THE SERMON - There Will Be Far More People In Heaven, Than In Hell
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1 hour and 6 minutes
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145.4207
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1
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12
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Summary
In this sermon, we continue our series on the Gospel According to Matthew through the summary of the Ten Commandments. Today's sermon is on the first and greatest commandment given to us by Jesus, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind."
Transcript
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Please join me in standing for the reading of God's Word.
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Our text for today is Matthew 7, verses 12, 13, and 14.
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Again, our text for today is Matthew 7, verses 12, 13, and 14.
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When I finish reading the text, I'm going to say,
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if you would respond by saying thanks be to God.
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is the gospel according to Matthew 7, verses 12, 13, and 14.
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So whatever you wish that others would do to you,
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I'd like to address the first verse of our text,
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so whatever you wish that others would do to you,
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for this is the law and the prophets what's being said by jesus in verse 12 of our text
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at the very end there for this is the law and the prophets what jesus is essentially saying
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is that this is the law and the prophets summarized this is the summary of the law
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and the prophets it's very reminiscent of what jesus says elsewhere and he says that there are
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two great commandments the first and greatest commandment is that we love the lord our god
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with all our heart all our soul and all our mind elsewhere he says strength this is the first and
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greatest commandment and the second then is like it that we should love our neighbor as ourself
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and then he continues this is matthew chapter 22 verses 37 38 39 and 40 he then continues and says
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all the law and the prophets rest or hinge upon these two commandments what jesus is saying in
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that context is that loving god and loving neighbor loving god and loving neighbor is
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the summary of all the law and all the prophets now the decalogue the ten commandments that we
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have set forth in exodus chapter 20 also serve as summary law so we could say in a sense that
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the first and second greatest commandments given to us by Jesus are a summary of a summary.
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It's taking the summary and making it even more concise, more concise, that all of the law and
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the prophets, that is all of the Old Testament, all the Old Testament scripture is the law word
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of God. And all of it can be summarized. It contains within it hundreds of commandments,
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but all of it can be summarized in the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20. And those
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Ten Commandments can be even further summarized by two commandments. Love God, love your neighbor.
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The Ten Commandments, there are ten of them. As Connor's already said, the first table of the Ten
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commandments namely commandment one through four love the lord your god also uh do not make any
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graven images do not take the lord's name in vain and remember the sabbath and keep it holy these
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first four of the ten commandments are summed up in the first and greatest commandment that jesus
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gives us love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and all your strength
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or all your mind okay then the next six of the ten commandments honor your father and mother do not
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commit murder do not commit adultery do not steal do not bear false witness and do not covet these
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next six of the ten commandments are summed up in the second greatest commandment that Jesus
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provides which is to love your neighbor as yourself that's what Jesus is addressing in verse 12 he's
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simply addressing what he says elsewhere in Matthew chapter 22 love the Lord your God and
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Love your neighbor as yourself is a summary of all the law and the prophets because it's the summary of the Ten Commandments, which also is a summary of all the law and the prophets.
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Here in our text today, Matthew chapter 7, verse 12, Jesus is simply providing for us that same principle, that same concept, but just in relation to the second greatest commandment instead of the first and second.
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And again, namely, to love your neighbor as yourself.
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So once more, Jesus says, so whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.
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In other words, love others the way that you want to be loved.
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Or to put it another way, love your neighbor as yourself.
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That is to say, this is the summary of the law and the prophets as they speak to the second table of the law, which is love for neighbor.
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Okay, that's the point. That's verse 12 of our text. One more point on that. It's noteworthy that the first portion of this verse, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.
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that this is providing for us one prescription and one description.
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If we're not careful, there are modern, more liberal, progressive theologians
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who simply put their finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing
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and then kind of tweak and twist and pervert the scripture in order to fit the culture.
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that have tried to work into this text two prescriptions,
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meaning something being prescribed, something being commanded,
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two commandments, instead of one prescription, one commandment,
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The two prescriptions that the modern, more liberal theologian and pastor
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would try to force, eisegete, read into the text,
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It's not. It's not. The summary of all the law and the prophets, as Jesus says elsewhere in
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Matthew chapter 22, is two commandments, but it's to love God and love your fellow man.
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It is not to love your fellow man and to really work hard on loving yourself.
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That portion of the text is not a prescription, love for self, but rather a description.
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The prescription is love your neighbor as you love yourself.
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Therefore, simply try to love others the way that you already love yourself.
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Let me read them once more so that they're fresh in our minds,
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for the gate is wide, and the way, the path, is easy
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that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
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For the gate is narrow, verse 14 now, and the way is difficult, hard to traverse, that leads to life.
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Now, if we're not careful, these two verses have been used time and time and time again
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in order to assert and definitively conclude that the population in the final analysis,
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at the end of the age, that the population of hell will far exceed the population of heaven.
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And I assume, and I don't blame you for this, it's not an indictment,
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but I assume that for many of you this has probably been your position.
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And not necessarily your position because you've done all the exegetical research
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and that you've written some dissertation on this topic,
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But it's probably just been your position by default.
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You've probably heard these verses or read these verses yourselves.
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And on its face, it seems to be what Jesus is communicating.
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It is a logical conclusion on its face with just a surface level reading.
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And more than just your own study, which has probably been brief on this topic,
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You've probably also heard this very confidently asserted by others, namely theologians and preachers.
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And so I assume that today there are many of you present that likely just by default believe that when this age, this church age has ended,
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And when Christ finally and physically returns, that the final results, when the numbers come in, hell and its population will dwarf the population of heaven.
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And maybe you don't have a number, but I think it's probably safe to assume that many of us think that hell will overpopulate heaven, not just by a simple majority, but by some high multiples that perhaps even, you know, a 10 to 1 ratio.
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Or it's possible that perhaps some of us may even go as far as to think that it would be a hundred to one ratio.
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That for every one person in heaven, that there would be a hundred souls eternally in hell.
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That has been, not necessarily historically, but certainly recently, and there have been time periods in history as well.
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That has been a dominant position, and I don't want to mislead you.
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That has been a dominant position, but it's certainly the dominant position by most Christians today in recent modern history.
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But I don't believe that that's what Jesus is teaching in verse 13 and 14 of our text.
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Let me use a quote by B.B. Warfield, and then I'm also going to provide some more context from the scripture.
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So in our text, in Matthew chapter 7, Jesus makes this statement, and then he moves on in the Sermon on the Mount.
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But if we are to cross reference from the gospel according to Matthew chapter 7 over to the gospel according to Luke chapter 12, namely verses 18 all the way through verse 30 and even further verse 34 and 35.
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And when we look or chapter 13, rather, when we look over in Luke's gospel, we find more context surrounding this teaching of Jesus that I think provides insight into what he's really getting at his actual meaning.
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So we'll look at more scripture to provide the context.
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But first, let's look at a quote again from B.B. Warfield.
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valid motives, to action, to all who find themselves with similar needs, but they cannot
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be read as assurances that the circumstances intimated or implied are necessarily constant
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and must remain forever unchanged. What Jesus says is directed to inciting his immediate hearers
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to strenuous effort to make their calling and election sure,
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rather than to revealing to them the final issue of his saving work in the world.
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When we read his words in the latter sense, we therefore do certain violence to them.
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In deflecting them from their purpose, we distort also their meaning and confuse their implications.
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We can learn from these passages that salvation is difficult
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and that it is our duty to address ourselves to obtaining it with diligence and earnest effort.
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We can never learn from them how many are to be saved.
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is that Jesus is speaking to an immediate human audience.
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and it is all pertinent and relevant and useful
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that the man of God might be equipped for every good work.
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All scripture, therefore, we can say, is for us.
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And what I mean by to us is that every single biblical passage has an immediate audience.
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It also has a universal and timeless audience, namely you and I, that those scriptures are for.
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So all scripture is for all people in all ages.
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Jesus is speaking literally, directly to an immediate audience and his point, we must
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conclude, his point is not to inform those people who are standing in front of his face
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His primary point is not to indicate to them the final number of salvation.
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I want to inform you about the ratio between the reprobate and the elect.
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I want you to be properly educated in regards to how many people at the end of the age
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will be in heaven and how many people will be in hell.
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In fact, I would argue that that's not his point at all.
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His point, rather, is to say to, it's for us, but to them, that immediate audience standing before him as he's teaching,
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it is to say to them that for them, for them, few will ever find this narrow gate.
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That for them, few will be willing to traverse this difficult and hard path.
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And that for them, many will, in fact, enter by the wide gate and choose, opt for the easy path that ultimately leads towards destruction.
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His primary point, in other words, to his immediate audience is to spur them on to vigilance, to spiritual vigilance.
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He's saying, wake up. He's not getting out spreadsheets to talk about the final numbers
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of heaven and hell. Instead, he's seeking to motivate his immediate audience saying, for you,
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for you, you are living in a place and a time where many will ultimately go to destruction
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Or another word that we could use would be the gate.
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his primary point is not to say because it's narrow,
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only a fraction of humanity will be able to enter it.
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His primary point is about the supremacy and, more particularly, the exclusivity of Christ as the only way of salvation.
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His primary point is describing the way to salvation.
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There will be many who will come to you and say that all roads lead to Rome.
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It is a singular gate, a narrow gate, one entrance.
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And I, Jesus speaking, I am the gate or I am the door.
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You cannot enter by the narrow gate, but then take the easy path.
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It is a narrow gate that gains entrance, gives you entrance to a difficult path, a cost to discipleship.
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Likewise, you can't take the wide gate, but then hop over to the difficult path.
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Jesus is not instructing them about the final numbers of salvation.
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He is instructing them about the nature and the way of salvation.
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And in terms of the few moments in our text where he does actually speak
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in a way that would indicate numbers, few ever find it.
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but not all scripture is to all people in all places in all ages this scripture is for us
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but it was to them and in reference to them it was true that many would be destroyed
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that many would be destroyed he came to his own but they received him not
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and in the larger context again when you cross reference from Matthew chapter 7 verses 12 through
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14 over to Luke's gospel chapter 13 Jesus goes on he says these same things gives the same
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instruction about the narrow gate versus the wide gate the difficult path versus the easy path and
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he uses the same numerical language of few ever finding the path that leads to life and many
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But then he continues in Luke's gospel, chapter 13,
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that illustrates the exact point that I've been making thus far,
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the immediate human audience that he's speaking to.
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This is Luke's gospel, chapter 13, verses 22 through 30.
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Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.
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We don't have this in Matthew's gospel, chapter 7, but we do have it in Luke's.
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This shows us where this teaching came about, how it rose up.
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Well, Jesus, he teaches this about the narrow gate and the wide gate and few being saved and many being destroyed.
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He teaches it actually as a response to someone's direct questioning.
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Someone asked him, Lord, are only few people going to be saved?
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And Jesus said to them, yes, throughout all times, in all ages, in all places, only one person for every 10 that go to hell will be saved.
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He said to them, verse 24, make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.
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Now go back to the principle that I've provided thus far.
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All scripture is for us, but not all scripture is to us.
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Has Jesus in the flesh come to your town in your lifetime?
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did you eat with him literally did you drink with him literally did he teach and preach sermons
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in georgetown on the street corner and you were sitting there no that's not you
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see it's for you all scripture is for you but it's not immediately to you but you know who that is
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true of it's not true of you but it was true of them jesus is speaking to the jews
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or especially that Jesus was giving out free lunches
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a bunch of people who were not interested in his message,
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but just interested in the temporal immediate benefits.
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people trying to game the system but far worse than that would come bad faith actors they would
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catch oh he's in this town he's doing these things and then they would come and they would attempt
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to trap him to arrest him to kill him and because Jesus did not want his preaching as any preacher
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doesn't want his time cut short wants to preach as long as he can get away with Jesus didn't want
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his sermons cut short he wanted to stay in certain towns for a week but but sometimes could only stay
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for three days why because the word the message of his miracles would spread it would draw crowds
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with the crowds would come antagonist and opposition and then because it was not yet his time
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event he did come for the purpose of dying behold the lamb of god who comes to take away the sins
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of the world, but only at the father's proper time. And if it was not yet his time, then when
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the crowds would gather because the news of his miracle spread with the crowds would come bad
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faith actors and Jesus would therefore have to leave. And what he may be intended, according to
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his human will, as a seven day preaching tour would get cut short to a three day preaching tour.
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Meaning many will take the wide gate rather than the narrow one,
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which speaks to Jesus, the exclusivity of Jesus.
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many of you will reject me, the door, the narrow gate.
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And you will choose rather to go through the wide gate
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in luke chapter 13 verse 26 then you will say we ate and drank with you and you taught in our
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streets now okay so this this so far we already have a little bit more context verse 22 we found
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out where where this saying of jesus um came you know what it came out of in the first place
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he was directly asked a question what was the question somebody directly asked him explicitly
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asked him, will few be saved? So somebody actually did ask about numbers. And the question was about
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numbers. But then Jesus gives an answer, and it includes numbers for those people at that time.
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But what it timelessly includes for us is not the numbers, the final numbers of salvation,
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And we don't think in those dogmatic terms anymore.
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that was not just to them, that's for us, it's for all people in all places.
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The nature, not the numbers, but the nature of salvation is always exclusive and narrow.
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And the nature of following Christ always comes freely by grace,
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and in that sense the path is difficult there will include certain difficulties that's true
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for all people in all times in all places but what was only particularly true or at least as far as
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Jesus is applying it is it for those people in that time in that place the numerical aspect
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that few would find salvation and that many would be destroyed so where did the question come from
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not numbers, but nature of salvation for all people,
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Let me teach on that now some timeless, not timely, timely answer to the numbers question.
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Timeless principles to the nature of salvation question.
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Will few of these people here in Israel, will few be saved?
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Jesus gives the answer. But then now we're ready for verse 27, 28, 29 and 30. Now this provides
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some really helpful context. OK, so now starting Luke chapter 13 with verse 27.
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But he will reply. This is the owner. Right. So Jesus says the owner eventually will come back,
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the owner of the house, and you'll knock on the door and say, please, sir, open the door and let
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us in but he will answer i don't know you and then you will say but you do know us you ate with us
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you drank with us you taught in our streets but he the owner of the house that is god he will reply
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i don't know you or where you come from away from me you evil doers there will be weeping there and
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gnashing of teeth and look at this when you see abraham isaac and jacob and all the prophets in
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the kingdom of god they'll be at the banqueting table of the lamb they'll be here in in the house
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in the feast and the king's great hall but you'll be on the outside saying we knew you we we did
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know you what do you mean you don't know us i you were in my house you were on my street corner i
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was sitting in the crowd when you were preaching i ate the five loaves and the fish and came back
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the next day for another free lunch you know you know me jesus you know me i was on i was signed
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up for jesus welfare i'm your guy i love a free lunch no i don't know you you evildoer and you
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will be cast out where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth i do know your fathers the ones you claim
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to be in their lineage and you may be in their lineage in a physical sense but spiritually
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you have no resemblance to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
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You're not their sons, according to the promise.
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Abraham, as Jesus says elsewhere in John chapter 10,
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Abraham looked ahead through the eyes of faith prophetically
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You heard my words, but you did not believe them.
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You'll see from the outside where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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You will be on the outside looking in and you'll see those that you claimed
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Few, not for all times and all peoples and all places,
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But now he actually is speaking in a future-oriented sense.
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So he gives the immediate answer, will few be saved?
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But will few be saved ultimately in all places,
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Now he starts to indicate what he thinks about that.
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Will being something that has not yet happened.
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Now he is prophesying in a future sense for everyone.
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It won't just be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the prophets.
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They will come from east and west and north and south,
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and they will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.
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Indeed, there are those who are last, who will be first, and first, who will be last.
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Jesus is saying that the wedding banquet will be filled.
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And as we see elsewhere in the scripture, I'll read it for you right now,
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what the apostle John says from the revelation that he received when he was in exile.
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on the island Patmos and he was caught up on the Lord's day by the Spirit and he sees the host.
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Again, this is a numerical description. This actually is getting at numbers. A numerical
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description of the host of heaven, not just angels, but souls, people. Revelation chapter 7 verse 9 and
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10. John says this, after this I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number from
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Now, using that text, let's now look at the words of Charles Spurgeon in regards to that text.
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And our text today, Matthew 7, verses 13 and 14.
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In regards to this question of the final tallied up numbers of heaven and hell.
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The Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon, he said this.
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It is my firm belief that the number of the saved will be far greater than that of the damned.
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It is written that in all things Jesus shall have the preeminence.
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Can we think that Satan will have more followers than Jesus?
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For while it is written that the redeemed are a number that no man can count,
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it is not recorded that the lost are beyond numeration.
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Behold, I looked to hell and saw a number that no man can count.
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That heaven would contain a number beyond man's ability to count.
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True, we know that the visible elect, okay, at any given moment, in a particular place, at a particular time,
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that the visible elect, that is the visible church,
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that those people comparatively in their place,
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in their town, in their state, in their country,
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there might actually be less people this Lord's Day
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And Georgetown, Texas is probably doing comparatively
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which for the Christians in San Francisco,
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probably less than those who chose to stay home.
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straight from their mother's womb or breast to glory.
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Nor let it be forgotten that the multitudes of converts in the millennial age.
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I would obviously have some disclaimers here and how I would describe that.
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But I do think in principle, the point still stands that Spurgeon's making.
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So think of all the children, elect children that die in infancy.
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I mean, think about that for a moment, just in America.
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Well it's like we've gotten further and further from God.
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that have not been revealed to us, namely His sovereign will,
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and I would argue ordained all which comes to pass,
00:44:51.060
has been ordained by God, including sin, including suffering, including death,
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ordained by God for good, holy, and righteous purposes.
00:45:03.880
and there are fewer converts, simultaneously in His sovereignty,
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although in the one hand according to his moral will he hates it namely abortion at the very same
00:45:15.460
time according to his sovereign will God has seen fit that at least and this is a low number 70
00:45:21.780
million children have died through abortion and their mother's womb in this nation alone just
00:45:28.760
over the last 50 years this does not include abortions through pills and potions this also
00:45:36.960
does not include all the children who were not aborted but died by natural causes sickness and
00:45:43.300
disease in infancy after having been born imagine all the children that have died in infancy all
00:45:51.160
the children that have died in utero even apart from abortion just through miscarriages
00:45:56.180
and then add to it the abortion numbers the numbers that have been counted 70 million
00:46:03.340
then add to that i would say easily perhaps double jacob you think that's fair
00:46:08.920
double those numbers now 140 million with the pill that's not the miscarriage add the miscarriages
00:46:16.960
200 million add all the children that died in infancy that were born but died in that first
00:46:23.560
year or two of life before they could even speak and spurgeon is saying depending on your view
00:46:29.620
his and mine as it these children were elect so now you're looking at 250 million quarter of a
00:46:38.360
billion close to the current size of our total population in heaven just over the last half
00:46:45.740
century just in this country alone so when he's talking about the numbers of heaven and hell he's
00:46:52.160
like well make sure that you count the numbers accurately let's include the army of infant saints
00:47:03.240
He then says, let's also include not only those who died in infancy,
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but the multitudes of converts in the millennial age will very much turn the scale.
00:47:15.700
For then the world will be exceedingly populous.
00:47:18.940
So he's arguing that the cultural mandate will continue to be fulfilled
00:47:23.340
despite wicked men trying to thwart God's will,
00:47:34.040
that we will, in fact, be fruitful and multiply,
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and that this will continue throughout this church age
00:47:53.320
when the gospel was far less spread out over the earth,
00:47:57.920
When fewer had heard the gospel and the reign of Christ,
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the mustard seed had been planted but had not yet come into its fruition
00:48:08.260
as a tree that covered the whole face of the earth,
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as the yeast had been introduced to the batch of dough
00:48:14.760
but had not thoroughly been worked through the whole lump,
00:48:20.000
During those earlier years of the gospel age and even before the gospel age,
00:48:56.540
before the leaven enters into the lump of dough.
00:49:02.560
Even in those times, there are moments, time and place.
00:49:07.160
For instance, Nineveh, capital city of Assyria.
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Remember what happens to Nineveh in the time of Jonah?
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And if you think it's just outward moralistic behavior,
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what Jesus literally says when he comes on the scene
00:49:23.800
in his earthly ministry that the men of Nineveh on the final day would rise up with him and judge
00:49:30.640
these Jewish cities. So Jesus actually affirms that the revival that happened in Nineveh
00:49:38.180
was not just a Christless conservatism, but it actually was a Christian revival.
00:49:45.200
And in Nineveh, at minimum, you could only argue minimum, 120,000. We know that because that number
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that do not know their right hand from their left.
00:50:19.840
because if you were concerned for the plant because it's an inanimate object and therefore
00:50:25.120
not guilty of sin and you think i was unjust to destroy it well if that was really your your
00:50:30.780
operating principle then you know what you would also be concerned about 120 000 souls in nineveh
00:50:37.880
that that do not even know the difference between the right and left hand do you know what god's
00:50:42.200
talking about he's not talking about the overall population of nineveh he's talking about the
00:50:45.980
population of the very small children in Nineveh who weren't guilty. Their parents had done
00:50:52.780
incredible crimes to Israel, but the children hadn't. And this is why God includes right next
00:50:58.640
to it. If you're wondering, well, how do you know that that's what he's talking about? Because right
00:51:02.560
next to it, he says, there are 120,000 that do not know the difference between the right and left
00:51:08.460
hand and very much cattle why why like what it seems random it's right there at the very end of
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the book of jonah and there's a lot of cows well god has compassion on all he has made the psalm
00:51:23.020
said he owns the cattle on a thousand hills the scripture says but the reason why he includes
00:51:28.400
cattle or some translations say and i think it's better livestock is he's saying the children who
00:51:35.260
aren't guilty of crimes against Israel and the animals. You want me to send fire and brimstone
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from heaven and destroy them all. But that would include the children who are not guilty of these
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crimes and the livestock, the animals that aren't guilty either. He's making the argument, including
00:51:51.420
the animals, because he's saying, Jonah, you're a liar. You're pretending to be justifiably,
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righteously indignant that I killed a plant. And you're saying, well, the plant didn't do anything
00:52:04.680
wrong. No, you don't care about the plant. You just care about your shade. Because if you actually
00:52:09.260
cared about the plant and you actually thought I was being unjust for killing, sending a worm to
00:52:14.340
kill a plant because plants aren't guilty, they're inanimate objects, well then you would also care
00:52:18.820
about cattle. But you want me to kill thousands of cattle in Nineveh. So why are you mad about me
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killing one plant over here outside of Nineveh? And not only do you want me to kill thousands of
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livestock animals that aren't guilty just like the plant in Nineveh you also want me to kill
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children human children made in my image who are also not guilty not of these crimes that you're
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mad about that that Assyria and Nineveh have committed against Israel the adults have done
00:52:47.780
that yes true but not the children so all that being back to the main point here 120,000 who's
00:52:54.540
don't know the difference between the right and left hand that's the population not of Nineveh
00:52:58.100
but that's the population of the children of Nineveh.
00:53:01.220
You can make an argument that there were 500,000
00:53:12.520
these men, the men of Nineveh, not just some of them,
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but they'll rise up and join me in the judgment of Israel.
00:53:19.900
Meaning they actually, this was a Christian revival.
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This is before the seed, the mustard seed is even planted.
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Much less after it's planted, but we're still waiting for it to grow into fruition to a full earth encompassing tree.
00:53:43.340
So even in the darkest times, here's the point.
00:53:46.180
Even in the darkest times of human history, there were still times and places where God moved mightily.
00:53:52.940
And saved more people than you and I are aware of.
00:53:58.100
He did that when the world was infested with demons and mermaids, guys.
00:54:04.900
How many more times has he done it since Christ?
00:54:20.100
No, the true Dark Ages is the Enlightenment and everything that's come since.
00:54:26.740
the average person in the known world at the time
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was a Christ-exalting, God-fearing Christian.
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For all we know, the vast majority of people were regenerate.
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And then back to the saints who die in infancy,
00:54:50.520
not only do we have many who meet that because of abortion,
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but think about before modern medicine it was normative not because of abortion necessarily
00:55:01.220
but it was normative that children would die in infancy that's happened again even pre-christ
00:55:09.760
even pre-christ you could argue that half the population for the first 4 000 years of human
00:55:16.380
history before christ even appeared died in infancy in which case the population of heaven
00:55:22.380
and hell would be tied post-christ still many dying in infancy but then oh joe but modern
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medicine now less dying infancy yeah but we made up for it by intentionally killing them
00:55:33.760
and that doesn't include certain time periods in entire continents such as europe and the in
00:55:42.500
america with great christian revivals where i believe in in just a couple centuries ago even
00:55:48.920
less than that that the majority of adults not just infants dying elect infants but the majority
00:55:54.140
of adults were bible believing christians and i would further argue that we haven't seen anything
00:56:01.080
yet that we're just getting started and that the scripture will prevail and prove to be true in the
00:56:07.940
final analysis that the knowledge of the glory of god will cover the whole earth even as the waters
00:56:12.740
cover the sea. And that there will be great Christian revivals all over the earth. And that
00:56:19.060
Christendom has fallen in many ways, but not forever. That she will rise again. And that all
00:56:27.580
the plans of the enemies of God will ultimately be thwarted. And that there will be great time
00:56:33.820
periods of true light. Not the enlightenment, not a dark enchantment, a demonic enchantment over
00:56:42.160
the world but true christian light that it will fill the earth once more and that all will know
00:56:48.760
him from the least to the greatest like we see even isaiah chapter 65 that no longer will the
00:56:57.800
youth die in infancy but even the youth will live to be a hundred that the leopard and the lamb would
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lie down together that the nations would no longer know war right no more zionism
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a leading cause of war it is it is zionism will be done
00:57:18.240
and so there i mean that cuts out 90 of wars right there
00:57:22.720
so false doctrine will ultimately fail dispensationalism will fail zionism will
00:57:28.980
fail there will be less war in fact isaiah 65 and this is pre-christ this isn't oh we're in
00:57:34.880
in the eschaton no this is leading up to the final return of christ meaning there's still
00:57:39.540
earthly families husbands wives children being born there's still sin there's still death but
00:57:44.880
death doesn't happen like it used to when someone dies at a hundred years old you say he was he was
00:57:51.240
but a youth and the nations will no longer know war they'll take their swords and beat them into
00:57:56.780
plowshares and the christian gospel will reign supreme many will know him the majority i could
00:58:04.080
argue from isaiah 65 will know him from the least to the greatest and at a time period where the
00:58:10.680
overall population of the world would be at its highest so this is not just a wishful argument
00:58:18.240
add all these things together from infancy to nineveh revivals of half a million to a million
00:58:25.060
people even pre-christ to the dark ages and christendom in places and times prior and a
00:58:59.920
you could say it like this we win we win down here we do we really do we really do
00:59:10.800
final thing i'll say we've got to wrap it up the words of jesus for us is not about the number of
00:59:19.040
salvation but the nature of salvation it's always narrow exclusive christ alone it's always difficult
00:59:25.880
there is always a cost to discipleship in terms of the numbers that was not for us but to them
00:59:33.000
however to be fair this argument cuts both ways what i'm arguing is that those words about the
00:59:40.780
numbers being few which was not for us but to them that um i'm saying that that doesn't have
00:59:47.720
to be true of all people in all places it was true of them in their place in their time it's
00:59:52.080
not necessarily true of all people in all places however that argument cuts both ways it means it
00:59:57.560
doesn't have to be true of all people in all places in all times but it may be true of all
01:00:02.080
not all people but some people in some places and sometimes in the same way that jesus goes to these
01:00:07.520
people and he says for you things are bleak there can be other places other peoples and other time
01:00:15.980
periods where likewise things can be bleak that's an entirely possible scenario and this is precisely
01:00:24.000
what we need to consider as we seek to do the work of an evangelist we need to be in any time period
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never writing anyone off entirely i believe that that is immoral unbiblical and wrong
01:00:36.380
okay so don't think i'm saying that but we can i think with wisdom and prudence recognize
01:01:12.700
a unique obligation to them. Secondly, whether these are my people or not, who are the people
01:01:19.820
in this moment that God seems to be doing a work with? Where are the fields white
01:01:29.120
with the harvest? Just for the record, that's literally the words of Jesus, white. I mean,
01:01:35.300
they're ready, ripe. It's not, where are the white people? That's not what Jesus was saying.
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He's saying, where are the ripe harvest fields ready to be harvested?
01:01:49.680
Jesus even condemns his own followers and says,
01:01:53.880
the sons of darkness are more shrewd than you, the children of light.
01:01:59.640
Like the parable of the servants with the talents.
01:02:02.640
We are commanded with whatever talent, whatever resources,
01:02:06.280
whatever giftings that God gives to us to return a profit.
01:02:38.500
But in this moment, God seems to be doing a work here.
01:02:57.900
There's a harvest on the right, not on the left.
01:03:06.720
If you haven't figured that out, you are dense.
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01:03:08.500
and you need to repent of being ignorant and biased
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because you can only come to the alternative conclusion
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making sure that they had an opportunity to go and speak at Google,
01:03:40.140
to speak at Apple, to speak here, to speak there.
01:03:55.280
But what I am saying is you can look at the providence of God and say,
01:03:58.660
he's blessing this, and currently he's not blessing that.
01:04:02.220
and then you can utilize, optimize, monopolize on God's blessing, not with sinful favoritism,
01:04:11.060
not with hateful animus, but out of proper stewardship saying the master demands a return
01:04:16.680
and I want to get the biggest return possible. You want to lead a lot of people to Jesus?
01:04:22.680
Find cowboy hats. You want to lead a lot of people to Jesus? Be in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas,
01:04:47.880
among a particular people in a particular place.
01:05:00.840
And where can we be faithful to go and get as big of a harvest as we possibly can?
01:05:24.800
But does his election create an opportunity for Christians?
01:05:33.040
and more opportunity than we would have otherwise.
01:05:56.140
And some, not all, but I believe more of those Christless conservatives will, in the providence of God, choose to receive Christ than the leftists who hate him and promote the killing of children and sodomy.
01:06:17.060
the homesteading conservative guy over here who's not a christian
01:06:23.540
but has traditional values might be more open to the gospel
01:06:28.020
than the guy who's a part of the world economic forum and trying to end the human population
01:06:33.540
i don't think that's like oh joel's just trying to you know be hyperbolic i think that's a fairly
01:06:39.700
safe argument all right let's pray father bless your word to your people bring yourself great