Prophecy and Mystery Contrasted - Prophecy 25

[0:00] Good morning. It's nice to see, I almost said it's nice to see some old faces, but we don't have any old faces.

[0:11] We just have some familiar faces. And whether you are one of those familiar faces, whatever, we're glad that you're here.

[0:22] Thank you for your presence this morning. And thank the Lord for a beautiful day. A little frosty out there, but we'll take it because spring is in the air.

[0:35] So let us rejoice. Pray with me if you would, please. Father, we pause now to give thanks for the morning and for your presence with us and for the presence of each one here to take in the truth that we trust you've provided for us.

[0:50] We ask that you will allow us to discern that which is truth from that which may be error. We certainly cannot afford any more error than what the world thrusts upon us.

[1:02] So thank you for what you've provided for us in your word. We look to you for an understanding and appreciation of it in this session. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen. We are for, I guess we would say for purposes of consolidation and repetition and reminding and whatever, we are going through the basic distinctions that separate prophecy from mystery.

[1:32] And we have found this little pamphlet that Mr. Stamm produced years ago to be of such tremendous significance because of its brevity and its simplicity.

[1:46] It's very concise, very easily understood. And we've made these available in the past and I hope you've got your copy of them. You don't necessarily need it this morning, but we are working our way through these items.

[2:00] And we have come down now to item number 10. Understandably, we've had some detours and some exceptions to the content, but by and large, we've tried to follow it because of the absolute importance of it.

[2:14] And to me, one of the most striking things about this simple little pamphlet is that whatever your position regarding rightly dividing or dispensational truth or whatever you want to call it, or if even it's one coming from a covenant position, which is, as I mentioned, the majority position that's held by Catholics and Protestants, when you see this comparison between prophecy and mystery, you are really hard-pressed.

[2:47] In fact, in my estimation, you're going to find it impossible to explain away these differences because once you see them contrasted one with each other, there's just no denying the reality of it.

[3:03] And I could only wish that everyone could come to that conclusion or be exposed to the material, but things being as they are, that's not going to happen. Yet, we continue to try and, here in our little corner of the world, make this as knowledgeable as we can to as many people as we can, and that's what we're doing now.

[3:24] Not only that, but I remarked some months ago that I, just by virtue of what the calendar tells us, my time with you as your pastor is undoubtedly limited.

[3:41] I think we can say that of any 85-year-old pastor. And I just want to make sure that we cover these bases so clearly and so understandably, and it's just like I feel my parting shot with you and how essential these things are.

[4:01] So, this is, in my heart of hearts, what I want you most to remember. And it is this contrast between prophecy and mystery because, in it, in it, the opening of scripture in an understandable way that most people have never grasped is made manifest.

[4:24] And that's what we're trying to do. So, with item number 10, prophecy concerns Christ coming to earth. That's the prophecy.

[4:35] And the mystery, which we will be undertaking in our 10-15 hour, the mystery explains Christ's present absence from the earth.

[4:47] How much more critical that can be, I do not know because it's a tremendous distinction. And for our first session in dealing with Christ coming to earth, we want to go to the reference that Mr. Stamm has indicated here, Isaiah 59 and verse 20, and also Zechariah 14 and verse 4.

[5:09] So, let's go, if we may please, to, first of all, he who is generally described among our Jewish friends as the Prince of the Prophets, Isaiah.

[5:21] Isaiah chapter 59. And we want to point out to you once again that what Isaiah is talking about is in reference to the nation of Israel.

[5:35] And really, that ties in with what we have talked about before in the preceding items leading up to this number 10.

[5:46] Because prophecy all has to do primarily with the nation of Israel. And mystery has to do with the church, which is the body of Christ.

[5:57] These could not be more diverse. And both are valid. And both are on time with the plan and program of God. And it is also important to note that the church, the dispensation of the grace of God, is not plan B.

[6:18] So that plan A somehow failed, and God says, Oh, well, now what am I going to do because Israel has rejected their Messiah. Now what am I going to do?

[6:30] I'll have to come up with plan B and insert something else here. No, no. We read in Ephesians 3, and we won't go there now, but we read in Ephesians 3, that this thing that many might consider plan B is something that God had in his heart and mind from eternity past, but simply had never revealed it until this precise time of raising up the Apostle Paul and giving to him information that nobody had ever imagined before.

[7:05] It was brand new stuff. It was cataclysmic. In fact, it was so new and so different that it caused a complete uproar among the Jewish establishment, so much so that they vowed to kill Paul simply for preaching these things, and the Gentiles, of course, were delighted in it.

[7:26] So let's look at this prophecy here in Isaiah 59, and as we read it, you cannot escape the parallels and the connections by way of application between ancient Israel and Isaiah.

[7:46] Remember, Isaiah is writing 700 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. But what he describes is not only true and right on the money as regards Israel, but the applications are unmistakable to the United States of America.

[8:08] Now, we are of the opinion that the text is not speaking about the United States. The interpretation is Israel, and that's so crystal clear.

[8:20] But there are manifold applications of Scripture, and you would be blind as an American not to see parallels between what Isaiah says about Israel and what is taking place in the good old U.S. of A. right now.

[8:37] So let's just start reading. Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save, neither is his ear so dull that it cannot hear. So right here from the beginning, Isaiah is, in this chapter at least, is giving Israel a heads up that all is not lost.

[8:57] Things look pretty bleak, but all is not lost. Because the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save, neither is his ear so dull that it cannot hear.

[9:10] But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

[9:25] Now, you've got to keep in mind, as I've inferred earlier, that Israel, actually Israel is the only nation in the entire world that has ever entered into or enjoyed a special covenantal relationship with the God of creation.

[9:48] The United States of America is not in a covenantal relationship with God, neither is France or Great Britain or anybody else. Israel is. It is a relationship that for all practical purposes now is put on hold, and it has come to an abrupt stop, but the time is coming when it will resume once again.

[10:09] But for right now, Israel is on hold, and here, 700 years... And by the way, you can see, from the time Israel came out of Egypt, they have been a people in rebellion against the authority of God, who established that covenant with them, who provided for them, protected them, etc., but they have played the harlot, and he mentions in numerous places, Isaiah is just one of them, that he has betrothed himself to Israel, and he has been a faithful husband to Israel, and for their thanks, they retaliated with spiritual infidelity, and had gone after strange idols, and whoring after foreign gods, and so on.

[10:57] And that has pretty much been the history of the nation of Israel, a nation in rebellion. And now, they are right now, in the midst of their greatest rebellion, whereby God has just taken them off, off front and center stage, and has set them aside, and he will deal with them in a finishing way later.

[11:17] But for now, we are in the church age. So, verse 3, For your hands are defiled with blood. Is there any way that could be applied to the United States of America?

[11:29] I need not even elaborate. And your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken falsehood.

[11:40] You mean to tell me we've got fake news 700 years before Jesus was born? We sure did. Yeah. Yeah. Your lips have spoken falsehood.

[11:52] Your tongue mutters wickedness. No one sues righteously, and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion, and speak lies.

[12:05] This sounds like it's coming right out of Washington, D.C., doesn't it? I'm telling you, this is amazing stuff. They hatch adder's eggs, and weave the spider's web.

[12:19] Adder's is a poisonous serpent. And when you have multiple eggs, you're producing little poisonous serpents that grow up to be mature poisonous serpents.

[12:30] And the analogy here is, and you know what we're talking about here. Not only USA, you can apply this to France. You can apply it to Great Britain. You can apply it to virtually any nation in the world, because it's a picture.

[12:43] It's a composite picture of humanity, really. This is the way we have responded to the goodness and the greatness of our Creator. And I say that to our shame. And he who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.

[12:59] Their webs will not become clothing, nor will they cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of iniquity, and an act of violence is in their hands.

[13:10] Boy. Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood. How about Chicago, USA?

[13:24] Tragic. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Devastation and destruction are in their highways. They do not know the way of peace, and there is no justice in their tracks.

[13:39] Someone has said, United States of America, what is available is the best justice that money can buy. And that's what it's come to.

[13:51] Our judicial criminal court system is in such a state of disrepair. It's the name of the game today, and it is a game.

[14:03] It's just plea bargain, and it's just pathetic what's going on. They do not know the way of peace. There's no justice in their tracks. They've made their paths crooked.

[14:14] Whoever treads on them does not know. Therefore, consequently, as a result, justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us.

[14:25] We hope for light, but behold darkness, for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope along the wall like blind men. We grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight among those who are vigorous.

[14:39] We are like dead men. All of us growl like bears and moan sadly like doves. We hope for justice, but there is none. For salvation, but it is far from us.

[14:54] For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities. Transgressing and denying the Lord and turning away from our God.

[15:10] speaking oppression and revolt. Boy, it's more modern day as you go on. Conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words, and justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away, for truth has stumbled in the street.

[15:37] Isn't that something? A street is a pathway. A street is an avenue. A street is something that you get, something that you use to get from one place to another, and it's depicting here street truth as being personified, talking about poetically, talking about truth being a traveler on the street, on the road, going somewhere, and trips in the street.

[16:06] Doesn't get to the destination. Truth never shows up. It stumbled in the street, fell down, and is there. And uprightness cannot enter.

[16:17] Yes, truth is lacking. And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey.

[16:31] What's that saying? It's saying one who rejects evil and is seeking for righteousness and traffics in righteousness and insists on righteousness, that one has just painted a big bullseye on his back.

[16:47] That's what it's saying. You become an object of scorn, ridicule, rejection. Now the Lord saw.

[17:00] Hmm. He always sees, doesn't he? And it was displeasing in his sight that there was no justice.

[17:11] You know, justice is always predicated on truth. Justice cannot be dispensed where truth is not known.

[17:24] And that's why, precisely, in all of our courtroom dramas, when somebody is put on trial and accused of a crime, nothing matters more than the truth.

[17:35] And people are brought forth as witnesses and they are sworn to tell the truth. The whole truth and nothing but the truth.

[17:46] And sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. But if the truth is not known, then a verdict cannot be rendered. Or a false verdict will be rendered.

[17:57] And this is, of course, what we're dealing with. This is systemic to humanity. This isn't new to the United States. It's just in greater abundance now.

[18:08] It is just proliferating now. It has, what we are dealing with now, by way of unrighteousness, untruth, fake news, and everything else, has changed from what it used to be because it used to be the exception.

[18:31] It isn't the exception anymore. Now it's standard fare. Now it's almost to be expected. We are not shocked by things that used to shock us down to our toenails because now it's just kind of, oh, well, you know, ho-hum.

[18:49] It's more of the same. And you become inured to it like the proverbial frog in the water with the heat turned up. And he just sits there because the temperature is rising so gradually he doesn't realize that he's being cooked to death.

[19:07] And morally and spiritually, the USA and some other nations with us are morally and spiritually being cooked to death.

[19:18] And ignorance is in abundance. He was displeasing in the Lord's sight and there was no justice and he saw.

[19:30] And he, I want you to look at this, he. And it's appropriately capitalized even though it isn't in the Hebrew because they don't use that in the Hebrew. But the translators translated it correctly because the singular masculine pronoun he is, of course, referring to the Lord, the Creator.

[19:46] The Lord saw in verse 16, and he saw that there was no man and was astonished that there was no one to intercede.

[20:00] Now what is really needed is a fix-it person, a reformer, a changer. That's what's needed. And then his own arm brought salvation to him.

[20:22] And if you will remember back in verse 1, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save. And here he is picking up on that again with the arm.

[20:35] And he is saying, his own arm brought salvation to him and his righteousness upheld him and he put on righteousness like a breastplate.

[20:52] Now this is becoming more and more suspiciously familiar, isn't it? And a helmet of salvation on his head and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing.

[21:08] Hmm. Well, for just a moment, let's go to Luke's Gospel. Keep your place here. And let's go to a familiar passage in Luke 4.

[21:20] Hadn't planned to go there, but I can't deny the connection. Luke's Gospel, chapter 4. When our Lord, very early in his public ministry, goes into the temple in the town where he was reared, in Nazareth, and there he is in, I'm sorry, not the temple, but the tabernacle, and they give him the book of the prophet.

[21:47] Well, look at that. The book of the prophet, verse 17, Isaiah was handed to him, and he, Jesus, opened the book or the scroll and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

[22:06] If you've got a New American Standard, do you see that's in capital letters? That's an indication that it's a quote from the Old Testament and it tells you in a marginal note where the quote is from. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

[22:22] He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

[22:37] And what's the verse that he left out and stopped short of? Anybody remember? And the day of vengeance of our God.

[22:49] Now, when he read that in the synagogue, he didn't include that verse because that was not fitting at that time. But what he quoted up to that time was, and it was, of course, in connection with himself being sent to proclaim release to the captives.

[23:05] And the reason he didn't quote that verse about the day of vengeance of our God is because the day of vengeance would not be exacted by Jesus the Messiah in his first coming.

[23:22] He came to proclaim release to the captives and so on. Now let's go back to Isaiah, if we may. Okay. Back to Isaiah. And in chapter 59, he put on righteousness like a breastplate, garments of vengeance.

[23:53] What is that saying? That's just leaping forward to the time of vengeance, which is second coming content.

[24:06] That's what so much of prophecy is about. That's the vengeance of which he is speaking in the context in which it will occur. And he wrapped himself with zeal as a mantle.

[24:21] That's energy, zeal. According to their deeds, so he will repay. And what he's talking about here is the time of vengeance because vengeance belongs to the Lord.

[24:37] He will repay. According to their deeds, so he will repay. Wrath to his adversaries. Recompense to his enemies.

[24:50] To the coastlands, he will make recompense. So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the sun.

[25:02] And what's that, of course, but the east. For he will come like a rushing stream. This is second coming content here that he's speaking of.

[25:16] He will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the Lord drives, and a redeemer. A redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob, declares the Lord.

[25:39] Now, never forget that many times when the scriptures use the name Jacob, it isn't talking about the man, the individual. It's talking about the nation, Israel.

[25:52] After all, it was Jacob, the brother of Esau, whose name is going to be changed to what?

[26:06] To Israel. So many times you see the word Jacob. It's interchangeable. It could be used with Israel. Sometimes it refers to the actual person, but very often it refers to the nation of Israel and those 12 tribes that came from his sons.

[26:22] As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord, my spirit which is upon you. My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth nor from the mouth of your offspring nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring, says the Lord, from now and forever.

[26:45] And then he goes on to talk about a glorified Zion and what's going to happen in the millennial time. But this is really strictly second coming stuff and it is depicting the need that Israel has for this Redeemer to show up.

[27:01] And before I go any further, I'm going to do something that I should do more often and I just stop right here and ask for your comments or questions. Yes. It's interesting to me as I read verse 20 there, the Redeemer will come to Zion.

[27:21] Ryeri, Charles Ryeri notes that the word Redeemer there would be rendered in English usually, Kinsman Redeemer.

[27:32] Okay. That is, he is actually akin to those he's redeeming at this point. He's got a vital legal connection. He has to be an Israelite.

[27:45] A vital connection. So the incarnation, the incarnation takes on another very important aspect. Not only is the incarnation important to us as Gentiles redeemed by Christ at the cross, but the incarnation takes on a very important aspect to Israel in the end time, the very end time.

[28:09] Absolutely. When the Lord Jesus returns the second time, he's not coming as the Lamb of God, he's coming as the Lion of God. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Roger.

[28:20] I appreciate those comments. Joe? This is tiny in some way, but it's a little off. In the very first verse of the Bible, in the beginning, God created the heaven and earth.

[28:33] Mm-hmm. And then in Revelations, he created a new heaven and a new earth. And it seems like there's two, they seem like two places.

[28:45] There's earth and there's heaven. Mm-hmm. And the Bible deals with, like we are now with the Israelites, earth. They're looking for Christ to come back to earth set up the kingdom and then go into eternity.

[28:59] Now, us, the church, the body of Christ, Mm-hmm. It almost seems to me that the body of Christ is the entity that's going to be in the heaven for eternity.

[29:12] That we are going to be the heaven part. He created two things, heaven and heaven's the earth. and there's not a whole lot, it seems, brought out about heaven like there is earth.

[29:27] God's dealing with the people of earth. It just seems to me somehow that the church is destined, basically, to be in the heavens.

[29:37] I hear you and I would say that that is certainly, I would concur with that at least for a shorter term. But I don't think, I don't know that that's going to be the case in eternity and I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves here.

[29:53] But, uh, the time, the time is coming, of course, when that, when Christ will return and he will depose, uh, Israel's enemies and his own enemies and he will establish that kingdom on earth and it will survive for one thousand years.

[30:12] That is the millennial reign of Christ referred to in Revelation 19 so often. And at the end of that thousand years, the final rebellion will take place that will summarily be put down.

[30:24] because you've got to remember there will be a lot of, there will be a lot of people who will be entering the millennial reign of Christ with bodies just like yours and mine.

[30:37] And these people are going to multiply just like our generation multiplies and after a thousand years of multiplication there's going to be a huge number of people on earth that will not have glorified bodies be living there with those who are.

[30:54] namely ourselves. And at the end of that thousand years the rebellion will take place and it will be summarily dealt with because God will in just one final blow eliminate the adversary and the enemies completely.

[31:10] And then according to the Revelation at the end of that the end of that excuse me that this planet this orb is that for which Christ paid in his redemption.

[31:27] It was for the whole planet it was to redeem not only humanity but every living thing on it including the animal kingdom and everything else. But I get the impression that the time is going to come when even that is going to be done away.

[31:43] And John says and I beheld a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and earth first earth has passed away and there is no more sea.

[32:00] the oceans that cover water that covers three-fifths of our globe now going to be eliminated and in this new heaven and new earth there will be no sea.

[32:15] And it is described in the latter chapters of Revelation and I really don't want to get there now but that's what is in store and then and I suspect that this is the case but I cannot verify it I suspect that redeemed Israel and redeemed church will be one particular entity and they will not have that separation that we do now.

[32:42] Maybe there is one passage that might shed a little bit of light on that and it's in 1 Corinthians 15 and in it in it let's see if I can find the reference real quick here okay then come at the end where are we I tell you the older I get the more these verses move around they don't stay where they're supposed to then comes the end when he shall give up kingdom to oh no wonder

[33:57] I couldn't find it I was looking right at it okay as an animal die and Christ shall all be made alive each in his own order in verse 24 then comes the end when he delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet the last enemy that will be abolished is death that's going to call for quite a celebration for he has put all things in subjection under his feet but when he says all things are put in subjection it is evident that he is accepted who put all things in subjection to him and when all things are subjected to him then the son himself also will be subjected to the one who subjected all things to him that God may be all in all

[35:01] I do not see any justification there to maintain any kind of a separation or any need to and in Revelation 21 when John describes the new heaven and earth he says I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth passed away and the word that is used here in the Greek conveys the idea of was loosed was let go and there is no longer any sea and then this is the holy city come down from God out of heaven and so on so I don't think ultimately in the eternal state that there is going to be a separation between Jew and Gentile but there certainly is I think during the millennial reign of Christ and that's going to be principally under the authority of the twelve apostles who will be as Jesus said in Matthew 19 who will be occupying the twelve thrones of Israel judging Israel and David the king will be resurrected and for those of you who might think that that's hard to believe you mean

[36:25] David the guy that was king a thousand years before the shepherd lad he's going to be resurrected oh yes absolutely and if you find that hard to believe just remember that you're going to be resurrected you're going to be there too and in addition to that there will be assignments given for Gentiles and for Jews during that millennial reign that thousand year reign of Christ everything is going to be as it ought to be because Christ will be ruling and reigning from Jerusalem there will not be violence throughout the earth and when there are any possibility of insurrection or rebellion that arises it will be dealt with summarily this I think is reflected in Christ ruling with a rod of what a rod of iron and that's another way of saying there is going to be no nonsense justice radically different from the way man distributes justice this is going to be justice that is pure and totally righteous and it will be it will be something we will all be assigned different responsibilities and some will be given greater responsibilities and some lesser and I have no idea how that's going to work out but I am confident that we will be productive we will enjoy an environment the likes of which we could not even imagine and it will be it will be something it will be wonderful it will be it will be the way the world is supposed to be and that's going to subsist for a thousand years and then at the end there will be that final rebellion because I think the demonstration that is given there is proof positive that unregenerate humans cannot sustain themselves in any kind of way that is acceptable to God and they are going to threaten to ruin everything all over again and it is as if the Lord is going to say no not this time and they will be summarily dealt with and that too is in

[38:49] Revelation 19 that we we just passed but I'll read it to you the thousand years are concluded and then we read in and well this is it's too lengthy for me to read but when Satan is released in verse three thrones and they reign for the

[39:52] Christ a thousand years years and then a thousand years are in verse seven are completed Satan is released from his prison he goes out to deceive and so on and then we read that in verse 10 they are summarily dealt with and that's the end of that and then the new heaven and new earth is ushered in in chapter 21 so it's going to be exciting and all I can say is even so come Lord Jesus other comments or questions anyone yes Ron that verse 16 that word astonished there I'm sorry verse 16 of what of Isaiah 59 oh okay where it says astonished that there was no one that received 59 and what verse 16 verse 16 oh and he saw that there was no man and was astonished that there was no one to intercede well

[40:57] I think that's just a humanizing expression it is it's just an item of poetry that attributes human characteristics to deity in the same way that human body parts are ascribed to deity when he has no physical body parts at all it's the term that is used is the technical term is anthropomorphism and when human emotions are assigned to God it is called anthropopathisms and and the anthro of course comes from the idea of man anthropology and the pathism comes from the word pathos which means feeling or emotion etc and it is ascribing human emotions to God well God doesn't have human emotions and God doesn't have human body parts even though it talks about his eyes run to and fro on the earth and his arm is not shortened that it cannot save and that we are graven in the palms of God's hands

[42:15] God doesn't have hands God is spirit and those who worship him worship him in spirit and in truth but in a condescending way and for communication purposes God has to be presented in many times in many ways that we are able to comprehend and understand none of us has any idea what the deity really looks like because what he looks like is nothing he is spirit and this spirit is unconfined we have a spirit too our spirit is confined to our body and when physical death occurs our body releases the spirit God's spirit is unconfined that means God is everywhere present at one and the same time this means that

[43:19] God is just as present in London England as he is right here he is just as present in Moscow as he is right here there is no place where he is not and all we can say is how in the world can that be we have no clue and that which separates the deity from humanity is infinity so we are and this phrase here that he was astonished many times the Lord expresses what shall I say a humanness and here he is back in the town of Bethany and he's been gone for four days deliberately and Lazarus has died in the meanwhile and Jesus arrives in town and he meets Mary and Martha and they're all upset and Lord if you'd have been here he could have been saved and so on and so on and here Jesus knew full well why he was there and he knew why he delayed and he told the apostles when they wanted to go right away

[44:23] Jesus deliberately waited until four days because he had every intention of raising Lazarus from the dead when he got there and they didn't have a clue they didn't know that they didn't know that and when he gets to Bethany and talks to Mary and Martha he asks what to us looks like a dumb question where have you laid him you mean you don't know don't you know everything I mean when you get to the tomb you are going to raise him from the dead and here you are asking where have you laid him many times God enters into discourse with humans not in order to obtain information because he knows but in order to humanize the situation and arrive on a level of communication that they can understand do you think that when the almighty arrived in the garden and Adam and Eve were hiding that God was completely mystified

[45:24] Adam where are you I have no idea where you are what's going on and when he found them didn't he know what they had done of course he knew why did he ask him have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you didn't he already know the answer you know what were what were this is just like a mother saying to her three year old did you get into that cookie jar when I told you not to she already knows the answer doesn't she of course she does what's she doing she's making a pathway for guilt for responsibility for you know and God in so many ways I call this the graciousness of divine condescension whereby God condescends to be among us and the Philippians 2 passage is that great condescension being in the form of

[46:26] God thought it not robbery to be clinging to that but made himself of no reputation and made fashion as a man and humbled himself all of this is condescension this is the great God coming down and we are so grateful that he did because that's that's everything that's marvelous yes Dolly I need some help on revelations 20 verses 12 and 13 so do I I know that we're saved by faith but then the emphasis in those two verses seems to be on works yeah so well there it is works it is strictly works but the only subjects who are there are unbelievers there are no Christians here Christians have their own assessment their own evaluation and that's the first Corinthians 3 at the award throne of

[47:28] Christ and even there it isn't it has nothing to do with determining whether somebody is going to heaven or hell because that's already been decided but the issue of rewards comes into play because God takes into consideration not only the things we accomplish but why we accomplish them our motives will be evaluated as well as what we did and on the basis of that there will be rewards dispensed and I have no idea what those rewards are going to consist of as far as I'm concerned anybody any human being who elicits from the almighty a well done thou good and faithful servant to me that would absolutely bowl me over I can't think of any greater reward than that just the acknowledgement the recognition of the almighty for what was done and why you did it

[48:33] I cannot think of any greater reward don't talk to me about gold and silver and all of that stuff and that's what's used there because again it is bringing things down to the level of man where we can understand it because there is so much about the almighty that we just don't have a clue about so God brings it down to our level just like you would in trying to explain something to a three or four year old child only the distance between that and us and God is different but he talks about gold silver and precious stone as opposed to wood hay and stubble well you get the impression it's talking about things that have been accomplished that are of real value as opposed to things that were accomplished but in the final analysis don't amount to a hill of beans nothing there's going to be a lot of energy and a lot of good intent go right down the tubes and there's going to be some things that we would not have suspected would receive the recognition that they will because we have a way of looking on the outward appearance and God looks upon the heart we evaluate things on the basis of what we see and what we perceive and very often we are wrong or misled but God cannot be misled and his evaluation will be priceless and here in Revelation 20 these are all unbelievers and they are the dead which were in them death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them they were judged every one of them according to their deeds and anyone's name not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire and I don't know

[50:30] I don't know if that's a literal lake of fire or if it is just a way of expressing again something that we can understand whatever this is really we may not be able to comprehend but we can comprehend fire and I don't know if the fire is literal or real or not I don't know but I do know one thing it is as opposite of heaven as you can get we can be confident about that and there's no point in arguing over the literalness of this I'll tell you what it will be what it ought to be in accordance with God's sense of oughtness and as I told you before I take great comfort in the fact that where everybody ends up experiencing whatever they are experiencing whether it be wonderful or whether it be tragic it will be totally appropriate in accordance with the estimation of what

[51:38] God considers appropriate no one no one will get a raw deal from God no one will be able to say I don't deserve this they will have to be in concurrence knowing full well they are receiving exactly precisely totally completely what is just and righteous and they'll have no comeback that's going to be something that's what total righteousness does well our time is gone Joe quick comment until you're a believer isn't everything you've done even what you thought was good as a filthy rag to God until you're a believer isn't all your things as a filthy rag well they are if they're in the flesh because you know even even Christians even Christians can do things in the flesh we can have a selfish motivation for doing a good thing and that's doing it in the flesh and that will be you know that will be discounted

[52:45] God takes that into consideration he reads the heart and he knows just what what's going to be what so in the great white throne judgment described here in Revelation 19 that is for unbelievers only and they're the small and the great the somebodies the kings the princes the rulers the hitlers etc are going to be evaluated right along with the so called nobodies and everybody will be judged according to their works and God who has the all seeing all knowing eye knows precise and by the way nobody will be offering a defense nobody is going to be saying but wait you don't understand I no there won't be any of that when the sentence is handed down on each one everyone is going to be forced in their own mind to say this is right

[53:47] I don't like it but this is right this is what I deserve in the way of perfect justice and there will be no come back no argument and no appeal no appeal everything will be final it's going to be quite awesome well we've got to discontinue this and I just remembered that we've got a coffee break this morning so I want you to have time to munch some cookies and have some coffee so thank you for your kind attention we'll continue this and by the way we'll be looking at the 1015 we'll be looking at the counterpart of this which is of course the mystery thing so thank you once again