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Voddie Baucham - The Centrality of Christ in Revelation · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: The following message is brought to you by Covenant Baptist
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  Speaker 1: Theological Seminary. To learn more about our mission to train
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  Speaker 1: the next generation of gospel ministers, visit us at cbtseminary.org.
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  Speaker 2: As we begin, let me just say again what a
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  Speaker 2: privilege it is to be here, to be a part
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  Speaker 2: of this event. It is an honor to have been
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  Speaker 2: asked to share on this particular topic and to share
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  Speaker 2: in this particular way. I pray that it's been a
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  Speaker 2: blessing to you. I pray that it's been encouraging to you,
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  Speaker 2: that it's been informative for you. I really do believe
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  Speaker 2: that this is an issue of utmost importance, and it
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  Speaker 2: has really enriched my life and ministry as I've gotten
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  Speaker 2: a firmer grasp on my own eschatology. Amen? I don't
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  Speaker 2: think any of us would claim to have it all
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  Speaker 2: figured out, but when you have a firm grasp and direction,
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  Speaker 2: it makes a tremendous difference. Tonight, if you have your
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  Speaker 2: Bibles with you, open them to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation
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  Speaker 2: chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1 has been important to me
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  Speaker 2: for a long time. Long before we worked through the book,
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  Speaker 2: taught through the book. Revelation chapter 1 was important to
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  Speaker 2: me even when I was scared of the book of Revelation. Amen?
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  Speaker 2: And I was scared of the book of Revelation for
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  Speaker 2: a long time. I told you I was traumatized. It
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  Speaker 2: was the first thing that I read as a new believer,
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  Speaker 2: and then hearing all this crazy stuff about Revelation. But
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  Speaker 2: something that you may or may not know about me,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people don't know this about me, but
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  Speaker 2: the title of my dissertation was A Critical Analysis of
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  Speaker 2: the History and Theology of the Nation of Islam with
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  Speaker 2: a View Toward an Effective Christian Response. You know, the
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  Speaker 2: Nation of Islam, that's the black Muslim movement that was
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  Speaker 2: born really in the Chicago area. It's headed by Louis Farrakhan.
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  Speaker 2: Before that, it was headed by Elijah Muhammad. Perhaps the
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  Speaker 2: most famous member of the Nation of Islam was Malcolm X,
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  Speaker 2: who later converted to Orthodox Islam and was then assassinated
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  Speaker 2: by the Nation of Islam because of the fact that
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  Speaker 2: he left and because of the way that he had left.
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  Speaker 2: It was always a fascinating movement to me for a
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  Speaker 2: number of reasons. At the time, the Nation of Islam
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  Speaker 2: was the fastest growing religion among black men, hugely popular
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  Speaker 2: in prison settings. And one of the reasons, one of
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  Speaker 2: the tools that they used was the Book of Revelations.
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  Speaker 2: I want something like this. If you grew up in
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  Speaker 2: traditional black settings in your home, there were probably a
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  Speaker 2: couple of pictures. In my mother's generation, she would joke
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  Speaker 2: about there being a picture of John F. Kennedy, Martin
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  Speaker 2: Luther King, and the white Jesus. Right? But there were.
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  Speaker 2: There were pictures of the white Jesus all over the place.
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  Speaker 2: And the Nation of Islam really, really made hay with this.
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  Speaker 2: Today it's not as much the Nation of Islam as
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  Speaker 2: it is the black Hebrew Israelites. Black Hebrew Israelites are
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  Speaker 2: growing by leaps and bounds. And there's a number of
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  Speaker 2: things that attracts people to these movements, but One of
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  Speaker 2: the things that they like to do is to point
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  Speaker 2: to the picture of the white Jesus and tell people
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  Speaker 2: that that picture of the white Jesus is a manipulation
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  Speaker 2: by white people. And I don't think you and I
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  Speaker 2: would disagree with that. I don't believe that Jesus looked
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  Speaker 2: like a European hair model. Amen. I just don't. I
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  Speaker 2: just don't. But they go a step further. You see,
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  Speaker 2: in the Nation of Islam, they argue that the black
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  Speaker 2: man is the original man, that black people actually invented
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  Speaker 2: white people in a science experiment that went terribly wrong.
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  Speaker 2: I'm telling the truth, okay? This is what they teach.
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  Speaker 2: Black Hebrew Israelites teach that the original Hebrews were black.
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  Speaker 2: And here's one of the places they go. They go
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  Speaker 2: to Revelation chapter 1. This is not my text, but
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  Speaker 2: just to give you some background as to my journey
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  Speaker 2: in this book. Revelation chapter 1, verse 14. The hairs
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  Speaker 2: of his head were white, like white wool, like snow.
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  Speaker 2: And now read this. And I'll say, what white person
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  Speaker 2: do you know that has hair like wool? Come on now.
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  Speaker 2: Nobody got hair like wool, but deeper melanin folks, right?
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  Speaker 2: Eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were
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  Speaker 2: like burnished bronze refined in a furnace. Burnished bronze. Now,
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  Speaker 2: does burnished bronze look closer to Dr. Waldron's color? Or
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  Speaker 2: to mine? And they'll read this and they'll just, you know,
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  Speaker 2: talk about the picture of the white Jesus and, you know,
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  Speaker 2: that's not what Jesus looked like. And then they'll go on,
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  Speaker 2: you know, when Jesus... When his parents tried to hide him,
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  Speaker 2: where did they take him? They went to Egypt to hide.
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  Speaker 2: Who runs to Africa to hide if they don't look
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  Speaker 2: like the Africans? These are the arguments, right? And it's here.
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  Speaker 2: And I remember being told stuff like this. I know people.
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  Speaker 2: I've got people in my family today who would make
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  Speaker 2: this argument. That Jesus was a black man and the
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  Speaker 2: Bible says so. Then I read it. It kind of
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  Speaker 2: goes back to what we talked about earlier with Revelation 20. Look,
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  Speaker 2: beginning verse 12. Then I turned to see the voice
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  Speaker 2: that was speaking to me. And on turning, I saw
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  Speaker 2: seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands,
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  Speaker 2: one like a son of man, clothed with a long
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  Speaker 2: robe with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs
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  Speaker 2: of his head were white, like white wool, like snow.
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  Speaker 2: By the way, that's not texture, that's color. And this
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  Speaker 2: is a picture of the Ancient of Days. And then
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  Speaker 2: his eyes were like a flame of fire. If his
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  Speaker 2: hair was literally like wool, his eyes were literally fire.
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  Speaker 2: Like fire. His feet were like burnished bronze refined in
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  Speaker 2: a furnace. This is judgment. His voice was like the
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  Speaker 2: roar of many waters. You ever heard anybody whose voice
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  Speaker 2: sounded like the roar of many waters? No. That's symbolic
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  Speaker 2: as well. In his right hand, he held seven stars.
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  Speaker 2: That cannot be literal. No. From his mouth came a
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  Speaker 2: sharp two-edged sword. Cannot be literal. His face was like
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  Speaker 2: the sun shining in full strength. This is not literal.
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  Speaker 2: This is not a literal description. This is an example
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  Speaker 2: of what we do with the book of Revelation. We
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  Speaker 2: pick and choose and twist and turn in order to
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  Speaker 2: put together a puzzle. A puzzle. instead of looking at
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  Speaker 2: the pictures. And the problem with this is that Christ
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  Speaker 2: gets lost in this. The people who use this book
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  Speaker 2: like that, they are not going here to magnify the
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  Speaker 2: Lord Jesus Christ. They're going here to use Christ in
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  Speaker 2: order to advance an agenda. And when we do so,
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  Speaker 2: we miss the intent of this incredible book. Now with
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  Speaker 2: that said, let's look at our text tonight. which is
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  Speaker 2: all about the intent of this incredible book. Go up
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  Speaker 2: beginning at verse 1. Let's just start at the beginning.
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  Speaker 2: I love to begin at the beginning here. You see
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  Speaker 2: this wonderful pattern, this pattern of threes that develops here.
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  Speaker 2: And it really carries not only throughout the chapter, it
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  Speaker 2: carries throughout the book itself, this rhythm. And again, we
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  Speaker 2: know that when we see three in apocalyptic literature, it's
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  Speaker 2: often the number for God. But here it's also the
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  Speaker 2: rhythm and the pattern of the book. There's a rhythm
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  Speaker 2: to the book. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
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  Speaker 2: gave him, there's one, to show his servants the things
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  Speaker 2: that must take place. He made it known, too, by
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  Speaker 2: sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness,
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  Speaker 2: this is John, what did he bear witness to? The
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  Speaker 2: word of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ, and to
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  Speaker 2: all that he saw. One, two, three, one, two, three.
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  Speaker 2: Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of
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  Speaker 2: this prophecy, one, and blessed are those who hear, two,
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  Speaker 2: and who keep, What is written in it for the
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  Speaker 2: time is near. I refer to that as the revelation waltz. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three.
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  Speaker 2: You see the pattern there. And then that pattern is
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  Speaker 2: going to continue on and become very important. As we
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  Speaker 2: look here beginning at verse four. And as we look
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  Speaker 2: at really verses four through seven, what we're looking at
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  Speaker 2: is this picture of worship. and of worthiness. Christ's worthiness.
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  Speaker 2: He is worthy to be worshipped. And this is a
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  Speaker 2: complete departure from people who would use this book to
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  Speaker 2: try to paint a picture of Jesus as the icon
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  Speaker 2: of our movement. Amen? Paint a picture of Jesus as
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  Speaker 2: the representative of our ethnicities. That's not what's happening here
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  Speaker 2: in chapter 1. Jesus is worthy of our worship. Why?
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  Speaker 2: Verse 4. John, to the seven churches that are in Asia.
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  Speaker 2: There's more than seven churches in Asia. Amen? More than
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  Speaker 2: seven churches in Asia, but that number seven is very important.
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  Speaker 2: These seven churches that he's going to refer to later on,
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  Speaker 2: all are on a circular postal route. They're representatives. They're
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  Speaker 2: representatives of the church. John, to the seven churches that
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  Speaker 2: are in Asia, grace to you and peace from, and
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  Speaker 2: we're about to get another three, him who is and
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  Speaker 2: who was and who is to come. One, two, three.
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  Speaker 2: And from the seven spirits who are before his throne
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  Speaker 2: and from Jesus Christ. So we have all. One, two,
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  Speaker 2: three as part of a one, two, three. There's that
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  Speaker 2: pattern again. Who is this? To whom is John referring? Well,
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  Speaker 2: it gets a little tricky when you look at these
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  Speaker 2: seven spirits that are before his throne, unless you understand
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  Speaker 2: that number seven, that perfect number. So we have him
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  Speaker 2: who is and who was and who is to come.
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  Speaker 2: God the Father. And then at the end, you have
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  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. In the middle, you have seven spirits, this
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  Speaker 2: perfect spirit before the throne, which will become clearer when
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  Speaker 2: we get to chapters 4 and chapter 5. But essentially,
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  Speaker 2: what we have here is a reference to the triune God,
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  Speaker 2: to the Father and the Spirit and the Son. This
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  Speaker 2: is a reference to our God, who is Father, who
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  Speaker 2: is Son, who is Spirit. First and foremost, Jesus is
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  Speaker 2: worthy of our worship because he is God. Amen? He's
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  Speaker 2: worthy of our worship because he's God. We must worship
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  Speaker 2: God and we must worship God alone. We must worship
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  Speaker 2: no one and nothing apart from God. So Christ is
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  Speaker 2: can only be the object of our worship if he
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  Speaker 2: is indeed the second person of the Trinity, which means
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  Speaker 2: that he is indeed God. And that's what's being communicated here,
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  Speaker 2: that he's worthy of our worship because he is God.
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  Speaker 2: Just like him who was and who is and who
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  Speaker 2: is to come is God. Just like that perfect spirit
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  Speaker 2: before the throne is God. Jesus Christ is God. not
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  Speaker 2: like God, not close to God, not almost God, but
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  Speaker 2: God Almighty, the creator of the universe himself. Christ is
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  Speaker 2: worthy of worship because he's God. And this is a
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  Speaker 2: problem with all of these movements that want to take
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  Speaker 2: Jesus and make him a representative of a movement as
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  Speaker 2: opposed to allowing him to present himself as a representative
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  Speaker 2: of the Godhead. God in flesh. The very incarnation of God.
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  Speaker 2: I could not care less what color Jesus is. Amen, somebody.
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  Speaker 2: And notice I didn't say was, I said is. Because
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  Speaker 2: he rose with the same body. I could not care
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  Speaker 2: less what color Jesus is. That doesn't matter. That is
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  Speaker 2: utterly insignificant when we understand that this is God incarnate.
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  Speaker 2: Because here's what I know. Here's what I know. If
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  Speaker 2: for some reason that I believe or that I want
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  Speaker 2: Jesus to look more like me than like somebody else,
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  Speaker 2: and I get to glory, and the God of the
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  Speaker 2: universe is a different shade than I wanted him to be,
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  Speaker 2: I guarantee you I won't complain. He's worthy of our
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  Speaker 2: worship because he's God. And when we come to this text,
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  Speaker 2: we must come with reverence. But not only that, there's
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  Speaker 2: a reason that John puts this out of our normal
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  Speaker 2: Trinitarian order. We're used to father and son and spirit.
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  Speaker 2: Here he goes father, spirit, and son. Why? Because at
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  Speaker 2: the end of this one, two, three, one, two, three,
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  Speaker 2: he's got another one, two, three. So on the first
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  Speaker 2: of the one, two, three, and who is and who
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  Speaker 2: was and who is to come, there's the three. Then
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  Speaker 2: the seven spirits were before his throne. And then, and
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  Speaker 2: from Jesus Christ. And he describes Jesus in three ways.
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  Speaker 2: Number one, the faithful witness. Jesus is worthy of worship
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  Speaker 2: because he's God. Amen? And he's worthy of worship because
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  Speaker 2: he's the faithful witness. Look back in verse 1. The
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  Speaker 2: revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show
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  Speaker 2: his servants the things that must soon take place. That's
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  Speaker 2: where we start. This entire book is a revelation that
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  Speaker 2: God gave to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen? In order
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  Speaker 2: to show his servants the things that must soon take place.
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  Speaker 2: And we can trust the things that we find here
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  Speaker 2: in this book. Why? Because he is the faithful witness.
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  Speaker 2: Not only that, but he is a witness who can
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  Speaker 2: only be faithful. There is no shadow of turning in him.
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  Speaker 2: He is the way, the truth, and the life. He
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  Speaker 2: doesn't just tell the truth. He is the truth. Amen?
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  Speaker 2: He is the faithful witness. And this is incredibly important.
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  Speaker 2: There have been witnesses throughout history who've done a wonderful job. However,
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  Speaker 2: none of them qualified for this task. They all fall
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  Speaker 2: short from beginning to end. Who was going to come?
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  Speaker 2: Who was going to go? And later on, we see
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  Speaker 2: that whole, you know, who is it? Who's worthy? Who's worthy?
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  Speaker 2: The faithful witness is the one who's worthy. Where are
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  Speaker 2: you going to go? You're going to go to Adam?
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  Speaker 2: The first man, the perfect man. You see how that
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  Speaker 2: ended up. What about Abraham? Wonderful man, but he didn't qualify.
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  Speaker 2: King David. King David. Well, Bathsheba would have something to
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  Speaker 2: say about that. And on and on and on. Great
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  Speaker 2: and wonderful. are they all. But they all fall short.
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  Speaker 2: But Christ is the faithful witness. And he is a
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  Speaker 2: witness who can only be faithful. Secondly, not only is
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  Speaker 2: he the faithful witness, but he's the firstborn of the dead.
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  Speaker 2: the firstborn of the dead. I'd like to share this
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  Speaker 2: with my Jehovah's Witness friends because, you know, they like
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  Speaker 2: to look there in Colossians 1 and see that he's
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  Speaker 2: the firstborn of creation and argue that that term firstborn
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  Speaker 2: always means the same thing. Everywhere you read it, it
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  Speaker 2: has to mean the first one that was born. So
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  Speaker 2: If he's the firstborn of creation, then that means that
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  Speaker 2: he was the first thing that was created. And it
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  Speaker 2: has to mean that. It can't mean anything else because
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  Speaker 2: that's what firstborn means. If I have children and I
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  Speaker 2: say this is my firstborn, then that means I'm the
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  Speaker 2: first one who was born. They love that. They love
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  Speaker 2: to sort of pound that point home. And there's a
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  Speaker 2: number of places that we can go and deal with
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  Speaker 2: the fact that firstborn means preeminent, but this is a
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  Speaker 2: wonderful place because Jesus is the firstborn from the dead,
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  Speaker 2: but he's not the first one that got up. Amen?
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  Speaker 2: I seem to remember. In the ministry of Elijah. Amen? Amen?
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  Speaker 2: It happened. I also seem to remember in the ministry
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  Speaker 2: of Jesus, Lazarus, he's been dead for days, but he's
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  Speaker 2: called back from the dead by Jesus himself. So when
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  Speaker 2: it says he's the firstborn from the dead, it does
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  Speaker 2: not mean that he's the first one who died and
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  Speaker 2: got back up. The firstborn of the dead is the
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  Speaker 2: one who is preeminent, is the one who has authority
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  Speaker 2: over death. Swallows it up in victory. He's firstborn of
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  Speaker 2: the dead because he is the one who leads captives free.
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  Speaker 2: He is the one who gives those who follow him
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  Speaker 2: and are found in him victory over death after him.
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  Speaker 2: I have hope of overcoming the grave because Christ overcame
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  Speaker 2: the grave and I am found in him for me. Amen?
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  Speaker 2: To live is Christ. To die is gain. Because of
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  Speaker 2: Christ who is the firstborn of the dead. He is
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  Speaker 2: worthy of worship because he's God. Because he's the faithful
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  Speaker 2: witness and he's worthy of our worship because he defeated
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  Speaker 2: and conquered death, hell, and the grave. Every last one
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  Speaker 2: of us is facing that last enemy. Amen? Death is
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  Speaker 2: always an enemy and never a friend. And the last
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  Speaker 2: time I checked, the death rate was one per person.
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  Speaker 2: Nobody gets out of here alive. And everyone, every human
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  Speaker 2: being that contemplates death His or her own mortality is
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  Speaker 2: searching for something to give them hope. Some try to
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  Speaker 2: hold on to reincarnation. But how do you hold on
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  Speaker 2: to reincarnation? How do you hold on to that? Who's
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  Speaker 2: been reincarnated and said, I mean, somebody who died and
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  Speaker 2: they came back as a bird or a cow or whatever,
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  Speaker 2: did they come and do they say, hey, I just
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  Speaker 2: want you to know? No. Some hold to other ideas.
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  Speaker 2: But whatever idea you hold to, my question is this,
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  Speaker 2: based on what? Because my hope in life and death
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  Speaker 2: is Christ who died and rose again and is alive today,
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  Speaker 2: seated at the right hand of the Father, forever making
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  Speaker 2: intercession for me and for all of us who are
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  Speaker 2: found in him. My hope after death is the one
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  Speaker 2: who defeated death. Finally, he's worthy of our worship because
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  Speaker 2: he is the ruler of kings on earth. Amen. Hallelujah.
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  Speaker 2: Praise the Lord. He is the ruler of kings on earth.
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  Speaker 2: It's interesting for those of us, for all of us,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, and as Americans, you know, we pride ourselves
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  Speaker 2: on not having any kings and and I'm grateful, I'm
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  Speaker 2: grateful to be a citizen and not a subject, but
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  Speaker 2: there are people who have kings, and for all of
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  Speaker 2: us in this room, I would assume, that the most
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  Speaker 2: prominent monarch in our lifetime recently died in England. And
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  Speaker 2: when she died, there was sadness and there was mourning
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  Speaker 2: as the queen that was the only queen that any
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  Speaker 2: of us really, right, ever were cognizant of. And it
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  Speaker 2: was kind of jarring. Like, what do we do? What
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  Speaker 2: are they going to do? What are they going to do?
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  Speaker 2: Can I tell you what they did? At the moment
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  Speaker 2: of her death, they announced, the queen is dead. Long
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  Speaker 2: live the king. That's the announcement. The queen is dead.
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  Speaker 2: Long live the king. Because it doesn't matter how long
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  Speaker 2: you rule and reign in an earthly kingdom. Your rule
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  Speaker 2: and your reign comes to an end. And you will
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  Speaker 2: stand before the king of kings and the lord of lords.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: And he will not say, welcome your majesty. Every knee
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: And every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: the glory of God the Father. He is the ruler
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: of kings on earth. He is the King of kings
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: and the Lord of lords. And he and he alone
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: is worthy of our worship. And as amazing as all
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: of this is, that he's worthy of our worship because
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: he's God, because he's the faithful witness, because he's the
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: firstborn of the dead, because he's the ruler of kings
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: on earth. As we are virtually overcome by his glory
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: and by his majesty, the next line changes everything. To
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: him who loves us. Just sit with that one for
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: a second. To him who loves us, the God of
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: the universe, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: the ruler of kings on earth, the one before whom
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, the
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: one who will judge the living and the dead, The
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: one that we just read about with the sword in
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: his mouth and the fire in his eyes and the
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: voice like the sound of many waters. He loves us.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: He loves us. It almost doesn't fit. Not he rules us.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: And he does, but he loves us. And not only that,
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: so you don't get carried away and think that this
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: is some mere sentimentality. It's not. There's another one, two, three.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: Number one, he loves us. Number two, and has freed
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: us from our sins by his blood. Those two things
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: are connected. Because God demonstrated his love for us in this,
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: Greater love has no man than this, than he laid
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: down his life for his friends. Christ loves us, and
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: he has freed us from our sins by his blood.
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: We are all guilty before a holy God. All have
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: of us stand condemned before a holy God. All of
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: us deserve death and hell and the grave. Every last
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: one of us. There is none righteous. No, not even one.
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: And our righteous and holy God ought to devour every
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: last one of us. Every one of us should have
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: been killed in his sleep last night because of what
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: he thought, said, and did on yesterday. God would have
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: been within his rights. Christ freed us from our sins.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: And he didn't free us from our sins with mere
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: words or sentiments. He freed us from our sins by
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: his blood. God made him who knew no sin to
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: be sin for us so that we might become the
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: righteousness of God in him. As Isaiah says, all we
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: like sheep had gone astray. Each of us had turned
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: to his own way, but God hath laid upon him
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: the iniquity of us all. Through this magnificent double imputation,
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: That Christ, in his active obedience, keeps the whole law
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: on our behalf. The God-man, fully God and fully man,
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: as a man. He keeps the whole law on our behalf.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: He is our representative who keeps the law that we
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: could not keep. In his active obedience, he does that
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: so that there is actual righteousness that he imputes to
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: us As though we ourselves have kept the whole law.
• 32:05
  Speaker 2: Because in his passive obedience, he experiences the death that
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: we deserve to pay the penalty that we owe. And
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: so our sins are imputed to him and he nails
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: them to the tree so that they're forgiven. Amen. His
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: righteousness is imputed to us so that God can be both,
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: as Paul says, just and the justifier of the one
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: who places faith in Jesus. You know, every other religion
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: can be boiled down to this single idea. Have a
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: religious experience. They'll define that differently. Have a religious experience.
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: And then do more good things than bad things and
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: hope for the best when you die. Is it an oversimplification?
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: Only slightly. But in some form or another, that's what
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: we're trying to do. We need to have some religious
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: experience and then we need to find that list of rules, right?
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: And we need to do more good stuff than we
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: do bad stuff and hope for the best when it's
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: all said and done. Hope that we've somehow balanced the scales.
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: But you and I both know that doesn't work because
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: you can't be good. Amen. You can't. You can't. Not
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: in a way that satisfies the righteous requirements of our
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: holy God. Jesus makes this clear in the Sermon on
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: the Mount. You think you're okay because you never murdered anybody.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: You've heard it said you shall not commit murder, but
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: I'm telling you this. Have you hated your brother? Have you?
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: Because if you have, then inwardly, you are as guilty
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: before a holy and righteous God as you would have
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: been had you committed the crime outwardly. Because God... sees
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: not only your deeds, but your thoughts and your words
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: as well. You are hopeless in and of yourself. But
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: the one who is God and worthy of our worship,
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: the faithful witness, the firstborn witness, the ruler of the
• 34:58
  Speaker 2: kings on earth loves us and express that by freeing
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: us from our sins by his blood he is worthy
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: of our worship and we must be reminded of this
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: we must we must This is why we love those songs.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: It's like amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: I'm found, was blind, but now I see. When we
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: gather together and set our mind's attention and heart's affection
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: on him and praise him for who he is and
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: for what he's done, it is incredibly important that we
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: be reminded that he has freed us from our sins
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: by his blood and that he's worthy of our worship
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: because of it. But then we get to verse 6,
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: which seems out of place, and made us a kingdom
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: of priests to his God and Father. But it's not
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: out of place. What has happened here is the one
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: who is worthy of worship, makes us worthy to worship.
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter one. Isaiah
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: chapter one. beginning in verse 10. Hear the word of
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear to the
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah. By the way,
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: Sodom and Gomorrah are toast. He's talking to Israel. What
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: to me is the multitude of your sacrifices, says the Lord?
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: the fat of well-fed beasts. I do not delight in
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats.
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: When you come to appear before me, who has required
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more
• 37:35
  Speaker 2: vain offerings, incenses and abomination to me, new moon and
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: Sabbath and the calling of convocations. I cannot endure iniquity
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: in the solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: feasts my soul hates. They've become a burden to me.
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: I'm weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands,
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: make many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: full of blood. What would he say about modern worship?
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: It stinks. I hate it. That's what he says. Not
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: because of what you're doing, but because of who you are.
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: Verse 16, wash yourself, make yourselves clean. Remove the evil
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: of your deeds from before my eyes. Cease to do evil,
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: learn to do good. Seek justice, correct oppression. Bring justice
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: to the fatherless. Plead the widow's case. Come now, let
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: One more passage. I'm going to wrap this up. Go
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 2. And remember, he's
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: made us a kingdom of priests to his God. Made
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: us worthy to worship. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9.
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: may proclaim the excellencies of him who calls you. you
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: out of darkness into his marvelous light once you are
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: not a people but now you are God's people once
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: you had not received mercy but now you have received
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: mercy he's made us a kingdom He is worthy of
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: our worship. And by his grace, he has made us
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: worthy to worship. So that we might bring acceptable sacrifices.
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Sinful creatures that we are.
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: Because of Christ's perfect sacrifice. Because of the God man
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: who was a faithful witness and firstborn of the dead.
• 40:38
  Speaker 2: Ruler of the kings of the earth who loves us
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: and freed us from our sins. Because he has made
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: us worthy to worship. we can and do indeed bring
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: acceptable sacrifices of praise before the throne. How dare we
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: take something this beautiful, how dare we take something this
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: Christ-exalting and twisted and turn it to try to make
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: Jesus something suitable for our agenda. And the fact of
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: the matter is, Christ is the one who must make
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: us something suitable for his. And I'll say this, when
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: we get this, when we see this, when we understand this,
• 41:50
  Speaker 2: It ought to ignite something in us. We ought to
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: have a desire for Christ to have the fullness of
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: the reward for which he died and anxiously anticipate the
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: day when every knee will bow, when every tongue will confess,
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: when the nations will be made his footstool, when Christ
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: will will be exalted as he ought. And we ought
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: to proclaim this gospel of ours in all the world
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: to that very end. And do so until he comes.
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: Even so, come Lord Jesus. Let's pray. Father, as we
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: come to a close, we do once again thank you
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: and praise you for the way that you've met with
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: us here. Thank you for the sweet times of worship
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: that we've had, for the way that you've filled our
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: cups to overflow with glorious truths. Father, it is our
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: prayer That we not merely hold on to these truths,
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: but that they might indeed impact us, change us, transform us,
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: conform us to the very image of the Son whom
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: you love. And that they might also flow from us
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: to those into whose lives you grant us the privilege
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: of speaking. Grant this, we pray, so that Christ might
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: indeed have the fullness of the reward for which he died.
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: For we ask this in the name of your son,
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: who is the second person of the Godhead, who is
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: the faithful witness, who is the firstborn of the dead,
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: the ruler of the kings on earth. In the name
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: of the one who loves us and freed us from
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: our sins by his blood, In the name of the
• 44:28
  Speaker 2: one who made us into a kingdom of priests who
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: can offer you acceptable worship, in his name we pray
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: and ask all these things. And all God's people said, amen.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: We hope you were helped by this session from the
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: annual conference of Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary. CBTS relies on
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: the generous gifts of supporting churches and individuals. If you
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: would like to invest in the next generation of gospel ministers,
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: visit us at cbtseminary.org.
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening.