Trembling at God's Word, Part 4b

The reason we tremble at the Word of God is because, number one, it reveals his identity. It radiates His majesty and glory. It reiterates his authority. And number four, it reflects his purity. It reflects his purity. His holiness. His righteousness. Listen to what the psalmist said. in Psalm 99 verse number three, let them praise thy great and awesome name for it is holy.

Psalm 111 verse number nine holy and awesome is his name. Isaiah 813. It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy and he shall be your fear and he shall be your dread. The word of God reflects the purity and the holiness of God. When God judges sin, you really see his purity. And the Bible reflects that purity over and over again. You go all the way back to Adam and Eve when they were banished from the garden. That was the righteous, holy, just thing to do because God is pure and true.

You go back to Acts Act 5 with Annalysis and Sapphire when they lied to Peter and they were struck dead in the church. That was the right thing to do. That was the just thing to do. and the very fact that we are allowed to live when we lie is the grace and mercy of God, isn't it not? That he allows us to live and we transgress his law. But if God was to kill us the moment we sinned, he'd be just and true and pure and right because he's holy and perfect. That's the way God works. In fact, if you go all the way back to the book of Revelation, the sixth thing, the chapter, listen to what it says.

Remember in Revelation chapter six, you had the seals being broken and the tribulation upon the earth beginning. And it says in verse number nine of chapter six, and when he broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar, the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained. And they cried with a loud voice saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, will thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth.

They appeal to the holiness of God. They appeal to the righteousness of God. Lord, how long will it be to you enact your justice because you are pure and true? And those who dwell upon the earth are impure and untrue. And it says in verse number 11, and there was given to each of them a white robe, and they were told that they should rest for a number, that they should rest for a little while longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed, even as they had been, should be completed also.

Then over in Revelation chapter 15, listen to what it says. The song of the land, great and marvelous are thy works, verse number three.

O Lord God, the Almighty, righteous and true are thy ways, thou king of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou alone art holy, for all the nations will come and worship before thee, for thy righteous acts have been revealed. The righteous acts of God are revealed during the tribulation period. When God enacts, the breaking of the seals, when God enacts the blowing of the trumpets and the pouring of the bulls, in judgment, the Bible calls them righteous acts, holy acts, because God doesn't do anything that's unholy.

Everything he does is perfectly true and righteous. And the Bible reflects that purity over and over again, especially in the realm when God judges sin. If you go over to one chapter, the Revelation chapter 16, it says this, verse number four, and the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers in the springs of waters and they became blood.

And I heard the angel of the water saying, righteous art thou who art and who was, O Holy One, because thou didst judge these things, for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. They deserve it. And I heard the altar saying, yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. So again, what do you have? You had the bulls being poured out, and people's lives suffering greatly. And what does heaven say? They deserve it. You are right, God.

You are just God. You are holy God. These are righteous acts, God. And you know what? They're right. You see, people in heaven are not going to say things that are sinful or vengeful. They're not trying to get back at people. They're in heaven. They're perfect. They've got glorified bodies. Everything is pure and true up there. And they're echoing the righteousness of God. Over in Revelation chapter 18 at the fall of Babylon, it says in verse number 20, Rejoice over her, oh heaven. And you saints that apostion.

and prophets because God has pronounced judgment for you against her rejoice oh heaven why was heaven rejoicing because God judged the Babylonian harlot because God judged the Antichrist system because God judged the religious system that went against the plan and power of God see that then over in Revelation chapter 19 when it's all said and done before the return of Christ after these things I heard as it were a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, Hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, because his judgments are true and righteous, for he has judged the great harlot who is corrupting the earth with her immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his bond servants on her.

And a second time they said, hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever, and the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God who sits on the throne saying, amen, hallelujah.

And a voice came from the throne saying, give praise to our God, all you is bond servants, you who fear him, the small and the great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as a sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder saying, hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the almighty reigns. You see, when God enacts his judgment, It's always right. It's pure. It's true. It's holy. And the Bible throughout reflects the purity of God. Throughout. We read that and we shudder because of how God judges sin.

How he judges those who rebel against him. That should cause every one of us to shudder. That should cause every one of us to want to proclaim the truth of God. So people don't have to experience the judgment. the just judgment of God upon their lives. See? But the purity of God is seen the fullest in the incarnation of God. In the incarnation of God. And we need to get a hold of this one. We need to understand this. Because you know what? For the most part, we've missed this. Let me help you understand this because this is so, so vital to our understanding the character and nature of God on how the Bible reflects his true purity over and over and over again.

Go with me in your Bible to Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one, remember at the inception of Mary, when Mary said, how can I? I have a child, I'm a virgin, how can this be? It says in verse number 35, and the angel answered and said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you. And for that reason, the holy offspring shall be called the son of God. The holy offspring, the distinct offspring, the separate offspring. One unlike creation, one unlike or far from corruption, this is the holy offspring.

This is the pure offspring. This is the unstained, unblemished, the perfect offspring. And so we realized that when Jesus Christ came into the world, he didn't come into the world like you and I come to the world. When a man and woman come together and a child is conceived, no, the Holy Spirit. had to come upon Mary and the Holy Spirit had to make sure that it was a miraculous conception. If you go over to Luke chapter 3, look what it says. Luke chapter 3, Christ is now 30 years of age. And it says in verse number 22 upon his baptism and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove and a voice came out of heaven, thou art, my beloved son, in thee, I am well pleased.

Now, for the father to say that he is well pleased, it had to be because the son was absolutely perfect. There was no sin in him. He was spotless. So whether it's his birth or whether it's his baptism, our Lord is without any sin. Now this is important. You need to get this because we need to understand the perfect nature of our God. When he became man, he was completely God and completely man. And he was completely perfect as the God man because he was the Holy God man, making him distinct and separate from his creation, different than us.

He's not like us. You see, we want to think that in the incarnation, God was like us. No. No. He became a man, but he's not like us. And I'm going to show you this in a moment. You need to get this. Because we want to think of God as one. How don't know I want to say this? as one who was able not to sin. No. No. God was not able to sin. He was incapable of sinning. He couldn't sin because he's God. That makes him distinctly different than the rest of us. Because you see, we are prone to sin. We can sin and we do sin.

and why is it we sin because of what's on the inside of us you see there was nothing on the inside of Christ in his flesh that would cause him or tempt him to sin because he was the holy offspring he was the perfect god man we need to grasp this because God is completely different than us Remember, at his death, what does Peter say? Peter says this. In chapter 1, verse number 18, or 19. 18, start there. Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

From his birth to his baptism, through his life to his death, he was the perfect, spotless, unblemished lamb of God. There was no sin in him because he could not sin. He could not. It's not that he was able to overcome temptation and had the capability of sinning. No, no. He is distinct from us. He is completely separate from us. He is completely different than we are. And let me show you to this way.

Turn me in your Bible to Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7. As you're turning there, remember what Christ said in, let me see.

I think it's John chapter 8. Yeah, 8, verse number 23. Christ said this. He says, you are from below. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. He is completely different than us, completely separate from us, because he is God. He is holy, pure, just, righteous. We are not. Now listen to this. Mark 7. Christ says this.

Leaving the multitude of verse number 17, he had entered the house. His disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him? Do you still miss it? Do you not understand it? Christ says it's not what's on the outside of man that's going to defile him.

He says this, verse 19, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and is eliminated. Thus he declared all foods clean. And he was saying, that which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornication, stefes, murders, adulteries, deed, of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness, all these evil things proceed from within and defile the man. You see, the reason we sin is because of what's on the inside, and the reason Christ could never sin is because what was on the inside was unlike Mark chapter 7.

It was completely pure and true and holy. See, that's a difference. You need understand that. He didn't have a nature like us. He didn't have a sinful nature. He wasn't born with a sinful nature and then went through life not sinning. That's not the incarnation. He is the holy offspring. He is the one in whom his father is well pleased. He was a perfect, spotless, unblemished lamb of God who died for the sins of man, who knew no sin, but became sin for us. As Peter says, the just died for the unjust.

Why? Because he is holy. That is, he is distinct. He is separate from his creation. He is different than we are. That is what we need to understand. And so Christ says, what defiles the man comes from within the man.

He says, I am not like you. I am not from below. I am from above. You are from below, but I am not. Completely different. emphasizing this, that the incarnation reflects the purity of God because here is God coming to a sinful, vile, corrupt world, and never once ever did he sin. He was pure and true and holy the whole time. And what was that it was said of Christ? That he was born of fornication. That he was a gluttonous drunkard. Why did they say that about him? Because all he did was hang around the riffraft.

He hung around them. The sinners. He ate with them. He dined with them. He went to their parties. He went to their weddings. He went to them. He came into the world. He pits his tent in this corrupt world. The perfect spotless lamb of God came to a sinful world in order to redeem sinful man. And the only way you could do that was to become man. and die and rise again and that's what he did but listen to this why do we spend so much time talking about this because as it reflects the purity of God God said what be ye holy as I am only I want you to be as distinct from creation as I I am distinct from creation.

I want you to be as separate from corruption as I am separate from corruption. Christ says, be ye perfect as your father in heaven is perfect.

Be holy as I am holy. That's the command that shouts from heaven. God says, I want people like me. That's why the Bible reflects the purity of God, and that's why God says, to this man when I look, to him who is broken and of a contrite heart, and who trembles and shakes uncontrollably under the authority of my word because he realizes that he can't be like God.

And so he begs for mercy. He pleads to God, oh God, be merciful and to be a sinner. And God bestows his grace. And God bestows his mercy. And God strengthens that individual to become more and more like him. And we cry for his return because one day when we see him, we'll be like him for we'll see him as he is. And that's what we want to do. And God says, that's the kind of person I want.

And isn't that why the Bible says over and over again, be careful. Be careful. See, we're not like Christ. Christ could go to all the parties and all the weddings and have the prostitutes wash his feet and all that kind of stuff. We're not like that. Because, you see, there's something in us that defiles us. There's something in there that gravitates to sin that wants to reach out and grab it and pull up. it in. That's why the Bible is replete with warnings. Be careful. Be separate. Don't go there.

First Corinthians 1533, bad company corrupts good morals, right? Read the book of Proverbs. It tells you who to hang around with, who not to hang around with. Why? Because the Bible says, as soon as you start hanging around those kind of people, there's something in you, what?

It's going to reach out and gravitate to that. That's why First Corinthians 5 is so important, right?

About the man who was immoral? And what did Paul say? Kick him out of the church. He won't repent. Get rid of him. Why? A little leaven levens the whole lump. Don't you know that to keep that immoral man in your church is going to cause those in your church who had that tendency, to reach out to hang around him and to enact those kinds of things as well. Bad company corrupts good morals. A little leaven levens the whole love. Ecclesiastes in 1918, one sinner destroys much good. So what do we do? We tend to hang around those kind of things.

Be around those kind of people. When the Bible says, be careful. You can't do that. In fact, Jude's warning, in the book of Jude, the 23rd verse, what do you say? Keep yourselves in the love of God, verse 21, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some who are doubting. Save others, snatching them out of the fire, and on some have mercy with fear. hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. He says when you go after people and you save them and you snatch them out of the fire and God uses you, you do it with fear.

Why? Because your flesh has a tendency to reach out and engage in those sinful acts and you've got to be careful. And for the most part, we're just not careful. We're not. January 24th, 1861, Charles Haddon Spurgeon closed his sermon with these words. An unholy church. It is of no use to the world and of no esteem among men. Oh, it is an abomination. Hell's laughter, heavens, abhorrence. And the larger the church, the more influential, the worst nuisance does it become when it becomes dead and unholy.

The worst evils which have ever come upon the world have been brought upon her by an unholy church. Now, you think about that. The worst evil ever to come upon the world is an unholy church. And that's why it's important to understand Isaiah 66, verse number two.

When God says, this is the man, this is the woman, this is the person I look to. I'm looking for. the one broken and of a contrite spirit. It trembles at my word. Why do they tremble? Because it reflects my purity, my holiness, my righteousness, my justice. And when we read it, we realize how far short we come, we fall on our knees, beg God for mercy, ask him to give us a strength and the grace and the mercy we need from day to day. because we can't do it without him. And God says, that's the man I want.

That's the one I can use. I can't use the arrogant. I can't use the one who thinks he's good. I can't use the one who hopes he's good. I can only use those who know they're no good. You shake under the authority of my word. Thank You