Participants:
Series Code: TAM
Program Code: TAM000009S
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00:30 Let's bow our heads for prayer.
00:32 Our Father and our God, what a joy it is to 00:35 be in Your presence. 00:37 We thank You, Father, for being such a wonderful God. 00:41 And we thank You because You've given us Your Holy Word, 00:45 which is a sure guide in a world that is confused and seems 00:49 to be going nowhere. 00:50 We ask, Lord, for the presence of Your Holy Spirit. 00:54 Give us clarity of thought, and give us willing hearts 00:58 to receive the word that You have for us today. 01:00 And we thank You for hearing our prayer, for we ask it in the 01:05 precious name of Jesus, Amen. 01:08 During our last studies together we've spoken about the identity 01:14 of Babylon, and then we spoke about the wine of Babylon, 01:20 and today we are going to speak about the 01:24 fornication of Babylon. 01:27 As you remember, in our last lecture we studied about the 01:31 identity of Babylon; actually in the last two lectures. 01:36 And we noticed that the harlot of Revelation 17 represents 01:41 a church, represents a Christian church that has gone 01:47 astray from Jesus Christ. 01:49 And according to the Bible, this church has become a harlot. 01:54 Now today we're going to study about the fornication of this 01:57 harlot with the kings of the earth. 01:59 And I'd like to invite you to turn in your Bibles with me to 02:03 Revelation 17:1, 2, where this fornication between the harlot, 02:10 this apostate church, and the kings of the earth is described. 02:14 It says there: 02:30 Now comes the key phrase. 02:44 So you'll notice here it says that the kings of the earth 02:48 have committed fornication with this harlot, 02:51 which represents an apostate church. 02:54 Now there's another passage in Revelation which 02:57 describes this same scene. 03:00 Revelation 18:1-3, Revelation 18:1-3. 03:38 Which we have noticed is false doctrine. 03:40 We've studied that carefully in Scripture. So it says: 04:02 So basically in these two passages that we began with 04:06 today, we noticed that in the end time there is going to be 04:11 a coalition, or a union between a harlot church 04:15 and the kings of the earth. 04:17 In other words the church is going to be involved in some 04:21 manner with the political systems of the world. 04:26 Now this would mean then that there are two kingdoms. 04:30 Because there's first of all the church, 04:32 represented by the harlot, and the civil rulers, 04:35 represented by the kings. 04:36 Now I want us to notice in Matthew 22:15-21 that Jesus 04:44 recognized two kingdoms. 04:47 Matthew 22:15-21. It says there: 05:15 In other words, you don't make a difference between 05:17 one human being and another. 05:19 Now they're really faking admiring Jesus, 05:24 as we're going to notice. Verse 17. 05:34 That was a difficult question. 05:37 Because if Jesus answered yes, He was in trouble, 05:40 and if He answered no, He was in trouble as well. 05:42 You see, if He answered yes the Jews would be against Him, 05:45 because the Jews did not like paying taxes to the Romans. 05:48 But if He answered no then He would be guilty of sedition 05:52 against the Roman government, because Rome demanded 05:54 that people pay taxes. 05:56 And so no matter how He answered, if He answered yes 05:59 or no, He was going to get into trouble. Verse 18. 06:14 Which was the main coin at that time. 06:23 In other words, whose picture is on the coin, 06:26 and whose name is on this coin? Verse 21. 06:44 How many kingdoms did Jesus recognize? 06:46 He recognized two kingdoms. 06:49 The first kingdom is the kingdom of Caesar, 06:52 and the second is the kingdom of God; two kingdoms. 06:57 As we began our study this evening we also 07:00 noticed two kingdoms. 07:01 There's the harlot, which represents an apostate church, 07:04 and there's also the kings of the earth. 07:08 But I'm going to show you that really the reason why this 07:12 church became a harlot is because instead of remaining 07:16 married to Jesus Christ, she entered illicit relationships 07:20 with the kings of the earth. 07:21 So Jesus recognized the existence of two kingdoms. 07:25 But now we need to ask the question, What do we owe 07:29 to the kingdom of Caesar, which, by the way, 07:32 is the civil government? 07:33 And what do we owe to God? 07:36 There's something that we owe to to Caesar, 07:39 or to the political power, and there's something 07:41 that we owe to God, or to the church. 07:43 The question is, What do we owe to each? 07:47 Go with me to Deuteronomy 4:13, and lets take a close look 07:52 at this. Deuteronomy 4:13. 07:56 It's speaking here about the giving of the ten commandments, 07:59 and it says this: So He... That is God. 08:14 How many tablets of stone were the ten commandments written on? 08:17 two tablets of stone. 08:19 Now let me ask you, Could God have written the 08:21 ten commandments on one tablet of stone if He had wanted to? 08:24 Of course. Could He have written the ten commandments on three 08:26 tablets of stone? Absolutely. 08:28 Why did He write the ten commandments on 08:31 two tablets of stone? 08:33 Simply, we're going to notice, because the first four 08:37 commandments have to do with our responsibility towards God, 08:41 whereas the last six commandments have to do with 08:44 our responsibility with our fellow human beings. 08:48 In other words the first four commandments point out our 08:51 duty, our vertical duty with God, and the last six point out 08:55 our horizontal relationship with our fellow human beings. 08:59 Now let's notice that. 09:00 Deuteronomy 6:4, 5, Deuteronomy 6:4, 5. It says there: 09:19 So you'll notice here a very important declaration by God, 09:23 We shall love the Lord our God with all our heart, 09:25 with all our soul, and with all our strength. 09:28 Now let's go to Leviticus 19:18, Leviticus 19:18. 09:34 It says there: speaking about our 09:37 relationship with our neighbor: 09:51 So how many great commandments do we have in the Old Testament? 09:55 1. Love supreme for whom? for God. 10:00 And secondly, loving our what? our neighbor. 10:04 Which table of the law describes our love for God? 10:08 the first four. Which table of the law describes our 10:12 relationship with our fellow human beings? the last six. 10:16 Now let's go to what Jesus had to say about this, 10:20 because Jesus confirms what I'm saying. 10:22 Matthew 22:34-40, Matthew 22, beginning with verse 34. 10:37 By the way, he's not a secular lawyer. 10:39 He is an expert in the writings of Moses, in the law of Moses. 10:42 So it says: 10:58 Did we read that in the Old Testament somewhere? Yes. 11:01 We read it in Deuteronomy 6, right? 11:04 So that's the first and great commandment. Notice verse 38. 11:23 So you'll notice that the law of God was structured in such a way 11:27 that you have our duty towards God and our duty 11:30 towards our fellow man. 11:32 But let me ask you, Does the civil government have the right 11:35 to enforce the second table of the law? 11:38 Does the civil government have a right to punish those 11:40 individuals who steal? Yes. 11:43 Does it have the right to punish those individuals who kill? Yes. 11:46 Does it have a right to punish those who beat up 11:48 on their parents? Yes. 11:50 Does it have a right to prosecute those who speak 11:54 false witness against somebody else, 11:56 and ruins their reputation? Absolutely. 11:59 In other words, the second table of the law is the realm 12:03 of the civil government. 12:04 But the first table of the law, the civil government can have 12:07 nothing to do with, because it has to do with our duty 12:11 and responsibility and worship towards God. 12:14 In other words, the civil government has been established 12:16 to preserve the civil order. 12:18 The first four commandments are off limits 12:21 for the civil government. 12:22 Now it's interesting that Jesus Christ... 12:25 And now we're going to go to speak a little about Jesus, 12:28 because His experience is actually going to be repeated 12:32 in His people at the end of time. 12:34 It's interesting that Jesus was never accused by the Jews 12:38 of breaking the last six commandments of God's law. 12:41 Jesus was never accused of disobeying the 12:46 civil laws of Rome. 12:48 All of the accusations that the Jews launched against Jesus 12:52 were things that had to do with the first table of the law. 12:58 You say, Where does the Bible say that? 13:01 Well, go with me to Mark 2:7. 13:03 Mark 2:7 is describing a paralytic, and Jesus says some 13:08 very controversial things. 13:10 He says to this man, Your sins are forgiven. 13:12 And notice what His enemies said. 13:25 Let me ask you, What table of the law does that accusation 13:28 have to do with? the first table. 13:31 Because they're saying that He's making Himself what? 13:33 God by forgiving sins. 13:35 Notice John 10:33. 13:38 At this point Jesus had said, I and My Father are One. 13:43 And they understood very well that Jesus was saying that He 13:46 was One with His Father in a special sense; 13:48 in the sense that He was God. 13:50 Notice John 10:33. 13:57 Because they picked up stones to stone Him. 14:06 There it is again, He's being accused of violating 14:10 the first table of the law. 14:11 Notice John 9:16, John 9:16. 14:17 Here He's going to be accused of breaking the Holy Sabbath. 14:21 Let me ask you, On which table of the law is the Sabbath? 14:24 It's on the first table of the law. 14:26 It's a duty that we owe whom? that we owe God. 14:29 It says in John 9:16, Jesus has healed a blind man. 14:45 By the way, were they right or wrong? 14:48 They were wrong. He did keep the Sabbath. 14:50 He just didn't keep the Sabbath according to all 14:52 their rules and regulations. 14:53 He kept the Biblical Sabbath, not the Sabbath of the Rabbi's. 14:57 Also John 5:16, 18, where Jesus has healed a man who was 15:05 paralyzed, a paralytic. 15:07 Notice they accused Him once again of 15:09 violating the Sabbath. Verse 16. 15:19 Verse 17. But Jesus answered them, My Father has been working 15:23 until now, and I have been working. 15:32 At least in their minds. 15:42 See, once again everything has to do with the 15:44 first table of the law. 15:46 One final reference from the gospels, and there are others, 15:50 but I've only chosen a few, where Jesus is accused of taking 15:54 God's name in vain. 15:56 On which table of the law is that? 15:57 That's the first table of the law. 15:59 It's the third commandment: You shall not take the name 16:01 of the Lord your God in vain. 16:03 Notice John 8:58, 59. 16:15 Who was Jesus claiming to be? 16:18 Remember at the burning bush Moses asked, What is Your name 16:22 when I go to Israel? 16:23 I AM that I AM has sent Me unto you. 16:28 Did the Jews understand that Jesus was taking the name of God 16:33 and applying it to Himself? 16:35 They most certainly did, because it says in verse 59, 16:48 So we find in God's holy law two tables. 16:53 The first table describes our duty towards God. 16:57 The second table describes our duty towards our fellow man. 17:01 The first table belongs exclusively to God. 17:05 In other words, the civil power has nothing to do 17:09 with the first table. 17:10 It has much to do with the second table in order to 17:13 preserve the civil order. 17:15 Now do you know that the Devil constantly was trying to 17:19 encourage Jesus to take over the literal political kingdom. 17:24 But Jesus didn't come for that. 17:26 In fact, notice Matthew 4:10. 17:29 The Devil wanted Jesus, instead of being king of the spiritual 17:33 kingdom, he wanted Jesus to take over the political system. 17:37 And he wanted Him to overthrow the Romans. 17:39 Notice Matthew 4:10. 18:01 What was the Devil offering Jesus? 18:03 all the kingdoms of the world. 18:05 Was this talking about the kingdom of the church? 18:07 All of the spiritual kingdoms of the world? No. 18:10 It's speaking about taking over the political kingdom, 18:13 the civil system of the world. 18:15 By the way, this happened constantly during 18:18 the ministry of Jesus. 18:19 Notice John 6:15, John 6:15. 18:24 This is after Jesus fed the 5000. 18:27 The people were very impressed. 18:29 And it says: Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were 18:33 about to come and take Him by force to make Him king... 18:38 What kind of king? 18:39 A king of the church, or the king of the state? 18:43 The king of the state, of the political system. 18:46 What did Jesus do when they wanted to take Him by force? 18:50 He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. 18:53 By the way the disciples have this mentality of Jesus also 18:56 destroying everybody and taking over the kingdom. 18:59 One time there were some villages of the Samaritans 19:03 that did not want to allow Jesus to pass through them 19:05 on His way to Jerusalem. 19:07 And so His disciples said, two of them anyway, 19:12 the sons of thunder, they said, Do You want us to call down fire 19:16 from heaven and burn those people up? 19:18 And notice what Jesus said in Luke 9:55, 56. 19:37 Jesus rebuked them for even considering the possibility of 19:41 using force against those cities, or those towns that had 19:47 refused to allow Jesus to go through them. 19:50 Do you know why? Because Jesus did not come here to this world 19:53 to set up a literal political kingdom. 19:56 Jesus came to this world to build up His spiritual 20:00 kingdom of the church. 20:01 You say, How do we know that? 20:04 Go with me to Luke 17:20, 21, Luke 17:20, 21. 20:10 You see, for Jesus the kingdom is not something that comes 20:13 with a great show of force. 20:15 The kingdom is not established by taking over 20:18 the political system; by taking over the civil power. 20:20 Jesus was tempted to do that all of the time. 20:23 Jesus knew that the kingdom was something that 20:26 needed to happen inside. 20:28 Notice Luke 17:20, 21. 20:36 And, of course, they meant the political civil power. 20:45 And that is with a great big outward show. 20:58 Let me ask you, If you want a ball of dough to grow, 21:04 what do you do? Do you put the leaven inside, 21:07 or do you sprinkle the leaven outside? 21:09 Of course you put it inside, and then the dough grows 21:14 from inside out, right? 21:16 Let me ask you, Did Jesus plan to establish His kingdom by 21:21 force of arms; by taking over the civil power of the world? 21:24 Absolutely not! He knew that He had to implant His Spirit in the 21:29 hearts of people through the preaching of God's Word. 21:31 And then, by implanting the principles of His kingdom in the 21:37 heart, the kingdom would then what? would grow, 21:40 spiritually speaking. 21:42 Now I would like us to go to the end of the ministry of Jesus. 21:48 Go with me to John 11:47-49. 21:51 We set the bases now for some very important things that 21:54 we're going to study regarding the final days of Jesus 21:57 before His crucifixion. 21:59 John 11:47, 49. The Jewish council gathered together 22:06 because Jesus had resurrected Lazarus, 22:09 and everybody was following Jesus. 22:11 They were impressed by His teaching. 22:12 So they said, We have to do something about this man, 22:16 because pretty soon the whole nation is going 22:18 to be following Him. 22:19 So they gathered in this council. 22:22 In the Sanhedrin, there were 70 members in the Sanhedrin. 22:26 And notice how the story develops. 22:43 And now notice their fear. 22:51 What are they saying? 22:53 They're saying, Listen, we have to eliminate public enemy 22:57 number one or else the Romans are going to destroy our nation. 23:01 Our nation is going to cease to exist. 23:03 Interesting! Did their nation fall? Yes. 23:10 It fell by what they did. 23:12 We're going to notice. Verse 49. 23:28 In other words, Caiaphas was saying, This man needs to die 23:31 to save the nation. 23:33 He just didn't understand the sense in which the death 23:36 of Jesus was going to save the nation. 23:38 He thought that the nation was going to be saved literally, 23:41 politically by destroying Jesus. 23:44 What he didn't know is that Jesus, by His death, 23:46 was going to save the human race. 23:48 How? spiritually, not politically. 23:51 Because Jesus came to establish His spiritual kingdom. 23:55 He did not come to take over the political 23:58 system of the world. 23:59 A little bit later on Peter, actually Jesus was in the garden 24:05 of Gethsemane. They came to arrest Him. 24:08 Now I want you to notice what Peter did. 24:10 And remember this because we're going to come back to it in 24:12 the next three or four lectures. Matthew 26:50-52. 24:17 Now we're going to talk about the final days of Jesus before 24:22 His ascension to heaven. Matthew 26:50. 24:35 By the way, this is Simone Peter. 24:37 And he wasn't aiming at the ear. 24:38 He was aiming at the head. 24:39 But he was a fisherman not a soldier. 24:41 And so it says that he cut off his ear. 24:45 Now notice what Jesus said. 24:47 What did Jesus say? 24:49 Good, well done Peter! 24:51 Defend My kingdom. Use the sword, kill em! 24:54 Is that what He said? No! 24:57 Did He say to the other disciples, You cowards! 25:00 Why don't you join Peter in fighting for My kingdom? No. 25:03 Notice verse 52. These are the key words 25:07 I want you to remember. 25:13 Put your what? 25:25 He who kills with the sword must be what? 25:29 must be killed with the sword. 25:31 Those words are in Revelation 13:10, and we still study them 25:35 in the next couple of lectures. 25:37 And so do you know what they did with Jesus? 25:39 They arrested Him in the garden of Gethsemane, 25:41 and then they took Him to the Sanhedrin. 25:46 In other words He had His religious trial. 25:50 Notice Matthew 26:57, Matthew 26:57. 26:08 Let me ask you, Was His trial a religious trial, 26:10 or was His trial a political trial? 26:12 His trial, first of all, was a religious trial. 26:17 And, by the way, it was a travesty in justice. 26:20 Let me mention some of the things that they did which were 26:23 against Jewish law. 26:28 That was forbidden by Jewish law. 26:33 That was forbidden by Jewish law. 26:41 That was a violation of Jewish law. 26:42 He had right to counsel. 26:45 They did not give Him the right to counsel. 26:47 That was a violation of Jewish law. 26:53 That was a violation of Jewish law. 26:55 In fact the trial, according to Jewish law had to be public, 27:01 and they made it private. 27:02 And furthermore it was forbidden by Jewish law to have any trial 27:09 or any sentencing on Saturday, or a feast day. 27:13 And they violated that. 27:15 In other words, it was a travesty in justice. 27:18 What the Sanhedrin, what the Church did when Jesus was 27:22 taken before the religious leaders. 27:24 Now let's notice a little bit about this trial. 27:28 Matthew 26:59, 26:59. 27:32 Now the Chief Priest... 27:34 By the way, another regulation of the Jews was that they had 27:36 to have impartial judges. 27:38 Notice what it says here: Now the chief priest, the elders, 27:41 and all the council sought false testimony... 28:02 See, what they're doing is an inquisition, aren't they? 28:05 I know you're probably not used to using that word in this 28:09 context, but they're doing an inquiry. 28:11 That's what the word inquisition means. Notice verse 62. 28:45 And when Jesus said those words, immediately they pronounced 28:48 the death sentence. 28:50 Let me ask you, Who pronounced the death sentence? 28:51 Was it the civil power or was it the religious power? 28:54 It was the religious power. 28:55 The inquisition was made in the church governing body. 29:00 And the sentence of death was dictated in the 29:03 church governing body. 29:04 I want you to remember these details because we're going to 29:06 come back to them when we talk about the beast, 29:08 and when we talk about the land beast. 29:10 Notice what we find in Matthew 26:66, after they did the 29:15 inquisition, after they did the inquiry. 29:17 It says: Then the high priest tore his clothes saying, 29:21 He has spoken blasphemy. 29:23 What further need do we have of witnesses? 29:26 Look, now you have heard His blasphemy. 29:35 Who pronounced the death sentence, 29:37 the state or the church? 29:38 The church pronounced the death sentence. 29:40 They were the ones who did the inquisition. 29:42 They were the ones who led Jesus to incriminate Himself. 29:47 But the problem is that the church of that day and age 29:49 could not execute the death penalty. 29:51 They pronounced the sentence, but the church 29:54 as a church, could not do it. 29:55 So what did they do? 29:57 They took Jesus to the political ruler of Rome. 30:02 Notice Matthew 27:1, 2, Matthew 27:1, 2. 30:25 Now was Pilate the civil ruler, or religious ruler? 30:29 He was the civil ruler. 30:30 Could the church execute the death penalty on Jesus without 30:34 the help of the state? Absolutely not! 30:36 They needed the help of the civil power. 30:38 Now when they take him to Jesus, notice 30:41 John 18:30, John 18:29, 30. 30:47 Pilot then went out to them and said, What accusation do you 30:52 bring against this man? 31:00 He's an evildoer. Let me ask you, Had He violated any of the 31:03 civil laws of Rome? 31:04 He had not violated any of the civil laws of the state. 31:08 In fact, do you know that Pilate had the separation of church 31:12 and state much clearer than even the Jews did? 31:15 Notice John 18:31. Then Pilate said to them, You take Him and 31:22 judge Him according to your law. 31:24 How many laws did Pilate recognize? 31:26 How many? two! He says, I got my law, which is the civil code 31:33 of Rome, but you take this man and you judge Him by what? 31:36 by your law, which is religious law. 31:39 In other words, Pilate is recognizing that there 31:41 are how many kingdoms? two kingdoms. 31:43 His has a law, which is civil law, and they have a law, 31:47 which is religious law. 31:49 Because they've accused Jesus of transgressing 31:51 the first table of the law. 31:52 But you see the Jews, they wanted to put Him to death. 31:56 And they needed the help of the state in order 31:58 to put Him to death. 32:00 This is what the Bible call fornication; 32:01 when the church uses the state to slay those who are not 32:07 in harmony with her teachings. 32:09 Notice John 18:31. 32:21 We need your help, Pontius Pilate, 32:25 to put this man to death. 32:27 Notice Luke 23:2. It says, And they began to accuse Him saying, 32:35 We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to 32:40 pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself 32:43 is Christ, a king. 32:45 Let me ask you, Was this an accusation that would have 32:48 raised the ears of Pontius Pilate? 32:50 Oh, absolutely! They'd say, You knew this man who 32:53 wanted to be a king. 32:54 And he said, We're not supposed to pay taxes, 32:56 which is an open blatant lie, because we already read 32:59 that Jesus said, Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. 33:03 He said, Pay taxes. 33:04 So this is an outright lie. 33:06 And they're saying this man said that He's a king. 33:09 But they're twisting His words, because Jesus had not said 33:12 that He was going to be a political king, but He was king 33:15 of the kingdom of grace, of a religious system. 33:18 And so Pilate calls Jesus in and he wants to have an 33:22 interview with Him. 33:23 He wants to ask Him if He's a king. 33:25 Notice John 18:36, when Pilate says, Are you a king? 33:33 How many kingdoms did Jesus recognize? 33:35 His and what other one? this world's kingdom. He says: 33:43 In other words, if Mine was a political kingdom, 33:46 what would His servants do? 33:59 Are you understanding what's happening here? 34:00 Jesus is recognizing two kingdoms. 34:03 One is the civil power, and the other is His spiritual kingdom. 34:08 And He's saying, I came to represent the spiritual kingdom. 34:11 I did not come to take over the political system. 34:15 Notice John 18:37. Pilate, therefore, said to Him, 34:20 Are you a king then? 34:22 Jesus answered, You say rightly that I'm a king. 34:25 He says, Yeh, you bet I am. 34:27 For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have 34:30 come into the world; that I should kill everybody with a 34:34 sword and take over the world. 34:36 That's not what He says! 34:37 What kind of kingdom did He come to establish? 34:40 He says, I have come into the world that I should bear 34:43 witness to the what? to the truth. 34:46 That's something spiritual, folks. 34:47 Everyone who is of the truth hears what? My voice. 34:53 And, by the way, do you know that three times Pontius Pilate 34:55 goes out and he says to the people, I've examined him. 34:59 I don't find any crime in this man. 35:01 Did Pilate understand that Jesus was not saying that He was 35:05 going to be a king to take over the political system? 35:07 Did he understand that? 35:08 Listen, if he didn't understand that, he would have had 35:10 Jesus killed right there. 35:12 But he didn't because he knew that Jesus was not a political 35:16 king like the Jews accused Him of being. 35:19 In fact three times Pilate said that Jesus was innocent, 35:22 that he was delivering to death an innocent man. 35:25 That's a travesty in justice. 35:27 Notice John 18:38. This is the first time. 35:41 In other words, this man is innocent. 35:44 Once again in John 19:4. 35:55 That's twice. Notice John 19:6. Three's a charm. 36:16 Did Pilate openly announce that Jesus was innocent of violation 36:22 of any law of Rome, of the civil power? Yes. 36:25 But the Jews said, This guy violated the 36:28 first table of the law. 36:29 By the way, Jesus had not, but they're accusing 36:32 Him of doing that. 36:33 And they want to use the civil power of Rome to destroy 36:36 Jesus because of the convictions of His conscience, 36:41 because of His religious views. 36:43 In fact, notice John 19:7. 36:50 It might not be yours, they're saying to Pilate, but... 37:02 And Pilate says, And what does that have to do with me? 37:07 Making Himself like God; that's the first table of the law. 37:09 Of course he doesn't say this, but he says that 37:11 has to do with you, with the spiritual kingdom, not with me. 37:14 You know, show me that He killed somebody, or He committed 37:16 adultery, or He stole, or He dishonored or trampled upon 37:21 His parents, or that He's guilty of witnessing 37:24 falsely against people. 37:25 Give me one of those violations of civil law. 37:27 But don't come to me and say that He made Himself God. 37:30 Because that has to do with your law. 37:32 It doesn't have to do with mine. 37:33 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 37:35 Now notice John 19:11. 37:38 Did Pilate and Jesus both recognize 37:43 that there are two kingdoms? Absolutely. 37:45 Notice John 19:11, because Pilate says, Don't you know that 37:48 I could release You if I wanted to? Notice: 38:01 Why was Pilate ruling in Rome? 38:05 Who placed him there? 38:07 God placed him there. 38:08 Jesus is saying, You wouldn't have any power unless 38:11 God had placed you there. 38:13 So did Jesus recognize the legitimacy of the civil power? 38:16 Yes, He did. Did He recognize the legitimacy also of 38:20 the religious power? 38:22 He most certainly did. 38:23 Now why did Pilate deliver an innocent man? 38:26 John 19:12 tells us the reason. 38:29 Actually, there are two reasons. 38:32 1. Because he was afraid of the people. 38:35 And 2. He was afraid of losing his political position. 38:40 He was afraid that Caesar would remove him. 38:43 So out of expediency he delivered an innocent man. 38:46 Notice John 19:12. 39:06 So what are they saying? 39:08 They're saying, Listen, this man says that He's a king. 39:11 And if you don't do something about it, 39:12 we're going to tell Caesar, and Caesar is going to remove 39:15 you from your post. 39:17 So it was because of fear of losing his political position 39:20 that he delivered an innocent man. 39:23 But it was also because the religious leaders pressured 39:27 the people to ask for the blood of Jesus, 39:29 and he was afraid of an insurrection 39:32 and a tumult among the people. 39:34 Notice Matthew 27:20. 39:36 Folks the dangerous figures in this are not the common 39:39 ordinary church members. 39:41 The dangerous people here are the religious leaders. 39:44 Notice Matthew 27:20. 40:00 Notice John 19:13-15. 40:05 When Pilate, therefore, heard that saying, he brought Jesus 40:09 out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called 40:13 the pavement, but in Hebrew Gabbatha. 40:25 And now notice this: 40:47 Do you know what they were doing? 40:49 They were actually divorcing Jesus Christ as their king. 40:55 By saying that they had no king but Caesar, they were committing 41:01 a terrible act of fornication with the king 41:04 to destroy Jesus Christ. 41:06 And, by the way, lest you wonder about this, 41:09 did Jesus many times give parables where He spoke 41:14 about His desire to marry the people in His day? His church? 41:19 Yes. He called John the Baptist the friend of the bridegroom; 41:23 the matchmaker, if you please. 41:27 In fact He said, How can you cry when the 41:29 bridegroom is in your midst? 41:30 He spoke of Himself as the bridegroom. 41:32 He gave the parable of the ten virgins, which is a marriage. 41:36 He spoke about the king and his servants, Matthew 22. 41:40 In other words, this was Jesus trying to woo His people, 41:44 and say, I want to have a relationship with you. 41:46 I want to be your husband. 41:48 I want you to be my wife. 41:49 And what did they say? 41:51 They said, We will not have You as king. 41:53 We have no king but the political system. 41:56 We have no king but whom? Caesar. 41:59 They were disowning their relationship with Jesus Christ. 42:02 They were breaking their relationship. 42:04 They were basically divorcing Jesus Christ. 42:08 And, by the way, when they did this, this led a national 42:12 apostasy, which eventually led to national ruin. 42:16 You see, they thought that by killing Jesus 42:19 they were going to save their nation. 42:21 But by killing Jesus they brought destruction 42:25 upon their nation. 42:26 They caused just the opposite of what they thought they 42:29 were going to cause. 42:30 By taking over the political system to destroy Jesus, 42:33 they brought about what they wanted to prevent. 42:38 Notice John 19:41-44, John 19:41-44, speaking about 42:43 the destruction of Jerusalem. 42:44 Because the Jewish nation had said, We don't want this man. 42:48 We don't want Him to be our husband. 42:50 We have a king who is Caesar. 42:52 His blood be upon us, and upon our children. Notice: 43:12 This is the Romans, by the way. 43:13 The very ones that they said the Romans will 43:15 take away our nation. 43:17 The Romans did take away their nation, 43:18 but because they destroyed Jesus. Verse 43. 43:41 Do you see what happens when the church 43:42 fornicates with the state? 43:44 The result, automatic result, is persecution. 43:48 Sooner or later when the church abandons it's relationship with 43:53 Jesus, it's spiritual mission, and it tries to get the state 43:59 to do what Jesus should do, that's fornication, 44:03 and it leads to the downfall of the church. 44:06 In fact allow me, in the last few minutes that we have 44:09 together, to talk to you about the church immediately after 44:13 the day of Pentecost. 44:15 By the way, do you know that the Bible says that 44:17 there are two swords? 44:21 What's the first sword? the Bible. 44:24 Notice Ephesians 6:17. 44:29 It says there, the apostle Paul speaking, Ephesians 6:17, 44:32 And take the helmet of salvation, 44:34 and the sword of the Spirit, which is what? 44:38 which is the Word of God. 44:39 What is the sword of the Spirit? the Word of God. 44:42 Let me ask you, To whom did Jesus give this sword? 44:44 to the state or to the church? to the church. 44:47 How does the church use the sword? by preaching, right? 44:51 If the sword is the Bible, how does the church use the sword, 44:55 or the Bible? It uses the sword to preach, and to reach people. 45:00 By the way, did God give the church power to do that? 45:03 Notice Acts 1:8, Acts 1:8. Jesus says: 45:25 What mission did Jesus give to the church? 45:28 He said, Go out with your swords; take over the political 45:30 system; convert the world by force. 45:33 Is that what He said? No! 45:36 He said, I'm giving you a sword. 45:38 It's the sword of the Spirit; it's the Word of God. 45:40 You go out with the Word of God; preach it, and plant the Spirit 45:45 of Christ where? in the heart. 45:48 And that way My Spiritual kingdom will grow. 45:51 You know, you never find in the book of Acts, 45:54 which is the history of the earliest church, 45:57 you'll never find in the book of Acts the disciples taking over 46:00 the Roman government to fulfill their mission. 46:02 In fact what you notice in the book of Acts is that God's 46:08 followers are constantly being persecuted by Rome. 46:11 Do you know why they're being persecuted by Rome? 46:15 Because the Jews instigated the civil powers of Rome 46:19 to persecute God's people. 46:20 You see they continued doing, after Jesus died on the cross, 46:26 they continued doing the same thing all over again 46:29 throughout the book of Acts. 46:30 Just read the book of Acts. 46:32 Look in the Concordance for the word Jews. 46:33 And you'll find that every time that there's persecution 46:37 against the church it's instigated by the Jews. 46:39 Because they're, once again, trying to use the civil 46:42 magistrates, the power of Rome, to snuff out Christianity. 46:46 In fact, let me give you one example: Acts 12:1-3, 46:51 Acts 12:1-3. It's speaking about the death of James. 46:55 It's interesting to see what he was killed with. 46:57 He wasn't killed with the Bible, by the way. 47:00 He wasn't killed with the sword of the Spirit. 47:02 It says there in Acts 12:1-3: Now about that time Herod 47:08 the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 47:11 Then he killed James the brother of John with a sword. 47:16 What did he kill him with? with the sword. 47:19 Why did he do that? 47:20 Verse 3. And because he saw that it what? 47:25 it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further 47:29 to seize Peter also. 47:31 Now it was during the days of unleavened bread. 47:35 You see, all throughout the book of Acts the apostate Jewish 47:38 church links with the civil government of Rome to try 47:42 and destroy the church. 47:44 That is what the Bible calls fornication. 47:48 That's what the harlot, this apostate church, 47:52 did during the Middle Ages. 47:54 And that's what this apostate church is going to do 47:57 in the future, according to Scripture. 47:59 I want to read Romans 13:1-5. 48:05 Do you know that there is another sword? 48:06 There's two swords. 48:08 The first sword is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. 48:11 And that's used by whom? by the church, right? 48:15 And how does the church use it? by what? by preaching. 48:19 But there's another sword, and that sword is the ability that 48:24 the civil government has to enforce civil order. 48:27 Not the first table of the law, but civil order. 48:30 You say, Where does the Bible say that there's 48:32 another kind of sword? 48:34 Romans 13:1. It's speaking about Rome. 48:49 Let me ask you, Who appointed the civil government? God did. 48:53 Did Jesus recognize that? 48:54 He most certainly did. 48:56 What did He appoint the civil government for? 48:57 to rule in religious things? No. 49:00 To rule in what? in civil matters. 49:03 To preserve the civil order. 49:05 Verse 2. Therefore whoever resists the authority, 49:08 that is the civil government, resists the ordinance of God. 49:11 And those who resist will bring judgment upon themselves, 49:14 for rulers are not a tare to good works but to evil. 49:18 In other words, if you obey the law, no problem. 49:21 Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? 49:24 Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. 49:31 Notice that it even says that the civil power is God's 49:33 minister to you for good. 49:39 That is the civil magistrate. 49:51 Who has the other sword? the sword of force, 49:55 the literal sword to preserve the civil order, where you can 50:00 punish violations of civil law? 50:02 It's the state that has that sword. 50:04 So let me ask you, Does the church have a sword? Yes. 50:06 Does the state have a sword? Yes. 50:08 Where do you have the problem? 50:10 When the church uses the sword of the state. 50:13 That's what the Bible calls fornication. 50:17 By the way, lest you wonder whether the civil power has the 50:20 right to actually legislate the first table of the law, 50:23 let's continue reading there in verse 6. 50:25 For because of this you also pay taxes. 50:27 See, because God has placed them there, you pay taxes. 50:36 Notice the word render; just the word that Jesus used. 50:47 Owe no one anything except to love one another. 50:50 For he who loves one another has fulfilled the law. 50:53 Which table of the law is this talking about in the context 50:55 of the civil government? 50:57 You love your what? your neighbor. 50:58 And then if you still don't understand it, verse 9. 51:01 For the commandment, you shall not commit adultery, 51:03 you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear 51:07 false witness, you shall not covet. 51:08 And if there's any other commandment... 51:10 Are those all commandments that have to do with the second 51:12 table of the law? Absolutely. 51:14 ...are all summed up in this saying, namely you shall love 51:17 your neighbor as yourself. 51:19 Love does no harm to a neighbor. 51:20 Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 51:22 The apostle Paul is saying, Look, we should obey the civil 51:25 law because it's the civil law, but we should also obey 51:29 the civil law because of love. 51:32 As Christians we have two motivations: 51:34 1. Because the civil law says it. 51:36 It's not because we're afraid of the civil law. 51:39 But the real reason is because when you have the law written 51:41 on the heart you're going to love your neighbor. 51:43 But notice that the government has to do with the second 51:47 table of the law, and not with the first table of the law. 51:52 And do you know what? 51:53 Shortly after the story of the church in the book of Acts, 51:58 the church took a very bad turn. 52:02 Apostasy came into the church. 52:05 We studied this before. 52:07 And the church merged with the state. 52:10 And the same scenes that took place in the trial 52:15 and crucifixion of Jesus were repeated all over again in case, 52:21 after case, after case; the church using the civil power 52:26 to punish dissenters for their beliefs, to punish people whose 52:31 conscience contradicted what the church was doing. 52:35 Now I'd like to bring this to a close by saying that Pilate 52:40 should never have delivered an innocent man. 52:45 Some people say, Well, he was the political ruler. 52:48 He didn't know any better. 52:50 He did know better. 52:52 You say, How do we know that? 52:55 Matthew 27:19, Matthew 27:19. 52:58 While he was sitting on the judgment seat... 53:03 That is Pilate... his wife sent to him saying, 53:07 Have nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered 53:13 many things today in a dream because of Him. 53:17 What was the counsel to the civil ruler? 53:21 Don't touch Him, because He's a just man. 53:25 He has not violated any of the laws of Rome. 53:29 And the accusations against Him are false. 53:32 And yet Pilate, because the multitudes were clamoring, 53:39 because the religious leaders said, Come on! 53:41 Ask Pilate to crucify Him. 53:43 And because he was afraid of losing his political position, 53:47 he delivered an innocent man. 53:54 And he feigned like it wasn't his fault by washing his hands. 53:59 Notice Matthew 27:24. 54:04 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, 54:08 but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and 54:15 washed his hands before the multitude saying, I am innocent 54:20 of the blood of this just person. You see to it. 54:24 Now folks, this is a powerful testimony to the civil rulers 54:28 of the United States of America. 54:31 Many times the church wants to get involved in 54:34 the political process. 54:35 And they want the state to do what the church and the 54:37 Holy Spirit should do through the Word of God. 54:39 Many Christians even want to take an oath 54:43 for the political system. 54:44 What that does is it corrupts the church, and it corrupts 54:46 the state, when you really stop to think about it. 54:48 And folks if this happens, and it's going to happen according 54:55 to Bible prophecy. 54:56 The scenes that took place in Pilate's court, 55:01 are going to be repeated all over again. 55:05 In fact I'd like to bring this to an end by going 55:08 to John 16:1-3, where Jesus predicted that the same things 55:15 that would happen to Him were going to happen to His 55:18 followers, to His disciples. 55:19 It says there in John 16:1-3, These things I have spoken 55:26 to you that you should not be made to stumble. 55:31 They will put you out of the synagogues. 55:34 Today we call them churches. 55:36 Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think 55:43 that he offers God service. 55:46 And these things they will do to you because they have not 55:51 known the Father nor Me. 55:54 Are these scenes going to be repeated all over again? 55:58 In fact folks, we're going to find the sad story that they 56:02 were repeated all during the period that is known as the 56:06 dark ages, or the Middle Ages. 56:08 The identical process that was followed with Jesus was followed 56:13 by God's professed church during the Middle Ages that had become 56:17 apostate; that had become a harlot church, and joined with 56:22 the state, used the civil power to slay 56:25 the saints of the Most High. 56:27 The Bible tells us that at the very end of time 56:30 this is going to happen again, because the last 200 years 56:34 we've had a moratorium on this type of persecution. 56:37 And we're going to study the reason why there's been 56:40 a moratorium during the last couple hundred years. 56:43 There's a specific Biblical reason, a historical reason. 56:47 But the Bible says that the time will come when these scenes will 56:50 be repeated again. 56:52 And so we must let people know. 56:54 We must let our politicians know that they should not 56:58 repeat the same mistake that was committed by Pilate. 57:02 Because God will not accept any hand washing as an excuse 57:07 for union of church and state, and persecution of those 57:12 who are followers of Jesus Christ. 57:15 So it's my prayer that we will share these things, 57:19 and that we will choose to be on God's side, 57:22 and to help His spiritual kingdom to grow. |
Revised 2023-04-20