The kingdom of God

Session 2

What is the Gospel? How can God be merely and the apologist of work forces? Why did Jesus hold to decease? Why did Jesus hold to pay for wickedness? What happened to Christ that paid for our wickedness? Are those inquiries genuinely answered today? No, because we have reduced the Gospel of Jesus Christ down to 4 Spiritual Torahs or some things God wants you to cognize. It ‘s become a creed robbed of power. What is the Gospel message? To best define it, you have to look to Romans 3. It ‘s the indispensable component of the Gospel. Apart from it, you ca n’t learn right the Gospel of Christ. We live in a twenty-four hours when the Gospel is non really clear. A great wickedness of our age is cut downing the Gospel to an rational acclivity. We ‘ve taken the glorious Gospel and reduced it to 4 religious Torahs or 5 things God wants you to cognize. If person says yes to all the right inquiries, they are popishly declared saved after a supplication. Many a sermonizer count 1000s saved but they ca n’t be found on Sunday. It ‘s an age of shallowness ; an age of doing tonss of noise but what ‘s being accomplished?

Our greatest demand is to rediscover the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to proclaim it. We need work forces and adult females who believe that this undertaking is so great that non one scheme in the universe can do one psyche converted. The power of redemption is merely the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But this merely is n’t for the doomed. The greatest motive, the lone true motive is what God has done for us in the individual and work of Jesus Christ. It ‘s a strong medical specialty to maintain people when all they can make for themselves is walk off during those times we all have throughout life. It ‘s His disclosure and glorification of the face of Jesus Christ to maintain us. It ‘s our lone motive ; He who shed His blood for my psyche. The Christian lives between two yearss ; the twenty-four hours when Christ hung on that cross before work forces and the twenty-four hours when all work forces will kneel before Christ. That ‘s our motive. Now let ‘s expression at this small Gospel of ours and see if we understand it every bit much as we do. Romans 3:23 is one of the first parts of Scripture we come to cognize. When you hear something over and over it becomes common, and when it becomes common, it loses its power. This is non the mistake of the text, it ‘s the mistake of our ain, but it happens however.

“ ALL HAVE SINNED… ”

One of the greatest jobs with gospel learning today is that we are non injuring work forces. Why do work forces non seek a Jesus? Because in much instruction work forces are reasonably much Oklahoma ; they merely necessitate to be tweaked here and at that place. They got everything they need but that last country which is filled with Jesus. They do n’t understand all work forces are born in wickedness, wretched and defiled and God-hating with a dark and dead bosom. No adult male seeks Him. We must state work forces, convince work forces, and utilize the Bible with all our might to shout this out. So much of the Gospel taught today has so small power. The job sycophant is n’t to acquire work forces saved ; it ‘s to acquire them lost. Look at the first 3 chapters of Romans where Paul does his best to close work forces off from every animal hope, to lock them up in a cupboard, to offer no alleviation in the flesh. Why? So they will shout out to God for clemency. Think about that. Make you cognize why people no longer tremble about wickedness? The flagitious nature of wickedness, the disclosure of it is the work of the Holy Spirit. When we teach we are to be sort, gentle, and loving, but we are to do much of wickedness. How much wickedness work is done witnessing? How much Scriptures is laid out before work forces? How much convincing is done?

I know the popular thing to make is inquire the individual, ‘Do you know you are a evildoer? ‘ If they say yes we go onto the following inquiry. If a individual says, ‘Yes, I know I am a evildoer ‘ , it means perfectly nil. The inquiry is non make you cognize that you ‘re a evildoer ; the Satan knows he ‘s a evildoer, and a mighty all right one at that. It ‘s non make you acknowledge you ‘re a evildoer, the inquiry is, ‘Upon hearing the Gospel, has God so moved in your bosom that the wickedness you one time loved you now hate, that the wickedness you one time boasted of, you are now ashamed, that the wickedness you one time clinged to, you now desire with all your bosom to be separated from it? ALL HAVE SINNED… ” and fall short of the glorification of God. Modern twenty-four hours readings go something like this, ‘It ‘s all about adult male. ‘ ‘God has a fantastic program for your life, but you did n’t run into that intent. ‘ That ‘s truly non the accent in the text here. You have to look at this in its proper context, and that ‘s chapter 1.

When it says all have fallen short of the glorification of God, it means although they knew God they did non honour him as God nor give thanks. Man ‘s greatest job today is he ‘s all about himself. There ‘s an infinite hole in his bosom and it can non be filled up with all of his ain ego or all the universe it requires, infinite, and that ‘s God. As an illustration expression no further than our Christian bookshops today. We are the most protected, most safe, most affluent Christians who of all time walked upon the face of the Earth. Yet you walk into any Christian bookshop today and you find 75 % of the books cover with how empty we are. Why are we so empty? For the same ground Jesus Christ ne’er was ; He said ‘I have nutrient to eat you know non of and my nutrient is to make the will of the Him who sent Me. ‘ It ‘s all about ego ; work forces are full of ego. Men do n’t necessitate more self regard.

They need to recognize that is their greatest job and what they need is to respect the lone One who is worthy of regard and that is God. But in order to learn this manner and have a Gospel this manner, work forces must cognize who God is. Make you cognize Sunday forenoon is one of the greatest hours of devotion in America? The people worship what they do non cognize. If I were to go through out a piece of paper and state the people to compose on it classical historical Christianity, a description of the properties of God, along with a few texts, you realize many people today worship a God who ‘s non a God at all? They worship a God they have made up with their ain head. One of the greatest demands in evangelism is to learn people who God is. The Gospel does n’t get down with adult male but who God is. Because therein lies the job, if God is non who God is, so wickedness would non be the job that it is. But wickedness is the job it is, because God is non merely love, He is besides holy and merely. Again, adult male has sinned ; he is at odds with God and God is at odds with adult male. If you do n’t believe that you do n’t believe historical Christianity.

But He goes on in poetry 24, BEING JUSTIFIED. Bing justified does non intend just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned. It does non intend one time a individual has a salvaging religion in Christ, they are made righteous before Him. If true, so they ‘d be perfectly perfect, ne’er to transgress once more. Bing justified before God is a legal or forensic declaration that God declares that individual to be right with Him. How does that go on? As a gift by His grace and nil but a gift. Look at some of import things. Analyzing the faiths today shows there ‘s merely 2 faiths, that of grace and of plants. If you claim of plants, you do n’t understand two basic things ; how holy and merely God is and how sinfully wicked you are. Look at what it says ; justified as a gift. This same word is used when it says they hated Him without a cause. Did anyone hold a cause for detesting the Messiah? Could anyone point to Jesus and state He did this and this and hence I have merely cause for detesting you? No. Christ ne’er sinned against God or adult male. Yet it says they hated Him without a cause. In the same manner He justified them without a cause. They did non give Him a cause to warrant them. Here is an illustration

In Deuteronomy when it was fundamentally asked by Israel to God, ‘Why do you love us? ‘ , He returns with, ‘I ‘ve loved you because I ‘ve loved you. ‘ It ‘s stating He chose to love Israel ; that it had nil to make with their virtuousnesss or worth. If you are justified, it has perfectly nil to make with you or any virtuousness or virtue in your life. It ‘s all to make with who God is and His salvaging power of the Gospel. These faiths we see of plants point to themselves as a ground to acquire to heaven. A true Christian points to another for their standing. The universe does n’t understand that because it does n’t do sense to them. That other is Jesus Christ. It ‘s all about Jesus Christ. We are justified because of Him. We have been redeemed, a monetary value paid to emancipate a prisoner or break one’s back. You were redeemed by the blood of God ‘s ain Son. Nothing else is needed. As an old sermonizer used to state:

“ CHRIST WILL Offer YOU TWO THINGS – ETERNAL LIFE AND A TREE TO DIE ON. BUT BECAUSE OF HIS BLOOD, TIS ENOUGH, TIS ENOUGH. ”

You need something more than get the fire, something more than Christian music, and even something more than a call. You need to cognize and turn all the yearss of your life in this. He shed his ain blood for my psyche. That is what propels the Christian. My value is non measured by success. It ‘s measured by fidelity. We are in awful problem when our achievements go the evidences of our assurance. Everything that has of all time been done by God has been done in and for the Son. Everything is about the Son, and that ‘s the manner we should be. A adult male one time said Christ is all we need. No, Christ is all that we have. There ‘s nil outside of Him

And it goes on in the poetry, ‘whom God displayed publicly ‘ . Talking about the cross, MARTYN LLOYD-JONES said “ GOD PLAQUEREDED HIM. ” He put Jesus up like a mark on the route. He wanted it to be in the most seeable topographic point. God could hold put sin off someplace but He put it in the cardinal metropolis of the existence, outside of that metropolis He plaquereded His Son. Why? The cross is more than merely the redemption of work forces.

The cross is for the disclosure of God ; that in the cross we might cognize who He is. It says, ‘God displayed Him publicly as a placation… ‘ . Other than the names of God, this is the most of import word in the whole Bible, placation. This answers a inquiry, the greatest inquiry, a inquiry in which if you ‘ve been sensitive to this text, you ‘ve realized… that you ‘ve dropped open your jaw ; a Godhead quandary, a job that can non be solved. It is THE Gospel ; and you have to understand this ; and WHAT do you hold to understand? It ‘s this job. It says in poetry 23, ‘All work forces have fallen short of the glorification of God. ” And it says in poetry 24, ‘some of them were justified ‘ . That is WRONG. You say, ‘what ‘s incorrect? ‘ There ‘s a job. Travel to Proverbs 17:15 to understand this job. Person read this. “ HE WHO JUSTIFIES THE WICKED… .IS AN ABOMINATION TO THE LORD. ” What is abomination? The strongest word one can utilize. It is the most flagitious, nauseating ; beyond words and definition ; absolute disgust. And it says, ‘He who justifies the wicked… is an abomination to the LORD ‘ . Travel back to ROMANS and see it. God justifies the wicked. Ever thought about that? If God is merely He can non forgive you. If God is holy, He can non fellowship with you. And it ‘s non because there is some jurisprudence above Him that forbids Him but His ain nature. If God is merely He can non forgive the wicked and the justice of all the Earth must make right. The greatest job in all of Scripture is this: If God is merely He can non forgive the wicked. It ‘s possible you say, ‘Well I do n’t understand the job ‘ – of class non.

Expression at our civilization. It ‘s non precisely a civilization of justness, is it? We ‘re non reading ancient books on jurisprudence. I doubt excessively many are reading Rutherford ‘s LEXREX, if any even know what that is ( Law of the King ) . We are a people of dirty lips. We drink down wickedness like it was H2O. We know non our left manus from our right. But here ‘s the job in modern slang.

YOU COME HOME AND UPON ENTERING, YOU SEE ALL OF YOUR FAMILY LYING ON THE FLOOR MURDERED. YOU SEE THE MURDURER AS HE CHOKES THE LAST BREATH FROM YOUR LAST FAMILY MEMBER. YOU RUSH OVER TO TACKLE HIM, RESTRAIN HIM, CALL, AND WAIT FOR THE POLICE TO SHOW. FROM THE JAIL HE IS TAKEN BEFORE A Judge WITH HIS CASE. THE JUDGE LOOKS AT THE MAN AND SAYS “ BECAUSE I AM A LOVING JUDGE, YOU ARE FREE TO GO. ”

You would shout unfairness has been done. You would reach every intelligence organisation, every media mercantile establishment, every representative and senator to state them there is a justice on the bench that is even more despicable than the felons brought before him. It is the work of a justice to make justness. We as a society can non populate under such a morally twisted strain. You demand such justness from your Judgess ; what about your God? The greatest inquiry in all of divinity is this. How can a God be merely and at the same clip be justifier of the wicked? It ‘s the greatest job in all of Scripture.

Have you of all time heard anything like that before in your life? It ‘s the really cardinal portion of the Gospel and we have lost it. And we wonder why our Gospel has so small power and we ‘ve got to make so much church growing fast ones to pull a new coevals of people in. We are non learning the Gospel any longer. It ‘s a abbreviated, credal signifier that is n’t the Gospel. The Gospel is powerful, vitalizing, unsafe, and disgraceful ; a placation. It means be merciful to me ; give me what I do n’t merit, mercy, clemency ; turn a blind oculus to justness and allow my wickedness go ; inquiring the maestro to interrupt the jurisprudence so that the servant might populate. Society can non bear that strain, and neither can the land of Eden. Before God can forgive wicked work forces and declare them right, His justness must be satisfied.

Have you of all time heard a sermonizer say, ‘God could hold been merely with you, but He was loving. ‘ Do you cognize what he ‘s stating? God ‘s love was unfair. No, God is love and God is merely. And in love, God satisfies His justness with a forfeit, a placation ; a forfeit powerful plenty to fulfill God ‘s justness to pacify God ‘s wrath against adult male and do it possible for a merely God to have wicked work forces and declare them right with Him. What sort of forfeit do we necessitate? The blood of bulls and caprine animals can non make this. A boy of Adam has sinned and a boy of Adam must decease. Man has sinned, adult male has fallen, and adult male deserves decease in snake pit, under the wrath of God for all infinity. There is merely one manner to salvage a adult male, to fulfill justness and set away that wrath. It requires a adult male, but so once more, it requires more than a adult male. The 1 that dies in the topographic point of work forces must be a boy of Adam but besides a Son of God, the comprehensiveness of divinity, and you say why.

Let ‘s expression at some grounds. Jonah in the abdomen of a fish said a really wise thing we have forgotten, ‘Salvation is of the Lord. ‘ ( Jonah 2:9 ) Redemption is of the Lord. He portions that title with no one thing or animal. The One who dies on that cross must be God because ‘Salvation is of the Lord. ‘ Who else but God could defy the wrath of God? Do n’t you know mountains crumble and rivers dry up in the presence of God? Who can defy the wrath of God and lift once more? Who can be dealt with so harshly and recapture his life? A life had to be given ; merely who though has a life to give? You? Me? A adult male who lived absolutely? Who has a life to give that was given by another? It was borrowed from God. But Jesus said I have authorization to put down my life and take it up once more. It was His alone, non giving a borrowed trade good. He was puting down his ain life for the interest of His people.

Now, how can a adult male suffer on the cross for a few hours and salvage an ageless battalion of people from snake pit? That one adult male could endure a few hours to salvage a battalion from snake pit because that one adult male was worth more than all of them set together. Take all that is and set it on the graduated table and set Christ on the other side and He outweighs them all. It is non a quantitative difference. It ‘s a qualitative difference. That is why He had to be God and how He died for us. When theologists talk about the perfect forfeit of Christ, it ‘s NOT about His impeccant flawlessness ; it ‘s about His infinite worth. He did an boundlessly great thing for us.

To go on, when you see or read or hear accounts on the cross of Christ, necessarily, what ‘s discussed? What the Jews did to Him ; His physical agony by the Romans ; the points used for anguish and the anguish itself. If you are saved, you are non saved because of what the Romans and Jews did to Jesus, non about. If you are saved, you are saved because of what God did to His ain Son on that cross. There is today a captivation of the physical agonies of Christ. It ‘s a Romantic Gospel, a Catholic one to turn Him into a sufferer to be pitied but non one time advert the bearing of wickedness and the wrath of God falling down on the caput of his Son. All those piece of lands of ours ; God on one side and we on the other with a cavity between us due to transgress ; how do you anticipate the breach to shut? Because the Romans laid a whip on His dorsum? He is on that tree and He becomes sin ; the sanctum sanctum holy one of God becomes wickedness.

“ Cursed is every adult male who does non stay by all the things written in the book of the jurisprudence to execute them. ” ( Gal 3:10 )

Cursed? It means being so despicable before a sanctum God, so nauseating before the dwellers of glorification, that the last thing that wicked adult male will hear taking his first measure into snake pit is the all of creative activity standing to its pess claping God because God rid the Earth of him. Men do n’t believe that because work forces do n’t cognize how wicked they are. And that ‘s the job with their Gospel and that ‘s why it has so small power and has to be juiced up with so many other things. All work forces are under a expletive because all work forces have violated the jurisprudence of God. But as Paul says in Gal 3:13, ‘Christ redeemed us from the expletive of the jurisprudence. ‘ And how did He make it? He became a expletive for us. John Gill said, ‘He stood in our jurisprudence topographic point and took upon himself our guilt. ‘ We drink down wickedness like it was H2O. Does a fish know that it ‘s wet? Not unless you take him out of the H2O.

Jesus, sinless, takes upon himself our wickedness, and so calls out from that tree, ‘My God My God why have You forsaken me? ‘ God did non turn his face off because he could non bear to look at his Son due to the agony inflicted by adult male. That ‘s romantic rotter and is non true. God turned away from his Son wholly because he could non look upon wickedness. His Son had become wickedness and a holy God will non even look upon such a thing. Person had to decease outside of His favourable presence to shut that breach. Christ the Messiah comes and goes to that tree. He takes your crud upon himself and he dies outside of the favourable presence of God. Outside of the metropolis as a whipping boy, the 1 who takes the transferred wickedness and is slaughtered entirely on that cross, off from the people ‘s presence, off from God ‘s presence ; the actual happening from the symbolism of the carnal forfeit.

Psalm 22 is what he gives. With verse 1, He asks why is he forsaken, why is non His moaning heard? In poetry 2, He gives a ailment, I cry by twenty-four hours and by dark and you do non reply. In verse 4, He gives an statement, There ‘s ne’er been a clip in the history of Your people that You have non turned away from a call of a righteous adult male, but I, Your ain Son, hang upon this tree, and cry out to You and You do non reply, Why? In poetry 3 and 6, He gives an reply, ‘You are holy and I am but a worm. ‘

He died under the wrath of God and separated, but allow ‘s understand what those footings mean. He ‘s in a garden and cries out, ‘Let this cup base on balls from me. ‘ WHAT WAS IN THE CUP? Men say he did n’t desire to travel to that Roman cross, did n’t desire those nails. He ‘s sudating beads of blood because he did n’t desire that Roman whip falling across His dorsum.

Let me inquire you a inquiry. Is the captain of our redemption of less bravery and less daring than those who followed Him? Is n’t it true we have a history of perchance 50 million sufferer? Is it non true that non long after His Ascension work forces went to the cross to be nailed, whipped, pitched with pitch and set aflame singing anthem with the thorax out, caput up, sword lilies to make it? Are you stating me that the captain of our redemption cowers in a garden because he ‘s afraid of a Roman cross that 1000000s of his followings died on gleefully? What sort of savior do work forces cognize?

WHAT WAS IN THE CUP? The wrath of all-powerful God was in that cup. 8 out of 10 sermonizers could non state you that, allow entirely Christians. It was the wrath of God in that cup ; anything else is heresy. I do non desire to take away anything from our Jesus ‘s physical penalty. He was adult male, and he did endure. But that entirely was non our cause for salvation and redemption. It ‘s what God did to him that saves us. Have you ne’er heard, ‘It pleased the LORD to oppress Him, ‘ ( Is 53:10 ) ? When He was on that tree, God ‘s perfect holy white hot justness was focused upon one mark on a hill, and came crashing down with full force of the sanctum hatred of God against the evil of work forces. Person had to decease under the wrath of God.

Again, here ‘s something to believe about. Work force non merely have a job with God, God has a job with work forces. If you do n’t understand that you do n’t understand the Gospel. Peoples will state, ‘I ‘ve been saved! ‘ From what? Sin. Sin was n’t after you ; wickedness was the cause of your job. From what? God has saved you for Himself, by Himself, from Himself. Because a twenty-four hours will come when He will put to death justness upon the whole of creative activity and there will be no topographic point for any adult male to conceal if he ‘s non covered by Christ ‘s blood. They will everlastingly be punished by the sanctum perfect wrath of God in snake pit without terminal and with merely cause.

You read that narrative of Abraham and Isaac, and he takes his boy atop that mountain and ties him up, lays his manus upon the forehead of Isaac ‘s caput, and with the other a knife ; gives his will over to God to come down crashing upon his male child ‘s thorax, to butcher him, his lone boy. And right when his will subject to God, his manus is stayed. You say yes that ‘s a fantastic stoping to the narrative we all know. Ending? That was n’t the stoping. That was the intermission. Hundreds of old ages subsequently, God lays his manus on the forehead of His lone begotten Son, and takes that knife out of Abraham ‘s manus, and throw ‘s it down upon the thorax of His Son and slaughter ‘s Him on that tree. I say it this manner so you will understand the dealing on that tree. God is merely. He can non warrant the wicked. Justice must be satisfied ; the wrath of God appeased ; the decease of His lone Son. Make you inquire why, possibly now, there ‘s so small power in the instruction that ‘s done? How can you acquire passionate about four religious Torahs or five things God wants you to cognize? Look at what we do. This reductionist Gospel is given and a individual walks the aisle. We advocate with them for five proceedingss and declare them saved by our ain word.

We so take them on to discipleship to travel on to greater things and we ne’er touch the Gospel with them. That ‘s a ground why a great bulk of people in church today are unconverted. I know these are difficult things, but they ‘re true. Reality bears witness to this. Christ died, crushed under the wrath of God. Let me explicate it another manner. Imagine yourself standing a mile off from a dike 1000 stat mis high and 1000 stat mis broad, filled with H2O, and all of the sudden, the dike disappears and all that H2O in its destructive force comes down upon your caput, but right before it gets to you, a hole opens up and swallows it wholly, so has Jesus saved you from the wrath of God. He did and rose for our, because of, our justification. God ‘s Resurrection of His Son is God ‘s public declaration that our wickednesss have been atoned for. It is paid.

When Christ died upon the cross He vindicated God, and when God resurrected His Son, He vindicated Him. You say, ‘What do you intend vindicated God? ‘ That ‘s the whole statement of Paul. He was to show His righteousness. Who ‘s? God. Why does God hold to turn out His righteousness? Because of this ; in the patience of God He passed over wickednesss antecedently committed. This is what it means. Imagine an accuser before God, THE Accuser before God. When he fell from heaven with the other angels, something happened there ; perfect justness was distributed, it was measured out to him. There ‘s no account needed. Imagine the Accuser in covering with God on how He ‘s dealt with work forces:

‘GOD, ADAM? THE WAGES OF SIN DEATH? YOU ‘LL EAT OF THAT TREE YOU ‘LL DIE? ADAM? YOU SHOWED MERCY! WHERE IS YOUR JUSTICE? NOAH? HE SHOULD HAVE DIED WITH THE REST OF THEM! ABRAHAM, YOUR FRIEND? SHOULD I POINT OUT HE PUT HIS WIFE IN JEOPARDY THROUGH Thinking OF HIS OWN SELF, LYING, DID NOT BELIEVE YOU IN A FEW CASES AS I REMEMBER! OH, AND DAVID? A Man AFTER YOUR OWN HEART? HE WAS AN ADULTURER AND HAD A MAN MURDERED! HE DID NOT OBEY THE LAWS OF THE KING! WHERE ‘S YOUR JUSTICE GOD? HOW CAN YOU SAVE, SPARE ADAM AT LEAST FOR A TIME? HOW CAN YOU PULL NOAH FROM A FLOOD? HOW CAN YOIU CALL ABRAHAM A FRIEND, AND DAVID A SON?

God points to that tree and He says:

BECAUSE MY SON DIED FOR THEM ALL! SO Once AND FOR ALL THE JUSTICE OF GOD IS VINDICATED.

Let me set it this manner. Sinner, do you desire to cognize what God will make to you one twenty-four hours if you reject Christ? When His ain Son dullard wickedness and God crushed Him, what do you believe He ‘s traveling to make to you? This is non the God of modern-day Christianity. This is the God of Bible. Our God is non a tame king of beasts. We need a ladder to make the top, but merely every bit significantly, we need a ladder to make the underside every bit good. Although, in our defence of Christ as divinity, we have sometimes forgotten that He was a adult male. Yes we needed a God to stand for us but we besides needed a adult male to stand for us excessively. And that adult male came, lived absolutely, died a perfect forfeit under a barbarous decease, and He rose once more. Forty yearss subsequently, He ascended up. What was it like? The old cats used to state this utilizing Psalm 24.

THE CHRIST THE MAN STANDS BEFORE THE GATES OF GLORY. HE CRIES OUT, ‘LIFT UP YOUR HEAD O ‘ GATES AND BE LIFTED UP O ‘ ANCIENT DOORS, THAT THE KING OF GLORY MAY COME IN. AND FROM INSIDE THOSE DOORS THERE IS SUCH A SHOCK, AND YOU HEAR THIS ANSWER IN REPLY, ‘WHO IS THIS KING OF GLORY? ‘ IT ‘S AS THOUGH THEY ARE SAYING NO MAN HAS Ever MADE IT TO THESE DOORS. NO MAN HAS EVER DARED STRETCH FORTH HIS HAND TO TOUCH THE LATCH OF THIS GATE. WHO IS THIS KING OF GLORY? AND THEN CHRIST CRIES OUT, ‘THE LORD STRONG AND MIGHTY IN BATTLE, LIFT UP YOUR HEAD O ‘ GATES AND BE LIFTED UP O ‘ ANCIENT DOORS THAT THE KING OF GLORY MAY COME IN.

And for the first clip in all of clip, the Gatess of Eden were opened to a adult male, a adult male for us ; what was it like? All hail the power of Jesus ‘ name. Let angels ‘ prostrate autumn. Bring forth the royal crown and coronate Him Lord of all!

Can you conceive of the adult male, in flesh, walking up to the throne of God, and without one vacillation or uncertainty, taking each measure with a greater step of glorification and sitting down at the right manus of His Father. And His Father with an avowal expression at Him and state, ‘Son, it is finished. ‘ ‘Father, it is finished, so! ‘ Christ entirely is Lord and Savior by God ‘s edict. Man ca n’t do Him Lord. Man ca n’t do anything but an graven image. God has made this Jesus Lord and Christ. This same Jesus that ascended up will come back down in glorification and power to deliver a bride for Himself and to judge the states with a rod of Fe. Make you see it now?

A message like this requires more than a simple credal inquiry, now would you like to inquire Jesus into your bosom. That is NOT the Gospel call. The Gospel is stolen from work forces when humanistic methodological analysis supplants it. The confidence that you ‘ve genuinely believed is non because some leader went to you popishly and declared now you are saved. The confidence will be the digesting work of God in your life. Fruit will come or you are non saved. The Gospel is the aroma of life to some and the odor of decease to others.

“ The clip is fulfilled, and the land of God is at manus ; repent and believe in the Gospel. ”