1 00:00:01,674 --> 00:00:05,201 Ephesians 3. 2 00:00:05,201 --> 00:00:13,041 I want to read verses 4, 5, and 6. 3 00:00:13,041 --> 00:00:19,528 Ephesians 3:4 4 00:00:19,528 --> 00:00:25,772 "When you read this (this epistle), 5 00:00:25,772 --> 00:00:29,250 you (Ephesians) can perceive 6 00:00:29,250 --> 00:00:34,423 my (that's the Apostle Paul)... 7 00:00:34,423 --> 00:00:36,467 you can perceive my insight 8 00:00:36,467 --> 00:00:40,957 into the mystery of Christ, 9 00:00:40,957 --> 00:00:42,448 which was not made known 10 00:00:42,448 --> 00:00:44,594 to the sons of men in other generations 11 00:00:44,594 --> 00:00:47,069 as it has now been revealed 12 00:00:47,069 --> 00:00:49,919 to His holy apostles and prophets 13 00:00:49,919 --> 00:00:52,467 by the Spirit. 14 00:00:52,467 --> 00:00:57,061 This mystery is that the Gentiles 15 00:00:57,061 --> 00:00:59,188 are fellow heirs, 16 00:00:59,188 --> 00:01:00,740 members of the same body, 17 00:01:00,740 --> 00:01:02,938 and partakers of the promise 18 00:01:02,938 --> 00:01:07,587 in Christ Jesus through the gospel." 19 00:01:07,587 --> 00:01:09,254 Here's what's happening. 20 00:01:09,254 --> 00:01:10,602 In verse 6, 21 00:01:10,602 --> 00:01:14,148 Paul is considering this miracle 22 00:01:14,148 --> 00:01:18,885 that the Gentiles have not been left outside. 23 00:01:18,885 --> 00:01:20,419 Out in the darkness 24 00:01:20,419 --> 00:01:24,964 just basically to rot in their sins. 25 00:01:24,964 --> 00:01:29,393 (Incomplete thought) 26 00:01:29,393 --> 00:01:30,953 I've asked people before. 27 00:01:30,953 --> 00:01:36,736 Number the Gentiles from the Old Testament. 28 00:01:36,736 --> 00:01:40,300 Perhaps all of Nineveh repented, 29 00:01:40,300 --> 00:01:41,469 and they were saved. 30 00:01:41,469 --> 00:01:44,449 Perhaps they repented and just weren't destroyed. 31 00:01:44,449 --> 00:01:45,572 I'm not sure. 32 00:01:45,572 --> 00:01:47,336 But minus Nineveh, 33 00:01:47,336 --> 00:01:49,792 you start numbering them. 34 00:01:49,792 --> 00:01:52,707 You're not going to get to the second hand. 35 00:01:52,707 --> 00:01:57,112 You can number them on one hand. 36 00:01:57,112 --> 00:02:01,061 This is really incredible. 37 00:02:01,061 --> 00:02:05,860 Almost unbelievable. 38 00:02:05,860 --> 00:02:08,471 What's happening is 39 00:02:08,471 --> 00:02:11,916 Gentiles like these Ephesians and like us 40 00:02:11,916 --> 00:02:14,983 being swept into the kingdom. 41 00:02:14,983 --> 00:02:18,638 Suddenly, those who had sat in darkness, 42 00:02:18,638 --> 00:02:21,257 we're getting opportunity to see the great light. 43 00:02:21,257 --> 00:02:24,551 We don't recognize this so much 2,000 years later 44 00:02:24,551 --> 00:02:27,693 because the gospel now 45 00:02:27,693 --> 00:02:30,361 has been going among the Gentiles 46 00:02:30,361 --> 00:02:35,483 longer than the era from Moses to Christ. 47 00:02:35,483 --> 00:02:39,165 So, it's not so startling to us. 48 00:02:39,165 --> 00:02:41,611 But Gentiles are being transported 49 00:02:41,611 --> 00:02:43,428 out of the kingdom of darkness 50 00:02:43,428 --> 00:02:45,755 into the kingdom of God's dear Son. 51 00:02:45,755 --> 00:02:47,416 And what's happening here 52 00:02:47,416 --> 00:02:48,961 is it's the mystery. 53 00:02:48,961 --> 00:02:50,938 It was hidden for generations. 54 00:02:50,938 --> 00:02:53,822 It's like the sun dawning on a new day. 55 00:02:53,822 --> 00:02:55,711 The light is coming up. What? 56 00:02:55,711 --> 00:02:59,697 That Gentiles are included. 57 00:02:59,697 --> 00:03:02,309 It's broken upon the horizon. 58 00:03:02,309 --> 00:03:08,872 Verse 6 shows this inclusion. 59 00:03:08,872 --> 00:03:12,237 Now you don't see this in the English. 60 00:03:12,237 --> 00:03:16,374 But there's three words in the Greek here 61 00:03:16,374 --> 00:03:21,877 that all start with the same prefix -su. 62 00:03:21,877 --> 00:03:23,557 "Su." 63 00:03:23,557 --> 00:03:25,992 The mystery is that the Gentiles 64 00:03:25,992 --> 00:03:29,953 are "synklēronoma," 65 00:03:29,953 --> 00:03:32,682 "syssōma," 66 00:03:32,682 --> 00:03:35,987 "symmetocha." 67 00:03:35,987 --> 00:03:46,020 "Su" basically corresponds to our English prefix "-sym." 68 00:03:46,020 --> 00:03:47,758 Symbolic. 69 00:03:47,758 --> 00:03:50,022 Symbol. 70 00:03:50,022 --> 00:03:51,875 Symphony. 71 00:03:51,875 --> 00:03:53,544 Symmetry. 72 00:03:53,544 --> 00:03:58,630 It's a prefix that means "together with." 73 00:03:58,630 --> 00:04:00,942 You see, each one of these words, 74 00:04:00,942 --> 00:04:03,125 we're together with the believing Jew 75 00:04:03,125 --> 00:04:04,629 in this reality. 76 00:04:04,629 --> 00:04:07,430 Believing Gentiles are heirs 77 00:04:07,430 --> 00:04:09,349 together with believing Jews. 78 00:04:09,349 --> 00:04:12,196 Believing Gentiles are members 79 00:04:12,196 --> 00:04:14,113 together with believing Jews 80 00:04:14,113 --> 00:04:16,220 in the body of Christ. 81 00:04:16,220 --> 00:04:19,001 Believing Gentiles are together 82 00:04:19,001 --> 00:04:22,623 with believing Jews in the promise 83 00:04:22,623 --> 00:04:24,773 that's in Jesus Christ. 84 00:04:24,773 --> 00:04:26,479 That's what's happening here. 85 00:04:26,479 --> 00:04:28,423 What I want to do is draw your attention 86 00:04:28,423 --> 00:04:34,105 particularly to the last of the three. 87 00:04:34,105 --> 00:04:37,128 Three assertions. 88 00:04:37,128 --> 00:04:39,737 the last of the three. 89 00:04:39,737 --> 00:04:43,381 We are partakers - 90 00:04:43,381 --> 00:04:45,001 now if we want to be accurate 91 00:04:45,001 --> 00:04:46,489 to the Greek word here, 92 00:04:46,489 --> 00:04:48,821 you want to put "together" in there. 93 00:04:48,821 --> 00:04:50,404 The ESV doesn't have that. 94 00:04:50,404 --> 00:04:52,219 The King James doesn't have that. 95 00:04:52,219 --> 00:04:56,289 But listen to how the New American Standard 96 00:04:56,289 --> 00:04:57,548 captures this. 97 00:04:57,548 --> 00:05:01,002 The New English translation captures this 98 00:05:01,002 --> 00:05:04,677 by using the word "fellow partakers." 99 00:05:04,677 --> 00:05:07,122 The Holman Christan uses "partners." 100 00:05:07,122 --> 00:05:08,968 You see, that captures the idea 101 00:05:08,968 --> 00:05:11,459 of being together with the Jews in this. 102 00:05:11,459 --> 00:05:15,032 But the idea here is that we're together 103 00:05:15,032 --> 00:05:18,118 with the believing Jews in this promise 104 00:05:18,118 --> 00:05:20,528 in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 105 00:05:20,528 --> 00:05:24,484 Now, your Bible might say "His promise." 106 00:05:24,484 --> 00:05:26,094 It's interesting. In the Greek, 107 00:05:26,094 --> 00:05:30,537 you have the article "the" promise. 108 00:05:30,537 --> 00:05:32,030 If you've got the King James, 109 00:05:32,030 --> 00:05:35,111 the Greek text it comes from says, 110 00:05:35,111 --> 00:05:39,161 "of Him." 111 00:05:39,161 --> 00:05:44,391 But no matter what text your Bible comes from, 112 00:05:44,391 --> 00:05:46,875 in the original, it says, 113 00:05:46,875 --> 00:05:49,736 "the promise." 114 00:05:49,736 --> 00:05:51,086 Singular. 115 00:05:51,086 --> 00:05:54,432 There is an article "the" promise. 116 00:05:54,432 --> 00:05:57,651 I find that really interesting. 117 00:05:57,651 --> 00:06:01,305 Paul doesn't even tell us what "the" - 118 00:06:01,305 --> 00:06:04,966 what is this "the" promise? 119 00:06:04,966 --> 00:06:07,779 And he doesn't even tell us what it is. 120 00:06:07,779 --> 00:06:10,214 It's like there's one promise above every promise 121 00:06:10,214 --> 00:06:13,989 that stands out as "the" promise. 122 00:06:13,989 --> 00:06:16,473 That, to me, jumps out. 123 00:06:16,473 --> 00:06:19,293 Not promises plural; 124 00:06:19,293 --> 00:06:22,343 "the" promise. 125 00:06:22,343 --> 00:06:24,351 What is it? 126 00:06:24,351 --> 00:06:27,711 I mean, what is it? 127 00:06:27,711 --> 00:06:29,666 What is it that Paul wouldn't even need 128 00:06:29,666 --> 00:06:32,762 to define it for us? 129 00:06:32,762 --> 00:06:37,537 Well, he uses this same kind of language 130 00:06:37,537 --> 00:06:39,189 over in Galatians. 131 00:06:39,189 --> 00:06:41,221 He uses it in various places, 132 00:06:41,221 --> 00:06:43,246 but there's no place where you get 133 00:06:43,246 --> 00:06:45,539 such a treatment of the word 134 00:06:45,539 --> 00:06:48,273 as you do in Galatians 3. 135 00:06:48,273 --> 00:06:51,063 So it's the book right before Ephesians, 136 00:06:51,063 --> 00:06:56,965 turn back to the book just before this one 137 00:06:56,965 --> 00:07:04,825 and go to chapter 3. 138 00:07:04,825 --> 00:07:13,497 I want us to get a feel for "promise." 139 00:07:13,497 --> 00:07:17,122 What is the promise? 140 00:07:17,122 --> 00:07:20,356 I'm going to show it you right off. 141 00:07:20,356 --> 00:07:22,245 Even though the term promise 142 00:07:22,245 --> 00:07:26,264 does not show up in Galatians 3:8, 143 00:07:26,264 --> 00:07:28,757 that's where the promise is. 144 00:07:28,757 --> 00:07:31,802 And now, you'll see afterwards 145 00:07:31,802 --> 00:07:35,021 how he begins to call it 146 00:07:35,021 --> 00:07:39,744 by the term "promise." 147 00:07:39,744 --> 00:07:41,534 The promise is here: 148 00:07:41,534 --> 00:07:43,875 "The Scripture foreseeing that God 149 00:07:43,875 --> 00:07:46,008 would justify the Gentiles by faith 150 00:07:46,008 --> 00:07:48,341 preached the gospel beforehand 151 00:07:48,341 --> 00:07:51,249 to Abraham saying..." 152 00:07:51,249 --> 00:07:52,768 Here's the promise. 153 00:07:52,768 --> 00:07:56,287 In the ESV, it's in quotation marks 154 00:07:56,287 --> 00:07:58,768 because it's a quote. 155 00:07:58,768 --> 00:08:00,885 This is God's promise to Abraham. 156 00:08:00,885 --> 00:08:07,813 "In you shall all the nations be blessed." 157 00:08:07,813 --> 00:08:13,281 And now, down in verses 17, 19, and 22, 158 00:08:13,281 --> 00:08:17,288 Paul calls it "the promise." 159 00:08:17,288 --> 00:08:19,282 You can see it. 160 00:08:19,282 --> 00:08:27,378 Look down in verse 17. 161 00:08:27,378 --> 00:08:29,177 This is what I mean: 162 00:08:29,177 --> 00:08:33,422 The law which came 430 years afterward 163 00:08:33,422 --> 00:08:35,503 does not annul a covenant 164 00:08:35,503 --> 00:08:37,451 previously ratified by God 165 00:08:37,451 --> 00:08:42,887 so as to make the promise void." 166 00:08:42,887 --> 00:08:46,024 Now, what's going on here? 167 00:08:46,024 --> 00:08:49,284 What Paul is saying is this: 168 00:08:49,284 --> 00:08:51,399 The promise was given to Abraham; 169 00:08:51,399 --> 00:08:56,811 430 later, the law is given to Moses. 170 00:08:56,811 --> 00:08:59,561 Now, here's what the Jew thought. 171 00:08:59,561 --> 00:09:02,441 The Jew thought if we keep the commandments - 172 00:09:02,441 --> 00:09:08,114 well, they kind of thought if you knew the commandments - 173 00:09:08,114 --> 00:09:09,770 if you knew the commandments 174 00:09:09,770 --> 00:09:11,866 and you made an effort at keeping them, 175 00:09:11,866 --> 00:09:15,123 that's how you ended up in glory. 176 00:09:15,123 --> 00:09:17,806 And he says no. No, that's not true. 177 00:09:17,806 --> 00:09:20,647 It was always by promise. 178 00:09:20,647 --> 00:09:22,983 Not by law. It was always by promise. 179 00:09:22,983 --> 00:09:26,772 And God didn't come along 430 years later 180 00:09:26,772 --> 00:09:29,079 and give a way to heaven 181 00:09:29,079 --> 00:09:32,498 that contradicted the way that was given 182 00:09:32,498 --> 00:09:33,719 to Abraham. 183 00:09:33,719 --> 00:09:35,453 That's basically what he's saying. 184 00:09:35,453 --> 00:09:41,343 But notice how he calls it "the promise." 185 00:09:41,343 --> 00:09:44,833 But it's not as though Paul's so rigid, 186 00:09:44,833 --> 00:09:48,127 because if you look back in verse 16, 187 00:09:48,127 --> 00:09:49,798 notice what it says. 188 00:09:49,798 --> 00:09:51,760 "Now the promises..." 189 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:53,876 See, there is it plural. 190 00:09:53,876 --> 00:09:55,703 In other words, what it seems 191 00:09:55,703 --> 00:09:57,338 that Paul can do 192 00:09:57,338 --> 00:09:59,969 is he can talk about one promise, 193 00:09:59,969 --> 00:10:05,279 or he can talk about a plurality of promises. 194 00:10:05,279 --> 00:10:08,563 But they kind of boil down to one. 195 00:10:08,563 --> 00:10:12,099 One promise as much as anything else. 196 00:10:12,099 --> 00:10:14,152 And notice this, this word 197 00:10:14,152 --> 00:10:17,429 comes up again in verse 19. 198 00:10:17,429 --> 00:10:21,354 In verse 19, "Why then the law?" 199 00:10:21,354 --> 00:10:24,279 Well, if the law wasn't given for us 200 00:10:24,279 --> 00:10:26,470 to have a code by which we could keep 201 00:10:26,470 --> 00:10:27,947 and get to heaven, 202 00:10:27,947 --> 00:10:29,628 if that's not why it was given, 203 00:10:29,628 --> 00:10:31,626 if the only way to heaven is by promise, 204 00:10:31,626 --> 00:10:34,190 by the promise that was given to Abraham, 205 00:10:34,190 --> 00:10:36,702 well, why did God give the law at all? 206 00:10:36,702 --> 00:10:40,298 And he says, "it was added because of transgressions." 207 00:10:40,298 --> 00:10:42,714 And you find this in various of Paul's writings. 208 00:10:42,714 --> 00:10:44,862 But he said basically the commandment came 209 00:10:44,862 --> 00:10:47,049 to increase the trespass. 210 00:10:47,049 --> 00:10:48,760 What it does is it shows us 211 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:50,202 how sinful we are. 212 00:10:50,202 --> 00:10:52,243 In fact, what it does is it shows us 213 00:10:52,243 --> 00:10:56,919 we need another way to God than by that way. 214 00:10:56,919 --> 00:11:02,359 The promise. It shows up again in verse 22. 215 00:11:02,359 --> 00:11:04,287 "Is the law then contrary 216 00:11:04,287 --> 00:11:08,844 to the promises of God?" 217 00:11:08,844 --> 00:11:11,123 Excuse me, I was in verse 21. 218 00:11:11,123 --> 00:11:14,153 Verse 22: "But the Scripture 219 00:11:14,153 --> 00:11:16,438 imprisoned everything under sin 220 00:11:16,438 --> 00:11:20,518 so that the promise by faith 221 00:11:20,518 --> 00:11:23,237 in Jesus Christ..." 222 00:11:23,237 --> 00:11:25,077 See, that's what we need to get. 223 00:11:25,077 --> 00:11:26,982 The promise. 224 00:11:26,982 --> 00:11:30,370 It's by faith in Jesus Christ. 225 00:11:30,370 --> 00:11:33,082 And if you drop down to verse 29, 226 00:11:33,082 --> 00:11:36,795 "If you're Christ's, 227 00:11:36,795 --> 00:11:38,600 then you're Abraham's offspring, 228 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:39,987 heirs according to..." 229 00:11:39,987 --> 00:11:43,386 Now, the article's missing here, but "promise." 230 00:11:43,386 --> 00:11:45,716 See, heirs according to promise. 231 00:11:45,716 --> 00:11:48,369 And now I want to go back to verse 8 again 232 00:11:48,369 --> 00:11:51,366 because I don't want you to miss the first part. 233 00:11:51,366 --> 00:11:54,481 "When God said to Abraham..." 234 00:11:54,481 --> 00:11:56,184 You see, when you go back there 235 00:11:56,184 --> 00:11:58,124 into the Old Testament, you're reading. 236 00:11:58,124 --> 00:12:00,067 You're reading in Genesis 12, 237 00:12:00,067 --> 00:12:01,453 Genesis 15, 238 00:12:01,453 --> 00:12:02,849 Genesis 17 - 239 00:12:02,849 --> 00:12:05,117 it seems like it's repeated over and over. 240 00:12:05,117 --> 00:12:07,292 When God promises him, 241 00:12:07,292 --> 00:12:09,168 "I'm going to make you a blessing 242 00:12:09,168 --> 00:12:12,180 to all the nations," 243 00:12:12,180 --> 00:12:17,544 what you want to recognize is this: 244 00:12:17,544 --> 00:12:22,232 "This is the Scripture foreseeing 245 00:12:22,232 --> 00:12:26,670 that God would justify the Gentiles 246 00:12:26,670 --> 00:12:29,925 by faith." 247 00:12:29,925 --> 00:12:33,402 The promise: In you shall all the nations be blessed. 248 00:12:33,402 --> 00:12:36,651 But how are the nations going to be blessed? 249 00:12:36,651 --> 00:12:42,316 You see, how's the United States of America going to be blessed? 250 00:12:42,316 --> 00:12:44,087 By this. 251 00:12:44,087 --> 00:12:49,852 By the Gentiles justified by faith. 252 00:12:49,852 --> 00:12:52,735 That's what that promise means. 253 00:12:52,735 --> 00:12:56,087 And listen, what he says in here 254 00:12:56,087 --> 00:13:00,198 is that the promise was given 255 00:13:00,198 --> 00:13:07,278 to Abraham and his offspring. 256 00:13:07,278 --> 00:13:09,161 But if you notice verse 16, 257 00:13:09,161 --> 00:13:12,319 he says, "'not to offsprings' (plural) 258 00:13:12,319 --> 00:13:14,228 referring to many, but referring to one. 259 00:13:14,228 --> 00:13:18,591 '"And to your offspring,' who is Christ." 260 00:13:18,591 --> 00:13:20,573 You see, the truth here is 261 00:13:20,573 --> 00:13:24,025 that the promise was given to Abraham 262 00:13:24,025 --> 00:13:27,462 and to Christ. 263 00:13:27,462 --> 00:13:30,225 Christ is the recipient of this promise. 264 00:13:30,225 --> 00:13:32,117 We become partakers of it. 265 00:13:32,117 --> 00:13:34,743 We become partakers with the Jews. 266 00:13:34,743 --> 00:13:37,173 And the promise is this: 267 00:13:37,173 --> 00:13:40,651 That if we cling to Christ in faith, 268 00:13:40,651 --> 00:13:41,975 we'll be justified. 269 00:13:41,975 --> 00:13:43,507 There's the promise. 270 00:13:43,507 --> 00:13:45,647 You see, the promise is the blessing 271 00:13:45,647 --> 00:13:47,177 of all the nations. 272 00:13:47,177 --> 00:13:49,746 The promise is this: 273 00:13:49,746 --> 00:13:52,613 That there is a way to heaven. 274 00:13:52,613 --> 00:13:54,977 There is a way to be justified 275 00:13:54,977 --> 00:13:58,128 by faith in Jesus Christ. 276 00:13:58,128 --> 00:13:59,431 That's the blessing. 277 00:13:59,431 --> 00:14:03,606 Justification by faith is the most glorious 278 00:14:03,606 --> 00:14:05,915 promise that can be imagined. 279 00:14:05,915 --> 00:14:07,537 I mean, this is it. 280 00:14:07,537 --> 00:14:08,612 This is it. Why? 281 00:14:08,612 --> 00:14:10,811 Because what God has done 282 00:14:10,811 --> 00:14:14,245 is He has found a way for us 283 00:14:14,245 --> 00:14:17,405 to be righteous without law-keeping. 284 00:14:17,405 --> 00:14:18,728 And that's huge! 285 00:14:18,728 --> 00:14:21,470 Because you see, if you keep the law, 286 00:14:21,470 --> 00:14:24,155 if you've kept it, you're just. 287 00:14:24,155 --> 00:14:28,121 You don't need any way to be justified. 288 00:14:28,121 --> 00:14:31,318 You are just. 289 00:14:31,318 --> 00:14:33,523 But if you've once broken His law - 290 00:14:33,523 --> 00:14:35,623 you see what God has done is 291 00:14:35,623 --> 00:14:39,784 He's given a promise to those who need another way. 292 00:14:39,784 --> 00:14:43,465 (Incomplete thought) 293 00:14:43,465 --> 00:14:46,541 See, the problem is, once you've broken it 294 00:14:46,541 --> 00:14:48,755 you can't heal that breach. 295 00:14:48,755 --> 00:14:51,288 There's nothing you can do 296 00:14:51,288 --> 00:14:54,701 once you're a law breaker 297 00:14:54,701 --> 00:14:57,193 to change that reality, 298 00:14:57,193 --> 00:15:02,393 except by the promise. That's it. 299 00:15:02,393 --> 00:15:03,747 See, there's no way. 300 00:15:03,747 --> 00:15:07,482 People who say, well, I'm a pretty good person. 301 00:15:07,482 --> 00:15:08,660 No, no, no. 302 00:15:08,660 --> 00:15:10,879 You can take that "pretty good" off the front. 303 00:15:10,879 --> 00:15:12,657 Because if by "pretty good," you mean 304 00:15:12,657 --> 00:15:13,824 that you sin sometimes, 305 00:15:13,824 --> 00:15:14,931 you're a law breaker. 306 00:15:14,931 --> 00:15:16,157 And as a law breaker, 307 00:15:16,157 --> 00:15:18,180 you're under a curse, and that curse says 308 00:15:18,180 --> 00:15:19,950 you need to keep everything written 309 00:15:19,950 --> 00:15:22,431 in the Book of the Law or you're going to go to hell. 310 00:15:22,431 --> 00:15:24,577 You're cursed. You're under the wrath of God. 311 00:15:24,577 --> 00:15:25,562 There is no hope. 312 00:15:25,562 --> 00:15:27,277 You have to keep everything. 313 00:15:27,277 --> 00:15:30,148 Everything. Every iota. Every jot and tittle. 314 00:15:30,148 --> 00:15:31,813 You cannot vary. 315 00:15:31,813 --> 00:15:34,041 You can't be at variance from God's law 316 00:15:34,041 --> 00:15:34,957 in the least bit. 317 00:15:34,957 --> 00:15:37,166 Why? Because to sin is to fall short 318 00:15:37,166 --> 00:15:38,801 of the glory of God. 319 00:15:38,801 --> 00:15:40,029 It is a reproach. 320 00:15:40,029 --> 00:15:42,215 It is an attack on His glory. 321 00:15:42,215 --> 00:15:44,294 And what God has said, 322 00:15:44,294 --> 00:15:46,280 "I give promise, Abraham, 323 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:48,082 that a blessing is going to come." 324 00:15:48,082 --> 00:15:50,217 Oh, if Abraham could have 325 00:15:50,217 --> 00:15:52,860 laid his teeth into the fullness of it. 326 00:15:52,860 --> 00:15:54,617 It wasn't totally revealed. 327 00:15:54,617 --> 00:15:56,373 It was in darkness at the time. 328 00:15:56,373 --> 00:15:58,913 It was not revealed in other generations 329 00:15:58,913 --> 00:16:00,708 as it's now been revealed. 330 00:16:00,708 --> 00:16:01,902 Which is what? 331 00:16:01,902 --> 00:16:06,585 We Gentiles - there's a way to heaven. 332 00:16:06,585 --> 00:16:09,039 There's a way to have our sins dealt with 333 00:16:09,039 --> 00:16:14,846 that does not require me to keep God's law. 334 00:16:14,846 --> 00:16:17,136 And that is the promise. 335 00:16:17,136 --> 00:16:19,909 Justification. What is that? 336 00:16:19,909 --> 00:16:23,239 Justification is an act - 337 00:16:23,239 --> 00:16:25,576 a gracious act of God, 338 00:16:25,576 --> 00:16:27,922 where He counts you righteous. 339 00:16:27,922 --> 00:16:30,250 Not because you are righteous. 340 00:16:30,250 --> 00:16:31,980 Not because you've done good. 341 00:16:31,980 --> 00:16:33,987 Not because you've kept the law. 342 00:16:33,987 --> 00:16:36,830 But He counts you as such 343 00:16:36,830 --> 00:16:40,668 based on the merits of Jesus Christ. 344 00:16:40,668 --> 00:16:42,965 By His obedience, 345 00:16:42,965 --> 00:16:45,120 by His perfections, 346 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,718 by His obedience all the way to the cross, 347 00:16:47,718 --> 00:16:49,132 by His death, 348 00:16:49,132 --> 00:16:51,552 by His righteousness. 349 00:16:51,552 --> 00:16:53,713 He fulfilled all righteousness. 350 00:16:53,713 --> 00:16:55,798 And it's by this, 351 00:16:55,798 --> 00:16:57,988 oh, do you hear those words? 352 00:16:57,988 --> 00:17:00,141 David spoke them and they're repeated by Paul 353 00:17:00,141 --> 00:17:02,180 in the 4th chapter of Romans. 354 00:17:02,180 --> 00:17:05,991 Blessed. Blessed is that man 355 00:17:05,991 --> 00:17:11,158 against whom God does not count his sin. 356 00:17:11,158 --> 00:17:14,563 If you're good, you have no need of this. 357 00:17:14,563 --> 00:17:16,988 Look, if you came in here today 358 00:17:16,988 --> 00:17:18,388 and aside from all of this, 359 00:17:18,388 --> 00:17:20,399 you could say, "I'm a pretty good person." 360 00:17:20,399 --> 00:17:21,732 Then, you don't need this. 361 00:17:21,732 --> 00:17:23,160 You see, Jesus said, 362 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:25,450 those who are well, they don't need a doctor. 363 00:17:25,450 --> 00:17:26,526 This isn't for you. 364 00:17:26,526 --> 00:17:31,860 God hasn't designed a way to justify people 365 00:17:31,860 --> 00:17:32,915 who have kept the law; 366 00:17:32,915 --> 00:17:34,030 who are good people. 367 00:17:34,030 --> 00:17:35,615 That's not what this is for. 368 00:17:35,615 --> 00:17:38,206 This is for people who need another way. 369 00:17:38,206 --> 00:17:39,611 This is for people who, 370 00:17:39,611 --> 00:17:40,502 you know what? 371 00:17:40,502 --> 00:17:42,111 In the eyes of good people; 372 00:17:42,111 --> 00:17:44,555 in the eyes of religious people, 373 00:17:44,555 --> 00:17:46,536 they're hopeless. 374 00:17:46,536 --> 00:17:48,004 There's no way. 375 00:17:48,004 --> 00:17:50,169 You see, this is for people 376 00:17:50,169 --> 00:17:51,788 like the thief on the cross 377 00:17:51,788 --> 00:17:53,779 who have done nothing but live a life 378 00:17:53,779 --> 00:17:55,665 of wretchedness and debauchery 379 00:17:55,665 --> 00:17:58,116 and sin and thievery, 380 00:17:58,116 --> 00:17:59,824 and they've got nothing. 381 00:17:59,824 --> 00:18:01,638 And they don't have time left 382 00:18:01,638 --> 00:18:04,663 to even try to repair their bad record. 383 00:18:04,663 --> 00:18:07,752 Which is basically what most of the false religions teach: 384 00:18:07,752 --> 00:18:12,040 do enough good and you can undo the bad. 385 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:14,448 But you see, no matter how much good you do 386 00:18:14,448 --> 00:18:17,974 after you've broken the law, you're unjust. 387 00:18:17,974 --> 00:18:24,524 Justification is God, by His grace, 388 00:18:24,524 --> 00:18:27,077 devising a way 389 00:18:27,077 --> 00:18:33,030 that bad people can be declared righteous. 390 00:18:33,030 --> 00:18:35,243 That's the reality. 391 00:18:35,243 --> 00:18:37,393 That's the promise. 392 00:18:37,393 --> 00:18:42,539 What greater promise could you be a partaker of than that one? 393 00:18:42,539 --> 00:18:43,577 That's it. 394 00:18:43,577 --> 00:18:44,944 Now listen. 395 00:18:44,944 --> 00:18:48,142 My whole point in this message is this: 396 00:18:48,142 --> 00:18:50,825 We are people of promise. 397 00:18:50,825 --> 00:18:53,214 And the truth is, 398 00:18:53,214 --> 00:18:58,226 that is "the" promise. 399 00:18:58,226 --> 00:19:01,325 It really is a synonym for the gospel. 400 00:19:01,325 --> 00:19:02,521 The good news. 401 00:19:02,521 --> 00:19:03,803 What is the good news? 402 00:19:03,803 --> 00:19:05,416 Well, the good news is 403 00:19:05,416 --> 00:19:08,108 that there's a way to be righteous in the sight of God 404 00:19:08,108 --> 00:19:09,843 aside from my own law keeping. 405 00:19:09,843 --> 00:19:11,939 And Jesus has fulfilled that. 406 00:19:11,939 --> 00:19:12,886 It's the gospel. 407 00:19:12,886 --> 00:19:15,198 That's what the promise is all about. 408 00:19:15,198 --> 00:19:16,805 But I want you to just remember 409 00:19:16,805 --> 00:19:18,399 we are a people of promise. 410 00:19:18,399 --> 00:19:22,358 Because you see, if you're a partaker of that promise, 411 00:19:22,358 --> 00:19:29,957 it's the key that unlocks all the promises of God. 412 00:19:29,957 --> 00:19:31,509 That's exactly what Paul says. 413 00:19:31,509 --> 00:19:33,635 He says in 2 Corinthians 1:20, 414 00:19:33,635 --> 00:19:34,900 listen to this, 415 00:19:34,900 --> 00:19:38,291 "For all the promises of God 416 00:19:38,291 --> 00:19:43,409 find their yes in Him." 417 00:19:43,409 --> 00:19:46,434 I like the KJV: 418 00:19:46,434 --> 00:19:50,783 "For all the promises of God in Him are yea (or yes) 419 00:19:50,783 --> 00:19:54,730 and in Him amen to the glory of God." 420 00:19:54,730 --> 00:19:57,649 Do you comprehend this? 421 00:19:57,649 --> 00:20:00,484 Listen. 422 00:20:00,484 --> 00:20:03,624 (Incomplete thought) 423 00:20:03,624 --> 00:20:06,277 See, this is the key. 424 00:20:06,277 --> 00:20:08,828 You can take this key, 425 00:20:08,828 --> 00:20:11,001 and you can read anywhere in your Bible, 426 00:20:11,001 --> 00:20:12,768 and you can find a promise of good. 427 00:20:12,768 --> 00:20:17,170 You can go back to Joshua, 428 00:20:17,170 --> 00:20:20,551 and you can find the Lord saying to Joshua, 429 00:20:20,551 --> 00:20:22,735 "I'll never leave you or forsake you." 430 00:20:22,735 --> 00:20:24,436 Stick that key in there. 431 00:20:24,436 --> 00:20:26,276 The author of Hebrews shows us that 432 00:20:26,276 --> 00:20:28,072 in Hebrews 13 right? 433 00:20:28,072 --> 00:20:31,046 Hasn't the Lord said He'll never leave you or forsake you? 434 00:20:31,046 --> 00:20:33,124 And that's exactly the promise 435 00:20:33,124 --> 00:20:36,424 that the author of Hebrews is trying to encourage 436 00:20:36,424 --> 00:20:38,033 those people with - 437 00:20:38,033 --> 00:20:40,365 those New Testament believers. 438 00:20:40,365 --> 00:20:42,233 Why? How can that be? 439 00:20:42,233 --> 00:20:44,083 That is a promise given to Joshua. 440 00:20:44,083 --> 00:20:45,695 You go back there and read it. 441 00:20:45,695 --> 00:20:48,387 It doesn't say that it was given to all of God's people. 442 00:20:48,387 --> 00:20:51,610 It says it was given to Joshua. 443 00:20:51,610 --> 00:20:58,908 But see, there's the key. 444 00:20:58,908 --> 00:21:03,296 In Him, all the promises of God. 445 00:21:03,296 --> 00:21:04,879 All of them! 446 00:21:04,879 --> 00:21:06,505 Get that. 447 00:21:06,505 --> 00:21:09,726 All of them! 448 00:21:09,726 --> 00:21:15,264 In Him. In Christ are yes. 449 00:21:15,264 --> 00:21:17,109 They're an affirmation. Amen. 450 00:21:17,109 --> 00:21:18,580 You know what amen means? 451 00:21:18,580 --> 00:21:22,852 Truth. Verity. Certainty. 452 00:21:22,852 --> 00:21:24,374 That's the key. 453 00:21:24,374 --> 00:21:28,259 If you once are a partaker of "the promise," 454 00:21:28,259 --> 00:21:30,094 there is not a promise for good 455 00:21:30,094 --> 00:21:31,388 anywhere in this book - 456 00:21:31,388 --> 00:21:33,485 what you need to do is recognize; 457 00:21:33,485 --> 00:21:38,826 you need to put the right glasses on. 458 00:21:38,826 --> 00:21:42,277 And you look. They're the Christ glasses. 459 00:21:42,277 --> 00:21:44,685 And you read any promise - 460 00:21:44,685 --> 00:21:47,055 every single promise for good 461 00:21:47,055 --> 00:21:50,725 in this Bible is given 462 00:21:50,725 --> 00:21:53,828 with reference to Christ. 463 00:21:53,828 --> 00:21:56,240 Now, you don't see it 464 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:02,247 in most of the places where those promises are given. 465 00:22:02,247 --> 00:22:06,576 But right there in 2 Corinthians 1:20, 466 00:22:06,576 --> 00:22:08,969 Paul shows us the reality. 467 00:22:08,969 --> 00:22:11,112 We are a people of promise. 468 00:22:11,112 --> 00:22:14,683 Do you recognize as you're scouring 469 00:22:14,683 --> 00:22:17,566 the promises of the Old Testament, 470 00:22:17,566 --> 00:22:20,030 you see some obscure promise 471 00:22:20,030 --> 00:22:24,971 given in Micah or something. 472 00:22:24,971 --> 00:22:29,283 If you have been justified by faith 473 00:22:29,283 --> 00:22:31,994 and you're a partaker of that promise, 474 00:22:31,994 --> 00:22:34,214 that's yours. 475 00:22:34,214 --> 00:22:38,360 You can appropriate it to yourself. 476 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:40,402 And we need to know that 477 00:22:40,402 --> 00:22:42,229 and we need to live that way. 478 00:22:42,229 --> 00:22:43,875 And we need to live in light 479 00:22:43,875 --> 00:22:45,729 of that reality. 480 00:22:45,729 --> 00:22:50,189 We are people of promise. 481 00:22:50,189 --> 00:22:52,998 Faith is not some ambiguous thing 482 00:22:52,998 --> 00:22:56,504 that just sort of swirls around out there; 483 00:22:56,504 --> 00:23:00,440 this nebulous, obscure, ambiguous thing. 484 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:09,645 Our faith has promise for its substance. 485 00:23:09,645 --> 00:23:16,757 Faith is not just this ambiguous thing. 486 00:23:16,757 --> 00:23:20,873 Oh, I have it. 487 00:23:20,873 --> 00:23:27,442 It is that which grabs hold of God's promises 488 00:23:27,442 --> 00:23:29,916 and climbs on top of it. 489 00:23:29,916 --> 00:23:32,248 You know what it means to climb on a promise? 490 00:23:32,248 --> 00:23:35,220 It means you put all your weight on it. 491 00:23:35,220 --> 00:23:36,931 That's how God's people live. 492 00:23:36,931 --> 00:23:39,388 That's what it means to live from faith to faith. 493 00:23:39,388 --> 00:23:40,444 That's what it means 494 00:23:40,444 --> 00:23:42,247 to fight the good fight of faith. 495 00:23:42,247 --> 00:23:47,711 It means that you are living on promise. 496 00:23:47,711 --> 00:23:50,352 It doesn't necessarily mean 497 00:23:50,352 --> 00:23:53,650 that you think about every promise 498 00:23:53,650 --> 00:23:56,111 at any given moment. 499 00:23:56,111 --> 00:24:00,192 You follow what I mean? 500 00:24:00,192 --> 00:24:01,690 We come under temptations. 501 00:24:01,690 --> 00:24:04,078 We come under attacks. 502 00:24:04,078 --> 00:24:07,655 We walk through this life - 503 00:24:07,655 --> 00:24:10,191 to be a child of promise 504 00:24:10,191 --> 00:24:12,049 doesn't mean that you're living on 505 00:24:12,049 --> 00:24:14,823 every promise of God at every single moment. 506 00:24:14,823 --> 00:24:18,544 You can't even think about every single promise of God 507 00:24:18,544 --> 00:24:20,929 at every single moment. 508 00:24:20,929 --> 00:24:23,889 But what it means is 509 00:24:23,889 --> 00:24:27,488 that in whatever situation you're in, 510 00:24:27,488 --> 00:24:30,518 you're living on what God has said. 511 00:24:30,518 --> 00:24:33,337 "Man does not live by bread alone." 512 00:24:33,337 --> 00:24:38,096 He's living on what God has said. 513 00:24:38,096 --> 00:24:40,475 Abraham. Think about Abraham. 514 00:24:40,475 --> 00:24:42,275 Abraham is the father of faith. 515 00:24:42,275 --> 00:24:43,574 Abraham is the one to whom 516 00:24:43,574 --> 00:24:46,083 the promise was given. 517 00:24:46,083 --> 00:24:47,279 Think about him. 518 00:24:47,279 --> 00:24:49,970 Abraham said, 519 00:24:49,970 --> 00:24:52,823 "Behold, You have given me no offspring." 520 00:24:52,823 --> 00:24:55,102 You see, this is the issue. 521 00:24:55,102 --> 00:24:56,844 Genesis 15. 522 00:24:56,844 --> 00:24:59,233 Do you know what happened back in Genesis 12? 523 00:24:59,233 --> 00:25:03,918 God told Abraham that he was going to be 524 00:25:03,918 --> 00:25:07,979 this father of many nations. 525 00:25:07,979 --> 00:25:09,671 By the time you get to chapter 15, 526 00:25:09,671 --> 00:25:11,069 he's looking and he's saying 527 00:25:11,069 --> 00:25:19,680 Eliezer - a foreigner - he's my heir. 528 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:21,588 I'm old. 529 00:25:21,588 --> 00:25:25,279 Sarah's barren. 530 00:25:25,279 --> 00:25:27,745 You see where the temptation was? 531 00:25:27,745 --> 00:25:32,656 And what God says to him is this: 532 00:25:32,656 --> 00:25:34,482 "The Word of the Lord came to him, 533 00:25:34,482 --> 00:25:39,807 'this man (Eliezer) 534 00:25:39,807 --> 00:25:42,516 shall not be your heir. 535 00:25:42,516 --> 00:25:45,027 Your very own son shall be your heir.' 536 00:25:45,027 --> 00:25:46,808 And He brought him outside and said, 537 00:25:46,808 --> 00:25:48,704 'Look toward heaven 538 00:25:48,704 --> 00:25:50,564 and number the stars, 539 00:25:50,564 --> 00:25:52,863 if you're able to number them.' 540 00:25:52,863 --> 00:25:54,425 Then He said to him, 541 00:25:54,425 --> 00:25:56,541 'So shall your offspring be.' 542 00:25:56,541 --> 00:25:58,151 And he believed the Lord, 543 00:25:58,151 --> 00:26:00,683 and He counted it to him as righteousness." 544 00:26:00,683 --> 00:26:03,553 What I want you to see is right there. 545 00:26:03,553 --> 00:26:05,983 He believed the Lord. 546 00:26:05,983 --> 00:26:07,577 What did he believe? 547 00:26:07,577 --> 00:26:10,240 What the Lord just said. 548 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,059 It doesn't say that he believed 549 00:26:12,059 --> 00:26:14,003 every promise that God had given. 550 00:26:14,003 --> 00:26:16,062 Look, I'm not saying that he would have 551 00:26:16,062 --> 00:26:18,417 denied some of the promises. 552 00:26:18,417 --> 00:26:20,066 You follow what I'm saying? 553 00:26:20,066 --> 00:26:24,758 He was clinging to the one promise 554 00:26:24,758 --> 00:26:28,485 that flew in the face of him being 555 00:26:28,485 --> 00:26:30,250 a father of all nations 556 00:26:30,250 --> 00:26:31,590 when his wife was barren, 557 00:26:31,590 --> 00:26:32,967 he's old, 558 00:26:32,967 --> 00:26:38,681 Eliezer is head of his household and heir, 559 00:26:38,681 --> 00:26:41,694 and it looks like this can't happen. 560 00:26:41,694 --> 00:26:46,404 He seized hold on this promise. 561 00:26:46,404 --> 00:26:49,127 It doesn't say he was going through the file cabinet 562 00:26:49,127 --> 00:26:51,591 and looking at every single one of God's promises. 563 00:26:51,591 --> 00:26:53,088 It was that promise, 564 00:26:53,088 --> 00:26:54,898 because that promise dealt 565 00:26:54,898 --> 00:26:59,353 with the very thing that would challenge his faith; 566 00:26:59,353 --> 00:27:03,151 challenged what he believed. 567 00:27:03,151 --> 00:27:08,319 And what I'm striving at is this very thing, 568 00:27:08,319 --> 00:27:14,133 that look, as we go through our lives, 569 00:27:14,133 --> 00:27:19,037 the issue is we have all these promises. 570 00:27:19,037 --> 00:27:21,552 But you know what? It's not enough to say, 571 00:27:21,552 --> 00:27:24,565 "Well, I believe them." 572 00:27:24,565 --> 00:27:28,465 That's not it. 573 00:27:28,465 --> 00:27:38,028 Beloved, I am very convinced 574 00:27:38,028 --> 00:27:41,445 that the reason that God has designed 575 00:27:41,445 --> 00:27:43,283 the devil the way he is - 576 00:27:43,283 --> 00:27:45,630 I'm not saying God's the author of sin - 577 00:27:45,630 --> 00:27:46,981 but there's no question, 578 00:27:46,981 --> 00:27:48,469 the devil and who he is 579 00:27:48,469 --> 00:27:52,397 is right on script. 580 00:27:52,397 --> 00:27:57,458 This is God's design. 581 00:27:57,458 --> 00:27:59,610 The devil is fashioned 582 00:27:59,610 --> 00:28:03,748 to put fire to your faith. 583 00:28:03,748 --> 00:28:07,432 And when he comes calling, 584 00:28:07,432 --> 00:28:10,918 do you know what's essential? 585 00:28:10,918 --> 00:28:12,443 Not that right at that moment, 586 00:28:12,443 --> 00:28:14,682 you're able to recall every single promise 587 00:28:14,682 --> 00:28:17,473 that God has ever given in His Word. 588 00:28:17,473 --> 00:28:19,972 Do you know what you need right then? 589 00:28:19,972 --> 00:28:23,680 You need that one promise 590 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:25,365 that will cause you to stand 591 00:28:25,365 --> 00:28:29,621 in the day of evil. 592 00:28:29,621 --> 00:28:33,615 Just this week, 593 00:28:33,615 --> 00:28:37,948 I received a phone call from a man. 594 00:28:37,948 --> 00:28:43,105 A professing Christian for a long time. 595 00:28:43,105 --> 00:28:50,969 Even in the ministry. 596 00:28:50,969 --> 00:28:56,185 Living in all manner of immorality. 597 00:28:56,185 --> 00:28:59,620 Do you know what happened? 598 00:28:59,620 --> 00:29:03,871 A friend of his turned on 599 00:29:03,871 --> 00:29:06,424 Paul Washer's message - 600 00:29:06,424 --> 00:29:08,917 I think it was the same one that was preached here: 601 00:29:08,917 --> 00:29:10,238 Examine Yourself. 602 00:29:10,238 --> 00:29:14,081 Maybe the very same message. 603 00:29:14,081 --> 00:29:20,485 This man was laid bare. 604 00:29:20,485 --> 00:29:22,843 And he recognized, 605 00:29:22,843 --> 00:29:25,059 I don't measure up. 606 00:29:25,059 --> 00:29:27,864 And you know what he fears now? 607 00:29:27,864 --> 00:29:29,282 Is being in the ministry, 608 00:29:29,282 --> 00:29:30,471 having so much light, 609 00:29:30,471 --> 00:29:32,646 having this false profession for so long, 610 00:29:32,646 --> 00:29:36,065 living in this immorality - 611 00:29:36,065 --> 00:29:38,414 you know what he's afraid of now? 612 00:29:38,414 --> 00:29:41,247 That he's Esau. 613 00:29:41,247 --> 00:29:43,545 He's afraid he's committed the unpardonable sin. 614 00:29:43,545 --> 00:29:45,037 He's afraid he's gone too far 615 00:29:45,037 --> 00:29:47,408 and there's no way back. 616 00:29:47,408 --> 00:29:48,753 Now, I'll tell you this. 617 00:29:48,753 --> 00:29:50,560 I'll tell you what I told him. 618 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:56,622 I can't tell you that there is a way back. 619 00:29:56,622 --> 00:29:58,841 The truth is there is a line in Scripture 620 00:29:58,841 --> 00:30:00,021 that when men cross it, 621 00:30:00,021 --> 00:30:02,257 there's no way back. 622 00:30:02,257 --> 00:30:06,521 There is a Hebrews 6 reality. 623 00:30:06,521 --> 00:30:07,970 There is a place men come to 624 00:30:07,970 --> 00:30:11,509 that there is no more repentance. 625 00:30:11,509 --> 00:30:15,637 He told me that his friends and counselors 626 00:30:15,637 --> 00:30:18,500 had sent him to the Word of God. 627 00:30:18,500 --> 00:30:21,062 That's good. 628 00:30:21,062 --> 00:30:26,182 To look at passages that dealt with the cross. 629 00:30:26,182 --> 00:30:30,271 I told him that's good. 630 00:30:30,271 --> 00:30:33,229 But you see, what he could tell me: 631 00:30:33,229 --> 00:30:35,995 "Well, I believe He went to the cross. 632 00:30:35,995 --> 00:30:37,092 I believe He died. 633 00:30:37,092 --> 00:30:39,817 I believe everything I'm reading. 634 00:30:39,817 --> 00:30:42,616 I just don't know if it's for me." 635 00:30:42,616 --> 00:30:43,887 I told him exactly, 636 00:30:43,887 --> 00:30:47,584 that is exactly the issue. 637 00:30:47,584 --> 00:30:50,199 I said what you need to do 638 00:30:50,199 --> 00:30:55,436 is you need to find that one verse 639 00:30:55,436 --> 00:31:00,850 that he can sink his faith into; 640 00:31:00,850 --> 00:31:03,095 that he can say, "that's for me." 641 00:31:03,095 --> 00:31:05,152 You see, that's where faith is. 642 00:31:05,152 --> 00:31:07,048 Saving faith isn't saying, 643 00:31:07,048 --> 00:31:10,026 "I believe Jesus was a true, historical figure." 644 00:31:10,026 --> 00:31:14,256 It's not saying, "I believe Jesus went to the cross." 645 00:31:14,256 --> 00:31:15,673 It's got to be personalized. 646 00:31:15,673 --> 00:31:17,869 There's got to be something you can hang on 647 00:31:17,869 --> 00:31:19,150 that you know is for you. 648 00:31:19,150 --> 00:31:21,718 Because you know what the devil's going to do to him? 649 00:31:21,718 --> 00:31:23,538 The devil's already doing it to him. 650 00:31:23,538 --> 00:31:25,695 He's going to whisper into his ear: 651 00:31:25,695 --> 00:31:27,553 "Oh, after what you've done, 652 00:31:27,553 --> 00:31:28,750 there's no hope for you. 653 00:31:28,750 --> 00:31:29,806 You are Esau." 654 00:31:29,806 --> 00:31:31,635 He just keeps hearing that in his ear 655 00:31:31,635 --> 00:31:33,019 over and over and over. 656 00:31:33,019 --> 00:31:34,500 You know how you answer that? 657 00:31:34,500 --> 00:31:39,611 You answer that with a kind of promise 658 00:31:39,611 --> 00:31:41,794 that resists the devil. 659 00:31:41,794 --> 00:31:46,531 That the devil simply cannot answer. 660 00:31:46,531 --> 00:31:48,989 What do you tell him? 661 00:31:48,989 --> 00:31:53,030 I told him you may have crossed that line, 662 00:31:53,030 --> 00:31:54,467 but I know this. 663 00:31:54,467 --> 00:31:56,964 That if he can find any promise in this book 664 00:31:56,964 --> 00:32:01,666 that he can lay his faith onto, 665 00:32:01,666 --> 00:32:03,565 he will not be disappointed. 666 00:32:03,565 --> 00:32:04,936 He will not be confounded. 667 00:32:04,936 --> 00:32:06,415 He will not be cast away. 668 00:32:06,415 --> 00:32:09,569 Because that's what saving faith is. 669 00:32:09,569 --> 00:32:12,873 And you know as I was thinking after I got off the phone with him, 670 00:32:12,873 --> 00:32:14,324 I started thinking about 671 00:32:14,324 --> 00:32:17,578 what sort of verses are they 672 00:32:17,578 --> 00:32:20,523 that a man in that condition might find? 673 00:32:20,523 --> 00:32:22,524 I mean, if he was going through Scripture, 674 00:32:22,524 --> 00:32:24,715 what might be one verse? 675 00:32:24,715 --> 00:32:28,902 I'll tell you one that jumped out at me. 676 00:32:28,902 --> 00:32:31,621 And sometimes they can be obscure verses, 677 00:32:31,621 --> 00:32:33,988 and sometimes you may think 678 00:32:33,988 --> 00:32:35,553 that they're not even dealing 679 00:32:35,553 --> 00:32:38,669 with the very thing that you take it 680 00:32:38,669 --> 00:32:40,804 in faith to mean. 681 00:32:40,804 --> 00:32:44,985 But if you take it in faith to mean it; 682 00:32:44,985 --> 00:32:46,600 if you take it in faith 683 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:52,555 that you're trusting the God behind these things - 684 00:32:52,555 --> 00:32:54,386 I mean we could just look at that. 685 00:32:54,386 --> 00:32:57,943 The broadness of some of God's promises. 686 00:32:57,943 --> 00:32:59,954 I mean, you know what? 687 00:32:59,954 --> 00:33:04,914 You think about how in Isaiah 53, 688 00:33:04,914 --> 00:33:09,350 how by His stripes, we're healed. 689 00:33:09,350 --> 00:33:11,031 Does it blow anybody away 690 00:33:11,031 --> 00:33:14,373 that Matthew basically in Matthew 9 says 691 00:33:14,373 --> 00:33:17,151 He's healing the people, thus fulfilling that? 692 00:33:17,151 --> 00:33:19,246 You're like, wait a second. 693 00:33:19,246 --> 00:33:22,851 I thought that was spiritual healing back there, 694 00:33:22,851 --> 00:33:25,023 and Jesus is physically healing. 695 00:33:25,023 --> 00:33:27,053 We might just talk about the broadness 696 00:33:27,053 --> 00:33:31,781 of some of God's promises. 697 00:33:31,781 --> 00:33:34,768 But I got to thinking about this, 698 00:33:34,768 --> 00:33:37,985 Jesus Himself says, 699 00:33:37,985 --> 00:33:42,475 if somebody strikes you on one cheek, 700 00:33:42,475 --> 00:33:46,793 turn to him the other also. 701 00:33:46,793 --> 00:33:53,734 If a man could just find hope there. 702 00:33:53,734 --> 00:34:00,327 I've struck Him in the cheek by my actions, 703 00:34:00,327 --> 00:34:03,657 but He is such a God who sends His Son 704 00:34:03,657 --> 00:34:06,332 who is the radiance of the glory of God, 705 00:34:06,332 --> 00:34:08,758 and He is the kind that teaches us 706 00:34:08,758 --> 00:34:11,930 that if we're struck, turn the other also. 707 00:34:11,930 --> 00:34:13,976 I mean, if He's teaching that to us, 708 00:34:13,976 --> 00:34:22,282 is He not also a God who takes many blows, 709 00:34:22,282 --> 00:34:26,131 many dishonorings, and yet is still willing 710 00:34:26,131 --> 00:34:30,545 to turn the other cheek? 711 00:34:30,545 --> 00:34:32,880 Or, how about this? 712 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:37,893 In Joel 2, God says, 713 00:34:37,893 --> 00:34:39,724 "Yet even now..." 714 00:34:39,724 --> 00:34:42,222 Those three words could be something 715 00:34:42,222 --> 00:34:43,983 that somebody's faith could cling to. 716 00:34:43,983 --> 00:34:45,664 "Yet even now..." 717 00:34:45,664 --> 00:34:47,867 Wait. What's that? 718 00:34:47,867 --> 00:34:50,132 "Yet even now, declares the Lord, 719 00:34:50,132 --> 00:34:53,126 return to Me with all your heart." 720 00:34:53,126 --> 00:34:54,845 You know when you say that - 721 00:34:54,845 --> 00:34:55,933 "yet even now," 722 00:34:55,933 --> 00:34:58,561 it's after people have done a lot of bad. 723 00:34:58,561 --> 00:35:01,502 "Yet even now..." after all you've done, 724 00:35:01,502 --> 00:35:05,149 "if anyone will turn to Me with all their heart, 725 00:35:05,149 --> 00:35:07,544 with fasting, with weeping, with mourning, 726 00:35:07,544 --> 00:35:09,677 rend your hearts and not your garments. 727 00:35:09,677 --> 00:35:11,115 Return to the Lord your God, 728 00:35:11,115 --> 00:35:12,986 for He is gracious and merciful..." 729 00:35:12,986 --> 00:35:14,963 How about these three words? 730 00:35:14,963 --> 00:35:17,172 "...Slow to anger." 731 00:35:17,172 --> 00:35:19,508 If a man's faith can get into that 732 00:35:19,508 --> 00:35:21,667 God is slow to anger. 733 00:35:21,667 --> 00:35:23,776 I can put my weight on that promise, 734 00:35:23,776 --> 00:35:26,384 because I've provoked Him for a long time, 735 00:35:26,384 --> 00:35:29,169 but He's slow to anger. 736 00:35:29,169 --> 00:35:31,649 Oh, certainly the God of Scripture 737 00:35:31,649 --> 00:35:34,182 in all of His infinite mercies; 738 00:35:34,182 --> 00:35:38,362 certainly I could not wear out His kindness 739 00:35:38,362 --> 00:35:40,628 just in these years I've done this. 740 00:35:40,628 --> 00:35:43,221 Certainly God is greater than that. 741 00:35:43,221 --> 00:35:46,750 Those words, "yet even now." 742 00:35:46,750 --> 00:35:47,901 Or how about this? 743 00:35:47,901 --> 00:35:51,562 "God's kindness is meant to lead to repentance." 744 00:35:51,562 --> 00:35:54,647 Because one of the things I told him; 745 00:35:54,647 --> 00:35:56,765 I told him one of the things 746 00:35:56,765 --> 00:36:00,961 that tells me God is not done with you 747 00:36:00,961 --> 00:36:05,263 is He led you to that Paul Washer sermon. 748 00:36:05,263 --> 00:36:08,323 And He convicted you. 749 00:36:08,323 --> 00:36:14,204 And you came clean. 750 00:36:14,204 --> 00:36:15,892 He confessed. 751 00:36:15,892 --> 00:36:17,094 He confessed to his wife. 752 00:36:17,094 --> 00:36:20,000 He confessed to his church. 753 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,563 That is a kindness. 754 00:36:22,563 --> 00:36:24,442 And what would you say? 755 00:36:24,442 --> 00:36:26,405 God's kindnesses are not meant 756 00:36:26,405 --> 00:36:29,740 to lead him to repentance? 757 00:36:29,740 --> 00:36:32,423 You see, that isn't the indication 758 00:36:32,423 --> 00:36:33,995 in my estimation of somebody 759 00:36:33,995 --> 00:36:36,659 that God is done with. 760 00:36:36,659 --> 00:36:39,411 Or how about this? 761 00:36:39,411 --> 00:36:40,840 To Sardis. 762 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:43,565 Oh, when I preached about those seven churches 763 00:36:43,565 --> 00:36:44,666 in Asia Minor, 764 00:36:44,666 --> 00:36:47,645 Sardis jumped out at me. 765 00:36:47,645 --> 00:36:51,042 "You have a name 766 00:36:51,042 --> 00:36:53,375 that you are alive, 767 00:36:53,375 --> 00:36:56,682 but you are dead." 768 00:36:56,682 --> 00:36:59,554 This is a church. 769 00:36:59,554 --> 00:37:03,066 You talk about people exposed to light? 770 00:37:03,066 --> 00:37:04,731 But you're dead. 771 00:37:04,731 --> 00:37:06,267 What did He say? No hope? 772 00:37:06,267 --> 00:37:07,923 You've crossed the line? 773 00:37:07,923 --> 00:37:09,249 He doesn't. 774 00:37:09,249 --> 00:37:12,910 He says, "Wake up." 775 00:37:12,910 --> 00:37:15,297 See, if our faith can just grab words like that: 776 00:37:15,297 --> 00:37:19,285 "Wake up." 777 00:37:19,285 --> 00:37:21,261 Of course, there's these words: 778 00:37:21,261 --> 00:37:23,247 John 6:37 779 00:37:23,247 --> 00:37:26,551 Our Lord says, "Whoever comes to Me, 780 00:37:26,551 --> 00:37:29,028 I will never cast out." 781 00:37:29,028 --> 00:37:30,272 Whoever. 782 00:37:30,272 --> 00:37:32,433 It doesn't matter what you say you've done. 783 00:37:32,433 --> 00:37:35,583 If you go to Christ, He won't cast you out. 784 00:37:35,583 --> 00:37:37,816 Period. 785 00:37:37,816 --> 00:37:39,979 It's amazing when I come across people 786 00:37:39,979 --> 00:37:42,132 who are struggling with the unpardonable sin 787 00:37:42,132 --> 00:37:44,041 and I bring up this text, 788 00:37:44,041 --> 00:37:48,313 immediately, "yeah, but..." 789 00:37:48,313 --> 00:37:50,663 Look, if you want to find every reason 790 00:37:50,663 --> 00:37:53,017 not to believe a text, 791 00:37:53,017 --> 00:37:55,447 that's classic unbeliever. 792 00:37:55,447 --> 00:37:57,315 And you will perish. 793 00:37:57,315 --> 00:38:00,933 See, the only hope is that our faith 794 00:38:00,933 --> 00:38:05,171 can find a place to stay. 795 00:38:05,171 --> 00:38:07,265 Bunyan. 796 00:38:07,265 --> 00:38:09,533 In fact, as I was talking to this guy, 797 00:38:09,533 --> 00:38:11,668 Bunyan and his "Grace Abounding" 798 00:38:11,668 --> 00:38:12,766 came to my mind. 799 00:38:12,766 --> 00:38:14,185 If anybody's ever read that - 800 00:38:14,185 --> 00:38:16,250 "Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners," 801 00:38:16,250 --> 00:38:18,005 basically what it is is a testimony 802 00:38:18,005 --> 00:38:20,463 of Bunyan the first few years 803 00:38:20,463 --> 00:38:22,850 of his Christian life, 804 00:38:22,850 --> 00:38:24,513 at least, maybe a testimony 805 00:38:24,513 --> 00:38:26,685 of how God saved him. 806 00:38:26,685 --> 00:38:30,956 Bunyan suffered hellish struggles. 807 00:38:30,956 --> 00:38:32,568 You know what he did? 808 00:38:32,568 --> 00:38:40,328 He would be under some kind of oppression. 809 00:38:40,328 --> 00:38:44,032 It sometimes would go on for years. 810 00:38:44,032 --> 00:38:46,010 And he would constantly be in this book 811 00:38:46,010 --> 00:38:47,674 searching for a promise 812 00:38:47,674 --> 00:38:50,332 to answer that thing 813 00:38:50,332 --> 00:38:53,660 that laid hold on him. 814 00:38:53,660 --> 00:38:56,571 Which was undoubtedly insinuations 815 00:38:56,571 --> 00:38:59,284 and accusations of the devil. 816 00:38:59,284 --> 00:39:03,306 Listen, at one point, it was like 817 00:39:03,306 --> 00:39:07,640 the devil came to him and said, 818 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:10,798 "only the elect can be saved." 819 00:39:10,798 --> 00:39:14,481 Some of you have probably been there. 820 00:39:14,481 --> 00:39:17,139 "How do you know you're one of the elect?" 821 00:39:17,139 --> 00:39:24,609 "You're almost certainly not one of the elect." 822 00:39:24,609 --> 00:39:27,789 Do you know what it was that his faith 823 00:39:27,789 --> 00:39:31,240 laid hold on? 824 00:39:31,240 --> 00:39:36,994 He got to thinking about the lives 825 00:39:36,994 --> 00:39:41,762 of the people of God in Scripture. 826 00:39:41,762 --> 00:39:44,729 And he came back to this: 827 00:39:44,729 --> 00:39:47,832 Was there ever anybody in Scripture 828 00:39:47,832 --> 00:39:50,296 who trusted in God and yet in the end 829 00:39:50,296 --> 00:39:53,884 were confounded? 830 00:39:53,884 --> 00:39:56,495 And he found not one. 831 00:39:56,495 --> 00:40:00,184 Now, that's not a specific verse, 832 00:40:00,184 --> 00:40:03,520 but you know what he did? 833 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:06,745 He's wondering about being elect 834 00:40:06,745 --> 00:40:10,284 and how's he going to answer Satan? 835 00:40:10,284 --> 00:40:13,542 He went back to Genesis 1:1 836 00:40:13,542 --> 00:40:15,867 and he began reading through the whole Bible, 837 00:40:15,867 --> 00:40:18,294 and everytime somebody came up, 838 00:40:18,294 --> 00:40:20,751 he looked: was there ever anybody 839 00:40:20,751 --> 00:40:22,762 who put their trust in the Lord 840 00:40:22,762 --> 00:40:24,410 who was thrown off at the end? 841 00:40:24,410 --> 00:40:27,238 You see his conclusion? 842 00:40:27,238 --> 00:40:29,155 Election isn't really the issue. 843 00:40:29,155 --> 00:40:31,913 Yes, there are elect people, but how do you know them? 844 00:40:31,913 --> 00:40:34,429 Anybody that clings to the Lord 845 00:40:34,429 --> 00:40:37,148 is never confounded. 846 00:40:37,148 --> 00:40:39,545 You know what he was gripped by at another time? 847 00:40:39,545 --> 00:40:41,969 He's walking along and it's like these thoughts - 848 00:40:41,969 --> 00:40:43,975 sometimes you see in Pilgrim's Progress - 849 00:40:43,975 --> 00:40:45,037 you remember Pilgrim? 850 00:40:45,037 --> 00:40:47,718 He's walking through the valley of the shadow of death, 851 00:40:47,718 --> 00:40:49,777 and these little hellish imps are coming up 852 00:40:49,777 --> 00:40:51,147 and whispering in his ear. 853 00:40:51,147 --> 00:40:53,833 Look, this is a reflection of his own life. 854 00:40:53,833 --> 00:40:55,529 Maybe some of you know - 855 00:40:55,529 --> 00:40:57,751 we know this as Christians. 856 00:40:57,751 --> 00:41:00,248 The devil comes up and suggests things. 857 00:41:00,248 --> 00:41:02,994 Whispers things. Whispers doubts. 858 00:41:02,994 --> 00:41:06,097 Suddenly, we're gripped by it. 859 00:41:06,097 --> 00:41:07,494 The devil came to him one day 860 00:41:07,494 --> 00:41:09,871 and said, "What if the day of grace 861 00:41:09,871 --> 00:41:11,662 should be past and gone?" 862 00:41:11,662 --> 00:41:13,185 What if there's no hope? 863 00:41:13,185 --> 00:41:14,954 Your opportunity came and went. 864 00:41:14,954 --> 00:41:19,553 The day of grace. 865 00:41:19,553 --> 00:41:23,958 Bunyan found his faith cleave to this: 866 00:41:23,958 --> 00:41:27,090 Luke 14:22 - you may know that portion of Scripture. 867 00:41:27,090 --> 00:41:28,565 You don't have to turn there. 868 00:41:28,565 --> 00:41:30,455 But it's where the great feast is. 869 00:41:30,455 --> 00:41:32,550 And you remember, those who were invited 870 00:41:32,550 --> 00:41:33,521 were told to come in 871 00:41:33,521 --> 00:41:35,276 and they all began to make excuse. 872 00:41:35,276 --> 00:41:36,605 You remember that. 873 00:41:36,605 --> 00:41:40,127 This text: "The servant said, 874 00:41:40,127 --> 00:41:43,853 'Sir, what you have commanded has been done 875 00:41:43,853 --> 00:41:46,214 and still there is room.'" 876 00:41:46,214 --> 00:41:48,074 Those words right there: 877 00:41:48,074 --> 00:41:50,360 "still there is room." 878 00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:53,199 His faith was able to hold on. 879 00:41:53,199 --> 00:41:56,842 The devil's saying the day may be past for you, 880 00:41:56,842 --> 00:42:00,070 and those words came with power to his own soul. 881 00:42:00,070 --> 00:42:02,714 "But still there is room." 882 00:42:02,714 --> 00:42:04,367 God is wanting to fill His house. 883 00:42:04,367 --> 00:42:09,465 The day can't be past when there's still empty seats. 884 00:42:09,465 --> 00:42:13,524 (Incomplete thought) 885 00:42:13,524 --> 00:42:16,250 Before I tell you more about Bunyan, 886 00:42:16,250 --> 00:42:17,806 as far as his experiences. 887 00:42:17,806 --> 00:42:20,773 Let me tell you about Bunyan 888 00:42:20,773 --> 00:42:22,576 in another one of the illustrations 889 00:42:22,576 --> 00:42:24,572 that he wrote. 890 00:42:24,572 --> 00:42:27,173 I think this is classic. 891 00:42:27,173 --> 00:42:30,375 There is a man in the Interpreter's house - 892 00:42:30,375 --> 00:42:32,348 I told you about the muck raker before 893 00:42:32,348 --> 00:42:34,174 when his wife was there, 894 00:42:34,174 --> 00:42:37,682 but here's this man in an iron cage. 895 00:42:37,682 --> 00:42:40,043 You know what the man in the iron cage is? 896 00:42:40,043 --> 00:42:46,746 Somebody who has truly sinned beyond hope. 897 00:42:46,746 --> 00:42:48,785 And we could get all into that account, 898 00:42:48,785 --> 00:42:49,709 but you know what? 899 00:42:49,709 --> 00:42:52,193 That man in that iron cage said two things 900 00:42:52,193 --> 00:42:56,363 that I think are very insightful. 901 00:42:56,363 --> 00:42:58,522 He said this: 902 00:42:58,522 --> 00:43:01,595 "I've crucified Christ to myself afresh. 903 00:43:01,595 --> 00:43:03,612 I've despised His person. 904 00:43:03,612 --> 00:43:05,607 I've despised His righteousness. 905 00:43:05,607 --> 00:43:08,171 I've counted His blood an unholy thing. 906 00:43:08,171 --> 00:43:11,810 I have done despite to the Spirit of grace. 907 00:43:11,810 --> 00:43:15,917 Therefore, I have shut myself out 908 00:43:15,917 --> 00:43:19,437 of all the promises." 909 00:43:19,437 --> 00:43:22,622 I've shut myself out. 910 00:43:22,622 --> 00:43:25,512 Now how did he know that? 911 00:43:25,512 --> 00:43:29,419 Because he comes along and says this: 912 00:43:29,419 --> 00:43:33,191 "God's Word gives me no hope 913 00:43:33,191 --> 00:43:36,147 of encouragement to believe." 914 00:43:36,147 --> 00:43:39,498 Oh, that's key. That's key. 915 00:43:39,498 --> 00:43:44,562 I am certain that is when God is done with somebody. 916 00:43:44,562 --> 00:43:47,102 When they go through the Scripture, 917 00:43:47,102 --> 00:43:52,285 and they can't find a promise 918 00:43:52,285 --> 00:43:57,050 for their faith to land on. 919 00:43:57,050 --> 00:43:58,912 You come to them as a believer, 920 00:43:58,912 --> 00:44:01,628 and you tell them, look, 921 00:44:01,628 --> 00:44:05,719 Jesus says whoever comes to Me, 922 00:44:05,719 --> 00:44:10,374 I will never cast out. 923 00:44:10,374 --> 00:44:13,626 Your faith seizes it. 924 00:44:13,626 --> 00:44:15,618 You're trusting that. 925 00:44:15,618 --> 00:44:19,064 And you bring it to them. 926 00:44:19,064 --> 00:44:21,087 But it just goes right past them. 927 00:44:21,087 --> 00:44:22,724 Why? 928 00:44:22,724 --> 00:44:26,358 Oftentimes, whether they've actually 929 00:44:26,358 --> 00:44:29,438 committed the unpardonable sin or not, 930 00:44:29,438 --> 00:44:31,547 look, if their faith can't find anything 931 00:44:31,547 --> 00:44:34,720 in Scripture to latch onto, 932 00:44:34,720 --> 00:44:37,901 there's no hope. 933 00:44:37,901 --> 00:44:40,399 You need to remember, 934 00:44:40,399 --> 00:44:44,674 it's not that our faith latches onto a promise, 935 00:44:44,674 --> 00:44:48,014 so much as it latches onto the One 936 00:44:48,014 --> 00:44:51,292 who gave the promise. 937 00:44:51,292 --> 00:44:52,995 And if we're not able to do that, 938 00:44:52,995 --> 00:44:56,154 that's what an unbeliever is. 939 00:44:56,154 --> 00:44:58,481 You see, when you cross the line; 940 00:44:58,481 --> 00:45:02,665 when you sin so as to provoke, 941 00:45:02,665 --> 00:45:07,654 enrage the Spirit, 942 00:45:07,654 --> 00:45:11,176 the evidence is when that Spirit no longer 943 00:45:11,176 --> 00:45:14,310 gives you any hope in anything 944 00:45:14,310 --> 00:45:18,074 that God has said. 945 00:45:18,074 --> 00:45:19,381 We come back to Bunyan. 946 00:45:19,381 --> 00:45:22,177 You know what, he's reading through Scripture one time, 947 00:45:22,177 --> 00:45:26,096 and he saw that Jesus specifically called 948 00:45:26,096 --> 00:45:28,610 certain people to follow Him. 949 00:45:28,610 --> 00:45:31,733 But it's like the devil rushed right in 950 00:45:31,733 --> 00:45:34,478 and said, "Oh, but He didn't call everybody." 951 00:45:34,478 --> 00:45:36,048 He said he was especially struck 952 00:45:36,048 --> 00:45:39,085 by how Jesus is said to have chosen 953 00:45:39,085 --> 00:45:43,829 certain individuals that He called apostles. 954 00:45:43,829 --> 00:45:45,251 And what he was struck with 955 00:45:45,251 --> 00:45:48,290 was fearing that he was not called. 956 00:45:48,290 --> 00:45:51,530 Oh, how he longed to be John and James 957 00:45:51,530 --> 00:45:54,356 and Peter - even the rich, young ruler, 958 00:45:54,356 --> 00:45:57,656 to actually hear the words from Jesus' mouth Himself: 959 00:45:57,656 --> 00:46:01,365 "Follow Me." 960 00:46:01,365 --> 00:46:03,374 Now listen, you have to understand, 961 00:46:03,374 --> 00:46:05,787 he was often months and years 962 00:46:05,787 --> 00:46:07,837 plagued by these thoughts. 963 00:46:07,837 --> 00:46:09,098 It gave him no rest. 964 00:46:09,098 --> 00:46:10,544 He'd lay there in bed at night 965 00:46:10,544 --> 00:46:12,879 and he'd be thinking through all these things, 966 00:46:12,879 --> 00:46:15,118 scouring Scripture looking for something. 967 00:46:15,118 --> 00:46:17,721 Do you know what he found? 968 00:46:17,721 --> 00:46:20,772 He found a text in Isaiah 45:5. 969 00:46:20,772 --> 00:46:27,902 "I will gird you though you have not known Me." 970 00:46:27,902 --> 00:46:30,948 And it brought hope and light to his soul. 971 00:46:30,948 --> 00:46:34,106 You say I don't see it. It doesn't matter. 972 00:46:34,106 --> 00:46:36,336 He did. 973 00:46:36,336 --> 00:46:37,848 And his faith laid hold on it. 974 00:46:37,848 --> 00:46:38,846 And you know what? 975 00:46:38,846 --> 00:46:42,980 A text he never saw, you might see. 976 00:46:42,980 --> 00:46:44,570 You know another one? 977 00:46:44,570 --> 00:46:46,101 He was listening to a sermon 978 00:46:46,101 --> 00:46:48,117 on the Song of Solomon 4:1. 979 00:46:48,117 --> 00:46:49,953 "Behold, you are fair..." 980 00:46:49,953 --> 00:46:53,324 This is Christ speaking to His people. 981 00:46:53,324 --> 00:46:56,368 "Behold, you are fair, My love." 982 00:46:56,368 --> 00:46:58,657 Behold, you are fair... 983 00:46:58,657 --> 00:47:05,436 Those two words: "My love." 984 00:47:05,436 --> 00:47:08,620 It chased the clouds away. 985 00:47:08,620 --> 00:47:11,513 Two words! 986 00:47:11,513 --> 00:47:14,494 You see, there's promise in those two words. 987 00:47:14,494 --> 00:47:15,880 My love. 988 00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:18,932 And if they come home to your soul, 989 00:47:18,932 --> 00:47:20,973 to where your faith can lay hold on them, 990 00:47:20,973 --> 00:47:23,445 you can resist the devil 991 00:47:23,445 --> 00:47:26,565 in the fiercest battle, 992 00:47:26,565 --> 00:47:28,845 by just two words, 993 00:47:28,845 --> 00:47:34,230 if your faith is able to cling to them. 994 00:47:34,230 --> 00:47:36,644 You know, the devil came to him one day 995 00:47:36,644 --> 00:47:41,308 and said, "Oh, you may have found Christ. 996 00:47:41,308 --> 00:47:42,676 But you know what? 997 00:47:42,676 --> 00:47:45,104 If you live any length of time, 998 00:47:45,104 --> 00:47:47,279 ah, you see how many people fall away. 999 00:47:47,279 --> 00:47:49,390 You're going to fall away. 1000 00:47:49,390 --> 00:47:53,083 You won't hold fast." 1001 00:47:53,083 --> 00:47:55,520 Now this is a text that we might anticipate: 1002 00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:56,944 He found Romans 8:38-39: 1003 00:47:56,944 --> 00:47:58,950 "I am sure that neither death, nor life 1004 00:47:58,950 --> 00:48:01,240 nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, 1005 00:48:01,240 --> 00:48:02,763 nor things to come, nor power, 1006 00:48:02,763 --> 00:48:05,821 nor height, depth, anything else in all creation will be able to 1007 00:48:05,821 --> 00:48:08,639 separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." 1008 00:48:08,639 --> 00:48:15,248 And he said if that's true, long life can't separate me. 1009 00:48:15,248 --> 00:48:18,585 And another time, it was his extreme sinfulness. 1010 00:48:18,585 --> 00:48:20,882 He just felt like I'm too wicked 1011 00:48:20,882 --> 00:48:23,292 to be a Christian. 1012 00:48:23,292 --> 00:48:25,251 This time it was Colossians 1:20 - 1013 00:48:25,251 --> 00:48:27,634 "making peace by the blood of His cross." 1014 00:48:27,634 --> 00:48:32,512 It came to him with sweetness and power. 1015 00:48:32,512 --> 00:48:36,344 And another time, he's being tempted 1016 00:48:36,344 --> 00:48:40,212 to exchange Christ for the world. 1017 00:48:40,212 --> 00:48:41,870 It's like these thoughts just keep 1018 00:48:41,870 --> 00:48:44,058 bombarding him, bombarding him: 1019 00:48:44,058 --> 00:48:45,540 "Just give up Christ." 1020 00:48:45,540 --> 00:48:47,266 "Sell Christ and you can have this, 1021 00:48:47,266 --> 00:48:48,510 you can have this." 1022 00:48:48,510 --> 00:48:50,952 He was just being tormented. 1023 00:48:50,952 --> 00:48:55,173 And of all things, a text in Leviticus. 1024 00:48:55,173 --> 00:48:57,462 Leviticus 25:23 - 1025 00:48:57,462 --> 00:49:03,343 Now look, you will never go to Leviticus 25:23, 1026 00:49:03,343 --> 00:49:07,050 unless you first recognize 2 Corinthians 1:20. 1027 00:49:07,050 --> 00:49:09,440 And that if you're justified by faith, 1028 00:49:09,440 --> 00:49:15,999 it's the key to every single promise of God. 1029 00:49:15,999 --> 00:49:17,535 And you know what he saw? 1030 00:49:17,535 --> 00:49:20,941 This text: "The land shall not be sold permanently, 1031 00:49:20,941 --> 00:49:24,991 for the land is Mine." 1032 00:49:24,991 --> 00:49:26,991 You know what he recognized? 1033 00:49:26,991 --> 00:49:29,513 God saved me. 1034 00:49:29,513 --> 00:49:36,169 The inheritance He gives is permanent. 1035 00:49:36,169 --> 00:49:39,542 It's not just that's reason to think 1036 00:49:39,542 --> 00:49:42,359 I shouldn't exchange Christ for the world. 1037 00:49:42,359 --> 00:49:44,152 It was reason for him to think: 1038 00:49:44,152 --> 00:49:48,558 I can't exchange Christ for the world. 1039 00:49:48,558 --> 00:49:52,295 If God once bestows inheritance on me, 1040 00:49:52,295 --> 00:49:54,796 He's not going to take it away. 1041 00:49:54,796 --> 00:49:56,546 His confidence was in God. 1042 00:49:56,546 --> 00:49:58,363 He's going to cause me to stand. 1043 00:49:58,363 --> 00:50:00,437 I won't give it away. 1044 00:50:00,437 --> 00:50:02,698 Sometimes the thoughts come into our mind, 1045 00:50:02,698 --> 00:50:05,095 and then it's almost like the devil can do this: 1046 00:50:05,095 --> 00:50:07,275 he puts the suggestion in your mind 1047 00:50:07,275 --> 00:50:09,323 and now that you've actually thought it, 1048 00:50:09,323 --> 00:50:11,775 you feel guilty yourself and he condemns you 1049 00:50:11,775 --> 00:50:15,664 for having thought it. 1050 00:50:15,664 --> 00:50:17,468 Other times, he thought he committed 1051 00:50:17,468 --> 00:50:21,212 the unpardonable sin. 1052 00:50:21,212 --> 00:50:24,469 This was Psalm 68:18 1053 00:50:24,469 --> 00:50:25,925 that he found deliverance. 1054 00:50:25,925 --> 00:50:27,902 "Thou hast received gifts for men..." 1055 00:50:27,902 --> 00:50:29,645 You know this is what Paul quotes 1056 00:50:29,645 --> 00:50:32,356 in Ephesians 4 that we're going to eventually get to, 1057 00:50:32,356 --> 00:50:34,649 but it's Jesus giving gifts to men. 1058 00:50:34,649 --> 00:50:36,874 He found this: "Thou hast received 1059 00:50:36,874 --> 00:50:42,253 gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also." 1060 00:50:42,253 --> 00:50:45,114 And he thought if Christ gives gifts 1061 00:50:45,114 --> 00:50:47,321 and even gives them to the rebellious, 1062 00:50:47,321 --> 00:50:48,590 he started thinking, 1063 00:50:48,590 --> 00:50:50,976 well, that's what he was condemning himself for. 1064 00:50:50,976 --> 00:50:53,741 After knowing Christ, having committed some rebellion, 1065 00:50:53,741 --> 00:50:56,314 and here's somebody having committed rebellion 1066 00:50:56,314 --> 00:50:58,377 and Christ is giving gifts to them. 1067 00:50:58,377 --> 00:51:00,797 And so if that's the case... 1068 00:51:00,797 --> 00:51:03,116 He started thinking at first, 1069 00:51:03,116 --> 00:51:05,072 I've committed the unpardonable sin. 1070 00:51:05,072 --> 00:51:07,117 Well, there's David. 1071 00:51:07,117 --> 00:51:10,196 Yeah, but my sin that I committed isn't like David's. 1072 00:51:10,196 --> 00:51:12,045 And then he thought about Peter. 1073 00:51:12,045 --> 00:51:14,177 And he thought yeah, Peter's closest. 1074 00:51:14,177 --> 00:51:16,761 And then he felt like, yeah, but there's exceptions. 1075 00:51:16,761 --> 00:51:18,200 Mine's not exactly like that. 1076 00:51:18,200 --> 00:51:20,083 Then he felt all condemned and he said 1077 00:51:20,083 --> 00:51:22,837 my sin is more like Judas'. 1078 00:51:22,837 --> 00:51:27,069 But in the end, with all the struggles 1079 00:51:27,069 --> 00:51:30,022 it was this. 1080 00:51:30,022 --> 00:51:34,291 One little text about Jesus giving gifts 1081 00:51:34,291 --> 00:51:36,463 to the rebellious also. 1082 00:51:36,463 --> 00:51:39,349 And see, when he would grab hold on these, 1083 00:51:39,349 --> 00:51:42,567 then the devil's ability would weaken 1084 00:51:42,567 --> 00:51:45,729 and you resist the devil 1085 00:51:45,729 --> 00:51:47,905 and he flees away. 1086 00:51:47,905 --> 00:51:54,649 My whole point of saying all these things to you is this: 1087 00:51:54,649 --> 00:51:56,110 My brothers and sisters, 1088 00:51:56,110 --> 00:52:02,328 we are people of promise. 1089 00:52:02,328 --> 00:52:05,336 When Bunyan portrayed this, 1090 00:52:05,336 --> 00:52:09,804 Apollyon fighting Christian. 1091 00:52:09,804 --> 00:52:11,932 You'll remember in the battle, 1092 00:52:11,932 --> 00:52:16,976 the sword flew out of Pilgrim's hand. 1093 00:52:16,976 --> 00:52:21,616 That means he lost touch 1094 00:52:21,616 --> 00:52:24,167 with the promises for a moment. 1095 00:52:24,167 --> 00:52:25,583 And when that happened, 1096 00:52:25,583 --> 00:52:29,874 Apollyon said, "I'm sure of you now." 1097 00:52:29,874 --> 00:52:34,731 And you know how Pilgrim won the day? 1098 00:52:34,731 --> 00:52:38,994 His fingers got hold of the sword. 1099 00:52:38,994 --> 00:52:41,031 And he quotes Micah 7:8, 1100 00:52:41,031 --> 00:52:43,374 "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. 1101 00:52:43,374 --> 00:52:45,132 When I fall, I shall arise; 1102 00:52:45,132 --> 00:52:46,601 when I sit in darkness, 1103 00:52:46,601 --> 00:52:49,316 the Lord shall be a light unto me." 1104 00:52:49,316 --> 00:52:52,577 What Bunyan is doing is portraying the reality of this fight. 1105 00:52:52,577 --> 00:52:55,630 You've got to find the promise. 1106 00:52:55,630 --> 00:52:57,293 Whatever your struggle, 1107 00:52:57,293 --> 00:52:59,004 what sins you struggle with, 1108 00:52:59,004 --> 00:53:00,955 what trials you go through, 1109 00:53:00,955 --> 00:53:03,090 what thoughts haunt your mind 1110 00:53:03,090 --> 00:53:04,504 in your brain, 1111 00:53:04,504 --> 00:53:07,425 what attacks the devil may throw at you, 1112 00:53:07,425 --> 00:53:10,291 what slurs, what accusations, 1113 00:53:10,291 --> 00:53:12,194 this is where we must come to. 1114 00:53:12,194 --> 00:53:14,091 We must be a people of promise. 1115 00:53:14,091 --> 00:53:17,706 We must be thinking about promise. 1116 00:53:17,706 --> 00:53:22,871 Look, men of old like Bunyan; 1117 00:53:22,871 --> 00:53:26,325 men made of the same stuff we're made of, 1118 00:53:26,325 --> 00:53:29,609 they were finding promises in Micah. 1119 00:53:29,609 --> 00:53:32,497 They were finding promises in Colossians, 1120 00:53:32,497 --> 00:53:35,686 in Leviticus, in Psalms, Isaiah. 1121 00:53:35,686 --> 00:53:37,375 They were finding promises - 1122 00:53:37,375 --> 00:53:41,099 sometimes obscure promises 1123 00:53:41,099 --> 00:53:43,930 to sink their faith into. 1124 00:53:43,930 --> 00:53:45,761 But you'll never do that, like I said, 1125 00:53:45,761 --> 00:53:47,257 you'll never do that 1126 00:53:47,257 --> 00:53:49,598 unless you believe that every promise 1127 00:53:49,598 --> 00:53:52,887 is yours in Christ. 1128 00:53:52,887 --> 00:53:55,793 Read this book as for yourself - 1129 00:53:55,793 --> 00:53:57,652 even the Old Testament. 1130 00:53:57,652 --> 00:53:59,478 It's for you. 1131 00:53:59,478 --> 00:54:01,691 Don't write that off as: 1132 00:54:01,691 --> 00:54:03,045 well, that's for the Jews, 1133 00:54:03,045 --> 00:54:05,731 or it sounds like He's speaking to Israel all the time. 1134 00:54:05,731 --> 00:54:07,159 How can I lay claim to this? 1135 00:54:07,159 --> 00:54:09,970 That's what the dispensationalists will do to you. 1136 00:54:09,970 --> 00:54:12,504 They'll see to disarm you. Don't let them do that. 1137 00:54:12,504 --> 00:54:15,489 Don't let them steal away your promises. 1138 00:54:15,489 --> 00:54:17,880 Because you need those promises. 1139 00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:19,743 You need them to survive. 1140 00:54:19,743 --> 00:54:21,648 You need them to fight. 1141 00:54:21,648 --> 00:54:23,311 We are people of promise. 1142 00:54:23,311 --> 00:54:26,145 We are partakers of the promise. 1143 00:54:26,145 --> 00:54:27,124 Remember that. 1144 00:54:27,124 --> 00:54:29,935 We are people of the promise. 1145 00:54:29,935 --> 00:54:31,552 We have promises. 1146 00:54:31,552 --> 00:54:33,369 And God's given us a bunch of them. 1147 00:54:33,369 --> 00:54:34,891 They're His promises. 1148 00:54:34,891 --> 00:54:36,709 They're not just worldly promises, 1149 00:54:36,709 --> 00:54:37,913 vague promises. 1150 00:54:37,913 --> 00:54:40,308 They're God-given promises 1151 00:54:40,308 --> 00:54:42,269 that He's given to us to fight 1152 00:54:42,269 --> 00:54:44,773 the good fight of faith with. 1153 00:54:44,773 --> 00:54:47,040 To seize hold of. To put our weight on. 1154 00:54:47,040 --> 00:54:49,413 Like I said before, climb on these. 1155 00:54:49,413 --> 00:54:51,773 Even if it comes down to two words: 1156 00:54:51,773 --> 00:54:53,728 My love. 1157 00:54:53,728 --> 00:54:59,259 Or three words: There's still room. 1158 00:54:59,259 --> 00:55:03,020 I mean, whatever it is, look. 1159 00:55:03,020 --> 00:55:06,808 Look. Search. Know. 1160 00:55:06,808 --> 00:55:08,287 Read your Scriptures. 1161 00:55:08,287 --> 00:55:09,862 Be here. 1162 00:55:09,862 --> 00:55:11,524 Arm yourselves. 1163 00:55:11,524 --> 00:55:12,940 People of promise. 1164 00:55:12,940 --> 00:55:15,345 Arm yourselves. 1165 00:55:15,345 --> 00:55:18,345 We have a promise Giver. 1166 00:55:18,345 --> 00:55:21,438 You don't need every single promise 1167 00:55:21,438 --> 00:55:23,442 every single day. 1168 00:55:23,442 --> 00:55:26,773 You can't even think of all of them. 1169 00:55:26,773 --> 00:55:28,502 But it may be just two words. 1170 00:55:28,502 --> 00:55:29,910 It may be three words 1171 00:55:29,910 --> 00:55:33,519 that will carry you victoriously in battle 1172 00:55:33,519 --> 00:55:36,928 against an archangel. 1173 00:55:36,928 --> 00:55:38,214 Isn't that amazing? 1174 00:55:38,214 --> 00:55:39,749 That's what you've been given. 1175 00:55:39,749 --> 00:55:42,203 That is the offensive weapon 1176 00:55:42,203 --> 00:55:43,691 that we're going to come to 1177 00:55:43,691 --> 00:55:45,027 in Ephesians 6. 1178 00:55:45,027 --> 00:55:47,158 The sword of the Spirit. 1179 00:55:47,158 --> 00:55:51,391 You can defeat powers 1180 00:55:51,391 --> 00:55:56,967 and principalities of wickedness, 1181 00:55:56,967 --> 00:56:01,776 sometimes through two or three words. 1182 00:56:01,776 --> 00:56:05,225 If your faith will see in those words 1183 00:56:05,225 --> 00:56:08,459 a promise of the living God 1184 00:56:08,459 --> 00:56:10,610 and hold fast. 1185 00:56:10,610 --> 00:56:14,353 You'll resist the devil and he'll flee. 1186 00:56:14,353 --> 00:56:17,524 May God help us, brethren. 1187 00:56:17,524 --> 00:56:19,506 Father, we pray, 1188 00:56:19,506 --> 00:56:23,480 give us these words. 1189 00:56:23,480 --> 00:56:25,647 Give us these promises. 1190 00:56:25,647 --> 00:56:27,029 Help us to find them. 1191 00:56:27,029 --> 00:56:29,240 Help my brothers and sisters to find the ones 1192 00:56:29,240 --> 00:56:30,973 that they need now to deal with 1193 00:56:30,973 --> 00:56:32,928 what they're dealing with in their lives, 1194 00:56:32,928 --> 00:56:34,208 even on the best days, 1195 00:56:34,208 --> 00:56:35,697 the glorious days, 1196 00:56:35,697 --> 00:56:39,941 the sun-shining days, 1197 00:56:39,941 --> 00:56:45,337 we still need to live on promise. 1198 00:56:45,337 --> 00:56:57,543 Lord, give us minds and hearts 1199 00:56:57,543 --> 00:56:59,645 that work right. 1200 00:56:59,645 --> 00:57:02,019 Sound minds 1201 00:57:02,019 --> 00:57:03,503 where Scripture is real; 1202 00:57:03,503 --> 00:57:04,795 where it flows. 1203 00:57:04,795 --> 00:57:07,340 Help us to fight 1204 00:57:07,340 --> 00:57:09,598 just like our Savior fought. 1205 00:57:09,598 --> 00:57:11,578 When the devil brought his accusations 1206 00:57:11,578 --> 00:57:12,779 and his temptations, 1207 00:57:12,779 --> 00:57:15,912 our Master answered perfectly 1208 00:57:15,912 --> 00:57:18,570 with Scripture. 1209 00:57:18,570 --> 00:57:23,972 All three responses from Deuteronomy. 1210 00:57:23,972 --> 00:57:27,665 Help us to handle Scripture like that. 1211 00:57:27,665 --> 00:57:31,158 To know how to answer. 1212 00:57:31,158 --> 00:57:35,598 Lord, arm us. Equip us. 1213 00:57:35,598 --> 00:57:37,193 Help us to be like Bunyan, 1214 00:57:37,193 --> 00:57:42,840 and even more, help us to be like Christ. 1215 00:57:42,840 --> 00:57:46,449 We pray for His help and in His name, 1216 00:57:46,449 --> 00:57:47,193 Amen.