to the glory of God. Now, there's a truth about God that we need to try to comprehend. The Holy Bible teaches an attribute about God. God has revealed in Scripture an attribute about Himself that isn't talked about very much. And that is God's immutability. God is immutable. Now that's a three dollar word that has to do with the fact that God never changes. That God is the same. That the same God that we worship is the same God that spoke to Abraham. The same God that created the universe. And so God doesn't change. He never becomes wiser over time. He never becomes more experienced. God never learns anything new. Because there's another attribute that isn't talked about much anymore. And that is that God is also omniscient. Omniscience means that God knows everything about everything. And so, you need to go through a series of questions to yourself so you can grasp it. And again, it helps me. I was publicly educated. And so, you've got to try to use phrases and questions to try to get to the meaning of these three dollar words. And so, has it ever occurred to you that nothing has ever occurred to God? Have you ever stopped to think that God never stops and thinks? Has it ever concerned you that God's never concerned? That He's never fearful? That He doesn't get nervous? That He's not afraid of the future? Because He controls the future. So this is all about trying to understand an un-understandable God. And so it gives us pause And so this is one reason why you should go through these attributes that are in the Bible. You should periodically take some time to refresh all of the various attributes that God says about Himself. Because why are we here today? We are here to worship God. And one of the reasons why we worship God is because He's not like us. He's holy. He's distinct. He's separate from us. He is different from we are. He is better than we are, higher than we are. He's more lovely, more beautiful, more powerful, wiser. And so the goal of worship is not so you can become wealthy or healthy or get more of this world's goods. The goal of salvation and the goal of worship is so you can be so radically transformed by what God did for you all by Himself at great cost to Himself that you can be so radically transformed that Jesus is enough. that whether you live or die, whether your life is hard or easy, whether you're wealthy or poor, whether you're sick or healthy, Jesus is enough. And that He becomes the treasure of your life and the goal of all that you say and do, that He alone will have the preeminence. So God doesn't plan to do something and then is defeated by circumstances that He didn't foresee. God's will and God's plan are absolute. Nothing can change God's will. Not Satan. And not the seemingly random decisions of evil men. So God doesn't pray. He's never prayed. God doesn't read the Bible. He doesn't study the Bible. There's no Bible studies in heaven. There's no prayer meetings in heaven. Amen. There's no evangelism in heaven. Amen. There's no preaching. There's no teaching in heaven. But there is worship. Huh? God doesn't alter His will or His plan to suit current events. God doesn't hope. He doesn't try. God does. God never wants to do something, but can't because He's defeated by evil people. What God wants, God gets. Now, I'm not suggesting to you that that's easy. It's easy to say it. It's not easy to comprehend it. It is profound to try to comprehend this. And look, I'm just a person who does not believe that we are all better off because we do not try to tackle deep, profound, and eternal matters. I think we should. I think we should wrestle with them, and struggle with them, and get them wrong, and repent, and then try again, and then get them right. Because they're valuable to us. What is God's will will happen. And it will happen exactly as He said. And that gives me great comfort because on Sunday evenings I'm going through eschatology. Something I never wanted to do. Something I've never volunteered to do. I was asked to do it. And the people who asked me to do it aren't even here anymore. So maybe I can quit. But it gives me great comfort to know that when we get over there and we look back on what God said was going to happen, it's going to be just exactly the way He said. And we're going to say, there it is right there. And He's going to look at us and say, I told you. God said this about Himself in Malachi 3 verse 5, For I the Lord do not change. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed." So, the reason that God does not get bent out of shape at us because of our foolishness and just destroy the whole human race is because He doesn't change. He has already chosen us to set His love upon us and now His name and His reputation is wrapped up in us and He's going to bring us forth. Hallelujah. He's not going to take us halfway up the mountain and then get mad and stop and bail out on us. Aren't you glad about that? And that means that what God said is reliable. What God promised is trustworthy. It is sure. It is certain. And it is unchangeable. And so, you and I can depend upon what God said. We can base our lives on the Word of God. But even though God Himself is immutable, how He works with man changes over time. And the things that God tells us to do and why He tells us to do it changes over time. For example, it was God who commanded that those who loved and served Him under the Old Covenant would sacrifice animals. And those who did not sacrifice animals were cut off from God's people. But that was never meant to be permanent. That was never meant to be long-standing, and God Himself said that. Even though they killed probably, collectively, tens of millions of animals. I mean, Peter would have a coronary over the Levitical priesthood as they raised animals. That's what the shepherds were doing out in the field when Jesus was born. They were the supply chain of the priests in Jerusalem. And so they were raising the next sacrifices that were going to come around. It was a whole industry built around sacrificing animals that was sometimes very terrible, sometimes hypocritical. In other words, sometimes during the year you had to offer a firstborn male lamb without spot or blemish. Now I don't know if any of you have ever raised livestock. There aren't that many. So they had a vat of dye in the backyard, and they were taking animals and dyeing them so they would be without spot or blemish. Because they had to circumvent the natural course of events. Instead of crying out to God for forgiveness, they just tried to circumvent God's plan. And yet, under the infinitely superior New Covenant, we put all of our trust in a single sacrifice that was offered one time. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who was slain 2,000 years ago as a propitiation for our sins, as an appeasement of the wrath of God for our sins. And so, this is so absolute that if anyone today tries to sacrifice an animal, he would be sinning. because he would be either ignoring or marginalizing the infinite superior sacrifice of the Savior of the world. So what was once commanded by God is now completely forbidden by God and is now abandoned by those who know and love the truth. This is why the apostles had to demonstrate great signs, wonders, and miracles in various gifts of the Holy Spirit so they could give divine credibility to the radical theology they were bringing forth in the earth. Under the Old Covenant, God spoke through prophets. But before God spoke through prophets, God spoke through seers. And before that, God spoke mysteriously through the Urim and the Thummim. Which evidently was a very primitive method that only gave yes and no answers. But today under the new covenant things have changed. Today, the writer of Hebrews tells us just how much God communicates to mankind and in what way when he wrote this in Hebrews 1, verses 1-4. God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days, has spoken to us in His Son, hallelujah, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world, And He, Jesus, is the radiance of His glory, the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the Word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they." And that's one of the reasons why we worship Jesus, isn't it? Now why in the world would you want to hear from a prophet who is himself also a sinner, who needs forgiveness, when you can hear directly from Jesus Christ through the Scriptures? So even though God Himself is absolutely immutable, how God relates to man and by what way man may understand God has changed. And if you don't keep the passage in its proper context, that you're studying, if you don't do the proper exegesis on the passage that you're studying, you're going to miss this change many times. Now in the passage that Brother Andy just read to you, Jesus makes one of those changes. When he says this in verses 35b and 36, when I sent you out without money, without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you? And they said, no, nothing. And he said to them, but now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along. Likewise, also a bag. And whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. Now, you will remember earlier in his earthly ministry, back in chapter 9, Jesus had told them this in verse 3, Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff nor a bag, nor bread nor money, and do not even have two tunics apiece. And yet here he tells them in chapter 22 verse 36, But now whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. So what in the world is going on here? Obviously there's a change. So is Jesus contradicting himself here? Has he forgotten what he said back in chapter 9? Is he talking out of both sides of his mouth? Or maybe Jesus is teaching His disciples to arm themselves here. Is Jesus maybe preparing His followers to physically and literally battle against the unbelievers with weapons like the Koran teaches the Muslims to do? Is Jesus instituting the concept of self-defense in this passage? Just what's going on? Well, this is where putting the passage into its proper context and conducting a thorough exegesis is invaluable to us determining just what Jesus is saying here. Now let me say first of all, I've been saved for about 45 years. June the 25th was 45 years of my journey with Jesus. And I've never heard a single sermon from this passage in 45 years. Now I've heard countless sermons from the passage we dealt with last week about Jesus saying I'll never betray you. And Jesus says before the cock crows you can deny three times you even know me. I've heard hundreds of sermons from that. But I've never heard a single sermon or teaching from this passage. And I think that that means something. You see I believe with all of my heart that we are living in the day of the great falling away. Spurgeon called it the downgrade controversy. A day of great compromise. A day of breathtaking lukewarmness and shallowness on the part of far too many in the modern church. I believe that because many of the leaders of the modern church have compromised and changed and even hidden the glorious biblical gospel, that the visible church is filled with souls that are not truly saved. They are not regenerated. They have not experienced the miracle of the new birth. This is not about raising your hand, walking an aisle, having a conversation with a preacher, praying a prayer, getting wet in the baptismal waters, or any of that. This is about having a radical, supernatural, miraculous transformation of your nature from being fallen, depraved, rebellious toward God, to having a new divine nature. to having the seed of Jesus Christ inserted into you. Paul called it this. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation. So you're not an improved version of the old person. You're a brand new creation of God. Therefore, you contain new loves, new wants, new desires, new joys. You now take pleasure in the things of God. You now delight yourself in the Lord. You now joy in God. And so, you're still troubled with your flesh. You're still troubled with the world. You're still troubled by the devil. But your nature has been transformed. That's what I'm talking about when I say born again. That's the new birth. Everything that comes out from that like repentance and love and service and obedience is up and down all the time. We do great some days, some days we don't do so great. And that's because it's flesh. That's because it's mixed in with humanity and it's mixed in with corruption. But it is not that you are wrestling with two distinct natures once you have been saved. That is the religion of Gnosticism called dualism. That is a heresy. It is the religion of Star Wars that there is a power that is white and a power that is dark, that is in a titanic struggle all of the time over the mastery of your soul, that is not Christianity. You're either born again or you're still the child of the devil. And if you're a child of God, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. You are on your way to heaven and Jesus will keep you all the way to glory. And He loves you so much in your now redeemed state that He's not about to leave you like you are. But He will change you. Huh? How many know He'll change you? Yeah, how many know He's not going to leave you? Amen. So He'll cause things to come into your life. He will allow other things to come into your life. And the combination of what He causes and what He allows will work together and transform you. Hallelujah. Where you and I can partake of His holiness. Hallelujah. That's what I'm going to preach in January. And so the modern church, for the most part, is no longer the place to go if you want to get serious, deep, and adult discussions about serious, deep, and eternal matters. My entire ministry that started the night I was saved when I didn't know John 3.16, I only knew what had happened to me And I started preaching on the streets of Gulfport. That's when my ministry started. And I've probably done everything about Christianity wrong, sideways, upside down and backwards. But God's been good to correct me. And God's been good to not leave me like I was. And He's changed me and He's brought me forth. And that's why I've got to periodically go back and re-edit my radio transcripts. Because I learn how to say things better as time goes on. And I don't know how you can ever stop doing that. As soon as I get through, I've got to redo it again. But I wanted to go deep with God. I wasn't satisfied with, OK, now I'm saved. I'm going to heaven. OK, now what? Well, now you basically can do whatever you're big enough to do and God's stuck with you. That's the way I was taught. That's a lie. That's not what the Bible says. and so we got to understand brother brothers and sisters that we are in a a dumbing down mode of of American Christianity where almost everybody you hear will say they'll say this to you well I'm so glad it doesn't matter that I don't really have to get it all that deep stuff I just I just know I love Jesus and that's enough somebody needs to get into the deep stuff somebody needs to wade in the deep water somebody needs to preach the whole counsel of God and so so I didn't write the Bible And so it is what it is, and so we need to go deep with God. But when I read history, I read church history a lot, and I read American history, and I remember when the... I wasn't there, but I read about it, when the Lincoln-Douglas... Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln had their debates. The Lincoln-Douglas debates. Remember? Heard about that? Somewhere in the back of your mind? Alright. Well, those were an average of six hours long. No format, no moderator. They just went at it. And schools let out to let the grade school children go to these six hour debates and then they tested the children the next day what they learned. Because they believe that small minds, little children's minds have a greater capacity than their body size. And that's why I'm against children's church. Now, we're going to have to work it out because when they're small enough and they're a little fussy, we've got to give them a place to go where they can get their little time out. But then we need to bring them back where they can learn to be in the house of God and they can learn to sit with their parents and learn to respect the things of God. And in the first grade, in the second grade, in the third grade, learn about sovereign election and learn about the deep things of God and God's immutability and God's omniscience. And it will transform their life. Amen. And all my life I've been told you can't do that today. This is the 21st century. You want people to go back to 1950. And I say you're wrong. I don't want people to go back to 1950. I want to go back to the garden. Why stop at 1950? I want parents to love their children. I want parents to raise their children. I want children to respect their mothers and fathers. And I want them to sit together in church. So we have to make accommodations for that. So we're remodeling a room over here where the children can go when they're a little fussy and then come back and learn. Because we don't want to lose our young people. We don't want them to be in church because they have to come and then as soon as they're not having to come, they go out in the world. We don't want to do that. We don't want to do that. I'm looking for 16-year-old boys to start preaching on the streets, because I did. I'm looking for 17-year-old boys and girls to go in the jails and serve in the nursing homes and empty the bedpans at the Whitfield, the mental place where they put mentally disturbed people. I'm looking for young people not to want to be entertained and want to be used of Jesus Christ and to take pleasure in preaching the gospel on the side of the streets. I'm looking for young people to do that. The people of the church today are being entertained by words and sounds that have a religious tenor to them, but they're somewhat related to spiritual issues, but they're not being edified. The people of the church are being entertained, but they're not being equipped to overcome sin. They're not being empowered to walk this world in white. They're not being enabled to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus. They're not being encouraged to live well, and to suffer well, and to die well to the glory of God. And this is what the Apostle Paul meant when he prophesied in 2 Timothy 4, 3 and 4, when he said, for the time will come when they, who? They, the people of the church, will not endure sound doctrine. but wanting to have their ears tickled. They will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. And they will turn away their ears from the truth. That's a conscious, planned, cognizant decision of their minds. And will turn aside. That is the result of that conscious decision. They will turn aside to myths. The people of the modern church, for the most part, are having a sensual experience with the smoke machines and the colored lights and world-class guitar players and lots of hooping and hollering. But they're not seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ through the expositional heralding of the glorious Gospel. And as a result of not seeing that glory, the people are not being changed. And that is because the pulpits of the modern American church are filled with politics and with social issues and with moral pronouncements, but they are not filled with God. They are not filled with God or the particularities of His glory. And so the people of the modern church are left with very shallow and very vague generalities about God that leave our heads empty of the infinite majesty and the worth and the awe of the spectacular glory of God. The pulpits today are not filled with men who themselves have been overcome by this glory and have become convinced that God's Word is true. And you know this because they crack jokes in the pulpit. They tell tales and they make moral pronouncements while the people remain unbroken, unbent, and unbowed. The 66 books of the Holy Bible are the most unique and special words in all the world. And why they aren't being preached and taught and proclaimed in all of their beauty and glory is the great shame of our day. So God is sovereignly raising up men who so believe that it is the Scriptures that need to be taught and explained and heralded that we have dedicated our lives to the study of those 66 books. We have dedicated our lives to learn them and to analyze them and to personally investigate the claims that they make and try them out on an experiential basis. I heard when I was saved that you can't out-give God. I heard that. But it wasn't true to me. It was a statement that other people made. And so I said to my new wife, I said, let's try to out-give God. None of this business about 10%. Are you kidding me? Let's give 90% and let's live on 10%. And let's test this theory out. And let's see if it's real. And by the end of the year, I had three raises and two children. Hallelujah. You can't out-give God. I'm not saying that out of faith. I'm telling you out of knowledge. You can't out-give God. Try and see. Try and see. Try to out-do Him. Try to out-give Him. Try to out-love Him. You'll fail. You'll always come up short. Amen. We need to know that the Word of God is true. He said He will never leave you nor forsake you. Is that true? If it's true, why are you worried about the future? Why are you concerned about the future? Oh my God, if I don't vote for the moron, then the infidel's going to get elected. Right. Oh my gosh, if I don't do this, then this is going to happen. Right, you don't believe God's sovereign. You don't believe God's sovereign. I don't know that it's God's will to bless America anymore. I don't know, I hope it is. Maybe it's God's will to judge America. So he's going to give us wicked leaders. You've got to remember, it's not always God's will to salute the flag or appreciate the Dallas Cowboys. Sometimes it's God's will to withhold rain for three and a half years. Yeah, I read that in the book. Amen. So it's like, we want the days of Elijah. Yeah, really? Where it don't rain for three and a half years and he cuts the heads off of 440 false prophets? That's the days of Elijah. I'm into that. Be careful what you're singing. We need to investigate these claims of Scripture so that we will be equipped and qualified to tell all men about the hope that lies within us. Listen, any good lawyer can speak eloquently, and business leaders can use clever phrases and slick marketing slogans to manipulate people. So-called Christian television today is full of psychological motivation speakers masquerading as preachers of the Gospel. You know who knows that it's not Gospel being preached? The Library of Congress. Yeah. Every book that's printed in the United States is given an ISBN number that classifies it under what genre, what category that the book is in. And the Library of Congress puts all of Joyce Meyer and Joel Osteen and Fred Price and Kenneth Hagen and Kenneth Copeland's books under psychology. Because they know it's not Christianity. I wish the people of the church would know that these guys are not preaching Christianity. I'm into that. And God knows that politicians can cause people to scream and dance and jump about. But when a humble, broken man of God speaks God's Word accurately and fully without compromise, souls are converted. Hearts are pierced through and divided. Heads are bowed under deep conviction. Self-righteousness melts away. Hard hearts are broken. Black hearts are washed whiter than snow. Unbelief turns to belief. And the miracle of salvation is manifested on the earth again. Hallelujah. And when we preach that Word, that divinely inspired Word, it is true, and it is eternal, and it is binding on the conscience of every man who lives in every country under every governmental system in the world for all time. And so when we speak the words that came out of God's mouth, we speak them with authority, without apology, without hesitation, without embarrassment, and we speak them as they are, perfect, true, and commands that are imposed by a loving and almighty God on all that He's created. Souls are saved and God is glorified. Hallelujah. The men who stand and preach the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ are called and chosen and selected and handpicked by Jesus Himself to dedicate their lives to one single cause, the glory of God. And so they herald divine truth through the accurate and complete proclamation of the only book that God gave to man. These men are not to build their own kingdoms. They're not to make of themselves of any importance. They're not to make merchandise of God's people. They're not to go fat and wealthy off the backs of the poor. They are not to become self-appointed and unaccountable prima donnas who must be catered to and waited on. No. They are to be humble, faithful, self-sacrificing bond slaves of the Lord Christ Himself, living only to do His bidding. and these humbled, broken, trembling men stand behind a pulpit that is ablaze with the holiness and the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and they thunder the Word of God in fullness without the slightest bit of hesitation or embarrassment about how much or how little what God said may fit in with the sensibilities of lukewarm or unsaved church members. So their steps are sure. Their speech is sound. Their voice is unwavering. Not because they're self-righteous or cocky, but because what they speak and what they teach is not their own words. It is not their own personal experiences. It is not their own opinions. But it is the inspired Word of the living God. Hallelujah. And these men preach this way because as they stand trembling in the pulpits, they can hear two sounds. On the one side they hear the sounds of those rejoicing in everlasting bliss and joy as they've entered into heaven because they believed and were washed in the blood of the Lamb. And they preach with passion and conviction to those that are there that you don't want to miss one second of that. But they hear another sound. Yes, they do. They hear the sounds of those who are screaming in the lake of fire because they would not repent. They would not believe. They would not bow their knee. And they preach with passion and conviction because they tell the people, you don't want to be there. And that's why I think I've never heard a single sermon in 45 years from this passage. So what is the proper context of this passage? Well, to begin with, this all occurs at the Last Supper. All of this busyness that is going on in what is supposed to be a very holy and sacred service where Jesus Himself is instituting the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. And yet we see horrific sin being conducted in that service. For example, Satan enters into Judas' heart right there at the table. Judas leaves so he can betray the Lord. The disciples are filled with pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, and human ambition. All during the communion service. And so now Jesus is about to paint these men into a corner. And so we ask them in verse 35, when I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you? And this sending out began back in Luke 10 verses 3 and 4. And the disciples answered at the end of verse 35, no, nothing. Now let me give you some background that might help you to inform your understanding about this. Jesus is reminding them here of just how special and unique their time with Him has been. None of us in this room today know one second of what they understood. He is reminding these men how their previous ministry has been received by the people. And how Jesus had personally protected them and supernaturally provided for them. These men had been generally received very well during the three-year ministry of our Lord in Galilee and down into Judea. Dr. Luke has been faithful to tell us over 22 chapters that while Jesus has been thoroughly rejected by the religious leaders, He and His followers have been welcomed by the massive crowds who were thrilled to have Him there as He taught and as He healed, as He fed them and as He cast out demons. There was a sea of humanity all around Jesus. And the longer His ministry went, the more people were gathered around Him. The sea of people all wanted Jesus in their towns, and they wanted Jesus in their presence. And so the people were generally very happy to receive those who were with Jesus. So you might say that they had been welcomed everywhere they went by the world in general. And when I say the word world, I mean in the broad sense, those who are outside the kingdom of God, and therefore are naturally set against the purposes of God. Now this is a concept you need to get in your mind. Lost people love Jesus as long as He's healing them, and feeding them, and blessing them, and bringing their lives to be better. Yeah, lost people will love Jesus all day long as long as He's doing tricks for them. As long as He's turning cartwheels and performing miracles for them. They're all about Jesus. It's just when Jesus starts talking that lost people get real thin. The crowd gets thinned out. Have you noticed? Yeah, if you ever want to be by yourselves to spend some meditation with the Lord at the job, just start talking about Jesus and everybody will leave. Amen. Praise the Lord. You'll be by yourself in no time. But see, that's lost people. Saved people love Jesus. They love what He said. They love what He does. But they love Him. Lost people don't love Him. They love what He does for them. Huh? Makes you wonder what they're doing all in these churches, huh? They promote healings and blessings and all this stuff. Must not be saved. Not too many of them. because they'd love what He said more than they love what He does. Yeah. So this was a very special and unique time. But here Jesus is telling them that this special time is fast coming to a close. Now this welcoming by the larger Jewish society, and even on some occasions by some of the Gentiles, gave the disciples the impression that everything was going the right direction as far as their man-made eschatology was concerned. After all, the Messiah had already come. Right? I mean, we're waiting for Him to come back. Right? We're waiting with breathless anticipation that Jesus might come back. Hallelujah. They had Him. Right? And so these men naturally thought that Jesus had come right then to set up the physical and literal kingdom that was promised to Abraham and to David and reiterated by all the Old Testament prophets. So this is the hour of the revealing of the Messiah. Obviously, He's here. "...Who had been identified by John the Baptist, and by an audible voice out of heaven, and by the Holy Spirit coming upon Him and remaining, and by all of the miracles and signs and wonders." So to them, everything's right on schedule. And the embracing by the masses of the people simply adds to this sense of general well-being that the prophets had prophesied and that the disciples saw and had. You see, their confused eschatology taught them to expect a natural kingdom. And whenever that kingdom came, these men fully expected to be in the most elevated positions in that kingdom. And that's why they were arguing about which one of them was going to be the greatest. It's all about their man-made false eschatology. Aren't you glad our eschatology isn't man-made? Aren't you glad we don't have any error in our eschatology? We can see the future clearly. These men understand that the world typically operates in a certain way, and so their assumption was that because of their great sacrifice in following Jesus for three whole years, they're going to be rewarded with positions of great prominence in the kingdom. They're going to have places of honor and places of exaltation and glory for themselves, just like the people in the pagan world operate. And that's why they're arguing about their status. And according to Luke 19, verse 11, they were expecting this natural and physical and I would say ethnic kingdom to come immediately. I mean, with all of this popularity at the hands of all these people, it looked like surely the kingdom of Israel's glory is now upon them. Now, in the midst of this, try making sense to the apostles, I'm going to go away. What? We've been waiting for you our whole lives and you're here now. Why would it possibly be God's will for you to leave? You see how confused they must have been? But during His ministry, Jesus began to relentlessly but gently and radically alter their understanding of last things by telling them that the kingdom was not a natural or physical kingdom anyway. and that in one sense the kingdom had already come in Him, but that the fullness of the kingdom would not be seen immediately. Now, I know accidentally I've just messed up a lot of your eschatology, but that happens when you get in the Bible. And so in Luke 20, Jesus told them a parable about a man who went on a long journey and came back after a long absence to illustrate the fact that he was going away and his absence would be a long one. But they were still having a hard time grasping all of this because it was so different from everything they had been taught. And even after Jesus died and was raised from the dead and was about to ascend into heaven, these men still didn't understand. And so in the book of Acts 1, verse 16, they asked Jesus, Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel? And Jesus looked at them. He said, leave. And He said, none of your business. So they're really stuck on this real bad eschatology that they had learned from the religious leaders of that day who weren't even saved. And so their understanding of how all of history was going to wind down basically summed up like this. The Messiah only comes one time. They didn't have the concept of two comings of Jesus, the first and the second advent. The pagan occupiers will be militarily defeated when the Messiah comes. the kingdom of ethnic Israel as it was under King David. The borders of the real estate of the nation of Israel will be restored. And Jesus will rule the world from Jerusalem. That's how their understanding of the kingdom would be. Now, I don't know about you, but this is exactly how I was taught it was all going to work out when I was first saved 45 years ago. And so everything they think about Jesus and themselves is all wrapped up in this real bad eschatology of a physical and natural Jewish kingdom rather than a spiritual one. Now, you have to understand that at this point, these men have never experienced any serious persecution. that apart from a few verbal assaults and the beheading of John the Baptist, these men had personally escaped serious persecution. Now, Jesus Himself had been repeatedly attacked by the religious hypocrites, but the men who followed Jesus had been spared most of the persecution, and Jesus had personally provided for them and protected them. And so basically, they were all well-received. So while there was an occasional person who didn't want them in their home, for the most part, people threw their homes open and cared for these men. And I'm talking about lost people did. And that's why Jesus says in verse 35, when I sent you out without money, belt, and bag, and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you? In other words, up till now, you haven't needed anything to protect yourself, have you? You haven't needed any extra clothing, have you? You haven't needed any food. I've always provided for you. You haven't needed any money because the general population has welcomed you because they welcomed Me. But now the immutable Jesus is making a change. And it will be a radical change. And even though this is how it has been for over three years, this is not how it's going to be And once it changes, it's not going to be that it was the way it was for a long, long time. Now at this point, these men fully expected that Jesus would lead them right into the kingdom. And so they would never experience any persecution. But even later that very night, Jesus would be arrested, and the shock of that arrest would send these men scattering. It was a terrible jolt to them. And Jesus' arrest on that night and His subsequent torture and murder would launch the deadly hostility that exists to this very day where the enemies of Jesus Christ would first kill Him and then begin to persecute and kill His followers. And so Jesus is instituting the great mystery of suffering here that would describe Christian ministry from that day to this. and that became the mantra of the early church that was summarized in the book of Acts 14, verse 22, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. So even though there has been plenty of indications that this intense persecution was coming, these men had never seen it yet. And so Jesus tells them, when I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you? And they said, no, nothing. So all their needs had been met. Peter was panicking because the IRS was hunting him down. And so he said, oh my goodness, how am I going to pay my taxes? So Jesus said, go catch a fish, take the gold coin out of his mouth and pay your taxes and mine. So their needs had been met. They were completely supported sovereignly and supernaturally. There was no persecution. But Jesus is telling them that there is going to be a radical shift in the way that lost people relate to those carrying the Gospel once Jesus has gone back to heaven and this unique era of relative peace is over. Now look at the first words of verse 36. But now... Now here's the transition. But now, you're not going to enjoy this peace in the future. You're not going to find a welcoming world of a sea of unbelievers. You're not going to find people in Israel or in the Gentile world throwing open their doors to invite you in to preach Christ to them. The nation has now rejected me. And having rejected me, they will reject you because you belong to me. They reject Me, and you preach Me, and so they reject you. Now this has got to be a terrible shock. Everything is going to change, and it's all going to be for the worse once Jesus has been arrested. And so Jesus says to them in verse 36, But now whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag. Once the nation of Israel has formally and officially rejected Jesus and killed Him, the whole world will follow their lead. And the future missionaries and other witnesses of Jesus Christ will experience a very hostile world. And that is the way it is to this day. The Kingdom of God spreads around the world through the blood of the martyrs. And so Jesus is speaking metaphorically here. He is not contradicting what He told them back in Luke 9 and 10. He is simply indicating to these men that things were changing because He was going to die and rise from the dead and leave this earth for a long time. He is reminding them that contrary to what they had been taught, the Messiah has two comings. one in meekness and lowliness to die for the sins of the world, and His second coming in power and glory to rule the world as King and Lord. And so in essence, the Lord is saying, the lost world is no longer going to take care of you as you preach the Gospel. Unbelievers are not going to support the Gospel because unbelievers are the enemies of the Gospel and the enemies of Christ. So from now until I come back, all during the church age that my death begins, you're going to have to raise support for yourself. basically through other believers. And so if you have a money belt, take it with you. Which refers to a place to carry your goods and your clothing, your food, or the support that you will need for your ministry. And then Jesus said at the end of verse 36, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. Jesus was not referring here to an offensive weapon that could be used to wage war or something with which the followers of Christ can use to conquer the enemies of the gospel physically or militarily. This again is simply a metaphor for protection. So Jesus is telling His disciples that once He is arrested and killed, once He rises from the dead and ascends into heaven, things with His remaining church are going to radically change. Instead of having adoring crowds, the ministers of the Gospel are now going to preach to a hostile world. Instead of thousands calling their name, men will labor faithfully for decades, alone and unheralded in faraway places to produce meager results as far as man is concerned. Now the church age began with one sermon and three thousand converts, but that is the rare exception. The mass of new believers was the sovereign work of the Spirit to initialize the church on the earth. But as the Gospel left the Jews and spread through the pagan world, the success of Christianity became slow and painful. Today we don't study Peter's unique success at preaching on that balcony after they had been initially endued with power from on high as the normal model for our own success. We study men like William Carey, who labored day in and day out in India for over 14 years before he had his very first convert. We study men who were eaten by cannibals, who were shot through with spears, who were overcome with disease, who suffered terrible discouragements and setbacks, all in order to obey Jesus and preach the Gospel to every creature. And so Jesus tells these men that from now on, they will be persecuted. And oh, how they will be persecuted. The men who stood around and heard Jesus speak these words on that day will be hated and maligned because of the gospel. And that hatred will produce the trail of blood on which the church has been built. It is as though Jesus removed the hedge of protection that they had enjoyed the entire time that Jesus was in His earthly ministry. And as soon as Jesus was removed, the intense hatred and persecution that only Jesus endured was now directed to them. Now, those of you that know me know that I have a very strong objection to those people who call themselves prophets and apostles in our day. I think they're lying. I don't accept them. I don't recognize their authority. I think they're false prophets and false apostles. And there's many biblical reasons for me to be against them. There are many exegetical scriptural reasons as to why I am not in favor of that concept. Even in foreign lands, even in third world countries I don't believe that. And one of those that is the most important is Jesus did not call the apostles to simply preach the gospel. God called the apostles to create the gospel. And they used the life, death, and ministry of Jesus Christ and His resurrection to articulate 23 distinct books called epistles. that were written under the direct anointing of God the Holy Spirit that gives meaning to the four gospel records that talk about the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The why Jesus came and died and rose again are in the epistles. The how, what this means, how we're supposed to live now that that's true, how lost people get saved, all of that is in the epistles and that was given to the apostles They were called and chosen to articulate this radical new covenant. They were called and chosen to correctly interpret the Old Covenant and the Old Testament Scriptures. They were called to initialize the Christian church on the earth. They didn't just build buildings, they created Christianity by the revelation that God gave to them. Now that the church has been established on the earth, it will never be established again. It now needs to be propagated around the world, but it doesn't need to be started. Once it started, it started. That was the job of the apostles. But one of the reasons why I object to modern day apostles and prophets, those who call themselves this, is I see the great ease of these men's lives. I see how they're catered to. I see how they have adoring crowds. I see how they have multi-million dollar houses. How they have become millionaires off the backs of God's people. And I want to say this this morning. There's nothing wrong with you making money and trying to live a dignified life on the earth. Okay, I said that, right? You heard me? Okay, our generation, my generation, this generation of Christians that is in the church today, is the only generation in the history of the church where the leadership of the church have become millionaires off the gospel. That has never happened in the history of Christianity and I reject it and I condemn it in the name of the Lord. They are fleecing the sheep and they're making merchandise of the Word of God. Give money to my ministry and I'll give you a page of a genuine 1611 King James Version of the Bible that's suitable for framing. Give to my ministry and I'll give you water from the River Jordan. I'll give you oil from the Garden of Gethsemane. I'll take a tour of the Holy Land where we can baptize you in the dirty waters of the River Jordan as though that meant anything. It is a shame before God, and I denounce it in Jesus' name. Because the level of persecution upon the real apostles is staggering when you read it. If God had not sovereignly empowered them, they simply would not have survived. I want you to listen to this account. I'm going to spend just a little time here. Look, I've already seen the game. It's no good anyway. Don't worry about it. Listen to what Paul wrote about his ministry. The ministry of a real apostle in 2 Corinthians. Turn there with me. 2 Corinthians 11. I want your eyes to see these words. 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11, starting with verse 22. He's talking about his reproach and his persecution and how he constantly had to justify his ministry with a tax and people were forging letters in his name and all kinds of things. He said, are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I speak as if insane. I'm more so, because he knew they weren't servants of Christ. In far more labors, listen, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death, five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Think of that. The only reason they beat you with 39, you were a Roman citizen, and by law, if you lived through 39, they had 40 lashes, they had to let you go. So they would beat you 39 times, and then they could keep beating you. So they beat him, they broke open the skin on his back, the serum and the blood ran out, and then they threw him in a dungeon. And the way they did back then, they set you down on the dirt floor, your feet were out in front of you, chained to the ground, your arms were chained to the wall, and at night the rats came out. to eat your toes, to eat your face, to eat your ears, to eat your fingers, and you can't move. And his back is swollen and bleeding, and it gets infected, and it swells up, and he gets a 107 degree fever, and he sweats the fever off, and it scabs over, and then they take him out, and they beat him again. And then they beat him again. And then they beat him again. And then they beat him again. Five times he went through that. That's what that means. That's what that man went through. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Now you've got to remember, they didn't stone you until their arms got tired. They stoned you until you died. And they're not throwing pea gravel at you. They're throwing rocks at you. And they're hitting you in the head and in the face. And they're breaking your cheekbones. And your eyeball is hanging out. And your teeth are busted out. And you go unconscious. And they throw stones, and they throw stones, and they throw stones until you die. And your Bible says they surrounded Paul and prayed, hallelujah, and the next day he was preaching the Gospel. But in between then and there, he was caught up to the third heaven. He died and was risen from the dead right then. And he saw the glory of God and things that were unlawful for a man to utter. That's what that means. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the seas, danger among false brethren. I have been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. I heard a man, I heard a man, one of the few times I have ever rebuked a preacher, physically got up and rebuked him for preaching false doctrine. And he was preaching how Paul was sinning because he left John Mark behind because John Mark was sick. And Barnabas said, you can't do that, Paul. You've got to have mercy. And Paul said, I've got to take the gospel over the mountains of Turkey. I can't stop. And you listen, you think, how did it get there? How did the Gospel get to Ephesus, and Thyatira, and Galatia, and Corinth? How did it get there? Because he walked over the mountains, hip deep in snow, carrying the beasts of burden on a rope that contained the Scriptures. And Paul is walking through the snow, over those mountains, to get the Gospel to those cities. That's this man. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without me being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern? If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. He who is blessed forever knows that I'm not lying. In Damascus, the interlocutor under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me. And I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and so escaped in his hands. This makes me weep when I see these prima donnas on television with their bodyguards and their silk suits and their jet airplanes and the crowds of adoring, deceived people calling their name and reaching out to touch them. And I look at this man who was one of the greatest men that ever walked the face of the earth beside Jesus being let down a wall in a basket. And so almost immediately after this very night, that's why I reject modern apostles. They don't hurt like this man hurt. Apostles suffered more than anybody else besides Jesus. You want to be an apostle? You got to hurt real bad. And so almost immediately after this very night, these men, these disciples, these apostles began to experience persecution like very few before or since. And history tells us that they will be stoned to death and boiled in oil. They will be beheaded and crucified upside down. They will be beaten with rods and pierced through with arrows. And they will be gutted and flayed alive. And today we have never known any different. Twenty centuries after the resurrection and this century has already proven to be the bloodiest on record. Even here in America, where we have enjoyed relative peace and safety during the 230 year experiment with democracy, and where we basically only get verbal persecution, sometimes that is overwhelming. Just as soon as it seems that a faithful servant will enjoy some measure of success in his ministry, something happens to bring him back into obscurity. And that is not something unusual. It is now the norm. And so Jesus says that from now on, those who follow Him are going to have to provide their own support, their own supplies, their own protection. He has promised to be with us, but the way that Jesus will provide for us has changed. And so He tells these men, if you have a money belt, you need to take it. If you have a bag for your supplies, food and clothes, better take it. And if you don't already have a sword, sell your outer garment and get a sword because you're going out into a hostile world. Now it is important to understand that Jesus was not teaching here that the Gospel itself advances by the sword like Islam. Over the centuries, over 90% of all converts to Islam are brought about by the edge of the sword. You either convert or you die. To us, 9-11 was the beginning of our war on terror. To them, 9-11 was an evangelistic effort to win converts. But history reveals that the biblical Gospel has spread around the world through the spoken Word, and not the sword. Our success spreads through love, not violence. And our souls are converted to Jesus through the foolishness of the Word preached. So our Lord is using the sword here figuratively. And we know that for three reasons. Number one, the history of the church tells us that. Number two, Jesus' rebuke of Peter in Matthew 26. And number three, Jesus' statement to Pilate in John chapter 18. So let's look at those. Number one, the history of the church. The 2,000 year history of the Christian church contains some very terrible events and some very wicked people, no doubt. So the history of the church is about like the people who are part of it. It is stained with sin. But the overwhelming majority of people throughout the entire history of the church have been people who loved and who forgave and who displayed great kindness even under horrific conditions. and the progress of Christianity has been measured through amazing acts of mercy and the preaching of the Gospel and not through military might. And so here in the church, might does not make right. In here, truth reigns. And King Jesus has the preeminence. There is no record anywhere in the book of Acts where these men retaliated with force or used a weapon of any kind, even when they were persecuted the most. Number two, Jesus' rebuke of Peter in Matthew 26. In Matthew 26, when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter took his sword and tried to cut off the head of the servant of the high priest. He missed and only cut his ear off. And Jesus said this in verses 52-54, Put your sword back into its place, for all of those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must happen this way? Number three, Jesus' statement to Pilate. When Jesus stood before Pilate, the Lord said this in John 18 verse 36, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm. So clearly, the sword that Jesus is talking about is figurative. Now look at Luke 22, verse 37. For I tell you that that which is written must be fulfilled in Me, and He was numbered with transgressors. For that which refers to Me has its fulfillment. Now the word for here means because. So this indicates purpose or reason behind why Jesus said these things. So the reason why Jesus told them to take a money belt and a sword was because, I tell you, that which is written must be fulfilled in me. And He was numbered with transgressors, so that which refers to me has its fulfillment. Now Jesus is quoting here from Isaiah 53, verse 12, that was written over 500 years before Jesus was born. So all of this hatred, all of this animosity, all of this hostility, all of this slaughter, all of this persecution, starting with Christ Himself, and then going through all of the apostles, and then down through the history of the church, all of this is connected to the fulfillment of Scripture. And this gives us yet another indication of God's absolute sovereignty. 500 years before Jesus was ever born, God moves upon Isaiah to write down the promise that when the Messiah comes, He will be maligned and rejected and will suffer and die. So it isn't that God simply knew about what the future would hold. No. God told you what the future would hold and then He went out and made that come to pass. Now this verse is very important because Jesus says it twice. He emphasizes that this Old Testament prophecy that was given as the prophet Isaiah was moved along by God the Holy Spirit is fulfilled in Himself. So Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy. And you know who knows that? Orthodox Jews know that to this day. The rabbis will shy away from even teaching from Isaiah 53 because it is so obvious that it refers to Jesus Christ. In fact, they call this chapter the torture chamber of rabbis. Now, instead of bowing their knee and believing, they just don't preach it. Now, many theologians say that this verse has to do with Jesus being crucified between two thieves. So in that sense, Jesus is numbered with the transgressors. But that's not what it means at all. This is referring to Jesus' propitiation. It refers to the fact that all of our sins were imputed to Jesus, and so as the wrath of God was poured out upon Jesus, all of our sins were properly judged and damned. Hallelujah. But that made it to where we were left free to be saved. Hallelujah. And this is why the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So Jesus was placed in the category of transgressors by God and then punished by God so that we could be saved. Now I want you to turn real quick to John 15. John 15. I want to show you. This is all during that same period of time that John, the last chapters of John. John chapter 15. I want you to look at verse 18. John chapter 15. The Gospel of John, chapter 15, verse 18. If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you were not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. So this is a sign not of spectacular Christians. This is a sign of salvation. The lost pagan world should hate you. And if they're friends with you, something's wrong. Remember the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My namesake because they do not know the One who sent Me. Now the word world here refers to those who are the enemies of God, who belong to the kingdom of darkness. So Jesus is promising here that from the time He leaves the earth, the persecution that He Himself endured while He was here would be transferred to those who follow Him and who preach His Word. Now, John chapter 16, just one chapter over. John chapter 16, 1 through 4. Jesus said this, These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue. This can only happen in the first century. This is not talking about me and you. This is talking about the apostles. But an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think he is offering service to God. They will kill you in the name of God, thinking you are blaspheming and trying to deceive them. Talking about the apostles. Now look at this. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. But these things I have spoken to you so that when the hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you. So this is only going to start when He leaves. Right? So things are going to quickly change for these guys. And so Jesus says, I don't want you to stumble when the persecution comes. I don't want you to trip over this because you didn't expect it. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue. An hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think he's offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. But these things I have spoken to you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you. In other words, I didn't need to tell you this earlier because I was here. Now I'm leaving and now you need to know. So even though God is immutable, the way He works in us and through us and the way that God works in the earth does periodically change. And this event is one of those changes. And so Jesus is faithful to prepare these men for this great persecution. Okay, there we go. We got it, right? So did these men get it? Did these men understand what Jesus was saying? Well, No. Look again at Luke 22, 38. They said, look at here. Here's two swords. And Jesus said to them, it's enough. Now, you can sense an exasperation with Jesus right now. You guys just never get it, do you? Everything was just always literal with them. But the answer is that two swords are all they're going to need because future protection and success of their ministry doesn't depend on human force. If it did, the church would have been over with a long time ago. Now why is that? All of the other religions in the history of the world have been dependent on human force. So why not Christianity? Well, first of all, Jesus Himself is going to abide with these men. But then another amazing thing is going to happen that has never happened before now. Jesus promises that God the Holy Spirit The third person of the Trinity will come to them and what? Abide inside of them and lead them into all truth. I want you to look at the promise from John 14, verses 16 through 18, and then 25 and 26. John chapter 14. verses 16-18, and then verses 25-26. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever. That is the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. Radical. I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. These things I have spoken to you, verse 25, these things I have spoken to you while abiding with you, while I'm here on the earth. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." Wow. And Paul said, I received of the Lord that which I also give unto you, that the night in which the Lord was betrayed He took bread. This is that fulfillment, one of those fulfillments. Now we must remember that before Jesus came and was revealed by John the Baptist to be baptized and to be identified as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, God the Holy Spirit did not dwell inside of people in the same way that He does now. God the Spirit periodically fell under the first covenant. But then He lifted again. He came on occasion and by times, but He didn't stay. He moved upon people, but He did not abide inside them. That was one of the signs that God had given to John so that he would know who the Messiah was. John 1 verse 33 says, I did not recognize Him. but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit." If the Holy Spirit did this all the time, it wouldn't have been unusual. Right? But now Jesus promises these men that God the Holy Spirit will be sent to them to guide them and lead them and empower them and to cause them to remember everything that Jesus taught them. And while this is much different than anything these men had ever experienced, it isn't worse than how they had it when Jesus was here personally. In fact, in many ways, it is better. Now, wouldn't it have been better for Jesus just to stay on the earth? No. He said it is expedient. It is necessary for you that I go away. Because if I don't go, the Holy Spirit will not come. Huh? Now look at the promise that Jesus gave these men from John 14, verses 12-15. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also. And greater works than these will he do because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. It just doesn't mean that anything you can conceive in your mind, you ask God and God will do it. Because when you're asking in His name, that means you're so radically transformed, you don't want to ask anything that is not His will. Verse 14, If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. Now many within the word of faith heresy teach that believers will do greater things than Jesus did in the sense of being greater in importance. So the thought that we can do more important things than even Jesus Himself feeds into their already elevated sense of pride and self-righteousness, but that's not what Jesus meant here. The word greater here does not refer to importance, but to scope. And so the church on the earth has been called to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. And so the scope of our ministry is wider and longer and involves more peoples than Jesus' ministry. He was called to go to Israel to prove His deity, to live a sinless life, and to die for the sins of the world and then rise again. We are called to take that single glorious message and spread it around the world. And so we are called to do it in His name and for His glory under great persecutions, hard circumstances, and many setbacks. And so, in this passage, this glorious, immutable Christ institutes a major shift in the way that His followers would minister on the earth. And we are blessed today to faithfully carry that torch forward so that when He returns, He will find us faithful, fruitful, and busy in the work of our Lord. Amen. Let's pray.