Sunday Night, August 19, 2018 PM

Going into a couple of books, the first chapter is, I think, the best, probably partial because talking about how the communists took over Czechoslovakia, which is where some of my relatives came from, overnight, and as the tanks were rolling in, instead of running away from that, Bill Bachmann and others ran toward that and flooded Czechoslovakia with fire, and they got out just as the communists were really taking hold, and so, anyway, the first chapter was so amazing to me, and it reminded me of, we were learning about David and Goliath in our little Sunday school class in December, and it reminded me of how David ran toward Goliath, and these people ran toward the enemy to flood that country with Bibles, and so, I just wanted,.

It's in the mission area, under B,.

Going through, even if the door is closed.

Thank you, Miss Lori, sounds like a great read. Forget who it was, talking about varying your diet of reading, and reading biography and missionary biographies, especially,.

Very, very encouraging, so, okay,.

Any questions or point for discussion tonight? Yes, for the norm.

You were around me 23, I think it was 32, verse one and on, and then it says that these folks were not allowed into the assembly of Jehovah.

Mm-hmm.

I'm wondering, I don't understand. I didn't read the whole thing?

Yeah, it's gonna be in a passage that talks about anyone that is not whole or unclean, or not allowed in the tabernacle, not allowed in the assembly, and the reason being has to do, I believe, with the holiness of God, and the stress that God puts in the life of Israel on the image of God, on the wholeness, okay, so the whole nation together was to be signifying and declaring who God is to the nations, okay, and if there was a defect in humanity, it was because of sin, somehow, some way, even if it wasn't their fault, okay, so we're not gonna put that on display to show who God is, because that's not an accurate representation of who God is and how he made man, so from this, you may imagine that people got the wrong idea.

If someone had a defect, if someone had a, maybe a blindness, for instance, as the disciples asked Jesus, who was it, this man or his parents that sinned, that this man was born blind, that he has this defect, and that's what they had extrapolated from a passage like this, oh, he's not allowed in the assembly or in the temple, he sinned, he personally sinned or his parents did, well, Jesus said neither, but he was born in this way that the glory of God would be manifested, and then he healed the man, and so ultimately, that's when we see that no one was allowed into this holy assembly that had a defect.

It's not so much about, you know, we don't like people with defects, it's saying that where everything is heading, the fulfillment of this is what? The fulfillment of this holy assembly when God tabernacles with his people forever, when is that?

That's the new creation, that's the new creation, and there is no defects in the new creation, no sickness, no disease, no defects whatsoever, so it was a signal of what was to come. In a sense, it's good news, it's good news, because in the eternal fellowship of the Father with his people, of God with his people through the Son, glorified by the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit, there will be no defects, so that was a signal of that direction.

Well, there's gonna be no, I'm not trying to play, yeah, there's no illegitimate children in heaven, we're all fair and square, adopted by God, none of the children of God are ever brought into that status by any kind of sin or any kind of brokenness, but that the way in which we are made the children of God is of complete righteousness, so I think it's pointing at a wholeness, a completeness, where there's no defect, no social breakdown, it's pure, that was the picture to be portrayed, that in the ultimate perfect fellowship with God, everything is pure and right, and there is no defect, and that's good news, ultimately, right?

Oh yeah, there's not gonna be any defects in heaven, is the idea, that there's gonna be, it's perfect, pure, glorified bodies,.

And yeah, yes, absolutely, right,.

Well, who bore our sins? Christ bore our sins, who suffered for our sins? Christ did, and so that testament's gonna be with him and as interceding, he's gonna be our mediator forever, interceding between us and God, so he took what we deserved, that we would never experience it ever for the rest, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and the assurance of that is that the nail prints are still in his hands forever,.

Absolutely it's to his glory, absolutely, absolutely,.

The only difference between heaven and hell is that there's a mediator in heaven, well, I know we won't have sin, but again, we're talking about our acceptance with God is entirely based upon Jesus Christ, not our performance, not now, not then, not now, not then, the only difference between heaven and hell is that there's a mediator in heaven, hell is the holy fury of God, the holiness and the righteousness, the power of God meeting sinful man without a mediator, revelation is very clear that the smoke of the torment of those in hell rises forever in the presence of a lamb, so when people say hell is where God is not, that's inaccurate, the Bible says it's where God is without a savior, forever and ever, and his holiness is unmitigated, unmediated, so we always have to have a mediator, for us and for our salvation, Christ will forever be the God man, forever, that's really, really good news, yes ma 'am, about difference between heaven and hell, in heaven, when you read in revelation, just the brilliant pictures of the life, the victorious life of fellowship with God forever, there's these, it's all about the fellowship with God, but Christ is always central to those pictures, that we are with God forever in joy and happiness, precisely because Christ our lamb, the one who was dead but is alive forevermore, he is there to mediate between us and God, all of our acceptance and eternal fellowship with God, is through the son, now, when it comes to the eternal torment, which is called hell, it's not that God is absent, and that there's some vacuum where God is not, is there any place where God is not?

No, it's where there is no mediator, there is no salvation, there is no one pleading, Christ is not pleading his blood for those who are in hell, he's not pleading his wounds in his hands, for those who are in hell, there is no salvation for demons, and there is no salvation for those who live in rebellion against God and have no savior, do not have Christ, and so the judgment that is the presence of God, the holy presence of God, that is unmediated and that is terrifying, it is a terrifying thing, the writer of Hebrew says, it's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands, right?

Okay, so Christ makes all the difference,.

Is that, well, even now all who live,.

It didn't Paul preach at the Europagus in Acts 17, all who we all live and move and have our being in God, he's the one who put us everywhere where we're supposed to be,. Psalm 104 says, the only reason we're alive is the Holy Spirit gives us breath to breathe, so what we're talking about is in his presence, we're talking about his holy presence and whether or not he accepts and welcomes us, right?

There's a difference between being in the King's dominion and being in his throne room, and although that's a human analogy, everything we have is basically analogy to try to understand who God is, but what we're saying is, his eyes are too pure to look upon sin,.

Right?

That's what Habakkuk says, your eyes are too pure to look upon sin, well, this doesn't mean that God is ignorant, he hides his eyes, he sees no sin, of course not, he sees all the sin and the Lord has indignation every day, that's what Psalm says, he's indignation every day because of the sin of mankind, so what we're saying, so there's, in the age that is to come, in the age that is to come, God remains a holy and just and wrathful God for eternity against all those who have rebelled against him because God has not changed, he's immutable, he does not change, he will forever be the just and holy and wrathful and loving and merciful and true God at forever and ever and ever, and that is our great hope that God doesn't change, but for the passage, and I'm trying to make sure I've located it, but in Revelation, we read the hallelujahs about Babylon, the harlot who falls into judgment in chapter 19, and there's a hallelujah in verse three, says, hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever, and this is just one of many, many scriptures that talk about eternal punishment, but then, also, if I have it correct,.

In Revelation 14, speaking of the third angel,.

Verse 10, it says that he will also, well, the third angel mixes, or announces that, in verse nine, announces that if anyone worships the beast in his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which, for the Christian, will never drink because Christ drank it down to the dregs for us.

Let this cup pass from me, but not my will, but yours be done. He already drank that cup. Outside of Christ, each person will drink it on their own, but he will also drink of the wine with the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb, in the presence of God, because he's the just one who presides.

Satan's not in charge of hell. He's not down there poking people with his pitchfork. That's not the case, but verse 11 says, "'In the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, "'and they have no rest day and night,' "'which is an awful thought.'".

Which is an awful thought, but that's the warning. Well, that's a good question. When we think about mediation, very often we're thinking about in terms of sin, aren't we? But do you know that there was a mediator in the Garden of Eden?

Who was it who came to walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day? It was Christ. That's right, because God is, God is a spirit, does not have a body like man. He is infinite in power and in wisdom.

He is so far beyond us. No one has seen God at any time. The scriptures assure us that God dwells in inapproachable light, in absolute purity and holiness and power. But mediation has more to do than with salvation, though we're so grateful for that.

But the idea of the mediation primarily is revelation. It's revelation. This is what sets Christianity apart from pantheism, where God and the creation are one. And there is no mediation. It's just God and creation are one, all mixed up.

But how does God create? Speaks a word. Let there be light, and there was light. Through his word, who is a person, Jesus Christ, the executor of God, who speaks of the word and sees it done, God creates through his word.

Creation itself and the way that he creates is mediation. Through Christ, all things are created. Through Christ, God reveals himself to his created order. Very specifically, he reveals himself to those he made in his image, and he does so through Christ, through the word incarnate and the word in scripture.

God reveals himself. That's why we need a mediator. You know, when we, this is, there's no pantheism in heaven. It's not that when we go to heaven, we will know all, be all, and become God. That's not the case.

God is ever creator, and we will ever be his creatures. There is a distinction. Yes, for the red. Yes, and I think that's, and I think that's why Herman Bavinck said that mystery is necessary for theology.

As soon as you eliminate mystery from your theology, you don't have the God of the Bible anymore. You know, I figured them all out. No, no, no, no. Mystery is necessary, because he's, how can you fathom him having no beginning and no end, and that he is not bound by the confines of the universe that we can't find the end of anyway?

So, and we're sure bored in heaven or in the new creation.

We'll never come to the end of the wonders of God. Never, ever. Right. It's the fear of the Lord, it's the beginning of wisdom. It's the fear of the Lord, it's the beginning of knowledge. It's not the casualness with the Lord.

Right, it's the fear of the Lord.

And even, I mean, I know it's because we're sinners, but it just seems like, you know,.

I've always thought God's wrath,.

That I'm being, that makes it great.

The good news is that God saves us from God, for God.

Different subjects, and I think Moses was talking to the psalmist, and he was reminding him what they were gonna be doing. And I was thinking when I was reading it, after that happened, he went up into the mountains of God.

Yeah, Moses pled with God that he would be able to go in, but God said no. God said no. And his strength was unabated, 120 years old, but it was time for him to go.

It's remarkable.

James.

It was written by the prophet Jesus Christ in the Samaritan's Temple.

If you read the Bible, that would be correct.

Ecclesiastes is written right on Mark.

Yeah, Ecclesiastes is, it's a challenging book. It's one of the five scrolls that the Jews very often try to figure out what to do with, so they attached the five scrolls to five different feasts. Ecclesiastes, I forget which feast it was attached to, but Ecclesiastes is, obviously it's Solomon who is writing about the futility of life, the emptiness of life when it is not lived for God, that when you take God out of the equation, what do you have left?

Meaninglessness, and he wants to explore that to the full. And so that's why you're getting, that's why when I've read through Ecclesiastes, when I've taught through Ecclesiastes, there's some pretty hopeless-sounding, dark, dead-end alleyways that you're reading about, and the whole thing, you have to keep in mind the beginning and the end of Ecclesiastes to kind of keep you at inbounds and to keep in mind what he says about what he's after in the book.

And what he's after is to demonstrate that when everything is thought through and done so with absolute integrity, thinking through and taking into account these questions about life, and if you're doing so with integrity and you're not fudging on things, you end up with nihilism every time.

You end up with meaninglessness every time, if you ignore God, if you take God out of the equation. And he even comes to a point, I think he even really comes to a point where he's like, well, you know, all you have is just to enjoy what you have right in front of you, that's the best you can do.

But that means ignoring all the unsolved questions. But ultimately, when you read, I think, the beginning and the end of Ecclesiastes, you get his point, you get his point, that in verses nine through 14, you hear, you kind of climb out of the book, right?

The conclusion really of the, the conclusion of Koheleth, the preacher, Solomon, his conclusion is in verse eight. Here's life without God. Verse eight of chapter 12, vanity of vanity says the preacher, all is vanity.

You're done, that's all you've got. Now you climb up out of that, and then you hear what the point of that, for lack of a better term, this philosophical essay. When you come out of it, here's the point.

In verse nine, in addition to being a wise man, the preacher also taught the people knowledge, and he pondered and searched out and arranged many Proverbs. The preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.

The words of the wise men are like goads, and that's what Ecclesiastes is. It's a big sharp stick that makes you think thoughts that you wouldn't think otherwise, making you go to places in your mind that you would not go, like an ox that does not wanna go up that hill, and the goad makes him go there.

Well, that's what Ecclesiastes does. It forces us to think about things that we wouldn't think about otherwise. And he says, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails. They are given by one shepherd.

It should be capitalized in your text. Ultimately, the wisdom of Christ will lead us to think clear, difficult thoughts, and come to right conclusions, because all wisdom is found in Christ. Verse 12, but beyond this, my son, be warned, the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.

Anybody who's been in school can tell you that. The conclusion, when it has all been heard, is fear God and keep his commandments, because this applies to every person.

Why?

For made in the image of God. Made in the image of God. So fear God and keep his commandments. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. And that's the conclusion.

You see, verses nine through 14 don't really sound like the rest of the book, do they? But that's the belief of the preacher. That's the ultimate belief of Solomon. His character of the preacher of Koheleth without the rest of the letter, the rest of the book is, what is life without God?

Anybody interested in apologetics would maybe employ this kind of approach when talking with people who deny God, who are inconsistent with their thinking, and they deny God and try to hold on to meaning at the same time.

And so Ecclesiastes is very much what we would call a reductio ad absurdum, where you're showing people, when you come down to the basis of things, having denied God, you live in absurdity and meaninglessness.

And many people have done that. Cornelius Van Teel and Greg Bonson, Saiten Bruggenkate, others have employed what's called a presuppositional apologetics, where they say, you don't believe in God? Let's see how that works.

And when you come down to it, you believe in absurdity. Your life is meaningless. Own up to it. It sounds kind of harsh. But trying to get them to think the hard thoughts that the preacher does here in Ecclesiastes, to recognize, why would I believe in absurdity?

Why would I do that? And to recognize that really, honestly, we can't give an account for the meaningfulness of life, the genuine meaningfulness of relationships and caring for things in this world. We can't really give an account for the meaning of life unless we start with God, which is what Hebrew says, by faith we understand.

So Ecclesiastes is very challenging. What an opportunity, because Solomon had already been down, and nothing to do under the sun. Solomon had it all. He had all the money in the world and all the power in the world to pursue every path that the world had to offer.

And he came to the end of all of it without, when it was without God, he knows what it's absurdity. You know, why reinvent the wheel? You don't have to live the tragic end of Nietzsche to discover that life without God is meaninglessness.

And that if you believe that you live in a universe of nothing but matter, then nothing matters. Yes, sir.

That's right.

That's right. Well, he's been forced into a corner by the kind of apologetics I've just talked about. And there are lots of atheists today, like Sam Harris or Richard Dawkins or Jordan Peterson, and they are just absolutely insisting on morality.

On bare, by their bare insistence that I was watching a little bit by Jordan Peterson today, who believes in this absolute moral law of the universe. And you have to live, and he, you know, he uses the illustration of the 10 Commandments and everything.

He doesn't believe there's a God, but believes in absolute morality. And it's absurdity to say the least. If they were, with integrity, they would think in the way that this wisest of men who lived thought through it very, very carefully, and the conclusions are there.

All right, well, let's go ahead and close by singing the doxology. Truth Group, we're planning to meet down in Miss Jill's classroom.