People come to the desert in Nevada and form a portable city for one week and it is called Black Rock City.   The founders of this portable city say that one should come as a self-reliant person and express themselves among some 50,000 participants. Once the week is over the campers vacate and they should leave no trace.  The desert sand is left to re-claim itself once they are gone.

There are people who express themselves in ways during this week that may not be orderly and there may be activities that are out in the open.  You might call this one big pow-wow of campers around a centrally located effigy of a man lifted high.  The burning of this man is bright.  If most bring something to share, even if it radically departs from what you normally see in your neighborhood, then all the participants may be overwhelmed by the performance and by the colored lights they shine during the night.  What does the burning accomplish in the lives of the participants?  If they came and exhausted themselves on the experience I would suspect it was burned into their mind and they feed off these experiences for the remainder of their life.

Before leaving this earth Jesus said to his disciples “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”  He burnt into their minds that they would not be self-reliant while he was departed.  He taught that he has power to create, power to control, and the power to condemn and they witnessed this power.  That power was life-giving.  He created food, he healed sick bodies, he raised dead bodies, he walked on water, and many other things that proved he was “the image” of the invisible God in the flesh.  It was radical behavior to those who claimed rulership over men during this time.  To others, like the disciples and those who believed in him, it was what they needed to hear and to see.  Some people Jesus could not move to saving faith in him, even though they came asking and looking.

A man called to preach the word of God, like Pastor Richard Anderson, would say to burn into your mind the powerful acts of Christ and live the rest of your life relying on him, feeding on him, and whatever position you hold here won’t really matter, because if you claim Christ now, then you will be coming back to rule and reign with him for one-thousand years and glory to follow.  You might say that your management position is guaranteed in the future even if you don’t have one now.  Isn’t that good to know?

If I was adventurous and going to the Nevada desert to camp with a crowd, even for a short duration, I’d have a desire to express a spiritual message and it would be that real power is not found in the burning man experience, but in the man who has all power.  Christ’s power can burn in your heart and he will provide for you – forever.  If you withdraw from that power and think that human experience is greater, then it will claim you like the Nevada desert – burnt and thirsty.  For those never getting to the place in their life where they see their need for him, their body, soul and mind will be burnt and thirsty forever.  You don’t want to meet the man as your judge who holds all power.  Meet him now as one redeemed by his blood.

Christmas message – December 22, 1992

1992-12-22 Jesus Meets all your needs – Phi 4:19

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19

Humans have needs.  The word of God says God shall supply all your needs.  He is speaking to the saved in the church in the city of Philippi. 

There are many who do not think that they need the Lord.  They think that may be for weak people, silly people, stupid people, but they think that they don’t need the Lord.  Even they would admit that humans have needs.  Humans certainly need food a few times a day.  They need sleep, water, a roof over the head and warmth.  Sometimes you need a doctor or dentist.  Everybody needs money.  You need work.  In your house you need tables and chairs, but there is more to life than just those.  Children need love.  Women need love and everybody needs love, companionship and fellowship.

Humans are not like Almighty God who has no needs.  Humans have needs and I would declare to you today – Jesus meets all your needs.  Let me show you your needs and how the Lord meets them. 

The number one problem you have in life is you.  With all your needs the big problem that you have is that you are a created being and you are subject to the one who created you.  That may be news to you.  You may not know that you are subject to the creator who gives you life.  You may think that you are your own man.  You may think that you are subject to nothing but what you want and that you will order your life, that you will order your death, and that you will order after death.  Someone might say that no one can order after death. 

I guess some people are so arrogant and sure of themselves that they might think that they can will their way somewhere, even after death.  Obviously, there are many that do not have the fear of death or the fear of eternal life or the fear of God.  They do not know they are subject to a holy God the creator.  They need to know that greatly important fact.  Jesus meets that need.  Jesus meets that need to know because he is the prophet.

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.  Hebrews 1:1-2

God got his message out through the prophets.  The word of God says that he has spoken unto us by his son.  A holy God in heaven gets his message to you and he got it first through the prophets, but then he has spoken to us by his son.  He is the great prophet.

When the apostle Peter was preaching at his first great opportunity to thousands of people in the very first days of the church he quoted Moses in his sermon and he said “a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up, him shall ye hear.”  He was referring that Jesus was that prophet.  Many days after that there was another preaching situation and in very tense moments Steven was preaching to a hostile crowd. In one of the lines of his sermon he said “a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up, him shall ye hear.”  He was quoting the scripture and referring to the fact that Jesus was that prophet.  Jesus is prophet to proclaim to you all about God your creator and to proclaim to you everything you need to know to be right with God and not cast into hell fire for all eternity.

Jesus said And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.  Mark 9:47

Jesus is prophet to give you the warning that you need to know and to tell you about Almighty God that you would not otherwise have known.  One of the first things you find out from the prophet is that you are a sinner estranged from a holy God.  You may not think so.  You may think that you know some sinners somewhere and you may not think that you are a sinner, but in a holy God’s eyes you are a sinner.  The Bible says For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23 means that you cannot measure up to the glory of God and that you cannot measure up to the holiness of God.  You cannot be fit for heaven because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and the Bible says For the wages of sin is death.  Romans 6:23

What makes that so important?  You as a sinner cannot approach a holy, righteous God.  You cannot call upon him and you could not call him on the telephone because he wouldn’t take your call.  The word of God says If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.  Psalm 66:18.  You can go around and say “I pray to God and he hears my prayer.”  The Bible says he will not hear me when you’ve got sin on you.  You cannot approach a holy God on your own.  Scripture has shown that over and over.

Do you know when God spoke to Moses?  The very first time he met Moses at the burning bush he said to put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.  Exodus 3:5.  You can’t stand here before me like you would stand before any other man Moses.  That is what God said to him.  Later he brought him up to the mountain for the commandments and the mountain was kind of roped off.  Why was it roped off?  Because God was there in the mountain and the book of Hebrews says And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through.  Hebrews 12:20.  Nothing could touch the mountain without dying because God was in the mountain and therefore it was holy.

God is holy and sinners are not to approach him.  Remember when the Lord God’s presence was above the Ark of the Covenant?  His presence is all over the universe, but he allowed his presence to be above the Ark of the Covenant for his people.  In the days of King David before there was a temple they moved the Ark of the Covenant.  Remember, they were moving the Ark of the Covenant and at one point the ark started to slide as if it would fall to the ground.  A man named Uzzah, who did not have any authority to do so, went up and tried to steady that ark and to stop that ark from falling to the ground.  You would think that was a wonderful thing to do for Almighty God.  He was struck dead, because God is Holy.  Sinners cannot approach a Holy God because God is holy.

Sinners cannot approach a holy God.  They need one to stand in their place and go to God on their behalf.  That is why God established a priest in the Old Testament and today Jesus is that priest.   I’m going to read from Hebrews chapter seven.  Hebrews is in the New Testament and it tells us about the Old Testament priesthood and it also tells us about the Lord Jesus Christ.

By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.  And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.  Hebrews 7:22-26

In other words Old Testament priests kept on dying and so they had to have more priests to stand before God, but Jesus is eternal – from eternity past to eternity future and has an unchangeable priesthood.  He continues as a priest and Jesus is the priest.  Jesus is the mediator.  The Bible says there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.  It’s not a saint.  It’s not Mary.  According to the Bible it is man Christ Jesus.  1 Timothy 2:5

What can the great priest do for you?  What can he tell a holy God?  Can he urge God to sweep your sins under the rug and a holy God will say “alright, we’ll sweep them under the rug and forget about them?”   No, there must be satisfaction for sins.  There must be justice for sins.  God is a holy God and every sin must be satisfied before a holy God.  The word of God says without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.  Hebrews 9:22.  That’s what brings us back to Jesus, because Jesus is the offering.

If you read Hebrews 7:27, Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself, notice the truth there.  It is said this is not something that gets offered over and over again as it was in the Old Testament and with the priests of the Old Testament, who had to offer sacrifices even for their own sins before they could offer a sacrifice for the sinner.  Jesus offered one sacrifice and that was sufficient.  He did that once and what did he offer?  He offered up himself. 

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.  Hebrews 9:27-28

Notice that it says he offered and then he bear the sins of many.  He didn’t bear everybody’s sin.  You must ask him to be your sin bearer or his sin bearing is of no value to you.  You must ask him and because he died for all does not mean that all are saved.  He bear the sins of many.  The word of God says Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.  Jesus meets all your needs.  He is a prophet.  He is a priest.  He is a mediator.  He is the author of sacrifices.  He is the offering.  He is the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world and those who would appropriate Jesus great work on their behalf when he died on Calvary, it was a work sufficient to save you, without you doing anything except trusting him.  Jesus said no one cometh to the father but by me.  Those people who have appropriated the work of Jesus Christ on Calvary are completely saved. 

But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  Hebrews 7:24-25

Notice, he can save them to the uttermost.  He is the savior of sinners and once they are saved he supplies everything that you need in your life.  Once you’re saved he is your supplier.  In Hebrews 7:25 it says he liveth to make intercession.  He is the intercessor with the holy God, the Father.  When you are saved you are given a new nature and that new nature has a lot of godly desires – it wants to know the word of God, it loves God’s people, and it wants to see your family and friends get saved.  When you have that new nature you have those new desires, but when you’re saved you still have the old sin nature and it is not eradicated.  You may still covet money or women in your heart.  You may wake up grumpy or many other things.  Jesus is intercessor on your behalf.

If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  1 John 2:1 and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.  1 John 1:7

Jesus meets your every need to satisfy a holy God on your behalf every day that you live.  He is prophet, he is priest, he is mediator, he is offerer, he is the offering, he is the Lamb of God, he is intercessor, and he is the advocate that stands before God on your behalf every day of your life.  His blood cleanses you of every sin every day as you confess your sin to God.

Now that you have your courtroom matters settled how about your daily life?  Moment to moment living.  There are times when you may get lonely or there are times when you might feel that everyone is against you.  There are many, many distraught people in the world.  Oh, that they could realize that Jesus could meet their need.

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.  Hebrews 13:5-6

He is a companion.  “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”  He fills your need for a companion.  He is a comforter.  “I will never forsake thee.”  That is a comfort.  He is a helper.  “The Lord is my helper” the verse says.  I will not fear what man shall do unto me.  Do you realize what great mental strength that is to be able to say “I will not fear what man shall do unto me”?  When you have that kind of mental strength you have the victory as you walk through life, and you have that because Jesus is your helper to put you in that kind of position.

Now how does all this work, this companionship of the Lord Jesus Christ?  How does it actually work in your life?  First, he speaks to you through the word of God.  You read the word of God and these are words of comfort.  These are words of encouragement.  They are words of instruction.  They are words that give you strength and as you read them you realize the strength that you have in the Lord.  When you read the words “the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” they strengthen you.  Then you speak to him through prayer.  Hebrews chapter 4 makes a startling statement.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,  that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:15-16

The Lord Jesus is that high priest.  Notice that is says “let us come boldly to the throne of grace.”  What an amazing thing.  We found out that with a holy God you couldn’t even touch the mountain.  You couldn’t touch the ark, but once you have been saved by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ it says “let us come boldly to the throne of grace.”

The lost think that they can pray to God and maybe through some set of wild circumstances they might even think that God answers their prayer.  It might have been coincidence and they say God answered my prayer.  When you’re saved it says to come boldly and step right in to the throne of grace in your prayer life and speak to Almighty God.  You need no other to speak on your behalf once you belong to him – no saints and no earthly priest.  We come boldly to him.  He is companion.  He is comforter.  He is helper and he is approachable.  He is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother that word of God says.

Companion, comforter, helper, friend and incredibly the word of God says he is also brother.  We have gone from a holy God that could not be approached to the holy God, the Son, who calls us brother.

For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.  Hebrews 2:11    

You want your life to be full, don’t you?  You may sit here and say, “you know, I’m not a Baptist and I just came to watch my kids or my grandchildren” or something like that, but even so you’d have to say you want your life to be full, and not empty.  Physically you feel content when you’ve have enough to eat and drink.  Spiritually you need similar contentment.  Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.  When you have Christ your inner soul should be satisfied because he is the bread of life to satisfy you spiritually like a full stomach satisfies you physically.  He is more than the bread of life.

You ever remember going alone to a strange place?  You’re all alone and you don’t know anybody and you’re in a new place.  You don’t know anybody their.  You know what you think when you get their?  You think I wish I was home.  Hudson Taylor, in a strange land to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, lost his companion, his wife, and immediately after he was stricken with a grave illness.  How much lower can you feel when you can’t do anything and when you can’t even keep active and after having the heartache of losing a loved one?  Was he all empty and distraught and ready to commit suicide?  In his diary, he said he went to the savior and he found the following verse to be true.

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.  John 4:14

Hudson Taylor found Jesus was the bread of life and the water of life and it filled him.  We live in a thirsty time with every fascinating gadget and entertainment known to man, yet humans hit their pillow at night empty.  They go to all kinds of extremes to try to fill the void that’s in their life and sometimes committing suicide.  They need the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the water of life.  He is the bread of life.  He is a companion.  He is a comforter.  He is a helper.  He is a friend.  He is a brother.  Jesus meets your every need.  Not only that, he has a great future for us because of what he is.

Do you know how I would like to live?  I’d like to know that there would be no more wars in the world.  I’d like to know that.  No more war to threaten our country and to take our boys somewhere else to fight and maybe lose their life or lose a limb.  When the prince of peace returns as he promised he would the second time, he is going to crush all the armies and there is not going to be any more war.  The word of God says they learn war no more.  During that time the word of God says the lion will lay down with the lamb .  What a tremendous time of peace.  I think we will enjoy that if you have any kind of sensitive spirit at all.

I’d like to live in a world that has low taxes, no crime, no bugs to ruin the crops, a world of plenty, and a world with a perfect government.  The Bible teaches us that the one who came almost two-thousand years ago is going to come back as a future king and he is going to snuff out the wickedness, and all the wickedness that causes so much trouble and so much grief in the world.  He is going to set up a glorious kingdom on earth with a perfect government that will make the saved deliriously happy to live on this earth.  He is coming – the prince of peace, the king of kings and the Lord of Lords.   

Jesus meets your every need.  He is prophet.  He is priest.  He is a mediator.  He is the offerer.  He is the offering.  He is the Lamb of God.  He is the intercessor.  He is the advocate.  He is companion, comforter, helper, friend, brother, bread of life, water of life, and soon coming prince of peace and king of kings and Lord of Lords.  I left out a whole lot of things besides.  He can be your personal savior if you will just want him and ask him.

If you do not know him as savior and there has never been a day in your life that you said “Lord, I recognize that I’m a sinner and I can’t come before a holy God, but I believe that Jesus is God come in the flesh and I believe that he offered a sacrifice to satisfy God on my behalf.  I’m happy for that.  Lord, please save my soul for all eternity.”  If there has never been a day that you have prayed a prayer something like that and meant it with all your heart and wanted to be saved and repented of your sin and turned to the savior and wanted him, would you do that?  Would you ask him to save your soul right now for all eternity?  If you mean it will all your heart he will do it.  The word of God promises that “him that will come unto me I will in no wise cast out.”  Jesus said it and if you will come to him he will not cast you out.  Will you come to him?  I hope you will do that.  He will meet your every need.  He is your every need.  You are never the same after you have received him because he meets your every need.  Will you receive him?

Easter Sunday – April 11, 1993

1993-04-11 Jesus is all Powerful

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Matthew 28:16-18

Jesus said to his disciples, “meet me at the mountain” and they did.  They fell down before him with a worshipful mind though some were skeptical.  The very first words out of his mouth, as recorded here in this portion of scripture were “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”   That is what he said to his disciples when he met them at the appointed place.

The word “power” includes two ideas.  The first idea is that of an authority or a dominion.  In other words, he has all authority over everything in heaven and in earth.  The second idea in the word power has to do with ability.  He has the ability to move everything and to do everything in heaven and in earth.  He has authority and ability.  For that reason it is said theologically of the Lord Jesus Christ that he is omnipotent, a big word that simply means all powerful.

For the last one-thousand nine-hundred and sixty-six years Christians have honored this Sunday as resurrection Sunday.  It is indeed the real and only super Sunday.   It was the day when Jesus overpowered death, something that no human being could do.  He did.  Modern medicine, as much as it is revered in many circles, cannot even extend the life of a human being significantly from what it was three-thousand years ago, let alone bring back someone who has been dead for a few days.  That is impossible for modern medicine.  Jesus did.  Jesus is power.  If there is anything you ought to know, it is that Jesus is all power.

First of all Jesus is the power to create.  Jesus is God the son from eternity past and as God the son from eternity past the Lord Jesus Christ created all things.  You may never have heard that before, but the Bible tells us that. 

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  John 1:3

This Jesus, who is the creator of heaven and earth, is the creator of all things.

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.  Colossians 1:15-20

 As you look at this passage there is no doubt of who is spoken of here.  In verse 20 it says having made peace through the blood of his cross.   That can only be Lord Jesus Christ.  So this is not speaking about God the father.  In verse 19 it said it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.  It is talking about the Father and he is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ as the him in this passage.  Verse 15 says, Who is the image of the invisible God.  In other words, Jesus, God the son, from eternity past became man and became the image of what is invisible.  Almighty God, as a spirit, is invisible, but we have Jesus who becomes the image of the invisible God.  Verse 16 speaks about the Lord Jesus Christ that by him were all things created.  That is exactly as the verse in John 1, in that all things were created by him and for him.

Another passage of scripture that tells us this same truth that Jesus is the creator says:

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.  Hebrews 1: 1-2

There are three passages of scripture that leave no doubt that the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, was God the creator of all things in heaven and in earth.  Jesus is power.

The creation that he did ought to overwhelm every one of us as we think of the power of God.  It ought to every day of our life.  Think about it when you think about art.  Most art and the most beautiful of things that would capture your imagination are probably a human being trying to capture the beauty of what God has already painted in the sea, in the lakes, in the mountains, in the sunsets, and in other various kinds of things.  When man creates something himself it does not have that kind of serenity.

Jesus is power.  He is the power to create.  There is so many things we take for granted like sunsets, that attest to the power of God. 

The simplest thing that attests to the power of God is an egg.  If you gather up all the eggs from a large chicken farm and take one that was fertilized you would find a germ of life.  You could put that fertilized egg with all the rest of the eggs in a refrigerator and after a few days you could eat that egg.  You could crack it open and make scrambled eggs.  That egg that had the germ of life in it wouldn’t be any different than the eggs that were not fertilized.  They’d all be the same, they’d all be eaten and there wouldn’t be any difference at all, but in certain eggs that were fertile was a germ of life.  Nobody could find that germ.  Nobody could open up that egg and put a microscope on it and look and say, “there it is, there is the germ of life that is going to make this egg, and instead of a meal, a new chicken.”  They can’t find it. 

That egg, with its yellow yoke and white inside is going to become a rooster or a hen, but only when the mother hen sits on it and providing it just the right amount of warmth will that germ of life come into being.  At the appointed time that egg shell will crack open and there will be new life.  The Lord gives that germ of life and the Lord brings new life and nobody can see where it is or duplicate it.  He has power to create.  There is a million different ways that God creates new life every day with all kinds of different creatures, each unique and all miraculous. 

Jesus is God.  Jesus is power.  He is the power to create.  But also he is the power to control.

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.  Colossians 1:17  Consist means that all things are held together by the Lord Jesus Christ.  Everything in the universe, and everything in the world, and everything in this room is held together by the Lord Jesus Christ.  He has the power to control.  Just the simplest things tell us that.  Back on March 14 and 15^th the Lord changed the behavior of a lot of people.  You know how he did it?  He changed the behavior of a lot of people all the way down from below Cuba all the way up into Canada just by adding a couple feet more of snow to a storm than he usually does.   He changed the behavior of people and what they did in those days.  Over a hundred people died because of that storm and many other things were affected because of that storm in which the Lord decided it would snow a little bit more than usual.  What if he had decided to put six more feet down than usual?  He has the power to control everything that goes on.

A lot of people don’t like to believe that.  A lot of people like to believe that I’m my own man and I control my own destiny, but when their life hangs in the balance, or when they’re in the hospital from a heart attack, or whether facing a bypass surgery, or when they’ve been in an automobile accident and they don’t know whether they’ll live or die what do they do?  They call out to God to control their physical destiny don’t they?    Because now they know they don’t have control of their physical destiny.  Jesus is the power to control.

Let’s take that chicken that just hatched.  That chicken’s going to grow.  Here’s a question.   Who’s going to make that chicken grow?  Is the farmer going to make that chicken grow?  Nope.  Is the scientist going to make that chicken grow?  Chickens used to grow long before there was a scientist.  How about chance?  You say that’s what they always do.  They always grow.  They hatch and then they grow.  That’s the way it is.  It’s not God that makes them grow.  That thing is going to grow into a full size rooster, but what is it that makes it grow into a full size rooster.  There is another question that comes right along with it.  What is going to make it stop growing?

Think about that rooster for a minute.  It’s common for kids and even older people to say when someone is afraid to do something that “you’re chicken.”  I think that’s a little bit of a bad rap for a chicken.  If you were a foot tall you’d be afraid too right?  Let’s suppose that whatever makes that chicken grow doesn’t stop.  Let’s suppose that chicken grows to be ten foot tall and four-hundred pounds and its feet are three foot wide with three inch claws on each foot.  Let’s suppose that big old rooster likes to walk down through your neighborhood and peck on humans.  Now who’s chicken? 

You see, Jesus controls the growth rate of chickens.  He gives them the power to grow to begin with and then he stops them from growing at the right time.  He controls all things.  I’m glad that he stops certain things from growing.  I’m glad he stops rats from growing.  I’m glad he stops mosquitoes from growing.  Could you imagine if a mosquito could now grow to the size of a quarter instead of the little speck that they are?   Could you imagine if ten of them were coming after you at once?  You’re happy that they don’t grow any bigger than that.  It is the Lord that controls the growth of all things.

Once when Pharaoh, the most powerful ruler in the world, did not do God’s will, God controlled the amount of flies that were in his dominion.  God controlled the amount of frogs and he made it miserable for Egypt.  Jesus has the power to control and he has the power to control you.  He has the power to control every single thing about you.

Don’t underestimate the extents of power of God.  It is also wonderfully illustrated in his absolute precision over large objects like planets.  Outside of this earth there are all kinds of planets spinning around out there.  Mercury is three thousand miles in diameter and a little bigger than the moon.  Pluto is out there so far and is four billion miles from the sun.  That is a big universe that God has created and that is just our little corner.  Saturn is seventy-four thousand miles in diameter and seven times bigger than earth.  Our earth is only twenty-five thousand miles in diameter.  Every single one of those planets is moving in precision down to the very minute.  Almighty God is so precise with the planets and with the sun that they can write in a book that sunrise is this minute today and it will be different the next day and you can set your clock to it.

Jesus has the power to create.  He has the power to control, and he has the power to condemn.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  John 3:18

Do you know what that verse says?  That verse says that every person who has not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ unto their savior and in other words been born again is condemned already.  You are under the condemnation of God and the God that created you and all the worlds has the power to condemn you to eternal fire in Hell.  He has that power. He is the creator.  All things were made by him and all things were made for him and if you will not be for him he has the power to condemn you to everlasting Hell.

Jesus also gave this illustration when he said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?  and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” Matthew 7:22

They were religious.  They thought they were doing something for Jesus and said, “I did a lot of good works.”  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.  Matthew 7:23.  Jesus has the power to condemn those that will not receive him as their savior.

Jesus is all power.  Jesus has the power to come back to life.  You may say that you don’t believe that Jesus created the sun, the earth and all the billions of stars.  You may say you believe in evolution.  You’ll have to pardon me friend about this because that stretches the mind of all credulity.  Here’s why I say that.  The evolutionist has to take a position and if they are going to think logically they’d have to say that once upon a time there was nothing.  If evolution started where did it start from?  Think about nothing for a moment.  It’s easy for some of you, but think about it – is there nothing between you and me?

There is a whole lot of something between us right now.  What is it?  There is air.  Air is not nothing.  There is a lot more to air and not only air, but heat or lack of heat between us.  As we look at each other we may say there is nothing there, but there is air and air also has gravity and air also has smell.  There is light or lack of light.  There is a whole lot of things there in air.  Not only that, but there are radio waves and television waves coming through here.  All of those things are in this room.  The air that is between us has a certain pressure upon us that some might say holds us together.  We know it is Jesus that holds us together.  The evolutionist says once upon a time there was nothing and not even air.  Not even oxygen.  That is what the evolutionist has to come up with if everything evolved.  They have to say that somehow nothing formed itself into something.  That is amazing right?  Absolutely nothing became something.

Not only did nothing become something, but that something exploded.  Here’s the thing about the explosion.  Out of this explosion that was originally nothing came billions of stars and these planets and they spun around in precision.  That is quite a story.  That is quite something to believe.  I’m not going to argue with the evolutionist.  The evolutionist might think it makes sense to him and explosions always create solar systems.  I’m going to simply say this.  Jesus came back from the dead proving he had the power over death and life.  Jesus claimed that he was God and he proved it by raising from the dead.

Jesus stood on that mountain with his disciples and he said to them, “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”   It means all authority and all ability and his presence on that mountain proved that what he said was true that he had all power.  When he came back to life he proved he was all power.  Someone might say that they don’t believe that and that Jesus was just a man.  The power to come back to life from the dead proves those first three points, and that he had the power to create, the power to control, and the power to condemn.  It was proved with a multitude of witnesses.  Those same people that he said “all power is given unto me” had seen him brutally beaten.  His back was opened up thirty-nine times by the scourging whip.  Those open wounds of blood on his back then became the place where they placed the cross for him to carry and the power of the whip and the loss of blood weakened him so greatly that one had to come and carry it for him.  The witnesses who saw this bloodied person, whose head was also a pulp from being beaten on, nailed onto the cross and the spikes driven though his hands and feet.  They saw him hang there for hours and they saw him die that death.

Someone might raise the question that if he was all power why did he die?  Therein is the great work of salvation.  A man lays down his life for his friends.  His sacrifice paid my sin debt to God when I accepted him as my savior.  That is why he died.  He died in my place and he died for me.  They saw him die.  That dead body was taken off the cross and wrapped from head to toe and they laid it in a tomb.  They sealed the tomb with a boulder and they put the kings seal on the boulder and that seal said it would be against the law to break the seal and open that tomb for any reason.  Just to make sure nobody stole the body they set the Roman army in front of it so that the boulder could not be moved.  After three days the boulder was gone from the mouth of the tomb and the seal was broken and the army was no where to be found and the body was gone.  You know the interesting thing about that?  There wasn’t any investigation.  There wasn’t any charge.  They just left the whole matter alone.  No one was charged with stealing that body because that body wasn’t stolen.  That body had come back to life.

The word of God tells us there were five-hundred men who witnessed the bodily resurrection of Christ and that here he was alive in the body.  When the writer wrote that portion of scripture it says those five-hundred men were “most of which are still alive today.”  In other words they could dispute it and say there aren’t five-hundred that saw him.  Those disciples that heard him say these words “all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” saw him do what no man had ever done.  They saw him ascend on up into the clouds and up into heaven.  They witnessed his power.  He did it by his power and from that day until this and starting with the apostle Peter at Pentecost the resurrection of Jesus Christ has been preached and resurrection Sunday has been observed proving that Jesus is all power.

Have you humbled yourself before his power?  Have you called on him to save your soul for all eternity?  He can do it once and for all if you’ll believe on him and trust that his sacrifice saves you.  You don’t need anything else.  You don’t need works.  You don’t need church membership. You don’t need anything else.  Jesus is powerful to save your soul for all eternity if you will humbly come before him as a sinner and request that he do just that.  If you’ve done that I would ask you this question.  Are you in awe of the power of God every day?  If you are it changes your behavior.  You are never the same.  When you forget his power you live your life your way.  When you are in awe of his power you are subject to him and your behavior shows it. 

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.  Daniel 12:1

There cannot be anything more important then to be found written in the book.  Even if you didn’t want to serve Jesus and even if for selfish reasons you would still want to be found written in the book.  This tells us something about God.  God keeps records.

2006-11-05 Is Your Name Written in the Book Dan 12:12 Pt 55

Would you consider the setting of this statement about people being delivered if they were found written in the book.  We have been informed in previous verses of chapter eleven that this is at the time of the end.  It is a time still future at the time of the end of the world.  Chapter 11:40 says “at the time of the end.”  We have been told that in the time of the end the most evil of persons who has ever been on the face of this earth will reign as the king over all the world during that time. Look again at Daniel 12:1.  It says “there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.”  It’s going to be worse than it’s ever been for people dying and being killed and all kinds of bad things happening to people.  Therefore, if you consider the horror that’s going to go on for seven years of the tribulation and the great tribulation and the terrible time for everybody upon the face of the earth, you want your name in the book.

Deliverance is promised for those whose names are in the book.  You would be the worst fool to not want your name in the book.  Do you know anything about that book?  Is your name written in that book?  Do you know whether your name is written in that book?  You better give this some significant thought.  This is God telling us that there is a book with names.  This is not your friend telling you what he or she thinks God is like.  This is not some phony weak kneed minister telling mourners at a funeral that he or she is up there looking down.  This is almighty God telling us that there is a book.  You would be the worst of fools to not want your name in that book.  Here’s why:

1.)  The negative is dreadful beyond comprehension. 

If your name is not written in the book and you lived at the time of the end you would experience the absolute horror of the tribulation.  How bad is it?  It’s summed up in Daniel 12:1 as “there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.”   I don’t know how young people can understand it, because you are living in a time of luxury when everything is good and when you think it’s bad, it’s good.  You’re not being carted off in cattle cars to be put in gas chambers.  The Bible tells us there is a time coming that’s worse than that and you would have to go through it if you’re name was not written in the book.  If you’re name was not written in the book you would think that the most evil man in all the history of the world was the best thing that ever happened to the world.  Not only that, but if your name was not written in the book, and you got into that time of horror, you would worship the devil.  You would take his mark.  You would follow his religion – the mark of the beast – 666.  You say, “Oh, no.  I would never, never, never worship the devil.”  Oh yes you would, and I can prove it to you.  Anyone who rejects Christ, and anyone who does not put Christ first in their life will worship the devil – guaranteed.

The horrible, stupid, wicked thinking that rejects Christ as savior will lead you to worship the devil.  You see, if you don’t worship the devil, and you don’t take his mark you won’t be able to buy groceries.  You won’t be able to buy McDonalds.  You won’t be able to buy beer.  You won’t be able to buy clothes.  You won’t be able to buy heat for your house and you will easily say, “God wants me to take care of my family first” and you will worship the devil, who gives you the mark, which gives you the ability to buy.

You will see that your friends and relatives have all taken the mark and everyone else is taking the mark and you won’t hesitate to want to be with friends and family.  You will say, “My place is with my family.”  You will take the mark and you will think antichrist is God and that he is wonderfully providing for you.  I know you will do that because the Bible teaches it.

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.  2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

They would rather have unrighteousness than they would have truth.  They reject Jesus Christ as their savior and if these folks go into the tribulation period they will believe antichrist because God will send them strong delusion.  Once you have rejected Jesus Christ as your savior, you’ve done a terrible thing, and you have to worry about God being your enemy.  He will send strong delusion that they will believe the devil and worship the devil.  So, if you reject Christ as your savior you will believe whatever insane thinking the world currently promotes and you will follow all the fools who worship antichrist.  You will be convinced that the worst people on the earth are those people that preach Christ.  You would be the worst of fools to not want your name written in the book.

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.  Revelation 20:11

When a person stands before almighty God at the great white throne, this is going to be so scary that at the face of the Lord on the throne all of heaven and all of earth is just going to disappear.  Can you imagine that?  They are going to disappear at just seeing the face.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.  Revelation 20:12-15

The negative is dreadful beyond comprehension.  Whether you were to live going into that time such as there never was, or not, this passage is certainly for all the fools of all time that reject the Lord Jesus Christ.  Here we see at the last judgment there are books and another book, the book of life.  There is more than one book that was opened.  They were judged according to their works which has nothing to do with whether they are going to be cast into the lake of fire.  Being judged according to their works has to do with the severity of their punishment in everlasting hell.

We see books, and another book.  This means God keeps books.  Did you know that God keeps books?  He doesn’t have to because he knows everything, but he does keep books on everybody.  He has books that keep all the records of the unsaved.  Every word, every thought and every deed is there.  God keeps a book on every single person.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them.   Revelation 20:13

Here is what death and hell means.  Death means the body that died and is in the grave. Hell means the souls that were in hell are joined with the body that was in the grave and they are delivered up, as in the resurrection of the damned.

And they were judged every man according to their works.  Revelation 20:13

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  Revelation 20:14

If you were in this condition, after you were judged according to your works, you are cast into the lake of fire.  Everyone is cast into the lake of fire that stands before this judgment.  This is the second death.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.  Revelation 20:14

Why are you cast into the lake of fire?  Your name is not written in the book of life.  It has nothing to do with your works.  It is because your name was not found written in the book of life.  It is because their name is not their.  They are judged out of the books according to their works to see if they are going to be worse off then some other people in the lake of fire.

If your name is not written in the book of life you go to the lake of fire forever.  Torments are night and day forever.  You would be the worst of fools to not want your name written in the book.  The negative is dreadful beyond comprehension.  God has the books on you.  It is amazing how much is recorded about us by mere humans and about how much they know about us.  God’s books record everything.  It is not just financial dealings, but everything that you don’t want anyone else in the world to know.  God has recorded and it will be revealed at the great white throne judgment – every thought, every word, every deed – if your name is not written in the book of life.

If your name is written in the book of life Jesus blood has washed all the horrible secret sins away and has buried them in the deepest sea forever.  That’s mighty good isn’t it?  That would be enough reason to get saved – just for that.  You would be the worst of fools to not want your name written in the book.  The Lord has books and one of those books is called the book of the living.  Do you know what is so dreadful about the book of the living?

Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. Psalm 69:28

How does this work?  You are born into this world and you are now living.  Your name is in the book of the living because you are born into this world.  At some point in this life you reject Christ for the last time.  You may be thirteen years old when you reject Christ for the last time.  You heard the invitation given, and you could come to be saved, but you reject Christ.  Maybe you’re seventeen, twenty-five or forty-five when you reject Christ for the last time.  The Lord is drawing that person, and he wants that person saved, but they put it off.  Some put if off a couple of times and some put if off for years and it is the last time.  You reject him for the last time and the book is opened to your name when it is the last time and your name is blotted out of the book of the living.  Can you imagine what a solemn thing that is to have your name blotted out of the book?

Even though your name is blotted out of the book of the living there are still other books that have recorded all your sins and they continue to record your sins until the day you die and the longer you live there are more sins to be recorded against you and to be rehearsed at the great white throne where you will be trembling before the face, before that face which heaven and earth departed.  You will not be able to hide how you lusted to fornicate.  You will not be able to hide all the lies, all the dirty words, and all the dirty thoughts.  You will shake and you will quake and your lips will quiver uncontrollably.  You can’t hide from God or the wrath of the lamb.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God  Revelation 20:12

That means that the little guy in life and the guy that’s got a lot of money and influence stand before God.   You would be the worst of fools to not want your name written in the book.  I think someone fell into that category this very morning and walked out that door.  Maybe he thought he was saved and maybe he thought that this isn’t the way it should be preached.  Decisions get made in services like this that are eternal.

2.)  The affirmative leads to glory.

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.  Daniel 12:1

Who is going to be delivered during that awful time?  It is thy people or everyone that shall be found written in the book.  If their name is written in the book they shall be delivered.  I’m going to give you an important truth.  There is something important to understand in the Christian life.  Jesus suffered first, then glory.  It is the same with those who are bought by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation.

If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  Romans 8:17-18

For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.  Philippians 1:29

There is suffering in the Christian life and then there is glory to follow.   You have a time of suffering and then you have glory later.

Let me explain what the last part of Daniel 12:1 teaches when it says “at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”  As of today, in 2006, Israel has returned in part to their land that God has promised them, but as a whole they have not received the messiah, Jesus the Christ.  There are though a tiny few that have and witness to their unbelieving brethren over there.  The Jews today are in Israel and they are in part of the land that Almighty God promised them and they are there though in great conflict with the Muslim world.  Having said all that, do you know what the next Bible prophecy is to be fulfilled?  The next prophetic event is when the saved are caught up to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds and then are taken up into heaven.  It is called the Rapture.  We wait for that.

After the saved are out of the world antichrist will engineer a peace pact for Israel for seven years and God will then complete his will for the Jews.  God is going to raise up two great prophets to preach the everlasting gospel and then there will be 144,000 of the Jews, or 12,000 from each tribe, who will also go about to preach the gospel and one-third of the population of Israel will believe and when you believe what happens?  Your name is written in the book of life.  It is not blotted out.  During this time a great number of non-Jews will also get saved.

And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.  And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.  Zechariah 13:8-9

Do you know when God refines an individual he comes up with a gem?  He says this about them.  He is going to bring them through this great tribulation and this terrible time, and he is going to deliver them if their names are written in the book of life.  He is going to deliver them so that they are not going to die during this time.  Two-thirds are going to die, but will deliver those whose names are written in the book.  One of the reasons God’s people have trials in their life is when God refines us and he makes us better spiritually.  We don’t chose it because we don’t want to go through the refining fire, but the Lord brings us through it because it is better for us spiritually and the reason it is better for us spiritually is because when things are going bad and we are frustrated it drives us to pray more.  When we pray more we think of some of the sins in our life that might be holding back blessings from God and then we get refined because we say we have to live righteously before a holy God.  That is the refining that takes place.  Remember, trials first and then glory, glory, glory, and glory.  That is God’s way.

The one-third of the Jews whose names are written in the book, the Lord is going to see them safely through the most treacherous time on the face of the earth and in the history of the world.  When he brings them through that seven years safely, Jesus is going to return from heaven with all the saved of all ages.  He is going to return at the battle of Armageddon and all the ungodly will be gathered against him and he is going to crush them and he is going to take the antichrist and false prophet and throw them alive into hell fire.  All of the unsaved people in the world are going to be killed by the Lord.  They’ll all be dead and the only thing that’s going to be left on the earth are the people who lived through the tribulation, and whose names where written in the book.  They will be Jews for Jerusalem and Israel and gentiles who were saved for the rest of the world.

Those folks who lived through the tribulation, will be part of Jesus kingdom, when he sets up a kingdom over all the world.  Children will be born to all the folks who survived the tribulation.  There will be righteous living and all the folks that came through the tribulation will be refined by fire.  They will be washed in the blood of the lord Jesus Christ and they will be zealous Christians for the Lord who appreciate the great things he has done.  They will be the human being that start to populate the earth.  There will be no more lying politicians.  There will be no more high taxes.  There will be no more high gas prices.  There will be no more National Geographic showing evolution and animals chasing down helpless deer to tear them apart.  There will be no more bullies getting away with harm and murder.  There will be peace and love and plenty to eat.  When Jesus returns to earth and he is king over all the world little daughters and granddaughters will be petting lions and grizzlies and fuzzy white polar bears.

It’s good to be saved.  It’s so good to be on the glory road.  It’s so good to have all your sins washed away by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and buried in the deepest sea and never to be remembered again.  It’s so good to have your name written in the book of life.  Do you know how to get your name written in the book of life?  You humbly bow before Jesus and say “Lord, I’m a sinner. My sins have sinned against a holy God”  That’s the first thing you do.  To get your name written in the book of life you must understand that Jesus is God from eternity past and he became man and he took your place on the cross and he was punished on the cross for your sins.

You can’t do anything about your sins, but Jesus did.  He satisfied the justice of God for your sins.  You know how to get your name written in the book of life?  You get your name written in the book of life by praying to the Lord and saying “Lord, I’m a sinner, but I believe that Jesus died for my sins and if I believe in him he’ll wash all my sins away and bury them in the deepest sea, and that sounds good to me. Lord, please save me based on my belief.  I can’t do anything to save myself.”  The Bible says “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Are you willing to do that today?  You’d be a fool to not want your name written in the book of life.  It’s so bad to have it blotted out and it’s so good to be in glory.

I want to invite you, right now,  to have your name written in the book of life.  If you would say right now, whether you’re young or whether you are old, “Lord God of heaven, please don’t blot my name out of the book of life.  Please add my name to the book of those that are saved. Lord, I believe I’m a sinner that needs to be saved.”  Would you pray that and mean it with all your heart.  “Lord, I believe that Jesus took all my sin when he died on the cross.”  Would you believe that with all your heart?  “Lord, I believe that Jesus was God himself, the creator, who never sinned, and because he never sinned he could take my place and take my sin.”    Would you pray that and believe it with all your heart?  “Lord, please save me because I believe you. Please save me and make me a new creature because I totally believe you.” Would you pray that prayer right now?

There were many people that Jesus himself could not move. 

1999-04-18 People that Jesus Could not Move John 11

1)  Jesus could not move the chief priests and Pharisees.

But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.  John 11:46-48

Before they made this statement Jesus had just raised the dead and these men were living and moving about in their life and touching shoulders with God the creator.  God the son was in their midst.  These men are so full of themselves and so full of their ways that they cannot recognize God the son on earth with them even when he raised the dead.

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.  John 11:44

There were witnesses to Jesus bringing Lazarus from the dead and look at this incredible question and statement that these men make after this transpired.  They did not say that this was not a miracle, but asked “What are we going to do, he’s doing all these miracles?”  Even miracles could not move these men.  If Jesus, raising a dead man four days in the grave could not move these men, what could?   Why is it that men will not be moved even by an incredible miracle such at this?

If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.  John 11:48

Here is a great reason why a miracle didn’t move these men.  To believe on him could bring change.  If they let him alone men would believe on him and the Romans coming to take away their place was a threat of change whether it was true or not.  They did not want a change.  This is why so many people seal their doom in hell.   They do not want any change to take place in their life.

Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.  John 12:42

Cowardess is a reason many things are done wrong.  There was fear that they would be put out of the synagogue and there was fear that this would bring change in their life and change they did not want and because of that they would not take the stand for the Lord Jesus Christ.

2)  Jesus could not move the rich young ruler.

And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?  Mark 10:17

And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.  Mark 10:22

Here is a young man that definitely wanted eternal life and he approaches Jesus running and then kneeling.  We would think this would be the ideal situation.  Very seldom does a person approach us about salvation asking, “Can you tell me how to get saved?”  Jesus said to seek the lost because they don’t come to us and this is a rare case of one coming to the Lord Jesus Christ.  We see that he came running to the right person and yet at the end of it all he doesn’t get eternal life, but goes away sad.  He went away without salvation.

Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.  Mark 10:19-21

You couldn’t get a better situation than this.  He went to the right person; he went to the son of God; he asked him the right question; and not only that but Jesus loved him.  Why is it that Jesus himself, God, could not move this fellow that wanted eternal life and could not move him to repentance?  The answer is simply he wanted to keep his stuff.  He wanted to keep his sin.  His biggest problem was he could not be honest with his own heart and I believe that is the biggest problem with most people – Christians who won’t repent and sinners who won’t repent.

One of the commandments is on covetousness and I noticed in this account he doesn’t even let Jesus get there before he is telling Jesus he is alright.  When Jesus tells him of the commandments he tells him, “I’ve done those. I’m good.”   He couldn’t be honest with his own heart that he was a sinner.  Anyone who speaks with most people about their soul today, even if that person doesn’t go to church, will say they are alright.  The reason most people can’t get saved is they can’t get to the place where they say, “I’m a sinner.  I desperately need salvation.”  They are all trying to convince themselves they are alright.  People cannot be honest with their own heart that they are a sinner before almighty God.

He could not admit to himself that he was covetous – this rich young ruler. A person must admit that they are a sinner before they can have eternal life.  He would not admit that.  Jesus put it to the test.  The test is not good intentions.  Could you give away all your stuff?  Sure.  That is good intentions.  So Jesus speaks to this man, who cannot admit that he is covetous, that things mean everything to him.  Jesus says to sell it all, give it to the poor, and come and follow me.  He put it to the test that revealed that the man was a sinner and he went away sad.  This seems harsh, but Jesus knows the heart of the person he is speaking to and he knows that he would not admit his sin. He knows that he could not come to Jesus as a sinner so Jesus demonstrated to him where his sin was and he would not accept it.

There are people who come to a church service, and they would really truly like to be assured of heaven, but when they are faced with their sin, they do not want to part with their sin.  They do not want to have a life that does not include the enjoyment of their sin.  Many of fine looking man could sit in a church service like this and realize he needs to be saved, but he knows that a crucial strategy of his business dealing is to misrepresent the truth.  He knows that his comfortable living has been built on lies and as much as he would like to be saved he does not want to jeopardize the current status of his income and of his life and so he leaves sad and doomed for hell.

A pastor of a large church has a large youth program and he knows that good crowds of young people will come if the music is a lot like the devils music that they are used to.  He knows that if he stands for righteousness and stops that kind of sound of music in his church that the brats in the youth group will complain to their parents and the parents will put up a stink and make trouble, and make his life miserable.  It really doesn’t matter if you show him that the supposedly Christian musicians are a slightly cleaned up act of the devils crowd and that God has said, “Be ye holy, as I am holy.”   He will have many excuses and he will not reveal his true fears that he really wants to keep his stuff just as it is and just like the rich young ruler kept his.

If Jesus couldn’t move the rich young ruler or the chief priests even with the resurrection of the dead there will be many that we can not move with the word of God.

3)  Jesus could not move Judas.

Judas has a bad reputation.  Judas is not only a name, but it can be used as a term as in “He is a Judas.”  Think on this.  He has that bad reputation because of what he did, but that wasn’t until he made up his mind with finality and it was then that the devil entered into him.  There was a point where Jesus said, “One of you is a devil,” but up until that point in his life he was very much like many people who would enter our doors.  He did not have that reputation until that act of betraying the Lord Jesus Christ.  At some point in his life he made the wrong decision as to the kind of person he would be and to what he would pursue.

Being with Jesus for about three years did not move him from his wicked heart.  He had his heart set, and when it was set there wasn’t anything that Jesus could say or do that would move Judas to change.  Do you find that truly amazing?  Consider for a moment.  Judas, being with Jesus for about three years, could of spent most of one-thousand days with Jesus.  Do you know what Judas observed most of the hours of those one-thousand consecutive days?  He saw Jesus prove that he was God in the flesh.  He saw the miraculous healings, he saw Jesus feed five-thousand from one boy’s lunch, he saw leper’s cleansed,  he saw long-time crippled people restored to perfect strength, and he saw wild men, demon possessed,  cured instantly.  Jesus walked on water and he calmed a raging storm with three words.  He raised the dead.  It almost defies the imagination that a man spending about a thousand days with Jesus would not be moved, but he wasn’t.  There is much more to what Jesus did than what we have in the Bible.

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.  John 21:25

Judas was there to witness those things.  He was also able to observe over these many days and eventually admit that Jesus was sinless.  He heard the most powerful, convicting, and clear preaching and teaching that has ever been done by Jesus, and yet he was not moved.  Why was he not moved?   He had his own agenda.  He had his set ideas and the words of God did not move him from his disastrous course.  Judas liked his ideas more than what Jesus taught.  He liked his ways.

Why is it that preachers will have the worldly sound of music in their church even if they are warned by a godly presentation that shows why it shouldn’t have any part of a Bible believers life?  There are two reasons.  They may like that kind of music themselves.  Their flesh may love it and they are not about to deny themselves what their flesh loves.  The other reason is that they are afraid to risk that change in their church.  If these things are so there are not many who are going to do right.

What would you do if your flesh loves something worldly?  I’ll tell you what you should do.  You should admit it.  You should admit that’s what your flesh loves and that you are drawn to it and every time you’re drawn to it you confess your weakness to your heavenly father.  What you should not do is try to justify it and say that it is actually good.  Two excuses people do in error is to say they are trying to reach people or to say the Holy Spirit led me to do it.

Every child of God will have their struggles over sin and there are two ways you can meet your struggles over sin.  One way is to say, “My flesh has fallen again to this, and I admit it to almighty God and I beg his forgiveness.”   The other way that the Christian can meet their failures in the flesh is to say, “Nobody should judge me about it, it’s not sin.”  One is to admit it and confess it and ask God’s forgiveness, and when you do it again, then confess it again.  The other way is to start to say, “I’m going to justify this, it’s alright.”  It is so important to admit what is wrong because the rich young ruler could not admit his sin and he went away sad and doomed for hell.  He could not admit his covetousness.  To be right with God we must admit and then confess our weakness to him every time we fall.  Confess and get back on the right track.

I trust that you can see that there were people Jesus couldn’t move.  We have the chief priests and the Pharisees that never repented.  They are in hell today.  We have the rich young ruler and Judas, who was with Jesus about a thousand days.  There are people that Jesus couldn’t move and the reason almighty God couldn’t move some people is because he gave them a will and people exercise their will.  It is a sad thing to see the will exercised in an ungodly manner.  However, there are cases of those that are moved to do the right thing.  Consider the apostle Peter.  He also was with Jesus about a thousand days and even with all the teaching that he received at the end of those thousand days he was still lifted up with pride.  Think on this.  Don’t you think it’s incredible that a man that really loved Jesus, who wanted the ways of God, after nine-hundred days of being with Jesus could be lifted up with pride?  You know how he was lifted up with pride?  The Lord said you will deny me.  Peter said he would never deny the Lord.  It was the pride of his heart that he was strong enough not to do that.

If we were to guess, we would think that somebody being that many days with Jesus would’ve grown in grace and humility and a lot more humble than he was, but he was not.  Does that tell us that someone with us for ten years could be more prideful after ten years than they should be?  When they should be more humble, knowing what is in their flesh, and knowing more about themselves, and knowing more about their own heart, they actually become more filled with themselves after ten years.  That was the case with Peter and he had a great fall with tears after he realized what he had done.  He was too embarrassed to return with the rest of the disciples and then he decided to quit the ministry and go back into fishing, but when Jesus called him he returned.

Jesus sent a message to Peter and Peter got the message.  Peter wept over his awful sin.  That is different than those who justify their sin and maintain that it is the Pastor who is the wicked one and has done some awful things to them.  When Peter was confronted by the Lord he did not justify his decision to go back to fishing.  He didn’t give all the reasons and excuses why he should be a fisherman and he could still love Jesus.  When Jesus said, “Feed my sheep,” and it took three times, he finally got it and he finally did what Jesus called him to do.  That’s not the end of the story with Peter.  You would think he learned a great lesson. 

It wasn’t long after Peter got things right, though he preached and thousands of people got saved, that he said some stupid things.  After he preached and after all that victory the Lord came to Peter in a vision and lowered a sheet with all manner of unclean animals the Jews were forbidden to eat.  God said to Peter, “Rise and eat.”  Peter then made the stupid statement of, “Not so Lord.”  Why is that so stupid?  It is because if the Lord tells you to do something you should not contradict.  Do you realize that by Peter contradicting the Lord he demonstrated that he thought he knew the Bible better than God did?  It shows that he thought he had more wisdom in the Bible than God did.  He was using the Bible to contradict the Lord because he did not understand the distinction between law and grace. Even if you don’t understand it, you still obey God.

Peter doesn’t realize what he has said.  You cannot call him Lord and then in the same breath say to the one you bow to as Lord, “Not so.”  You cannot do it, yet Peter did it, and it’s a contradiction.  When you say the word Lord it means you are the Lord and you are the master and whatever you say I believe.  It should then not surprise if people with less biblical training will say, “Pastor is not right about that.”  If Peter did it after many years we can expect people will do likewise. 

The one wonderful thing about Peter though was that after he made his mistakes he always did what he should do, and he got back and served the Lord with all his heart.  He did not let his embarrassment and his stupid mistakes drive him to save face and act like he didn’t do anything wrong.  He didn’t try to develop new doctrines that would justify his behaviors, but he rather humbled his heart and went back to doing the right thing.  That is victory in the Christian life because we will fall and we need to have the humility to recognize we’ve fallen and do the right thing and trust Jesus for the rest.  That’s what gave Peter victory, when the others, like the chief priests and the Pharisees would not consider change, and when the rich young ruler would not admit that he was a sinner.  It’s what gave Peter victory, when Judas was so upset and he had his own agenda that three years of being with Jesus could not impact his heart.  These were people that Jesus couldn’t move, because in their will, they would not be moved.  There is a minority, like Peter, who seeing his own weakness, is what we should be like.  Confess, and keep following, and keep doing right.

If your saved, and you know your saved, God has spoken to your heart.  You know he’s spoken to your heart because you know there is something that struck you and you knew you should do something about it.  Maybe you even hardened yourself to think of ways you could get around it.  The best thing you could do is yield to the Lord and say, “I’m a sinner, and I sin and my flesh is weak.  Lord, please forgive me and give me strength to walk with thee the way I should and I don’t ever want to justify my sin as being ok.  When I sin, I’m going to admit it and say it’s sin and that’s going to end it right there.  I’m going to strive to be what you want me to be.”  Would you do that?

Perhaps your not saved and on your way to heaven.  You could right now be saved for all eternity if you would in the humbleness of your heart say, “Lord, I don’t want to be like that rich young ruler.  I admit that I’m a sinner.  I know that I’m a sinner.  I know my sin will send me to hell, but I believe that Jesus paid for my sin when Jesus, God in the flesh, died on the cross and that sacrifice was for me and it paid for my penalty and I believe it and I trust you Lord, please save me.  Save my soul for all eternity.  I want to be saved today.”  You need to humble your heart and admit that you’re a sinner that needs to be saved, else you can never be saved.  Christians need to admit that they are weak when they slip into the flesh and they need to repent of those things and not justify them.

Why will there be tears in heaven?  The word heaven covers a lot of territory.  First, let’s consider all the ramifications of heaven.

1996-03-17 Why will there be Tears in Heaven Rev 6

1)  When the saved die.    If you are saved the Bible way, by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, you go to heaven.  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.  2 Corinthians 5:8  

What do we know about what heaven is like?  There is some interesting information in the word of God concerning this.   

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.  Revelation 6:9-11

We understand some things here, because this is about heaven, even though it is during the tribulation period.  Notice that the writer, given the words of the Lord, said that he saw the souls.  So, there are souls in heaven today.  If you were there you could see them.  We don’t see souls here.  We see bodies, and we understand there is a soul within you, because you look alive enough to have a soul, but in heaven there are souls that could see the souls.  Not only could he see the souls, but we see that the souls were able to speak.  Not only were they able to speak, but they knew what was going on upon the earth and they spoke out to the Lord and said, “How long before you avenge our death upon those that brought about that death?”  They weren’t avenged yet, so they knew what was going on.  We also see that robes were given unto them.  What does that tell us?  These souls had some kind of embodiment in heaven that they were able to wear robes.  These are some things we know about what it’s like in heaven especially when the soul goes to heaven. 

We also know that Moses and Elijah were in heaven, but when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared at the Mount of Transfiguration they came down and appeared with him and they spoke with Christ.  They also knew what was going on and they knew what was going to happen even though they had been in heaven.  We also hear from the Apostle Paul that said he was taken up to the third heaven and heard words that were unspeakable.  There were some indescribable and glorious things in heaven that he was not able to talk about on earth.

How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.  2 Corinthians 12:4

We can conclude that there is a glorious, eventful heaven existing now where the saved who die immediately appear and their souls are there.  They are with the Lord and they are very much aware of what is happening.  You remember another instance in which the rich man died and Lazarus died, and the rich man was able to see out of hell and into heaven?  At least at first when he got to hell he was able to see, and see into heaven and see that Lazarus was in heaven.  They are very much aware of what was going on.

2)  The saved, if they don’t die are raptured when the Lord Jesus Christ meets them in the air and he takes them out of this world and into heaven.  They will go in resurrected bodies that are like the Lord Jesus Christ and then soon after the rapture takes place will be the judgment seat of Christ in heaven while the tribulation takes place on earth.

3)  After seven years of the saved being in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ during the tribulation, the saved will return to this earth with Christ.  Many thousands of years ago a great man of God by the name of Enoch said, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten-thousands of his saints.”  Jude 1:14.  So, the saved will return to this earth with Christ.

4)  The saved will reign on earth with Christ for a thousand years.  It will be a glorious earth for one-thousand years with Jesus being king over all the earth out of Jerusalem.

5)  At the end of the thousand years there will be the great white throne judgment.  This is a judgment of which all the sinners who never received the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior are going to appear before God to account for their life and then be thrown into the lake of fire for ever and ever. 

6)  The eternal state.  It is what’s going to happen ever after the great white throne judgment and for the saved it is the new heaven and new earth.  These are made out of very real material.  It is glorious and beautiful material.

Why did I give you all that information?  Because the question is why will there be tears in heaven.  Heaven is a term that covers a lot of territory.  It is presently the throne of God.  There is a heaven where the saved, when they die, will reside.  The souls of men are there today and the angels are there.  It covers everything all the way through the eternal state, the new heaven, and the new earth.  There is therefore more to the concept of heaven than meets the eye.  Heaven is more than just “I die. I go to heaven.  I wake up wide-eyed.  I say glory.  I hear the angels sing. I sit down in a comfortable chair and I stare out into space forever after.”

You say, “Preacher I’m waiting.  Where do the tears come from?  Isn’t heaven so wonderful?  We’re going to be smiling the whole time.  We couldn’t possibly have tears.”

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.  Revelation 7:13-17

The word of God says that these that came out of the tribulation, now in heaven, God shall wipe away the tears from their eyes.  That word “shall” is a word that is future.  The setting of these verses is in the tribulation and it is apparently in the future when the tears will be wiped away.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.  Revelation 21:1-4

You would have to say up until this point, where God shall wire away all tears from their eyes, there is a possibility of tears because at this point he says he will wipe away all tears from their eyes.  But from this point on, which is the beginning of the eternal state, and what we call the new heaven and new earth, tears and sorrow and pain are dismissed forever after and never even remembered again.  They are gone.  So when and where could the tears come? 

We can only make and educated conjecture as the Bible does not give us exact descriptions on this matter, but let’s go backward to see where the tears could come from.  We’ll go backward chronologically from the new heaven and new earth at the point where he says all tears will be wiped away.   What do we see takes place just before this happens – just before the new heaven and the new earth?  What takes place before God says that there will be no tears?  It is the white throne judgment.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: Revelation 20:15- Revelation 21:1

It is right after this that he says that all tears will be gone forever.  Could we be crying at the great white throne?  We are not told, but you could see a very real possibility of such a thing.  How do I get that?  God tells us in these verses the very thoughts following the description of the white throne – the very thoughts that come next.  After God tells us about the white throne he said he will wipe away all tears.  That could be more than just a generalization.  Consider this:  if Jesus, God the son, standing upon this earth, and one who did no sin, wept because of man’s situation while on earth, we could weep at the great white throne.  We could weep as we saw our friends and our loved ones thrown into the lake of fire with no remedy.  We could weep.

If the souls, the martyrs from the great tribulation, in heaven had emotion enough to desire retribution for their earthly tormentors, we could well be greatly saddened when someone at the great white throne judgment gives account for their life and talks about their association with us and we hear that they wanted nothing to do with Christ because they didn’t think Christianity was any good because we lived a hypocritical life.  We may well weep over that.  Or they talk about their association with us and we never gave them the opportunity to receive Christ as savior.  We might well weep over that.  If Jesus wept while here on earth we may well weep.  I can’t say it’s absolutely certain, but if you see the promise to wipe away the tears is right on the heals of the great white throne and you realize that the great white throne judgment is where your friends are sinners and your relatives, who are lost, are going to give an account of every single thing in their life, and then when they are done giving the account they are going to be thrown into the lake of fire forever we could get very emotional about that.

Jesus wept over the condition and over unbelief.  The saints in heaven had emotion.  It looks very possible at this time that you could shed tears for any number of reasons.  The Bible tells us that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.  It is going to be a very emotional time when people are cast into the lake of fire.  I can’t imagine how long the great white throne judgment will last.  It is going to be some incredible event.  If you’re not saved that is going to be one horrific time for you.  The shining brightness of the glory of Jesus Christ sitting on the throne and then you see others go before him and then cast into hell and then you have to give an account of why you never received him as savior.  That is very thought provoking isn’t it?

What precedes all this and the great white throne judgment?

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.   Revelation 20:6-8

What do we see here?  It is that the glorified saints, the people who were saved during the church age, die and go to be with Jesus in heaven.  Some of them are raptured and they go to be with Jesus in heaven and after seven years of tribulation on earth these come back with Jesus and reign upon this earth and they are the controlling government of the earth and towards the end of the thousand years Satan is loosed and there are still people who are unbelievers during that time.  These people are deceived by Satan and follow Satan and almighty God snuffs them out.  You know, that could grieve us as we were looking out for some of them that were under us and we wanted the best for them, and we wanted them to be saved and they didn’t and rebelled instead.  If Jesus could weep over the condition of human beings, we too, when we are like him could weep over those kind of situations.

And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.  1 John 2:28

A few verses before this you see the possibility of seduction, the possibility of saved people being drawn away from the savior.  But the word of God goes on to say that we have an anointing in verse 27.  And then it goes on to say we ought to abide in the Lord.  Finally, we get to verse 28 and it says “abide in him.”  What does that mean?  It means you don’t live on your own thoughts.  It means you don’t go your own way.  It means you don’t do your own thing.  It means that you follow the Lord Jesus Christ according to the word of God.  You are in prayer to him; you are taking instruction from the word of God from the local church and you’re living for the Lord Jesus Christ.  It says “abide in him” and it gives a really good reason why we ought to abide in him so that you may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.  So when he comes, we could be ashamed. 

There is no doubt at all then and a very real possibility for saved people that they could be ashamed at his coming. Would that cause you to weep uncontrollably?  There is no doubt about one thing, and that is whether you weep or you don’t weep, there is the distinct possibility that you could be ashamed if you don’t abide in the Lord Jesus Christ.  This teaches that there are very real emotions, even after our body has been changed to be like Christ’s body.  We are still going to have very real emotions.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  1 John 3:2

abide in him; that, when he shall appear  1 John 2:28

These same words, that when he shall appear, say that when he shall appear we will be like him and when we abide in him we won’t be ashamed.  To think that the moment you die, or the moment you are raptured, that it kind of erases everything and you start anew is not quite right.  The Bible warns in this place that if you don’t abide in him now you could be ashamed then.  There are all kinds of possibilities here.  You could be ashamed of where you were when he took you home to heaven.  You could be ashamed of who you were with.  You could be ashamed of what you were doing at the time, but especially that you didn’t live like a saved person and that you lived like a lost person and not abiding in the Lord but living unto yourself.

The possibility of tears in heaven is great until the eternal state and the new heaven and new earth wipes them away.  The Christian needs to think very seriously about his future and what we do now and whether we will be left ashamed when Jesus comes.

If you think you’re alright, that may be the worst thing you’ve ever thought in your life.  The Bible tells us that Jesus knew what was in man.  He knows what’s in your heart.  Jesus knows whether you’re saved or lost.  Jesus knows whether you’re headed for hell right now or whether you are safe in him.  He knows that and you can’t fool him.  You may be able to fool your friends and your relatives, but you’d be absolutely stupid to try and fool them because they are going to know it in the future anyway, because they will be standing in a great throng looking at you at the great white throne judgment before you are cast into hell fire. 

Oh my friend, if that is your state and the condition of your heart is lost and you’ve never received Christ as your savior, would you receive him right now?  Would you ask him to save your soul for all eternity?  Don’t take anything for granted.  If you try to cover it up Jesus said there is going to come a day when it is going to be shouted from the rooftops and everything is going to be revealed.  If you’re lost, do you have enough humility to say, “I don’t have eternal salvation.  I’ve had religion all my life, but I don’t have salvation.  I’ve been religious and I’ve tried to be good.  I know there is a God in heaven and I believe that Jesus died on the cross, but I never got saved the Bible way.”   If that is you would you ask him to save your soul right now?  He will.  Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost and he wants to save you.

    This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.  John 2:11

From this point forth it shows us many truths about what Jesus is like.  Do you care what Jesus is like?  The word of God tells us what he is like.  You should care.  He holds your very breath in his hands.  He holds everything about you in his hands.  Your eternal life he holds in his hands.  You ought to consider what Jesus is like.

1991-10-27 What Jesus is Really Like

1)  He is all powerful in miracles.   An eye witness said this was the beginning of his miracles.  He did miracles.  What does that tell us about Jesus?  It tells us that he is God.  Man can’t do miracles.  Because of this those disciples that were close to him believed on him.  It says these miracles manifested forth his glory.  It is the glory that is befitting God – the fact that he was God.

The glory of God was shown because of the miracles that he did and there were eye witnesses that saw those things and recognized that he was God.  No one but God can do the miracles that Jesus did.

     And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.   John 2:13-19

2)  He is all righteous in action.   Jesus acted against this religious transgression at the temple.  Contrary to modern thought there is one way to carry on a religion of faith.  There is one way, the right way – the only way.  Jesus showed something here.  He showed that he did not tolerate error.  This is the way Jesus wanted religion or faith conducted, one that would not tolerate error.  We live in a time when people tolerate error.  The Lord Jesus does not tolerate a sinful faith.  It’s right, or it isn’t tolerated.  We have religions and large institutions that tolerate things all in the name of money.  This thing was about money too and Jesus wouldn’t tolerate it.  Jesus saw what was wrong and he acted.

Today, we have independent ministries and they are raising money in the name of the church.  You may get many of their letters.  We ought to act on those things and throw them away.  Raising money ought to go through the local church.  The Lord Jesus Christ bothered to tell us that this is how it was done in the word of God.  He told us that the raising of money was through the local church.  We ought to follow it.  We have letters today and people tolerate those kinds of things.  Things you wouldn’t see in the word of God.  Jesus saw and he acted.

The setting here when Jesus goes to the temple is that the Passover was at hand.  That was to be a spiritual time.  They were to remember how almighty God miraculously brought them out of Egypt.  They have a ceremony to remember that and they have seven days.  This was a spiritual time and these men used a spiritual time to make a buck and Jesus wouldn’t tolerate it.  He had a whip and he threw over the tables and he used the whip.

3)  He is prophetic in utterance.    He gave them a powerful sign.

     Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.   Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?  But he spake of the temple of his body.  When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.  John 2:18-22

What sign did he give?  The sign was that if you put him to death, the temple being his body, he would raise it up again in three days.  Do you realize that this was not spoken a couple days before his crucifixion?  This was spoken toward the beginning of his ministry as the Lord was gaining in popularity.  Someone wouldn’t say, “Here is someone that is about to be executed and he is making this prediction.”   Why is this so important?  A clever man could get a prophecy fulfilled by chance.  A clever man in a movement could say, “I’m going to die for this cause and they are going to put me to death.”  If he were to die for the cause five or ten years later people would say, “He predicted it. He always knew he would die for the cause.”  There is something significantly different in this.  He said he would die, but he also said he would rise again three days later.  He not only said he would rise again, but he gave them the exact time. Only almighty God can do that.  That’s why it’s such a powerful and significant sign and it’s why these men strove to put a guard around him when he was put in the tomb.

He is all powerful in miracles, he is all righteous in action, and he is prophetic in utterance.  What affect did this have on the disciples?

    When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.  John 2:22

 For one thing it stuck in their mind.  We have here a teaching technique of Jesus.  He said destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.  It raised the question in the hearer, “What could he possibly mean by that?”  It wasn’t just a statement that laid there dead or flat and they heard it and that was it.  He said it in a way that they would say, “I wonder what he is talking about and his enemies said you can’t do that with the temple.  Look how long it took to build the temple.”  So his disciples are questioning and then when he rose from the dead they remembered that so it stuck in their mind forever after.  When Jesus teaches something it can stay in the mind, not for five minutes till the thing is over, and not for five days, but sometimes for all of life as it did here.  When he arose, what happened was again confirmed in the mind of the disciples that he is God the prophet.  It is just one of many confirmations that the eye witnesses report on in the word of God.  This is some of what Jesus is like.

4)  He is all knowing in salvation.

    Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.  John 2:23-25

This shows his omniscience.  It means he is all knowing.   Jesus knew everything.  It is impossible to hide from God because he is all knowing.  He knows what’s in you better than even you know what’s in you.  These three verses are so crucial if you care about other people and their souls.  I call this non-saving belief.   How does it work?   There is three truths about a person with non-saving belief.  The person believes in Jesus but they are not saved.  They believe in Jesus for some reason and in this particular case they believed in Jesus because of the miracles.  The scripture says “when they saw the miracles which he did.”  They believed in him, but they are lost.  The second truth of non-saving belief is Jesus does not commit to them.  The reason he doesn’t commit is the third truth that he knows what’s in them.  It says “he knew what was in man.”  This is a crucial doctrine.  This denies Calvinism.

You may not know much about Calvinism.  That’s good.  Calvinists’ don’t win souls themselves because they believe that everybody was predestined to be saved, so that you don’t have to work at it very hard, however, when they find somebody they think was predestined to be saved, and they got saved by somebody who didn’t believe in Calvinism, but gave them the gospel and they got saved, they will try to get them over to their side.  Calvinism believes that God selected out before in eternity past who would be saved and the rest would be damned to Hell.  They call it pre-destination. 

This portion of scripture is a strong statement that denies Calvinism because it doesn’t say that Jesus did not commit himself to them because they were not predestinated.  How crucial that is.  The Calvinist had never read this verse and if he did he passed over it and didn’t see what it meant.  If he knew all men somebody could of said, “he knew all men and he could of known that they weren’t selected by God the father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit to begin with to be saved so they didn’t get saved then.”  The next verse says he knew what was in man.  The reason he didn’t commit himself to them was not because they were not selected, but because he knew what was in them.      

If you’re going to get saved, you get saved because you have had a presentation of the word of God, the spirit of God has drawn you, and then you are responsible to say, “Yes.”  It is not because you were selected and couldn’t help yourself be ushered into the kingdom of God.  This verse denies Calvinism and it also denies professing Christianity.   Professing Christianity is those individuals who say they are saved and are not.  Some may believe, but can be lost as lost can be.  Some would say you can’t make that judgment.  I’m sorry, the Bible tells us we can judge by their fruit and we ought to.  We are not like Jesus in that we don’t know what is in man.  Jesus knows exactly what’s in the heart, but we can say that someone has non-saving belief. 

Non-saving belief lacks the two essential elements that you need to be saved.  One is a sincere trust is Christ.  This belief described in this portion of scripture must not have been a sincere trust is Christ.  The second essential element is God’s part.  You cannot be saved because you say, “I’m going to be saved.”  It is God that does the saving.  It is you that does the submitting.  It says that Jesus did not commit himself.  What does it mean “commit himself?”  It’s kind of the same word used for believe in that he didn’t believe in them.  He didn’t believe they were sincere. 

How do you get saved?  God draws you.  It is God’s part.  You don’t manufacture salvation yourself.  You hear the word of God.  Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  Romans 10:17   You hear the word of God and then you make that decision in your heart in sincerity that you are going to trust Christ based on what the Bible says and not on some ulterior motive of which you feel is gain for yourself.  Then, he seals you.

    In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.  Ephesians 1:13

He draws, you hear the word of God, and you say, “Yes, I trust it with all my heart and soul and I mean it,” and he seals.  There is your part, and there’s God’s part, but in Calvinism there is hardly anything that is your part.  In Armenianism  theology they make it so it’s practically all man’s part and none of God’s part, but there is your part and there’s God’s part and if he doesn’t seal you because he knows your heart you stay lost for all eternity.  It doesn’t matter whether you say you believed or whether you were a member the day you got baptized.

This is what Jesus is like and this is how we must truly accept him.  Do you totally, fully believe him?  Do you know your saved and on your way to heaven?  If you don’t would you come to the Lord in truth right now?  Would you ask him to save your soul for all eternity and mean it?  Would you say, “Lord, I mean it. Lord, I understand it.  Lord, I want to be saved.  I want to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ in truth.”  Would you do that in the sincerity of your heart? 

We have been considering the person of Jesus.  There are so many great things about him.  Jesus is creator.  The Bible says by him were all things created and though he is so powerful he cares.  The Bible says he careth for you.  This is certainly demonstrated by the fact that he bled for us.  In his character there is nothing spotted and he is unblemished.  In spite of all of his greatness he is rejected.  Jesus is wrath.

1991-04-07 Jesus is Wrath and Grace

And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting.  John 2:13-14

The temple told us a lot about what God is like.  The fact that God dwelt in the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem tells us that God wants to dwell with his people.  When Jesus entered into the courtyard of the temple it was God dwelling with his people, because that was one of the names he was given.  Emmanuel means “God with Us.”  Matthew 1:23

As people would come to the temple at Passover, there was a necessity for there to be a blood sacrifice.  There is always a necessity for there to be a blood sacrifice for sinners to come to God.  The Passover was one of these blood sacrifices.  It was a time of remembrance.   When Jesus came up into the courtyard on that particular day it was in preparation for the Passover, an event that had been observed by the Jews for one-thousand five hundred years.  They remembered they had been slaves in Egypt with no control over their destiny.  God set up the Passover in which he said they would sacrifice a lamb, collect the blood, and put the blood on the doorposts and when the death angel comes through and sees the blood on the doorpost he would pass over your home and your firstborn will be safe.  When the first born of the Egyptian, who did not believe God, was stricken with death, it was then that Egypt let their slaves go and Israel became a country and a nation.

That lamb that was slain and the blood that was placed on the doorpost was the first part, but the other part is that the Israelite was to take that lamb and roast it and have a dinner with some bitter herbs as a reminder that their slavery in Egypt was very bitter.

At the time of this remembrance Jesus walks up the stairs and comes into the courtyard of the temple.  Looking to his right he sees the temple building itself which had the holy place and the Holy of Holies and various other things.  From the outside of that temple he would of seen marvelous columns rising high and a temple made out of white stone and covered with gold with beautiful craftsman like decorations throughout.  It was a reminder that God is holy.

To the left Jesus would have seen another sight.  He would have seen vendor, after vendor, after vendor, set up in the temple courtyard just like the marketplace in the middle of the city.  Here were opportunists desiring to make a buck off something that was holy.  Every family must have a lamb to sacrifice at Passover.  The merchants were there, right in the temple to sell them a lamb, to make it easy, and to make money off the lamb in a setting of which everyone knew they would have to buy a lamb.  Jews were coming from all over the world to Jerusalem and they wouldn’t be bringing a lamb with them.  They would purchase their lamb and all the vendors were set up in God’s holy temple to make money.  I think it’s very possible that you could hear the noise of the marketplace there in the temple perhaps as vendors might say, “Get your Passover lamb here, I’ve got a deal you can’t refuse.”   That doesn’t sound too holy to me.  It didn’t sound too holy to Jesus either.

These Jews who were coming from all other countries of the world into the temple area had to change their money.  They could not pay for their lamb with the money from the country that they came.  There were men in the temple who were changing the money.  As they robbed the people they had the people in a situation where they couldn’t go elsewhere to change their money as it was convenient to do it there and they had to buy a lamb, so that was the time to really milk people, when they don’t have many options.

Jesus saw the holy Passover, the prominent feature of which was the remembrance of what God did in Egypt and at this time all he could witness were men piling up the greed as they saw a holy time as an opportunity to enrich themselves personally.

Do you realize that every good thing that there is man pollutes?  Everything!  Jesus is now thirty years old and he has been coming to the temple at Passover for every year and he has seen this unholy greed of making a buck off of God’s things every year, but he never did a thing about it.  Now he is starting his public ministry and he goes and makes himself a Cat-of-Nine-Tales whip.  If you can picture a huge twenty acre courtyard and Jesus takes that whip in the midst of a great crowd getting their money changed and suddenly there is a crash as people hear the coins hit the floor.  Everything stops and goes silent.  All the eyes in that courtyard focus on where they hear the coins hit the floor and they see Jesus whipping men who are so scared that they leave everything and take off.  At the moment of that silence this is what happened.

And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. John 2:15-16

One man cleaned up all that unholy pollution.  I’d sure love to see that one man come along now and clean up all the unholy pollution, wouldn’t you?  Jesus is wrath.  Make no mistake, his wrath always falls on sinners.  Even though he waits, like he did at that time in his life, his wrath will always fall.  You may sin year, after year, after year just as Jesus went into that temple year after year and did nothing about the sin that was going on until the start of his public ministry.  As time came, he dealt with the sin and when your time comes he will deal with your sin.  Make no mistake, because he waits.  Don’t think it won’t happen.  That is how God works.  People can sin for a long time before judgment falls.  Sometimes it falls early.  Jesus is wrath. He demonstrated that in the temple, but he also taught wrath clearly.

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;   And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.   Matthew 13:41-42

And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:50

Jesus is describing one aspect of hell, the wrath of God for all eternity upon sinners, in this section of scripture.  Jesus taught more about hell than he did about heaven, yet there are those who believe in one, but not the other.  Hell awaits the unbelieving sinner, whether he believes there is a hell or not.  Jesus is wrath, therefore there is a hell.  If you don’t believe in hell you don’t believe in Jesus and you are lost and you are an unbeliever.

Humans have the ability to think around things and that’s what they’ve done with hell because they don’t like the concept and they don’t like the possibility that they are going to have to suffer in hell for their sin.  They want to put it out of their mind.  There is no doubt in all the world that Jesus taught that there was a literal hell of punishment for all eternity for sinners.

And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Matthew 25:30

Notice, Jesus calls it outer darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.  Matthew 25:41

Now he is taking a human being and saying to the human, “Depart from me.  You’re cursed into everlasting fire.”  The word hell is not used here.  If you took the word hell out of the bible what would you be left with?  You’d still see everlasting fire as the description.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.  Matthew 25:46

Jesus said everlasting.  He said punishment.  It means the punishment goes on for all eternity.

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.  Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  Mark 9:43-48

He has made a comparison.  He has said it’s better that you cut off your hand than to go into hell. He said it’s better to pluck your eye out and none of us would want to do that. Jesus kept saying the fire is not quenched over and over again.   Jesus said it and that’s good enough for me.

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.   Luke 16:19-24

Jesus said the rich man was tormented in a flame.  If this description was a parable, and it is not, what was it about?  Skiing in July?  Jesus names Lazarus and says there was a rich man, and he says he died and was buried, and in hell he was in torment.  Jesus is wrath.  He taught wrath.

Jesus also has the characteristic of grace.  I cannot think of any greater word in all  the world or all of scripture than the word grace.  As great a word as grace is,  grace would mean nothing if there was not a hell.  How can we explain grace?  Is the letting of the sinner off the hook, and not punishing the sinner for their sin – is that grace?  No!  That’s not grace, for there would be no justice if the sinner was left off the hook.

If the governor of a state decided to serve the term of a murderer who is convicted with life in prison and let them live in the governor’s mansion, that would be a human form of grace.  Someone else pays the price for sin but you’ve still got the same old murderer, and now the murderer is living in a mansion.  The murderer is not worthy that a governor should take their place.  We are not worthy that Jesus took our place, but that is the grace of our Lord Jesus.  The word grace means unmerited favor.  Favor bestowed upon us that we did not merit, and that we did not deserve.

People erroneously think that they will go to heaven because they believed in God and when God looked at them he will find some merit in them that will say there is enough merit in them and enough good works in them that they are deserving of heaven.  However, the bible uses the term “for by grace are we saved.”  It is by grace which means there was no merit at all found in us that we should be in heaven.  Here’s the difference between Jesus grace and our earthly example.  This is what the bible says.

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.  Colossians 1:12

What’s it mean?  Jesus not only took my punishment and erased my sin debt but he made me new.  He made me fit to be in that mansion.  He made me different to be in that mansion. The bible says “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”  Ephesians 2:5-9

The miracle of the new birth produces someone who is cleansed from sin on the one hand, because all sins are under the blood,  and who is a new creature on the other hand indwelt by the Lord, and who can live in the mansion not as a murderer, but as a new loving and loved child of God.  That is the grace of God.  What can be greater than that?

Jesus is wrath.  Jesus is grace.  I’m glad that his wrath will eventually bring justice to punish all sin.  I am glad his grace did not give me what I deserve.  Jesus is worthy of all of our admiration and adoration.  For anyone on the face of the earth, no matter how noble they are in the eyes of others, to turn Jesus down as their savior deserves hell forever.  It’s so much better to taste of his grace than to partake of his wrath.  I hope you will partake of his grace.

To receive Jesus as savior you must believe that he is God, that he taught on hell, that he died for your sins, and that he was buried and rose again in his body and went to heaven and is now in heaven.  You must believe that you are a sinner and that you need to be saved and you can’t be by any goodness in yourself and only repentance toward Christ can give you the miraculous new birth.  If you’ll trust that and ask him to save you, you could be saved today for all eternity.  Will you ask him?

John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;  He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. 

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 

And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.  And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!   John 1:26-36

1991-03-24 Jesus – Holy Harmless, Separate from Sinners, and without Spot

This is part of the introduction of Jesus to Israel.  What a moment that must have been when they discovered who Jesus was.  I think that I realize how the first discoveries and discoverers of Jesus felt. 

It’s hard for Americans, who have been taught and know the greatness of this country, to see it self-destruct.  We might say, “Oh, that there were someone so great that they could see the road that we are on, and the disaster that we are heading for, and get us off that road – someone who is so full of integrity that they could not be bought or influenced away from righteousness.”  We’d love to see someone like that come on the scene. 

There were some bright young men in Jesus’ time that had similar feelings.  They knew the Bible.  They knew what Jerusalem should be like.  The glorious city of God was controlled by pagan Rome and their own religious leaders were corrupt and ungodly.  These young men, like the Christians of today, had great expectations.   Just as we glory and think about the second coming of Christ to straighten out this world, they yearned for the appearance of the Messiah who could set all of that mess that they lived in straight.  What a moment it must have been for them when there he was and they found him.

One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.   John 1:40-41

Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.  John 1:45

What a moment this must have been for these young men, who so much wanted to see the Messiah come and actually stand in the presence of God the son, Jesus, like no other man.  I’m sure they sensed that moment.  They sensed he was like no other man and that he was one of flawless character – someone they could have total confidence in.  John the Baptist said, “Behold, the lamb of God.”  He was without spot or blemish.  All other men besides Jesus are blemished.  It doesn’t take long to spot the blemish.  Some lust for power and some lust for money.  Some lust for women.  Some are lazy.  Some are worthless.  Some are slaves to drink.  Some are slaves to smoking.  Many are vain.  Many take the name of the Lord Jesus in vain.  Jesus was without spot or blemish.  Jesus, the most high God is worthy of our praise.  He is creator.  He cares.  He bled and today he is without spot.

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.  Hebrews 7:26

When those young men that we call the disciples met Jesus they knew he was the one, the holy one of God.  He is described by Peter as a lamb without blemish and without spot.  1 Peter 1:19

A sinner could not die in my place.  A good man could not die in my place, because even a good man is a sinner and the Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Only one who is holy, and spotless could provide a fit sacrifice on my behalf.  We are not redeemed with corruptible things , such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot.  That’s God’s way.  When the Israelite was to sacrifice, he was to select out of the flock not a cripple, not a blemished lamb, but the best, clean lamb of the flock.  The most prized.  The pick of the litter, so to speak.     

When humans give to sacrifice they are proud of their charitable spirit, even if it’s old clothes given to charity.  They may be tired of wearing those clothes for one reason or another.  A woman doesn’t go out and purchase a thousand-dollar dress and take it right to the Salvation Army.  It’s only after it’s been worn, out of style, stained, or torn and when she would never consider being seen in it again that it’s given to the needy.  When God offered up a sacrifice for you it was like the pick of the litter, in that it was the most valuable thing that he had.   Jesus offered himself without blemish and without spot.  We say, “What can I spare?  I’ll give it to God.”  God says, “I’ll give the crown jewel of heaven for you.” 

Jesus was without spot.  He went through a three year examination and was found worthy – pure and clean.  Have you considered the testimonies to his purity?  The first testimony of great significance was when the Holy Father in his voice from heaven at Jesus’ baptism said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  God is never pleased with sin.

John the Baptist gave testimony to Jesus when he said, “It is He whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”  Jesus said John the Baptist was the greatest man that ever lived. Matthew 11:11.   John said he was unworthy to open his shoe.

As the disciples were awe struck at the shining brilliance of Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration, and as two of the greatest humans that ever lived, Moses and Elijah, that had come back from heaven just for that moment, the voice out of heaven from God said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”    Matthew 17:5  

Have you considered the testimonies to Jesus’ spotlessness? The testimony of the Holy Father at Jesus’ baptism, and the testimony of John the Baptist as he started his ministry, the testimony of the Holy Father again at Jesus’ transfiguration, and then we have the testimony of the apostle John, who actually leaned on the body of Jesus.   John said, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.”  John 1:1.

I’d like to bring in one other witness to the spotlessness of the Lord Jesus Christ.  How about one of the worst traitors that ever lived?  Judas Iscariot’s witness was, “I have betrayed the innocent blood.”  Matthew 27:4.    Jesus had no blemish.  All that testified about Jesus said he had no blemish, even Judas.

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.  Hebrews 7:26

Notice, it says that he is a high priest.  Jesus was our high priest.  What is the use of a high priest?  The high priest represents us before a holy God.  He is our representative before a holy God. When Jesus represents me, he is the perfect representative, because God sees no blemish in Jesus, so he is satisfied with Jesus on my behalf.  What can make you feel better that?  To know, that before God you have a representative that God is satisfied with, so he is satisfied with you.

Jesus is Holy.  It means separated from all that’s unholy.  We understand the definition of unholy better than we understand holy.  Jesus is harmless.  This word, harmless, means without bad or without duplicity.  It means nothing corrupt is mixed in with his holy character.  Humans are famous for duplicity.  Jesus didn’t have any.  Humans act so righteous on Sunday, but they use the Lord’s name on Monday.   That is duplicity.  Jesus was pure without any of that type of hypocrisy.  Jesus was undefiled.  It means nothing that defiles or pollutes.  There was not any little speck of Jesus that polluted his whole nature and spotted it.  It only takes a little tiny thing to ruin something.  Jesus is separate from sinners.  That is thought provoking isn’t it?  People say he ate with Publicans and sinners.  Here is the great thing about Jesus.  He met the Samaritan woman at the well and he spoke to her about her soul.  She was a woman of greatly stained character.  Also, the woman taken in with adultery, he spoke with her.  He called Levi, the tax collector, to his side. He sat down and ate with the kind of people that the good people of society looked down upon.  He ate with them.  He talked with them.  With Jesus it had nothing to do with proximity, but with purity.  Their sin could not rub off on him, but his saving power could bring them to repentance.   

Folks get saved and they have a hard time being around sinners without the stench smelling them up and that’s why we believe separation is good.  The defilement that could come into your ears may become a part of you if you work around people.  That is why we need to be at three or more services a week so that we can have the purifying affect of the word of God work into us while we are going through our work week with defiled people, otherwise we slide.  We want to become more like Jesus so that even when we are with sinners and talking to sinners we are separate from sinners.  Do you know what that means?  It means our presence has some impact on them, not their sin having a bad affect on us. 

He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,  and without spot.  How great it must have been when these sincere young men looking at the pollution of their society and wishing for the Messiah and someone said to them, “We’ve found him!”  What a great moment and then the many testimonies that have to do with his purity from John the Baptist, from the father in heaven, from the Apostle John, even from Judas, and Peter. 

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  Hebrews 9:14

This statement in Hebrews 9:14 denotes one who is of unblemished character, untainted conduct, and of unimpeachable consistency in every detail of his life.  What is more precious to me than Jesus, who offered himself for me!  He is creator, he cares, he bled, and he is without spot.

If you’ve read or heard this sermon you know that in your heart your not saved and on your way to heaven.  You don’t have security that your in Christ.  Friend, you could have that security today.  If you would pray and lift up your heart to God and say, “Lord, I know I am a sinner and need to get saved.  I thank you that the holy one has represented me and I want to be saved.  Please save me today.”  If you’ll do that now in your heart and answer this invitation and see it in the Word of God you could be gloriously saved from all your sin for all eternity today.  I say that on the authority of the Bible and not my own opinion.  Would you do it?

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 1 Peter 1:18-19

The verses here in 1 Peter that talks about our redemption through the blood of Christ are the safety deposit box of the saved. In it the saved keeps his most valuable possession. If you open that safety deposit box you will not find gold bullion, but rather the precious blood of Christ. He created us, he cares for us, and he bled for us. What a wonderful savior is Jesus, my Lord!

There have been verbal and written assaults in the last century on the precious blood of Christ. Some theologians would say that the precious blood of Christ doesn’t really mean what it says. My whole eternity hangs on my trust in the precious blood of Christ. My life and salvation hinge on the precious blood of Christ. Is the blood so important? It’s precious.

1991-03-17 The Importance of the Precious Blood

1)  Blood is Life.  Your skin is not your life. 

For the life of the flesh is in the blood  Leviticus 17:11

 The physicians long ago bled men.  Why?  They didn’t believe the Bible.  When someone was in trouble physically you don’t draw blood out of them.   That is the worst thing to do.  The blood has white cells.  It is the white cells that are needed for healing.

2)  Man’s blood is corrupt.  Blood is needed to make atonement for the human being.  The Bible says the wages of sin is death.  We’ve got corrupt blood and that blood is going to make us eventually die.  The reason the blood is corrupt is when Adam sinned his blood was corrupted and he passed on the blood to every other human being.  All have the blood of Adam except for Jesus Christ.

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth   Acts 17:26

The reason Jesus Christ doesn’t have the blood of Adam is because the father is the one that initiates the blood in the new born baby.  That comes from the father and not the mother.  Christ got his flesh from his mother, and he got his blood from God.  Christ’s blood is incorruptible.  Our blood is corruptible.

3)  Blood and sin are intertwined. 

Without shedding of blood is no remission of sin.   Hebrews 9:22

If there is sin there is only one thing that will take away sin – it is the shedding of blood.  The Old Testament Israelite brought an animal sacrifice to the temple or the tabernacle.  The Israelite placed his hand on the head of the lamb.  By this he is saying, “I have sinned – I should die, but you are dying in my stead.”  The innocent lamb’s throat is cut and blood is collected from the throat in a vessel.  Why is blood so important?  It is mentioned in the Bible some seven hundred times.  Why should anyone play down the importance of the blood?

4)  Blood was the Passover.

When I see the blood, I will pass over you.  Exodus 12:13

Blood was not just shed.  It was not just the death of an animal for Passover, but the blood was collected and it was applied.  It was sprinkled on the doorpost.  It was not just that an animal died that provided safety for the child or the firstborn.  When God saw the blood visibly smeared on the casing of the door, on the two sides and the top, safety was assured.  It was a visible sign of blood.

There were many offerings a Jew could bring before God, but it was not just the animal offering – it was the blood.  With the sin offering blood was sprinkled seven times before the veil.   With the trespass offering blood was sprinkled on the altar.  With the burnt offering blood was sprinkled around about the altar and upon the altar.  With the peace offering blood was sprinkled on the altar.  With the great Day of Atonement the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat seven times.   Blood was the center of God’s Old Testament offering system visibly sprinkling of blood.  This should cause us to see the extreme importance of blood. 

5)  Christ – one complete sacrifice.

And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.  Hebrews 10:11-14

Can you see why it is called the precious blood of Christ?  Verse 11 tells us that the priests were ministering and they kept offering the same sacrifice – one bloody sacrifice after another.  It was impossible for those sacrifices to take away sin.  You say, “Why did they offer those sacrifices?”  They were a type of a greater sacrifice to come.  There might have been a billion sacrifices given, all of which could never take away sin, but it said that Jesus one sacrifice was sufficient to take away sin forever.  All sacrificing was done and he sat down because the work was over.  It was finished.  Why is the blood so precious?  Because Jesus is precious to the father and he shed his holy blood in place of the sinners blood.  Our blood is corruptible.  His is incorruptible. 

The moment you die your blood is the first thing that rapidly decays.  Christ blood would never decay.  It was the only thing that the holy father would accept as being a substitute in place of our corruptible blood.  His blood did what all the rest of the sacrifices could not do.  It was what could satisfy God’s justice.  He alone could satisfy the father on our behalf. 

6)  Christ’s blood is multi-effectual

a)  We are redeemed by his blood.  Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14

It takes a ransom to get you to heaven and the reason it takes a ransom is that from the time you’re born you belong to sin and Satan.   You are captured by sin and you can’t help sinning because of it and you will sin from the day you’re born.  You will sin all your life whether you like it or whether you don’t. 

We are redeemed.  Being redeemed is to be released on receipt of a ransom.  Jesus blood paid the ransom.  It gave the receipt to the Holy Father that released you from the grip of sin and Satan forever.  We are bought back from the grip of sin that Satan holds on us.

b)  We are justified by his blood.  Romans 5:9

What is justification?  It means you’re ruled innocent in God’s courtroom.  What can be better than to be pronounced innocent?  You are not only purchased out of the sin market, redeemed and placed in God’s family, but you are declared innocent of all sins by the blood of Jesus Christ.  We are justified by his blood.  

c)  We are sanctified by his blood.   What does this mean?  It means set apart for God. 

We are set apart by the blood of Christ.  Not only that,  but we are washed by the blood the Word of God says in Revelation.  Isn’t it good to be clean all over from the dirtiness of sin? 

Redemption by the blood buys us out of the pit.  Justification by the blood makes us innocent of all offenses.  Washing makes us clean so we feel good and sanctification sets us as special to God.  Christ’s blood is multi-effectual, but only through faith.  You do not get all the effects and benefits of Christ’s blood because you were born into the human family.  You only get it by trusting.  The Bible says it’s through faith in his blood that we receive all of those good effects as told in Romans 3:25

It is not sufficient for a person to say “I believe in God, I’m all right and I’ll probably go to heaven.”   That would not save him.  For the Israelite at Passover he could not say “The animal is dead.  The death of an animal is sufficient to believe in and therefore the angel will pass over and not kill the firstborn.”  That was not sufficient.  He must apply the blood to the doorpost so that when God saw the visible evidence of the blood he would pass over.  It is not sufficient for a person to say “I believe that Jesus died for the sins of the world.”  That will not save you.  It is not until you apply the blood by faith to the doorpost of your heart that you’re saved. 

7)  Christ’s blood is presently powerful.

We speak of the blood of Christ not only in the past tense of what it did on Calvary, but the blood of Christ is still powerful and effective today.

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.  Hebrews 10:19

Today it gives us access to God so that when you have things in your life that you’ve got to go to the Lord for you can go into the courts of heaven and you can speak personally to the God of heaven.  Why?  You have access by the blood of Jesus. 

Today it gives us cleaning of our recent sins – John 1:9.   It cleanses us of the last sin that you did – the sins that you did today and the sins that you did yesterday.  The Bible says that if we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness – 1 John 1:7.

Today it gives assurance of everlasting life – Hebrews 13:20.  Every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper it gives us sweet communion with Jesus Christ the righteous.  We are told we have the blood of an everlasting covenant.  A covenant is a contract.  A contract in our day is usually signed by two different individuals that both agree to do their part.  It is binding.  It is not something you lie your way out of.  God made a covenant with Abraham.  God told Abraham to divide the animal in half.  They would lay the bloody animal on each of it’s sides.  The two men making the covenant would walk together between the split sides signifying that there was a blood covenant that was irreversible.   When God made the covenant with Abraham, Abraham did not walk through.  God passed through.  The reason God passed through was because God was making a covenant that would never be broken, because man had nothing to do with it. 

A greater covenant has been made by the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ that is called an everlasting covenant.  It is everlasting that what Jesus did to save your soul on the cross by shedding his blood.  God has stamped his contract that never will be broken.  We have assurance that when we put faith in Christ we have a covenant with God that is based on the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  That is why it is the precious blood of Christ.  Can we speak too highly of his blood?  Can we think too sentimentally of his blood?  His blood is precious, because his blood did what nothing else could do for my soul and for my eternity.  Every sinner dies in his sin a captive to his sin, but Jesus took our place and he gave his blood.  We are not redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ.  He deserves our highest praise.  We cannot speak and magnify Jesus and his blood too much for he created, he cares, and he bled.