Participants: Ivor & Atonte Myers
Series Code: BOF
Program Code: BOF000058
|
00:14 Welcome to Battles of Faith.
00:16 We're your hosts, Ivor and Atonte Myers, 00:19 and we're with Power of The Lamb Ministries. 00:21 In our last program, we talked about the millennium 00:25 and we learned about what we'll be doing 00:27 during those 1000 years in heaven. 00:29 And today, we're gonna talk about 00:31 God's intense passionate love for each and every one of us, 00:35 and all that He's doing to try to save us. 00:37 That's right, our God has a, has a burning love for us, 00:40 a burning passion for us, and He wants to see us saved, 00:43 doesn't want to see anyone lost. 00:45 And I think one of the stories, Atonte, 00:47 you and I have spoken about before that I believe really 00:51 illustrates God's love first in amazing way is one that 00:55 we're gonna share today, and we want to actually 00:57 open it up with a story. 01:00 It's a figure that I've just, we've kind of made up, 01:04 but this, these events would 01:06 actually happened in the time of Israel. 01:08 And so, we're gonna take you through a little story, 01:10 we want you to meet a man by the name of Jiao, 01:13 don't go look in the Bible for Jiao. 01:15 We're talking about an imaginary figure here, 01:17 but the story, the event that would that happens, 01:21 wouldn't happen very frequently. 01:23 Jiao is living in Canaan, he's in the Promised Land 01:28 and all things are going good. 01:31 He's got a family and kids and he goes out to work. 01:35 And one day at work something happens 01:38 that that changes everything. 01:40 Jiao accidentally kills a person. 01:43 We don't know how it happened, but we know that Jiao 01:46 runs home to his family, he tells his wife what happens. 01:49 And they immediately begin to weep 01:52 because they know what must happen. 01:54 Jiao must run, he must flee to what the Bible calls 01:58 one of six cities of refuge, the cities of refuge. 02:04 And we're gonna read about that for a little while. 02:06 So let's go to the Book of Deuteronomy Chapter 19, 02:08 we invite you to get your Bibles. 02:10 Deuteronomy 19, we're gonna read a little bit about these 02:12 cities of refuge and why they were established? 02:15 So, 19 verses 1, how about I'll read verses one through three 02:20 and then you can read verse five through seven? 02:23 Okay, that's right. Okay, it says, 02:25 I'm gonna start from verse three. 02:27 It says, "Thou shalt prepare thee a way, 02:29 and divide the coasts of thy land, 02:31 which the Lord thy God, giveth thee to inherit it, 02:34 into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither." 02:38 Now here it says three, but later on, 02:40 we're gonna see the three more cities were added. 02:43 It says "And this is the case of the slayer, which may, 02:46 which shall flee thither, that he may live. 02:50 Whosoever killeth his neighbor ignorantly, 02:53 whom he hated not in time past, 02:55 as when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor 02:58 to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke 03:01 with the axe to cut down the tree, 03:03 and the head slippeth from the helve, 03:04 and lighted upon his neighbor that he die, 03:07 he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live." 03:11 "Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, 03:15 while his heart is hot, and overtake him, 03:18 because the way is long, and slay him, 03:20 where as he was not worthy of death, 03:22 in as much as he hated him not in time past. 03:26 Wherefore I command thee, saying, 03:28 Thou shalt separate three cities for thee. 03:32 And if the Lord thy God, enlarge the coast, 03:34 as he has sworn unto thy Fathers, 03:37 and give thee all the land which he promised 03:39 to give unto thy Fathers." 03:41 Okay, now I'm going to jump down to verse 12, verse 11. 03:44 It says, "But if any man hate his neighbor, 03:46 and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, 03:49 and smite him mortally that he die, 03:52 and fleeth into one of these cities. 03:54 Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him 03:57 thence and deliver him into the hand 04:00 of the avenger of blood that he may die." 04:03 So, so let's recap what we've just read here. 04:06 Basically the Bible was, is telling us that that 04:08 when a person accidentally kills someone, 04:12 they could flee to one of these cities of refuge. 04:16 We'll read later in Joshua 20 that there were six cities. 04:19 And they were to flee to anyone of these cities 04:22 and there they would find refuge, 04:25 if they were innocent, if they had actually been 04:29 guilty of intentional murder, then the elders of the city 04:33 took that man and put him outside of the city, 04:36 where the avenger of blood would take vengeance upon him. 04:40 Now, who is the avenger of blood? 04:42 The avenger of blood here that the Hebrew term 04:44 for the avenger of blood, this is a term ga'al, 04:47 and it means the nearest of kin. 04:51 In other words, the closest person to the, 04:54 to the deceased had the right to seek vengeance. 04:59 Now imagine what kind of stress that most, 05:00 that would have been. 05:01 You know, you accidentally kill a person, 05:03 you don't know this person's family, 05:05 you could be walking in the streets, 05:06 in the markets somewhere, and a total stranger 05:09 just walk up to you think, maybe he's coming up 05:11 to get directions and he just takes out 05:13 a knife and puts it in you. 05:15 And then lets you know, I am such and such as 05:18 Nearest of Kin. Amen, wow. 05:19 I mean, yeah, it could have been a-- 05:20 And that was the legal thing to do. 05:22 That's right's, so what you have here is our figure Jiao 05:27 now realizes that he must be on the run and off he goes 05:33 to the City of Refuge, doesn't have much time to pack, 05:35 doesn't have much time to gather things. 05:37 He's gotta go, he is not gonna see 05:39 his family again at least for sometime. 05:42 And I can just imagine, imagine the, 05:45 the fear as you hear the avenger of blood 05:50 on your trail chasing you, you can't see his face, 05:52 it's dark, and you're terrified, 05:55 but you're running and you're trying to get 05:57 to one of these cities of refuge. 06:00 I mean, just imagine what kind of an experience that would be 06:04 you want to get to that City of Refuge. 06:06 And you want to get there quickly, 06:08 you want to get there fast. 06:09 Let's go ahead and go over to the Book of Joshua Chapter 20. 06:13 Joshua Chapter 20, and while we're turning there, 06:15 let me mention a few more things 06:16 about the City of Refuge. 06:19 The streets we just read in Deuteronomy 19 06:21 that that a way was to be prepared. 06:23 In other words, these streets that led to 06:26 the cities of refuge were to be without ditches, 06:30 without stones, or rocks, 06:32 nothing that would cause a person to stumble. 06:35 It is said that there were sign poles that were place upon, 06:38 upon those, those, in those streets that pointed to 06:43 the City of Refuge, saying, "Refuge, refuge." 06:46 Almost like this is the way run he in it. 06:50 And it's amazing when we begin to think about the, 06:52 the analogy what the gospel, when we realize that we have 06:55 done wrong, off we go, we realize, man, 06:58 we need to get to the City of Refuge 07:00 because the avenger of blood is on our trail. 07:03 And I praise God because, you know, the Bible says, 07:06 "Ye are the light of the world." Right. 07:09 A city set on the hill cannot be hid. 07:13 In other words, beloved, there are people out there 07:15 that are looking for the way of salvation. 07:18 And God calls us, us as Christians to be light poles, 07:23 guiding those who are seeking refuge, 07:26 seeking Christ, seeking God, 07:29 we're to be sign poles on our duty's saying, 07:31 this is the way walk ye in it. 07:33 And I think, it's so powerful that this City of Refuge 07:37 in the Bible there, there could be nothing 07:39 in the way of the person, nothing that would cause 07:42 him to stumble or fall or lose his way, 07:45 and when you apply that spiritually to us as Christians 07:49 we are not to be stumbling blocks, 07:51 we are to assist and help others 07:54 who are just finding their way to Jesus. 07:57 And to be so mindful of these people and what could be 08:02 possibly offensive to them or harm them or make them 08:05 misunderstand God in someway. 08:07 And I think we need to take that 08:08 responsibility very serious. 08:10 That's right, that's right. 08:11 Joshua Chapter 20, the Bible tells us in verse, verse 3, 08:16 it says, the siege of refuge were be established. 08:20 "That the slayer that killeth any person unawares 08:23 and unwittingly may flee thither, 08:25 and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. 08:30 And when he that does flee unto one of those cities shall 08:32 stand at the entering of the gate of the city, 08:34 and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders 08:37 of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, 08:40 and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. 08:43 And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, 08:46 they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand, 08:49 because he smote his neighbor how unwittingly, 08:52 and hated him not before time. 08:55 And he shall dwell in that city, 08:56 until he stand before the congregation for judgment, 08:59 and until the death of the high priest that shall be 09:03 in those days, then shall the slayer return, 09:06 and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, 09:08 and unto the city from whence he fled." 09:11 So, Jiao runs to the city and he makes it. 09:15 And when he gets to the city we're told that that he had, 09:19 if he was innocent he could remain in that city, 09:23 and have protection until the death of the high priest, 09:27 then he was free. 09:30 That's an amazing thought. 09:31 That it is the death of our High Priest, 09:33 Jesus Christ that sets us free 09:37 from the condemnation of sin and guilt. 09:40 But the analogy here, Atonte, is it really breaks down, 09:43 you see the Bible tells us that God is our refuge. 09:47 And I'd say, "Praise God for that." Amen. 09:49 God is our refuge, that's good news. 09:51 But that good news indicates bad news because if we need 09:54 a refuge it means we must be guilty of something. 09:57 And we're going, what would I be guilty 09:59 of that I need to run to a City of Refuge. 10:01 Well, we're guilty of crime, of sin, of murder. 10:06 Murder? What are you talking about? 10:09 Well, the entire human race 10:11 caused the death of the Son of God. 10:16 And because of that, because of our rejection of God, 10:23 it caused the death of His Son and because of that 10:25 we need a refuge, we need to run, we need to flee. 10:29 And it's quite amazing because once you got to the city, 10:34 if you were, if you were not-- if you were not guilty of 10:42 intentional rejection or intentional murder, 10:46 you could stay in the city. 10:47 But if you were guilty of intentional murder, 10:50 you were put out of the city. 10:51 Now guess what, when we come to Christ, 10:52 which one of us can say, it was an intentional. 10:56 Which one of us can say, 10:57 I didn't intentionally reject you. 10:59 We all have turned our backs at some point, you know, 11:03 we come to this world, we do our own thing, 11:05 we live our own way, and we come to the place 11:07 where we have to come to the God 11:08 and literally throw ourselves at His mercy and say, 11:11 "Look, I know I turned my back against you, 11:13 I know it's intentional. 11:14 You have every right to put me out of your refuge, 11:18 out of your city, please, will you have mercy on me." 11:21 And this is where the grace and mercy of God, 11:24 and the love of God is revealed, 11:25 that He doesn't put us out. 11:27 When we, when we the declare guilty like, 11:29 if we come and say, "Innocent." 11:31 God says, "Guilty." But if we say, "Guilty." 11:35 God says, "Innocent." By the blood of My Son. 11:38 By the blood of My Son. Amen. 11:39 It's an amazing thing, it's an amazing thought 11:42 that God wants to be our refuge. 11:44 And it's, you know, it's quite interesting, 11:47 Atonte, that when you consider 11:52 the character of God and who He is? 11:56 I'd like to tell, when we tell the story, 11:59 we like to share this thought that, you know, 12:04 the person that you're guilty of killing the avenger 12:08 of blood was the nearest of kin to the person 12:12 you're guilty of killing. 12:15 Well, Jiao gets to the city. 12:17 You know, oh, let's say, "Yes." 12:19 We get to the city, the kingdom of God, I mean, 12:21 you know, the refuge of God and we're like God, 12:23 I'm so glad you saved me, the avenger of blood was on my 12:26 trail and oh, man you should, 12:28 it seemed like he was right behind me, 12:30 but there is something strange about it because, 12:32 you know, it kind of felt like, 12:34 like he could have caught me, but he didn't catch me. 12:38 And then God begins to reveal something. 12:41 You see the avenger of blood is the nearest of kin 12:44 to the one we were guilty of killing. 12:48 When humanity realizes, wait a minute, 12:50 we're guilty of killing Christ, of rejecting him. 12:54 Who him--Who is the nearest of kin to Jesus? 12:57 It's God. It's God. 12:59 The Father. The Father. 13:00 Remember Jiao couldn't see his face. 13:03 He was running for his life. 13:05 And beloved, the point that 13:06 that we want you to understand here's that, 13:08 sometimes, we think that God is out to destroy us and kill us 13:12 when He's not trying to do that at all. 13:14 He's simply trying to chase us into safety. 13:19 That's right, the Bible says, 13:20 "That those who He loves He rebukes and chastens." 13:24 That's right, and we like to say, 13:26 those who, you know, those whom, 13:29 whom He loves He chastens and He chases. That's right. 13:34 You know, God, chases us, God is after us, 13:36 He's trying to run us into that city. 13:40 And you know, I'd like to share this way. 13:43 If you ever had a puppy, you know, a brand new puppy. 13:45 Oh, the puppy's so cute and the puppy habits to get out 13:47 of the house and there is a dangerous highway nearby. 13:50 And you maybe come running, bursting out the house trying 13:53 to save the puppy, but the puppy is looking like, 13:55 "Oh, no, he's going to kill me." 13:57 He is not a person. Yeah, no, no, no, 13:59 you're coming at this little creature trying to save it, 14:02 that's the same thing God is doing and I think about it. 14:05 You're coming at the puppy from both all angles and all sides 14:08 because the puppy is just kind of going wild. That's right. 14:11 So you're trying to direct it back into the house. 14:13 That's right, exactly. 14:15 You know, it's amazing I think, 14:16 this verse really jumps out of this. 14:18 Look at Isaiah Chapter 54. Isaiah Chapter 54, 14:23 and we're gonna take a look at verse 8 and 9, Isaiah 54. 14:27 So, if God is chasing, chasing us 14:30 and the City of Refuge represents Jesus. 14:33 It's, they're all working together. 14:34 They're all working-- It's like, 14:35 you know, the Holy Spirit says, 14:38 "Okay, I'll be the one that bring conviction." 14:40 God says, "Okay, I'll be the refuge." 14:42 And Jesus says, "Okay, I'll be the way. 14:45 No man can come unto the Father but by me, I'll be the way." 14:47 So as almost like the God head, 14:50 the God head is working together to try to get us 14:54 sometimes hard headed, stubborn, you know, 14:57 sinners to get to the City of Refuge, 15:00 so that we can be safe, so that we can be saved. 15:04 Isaiah 54, Isaiah 54 verse 7. 15:08 The Bible says here, "For a small moment have I 15:10 forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. 15:14 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment." 15:19 Remember, Jiao couldn't see his face. 15:21 Beloved, listen, sometimes you may lose a job 15:23 and you're thinking, oh, man, you know, this is the devil and 15:26 you know, you break up with that girlfriend, 15:29 that boyfriend and you know, you look back 15:31 and you begin to realize, man, God. 15:33 What a blessing? Yeah, what a blessing? 15:34 That was God trying to chase me, 15:36 that was God shutting down doors and trying to save me 15:40 from this and save from that. 15:41 God wasn't out to destroy you, He was not to make life 15:44 miserable for you, He was out to try to save you, 15:47 He was out to try to get you to move to come to Him. 15:51 Isaiah 54 verse, verse 8. 15:53 "And a little wrath have I hid my face from thee, 15:55 but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, 15:59 saith the Lord thy Redeemer." Guess what? 16:04 This word redeemer is the same Hebrew word that is used to 16:08 translate the avenger of blood. 16:12 It is the Hebrew word Ga'al. Wow. 16:15 Nearest of kin. Wow. 16:17 God Himself declares Himself the nearest of kin. 16:21 He is the one that's chasing us. 16:23 Whom God loves, He chases. 16:25 And, yes, whom He loves, He chastens. 16:29 God is on a chase, He's after you not to destroy you, 16:32 but to chase you into that city before it is too late. 16:37 You're saying, pastor, what city? 16:38 Hold on, we're getting there. 16:40 But I want you to think about this concept. 16:42 Whom God loves he chastens. What does that mean? 16:45 You know, if we can think about a group of people that 16:48 God like seriously chastened in the Old Testament. 16:51 We would think about the Egyptians. 16:53 I would think about the Egyptians, 16:55 like they got serious, serious punishments from the Lord. 17:00 Yes, they did. But you see, 17:01 there is something behind that. 17:03 You see, when God extending the rod. 17:05 You know, the Bible says, "Spare the rod." 17:07 Or, you know, talks about how if we spare the rod, 17:09 well I'm kind of -- Yeah, kind of, 17:11 you know, putting that together, 17:13 but you spare the rod and you can, 17:14 you know, the rod of correction 17:16 and reproof is a good thing. 17:18 When God sends Moses with the rod into Egypt, 17:22 He is actually trying to reach out to save the Egyptians. 17:27 Pastor, what did you just say, save the Egyptians? 17:29 No, God hated the Egyptians. Wait a minute. 17:31 When God turned their water into blood, 17:34 He was trying to get them to be thirsty for something better. 17:39 Because they could have left too. 17:40 They could have left too. In fact, Egyptians did leave. 17:44 What God was trying to do, was He was trying to make 17:46 Egypt such a miserable place to be that the Egyptians 17:50 would want to leave too. 17:52 I mean, you think about, you're living in your place 17:53 and all of a sudden lice begin to swarm your territory 17:58 and your water turns into blood. 17:59 How many of you would actually stay in that area? 18:01 We're like, oh man, you know what, this is so nice, 18:03 I think I'm gonna stay here anyway. 18:04 I hate to sound so haute, but if I turn on my facet 18:08 and blood comes out and it's all around town, I'm gone. 18:11 Yeah. I only need one plague. 18:13 But these guys, yes, many of us only need one plague. 18:15 These guys, you know, 9-10 plagues and they were 18:18 stubborn, resisting, God showed, 18:21 because when the children of Israel left Egypt, 18:25 Egyptians left with them. 18:28 Many more could have gone, but they chose to rebel 18:32 against the chastening and the chasing of the Lord. 18:37 And many people are gonna be lost because they refuse 18:40 the chastening and the chasing of the Lord. 18:45 You see, so God is after us, He's trying to chases us-- 18:48 When you go to that club, you used to love and all of a 18:51 sudden it's no longer tasteful to you, you fine, 18:54 you know--I used to like these things, but now I don't. 18:58 It's God coming in your life and sending that rod to make 19:01 the things you once used to like, to make you now go, 19:04 you know what, I don't think. 19:06 How can I've enjoyed that before? 19:07 Oh, I don't think I want to be here anymore. 19:09 And he's trying to get you to leave your comfort zone 19:13 to head to the City of Refuge. 19:16 That's right, God can, God can do that very quickly. 19:19 I hear a people how are alcoholics 19:20 and they loved alcohol. 19:22 And now it just totally turns their stomach and they have 19:25 absolutel no desire for it. 19:26 That's right, that's right. God can do that. 19:27 These cities of refuge, Atonte, well found in elevated places. 19:31 Read Joshua Chapter 20, there were all in mountains, 19:34 mountains lifted up, high places. 19:37 It's interesting that Christ himself said, 19:41 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, 19:45 will draw all men unto me." 19:47 I believe that we need to run to Mount Calvary where Christ 19:53 and His shed blood on our behalf becomes our refuge. 19:58 That's where God's trying to chase us. 20:00 And when we get to the city, 20:02 we don't say, oh, you know, what? 20:03 Because remember, it was the death 20:04 of the high priest that freed us. 20:05 When we get to that city, we don't say what Jesus is dead, 20:09 Jesus died, so now I can go back. 20:11 No, you stay in that city because our high priest is no 20:15 longer dead, He is alive and as long as He is alive, 20:18 you stay in the city. 20:20 You want to see our family and friends? 20:21 Invite them to the city. 20:23 Tell them to come on to the city. 20:25 And by the way, you know, they all need to come because, 20:27 what, the avenger of blood is on their trail 20:32 and God is trying to chase them, 20:33 that's what He's, that's what He's doing. 20:34 He is trying to chase them into that city. 20:38 So, what do we have happening here? 20:40 Why is God trying to chase us and into, 20:45 ultimately into what city? 20:48 We're gonna fast forward, and we're now gonna go 20:51 to the very end of time, the end of the millennium. 20:55 And I want you to notice, just go with me 20:56 to the Book of Revelation. 20:58 Revelation Chapter 20, Revelation Chapter 20, 21:07 and I want you to notice with me again. 21:11 Revelation Chapter 20, we're gonna take a look at verse, 21:16 verse 11. "And I saw a great white throne, 21:20 and Him that sat on it, from whose face the Earth 21:23 and the heaven fled away, 21:24 and there was found no place for them. 21:27 And I saw the dead, small and great, 21:29 stand before God, and the books were opened. 21:31 And another book was opened, which is the book of life." 21:34 Okay, you can pause right there. 21:35 Here we have the Book of Life and the judgment scene, 21:39 and the wicked are there and they're about to be judged. 21:42 But guess where the righteous are? 21:46 Go back up to verse 9, the Bible says, 21:50 "And they, that is the wicked, 21:51 went upon the breadth of the earth, 21:52 and compassed the camp of the saints about, 21:56 and the beloved city, the beloved city." 22:00 Okay, so what's happening here? 22:02 The second coming has occurred, 22:04 Jesus has taken the righteous to heaven and they have 22:07 entered that city, New Jerusalem. 22:12 At the end of the millennium, that city is seen coming down 22:15 out of heaven while the wicked who are now resurrected after 22:19 the one thousand years are resurrected, 22:21 and what they do is, they try to get around that city. 22:25 Now here's why this is so important to understand. 22:26 Remember, God was trying to chase us into the city, why? 22:35 Because if you met the avenger of blood 22:38 and you were outside the city, it was not good, 22:44 because at that point, you were subject to death. 22:49 Do you see what's happening here? 22:52 God knows that our time is coming where the New Jerusalem 22:57 will be setup on this Earth. 22:59 He's trying everything He can now in His power 23:01 to chase us to Calvary. 23:05 By the way, it's interesting. 23:07 We've been talking about this blueprint, 23:08 plan of salvation throughout our entire study. 23:11 And you see that there were six cities of refuge, 23:14 it's interesting that there were six articles 23:16 of furniture in the sanctuary. 23:17 Can we get our, our picture up very quickly. 23:20 You're probably and totally used to the picture now, 23:23 but you see there the Altar of Sacrifice, 23:25 number one in the sanctuary, the outer court. 23:29 And then you have the Laver, that's item number two, 23:31 where you're baptized. 23:32 You have the Table of Showbread in the Holy Place, 23:34 that's where the word of God is represented. 23:37 The Altar of Incense representing the seven the, 23:41 representing the prayer, and the Seven-Branched Candlestick 23:45 representing letting our light shine, 23:47 and then you have the Ark of the Covenant 23:48 right at the very top. There we go. 23:51 God is trying chase us to station number one, 23:56 accept the sacrifice of Christ. 23:58 He's trying to chase us to be baptized, 24:00 He's running after us, so that we will move to accept 24:04 the word of God and to pray and to accept 24:06 Christ's intersession, and to let our light shine. 24:09 He's ultimately trying to chase us into that 24:10 Most Holy Place, so that He can come 24:13 and gather us up together and take us to that city. 24:16 And as a result many will be saved, 24:20 but those who refused to be chased are gonna be, 24:23 are gonna meet the avenger of blood. 24:27 Whose blood? His Son's blood outside of the city. 24:33 What happens then? 24:34 This is where, Atonte, we close this whole story off 24:40 with one of the most emotional goodbyes ever. 24:43 You see, we like to share in the Bible 24:46 that heaven is like a City of Fire. 24:48 You know, God, the Bible says, "God is a consuming fire." 24:51 The Bible says that that, "His angels are like fire." 24:55 The Bible says, "His throne is a throne of fire." 24:57 In other words, heaven is a City of Fire. 25:02 There is a sea of glass mingled with fire. 25:04 And if we want to stand on that sea of glass mingled with 25:06 fire, we need to be fireproof, we need to be fireproof. 25:11 So that we're not destroyed. So that we're not destroyed. 25:14 And so, what happens is, 25:15 why does God manifest Himself as fire? 25:18 It's very simple. 25:19 The Book, Song of Solomon tells us that God, 25:22 that fire is like a burning love. 25:25 The reason why God manifest Himself as fire is because 25:27 He's passionate, He loves us. 25:30 Imagine when God created Adam and Eve, 25:32 He could go up to them and just, they weren't afraid, 25:35 but when sin entered they became fearful of that fire. 25:39 God's ideal was to restore man to a way in which He could 25:44 dwell in the presence of God forever and not be consumed. 25:48 Amen. So we have stories like the Burning Bush. 25:50 The bush burned, but it wasn't what? Consumed. 25:53 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego cast into the fire, 25:56 nothing happens to them, but the wicked 25:57 who cast them in, they were destroyed. 26:00 This is exactly what's going to happened at the end of time. 26:02 God is a consuming fire. 26:05 He is not destroying the wicked with fire because 26:07 it's the most painful thing you can think of. 26:09 The wicked are destroyed because they are destroyed 26:11 by the presence of God's love. 26:14 The way I like to share it, Atonte, 26:16 is that God with those great big arms of fire 26:19 will reach out and embrace the wicked one last time, 26:23 in that embrace, the wicked are going to feel 26:26 the love that they had rejected. 26:29 They're going to feel what it would be like, 26:32 heaven would be hell to them. 26:35 God desires for the righteous to be able to stand in his 26:38 presence and burn forever without being consumed. 26:41 That's why he says, "Be baptized with the Holy Spirit 26:44 and with fire," because God wants us to shine like the 26:47 stars forever. Right. 26:48 The wicked are brunt up because they're not fireproof. 26:51 That's right. They're totally consumed and destroyed 26:54 while the righteous get to stand 26:56 in the presence of God and not be consumed. 26:58 Fire will be like air to them. 27:00 God will be able to commit to them, touch them, 27:02 nothing because we're fireproof. 27:05 That's right-- Why? 27:06 Because we've been baptized by that Spirit of Fire. 27:08 That's what heaven will be like. 27:09 That's what heaven will be like. 27:11 A place of burning intense love. 27:15 What a, what a sad farewell, when God wipes away the tears 27:18 from our eyes, because, because at that time all sin 27:23 and sinners will be destroyed. 27:25 What a time that will be. It's, it's a strange farewell. 27:30 Yes. And yet imagine how much it will hurt God's heart 27:34 to have to say goodbye in that way. 27:37 Wow, He doesn't want to have to say, goodbye in that way. 27:41 We know that that will be the end of some, 27:45 but He is still at this time pleading and wowing, 27:49 and chasing all of us, so that we will not make the decision 27:54 to go-- Meet Him. That's right. Outside of that city. 27:56 He doesn't want to meet you outside of the city. 27:58 He wants you to be in the city. 28:01 And we want you to be in the city with God. 28:03 And we want to be there as well. 28:05 So with that, thank you for joining us. 28:08 Until next time, God bless. |
Revised 2014-12-17