20250112_IWillNotLeaveThee

[0:00] I don't plan to rehearse everything, but in understanding what the Lord has done for us, we're going to look at that in a minute here.

[0:14] What do we know from Genesis? What do we know about God? He's created.

[0:26] Well, number one, He is. You remember that verse in Hebrews? He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

[0:39] Okay. He is and He created. What does that mean? We talk about people being creative. Is it the same thing?

[0:54] What? We have one no who has a yes. Okay. You don't want to contradict her or...

[1:06] Okay. I was going to ask the no person, but I will...

[1:22] Is there... Did you hear what Sherry said? Okay. Do you agree? I'm glad. I always agree, too. So, we know that He exists and that He created everything from nothing.

[1:45] Okay. What else do we know about Him? I heard somebody.

[1:58] Go ahead. He's eternal. What does that mean? And no beginning. He is...

[2:09] He is... Okay. Who else exists in eternity with God? Yeah, that's kind of a trick question, isn't it?

[2:20] The Trinity exists eternally. But who else beside the Godhead exists eternally?

[2:35] Angels? Do they? Were they uncreated or are they created? How are they created if they exist eternally?

[2:56] Okay. Let's get our definitions here for a moment. Because it might be the way I'm defining the word. Because we do know Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the...

[3:15] No man except by me. And when Paul was in the synagogue, I'm forgetting which one this is.

[3:29] We find it in Acts. Paul was in the synagogue, and he says, look, you Jews have decided that you are not worthy of eternal life.

[3:43] Therefore, I go to the Gentiles. Now, he did go to Jews after that, but in that instance, he says that. Now, what does it mean when it says eternal life?

[3:58] Do we possess eternal life in Christ Jesus? We will. Okay.

[4:09] We call it eternal life. Does that mean we have no beginning? No. Have we existed in eternity? No. Maybe in God's mind.

[4:20] Okay. Okay. Okay. But as far as our physical and spiritual existence, do we exist in eternity?

[4:33] Now, we do have everlasting life. It will have no end. But the scripture indicates that one person exists, or it's said in Isaiah, he inhabits eternity.

[4:52] And that is God. So, it says, who alone inhabits eternity? Right? Right? He, it's God alone.

[5:06] So, that's fairly important because in Romans, then, the apostle Paul is going to tell them early on, this is why men stand in judgment.

[5:23] Now, this was unplanned. I'm sorry about this. This is going to go longer. I know. Keep it short. Right.

[5:34] Okay. Remember in Revelation, let's go to the white throne judgment. Well, let's not go. Let's discuss it.

[5:46] Why won't we go? Why won't we go?

[6:17] One of our friends is there who has no background in scripture. And we talk about believing in Jesus.

[6:29] Do they understand what that means when we say it? Probably not. Now, do atheists, some, believe in Jesus?

[6:47] The man, as far as he existed. In history. Do they believe in Jesus as God portrays him in his word?

[7:00] See, there is a difference. So, when I say believe in Jesus, I'm not going to be at the white throne judgment because I believe in Jesus.

[7:10] It means I believe that Jesus did what for me. Did he die as my example? There are some people this morning who are meeting folks who are going to say this.

[7:24] Jesus' death was exemplary. And therefore, you have to give your life for others. Now, you have to be careful with that.

[7:38] There are some things about it that may be extrapolated, but that's not the gospel, is it? What's the good news? What do I deserve?

[7:52] I divert. Okay, what is involved in that justice? Punishment. Of what sort? Death. But I'm going to say, if I'm playing the advocate, everybody dies.

[8:11] Eternal separation from God. Eternal separation from God. Now, some folks would say, well, that'd be a good thing. You have met someone, whether they said it this way or not, but you know someone who thinks that God's a killjoy.

[8:33] And therefore, is to be avoided. You know him. Or you have met him. You have met him. Now, there's a supposition in there that is a wrong supposition, and that is that I exist to gratify myself, right?

[8:55] My whole life is about being happy. You've never heard that? Or something like that? I know you have. We see it.

[9:09] Well, what are we seeing in our society? Everything's about... Is that true? No.

[9:22] What's true is, everything's about God. See, we know he exists. We know he exists eternally. He's the only one that does so.

[9:32] And we know he created. Ex nihilo. He created from nothing. And by the way, in him...

[9:44] And that would be in Christ. This is part of the Godhead. In him, all things hold together. If...

[9:55] And here's a supposition that doesn't work because God's made it clear he's not going to do this. But... If God did...

[10:06] And he removed his power from the universe as far as the existence... It goes.

[10:20] The universe is held together because God says so. That's pretty important. Now, because of who he is... And because of his position...

[10:34] We go back to Rome... I'll try to get back to Romans. Oh, yeah. I went to Romans through Revelation. Okay. Go back to the white throne judgment. Not there, but...

[10:46] You know, we're going to video it. The books are open. What are people going to be judged upon? It says that every man's judged according to his...

[11:02] His deeds, his work, his life. So everybody's going to be judged according to their lives. Well, that comes to Romans.

[11:15] We're going to get there. But the reason is... Because God said so. That's the first thing. Who's going to be at the white throne judgment?

[11:28] Yeah. Everyone whose name is not found in... The book of life. Is going to be at the white throne judgment. And then... All people...

[11:40] Are going to be judged according to their works. And everyone there... Is going to be punished. And that's called the... Second death.

[11:53] The Christian... Looks forward only to one death. The physical death. Yeah.

[12:03] Is your name... Everybody's name in that book of life. Is Jesus the most of the time. Is Jesus the most of the time. Is Jesus the most of the time. Is Jesus the most of the time. I don't see that anywhere in scripture.

[12:17] That when... When... I would have to dig... There are numbers of places where book of life is used.

[12:31] One time in the Pauline epistles. Where he talks about fellow workers. Whose names are in the book of life. No place does he say everybody's name is in the book of life.

[12:45] That's not shown. In Revelation. We see that those who came through the tribulation. The Jews...

[12:56] Specifically is who he's talking about. Those Jews who came through the tribulation. And persevered. I will not blot your name out of the book of life.

[13:09] He says. That's the only place. Other than... Other than... The end. Where he says... Anyone who detracts from these words. His name will be taken out of the book of life.

[13:20] Those are the only two places where I see. Your name are going to be removed. The others... And... Fasten your seat belt. Because we have a hard time with this.

[13:30] I... I don't get my head around it. The other references say. Whose names are not in the book of life. Written from eternity. So... That's your study.

[13:41] That... I'm not getting in there right now. That... That would be my position. But...

[13:53] I need to remember... When it comes to scripture. Does what I think make any difference? It doesn't make any difference to God.

[14:03] It makes a big difference to me. See... And... So... So I need to remember that... You also have met this person. Well, I don't believe that.

[14:17] And the answer is... So what? That's to your detriment. So...

[14:27] Back... Back to that Romans. Every man is going to be... At the white throne. The books are open. People are going to be judged according to their works.

[14:38] In Romans chapter 1, we know. Because they refuse to acknowledge God as God. That's where Genesis comes in. Our beginnings.

[14:50] Because man refuses to honor God as God. God... This is a big statement, isn't it?

[15:01] God did what? God... Gave them over. To what? To a depraved mind to do what ought not be done.

[15:14] So... Why are they going to be judged from their works? Because they have a depraved mind and God gave them over. Because they... Ultimately, it's because...

[15:26] I refused... Mankind in general... Has refused to acknowledge God as God. Now... For the Christian... And we're going to jump way ahead... Way past Genesis now.

[15:37] For the Christian... Because this is part of our hope. God has provided a way of escape from that judgment. We don't have to be there. Why?

[15:51] Because Christ gave me an example? No. No. Because he became sin... For me. So that I might...

[16:02] And here's the biggie. I might become... The righteousness... Of God... In him. But if I'm not in him...

[16:14] I'm in myself. If I'm on my own... I'm lost. So... Back to...

[16:25] This isn't... This is going to be an abrupt back to Genesis. But... That brings us, though... To that salvation thing. If you look it up...

[16:36] Look up Ephesians 3.8... Who writes this? Just to remind myself. Okay.

[16:47] Yeah. The Lord Jesus Christ writes it. Who put the pen on the paper? Paul. The revelation...

[16:59] Is given to Paul. Paul puts it on the paper. To whom is it written? Specifically to the congregation at Ephesus.

[17:14] But the church... But these letters were to be circulated amongst whom? The Gentile churches. Not just Gentiles. They could... They could have Jews in them.

[17:25] And many did. If you... Yeah. Many did. When you look back in Peter's letters, he mentions that Paul wrote to you.

[17:41] So... Some of them would have Jews in them. But... We know that at this dispensation, when...

[17:52] The great parenthesis... The... The... Repent... For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[18:05] Repent and escape from this evil generation. Said Peter in... In... In the temple. Well... He said...

[18:17] What wasn't shown there... It was hinted at. And as we read back, we can see why Christ would say...

[18:28] Or... Why Christ would say to Isaiah... You write this... That... That... The Messiah must be crucified.

[18:45] See, we can read back into it. They didn't see it that way. When... When... When... He's talking to... The disciples... The twelve...

[18:56] And he says... I'm going to Jerusalem... And I'm going to be mistreated... And... Handed over... And killed... Peter says... No way!

[19:07] And what does Jesus say to him? That's a pretty big deal. Get behind me, Satan. You're not talking about the will of God.

[19:19] See... He said... For this reason I came into the world. He's going to... Die on the cross. He didn't tell them... By the way... I'm going...

[19:30] I'm doing this so that... Gentiles can be fellow wearers... With you. That's going to be... That was what he didn't tell them... That he did tell...

[19:41] Paul. Okay. I didn't intend to go back that far. But... Back to Ephesians. Back to Ephesians... Chapter 3... Verse 8...

[19:52] Under whom? Under me... Paul... Who's least of all the saints... Is this grace...

[20:02] Or this gift given... That I should do what? Preach among the Gentiles. Keep going. Okay. Now... We get something into the unsearchable riches of Christ.

[20:14] Oh, by the way... The riches of Christ are... Comprehendable... Unfathomable... Unsearchable...

[20:27] Search as I may... I'm not going to discover everything about this. Back to... Back to a... A rough quote.

[20:40] It's not really a quote. I forget which book... Francis Schaeffer said... You can know...

[20:50] Because you've heard... You know someone like this. Well... I don't understand enough about that... Therefore I don't believe. Francis Schaeffer...

[21:01] Made a good... A good statement to that. He said... You can know God truly... Without knowing Him exhaustively. You can know truth about God...

[21:15] As we... Proclaim. But it's not an exhaustive truth. Because we don't inhabit eternity.

[21:27] And when... When Paul writes... We have the mind of Christ... He's not talking about... The complete thing. He's talking about... A specific thing about the gospel.

[21:40] So... Back to this. So... Verse 9. To make all men see what? The...

[21:53] The fellowship of the... Keep going. This is important. This is Genesis. Which... Right.

[22:10] That's pretty important to me. What do I know... About my salvation? It was... Hidden in God's mind...

[22:23] Who created all things... Through... Jesus Christ.

[22:33] So Jesus is eternal. He wasn't a man that... Somehow he was really good. Because a really good man is...

[22:46] What? Not good enough. What did Paul say? All my righteousness is... Dung.

[23:00] It's a compost heap. So I resolve to know Christ... In his righteousness. By faith in Christ...

[23:13] Comes our righteousness. So... So we have this hope... And jump down to 11. Same chapter. Same passage. The manifold wisdom of God...

[23:27] Now finish it. Verse 11. The eternal purpose... Which he purposed... In Christ Jesus...

[23:38] Our Lord. Now... Then I think... Well... Why that? Why all the other stuff? Because... Eventually...

[23:48] God's going to say... Look... The reason... I did this... Is so that... I will hold... All men... Under sin.

[24:00] The moralist... The Gentile... The reprobate... And the Jew. So that I might show mercy to all...

[24:11] So that I might be both just... And the... Justifier... Of them that believe. It's for God's glory.

[24:23] So... That goes... Kind of harks back to... Romans. 1 Corinthians says similarly...

[24:35] Chapter 2 verse 7... That... That... We speak the wisdom of God... In a mystery... Even the hidden wisdom... Now... This is a bit out of context...

[24:47] By the way... Because... Here in 1 Corinthians... He's counteracting... False teaching... So I need to be... Fair with it... So when he says...

[24:57] We speak... The wisdom of Christ... In a mystery... He doesn't mean... That we speak... The wisdom of Christ... In something that's supposed to be... Sneaky... Or hidden...

[25:07] Or hard to understand... You don't need a priest... You don't need... I want to be careful with this...

[25:19] Nathan... Close your ears... You don't need a preacher... You don't need a prophet... What you need...

[25:32] Is Christ Jesus... And the Holy Spirit... Indwelling... Now... That doesn't mean... Withhold... Usually...

[25:46] Almost always... If I withhold myself... From fellowship... With the believers...

[25:59] With my local church... With you... My church family... Usually... You're going to see the result... In my lifestyle... Aren't you? Usually...

[26:10] There's a reason... There's a reason... The church gathers... And part of it... The... Part of that... The big reason... By the way...

[26:22] Do... A wonderful study... Go through the Pauline epistles... And the do this's... And don't do that's's... And they're almost all...

[26:36] Within the body of Christ... Almost all of it... So... It doesn't mean...

[26:48] Withdrawal... What he means is... That we preach... The wisdom of Christ... In the mystery that... Hitherto not revealed...

[26:59] In a mystery that you're not... Comprehending... Because you're trying to get it... Through man's... Reasoning... That... That's the context... Of 1 Corinthians... First four chapters... Check it...

[27:11] Test me on it... But... But the important part there... For the Genesis study... The hidden wisdom...

[27:23] Which God... Ordained... Before... The world... So... We have a hope... When we study the history... It is to give us... Hope...

[27:36] When we study... Folks... When we study prophecy... It's to give us hope... Not discouragement... If I'm... Looking at prophecy...

[27:47] And I'm saying... Look what's going on... This... I can be sure... I'm studying it the wrong way... Because we have a hope... In scripture... If I'm not being encouraged...

[28:00] Because God hasn't lost control... I'm not reading it right... Now... Humanly speaking... I don't like what I see...

[28:12] In society... Much of society... I certainly don't like what I see... Being... Exalted...

[28:24] By some folks in society... But that doesn't mean... God lost control... And... This is way beyond our scope...

[28:36] But... Go to... The end of Paul's career... When he's... I'll call it... Allegorically...

[28:48] Tossing his mantle... To Timothy... Go to 1st and 2nd Timothy... And see what he says... About... Boy... If you were doing... What you were supposed to be doing... Church...

[28:59] Things are going to get better... Right? That's not what he says... That is it... Now... That doesn't absolve me... Of doing what I'm supposed to be doing...

[29:11] Don't misunderstand me... But what... What he says is... Look... I haven't lost control... It's going to get worse...

[29:23] But you... Timothy... You keep teaching the things... That I taught you to say... That's what... That's our job... That's our job...

[29:35] So... And then... Romans 3... 25... Because this speaks to what Christ did for me... Romans 3...

[29:48] 25... Jesus Christ... That is him... You'll read it him... If you start right there... Jesus... God hath set forth to be a...

[30:00] Propitiation... What's that mean? When you read... Propitiation... What comes to your mind?

[30:16] Yeah... It's more than just any sacrifice though... That... That's... That's it...

[30:27] Literally... It is the sacrifice... Which turns away... Wrath... The propitiation... Is that which turns away...

[30:39] Whose wrath? God's wrath... That's what Jesus did for me... On the cross...

[30:50] When he nailed... When he nailed... All those things that were written against me... He nailed them to the cross...

[31:03] That's pretty amazing... That's... That's not pretty amazing... That's... There's an incomprehensible thing for me...

[31:15] I... I... I... I have no idea... What Satan knows and doesn't know... I... I...

[31:26] I... I... I have no idea... What Satan knows and doesn't know... I... I... I have no idea... What Satan knows and doesn't know... I'm sure he's not omnipotent...

[31:42] And I'm sure he's not omniscient... I'm not sure what he is... It's incomprehensible to me... He's... He is...

[31:55] Basically... The... Not... No, I'm not gonna say it that way... He is a created being which is... Preeminent, if you will, amongst creatures...

[32:11] As far as power... Is concerned... So much so that he saw himself to be... Or made himself to be equal with God... So...

[32:27] So it would seem... The star of the morning... Pretty... He's impressive... And by the way... He doesn't come to human beings...

[32:40] In the appearance... Of this... Grotesque feature... With horns... And flames about him... No, he presents himself as...

[32:51] Paul said... An angel of light... Even... Satan... Presents himself as an angel... He presents himself to be good... It's gonna sound good...

[33:03] In the great tribulation... The antichrist... Is gonna sound good... He ain't gonna be good... But he's gonna sound good... For a while...

[33:14] Yeah... For a while... But... Back to the point... Now... Propitiation... Through faith in his blood...

[33:26] To declare... God's righteousness... For the remissions of sin... That are passed... Through the forbearance of God... To declare...

[33:39] Verse 26... I say... At this time... His righteousness... That he might be just... And the justifier... Of those... Who believe in Christ Jesus...

[33:51] So... We study the scripture... Including Genesis... Including the other history...

[34:03] Including the prophets... Including the law... We study all of that... So that we might have hope... Because we see God's unfolding plan...

[34:15] We can look back and see... Okay... This is what God was doing... To a certain extent... Some things we can't see... But we can... Look back... Imagine if you were...

[34:27] Coming up through... It'd be much more difficult... Wouldn't it? I... It's easier to look back in life... And say...

[34:39] I wish I had done this... Differently... Or I'm glad that happened... And I see how God... Protected me... Or worked things out... For my good...

[34:50] When you're in it... It doesn't look so hot... Many times... So... Genesis... Chapter 24...

[35:02] In chapter 23... We just did what? We just got Sarah buried... And we have five minutes...

[35:14] To get started... Just read it... And... Get a jump... On two weeks from now... So... Look at... The first four verses... I've labeled this...

[35:30] Chapter 24... Take a wife... And to my son Isaac... So... Chapter 24... Is going to talk about... The fetching...

[35:41] Of Isaac's wife... 24... 1 through 4... You're... What is the... I ought to look at it...

[35:53] And I can tell you... Now Abraham was old... And advanced... I like the King James rendering... What's King James say? Yeah...

[36:05] He... You understand that? That's more descriptive... Isn't it? Abraham was old... And well stricken... With age... Alright...

[36:18] If he's... Now he's going to do what? These first four verses... What's Abraham gonna do?

[36:32] I heard somebody... Yes? He wants to get a wife... For his son Isaac... How's he gonna do that... Isabella? He's gonna send his servant...

[36:46] Now... This is a specific servant... This isn't just one of the guys... This is his steward... This is the guy... Who's in charge of everything... Now...

[36:58] If he's still alive... What's this man's name? We don't know that... This is... The guy... We just know that this man... At this time... Is his steward...

[37:10] But we've seen the name... Of his steward... Because Abraham thought he was gonna be the inheritor of this... Of all the wealth... Didn't he? What was his name?

[37:22] Just in case it's the right guy... You have it... No... That's who he's going to... But... Eleazar... Eleazar of Damascus...

[37:34] Right... Now... We don't know... Because his name's not given here... It was given... Back before... So...

[37:47] If Eleazar's still alive... This is Eleazar... Well... And if he's not... It's the person... It's the person... Who is now...

[37:58] Inhabiting... Eleazar's position... By the way... What is... What is his steward? He is a servant...

[38:09] He's a slave... Yes... But he's a specific... What's his job? He's in charge of all the household... He's in charge of all the whole business...

[38:23] He's the acting... Officer... Of the business... He's the one that's... Responsible for the day-to-day functions... You do this...

[38:36] You do that... We sell these... Let's buy that... That's his job... What does Abraham do? Well... Today...

[38:47] Abraham sits... And collects the check... But... I don't say that facetiously... He has a servant... Who is in charge... Abraham's old...

[38:58] And well-stricken in age now... He's not going... Chasing the kings anymore... He did that when he was... A hundred years old... He's long past that now...

[39:10] Okay... So... As Isabella pointed out... He's going to send... Eleazar... What does he tell... Or... I'm sorry...

[39:21] He's going to send his servant... What does he tell his steward? He gives him some instruction about what kind of a wife... Yeah...

[39:36] Under no circumstance... Do you do what? Take a wife... Out of these Canaanites... But rather do what? Go back to...

[39:52] My land... Which is... Ur of the Chaldees... Or... Haran... The land of Haran... Paddan Haran... Or Haran...

[40:03] It will be called... You go back there... And get a wife back there... And now I'm going to quit... To whet our appetites...

[40:15] Read ahead... This is a fascinating... Fascinating... Rendition... Of what's happening... So... Having said that...

[40:27] Next week... Uh... Well... By the way... Any input... Any input... Any input you have...

[40:40] Please jump right in... Because I have a tendency to go on... If... If you don't jump in... And I don't always think about what to ask... And I do want...

[40:53] The time to be an interaction... We encourage one another... When that happens... Next week... God willing... Next week... We will have... A guest...

[41:06] This will be... Forgot his first name... Kevin... You remember Bernardo... Okay... This would be his son...

[41:19] He's... He... He and his family... Are... Planning... To go...

[41:31] As missionaries... To Mexico... So they're going from... Portuguese... North... To Spanish...

[41:43] So... Anyway... They are coming to present their ministry... And... A word from God's word... Next week... So they'll have...

[41:55] Both... Services... Next week... Anything... That you want to say... Before you head for the cookies and coffee... Have... Rob... Early on...

[42:06] You're talking... The difference between... Justice... And... You get to the white... You get to that... Exactly... You're in the first... Graphic...

[42:17] You get to that... That's right... I... Everybody's going to face God... I want to face Him... I want to face Him... Through Jesus Christ...

[42:31] That's right... You're going to get exactly... What you deserve... The problem with it is... They...

[42:43] Most people you know... Who talk about... Works... About being judged on their works... They're looking at... The mean balance... And they're looking at... Pol Pot...

[42:55] And... Hitler... And Stalin... And... And Mao Zedong... And they're saying... Well look... I'm nothing like that... I'm... I'm in... No...

[43:06] No... No... It's going to be the righteousness of God... On this side... And you can put all of humanity... Whoever existed... And ever will exist... On this side... And it's still not going to balance...

[43:19] Have a great day... And rejoice... In what we have... In the Lord Jesus Christ...