The Judgment on Jerusalem | Matthew 23:37-39

Matthew 23 and the Judgment on Jerusalem

If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Matthew chapter 23. Today we will consider verses 37 through 39. Matthew 23, 37 through 39. Father, thank you. Lord, I need your spirit. Lord, I pray that you will use my preparation that I have made this past week to speak to your people.

Lord, I pray that even on the fly, Lord, as I preach your word, that you will call into my mind the things that I have studied but did not write down, Lord. Lord, I depend on you in everything in life.

I will not eat today unless you provide food. And Lord, we gather together today for the purpose to feast, not only in a good meal, but on your word. Please, please God, speak to us. In the name of Jesus, amen.

The Temple Cleansed, the Parables, and the Theme of Eschatology

Turn your attention with me to chapter 23. I want to read for you verses 1 through 12 for context purpose. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but do not do the works they do, for they preach but do not practice.

They tie up heavy burdens hard to bear and lay them on people's shoulders, but they do not do them themselves, nor are they willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others, for they make their proliferaties broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feast and at the best seats in the synagogues and the gatherings in the marketplace and being called rabbi by others.

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.

The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. So just to give a recap of last week, we saw that when a priest enters a house and it was leprosy, there was leprosy on the wall, the priest would give a ritual cleaning, things that they needed to do, and then when he returned, if the leprosy was not gone, they would remove the different areas of that structure that had the leprosy and they would put bricks back in its place and they would re-plaster everything.

But if he came in there the third time and the house was still leprosy, they were to remove every block from that house and put it outside of the city. And it shows Jesus entering the temple three times and each time the temple was filled with uncleanness.

They turned the temple, the house of prayer, into a den of thieves. It became a toilet for animals. And in one instance we have Jesus saying that, tear this temple down, speaking of his own body, and I will rebuild it in three days.

Another instance, Jesus makes a whip out of cords and he chases them out, turning over tables. In the last instance we saw last week, after he flipped over the tables, he began to heal the sick. And those in the religious world at that time, the Pharisees, became indignant at what Jesus was doing in the temple.

They became indignant because he was healing in the temple, but they were not upset that they were making money off of the faith, off of God. They would sell a lamb to be slaughtered and instead of slaughtering the lamb, they'd put it back in a cage and resell it.

They were, of that time, what we would call modern day hucksters, peddling the gospel for money. They were peddling the law and the rituals to line up in their favor. Although they talked a good game, their actions reflected something totally different.

And Jesus gave two parables. He gave one about two sons. To one of the sons he told him to go and to work in the vineyard, and the son said that he would not go, but afterwards repented and went and worked in the vineyard.

The other son said, yes, sir, I'll go, but did not go. The one son that was told to go and said no, but did later, he was pointing them as being the prostitutes and tax collectors who saw John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ's preaching, saw that, repented, and came to faith.

And the other son was pointing to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the religious leaders of that time who said that they would follow, but they did not. They saw John preaching in the wilderness and did not hold him to be the forerunner of the soon to come Messiah.

And the other parable that we looked at, we kind of walked through it and tried the best that we could for such a large parable to do in one week. It's not something that we usually do in this church, but we're just trying to lay this foundation.

We see that Christ was the son that was sent to the tenants. And then before the father sent his son, he sent servants, and we would conclude them as being the prophets. And then he sends his son and they see the son and they want his inheritance.

They say, look, if we kill the son, we can take all this to be ours because it belongs to him. When the father goes, it belongs to him and we can kill him and it's ours. Not knowing that they were putting to death the very God they serve.

They tossed him outside of the city because all sacrifices, their body was removed outside of the city and their blood taken into the temple. Their blood taken into the temple. And we know that Jesus being crucified on Golgotha outside of the city, his blood was taken to the true temple in heaven.

And because of what he has done, we have forgiveness of sins if our faith is in him. Our theme for this Lord's Day is the judgment on Jerusalem. The judgment on Jerusalem. Our timeless truth is this. Although this judgment has already passed, it's already passed from us.

The final judgment is still in our future. The final judgment is still in our future. And I've asked this question several times. And each time I've given a different answer. Why should you care about the subject of eschatology?

Why should you care? It's going to end the way it ends, right? Why should we care as a people or as a church? My answer today is because the Bible goes into great detail to explain it to us. The last things, life, death, and the different times of the end.

Notice that last phrase, the different times of the end. And that's what we will be looking at as months and years to come as we study the scriptures together. That just because it says the end doesn't mean it's speaking of our final end.

The last day. Although the scriptures do speak about it. But we don't want to mix the two up. We want to make sure we put everything in its proper place. We want to be true students of the Word of God.

So our text today, Matthew 23, 37 through 39. Please read with me. Jesus says, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stone those who are sent to it. How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.

And you are not willing. See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

In our outline today, as we enter the courtroom, we see Jesus as both judge and jury as he lays before us four things. The evidence, the verdict, the sentence, and the condition of release. The evidence, the verdict, the sentence, and the condition of release.

That's what we will be looking at in our outline. But as we transition to our outline, I want to quickly point out again, as you probably know I always do, is John 3, 16 and 17. For God so loved the world.

So right here, this word world here. Come on Baptist, what do I tell you? What does this word world right there mean? What is it? Speak loud. What is it? Cosmos. The word world here is not oikomene. So the word world can be translated in several, it can be translated aeon, which means age.

Oikomene, which means a specific portion of land. Or cosmos. If Jesus would have said, for God so loved the world oikomene, the Jews would have found no reason to crucify him. Because that's what they believed.

God loves the Jews. He's for the Jews only. God loves the Jews. Jesus says God so loved the world, cosmos. That whoever, and this whoever is red, yellow, black, or white, remember the Jesus loves me song.

Not just the Jews, but for those who believe in him. No matter your race, God so loved the world, no matter your race, he sent his only son. Whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life.

Next verse says, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world. But yet what does our most churches teach today? That God is going to condemn the world. What does it say? But he sent his son so that the world through him might be saved.

That what might be saved? The world, cosmos. As far as Adam cursed, when Adam sinned, his curse left him and it entered the whole world. And because of that, every child that's born is born under that cursed sin of Adam.

And all the whole ground, the whole cosmos has been cursed. And as far as the curse is found, joy to the world, right? As far as the curse is found, Jesus has come to redeem this planet. How is he redeeming our children?

Through the gospel. For parents who are faithful, catechizing their children, preaching and teaching them about Jesus Christ. How is he saving the world? Through the gospel. Because when Christians live in a land, what does God do?

He's gracious. Is he not gracious to us, Christian? Is he not gracious to us? Do we deserve anything? No. And he has richly provided for us. There's more Christians right now in Africa than there is in America.

Probably four times as much. China. Christianity is growing. We cannot look at our little beady area and think that we are losing the war. We're not losing. Christianity is growing. For God so loves the world.

This whole planet that he sent his son to redeem it. That's glorious. That's good news. That's the gospel of the kingdom. That's why we can celebrate as believers. Because even though we can't see it, God is doing something.

He is being active. We might plant seed, someone else waters it. Someone else is planting seed, we're watering it. Altogether, God gives the growth. So we have to be really careful when it comes to eschatology.

We don't want to say anything that the scriptures are not saying. We don't want to say anything or believe anything that we cannot point our finger to a verse. It has to be explicit and explicit. It needs to either say it or it needs to either teach it or we need to shut our mouths.

Right, Christian? That's what we believe. That's what we have to stand on is the word of God. I will not say something that I cannot point to and show you in a clear understanding fashion. Please challenge me on this.

Please. First point is the evidence. The evidence for us that Jesus lays before us is the seven woes. So what is a woe? It is a prophetic indictment for behavior that will lead to disaster. A prophetic indictment that will lead to disaster.

And then our first piece of evidence that we will look at is in Matthew 23, 13. They shut the door of heaven on others. Verse 13. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces, for you neither enter yourselves nor do you allow those who would enter to go in.

Our second piece of evidence that we will look at is in Matthew 23, 15. They make others twice as much as the son of hell as they are. Verse 15. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you travel across the sea and land to make one single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much of a child of hell as you are.

The third piece of evidence that he lays before us is in Matthew 23, 16 through 20. They value their goad and other things over the temple. 16 through 22. Woe to you, blind guides, you who say, if anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the goad of the temple, he is bound by his oath.

You blind fools, for which is greater, the goad or the temple that has made the goad sacred? And you say, if anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.

You blind men, for which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and everything that is on it, and whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it, and whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits on it.

Our fourth piece of evidence that we will look at is in Matthew 23, 23 through 24. They neglect the important matters of the law. This would be the 10 words, the Decalogue, verses 23 through 24. Jesus says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you tie mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, listen, justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. Speaking of the Decalogue, right?

The moral law. They did all their made up laws, but they neglected the 10 words that were written by the very hand of God. And the fifth piece of evidence that we will look at is found in Matthew 23, 25 through 26.

Jesus again says, Woe to you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. In this indictment, that's what he is claiming.

He says they are full of greed and they are full of self-indulgence. You blind Pharisees first clean the inside of the cup and the plate that the outside may be clean. The sixth piece of evidence that we will look at is verses 27 and 28, where Jesus calls them whitewashed tombs.

He says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

And then the final piece of evidence that he gives to the court is in verse 29 through 36. And in this indictment, he says they build the tombs of the prophets. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, listen, if we would have lived in the days of our fathers, we would have not taken part with them and shed in the blood of the prophets.

Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then a measure of your father, you serpents, you brood of vipers. How are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Therefore, remember last week's sermon, I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in the synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. As we transition to our next point, please keep these evidence in mind, and also please keep in mind the woes and what they mean. They are a prophetic indictment for behavior that will lead to disaster.

So there's chance for repentance. There's always chance for repentance, right? He leaves that door open. Point number two, the verdict. Matthew 27, I mean, excuse me, Matthew 23, 37. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stone those who are sent to it.

How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathered her brood under her wings, and you were not willing. You were not willing. So in this, we see that they are being charged for killing the prophets.

And in here, he states, from the righteous blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah. Now, did this generation kill Abel? No, they did not. Did this generation kill Zechariah, the son of Berechiah?

They didn't. But they're being charged with it. They're being charged with all the righteous, all the killing of the righteous. It's being charged on them. Who did they kill? The very son of God. The very son of God.

So we have Abel. Abel is the same Cain and Abel. We have the story found in Genesis. We have Cain and Abel presenting to God a sacrifice. Cain's Abel was grained from his land. Abel's was a sacrifice of blood.

Some theologians believe that this sacrifice was one pointing to the ultimate sacrifice that would come in the person of Jesus Christ. They said this is why God accepted Abel's sacrifice over Cain's grain offering.

Because this was pointing to Jesus Christ. It was pointing to Jesus Christ. Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the name Zechariah at least appears at least for 30 kings, 30 kings, princes, priests, prophets, servants, sons, trumpet players, and gatekeepers all claim the name Zechariah.

And the name itself means Yahweh remembers. So from the very first blood that spills all the way to the name Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, Zechariah, God remembers. So who is Zechariah, the son of Berechiah?

So in your Bible there is a minor prophet by the name of Zechariah. This Zechariah is believed to be the son of Berechiah. There's been often some debate like with the wording, but again, like Zechariah 1, verse 1, it makes it clear.

It says in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah. So this prophet that we have in our book, the minor prophets, this is where the blood shed from Abel to Zechariah that they are being charged with his murder.

It says that he was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary. So this would have been during second temple period. Now notice it says that in the last woe, it says you scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, you build the tombs of the prophets and you decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying if we would have lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn't have not taken part in the shedding of the blood of the prophets.

So this is what they're speaking of. They say that if they would have lived, they would not have killed Zechariah. They would have not killed Abel. They would have not killed Zechariah, the son of Berechiah.

Now the scriptures doesn't unclear the glass, right? I mean, it's clear as mud, isn't it? I wish that I can present to you a better understanding of this, but all I know is this generation is being charged with the murder of all the prophets.

And the only conclusion that I see in any commentary is because of the ultimate sin that takes place in this generation, the killing of God's son. He says, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets.

Again, go back to last week's sermon. He sent to them servants. What did they do? They killed stone and beat. He sent to them others. They killed stone and beat. And lastly, he sent his son. Lastly, he sent his son.

He says, verse 34, therefore I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes in whom you killed and crucified. And some of them you flogged in the synagogue and you persecuted in your own town. Now this is something that they're going to do.

Jesus and his apostles and the prophets of Jesus' time, this generation killed. This generation flogged. This generation stoned. We see that they had Paul killed. They stoned Stephen. They cut the head off of James.

And so this generation is not innocent. And yet this generation did not kill Abel or Zechariah, the son of Berechiah. And again, the Bible just does not explain it. And I apologize. But again, in verse 37, verse 37b, this is how often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you were not willing.

This verse here is pointing us back to the first evidence, the first piece of evidence. They shut the door of heaven in the face of others. Verse 13, But woe to you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces, for you neither enter yourselves nor do you allow those who enter to go in.

So in a New Testament version of this, we see this in the church, the Judaizers. Remember, we studied Galatians. So a Judaizer would be someone who professed to be a Christian, but in order to actually follow Christ, you had to keep the custom of Moses.

And what were they doing? What were they actually doing? They were shutting the door of the kingdom of God in people's face. Right? Well, according to the Old Covenant, listen, the Old Covenant, in order to have peace with God, the Old Covenant, New Covenant is not changed in this fact.

You had to believe in what God was doing. You had to believe. But what the Pharisaical Jews did is they elevated the law in speech, not in do. Remember verse one, it says, observe what they tell you, but do not do the works they do.

So in speech, they lifted the law so high, even too high to where you could not keep the law, but they did not preach faith. Believe, trust in God. God is sending a Messiah. Put your faith in him. The only way, remember he is the God of the living, studied that this morning, the God of the living, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

In order to be in this bosom of Abraham, to be with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to be among the living, it was not law-keeping. It was trusting in what God has done for us. And at that time, it was through individual promises, the offspring of the woman, the offspring of Abraham, the offspring from the line of Judah, the offspring of David.

You trust in this because you knew that it was from this lineage, this line, this bloodline, that God was finally going to send one who would be the Messiah and your faith needed to be in him. But in the Old Testament, they had to put their faith in the promise that was pointing to him.

Pharisees didn't teach this. They lifted the law in such a way, but again, we'll find out they did not actually lift it in the way that it needed to be. For justice and mercy and faithfulness. You use the law for justice and mercy and faithfulness, not for condemnation.

Not for condemnation. As we transition, remember, the Pharisees in last week, they vicariously pleaded guilty to the parable of the tenants. As we saw, Matthew 21, if you want to look there just real quick, verses 40 and 41.

No, excuse me, Matthew 20, yeah. 21, 40 through 41. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what would he do to those tenants, them being the tenants? They said to him, we will put those wretches to a miserable death and lend out the vineyards to other tenants who will give him his fruit in their season.

So hearing the parable, they pleaded a judgment against him that the father will put those wretches to a miserable death and he will lend out the tenants to the other, not knowing that they were speaking of themselves.

The Verdict Against Jerusalem and the Charge of Bloodguilt

So the third point for today is the sentence. So what is it that Jesus has sentenced them to? Matthew 23, 38. See, your house is left to you desolate. Your house is left to you desolate. So here's a question.

What is the house? If you know it, say it. What is the house? The temple. Matthew 21, 12 through 13. 21, 12 through 13. And Jesus entered the temple and he drove out all who sowed and bought in the temple and overturned tables and money changers in the seats of those who sowed pigeons and he said to them, it is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer.

You have made it into a den of robbers. And Jesus is saying to them, your house is left to you desolate. Your temple is left to you desolate. Now, we've covered this the last two weeks. Just briefly, what does desolate mean?

What does it mean for something to be desolate? If you will turn to Daniel chapter nine, it just gives a clear definition of what it means for something to be desolate. Verse one and two in verse 17. In the first year of Darius, the son of Asherah, by descent Amid, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans.

In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the book a number of years that according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, the prophet must pass before the desolation of Jerusalem, namely 70 years.

Verse 17. Now, therefore, oh God, listen to the prayer of your servant and his plea for mercy. And for your own sake, oh Lord, make your face shine on your sanctuary, the house which is desolate. So a desolation is when the Jewish people were removed from the land.

And when something became desolate, it mean that the house was torn down. So what's the sentence? What's Jesus' sentence for them killing and stoning the prophets? Their house is left to them desolate.

Your temple is going to be destroyed. Do you see this? It's clear, right? Their house is going to be destroyed. They have been sentenced to desolation. God is bringing a new covenant. The old covenant is passing away.

He is bringing in a new covenant. They are to be removed from the land and their temple is to come down to signify, listen, the end of the age. So turn with me to Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9. Chapter 9, verses 8 through 9.

Listen to this. Hebrews 9, 8 through 9. By this, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy place is not yet open as long as the first section is still standing, which is symbolic for the present age.

According to the arrangement of gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience for the worshipers, but deals only with food, drinks, and various washes, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

The time of reformation, according to this, is when that section of the temple is torn down. So when that temple is torn down, right here it says it signifies, it's symbolic for the present age. The Bible speaks of two ages.

This age, which is commonly called the present age or the present evil age, if you read Galatians, and the age to come. The Jews at that time would have called it the age of the Messiah. So as long as the temple's standing, the present age is still active.

Temple falls. What age are we in? The age of the Messiah. Right? It's what it says. So the new covenant, the age of the Messiah, has been fully inaugurated since the falling of the temple. Now I believe that there's an, I've told y 'all before, there's like an overlap.

Like the passing of a baton. Like if someone was handing off something. If I'm handing you a bottle, there's a moment to where we both have a hold of the bottle. And then I let go and you take the bottle.

Well, during this 40 year period, from Christ's earthly ministry to the destruction of that temple, both ages were on the earth. But the inauguration, when that temple fell, it was only the age of the Messiah was on the earth.

And this was against the religious establishments, he says in verse 33. He says to them, well, look at verse 42. He says, fill up then the measure of your fathers. And then he goes on to say in verse 33, you serpents, you brood of vipers.

What is he calling them? You snake, you devil. You devil, you snake, you brood of vipers. How will you escape being sentenced to hell? So in Genesis 3 .15 we see that the curse on Satan, the serpent, he said, I will put enmity between you and the woman.

Now listen to this part. A lot of people miss this. And between your offspring and her offspring. And you shall bruise his head and he shall bruise your heel. Jesus speaking to the Pharisees in John 8 .44 -45 says this.

You are of your father the devil. And your will is to do your father's desire. You hear that? He's talking to the Pharisees. He says, you are of your father the devil. And your will is to do your father's desires.

He was a murderer from the beginning. And he does not stand in truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character. For he is a liar and the father of lies. Because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me.

The religious leaders, when I'm gathering, the religious leaders were the offspring of the serpent. He says, I'm going to put enmity between you and the woman. And between her offspring and your offspring.

There's some kind of something going on here to where you have the children of Abraham produce both the Messiah through the line of David, but also these children of Abraham through this religious leadership that has taken place is to see the offspring of Satan.

He says, man, you are of your father the devil. Your will is to do his desires. He says, I'm going to put enmity between your offspring and hers. It was against this generation, this people, this group, this group.

God's chosen people, right? How is it that God's chosen people has a devil in there? Because it was prophesied. It was prophesied. As we transition, this sentence could be escaped by all people, believers and non-believers.

The temple was to be destroyed and the land laid waste. Now notice, this escape, notice this, this escape was not just for believers. If you see the army coming, all you had to do is flee on foot, leave Jerusalem, head to the mountains of Judea.

You did not have to be a follower of Christ to leave Jerusalem, to head into the mountains of Judea. This escape, this sentence could have been avoided by just leaving the city. Our fourth point, I'll make this real quick.

The condition for release, Matthew 23, 23 through 39. I mean, Matthew 23, 39. Now this is where our hope comes in. Like so far, it's all been devastation. But right here, in this one verse, right here, this last verse in all this courtroom judgment, he says this, For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

This message was to them. He said, you will not see me again, speaking to them, speaking to all of his hearers, even in the presence of his disciples, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

So what does it mean to say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord? First, I can tell you what it doesn't mean. He's not talking about this judgment. Right now, he's no longer speaking about the judgment that's coming upon Jerusalem.

And he's no longer speaking about a future judgment that's going to come upon the whole world. If I am correctly interpreting this, I believe he is speaking about salvation from final wrath. They will not see me again.

You will not see him again until you receive him by faith. You will not see him until you receive him by faith. Real quick, go to Psalms 108. I mean, Psalms 18. Psalm 18, verse 20. Speaking of Jesus, this is the gate of the Lord.

The righteous shall enter through it. That he is the gate of the Lord and the righteous shall enter through it. He says, I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected have become the cornerstone.

This is the Lord's doing. It was marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad. Be glad in it. Save us, we pray. Oh Lord, oh Lord, we pray. Give us success.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And we bless you from house to house, the Lord. That the only way anyone can be saved is if they say, you know, not necessarily those words, but blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And so for application purposes, turn to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. This gives you that same perspective, but Paul saying it in different words. So Romans 10, beginning in verse 9. It says, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. What are they confessing? Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. You cannot be a Christian if you have not confessed Jesus Christ.

No one will ever see Jesus as a savior, as a rescue, if they have not said, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. If they have not called on him for their final salvation. Verse 11. For the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the Lord is Lord of all, bestowing upon riches all who call upon his name. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call upon him whom they have not believed?

And how are they to believe in him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? Listen right here. So faith comes from hearing. How do you receive the spirit? By hearing in faith and hearing of the word of Christ.

Faith in Christ Alone and the Call to Respond

By way of conclusion, in my closing, the only way that you and I will ever see Christ, listen, the only way that you and I, your kids, my kids, or anyone else in this world will ever see Christ is if they say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Why? Because God is holy and he will not tolerate. He is not gonna tolerate sin and he's not gonna tolerate us. Why can't he tolerate us? Because we are absolutely unholy. God is absolutely holy. You and I are absolutely unholy.

The chasm that's between you or between me and God is so thick that it took God becoming a man to bridge this chasm. It took Jesus' act of obedience. Like as we're coming through this, we see judgment.

We see that the father has sent his son to the vineyard. The father has sent his son to the vineyard to give justice on those who were stoning and killing the prophets. But we can't always focus on that judgment.