Music...
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And welcome back to
the Hour of His Judgment.
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We are in our
third presentation.
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We are going to be
looking at the context
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of God's judgment hour
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in relation to the
everlasting gospel.
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Have you've ever felt guilt...
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have you ever felt shame...
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have you ever felt overwhelmed
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with a sense of
your unworthiness?
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Welcome to God's
Judgment Hour Part 3.
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We're going to begin
with a word of prayer
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and then we'll get
right in to the Word of God.
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"Father in heaven,
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we just want to thank
You again for Your Word,
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we want to thank you for Jesus,
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we want to thank You that we
come to Your throne in His name
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and that we can receive help
and grace in our time of need
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and we lift up our
hearts to you right now...
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I lift up each
Viewer and my own heart...
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ask that you will guide, direct
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and speak to us
through Your Word...
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that You'll send Your
Holy Spirit to touch our hearts
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and that we will see a
big picture of who You are
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and the great controversy
that we're involved in
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between good and evil...
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light and darkness...
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right and wrong...
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guide our hearts now
as we open Your Word.
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We pray in Jesus' name, amen. "
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So, we are going to
begin in the book of Revelation
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chapter 14.
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We're going to do a
little bit of a summary,
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Revelation chapter 14 brings us
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what we have identified
as the everlasting gospel.
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Revelation 14 verses 6 and 7
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kind of bring us the theme
that we're looking at here.
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"I saw another
angel... " John says,
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"flying in the midst of heaven
having the everlasting gospel
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to preach unto them
that dwell on the earth,
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to every nation,
kindred, tongue and people,
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saying with a loud voice,
Fear God, and give glory to Him;
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for the hour of
His judgment is come:
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and worship Him that made
heaven, and earth, and the seas,
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and the fountains of waters. "
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This is God's last
message for the world
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and we know that because right
after this message is delivered,
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we see a picture of
Jesus returning to the earth
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to reap the
harvest both good and evil
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so the last
message to the world...
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God's last message to the world
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includes a call
to His judgment hour.
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Now, this call is verified over
and over again in the Bible.
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Jesus Himself talked
about an hour of judgment.
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In Matthew chapter 12,
we looked at this verse,
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we looked at
this verse previously
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but we'll looked at it again
here in Matthew chapter 12,
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if we look here
at verses 36 and 37,
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Jesus is speaking and He says...
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Matthew 12:36,
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"But I say unto you, that every
idle word that men shall speak,
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they shall give an account
thereof in the day of judgment.
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For... " verse 37...
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"by thy words thou
shalt be justified,
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and by thy words
thou shalt be condemned. "
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Now, we need to open
this up a little bit more
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and understand exactly
what Christ is saying here
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but what we clearly see here
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is that there's
going to be accountability
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for our words
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in what Jesus
identifies as a day of judgment.
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The same thing
that Revelation 14
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is identifying for us...
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and then we
looked at another verse,
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this verse is found in
James chapter 2 and verse 12,
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it also speaks about
the time of judgment...
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James chapter 2 and verse 12
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and it says that we should speak
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and we should do, as
they that shall be judged
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by the law of liberty.
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So, we see clearly
here in the New Testament...
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in the words of Christ...
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in the words of James
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and again, in the
book of Revelation
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authored by John...
inspired by the Holy Spirit
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that we have a
clear Biblical teaching
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of the hour of judgment...
an hour of accountability...
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an hour of
accountability for our words.
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We also see this
in the Old Testament,
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Ecclesiastes chapter 12...
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Ecclesiastes is
following the book of Proverbs
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which is right after Psalms...
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Ecclesiastes chapter 12
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and we're going to look at the
last two verses of this chapter,
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Ecclesiastes
chapter 12 verses 13 and 14,
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it says here, "Let us hear the
conclusion of the whole matter:
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Fear God, and
keep His commandments:
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for this is the
whole duty of man.
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For God... " verse 14,
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"shall bring every
work into judgment,
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with every secret thing... "
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hmmm...
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"whether it be good,
or whether it be evil. "
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So, good or
evil... secret or not...
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known or unknown...
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God is going to bring
everything into judgment...
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this is the message
that we've been seeing here
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in the Bible... in
the Old Testament now...
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in the New Testament
in the previous verses
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and again this message is part
of the everlasting gospel...
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it's good news... and
we're going to understand why
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in a few moments
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but 1st Peter chapter
4 and verse 17 verifies
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that this is indeed good news.
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1st Peter
chapter 4 and verse 17,
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notice what it says here,
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"The time has come
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that judgment must
begin at the house of God:
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and if it first begins at us,
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what shall be the end of them
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that obey not
the gospel of God?"
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So, you see that how Peter
is... is communicating here...
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he's... he's lining up
the gospel with judgment.
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He's saying judgment
begins at the house of God
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and if it begins with us,
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what will happen to others
who don't obey the gospel?
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Judgment and the
gospel go hand in hand
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and we want to understand
why judgment and the gospel
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go hand in hand
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because this is God's
last message to the world.
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Revelation chapter
14 makes it very clear
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that this everlasting gospel
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is a call into the
hour of His judgment.
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It's a judgment-hour message...
a judgment-hour call...
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Revelation 14 verses 6 and 7
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and this message has
to go to every nation...
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every kindred... every tongue...
to every single person.
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So, why is this good news?
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Why is the hour
of God's judgment
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connected with the gospel?
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Well, first of all...
in our first presentation,
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we noted that God
calls us to judgment
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in order for us to
stop judging one another.
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That's really good news.
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We looked at that
in Romans chapter 14,
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if you remember,
Romans chapter 14...
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it talks there...
beginning with verse 10
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about the
importance of remembering
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that we are going to be standing
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before the
judgment seat of Christ.
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Let's just look at
those verses again...
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and again, right
now, we're just reviewing
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what we've already covered
in the last couple of meetings,
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we're just reviewing the
reasons for the judgment...
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the Biblical
foundation for the judgment
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and how the judgment is
connected to the gospel...
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how the judgment is good news.
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So, Romans chapter 14
makes this very, very clear.
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The good news of the judgment
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is that we can stop
judging one another.
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Notice what Paul
says here in Romans 14
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beginning with verse 10,
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"But why do you
judge your brother?
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or why do you set
at naught your brother?
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we shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ.
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For as I live... "
going on to verse 11,
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"says the Lord,
every knee shall bow to me
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and every tongue
shall confess to God.
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So then... " verse 12...
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"every one of us shall
give an account of himself
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to God... "
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verse 13... "Let
us therefore... "
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since there's an
hour of judgment...
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since we're all going to stand
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before the judgment
seat of Christ... since...
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since God has a judgment
that He's going to bring
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everyone into account
for everything they've done,
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good or evil...
every secret thing...
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everything known...
everything unknown...
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since God has an
hour of judgment,
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so then, "Let us not therefore
judge one another any more... "
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good news isn't it?
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No more judging people...
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no more judging one another
because God is the judge.
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This is what David
experienced with Saul
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who was trying to kill him.
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David had an
opportunity to take Saul's life
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and it would have been
probably in self-defense...
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I mean the king
was trying to kill him,
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of course, in self-defense
he could defend himself and say,
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"Hey, I... I was justified...
I could have killed...
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I... I had to kill the king
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because he was trying to
kill me... " but he didn't...
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and he... and he stayed
his men from killing Saul...
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this is... this is
the narrative that we find
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in the life of David who...
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who... who was a type of
Christ... the son of David
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and in the life of David,
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we find David
calling out to Saul
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after he gets out of the cave
where he could have killed Saul
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calling out to Saul
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and saying, "The Lord
judge between me and you
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and the Lord avenge me of you
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but I'm not going to
lay my hand against you... "
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and, of course, this is
the experience that we find
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all through the New
Testament with God's people
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who were martyrs for the
truth... martyrs for Christ
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and Christ Himself
has given us this example
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and Revelation
invites us to follow the Lamb
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wherever he
goes... to be like Jesus...
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to stand without
fault before the throne...
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without guile in our
mouths, Revelation chapter 14
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and verses 4 and 5,
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so, here we find Paul calling us
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not only to stop judging others
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but then he goes on to
say, "But judge this rather... "
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okay, there is a
judgment we need to make
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and here's the judgement,
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"that no man put
a stumbling block
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or an occasion to fall
in his brother's way. "
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So, rather than judging people,
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we should try not to be a
stumbling block to people.
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We should try our very best
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to not cause people to
stumble over our hypocrisy
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or our lack of Christlikeness
or over our patience...
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whatever it is...
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we should try to cause
people not to stumble over
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our lack of
Christian experience...
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our lack of Christian witness
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so, one of the
biggest problems I believe
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in human nature in general
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and even in Christianity...
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and specific is that
we are prone to judge...
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it's a natural
tendency that we have.
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We are prone to judge others
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and the good news of the
gospel calls us not to do this.
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but there's no way that
we can stop judging people
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especially bad
people and wicked people...
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there's no way that we can stop
judging unfair and... and wrong
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unless we recognize
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that we are in the
hour of God's judgment...
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that God is going to
call everyone into account...
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that God is going to
take care of all of the bad
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and all of the evil
and all of the wrong
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and all of the injustice...
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God is going to
take care of that.
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If we understand that,
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then we don't have
to revenge ourselves.
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In... in Romans chapter
12 Paul talks about this...
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just back over the page here,
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Paul talks about
this in a powerful way...
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he says in Romans
chapter 12 verse 19,
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"Dearly beloved,
avenge not yourselves,
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but rather give
place unto wrath:
00:10:24.55\00:10:27.06
for it is written,
'Vengeance is mine;
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says the Lord, I will
repay... ' says the Lord.
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'Therefore, if your
enemy hunger, feed him;
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if he... your enemy
thirsts, give him drink:
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for in so doing you shall
heap coals of fire on his head.
00:10:37.20\00:10:40.30
Be not overcome... '"
verse 21 of Romans chapter 12,
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"Be not overcome of evil,
but overcome evil with good. "
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This is the calling...
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the high calling that
Paul is putting forth here
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in the context of
the judgment-hour message
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and so, this is why
the judgment-hour message
00:10:53.11\00:10:54.65
is good news.
00:10:54.68\00:10:56.02
Now, another
reason why it's good news
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that we looked at in
our last presentation
00:10:57.42\00:10:59.49
is because the judgment hour
is a call for God... not us...
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for God to
expose false believers.
00:11:04.93\00:11:09.23
We looked a verse in Matthew
chapter 7, if you remember,
00:11:09.26\00:11:12.67
Matthew chapter 7
beginning with verse 21...
00:11:12.70\00:11:15.10
a powerful verse that
is difficult for some of us
00:11:15.14\00:11:20.78
to even read because
it cuts to the heart...
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it talks about people
who are believers in Christ
00:11:23.18\00:11:26.48
but who have not had a
relationship with Christ.
00:11:26.51\00:11:29.78
They're workers of iniquity.
00:11:29.82\00:11:31.29
Jesus, in Matthew chapter 7,
beginning with verse 21 says,
00:11:31.32\00:11:34.76
"It's not every
one that says unto me,
00:11:34.79\00:11:37.03
'Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven;
00:11:37.09\00:11:40.10
but he that doeth the will
of my Father which is in heaven.
00:11:40.13\00:11:43.03
Many will say to me in that day,
00:11:43.06\00:11:45.30
Lord, have we not
prophesied in Thy name?
00:11:45.33\00:11:47.97
and in Thy name cast out devils?
00:11:48.00\00:11:50.04
and in Thy name done
many wonderful works?'
00:11:50.07\00:11:51.94
And then I will
profess unto them,
00:11:51.97\00:11:54.44
I never knew you:
00:11:54.48\00:11:56.08
depart from me, ye
that work iniquity. "
00:11:56.11\00:12:00.25
Now remember, we can't
judge... only Christ can judge
00:12:00.28\00:12:03.62
but Christ is going to
expose false believers...
00:12:03.65\00:12:06.72
"by their fruits... " He
says, "ye shall know them... "
00:12:06.76\00:12:09.89
and... and Christ wants us
00:12:09.92\00:12:11.99
not to be part of
this group of people...
00:12:12.03\00:12:14.96
these workers of iniquity
00:12:15.00\00:12:16.53
and we looked at this
yesterday and we understood that
00:12:16.56\00:12:19.00
the word "iniquity" means
to transgress God's law...
00:12:19.03\00:12:21.47
transgressors of
the law of God...
00:12:21.50\00:12:22.94
the Ten-Commandment-law of God
00:12:23.00\00:12:24.37
and we went into detail
as to how the law of God
00:12:24.41\00:12:27.51
is the foundation of the gospel
00:12:27.54\00:12:29.98
because the law
of God identifies sin
00:12:30.01\00:12:31.95
and sin being the
transgression of the law of God
00:12:32.01\00:12:34.75
is the thing that God
wants us to confess to Him...
00:12:34.78\00:12:37.52
to get rid of... if
we confess our sins,
00:12:37.55\00:12:39.22
He's faithful and
just to forgive of our sins
00:12:39.25\00:12:41.52
and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness
00:12:41.56\00:12:44.03
and so, Satan is
trying to deceive us
00:12:44.06\00:12:45.39
by... by removing
the identification of sin
00:12:45.43\00:12:48.83
because if we
don't know what sin is,
00:12:48.86\00:12:50.20
we're not going to confess it.
00:12:50.23\00:12:51.57
We're not going
to confess something
00:12:51.60\00:12:52.93
that we're unaware
of... that we don't know
00:12:52.97\00:12:54.30
and so, he removes
00:12:54.34\00:12:56.07
that which identifies
sin... the law of God.
00:12:56.10\00:12:58.77
Some Christians have cast
it aside because they say,
00:12:58.81\00:13:00.91
"It was nailed to the cross... "
00:13:00.94\00:13:02.28
others have changed it...
00:13:02.31\00:13:03.65
others keep some
of it not all of it...
00:13:03.68\00:13:05.01
there's many ways that Satan
is trying to deceive the world
00:13:05.05\00:13:08.18
by removing the great standard
00:13:08.22\00:13:10.09
by which we will be
judged in the judgment
00:13:10.12\00:13:13.02
and so, we need to look
at this in more detail today
00:13:13.05\00:13:15.62
because we're going to find...
00:13:15.66\00:13:17.26
this leads us to
our next understanding
00:13:17.29\00:13:20.63
of the good news of the gospel
00:13:20.66\00:13:22.10
which is the one we
want to focus on right now
00:13:22.13\00:13:23.73
and that one is
00:13:23.77\00:13:25.10
that the reason why
God has an hour of judgment
00:13:25.13\00:13:27.57
is because He wants to silence
the accuser of the brethren...
00:13:27.60\00:13:31.87
silence the
accuser of the brethren
00:13:31.91\00:13:33.58
and we're going to look at
this in Revelation chapter 12
00:13:33.61\00:13:37.18
and verse 10,
00:13:37.21\00:13:38.61
Revelation
chapter 12 and verse 10...
00:13:38.65\00:13:40.02
Revelation chapter 12 is
one of my favorite chapters
00:13:40.05\00:13:42.55
of the Bible...
00:13:42.58\00:13:44.22
it explains to us a great
controversy that's taking place
00:13:44.25\00:13:47.36
between good and evil...
between light and darkness.
00:13:47.39\00:13:49.39
It's a great
controversy... a war if you will
00:13:49.42\00:13:51.73
that began in heaven
00:13:51.76\00:13:53.43
and we're going to get
into more detail of that
00:13:53.50\00:13:54.83
in just a minute
00:13:54.86\00:13:56.20
but Revelation 12 verse
10 identifies an accuser.
00:13:56.23\00:13:58.43
Revelation 12
verse 10 says this:
00:13:58.47\00:14:00.74
"And I heard a
loud voice in heaven,
00:14:00.80\00:14:03.00
saying, 'Now is
come salvation, strength,
00:14:03.04\00:14:07.24
and the kingdom of our God,
and the power of his Christ:
00:14:07.28\00:14:09.64
for the accuser of
our brethren is cast down,
00:14:09.68\00:14:13.92
which accused them
before God day and night. '"
00:14:13.95\00:14:18.12
Day and
night... can you imagine,
00:14:18.15\00:14:20.19
we have an accuser that...
00:14:20.22\00:14:21.62
that works 24/7...
seven days a week...
00:14:21.66\00:14:24.56
365 days a year... he
never takes a break...
00:14:24.59\00:14:27.26
he is continually accusing us...
00:14:27.30\00:14:28.66
when we're awake...
when we're asleep...
00:14:28.70\00:14:30.10
no matter what we're doing,
no matter where we're going,
00:14:30.13\00:14:32.20
we can even be in church
00:14:32.23\00:14:33.57
and we can hear
that accusing voice...
00:14:33.60\00:14:35.17
I know you must be
familiar with it...
00:14:35.20\00:14:36.87
that accusing voice...
00:14:36.91\00:14:38.24
you know when the law
comes and it lays us flat...
00:14:38.27\00:14:40.51
when we are
convicted of our guilt,
00:14:40.54\00:14:43.48
then the accuser steps in
00:14:43.51\00:14:44.91
and he tries to
push us over the edge.
00:14:44.95\00:14:46.68
You know, the law of
God leads us to Jesus
00:14:46.72\00:14:48.38
so we can be
cleansed from that sin
00:14:48.42\00:14:49.78
but Satan tries to
tell us, "No, no, no, no...
00:14:49.82\00:14:52.15
it's no use for
you to go to Jesus...
00:14:52.19\00:14:53.52
you're done...
you've gone too far...
00:14:53.56\00:14:54.89
you've done too much bad...
there's no way you can be saved"
00:14:54.92\00:14:57.26
that's the accusing voice...
00:14:57.29\00:14:58.79
that's the
accuser of the brethren...
00:14:58.83\00:15:00.63
he's trying to stop us
from receiving from Christ
00:15:00.66\00:15:03.47
the gift of salvation
once you've been convicted
00:15:03.53\00:15:06.30
of our sins
00:15:06.33\00:15:07.67
and he's
accusing us day and night.
00:15:07.70\00:15:09.04
Sometimes you'll be
sleeping and you wake up
00:15:09.07\00:15:10.51
and you have this terrible
dream... this nightmare...
00:15:10.54\00:15:12.51
you... you... you
believe... you think...
00:15:12.54\00:15:14.51
you're led to believe
that maybe you're lost,
00:15:14.54\00:15:16.48
maybe there's no hope for you...
00:15:16.54\00:15:18.08
you're too bad...
you're too evil...
00:15:18.11\00:15:19.65
you've gone too far
00:15:19.68\00:15:21.08
and this is the
accusing voice of the devil.
00:15:21.12\00:15:22.92
It's not God that is
communicating this to you,
00:15:22.98\00:15:25.22
it's not the Holy Spirit that's
communicating this to you,
00:15:25.25\00:15:27.32
it is the devil... the
accuser of the brethren
00:15:27.36\00:15:29.82
that's
communicating this to you.
00:15:29.86\00:15:31.33
We see this same truth
revealed in the Old Testament.
00:15:31.36\00:15:34.33
We're going to look in the
Old Testament book of Zechariah,
00:15:34.36\00:15:37.30
Zechariah chapter 3,
00:15:37.33\00:15:39.07
now, Zechariah is
kind of a hard book to find
00:15:39.10\00:15:41.40
but if you go to
the book of Matthew
00:15:41.44\00:15:42.77
which is the first
book of the New Testament
00:15:42.80\00:15:45.41
and just go back two
books from Matthew...
00:15:45.44\00:15:47.24
just go back two books...
00:15:47.28\00:15:48.61
Malachi... Zechariah...
00:15:48.64\00:15:49.98
Zechariah
chapter 3 and verse 1...
00:15:50.01\00:15:53.25
same picture that we're
seeing here in Revelation.
00:15:53.28\00:15:56.25
Now, I just want to put
in a little point right here.
00:15:56.28\00:15:59.22
The book of Revelation...
it's a hard book...
00:15:59.25\00:16:01.26
it's a symbolic
book... it's difficult...
00:16:01.29\00:16:02.72
a lot of people don't
like the book of Revelation.
00:16:02.76\00:16:04.59
It happens to be my
favorite book of the Bible.
00:16:04.63\00:16:06.19
The book of
Revelation is just a... a...
00:16:06.23\00:16:08.90
a summary of the entire Bible.
00:16:08.96\00:16:11.23
All the Bible meets and
ends in the book of Revelation
00:16:11.27\00:16:13.84
so, when you read a verse
in the book of Revelation,
00:16:13.87\00:16:16.40
just go to the rest of the Bible
00:16:16.44\00:16:18.04
and you will
find it expounded upon
00:16:18.07\00:16:19.51
just like the everlasting gospel
00:16:19.57\00:16:20.91
or the hour of God's judgment.
00:16:20.94\00:16:22.28
We go back to all of the
New and the Old Testament...
00:16:22.31\00:16:25.31
we find these
praises expounded upon,
00:16:25.35\00:16:27.18
we're going to see
the same thing here
00:16:27.22\00:16:29.02
in Revelation 12 verse 10.
00:16:29.05\00:16:30.89
The accuser of the brethren
who accuses us day and night
00:16:30.92\00:16:33.62
is identified in Zechariah
chapter 3 and other places...
00:16:33.66\00:16:36.32
but we'll look here
in Zechariah 3 first.
00:16:36.36\00:16:37.93
Zechariah chapter 3... and we're
going to begin with verse 1,
00:16:37.96\00:16:42.53
"And he shewed me
Joshua the high priest
00:16:42.56\00:16:44.87
standing before
the angel of the LORD,
00:16:44.90\00:16:47.10
and Satan standing at his
right hand to resist him. "
00:16:47.14\00:16:51.71
Now, Joshua was
clothed... verse 3...
00:16:51.74\00:16:54.48
I'm just skipping
down here to verse 3,
00:16:54.51\00:16:57.08
"Joshua was clothed
with filthy garments,
00:16:57.15\00:16:59.68
and stood before the angel. "
00:16:59.71\00:17:01.18
So, you have
this picture of Joshua
00:17:01.22\00:17:03.32
standing before the angel...
that is the heavenly court...
00:17:03.35\00:17:06.39
that is the
heavenly representative
00:17:06.42\00:17:07.92
and then you have a
picture of Satan resisting...
00:17:07.96\00:17:10.66
Joshua represents us
00:17:10.69\00:17:12.03
and Satan
represents the accuser,
00:17:12.06\00:17:14.86
of course, that's what
the word Satan means...
00:17:14.90\00:17:16.26
it means: the accuser...
00:17:16.30\00:17:17.63
that's what the
actual word "Satan" means...
00:17:17.67\00:17:19.00
the accuser... to accuse...
00:17:19.03\00:17:20.37
and... and you
have Joshua in verse 3,
00:17:20.40\00:17:22.97
you have Joshua
clothed in filthy garments...
00:17:23.00\00:17:24.87
no wonder he's being accused.
00:17:24.91\00:17:26.37
He's standing before the
angel in filthy garments.
00:17:26.41\00:17:29.78
This is the picture that
we find all through the Bible
00:17:29.81\00:17:33.11
of our condition.
00:17:33.15\00:17:34.48
The Bible doesn't paint a pretty
picture of us as human beings.
00:17:34.52\00:17:38.75
In fact, let's look at
a couple of other verses.
00:17:38.79\00:17:40.86
The first one we're going to
look at is in Romans chapter 3,
00:17:40.89\00:17:44.33
now, we'll come
back to Zechariah,
00:17:44.36\00:17:45.99
so, if you want
to... you can just...
00:17:46.03\00:17:47.63
I'm just going to put
a Bible mark right here,
00:17:47.66\00:17:49.26
you can put a
Bible mark in Zechariah
00:17:49.30\00:17:51.53
because we'll
come back to Zechariah.
00:17:51.57\00:17:53.03
I want you to go
to Romans chapter 3
00:17:53.07\00:17:55.64
where Paul
expounds upon our condition
00:17:55.67\00:17:58.21
and again, this
connects with Revelation 12:10
00:17:58.24\00:18:00.74
because Revelation
12:10 basically says
00:18:00.78\00:18:02.64
that we're being
accused day and night.
00:18:02.68\00:18:04.48
You're thinking, "What
are we being accused of?"
00:18:04.51\00:18:06.35
Well, we're being
accused of of the fact...
00:18:06.38\00:18:08.78
Romans chapter 3
beginning with verse 10
00:18:08.82\00:18:11.25
that "As it is
written... " Paul says,
00:18:11.32\00:18:13.76
"there's
non-righteous, no, not one. "
00:18:13.79\00:18:16.16
Verse 11, "There is
none that understandeth,
00:18:16.19\00:18:19.66
there is none that
seeketh after God. "
00:18:19.69\00:18:22.03
Verse 12, "They are
all gone out of the way. "
00:18:22.06\00:18:25.97
So, what we need to recognize
here is... this is our condition
00:18:26.00\00:18:30.01
there's no one
that's righteous...
00:18:30.04\00:18:31.51
not one single
person is righteous.
00:18:31.54\00:18:32.94
There's no one
that's seeking after God...
00:18:32.97\00:18:34.31
there's no one that understands.
00:18:34.34\00:18:35.68
You say, "Well,
wait a minute, you know,
00:18:35.71\00:18:37.05
I understand, I mean,
I understand the Bible,
00:18:37.08\00:18:38.68
I mean... I'm a Bible student,
00:18:38.71\00:18:40.05
I've been a
Christian all of my life,
00:18:40.08\00:18:41.42
you know, I'm a
Pastor's kid... "
00:18:41.45\00:18:42.92
or, "I'm a Pastor... "
00:18:42.95\00:18:44.29
or "I'm a
Theologian... I understand. "
00:18:44.32\00:18:46.19
Well, Paul here is
making a direct statement
00:18:46.22\00:18:49.92
about our
fallen human condition.
00:18:49.96\00:18:51.83
It doesn't matter
how wise you are...
00:18:51.86\00:18:53.66
it doesn't matter how...
how many degrees you have...
00:18:53.70\00:18:56.46
it doesn't matter what
your background and pedigree is,
00:18:56.50\00:18:58.70
it doesn't matter
where you came from...
00:18:58.73\00:19:00.14
it doesn't matter what you do,
00:19:00.17\00:19:01.50
it doesn't matter
what you profess...
00:19:01.54\00:19:02.87
it doesn't
matter... all the works...
00:19:02.90\00:19:04.24
the good stuff that you
can do doesn't matter...
00:19:04.27\00:19:06.78
our condition is that
we are sinners and lost...
00:19:06.81\00:19:09.54
sinners and lost.
00:19:09.58\00:19:11.01
Isaiah brings
the same point out,
00:19:11.05\00:19:12.78
I want you to look
at this verse in Isaiah,
00:19:12.81\00:19:15.52
it's Isaiah chapter 64
and we look at verse 6,
00:19:15.55\00:19:18.22
Isaiah 64 and verse 6,
00:19:18.25\00:19:19.59
so, same condition
in the New Testament...
00:19:19.62\00:19:21.79
same condition in
the Old Testament...
00:19:21.82\00:19:23.99
Isaiah 64 and verse 6
00:19:24.03\00:19:25.59
identifies the same thing
that we see Paul identifying
00:19:25.63\00:19:29.06
in Romans chapter 3,
00:19:29.10\00:19:31.73
Isaiah 64 and verse 6,
notice what Isaiah says here
00:19:31.77\00:19:35.94
in 64 and verse 6.
00:19:35.97\00:19:37.31
"And we all as an
unclean thing... "
00:19:37.34\00:19:40.91
excuse me... "But we
are all as an unclean thing,
00:19:40.94\00:19:44.51
and all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags...
00:19:44.55\00:19:48.08
we all do fade as a leaf;
00:19:48.12\00:19:50.19
and our
iniquities, like the wind,
00:19:50.22\00:19:53.32
have taken us away. "
00:19:53.36\00:19:55.59
So... so you see here the same
basic truth in the Old Testament
00:19:55.62\00:19:59.93
as we find in the New Testament.
00:19:59.96\00:20:01.33
In fact, going back
to Romans chapter 3,
00:20:01.36\00:20:04.00
you find Paul
summarizing our condition
00:20:04.03\00:20:06.90
by saying in Romans
chapter 3 and verse 23,
00:20:06.94\00:20:09.70
"For all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God
00:20:09.74\00:20:15.24
and that's what sin is...
00:20:15.28\00:20:17.08
we've identified sin as
transgression of the law...
00:20:17.11\00:20:19.51
it... it is
identified here in the same way,
00:20:19.55\00:20:21.82
you say, "Wait a minute,
sin here is identified as
00:20:21.85\00:20:24.42
falling short of
the glory of God... "
00:20:24.45\00:20:26.42
well, the glory of
God is His character
00:20:26.45\00:20:28.39
and the law is a
transcript of His character.
00:20:28.42\00:20:30.56
God is love... that's
what the Bible tells us
00:20:30.59\00:20:32.73
in 1st John 4 and verse 8,
00:20:32.76\00:20:35.23
God is love... and His
law... Matthew chapter 22
00:20:35.26\00:20:39.23
verses 36 through 40...
00:20:39.30\00:20:40.87
His law is a law of love.
00:20:40.90\00:20:42.44
The law of God is a
transcript of His character...
00:20:42.47\00:20:45.57
the character of love
00:20:45.61\00:20:46.94
and God's law is
given to us as a law of love
00:20:46.98\00:20:50.35
and so, to fall
short of God's glory
00:20:50.38\00:20:53.01
is to fall short of His love...
00:20:53.08\00:20:54.42
to fall short of His
law... it's the same thing,
00:20:54.45\00:20:56.48
basically, it's the same thing
00:20:56.52\00:20:58.25
and so, what we have
here is a definition of sin
00:20:58.29\00:21:01.72
that complements the
same definition that we read
00:21:01.76\00:21:04.99
in our last presentation.
00:21:05.03\00:21:07.86
"All have sinned...
" broken God's law...
00:21:07.90\00:21:10.73
and come short of His
glory... His character of love
00:21:10.77\00:21:13.87
and so, here we
have our condition.
00:21:13.90\00:21:17.14
In Isaiah chapter
64... in Romans chapter 3...
00:21:17.17\00:21:20.98
our condition is:
unrighteousness...
00:21:21.01\00:21:23.41
our condition is:
not understanding...
00:21:23.45\00:21:25.58
our condition is:
not seeking after God...
00:21:25.61\00:21:27.62
our condition is:
we're all sinners...
00:21:27.65\00:21:29.95
we all fall short
of the glory of God
00:21:29.98\00:21:32.52
and then Paul goes
on in his famous verse
00:21:32.55\00:21:34.82
in Romans chapter 3...
00:21:34.86\00:21:36.19
also chapter 6 verse 23 to say,
00:21:36.22\00:21:38.53
"And the wages
of sin is death... "
00:21:38.56\00:21:40.76
that's our situation
00:21:40.80\00:21:42.26
and so we have an accuser that
reminds us of this all the time.
00:21:42.30\00:21:45.67
We have an accuser that reminds
us of how sinful we are...
00:21:45.70\00:21:48.77
how fallen we are...
00:21:48.80\00:21:50.14
even when we do our very
best, he brings to our attention
00:21:50.17\00:21:53.51
those areas where we fail...
00:21:53.58\00:21:54.91
those areas
where we fall short...
00:21:54.94\00:21:56.91
he reminds us of our history...
00:21:56.95\00:21:58.95
he reminds us of our past.
00:21:58.98\00:22:00.42
He does everything he can
00:22:00.45\00:22:01.78
to cause us to feel overwhelmed
with guilt and with shame.
00:22:01.82\00:22:04.89
Now, of course, the
law brings us conviction
00:22:04.92\00:22:07.39
but it doesn't try
to push us over the edge
00:22:07.42\00:22:09.82
like Satan is doing here in
Revelation chapter 12 verse 10
00:22:09.86\00:22:14.00
and in Zechariah chapter 3.
00:22:14.03\00:22:15.93
Now, we want to go
back to Zechariah chapter 3
00:22:15.96\00:22:18.03
because we haven't
looked at the good news yet.
00:22:18.07\00:22:20.14
There's some good
news in the context
00:22:20.17\00:22:21.67
of this judgment-hour message
00:22:21.70\00:22:23.24
and the good news is
that we have a Savior,
00:22:23.27\00:22:26.81
we have a Mediator...
we have an Advocate...
00:22:26.84\00:22:29.91
we have a Defender...
00:22:29.94\00:22:31.35
let's just look at it here
in Zechariah chapter 3 again,
00:22:31.38\00:22:34.15
"He showed me
Joshua the High Priest
00:22:34.18\00:22:35.58
standing before
the angel of the Lord,
00:22:35.65\00:22:36.99
and Satan standing at his
right hand to resist him...
00:22:37.02\00:22:38.62
and the Lord... " verse 2...
00:22:38.65\00:22:40.99
"The Lord said unto Satan...
00:22:41.02\00:22:43.56
'The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan;
00:22:43.63\00:22:46.09
even the Lord that hath
chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee:
00:22:46.13\00:22:49.33
is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire?'"
00:22:49.36\00:22:53.30
Yes, that's what we are...
00:22:53.34\00:22:54.87
we're brands
plucked out of the fire...
00:22:54.90\00:22:56.24
we're... we're in the
burning... we're in the fire...
00:22:56.27\00:22:57.97
we're
experiencing the wrath of God
00:22:58.01\00:22:59.47
in a very real
sense in our lives.
00:22:59.54\00:23:00.94
Sin has... has brought us
to this place of desolation...
00:23:00.98\00:23:05.25
we've made the
choice to turn away from God
00:23:05.28\00:23:07.68
and it has brought us suffering
and pain and evil and iniquity
00:23:07.72\00:23:10.79
and sometimes we want
to point the finger at God.
00:23:10.82\00:23:12.45
Adam tried to do that
when he pointed at Eve
00:23:12.49\00:23:14.39
because, you know,
God made Eve for Adam
00:23:14.42\00:23:15.99
and "she's the one
that led me into sin... "
00:23:16.02\00:23:17.53
and Eve tried to do that
when she pointed to the serpent
00:23:17.59\00:23:19.63
and said, "Well, you
know, God made the serpent... "
00:23:19.66\00:23:21.26
and so, we really they're
pointing their finger at God
00:23:21.30\00:23:23.67
and many times we want to
in every way, shape and form
00:23:23.70\00:23:26.03
we want to blame God
00:23:26.07\00:23:27.40
for all of this evil
that we're experiencing
00:23:27.44\00:23:29.40
because of our choices
00:23:29.44\00:23:30.77
and because of the
choices of other human beings.
00:23:30.81\00:23:33.71
We've made the choice
to go in this direction...
00:23:33.74\00:23:36.68
God never intended that we
would experience pain and evil
00:23:36.71\00:23:40.22
and suffering.
00:23:40.25\00:23:41.58
God never intended...
and so, He is plucking us
00:23:41.62\00:23:44.55
like brands out of the fire.
00:23:44.59\00:23:46.29
I was plucked 36 years ago,
00:23:46.32\00:23:47.92
I was plucked out of
the fire... burning brand...
00:23:47.96\00:23:50.59
plucked out of the
fire of... of destruction...
00:23:50.63\00:23:53.19
of wrath of evil of
darkness of iniquity
00:23:53.23\00:23:55.30
and God embraced me in His...
00:23:55.33\00:23:57.50
in His forgiving arms of love
00:23:57.57\00:23:59.80
and justified me in Jesus Christ
00:23:59.83\00:24:02.04
and now we see the same
picture in the New Testament,
00:24:02.07\00:24:04.74
it's a beautiful picture that
we find in 1st John chapter 2.
00:24:04.77\00:24:08.24
Now, in our last session we
looked at 1st John chapter 1,
00:24:08.28\00:24:11.75
we're going to look
now at 1st John chapter 2
00:24:11.78\00:24:14.62
and we're going to look
at a couple of verses here
00:24:14.68\00:24:17.35
and we're going to look at
a couple of translations...
00:24:17.39\00:24:20.06
1st John chapter 2
beginning with verse 1,
00:24:20.09\00:24:22.29
"My little children,
these things I write unto you,
00:24:22.32\00:24:25.66
that you sin not. "
00:24:25.69\00:24:27.03
God doesn't want us to sin,
00:24:27.06\00:24:28.66
let's just pause
there for a second,
00:24:28.70\00:24:30.03
God does not want us to sin,
00:24:30.07\00:24:31.40
He doesn't want
us to break His law.
00:24:31.43\00:24:32.77
Why not?
00:24:32.80\00:24:34.14
Well, primarily because
when we transgress God's law,
00:24:34.17\00:24:37.07
that leads us to experience
things that are hurtful...
00:24:37.11\00:24:40.18
that are
painful... that are wrong.
00:24:40.21\00:24:41.74
It leads us to do
wrong things to others
00:24:41.78\00:24:43.85
and we may say, "Well...
00:24:43.88\00:24:45.51
making other people suffer
doesn't make me suffer... "
00:24:45.55\00:24:47.45
but it actually does.
00:24:47.48\00:24:48.82
We... we... if our consciousness
is to help in any way...
00:24:48.85\00:24:52.32
we suffer when we
cause other people to suffer
00:24:52.35\00:24:55.42
and other people,
of course, suffer too.
00:24:55.46\00:24:57.53
So, he doesn't want us to see...
00:24:57.56\00:24:59.33
he doesn't want us to experience
the results... the effects
00:24:59.36\00:25:01.40
of a loveless life
00:25:01.43\00:25:03.16
because sin is transgression
of God's law of love.
00:25:03.20\00:25:05.33
He doesn't want
us to experience that
00:25:05.37\00:25:07.10
and if... so He
says, "My children,
00:25:07.14\00:25:08.84
I'm reminding you
that you would not sin
00:25:08.87\00:25:10.21
but if any man sin,
00:25:10.24\00:25:11.57
we have an
advocate with the Father...
00:25:11.61\00:25:14.14
Jesus Christ
the righteous One. "
00:25:14.18\00:25:16.64
I love the way
the NIV says this,
00:25:16.68\00:25:19.15
"My little children,
00:25:19.18\00:25:20.58
I write this to you
so you will not sin.
00:25:20.62\00:25:23.05
But if anyone does sin,
00:25:23.08\00:25:25.49
we have One who speaks to
the Father in our defense...
00:25:25.52\00:25:29.02
Jesus Christ,
the Righteous One. "
00:25:29.06\00:25:31.06
One... He speaks to
the Father in our defense.
00:25:31.09\00:25:33.09
I love that, don't you?
00:25:33.13\00:25:34.46
He speaks to the
Father in our defense.
00:25:34.50\00:25:35.83
Now, don't misunderstand that...
00:25:35.86\00:25:37.63
when it says, "He speaks to
the Father in our defense... "
00:25:37.67\00:25:40.64
it's not saying that
because God is against us
00:25:40.70\00:25:43.27
and Jesus for us
00:25:43.30\00:25:44.64
and Jesus is trying to
persuade the Father to love us
00:25:44.67\00:25:46.84
because the Father's kind
of not sure if He loves us...
00:25:46.88\00:25:49.24
no... don't misunderstand that.
00:25:49.28\00:25:50.98
We've already established
from the New Testament
00:25:51.01\00:25:53.85
and from the Old Testament
00:25:53.88\00:25:55.65
that we have an accuser
00:25:55.68\00:25:57.42
and that accuser is not
God... that accuser is Satan.
00:25:57.45\00:25:59.55
Satan is the
accuser of the brethren.
00:25:59.59\00:26:01.12
Satan is the one that's accusing
us before God day and night
00:26:01.16\00:26:03.89
so, when Jesus comes
to speak in our defense...
00:26:03.93\00:26:06.16
as it's outlined in
Zechariah chapter 3,
00:26:06.19\00:26:08.26
Jesus is defending us from
the accusations of Satan...
00:26:08.30\00:26:11.97
not from God.
00:26:12.00\00:26:13.34
Jesus is defending
us from the accuser
00:26:13.37\00:26:15.80
who accuses us
before God day and night.
00:26:15.84\00:26:18.27
That spiritual being...
he's throwing his darts at us
00:26:18.31\00:26:21.58
and seeking to
overwhelm us with our failures
00:26:21.64\00:26:25.48
and remember,
we are unrighteous,
00:26:25.51\00:26:27.28
there's none of us
that is seeking after God
00:26:27.32\00:26:28.92
and so, God is
in earnest with us,
00:26:28.95\00:26:31.35
"I don't want you to sin because
that just gives Satan more ammo
00:26:31.39\00:26:34.16
and... and... and
Satan will take that ammo
00:26:34.19\00:26:36.12
and he'll throw it at you
00:26:36.16\00:26:37.63
and as he throws it at
you, he is, in a sense,
00:26:37.69\00:26:39.33
because I see all
things... I know all things...
00:26:39.36\00:26:41.46
I take note of all things...
I write down all things...
00:26:41.50\00:26:43.33
I remember everything
you do... and everything... "
00:26:43.37\00:26:44.70
God has a record
of all of our deeds
00:26:44.73\00:26:46.50
and as He does that, Satan says,
00:26:46.53\00:26:47.87
"Hey, see,
look... you got the...
00:26:47.90\00:26:49.24
look what he did here,
look what he did here...
00:26:49.27\00:26:50.61
look what he did here... "
00:26:50.64\00:26:51.97
and so, Satan is accusing
us in this way before God
00:26:52.01\00:26:55.18
day and night
00:26:55.21\00:26:57.51
and we need to be aware of
who the... the... the one is
00:26:57.55\00:27:01.98
that Jesus is
defending us from, it's not God.
00:27:02.02\00:27:04.65
In fact, look at a
couple of Bible verses with me,
00:27:04.69\00:27:06.99
one of them is the most
precious verse in the Bible,
00:27:07.02\00:27:09.26
it's John chapter 3 and verse 16
00:27:09.29\00:27:10.86
and it says, "For
God so loved the world,
00:27:10.89\00:27:13.16
that He gave His
only begotten Son... "
00:27:13.19\00:27:15.36
now, that doesn't...
that doesn't in any way
00:27:15.40\00:27:18.40
intimate that God needs
to be persuaded by Christ
00:27:18.43\00:27:23.34
to love us... does it?
00:27:23.37\00:27:24.97
I don't think so.
It doesn't say that...
00:27:25.01\00:27:27.38
that God so loved the world
00:27:27.44\00:27:29.14
because He gave
His begotten Son...
00:27:29.21\00:27:30.91
it says, God so loved the world
00:27:30.95\00:27:32.61
that He gave His begotten
Son... His only begotten Son.
00:27:32.78\00:27:34.95
It was because God
loved us that He gave His Son,
00:27:34.98\00:27:38.79
God loved us before
Jesus died for us...
00:27:38.82\00:27:40.69
God loved us...
00:27:40.72\00:27:42.06
and that's what caused
God to give His Son for us
00:27:42.09\00:27:43.49
but God loves us... God loves us
00:27:43.53\00:27:45.56
and Jesus is very clear on this.
00:27:45.59\00:27:46.93
He is not defending us
from God's accusations...
00:27:46.96\00:27:50.60
the Father's accusations...
00:27:50.67\00:27:52.00
Jesus is defending us
from the devil's accusations.
00:27:52.03\00:27:54.77
Look at a couple of
more verses with me...
00:27:54.80\00:27:56.50
the next one
we're going to look at
00:27:56.57\00:27:58.71
is in John
chapter 14 and verse 9,
00:27:58.74\00:28:00.88
John chapter 14 and verse 9.
00:28:00.91\00:28:03.81
Jesus is
speaking to His disciples
00:28:03.85\00:28:06.28
and, you know, they're
kind of struggling a little bit,
00:28:06.31\00:28:08.65
you know, Jesus just told them,
00:28:08.68\00:28:10.02
"I am the way... the
truth and the life...
00:28:10.05\00:28:11.39
no man comes to the
Father, but by Me. "
00:28:11.42\00:28:12.75
In other words, "I'm the...
00:28:12.79\00:28:14.12
I'm the one that reveals
who the Father really is...
00:28:14.16\00:28:16.02
you can't
understand who the Father is,
00:28:16.06\00:28:17.86
unless you come through me
00:28:17.89\00:28:19.23
because I've
come to reveal Him...
00:28:19.26\00:28:20.60
I've come to show
you who He really is... "
00:28:20.63\00:28:22.76
and He goes on here to
say, "If you'd known me,
00:28:22.80\00:28:25.23
you would have
known the Father also... "
00:28:25.27\00:28:26.70
and then in
verse 8, Philip says,
00:28:26.74\00:28:29.00
"Well, show us the Father
and it's sufficient for us... "
00:28:29.04\00:28:31.07
and here is the
key verse, verse 9,
00:28:31.11\00:28:33.21
"And Jesus said unto him,
00:28:33.27\00:28:34.64
'Have I been so long with you,
00:28:34.68\00:28:36.95
and yet you have
not known Me, Philip?
00:28:36.98\00:28:39.78
he that has seen Me
has seen the Father;
00:28:39.81\00:28:42.55
and how then will you say,
00:28:42.58\00:28:44.99
"Show us the Father?"'"
00:28:45.02\00:28:47.36
See, if you've seen
Me, you've seen the Father.
00:28:47.39\00:28:49.39
So... so when we see
Jesus Christ as Mediator,
00:28:49.42\00:28:51.99
we're seeing the Father.
00:28:52.06\00:28:53.40
When we see Jesus
Christ as Advocate,
00:28:53.43\00:28:54.76
we're seeing the Father.
00:28:54.80\00:28:56.13
When we see Jesus
Christ defending us,
00:28:56.16\00:28:57.50
we're seeing the Father.
00:28:57.53\00:28:58.87
So He can't be
defending us from the Father
00:28:58.90\00:29:00.50
if we're seeing the
Father... you see that?
00:29:00.54\00:29:02.80
He's not defending
us from the Father,
00:29:02.84\00:29:04.77
He's defending
us from the Accuser.
00:29:04.81\00:29:06.94
Let's look at another verse.
00:29:06.98\00:29:08.94
John chapter 16 and verse 27,
00:29:08.98\00:29:10.91
just over a couple of
pages in your Bible...
00:29:10.95\00:29:13.68
John chapter 16 and verse 27...
00:29:13.72\00:29:16.38
and this one is crystal clear,
00:29:16.42\00:29:19.05
John 16 and verse 27,
00:29:19.12\00:29:20.46
"For the Father
Himself loves you... "
00:29:20.49\00:29:23.63
wooh... "The
Father Himself loves you
00:29:23.66\00:29:26.59
because you've
loved Me, and believed
00:29:26.63\00:29:29.46
that I came out from God. "
00:29:29.53\00:29:31.60
John chapter 16 and
verse 27, God loves us.
00:29:31.63\00:29:35.10
God loves us... that's clear
00:29:35.17\00:29:36.77
so, we see here
that the accusations
00:29:36.81\00:29:39.51
are coming from Satan against us
00:29:39.54\00:29:42.18
and Jesus is
defending us before the Father,
00:29:42.21\00:29:44.81
not from the Father
but before the Father,
00:29:44.85\00:29:47.42
why? Because God is
fair... God is just...
00:29:47.45\00:29:49.15
God is righteous
00:29:49.18\00:29:50.52
and he's not
just going to pretend
00:29:50.55\00:29:52.15
He doesn't hear
those accusations,
00:29:52.19\00:29:53.56
He hears them and
they're... and they're legit.
00:29:53.59\00:29:55.16
They're legit because we're...
none of us are righteous...
00:29:55.19\00:29:57.93
all of us have
gone our own way...
00:29:57.96\00:29:59.63
none of us understands...
00:29:59.66\00:30:01.00
none of us are
seeking after God...
00:30:01.03\00:30:02.36
all of our
righteousness is as filthy rags,
00:30:02.40\00:30:04.33
you say, "Even as a Christian?"
00:30:04.37\00:30:05.70
I would say, "Yes,
even as a Christian. "
00:30:05.73\00:30:07.07
We need... we must have
the merit of Jesus Christ
00:30:07.10\00:30:10.24
to cover even our obedience.
00:30:10.27\00:30:12.51
Why? Because many
times our obedience
00:30:12.54\00:30:14.58
has a wrong motivation
00:30:14.61\00:30:15.94
and we don't always see that.
00:30:15.98\00:30:17.35
You can see the best of
men... Daniel for example...
00:30:17.41\00:30:20.95
well, he was a man
who stood perfect...
00:30:20.98\00:30:23.79
blameless before his enemies
00:30:23.82\00:30:25.39
and he was in
politics... think about that.
00:30:25.42\00:30:27.92
He was in politics
00:30:27.96\00:30:29.29
and he stood
blameless before his enemies.
00:30:29.32\00:30:32.13
If Daniel were a
Republican today,
00:30:32.16\00:30:34.76
there's no way that
he could stand blameless.
00:30:34.80\00:30:36.93
Well, actually maybe that's
kind of the scenario he was in
00:30:36.97\00:30:39.93
because...
because they tried to get
00:30:40.00\00:30:42.30
anything they could against him
and they couldn't get a thing.
00:30:42.34\00:30:44.61
So, Republican...
Democrat... didn't matter...
00:30:44.64\00:30:47.24
we live in a time and an age
00:30:47.28\00:30:49.04
when politics is dirty dirty
00:30:49.08\00:30:50.75
and I think, Daniel lived in
the same type of environment.
00:30:50.81\00:30:53.28
In fact, finally
they crafted a law
00:30:53.31\00:30:56.02
that would find him
guilty of praying to God.
00:30:56.05\00:31:00.42
Can you imagine being guilty...
00:31:00.46\00:31:02.39
being condemned
for praying to God?
00:31:02.42\00:31:04.99
That's the law that they crafted
to find some stuff on Daniel...
00:31:05.03\00:31:08.83
to get some dirt on Daniel.
00:31:08.86\00:31:10.20
Now, Daniel himself...
blameless before his enemies...
00:31:10.23\00:31:13.17
they craft a law to convict him
00:31:13.20\00:31:15.30
of being guilty
of praying to God.
00:31:15.34\00:31:17.41
Daniel himself...
when he saw Christ...
00:31:17.44\00:31:20.51
when he saw
glory... he fell on his face
00:31:20.58\00:31:23.48
as if he were
dead... Daniel chapter 10
00:31:23.55\00:31:26.38
and he said, "My
comeliness... my goodness...
00:31:26.41\00:31:28.38
my righteousness...
00:31:28.42\00:31:29.75
it turned into corruption in me
00:31:29.78\00:31:31.12
and I retained no strength. "
00:31:31.15\00:31:32.49
That was a blameless man.
00:31:32.52\00:31:33.86
There is none of us that
are righteous... no not one...
00:31:33.89\00:31:36.29
there's none of us
that can stand before God...
00:31:36.32\00:31:38.59
all of our righteousness
is... are as filthy rags.
00:31:38.63\00:31:41.40
We must have the
righteousness of Jesus Christ.
00:31:41.43\00:31:44.17
So, in the judgment,
Jesus is defending us
00:31:44.20\00:31:48.44
from the accusations of Satan.
00:31:48.47\00:31:50.17
Jesus is defending us
from the accusations of Satan
00:31:50.21\00:31:52.67
and God is fair
00:31:52.71\00:31:54.04
and God allows those
accusations to come forth
00:31:54.08\00:31:56.34
because He wants
to deal with them.
00:31:56.38\00:31:57.71
He wants to deal with Satan...
00:31:57.75\00:31:59.08
He wants to deal
with his accusations
00:31:59.11\00:32:00.45
and the only way God can do that
00:32:00.48\00:32:01.82
is through the
righteousness of Jesus Christ
00:32:01.85\00:32:03.55
and that's what we
need to look at now.
00:32:03.59\00:32:04.92
We need to understand
00:32:04.95\00:32:06.29
what the accusations Satan
have to do with the judgment.
00:32:06.32\00:32:08.96
What...
00:32:08.99\00:32:10.33
what did those accusations
have to do with the judgment?
00:32:10.36\00:32:12.96
See, in this great controversy
that began in heaven,
00:32:12.99\00:32:15.73
Revelation chapter 12 tells us,
00:32:15.76\00:32:17.27
Satan as an angel of
God began to insinuate
00:32:17.30\00:32:22.34
that the angels of heaven
were pure and holy and righteous
00:32:22.37\00:32:26.88
and they didn't need a law
00:32:26.94\00:32:28.28
and they definitely
didn't need to be under
00:32:28.31\00:32:29.94
some kind of obedience.
00:32:29.98\00:32:31.65
Now, I don't believe
that any of the angels
00:32:31.68\00:32:33.28
really felt that
they were under a law,
00:32:33.31\00:32:34.72
I mean, the law of
love... once you fall into that
00:32:34.75\00:32:38.15
you realize that
it's just a natural thing.
00:32:38.19\00:32:40.56
This is the way we
were created to be in
00:32:40.59\00:32:42.86
and most of the
angels probably felt that way
00:32:42.89\00:32:44.76
until Lucifer
started insinuating...
00:32:44.79\00:32:47.46
trafficking his iniquities,
that's what the Bible says.
00:32:47.50\00:32:50.37
In Ezekiel chapter 28,
00:32:50.40\00:32:52.17
he was
trafficking his iniquities...
00:32:52.20\00:32:53.64
exalting himself...
Isaiah 14:12 through 14,
00:32:53.67\00:32:56.87
wanted to be in
the place of God...
00:32:56.91\00:32:58.64
I... I... I... I...
00:32:58.67\00:33:00.01
we live in a time of
"I"... iPhones... iMaga...
00:33:00.98\00:33:03.04
I... I... I... I... I...
00:33:03.08\00:33:04.41
and Satan did this...
he sought to undermine
00:33:04.45\00:33:09.18
the principles
of God's Government.
00:33:09.22\00:33:11.15
The principles
of God's government
00:33:11.19\00:33:13.09
that are based upon His law
00:33:13.12\00:33:14.46
which is the
transcript of His character...
00:33:14.49\00:33:15.82
he was undermining God himself.
00:33:15.86\00:33:18.39
For wanting to exalt himself
00:33:18.46\00:33:21.03
is a very attack
on the law of God
00:33:21.06\00:33:23.47
because it's an attack
on the character of God.
00:33:23.50\00:33:25.07
God is a God of selflessness...
00:33:25.10\00:33:27.87
His law of love is
a law of selflessness,
00:33:27.90\00:33:31.54
it's a law of
other-centeredness.
00:33:31.57\00:33:32.91
It's a law of you not I
00:33:32.94\00:33:34.88
and Satan attacked that law
00:33:34.91\00:33:36.81
because he attacked
the character of God
00:33:36.85\00:33:38.41
and sought to undermine the
principles of God's government,
00:33:38.45\00:33:41.62
undermine the principles
of other-centered love
00:33:41.65\00:33:43.89
and as this battle took
place in heaven, there was war.
00:33:43.92\00:33:47.42
Revelation chapter 12
tell us about this war,
00:33:47.46\00:33:50.36
Revelation chapter 12
00:33:50.39\00:33:51.73
and we'll start
here with verse 7,
00:33:51.76\00:33:53.70
Revelation 12 verse 7,
00:33:53.73\00:33:55.06
"And there was war in heaven;
00:33:55.10\00:33:57.07
and Michael and His angels
fought against the dragon;
00:33:57.10\00:34:00.10
and the dragon
fought and his angels. "
00:34:00.14\00:34:01.97
Who's this dragon?
00:34:02.00\00:34:03.34
Verse 8, "And prevailed not;
00:34:03.37\00:34:05.27
neither was their place
found any more in heaven.
00:34:05.31\00:34:08.34
And the great
dragon was cast out,
00:34:08.38\00:34:10.78
that old serpent,
called the Devil... "
00:34:10.81\00:34:12.41
that's who the
dragon is... the Devil...
00:34:12.45\00:34:13.98
"and Satan... " there it is...
00:34:14.02\00:34:16.02
which deceives
the whole world... "
00:34:16.05\00:34:17.89
"he was cast out into the earth,
00:34:17.92\00:34:19.69
and his angels were
cast out with him. "
00:34:19.72\00:34:21.12
Okay, so here we have
the beginning of the war.
00:34:21.16\00:34:23.69
The conflict came to this earth
00:34:23.73\00:34:26.09
only because Adam and Eve chose
00:34:26.13\00:34:28.56
to believe the
lies of the Devil.
00:34:28.60\00:34:31.00
When the serpent...
00:34:31.03\00:34:32.80
the Devil under the
guise of a speaking serpent
00:34:32.83\00:34:35.40
came to Eve in
the Garden of Eden
00:34:35.44\00:34:37.01
and encouraged her to partake
of the Tree of Good and Evil
00:34:37.04\00:34:41.21
which God told her
not to partake of...
00:34:41.24\00:34:42.58
he did his by insinuating
00:34:42.61\00:34:45.08
that God was
withholding something from her.
00:34:45.11\00:34:46.98
"Oh He knows...
" Satan said to...
00:34:47.02\00:34:49.02
the serpent said to Eve...
00:34:49.05\00:34:50.49
"He knows... when
you eat this fruit,
00:34:50.52\00:34:51.85
you're going to
be just like Him,
00:34:51.89\00:34:53.22
you don't have
to heed Him anymore,
00:34:53.25\00:34:54.59
you're going to be just
like God knowing good and evil,
00:34:54.62\00:34:55.96
He's trying to
withhold that from you. "
00:34:55.99\00:34:57.33
You see, he was again
painting God as selfish...
00:34:57.36\00:34:59.29
not selfless love but selfish
00:34:59.36\00:35:01.30
and therefore the same attack
he made against God in heaven,
00:35:01.33\00:35:04.60
he now makes
against God on earth
00:35:04.63\00:35:06.33
and that's why Revelation says
that he was cast into the earth.
00:35:06.37\00:35:09.27
It wasn't that God made the
earth a dumping place for Satan,
00:35:09.30\00:35:12.17
no, no, no, no,
00:35:12.21\00:35:13.54
it was because Adam and Eve who
were Vice-regents of... of God
00:35:13.58\00:35:16.71
who were put in
charge of the earth...
00:35:16.75\00:35:18.95
given dominion of this earth
00:35:18.98\00:35:20.42
Adam... given dominion
over everything on this earth
00:35:20.45\00:35:24.65
and Eve as his helpmeet...
00:35:24.69\00:35:26.02
it was because they
listened to the lies of Satan
00:35:26.05\00:35:28.76
and therefore, they gave the
control of this earth to Satan
00:35:28.79\00:35:32.33
by submitting to him
00:35:32.36\00:35:33.96
and believing
his lies against God
00:35:34.00\00:35:36.30
believing that God was
withholding something from them
00:35:36.33\00:35:39.73
that would have
made them like Him
00:35:39.77\00:35:42.14
knowing good and evil...
00:35:42.17\00:35:43.51
like God...
knowing good and evil.
00:35:43.54\00:35:44.87
So, this great dragon
is cast into this earth
00:35:44.91\00:35:47.84
and the
controversy takes place here
00:35:47.88\00:35:49.81
and, of course, Satan
was cast out of heaven
00:35:49.84\00:35:51.65
and so, he expects Adam and
Eve to be cast out and be lost
00:35:51.68\00:35:54.82
and as... you know...
00:35:54.85\00:35:56.72
as Adam and Eve
have broken His law...
00:35:56.75\00:35:58.45
they've violated His law,
they stole from that tree,
00:35:58.49\00:36:00.29
they'd eaten of the Tree of
the Knowledge of Good and Evil
00:36:00.32\00:36:03.53
and... and it was...
it was amazing to Satan
00:36:03.56\00:36:08.06
that God
00:36:08.10\00:36:10.57
put together a plan to save us.
00:36:10.60\00:36:12.67
I mean, God had
one or two options...
00:36:12.70\00:36:14.14
He could allow
mankind to experience the...
00:36:14.20\00:36:17.91
the justice of eternal death
00:36:17.94\00:36:20.38
and sentence them to eternal
death for breaking His law
00:36:20.41\00:36:24.85
or, He could do
away with His law...
00:36:24.88\00:36:27.32
He could just say, "Well, yeah,
00:36:27.35\00:36:28.78
maybe I just need to do
away with this law of love,
00:36:28.82\00:36:30.49
and allow sin and
sorrow and death and...
00:36:30.55\00:36:32.72
and evil to reign
in this universe... "
00:36:32.75\00:36:34.62
those were the two
choices that God had
00:36:34.66\00:36:37.29
and if you could
imagine a universe
00:36:37.33\00:36:40.00
that would
continue for all eternity
00:36:40.03\00:36:42.20
with sin and evil
and pain and suffering
00:36:42.23\00:36:44.33
see, that's not the
universe that we live in.
00:36:44.37\00:36:46.60
That's the universe...
00:36:46.63\00:36:48.10
that's the world
that we live in right now
00:36:48.14\00:36:49.47
but that's not the
universe we live in.
00:36:49.50\00:36:50.84
The universe we live in
is not going to be filled
00:36:50.87\00:36:52.71
with any kind of sin or
pain or evil or suffering
00:36:52.74\00:36:55.38
for any amount of
time after all of this ends
00:36:55.41\00:36:58.01
and this is all going
to end very, very soon
00:36:58.05\00:37:00.42
and then we're
going to see God reinstate
00:37:00.45\00:37:02.78
His original purpose for mankind
00:37:02.82\00:37:04.59
and we read about
that all through the Bible
00:37:04.62\00:37:06.76
and especially in
Revelation chapter 21 and 22
00:37:06.79\00:37:08.82
where there's going to be no
more pain... no more sorrow...
00:37:08.86\00:37:10.59
no more
suffering... no more evil
00:37:10.63\00:37:11.96
and so, God had one
of these two choices,
00:37:11.99\00:37:13.93
He couldn't do
away with his law...
00:37:13.96\00:37:15.43
that's the very
foundation of His Government...
00:37:15.46\00:37:17.83
that's the very
foundation of who He is.
00:37:17.87\00:37:19.80
The law of God is the
transcript of His character,
00:37:19.83\00:37:22.80
it's His glory
and it's a law of love
00:37:22.84\00:37:24.71
so, He had to allow
the punishment to come,
00:37:24.74\00:37:28.21
the justice of eternal
death to come upon mankind
00:37:28.24\00:37:31.71
but He did this
by sending a new Man
00:37:31.78\00:37:36.08
and this is where
we pick up in our story
00:37:36.12\00:37:39.25
of the life of Christ.
00:37:39.29\00:37:41.49
Jesus Christ came
to this earth as a man
00:37:41.52\00:37:44.09
to take our place
00:37:44.13\00:37:45.46
and the consequence of the
punishment that we deserve.
00:37:45.49\00:37:48.73
That's why in John
chapter 19 and verse 5,
00:37:48.93\00:37:52.03
Pilate
himself... a... a Gentile...
00:37:52.07\00:37:54.67
an unbeliever... a
heathen, if you will...
00:37:54.70\00:37:56.27
Pilate Himself looking at
Jesus found no fault in Him
00:37:56.30\00:37:59.54
and notice what he says
in John chapter 19 verse 5,
00:37:59.57\00:38:02.71
"Then Jesus came forth,
wearing a crown of thorns,
00:38:02.74\00:38:05.71
and the purple robe,
00:38:05.75\00:38:07.52
and Pilate said unto
them, 'Behold the man!'"
00:38:07.55\00:38:11.25
behold the man!
00:38:11.29\00:38:12.65
Those were semi-inspired words
00:38:12.69\00:38:15.62
because Jesus
became the second man...
00:38:15.66\00:38:18.99
the second Adam if you will,
00:38:19.03\00:38:20.36
the second head
of the human race.
00:38:20.40\00:38:22.36
Paul picks this up in
1st Corinthians chapter 15
00:38:22.40\00:38:26.03
and verse 47,
00:38:26.07\00:38:27.40
1st Corinthians 15 and verse 47.
00:38:27.44\00:38:29.27
Paul picks this same theme up
00:38:29.30\00:38:31.57
when he talks about Jesus Christ
00:38:31.61\00:38:33.81
and compares Him to
Adam... the first Adam.
00:38:33.84\00:38:36.24
1st Corinthians 15:47, he says,
00:38:36.28\00:38:38.58
"The first man was of
the earth, earthy... "
00:38:38.61\00:38:41.58
that's talking about Adam...
00:38:41.62\00:38:42.95
"the second man is
the Lord of heaven... "
00:38:42.98\00:38:45.59
and the word "Adam" means man...
00:38:45.62\00:38:47.16
it's... it's... it's
representative of mankind.
00:38:47.19\00:38:49.52
In fact, the point that
Paul is making here is...
00:38:49.56\00:38:51.86
first man Adam...
00:38:51.89\00:38:53.23
in him was the entire human race
00:38:53.26\00:38:54.70
and now we have the second man,
Jesus Christ... the second Adam
00:38:54.73\00:38:58.90
and in Him is
the entire human race
00:38:58.93\00:39:00.70
and you might say,
00:39:00.74\00:39:02.30
"Well, I can't get
my mind around that... "
00:39:02.34\00:39:03.81
well, the way
it works is simple.
00:39:03.84\00:39:05.77
Every single one of us can
trace our lineage back to Adam.
00:39:05.81\00:39:08.64
Adam and Eve were
the first human parents
00:39:08.68\00:39:10.88
and every one of
us came from them.
00:39:10.91\00:39:12.98
The Bible says...
in the Old Testament...
00:39:13.01\00:39:15.25
especially in the New Testament,
we need to be born again.
00:39:15.28\00:39:17.22
We need to be born in
the Spirit and of water...
00:39:17.25\00:39:19.62
we need to be born again
00:39:19.65\00:39:20.99
and that "born again" experience
00:39:21.02\00:39:22.52
puts us in Christ.
00:39:22.56\00:39:23.96
Right now, we're in
Adam... the first Adam...
00:39:23.99\00:39:26.36
we need to be put in Christ
00:39:26.39\00:39:28.00
and when we're in Adam,
00:39:28.03\00:39:29.43
we receive from him
00:39:29.46\00:39:30.80
the consequences of his sins.
00:39:30.83\00:39:32.37
We're born as sinners
00:39:32.40\00:39:33.74
and we have this
tendency to go forth
00:39:33.77\00:39:35.87
in rebellion against God
00:39:35.90\00:39:37.37
but when we're
in the second Adam,
00:39:37.41\00:39:38.87
we receive from
Him His tendencies
00:39:38.94\00:39:40.38
and the second Adam didn't sin.
00:39:40.41\00:39:41.78
The second Adam was
not disobedient to God.
00:39:41.81\00:39:44.45
The second Adam lived a
life of purity and holiness
00:39:44.48\00:39:46.95
and righteousness
00:39:46.98\00:39:48.32
and we receive
that from Him as a gift
00:39:48.35\00:39:49.88
and that motivates us
00:39:49.92\00:39:51.29
to live a
completely different life
00:39:51.32\00:39:53.32
than the life we
have in the first Adam
00:39:53.36\00:39:55.26
and that's where we are.
00:39:55.29\00:39:56.62
Each human being is
in that place of choice,
00:39:56.66\00:39:59.16
are we going to
choose to be the first
00:39:59.19\00:40:01.33
or in the second Adam?
00:40:01.36\00:40:02.70
Are we going to choose
our natural inclinations
00:40:02.73\00:40:04.67
that we received
from the first Adam
00:40:04.70\00:40:06.07
or are we going to choose
the supernatural inclinations
00:40:06.10\00:40:08.67
that we receive
from the second Adam.
00:40:08.70\00:40:11.41
So, God basically
presents Jesus Christ
00:40:11.44\00:40:14.14
as the sacrifice for our sins.
00:40:14.18\00:40:17.35
God basically says,
00:40:17.38\00:40:18.81
"Okay, mankind has to
pay the consequence of this
00:40:18.85\00:40:21.52
and I'm going to...
I'm going to allow mankind
00:40:21.55\00:40:23.95
to pay the
consequence of this in myself...
00:40:23.99\00:40:26.35
I'm going to come...
00:40:26.39\00:40:27.72
because Jesus Christ is God...
00:40:27.76\00:40:29.09
I'm going to come...
00:40:29.12\00:40:30.53
and I am going to
receive the consequences myself
00:40:30.56\00:40:32.93
and therefore satisfy my justice
00:40:32.96\00:40:35.83
so that I can be merciful. "
00:40:35.86\00:40:37.47
This is brought out very clearly
00:40:37.50\00:40:39.07
in the context
of Romans chapter 3
00:40:39.10\00:40:40.74
where Paul just
expounds upon this gospel truth.
00:40:40.77\00:40:44.04
Romans chapter 3...
00:40:44.11\00:40:45.44
and we'll begin
here with verse 25.
00:40:45.47\00:40:47.24
Romans chapter 3 and verse 25.
00:40:47.28\00:40:49.48
"Whom God has set
forth to be a propitiation
00:40:49.51\00:40:53.25
through faith in His blood. "
00:40:53.28\00:40:54.62
I'm going to read
this from the NIV.
00:40:54.65\00:40:55.98
"God presented Him as
a sacrifice of atonement
00:40:56.02\00:40:59.39
through faith in His blood.
00:40:59.42\00:41:00.76
He did this to
demonstrate His justice,
00:41:00.79\00:41:04.03
because in His forbearance
00:41:04.06\00:41:07.06
He had left the sins committed
beforehand unpunished. "
00:41:07.10\00:41:09.60
He did it to
demonstrate His justice...
00:41:09.63\00:41:12.53
so as to be just...
00:41:12.57\00:41:14.04
and the One who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus.
00:41:14.07\00:41:17.11
Now, I really like the
way the NIV sets this out...
00:41:17.14\00:41:20.01
it's a little clearer
than the King James Version.
00:41:20.04\00:41:22.84
In other words,
God has to be just
00:41:22.88\00:41:24.71
but He also wants to be merciful
00:41:24.75\00:41:26.68
and He can't just overlook sin
00:41:26.72\00:41:28.55
because then sin
would be allowed to continue
00:41:28.58\00:41:31.02
so, sin has to have a
penalty that's dealt with...
00:41:31.05\00:41:33.66
it has a
consequence which is death
00:41:33.69\00:41:35.42
and so, what He did was,
00:41:35.46\00:41:36.79
He took the
consequence upon Himself.
00:41:36.83\00:41:38.26
He came in the
Person of Jesus Christ
00:41:38.29\00:41:40.26
and He took
upon Himself as a man
00:41:40.30\00:41:42.16
and He took upon
Himself our consequence
00:41:42.20\00:41:44.83
and as He took upon
Himself our consequence,
00:41:44.87\00:41:47.44
He allowed us to be forgiven.
00:41:47.47\00:41:50.27
He allowed us to be forgiven
without violating the principles
00:41:50.31\00:41:54.58
of justice and righteousness...
00:41:54.61\00:41:55.94
without violating the
principles of His character...
00:41:55.98\00:41:58.51
He allowed us to
be forgiven because
00:41:58.55\00:42:00.78
He received the
penalty for our sins
00:42:00.82\00:42:02.98
and that's exactly
what Paul was saying here.
00:42:03.02\00:42:06.02
Jesus Christ not
only received our penalty,
00:42:06.05\00:42:09.02
He became sin for us
00:42:09.06\00:42:10.83
that we might be counted or...
00:42:10.86\00:42:12.49
we might be the
righteousness of God in Him
00:42:12.53\00:42:15.26
and it's truly powerful
because when you think about it,
00:42:15.30\00:42:17.30
Jesus did no sin...
00:42:17.33\00:42:18.67
He was holy... He was
perfect... He was pure...
00:42:18.70\00:42:20.24
He did no sin
00:42:20.27\00:42:21.60
so, He didn't
deserve our consequences.
00:42:21.64\00:42:24.44
If He would have sinned,
00:42:24.47\00:42:26.07
He could have deserved
the consequences of sin
00:42:26.11\00:42:28.44
which is death but He
didn't... He didn't sin.
00:42:28.48\00:42:30.18
He was perfect... He
was holy... He was righteous
00:42:30.21\00:42:31.91
so, He didn't
deserve our consequences...
00:42:31.95\00:42:33.48
He received our consequences
00:42:33.52\00:42:35.05
even though He didn't
deserve our consequences...
00:42:35.08\00:42:37.19
that means it
was accounted to Him
00:42:37.22\00:42:38.75
in the same way we
receive His righteousness.
00:42:38.79\00:42:42.82
We haven't lived a
holy, pure, unspotted life...
00:42:42.86\00:42:45.29
we have sinned and yet...
00:42:45.33\00:42:47.90
and we don't deserve to
be treated as righteous...
00:42:47.93\00:42:50.60
as holy... as pure...
00:42:50.63\00:42:51.97
but we are counted
righteous, holy and pure.
00:42:52.00\00:42:54.34
In the same way that
Jesus was counted a sinner,
00:42:54.37\00:42:56.94
we are counted righteous
00:42:56.97\00:42:58.57
and this is the great exchange
of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:42:58.64\00:43:02.64
This is what Paul
lived and died for...
00:43:02.68\00:43:04.91
this is what he
breathed his life for
00:43:04.95\00:43:07.12
to prepare people
00:43:07.15\00:43:10.09
to stand before the
judgment seat of Christ,
00:43:10.12\00:43:12.45
he preached this
everywhere he went...
00:43:12.49\00:43:14.12
to the Jews, to the
Gentiles, to Felix...
00:43:14.16\00:43:15.79
he talked about
judgment to come.
00:43:15.82\00:43:17.69
He talked about how
in Psalm 85 verse 10
00:43:17.73\00:43:20.60
that mercy and
truth had met together
00:43:20.63\00:43:23.43
and righteousness and
peace had kissed each other...
00:43:23.47\00:43:25.57
and... and how everything
had come together in the cross.
00:43:25.60\00:43:28.34
When you look at
the cross of Calvary,
00:43:28.40\00:43:30.57
you see mercy
and justice blended.
00:43:30.61\00:43:32.47
When we look at
the cross of Calvary,
00:43:32.51\00:43:35.28
we see justice
being meted out to Jesus
00:43:35.31\00:43:37.71
and you see mercy
being revealed to us
00:43:37.78\00:43:40.12
and that combination
comes together in the cross
00:43:40.18\00:43:43.28
so that God's
character is reconciled...
00:43:43.32\00:43:45.29
He can be just
and He can be merciful
00:43:45.32\00:43:47.29
when we look at the cross
00:43:47.32\00:43:48.92
and that's exactly
what we see at the cross.
00:43:48.99\00:43:50.36
The cross is a
manifestation of justice
00:43:50.43\00:43:52.66
and it's a manifestation
of mercy at the same time
00:43:52.69\00:43:55.03
and that's why
Psalm 85 verse 10 says...
00:43:55.06\00:43:57.10
they've met together...
they kissed each other
00:43:57.17\00:43:59.27
and that kissing... that
meeting took place in Calvary.
00:43:59.30\00:44:03.00
So, what does this mean to us?
00:44:03.04\00:44:04.81
Well, let's look at
John chapter 12 and verse 31
00:44:04.84\00:44:08.14
because I think it
explains what we talked about
00:44:08.18\00:44:11.45
in the prophetic
reading of Revelation chapter 12
00:44:11.48\00:44:14.68
and verse 10.
00:44:14.72\00:44:16.22
John chapter 12 and verse 31,
00:44:16.28\00:44:18.29
Jesus is going to the cross,
00:44:18.32\00:44:20.99
He's getting ready
to go to Calvary here
00:44:21.02\00:44:24.29
and He says in John
chapter 12 and verse 31,
00:44:24.33\00:44:27.56
"Now is the
judgment of this world;
00:44:27.60\00:44:30.67
now shall the prince of
this world be cast out. "
00:44:30.70\00:44:33.20
Remember
Revelation chapter 12 says,
00:44:33.23\00:44:34.64
"I heard voices in heaven
saying that the prince of...
00:44:34.70\00:44:36.87
that the prince of
the world was cast out. "
00:44:36.91\00:44:38.27
It took place at Calvary.
00:44:38.31\00:44:39.77
The prince of this world
was cast out at Calvary...
00:44:39.81\00:44:42.21
why? Because the
judgment that we deserve...
00:44:42.24\00:44:44.75
the judgment that
this world deserved
00:44:44.78\00:44:46.58
and that judgment was death...
00:44:46.61\00:44:48.72
that judgment came upon Christ.
00:44:48.78\00:44:50.85
When Christ was
going to Calvary, He says,
00:44:50.89\00:44:52.72
"Now that judgment
that God has forbore...
00:44:52.75\00:44:54.52
that God has never
brought to the world...
00:44:54.56\00:44:56.32
that judgment is now coming
00:44:56.36\00:44:57.76
and it's coming upon Me
00:44:57.79\00:44:59.13
and when that
judgment comes upon Me,
00:44:59.16\00:45:00.73
I'm going to cast out
the prince of this world.
00:45:00.76\00:45:02.23
He's not going to be able to
accuse you any more before God
00:45:02.26\00:45:05.37
because I'm going to
take your consequences
00:45:05.43\00:45:08.10
and every time
he opens his mouth,
00:45:08.14\00:45:09.64
I'm going to
say, 'Wait a minute...
00:45:09.67\00:45:11.01
that's been taken care of...
00:45:11.04\00:45:12.37
that person believes
in Me and, therefore,
00:45:12.41\00:45:14.21
that punishment
has been borne by Me.
00:45:14.24\00:45:16.61
The Lord rebuke you
Satan even the Lord. '"
00:45:16.64\00:45:18.98
This is the picture that
we see in the judgment...
00:45:19.01\00:45:22.15
the judgment-hour message...
00:45:22.18\00:45:23.52
it's a powerful
picture of God's love
00:45:23.55\00:45:25.22
and it's brought out
more clearly than we know
00:45:25.25\00:45:27.79
in the Old and
the New Testament.
00:45:27.82\00:45:30.69
Satan works
though with all his power
00:45:30.73\00:45:33.33
to undermine the
gospel of salvation.
00:45:33.36\00:45:35.86
He's seeking to destroy
the gospel of salvation.
00:45:35.90\00:45:38.73
That's why it says,
"He's working day and night...
00:45:38.80\00:45:40.97
he's working day and night. "
00:45:41.00\00:45:42.40
I mean, all of us
take a break, right?
00:45:42.44\00:45:44.51
We come to work...
00:45:44.54\00:45:45.87
maybe we work four days a week
00:45:45.91\00:45:47.31
instead of six
days a week, right?
00:45:47.34\00:45:48.78
We come to work... we
work our ten-hour shifts
00:45:48.84\00:45:50.88
or eight-hour shifts
00:45:50.91\00:45:52.41
or 40 hours or 32
hours or whatever it is
00:45:52.48\00:45:54.85
and we go home
and we rest, you know,
00:45:54.88\00:45:57.25
we go to bed at night...
00:45:57.29\00:45:58.62
we take a little
vacation every once in a while,
00:45:58.65\00:46:00.26
we have the weekend off...
we have a couple of days off.
00:46:00.32\00:46:02.52
Satan doesn't take any breaks,
he's working day and night.
00:46:02.56\00:46:04.69
He's not stopping.
00:46:04.76\00:46:06.09
He is seeking to
destroy... destroy... destroy...
00:46:06.13\00:46:08.26
day and night, he is working
00:46:08.30\00:46:11.20
and his operations never cease.
00:46:11.23\00:46:14.07
He doesn't take a
vacation and you know that,
00:46:14.14\00:46:15.84
you've experienced that.
00:46:15.87\00:46:17.31
That's why Ecclesiastes says...
00:46:17.34\00:46:18.91
we need to think about the
conclusion of this whole matter,
00:46:18.97\00:46:22.01
we need to fear God
and keep His commandments,
00:46:22.04\00:46:24.01
this is the whole duty of man.
00:46:24.05\00:46:25.38
God's going to
bring everything...
00:46:25.41\00:46:27.62
everything to judgment
00:46:27.75\00:46:30.19
and every secret thing
whether it's good or evil.
00:46:30.25\00:46:32.65
How does this work?
00:46:32.69\00:46:34.16
When I was a young man,
00:46:34.19\00:46:35.62
I remember
wanting a bicycle so bad,
00:46:35.66\00:46:38.43
I think a lot of young
men want to have a bicycle...
00:46:38.49\00:46:40.56
you know that comes
before the car... right?
00:46:40.60\00:46:42.16
and I was... I don't
know nine... ten years old...
00:46:42.20\00:46:44.17
I lived in
England at the time...
00:46:44.20\00:46:45.53
and that's where I was raised...
00:46:45.57\00:46:46.90
born in
America... lived in England
00:46:46.94\00:46:48.27
and my mom told me,
00:46:48.30\00:46:49.84
"Hey, we're
moving back to America,
00:46:49.87\00:46:51.21
we're going to, you
know, go back to the country
00:46:51.24\00:46:52.91
you were born
in... I want you to...
00:46:52.94\00:46:54.28
to... to experience that... "
00:46:54.31\00:46:55.64
and... and so, when I told her I
really wanted a bike, she said,
00:46:55.68\00:46:58.21
"No... I... it's
no use getting a bike
00:46:58.25\00:47:00.08
because we're going to
be going to America... "
00:47:00.12\00:47:01.45
and sure enough,
we did move to America
00:47:01.48\00:47:02.82
and... and then
when we got here,
00:47:02.85\00:47:04.95
our life was a
little bit tough, you know,
00:47:04.99\00:47:06.52
a new beginning
and a new country...
00:47:06.55\00:47:08.06
we didn't really have
any roots... any foundation
00:47:08.12\00:47:09.99
so, we went from place to place,
00:47:10.03\00:47:11.36
we didn't have a lot of money
00:47:11.39\00:47:12.73
and so, again my Mom told me,
00:47:12.76\00:47:14.10
"You know, you can't
really have a bike...
00:47:14.13\00:47:15.46
can't really afford
a bike right now... "
00:47:15.50\00:47:16.83
but eventually I got one.
00:47:16.87\00:47:18.20
Ah... I was so
happy, I was so excited,
00:47:18.23\00:47:19.57
I was doing a Paper
Route and I was contributing
00:47:19.60\00:47:21.44
and... and got
this bike and I mean,
00:47:21.47\00:47:23.20
I went everywhere with this bike
00:47:23.24\00:47:24.67
and that bike was
never seen without me.
00:47:24.71\00:47:26.74
In fact, at night
time, I had it in my bedroom,
00:47:26.78\00:47:28.74
you know, I slept
with... it was in my room...
00:47:28.78\00:47:30.71
it was everywhere
I went, it went...
00:47:30.75\00:47:32.45
and pretty soon, after a while,
00:47:32.48\00:47:34.02
that bike started
to need some new parts,
00:47:34.05\00:47:36.28
I mean, it was
kind of wearing down
00:47:36.32\00:47:37.65
and one of the pedals was
kind of tweaking a little bit
00:47:37.72\00:47:40.22
and some bolts had
come loose... I lost them
00:47:40.26\00:47:41.96
and the seat was
ripping a little bit
00:47:41.99\00:47:43.32
so, I went to the local store,
the local Department store...
00:47:43.36\00:47:47.30
Sears...
00:47:47.33\00:47:48.66
and I went into
the Bike Department
00:47:48.70\00:47:50.33
and... with my Paper Route money
to get those parts that I needed
00:47:50.37\00:47:53.13
and I discovered as I
was looking out on the shelf,
00:47:53.17\00:47:55.60
I was looking at
the different parts,
00:47:55.64\00:47:56.97
I discovered that I
didn't have enough money
00:47:57.01\00:47:59.11
to buy all the parts I needed.
00:47:59.14\00:48:00.48
Now, at that
point, as a young man,
00:48:00.51\00:48:02.08
I really wanted to get
that bike completely fixed
00:48:02.11\00:48:04.38
and I wasn't willing to wait
00:48:04.41\00:48:07.48
you know, you
need to learn patience
00:48:07.52\00:48:09.05
and I didn't have the
patience when I was a young man
00:48:09.08\00:48:11.22
and so I came up
with a different idea...
00:48:11.25\00:48:12.75
that's something that
I had never done before,
00:48:12.79\00:48:14.29
I just decided that I was going
to steal the parts I needed
00:48:14.32\00:48:17.33
that I couldn't afford to buy.
00:48:17.36\00:48:18.73
I thought this plan was
going to work really well
00:48:18.76\00:48:20.60
because I thought, "If I
buy the parts that I can afford
00:48:20.63\00:48:24.07
and just kind of
steal the rest, shooop...
00:48:24.10\00:48:26.74
no one will know
00:48:26.77\00:48:28.10
because they won't suspect
someone who's buying something
00:48:28.14\00:48:30.61
to be stealing something.
00:48:30.64\00:48:31.97
Now, this was when
I was a little kid...
00:48:32.01\00:48:33.34
this was many years ago,
00:48:33.38\00:48:34.71
I know that something
probably doesn't make sense...
00:48:34.74\00:48:36.08
now a lot of people
will do that and yeah...
00:48:36.11\00:48:38.78
but in... at that time
that's the plan I came up with.
00:48:38.81\00:48:41.85
Now, I never stole
anything before in my life
00:48:41.88\00:48:43.42
and so, I was
looking left and right
00:48:43.45\00:48:44.82
and up and down the
aisles... I was really nervous.
00:48:44.85\00:48:46.65
I wasn't sure how I
was going to do this
00:48:46.69\00:48:48.52
and I know that
when those guys...
00:48:48.56\00:48:51.29
those clerks and the
Department Store workers
00:48:51.33\00:48:54.90
saw me, they'd probably said,
00:48:54.96\00:48:56.60
"You know, this kid's
looking pretty nervous...
00:48:56.63\00:48:58.13
he's walking around
the aisles quite a bit...
00:48:58.17\00:48:59.50
he's looking up and down.
00:48:59.53\00:49:00.87
If anyone's going to steal
something... this kid is...
00:49:00.90\00:49:02.40
keep your eye on him. "
00:49:02.44\00:49:03.91
And sure enough, I took the
bag, put it in my coat jacket...
00:49:03.94\00:49:08.04
jacket pocket...
00:49:08.08\00:49:09.61
went up to the counter with
the stuff I was going to buy...
00:49:09.64\00:49:11.91
paid for it... so, I
was walking out of the store
00:49:11.98\00:49:15.05
when I heard this
voice, "Young man... "
00:49:15.08\00:49:18.19
I pretended that I didn't
hear the voice... kept walking
00:49:18.22\00:49:22.46
and I felt a
hand on my shoulder.
00:49:22.49\00:49:24.09
I had been apprehended...
00:49:24.13\00:49:25.46
I was taken into this back
room, they called the police...
00:49:25.49\00:49:28.20
I... I was
feeling really terrible
00:49:28.23\00:49:30.27
and they said they
were going to call my mom,
00:49:30.30\00:49:31.63
and I felt really bad.
00:49:31.67\00:49:33.17
I was more scared of my
mom than I was of the police
00:49:33.20\00:49:35.74
in those days and
sure enough I was caught.
00:49:35.77\00:49:39.47
Now, is that sin of stealing
00:49:39.51\00:49:43.18
going to come
up in the judgment?
00:49:43.21\00:49:44.55
Well, according to Ecclesiastes
chapter 12, yes it is.
00:49:44.58\00:49:46.38
Everything we've done
whether it was good or evil
00:49:46.41\00:49:48.18
is going to come in the judgment
00:49:48.22\00:49:49.55
but... but... but you say,
"Well... well, Pastor James,
00:49:49.58\00:49:51.52
that was a long time ago
00:49:51.55\00:49:52.89
and you've become a
Christian since then
00:49:52.92\00:49:54.26
and you've been baptized...
00:49:54.29\00:49:55.62
and God's forgiven
you for your sins. "
00:49:55.66\00:49:56.99
Well, yeah, He
has... God's forgiven me...
00:49:57.03\00:49:58.36
Jesus, my Advocate...
00:49:58.39\00:49:59.73
but we... I've got an Accuser
00:49:59.76\00:50:01.20
and he doesn't care if
I've been forgiven or not...
00:50:01.23\00:50:02.76
he's seeking to
undermine the gospel.
00:50:02.80\00:50:04.43
He's going to bring that
00:50:04.47\00:50:05.80
and especially
any other heinous sin
00:50:05.83\00:50:07.87
that I've ever
done in my life...
00:50:07.90\00:50:09.94
he's going to
bring it to my attention.
00:50:09.97\00:50:11.74
He's going to try
to blast me with it.
00:50:11.77\00:50:13.48
He's going to try and lay
out the whole history of my life
00:50:13.51\00:50:15.91
and just basically say,
00:50:15.94\00:50:17.28
"You are a sinner and
you are unrighteous... "
00:50:17.31\00:50:19.65
and you know what?
00:50:19.71\00:50:21.05
I can't answer that accusation.
00:50:21.08\00:50:22.55
I cannot rebuke the devil.
00:50:22.58\00:50:24.09
The only person that
can stand before me...
00:50:24.12\00:50:26.92
that can stand between
me and those accusations
00:50:26.96\00:50:29.62
is Jesus Christ my
Advocate... my Defender...
00:50:29.66\00:50:32.26
my Mediator...
00:50:32.29\00:50:33.83
pause...
00:50:33.86\00:50:35.20
the One who has died for my sins
00:50:35.23\00:50:37.80
and He will stand and
He will rebuke the devil,
00:50:37.83\00:50:40.14
He will rebuke the devil
00:50:40.17\00:50:41.64
because He will say,
basically, "This young man... "
00:50:41.67\00:50:44.14
not as young anymore...
00:50:44.17\00:50:45.81
"trusts in Me
and My righteousness
00:50:45.84\00:50:47.74
and I have taken his penalty...
00:50:47.78\00:50:49.58
the Lord rebuke you
Satan... even the Lord. "
00:50:49.61\00:50:52.91
Isaiah 54 verse 7...
powerful... powerful promise
00:50:52.95\00:50:56.18
for this judgment-hour message.
00:50:56.22\00:50:59.35
Isaiah 54 and verse 7 says this,
00:50:59.39\00:51:02.46
Isaiah 54 verse 7,
00:51:02.49\00:51:05.19
"No weapon that is formed
against thee shall prosper;
00:51:05.23\00:51:10.07
and every tongue that shall
rise against thee in judgment
00:51:10.10\00:51:14.80
thou shalt condemn.
00:51:14.84\00:51:16.17
This is the heritage of
the servants of the Lord,
00:51:16.20\00:51:19.77
and their righteousness
is of Me, saith the Lord. "
00:51:19.81\00:51:23.35
Our righteousness is of God.
00:51:23.38\00:51:24.71
This is our heritage.
00:51:24.75\00:51:26.08
Those tongues...
00:51:26.11\00:51:27.45
that accusing tongue that's
going to come up from Satan...
00:51:27.48\00:51:29.05
it's going to be rebuked...
that's our heritage...
00:51:29.08\00:51:31.65
that's our inheritance
00:51:31.69\00:51:33.02
because our
righteousness is of God
00:51:33.05\00:51:35.02
and this is the very
same truth that's brought out
00:51:35.09\00:51:36.99
in 1st John chapter 2 verse 1.
00:51:37.03\00:51:39.06
It's a beautiful,
powerful gospel truth
00:51:39.09\00:51:41.86
that lays the foundation
of God's judgment hour
00:51:41.93\00:51:44.20
and that's why
it's so imperative
00:51:44.23\00:51:46.53
that you heed the
call of the judgment...
00:51:46.57\00:51:48.44
the judgment hour right now
while you have a Mediator...
00:51:48.47\00:51:51.34
while Christ is
mediating His righteousness
00:51:51.37\00:51:54.01
on behalf of every single person
who put their trust in Him.
00:51:54.08\00:51:57.71
1st John chapter 2 verse 1,
00:51:57.75\00:52:00.05
"My little children,
these things I write unto you,
00:52:00.08\00:52:02.15
that you sin not...
00:52:02.18\00:52:03.52
and if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father,
00:52:03.55\00:52:05.45
Jesus Christ the righteous;
00:52:05.52\00:52:07.29
and He... " verse
2... here it is...
00:52:07.32\00:52:08.92
"and He is the propitiation...
" He's the Mercy Seat...
00:52:08.96\00:52:12.89
He is the one
that can give us mercy
00:52:12.93\00:52:14.96
because He's paid the
penalty for our sins...
00:52:15.00\00:52:16.67
He is the propitiation...
00:52:16.70\00:52:18.03
He's the Mercy Seat for our sins
00:52:18.07\00:52:19.43
but not for ours only
00:52:19.47\00:52:21.10
but also for the
sins of the entire world.
00:52:21.14\00:52:22.74
Remember what
Revelation 14 says,
00:52:22.77\00:52:25.44
"I saw another angel
flying in the midst of heaven. "
00:52:25.47\00:52:29.04
this is the
everlasting gospel...
00:52:29.11\00:52:30.45
"to take to every nation,
kindred, tongue and people... "
00:52:30.48\00:52:32.58
to everyone... to
the whole world...
00:52:32.61\00:52:34.05
"saying with a loud voice,
'Fear God and give glory to Him
00:52:34.08\00:52:36.79
for the hour of His
judgment is come. '"
00:52:36.82\00:52:39.12
The hour that He
wants to vindicate you
00:52:39.15\00:52:40.56
from the
accusations of Satan has come...
00:52:40.59\00:52:41.92
don't judge other people
00:52:41.96\00:52:43.29
because when you
judge other people,
00:52:43.32\00:52:44.66
it shows that you're
trying to justify yourselves...
00:52:44.69\00:52:46.80
Don't be a fake Christian...
don't be a hypocrite...
00:52:46.83\00:52:49.06
don't try to align
your works for salvation.
00:52:49.10\00:52:51.17
Don't profess one
thing and live another thing.
00:52:51.20\00:52:53.27
You're coming into
God's judgment hour
00:52:53.30\00:52:55.00
and the only
thing that you can do
00:52:55.04\00:52:56.71
because you're not
righteous... you're not holy...
00:52:56.74\00:52:58.07
you're unrighteous...
00:52:58.11\00:52:59.44
you are a sinner...
00:52:59.47\00:53:00.81
the only thing you can do
00:53:00.84\00:53:02.18
is rely upon the
merits of Jesus Christ
00:53:02.21\00:53:03.55
and as you rely upon the
merits of Jesus Christ...
00:53:03.58\00:53:06.08
as you accept the
everlasting gospel,
00:53:06.11\00:53:08.72
it will produce
in you the experience
00:53:08.75\00:53:11.32
of genuine Christianity.
00:53:11.35\00:53:12.79
You will fall in love with Jesus
00:53:12.85\00:53:15.56
as you see Him as
your personal Savior
00:53:15.59\00:53:17.86
and you will be led to
live a life that glorifies God.
00:53:17.89\00:53:21.46
That's the fruit of obedience
00:53:21.50\00:53:23.37
that's outlined in
Revelation chapter 14 verse 12,
00:53:23.40\00:53:26.20
is: keeping the
commandments of God
00:53:26.23\00:53:27.57
and having the faith of Jesus.
00:53:27.60\00:53:29.10
He is the
propitiation for our sins
00:53:29.14\00:53:31.67
but not for ours only... but
for the sins of the whole world.
00:53:31.71\00:53:34.08
You see, the judgment is
not so much what God decides,
00:53:34.11\00:53:36.48
as what we decide.
00:53:36.54\00:53:38.71
The judgment
reveals our decision
00:53:38.75\00:53:41.88
to accept or to reject Jesus.
00:53:41.92\00:53:45.19
Revelation... very clear...
00:53:45.22\00:53:47.92
Romans 14... very clear...
00:53:47.96\00:53:50.63
we're all going to stand before
the judgment seat of Christ.
00:53:50.66\00:53:52.69
We're all going to make a
decision... don't judge others
00:53:52.73\00:53:55.26
we're all going
to make a decision...
00:53:55.30\00:53:56.63
are we going to accept
what Christ has done for us?
00:53:56.67\00:53:59.73
Another story of a
young man who was a believer,
00:53:59.80\00:54:03.10
he was raised in a
home that followed God.
00:54:03.14\00:54:05.64
At a very early age, he
learned about the Bible stories
00:54:05.67\00:54:09.28
but as he got older,
you know, into his teens,
00:54:09.31\00:54:11.25
he started mixing
with the wrong company...
00:54:11.28\00:54:13.05
the wrong influence
00:54:13.08\00:54:14.42
and he went in a
different direction,
00:54:14.45\00:54:15.78
he accepted
Christ as a young man
00:54:15.82\00:54:17.19
and even dedicated
his life to Christ...
00:54:17.22\00:54:20.32
this is a true story
00:54:20.36\00:54:21.69
but he went in a
different direction
00:54:21.72\00:54:23.63
and as he got older
00:54:23.66\00:54:25.36
that one decision led
to another decision...
00:54:25.39\00:54:28.20
led to another decision...
00:54:28.23\00:54:29.56
and pretty soon he
found himself on death row...
00:54:29.60\00:54:32.37
on death row...
awaiting his sentence of death
00:54:32.40\00:54:35.60
and the day finally
came when he died...
00:54:35.64\00:54:38.17
he was executed...
he was put to death.
00:54:38.21\00:54:40.54
Now, in the
context of the judgment,
00:54:40.58\00:54:42.84
does that man have a chance
00:54:42.88\00:54:44.25
because as a young man he
professed to believe in God.
00:54:44.28\00:54:48.88
We know his name is
going to come in the judgment
00:54:48.92\00:54:51.59
because judgment
begins in the house of God
00:54:51.62\00:54:53.25
and everyone who professes
faith at some point or another,
00:54:53.29\00:54:56.62
who professes to be
a follower of God...
00:54:56.66\00:54:58.09
the judgment comes first
00:54:58.13\00:54:59.46
and as his name comes
up, the books are opened.
00:54:59.49\00:55:01.46
You know, Satan
is there to accuse...
00:55:01.50\00:55:02.83
accuse...
accuse... accuse... accuse...
00:55:02.86\00:55:04.20
Satan is just going to go,
"No... no... no... no... no...
00:55:04.23\00:55:05.80
he's mine, I don't care what
his profession was, he's mine...
00:55:05.83\00:55:08.07
look at all the
things I led him to do... "
00:55:08.10\00:55:09.57
and God's going to say,
00:55:09.60\00:55:11.44
"I've got an account of all
things that you led him to do"
00:55:11.47\00:55:14.68
but as God gets to the last
page... to the last paragraph...
00:55:14.74\00:55:17.91
to the last
sentence of that account,
00:55:17.95\00:55:19.65
there are some words
there that Satan leaves off.
00:55:19.68\00:55:23.12
That's why God has to be the One
who's in charge of the judgment
00:55:23.15\00:55:26.02
because Satan is not
going to bring out anything
00:55:26.05\00:55:28.02
that's going to
be... eeeeh... a negative
00:55:28.06\00:55:31.53
to his purpose to destroy us...
00:55:31.59\00:55:33.19
to destroy human beings...
00:55:33.23\00:55:34.76
to remove from us
the plan of salvation
00:55:34.80\00:55:37.13
that God has given
to us in Jesus Christ
00:55:37.17\00:55:40.27
and the words that
Satan leaves off...
00:55:40.30\00:55:43.34
the words that he
doesn't bring to the table
00:55:43.37\00:55:45.27
when this
judgment takes place...
00:55:45.31\00:55:47.11
the words that don't come
out of the accuser's mouth
00:55:47.14\00:55:49.01
is the last words
that this young man spoke
00:55:49.04\00:55:53.01
when... just before he
died in his execution...
00:55:53.05\00:55:56.58
those words were,
00:55:56.62\00:55:57.95
"Lord, remember me... when
You come into Your kingdom. "
00:55:57.99\00:56:01.89
Yeah, I told you
this was a true story...
00:56:01.92\00:56:03.36
these are the words of
the thief on the cross...
00:56:03.39\00:56:05.56
a man who believed
in God as a young man
00:56:05.59\00:56:08.40
but was led
astray as he got older
00:56:08.46\00:56:10.27
and then, again, in the
last moments of his life,
00:56:10.30\00:56:13.64
put his faith in Jesus Christ
00:56:13.70\00:56:15.60
exactly where we need to be...
00:56:15.64\00:56:17.31
putting our
faith in Jesus Christ
00:56:17.34\00:56:18.74
no matter what our record is...
00:56:18.77\00:56:20.31
putting our
faith in Jesus Christ.
00:56:20.34\00:56:21.81
"Lord, remember me when
You come into Your kingdom... "
00:56:21.84\00:56:24.15
those words were
recorded in heaven
00:56:24.18\00:56:26.68
and those words
placed that thief
00:56:26.72\00:56:29.15
under the righteousness of
Jesus Christ and saved him.
00:56:29.18\00:56:31.99
Jesus said it,
00:56:32.05\00:56:33.39
"Verily, verily I
say unto you today,
00:56:33.42\00:56:35.22
you will be with
me in paradise. "
00:56:35.26\00:56:36.93
He was there
00:56:36.99\00:56:38.33
and that's what Jesus
tells us in John chapter 6
00:56:38.36\00:56:40.53
and we'll just
close up with these words,
00:56:40.60\00:56:42.03
John chapter 6 verse 37,
00:56:42.06\00:56:44.57
John chapter 6 verse 37.
00:56:44.60\00:56:47.07
He's speaking, of
course, to the Jews...
00:56:47.10\00:56:50.04
to those who are
for the most part
00:56:50.07\00:56:52.67
caught up in their works...
in their self-righteousness
00:56:52.71\00:56:55.21
and he's trying to
bring to them this truth,
00:56:55.24\00:56:57.61
John chapter 6 verse 37.
00:56:57.65\00:57:01.55
He says... John 6 verse 37,
00:57:01.58\00:57:05.42
"All that the Father has
given Me shall come to Me;
00:57:05.45\00:57:08.22
and him that comes to Me I
will in no wise cast out. "
00:57:08.26\00:57:11.03
John chapter 6 and verse 37...
00:57:11.06\00:57:13.26
so, God wants us to come to Him
00:57:13.29\00:57:15.40
and everyone that to Him...
He will in no wise cast out.
00:57:15.43\00:57:18.57
We are to believe in Him
and to hold to His words.
00:57:18.63\00:57:22.44
So, quick summary:
we have an Accuser...
00:57:22.47\00:57:24.61
this is why we
come into the judgment
00:57:24.64\00:57:26.44
because we have an Accuser
00:57:26.47\00:57:27.81
and God wants to
silence the Accuser.
00:57:27.84\00:57:29.18
We have an Advocate,
00:57:29.21\00:57:30.55
"If any man sins,
he has an Advocate... "
00:57:30.58\00:57:31.91
and we have a Decision.
00:57:31.95\00:57:33.28
We have the Accuser...
00:57:33.31\00:57:34.65
we have the Advocate...
00:57:34.68\00:57:36.02
and we have the Decision...
00:57:36.05\00:57:37.39
and the Decision is up to us.
00:57:37.42\00:57:38.75
God is our Advocate...
00:57:38.79\00:57:40.12
Satan is our Accuser
00:57:40.16\00:57:41.49
but the Decision is up to us.
00:57:41.52\00:57:42.86
Are we going to choose
00:57:42.89\00:57:44.23
to accept the gift
that God has given us?
00:57:44.26\00:57:46.33
As we come into the judgment,
our names are going to come up
00:57:46.36\00:57:50.00
and the only thing
that can vindicate us
00:57:50.03\00:57:51.97
from our life of sin...
00:57:52.00\00:57:53.34
the only thing
that can vindicate us
00:57:53.37\00:57:54.70
from the accusation of Satan
00:57:54.74\00:57:56.07
is that we've accepted the
righteousness of Jesus Christ.
00:57:56.10\00:57:58.57
May that be our
experience is my prayer
00:57:58.61\00:58:00.48
in Jesus' name, amen.
00:58:00.51\00:58:02.41
"Father in heaven,
00:58:02.44\00:58:04.28
thank You so much for Your Word,
00:58:04.31\00:58:05.65
thank you for this
beautiful gospel truth.
00:58:05.68\00:58:08.35
Please be with each one
of those who are listening,
00:58:08.38\00:58:10.29
guide and direct
their hearts to You
00:58:10.32\00:58:12.45
and to a decision for You,
00:58:12.49\00:58:13.86
I pray in Jesus' name, amen. "
00:58:13.89\00:58:15.79