wagers - sermons 7

Pastor Steve N. Wagers

A college professor, an avowed Atheist, was teaching his class. He shocked several of his students when he flatly stated he was going to prove there was no God. Addressing the ceiling he shouted: "God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you 15 minutes!"

The lecture room fell silent. You could have heard a pin fall. Ten minutes went by. Again he taunted God, saying, "Here I am, God. I'm still waiting." His countdown got down to the last couple of minutes when a Marine - just released from active duty and newly registered in the class - walked up to the professor, hit him full force, and sent him tumbling from his lofty platform. The professor was out cold!

At first, the students were shocked and babbled on in confusion. The young Marine took a seat in the front row and sat silent. The class fell silent...waiting. Eventually, the professor came to, shaken. He looked at the young Marine in the front row. When the professor regained his senses and could speak he asked: "What's the matter with you? Why did you do that?" "God was busy...He sent me."

"Disregard the study of God and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul."

When we express our thanks, most often than not it is to for the things which God does. We are thankful for the visible, what we can see; and, not for the invisible, WHO we can’t see.

Yet, more than we should be thankful for what God does, we should most thankful for WHO GOD IS.

1. His SUPREME PREEMINENCE!

Yet, the God of the Bible that the universe cannot contain Him; yet, He is so small that He can live within our hearts.

“I have lived a long time, and I am ever more convinced that God governs the affairs of men.”

Daniel 4: 25, “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.”

Proverbs 21: 1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithsoever He will.”

Because of His supreme preeminence, we can rest assured that nothing can happen apart from:

Whatever happens must first be sifted through the Sovereign fingers of Almighty God.

“God may not will every circumstance, but He has a will FOR every circumstance.”

God’s will is for all men to go to Heaven, yet millions will go to hell. God doesn’t desire it, and He didn’t design it; but, if it happens, He must allow it.

“The heavens declares his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.”

Proverbs 15: 3, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”

Matthew 5: 45, “He maketh His sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

There is no plan B in Heaven, because plan A works every time as far as God is concerned.

[v. 2] “Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.”

Lady once asked me, “Pastor, where was God the day my son was killed?” I said, “He was the same place He was the day His Son was killed. He was still on the throne, still in charge and nothing out of His sight.”

F. B. Meyer, "As the brook hides the footprints which are imprinted on its soft ooze, so are God's footprints hidden. We cannot detect his great and wonderful secrets. He marches through the ages with steps we cannot track.”

God’s ways are marvelous, miraculous and mysterious. We cannot see them, we may not know them, and we will not understand them.

I understand my wife better than I understand God; and, I don’t always understand my wife!

2. His SOVEREIGN POWER!

We know that God is all-powerful (omnipotent), but the Psalmist speaks of God’s power as it relates to God’s people.

The indication is that if we love the Lord, then we will hate sin. God will give us the power to “hate evil.”

A group of fraternity fellows pulled a college prank. They stole a goat, which was the college mascot and placed it in the boys’ dorm. One boy, fearful that they would be found out asked, “What about the smell?” The fraternity head said, “The goat will have to get used to it!”

Many Christians have “gotten used” to sin. But, God never saved us in our sin, but FROM our sin.

God’s past occupation was to pardon us, but His present occupation is to PRESEVE us.

Thus, if a man could be able to lose salvation, it would not be a failure on man’s part, but on God’s part.

Aren’t you glad to know that God is building a hedge of protection around us? He is protecting us from self, from sin and from Satan.

3. His SPECIAL PROVISION!

2 things God has given to His people that He hasn’t given to anyone else: LIGHT & LAUGHTER!

His Word is to become a “lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path.”

Man visited Metropolitan Tabernacle and wrote Spurgeon a letter after his visit. In his letter he said, “He was convinced that it wasn’t a Baptist church. For one thing, the crowd was too large; and, for another thing, the people seemed so happy.” He said, “When I watched the joy on their faces, I knew that these people did not recognize the depravity of their own heart, else they would not have been so happy.”

Yet, it is because I know the depravity of my heart, where I was and what I was before God saved me that makes me happy.

Someone who is guided by the Lord will be glad in the Lord. A person who truly knows God will be a healthy person, a holy person, and a HAPPY person.

After all that God is to us, and after all that God has done for us, we should have no problem being grateful for the Lord.

[v. 12] “Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.”

We should thank God for God. We should be grateful for His preeminence, His power and His provision.

C. L. Brenner was a renowned atheist who worked with Madelyn Murray O’Hare for a number of years. One day, through gospel tract, he was brought under conviction and gave his heart to Christ.

“I spent more than half of my life attempting to prove that God did not exist. Yet, in that journey, I only proved that God did exist even more. I do not know everything about God, but what I do know has radically changed my life.”

I once heard the story a about a construction worker named Johnny. He was working with a crew that working downtown on a building. One day, the pastor of a large church just a few blocks from the construction site, walked into the sanctuary of the church. There sat a construction worker in his dirty clothes and hardhat.

The pastor walked up to him asked and if he could help him. The fellow said, "Mister, I ain’t ever been in church like this. I was raised back up here in the mountains and we didn't have any churches like this. Anyway, Ma and Pa never took me to church. This is my dinner hour and I just wanted to come and see what a church like this looks like." The pastor asked him his name and he said, "My name is Johnny, Sir."

The pastor said, "Well, Johnny, you just look around." The pastor told him a little about the church and then Johnny said, "Mister, can you tell me something about your God?" The pastor began to tell him about the Lord. After a little while Johnny looked at his watch and said it was time to get back to work, but wanted to know if he could come back again and talk some more. For several days, during his lunchtime, Johnny came back and talked to the preacher about the Lord. One day Johnny bowed his head and asked the Lord to save him.

He asked the preacher, "Do you mind if I come over here during my lunchtime? It only takes me about ten or fifteen minutes to eat, and I would like to just come over and talk to the Lord." The pastor said it would be fine, and for weeks he come by and spend his lunchtime in the church auditorium.

One day the pastor was in the auditorium when Johnny came in. He didn't see the pastor. He walked down front, took off his hardhat, and then knelt in the altar. He was an uneducated and unlettered person that didn't know how to pray all those fancy prayers such as, "Thou great Jehovah, Thou who scooped out the valley and piled up the mountains," etc. He got on his knees and began to pray, "Jesus, this is Johnny. Don't want a thing today. Lord, I just wanted to tell you that I love you and thank you for saving me. Lord, you know how much I love you. I can't thank you enough for saving me. Lord, I've got to get back to work now, but thank you again for saving me."

If God never did another thing for us, we would still have reason to not only thank Him for what He’s already done, but we would have to Thank Him for being Him!

I say, “Thank God for God!”

4) He was Rewarded with Festivity

William J. Kirkpatrick began his song writing ministry when he was a fife major to the 91^st Regiment P.V. with the Union army in the Civil War. But, it was not until after the death of his first wife in 1878 was he able to devote himself full time to his great love. William wrote the tunes to many favorite hymns: "Jesus Saves, “"'Tis Sweet to Trust in Jesus," "Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It," and "He Hideth My Soul."

However, one of his most famous hymns was written to express his desire to see souls saved, and changed by the power of Christ. In his later years, he became a much-requested song leader at camp meetings.

In one of the meetings, a soloist had been hired to provide the special music. He had a magnificent voice, and was able to put tremendous expression into the music he sang. However, William noticed that the young man always left after he finished singing, and never stayed to hear the sermon.

Afraid that the soloist was not a Christian, William knelt in his tent and prayed long and earnestly for his soul. As he prayed, some words began to form in his mind. He wrote them down and set them to a haunting tune.

That evening, William handed the newly-written words and tune to the soloist. Visibly moved after he had sung them, the man stayed for the sermon, went to the altar that night and gave his heart to Christ. The song became a popular invitation hymn in evangelical services, winning many others beside the man it was written for.

It was these words, written by William J. Kirkpatrick, that the Holy Spirit used to bring salvation to a lost soul:

I've wandered far away from God
Now, I'm coming home
The paths of sin too long I've trod
Lord, I'm coming home.

The story of the prodigal son is a perfect fit to the great hymn, “Lord, I’m Coming Home.” At the end of the day, there was a homecoming all because of his coming home.

I recently read of two men who were enjoying a luncheon together. One of the men was an established business man, whose wealth launched into the millions. The other was a young, ambitious businessman.

The wealthy man, however, had a son in prison for drugs. As they talked, the young man looked to the older tycoon and said, “You’re so successful. I would give the world to have what you have.” Without any hesitation, the older millionaire replied, ‘Son, I’d gladly give it all up today if my son were right with God!”

I’m sure that there are many, in this room that has loved ones that are not right with God. And if the truth be told, you would give anything, or do anything to see that husband, wife, son, or daughter come home to Jesus.

Luke 15 is a wonderful example of a loved coming home. The verses do not tell 3 different parables, but 1 parable which gives 3 different pictures. However, they each comprise the same purpose. One picture is of a lost sheep; another picture is of a lost silver; and, the other picture is of a lost son.

The theme is that something which is lost must be found. Thus, these 3 pictures explain to us how God views the glorious work of salvation.

God sees salvation as a shepherd, who leaves the ninety-and-nine, to go after one lost sheep. God sees salvation as a woman who moves heaven and earth to find a lost silver in her home. And God sees salvation as a lost son coming home to where he belongs.

Landrum P. Leavell said of the story, “It perfectly describes the inexpressible joy that comes to the heart of God through finding, or recovering a lost sinner, and restoring that one to Himself.” [1]

Jesus told this parable in response to the criticism of the Pharisees in verse 2, when they accused Him by saying, “This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.”

Jesus responds, to their religious hierarchy and hypocrisy, by telling the parable of the lost sheep, the lost silver and the lost son. It is the lost son that I draw your attention to today for our Homecoming service, because we see that there was a homecoming due to the son’s coming home.

The father, in this story, had “two sons.” All that we know of these “two sons” is that the younger brother is a sinner, and the elder brother is self-righteous.

One day, the youngest son decided he had had enough of the rules, regulations, and restrictions of living at home, under his father’s roof. Thus, we watch him as a wayward son who goes out from his father’s care.

I can just picture the boy as he goes into the living room, he walks up to his father, and we see two interesting things. First, is:

The young boy walks in, filled with pride and arrogance, his chest held out, and in verse 12, lets his selfish request known. We read that, “The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.”

Apparently, the father did not put up a fight, because we read that, “he divided unto them his living.” At the death of the father, the Jewish law allotted ½ as much to the younger son as to the elder, the equivalent of 1/3 of the total estate. [2]

However, this young renegade could not wait until his father’s death, because he wanted it now. Perhaps he thought he deserved it, or had it coming to him, but whatever the case, he presented his selfish request.

Instead of dedication, there was demand. "Give me." Instead of loyalty there was lust. "Give me." Instead of surrender there was selfishness. "Give me." He wanted what he wanted, and he wanted it when he wanted it.

However, I want you to notice a couple of things about his selfish request. First, notice where it took him. The father agrees to give the son the “portion” of his “living,” or inheritance.

Then, the wayward one takes off, suitcase in arm, and in verse 13, “not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country.”

A. T. Robertson suggests that the phrase, “took his journey,” implies that the boy “burned all of his bridges behind him.” [3] In other words, he never looked back for a moment, because at this moment, it was all about him.

It took him to a “far country.” The word “far” is the Greek word makros. It is used to speak of space or time. In other words, the boy apparently went some where that was a fair distance from his home.

However, he could have gone just a few hundred feet down the road, and that would have been a “far country.” The space, time or distance wasn’t important, because no matter where, or how far the boy went, he was still away from the father’s home. Thus, in that regard, anywhere would have been a “far country.”

Perhaps today, you’re not an out-and-out sinner, guilty of murder, robbery, adultery, or theft. In fact, you may be a pretty good “old Joe,” but you are not where you need to be with God. Thus, you are living in a “far country.”

The “far country” is the place where you have society without the Savior, pleasure without prayer, self-indulgence without self-control. It is the place where you indulge in the material and ignore the spiritual, where you stuff your stomach but starve your soul, that place which leads to a dead-end road called "Emptiness."

If you are not saved, you are living in a “far country.” If you are saved, but not living in fellowship with God, you are living in a “far country.” The “far country” is where it took this boy, and where it takes us as well.

Because of where it took him, we see what it cost him. The young boy gets what he has asked for. The father grants his request for his “portion of goods,” but it took him farther than he wanted to go, and cost him more than he wanted to pay.

We read in verse 13, that when he arrived in the “far country,” it became the place where he “wasted his substance with riotous living.” The word “riotous” speaks of living dissolutely, or profligately. Phillips translates it, “he squandered his money in the wildest extravagance.”

In other words, he just started throwing his money around on anything, and everything that afforded him a good time.

Apparently, the boy’s pockets had holes in them, because we read in verse 14, “And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.” The money stopped, but the misery had only begun.

No doubt, this young boy thought that when he finally got out from under the rules of the house that he was going to live in freedom. But, ironically enough, what this boy thought was freedom, was actually slavery of the worst kind.

He had become a moral and physical outcast. He had debauched himself, as well as his wealth. Thus, he began to be in want, because he had wasted his time, talents and treasures on what he wanted, because he possessed the Frank Sinatra philosophy, “I Did It My Way.”

August Van Ryn says, “Here is the story, graphically told by our Lord, of millions of human lives: from wealth to waste to want to woe.” [4]

Where did his request take him? To a “country” “far” away from his loving father. What did his request cost him? It cost him much more than money; it cost him misery.

Paul Lawrence Dunbar wrote the autobiography of many sinners in these poetic words:

Yet, ladies and gentlemen, that is always where sin takes us, and what sin costs us. There is “pleasure in sin for a season,” because if sin wasn’t fun, or enjoyable, it would never be attractive, appealing, and alluring.

But, many forget that while sin may carry a wholesale price, it always ends up in a retail cost. When we sin, we always pay more than we bargain for. It always takes us farther than we want to go, costs us more than we want to pay; and, makes us stay longer than we want to stay.

The boy’s money runs out due to his profligate spending. As a result, a boy who left home with everything is now far away from home with nothing.

He goes to the unemployment office and finds work with a farmer in the “far country” who, in verse 15, “sent him into his fields to feed swine.”

Before long, the young boy went from feeding the swine to wanting to be fed like the swine. In verse 16, “he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.”

The husks were only the shell without the kernel. It was the covering without the contents. What a sad ruin! Here is boy who had left home dressed up in his best togs, only to go to the dogs and wind up with the hogs! He was to the point that even the gristles in the hog slop would have been a tasty meal for him.

This was the ultimate degradation for a Jew, because Jewish regulations made any form of swine defiling and unclean. To this day, a devout Jew looks upon pork as something that is forbidden, and totally unclean.

Yet, we find this boy at the very place where a Jew would dare never go, intentionally or unintentionally. The pig pen was a place of defilement, degradation and desperation. This was all because of his foolish and selfish request.

Yet is that not a perfect picture of what sin is, and what sin does? In fact, companies have finally figured this out in relation to how they advertise their products.

That’s why the beer commercial shows the most beautiful women, scantily clad, holding a foaming glass of beer. But, they never show you the back side of the picture which reveals a man who has lost it all to his own sensual and sinful appetite for more.

Perhaps you may be one of the ones who thinks, “Preacher, you don’t understand, it’s just a little thing that doesn’t hurt anybody. I can handle it.” But, my question to you is, “Can it handle you?” The answer is, “No,” because it holds the winning hand, and will ultimately win the game.

The story is told of a famous smith, in Medieval times, that was taken prisoner and held in a dungeon. He began to examine the chain that bound thinking that he would find a flaw that would make it easy for him to break it. As he studied it, he discovered that the chain was a piece of his own work. For years he had boasted how that no one could ever break a chain that he had made. However, now, he found himself bound by his own work.

Sin fascinates, but it frustrates; sin thrills, but it tortures; it woos, but it wounds. It hums at first like a humming bird, but it pains at last like a hornet. All sin's cisterns are broken, and they hold no water. All sin's flowers hold the worm, the canker, and the grief.

What a tragic picture of this prodigal, as well as millions of people still today. Secondly, I want you to notice that the wayward one goes out; and, then:

Get the picture. Here is a young boy who began as a prince, but has become a pauper. He started the day with promise, but ends the day in pity. Living at home, he possesses dignity; but leaving from home, he possesses defilement, degradation and disgrace.

He doesn’t make an appointment to see a counselor, because apparently he holds a counseling session with himself. As a result, the wayward one who had gone out becomes the wounded one who has given up.

I love the opening words of verse 17, “And when he came to himself.” In other words, reality sets in on a boy who looks around and finds himself in the very place he never thought he would end up; a pig pen of all places.

Once he recognizes where is, he then remembers, reflects and recalls where he used to be. “He said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”

He remembers how much food was available at his father’s house; he reflects on how good the food used to taste; and, he recalls that, after the servants had served the food, they were able to eat themselves.

Yet, here he is in a hog pen. Once, the servants served him; now, he is serving another man’s hogs. What a contrast to what he had to what he has now.

In his work, “Christian Element in Plato,” Ackerman stated that the great mind, Plato, believed that “redemption was coming to oneself.” If that is what he truly believed, I am in full agreement with him.

You see a person must become lost before they will ever be saved. A person must become helpless in order to receive help. A person must become hopeless in order to receive hope. A person must become desperate before they can be delivered.

I well remember the Saturday morning when I “came to myself.” A preacher’s kid, who thought he had the world by the tail, but I finally realized that I was as lost as ball in tall grass; and, that I could not get to Heaven because my parents were Baptist. But, if I wanted to go to Heaven, I had to become a BELIEVER!

I always knew that I wasn’t saved, so every time that I got in trouble, I would walk the aisle, cry crocodile tears and think that everything was all right. I made so many professions of faith, and was baptized so many times that the tadpoles knew my Social Security number, but I was still lost.

However, that morning, reality set in and I “came to myself.” Because of my upbringing, I was well versed in the Bible. That morning, I knew what the Bible said, but I got it down anyway. I opened it to Romans 10: 9 and God said to me, “If you will, I will; so I DID AND HE DID!

I got saved, because I “came to myself;” and, if you get saved, it will because you “came to yourself,” and realize that Hell is hot for sinners, Heaven is sweet for saints, and Jesus will save your soul.

The boy began the day full of pride, but he ends the day full of pity. He started out high, but he ended up humble. Once the reality of his condition set in, humility over his condition took over.

We read his humble confession in verses 18-19, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, ¹⁹ And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”

Once and for all, he recognizes where his sin took him and what his sin cost him. He began up-and-out, but ended up out-and-out. He sees his own pitiful condition, and admits that the high servants once beneath him, are now far above him.

My dad used to say that, “God does business with honest and humble people.” If that be true, then business is about to pick up, because we not only watch as the wayward one goes out, and the wounded one gives up; but:

Reality has set in. Humility has taken over. The boy remembers that things weren’t so bad back home, so in verse 20, “he arose, and came to his father.”

I don’t know if the pig pen confession was a rehearsal or not, but, in verse 21, we hear him say the same thing to his father he had said to himself, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.”

The wayward one who had gone out and the wounded one who had given up becomes the welcomed one who had gotten back. Notice how:

The scene changes from the son to the father. We read, in verse 20, “And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him.”

The indication is that the father anticipated his son’s return. The word “saw” is the Greek word oida, which means, “To know by perception.” In other words, the father perceived, or anticipated the son’s arrival.

I can just see the boy as he staggers up the road. His hair is uncut, his face is unshaven, and his clothes reek beyond compare. The father would go and stand on the porch every morning when he got up, and every night before he went to bed in hopes that the son might be walking up the path.

However, this particular day, the flower of hope begins to bloom in the father’s heart. As a result, the father looked for him. “When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him.” Finally, the one for which he had looked so far, had come home.

Then, the father leaped toward him. He “had compassion, and ran.” The father, in this story, is a wonderful of God. Thus, what we have is the only time in the Bible where God ever got in a hurry. He, in the character of the father, “ran” to welcome a wayward boy back home.

After he looked for him and leaped toward him, the father lunged at him. He “fell on his neck.” The uncut hair, the unshaven face and the unbearable smell didn’t matter to a loving father.

Finally, after he looked for him, leaped toward him, and lunged at him, the father loved on him. We read that he “kissed him.” The word “kissed” is the Greek word kataphileo, which means, “To kiss fervently.” In other words, the father kissed him, kissed him again, and kept kissing him over and over.

Yet, that is exactly how God Himself reacts to a lost soul that comes home. He is looking for you, waiting on you to come. He will leap toward you, lunge at you, and then love on you, kissing you with the sweet kisses of forgiveness and grace, over and over again.

Once the son arrived at home, and once the father composes himself, IT’S PARTY TIME! The son asked to be treated not like a son, but like a servant. But, the father had something different in mind.

We read in verses 22-24, “But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: [23] And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: [24] For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”

There was no remembrance, rehearsal, or recital of the sins the son had committed. Not a word of denunciation, condemnation, or exasperation over the life he had lived. All that mattered was that the one that was “lost” had been “found and that called for a celebration.

As a result, he was robed with forgiveness. In the Bible, robes are used to speak of righteousness. It pictures acceptance and standing. Yet, the father doesn’t simply ask for a robe, but the “best robe.” Not the first robe you find, but the first in rank and value, the finest in the house.

Once he was robed with forgiveness, he was ringed with favor. In Bible days, a ring was given as a pledge of love and loyalty, fidelity and favor. A ring identified that the recipient was a part of the favor of the giver.

Since the ring was circular, it revealed unending love and favor. The ring said, “I don’t care what you have done, or what you will ever do, you will never get beyond my love.”

He was robed with forgiveness, he was ringed with favor; and, then, he was reshod with fellowship. By putting “shoes on his feet,” the father rebutted the son’s request to be a servant, because servants were barefoot and possessed no shoes. Shoes were only given to those who belonged to the house.

Finally, after he was robed with forgiveness, ringed with favor and reshod with fellowship; he was rewarded with festivity. The “calf” was kept “fatted” for festive occasions.

Other than Genesis 18, when Abraham had lunch with God and killed the fatted calf; this is the only time it is mentioned. The “fatted calf” indicated that the Redemptive father and the repentant sinner were going to sit down and eat the same food.

Yet, ladies and gentlemen that is exactly what God does for us when we come home to Him. First, he robes us with fellowship. Our righteousness is nothing more than “filthy rags;” but, when we give our heart to Christ we are suddenly robed, not with just any robe, but the BEST robe, and “made the righteousness of God in Him.”

Then, he rings us with favor. Once we are saved, he seals us with the “Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance.” In other words, the ring of the Holy Spirit’s favor guarantees a home in Heaven, as well as reminds us that, no matter where we go, or what we do, we can never outrun God’s love.

Then, he reshods us fellowship. We who were once sinners that “walked according to the course of this world,” and deserve to be in hell with our back broke, are equipped with our “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”

Our new shoes identify that we are no longer servants, but sons; and, “if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.”

Finally, after he robes us with forgiveness, rings us with favor, and reshods us with fellowship; He rewards us with festivity. We who deserve to live on the devil’s scrap pile are able to put our feet under His table today; and, we will put our feet under His table one day when the Bride and the Bridegroom sit down at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Hallelujah to God, I’ve been robed with forgiveness, ringed with favor, reshod with fellowship and rewarded with festivity. I couldn’t go to hell if I wanted to, because I’m Heaven bound with the hammer down, all because of the day that I came home.

I love the old story of a wealthy man who had only one son, who he loved dearly. The wealthy man was interested in collecting expensive and rare pieces of art. He taught his son to love art as well, and together they began to collect some of the most exquisite pieces of art in the world.

A war broke out and the son was called away to fight. After a few months, the father received the word that his son was missing in action, and not long after that his son had been killed. The father's heart was shattered. He had accumulated all of these treasures, but none of them could compare to his only son.

One day, a knock came to the father's door. As he opened the door he saw a soldier, in full uniform. The soldier said, "Sir, I was a good friend of your son. I want you to know that he died trying to save the lives of other people. I am not an artist, but I painted a picture of your son just before he died, and I wanted to give it to you." The father was overjoyed. He had seen better, more quality work, but none of that mattered, because this was a portrait of his son.

The father took the painting and put it over the mantle in his home, in the midst of millions of dollars worth of art. In time, the old man died. Invitations were sent to come to an auction of the old man's art collection.

Many came from around the world to bid on these rare items. As the auction opened the auctioneer started off with the painting of the old man's son. Many of the famous art collectors shouted, "That isn't worth anything. It's the worst painting I've ever seen. We came to see 'real' art. Let's get to the good stuff."

The auctioneer stated that the stipulation of the father's will was that the painting of the son was to be sold first. They started the bidding at $100, but no bids. Then $50, but no bids. Finally, the bidding went to $10, and one of the old man's servants, in the back, said, "I'll give $10 for the painting."

Suddenly, the auctioneer lowered his gavel and shouted, "This auction is officially over!" Cries came back from the crowd, "What do you mean this auction is over?" The auctioneer then informed them that, according to the will of the Father, "WHOEVER GET THE SON, GET’S IT ALL!"

I came to Him a sinner, but He made me a saint. I came to Him a pauper, but He made me a prince. I came to Him a child of the devil, but He made me a child of God. I came to Him in a famine, but He gave me a feast.

I came to Him with grief, but He filled me with glory. I came to Him in humiliation, but He threw me a celebration. I came to Him a beggar, but He made me a believer. I came to Him a victim, but He made me a Victor. I came to Him fallen, but I left Him fixed.

I came to Him corrupted, but He made me converted. I came to Him with Him nothing, but He gave me everything. I came to Him on my way to Hell, but He put me on the road to Heaven.

He robed me with forgiveness, He ringed with favor, He reshod me with fellowship; and, He rewarded me with festivity that I will enjoy while the ages roll.

He did it for me, and He will do it for you, if you will only “come to yourself” and say:

I've wandered far away from God
Now, I'm coming home
The paths of sin too long I've trod
Lord, I'm coming home.

Lord, I'm coming home.

4) Meditations in Luke, August Van Ryn, pg. 133.

5) “Payday Someday,” Sermon by R. G. Lee, pg. 41.

National Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem

b) The Turning Back to His Elect

The history of the nation of Israel and the Jewish people is an old as the foreknowledge of God Himself. God determined in eternity past to “elect” these people as His people, the people of God. It is a thread that runs straight through the eye of the needle of the Bible.

However, as far as modern history goes, the nation of Israel reappeared at 6: 01 p.m., May 15, 1948. The news reached the desk of President Harry Truman who proclaimed:

“This government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine, and recognition has been requested by the provisional government thereof. The United States recognizes the provisional government as the defacto authority of the New State of Israel.” [1]

Yet, 58 years later, Anti-Semitism is the blood that runs through the veins of Muslims, Islamic extremists, and even many Christians. However, the idea of a “Christian anti-Semite” is an oxymoron, and absolute contradiction in terms.

Anti-Semitism is a synonym for “hated of the Jews.” Christian is a synonym for love. A person who claims to be a Christian anti-Semite is a person who is spiritually dead; whose hatred for God’s own people has strangled the neck of their faith.

Derek Prince writes, "Almost limitless understanding, ignorance and distortion have pervaded the church for many centuries concerning the identity of Israel, yet the statements in the Bible regarding Israel are so clear. Nevertheless, a Christian who has no particular love for the Jew and Israel is 'deficient' and 'incomplete.'

I want us to find an answer to the question, “Is God Through with the Jew.” In order to that, we must consider several things. First, when we consider the Jewish nation, we must examine:

It is a miracle that Jewish people still exist today. After thousands of years of persecution, there should be none left. Their severe persecution fell at the hands of men like Pharaoh, Haman, leading up to people like Hitler, Hussein, Bin Laden, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, who is a modern day Haman from the book of Esther.

When did the doctrine of hatred toward the Jewish people begin? How, that within 300 years, could the church inspired by a Jewish rabbi and his 12 Jewish disciples begin to kill Jews as a matter of protocol?

It is traced all the way back to the year A. D. 70. Following the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Christ, for the most part, many Jewish and Gentile believers continued to worship together in harmony.

When Titus marched from Rome, in A. D. 70, he laid siege to the city of Jerusalem for months, crippling and eventually destroying the Holy City. Jerusalem was left in ruins, including the center of its faith, the Temple. The massive stones were crushed into rubble, leaving only a portion of the Western Wall, which became known to the Gentiles as the “Wailing Wall,” because of the deep mourning of the Jewish people at the loss of their Temple.

More than 1 million Jews died during the Roman siege of Jerusalem, most by starvation. The majority of the remaining 97,000 Jews were taken back to Rome, where many were crucified on Roman crosses while their wives and children were forced to watch. Some were martyred in stadium, and 70,000 of them were enslaved, and forced to build the Roman Colosseum. [2]

Many Gentiles, however, fled Jerusalem for the nearby city of Pella to escape the attack, while the Jews remained behind. The Jews saw the Gentile exodus as a betrayal, and a breach began that has never been repaired.

The displacement, or separation, of Jews and Gentiles became official early in the 4^th century, when the emperor Constantine “Christianized” the Roman Empire.

In one swing of his pen, in one day, Constantine made Rome’s version of Christianity the official state religion. But, it was a religion of full idolatry because of pagan influence.

It was known in history as the mother-child cut, and in ancient Israel as Baal worship, which was introduced by Jezebel.

The displacement, or as the Bible terms it the “diaspora” (scattering, dispersed) caused many from the 10 Northern tribes to be lost, a tragedy that has only begun to be resolved within the last few years.

What the Jews saw as Gentile betrayal and isolation created a wound that only deepened with the years of mistreatment at the hands of many of the early church fathers. Instead of driving the Jewish people to jealousy, the Church has simply driven them away.

Justin Martyr was one of the first to accuse the Jews of inciting to kill Christians.

Eusebius alleged that Jews engaged in ceremonial killing of Christian children each year at Purim.

St. John Chrysostom said that there could never be expiation for the Jews and that God had always hated them. He said that it was "incumbent on all Christians to hate the Jews, because they were assassins of Christ, and worshippers of the devil."

Jerome, translator of the Vulgate, sought to prove that Jews are incapable of understanding the Scriptures and that they should be "severely persecuted until they confess the "true faith."

Augustine said that the "true image of the Jew was Judas Iscariot, forever guilty and spiritually ignorant.” He declared that Jews, “for their own good and the good of society, must be relegated to the position of slaves.”

Thomas Aquinas picked up on Augustine's belief and demanded that Jews be called to "perpetual servitude." He believed that "because of their sin against Christ, the Jews rightly deserved death. Yet, as with Cain, “they are not to die...for they are doomed to wander the earth.”

The perfection of Christian hated of the Jews eventually gave birth to the Dark Ages and the Crusades. During the 1^st Crusade to the Holy Land, in 1096, the crusading armies, called the Knights of the Cross, left a trail of Jewish blood across Europe. Within a 6-month period, more than 10,000 Jews were slaughtered, that equals up to 1/3 of the Jewish population of Germany and France.

The Crusaders herded Jews into the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem. When they were securely inside the locked doors, the synagogue was set of fire. The misguided Crusaders, with the lies of perverted sermons fresh in their ears, sang as they marched around the blaze, "Christ, We Adore Thee!"

The Fourth Lateran Council met in November 1215. It gave a formal declaration supporting the “oppressive, violent conduct of the Roman church toward the Jews in prior centuries.” The Council declared that all Jews must “wear the badge of shame,” out of concern that Christians and Jews would enter into sexual relationship. The Church fathers forced the Jews to wear distinctive clothing that would make them recognizable.

This was a practice continued by Hitler’s reign of terror when he forced the Jews to wear the “yellow badge,” a Star of David emblem, to make any Jewish person recognizable, thereby targeting them for abuse and execution.

When Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Thesis to the door of the Castle Church at Wittenburg, Germany on October 31, 1517, he was convinced that many Jewish people would eagerly follow this new brand of Christianity, and would join his attack on the Catholic Church.

But, when the Jews did not join him, Luther turned on them with a vulgarity and vengeance that would eventually provide many suitable texts for Hitter’s program of extermination. Luther wrote, “What then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of Jews? We must prayerfully and reverentially practice a merciful severity against them. Their synagogues should be set on fire, and whatever does not burn up should be covered, or spread over with dirty so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder stone of it. And this ought to be done for the honor of God, and of Christianity in order that God may see that we are Christians.”

Then came Adolf Hitler. In his hatred of the Jewish people, Hitler quoted the Bible, chapter and verse, to seek to justify his attack upon them. He wrote in Mein Kampf, "I am only continuing the work of the Church. Hence, today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the Almighty Creator; by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." [3]

As a result, 1/3 of European Jews were choked to death on Zyklon B gas, a cyanide-based insecticide; many were slaughtered in open pits with their nude bodies piled in heaps.

Yet, their mistreatment continues even today. In an United Nations speech on June 3, 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated the Lebanese and Palestinian had pressed a “countdown button to bring an end to the Zionist regime.” He went on to say, “By God’s will, we will witness the extermination and destruction of this regime in the near future.” [4]

By the way, the reason that the book of Esther is so relative to today is because that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is our modern day Haman, out for the extermination of the Jewish people.

For thousands of years, they have been a people severely despised, even at the hands of Christians.

Through their inhumane displacement and mistreatment, it is wonder that many Jews are still alive today. Yet, in Jeremiah 31: 35-36, God said, “as long as there is a sun and moon and stars, and the Heavens cannot be measured, the seed of Israel will remain.”

In other words, God loves Israel. They are the “apple of His eye.” They are a people supremely desired by God for 2 divine reasons. One, is because of:

In Genesis 12: 3, God gave a covenant to Abraham. God’s covenant to Abraham was, “I will bless them that bless thee, I will curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

That is more than just a promise or a vow, IT IS A COVENANT! The Hebrew word for “covenant” is berith. It literally means, “A contract, a will, a testament, or a bond.”

A berith, or a covenant in Scripture can never be revoked, replaced, altered, or annulled. A new covenant can enhance an old covenant, but it can never replace it.

God gave His berith, His covenant to Abraham in Genesis 12, but He guaranteed that covenant in Genesis 15.

There are 3 types of covenant in the Bible. There is a salt covenant, which symbolizes preservation; God gave this covenant to David, in 2 Chron. 13: 5 regarding the throne of Israel.

There is a sandal covenant, which is identified in Ruth 4: 7-8, where Boaz “drew off his shoe” to buy a piece. A sandal covenant was a token given to guarantee a transaction.

But, the third type of covenant was a blood covenant. When 2 people wanted to close a deal they would sacrifices and divide them evenly on the left and the right. Then, the 2 parties would walk down through the midst of those sacrifices confirming, guaranteeing, or sealing their berith, or covenant with blood.

In Hebrews 6: 17, we’re told that once God gave His covenant to Abraham, He “confirmed it by an oath.” Then, we’re told that there are “two immutable things,” which make it “impossible for God to lie.” What are those 2 things? They are the God’s counsel and His covenant.

In verse 13, we read, “For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.”

In Genesis 15, God told Abraham to take sacrifices and “divide them in the midst, and lay each piece one against another.” Then, as the sun was setting, a deep sleep came upon Abraham. While Abraham was sleeping, God came walking down through the midst of those sacrifices.

Why? God was guaranteeing the covenant He had made with Abraham by the means of blood. He “could swear by no greater,” so, “he sware by himself.”

It is a doubly-binding covenant, because by “two immutable things” He “confirmed it by an oath.” Romans 11: 29 tells us that, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

In other words, the berith, or covenant God gave and guaranteed with Abraham is irrevocable, irreplaceable and irreversible.

What is the covenant God guaranteed? “I will bless them that bless thee; I will curse him that curseth thee.”

That covenant guarantees a marvelous blessing. “I will bless those that bless thee.” God guarantees an irreversible blessing to any country, continent, or commoner who blesses His people. God has blessed His people, and His people have blessed us.

Those who propagate “Replacement Theology” have no concept as to the irrevocable and irreplaceable covenant of God. Replacement Theology advocates that God is finished with Israel; hence church has replaced Israel and is now “spiritual Israel.”

However, Replacement Theology is not a new revelation, it is an old heresy. It is a destructive, divisive and damnable doctrine.

The greatest disproving of Replacement Theology is found in Romans 9-11. These 3 chapters are a CODICIL. IN other words, they are a complete work within themselves. They stand alone, and represent God’s post-Calvary position on the Jewish people.

Many of those who believe in Replacement Theology claim that Romans 9-11 refers to the church’s election, rather than Israel’s election. However, Paul drops a bombshell on that thinking when he opens Romans 11: 1-2, “Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ² God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.”

The covenant God guaranteed with Abraham cannot be revoked, reversed, or replaced. Why? Because when God replaces something, YOU NEVER HEAR FROM IT AGAIN! It is done. It is gone. It is finished forever.

Yet, on May 15, 1948 national Israel was reborn after nearly 2 millennia, sending a theological earthquake through the foundation of Replacement Theology.

If Replacement Theology is correct, then that means God has revoked, reversed and replaced the covenant He gave and guaranteed with Abraham. If God would revoke His covenant with Abraham, how can we be sure that God would not revoke the covenant He has made with us as believers?

While the church can draw certain parallels and applications from Israel, the church has not replaced Israel. The New Covenant teaches that the church, “spiritual Israel” and national Israel exist side by side, and neither replaces the other!

The covenant God gave and guaranteed to Abraham not only guarantees a marvelous blessing, but a miserable burden. God guarantees, “I will bless them that bless thee, I will curse him that curseth thee.”

In Matthew 25 we read of Christ’s 2^nd coming to judge the nations of the world. However, this judgment is based upon ONE thing: those nations treatment/or mistreatment of the nation of Israel.

When He comes the 2^nd time, Joel 3:2 describes it by saying that He, “Will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehosophat, and will plead with them there for my people Israel…whom they have scattered among the nations and parted my land.”

Jesus will divide the nations as “sheep on his right hand and goats on his left hand.” He will remind the sheep nations, on his right hand, who clothed Him when He was naked, fed Him when He was hungry, gave Him drink when He was thirsty, visited Him when in prison, and took Him in as a stranger.

Those nations will ask, “When did we do these things?” Jesus answers in Matthew 25: 40, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

The word “brethren” is the Greek word, adelphos. It literally means, “From the same womb.” It is a family term which speaks of those related through blood. In other words, Jesus is referring to His people, the Jewish people.

He will judge the nations based on how they treated, mistreated, neglected or defended His “brethren,” His people, the nation of Israel. Those that “blessed” Israel will go to “life eternal.” Those that “cursed” Israel will go to “everlasting punishment.”

Why? Because God guaranteed His covenant with Abraham and guaranteed blessing to those who “bless thee,” and a burden to those who “curse thee.”

Today, like never before, the nation of Israel is constantly being pressured to give up, and divide their land to create a recognizable Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. World leaders believe that if this happens, it will create peace in the Middle East.

However, the problem is that is not our land, or anyone else’s land to give away, give up or divide. It is a land reserved for the people of God. It is their Promised Land. It is the land which God guaranteed to them in His covenant.

When the beleaguered Jews returned to Jerusalem, from 70 years of Babylonian captivity, to rebuild their city, Nehemiah said to the other nations who had come to help the Jews, “The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.” (Nehemiah 2: 20)

As a result, every single time that the United States has been involved in pressuring Israel to give up their land, unthinkable atrocities have occurred. For example, In his book, "God's Final Warning to America," John McTernan documents that when American has turned against Israel, we have suffered "warning judgments." He found hundreds of examples, many coming within 24 hours of the anti-Semitic action.

The 1st President Bush iniated his 1991 peace plan for the Middle East right after the 1st Gulf War. As part of that plan, he tried to pressure Israel to surrender land for peace. Is it just a coincidence that, despite enjoying historically high approval ratings after the Gulf War, Bush lost his to bid for reelection to Bill Clinton?