Heb 4:3 The Counsel of God 2/5/2012

· They Shall Not Enter Into My Rest (Heb 4:1-10, Psalm 95:8-11, Heb 3:11)

#1. What Did God Say? (Heb 4:3, 7:27, 9:12,26,28, 10:10,12, Rev 22:19)

· The Works Having Come Into Being From the Foundation of the World (Heb 4:3)

· The Counsel of God (Heb 4:3, Eph 1:3-7, Rom 9:13)

#2. The Rest of God (Heb 4:1,3,4,11, Ex 20:11)

· Today If You Hear His Voice (Heb 4:7, Psalm 95:1-8, Eph 5:22-32)

#3. More of the Counsel of God (Prov 16:4, 2Pet 3:18)

· Our Love for Christ (Rom 5:5, Matt 24:12, 2Tim 3:1-4, 1Cor 16:22, Matt 22:37, 10:37, Amos 8:12, Rev 13:7-8, John 21:15)

Please open your Bibles to the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb 4:1 (2X). Today let us focus on the second part of this chapter in Hebrews. It is a surprise to us that here in Heb 4 God is still speaking of the rebels in Israel who opposed Him. God has already devoted almost the entire chapter 3 to these unbelieving rebels. To review the context let us begin at Heb 4:1 and read the first ten verses.

· They Shall Not Enter Into My Rest (Heb 4:1-10, Psalm 95:8-11, Heb 3:11)

Heb 4:1-10, “1 ¶ Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, If they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.”

Let us first resolve the apparent contradiction generated by the word “If”, which occurs four times in this passage. The Greek sentence construction which is translated in verses 3 and 5, “If they shall enter into my rest” is identical to the Greek sentence in Heb 3:11, but there it was translated, “They shall not enter into my rest.” Put a sticker here in Heb 4, and let us turn for a moment to the prophecy of the Psalms, Psalm 95:8 (2X). God reviewed for us here the events that were recorded in Num 14, where the children of Israel first refused to go into the land of Canaan, because of the evil report that the ten spies brought them concerning the giants in the land, but then the next day they wanted to fight the Canaanites when God told them they could not. We read in Psalm 95:8-11,

Psalm 95:8-11, “8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.”

Please turn again to Heb 3:11. Now, the translation in Heb 3:11 is in total harmony with this Psalm and so from Heb 3:11 in the KJV we see that this is the correct translation for this peculiar Greek sentence construction. Now apply this result to Heb 4:3 and Heb 4:5, and we see that in both verses we should read the sentence as, “They shall not enter into My rest”. We do not know why the King James translators did not consistently translate these three verses the same way.

Another difficulty is brought up in verse 3. Let us look again at Heb 4:3.

Heb 4:3, “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

#1. What Did God Say? (Heb 4:3, 7:27, 9:12,26,28, 10:10,12, Rev 22:19)

When we study the Bible the first thing we should ask ourselves is this, “What did God say?” That is why we often turn to the literal translation, for the KJV is only a translation, just like the Septuagint is only a translation. A translation is the work of man, and thus it will be found imperfect, just like our understanding of the literal translation is only the work of man. And thus our interpretation of what God wrote is also not perfect, but we try to be as close as possible to what God really said. We try to resolve the contradictions that are generated by slavishly following the KJV. Most cults start with the KJV, but they arrive at false doctrines because they are not checking the literal translation.

For example, they read Heb 4:3, and then they read “although the works were finished from the foundation of the world” they conclude that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered for our sins already before the foundation of the world, so that at the time He began creating the world His atonement for our sins was complete, and His crucifixion in AD 33 was only a demonstration of what He already went through before the foundation of the world. This is absolutely not true. It is a misinterpretation of this verse in the KJV, because we read in Heb 7:27, and Heb 9:12, and Heb 9:26, and Heb 9:28, and Heb 10:10, and Heb 10:12 that Christ was sacrificed for our sins only once. We cannot, by massaging the Scriptures come up with a contradictory statement and thereby eliminate these six verses, for then we would have violated Rev 22:19, which would be a severe condemnation for all those who try to eliminate any passages of Scripture. Moreover, it is not possible that the Lord Jesus Christ, who possesses a body of flesh and blood, would be crucified on a wooden cross before the foundation of the world when nothing existed but only the Triune God. This is a ridiculous concept.

But let us now ask, “What did God say?” What is the literal translation of Heb 4:3? Here it is: “For we, the ones having believed, enter into the rest, even as He said, “As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter into My rest, ”though the works having come into being from the foundation of the world.”

What does this mean? And how does it apply to “We which have believed now?”

· The Works Having Come Into Being From the Foundation of the World (Heb 4:3)

What works are referred to? We may also ask: How does this bear under the subject under discussion? How can it be a proof that there remains a “rest” to those who believe now? This was the point to be demonstrated; and this passage was designed clearly to bear on that point. As it stands in the King James Translation the passage seems to make no sense whatsoever.

“The works” refer to the most important works ever performed in this universe. The works refer to the works of God on our behalf so that we can become saved from our sins, for this is the reason why there is a “rest” to those who believe now. In Heb 4:3 God is contrasting those for whom He has a rest, and those who are denied that rest. The rebels from within the children of Israel are denied that rest, whereas those who have believed now have entered into a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And when God says that the works of Christ’s atonement have come into being from the foundation of the world, God says that He applies the efficacy of Christ’s atonement to sinners from the foundation of the world; not before the foundation of the world, but from the foundation of the world. Another verse which shows that God applies the atonement of Christ retroactively to the saints who lived before Christ came, all the way to the beginning of the world is Rom 3:25, where we read,

Rom 3:25, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission (passing by) of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”

Who were those sinners from the foundation of the world? Adam and Eve were the sinners from the foundation of the world. Adam and Eve enjoyed the Garden of Eden, but it did not take long for them to fall into the sin of eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In fact it happened so fast that they never ate from the Tree of Life. Did the Lord Jesus Christ atone for their sins? Yes He did. We read in Gen 3:21, “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” It means that God sacrificed one or two animals to make coats of skin for Adam and Eve. But we read in Heb 10:1 that all the Old Testament animal sacrifices were shadows of the final offering of Christ on the cross. And what have the coats of skin to do with the forgiveness of sins? They have to do with the robe of righteousness which the Lord imputes on us. Isa 61:10,

Isa 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”

And so, the fact that God made coats of skin for Adam and Eve means that the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross in AD 33 was applied retroactively to the first two persons in the world, and God imputed to each of them a robe of righteousness. This is how the works having come into being from the foundation of the world were applied to those who believe.” Again we see the beautiful salvation of God and that it is totally free of charge. Let us see what else Heb 4:3 speaks about.

· The Counsel of God (Heb 4:3, Eph 1:3-7, Rom 9:13)

What is the counsel of God? The counsel of God is the plan of God. Before the foundation of the world, before anything else existed, the Father chose a Bride for His Son; God the Father chose a Bride for God the Son. And God worked out all the details of how the Son might purchase His Bride and draw her unto Himself. This is the counsel of God, or the plan of God. Humanly speaking it is as if God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit sat together in counsel and worked out all the details. Then they signed the document and it became the decree of God. The counsel of God is the same as the decree of God; it cannot be changed, because this is what God planned. God will perform everything that is necessary to bring to pass what He in His counsel had determined to be done. This is called the providence of God, or humanly speaking we might say: the providence of God is the hands of God. We can see that here in Heb 4:3. God says in Heb 4:3 “For we, the ones having believed, enter into the rest, even as He said, “As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter into My rest,” though the works having come into being from the foundation of the world.” The plans of God came into being at the creation of the world, and in the days following, for it was then that the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ was applied retroactively. Please turn in your Bibles to the Epistle to the Ephesians, Eph 1:3 (2X). We have here the most hated chapter in the Bible, but it is the easiest chapter that explains the counsel of God. Why is this the most hated chapter in the Bible? It is so because the concepts of God’s counsel and God’s providence are stated so clearly that there is no way man can wiggle around it to deny God’s purpose of election and predestination. You must have a totally evil mind to come up with a free-will gospel after reading this chapter. God says in Eph 1:3-7,

Eph 1:3-7, “3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”

God chose us not because we deserved it, and not because we are such good people, and not because looking down the corridors of time God saw that we would be such good servants of Christ, but God chose us according to the good pleasure of His will. That is what verse 5 says. And God made that decision before the foundation of the world, before our souls existed, before we were born, before we could have done any good or evil. When God said in Rom 9:13, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated,” God said that not because Esau sold his birthright, and not because Esau was going to sell his birthright, but God said that long before the children were born, before the children could have done any good or evil, and God said this “in order that the purpose of God according to election might stand,” so that it will be perfectly clear that election is not connected to works, but is totally by the grace of God. This is how God operates in the kingdom of man. And then we find that everything in the Bible harmonizes, and we find that everything in the Bible focusses not on the free-will of man, but on the glory of God. The entire problem of the responsibility of man disappears, because man is not response-able. We are accountable, but we are not response-able. Our response depends on whether we are elect or not elect. The only free-will we have is the free will to sin, but of our own nature we do not have a desire to serve God. That is as unlikely as a lion desiring to eat straw. And so, how does the counsel of God fit with Heb 4:3? Does the counsel of God shine through Heb 4:3? Indeed it does. Herein we recognize that the KJV translators were firm believers of the counsel and the providence of God. Let us read Heb 4:3 again in the KJV.

Heb 4:3, “For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

The words “they shall not enter into my rest,” which were spoken by God in His wrath, seem to be God’s response to the rebels among the children of Israel. But this was not God’s response in the heat of the moment, for He had already decided before the foundation of the world that He would not give them faith, so that their response would be a response of unbelief. God did nor swear this as a reward for their unbelief, for God already knew what their response would be. This was just one sin which was added to their mountain of sins that were not paid by Christ on the cross. Let us now look at something we have not touched upon in Heb 4:3. It is:

#2. The Rest of God (Heb 4:1,3,4,11, Ex 20:11)

Heb 4:3-4, “3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, ….. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.”

Heb 4:1 speaks of entering into “His rest” and that is what verses 3 and 4 also speak about. What does God mean by “His rest?” That rest was not that of the Promised Land. It was a rest such as God had Himself when He finished the work of creation. We read that in Ex 20:11. God says in Ex 20:11,

Ex 20:11, “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

This was peculiarly His rest, the rest of God without toil, or weariness, and after His whole work was finished. The happiness of the saints was to be like that. It was to be in their case also a rest from toil, to be enjoyed at the end of all that they had to do. To prove that Christians were to obtain such a rest was the purpose that God had in view, showing that it was a general doctrine pertaining to believers in every age, that there was a promise of rest for them. That was the true rest, such rest as what God had when He finished the work of creation, such as He has now in heaven. This is what God now enjoys, and this rest was to elevate us more and more to Him. Of this rest were the Sabbath and the Promised Land only symbols. They to whom the promise was made did not enter in, but some shall enter in, and the promise therefore pertains to us. That is indeed what we read in verse 3, for we read in Heb 4:3, “For we which have believed do enter into rest”, His rest, and that is glorious.

However, God’s urgent point was the warning that just as many in Israel did not enter Canaan, so many in the church stand to miss the heavenly rest, because of a lack of faith and commitment. Why commitment? It is because our commitment reflects the measure in which we love the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ showed us His commitment, all the way to the equivalent of an eternity in hell. What right do we have to remain uncommitted? And so, we must ask ourselves how great our love is for the Lord Jesus Christ, and how great our gratitude is for what He has done.

We may jump ahead to Heb 4:11, where we read, in Heb 4:11, “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” God’s promise of entering His rest still stands, but it will not be given to those who remain in unbelief. We also have had the Gospel preached unto us, but that does not guarantee anything. If we faithfully go to church we still may not be saved. But if we belong to God’s elect we will receive our faith from God; that is a promise. Without faith it is impossible to please Him.

· Today If You Hear His Voice (Heb 4:7, Psalm 95:1-8, Eph 5:22-32)

Let us look again at Heb 4:7, “Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time; as it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

How do we hear His voice today? Please turn in your Bibles to the Prophecy of the Psalms, and let us read the first part of Psalm 95. We have already seen that the second part of this Psalm refers to the rebels in Israel who rebelled against God 3500 years ago. But God says you can still hear His voice. How do we hear His voice? Listen to Psalm 95:1-8,

Psalm 95:1-8, “1 ¶ O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. 5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 7 ¶ For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:”

And so, where do we hear the voice of God? These verses strongly suggest that we hear the voice of God in the church. Admittedly, we hear Him not in every church, for today there are many churches which have gone apostate. There are many churches where only the safe, harmless, soft messages from the Catechism are preached, but the Bible is not preached. The whole counsel of God is not preached. The warnings from God that we are near the end of time are not preached.

But let us consider the words of Psalm 95:1-8. In Eph 5:22-32 the Lord Jesus clearly indicated that the church was a wise establishment of God, for the purpose of glorifying Him in a group, as a congregation. God wants to be glorified, and that is why we sing praises to Him, and that is why we come before His presence with thanksgiving, and that is why we worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord our Maker. And when the true God of all the earth is no longer worshipped in the church, when all the churches have gone apostate, we can expect that the end is very near, and the Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon. But God warns us: as long as we can hear His voice in the church, as long as we can hear the wonderful promises of God, harden not your hearts when you hear the messages from God. They will be to us for our joy and our comfort.

#3. More of the Counsel of God (Prov 16:4, 2Pet 3:18)

We often wonder why the Lord operates in an authoritarian way, such as in election and in reprobation. When I first heard of God predestinating people unto salvation I was satisfied to know that God chose His elect from before the foundation of the world. That was nice of God. But why did He elect only a remnant of mankind? Why did He not choose more people to become saved? But then when I read what God says in Prov 16:4, “The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil”, I was shocked to learn that God did not only nice things, such as choose me unto salvation, but He also chose others to be subject to judgment, even though they are not condemned for being God’s choice, but for their own sins which deserve condemnation in hell. My first impression was that God was a dictator, which to some of us was not a nice picture of God, since we have just come out of the Second World War which was generated by dictators. But that is not the correct view of God. Instead we should say that God is the overflowing fountain of all good. And so, why does God make His providence work out everything according to His counsel, and which has the result that some are brought to salvation, but the majority of mankind is brought to condemnation?

Let me suggest only one or two reasons why God operates this way. The primary reason is that He loves us. God brings calamities in our life, some small ones like a cold, and some more severe like a divorce, or the death of a spouse, or Restless Leg Syndrome, which is a real torture. These are called chastenings. God brings these chastenings in our life to test us. Like in every test, God does not need the test, but we do. God already knows how we will react to the test and the outcome of the test, but we do not know this. And as we get older, and hopefully wiser, the tests become more severe. But through these tests God is making us grow spiritually, and that is where His love comes in. If we belong to Him as one of the children who inherits eternal life, our future is secure, but our present life may be one trial after another, and His grace will be sufficient to uphold us in our trials. And then we can look back and see the times when the Lord has carried us through difficult times, and through these tests we grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2Pet 3:18). And in our response toward these tests we can look at ourselves and see if we really love the Lord. We do not know why God brought the particular chastenings in our life, but we can see the effects it has on our character, and in our love for the Lord. We can see the effects it has on our sanctification, and we can read in the Bible that our victories over these troubles serve to glorify the Lord.

When the Lord brings these same calamities in the lives of the wicked, this also originates from the love of God. The Lord is giving them the opportunity to see their own wickedness, how they blaspheme God by assigning these calamities to Mother Nature, or to the devil. The Lord is giving them plenty of opportunities to repent, but repent they will not, because the true Gospel is to them a fairy tale, a pipe dream, and an impossible thing to believe in. Only gullible primitive people believe such things, but intellectuals do not believe such things. Regardless to say, they will not check these things out with the Bible, for they do not believe that the Bible is the Word of God.

And so, all these chastenings come from the loving hand of God, but what we do with those chastenings separates the elect from the reprobate. Two robbers witnessed the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of them pleaded for mercy in the life hereafter, for he came to realize how wicked he was, and he realized that he needed an advocate before the Father in heaven. The other one did not ask for mercy, for he considered his apprehension and his crucifixion was just bad luck. If he would not have been arrested he would still continue to rob people.

· Our Love for Christ (Rom 5:5, Matt 24:12, 2Tim 3:1-4, 1Cor 16:22, Matt 22:37, 10:37, Amos 8:12, Rev 13:7-8, John 21:15)

When we consider God’s rest, and we consider that it is the rest that we have in Christ, and we consider that it is identical to the free gift of eternal life in Christ, we stand amazed at the love of God for us who have been sinners, but have been transformed by His grace into saints. We know that this is a free gift from God, because God has from of old determined that we should be the Bride of Christ, and that is why He loves us so much. But what is our response to this love of God? I am not talking about our response-ability again, but I am talking about: What are the signs that God loves us? What is the evidence of salvation generated by the love of God that was poured upon us? In other words, what is the sign that the love of God was shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost? (Rom 5:5). Well, it is not only the love of God for us, but also our love for God and for the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, where I am driving at is, “What is our love for Christ?” Please turn to the Second Epistle to Tim, 2Tim 3:1 (2X). As you know, we are living near the end of time. What did the Lord Jesus say about the end of time? He said in Matt 24:12, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” What is this love that shall wax cold? Combine this verse with what we find in 2Tim 3

2Tim 3:1-4, “1 ¶ This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;” They shall be lovers of their own selves, and they shall be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. In other words, they are still unsaved. And when we combine this with the words of the Lord Jesus in Matt 24:12 we realize that the truth that the Lord Jesus proclaimed is also true in reverse: “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” and “Because the love of many shall wax cold, iniquity shall abound.” What love is this? It is the love for the Lord Jesus Christ. How does all this fit together? Please turn to the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1Cor 16:22. When a lawyer asked the Lord Jesus what the greatest commandment was in the law of God, He answered in Matt 22:37, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” To love God and Christ above all is our first requirement. 1Cor 16:22,

1Cor 16:22, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.”

Let him be accursed until the Lord comes. I have mentioned this verse before, and I sense that it seems to be an academic verse. It seems to be a verse that would apply to a people who lived a long long time ago and far far away. It does not strike home for most people. So let me bring up what the Lord Jesus said about this in Matt 10:37, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Now, this drives the point closer to home, does it not? I know many people who love their son or daughter more than they love the Lord Jesus, and they are not even aware of it. More recently we have people departing from this church, and they are not even aware that they have put themselves in the path of Satan. But remember, this sermon concerns the counsel of God, and the providence of God. God has determined ahead of time who are going to be faithful and who are going to betray the Lord. But it still means that we are accountable for our actions, because God is not the Author of our sins.

For example, where do we meet the Lord Jesus? We meet Him when we read and study the Bible, and we meet Him when we gather together on Sundays here in church. It is here where the Body of Christ meets the Spirit of Christ. If you know that he true Gospel is preached in this church, then it is here where we get edified and we receive instruction in doctrine and instruction in righteousness. And yet there are many who will skip church for any insignificant obstacle, such as a cold. There are many who will skip church because their children are unruly in church. Or they skip church for some other meeting with someone who seems to be more important than the Lord Jesus Christ. And so on, and so on. Where is your love for Christ? Remember 2Tim 3:4, “Men shall be lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God.”

It is still possible to find the Lord here in church. We still live in that blessed time when the Word of God can still be found. But the time will come, and it is near, when people will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord, and shall not find it. (Amos 8:12). Please turn to the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Rev 13:7 (2X). In Rev 12 we see the woman, representing the church, who is brought by God into the wilderness, where she will be fed with the Word of the Lord for a time, and times, and half a time. But then, immediately after this period of time has ended, in Rev 13, when Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, he will send his right hand man, which is Antichrist, into the world and he shall make war with the saints and shall overcome them. What does this mean? It means that Antichrist shall make war with the church, and shall overcome the church, and shall cause the preaching of the true Gospel to stop. The true elect of God cannot be deceived, and so the saints must refer to those whom the church considers to be the saints. Church people can be deceived, but not the elect of God. Therefore we read in Rev 13:7-9,

Rev 13:7-9, “7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.”

Let us not kid ourselves. At this time the church will be dead. Also this church will be dead. Rev 17 says it so clearly, for the church will have become Babylon. The people who were in the churches will have abandoned the churches, or they will be following the teachings of Antichrist, which will be O-so-close to the true Gospel, but only a very tiny fraction of people will remain faithful to the true Gospel. That is when the prophecy of Amos 8:12 will be fulfilled. And why do I bring you such a dismal view of the future? It is because this is what the Word of God proclaims. The love of many for the Lord Jesus Christ will grow cold. The gospel that Antichrist shall be proclaiming no longer shall have the teaching that our love for Christ is the evidence that we are saved. Many people have asked me, “What is the evidence of my salvation?” Here it is. Examine yourselves, and ask yourselves what the evidence is in your life that you love the Lord Jesus above all. Is your love for Christ reflected in your attendance to this church, or in your prayer life for the saints? Or do you not care at all if this church goes under?

When the risen Lord Jesus spoke to Peter after they had dined together in John 21:15, the Lord Jesus plainly asked Peter, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?” I was often puzzled about these words. What did the Lord Jesus mean when He said, “more than these?” Was He pointing to the fishing boats, or was He pointing to the other disciples? No! The Lord referred to what He said in Matt 10:37. “Peter, do you love Me more than anyone else and anything else in the world?” You see, only then will we have a coherent view of the whole Bible. Only then will we have a coherent view of what the Gospel of salvation is, and only then can we truly know if the Lord has really saved us, because it is really the counsel of God and the providence of God which make a dent. Does God want us to know if we have been saved? Absolutely yes, for then we truly understand the Gospel, and this will bring us exceeding great joy. It is then that we distribute Gospel tracts with gratitude in our hearts. It is then that we can bring the Gospel to the unsaved with confidence that we know the truth, and the Truth shall make you free. Let me talk about this freedom another time.

AMEN. Let us turn to the Lord in prayer.