Pastor Marv speaks about Revelation
[0:00] Loving Father, you've already blessed us with riches and heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so many of which we're not even aware of.
[0:11] And yet, day by day, we draw upon your mercy and your goodness, your sustenance for so many ways and so many things. And our prayer this morning especially is for Marvis.
[0:24] There are a number of us here in this congregation who know what it means to say goodbye to a loved one as they go on to heaven for rejoining later.
[0:35] And they know the sadness and the difficulty that accompanies that. But we just cannot imagine what it would be like without the knowledge of and the assurance of seeing them again in a reunion from which there will be no goodbyes.
[0:56] We really look forward to that. And we know that it's only because of the work on the cross our Lord Jesus accomplished that this is and will be a reality for all who know him.
[1:09] Our prayer especially for Marvis as she enters this grieving stage is that you will sustain her and help her to focus more upon the wonderful times that she and Mike enjoyed and all the years they shared together rather than the absence.
[1:25] Anticipation being together again. And for Nathan and Jamie and the children as they are away today, we pray that you will use this as a time of refreshment for all of them.
[1:39] Change of scenery, change of venue, change of responsibilities, to just be a time of general refreshment in every way for them. Thank you so much for the ministry that Nathan is performing here and his ability in teaching the word.
[1:56] We are truly grateful for the transition that has been made and for the manner in which he has taken up the mantle and carried on in such a faithful and God-honoring way.
[2:06] We are a blessed congregation. Pray your journey's mercies upon them. In addition to the refreshment spiritually that they'll have, may it also be a refreshment mentally and spiritually as well and physically as well.
[2:22] Thank you again for all that you've provided for us and through the Lord Jesus and for this time that we have to share together. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. I don't know if very many of you are aware of Dr. David Jeremiah and the radio program that he has, a television program, radio and television, for quite some time.
[2:52] But it's become a regular with Marie and me because we get him at 8.30 in the morning and I would like to put in a plug for the program. It's called, well anyway, it's David Jeremiah.
[3:11] And the name will come to me when I'm thinking of something else. And I've told this story before, but in case you haven't heard it, in fact, if you have heard it, well, repetition is the mother of invention.
[3:22] But anyway, my ministry with David Jeremiah is one of my major claims to fame. When I was with the radio station, WEEC, back in the 1960s, my boss was Mike Maddox and I was the assistant manager of the station.
[3:41] And all of us guys who were married had to work on the weekends and the station was on 24 hours a day then. And that kind of got tired. So we decided, you know what we need?
[3:52] We need some young bucks in here who aren't married, who won't mind being working on the weekends. And Mike Maddox gave me the assignment.
[4:03] He says, why don't you scout around your old alma mater, Cedarville College down there and see if you can't find somebody that would be willing to work here for a shift on Sunday so that us married guys can be with our families on Sunday.
[4:19] So I dutifully complied. And it wasn't long until word got around and lo and behold, David Jeremiah came into the radio station to apply for the job.
[4:30] I never told him this, but it was true. He was the only one that applied. But he did a great job. And I remember David Jeremiah then was scarcely a teenager.
[4:44] He might have been 19. I'm sure he wasn't in his 20s. And his only interest in life at that time was number one, the Lord. Number two, a perky little gal named Donna, whom he later married.
[4:58] And then three was basketball because he played on Cedarville's basketball team. And we hired David Jeremiah to work weekend shifts on Saturday and on Sunday.
[5:12] And it worked out real well. And he did that for a couple of years. And then he graduated from Cedarville and went off to Dallas Seminary and got his degree there. And then he went to Fort Wayne, Indiana and founded the Black Hawk Baptist Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which grew tremendously over the years.
[5:31] And after a number of years, it was Tim LaHaye that invited him to fill the pulpit for himself as he was leaving to take a new ministry in Washington, D.C.
[5:43] and it was Scott Memorial Baptist Church. And David Jeremiah went there and began preaching and built up the church tremendously and developed not merely a national ministry, but an international ministry.
[6:01] And on a couple of thousand radio and television stations all over the country and just has a tremendously blessed ministry. And I realize I'm kind of prejudiced, but I'm still convinced that he's definitely the best thing on television.
[6:19] And if you don't get him, why you should check your station logs because he's on several different stations at different times and make sure that you get that program because you will be blessed by it, I can assure you.
[6:32] It's Turning Point. Turning Point is the name of it. And it's a great ministry. This morning, I was especially intrigued because he was conducting a conference.
[6:48] He was, I don't recall where it was that he was speaking, but it was a huge audience. And he was talking in connection with the scriptures and how blessed we were to have them. And he extolled the value of the scriptures and so on.
[7:01] And it was also an anniversary of the Jeremiah Study Bible. So it kind of coincided with that. But I really appreciated the comments that he had to share because it was just so remarkable.
[7:14] And talked about the statistics and the Bible being the bestseller every year and all the rest of it. And it's, but the Bible, as you probably know, it gets mixed reviews because even though it outsells all other books every year, so much so that it's never any contest with whoever's in second place, but it still has a varied response out there because there are a number of people who just don't see the value of it and they're unable to appreciate it and you feel bad for them.
[7:49] But, you know, their attitude is pretty much like, well, this is such an old book, you know, a dusty old book and it's thousands of years old and it's all out of date and who cares about horses and all of that stuff back then.
[8:05] And they have no idea how they are depriving themselves because the Bible was never given us with the intention of keeping up with the times and of responding to modernity and discoveries and inventions and all of that.
[8:23] The Bible was never given for that. You know why it was given? It was given to address the needs of the human heart.
[8:37] And don't you realize that they have never changed for thousands of years? Why? Only the scriptures give the answer.
[8:50] Why? In the beginning, God created and that was the beginning of it all. And the Bible never attempts to address modernity or inventions or anything like that.
[9:03] It speaks to what the real needs, the real hunger of the human heart really are. And when people don't realize that and ignore it because of that and it does nothing if they even have it as a decor piece on their coffee table, that's the only purpose that it serves.
[9:20] And they have no idea how they are impoverishing themselves. But they are. So in connection with what David Jeremiah has done, I just want to put in a plug for this.
[9:33] We are doing a thing called Christianity Clarified and we are now in volume 72 and each volume has 20 segments but they are only less, each one is less than five minutes in length and that gives us about 1400 five-minute sessions on these 70 or so CDs.
[9:55] and we have been making them available for a number of years and they have been quartered in a number of restaurants in the area, probably eight or ten different ones and we just have a little display there with the free CDs and they are, through the courtesy and generosity of Grace Bible Church that these things are made available.
[10:17] They aren't sold, they are just offered free of charge for people to take them and most of them have something to do with evangelism and the need of the human heart as we've mentioned.
[10:28] So if you know of any place that would like to have one, it only takes a footprint of about eight by ten inches for a display and then we service them because every month there is a change and we appreciate the response that these have gained so far.
[10:46] One other thing that I do want to mention before we turn to our message and that is how much I appreciate my lovely wife to whom I have been married for 11 years yesterday.
[10:59] Marie, all I can say, sweetheart, once again is, I don't know to this day why you did it but I sure thank you for marrying me.
[11:11] It's been a blessing. Just been absolutely wonderful. And you know, when I think back over it and I know Marie shares the sentiments as well of how much we enjoy marriage and each other, we both know how much her first husband Dave and my first wife Barbara would be so glad and grateful for us in our new union.
[11:40] Wow. that is really something. Speaking of this old book, I want you to turn to the last book and this is one I know everybody can find.
[11:54] Last book in the Bible, Revelation chapter 4. Revelation chapter 4 and we are going to address a little bit what we've been talking about and what David Jeremiah was talking about in connection with the Bible.
[12:11] And what we have in these two chapters, chapter 4 and 5, and I'm going to skip much of the chapter but I do want to preface this with a couple of remarks.
[12:26] John, the beloved apostle, is credited with having written this book and he's the same fellow who wrote the Gospel of John that we find earlier in the New Testament and he also wrote 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John.
[12:45] We do not know this for sure but there is pretty good evidence that John was the junior of all 12 of the apostles. We do know that he was the last one to leave this earth because he was living on the Isle of Patmos in exile.
[13:07] Roman tyrant ruled the world at the time and John was tried in a Roman court and instead of executed like many of them were he was exiled forced to leave his home and live on the Isle of Patmos and while he was there he wrote this last book of the Bible by the inspiration of the Spirit of God and it is called The Revelation of Jesus Christ and many do not understand the title but it actually is that it is a revelation not simply of things that are to come it's that also but more than that it is a revelation of the person of Jesus Christ.
[13:53] It is a revealing of his and in all likelihood not only was this the last thing that John wrote but the Gospel of John to which we will turn later was also probably the first thing that he wrote and that I think is important to note because you've got the beginning of the New Testament and the end of the New Testament and both of those seem to have been provided in content by the junior member of the twelve apostles and it is a marvelous record that he has given us here and by the way you need to understand that as Jesus was speaking and delivering the sermons and delivering the parables and so on these apostles who were with him 24-7 they weren't walking around with notepads taking notes and writing down everything that Jesus said they weren't writing anything they were just listening rapidly with every word that came out of his mouth and trying to tuck away in their hearts the things that Jesus said but there is an interesting expression a verse or two that's given in John's Gospel and I think it's in chapter 14 or it might be in 16
[15:03] I'm not sure you know once you hit your 80s verses in the Bible start moving around and they're not always where they used to be but at any rate Jesus was telling his disciples and he said fellas the time is coming when the spirit of truth will come and he will teach you all things and he will enable you to remember everything that I've said to you and that would be the basis for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit they didn't have to recall it from memory but the spirit of God would remind them of what Jesus said and they would be able to record it and that's certainly what we have I think in John's Gospel and in the Revelation so let's begin here if we may and I'm going to skip some of these verses for time's sake because we want to get in as much of this as we can and try to keep it in one cohesive package
[16:07] John is describing a scene he sees by way of vision this is a supernatural vision and it's just as if he's in a trance and this is portrayed before him and if you can envision and by the way today it shouldn't be that difficult to do with modern technology and everything if you could just envision a gigantic screen spread out there before you and John is looking at the events transpiring on that screen now they aren't real and they aren't physical they are visionary but they appear to be real and they represent what is real and as John looks at it he is describing what he saw and it is an eyeful chapter 4 says after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven and the first voice which I had heard like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me said come up here and I will show you what must take place after these things immediately
[17:26] I was in the spirit and behold a throne was standing in heaven and one sitting on the throne and he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance and there was a rainbow around the throne and an emerald in appearance and around the throne were 24 thrones and upon the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads now may we stop there for a moment and simply inform you that we do not know with any great authority who these 24 elders are we do know they are not angels and the way we know that is because these are recipients of redemption these have been redeemed through the finished work of Christ which is something that angels have never enjoyed that is not part of their purview at all so these must be human beings but what 24 human beings they could be we simply have no idea they are called elders probably because they are advanced in age and by the way that's where the term for elders and churches came from actually it is the idea of you draw upon those individuals in your congregation that are more advanced in age simply because of the experience that they have from life they ought to be able to offer some wisdom that the younger people simply have not been able to garner and most of the time that's the case although
[19:28] I hasten to add that merely adding years to one's life does not guarantee that wisdom comes with it because as the saying goes there's no fool like an old fool so there are plenty of men around in their 70s and 80s who have never grown up you know what I mean but ordinarily you will find a greater repository of wisdom among the gray heads than you will among the younger people and that's as it ought to be so who these 24 elders are I do not know but I want you to notice what they say and we're going to skip some of this content verse 9 says and when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne to him who lives forever and ever the 24 elders will fall down before him who sits on the throne and will worship him who lives forever and ever and will cast their crowns before the throne saying worthy art thou our Lord and our God to receive glory and honor and power all summed up in the concept of recognition and acknowledgement for or because here is why he is deserving of all of that it is because thou didst create all things and because of thy will they existed and were created it's a beautiful expression they are acknowledging
[21:25] God's creative ability he is the one who brought all things into existence and it's impossible for us in our feeble minds of finiteness to be able to grasp the time when there was no world no planets no sun no moon no stars no people no angels no anything we just can't picture that we can't picture nothing but that's what it was nothing and yet there was this eternal being of whom the psalmist says he inhabits eternity existing as father son and holy spirit I wish I could explain that but I cannot
[22:25] I can only tell you what it does not mean it does not mean that God somehow is a male and he had a female God and they cohabited and produced a little God and he is the son of God and that's the way it works among humanity we have a male and a female and they come together sexually and produce an offspring we say a female or a male and that's the way it happens I want you to understand that has nothing to do with the deity well why is it spoken of that way then the only thing I can suggest is that God is making and I hesitate to use this term but I'm going to use it anyway God is making a feeble kind of attempt to try and communicate something to us that reflects some aspect of his being knowing full well that the creator
[23:36] God can never communicate something adequately to creatures that will enable us to appreciate him folks we are just in over our head way over our head so don't think in terms of God as being a big overgrown human God is not human at all he has stooped to become human in the person of Jesus but he isn't human he is deity that is the sphere and an arena that we cannot even begin to imagine I've likened it to and this too is not adequate but perhaps it will help a little bit can you imagine the difference that exists between a tiny little red ant insect crawling around on the ground and a human being how would you describe the disparity between an ant and a human being no you're right there's no comparison right there's no comparison well the distance that separates those two entities is not nearly as great as the distance that separates deity from humanity talk about being in over our heads this is the eternal omniscient omnipotent omnipresent
[25:26] God that we are talking about and in this what we call the God head this triune being which is not three gods no one God subsisting in three persons and if you can understand how there can be three persons in one God without there being three gods please explain it to me because I can't understand it all I know is this is what the scriptures unequivocally teaches there is but one God and he subsists in three persons as father son and holy spirit and the three are equal even though in their activities and responsibilities there is subservience within the God head for how many times did Jesus say I do my father's will he sent me and if you read
[26:30] John's gospel one of the last of those gospels written you will see more times than there are chapters and there are 21 chapters in John's gospel if you want a wonderful exercise go through John's gospel and every time you come to the phrase him that sent me or I came from him and you will find if you find all of them you will find that that phrase or the equivalent thereof is mentioned more times in John's gospel of 21 chapters than there are 21 chapters isn't that amazing but you won't find them in just a cursory reading like most of us read it before we turn out the light when they go to bed you won't see it that way but if you look for it and note them you will find them and it's a beautiful beautiful thing so John continues then here he is worshiping and acknowledging the creative power of
[27:33] God and then in the very next chapter chapter five we read I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back sealed up with seven seals now actually this isn't a book as we think of a book like this this is a scroll it's rolled up and the scroll is sealed at the end with the seal putting on it so that you can only open it so far until you come to another seal and you open a little more and there's another seal and so on so it's a sealed scroll rather than the book as we think of as a book and there is an angel there proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals and no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it and John says and I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it now may
[28:40] I just suggest by insertion here that the reason John began to weep was some hint of the value of the content that was there which could not be read unless it was opened and it was a time for tears John is thinking has it come to this this great content that is to be revealed is withheld because no one is capable of opening it I began to weep greatly and verse five says one of the elders said to me stop weeping behold the lion that is from the tribe of Judah we know that to be none other than our Lord Jesus Christ who from one extreme is described as the lamb of God and from the other extreme is the lion of
[29:45] God can you can you get more diverse or extreme than a lamb and a lion for the first time Jesus came he came as a sacrifice but the second time he comes he's coming as a conqueror someone has put it this way Jesus is coming again and this time he will not be in a good mood isn't that something the lion from the tribe of Judah the root of David is overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals in other words this one possesses the authority and the right to be able to open the book and we know why because it's all about him and verse six says and I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a lamb standing as if slain having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of
[31:00] God sent out into all the earth now we look at something like this as some kind of grotesque abnormality because this what kind of sense does this make anyway well we need to understand folks that even though we consider ourselves the crowning achievement of God's creation as human beings with the mentality and ability that he's given us and these marvelous utterly marvelous bodies that we have fallen though they are imperfect though they are we represent the most marvelous creation of God that is just well what would you expect when we're made in his likeness and in his image got to be two things for sure that are really super special about us and they are so when we look at the creation and look into revelation and we see this account of all of these strange what do you call them you can't call them persons and they look like animals and some of the description reason that these seem so weird and off track to us is because we we are the norms we are the way everything is supposed to be but we need to understand that we are just a representative of one many maybe the crowning maybe the crowning achievement but we are just one of many of the creative things that
[32:34] God has brought into existence and I can assure you of this even though we may look upon some of these things and consider them and pronounce them quite weird God considers him just fine the way they are because he made them what else can they be so at any rate we've got these four living creatures and the lamb standing in verse six as if slain having seven horns seven eyes each of these mean something and we haven't time to go into the words scrolls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints and that surfaces again later on and verse nine says and they sang a new song worthy art thou to take the book or the scroll and to break its seals why was he worthy for doing that this is
[34:06] Jesus who is going to take it and break the seals because thou was slain and did purchase for God and with thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation this is a hymn of praise for redemption and I do not know for sure because it doesn't tell us exactly what it is but verse nine says they sang a new song and the question that automatically comes to my mind is what was the old song and the old song appears to be that of creation and the new song is that of redemption for God has created all things and by his will they were and are created he brought them into existence and he created beings beginning with angels so far as we know they were created long before humans were these angelic beings how many we do not know but they may very well represent an unpronounceable number they are spirit beings in that they do not occupy space and time yet they are real beings now we cannot get our brains into that because we cannot really fathom spirit we are locked into physicality and we are so familiar with these bodies in the physical world in which we live we just can't process something that is spiritual but be advised you have a human spirit that is the real you and it dwells inside you just like
[36:14] Jesus had a real spirit when he was on the cross and one of his last sayings was father into thy hands I commit my spirit Jesus bowed his head and died and there were many witnesses there at the crucifixion but nobody said oh there it goes see there goes the spirit no nobody saw it's immaterial intangible not physical and that causes us to think well then it isn't real oh my yes it is real very real you see we tend to lock ourselves into what we know and we are not too interested in thinking in terms of what we don't know because we focus on what we do know but let me say this there is so much more about you that you don't know than what you do know you think you know everything about you you don't
[37:24] Jesus said that the spirit as he addressed the woman at the well he said God is spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and God is spirit what does that mean it means God doesn't have a physical body God is spirit what does that mean I really don't know but I do know this as a spirit being God's presence is just as much here as it is in Helsinki Finland as it is in London England as it is in Ottawa Ontario Canada as it is in Riyadh as it is everywhere well how can that be
[38:28] I don't have a clue that is God the psalmist said if I ascend to heaven you are there if I ascend to the depths of Hades you're there where can I flee from your presence you're everywhere and you know amazing thing about this God and please don't think in terms of what some of the ancients have thought because God is not part of his creation and the creation is not part of God he is separate from his creation there was a time when there was absolutely nothing and I do mean nothing but there was someone and that was the God who created all things and you know as he created all things as he created things that are alive you know what he did with well of course you do what he did with all of the different species that he created animals and humans he put within every one of them every one of those species the ability to reproduce themselves in the next generation just automatically that's how he could say his creation was finished because he created everything in such a way that it had ongoing capabilities without new acts of creation he just built that dynamic into all of these different species including human beings but apparently not angels there's no reason to believe that angels cohabit and produce little angels they seem to be static beings as they are so this is just remarkable stuff here they are singing the song of redemption the old song was the song of creation and what happened that there was even a need for redemption well we call that the fall because after creation there was ruination
[40:42] Adam and Eve our first parents were installed as the federal head of all that God had created he told them you're the boss you call all the shots the text says he gave them dominion over everything that's the word from which we get the word dominate and they were called upon to exercise absolute authority in everything that God had created with them being the epitome of creation and to them was given the charge of responsibility we know what happened when they disobeyed God and the reason they disobeyed God was because they could we've been over this territory before but it is so important
[41:46] I want to cover it again without apology that is the power of human volition it is awesome God gave to Adam and Eve the ability to comply with the creator's requirements every tree of the garden you may freely eat there's just one you don't eat of this tree in the day you do you shall surely die I didn't know what death was didn't have any experience of death but I know humanity well enough to know that out of all of the trees of the garden that doggone single tree would look like the best one of all the one that and you wonder why God said not to eat of it the day we do we're going to die what is death they didn't know what death nothing had died and we mortals look at that and say well you know isn't God supposed to know everything yeah doesn't God know the past the present and the future everything before that yeah didn't God know that they were going to eat of that yes well then why didn't he make them that way if I knew that there was trouble going to be down the road from what
[43:17] I did I wouldn't do that I'd do something else okay what else would you do what alternative would God have well now let's think about that because there may be more but being a finite human being I can only come up with one possibility only one option if you do not give them a volition that is a free will you don't give them a will you lock them in to being an automaton you lock them in to they're having no choice to exercise their will because then how can you go wrong if you don't have a will to make a bad choice you got to stay on the straight and narrow and you won't get off because you can't get off God could have done that why didn't he think about it why didn't he may I suggest that God is high on relations and God wants to be loved because you want to love him not because you have to is there any wife who enjoys her husband's love because she knows well he didn't have a choice he has to love me what kind of lousy love is that a love in order to be worth something has to be voluntary
[45:23] Marie sweetheart I don't have to love you but I really really want to and I just can't think of anything this side of heaven more enjoyable than living with someone that you love and loving to love them I just can't imagine it being a force thing yeah I love you I'm your husband it's my job well thanks a lot you know God is into relations and I've often said that God is so high on relationships that he collaborated with his son Jesus to come down to this earth for the sole purpose of reestablishing a broken relationship that's why Jesus come I have come that men might have life and have it abundantly isn't that marvelous
[46:32] God made us volitional beings gave us a will so we can comply or we can defy and you know he did the same thing with angels he gave angels a volition and we're told that the chief of the angels you can get this in in Ezekiel 28 in Isaiah 14 where Lucifer the son of the morning was described by the writer as being the epitome of God's creative power and beauty among angelic beings and he gave them all volition a will and the only thing we can say about Lucifer is that obviously it went to his head and as you read Isaiah 14 you find the seven I will I will ascend to the heaven I will be like the most high
[47:32] I will I will I will I will seven of them and he acted out and then we are told in Revelation chapter 12 that of all the angelic beings Lucifer in addition to tempting Adam and Eve and enlisting that's what he did he enlisted them but before he did that he enlisted he enlisted one third of the angels that God created all of whom had volitions and wills and you'll find that in Revelation 12 and his pitch must have been I don't know not having been an angel but I suggest that the pitch that Lucifer delivered to them that a third of the angels bought was probably something like I know what God told you I know what God provided for you I know what God said but I can get you a better deal and a third of them says hmm well no
[48:40] I could go this way I could go that way you know what Lucifer he's a character colorful creature I think he I think he might be able to deliver I'm going to throw my lot in with him and it became what we call a fallen angel and we don't know this for certain but we don't know where else to get them but other than say that the demonic beings that Jesus confronted in four gospels were in reality angels I think it is Jude the book of Jude that tells us that the angels that kept not their first estate that means they had a category they had a sphere in which they belonged and they didn't keep it they abandoned it and left it and became fallen angels and when
[49:41] Lucifer became Satan and the word Satan literally means adversary the one who opposes and when he became down to this earth where Adam and Eve were and created in that beautiful garden of Eden and I don't understand the business about the serpent and how he was able to manipulate that but he did and I don't know what kind of serpent like that's immaterial but at any rate he was a recruiter he recruited Adam and Eve and they believed the lie by the way I've made a great deal in Christianity to clarify the faulty assumptions because the world is so full of them you know where the first faulty assumption was Genesis 3 a faulty assumption is assuming something to be true that it isn't true at all it's false and when the serpent and the person of
[50:56] Satan told them you shall not surely die God knows that in the day you eat of that fruit you're going to become competition for him and he wants to run the whole show he didn't want any competition and they bought that line and immediately when God said you'll die they died and there's two deaths there's a spiritual remember you have a spirit you have a body there's two deaths there's a physical death which is separation of the spirit from the body that's physical death absent from the body present with the Lord that's physical death and their spiritual death and that separation of the spirit from God and that's the death they died right then right then and there
[51:58] Adam lived 930 years and yes they were real years but he died and they died she died spiritually and they were separated from God immediately upon eating just like God said they would and what what did that produce well what is it always what what is produced in the life of your three year old child when they do something you specifically told them not to do and you told them something now if you do that again I'm going to give you a spanking and they do it and you confront them and you say did you did you little liar no and you know what they're doing they are exercising fear because fear is produced when you know you've done wrong it is the fear of being found out it is the fear of punishment the fear of consequences so what do you do when you're afraid you hide you hide you don't go out to meet
[53:20] God with welcome open arms no you find a big clump of bushes and you make this ridiculous fig leaf concoction to cover your nakedness and isn't that interesting what is it about nakedness that's a wonderful study you know someone has said I don't remember who pointed out but it kind of hit me like a ton of bricks that a human being is the only biological life form in all of God's creation that wears clothes do you ever think about that boy and you know and a little baby when they're innocent I remember our kids I remember one time Barb was yelling I said I was in the den studying and she was yelling and screaming carrying on I thought what in the world what's going on anyway I got up and ran out there and she was trying to corral our youngest daughter who was running around the front yard and public there naked as a jaybird and she wasn't even two years old and she didn't see anything wrong with it she was just having fun and she had an innocence about her that will be abandoned as she grows older because there is something about something about our private parts what is that what is that why is it that why is it that we're not concerned about our arms being bare or feet being bare why do we hide our private parts well that's another study but anyway it has to do
[55:06] I think with that is the place where the big one sin is perpetuated yeah and aren't we glad aren't we glad and no no no don't get me wrong nobody is saying that sex is sinful that's that's stupid sex is not sinful but sex has parameters sex has parameters for acceptance and parameters for violation of that but we've got a generation today that has just kind of thrown that aside as if it's just old fashioned stuff nobody believes that anymore and we're paying a horrible price for it but that's another study we won't go so anyway what did they do they hid from God they hid from God and God said who told you you were naked never bothered you before and now it bothers and now it's a real problem guilt guilt guilt is a terrible terrible task master guilt will rob you of sleep it will rob you of joy it will rob you of all kinds of things and Jesus came to do away with that and I want to close with this passage something else that John wrote and it's found in the very first chapter of
[56:35] John's gospel and it is a beautiful beautiful thing because it deals with the provision that God made for overcoming that and it has to do with that second scroll with that scroll that was opened in the beginning in the beginning was the word and that's an expression of communication the word was with God and the word was God you know who the word was the word was Jesus Jesus is the human expression of God and when you want to know what God wants to say to the whole world just look at Jesus that's the message embodied that's the message and he goes on to say that the word was God that is equal with the father he was in the beginning with God all things came into being by him apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being he's the absolute source of everything in him was life life of man life of animals life of everything life was the light of men light shines in the darkness the darkness did not comprehend it somebody came to make a big deal of that light and announced to the whole world that the light has come and that was
[57:57] John the Baptist and he has his say beginning there in verse 6 and John says in verse 10 he this light he was in the world and the world was made through him now wait a minute we thought the father created the world well he did the son created the world also the spirit created the world also if you read the first couple of chapters of Genesis as the whole record opens we see father son and holy spirit all are active in creation spirit of God brooded over the face of the waters and the son was there and the word that is used for God it must just drive our Jewish friends nuts because the word that is used for God in Genesis 1-1 in their very own Hebrew text is Elohim plurality of beings
[59:00] God well there can't be more than one God and that has kept all of the translators manifesting it in a singular because they can't bring themselves to say it in a plural but it's in a plural and there are three members of the Godhead responsible for creation and by the way all are responsible for redemption because Jesus Christ was the one who offered himself on that cross but we are told in the latter chapters or chapter again it moves around Paul wrote it when he wrote to the Corinthians and he said that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and then he also said in first Corinthians that brain fog brain fog in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was
[60:25] God and John came to bear witness of him and we read that in verse 12 as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God even to those who believe in his name and for time's sake go to verse 14 and the word became flesh who is the word the word is Jesus the word became flesh how was that that was Bethlehem the word became flesh and John says and dwelt among us lived among us and the idea is the word for dwelt here is the word which we use in the Greek for he pitched his tent among us Jesus was just here temporarily it was just a tent and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth John bore witness of him John that is
[61:25] John the Baptist to be distinguished from the John who wrote this John bore witness of him and cried out saying this was he of whom I said he who comes after me has a higher rank than I for he existed before me wait a minute he existed before John he existed before John but wasn't John the Baptist the second cousin of Jesus yep and wasn't John born six months before Jesus yep well why is John saying he existed before me because he did he existed with the father he existed with the spirit he is also charged with having created all things and the point that I wanted to make earlier is that the father the last verse in Hebrew in Romans chapter 4 that it was the father who delivered up Jesus and we are told that in that last verse that he was delivered up for us who delivered up Jesus father did that's why he sent him you know what this is saying it's saying that as I've told you before it's saying that we are talking about the centerpiece of the universe there isn't anything to top this it was he who knew no sin was made to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him you realize what that's saying it's saying the righteousness that God will accept is not a performance based righteousness it's got nothing to do with your performance it's a position based righteousness it is in connection with what your position is do you realize that the vilest sinner who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives do you realize that the most violent despicable sinful individual who ever walked the earth was still not able by his sin to exceed the value of the payment of the death of Christ for his sin you realize that humanity the billions of humanity collectively cannot out sin the grace of God do you know what that means think about that that means that the penalty that Jesus
[64:25] Christ paid for the sins of the entire world was greater than the debt that was owed by all of those billions sins what yeah how can that be it's all wrapped up in the identity of the one who made that payment you know when we told you earlier about the distinction and the variation and the great difference between an ant and a human being well the difference and variation between a normal human being and the son of God is greater than that Jesus was able willing and eligible to die for the sins of the world because the payment that he was going to make exceeded every sin of every human being no matter how bad how wretched how vile do you realize what that's saying that is placing an infinite value on the payment that
[65:40] Jesus Christ made is there any wonder then that Christians get upset when people say things like well Jesus isn't the only way oh my word think of that he he who knew no sin was made to be sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him think of that the thing that makes you acceptable to God is not your goodness and not your church membership and not your baptism and not your anything the thing that makes you acceptable to God is that you are clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ you didn't earn it and you don't deserve it that should affect your attitude and your behavior shouldn't it is it worth anything my oh my
[66:49] I wish dear friends I really wish I knew more about what I'm talking about this is something this is not just something this is the something and as I've told you many many times over the years I'm not finished but I quit so let's pray father we have just once again not scratched the surface but we just hope that we've scratched the scratch on the surface there's so much that is involved here you are such a credibly magnificent great God whose being transcends anything that we can imagine forgive us for such a poor pathetic description of your majesty and your greatness look forward to a time when we'll be able to get that corrected because we'll see you as you are and our prayer for these dear folks is that each and every one of them may know the joy of what
[68:02] Jesus was talking about when he said the son of man set you free you shall be free indeed oh what a horrible horrible price was paid for that freedom we are so grateful and father is there any better way that we can show our gratitude to you than for being available and at your disposal for whatever you want to do with us or through us or for us we just find ourselves overwhelmed time and again with the being of your presence and all that is involved our meager inability to grasp it just once again escapes us but we love you for being the utterly awesome unspeakably holy wonderful person that you are do whatever you need to do to enhance our appreciation of that and we'll thank you when we see you face to face amen thank you for your presence this morning your kind attention and just for your information as I look at that clock back there yes
[69:13] I still do hate it but you are dismissed God bless you and have a wonderful day