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Sunday school from November 12th, 2017
All right, let's pray and we will get started Lord Jesus again as we open up your word. We ask that you would send your spirit open our hearts and our minds So that we may rightly understand what you have revealed in your words that we may believe Correctly that we may do what you will all of this to your glory.
We ask in Jesus name. Amen. Looking at the demon clock. It's moving again. Okay.
It's.
Moving it's a sign. Yeah, it's a sign. I don't know what it means, but it's a sign. Yeah, now if you remember last week, we were working through 2nd Samuel chapter 7 and I need to note here that today will be the last day that we're going to really look at 2nd Samuel because all of this this little excursus that we took from 1st Samuel through the opening chapters of 2nd Samuel was looking at what the scriptures reveal regarding the doctrine of the kingdom and All of this was predicated by our study as we were working our way through the Ten Commandments back in the Exodus chapter 20 specifically the fourth commandment remember that fourth commandment.
So today let's review where we've been at at least in 2nd Samuel 7 if you remember David wanted to build God a house. That the Lord's dwelling place was in a movable tent called the tabernacle. David wanted to build God a permanent facility for his presence to dwell and Initially Nathan the Prophet said go for it.
And then Nathan the Prophet you actually heard from God and God said no. No, no I want you to go and talk to David and rather than David building me a house I God God says I'm going to build David a house and then we get this amazing prophecy regarding Christ.
So let's review that prophecy itself and We'll see what it says. Verse 10. 2nd Samuel chapter 7. I will appoint a place for my people Israel and Will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more.
Violent men shall afflict them. No more as formally from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all of your enemies. Moreover Yahweh declares to you that Yahweh will make you a house.
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers I will raise up your offspring After you who shall come from your own body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be to him a father. He shall be to me a son when he commits iniquity. I will discipline him with the rod of men with the stripes of the sons of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him as I took it from Saul whom I put away from before you.
And we noted That last week that when it talks about this prophecy about Jesus that when he commits iniquity. This is dealing with the biblical doctrine of how imputation works that our sins are imputed to Christ.
Isaiah 53 says God has laid on him the iniquity of us all and As a result of that God is seeing him as the one who has committed the iniquity yet Jesus never sinned. And the idea then is is that double imputation which is taught in Scripture very clearly is that we are Clothed then in the righteousness of Christ and God sees each and every one of us as having lived perfectly sinless spotless lives.
Isn't that fun now. Let me give you another text along these lines and then we'll move forward if you would turn with me to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3 this deals with the second part of this doctrine of double imputation and The Apostle Paul here is warning the church at Philippi regarding the Judaizers.
Remember the Judaizers. They did not believe in salvation by grace through faith alone. They believed in salvation by grace plus keeping the Mosaic Covenant commands Circumcision kosher laws feast days things like that.
And so Paul here writes look out for the dogs. Look out for those evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh and so their circumcision is not holy. Their circumcision is nothing more than a mere mutilation of the flesh.
For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and Glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh. Also, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh.
Well, I have more circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin a Hebrew of the Hebrews as to the law a Pharisee as to zeal a persecutor of the church as to righteousness under Torah.
Blameless, but whatever gain I had I counted as a loss for the sake of Christ indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and I count them all of his good works all of his Torah.
Keeping as a Pharisee considers them to be rubbish. We talked about this a few weeks ago in the sermon. The word for rubbish is actually quite stronger in the Greek. And just if you think about it if a dog leaves a present for you on your lawn.
That that present is the rubbish referred to here, right? So he considers all of his Torah keeping as rubbish in order that I might gain Christ and be found in him and watch the phrase not having a righteousness of My own that comes from the law.
Now, isn't that interesting? Not having a righteousness of my own. How do you have somebody else's righteousness? Right and see that's what's barely being given to us through what Christ has done. That we when we are brought to penance that faith in Christ.
We receive a righteousness that is not ours. You can think of it as an alien righteousness. It's not ours natively. It's given to us by God himself. So Paul saying that I might be found in Christ not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law.
But that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God. That depends on faith that I might know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings. Becoming like him in his death that by any means possible.
I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Now the fact that we are given a righteousness that is not ours. It is a righteousness from God. It is Christ's righteousness that is given to us. We are then seen as those who are righteous and We talked about this yesterday in the women's Bible study that Christians over and again was it was it 64 67 times something like that in the New Testament are referred to as.
Saints.
The Greek word for saints Hagia's or hagi oil. That's a plural literally means the holy ones. The holy ones. Doesn't say the potentially holy ones those who are working on their holiness. That's going up and up and up and up.
No, we are declared to be the holy one. So when you hear the phrase Saint or the word Saint that the Greek behind that is holy one. So if you are clothed in the righteousness of Christ a righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
Are you holy? Yes or no?
Yes.
By the same token that when Christ was on the cross Suffering for our sins. He was the sinner. You see it. He gets all the sin and dies in our place. We by faith are given his righteousness. It's a great exchange and it's a good one.
It's really great because now God doesn't see your sin anymore. It's a tone for bled for died for he sees you clothed in the righteousness of Christ. And this is all good news. All right, then coming back to our text so we see also in this text and we mentioned this last week that this one whom God will raise up when he commits iniquity he will he discipline with the rod of men and with the stripes of the sons of man is a Literally a prophecy of Jesus is suffering not on the cross, but is suffering, you know his passion.
While he was suffering while being beaten and flogged. But my steadfast love will not depart for him as I took it from Saul whom I put away from before you and Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for before me forever.
So.
The kingdom of David is going to be an eternal kingdom forever and ever and ever and ever and ever Jesus as king and he will never have to worry about a different king. Your throne shall be established forever in accordance with all these words and in accordance with all this vision.
Nathan spoke to David. Then King David went in and sat before Yahweh and he said this is a great response. Who am I? Oh Lord Yahweh Elohim. That what and what is my house that you have brought me thus far and yet this was a small thing in your eyes.
Oh Yahweh Elohim You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come and This is instruction for mankind. Oh Yahweh Elohim, so no David recognizes that this that what was spoken by the Prophet Nathan.
Regarding this one who would sit on his throne forever that this is not just mere prophecy that Is for him and his family, but it's for all of the earth to know this, right? Indeed it is and what more can David say to you for you know your servant.
Oh Yahweh Elohim. Because of your promise and according to your own heart you have brought about all this greatness to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great. Oh Yahweh Elohim. For there is none like you and there is no God besides you.
According to all that we have heard with our ears and who is like your people Israel. The one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people. Making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things.
By driving out before your people whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt a nation and its gods. And you establish for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And that's kind of an important thing because remember we as Christians we are grafted in to Israel.
So this great redemption this great salvation that God has wrought for Israel. We're in on it. We're in on it because we have been grafted in to Israel by grace through faith. So this is not their history.
This is our history. These are our people that's the idea and You establish for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever and you Oh Lord became their God and now Oh Yahweh Elohim confirmed forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant concerning his house and do as you have spoken and Your name will be magnified forever saying the Yahweh of Post Yahweh Sabbah oath.
It is God over Israel and the house of your servant David will be established before you for you Oh Yahweh Sabbah oath the Lord of hosts the God of Israel have made this revelation to your servants saying I will build you a house.
Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. And now Oh Yahweh Elohim You are God and your words are true and you have promised this good thing to your servant now. Therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant so that it may continue forever before you for you.
Oh Yahweh Elohim have spoken and With your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed for ever. Great prophecy, isn't it? And this is the kind of prophecy you should almost think of it like this way.
Well, this has everything to do with like Christmas stuff. And it does this is a wonderful prophecy of the coming Messiah the coming King Who will reign forever and ever and ever and of course, we have wonderful songs written and he shall reign.
Right, so good stuff. Now, we're gonna skip Chapter 8 because it's a little bit on the dry side. But it doesn't really relate so much to what we're what we've been focusing on and I'm gonna note that we're now Really coming to the close of this first Old Testament section that teaches us very clearly what the kingdom is and So as you were if you think back through the stories that we've read in first Samuel and second Samuel.
Do you have a better concept in your mind about what the kingdom is what its values are who its king is who he will Be and the implications it has regarding us All right now go back for a minute and think think in your minds.
I want you to kind of start to work this out. Jesus shows up first thing he's preaching is repent for the kingdom. Of heaven is at hand. First message of Christ repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand start to think about that for a second.
See if you notice that there's something that's a little bit off in the statement. See if you can notice is this concept is a little bit conflicting and then ask yourself this question. How would a first century Jew living in Judea at the time of Christ and they had heard Jesus preaching?
Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. How would they have heard it? Just kind of think about that for a second. Now as you're thinking let's take a look at this last part and.
Oh.
Let me see here. I want to skip eight. I want to go to nine. One of the questions that comes up from time to time our questions regarding God's disposition towards our children. Kind of an important thing.
Years ago when I lectured here before I was pastor one of the questions that came up in regards to a discussion on baptism was somebody privately approached me and said that She had had a miscarriage.
And she wanted to know is her baby in heaven right, and So my I immediately asked her. Were you attending church while you were pregnant? Well, yes, of course I go every Sunday. So you heard the gospel?
Yes then I said basically God works through means and I know for a fact that God's disposition towards your children is the same as he has towards you. Scripture clearly teaches this so you can anticipate seeing your child Waiting for you when you die when you fall asleep and that brought her great comfort and I'm not speaking out of turn when I say this because this next portion of 2nd Samuel kind of the last bit of the kingdom stuff and I'll show you how it fits with the New Testament.
That this last bit is really critical. You know for our right understanding of the kingdom and you'll see this then also. You'll see this also in the Ten Commandments when we get back into Exodus chapter 20.
So just to review something here was Saul kindly disposed or hostile to David. Hostile, right however Saul's son Jonathan. Kindly disposed towards David or hostile. Yeah, in fact remember he was the crown prince.
He was the next in line for the throne of Israel. And what did he do? He bent the knee to David and Said the Lord is the one who will make you King. Right, and so that kind of prefigures that to you know.
Before Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord at the glory of God the Father. So you think of Jonathan by faith? He believes the word of the Lord and he bends the knee to David.
Kind of prefiguring each and every one of us bending the knee also to Christ. That's the idea and so watch what happens you'll see an interesting gospel theme in here, but it also reveals something about God's Love even for your children.
David said is there still anyone left at the house of Saul that I may show him kindness and listen for Jonathan's sake.
Not for Saul's.
But for the sake of Jonathan for Jonathan's sake. It's out of love for Jonathan.
Right.
So for Jonathan's sake so I can show him kindness. So there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. Love that name by the way, and they called him to David and King the king said to him Are you Ziba?
And he said I am your servant. And the king said is there not still among the house of Saul? That I may show the kindness of God to him. So notice David here is actively looking for somebody in The line of Saul that he may show not his kindness but whose God's God's kindness that shows you this is a picture of God's kindness.
So Ziba said to the king there is still a son of Jonathan. He's crippled in his feet. And if you remember after Jonathan and Saul were killed. That this son His name is Mephibosheth. He was five years old and his nurse fled Jerusalem in a panic and in her haste to skedaddle.
She had an accident drop the child and he becomes a paraplegic. Terrible accident. And the reason for it is she feared that David would kill this fellow. But now we see that David had no desire to put him to death.
David is not like earthly kings. And now we see that David desires to show the kindness of God to this fellow for the sake of Jonathan, right.
There is a son of Jonathan. He's crippled in his feet. The king said to him. Where is he? Ziba said to the king he is in the house of Machir the son of Amiel at Lodabar. Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Amiel at Lodabar and Mephibosheth.
Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David and fell on his face and he paid homage. David said Mephibosheth and he answered behold I am your servant. And David said to him do not fear for I will show you kindness For the sake of your father Jonathan and I will restore to you all of the land of Saul your father.
That you shall eat at my table always. And he paid homage and said what is your servant? That you should show regard for a dead dog such as I now. Isn't it interesting that we just heard David say almost identical words when God showed kindness to him.
And said oh, who am I and who is my house that she would do this for me? All right, so you notice the humble state of Mephibosheth. And David is showing him the kindness of God.
For.
Jonathan's sake. Then the king called Ziba Saul's servant said to him all that belonged to Saul and To all his house. I have given to your master's Grandson and you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce that your master's Grandson may have bread to eat.
But Mephibosheth your master's grandson shall always eat at my table now. Ziba had 15 sons 20 Servants. Then Ziba said to the king according to all that my lord the king commands his servants. So will your servant do so.
Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micah and all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem for he ate always at the king's table now.
He was lame in both of his feet. Now, let me show you a cross-reference on this which will help us just a smidge go back to Exodus 20. Remember this is what kind of launched us into this discussion about the kingdom in the first place and We'll see here Exodus 20 verse 4.
You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything That is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them for I Yahweh your God I'm a jealous.
God listen to this visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. But.
Showing.
Steadfast love to Thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Isn't that interesting. You see scripture reveals.
That.
God Desires and wills to show the same kindness and love that he has shown to you. To your children also and your note that like the story we just read David desired to do this for the sake of Jonathan.
And so you can kind of think of it this way you who've been brought to penitence and faith in Christ. Remember how much God loves you? His love for you is Exceedingly beyond what you can think or imagine His great love for you.
He dies for you on the cross. He washes you clean. He robes you in his own Righteousness and you having been brought to penitent faith. Humbly bend the knee to him and say oh, who am I that you would show such kindness to me and God?
Desires for your sake to show this same love and steadfast kindness Also to your children so that they can eat at his table forever and ever. This is God's love for your children. Now let's take a look at something in the New Testament real quick.
Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 it is the day of Pentecost. We'll start at verse 36 as Peter is winding down after his sermon the day of Pentecost. And he says this let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah.
This Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart and they said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles brothers. What shall we do. And Peter said to them? Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise is for you and for your children and For all who are far off everyone whom the Lord God calls to himself.
So you'll note that this promise of the forgiveness of sins. The promises that are offered in the waters of baptism of the forgiveness of sins being buried and raised with Christ. These are promises that God is extending to you and Your children and to all who are far off whom the Lord God is the one calling to himself His great love for you doesn't stop with you.
It is for all of your little ones as well very clear. Yeah, which is why Jesus says do not forbid the little children from coming to me. He loves them. Every bit as he loves you and he desires to show them God's kindness.
As well.
It's important for us to always remember that important aspect of the kingdom that I think somehow gets lost in the mix in today's rationalistic arguments and thinking. But don't think for a second that God's love somehow is only for adults or children who've reached a particular age.
That's not true. God's love is for all human beings Regardless of how small or large they are.
All right.
So you've had a few minutes to think about it. So there's Jesus. You're an owl now first century Jews in Judea and you've hearing this new preacher for the first time and This Jesus fellow says to you repent.
For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. How long has it been since there has been a King in Israel and Israel has had autonomy as a nation. How long has it been? Hundreds 400. It's been 400 years since Israel has been its own autonomous nation with its own King.
After David died, how did things go with the kingdom? Not good. You know, it goes from David to Solomon and there's a step down and you know after he marries all of those women hundreds of wives. What is he thinking?
I mean it goes way down way way way down and then from there God tears the kingdom apart. The ten northern tribes. They rebel against God and they are wiped off the face of the earth. They are dispersed into the nations.
They are part of what's called the Diaspora and those Jews have lost their identity. I mean, who do you know from the tribe of Manasseh or Ephraim today? I Don't know anybody. I mean if anyone claims to come from those tribes, that's.
They're very that's very rare and.
Then.
Judah Benjamin and Levites they go into idolatry. God sends his prophets to get them to repent. Do they repent? No, you'll notice in our readings if you've been working through the readings that we offer in the bulletins.
We've been reading the Prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was his message received. Well by the Israelites. Like not even close. Not even close. Jeremiah is preaching to a stubborn and obstinate people and he's the last prophet before Israel goes into captivity.
He is the last prophet of the kingdom. First prophet of the kingdom is who? First prophet is Samuel. Last prophets Jeremiah he's the last one preaching and It is at that time during the time of the Prophet Jeremiah that the last of the kings of Israel Continues in his obstinate sinful idolatry and God says enough is enough.
90 of all the Jews are killed when Nebuchadnezzar comes and Conquers. Israel destroys Jerusalem. 10 survive. They end up in captivity in Babylon for 70 years and from that time on Israel is not its own kingdom.
So you grow up Hearing the prophecies and the scuttlebutt and are wondering are you living in the time when the Messiah would show up? And you know from the scriptures that the Messiah is a king. That he is a descendant of David.
You have a lot of expectation for the Messiah. But Jesus shows up and he's the fulfillment of that and he does not say Repent for the kingdom of David is about to be reestablished. It's not what he says repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Who is he saying is king? Yeah, and who is he? He's God in human flesh. That's the mystery of this whole thing. So remember when Israel rejected Samuel from being judge over them and wanted a king. God said they were rejecting God as being king over them.
Jesus now shows up and Is saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The reign of God himself as your king is about to take place again. God is going to be your king and here's the best part about it. Your king will be a man and God at the same time.
God and man that's the implications for what's going on here and It's I mean, it's subversive. It's glorious. It's just Teeming with like hope like you wouldn't believe. Now when Jesus after he is crucified and risen from the grave on the third day.
Just as he's about ready to go to heaven and ascend and sit at the right hand of the father. What is the question that his disciples ask him like literally on Ascension Day just as he's minutes away from ascending?
Are you now at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? It's like failing the final on your senior like in your senior year. These are the only guys who like failed the final the fourth year of seminary and still got to be pastors.
It's the weirdest thing, right? So they knew the kingdom had everything to do with it and they're thinking he's going to restore the kingdom to Physical Israel, but all authority had been given to Christ in heaven and on earth.
He's the king of kings. He is the Lord of Lords. There is no kingdom on earth. That has not had his approval. Yeah, yeah see Jesus is about to set them free from Rome. That's not it's not really the agenda.
Rome will take care of itself. It'll fizzle out after a few more hundred years. Jesus is gonna set them free from the dominion of darkness his kingdom sets people free from the devil and.
As.
Christians then what does it mean for us to say? Jesus is.
Lord.
Unless I didn't say King I Said Lord because that's his title, right? Nobody says Jesus is Lord except for by the Holy Spirit. Now we talked about this in the women's Bible study yesterday.
Think back in that time as Under the authority of under the dominion of the Roman Empire Roman soldiers often would carry with them little shrines as they would travel and they would set the shrine up and there would be a little idol of the current Emperor of Rome and then there would be a little fire and a little bowl of incense and as your civic responsibility and duty as a Roman citizen You were required to take a pinch of incense Put it in the fire and Literally say Kaiser Aston Curios.
Caesar is Lord. But we do not say Caesar is Lord and Christians couldn't do that. This is one of the reasons why Christians were martyred at different periods of time during the first few centuries of Christianity in the Roman Empire because Christians confess.
Yesu.
Aston. Curios. Jesus is.
He's King. He's Sovereign. He's running it all you're not. So repent. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. So Janet, I'm gonna pick on you for a minute. Not good. I'm gonna pick on you. Now I remember the first day we launched into this.
This whole thing about the kingdom.
You.
Were struggling with it. You weren't getting it.
Okay.
Months later. Do you have a little more clarity about the kingdom a little bit? It's getting there. But you're not you're not at sea without a rudder at this point. Right, and so when we sing those Christmas carols this year.
About the king being born in Bethlehem. Right is. This will help right? All right, you're gonna note then that. The best way I can describe what the scripture teaches regarding the kingdom is it's complicated.
It's complicated. It's complicated, but it is multi-faceted and it's deep. It's terrifying and comforting. It's amazing and at the same time just a little bit elusive. There's some clarity and mystery behind the whole thing and all that's kind of on purpose because it will not come into sharp focus for us.
Until that day that day that's promised when the angels will gather us. We will be placed in the clouds.
At.
Like think of it as the ultimate Palm Sunday. And this was the last part of the text that we didn't get to into the sermon that I've held out for this moment first Thessalonians 4. Let's go back to our epistle text and see how this is impacted by our understanding of the kingdom now.
We don't want you to be uninformed brothers about those who are asleep. So that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again Even so through Jesus God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive Who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command the voice of an archangel the sound of the trumpet of God and The dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds. To meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
When we look at the cross references to that Moment when we are caught up into the clouds the angels take us and we will meet the Lord in the air. That's literally the real Palm Sunday if you would. Because what we're going to see is our God Jesus Christ on his war horse heading to planet Earth to make war against those who are his enemies and Bring them to an end and then his kingdom Will be established forever.
He conquers Earth and So remember when Jesus came into Jerusalem the first time he came in on a donkey Second time around that Palm Sunday. We're all going to be there and Jesus is going to come right through our midst on his way in to Earth to conquer.
First time on a donkey second time war horse. See Book of Revelation for more details. Right, we will never again have a president. One that we like or one that we dislike.
Ever.
We will and this is the fun part about it. Is that forever and ever our God is also our King. We Americans are gonna have a lot of getting used to living in a kingdom rather than a republic and. Quite frankly, I've had enough of this Republic and boy.
It just has gotten really cranky out there. I'm just saying really cranky. I feel like saying a pox on both your houses. Yeah left right center who cares guys don't get along and all of that then.
Was.
Our study in the kingdom and All of that is predicated on our discussion, which we began months ago on the Fourth Commandment. Fourth Commandment honor your father and mother. What does this have to do with the kingdom, okay, what does it have to do with the kingdom honor your father and mother?
It has to do with authority, right? So think of it this way we have a king and That king has established. He's our creator as well. He has established a certain order for human society. Human society doesn't operate in anarchy.
What happens when anarchy breaks out in a nation? People are murdered in the streets. I mean if you want to know what anarchy looks like, you know. Kind of in a clean sanitized form look at the American West.
After the Civil War and before the beginning of the 20th century. All right, at least that's how it's depicted in all of our movies where there where there is no law man. People are a law unto themselves.
Look at the movies tombstone, right? You have a bunch of desperadoes and evil men gunning people down in the streets. It's just an everyday part of life. That's the way it's depicted. That's anarchy the opposite of anarchy is Established law and order where there is law and order.
Is there anarchy in the streets and stuff like that? There may be but for the most part that's put down pretty quick. Right and all of that then that order itself has its foundation then where in your family.
It has its foundation in your family. You think of it this way all of the society is built on the foundation of.
Families.
Fathers mothers children and the authority that goes from Christ to the husband Who serves his wife and his children. And that's how the order goes. Let's take a look at Ephesians 5 real quick. Yes, ma 'am.
Sure, oh you sure. Go ahead go ahead. Yes, but they're with Christ also.
Yes. Yes, the scriptures use sleep as a euphemism for those who've died in the faith. Okay, so whereas the seventh-day Adventist, okay, they teach what's called soul sleep and that's not actually what scripture teaches and so what they do is they take the metaphor and they Legalize it and push it to a conclusion that it doesn't that scripture doesn't go to for instance.
The Apostle Paul says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The book of Revelation reveals that the dead departed Saints are conscious in the very presence of Christ and are worshiping him and singing to him and so.
The seventh-day Adventist and there's another group also the Jehovah's Witnesses also teach the same doctrine of soul sleep. They believe that when you die you there's you're there. They have a problem with the the soul being separated from the body they kind of deny that dichotomy altogether.
But scripture is very clear on this and so as a result of it, you know, they they almost have a almost a materialistic way of looking at the human so that to die and then they call it soul sleep and You're not conscious at all.
You're not conscious of anything. You don't go and be with the Lord or anything like that. And so you you're just sleeping, you know body and soul in the grave. Yeah, that's not what scripture. No, you are to be absent.
No, no, no up there you are. Okay. No, no, you're your body. There's no consciousness at all now exact not my wife has Requested that when she dies should be buried in her bathrobe and that we have a sunroof on her coffin and she wants chapstick.
Too I know exactly sure why any of these things. All right good, you know, but Christina said that she's not. Am I telling you the truth? Yes. And I keep telling my wife there's no way we're having an open casket with you in a bathrobe.
Yeah, that's just not happening or am I Sunroof anything? So but you know that all of that kind of she's she thinks she's gonna be cold and she her lips are gonna be chapped. And so it's just weird. But that's not how it is at all you're fit you have no physicality at Death is the tearing apart of body and soul.
So when soul and body are torn apart as Christians our souls are in the presence of the Lord and there's consciousness. It's consciousness. Absolutely. I would point you to the parable of the rich man Lazarus.
That is not a parable by the way. It's not and people call it that and I know I just said the parable because people think of it. It's not. Jesus isn't telling a parable. He's just telling it how it is.
No, no. It just Jesus tells a story and the the details of the story. Most biblical scholars say this is eerily sounding like real a real account. Because it exactly is it's just very weird that way. And so you'll notice that Lazarus is conscience the rich man who died he's conscious he's in conscious torment.
Awaiting the final day of judgment. The Apostle Paul to be absent with the body is to be present with the Lord explicit. Those are the explicit words from of his from Philippians. So and which says we in some way are absent with the body and then our text today.
You'll note that it says that from an explicit word of the Lord that those who have gone before us We will not precede them. But the Lord will bring them back with him when he returns. So they are in the presence of the Lord and there is consciousness in that so what you've got to understand then is is that Eternity and time and space is a different thing altogether and our souls can operate in an eternal system.
But there's no without physicality. We can't operate in time and space and which is a fascinating thing about The creation as we know it right now. Is this that God has made us in his image? He's an eternal being but we are made in his image in time and space.
It's a weird thing when you kind of put it all together. And so The people out there we say they're sleeping and you have to put air quotes around it. They're sleeping. They look like they're sleeping.
They're sleeping. You know, they're not doing they're not busy doing it. There's no consciousness of their sleeping out there physically, but they're with the Lord right now.
Then I don't understand when they say, you know, the trumpet sounds and the dead will be raised first. Uh-huh. They're already raised with Christ, right? Not with a body. But we get a we get a new body.
We get a heavenly body. We don't get. We don't get this.
Yeah, we there let's just say humanity experiences an upgrade in that physicality. Whatever. And see Jesus is the firstborn of the new creation. So if you want to get an idea of what our eternal bodies are going to be like you have to look at him.
That's right.
That's right you guys will not recognize me I promise you. In the ground. No, no. When you're resurrected you're switched. Yeah, yeah you you you come out perfect and in in in humanity. 2 .0 bodies. So yeah.
Procedures, okay first. Yeah Yeah.
Yeah. Okay, so it's gonna depend. We start falling like rain. Or more like jelly beans on anyway. It's like. And thankfully on our new bodies we can bounce no idea. Yeah, you're gonna note that's a truncated timeline and you're right it's truncated if you want to get a fuller picture of it.
You have to pick up the bits and pieces. About the very last day from the book of Revelation and the interesting thing about those bits and pieces is they're not at one point. If you read the book of Revelation linearly you kind of miss the point.
Revelation you can't it's not a story that's told from beginning to end in this sense. Instead what the book of Revelation does is it takes the end of the world and it's like a spiral staircase. So what happens is you start down at the bottom and it spirals up and then when you hit the same point again.
You what you've done is you've looked at the end of the world from a pers that perspective. And then you're gonna go around the track Again and you're gonna look at the whole end of the world from another perspective.
So when you look at like the seal judgments, and I'm not talking about seal like I'm talking about like, you know seals on a letter right when they're broken. You know the each of the seals if that's one picture of the end of the world.
The end of the world is like the God breaking open the seals of judgment and with each seal different things happen on the earth. And the world comes to an end at the end of the seal judgments. But then again it spirals up again.
It's and it's like now the end of the world is like the angels blowing their trumpets and with each trumpet being blown. Then certain things happen, you know, like a writer comes out on a pale horse. I know there's one on earth on a red horse.
And so the idea then is the book of Revelation gives us different perspectives of the one event and when you piece all of those kind of different pieces together it depends then are you going to take the the The Battle of Armageddon as a literal battle or as a figurative battle that's kind of the question that's before the exegete.
But the idea then is is that there's a very real sense in which when Jesus returns. All right. We see we meet him in the clouds on his way in he's on his way in to subdue everybody in. Literally the Old and New Testament.
Describe what transpires after that point in very graphic detail a picture of it is shown in the Battle of Armageddon in Scripture in the book of Revelation there are other passages that would talk about God warring against his enemies and Literally littering the earth with their bodies as if they're piles of poop.
I Mean this that's an Old Testament picture of it. And so the idea is is that Jesus himself not us and not the devil is going to bring humanity to an end humanity in this state as sinners from there then with everybody at that point either raised or Killed then comes the general resurrection.
Okay, kind of think of it this way. The general resurrection is the resurrection of everybody. Good and evil righteous and unrighteous. From there comes the separation of the sheep and the goats and then the great white throne judgment.
We're all judged according to what we've done. Only after where it's determined whether or not our names are in the book of life if our name is in the book of life. You have the second book open and you're judged by your works and there's no sin in there.
It's all the good works that you've done. Does that make sense? Whereas the unbeliever his name is even written in the book of life. He goes into eternity.
Nameless.
That's an important feature of this coming back then to you know. We talked a little bit about the story that Jesus tells about the rich man and Lazarus. What's the name of the rich man? Rich man. We don't know his name.
What's the name of the poor man?
Lazarus.
Notice in eternity Lazarus has a name. Doesn't we don't know the name of the rich of the rich man at all. His name was not written in the book of life. So having gone into eternity in an impenitent sin He is now nameless for all eternity.
We'll never know his name. He doesn't have a name anymore. If his name's not written the book of life, you don't have a name. You were just part of the nameless rabble. Again, what does Jesus say? I never knew you.
But I'm I'm so-and-so never heard the name. The you mean the Virgin's. Yeah, I never knew you. Yeah, so these are these are kind of pictures of all of this and it's not a throwaway detail that the rich man doesn't have.
A name.
So there is a there in a very real way when it goes down Jesus himself is going to bring humanity to an end. Everybody's going to be judged. First book is the book of life. After that, you know the book of their deeds.
There's no record of the wrongs that we've done because all of that has been nailed to the cross according Colossians 2. And then next order of business. It is the great wedding feast of the Lamb. Everything launches with a huge blowout party.
Best wine best food all on God's tab. Multi-day long affair. And think back to what we read in the prophet Isaiah. Wonderful picture again where it pictures us city it seated at this great wedding feast of the Lamb and us.
Seeing our God and saying that is our God. That's our God. Wonderful picture from Isaiah. The book of deeds of your works.
I.
Have no idea. Yeah, I think in my case it might just is the square inches of my park bench. That's about all I've probably earned but you kind of get the idea. So and and then after the party you get little glimpses from the prophet Isaiah Ezekiel in some other places tiny little glimpses of what the new earth is like and You know, it's described as the lion laying down with the lamb, you know and at that that a little child will be able to literally go walk up to the the the den of a Serpent or a viper, you know, that wouldn't be poisonous in our time and play with it.
You know and without harm and that you know lions themselves will become grass-eating critters. All right, and I'm I kind of think about this, you know when my kids were young I'm gonna tell on Christina here Christina.
I think she still has this amazing fascination and love for Tigers. Alright, I know for a fact just give it a week or two into the new earth. She has a friend. That's a tiger and it's gonna be an interesting relationship.
I'm just saying, you know, but I mean it we can't. The weirdest part about all of it and now I'll kind of leave you on this awkward note. Is that they're in in the pictures in Isaiah and other places in the Old Testament?
Some of the prophets say, you know in that time people will say I was born here. There's pictures of people streaming into Jerusalem and some of them are women who have small children on their hip. So there's there's there's a picture of some kind of human procreation.
But we know that marriage is an institution as we have it doesn't exist in the new earth. Details to follow because the picture is so Crazy that when you read it you sit there and go what's that? How am I to make sense of it and there's no details given?
So the best thing I can say is we have no idea what's coming. No clue details to be revealed. Stay tuned.
Yeah.
Don't wear in Scripture we told that. So we're not authorized to speculate along those lines. So the idea here is as a pastor in Christ Church I don't have any revelation from God that allows me to say that.
People have speculated that that's the case and to which I would say that's not an authorized message. I do know this that God's Word is clear that on the Day of Judgment There's nobody who's going to say God you were unfair.
Everybody will confess that God's judgments are right and true and just. There will be nobody in hell who doesn't deserve it. And everybody who is in the new earth and has eternal life. None of it deserved it.
None of them deserved. It was all grace. Does that make sense? So I don't get to speculate about what happens to a person who's in the deepest darkest part of the rainforests of Africa or Brazil right?
I can't speculate about that. I do know that his fate or her fate will be just. And Scripture is clear. Then how are they to believe in one whom they've never heard of. And How are they to believe unless somebody is sent.
And so this is why we send missionaries with the gospel. Yes, let me the okay. We're gonna go a little bit over.
So I.
Consider these to be in the same vein as what happened to the Apostle Paul. So there's the Apostle Paul he's out murdering Christians left and right he can't stand Jesus or any of his followers he's gotten letters from the Sanhedrin and the the elders of Israel to go to Damascus to round up any Christians.
He finds there he's on his way to Damascus and Jesus literally appears to him and Blinds him and Does is Paul a Christian? At the moment that he's blinded by Jesus. Nope, he's not. How many days later.
Does it take before Paul's a Christian? Three pay attention that third day stuff by the way three days. How does Paul become a Christian, huh? By the Word of Ananias there is a fellow by the name of Ananias who Jesus appears to in a vision and says I want you to go preach the Gospel to that guy and what does that I say?
Oh, I've heard about him, you know and Jesus I'll die. Don't worry about that. I've chosen him. So Ananias goes and he preaches the gospel and he baptizes Paul now Paul's a Christian now. There are stories that are kind of like this now and I have a there's a close family friend of ours.
His name is Uva Simonetto. He is a associated press. You know journalist he he was in he was in Vietnam for the Tet Offensive, you know covering it as an international journalist and he Recently wrote an article on this very phenomenon and one of the places where this is occurring is in Germany.
Let me explain. In Germany, there's a very very faithful confessional Lutheran congregation. And I think it's in Heidelberg in the name of it is st Marius that's the name of the Lutheran Church and the pastors there are not part of the state church.
They're part of a small Synod of confessional Lutheran pastors in that area and a few years back and by the way Uva Simonetto spends some of this, you know part of every year in Germany and in France and in Europe and stuff like that.
So he actually interviewed the pastor and everything but a few years back Muslims who had immigrated into the vicinity started showing up at his church at st. Mary's and Muslims were saying Last night.
I had a dream in my dream Jesus not Issa Jesus showed up and told me I had to come here and listen to the message. Now that sounds a lot like Paul. All right. Paul was not a Christian when he Encountered Christ.
He was a Christian only after he heard the gospel and so this particular congregation you can find this online if and I wonder if Find the link to it and I even covered it. Yeah, I on my program. I actually covered it a few years back.
I talked with Uva. And in fact, I just saw Uva a couple weeks ago when I was in when I was in San Diego but um.
They show up saying Jesus sent me here. They listen to the message. They repent believe Baptized are catechized and now they're Christians. The majority of their congregation now is made up of converted Muslims who have this exact same story.
And this phenomenon is not limited to just this congregation in Germany there are other places in the world where this phenomenon is happening and what the common denominators is is that Jesus is actually sending them to people who actually know the gospel and preach it correctly.
Call them to repent and to be forgiven. It's a very fascinating phenomenon. I put that into the high probability that something right is happening here. Just because it fits the same pattern as the Apostle Paul.
So, all right, we will leave there and we'll see you all next week.
