Well, I do not know if anyone else is going to enjoy the study today but I am because we are going to read a lot of passages from the Bible and many of them are some of my favorites, if not all of them. Basically, the theme of the Scriptures is going to be the comfort of God towards sinners, the comfort of the Bible, that wonderful Gospel message that God brings again and again and again in the Bible, that He is the Savior of sinners. Sometimes people need to hear these things because God also works in people’s lives to first break them down, to humble, to show individual’s their sin so that they are broken in heart and made contrite, and yet the Bible also is a message of great comfort to all of these same people whom God is dealing with. God is able to greatly comfort the sinner.
Let us just start looking at some of these passages, beginning with hope for sinners. Psalm 51 is the Psalm that God moved King David to write after He had come to him and pointed out his sin, that he was guilty in the matter of Uriah the Hittite in having him slain by the sword of the enemy and in the sin of adultery with Bathsheba. So David was fully aware of what it is to be a sinner and he is moved to write in Psalm 51:1-4:
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
And, of course, later, David cries out in this same Psalm:
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Well, let us go to Luke 18 in the parable of two men. Even though it is a parable, it reveals a lot of the facts, a lot of reality about mankind and each one of us. It says in Luke 18:9-11:
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Is it not interesting, when we read the New Testament, how the Scribes and the Pharisees, the leaders of Israel, would point the finger at others and say, “This man is a sinner.” They would say that of publicans. They would say that of harlots. They did say that about the Lord Jesus Christ, “This man was a sinner.”
When you look up the word “sinner” in the Old Testament, it is almost always in a negative context. It refers to Gentiles and wicked people. You could see, from the way that word is used in the Old Testament, how people could develop a theology (all wrong), but develop a theology that there are sinners who are worse than us, “There are people out there who are really bad, like the Samaritans. They are really grievous to God. They are really the ones who are despicable,” and, you know, the Jews developed this. Remember the blind man in the Gospel of John? The disciples asked Jesus, “This man who was born blind, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Why did they say that? Does not the Bible say, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”? In the New Testament we read that. Of course, it is obvious from the Old Testament. We are all descendants of Adam and Eve and they sinned and a clean cannot come out of an unclean, Job says.
Yes, they should have known, but they developed a theology that indicated that there was a special perverseness with some people. As a result of that special perverseness, you could have a child born blind. In John 9, after Jesus gave that man his sight who was born blind, the Jews brought him before their council and they are the ones who said, “We know this man is a sinner. Give God the glory,” referring to Christ. They knew He was a sinner, which speaks volumes about what spiritual leaders can sometimes know about spiritual things. To know that the sinless Son of God was a sinner in Himself? Oh, how blind can people be?
So they said that to him and the blind man said, “Whether he be a sinner or no, I do not know. All I know is that once I was blind and now I see.” Then they continued questioning him and asking him. Then he finally said, “This is an amazing thing, that you are making these claims that He is a sinner and yet He opened up my eyes, which none has done since the world began. If He were a sinner,” I am just paraphrasing, “He could do no such thing.” And they said, “Dost thou teach us? Dost thou, who was born altogether in sins teach us?,” because he was blind, and so that was their theology. We can also see their great pride, “How dare this lowly wretch, a blind man all of his life because of some special perverseness in his family or with him, we are not sure which, but he dares to teach us?” Then they cast him out and Jesus found him.
Of course, the whole point of that chapter is that God gives sight to the blind. Those who think they see, He blinds, like those in Israel who were the leaders of Israel who were teaching the people, “This is the way to God. This is how you get to heaven,” and God is standing right in front of them and they say, “This Man is a sinner.” It is really incredible, as Jesus said to Nicodemus whom He later did give spiritual eyes to see, “Art thou a master of Israel and knoweth not these things?” And we could say the same thing about many in the churches today who are pastors and teachers, “Are you a teacher of the Gospel and you know not these basic things?”
Well, the Jews, the leaders of Israel had developed a particular theology, and it was a real stigma to be a sinner, as we all are. To be a sinner outwardly, like a harlot or like a publican who was not dealing honestly with taxes, they were really outcasts of the people, and many of the leaders of Israel were pointing the finger at these people.
So here in Luke 18, these two men went up into the temple to pray, Luke 18:11-12:
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
A wonderful testimony to God. “You see? You see how righteous I am, how You have made me such a good person?” But actually, as we read on in verse 13, Luke 18:13:
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
So he would not look up to heaven. He would not dare. He just smote on his breast. Why his breast? In Ephesians 6, what is the breastplate for? It is the breastplate of righteousness.
So here, this man is coming and he has been made fully aware of it. If he could in some way try to deceive himself (and people do try to do that about their own moral position), still it would be hard for him to ignore all of the fingers that have been pointed at him throughout his life, “You are a wicked man!” His neighbors in Israel and those in the church of that day would definitely have been pointing the finger. So he comes acknowledging, “Yes, I am a wicked man. I am a sinner and that means that I have no righteousness. I have no righteousness. I do not claim to have any righteousness. I am not trying to stand here in Your sight, God, on the basis of anything that I have ever done or am currently doing or ever will do. I have no basis to obtain Your favor and grace and salvation. All I can say is, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’ That is it. That is it. That is the entire prayer that I can make.”
And what does God say in verse 14, Luke 18:14:
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
And that is the Biblical principle. What goes up by itself must come down, and those whom God puts down, He will raise up. That is how it is with the true Gospel, the true plan of salvation of the Bible. We do not first exalt our self by taking salvation to our self, “Let me accept that as quickly as I can and put it in my back pocket. I accepted Christ on November 22 in such and such a year, and I do not care what anybody says, this is my assurance. I did it and I remember it.”
No, that is no assurance. That is no basis for justification or righteousness and that is no real hope of salvation. That is actually a ticket that you have in your back pocket to eternal destruction and to being eternally destroyed by God on that last day and to cease to exist. That is all that is.
God is here letting us know, “Do not come to the throne of grace…yes, come to the throne of grace, all come to the throne of grace, but do not come to the throne of grace claiming or beseeching or telling Me why you should be saved or what makes you good and right and just in My sight. Away with anyone who would come to Me in that manner. Away! There will be no justification and no salvation for anyone who comes to Me, not as a sinner comes, but as a righteous person comes.” That is what this passage is telling us.
There is a lot more hope. Next, I would like to look for hope for sinners in their sin. If we go to John 8, beginning in the first verse, it says in John 8:1-8:
Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
Now, is that not a perfect thing to say to these people? That is a perfect thing to say, “He that is without sin among you,” because they are so quick with the finger. They are so quick, faster than anybody in the west with that finger, “You are a sinner! You!” Well, alright, “Let he that is without sin cast the first stone.”
It was designed to have them look at themselves, look to see what the Bible says, “What about the Ten Commandments? Start there. Have you honored your parents? Have you not lied? Have you not coveted? Have you served God alone?,” and on and on and on with the commandments of the Bible.
The Bible was given specifically to show us our sin, to show us our failures, our falling short of the glory of God. We cannot satisfy the law’s demands. We cannot keep the Word of God perfectly. He that is able to keep it all to a great degree, if you keep the whole law and yet fail at one point, you are guilty of all as a sinner, subject to the wrath of God and the penalty of the law, which is death.
So, here, the leaders of Israel, the Jews, as it was amongst the mindset of the good people of Israel that they would have to do certain things to be good and to be righteous in God’s sight, God, the Lord Jesus Christ, had them think, “Think about it. Think about your life. Think about what you have done. Think about your past. Think about the things that you have said, the things that you have thought, the things that you have actually performed in your life.”
And, well, the older ones, and this…you know, there is a little bit of instruction here. Why is it that the younger ones do not, perhaps, of themselves (just speaking of people), see the great need for the Gospel as much as, perhaps, the elderly? Well, because they have not lived long enough to know that when the Bible says that we are sinners, that is exactly what it means.
And it says in John 8:9-11:
And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Now, the wonderful thing for this and the title topic for this section of verses was “Hope for Sinners in Their Sin.” There are a lot of people who are out there right now and they are in their sin and they even seem satisfied right where they are. They are giving no indication that they are going to leave their sin. Maybe you have witnessed to them. Maybe you shared the truth with them. Maybe it has been like a brick wall and they continue to sin.
Well, where was this woman when suddenly there she is right before the Lord Jesus Christ? She was off in her sins, in the sin of adultery with a man, and the man is not brought, showing some of the problems amongst the people of Israel. The woman is brought, with total disregard for her person. They just wanted to make something like a political point with Christ. They just wanted to show the people that Jesus was not a faithful teacher by giving Him this problem. Would the woman be stoned as the law of Moses said? Or will He say that she should not be stoned?
So that was the difficulty that they were presenting, but Jesus, of course, solved it by asking them, “The one without sin, let him cast the first stone,” and then He tells the woman that He does not condemn her and her sins are forgiven. She became saved right there, but the interesting thing is that she was a million miles away from Christ, from God, from salvation. She woke up on that day and she had her plans, which were entirely sinful. She was going and acting them out and God, through circumstances beyond that woman’s control, was working, even through the evil intent of those Jews who grabbed her in the very act and brought her as this test to the Lord Jesus to trap Him. Right out into the public, there she was. She had no intention at all of going to Christ. But now, she is in His very presence and Jesus says, “I do not condemn thee.”
Is that not a wonderful hope for anyone who is in the bar right now? Or anyone who is out there in the world who has heard the Gospel but they are stubborn and pigheaded and they are continuing to go their way, “There is not anything that you can do to stop me!” That is true. There is nothing that we can do to stop anyone from going down the path to destruction, but there is everything that God can do and sometimes does do in order to intervene in the life of a sinner.
Turn to Luke 23. In Luke 23, we find the account of the thief on the cross. You know, we call him “the thief on the cross.” What does that say about him? He is a thief. Thieves are not good. He was a miserable wretch and he was being crucified for his sins. He was a very outward sinner in the world and he was caught. The Romans, apparently, did not play around with certain things. They were crucifying him and putting him to death for his sins. Even on the cross, he shows his character, at first, as he is reviling Jesus along with the other one. Both of these criminals were casting the same in Jesus’ teeth. As people would come up and say, “Come down from the cross if You are the Son of God,” the thieves did the same thing. They were really bad people. They were really bad people and the one thief was no different than the other thief, like Jacob was no different than Esau: both were the same.
So here they are on the cross and suddenly, suddenly…and by the way, this man who was living that life finds himself almost in this position overnight. It was rather quick that they gave Jesus the trial and He was to be crucified. I do not know how long they had worked out the plans for the other two. But suddenly, here is Jesus right in the midst of this thief who was living a horrible, sinful life, against the commands of God in every way, someone who had no intention at all of going to Christ.
Now, Jesus had been performing miracles for over three years in that area. People knew about Him. People, like these thieves, could have gone to Him long before. They could have recognized the way that their life was going and gone to Jesus in repentance and brokenness and followed Christ, but they did not do that. While Jesus was out there healing the blind and making the lame walk and raising the dead, these guys were breaking into houses at the very same time, or whatever they were doing. They were stealing and that is how they were living their lives and then, suddenly, they are confronted with Christ.
Again, through nothing they did, absolutely nothing they did, God worked it out. God is the One who had these two thieves brought into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then finally—I do not know how God worked on the one thief of the two; the other stayed hard in his sins and there was no change—but look here in Luke 23:39-41:
And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly…
You see, he was brought to see himself. In that short period of time, he was brought to see what he really was, “I am getting what I deserve. This is right. I cannot deny it. I cannot deny it. I am a sinner.” Just like the publican beating on his breast, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” this man comes to finally recognize, “The law of God is true and just. If it condemns me, it is right in doing so.” And so he says in Luke 23:41-43:
And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
You see, God brought him there, God changed him right there in humbling him, in breaking him down. It was not circumstances that broke the man; it was the power of God. It was the Word of Christ as Christ was right next to him. It was God’s will that finally broke that stony heart and gave him a heart of flesh, a heart that now recognized the truth, just simply, “Okay, I am getting what I deserve, but now I want to do it Your way.” Jesus saved him and told him that on that very day, he would go to heaven, that very day. It does not take God long to save.
You know, time is running out. We just bought a new clock at home and I want to return it because I keep hearing the tick, you know? It is a very loud tick and it just keeps ticking. Not because it reminds me that time is running out, but that tick is so annoying that I wanted to return it. But it is reminding me. It is reminding me that time is fleeting and it is going quickly.
That is why I felt that it was such a wonderful picture—I did not come up with that image on the tract; someone else did—of the hourglass. If you look at it, the sand is almost out. The sand is almost out. There are just a few grains of sand and they are falling down. And, yes, it can be scary. It can be frightening to be brought right up to the Red Sea and the Egyptians are hot on your trail and now it looks impossible and you know that you have a short time and the only hope is that it will take a miracle. It will take a miracle for the sea to part, but that is what God did and His people passed through.
And so it is with any sinner who is hearing the news about the coming end of all things and, personally, your end and the end of anyone who remains in their sins. You are hearing these things and perhaps God is dealing with you and you are beginning to fear and you are beginning to be troubled. On top of that, you cannot do anything to get yourself saved. You are stuck. You are stuck; just like Israel was stuck with the Egyptians on their trail and the sea in front of them, and it took the power of God. That is what Moses said, “Behold! Today you will see,” this is not an exact quote, “the power of God and the glory of God,” and that is what God did as He parted the sea. And it does take a miracle for God to save a sinner. It takes a supernatural act. We know how He works—through the Bible, through His Word—but He has to supernaturally apply it and use His Word to take out the heart of old and to give a new heart.
Those are some passages that show hope for sinners in their sin. Now let us go to a couple of passages that show hope for the hopeless in Mark 10. In Mark 10:46-48, it says:
And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace…
Now, is that not sad? Here is a blind man. I do not know what it is like to be blind, but I know that, especially in that time, they could not work and his only means to provide for himself was begging, so he sat on the highway side because that is where a lot of people would go by, hopefully some of them rich and generous, and he sat there for who knows how long, years upon years. Time was passing and he was in this awful physical condition and then he hears that Jesus is passing by, because he could not see Him. I am sure that he heard much about the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of God and the great work that Jesus was doing at that time. He recognized that He was the Messiah and that is why he called him the Son of David, because the Messiah would come through David, and he cried out, “Have mercy on me! Have mercy!,” and many, not just one person who was kind of annoyed by what he was saying, but many charged him, “Hold your peace! Keep quiet!”
You know, today if you tell people, “Well, what you have to do is cry to God for mercy. He is a merciful God. He delights in mercy. He has a great love for His people, His elect people, and we do not know who is elect and who is not, so go to God, go to His throne and beseech Him for pardon and for mercy that He might save you. And this healing of the blind man is a picture of salvation, as when someone becomes saved, they are given spiritual sight,” and we tell people that this is what the Bible says and they do not like it. They do not like it, “No, you do not have to do that! You do not have to do that,” and then they give you the steps—I think that we already talked about it—the works that you should do, “You do this and this and this, and that will get you saved.”
But, actually, no. God, here, is teaching us to go to Him and to go to Him as humbly as we can and as lowly as we can and cry for mercy. And if anyone tells you or a company of people tell you, “Do not do that! Hold your peace! Do not do it that way!,” well, let us see what blind Bartimaeus does in verse 48, Mark 10:48-50:
And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
There is a little spiritual aside in casting away the garment. That is our garment of filthy rags, our righteousness, because now we are putting on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the robe of the saints, which is His righteousness, that white, fine linen.
And so here it says in verse 51, Mark 10:51-52:
And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
Now, we should never think that our faith, the faith that we can stir up, can ever save us. That is not what Christ meant. Who was Bartimaeus’ faith? Jesus Himself. He is the One, Jesus, who made him whole, and God wrote it this way so that people could get this idea. If He is not really showing them truth, they could conceivably get the idea that it was Bartimaeus who finally stirred up in himself to call out to Christ. But, no, it is Christ who did all the work in saving him and who does all the work in saving sinners.
Let us go to one other place, John 11. As far as this topic of “Hope for the Hopeless,” in John 11, you know, I do not think that you can get more hopeless than being dead. That is about as hopeless as you can get. You can be blind and you can be deaf and dumb and lame—God uses all of those pictures as He does physically heal all of those—but Jesus also raised the dead a few times, and one of those people whom He raised was Lazarus who was dead for four days. In John 11:39-44, it says:
Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
And we see this beautiful, historical act of the Lord Jesus in raising up Lazarus. But what was the point? As far as in this world, Lazarus lived a few more years (we do not know how long) and then he died. He died. He is not still alive physically.
Spiritually, the teaching is that we are all sinners. We are all dead in sins, the Bible tells us, and in order for God to save anyone, He has to do everything, because the dead cannot hear or see or walk or move or live. In any way of any kind, the dead can make no movement towards God.
They are dead, and Lazarus was dead. It was a proven fact. Four days already, and Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth,” and Lazarus heard, but he was dead! Lazarus rose with life, but he was dead! He responded to God, but he was dead! What did Lazarus do, as far as experiencing this resurrection, this being brought to life again? He did not do anything. He was just the one who was dead. God did it all. God gets all of the glory and God gets all the glory in His salvation plan.
I had many more passages to go to, but I think that we have run out of time. Let me just go to one last place with a few verses. Well, maybe two last places, since they are short. In Matthew 9:10-13:
And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
I am not actually the one stressing it; God keeps stressing it. We are reading in many different places that we are sinners. Well, that is obvious! Is it? Do all people really think that that is obvious, that they are sinners, that they are bad, that they are evil, that they are as wicked as the Bible says?
You know, I remember a guy that I worked with. When he would hear news reports of the things going on in the world, he would say, “Those people are scum.” It was a terrible thing that we heard, but no, no, that is not it. That is not it. They are not scum. They are people. They are doing awful things and ugly things and sinful things, and they are showing, without question, that they are sinners. But, you see, it is easy to think that the terrorists and the murderers and the child abusers and all of these others that we hear about, that they are the ones in trouble, that they are the ones whom, really, God ought to do such and such to. God ought to, you know, take care of them! But me? Me? I just curse a little. Well, yes, if pressed, I might admit to lying if I am caught. But me?
Well, you see, you are not really taking that close of a look at yourself, but God, of course, He knows us intimately, completely. All things are open to Him and one thing that He sees is that all have sinned and that there is only wickedness continually going forth from those who are not saved. God is a merciful God and He is a gracious God and today, yes, there is a possibility, a great possibility of salvation, because God is saving many, a great multitude. But if we go to Him, we must go with this attitude, and this will be the last verse. 1 Timothy 1:15:
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation…
That means that it is good for you and for me and for everyone else.
…that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom…
That is, sinners.
…I am chief…
I might grudgingly and finally admit that I am one of them, “Alright, I cannot deny it. I might admit that I am a part of it. I am a human being. Alright, if you say that we are all sinners, okay.”
But, you see, God, when He deals with us and He shows us what we are really like through His Word—just keep reading the Bible—then we will finally come to acknowledge that it is nothing big that we are doing, nothing glorious, just acknowledging the truth, “Me; I am chief. I am the leader,” that means. “I am the biggest. I am the worst. I am the one who really needs a Savior.”
Okay, we will stop here and close with a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank You for Your Gospel. It is amazing that it is completely contrary to the whole way of the world and the whole way of religion, completely contrary to the whole way of what man has developed to get right with You. It is not, “Do this and do that and try to be good and try to obtain a standard of righteousness based on what we do”; but rather, it is seeing what we are and going to You in our present state of being a sinner and just honestly confessing what we are to You and then crying out for mercy and hoping that, like the Ninevites, You might turn from Your fierce wrath from us. Father, we pray that You would have mercy on our children; we ask this once again. And we pray that You would be with us throughout this day. In all that we do, may we do it according to Your will. In Christ’s Name we pray. Amen.
We will have a hymn and then if anyone has any questions or comments, we will take them at that time.
Chris: Okay, if anyone has anything. Mark.
1st Question: I did not want you to stop your message. I wanted you to keep going. Could you look at Luke 13:1-3? Those are some good verses that tie in.
Chris: Yes, that is a good passage there. Luke 13:1-2:
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
Why did Jesus say that? Because there was a teaching in Israel that bad things came upon people because they did bad things. Remember Job’s friends? That was their fault. Job’s friends came and totally misunderstood what was going on with him and were trying to convince Job, “You had to do have done something to bring about all of these tragedies on yourself. You had to have done some wickedness. You are guilty of some sin, or else it would not have happened.” And Jesus is trying to teach the people and He is trying to get them to see, “No, it is not that they were any worse sinners than you or than all the Galileans were.” You see, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
It goes on to say in verse 3, Luke 13:3:
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
And then he does the exact same thing with the example of the tower in Siloam. Again, why did it happen? Well, because there was some perverseness in those 18? No, you see, God is using an historical example of that day to show, “See, they died because of their sin, and you are going to die because of your sin.”
1st Question (follow-up): Amen. Could I just ask you a follow-up? It is something that you started the message with, John 9:1:3.
Chris: John 9:1-3:
And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
1st Question (follow-up continued): That kind of ties right in with the other verses there, like you were saying before. It is not about our personal sin bringing something upon us. Well, that is kind of a tough question.
Chris: There can be consequences to certain sins. That is true. If we drink over much, we can get cirrhosis of the liver, and that is a result of that sin. But as far as any particular additional wrath of God coming upon us, let us put it that way, that God is more angry with us because we did this or we did that and, therefore, God is going to strike our child with blindness because a husband and wife did something wrong, that is not why.
Here, Jesus says, actually, it is so “the works of God should be made manifest in him.” In this particular case, He is going to show forth the glory of God in giving him sight. It really goes to show how God allows troubles and trials and difficult circumstances, perhaps for a long time, in order to bring Himself glory. This man lived his whole life blind in order that God would show forth and make His works manifest.
1st Question (follow-up continued): Amen. Now, in John 9:3, the Lord Jesus does say:
Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents…
A brother was sharing me how he thinks that this could possibly tie in to 1 John 3:9 with the fact that these people were elected of God. They have not sinned in the sense that they have the new soul. Do you think that there is a possibility of that?
Chris: No, I do not think so because the question was in John 9:2:
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
So their specific question is, “Whose fault is it?,” because they have been taught this. You read further in the chapter that the Pharisees who were questioning the man said, “You were altogether born in sin,” to this same fellow. So they were teaching that but Jesus is saying that no, that that was a wrong teaching, that it was not the fault of either one, “Neither did this man sin or his parents to bring about his blindness.” Of course, his key sin and his parents’ sin was that they were sinners, but that is not the point of what he is saying.
1st Question (follow-up continued): So you are saying that when the Lord said,
Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
He is not making a blanket statement that they did not sin. He is saying that that is not the reason.
Chris: Well, we know how God writes the Bible. Some people might take that and get a different meaning from it and be wrong, but He is just addressing the question of why he was born blind. It had nothing to do with the sin of the parents or the sin of the child.
1st Question (follow-up continued): I had always looked at it that way, but when that brother shared that, I thought that there could be a possibility to that, because the Lord did say that they did not sin.
Chris: Well, let us keep in mind the character of the parents, because, later on, they are brought before the council and they are questioned as to whether or not he was born blind. It says in John 9:20-22:
His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews…
So they were afraid, just like some of the leaders in Israel. The chief priests who believed in Jesus were afraid that if they confessed Him, they would be cast out of the synagogue. That is not the character of a true child of God.
1st Question (follow-up continued): Right, but in answer to that, and I am not trying to argue, but an answer to that could be that they were elected but not yet saved.
Chris: Well, no, I do not think that is even part of what is going on here.
2nd Question: Could I ask you one last question? I know that I am taking a lot of time. We know that we are still sinners, and this has been discussed a lot in the past, but as far as when you are saved, are you looked on as a sinner by God? He sees us through the righteousness of Christ, right?
Chris: Well, God, when He saved us, we know that all of our sins were paid for. If we are a child of God, He has given us a new heart and a new spirit that is without sin. It is perfect. But still, we are in the body. And in our flesh, we still sin. And that is why 1 John 1:10 says:
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
But then it says later, in 1 John 3:9:
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
So there is that seeming contradiction, which we understand is solved when we realize that God has saved a part of us at this time and guaranteed the salvation of the rest of us on the last day, as we will receive a new resurrected body and complete our salvation.
I look at this from our perspective, that we are sinners. We cannot say ever that we are not a sinner.
Now, you know, God chastens us in this life. Why? If He is viewing us without sin, then what is He chastening us for? He is chastening us for our sins. So He sees the sins that we are still involved with and He is correcting them. But on the other hand, He says of Zacharias and Elisabeth that they were righteous. He says of Noah that he was a perfect man. So God is looking there in another way at the sinfulness as being completely paid for and all of their sins as being taken care of.
So I would just look at this from our perspective. And, yes, we still have sin.
2nd Question (continued): Well, God does not look on us as sinners if we are saved.
Chris: Not in the sense that we need a Savior as sinners do. Christ came into the world to save sinners, and yet we never want to stop remembering, “I am a sinner,” as the Apostle Paul said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” So from our perspective, I am a sinner. I am not only a sinner, but, you know, if God has brought me to see it, I have seen the greatness and the awfulness of my sin.
2nd Question (continued): Right. I just want to share one verse, and I think that the sinners referred to here are definitely not—and I think that you would agree and that we would all agree—that these sinners are not the true believers. Isaiah 13:9:
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
So, in that sense.
Chris: Well, yes. Those are all of those who are left behind. Okay; thanks, Mark. Yes, Bob.
3rd Question: In John 9:6, what is the spiritual meaning of Jesus spitting on the ground and using the clay of the spittle?
Chris: In John 9:6, it says:
When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
Well, it is interesting that man came from the dust of the ground. We came from the clay, and to spit in the Bible normally has to do with being cursed. So, again, many, many, many things that God does are to teach us, if not all things, and, here, in this action of spitting on the ground and forming clay with His spittle and then applying it to the blind man, I think is picturing that Christ would take the sins of man and become a curse for them, and that is what is in view here.
Yes, Howard.
4th Question: In Revelation 20:12-13, the verb-word “judged” is in the aorist passive indicative tense. Can you please explain that tense?
Chris: I cannot help you with that. I have looked at it. I know what you are reading from. I am still looking at that, so I am not able to discuss it right now.
Yes, Bob.
5th Question: If someone asks you what is the Gospel, how do you explain that, and what verses can I support that with?
Chris: Well, you know, that is a good question and an interesting question. Some people think that you have to bring the cross if you are bringing the Gospel, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
Over the last several years as we have spent a lot of time learning from the book of Jeremiah about the destruction of the end of the church age and we have spent a lot of time learning from other things, people have referred to that verse and have said, “Well, you are never talking about the cross and you are not bringing the Gospel.” But that is not true. That is not true.
The Bible is the Gospel. The whole Bible is the Gospel. But anytime you are bringing truth from a portion of the Bible, you are bringing the Gospel. It is by sound doctrine, it says in Titus, that the gainsayers are convinced, sound doctrine.
What did Jonah bring to Nineveh? Eight English words, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Not, “You know, there is a coming Messiah one day. The Messiah will come through the loins of David.” He did not go into a big dialogue or a big discussion or a big teaching on how merciful God is or on how God is going to save a people for Himself. He did not get into election. He did not get into all kinds of teachings from the Bible. He spoke eight words. He preached the preaching that God bid him, on top of that, so it was not his own ideas. It was eight words, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown,” time and judgment. And it was very significant and important to those people, to those particular people, that they hear this because it was going to happen.
What is the Gospel? It is whatever God tells us from the Bible. Whatever we can afford to bring and whatever we can package, to the degree that we can package it, that is the Gospel. If we can, we give the whole Bible. But, you know, that is pretty expensive, so we can only afford to give out thousands. But if we can, we give them the booklets that have a lot more of the Bible, and that can even get a little expensive. So if we can, we give a pamphlet that has just sections of the Bible. The Gospel is the Bible. The Gospel is the booklet. The Gospel is the pamphlet. The Gospel is the verse that I am only able to share with my neighbor. That is the Gospel.
God gives us limitations through circumstances and through what we can afford and through what we can do, but whenever we can share, we share. The only condition, of course, is that it has to be faithful and that it has to be true to what the Bible says.
Okay, we will stop here.