we would be like Ezra and sit down appalled. After all that God has done for us, after all the ways that He spared us, after all the mercies He has shown us, how can we do it again?

To seek God's forgiveness in the only place where it can be known—Christ, in Christ, in Christ. And I will add this, because certainly I am—aren't you grateful that Jesus died for covenant breakers? Aren't you? Because if He didn't, we'd all be in hell. So I'm thankful that there's forgiveness for us even where we have not only failed but royally failed. But Christ's death on Calvary's cross is not an excuse to go on in sin; it is the reason to turn from them and to rest in Him, yes, but to follow Him. May the Lord do that in our lives.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

The peace that Christ came to bring to the earth is not a peace without division. Now, we talked about that last time and the week before—that the peace that Jesus brings is not a peace like the world defines it to be. People often define peace as the absence of any discord, the absence of any conflict, but we saw last time that true peace requires the presence of righteousness. It does. True peace is when you agree with God. True peace is when you have submitted to the Lordship of Christ. True peace is experienced where God rules and reigns, where God is acknowledged as God and submitted to as God.

And so, when you talk about the peace that Jesus came to bring, He says it Himself. He says in Luke 12:51, "Do you think that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division." These words are from the lips of Christ. And what He means by that is that even though He is the Prince of Peace and God is the God of all peace, and His people are people who love peace, wherever you have the presence of truth in a world of sin, in a world of sinful men and women, there's going to be conflict wherever there's that refusal to believe God and His Word.

This division can run even, as we saw together, as deep as family relationships—division between husbands and wives and parents and children and brothers and sisters and so forth—when you have on one part faith and on the other unbelief. And thus far we've considered together from these verses the reality of division. In verse 19, we talked about the fact that even though we're a people who belong to the God of peace and our Shepherd is the Prince of Peace and we are a people who are to pursue peace even with society at large—we're to pursue peace with all men as much as it depends on us—even though we're a peace-loving people, we will deal with the division that the truth inevitably will bring in this world.

We talked about the errors, you remember, and the sins that occur in the church when we forget that—when we forget that reality. When the church begins to fall prey to a false definition of peace and we think that it's our job to make friends with the world, even if it means putting away the truth, watering down the truth, couching it in palatable language. When we think that way, we talked about the errors and the sins that show up in the church, and many of these sins and errors are showing up in the church of our generation, of our time. And we talked about the reality of division.

The second thing that we see in these verses that we're going to consider together this morning has to do with the reason for the division. So we will move from the reality of division to the reason for division. It's also in verse 19. So the question that we have to ask and answer: Why is there division? Why? Wherever Jesus goes—I mean, beginning in chapter 5, the Gospel of John, and forward—I mean, He's constantly embroiled in controversy. Wherever He's speaking the truth, there's this division that occurs. So what is the reason for it? Why? We've already talked about the reason, but we're going to zero in on it this morning. It's important.

But as you know, it is important as well, before we talk about what the reason was, it is critically important that we note what the reason was not. It's going to be helpful, I trust. It's always helpful, especially when it comes to important themes or subjects, to really zero in first before we get to the positive to focus on the negative, what it is not. So I'm going to go back for a moment and underscore again something that the Bible treats as very important, and that is, we are to be a people who pursue peace.

And oftentimes what happens when we talk about the division that comes with the preaching of the truth, the preaching of the Gospel, the preaching of Christ, if we're not careful, the church can sort of develop a militant mindset where we're almost, we find ourselves glorying in that division. And if we're not careful, we can be instigators of division. So we have to have that biblical balance. And so I think it's very important that as we look at this division, verse 19, "A division occurred again among the Jews," again, *palin* (πάλιν), more than once. This is not the first time this division occurs. " A division occurred again, once more, among the Jews because of these words."

So not only should we recognize why there was division, but also we must recognize the things that did not bring about this division in the life of our Lord—never brought about this division in the life of our Lord. What was it about the Lord Jesus that's causing that division? Well, let's answer what wasn't. What wasn't. And that's where I want to begin this morning.
And the first thing that I want us to note under the "what wasn't," the cause of this division is this. Mark it down and don't forget about it. It was not a political division. Let me say that again. It wasn't a political division. Let me say that a third time. It was not a political division. Jesus wasn't leading a social revolution. Jesus was not leading a political revolution.

And we need to be clear, the truth of the Gospel came and has and does and will literally shake the world. I mean, we read about it in the book of Acts, don't we? Where there's a riot that occurs, one of the things that pagans say about what's going on, they say like in Acts 17:6, "These men," referring to the apostles, "who have upset the world have come also here." And that's what it's like as the Gospel begins to spread, as the Gospel is unleashed, as the Gospel begins to impact society. It's like the world is being turned upside down, right side up.

When God grants salvation in great numbers, when many people are saved and turned to Jesus, when there's a great awakening, guess what? Societies do change. And God has at times shown a special grace and preserved societies because of the presence of believers there. We have Biblical evidence for that, but we must remember, beloved, that the political and social revolutions that occur due to the Gospel occur indirectly. It's not because the church aims at some political result. It's just indirect. It's because of the saving work of God in the lives of people.

And mark this, when someone is saved indeed, their viewpoint on everything changes. That's the key. But there wasn't division here on this occasion because Jesus was leading some sort of a political revolution. There was nothing rebellious about the Son of God. Absolutely nothing. In fact, it is really incredible after Jesus was arrested and after He goes through the mock trials—really a mockery it was—and as the Jews were crying out for His death, for His crucifixion, the man who wants to release Jesus represents the government that the Jews says that Jesus was a threat to. I mean, this was the argument of the Jews. You read about it in John 19. Turn with me there for a moment, the Gospel of John 19:12. This was the argument of the Jews. John 19:12: "As a result of this, Pilate kept seeking to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, 'If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar.'" I mean, wow, the Jews loved the Romans, didn't they? "We are Caesar's friends, but if you release this man, you're not Caesar's friend."

They go on to say, "Everyone who makes himself to be a king opposes Caesar," verse 15; "So they cried out, 'Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!' Pilate said to them, 'Shall I crucify your King?' The chief priests answered, 'We have no king but Caesar.'" You talk about self-condemning words. They weren't aware of it, but very accurate words, because God was not their King.

What were these Jews trying to sell Pilate? They were trying to say that Jesus and His followers represented a threat to Caesar, that Jesus and His followers represented a political threat, that they were potentially the leaders of a rebellion, a revolution, an insurrection against Rome, against Caesar. So you better deal with this, eliminate this problem. And yet Jesus Himself made clear that that was not His ambition.

Remember back in John 6:15, after He fed the multitude, they wanted to seize Him by force and make Him a king, He withdrew Himself. He wasn't interested. That's not why He came. Look here, John 18—actually, if you back up to John 18: 36—answering Pilate, Jesus said, listen to what He said in John 18:36: "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be delivered over to the Jews. But as it is, My kingdom is not from here."

Did you catch this? Not only is it not of this world, it's not from this world. So the Roman governor, Pilate—the one that the Jews said would be in danger if Jesus survived—he's the one who said three times, not once, not twice, but three times, three different occasions, "I find no guilt in Him."

Look at them: John 18:38, "Pilate went out again to the Jews and said to them, 'I find no guilt in Him.'" John 19:4, "And Pilate came out again and said to them, 'Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.'" Verse 6: "And when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, 'Crucify, crucify!' Pilate said to them, 'Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.'"

Wow. The Jews were saying that Jesus is a political threat, but the Roman governor says, "I find no guilt in Him." It wasn't a political division.

Now what about the apostles? You go through the book of Acts and you see again controversy after controversy, division after division. And what was it about? Could they have created a political—what was it about? Was it really political? Was it really politics? Was it really social reforms? Did the apostles go out with a social agenda?

We need to recognize that when you look at first-century Rome through the eyes of God's Word, it's very easy to see there were myriads of issues that believers then and believers now would have found to be offensive, sinful, wicked. There was no lack—pardon me—of social problems in Rome. About the time of the writing of the New Testament, there were one million slaves in Rome. So slavery was an issue. There was a rampant, gross immorality. Homosexuality was widespread along with sexual immorality. In fact, in these cities, there would be temples to these false gods, and often accompanying the temple practice were temple prostitutions. You read through the book of Acts and you see corruption in government, people making deals behind the scene, arrangements, bribery. I mean, nothing new about that. It was always there.

Not only that, parenting and children—I mean, the Roman father literally had the power of death over his children, and it wasn't uncommon for the child to be sold into slavery, just like that. And some even were drowned after they were born because they were unwanted. So there was racial bigotry in the first century, injustice, oppression, to add to those things. And all these things—sinful, all these offensive things—are still offensive even today, but they were also offensive back then. And yet, what do you see the first-century church doing? What do you see the church doing, first century's church?

In the face of all of this, were they organizing for political change? Were they? Show me where in the book of Acts. Were they saying, well, here's our agenda, we need to get together, get our vote together and make our views known in the Roman world? What was their mission? They were preaching Christ. They're preaching the gospel. That's all. That's all.

Now this is instructive for us, isn't it? Because this speaks to our generation. You see, in the 80s, there was a movement to use the church as a political force south of the border, and everything spills over here. And in fact, to this day, political pundits will talk about the evangelicals and the evangelical vote as if evangelicals were a lobby group. We must distinguish, beloved, between Christians as citizens—responsible citizens, individual citizens—and Christians as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As individual citizens, we have every responsibility to conduct ourselves as responsible citizens, and that includes getting involved in appropriate ways with the processes of government. It's appropriate that Christians vote. In fact, I believe we have a responsibility to do that from Scripture. We ought to be some light in this world in moral ways, in civic ways, as individual believers before God. But as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, politics is not our work. It's not.

Because we don't believe that the world will be transformed by politics. No, no, we believe that what's wrong with the world is what the Bible says is wrong, and that is, man is a sinner estranged from God by his sin. And nothing is going to change him. Nothing. And ultimately, nothing is going to change the world other than Jesus. Salvation. Accept the saving relationship to Jesus Christ. That's the only hope for change.

We realize from God's Word, kingdoms will rise, kingdoms will fall, but the kingdom of Christ endures forever. So what we long for is not to make conservatives out of people, is not to make liberals or NDP out of people. Rather, what we long for is to see men and women and young people brought out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we long for. That's our mission. That is our goal.
In fact, God Himself told us about the importance of this. Turn with me to Romans 13. Romans 13:1. This is God's Word, inspired, infallible, inerrant:

"Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist have been appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists that authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of that authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same, for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword in vain, for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil."

That is, God has instituted the idea of government in human societies in order to restrain evil. That's His purpose. This is an instrument of God to restrain evil. God is at work in the world restraining evil through various means. One of them is human government. This is one of the divinely appointed purposes of government—to restrain evil. And God has given the government the power of life and death, the power of the sword to enforce that.

And by the way, when Paul writes this, what kind of government was in charge? Would you say a government characterized by righteousness? First-century Rome, Nero, evil, wicked Nero. Not only that, he says to Christians, this is to be your attitude about government and about those who are in authority over you. Verse five: "Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of that wrath, but also because of conscience. For because of this, you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law."

What is He saying to the church? What is He saying to believers? Is He telling them to lead a political revolution? No, no, that's not their task as the Lord's church. That's not what He's saying. Turn with me to First Peter chapter two, if you would. And I want us to see this. This is no small matter in God's Word because it is addressed more than once.

First Peter chapter two, in verse 13: look at the first two words—"Be subject"—one word in the Greek. "Be subject for the Lord's sake," for the sake of the Lord. "Be subject for the sake of the Lord to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good. For such is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish men."

Now stop right there. Do you realize what He's telling us, beloved? He's saying one of the things that will happen with the Lord's church if we don't make clear what our mission is, if we don't make clear what the world's problem is—that is, sin and estrangement from God—and if we don't make clear what our mission is—that is, to bring men and women to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—then we're going to be guilty of the very thing that we will be accused of.

Let me explain. You see, it ought to be ignorance, it ought to be foolish men who will say that we are a rebellious people against human institutions, against government, that we're sort of some political arm that's trying to bring change, our view of what the world ought to be, through social revolution, political revolution. He says that ought to be ignorance, it ought to be foolish men who will say that. He says no, don't let that be the case. Let that be the speech of ignorant, foolish men and women. He says you be subject to these human institutions.

Now obviously—and you know what I'm about to say—be subject as long as you can remain subject to the Lord. These are the exceptions: when you're asked to do what God forbids, when you're forbidden to do what God requires. Other than that, you're to subject yourself.

If the government says we can no longer preach the gospel, then what will we do? We're going to preach the gospel, and do we have biblical examples of that? Of course we do. But as long as we're not violating God's word, we're not going to preach the gospel, And do we have biblical examples of that? Of course we do. But as long as we're not violating God's Word, we're to remain subject to the governing authorities, so that it may become plain to the world what our understanding of the world's problem really is.

What is ultimately wrong with the world? It is not political, it is not social. It is what? Spiritual. It's a spiritual problem. And the reason why the world is wrong in many places—socially, politically—is because it is darkened in its understanding and alienated from God spiritually. Where there's no fellowship with God, there are all of these evidences of no fellowship with God. That's what you find all the time.

So what is our mission? To change the world through politics and social programs? Of course not. Absolutely not. It is to preach Christ, to preach the gospel, and to see men and women come to faith in Jesus Christ. Read on, verse 16, 1 Peter chapter 2: "Act as free people, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as slaves of God." You mean to live as a slave of God means that I live in subjection to governing authorities? Yes. Yes, that's part of being a slave of God.

Look at verse 17: "Honor all people, love the brethren, fear God," and what does He say next? "Honor the king." Honor the king. Verse 18: "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only those who are good and considerate, but also those who are crooked. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unrighteously. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this finds favor with God."

"For to you, for to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps, who did no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth, who being reviled was not reviling in return, while suffering He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously."

Beloved, the answer is not political revolution, social revolution. The answer is the preaching of the gospel and the living out of the Christian life as a result of the gospel. Bible-believing, Bible-living. Remind them—He goes on—to be subject to rulers, authorities. Excuse me, that's Titus. I want us to see Titus 3:1: "Remind them," He says, "to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work." Again, you see the same thing. This is no small matter in God's Word. "Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, and to be ready for every good work."

Now watch this. “To slander no one, to be peaceable, considerate, demonstrating all gentleness to all men. For we ourselves also once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.” But—that's another great “but” in the Bible—“but when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not by works, which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

This is clear, beloved. What should characterize believers as we live toward those in authority over us, even though they're unbelievers, even though they're wicked and evil? What should characterize us? Insulting speech? Attacks on those who are over us? Not according to this text. He's careful to tell us, slander no one, show all gentleness to all men.

Why? Because you yourselves were once foolish, that's why. That's why. He's saying, remember, they're in darkness, they're unregenerate, they're acting according to their nature. What do you expect? I often tell people when somebody is harsh at work or in the world, and they say, it's not fair, and they're shocked, and they say, what are you shocked about? You should be shocked when they're nice to you. They're acting according to their nature. They're in darkness, unregenerate.

And then he says, remember also that you yourselves were once foolish. You yourselves were disobedient, and you were deceived, and you were enslaved to various lusts and pleasures. You spent your life in malice and envy. You were hated by others, and you hated others as well. So what's different about you now? There's that “but.” The goodness, the loving kindness of your Savior appeared. That's what made the difference. The goodness, the loving kindness of your Savior.

He saved you, not because of works of righteousness which you did. You take zero credit for this, but according to His own mercy, and you've been washed and cleansed, and you've been renewed by the Holy Spirit of God who dwells you now. And the Holy Spirit has been poured out on you so richly through Jesus Christ, your Savior, so that having been justified by grace, you are now an heir of the hope of eternal life.

You see, what's wrong with this world is its lostness, its deadness, and it's in desperate need of salvation. And when the church begins to think that its mission is a political one or a social one, it has missed the message of God of what's really wrong with this world. And what's wrong is sin, and the need for forgiveness. The desperate need is to be reconciled to a holy God.

Back to John 10, so why is there division? Not because of any political ambition on the part of Jesus. No, that's not the reason, and that wasn't the reason for the apostles. And when it comes to us, that must not, beloved, be the reason why we face division in this world. It must not.

But there's another reason we could say that it wasn't. Not only it was not political division, in the second place, I want us to see that it wasn't sinful division. It wasn't sinful division. It wasn't sinful on our Lord's part. There was no sin on His part. There was sin on their part, but not on His part.

And those of us who understand who Jesus really is, this is no news to us. We know that our Savior is impeccable. There's no sin in Him. He's holy, holy, holy, pure, undefiled, righteous. In fact, 1 Peter 2, the passage that we read, lays great stress on that. But still, it is good for us to say it and to underscore it—that the reason why there was division here was not because Jesus was doing something wrong and then tried to hide behind it in the name of God.

No, no. When it came to our Lord, the world could not point a legitimate finger at Him and accuse Him of anything. Not the false religious world, not the pagan world. They couldn't do that. I mean, they could say it, and they did malign Him and falsely accuse Him, but that's the whole point—it was false accusation. He wasn't engaging in wrongdoing.

Turn to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Look at verse 43. Jesus is speaking. You remember when we studied this account, He says, "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me."

And Jesus is able to say this next, verse 46: "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?" Jesus says, there's this division. You don't hear My word. You won't hear the truth. And then He says, "Which one of you is able to legitimately convict Me of sin?" What a challenge. They couldn't do it, could they? That wasn't the reason that there was division among them—not because Jesus was doing something wrong or sinful.

In fact, I love the way the Apostle Peter describes the ministry of our Lord. Go to the book of Acts 10. Acts 10. Look at how Peter describes our Lord's ministry. Verse 34: "And opening his mouth, Peter said, 'I most truly comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the one who fears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him. As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.'"

He's saying, in other words, you know about the earthly ministry of Jesus. You know what happened in His ministry. So what happened? He tells them. Look at verse 38: "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. We talk about a contrast. ."

You talk about a contrast. He went about doing good and healing all of their diseases. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. What did He do to deserve to be hung on a tree? Nothing sinful. Nothing wrong. He just went about doing what? Good. Good.

Let's take a step back and talk about the apostles. Look at the division that was present where they went. Was it because they were engaging in sinful behavior? Of course not. Are we wasting our time thinking about this, this morning? Or does God make a point of this in His Word as He addresses us as His children? I mean, this is something we ought to keep in mind, beloved, because it is there in the Word of God.

Back to 1 Peter chapter 2. Back to 1 Peter chapter 2. Look at verse 9. 1 Peter chapter 2: "But you are a chosen family, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that — that's the goal, that's the end in view — so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." What is our mission? That's our mission right here, to proclaim the excellencies of Him. That's what it is.
"For you once were not a people," verse 10, "but now you are the people of God. You have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." Beloved, I urge you as sojourners, verse 11, and exiles. Stop right there. You see, we're to remind ourselves, beloved, every single day, every single day, beloved, this isn't the kingdom. This isn't heaven. Is there anything wrong in our government right now in this nation? And does it surprise us? Are we shocked by it? Do we imagine that it's going to be different than that?

Are we ever going to have a God-fearing government across the board in this nation where God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven? Is that going to occur before Jesus returns to the earth? No. So what are we right now on this earth? Peter tells us: sojourners. Sojourners, exiles, pilgrims. We're citizens of this nation, but our citizenship is where? In heaven. In heaven. And so we're passing through, we're pilgrims, we're sojourners on this earth, we're exiles. This world is not our home. That's how we actually think of ourselves.

Peter is able to address believers this way. Verse 11: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to do what?" Well, he tells us: "to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul by keeping your conduct excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing which they slander you as evildoers, they may, because of your good works as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." And it's right after that statement that he says—did you notice that?—right after that statement that he says in verse 13: "Be subject for the sake of the Lord to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him," etc.

Those verses to be in subjection, they come right after the verses that tell us how we're to think of ourselves in this world. Not as social revolutionaries, not as political lobbyists, but rather citizens of the kingdom of Heaven who've been redeemed by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, and we have the privilege of telling forth the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. And as we go forth proclaiming Jesus, preaching the message, make sure, He says, that we abstain from the lust of the flesh that wage war against our souls, and be sure to keep our conduct honorable among the Gentiles, so that—that's the end in view—even when they do malign us, even when they do speak against us, it will become evident to them that these are false accusations, and as they see our good deeds, then one day they're able to glorify God on the day when He saves them.

Isn't it true? There's been people, and maybe you know some yourselves, who spoke against Christians until they were saved, and then all of a sudden their speech changed, and they're able to give thanks to God for the believers who lived out a testimony before them. Isn't that what happened to Saul of Tarsus as he saw the witness of Stephen? And so many others. Make sure, beloved, make sure, if there's division, make sure it's not because you're sinning.
2 Corinthians 8:21—again I want to show us this—this is no small matter in God's Word. That's why I'm repeating myself, but we need this: "For we respect what is good, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men." In the sight of men. Do you realize, beloved, that we were to be a people who are characterized by doing what's good in the sight of men as well? I mean, there are things that are just considered good, excellent among men. We're to be—we're to be marked by those things.

You don't have to turn there. If you want, you can, or jot them down. 1 Peter 3:15, "But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and fear; having a good conscience, so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame."

Titus 2:7, "In all things show yourself to be a model of good works, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in word, which is irreproachable, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us." One more, 1 Peter 2:18, "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are crooked. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unrighteously. For what credit is there if, when you sin, are harshly treated and you endure it?"

I mean, if you did something wrong and you're suffering for it, and now you're enduring it, what credit is there in that? But if you—He goes on to say—if you do good and suffer for it, you endure, He said, this finds favor with God. Beloved, this is so relevant, because there are so many examples in our world where professing believers claim to be under persecution, but in reality, they've engaged in behavior that would not be considered honorable among all men. Honorable among all men.

And they're not really suffering for the sake of Christ, and they're not really suffering for the sake of the gospel. They're suffering because of their own dishonorable actions. There are believers at their jobs who say they're being persecuted for the cause of Christ, when in reality, they do very little work and a lot of talking. You say, we're evangelizing. They do very little work. No, no, you're being punished because you're not a good worker.

You see, beloved, we've got to be sure why there is division. It's not because we're political revolutionaries. It's not because we're social revolutionaries. And it's not because we're sinning. That's not why Jesus was facing division. So what was His division over? Look back at John 10. Look at verse 19. We'll close with that this morning. "A division occurred again among the Jews." Why? Well, He gives us the reason. "Because"—here's a reason—"because of these words."

Because of these words. What words? The words of truth concerning Himself. He has represented Himself. Remember, "I am the shepherd, the good one, I am the shepherd, the good one," as the true Shepherd. And when you talk about the true Shepherd, you're talking about the divine Shepherd. Don't you love Psalm 23? "Yahweh is my shepherd." This is Jesus. This is Jehovah Jesus.

And He is the true and only way into the fold of God, the only way for sinful men to be reconciled to the living, holy God. It is through faith in Jesus Christ, who died for sinners, raised from the dead. He's the one who said, "I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." He's the gate. He's the way. He's presented Himself as the true way to satisfaction for the soul.

He leads them out. Once they're in His fold, He leads them out to green pasture. They're fed. They're taken care of. And He's the one who satisfies the soul. He's the only one who's able to save to the uttermost those who come to Him by faith.

This is what He's taught about Himself in John 10, the verses that precede the ones we're looking at this morning. He says, you remember, several times, "I lay down My life for the sheep. I lay down My life for the sheep. I lay down My life for them." They would come in and out and find pasture. "I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved" (verse 9). He's the only way to salvation.

And He has exposed the motives and the methods and the practices of those who are false, counterfeit shepherds, hired hands. And this is why He is hated—not because of political activity, not because of social activity, not because of sinful activity—but because He preaches and speaks the truth. He is the truth. He is the light. And there is the legitimate reason for division, beloved, because of the truth of the gospel.

So let me close this morning by asking us, are we peacemakers or troublemakers? Are we peacemakers or troublemakers? The division Jesus faced was a peacemaking division. It was a peacemaking division. He was being a peacemaker. He was speaking the truth that makes for peace with God and for true peace among men who are alienated from God so that they would be reconciled to God.

So the question: are you a peacemaker? Do you speak the words of God? Are you declaring the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light? Do you realize that this is the unimaginable privilege that has been entrusted to you and to me as a child of God? You and I get to tell forth these excellencies. We get to tell forth these excellencies. What a privilege! What a privilege! Are we doing that?

And if we are truly peacemakers, we're going to feel the heat. Let's go back to the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5. Have you ever noticed that there's a progression in the Beatitudes? I want us to notice toward the end of the Beatitudes what happens. Look at verse 3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the lowly, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

"Blessed are"—what?—"the peacemakers." The peacemakers. "For they shall be called sons of God." What's the next one? "Blessed are those who have been persecuted." Facing that peacemaking division. "Blessed are those who have been persecuted." This comes right on the heels of being a peacemaker. This is what a peacemaker meets within the world, Jesus is saying.

"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you," and the next word is a key word, "falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Not because of your political affiliation. Because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." If you're a peacemaker, you will face it. But it must be because you're a peacemaker, not because you're a troublemaker. It must be because of the truth. Are you a peacemaker or a troublemaker?

Then another question, if you would allow me to ask. Do we understand that the principles that we've learned this morning apply in other areas? Just a few more minutes. The principles that we've learned this morning apply in other areas. Let me give you some examples, and let the Holy Spirit—I pray the Holy Spirit—will really bring about the rest of the application.

The world will not be changed by external organizational means. Not really changed. And the world will never change, be changed by sinful means. You can't do something sinful and expect a righteous result. And do we understand that those same principles apply as near and as dear to us as our own homes?

Are there parents who imagine that they can somehow transform their kids by organizational external means? I mean, if we just have the right formula, you know, if we just have the right organization in our family, if we have the right steps that we take, surely we'll ensure that our kids will turn out the right way. I mean, the problem in our child's life, maybe it's an organizational one, maybe it's something that I can enact through a different sort of government in my home. Maybe that will change my child.

Listen, just like government restrains evil in society, so I'm not saying that our organization at home doesn't make a difference. It can restrain evil and put those guardrails, but over and over again there have been parents who have learned the heartbreaking lesson that what's really wrong in all of us cannot be changed by external means. Because the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. You see, you can have the best organization in your home that you want to, and if your son or daughter isn't visited by the Holy Spirit of God with the gospel, and if their hearts are not transformed, eventually when they leave the government of your home, you will see that they are sinners who, if they're not saved by who, if they're not saved by Christ, will pursue a life of dishonoring the Master.

And I say this because there are so many in our world, people teaching in our world, that say, well, here's the way you raise your kids, and if you just do that, then here's the outcome. And I say to you this morning, based on the Word of God, that is a lie. It's by grace that you were saved, and it's going to be by grace that they're saved. God will work through means. He'll use you as godly parents, but He alone saves. He alone transforms our children.

And also, we must remember that just like sinning doesn't bring about righteous results in the world, so sinning doesn't bring about righteous results in your home. That is, when you see that your kids are living wrongly in areas, you and I must remember that "the anger of man does not bring about the righteousness of God." To yell at your kids and lose your temper with your kids, to sinfully discipline your children, will never bring about the result that you're hoping for, longing for, aiming for, praying for.

How do we affect the world? By declaring Christ's excellencies and by living a life of righteousness before a watching world. And how do we affect those in our family? By declaring the truth of And how do we affect those in our family? By declaring the truth of God's Word while living it ourselves. Because most of what is caught is seen as well as heard.

And what I've said about children can also be true in an unequally yoked marriage. One spouse comes to know the Lord Jesus Christ and the other has not come to that reality. You're not going to convert your husband or wife through organizational means or through sinful means. You must seek the face of God because He alone can save your spouse. He alone can change them.

It's important that we realize there's going to be division, but it's equally important, beloved, that we realize the reason for the division—what it ought to be biblically and what it is not as well, what it should not be. And may we give heed to the Word of God, these exhortations, these warnings about what the division must not be about. And may we ask the Lord to help us toward that end.

Let's pray.

This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.

How do you respond to warnings? How do I respond to warnings? How do we respond to warnings? How do you respond to correction? It is sort of the great test, I believe, of our spiritual condition. It is. How do we respond when someone brings to us warnings that are truthful? How do we respond? How do we react? What do we do with them?

Do you see truthful warnings as a mercy? Do you see them as expressions of love? Are you thankful for them? Someone comes to you, they correct you, they warn you, we might even say that they call you to repentance, bringing the Word of God to bear upon your conscience, upon your heart. Are you thankful for this? Would you be thankful? Do you receive those warnings? Do you take them to heart? Do you submit to them? Do you act in obedience toward what you have received, or do you scoff at them, dismiss them, push back?

Does correction make you angry? Do you find that you stiffen your neck at correction? Do you find that you dispute with those warnings, defending yourself, regardless of how accurate those warnings are, regardless of how much danger you are actually in? Do you find yourself resisting? Proverbs 29:1, you're familiar with this verse, it is fitting to refer to it, says this: "A man who hardens his neck after much reproof"—again and again and again and again, reproof, reproof, reproof, hardens his neck—"Will suddenly be broken beyond healing." This is quite a warning, isn't it? That if you just won't be taught, if you are not teachable, if you just won't listen, one day the result is the kind of brokenness that cannot be fixed. It's without remedy.

This is one reason why I think many people have misunderstood the warning passages of the New Testament. And people wonder, they wonder why would God warn people about apostasy, about the loss of their soul? Why would He warn people whom He has saved, who are eternally secure? Aren't warnings wasted on people whom the Lord has saved? Well, of course, the answer is no. And the reason why those warnings are not wasted is precisely because God has made them, through salvation, He's made them a people, He's made us a people who heed His warnings as a result of the new birth.

That is to say, warnings are always effective in the lives of saved people. Now, we don't perfectly heed God's warnings, but if indeed you know the Lord Jesus Christ, He has made you the kind of person who consistently listens to His corrections. That's the pattern. That's the direction of your life. So we can say it this way again: the sheep hear His voice. They hear the voice of their Shepherd.

And so the warnings that God gives in the New Testament, they actually serve to preserve the people of God. They're saved, they're secure, they're kept, and part of the means is that they heed the warnings that God places in Scripture.

We listen to them so we stay out of those danger zones and we keep our feet on the pathway of peace. Not so with the unregenerate. Not so with the unbeliever. The wicked refuses God's warnings. The wicked rebel at them. The wicked rail against them, mock them, protest the justice of them. So what do you do with warnings?

The last time we were in Malachi, we saw together that Yahweh, Yahweh of hosts, brought an indictment. And His indictments are 100% accurate. The verdict is guilty. So last time we saw that Yahweh of hosts brought an indictment. He indicts the people, He indicts the priests, priests and people, for their irreverence. They do not give honor to His name, and their irreverence, you remember, is put on display in the way they're handling the sacrifices, what the people are bringing, what the priests are accepting and actually putting on the altar as an offering to Yahweh of hosts.

Offerings that clearly we saw together violated the clear instructions from the law of God. They were bringing lame animals, blind animals, defective animals, stolen animals, and offering them to God. They're offering to God what they wouldn't even offer to a human governor. And then when confronted by the indictment of God that says, "You are dishonoring My name," they had the audacity to ask, "Well, how have we dishonored You? How have we despised You? How have we defiled Your altar?" They were utterly blind to the weightiness of their disobedience, utterly oblivious.

Well, now we come to the second chapter, and there is a shift. He goes here from indictment to warning, indictment to warning. And though both people and priests were under the indictment of God, this warning zeroes in particularly on the priests as they were emphasized in the indictment because they have a greater responsibility in the sense that they were meant by God to lead the people of God in a different direction. They were supposed to give instruction to the people of God, point them in the right direction. The people's irreverence, as we saw together, is simply reflective of the priests' irreverence. The people were reflecting the priests, and the priests were misleading the people.

So now in chapter 2, Yahweh brings a warning to these priests. He warns them about what is coming if they will not repent. So this evening together, verses 1 through 9, chapter 2, what we're going to see together as we study this portion of the Word of God, we're going to see three aspects of this warning from God.

I want us to see three aspects of this warning from God, and as we look at these aspects of God's warning to the priests particularly, we're going to ask ourselves: How do we respond to God's warning, right? How do we respond to God's warnings? How do we respond to correction? How do we respond to rebuke? How do we respond when the Word of God indicts our sins? What's our reaction? What's our reaction when a Nathan is sent by God to say, "You're the man, you're the woman"?

The first thing to point out from our verses tonight is this. We see that this is, number one, a targeted warning. So this is a targeted warning. We see that in verse 1. Look at verse 1 with me: "And now this commandment is for”—you see it—”you” –And just in case they didn't get it, “O priests”, I'm talking to you priests. I mean, you just can't get more pointed than that, can you? This is not like using a shotgun. This is using a laser scope. There's precision. This is bullseye.

It's one thing to hear the warnings of God in general terms. You know, you just sit and you listen in on God's warnings and that's weighty enough. Of course it is weighty enough, but when God puts your name on it—I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you—it's a reason to pause and shudder and listen, "now this commandment is for you, O priests." Wow.

And what comes from God here carries the force of law. It's a command in the sense of a charge. God is revealing what He has purposed to do, what He has determined to do, and it's absolutely inescapable if they don't listen to Him. So they better listen. They better take heed. This charge is for you. It's a targeted warning.

Which leads us now to the second place, to this second heading. Not only is it a targeted warning, it is a terrifying warning. And that is verses 2 to 4: "If you do not listen, and if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," says Yahweh of hosts,” – having just revealed how they dishonored Him, you remember what He's calling for. What is He calling for? He's calling for repentance here. He's calling for repentance.

"If you do not listen," – verse 2 – "and if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," says Yahweh of hosts, "then I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings and indeed, I have cursed them already because you're not setting it upon your heart. Behold, I am going to rebuke your seed, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts, and you will be taken away with it. Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi," says Yahweh of hosts.”

That is a terrifying word from God. A terrifying word from God. And yet, listen carefully, beloved, and yet, do you see the mercy that's present here? Do you see it? It's here. In this word of warning, this terrifying warning, it really bound up in it, you have mercy. Because this warning, beloved, is presented with contingent language. It is presented with contingent language.

“If you” – look at the text, verse 2, – "If you do not listen," well, what if they do listen? Right? What if they do listen? And, "if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," well, what if they do? What if they do set it upon their heart? The very way that God words this holds open, doesn't it? It holds open the possibility of repentance. What is God doing? Look at the goodness of God. Look at the lovingkindness of God. God is revealing to them a way of escape. He's revealing to them a way of escape.

Here's the judgment that's coming, but I want you to be aware that you can escape it. You can. You can escape it by listening, by heeding. You can escape it by setting it upon your heart, by setting upon your heart what I've been talking to you about. If you will listen to Me, then what I'm warning you about can be averted. The language concerning setting it upon the heart is really, is language used in Hebrew to determine a course of action in response to one's knowledge, awareness of something. In other words, God is giving them truth, calling them for a change of course, a change of action.

If you've been headed down one road, it's a road of destruction, it's the wrong road, it will lead you to death, I'm calling upon you now to turn around. In other words, to repent. Turn around. Change your mind, and change your heart, and change your ways. You could do that, and this can be avoided. And yet, even though repentance is possible, you can see the grace of God and the mercy of God in this, and even though repentance is possible, God here giving voice to the spiritual condition of these people, that indicates that repentance in this case, in their case, is not probable.

Why? Because they've already demonstrated where their hearts are at. "If you do not listen, and if you do not set it upon your heart to give honor to My name," says Yahweh of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings." Now notice, "and indeed, I have cursed them already because you are not setting it upon your heart." I've already cursed them, the blessings that is, taking them away.

In what sense? In what sense? Well, what is He saying? Well, it's possible that what God means here is they've already begun to feel the repercussions of their sinning and their stubbornness. He's already visited them in a way that has affected things like their crops, and their health, and their well-being. They're already feeling the weight of God's disciplining hand, the rod of God's chastening. They're already experiencing the result of their sin.

Could mean that, or it could also mean that these curses are already as good as on their way. God has already, as it were, unleashed them, sent them forth, haven't arrived yet. They're certainly going to arrive, and the reason why they've been unleashed is because the people will not lay to heart what God has been saying to them. They dug in their heels and they stiffened their neck, and they said, we won't listen. They will not repent of their sins. These priests.

Now when He says that they're cursed, it's because they violated God's covenant with His people. When God was going over the covenant with His people, as they were about to enter the promised land, He made very clear that He was giving them the land they were entering into, and there were promises of blessings and warnings, promises about curses, depending upon whether or not the people would genuinely follow Him, obey Him.

Keep in mind in all of this, and this is something we always have to be mindful of, the issue was not perfection. It's not. Not this side of Heaven. The issue was genuineness, faithfulness, loyalty to God, loyalty to the covenant. Bottom line, the issue was their heart.

So when God says, when He speaks here about curses, He's wanting to have passages like Deuteronomy 28 ringing in their ears, calling these things to mind, reminding them of what He had told them long before. Turn with me to Deuteronomy 28 for a minute. Deuteronomy 28:1. I just want us to see the force of what God is saying here, and He wants this to really be ringing in their minds. He says:

"Now it will be, if you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you will listen to the voice of Yahweh your God: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body, and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, and the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. Yahweh shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways. Yahweh will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you send forth your hand to do, and He will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. Yahweh will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and walk in His ways. So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of Yahweh, and they will be afraid of you. And Yahweh will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body in the offspring of your beasts in the produce of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. Yahweh will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And Yahweh will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I am commanding you today, to keep and to do, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or to the left, and to walk after other gods and to serve them."

Let's stop here for now. He's just talking about the covenant, the covenant loyalty, and what a promise. God says, I'm going to bless you in every way you can imagine. I'm going to surround you with blessings. My favor is going to be upon you. I'm going to shower My blessings upon you. God says, I'm going to bless you in every way you can imagine, if you listen to Me, if you walk with Me, if you obey My voice, if you're loyal to Me, if you're faithful to Me.

Verse 15: "But it will be, if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep and to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you." Now, I'm not going to read the rest of the section. You can read it in your own time, but God goes through and details those curses. He details them, and they are absolutely fearful. They are frightful.

And here in our study in chapter 2 of Malachi, God is saying that due to their dishonoring of His name, if they will not turn, if they will not heed, if they will not listen, if they will not repent, He will dispatch, He will send, He will let loose these curses. "I will send the curse upon you," – verse 2 –  "and I will curse your blessings.” I will take them away. Indeed, I have already cursed them.

Again, either they're already beginning to feel the weight of His disciplining hand—and there's some indications throughout the book that that's the case—or He's saying it's as good as it's on its way because you have not taken what I'm telling you into your heart.

What does God say they're going to experience due to the dishonoring of His name and their lack of repentance? He says, number 1—look at verse 3, Malachi 2—"I'm going to rebuke your seed." I'm going to rebuke your seed. "Behold, I am going to rebuke your seed," says the Lord. Now, some commentators understand this to refer to their crops. They take "seed" in the sense of an agricultural sense. You find that in the ESV and the NASB. They understand this in that sense of the offspring of these priests, not the crops.

The priests were then warned—one commentator put it this way—of a rebuke that would fall against their seed. Seed referred to grain or to physical descendants. The following threat of the removal of the priest from office makes the latter option more probable. So, the latter one is more probable with reference to the offspring. If indeed God is talking about their offspring, He's saying to them, I'm not going to allow the priesthood to continue along these lines. This is not what I intend priests to be. And if you don't repent, I'll clear you out, and your descendants will feel the repercussions of your sinful acts and your sinful attitudes.

But not only will He rebuke their seed—and I believe it's beyond crops—but He says He's going to dispose of these priests. Look at verse 3. Look at the language: "and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it." He's going to spread refuse on their faces, the refuse of their offerings, and He's going to lift them up. He's going to take them away with the dung of their offerings.

Do you think God is serious about the honor of His name? Do you think He takes lightly our dishonoring His name, trifling with His name? Bound up in that name is all of the attributes of God, the characteristics of God.

I mean, this is about as graphic as you can get. What He's talking about when He talks about refuse is He's talking about those parts of the animal sacrifices, including the internal organs that held undigested waste. These were the parts of the sacrifices that were to be taken away and burnt, not to be placed upon the altar. They were disposed of, taken outside so as to not to defile the worship context. And God says, I'm going to take these things that defile, and I'm going to spread them on your face. You dishonor My name, you're going to feel the weight of dishonor. I'm going to spread the dung on your face, I'm going to lift you up along with the dung of your offerings, and I'm going to dispose of you on the dung pile.

Are you listening yet, if you're a priest? As it were, God is saying, are you listening? He's going to dispose of these priests. Why? Because He's going to uphold His purpose for the priesthood, verse 4. "Then you will know that I've sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi," says Yahweh of Hosts.”

I will be faithful, in other words, to My purpose for the priesthood. I'm not going to allow you to go on in the way in which you are going. I'm not going to leave you to continue to do what you're doing. I'm not going to allow you to make a mockery of what the Levitical priesthood is to be. I'm going to cause My covenant with Levi to stand. And if that means you have to go, then you have to go.

So this is a targeted warning, but it is also a terrifying warning, which leads us in the third place, verses 5 through 9, and we need to see this is also a justified warning. A justified warning. Not only a targeted warning, but a justified warning. Not only a terrifying warning, but a justified warning. A justified warning.

Are you tempted to argue with the warnings that come from God? Are you tempted to justify yourself? Do you find yourself resisting correction? Do you want to insist that it's not really you, or you're not really guilty of what God is saying? Well, just as He did in chapter 1, God is ready to lay it out, to spell it out. What justifies these terrifying words?

Number one, this is justified, first of all, by God's history with the priests. This is justified by God's history with the priests. When you take what God meant for the priesthood to be historically, what He meant for the priesthood to be historically, then you compare it with what these men are doing and being, it becomes clear that these warnings are justified.

Verse 5, "My covenant with Him was one of life and peace," – talking about the covenant that God has set placed with Levi. "My covenant with Him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as something to be feared; so he feared Me and stood in awe of My name. Instruction of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity."

Now, what Yahweh does here, He reaches back in history and He says, of this one whom He's describing, this is what a priest was meant to be. Well, the question is, who exactly is He referring to? He mentions Levi by name, verse 4, but He talks about a covenant, and so it's difficult to know exactly what covenant Malachi is giving voice to, and the way that that is described to us makes us think that perhaps what is going on here is this.

The reference to Levi is a reference to the tribe, and the specific covenants being referred to is a covenant that God has made with Phineas, who was a Levite, and it was a covenant made at a very strategic time in Israel's history. Turn with me, if you would, to Numbers 25, and let's remember Phineas for a moment.

Numbers 25:1, we read, "And Israel remained in Shittim, and the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.” – You know, one of the ways that was really attempted to destroy Israel was through intermarriage, idolatry, and so the people are beginning to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.

Verse 2, "Indeed they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel. And Yahweh said to Moses, 'Take all who are the heads of the people and execute them in broad daylight before Yahweh, so that the burning anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.'"

I mean, their actions are calling for judgment—swift judgment, decisive judgment—to avert the plague from God.

In verse 5, "So Moses said to the judges of Israel, 'Each of you kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor.' Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought near to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel.”

I mean, you talk about sinning—this is high-handed, blatant, brazen sin. Right in front of Moses, right in front of everybody, he brings this Moabite to his family. Notice the end of verse 6: "while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, so he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and he went after the men of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. Then the plague of the sons of Israel was checked.”

What a scene! To understand what is going on here—I mean, he shares, this man shares the jealousy of God. Phinehas, for His people. God hated the sin, Phinehas hated the sin. God was ready to judge, Phinehas carried out the judgment. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped.

Verse 9, "So those who died by the plague were 24,000." Now it's not mentioned till right here in the text, but with this in, there was an outbreak of curses from God, and that's what the indication—I mean, the people were suffering as a result, and by Phinehas’ action that plague was stopped.

Verse 10, look at it: "Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the sons of Israel in My jealousy.' Therefore, say, 'Behold,” –  now notice –  “I give him My covenant of peace.'" Notice the language: "and it shall be for him and his seed after him, a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel."

The act was so significant—Phinehas’ act—that in Psalm 106, we have the psalmist giving voice to the confession of sin on behalf of the nation. Verse 28 of Psalm 106: "Then they joined themselves to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their actions, And the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and interceded, and so the plague was checked. And it was counted to him for righteousness from generation to generation forever."

It's interesting, in Psalm 106, the word "interceded" is the Hebrew word ‘pâlal’, which means interposed or mediated. What is that? That's the work of a priest. He served in the role of a priest for the people. He acted in a way that there could be peace between a holy God and sinful man, God and Israel. This is what God intended for priests to be—men of integrity, men of holiness, men of godly jealousy.

And as our text says, look back to Malachi chapter 2. If indeed this is a reference to Phinehas, God says in verse 5, "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as something to be feared; so he feared Me and stood in awe of My name.Instruction of truth" – verse 6, –"was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity." So that's what the priest is meant to be.

But if it's not Phinehas particularly that God is speaking of—if it's Aaron—then likely this is a way of referring, when He talks about His covenant with Levi, this is a way of referring to the many times throughout the Old Testament when God sent forth His purpose for the Levitical priesthood. Either way, let me put it this way: Phinehas acted in keeping with what should have been the Levitical example. Phinehas acted in keeping with what should have been, and was in fact, the example of Aaron.

Do you know there's a history in the Old Testament of Levites intervening to put a stop to plagues? It was the tribe of Levi, you remember, that acted to intervene at the time of the golden calf incident in Exodus 32. Look over at Exodus 32:25. This is all really relevant. Moses, Exodus 32:25—Moses up on the mountain comes down, and you remember you have the golden calf incident.

Verse 25, well, Aaron failed, you remember, on that occasion. But notice what happens next. Verse 26, so Aaron failed on that occasion in verse 25. Verse 26: "so Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, 'Whoever is for Yahweh, come to me!' And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him."

Verse 27: "And he said to them, 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, "Every man among you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp,” – and notice now, – “kill every man his brother and every man his friend and every man his neighbor."'

What is God calling them to do? He's calling them to a loyalty to Yahweh that is stronger than your loyalty to family or friend or familiarity. God above all else. “So the sons of Levi”, – verse 28 – "did according to the word of Moses, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, "Be ordained today to Yahweh –for every man has been against his son and against his brother– in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today."

Maybe then it's this sort of statement on the part of God that Malachi is referring to. So when it came to the golden calf, the Levites intervened, and the plague is put away. And of course, we can't forget Korah's rebellion, right? It was Aaron who acted, who intervened, and put a stop to the plague sent by God.

Let's go back to Numbers 16, and this is incredible. Numbers 16:46: "And Moses said to Aaron, 'Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from Yahweh, the plague has begun!' Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked. But those who died by the plague were 14,700, besides those who died on account of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the doorway of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been checked.”

God sends a plague at the time of the golden calf incident. The Levites intervened. The plague is checked, put away. God sends a plague. Aaron steps in at the time of Korah's rebellion, atones for the people. The plague is put away.

And what Phinehas did was in keeping with the faithful in his tribe's history. You can see the pattern. So whether this reference is to Phinehas or to Aaron, God—and here's the point—is telling us something very important here. He's telling us that the men who rightly represent Him are men of spiritual integrity, loyalty, faithfulness. This is what priests are meant to be. Men who fear His name, who fear Yahweh their God, who stand in awe of His name, whose teaching can be trusted.

Verse 6, Malachi 2: "Instruction of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity." And what a contrast. What a contrast this is, where you have these men from the tribe of Levi who are used by God to turn away the wrath of God, and here you have priests living in a way that invites the wrath of God. What a contrast. God's warnings are justified because of the history of what priests are meant to be versus what these men during Malachi's time are.

Let me ask you this evening, do you think God will allow men to make a mockery of ministry assignment? Do you think today—let's now take a step out of these lessons, that these lessons were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived, 1 Corinthians 10:11, let's take a step out of that context for a moment, and let's step into our context and ask yourself this question: will God, who has given to men today ministry assignments, leadership, responsibility, will He allow us to make a mockery of what our office is intended to be?

And by way of extension, we can talk about our role as royal priesthood, as believers. Beloved, God is patient. God is patient. He's long-suffering, and thank God He's patient, but He loves us too much to allow us to dishonor His name without repentance. Justified because of the history of the priest, but also in the second place, justified—these warnings are justified also because of His purpose for the priesthood. His purpose for the priesthood.

Look at verse 7. Now He moves from history to what He designed. Verse 7: "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts." The priest had three basic responsibilities. Three basic responsibilities.

Responsibility number one: they offered sacrifices for the people, and in that sense, they served as a mediator between God and men. Number two: they also interceded for the people in prayer. That included also announcing blessings from God upon the people, so they would give voice to God's blessings upon the people. And thirdly, they taught the people. They taught the people. They were meant to be teachers of the law of God, teachers of the Word of God, and in that way, their mouth was to keep, to preserve the knowledge that had come to the people of God.

In other words, people should be able to come to them and seek instruction, and that instruction should be true because it is in keeping with the Word of God. This is what priests were meant to do. This is what priests were meant to be.

But notice what they've become. Verse 8. Look at what they've become. This is the third reason it's justified. Justified because of priestly history. Justified because of priestly purpose. Thirdly, justified because, in this case, of priestly perversion. This is what they've become. Perverted.

"But as for you," – verse 8 – "you've turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi," says Yahweh of hosts.” This is what you've done. These priests have failed miserably.

And how did these men go so far astray? Notice the evidence here. Notice the evidence. The first way they had gone astray was on a personal level. It was on a personal level. Verse 8. They had personally defected. Personally defected. "But as for you," – and God repeats it – "you have turned aside from the way." You. You're responsible. Personally responsible. You have turned aside. You've left the pathway. Your feet. Your feet wandered, have wandered.

This is where it always, always, beloved, goes astray. If you look at the leaders of the people of God, and you, if you witness corruption in the Lord's church, and leaders are involved in that; before you ever witnessed public departure, defection—it was always private defection. Personal defection. And then that personal defection shows up in the public instruction. Don't ever imagine that you can go astray personally and stay on track in terms of what you teach.

By the grace of God, I always remind myself and exhort you to remind yourself that it was God Himself who brought the truth to us. God Himself who brought the truth to us. It was God who shined the light in our minds and our hearts. It is God who gives us the strength to keep seeing the truth. That's why we pray every time we open this book, "God, give me light." It's God who preserves our thinking.

Don't ever imagine that you can defect personally, walk away from the truth on a personal level, and somehow stay on track in terms of your doctrine and your teaching. Eventually, it will catch up. It's never surprising, is it? When you hear someone, for example, pervert the grace of God, turn the grace of God into some sort of liberty to live in dangerous ways, and then you hear about those same people suffering great personal failure in their moral life, in their marriage, in their relationships. Their teaching was simply giving you an insight into what had already been taking place in their own hearts, in their own lives.

And the Lord says in verse 8, “you have caused many to stumble by the instruction”. They've gone astray personally. Then they went astray in their proclamations. This failure began in their personal lives, the personal lives of these priests when they turned aside from the way; "you've turned aside from the way." He says, is an expression, by “the way” that shows godliness to be commitment to a total way of life.

You went off track. Once that way had been abandoned, their public ministry suffered, and instead of turning “many back from iniquity”, as verse 6 says, they “caused many to stumble” by misinterpreting the Word of God. They did the opposite of what they were required to do, called by God to do. God was misrepresented first by their unworthy lives and then by their flawed instructions.

So what do they do? They pervert. It's personal perversion, its public perversion in the form of their instruction. What do they do? They pervert the purpose, the very purpose of the office. Look at verse 8, you make a mockery of what the priesthood is meant to be, and one of the ways they do it is they pervert the ways of justice.

Verse 9, "So I also have made you despised and low before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways” – noticed – “but are showing partiality in the instruction." God's saying so I'm going to make you despised and abased before all the people in as much as you do not keep My ways noticed, “but you show partiality in the instruction”. You see, they turn their office into a way of advancing themselves. And so they show partiality to those who benefit them.

The result is that those who despise God's name—remember that. Back in chapter 1:6, "A son honors his father, and a slave his master. Then if I'm a father, then where is My honor? And if I'm a master, where is the fear of Me? says Yahweh of hosts” O priest, to you, “O priest who despise My name." So what's going on here? Those who despised God's name will now themselves be despised.

Verse 9, "So I also have made you despised and low before all the people." God is saying, What I know about you, what I know about you, I'm going to make the people know about you. I'm going to expose you. Is this a serious warning? But is this a merciful warning?

Beloved, is this a merciful warning? What is God giving these priests an opportunity to do? To be authentic. To be real. He's giving these priests an opportunity to be real. To turn from their sins. To walk in the way of truth. To turn from their mocking of the office. And to embody what is meant for the office.

He's giving them the opportunity, instead of being an instrument for the stumbling of others, they could be an instrument of the rescuing of others. He's giving them the opportunity to avert disaster. He's giving them the opportunity to repent. It was a serious warning. But it's also a merciful warning. The question is, will they hear it?

And may I humbly ask you, and may I humbly ask you, as I had to ask my own heart, will you hear it? Let me press further. In what ways, right now, are you aware that you are being warned? Be specific. It's between you and God. What is going on in your life right now that the Word of God has been addressing you particularly? You.

It may have been through sermons. It may have been through people who love you. It may have been through providential circumstances. You know, those verses that ring in your head as circumstances begin to unfold. As God begins to lay His cards out, as it were. As God begins to let the dominoes fall. And you're feeling the results of your sin and your deviation from the path. And those verses are ringing in your mind.

Where is the Lord warning you? You. And the next question is, will you hear Him? Will you respond with repentance? And obedience? To the God who is more than willing to bless His people if they will honor His name. Remember the Scripture says our God is a God who is by nature forgiving. Do you hear warnings as love? Or do you hate them? Resist them. Reject them. Argue that they don't really pertain to you.

Listen, the Bible says that if you're that kind of a person who is often reproved, that if you're that kind of a person who is often reproved, they continue to stiffen your neck, there will come a day when a brokenness will take place that you can never recover from. If that's you tonight, may you soften your heart. May you open your ears. May you and I not be, God forbid, as stiff-necked people as Israel so often was, but a people who love the Lord their God, who has shown us such marvelous grace.

Remember how this book begins? "I have loved you." Right? That's how it begins. "I have loved you." And what do the people say? "How” – what? How? – “How have You loved us?" Oh, I set My affection upon you. I chose you. I put a circle around you. Aren’t you grateful? Aren’t you grateful, beloved, that there is one priest who was and is the perfect embodiment of faithfulness?

What’s His name? The Lord Jesus Christ. Our great High Priest. And He not only was the offerer of the sacrifice that took our sins away, He Himself, He Himself was the offering. He was both offerer and offering. It’s in Him that we find the forgiveness of all of our sins. It’s in Him that we see what a priest is really meant to be.

So as we think about our own responsibilities and desire to be faithful, may we continue to look to the One who is perfectly faithful, resting in Him and pursuing Him at the same time. Not excusing our sins, because He died for them all, but realizing He died for them all that we might no longer live in them, but live for Him who died for us and gave Himself up for us. May God help us.

Let’s pray.